I must mention, once more, kind assistance from the officials of the Historical sections of the War Ministries at Paris and at Madrid. My friend Commandant Balagny, who gave me so much help during the compilation of my second volume, has unfortunately been absent on a military mission to Brazil during the last three years. But the kind offices of M. Martinien have continually aided me in getting access to the particular sections of the Paris archives with which I was from time to time concerned. I must here take the opportunity of expressing once more my admiration for his colossal work, the Liste des officiers tués et blessés pendant les Guerres de l’Empire, which, on the numberless occasions when no casualty-return appears in the Paris archives, enables one to determine what regiments were present at any action, and in what proportion they suffered. At Madrid Captain Emilio Figueras has continued his kind services, offered during the compilation of my second volume, and was indefatigable in going through the papers of 1810 with me, during my two visits to the Spanish capital.
Among my English helpers I must cite with special gratitude four names. The first is that of Mr. C. T. Atkinson, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, who has read the proofs of the greater part of this volume, and given me many valuable corrections and pieces of information, from his wide knowledge of British regimental history. The second is that of Major John H. Leslie, R.A., who has compiled the Artillery Appendix to this section, corresponding to that which Colonel Whinyates compiled for the last. I am also most grateful to him for an early view of the useful ‘Dickson Papers,’ which he is publishing for the Royal Artillery Institution. The third is that of the Rev. Alexander Craufurd, who has continued to give me notes on the history of the Light Division, while it was commanded by his grandfather, the famous Robert Craufurd. The fourth is that of Mr. C. E. Doble of the Clarendon Press, who has again read for errors every page of a long volume.
Lastly, the indefatigable compiler of the Index must receive once more my heartfelt thanks for a labour of love.
The reader will find several topographical notes appended at the end of chapters, the results of my first and second tours along the borderland of Spain and Portugal. Two long visits to the battlefield of Bussaco, and some days spent between the Coa and the Agueda, and behind the Lines of Torres Vedras, gave me many new topographical facts of importance. Drives and walks in the Badajoz-Elvas country, and about Coimbra, also turned out most profitable. But my notes on the battlefields of Fuentes d’Oñoro and Albuera can only be utilized in my next volume, which I trust may not be long in following its predecessor into print.
The spelling of many of the Spanish, and more especially the Portuguese, names may appear unfamiliar to some readers. But I believe that correctness should be studied above all things, even though the results in cases like Bussaco with the double s, Golegão, or Santa Comba Dao, may produce a momentary shock to the eye. Portuguese spelling, both in personal names and in topography, was in a state of flux in 1810. For example, the General commanding the Artillery always appears as da Rosa in the official army lists, yet signed his name da Roza; countless other instances could be produced. Where it was possible I have followed the individual’s own version of his name: he ought to have known best. There are still, no doubt, errors of spelling surviving: no man is infallible, but I have done my best to reduce them to a minimum.
C. OMAN.
Oxford:
March 1, 1908.
CONTENTS
| SECTION XVII | ||
| From Talavera to Ocaña | ||
| Chapter | PAGE | |
| [I.] | Introductory. The Central Junta. Wellesley and Wellington | [1] |
| [II.] | Events in Eastern Spain during the Summer and Autumn of 1809: the Siege of Gerona begins | [9] |
| [III.] | The Fall of Gerona (Aug.–Dec. 1809) | [37] |
| [IV.] | The Autumn Campaign of 1809: Tamames, Ocaña, and Alba de Tormes | [67] |
| SECTION XVIII | ||
| The Conquest of Andalusia | ||
| [I.] | The Consequences of Ocaña (Dec. 1809–Jan. 1810) | [103] |
| [II.] | The Conquest of Andalusia: King Joseph and his plans | [114] |
| [III.] | Andalusia overrun: Cadiz preserved (Jan.–Feb. 1810) | [128] |
| SECTION XIX | ||
| The Portuguese Campaign of 1810 | ||
| [I.] | The Military Geography of Portugal | [153] |
| [II.] | Wellington’s Preparations for Defence | [167] |
| [III.] | The French Preparations: Masséna’s Army of Portugal | [197] |
| [IV.] | The Months of Waiting: Siege of Astorga (March–May 1810) | [212] |
| [V.] | The Months of Waiting: Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (May–July 1810) | [231] |
| [VI.] | The Combat of the Coa: Siege of Almeida (July–Aug. 1810) | [257] |
| Note on Almeida and the Bridge of the Coa | [280] | |
| SECTION XX | ||
| Operations in the East and South of Spain during the Spring and Summer of 1810 | ||
| [I.] | Suchet and Augereau in Aragon, Valencia, and Catalonia, March–July 1810 | [282] |
| [II.] | Operations in the South of Spain during the Spring and Summer of 1810 (March–Oct. 1810) | [315] |
| SECTION XXI | ||
| Bussaco and Torres Vedras (Sept.–Dec. 1810) | ||
| [I.] | Masséna’s Advance to Bussaco (Sept. 1810) | [341] |
| Note on the Situation upon September 25 | [357-8] | |
| [II.] | The Battle of Bussaco (Sept. 27, 1810) | [359] |
| Note on the Topography of Bussaco | [386-8] | |
| Note on the Crisis of the Battle of Bussaco | [388-9] | |
| [III.] | Wellington’s Retreat to the Lines of Torres Vedras (Oct. 1810) | [390] |
| [IV.] | The Lines of Torres Vedras | [419] |
| [V.] | Masséna before the Lines: his retreat to Santarem (Oct.–Nov. 1810) | [437] |
| SECTION XXII | ||
| The End of the Year 1810 | ||
| [I.] | Operations in the North and East of Spain (July–Dec. 1810) | [482] |
| [II.] | King Joseph, and the Cortes at Cadiz: General Summary | [505] |
| APPENDICES | ||
| [I.] | The Spanish Forces at the Siege of Gerona | [524] |
| [II.] | The French Forces at the Siege of Gerona | [525] |
| [III.] | Del Parque’s Army in the Tamames–Alba de Tormes Campaign | [526] |
| [IV.] | Losses of the French at Tamames (Oct. 18, 1809) | [528] |
| [V.] | The Partition of the Army of Estremadura in September 1809 | [528] |
| [VI.] | Areizaga’s Army in the Ocaña Campaign | [530] |
| [VII.] | The French Army of Spain in January 1810 | [532] |
| [VIII.] | Muster-roll of Masséna’s Army of Portugal on September 15, 1810, January 1 and March 15, 1811 | [540] |
| [IX.] | British Losses at the Combat of the Coa | [544] |
| [X.] | Wellington’s Army in the Campaign of Bussaco | [544] |
| [XI.] | Masséna’s Orders for the Battle of Bussaco | [549] |
| [XII.] | British and Portuguese Losses at Bussaco | [550] |
| [XIII.] | French Losses at Bussaco | [552] |
| [XIV.] | The Anglo-Portuguese Army in the Lines of Torres Vedras | [554] |
| [XV.] | The British and Portuguese Artillery in the Campaign of 1810 | [558] |
| [INDEX] | [561] | |