The old, old story! Officialism, on being detected in error, hurriedly, and with attempts at dignity, assumes an air of injured innocence, and neither forgives nor forgets the unhappy soldier who is the means of revealing its shortcomings. What a contrast does Colonel Robe’s dignified and soldierlike acknowledgment of this reprimand present! Having first acknowledged the congratulations of the Master-General on the conduct of the Artillery at Roliça and Vimiera, which he had caused to be read to the men on parade, and entered in all the order-books, thereby, as he wrote, “awakening every joyful feeling that could arise in the breasts of Lisbon, 7 Jan. 1809. soldiers,” he proceeded as follows:—“The latter part of your letter is indeed a great source of grief to me, and has hurt me more than I can express. I had hoped to have obtained for my whole conduct the approbation of his Lordship the Master-General and the Board of Ordnance. I set out with the most earnest desire to fulfil, to the extent of my abilities, every duty I might be honoured with, and to abide in the strictest manner by their orders, for which purpose I applied for instructions and such information as the very limited time prior to my departure would admit. The shortness of that time, our expected destination (which, as you know, we had reason to believe was far more distant than it proved afterwards to be[14]) certainly produced in me an anxiety that the branch of service entrusted to me should be supplied in the manner most conducive to the end for which it was sent out. This anxiety may have caused a warmth of expression not deemed advisable in public correspondence, however good the intention. And that an unfavourable impression has been received in His Lordship’s mind I, with pain, perceive, and submit in the most respectful manner to the animadversion you have received His Lordship’s commands to make.... Whatever the warmth of my feelings might have been which impelled me to the remarks that have caused His Lordship’s displeasure, I entreat that they may be ascribed to the peculiar situation in which I was placed. My letter to you was written on the ground of, and almost during, the action, and, consequently, that degree of coolness was not attended to which ought to have been manifested.”
The difficulties of the campaign of August 1808 were increased by the insincerity and disunion of the Spaniards, the feebleness of the Portuguese support, and the extraordinary conduct of the English Government in sending General after General with conflicting instructions. The supersession of Sir Arthur Wellesley at a critical moment, uncalled for and undeserved, would have paralysed a less determined commander. To his resolution, his singleness of purpose, and his tact in dealing with the Portuguese authorities, is the fact due that, brief as the campaign was, it was marked by two brilliant engagements, and established already the military reputation of the English troops. The British army in Portugal, in 1808, was gathered from the four winds of heaven, without harmony either in instructions or management, and destitute of adequate equipment or supplies. The main body, which sailed from Cork, had been intended for South America; the contingent brought by Sir John Moore had been sent in the first instance to Sweden, on an errand rendered fruitless by the obstinacy of the Swedish monarch; and the rest of the army was gathered in instalments from Gibraltar, Madeira, and various parts of England. The annexed table, prepared from the embarkation returns, shows the method in which the Artillery portion of the army was collected:—at first destitute of horses, and, later, embarked with so much precipitation, that in many instances the horses died from long confinement on board ship; and in others it was found that animals had been hurriedly purchased, and embarked afflicted with fatal and infectious diseases, which spread rapidly among those which were healthy. The horses which were purchased in the country were small, and unfitted for Artillery work. The roads round Lisbon, and in the district traversed by Sir A. Wellesley’s force, were of the worst description; and Colonel Robe and his successor, Colonel Harding, wrote to the Board, expressing their thankfulness that, for the three brigades engaged at Roliça and Vimiera they had been able to procure oxen to draw the guns, with horses as leaders! The remonstrances of Colonel Robe and his successors succeeded in procuring from England, as the annexed table will show, a suitable supply of horses as the year advanced; but the honours gained by the Corps had been earned before these arrived ([see p. 204]).
Now 3 Battery, 2 Brigade, and 7 Battery, 17 Brigade.
In addition to the companies (Captain Geary’s and Captain Raynsford’s) which embarked with Colonel Robe to form part of Sir A. Wellesley’s force, 161 of the King’s German Artillery were also detailed. The services of this Corps during the Peninsular and Waterloo campaigns were of the highest order. The head-quarters of the Corps were at this time at Porchester, and the strength in 1808 was as follows:—
Muster-Rolls of K. G. Artillery, 1808.
Field officers, 4; staff officers, 6; staff sergeants, 3. Two troops of Horse Artillery, consisting in all of 372 officers and men, and 186 horses.
Return of the Officers and Men of the Royal Artillery, and of Officers’ or Draught Horses, or others under the Ordnance, which were sent from various Stations to Spain or Portugal during the Year 1808, with the Dates of their respective Embarkations.
| A. | Officers. | B. | N. C. Officers. | C. | Gunners. |
| D. | Drummers. | E. | Total. | F. | Officers. |
| G. | N. C. Officers. | H. | Drivers. | I. | Trumpeters. |
| J. | Artificers. | K. | Total. | L. | General Total. |
| M. | Horses. |
| — | Date of Embarkation. | Royal Artillery. | R. A. Driver Corps. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. | B. | C. | D. | E. | F. | G. | H. | I. | J. | K. | L. | M. | ||
| Embarked with Sir A. Wellesley | June, 1808 | 10 | 27 | 204 | 4 | 245 | 2 | 18 | 143 | 2 | 10 | 175 | 420 | ·· |
| Embarked with General Spencer from Gibraltar for Cadiz | June 13, 1808 | 3 | 6 | 53 | 1 | 63 | ·· | 1 | 13 | ·· | ·· | 14 | 77 | ·· |
| Embarked with Sir J. Moore for Sweden, and then for Spain | April 30, 1808 | 24 | 62 | 406 | 8 | 500 | 3 | 18 | 276 | 2 | 30 | 329 | 829 | 360 |
| Embarked with Generals Ackland and Anstruther | July 23, 1808 | 10 | 29 | 187 | 4 | 230 | 3 | 13 | 178 | 2 | 14 | 210 | 440 | 309 |
| Embarked from Gibraltar by order of Sir H. Dalrymple | Aug. 13, 1808 | 8 | 27 | 186 | 3 | 224 | ·· | ·· | ·· | ·· | ·· | ·· | 224 | ·· |
| Embarked from Madeira for Portugal with General Beresford | Aug. 17, 1808 | 3 | 14 | 94 | 2 | 113 | ·· | ·· | ·· | ·· | ·· | ·· | 113 | ·· |
| Embarked with Sir D. Baird from Cork | Sept. 23, 1808 | 8 | 26 | 205 | 3 | 242 | 2 | 20 | 181 | 2 | 16 | 221 | 463 | 300 |
| Embarked with Sir D. Baird from Woolwich | Sept. 22, 1808 | 10 | 26 | 200 | 2 | 238 | 2 | 20 | 181 | 1 | 15 | 219 | 457 | 300 |
| Embarked from Woolwich: Horse Artillery | Oct. 5, 1808 | 12 | 28 | 100 | ·· | 200 | ·· | ·· | 109 | 2 | 14 | 125 | 325 | 296 |
| Embarked from Portsmouth: Horse Artillery | Nov. 18, 1808 | 10 | 26 | 161 | . | 197 | 108 | 2 | 14 | 124 | 321 | 304 | ||
| Embarked from Portsmouth | Dec. 8, 1808 | 2 | ·· | 1 | ·· | 3 | 4 | 28 | 213 | 3 | 19 | 267 | 270 | 600 |
| Total embarked for Portugal or Spain in the year 1808 | ·· | 100 | 271 | 1857 | 27 | 2255 | 16 | 118 | 1402 | 16 | 132 | 1684 | 3939 | 2469 |
N.B. The return given by Napier in vol. 1. p. 590, of his ‘History,’ neither includes the R. A. drivers, nor the officers and N. C. officers of the R. A. of several of the detachments mentioned above, but merely the gunners. It, however, does include the King’s German Artillery, which is not shown in this purely regimental return.