On the 29th of June, information was again forwarded to me, by persons favourable to the Imperial cause, that a council of war had been held, at which it had been resolved to withdraw the fleet to St. Catherine's or Maranham, and not the fleet alone but the troops also—thus abandoning the city and province of Bahia to the Imperial squadron; the council judging that I should be well content to permit them to pass to another part of the coast, as their departure would result in the Imperial occupation of Bahia.
The subjoined proclamation issued by General Madeira will shew the straits to which the blockading squadron had reduced the city and garrison:—
INHABITANTS OF BAHIA,
The crisis in which we find ourselves is perilous, because the means of subsistence fail us, and we cannot secure the entrance of any provisions. My duty as a soldier, and as Governor, is to make any sacrifice in order to save the city; but it is equally my duty to prevent, in an extreme case, the sacrifice of the troops I command—of the squadron—and of yourselves. I shall employ every means to fulfil both duties. Do not suffer yourselves to be persuaded that measures of foresight are always followed by disasters. You have already seen me take such once before. They alarmed you, but you were afterwards convinced that they portended nothing extraordinary. Even in the midst of formidable armies measures of precaution are daily used, because victory is not constant, and reverses should be provided against. You may assure yourselves, that the measures I am now taking, are purely precautionary, but it is necessary to communicate them to you, because if it happens that we must abandon the, city, many of you will leave it also; and I should be responsible to the nation and to the King if I had not forewarned you.
(Signed) IGNACIO LUIZ MADEIRA DE MELLA.
Were it dignified to allude to the cowardice imputed to me by the same authority, it would be easy to refer to the above enumeration of distresses caused by our two ships having captured all their provisions in the face of thirteen, in every way better manned and equipped.
The consternation caused by my nocturnal visit, which decided the evacuation of the city, was described as almost ludicrous. As I had been correctly informed, the Portuguese admiral and his officers were at a ball, and information of our appearance amongst the fleet was conveyed to him in the midst of the festivities. "What"—exclaimed he—"Lord Cochrane's line-of-battleship in the very midst of our fleet! Impossible —no large ship can have come up in the dark." We, however, did find our way in the dark—and did not retire till our reconnaissance was as complete as darkness would permit.
The lamentations caused by General Madeira's proclamation were no doubt faithfully chronicled in the Bahia newspapers, one of these declaring "in the last few days we have witnessed in this city a most doleful spectacle that must touch the heart even of the most insensible. A panic terror has seized on all men's minds—the city will be left without protectors—and families, whose fathers are obliged to fly, will be left orphans—a prey to the invaders," &c. &c. A prognostication not at all in accordance with my mode of carrying on warfare, which, as Portuguese families afterwards found, both at Bahia and elsewhere, was to protect the defenceless and unoffending.
The before-mentioned resolution of the council was precisely what I wished, as the evacuation of the port and province by the troops as well as the fleet, must prove more favourable to the Imperial cause than if the fleet alone had been destroyed and the military force remained. As I had, however, every reason to believe that it was General Madeira's intention to remove the troops to the Northern provinces, which would only have shifted the scene of war to another locality, I was determined at all hazards to prevent such movement.
On the 1st of July, information was brought, that, as the fireships were now known to be in readiness for the attack, the Portuguese admiral had hastily embarked the whole of the troops in transports, and that a number of merchantmen were also filled with persons who wished to leave Bahia under his protection. As it was clear that the total evacuation of the province by the enemy was preferable to an attack which might only end in destroying the ships and driving both naval and military forces on shore to renew their operations—I determined not to interfere with their retreat, till they were clear out of the harbour, when a vigilant pursuit would prevent them from again taking shelter in Brazil.