Ballasteros was a rude, intrepid, enterprising, and persevering soldier of fortune, handsome in person, strong in body, and of a hale constitution; very useful as a partizan at the head of 4000 or 5000 men, but incapable of conducting any extensive operations with a regular army. Before the appointment of Lord Wellington took place he was in no good humour with the Government, and the Government on its part as little pleased with him. With some better parts of the national character, he partook in no slight degree of its boastfulness, and entertaining a most exaggerated notion of his own merits, made no scruple of saying that Ballasteros had done more for Spain than all her other chiefs put together, and that in spite of the Government, Ballasteros, unassisted and discouraged, would continue to do more than the favourites of the Regency, whose pockets were filled with doubloons by the English. But though he had a large party among the lower orders in Cadiz, and some of his regiments were much attached to him, he overrated his own importance as greatly as his own deserts; he was unpopular in the provinces and disliked by his officers: and when the Government put him under arrest for thus defying its authority, marched him under an escort to Malaga, and sent him from thence to Ceuta as an exile, not a hand, and scarcely a voice was raised in his defence. Some seditious writings indeed were published in his favour at Cadiz, but they produced no effect. The loss of an active partizan was regretted, and the error of an honest, though obstinate and wrong-headed man; but the army and the nation concurred in condemning him, and in approving the promptitude and decision with which the Government had acted.

Meantime, in consequence of this inactivity, in dereliction of all duty, on Ballasteros’s part, and of the inefficiency of the Anglo-Sicilian army, Marshal Soult and Suchet were enabled, without any impediment, to concert their operations with the Intruder, and carry them ♦Gen. Maitland gives up the command of the Anglo-Sicilian army.♦ into effect. General Maitland’s health gave way under the anxieties of his situation, so that it became necessary for him to return to Sicily. Major-General William Clinton was sent from thence to take the command in his stead, and till his arrival, it devolved upon Major-General John Mackenzie. That general made an attempt to seize the castle of Denia by a coup-de-main: from its strength and its position on commanding ground close to the sea it might have easily been maintained against the enemy, and would have afforded great opportunity for annoying ♦Unsuccessful attempt upon Denia.♦ him. Major-General Donkin, Quarter-Master-General of this army, was intrusted with the enterprise; it failed, but the men and guns which had been landed were re-embarked with ♦The French prepare to march from the south against Lord Wellington.♦ little loss. Knowing that nothing was to be apprehended from this army in its present state, Marshals Jourdan, Soult, and Suchet, held a counsel in presence of the Intruder, at Fuente la Higuera. They had feared at one time that it might have been necessary to abandon Valencia: that apprehension was removed, and they now believed that, as the long and brave resistance which had been made by the garrison at Burgos had given the army of Portugal time to recover strength and to unite with the troops in the north, nothing more was required for restoring their affairs, than that the armies of the south and the centre should co-operate with it, for the double purpose of beating Lord Wellington, and re-establishing the Intrusive government at Madrid. It was not deemed necessary to take any part of Suchet’s forces for this service; the state of Aragon and Catalonia on the one hand, and the presence of the Anglo-Sicilian expedition on the other, made it dangerous to weaken him.

At the point where the roads from Alicante and Valencia ♦Castle of Chinchilla taken by the French.♦ to Madrid join, stands the little castle of Chinchilla; it was in possession of the Spaniards, and while the Intruder was reconnoitring it one day with a telescope, a shot from an eight-pounder passed close by him. This place the French besieged; it was ably defended by the Governor D. Juan Antonio Cearra, who was a lieutenant-colonel of engineers: but the enemy were not scrupulous as to any means which could accelerate their success; and during a night’s truce they erected a battery of eight guns, in the most advantageous situation; by this battery the works were much injured, and the garrison considerably reduced in number; and of twenty artillerymen, ♦Oct. 9.♦ there only remained eight to work the guns, when some of these men were struck dead by lightning, many more, and among them the governor, wounded by it, and the works so shaken, that it became necessary to surrender. The enemy’s preparations ♦They begin their march.♦ were complete soon after this obstacle was removed; and on the 16th of October, the Intruder set out from Valencia towards the Tagus, with Marshals Jourdan and Soult at the head of 70,000 troops, 10,000 being cavalry. Lord Wellington received intelligence of this from Sir Rowland Hill on the 21st, and the same advices informed him that the Tagus was already fordable by individuals in many places, and was likely soon to be so for an army. As long as the Tagus remained unfordable, Sir Rowland’s position was tolerably secure; but when the river fell, it became too hazardous for him to maintain an advanced position near Madrid in front of an enemy so greatly superior. It was necessary that Lord Wellington should move towards him, lest the corps under his own command should be insulated in consequence of the movements which Sir Rowland might find himself compelled to make. He determined therefore to fall back upon the Douro, so as to afford Sir Rowland a point upon which to return, and by uniting their forces, to secure a retreat into Portugal.

This resolution was executed as promptly as it was formed. He instantly raised the siege, and filed his whole army in the night of the 21st under the walls of the castle and over the bridge, which was closely enfiladed by its artillery; a bold and unprecedented manœuvre, which military men adduce as a proof that the march of troops cannot be stopped by the fire of artillery in the night. The allies moved in silence and good order; but a party of Guerrillas, regardless of discipline, then, as at all times, put their horses to their speed, and the clatter which they made alarmed the garrison. A fire was consequently opened from the guns which were directed on the bridge, and the first discharge was most destructive; but the gunners then lost the range and direction, and their farther fire served only to quicken the speed of the carriages. Every thing was brought away in this retreat except the three disabled guns, and the eight pieces of the enemy which had been taken in the horn-work. The loss of the allies during the siege amounted to 24 officers and 485 men killed; 68 officers and 1487 men wounded ♦Retreat from Burgos.♦ and missing. The enemy did not begin to follow till late on the ensuing day; 10,000 of their troops encamped that day on the south of Burgos, and on the morrow at noon they came up in force with the retreating army. Sir Stapleton Cotton detained them for above three hours at the passage of the Hormaza, in front of Celada del Camino; they were twice charged there by Major-General Anson’s brigade with great success, and the rear-guard continued to fall back in the best order, till the Guerrillas on their left were driven in and came flying upon them, four or five of the enemy’s squadrons being mixed with them in pursuit. In the confusion which ensued, the French were mistaken for Spaniards, and, favoured by that mistake, they fell upon the flank and rear of the allies. Some loss was sustained, and Lieutenant-Colonel Pell, of the 16th dragoons, was taken prisoner, having had his horse shot. A very superior body of cavalry, in which the enemy were strong, now came up, and the allied cavalry fell back hastily, lest they should be surrounded; but having crossed a wide and deep ditch by a narrow bridge, the brigades of Major-Generals Bock and Anson charged their pursuers when only part had filed over: in this they were repulsed, hardly pressed, and forced upon the infantry rear-guard of German light troops under Colonel Halkett; that officer formed his troops in four squares, and the men behaving, as that legion ever did, admirably, repulsed the enemy in several charges, and checked the ♦The allies cross the Pisuerga.♦ pursuit. The right of the army crossed the Pisuerga that afternoon at Torquemada, and the left at Cordovilla, where head-quarters were established that night.

The army continued its march on the 24th towards ♦Disorders during the retreat.♦ the Carrion. Throughout the north of Castille, which is a great wine country, the wine is stowed either in caves dug in the hill sides, or excavated in the earth, the soil from the excavation being formed into a mound over them, and the entrance appearing like the chimney of a subterraneous dwelling. These cellars were now filled with new wine; the soldiers broke into them during the night, and it was not without the greatest exertions that the officers in the morning could put their battalions in march. The enemy, however, after their yesterday’s repulse were less pressing; and the whole army having that day marched twenty miles, took up its ground behind the Carrion with its right at Dueñas and its left at Villa Muriel; and here the brigade of guards which had disembarked at Coruña joined them. The retreating army did not exceed 20,000 men; the French displayed above thirty; they were confident also in the superiority of their cavalry, in that country the most efficient force; and as it is their national character to be easily elated, they might well be elated now at having baffled Lord Wellington before so poor a fortress as the castle at Burgos, and compelled him who had driven Massena out of Portugal, and routed Marmont at Salamanca, to retreat before them. English soldiers are neither lightly elated, nor soon cast down; they keep their courage on a retreat, for that never gives way; but they become disdainful of control when they have no opportunity of wreaking their wrathful feelings upon the enemy who is in pursuit, and insubordination is then the sin which most easily besets them. This was already felt, though as yet they had suffered little, and though the retreat was so deliberately made, and with so firm a face toward the enemy, that the men lost none of their confidence in their Commander.

The army halted on the 25th, and measures were taken for impeding the pursuit. A battalion of the royals was posted at Palencia, to cover the operations for destroying the bridges over the Carrion at that old city; but the French assembled there in such force that the commanding officer being attacked and overpowered, found it necessary to retire upon Villa Muriel, and the bridges were left uninjured for the pursuers to pass. Two other bridges over the same river at Villa Muriel and at Dueñas were mined, that they might be exploded on the enemy’s approach, and one in like manner over the Pisuerga at Tariago. The two former were successfully exploded, that at Villa Muriel under a fire of grape-shot from the enemy; but they discovered a ford there, and passed over a considerable body both of horse and foot. A false report that the enemy had already crossed at Tariago, delayed the commencement of the work there; the French came up before it was completed; it was exploded prematurely, and consequently to no effect; their cavalry galloped over and made the party prisoners. This enabled them to push a corps on the right into contact with the posts on the Carrion; their passing at Palencia made it necessary for Lord Wellington to change the front of his army, and this second success rendered his farther retreat difficult, and even precarious. Major-Generals Pringle and Barnes were therefore ordered to attack those who had crossed the Pisuerga; the Spanish troops co-operated in this, and the enemy were driven across the river with considerable loss. Neither could they maintain themselves upon the Carrion after having forded at Villa Muriel; the Spaniards who were employed to dislodge them, faltered in the charge, and Alava, while leading them on and in the act of encouraging them, fell badly wounded: the fall of this gallant leader did not inspire them with more courage, but the Brunswickers were then ordered to advance; those brave men ran into the village without firing a shot; the Spaniards took heart and followed them, and the French withdrew; and the fifth division under General Oswald advancing against their main body, compelled it to recross.

The next day the allies retreated sixteen miles without molestation, and crossed the Pisuerga at Cabezon del Campo; the bridge there was barricadoed and mined, and the army halted in its rear. The ruined bridges at Dueñas and Villa Muriel had impeded Souham’s movements, so that he did not approach till evening; he then halted his whole army ♦Oct. 27.♦ on the right bank of the Pisuerga. The morning of the 27th was foggy, but when the mist cleared, their whole force was seen encamped at about three miles’ distance. They brought up two brigades of artillery and cannonaded the town, with little other harm than that of severely wounding Lieutenant-Colonel Robe of the artillery. Being opposed to a superior fire, they made no farther attempt in front, but made considerable detachments to their right, through Cigales, with a view of getting possession of the bridge at Valladolid, and thus interposing in the rear of the retreating army. Lord Wellington had an opportunity of seeing their whole force from a high ground, and saw that they were in very great strength. On the 28th they extended their right still farther, and endeavoured in the morning to force the bridge over the Douro at Simancas, which was defended by Colonel Halkett, with his brigade of the 7th division, while the Earl of Dalhousie, with the remainder of the division, defended the bridge at Valladolid. Halkett being hard pressed blew up the bridge, and disappointed them of their passage there; at the same time he sent the Brunswick Oels regiment to Tordesillas, whither the enemy detached troops in the evening, and where also the bridge over the Douro was destroyed in time. Lord Wellington sent orders to the Brunswickers to take post on its ruins, in such manner as to prevent them from repairing it; and breaking up from the Pisuerga, he crossed the Douro on the 29th, by the bridges of Puente Douro, and Tudela, both which, and that at Quintanilla also, were blown up, and subsequently those at Toro and Zamora. The pursuers that evening displayed more enterprise than they had hitherto shown; they passed a body of men in the night of the 29th, by swimming the Douro near Tordesillas, and these gallant fellows falling upon the guard who had been left in a tower on the south end of the bridge, and looked for no attack on that side, surprised and overpowered them, and immediately fell to work to restore the communication. Lord Wellington was apprised of this in time, or it would have frustrated all his former precautions; he marched his army early on the morrow, and posted them on the heights, between Rueda and Tordesillas, immediately opposite and near the bridge: the bridge by this time had been nearly repaired, but the French had made no attempt to pass; and in that position, which he strengthened with batteries, Lord Wellington remained from the 30th till the 6th of November, the enemy meantime extending along the river from Toro to Valladolid. He thus obtained the double object of resting the troops, and gaining time for Sir Rowland Hill’s movements; for, ... though his first view had been in falling back upon the Douro to afford Sir Rowland a point upon which to retire when he should no longer be able to maintain an advanced position in front of Madrid, against the very superior force which would be brought against him, ... having seen the strength of Souham’s army, it had become necessary to order Sir Rowland to break up from the Xarama, for the purpose of securing his own retreat.

Sir Rowland was an officer upon whom Lord Wellington might always rely with the most perfect confidence. He expected such orders, and receiving them on the 29th, intended to begin his march on the following morning; but the mine which should have destroyed the Puente Larga, on the Xarama, failed; and the enemy, who had collected a large body between that bridge and Aranjuez, immediately made an attack upon the allied post there. They were repulsed by Colonel Skerrett with considerable loss on their part, and that of some forty men on ours: this affair delayed the march of Sir Rowland’s right till the evening, the enemy however made no subsequent attempt to molest him, farther than by picking up such stragglers as fell behind for the sake of plundering and drinking; and these were numerous. The army marched all night and reached Madrid on the following morning. That capital presented ♦State of Madrid.♦ a melancholy scene: it was known that these allies could make no attempt to defend it, and that their retreat would be followed by the entrance of the enemy; and two days before, when the Military and Provisional Government were about to transfer their authority to the Ayuntamiento, that body dissolved itself, regardless of its duty. Upon this, the Regidor D. Pedro Baranda, who had been on the point of resigning his office, came bravely and honourably forward to take himself the charge from which they had shrunk, and summoning persons to his aid who had been in authority when the French withdrew, began to take measures for averting the evils which there was so much cause to apprehend. The letters in the post-office were sent off to Avila, lest they should be seized by the enemy, and many persons brought into danger by their contents. And to prevent the excesses which must be expected, if on the entrance of the enemy the prisons should be thrown open, the alcaydes were called upon to deliver in ♦November.♦ a list of those persons who were imprisoned for disloyalty to the national cause, and they were set at liberty while there yet existed an authority which could restrain them from acts of immediate vengeance.

There were large depôts of provisions in the Retiro and in the convent of Monserrate, which the allied army had no means of carrying with them in their retreat, and orders were therefore given that they should be burnt. The municipality requested that they might rather be disposed of either by sale, or as a loan, for the inhabitants and the hospitals; it was not at the commissary’s discretion to accede to this proposal; but instead of destroying the stores, the people in the immediate vicinity were invited to help themselves there. It seemed, indeed, in this retreat, that in the economy of an army the English had yet every thing to learn: the troops were at this time scantily provided with food, their line of supply had been along the valley of the Tagus, the arrangements for changing its direction failed, and before the men effected their junction with Lord Wellington’s army, the sweet acorns which they found in the wood formed no slight part of their subsistence. The works at the Retiro were destroyed before the troops withdrew from Madrid, and the artillery there was rendered useless: their departure resembled that of the French in this respect, that they were accompanied by a considerable number of Spaniards, for whom it would have been dangerous to place themselves at the mercy of the Intrusive Government; but such persons were objects of commiseration and respect to their countrymen, not of contempt and execration.

While the allies retired leisurely towards the pass of ♦The French enter.♦ the Guadarrama, a French officer presented himself on the afternoon of November 1, at the bridge of Toledo, announcing on the part of General Drouet, that King Joseph would enter on the morrow with his army, and requiring that a deputation should go out to meet and welcome him. On the morrow, accordingly, the Ayuntamiento went forth accompanied by some of the parish priests, of the titular nobility, and of those who held office under the Intruder. Baranda briefly represented the peaceable conduct of the inhabitants, and expressed to Joseph’s minister of the Interior, that his only wish was to retire to his own house, where he might consult his own health, and look after his own affairs. This permission was easily obtained, as the French presently re-established the former functionaries; but on the 6th, the municipality were informed that circumstances rendered it necessary for the troops to leave the capital for some days; and that, in the meantime, they must take upon themselves the charge of preserving tranquillity. Baranda was then summoned from his short retirement, and required again to act as President of the Ayuntamiento. At two on the afternoon of the 7th, the troops departed to reinforce Marshal Soult, who had followed Sir Rowland’s movements; and in less than two hours after their departure, Lieutenant-Colonel Mondedeu, the commandant of a Guerrilla party, entered; on the morrow, the Medico arrived with part of his band, the Empecinado’s division on the following day, and on the 11th, the Camp Marshal Bassecourt with some of his troops. Fewer disorders were committed than might have been expected under such circumstances, and those chiefly by peasants and deserters, who thought to take advantage of the sort of interregnum in which the capital was left; but the officers caused these offenders to be arrested, and exerted themselves to prevent excesses. But the inhabitants were told that, as the human means of effecting with God’s blessing their own deliverance, they must contribute towards the support of the soldiers as much as their necessities could spare; and it may be supposed that this contribution was exacted with less compunction on the one part, and submitted to with less unwillingness on the other, because both well knew that when the French returned, the locust would devour what the palmer-worm had left.

On the 6th Sir Rowland reached Arevalo, which is ♦Junction of the retreating armies.♦ about 80 miles from Madrid; the troops had suffered much from the weather, more from the gross ill management on the part of the commissariat and the staff, and not a little from their own irregularities, moral discipline having long been disregarded in modern armies. He was now in communication with Lord Wellington, and was instructed to continue his march by Fonteveros upon Alba de Tormes. By this time Lord Wellington’s army had been recruited by rest, and the enemy had rendered the bridges passable at Toro and at Tordesillas: he broke up therefore from his position in front of the latter city before daylight, leaving the fires burning: that day he fell back to Torrecilla de la Orden, continued his march the following day, and on the 8th took up the position which he had twice before occupied in front of Salamanca. Sir Rowland crossed the Tormes the same day at Alba, occupied that town and castle with Major-General Howard’s brigade, and stationed a Portugueze division on the left of the Tormes, under Major-General Hamilton, to support them. They were not followed during their retreat from the Douro; the enemy halted to collect provisions ♦Junction of the French armies.♦ and bring up their detachments, and the armies of Portugal and the north then formed their junction with those of the south, and of the centre under Soult and the Intruder: their united force amounted to not less than 80,000 foot and 12,000 horse, being the whole of their disposable force in Spain, and it was believed that they had with them not fewer than 200 pieces of cannon. The allies had 48,000 foot and 5000 horse. On the 9th the enemy drove in the piquets in front of Alba, and Major-General Long was obliged to withdraw his brigade through that town on the following morning. The enemy then, who were directing their main efforts against the right of the allies, approached their position on the Tormes, and prepared to force a passage. They attacked the troops in Alba with twenty pieces of cannon, and bringing up 15 squadrons and a considerable force of infantry threatened an assault, their light troops advancing close to the walls which had been hastily thrown up. They continued their fire from two o’clock till darkness had closed; but they made no impression on the brave troops who were opposed to them, and therefore they did not repeat the attempt. The intermediate time till the 14th they employed in reconnoitring the fords, and the position which Lord Wellington occupied in front of Salamanca; and on the 14th they commenced the passage at three fords, about two leagues above Alba, near Lucinas.

Lord Wellington immediately broke up from St. Christoval, ordered the troops to move towards Arapiles, and as soon as he had ascertained the direction of the enemy’s march from the fords, moved with a division of infantry and all the cavalry he could collect to attack them; but they had already crossed in too great force. The wind at this time blew strong, and a thick rain rendered all objects indistinct at little distance; Lord Wellington, nevertheless, under cover of a cannonade, reconnoitred their position, and saw that they were too strongly posted at Mozarbes to be attacked. In the evening therefore he withdrew the troops from the neighbourhood of Alba, having destroyed the bridges, and leaving only a Spanish garrison of 300 men in the castle, into which the remains of an old palace had been converted. During the night, and in the course of the ensuing morning, he moved the greater part of the troops through Salamanca, and placed Sir Edward Paget, with the first division of infantry on the right, at Aldea Tejada, to secure the passage there over the little river Zunguen, in case the movements of the French on his right flank should compel him to make choice either of giving up his communications with Ciudad Rodrigo or with Salamanca. The inhabitants of that city were some preparing for the worst, and others helplessly expecting it, yet with a lingering hope that another battle upon that ground which had proved so destructive to Marmont’s army might once more deliver them. Lord Wellington himself had this possibility in mind, and did not order the commissariat and hospital stores to be removed from Salamanca till the movements of the French rendered it certain that, notwithstanding their great superiority in numbers, they would not venture to bring on a general action. They fortified their position at Mozarbes, and sent out bodies of horse and foot towards their left, to act upon the communications of the allies with Ciudad Rodrigo. This was a sure game; they were too strong and too strongly posted for Lord Wellington to think of attacking them; nothing therefore remained for him but to retreat upon his resources; and this was the more necessary because the men were nearly exhausted with the fatigues of so long and arduous a campaign; there was little regard to discipline among them, except when in the immediate presence of an enemy, and the horses were dying of exhaustion and for want of forage.

On the 15th the army was put in motion to retire, in three columns, observing, as well as the country would allow, parallel distances. Sir Rowland commanded the first, Sir Edward Paget the centre, the third consisted of the Spanish army. They crossed the Zunguen, passed the left flank of the enemy’s position, and encamped that night in the olive-grounds, on the Vamusa, one of the smaller rivers which find their way into the Tormes. The weather was most unfavourable, and the way sometimes over stony and ploughed grounds, sometimes over swampy or inundated low lands. The ♦Sufferings of the army.♦ troops arrived at their halting places greatly fatigued. They were without shelter of any sort; it was impossible to kindle fires because of the heavy and incessant rain; and they were still farther dispirited by finding that the supplies had been forwarded to Ciudad Rodrigo. Bread for three days in advance had been issued to them as usual, but English soldiers are seldom provident, and when such demands were made upon their strength, the natural means of supporting and recruiting it could never be more needful. There was no provender for the horses, the bark of trees and sprigs of wild briar were the only and miserable substitutes that could be found. The French never displayed less vigour than at this time; the overweening contempt which they had once affected for the British troops had been so thoroughly corrected, that they made no attempt to overwhelm an enemy greatly inferior in number, and retreating under circumstances of great difficulty and distress. They only sent a body of cavalry with light artillery in pursuit; and these contented themselves with picking up stragglers and such baggage as fell behind. The army bivouacked on the 16th in a wood about two leagues from Tamames; the ground in many places was covered with water, but the rain ceased, and some biscuit was issued. The day’s march had been most painful, over such heavy ground that at every step the horses sunk to the fetlock, and the men to their ancles; but while the men were filling their havresacks with sweet acorns, which they rejoiced to meet with, in the want of other food, the horses now and then picked up a little grass.

The 17th was another wet and misty day; the army left its bivouack at six; an extensive wood lay before them: the enemy now followed close upon their rear, and the light companies were ordered to extend themselves through the wood for the purpose of protecting the flanks and the baggage. This service was not easily to be performed against so great a force of cavalry as was now harassing the movements of a disorderly army. Wherever the way was through the woods, the officers as well as men carried on a successful warfare against the herds of swine which at that season are turned there to feed upon the acorns; the Spaniards, it is said, began; the wretched state of their commissariat was their excuse, and the allies had the same excuse for following the example; and so eagerly was it followed, that the continued firing of musquetry on all sides, often occasioned an apprehension that the piquets were warmly engaged, and even that the army was surrounded. This occurred so often that it produced incaution at last, and the enemy’s fire was mistaken for pig-shooting. Owing to the badness of the roads, and the swollen state of the rivulets, there was an interval of about a mile between ♦Sir Edward Paget made prisoner.♦ two of the infantry divisions. Sir Edward Paget, who commanded the centre column, rode to the rear, alone, for the purpose of discovering the cause of this interval: a body of the enemy’s cavalry meantime had entered between these divisions; they had pursued a troop of Portugueze horse from the left flank: the firing had been ascribed to the pig-shooters, and Sir Edward falling in with the French was made prisoner, being without support: they might have done much hurt had they been more enterprising or more aware of their advantage. At this time the troops were descending upon the little village of S. Muñoz, in a valley between two hills; the Huebra which runs into the Douro has its course along this valley, a deep and rapid stream; both hills are covered with oaks, and the declivity on both sides is difficult and steep. The troops when they had forded were formed in open columns on the heights, and halted. A fog came on early in the afternoon, under cover of which the enemy got possession of a hill upon the right of the British line; they brought up some mountain guns, and commenced a fire upon the rear-guard, consisting of the light division, under Major-General Alten, while it was fording the river. Some loss was sustained by them. The guns of Major Macdonald’s troops of horse-artillery returned their fire successfully, but during the cannonade he was severely wounded. The enemy’s cavalry followed as soon as the division had crossed, and began to hem them in; and though the troops formed in squares, they succeeded in charging them in the low ground.

There was now some appearance that an action might be brought on; the men were sufficiently eager for this, they longed to revenge themselves upon the French for the privations and sufferings of their retreat; they made no doubt of beating them, and they anticipated with hungry eagerness the pleasure of taking their supplies. As Lord Wellington came to pass the column in review, the word, “here he comes,” passed along, and carried with it sure confidence to every heart, ... that confidence which before the works at Burgos could not be felt, being given in the field as fully as it was deserved. But the French also knew that the British commander and his troops might justly rely upon each other, and they would not hazard a battle. The cannonade was continued on both sides till evening closed. The men bivouacked as usual on the wet ground, their cloaks and blankets soaked with rain; but the rain had ceased, it was a moonlight night, and they had the satisfaction of knowing that another day’s march would bring them to Ciudad Rodrigo, beyond which the enemy could not follow them, and where their privations would be at an end. Between three and four in the morning they moved from their bivouack; the enemy followed them that day only with their cavalry. Lord Wellington’s head-quarters were in Ciudad Rodrigo that night, and on the 19th and 20th the army entered the Portugueze frontier, crossing the Agueda. The loss during this retreat of about 240 miles amounted to 196 killed, 663 wounded, 421 missing, and 280 horses; many of the men who had been returned as missing afterwards came in; but others, among whom were some valuable officers, died in consequence of the fatigues and hardships which they had endured.

The enemy retired as soon as the allies had reached Ciudad Rodrigo, and they withdrew from the Tormes also as soon as the castle of Alba was surrendered. The Spanish Governor Don José de Miranda held out there with great gallantry, and made more than a hundred prisoners in some well-directed ♦Castle of Alba de Tormes evacuated.♦ sallies. Some characteristic correspondence passed between him and the French; they required him to surrender and rely upon their generosity, otherwise he must expect to be treated with the utmost rigour; he in reply spoke of his duties as a soldier, and boasted of his brilliant garrison. The French allowed him an hour for returning a second answer, and bade him tremble if it were a refusal; in his reply he bade them do their duty as he should perform his, and told them that if the fortune of war should be in their favour, his numerous prisoners, who had been treated in the best manner, would be the victims. In this strain, but in letters which increased in length, and became more and more courteous, the correspondence was continued from the 14th of November till the 24th, on the night of which Miranda left the fortress in the hands of Lieutenant D. Nicolas Soler, with 20 men, the prisoners and the sick; and informing the French commander, in his last communication, that this officer was instructed to deliver up the place, he with the remainder of the garrison effected their escape, making their way through many dangers, but with little loss, to the Puerto del Pico.

As soon as it was ascertained that the enemy had withdrawn from the Tormes, Lord Wellington distributed the troops in winter cantonments, the left being retired to Lamego, and the right thrown forward as ♦Lord Wellington’s circular letter to the commanding officers.♦ far as Baños and Bejar, to hold the passes. He then addressed a circular letter to the commanding officers of battalions, for the purpose of drawing their attention in a very particular manner to the state of discipline of the troops. “The discipline of every army,” he said, “after a long and active campaign, becomes in some degree relaxed, and requires the utmost attention on the part of the generals and other officers to bring it back to the state in which it ought to be for service; but I am concerned to have to observe, that the army under my command has fallen off in this respect in the last campaign in a greater degree than any army with which I have ever served, or of which I have ever read. Yet this army has met with no disaster; it has suffered no privations which but trifling attention on the part of the officers could have prevented, and for which there existed no reason whatever in the nature of the service; nor has it suffered any hardships excepting those resulting from the inclemencies of the weather at a time when they were most severe. It must be obvious, however, to every officer that from the time the troops commenced their retreat from the neighbourhood of Burgos on one hand, and from Madrid on the other, the officers lost all command over their men. Irregularities and outrages of all descriptions were committed with impunity, and losses have been sustained which ought never to have occurred. Yet, the necessity for retreat existing, none was ever made in which the troops made such short marches; none on which they made such long and repeated halts; and none on which the retreating armies were so little pressed in the rear by the enemy. We must look therefore to some cause besides those resulting from the operations in which we have been engaged. I have no hesitation in attributing these evils to the habitual inattention of the officers of the regiments to their duty as prescribed by the standing regulations of the service, and by the orders of this army.

“I am far from questioning the zeal, still less the gallantry and spirit of the officers; and I am quite certain that as their minds can be convinced of the necessity of minute and constant attention, to understand, recollect, and carry into execution the orders which have been issued for the performance of their duty, and that the strict performance of their duty is necessary to enable the army to serve the country as it ought to be served, they will in future fix their attention to these points. Unfortunately the inexperience of the officers has induced many to conceive that the period during which an army is on service is one of relaxation from all rule, instead of being, as it is, the period during which, of all others, every rule for the regulation and control of the conduct of the soldier, for the inspection and care of his arms, ammunition, accoutrements, necessaries and field equipments, and his horse and horse appointments, for the receipt and issue, and care of his provisions, and the regulation of all that belongs to his food and the forage for his horse, must be most strictly attended to by the officer of his company or troop, if it is intended that an army, a British army in particular, shall be brought into the field of battle in a state of efficiency to meet the enemy on the day of trial.

“These are the points then to which I most earnestly entreat you to turn your attention, and the attention of the officers under your command, Portugueze as well as English, during the period in which it may be in my power to leave the troops in their cantonments. The commanding officers of regiments must enforce the orders of the army regarding the constant inspection and superintendence of the officers over the conduct of the men of their companies in their cantonments; and they must endeavour to inspire the non-commissioned officers with a sense of their situation and authority; and the non-commissioned officers must be forced to do their duty, by being constantly under the view and superintendence of the officers. By these means the frequent and discreditable recourse to the authority of the provost, and to punishments by the sentence of courts-martial will be prevented, and the soldiers will not dare to commit the offences and outrages of which there are too many complaints, when they know that their officers, and their non-commissioned officers, have their eyes and attention turned towards them. The commanding officers of regiments must likewise enforce the orders of the army regarding the constant, real inspection of the soldiers’ arms, ammunition, accoutrements and necessaries, in order to prevent at all times the shameful waste of ammunition, and the sale of that article, and of the soldiers’ necessaries. With this view both should be inspected daily.”

He proceeded to say that he had frequently observed during the late campaign with how much more ease and celerity the French soldiers cooked their food than the British. This disadvantage on our part, he said, must be ascribed to the same cause as the other evils which he lamented, “the want of attention in the officers to the orders of the army and to the conduct of their men, and the consequent want of authority over their conduct. Certain men of each company should be appointed to cut and bring in wood, others to fetch water, and others to get the meat, &c. to be cooked: and it would soon be found if this practice were duly enforced, and a particular hour for serving the dinners, and for the men dining, named, as it ought to be, equally as for the parade, that cooking would no longer require the inconvenient length of time which it had lately been found to take, and that the soldiers would not be exposed to the privation of their food at the moment when the army may be engaged in operations with the enemy.” He concluded by repeating that the great object of the general and field officers must be to get the captains and subalterns of the regiments to understand, and to perform the duties required from them, as the only mode by which the discipline and efficiency of the army could be restored and maintained during the next campaign.

This letter excited no little surprise in the nation, mortifying and disgraceful as the faults were which were thus openly and manfully exposed. But it was not more severe than the occasion called for. No retreat had ever been conducted with greater military skill; and nothing but that skill, and the reputation which the British troops had established for themselves under its direction, could have saved the army from the consequences of the ignorance or neglect of duty in many of the officers, and the insubordination of the men, which was a consequence of such neglect or ignorance. The circumstances of that retreat justified the whole severity of Lord Wellington’s remarks, and would more evidently have done so, if the sufferings of the army had been more broadly stated; for though the marches had indeed been short, and the halts long and frequent, no army which was not flying from an enemy, but retreating before it, in strength, ever suffered so much from exposure, and hunger, and exhaustion. Nothing could be more judicious than his orders during the whole retreat, and nothing more irregular than the way in which they were carried into effect; and this, though in part owing to casual and unavoidable obstructions on the way, arose in a far greater degree from negligence and incapacity. Sometimes divisions were moved too soon, more frequently too late, and kept standing on wet ground, in the rain, for two hours, perishing with cold, waiting the order to move. Their clothes were seldom dry for six hours together, and during the latter part of the retreat continually wet; sometimes they were bivouacked in a swamp, when better ground was near: they lay down upon the wet ground, fell asleep from mere exhaustion, were roused to receive their meat, and had then no means of dressing it, ... the camp-kettles had been sent on, or by some error were some miles in the rear, or the mules which carried them had foundered on the way; and no fire could be kindled on wet ground, with wet materials, and under a heavy rain. The subalterns threw the blame upon their superiors, and these again upon theirs, all complaining of incompetence in some of the general officers, and carelessness or supercilious neglect in some of the staff. But the intended effect was produced. That something was deficient in the equipments of the army was perceived, and in part remedied. Alas! no one observed that there was an utter want of that discipline by virtue of which Cromwell conquered, which rendered the Swedes invincible under their great Gustavus, and to which the Prince of Parma owed little less than to his own military genius, admirable as that was.