CHAPTER V.
The day on which the combat of Roriça was fought the insurgents attacked Abrantes, and the feeble garrison being ill commanded, gave way, and was destroyed.
The 19th sir Arthur Wellesley took up a position at Vimiero, a village near the sea-coast, and from thence sent a detachment to cover the march of general Anstruther’s brigade, which had, with great difficulty and some loss, been that morning landed on an open sandy beach called the bay of Maceira.
The French cavalry scoured the neighbouring country, carried off some of the women from the rear of the camp, and hemmed the army round so closely that no information of Junot’s position could be obtained.
In the night of the 20th, general Acland’s brigade was also disembarked, and this reinforcement increased the army to sixteen thousand fighting men, with eighteen pieces of artillery, exclusive of Trant’s Portuguese and of two British regiments, under general Beresford, which were with the fleet at the mouth of the Tagus.
Estimating Junot’s whole force at eighteen thousand men, sir Arthur Wellesley judged, that after providing for the security of Lisbon, the French general could not bring more than fourteen thousand into the field; he designed, therefore, not only to strike the first blow, but to follow it up, so as to prevent the enemy from rallying and renewing the campaign upon the frontier. In this view he had, before quitting the Mondego, written to sir Harry Burrard, [Appendix, No. 9.] giving an exact statement of his own proceedings and intentions, and recommending that sir John Moore, with his division, should disembark at the Mondego, and march without delay to Santarem, by which he would protect the left of the army, block the line of the Tagus, and at the same time threaten the French communication between Lisbon and Elvas, and that without danger, because Junot would be forced to defend Lisbon against the coast army, or if, relinquishing the capital, he endeavoured to make way to Almeida by Santarem, the ground there was so strong that sir John Moore might easily maintain it against any efforts. Moreover, the marquis of Valladeres commanded three thousand men at Guarda, and general Freire, with five thousand men, was at Leria, and might be persuaded to support the British at Santarem.
The distance from Vimiero to Torres Vedras was about nine miles; but although the number and activity of the French cavalry completely shrouded Junot’s position, it was known to be strong, and very difficult of approach, by reason of a long defile through which the army must penetrate in order to reach the crest of the mountain. There was, however, a road leading between the sea-coast and Torres Vedras, which, turning Junot’s position, opened a way to Mafra. Sir Arthur possessed very exact military Sir A. Wellesley’s evidence. Court of Inquiry. surveys of the country through which that road led, and he projected, by a forced march, on the 21st to turn the position of Torres Vedras, and to gain Mafra with a strong advanced guard, while the main body, seizing some advantageous heights a few miles short of that town, would be in a position to intercept the French line of march to Montachique. The army was reorganized during the 20th in eight brigades of infantry, and four weak squadrons of cavalry, and every preparation was made for the next day’s enterprise; but at that critical period of the campaign the ministerial arrangements, which provided three commanders-in-chief, began to work.
Sir Harry Burrard arrived in a frigate off the bay of Maceira, and sir Arthur was checked in the midst of his operations on the eve of a decisive battle. Having repaired on board the frigate, he made his report of the situation of affairs, and renewed his former recommendation relative to the disposal of sir John Moore’s troops; but Burrard, who had previously resolved to bring the latter down to Maceira, condemned this project, and forbid any offensive movement until the whole army should be concentrated; whereupon sir Arthur returned to his camp.
The ground occupied by the army, although very extensive, and not very clearly defined as a position, was by no means weak. The village of Vimiero, situated in a valley through which the little river of Maceira flows, contained the parc and commissariat stores. The cavalry and the Portuguese were on a small plain close behind the village, and immediately in its front a rugged isolated height, with a flat top, commanded all the ground to the southward and eastward for a considerable distance.
Upon this height Fane’s and Anstruther’s brigades of infantry with six guns were posted, the left of Anstruther’s occupied a church and churchyard which blocked a road leading over the extremity of the height to the village, the right of Fane’s rested on the edge of the other extremity of the hill, the base of which was washed by the Maceira.
A mountain that commenced at the coast swept in a half circle close behind the right of the hill upon which these brigades were posted, and commanded, at rather long artillery range, all its upper surface. Eight guns, and the first, second, third, fourth, and eighth brigades of infantry, occupied this mountain, which was terminated on the left by a deep ravine that divided it from another strong and narrow range of heights over which the road from Vimiero to Lourinham passed. The right of these last heights also overtopped the hill in front of the village, but the left, bending suddenly backward, after the form of a crook, returned to the coast, and ended in a lofty cliff. There was no water upon this range, and some piquets only were placed there.
The troops being thus posted, on the night of the 20th, about twelve o’clock, sir Arthur was aroused by a German officer of dragoons, who galloped into the camp, and with some consternation reported, that Junot, at the head of twenty thousand men, was coming on to the attack, and distant but one hour’s march. The general, doubting the accuracy of this gentleman’s information, merely sent out some patrolles, and warned the piquets and guards to be upon the alert. Before daybreak, according to the British custom, the troops were under arms; the sun rose, and no enemy was perceived; but at seven o’clock a cloud of dust was observed beyond the nearest hills, and at eight o’clock an advanced guard of horse was seen to crown the heights to the southward, and to send forward scouts on every side. Scarcely had this body been discovered, when a force of infantry, preceded by other cavalry, was descried moving along the road from Torres Vedras to Lourinham, and threatening the left of the British position; column after column followed in order of battle, and it soon became evident that the French were coming down to fight, but that the right wing of the English was not their object. The second, third, fourth, and eighth brigades were immediately directed to cross the valley behind the village, and to take post on the heights before-mentioned as being occupied by the piquets only. As those brigades reached the ground, the second and third were disposed in two lines facing to the left, and consequently forming a right angle with the prolongation of Fane and Anstruther’s front. The fourth and eighth brigades were to have furnished a third line; but before the latter could reach the summit the battle commenced. From the flank of all these troops, a line of skirmishers was thrown out upon the face of the descent towards the enemy; the cavalry was drawn up in the plain a little to the right of the village of Vimiero; and the fifth brigade and the Portuguese were detached to the returning part of the crook to cover the extreme left, and to protect the rear of the army. The first brigade under general Hill remained on the mountain which the others had just quitted, and formed a support for the centre and a reserve for the whole.
The ground between the two armies was so wooded and broken, that after the French had passed the ridge where they had been first descried, no correct view of their movements could be obtained; and the British being so weak in cavalry were forced to wait patiently until the columns of attack were close upon them. Junot had quitted Torres Vedras the evening of the 20th, intending to fall on the English army at day-break; but the difficulty of the defile in his front retarded his march for many hours and fatigued his troops. When he first came in sight of the position of Vimiero, the British order of battle appeared to him as being on two sides of an irregular triangle, the apex of which formed by the hill in front of the village, was well furnished with men, while the left face appeared naked, for he could only see the piquets on that side, and the passage of the four brigades across the valley was hidden from him. Concluding, then, that the principal force was in the centre, he resolved to form two connected attacks, the one against the apex, the other against the left face; for he thought that the left of the position was an accessible ridge, whereas a deep ravine, trenched as it were along the base, rendered it utterly impervious to an attack, except at the extremity, over which the road from Torres Vedras to Lourinham passed. Junot had nearly fourteen thousand fighting men organized in four divisions, of which three were of infantry and one of cavalry, with twenty-three pieces of artillery, but of small calibre. Each division was composed of two brigades, and at ten o’clock, all being prepared, he commenced the
BATTLE OF VIMIERO.
Laborde marched with one brigade against the centre; general Brennier led another against the left; Thiebault. Loison’s division followed in the same order at a short Foy. distance. Kellerman, whose division (called the reserve) was composed of grenadiers, moved in one body behind Loison, and the cavalry under Margaron, about thirteen hundred in number, was divided, a part being on the right of Brennier, and the remainder in rear of the reserve. The artillery was distributed among the columns, and opened their fire whenever the ground was favourable for their practice.
Junot designed that Laborde’s and Brennier’s attacks should be simultaneous, but the latter coming unexpectedly upon the ravine before mentioned as protecting the left, got entangled among the rocks and water courses, and Laborde alone engaged Anstruther’s Sir A. Wellesley’s despatch. brigade under a heavy and destructive fire of artillery that played on his front and flank, for the eighth brigade being then in the act of mounting the heights where the left was posted, observing the advance of the columns against the centre, halted, and opened a battery on their right flank. Junot, perceiving this failure in his combinations, ordered Loison to support Laborde’s attack with one brigade of his division, and directed general Solignac, with the other, to turn the ravine in which Brennier was entangled, and to fall upon the extremity of the English line.
Loison and Laborde formed one grand and two secondary columns of attack; of the latter, the one advanced against Fane’s brigade, while the other endeavoured to penetrate by a road which passed between the ravine and the church on the extreme left of Anstruther; but the principal column, headed by Laborde in person, and preceded by a multitude of light troops, mounted the face of the hill with great fury and loud cries; the English skirmishers were forced in upon the lines in a moment, and the French masses arrived at the summit; but, shattered by a terrible fire of the artillery, and breathless from their exertions, and in this state, first receiving a discharge of musketry from the fiftieth regiment at the distance of half pistol shot, they were vigorously charged in front and flank, and overthrown. At the same time Fane’s brigade repulsed the attack on their side, and colonel Taylor, with the very few horsemen he commanded, passing out by the right, rode fiercely among the confused and retreating troops, and scattered them with great execution. Margaron’s cavalry seeing this, came suddenly down upon Taylor, who was there slain, and the half of his feeble squadron cut to pieces, and Kellerman taking advantage of this check, threw one half of the reserve into a pine wood, that flanked the line of retreat followed by the beaten troops, and with the other endeavoured to renew the attack by the road leading to the church, where the forty-third regiment were engaged in a hot skirmish among some vineyards.
The grenadiers coming on at a brisk pace, beat back the advanced companies of the forty-third; but to avoid the artillery that swept their left, they dipped a little into the ravine, and were taken on the other flank by the guns of the eighth and fourth brigades, and at the same time the forty-third rallying in a mass, broke down upon the head of the column at a moment when the narrowness of the way and the discharges of the artillery had somewhat disordered its formation, a short yet desperate fight took place; the enemy were repulsed in disorder, but the regiment suffered very severely.
The French being now wholly discomfited in the centre, and the woods and hollows filled with their wounded and straggling men, retired up the edge of the ravine in a direction almost parallel to the British line, and left the road from Vimiero to Torres Vedras open to their opponents; but sir Arthur Wellesley strictly forbade any pursuit at that moment, partly because the grenadiers in the pine wood flanked the line of the French retreat, and partly because Margaron’s horsemen, riding stiffly between the two armies, were not to be lightly meddled with. Meanwhile, (Brennier being still hampered in the ravine), general Solignac passed along the crest of the ridge above, and came upon general Ferguson’s brigade, which was posted at the left of the English position. But where the French expected to find a weak flank, they encountered a front of battle on a depth of three lines protected by steep declivities on either side; a powerful artillery swept away their foremost ranks, and on their right the fifth brigade and the Portuguese were seen marching by a distant ridge towards the Lourinham road and threatening the rear. Ferguson instantly taking the lead, bore down upon the enemy, the ridge widened as the English advanced, and the regiments of the second line running up in succession, increased the front, and constantly filled the ground. The French falling fast under the fire drew back fighting, until they reached the declivity of the ridge, and their cavalry made several efforts to check the advancing troops, but the latter were too compact to be disturbed by these attempts. Solignac himself was carried from the field severely wounded, and his retiring column, continually outflanked on the left, was cut off from the line of retreat, and thrown into the low ground about the village of Perenza. There six guns were captured, and general Ferguson leaving the eighty-second and seventy-first regiments to guard them, was continuing to press the disordered columns, when Brennier having at last cleared the ravine, came suddenly in upon those two regiments, and re-took the artillery. His success was but momentary; the surprised troops rallied upon the higher ground, poured in a heavy fire of musquetry, and with a shout returning to the charge, overthrew him and recovered the guns. Brennier himself was wounded and made prisoner, and Ferguson having completely separated the French brigades from each other, would have forced the greatest part of Solignac’s to surrender, if an unexpected order had not obliged him to halt, and then the discomfited troops re-forming under the protection of their cavalry with admirable quickness and steadiness, made an orderly retreat, and were soon united to the broken brigades which were falling back from the attack on the centre.
Brennier, who, the moment he was taken, was brought to sir Arthur Wellesley, eagerly demanded if the reserve under Kellerman had yet charged, and sir Arthur, ascertaining from other prisoners that it had, was then satisfied that all the enemy’s attacks were exhausted, and that no considerable body of fresh troops could be hidden among the woods and hollows in his front. It was only twelve o’clock, the battle was already won; thirteen guns were in his possession, for seven had been taken in the centre; the fourth and eighth brigades had suffered very little; the Portuguese, the fifth and the first brigades had not fired a shot, and the latter was two miles nearer to Torres Vedras than any part of the French army, which was moreover in great confusion. The relative numbers before the action were considerably in favour of the English; and the result of the action had increased that disparity. A portion of sir Arthur’s army had defeated the enemy when entire; a portion then could effectually follow up his victory, and he resolved with the five brigades on the left to press Junot closely, and driving him over the Sierra da Baragueda, force him upon the Tagus, while Hill, Anstruther, and Fane, seizing the defile of Torres Vedras, should push on to Montachique and cut him off from Lisbon.
click here for larger image.
SKETCH OF THE
BATTLE OF VIMIERO.
21st August 1808.
If this able and decisive operation had been executed, Junot would probably have lost all his artillery, and several thousand stragglers, and being buffeted and turned at every point, would have been glad to seek safety under the guns of Almeida or Elvas, and even that he could only have accomplished because sir John Moore’s troops were not landed at the Mondego. But sir Harry Burrard, who was present during the action, although partly from delicacy, and partly from approving of sir Arthur’s arrangements, he had not hitherto interfered, now assumed the chief command. From him, the order which arrested Ferguson in his victorious career had emanated, by him further offensive operations were forbidden, and he resolved to wait in the position of Vimiero until the arrival of sir John Moore. The adjutant-general Clinton and colonel Murray, the quarter-master-general, supported sir Harry Burrard’s views, and sir Arthur’s earnest representations could not alter his determination.
Sir Harry’s decision was certainly erroneous, but error is common in an art which at best is but a choice of difficulties. The circumstances of the moment were imposing enough to sway most generals; for although Proceedings of the Board of Inquiry. the French were beaten in the attacks, they rallied with surprising quickness under the protection of a strong and gallant cavalry; sir Harry knew that his own artillery carriages were so shaken as to be scarcely fit for service; that the draft horses were few and bad, and that the commissariat parc on the plain was in the greatest confusion. The hired Portuguese carmen were making off with their carriages in all directions; the English cavalry was totally destroyed, and finally, general Spencer had discovered a line of fresh troops on the ridge behind that occupied by the French army. Weighing all these things in his mind with the caution natural to age, Burrard was reluctant to hazard the fortune of the day upon what he deemed a perilous throw.
The duke of Abrantes, who had displayed all that reckless courage to which he originally owed his elevation, profited by this unexpected cessation of the battle, and re-formed his broken infantry. Twelve hundred fresh men joined him at the close of the contest, and, covered by his cavalry, he retreated with order and celerity until he regained the command of the pass of Torres Vedras, so that when the day closed, the relative position of the two armies was the same as on the evening before.
One general, thirteen guns, and several hundred prisoners fell into the hands of the victors, and the total loss of the French was estimated at three thousand men, an exaggeration, no doubt, but it was certainly above two thousand, for their closed columns had been exposed for more than half an hour to sweeping discharges of grape and musquetry, and the dead lay thickly together. General Thiebault indeed reduces the number to eighteen hundred, and asserts that the whole amount of the French army did not much exceed twelve thousand men, from which number he deducts nearly three thousand for the sick, the stragglers, and all those other petty drains which form the torment of a general-in-chief. But when it is considered that this army was composed of Thiebault. men selected and organized into provisionary battalions expressly for the occasion; that one half had only been in the field for a fortnight, and that the whole had enjoyed three days rest at Torres Vedras, it is evident that the number of absentees bears too great a proportion to the combatants. A French order of battle found upon the field gave a total of fourteen thousand men present under arms, of which thirteen hundred were cavalry, and this amount agrees too closely with other estimates, and also with the observations made at the time, to leave any reasonable doubt of its authenticity or correctness.
The arrangements made by sir Harry Burrard did not remain in force a long time. Early on the morning of the 22d, sir Hew Dalrymple disembarked and assumed the chief command. Thus, in the short space of twenty-four hours, during which a battle was fought, the army fell successively into the hands of three men, who, coming from different quarters, with different views, habits, and information, had not any previous opportunity of communing even by letter, so as to arrange a common plan of operations; and they were now brought together at a critical moment, when it was more than probable they must all disagree, and that the public service must suffer from that want of vigour which is inherent to divided councils; for when sir Hew Dalrymple was appointed to the command, sir Arthur Wellesley was privately recommended to him by the minister as a person who should be employed with more than usual confidence; and this unequivocal hint was backed up with too much force Proceedings of the Board of Inquiry. by the previous reputation and recent exploits of the latter, not to produce some want of cordiality; for sir Arthur could not do otherwise than take the lead in discussing affairs of which he had more than laid the foundation, and sir Hew would have forfeited all claims to independence in his command, if he had not exercised the right of judging for himself between the conflicting opinions of his predecessors.
After receiving information upon the most important points, and taking a hasty view of the situation of the army; although the wounded were still upon the Sir H. Dalrymple’s Narrative.
Court of Inquiry. ground, and that the wains of the commissariat were employed in removing them, sir Hew decided to advance upon the 23d, and gave orders to that effect; but, at the same time, he entirely agreed in opinion with sir Harry Burrard, that the operation was a perilous one, which required the concentration of all the troops, and the application of all his means, to bring to a good conclusion; and for this reason he did not rescind the order directing sir John Moore to fall down to Maceira. This last measure was disapproved of by sir Arthur, who observed that the provisions on shore would not supply more than eight or nine days consumption for the troops already at Vimiero; that the country would be unable to furnish any assistance, and that the fleet could not be calculated upon as a resource because the first of the gales common at that season of the year would certainly send it away from the coast, if it did not destroy a great portion of it. Sir Hew thought the evil of having the army separated, would be greater than the chance of distress from such events. His position was certainly difficult; the bishop of Oporto had failed in his promise of assisting the troops with Proceedings of the Board of Inquiry. draft cattle, as indeed he did in all his promises. Both the artillery and commissariat were badly supplied with mules and horses; the cavalry was a nullity; and the enemy was, with the exception of his immediate loss in killed and wounded, suffering nothing from his defeat, which, we have seen, did not deprive him of a single position necessary to his defence.
Sir Hew, while weighing this state of affairs, was informed that general Kellerman, escorted by a strong body of cavalry, was at the outposts, and demanded an interview. It appears, that Junot having regained Thiebault. Torres Vedras and occupied Mafra with half his army, received news from Lisbon that gave him great uneasiness: the symptoms of an immediate explosion in that city threatened him with destruction, and he hastened to extricate himself while there was yet time. Sending forward a false account of a victory, he followed it up by a reinforcement for the garrison, and immediately afterwards called a council of war to advise with upon the measures fittest to pursue towards the English. It is an old and a sound remark, that “a council of war never fights,” and Kellerman’s mission was the result of the above consultation.
That general being conducted to the quarters of the commander-in-chief, demanded a cessation of arms, and proposed the ground-work of a convention under which Junot offered to evacuate Portugal without further resistance. Nothing could be more opportune than this proposition, and sir Hew Dalrymple readily accepted of it as an advantage which would accrue, without any drawback to the general cause of the Peninsula. He knew, from a plan of operations sketched by the chief of the French engineers, colonel Bory de St Vincent, and taken by the Portuguese, that Junot possessed several very strong positions in front of Lisbon, and that a retreat either upon Almeida, or across the river upon Elvas, was not only within the contemplation of that general, but considered in this report as a matter of course, and perfectly easy of execution. Hence the proposed convention was an unexpected advantage offered in a moment of difficulty, and the only subject for consideration was the nature of the articles proposed by Kellerman as a basis for the treaty. Sir Hew was of necessity ignorant of many important details which bore upon the question, and he naturally had recourse to sir Arthur Wellesley for information. The latter, Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry. taking an enlarged view of the question in all its bearings, coincided with the opinion of the former as to the sound policy of agreeing to a convention by which a strong French army would be quietly got out of a country that it had complete military possession of, and by which not only a great moral effect in favour of the general cause would be produced, but likewise an actual gain made both of men and time, for the farther prosecution of the war in Spain. By the convention, he observed,
1º. That a kingdom would be liberated, with all its fortresses, arsenals, &c., and that the excited population of the Peninsula might then be pushed forward in the career of opposition to France, under the most favourable circumstances.
2º. That the Spanish army of Estremadura, which contained the most efficient body of cavalry in the Peninsula, (being first reinforced with the four or five thousand Spanish soldiers who were prisoners on board the vessels in the Tagus), would be enabled to unite with the other patriot armies at a critical period, when every addition of force must tend to increase the confidence, and forward the impulse, which the victory of Baylen, and the flight of Joseph, had given to the Spaniards; and, finally, that the sacrifice of lives to be expected in carrying the French positions in Portugal, all the difficulties of reducing Ibid. the fortresses, and the danger of losing a communication with the fleet, would be avoided by this measure; the result of which would be as complete as the most sanguine could expect from the long course of uncertain and unhealthy operations which must follow a rejection of the proposal. But, completely coinciding, as he did, with the commander-in-chief, as to the utility of the measure itself, he differed with him as to the mode of proceeding, and a long discussion (in which sir H. Burrard took a part) followed the opening of Kellerman’s mission. Sir Arthur’s first objection was, that, in point of form, Kellerman was merely entitled to negotiate a cessation of hostilities. But sir Hew Dalrymple judged, that as the good policy and the utility of the convention were recognised, it would be unwise to drive the French to the wall for the sake of a trivial ceremony. Wherefore the proposition was accepted, and the basis of a definitive treaty was arranged, subject, however, to the final approbation of sir Charles Cotton, without whose concurrence it was not to be binding.
Articles 1st and 2d declared the fact of the armistice, and provided for the mode of future proceedings.
Article 3d indicated the river Sizandre as the line of demarcation between the two armies. The position of Torres Vedras to be occupied by neither.
Article 4th. Sir Hew Dalrymple engaged to have the Portuguese included in the armistice, and their boundary line was to extend from Leria to Thomar.
Article 5th declared, that the French were not to be considered as prisoners of war, and that themselves and their property, public and private, were, without any detainder, to be transported to France. To this article sir Arthur objected, as affording a cover for the abstraction of Portuguese property. General Kellerman replied, that it was to be taken in its fair sense of property justly obtained; and upon this assurance it was admitted.
Article 6th provided for the protection of individuals. It guaranteed from political persecution all French residents, all subjects of powers in alliance with France, and all Portuguese who had served the invaders, or become obnoxious for their attachment to them.
Article 7th stipulated for the neutrality of the port of Lisbon as far as the Russian fleet was concerned. At first Kellerman proposed to have the Russian fleet guaranteed from capture, with leave to return to the Baltic; but this was peremptorily refused; and indeed the whole proceeding was designed to entangle the Russians in the French negotiation, that in case the armistice should be broken, the former might be forced into a co-operation with the latter.
Sir Arthur strenuously opposed this article: he argued, 1º, that the interests of the two nations were not blended, and that they stood in different relations towards the British army. 2º. That it was an important object to keep them separate, and that the French general, if pressed, would leave the Russians to their fate. 3º. That as the British operations had not been so rapid and decisive as to enable them to capture the fleet before the question of neutrality could be agitated, the right of the Russians to such protection was undoubted, and in the present circumstances it was desirable to grant it, because, independent of the chances of their final capture, they would be prevented from returning to the Baltic, which in fact constituted their only point of interest when disengaged from the French negotiation; but, that viewed as allies of the latter, they became of great weight. Lastly, that it was an affair which concerned the Portuguese, Russians, and British, but with which the French could have no right to interfere.
Sir Hew finding that the discussion of this question became lengthened, and considering that sir Charles Cotton alone could finally decide, admitted the article merely as a form, without acquiescing in the propriety of it.
Article 8th provided, that all guns of French calibre, and the horses of the cavalry, were to be likewise transported to France.
Article 9th stipulated, that forty-eight hours notice should be given of the rupture of the armistice.
To this article also sir Arthur objected; he considered it unnecessary for the interests of the British army, and favourable to the French, because if hostilities recommenced, the latter would have forty-eight hours to make arrangements for their defence, for the passage of the Tagus, and for the co-operation of the Russian fleet. Upon the other hand, sir Hew thought it was an absolute advantage to gain time for the preparations of the British army, and for the arrival of sir John Moore’s reinforcements.
By an additional article it was provided, that all the fortresses held by the French, which had not capitulated before the 25th of August, should be given up to the British, and the basis of a convention being thus arranged, general Kellerman returned to his chief, and colonel George Murray was ordered to carry the proposed articles to the English admiral.
Previous to his landing, sir Hew had received none of the letters addressed to him by sir Arthur Wellesley, he had met with no person during his voyage from whom he could obtain authentic information of the state of affairs, and his time had been completely occupied since his arrival by the negotiations with Kellerman; he was consequently ignorant of many details of importance. The day after Kellerman’s departure, don Bernardim Freire Andrada the Portuguese commander-in-chief, came to remonstrate against the armistice just concluded. Now, from the circumstances before-mentioned, it so happened that sir Hew was utterly ignorant of the existence of don Bernardim or his army at the time the armistice was discussed, and it was therefore difficult for him to manage this interview with propriety, because Andrada had some plausible, although no real ground of complaint. His remonstrances were, however, merely intended for the commencement of an intrigue, to which I shall hereafter revert.
Colonel Murray soon reached the fleet, and presented the articles of convention to sir Charles Cotton, but the latter refused to concur therein, and declared that he would himself conduct a separate treaty for the Russian ships. With this answer colonel Murray returned on the 24th, having first, in reply to a question put by the French officer who accompanied him on board the Hibernia, declared that nothing had passed between him and sir Charles Cotton which Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry. ought to preclude further negotiation. Sir Hew Dalrymple was now urged by sir Arthur Wellesley to give notice, without further explanation, that hostilities would recommence, and to leave it to general Junot to renew propositions, if he chose to do so, separately from the Russians. But sir Hew felt himself in honour bound, by colonel Murray’s observation to the French officer, not to take advantage of the occasion; and he likewise felt disinclined to relinquish a negotiation which, from certain circumstances, he deemed upon the point of being crowned with success. He therefore despatched colonel Murray to Lisbon, with directions, to inform Junot of the admiral’s objection, and to give notice of the consequent rupture of the armistice, Murray himself being provided, however, with full powers to enter into and conclude a definitive treaty upon a fresh basis.
The army was, at the same time, pushed forward to Ramalhal, and sir John Moore’s troops commenced Ibid.landing at Maceira Bay. When the order to repair to that place first reached them, a part had been already disembarked in the Mondego, and had to be re-shipped. This and contrary winds detained them for four days, and when they arrived at Maceira great difficulty was encountered, and some loss was sustained, in the getting of them ashore, an operation effected only by five days of incessant exertion on the Procgs. Ct. of Inquiry. part of the navy, for the boats were constantly swamped by the surf, and such was its fury that not more than thirty remained fit for service at the conclusion.
On the 27th, information was received from colonel Murray that a fresh treaty was in agitation upon an admissible basis. On the 28th, the army took a new position, a part occupying Torres Vedras, and the remainder being placed in the rear of that town.
Meanwhile in Lisbon the agitation of the public mind was excessively great, hope and fear were magnified by the obscurity of affairs, and the contradictory news which was spread by the French, and by those who held communication with the country, increased the anxious feelings of joy or grief almost to phrensy. Junot made every effort to engage admiral Siniavin in the negotiation, and the necessity by which the latter was forced to put his ships in a hostile and guarded attitude, contributed powerfully to control the populace, and to give strength to an opinion, industriously spread, that he would make common cause with the French. Siniavin had, however, no intention of this kind, and very early gave notice that he would treat separately.
The French, thus left to themselves, rested their hopes upon their own dexterity, and brought all the ordinary machinery of diplomatic subtlety into play. Among other schemes, Junot opened a separate communication with sir Hew Dalrymple at the moment when colonel Murray, invested with full powers, was engaged in daily conferences with general Kellerman, and the difficulty of coming to a conclusion was much increased by the natural sources of suspicion and jealousy incident to such a singular transaction, where two foreign nations were seen bargaining, and one of them honestly bargaining, for the goods and interests of a third, yet scarcely hinting even at the existence of the latter. The French were the weakest party, and having of course the most to dread, put forward claims which they knew could not be complied with, in order to preserve the vital questions untouched. On the other hand, the Portuguese leaders being relieved from all fear of a signal defeat, were loudly remonstrating against the terms of the convention, and taking advantage of the opportunity to attack some patroles of the French, passed the bounds of demarcation, and threatened the line of the Tagus by Santarem. This movement, and the breach of faith in attacking the patroles, were promptly and distinctly disavowed by sir Hew; but they kept suspicion awake, and the mutual misunderstandings arose at last to such a height, that Junot, seeming for a moment to recover all his natural energy, threatened to burn the public establishments, and to make his retreat good at the expense of the city; a menace which nothing could have prevented him from executing. Finally, however, a definitive treaty was concluded at Lisbon on the 30th, and soon afterwards ratified in form.
This celebrated convention, improperly called “of Cintra,” consisted of twenty-two original, and three Vide [Appendix, No. 10.] supplementary articles, upon the expediency of many of which, sir Arthur Wellesley and the commander-in-chief disagreed; but as their disagreement had reference to the details and not to the general principle, the historical importance is not sufficient to call for remark. An informality on the part of Junot caused some delay in the ratification of the instrument; but the British army marched notwithstanding to take up the position near Lisbon, assigned to it by the 11th article of the treaty.
On the march, sir Hew Dalrymple met two Russian officers, who were charged to open a separate negotiation for the Russian squadron. The British general refused to receive their credentials, and referred them to sir Charles Cotton. Baffled in this attempt to carry on a double treaty (for a naval one was already commenced), Siniavin, whose conduct appears to have been weak, was forced to come to a conclusion with the English admiral. At first he claimed the protection of a neutral port; but singly he possessed none of that weight which circumstances had given him before the convention with Junot, and his claim was answered by an intimation, that a British flag was flying on the forts at the mouth of the Tagus; and this was true, for the third and forty-second regiments, under the command of major-general Beresford, had landed and taken possession of them, in virtue of the convention, and the British colours were hoisted instead of the Portuguese. Foiled by this proceeding, the justice of which is somewhat doubtful, Siniavin finally agreed to surrender, upon the following terms:
1º. The Russian ships, with their sails, stores, &c. to be held by England, as a deposit, until six months after the conclusion of a peace between the two governments of the contracting parties.
2º. The admiral, officers, and seamen, without any restriction as to their future services, to be transported to Russia, at the expense of the British government.
Two additional articles were, subsequently to the ratification of the original treaty, proposed by the Russians, and assented to by the English admiral. The first stipulated that the imperial flag should be displayed, even in the British harbours, as long as the Russian admiral remained on board. The second provided that the ships themselves and their stores should be delivered again at the appointed time, in the same state as when surrendered. The rights of the Portuguese were not referred to; but sir Charles Parliamentary Papers, 1809. Cotton individually was justified by his instructions in this breach of neutrality, for by them he was authorised to make prize of the Russian fleet, which thus suffered all the inconvenience of hostilities, and its commander the shame of striking his colours without having violated in any manner the relations of amity in which his nation stood with regard to the Portuguese. On the other hand, for the sake of a few old and decaying ships, the British government made an injudicious display of contempt for the independence of their ally, as, with singular inconsistency, they permitted the officers and crews, the real strength of the squadron, to return to the Baltic, although scarcely a year had elapsed since the national character was defiled to extinguish in that quarter the existence of a navy inimical to Great Britain.
Pary. Paps. 1809. Admiralty Instructions to sir C. Cotton, 16th April, 1808.
Ibid. Mr. Welly. Pole to sir C. Cotton, 17th Sept. 1808.
This inconsistency belonged wholly to the ministers; for the two original articles of the treaty only were confirmed by them, and they were copied verbatim from the Admiralty instructions delivered to sir Charles Cotton four months previous to the transaction. Yet that officer, by the very men who had framed those instructions, was, with matchless inconsistency, rebuked, for having adopted a new principle of maritime surrender!
The 2d of September head-quarters were established at Oyeras. The right of the army occupied the forts at the mouth of the river, the left rested upon the heights of Bellas.
The French army being concentrated in Lisbon, posted their piquets and guards as if in front of an enemy, and at night the sentries fired upon whoever Thiebault. approached their posts; the police disbanded of their own accord, and the city became a scene of turbulence, anarchy, and crime. Notwithstanding the presence of their enemies, the inhabitants of the capital testified their joy, and evinced their vengeful feelings in a remarkable manner; they refused to sell any provisions, or to deal in any manner with the French, they sung songs of triumph in their hearing, and in their sight fabricated thousands of small lamps for the avowed purpose of illuminating the streets at their departure. The doors of many of the houses occupied by the troops were marked in one night; men were observed bearing in their hats lists of Portuguese or Frenchmen designed for slaughter, and the quarters of Loison were threatened with a serious attack. Yet amidst all this disorder and violence, general Travot, and some others of the French army, fearlessly and safely traversed the streets, unguarded save by the reputation of their just and liberal conduct when in power; a fact extremely honourable to the Portuguese, and conclusive of the misconduct of Ibid. Loison. Junot himself was menaced by an assassin, but he treated the affair with magnanimity, and, in general, he was respected, although in a far less degree than Travot. The dread of an explosion, which would have compromised at once the safety of the French army and of the city, induced Junot to hasten the period when an English division was to occupy the citadel and take charge of the public tranquillity.
Emissaries from the junta of Oporto fomented the disposition of the populace to commit themselves by an attack upon the French; the convention was reprobated, and endeavours were fruitlessly made to turn the tide of indignation even against the English, as abettors of the invaders. The judge of the people, an energetic, but turbulent fellow, issued an inflammatory address calling for a suspension of the treaty, and designating the French as robbers and as insulters of religion. The Monteiro Mor, who commanded a rabble of peasantry which he dignified with the title of an army, had taken possession of the south bank of the Tagus, and from his quarters issued a protest against the convention, the execution of which he had the audacity to call upon sir Charles Cotton to interrupt. The latter sent his communications to sir Hew Dalrymple, who treated them with the contemptuous indignation they merited.
Sir John Hope being appointed the English commandant of Lisbon, took possession of the castle of Belem on the 10th, and of the citadel on the 12th, and, by his firm and vigorous conduct, soon reduced the effervescence of the public mind, and repressed the disorders which had arisen to a height that gave opportunity for the commission of any villany. The duke of Abrantes, with his staff, embarked the 13th. The first division of his army sailed the 15th, it was followed by the second and third divisions, and on the 30th all the French, except the garrisons of Elvas and Almeida, were out of Portugal.
The execution of the convention had not been carried on thus far without much trouble and contestation. Lord Proby, the English commissioner appointed to carry the articles of the treaty into effect, was joined by major-general Beresford on the 5th, and their united labours were scarcely sufficient to meet the exigencies of a task in the prosecution of which disputes hourly arose. Anger, the cupidity of individuals, and opportunity, combined to push the French beyond the bounds of honour and decency, and several gross attempts were made to appropriate property which no interpretation of the stipulations could give a colour to; amongst the most odious were the abstraction of manuscripts and rare specimens of natural history from the national museum, and the invasion of the deposito publico, or funds of money awaiting legal decision for their final appropriation. Those dishonest attempts were met and checked with a strong hand, and at last a committee, consisting of an individual of each of the three nations, was appointed by the commissioners on both sides. Their office was to receive reclamations, to investigate them, and to do justice by seizing upon all contraband baggage embarked by the French. This measure was attended with excellent effect. It must, however, be observed, that the loud complaints and violence of the Portuguese, and the machinations of the bishop of Oporto, seem to have excited the suspicions of the British, and influenced their actions more than the real facts warranted; for the national character of the Portuguese was not then understood, nor the extent to which they supplied the place of true reports, by the fabrication of false ones, generally known. Writers have not been wanting to exaggerate the grounds of complaint. The English have imputed fraud, and evasions of the most dishonourable kind to the French, and the latter have retorted by accusations of gratuitous insult and breach of faith, asserting that their soldiers when on board the British ships were treated with cruelty in order to induce them to desert. It would be too much to affirm that all the error was on one side, but it does appear reasonable and consonant to justice to decide, that as the French were originally aggressors and acting for their own interest, and that the British were interfering for the protection of the Portuguese, any indecorous zeal upon the part of the latter, if not commendable, was certainly more excusable than in their opponents. Upon the ground of its being evidently impossible for him to know what was doing in his name, the British commissioners acquitted Junot of any personal impropriety of conduct, and his public orders, which denounced severe punishments for such malpractices, corroborated Sir H. Dalrymple’s Narrative. Court of Inquiry. this testimony; yet Kellerman, in his communications with sir Hew Dalrymple, did not scruple to insinuate matter to the duke’s disadvantage. But, amidst all these conflicting accusations, the British commander’s personal good faith and scrupulous adherence to justice has never been called in question.
To define the exact extent to which each party should have pushed their claims is not an easy task; but an impartial investigator would begin by carefully separating the original rights of the French from those rights which they acquired by the convention. Much of the subsequent clamour in England against the authors of that treaty sprung from the error of confounding these essentially distinct grounds of argument. Conquest being the sole foundation of the first, defeat, if complete, extinguished them, if incomplete, nullified a part only. Now the issue of the appeal to arms not having been answerable to the justice of the cause, an agreement ensued, by which a part was sacrificed for the sake of the remainder, and upon the terms of that agreement the whole question of right hinges. If the French were not prisoners of war, it follows that they had not forfeited their claims founded on the right of conquest, but they were willing to exchange an insecure tenure of the whole for a secure tenure of a part. The difficulty consisted in defining exactly what was conceded, and what should be recovered from them. With respect to the latter, the restitution of plunder acquired anterior to the convention was clearly out of the question: if officially made, it was part of the rights bargained for, and if individually, to what tribunal could the innumerable claims which would follow such an article be referred? Abstract notions of right in such matters are misplaced. If an army surrenders at discretion, the victors may say with Brennus, “Woe to the vanquished;” but a convention implies some weakness, and must be weighed in the scales of prudence, not in those of justice.