[740] See especially the remarks of Leach, George Napier, Leith-Hay, Stothert, and Cooper.
[741] Wellesley to Castlereagh, from Truxillo, Aug. 21, 1809.
[742] In his dispatch to the Marquis Wellesley, from Merida, Aug. 24, he observes that he had considered himself in honour bound to continue his co-operation unless (1) Soult should invade Portugal, or (2) the Spaniards should move off towards another theatre of war, i.e. La Mancha, or (3) he should himself be starved out, as actually happened.
[743] Eguia’s unhappy phrase was ‘If notwithstanding this answer [to the effect that the Truxillo magazines should be placed in charge of a British commissary] your Excellency should persist in marching your troops into Portugal, I shall be convinced that other causes, and not only the want of subsistence, have induced your Excellency to decide on taking such a step.’ [From Deleytosa, Aug. 19.]
[744] ‘I have had the honour of receiving your Excellency’s letter of this day’s date, and I feel much concerned that anything should have occurred to induce your Excellency to express a doubt of the truth of what I have written to you. As however your Excellency entertains that doubt, any further correspondence between us appears unnecessary, and accordingly this is the last letter which I shall have the honour of addressing to you.’ Wellesley to Eguia, Aug. 19.
[745] ‘It is said that Don L. de Calvo promised and engaged to supply the British army, upon which I have only to observe that I had already trusted too long to the promises of Spanish agents, and I had particular reason for want of confidence in Don L. de Calvo. At the moment when he was assuring me that the British army should have all the food the country could afford, I had in my possession an order from him directing the magistrates of Guadalupe to send to the Spanish head quarters provisions which a British commissary had prepared for the magazine at Truxillo.’ Oct. 30, to Marquis Wellesley.
[746] ‘I have no provisions, no horses, no means of transport, I am overloaded with sick; the horses of the cavalry are scarcely able to march, or those of the artillery to draw their guns. The officers and soldiers alike are worn down by want of food and privations of every description.’ Wellesley to Marquis Wellesley, Miajadas, Aug. 22.
[747] Lord Wellesley to Sir Arthur Wellesley, Seville, Aug. 22.
[748] The Armistice of Znaim was signed July 12. The Falmouth packet with the news reached Lisbon only on Aug. 9. Yet Wellesley had heard rumours of peace as early as Aug. 4 [Well. Disp. iv. 560].
[749] Canning to Lord Wellesley, London, Aug. 12: ‘The question which first arises is whether the state of things in Spain be such as that a British army of 30,000 men, acting in co-operation with the Spanish armies, could be reasonably expected either to effect the deliverance of the whole Peninsula, or to make head against the augmented force which Bonaparte may now be enabled to direct against that country. Upon this question your Excellency will receive the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley, to whom a copy of this dispatch is transmitted. If the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley shall be that, with so limited a force as 30,000 men, offensive operations in Spain could not prudently be attempted, and if he shall conceive that the utmost object to which such an army would be adequate is the defence of Portugal, your Excellency will then only have to state to the Spanish Government the nature of the instructions under which Sir A. Wellesley now acts.... If on the other hand Sir A. Wellesley shall entertain the opinion that with an effective British army of 30,000, combined with the Spanish and Portuguese armies, it might be possible either to expel the French from Spain, or to resist even their augmented force with a reasonable prospect of success ... your Excellency will then also receive the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley as to the conditions necessary to be obtained from the Spanish Government, as a preliminary to entering on any concerted system of joint military operations.’