SIR ARTHUR WELLESLEY’S SECOND CAMPAIGN IN PORTUGAL. PASSAGE OF THE DOURO, AND EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH. DELIVERANCE OF GALICIA.

There were members who boldly asserted in Parliament that the Portugueze did not like the English. A more groundless assertion had seldom been hazarded there. The connexion between England and Portugal was not an ordinary one, built upon immediate interests, and liable to change with the chance of circumstances. There were nations with whom, during the long struggle against Buonaparte, we were in league one day, and at war the next, the hostility being without anger, and the alliance without esteem. Our friendship with Portugal was like our enmity to France, founded upon something deeper. From the day when Portugal first became a kingdom, with the exception of that unfortunate period when the Philips usurped its crown, England had been its tried and faithful friend. When Lisbon was conquered from the Moors, English crusaders assisted at the siege; ... English archers contributed to the victory of Aljubarrota, which effected the first deliverance of Portugal from Castille; ... an Englishwoman, a Plantagenet, was the mother of that Prince Henry, whose name will for ever remain conspicuous in the history of the world; ... the Braganzan family, when it recovered its rights, applied, and not in vain, to its hereditary ally; ... and when Lisbon was visited by the tremendous earthquake of 1755, money was immediately voted by the English parliament for the relief of the Portugueze people; and ships laden with provisions were dispatched to them in a time of scarcity at home13. These things are not forgotten ... if there be a country in the world where the character of the English is understood, and England is loved as well as respected, it is Portugal. The face of its rudest mountaineer brightens when he hears that it is an Englishman who accosts him; and he tells the traveller that the English and the Portugueze were always ... always friends.

That old and honourable friendship was now once more to be tried and approved. An expedition sailed in March for Portugal. The commander’s instructions were, in case he should find that Lisbon had been evacuated by the British troops, to proceed to Cadiz, and land the army there, if the government would admit them into the garrison. Mr. Canning stated in his advice to Mr. Frere, that the delicacy of this point was felt and acknowledged, and the former refusal had been received without the least resentment or surprise. But circumstances were now materially changed. The security of Cadiz was impaired while the French possessed Portugal, and it was thought advisable to give the Junta one more opportunity of reconsidering the question. Permission would now undoubtedly have been granted had it been required; fortunately it was not needed.

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.

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.

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.

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.

After some skirmishing for two days, Silveira, understanding that a division of the enemy was moving from Guimaraens to take him in the rear, and place him thus between two fires, gave orders for retiring to Amarante, and there defending the passage of the bridge. Antiquaries have maintained that this bridge was the work of Trajan; but a tradition too long established, and too fondly believed to be shaken by any historical arguments, has ascribed its foundation to St. Gonçalo de Amarante, a Saint, who, having taken up his abode there in a hermitage, and commiserating the numerous accidents which happened in passing the river, determined to build a bridge. The alms which he obtained would have fallen short of the necessary charges for feeding his workmen, if the Saint had had no other resources; he, however, by making a cross upon the water, drew as many fish to his hand as he pleased to take, and then supplied his labourers with a fountain of oil from the rock for the purpose of dressing them, and another of wine, that their hearts might be gladdened, as well as their countenances made cheerful. The bridge consists of three arches, the middle one being so large as to appear very disproportionate; but through this the Saint is believed to have guided with his staff a huge oak which the flood was bringing down, and which, if it had struck the pier, must have demolished it, ... a miracle so necessary, that he rose from his grave to perform it. Portugal has never been ungrateful to such benefactors: near as Compostella is, the shrine of St. Gonçalo was preferred by the Portugueze to that of Santiago; whole parishes went thither in procession, and not a day passed in which some joyous party of devotees was not to be met on every road leading to Amarante, travelling with music, and increasing their noisy mirth by firing off sky-rockets in the face of the sun. It is the custom for every pilgrim to offer a small wax taper, and these tapers have amounted to more than twelve hundred weight on the day of his annual festival, at which sometimes more than 30,000 persons have assembled from all parts.

The town, which contained about five hundred families, stands on the right bank, consisting chiefly of one long and narrow street, leading down a steep descent to the bridge. Hither the Portugueze retreated: a retrograde movement, in the presence of an active and adventurous enemy, tries the best troops; to the ill or the undisciplined it is usually fatal. Silveira’s rear-guard fell back in disorder, ... the confusion spread, and the enemy, when they entered Amarante pell-mell with their despised and broken opponents, thought themselves sure of winning the passage, and destroying a force upon which they were eager to wreak their vengeance. This expectation might probably have been fulfilled, if Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick, a British officer who had come out with Beresford, had not been present. Short as the time was which he had been with the Portugueze, it had been long enough for him to become acquainted with their character; and rallying a handful of men, who required only such a leader to be fit for any service, he posted himself at the head of the bridge. The example became as contagious as the previous disorder, and the Portugueze, who, despairing to maintain the passage, had begun to withdraw toward Mezam-frio, rallied and re-formed. The enemy persisted in the attack, knowing the importance of the passage; but the defendants stood their ground, and actually entrenched themselves in the street with the dead bodies of their enemies; they occupied the houses also, and the Convent of St. Gonçalo, one of the finest which the Dominicans possessed in that kingdom; and from thence they kept up a most destructive fire, till the enemy were driven out of the town with considerable loss. But Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick received several wounds, was carried off exhausted with loss of blood, and died within a few days, after having performed a service for which it is to be hoped a monument will one day be erected to his memory on the spot.

The French set fire to the town before they abandoned it. On the following day, having been joined by Lahoussaye’s division, they won the Convent, after a brave resistance: they were now masters of the town; but the suburb of Villa Real, on the other side the river, was occupied by the Portugueze, who had barricadoed the bridge, and planted batteries which commanded the approach to it. They kept up a fire also from some houses in the suburb upon those who approached to reconnoitre, and killed, among many others, Loison’s aide-de-camp, and his chief officer of engineers. The loss was so severe in these attempts, that Laborde despaired of forcing the passage, and gave directions for forming a wooden bridge some quarter of a mile from the town. When the materials were prepared, the best swimmers from the different regiments were ordered to be upon the spot at midnight, as soon as the moon had gone down; but they found the water so deep, that no diver could touch the bottom in the mid stream, and so rapid, that no one could reach the opposite shore; this project, therefore, was abandoned.

Captain Bouchard, of the engineers, who was present at this attempt, had been sent by Marshal Soult to form an opinion upon the spot concerning difficulties which both Laborde and Loison represented as of the most formidable kind. In reconnoitring the Portugueze works of defence from the church tower, which was close to the bridge, he discovered a string so placed as to leave no doubt in his mind that it was fastened to a trigger, which was to fire a mine and blow up the farther arch in case the entrenchments should be forced: at the same time he was convinced that there was no other possible means of effecting the passage than by forcing them. Ten days had been occupied in vain attempts, which had discouraged not only the men, but their commanders; more ammunition and artillery had been sent them from Porto, and another division was placed at Laborde’s disposal, and positive orders given that the passage must be attempted and won, and the opposite bank cleared of the enemy. A plan of Bouchard’s was then tried, against the opinion of the Generals, and the troops were held in readiness to act in case of its success: this plan was to demolish the entrenchments on the bridge by four barrels of powder placed against them under cover of the night.

To call off the attention of the Portugueze guard, some twenty men were stationed to keep up a fire upon the entrenchments, so directed as not to endanger the sappers who had volunteered for the real service of the hour. It was a service so hopeful and hazardous as to excite the liveliest solicitude for its success. The barrel was covered with a gray cloak, that it might neither be heard nor seen, and the man who undertook to deposit it in its place wore a cloak of the same colour. The clear moonlight was favourable to the adventure, by the blackness of the shadow which the parapet on one side produced. In that line of darkness the sapper crept along at full length, pushing the barrel before him with his head, and guiding it with his hands. His instructions were to stop if he heard the slightest movement on the Portugueze side; and a string was fastened to one of his feet, by which the French were enabled to know how far he had advanced, and to communicate with him. Having placed the barrel, ♦1809.
May.♦ and uncovered that part where it was to be kindled, he returned with the same caution. Four barrels, one after the other, were thus arranged without alarming the Portugueze. The fourth adventurer had not the same command of himself as his predecessors had evinced. Possessed either with fear, or with premature exultation, as soon as he had deposited the barrel in its place, instead of making his way back slowly and silently along the line of shadow, he rose and ran along the middle of the bridge in the moonlight. He was seen, fired at, and shot in the thigh. But the Portugueze did not take the alarm as they ought to have done; ... they kept up a fire upon the entrance of the bridge, and made no attempt to discover for what purpose their entrenchments had been approached so closely.

Four hours had elapsed before the four barrels were placed: by that time it was midnight, and in another hour, when the Portugueze had ceased their fire, a fifth volunteer proceeded in the same manner, with a saucisson fastened to his body; this he fixed in its place, and returned safely. By two o’clock this part of the business was completed, and Laborde was informed that all was ready. Between three and four a fog rose from the river, and filled the valley, so that the houses on the opposite shore could scarcely be discerned through it. This was favourable for the assailants. The saucisson was fired, and the explosion, as Bouchard had expected, threw down the entrenchments, and destroyed also the apparatus for communicating with the mine. The French rushed forward; some threw water into the mine, others cleared the way; the fog increased the confusion into which the Portugueze were thrown by being thus surprised; they made so little resistance that the French ♦Operations de M. Soult, 209–222.♦ lost only nine men; and Silveira, saving only four pieces of artillery, but preserving order enough soon to restore the spirits of his countrymen, retired upon Entre ambos os rios.

The advantage which the enemy had gained would have been great, if it had been earlier; it was too late to profit by it now. Loison had been ordered to establish himself in Villa Real after the passage should have been won, ... he only came in sight of it, and returned to Amarante. On the way the post from Lisbon was intercepted, and in that mail the intelligence which had been so carefully concealed from the enemy was found, that hostilities had recommenced in Germany. The superior officers knew now the whole danger of their situation, and began to think only of how to14 secure the booty they had acquired by such flagitious means. The soldiers partook the spirit of their leaders; ... they were now in fact a body of freebooters, retaining still the form, and unhappily the strength of an army, but with the feelings and the temper of banditti; and it was in vain for Marshal Soult, after the system of pillage in which all ranks had indulged, to appeal to any principle of honour, and call upon men to exert themselves for the good of the service, whose sole care was how to enrich themselves. Loison’s division had to fight for the resources which were within their reach, on the left bank of the Tamega; ... if they got sight of a peasant, a cry was set up as if a beast had been started, and they hunted him till he was slain. One Portugueze who was thus brought down among the crags by a shot which broke his thigh held fast his fowling-piece when he fell, raised himself on the other knee, and with an unerring aim killed a French officer before he himself was put to death. Another gray-headed old man, armed with a musket and bayonet, posted himself to such advantage among the rocks, that, refusing ♦Naylies, 117–8.♦ quarter, he wounded three men and four horses before he could be cut down. Every day made the French generals more sensible of the difficulties of their situation. In any other country, they said, with a fourth part of the means of every kind which were employed here to obtain intelligence, and without success, they should have been informed of every design of their enemies, even the most secret thoughts. All that they could learn now with all their means amounted only to the certainty that Sir Arthur ♦Operations, &c. 229.♦ Wellesley had arrived at Lisbon, and that General Beresford had begun to discipline the Portugueze army.

Sir Arthur had landed on the 22nd of April. A general rejoicing was made for his arrival, and every town throughout the kingdom, where the French were not in possession, was illuminated three successive nights. The Prince of Brazil had appointed him Marshal-General of the Portugueze army, thus enabling him to direct its movements, while Beresford was continued in the command. He would at once have proceeded into Spain, there in co-operation with Cuesta to have struck a blow against the French in Extremadura, had it not been that the part of Portugal which the enemy occupied was fertile in resources, and also for the importance of the city of Porto. Therefore he ♦He communicates his plans to Cuesta.♦ determined to drive Soult out of the kingdom, leaving such a force about Abrantes as might secure Lisbon against any attempt on the part of Victor; and he resolved not to pursue him into Galicia, because he was not certain that he should, singly, be equal to the French there, and because the appearance of a British army in that province would make the French collect their force, and thus suspend the war of the peasantry, which was at this time carrying on in a way that harassed and wasted the enemy, and materially impeded their plans: Galicia, he thought, might be more certainly and permanently relieved by striking a blow against Victor, than by following Soult. This plan he communicated to Cuesta, requesting him not to undertake any thing against Victor till the expedition to Porto should be concluded, when he would come down upon Elvas, and co-operate with him. Cuesta was not well pleased with these intended operations. Little or nothing, he thought, would be gained by driving Soult toward the Minho, for in that case he would be able to re-enter Galicia and complete its subjugation, neither the peasantry nor Romana being able to prevent him. “The object of Sir Arthur,” he said, “ought to be to surround the French in Porto, or get between them and the Minho, so as to cut off the resources of Soult and prevent his retreat. But,” he added, “the system of the British is never to expose their troops; and it was owing to that system, that instead of ever gaining a decisive action by land, they sacrificed their men in continual retreats and precautions, as General Moore had done, for not having attacked the enemy in time.”

In this opinion the brave but ill-judging old man wronged the English, as much as he underrated the exertions of Romana and the Galicians: and he recommended a plan which was impossible, unless Soult should remain quietly at Porto, and allow the enemy to get in his rear. Sir Arthur’s plans were well formed and vigorously pursued, nor were they altered in any degree by the intelligence that the passage of the Tamega had been effected, and that Lapisse had crossed the Tagus at Alcantara to form his junction with Victor. He stationed two dragoon regiments, two battalions and a brigade of infantry, with about 7000 Portugueze under Major-General Mackenzie, to defend the fords of the Tagus between Santarem and Abrantes, and the mountain passes between that city and Alcantara. The latter place was occupied by 600 of the Lusitanian Legion, 1100 Portugueze militia, and a squadron of Portugueze cavalry under Colonel Mayne. In case Victor, now that the junction had been effected, should enter Alemtejo, which Sir Arthur thought was not impossible, he advised that Cuesta should follow him; but his opinion was, that the French in that quarter would make no movement till they should hear of Soult.

Marshal Soult, in conformity to Buonaparte’s system, had endeavoured to keep his army ignorant of the continental war. But copies of Marshal Beresford’s address, which contained the intercepted letter from Kellermann, were carried to Porto by a brave inhabitant of that city, Manoel Francisco Camarinho by name, and means were even found of fastening it upon the walls of Soult’s own quarters. This intelligence raised the hopes of those officers who, under the appellation of Philadelphes, had formed a plan for overthrowing the military despotism under which France, as well as her conquests, was suffering, and restoring peace to Europe. The restoration of the Bourbons made no part of the scheme, for the leaders had grown up in those republican opinions which it is the tendency of youthful studies to promote, and which are congenial to a generous mind till time and knowledge have matured it. The end whereat they aimed, as far as they saw the end, was meritorious; ... the means had a fearful character, such as is common to all secret societies, but which no circumstances can15 justify.

The plan had proceeded to a great length in Soult’s army, and some of the general officers were engaged in it. The more dangerous part was taken upon himself by the Sieur D’Argenton, who was then Adjutant-Major, and had formerly been Soult’s aide-de-camp. It is one of the worst evils of revolution, that in such times good and honourable men are forced into situations where nothing can enable them to act innocently and uprightly except that unerring religious principle which it is the sure tendency and undisguised intent of modern revolutions to ♦The Sieur D’Argenton goes to Sir Arthur Wellesley to explain their views.♦ destroy. D’Argenton was worthy to have fallen on better times, for he was a man of kind and generous affections, at once firm of purpose and gentle of heart. When the French entered Porto, no individual exerted himself more strenuously in repressing the excesses of the troops; and many families in those dreadful days were beholden to him not only for their lives and properties, but for preservation from evils more dreadful than ruin and death. This officer undertook to open a communication with the British army, and finding his way to Colonel Trant’s head-quarters, was sent by him to Sir Arthur. Several interviews took place; and he went backward and forward by the French posts with such ease, and so little apprehension of danger, as naturally to excite a suspicion that he was acting under Soult’s, instructions, and endeavouring to dupe the British Commander. There were no means of ascertaining this; but the manner in which his overtures were received was that which would have been equally proper whether they were sincere or treacherous. He was assured by Sir Arthur that no change in the French army, either in contemplation or actually carried into effect, would induce him to delay his operations as long as it continued in Portugal; ... he should march against it with equal activity whether revolutionized or counter-revolutionized. D’Argenton, however, well knew that if the army declared unequivocally against Buonaparte, an arrangement with the British Commander must of necessity follow, and he asked for passports from the Admiral for the purpose of communicating with the army in Germany. Sir Arthur warned him of the danger to which he exposed himself by having such documents in his possession; but he was particularly solicitous to obtain them, and accordingly they were given him.

The movements of the troops, meantime, were continued without any reference to the politics or projects in the French army. On the 5th of May the whole of the British force which was intended to march against Porto was assembled at Coimbra. On the same day Beresford advanced from that city toward Viseu, with about 6000 Portugueze, a brigade of British infantry, and a squadron of British horse, to act upon the enemy’s left, in the hope that he might so disconcert their plans as to make them retreat by Chaves into Galicia, rather than by Villa Real in a direction which would enable them to effect a junction with Victor. Trant was still on the Vouga, where the students had now the proud feeling that they formed the advanced post of that army which was about to deliver their country. He had taken measures for collecting provisions, whereby one difficulty that might have impeded the advance was lessened. A strong division under Major-General Hill proceeded to Aveiro, and there, in boats which Trant had got together for that service, embarked for Ovar, which is upon the northern creek of that singular harbour. The main body proceeded by the high road, and began their march on the 7th. They halted the next day, to allow time for Beresford’s movements.

At this time Soult was informed that there existed a conspiracy in his own army. A general officer, to whom D’Argenton had just opened himself without being sufficiently sure of his man, gave the information. D’Argenton was instantly arrested, and all doubt concerning the truth of the accusation, if any there could have been, was removed by discovering Admiral Berkeley’s passports among his papers. He was not a man who held his life cheap, for he had a wife and children in France whom he loved; but he valued it at no more than it was worth, and had made up his mind how to act in case of such a discovery. He avowed that he had been both to Lisbon and to Coimbra, and had communicated with Generals Wellesley and Beresford, who, he said, would in two days’ time open the campaign upon the Vouga with 30,000 men. If the French army of Portugal would declare, what they well knew, that the Peninsular war in which they were employed was unjust, the British, he said, would unite with them, march in concert with them toward France, compel the different corps in Spain to join them, and when they had passed the Pyrenees, they would find there an expedition of 60,000 English. Officers would be sent to the armies in Italy and Germany, inviting them to follow the example, and an English ship would be dispatched to bring home Moreau from America, and place him at the head of the army and of the government. The English would supply funds for all this; and if Marshal Soult refused the splendid invitation to act the part which became him, the intention was to secure his person, and give the command to another.

The principle upon which D’Argenton acted was that of saying nothing which could compromise his associates, and any thing that might assist their purpose. He was sent to prison, and two officers upon whom the Marshal’s suspicions fell were placed under arrest. But Soult was alarmed, as well he might, by what he had heard; and though the general officers whom he convened assured him they knew of no discontent in the army, it was certain that all those who retained any moral or religious feeling, any respect for humanity and justice, any sense of right and wrong, had abundant reason to be discontented with a service so flagrantly iniquitous as that wherein they were engaged. Not knowing how far he could depend upon the fidelity of his army, and certain that such of them as had been present at Roliça and Vimeiro had not forgotten the lessons which they received there, he thought no longer of conquering Portugal, but of escaping out of it without delay. He informed Loison, therefore, who was at Amarante, that he should retreat by that road, and so by Braganza upon Zamora; and he ordered the ♦Operations, &c. 239.♦ troops from Viana to march upon Amarante, by way of Guimaraens, while he remained at Porto to secure their movements.

On the day that this determination was taken, the British attempted to surprise the advanced guard of the enemy under General Franceschi. Some troops crossed the Vouga on the preceding evening, others during the night. They proceeded silently and in darkness, along rocky passes where there was sometimes room only to march in single file: but the fidelity of Portugueze guides was not doubted, and they were led safely to an open heath, where about sunrise they came in sight of the enemy’s videttes. The French were not taken by surprise, as had been hoped, ... they were formed in line with a pine wood in their rear; but they were beaten out of the field, and driven through the wood with the loss of their cannon; and having then to pass a deep ravine, the artillery came up in time to play upon their rear-guard. Such of the wounded as they were not able to bear away, the Portugueze peasantry dispatched, and miserably mutilated in their vengeance. The French had provoked them by their barbarous usage of the militia who fell into their hands, ... for the peasants had found their bodies hanging there, and marks upon them of the cruelties which they had endured before death. The villages of Albergaria Velha and Nova, which the enemy had lately occupied, bore proofs of the atrocious temper in which this war was carried on by the invaders. They had destroyed in mere wantonness and malignity every thing that was destructible, ... broken open every house, burnt the furniture and the thatch, staved all the liquor which they could not drink, slaughtered the cattle, and pigs, and poultry which they could not carry off, strewn about their limbs, and trampled them in the road. And in this manner they acted along the whole of their ♦Military Chronicle, vol. iv. 193.
General Mackinnon’s Journal, p. 13.♦ retreat to Porto. The inhabitants, who were thus reduced to ruin, welcomed the British with tears of joy as their deliverers, and followed them with prayers that they might overtake and punish these unprovoked invaders, who had brought such unutterable evils upon Portugal.

The enemy retired first upon Oliveira de Azemeis, then upon Feira. On the next day their outposts were driven in, and soon afterwards the two divisions of Franceschi and Mermet were seen strongly posted on the heights above Grijo, their front covered by woods and broken ground. Here they were attacked by Brigadier-General R. Stewart; Major-General Manners, with a brigade of the German Legion, turned their left; they were dislodged and pursued till night, when the British army halted, their advance on the heights beyond Carvalhos, and the rear at S. Antonio da Arrifana, the former about seven miles from the Douro, the latter about twenty-five. The enemy continued their retreat, and having crossed the bridge in the night, set fire to it, and completely destroyed it. At daybreak the British troops were again in motion, in full expectation and hope of again bringing the enemy to action; but before they could be reached there was a river to be crossed, more formidable than ever general had attempted to pass in the presence of a respectable foe.

The Douro, which has the longest course of any river in the Peninsula, and rolls a larger volume of waters than the Tagus to the sea, is about three hundred yards wide at Porto, its deep and rapid stream being contracted between high and rocky shores. Soult had prepared for leaving the city, but he did not dream of being driven out of it. Having stood upon the quay from midnight till four in the morning, and seen not only the breaking up of the bridge, but the pontoons consumed as they floated down, and having previously given orders that all boats should be brought to the Porto side of the river, and collected at one place, that they might be the better guarded, he is said to have supposed that the English would avail themselves of their maritime means, embark their troops, and attempt a landing near the mouth of the Douro; and in that belief he went to his head-quarters, which were between the city and the sea, expecting that he could remain another day in perfect safety, which would allow time for the movements of the troops from Viana. Franceschi was instructed to guard the coast with the rear-guard; Laborde was to support him; Mermet to station one brigade at Val-longo, and two at Baltar, and to have frequent parties on his right to observe the river, and destroy all boats that could be discovered. Orders were also dispatched to Loison, requiring him to keep his ground at Mezam-frio and at Pezo da Ragoa, to prevent the enemy from crossing at either of those points. Every thing was prepared for retreating, biscuit distributed to the troops, the money from the public treasury delivered over to the paymaster, and a battalion was stationed on the quay, with the artillery. But the French were so possessed with the notion ♦Operations, &c. 241–246.♦ that the English must make a maritime descent, that this whole battalion was stationed below the bridge, and not a single post placed above it.

Sir A. Wellesley knew how important it was, with reference to Beresford’s operations, that he should cross the Douro without delay. In the morning he sent Major-General Murray up the river, to send down boats if he could find any, and endeavour to effect a passage at Avintes, about five miles above the city, where it might be possible for the troops to ford. The Guards, under Lieutenant-General Sherbrooke, were to cross at the ferry below the city as soon as boats could be obtained, and he himself directed the passage of the main body from the Convent of S. Agostinho da Serra, which stands in the suburb of Villa Nova upon the most elevated spot on that side. It was certain that the enemy would have taken all common precautions for securing the boats, but it was equally certain that the inhabitants would do every thing in their power to assist their deliverers. Two boats were brought over by them to the foot of the eminence on which the Convent stands, and two more were sent down the stream to the same spot. There was a large unfinished building on the opposite side, designed for the Bishop’s palace, which afforded a good position for those who should land first till they could be supported; and some guns were placed in the Convent garden, where they were masked by fir trees, in a situation to bear upon the enemy with effect.

Four boats only had been collected when the passage was begun; but more were presently on the way, for the inhabitants were on the alert to promote their own deliverance. Lieutenant-General Paget crossed in one of the first, and took up a position with the Buffs as fast as they landed and reached the summit. They were attacked in great force, and stood their ground most gallantly till the 48th and 66th and a Portugueze battalion arrived successively to support them. General Paget lost an arm early in the action, and the command devolved upon Major-General Hill. The most strenuous exertions were made by the inhabitants for transporting the troops, while this contest was maintained, in which sure hope and British resolution counterbalanced the great inequality of numbers. About two hours after the commencement of the action General Sherbrooke, with the Guards and the 29th, appeared on the enemy’s right, having crossed at the lower ferry; and about the same time General Murray was seen coming from the side of Avintes in the opposite direction. If any thing could be needed to animate the spirit of Englishmen at such a time, they had it that day. Hastening up the steep streets of Porto as fast as they could be landed and formed to support their countrymen, they were welcomed by the inhabitants with such demonstrations of joy as might have warmed colder hearts than those to ♦Military Chronicle, vol. iv. p. 28.
Stothert’s Narrative, p. 41.♦ which they were addressed. Handkerchiefs were waved from every balcony, and blessings breathed upon them, and shouts of triumphant gratulation and convulsive laughter mingled with the tears and prayers that greeted them.