FOOTNOTES:
[1] Lord Stuart de Rothesay.
[2] First aide-de-camp to marshal Massena.
[3] Admiral sir Edward Codrington.
[4] Lord Lynedoch.
[5] Lieut.-gov. of Gibraltar.
[6] Governor of Almeida.
[7] Dupont’s proceedings at Cordoba, as related in my first volume, have been commented upon in a recent publication, entitled “Annals of the Peninsular Campaigns.”
Upon the authority of general Foy, the author asserts that Cordoba was sacked, calls it “a gratuitous atrocity,” and “an inhuman butchery” and no doubt, taking for fiction the stories of Agathocles, Marius, Sylla, and a thousand others, gravely affirms, that, capacity and cruelty are rarely united; that Dupont was a fool, and that Napoleon did not poison him in a dungeon, but that he must have “dragged on a miserable existence exposed to universal scorn and hatred.”
Unfortunately for the application of this nursery philosophy, Dupont, although a bad officer, was a man of acknowledged talents, and became minister of war at the restoration of the Bourbons, a period fixed by the author of “the Annals,” as the era of good government in France. But I rejected Foy’s authority, 1st, because his work, unfinished and posthumous, discovered more of the orator than the impartial historian, and he was politically opposed to Dupont. Secondly, because he was not an eye witness, and his relation at variance with the “official journal of Dupont’s operations” was also contradicted by the testimony of a British general of known talents and accuracy, who obtained his information on the spot a few months subsequent to the event.
“Some time after the victory, order was restored, pillage was forbidden under pain of death, and the chosen companies maintained the police.”—Journal of Operations.
Cordoba was not pillaged, being one of the few places where the French were well received.—Letters from a British general to colonel Napier.
On this point, therefore, I am clear; but the author of the “Annals,” after contrasting my account with Foy’s, thus proceeds, “It is only necessary to add, that the preceding statement is given by colonel Napier without any quotation of authority.”
A less concise writer might have thought it right to add that, six months previous to the publication of the Annals, colonel Napier, hearing that some of his statements appeared inconclusive to the author of that work, because there was no quotation of authority, transmitted through a mutual friend, an assurance that he had authority for every statement, and that he would willingly furnish the author with any or all of them: no notice was taken of this offer!
[8] An interesting account of this noble-minded woman, is to be found in a small volume, entitled, “Sketches of a Soldier’s Life, in Ireland,” by the author of “The Eventful Life of a Soldier.” This last work was erroneously designated, in my first volume, as “The Life of a Sergeant.”
[9] [Note in Napoleon’s own hand.] On ne doit pas oublier qu’en approchant de France tout favourise la desertion.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
[Footnote [9] is referenced twice from [page 563].
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.
Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added, when a predominant preference was found in the original book.
To save space in the wide tables in [Note I] of the Appendix, the headings ‘Hospital.’ and ‘Cavalry.’ have been abbreviated to ‘Hosp.’ and ‘Cav.’.
The original table in [Note IX], section 4, was very wide and has been split into three parts.
In those sections of the Appendix that are French documents, some corrections to accents have been made silently; primarily é for e, and e for é. Incorrect grammar and spelling has been left unchanged.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Table of Contents:
[Pg v]: ‘Captain Hollowell’ replaced by ‘Captain Hallowell’.
[Pg x]: ‘maratime operations’ replaced by ‘maritime operations’.
[Pg xii]: ‘retreats to Lerena’ replaced by ‘retreats to Llerena’.
Main text:
[Pg 3]: ‘Pyrennean vallies’ replaced by ‘Pyrennean valleys’.
[Pg 3]: ‘into the vallies’ replaced by ‘into the valleys’.
[Pg 5]: ‘Nuesta Senora’ replaced by ‘Nuestra Senora’.
[Pg 11]: ‘the commucations of’ replaced by ‘the communications of’.
[Pg 13]: ‘being unqual to’ replaced by ‘being unequal to’.
[Pg 14]: ‘very essense of’ replaced by ‘very essence of’.
[Pg 18]: ‘on the ocsion’ replaced by ‘on the occasion’.
[Pg 21]: ‘occupied by Coupigny’ replaced by ‘occupied by Conpigny’.
[Pg 33]: ‘calamity befal’ replaced by ‘calamity befall’.
[Pg 47]: ‘was betowed with’ replaced by ‘was bestowed with’.
[Pg 54]: ‘and carelesssly’ replaced by ‘and carelessly’.
[Pg 61 (Sidenote)]: ‘Wellesly’ replaced by ‘Wellesley’.
[Pg 63]: ‘the Portugese’ replaced by ‘the Portuguese’.
[Pg 64 (Sidenote)]: ‘Wellesly’ replaced by ‘Wellesley’.
[Pg 73]: ‘subborn resistance’ replaced by ‘stubborn resistance’.
[Pg 86]: ‘from Aranjues to’ replaced by ‘from Aranjuez to’.
[Pg 92]: ‘whose procedings’ replaced by ‘whose proceedings’.
[Pg 96]: ‘at Yevenes and’ replaced by ‘at Yebenes and’.
[Pg 125]: ‘war of invavasion’ replaced by ‘war of invasion’.
[Pg 138]: ‘evacuted the town’ replaced by ‘evacuated the town’.
[Pg 139]: ‘to recal them’ replaced by ‘to recall them’.
[Pg 143 (Sidenote)]: ‘des Française’ replaced by ‘des Français’.
[Pg 174]: ‘Toccadero creek’ replaced by ‘Troccadero creek’.
[Pg 179]: ‘soldiers, and and a’ replaced by ‘soldiers, and a’.
[Pg 197]: ‘from about Lerena’ replaced by ‘from about Llerena’.
[Pg 237]: ‘required extrordinary’ replaced by ‘required extraordinary’.
[Pg 237]: ‘merely a a conqueror’ replaced by ‘merely a conqueror’.
[Pg 242]: ‘dictinct lines’ replaced by ‘distinct lines’.
[Pg 243]: ‘Gallicia and Asturia’ replaced by ‘Gallicia and Asturias’.
[Pg 247]: ‘in misrepresentions’ replaced by ‘in misrepresentations’.
[Pg 261]: ‘having Silviera and’ replaced by ‘having Silveira and’.
[Pg 280]: ‘secorrer esta plaza’ replaced by ‘socorrer esta plaza’.
[Pg 304 (Sidenote)]: ‘Cox’s Narative’ replaced by ‘Cox’s Narrative’.
[Pg 307]: ‘lost a quadron’ replaced by ‘lost a squadron’.
[Pg 331]: ‘Portuguese caçadore’ replaced by ‘Portuguese caçadores’.
[Pg 356]: ‘3º. From Bucellas’ replaced by ‘4º. From Bucellas’.
[Pg 359]: ‘Massena, suprised’ replaced by ‘Massena, surprised’.
[Pg 366]: ‘own governmennt’ replaced by ‘own government’.
[Pg 380]: ‘Frenchmen run to’ replaced by ‘Frenchmen ran to’.
[Pg 380]: ‘with the assistace’ replaced by ‘with the assistance’.
[Pg 396]: ‘when Bacellar brought’ replaced by ‘when Baccellar brought’.
[Pg 414]: ‘Moguer and Heulva’ replaced by ‘Moguer and Huelva’.
[Pg 454]: ‘the posisition of’ replaced by ‘the position of’.
[Pg 464]: ‘the abler tactitian’ replaced by ‘the abler tactician’.
[Pg 473]: ‘from distruction’ replaced by ‘from destruction’.
[Pg 485]: ‘immediately run out’ replaced by ‘immediately ran out’.
[Pg 514]: ‘seventh divison’ replaced by ‘seventh division’.
[Pg 583]: ‘de St. Fernado’ replaced by ‘de St. Fernando’.
[Pg 588]: ‘wish to emove’ replaced by ‘wish to remove’.
Appendix:
[Pg 608] Note VII: missing heading ‘SECTION 2.’ inserted before ‘Extrait du Journal du C. de B. Pelet’.
[Pg 615] Note VII: ‘SECTION IX’ replaced by ‘SECTION 9’.
[Pg 621] Note VII: ‘SECTION XVIII’ replaced by ‘SECTION 18’.
[Pg 621] Note VII: ‘SECTION XIX’ replaced by ‘SECTION 19’.
[Pg 622] Note VII: ‘SECTION XX’ replaced by ‘SECTION 20’.
[Pg 628] Note IX: ‘SECTION II’ replaced by ‘SECTION 2’.
[Pg 628] Note IX: ‘Brigadier-gen. Dilkes’ replaced by ‘Brigadier-gen. Dilke’.
[Pg 629] Note IX: ‘SECTION III’ replaced by ‘SECTION 3’.
[Pg 635] Note IX: ‘SECTION 7’ replaced by ‘SECTION 8’.