Badajoz was the point to which the Spaniards repaired from Alem-Tejo and the south of Portugal, and the numbers who were collected there made such an addition to the strength of the garrison, that General Kellermann, who was then at Elvas, felt himself ill at ease in the neighbourhood. That general had taken the command in Alem-Tejo upon Solano’s departure, and so different was the spirit of his administration, that one of his first measures was by his own authority to impose an extraordinary contribution upon the exhausted province. Evora was to pay 10,000 cruzados novos, Elvas and Portalegre 8000 each, Villa-Viçosa 6000, and other places in proportion. The sum was exacted within six hours after the demand: but it was restored without ♦Observador Portuguez, p. 277.♦ delay, in consequence of peremptory orders from Junot, when complaint was made to him of this unauthorized exaction. He was displeased with Kellermann for presuming to levy money at his own pleasure, and this was no time for exasperating the people by farther acts of oppression. Already they were in so perturbed a state, that it ♦May 22.♦ was deemed expedient to order all absent bishops and beneficed priests to return to their dioceses and cures, and there exert themselves in preserving order, and exhorting the people to submission. Buonaparte had reckoned upon the good services of the clergy; experience, he said, had shown him that countries where there were many friars were easily conquered; ... he was undeceived of both errors in the Peninsula.
♦He attempts to conciliate the Spaniards at Badajoz.♦
In the hope of reviving old animosities, and exciting the Portugueze to act against the Spaniards, Kellermann called out the Ordenanças, and required the people of Elvas to take arms for the defence of their city, which, he said, the Spaniards, eternal enemies to the name and independence of Portugal, were preparing to attack ♦June 1.♦ from Badajoz. At the same time he sent a letter to the Spaniards of that place, exhorting them to return to their duty, and promising intercession, and pardon and protection. No answer was returned; he then put forth an argumentative address to the Commandant and the Representatives of Extremadura, asking them what end they could propose to themselves from the revolt in which they had blindly engaged? The House of Bourbon had renounced all its rights to Spain; Ferdinand was in France, and the right of appointing a king for the Spaniards had been transferred ♦1808.
June.♦ to the Emperor. Did they wish to draw upon themselves the evils by which France had been ravaged during so many years? If that country had come with glory out of a struggle which would for ever be celebrated, it was owing to her internal strength, her valour, and above all the talents of that extraordinary man whom Heaven had sent to reign over her, for her happiness, and for the happiness of the Spaniards also, if they chose it. Could they expect a like issue? Would valour alone suffice to effect it? What was their position? Half Spain had declared for the new order of things. Their own countrymen would take the field against them. The French armies were in the midst of the land, under the greatest generals, without enemies, and abundantly supplied with all the means of war. On their part they had only some soldiers who had murdered their chiefs; a populace vain of their own strength, because they had met with no resistance; and a few miserable English, the eternal artists of discord, active in stirring up enemies to the French, and always ready, like cowards, to abandon the victims of their infernal policy. Nor was there any thing in the change which had taken place to provoke their opposition. At the commencement of the preceding century Spain had called Philip V. to the throne, for the purpose of establishing an invariable union ♦Observador Portuguez, 288.♦ with France. The establishment upon that throne of a prince of the new French dynasty was nothing more than a consequence of the system which Spain had then adopted, and which was now confirmed. There was yet time to choose. The sword was not yet drawn, the door was still open for reconciliation, ... and he requested that they would not close the gate of their city against his communications. To this also no answer was vouchsafed. He made a third effort, telling them that he would suspend hostilities till they should be better informed, and desiring the Junta to meet him at the Caya, the little stream which there divides the kingdoms. No persons were there to meet him; and he then began to store the forts of Elvas, and to devise plans for attacking Badajoz, expecting, no doubt, that some of the troops in Spain would be ordered upon that service. Believing too that fêtes and rejoicings would have as much effect in Portugal as in France, he appointed a day of public thanksgiving for the benefits which Napoleon had promised to confer upon the Portugueze. They were not a people to be thus deceived. Their hearts were with the Spaniards, and so many repaired to Badajoz, where D. Joseph Galluzo, with great activity, was forming a camp, that they were incorporated in a legion of foreign volunteers, the command of which was given to Moretti. Many artillerymen escaped thither from Elvas; some hundred of the Portugueze troops whom the French had ordered away for foreign consumption, had been collected there; ♦Neves, iii. 75.♦ promotion was offered to all officers of that nation who should join them, and Kellermann’s vigilance could not prevent the emigration which took place in consequence.
♦Distribution of the French troops in Portugal.♦
A considerable garrison was required in Elvas, as being the strongest fortress in the kingdom, and now of more importance because of the hostile attitude which the Spaniards at Badajoz had assumed. Strong garrisons were placed at Peniche and Setubal, for fear of the English. Almeida also had been occupied by the French. ♦Neves, iii. 77.♦ Except the troops in that place there were no other French in the whole north of Portugal than the small parties stationed upon the military road, a weak detachment at Figueira, and some fifty men at Coimbra. The great body of the French was collected at Lisbon, and in the adjacent country, where, in case of sudden danger, they might be brought to act promptly and with ♦The Spaniards at Porto declare against the Intruder, and march into Spain.♦ effect. Porto was in possession of the Spaniards, who had occupied it by virtue of the secret treaty of Fontainebleau. General Bellesta, however, upon whom the command had devolved, had been placed under the orders of the French General Quesnel, when the abortive kingdom of Northern Lusitania was no longer held out as a lure to the court of Spain. Quesnel had with him about seventy dragoons, and a few other French, holding military or civil situations. When news arrived of the movements in Gallicia, Bellesta, obeying without hesitation the voice of his country, ♦June 6.♦ arrested the French and their general, and convoking the military, judicial, and civil authorities, explained to them briefly the situation of affairs, expressed a hope that Junot would by that time have been seized in Lisbon, as Quesnel was in Porto, and asked of them what course they would pursue, ... whether they would restore the national government, choose a Spanish one, or remain in submission to the French? The Vereador, Thomas da Silva Ferras, replied, that he, and the chamber, and the city, desired nothing more than to be under the government of their lawful sovereign, and required that the royal arms might immediately be re-established. A Desembargador ventured to observe, that they had no authority to determine such things, not being representatives of the people; that they were without arms, ... that they had no means of resisting so terrible an enemy as the French; and that it was better to wait till they knew what had happened at Lisbon. Reasonable as the fear was which this speaker expressed, a more generous feeling prevailed, and by Bellesta’s orders the Sargento Mor, Raymundo José Pinheiro, went from the meeting to take the command of ♦Neves, iii. c. 6.♦ the fortress of S. Joam da Foz, at the mouth of the Douro.
♦The lawful government restored at Porto.♦
It was late at night when the meeting broke up. Raymundo called together his officers; they bound themselves by a formal deed and solemn oath to act for the service of their lawful Prince against the French, and invoking the aid of Our Lady of the Rosary, to whom that castle was dedicated, vowed in the Prince’s name to solemnize the anniversary of that day by a festival to her honour. At daybreak the Quinas were once more seen flying upon the fortress, a royal salute was fired, and returned from the castles of Queijo and Matozinhos, the bells were rung, rockets were discharged, and the people gave themselves up to joy. The Spaniards without delay marched for Coruña, taking with them their prisoners. An English brig of war, which was cruising off the river, hearing an unusual stir in the city, drew near in hopes of ascertaining the cause; Raymundo went on board, he was received with due honours, and an officer returned to shore ♦Neves, iii. 85–91.♦ with him, and was sent to Luiz de Oliveira da Costa, who commanded at Porto during the absence of General Bernardim Freire de Andrada.
♦The governor adheres to the French, and suppresses the insurrection.♦
Luiz de Oliveira had been present at the meeting which Bellesta convened, and assented to the resolution which had there been taken. Whether his heart was with his voice on that occasion, or whether he had submitted to the prevailing opinion only while it was dangerous to oppose it, the fear of the French returned upon him, now that the Spaniards had left Porto to its own means of defence; and instead of receiving the English officer with open arms, he wrote to Raymundo, calling him to account for having opened a communication with the English brig, and saying that he knew nothing of the business. Raymundo replied with great spirit, that if the governor had forgotten what passed when the government of the Prince Regent was re-established, he had not; he and his officers had proclaimed their beloved Sovereign, he had invited the English commander, in the Prince’s name, to assist him; and if any person disputed the propriety of what he had done, he would make that person know what the power of the royal name was, and that that port was open for the English. Raymundo’s means, however, were not commensurate with his will; the people of Porto were disheartened by the departure of the Spaniards, and the city remained to all appearance in perfect submission to the French government, while the Portugueze flag was flying at S. Joam da Foz. A lieutenant-colonel, by name Manoel Ribeiro de Araujo, now presented himself in that fortress with an order from Oliveira to take the command. Raymundo told him, that if it were taken for the service of the Prince, he was ready to resign it into his hands; but if it were his intention to follow the French part, he might return to the place from whence he came, for within those walls no other name should be acknowledged than that of the lawful sovereign, and not a shot should be fired from them against the English. Araujo returned in the evening with fair words, and invited Raymundo to the governor’s house, there to confer with him upon the best mode of proceeding in the present critical circumstances. The treacherous invitation was accepted, and he had no sooner set foot within Oliveira’s apartment than he was arrested as a disturber of the people. The next step would have been to deliver him up to the French, and to certain death; but though he had with strange want of circumspection walked into the snare, neither his courage nor his presence of mind forsook him. Oliveira, with Araujo and another officer, went out into the varanda to give directions ♦Neves, iii. 91–97.♦ concerning him; Raymundo, who was left alone in the apartment, quietly locked the varanda door, and lost no time in gaining a place of concealment.
♦Junot disarms and seizes the Spaniards at Lisbon.♦