[176] See vol. ii. pages 210-15.
[177] This unpublished document here quoted, along with the whole of Sir Benjamin’s journal and correspondence, has been placed at my disposal by his grandson, Mr. D’Urban. They are invaluable for the Portuguese aspect of the War.
[178] This rule I find definitely laid down in a letter of Hardinge, Beresford’s Quartermaster-general, written as late as 1812, but the practice was already in full use by 1810.
[179] For narratives of the daily life of a British officer in a Portuguese regiment see Bunbury’s Reminiscences of a Veteran, and Blakiston’s Twelve Years of Military Adventure. Both had their difficulties, but both, on the whole, got on well with their colleagues. D’Urban’s correspondence supplies a frequent commentary on regimental problems.
[180] How this was done may be read in Blakiston.
[181] See Bunbury, p. 54.
[182] They were dressed in dark brown instead of in the rifle green. The shako, coat, and trousers were of the British model.
[183] Silveira was the despair of Beresford and his chief-of-the-staff D’Urban. The latter writes (Apr. 19, 1810): ‘This general is the most extraordinary of all the people in this extraordinary country. Perpetually fluctuating—incapable of standing still—always wishing to move backward or forward—all his movements to no purpose but that of harassing his troops. The man is either very weak or very designing—perhaps both. Anyhow he is a mischievous charlatan, and I wish the Marshal would not yield to the prejudices of the people by employing him.’
[184] Viz. the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 19th of the line, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Caçadores.
[185] Wellington to Hill, Jan. 24, 1810.