When Sir Arthur had given up his original plan, it was concerted that he should join Cuesta at Badajoz. Victor’s retreat rendered this unnecessary; it was then agreed that he should advance, as he had at first proposed, by way of Plasencia. The army of La Mancha at this time, consisting of 16,000 foot and 1300 horse, was under Venegas, subject to Cuesta’s orders. This was the side on which the French were most exposed; Alburquerque, by one operation, though it had only partially succeeded, had retarded the plans of the enemy for more than a month, and, had he not been withheld by the positive orders of men who were unworthy to control him, there is reason for believing that he would have prevented many of the disasters which afterwards occurred. His patriotism was undoubted; no man, indeed, ever more passionately loved his country: his military talents were of the highest promise; and when these moral advantages concurred, his rank and illustrious family ought to have been considered as circumstances to recommend him, giving him, as they would have done, additional claims to the respect of the army and of the nation. With both he was exceedingly popular, especially among the La Manchans; and having been a successful general, almost the only one who had obtained any success, the soldiers had an opinion of his good fortune as well as of his talents. Mr. Frere, who estimated the Duke as he deserved, was exceedingly desirous that he should have the command in La Mancha, and suggested it to Cuesta. “An army,” he said, “which had been torn by factions, thrown into confusion by the successive removal of its officers, and discouraged by ill fortune, could have no hope of being speedily re-established and conducted to victory, except by a general who was known to them for his successes, and who was personally popular among them, and in the province wherein he was to act. The Duque de Alburquerque was the only one who united in himself these advantages; and for the situation which he at present held, Venegas would not be less useful, having always served under General Cuesta, and not only near his person, but immediately under his eyes.” Unhappily Cuesta was jealous of the Duke’s popularity; and the Supreme Junta were jealous of his rank and influence. Mr. Frere’s advice was rejected, and this may be considered as one cause of the failure of the campaign.
♦Plan of detaching a Spanish force toward Segovia.♦
It had at first been doubted whether the French would make any thing more than a show of resistance on this side of Madrid; and a plan was proposed for menacing their retreat and the rear of the metropolis, by detaching a considerable Spanish corps through the Puerto de Arenas to Avila, Arevalo, and Segovia. Such a movement, it was thought, would compel the enemy either to retreat, or to detach a force of correspondent magnitude; and thus a material advantage would be afforded to the British army, which, when concentrated, amounted only to 20,000 men. Cuesta had about 38,000, well armed but ill disciplined, and ill clothed also, which, in their state of discipline, was an evil of more consequence than may immediately be obvious. The Intruder, with 9000 of his guards, and the greater part of the garrison of Madrid, had joined Sebastiani in La Mancha, and attempted to bring Venegas to action; finding this in vain, they left 2000 men to defend Toledo, and prepared to bring their whole disposable force, consisting of about 50,000, against the united Spanish and British armies. But the Spanish army was in such a state, that little could be expected from its co-operation: a smaller force would, under such circumstances, be of greater assistance, as being more manageable and more likely to follow the example and catch the spirit of their better disciplined allies. If, therefore, a large detachment of these troops, by moving toward Segovia, could draw off a body of the French to watch them, they would render more service by such a diversion than could be expected from them in the field. For this reason such a movement was advised both by Sir Arthur and Mr. Frere; that minister not being deterred from the performance of his duty by the clamour raised against him in England, but delivering his opinion to the British general upon the same footing, he said, as he should have done had he been holding a private conversation with Sir Arthur, and as he should equally have ventured to do had he been residing ♦Jealousy entertained of Cuesta.♦ casually in Spain in a private character. There was another reason which made the Junta wish to see Cuesta’s army diminished. A suspicion had for some time prevailed that Cuesta had not forgiven his arrest, and that the same temper which led him to those violent measures whereby he had provoked that act of vigour, would tempt him to take some serious vengeance whenever it was in his power. This, it was thought, was more to be apprehended now than at any former time, because the army which his rival, Blake, commanded, had just at this time been shamefully dispersed, and thus the great obstacle to such a project was removed. The Junta were afraid to supersede Cuesta, even if they knew whom to appoint in his place; and they were afraid even to propose this measure of detaching a part of his army, under a commander of sufficient popularity to oppose his designs: but it was not doubted that if such a measure were proposed by the British General as a military plan, they would joyfully accede to it.
Cuesta was wronged by these suspicions; ... he was obstinate, intractable, and unfit for command; but a right honest man, and one who, from a sense of duty as well as from natural courage, would at any time have laid down his ♦July 10.
Sir Arthur confers with Cuesta.♦ life for the service of Spain. Sir Arthur, whose head-quarters were now at Plasencia, went to confer with him at Almaraz. Fourteen thousand of the Spaniards were at this time stationed at the Puente del Arzobispo; the remainder were about two miles from the bridge of Almaraz, encamped under the Pass of Miravete. Victor had taken up a position upon the Alberche, near Talavera. There, Sir Arthur stated his opinion, the enemy ought to be attacked by the united force of the allies; but it would be desirable to detach a corps of 10,000 towards Avila to turn their right: Cuesta approved the proposal, but desired they might be British troops. Sir Arthur replied, that the British ♦1809. July.♦ army, to act with advantage, must act in a body; and the Spaniards could better spare such a detachment, being indeed more numerous than was either necessary for the operations on the Alberche, or convenient, considering their state of discipline. These representations were lost upon Cuesta, who estimated his own importance by the numbers under his command; he refused to make any large detachment, but offered to send two battalions of infantry and a few cavalry to join Sir R. Wilson’s Portugueze brigade, and march upon Arenas, and thence to Escalona, in communication with the left of the British army. Had Sir Arthur’s advice been followed, it was his intention to have recommended Alburquerque to the command; but it was the fate of Spain to be almost always deprived of the services of this brave and able general by the jealousy of meaner minds.
♦He requires that the passes be occupied.♦
Sir Arthur proposed also that the Spaniards should occupy the passes at Perales and Baños, and thus cut off the communication between Victor and the French forces in the north of Spain. It was neither known what the amount of that force might be, nor where it was distributed, nor in what condition it was: but the march of Mortier with some 15,000 men from Aragon to their assistance had been ascertained, and it was certain therefore that a movement might be apprehended from that quarter. The proposal was received with some ill humour on Cuesta’s part, for he was surrounded by intriguers, some of whom perhaps sought to serve the enemy by embroiling the allies, and others who, having as much national pride as professional ignorance, had as much selfishness as either; these persons had persuaded the hasty old man that Sir Arthur sought to weaken the Spanish army by dividing it, in order to obtain for himself the glory of expelling the French from Madrid, which was now, they represented, within Cuesta’s reach. He was prevailed upon however, by his Adjutant-General, O’Donoju, to promise that this should be done; and if the performance fell far short, the detachment being incompetent in force, and almost wholly unprovided, the failure must be imputed to his erring judgement and the disorderly state of the commissariat department, not to any want of faith or perverse purpose on his part.
♦Junction of the British and Spanish armies.♦
In pursuance of the arrangements at this interview, the British army broke up from Plasencia on the 17th and 18th of July, and formed a junction with Cuesta on the 20th at Oropesa. Sir R. Wilson marched from his position on the Tietar on the 15th, and reached Escalona on the 23d, threatening Madrid on that side, from which he was about eight leagues distant. Venegas had been directed to break up from Madrilejos at the same time as the British army, march by Tembleque and Ocaña, cross the Tagus by the ford at Fuente Duenas, and advance to Arganda, so to threaten Madrid, which would then be within a few hours’ march. Had this plan been followed, either a considerable body of the French must have been detached against Venegas, or he would have entered the capital without resistance.
♦Opportunity of attacking the French.♦
But Sir Arthur was destined throughout the campaign to have his plans continually frustrated by the misconduct of those from whom he looked for cordial co-operation. On the 22d the combined armies moved from Oropesa, and the advance attacked Victor’s rear-guard, which was drawn up in order of battle, upon a plain about a league from Talavera. Their right wing was turned by Brigadier-General Anson, and Alburquerque attacked them in front, and drove them back. They retreated to a position upon the Alberche, a league beyond the town, and the combined armies advanced, and encamped that night in the vine and olive-yards between the town and the French. Sir Arthur had a narrow escape that day; while he was reconnoitring, a three-pound shot was fired at him with so good an aim, that it cut a bough from a tree close to his head. He determined to attack the enemy the following morning, and bring Victor to action before he should be joined by Sebastiani and the Intruder. Nothing could be more favourable to his views than this unskilful halt of the enemy, an opportunity being thus presented for beating them, as he had hoped, in detail. The columns were formed for this purpose at an early hour, and at five in the morning they received orders to march. But when Cuesta was informed of the determination which had been taken, no arguments could induce him to make up his mind, and give the ♦lost by Cuesta’s indecision.♦ necessary instructions: at midnight he remained undecided, and the orders therefore were necessarily countermanded, ... not more to the disappointment of the army, than to the sore vexation of the General, who knew the whole importance of the opportunity which had thus been lost. So unaccountable was this conduct in Cuesta, that it has been supposed he scrupled at fighting upon a Sunday. Whatever his reasons were, they have never been explained, and could not have been more valid than this would have been: but thus the fair occasion was let pass; for when, on the morning of the 24th, he was ready to offer battle, it appeared that Victor, profiting by the precious time which had been given him, had decamped during the night, and retired to St. Olalla, and from thence towards Torrejos, to effect that meditated junction which Sir Arthur’s measures would have frustrated.