The Diplomatists of Europe

by M. Capefigue

It must certainly be admitted, that Sir Arthur had no longer to contend with an inexperienced general like Junot, the command of the army of Portugal having been conferred upon Marshal Soult, an old soldier, who would not fail to display the perfect knowledge of military tactics which had raised him to the highest rank in his profession. The uncertain battle of Talavera de la Reyna was celebrated in England as a most decisive victory; great enthusiasm was excited, and, in spite of the speeches of the opposition, a vote of thanks to the English general was passed by both houses of parliament, and a pension of 2000l. per annum was settled upon him; he was also raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Wellington of Talavera. The junta of Cadiz, which had hitherto opposed him from motives of pride and national feeling, now offered him the rank and allowances of captain-general of the Spanish army; but Lord Wellington declined accepting any thing but a present of a few horses of the Andalusian breed, which the Spaniards, in the name of Ferdinand VII., offered him for his stud. The conduct of the commander of the British armies on this occasion was quite in keeping with the English character; he considered a few fine horses, of a noble breed, as his most distinguished trophy. The rapid march of Marshals Soult and Ney from Salamanca into Estramadura compelled him to retreat as quickly as he had advanced; he therefore crossed the Tagus, and took up a strong position to defend the passage at Almarez and the lower part of the river. He was now destined to encounter the two most remarkable lieutenants of Napoleon; for Massena, in his turn, had entered Portugal, and commenced operations by the sieges of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo.

The Duke of Wellington, in his old age, takes pleasure in talking over the campaign of Portugal at Apsley House, because he there offered a powerful resistance to the French army, displayed the most consummate strategic skill, and was opposed to the most renowned marshals of the empire; first Soult and Massena, and afterwards Marmont, who, though skilful in his arrangements, was always unfortunate, and Ney, the boldest and most adventurous of them all. The Duke of Wellington has caused drawings to be made of the celebrated lines of Torres Vedras, whose plan he traced himself, and had executed with a rapidity and perseverance that appear almost to belong to fabulous times. They were intended to protect Lisbon, and extended from the sea to the Tagus, at the point where the river, being about six miles broad, defended them as completely as the sea itself. They were constructed with so much secrecy, that Marmont was struck with amazement at the sight of them; and the English system of tactics, which consists in taking up a fortified position, was displayed on this occasion in all its glory. The brave Massena passed nearly six months before these lines,—this magnificent military work, roaming like a chafed lion desirous of engaging with his enemy around these masses of granite, and the waters of the great river, almost as vast as the sea. The old general of the Italian campaign expected reinforcements from France, but he received no assistance either in men or provisions—a circumstance which must have rendered his retreat to the frontiers of Spain very difficult to accomplish. The Duke of Wellington always does justice to the skill of Marshals Soult and Massena; and, in speaking of them in present times, he acknowledges them both to have been men of great military capacity. The English general again received the thanks of both houses of parliament on this occasion; an additional subsidy was voted him, and the title of Marquis of Torres Vedras was conferred upon him, to perpetuate the memory of the military resistance that had saved Portugal.

At this period the English government lavished marks of gratitude upon its generals, in order to excite them to fresh acts of self-devotion; and England already discerned in the Duke of Wellington a man capable of coping with the power of Napoleon. An attempt had been at first made to institute a comparison between Admiral Nelson and the Emperor, and after his death at Trafalgar the Duke of Wellington succeeded him in public estimation; such, at least, was the opinion expressed and acted upon by the British parliament.

The English army were guilty of many faults, from the time of the blockade of Almeida up to the siege of Badajos; and the battle of Fuentes d'Onoro was a severe lesson for their commander. The juntas were not favourably disposed towards England, in spite of which Lord Wellington had organised the Portuguese army, and placed it on a firm military footing; and every thing at Lisbon was already under the influence of England, which furnished provisions, artillery, clothing, and arms. The Tagus was now occupied by a formidable English fleet, and from this time forth the cabinet of London gradually extended its influence in the Peninsula; in fact, Lisbon was actually in a state of vassalage, and commercial relations contributed their share towards strengthening the military bonds which war had imposed with such mighty power.

Lord Wellington passed the Tagus to prevent supplies of provisions and ammunition being thrown into Ciudad Rodrigo, which was now the central point of the military operations; and the city was carried by storm after a siege of ten days.[33] Fortune had ceased to smile on Napoleon; Massena had been recalled, and Marshal Soult shortly after him, leaving Marmont, who was always unfortunate; while the Duke of Wellington, on the contrary, had just succeeded in overcoming the repugnance of the regency of Cadiz, by whom, after the taking of Badajos,[34] he was created a grandee of Spain of the first class, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, and commander-in-chief of the Spanish army. The English parliament also voted him an additional pension of 2000l. per annum.

Badajos was taken by storm some months after the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo, and our eagles veiled their heads before the British armies. His flanks being secured, Lord Wellington crossed the Tagus and entered Castile; his means were very superior to those of his antagonists; besides which the generals did not agree in opinion, and the court was totally devoid of energy: Napoleon was not there to interpose his will, which bore down all opposition. The battle of Salamanca,[35] which decided the fate of Spain, took place shortly after. Lord Wellington hastened on, with forced marches, towards Valladolid, and turning suddenly to the right he made a bold movement towards Madrid, while Joseph Buonaparte retreated to Burgos. I cannot imagine what induced Napoleon to send Marshal Jourdan as a military guide to his brother, for he was the most inferior of all his captains, and the Emperor had greatly ridiculed his first revolutionary successes. Lord Wellington again received the thanks of parliament on this occasion, the Prince Regent conferred upon him the title of marquis, and the House of Commons voted him the sum of 100,000l.

It is necessary to enter into these details to understand the source of the political fortune of the Duke of Wellington. We here see that all his rank, his honours, even his income, are derived from the field of battle. The rewards granted by parliament were profuse, because it was of the highest importance to create a military existence capable of opposing the wonderful fortunes of Napoleon. At this time, Marshal Soult, who had raised the siege of Cadiz and abandoned Andalusia, made so well-arranged a movement in concert with the main body of General Souham's army, that Lord Wellington's line of communication was compromised; he was compelled to make a precipitate retreat, and Marshal Soult resumed a glorious offensive position.

The English general having here forgotten the prudent system he usually observed, for two days his whole army was exposed to the enemy, and it is evident, from this circumstance, that the Duke of Wellington's talent for defensive measures was greater than for an active military campaign.[36] He never appeared to understand how to observe an exact medium between the well-considered temerity, which seizes upon a fault for the chance it affords of success, and the prudence which foresees all the chances that may occur, even in a bad position.

In order to complete the deliverance of the Peninsula, Lord Wellington in January 1813, repaired to Cadiz, to communicate in person with the regency; by this step all doubts were dispelled, and the Spanish army, after being better organised, was placed under his immediate command. He was tenaciously regardful of his title of generalissimo, and explained his plan for the campaign at the head of the combined army of England, Spain, and Portugal, as far as Vittoria, where the battle took place which was so fatal to our arms in the Peninsula, and where every thing was taken by the English, even to the treasure of Joseph Buonaparte. The utter incapacity of Marshal Jourdain, and the avidity of some of the French generals, were among the principal causes of this misfortune; and the efforts made to save the treasure occasioned the destruction of the army. All the family of Napoleon, by whom he was surrounded, being incapable of comprehending his glory, only served to endanger his fortune; and when the day of misfortune has arrived, what power can arrest the torrent? The battle of Vittoria procured for Lord Wellington the elevated rank of field-marshal, so rarely conferred in England; and it opened the road of the Pyrenees to the Coalition. It was when approaching Pampeluna and St. Sebastian, that the English general unfolded his plan of carrying the war into France. Soult had again taken the command of the French troops on the Bidassoa; for Napoleon had found it necessary to despatch from the field of Bautzen, a marshal of skill and ability to the point most threatened with danger, and the army in Spain was in a state of utter confusion. Lord Wellington extended his line to Bayonne, after having carried the position of Nivelle: it was certainly a wonderful war, full of strategy! Marshal Soult displayed great skill in the manner in which he manœuvred before a superior force, which only advanced when prudence permitted; and thus the two armies remained for nearly two months, watching each other's motions, but prevented by the severity of the season, and the dreadful state of the roads, from proceeding any farther. Soult made an attempt to imitate the lines of Torres Vedras on the frontiers of France, and erected formidable intrenchments near Bayonne; but Lord Wellington, without attacking them in front, turned them by the right, and thus compelled his antagonist to abandon them.

The name of France inspired even the Allies with so much respect, that they could not avoid a feeling of hesitation as to entering her territories. When, however, we look back upon the early ages of the French monarchy, we find that English troops had more than once distinguished themselves on the plains of Gascony; and the exploits of the Black Prince are interwoven with the feudal history of Guienne. The Emperor's orders to Marshal Soult were to retreat very slowly, and to endeavour as far as possible to avert the progress of the English, Spanish, and Portuguese troops, by constant skirmishes. He had himself entered into a treaty with Ferdinand VII., in the hope of separating by this means the Spanish army from the Anglo-Portuguese force under Lord Wellington.