Upon the fall of Almeida Lord Wellington’s head-quarters were removed to Gouvea, and the whole of his infantry retired to the rear of Celorico, the outposts continuing in advance of that town. Massena waited till he had been joined by Regnier’s corps, consisting of 17,000 men, which, having acted with little success against Romana in Extremadura, had crossed the Tagus at Barca de Alconete, early in July. According to the plan which Buonaparte had laid down for the conquest of Portugal, this corps was to have moved by the right bank of the Tagus upon Abrantes; but this design having been altered when the allied army was found more numerous and efficient than the French cabinet had supposed, Regnier had moved upon Zarzamayor, Penamacor, and Monsanto, in the hope of striking a blow against Lieutenant-General Hill, who had advanced with 13,000 men from Abrantes to Portalegre, for the purpose of supporting Romana. The French hoped either that he would expose himself to an attack, or that Lord Wellington might be tempted to make a movement against Regnier, of which Massena was prepared to take advantage; but the British generals were not thus to be circumvented: and Massena as well as Lord Wellington, directing his attention to a single object, Regnier joined the invading force, while Hill was stationed at Sarzedas, to cover the road upon Abrantes to Lisbon, or move to Ponte de Murcella, and unite with the main body on the line of its retreat: in either case Major-General Leith’s division, which was kept at Thomar in reserve to support him, was to take the same direction.
♦Massena advances into Portugal.♦
Had Massena despised the allied army in truth as he affected to do, he would now have marched by Castello Branco, Abrantes, and Santarem, direct upon Lisbon, leaving Lord Wellington behind him; but he remembered the fate of Junot, and had too much respect for the enemy with whom he had to contend. Relying, however, upon numbers and fortune, and taking into account the indecision and timidity which seemed to characterize the British counsels, he expected that Lord Wellington, being too weak to risk a battle, would retreat, if not fly before him, with no other hope than that of reaching the ships and securing his embarkation. Under this imagination he ordered the French army to provide itself for seventeen days, by which time he expected to finish the campaign triumphantly. The only impediment which he apprehended on the way was from the difficulty of transport. For this reason very few women were allowed to accompany the army; they were left at Ciudad Rodrigo, where so many had assembled to share in the spoils and pleasures of Lisbon with their friends and husbands, that the place, because of the round of gaieties which was there kept up, was called Little Paris. From thence they were to follow when the easy conquest should be completed; and this was thought so certain, that engagements were made for parties to be given in the capital. With this confidence, and this levity of mind, the French entered upon their third invasion of Portugal. They began their march in three bodies, Junot’s corps with the artillery and cavalry proceeding by Pinhel and Trancoso, Ney’s by Alverca, and Regnier’s by Guarda. At the same time, Lord Wellington, aware of the enemy’s intent, began to retreat towards Coimbra deliberately, and with such evident forethought and determination, that this retrograde movement did not in the slightest degree abate the spirits of the army. No stores were abandoned, no men and horses foundered; the operations were all performed with regularity and ease; the soldiers suffered no privations, and underwent no unnecessary fatigue; the inhabitants retired under their protection, and assisted them in breaking up the bridges, destroying the mills, and laying waste the country; so that Massena found a desert as he advanced. In the town of Celorico there were only two inhabitants, and nothing but bare walls. At that ♦Ney and Regnier’s corps join him at Celorico.♦ place the corps of Regnier and Ney effected their junction. The appearance of the former made it evident that there was no intention of acting upon the Tagus; and it appeared also, upon their taking the road by Fornos, that it was Massena’s intention to proceed upon the right side of the Mondego, not upon the left by way of Penalva and Ponte de Murcella, where he thought Lord Wellington would be prepared to resist him in a strong position: he calculated upon turning this position, and so making himself master of Coimbra and the resources which the fertile country about that city would supply. But he did not calculate upon the foresight and decision of the British General, nor upon the spirit of the Portugueze people: he hoped to delude them by promises, and to find them as he advanced remaining patiently in their towns and villages, in expectation of the conquest which awaited them. With ♦Sept. 20.♦ this intent he gave orders that the troops should halt before they entered Viseu, till the inhabitants might be assured of protection for themselves and their property. No persons were found abroad there; the soldiers were still forbidden to enter any house forcibly on pain of severe punishment, and Massena himself remained a while in the streets, expecting the effect of his condescending patience. Night was setting in, and the word was at length given that the soldiers might quarter themselves. The doors were presently broken open, ... but neither inhabitants nor provisions were there; every thing had been carried away, all had fled; even no lights were to be found, except those which were burning in the churches. The only living souls remaining there were a few poor wretches in the hospital, who were in too pitiable a state for removal: one medical attendant had been left with them; he also had fled upon the entrance of the French, but upon the information of his patients he was pursued and overtaken, and ordered to continue at his post, and assure the town’s-people when they ventured back that no ill treatment was to be apprehended from the French conquerors.
♦The French army collected at Viseu.♦
Here Junot, with the artillery and cavalry, joined the army; but this junction, which completed the concentration of the French force, was impeded by Colonel Trant with some Portugueze militia and dragoons, who attacked the convoy near Tojal. Had this enterprise been executed as well as it was planned and timed, a blow might have been inflicted which the enemy would have felt severely; but the French, by their prompt discipline and judicious boldness, deterred the militia from pursuing their success, ♦Jones’s Account of the War, i. 297.♦ and the park fell back on Trancoso. This delay, however, was no light advantage for the allies: it compelled Massena to remain two days at Viseu waiting for his artillery, and the time thus gained enabled Lord Wellington to collect his force upon the ground whereon, now that Massena’s movements were foreseen, he had determined to withstand him.
♦Lord Wellington crosses to the Serra de Busaco.
Sept. 21.♦
On the day after the French commander arrived at Viseu, General Hill joined the British army at Ponte de Murcella; the bridge was destroyed, and he was left there with his division, while the rest of the army crossed the Mondego, and Lord Wellington himself proceeded to the Serra de Busaco, a mountainous ridge eight miles in length, and terminating precipitously on the Mondego; the Serra de Murcella, in like manner, terminating on the opposite bank. By daylight on the following morning the light division and the cavalry, with General Pack’s Portugueze brigade, assembled in the plain of Mortagoa, having their picquets upon the Criz; the bridge over that little river was destroyed. That day the enemy appeared in sight, and on the morrow, about three in the afternoon, drove in the picquets; some skirmishing ensued, the allies retreated to the rear of the plain, and at night began their march over the Serra. The place appointed for their bivouac was on the other side, two leagues distant, but the acclivity was so steep, that owing to this cause, and to the impediment occasioned by the breaking down of some artillery waggons, they did not reach it till it was daylight. It was generally supposed in the army at this time that no stand would be made, but Lord Wellington’s determination soon became apparent. Had his army indeed been numerous enough to have occupied the whole ridge, no enemy could have ventured to attack him there, the ascent being too steep for cavalry, and the height of the position above the ground in its front such as to render the use of artillery on the part of the assailants almost unavailing: occupied as it was, it was impregnable. The general elevation of the ridge is from nine to twelve hundred feet, and it is crossed by two roads, both leading from the north to Coimbra, the one passing near the convent, the other about a league to the southward.
♦Busaco.♦
Busaco, which was now to become famous in British and Portugueze history, had long been a venerable name in Portugal. It is the only place in that kingdom where the barefooted Carmelites possessed what in monastic language is called a desert; by which term an establishment is designated where those brethren whose piety flies the highest pitch may at once enjoy the advantages of the eremite and the discipline of the cœnobite life, and thus indulge the ♦General Mackinnon’s Journal, p. 74.♦ heroism of ascetic devotion in security. The convent, surrounded by an extensive and almost impervious wood, stands in what may be called the crater of the loftiest part of the ridge: its precincts, which included a circumference of about four miles, were walled in. Within that circuit were various chapels and religious stations; and on the summit of the mountain, which is within the inclosure, a stone cross was erected of enormous size, upon so huge a foundation, that three thousand cart-loads of stone were employed in constructing its base. The cells of the brethren were round the church[16], not in a regular building, but accommodated to the irregularities of the ground, and lined with cork, which was every where used instead of wood because of the dampness of the situation. Every cell had its garden and its water-course for irrigating it, the cultivation of these little spots being the only recreation which the inhabitants allowed themselves as lawful. In one of these gardens the first cedars which grew in Portugal were raised. It was indeed one of those places where man has converted an earthly Paradise into a Purgatory for himself, but where superstition almost seems sanctified by every thing around it. Lord Wellington’s head-quarters were in the convent; and the solitude and silence of Busaco were now broken by events, in which its hermits, dead as they were to the world, might be permitted to partake all the agitations of earthly hope and fear.
On the 26th Generals Hill and Leith joined the army. This corps had made so rapid and arduous a march, that Massena regarded its junction as impossible, and reckoned therefore that the force which he wished to attack must necessarily be weak in front, if indeed Lord Wellington should venture to give him battle. That general arrived on the same day at Mortagoa, and the bridge over the Criz was re-established for his artillery, the army having crossed at a ford a little way above. Some skirmishing took place, and at S. Antonio do Cantaro the French were resisted in a manner which made them first apprehend that a determined stand was to be made against them. Massena himself upon this reconnoitred the position, after which he asked one of the unworthy Portugueze who accompanied him, if he thought the allies would give him battle? He ♦Relaçam da Campanha de Massena. Investigador Portuguez, vol. vi. 59.♦ was answered, that undoubtedly they would, seeing they showed themselves in such strength. The French Marshal replied, I cannot persuade myself that Lord Wellington will risk the loss of his reputation; but if he does, ... I have him! To-morrow we shall effect the conquest of Portugal; and in a few days I shall drown the leopard!