My dear Wilson,—I arrived last night. Hasten up your division: there never was a finer opportunity of destroying a French corps, in other words and in my opinion, their 2nd Division: but I have no certainty of what force is the enemy. At any rate send me your squadron of cavalry, or even twenty dragoons. I am very ill-treated by Baccelar in regard to cavalry. Push on yourself personally. You know how happy I shall be in having you once more as the partner of my operations. Order up everything you can from Celorico to eat: here there is nothing.—Yrs. N. T.
The French 2nd Division was Clausel’s, as it chanced, the one that was precisely not at Sabugal, but executing the raid on Castello Branco.
[318] Wellington to Trant, Dispatches, ix. p. 73.
[319] Narrative of Trant in Napier’s Appendix to vol. iv. p. 451.
[320] There is an account of this rout from the French side in the Mémoires of Parquin, of the 13th Chasseurs, an officer mentioned in Marmont’s dispatch as having taken one of the flags. Parquin calls it that of the regiment of Eurillas. There was no such corps: those which lost standards were Aveiro, Oliveira, and Penafiel. A lengthy account may be found also in Beresford’s Ordens do Dia for May 7, where blame and praise are carefully distributed, and the curious order is made that the disgraced regiments are to leave their surviving flags at home, till they have washed out the stain on their honour by good service in the field.
[321] Marmont to Berthier: Fuente Guinaldo, April 22. ‘Les rapports des prisonniers sont que trois divisions de l’armée anglaise reviennent sur le Coa. Mais cette nouvelle ayant été donnée avec affectation par les parlementaires, et n’ayant vu jamais autre chose que le seul 1er de Hussards Allemands, qui était précédemment sur cette rive, et point d’infanterie, ni rien qui annonce la présence d’un corps de troupes, je suis autorisé à croire que c’est un bruit qu’on a fait courir à dessein, et qu’il n’y a pas d’Anglais en présence. Je suis à peu près certain qu’il a parti de Portalègre deux divisions, qui se sont portées à Villa Velha: mais il me paraît évident qu’elles ne se sont beaucoup éloignées du Tage.’ The actual situation was 1st Hussars K.G.L. Quadraseyes in front of Sabugal: Light Division, Sabugal: 3rd Division, Sortelha: 4th Division, Pedrogão, 5th Division, Alpedrinha; 1st, 6th, 7th Divisions, Losa: Pack’s Portuguese, Memoa. The map will show what a fearful situation Marmont would have been in had he halted for another day.
[322] Wellington to Liverpool, April 7, Dispatches, ix. p. 43.
[323] Wellington to Henry Wellesley, April 4, Dispatches, ix. p. 29.
[324] Wellington to Alten, April 18, Dispatches, ix. p. 68, ‘I beg to observe that if you had assembled the 1st Hussars at Pastores on the 30th March and 1st April ... you would have kept open the communication between Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, and the convoy would probably have got into the latter place.’
[325] The date can be fixed from D’Urban’s Journal: ‘Marmont has blockaded Rodrigo, reconnoitred Almeida, and has now made an inroad as far as Fundão: all this obliges a movement toward him. April 11.’