Memoir of the early campaigns of the Duke of Wellington, in Portugal and Spain, / By an officer employed in his army

by Earl of John Fane Westmorland

It was the great triumph of Lord Wellington’s skill and foresight, that, without exposing a single man in action, he had since the 10th of October retained at first a superior army in inactivity before him; he had seen it diminish in numbers every day; and, in the end, without its having effected a single purpose, he had obliged it to retire, oppressed with fatigue and sickness. Towards reducing the country it occupied, it had not made the slightest progress; the provisions of the British army were drawn from the northern provinces in its rear; Coimbra continued occupied by the Portuguese militia; Abrantes by the Portuguese garrison; so that it may truly be described as commanding only the ground on which it stood.

The state of Lisbon during the period when the enemy was hardly twenty miles distant from it, deserves to be mentioned. Massena had expected that his near approach would have caused tumult and a revolution; but far from this, as a proof of the extraordinary confidence entertained of Lord Wellington, no town was ever in more perfect quiet; there never appeared in it the slightest symptom of fear or apprehension. The ordinary occupations were continued, although the enemy was but a single march from it. Yet total ruin was known to await the town, if Massena, by succeeding against the allied army, forced an entry into it. The apprehension of such a catastrophe was, however, at no time entertained; implicit reliance on the skill of their chief, and the bravery of the troops, was the universal sentiment of the Portuguese.

The persons whose property had been surrendered to be laid waste by the enemy, shewed the same feelings; the poor peasants, who had abandoned every thing they possessed, were alike persuaded that all was done for the best; and in the whole country there was not a dissenting voice in giving unlimited confidence to Lord Wellington.

As soon as the retreat of the enemy was known, the allied army was put in motion to follow him; his movement was, however, so rapid, that he was not overtaken till within a few miles of Santarem. The rear guard was pushed over the bridge in front of that place, where it took up a strong and formidable position.

Lord Wellington had not pursued the enemy with the whole of his force; suspecting, that it might, in the first instance, be the intention of Massena to move round Monte Junto, he retained Major General Picton’s division in its position at Torres Vedras; he afterwards detached Lieutenant General Hill with the corps under his orders across the Tagus at Valada, with a view of communicating with Abrantes, which it might be the intention of the French to attack, and also to protect the Alemtejo from any offensive operation.

The rest of the army was brought opposite to Santarem. Lord Wellington having received a report from Major General Fane, that the baggage of the French army was retiring towards Thomar, conceived that Massena was altogether falling back; with this idea he determined to attack what appeared to be his rear guard, which was placed upon a small river, the Rio Mayor. A disposition with this view was made; a part of Brigadier General Pack’s brigade was to have passed, supported by a detachment of cavalry, on the right of the French position, about a mile beyond it; Sir William Erskine’s brigade, supported by the Guards, was to have stormed the bridge; while Major General Crawford, with the light division, was to have attacked the enemy’s left, and along the Tagus to have menaced the rear of his advanced position. The rain, which had been very heavy during the preceding days, had, however, so much swelled the river where Brigadier General Pack was to have passed, that it was found impracticable; the enemy also appearing in considerable force, the operation was given up; Lord Wellington still determining to adhere to his defensive system, and deciding rather to fall back again upon his lines than seek the French army, or give it an opportunity of meeting him upon any thing like equal terms.

Massena continued the succeeding days to strengthen his position at Santarem; Lord Wellington retained only his light division in front of it, and placed the rest of his army in echellons to the rear. The head-quarters were placed at Cartaxo; Sir Brent Spencer, with the Guards and Major General Cameron’s brigade, in the same place; Lieutenant General Cole’s division at Azambujo; Major General Leith’s at Alcoentre; Major General A. Campbell’s at Alemquer; Major General Picton’s at Torres Vedras, and the Spaniards at Villa-Franca. Massena threw a bridge over the Zezere at its confluence with the Tagus, as if with the intention of passing a corps for the siege of Abrantes; he was contented, however, with reconnoitring that place, which he never after molested. He placed his army in cantonments stretching as far back as Thomar, Torres Novas, and Alcanede; and in this situation, protected by the position at Santarem, remained in quiet, apparently awaiting reinforcements and orders how to proceed. Lord Wellington saw this with perfect indifference; he was persuaded that the more the enemy was reinforced the greater would be his suffering, and the less the general advantage to his cause in the Peninsula. He determined, therefore, to undertake no operation to prevent it, nor any other which could either cause him risk, or could draw him from his general system of defensive measures.

From this period, the 12th of November 1810, to the 4th of March, 1811, both armies retained their respective positions; the only events of any importance, were the arrival of the 9th corps of 10,000 men, commanded by General Cte. Erlon, which was placed by Massena to protect his right at Leyria; and the junction of 5,000 men, who were brought by General Foy upon his return from Paris, where he had been sent by Massena, soon after his arrival opposite our lines, to render an account of the operations of the French army, and of its situation. Buonaparte received the relation of these events with much indifference; and observed upon the excuses General Foy was directed to make, for the loss of the battle of Busaco, “Ah bah! les Anglais de tout temps ont battu les Français.”

General Gardane, in attempting to carry a corps of 3,000 men to join Massena, was driven back by some Portuguese militia. General Claparede posted himself, with a corps of 8,000 men, in the environs of Guarda; from whence he had several actions with the irregulars in that part of the country, by whom the communication of the French army with Spain had been totally cut off.

During the whole of this period, the French subsisted solely on the plunder of the country they occupied. The irregular manner in which this mode of obtaining supplies was conducted, led to the perpetration of the most revolting atrocities. Torture inflicted upon the inhabitants, to extract from them the secret of their depôts of provisions and property, was one of the expedients most common to the French soldiery. The murder of the peasantry seemed to be committed without remorse; the capture of the women was converted often into a source of profit. Nothing more revolting to the mind of civilized man can be produced, than the list of horrors committed during this lamentable period.