[348] It is noteworthy that Wellesley, when he was placed in communication with Argenton three days later, considered that one of the few useful facts which he had got from the plotter was that Soult and his army had no knowledge of where Victor might be, or of what he was doing. This was a far more precious piece of information than any details as to the conspiracy, which Wellesley regarded from the first as doomed to failure: see Wellington Dispatches, iv. 274.
[349] Wellesley to Castlereagh, from Lisbon, April 24. I have ventured to substitute ‘before bringing’ in the last sentence for the unmeaning ‘and to bring’ which is clearly a lapsus calami.
[350] Wellesley (to Mr. Frere, at Seville) from Lisbon, April 24. In many sentences this dispatch is only a repetition of that to Castlereagh. But in others Sir Arthur makes his meaning more clear, by a more detailed explanation.
[351] Wellesley to Frere, Lisbon, April 24, 1809.
[352] Memorandum on the Defence of Portugal, of March 7.
[353] If to Masséna’s field army of 60,000 men we add the troops on his communications (viz. the 9th Corps and the garrisons of Rodrigo and Almeida) and also the force which Soult and Mortier brought up against Badajoz and Elvas—a force against which Wellesley had to provide, by making large detachments—the full number of 100,000 is reached.
[354] See, for example, the anecdote in Sir G. L’Estrange’s Reminiscences, p. 194. Picton was equally given to the use (or abuse) of mufti, and fought Quatre Bras in a tall hat!
[355] ‘Provided we brought our men into the field well appointed, and with sixty good rounds in their pouches, he never looked to see whether our trousers were black or blue or grey. Scarcely any two officers dressed alike. Some wore grey braided coats, others brown, some liked blue: many from choice or necessity stuck to the “old red rag.” We were never tormented with that greatest of bores on active service, uniformity of dress.’ Grattan’s With the 88th, p. 50.
[356] To find a humorous contrast to Wellington’s staff, the reader might consult Lejeune’s account of that of Berthier, who had allowed him to design a special and gorgeous uniform, all fur feathers and braid, for his aides-de-camp. Lejeune dwells with the enthusiasm of a tailor on his efforts and their glorious effect on parade [Lejeune, i. p. 95].
[357] Lord Roberts, in his Rise of Wellington, only slightly overstates his case when he observes that the more we study Wellesley’s life in detail, the more we respect him as a general and the less we like him as a man. If we come upon much that is hard and unsympathetic, there are too many redeeming traits to justify the statement in its entirety.