While the vexatious correspondence with Galluzzo was going on, sir Hew Dalrymple renewed his intercourse with Castaños, and prepared to prosecute the war in Spain. The Spanish prisoners, about four thousand in number, were sent to Catalonia; and the British army was cantoned principally in the Alemtejo along the road to Badajos, but some officers were despatched to examine the roads through Beira with a view to a movement on that line; and general Anstruther was directed to repair to the fortress of Almeida, for the purpose of regulating every thing which might concern the passage of the army, if it should be found necessary to enter Spain by that route. Lord William Bentinck was also despatched to Madrid, having instructions to communicate with the Spanish generals and with the central junta, and to arrange with them the best line of march, the mode of providing magazines, and the plan of campaign. But in the midst of these affairs, and before the garrison of Elvas arrived at Lisbon, sir Hew Dalrymple was called home to answer for his conduct relative to the convention. The command then devolved upon sir Harry Burrard, but after holding it for a few days he also returned to England, there to abide the fury of the most outrageous and disgraceful public clamour that was ever excited by the falsehoods of base and venal political writers.
The editors of the daily press adopting all the misrepresentations of the Portuguese minister, and concluding that the silence of government was the consequence of its dissatisfaction at the convention, broke forth with such a torrent of rabid malevolence, that all feelings of right and justice were overborne, and the voice of truth stifled by their obstreperous cry. Many of the public papers were printed with mourning lines around the text which related to Portuguese affairs; all called for punishment, and some even talked of death to the guilty, before it was possible to know if any crime had been committed; the infamy of the convention was the universal subject of conversation, a general madness seemed to have seized all classes, and, like the Athenians after the sea fight of Arginusæ, the English people if their laws would have permitted the exploit, were ready to condemn their generals to death for having gained a victory!
A court of inquiry was assembled at Chelsea to inquire into the transactions relating to the armistice and the definite convention. Sir Arthur Wellesley, sir Harry Burrard, sir Hew Dalrymple, and the principal generals engaged at Vimiero, were called before it. A minute investigation of all the circumstances took place, and a detailed report was made by the board; at the end of which, it was stated that no further judicial measures seemed to be called for. This report was not satisfactory to the government, and the members of the court were required to state individually whether they approved or disapproved of the armistice and convention. It then appeared that four approved, and three disapproved, of the convention. Among the latter the earl of Moira distinguished himself by a laboured criticism, which, however, left the pith of the question entirely untouched. The proceedings of the board were dispassionate and impartial but the report was not luminous; a circumstance to be regretted, because the rank and reputation of the members were sufficiently great to secure them from the revenge of party, and no set of men were ever more favourably placed for giving a severe and just rebuke to popular injustice.
Thus ended the last act of the celebrated convention of Cintra, the very name of which will always be a signal record of the ignorant and ridiculous vehemence of the public feeling; for the armistice, the negotiations, the convention itself, and the execution of its provisions, were all commenced, conducted, and concluded, at the distance of thirty miles from Cintra, with which place they had not the slightest connexion, political, military, or local[14]!
OBSERVATIONS.
RORIÇA.
1º. General Thiebault says, that the scattered state of the French army, in the beginning of August, rendered its situation desperate; but that the slowness of sir Arthur Wellesley saved it. Others again have accused the latter of rashness and temerity. Neither of these censures appear to be well founded. It is true that Junot’s army was disseminated; but to beat an army in detail, a general must be perfectly acquainted with the country he is to act in, well informed of his adversary’s movements, and rapid in his own. Now rapidity in war depends as much upon the experience of the troops as upon the energy of the chief; and the English army was raw, the staff and commissariat mere novices, the artillery scantily and badly horsed, few baggage or draft animals were to be obtained in the country, and there were only a hundred and eighty cavalry mounted. Such impediments are not to be removed in a moment, and therein lies the difference betwixt theory and practice, between criticism and execution.
2º. To disembark the army without waiting for the reinforcements was a bold but not a rash measure. Sir Arthur Wellesley knew that the French troops were very much scattered, although he was not aware of the exact situation of each division, and from the bishop of Oporto’s promises, he had reason to expect good assistance from the Portuguese, who would have been discouraged if he had not landed at once. Weighing these circumstances he was justified in disembarking his troops, and the event proved that he was right, for he had full time to prepare his army, his marches were methodical, and he was superior in numbers to his enemy in each battle. His plans were characterized by a due mixture of enterprise and caution well adapted to his own force, and yet capable of being enlarged without inconvenience when the reinforcement should arrive.
3º. In the action of Roriça there was a great deal to admire, and some grounds for animadversion. The movement against Laborde’s first position was well conceived and executed; but the subsequent attack against the heights of Zambugeira was undoubtedly faulty. The march of Ferguson’s and Trant’s divisions would have dislodged Laborde from that strong ridge without any attack on the front. It is said that such was sir Arthur’s project; but that some mistake in the orders caused general Ferguson to alter the direction of his march from the flank to the centre; this if true, does not excuse the error; because the commander-in-chief being present at the attack in front, might have restrained it until Ferguson had recovered the right direction. It is more probable that sir Arthur did not expect any very vigorous resistance, and wishing to press the French in their retreat pushed on the action too fast, and Laborde, who was unquestionably no ordinary general, made the most of both time and circumstances.
4º. Towards the close of the day when the French had decidedly taken to the mountains, the line of Loison’s march was in the power of the English general. If he had sent two thousand men in pursuit of Laborde, left one thousand to protect the field of battle, and with the remaining ten thousand marched against Loison, whose advanced guard could not have been far off; it is probable that the latter would have been surprised and totally defeated, and at all events he could only have saved himself by a hasty retreat, which would have broken Junot’s combinations and scattered his army in all directions.