On June 20, 1808, on the St. Albans’ passage towards England, there is an entry in the log: “Exchanged numbers with the Raven brig. The brig is from off Lisbon. The French have taken possession of Spain. The Spanish Royal Family are prisoners in France. It is not certainly known where the Rochefort squadron is gone, but supposed into the Mediterranean.”
This was the beginning of the Peninsular War, in its results disastrous to Napoleon. Napoleon’s calm supposition that he could turn out the King of Spain and put in Joseph Bonaparte at his own pleasure, was formed without reference to the feelings of the people of Spain and Portugal; and futile as their objections might have been if unsupported, their appeal to England was far-reaching in its consequences. Not only was the seat of war transferred to a country which, with its long sea-coast, was favourable to British arms, but the actual naval gain was very great. Such ships of the French Navy as had escaped from Trafalgar were still lying in Cadiz, and had now no course open to them but surrender, while the Spanish and Portuguese fleets, on which Napoleon counted, were of course entirely hostile to him.
The feeling in England over this war was very strong. Added to the hatred of Napoleon, which would have made almost any of his actions abhorrent, there was a real impulse of generous anger at the oppression shown in pretending to buy the nation from its wretched King, in order to establish a purely arbitrary dominion. At the same time it was a grave question whether Napoleon, with his many legions, was to be resisted successfully.
As yet, however, Napoleon had not entered Spain, and Junot was in command of the French army in the West of the Peninsula.
Sir Arthur Wellesley was first appointed to command the British expedition, but England does not always know her best men, and almost at once Sir Harry Burrard was despatched to take over the work. The battle of Vimiera was the first serious encounter, and, but for the hesitation of Burrard to follow up his advantage, might have been decisive.
Sir Hew Dalrymple next day arrived from England to supersede Burrard, and after some vacillation, not unnatural under the circumstances, between the policy of Wellesley and that of Burrard, he prepared to push on, and was met by French proposals of a Convention. The Convention of Cintra secured that the French should evacuate Portugal, leaving for France on board British ships, and as they were determined to take everything with them that they could lay their hands on, this was not a bad arrangement for the French. Such, at least, was the opinion in England, and a court of inquiry soon came to the conclusion that it would have been better to leave the entire matter in the hands of Wellesley, who was first on the scene, and had consequently other qualifications for accurate judgment besides those which his genius gave him.
Napoleon, however, saw very clearly how much harm the battle of Vimiera had done him, and came himself to Spain, enraged at Junot’s defeat. The campaign of Sir John Moore, ending at Corunna, is too well known for any description to be necessary. The fact that Napoleon could not have everything his own way was established, and the struggle in the Peninsula went on, until it closed five years later with the capture of San Sebastian.
Some extracts from the log of the St. Albans and two letters, tell us of the small share which Francis Austen had in this business. “St. Albans, in the English Channel, July 22nd, 1808. Received on board Brigadier-General Anstruther with his staff and suite. Weighed and made sail, twenty-three sail of transports in company.
“July 23.—At a quarter past nine hove to and called the masters of the transports on board by signal. Issued to them a sealed rendezvous.”
The transports were bad sailors, so it was not until August 5 that they got away from the English Channel on the passage towards Portugal. On the 12th, off Corunna, news was received from the Defiance, which caused a deviation in the route in order to bring Anstruther into touch with Wellesley, who was then near Figuero, just before the battle of Vimiera.