CHAP. 1809. 18. volt against Soult, meanwhile, after having made his way with very little difficulty to Oporto, had remained there inactive, while the Portuguese bands under Silviera and others were rapidly closing up in his rear, intercepting his com- Soult's inmunications, and in some instances making prisoners of cipient rehis depots of sick and wounded. Great was the surprise Napoleon. felt at the time at this inactivity in a commander of such vigour and ability, and who knew well that his favour and prospects with the Emperor mainly depended on his rapidly performing his allotted task of driving the English into the sea, and planting the French eagles on the towers of Lisbon. But the real cause of his tardiness is now well known. At this period Soult, as already mentioned, seriously entertained the design of making himself independent, and setting up for himself in the north of Portugal. His design was to carve out for himself a sovereignty separate from either Spain or Portugal, having its capital in the north of the latter country, and including in its dominions the whole of Portugal north of the Douro, with the Spanish province of Galicia. To this extraordinary scheme it is now certain that Soult's otherwise inexplicable inactivity after the capture of Oporto, and before the arrival of Wellington, is to be ascribed. He ton to Lord was unwilling to take any steps which might compromise Gurw. iv. his popularity with his future subjects, which the capture mont's Meof Lisbon by force of arms unquestionably would have 16. done.1 1 Welling Castlereagh, 288; Mar moirs, iv. 19. The project was more near succeeding than is generally supposed. Napoleon was no stranger to the designs of Its reception his lieutenant; but, with a prudence very little in ac- and Sir A. by Napoleon cordance with his general character, and of which his Wellesley. history does not afford another example, he dissembled his wrath. The truth was, that, with a war with Austria just impending, and one with Spain yet unconcluded, he had no desire to get into a fresh imbroglio with one of his own lieutenants. Mysterious hints of what was going forward were also given to Sir Arthur Wellesley and General CHAP. IV. 1809. Stewart; but, as already mentioned in the Memoir of Lord Castlereagh, they wisely declined to mix themselves in any degree with the plot; and the intelligence they General received of the disaffected state of the French army only strengthened their determination to commence active operations without any delay, and expel them by force of arms from the Portuguese territory.1 Stewart to Lord Castle reagh, June 4, 1809, MS. 20. Sir A. Wel At dawn on the morning of the 7th May, the British Advance of army broke up from Coimbra, and advanced in two lesley to columns towards Oporto. The design was, that Beresford the Douro. with his Portuguese, about 6000 in number, might reach Amarante, by Vizeu and Lamego, at the same time that the British columns, some 16,000 strong, should show themselves in front of Oporto, thus threatening the enemy's line of retreat at the same time that his main position was attacked. The French forces were believed to be nearly equally divided, one half being under Soult in person at Oporto, and the other at Amarante to secure its communications and line of retreat, and guard the important bridge at that place. The advanced guards of the two armies first came in contact near the convent of Grijon on the 11th. In this affair, Sir Arthur in person, with a greatly inferior force, defeated a body of 5000 French infantry and 1700 horse. Greatly encouraged by this early success, ever of such importance in war, the British army continued to advance towards the Douro. The French rapidly withdrew as they came on, burning the houses and destroying the crops as they retired; and when, early on the 12th, the British vanguard reached the banks of that great river, they found the southern bank entirely deserted by the enemy, and his forces, amply supported by artillery, strongly posted in the convents and buildings on the northern bank.2 May 11. 9 Lond. i. 335-337. At ten in the morning, the British advanced-guard, consisting of Generals R. Stewart's and Murray's brigades, with two squadrons of the 14th under Lord Paget, arrived at the village of Villa Nova, on the borders of the CHAP. 21. May 14. river, where they were joined by Hill's corps, which had come up from the sea-shore. The bridge was destroyed, and every boat and barge had been moved to the oppo- 1809. site side of the river by Soult. Fortunately, Colonel Passage of Waters of the Portuguese service, by whom the destruc- the Douro. tion of the bridge had been reported, found a single bark some hundred yards distant, concealed in some bushes. Into it this gallant officer instantly threw himself and proceeded to the opposite shore, where he was fortunate enough to find four large barges lying in the mud, and also concealed in some bushes. These he quickly brought over to the other side, and in them three companies of the Buffs, headed by General Paget, instantly embarked, and, pushing boldly across without a moment's delay, took possession of some houses on the opposite bank. General R. Stewart, who witnessed this bold stroke, instantly brought up fresh troops to the assistance of those on the other side, and planted some guns on a promontory, which galled the enemy, who were now crowding in great numbers to assault the defenders of the houses. After a severe action the Buffs succeeded in keeping their ground; and soon after General Murray, a little higher up the river, got over two squadrons of the 14th and two battalions of the Germans. The enemy, seeing the passage now made good at two points, retreated from all his positions on the river, and abandoned Oporto entirely. They took the road to Amarante, closely followed by the 14th Dragoons under General (Charles) Stewart and Colonel Harvey, the latter of whom lost an arm in single combat with one of the French troopers. General Stewart led several brilliant charges against the enemy's rearguard, on whom they inflicted a serious loss, until they were 1 General recalled to Oporto by the Commander-in-Chief. With Stewart to such haste was the retreat of the French conducted, and reagh, so complete the surprise, that Sir Arthur Wellesley 1809, Ms.; dined at their headquarters on the dinner which had 337-340. been prepared for Marshal Soult.' Lord Castle May 19, Lond. i. СНАР. IV. 1809. 22. out of Por 1 Ann. Reg. Papers. This brilliant exploit of passing a broad and deep river in the face of an enemy of equal strength arrayed on the opposite side, made a great sensation in Europe. Pursuit of General Stewart came in for his full share of credit for the the French achievement, and was specially mentioned with becoming tugal. praise in Sir Arthur's despatches. The advantage thus 1809; State gained was followed up with as much vigour as it had been commenced. During the night the whole artillerywaggons and commissariat stores were got over; and early on the morning of the 13th the advanced-guard, under General Murray, set out in pursuit. Meanwhile orders were despatched to Beresford-who, with his Portuguese, after forming a junction with Silviera, who commanded another body of native militia, had gained possession of the bridge of Amarante in the enemy's rear-to move upon Chaves and obstruct the retreat by that line, while Murray and Stewart headed the pursuit on the roads towards Amarante and Braga. Soult was retiring with the utmost haste upon Amarante, when he heard of its capture by Beresford. His position seemed altogether desperate. But, abandoning all his guns, and destroying the greater part of his stores at Penafiel, he led his army by rugged mountain-paths over the craggy summit of the Sierra Catalina, and gained the great road by Braga to Chaves. Upon hearing this, Sir Arthur wisely stopped the advance of the greater part of his troops, judging, as he himself said, "that a body of men which chooses to abandon its guns, ammunition, and everything which constitutes an army, must necessarily escape in a mountainous country from a pursuing force which is burdened with all these encumbrances." The pursuit, however, was continued by the advanced-guard; and on the 16th Stewart to they came up with the rearguard of the enemy at SalaLord Castle monde, on the road to Chaves. The latter were totally 21, 1809, defeated, with the loss of 500 men and all the plunder i. 347-354. they had taken at Oporto. After this disaster, Soult, May 16. 2 General reagh, May MS.; Lond. finding himself again anticipated by Beresford at Chaves, abandoned the highroad and fled across the mountains from Montalegre to Orense in Galicia, with his troops. suffering the greatest hardships, and in a state of disorganisation exceeding that of Sir John Moore in the retreat to Corunna. СНАР. IV. 1809. in Spain are on with After these brilliant operations the army returned to 23. Coimbra, where Sir Arthur was joined by 5000 fresh Operations troops from England. Though they fell short by a half determined of what were necessary to have enabled him to commence operations in Spain towards Madrid with any reasonable prospect of success, yet they added much to the strength of the British army, and their arrival diffused the most lively satisfaction among the troops. A forward offensive movement into Spain began in connection with Cuesta, who commanded the Spanish forces which had retired into Estremadura after the capture of Madrid by Napoleon. Great difficulty was experienced in concerting any plan of operations with that commander, who was an impracticable and irascible old man, as well as in adjusting the contending pretensions of the British generals who were senior in rank to Marshal Beresford, but found themselves momentarily placed under his orders, in consequence of his local rank as commander-in-chief of the Portuguese army, when they acted together. General Stewart, as adjutantgeneral of the army, exerted himself, in conjunction with the Commander-in-Chief, to the utmost, to soothe these unhappy jealousies; but all their efforts could not prevent one officer of distinction, General Murray, from relinquishing his command, and returning to England. These difficulties having been at length surmounted, a plan of operations with no small difficulty arranged with Cuesta, and the troops refreshed by rest from their late fatigues, the army resumed its march on the 6th June, taking the Gen. road up the valley of the Tagus by Thomar to the Spanish Lord Castlefrontier. On the day following, headquarters reached 14, 1809, Abrantes, and the troops were assembled there, mustering i. 359-361 not quite twenty thousand effective sabres and bayonets.1 VOL. I. Y Stewart to reagh, June MS.; Lond. |