A retreat, although it was prescribed by the rules of scientific war, and in unison with the instructions of the government, which forbad the general to commit his troops in any serious affair, before the whole were united, would have been (while the Spanish army of the centre still held the field) ungenerous, and the idea was repugnant to the bold and daring spirit of Moore. Rather than resort to such a remedy for the false position his government had placed him in, he contemplated a hardy and dangerous enterprise, such as none but great minds are capable of. He proposed, if he could draw the extended wings of his army together in good time, to abandon all communication [Appendix, No. 14.] with Portugal, and throwing himself into the heart of Spain, to rally Castaños’ army (if it yet existed) upon his own, to defend the southern provinces, and trust to the effect which such an appeal to the patriotism and courage of the Spaniards would produce. But he considered that the question was not purely military; the Spanish cause was not one which could be decided by the marches of a few auxiliary troops; its fate rested on the vigour of the rulers, the concert of the generals, the unity of the exertions, and the fixed resolution of the people to suffer all privations, and die rather than submit. To sir John Moore it appeared doubtful that such a spirit, or the means of creating it, existed, and more doubtful that there was capacity in the government to excite or to direct it when aroused. No men of talent had yet appeared, and good-will was in itself nothing if improperly treated.
With the English plenipotentiary, who had just superseded Mr. Stuart near the central junta, the general had been directed by the ministers to communicate upon all important points, and to receive with deference his opinion and advice. The present was an occasion to which those instructions were peculiarly applicable. Mr. Frere had come fresh from the English government, he was acquainted with its views, and he was in the most suitable position to ascertain what degree of elasticity the Spanish cause really possessed. The decision of the question belonged as much to him as to the general; it involved the whole policy of the English cabinet with respect to Spain. As a simple operation of war the proposed movement was rash; all the military and many political reasons called for a retreat upon Portugal, which would take the army back upon its own resources, ensure its concentration, increase its strength, protect British interests, and leave it free either to return to Spain if a favourable opportunity should occur, or to pass by sea to Andalusia, and commence the campaign in the south.
Such were the reflections that induced sir John Moore to solicit Mr. Frere’s opinion upon the general policy of the proposed operation, but in so doing he never had the least intention of consulting him upon the mode of executing the military part, of which he conceived himself to be the best judge.
While awaiting the reply, he directed sir David Baird, if the enemy showed no disposition to molest him, to push the troops on to Salamanca as fast as they should arrive at Astorga. Sir David was proceeding to do so, when Blake advised him that a considerable French force was collecting at Rio Seco and Ampudia with a view of interrupting the march. This arrested the movement, and Baird, after destroying some of his stores at Astorga, fell back to Villa Franca. As sir John Moore’s information led him to believe that Blake’s report was false, he recalled Baird; but valuable time was thus lost. It was the march of the fourth corps, then traversing the line from Carrion to the Guadarama, that gave rise to the contradictory intelligence.
At this time, the various changes in the French positions, and the continual circulation of their light cavalry through the plains, bewildered the spies and the peasants. The force of the enemy on different points also confused the higher agents, who, believing the greatest amount of the invading army to be from a hundred to a hundred and twenty thousand men, could never reconcile the reports with this standard, and therefore concluded that Napoleon exaggerated his real numbers to create terror.
Sir John Moore wrote to Mr. Frere on the 27th of November, and the arrangements for the execution of his project were all prepared. Baird was to march by Benevente on the 1st, Hope was to move on Tordesillas, and the force at Salamanca was to advance to Zamora and Toro; but in the night of the 28th, a despatch from Mr. Stuart made known the disaster [Appendix, No. 14.] at Tudela. This changed the aspect of affairs; the question proposed to Mr. Frere was no longer doubtful; the projected movement had been founded upon the chance of rallying the Spanish armies behind the Tagus; a hazardous and daring experiment when first conceived; but now that Castaños had no longer an army, now that the strength of Spain was utterly broken, to have persisted in it would have been insanity. The French could be over the Tagus before the British, and there were no Spanish armies to rally. The defeat at Tudela took place the 23d of November; Baird’s brigades could not be united at Astorga before the 5th of December, and to concentrate the whole of the army at Salamanca required a flank march of several days over an open plain; an operation not to be thought of, within a few marches of a skilful enemy who possessed such an overwhelming force of artillery and cavalry. As long as Castaños and Palafox kept the field there was reason to believe that the French stationed at Burgos would not make any serious attempt on the side of Astorga, but that check being now removed, an unmilitary flank march would naturally draw their attention, and bring them down upon the parcelled divisions of the English troops. The object of succouring the Spaniards called for great but not for useless sacrifices. The English general was prepared to confront any danger and to execute any enterprise which held out a chance of utility, but he also remembered that the best blood of England was committed to his charge, that not an English army, but the very heart, the pith of the military power of his country was in his keeping, it was entrusted to his prudence, and his patriotism spurned the idea of seeking personal renown by betraying that sacred trust.
The political reasons in favour of marching towards Madrid, scarcely balanced the military objections before the battle of Tudela; but after that event, the latter acquiring double force, left no room for hesitation in the mind of any man capable of reasoning at all; and sir John Moore resolved to fall back into Portugal. He ordered sir David Baird to regain Coruña or Vigo, and to carry his troops by sea to Lisbon; but wishing, if possible, to unite with Hope before the retrograde movement commenced, he directed Baird to show a bold front for a few days in order to attract the enemy’s attention.
The negligence, the false intelligence, the frauds, the opposition approaching to hostility, experienced by sir David Baird during his march from Coruña, had so reduced that general’s hopes, that he prepared to retreat without reluctance. He was in direct communication with Romana, but the intercourse between [Appendix, No. 13], section 5. them had rather confirmed than weakened the impression on sir David’s mind, that it was impossible to depend upon the promises, the information, or the judgment of any Spanish general.
In the meantime, Napoleon forced the Somosierra, and summoned Madrid. The supreme junta fled to Badajos. St. Juan was murdered at Talavera. The remnant of Castaños’s army was driven towards the Tagus; and as the fourth corps approached Segovia, Sir John Moore’s Papers. sir John Hope’s situation became very critical. His column, consisting of three thousand infantry, nine hundred cavalry, the artillery, and the great parc of Hope’s Letters. ammunition had been obliged, from the want of money and supplies, to move in six divisions, each being a day’s march behind the other. At Almaraz, Hope endeavoured to discover a way across the mountains to Ciudad Rodrigo; a road did exist, but the peasants and muleteers declared it to be impracticable for carriages, and consequently unfit for the convoy. The truth of their assertions was much doubted; but sir John was daily losing horses from the glanders, and, with a number but just sufficient to drag his guns and convoy along a good road, he feared to explore a difficult passage over the Sierras.