♦General Beresford appointed commander-in-chief of the Portugueze army.♦
The Prince of Brazil, perceiving the necessity of forming an efficient Portugueze army, and the impossibility of remedying the old and inveterate evils which had ruined the existing establishment, without the assistance of officers trained in a better school, had appointed General Beresford commander-in-chief with the rank of Marshal. Immediately upon taking the command that General published an address to the army, saying that no person had studied the disposition and military character of the nation more than himself, and that no one could be more thoroughly convinced of the good qualities of the Portugueze soldiers, who were now what they always had been, if not the best in Europe, equal to the bravest. His care would be to give their qualities that efficiency which could only be derived from discipline. They were loyal to their Prince, obedient to the legitimate authorities who represented him, patient under privations, and they had recently given proofs of patriotism, energy, and enthusiasm worthy of their illustrious ancestors. He was proud, therefore, of identifying himself with such a people: he was now a Portugueze officer, and he pledged himself that desert should be the only passport to his favour, and that he would avail himself of every occasion for promoting the comfort, honour, and advantage both of the officers and men.
♦He begins to reform the army.♦
The Portugueze army was indeed in the most deplorable state; but Marshal Beresford, in appealing to the national pride, did not exaggerate the good points of the national character; and had it been as easy in an army which had been so long and so thoroughly debased to form good officers as good men, his task would not have been difficult. With the aid of a certain number of British officers, who volunteered into that service, retaining their rank in their own, he commenced the task with indefatigable zeal. The capture of Porto excited great alarm in Lisbon, which was increased when the refugees from that unfortunate city arrived, and related the horrors that had been committed there. The spirits of the people, however, were encouraged by the expectation of British aid, confirmed by a well-timed order of Sir John Craddock’s for the army to advance, giving proof thereby of a determination to defend the country, and of confidence in the means for defending it. The reinforcement which had arrived rendered his force respectable, and he collected part in front of Santarem, and part upon the road to Coimbra, to be ready either against Soult or Victor, on ♦April 8.♦ whichever side the attack might be made. Beresford announced the fall of Porto in his general orders, and took that opportunity of delivering a wholesome monition to the army. “Porto,” he said, “defended by four-and-twenty thousand men, and two hundred pieces of artillery, had fallen an easy conquest, notwithstanding both the people and the troops were brave and loyal, because the enemy had been able to produce a general insubordination under the appearance of patriotism.” He warned them against the French partizans; whatever reports such men propagated were to be received with distrust, seeing they were undoubtedly paid by the enemy to promote confusion and distrust. “Let the troops,” he pursued, “be subordinate to their officers; let them observe strict discipline, and the country will have nothing to fear. The enemy is in possession of Porto; so he was of Chaves; but that place he has lost with more than 1500 men. Recollect, soldiers, that when General Silveira saw the necessity of retiring from Chaves, where, from the nature and number of his forces, he was incapable of resisting the French, there were pretended patriots who raised a cry of treason against him, and induced a great number of the despisers of discipline to attempt the defence of that place, which they surrendered without firing a gun, and the troops with it, who had been deceived by them. The firmness of the General saved the rest of the army, and placed it in a situation to acquire greater glory, and merit the thanks of his country. The Marshal,” he concluded, “cannot sufficiently warn the people and the troops against those who, while they assume the appearance of patriotism, are in reality leaders of sedition; nor can he sufficiently recommend union and confidence, for every thing may be hoped from the loyalty, valour, and enthusiasm which animate the Portugueze in defence of their country.” And he assured them that he should always inform them of the disasters which might occur, as well as of the successes, being convinced that their zeal would be in proportion with the services which might be required, and that they would display a courage equal to the exigency of the times, and worthy of the Portugueze character.
♦Intercepted letter from General Kellermann to Soult.♦
Marshal Beresford soon had occasion to announce something more encouraging. Troops were marched from Spain to be employed in the war against Austria; they knew not whither they were going till they had left the Peninsula, nor even that a continental war had recommenced, so completely had the all-pervading despotism of the French government cut off all private intelligence, as well as withheld all public. The commanders alone were of necessity made acquainted with the real state of affairs, and Beresford now published an intercepted letter from Kellermann to Soult, communicating this news. The war in Germany, said he, produced by the intrigues and gold of England, renders our situation extremely critical. Such he represented his own situation to be, in what he called Upper Spain, where he occupied the plain country with a considerable cavalry force, watching the Asturian army and Romana, and doing all he could to keep down the people between Valladolid and Madrid. He told Soult that he could expect no reinforcement unless it were from Marshal Ney, of whose ability to co-operate with him Kellermann could not judge, not having any communication with him, because the whole of Galicia was in a state of insurrection. Marshal Soult was at this time spreading a report that Buonaparte was about to arrive at the head of 80,000 men. Thus it is, said the Portugueze address, that Marshal Soult, who calls himself Governor of Portugal, endeavours to conceal their danger from the unfortunate troops whom he is sacrificing to the ambition of a tyrant. And when it is thus ascertained that a general publishes falsehoods in one case, his army and the people will know how to appreciate his accounts in others.
♦Laborde sent to attack Silveira at Amarante.♦
The French general at this time felt the difficulties of his situation, though far from apprehending as yet the vigour and ability of the enemy with whom he was soon to contend. His immediate object was to open a communication with Lapisse and Victor, and this was not possible while Trant defended the Vouga, and Silveira the Tamega. The latter enemy, who was near enough to disquiet him, had broken down all the bridges over that river except at Amarante. Laborde was sent against him with a considerable force; he had Loison’s division together with his own, and was to be joined by Lahoussaye’s. Silveira, in advancing to Penafiel, had supposed that Soult, instead of tarrying at Porto, would have marched upon Lisbon without delay; in which case he would have entered Porto, and, by occupying the Douro, have effectually excluded the enemy from the province between the rivers. Upon the approach of this force he withdrew to the ♦State of Penafiel when the French entered.♦ Campo de Manhufe. When the enemy entered Penafiel the scene was such as to make them sensible how deep was the feeling of abhorrence which they had excited and deserved. The whole city was deserted; all food and every thing that could have been serviceable to the invaders had been either carried away or destroyed. Every house had been left open; the churches alone were closed, that the Portugueze might not seem to have left them open to pollution. The very silence of the streets was awful, broken only when the clocks struck; and now and then by the howling of some of those dogs who, though living, as in other Portugueze towns, without an owner, felt a sense of desertion when they missed the accustomed presence of men. The royal arms upon the public buildings had been covered with black crape, to indicate that in the absence of the Braganza family Portugal was as a widow. Of the whole population one old man was the only living soul who remained in the town. Being in extreme old age, he was either unable to endure the fatigue of flight, or desirous of ending his days in a manner which he would have regarded as a religious martyrdom; he placed himself, therefore, on a stone seat in the market-place; there the French found him in the act of prayer, while the unsuppressed expression of his strong features and fiery eye told them in a language not to be misunderstood that part of his prayer was for God’s vengeance upon the invaders of his ♦Naylies, 102.♦ country. This was in the true spirit of his nation: and that spirit was now in full action. It had reached all ranks and classes. The man of letters had left his beloved studies, the monk his cloister; even women forsook that retirement which is every where congenial to the sex, and belongs there to the habits of the people. But it was not surprising that in a warfare where women were not spared, they should take part. Nuns had been seen working at that battery which defeated the French in their attempt at crossing the Minho; and here a beautiful lady, whose abode was near Penafiel, had raised some hundred followers; and in the sure ♦Naylies, 107.♦ war of destruction which they were carrying on, encouraged them, sword in hand, by her exhortations and her example.
♦The bridge of Amarante.