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diff --git a/75413-0.txt b/75413-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..31fc874 --- /dev/null +++ b/75413-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18507 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75413 *** + + + + + + Transcriber’s Note + Italic text displayed as: _italic_ + + + + + THE + + PRIVATE JOURNAL + + OF + + JUDGE-ADVOCATE LARPENT, + + ATTACHED TO THE HEAD-QUARTERS OF + + LORD WELLINGTON DURING THE PENINSULAR WAR, + + FROM 1812 TO ITS CLOSE. + + EDITED + + BY SIR GEORGE LARPENT, BART. + + _THIRD EDITION._ + + LONDON: + RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, + Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. + + MDCCCLIV. + + _The Author and Publisher reserve to themselves the right of + Translating this Work._ + + + + +LONDON: W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. + + + + +PREFACE + +TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + +It has been very gratifying to me to witness the flattering manner +in which this Journal has been received by the Public, and, with one +exception, by the several writers who have noticed it. + +As my own part in the Work is so small, the risk I ran in publishing it +was small in proportion; but I confess that I did feel anxious not to +damage the fair fame of my late brother. + +The exception to which I allude is that of the Reviewer in the +“Athenæum,” a paper which (having been a subscriber to it for many +years) I hold in high estimation. + +The writer must pardon me for observing (whilst fully admitting his +right to state his conscientious opinion of the work itself), that the +sneers at Mr. Larpent’s having been Fifth Wrangler, and at his _slow_ +progress at the Bar, are strangely misplaced. Surely a person attached +to literature cannot seriously deprecate academic honours, or deny +their _primâ facie_ evidence of ability. And as for the _slow_ progress +in the laborious pursuit of the law, the Reviewer must have been +aware that such has been the fortune of many eminent Lawyers who have +afterwards risen to the highest honours of the profession. Legal or +political connexions, or a fortunate opportunity of displaying latent +talents, are in truth the chief causes of rapid success at the Bar. +None of these did my brother possess or obtain. + +Is it not, therefore, somewhat severe to argue from this admission +of mine, that he was a person not above mediocrity, and to represent +him as merely a respectable sort of second-rate plodding official? +The writer in the “Athenæum” may have had peculiar opportunities of +judging, and it is not for me to contest the opinion he may have +thus formed, but it certainly was not the opinion of my brother’s +contemporaries. The observations of the writer in the “Athenæum” +involve also charges of more importance than his remarks upon my +brother’s abilities— + +“We see,” he says, “in the sweeping and unqualified charges against the +soldiers of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the censorious habits of +one who filled the post of Judge-Advocate General, and the passage,” he +adds, “comes with bad grace from one who narrates his own discomforts +_ad nauseam_.” + +I had allowed every passage to stand which expressed the opinion of +the Author upon public matters, nor did I expunge those complaints of +personal inconveniences which a man, for the first time placed in my +brother’s situation, naturally feels, and as naturally describes in his +letters to his family. + +It has been too much the fashion to garble such Journals to suit the +public taste; but my aim was to give the truth, and the whole truth, of +all that my brother witnessed and described in his Journal. + +This rather uncommon fidelity is, I believe, one of the chief merits of +the work, and one of the chief causes of its success. + +If my brother, in commenting upon the want of selfcontrol and +irregular habits and propensities of the British soldiery (defects +which the Duke’s own Despatches, his proclamation upon the retreat from +Burgos, and the uniform testimony of the writers upon the Peninsular +War unfortunately confirm), had omitted to notice their many redeeming +qualities, he might have been partly open to the rebuke of the writer +alluded to; but throughout his narrative Mr. Larpent bears the +strongest testimony to the undaunted courage, the immoveable steadiness +of the British soldiers under the severest fire, and the perfect +reliance the Duke always placed upon the bravery of his army. + +The truth is, that the conscription in France forced into the ranks of +its army a more intelligent and more intellectual class of persons than +those who volunteered into our service. + +Thus the moral conduct of the French soldier was perhaps more correct; +but the stubborn courage, the _pluck_, if I may use such an expression, +of the British soldier, guided by officers taken from the _élite_ of +our gentry, and almost fastidiously alive to the sense of honour and of +duty, enabled them in the Peninsula, at Waterloo, and wherever British +troops have been called into action, to maintain a decided superiority +over their opponents. + +It has been remarked, that I have never mentioned the lady to whom +these Letters were addressed. + +She was my much honoured and loved mother; but I deprived myself of the +pleasure of noticing her many excellent qualities, lest it should be +thought that, in praising her, I sought to confer credit upon myself, +or to gratify my own vanity. + +She was the daughter of Sir James Porter, in his day a distinguished +diplomatist, successively employed in the Netherlands and Germany, +and for many years ambassador to the Ottoman Porte. She married my +father when my brother was very young, and became a second mother +to him. There never was the slightest distinction between him and +her own children, and had we not been told that we were by different +mothers, we should never have known the fact from her conduct. That she +possessed my brother’s warmest affections, these letters would have +abundantly shown, had I not thought it better to omit many passages, +which, however gratifying to her to whom they were addressed, could be +of no interest to the public. + + GEORGE LARPENT. + + LONDON, JUNE, 1853. + + + + +PREFACE + +TO THE FIRST EDITION. + + +The Letters now laid before the Public were addressed by my brother to +Mrs. Larpent, his step-mother, and my mother. + +They came into my possession as Executor to my mother, and being also +the sole Executor to my brother, I consider myself at liberty to use my +own discretion in publishing them. With the exception of some matters +exclusively private, and connected with family affairs, the letters are +published as they were written, and not one word has been added. + +Until the lamented death of the Duke of Wellington I did not feel +myself justified in making these letters public. Not that they contain +anything in the slightest degree derogating from the exalted estimate +so universally entertained of the character of that great man; for, on +the contrary, they tend to confirm the unanimous opinion entertained of +his admirable qualities; but motives of delicacy forbad my offering to +the world, during his Grace’s lifetime, the many personal anecdotes and +opinions with which they abound. + +The reader will naturally expect to know who and what the Author was, +and give credit accordingly to the statements and observations in his +Letters. + +Francis Seymour Larpent was the eldest son of John Larpent, Esq., +of East Sheen, Surrey, by his first wife, Frances, daughter of +Maximilian Western, Esq., of Cokethorpe Park, Oxfordshire. His father, +from his earliest youth, was employed in the public service. In +1763 he was Secretary to the Duke of Bedford at the Peace of Paris, +and subsequently Secretary to the first Marquess of Hertford, when +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. For many years he was in the office of the +Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and at his death in 1824, at a +very advanced age, held the appointments of Secretary to the Lord Privy +Seal, and of Examiner of all Theatrical Entertainments. + +Francis Seymour was born in 1776. He was educated at Cheam School, +under the Rev. W. Gilpin, well known and esteemed as a scholar and +man of letters. From school he went to St. John’s College, Cambridge, +where he distinguished himself, and took his degree as Fifth Wrangler, +and was elected Fellow of that College. After studying the law under +an eminent special pleader, Mr. Bayley, he was called to the Bar, and +went the Western Circuit. Here he formed friendships with several +eminent persons, among others with Lord Gifford, the Right Hon. C. +Manners Sutton, afterwards Lord Canterbury, Mr. W. Adam, son of Lord +Commissioner Adam, and the lamented Francis Horner—friendships which +were extinguished only by death. His success upon the Circuit was slow, +but his character as an able man and a sound lawyer stood high. + +In 1812 he was tempted by the Right Hon. C. Manners Sutton, then +Judge-Advocate General, to leave his profession, and to accept the +situation of Judge-Advocate General to the armies in Spain under the +command of the late Duke of Wellington, to remain at head-quarters with +his Grace, and to manage the Courts-martial throughout the army. + +At the close of the war in 1814, Mr. Larpent returned home with the +last detachment of the British army from Bordeaux. + +Upon his arrival in England he was appointed Judge-Advocate at +Gibraltar; and a new Charter of Justice for that dependency having +been framed, various civil, admiralty, and judicial duties were +annexed to the appointment of Judge-Advocate. Whilst the new Charter +was preparing, Mr. Larpent was appointed to carry on the proceedings +of the Court-martial on General Sir John Murray, at Winchester; and +was subsequently joined with Mr. King, on behalf of the Government +of the United States of America, in the inquiry into the unfortunate +transactions which had taken place in the prison at Dartmoor. + +These several proceedings having been satisfactorily terminated, Mr. +Larpent in the spring of 1815 was, at the recommendation of Lord +Commissioner Adam, selected by His Royal Highness the Prince Regent +to undertake the delicate and confidential duty of inquiring into +the allegations of improper conduct abroad, on the part of the then +Princess of Wales, afterwards Queen Caroline. This confidential mission +was accepted by Mr. Larpent, upon the express condition that his +appointment should emanate directly from the Administration, and that +his duties (to use his own words) “should consist not in acting a spy +upon the actions of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, but in +examining and sifting the facts of the case, as stated and discovered +by others.” + +On this understanding, and after interviews with Lords Liverpool, +Castlereagh, and Bathurst, and also with the approval of Lord Chief +Justice Ellenborough, Mr. Larpent proceeded ostensibly to his +appointment at Gibraltar, but really overland by Vienna, to see +and consult with Count Munster, to whom he was accredited by the +British Government “as its regularly-authorized, though secret and +confidential, agent.” + +However strong might be his own persuasion of the worse than improper +conduct of the Princess, he felt the extreme difficulty of obtaining +respectable parties to come forward with such evidence as would satisfy +an English Court of Justice; and he never hesitated to represent the +danger of taking public proceedings against her. Having conducted +his mission with such prudence and discretion that its object was +never known except to his employers, he proceeded to Gibraltar, and +there executed his arduous civil and judicial duties to the entire +satisfaction of the Governor, Sir George Don, and of the Secretary of +State for the Colonies. + +In 1820, upon leaving Gibraltar, he was again employed by the +Government professionally in Italy upon matters connected with the +unfortunate trial of Queen Caroline; and he communicated direct with +the late Lord Gifford, upon whom, as Attorney-General, the management +of the proceedings against Her Majesty officially devolved. + +In 1821 Mr. Larpent was appointed by Lord Liverpool, one of the +Commissioners of the Board of Audit of the Public Accounts. In 1824 he +was transferred to the Board of Customs; and, in 1826, was appointed +to the situation of Chairman of the Audit Board, in which he remained +until his retirement, in 1843, from ill health. + +He enjoyed his release from active official duties only about two +years, dying in May, 1845. He was twice married; first, to Catharine, +daughter of the late Frederick Reeves, Esq., of the East India +Company’s Civil Service; and, secondly, to Charlotte, daughter to +George Arnold Arnold, Esq., of Halsted Park, Kent, who survived him, +but he left no issue by either. + +The favourable opinion entertained of Mr. Larpent’s public services +will be evident from the following testimonials which he received when +he applied to Her Majesty’s Government for his retirement, viz.:— + + (Copy.) No. 1. + + _Treasury Chambers, + 23rd March, 1843._ + + SIR, + + I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury + to acquaint you that, the First Lord of the Treasury having + communicated to the Board your wish to retire from the Board of Audit, + their Lordships have been pleased to accede thereto, and will give + directions for placing you on a retired allowance of 900_l._ per + annum, to be paid to you in the same manner as the retired allowances + of the Audit Office are paid. + + In thus acceding to your wishes, my Lords desire me to state, that + they feel themselves called upon to express the high sense which they + entertain of the integrity, zeal, and ability with which you have + discharged the duties of the important situations which you have + successively filled, and the deep regret which they feel for the cause + which now compels you to retire from the Chair of the Board of Audit. + + I am, Sir, + Your most obedient Servant, + (Signed) G. CLERK. + + _To F. S. Larpent, Esq._ + + (Extract.) No. 2. + + _Downing Street, + March 3rd, 1843._ + + MY DEAR SIR, + + I have learnt with great regret that we are about to lose your + services in the Audit Board, over which you have so long presided, + with equal advantage to the public and satisfaction to the Treasury. + I only hope that you will reap in the improvement of your health a + benefit equal to that which your retirement will deprive you of. + + (Signed) HENRY GOULBURN. + + _To F. S. Larpent, Esq._ + + (Copy.) No. 3. + + _London, February 28th, 1843._ + + F. M. the Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr. Larpent, + and has received his letter, and sends him a copy of a letter he has + received from Sir Robert Peel. The Duke regrets much to learn that the + state of Mr. Larpent’s health compels him to resign the office which + he holds. If referred to, he will state his opinion of the services + performed by him, while under his command. + + _To F. S. Larpent, Esq._ + + _Enclosure in the above Letter._ + + (Copy.) + + _Whitehall, February 27th, 1843._ + + MY DEAR DUKE OF WELLINGTON, + + I return the enclosed letter addressed to you by Mr. Larpent. + + I am sorry to hear that the state of Mr. Larpent’s health induced him + to contemplate his retirement from the public service. + + (Signed) ROBERT PEEL. + + _To the Duke of Wellington_, + _&c._ _&c._ + + (Copy.) No. 4. + + _Whitehall, March 3rd, 1843._ + + DEAR SIR, + + From my high sense of your public services, I have heard with very + sincere regret, on public as well as on private grounds, that the + state of your health compels you to contemplate the immediate + retirement from the important appointment which you hold, the duties + of which you have discharged with great ability and integrity, and + with unremitting zeal. + + I have been so incessantly occupied by important public business, that + I have been unable, since the receipt of your letter, to confer with + the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the subject to which the enclosure + in your letter refers, but I will do so without delay, and with every + desire to take as favourable a view of it as the state of the law and + the usage in similar cases may permit, + + I have the honour to be, + Dear Sir, + Your obedient and faithful Servant, + (Signed) ROBERT PEEL. + + _To F. S. Larpent, Esq._ + + (Extract.) No. 5. + + _March 22nd, 1845._ + + _60, Lower Belgrade Street._ + + I shall feel it due to Mr. Larpent to say at what rate I placed his + services. + + Never public servant deserved better his hard-earned retirement by + honest, zealous, and able services. + + (Signed) F. BARING. + + * * * * * + +I rejoice in having the opportunity afforded me by the publication of +these Letters, of recording the public services of an affectionate +brother, and of indulging in the remembrance of the many private +virtues which were conspicuous in his upright and honourable career. + +I have thought it objectionable to alter the language of the narrative, +although aware of the many inaccuracies in letters written in the hurry +of a campaign (a mode of life foreign to the writer’s habits), and not +intended for publication. + +I therefore determined to leave the Letters as I found them, thinking +that the simplicity of the style and the minute details threw over the +Journal a charm of truth and reality which a more studied composition +would not have possessed. I have a confident reliance that my brother +has related nothing that he did not himself believe to be true, for +he was a man of scrupulous veracity, and one not given hastily to +record what he had not at the time sufficient warranty to believe to be +correct. + +The Journal carries the reader, as it were, behind the scenes in the +great drama of War. The sufferings of individuals, the hardships +endured in a campaign, are scarcely ever recorded by the historian—they +are lost in the blaze of glory which surrounds such narratives. In +this Journal not only will be seen the miseries which are endured in +the attainment of military glory by the soldier, but the still greater +miseries of the unfortunate people whose country is the scene of +military operations. + +Such vivid paintings as are here exhibited must, it is to be hoped, +make the most reckless politician and the most ambitious soldier aware +of the deep responsibility incurred by all who encourage the passion +for military glory, except when war becomes absolutely necessary for +the defence of our country, its liberties, and institutions, and for +the preservation of the independence of Europe. + +It was for these objects that the two great wars in which the Duke of +Wellington was so pre-eminent were carried on, and the results—the +recovery of their national independence by Spain and Portugal, and a +peace of thirty-eight years’ duration—fully warranted the sacrifices +made by Great Britain, exalted her national character, and justified +her admiration of the Commander, who, under Providence, was the great +instrument of her success. + + GEORGE LARPENT. + + LONDON, DECEMBER, 1852. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + + Departure from England—Exercises on Ship-board—Off the Coast—Arrival + at Lisbon—Residence there—Journey to head-quarters + commenced—Abrantes—General features of the march—Salamanca 1 + + + CHAPTER II. + + Arrival at head-quarters—Ciudad Rodrigo—The Retreat—Its + disasters—Capture of General Paget—Personal Anecdotes—Scarcity of + Provisions—Courts-martial in the army—Business of a + Judge-Advocate—Wellington 21 + + + CHAPTER III. + + Arrival of the Gazette—More Courts-martial—The Mad + Commissary—Intentions of Lord Wellington—Social + Amusements—Sporting—Wellington’s fox-hounds—His stud—A dinner at + the Commander-in-Chief’s—Number of Courts-martial—Anecdotes of + Wellington 37 + + + CHAPTER IV. + + More Courts-martial—Bal Masqué—Anecdotes of Wellington—Songs in + his praise—Spanish banditti—Excesses of the Army—Carnival—More + Anecdotes of the Duke—The staff—Grand entertainment at + head-quarters—Wellington’s opinion of affairs at home—Murder of an + officer—General Craufurd 54 + + + CHAPTER V. + + News of the French—Castilian costume—Equipment of the army—Melancholy + Court-martial case—Wellington in the battle of Fuentes + d’Onore—The chances of war—Anecdotes of Wellington—His opinions + of the war—The new Mutiny Act—Wellington on “Vetus”—General + Murray—Advance of the French 87 + + + CHAPTER VI. + + Newspaper complaints—Wellington’s comments—Review of the + Portuguese—Gatherings at head-quarters—Reviews—Recommencement of + the march—The route 106 + + + CHAPTER VII. + + The march commenced—Scenes on the road—Villa Dalla—Toro—Castro + Monte—Palencia—Prospects of a general action—Skirmishing—Massa 121 + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + March continued—Quintana—Anecdote of Wellington—Morillas—Vittoria—The + battle—Its results—Plunder—Kindness to the enemy—Madame + de Gazan—The hospital—Sufferings of the wounded—Estimated + loss 150 + + + CHAPTER IX. + + Pamplona—Pursuit of Clausel—Wellington on the march—Prospects of + more Fighting—Effects of the war—The French position turned—Anecdote + of Wellington—Ernani—St. Sebastian—Wellington’s movements 166 + + + CHAPTER X. + + Movements of the army—Wellington on the Portuguese—His personal + habits—St. Sebastian—The siege—Miseries of war—Wounded officers—The + Prince of Orange—Vestiges of the retreat—English papers—False + accounts of the campaign—Incidents of the war 195 + + + CHAPTER XI. + + Rejoicings for the victory—Sufferings of Cole’s division—Complaints + of the French—Statements of a French prisoner—Decay of + Spain—Characteristics of Wellington—His opinion of + Bonaparte—Prospects of a renewal of the attack—Exchange of + Prisoners—Wellington’s Spanish estate—His opinion of + Picton—Disposition of the army 220 + + + CHAPTER XII. + + Reported renewal of operations against St. Sebastian—Effects of the + war on Spain and Portugal—Wellington’s account of recent + proceedings—Courts-martial—Prisoners shot—Discussions on war between + Wellington and a French deserter—The siege resumed—Work of the heavy + batteries—Trial of General O’Halloran—Volunteers for the storming + parties 238 + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + The Author taken prisoner—Kind treatment by the French General—Life + of a prisoner—Release—Details of the Author’s captivity—Curious + scene at General Pakenham’s—A Basque squire 250 + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + Picturesque quarters—Spanish reverses—A strange adventure—Spanish + jealousy—Distribution of the army—A pleasant companion—News + from the North—Morale of the French army—The artillery 276 + + + CHAPTER XV. + + Fall of Pamplona—Deterioration of the army—Duke of York’s + orders—Orders of merit—Church service—Capture of French + redoubts—March of the army—Incidents of foreign service—Frequency + of desertion—Wellington and the lawyers 289 + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + News from France—Lord Fitzroy Somerset—Departure of the Prince of + Orange—Exchange of prisoners—Proximity of the two armies—Wellington’s + cooks—Warlike movements—French attack—The Guards—Deserters—More + fighting 308 + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + French attack—Plan of desertion—Excesses of the French—A Basque + witness—Sir John Hope—Movements of the army—Sale of + effects—Wellington’s simplicity of character—A French emigré—Return + of Soult to Bayonne 323 + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + Reports from France—More desertion—Anecdote of General + Stewart—Wellington and his casualty returns—The courtesies of + war—Scarcity of transports—Wellington and the trial-papers—Sir + G. Collier 339 + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + Rumours of war—The rival dinner tables—“Slender Billy”—Bonaparte’s + trickery—Spanish violence—Wellington with the hounds—French + and English aspects—The outsides of the nations 352 + + + CHAPTER XX. + + State of feeling in France—Rocket practice—The Prince Regent’s + hobby—The Mayor’s ball—The flag-of-truce 362 + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + Army supplies—Offending villages—Symptoms of work—Arrival of the + Duke d’Angoulême—The bridge across the Adour—Wellington and + his Chief Engineer—His activity 377 + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + Movements of the army—Narrow escape of Wellington—Anecdote of + Wellington at Rodrigo—Novel scaling ladders—Sir Alexander + Dickson—Wellington’s vanity—Operations resumed—Spanish officers—The + passage of the Adour—The road to Bayonne—Death of Captain Pitts 400 + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + Passage of the river—Start for Orthes—Effect of the battle—Feelings + of the French—Wellington wounded—St. Sever—Church and + School—Aire—Wellington on the conduct of the Allies—Indurating + effects of War 417 + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + Reports from the seat of war—The Duke d’Angoulême—The German + cavalry—Misconduct of the Spaniards—Attacks on our grazing + parties—Movement of head-quarters—Death of Colonel Sturgeon—Visit to + the hospital—New quarters—Skirmishes—Wellington and the mayor 436 + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + Difficulties of the march—Failure of the bridge of boats—The + Garonne—Excesses of Murillo’s corps—Bad news—Exchange of + prisoners—Arrival before Toulouse—A prisoner of war—Anecdote of + Wellington 452 + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + Uncertain intelligence—Capture of Toulouse—Wellington at the + theatre—The “Liberator”—Ball at the Prefecture—The feelings of the + French—Soult and Suchet—Ball at the Capitole 478 + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + Toulouse—Its churches—Protestant service—Libraries—Reception of the + Duke d’Angoulême—The French Generals—Popularity of Wellington 501 + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + Toulouse—Mr. Macarthy’s Library—The Marquess of Buckingham—General + Hope—Wellington’s dukedom—The theatre—A romantic + story—Feeling towards the English—The Duke on the Russian + cavalry 523 + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + Preparations for departure—Bordeaux—Imposition on the + English—Greetings from the Women—Mausoleum of Louis XVI. 541 + + + CHAPTER XXX. + + The opera-house—The cathedral—The synagogue—A Jewish wedding—Strange + show-house—Wellington and King Ferdinand 553 + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + Country Fêtes—Brawls with the French—The Duke + d’Angoulême—Mademoiselle Georges—The Actress and the Emperor—French + acting and French audiences—Presentation of a sword to Lord + Dalhousie—Georges’ benefit—Departure 566 + + + APPENDIX 579 + + + + +PRIVATE JOURNAL, + +&c. &c. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Departure from England—Exercises on Ship-board—Off the + Coast—Arrival at Lisbon—Residence there—Journey to Head-quarters + commenced—Abrantes—General features of the March—Salamanca. + + + H. M. S. _Vautour_, off Mondego Bay, + Sept. 14, 1812. Monday. + + MY DEAR M——, + +It was very fortunate that I kept to my post at the George Inn, at +Portsmouth; for at seven in the morning of Saturday the 5th I was +called from my bed by the Admiral, who told me that, in consequence +of the news from Madrid, he had received orders to send a ship of war +after the _Pylades_, to endeavour to prevent her landing the money +she had carried out to Oporto, and to direct her captain to take it +on to Lisbon. He told me that, if I could get ready and on board +immediately, I might accompany him. Accordingly, soon after nine +o’clock I was on board His Majesty’s ship the _Vauteur_, or _Vautour_, +or _Vulture_, a fast-sailing brig of sixteen guns—fourteen carronades, +twenty-four pounders, and two long nines; the only remaining trophy +in our Navy of the glorious expedition to the Scheldt! The Captain, a +most open-hearted, friendly man, by name Lawless, is a native of the +south of Ireland. The vessel is an excellent sailer, and the whole +in good order, with a fine crew of a hundred and five men; but the +accommodations are very small, as all is made for use, and nothing for +convenience or ornament. The Captain’s cabin, about ten feet by twelve, +he shared with me. One of us hung up a cot on each side at night, and +we lived there when these cots were removed in the daytime; there was +no opening but the hatches at top, no windows at all. I had, however, +what was most material, a most friendly, kind reception, and shared +every comfort the Captain was possessed of. This consisted of a joint +daily, generally fresh, good wine and brandy, vegetables, and, up to +this day, good bread, great attention, and a thorough welcome. + +_Friday the 11th._—At eleven o’clock precisely, as our timepieces and +observations had indicated, we sighted Spain; and had the additional +amusement of good charts, and maps, and telescopes, to examine the +coasts, besides assisting in the observations on deck, and watching all +that was going on. The scene was one of constant activity during the +voyage, not a moment’s idleness; the sails were mended; the masts were +repaired; the deck was caulked, and made water-tight for the winter; +the winter rigging was made ready; the sides of the ship painted. All +this, besides the usual routine duty of the ship, was done whenever +there was smooth water. One fine calm evening the Captain amused me +with a sham-fight, and put the men through their exercises; first at +one set of the guns, then at the other; marines and all were at work. +He showed me also the effect of a long shot and a grape shot from the +carronades in the water. These occupations, with a little reading and +writing, preparatory to my land journey, filled up the days until dark, +when we took to our cots. We first made the land off Cape Adrian, half +way between Cape Ortegal and Cape Finisterre, and got in close to the +Sisarga Island, about one o’clock on Friday the 11th. We then coasted +close in shore all the way to Cape Finisterre, which we reached at +dark: the shore is very bold and fine, but with a barren aspect, and +the appearance of an inhospitable and almost uninhabited land. The +high tracts towards Corunna, and perhaps about Ferrol, were only just +visible at first; but from Sisarga to Finisterre we saw them about as +plainly as we should have done on shore. + +_Saturday 12th._—This morning we found ourselves close off Cape +Saliers, having passed Vigo Bay in the night. Thence we slowly crept +along shore all that day in sight of the country, buildings, &c., until +we arrived at dark within about twelve miles of Oporto, off Villa de +Condé. The country is very beautiful and picturesque, nearly as bold +as the former, but very much built over, dotted with many villages +and detached houses, and verdant with much wood; all externally very +loveable and delightful. Monte Santa Tecla, at the entrance of Minho, +is an imposing object, and the whole coast interesting, especially +from Viana to Oporto, and most of all about Villa de Condé and Oporto. +Condé is a handsome-looking town, well situated, with several large +good-looking houses, and an aqueduct, reaching nearly three miles I +should think, parallel to the shore, through two villages to the hills. +The hills were well wooded, and many houses, villas, &c., covered their +sides: whether the aqueduct was still in use we could not discover; but +I saw no breaks in it as I viewed it through the glass. We made signals +to the pilots to come out from Oporto on Saturday evening, but were too +far off to be observed; and from the fear of an accident, though within +ten miles, were obliged to stand off all night, and try to keep our +place. + +_Sunday the 13th._—Still abreast of Condé, and having no wind, the +whole day getting near to Oporto. Several fishermen came on board from +the boats around. They all agreed that the _Pylades_ had not been at +Oporto—tidings which delighted the Captain; but upon the Consul’s boat +coming off at a signal, when we got near the bar in the evening, we +found that the _Pylades_ had been off the bar three nights before, just +the time she sailed before us at Portsmouth, and had landed General +Oswald, the medical men, and the money at nine o’clock at night, +and had gone on; and that the money was on its way to the army. We, +therefore, put right about again, and got about ten miles from the bar +of Oporto, which we had heard roaring many miles off, before dark. Last +night we were again becalmed, and at twelve to-day (the 14th) we were +only in Mondego Bay, near the spot where the _Apollo_, and forty of her +convoy, were lost in 1804. Here we met a wind right a-head, and have +been beating out ever since. At three it shifted a little, and we are +now returning, and hope to clear Mondego Point and get in sight of the +Burlingas before dark to-night. From about ten miles below Oporto, near +Aveiro, to the Mondego highlands, the coast is flat, and we have only +seen in Mondego Bay sand-hills and a few huts, and have only heard the +surf roaring at a distance of nearly ten miles. We are now about fifty +miles from the Burlingas and about ninety from Lisbon, and hope to be +there to-morrow. + +Our officers are, the Captain, Lawless; first lieutenant, Soper; the +second lieutenant, a fine, stout Irishman, who has amused me much, by +recounting the escapes of his past life. + +_Tuesday 15th, 12 o’clock._—Still about twenty miles from Mondego +Point. Marshal Beresford, who is lying at Oporto badly wounded, sent +out to ask for a passage to Lisbon on board our vessel; and it was +arranged that we were to fire two guns if we could accommodate him: +but the Captain was not able to do so in his small cabin, even if we +had both given up our berths, which we would cheerfully have done. It +was fortunate, however, he did not come on board, as he would have +passed three miserable nights if he had made trial of our scanty +accommodation. + +_Lisbon, September 17th._—Two more nights out becalmed—one, off Mondego +Bay; and another, off the rock of Lisbon. We got in here this morning +at seven o’clock, and have been all the morning running about the +town. The view at the entrance into the harbour is very beautiful. We +anchored at dusk off Cascaes Fort last night. The General, Peacock, has +given me quarters at the Marquis d’Abrantes’, and to-day I dine with +the General. It is said that there is a great mortality in the army; +the officers sickly, and a great want of money. + +_Lisbon, September 20th, 1812._—I have now been three days in this +town, which resembles the description of certain ladies whom I have +a right to suppose to be within your knowledge, for I think they are +described in the Bible, and in other good books which you study—all +outside show, except in the state apartments of a few individuals, +which are certainly very magnificent. Streets very offensive, palaces +by the side of ruins, and sometimes even the palaces in a state of +partial decay, though in other parts stately and magnificent in their +architectural proportions. Everywhere there is an aspect of extreme +poverty side by side with some showy indications of wealth; and it +is evident that among the lower classes impostors are as plentiful +as mosquitos. The heat is extreme—worse than I found it at Paris in +August 1802. The evenings, however, are cool, and near the water +the breezes are refreshing. They congratulate me, indeed, on the +comparative mildness of the season, which is favourable for my journey +to head-quarters, which are at Dulmas, in advance of Valladolid. + +On landing, I proceeded immediately to General Peacock, the commanding +officer, who received me with great civility, and I dined with him that +day. As to forwarding me to the army, it appears all that he can do is +to give me a route, which will procure me at different stations (though +at times two or three days distant from each other), rations for bread +and forage, as there are depôts at intervals of from one to three days’ +journey all the way. I shall have to purchase two mules and two horses. +The price of horses is high; on an average, two hundred and twenty +dollars each. Captain C——, of the staff here, has offered to go to the +fair with me on Tuesday to buy cattle and all other necessaries for my +journey. There is no route except by Ciudad Rodrigo, and, therefore, +though it is said that head-quarters may be at Madrid before my +arrival, I shall be compelled to go that way. Baron Quintilla was not +in town. The Envoy asked me to dinner immediately to his country-house +at Benefica, and was extremely civil to me, remarking that mine was +not a common letter of introduction. He asked me again yesterday, but +being unwell, I declined the flattering invitation. He also offered to +carry me in his suite to a bull-fight, twelve miles off; but as this +would detain me from Sunday to Tuesday, and interfere with my whole +plan, I am obliged reluctantly to forego the amusement. I am not here +for my pleasure. When I arrived at the Envoy’s he was absent, and I had +a _tête-à-tête_ with General Abadia, who is here on his way to Cadiz, +where he is to take a high official position. He appeared a clever man, +but I understand his loyalty to Ferdinand is doubtful, for a letter +addressed to him by his wife, who is with the French, inquiring when he +would fulfil his promise of joining their party, has been intercepted. + +This may be all a trick, but there is something suspicious about it. He +blamed us very much, charging us with having made two great blunders, +in not seizing Santona, by troops from England, and securing that river +communication and post to land all our men in, instead of Lisbon; and +also in not allowing the Sicilian expedition to seize Tortosa, and +maintain a post on that river, the most important and most annoying to +Soult. He spoke in high terms of Lord Wellington, but seemed to think +that the fate of Europe depends upon the conduct of Russia in this +conjuncture. + +The idea seems now to be, that Soult, Suchet, and Joseph have formed +a junction. They have above sixty thousand effective men; and it is +added, that the French now have their old position on the Ebro always +in their power. General Carrier was brought in here a prisoner on +Thursday, from Salamanca: he had five wounds, which are nearly healed, +but he thought he should lose a finger. He came in to the General +whilst I dined there. He seemed to be out of spirits, but said that +Marmont was nearly well, and would resume his command. The French, I +hear, are intrenched near Burgos. + +I have obtained quarters at the _casa_ of the Marquesa d’Abrantes, a +good situation, and a lieutenant-colonel’s quarters. Her husband is a +prisoner in France. I have a separate door, which leads away to four +small rooms to the street; bare walls, painted with military trophies, +and the whole kept as quarters. In these I have two tables, a dozen +chairs, a bedstead, a mattress, a worked flounced quilt, some fine +sheets, but, of course, no blankets. At first we had nothing else; +but I have now got a silver basin and ewer, some knives and forks, +and a supply of water. These apartments might easily be made very +comfortable. The state rooms of this house, looking over about an acre +of garden (which is open to the public), are very handsome. As the +marquesa lost her mother last week, about twenty cabriolets a-day have +brought visitors to pay respects, &c., and about a hundred and fifty +beggars to receive their alms. By the way, the English have caused +everything here to become very dear. The churches are gaudy, and in +some respects not a little ridiculous, but still, to my mind, nothing +like so trumpery, absurd, and indeed indecorous in every respect as +those in Flanders, and in some parts of Switzerland and Piedmont. The +Roman Catholics here certainly have the appearance of devotion, and +seem more in earnest, much more so than in France, and more so than in +any country I have seen. + +_Lisbon, September 23rd, 1812._—I was at the fair, in the heat of the +sun, all yesterday, and have bought two small mules, one small horse, +and have agreed for another, a small pony, to carry me. The fair has +knocked me up as well as my man Henry. I have been all this day with +Captain C——, almost my only friend here, at market, bargaining for +travelling necessaries. Commissary P—— will lend me one public mule; +so now I hope I am equipped as far as that goes. The General offers +to send me with the next treasure, which goes nobody knows when; but +refuses me two soldiers to go with me, though it is said that it is +really dangerous to go without them. + +_Lisbon, September 26th, 1812, Saturday._—Though in a constant fever +from fleas and mosquitos, we should have started yesterday with some +treasure, but my servant Henry could not stir, and my Portuguese +servant took himself off at eight in the morning. I have now got a +German deserter as servant instead of the Portuguese; and trust he will +not carry on the old game, and desert with my baggage. He is said to +speak a little English and Portuguese, and know the country well. + +_Sunday._—For one day more I have postponed my journey, intending to +start with some treasure and two officers on Tuesday. The Opera-house +here is a dull, heavy building, about the size of the Haymarket +Opera-house; but the dancing more like Sadler’s Wells than the Opera +in England: great activity and force in the buffo style like comic +masks—this appears to be the favourite style here. Macbeth was turned +into a pantomine; the death and dagger scene very fine, but the whole +effect marred by the mummery of fantastic dancing and skipping witches. +I have not had time to see any thing except Lisbon, and the aqueduct: +the latter work certainly fine, but not of an attractive shape. Round +arches would have had a better effect, and the piers want evenness and +regularity; nevertheless it is a work worthy of the Romans. I contrived +to-day to go to Belem church, a very fine specimen of arabesque, the +best thing I have seen here; in style it is between the Saxon and +Antique, with a little Gothic intermixed, the ornaments beautiful and +in high preservation. + +_Abrantes, October 6th, 1812._—A day’s halt here enables me to write to +you. I left Lisbon on the 30th September, by two o’clock, with my sick +party, and thence eight miles to Saccavem in about three hours. The +road to Saccavem and nearly to Villa Franca is fine; and, except that +there are no trees besides olive-trees, which appear like apple-trees +at a distance, and no verdure, the river and country are picturesque. + +On the second night we reached Villa Franca, sixteen miles; the third +night, Agembiga twelve; the fourth, Santarem sixteen. The positions +and accounts in our gazettes made this route interesting, but the road +itself is dull and sandy. Suppose a few olive-trees and firs on Bagshot +Heath, and you have the scene. Saccavem and Santarem are both fine +positions for appearance, and the latter for defence. All the towns are +half in ruins, as well as almost all the single houses on the road to +this place. On the fifth day we reached Galegao, sixteen miles; on the +sixth, Punhete, twelve miles; on the seventh, Abrantes, eight miles. +I am now eighty-eight miles from Lisbon. From Galegao to Abrantes +the road runs near the river, the verdure increases, there are a few +chestnut, oranges, and larger firs, and in the spring the scenery must +be very picturesque. Abrantes, on a commanding eminence, is in a very +fine situation, and looks over much fine country. Finding my sick men +unequal to the fatigue, I applied to the officer of the treasure, and +got a soldier, a fine active Tyrolese, who does more work in an hour +than my poor creatures in a day. He cleans down the animals, waters +them, loads, &c., and as I carry his baggage for him, and give him +rather better fare, he seems to be very well pleased with the post. He +leads a mule on the road, walking at his ease: by this means I now get +off about six o’clock every morning. + +The treasure-party, finding the heat made the men ill, now start at +five o’clock; still I am much better than I was when I started, and +when on the march I go quicker than the treasure, as I have easy loads. +Henry leads the first mule on horseback, the soldier walking by the +side to keep everything right, whilst I bring up the rear myself, +always on the watch, and thus have but few accidents. One of my mules +is a nice fat round fellow, who eats so much they cannot keep the +baggage from rolling off him without holding it on; another mule had a +troublesome propensity of lying down with the baggage. My Tyrolese only +speaks German, French, and a little Portuguese. + +So many of the men of another treasure-party were ill, that they +halted, and then went on with us; this crowded the road and made it +more uncomfortable. Here at Abrantes we separate—they go to General +Hill. On arriving at a place, the first thing is to hunt for the _Juge +de Fores_, to procure quarters, but if there is an English commandant, +he must first be beaten up for an order, then the quarters are to be +found; sometimes those allotted are full; then another billet must be +obtained: sometimes the stables are full of kicking mules, and other +stables must be found elsewhere. At length we unload, all in one room +with four walls, a table, and a chair. Then at every third place we +have to go to the Commissary to draw rations, straw, and barley for the +animals to eat—spirits, meat, and bread for ourselves, and wood for +firing. These must sometimes be fetched from half a mile to a mile and +a half off, and be procured from roguish Portuguese under-commissaries. +Sometimes great pieces of green wood are allotted to us, which will +not burn, and we have nothing to cut it with. This, which we often +leave as not worth carriage, costs Government a large sum: a third of +the quantity, if good, would serve better. As the wood and straw we +cannot manage to take with us, we carry on barley, and buy a little +straw, or Sadran corn straw, which is the best when fresh. At first the +Portuguese were very civil at quarters, but we are now too numerous, +and many behave ill from disgust and weariness. They are now very +backward to supply anything, even when they have it, which often is +not the case. They provide a room, a lamp, water, a basin, a towel by +night, a table, a chair, and something to lie upon; some furnish very +decent beds. + +Two days ago the scene changed, and it has since rained almost +incessantly. We got wet yesterday, halted to-day, and to-morrow I +probably shall start, to be soaked to the very bones. My mode of living +may interest you. I rise, then, at half-past four, take some bread, +spirits and water, and a raw egg when I can get one, or sometimes a +few grapes. When we stop to water, I eat some bread and cheese, a dear +luxury on the road, a very little country wine and water, and now and +then coffee or chocolate. In the evening, a stew (when we can get it) +comes as a treat, and then we lie down on the floor at eight o’clock in +hope of sleep—a hope more frequently fulfilled than it was at Lisbon. +Stores are all now at double price, and will soon not be procurable at +any cost. + +The Commissary says we shall have six hours’ walk in the rain instead +of the sun now; and after two or three days we shall find only deserted +ruins where the French came, and we after them, last year. I hope this +is exaggeration. Windows in this great town are not to be seen even +in Colonels’ quarters, or in the best shops. This is an active, busy +place—thoroughly military. The vintage was going on as we proceeded on +the road, and we had abundance of grapes. The poor soldiers, having +three days’ rations served out at once, consume all the drink on the +first day, sell the meat to save carriage and the trouble of cooking +it, and live upon bread and grapes and water, till their next supply +comes to hand. At Santarem and here, hospitals are established as well +as at Lisbon; many fine-looking fellows, reduced to skeletons, are in +them. I have a new route to-morrow round about: first day, Garvao; +second, Nisa; third, Villa Velha; fourth, Cernados; fifth, Castello +Branco: sixteen miles, twenty miles, twelve miles, eight, and eighty. + +_Sunday, Castello Branco, October 11th, 1812._—Here am I thus far +safe on my pilgrimage, and tolerably well considering all things, +for I seldom get above two or three hours’ sleep, and many nights +none at all, from noises, fleas, gnats, mosquitos, bad accommodation, +and anxiety. From Abrantes I got safely to Garvao, which is finely +situated, and the walk to it wildly beautiful. The next day I warned my +people to rise by half-past four; we loaded in the dark, but started by +daylight, and got in before the treasure to Niga. A good mattress and +clean sheets, &c., on the floor, without fleas, are genuine luxuries. +For the first time in Portugal I got six hours’ sleep. In the same +manner I started again from Niga by five o’clock, and got through two +treasure days’ journey in one to Cernados. Understanding that at Villa +Velha there were only desolate ruins, scarcely supplying a dry cover, +by starting again early yesterday from Cernados (which consists only of +one house, half of it a ruin, with a nest of ruined cottages round it), +I reached this place by ten yesterday, and thus had all the remainder +of the day to rest, and this in addition (Sunday), for the treasure +arrived only to-day. + +I have thus avoided the common piggery of being all in one house at +Cernados, and a bad night at Villa Velha. By calculating distances and +time also, I have kept my men and myself dry. As the rains generally +come on hitherto after twelve in the day, and in the night, we have +only been caught in two English showers. It rained all the time we +were at Abrantes, from twelve on the day we arrived, entirely through +the following day, to about an hour before we started. All the rest +of the day was fine, rain again all the evening—the same at Niga, and +the same here also. And such rain! it would saturate anything in ten +minutes. As it is now cooler, I walk half the way, which also saves my +pony. I have here assigned to me the quarters of the Generals who pass +through. These consist of the ruin of a fine house for quarters, and a +large room with four great windows without glass, and four doors in it; +gold frames around without their looking-glasses in them, fine chairs +without bottoms, &c., &c. The house belongs to the _Illustrissimo +Signor Barao_. I have a mattress on the floor with fleas innumerable. +I have my route, and here it is: first day, Eschalas de Cimo; second, +San Miguel; third, Menoa; fourth, Sabugal; fifth, perhaps a halt; +sixth, Aldea da Ponte; seventh, Sturno; eighth, Ciudad Rodrigo. We are +to carry provisions for four days with us, then provide for three, +and start to-morrow or next day as the treasure mules are able; then +go on to Fuentes de Castelegos, Forgadilla, Calçade de Don Diego, +Salamanca. Few of these places are in Faden’s map. Nothing can be had +on the road, it is said, not even dry stabling or a dry room; and much +wet is expected. The place is finely situated on the east side of a +hill which is crowned by an old Moorish castle and walls, and a modern +monastery in ruins! It is one of the best towns we have seen, and there +are the ruins of some good houses; provisions and necessaries are to be +bought here, but at a high price. There is part of the fine episcopal +palace (where a Portuguese General is quartered), with a garden in +tolerable order, a good church, and several picturesque-looking ruined +monasteries, with crosses at every step. I have taken a few sketches +where we stop on the road, though too much occupied with business to +think much of the picturesque. Niga is also picturesque. + +My adventures are all much alike. The only variety is an arrival wet +through to the skin. No one can say where we shall go to at last. I +suppose I must now proceed to Salamanca, and then something must be +determined upon. Things do not go on well at Burgos, I fear; there is +much delay, more than was expected. Lord Wellington is, it is said, not +satisfied. At Cernados a cobbler was the _Juge de Fores_, and gave us +our billets. On the walls was an excellent likeness in chalk of Lord +George Lennox, done by the shadow, I suppose from the lamp which is +allowed us. I hear of sickness everywhere; much at head-quarters. The +general orders have many more on the list of absent from sickness, than +on that of arrivals at the army. Soult is very strong. General Hill, I +believe, is still at Toledo. + +Near the mountains on the other side of the Tagus is an old castle or +two, and some pleasant glimpses of fine valleys, and the deep banks +of the river which is hidden from the view. The sandy commons like +Bagshot, over which the road passes, are more bold, the hills higher, +and covered almost entirely with the gum cistus, which has a sweet +scent, but, being out of bloom in that state, is not so pleasing as our +heaths with their various colours. There is a little heath like the +Devonshire heath, and some parts of the road rather like Dartmoor. Near +Niga are seen the mountains about Elvas, and in the line to Badajoz, +and the Spanish mountains of Estremadura, The country proved to me the +merit of some of Rubens’ Spanish views, which are, like his Flemish +pictures, most correct in the character of the scenery. From Niga, +after proceeding a league, you wind down a wild Devonshire or Welsh +sort of road; first cross a small river, then the Tagus again, almost +down steps—not so bad as some wild parts of Ireland, to be sure, though +very bad for the loaded mules. Here is very little oak, underwood, some +fir, but chiefly and perpetually the gum cistus, which grows to about +four feet high. Villa Velha is a village in ruins, finely situated on +the side of a hill looking over the river. It is now nearly deserted. +The soldiers with baggage pitched a tent below the office in the +cellar. From the hills above the river, before we crossed the Tagus, we +saw Castello Branco standing high on the hill, and the Moorish ruins. +Cernados is like a Welsh village of the worst sort: rocks for streets, +ruined stone houses inhabited in part, and used for quarters. Their few +architectural large buildings alone constitute the difference between +these and the worst Welsh or Irish villages. From Cernados to this +place we again crossed a country like a large Bagshot Heath, but by a +very tolerable good road; adieu. + +P.S.—The Captain has just sent me word we must start to-morrow instead +of the day after; he says that the treasure is not safe without the +serjeants. Our detachments are all foreigners; many are drunk, and have +quarrelled with the inhabitants! + +_Salamanca, October, 1812._—The first day after leaving Castello +Branco, we reached Eschalo de Cimo, a pretty, and once a thriving +village, with a good church, not so much destroyed as damaged; one +handsome large house in the vicinity belonging to the Squiress, Donna +Joanna, the best rooms in which were gutted and used as quarters, the +rest inhabited by two or three families of the better kind, with some +smart misses among them. The other houses mostly in ruins, but still +some of them occupied. In this place bread was not to be bought, nor +even an onion! but we fared well, in good rooms, with good fires. On +our road thither we kept Castello Branco in sight nearly all the way; +we also saw the distant mountains in Spain and Portugal. The road was +over a sort of Dartmoor, stones, rock, sand, with fern oak a foot +high, and abundance of apples. The second day we reached San Miguel de +Cima. The same sort of village as Eschalo de Cimo, one good house for +quarters, the rest small, and generally, like the church, in ruins; +but the inhabitants were fast returning to it. Here we obtained bread, +onions, and some hay. The appearance on entering the village, with the +trees about it, very pleasant. The third day’s route was to Memoa, five +long leagues. At first a good road and picturesque country, with a very +fine view of Monsanto, with its town and castle on the right, and of +the other hills grouped with it in the distance. Pennamacor, which is +almost destroyed, we left on our right, about a mile, with its castle, +standing boldly on the side of a hill, with rock and wood around it, +and a rich-looking valley below. This is a fine situation, backed, as +we left it, by Monsanto. We also passed Pedrigoa, a large village, +nearly destroyed and deserted, and at last, after passing over a hill +by a horrible road, through an oak copse, where we had nearly lost our +way, we arrived at the heap of ruins called Memoa. This was the worst +place we had stopped at all the way. There was only one room in the +town, that only water-tight, and there were no stables. I took the +driest corner in a large common room, because there was a stable under +it. + +I could see and hear everything in the stables, for the floor was +still less tight than the roof. The leg of a chair or a table, in +spite of all possible care, went two or three times through it. I got +a little hay, and slept behind a great chest, in my blanket. Three of +the natives were in the room at night. The fourth day we had three +leagues of fine road, though bad travelling, through a hilly wood of +arbutuses in bearing, and Portugal laurels in flower, heath in bloom, +a plant like the lignum vitæ, and broom. This day’s route brought us +to Sabugal, where there is generally a halt, but this our captain +declined. Sabugal stands on a hill, very finely situated, but commanded +by other hills; the way is over a bridge and river, and with a winding +road up to it. The situation is not unlike that of Ludlow; the town +very inferior in size and beauty, but picturesque. The castle itself +with its square Moorish towers, more so than Ludlow. The town is all +in ruins; not even a weather-tight room in it. I got a large sort +of barn, open in the roof in several places, with no doors, and two +large windows, without even shutters, and four others half closed. On +our road thither from Memoa we found half the body of a man, nearly a +skeleton, but with flesh and nails on the toes. It was lying on the +road, as if to scare travellers. + +The market-place at Sabugal is, I think, very pretty, and everything +in it very cheap: this, indeed, was the cheapest place through which +we had passed. The fifth day we reached Aldea da Ponte, the last +Portuguese village. The road was interesting, as we passed near Fuente +Guinaldos, so long head-quarters, and Alfayetes, also head-quarters. +We passed just under Alfayetes, and saw Lord Wellington’s house on +the side of the hill, with the old castle. This place is now in +ruins, like the rest. We then passed over the plain where our cavalry +distinguished themselves in a sharp affair with the French. Aldea da +Ponte is much cleaner than the other villages. + +Here we saw more pots, pans, basins, &c., than usual; these the people +desired us to make use of instead of hiding them from us, as was +generally done in Portugal. On the sixth day, we came, after a short +league, to a small village on the side of a hill, the first in Spain, +then on to two or three more, and in less than six leagues we reached +Ciudad Rodrigo. This town stands on a rise, in an undulating sort +of rough Salisbury Plain. It is two-thirds in ruins, but the public +buildings appear to have suffered comparatively little, and might, +most of them, be restored. The entrance to the town is striking. We +got an indifferent quarter in the suburbs, immediately opposite the +place where the light battalions entered. The main breach was round +the corner of our abode. The Spaniards had nearly restored these two +breaches, but from ill luck or neglect both had entirely given way, +and there must still be some months’ work before they can undo and +clear enough away to begin to rebuild again. Everything was scarce in +the town, and the people imposing and uncivil. On the seventh day we +proceeded to Brondillo, where we were obliged to stop, as there were +only two houses in Castel Legos, to which the route sent us. This was +by far our worst day’s journey; the distance was seven leagues, that +is, twenty-eight miles. It took us to accomplish this from six in the +morning to past three, of which time it rained eight hours and a half, +nearly all that time like a bad English thunder-shower of ten minutes’ +duration. No coats could keep out the wet, and it was accompanied by +a strong, cold November wind, for the weather for the last week has +been as cold as an English November. We all suffered, and I have been +chilly and aguish ever since. We then, for the first time, entered a +Spanish cabin; and oh! how superior to those of Portugal! of Ireland! +of Scotland! and if I did not consider these cottages as farms and +not as cottages, I should say of England too! All neat and clean; with +pots, dishes, boilers in abundance. + +The people are proud, but if treated with civility, courteous and +kind, though they are turned away from their own firesides by us +and the Portuguese three or four nights in the seven. They made us +a great fire, and did all they could for us. The women seem chatty +and merry—the men, the handsomest and best-grown, with the finest +countenances I ever saw, except perhaps in Switzerland. We met with +the same sort of treatment and kindness at the next village. The house +belonged to the priest, with whom, through the medium of some mongrel +Latin and Spanish, I managed to converse a little. These quarters are +some of the best I have had since leaving Lisbon; at Togadillo, where +the route sent us, there was only one good house. + +At Robedila, a place out of the road, where we got by accident, finding +we had passed Togadillo without knowing it, all was comfort again. +This place the French occupied for some time with ten thousand men. +We arrived yesterday at Salamanca. After the first five leagues from +Ciudad Rodrigo, which were as rough as Dartmoor, we have passed through +a country like the neighbourhood of Salisbury Plain, only that the +villages were much more numerous, though several only of three or four +houses, now nearly all repaired. Not a single large, or, I believe, +two-storied house, from Ciudad Rodrigo to this place. Much of the +country now quite a fine green, but a very large part in cultivation. +The land looked good; about midway it consisted of, for five or six +leagues, clay, and knee-deep: in some places a light soil, or reddish +sand; with water up to the mules’ bellies, from the heavy rain, though +it had ceased twenty-four hours. The people have plenty of bread and +straw, but there are no shops in the villages. They only sell to oblige +each his own lodger for the night. Bread was threepence a pound—it had +been fourpence. All along this country, from St. Martin de Rio hither, +are abundance of acorns, almost as good as chestnuts; quite sweet. +The muleteers and men halt to eat them. This also gives good fires +everywhere. Horses and bones are strewed more or less along the whole +way from Lisbon. In one place, about seven leagues from Salamanca, were +thirteen heads arranged in a row, as stepping-blocks for passengers +through the water. I believe there was a little cavalry brush there. +Salamanca stands well, but in a sort of Salisbury Plain. The colleges +are destroyed, but the church is most beautiful, and the entrances much +finer than those of our cathedrals—the figures and heads very fine +indeed. + +The altered Roman bridge is striking. The town is so full, principally +of sick, that I have got bad quarters, half a mile out of the town; my +direction l’Ultima Casa. + +_Later, same day._—I have been again looking at the town. The great +church is very fine, and not damaged, but there are many miserable +ruins of noble colleges, some gutted, some nearly razed. The public +library has a fair supply of books, but too exclusively of sacred, or +rather ecclesiastical literature; there are, however, good classics, +French, and modern learned works, mathematics, and others: it is about +two-thirds of the size of Trinity College, Cambridge. I hope to proceed +the day after to-morrow, to Valladolid, which it is proposed to reach +in seven days. There are good shops here, and articles not dear. It is +curious to see the same effect of ages and of tastes as in England. +Below and behind the great altar of the church was some old English, +or, as we should say, Saxon architecture, that is, a rude imitation of +Greek. Then came a florid sample of Gothic, not in the best taste, but +beautifully ornamented, with screens, &c., in the style of King Charles +and King William; forced Grecian again, of two centuries back. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Arrival at Head-quarters—Ciudad Rodrigo—The Retreat—Its + Disasters—Capture of General Paget—Personal Anecdotes—Scarcity + of Provisions—Courts-martial in the Army—Business of a + Judge-Advocate—Wellington. + + + Head-quarters, Rueda, Nov. 5, 1812. + + MY DEAR M——, + +At last I have arrived safely at head-quarters, as they have been kind +enough to come half-way to meet me. From Salamanca, we proceeded on +the first day to Alba de Tormes, a town in a fine situation on the +Tormes, with the remains of a castle of various dates, extensive and +picturesque; part of it, particularly the entrance staircase, very +richly ornamented. The whole was striking, and the vicinity of the town +was interesting, for here it was that the French so completely beat the +unhappy Spaniards, and put them to death by thousands, almost in cold +blood. We saw where General del Parques’ cavalry were posted, and the +positions of the French. On our road near Salamanca we also observed at +a distance, on the other side of the river, the hills where the battle +of Salamanca was fought; and our route lay in that of the pursuit +through Alba, then on to Peneranda, another good old town, and so, +through villages, to Arevalo, where we arrived in four days, tracing +men’s bones and bits of soldiers’ dress, as well as horse bones and +carcasses, on the route thither. + +This country resembles Salisbury Plain, in open cultivation of +corn, and is covered very thick with neat villages, with a general +appearance of comfort. Arevalo is a large place in ruins. There are +many remains of fine richly-wooded brickwork, convents, churches, +many good houses, and the town standing very finely on a hill, nearly +surrounded by the river, which runs in a deep hollow round it, with +four or five substantial and rather picturesque bridges. Our route was +by Valladolid, where we should have been in three days, and which I +regret much not to have seen, for I hear it is second only to Madrid, +and very little damaged. Had I proceeded on the route I should have +reached Valladolid the day before the French entered it. Hearing that +the army was rapidly retiring, the road became unsafe. No one knew +where head-quarters were to be; the treasure, and my mules with it, +were consequently halted, and instructions were written for. For four +days we remained at Arevalo. The treasure party were then ordered to +Olmedo to deliver their cargo, and head-quarters were here at Rueda. +I proceeded with them to Olmedo, rather a handsome and a large town, +where I was housed in the good quarters which had been occupied by the +Prince of Orange. When I arrived here, my beasts were kept standing +loaded in the streets, and all of us without anything to eat until +past six, before I could get a quarter. The people were civil, but +I had to go to the Quarter-Master-general, Adjutant-general, to the +billet-manager, to the Military Secretary, &c. One said, “go here;” +another, “go there;” a third sent a serjeant to inquire, and then +thought no more about it. + +At last I procured an indifferent quarter vacated by a Commissary, only +a shed, and holes through the floor into the cellar below. My animals, +therefore, stood all night in the entrance of the passage. + +This morning, 5th, I heard of a Spanish aide-de-camp of Castanos’, who +is here, and who had three small stables close to me. I found him in +bed at nine o’clock, but he could speak French, and I persuaded him +to give me one of the stables for my four animals. Thus we are better +off to-day, and, as a favour, I have got them something to eat. I was +introduced to Lord Wellington this morning, and delivered my letters. +He was very courteous. We conversed for half an hour, and I am to dine +with him at six to-day, in full uniform. He is to send me fifty cases +against officers, to examine, in order to ascertain whether any can +be made out on evidence, which is the great difficulty. There is a +caricature here of Johnny Newcome, who makes it out till sent to the +rear rolled up in a blanket in an ox-car, creeping on at the rate of +two miles an hour to Lisbon. We are in hourly expectation of moving. +The bridges are repaired, and the French within three leagues, and able +to cross if they choose. General Hill is expected here to-day. His +forces are at Arevalo. Soult is in Madrid; whether they push on further +is to be seen. + +Few reinforcements have arrived; eighteen thousand Spaniards (such +as they are) are with us. The lower classes of the people are a very +fine race in person, talents, and feelings, and vastly superior to the +Portuguese. It is very provoking that rank and prejudice render this +of no avail. The inhabitants of the town seem half French. About six +hundred French crossed over to us last night, but retired again. The +cavalry were off in the middle of the night from head-quarters. I was +alarmed for a moment, but all seems quiet this morning. The last five +days have been very fine; cold dewy mornings, but clear sunny days, +damp cold evenings, but for the time of the year here very fine. There +are very queer-looking military figures here, some English, a few +Portuguese, many more Spanish. The whole scene presents an odd medley. + +_Ciudad Rodrigo, November 19, 1812._—To continue my diary from Rueda. +Two days afterwards, the 7th, an order to march at four in the morning +came, as soon as Hill’s army was within reach. I then first saw what +it was to put seventy thousand men in motion, about ten thousand +public, and a greater number of private mules, horses, &c. At five we +started, and about two that day I reached head-quarters. Torricello +by four o’clock. At five next morning started again for Petueja. Here +the head-quarters had only thirty houses for one hundred and fifty +officers. Lord Wellington and the Prince of Orange had only one room +each. I was ordered a league in advance, where I found Castanos, who +had come in for better quarters. He sent me on another half-league, but +when a mile on the road he passed me, as he had heard that the next +was the best quarter. So I returned, and at three o’clock got a little +hole and a stable. About five came in about three thousand Spanish +troops. Half my house was down in a moment for firing, and nearly all +the owner’s property, pans, dishes, straw, &c., stolen. I secured mine, +which was attacked, by swallowing a mouthful and packing up and keeping +guard. The remainder of the house was also saved; and, by the help of +a Spanish officer, who took a fancy to the kitchen fire, the house +was cleared with fist and foot. My animals were not safe, as my man +heard one soldier say he would have one before morning. I saved them +by putting them in a row in the passage close to me, where they stood +for the night. Fires all round us; noises of all kinds; people breaking +in. There were only about six civilians, English, in the village. At +five next day off again, and at daylight joined the general train on +the road to Salamanca. It was easily found, for it extended five or six +miles. + +The day before we again started three cases were laid before me on +which to draw charges. Upon these I was to report to Lord Wellington +next day. I drew them up, but he was too busy to receive them. When I +went home and sent for a paper, the answer was, “All packed up;” and +it seemed that I ought to be so too, as our position was turned, and +we were all ordered to be loaded and ready to start. After much hurry, +I was ready soon after twelve. My beasts stood loaded at the door till +seven in the evening; then came orders to unload, but to be loaded by +four next morning, and to start for a hill a league off, and there wait +for orders. There was only one long bridge to pass the whole army, and +it was near seven before we were all over. + +It rained hard. We stood on the hill loaded and waiting for orders +till one o’clock. Nearly the whole of our army was in sight round +us, cooking their dinners in the rain, in their new position. The +French were all around, about a league off, their fires visible in +the woods, and the heads of their columns visible with a glass. They +would not attack us, as they might, but manœuvred to turn our right +wing. Had there been a battle we should have had a fine view of the +beginning at least. At one o’clock we saw our whole army break up and +put itself in motion; and orders came to us to march and keep with the +second column. This we did, marching in the rain, in a fine confusion, +till five o’clock, when Lord Wellington halted at a miserable place +for head-quarters, and the men bivouacked on the swampy ground. I +was ordered on a league further. Darkness soon came on, and the rain +descended in torrents. Misdirected by some Spanish muleteers, I lost my +way, and did not reach any village for three leagues, and not till nine +at night, wet and starved, as the Salamanca people, in our confusion, +stole my bread, &c. + +I was the only English officer there, and got the best quarter at the +parish priest’s, the best house there. Here I procured a loaf of bread, +fire, and a bed, which were no small comforts. I got, however, but +little sleep, not knowing how to proceed next day, and being aware +that the French were close at hand. By my map I found that I was in the +nearest road to Ciudad Rodrigo, and, taking a retreat to be the object, +I determined to wait till eight or nine o’clock next day, and observe +whether any one passed. By that time half the army was on the road +through the village, and Sir Edward Paget took my quarter for the last +night’s rest he had before he was taken prisoner. I then had a short +march in the rain again this day to Aldea Quella and to Boleado. In two +hours’ time I got a quarter through Colonel Campbell’s influence; and +because the stables would not hold a large horse, all the mules, half +the servants, all the soldiers, and most of the officers, were out in +the wet. Three Spanish officers burst into my quarters at night, and +the people were hammering at the door every moment for straw, shelter, +&c., sick and all sorts. In spite of my vigilance, either the Spanish +officers or the people of the house stole my pistols out of my room, +and finished by purloining the bread and rum of my men. Honesty is not +a Spanish virtue. We all of us lose things daily. At two next day we +loaded, and at three started for this place, twenty miles, four hours +before daylight. Luckily we had some moon. I stuck to Lord Wellington’s +carriage and baggage, thinking the people in charge of them would be +best informed, though my own inquiries elicited other intelligence than +theirs. + +I was told the rivers that way were not passable, and we found the +whole road almost under water for miles, ankle, and even knee deep, +and three rivers to pass. Many mules were upset or stuck fast, and +much baggage damaged or lost. I had only one load overset, and that +at the edge, and we saved all, and not much damage done. By daylight +there was a general halt; no one knew the ford or the road. At last we +passed the river a mile above; but then, finding the French had been +in the village three miles off the last night, we all turned off by a +by-road six miles round, and at last arrived here at Ciudad Rodrigo, +miserably cold, with animals knocked up, sore backs, &c., about two +o’clock. In the confusion here, at last I got a bad quarter in the same +house with Colonel Gordon, Lord Wellington’s aide-de-camp. But I have +a place for my animals, and hundreds have no room for animals, or even +for themselves. We halt to-day, whether for a longer time I know not. +The army is mostly passing the river to-day. We lost many men in the +retreat, but a very little money is missing. The sick are numerous. +Two officers have died of fatigue on the road, in which dead mules are +to be met with in plenty, and some men. To-day we are relating our +adventures. We get but little barley for our horses, no hay or straw. +The cavalry have been without it for some days; but this is considered +a very orderly retreat. Sir Edward Paget accidentally fell into the +enemy’s hands near his own division, within six hundred yards of it, +between that and another. The French are said to have ninety thousand +men, with nine thousand cavalry. They pressed hard until yesterday; +they then relaxed when they might have done us most mischief. The +roads and weather, I suppose, and the want of food and forage, impeded +them. I hope they will now leave us quiet. I am very sorry for Sir +Edward Paget on the public account and on my own, as I found him most +friendly, civil, and good-natured. This capture is also a triumph to +the French. + +_Malliarda de Sorda, November 26th, 1812._—We are now in our winter +quarters, and fill all the villages and places for twenty miles round +on the Portugal side of Ciudad Rodrigo, the works of which are still +quite out of repair where our trenches were made, as the Spanish new +work has all fallen in. Wellington’s head-quarters are at Frenada, an +old station; the doctors are all at Castello Bom; and the other civil +departments, in which I am included, all at this place, Malliarda +de Sorda. We are distant four miles of most infamous rocky road from +Frenada, and eight from Castello Bom. This I fear must shut me off from +nearly all society, as it would be paying most dear for a dinner at +Frenada or Castello Bom, to return in the dark, along roads compared +with which those of Ireland or Cornwall are bowling-greens. We are in +three wretched villages, in a country like Dartmoor, but more wood +near, all rocks around, and stone-wall enclosures, and rocky roads; +then woods, with open wastes for twenty miles round. I have a room +opening to the street, without ceiling, only open loose pantiles, with +holes to let out the smoke of a fireplace without a chimney; a window +tinned up by last year’s occupier, except four small panes, two of +which are broken; there is a hole in the floor to look through at my +five animals and three servants, who all sleep on the straw below me. + +The weather for the last three days has been a complete English +December, cutting easterly winds; and on the 23rd I will vouch for +ice three-quarters of an inch thick. All the Sierras are white with +snow. I found Lord Wellington’s secretaries sitting with candles at +twelve o’clock in the day, in order to stop their holes and windows +with curtains, and burning charcoal fires. We have had every variety +of weather here in six weeks: I never remember it colder in England +for the time of the year. Here are no books, no women but ladies of a +certain description; and as to living, you would be surprised what good +living is here, except at Lord Wellington’s table, and about two more, +and even at those no port wine, only thin claret, and the country wines +and brandy. + +At Ciudad Rodrigo there was starvation: no corn, no hay, no straw, +no bread, no rum, for three days, only beef and biscuit; at last we +got some mouldy biscuit for the animals, which I mixed with carrot, +cabbage, and potatoes; everything was devoured. Tea, 22_s._ and 25_s._ +a pound; butter, 4_s._; bread, 1_s._ 6_d._ a pound, above 6_s._ the +loaf; no wine or brandy; gin, 12_s._ the bottle; straw, a dollar for a +small bundle, and all sold in a scramble. The truth was, the troops, +poor fellows! came through the town quite starving; during the retreat +supplies had been mismanaged—regiments were three and four days without +rations, and numbers died of absolute starvation, besides the sick. +Lord Wellington is, I hear, very angry. Till I saw B—’s mess, &c., I +had no notion of the loss in this retreat, and the great suffering +of the men and horses. From what I hear, not merely were about one +thousand made prisoners, but five or six thousand put for some time +_hors de combat_, by sickness, starvation, and want of horses, &c. The +cavalry were too weak to act, mainly from want of food. A great many +animals were killed. A treasure-party had a narrow escape: the French +were in sight while they were loading, and much baggage was lost. Lord +Dalhousie lost almost all; five horses and thirteen loaded mules, +with his name at full length upon his baggage—another French triumph! +Colonel Delancey lost three horses, taken at Salamanca; and the men +suffered shockingly from the wet. The whole was so unlucky; as had the +three days’ rain begun at Salamanca, in all probability the French +would not have crossed the Tormes and turned our position, and we might +still have been there; and had they come three days later, we should +have saved our three or four thousand sick. We should, moreover, have +had good roads and dry nights, no floods and torrents to wade through +by day, nor swamps to sleep on by night; in fact, we should only have +lost drunken stragglers. The distress at Madrid, after all the joy and +gaiety, was dreadful. When we left the town sixty thousand poor were +contending for the remains of our stores—the worst objects had the +preference given them. King Joseph’s Palace was left by him entirely +furnished; and as Lord Wellington made a point that he should find it +again the same, nothing was touched by our army. + +_The 26th._—To-day is a cheerful, frosty, Christmas-day, and within an +English farm-house the whole would do very well: but I go, like others, +to bed at seven o’clock, to keep myself warm. General Castanos and his +troops are gone back to Gallicia, which is one grievance removed at +least. Ballasteros is in disgrace at Ceuta, for disobedience. I fear, +upon the whole, the Spanish cause has suffered much by our advance to +Madrid and Burgos. The people find we cannot support them, and will be +very shy in future; and the misery of the peasantry and townspeople +all the time is extreme. There are few deceptions in England like that +about the life in Spain. + +_Frenada, Head-Quarters, December 8th, 1812._—I will now tell you +one day’s adventure and how I came here. Two days after writing from +Malliarda de Sorda, where I was lonely and heard nothing, I determined +to walk over to see how things went on here, and put my papers into my +pocket in case I should be able to see Lord Wellington. On my arrival +I met the Quarter-Master who managed quarters: he told me he had kept +a miserable hole for me, if I chose to move; it was much worse than +even my old one, but I instantly said “YES.” The next person I met was +Lord Wellington, and I asked him when he wished to see me, and whether +he had any objection to my moving here? He said I might take my choice +and take the best of the bad. He then asked whether I had my papers +about me? I said, “All.” “Come up,” said he then; and in ten minutes he +looked over my papers, which consisted of four sets of charges against +officers. These were all settled with a few judicious alterations, in +which I entirely agreed. I then came out and wrote them fair in the +Adjutant-general’s office, and two were sent off to Lisbon that day. + +On my way home I found a Portuguese half drunk, killing his wife. +He had bruised her, and laid her head open with a large stone; this +occurred on the open road. As I was not in full strength from the +effects of a recent accident, I could only gently interfere, and the +brute persisted in his cruelty. A servant then came by on horseback who +struck him with a good stout stick; but the fellow turned on him, and +hit him with a great stone on the head. Thereupon two dragoons, who saw +the whole affair, came up, and were going to cut the Portuguese down, +when I begged them only to use the backs of their sabres, which they +did sharply, and brought him into the village. + +I have dined again with Lord Wellington, and at Castello Bom with Dr. +Macgregor, whence I walked home with Colonel Colin Campbell at ten at +night with a lantern, over rocks and streams. I have also seen Lord +Wellington again, twice, about charges; but I understand I am not to +go over to some Courts-martial which he has just fixed to take place +in ten days, at two divisions, about forty miles from hence, but to +stay here. He is shortly, as general report says, going to Cadiz +or somewhere. At Lord Wellington’s we had a curious conversation, +about himself, Canning and his speeches, and Vetus’s letters in the +_Times_.[1] He joined in and indeed led the conversation, as if talking +of persons and things he was not connected with, but seemed not +satisfied with the Ministry, though he did not favour the opposition. +He said he took in the _Courier_ to know what government meant to do, +&c., and as a decent paper to show General Castanos. + +It has not lately been very cold; indeed, we had four or five charming +days, but the rain has now begun again; but want of all books and +society is the worst. The little conversation here beyond the topics of +the day is of a review a year old, or a pamphlet. The dress here is a +cap made of velvet, cloth, and fur, with a peak over the eyes (that is +a foraging cap); the handsomest are all of fur, dark or grey fur, the +former the best, with a broad gold band and tassel on the top. With +this is worn a dress great coat, or plain, with military buttons, grey +pantaloons; this is the costume for dinners. Morning dress—overalls, +boots, and white or more generally fancy waistcoats; in winter blue +and black velvet, or cloth, with fancy buttons of gold, and narrow +stripes of gold as an edging. There are four suttlers here, who sell +everything, and we are, all things considered, well supplied. We have +one little Exeter-Change shop, but all very dear; pepper and mustard +dear, a small sauce bottle 7_s._, tea three dollars a pound, cheese +4_s._ a pound, porter 5_s._ a bottle, gin and brandy 7_s._ 6_d._, +port wine 6_s._ 6_d._, milk 1_s._ a quart, salt-butter 3_s._ a pound, +sugar 1_s._ 8_d._, pork (no other meat) 1_s._ 8_d._ a pound, oil 5_s._ +a quart. These are the prices here at _head-quarters_. Remember that +distinction; not the national prices. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, December 31st, 1812._—For the last month I +have really been too busy to write. During the last week, before Lord +Wellington went away, he kept me hard at work, and left directions +to endeavour to get rid of all the cases pending for Courts-martial. +About thirty-two cases were made over to me, some of nearly two years’ +standing. We have now a Court sitting at Lisbon, one in the second +division at Coria, one in the seventh at Govea, and another here which +I attend myself four miles off at Fuentes d’Onore. I have sent six to +Lisbon, five to the seventh division, five to the second, and intended +taking seven myself to Fuentes d’Onore; the rest have in some way been +arranged. Hitherto we have made little progress from the sickness, +which keeps back witnesses. I have only myself tried one, and hope to +finish to-morrow. One charge is of that of a mad Commissary, whose +trial was put off last week, on account of his being raving. He wrote +to the Adjutant-general a mad letter, amongst other things telling him +that he had ten thousand men, that he might drive all head-quarters to +“Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, where,” he added, “Lord Wellington and +you may sit at the head of the table.” I served him myself with his +notice of trial; he appeared very wild, and I have great doubts how he +will behave. + +I have had long instructions to write to the three other +Judge-Advocates and summonses for witnesses to send to every regiment +and to the Commandants about here, and that over and over again. As +fast as one prisoner or witness got well, another became sick, and +half the cases are now pending in this way. Then comes a long case to +abstract for Lord Wellington; then an opinion for the Adjutant-general +by return of post. For these three weeks I have been writing nearly +seven hours a day, circulating copies of the charges to prisoners, to +the Courts, and to the prosecutors, and much of my labour is thrown +away by the sickness of the prisoners and witnesses. I have nine here +in the Provost’s hands for trial, and five are in the hospital—one +just dead. There is one comfort, the reflection that such a press of +business is never likely to recur. The _Gazette_ and newspapers you +sent me afforded me considerable amusement and comfort. Since Lord +Wellington has been absent, Colonel Colin Campbell remains to do the +honours and invite at the great house. I spent Christmas-day there, and +have dined several times. Besides a good dinner and the best society, I +there hear the latest news and get honour. The party is now very small. + +After ten days of horrible damp, cold, rainy weather, we have now a +thoroughly good genuine English frost, with an east wind, quite like an +old friend in England; but the sun has some power, so that it is like +our frosts in February rather than Christmas. We see here very few of +the officers. Just before Lord Wellington went he was angry at all the +applications for leave of absence, observing, “A pretty army I have +here! They all want to go home: but no more shall go except the sick.” +As the sick are now fast recovering, I may mention what I did not like +to do a month ago, that the returns of the sick were then between +nineteen and twenty thousand! You would have no idea of this. I have +dined here with Major and Mrs. Scobell, the only lady here. I have also +dined with Lord Aylmer, the acting Adjutant-general here, who is very +civil. The Commissary, Mr. H——, keeps a good table, and often asks me. +Dr. H—— is our doctor now at head-quarters—a sensible man. Lord March +has lent me two volumes of Goldsmith’s works. + +Castanos’ army went back in an orderly manner. Our Commissary reports +well of them, and of the country, where, he says (that is, in the Tras +os Montes), there is an abundance of bread, poultry, turkeys, &c., +and of many things we have no notion of here. They have procured two +turkeys at head-quarters this Christmas, and have had mince-meat in +tins by the post from Lisbon. + +We send to the woods for firing, and bring it home on the mules, and +send out from four to six leagues, that is, from sixteen to twenty-four +miles, for hay or straw. Ten pounds of straw a-day is the allowance for +the animals, but I fear it will not hold out, as the villages are now +nearly all emptied. We shall soon have to get little bundles of dry +grass, which are already brought to our splendid market for sale. The +Lamego wine is the only wine which I can drink with comfort,—it is a +sort of port. The Sierra di Francia is the next best,—a much lighter +wine, from the Sierras towards Madrid, from hence between thirty and +forty miles off. + +Lord Wellington, whom I saw every day for the last three or four days +before he went, I like much in business affairs. He is very ready, and +decisive, and civil, though some complain a little of him at times, +and are much afraid of him. Going up with my charges and papers for +instructions, I feel something like a boy going to school. I expect to +have a long report to make on his return. + +I hear a good account of Ballasteros’s army: that it is better +equipped than that of Castanos’. I wish it had done more. The French +are supposed still to have about a hundred and eighty thousand men +in the Peninsula. I do not believe their force in this neighbourhood +has increased or diminished. Some have receded to Vittoria, but have +been traced by the spies (of whom we have one constantly at Burgos) no +further, nor have many supplies of men to any amount been discovered, I +believe. We have some difficulty in getting fed; bread in the markets +is about 9_d._ a pound; barley for the horses very scarce: we often go +without for two days. A commissary-agent is now in Salamanca buying +bread. The villages between Rodrigo and Salamanca, described in my +journey, are, it is said, quite destroyed. We did much, the French the +rest. Pork is the only thing abundant, about 1_s._ 6_d._ per pound, +very rich but too fat, and the fat not firm; the flesh sweeter and +richer than that of our pork, from the acorns on which the swine feed, +and which are like chestnuts. + +I was a little nervous at the first Court-martial, but it went off +pretty well, and I got the whole over and brought away eight sides of +notes in three hours. To-morrow I take my fair copy to be signed, &c. +In my way to this Court-martial, Henry and I were puzzled by a river +which seemed to be over our necks,—a deep hole off a rock. At last I +made out a way zigzag, only about three feet deep; there was no one +near or on either side; I should have had a swim, I am told, as people +are sometimes drowned there. A ducking the first time of my appearance +in public would have been awkward. + +Two cases have just been brought in to me; they are for shooting +natives, one an alcalde. Adieu. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It was generally supposed that these celebrated letters, often +compared to those of Junius, were written by Lord Wellesley. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Arrival of the Gazette—More Courts-martial—The Mad + Commissary—Intentions of Lord Wellington—Social + Amusements—Sporting—Wellington’s Fox-hounds—His Stud—A Dinner at the + Commander-in-Chief’s—Number of Courts-martial—Anecdotes of Wellington. + + + Head-quarters, Frenada, Jan. 3, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +In hopes of giving you letters every week, I must seize every odd +half-hour to write in, and you must not be nice as to my writing, &c., +as my hand is quite tired of the regular official style, and my fingers +cold, for we still have fine, clear, frosty weather; but in the middle +of the day it is very pleasant. + +Pray thank John very much for his parcel of newspapers, and especially +for that of the 17th December, with the _Gazette_, &c., and the +glorious news. I was the only person here with a paper of the 17th. +Head-quarters had only that of the evening of the 16th with the +_Gazette_; and though this was, in fact, much the same, this was an +event—and I sent mine up to Colonel Campbell, by his desire, for his +dinner-party at head-quarters. It has been in constant request ever +since. + +All the Guerilla party reports here state, that a body of French +cavalry has left Spain for France, for some purpose. They say that from +three to four thousand men are gone; this agrees with your story; but +our Portuguese Quarter-Master, from his spies, reports otherwise. The +forces in this neighbourhood are now but small; about four hundred +men in Salamanca, which, by-the-by, has been much plundered; and the +English dollars, which they extorted from the hungry troops by their +high prices, pretty well squeezed out of them. At Segovia there are +only one thousand men, more at Valladolid, and a force at Madrid, and +thus dispersed about; but as to their being starved, their country is +much better, I believe, than ours; and as I have already told you, our +Commissary goes to Salamanca for bread. The light division near this +place, and troop of Horse Artillery, have had scarcely any corn for +their horses for the three last weeks, and the cavalry will not be fit +to act much before April and May. + +Yesterday a great event occurred here—the arrival of a Guerilla chief, +who was formerly a sort of smuggler or robber. This man, whose name, +I believe, is Sumeil, attacked a French party, carrying despatches +from King Joseph to France, at a village near Valladolid, at twelve +o’clock at night. He came in upon the French by surprise, and the plan +succeeded. The despatches were seized, some of them on the person of +the courier, but the most material in a secret place in the pummel of a +saddle. A little spring in the buckle of the brass ornament discovered +a keyhole, and in the saddle was the pocket to conceal the papers. +They are principally in cipher, but some have been made out, and are, +I understand, important. I have heard the contents of only one letter +from King Joseph to the family in France, full of complaints of want of +money and much distress; he states that he cannot get a dollar. From +eighty to a hundred prisoners were taken by the party. These prisoners +were French, and two English officers were released. The French were +much irritated, and sent eleven squadrons of cavalry after the Guerilla +chief, but he got off with most of his prisoners, booty, despatches, +and party. Only one or two of the officers, and a few of the Guerilla +privates, have yet arrived here, but more, with the prisoners, are +expected shortly. Sumeil expects to be made a General for this. He was +at first very shy of suffering the aide-de-camp and Colonel Campbell +to look at his despatches, desiring to show them to Lord Wellington +in person; nor could he consent to give up the most important, until +General O’Lalor, who was at Ciudad Rodrigo, was sent for, and explained +matters to him. I was to have met them at head-quarters at dinner the +day of their arrival, but they were busily engaged at cards when sent +for; and said they were tired, and declined going out to dinner. I was +very sorry for this, as it would have been curious to see their manners +at a formal dinner. + +I have sent out my mules and Portuguese to forage. They now are obliged +to go so far for it that they cannot get home by night, and soon, I +fear, must stay out some days. I must get another horse; Colonel C—— +has a handsome Spanish horse to sell, strong, showy, and, considering +the price of horses here, not very dear, two hundred and fifty dollars; +it is a sort of a Rubens, sleek, black, manège horse, with a fine, +thick, curved, sleek, black neck. + +I take my morning walk daily, from eight till nine, to secure some +exercise, whilst Henry lights my fire and gets breakfast ready. Instead +of the gravel walk at Sheen or in Lincoln’s Inn gardens, it is a stroll +over the rocks, down towards the Coa river, which is almost two miles +from hence, and in parts is wild and picturesque; large masses of +rock, rounded by the weather, stunted trees, stone-wall enclosures, a +succession of ravines, and ruined fortified villages on the hills at a +distance; for Castello Bom, Castello Mendas, Castello Rodrigues, and +Almeyda, which, as well as Guarda, are in sight from the rocky hill, +half a mile from hence. Behind the whole, the sierras of Portugal and +Spain, now generally covered with snow. By these means, and with a +hasty ride or walk now and then in the middle of the day, my health +is certainly better. The work, except on account of health, I have no +sort of objection to: I only lament the delay in the proceedings, on +account of the sickness of the prisoners and witnesses. However, I may +have been of some use in law lecturing, and helping the other Deputy +Judge-Advocates; and no trouble has been spared by me in facilitating +matters. + +If the news from Russia be good to the extent supposed, it is thought +here that the French will withdraw from hence this spring, at least +behind the Ebro. This, however, I much doubt; though it seems agreed +that, at any rate, we are not in a state to follow, without very great +disadvantage, and almost destruction to our cavalry. + +_January the 4th._—There are strong reports, as I have said, that the +French are retiring; but General O’Lalor, whom I have just seen, tells +me his accounts are otherwise, and that no French have left, or are +leaving Spain; on the contrary, he assured me that the intercepted +letters from Soult state that the contest will, in the next campaign, +be between the Douro and the Tagus. D’Aranda de Duero is therefore +to be fortified, and made a good depôt, until the Emperor can send +reinforcements enough to enable them to enter Portugal. The French +head-quarters are at Madrid, nor does it appear that there is any +intention at present to give it up, though the Spaniards thought +otherwise from some letters of Soult, who ordered some of his men, +detachments of his corps, and letters, to be sent to him from Valencia, +but this seems to be only to complete his own corps. General O’Lalor +told me that a muleteer of Paget’s had just arrived from Bayonne, +with a pass, which he showed me, for him to return to Portugal as Sir +Edward Paget’s muleteer. This man says the French on the frontiers were +told that our retreat was a rout, our loss immense, and that sixteen +thousand prisoners had been taken, who were said to be on the road; he +added that many were fools enough to go several leagues to see them, +and found they were about two thousand five hundred; they also reported +that the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Paget, was taken.[2] + +We are trying to send French gazettes of the Russian business to the +French army, to give some of them a better notion of affairs in that +quarter, as it seems the armies hear little or nothing from France, and +at long intervals. + +_January the 6th._—I am just setting out for Fuentes to try my mad +Commissary, and from the fear of not having time before post on my +return, I must now close my letter. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, January 16th, 1813._—I was so much occupied +last week that I could not find time to give you one of my usual +scrawls before the post-day. The business of the mad Commissary’s was +finished in two long days last week, but I have had a long job in +copying it fair, as he put in a half-mad defence of five sheets in +folio. He is now off for Lisbon. I have bought Colonel C——’s horse for +two hundred and fifty dollars. + +Our last accounts from Lord Wellington are Cadiz, the 8th. He was +going to Lisbon on the 9th or 10th. He has taken the command of the +Spaniards; and is expected here on the 23rd. Lord Fitzroy Somerset +seems much pleased with Cadiz; I do not know whether Lord Wellington +is. The Prince of Orange is not yet returned from Oporto. He has been +very much fêted and entertained; there is dancing every night, and he +is much pleased. Lord March is just returned from thence; Colonel G—— +from Seville; so we all begin to reassemble here. I have just been +making out on a large sheet the states of the Courts-martial for Lord +Wellington. They are thirty-one in number, which are now going on, just +finished, or which are to proceed when witnesses can be collected. At +present my place is no sinecure. + +The French, they say, have been for some time in motion here, but I +believe only to forage, &c.; their last movements are southward of +Madrid and towards Seville again, but this is thought to be either a +feint or to be for the sake of supplies. + +Doctor M’Gregor has been a tour to visit the sick; of whom I am sorry +to say many have died; more than I was aware of. He has been as far as +Oporto. + +I have gone on very smoothly with my Courts-martial. General V—— is the +President, and has been very civil. They are all light infantry, and +have been very attentive, orderly, and obedient. + +_January 17th._—The house which I now occupy belongs to the Portuguese +lad who is in my service, and who is about eighteen. It is a droll +circumstance to live in the house of your own servant, who receives six +dollars a month, and is a tolerable groom. These reverses are here very +frequent in the fortunes of this class of people. He owns three houses +here, such as they are—stone barns; and his family had sheep, goats, +and land. + +There is plenty of game about, and we now get woodcocks frequently, +shot by the officers, very good hares, better, I think, than in +England, a few good snipes and plovers, and a very few partridges; the +latter are very wild. We have had, off and on, frost for this month and +more, and some very fine days, others like a London November fog, a +little snow, and now and then a day’s rain; but in eight hours again, +from a sudden change of wind, all dry and frost. The sun, when out, +makes the mid-day very pleasant; and though the winds are very cold, +and produce very hard ground and thick ice for the time in a very short +period, yet the ice does not continue, as in England, and accumulate. +It never gets much thicker than it is in one night with a cold wind, +and in the daytime the ground is soft; the cold, therefore, though for +a time very sharp, certainly cannot be near so intense in reality as in +England. We go to bed sometimes with the ground entirely wet at eleven +o’clock, and at six in the morning find there has been a very hard +frost, which is then going off again. + +The population here is very considerably thinned, and there is much +less land in cultivation than formerly; the people remaining have +generally lost their flocks and their animals for agriculture. Few +have now means of ploughing and manuring. The vineyards are generally +in a very neglected state also; not manured or in any way attended to, +and eaten close down by our hungry animals. Yet the labour required is +so moderate, and the light soil seems so productive, that the country +might very soon recover itself; but we take the oxen over the whole +country, buy up, and eat up everything. Out of our reach, in the Tras +os Montes, are plenty of poultry, sheep, turkeys, &c. The Portuguese, +naturally lazy, never repair the damages of war, never rebuild, clean +out, or set to work to bring things round. They despair, and only just +work to supply our market with onions, 4_d._ each; eggs, 3_d._ each; +potatoes alone rather cheap at 2_d._ the pound; pork, 1_s._ 6_d._ the +pound, and good. The Spaniards, on the contrary, begin, very soon +after the armies go, to restore; they put on their tiles, rebuild +their walls, and especially whitewash the inside of their houses; +they collect their cooking-vessels, and get to work on their farms. +The peasantry recover themselves much more and much faster than the +Portuguese, but yet they have not in any one place suffered so much and +so often as this part of Portugal has; and in this town they are pretty +much as lazy as the other. + +_The 20th._—A very interesting case of a poor deserter whom we tried +yesterday at Fuentes, I must copy out fair to carry over to the general +president for his signature to-morrow. The deserter, poor fellow! +deserted for love to the Spaniards, with a Spanish girl from the +neighbourhood of Madrid whom he had brought away with him. She had been +most honest and faithful in very trying scenes during the retreat. On +being ordered to send her off by his Captain, he appeared to have had +no intention of going over to the French. I was not aware of the merit +of his story till I copied the whole out fairly. It was translated in +broken bits, by a not very skilful interpreter. Three deserters came in +here yesterday; they are Flemings. They report that part of the French +cavalry are gone to France, and that all the cars round Salamanca have +been put in requisition to carry off the sick from the hospital there. +But this does not prove much, as it would at any rate be an unsafe +place, and out of their line of defence next campaign. They state that +the sick have been very numerous, and Salamanca well plundered. + +I have been one morning over to Almeyda to breakfast with the governor +and see the town. At breakfast I met a sawny Spanish signora, with a +crying, poor-looking child: she breakfasted on beefsteaks, onions, +partridges, and wine, and did nothing all day. Almeyda is twelve miles +off. I rode thither on my new horse. He is just such a horse as you +would admire, prancing, showy, sleek, like a Flemish picture of a +horse, rather clumsy and heavy; but he went well and quietly. Almeyda +is in ruins; a mere heap of rubbish! The works are being repaired, and +much is already done; but there is yet a great deal to do, and the +workmen, though well watched, seem very lazy. There are very good shops +among the ruins for the materials of all articles of wearing apparel; +these from Oporto, and not dear; cloth and baize of all sorts, linen, +stockings, but not a cup and saucer to be had, or a drinking-glass. +Most of the new work at Almeyda is at present only earth—slanting so +that you might run up in a storm, I think; but the masonry is going on, +and it would cost some men to storm it, if we defend it. At present +there is only a Portuguese garrison. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, January 23rd, 1813._—I do not quite feel as +I did in England, nor can I make out that others do either. There +is a languor and laziness which seem in some degree catching from +the natives, as they have it in such perfection. We have had almost +constant frost or cold, fog and sleet, but in general clear cold days +ever since Christmas. It seems that we are likely to have some snow, +which hitherto we have only on the sierras and hills (where it lies +almost constantly), except a very few storms of snow which melted as +it fell; and then rain in February; then some warm days in March and +in April, with very cold mornings and nights, and some very cold days +again, even so late as in May at times. By-the-by, our English post +from all the different parts of the army, to each other, and to Lisbon, +is now in general in very good order, which saves me much trouble in +my extensive correspondence relative to the Courts-martial. I have +now also got through the great worry of the number of cases which +came upon me at once, and, though fully employed, business comes more +regularly. I have persevered in being civil and useful as far as I +could to every one, never objecting to anything, answering all queries, +and taking everything upon myself. I endeavour to model the whole as +it was arranged in England, before the Adjutant-general’s offices did +two-thirds of the business of Judge-Advocate. As I have no clerk, +and am not allowed a soldier, this at times presses me hard, but the +greatest stress is now over, though new cases come in regularly. I +yesterday sent in one against a Lieutenant-colonel, with six charges +and thirty-seven witnesses. I have another Commissary just come in +here as a prisoner, for purposely burning down a house, a mischievous +freak, when drunk. + +I now dine out about three or four times in the week, generally once or +twice at head-quarters—and occasionally with Major and Mrs. Scobell, +who give very pleasant little dinners, and tender meat, and a loo +party afterwards. He is a clever man, in the Quarter-Master-general’s +department, and has the command of the corps of guides, and the +arrangement of the English post through the country. + +The report current now is, that next campaign is to be in camp, and not +in towns and villages, as Lord Wellington wants to keep the army more +together than he can do in quarters; and unless he goes into camp, the +other Generals also leave their divisions and come into the towns. At +any rate, it will not be as it was last year, when the men went into +camp in February and March, as, from general rumour, the army will not +be in a state to move much before the end of April; nearly one-third +are still sick, and this state of things mends now but slowly; this I +observe from the general daily state of the whole army made for Lord +Wellington, which is kept most perfectly. The horses will not be ready +till they have had a month’s green food in March and April; straw, bad +hay, and a little Indian corn do not suit them for very active service. + +I want a neat lantern sent out, to go out after dark in these horrible +villages, where if you go only a hundred yards in the dark you step +from a rock half up your legs in mud. + +There is a shocking set of servants at head-quarters; idle, drunken +English servants and soldiers, almost all bad, and the Portuguese are +every day running off with something or other from their masters and +others. There has been no chaplain here for these last eight or nine +months, or any notice taken in any manner of Sunday! It used to be, +I hear, a very regular and imposing thing to attend divine service +performed out of doors with hats off, but the people must now think +we have no religion at all, as almost every public business goes on +nearly the same as on ordinary days. The English soldiers, however, +keep it as a holiday, though the Portuguese will many of them work, +particularly after three o’clock. We have had a glee or two with the +aides-de-camp of the Prince of Orange and some others. There is also +a Spanish Commissary who sings and plays the guitar very well. I wish +my violoncello were more portable, and, with a flute or two, we should +have a little music now and then here, in the evenings. They have asked +me to send for a collection of glees. + +People here are all very sore about the Americans and our taken +frigates. I think we deserve it a little. Our contempt for our old +descendants and half brothers has always rather disgusted me, and with +some English is carried so far as not to be bearable. This reverse may +set matters right. The Americans have faults enough; we should allow +them their merits. Our sailors all thought the Americans would not dare +to look them in the face. I think the army rather rejoice, and laugh +aside at all this falling on the navy, as they bullied so much before. +I will not write to you of northern or English news, for it would be +absurd; you would, if I did, receive comments and observations on +what was nearly forgotten, or entirely altered, by the time my letter +reached you. I keep this paper under my business heap, and take it out +and scribble when anything occurs. Lord Wellington is to arrive to-day; +and I must get up my lesson for to-morrow, so adieu! + +_Tuesday._—Lord Wellington arrived last night at six o’clock. I saw him +with the rest who happened to be in the market-place when he came. He +was looking well. + +There is a great quantity of game around us, and the sportsmen supply +their tables. It is not mere sport here, but more like the case of +Robinson Crusoe, a matter of necessity. Nearly all our luxuries are +thus obtained. Commissary H——, two days since, went across the Coa +for about five hours, and brought home five hares, four couple of +cocks, three snipes, one partridge, and a rabbit. All these animals +are remarkably good here, except the partridges, which are nothing +in comparison to ours, and I think not so good as the French. Lord +Wellington, except presents now and then, buys up all we can get—gives +8_s._ for a hare, and so on. Turkeys are only to be had thirty miles +off: the price, which has been 25_s._, is now 14_s._ Powder and shot +are very scarce, only a little to be had now and then at Almeyda. +This you will think at the head-quarters of sixty thousand men rather +strange, but the same stuff which kills men will not bring down birds. +We have three odd sorts of packs of hounds here, and the men hunt +desperately: firstly, Lord Wellington’s, or, as he is called here, the +Peer’s; these are fox-hounds, about sixteen couple; they have only +killed one fox this year, and that was what is called mobbed. These +hounds, for want of a huntsman, straggle about and run very ill, and +the foxes run off to their holes in the rocks on the Coa. Captain +W—— goes out, stops the holes over-night, halloos, and rides away +violently. The ground is a light gravel and rock all over the country. +From a hard rock sometimes the horse gets up to his belly in wet +gravelly sand; thus we have many horses lamed, and some bad falls. The +next set of hounds are numerous,—greyhounds. The Commissary-general, +Sir R. Kennedy, is a great man in this way, and several others. And +thirdly, the Capitan Mor here, that is the principal man of the place, +has an old poacher in his establishment, with a dozen terriers, +mongrels, and ferrets, and he goes out with the officers to get +rabbits. Lord Wellington has a good stud of about eight hunters; he +rides hard, and only wants a good gallop, but I understand knows +nothing of the sport, though very fond of it in his own way. There will +soon, I hear, be good trout-fishing in the Coa and in the streams in +the ravines near it. + +_Wednesday, January 27th._—It has happened just as I expected; I have +no time to add more, for I have three new cases to draw charges in, +and most troublesome ones too: one of four fellows, old commissariat +clerks I suppose turned off, who have been about the country living +by their wits, extorting provisions, forage, &c., from the Spaniards, +by frauds, false passports, &c., under pretence of acting for the +English and Portuguese Commissariat. There are thirty-seven enclosures +sent to me, papers taken upon them, all in Spanish, in general badly +written, and no translation. The case, it is to be feared, will never +be proved. I have got General O’Lalor to help me in this case. In +short, my hands are full again; and my report of the old stories +not made out. We occupy from Coria, Guinaldo, Vizeu, Covilhaon, +and even almost to Coimbra; hospitals at Celerico, Vizu, Coimbra a +few, Abrantes, and Santarem. I fear my Court-martial will be moved +farther off. Some additional attached Spaniards are to have their +head-quarters at Fuentes d’Onore to be about his Excellency, now that +he takes the command of the whole generals, &c., and General Vandeleur +and the famous Caçadores are to move from thence in consequence; the +arrangements, however, are not yet completed. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, February 2nd, 1813._—Lord Wellington is +returned in high spirits and great good-humour with every one; and, in +spite of the number of deaths here, which are very formidable (between +four and five hundred every week for the last six), declares that he +shall take the field this year with nearly forty thousand British, +and, on the whole, with a hundred and fifty thousand of one sort or +other. + +General Vandeleur is to go to Fuente Guinaldo, and the Courts-martial +will in future be there. It is about twenty-four miles off. I must +sleep out always, and shall thus lose one or two days’ post; this will +be inconvenient to me, and just now to the service, but it cannot +be avoided. The General is very good-humoured, and we are very good +friends; he has offered me a quarter, and a dinner, if I will bring my +bed. At present our weather is colder than ever, but generally clear +frost; the wind is excessively sharp. The ice yesterday on the road +would bear my horse; and the thermometer, at seven in the evening, was +four degrees below the freezing point; at night sometimes it is much +colder. + +Two packets have just arrived; the last brought Lord Wellington the +last good news from Wilna. I have dined once at head-quarters since +Lord Wellington’s return, with Sumeil the Guerilla chief, looking +like a dirty German private dragoon, in a smart new cavalry jacket, +on one side of me, and Dr. Curtis, the Catholic head of the Salamanca +college (who has been sent off from Salamanca very lately), opposite +to me. The Spanish General O’Lalor treated Sumeil like a child, told +him what to do and eat; but he had, I conclude, dined long before, for +he ate little or nothing. Dr. Curtis seemed to be a clever, sensible, +gentleman-like priest. He said the French knew immediately of Lord +Wellington’s absence, but were not clear about it, and very anxious in +their inquiries to ascertain the fact. General Hill’s corps, who did +not share in the early siege of Rodrigo last year in January, nor the +wet bad work at Badajoz, are by far the most healthy part of the army, +and, next to them, the light division here. The fifth and seventh, +near Lamego, are the worst, and the Guards (the new comers) very +bad. General Hill has only about fourteen hundred in the hospital, +and about seven thousand fit for service. I suppose we shall have an +active campaign next year, if the whole be not put an end to by peace, +which is not improbable, if the Allies are not too unreasonable in +consequence of their successes. If Austria will join in dictating the +terms with Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain, they should be very +good for Europe; but if the devil Bonaparte be driven hard, he will +rouse himself, appeal to the vanity of the French, and recoil upon +us stronger than ever. The Gil Blas set of swindlers who went about +Spain with false papers and passes, raising the wind under pretence of +getting supplies for the British and Portuguese commissariat service +(one was a German, two Spaniards, and the fourth a Portuguese), I much +fear it will not be easy to convict. + +_February the 3rd._—You must excuse my writing, for it is done at all +odd moments, as a relaxation from all my formal letters of business, +which require a good deal of method and order in a small compass not to +get into scrapes, such as sending witnesses to wrong places, &c. As I +have Courts sitting here at Fuente Guinaldo in the light division; at +Lamego, in the fifth; at Maimento, in the seventh; at Alter de Chaon; +at Coria, in the second division; at Maimento de Biera, in the third; +and at Lisbon; letters coming at all hours of the day about each, a +witness wanted here, a difficulty arising there, and so on; I can only +get on by keeping a book, in which I instantly put down the exact state +of everything, and keep copies of all my letters till the business is +over; and I make it a rule, if possible, to answer every letter by +return of post, as the only way not to get in arrear. I am very glad +that I persuaded my Court at Fuentes d’Onore to have patience, and let +me take down all the long love story I told you of, of the deserter +Prang Neigabauer. It was quite a pretty story. Lord Wellington +pardoned him, from the good character of his regiment, and that which +the Colonel gave him. The Prince of Orange is returned, and we are all +here again assembled in this magnificent town! + +_5 o’clock._—I have been sent for twice to-day by Lord Wellington, +besides twice last night, and have so much on my hands about Spaniards, +Portuguese, and English, that I cannot add more. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, February 7th, 1813._—There never were known +so many Courts-martial in this army as at the present moment, and as I +have the whole direction of them all, I really scarcely know where to +turn, and my fingers are quite fatigued, as well as my brains, with the +arrangements and difficulties as to witnesses, &c. I sent out seventeen +letters yesterday, and to-day I have one case of thirteen prisoners +who have been committing every sort of outrage on their march here. +Lord Wellington is now much more easy with me, and seems to trust to me +more. Yesterday I was pleased when he said, “If your friends knew what +was going on here, they would think you had no sinecure. And how do you +suppose I was plagued when I had to do it nearly all myself?” + +He seemed to feel relieved, and of course I could not but feel +gratified. I can assure you, however, that we have none of us much idle +time. Dr. M’Gregor has seven hundred medical men to look after. The +Quarter-Master-general, all the arrangement of the troops, clothing, +&c. The Adjutant-general, daily returns of the whole, constantly +checked by an eye which finds out even a wrong casting-up of numbers in +the totals. Lord Wellington reads and looks into everything. He hunts +almost every other day, and then makes up for it by great diligence and +instant decision on the intermediate days. He works until about four +o’clock, and then, for an hour or two, parades with any one whom he +wants to talk to, up and down the little square of Frenada (amidst all +the chattering Portuguese) in his grey great coat. + +General Alava, whom I have seen lately much more about Spanish +business, is a very gentleman-like, and appears to me to be a clever +man. + +We have had constant frost hitherto; but I fear the rain is going now +to begin. Some of the days lately have been delightful, like the frosty +days in England at times at the end of February, with a fine clear warm +sun in the daytime. + +I have just heard of five German deserters, brought in to the Provost +here; and shall, I suppose, have to try them. They were taken on the +other side of Rodrigo by the Spaniards; they are just come out to us +from England. Don Julian’s cavalry are very useful in this way, and +very active. The Cortes want to encourage farming in the country, and +will give land to any wounded soldiers of the allied armies, English as +well as natives, on condition of building and living on the spot. + +General Wimpfen, one of the Chief’s new Spanish staff, is arrived, and +will be stationed with us. + +At Ciudad Rodrigo they are going to set up a Spanish newspaper, which +is to come out once in a week: I mean to take it in. My new black +horse goes on hitherto very well; I like him much; but use him little. +Whenever I can, I get a gallop and a trot for an hour on the common +just close by, and return home to write again. + +Excuse this stupid letter. I am very tired and must to bed. + +On Thursday, the 11th, I go to Fuente Guinaldo, and shall probably +sleep there, at General Vandeleur’s. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Meaning Lieut.-General Sir Edward Paget, second in command, who was +taken prisoner in the retreat. Lord Paget, afterwards Earl of Uxbridge, +now Marquis of Anglesea, was not in the Peninsula at this time. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + More Courts-martial—Bal Masqué—Anecdotes of Wellington—Songs in + his praise—Spanish Banditti—Excesses of the Army—Carnival—More + Anecdotes of the Duke—The Staff—Grand Entertainment at + Head-quarters—Wellington’s opinion on Affairs at Home—Murder of an + Officer—General Craufurd. + + + Frenada, February 12, 1813. + 8 o’clock, Friday night. + + MY DEAR M——, + +On my return from Fuente Guinaldo I found instructions for two new +Courts-martial in Lord Wellington’s rough pencil notes,—a broad scroll +in pencil in one corner, “Refer all this to the Judge Advocate,” +meaning me to draw charges, &c. I must now tell you of my expedition +to Fuente Guinaldo. We were to have tried the Commissary for burning +a house down, but by my advice he offered to pay all the damage done +to General Alava, the Spanish agent here, and in consequence to be +forgiven if it was paid in time. This was the best for the Spaniards, +the owners, and a tolerably sharp punishment for a man whose only +lawful pay is 7_s._ 6_d._ a-day, the damage being near fifteen hundred +dollars. The night before the trial he had not raised the money. I +went to Lord Wellington to know what I should do, as the witnesses +were all ready. He told me to give him till Monday next, and have all +the witnesses rationed and kept till that time at Guinaldo. Suspecting +that this would be my instruction, I had got another case ready for the +Court there. + +About seven o’clock, after a crust of bread and a glass of rum and +milk for breakfast, off we went, Henry and I, for Fuente Guinaldo, and +at the same time I sent one of my Portuguese men with my mattress and +blankets, coverings, corn and hay for my horses, to meet us there, +Henry carrying my papers, Mutiny Act, testaments, and all writing +implements, &c., for my Court-martial. The morning threatened much, +as the frost is just broken up; but we got there dry and in time, and +I found my way without any blunder, which, as the road was entirely +across open downs, or through woods without inhabitants, and full of +cross tracks, was some merit; I had, however, applied to Captain Wood, +the hunter, who knows all the country well, for instructions. + +We arrived at Guinaldo in two hours, finished a case and tried a man +for shooting a Portuguese, acquitted him of murder, but found him +guilty of very disorderly conduct, and sentenced him to receive eight +hundred lashes. I then walked round the town, looked into the church, +and came back; wrote the whole out fair on six sides of folio paper; +dined with the president at six, had a hospitable reception; and in +the evening went to a sort of frolicsome masked ball, given extra on +account of the Courts-martial. As the General went, I accompanied him. +There were all the _equivoque belles_ of Guinaldo, and all the light +infantry officers, many in disguise and masquerade; some as females, +and one as a Spanish farmer, the regular dress. We were all struck with +the becoming appearance and picturesque style of the costume. One or +two of the ladies were dressed as officers, and so on. The ball went +on very well for some time, but the two ladies who were the leading +beauties of the evening quarrelled, and the harmony was disturbed. At +ten I went home, and left the party half tipsy and rather riotous, so +that it was time for Generals and Judges to retire. The Court-room was +my quarter. This morning before breakfast I read over my fair copy +of the evidence, &c., with the General. He signed it, gave me some +breakfast, and I set off home, on a very threatening day which was as +good as it promised; my cloak, however, kept me nearly dry. + +Fuente Guinaldo is nearer the Sierra de Gutta, and several degrees +colder than we are here at Frenada, though we are many, many degrees +colder than Lisbon. The Spanish staff are now all arrived, but scarcely +a Spaniard amongst them—all foreigners. General Wimpfen, a Swiss; +General O’Donoghue, Irish; and so of others. They all dined two days +ago at Lord Wellington’s. + +Tell John, in answer to his inquiry, that with regard to the campaign +and the siege of Burgos, it is a question much argued and discussed. +Some say we should never have lost time by going to Madrid, and that +was the mistake; some that if we had taken Burgos, as we should +have done but for the very bad weather, all would have gone right. +General O’Lalor, however, told me he thought that would have made no +difference, but that if the French chose to give up the South, and +unite against us ninety thousand strong, we must have been off just the +same even though Burgos had been taken. + +My quarter at Fuente Guinaldo, having no window, is rather cool, but +being in Spain, is clean. The church is a fine building, and the town +not quite broken up; I suppose we shall move there next. To-night is a +play-night in the gay light division at Galegos, and Lord Wellington +was to have gone there, but the perpetual rain will probably prevent +him. He meant to ride there, a distance of ten miles, at night. Had it +been very fine I might have been almost tempted to take my mattress +round that way, and go once to the theatre, which all say is very +tolerable in regard to acting, scenery, &c., the whole carried on +by the light division in a chapel at Galegos. I was not a little +surprised to see common country dances very tolerably performed last +night at Guinaldo, and even Sir Roger de Coverley. + +Two or three days ago I was somewhat puzzled, when, upon my pointing +out the sentence of a Court-martial as illegal, Lord Wellington said, +“Well, do write a letter for me to the president, and I will sign it, +and it shall be sent back for revision.” I did not know his style, but +my letter was fortunately approved of. I had yesterday a visit from +Colonel ——, of the Engineers, begging for a favourable report upon the +case of a complaint against a Captain of artillery; I suppose people +think I have some weight in Lord Wellington’s decisions, but that is +by no means the case. He thinks and acts quite for himself; _with_ me, +if he thinks I am right, but not otherwise. I have not, however, found +what Captain —— told me I should find, that Lord Wellington immediately +determines against anything that is suggested to him. On the contrary, +I think he is reasonable enough, only often a little hasty in ordering +trials, when an acquittal must be the consequence. This, in my opinion, +does harm, as I would have the law punish almost always when it is put +in force. + +_Wednesday, 17th._—I have heard no news at all: still strong reports +that the French cavalry are partly gone from hence to France; but +I cannot ascertain that they are actually removed beyond Vittoria, +and that may be only for forage, as our cavalry are wide apart and +dispersed. The first division, under General Bock, is at and below +Coimbra, near the sea, where I have just fixed a Court-martial to try +a set of men of the 9th and 87th for most outrageous conduct on the +march to join the army. Lord Wellington has had the whole complaints +against this party along the road written out, to send home, with an +official copy of his letter, as he finds that an account of the matter +has travelled home, and is quoted as a specimen of the conduct of our +army on the march. The first division of cavalry is, on the other hand, +at Alter de Chaon, towards Castello Branco, and is all much dispersed; +General Hill, with the second division, Coria; sixth division, Cea; +fifth, Lamego; third, Maimento de Beira; seventh, Maimento; light, +Fuente Guinaldo. These are the head-quarters of the troops. Marshal +Beresford is better, and his wound nearly healed; he talks of soon +joining; his head-quarters will be Villa Formosa. I now see Lord +Wellington almost daily on business; he one day fell into a passion +about the Courts-martial for not doing their duty, by acquitting and +recommending to mercy, &c., and also about officers commanding parties +not being attentive. He has always been civil to me, though at times +quick and hasty in business. I nearly got into a scrape by saying a +good word for Captain ——, merely from his good character, as I did not +personally know him. However, Lord Wellington so far acquiesced, that +he said I need not draw the charge as yet; but he should send him word +that if the village in question were not satisfied for their forage and +bullocks in a week, he should either have him tried or sent home. + +I have just got a letter of reprimand to send out, according to a +written memorandum from Lord Wellington; a little slap at a deputy of +mine, and greater at the Court-martial, with directions how they should +act. Adieu. + +_Monday Evening, Head-Quarters, Frenada, February 22nd, 1813._—On +getting up in the morning yesterday, I said to myself for the first +time these two months, “Well, I do think I have no business to-day, and +will write to M——.” In two hours’ time, however, before I had finished +my breakfast, and read one of Vetus’s letters, in came three new cases, +and old General O’Lalor to tell me he had sent me a case to try at +Guinaldo—a man charged with shooting a Spanish girl through the door, +because she would not give him some chestnuts! The wanton outrages of +our people are quite extraordinary. There are four poor fellows to be +hung this week in the second division; one for desertion, and three +for a burglary near Coria about a fortnight since. For the sake of +immediate example I hastened the case, by giving full instructions to +the Deputy Judge-Advocate there. The men were tried immediately, and +three are to be hung to-morrow. The Commissary charged with burning the +house was at last let off for a large sum of money. I was very glad +when it was settled, for I had more trouble about it than if he had +been tried and hung ten times over. An overwhelming heap of Spanish +proceedings has just reached me about the man for shooting the poor +girl; and yet I have very little doubt, when the Court meets, I shall +have much difficulty in proving that the man shot her, and that she is +dead. I go over for that purpose the day after to-morrow. + +During the last two or three days the weather has been delightful—quite +a mild south-west breeze, with a clear sun; but this was, I heard, +too unusual to last. I like “Vetus” much, and agree with him in most +things; but his style is not by a good deal to be compared with Junius. +In parts there are considerable blunders, and often confusion and want +of clearness; but there are some curious stolen cuts, if facts. I have +just heard from General O’Lalor that we have been attacked at Bejar +by a party of French, and have beaten them back. It was the second +division, General Hill’s corps, who were concerned, and I believe +the 50th regiment principally. I am told no great loss, but know no +particulars. You will hear more of it from the papers than I can tell +you. It is still said that we are to encamp and bivouac this next +campaign. We are now consuming our last stock of hay—two great stacks, +which have been saved by Lord Wellington’s orders at Almeyda. After +that we must buy reaping-hooks, and try to cut grass before the green +corn forage comes in; and though I can see a plain difference already +in the colour of the hills, and the young green corn and spring grass +are here and there making a show, there is very little to be got to eat +yet in that way. + +We have still many sick, and the doctors do not take better care of +themselves than of their patients, for no less than five medical men +have died at Ciudad Rodrigo since we have been in quarters here. The +French have got all about the part of the country near General Hill, +near Nava, Morguende, Mentrida, &c., and are moving; but I do not +expect anything important for some time. Some say the French will begin +this campaign; and I rather hope they may. The 10th Dragoons have +arrived, I hear from every one, in the highest style and in excellent +order. This is very good news. + +We have three Spanish songs in honour of Wellington, one rather gone by +now: “The Retreat of Marmont,” “Ahe Marmont, onde vai, Marmont,” a very +pretty air; the other was composed at Cadiz lately when Lord Wellington +was there. I suppose you have them in England. Moretti of Cadiz is the +composer. One of them is good, and the other very well. Lord Wellington +sits and hears his own praises in Spanish with considerable coolness, +and calls for it himself at times. + +_February 23rd, Tuesday Morning._—Just a few lines more, and but a +few, as I have just been with Lord Wellington, and, having got rid of +one batch of papers, have returned with another. I hear the affair at +Bejar, or Banos, in the sierras north of Placencia, was not much. We +had six taken and a few wounded. It is supposed to have been a French +party for provisions and plunder, as they wander about for these +purposes, and to have been no serious movement. Our men got a position +first, which the French tried to get, at Bejar. We had no cavalry, or +an attempt might have succeeded to turn the French party; but without +this assistance the 56th drove back the French, and saved Bejar and +that country. The 71st were also there, and concerned. + +Lord March is just returned from a flag-of-truce excursion to the +French. He fell in with their pickets half a league from Ledesma, +where the French seemed in force. They were very civil. He dined with +a General Goutier, or some such name, and stayed about four or five +hours. Their men and cavalry looked well, and clothing very fair; +accoutrements, &c., bad and slovenly; horses in good condition; but +he concludes that he saw the best, for he found they knew of his +approach five leagues off. They kept away all the Spaniards, who were +getting round him, and were particularly violent against the canaille, +the Guerillas. The latter were close upon the French. He passed them +very near the town. They abused Sumeil; said he would rob even the +English, and would not believe he dined at Lord Wellington’s table. +They hoped to see the English in a month, they said. His five hussars +and his trumpeter were surrounded by eighty men in a trice, and all +communication cut off, and a thousand questions asked of course, but +little given in answer. The French officer and escort of five dragoons, +who escorted Lord March on his departure, would not go above half a +league, for fear of the Guerillas, and was half inclined to accept Lord +March’s offer to let his trumpeter and some men see him back, with a +party of the Guerillas; but at last he said he had a good horse, and +galloped back. I do not know what Lord March went about; some say on +Sir Edward Paget’s affairs. + +_Guinaldo, February 24th, 1813._—From the blunder of General O——, here +I am, after a wet ride, with no Court-martial to-day, and nothing to +do. The consequence is, I must stay to-morrow also, when I really hope +to get this business over, for I have plenty to do at home. Marshal +Marmont had the quarter I occupy when he was here, as well as Lord +Wellington. The former shut the whole up, and used candles all day. The +latter got on as well as he could in the dark, and used the General’s +bedroom, which is rather a better room, as his dining-room. The owner +was once a man rich in flocks, herds, and lands and houses, and has +another good house at Ciudad Rodrigo. At present I take it his worldly +goods are not sufficient to make him think too much of this world. +Between Pago and Coria there are banditti and robbers; and two or three +murders have been committed there by armed men, Spaniards, I believe, +and Portuguese, five or six together. What a state this poor country is +in! + +_Frenada, March 1st._—Several of these banditti I hear are deserters +from our army, and Lord Wellington has sent out after them. On the +Thursday I tried the man at Guinaldo for murdering a poor Spanish girl. +We had some difficulty in coming to an understanding. The witnesses +were all Spaniards, principally the relations of the deceased; the +only interpreter was Portuguese; the prisoner a German, but he spoke +bad French. At last, as I had looked into all the Spanish proceedings, +we got on, as most of the Court understood Spanish as well as the +interpreter, and nearly all understood French. The prisoner’s defence +was in French. I then read it in English to the Court as he went on, +and took it down. He had a very narrow escape for his life; I thought +it murder, and the Court were long in doubt; at last they only found +him guilty of a most disorderly outrage and killing the poor girl, and +gave him a thousand lashes. + +I wrote it fair, got it signed, dined again with the General, and +came over here on a beautiful day. We have now again fine clear, +frosty mornings, beautiful, but really almost too warm days and too +cold evenings. I wish this would last; and yet it is trying to the +constitution, for there must, I think, be thirty degrees difference +between the temperature at three and at six o’clock. + +On my return here I found that no less than nine Courts-martial +had arrived and plenty of newspapers. One Court-martial had met +thirty-eight days, and another sixteen: thus I had plenty to read +and report upon. I saw Lord Wellington, in consequence, two days +running, for nearly two hours, as I thought four of the cases ought +to go back for revision, and one only to be confirmed, as it was half +illegal—eight hundred lashes and transportation for life—which latter +is not a legal sentence for mutiny. In truth, the men should have been +shot. + +The Courts will not do their duty: Lord Wellington was quite angry. +He swore, and said that his whole table was covered with details of +robbery and mutiny, and complaints from all quarters, in all languages, +and that he should be nothing but a General of Courts-martial. He has +given some broad hints to the Courts in general orders. I sent out +three new cases yesterday, and have about fifteen deserters just in +hand now—in general Poles from the second King’s German Legion light +infantry battalion. + +I made it a rule, whenever possible, to clear off everything as I go, +and answer every letter by return of post, which is the only way; and +I am glad to see my pile of papers done with now larger than that in +hand. Whilst I was with Lord Wellington, the Commissariat returns came +in, and were very confused. That added to his ill-humour; but he was +very civil to me, and gets more easy, as I do with him. He sent orders +for fifteen thousand complete black accoutrements to be sent round +to Corunna, so I hope the Gallician army is to be increased; some of +their regiments got home much more entire than any of ours during the +retreat, but upon the whole they diminished very much by desertion when +they first got away from home. + +The people of Guinaldo, whilst I was there, were almost mad—nothing but +dancing and noise in all quarters. They told me it was a particular +day, when the women were to rule the Dios de Madre; but it seems to me +they are always in this gay state. The people agree there very well +with the English, particularly with the 52nd, which is now there, a +fine light battalion, seven hundred strong, and in high order. The +ladies go about, and tie strings to the coats of the officers, and even +of the General; dance about, sup, and drink with them, and are all +alive both with them and the men. + +The 52nd and 43rd lost part of their baggage in the retreat, and one +on the Court-martial told me an anecdote as to his baggage. A French +officer and a few men overtook his bâtman with the canteens, &c. +“Where’s the key?” he said; “come, quick! break it open; out with the +tea and sugar, I have had none these three months:” and in this manner +he took all worth having, the best horse and mule, and left the bâtman +frightened to death. + +There is one regiment of the Caçadores that is the constant +astonishment of the English. Badly paid, no new clothes for the last +two years, almost in rags this winter, and yet scarcely a man has been +sick. I wish this was the case with them all. Our men are getting their +clothes much better than last year, but still many are sick. Of two +hundred men, a reinforcement to the 43rd light regiment Walcheren men, +ninety have died; and the Guards have suffered terribly, but still all +are in spirits; though the verses I enclose to you (and which are +printed at the Adjutant-general’s portable press, used for printing the +army orders, &c.) give a very fair description of the life in Portugal. + +I have taken a ride to Malliarda de Sorda, and found the Deputy +Paymaster-General H—— very unwell, with an attack of fever. One +must not think of these things: that is the best way, I believe, if +possible. Sir W. Erskine, who threw himself out of the window here in a +delirium, came to his senses after his fall, and said he never thought +he could have been guilty of such an act, and that he did not intend +it. This was very melancholy; but I am told he had been two years +confined, and that he should not have been here as chief officer of the +cavalry—it was too great a risk. + +We have a report here of a revolution in France; but I do not credit it +yet, though not unlikely. It seems to me Bonaparte is a man to run that +hazard by his conscription and immense levies, and that there will be +either a revolution, or he will soon be again formidable; and much is +yet to be done. I hope we shall make a good end of it here this year. + +_Wednesday._—I dined yesterday at head-quarters, and sat next to Baron +Wimpfen, the new Quarter-Master-general attached to Lord Wellington. +He is a very gentleman-like man, and talks French well. We had much +conversation together, in which Lord Wellington, who sat next to the +General, often took part. He gave us the whole history of the battle of +Fuentes d’Onore, which was fought some time since near here, in which +the French were three to one, and in which Lord Wellington said he +committed a fault, by extending his right too much to Poço de Velho; +and that, if the French had taken advantage of it, there might have +been bad consequences, but that they permitted him to recover himself +and change his front before their face. + +Another new comer at dinner yesterday was a Monsieur Saudri, an agent +for the Portuguese, a sort of interpreter. He gave an account of the +state of the Portuguese provinces. Some are recovering fast, it seems, +Coimbra particularly, but many are still in great distress. + +Yesterday was the last day of a sort of carnival here. We had fools, +and pantaloons, and straw bulls, &c., and masks walking about the +streets—much noise but no great magnificence. I saw poor pantaloon +fall in earnest when throwing his sword after a soldier, and he could +scarcely get up again. + +A general order has just been issued for all the officers to apply for +tents for the next campaign. I must do the same, I suppose, and try +that sort of life, which in dry weather may be well enough, but bad +work if as it was last year, when the little bed-legs sunk in mud up to +the mattress, and the blankets got quite muddy! + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, March 6th, 1813._—A man arrived here two +days ago from Madrid in five days, for payment of a Commissariat bill +due to him. He states that the French are in small force at Madrid, +and that Joseph was packing up. But I believe this is only because +he individually is going away; for I understand that the French are +still in force below Madrid, and that the only notion entertained as +genuine here as to their troops going homewards is that ten men picked +from each squadron and battalion, or as some say from each company, +are to be sent home to make good the Imperial Guards. I do not think +myself they will withdraw at all now. They keep the country to support +themselves till we are ready to move, and then I think they will +collect and risk an early action with us, as their difficulty is to +keep together long. If they beat us, they will remain as they were, +and I think that is all, unless we are quite routed; if we beat them, +then they will go behind the Ebro. The conjecture is, as far as I can +understand from the probabilities, a late opening of the campaign on +account of the Spaniards not being ready, and then an early action when +it does begin. + +Some say that the Spaniards will not be ready to move before the +harvest in July, or not much before. The French have nearly ninety +thousand men in their extended positions, with their right on and +near the Douro and the left on or along the Tagus. We shall have, +when we begin, about forty-four or forty-five thousand British, about +twenty or twenty-two thousand Portuguese, and how many Spaniards no +one can tell, or what they will do. So do not expect to hear of a +march to France—to the Ebro, or very possibly up to Burgos again. +The opportunity for effecting this must be by obliging the French to +assemble, and then by rousing up all the Guerillas to starve them. +Having heard Lord Wellington give his account of the battle of Fuentes +d’Onore to General Wimpfen, the Spanish Inspector-General, I rode there +yesterday with Lord Aylmer (who was present in the action) over the +whole field of battle, saw all the field-works, the positions of the +different divisions, and the plan of the whole. I perfectly understood +Lord Wellington’s blunder, and the risk he had run, and could form a +very good notion of the strength of the position, and the nature of it +as protected by the ravines of the Coa, &c. Lord Aylmer gave me two +striking instances of Lord Wellington’s coolness: one when, as he was +pursuing the French, in a fog in the morning, he found a division of +our men under Sir William Erskine much exposed in advance, and nearly +separated from the rest of the army, and the French in a village within +a mile of where he was standing, he could see nothing; but, on some +prisoners being brought in, and asked what French division and how +many men were in the village, they, to the dismay of every one except +Wellington, stated that the whole French army were there; all he said +was, quite coolly, “Oh! they are all there, are they? Well, we must +mind a little what we are about then.” Another time, soon after the +battle of Fuentes d’Onore, and when we were waiting in our position +near them to risk an attack, in order to protect the siege of Almeyda, +early one morning Lord Aylmer came suddenly in to him whilst he was +shaving, to tell him that “the French were all off, and the last +cavalry mounting to be gone;” the consequence of which movement was to +relieve him entirely, to give him Almeyda, and preserve Portugal. He +merely took the razor off for one moment, and said, “Ay, I thought they +meant to be off; very well;” and then another shave just as before, +without another word till he was dressed. I find, however, it is said +he magnifies the French now and then—sees double as to the number of +blue uniforms, and cannot see all the scarlet; but I believe most men +in his situation do this more or less. I must now proceed to summon +some witnesses: so, for the present, adieu. + +_Monday, 4 o’clock._—You ask me what my house is like, and what Frenada +is? Frenada is a village much in decay, very dirty; in the streets +are immense masses of stones, and holes, and dung all about, houses +like a farm kitchen, with this difference that there are the stables +underneath. My last lodging was like a part of a Welsh farm-house, +boarded off at one end from the common room, with a hole through the +wall and one pane of glass let in. I am now in a distinct building +like a granary, with the stables below, in an English farm-yard, in +which are my animals of all sorts, servants and all. The kitchen is a +miserable shed, not water-tight, where the woman of the house and three +children live quite separate. The building I occupy has one opening +with a wooden door besides the entrance-door, and the end, about eight +feet wide by sixteen long, was boarded off by an officer last year. In +this I sleep, eat, drink, write, &c., and live altogether, as it has a +fireplace in the corner built by the same officer. The fireplace is +so contrived, however, as to let more smoke into the room than up the +chimney, and of course my eyes suffer, and all I have looks yellow and +smells of smoke. + +It is said that Lord Wellington and the Court here are to go to +Ciudad Rodrigo, to a fête, to install the new Knight of the Bath, +General Cole. I shall not go unless especially invited, and I have +enough to do here, for except, probably, the Adjutant-general, the +Quarter-Master-general, and perhaps the Commissary-general, I have more +correspondents than any one here. + +I take it in the army that the officers in the lower branches of the +staff are sharp-set, hungry, and anxious to get on, and make the most +of everything, and have a view even in their civilities. I have tried +not to notice much that I could not help seeing, and which gave me a +moderate opinion of the profession, which has not the independence +to be seen in all the most respectable at the bar. There is much +obsequious, time-serving conduct to any one who is in office, or is +thought to have a word to say to his lordship. + +Lord Wellington gets angry about the Courts-martial, the difficulty as +to getting witnesses, the inconvenience, and then at last the great +lenity of the Courts. “How can you expect,” he remarked to me, “a Court +to find an officer guilty of neglect of duty, when it is composed of +members who are all more or less guilty of the same?” He does not +like the tribunal. We have, however, hung six men within this month, +broken several officers (at least their cases are gone home with that +sentence), and flogged about sixteen or eighteen (pretty well, this), +and we are still at work. I have now twenty-two cases left on hand, +about thirty-six tried, about two or three new cases every week, yet +I hope we are getting on better now. I am glad to be made of such +importance as you say I am in England; my reputation increases here a +little, several Courts-martial having been sent back for revision: for +this I get in a degree the credit, and in some instances justly. I am +thought a formidable person to whom it is as well to be civil, and who +can often be of service to others. + +The Princess of Wales’s letter is good; and I think, and have always +thought, that if she could once dare inquiry, her case would be +unanswerable, and the Prince in a complete dilemma. We have heard here +that Brougham wrote the Princess’s letter: is there such a story in +England? + +_Wednesday, 10th March._—No more news, and no more mails, and no more +time. I am to be asked, it is said, to Rodrigo to the fête there +on Saturday. Lord Wellington wants to be very magnificent in his +own city, and has said that he wished to give a supper to a hundred +and fifty, but is told that it is quite out of the question, as the +town and head-quarters would not supply dishes and plates, &c. There +is, however, to be a small dinner first before the ball. But this +arrangement may be a little disturbed by an event I have this moment +heard from General O’Lalor. A Spanish dragoon is come in, with news +that the French are moving in the Sierra di Francia; their object, +I think likely enough, to rout us up before we are ready. I know no +more; General O’Lalor went to Lord Wellington to tell him the news. +N.B.—Orders have just come in to prepare charges against nine Polish +deserters. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, March 15th, 1813, 9 o’clock at night._—As +to Sir Isaac Heard’s coming over here to invest the Marquis with the +Garter, doubtless the old Garter king would like it; and at this time +of the year, while quiet here, and neither hot nor wet, no mosquitoes, +and without baggage, he might do it tolerably well. If you travel +without baggage, as Lord Wellington did when he went to Cadiz, with +good horses, you get on thirty, forty, and even fifty miles in a +day; avoid all the bad places, only stop in towns, get the best +accommodation, and only rest where there are English Commissaries, &c. +Lord Wellington came from Lisbon here in five days, with relays of +horses; the last day he rode fifty miles between breakfast and dinner. + +The movements of the French I mentioned in my last came to little or +nothing—it was a mere alarm. + +I have had a long letter from Sutton in answer to several queries. He +agrees with me in every point which I have had to decide; and I am +particularly glad to be right in the great one on which Lord Wellington +differed with me, and directed me to send home his reasons. Still Lord +Wellington is hardly satisfied, but desires me to wait till I hear +officially from Sutton about it. + +The day before yesterday we had a hard day’s work in the shape of +gaiety and amusement. Lord Wellington desired to invest General Cole +with the Order of the Bath, in a suitable manner; and as he had never +done anything at Ciudad Rodrigo, of which he is Duke, he determined +upon this opportunity to give a grand fête in the midst of the ruins—a +grand dinner, ball, and supper. All heads of departments, generals, +public authorities, Spaniards and English, were invited to dinner, +to the amount of sixty-five. In the evening, ladies about forty, +and men about a hundred and fifty, came to a ball and supper. The +dinner and supper were half cooked at Frenada, and carried over in +military waggons and on mules. All the plate at head-quarters was put +in requisition, and there was enough to afford a change of silver at +dinner. Plenty of claret, champagne, and Lamego, _i. e._, port, was +sent over. A caravan of glass and crockery arrived from the governor +of Almeyda, and from a shop just opened there. Almeyda is twenty-five +miles from Rodrigo. The whole went off very well, except that it was +excessively cold, as a few balls during the siege had knocked in +several yards of the roof of the ball-room, and it was a hard frost at +the time. + +Lord Wellington was the most active man of the party—he prides himself +on this; but yet I hear from those about him that he is a little broken +down by it. He stayed on business at Frenada until half-past three, +and then rode full seventeen miles to Rodrigo in two hours to dinner, +dressed in all his orders, &c., was in high glee, danced, stayed +supper, and at half-past three in the morning went back to Frenada by +moonlight, and arrived here before daybreak at six; so that by twelve +he was ready again for business, and I saw him amongst others upon a +Court-martial on my return at two the next day. Campbell and General +O’Lalor managed the fête. I made cards for every place at dinner, with +corresponding ones for each person, with his name, table, and number +of his plate, and so there was no bowing and scraping, or pushing for +the first table. We got quarters in the ruins. Stables there were none +scarcely, and we took over hay and barley for the horses for the night, +and our beds to lie down for an hour or two. Several ladies, refugees +from Salamanca, were there, and the band of the 52nd. + +The house at which the entertainment was given was the best in the +town, with some very good rooms; but it had suffered a little by the +siege, and had, moreover; only bare walls. Luckily, however, the +General O’Lalor discovered that the Intendente of the Palace of St. +Ildefonso had brought away the hangings of five or six of the best +rooms to save them from the French, and had deposited them at Rodrigo. +These were obtained, and the bare walls of the ball-room were hung +all over with yellow damask satin with a silver border, with openings +at each end in festoons, like a tent, and looked very well. The other +supper-rooms were hung with crimson satin and gold from the same +palace, and in tolerable condition. + +The whole was laid out so as to astonish the inhabitants, and the +defects were concealed almost entirely. Near one hole in the floor a +man was placed to take care that no one got a leg in, and a mat was put +over the whole. The ladies were not very handsome, but two or three +good-looking, and several very lady-like in their manners. + +I was most pleased with the bolero and fandango dances, which were +executed by two Spanish ladies, Chanoinesses as they were called, +nieces of two Chanoines, and two Spaniards, one of whom danced very +well. The best was the old fellow who was sent for to play on his +ornamented paper square tambourine, or rather flat drum, who sang the +airs and accompanied himself with great humour, and afterwards gave us +a dance in the true style. The enthusiasm of the Spaniards was also +amusing, and their eager applause. All the other dances were English +country dances, which the ladies execute very well and exactly like +ours, except that they waltz the poussets, and generally, therefore, +dance waltz tunes, and have that figure. They are also a little more +twisted about and handled than our fair ones would like at first; but +upon the whole, perhaps our country dances are improved by the change. +We had much drinking and toasts given on both sides, at the expense of +the French: “Ferdinand the Seventh,” “The next campaign,” “Death to +all Frenchmen,” &c. In short, several Spaniards as well as English got +very drunk by five o’clock in the morning, and they chaired the Prince +of Orange, General Vandeleur, whom they let fall, and several others, +as soon as the ladies were gone, and there was nothing else to do. The +Spaniards at first began with “vivas,” but soon learnt “hip, hip, hip, +hurra!” + +With great care a few silver spoons and knives and forks only were +missing, and it is said one plate. Henry tells me the servants saw one +Spanish officer with a turkey’s leg sticking out of his pocket; but, +like our aldermen, they are given to pocket even at Madrid, and have +some excuse, for they are paid little, and find everything very dear. +Probably a turkey had not been seen there for months: they were, I +believe, all brought from thirty or forty miles down the Douro, near +Lamego. Besides the Spanish military authorities, there were some +civilians of rank, as the Marquis d’Espeja and a few others. Colonel +Gordon was the only officer who would return with Lord Wellington; +and though he has the best horses here next to those of the chief, he +borrowed another horse which had come over earlier, to ride back upon +with Lord Wellington, and left his own, which he had ridden on in the +morning with his lordship, to come back later in the day. + +The repairs of the walls of Ciudad Rodrigo are going on better, and +they are now nearly cleared of rubbish, so as to be ready to begin to +rebuild the new work, which all fell down last autumn. I sat at the +grand dinner directly opposite to E——, who introduced himself to me +afterwards in the ball-room. Colonel Fisher, of the Artillery, was +next, a very pleasant man, a great artist, connoisseur, traveller, +&c. Except at a grand fête, and the few great men who come to +head-quarters, or when crossing a division on the march, which we +always avoid if possible, we seldom see any regimental officers. + +_Tuesday Night (16th)._—We have flogged and hung people into better +order here, I think, but have now got into a little squabble with +the Portuguese Government, who will become bold by success. By the +Portuguese law a magistrate is only to give evidence in writing by +deposition, which our Courts, if it be a fact in his own knowledge, +and where he is wanted as a witness, ought not to receive. I fear the +Bill proposed at home will be unpopular, and yet inefficient in a great +measure. + +The Guards, who joined nearly when I did, have suffered most of all +by the campaign. They came out a noble battalion of fine men, twelve +hundred strong; four hundred are dead, and not above five hundred are +now fit for duty. This is very shocking. + +The division on Grattan’s motion in the House is stronger than I +expected it would be after all the outcry on the subject. I had a +long conversation while walking up and down the market-place with +Lord Wellington here, a few days since, upon that and the Indian +question. He has, from what he saw in Ireland, taken up a strong +notion that independence is what the Irish really aim at, and he is, +therefore, for giving no more, but proceeding upon King William’s +plan to keep them down by main force, for he thinks that they have +too much power already, and will only use more to obtain more, and +at length separation. He said he thought his brother and Canning had +just taken up the Catholic question when the tide of popularity was +turning against it. I hope this is not so; and though I agree with him +that the party for separation is strong, his plan would drive them to +extremities, and is now too late; the only chance is, to get the higher +orders of Roman Catholics and the priests, if possible, by pay or +otherwise, and by looking for pay and patronage, to be dependent on the +Crown and on England more than they are, and at the same time not to be +a degraded class. + +Did I tell you the size of Frenada, about which you asked? It is about +as large as Ashted, without the three gentlemen’s houses in it. Lord +Wellington’s house is, however, better known than the inn there (the +Leg of Mutton and Cauliflower), and more ornamented, though it does not +contain more room or as much comfort. This is as good a description as +I can give you, only that all the houses are more roomy than in our +villages—more like barns—for the straw, corn, and all are left under +the same roof. + +As Sutton only answers my letters indirectly, and not officially upon +the point on which we differed, Lord Wellington says he will not act +until he has an official answer. He does not like to be wrong, and yet +I am very glad he is so. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, March 19th, 1813._—The day before yesterday +we had a most extraordinary arrival here in General Murray, the +Quarter-Master-general of the army. He left Plymouth late on the 10th +instant, and was here at Frenada on the 18th, in the morning, in about +seven days and a half. He got to Oporto from Plymouth in less than five +days, and here in three, travelling post on horses, ponies, mules, and +anything he could get: he brought London papers of the 8th. His baggage +went round by Lisbon. He was to have come out with General Graham and +General Stewart, but was sent off here express with despatches in a +sloop of war. No one knows what the important news is which made it +advisable to send out a Quarter-Master-general as a messenger. + +I hear of no movement yet in the army, and as part of the cavalry are +down below Coimbra, and part still below Abrantes, near Cabeça de Vide, +Aunde Chad, and Monforte, it will be necessary to give some notice of +anything like a serious movement in good time. Perhaps head-quarters +may move to Guinaldo in a month—I think not sooner, for there is no +grass there yet, and the cold is not gone, nor the rain come, though +the sky has threatened much for the last day or two. I have now to +send above thirty miles for bad hay or straw for my animals, and that +I hear is nearly exhausted. We have been obliged to send fifteen miles +for some time past, which is hard work for the poor mules during what +should be their resting-time. + +You ask about our religious duties. There are four or five or more +clergymen in Portugal, but no one now at head-quarters. The clergyman +stationed there went away ill about a twelvemonth since, I hear. + +_Sunday, 21st._—The remains of the battalion of Guards which lost +so many men, and was so sickly, is going down towards the coast and +towards Coimbra, to recruit with sea-air. + +I must now away to answer letters. I have only read four of the +newspapers out of the last fifteen; you may therefore conclude how much +I am employed. I get through one at breakfast-time, and when at home +two of an evening; nor have I yet read half through one review. Lord +Wellington is as bad; he borrowed my “Vetus” nearly three weeks since, +and has not read it. + +_Wednesday, 4 o’clock, Post-day._—Having got all my proceedings written +out fair by half-past six yesterday, I dined with the General. Early +again this morning I breakfasted with him; compared the two, got the +fair one signed; picked you up botanical specimens of the flowers in +the fields in my ride back, and here I am. + +Since Rodrigo has been taken, the inhabitants about Guinaldo feel +more confidence, and more land is this year in cultivation. They are +tempted also by the high price of everything; and near Guinaldo I saw +a new enclosure going on, and trees being grubbed up to a considerable +extent. The old lady where General Vandeleur is quartered, is doing +this to an extent of several thousand acres. To give you a proof of the +lightness of their ploughs, I met a man walking off a mile or two to +work from Guinaldo with a complete plough on his shoulder, the whole +plough fit for use, iron share, &c.; he was walking three or four miles +an hour, quite upright. I hear that the inhabitants of Bejar, rather an +opulent Spanish town, and where there is a cloth trade, have been so +well satisfied with the 50th regiment for having driven away the French +and saved their town, that they have given them all round a pair of +pantaloons each, and several days’ double rations of spirits, and some +other presents. The place is now strengthened considerably as a post, +it is said, for the French seem to be making some stir, though no one +seems to know what they mean to be about. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, March 27th, 1813. Saturday._—The statement of +Courts-martial, which I shall present to Lord Wellington to-morrow, +satisfies me that we are mending, and that we have not tried fifty +cases, hung eight, transported eight or ten, flogged about sixty +severely, and broke several officers—for nothing. I have now only +eighteen left in hand, and three of these very old cases. We had one +very melancholy piece of business here last week: a young corporal, +Mac Morran, a Scotchman in the 42nd, was reprimanded mildly by his +officer, Lieutenant Dickenson, for neglect of duty; he answered rather +impertinently, and was then told to consider himself a prisoner, and to +follow. Having walked a few yards, Lieutenant Dickenson looked round, +and the corporal, having (no one knows how) loaded his musket, levelled +it at him, and shot him dead through the heart. The corporal has been +tried, and is to be hung to-morrow. They were both under twenty years +of age, I hear, and the most promising young men in their respective +stations. The officer was a man of mild, humane character. The corporal +made no defence: it seemed an excess of Scotch pride. It is altogether +a very painful business. + +We have still very cold north-east winds, and to-day a little fall of +sleet, hail, and stormy, windy, black sky. Lord Wellington is gone +hunting, which gives me a little time. + +I hear the French are moving; two divisions of Soult’s army are said +to be retiring behind the Douro, near Valladolid: and I am told they +are engaged in fortifying all the fords and bridges near the Douro, +at Toro, Tordesillas, Aranda de Douro, &c. Probably they will make +a grand stand on that river; where, from what I saw, they have great +advantages, for the banks on our side are low and flat, and on their +side, towards France (the right bank) high and commanding, and the +position on that side also strong. It is thought the slight movement in +advance of one of our divisions, the fourth, from St. Jean de Piscara, +merely for convenience of supplies and change of air, caused this +movement on the part of the French, who only stay down about Toledo, +probably, for food. + +Accounts have just come in from one of our look-out officers, who live +close to the French, and act as spies, and have correspondence with +them—a Captain ——, who was here a fortnight since. He says that the +French are all moving, and apparently towards the other side of the +Douro. Joseph has left Madrid. His informers state that the French are +going at once behind the Ebro; but he himself thinks not, as they would +not willingly give up the fine country between the Douro and Ebro for +nothing, and have fortified, report says, the passes. So we stand. +Conjectures are made, that our advance will not be the same as last +year, through Salamanca, as we have no great depôt being made yet this +way at Rodrigo, and should have to force these passes on the Douro; +whereas some depôts are being formed in Portugal near the Douro, more +in the north of Portugal; and we could in that direction cross the +Douro without opposition, turn all these French works on that river, +and join the Spanish army in Gallicia, but the roads in that case will +be much worse. I hope we may go that road, and thus see a new country, +and in part, I believe, a fine one. There is one fine pass in the +Agava, only five leagues hence, at Barba del Puerto, which I have never +yet had time to visit, but shall do so, if possible, after the rain, +provided we remain here. + +Lord Wellington, in conversation the other day, told me that some +Spaniards of rank had talked to him about educating their children at a +Roman Catholic school in England, if there were such. I knew of one or +two good girls’ schools, but could not remember any good Roman Catholic +boys’ school. + +We have a most furious Portuguese lady now here, the wife of a hidalgo +of Portugal, whose daughter was run away with by an English officer. +Lord Wellington told her that he would give him up to the laws of +Portugal; but as he has now married her, Lord Wellington says he will +not interfere at all. The woman swears that she will get the priest who +married them transported for life by their law, as well as the officer, +and has moreover declared she will kill the daughter if she meets her! + +As to Mr. R——, concerning whom you inquire, I know nothing about him: +we have a _ci-devant_ major of that name just arrived here. He is +full of travellers’ stories; has been long a prisoner in France: had +a prefect’s wife for his _chère amie_; escaped with wonderful risks; +joined the Guerillas, got to the coast, and off, I believe, to Cadiz. I +am told that he is to be an officer in a new horse-police staff corps +about to be established. + +_30th March, Tuesday, 4 o’clock._—I have presented four Courts-martial +to Lord Wellington, and sent one back for revision as illegal, and +confirmed three, two against one man—together, two thousand lashes. +This is absurd, he will bear six or seven hundred, and there it will +end. The sentence, however, is legal, which it was not before, when +transportation was the punishment. Lord Wellington now addresses me +with the familiar “How are you?” So we go on more easily, and I made a +sort of proposal to him to insert a passage in general orders now, to +be read to the men every day until we march, to let them know that a +new police corps was established to catch them, and to tell them that +seven officers would be sufficient now to hang them, and that Courts +would be held always ready in every division. He said he would think +about it, and thought it would be of use. + +Dr. M’Gregor told me yesterday, that his sick-list was improving daily, +and that if Lord Wellington would give him another month he thought +he should bring the greater part into the field. King Joseph, I have +just heard, arrived at Valladolid from Madrid on the 23rd instant; Lord +Fitzroy Somerset just read it out of a Spanish private letter. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, Sunday, April 4th, 1813._—You will observe +that I do know when Sunday comes, although that is certainly nearly +all. We, however, have a church and a bell, which goes on tolling for +hours in a most unattractive manner. We have a church, too, which is +made use of for various purposes, civil as well as ecclesiastical; +for instance, one night about one hundred and fifty Spaniards and +their mules, officers and all, slept in it. The building is large, +considering the size of the village, the floor covered with straw like +a stable, but the end where the altar is, is all gold and glitter up to +the ceiling. The decorations must originally have been very expensive, +for, besides the great expenditure of gold-leaf and foil, and carving, +all the ceiling, which is coved and circular, and divided into squares, +has a picture of a saint, or a father, a founder, a hermit, or some +great divinity hero, in every square. Masses, the funeral service, +weddings, and christenings, are also performed there. I just look in +now and then, for it is awkward to stand there, when all are on their +knees on the floor. There is also a little chapel belonging to the +owner of Lord Wellington’s house; which is fitted up by Colonel G—— for +his quarters. He has hung it with red baize, fitted up the altar as +his dressing-table, put up an iron stove, and made it one of the best +quarters here. + +Lord Wellington looks forward very coolly to another winter here. He +said yesterday he should have twenty-five couples of fox-hounds next +season. The other day the Commissary-general told him that we had eaten +nearly all the oxen in the country, that the cultivation of the lands +in Portugal could not go on for want of them, and that he scarcely knew +where to turn for a supply of beef, as there was this year no reserve +store near Lisbon. Lord Wellington said, “Well, then, we must now set +about eating all the sheep, and when they are gone I suppose we must +go.” And General M—— added, “Historians will say that the British +army came and carried on war in Spain and Portugal until they had +eaten all the beef and mutton in the country, and were then compelled +to withdraw.” Without joking, I fear our Commissariat may have great +difficulties next year. Talking on this subject, I must add that the +Portuguese agent here, a sly, money-making man, who has realized about +25,000_l._ during the war, said the news was so good, that he now +hoped to get a peace, and that the Portuguese would get rid of the +“beefs,” meaning the English. Communication as to necessary articles +and others is so difficult with Lisbon, that one of Lord Wellington’s +aides-de-camp has been six months getting two bridles up, and C. +Campbell four months in getting up a great coat. + +Lord Wellington yesterday, talking of his soldiers and English notions, +observed that his men were now all so round-shouldered and slouching in +their gait, that he was sure, if his regiment here was in its present +state to pass in review at Wimbledon Common, the whole would be sent +to drill immediately, and declared quite unfit for service. Indeed, he +added, that the men had now got into such a way of doing everything in +the easiest manner, that he was often quite ashamed of the sentries +before his own quarter. He did not mention this by way of complaint, +but as showing how ideas here and at home differed. He also laughed +at our notions in England about the supply of the army, saying that +some corporate body or society in England had once made him an offer of +twenty bullocks for the army, which would last head-quarters only about +a week. General M—— said it must have been a mistake—the offer must +have been for his table only; not for the army. + +Orders, it is said, are gone round for the Alicant army to be +re-embarked and landed in the rear of Suchet, to compel him to quit +Valencia if possible; this will be the first step I conclude. You say +you are all looking to us, and want us to move. Our black clouds have +all rolled away, and to-day we have again a clear north wind and hot +sun, and not a blade of grass growing; without the latter we cannot +stir. If the rains will but come soon and bring grass, we may, perhaps, +move in the first week of May, but not before: that is, no important +move can take place. Our cavalry, though down below Coimbra, are very +much distressed for food, and complaints come up without number from +the Portuguese that our people will feed their horses with the young +corn, which is now great waste; but what is to be done? When we have +finished the oxen we may go, as Lord Wellington says, to the sheep, but +what are horses to do when hay is all gone, and straw, and there is +no grass come? How little you know in England about the real state of +things here, and the requisites for moving in a campaign! You forget +our ten or fifteen thousand animals for baggage and for food, besides +the cavalry and artillery, &c. The Portuguese agent here repeats that +another campaign in Portugal will be impossible, for there will be +neither animals to eat, nor for transport, unless we bring all with us. +I hope, however, not to pass another winter at Frenada; but so hoped +those who were here last year. + +Did I ever mention to you Lord Wellington’s saying how anxious the +Prince Regent was that he should correspond with him, and how much +hurt he was that he had never done so. “But,” observed Lord Wellington, +“I wrote to his ministers, and that was enough. What had I to do with +him? However, his late favour was a reason for my writing, and I have +had a most gracious answer, evidently courting further correspondence;” +but which he intimated he should not comply with. + +I understand the famous Guerillas are much more dreaded by their own +countrymen in the north of Spain than the French, and I fear with some +reason, as they are (many of them, at least) very much like banditti. +The French, however, suffered so much by them, that they have adopted +the same plan, and have their counter Guerillas; some with French +officers to conduct them, and some headed by Guerilla chiefs, who have +quarrelled and separated from their companions in the good cause. I was +sorry to hear this. The French continue moving about, and their force +towards the Tagus diminishes. + +You have my news as I hear it: we are now getting ready ammunition, +&c., to the front, to prepare for an advance when possible; so, +perhaps, we may pass Rodrigo, and cross the Douro to the left of +Salamanca, if the French stand on that river, as we have now this year +pontoons, which we had not last year. We have also a new and more +portable battering-train, come out from England, which has arrived as +far as Abrantes, where it only waits for means of transport to come +on here. That which we had here last year, I am told, was excessively +clumsy. + +_April 7th._—I have heard a number of anecdotes of General Craufurd. +All admit that he was very clever and knowing in his profession, and +led on his division on the day of his death in the most gallant style; +but Lord Wellington never knew what he would do. He constantly acted +in his own way, contrary to orders: and as he commanded the advanced +division, at times perplexed Lord Wellington considerably, who never +could be sure where he was. On one occasion, near Guinaldo, he +remained across a river by himself; that is, with his own division +only, nearly a whole day after he was called in by Lord Wellington. He +said he knew that he could defend his position. Lord Wellington, when +he came back, only said, “I am glad to see you safe, Craufurd.” To +which the latter replied, “Oh, I was in no danger, I assure you.” “But +I was, from your conduct,” said Lord Wellington. Upon which Craufurd +observed, “He is d—— crusty to-day.” + +Marmont, when he saw Craufurd filing off next morning, could not +believe it: “_Diable! voilà Craufurd! ma foi, j’aurais pu deviner +cela._” Another time, Lord Wellington said, “Craufurd, you are going +into a delicate situation; what orders do you wish for? I will write +what you think best.” Craufurd told him his own plan and went away. +Whilst Lord Wellington was writing them out, and acting accordingly, +Craufurd sent him word that he had done something else. On another +occasion, Lord Wellington sent to him to say he should inspect his +division, and came accordingly. Craufurd never attended until it was +half over, and then said that Lord Wellington was before his time; yet +he was very strict with his own division, and would be very exactly +obeyed. His division all complained of this, and many officers talked +of who should call him out, on one or two occasions, for this. Yet +he was so much valued, and the whole division had such confidence in +him, that, when he joined them again just before the attack to take +the command in the engagement in which he died, the whole division set +up a loud shout, so as to frighten a small party of French who were +near, who did not know what was the matter, and they ran away. Lord +Wellington knew his merits and humoured him. It was surprising what he +bore from him at times. + +Lord Wellington celebrated the day of the storming of Badajoz with a +grand dinner yesterday; only those present at that event were invited. +Lord Aylmer had a rival dinner-party, at which was General Murray, &c., +where I dined also. If the good news brings peace, what will become of +your humble servant and many others here? “Othello’s occupation’s gone!” + +General Murray is apparently very clever and clearheaded. In my +opinion, he comes next to Lord Wellington, as far as I have seen. +We are all full of the news, for a paper of the 22nd has arrived at +Oporto several days later than the mail. We now know about Hamburg and +Cuxhaven, Berlin, &c. I fear that the French will be driven together +into one large body, and may then be more than a match for any one army +opposed to them, but they will be considerably cowed and disheartened. +When will the Dutch be roused to do anything? Now or never is their +time! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + News of the French—Castilian Costume—Equipment of the Army—Melancholy + Court-martial Case—Wellington in the Battle of Fuentes d’Onore—The + Chances of War—Anecdotes of Wellington—His Opinions of the War—The New + Mutiny Act—Wellington on “Vetus”—General Murray—Advance of the French. + + + Head-quarters, Frenada, April 12, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +From what I hear, if we could only get grass, Lord Wellington would +move about the second week in May. There is no immediate prospect of +this, as you will perceive, when I tell you that the Military Secretary +has sent all his horses nearly a hundred miles off for grass. + +The news here is, that some more of the French, about twenty men +from every regiment, are ordered home. Some, but I believe no great +number hitherto, are actually gone: and about three or four thousand +conscripts are supposed to have arrived in Spain to fill up the +vacancies of the old soldiers removed. Head-quarters will not now +probably move until we march; and, from report, we shall not go to +Guinaldo, but stay here quietly until the army is drawn up around us, +ready to move. + +The clergy, both here and in Spain, are in general, I understand, +fortunately of the same opinion as to the Pope’s signing the Concordat, +as you say the emigrants are; that he did it from compulsion, or that a +different instrument was substituted for his signature. It was feared +that artful plan would have assisted Bonaparte in Spain. + +I hear the same accounts of the state of commerce at Lisbon as George +sends from London. Old Colonel Arentschild here says, “She (meaning +England) will make enough in Germany, by trade, to enable her, in the +first six months, to carry on the war for two years, if necessary.” +I fear the news in the papers concerning the Prince of Orange was +rather premature. He states, that he has hitherto had no offer except +from the Continent, nor heard anything from the newspaper. It will +prove a prophecy, I hope, instead of a fact. He seems a very amiable, +deserving youth, is liked by every one, and has had the greatest of +all advantages for a young prince, that of being educated in a great +measure with persons who have behaved to him as if he were their equal. +So, indeed, he is treated now; except that he has a little more respect +paid to him, which I believe is really felt, for he lives nearly on +terms of equality with Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Lord March, Colonel G——, +&c., and is quite one of the set, and is little or no restraint to +any one. I met him, two days ago, scrambling down on the banks of the +Coa, three miles off, by himself on foot. He must just now have some +interesting subjects for contemplation, and I have no doubt some very +flattering visions pass through his brain. + +I am looking so much better than when I arrived at head-quarters, that +Lord Wellington and several others think I am an exception to the +general rule, and that the climate here agrees with me. Lord Wellington +says he has had so many ill and dead since he has been here, that he +does not like to think of it; many, like General Hulse, &c., whose loss +he feels in every way. He says now, he is always ready to let every one +go home when first he complains, and is disposed to tell every one who +looks ill to be off. + +I have just seen some very handsome specimens of the Castilian dresses, +male and female, of the higher classes of rich peasantry, made I +believe, by a tailor from Salamanca. The three female dresses Lord +Wellington means to give to his nieces for masquerades; they are +covered with work—embroidery, lace, and gold; he gives two thousand +dollars for them. The man’s dress was for Lord March, and is certainly +most becoming to almost every one. + +I must now go and consider the new intended Bill to punish our +offenders here, which Lord Beresford has sent for Lord Wellington +to consult him upon it, and he has sent it to me—the draught of the +intended Act I mean; and as every one makes some observation, I must +make a few also. So, for the present, adieu. + +I never told you that some of our military great boys here got very +tipsy on the commemoration of the fall of Badajoz, and went to a poor +_Juge de Fores_, that is a Portugal law magistrate, who was on a visit, +and poured a bottle of blacking partly in his mouth, and partly over +him, at twelve at night; and then made him dress, and go and help break +poor C——’s only pane of glass, and upset his bed, as he had retired. +Soldiers, lawyers, and all, I see, are boys at times alike. + +_April 13th._—Much too hot for hunting I should think; but all the +sportsmen are out. Lord Wellington has not got good horses to be idle; +he works them well. Besides all the hunting, &c., the day before +yesterday, after doing business until twelve o’clock, off he went by +himself, without saying a word to any one, across to Ciudad Rodrigo, +seventeen miles off, inspected all the works, and was back again here +in five hours and a half to dinner. He says that they are now going on +very well there, and seems to be a little anxious about his own town. I +suspect when we do move that we shall get on fast, for Lord Wellington +will like to pass the Douro before the French know his plans. + +_Wednesday, April 14th, Post-day._—This will be but a stupid packet, +as I have no news or events here to communicate. General Castanos +arrived here yesterday in a great lumbering carriage, with eight mules +and ropes from Cadiz, on his way to his division. He called here for +instructions. + +We have had in my own line another murder: a private grenadier of the +Buffs shot his officer, on their private parade at Placencia, in the +second division, from the window of his quarter, just opposite to that +of the officer, and just as he came out to the men, who were all there. +The officer was Lieutenant Annesley. The grenadier wounded a sergeant +at the same time, and was instantly secured. No quarrel or disagreement +was known, but he said that he was satisfied he had killed his enemy, +and the day before, when another man committed suicide, he said, “What +a fool, not to kill his enemy first, if he had one!” The officer is +well spoken of. The conduct of the grenadier resembles madness more +than anything else, yet they say he was not mad; I have just sent out a +charge against him, and an order for his trial. + +Our own army is now quite clothed, I believe. I fear that the +Portuguese are only in the middle of theirs, and will not have finished +these three weeks. You have no notion what there is to be done before +an army like ours is fit to move in such a country as this. We have +been three months getting up these clothes from Lisbon for our men; the +tents have not yet arrived for head-quarters, and some say that only +the army are to use them. I suppose, however, that we must carry them. + +Lord Tweeddale continues here as an amateur, and will probably advance +with us. When we march I may not be able to write so often, as our time +will be much occupied, and pen and ink will not be always at hand. +An order has just now come out to pay everything up to the 24th of +December, that the officers may have a little money to prepare for the +march. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, April 17th, 1813._—The corn looks very ill +about this place, very thin, very yellow, and indeed positively very +bad crops. Whether this is, however, also only comparatively bad as +to other years I cannot say; it would appear to be so to some extent. +The soil is here very poor, and I suspect the harvest is never very +abundant. Several parts of Spain have this year suffered much from the +want of rain, and the very early heat of the weather; Estremadura in +particular: where the sun has been very powerful, everything has been +burnt up. My authority for this is General O’Donoghue. + +In my own department I have another rather melancholy story. Mr. M——, +a clerk in the commissariat department, had been guilty of fraud and +embezzlement of stores (some pork, rice, and milk), to no great amount, +as far as I could prove under 20_l._; but it was sold out of the store +at Galigas, in a neighbouring village. By Lord Wellington’s orders I +made out a charge against M——, and sent it to him at Coimbra, with an +order from the Commissary for him to attend under close arrest at Cea +to take his trial, as the witnesses were near Galigas. Soon after the +receipt of this letter and order he shot himself, and has thus put an +end to the whole business. He was well connected in England, it is +said, has respectable friends, and was in a good situation there. A +woman with whom he lived here, I believe, was the cause of the whole. +When he turned her off she stirred up the witnesses against him, and +was the cause of its being made known to Sir R. Kennedy, and by his +means to Lord Wellington, when of course a prosecution was inevitable. +By the Mutiny Act he was liable to transportation for life, fine, +imprisonment, or pillory: and he could not stand the disgrace. He +partly admitted the charge, but pleaded sickness and distress. It was +unfortunate that the discovery fell on such a subject, for it was, I +believe, the first falling off from general good conduct. + +I have now got a Court-martial in the fourth division, the only one +which has been hitherto free, to sit near Escalpaon, and to try three +fellows for going out at night and stealing seven sheep, keeping sentry +as a guard over the two shepherds, whilst they skinned the sheep and +divided the meat; two other men, of better characters, were with them, +and they are therefore to be admitted as witnesses against the three. +The Court at Coimbra has suffered the two worst fellows to escape +almost with twelve hundred lashes; they ought to have been hung, for +they are desperate fellows, both Irishmen. They have been most mutinous +and insolent whilst under trial, and one of them, a few days since, +said he did not know whether he was to be hung or flogged this time, +but if the latter, he would take care next time that there should be no +witnesses to tell of what he had done. + +Lord Wellington said at dinner the day before yesterday, “We must move +by the end of the first week in May, that’s positive.” And then spoke +sharply to Colonel F—— of the artillery, because the artillery was +not arrived. The Colonel coolly replied, “My lord, I do not think the +artillery have been, or will be, the cause of your lordship staying at +Frenada. Transport is the great difficulty—animals are so scarce. The +Portuguese make much money, but are afraid of spending it, or getting +or breeding animals for fear of their being seized or embargoed.” An +engineer has been appointed and sent to each division, and a messenger +or Spanish courier (who arrived three days since in four days from +Cadiz post), was last night sent post round through Seville to Alicant. +Something, therefore, is in agitation, and all this looks like +preparation for moving. He expected to arrive at Alicant in eight days +at furthest, if not in seven. + +Lord Wellington the other day was again talking of the battle of +Fuentes d’Onore. He said that he was obliged to ride hard to escape, +and thought at one time, as he was on a slow horse, that he should have +been taken. The whole of head-quarters, general and all, he added, +English dragoons and French dragoons, were all galloping away together +across the plain, and he more than once saw a French dragoon in a green +coat within twenty yards of him. One Frenchman got quite past them all, +and they could not knock him off his horse. At last they caught his +bridle and stopped him. + +_21st April._—We sup early (as you call your late dinners) here, +and are as smart as you are in England in that respect. At present +half-past seven is the hour. We cannot change this hour till Lord +Wellington does, for business is now going on till six. We also beat +the most fashionable in London in one respect, for we have no female +society at all here. There is one lady here, Mrs. S——, and that is +all the English we see, once in a week perhaps; and then the men +preponderate so that the tone of the society is quite male. There +is one Portuguese lady, niece to the Capitan Mor here, or principal +resident inhabitant: but she is ugly, and said to be perfumed too +strongly with oily salt fish. She is no favourite, and is very little +noticed. Her little uncle hunts with Lord Wellington on a little +country pony, and does wonders in that way; he seems an active little +Portuguese. + +Lieutenant-Colonel W——, in the Adjutant-general’s Department here, +who was ill when I joined, has now returned. He has had some curious +adventures in this country. He once fell in, accompanied by two +dragoons, with a small party of French, close to their main body, who +were attending some baggage. He, his men consenting, attacked the +French, beat them off, plundered their baggage, and brought off the +best mule. The latter he kept himself, and has it here now, and the +two soldiers took the money, &c. On another occasion, he was riding +quietly with Captain D——, of the same department, on the advance from +the lines at Torres Vedras on the retreat of Massena. They were quietly +jogging on, and were about to enter a place intended to be English +head-quarters that day. When close to it, they found the French were +still there in force, and saw three French dragoons close upon them, +who, however, did not see them. They resolved to attack by surprise. +They knocked two off from their horses, and attacked the third; he got +away and they pursued him. In the mean time the other two set off. +It ended, however, in W—— and D—— securing one dragoon horse, and +some other booty, with which they got safely away. Soon after this +Lieutenant-Colonel W—— was himself taken prisoner at Sabugal, when +the French advanced during the siege of Badajoz. He was then mounted +on this very dragoon horse, which he had kept as booty; the horse was +known by the French when he was carried in. He was asked how he came +by the horse? He said he bought it of a soldier; and as the three +Frenchmen had reported that they had been attacked by a “dozen men +in buckram,” and had said nothing of two officers, it all went off +well, and he kept their secret and his own. He refused to give his +parole, and was therefore ill fed, and kept prisoner with privates, and +treated like the rest, except that they let him ride Dragon, as he had +christened his horse. + +Near Salamanca, a Spanish friend to whom he had been kind came to offer +his services to him: “Only get me a new pair of very sharp rowels to +my spurs,” said he, “that is all I want.” This was done, and on the +next day, the party, a whole French column of infantry, marched on at +daybreak about seven. Just near the end of the wood, near Salamanca, +in a wide open part of the road, he observed that most of the French +horsemen were dismounted; so turning about, he used his new rowels +strongly, got the start of them in some way, and was off. He galloped +till he heard no one behind him. At first there was a shout of “_Le +Mayo, le Mayo_,” and some pursued; he then crossed another road where +another French party was, got round by the mountains, reached, I think, +Tamones by eleven that night, and to Fuentes d’Onore next day safely. +The French had fed their horses in the fields at night on grass, and +were soon blown. He had refused to suffer his horse to leave him, and +gave him only a little bran, yet though his horse was a slow one too, +he thus got safely off. He has since sold the horse. Lord Wellington +asked him “Why?” He said, “Because, my lord, I was very near being +taken again on him when with your lordship at the battle of Fuentes +d’Onore, and that would be awkward, as the horse is known by the +French.” He seems an odd character. + +The Commissaries all live here exceedingly well, the Lord knows how out +of their pay; and that ought to be nearly their only advantage. + +_Frenada, Head-Quarters, April 24, 1813._—Four Generals have +arrived—Graham, Fane, Picton, and Oswald: Sir Stapleton Cotton, who +has received orders to command the whole cavalry, has, however, not +yet arrived, and is much wanted; but Graham and Picton are very good +officers. + +Lord Wellington, a few days since, said that he hoped the Spaniards +were in many respects getting on much better; that there was a numerous +body now well clothed at least, and armed and tolerably disciplined; +that he was always ordering the drills to go on with spirit, and +by perseverance he thought they were much improving; that he never +interfered with the mode, but asked what their military rules and laws +were, and then said, “Well, that is very good; now mind and see that +they are put in force, and, remember, it is not I but your law orders +this; I have only to see your laws executed, which are very good, and +they must be obeyed.” He said, the Staff here seemed well satisfied. + +The artillery is what Lord Wellington rails at most. They cannot get +on so well as he thinks they ought, or at least as he wants them to +do. I do not mean in particular at this moment, but generally. The +officers commanding this part of the army are rather heavy and slow, +or, as Lord Wellington said himself one day of a late commander, “I +took care to let him feel that I thought him very stupid.” “That must +have been,” General Murray said privately, “by telling him so in plain +terms, I have no doubt.” Colonel F——, who commanded the artillery at +the battle of Salamanca, and who is very well spoken of by every one, +but at times, I believe, is slow, was once with Lord Wellington at an +audience when things went wrong, and Lord Wellington got irate, who +told him pretty nearly that his friend concerning whom he was inquiring +“might go to h—.” Colonel F—— came muttering out, “I’ll go, Sir, to the +Quarter-Master-general for a route,” which Lord Wellington heard, and +laughed at well. + +General Murray says that on hunting-days he could get almost anything +done, for Lord Wellington stands whip in hand ready to start, and soon +despatches all business. Some of the Generals, Lord Wellington observed +one day, used to come and hunt and then get on business, and get him to +answer things in a hasty way, which he did not intend, but which they +acted upon. “Oh, d—— them,” said he, “I won’t speak to them again when +we are hunting.” Colonel F——’s friend on his route to his destination +would have found plenty of fuel but less green forage than we have here. + +By all accounts the first day after we were in Badajoz, the scene was +very shocking in every way. Nothing but dead and wounded on all sides, +and drunkenness and plunder in all directions. Even Lord Wellington, +when in the street with his staff, was followed by drunken soldiers, +continually firing feux-de-joie over his head with ball-cartridges, and +never thinking where the balls went. + +The Portuguese Government have got bolder, and have tried some of our +people by their laws, when caught in the act, and have sent two or +three of them to the coast of Africa. If this were generally known, +it would do more good, I believe, than our flogging. Lord Wellington +said formerly, that their government always declined trying our people +themselves, but now they generally accepted the offer when made. +Lieutenant K——, of the Guards, who was tried and acquitted last week of +ordering a sentry to fire and killing a native, was very much alarmed +lest the Portuguese should try him, as it was at first agreed. It was a +hasty act on his part, but there was a slight riot, and I think in law +he was properly acquitted, for he was struck with a stone by some one +in the mob which was collected. + +My cases are now rather increasing again, I think, and will probably +continue until we march. I have had two very blackguard officers to +try in the Royal Drivers’ corps. Sheep-stealing has now succeeded to +pig-shooting, as pork is out of season. The horses are now like mad +when turned out, and are scampering all over the country. + +I had a long conversation with Lord Wellington yesterday. After +discussing our business up and down the market-place, he said that +“the want of rain began to be very alarming; but that as soon as the +pontoons arrived he would be off. The heavy artillery have started two +or three days since from Castello Branco, and will be here by the 31st. +The pontoons are stuck somewhere on the road.” He discussed the war +here, and in the North, with me: observing that, “a country ought to +think well before it undertook to do what Spain did; that, certainly, +Spain and Portugal were the fittest places to try the experiment of a +battle for the mere soil, because in general there was nothing else in +the country much worth fighting for, or which could be much damaged.” + +“As, for instance,” he added, “what is this village worth? burn it, +and a few hundreds would make it as good as ever with a little labour; +but now,” he continued, “he believed that a great portion of the +Spaniards began to be very anxious to bring the business to a close; +they had rather that we should beat out the French and be off, but, +next to that, they had sooner the French beat us out, and had quiet +possession, than that such a war as that of the last three years +should be continued.” He said “he thought the Cortes were going on +ill; that they were unpopular, knew it, and did not know how to set +about becoming otherwise; that he disapproved of their meddling with +the royal feudal tithes, or church property, and particularly with the +elections of the next assembly, with which he thought they had nothing +to do. They have declared the elections of one district all void, from +some informality, and as the new elections have run much upon priests, +they have been trying to make these void, as being within the clause +concerning placemen in their constitution—‘that no placeman was to be +elected for his own district.’ However,” he continued, “in the present +state of things all the real and urgent business, and what is now the +most material, namely, all relating to the army and the war, is done +here, at Frenada, and let them squabble at Cadiz; if they will leave us +alone, I don’t care. Portugal is for some time quite safe and out of +the scrape, and if things go on well I think Spain will be out of the +scrape also.” “But,” he added, “he should be almost sorry to see such +a war as this has been carried on all over Germany, where there is so +much to destroy, and to be lost.” + +In spite of the poverty of the country and the difficulty as to +obtaining bullocks, we have somehow or other collected one thousand +here to begin the campaign with: I hear one hundred and fifty fine ones +for the artillery. + +_April 26th._—I am kept going to the last minute. A number of new cases +are come in, and I am very busy again; the more so, as the time is so +short, and so uncertain when all my Courts are to break up. I cannot +get below a dozen cases in hand, for new ones arise faster than I try +the old ones. + +I have just heard from Coimbra, that one Court-martial is broken up by +a division of cavalry moving down to Oporto. I do not quite understand +this, but conclude that they will pass the river somewhere below, +and so march through the Tras os Montes, and join us again on the +other side of the Douro, and have a good untouched country to advance +through—otherwise this does not look like a march. No one knows, +however, and probably I know as much as the Adjutant-General. I must +now write to Lord Wellington; this movement at Coimbra has disturbed +two of my Coimbra cases very much. + +The new Mutiny Act has been sent out to me. There are several changes, +one I see which I suggested; but the business is very much bungled. +The Mutiny Act and Articles of War are now at variance, as the latter +have not been altered with the former. By the first, an officer may be +tried here by a Court of seven members; by the articles, there must be +thirteen. + +Some of the fifth division have, I hear, moved across the Douro at +Lamego. This confirms the opinion I have given above, especially as +D’Urban’s Portuguese cavalry are all north of the Mondego, and have +been some time there. This will disturb another of my Courts. Lord +Wellington says, that the witnesses must follow and try and catch the +Court; but I am no hunter, and shall try to remove the case to another +place. I dine with Lord Wellington. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, Saturday May 1st, 1813._—This last week I +have again been very busy, and shall remain so, no doubt, until we +move. This will probably be in a week or so, for our wings are in +motion. The cavalry round by Oporto, as I mentioned before, and some +Portuguese infantry, under Colonel Hamilton, are advancing to Alcantara +from near Portalegre and Eloss. We shall soon be drawing together, but +head-quarters, I have very little doubt, will be the last to move. +We have just got the “_Spanish Gazette_,” of Seville, with Elio’s +letter, stating the victory gained by General Murray near Alicant, +and his driving Suchet back with loss, through Bejar and Villana to +Fuente Higuera. I conclude you will have heard this in England before +this reaches you. We have no English account, but Lord Wellington +seems to consider it very good news. He came running into the Military +Secretary’s room, where I was yesterday, to communicate this, saying, +“Murray has beat Suchet, Fitzroy.” I always expected the fighting would +begin in that quarter this campaign. We got also yesterday from Lisbon +the almost incredible good news that Austria had agreed to join the +Allies with eighty thousand men in Germany, and one hundred thousand +in Italy, and that Davoust and Grenier had been again defeated. Lord +Wellington seems rather to give credit to all this. Poor Bony will go +mad if it should prove all to be true. + +A few days since at dinner at Lord Wellington’s, he got upon the +subject of “Vetus.” He said, “He thought he knew the author, and that +he had been in India—not Mackintosh, as reported here.” He then went on +to say, “he did not think much of Vetus’s letters:[3] that many of his +facts as to this country were quite without foundation; that neither +Vetus, nor the O. P.’s, nor Lord Wellesley, knew anything about the +war here, and what could or could not be done; that he fully believed +Government had done all they could; that the men who did come could +not have been here sooner, and perhaps had better have come still +later; that more cavalry he could not have employed, had he had them at +Lisbon, for want of transport for food; that when he advanced formerly +to Talavera, he left several thousand men at Lisbon, because he could +not supply them had they been with the army; that even now he could not +have brought up the Hussar brigade into the field, unless by draughting +home the three regiments whose men he lately had sent back, and thus +setting at liberty their transport; that the Guards, Life and Blues, +he knew of some time since, and sent five months ago to Estremadura to +collect mules for their supply; that every two dragoons employed a mule +to feed the men and horses, and that all this difficulty in the detail +was quite unknown at home. In short, he said, Lord Wellesley knew +nothing about the matter, and he had no reason to be dissatisfied with +Government at home.” All this made several of us stare. I am told that +Lord Wellington was very angry with Lord Wellesley for his resignation, +and hardly spoke to any one for some days after he had heard the fact. +Lord Paget has just sent up here two of the Hussars, a corporal and +a private, to wait as orderlies on my lord the peer; two very fine +fellows. This was done out of compliment. They will only be ruined at +head-quarters, which is a terrible place for soldiers and servants; +over-pay, great idleness, and every third house a vine-house. + +I have just read Mrs. M. A. Clark and the Messrs. Fitzgerald’s, &c., +which Lord Fitzroy Somerset sent me by desire of Lord Wellington. It is +a curious production, and very ingenious as I understand it, merely as +a punishment on the Chancellor of the Exchequer for not letting her +profit by the Treasury, and, at the same time, a strong inducement to +all others in her favour, held over their heads _in terrorem_, not to +be guilty of equal ingratitude; that is, not to neglect making up her +deficiencies in cash when a hint has been given them of the necessity. + +_May 2nd._—Lord Wellington, I hear is to go to-day to General Cole’s +division, the fourth, near the Figuiera, above Castello Rodrigo, and +near Eschalo. He sends his hounds over the six leagues to-day: they +hunt there to-morrow. On Tuesday he is to review the fourth division, +and return here to dinner at Frenada afterwards. Lord Wellington said, +some days since, he would move on the 5th of May: some of the army +may, and will, I have no doubt; but I do not think _we_ shall before +the 10th. Ho one knows, however; and I dare say no one will know until +the day before, when all will be in a bustle. I hope we shall not set +out in this weather, however, which continues constant cold, rain, and +wind. By watching sharp, I can generally get an hour’s ride dry; but it +will be rather dismal work to start on a long march in this wet, and +it would, from the state of the roads, knock up the mules too much at +first, when I take it they will have far enough to go. + +If the news from Austria be true, and General Murray has really beaten +Suchet in an English and not merely in a Spanish fashion, the French, +when they hear we have crossed the Douro, will probably go at once +behind the Ebro, carrying all they can with them that is moveable and +worth carriage. At present, however, their plan seems to be, to try to +make a stand on the Douro first. They are evidently receding gradually +from Madrid. + +_Later._—I have just heard that part of my gossip of head-quarters is +not correct. Lord Wellington has got a cold, and has determined not to +go to General Cole to-day, though the weather has now cleared up. + +_May 3rd, Monday._—Lord Wellington is rather worse to-day, I hear, and +does not leave Frenada. I hope his review will be quite put off. He +has, I believe, only a bad cold. We have still no further news from +Alicant: at Cadiz they had only seen the same account that we have. Mr. +Wellesley says that the people were in high spirits about it there, +though I suspect that some of the Spaniards did not behave well. The +allied loss is reported to be nine hundred, that of the French at two +thousand. If we could kill off at this rate, and make the Spaniards +bear a fair share, this would do very well. I have since heard from +Colonel C—— that it is supposed Elio’s troops behaved ill, and threw +away their arms. Elio’s corps had received orders not to fight, but to +unite with General Murray: he was just about to do so, and part of his +corps was on his left, but too far distant, and gave way when attacked. +The orders were, for all the corps, Elio’s, Del Parque’s, &c., to unite +with General Murray without a battle. General Murray will scarcely be +able to do much (if he has beat Suchet) with his small force, if he +cannot trust the Spaniards. I hope, however, Whittingham’s corps has +behaved well. + +_May 4th, Tuesday._—Lord Wellington has just got eight of the Prince +Regent’s grey stallions up from Lisbon to draw his carriage on the +march: they are small, but showy, little, prancing, round-carcassed +animals. They have the same mark as is on my black horse from Machacha; +but mine beats them in beauty. To-day they were tried, and not having +been for some time, or ever, in harness, or not liking the country so +well as Lisbon, they would not for a long time go at all. One reared +up and fell backwards twice, clean over, and one got astride the pole. +They got on better, however, at last, and did not break the carriage +as I expected. Lord Wellington’s six old large mules would do the work +much better, though they are not so showy for Spain. + +I saw Lord Wellington to-day, he said he was much better; but has +apparently a heavy, bad cold. + +_May 5th._—Here we are, still mum, as I expected; and the reason for +it is now said to be that the pontoons are not yet arrived. They left +Castello Branco May the 1st only, and, it is said, cannot reach this +place before the 9th. Monday the 10th is now talked of; I think, +however, it may be still Thursday next, the day after the post-day +again, before we stir; most people say, however, Tuesday the 11th; much +may depend on news. Of course, Lord Wellington must be very anxious to +know the true state of the North of Europe before we start; and the +present strong south-west gales are much against our hearing soon; he +also wishes to know the exact effect of the fight at Alicant. I dined +yesterday at head-quarters, and Lord F. Somerset told me that they had +more irregular accounts of the latter business, and that they became +less and less satisfactory. It was understood that the Spaniards, when +first attacked alone, were charged and quite cut up by the French—_muy +mal tratado_, is the Spanish private account; and one whole regiment, +I am told, surrendered. Three regiments are considered to be _mis hors +de combat_. Our army, it appears, did certainly afterwards at last +beat back a French partial attack with loss; but our vanguard had been +beaten back before, and the loss in our army, English and Sicilians, +without Spaniards, was nine hundred. This will not do; still it is to +be hoped that Whittingham’s people behaved better. + +Lord Wellington dined at table again yesterday, and was much better. +I sat next to him on one side and the Prince of Orange on the other, +as there happened to be no other grandees there; and we had much +conversation. This has happened two or three times lately, when I +have been there, and there are few besides his own establishment +present. He always calls the two who are on his right and left, and +Campbell settles the rest. Lord F. Somerset sent me yesterday a little +pamphlet of Lord Wellington’s, containing the account of the Russian +retreat—rather a catchpenny, I think; and, though not exceeding the +Russian gazettes in the number of French prisoners, adding several +rather incredible details, such as the French crawling into the fires +like gnats into a candle, without being sensible of their danger, &c. + +The French, who had quitted Toledo altogether, have again advanced, +and occupied it with much the same force as before, to the great +discomfiture of the junta there, who thought the “_Esclaves_” (as they +call them in the account of the Alicant battle) were gone for good and +for ever. To-day Lord Wellington keeps the anniversary of the battle of +Fuentes d’Onore, and all present at that battle are to dine with him. + +_5th (Later)._—Since writing the above, I have received a case of a +deserter from the Isla de Leon. Two years since he deserted to the +French, and persuaded others to go with him. As no time is now to be +lost, I have drawn the charge and sent the whole off to Lamego for +trial directly. My only Court which has as yet moved, or had orders to +move, is that at Coimbra, who are cavalry, and are now at Oporto. I +have sent Mr. Commissary D——, from Coimbra, there to be tried, for a +breach of orders; and a number of witnesses are all gone with him on +both sides to Oporto: I only hope they may not, by any sudden order, +have all their march for nothing. We have now, since Christmas, tried +eighty cases, and there are still ten in hand, besides about thirty +which have come to nothing. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] If the letters of Vetus were written, as was supposed, by Lord +Wellesley, it is quite clear that Lord Wellington was ignorant of the +fact.—ED. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Newspaper Complaints—Wellington’s Comments—Review of the + Portuguese—Gatherings at Head-quarters—Reviews—Recommencement of the + March—The Route. + + + Head-quarters, Frenada, + May 8, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +I have first to thank you for your letter and paper of the 21st, which +was most acceptable, as it happened to be, once more, the only paper +of that date at head-quarters, and of course the only one which had +the accounts from the French papers of Bonaparte’s having left Paris, +and of the state of their armies, &c. Finding this to be the case I +hastened to read it, and laid it, with three Courts-martial, before +Lord Wellington; more particularly, among other things, pointing +out to him a malicious letter against him, from Lisbon, stating the +discontent of the cavalry officers at having their horses turned over +to the Germans, and at its being done by a German officer, &c., and +the disgrace at being sent home dismounted. He read it through, and +at every sentence of that part relating to the general state of the +cavalry, he went on, with a laugh, “a lie!”—“a lie!”—“a lie!” except as +to Lieutenant-colonel Sherlock’s being vexed at the regiment being sent +home. “That’s very true—all the rest is a lie!” + +I think we are still likely to be here for some days. The pontoons are +only expected to arrive in this neighbourhood to-morrow, and I have +then heard it whispered that we shall not stir until they are on the +banks of the river, or indeed till they are fixed ready. The brigade +of heavy artillery, namely, six eighteen-pounders, were encamped +about two miles from hence on Thursday, and I went over to see them. +The difficulty of transport may be conceived when I tell you that +there were above a hundred and sixty of the strongest oxen employed +in getting these six pieces, with the appurtenances, along the road, +besides spare animals. + +The next day the whole proceeded to Almeyda; this, and what I hear +about the pontoons, makes me conceive that a part of the army at +least will cross the Douro immediately, somewhere in the vicinity of +Eschalona; but of course I can only conjecture, and am very much in +the dark on the subject. The troops still remain at Lamego, Vizeu, +Cea, Coria, Maimento, &c.; the cavalry only round by Oporto, and some +of General Hill’s, have moved yet. The Hussar brigade are now all up +near us, and the Household troops all in the road on this and the other +side of Sabugal. Some of the Blues have been here; they are in fine +order. I saw some horses as fat as in England; I hear, however, a much +worse account of the Life-Guard horses. Colonel H., of the Blues, says +that he does not see why his horses should not continue to be in as +good condition as they are now, and look as well through the campaign; +the other soldiers here, however, say, “Wait for a little duty and +starvation, and then talk; you have done nothing but come up in the +best time of the year, in the grass season.” + +I dined yesterday at head-quarters, to meet General Graham. He is a +very fine old man, but does not indeed look quite fit for this country +work; every one seems to think and say the same, and also that he is +broken since he was here. It is really to be regretted that such a fine +old man should be exposed as he must be. General Picton was also there, +and seemed in full vigour. All the great guns come here to pay their +respects to head-quarters. Lord Wellington is quite well again; was +out hunting on Thursday, and, being kept in by rain all yesterday, is +making up for it to-day by persisting in his expedition to the fourth +division. He was to set out at seven this morning for the review of +General Cole’s division, on a plain beyond Castel Rodrigues, about +twenty-eight miles from hence, was to be on the ground about ten, +and was to return to dinner to-day by four or five o’clock. This is +something like vigour, and yet I think he overdoes it a little; he has, +however, a notion that it is exercise which makes head-quarters more +healthy than the rest of the army generally is, and that the hounds are +one great cause of this. + +_Monday, May 10th._—The weather is, since yesterday, clearing up +again, and is just now perfection—a mild sun, moist ground, and fine, +genial, south-west wind: it will soon turn now to heat. I inquire +daily about the pontoons, upon which our movement depends, and have +now ascertained that they only left Castello Branco three days since, +and that a commissariat clerk went yesterday to meet them with fresh +animals at Sabugal. They cannot be here, it is clear, before the 13th +and 14th, and so says General Picton, who passed the men on the road. +If they are then to move on to be fixed, we cannot well stir before the +16th or 17th, and that seems the general opinion here now, though Lord +Wellington appears to be impatient about it. + +I have now to tell you of a piece of gaiety of mine yesterday. I went +to leave a Court-martial with Lord Wellington about twelve o’clock; +saw him, and found that he was at two o’clock to set out for another +review of the Spanish cavalry of the Conde de Penne Villemur, who have +often been mentioned, and were of use in General Hill’s surprise, &c. I +had much curiosity to see these gentlemen, and finding, after calling +upon the Adjutant-general, that I had only one summons to send out, I +agreed with Lord Aylmer to go with him to this review, ran home, wrote, +sent off my summons, dressed, &c., got my black horse equipped in his +best also, and at one we set off for Huero, near which the cavalry were +ordered to assemble, on the Agueda. It was about twelve or thirteen +miles distant, and we got there, riding gently, soon after three, +having gone about two miles round, under the guidance of Colonel B——, +close to the Quinta de Agueda, a pretty farm and gentleman’s house (so +esteemed here), in a wild, park-like scene in the wood. I knew the road +well, for it was nearly my way to Guinaldo, but I had no objection to +see this Quinta, so took merit for my modesty, but only undertook to be +guide home. The meadows were quite green, the woods all coming out in +leaf, and the thorn in blossom. + +At about a mile from this place we fell in with Lord Wellington and his +aides-de-camp, who had got over, in about an hour and twenty minutes, +by my road. The party then consisted of Lord Wellington, Lord F. +Somerset, Colonel C. Campbell, the Prince of Orange, his aide-de-camp, +Lord Aylmer, Colonel B——, and myself; and I assure you the black went +neighing about in high spirits, looking very sleek and respectable. On +the ground we were met by the Spanish generals O’Donnell and O’Lalor, +and found the cavalry drawn up in front of the river in open order, +about seven hundred in all. The first and best regiment was that of +Algarve, the second was that of Estremadura, and then came on the +left a single squadron of partizans, to be the regiment de Gallicia. +The two first regiments were tolerably clothed, and some of the men +fine-looking fellows, all very fierce in appearance, with their dark +faces and black beards, &c. The arms, though not uniform, good enough; +the greater part with our cavalry broadsword and carbine, but many +with our sailors’ long straight boarding-sword, and no bad weapon +either—I should think the best of the two. The helmets—black and +steel, or rather bright iron—were serviceable, and seemed to have seen +no little service; many, however, were black and brass, belonging to +other regiments, of Saguntum, &c.; the belts generally white, at least +those of the Algarve regiment, many black in the other. The horses, in +general, very small, and some scarcely fit for duty, but for the most +part apparently well fed, and in very-fair condition; out of the two +one very tolerable set might have been chosen, as good, I understand, +as many French regiments have been when here. + +The left squadron of Portuguese were queer-looking gentlemen, in +dirty brown, blue, and green jackets of all hues and ages; one fellow +among them was quite a monster in size, and excited much notice. +Lord Wellington quite burst out into a laugh as he passed. After his +lordship and his suite had passed in front and in the rear of the +whole, as in England, they passed him in troops and saluted. The +officers then appeared the worst—they were awkward louts; some did not +salute at all, some in a most clumsy manner; but perhaps this was not +a custom with them, as they had inquired what was usual with us. They +were, many of them, however, round-shouldered, dirty, ill-looking men. +Lord Wellington desired them to form once into close column, and then +to deploy again, and as there was more room across the river, desired +it might be done there. We galloped across, and then the scene of the +cavalry passing the ford was very picturesque, as the day was very fine +and the mountains and country in great beauty. This was between Huero +and Castilegos. They manœuvred thus much very tolerably, that is, the +regiment, for the squad of partizans remained behind practising the +broadsword. The ground on which the regiments were reviewed was quite a +bog. + +About five o’clock off went Lord Wellington in a gallop across the +country home to dinner. We all followed close for about a league, +and then, to save our animals, not having fifteen as he has, Lord F. +Somerset, Lord Aylmer, General Oswald, and myself went quietly on, and +got here about a quarter after seven, I for one much pleased with my +trip. The Conde P. Villemur did not command, and, as I understand, has +retired in disgust altogether, because there is a commander-in-chief +appointed in the cavalry, and he wished to be appointed if there was +to be one, or at least not to have any one over him. He was always, it +is said, a person who had a will of his own, and did not like to obey +orders. These jealousies and quarrels are much to be regretted. The +officer who commanded was Monte Major. His aide-de-camp told me that +a number of their men were on duty, and that their real numbers were +above one thousand. + +The review of the fourth division was, I believe, much more +satisfactory to Lord Wellington, as everything was in high +order—Portuguese and all, about six thousand five hundred; but having +so often seen a good English review, I was much more gratified with +these Spanish gentlemen. The Life-Guards, &c., are to be inspected +to-morrow. + +The messenger who was sent off on the 17th to Alicant has returned +to-day, and has been round by Cadiz in his return. He makes our loss +less—only about three hundred, I hear from the official statement—and +that of the French greater: and I was very glad to hear that +Whittingham’s men had behaved well, and that General Murray was well +satisfied with them. The messenger rode from Cadiz here in three days. + +We have here to-day all the grandees—Marshal Beresford, General Alava, +Don Julian, General Graham; the latter has been to the review above +sixteen miles distant, to see the Household Brigade. They mustered +eight hundred and twenty-nine rank and file in the field, that is, +Blues and Life-Guards together, and seven hundred and fifty-one horses, +and performed very well. The horses of the Blues much the best, some +of the Life-Guards’ rather skeletonish. I still fear General Graham is +too old for this work; at least he must not act as he did at Barossa. +Before the battle, I am told, he stood up to his middle in the water +for an hour or more, encouraging the troops to get on, English and +Spanish; and jumped off his horse on purpose for the example. It is +added, some of the men said, “Come, old corporal, do go and take care +of yourself, and get out of our way.” + +Lord Wellington was to-day in his full Colonel’s dress uniform of the +Blues, and looked very well in it. + +_Wednesday, 12th, Post-day. Head-Quarters, Frenada._—Still here, +and very probably we shall be so for some days. There are symptoms, +however, of a move soon, such as the packing of Lord Wellington’s +claret, &c. The pontoons are expected the day after to-morrow. The +twenty-four-pounders are on their march through Gallicia from Corunna. +The eighteen-pounders have passed on by Almeyda from hence. The cavalry +near the coast, whom I caught for a Court-martial at Oporto sending +every witness from Coimbra, have now in part, I understand, passed +Braga. I sent a case yesterday to Lamego, but fear it will be too +late, and must be tried on the march: there are so many little delays, +however, that I may yet be in time. The difficulties now increase. +Lord Wellington and Colonel F—— of the artillery do not agree. Lord +Wellington complains much of the heads of that department. He sent +B—— home some time since, and I now hear F—— is to go to England, and +for the present at least Lieut.-colonel D—— is to have the command. +F—— is much of a gentleman, I think; draws, it is said, very well, +&c., but has a bad memory, is nervous, and raises difficulties, which +I suspect Lord Wellington does not encourage, but expects things to +be done if possible. I am now told that General Pakenham is to act as +Adjutant-general to the army, and supersede Lord Aylmer, the deputy +Adjutant-general, but who has acted hitherto as principal. Every one +speaks most highly of Pakenham. + +_Head-Quarters, Frenada, May 15th, 1813. Saturday._—The first division +of the Guards and Germans left Vizeu for Lamego three days since. The +fifth division have left Lamego, and are marching through the Tras os +Montes. The seventh division have left Maimento, I believe, on the same +route. The sixth have also left Cea. + +When the French, who are still at Salamanca, Arevalo, Avila, Madrid, +&c., hear that we have thus crossed the Douro and turned their +position, they must either assemble and give battle, which I think +they will not do, or they must at once go beyond the Ebro, and then +I suppose we shall attack Burgos, and cross after them. However it +be, I expect a good long march in the outset. The army, however, on +the whole, is in good condition, and never has had so long a repose, +or been so regularly clothed. The sick are reduced to nearly seven +thousand, and will probably be never much less. A very bad report has +been made of the pontoons: they changed the oxen for horses, and these +treated them roughly. The day before yesterday so bad a report was +made of them, that yesterday, when they reached Sabugal, off went Lord +Wellington about twenty-six miles to look at them with his own eyes. I +hear he is glad to know the worst, but that is bad. They are made too +slight, were old and had new bottoms made for them, but now the sides +are very much shaken and decayed. Exaggerated reports have reached us +that the tin covering is knocked in holes, and that the wood of the +sides may be pinched out by the touch in some places. Lord Wellington +may now, however, act accordingly, knowing the worst. They will not +pass this way, it is said, but across by Galegos, a different road +from that taken by the heavy guns, the eighteen-pounders. I now think, +therefore, that the heavy guns will cross towards Lamego by the bridge, +and that the pontoons will be fixed, if at all, further north up the +river. We shall probably cross at Zamora, but cannot tell: it is said +the bridge is not destroyed there. + +On Monday Lord Wellington will review the light division in our +front under General Anson—the 43rd, 52nd, 95th, and the Caçadores +Portuguese,—a very fine body of men. To-morrow he is to fix his tent +in the Praga of Frenada, and will give a dinner to Marshal Beresford, +the 16th being the anniversary of the battle of Albuera. To this I am +asked, though not a military man, and certainly not present on that +fortunate occasion. The town is so full that some encamp; and Captain +M——, who is just arrived here, sleeps and dresses in the ante-room of +the Adjutant-general’s office, where the printing-press is all day at +work, and leaves him a fine perfume of printing-ink at night, besides +the full smell from the stables below, through the open floor, which he +enjoys almost as much as I do myself here in my quarters. The numbers +at head-quarters are so increased that I fear we shall find it very +difficult to get quarters when on the march. We have now Lord William +Russell and Lord John here, the former on Lord Wellington’s staff, the +latter, I believe, as an amateur. We have also Lord March’s brother +in the dragoons, and last, but not least, I can assure you, Captain +Fitzclarence, an immense young man: he is in the Adjutant-general’s +department. + +The first division from Vizeu are, it is said, to be at Braganza about +the 17th. Great part of the army will be there by the 22nd, and by the +same day the second division, under General Hill, from Coria, will be +within seven leagues of Salamanca; yet the 52nd, who to-day are at +Nava da Ver in order to attend the review of the light division at +Espeja, are to return to Guinaldo. + +I have just fallen in with a dozen of the Life Guards, with their brass +helmets, &c. I think before they have lived to October they will have +a very philosophical idea of a vacuum—one pound of bony, lean beef +will occupy but a little of their long stomachs. I suspect our good +allies, the Spaniards, will think that we have sent them a regiment of +Don Quixotes, and the horses from present appearances may in a little +time make no bad Rosinantes. Five or six of these tall, six feet high +men were mounted on mules going to Almedia, to get iron; I pitied them +to-day as they were bargaining for a bit of dear cheese and some dried +chestnuts in the market. They have some spirit, however, and will not +enter the staff mounted corps, a new thing, considering it to be a sort +of police, and declaring that they would rather be police at home as +before than here, if they are to be police at all. This corps of staff +horse is to be two hundred, and to be composed of volunteers from all +regiments. Officers do not hitherto take to it, but very good-looking +men have volunteered in general; none from the hussars, I hear. + +_Monday Evening, 17th._—The dinner yesterday went off famously, very +well managed in the tent, and very comfortable. Lord Wellington was +supported by Marshal Beresford and General Sir Lowry Cole on one +side, and by General Castanos and Sir T. Graham on the other; and +then all the staff of the three Generals, Wimpfen, O’Lalor, Alava, +&c., with the aides-de-camp; the Portuguese Quarter-Master-general, +and other staff, Lord Aylmer, Lord F. Somerset, Marquis of Worcester, +Lord March, and all the heads of departments. Almost all were with +stars, medals, Portuguese orders, or something distinguishing. If I +were in the American General Harrison’s army, perhaps I might get an +honourable mention, like his good friend Charles Walker, the Judge +Advocate-general, who was of such use in the corps of spies. Then +we had Mr. Joe Kelly, of the Life Guards a famous singer, whom I +recognised as having heard at Shrewsbury races, and he gave us some +good songs; and we “hip! hip! hipped!” &c., to the grandees. I was much +entertained at the etiquette observed between the Marshal and General +Castanos, who should go into the tent first: at last they went in side +by side, as other great men have before determined that knotty point. +Castanos seems very easy and good-humoured, and willing to give way, +and even to have a little fun, but he is very old. All the fashionables +were at the review this morning near Espeja, and a very fine sight it +was. Between five and six thousand of the _élite_ of ours, and of the +Portuguese troops; the line near three-quarters of a mile long, two +deep, and they marched in line near half a mile over rough and smooth, +and then changed their front three times, and at last passed in review +admirably. The German hussars, commanded by Colonel Arentsfchild, +were on the right, in excellent style, and beyond them a brigade +of artillery: the day was beautiful, and the scene upon the whole +very striking. Lord Wellington is indefatigable. He goes six leagues +to-morrow another way to Friexada, to review the English hussars, the +10th, &c. He looks, I think, a little fagged and anxious. + +_Guinaldo, May 18th._—On my arrival here at eleven o’clock to attend +the Court-martial, I found the President, General Vandeleur, had +stayed with Lord Wellington to go over to the review, and had sent +an order for the Court to assemble to-morrow, the 19th, instead of +to-day, of which he had forgotten to give me any notice. If we march +on Thursday I shall be at my wit’s end, and it is so provoking to lose +a whole day thus, just at such a moment. He is so hospitable, civil, +and good-humoured, that, though very much inconvenienced, I cannot be +angry. + +The fourth division march from Escuao to-day. The light will, I +suppose, move with us. The second division are now moving along the +Sierras de Francia, the mountains in sight of us here. This air must be +aguish; five of the officers and a great number of the men of the 52nd, +though such fine-looking fellows, are attacked by the ague when doing +no work, and in fine weather. At Frenada most of the sickness was among +the natives. + +Lord Wellington, at the review yesterday, was on one of his new +purchases from General L. C. Stewart. He gave four hundred guineas +for the two, and for this two hundred and fifty—a gentleman who has +gained some plates in England, and has a name. It is a very pretty +animal, but is as troublesome in regard to neighing as my black. +They were answering each other all the morning. Indeed this neighing +gives quite a character to a Spanish review—it is heard more than the +trumpets. I met in my way here about twenty Spanish grenadiers, who, I +understand, were part of a treasure escort. They were very fine men, +and were well clothed. Individually they greatly surpass the Portuguese +in appearance: tall, straight, well-limbed, and with good young +countenances. As to their discipline, or how they will stand, I cannot +say; but such men can only want good officers to do anything. In the +review yesterday, besides the two regiments of Caçadores Portuguese, +there was the 17th of the line Portuguese: they really marched and went +through the evolutions very nearly as well as our own men. The men, +however, are naturally mean, shabby men in general, like the pictures +of the Queen’s family at Frogmore, which you must remember. The +officers look much better than those of the Spaniards, and seem most of +them to know more of their duty. The Spanish men, as men, independent +of discipline, are wonderfully superior to the Portuguese; and yet we +have seen, from want of that knowledge of acting in a mass, and total +mistrust of their leaders, how inferior they have hitherto been. + +The Portuguese people, though they do not talk so well as the +Spaniards, or look so well, have shown much more practical spirit. +When the French passed through the Spanish towns or villages, the +alcalde went to meet them, the people remained quiet, submitted to +the exactions, and the French in general treated them tolerably well +in consequence, for they thus got food and forage. In the Portuguese +villages, on the contrary, when the French last entered Portugal, +almost every inhabitant sacrificed his house and property, and fled, +according to orders; and thus it was that the French were so plagued +and puzzled for food, and provoked to destroy the houses as they did. + +_May 19th, Six o’clock, evening, Head-Quarters, Frenada._—Just returned +from Guinaldo in time for the post. My Court met at twelve. We tried +the man by one o’clock. I wrote the proceedings fair, got them signed, +and here I am, very hungry, and find that every one has dined, for Lord +Wellington began to-day to dine at three o’clock, instead of eight. We +do not march to-morrow, perhaps not till Saturday. + +_Frenada, May 21st, 1813, Friday._—At last, to-morrow morning we all +break up for the march. I go, as a civil department, by the route +enclosed; I shall, therefore, see nothing of the greater part of +head-quarters for a fortnight. Dr. M’Gregor goes my way; but who else +I know not. Indeed Dr. M’Gregor wishes to go to Oporto, and perhaps I +may have the whole road nearly to myself. I am told that the road is +pleasant; at least it is new all beyond Almeida. The light division +is to march to-day. The second are not far from Tamames by this time. +Tamames is, I believe, the military head-quarters on the second day’s +march, the 23rd. The fourth division passed the Douro, I believe, +yesterday; the others have already done so, and in two or three days +the main body of the army will be at Braganza, Outeiro, and Miranda de +Duero; and the light and second divisions and head-quarters on this +side of the Douro. + +Some of Hamilton’s Portuguese in the second division are so ill +supplied, that Lord Wellington has, it is said, threatened the Marshal +to send them in the rear if they be not better clothed and fed. He says +he would rather be without two or three battalions, than have them +in such a state as these are. Indeed, he seems either not quite to +trust the Portuguese, or they cannot be supplied; for he leaves a full +battalion, I hear, at Abrantes, and one or two elsewhere, saying he has +Portuguese enough in proportion. He seems in good spirits, but looks +worn and anxious. The pontoons have crossed the Douro, so now I do not +know where they are to be laid down, unless to let the second and light +divisions and head-quarters pass over, whenever necessary, or to bring +over the others, if the French should collect. + +The French have hitherto always judged of the situation of the main +body of the army by that of head-quarters: they were thus twice taken +in last year. Before the siege of Badajoz, Lord Wellington had moved +away nearly the whole of the army before he stirred, and the whole of +the head-quarters were not protected against two thousand men. This +deceived the French then, and I hope will now, but they are on the +alert; at Salamanca constantly on the _qui vive_, and ready for a +run, &c. The Commissary here has already trusted a man with money to +go and collect forage, &c., at Salamanca, before the French are gone. +Everything is now alive. General Graham, I believe, commands at Miranda +de Duero, or at least will very soon. General Picton has the ague, and +is too ill to take the command of this division yet, but remains with +it. I thought him looking very well; but there is something in this +climate which does not suit the English at all, even when quiet and +living well. The natives have their annual ague fit, and seem to think +it a part of their existence: they are rather unhappy when it does not +come as usual. Lord Wellington’s cars with the heavy baggage are off. + +_Frenada, May 20th, 1813._—Route for the head-quarters of the army. + +The military department will move on the 22nd instant to Ciudad Rodrigo. + + _The Civil Department._ + + May 22nd. Almeida. Depôt of provisions. + ” 23rd. Pinhel. + ” 24th. Cotimos. + ” 25th. Villa Nova de Foscoa. + ” 26th. Torre de Moncorvo. Depôt of provisions. + ” 27th. Halt. + ” 28th. Tornas and Lagouça. + ” 29th. Villa Dalla. + ” 30th. Sendim. + ” 31st. Miranda de Duero. Depôt, &c. + + G. MURRAY, Q. M. G. + + _To the Commandant of + Head-Quarters._ + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + The March commenced—Scenes on the Road—Villa Dalla—Toro—Castro + Monte—Palencia—Prospects of a General Action—Skirmishing—Massa. + + + Head-quarters, Civil Department, + Torre de Moncorvo, May 27, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +We here halt a-day; on the 22nd, about twelve, I arrived at +Almeida—that heap of ruins—and turned out, by the authority of the +Governor, two Portuguese officers, to get one miserable room as my +quarters. Colonel Le Mesurier, the late governor, was too ambitious +a man to remain inactive, shut up in Almeida during a campaign. He +therefore applied for a brigade in the Portuguese service, and, +though he could not obtain it, gave up his government to command a +regiment. I met him at the gate on his way to Miranda de Duero to +join his division. The new Portuguese governor was just moving, but +as he had not yet got into the present government-house he gave us +up all the great stable, which was very good, and he was in every +respect very civil and willing to do the most for us. In my way +here we had no particular adventures. By the aid of the Spaniard in +loading we have much less trouble, and I have always ridden on, and +got a quarter before the baggage arrived. My only companions were the +Paymaster-general, Hunter, and Mr. Whitter, and nine other clerks +with him, and the military chest, &c., and two or three commissariat +parties. The weather has been uniformly fine, and at times very hot. +We have daily been roused at five o’clock, and off at six, but have +nevertheless suffered from the heat, at times very much, before we +arrived at our station. + +On the 23rd we left Almeida and descended to the Coa and passed it by +a very picturesque bridge, rendered more so from one stone arch having +been blown up, and repaired with wood in a rough style. After a mile +of steep ascent, we reached a lofty, rough, level common, in a wild, +uncultivated country, like Dartmoor; with the Sierra d’Estrella on +one side, still partly tipped with snow, and the ridge of hills and +Castello Rodrigo on the other. We passed Valverde,—a complete ruin +now—a village without one roof remaining! I was sorry to hear that +we had begun the destruction of it, and that the Portuguese soldiers +afterwards left very little remaining for the French to do. The next +village, Periero, was pleasingly situated, and we then soon got down +by a river, and observed Pinhel with its old Moorish tower, fort, and +walls, and a bishop’s palace, and a convent adjoining, a league before +us, on the brow of a hill. At Pinhel we were all fixed by the _Juez de +Fores_ in the bishop’s palace, and had a choice of large empty rooms +in this now uninhabited but lately handsome house. It was all tight, +and Mr. Hunter having a table by means of baggage, and tubs for seats, +we fared very well. The stables are magnificent, good ones for thirty +horses, and inferior for sixty horses more. + +At Almeida there was no green forage to be had; we bought small +bundles of grass at about a shilling each in the grass-market for +our animals. At Pinhel we however got an order for green barley from +the Juge, twenty-eight pounds each animal for the day, and they all +fared so luxuriously that my black gentleman was the next day very +troublesome. In the bishop’s palace at Pinhel, the rooms formed a very +handsome suite round a square court in the centre; the hangings, &c., +all removed, but the ceilings ornamented; the rooms well shaped, with +a tolerable garden adjoining; but the house standing exactly like the +Castle Inn at Marlborough, by the road side, at the end of the town. +The water is very bad, a nuisance from which we are, it seems, to +suffer much throughout the summer in Spain. Last year our men were +at times obliged to hold their noses when they drank. At the convent +adjoining the palace, which has been much damaged but not destroyed, +one or two monks still remained, and I met one as I wandered over the +building. He was very civil. The palace is now appropriated as barracks +for officers or troops as they pass. The bishop lives at another, at +Santa Euphemie, a league beyond Pinhel. + +The castle is like all the Moorish castles I have seen here, with the +square smooth towers of well-cut hard stone, as sharp now almost as +when first built. In the castle lying about are four curious specimens +of old cannon, two ribbed, made of beaten iron bars and braced +together; one of them appeared to be hollow at both ends, and solid in +the middle. The other two a sort of mortar, something in the shape of +a very old-fashioned, clumsy earthenware jug, with a sort of handle to +raise and fix it for use. + +At the convent was a small aqueduct of stone pillars across the garden, +to conduct a little stream of water to the monks’ habitations; the +stream was so small in the pipe that you could scarcely see it run at +all, but it was good, and ran constantly all the year, which, as the +only good water was a mile off in the river, was very valuable. + +On the 24th, our party, consisting of the ten paymasters, three +commissaries, and myself, with about fifteen dragoons, and thirty or +forty horses, and about thirty or forty baggage animals, assembled at +five in the morning in the palace-court and marched onwards. + +In less than a league we passed a very pretty village, called, I +believe, Valbom, and in another short league came to Euphemia, another +village, with rather a large but imperfect house where the bishop +resides now; and I believe he was there sitting in his shady colonnade. +In a short time we descended again and crossed the Lamego; here we all +dismounted, and let the animals graze on the banks, whilst we got some +bread and cheese. Half a league further on we turned up out of our +road to Cotimos, our destination for the night. It was a bad village, +but with a few houses formerly good and still tight. Mr. Hunter, Mr. +Whitter, and I, were in a fidalgo’s house, and tolerably comfortable, +though there was only an old woman there, but we had chairs and tables. +We made a great cup with the country wine, brandy, lemons, &c., and +were very well off for a dinner by the purchase of a leveret, eggs and +bacon, and mutton broth. + +On the 25th left Cotimos; and about a league beyond we came to a +much better village, with two or three very good houses, of imposing +appearance. This was directly in our road, and would have been a better +division of the distance. After another league of excellent road we +passed Marialva, half a league on our left, a village, with another +Moorish castle. After another half league we came to the entrance of +a long winding descent of a mile and a half, which brought us into a +pretty vale, with another Moorish castle on the hill on our left; and +there we again ate and the animals grazed in the meadows near a little +stream. Thence we had a league and a half of excessively steep hill +to ascend until we got on the high level where stands Villa Nova de +Foscoa; this ascent at near one o’clock was tremendously hot work, and +very difficult for the baggage. + +We here began to get into the army train. About twenty hospital waggons +were encamped on the hill near the town, and two troops of the waggon +train; and near them were about eighty ox-cars with bales of cloth done +up in a sort of sacks to fill with straw for hospital beds, &c. We here +got good quarters and tolerable fare. + +On the 26th, leaving Villa Nova, we began immediately to descend a +winding road to the Douro; this was very fine, one of the best things I +had seen here. + +I was off as soon after sunrise as possible to pass the ferry before +the military chest. I got down to the bank and found about eighty cars +drawn up to pass with ammunition, boards, planks, and beams, for the +repair of bridges, &c. Two at a time crossed in one boat; and there +was another for mules, &c. I stopped some Portuguese; and having +waited an hour for the baggage, who had loitered on the road when I +left them, we at last got on board this platform as close as we could +stick.—Mr. Hunter, and six other gentlemen, about a dozen servants, +seven stallions, three mares, and six loaded baggage mules. After some +kicking and confusion, we landed safely, and after a league of ascent +arrived at Torre de Moncorvo. Both banks of the river were covered on +the sides of the road with parties of artillery or baggage grazing, +&c.; some bivouacking, and others in camp. The scene was interesting, +except that I regretted the obligation of cutting so much of the corn +for green forage just as it was becoming ripe. + +Here we found the same scene in all the environs; parties picketed and +bivouacking, and more artillery drivers; quarters very moderate; but +shops very decent; the town not destroyed, for the French have never +been here. + +The great number of troops which have been quartered here on the march +has cleared most of the shops, and injured many of the buildings; even +here we cannot buy anything except honey, sugar, bacon, bread, and +cheese. The convent of Franciscans above the town is nearly entire, and +has two tolerable pictures—the altarpiece, and one in the refectory, +by Romano, the monks said, and from the style it may be so. There are +some houses here with the furniture remaining; that of the Capitan +Mor (the head inhabitant, and a colonel of militia) has painted coved +ceilings, and apricot-coloured silk hangings, with old-fashioned wooden +chairs and sofas, with bottoms to match the hangings. The church also +is handsome. The town is surrounded by hills like Bath, and yet we +ascended to it three miles from the Douro. I saw also something like +a female to-day, a smart, pretty Lisbon miss going to church—quite a +curiosity; and so, I believe, the inhabitants think. My old patrona (or +landlady) here came to tell me to look out of the window, as “The Lady” +was going by. + +_Head-Quarters, Civil Department, Villa Dalla, May 29th, 1813._—On the +27th, the night before I marched from Torre de Moncorvo, we had some +heavy rain, which cooled the air, laid the dust, and made our journey +onwards much more agreeable. + +On the 28th, the road to Lagouça was very rough and hilly, and the +distance four long leagues. The country is fine; the distance very +like parts of Somersetshire and Devonshire in its general features, +but the valleys are less rich, and there are some large pine-woods on +the hills. About half way we passed Carvacies, a large village; and +at the end of four leagues, Tornas, a poor place, where we had the +option of stopping, but preferred Lagouça. A part of the staff corps +were encamped near the pine-wood, with several cars and materials for +bridges. They are, I understand, about to lay down a bridge somewhere +on the Douro, very near that part, as a safe retreat in case of +accidents. + +At Lagouça I got a tolerable quarter, and bed, at the padre’s. House +dirty only. I found books which he could not understand, and I believe +never looked at. There was the ‘Recopilacion of the Spanish Laws,’ a +book of authority in Spain. He asked me if it was mine—the authority +I acted from; had I known how to carry it I would have bargained with +him for it. There was also a Horace, Bourdaloue’s Sermons in Spanish, +and a few other sermons. He gave me some wine, and was very civil; and +honestly sent after me something that I left behind. + +Within a mile of Lagouça, but out of the main road, you look down on +the Douro, which runs down in a deep rocky chasm, very fine and wild, +with a very picturesque convent, which was once Mas Bonito, half way +down on the Spanish side of the river, and the Spanish town of Miesa +above. The French had long been at these places, and had much injured +the convent; but had never got over, as there is only one little bark; +and the brave Portuguese had a sort of battery. The scene was very fine. + +To-day (the 29th) I started again after breakfast (but before six +o’clock, being always called at four) for this place. The road was in +general good, though rather hilly and in parts boggy. We passed to +the left of Brosa; to the right of Majaduero, and near two or three +other villages. The country is finer, and still more approaching +Somersetshire. I have here, at Villa Dalla, got a decent quarter in a +great farm-house, where there are five or six beds about my room, which +has, however, only a door, no window or ceiling. In winter I should +have been starved; it is now well enough. I got a table and chairs, +and have bought one small fowl for a dollar, and two little chickens, +nearly as big as pigeons, all bone, for half a dollar. We get eggs, +and sometimes milk; and though this country has never seen the French, +the houses do not seem quite in a state of English repair. The whole +road is covered with marks of the encampments of troops, &c. The back +of the village Lagouça was just like a drawing of an Otaheite village, +and not much better, with bad thatch instead of tile, the general roof. +The villages, however, are numerous, and much more populous than in the +other parts of Portugal I have seen, and rather cleaner, being nearer +Spain. There was bread from Zamora in the market at Lagouça regularly +for sale. + +_Miranda de Duero, May 30th._—I came on here to-day a very long +journey, meaning to have two days’ rest, but found Lord Wellington’s +head-quarters had passed through here this morning; that his lordship +left Salamanca yesterday, and was to be six leagues off in advance, +near the Esla, to-day, the 30th. The French absolutely ran away, near +Salamanca, and a small party were taken. Spanish head-quarters here +to-day, and all in confusion. + +_Head-Quarters, Toro, June 3rd, 1813._—A day’s halt will enable me to +give you a few lines to let you know how we go on. The day I sent my +last from Miranda de Duero (May 30th), I learnt that head-quarters +were to be that day and the next at Carbajales, near the Esla, to +superintend one great object of the movement, the passage of the Esla, +a formidable river in a military point of view. Fearing to be left +behind, though without orders, I determined to march again the next +morning (31st), at four, six long leagues to Carbajales. I tried to +find the nearest road, the longest being round by Constantia, and, +though the best, I did not wish to go above a league out of my way. My +directions were to pass Yal d’Aguia, Aldea Nova, Fonfrio, and Vermilho. +I got right to near Fonfrio and then, through a wrong direction given +me by a little miss who sent me by mistake for Carvajosa, I found +myself two leagues out of my way at Pino, and had to cross straight +over the country for Vermilho. The consequence was that I arrived +late and tired at Carbajales, where head-quarters still remained, and +at last got a very bad quarter there, but a good stable, which General +Graham had just left. + +In the evening of the 30th I went down part of the way to see the ferry +over the Douro at Miranda. The scenery was very fine, and very like +that at Lagouça; the river very deep and narrow, running violently +through a chasm of rocks not unlike Chedder cliffs in Somersetshire; +and the little ferry-boat almost invisible from above the road down and +up above three miles, though the real distance across seems not above +a quarter of a mile. Lord Wellington and a part of the staff only came +over there. Heavy baggage, printing-press, &c., were left with the +light division near Salamanca. + +In my way to Carbajales, the road I kept near the Douro towards Aldea +Nova was very picturesque, but bad. For the rest of the way the road +became better, but the country was ugly, like Bagshot Heath, only +with several villages—and the mountains in Gallicia, still tipped +with snow, on our left, or nearly behind us. The morning of the day I +got to Carbajales (the 31st), the pontoon bridge was placed, and made +passable on the Esla, in less than three hours. The Hussars passed a +bad ford of above four feet water and bad bottom early in the day to +protect this operation, and two divisions of the army passed before +night and encamped. Lord Aylmer, who had forded in the morning to go +over and look about him, found the bridge ready, and the troops passing +as he returned. These were the pontoons which had travelled up from +Lisbon, and had been the cause of so much anxiety. About nine of them +were used, and the river about the width of the Thames at Windsor. This +being the state of things, the orders were to have all head-quarters’ +baggage down at the water-side by six, and to get them over before the +other troops should arrive and the guns. As I had got into a quarter +with Spaniards, and they were lazy, I had some trouble to get mine +off, but succeeded at last, and afterwards rode with Lord Aylmer. + +We soon fell into the train of head-quarters’ baggage, the whole of the +eighteen-pounders with their ammunition, &c., and one hundred and sixty +oxen and their spare horses; and also the whole of the fourth division +of the army—a train of three miles length in the whole. The scene +presented by the winding down the hill to the bridge, and the order +with which everything was managed, and the winding up the opposite +bank, was very interesting. We passed about eight o’clock, baggage and +all, and the guns and two more divisions of the army were safely over +before five o’clock in the evening, with baggage, &c. We then had about +three more leagues of a Bagshot Heath road, sand and pines, until we +suddenly came in sight of Zamora and the Douro. The latter is here +about as wide as the Thames at Kew Bridge, rather wider—more perhaps +as it is at Fulham. It winds along a large plain on the south side +under the ridge of higher ground to the north, on which, boldly and +well-placed, stands Zamora with its Moorish church. + +The town pleased me much. It is nearly the size of Salamanca, and +having been much less destroyed, is, at present quite as good a town: +the convents alone have suffered and been gutted. Some of the French +had not left the place until the very morning our troops entered; the +greater part, however, went off the night before. The castle was rather +strong, and would, if defended, have delayed us two or three days, +but the garrison would have been sacrificed. It was fitted up very +regularly in the inside by the French for troops, places appropriated +for everything, with the names inscribed. There was also a large +foundling hospital, and a general hospital for the poor. In the former +were only about ten or twelve babies, and about sixteen children, for +they had now scarcely any funds. Nearly opposite was the general +hospital, with much space and good wards, but not above six or eight +sick, partly from the same reasons, and partly because the French had +only left the people the use of one small ward, and the room of the +intendant, and occupied the rest with their sick and wounded. They had +also now in this last retreat carried off all the linen, &c., and only +left bedsteads and bedding. They had not, however, done any wanton +mischief in Zamora when they left it this time. + +The bridge is handsome, but in our retreat last year we blew up the +centre arch out of about a dozen; it had been repaired since with wood. +This the French had burnt, on the 30th, but by to-day it is repaired +and passable. The people received us very cordially, scattered roses +over our heads, cried _viva_, &c., and hung all their counterpanes and +the hangings of their rooms out of the windows. The lady at my quarters +embraced me, and was very kind, but—she was old. There was another like +a plump Englishwoman, to whom I passed on the compliment. + +The people entertained Lord Wellington and the staff with a concert, +lemonade, and ices, &c. The former did not admire the time lost in +singing psalms to him, as he said. I met him in the evening, in his +Spanish uniform, riding down to the bridge to give directions. In the +morning he was on one side of the pontoon bridge, and Marshal Beresford +on the other. I almost knocked myself up running about to see Zamora, +for we were to march again next morning. I could not attend a little +dance given by Lord Wellington in the evening, and except for the iced +lemonade should have been in a fever. A thunder-storm in the evening +cooled the air, and a good bed made me ready again to march for this +place (Toro), five long leagues, the next morning, June 2nd. The French +having left Toro on the 1st of June, it became an object to take +possession, and open a communication with the light division, and the +second from Salamanca. + +The road was admirable; a flat sandy level, by the river nearly all the +way, until we came to the ascent on which the town of Toro is placed, +standing still more boldly over the river than Zamora. The only village +we passed, and that a poor one, was Fresno; but we saw several on our +left, and across the river in the flat on our right. + +Toro is very old, surrounded by ruined mud walls, and though it covers +much ground has not many good houses, and is not to be compared to +Zamora; there is, however, a market, with a little mutton and beef, +and vegetables, pork, eggs, &c. The Moorish church here is much +smaller than at Zamora, though that is not very large; there are a few +tolerable pictures in both. The castle here is stronger than the one at +Zamora, and appears almost new: it stands on the hill above the bridge, +and is rather formidable. The two centre arches of this bridge had been +blown up by us, repaired by the French with wood, burnt again by them +now, and is now being repaired again by us. + +We passed, two miles from hence, the sixth division and the seventh, +taking up their encamping ground on a fine meadow by the river side, +near a small wood. It was a very lively scene, the men marching with +music, and as regular, without any disorder or loiterers, as if going +to a review; the whole in high order. Yesterday evening the light +division arrived from a place within three leagues of Salamanca, a +march of nearly eight leagues, and encamped in a meadow near the water +side, close to the bridge and ford opposite this town: they only left +six men behind in their march. This morning the horse, the baggage, and +the artillery, have all come over, passing by the ford; and though it +is both wide and deep, I believe without accident, except wet baggage. +The infantry crossed by ladders across the breach in the bridge—that +is, down one side, then up the other—one by one. They encamp at Morales +to-day. This was also a very interesting and animating scene from the +hill, which is a humble imitation of Richmond Hill in point of beauty. + +The Hussars have commenced famously; they brought into Zamora an +officer of the 16th (French), and about thirty prisoners, whom +they dashed at, and knocked over in fine style, with little loss. +The officer came in here prisoner on horseback, which offended the +Spaniards, who were disposed to insult the prisoners, whom they dared +not fight, and who had been with them now nearly four years or more. + +Yesterday the Hussars again came up with the 16th French cavalry and +some others; the latter had only a small bridge to pass which would +only carry four abreast. Two squadrons of the 10th formed and charged; +the French stood at first well, but were broken, and then formed again. +The 10th formed, charged again, and again broke the French; the latter +then still made another effort, but at last ran for the bridge. The +10th killed a few, and brought about a hundred and ninety prisoners in +here; no horses were taken. Twelve or fifteen men badly wounded were +left about two miles off, where it happened. Several of those who came +in here were much cut and wounded, covered with blood, wounds neither +washed nor dressed; but they were fine-looking men; their horses thin, +and smaller than ours. Another officer was taken, to whom I spoke. +He said he had advised that they should not remain on this side the +bridge, but his superior officer ordered otherwise, and afterwards ran +away when attacked. We lost a Captain, who was taken prisoner, and a +Lieutenant killed, both of the 10th; and about five or six men killed +and wounded. The Captain passed some way over the bridge, where the +French had artillery and infantry in force, and they came down and cut +him off. + +The French had yesterday, I hear, nearly ten thousand men about five +miles off, and nearly thirty-eight thousand or more in the vicinity of +Valladolid. This made us halt to-day. The second division are still +between this and Salamanca, but are expected. The whole are now within +eight leagues of this, I believe; most of the divisions very close. The +Spaniards are near Benevente: Don Julian’s cavalry, between this and +Salamanca, have sent in about thirty prisoners and two officers here +to-day, who were marauding, I suppose. The French told the people here +that they were only moving to make room for other troops. + +The Portuguese troops are generally in very high order, as well as +ours, quite as well clothed, and hitherto well in health, though they +bivouac when ours encamp, their Government not furnishing them with +tents. Yesterday was a pleasant cool day for a long march. I met Lord +Wellington again last night, walking about in his grey great coat +alone. We have a hundred pieces of field artillery with us, besides the +eighteen-pounders. + +A French commissariat party were caught in a wine-house on the 1st of +June; one was brought in prisoner, and nine were killed in the house, +as they would not surrender. + +Lord Wellington reviewed the sixth and seventh divisions near Morales +to-day. They did not perform well, and the poor aides-de-camp were +galloped all over the country in consequence: the Portuguese were +stupid. + +_Head-Quarters, Castro Monte, June 5th, 1813._—On the 3rd, we started +for La Mota, three long leagues of good road. I was late, for my +careless fellows had allowed one of the mule-saddles to be stolen in +the night, and we were a long time getting off in consequence, and +vainly endeavouring to replace the loss; but upon the whole, when I +hear of all the sore backs, lost animals, &c., around me, I am lucky. I +looked at the two hundred French cavalry horses which were sold, with a +view to purchase one, but they were all half-starved, and the service +having seized upon the best hundred and fifty for Government, the +remainder, which were sold by auction, were most miserable. + +The road from Toro was full of animation: it was one train of baggage +and soldiers the whole way, three leagues, as we are now in the midst +of the division. La Mota is a very good, large farming village, +in a productive corn country, and the quarters were very good in +consequence, the inhabitants being comfortable; the French, however, +who had left it the day before, had carried off all the bread and +fowls, &c. My landlord, Don Fernando Granado, was very gracious to +me. Lord Wellington was in a large and elegant palace of the Duke of +Berwick and Alva, and, in order to celebrate the King’s birthday, had +the band playing, &c. + +At five this morning we marched for this place, three long leagues +again only. It is a miserable hole; with only eighty houses of all +sorts, and we require a hundred billets. Several are doubled up, +several are encamped, which, as we have now a thunder-storm and rain, +is not very agreeable. I have an humble quarter, with mules and all +close. + +We had a hot but cheerful ride to-day, as we were in the midst of the +march. I first passed the Household Brigade; the Blues look very well, +the Life Guards fair enough; then the third division, then the fourth, +the seventh; I saw also the light division; five are within a league of +this. The second crossed the Douro yesterday, and are to-day about a +league on our right, under General Hill. I saw Picton with his, looking +tolerably well. The French left Madrid the 20th or 28th of May, +finally, and have by forced marches joined their army near here. The +French were off again yesterday from Valladolid and Tordesillas, and +were to be to-day at Duennas; it is thought they may stand at Palencia, +or near there; I suspect not, however, though we all wish they would, +and fight whilst our men are in health and spirits. I have just heard +that their right is at Placencia. + +To-morrow we move for Amputia, a good town, it is said, five leagues +off. On our road to-day, about half way, we passed one of the +finest convents in Spain—La Espina—in ruins; situation good, domain +considerable; a large building, handsome, as far as it remains, but +the walls only are standing. Adieu: I shall finish and send this off +to-morrow. + +_Amputia, 2 o’clock, 6th June._—I arrived here at ten, having left +Castro Monte at half-past five, and seen my baggage off, after +breakfast; of course I was up soon after three. The road was by a +bye-way over the common, but tolerably good, and covered with troops +and baggage the whole way, for the third, fourth, and light divisions +of infantry, with their baggage and artillery, head-quarters, the +Household Brigade, and the Hussars were all on our route, and passed in +their way; they are now in this neighbourhood. + +We passed Villa Alba de Alcor, three leagues further; an old ruined +village rather, with a castle and walls all around, but nothing +particular; after that Villa Real, a little village, and then here. +This is a large old-fashioned town, with the houses in the streets +projecting, and standing on wooden pillars, so as to form covered +footways, a tolerably large church, and a castle nearly perfect, +where our police corps and the cavalry are quartered. The people are +apparently more cordial and zealous. I have been over the church, spire +and all, and castle, and have taken two sketches, for the rain has +made it rather cool and pleasant to-day. The country round this town +onwards, towards Sahagun, Placencia, &c., is a dead flat, covered with +villages and towns, but no trees. Another large castle on a hill, half +a league off, and on the whole rather striking. + +The French left Palencia the day before yesterday, and are off again +in advance, with a good start. Report says they have also left Burgos +town, not the castle; they are seventy thousand strong, but think us, +we hear, too much for them, and are consequently retiring to strong +positions. By very long marches we might perhaps press them, and take +some prisoners, and part of the cattle and provisions they are carrying +off; but this might put our army out of the high order and condition it +is now in, and Lord Wellington does not seem to think this worth while +for such an object. So the Hussars and Household are both kept quiet +in this neighbourhood, and not sent in pursuit; indeed they could do +little without strong support. + +_Head-Quarters, Amusea, June 9th, 1813._—Another halt to-day enables me +to proceed with my journal. The night I sent my last from Amputia, our +orders were to have all the baggage ready to start, at the end of the +town, by five o’clock on the following morning; and that I should fall +in, and proceed on the road towards Palencia, in the rear of the column +of the third division, but at the head of the baggage of all the light, +third, and fourth divisions. This was because the French had shown +twelve squadrons of cavalry at Palencia; and Colonel Waters who went +on there that day, could not enter, so that it was not certain that it +should be safe to give out in orders, “head-quarters, Palencia.” The +cavalry had marched early; and as they entered one end of Palencia at +about six in the morning, the last of the French were off at the other. + +I passed the third and fourth divisions, went through Paradilla, and +entered Palencia with the light division. On getting my billet, I +wandered about to see all that was to be seen before my baggage came. +The city is old and curious, in size much about the same as Zamora. +Lord Wellington passed us on the road soon after six, and went on +through Palencia, some way, to reconnoitre. + +We passed through a good open corn country until about a league beyond +Paradilla, and then descended a long hill, with a deep clay soil, into +the green and rich valley in which Palencia stands. The city appears +to great advantage surrounded with meadows, and some trees, but mostly +young ones. The Carrion is a respectable river, and we passed the canal +near it, about half a mile from the city, where a very considerable +paper manufactory remains unfinished; and the French having taken down +windows, mill-wheels, &c., for firing and shelter in their huts for +their bivouacs there the day before, the work will, I take it, be for +some time interrupted. + +The bridges into Palencia were handsome and entire. The streets are +rather narrow, and the main one, the “Calle Mayor,” about a good +half-mile long, contains about three hundred houses, all old-fashioned, +and standing upon stone tall pillars over the footway, on each side, +with the shops under, like Covent Garden. The houses are in the old +style, like Exeter, or Chester, and Geneva; the streets badly paved, +with a most offensive gutter in the middle; the whole dirty. The +bishop’s palace is a large, plain, neat stone edifice, quite modern, of +1799, being built round a square, complete only on one side and a half +however, the rest being bare walls. + +The cathedral is Gothic and very handsome, the arches lofty and rich; +but the custom all over Spain of having the choir in the centre, with +very high double screens, deprives you altogether of the fine main +aisle, so magnificent in our churches. This spoils the effect, though +the screens and sides of the choir in the centre were most richly +wrought, with Gothic masonry, like some of our monuments of Henry +VIIth’s time. The side-aisles above are left open, and as there is a +range of chapels the whole way down each side, and at the end, filled +with gildings, saints, and pictures, the whole striking. There were +also a few good pictures. + +I afterwards went to the top of the spire, to survey the town, +villages, and roads around. On my return, I was sorry to find orders to +march again for this place, Amusea, next morning. + +The town was all hung with counterpanes on our arrival, which made it +look gay, and the people cheered us much. The general cry, however, is +everywhere, “_Viva Espana!_” though there is scarcely a Spaniard to be +seen in our line of march. Now and then, however, we hear, “_Vivan los +Ingleses!_” and “_Los Portugueses!_” or “_Las tres naciones aliadas!_” +The Portuguese are in the highest order, the men really look at least +equal to ours, better than some; the officers are well dressed and gay, +and have the advantage of language; the infantry and the Caçadores +in particular. The whole army marches very fresh hitherto, but the +Portuguese in particular: they come in even to the last mile singing +along the road. The cavalry are not nearly so good, and, I suppose, are +not much to be trusted. From what passed last year near this place, +when they turned short round and ran away, they are called the Vamuses, +for they ran off with a general cry of “Vamus!” Their infantry are +termed Valorosas, from their having hugged and cheered each other early +in the war, when they had for the first time behaved well and beat off +the French, each patting the other on the heart, and saying, “_Mucha +valorosa!—Mucha valorosa!_” + +I hope the latter will support their name; and indeed they are disposed +to do so, for we have put so much beef into both men and officers, +that they are quite different animals, and will not submit at all to +what they used to do, even from the English. + +Our horses finished the half-eaten meal of the French, and I believe +that has been all they have left behind for us hitherto; not a store of +any kind, sick man, or anything else, has been discovered at Valladolid +or anywhere; they must have been well-prepared for this plan. + +The young avenues of trees round the town suffered a little by the +French bivouac; and our men laid waste many a field of wheat in their +march and for forage. The former is particularly wrong, being quite +unnecessary, and merely to save perhaps a few hundred yards, or to get +before others a little. I was glad to see General Picton stop a party, +and about to punish them on the spot. The taking the wheat for forage +is also very bad, for the commissaries regularly buy a field at each +place, and allow us to take each our proportion, cutting the whole +fairly and properly; whereas the fellows who go and steal, cut patches +all about, and tread down more than they cut. + +King Joseph left Torquemados, three leagues on the right, the day +before yesterday, and it is said, peeped in again afterwards. The last +French troops left it yesterday at five in the morning, and I believe +General Hill’s head-quarters were there afterwards from Duennas. +Castanos and his Spaniards are on our left all the way; they came by +Benevente across the Esla and so towards Carrion. Their head-quarters +were yesterday, I believe, at Villoldo, on our left. The Life-Guards +and Blues looked well on their entrance into Palencia, and on their +march yesterday the former, however, seem dull and out of spirits, +and have some sore backs among their horses. The Blues seem much more +up to the thing, but they are neither of them very fit for general +service here. Lord Wellington saves them up for some grand coup, houses +them when he can, and takes care of them. To be sure, if many of the +French cavalry are like some specimens we have seen, particularly two +deserters yesterday, who were on ponies I could almost jump over, one +of our Householders must upset them like an elephant, if they come +fairly in contact. + +A French officer, a deserter (the third officer), came in two days +since, with a pretty woman, daughter of a General, with him; he calls +her his wife. Another starved scullion came here yesterday, and says he +is an officer, and has some papers, but I think he stole them. He is a +little dirty beast, in rags and without uniform. The cavalry who have +been taken and deserters are quite new-clothed, and the men very fine; +the last who has come in is a Fleming, and had they not persuaded him +to enter our corps of guides, I should have taken him as a groom, and +bought his pony. + +Tamarra, a village a league from this, was deserted by the inhabitants, +with their provisions; the French, in consequence, made an example +of it, and it is as bad as the Portuguese villages now, almost a +heap of ruins. Indeed, all the houses and villages on the high road +to Torquemada have suffered terribly, and the villages generally are +now becoming worse, more dirty, and _à la Portuguese_. I hear this is +now the case all round Burgos, and till we get across the Ebro, if we +are destined to do this. We are eleven leagues now from Burgos. The +weather has been cool and excellent for the march this last week, and +rain often in the night; it has now rained the last sixteen hours, +and I hope will be fine again for the march to-morrow. I dined with +Lord Wellington yesterday, for the first time on the march, and gave +him your Roman Catholic book, with the lists of their schools and +establishments in England. He looks well, but anxious, as you may +suppose just now, for a false step may be fatal. All prospers hitherto. +The eighteen-pounders are near, the twenty-fours still at Corunna, +and if wanted will, I suppose, go round by sea to St. Andero. For the +present, adieu. + +_June 11th, Head-Quarters, Castrogores._—The church at Amusea is +large and handsome: a room 150 feet by 50, and 70 feet high, without +a pillar, and the whole end one mass of gilding. Yesterday morning, +after the violent rains of our halting day, we started at five on a +fine day, the roads in a terrible state, for Mergan de Fernamental, +head-quarters, on the 10th, five long leagues. Our way was near the +noble canal, and through Pino (one league), a large village. From +thence another league through Fromista, a larger place; then another +league to Requena: then another to Lantidillo, where we crossed the +Pisuerga over a large bridge, left entire; and then after another long +league, Mergan de Fernamental. + +The country was flat, and rich in corn, meadows, &c., nearly all the +way, but low and boggy, and a hard march for men and baggage, &c.; +mine started at five, and did not arrive till about two. There were +villages thickly set all around us, and all with large churches. The +latter, compared with ours, are very much superior, considering the +size of the places: all possess a considerable church of rather curious +construction, and all somewhat different, though in general appearance +alike. The church at Mergan was particularly handsome, and more like +our Saxon at Gloucester and Tewkesbury. It had some decent pictures, so +indeed have several of the quarters, though perhaps not very valuable. +Many are to be bought very cheap, and I should have purchased some, had +I known how to carry them home. + +At Mergan we were in the right road for Reynosa and St. Andero, and the +first division were two leagues in advance the same way. I conjectured +we were going to open a communication with St. Andero, and to cross +the Ebro as soon as the French from Burgos, and thus turn them. There +seems now, however, to be a change of plan, as to-day we are come three +leagues here, nearly in the right road again for Burgos, which we had +before left on our right. Here we have fallen in with General Hill’s +division, who are now within half a league of this place. We are thus +all now quite close together, and report says that the French have +united their army of the north to the rest, and are now between this +and Burgos eighty thousand strong, about four leagues distant. + +They thus seem to make a stand here, and we are, probably, assembled +in case they should persist, but many think it is still only a plan to +make us assemble and draw up, to see what we have, and also to give +time for their baggage and plunder, oxen, &c., to withdraw without +loss: time will show. The sooner the battle comes for us the better, I +think: and so do most, but it will be more tremendous, probably, than +any hitherto fought in Spain. The numbers now approach those of the +great continental armies on both sides, and we are at least equal, if +you reckon all that are well dressed and ought to fight on our side; as +to the Spaniards, hitherto we must put a query to that. Don Julian’s +cavalry have sent in about forty or fifty infantry stragglers of the +French, and have killed a dozen or more,—about fifty or sixty in all; +several with bad pike or lance wounds. + +Mergan is a very dirty old town, but this town, Castrogores, though +larger, and the quarters better, is in that respect much worse; the +streets so offensive, that you must hold your nose in passing through +them, and everything about the place filthy. We passed the German +hussars in quarters half a league off on our way here, and crossed the +line of march of the light and fourth divisions, meeting General Hill’s +army on our arrival here. + +The scene is now very animated. This place is above a mile long, round +the bottom of an insulated hill, with a castle at the top of it, which +looks over a rich country for some way to a ridge of hills which bound +the whole, about a league off; trees, however (except just round a few +quintas or villas, and about the several ruins of the old monasteries), +are very scarce; corn most luxuriant, but not much forwarder than with +us in England. Weather, hitherto, scarcely at all too hot, and that +only for a few hours; at times very cold. Lord Wellington has gone +through again on in front. + +_Castrogores, June 12th._—As we halt here to-day, instead of marching +to Eglesia, as was intended, I determined to finish this, and seal +up to-day for Lisbon. Colonel A——, of the German hussars, told me +that he saw about two or three thousand French cavalry the day before +yesterday, but they filed off as we came in sight. Colonel Waters went +on yesterday to within a league of Burgos. He only saw about fifteen +thousand French in a valley near there, near Quinta della Duennas. They +were about to march, and the reports are that they are off again, and +the whole of the second division of General Hill’s army have advanced +hence this morning. They began at daylight, and about eight o’clock +the Spaniards began to file by, just below my house. This was General +Murillo’s corps: I went down to look at them. There were about ten +regiments, I think, but most of them small ones. The men looked very +well, though a great many were quite boys. They were singing, joking, +and in good spirits: the artillery with them in good order, the draft +mules quite fat. The clothing and equipments of some very good, though +unequal to ours, or to the Portuguese; others moderate only. They wore +a sort of flannel jacket and trousers not at all alike, and some were +ragged, here and there a man barefoot,—very few; all with good caps, in +the French style, and the officers more respectable than usual, and +generally mounted; some very fierce-looking pioneers, fine grenadiers, +and all with good English town muskets in good order, brighter than +our own, being, most probably, nearly new: in short, the whole was +respectable. If they will but fight as well as they look, it will do. +Doyle’s regiment was one of the best; but the very best, I think, was +the Regimento del Unione. + +General Alava, the Spanish great man at head-quarters, is in high +spirits, thinks all going on well, and is beginning to ask one or two +to dine with him at his mansion near Vittoria, where his estates lie. +He only begs that he may have a guard to preserve his green forage +from our soldiers. The Spaniards are astonished at our baggage. The +French carry very little, as they make the people at the quarters +furnish everything they want, which is not so much as we require. We +carry everything with us. An English captain, therefore, has (plunder +excepted) almost as much baggage as a French colonel. Barley is +already scarce, and not to be bought, though we pay in guineas. Bread +is also scarce, as well as beef. I hope soon to hear through St. +Andero, but the French have Castro and Santona. We still have reports +that the works at Burgos are being destroyed; it may be so, if the +French resolve to go to the Ebro, for the garrison will otherwise be +sacrificed. We have only six eighteen-pounders, about the same as last +year; the twenty-fours are at Corunna. This will not do for the siege +well, and I hope that will not be necessary. For the last thirty miles +and more the style of the houses has changed. They are generally now +mud or cob walls, like those in Devonshire, whitewashed, but not in the +best repair, or else they are unburnt brick, or dried mud bricks with +mud plaster. + +_Miserable Head-Quarters at Massa, June 14th, 1813._—The regular +English post-day was yesterday, but I had not time to write then, and +as it is ten to one but that this will be in time for the same packet, +though you will have, I hope, a long letter by the same mail, yet, +wishing to give you the latest news from hence, and to let you know the +events which have occurred, I write again. + +At four o’clock on the 12th, as I told you, Lord Wellington had not +returned from the front when my last letter was sent off. He came back +at seven o’clock; he and his horse and his comrades well tired. The +enemy were found about fifteen thousand strong, two leagues south-west +nearly of Burgos, with cavalry and artillery. We had up the hussars +(heavy), and General Fane’s brigades of cavalry. Manœuvring went on a +considerable time with skill. Our infantry could not get up in force +in time, or much would have been done. We had a gun, however, close to +a French column, and killed a few. We also took an officer and about +ninety men prisoners, some desperately wounded, and one gun. A charge +of cavalry was ordered, but the French moved off. + +There seems to be considerable confusion at times in the intermixture +of the French and English. The light divisions were at hand; the +second near with the Spaniards, but not up. The Prince of Orange +galloped about well, with orders; he knocked up his horse, and was in +some danger. Lord March met a French dragoon, took him till he came +close for an English soldier, turned short round, was struck at by +the Frenchman, and his horse slightly hit below the ear: in short, +something material was very nearly happening. + +The next day (the 13th) we had orders to march to Villa Diego, where +head-quarters were yesterday; a dirty place, but quarters tolerable. +The country between is rich and good, and covered with villages. We +passed, among others, Ormillos, Villa Sandine at a distance, and +Sasamon, in perfect ruin; the whole place, church and all, both of +considerable extent and size, having been burnt by Romana and his army +for some real or supposed treason. The destruction was certainly well +performed; the punishment severe, and very impartially inflicted. The +next place we came to, which had been a very neat village, was nearly +in the same state, from the same cause. Villa Diego was nearly six or +seven leagues from Burgos. Lord Wellington, &c., went round that way, +to see how matters went on. They could not find any French, and at last +ascertained that the works, castle, &c., of Burgos, had been all blown +up and destroyed by five o’clock yesterday morning. This news caused no +little joy to every one, and most particularly to those who expected +to have to knock their heads against the place. Many good lives have +thus been saved. This news met us about four o’clock yesterday, and in +consequence to-day we had a long march to this place, Massa, on our way +to the Ebro. + +We shall probably nearly all get across about the same time; I think +French and all. Some of the Spanish army of Gallicia pass to-day up +towards Reynosa. The first division do the same to-day or to-morrow. We +met one cavalry brigade on their road to cross at St. Martine to-day. +General Murray told me that we should probably cross to-morrow; but +I find we are here five leagues from a bridge or ford. The first two +leagues here to-day were through a productive country like Wiltshire; +round smooth chalk hills, well-watered meadows, and rich pasture +valleys, with abundance of grass: draining and better farming, with +cleanliness, were all requisite. We then entered a rough, wild country, +with rocks, &c. We nearly all lost our way, including General Murray, +the Quarter-Master-general, with whom I was riding, Lord Wellington +himself, and nearly all the baggage! We were near a place called +Brulla, ought to have passed Cuirculo, near Urbel de Castro, whereas +we got through a rugged pass in the rock, came down to a picturesque +village, called La Piedra (so called, probably, from the rocks around +it), and there we fell in with the fifth division. At last, after +passing another little space called Fresnoy, and leaving Urbel de +Castro, in a valley on our right, with a curious small castle on a +pointed hill close to it (from whence the name), we arrived at this +wretched place. The houses in this place would not in any way hold half +of us; so the Spaniards have been sent back to Fresnoy, the artillery, +commissaries, paymasters, and doctors to Vilalda, or some such place, a +league off. + +I was forgotten, but have, from there being one spare quarter, got a +wretched dirty hole here: it is the worst of dirty cottages. My baggage +is all in the entrance. I have no place but a dirty passage to put up +my bed in; I have a table and chair, but am surrounded by baskets, +hampers, tubs, boxes, sheepskins, dirt, &c. Cobwebs and dirt are +dropping upon me continually. Most have encamped. Lord Wellington and +Marshal Beresford are walking up and down the street, and the Military +Secretary is writing under a wall, upon his knees, whilst his servants +are pitching his tent. In a little field where General Alava is about +to encamp, there were just now the Military Secretary, Colonel Scovell, +the Commander of the Police Corps, Fitzclarence, General Alava, the +Spanish Aide-de-camp, Colonel Waters, the Prince of Orange, and your +humble servant, all lying upon the ground together, round a cold ham +and bread, some brandy, and a bottle of champagne. And no bad fare +either you will say. The Prince and Lord Fitzroy, like two boys, were +playing together all the time. + +The people in this part of the country are as bad, if not worse than +in Portugal. There is nothing but filth and laziness. They are not +good-looking either. They live in dirty mud houses, and fleas are so +abundant that I cannot sleep from their annoyance. I suppose we shall +cross near Puente Arences, or Rampalaise, to-morrow, or next day at the +latest. The French have left about ninety sick or wounded at Burgos, +and the bedding of the hospitals, about eight hundred beds. No cannon, +&c. We are already short of forage or corn for the horses; bread +scarce, as well as spirits, and the country we enter produces little or +nothing. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + March continued—Quintana—Anecdote of Wellington—Morillas—Vittoria—The + Battle—Its Results—Plunder—Kindness to the Enemy—Madame de Gazan—The + Hospital—Sufferings of the Wounded—Estimated Loss. + + + Head-quarters, Berberena, + June 18, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +My last left me at Massa, on the other side of the Douro, in a +miserable quarter. On the following morning (the 15th) we marched +for Quintana, on the same side. For about four leagues we proceeded +through a rough hilly country, barren, but at times picturesque. We +passed troops all the way, and at last came to a tremendous long hill +which led us down to Quintana, near the banks of the Ebro. Troops were +descending the hill, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, from eight or +nine o’clock until past four; and at last the baggage, which was kept +waiting on the banks around the road-side, moved on; the scene was very +striking. The artillery was much shaken; some guns were lowered by +hand, with the wheels locked, without horses, and all very gently; four +wheels gave way, and the 18-pounders had to go round by St. Martine. + +The valley in which Quintana and six or seven other small villages +were placed, and through which the Ebro passed, was very rich and +beautiful, surrounded with rocky heights and covered with corn, +beans, fruit, vines, trees, &c., and the villages externally very +picturesque. Internally, however, they were most wretched, and my +quarter was misery itself. The people had not seen the French in the +valley for two years, until about ten days before we were there, when +they had been through to collect contributions, and to seize part of a +magazine formed there by Longa. The head-quarters’ house was, however, +good, and near it was a large but unfinished and unoccupied college, +for young persons of both sexes, founded about twenty years ago by +the owner of the head-quarters’ house, by the desire of his deceased +wife, for the education of children of the valley. The great man of +the valley, however, was the owner of the Adjutant-general’s quarter, +and only a Procureur there—a poor abode. I think he was called the +Marquis de Villa Alta. There was a small castle, and the whole scenery, +particularly along the banks of the river, was very delightful. I +longed for a tent, for I could not live in my house in the daytime from +the smoke, and could not sleep in the night from the fleas. The light +division and the fourth were encamped in the meadows across the river, +and added, by their fires and tents, much to the interest of the scene; +the cavalry and artillery passed through the valley. The river runs in +this part about as wide as the Severn above Shrewsbury—less than the +Thames at Maidenhead. + +The next day (the 16th) we crossed the river, and proceeded with the +troops between the lofty rocky banks of the river, above the valley, +on a road cut close to the water, and winding alongside the river for +about a league and more, most beautifully! in some respects like the +Wye, the cliffs almost like Cheddar, and wooded to the water’s edge. +The constant line of cavalry and infantry, whenever the eye caught the +winding road, was very picturesque. In two places were the remains of +walls across the road made by Longa or the French—I do not know which. + +The road afterwards turned from the river, and through a fine country +brought us to Medina de Pomar, leaving Villa Cayo on our left. Medina +de Pomar, our next head-quarters, was a straggling dirty town, and the +accommodation very moderate indeed. I got a tolerable clean room for +myself at the apothecary’s, but my stable was down a cellar with dark +stairs, and I could scarcely get my animals in or out. The alcalde was +not civil, nor did the people appear glad to see us. The town was very +full, for the Spanish Generals Mendizabel and Longa (the _ci-devant_ +Guerilla chief) were quartered there on our arrival, and did not seem +disposed to move for us. + +I saw Longa in the street; rather a stout man, well dressed in a +sort of hussar uniform, and looking civilized enough. I was in hopes +of meeting him at Lord Wellington’s, where I dined that day, but he +did not stay. The party of cavalry attending him were all uniformly +dressed, and seemed to me to be more regular than most of the Spanish +regulars. They wore scarlet jackets, and appeared not unlike some +of our volunteer yeomanry cavalry, but they had quite an air of +consequence which was amazing. Longa has left thirty of them and two +officers at head-quarters, as part of the corps of guides, to assist in +keeping up the communications of the army, in which way I have no doubt +they will be very useful. + +Lord Wellington was at Medina in a large nunnery where there were +twenty-five ladies, who came and played at bo-peep with us in the +chapel, which was a handsome building. The altar was very rich, and +in the centre was a piece of clock-work of small moveable figures +describing the crucifixion. + +On that day General Jeron arrived, the General of the Gallician Spanish +army acting with us, and he dined there. Castanos, the former General, +is now a sort of General of two armies, and amuses himself by parading +through all the towns and places in the rear of the army, Burgos last: +I suppose he is employed somehow in this way. Jeron is a man about +thirty-six, I should think, and looks very much like a gentleman and a +man of talent; he is very well spoken of, and considered as one of the +best of the Spanish leaders. Through Corunna we have news to the 6th of +June. Talking during dinner of the late accounts from Bonaparte, and of +the sentimental story about Duroc, which Lord Wellington was laughing +at, General Jeron said, “If there was such a place as hell, he thought +Bonaparte quite right, and that he and Duroc would most certainly meet +again there.” + +Yesterday, the 17th, we started again (having had no halts) for +Quincoces, five long leagues almost, towards Vittoria, but to the left: +there our head-quarters were yesterday, in that and the neighbouring +villages. The troops I think were pushed on in this way, from an +account received from Longa and others, that the French rear was still +at Pencorbo, and part even at Briviesca, on the other side of the +Ebro. Longa gave great hopes of doing something. We have, however, our +difficulties from this. We get no corn for the horses, and bread is +very scarce; stores gone for the present, for we outrun our supplies, +and there is very little to be bought. We have bought some and baked +it, to supply us as we go, but some divisions have been for one or +two days entirely without, and others on short allowance. We hope now +soon to get into a better country, towards Vittoria, but Longa and the +French have cleared everything about this country. + +Longa, when we came to Quincoces, was ordered on to Orduna, having +had all he could from this place. On taking leave he collected all +their oxen for the plough, ninety in number, all they had left, and +drove them off. The people received us with tears and lamentations, +and with no small fear, not knowing what we should require next. My +patron seemed quite stupified and melancholy. We told this to General +Alava, and he galloped off with two dragoons after Longa’s people and +the oxen, overtook them, and compelled them to restore them to the +owners, to their no small satisfaction. At last we found eight hundred +pounds of bread, that is, flour; half a day’s rations for head-quarters +only. We bought it, paid for it with guineas, and baked it—_voilà la +différence!_ But this cannot last or be general; the divisions cannot +do this. + +We last night heard that the French were over the river Ebro, and as +near Vittoria as we were. However, we advanced in hopes of something +arising, and head-quarters were ordered to be at this place, Berberena, +and the neighbouring villages. It was intended that Marshal Beresford +should have been at a village half a league in front of this place, but +when we arrived near here, about nine o’clock, we found two divisions +of the 1st and 5th halted here until further orders. We heard a +cannonading in the front, at this village, and found that the French +were making some stand in a narrow pass near it, and in the village. +Beresford was put into a village to the rear of us, and an order soon +came out for all baggage to proceed to that village for security. Mine +was unloaded; but as I saw the French just before us, only about a mile +off or little more, I made my people all load again and stand ready +to be off, whilst I went with my glass to the end of the village, to +a rising ground, to witness the skirmishing, and to be ready to act +accordingly. + +A brisk cannonade was going on, a few shells were thrown, and a light +infantry attack. The French I saw very plainly in the churchyard and +village on the hill beyond. They advanced under a ridge in the ground +and some bushes, where they stood above an hour and more, when I saw +our men and the Portuguese advance gradually and drive them back. The +cannon advanced also, and the French by degrees went out of sight +round the hill, our guns and soldiers after them. Very few I believe +were killed on either side; but our light division I find went round +by Espeja, and, falling in with another division early in the day, +routed them so completely, that two battalions dispersed, and the +light division got a quantity of mules and baggage, with a good deal +of money; some privates got two or three hundred pounds. About three +hundred prisoners were taken, and some of the runaways are still coming +in. One French battalion fled towards Frias, and some Spaniards are +sent off after them. + +_Morillas, Head-Quarters, June 20th._—Our orders yesterday morning (the +19th) were to set out at eight o’clock through Osma, where a little +affair took place the day before, and so on to Escorta, following the +fourth division. We did this, and I was riding with the doctors just +before that division on towards Escorta, when we were told that the +French were only two miles in advance, and that there was nothing +between us. Upon this we turned out of the road into a field of vetches +for the horses, and let the fourth division go by, and have the honour +of preceding us, as we did not quite think the French would run away +at the sight of us civilians. When this division came well up we went +on, passed through Escorta to another village half a league beyond, +and then, by the advice of an officer, who told us they were going to +attack the French, who were strong at this place, Morillas, and that +the passage of the river was to be forced, we ascended a high hill on +our right, which commanded the whole scene of action, and there with +our glasses we could distinctly see everything. + +As soon as the light division had got almost round the hill on our +right, from the direction nearly of the Frias road, in order to be +ready to advance and turn the French position, the fourth division +advanced to the village here, and the skirmishing began from the +houses and a chapel on the river. In about half an hour our men +entered the village, and we got about three field-pieces into play +close to it. We then saw the French, who were in considerable force on +the other side, and formed into a crescent on a hill near, begin to +move off, at first gently, but soon in quick time, and a part of our +division was very soon formed beyond the village over the river. The +skirmishing thus went on all the way up the road and hill beyond to +another village half a league further on the hill, where the French +were drawn up in greater force. When our men got up, however, the enemy +went off pretty quickly, and were last night in great force, some say +fifty thousand, in a plain about a league and a half from this, and +about half way to Vittoria. + +The pass here was very defensible, and not easily turned; but the +resistance was very slight, and few fell on either side. I suppose +the French were afraid of bringing on a general action by further +resistance. They had not any artillery with them near here, I conclude, +from the fear of losing their guns, as just through and near the +village the road is so bad and narrow, that our baggage, without any +resistance, did not pass through to the two divisions beyond until dark +at eight o’clock, our head-quarter baggage having all followed on here. + +Lord Wellington walked into a house and made it head-quarters. I have +a sort of barn here. We have had wet and cold weather for these three +days; I can scarcely keep myself warm to write, though with my cap on +and double waistcoats. This is considered extraordinary here for the +20th of June, though the climate is always much colder and more subject +to wet than in the more southern parts of Spain. + +There is a large plain near Vittoria, and then all beyond is hilly +to France. An officer of the 95th was killed on the 18th, and about +seventy men wounded, I hear. Yesterday an officer of the Fusileers was +wounded badly in this village, and lies in a house here: in another +house a very spirited Portuguese (Caçadores) serjeant is also lying +wounded. + +_3 o’clock._—The French remain in the valley, but it is thought will be +off to-night. + +_Vittoria, June 23rd, 1813._—My last was of the 20th from Morillas, and +on the 21st I arrived here after a scene never to be forgotten. Our +baggage was that morning ordered to remain ready to load until further +orders. The French were very strongly posted at about a league and a +half distance, directly across the road to Vittoria, about sixty or +seventy thousand strong, and extending about a league; their centre +supported by a wood and a small river, their left by strong wooded +hills, and their right on another hill not so strong. The attack was +ordered in the manner you have seen before this in the “_Gazette_.” +General Graham was to turn the French right flank; General Hill their +left. I mounted my horse about nine to see the result, leaving Henry +and everything behind, with directions to do exactly the same as Lord +Wellington’s servants. I got, with Dr. M’Gregor and a few others, on +a hill about a mile from the French, which commanded nearly the whole +scene. At about half-past ten the firing began very briskly on the +hills on the French left. The different ridges were well contested; but +our people constantly, though gradually, gained ground, and advanced +along the top ridge to turn the French. The cavalry were nearly all +close under us to be ready, some in the rear, and one division of +infantry also. General Pakenham’s division was not up at all—it was +four leagues in the rear. + +By the ground gained on the French left, and soon after from General +Picton having got up quite on the ridge of the hills there with his +division, a steep and difficult ascent, the centre were enabled to +advance a little also, and much skirmishing began there near a little +village before us, which was for some time contested. At length, some +guns being brought to bear there, and one also half way up the hill, +the village was passed by our people, and we saw them lying sheltered +under a hill beyond, nearly opposite the wood at the French centre. A +smart contest then ensued. The cannon and a few men from the hill and +village fired into the wood, and a constant firing was kept up from the +wood on our men; the main contest being still, however, on the hills on +the French left. By this time, about one, we on our hill all advanced +to another nearer, to observe more distinctly with our glasses. Soon +after this, General Graham’s attack began on the French right, and +a very brisk cannonade was then kept up right and left. The French +line on the hill on the right and left (for we saw the whole of their +line) began to give way a little, and to put itself in motion, and +the plot then thickened. Still we gained ground, and some of our men +also got close to the wood, and, lying down, kept up a smart fire. The +cannonading lasted two or three hours, the English constantly gaining +ground. Our party moved a second time to a third hill within the +original French picquets, and in front of our cavalry. At last we saw +our line forming gradually under shelter of the rising ground, within +half a mile of the French line and guns. They then advanced, and the +cavalry began to move up—some say rather late, as Lord Wellington was +not there to give the orders. + +We then left our hill and advanced with the Household Brigade +constantly as they moved. We now began to see the effects of the guns. +Dead and wounded men and horses, some in the most horrible condition, +were scattered all along the way we passed. These were principally +cannon-shot wounds, and were on that account the more horrible. It was +almost incredible that some could live in the state we saw them. From +my black feather I was taken by some for a doctor, and appealed to in +the most piteous voice and affecting manner, so that I immediately took +out my feather, not to be supposed so unfeeling as to pass on without +taking any notice of these poor creatures. Our hospital spring-waggons +were following, and men with frames to lift up and carry off those +near the roads. Some in the fields about crawled by degrees into the +villages; but hundreds have lain without food or having their wounds +dressed until now, two days afterwards. Parties are sent all over the +contested ground to find them, though the peasants are continually +bringing in the wounded. + +On the hill in the centre of the French position, at a village where +we first came in full sight of Vittoria, and about two miles distance, +the contest was very sharp, and the three first guns were taken, with +several tumbrils, and there the first charge of cavalry took place. +The sufferers there were principally Portuguese of the 11th and 21st +regiments, and we had all along seen more of our people wounded than +the French. We now found swords, muskets, knapsacks, &c., in all +directions. The stragglers and followers were stripping and plundering, +and a scramble ensued for the corn, &c., which was in the tumbrils with +the ammunition. The Hussars in their charges suffered much. The Life +Guards I kept close to all the way to Vittoria, and to that time they +were not engaged. + +We could hear the whistle of the cannon-shot, and saw the ground +torn up where they struck. Tumbrils and guns were now found upset or +deserted at every half-mile; and when we got near Vittoria the road was +absolutely choked up with them, so that our artillery was some time +stopped. Some of the Life Guards were placed at the gates and in the +streets here, to keep soldiers, &c., out, and to preserve order as far +as possible; and we rode into Vittoria amidst the cries, hurras, and +_vivas_ of the mob, which consisted chiefly of women. We looked into +the stores and found little left, and then passed through the town, +at the further side of which we stopped at a very curious scene. The +French so little expected the result, that all their carriages were +caught, and stopped at this place—three of King Joseph’s, those of the +Generals, &c.; the Paymaster and his chest, the _Casa real_, hundreds +of tumbrils, the wives of the Generals, all flying in confusion; +several carriages upset, the horses and mules removed from them, the +women still in their carriages, and the Spaniards (a few soldiers, but +principally the common people) beginning to break open and plunder +everything, assisted by a few of our soldiers. Upon the whole, our +people got but little of the plunder, except by seizing and selling a +few mules. The seats of the carriages were broken with great stones +and ransacked, and gold, silver, and plate were found in several in +abundance. I took a case of maps, part of Lopez’ provincial set, and a +horse-cloth, which I bought of a Portuguese soldier as a memorial, but +would not meddle with the rest. Maps, books, &c., were thrown aside; +brandy, &c., drank. + +In the midst of this, a lady in great distress, well dressed and +elegant, with her carriage in the ditch, and she herself standing +by, appealed to me, and, asking me if I could speak French, said she +was the Countess de Gazan, wife of the French General, and that she +wished to get back to the town, and, if possible, save her horses, +mules, and carriage, and those of King Joseph, which were by. With the +assistance of two hussars, after above an hour, I at last accomplished +this in a great measure; that is, I got the lady, her woman, the +carriage, and four out of six of the animals, to the house of a friend +whom she pointed out to me, and also a few loose things out of the +carriage. The other two animals and the three trunks of clothes had +been plundered before I arrived. I also put King Joseph’s carriage and +horses in their way to the square of the town; I then went and tried to +find out amongst the prisoners a little boy of two years old, a son of +the General, whom some French gens-d’armes had taken from the carriage +to carry off, and who had not since been seen, and whom the mother +thought was taken prisoner. I could not find him anywhere; but I met +Lord Wellington returning to the Palace at ten at night to his quarters +there; and as Madame de Gazan was most anxious that he should know she +was taken, I told him, and also about her boy. He desired me to say +that he could not then see her, but that she might rely on his doing +what he could to find the child, and that she should be immediately at +liberty to join her husband. This I went and told her. I also found an +English aide-de-camp of General Hill, who had been released only the +day before, having been prisoner, and to whom she had been very kind +when he was with the French, and who had, on taking leave, promised, if +the fate of war should make a change in their relative situations, to +return her attentions. + +My return and message made her more easy: I fear, from what I have +since heard, that her boy was killed between two carriages; but still +hope he may have escaped. The confusion lasted all night, and indeed, +has continued until now. The event was also so little expected on our +part, that for a long time there were no guards for the prisoners, and +many escaped in consequence, and several are still wandering about the +country. + +The next day (22nd) the head-quarters followed the French to +Salvatierra; but I was advised by Colonel Campbell and others to stay +quietly here, and proceed afterwards. I did so, but already repent, +for no place is so certain of news, and so secure, as head-quarters, +though the accommodation is often most wretched. I have been over the +hospital, and the scene which I there witnessed was most terrible; +seventeen or eighteen hundred men, without legs or arms, &c., or +with dreadful wounds, and having had nothing to eat for two or three +days, the misery extreme, and not nearly hands sufficient to dress or +take care of the men—English, Portuguese, Spaniards, and French all +together, though the Spaniards and Portuguese had at first no provision +at all for their people. Half the wounded have been scattered round the +villages in the neighbourhood; and there are still many to come in, +who arrive hourly, and are lying in all the passages and spare places +around the hospital. A Commissary is just established. + +Six hospital waggons are just now setting out for another load of these +poor wounded fellows! + +I do not know what now to do as to proceeding to join head-quarters; +for, to our great surprise, last night Lord March was sent over here +to tell the Commandant, who was just appointed, that it was discovered +that from ten to twelve thousand French, supposed to come from Bilboa, +were in our rear, and might be in here soon; that a division of men +(I believe General Pakenham’s) was left for our protection, but that +every man here capable of bearing arms must be kept in readiness, and +every one must be ready to leave this place at an hour’s notice. I +now, therefore, do not know what to do exactly, and wish myself at +head-quarters. The pay-chest, with about a hundred or a hundred and +twenty thousand dollars of French prize money in addition, is still +here, and several of the doctors. + +In the blue coach was a box of gold in different shapes, which a +servant of King Joseph stayed behind to give up to Lord Wellington, +and which report says he has given to his own personal staff. But +everything was in confusion; even the ammunition waggons were left +unguarded, and were broken open to be ransacked, and we have had +accidental or intentional explosions almost every hour since. One +tumbril with twenty shells was set fire to by the foolish Spaniards +yesterday, and several persons were hurt in consequence. Every one +is taking and wasting the musket cartridges, notwithstanding Lord +Wellington is really in want of some. All, however, are now busy in +trying to remedy this confusion. + +I hear that nearly one hundred and forty pieces of artillery have +been now taken in different states and places between Morillas and +Salvatierra. The French, however, have comparatively lost fewer men +than we did; the Portuguese more than their proportion; the Spaniards, +several. Some corps behaved well, though General Picton said some liked +best to fire away and make a noise at a distance. + +I fear that few prisoners are taken—as far as I can learn about a +thousand; and I suppose they had a thousand killed and wounded, having +done us much mischief with their tremendous artillery firing. Their +line would not stand at all when Graham advanced to turn them, but they +were off so quick that our men opposed to them could not get up to +them. Had they waited for a fair attack, the prisoners would probably +have been numerous. As it is, the French still have numbers, and, +though the equipments of the army are gone, they may, if they can fall +back on supplies, be again formidable. Report also says that Suchet is +moving fast to join them. Last night, when our head-quarters were at +Salvatierra, the rear of the French was three leagues in advance; they +are off so quick, the weather is so bad and wet, that I fear we shall +have many sick in the pursuit. The result of the whole is, however, +the most glorious possible, whatever may be the consequence; never was +there for the time an army of sixty or seventy thousand men, as we say, +more completely routed and put to flight. Several French Generals are +killed, wounded, or prisoners; in officers of rank the French have +suffered much. + +It is so very difficult to be at all certain as to our own loss, +unless one is in the secret, that I shall say nothing but that General +Colville, who had a slight knock in the arm, is the only officer +wounded of whom I have heard. The 18th Hussars suffered much. I must +now see the Commandant, and settle whether to move or not. The reports +when not at head-quarters puzzle one very much. A dragoon (Spanish) +rode into the town yesterday, and came up to me in the square to ask +for the mayor of the town, to tell him that six thousand French were +only two leagues off. I took him to General Pakenham, whose division +had just arrived. He carried the man off to see what he knew, and said, +if true, he would have a dash at them. I suppose this was in part true, +from what passed afterwards about the French in our rear; the division +of men is still, however, close to us. + +Suchet was endeavouring to join the other French army, and was, as the +prisoners say, in the neighbourhood of Logrono for that purpose, so +that he will soon be with the others. Tarragona we hear is taken, and +I conclude Murray is after Suchet. I have had much conversation with +the Commissary-general of the army of Portugal, a talkative perfect +Frenchman. He has lost everything, and has neither money nor a change +of linen, but he seems tolerably happy. He says he had orders to pay +out of the Treasury when the fire had commenced, which was madness, +and he described the confusion of the fight most eloquently and most +truly I am sure. Joseph had sent off a caravan of valuable pictures +only the day before, and various kinds of baggage, and a heavy train of +artillery. Some of this will, I think, be caught in the confusion, but +the pictures probably destroyed. + +Head-quarters are to-day at Echarva Aramaz, and I mean to get as +near that place to-morrow as I can, or even there, if I can get my +baggage over the nine leagues in the bad state of the roads, for it +has rained constantly these ten hours. Lord Wellington has not given +the box of treasure to his private staff. It has not yet been opened, +but is here. Colonel Campbell, who is just come into the town on +business, says that the French have committed great ravages on their +route from this place, destroying property, committing every excess. +A girl at Lord Wellington’s quarters at Salvatierra accuses even King +Joseph of an attempt at violence; but I do not believe it. Some very +strange things were found in the baggage. I was sorry to find that, +except stragglers and more baggage, we have got little more by our +pursuit. There are tumbrils I am told to the amount of five hundred, +and carriages and carts as many. King Joseph had neither a knife and +fork nor a clean shirt with him last night. The loss to the French must +be very considerable, though our gain is not nearly so great, from the +destruction of many, and the quantity of things taken, to us of little +use. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + Pamplona—Pursuit of Clausel—Wellington on the March—Prospects of more + Fighting—Effects of the War—The French Position turned—Anecdote of + Wellington—Ernani—St. Sebastian—Wellington’s Movements. + + + Head-quarters, half a league from + Pamplona. + + MY DEAR M——, + +I have repented staying two days at Vittoria. The consequence has been +that I fell in with all the fagged division of the army, and found +every hole full of troops, and nothing to eat or drink. The roads +were poached up knee-deep with clay, and I have almost knocked up +both myself and my animals. Yesterday I had no dinner, and to-day no +breakfast, and the first day I was twelve hours on the road going six +leagues to a place two leagues beyond Salvatierra; from thence I got in +thirteen hours more to Orunzun, eight leagues. There my baggage did not +arrive in time, and I went to bed without dinner and without anything +except the comforts of a Spanish cottage. + +I set out this morning for head-quarters. Now we start fair again; +to-morrow we march. Pamplona is invested, but I fear that we have +little means for a very regular siege; and accounts state that Clausel +is, with fifteen thousand men, on his road from Logrono, endeavouring +to escape towards Suchet. It is hoped that we may intercept him, or at +least his guns; and so we march, though the army is terribly fagged, +and the animals also. General Graham is at Tolosa; Mina at Tudela to +assist against Clausel. From Vittoria to this place we have constantly +passed at first stripped and unburied dead, then baggage and animals +without number, but the French have got off to France, and march away +like monkeys, scrambling over everything, consequently there are few +prisoners. Lord Wellington is in the highest spirits. King Joseph was +within two hundred yards of our dragoons, and had a narrow escape. A +few more cannon have been taken. + +It is one continued pass, or valley, all the way from Vittoria to this +place; the road infamous, villages every mile, but much damaged by the +French, and the people, from affluence, reduced to misery and distress. +Oh war! war! little do you know of it in England. At Orunzun the French +had spent much in a blockhouse and fort; they withdrew the garrison for +the battle, and the peasants destroyed it immediately. + +_One league from Sanguessa, Head-Quarters, Casseda, June 29th, +1813._—Thus far we have arrived in pursuit of Clausel and his division, +who were at Logrono, on their way to join King Joseph. Had the battle +been delayed two days longer, we should have had these fifteen thousand +men, in addition, to contend with; for by that time they would have +joined the king’s army. As it was, they were in some degree cut off +and separated from their friends, and might have been in some danger; +for had it not been for the information of some treacherous alcalde (I +believe), these men would have proceeded towards Pamplona, and would +then have fallen completely into our net. As it is, hearing of our +approach, and having the start, there is no chance of doing anything +with them, I think; they have full opportunity of joining Suchet, and +nothing material in their way, though Mina may harass them much. Our +army, by this pursuit, already is terribly harassed and out of sorts. + +In marching, our men have no chance at all with the French. The latter +beat them hollow; principally, I believe, owing to their being a more +intelligent set of beings, seeing consequences more, and feeling them. +This makes them sober and orderly whenever it becomes material, and +on a pinch their exertions and individual activity are astonishing. +Our men get sulky and desperate, drink excessively, and become daily +more weak and unable to proceed, principally from their own conduct. +They eat voraciously when opportunity offers, after having had short +fare. This brings on fluxes, &c. In every respect, except courage, +they are very inferior soldiers to the French and Germans. When the +two divisions, the fourth and light, passed through Taffalla the day +before yesterday, the more soldierlike appearance and conduct of the +foreigners, though in person naturally inferior, was very mortifying. +Lord Wellington feels it much, and is much hurt.[4] + +The 23rd and 11th Portuguese regiments, who behaved in the field on +the 23rd as well as any British did or could do, are on the march, +though smaller animals, most superior. They were cheerful, orderly, and +steady. The English troops were fagged, half tipsy, weak, disorderly, +and unsoldierlike; and yet the Portuguese suffer greater real +hardships, for they have no tents, and only bivouac, and have a worse +commissariat. + +I think we shall to-morrow retrace our steps to Pamplona, and give +over this pursuit. Lord Wellington, I think, sees it will not do. +We had a very long march the day before yesterday to Taffalla. The +road was, however, very good on the Canuria Real from Pamplona to +Tudela. Thinking that the French were making to Tudela, we proceeded +that way by this forced march. The country was very fine. About two +leagues from Pamplona was a handsome, plain, elegant aqueduct, of one +hundred arches, light and simple. We passed several villages, and, +near Taffalla, a quantity of well-managed orchards and garden-ground; +the consequence was, fruit and vegetables cheap and good, plenty of +cherries about 1_d._ a-pound, pears and plums, &c.; onions, beans, +peas, lettuce, pork, cheap; in short, a most plentiful Spanish market. + +Taffalla is a good town, and the people civil and hospitable. They +had never seen us before, and gave us a welcome. I should have liked +another day there, for both my men and animals were knocked up, and +wanted it. The next day, however, we proceeded by a mountain-road over +a little sierra to this place (Casseda), changing our direction of +march, though the object was the same. Last night, I believe, it was +found that the French had much the start of us, and had crossed the +Ebro. In short, I presume from this, and from the very harassed and bad +state of the men to-day, we halted here; and I suspect to-morrow we +shall return. + +Lord Wellington himself seemed knocked up yesterday; he ate little or +nothing, looking anxious, and slept nearly all the time of sitting +after dinner. I think he was not quite well, and anxious, no doubt. +Lord March was sent off to General Graham, at Tolosa; he returned +yesterday, and reports that General Graham had entered Tolosa, +which might have been well defended. He blew open the gates with +a nine-pounder, and so got in. General Foy, however, had taken a +position beyond, with eighteen thousand men, in such a strong country, +that Graham dared not attack him, and Lord March thought the loss would +be great if we did, unless we could turn it by a circuitous march. He +said the country was in that direction full of positions; in short +there is much yet to do. + +Tarragona is, I believe, not taken at last. General Murray re-embarked +when Suchet’s army came that way. This, as a plan to free Valencia, +has, I believe, answered, and Elio, &c., have advanced. Longa’s people +have behaved well in another affair since the battle. The day after +to-morrow I expect to be either in sight of Pamplona again, or to be on +the way towards the Tolosa road; but time will show. + +From this place, which is a large village on a hill, we have a full +view of a long range of the Pyrenees, which I have been spying at with +a good glass. They are fine mountains, but much less so, I think, than +the Alps. I see much snow on them, but no glaciers. The shapes are more +picturesque, but less astonishing and sublime. We are, however, far +off, and perhaps I do not do justice to these hoary gentlemen. There is +no snow summit so far as I can see, only great lodgments of snow. + +_Huarte, July 2nd, in front of Pamplona._—As expected, we yesterday set +out on our way back here, a short cut over the sierra, to Monreal—the +day before yesterday sending the guns, &c., round by Taffalla, and +from Monreal here yesterday. This is a wild road, and yet not very +picturesque. About this place we have a fine plain, in which Pamplona +stands. The town is invested, but I believe that is all, and no steps +have yet been taken for the siege; the place is strong, and we have as +yet no guns for the purpose. We yesterday found the suburbs burning, +the work of the French, and more women sent away from the town. The +town looks handsome, but somehow has disappointed me. A French party +also still holds out at Pancorvo; the worst of all, however, is the +bad news from General Murray. It is said that he went off in such a +hurry when he heard of Suchet’s approach, that, without waiting to +know his exact danger, or where Suchet was, he embarked, leaving all +his battering artillery, or as some say twenty pieces, with all the +ammunition, &c., belonging to them, in a perfect state for the use +of the French; and this when, in fact, he had four days to remove +it in, and when the Admiral offered to undertake to bring it off. I +am glad, however, to hear that Lord William Bentinck has arrived to +take the command. The odds are, however, that the Spaniards will get +a beating under Elio before our men join them again; it is now said +that Suchet left five thousand men at Valencia also. In short, in this +game of chess we are playing, there is almost always some bad move to +counteract Lord Wellington’s good ones. + +It is now said that we are not to wait here for the siege, but to move +towards Bayonne, and the King’s army, which is said to have taken up +a position on the frontiers. We expect to move towards Roncesvalles +to-morrow; but this is not settled. In my opinion we should have done +this immediately, without going after Clausel; but no doubt Lord +Wellington knew best what to do. We have to-day cold rainy weather +again, bad for men in camp. This place, Huarte, is rather a large +village with tolerable market. Villa Alba, half a mile off, where +some troops are posted, seems better still. We are about two miles +from Pamplona, across a little stream, now from the rains become a +respectable river. The great distress at present is for horseshoes, and +to-morrow I expect a mountain march. + +It is now stated that we took fourteen hundred prisoners altogether in +this late battle, not wounded, eleven hundred wounded, and about seven +hundred and fifty were found dead; the prisoners reckon their own loss +at eleven thousand. However, as they say, thousands ran away over the +mountain, and left the army altogether, this must be exaggeration. If +the armistice produces a Russian and Prussian peace, and we are left +here to Bonaparte’s sole attention and undivided care, I fear we may +again see the neighbourhood of Portugal before six months are passed, +notwithstanding the late most glorious victory. + +_Head-Quarters, Ostiz, July 3rd (Civil Department at Boutain)._—Here +we are now within five leagues and less of France, and on our way, at +least, towards Bayonne. General Hill is, I believe, to be to-day at +Estevan, and we have some men in France, at St. Jean Pied de Port. +General Foy’s (French) eighteen thousand have left their position +beyond Tolosa, having given the great convoy three days more time to +be off. This convoy had the pictures, immense service of plate of the +King, three hundred pieces of heavy artillery, &c.: I think we might +have caught it had we known how things were going on. They have now +retreated to France, and I believe Graham after them. All cars and +wheel carriages remain at Orcayen, near Pamplona; I guess, therefore, +we shall soon be back again, and perhaps proceed against Suchet, if he +joins Clausel at Saragossa, as his orders, from intercepted letters, +were supposed to be. Your proverb, however, _vedremo co’l tempo_, +applies here, as well as everywhere. Dr. M’Gregor is very much engaged, +and if this wet weather continues will, I think, be more so. I am so +cold now that I am writing with my coat buttoned up, and my hat on, +and we have constant showers. For about three hours the day before +yesterday it was excessively hot. So we go on! As yet we have seen +nothing very beautiful on this road, but it may mend. I am hungry, +tired, and worried, and must send this off to Ostiz: so adieu. + +Lord Aylmer has now a brigade, and has joined it as Major-general. +General Pakenham is the Adjutant-general. Three thousand of our men +wounded at Vittoria. + +_Head-Quarters, Lans, July 5th, 1813 (Civil Department, the Spaniards +and Artillery at Arriez)._—We were yesterday ordered to proceed to +Lans, but not very early, as the French were in the neighbourhood. It +rained all the way, and was very cold and uncomfortable, and what added +much to the unpleasantness of the journey, was the horrible road and +the loss of my horse’s shoes. The first league of this _camina real_ +was a narrow lane of large loose stones, nearly the size of my head, +with all the interstices filled with good Brentford slop, half a foot +deep; baggage constantly stopped the way. About half way, however, I +bribed a Spanish farrier to put me on three Spanish shoes, until the +heads of the nails half an inch square, upon six of which heads in each +shoe the horses walk, as the shoe never touches a stone; these skaits +are, however, much better than nothing. Having stopped an hour in the +rain for this, I proceeded, and at Lans found an order to go on half +a league on the left. We are almost all here, or close by, except the +Adjutant-general’s and Quarter-Master-general’s departments, and except +Marshal Beresford. The latter was to have been in my house, but did not +like it, and found a place at Lans. The quarter being vacant, I popped +into a large rambling black place, with long tables and benches, like +your servants’ hall, great stables, &c., all under one roof. + +The villages are nearly all alike in general shape and +accommodation;—scarcely any cottages but farm-houses, and I suppose the +great tables and benches they all contain have been in better times +used for the workmen to dine. This has been the character of all the +villages for the last ten or twelve miles, and they lie very thick, +four in sight here, and probably ten within a league. The hills around +are all covered with wood; the valley almost knee deep with grass for +hay, and abounding in corn; the walks further on towards the mountains +very pleasant; fine oaks and rocks, &c.; the climate very cold for +England in July, and wet; the verdure like that of Ireland; plenty of +sheep on the mountains, but little to be had here except milk. At Lans +there was pork at a penny a pound, and French brandy. + +To-day we halt here, for the French are disposed to stand a little +further. Our cavalry moved last night to Almandos, two leagues on,—the +14th, and some Germans, and General Hill’s head-quarters, to Berrueta, +whence the French retired. The reports now are that General Hill sent +word last night that the French were strongly posted a little farther +on, and that the peasants said they were eight thousand; but though +he could not see so many, he did not much like the position. Lord +Wellington sent him word that he would be there by ten o’clock this +morning, and he is gone with most of the military staff. We have heard +firing very plainly, but know not where it is. This is famous ground +for sharp-shooting, as you cannot see in general a hundred yards before +you. General Byng, with some British and Spanish, is gone along the +Roncesvalles road, toward St. Jean Pied de Port, and Graham proceeds +by the great road. Some stores are ordered round to land at Deva; I +conclude we shall only secure the passes, and that we shall not enter +France. Ground is broken up before Pamplona, but I think only for +form sake; very few men at work. Only the six eighteen-pounders are +at hand. An artillery serjeant I hear deserted from Pamplona two days +since, and is supposed to have given important information. General +Wimpfen tells me that the French have some works at Elisondo, which is, +I suppose, the place General Hill is stopped by, and that they seem +disposed to make a little stand there. I wish Suchet would either come +up by Saragossa and fight near Pamplona, and thus save us that long +trip, or that he would be off at once, like the rest; the latter is, +however, I fear, more to be wished than expected. With Clausel, he will +have probably, including garrisons, about forty thousand men. If after +all a peace should be made, leaving out England and the Peninsula, we +must even now still be off, and I only hope it will be settled before +the autumn bad weather; another rainy retreat from this part will never +do. I think we may at least stand towards the Astrinos and Gallicia, +and not go back to Frenada, for Bonaparte, with all his energy and +activity, can scarcely be ready to follow us in force this autumn. + +My old witch of a patrona came in just now, into the place where I am, +and moving the heavy bed, disappeared down a trap-door under it to +get up a little clean linen from her hiding-place, where she conceals +things from the French. She also produced a guerilla soldier’s shirt, +which he had left to be washed, and called for to-day. She was very +much frightened at us yesterday, as all here are, but is more sociable +to-day. + +We have turned about three hundred mules and horses into the meadows +here, and have cut down two or three fields for the feeding at night, +instead of the green oats or barley, for that is scarce here. How would +you like all this in England? The peas and beans also are pretty well +pillaged by our soldiers, and frequently the cattle get in besides. I +do not pity the Spaniards for this; but as they are obstinate, they +will not pick and sell to us officers who ask them, consequently the +soldiers and our muleteers pick for themselves gratis. I do not think +the crops here are so forward as in England; we are, therefore, luckily +for the horses, just in the grass season. If we go back to the barren, +brown, southern plains, it will be rather a disagreeable change. We +shall then, however, probably, get corn for the horses, which now is +very scarce. For the present, adieu. + +If the French do not move, probably we may halt here to-morrow again; +but I doubt we shall proceed. Twelve Portuguese field-pieces were +following us up this horrible road; the French got two guns by the same +road to Pamplona last year. For the last fortnight we have found the +people of Navarre very stupid, and their language unintelligible. They +do not understand good Castilian, but have a lingo of their own, very +barbarous; the little Spanish I have picked up is here, therefore, of +no use, and I am nearly reduced to the state of the deaf and dumb, to +have recourse to signs and acting. + +_Head-Quarters, Irurita, July 7th._—From Lans and Arriez we proceeded +on the 6th to Berrueta, through Almandos, across a part of the +Pyrenees. The first league was through a fine oak wood, and very hilly; +the next there was more hill, and, if possible, worse roads, and in +particular a very long descent. The hills were, however, green and +wooded to the summits, rounded, and not wild or savage, in short it was +hilly scenery and not mountain—this is the Lower Pyrenees. From one +part on the Lans road, the sea, I am told, was visible. Some Portuguese +artillery followed us all the way, and have arrived safely. + +We then reached Almandos, which contained a few very large houses +for head-quarters; there the artillery, engineers, and Spaniards of +head-quarters remained, and we descended a zigzag hill, and then +ascended to Berrueta. I there got a very bad quarter, but staid, +in order to be at the head-quarter village, to inquire into some +complaints of public money taken by a Commissary at Vittoria. On the +night of the 5th I was sent for at nine at night from Arriez to Lans by +Lord Wellington about this business. It is a most horrible road even +in the day time, and in my way back alone, I lost myself on a boggy +common, and did not arrive until nearly one o’clock, having for about +an hour and a half splattered about in a bed of wet clay, up to the +horse’s knees at times, and having some notion of wolves, &c. This made +me anxious to be at the head-quarters village, where I dined with Lord +Wellington, and examined the Commissary in General Pakenham’s presence. + +Berrueta was a small French post against the Guerillas, and the ground +was strong; the church and about four houses, and a wall near were cut +with loop-holes for musketry, and a little round bastion built in front +with a double row of loop-holes commanding the roads, and a little +tiled roof for one sentry at the top. The house had a rough eagle in +black drawn upon it, and the inscription “Place Napoleon.” The little +street or alley within the enclosure was called Rue Impériale. In spite +of this the French, about three thousand strong, had the day before +been driven from this ground and position by about five hundred of +the second division, and had left us in possession, allowing General +Hill to go on to this place, Irurita, a good league further, where we +have now the head-quarters. General Hill has proceeded this morning to +try and drive the French from a position about two leagues and a half +further on near the French frontier at Maya, where they have made a +semblance at least, with about eight thousand men, as if they meant to +defend the pass there. + +The road from Berrueta to Irurita was over one long hill of a league, +but good enough, and then brought us down to this place at one +extremity of the valley of Bastan. This valley is a very rich tract, +surrounded by cultivated hills, well built and peopled, and terminated +on the other extremity by the pass of Maya. + +General Hill has moved on his head-quarters from hence to Elisondo, +full a half league further, near the centre of the valley; and if the +French give way, is to proceed further. Lord Wellington and all his +suite are gone on forwards to watch the event. This place contains +a number of large houses, but is in general dirty and bad in the +interior. Lord Wellington’s house, and that of Marshal Beresford, and +a few others about here, are in the French style, with glass windows +in folding doors, and French blinds, &c., and they are clean and +comfortable; at Elisondo, there is more of this, I hear. This valley +has a sort of nobility of its own, and most of the numerous good houses +belong to an inferior nobility. They almost all sport arms, and most +the chequers. I understand this valley is also famous for the number +of men of talent who have at different times issued from it. There is +also trade in the valley, and commercial connexions even with Cadiz. +These second-rate nobles have had the sense not quite to despise that +mode of getting money, and thereby all other comforts. The effects of +the war and of the times are, however, equally manifest here, but on a +higher scale than in the ruined cottage, or the farmer stripped of his +cattle and corn. Lord Wellington’s patron, whose house is now opposite +and very handsome, was a native of this place, and went as a merchant +to South America: he was engaged there in trade twenty-six years, and +then returned to enjoy himself, like our Scotch Indians, in his native +place. He, however, foolishly bought no land, and continues engaged +in trade by means of an agent at Cadiz, and another at Vera Cruz, +living here on the profits. One rich vessel we took from him before +the declaration of war; this shook him a little: since that his Vera +Cruz agent turned gambler and failed. We have taken another vessel of +his since, and he thus was reduced nearly to his moveables. To supply +French contributions, and to find the _à quoi vivre_ for himself and +two sons, he has sold all his plate, &c., and jewels. He has now only +some tolerable bedding in twelve bedrooms, and straw chairs and deal +tables. The little man, however, told all this to General O’Lalor in my +presence with much good humour, and did not seem very unhappy. He was +very anxious to please Lord Wellington in his quarter. + +Here we see the miseries of the contest in another shape. The old mad +Marquis d’Almeida left this to-day to go on with General Hill, very +anxious to beat the French in their own territory, and give them back +their own again. He has attached himself to General Hill’s corps all +along. + +I believe King Joseph’s gallantry in trying to seduce a young girl +at Salvatierra, the night of the battle of Vittoria, was mentioned +in a former letter by me. In this valley he performed a most noble +feat: after the dinner given him by his patron and the neighbours, +he permitted or ordered his servants to sweep off and carry away all +the utensils, table-cloths, spoons, &c. The Padré at Arriez, our last +place, told General Wimpfen that he had there carried off the sheets. +This is a noble exit; and all his suite were without a change of linen. + +The papers taken at Vittoria make it appear that nearly a million of +property was taken after the battle—250,000_l._ in gold. Only about +one hundred and twenty thousand dollars have been paid into the chest. +Much was certainly plundered by the natives and soldiers: the latter +were offering nine dollars for a guinea, for the sake of carriage. +Lord Wellington, however, has his suspicions of pillage by the civil +departments; has heard various stories, also, of money taken on the +road back from Vittoria. I do not know what may come of this: I have +made out but little satisfactory as yet. One gentleman, however, whom +I examined yesterday intended to keep two thousand dollars. At the +same time, the understanding that this was all fair seems to be pretty +general. + +Captain Brown was knocked off his horse by a sabre cut on the head and +taken prisoner, but as he had his sword left, he cut down his guard, +who was pricking him with his sword, and ran into our dragoons and +escaped, changing his own horse for a French one in the confusion. + +Lieutenant-Colonel May had a musket-ball in his belly. It passed +through his double sash, his waistcoat, and pantaloons, and then, by +striking the button of his drawers, was so deadened as only to give him +a swelling the size of an egg, and he has been long with us again. I +dined with him at Arriez the day before yesterday. + +In the skirmish on the 5th, at Berrueta, we had about twenty wounded. +The Spanish peasantry are a fine, stout, tall, well-made race of +mountaineers, and behaved that day with spirit. Several would act with +their firearms with our light troops, and brought in two prisoners; and +one set would go on with a picket of six of our cavalry, and when told +by Major Brotherton that they were acting foolishly, as he could not +protect or support them if the French cavalry turned on him, they said +they could run as fast as those French horses, and would not be caught +so. The rulers here have also been forward in offering supplies, a good +part of which, I believe, they were ordered to have collected by the +French, and by which collection we have profited. + +More Portuguese troops and artillery are now passing this way. I +believe no English artillery has come this road. The Portuguese guns +are not so wide in the wheels, having been made for their own roads, +and are therefore more adapted to this. + +_Irurita, Head-Quarters, July 9th._—Still here. The day before +yesterday, the 7th, the French showed fifteen thousand men in the Maya +pass, two leagues and a-half in front, a line of nearly two miles. +It took much time to climb the hills to turn this position. About +four, we got possession of a hill which had that effect; the French +saw their error, tried three times to recover it, drove back our men a +little, but it would not do; they just now will not stand against us. A +battalion of Caçadores behaved well, and drove them back once. A close +column of theirs was opposed on the hill by two columns of ours, the +39th; our fellows, when near, shouted and came down to the charge, and +the French were quickly off. It was dark, however, before the pass was +abandoned, and past eleven before Lord Wellington and his staff got +home to dinner, as he lost his way for some time in the fog, despising +guides, &c. Yesterday the French, in part, came back to a little +village near the pass, and stood some time against our light infantry; +but the third shot of our two guns which were brought to bear, sent +them scampering off. They little think that we have some eighteen +field-pieces in this valley. + +Yesterday Lord Wellington came in early, and left the French in another +pass in the last Spanish village. They were, I hear, to be driven +out to-day unless they retired. They had yesterday, however, nearly +succeeded in surprising some of our men. They appeared in rear of +our advanced troops, through a pass on our right, which communicates +with the Roncesvalles pass to St. Jean Pied de Port, drove in a small +picket, and came, about fifty of them, down very nearly to a village +in which we had much baggage. The peasants said they had five hundred +men there: they however went back again, and one of our serjeants, +by himself, caught one of the stragglers when the others were gone. +Just then there was only a small body of cavalry between their party +and our baggage, and even between them and our head-quarters here. +This was soon looked to, and a Caçadore regiment ordered into the +neighbouring village. The peasants here continue to behave with great +spirit and activity, and want to enter France to take some revenge. +They had been told by the French that we were ten times worse in regard +to plundering, &c., than themselves, and so the French are told now. +The French respect their own people, and do not treat them like the +Spaniards. In Spain a French encampment was covered with all the doors, +window-shutters, beams, trees, &c., of the Spanish villages near; in +France, though in rain, they are now seen without any such shelter on +the bare ground. + +The French peasants in these parts, I hear, are as fine men as the +Spaniards here, and formidable. If we enter France, we must not wander +and ride about as we do here, nor let our baggage cover leagues +in extent. It is said that they disposed of four of our soldiers, +Portuguese I believe, whom they caught stealing cherries. I do not +think head-quarters will enter France, here at least, but enter down +towards the sea: this is, however, only my speculation. General Byng +sent an invitation yesterday to dine with him in France. The Spanish +troops are in France in part also. + +The day before yesterday Lord Wellington ordered young Fitzclarence to +go and bring up two Portuguese companies to attack. He went. It was +close by; but he was highly pleased with the order. When he had given +his instructions, he saw a cherry-tree, and went up to break a bough +off, and eat the cherries. When Lord Wellington lost his way the other +night in the fog (returning to head-quarters), Fitzclarence told Lord +Wellington he was sure the road was so-and-so, as they had passed the +place where he found the two Portuguese companies. “How do you know +that?” quoth Lord Wellington. “By that cherry-tree, which I was up in +just afterwards,” was the answer. It amused Lord Wellington much; and +yesterday he called to him, with a very grave face, and desired him to +go and get some of the cherries, as if it were an important order. I +believe we only lost about seventy men killed and wounded, Portuguese +and all included, on the 7th. + +I misinformed you some time since about General Jeron, the Commander of +the Gallician army. I understand he was not named at the suggestion of +Wellington; there are two opinions about him. + +We have had stories against several of the civil departments in regard +to the plunder. One or two I have saved from suspicion by an immediate +inquiry and explanation, which I stated to Lord Wellington directly. +It is always best to know the whole openly at once, as ten suffer +in reputation from reports for one really guilty. One Commissary, I +believe, will have leave to resign. + +Yesterday the chimney of the house of Lord Wellington’s patron was on +fire, from the dressing of Lord Wellington’s dinner. I was much afraid +that it would spread and complete the poor man’s ruin, by destroying +nearly all he had left. It was with difficulty at last put out, when +the fire-bell had collected all the town buckets full of water, and +a wet blanket had been pushed down the chimney, which, being half +wood, made the event very uncertain. I was really glad when it was put +out. Lord Wellington was out in the rain with his hat off, and a silk +handkerchief over his head, giving directions, as well as your humble +servant. + +P.S.—_Head-Quarters, Zobieta, July 10th._—We arrived here this morning, +in the direction I expected, about four leagues from Irurita, on the +road to St. Sebastian, through a very pretty wooded valley all the way, +the road good, and by the river side, with villages every two miles. +We passed St. Estevan, the largest place, and perhaps the only one +you will find in any map, except Lopez’ provincial ones. Some of the +other villages were large, containing some thirty or forty good large +farm-houses, and some mansions. The light division was dispersed on +the road, and in one village I found George Belson and his artillery. I +do not, however, expect to hear any more of him for some time, as he is +not likely to follow us any farther, from what I am told of the road. + +To-morrow head-quarters move eight or nine leagues of mountain track +road through Gaygueta to Ernani, in parts it is said scarcely passable +for a mule; so at least Colonel Ponsonby reports, who came last night +from Ernani. In consequence of this account, civil departments and +baggage are, if they choose, to stop at Gaygueta, which is half way. At +Ernani we are on the high road to Bayonne from Vittoria. Something is +now, I believe, going on at St. Sebastian. I understand a convent near +it was to be attempted to-day or to-morrow, preparatory to the grand +attempt. The heavy guns are, I believe, landed, and are, it is said, at +Deba for this siege. The garrison is two thousand strong, about sixteen +hundred of their own, and four hundred from another fort near, now +blown up. Santona is left with a strong garrison, and well supplied, +and would be a more difficult affair, from what I learn. Pancorvo was +taken by O’Donnell and the Spaniards: they took an outwork by storm, +and the men then surrendered. + +Pamplona is more closely invested by means of some redoubts, and I +believe nothing more will be done there. These redoubts will be of +use, if this undertaking is left to the Spaniards. Though we have thus +to-day gone away from France, I conclude we, or rather some of the +army, are to be within France soon, as Lord Wellington has published +some long and good general orders on the subject of well treating the +people, &c., and not copying the French in Portugal and Spain, as we +are at war with Bonaparte, and not with the inhabitants, and that +_recevos_ are to be given for supplies, &c. Still I think we shall +only keep on the frontiers. Clausel, it would appear from the Spanish +authorities, has, since we left him, made off for France by the great +Tacca pass in Arragon, instead of joining Suchet, as I supposed, and +Suchet was at Tortosa when last heard of. Zobieta is but a miserable +place, and the people quite unintelligible. We shall soon be in Biscay +again. + +_Head-Quarters, Ernani, July 16th, 1813._—My last was from Zobieta, a +little village in the lower Pyrenees. Our next day was a tremendous +journey to this place. I started at six o’clock in the morning, and we +immediately began to ascend near the bed of the stream, which ran by +Zobieta towards its source, in order to cross the mountain at the back +of the town, which divides that valley from the one in which the river +is situated, which runs down by this place to St. Sebastian. + +In less than half a mile the road became choked with baggage. There was +only one path winding zigzag up the hill, and every mule whose load +got more on one side, or out of order, discomposed and stopped the +string. I had one mule lightly loaded, and my man, foolishly eager to +get forwards, led it up straight from one path to the cross one above, +instead of following the track. He got on safely, but this tempted +three of Colonel Dundas’s mules to do the same. Just as I passed below, +the hinder one fell backwards, with a heavy load, and the whole three +being tied together, he pulled both the others down upon him, and they +all lay in a heap at my feet kicking in the path. With some difficulty +I got an ass out of the way in time, and scrambled upon foot, leading +my horse to get away, that I might not be pushed down the side of the +hill; by this means I also gained ground, and by continuing on foot for +about two miles of the steepest ascent, I got up tolerably quick. Two +of General Murray’s mules rolled into the river below. + +We then continued to the highest point of the mountain, whence we were +told Bayonne was visible. When we arrived the fog was so thick that +we could not see a yard, and we went on two leagues more in this mist +through the clouds, along the top and side of the hill, until we got +over Gaygueta. Then we had a very bad descent of about two miles to +that place. Near the town we passed General Longa and his suite going +to meet Lord Wellington, and we found the town full of his troops all +drawn up to receive the English General. They looked very well, fine +men, tolerably well dressed and equipped; about five thousand in the +whole. One grenadier company looked very fierce and military. + +I here found every quarter occupied, and could hear of none; after +waiting an hour, I determined to proceed. After an ascent of about half +a league again, very steep, we went along the top of a hill for another +half league to Eranos; here I found another thousand of Longa’s troops, +and all the houses occupied. I therefore went to a shop where they sold +bread and wine, and we got a large loaf and some wine, which, with the +help of the horses, for whose sake I principally stopped to procure +this feed, we soon finished, and then proceeded refreshed. + +Whilst I was thus employed Lord Wellington and his staff passed. I was +sorry to hear Longa had missed him, and that he was much mortified +at this, especially as his men scarcely knew Lord Wellington and his +party, and he had almost passed before they irregularly presented +arms to him. The one thousand men at Eranos were more fortunate, for +at a hazard I told them, when they inquired, that he would pass in +about twenty minutes, and he actually passed within the half hour. I +followed in Lord Wellington’s train to this place, Ernani, over a road +still worse than the last, a mere water-channel, with irregular broken +steps and slippery clay; most of our horses got more or less on their +haunches. The road ran up and down on the side of a thick wooded hill +on the banks of the river, near which we saw two or three works for +iron, in which this country abounds. + +We arrived safely, about four o’clock; very little baggage got in that +night. All mine came in by seven o’clock, except one mule load and +man, who stuck, knocked up, at a house two miles back. I bought some +eggs and bacon and went to bed. About eight, next day, my stragglers +arrived, the mules strained in the shoulder and scarcely able to move. +Dr. M’Gregor had two mules killed down the mountain, and many have +suffered as well as myself. + +The next morning after my arrival at Ernani, I walked off to see what +was going on at St. Sebastian. Not knowing how long we might be here, +my horses being tired, and having no shoes, I made this survey on +foot. The road is a wide _camina real_, a rough sort of pavement, but +a good road. About half a league distant I saw the fort or citadel of +St. Sebastian, and the smoke of the guns, the noise of which I had +heard before. I proceeded on by our heavy guns, which were near on the +road side, passed about four thousand Spanish troops of the Gallician +army drawn up to receive Lord Wellington, and then our reserve park +of artillery, with some small works around. Here I began to hear the +distant whistle of the balls, which occasionally got near the road. +At about a league from Ernani, just at the brow of the descent to St. +Sebastian, and about half a mile from the latter, a barrier of tubs +of earth was placed across the road and sentries posted, our advanced +sentry being at a turn of the road a hundred yards forwards. I went +to the left to take a sketch, and soon heard a musket-ball whistle by +me, which I took at first for a rocket behind me. I thought this an +accident, but soon came a second, and a third. I then concluded that +I was the object, and leaving my sketch rather in a hasty unfinished +state, I returned behind the barrels as the last shot came into a bush +close to me. + +Our trenches were open about fifty yards to the right, against a +convent on the side of the hill, which was full of French, and from +which almost all the musket-shots proceeded. I determined just to peep +into them before I went off, and having been cautioned how to proceed, +I looked in: but having had one more shot whistle close to me, and +passed a bloody hole where a shell had just fallen, which had carried +away a man’s arm, I walked home, to dine at Lord Wellington’s at three +o’clock. At dinner I met Castanos, Jeron, Alava, Mendizabel, and a +number of inferior officers, amongst them the Major who had been left +as a Captain to defend Villa Alba de Tormes, when we retreated last +year, and who held out the time he was ordered to remain, and brought +off two hundred out of three hundred of his men to Frenada. For this +he was made a Major, I believe, at Lord Wellington’s request. General +Alava also introduced an officer who came to present to Lord Wellington +King Joseph’s sword—his dress sword set in steel and diamonds, and very +handsome. Where taken from, or whence obtained, I did not learn. Lord +Wellington just looked at it as he took his seat at dinner, and telling +his man to put it by safely somewhere, fell to at the soup and said no +more. + +On the following day the alarm was spread that we were all to go back +to the mountains the next day by the same road. At last, however, +orders came out that Lord Wellington was going, and that only his +immediate staff, and those who could be very useful, were to attend +him. Even General Murray, the Quarter-Master-general, the life and +soul of the army next to Lord Wellington, staid here, not being quite +well. He appears to me decidedly the second man; and it is thought that +without him, and perhaps Kennedy, the Commissary-in-Chief, we could +never have done what we have; even Lord Wellington would be, in some +degree, fettered and disabled by a bad Quarter-Master-general and a bad +Commissary-general. + +Not to lose a day, Lord Wellington, the first day he was here, rode +all about St. Sebastian to examine it in all directions, &c., and was +provoked at the Spaniards parading for him, when his object was to +be unobserved. The second day he went to Irun, on the frontiers, on +the Bidassoa, to see how things were going on there. The day before +yesterday, having waited till eight o’clock (morning), just to receive +the “_Gazette_,” with his battle despatches and his appointment of +Field Marshal, away he went, nine leagues over the mountains, for St. +Estevan. He is going to see more of the mountain passes that way, and +says that he shall be back the fourth day, if possible, though many +think it impossible. + +We have heard of Lord Wellington eating some trout at Gaygueta at +twelve, and arriving at St. Estevan at five, the day he left this. +All baggage nearly is left here. The day he went I was occupied all +day, by his desire, in examining some gentlemen on a report which had +got about concerning some of the captured money, which report Lord +Wellington had been caught by, and had suspicions. I hope I have sent +a very satisfactory explanation. To me it is so, at least. I sent it +off by express the same night to General Pakenham, who is with Lord +Wellington on his tour. One idle day, since I have been here, I went +to see Passages, about five miles distant, but an infamous road. There +are two towns of that name, the Spanish and French, as they are called; +one on each side of a narrow deep stream, or inlet from the sea, which +forms rather a picturesque basin within. I should have thought more of +it had I not seen Exmouth, Dartmouth, and some other western English +scenery of the same land first, which I think superior. The towns +were built with the same kind of narrow alleys, only fit for a horse +to pass through; these standing up the side of the hills. They were, +however, a better description of houses, and four stories high, with +balconies. The scene was more enlivened than usual by our transports, +by the landing of biscuit, rum, shot, ammunition, the twenty-four +pounders from Sir George Collier’s ship, and other great guns, with +their apparatus, for the siege; two Portuguese regiments at work, and +about three hundred mules, besides the oxen, &c., for the guns: gabions +and fascines were making in every direction by the Portuguese. The road +was so narrow and slippery in one place, that my horse, as I led him, +nearly slipped into the sea. + +Yesterday, having a few hours again to spare, I went round to look at +St. Sebastian by the right, where I witnessed a sharp conflict, and +saw more than I had done before, with much less risk. I was out of the +way of the musketry, and only had one cannon-shot, which went over the +intended mark from the town, and, whistling along, dashed into the +water just under me. It was nearly spent, as I heard it, I think, long +enough to have got out of the way had it come up higher. If it clears +up to-day, I mean to go to the lighthouse, on the left of the town, or +the cliff, where it is said the view is very fine, and where, with a +glass, you see much and in safety. + +There was almost as much firing yesterday as in a battle, cannon-shot +and musketry, particularly on the French part, and many shells; and we +made a feint to obtain the convent with only a few men, yet I hear that +only four were killed on our side, and about ten wounded. + +The convent is almost in ruins, but we have in vain tried to burn it +with hot shot, and the French continue to pepper from it. A shell of +ours fell amongst their men in a redoubt in rear of the convent, and +they ran. I believe this led to our attempt, but it was soon found that +they were strong just behind, and several men still in the convent; and +three new parties were pushed along the causeway from the town—about +two hundred and fifty men—to strengthen the convent party. Ours, +therefore, were off very quickly, not being supported. One shell of +ours fell just into one of the three new parties, and killed one man +and dispersed the rest. Several wounded French were seen carried back +over the causeway and bridge. The number of cannon in the town is very +considerable; and though our works proceed fast, the town is considered +formidable. + +I have heard more stories of King Joseph from the Paymaster of his +head-quarters, Mr. Frayre, who was taken. He said that the King was in +the town until our dragoons were close upon it. He then rode quietly +along, through the train of carriages and baggage, with Jourdan and +his guard in a walk, in order not to give any alarm, until he was out +of the bustle. He then changed his coat for a nankeen jacket, and +away they all went, galloping off for Salvatierra, on the road to +Pamplona. In the first village, a mile or two from Vittoria, there are +two turnings, and he was heard to call out, “_Par où faut-il aller?_” +“_Tout droit, tout droit_,” said Jourdan, and away they went again as +hard as they could go. Of the twenty-seven Generals who met in the +house at Salvatierra, a great proportion were slightly wounded, and +their greetings at seeing each other alive were very loud and sincere. +Joseph’s servant had a sort of saddle-bag with him for the King, and +that was all their baggage. + +I hear that there are two millions of dollars on the road. Just now we +are without anything in our military chest to pay for our daily food +and expenses, which are very great. Corn for our horses, we got none. +Bread is not dear here, or scarce, as yet. Bullocks, I hear, we have +bought enough for nearly forty days for the army, in this part of the +country, mostly from the mountains. Nine hundred head have been bought +within these ten days. + +_Head-Quarters, Lezaca, July 18th, 1813._—On the 16th I went up to +the lighthouse in the evening. I met Baron Constans coming down. +The French did him the honour of a cannon-shot, a proof they were +touchy. I proceeded within half musket-shot, but at a trot, and they +left me quiet. I stayed an hour on the hill; view beautiful, evening +clear, scene very interesting. I saw all the French sentries, troops, +inhabitants, &c., in the town, and on the island near, in the convent, +redoubt, &c. I could see our advanced sentinels and pickets, and those +of the French near the convent, within sixty yards of each other in +some places, behind ruins, &c. I could also see a long extent of French +coast, and many other objects. The ruined convent, and the French +sticking to it in several parts and firing, was, however, the most +curious and novel. + +I came down at seven and rode home quietly by nine in the dark; when, +lo! I found an order for head-quarters, baggage, &c., to join Lord +Wellington at this place on the mountains, on the frontiers, six +leagues of bad road distant. + +I was off, however, by eight yesterday morning, baggage and all. The +first two leagues were by the high French road, the _camina real_, +through Astigarraja and Oyarzun. At the end of the last town we turned +from the great road, which is a broad, well-laid road, and has been +very good, though now broken up a little, and very rough. We then went +along a paved mountain road, up a valley for half a league, and then +began climbing a mountain path over two long hills until we got into +this valley, and to this place. There is a great sameness in the +scenery—round hills, wooded in part below and a stream—nothing very +fine. About a league from hence we saw the camp of the 95th regiment, +on a hill above Vera, which is lower down in this valley, and near the +immediate frontier division. We also saw the seventh division camp near +and the French cantonment bivouac on the opposite hill; for a short +time they kept half Bera or Vera; now we have the whole. + +We halt here at Lezaca to-day; the Commissariat baggage is ordered a +league and a half in the rear in case of an attack. I believe when +reinforcements arrive we shall make one. I was sorry to leave St. +Sebastian, for an attack was to be made that morning. We heard and +saw a violent firing throughout all our route, and I last night heard +that the convent had been taken by our men, and some ruins below, &c., +and that the new battery had been opened. The French stood firm when +the Portuguese advanced, who behaved very well, but when the English +regiment which had been ordered up to assist was seen advancing, the +sight of the red coats made the French soldiers run, and the French +officers were seen in vain beating and pelting them to make them stand. +The causeway (as I had seen) below was cut by the French in two places. +This stopped our men for a time, and the French attempted to return, +but did not succeed; thus matters stood last night. Some of the first +division returned from Oyarzun yesterday to help, and we met them on +the road. The French surprised about one hundred of the Spaniards in +this place a few days since. The noble inhabitants of Saragossa have +contrived to open one of their gates, when the French were in the town, +and to let in Mina and his men. The Spaniards now have the town. I +believe the French still stick to a fortified part, and have destroyed +the bridge; this comes from the English Captain who is with Mina, and +employed in procuring intelligence. A flag of truce was sent in to +the French, carried by Colonel Gordon, this morning—“_Pourquoi?_” “_Je +ne’en sais rien._” Lezaca is rather a good village, and has a running +stream in it, which might be more used. It was plundered by the French, +and now contains nothing, no bread even, only some straw; and we have +now been seven days without corn for the poor horses; even grass is +here very scarce: we want the course of the Bidassoa to keep up our +communications with Irun, &c. The French now interrupt this—the river +runs in part through France. + +Soult, the great Soult, the Marshal, is said to have arrived, and taken +the command against the allies: so say the country people, &c. To-day +it is very hot. A report is circulated that the French have attacked +us. So adieu for the present. + +_July 19th, Lezaca._—No fresh news. I am going to ride up a hill, a +league off, to the seventh division camp, from whence Bayonne and much +of France is visible. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Mr. Larpent’s opinion on the moral deficiency of the English +soldier has astonished many; but it should be remembered that he was a +non-combatant, and his professional practice as Judge-Advocate-general +brought him more in contact with the _delinquents_ than with the real +steady soldiers of the army. Let any reader who inclines to think +that the French can outmarch the more robust English, remember the +advance of the light division to Talavera under General R. Craufurd, +so justly eulogized in Napier’s History. An English soldier becomes +sulky, careless, and insubordinate in a _retreat_; but let a battle be +announced, and spirit and discipline reappear together. Witness the +conduct of Sir John Moore’s army, when he offered battle at Lugo, and +afterwards when he was attacked at Corunna.—ED. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Movements of the Army—Wellington on the Portuguese—His Personal + Habits—St. Sebastian—The Siege—Miseries of War—Wounded Officers—The + Prince of Orange—Vestiges of the Retreat—English Papers—False Accounts + of the Campaign—Incidents of the War. + + + Head-quarters, Lezaca, + July 21, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Here we are still, deluged with rain almost incessantly, accompanied at +times with violent storms of wind, hail, and thunder. This is terrible +for the troops in camp, and for every one more or less, and indeed for +everything except the Indian corn, which thrives here most luxuriantly +in consequence of this perpetual wet. I took a ride (the 19th) up to +the hill above the seventh division as I intended; it was a league +and a half, the latter part very steep. The French were in sight all +along the hills on the other side of Bera, all around one ridge, but +quite quiet. When at the summit I saw the sea-coast around Bayonne +(though not the town itself), and the low country in France, for +probably thirty miles inland, with the enclosed fields and villages. +It was a very fine prospect; I was only sorry to see that the French +had apparently so much more productive a country immediately in their +rear than we had. They must now, however, be supplied at the expense of +old France. We are but ill off here for everything just now, until our +supplies come regularly to this coast. + +Passages is to be the depôt and landing-place, I hear, for our +infantry, and Bilboa for cavalry. Major-general Lord Aylmer is to-day +setting off to take a command at Passages; he expects nearly four +thousand men there very soon. We still hear the battering guns of St. +Sebastian continually roaring at a distance; I fear we may lose many +men in this siege. Good luck, however, may do something for us, and +the French seem everywhere dispirited; sickness, at present, if this +weather lasts, will be our most destructive foe. + +Suchet, I hear, left a garrison at Murviedro, when he crossed the Ebro. +They seem to have intended to give us some tough work until they were +ready to return; I hope here, at least, that will not be so easy. Both +sides are now strongly posted, and the assailant must have the worst of +it. Soult is said to have refused to take the command of the army here +unless the pay of the troops was more regular. Talking of this, Lord +Wellington paid the highest compliment to Bonaparte, by saying, that if +he came himself, he should, as he always did, reckon his presence equal +to a reinforcement of forty thousand men, for that it would give a turn +to everything. + +Lord Wellington, talking of the Portuguese, said that it was +extraordinary just now, to observe their conduct; that no troops could +behave better; that they never had now a notion of turning; and that +nothing could equal their forwardness now, and willing, ready tempers. +I am sorry to say that some of our foreign corps do not go on as well. +Of the Brunswick corps, ten went off from picquet two nights since to +the French, and fourteen from the camp, and others have gone off also; +and some have been surprised, so that I believe they are ordered to be +sent more to the rear, and cannot be trusted. I do not wonder at it, as +Government have taken men from the French prisons, who were only taken +last year, and who, no doubt, only enlisted on purpose to desert the +first opportunity. + +_Lezaca, July 22nd._—To-day Lord Wellington celebrates the battle of +Salamanca by a great dinner. His victories and successes will soon ruin +him in wine and eating, and if he goes on as he has, he had better keep +open house at once every day, and his calendar of feasts will be as +full as the Romish one with red letter days. This morning the guns have +been thundering salvoes. + +I think the breach at St. Sebastian must be ready soon. I only hope +that we shall not lose many of our fine fellows. Pamplona is invested +more closely—that is all that is attempted. Two sallies have been +repulsed; there are about fifteen thousand Spaniards there. I was sorry +to hear that bread was, very lately, in the town at the same price as +when we were first there, and that a low Spanish price; this does not +look much like starving the garrison out. For a regular siege we have +no means, and the place is formidable from the very circumstance that +makes it look otherwise—the citadel is all flat, there is nothing to +fire at, and no ground to approach it by. The scenery all about this +lower Pyrenees and coast, is like the north coast of Devonshire and +Somersetshire, a little enlarged as you get inland, and so increasing +in size, but the same character remaining for a considerable extent, +only that the valleys become deeper, and the hills higher. There is +nothing, however, so striking here as the passage of the Ebro, and the +valley near where we crossed it. + +Major D—— has still got his prize here taken on the field of battle, +namely, a Spanish girl, a pony, the wardrobe, monkey, &c., the property +of one of King Joseph’s aides-de-camp. I am still kept at work. We +yesterday tried two men for plundering Lord Aylmer’s tent in the night +whilst he slept. + +Out of 500,000_l._ sterling, the supposed plunder at Vittoria, only +about 30,000_l._ has found its way to the treasury, or military chest. +Lord Wellington seems to think the best of Mina, Longa, and the +Empecinado; amongst the Spaniards there is much to be done yet, to +make them like our vagabonds or the Portuguese, in regard to fighting; +for plundering and the “_savoir vivre_” here without money or rations, +they beat us both already; we cannot improve them. + +Castanos, the other day at dinner, asked Lord Wellington how Madame +Gazan had been treated, as she was accustomed to have a considerable +number of lovers? Lord Wellington looked rather drolly at me, and said, +she had been treated, he believed, very properly and respectfully. +Castanos said, “_Elle en serait bien fachée_.” + +Last week some of the light division had rations of wheat in the +grain instead of bread. One fellow, who was sulky, said, he supposed +he should have “long forage” next, that is, straw. Another more good +humouredly said, he was as strong as a horse now since yesterday? +How so? “Why, they have given me a good feed of corn you see, so how +could it be otherwise.” We had one very ingenious device by two of our +fellows last week; they were employed to take care of two thousand +dollars prize, for the benefit of the regiment, and to carry it on a +mule or ass given to them for that purpose. General Cole passed this +donkey on a bridge, and being irritated from the obstruction caused by +the baggage, &c., swore he would upset the whole over the bridge if +they were not off. When he had passed, one said, “That will just do, +let’s divide the money, and say the General upset it in the river.” +This was done, and the report made; something, however, was overheard, +and this led to an inquiry, when one of them admitted that this was the +case, and that a serjeant shared and proposed the plan. I said that +they could only be flogged for this. Lord Wellington therefore said +they might as well be tried in their regiment, for three hundred lashes +was as good as a thousand, and that to publish these things was only to +put similar ideas into other people’s heads. + +_Lezaca, Head-Quarters, July 23rd._—Lord Wellington and all his party +went off at eight this morning for St. Sebastian to see how things are +going on. He intends returning to dinner, a late one, though they all +have fresh horses on the road. It is feared that his hints have not +been attended to, and that the breach has been made too soon before +all other things were ready, so that the place of danger is discovered +to the enemy in time, perhaps, to enable the French, who are ever +quick and ready on these occasions, to let in some sea, and make a wet +ditch behind, or to throw up new works, &c. The breach may thus, as +at Badajoz, become the worst place of the whole to attack. It is to +be hoped that this is only a false alarm; but things do not appear to +go on well, unless Lord Wellington or General Murray are on the spot. +Lord Wellington is not so easily roused from his bed as he used to be. +This is the only change in him; and it is said that he has been in +part encouraged to this by having such confidence in General Murray. I +understand he was always naturally fond of his pillow. He had rather +ride like an express for ten or fifteen leagues, than be early and take +time to his work. Upon the whole this may fatigue him less, as being a +less time on horseback. + +_Head-Quarters, Lezaca, July 25th, 1813._—We have now been some time +stationary in these mountains, and I am at work again, and have little +time, and less to write about. We have been in hourly and nervous +expectation of news of the storming of St. Sebastian. It was first to +have taken place the day before yesterday, but we were not quite ready; +then at five yesterday morning; but either from our shells firing a +house near the breach, and the French encouraging the flames to spread, +or from their originally setting fire to that part of the town, there +was such a considerable fire all around the breach, that it was thought +too hot to attempt the storming. It was then, by Lord Wellington’s +order, I believe, fixed for this morning, and he has been as usual very +anxious about the event. + +He was very fidgety yesterday, when I went to him about two poor +fellows who are to be hung for robbing Lord Aylmer’s tent; and to-day +he came out to the churchyard, where we were listening, about eight +o’clock, to judge from the noise of the guns whether our batteries had +ceased, and what the firing was. He has been once over himself, but +appeared to wish to leave it to Graham, and not directly to interfere. +At eleven this morning, however, Colonel Burgh came over with an +account of our attempt having failed; that our party (consisting of +English, too, and I believe of the 9th and 38th) went up to the breach, +then turned, and ran away. This will terribly discourage our men who +have to go next, and encourage the enemy. Lord Wellington has ordered +his horse, and is going over immediately. + +Nothing can be done, however, before the evening or to-morrow morning, +as the attack must take place within two hours before or after low +water, in order to pass the sands for the breach. I am told the latter +is wide and easy, and we cannot tell what possessed our men on this +occasion. The object, St. Sebastian, is most important for the army; +first, to enable us to keep our ground here, as an _appui_ to the left +flank, and secondly, as a safe place for stores, sick and wounded, +where, in case of retreat, they may be all left to be brought off at +leisure by sea, and also as a refuge for Guerillas, &c. A few things +are now beginning to be brought to us in these wild inhospitable +regions, but still they are sent from Lisbon by land, with the six +weeks’ carriage on a mule to pay for. If some one would speculate to +Passages direct, it would fully answer, for Irish butter is 4_s._ 6_d._ +a pound; sugar, 4_s._; ham, 3_s._; tea, 20_s._, the same as that sold +at Lisbon for 8_s._: and so on. + +To-day I am going about three miles up the Bidassoa river to a posada, +in which the artillery of Colonel Ross’s troops are quartered, to dine +with them. Part of the way to their present quarters from St. Estevan +they had to cut their road with spades and pickaxes for the guns; but +there they now are safe. + +I am sorry to say several of our men (English) desert as well as the +foreigners. I have just heard that the cause of their failure at +St. Sebastian this morning was partly the same as that of Badajoz +formerly—a deep ditch behind the breach, and nothing to fill it up +with, if indeed that were possible; but it is said to have been very +deep. Our men looked, came back, got for shelter under the wall, and +were then ordered back, and they ran a little. This is a much better +account of the business. The attack was also too soon, so that the +tide prevented one attack from being attempted, and it is feared that +our artillery even fired from that cause on the attackers. The French +certainly understand sieges better, I think, than we do. + +_Head-Quarters, Berrio Planca, in front of Pamplona, half a league, +July 31st, 1813._—To my great surprise, here I am again, and now tell +you how and why. + +_Head-Quarters, again at Lezaca, near Bera, in the Mountains, August +3rd, 1813._—I had just taken up this paper, and headed it as above, to +begin my history, when a turn of good fortune, arising from the courage +of our army from the superior manœuvres of our General, have in eight +days brought head-quarters back to our old place, whence the first +sheet of this letter was dated. I have been too much occupied in this +interval almost to sit down, much more to write; but I will endeavour +to detail the important events I have witnessed in them in the best +order my recollection will permit. + +On the 25th July I went over to dine with the artillery. About seven +I mounted to return home, Colonel Ross, Captains Jenkinson and Belson +riding with me. On our way we met a messenger. I asked him to whom he +was going? He said to Colonel Ross. The Colonel was thereupon called +back. It turned out to be an order to march that night, and rather +to the rear. There had been a distant firing all day, on the right +wing near Maya. Lord Wellington was over at St. Sebastian. Belson was +sent to General Alten with orders by Colonel Ross. Jenkinson galloped +back to order the troops to get ready. Colonel Ross begged me to tell +General Murray he would endeavour to reach Sambillo that night; and +giving a receipt for the letter, was off. On my return I found Lord +Wellington still absent, and reports flying about, but no orders. I +soon found, however, that matters were not going on well, and ordered +everything to be ready for the march next morning. Lord Wellington +returned to dinner at eight, and found the following account of matters +on our right just arrived to greet him on his return from the failure +of St. Sebastian. + +The French had collected a force both at the pass of Roncesvalles +against General Cole, and at the pass of Maya against General Hill. In +the morning of the 25th they pushed a strong reconnoissance against +General Stewart, commanding Hills advance brigade near Maya, made a +show, but gave way again. This report we had heard, and thought all +was over. About three, however, the French advanced against Cole and +Hill. About twenty-two thousand against Cole’s force, about sixteen +thousand against General Stewart’s brigade; the force of the latter are +scattered on the hills round the pass. The French came up in one close +body, and gradually ascended the hill. Our people fired on them the +whole time, and the destruction was very considerable. Still, however, +they gained ground. Twice were they charged by a single regiment of +ours, and the head of the column gave a little, but the press of +numbers urged them on, and as our force was only about three thousand +men, and that acting only by small bodies of regiments or companies, +the French drove all before them after a most gallant but fatal +resistance, before a sufficient reinforcement could be brought up. Four +Portuguese guns were abandoned. Our loss in killed and wounded you +will see in the “_Gazette_.” It is said to be twelve hundred British, +almost all in three or four regiments—principally the 50th, 92nd, +74th, and 28th. In the 92nd, I am told, there was no officer except +the Quarter-Master in a state to march off the men at parade. Colonel +Belson (28th) had only four officers left besides himself on duty, as +he had been thinned at Vittoria. To add to this disaster, General Cole +thought he was not justified in opposing the superior force against +him, and gave way in the pass of Roncesvalles. This left an opening for +the enemy to get in the rear of General Hill in the valley of Bastan at +Elisondo. Of course, therefore, he was obliged to fall back also, and +the result was that Lord Wellington on his return found his right wing +forced, and his position completely turned. Retreat, and that a rapid +one, became necessary, in order to take a new position, and to fall +back on the divisions near Pamplona. + +After I was in bed on the night of the 25th the order came to march, as +I expected. Lord Wellington was off early straight across to the second +division. The light divisions fell back from our front; the seventh +also toward St. Estevan towards the second; the artillery proceeded to +St. Estevan by Sambillo. Head-quarters were sent over the mountains by +Yanga and Aranor to a little village called Eligarraga, just as you +descend into the valley of St. Estevan, there to wait for orders. + +We had a wild and tedious road of four leagues, up and down the +mountains like Blue Beard’s procession, in which we should now all be +adepts. A road ran round the bottom through Sambillo, but probably it +was not thought safe, and that it might interfere with the artillery, +as it was narrow the whole way, and nothing could pass. + +About two o’clock on the 26th we reached Eligarraga, and there found +Major Canning sitting by the wayside to order on everything three long +leagues further through Estevan, and then after keeping the road along +the valley about a league beyond towards the pass into the Bastan +Valley, near Trinita and Elisondo, we were to turn at Oronoz through +a pass on the right, which brought us into the rear of the valley +of Bastan, and into the rear of General Hill’s division, to a place +called Almendoz, on the road to Pamplona from Elisondo, General Hill’s +head-quarters being half a league in our present rear as we retreated, +at our old head-quarters, Berrueta. In the meantime the seventh and +light divisions got down into the valley of St. Estevan that night. + +At Almendoz we found the effects of the battle at Maya. The wounded +had just reached that place, and there those who had not been dressed, +had their wounds examined, and all were urged on to the rear over a +mountain pass to Lanz as fast as possible. The village of Almendoz +was very small; the wounded lying about in all directions, till cars +and mules could help them on. It was near seven o’clock, and we had +nothing to eat since seven in the morning; quarters very bad of course, +and the inhabitants all in the greatest distress, beginning to pack +up, to desert their houses, as the people in the valley of Bastan, at +Elisondo, &c., had done already, the French having got possession. +A retreat is a most distressing scene even at the best, and when +conducted with perfect order as this was. + +About nine o’clock that night orders came to march at daylight for +Ulague, a place about half-way between Lanz and Ostiz. After a five +o’clock breakfast, away we went for the mountains again. The road was +choked with baggage, and artillery, and fugitives, amongst others, +fourteen or fifteen nuns in their dresses, who were reduced by fatigue +to beg some rum of us as we passed, which unfortunately we had not with +us. We got on by scrambling along the paths near the road, and arrived +about twelve. On the 27th we arrived at Lanz. We there found General +Murray and several officers, all looking very serious and gloomy, and +orders given for everything to be turned off that road to the right, +and not to go to Ulague, as Cole had been pressed. The firing was very +sharp, and the French were urging on to that road, besides which, by +taking to the right we got towards the _camino real_, from Pamplona to +Tolosa, and could have made for General Graham’s if necessary. We were +turned through Arayes (where I had been on the advance, and by the road +where I had lost myself before in the night), on through a rich valley +and several villages to Lissago, or Lisasso. + +Here (the 27th) we were placed very snugly, only about two leagues and +a-half from the Tolosa road, about three from Pamplona, and in the +midst of the divisions. General Cole, with the fourth division, had +fallen back on Pamplona to some hills near Villa Alba, or Villalba: +there he joined the third division, General Picton’s, and some +Spaniards. General Hill fell back to Lanz. From Berrueta, the seventh +division got a short way over the mountains, from St. Estevan to near +Lisasso, our head-quarters, and thus got near the sixth. The light +division fell back more towards Goigueta, or Ernani, to communicate +with Graham and protect the Tolosa road, and thus we stood all night. + +The scene at Lisasso was dreadful! All the wounded from Lanz had just +arrived there, in cars, on mules, crawling on crutches, and hobbling +along: all those with wounds in their hands and arms, &c., walking. +Finding that they had orders to stop there, all our quarters, except +Lord Wellington’s, and about four more houses, were given up, and we +all dispersed to the villages round. You may conceive the scene, both +on the road and in the village. I thought one of my horses had lost his +shoes on the road, and desired my servant to ascertain this. A soldier +walking along, apparently one of the best, said that I had not; that +he was still, as a farrier, able to see that, though he thought he +should be some months before he could put another shoe on, as he had +been shot through the back. I went with Colonel and Mrs. Scovell to +a little village half-way up the hill towards Pamplona; and Colonel +Scovell and I climbed up to the top of the hill to listen and look +about until nearly six o’clock, when we expected our baggage. The +curé of the village and three peasants went up with us. We could see +beyond Pamplona, and beyond the firing, but could not perceive the +place itself for the smoke. By five o’clock, however, we all agreed +that it slackened, and receded a little; we therefore descended, got a +beefsteak, and waited ready for orders. + +About six that evening the wounded were ordered to move on towards +Irunzun, on the Vittoria and Tolosa roads; but we remained quiet. +About seven, a furious thunder-storm came on, and caught all our poor +wounded men on their march: they could not get on to Irunzun, but got +to Berrio Planca, near Pamplona. Two officers, one sick and one wounded +in a house half a mile from us, heard of this order, left their beds, +packed up, and were proceeding; but came first to us to inquire. We +told them that head-quarters were not to move. They then went back to +bed, keeping a guide in the house all night, to start in case of alarm. +At nine came an order to march to Orcayen, near Pamplona, the next +morning. Thus passed the 27th. + +At five o’clock on the 28th I began to load to proceed to Orcayen, +when Mr. Hook, who takes quarters, came back and left word that we +were to go to Irunzun instead; but the sergeant, by mistake, told us +he would call again when he had made more inquiry. In consequence of +this Mrs. Scovell and I staid until past ten before we marched. Then, +finding every one gone, and the baggage of General Hill’s division +arrived at Lisasso, we started over the mountain. For the first league +we were quite right; but afterwards, in a wood, got too much to the +right, and entered a wrong valley: as it was all safe, however, to +blunder on that side, and the country was picturesque, we proceeded on +that road, and by this means got through to Oscoz, and came into the +high Pamplona road to Tolosa, about three-quarters of a league from +Irunzun towards Tolosa, instead of half a league on the Pamplona side +of Irunzun, which would have been the nearest; it was not a league +round, and very picturesque. We were, therefore, not sorry for the +mistake. At Irunzun, however, came a difficulty; it was quite crowded +with wounded; and of head-quarters we could hear nothing, nor of our +baggage. + +Leaving my servant to bring on the baggage if it came, we proceeded +forwards towards Pamplona, near where we heard head-quarters +were—somewhere at least that way. At Berrio Planca, a place on the +_camino real_, we found all our baggage and the nominal head-quarters, +Every one, however, was absent, and the place full of wounded, the +effects of the preceding day. I got a room in the Prince of Orange’s +quarter, as he had sent for his bed away that night; but Henry had all +my keys. About eight I found Henry and went to bed. + +The next morning, the 29th, I heard that we had the most severe work +on the 28th; that the French attacked our position on a hill six or +seven times, which I believe our troops had only occupied a few hours +before the French came up near Oricain or Orquin. These attacks were +very desperate: and I understand that such a fire for a short time was +scarcely ever known, for four French corps all bore upon one point, +and General Pakenham told me that he scarcely dared show any of his +men. These attacks were, however, all unsuccessful, and we kept our +ground. The French were generally driven down with the bayonet, having +been suffered to come close, and then received with a volley, a cheer, +and a charge. I hear that some of our officers were once very much +alarmed for the result. The French remained close and steady, and one +regiment (I believe the 40th) went at them rather loose and straggling. +However, at the cheer at the last moment the French broke and ran. +The Portuguese behaved in general most inimitably, the 4th, 10th, and +12th regiments in particular. The 10th did, indeed, once give way, but +rallied; and the 4th charged twice, I think, on the 27th June, in good +English style. + +Our loss was very severe; that of the French, of course, much more +so; but as their cavalry carry off the wounded to the rear, and they +have an hospital corps also for that purpose, no one knows their +losses; their prisoners and deserters say nearly five thousand, Lord +Wellington’s staff were never so roughly handled. The Prince of Orange, +who was sent to thank one regiment by Lord Wellington, was very much +exposed while executing this order. His horse was shot under him, +and he was grazed in the sash. It was near this place that General +Cole’s aide-de-camp had been killed, and also Brigade-Major A——, +one of my Deputy Judge-Advocates. He was trying to rally a Spanish +battalion which was quite broken. The Adjutant-general Pakenham had his +coat-sleeve much torn by a ball. Colonel Waters, A.A.G.C., was shot in +the head, through the hat, on the temple, but somehow was little hurt. +It is thought that the ball glanced under the hat, against the head, +and passed out through the hat. He was out again the next day. Lord +Wellington was near at the time, and told him that his head must be +like a rock. + +Lord Wellington said, I hear, that he had never seen the French behave +better. He staid and dined at Picton’s on the 28th, and few returned to +head-quarters. All the 29th was quiet; both sides employed in burying +the dead and getting off the wounded. On the 29th also the staff and +light canteens alone remained at Villalba with General Cole; and I +was left with scarcely anything except wounded men and baggage. All +the stores were ordered to be unloaded, and all spare mules of the +head-quarters and of the second and seventh divisions likewise. Two +troops of Portuguese cavalry were employed from daylight to dark, in +addition to cars and hospital waggons, in carrying off the wounded to +Irunzun, to be out of the way in case of attack, and on the road to the +great hospital at Vittoria. + +I made myself of some use in assisting the arrangement, and as there +were not hands to move the men from their mules, to get their rations, +&c., and then remount them to proceed, I asked an artillery officer +close by, to lend some of his men to assist, which he did directly, +and everything went on as quick again. I was sure they would not stand +upon form on such an occasion, and the men were standing about waiting +for orders; they only regretted that they did not know it sooner, for +they would have given men all day. The scene was a busy one. I suppose +nearly twelve hundred went through in this way; they were provided +with rations for two days to get on to Echani, mounted and sent off, +their ammunition having in the meantime been taken from them to be +better used, for that was getting scarce more than once. Some had two, +some one ball still in them. Besides this, Colonel Campbell, of the +Portuguese service, who had been wounded, was lying in my ante-room +all day. He was shot through the shinbone, a painful wound. He could +not get into my room, which of course I offered, but he preferred the +cool passage. I was at breakfast when he arrived. I gave him tea, and +some newspapers to try and read himself to sleep. A friend was with +him, a Campbell, who shared my bouillie; he ate as good a dinner as I +did, but objected to a second bottle, upon which I discovered he was +also wounded in the side, and feared that the end of his rib was broken. + +The next morning, the 30th, we were all in suspense, as Lord Wellington +had determined on a general attack. The firing began at daylight. +At nine o’clock I determined to go and see what was going on, and +mounting my black, proceeded up for the hills, where the sixth and +seventh divisions were, on the opposite side of the valley from our +grand position, where we had been attacked the day before. I met many +wounded, crawling back all the way, and on the top found only the +pickets left in the camp of the morning, and that the seventh division +had just driven the French from the adjoining hill, and were after them +up the valley on the other side. I went on to the point of the hill and +saw the battle still raging strong, just opposite on the hills below, +on the other side of the valley opposite our position. The French +still steady and firing very briskly all round the side of one hill +and in the village below us, and our people creeping on by degrees +under ridges towards the village and the hill, and also advancing +round the back of the hill. We had two mortars and a gun also upon our +position-hill constantly at work, playing upon the French, and we saw +the shells continually fall and burst close to the French line, whilst +the wounded were carried off to the rear. + +This went on for some time, above an hour after I came up, and we +had men in reserve all round. I then saw our men in the village, and +immediately under the French, and appearing at top also. The French +gave way, but went on firing all over the hill. In half-an-hour, I +heard the loud huzzas of our soldiers, and saw no French left except +on the next hills, where they seemed very numerous and strong, but in +confusion. The first huzzas were I believe for a body of about eighteen +hundred prisoners, who were caught, being headed every way. There +was soon a shout on our side close by our positions. It proved to be +Marshal Beresford and Lord Wellington proceeding down to the village to +water their horses and proceed on. I should have wished to have pushed +on also, but I knew head-quarters would move, and had told my people I +should return, and not to stir until they saw me. I therefore went back +to Berrio Planca, found as I expected all loaded and on the move to go +towards Orquin; got a mouthful of mouldy bread in the market, and went +back again close to our position at Orquin. There we got orders to halt +loaded, until orders came to proceed to Ostiz. We took off our bridles, +turned the horses into a field of Indian corn, where the French camp +had been four hours before, and where their dead of the 28th had been +buried. We waited thus, hearing a distant firing, until near dark. The +reason of this halt, as I learned from General O’Donnell, who passed, +was that D’Erlon had attacked General Hill in the morning, and that he +had been rather too much in advance, and was in some degree obliged to +give way; that he had now taken a new position, and expected the second +attack without alarm, as he was to be supported. + +About four or five thousand Spaniards moved by us whilst we halted and +went up that way. I conclude that this was part of the support alluded +to. General Hill was attacked again, and I understand beat Count +D’Erlon (Drouet) back with great loss. When this had put all matters +straight again, on that side, at least, we were to proceed. At last +came orders to advance to Lanz, and we moved again. We drew up first, +however, on one side to allow eighteen hundred prisoners to march to +the rear,—a very pleasant sight. I spoke to several, and found all +of the 17th regiment, who were numerous, to be Italians, principally +Genoese. They said that they hated the French, but were forced to fight +in Spain against their inclinations. All the prisoners seemed quite +tired of Spain, and were as anxious as most of our people never to see +it again. They said that Soult was more in the rear, and did not intend +to fight that day, which was true, I believe, for he waited for General +D’Erlon to get up from St. Estevan towards Lanz. General Monceau, I +believe, commanded. + +We were again a second time stopped under some trees, for Lord +Wellington had ordered the French to be moved from their position +beyond Ostiz, and driven to the vicinity of Lanz; the baggage was +halted till the result was known. In the villages and on the road, +which was strewed with pouches, empty knapsacks, and broken muskets, we +passed several bodies all stripped, and in some places could scarcely +avoid treading on them, by the horse stepping over a leg or an arm. +In one place on the road was a half-buried Frenchman, which the horse +had again laid bare. The doctors determined to halt, and encamp under +some trees; and if my baggage had been near me to stop it, I should +have bivouacked with them, having no tent. As it was, I proceeded, got +a wretched quarter at Ostiz with Colonel Waters and seven countrymen, +just come from the mountains, at about nine o’clock, got a beefsteak at +eleven, and to bed at half-past twelve. + +The next day, 31st, orders came to proceed to Lanz, and wait further +instructions. There we arrived about ten o’clock, and I turned my +horses into the forage remaining in the French camp of the night +before, and got some collected for the mules. Thus we remained loaded +until four o’clock without orders. Lord Wellington then sent on for +fresh horses and his light canteens, and of our own accord we unloaded +to relieve the animals, but for a long time durst not unpack. At last, +General Murray came in, and ordered some dinner; but telling us that he +had no authority to direct others to do the same. We were all to go to +our old quarters; but, not liking in this state of things to go over +to Arriez, my old place, where I had lost myself in the night, I got a +room at Haines’s, and some dinner, hung my baggage cover up for a door, +and went to sleep on the table to avoid the fleas. + +The next day, 1st of August, about six o’clock, orders were issued to +advance to Berrueta, and there to remain, waiting orders again. We +returned over this mountain thus the third time, and got to Berrueta +about one o’clock. I called at Almendoz in passing, to remind the +patrona of the house that I had told her we should beat the French, +near Pamplona, and be back in a week. I was so in five days, and found +her more miserable than before, having been plundered by the French. +I gave the green Indian corn the French had left to my horse, and +wished her good-bye. About two o’clock, we heard that we had driven the +French off the hills above St. Estevan, and also through the town, and +head-quarters were to move on to St. Estevan directly. We did so, and +got there by five o’clock; the French having been driven out between +twelve and one. We saw about a dozen French, just killed, close to St. +Estevan. So we go on, you see. + +The French being driven in, about two leagues towards Lezaca and +Echalar, Longa and the Spaniards, and the light division, made a long +march back that day, the 1st of August, towards their own ground above +Lezaca, going more round, however, towards Echalar. By this, the +95th fell in with the French at the bridge, where the road to Lezaca +turns off from that to Echalar, headed them, killed and wounded about +a hundred, and, without discovering it, before dark, drove much of +their baggage up the valley round again towards St. Estevan. By this +movement, the French being then headed at the Lezaca valley, went the +Echalar pass and road instead, and in confusion; and the baggage walked +into the fourth division just as they advanced next morning. + +Yesterday, the 2nd of August, our orders were to proceed again to +Lezaca. We started, and got into all the baggage of head-quarters +(three divisions) eight miles extent of loaded mules in a string. There +was a halt of about four hours, and no one could move. This continued +until we got near where the baggage had been caught, which was the +cause of the stoppage. After fighting by all the baggage, and leading +my horse along some very dangerous places, where, if he had slipped, +he must have fallen down to the river (and four to five mules actually +did so), I got to the scene of the captured baggage, and then went +quietly on. For nearly two miles there were scattered along the road, +papers, old rugs, blankets, pack-saddles, old bridles, girths, private +letters, lint, bandages, one or two hundred empty and broken boxes; +quantities of intrenching tools, rags, French clothes, dead mules, +dead soldiers and peasants, farriers’ tools, officers’ boots, linen, +&c. There were also the boxes of M. Le General Baron de St. Pol, and +several private officers’ baggage; the principal thing taken seemed to +be the _ambulance du 2ème division_; that is, the field hospital of the +second division. There were still more things worth picking up, and +some soldiers digging up three live mules out of an old limekiln near +the road-side. This caused stoppages and confusion. + +Just beyond the bridge of Yanza the French were crawling off, who were +wounded by the 95th the night before, and we twice met small parties of +prisoners going to the rear, abused not a little by the plundered and +exasperated villagers. The prisoners told me that the country people +about these mountains were “_diablement méchant_,” and treated them +very ill. The truth was, however, that the French began this treatment; +for though they had behaved well in advancing, they had plundered and +destroyed considerably in their retreat, and much wantonly. I told them +they ought never to have come and entered Spain, to which they replied, +“We never wished to do so; it is not our fault.” + +About three o’clock, I went round to see what was going on, but my +horse was tired, and I was not able to get up, to see the French driven +from the hill above Echalar, and also from the hill occupied by the +light division. In short, all our old position, and a little more, was +gained last night. + +In our advance again, we also saw some of the effects of our own +retreat. In one place was an ammunition-waggon, with six dead mules, +which had all rolled down the mountain together. I ascertained that it +was English by sending a muleteer down for some papers in the waggon, +which turned out to be our printed blank artillery returns. I also saw +four other wheels and parts of carriages, and it is said that we lost +a howitzer. Colonel Ross’s troop suffered the most in this way. The +French seemed to have made this advance as a desperate push to relieve +Pamplona and St. Sebastian. The garrisons of both sallied; that of +Pamplona was driven back directly, as I hear: that of St. Sebastian (as +we are told) surprised us in the trenches napping, as the heavy guns +were all embarked for security, and nothing going on, and carried off +three companies of Portuguese. This, it is to be hoped, is exaggerated. +Near Elisondo, I hear, we took thirty cars of bread and brandy, and +some baggage also—a day’s bread for two divisions; and many are now +fighting without it on both sides. There is no delivery of bread +to-day, even for head-quarters; corn for the horses we have had none +this week. + +Head-quarters have stray papers to the 19th, which I am reading whilst +the fighting is going on. One great amusement in these papers, to +me at least, is the excess of lies, the impudence, the abundance of +them, and then the blunders, and ignorance of what is going on. You +will be surprised at the contents of this, when you get the _Gazette_ +account, as you will probably long before you receive this. I told you +that the beaten army would return in a month: whether they will muster +again this year, and attack, depends, in my opinion, upon the fall of +Pamplona and St. Sebastian, and the northern war. Pamplona is starving; +at least it is without meat; but I still doubt, except that this sudden +effort proves it to be in danger. It is merely more closely invested by +small gun redoubts—no battering gun has ever been near it, at present +only about six thousand Spaniards watch it, and I think if they choose +they might be off, only much harassed by our cavalry. + +The charges made by the Life Guards were the most ludicrous. They were +never near the enemy, until beyond Vittoria, as I was before them, and +was almost run down twice by their anxiety along the road, galloping +away without occasion. I leaped a ditch once to avoid them, not wishing +to blow my horse as theirs were, at a time when we were on one side +of Vittoria and the French on the other. They were afterwards ordered +on, but never came up with the enemy. They could do nothing in such a +country, with six-foot ditches round the enclosures. Very few of the +Spaniards have behaved well this time. They have been generally in the +rear; one regiment stood fire well on the 28th, but some ran, and in +general I hear they have done little. Longa’s people tolerably here. +There has been sharp work on the whole. I should put down the allied +losses at six or seven thousand, and the French nearly at eighteen +thousand, provisions and all, that is somehow put _hors de combat_. If +the Spaniards will not fight, we can scarcely stand even this advantage +long; we shall be ruined by our victories. The French under D’Erlon +behaved very well to Colonel Fenwick, who was left wounded; no one was +allowed to go to his house as a quarter, and every attention was paid +both to him and the surgeon left with him. The latter became so popular +that the French liked to be dressed by him, better than by their own +surgeons. + +_August 3rd, six o’clock, evening._—The great men are all come in; and +I am told nothing has been done more to-day. The last push over the +hills, and out of their position has not been made yet. So at least +says General O’Lalor. I suspect the Prince of Orange will carry home +these despatches, and I think it but fair now, that he should go and +see his intended as a conquering hero. He certainly promises very well. +An old man just returned home, is thrashing out his wheat over my head, +and has been thus employed all the morning, giving me his dust as well +as his noise. + +_Later, nine o’clock, evening._—Nothing has been done to-day; the +French remain in their strong ground above Bera, a league and a +half from this. It was found, I believe, necessary to turn it in a +regular manner to avoid great loss; for though one brigade of red +coats yesterday turned two French divisions off one high hill, we can +scarcely expect this to be always the case. I think, therefore, we +shall remain here some days at least. I have just heard an anecdote +of General Picton. General Cole on the 17th ordered General Byng to +retire from a post on a hill which afterwards formed a part of our +good position on the 28th. Byng sent to Picton to say what his orders +were, and added that though very important, he felt he was not strong +enough to justify his keeping it. Picton said to Byng’s aide-de-camp, +“No, by G—, he shall not give up the hill; I will bring my division +up to support him; but no, your horse is done up, I’ll go myself and +tell him;” and he ordered the division to follow. This saved that +hill. Another time, General Cole was by orders leaving a hill, when he +received fresh orders to occupy it. His men found a few stragglers on +the top, and the French main division half way up; but they gave them +such a volley and warm reception, that they soon turned back and were +off. + +We were very nearly destroying some of the French cavalry, and taking +two divisions. Two circumstances prevented this. The night we were +at Berrueta two of our men straggled, and got taken, and they told +the French where head-quarters were. This made them conclude we were +strongly posted close by, and they decamped at night instead of the +morning, as they had intended. Thus several hours were gained. The next +was, that our light division got their orders seven hours later than +was expected. Had they been that time sooner up, they would have headed +the French division on their road to Echalar, as well as to Lezaca, and +from strong ground might have been able to drive them back upon the +other divisions, and have surrounded them. Their cavalry also would +have been caught on this narrow winding road down by the river, where +the baggage was destroyed, with a path in the wood just on the opposite +side, from whence our men might at least have picked off the horses if +the men chose to run away. This was just missed, however, from these +causes, and remains one of the _ifs_ and _ands_; it is very provoking, +for that would have completely crippled them for this year. + +A Spanish priest told me to-day that all the priests, nuns, &c., in +Spain, were constantly putting up prayers for Lord Wellington, thinking +almost everything depended upon him individually, as I believe most +people here really think. They were sorry he was so often exposed as he +is to fire. + +_Lezaca, August 4th, 1813._—Nothing is to be done, I believe, to-day. +Everything _in statu quo_; the Prince goes to-night or to-morrow +morning with despatches to England, and I shall send this with them. + +P.S. It feels, as you may suppose, very strange, after the whirl about +to Pamplona, and all the scenes I have witnessed, to be again quietly +drawing charges at Lezaca. I have just heard that the French have +increased their force much in our front above Bera on the hills, but I +think nothing more will be done immediately on our part or on theirs. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + Rejoicings for the Victory—Sufferings of Cole’s Division—Complaints + of the French—Statements of a French Prisoner—Decay of + Spain—Characteristics of Wellington—His Opinion of Bonaparte—Prospects + of a renewal of the Attack—Exchange of Prisoners—Wellington’s Spanish + Estate—His opinion of Picton—Disposition of the Army. + + + Head-quarters, Lezaca, + August 7, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Here we are still, quiet, and _in statu quo ante_ our last run to +Pamplona. I have sent you a long account of all this business with the +Prince of Orange’s despatches. + +Our cavalry have been moving up, both to St. Estevan, and towards +Irun. From the former place, however, for want of forage they begin to +retire again. Much are left still round Pamplona, where there is only +a Spanish infantry force to watch and invest. They have tried in vain +to burn the corn just under the walls of the town, for this partly +supplies the garrison. Marshal Beresford is gone for a week to the +sea side, for bathing; I conclude, therefore, that nothing is to be +immediately undertaken to turn the French out of the remaining hills +near this place. I should like to have them clear out in the plains +below, for I expect in about three weeks to have them plaguing us +again. Something is still in agitation for this purpose, but for the +present delayed. We fired, at St. Sebastian, a salute of twenty-one +guns for our late victory. The garrison regularly returned two for +every gun fired. They are very well supplied, it is said, and are +very impudent. I fear that all our former breaches will now be quite +useless, as they are, probably, before this, made the strongest points. +Saragossa, or Zaragoza (the fort) has surrendered to Mina with about +forty guns, and, it is said, nearly five hundred men; this will be +good, if Suchet intends to come that way towards us. I think he is now +retreating a little, and perhaps this late business may make him go +back quicker. + +Lord Wellington was on his bed yesterday, and could scarcely rise from +the lumbago; but was in good humour and good spirits. His position +near Sorauren and Oricain, or Orquin, was a near-run thing (this was +where the last two battles were fought). General Cole was there with +the fourth division. In the course of his retreat, Lord Wellington +was falling back on him with his staff, saw the importance of the +position and galloped over the bridge, and up to General Cole, to +form his division, and take up the position at first sight. Pamplona +must otherwise have been relieved. The French were so close upon Lord +Wellington, that a part of his staff rather behind could not follow him +over the bridge, but were cut off by the French, and obliged to find +their way round. This position was afterwards strengthened by the third +(Picton’s) division, and the Spaniards, and this at least saved the +communication with Pamplona. I hope we should in any case have beaten +the French at last, but it must have been further back certainly, and +probably on the Tolosa road. General Cole’s division has had, on the +whole, nearly nine days’ constant fighting and marching. It is terribly +cut up in consequence. + +The French vow vengeance against the Spaniards. An officer, prisoner +here, told me yesterday, that the Spaniards had always complained +of the French, and often with reason; but if they came again as he +expected, the French were resolved to show them the difference, and +let them have some reason to complain of them in earnest. He said, that +France had lost nearly four hundred thousand men in Spain, in the war, +and much more than half from sickness and unfair means, assassination, +and treachery. He said there was not a family in France which had not +put on mourning for this Spanish war, and yet scarcely any of the +Spaniards had fought them like men. He said the notion the French had +was that in the general peace which was expected, England and France +would make arrangements to divide the best part of Spain between them, +and that we should keep Cadiz, Carthagena, and all the useful maritime +parts, and leave them to the Ebro. He smiled much at my disowning any +such honest and honourable intentions on our part. He told me that the +French armies had suffered more in their _morale_ here in the last +campaign, than by their Russian losses, for every Frenchman laid the +latter disasters entirely to climate, and was satisfied he still could +conquer a Russian as formerly; but here, the troops were fairly beaten, +and in general would not stand. Only two brigades, he said, behaved +really well at Vittoria, and Jourdan was sent to Paris under arrest for +his conduct. As to the money, baggage, &c., they behaved much better on +the 18th of July. + +He also told me that not even an English or Spanish officer, in the +best of times, had ever been so well treated as the French were when +they first came here. He appeared not at all to feel how much worse +this made their conduct appear since. This was drawn out by my telling +him that Bonaparte had contrived now to make the French detested, +almost by every nation in Europe, and that power was all he had to rely +upon. The part Bernadotte had taken the French officers seem not to +have known, so much are they kept in the dark about every thing. The +Frenchman also said, that had it not been for the jealousies of the +Guerillas, they might, by acting in concert (which they never would +do), have sometimes almost annihilated whole French divisions, and that +the French could scarcely have kept their ground some time since; but +by local and individual jealousies the finest opportunities were lost. +He considered that the good or bad behaviour of an army all depended +on their having pay and food; or, on the contrary, the want of both; +and I believe so much: that he rightly considered that the French +discipline was the best when they had both, but that not being here +ever the case, plunder was the consequence. “But why come here at all?” +quoth I. “_L’Empereur le veut_,” was the answer, “and we as soldiers +have only to obey.” “Try and enter France,” said he, “and you will soon +see how the people feel, and whether your stories of a readiness to +revolt, and dissatisfaction are true. So far from it, that there has +been considerable zeal shown every where in replacing the Emperor’s +Russian losses.” The French think there must be war, and therefore +the further from home the better. We have heard before you, by French +papers, of the extension of the armistice in the North. This is bad for +the campaign here. + +The English reviewers and others may say what they please as to Spain +not having been on the decline during the last century. It has at +least stood still when almost every other country in Europe made rapid +advances in everything. In Spain and Portugal, no town is now, or has +been lately, on the increase; but several have manifestly diminished. +The decay of houses is seldom made good, even on the same ground, by +new ones; I do not recollect to have observed, in the whole country, +four new houses building, notwithstanding the thousands destroyed of +late; nor does this seem owing to the events of the last five years and +the present times, for you see no houses commenced before that time, +and left unfinished, at least extremely few. In France, almost every +large place had its new town as in England, only in a less degree, +and evident marks of new buildings, &c., stopped by the Revolution. +In Spain there are no appearances of new towns at all, nor of parts +of towns, or scarcely even of houses, or unfinished buildings stopped +by the present confusion—some in Vittoria, from French excitement I +believe, but nothing to speak of. The churches are every where on a +large and expensive scale; a few modern, but in general they are old. +The Spanish towns have nearly all the appearance of what we should take +to be decayed manufacturing towns. The inhabitants appear to have been +asleep as to the rest of the world, and not to have made any progress +whilst others made great advances. This is a sort of decline. There +can have been little demand for manufactures, for the same few chairs +and tables seem to have been in use these fifty or hundred years. +Whitewashing and new placing the tiles seem the only repairs of the +houses. + +Yet, I think many districts seem to have been uncommonly happy and +comfortable before this war—large tight houses, abundance of food, good +clothes, cleanly habits, a general equality of rank; no rich among them +at all; no very poor; and no manufactures. Almost every man could make +what he wanted for his farm, and a shoemaker, a tailor, and a farrier, +were nearly the only tradesmen, except farmers, in work. Occasional +pedlars supplied the other wants of a people who had but few. Such +must have been the independent, happy state of many large districts +away from the influence of the corruptions of the large towns, where +all the idle, lazy, pauper nobility lived: they were alike free from +the effects of the misgovernment and oppressive conduct of their +rulers. Other districts certainly were very different, and more like +the dirty and ill-provided Portuguese. In Portugal, the higher classes +seem, I think, to have been generally better off, and to have enjoyed +themselves more in their quintas, or villas, and the poor to have been +worse off. There are none of the districts in Portugal such as I have +described in Spain. + +I have just met General Cole, who commanded the fourth division; he is +quite knocked up. He says that his division alone have one hundred and +four officers killed and wounded. + +_Lezaca, 8th August._—Yesterday I rode up to the hill at the point +of our position above Bera, from whence you see Bayonne. I stood on +the top until it was nearly dark, and returned down the mountains by +moonlight. The French fires were very numerous, and were burning all +over the sides of a tremendous hill, which they still occupy opposite +to our position. I passed the boundary stone, and got half-a-mile +into France, to the highest summit of the rock, where the outlying +picket is. I saw the French relieve their pickets, heard their drums +as plainly as ours, saw the men at work at a redoubt to oppose us if +we should advance, and, lastly, saw five thousand Spaniards come up to +occupy the ground in the place of our light division, &c., who were +ordered to go elsewhere. These were O’Donnell’s regiments; they were +thin in numbers. A brigade, nominally three thousand, mustered eighteen +hundred, but were well-dressed and good-looking men. I only hope they +will fight—at least that they do not steal as adroitly as Longa’s +people. We have had the latter near this place, and nothing is safe at +all from their fingers—from a horse or mule down to a bit of biscuit. +In my letter from Vittoria, I told you that the French as an army +had escaped, and that we should hear of them again in a month. So it +proved; and so I think it will be probably again, unless the two places +surrender to us in a few weeks. + +This small, dirty place, Lezaca, is a curious scene of bustle just +now; crowded with Spanish fugitives—the head-quarters no small body, +with all our stragglers and those of Longa’s, who are more numerous +(he having a quarter here now, and looking like an English butcher in +a handsome hussar dress), with abundance of Spanish and Portuguese +officers (for both troops are near), as well as with English, with +wounded and prisoners passing, with mules and muleteers innumerable, +besides all the country people who come here to turn all they have +got into money. Noises of all sorts; thrashing all going on in the +rooms up stairs; the corn then made into bread and sold in one corner; +“_aguardente_” being cried all about; lemonade (that is, dirty water +and dark-brown sugar) the same; here a large pig being killed in the +street, with its usual music on such occasions; another near it with +a straw fire singeing it, and then a number of women cutting up and +selling pieces of other pigs killed a few hours before. Suttlers and +natives with their Don Quixote wineskins all about, large pigskins, +and small ditto, and middling ditto, all pouring out wine to our +half-boozy, weary soldiers; bad apples and pears, gourds for soup, sour +plums, &c., all offered for sale at the same moment. Perpetual quarrels +take place about payment for these things between the soldiers of the +three allied nations and the avaricious and unreasonable civilian +natives; mostly, however, between Spaniards and Spaniards. The animals +eating green Indian corn almost against every house here and in the +churchyard, which contains four tents, from the want of stables and of +quarters. Not the least curious or noisy in this confusion, are about +fifteen men and women with fresh butter 4_s._ the pound, who are come +from near St. Andero and beyond it—a stout race dressed in a curious, +peculiar manner, who contrive to bring butter on their heads in baskets +for above a fortnight together, and sell it at last in a state that I +am very glad to eat it for breakfast for ten days after it arrives. It +forms a sort of very mild cream cheese, in fact. + +_Head-Quarters, Lezaca, August 9th._—You ask me if Lord Wellington has +recollected —— with regard? He seems to have had a great opinion of +him, but scarcely has ever mentioned him to me. In truth, I think Lord +Wellington has an active, busy mind, always looking to the future, and +is so used to lose a useful man, that as soon as gone he seldom thinks +more of him. He would be always, no doubt, ready to serve any one who +had been about him, or the friend of a deceased friend, but he seems +not to think much about you when once out of the way. He has too much +of everything and everybody always in his way, to think much of the +absent. He said the other day, that he had great advantages now over +every other General. He could do what others dare not attempt; and he +got the confidence of all the three allied powers, so that what he +said or ordered was, right or wrong, always thought right. “And it is +the same,” said he, “with the troops. When I come myself, the soldiers +think what they have to do the most important, since I am there, and +that all will depend on their exertions. Of course, these are increased +in proportion, and they will do for me what perhaps no one else can +make them do.” He said, “he had several of the advantages possessed by +Bonaparte, in regard to his freedom of action and power of risking, +without being constantly called to account: Bonaparte was quite free +from all inquiry, and that he himself was in fact very much so. The +other advantages which Bonaparte possessed, and of which he made so +much use,” Lord Wellington said, “was his full latitude of lying; +_that_, if so disposed,” he said, “he could not do.” + +You ask about my health—I think this hole in the mountains unwholesome: +the place is so full, and without drainage; the air heavy and +oppressive; it is like Devonshire, warm moisture constantly. I long to +be on the mountains, to get air and braced up. It has rained nearly all +the last twenty-four hours. + +_August 10th._—I have just seen Lord Wellington, about some more than +usually important business: he is better, but not well. He has given me +an immense bundle of English and Spanish papers to peruse and examine. +The enclosed plan may help you a little to understand the _Gazette_, +and my letter; remember it is only my hasty personal sketch in pen and +ink, on no scale, and taken from no regular document. + +_11th, Post-day._—I worked very hard all yesterday, and could not +get through Lord Wellington’s papers. I am still at work at the last +part of them: a Spanish narrative of all the Spanish operations of +a Spanish army for a month, by their General Copons. It consists of +sixty-four sides of foolscap in a Spanish hand. There is nothing new. +Lord Wellington will give a dinner to-morrow, in honour of the Prince +Regent’s birthday, to all the heads of departments, to which I am +invited. There are reports of the French moving already, but I believe +all lies as yet. Do not be too sanguine about Suchet. He may retire, +but will hardly be forced out of the country, for there are forty +thousand French on that side of Spain. The Spanish Government have +given Lord Wellington a handsome royal estate near Granada; he told me +this yesterday. + +_Head-Quarters, Lezaca, August 13th, 1813._—Here I am, and very busy +still, and with no events to communicate. All is now quiet for the +present, as at Frenada, though this cannot last long. Having the paper +by me, however, I determined to place this letter upon the stocks, +against the next post-day. + +Yesterday I dined at Lord Wellington’s, with a party of thirty-six, +to keep the Prince Regent’s birthday. Eight mules had arrived in the +morning with prog and wines from Bilboa, and we had therefore a good +feast, and some very good claret of Majoribanks and Paxton. The party +was very dull, though many grandees were present—Castanos, O’Donnell, +the General of the army of the reserve (the best Spaniards I have seen, +and now on the hill above us, with something like a Commissariat, &c.), +their aides-de-camp, &c., Generals Cole, Anson, Murray, Pakenham, +&c. Two bands were in attendance those of the Fusiliers and the 7th. +Fuento, the Spanish Commissary, gave us “God save the King,” and Lord +Wellington’s favourite, “Ah Marmont, onde va Marmont?” but it was very +hot and stupid; every one here, in fact, is fagged, and half done up. +Lord Wellington could scarcely rise when he sat down, or sit down when +he rose, from lumbago, and was in great pain, but is much better; all +around him looked pale and worn. I think, however, we shall be up to +another brush again soon. + +We are soon about to begin again at St. Sebastian; but it is to be +feared that it will be hard and bloody work, unless some piece of good +luck should arise in our favour. + +_Later._—I have just been to Lord Wellington, with the result of my +labours, which have amused him much, and which he thinks I cannot be +correct in, as to facts; or if so, the whole, he concurs with me, is +most extraordinary. He has now got the papers and my statement to +examine. It is not, in my opinion, the Spanish General who was to +blame; I must not explain more at present; he seemed pleased, and asked +me to dinner again to-day. We have a stray paper to the 4th, which +has set us all agog; but I have only heard the news concerning Lord +Aberdeen, and it does not seem quite certain that there is to be an +ambassador from England to the Congress. The French nation, or rather +the news through France, is I hear all for peace, and the Rhine and the +Pyrenees are to be the boundaries, Jerome King of Holland, and Joseph +King of Italy; this is only French rumour. + +I am told that Soult says he will be here the day after to-morrow, the +15th, and has two bridges ready near Irun, to come on our left; he +would only come there, for I think we should be able to do something. +We are well up for an attack there; four hours would put the divisions +here on that flank, Spaniards, &c. + +_The 14th._—We had last night a little firing, but I believe it was +only the Spaniards. The latter and the French fire at each other +at every opportunity, and when neighbours, are never at peace. Our +sentries and the French, on the contrary, are within one hundred yards +of each other, and are relieved regularly without the least molestation +on either side. This is the way. Unless an attack is to be made, what +is gained by killing a poor sentry? Our new brigade is not yet at +Passages, although expected for this fortnight. Some reinforcements +have, however, come up, and the brigade of Guards, which were left +behind, have, by easy marches from Oporto, now joined us—about fifteen +hundred out of the three thousand who came out at that unlucky time +last year. The French have also reinforcements, and must in honour +do something if the two places hold out. The French gentleman who +came over to us near Pamplona fourteen days since, dined at Lord +Wellington’s yesterday, and talked away. He seems clever, and, like +every Frenchman, professed to know everything—the secret history of +everybody and of every event. He calls Bonaparte _un tigre_, &c. I +cannot say that I like him much, and would not trust him; but I am not +much afraid of Lord Wellington doing so. Lord Wellington told him the +following fact, concerning the exchange of prisoners in this country. +He said that Massena once agreed to exchange three hussar officers and +one hundred and twenty men, rank for rank, and when he had got his +own three officers and the men, sent back only twenty soldiers, and +the rest countrymen and Portuguese militiamen, and three officers of +militia scarcely embodied. Lord Wellington vowed never to trust his +honour again, and in every proposal always excepts Massena. Indeed +he said he was so little inclined now from experience to trust any +of them, that a short time since, when an exchange was proposed, he +said, “Yes; but first name the officers and men you offer, and their +regiments, ages, &c., and then I will treat, but I will not have +Spanish peasants for French soldiers.” To this they sent no answer. + +Lord Wellington also tells them, that until our travellers, civilians, +&c., who were detained are released, he can never listen to +non-combatant pleas. All must be exchanged; but he is very liberal. He +also said Soult once complained that six of our officers had escaped +from their guard near Oporto, on that retreat, and had committed a +breach of honour; but that he (Lord Wellington) having inquired into +it, found they were placed in confinement under a guard, and their +parole not relied upon, and that they had got the better of their +guard. Lord Wellington, therefore, told the Marshal that the parole +being abandoned by the imprisonment, the point of honour was gone; and +that there were two ways of prisoners and their guards separating, and +that he believed the guard had run away from their prisoners, not the +prisoners from their guard. To this also he had no answer. + +Lord Wellington also talked of Grant’s case, who lately got away from +Paris. Lord Wellington had advised him not to give his parole in Spain, +and had provided persons to rescue him in several places on the march +to France. They offered this to Grant in consequence, but the offer +was from honour declined, as the parole had been given and acted upon. +The moment he was in France the French placed him under a guard, and +at Bayonne he got away from them and went to Paris, remained there +nine months, and got to England at last. Lord Wellington yesterday +was excessively stiff and sore, but in high spirits. He seems to have +a notion that the Continent will make a peace, and leave us and the +Spaniards in the lurch, and I believe this prevents any very forward +movements here on his part, for the French would then soon come down +upon us with decidedly superior numbers; and if we had quite passed +these mountains a hasty retreat back through them would not be a very +easy or agreeable manœuvre. + +I rode last night to Bera or Vera, where our outposts are in the +valley. The French pickets are in two houses on the hills opposite, a +few hundred yards up. Several of the houses about there are destroyed, +gutted, and burnt, and most of them deserted. It was only a month ago a +pretty little town. Longa had also, since we were here last, burnt two +neat farms on the road, and knocked off the parapet of the bridge, and +dug a trench across it, for the purpose of annoying the French. We have +headed nearly all the green Indian corn in this valley for the horses; +it is cut short off, half way, leaving the fruit below; and this is +said not to do much harm to the corn. But then we cannot eat our cake +and have it also. There will be no dry forage for the animals in autumn +and winter. The little wheat straw about these valleys is nearly all +eaten already, and much of the wheat and Indian corn itself has been +either destroyed or taken by the irregularity of the thousand muleteers +around us, in spite of their being occasionally flogged when caught in +doing so. The inhabitants will, I fear, be half starved in the winter, +unless they migrate, which many will, no doubt, and we must be supplied +from other parts if we stay near here. Spain in general will, however, +have been released from the supply of, nominally, two hundred thousand +French; and as we drove them away before harvest time, most of this +will be in the market somewhere, except what has been destroyed on +our immediate line of march. Much has been of course trodden down, and +from the want of forage and corn our horses have been obliged to take +the ripe wheat and eat it—straw, grain, and all—to serve both purposes. +This is dangerous food, and if drink is given carelessly, often kills +the animal; but otherwise it answers well. + +We understand here that it was not until three days after the news of +the battle of Vittoria arrived that any one durst inform Bonaparte of +it. This last battle will very probably be almost entirely concealed +from him. As we are now both _in statu quo_ as to place, this may +perhaps be managed: though the enemy are about fifteen thousand +men minus to what they were before the attack at Maya began. From +intercepted letters we find that, in reports even to each other, the +French lie considerably, or at least misrepresent, for the good of the +service, and this will present a good opportunity, as Bonaparte is so +far off. + +In this little town, or rather village, there are about twelve priests +at least, walking about in their shovel hats. These hats would astonish +the most orthodox bishop’s chaplain in England, and our coalheaver’s +hat is nothing to them. The only fine cloth in the shops here is black, +you may guess for whose use. + +The estate which the Spanish Government has given to the Marquis of +Wellington is, I understand, a very desirable one; and the best proof +that it is so, is that it was one which the Prince of Peace had given +to himself, and doubtless he chose the best he could find. It is +nominally thirty thousand dollars a-year, a castle, I understand, and +about a league from Granada, in a fine country.[5] Lord Wellington +seems very much pleased with it. He says that he hopes the house is a +good one, as he should not like to have to build, and that he hears +there is hunting, coursing, fishing, and everything near it. There +was a fine wood, but I fear the Prince of Peace cut most of that +down. General O’Lalor, who is in a bad state of health, is to have +the government of Granada, and will superintend this estate for Lord +Wellington. The latter had got the papers concerning it before him when +I called a few days since, and said, “This relates to the estate they +have given me.” + +_The 15th._—I have been very ill all night and this morning, but am +now rather better, and the doctor tells me I am saved a fever by this +bilious attack. We are all most anxious for news from the North, for +all must depend in the end upon that, at least in a great measure. +Next to General Frost, I think, our General has done the most for the +common cause. General Villa Alba, the Spanish Inspector of Cavalry, +dined at head-quarters to-day. He is a queer-looking creature, anything +but a General in appearance, and much less a cavalry officer. I know, +however, nothing of his real character. We now feel the effects of our +work through these valleys; for we cannot ride a few miles without the +alternate smells of dead horses, dead mules, and dead men. Bonaparte’s +birthday has passed over very quietly, except a tremendous triple salvo +of all the St. Sebastian’s guns and mortars upon our poor fellows in +the trenches at daylight. The garrison are amazingly pert, from their +success hitherto; but we have some hopes they will soon want water. +Adieu. + +_The 16th._—Much the same to-day, the attack continuing all night. +Cannot think what it is in this country that affects us. The +thermometer has never in the shade, in my room, been beyond 72° in this +part of Spain. General Sir T. Picton is attacked again with a violent +bowel complaint, and is fallen to the rear. He would be a great loss, +for he is one of the best here. Lord Wellington, the other day, said, +“Why, even General Picton did so-and-so the other day,” as if surprised +that he should not have acted quite right. + +Our soldiers are quite unaccountable; all is going on right, and they +are just now quiet and well fed, yet desertion, and even of British, +to the enemy, was scarcely ever more frequent. It was not surprising +that one hundred and forty of the Chasseurs Britanniques went off when +we were falling back to Pamplona, and, as they thought, probably to +Portugal; but that the English soldier should desert, is astonishing +and unaccountable. Three went off from pickets together the other +night, towards the French, and were all caught, and are to be tried. +Several must be hung for this. Two new regiments have at last arrived. +I wish the French would come fairly on now, if at all, but every one +talks of a general peace. Adieu. + +_The 17th._—We have this day a strong French report that peace is +signed, and that the Pyrenees are to be the boundary of France on this +side. Nothing said about England; but even at this rate, we must be off +if this prove true. The news you told me of the fifty thousand men, +under Soult, you will have seen was tolerably correct; it was intended +he should have been here sooner, to prevent the mischief which happened +at Vittoria. As soon as the report came that we were threatening to +cross the Ebro he was sent off, but he did not allow sufficiently +for Lord Wellington’s rapid movements, and was a little too late. It +is clear, from many circumstances, as Lord Wellington says, that he +intended to drive us back to the Ebro this last push, and that his +measures were all taken accordingly; his cavalry, which he brought with +him, and which, as regards the country as far as Pamplona, would have +been useless, has suffered much from the roads, want of shoes, &c., and +had no employment except that of carrying off the wounded. + +Our army is now nearly as follows: first and fifth divisions, Oyarzun +and St. Sebastian, under Graham; Jeron, with his Spaniards of Gallicia, +in their front at Irun; Longa between them and this place, with his +diminished Guerillas; here the fourth division and the light division +in front, and the Spaniards of O’Donnell the reserve next, on the right +of the others, in front; then the seventh division above Echalar, &c.: +then the third and sixth in Maya and Roncesvalles Pass, with Spaniards +I believe also, and General Hill’s second division behind them in +the valley of Bastan, Elisondo, &c.; six thousand Spaniards watching +Pamplona, and our cavalry about there principally or in the rear of +Graham. + +_The 18th, still Lezaca._—O’Donnell is unwell, from the wound in his +leg, from which thirty splinters have been extracted: he is going to +the baths. He is the Conde de Bispal, commanding the army of Reserve. +Jeron is to take his command now, and give up the Gallicians; our men, +however, I am glad to learn, are in general considered as very healthy: +General Cole told me that his division was particularly so, after all +their fatigues. The army have Lord Wellington to thank principally, +even for this. Last year the mules per company allowed by Government +were employed in carrying the heavy iron camp-kettles, and our men had +no tents; though they were allowed them, they could not be carried. +This year Lord Wellington had light tin kettles made, one for every +six men, for the mess, to be carried by one of the men, each having a +small cooking machine of tin besides. This plan sets the mules free and +disposable, and thus three tents have been carried for every company, +and allowing for absentees, guards, officers’ servants, sentries, &c.; +this now nearly houses or covers all our men, and contributes much to +the health of the army. It was entirely an arrangement of his own. +The Portuguese are still without tents, as are the French and the +Spaniards. + +The French, however, are very expert at making wood huts, with fern +for the top and for the bedding, tolerably comfortable except in heavy +rains. So are now the Portuguese indeed, and many of them (as well as +our men who happen not to have tent room) join two together, and giving +up their blankets for sleeping on, make a good tent of them, which +holds two very well, and only consists of their two muskets and two +blankets; and now, since we have obtained so much plunder, generally +a good sack or piece of carpet at the rough weather side. Orders were +given before we marched from Granada, by Lord Wellington, to have all +blankets looped and strengthened at the corners, for this purpose, all +ready, as an excellent defence from the sun, even better than a tent, +for it is cooler, and a very tolerable one from rain. + +I am to dine with General Cole, who is quartered here. My people in +this house are up all night, making a noise, and baking for Longa, and +all day the children are shaking the dirt from above down upon me. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] It is situated in the Val de Soto. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Reported renewal of Operations against St. Sebastian—Effects of + the War on Spain and Portugal—Wellington’s Account of recent + Proceedings—Courts-martial—Prisoners Shot—Discussions on War between + Wellington and a French Deserter—The Siege resumed—Work of the + Heavy Batteries—Trial of General O’Halloran—Volunteers for the + Storming-parties. + + + Head-quarters, Lezaca, + August 21, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Several of our Vittoria sick and wounded now begin to return and join +their regiments. Major Freemantle came back just in time for dinner +yesterday, and amused us with an account of all your madness in England +about the battle of Vittoria. + +General Cole, with whom I told you I was going to dine, lives very +comfortably. To do this, even in his way, he has now travelling with +him about ten or twelve goats for milk, a cow, and about thirty-six +sheep at least, with a shepherd, who always march, feed on the road +side, on the mountains, &c., and encamp with him. When you think of +this, that wine and everything is to be carried about, from salt and +pepper and tea-cups to saucepans, boilers, dishes, chairs, and tables, +on mules, you may guess the trouble and expense of a good establishment +here. + +I mentioned to you the iron-works all about this country, and their +simple construction; they make, however, I believe, excellent iron. For +this purpose they mix the ore of this country, which is too brittle, +with the ore they fetch from near Bilboa, which is rather too ductile +and soft, and of the two form an excellent compound, which used to +supply much of the southern part of France. + +Our great guns are, I am told, to begin pounding to-day at St. +Sebastian again, but I have not heard them yet. The old breach will not +do at all; it is, we are told, mined and filled with little intended +explosions. A seventy-four and some frigates are now near. I wish they +would let the sailors try the sea side when we storm. I think they +would get in somehow at once into the castle. + +_August the 23rd._—I have now a fresh set of Courts in every division +again, as my last are broken up. One Deputy Judge-Advocate sent me, out +of curiosity, a history of his Court-casualties, &c., nine members out +of fifteen, and the Judge-Advocate, killed or severely wounded, since +the 22nd of May, two prosecutors and three witnesses, all officers. We +are trying to clear as we go, and to prevent all arrears, and we hang +away to prevent desertion. I am told that the French do the same and +still more, but their people will go home to the rear; this is more +natural. We are told that ten men from each company are gone by orders +to the rear also—some foolishly say to quell riots, for which purpose +ten old men would be the most useless possible; but the most plausible +account is, to drill new conscripts. Some deserters say they are sent +even to Italy for this; I believe just now that they are not prepared +to move, and will be content to remain quiet. We have alternate +accounts, of course, of war and peace. To-day two women (one French, +the other Spanish,) of the French prisoners from Vittoria, came in here +on their way to join the French. Lord Wellington, however, has stopped +them, and says he will have no more sent over until the French release +about three hundred mothers and wives, &c., of the Guerillas, who were +carried off by them as hostages for the return home of the Guerilla +relations, so they cry and think this very sad to be put upon the same +footing as such creatures. One of the ladies asked the Adjutant-general +whether she had better write to her friends openly, to propose an +exchange, or in cipher? Upon which he thought a cipher lady should not +remain here, at least long. We now give some flour to Longa’s people +for bread, and try to make regulars of them. + +It is very terrible that our people, muleteers, soldiers, &c., do more +mischief by far than the French, except when the latter do it by way +of punishment and revenge; at ordinary times their discipline is much +better than ours. The heads of the Indian corn are now nearly all eaten +off about here by the cattle, and cut by the soldiers to roast, as well +as the leaves for our animals. The Spaniards, however, in some degree +have their revenge; we bring a quantity of money into the country in +spite of our bad pay, and this they fleece us out of in high style. +They sell everything like Jews, and are naturally exorbitant, greedy, +and avaricious; this seems the general character. So we go on! They +cheat our men as much as they can, and our men get all they can gratis; +upon the whole, however, if we remain stationary, we benefit the +country. + +Lord Wellington yesterday said it was stated in his letters from +Lisbon, that Portugal was miserable without us. No money, no markets, +nothing doing. I believe he was half joking with the Portuguese agent +here; but he really meant that we were much missed there. The muleteers +with us are the worst. Their terms were, a dollar a-day each mule, +and one for a man for every three mules, and rations. They have gone +on four years, and more; they are now, I believe, sixteen months in +arrears in their pay, having just got one month lately. If paid up +they would make fortunes, and have no pretence to behave ill. As it +is, they steal, plunder, turn out their mules in the corn, &c., and +from one of the most orderly classes in Spain, are become the least so. +There are about ten thousand of the mules in this state, and I suppose +four thousand muleteers. Their pay is almost more than the army; and +when is it to be paid or how? there lies the rub. + +The people say that we have brought the plague of flies, and I really +believe we have increased the swarms by the number of dead carcasses, +and various kinds of filth caused by the density of the population at +present. We do not bury so regularly as the French, either our offal or +dead animals, or anything; the Spaniards not at all, unless we do it +for them. To give you a notion of the flies, they eat up all my wafers, +if left open, and spot my letters all over if left one day on the table. + +Nothing can look better than the condition of the Portuguese troops. +They are cleaner than our men; or look so, at least. They are better +clothed now by far, for they have taken the best care of their clothes; +they are much gayer, and have an air, and a _je ne sais quoi_, +particularly the Caçadores both the officers and private men, quite new +in a Portuguese. It is curious to observe the effects of good direction +and example, how soon it tells. The French seem to do the same with +Italians, and with every one; or rather have done so, for I hope this +may not cease in part at least. + +_Head-Quarters, Lezaca, 24th._—Having been writing nearly all day +yesterday, I took an evening stroll, and then went and sat down on the +churchyard parapet wall. In ten minutes who should come there but Lord +Wellington, alone. After one turn he came and sat on the wall with me, +and talked for more than half an hour. Amongst other things I said, +I hoped that you in England would hear Soult’s account of the Maya +business first, as you then would be alarmed, and value the latter +account by the Prince of Orange as it deserved. + +He said, “Why, at one time it was rather alarming, certainly, and it +was a close-run thing. When I came to the bridge of Sorauren, I saw the +French on the hills, on one side, and it was clear that we could make a +stand on the other hills in our position on the 28th; but I found that +we could not keep Sorauren, for it was exposed to their fire and not +to ours. I determined to take the position, but was obliged to write +my orders accordingly at Sorauren, to be sent back instantly, for had +they not been dispatched back directly by the way I had come, I must +have sent four leagues round in a quarter of an hour later. I stopped, +therefore, to write accordingly, people saying to me all the time, ‘The +French are coming! The French are coming!’ I looked pretty sharp after +them, however, every now and then, until I had completed my orders, and +then set off, and I saw them just near one end of the village as I went +out at the other end; and then we took our ground.” + +I then observed that the only time I felt a little uneasy was, when we +were stopped at Lanz, and sent across to Lisasso, for all faces seemed +very long, and the removal of the wounded was very much pressed. This +led him to explain more; and he said: “Had I been as regularly informed +of how matters stood on the 26th and 27th as I was of what had passed +on the 25th, that need not have happened; but General Cole never told +me exactly how far he found it necessary to give way, or let me know +by what a superior force he was pressed, and that he intended giving +way, or my arrangements would have been quite different; and the French +might have been stopped sooner than they were. In truth, I suspected +that all Soult’s plan was merely by manœuvres to get me out of the +hills, and to relieve one or both of the besieged places, as things +should turn up and succeed for him; and I expected him to turn short +round towards St. Sebastian accordingly. I had then no notion that with +an army so lately beaten he had serious thoughts, as I am now sure he +had, of driving us behind the Ebro. The consequence was that the second +division halted a day and a half at Trinita and Berrueta, on the 26th, +and till three on the 27th; and the seventh division only took a short +march to St. Estevan, as I was unwilling to lose a bit more of the +mountains than was absolutely necessary, from the probable loss of men +in recovering such ground. On the night before we marched, or at three +in the morning of the 26th, I knew all that had passed on the first +attack, and acted accordingly. Had I been as well informed, and had +everything been communicated to me as punctually on the next evening, +the march of several divisions would have been different. I should and +could have pressed them more on the 27th; there would not have been +the risk and apparent alarm as to head-quarters, &c.; and we should +probably have stopped the French sooner. As it is, however, and as I +had men who could fight, as the English did when they recovered the +hill which had been lost, it has all ended very well.” + +We then got upon the expedition on the other side of the Peninsula; and +he explained some of the reasons for his instructions there. He was +rather stiff with the lumbago; but in high spirits. He said that the +Spanish Generals thought the reason the French beat them was, that they +had no good cavalry; and that whenever they had our cavalry with them, +they wanted to fight. This was what he was anxious to prevent, “For,” +said he “our cavalry never gained a battle yet. When the infantry +have beaten the French, then the cavalry, if they can act, make the +whole complete, and do wonders; but they never yet beat the French +themselves.” + +Talking on this subject another day, Lord Wellington and all the +officers present seemed to agree that a cavalry regiment did not +know what real infantry fire was. They talk of a sharp carbine fire, +which kills ten or twenty horses and half as many men; but they could +not exist ten minutes in a fire to which our infantry battalions +are at times exposed; they would be annihilated if they did not go +threes about very quick indeed. Even in the infantry at times it was +said, that in less than half an hour every mounted officer would be +dismounted, from his own or his horse’s wounds, and perhaps not six men +in a company out of sixty, would remain. + +_Head-Quarters, Lezaca, August 25th._—We are as quiet here as at +Frenada. Desertion is terrible. I think, however, Lord Wellington must +stop it. We have only as yet tried five out of sixteen sent for trial: +they are all sentenced to death, and all shot! This will, I think, at +least have a good effect on our new reinforcements. One of our officers +did an odd thing to stop it; and it answered, or has done so hitherto; +he called his men together and, addressing them, said, “I want no men +who wish to go to the French, and if any now will say they wish to go, +I promise to send them in with a flag of truce.” No one stirred, nor +has any one stirred since; but as to the legality of this plan there +may be a query? + +Our great guns have now just begun pounding again at St. Sebastian; +we are to demolish everything this time; but still I fear we shall +scarcely get in easily at last. + +As to Pamplona, the reports are, that they are now on half-rations, +and have enough at that rate to last till the 15th of next month. It +is provoking how much they have picked up. They have tried to send out +another batch of inhabitants, but these have been sent in again to help +eat; a hard fate to be made a mere tool for starvation! and I conclude +they will not have the best commons even Pamplona can afford. + +_Head-Quarters, Lezaca, August 28th, 1813._—Here we are still quiet, +and very busy; and Courts-martial all at work. In these hills, however, +our Provosts are not the most secure; and common precautions will not +do against men who know they are probably to be shot in a day or two. +A Court was adjourned till yesterday morning, for a witness for the +prisoner, and in the night he was off. Another man under sentence of +death, near Maya, and three other deserters just taken as they were +going over to the French, were put foolishly under the care of a man +and a lad armed to convoy them a little way. They rose on them, took +away their arms, and went over with them to the French post. I am sorry +to say, however, that we have still enough to hang. + +The French deserter, the talkative Lieutenant-Colonel, is here again, +and has one great merit—he induces Lord Wellington to talk and discuss +his old battles, &c., when this man was on the other side. Thus from +the two I pick up a little of the cause of things. Yesterday the +conversation turned upon the retreat of the last year. The Frenchman +said that all their officers blamed Soult for his conduct after +crossing the Tormes; that he was in fact nearer Rodrigo than our army, +and might and ought to have cut us off, if he had pushed on. Lord +Wellington observed, “I fully expected to find him on the high road: +and I ordered nothing at all that way in consequence on the first day; +afterwards, when I found he was not there, I took to it.” The French +officer replied, “From the rain and hazy weather, and bad roads, +Soult was puzzled and afraid—he did not in the least know the English +plans. He heard of some troops, and did not know whether they were a +rear-guard or the main army, and so on; but when he found your lordship +making a stand collected at St. Munos, he said, ‘_Ah que j’avois +tort_.’” He then tried to pump Lord Wellington, and said, “If he had +cut you off, perhaps you would have recrossed the Tormes, and made +for the Benevente road? but you would have suffered much.” Upon which +Lord Wellington observed, “No, I certainly should have done no such +thing: that would have been ruin. But if you must know what I should +have done, I should have done that which many thought I ought to have +done as it was—I should have fought, and trusted to the bravery of my +troops to get me out of the scrape.” The Frenchman then said, “No one +ought to have blamed you for not doing that, unless it were absolutely +necessary, for the French were twenty thousand stronger than you were, +and their cavalry was then very numerous, and in the highest order.” + +These conversations give a value to the Frenchman which he does not +otherwise possess, though a clever man. I found Lord Wellington the day +before yesterday busy with all the Spanish staff and General Murray, +with a dozen great Spanish drawings and plans of the mountains about +them; they were comparing our several labours together. The Spanish +staff draughtsmen have a good character. I should like to have been +called in, but I was only waiting an audience at the other end of the +room. + +Yesterday, Lord Wellington went off on horseback over the mountains, +for Irun; he then went on to St. Sebastian, and was not back here till +nearly nine at night. They are pounding away at that fortress from +fifty-one pieces of ordnance, mortars and all; but nothing is done yet. + +_The 29th._—No news yet. Still battering away at St. Sebastian. We +had a ridiculous event here yesterday: an enraged bull—belonging, +I believe, to the Commissariat—broke into the quarters of the +Commissary-general, Sir Robert Kennedy, and contriving to get to the +room of the clerks, put all to flight, one this way, the other that, in +the greatest alarm. All were dispersed in an instant. After upsetting +a few things, the bull retreated into the garden, and jumped over the +wall, without doing any serious mischief. The joke was, that the owner +had contrived this, on account of nonpayment of his demand. + +Our fifty-one battering pieces have now been at work three days, and +have laid open one end of the entire wall of the town of St. Sebastian, +and to-morrow is talked of for the assault. Two days since the garrison +made another sortie, and carried off a few men; and, upon the whole, +I think people are not quite satisfied with the conduct of the fifth +division, who are employed. Ever since our retreat and the former +sortie, they seem to have had in some measure a sort of panic. We have +had a general Court-martial on Major O’Halloran, for neglect on that +occasion as field-officer in the trenches; but he is acquitted on the +ground that the orders he gave were correct, but that he was disobeyed. +The facts on the trial were these:— + +A sortie was expected all the night, and peculiar precautions were +taken accordingly; every fifth man sentry, &c., by order of the +General. All was quiet until an hour after daybreak and more; then a +Captain Canvers, of the Portuguese service, who has since shot himself, +seems to have suffered the sentries to enter the trenches, and rest on +their arms for security, without orders, or rather against orders. At +a little after six out came the French, and another Portuguese captain +seems to have misunderstood his orders, and did not suffer his sentries +to fire instantly, thinking that he had no orders to this effect; he +was made prisoner. In short, the consequence was, that about fifty +French were in an instant in the trenches, when half-a-dozen of our +people fired and fell back. The Portuguese were mostly in a panic, and +they were nearly six hundred out of seven hundred then employed. They +did once attempt to get up the bank and form, but the sandy ground +gave way, and in they went again. This increased the confusion, and +no exertions of our or their officers could rally the men, until they +had been quite driven out of the trenches, and pursued to the little +village in ruins under the convent. There Major O’Halloran rallied +them, and, with a fresh English working-party just arrived, drove the +French back again to the town, but in the meantime many prisoners were +made. + +Lord Wellington himself, I think, is not pleased with the fifth +division; and, as some proof of this, has ordered three hundred of the +first division, one hundred and fifty of the light, one hundred and +fifty of the fourth, and, I believe, one hundred and fifty of the third +(of each of which one-third are to be of the Portuguese regiments), +to march to-day to assist in forming the storming-party to-morrow. +This is a cut at the fifth; and these men are all volunteers, and the +orders are to send men who, by their cool courage and good conduct, +will be likely to succeed. In a measure the success of this will depend +on these qualities. The fifth division ought now to volunteer, trying +first alone, I think. + +There was nothing but confusion in the two divisions here last +night, (the light and fourth,) from the eagerness of the officers to +volunteer, and the difficulty of determining who were to be refused and +who allowed to go and run their heads into a hole in the wall, full +of fire and danger! Major Napier was here quite in misery, because, +though he had volunteered first, Lieutenant-colonel Hunt of the 52nd, +his superior officer, insisted on his right to go. The latter said that +Napier had been in the breach at Badajoz, and he had a fair claim to go +now. So it is among the subalterns; ten have volunteered where two are +to be accepted. Hunt, being Lieutenant-colonel, has nothing but honour +to look to; as to promotion, he is past that. The men say that they +don’t know what they are to do, but they are ready to go anywhere. + +I fear we shall find the French have run a ditch across and a new +second wall behind those we have destroyed, and that we may have tough +work yet. The shells, however, which are sent every ten minutes into +the castle, and shake the dust out of its roof in a fine style, must +make the place rather too warm to hold just now; and I heartily wish it +would induce them to give in before all the bloodshed begins. They fire +now but very little. Lord Wellington and every one is gone over to St. +Sebastian to-day; and having nothing to do, I have made up my mind to +be off also. + +_August 30th._—I was on the point of setting out when I heard that the +storming was put off a day; as the French are in motion, and making +pretence at least to relieve St. Sebastian, and as the fourth division +marched accordingly this morning, and head-quarters may, therefore, +suddenly be off, I determined to be quiet here, especially as I do not +feel quite well. Lord Wellington came home at nine o’clock, and was off +again before eight this morning. We remain here much in the dark, of +course, when he is away. General Murray stays here to protect us with +the light division in our front. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + The Author taken Prisoner—Kind Treatment by the French General—Life of + a Prisoner—Release—Details of the Author’s Captivity—Curious Scene at + General Pakenham’s—A Basque Squire. + + + Bayonne, September 5, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +When you told me, some time since, that you expected to hear from me +from this place, I never expected to have realized in this way your +prediction. But as the French all tell me with a shrug, “_c’est le sort +de la guerre, Monsieur_,” I must submit to as great a piece of ill +luck as generally falls to a poor man, “_dans le meilleur des mondes +possibles_.” + +On the evening of the 30th August I was, as I mentioned to you in my +last, stopped from going over to see the storming of St. Sebastian the +next morning by the general report that the French were in motion; +that an attack was expected on our line at daylight, to relieve that +place if possible, and that therefore head-quarters would probably +move. So it turned out; at six we heard that the French had all crossed +the Bidassoa, and were moving on. The baggage was all ordered half a +league up the mountain Yangi, there to wait orders either to proceed +further for security if we were pressed, or to return if we repulsed +the attack. At seven, Lord Wellington, &c., were off. By nine the town +was nearly cleared, and every one in motion. + +Nothing can be more stupid than thus waiting a whole day standing with +the mules and baggage, to hear the result, without a creature to talk +to, and knowing nothing that is passing. One of the officers advised me +to go up the hill just above Lezaca, to observe a little what was doing +near, assuring me that it was quite safe. Just afterwards Major Canning +returned from Lord Wellington with orders, and said he would show us +the way to the hill and then go on. I mounted, and set out with Mr. +Henry, having sent off my baggage. Mr. Booth, the principal Commissary +of Accounts, Mr. Jesse, his assistant, and Captain Hook, the officer +who takes all the quarters for every one at head-quarters, determined +to join the party. When we had got a little way Major Canning remarked +that by going up the first hill we should see sooner what was doing, +and could then return to Lezaca, or stay and proceed as was found +advisable, and that we should be thus sure of not being cut off from +Yangi. This we accordingly did. When half up the hill we observed two +battalions resting under arms quietly on the top and having examined +them some time with our glasses, thought that they were Spanish; but +not being certain (for they are so alike as scarcely to be known at +fifty yards distance), we thought it advisable to keep to our left, +towards the rear of some of our own red-coats, whom we saw engaged with +the French in a wood further on. We did this, and then waited to see +whether those two battalions advanced and fired or not, to enable us to +be sure, by their fire, to which party they belonged. As they remained +at rest, we could not determine this point; and as there was much fern +and wood, and we were only about a short half mile off, we determined, +for fear of a surprise, to go back, and follow up the mountain Major +Canning’s road, where we saw our own red-coats. We did this, and just +before we ascended, ascertained that our people were still there; we +trusted firmly to their not giving ground, as the French were already +much advanced, and this road was the common communication of all our +army through Lezaca to Oyarzun and San Sebastian. + +About half-way up the hill, or mountain, is a wood, from whence we +got a peep at the two battalions. We saw them moving towards the +English position, but not firing, and Captain Hook remarked that there +were several red-coats amongst them, so they must be friends; but +that, however, about a hundred yards further on we should be able to +ascertain, and if it were not so we must return. + +At the end of the hundred yards the woods ceased, and the two roads +up the mountain joined, when to our great astonishment, just as we +came one way to the place of junction, two French battalions came up +the other, and we found ourselves within twenty yards of each other; +Mr. Jesse was still nearer. I heard a cry of _qui vive_, which put an +end to all doubt as to who they were; and after a sort of short pause +and drawback in the head of the French column, thinking, I believe, +that they were the head of an allied column, several moved towards us, +and two levelled at us. Mr. Jesse, the nearest of us, dismounted, and +surrendered instantly. The other two jumped off their horses, and, +as the side of the mountain was very steep, and no one could well +ride after them, they ran down, and the French having incumbrances, +I believe they escaped. I now think that was the best plan I could +have adopted. At the moment, however, as I was in the road, and nearer +to the French than they were, I determined to turn about, and try my +horse down the road again the way we came, thinking it a great chance +that the only two who levelled, and seemed ready to fire, would hit +me. They never fired, but some pursued, and one or two officers on +horseback. I galloped down, however, nearly a mile, at the risk of my +neck. The road then got steeper, and I looked round to see if any one +was nearly up behind me. I pulled up a little, as I found they had not +reached my servant, who was above a hundred yards behind me; but, on +turning round again to proceed, I saw, in the narrow part of the road +just before me, where the descent was steep both ways, one up and one +down, six Frenchmen; two in the road, two on each side, all ready with +their pieces up to their shoulders. Upon this I pulled up and we had a +parley. On my pulling up, and addressing them in French, they seemed in +doubt, and spoke some bad French. I then looked about me, to see what +chance remained, but seeing that they all levelled again, and cried out +“_prisonnier_,” the risk was then too great for the remotest chance of +escape, so I dismounted, and they instantly took down their pieces, +and ran up. In a moment, my two horses, and cloak, pistols, sword, +telescope, handkerchief, were all gone. + +Having received some money just before, and fearing some theft from +my Portuguese servants, I had about fifteen doubloons about me, as +being the most secure place. One-half they found instantly, and were +so pleased that they scarcely searched more, except to take my knife, +comb, &c. I then told them that I was no General, having heard a cry +before from the battalion of “_voilà le Général_;” that I was only a +civil officer, a non-combatant; but that I had some more money, and if +they would then, when they had got everything from me, release me, I +would tell them where it was, and give it to them. This I did, thinking +as they had got so much booty, they would perhaps wish to keep it +secret, not to be called upon to refund any part, and that therefore +they would not be sorry to say that I had escaped, and let me go that I +might not have to tell the story. + +They promised to do this, so I produced the rest, and at the same time +contrived to give my watch a twist up above my waistcoat, that when +they felt for it, they found nothing, and by this means I contrived to +save that. + +The other speculation did not answer so well, for I believe they still +took me for a General. They would not release me, and I was carried +into the battalion, and then to General D’Armagnac (I believe), who was +behind their attacking troops. They were leading me into the fire of +our own people, when an officer ordered them up on one side. I said it +would be very hard to get me killed by our own fire, and that they had +better let me run across, and shoot at me themselves. Upon the whole +they all behaved very civilly, and without any violence. I there met +Mr. Jesse. I told our story to General D’Armagnac. He said we were very +unlucky, and seemed good-humoured, ordering the captors to give me back +two doubloons. After telling his aide-de-camp to take us to General +Clausel, who commanded in chief there, and then to the rear, he said he +would apply to get us exchanged (as that was now the fashion, and not +to release civilians gratis) for two civil officers, friends of his, in +England: and then lending me one of his horses to ride back upon, took +leave of us. The soldiers told me that he had bought my horse for a +trifle, and thus ended the fate of poor Blackey! + +The whole was the work of half an hour. Whilst we were in the wood, our +people had just given way across this road to superior numbers, and +had thus left us exposed to this misfortune in a place where every one +had passed in safety all the morning, and so again from an hour later +all the evening. A little sooner, or a little later, we should not +have been caught above a league within our lines of the morning. Such, +however, was our fate! + +We were then taken to General Clausel, and were instantly ordered +back to his former head-quarters. There was then a great outcry for +ammunition, which delayed the French some time, and, as they said, +saved our last position on this hill. I found that they did not, +however, know the country well, and tried to pump me as to what was +beyond, both as to men and mountains, &c. I always pleaded ignorance +as a civilian. They had contrived to get four small two-pounder field +mountain-pieces up this difficult ascent, and kept them constantly in +use, asking me why we, who were so ingenious, did not adopt the same +practice? I said they had taught us the art of war, and I believe +they had found their scholars had made very rapid progress, so that +if these guns were really worth the labour, I had no doubt we should +soon have some, but that such things were not to be found ready-made +in the mountains, therefore they must wait a little. I soon gave up my +horse to a wounded man, as they abounded on the road, and we descended +and crossed the Bidassoa by the ford below the bridge, as I found our +light division were still maintaining their ground near the bridge at +Bera (or Vera,) and had kept the other side of the valley all the time +secure. + +A tremendous storm then began. We took shelter till five o’clock in a +hovel, but at last proceeded, the storm continuing, up the mountain of +La Rhüne, to the French position, and head-quarters—those of General +Clausel. Mons. d’Arnot, an officer belonging to the latter, was +extremely kind to us. He said our best prospects were not to stay and +sleep in the hovel, where we should be starved and crowded by wounded, +&c., but to go with him to the General’s hut on the top, where, if +anything was to be had, we should have it. He also lent me a horse part +of the way up again. We passed the French position to the entrenched +camp, where amongst a variety of huts of boughs, earth, &c., were three +rather better than the rest, consisting of a few feather-edged boards +at top, and earth and fern on the sides and bottom. These were for +Generals Clausel, Taupin, and D’Armagnac, for the attendants, &c. There +were only two places where it had not rained in considerably, and we +were wet through, without a change. + +The General’s canteens were unpacked, and the aide-de-camp said, “If +he returns, you will have some dinner, if not, we have some bread.” +That and sour wine was all our fare for the night, and we laid down in +our wet clothes on the ground. They first gave us up General Clausel’s +dry inner chamber, but on a notice coming that he was returning, we +were removed to the attendants’ hut. There I passed a sleepless night, +our party being the two aides-de-camp, a colonel, a major, five of the +gens-d’armes, or police corps, Henry, the General’s cook, a friend, two +or three attendants, and about four wounded men who staggered in, and +lay in the middle. The horses were all tied to the boards, out in the +storm all night, and making a noise against our heads. The wounded were +groaning; then came an oath from an officer against them as cowards, +and asking how that noise made them any better? At last came a poor +creature with a violent colic; this last filled us as close as we could +lie, and constant quarrels ensued between those near the doors, or +those who came every minute for shelter from the storm and rain, and to +get help for their wounds. The lightning gave us a glimpse of the scene +every five minutes. Now and then an observation escaped as to the rain +swelling the Bidassoa, &c. + +At three o’clock the firing began again close to us; at four the drum +beat to arms, and at six we got a little cold meat and bread and +wine, after the General’s breakfast, and about seven we were marched +towards St. Jean de Luz with a party of prisoners and deserters. +Amongst them were several of the Chasseurs Britanniques, who, with +their red jackets, had, by deserting to the enemy, and then advancing +with them, contributed to our being surprised and taken. We stopped +half an hour in the wood below, and got a little brandy from the post +of the gens-d’armes in the rear, and arrived at St. Jean de Luz about +one o’clock,—three leagues. This was Marshal Soult’s head-quarters. +Thither we went, and merely saw him in a crowd. We were then taken to +Count Gazan, and then to the Commandant of the Police, &c. We were +quartered at an inn with some gens-d’armes in the outer room; got +some supper at seven at General Gazan’s, to whom I mentioned what had +passed at Victoria; was allowed to write to head-quarters to let them +know where we were, and to ask for money, clothes, &c., if we were not +exchanged, and we were allowed to stay till next day to wait for an +answer. + +No answer came. It was intended to give us horses to carry us to +Bayonne the next evening, but all were engaged in carrying away wounded +men, including some troops of cavalry, so we marched on foot about +three o’clock, five under a guard. We were delayed by the bad walking +of some deserters, and were then again caught the last half league in a +most furious thunder-storm, which soaked us through in five minutes. At +nine, we reached this place, three long leagues, and were taken to the +Nouveau Fort. The Marechal-de-logis gave us a bed between us, on the +ground, in a room with two midshipmen and a sick and wounded officer of +the 34th; and having got some bread and cheese, we went to bed, with a +dry shirt which he lent us. I have ever since had rheumatism. We occupy +a round tower here, and our soldier-prisoners are in the court below; +the Spaniards are above, and some sailors in confinement, as their +dress would enable them to escape. The two midshipmen were exchanged +the next day. From Mr. Babou, the banker, a most liberal and generous +man, we have got money, and therefore now go on well. How officers +manage who have no money I cannot guess. Only three of the numbers the +banker has given money to have had their bills protested, and he says +that if it is poverty he shall never complain, otherwise he should +wish to be paid. If I get back I have undertaken to speak to Lord +Wellington on the subject. + +_13th September, Mont de Marsan._—On the 8th I received a most kind +letter from Lord Wellington in his own handwriting, as to an old +friend, telling me that he authorized me to tell the Duke of Dalmatia +he would send back for me any one named by him, to be given in +exchange.[6] I had just before received a notice to set out next day +for Verdun. I went with a gens-d’armes instantly to the General of +Division, Baron d’Huilliers, and to the Commandant-general Sol. To +them I told my story, and showed my letter. They advised me to send +my letter to the Duke of Dalmatia, and engaged to detain me until the +answer came back. I also asked to write to the Duke myself. The other +officers, who had already been to Moulins (where General Paget is), +wrote also for leave to go to a nearer depôt than Verdun, on account of +the expense they had been put to; they were of the 34th regiment, and +they also were allowed to wait the answer. The other five officers of +the 60th were dispatched with a _feuille de route_ for Verdun. On the +9th, about seven o’clock, I went to the play with two Dutch officers +of the 130th regiment, one of whom was with me when at La Rhüne in the +camp, and had been all along very civil, and had called upon us and +volunteered going with us to the theatre. I did this in order to pass +the anxious time away till the answer to my letter came. The play I did +not much enjoy, as you may suppose, though our two gens-d’armes were +very well behaved, and went into a box opposite, leaving us with the +officers. + +At nine o’clock came an account that my letter was arrived. I ran home +and eagerly opened it. I found it was a very civil answer from Count +Gazan, full of good wishes, &c., but stating Marshal Soult had never +had any proposal made to him for my exchange by our General, or that +it would be done instantly; again assuring me that if any such should +arrive I should be instantly sent back, and that in the mean time +orders should be given that none of us should for the present cross the +Garonne. + +The next morning (the 10th) came an order to be at Mont de Marsan in +four days, about seventy miles off, the chief town of the department +of Landes, and there to wait orders. We also got a letter to give to +the commandant there, to halt the others there, or to bring them back +if they had passed that depôt. I prepared a letter to Lord Wellington, +encouraged by his letter to me (I had before only written to the +Adjutant-general), and stated to him how matters stood, thanking him +for his kindness. This I enclosed in one to Count Gazan, in French, and +begged him, as a last favour, to forward it by a flag of truce through +the lines to Lord Wellington. I then hastily bought a few necessaries, +and engaged with the other five officers to be conveyed to this place +(Mont de Marsan) in a large coach with six mules, Henry in the +driver’s tilt-cart in front. When I went home to pay our gens-d’arme, +he was most unreasonable and broke his agreement; we would not pay him, +so he locked us in. I said I had the General’s orders to march at one +o’clock, and called upon him at his peril to release us, and to go with +us to settle the matter. He would not, but released us, and would then +take nothing. I then went off to General Sol, and told my story. He +sent for the man in a hurry, but as he did not come instantly, asked +what we proposed to give. I told him. He said if we were willing to +pay that sum (which was according to our agreement), “Very well, leave +it here, and you may set out; had you left it to me I should not have +made you pay nearly so much.” Accordingly at two o’clock we started, +and got, in four hours and a half, over four leagues of the country, +or sixteen miles, to a small village on the river side, where we dined +and slept. Our route was through Dax, but we had leave, as that was +knee-deep in sand, to pass by Orthes. + +Next morning (the 11th) at four o’clock, we proceeded to Orthes to +breakfast, and got there, six leagues, by eleven o’clock. There we sat +down to a _déjeuner à la fourchette_. We then, at one, started again, +and before six got to Hugemont, where we dined again, and slept four +leagues further. + +On the 12th, at seven, we set out for this place, through the heavy +sand in some places, and over a ruinous bridge; we did not arrive +until twelve. All along the road we found everything in a state of +the greatest activity for the supplies of the army—everything in +requisition. I longed to have some of the Spaniards with me, to teach +them what was to be done in this way. The love of coffee is much +diminished, and the lower classes are excluded from it by the high +price of that and of sugar. Other things are cheap, and we got our +dinner, beds, and all for five francs a-head each night. Our mules +were very fine, and each had a name, which we soon learnt, by the +constant dialogues of the old driver and his boy, one of the two latter +always running by the mule’s side, as there were no reins to the other +four in front. + +We met with every attention and civility here, were in time to stop +the other five officers, and we are now all in officers’ billets, the +same as the French officers themselves, and have received for our days +of march the same as they do on the march,—a captain three francs, a +colonel five, a lieutenant two and a half, &c. I am at the house of the +principal engineer (from Paris) of some works going on here, Monsieur +de Beaudre. Great improvements are nearly completed in this little +departmental capital: a new wide stone bridge of easy access, instead +of an old narrow Gothic one, and an open space cleared around it; a +new Prefect’s palace, with departmental offices, &c. A new chapel, new +official houses, and much private repairs, are in progress: this is +very unlike Spain. I breakfast alone in my billet on my tea, which I +have discovered here, as the others have only meat and wine. I dine +with the rest—and to please them, but against my will—at six; we have +a good cheap dinner at four francs each. The poor officers do not know +what to do with themselves. I immediately applied to my patron for +books, and he gave me the range of several. After a play or two of +Racine’s, and a few of the _Contes Moraux_, I have attacked La Harpe’s +_Cours de Littérature_ at the Lycée, and am as yet well pleased; I walk +as much as my rheumatism permits. Thus goes time; but I suffer much—I +feel as if I had been broken on the wheel. + +Poor Henry is more bewildered than ever, but flatters himself that he +shall soon learn French. If he could copy the activity around him, he +would be wonderfully improved. We are here full of the _Moniteur’s_ +victories, and the little check the French appear to have sustained +latterly under Vandamme, in Bohemia. + +Before I go to bed I get my cup of coffee, a small one indeed, for my +ten sous, at the café, read the news, and then retire home. This place +is very full, from the wounded being in part here; from the exertions +making as to supplies, for we have two hundred cars here in a day; from +some artillery drivers being here, and from the constant passage of +everything to and from the army. The Commandant has been particularly +obliging. We have a mile round the town to walk in, and are never +troubled by any one. + +_20th September, Mont de Marsan._—Alas, poor Seymour!—[Hiatus.] + +On the 21st, at Mont de Marsan, arrived my mules, pony, and baggage: +no letter. I gave up all prospect of exchange, and was stupidly ill +and tranquil. The lady where I was quartered, was very attentive and +good-natured, and I had begun my literary course, and had made up my +mind to my fate. On the 22nd, however, at nine, came an order for us +all to set out at eleven for Bayonne again. We did so, had some little +misfortunes, overturns, &c., but got to the Chateau Vieux, at Bayonne, +on the 25th September, and had the honour of being confined in the same +room where Palafox had been for three months, and all the great Spanish +prisoners—the Duke of Gravina, Prince of Castel Franco, &c. We staid +there, seven of us, until the 1st, in anxious suspense—the room too +noisy for reading, and I too ill for it, so we played whist, and killed +time in that way quietly. At five o’clock on the 1st, when at dinner, +came an order for Mr. Jesse and myself only to set out at six for St. +Jean de Luz, in the dark. We got a coach at six, the only vehicle to be +had; and I packed all my baggage, and mounting Henry and my Portuguese +on the mules, we arrived all at eleven at night, at the Police at +St. Jean de Luz. We were sent to an inn for the night, then the next +morning (the 2nd) taken to Count de Gazan, at ten. I found him very +civil, had much conversation with him for an hour, breakfasted with +him, and at twelve we were all packed off with an escort for Endaye, to +be sent over here. + +The gens-d’armes took us first to Count Reille, whose quarters were +half a league on from St. Jean de Luz. He sent us on to General +Maucale, who was half a league further. He gave us a fresh escort, and +sent us round the end of the lines, down to the water side at Endaye. +All very civil in every way. At Endaye, about four, we were with some +danger sent across, mules and all, in a little flat-bottomed boat to +Fontarabia to the Spanish outpost. There also much civility, but much +delay. At five we got to Irun with a Spanish escort, were taken to +General Frere, found him at dinner—very civil. I then went to General +Stopford; he was at dinner. No quarters to be had, so I sent my baggage +on here, but got some dinner. At eight, came on in the rain here: found +General Graham; very kind. He gave me a bed in his quarters, and some +tea. Breakfasted here this morning; baggage gone to Lezaca; I am to go +there in half an hour. I have grown very thin, and am in very crazy +condition, but must get patched up at head-quarters, and go to work +again. This last month has been like a dream. I hear there has been +much difficulty about my exchange; but it is now over, I am happy to +say, and Lord Wellington has been very kind. I hope to do something for +my fellow prisoners when I see him. + +Count Gazan asked me to get for him the following print or caricature +to complete a collection he has. Will you do your best to find it, and +send it out if possible. The Count’s description:— + +“Une caricature qui a paru il y a douze ou quinze ans à Londres, au +sujet d’un voyage que fit dans cette capitale Le Grand Rabbin Juif +d’Hollande, dans l’intention de reformer la manière de vivre des Juifs +de Londres dans ce temps là.” + +[N.B.—It was not possible to trace or find this print, though every +inquiry was made.] + +_Oyarzun, in Spain, at the Head-Quarters of General Graham, October +4th, 1813._—Once more again at liberty, as far as my rheumatic limbs +will permit: the will, at least, is free, and I hope soon my arms and +legs will be so likewise. + +_Lezaca, Head-Quarters, October 7th, 1813._—To-day I have a little +leisure, as every one is engaged out, and a grand attack is to be made +on the French position to drive them quite off that mountain, La Rhüne. +It will be, I fear, tough work: I dare not go and peep again, even if I +were well enough, so have taken up this paper. Baggage and all for the +present remain here, only ready to load in case of necessity. + +Lord Wellington had much difficulty in procuring my exchange, and has +been very kind; indeed every one here has appeared very much interested +in my return, and “my French value.” The Commissary-at-War was treated +here like a prince, to procure me every favour, when he went back, by +his representations. In short, if my pain goes off, I shall not regret +my other losses, which amount to about 230_l._, but shall feel myself a +very fortunate man upon the whole. + +Monsieur Babedac, the banker at Bayonne, is most liberal and kind +to all the English officers taken. I hear a hundred have had money +from him; only five bills of 110_l._ in the whole have been sent back +unpaid; this, I hope, Lord Wellington will pay, though the banker said, +if distress occasioned it, he did not wish it. Nearly all my baggage is +now collected safely, through the kindness of friends. I have been, as +you may suppose, much questioned by Lord Wellington, &c., and many now +seem to envy me the trip, as it has ended so well. + +I will now fill up my former French letter a little more freely. +On the morning following, the scene at the French head-quarters at +St. Jean de Luz was very curious. First came rumbling back from the +attack seven brigades, or about forty-two pieces of ordnance, with +the ammunition-waggons, about a hundred, looking very gloomy, almost +all drawn by mules, and generally in good condition. You will here +observe how soon the French come about again. Then came the pontoon +bridge, and, lastly, perpetual strings of cars, with the wounded; the +poor country people shaking their heads and lamenting all this misery, +all wishing for peace, and all saying that it was their Emperor who +prevented it, from his unbounded ambition. This was the talk of the +officers, and of all. They said the Allies, if successful, would rise +in their demands; that Bonaparte was too proud to yield, and peace +would only be further off than ever. This was the conversation, when +they heard of the check in the North. + +When the account of the first victory of the 25th came (which by-the-by +was the first information received as to the quarrel with Austria), +they were all in high spirits, and exclaimed—“_Ah! le pauvre beau +Père, il sera chassé_,” and “Peace from the North will either give us +peace here also, or enable us to drive you all back to Portugal with +the reinforcements which we shall obtain.” Things changed afterwards, +and three weeks after the bulletin of the 25th, &c., and only the day +before the bad bulletin came out, a _Te Deum_ had been ordered at +Bayonne, and a hundred _coups de canon_ for the first victory! The +people almost laughed at this themselves, though very miserable. + +At the inn at St. Jean de Luz, where I was billeted with a gens-d’arme +at the door, we were allowed to dine with the officers, who were all +returning starved from the lines to get a belly full. I here met with +men of a superior description, Colonels of the Guards, Chief Medical +Officers, Post-Masters, Commissaries, &c. They were civil, some of them +gentleman-like and free in their conversation, much irritated at having +been beaten by the Spaniards, which, with a tirade about numbers, they +admitted to be the fact. Monsieur D’Arnot, a young man attached to +General Clausel, and a young Dutch officer, gay, tall, and handsome, +were the most attentive to us, and without any object, which most of +the others had in view, to get a wife back, or a lost portmanteau, +their letters, &c. + +The people all told us that had we been quite prepared to advance into +France at first, Bayonne was open, and without guns, dismantled; that +we might have walked in and gone on to Bordeaux. I believe much of +this, but not entirely, and our men were nearly as much harassed as the +French. The French troops in the first confusion behaved very ill, and +plundered the inhabitants, throwing away their arms, and absolutely +flying. Marshal Soult’s orders on this subject were stronger even than +Lord Wellington’s were here. The inhabitants generally said that they +would remain quiet if the English came alone, and would leave the +armies to settle it, for all they wanted was peace; but as they knew +how the Portuguese and Spaniards had been treated, and what they might +therefore expect in return, they must all fly if the Allies came with +us. + +Count Gazan is elderly, and I believe quite sick of his trade; he said +he wanted peace, and to go to his villa at Nice for life after twenty +years’ war. He gave me an invitation there. In general all the officers +and men were attentive and civil; some looked sulky, but most noticed +us by touching the cap, which is more than we do by them here. In a +dispute which Captain S—— had with a stupid old fool, the _Commandant +de la Place_ at Bayonne, General Sol, the French officers present +seeing that the General was in the wrong (as he afterwards admitted), +all bowed to Captain S——, and the General’s own sentinel carried arms +to him as he went out. This is flattering. The curiosity is very great +about Lord Wellington, as one of the great men of the age. + +From the questions put to me when taken, about the grand position, +and on the way to St. Sebastian, I am sure that the French had a very +imperfect notion of the exact state of that part of the mountains. My +being a civilian was my excuse for giving them no information. Their +loss in getting back again would have been greatly increased, had +they got on to the next hill. As it was, from the river swelling, and +the men not being able to cross the ford at which I passed, but being +obliged to go round by Vera bridge, which was under our fire, the loss +was very severe. Had I not been put across early I should have had that +fire to pass through with them. + +The country all the way to Bordeaux is barren and unproductive; mostly +sandy heath with vines, and a few meadows near the stream. I saw no +corn, only the Indian corn, and that much less luxuriant than here, +and with very little head of green for forage. The consequence is, +the French provisions and forage come from an immense distance, and +the supplies are very difficult to procure; the exertions, however, +are in proportion, and very unlike those in Spain of the Spaniards. +Everything, for two hundred miles and more round, is in requisition, +all the corn taken, and only _bons_ given in return; wine the same; hay +the same; every merchant’s car in the town, and all the country cars +with oxen at work for the public. The districts off the roads send in +to the depôts on the high roads; and from thence the corn, &c., is +forwarded to the army, to the depôts at Bayonne, &c. The hay for the +staff horses and cavalry comes, as Gazan told me himself, one hundred +leagues, that is, nearly three or four hundred miles, from above +Toulouse, &c., partly by water, but much by land. The people now feel +for the first time what it is to supply their own army in their own +country, and the grievance is no small one. + +The army have had a half month’s pay; twenty months are due. The +prospect of payment of the _bons_ for the supplies is very remote +indeed, and yet though they all grumble they act with zeal and spirit, +and I still think, with the feelings of Frenchmen, would all unite +against invasion. In spite of all this, things in general are still +comparatively cheap; dear to Frenchmen, as they say exorbitant—to us +reasonable, except colonial produce: bread about 4 sous a pound, or +2_d._ English; and good meat about 8_d._ English retailed; vegetables +and fruit very cheap; wine equally so; oats and hay tolerably cheap; +even as I fed my animals (three) at the inns for the day for about 12 +or 14 livres travelling, three feeds of corn—small ones, to each—about +6 livres, or, as I generally gave them, 8 livres. Hay about 6 or 7 +livres and good—cheaper when I bought the articles at Mont de Marsan. A +good dinner at the inns, with a bottle of light wine, about 5_s._ each. +This sometimes also covered the beds where we slept. Tea only to be had +by ounces at a time as medicine; coffee, very dear; sugar (brown), from +4_s._ 6_d._ to 6_s._; white sugar, 7_s._ the pound. + +The consequence has been, in a great measure, to put an end to the +great use of coffee: it is now a luxury for the rich, and even they +generally breakfast _à la fourchette_, and drink little of it. Of +_Syrope de raisin_, I bought a basin-full for about 9_d._ This is a +sort of vinous treacle, and gives a taste to tea as if it were taken +from a dirty wine-glass. The _betterave_ sugar was to be had sometimes +at Bayonne, but I did not meet with any. On some bad sugar being +brought to him one day, a French Lieutenant-Colonel, by way of abuse, +called it _betterave_, and said, it was only from some small sticks +being in it, as really he had seen _betterave_ sugar as good as any +other: they still, however, give 6_s._ a-pound for brown island sugar. + +The Chateau-Neuf, at Bayonne, was just like an English sponging-house. +With money we were very well off. The man, however, cheated us; we +quarrelled; I got redress from the General; and on my return got into +the Chateau-Vieux instead, an old English castle, where we were in the +same room where Palafox had been; the Commandant, a gentleman-like +man—his wife a troublesome skinflint. The Commandant at Mont de Marsan +was uncommonly liberal to us all, so were the people there; equally +so, my patron and patrona; the civil engineer, Baron d’Huilliers, +who first commanded at Bayonne, was also civil, but more distant. He +is now gone to Bordeaux, and General Thevenot, the late Commandant +at Vittoria, has succeeded him. Their reports were, that Soult was +going to the North to replace Berthier, who was sick, and Suchet was +to succeed in command here. Count Gazan, however, did not admit this, +but never positively denied it. It was also said, that the Etat Major +would remove to Bordeaux for the winter-quarters. Perhaps the events of +to-day may hasten this. The firing is brisk all this time. We met three +cavalry regiments on the retreat towards Pau and Toulouse for forage; +the horses in fair order, but generally very inferior to ours in size; +the men very fine, which was so much the worse for the animals that +had to carry them. At one place, near Lain, the depôt of forage was +empty. I met a man running hard with orders, the Major’s messenger; he +was charged to inform the few neighbouring parishes, that unless they +furnished and provided ready at the depôt so many rations of forage +for three days for two squadrons of cavalry who were about to pass by +twelve next day, all fit to move on immediately, the squadrons would be +halted there that day to help themselves in the vicinity. + +Small horses and mules were very cheap, as the forage rations were +stopped to the subaltern officers in France, and they all consequently +wanted to sell, and many of the country-people from the requisition +wanted also to sell. Bayonne was declared in a state of siege for the +purposes of police. One order of the police posted up in the Café +Wagram at Bayonne directed, that no politics were to be discussed under +pain of arrest. Out of the town, in the suburbs of St. Esprit, was a +magnificent hotel, quite in the English style; there our party stopped, +but were marched off to the Chateau. The activity exhibited by the +French Commandant about Bayonne has been very great; one hundred and +twenty guns have now been mounted, of one sort or another, instead of +about three. This number has been collected all round the country, and +new works are rising round the place every day. The young conscripts of +the usual levy were being drilled; they were fine young lads of about +seventeen or eighteen; too young for Spain, but who in a short time +would make excellent soldiers. At first they appeared dull and a little +unhappy; but in a few days they became gay like the rest. + +The newly-raised thirty thousand for the twenty-four departments for +Spain were not yet out, but are to be out this week. I understood they +will be better men, being taken from the old lists of those who had +previously escaped, some of them twenty-five years old. This grievance +is very great, but the conscripts seem to forget it themselves, and +the old parents can do nothing. It will tell, however, some time or +other, I think; and I hope soon. My patrona told me that her sister’s +husband had been drawn five years since, got off on payment of two +thousand francs, and two francs per day since; he is now married, has +two children, and is still liable to be called upon again. A wish for +peace follows the relation of all these stories. + +On the whole I was well treated, and it appears to me that in general +the treatment of prisoners by the French is very good. Officers are +allowed fifty francs a-month to live upon, and on marching, the same +_indemnité_ as the French; 5_s._ a Colonel and Major, 3_s._ a Captain, +and 2_s._ 6_d._ a subaltern. Our being able to obtain money makes all +the difference almost between our treatment and that of the Spanish +officers, whom they dare not trust on their parole, so many having +broken it. The worst treatment I experienced was being marched on +foot from St. Jean de Luz to Bayonne, with our own deserters, after +having been promised a horse, and kept back until we were caught in a +thunder-storm, because these fellows could not or would not march. The +soldiers are like themselves to the last; when marched as prisoners, +they jumped over the fences to get apples. The French guard stared, but +permitted it to be done. + +_October 7th, three o’clock._—The officers passing from the front tell +me that all is going on well—that the French have given way almost +everywhere, though they still hang to the high rocks on La Rhüne, near +where I slept on the 31st. They say that the Spaniards have behaved +well, but that the 52nd and second battalion of the 95th have suffered, +while forcing the position through which I was marched in that +thunder-storm. We have no orders to move here at present. The reports +confirm the news that I brought in to Lord Wellington, that Soult has +gone, and that Suchet commands. I know nothing accurately now, however, +as I must not go and peep again for myself. + +To return to France, and my dream there (for such it has appeared), I +must give you a notion of a French placeman in a little way, not like +our great sinecurists. My running friend, who carried the message about +the forage, accompanied me side-by-side for a league. The people wished +him joy of his prosperity; I asked him why? He said, “They think that +I am making a fortune, having a place in the hospital; and what do you +suppose it is?—I am the hospital-sexton; I bury all the dead, four +or five in the twenty-four hours, and all at night, digging half the +night. And for what?—for eighteen sous (or ninepence English) a day. +This is not the way to make a fortune, you will allow. My companion +makes a better thing of it: he is always tipsy, and leaves me to dig, +but he always sings as he goes to the grave. The people who know his +voice say, ‘There goes poor silly John!’ and give him a sous.” + +Now for a trait of a gens-d’arme—a private in the ranks. We went to +the play at Bayonne with a gens-d’arme, and our friend, the Dutch +officer. On going down to the coffee-room, my companion, Mr. Jesse, +meaning to be generous, but not understanding the method of treating +a revolutionary gens-d’arme, told him to get anything he wished to +drink as we did. Upon which he flew into a rage, said he had drank with +his colonels, majors, captains, and had never been sent out to drink +like a servant before. Our Dutchman was obliged to explain to him, in +order to pacify him, the difference in our service between officers +and privates; said it was once so in France and in Holland, but that +the prejudice was removed there now, though it remained in England. He +then desired him to sit down and drink with us. With difficulty he was +persuaded to do so, and we all knocked our glasses together, and so it +ended amicably. I did not expect this. The military retain, however, +the only remnant of the equality of the Revolution. + +The two midshipmen in prison with us amused us much. By mistake, they +were at first put in prison with their men for two days on bread and +water. Afterwards they were lodged in the same room in which I was. +We were five in all at first. They slept in the same bed, and were as +often alternately with their heads where the feet of the others were as +on the pillow. In the open letter they sent to Sir G. Collier, about +their exchange, through the French, they suggested the advisability +of bringing in two gun-boats close to St. Jean de Luz, in order to +prevent communication with St. Sebastian, and further, advised a little +bombardment, &c. The sailors, as they were marched, proposed to the +midshipmen to upset the heavy gens-d’armes by their great jack-boots; +said they would never be able to right themselves again, and that they, +the sailors, might get off. The officers, however, told them that it +would not do; so they were quiet. + +_October 8th, 1813, Lezaca._—The result of yesterday’s operations was, +that the French was driven from all the mountainous parts of their +position above Endaye, opposite Fontarabia, and so along, opposite +Irun, to above Bera. I do not know that we have lost above five hundred +men in this part. The French did not fight well, and were not above +twelve or fourteen thousand here. What has passed higher up I know not. +It is said that the sixth division, near Maya, have lost men. I believe +Lord Wellington very prudently stopped short, in this part, near +Orogne, on the road to St. Jean de Luz, not knowing exactly the result +near Maya and Roncesvalles. + +It is thought that the French must be in greater strength there, since +they are so weak here. Report says, however, that men have been sent +northwards. Our sixty pieces of artillery were all carried across the +Bidassoa last night, and are established on the main road. We have not +lost many officers. About three hundred prisoners were brought in here, +with eight officers, about ten o’clock this morning. How lucky it was +that my exchange took place before this, or it would have been at least +deferred, or I should have been sent back to the rear. + +General Graham has just called on me. He is on his way to England +to-morrow; he had called to see Lord Wellington. He was very civil, and +assures me that my new mare is a good purchase; and so it ought to be +for four hundred dollars. Major Stanhope sold her some time since for a +hundred guineas, to take it back at the same if he returned. He did so. +General Cole gave him a hundred guineas when he was ordered away again; +this looks well. + +_Evening._—The French still cling with three companies to a rock in the +midst of La Rhüne mountain, about half a mile from my resting-place, +now six weeks ago. The Spaniards cannot drive them out. Little has been +attempted or done to-day. + +The day before yesterday, a curious scene occurred at General +Pakenham’s. A French militia Captain had been taken among the rocks—a +_ci-devant_ regular officer retired, and now apparently an active, +useful man, in organizing the Basque peasantry. He had some regulars +with him, and peasants without uniform. Lord Wellington had succeeded +in frightening him by threatening to hang him for invading Spain with +peasants. He seemed a country mountain squire, and rather simple, +though probably useful. He let fall much against Bonaparte, and told +us many truths. He was told that I had just come from beyond Bayonne, +and made me confirm it by many facts. He was surprised and puzzled, +but believed I had been there as a spy, and never guessed the truth. +Another officer, who knew about eight words of Basque, was passed off +as a proficient in that dialect. The poor militia officer stared, but +swallowed everything as easily as his dinner. His own account of the +chase of him by the Portuguese, the rocks he climbed whilst they fired, +given in the most animated style, was very entertaining. I was almost +sorry this unlucky Basque squire was to leave us next morning for +Passages, to learn a little English farming. He confessed that if he +had been a single man, and had not left a wife and servants with six of +the 6th Light Regiment boarding in his house, he should in these times +have been rather glad than otherwise to get away to England, to avoid +the present troubles. What he wished for most, however, was to return +on parole, as he could then be at home quietly, with an excuse to +enable him to refuse to take any part in what was doing. The arming of +the country being what Lord Wellington wished to prevent, he could not, +of course, favour this man. + +_9th October, five o’clock._—The French have given up the rock on La +Rhüne in the night, and have to-day been beaten out of two or three +redoubts; but there has been but little else done, and some say we +shall now be quiet again until Pamplona falls. To-morrow, head-quarters +move to Bera, only half a league. It is a large ruined village. A +letter has been intercepted from Pamplona, stating that the 25th of +this month will be the very latest they can hold out; but we have heard +this already very often. It draws nearer the truth, certainly, every +time. Plunder has begun, and disorder in the French villages, and Lord +Wellington is exceedingly angry. He says, that if officers will not +obey orders, and take care that those under them do so also, they must +go home, for he will not command them here; many of our officers seem +to think that they have nothing to do but to fight. + +This place, Lezaca, is grown very unwholesome, like an old +poultry-yard, and the deaths of the inhabitants are very numerous. So, +I think, there is no reason to regret the change. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] + + Head-quarters, September 4, 1813. + + DEAR SIR, + +I was very much concerned to hear of your misfortune, which, however, +I don’t doubt will have been alleviated by the Comte Gazan as far as +may have been in his power, as soon as he will have known that to your +humanity in the first instance he owed the safety of his wife. + +In former wars a person in your situation would have been considered +a non-combatant, and would have been immediately released; but in +this war, which, on account of the violence of enmity in which it +is conducted, it is to be hoped will be the last for some time at +least, everybody taken is considered a prisoner of war, and none are +released without exchange. There are several persons now in my power +in the same situation with yourself in that respect, that is to say, +non-combatants, according to the known and anciently practised rules +of war; among others, there is the Secretary of the Governor of St. +Sebastian, and I authorize you to tell the Duke of Dalmatia or the +Count Gazan that I will send back any person in exchange for you that +they will point out. + +I send you, with this letter, the sum of two hundred dollars, of which +I request you to acknowledge the receipt, and that you will let me know +whether I can do anything else for you. + + Ever yours, most faithfully, + + WELLINGTON. + + _F. Seymour Larpent, Esq._ + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + Picturesque Quarters—Spanish Reverses—A Strange Adventurer—Spanish + Jealousy—Distribution of the Army—A Pleasant Companion—News from the + North—Morale of the French Army—The Artillery. + + + Head-quarters, Bera or Vera, + Oct. 15, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +I have now a quarter with a most rural exterior, and a balcony all +along the upper story, hung with vines. The picturesque and the +comfortable, however, are not always combined, for the room is dirty, +and though small has four windows, with only large wooden shutters, and +no fireplace. + +It will be but a cold winter residence, and I fear even less +comfortable in fact than my Frenada habitation. The ground-floor is the +stable, the centre devoted to me and to the family, the upper story a +great drying-room. The style of the house is, however, pretty. + +Several of the best houses are destroyed, nearly all are gutted +of furniture, chairs, tables, &c., and many deprived of doors and +shutters, for the French camp. The wounded occupy some of the best +houses, and in addition to Lord Wellington’s staff, head-quarters, and +Marshal Beresford’s, who has returned from Lisbon, we have General +Cole’s staff here, and General Alten’s. This place was for two months +a sort of neutral ground between the two armies, so you may guess +that it is a little deranged. It has been populous, and contained a +considerable number of spacious houses, though not magnificent; yet +the room which Lord Wellington occupies is, upon the whole, better than +almost any he has had since he was in Madrid. It is well proportioned, +has clean walls, and is sufficiently capacious to admit comfortably +twenty-five or thirty persons to dinner. Of course he has furnished it +himself, for there are only bare walls. The largest house in the place, +and the best in point of situation, on a pretty knoll above the town, +was made what is called a strong house of, and a regiment of Portuguese +are now in it. The squire, I fear, has not gained by this arrangement. + +The Spaniards were disturbed early yesterday morning about two miles +from this, surprised, and driven from a redoubt, with some loss in +prisoners and wounded. I believe, however, that they behaved well +afterwards; but a Spanish regiment gave way. That queer playhouse hero, +Downie, who was there as a volunteer, rallied them, and conducted them +well, but had his horse wounded. He once more exhibited on the Pyrenees +the sword of Pizarro, which had so narrow an escape when he was made +prisoner in the south. You may remember that he threw it back to his +friends across a broken bridge, when he was wounded and cut off by +the French. He is, I believe, very brave, and seems to take with the +Spaniards, though with us he can scarcely speak without exciting a +smile, or even more. He was first a Commissary in the light division. + +The day before this little surprise, the English officers at General +Cole’s were remarking, that it was only surprising that the Spaniards +kept the redoubt and their post; for the officers were never seen +there with the men to keep them on the alert, and the men were cooking +without arms within twenty yards of the French sentries, quite +unconcerned. I hope this little surprise may save us from a greater; +but I expect some night that the French will make a night attack upon +the Spaniards, though that is contrary to their usual method, which is +generally to march two hours before daylight, and begin the attack at +break of day. + +_15th, later._—I have just met Downie, and he says Lord Wellington +has admitted that the French were too strong for the Spaniards, and +that he had given them a fort to defend too much in advance in the +French position. The result, however, is that the French have kept the +redoubt, and are at work on it already, and have recovered every house +in the suburbs of Zera, or Sara, of which the Spaniards at one time had +nearly one half. Many say that this is properly a part of the French +position, and does not signify at all. Lord Wellington seems to have a +bad cold to-day. + +Every one appears to have had some adventures the night I was taken +prisoner. General Pakenham’s horse and Captain Eckersley’s fell down +from a bank into the river below, and it was so dark that they and two +others thought it best to remain there in the trees till daylight, +and not stir though it rained. Lord Wellington and all his staff lost +their way, and were five hours exploring two leagues home in the rain +and dark, and did not arrive until ten at night after various perils. +It was a tremendous night. Mr. Heaphy, the artist, who is now here, +was nearly being involved in my scrape, and it is said he has, in +consequence of these risks, added ten guineas to the price of his +likenesses, and made them fifty guineas instead of forty guineas. This +is too much for a little water-colour whole length; but he has, I hear, +now taken twenty-six, and some excessively like. + +Some of our houses begin to improve much, as many of the inhabitants, +who must be somewhat used to these events, are returning now with all +their doors and shutters, which they had themselves carried off and +concealed. Canning’s quarter is suddenly by this means transformed into +a comfortable sort of residence. + +_Head-Quarters, Vera, October 16th._—Here I am still sticking to my +post, though in constant pain, and at times bent enough to act the old +woman, like Mrs. Sparks. The doctor still says I must, first or last, +go to the hot-baths at Sestona, but I fight off as long as possible. +Things must mend soon. The ration beef is like shoe-leather; mutton +I can scarcely ever get; fowls are 9_s._ each, and are all snapped +up before my man can resolve to give that price for them. Pork, ham, +sausages, salt-fish and bacon alone abound. + +Every one seems to think that we shall make no other movement until +Pamplona falls, which, as usual, is daily expected. The French, in the +meantime, are in busy preparation, burrowing and throwing up works, +like moles, on every rising ground near them. It does not appear to me +that they ever really intended to defend this mountain La Rhüne; they +were in some degree surprised, as I told you; they had a notion that +we had sent two divisions to Catalonia. They will now probably fight +harder for each acre of ground, unless completely turned by numbers, +and a decided flank movement from Roncesvalles. + +From the reports which are current, the whole of which I dare not +mention, it is to be feared that the Spanish Government and Lord +Wellington have not gone on well together lately, in spite of outward +appearances. The moment any General acts cordially with us, and a +measure goes on well, some reason is found for his removal. This +ridiculous Spanish jealousy would be endurable if they supported it by +exertions of their own, so as to enable us to leave them to themselves; +but we are now feeding and clothing their half-starved men in the +front, and they are doing very little in the rear to supply those +they have, or to increase their numbers. In short, five years’ misery +has not yet scourged them into reasonable beings, and turned romance +heroes into common-sense soldiers and practical politicians. The men, +however, seem now to fight well whenever they are well led. + +_October 17th, Sunday, Post-day._—General Graham has acted wisely in +going home just now, his age considered. I told Lord Wellington that +the French officers said that he (Lord Wellington) ought to die now, +for he never would have such another year, and fortune would prove +fickle. He laughed, but did not seem disposed to acquiesce in this. He +is better. + +I have just got four bundles of English hay, about a hundred pounds +weight each, which are to last me for ten days. My next forage must be +picked up on the hills, or bought in the market in the shape of baskets +of coarse river grass. + +_Head-Quarters, Vera, October 21st, 1813, Thursday._—The week is +already half elapsed, and Sunday, the post day, draws near, leaving +me with nothing to say. I am like the Spanish country people, who +without waiting to hear a question always begin “_nada, nada, nada_,” +or “_nothing, nothing, nothing_.” They generally add to us “_Francese +roben_” and “_rompas todas_,” and as the French told me, said to them +“_Anglesi rompen_” and “_roben todas_,” but always to every one “_nada +nada_.” + +I have this last week ridden out for half an hour every day before +breakfast, and an hour or two before dinner; and thus exercise myself +and my horses in the meadows about here, which are now of course all +open, and when it has dried up a little after the rain, make a good +riding-school. + +The only news here just now is, that Marshal Beresford is to have a +separate command of a _corps d’armée_, not to act separately, but to +complete our system, which will be—General Hill, right column; General +Sir J. Hope, left column, which Graham had; Marshal Beresford the right +centre-column; and Lord Wellington the left centre: each consisting of +different divisions and bodies of the allies. + +The French to-day are collecting upon the rising ground near La Rhüne, +and our people, thinking that this looked like a threat of doing +something, are all on the alert, but I hear no firing. This is another +anxious moment, for the fall of Pamplona is daily expected, and the +garrison threaten to blow it up, which will make some desperate work. + +Lieutenant-colonel Elphinstone arrived here some time since with +Marshal Beresford, from Lisbon. He is now in quarters within a hundred +yards of me, across a little stream; my nearest neighbour indeed, +except Colonel Ellicombe, in that direction. He is here without his +horses, and without much baggage, or many comforts; he is therefore, +like myself, buying. His own horses only arrived as far as Ciudad +Rodrigo. He has made up his mind to stay till the war is over. + +The French, in addition to a few conscripts, who have joined, have +called out all the militia in the neighbouring departments. This is +a new scene, but I have still great doubts of the policy of entering +France at all. The French now suffer severely, and grumble against +their own government. Invasion may stir up the strong vanity of a +Frenchman, and make him forget his grievances, in order to revenge +himself on those who insult his native soil. Five or six subaltern +officers have come over here to us; I believe owing to some Spanish +connexions generally, or disgust and personal disappointment; and two +inhabitants of the village on this side of St. Jean de Luz, Oragne, +came over here to avoid serving in the militia, which is now being +assembled. + +_12 o’clock, Friday, 22nd._—Nothing was done yesterday. It was all a +false alarm in the front. The French, however, say that we shall be +astonished with some extraordinary news in less than three days! Some +say they mean from the North, some from Pamplona. If they are bold +enough in the latter to dash out in the night against Don Carlos and +his Spaniards, I think they would, with the loss of about one-third of +their men, fight their way to Jaca, where they have a garrison, and +escape. They would of course come out with provisions only, leave mines +prepared to add to the confusion, sally out in all directions, and then +push on in a body. Don Carlos with all his vigilance would not, in my +opinion, be a match for them. He has sent word to the governor that he +holds his head answerable for the safety of the works of the town, and +two Frenchmen liable to death for every Spanish inhabitant starved. + +_Saturday, 23rd._—As I have dined alone every day since Sunday last, +when I went to Lord Wellington’s, I pick up no news. Your July +‘Edinburgh Review’ is wonderfully fallen off; in parts very tame, and +more like a poor imitation of the old ‘Edinburgh Review;’ and yet some +of the articles are curious. + +We begin to feel the effects of this dangerous coast now. Vessels can +even now hardly lie in safety, though shut up in the close harbour of +Passages, and the last packet was close in on Sunday last, on the same +day on which Major Hare fought his way in, in the _Landrail_, and was +not able to land the mail until yesterday. Major Hare brought papers +to the 9th, but scarcely any news. He was closely examined by Lord +Wellington when he arrived at dinner-time. He had got up his lesson so +badly, that he could answer nothing clearly as to dates, but always +ended by a reference to the papers. + +It is known that Bonaparte was at Dresden up to the 5th instant, and +that nothing was done. This some call bad, some good news. On the +whole, I think the latter. Colonel Gordon states that Bonaparte used +our position here, as a strong argument with the Emperor of Austria to +join him in force, stating nothing could restore matters here but an +entire new army of a hundred and fifty thousand men, who had not known +the English, and that he should be invaded unless supported by his +father-in-law. This is a queer argument to one who, I suspect, was only +hesitating through fear of his son-in-law’s strength being too much for +the Allies, and would tell the wrong way. He also states, that Lord +Wellington’s true account of Vittoria did harm in Germany, being much +under the notions they had entertained of it. + +_Head-Quarters, Vera, October 24 1813._—Post-day. We remain _in statu +quo_. I see the papers have made rather a pretty history of my capture, +treating me as an old gentleman (as just now they well may), and that +my younger friends got off. In fact, however, the youngest of the +party, Jesse, was the first who was taken. There will soon be some +dispute here among the artillery and engineers on the subject of rank +and brevet rank. + +_Head-Quarters, Bera, or Vera, October 31st, 1813._—I have been so +worried this week with business and other things that I have not been +able to write until the very post-day, so this will be short and hasty. +The weather has been trying, one day very cold, and I hoped we were to +have clear frost, which, in spite of my open room, is, in my opinion, +better than wet. The thermometer got down to 36°, close to where I +was shaving, three mornings since; but it soon turned to wet—raw, +constant, violent cold wet; north-west wind, and rain in repeated +stormy torrents. In camp our poor soldiers have had their tents torn, +and almost washed away; then we have had hail followed by snow. Colonel +Belson has written to me very feelingly, from the mountains, but seems +well. + +Another drawback as to writing has been this. Three brigades of +artillery were moved along La Rhüne mountain, three nights since by +night. As they went close to the French pickets, to get from our left +to Endage, towards the centre, in our front, they have as yet only +reached this vicinity, and have halted here. Amongst them was Colonel +Ross’s light troops, and Captain Jenkinson, and young ——; the latter +came to me here, very miserable, wet, &c. To save him camp I took +him in. Here he has been three days, and with my establishment this +saves me some trouble. Besides which, one cannot get on well with +business with a chum always at hand, in a small room, night and day. +He is pretty well, and I conclude will remain at this place until +we move—at least until the army moves, which every one expects as +soon as the French will give us up Pamplona. This is _en train_ I +conclude. A proposal came out to Don Carlos some days since, but a most +unreasonable one; namely, to allow them all to go to France, with arms +and baggage, and to be on parole for one year not to serve against us. +This was refused. They made a great parade of giving our officers white +bread and champagne, and Burgundy, &c., at the interview. So much for +humbug. They said, “See how _forts_ we are.” To which we said, “Let us +see how your men are.” Every day’s delay now is very provoking. I hope +they will soon surrender. + +I wish it were possible to get my chum another quarter, for I work in +general at breakfast, at dinner, and in the evening, and a companion +is a great inconvenience, though he is very considerate. Pray tell +his family, the Colonel, &c., how he is. Captain Jenkinson would not +go into a house, but pitched his tent in the wet, and went to bed +dinnerless, at four o’clock, from fatigue. He is, however, well now. +The work of getting guns along over a clay-road, up a mountain, in the +dark, without being allowed to use lights, is no trifling undertaking. + +The news from the North is very good, especially the accession of the +Bavarians to the Allies; which, from the papers I doubted, but which +Colonel Gordon says his brother mentions as fact; Lord Wellington +tells me, also, that Government at home believe it to be correct. The +private letters from the Austrian head-quarters which have reached +here, do not say much in favour of the Swedish Prince, and seem to +think he has much of French humbug in him—_c’est à voir_. It is also +said that he saves the Swedes, and is always in the rear, surrounded +with guards and twenty sentinels. They speak well of the Russian +troops, and very ill of the French lads now opposed to them. You will +rejoice to hear that we are to have divine service here to-day in +the square with some troops. This will not do for me, standing out +bareheaded for an hour in the damp; I must remain a heathen a little +longer, I fear. Mr. B——, the clergyman who has lately arrived at +head-quarters, seemed to be a pleasant gentleman-like man; I have, +however, only met him twice. + +_Two o’clock, Sunday._—Still nothing decisive from Pamplona. To-day’s +post brings accounts of no communication for two days, but that the +garrison desert twenty a-day, and say that the place is almost in a +state of mutiny against the General. To-day the weather has a little +cleared up, but our artillery horses are living upon dried fern and +corn—no hay, no straw, and very little coarse grass; every one in a +fidget to move from hence. Unless we can so maul this French army as to +have them at our mercy, and then go where we please, and stop where we +please, out of our own moderation, I think we shall not have any quiet +winter-quarters this year. As long as anything like an army remains, +the French must be doing something to molest us, unless we molest +them; and then the great nation can never submit to let our allied +army quietly take up their winter-quarters in the French territory—at +least I think not. Several of their conscripts have joined them, and +they make a parade of drilling them within sight and hearing of our +outposts, even in marching without arms, &c. Their deserters say +they have about fifty-five thousand men; it is supposed with their +conscripts this is rather under the mark. They are throwing up works in +all directions all over the country, and making breast-works, redoubts, +&c. A breast-work, half round a hill, appears to be turned up in a few +nights. + +It must be allowed that they are industrious at least, but the _morale_ +of the old soldiers is shaken very much. It is even said that the young +ones fight the best of the two. This agrees with the story that we +hear from the North: that before the Austrian ambassador left Paris, +a letter from Marshal Soult had arrived, stating, that unless he had +fifty thousand new men, who had never met the British, he would not +answer for the South of France. + +I see your papers make Endage a fortified place—it is a great heap +of ruins; never strong, only once a fortified village. It was nearly +destroyed about the year 1790 by the Spaniards, and has never recovered +itself. In return, Fontarabia, once really rather a strongly-fortified +town, was soon afterwards blown up by the French, and the works are for +the most part still in ruins. The town has not suffered much, for this +was only a military operation. Of all the ruins we have made amongst +us in Spain, even including Badajoz, and Rodrigo, and Almeida, it is +said St. Sebastian is the most complete. It was a large, handsome, and +thriving town four months since: one side of one street alone remains +entire! every street is barricaded and blockaded! Rubbish up to the +one pair of stairs windows, and walls half down, make it dangerous in +wind to walk anywhere. Beside this, the large wooden balconies, hanging +about by a few beams at the two pair of stairs windows, threaten every +moment to fall, even where the walls are sound. Some repairs are +being carried on, however, in a few buildings; at least preparations +are being made, by clearing, and the works are in progress towards a +state of defence. Most officers think the destruction so great that +it can scarcely ever be a good town again—that is, as a town; as a +fortified place, with much labour, it may. The French garrison were so +disheartened in the castle, that they could not be made to do more, I +understand from the engineers, for it was still tenable for some time +longer when it surrendered. When the town was first taken, and our men +were all drunk about the place, committing every disorder, the Governor +was doubting about a sortie to recover it; thinking, however, that we +must have fresh men near at hand, in case of such an accident, kept +sober and together, he gave up the idea. Many say, that if he had done +so, such was the disorganized state of our men, that it would have +succeeded. His own men were very much weakened and dispirited. + +Most of the light division tents in front here have been declared +unserviceable from rents, &c. The men are still returned healthy, to +the astonishment of all, even the doctors, who say the consequences of +this must soon appear. Wine is dearer, which is a good thing, and I +believe our men bear this cold wet weather better than heat. + +Tell John his two newspapers of the 20th have been in great request. I +believe only Dr. M’Gregor had one besides Lord Wellington. They have +been much read, and I have now enclosed one to Colonel Belson, which +will probably be the only one in his division. It happened to contain +almost all the news of the last week. + +Lieutenant-colonel Elphinstone is still here. I understand that he +got a queer answer from Lord Wellington when at Lisbon, which brought +him here in such a hurry. When he became senior officer of the corps +here, he wrote up for instructions from Lisbon, and to ask what Lord +Wellington wished him to do, and where he was to go as Chief Engineer +in the Peninsula? The answer was, that as Chief Engineer in the +Peninsula he would best know where his proper place was. Up he came by +sea in a week, in consequence. + +A man to thrive here must have his wits about him, and not see or +feel difficulties, or start them, to go on smoothly. People wonder +at Lieutenant-colonel Dickson, Portuguese service, and only (barring +brevet rank) a captain of artillery in our service, commanding, as he +has done now ever since Frenada, all the artillery of both nations, +English and Portuguese. He has four seniors out here, but all young +comparatively also, who have submitted hitherto. E—— says it should be +a General’s command to be done properly, with proper officers under +him; others say the old artillery officers have rather changed their +sex, and are somewhat of old women. + +Lord Wellington seems to favour the latter opinion a little. I conclude +that he finds it answer in practice. As an instance of this, it may +be stated that in the pursuit after the battle of Vittoria in the bad +roads, Lord Wellington saw a column of French making a stand as if +to halt for the night. “Now, Dickson,” said he, “if we had but some +artillery up.” “They are close by, my Lord.” And in ten minutes, from a +hill on the right, Lieutenant-colonel Rose’s light division guns began +bang—bang—bang! and away went the French two leagues further off. I +fear if there had been a General, that we should have had, instead of +this, a report of the bad state of the roads, and the impossibility of +moving guns. In fact, this same brigade of guns, with their mounted +men, took the last French mortar near Pamplona, and Lord Wellington +passed whilst they were putting it to rights to proceed. They had +killed two of the horses in it the day before. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Fall of Pamplona—Deterioration of the Army—Duke of York’s + Orders—Orders of Merit—Church Service—Capture of French + Redoubts—March of the Army—Incidents of Foreign Service—Frequency of + Desertion—Wellington and the Lawyers. + + + Head-quarters, Vera, Nov. 5, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Here we are still, but rather nearer a move than when I wrote last. +Between business and my chum ——, who is still here with me, I could +never spare a moment to write. Even now, at three o’clock, I have been +five or six hours at work. + +The weather has improved, however, these last two days, and now tends +to frost. Anything is better than the incessant wet we have here, up +to that part of the army at Roncesvalles; perpetual torrents from the +north-west, almost night and day, so that the roads have been nearly +impassable. At Roncesvalles they have had snow in the valley fourteen +inches deep. So close as in the valley of Baztan, at Elisondo, it has +been as rainy as here. We have now cold, thick, November, London, foggy +mornings, until nearly eleven o’clock forenoon, and then a clear fine +day, but not yet absolute frost. Thermometer about 36° or 37°. Meadows +all swampy. On the whole, however, the snow gentlemen have had much the +best of it, though a little uneasy as to their supplies just now, from +the fear of snow stoppages. + +Pamplona has at last fallen, as you will have learnt by the last mail, +for I believe Lord Wellington kept the packet on purpose back two days. +The garrison, four thousand two hundred, it is said, are to embark +to-day at Passages if possible, at least as soon as they can be got +ready. Don Carlos made them submit to his terms, as we hear, _in toto_. +They were even compelled to give up the Juramentudas, besides the +fortification artillery. Report says fifty-seven field guns have been +found there. This shows us the danger we escaped by Lord Wellington’s +presence of mind, and the bravery of our men on the 28th of July last. +Had the French got a league further, they would have found this fine +field train all ready, and a reinforcement of near five thousand men +in the garrison. No one can tell how this might have changed matters. +We have still eighteen guns here, with the horses living on leaves, +fern, and corn, but ready to play upon a new star-work the French are +every day making more of, on a hill close to La Rhüne, which they still +occupy near Sarré. I think these guns will surprise them a little. At +present, I conclude, from general report, that we are only waiting for +the rains to run down and the roads to dry a little; and if the weather +of these last two days continue, every one says that we shall soon make +a push on. + +Our men have had a miserable time of it lately; and when uncomfortable +and idle, I am sorry to say, they always make work for me. We hear of +daily losses, plunder, &c., and the Spaniards perform their part well +in this respect. General O’Lalor yesterday found his secretary had +run away, down towards Madrid, with nearly two thousand dollars, for +he trusted him with everything. Last time I dined at head-quarters +Lord Wellington got into a long conversation with me for nearly two +hours about the poor-laws, and the assize of bread, about the Catholic +question, the state of Ireland, &c., just as if he had nothing else +upon his mind. In many points we agreed very well, particularly as +to what would be necessary to be done in Ireland—if anything; but +he thinks nothing should be done at all. He is still alarmed at the +separation spirit which he thinks exists there, and the remains of a +Jacobin feeling in the lower classes in England. + +_6th November._—Poor —— must pass an uncomfortable time with me here, +and yet I suffer much more from having him, and he is little aware how +inconvenient he is to me. + +To-day, 6th November, I received three letters from England. I see +there is a magnificent order of the Duke of York about parcels to +the army, up to a ton weight, being forwarded to officers by the +Commissariat. A few parcels would make the Commissary stare a little, +when, with nearly twelve thousand mules, we can scarcely be supplied +with bread and corn, and not with forage. You seem to know so little +about the real state of things here in England, that I think the +General, who came half way up from Lisbon to review, and then gave it +up, should be employed to explain the difficulties in the duties of +office. The Commissary-general says that it will take him an entire new +office, which he must write home for, to keep the accounts which this +new plan will require. + +Our troops at Roncesvalles have been terribly off; some of the guns +are buried in the snow there; some Spaniards, as well as English, +have perished by the cold, and one picket was obliged to be dug out. +I hear that they are now moving away, and that an attack by that pass +must be abandoned; but we shall soon know for certain if this dry +weather lasts. Our great men were all in the front, peeping to-day into +France from the mountains which surround this hollow. Our army-post +to one division, with the dragoon carrying it, was caught two days +since,—picked up, probably, as I was; he had got a little out of his +way, somehow. I hope no letters of importance were caught; but it was +provoking. The French, it is said, sent back one letter to General +Oswald, opened, and said that the rest were all immaterial; however, +they did not return them. The aide-de-camp of the late governor of +Pamplona has been here for the last two days, Monsieur Pomade, a +gentleman-like man; he says when the Vittoria army arrived at Pamplona +on June the 24th, the garrison was three thousand strong, and the +place provisioned for one hundred days complete, but that that army, +_en passant_, gave them a thousand more effective men and five hundred +sick. This caused them to give in sooner than they otherwise should. He +says that they never expected their present fate, but that they knew +nothing, and never had any communication whatever with France or Soult; +that they sent out several times, but never got any one in. This is +more than we can say at St. Sebastian, and does Don Carlos some credit. + +The new crosses for the victories are very handsome—the medals so +so—and the former will look strange with a whole row of clasps, which +I suppose Lord Wellington must have now, for he has already two, up +to Salamanca, in addition to the cross. I think the thing is either +too general, or not enough so—a selection of distinguished men, of all +ranks, would be better than a general distribution to all of certain +ranks and situations. It now shows little more than that a man had a +certain rank in such a battle, and not that he performed anything more +than his neighbours. A selection might have descended with advantage +even to the privates. Of course many grumble, and are disappointed that +others have more marks and clasps than they have; that, however, would +always be the case. + +_Sunday, the 6th._—Post-day for ordinary men—to-morrow for Lord +Wellington; so I proceed. For the first time these fourteen months I +have to-day been to a military church; I found that the service was +in-doors, and ventured, but was much reproached by my doctor. We were +in the newly-repaired large public town room, which has just been made +water and wind tight, as well as all the rooms round about it, for an +hospital, and will soon, it is to be feared, be filled with wounded. +So we go on clearing away one set of hobblers, and destroying houses +on both sides, then repairing and cleaning for the new set we are +about to make; and then clearing off again, and so on! This town is +just now clear of all the old wounded; and the large room was washed, +Dr. M’Gregor told me (though I should not have discovered it), for +those soon expected. I believe he wished not a little that we had gone +somewhere else to pray, and not made a dirt in his department. The +service was short, plainly read, but tolerably well; the sermon homely +and familiar, but good for the troops, I think, and very fair and +useful to any one. Lord Wellington was there, with his attendants, a +few officers, and our new staff corps. + +On my return home, lo, and behold! I found —— very alert, waiting for +breakfast, as he had orders to march on to the front in half an hour, +and in less than that time, before breakfast was over, I saw Lord +Wellington and his suite all off on horseback to the front, to peep +again. It is not likely, however, anything can be done until to-morrow +at soonest, and it will be stiff work if the French do their duty as +they ought. + +I now suspect that the packet will be kept until the result of what +is about to be done is known, unless there is another ship ready. My +letter must, however, go to-day; but I will try and send a line off, if +possible, by the same conveyance as the despatches. As I must not go +and peep, for fear of being picked up again and carried off further +next time, my communications will be dull and uninteresting now. A move +was becoming very necessary, for sickness had just commenced, and in +the mountains on the right horses were dying fast. If we can but beat +them well, we have a chance of some quiet quarter. Merely beating them +back, in my opinion, will not do for us; and if the French defend their +new works with as much steadiness as they have shown activity in making +them, you will have a long _Gazette_. We all think that their _morale_ +is much shaken, and that the old soldiers will not stand now; if so, +the young ones will not hold out long, though it was observed that they +fought best on late occasions. + +——, the last thing before he left, was at me again, about procuring his +brother to be made a Captain in the Navy by Lord Wellington’s interest, +though it might be thought I had sufficiently put him aside the first +time, as I have no humbug in these matters. It now became necessary +to refuse him in direct terms, assuring him that Lord Wellington had +continually said to me, “I never interfere with the Navy, when I can +help it, in any way; I let them have all their rights, that I may keep +all mine; and as I do not wish them to meddle with me, I never meddle +with them.” I should never have thought of asking Lord Wellington for +anything now except upon public grounds, such as repaying the Bayonne +banker, &c., as it is not my doctrine that because a man has done you +one favour you are, therefore, to ask him to do you another. + +_Twelve o’clock._—Six more guns are now rumbling by through this place +to go up the pass. B——’s have been off some time; six more will, I +hear, be soon up, and these eighteen are all to be collected to play +upon the French new work, where they had yesterday got about twelve +together. It is feared that we must begin from the ground at too great +a distance, thirteen hundred yards, but I hope closer quarters will be +come to soon, for in my opinion the French succeed best at cannonading +and sharp-shooting, and we at the hand-to-hand work. + +_Two o’clock._—The mail is said to go as usual, so I must close +directly, but I have no doubt the packet will be kept, as every one +says publicly that the attack is to take place to-morrow morning. +General Cole has just told me to go up to the top of La Rhüne, where I +must be safe, and must see everything. I shall not go, however, unless +I find all the quiet steady ones do the same, for though you may see +all, and if knowing, may be down again in time, yet mistakes may be +made by the unknowing, and I shall remain quietly here. + +_Head-Quarters, Vera, November 9th, 1813._—I have this moment received +your packet of the 26th ult., with all the kind enclosures from aunts, +cousins, &c. The attack never took place on Monday the 8th, as I told +you in my last; the roads, from the wet, being so bad that I believe +the army could not be collected in time. To-morrow, however, is now +said to be the day, as the two last days have continued fine and mild, +the wind south, and the thermometer up at 52° again. It now looks +like rain, but is fine, and holds up as yet, with a wind south and +south-west; whilst all the rain came with a cold north-west wind. It +will not do, therefore, to make use of English weather-wisdom here. + +Your English mail is thought nothing of. A _Gazette_ of the 25th had +got here first, and forestalled it; and we have to-day much greater +news from the French side, which is believed by every one here, and by +the French army as we are told; namely, that Bonaparte is beaten back +to the Rhine, with the loss of three divisions cut off by blowing up a +bridge too soon, &c.; one General taken, and one drowned, &c. This puts +our party in spirits for to-morrow, and will, I hope, damp the French +if believed by them, as the deserters report it to be. + +The Portuguese are most anxious to enter France, and are in high +spirits; the grave ones, however, expect a great number of broken +heads, unless the French turn tail shamefully. You ask me about Baron +de Trenqueléon, and whether I thought of him whilst I was a prisoner. +I certainly did at Mont de Marsan, and found that I was within thirty +miles of him; and an emigrant there advised me to apply to go over to +see him, but I thought it might do us both harm, and, therefore, never +said a word upon the subject to any one. Major D—— had serious thoughts +of going as my servant with the baggage to look about; but it would +have been a dangerous experiment. + +_The 10th November._—I dined with Lord Wellington last night, and staid +there till near ten. He was all gaiety and spirits; and only said on +leaving the room, “Remember! at four in the morning.” Monsieur Pomade, +the aide-de-camp to the governor of Pamplona, was there, and I sat +next to him and had some conversation with him. He had been told that +operations were going on, and that that was the reason he could not be +sent in yet to the French. To show what he expected to be the result, +he told me (when I begged him to tell the banker at Bayonne that all +his letters had been sent safely) that except from necessity and orders +he should avoid Bayonne, as he was not ready yet to be shut up again in +another town. + +To-day every one was in motion here two hours before daylight; and +part of the cavalry passed through here at five o’clock. I got up, and +had all packed ready by daylight, and found that every one was gone +to see the glorious attack—even the doctors and the two parsons: so I +determined to venture up to the top of La Rhüne in the way General Cole +recommended. The day was beautiful. I passed the camp of the latter in +my way up, and should have heard there of any check. I then pursued +my way, and staid on the top from about eight until two, hearing and +seeing fire and smoke all the way along the hills from St. Jean de +Luz to near St. Jean Pied de Port. The whole was visible at once; and +I could see the men even with the naked eye, by the glitter of their +arms, for a considerable way. The French redoubts crowned the tops of +all their positions with deep ditches; and they had full shelter in +woods and houses; but our men slowly beat them on and on, from place +to place, forcing their way until all the right of the position seemed +ours. Two redoubts on the hill below me I saw abandoned shamefully, +when our men got round them. A large star fort on the top took more +time. The men from the others tried to make for it, but failed; though +mostly got off on our side. Those in the fort I left surrounded by our +men, who ran up in four or five directions to within about fifty yards +or less, firing as they ran; and then bobbed all down for shelter until +all were ready. They lay in this way nearly an hour. When satisfied +that the men shut up must be prisoners (as I hear they were) I returned +home. + +On the ridge of hills all along the right, the rows of huts set on +fire added not a little to the scene. By whom they were burnt I know +not. The cannon roared away in the mountains. On the hill, amongst +others, I met Lord E. Somerset, the Cavalry General, gone up to look +out, with Colonel Vivian and Mr. Heaphy. He was there before me, when +the fighting was nearer, and declares that he saw one English soldier +bayonet two French officers who attacked him when advanced from the +others—first one and then the other. I hope that our loss has not been +severe, considering what the position was. + +I believe we were to have moved to Sarré; but General Giron has taken +seventy houses there for his staff; and the rest are full of wounded. +From what I have heard, our officers think themselves well out of the +scrape. The left of our army towards St. Jean de Luz was refused;—that +is, the French were not pressed there much, in hopes of forming the +right so rapidly as to cut off a good lot on the left. That will not +probably be the case, but that they must move off to-night to a new +position, and not having such another line of works, the French must +stand to-morrow if attacked openly on the hills, or run for it. I have +seen no one yet, so only give you my own views, which may be probably +very wide of the _Gazette_. It was a terrible fag for my new mare, and +at top cool, and no room to walk about: I have in consequence a new +fidget, in her refusing her food. The troops will devour all the forage +in front, and I do not know how we shall get on at all. Adieu. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Fé, November 12th, 1813._—At seven, yesterday +morning, we received orders to march; all the baggage to assemble at +Sarré, and wait there for orders. We did so; and on our way crossed +the first French redoubts and positions, and began to see our wounded +and the stripped dead lying about as usual. So starved and weak were +many of the animals, and so clayey and deep the roads, that the scene +had almost the appearance of a retreat, except that we passed all the +wounded and prisoners going to the rear, instead of marching with them. +The Spanish oxen were so starved, and thin, and weak, that during the +first league I counted probably about eleven lying down to die, whilst +every now and then a sergeant with his pike, or a soldier gave them +a stab, half out of humanity, and half to see the effect, and from a +sort of love of mischief. Then there were ten or fifteen poor women +belonging to the baggage of the division lamenting over their dying +donkeys and mules, whilst others were brutally beating some to death, +because they would not go farther. In every direction baggage was +falling off, and the whole formed a glorious scene of confusion. Near +Sarré I was caught in a violent storm, but got to a house for shelter +before I was wet, and there stood in the doorway of a deserted house, +with three dead bodies on the ground close by me; one certainly that of +an officer, from his clean skin, neatly-shaven beard and whiskers, and +from every remnant of his dress having been worth stealing. The other +two were Spaniards. + +The Spaniards behaved tolerably in the field, but not like the fourth +and the light division. In plundering and mischief, however, they +excelled them. I found them, on passing, breaking and plundering one +of the best houses in Sarré. Our own people are grown expert hands at +this, and Lord Wellington threatens hanging, and, I believe, has hung +a few, but in vain. The people in general have fled, and the Spaniards +come in to carry off pots, pans, dishes, chairs, tables, &c., to +refurnish their own houses. At Sarré, I found the civil departments +were to stop there, and the military to come on to this place. My +baggage had gone by in part before I knew this; and besides that, +nowhere could a house be found by me. The Spaniards were in possession, +and firing, plunder, and confusion, were all around; I determined, +therefore, to come on here, and take my chance. + +You will advise me to keep well in the rear for safety; but the +most knowing ones (in which opinion I agree) consider the rear as +the most unsafe place of any. All the vagabonds, plunderers, and +rascals—followers of the army—stick to the rear, and look about to do +mischief as soon as all the troops are passed. Besides which, it is not +clear here that the peasants, who all fly, may not return, and knock a +few on the head, though at present they seem terrified and excessively +alarmed. I found no quarters for me here; but at a little village +close by, where there were only the Commissary-general and a few of +his department, I took possession of a deserted house, which had been +ransacked, and cleaned it out a little in one place. Finding abundance +of food left for my horses for two or three nights, I thought myself +well off, though I was somewhat alarmed at having possession of the +last inhabited house on that road, lest any straggling attack should be +made, or the owners should come back in the night. There was, however, +no alternative. All the immediately useful part of my baggage was +behind, and never arrived at all, having been turned out of the road +by a Spanish division. Unluckily my neighbours were nearly in the same +state. Sir Robert Kennedy had barely enough for his own eating, and +went to bed leaving his servants to do the best they could. + +H—— had nothing, his baggage not having arrived. Mr. H——n had one +half-loaf, and that served us all. Mr. M——, the storekeeper, had got +some mutton for Lord Wellington to-day, and he spared us a little bit +each; so I got one mutton chop, which was very lucky. + +Between four and five, Henry went to inquire about marching, and, +finding no orders, we remained quiet. About seven or eight, he found +my two stray mules, and I got a loaf of bread and some potted butter +out of my stock, and made my contribution to the party, which was very +acceptable. I have since been down to head-quarters to know what is +going on; but can learn nothing except that we are ready now to cross +the Nive, and are prepared for that step; particulars I can hear none, +for only the clergyman, the doctors, and a straggling civilian, with +the provost guard, are to be seen. + +I returned, therefore, to my deserted, desolate home. In my way I found +one of the owners of a house here who had been shot through the thigh +by a Portuguese; I got him to an hospital to be dressed, in the church, +where French, English, and all were lying to wait their turn, with now +and then a dead man. As soon as they are dressed, they are packed off +to the rear on mules, &c. So we go on! + +The famous French bulletin has now been seen. Some say Bonaparte is +at Paris, and some think that he will come here. Others have a notion +that the people beyond Bayonne are ready to join us, if we proceed +on. I fear, however, the runaways will not encourage this much with +their exasperated stories of our conduct in their villages. To-day is +a very fine day again, and will, I hope, assist our operations much. +It is said that when our officers went up to the men in the star fort, +to call upon them to surrender, the Colonel commanding said, like the +governor of Pamplona, “Yes, on the terms of parole, not to serve for a +year and a day.” “No, no,” says the Englishman; “_prisonnier_.” “_Eh +bien, donc je ne me rends pas_,” says the Frenchman. “But you must +and shall, or you will all be murdered,” says the Englishman, and +then turned away. Upon which the Colonel very sulkily returned and +consented; and when his soldiers began to rejoice, and to quiz the _ré +papé_, and say, dancing about, that it was time it should all end, he +was most indignantly sulky, and has remained so ever since, complaining +of being sent off to England as a prisoner. + +I have now under my window a characteristic scene. A short Portuguese +lad, bloated out with ration beef, with an old French helmet on, a +great red grenadier’s feather, and an old French uniform jacket and +pantaloons, with a dragoon broadsword, cutting down cabbages and apples +in the garden for his brother Portuguese, who has his apron ready to +receive them, whilst a dirty, brown, snuff-coloured Spaniard is looking +about on the other side with an old French musket trying to shoot +something eatable. + +The mixture of the silence of a deserted village with the occasional +riotous noise of muleteers and stragglers, Portuguese and Spaniards, +as well as a few swearing English, is striking; but to a person not +actively engaged in what is going on, by which all minor considerations +vanish in the dangers and anxiety of the scene, there is a sameness of +misery and starvation, of wounds and of death, which, when the novelty +of the scene is over, becomes very unpleasant, especially without any +rational companion to talk to on what is passing. This appears to be +the house of a curé, for there are the remains of many comforts, and of +some books, chiefly religious, some crosses, &c. + +I just now met a man who spoke English tolerably, and French well, but +would address me in Spanish, to say the people were plundering all the +flour at the only mill in the place which was at work, and he requested +a guard and wanted the Commandant. I luckily noticed by his feather +the Superintendent of the provost guard entering a house opposite, and +procured him a guard directly. So that one can be of some use without +meddling much. + +I have just now had a Spaniard at my door to inquire how he could +get back safe to Spain, as he had wandered here alone, and dared not +return, and had nothing to eat. I have sent him off with a small bit of +bread and a shilling, and advised him to go and remain near the provost +guard, and keep with the first escort of prisoners which sets out for +Spain. + +Nearly all the houses about me are empty, and I do not much like my +situation, but it is just now like that of a wife—for better, for +worse; so I must submit. I do not think we have a hundred men within +three miles, and not one soldier within half a mile, only commissaries +and young doctors, and a stray shot is fired every three or four +minutes. My own muleteers I have just stopped. + +_November 13th._—Here I am still in my solitary abode. It has rained +all night, and the roads are running watercourses, which will, it +is to be feared, impede our progress. All, it is said, however, is +going on well. I have not seen a creature, or been out; only sent to +the Commissary-general, my neighbour, to ascertain whether we are not +to march, lest I should be left behind here. Several of the elderly +owners of houses have returned, but mine has not. Lord Wellington +has ordered what forage can be regularly used, and collected, to be +paid for punctually, and I understand has determined to send back at +least a part of the Spaniards, on account of their abominable conduct, +Longa’s people in particular. I am not surprised at it, but it spoils +all our plans. We were admitted quietly into St. Jean de Luz, and the +inhabitants remained there. The mayor offered to exert himself to +get what he could collected, to supply the troops regularly; and Sir +John Hope flogged the two first men he caught taking some wine—this +instantly; so I hope that town will be preserved. + +We can never do well, if we go on driving all the population before +us. The few old people left here, and who are coming in, speak only +Basconee and a little Gascon, and no French. There is no making them +understand anything. + +To-day would have been dreadful in the mountains, so we have at least +that reflection to comfort ourselves with. I send enclosed Lord +Wellington’s letter to me and Count Gazan’s. Pray keep the former, as I +shall always value it. + +_4 o’clock, afternoon, November 13th._—It has been raining so +incessantly ever since morning, that I have not stirred from my hole, +and have, therefore, seen no one. I understand that all the grandees +were to have gone to the front at five this morning, but from the state +of the weather, they have all stopped at home—not for the fear of a +wetting themselves, but most likely from the impossibility of getting +through the country, and across rivers, when in such a state. It is +only wonderful how our men got on, as they did up the hills on the +12th. It was as much as I could do with my horse singly on a slippery +clay, either so hard that a horse could not stand on it, or so deep +that he was up to his knees, between the hard places. We are now, +however, nearly out of the Pyrenees, and I hope the roads will mend, +but from what I saw of the high road, this is doubtful. + +_November 14th._—Still here at St. Fé, so the place is called in an +excellent old French map. Still rain, and nothing new, except that the +French have been well frightened, and mean, we are told, to quit the +new position they have taken, with their left on Bayonne, as soon as it +is attacked; that is, as soon I conclude as the roads will permit us to +move. The communications here are almost as bad as in Spain, and from +hence to St. Jean de Luz almost impassable. The Marquis of Worcester, I +have just heard, goes to-day in an hour. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, November 24th, 1813._—Having a little +leisure, I begin my weekly journal. The weather continues beautiful, +and I generally get my hour’s walk, and my hour’s ride daily. A brig +from Dartmouth sold off an immense stock of good English moulds +yesterday, in the morning, at 2_s._ 6_d._ a pound, by order from +head-quarters, and about five tons of potatoes, besides quantities of +porter, ale, beef, cheese, &c. The scramble of officers on board to see +and buy would have astonished you not a little. We have also some good +white wine. + +Since our move from the mountains our men are all behaving much better: +they were becoming very bad; and desertion, even from the English to +the French, was frequent. The temptation of the old gentleman in the +high mountains was too much for the men. It has now almost ceased. +I hope, therefore, when we are a little quiet, and my arrears are +cleared off, that I shall have much less to do. The reports here now +are that Bonaparte’s aide-de-camp is at Bayonne, and that he himself is +expected. If so we may probably have some work to do here again, unless +he has been obliged merely to show himself here to convince his army +that he is still alive and well. + +We had a little affair yesterday. Some of the light division were +ordered to drive in the French pickets in one place where they were too +forward, and our men being too zealous, pushed too far. In trying to +prevent this, a fine officer of the 43rd was taken, and a lieutenant +badly wounded, and some men lost. The only annoyance I suffer at +present in my quarters arises from the multiplicity of inhabitants, +namely, three old women, seven children, three dogs, two cats, and a +fair allowance of fleas, whom this late fine weather has revived. We +have lately had an arrival at Passages of a hundred and fifty oxen +from Ireland for the army, and are promised the same supply weekly. +This will do something; but our consumption is, I believe, about a +thousand a week. Our forage in this nook of France is as bare as in +the neighbouring parts of Spain; every field is eaten close down, and +all straw of corn and maize consumed. I sent twelve miles for straw +yesterday, and the mules have returned to-day empty. I mean now to try +bruised furze, to mix with their Indian corn, so as to hold out until +some more hay shall reach us from England. + +_November 25th._—I have just heard that about two thousand of the +inhabitants returned here last night, but Soult would not suffer them +to carry much with them. + +_November 26th._—There was no time for more yesterday, and to-day I +have nothing to add. I have still not heard anything from you later +than the 3rd, but we have papers here to the 13th. I cannot understand +how this has occurred. Through France we have news still later, and +have heard of the surrender of Davoust’s corps at Hamburg, on terms of +not serving for a year and a day. It is to be hoped that the terms may +be kept. I had a droll _malheur_ again to-day. Riding my pony into the +sea, into about six inches water, to wash his legs, a wave came, the +sand gave way, and he sunk up to his middle, so that my legs were up +to the calf in sand. I jumped off, and went over his head to run out, +fearing that he could not rise. We thus both got safely out. The poor +pony much more frightened than I was. + +I conclude that everything goes on well, for Lord Wellington and his +gentlemen were out to-day with the hounds. He told me that I kept him +up reading Courts-martial until twelve o’clock at night or one in the +morning; and this every night. I hope, however, that this will not +last long. The Prince of Orange has got a complaint in his eyes, but +I believe only a cold, and he seems better. Nearly all our great men +except Lord Wellington have been ill. + +Send me some law news, and good, for Lord Wellington expects me to +tell him who all the new judges are to be, &c., and is very fond +of discussing legal subjects. At first I was generally right in my +speculations: but I have now no means of knowing how things are going +on unless you keep up my credit; it must not be, however, by loose +reports. + +I have a poor young Commissary, B——, under charges, who has, I think, +been very ill used by a Spanish alcalde. I fought his battle with Lord +Wellington to-day to get him released from arrest. He is very well +spoken of, and said to support his two sisters. Can he be a brother of +the Miss B——’s whom you know? I detected the Spanish General F—— in +a little bit of a fib on this subject. His excuse for not answering +my letter for eight days was, that it had been delayed in the post. I +complained, and his receipt for the letter was produced the day after +it was sent—this on the back of the cover. + +_Sunday, November 29th._—Still no news, and no accounts from England. +We are all anxiety. I have just returned from church at the drum-head, +on the sands by the sea. Two brigades of guards present in their best, +and white trousers, &c., and Lord Wellington and his staff here. It was +rather cold work. The weather is beginning to change again, I fear, for +rain, just as the roads were becoming passable. You have no conception +how soon fifteen thousand sharp-footed heavy-laden mules in rain, cut +up a road in this country, even when at first tolerably good. We have +been amused with Cobbett’s attributing all Bonaparte’s misfortunes +to his being grafted into the old stock. If he can now manage well +he may, I think, still get his little king Pepin graft to thrive in +France, and beat Mr. Knight and our gardeners. The true cause of all +is, however, that the _morale_ of the people of Europe is changed. It +was France, army and people, against mere armies and bad governments, +whilst all the people in Europe were indifferent at the least. This is +now reversed; and it is now a mere French army against every people and +army; and Frenchmen at least quite indifferent. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + News from France—Lord Fitzroy Somerset—Departure of the Prince of + Orange—Exchange of Prisoners—Proximity of the two Armies—Wellington’s + Cooks—Warlike Movements—French Attack—The Guards—-Deserters—More + Fighting. + + + Head-quarters, St. Jean de Luz, + December 2, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +At last we have got a mail from England. Your papers give us little +public news, that is, news to us, for you have no late accounts from +the Allies, and French papers we always get sooner this way. Thus we +have long known of Bonaparte’s arrival at Paris, which you only just +now communicate to us. Lord Wellington has, I understand, news of a +rising in Holland; and this has been confirmed by our reports through +the French, who, in conversation with Dashwood yesterday, when he went +in with a flag-of-truce, and a parcel of women, seemed to admit it. We +had had this as a report before the arrival of the packet, and Major +Dashwood therefore tried to pump them on the subject. We have also had +a report here that Admiral Young had taken the Texel fleet; but as no +news of this sort has reached us from you, we fear from dates that this +must be all false. + +This is only a Passages report from some straggling ships, not French +news. The deserters who come in also from Bayonne, and the returned +inhabitants, all state that the Italian regiments here have been +removed to the rear; at least all Italian officers have given up their +lodgings and have packed up. I think now that they will scarcely +rely much upon the Dutch either, and there were some line men and +several good officers of that nation here. I told you that the only two +officers who were disinterested, and most uniformly civil to us whilst +we were prisoners, were two Dutchmen of the 130th regiment. + +The Burgundy side of France (Switzerland being with us) is certainly +as unguarded as this frontier, except by a naturally strong country in +places. Strasburg, almost the only strong place except our old friends +Huningen and Kehl, is far removed, and the latter may probably be left +on one side, but for all this the French Italian army must be well +disposed of first. + +If Lord Charles Somerset deserves promotion as well as our Military +Secretary here, the grumbling you mention against his appointment must +be unfounded. The latter gets through a great amount of business with +little assistance, and always quite in public, almost in a common +coffee or lounging room, in the midst of talking, noise, joking, and +confusion. The Prince of Orange left us yesterday. As he used to be +one of the above loungers, this put me in mind of him. He has had a +complaint in his eyes, and could not embark before yesterday, when he +did so with a fair wind. His arrival, however, and all news about him +will precede this. The French, yesterday, when told that he was going +off for England, said, “Oh they supposed that it was in consequence of +what had happened in Holland.” In short, the French seem still (as when +I was in France and now even more so) willing to listen to all bad news +against Bonaparte, and do not make the least of it at all. All exchange +of officers here has now, I fear, at last been broken off, and angry +letters have passed. How fortunate I was! I will send in your French +Captain Le Fevre’s letter concerning his exchange, if an opportunity +should offer soon, and it is permitted. + +_Friday, December 3rd._—I find Lord Wellington’s news about a Dutch +insurrection came to him by a telegraphic note from Mr. Croker, dated +the 20th ult. This is a grand point. Next for Italy, and then we shall +do; and after twenty-three years of murder, we have a reasonable chance +of being able to give the military word when things go wrong,—“As you +were.” + +The Prince of Orange, from all appearances here, where the sea has been +tremendous, must have had a most famous passage; but I should think +a quick one, as the wind has been fair. We have a notion that he has +been chased by four French frigates which have escaped from some French +port. I yesterday gave a grand dinner at the French café here; the +dinner was abundant, and from the paucity of materials the variety was +surprising. Ten dishes for the first course, two removes for the soups; +ten for the second course, rotis and sweets together; ten for dessert; +and we were ten in company, and two excuses—dinner for twelve. Some +dishes were admirable, particularly all the patisseries. The champaign +excellent; Madeira and sherry very fair; port and claret very moderate. +I am now paying the bill, and the _tout ensemble_ is forty dollars. + +I spoke to Lord Wellington this morning about the French Captain’s +letter you sent to me. He laughed and said, “Yes, when you can, you may +send it; but the whole matter is now at an end, and your companions are +all sent to the rear, as Bonaparte has refused to let the exchanges +take place, unless three French go for one British, one Spaniard, +and one Portuguese. The old squabble in Mackenzie’s negotiation, and +though very flattering to us as English, very unpleasant to our poor +prisoners.” + +We have a most tremendous sea here—now worse than ever. The waves +at high-water break every time almost over an old wall about twenty +feet high on the beach, and come over the stone walk; they roar most +furiously, and are beyond anything I have seen. A Paymaster here +declares that he saw a brig go down, and disappear instantly, about +nine or ten o’clock yesterday, near Andaye. We shall be long, I fear, +before we hear again from you in England. I do not think that any ships +will venture near us now, certainly not to Passages or here. + +_Post-day, Sunday, 5th December._—The storms have now subsided, and +the sea has become calmer; but the mischief already known has been +considerable. The vessel which I mentioned was seen to sink got at last +into the Bidassoa; but four transports, it is said, have been lost in +Passages harbour, together with several lives. One vessel drove into +a house and knocked it down; most of the shipping there is damaged, +and many of the boats have been crushed between them. An English +merchant-vessel, it is reported, also went down at the entrance of +Bayonne. The air is now colder, almost frosty, with a dry wind; the +mountains all covered with snow; I only hope this may last. No more +news from you, and we are here in a very odd state—I mean that our +armies are. A few years back the British were uneasy, in Spain, when a +French army patrolled within thirty miles of them. Now we have all got +quietly into quarters—are nearly all housed; and three-fourths of us go +to sleep tranquilly every night, while our front is within sixty yards +of the French. + +Colonel S—— tells me that he went to breakfast with Colonel H——, the +Assistant Adjutant-general of the sixth division, at Ustaritz, and +there they were in a house with their breakfast-table within about +fifty yards of the French sentry, and within about two hundred of the +whole French picket, who, by one volley, might have broken all their +cups and saucers, if not their heads. The other day a Portuguese +brigade had a field-day close to the river in the meadows, and all +the French came down to look at them, and I have no doubt, from the +general report, to admire and approve; whilst, on the other hand, in +the meadows on the French side, the French conscripts are brought down +to be drilled; sometimes five or six squads are seen at once, and any +of the serjeants might be knocked on the head all the time by our +sentries; but this is now all well understood, and we thus quietly +bully or bravado each other. + +Another party of inhabitants have come in here—women and children; +the men Soult detains. We shall thus add to our female stock, and to +the seven hundred Portuguese women and four hundred Spanish, who are +already in this place and the environs as suttlers, _vivanderas_, +washerwomen, &c. In short, here we are in quiet winter-quarters, for +a time at least, with head-quarters within seven miles of the French, +and yet we are all so at our ease, even in France, that the baggage +animals of head-quarters are gone now beyond Tolosa, forty miles and +more to the rear, for straw to feed the horses. Lord Wellington told me +yesterday there was no forage left here; and I suppose so large an army +never staid so long in these mountains. But yet, if a spring campaign +comes, no doubt we shall, somehow or other, find all our animals +forthcoming, and in a state for service. + +The Irish oxen sent out for the Commissariat have proved very good, +excellent in comparison, and are served out as a _bonne bouche_—a +pound or two with five or six of the country beef. In short, we have +occasionally, of late, had the London alderman’s cry of more fat. +Without joking, Lord Wellington’s table is now very good in every +respect; and I think his aides-de-camp will be ill with excess, who +have this daily fare (unless there is a move), especially if the roads +remain too bad for exercise. Lord Wellington has now three cooks, and +an English and Spanish chief share the command, and, by dividing the +days, vie with each other. + +More rain, more rain! I am sorry to say. I have just seen Lord +Wellington; he is much annoyed. A poor Commissary under charges has +fallen sick. I reported that he was at Passages, too ill to move to +be tried, and that I have two certificates of medical men of the +necessity of his going to England. Lord Wellington told me to tell the +Adjutant-general not to let him get away; and that if he remained too +ill to move, we must try him at Passages. It was for violent conduct to +another Commissary. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, December 8th, 1813._—A packet is just +arrived, and I have letters from you of the 22nd ult. and papers to the +same date. Letters and papers are, however, here by the same vessel to +the 25th. A most remarkable and astonishing paper! + +I hope this fine weather will give us some hay from England, for I have +now nothing for forage but furze and bran by way of substitute. + +By this packet came a long letter from ——; they want me to ask for +Captain ——’s promotion. It is my determination not to ask favours, +even if I supposed it would be of any use. One promising young officer +has, I trust, been saved by me, by inducing him to make, and another +to accept, an apology, and Lord Wellington to agree to this. He would, +otherwise, most probably on trial have been broken. My letter ordering +the Court to meet was taken by the French. This gave time, and opened +a long correspondence, which has given me much trouble; this, however, +I shall not regret, if it ends well. I must now go and prepare charges +against a German doctor for to-morrow, and against two Portuguese for a +highway robbery. So adieu. + +_Thursday, 9th._—All peaceable business has ceased; and here I am in +an enemy’s town quite at ease. All the troops advanced about four this +morning, and we have here only a provost guard of about forty men, a +few straggling guards, and the muleteers, servants and civilians. The +French dared not to have remained so in any town in Spain, much less in +Portugal. + +I went out to my morning’s walk on the beach. I had it to myself +nearly, and heard a sharp firing of both guns, and particularly +musketry, sounding quite close to me. Our present object is, I believe, +merely to move up our right, for we are much pinched in our present +position. We are now with our right at Itoasso, Espellette, and Cambo, +on the Nive; our centre at Ustaritz and St. Fé; and our left by Bidart, +Ahetze, and Arbonne, all on the Spanish or south side of the Nive. Our +object now is to move up the right, nearly or quite to the Adour, most +probably, only making a feint at Biaritz and Anglet, near Bayonne, on +the left, unless good fortune puts more in our power. We shall then be +more at ease, cover more ground, and open a little country on the right +for our cavalry to get quarters and accommodation, at least that part +which is still with us in front. This, it is believed, is all that is +intended at present. + +Should the report of the French mayor here prove correct, or the +deputy major rather, for the chief is off, namely, that there is an +insurrection at Bordeaux, and that the Allies are within fifty leagues +of Paris, it may soon be _autre chose_; but at present we are only, as +I hear, taking elbow-room for winter-quarters, and putting ourselves in +a position to start when advisable. We shall also see how the French +are disposed to fight, and judge a little what forces are gone to +the rear. How angry it made me to observe the nonsensical reports in +England of our being not only in Bayonne, but in Bordeaux, and this +given out formally at the playhouse! To exaggerate just now is so +unnecessary, so unreasonable, and so injurious to those who do so much! + +_Three o’clock._—The firing has continued more or less the whole day, +but has now become more distant, and the great guns near Bayonne are +heard occasionally. As yet, however, no news, except from a wounded +guardsman, just come in, shot in the hand, who says that the Guards +are advancing and the French retreating,—I conclude into their lines +opposite Bayonne. A fleet of twelve sail, or perhaps fifteen, in sight. +Hurrah! for hay and money, we all say! The army is only paid up to May, +and the staff to April. It rained much in the night, which was against +our movements, but has nearly held up since, though it has just dropped +all day. + +_Friday, the 10th._—Lord Wellington did not return last night, nor the +Adjutant-general and grandees. I hear but little except that we crossed +the Nive well on the right, but did not make much progress in the +course of the day. On our left we did rather more than I expected, and, +it is said, pushed on to within a mile of Bayonne, with some loss; so +we rested last night, and we have had constant showers, very heavy at +times, ever since. This is very much against our arrangements. + +_Four o’clock._—Here I have remained quiet all day, but in a fidget, +for from eleven o’clock there has been continual firing in our front; +and, as might be expected, though within six or seven miles of us, we +have had all sorts of reports, some rather alarming—to me at least, for +I believe Lord Wellington is on the other side of the Nive, with our +right, and I have not the same confidence in any one else, especially +as only a part of our army is on this side the river. The communication +is troublesome, and the French have evidently made a push here to-day +in force, whilst our brigades are all separated. The Guards came back +here last night to their positions and quarters, and the 5th division +to Bidart and its environs. Some Caçadores were surprised, and some +were made prisoners, and the French showed themselves in force in this +line, and have pushed us back to our old ground before the troops could +be collected again. + +At two o’clock the firing was so loud, and so near in appearance, that +I began to look to my baggage, especially as an order came from the +Guards here to turn out again and advance. I have, however, just seen +the Commissary-general, Sir R. Kennedy, and he says there is no danger, +for he left the French checked by our works on our old position, and +met four brigades on the road advancing to assist. He was, however, a +little surprised himself at the end of his ride, to see what was going +on, for a fire suddenly began across the road where he was looking, +near our cavalry, and when he turned about, our guns began across the +other way, and he was obliged to get away. One never can be quite +secure in these attacks. + +I am told that a note was taken from the French General Gautier to +the Duke of Dalmatia, which was sent to tell him that a deserter had +come in from us at two o’clock, and told him of the intended attack +yesterday, and complaining much of desertion on his side. It is very +provoking, that our men should betray us in this manner; but it seems +to have been of no consequence. + +_St. Jean de Luz, Head-Quarters, December 11th, 1813._—From report +to-day, there were some slight grounds for my uneasiness yesterday. The +French made a bold push with nearly four divisions on the high road. +We had only one division, or only part of one, at hand ready. Some +Portuguese in advance were surprised, and lost prisoners and baggage. +The French regained all that they had lost the day before. At about +two o’clock they made a push at our position. A Portuguese brigade +suffered very much, and it is said dispersed. An English brigade also +is reported to have been unlike the rest of late: that is all I can +say. Lord Wellington had heard the firing and received intelligence of +the attack; he came across the river Nive instantly, and halted the +sixth division on this side, which was going over by former orders to +act on the other, on the right. The fourth was ordered up to support +the light division. Wellington himself was foremost in trying to rally +the Portuguese. Both he and his staff were much exposed, and had not +often, I hear, been in a warmer fire. + +The French were induced to attack our redoubts and position by their +successes and numbers. Our reinforcements came up; they were repulsed, +driven back with loss, and the ground which we had already gained and +lost once, was nearly all in our possession again last night, at the +close of day. They talk of a thousand wounded, probably more, on our +part. We have taken some prisoners, and many wounded French; at one +time, however, a whole regiment of Portuguese, and some English also, +were nearly being made prisoners. The Guards, or as they are called +here, “the gentlemen’s sons,” were too late, as they had so far to +march. They will never learn their trade of being killed properly, if +they are thus nursed up in the rear. Their great grievance at present +is the order about horses and mules, limiting the numbers to the old +regulations, on account of forage, and allowing subaltern officers only +their one animal, so that if they ride, they cannot carry anything. If +they carry baggage, they must walk; and then when they come into their +quarters, and their real duty towards the men commences, they are unfit +for anything. The regulation is therefore severe, and most think that +it is unnecessarily so. + +On the other hand, the present establishment of the Guards is +absolutely ridiculous. Every subaltern officer has his two or three +horses, and his three or four mules, as much as any staff-officer ought +to have. He carries his bed out to the guard-house, or picket, and +has his canteen fit to give a dinner and every luxury, whereas one set +of canteens per company would, in my opinion, be a liberal allowance. +Their General has given them six weeks to comply with this order, but +somehow or other they will contrive, probably, to evade it, or they +will be the most miserable animals in existence. Whilst they were in +camp, they left one officer with the men in camp, and the rest got +into houses, whilst in many instances at that time even the Generals +in other divisions commanding brigades, were out under canvas (then +in the mountains), or at most in huts. Both men and officers are only +fit for our old style of expedition,—a landing, a short march, and a +good fight, and then a lounge home again. The men were yesterday all +sorefooted with their march, but at church last Sunday, in their white +linen pantaloons, they looked in high order; and the appearance of +the men, the care of their dress, their discipline and general good +conduct, is admirable, when in quiet quarters here. + +I met young ——, an ensign in the Guards, yesterday, a son of Lord +——. He is a very gentleman-like stripling of nineteen, talks of just +remembering Sir John Moore’s death, as the beginning of his political +knowledge, and something about General Castanos, and the first Spanish +publication of Cevallos, but is quite in a wilderness when you talk +of the old state of Europe before the French Revolution. He now +principally talks of the table, and who gives best wines and dinners, +and found fault with General ——’s, which I must say appeared to me most +luxurious, and reminded me of fine dinners in London. + +_Ten o’clock._—Hurrah! hurrah! I have just been called out to see three +small battalions of deserters pass by with drums beating, and colours +flying, with their arms and everything in the highest condition, and +clothing nearly new. Two battalions of the regiment De Nassau, and one +of the regiment De Frankfort, in the whole twelve hundred men. This +is a grand consequence of our push, and must alarm the French not a +little. I should not be surprised now if we advance soon, whatever +might have been our former plans. Lord Wellington was out again in the +front this morning, up at three and out in the dark. He returns to +dinner to-day, and has invited the German Colonels and the Majors, six +of them, to dinner, to which he means to return. He has also desired +that they may now have their breakfasts, the whole remain in quarters +here for the night, and proceed to-morrow for Passages, I presume, +though it is several miles off, as the Spaniards occupy all the places +between, except Irun, which is voted unwholesome and feverish. Irun +will scarcely give a quarter to an English officer, and not to our +detachments coming up to join, who have to march through here always; +so I conclude that they would not do more for the Germans who have once +served with the French. The only drawback to these good tidings is the +thought of the poor wounded, crawling in, on foot, or on cars, and on +mules, crying with the pain of the motion. It is now quite fine, and I +must take my promenade by the sea; so, for the present, adieu. + +_Later, the 11th._—Major D—— has found a friend in the Colonel of the +regiment which came over, and who has told him how it happened and +was managed. An officer from the North had found the way to him (the +Colonel) all through France, with an order from his real sovereign to +go over to us, and come and join him. He communicated his plan to no +one but the Major (one Major). They waited their opportunity, and when +it arose last night, he called the officers together, told them his +order and his resolution, and proposed it to them, but said he should +force no one; it must be voluntary. All agreed—and the men were too +happy to join in the plan. One officer was sent to give us notice and +clear the way, and to prevent any resistance or confusion. He was also +to make terms that they were not to be compelled to serve, &c. The +officer, however, did not like going back, and before any message was +sent, over they all came. On their arrival here to-day, just out of +the town, they halted, and put on their best clothes to pass through +in parade order, and very well they looked I assure you. They say that +there are many Spanish, and two good regiments of cavalry who would +probably come over if a pardon were held out to them, and that there +are a number of Dutch all ready to do the same thing, but they are +principally officers, and are not in a body. They are tumultuous and +troublesome, and only wait the proper occasion. + +The Colonel, K——, has written to Marshal Soult, telling him why he came +over; that he was ordered so to do, and after reminding him that so +long as they were French, and he with the French, he had done his duty. +In return, he requests (rather an impudent request) that the women and +the baggage, or at least the baggage soldiers and servants, may be +allowed to join the regiments. He also asks that his band, which he +says was excellent, as it was his hobby-horse, and which was of course +left behind, may be allowed to join the rest. Of this, however, he has +no hopes, for his band was always a subject of considerable jealousy to +the French before he left them, and he is sure they will keep it now +for themselves. + +I also hear that our staff officers were obliged to exert themselves +very much in consequence of the dispersion of the Portuguese, and the +reluctance of some of our own forces. Colonel Delancey took one colour, +and rode on before the regiments to carry them on. General Hope was +much exposed, and got two blows; one on the shin, and one on his side, +but of no consequence. General Pakenham had a horse shot under him—his +best charger. General Robinson is shot through the body; a bad wound. +Two of General Sir S. Cotton’s officers, his aide-de-camps, who were +there as amateurs, suffered. One coming home was shot in the thigh. +Many others had narrow escapes, and Lord Wellington remained exposed, +untouched! This is really wonderful. + +To-day again there was some fighting, but only on our left, a sort +of trial of the French strength. We lost, I hear, however, several +men, particularly of the 9th. On the whole, with wounded and sick, +we shall be much reduced by this week’s work, and I still think can +scarcely advance safely any further, unless you send men here instead +of to Holland, or unless we can get a good corps of Spaniards to join +us under officers who will keep them in order. O’Donnell, the Condé +D’Obisbal, is come up again, and will do, for he will hang his men +until he gets order and obedience. Lord Wellington has also got his +full powers renewed by the Spaniards, and may now perhaps try them once +more, if tempted to advance after what has happened. + +_Sunday, 12th December, 3 o’clock._—Every one has gone out again, but +nothing expected to be done to-day. The French attacked us after sunset +last night in force, in hopes, probably, of catching us napping again, +and getting more baggage, but it did not succeed. The Germans are kept +here to-day. My first letter, up to the 11th, I have sealed and sent, +and keep this open in case of more news, for which I must hunt, and +then come in and finish this, and after dinner divide my prize maps of +this canton, and of the whole seat of the northern war—French maps of +this year; great prizes. For the present, adieu. + +_Five o’clock._—More fighting again to-day. The French columns +appeared, and we threw some shells amongst them. This brought on a +quarrel, and we skirmished sharply for a long time; the Guards were +principally concerned; the Adjutant killed, Lieutenant-colonel, and a +Captain. I hear of no advantage gained on either side—mere fighting. +Our entrenching tools are sent for, so I suppose we are going to make +ourselves snug to remain quiet. + +_Six o’clock._—No more news, and no more fighting, but I have just +heard that Lieutenant-colonel D—— W—— is shot in the head, and some +say killed; some contradict it altogether. I had told Miss W that he +was well, in a letter just gone to the post. The Paymaster-general and +several amateurs got suddenly into fire without intending it the other +day. It is better now to stay at home, for one fight is much like any +other, and I have now seen some of the best which are likely to happen. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + French Attack—Plan of Desertion—Excesses of the French—A + Basque Witness—Sir John Hope—Movements of the Army—Sale of + Effects—Wellington’s Simplicity of Character—A French Emigré—Return of + Soult to Bayonne. + + + Head-quarters, St. Jean de Luz, + December 14, 1813. + + MY DEAR M——, + +As every one is still in the front, and I have now but a few letters to +write on business, I shall proceed in writing to you, and, if possible, +send this by the delayed packet. Yesterday morning, the French were, I +believe, to have been attacked again in our front, in order to drive +them back into Bayonne. In the morning, however, they were off, and had +disappeared from the disputed ground, and only appeared in the Bayonne +works. This made us suspect an attack from them on General Hill, who +was on our right, with only some Portuguese, and his two divisions on +the other side of the Nive. Reinforcements were ordered accordingly, +and all the grandees and amateurs went that way. So it turned out; the +French came in large masses and attacked us there, just as we were +moving about in our position. + +At first they drove the Portuguese brigade there back from a knoll. +They rallied, however, returned, and recovered it. By that time the +rest of the two divisions were up ready, and the French came on in more +force. The attack now became general along the line, and the French +were beaten back on all sides with very considerable loss, and without +the reinforcements, which were not in time. I know no particulars at +all, for Lord Wellington did not return last night to this place; +but some who did, say that the French were very thick, as they came +forward in such masses, and some of their own disheartened prisoners +talk of four thousand men and more as their loss. These daily desperate +attacks, first on their right and then on their left, and the accounts +given by the German Nassau officers, make me suspect very much that +Soult will after this be off altogether further to the rear after +having obeyed his order, by a desperate attempt to drive us back into +Spain again. I hear that he wrote to Lord Wellington before these five +days’ fighting, to say that we must positively quit France, and that, +to save bloodshed, he wished Lord Wellington would retire of his own +accord. I did not learn this, however, from the very best authority. + +The day before yesterday I met at dinner the Major of the Nassau +regiment, a very pleasant gentleman-like man, aide-de-camp to the +Prince, and the very officer who brought the secret verbal orders to +the Colonel K—— to take the steps he has done. The Major arrived six +weeks ago, but they never found the opportunity until now. Similar +orders are gone to another battalion with Marshal Suchet, and to a +corps of Nassau cavalry there, and we have sent word to our army on +that side to endeavour to let them know that these three battalions +have succeeded. The whole was very near failing even this time: he gave +us all the particulars. + +The French towards evening thought things were not going on quite +well, and ordered up all the reserves. Amongst the rest were three +battalions, and that of Baden, which lately had been kept much in the +rear. When they were all retiring towards their quarters again at +dusk, General Villette (Colonel Downie’s old enemy), who commanded the +reserve, was obliged to retire to the rear being wounded. He left +orders with a stupid old General who succeeded him in command. The +Colonel of the Nassau regiment was directed by the old man to retire +along the great road. He represented the numbers going that way and +the delay, and proposed a side road. The old man said, “Well, you will +do your best.” The Colonel then thought all would do, and was about +to march off, when up came the 34th regiment, all French, and their +commanding officer said, “_Monsieur le Colonel, j’ai mes ordres de vous +suivre sur votre route_.” This was most perplexing. The Colonel then +made an imaginary obstacle at the head of the column, and desired the +men to file one by one slowly. This tired the patience of the French, +who had been out all day. The Colonel then proposed his plan to the +officer commanding the Baden regiment. To which he replied, that he had +received no orders from his Sovereign, and, after hesitating a little, +declined. Colonel K—— then ordered him to take another road, and told +the French, as they must divide to get home at all, they had better +follow the Baden regiment. The French 34th did so; and the others soon +began to incline towards the English, firing away, however, but in +the air, to deceive any who might be observing them. They soon found +themselves near enough to send in the officer first, and the regiment +followed in spite of some shots from our people. The astonishment of +many, who not being in the secret, found themselves within the English +picket, and fancied they were all about to be made prisoners, was very +considerable; and their joy was as great when they were told the true +state of things. + +The Major told us that they had seen constant service in Spain, that +their Sovereign’s contingent for Spain was about two thousand men, +but that the French kept it up whenever they could to nearly three +thousand, and more at times. He was at Talavera, and the bugle of one +of the battalions which sounded as they left, and marched through, was +English, and I understand was taken from us at the battle of Talavera. +He confessed the horrors committed in Spain was “_Nous autres_” (as he +was constantly expressing himself), forgetting that he was no longer +French, and then correcting himself, said, “_par les Français_.” He +said that it was a practice when the orders were issued to plunder and +burn places which had been deserted by their inhabitants, to make a +great fire near the place so as to make the inhabitants think a battle +was about to begin, and lead them to retire to some spot near, out of +the way of the fire, but never intending to desert their homes. The +troops then voted it a deserted town, and begun first to pillage, then +to burn. He described the French army as being now about fifty-five +thousand men, after this affair, of which, however, only about +twenty-two or twenty-three thousands were soldiers, that is veterans; +the rest raw recruits and conscripts, of which Bayonne was full; and +there you might now see, he said, even the blind and the lame compelled +to come forward and serve. + +He said they were ill supplied with everything, and had no forage +at all; that one great store of biscuit was spoilt in the church +at Bayonne; and that the roads in the rear were so bad that hardly +any supplies could arrive but by the river—at least not without the +greatest difficulty and labour; that the Dax and Tartas roads were +infamous, and the one I went by, Peyrorade and Orthes, very bad. +Allowance must be made, I think, in regard to these accounts. + +Soult was enraged with the inhabitants for wishing to return home +within our lines, and was much provoked at our not having behaved much +worse in this country. I have also understood from officers who went +with flags-of-truce, that the French are excessively angry with their +women for all desiring to come here to us. The Mayor of Biaritz, I +believe, is denounced, having given us assistance, and ordered to be +seized as soon as discovered. The French were two or three days since +in one attack actually in his garden, but could never get into his +house. Of course he had removed many of his goods, and was on the +alert. He has had a picket always in his house, and been very liberal. +Near that house our guns and the French were within three hundred yards +of each other, but neither could get at the opponent on account of the +formation of the ground. There was a small wood in the neighbourhood, +which was a strong point. Lord Wellington, &c., have just returned. I +must go and pick up news. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, December 15th, 1813, Wednesday._—We +are now all returned to our civil business again, and I have just been +to the Adjutant-general and Lord Wellington, as usual, to congratulate +them on their safety, at the same time to make my reports, and receive +fresh instructions. + +All the reports confirm the account that the French got a severe +beating on our right the day before yesterday, and that our loss was +not that day so severe in comparison with the other affair on our +left. Our present position is close round the French and Bayonne, in +a semicircle from the sea to the Adour. The advanced posts being from +the front of Biaritz and Anglet, on the sea on our left, and so through +Arcamgues, Arrauntz, on the Nive, the centre, where our boat-bridge is, +and then through Monguerre, Petit, and Vieux, to La Home, on the Adour, +on our extreme right. Some alarm us by a report that head-quarters +are to be moved in consequence to Ustaritz, as being on the Nive, and +more central, and near the bridges. We all, however, hope otherwise. +Some Spaniards are come on now also, and more cavalry are ordered up. +Our abode here has quite spoiled us for the wretched places we must +crowd into at Ustaritz, down in a muddy hole, with the roads almost +impassable around it. + +Unless you have a good map, you will find but few of the places +mentioned by me, and yet I have omitted two or three in the circle. + +[The places were all found in old maps by Robert, a French geographer.] + +I must go to work to draw charges, so adieu. + +There is a most eloquent French, or, rather, Basque witness here, who +has been robbed, and whom I am keeping here to give evidence. He pays +me daily visits, and acts over the scene in question, and several +others, in very high style. The Basques are as proud as our Welsh of +their antiquity, and when asked if they are French say, “_Oh, que non +Basque_.” He tried to insinuate himself into my favour, by reminding me +that this country was once all English, and that the inhabitants had +still the memory of that, and favourable feelings accordingly. + +Sir John Hope was, including his dress, touched in seven places, +besides a shot in his horse, and through his large hat. The skin wound, +though slight, is the only wound that gives him pain. Lord Wellington +blames him for exposing himself; with what face I know not. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, December 16th, 1813._—Though you will +have heard from me by the detained mail, which went yesterday, you will +expect something by the next, so I begin my work in time; concluding +that it will go Sunday as usual again. I have just heard that the +packet which went from hence the 22nd, with our letters to the 21st of +November, was found deserted at sea, and letters, &c., supposed to be +taken, or most likely sunk. I sent you two long letters by that packet, +with a plan of my house here, and sketch of it, and the largest +proportion of prize Spanish maps, taken at Vittoria; begging you to +keep them, and those that come after, safely. It was in that letter +that I told you of my narrow escape at St. Fé from being shot through +the head by a dragoon whilst I was writing. The ball went between my +pen and my nose, and where my head had been two seconds before: one +cheek was spattered by the door splinters, and the other by the wall +plaster where the ball struck. + +We have just got a most alarming report, as far as comfort is +concerned, namely, that we are to move to a little dirty village, +called Arrauntz, on the Nive, worse almost than Frenada, with the +exception of one good house, where roads are impassable—almost up to +the knees in mud. I believe this was certainly determined, but Colonel +Campbell told me just now he believed the order was deferred; I hope so +most sincerely, for we are here rather in a state of civilization and +comfort. + +I dined yesterday at head-quarters, and who should I meet but Count +de Gazan’s _ci-devant_ aide-de-camp, a fine gentleman-like young +man, with whom I dined at Count Gazan’s house at that time, Lord +Wellington’s now. He was then very civil to us. We dined yesterday in +his _ci-devant_ apartment. He was about to join Marshal Victor in the +north, as his aide-de-camp, when I last saw him; but being promoted to +a chef-de-battalion, this induced him to stop and take the command. It +answers to our Lieutenant-colonel; and he commanded a battalion against +General Hill in the last attack. Finding his men running away too fast, +he kept in the rear to encourage them, and give them confidence; stayed +there too long, and, in a word, was caught and taken prisoner. He is a +tall, stout, good-looking man of twenty-eight, and speaks English well, +having been in England some time before for education. + +I gave him a good breakfast this morning before he set out for +Passages, got him a letter to the principal Commissary at Passages, and +handed him my father’s direction at Somerset House; desiring him to +let him know where he is ultimately quartered in England, and whether +my father could serve him in any way in London. So be prepared for a +letter some time hence from my French acquaintance. He is a staunch +Frenchman in everything, but I do not like him the worse for that, or +for avowing it openly. + +He told me that we were not quite so secure in Holland, and that we +were not near a peace, but had much yet to do to obtain such a one as +we required, for Bonaparte was ambitious and unreasonable, and we were +unreasonable also. In some respects I agree, and only hope the Allies +will continue moderate. I offered him money, but he said he had lost +nothing, and did not require it, and declined any assistance. He said, +at the moment he was vexed that our men did not plunder him, as he knew +his own people would have done so by us. He seems a shrewd fellow, and +was therefore ordered off directly from hence.[7] + +Lord Wellington looks thin, but was in high spirits yesterday. We have +more artillery and ammunition passing up to-day to the front, and, +I hear, they are making works to strengthen our position, and to be +prepared against any other desperate attack. This may be only Lord +Wellington’s usual prudence, as it does not look like a move further in +advance. Other circumstances, however, do rather look like a movement +forwards, and the strengthening this position may be either for the +present security, or for a position to retire to in case of accidents, +as we have now two rivers in our rear; or, which may be most likely, +for both. The fact is, we have above twelve hundred men digging away, +and artillery is going up. + +My French witness here tells me a friend has just arrived from Bayonne, +who informs him, that whilst the movements were going on some days +since, Marshal Soult told the leading people of Bayonne, that all who +intended to move their valuables to the rear should do so by water +immediately, if at all, as circumstances might soon make it impossible +for them to do so by water, and the road would be entirely required by +the military in certain events. This does not look like much confidence. + +_Friday, December 17th, three o’clock, and Sunday, December 19th, +Post-day._—A report of more work on the right, and we fancy we have +heard much firing. Lord Wellington is gone off. If matters have not +gone on well, or the horses get tired, we shall have a move yet, I +fear very soon; but hope otherwise most sincerely, that is, if it be +a move of head-quarters only. A forward movement of the army will be +another matter, as it will prove to me Lord Wellington thinks something +is to be done by it. Our cavalry is moving up fast. This looks like a +movement. It spreads out by Cambo on our right. I am also assured by +a French officer here in our service in the Quarter-Master-general’s +department, that the French cavalry are fast filing to the rear, and +have already passed Mont de Marsan, my former abode; and that many of +the old soldiers are from necessity sent back to Bordeaux to compel +some refractory conscripts there to move, for they are a little wilful. +He also told me that the loss of the French (desertion included) in the +late affairs last week, was, in the whole, about thirteen thousand men. +He is, however, a sanguine man; remember that. We are also said to have +taken two or three boats on the Adour, above Bordeaux. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, five o’clock, Sunday, December +19th, 1813._—I have just come from the sea-side, where we can now +scarcely stand for the wind, and are, on the high walk, quite wet with +the spray. A violent gale of some hours has caused this, and I have +been watching a vessel off here for a long time which has been in +considerable danger, but is at last safe in Sacoa harbour. She was most +uneasy at sea, made signals of distress, and the pilot-boats ventured +out, and by their help and working hard with the capstan on an anchor +carried out, she has at last worked her way in. + +I met yesterday at dinner Colonel Barnard, who was lately shot through +the body. Colonel Rooke is dead. I feared it must be so, from what was +told me yesterday. He could not eat anything, grew rapidly weaker, and +the suppuration formed a mass clear through his body from one orifice +of the wound to the other, and not properly round the ball so as to +facilitate the extraction of it. Lieutenant-colonel West is well. I saw +him to-day: he was not touched. The report of his being killed arose +from his having sent a horse to the rear—I believe to walk. At the sale +of the late Captain Watson’s effects, I bought a very tolerable saddle, +with holsters, about half worn, for eighteen dollars, which is here +considered cheap. I bid 15_s._ for a curry-comb and brush, bad, but of +English make, and in England worth about 3_s._ or 4_s._—it went for a +guinea! I also bid for a Suffolk punch horse as high as two hundred +dollars, but Major Daring outbid me, though it was certainly very dear. +Captain Watson was of the Guards. + +A party of Bayonne sailors have just arrived here I am told, who have +come over to us. Bayonne envies this place now. If we stay, and have +money, things will come in here soon from the French, for the geese +they bring in sell for four dollars instead of 4_s._ before we came, +and so with other things; we have also got some good French cattle to +eat. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, December 21st, 1813._—The furious +stormy weather continues, with almost continual rain, attended +yesterday by a most violent clap of thunder; such repeated gusts of +wind I scarcely ever witnessed. The inhabitants say, that it will last +so long as we have the wind from the sea. At the same time it is not +at all cold, and I have no fire except when I have been caught in the +wet, and am very damp. This happens if you stir for five hundred yards, +as the rain comes with a gust in a few seconds. The thermometer in +my room, without a fire, has been constantly almost above temperate, +and at times above sixty. We are at present all quiet again here, and +invitations are flying about for Christmas dinners on Saturday next. + +Marshal Soult is angry with the inhabitants for being friends with us. +He is now circulating proclamations on our right, exhorting the people +to form Guerilla corps and to turn brigands. If we continue to behave +well, he will not easily persuade them to do this. The Spaniards who +demand rations and contributions against orders, and are not so orderly +as they might be (the few that are in France, that is), may perhaps +provoke them to arms, but I hope not. We now go about the roads here as +safely as in Spain; the only marauders indeed are the followers of our +own army and runaway Spaniards and muleteers. Our own army is behaving +particularly well, and now give me a little leisure occasionally. + +To my great joy to-day, and still more, I suspect, to that of my +horses, I have got a good truss of English hay—140 lbs. weight. This is +a treasure. But to balance good and evil, the Commissary has given us +no corn during the last three days. So we go on! Many of the cavalry +horses get neither, so we must submit. + +In spite of the rough weather, we yesterday got a packet and English +mail, and I received a letter from you of the 6th and 7th December, and +papers from the 4th to the 7th. You confirm our accounts of the loss +of the mail of the 21st November, and of two letters of mine to you. I +only hope they are sunk, though I recollect nothing particular in them. + +I have no doubt —— plays the great man very well, and puts on all the +dignity of a Jack in office. He likes the thing, and has a turn for +humbug, of which there is so much all over the world in every line, +and which is often of such infinite use to those who can adopt it. I +think it very tiresome, and only rejoice that it is not the fashion +here at head-quarters. From Lord Wellington downwards, there is mighty +little. Every one works hard, and does his business. The substance +and not the form is attended to; in dress, and many other respects, I +think almost too little so. The maxim, however, of our Chief is, “Let +every one do his duty well, and never let me hear of any difficulties +about anything;” and that is all he cares about. I suppose one should +fall by degrees into a love of representation, and keeping one’s self +up in the world, as it is called (by those who have not much else to +float them), by habit and practice. I must say, hitherto, I continue to +think it far best to be able to do what you please, as you please, and +when you please, provided that nothing is ever done which in the least +approaches to a shabby or ungentleman-like action—so that the opinion +of those whose opinion is worth having is secured. The sort of incense +which is often obtained from the silly majority through exterior humbug +is not worth the price at which it is purchased. My vanity takes a +different turn, and I pique myself upon other things. + +I attended another sale yesterday of Colonel Martyn’s effects. It was +quite ridiculous to observe the price at which some old things sold. +Two second-hand nightcaps, which cost about 1_s._ 6_d._ each new in +England, fetched 13_s._ This results partly from distress, partly from +fun in the bidders. Old towels 5_s._ each; blankets 25_s._ I always +feel hurt at seeing all an officer’s stock sold in this way, even +to his ragged shirts and stockings, tooth-brushes, &c.; everything +ransacked. This was very near being my case, also, when I was taken +prisoner. Mr. Jesse’s stock was sold, and he is not a little distressed +in consequence. I have received a note from Lieutenant-colonel E—— to +dine with him on Christmas-day, and have accepted, though probably +I shall lose a great party at Lord Wellington’s by so doing, for he +generally asks heads of departments on those days. I own, however, +that I prefer his smaller parties, when fewer grandees are there, and +Lord Wellington talks more and we drink less. A great party is almost +always stupid, unless there is good singing or good speechifying; and I +have now seen all the lions likely to be there. By-the-by, our Spanish +lions carry their heads wonderfully erect now, and are prouder than any +peacocks; or rather, I might say, they are now true Spaniards. + +Yesterday I dined at Lord Wellington’s, and had another adventure. I +recognised an emigré friend at Mont de Marsan, of whom I had been, +during my stay there, very shy, fearful lest a malicious report should +get about that I was intriguing with the royalists. I reminded him of +his questions, &c., and of his speaking to me several times, and I now +explained myself and conduct. He was much surprised at seeing me in my +red coat, but immediately recollected me, and said I had given him then +all the information he wanted. My answers were short, but all true, +certainly. He has brought some congratulations to the Comte de Grammont +from the persons now on his _ci-devant_ estates, and their wishes for +old times and old landlords. He had got some money here, and is, I +suppose, to go to work somehow for the good cause. He is very sanguine; +but though I like and respect the _emigrés_, I always mistrust their +view of things. + +A foolish Portuguese, who was sentenced to be shot, escaped three +days ago, and was off; but like a fool, he boasted in Spain of his +performances, was in consequence retaken, and to-day is to be hung. + +_December 26th, Post-day._—Another of my French friends came in from +Bayonne yesterday—the principal banker at Bayonne, who gave me money +for my bill; was so friendly to us all and to me in particular, and +for whom I loaded my pockets so quietly with so many letters, above +a hundred in number. He has ostensibly come to receive the 110_l._ +still due to him from five of our officers, and which Lord Wellington +intended to send him on my representation: but he has also obtained +leave from Soult to supply us with claret, &c., and is partly come +about that. The French, I conclude, are compelled to try this method +of making a little money; and Marshal Soult being, no doubt, ill-paid, +will go halves in the profit. I suspect my friend, however, may have +further views also, as he is a Spanish and English merchant as well as +banker, and of course a decided enemy to Berlin and burning decrees, +and to war in general, which is now nearly synonymous with being an +enemy to Bonaparte. Lord Wellington sent him to the Commissary-general +to talk matters over. + +We have been all quiet here this week, except a little cavalry skirmish +on our right. The French cavalry, I hear, had driven in some of Don +Murillo’s Spaniards, with Hill, in that quarter, and two squadrons of +our 18th Hussars were ordered to drive the French back. This they did, +as they were ordered, without loss, but as usual would do more, and +pushing hastily on fell in with the French infantry support, which is +generally near at hand to the cavalry advance, got a volley or two, and +lost a captain and several men in consequence. + +Our people will suppose that the French lurk about the country without +system or order as they do; whereas, however cowed and beaten they may +be, the system, order, and habitual rules, remain. + +Some more of Don Carlos d’Espagne’s troops filed up from Irun +yesterday, and turning off about a mile short of this place, went +through Ascain towards our right—about five thousand in the whole. +Several of Murillo’s people are put under arrest by Lord Wellington +for misconduct. They complain that the men get sick in consequence, to +which he replies, “Then behave better, and that will not be the case.” + +Some of our artillerymen have by accident burnt one of the best of the +few remaining houses at St. Sebastian, worth twenty thousand dollars +the Spaniards say, and about to be let for six hundred dollars a-year. +This will be quite convincing to the Conciso at Cadiz, and perhaps to +the regency, that we burnt the town on purpose, and are now finishing +our job. It is unlucky to give this handle to these most unconquerably +jealous Spaniards, and already the engineers and few English at St. +Sebastian are most unpopular. The weather is now much improved, and +has turned to frost for the first time this month, which improves our +roads, our spirits, and our prospects. The sea, however, has been for +these last two days tremendous, and washed over the stone bulwark +where we walk, and has cut off our supply of corn these three days +from Passages. I was yesterday caught there when walking with General +Pakenham and General Murray: the Quarter-Master-general ran one way, +the Adjutant-general and I another; the former escaped, and so did the +latter and I, though the foam and surf burst upright, close to us, +above our heads, and then washed our legs midway up; but the force was +broken, and we were not moved, only wetted. The natives and many of our +officers think this roaring ocean predicts more bad weather here again, +but I hope it only proves a storm some two hundred miles off in the +main ocean, as I have always observed there is little connexion here +between our land-storms and the state of the sea, which seems to be +moved by other causes, of which probably one is the agitation caused by +the flood spring-tides. + +_Monday._—Marshal Soult has returned again to Bayonne. Lord Wellington, +&c., are all out with the hounds. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] He made no application to Mr. Larpent’s family, nor did he call at +Somerset House. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + Reports from France—More Desertion—Anecdote of General + Stewart—Wellington and his Casualty Returns—The Courtesies of + War—Scarcity of Transports—Wellington and the Trial-Papers—Sir G. + Collier. + + + Head-quarters, St. Jean de Luz, + January 1, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Many happy new years to you and all your party! We are now quite quiet +here, and have no news to communicate. We have repeatedly received +reports of the arrival of an English mail, but it never comes. This +may, however, arise from our having had three of the vessels at once on +this side of the water. + +You will be surprised to hear that I had an old French woman, and a +young Spanish girl to breakfast with me this morning, on their way +through to Bayonne, from Bilboa. I had made arrangements for six mules, +and an ox-car to carry their baggage, but they mistook the tide in +their directions, and the baggage is only just arrived, so that they +cannot go until to-morrow. They are the wife and mother of a Monsieur +Dabedrille, at Bayonne, _ci-devant_ principal _Directeur de l’Octroi de +Bilboa_, who fled so quickly after the battle of Vittoria, that he left +all his baggage and females behind him. He was very civil to Colonel +Fitzgerald, who had undertaken to obtain for him the restoration of his +wife; and as the Colonel was not exchanged, I undertook it, got Lord +Wellington’s leave, and here they are, so far on their way safe. Not +having just now much business, I have had time to attend a little to +these good ladies, and they are really very pleasant and well-bred, but +just now the worse for having been six days on board a Spanish coaster +(of Bilboa), to get here. + +We have just now got beautiful weather, clear frosty mornings—that is, +white frost, the ground just crisp, a little fog early, and a cool +breeze from the Pyrenees, from the south-east, and a bright sun during +the day. + +The only news we have here is a report of the defeat of Davoust, +through the French, and an account which General Wimpfen has just given +me of the Austrians having taken possession of Switzerland. The French +here are hard at work, drilling conscripts, who arrive in considerable +numbers, and turning up the ground as usual in all directions. I +suppose we shall also, as usual, wait until they have nearly done their +task, and by that time, when the ground is dry, turn them out of their +laborious defences. It is quite extraordinary how all their former +position was covered with the effects of their labour. + +The inhabitants continue to come in here to us every day, and now by +degrees we get cattle, &c., from them. Desertion from the French has +also been common, five or six men a-day, and many French, not Germans, +young lads, sick of their work. I now hear that the Swiss have declared +against France; that is one step more gained, if true. An officer, who +was prisoner at Bayonne, on the 13th, the day of General Hill’s affair +on the right, states, that the French were most sanguine that morning +at Bayonne; they said that two of our divisions were caught in a trap, +and that they would, General and all, be taken prisoners. They were +quite in spirits, but towards evening, when the officer inquired where +our General was, he could get no one to answer him, or talk on the +subject. All were sulky. Report says also that Soult is gone again, +and farther back; some say that he has been sent for to Paris. + +One of the hay vessels, bringing hay to us, in order to plague us, had +got into Bayonne, and the French officers at the outposts taunt us, by +saying that they find English hay very good. This is very provoking, +for in consequence of this we have now nothing again to give our +animals. + +_Sunday, Post-day._—I understand that there is no packet as yet at +Passages, to go with the letters. I have, after three hours’ trouble, +packed off my party this morning; four great trunks, two old women, and +one young one, in an ox-car; and four more large trunks, and a quantity +of bedding, and _et ceteras_ of all kinds, on four mules; and one lady +and a man-servant, on horseback. My old French woman, now she is safe +out of Spain, does nothing but abuse the Spaniards, their language, +their manners, their country, and, above all, their stupidity in +society. + +I must now return to the work of drawing charges, which must be done +immediately. I hope there is not another task for me now passing my +window, for there is an uproar, and seven Spanish prisoners going along +bound to the provost guard. + +We have now established a sort of little telegraph of signals to the +right and in front, to acquaint Lord Wellington immediately should +anything be going forward. + +P.S.—I don’t think you heard a little anecdote of General Stewart, who +is brave, and consequently always gets his aide-de-camp, &c., into some +bad blows, if he does not get one himself. The people about him on the +13th were all touched, and he was nearly alone. An officer of the name +of Egerton went up to him, and whilst there a shell burst between them. +“A shell! sir: very animating!” said Stewart, and then kept Egerton +there talking on. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, January 4th, 1814._—Here we are still +without any news from your side of the water, and of course most +anxious. On this side we seem, however, to be preparing something for +you to talk about; at least, appearances look like another battle. The +day before yesterday (Sunday) all was quiet, and on Monday (yesterday) +Lord Wellington ordered out his hounds, and went off early himself. In +the middle of the day, however, the signal was made that the French +were in motion; Lord March and Gordon went off to Lord Wellington, and +he did not return last night. To-day the troops have all been on the +alert, for the French are said to be still moving on our right, and +in fact rather on our rear. The Guards were off early from hence to +replace the light division, who went to the right, and all seems moving +in that direction. No firing has, however, been heard; and I understand +nothing has been done to-day. I went as far as Guethary, and up to the +church-tower, whence the view is very extensive, but saw nothing in +particular. The last report was, that the French still advanced on our +right. If they persist in this, it is my opinion that we must have a +fight, and a sharp one probably, on that side to-morrow, but as the +staff are all out, I know nothing certain. + +Two or three days since we took a little island in the Adour, almost +without loss, which will enable us to molest the navigation more +effectually than we have hitherto done, though already it is rather +impeded, even at night, and almost totally by day. A contest about the +island was rather expected, but not this bold move of the French in our +rear. If they persist and fail, I think with the two Gaves in their +rear, we may, perhaps, make them suffer severely for their enterprise. +Marshal Soult’s supposed absence looks now rather like a _ruse de +guerre_. + +We have Spaniards on our right, and in the valley of Bastan, who +perhaps may now come in again for a little fighting; and it is to +be hoped they may, for if the French work constantly on the British +and Portuguese, and you continue to send men to Holland, we shall by +degrees get too weak for our situation. + +Lord Wellington at dinner on Sunday directed some jokes at Major D——, +who makes out the returns, because he wanted to make a grand total of +wounded, &c., after the late five days’ fighting. He laughed, and said +that all might go wrong from this innovation, but he was determined he +would have no more grand totals until he got another Vittoria without +more loss; that the loss was always great enough in all conscience, +without displaying it in this ostentatious manner, and that he would +not have every drummer and every officer, &c., killed or wounded in +the five days, all added up in one grand total, but that at least +the croakers should have the trouble themselves of adding up all the +different losses, and making it out for themselves. + +The weather is just now delightful, and we have had as yet nothing +which can properly be called winter. During the last ten days the sea +has been quite smooth, and we have not even had a white frost. The +people say they think that the first bad season is over now, and we +shall not have much more bad weather until near March: I only hope this +will prove correct. + +A French carriage and a car were waiting at the French outposts to +receive my ladies, and they all got in safe. This was managed by +sending in a message the day before. A certain communication with +Bayonne is also now open; for yesterday we had an arrival of French +watches, rings, trinkets, and silk dresses. We carry on war in a +very civilized manner, especially if a little anecdote related to me +yesterday be correct. One of our officers, it seems, I believe Major +Q——, was riding a troublesome horse close to the French pickets, +and partly from the violence of his horse, and partly from his own +inadvertence, he got close to a French sentinel. The latter called out +several times that he was French, and ordered him off, and at last +presented his bayonet. The horse still plunging on, and the officer +apparently not understanding the man, the French sentry turned the +horse the other way by the bridle, and sent him back without offering +any harm to either beast or rider, though he might have killed or taken +both. + +This morning we had another instance on our side. A French officer’s +wife came in from Bayonne to follow her husband, a prisoner in England. +We had a boat in from Sacoa to take her upon the beach, to carry her +round by sea to Passages, and an order from Lord Wellington waiting for +her there, for a passage to England as expeditiously as circumstances +would permit. + +_Wednesday, 5th January._—No one came back last night, and St. Jean de +Luz is almost deserted; scarcely a red coat to be seen. The ladies are +in some alarm, and only some inquiring doctors and commissaries are to +be seen about the streets. I have in the mean time such an accumulation +of business for Lord Wellington that I shall be almost fearful of +seeing him—five Courts-martial, one of about ninety pages, another +eighty. He always complains, and yet I think he likes to read these +cases, and know himself exactly all that is going on. I have just been +out to pick up news, but in vain, and have been driven back by a slight +shower. Money has been so short here that I could only tempt them to +give me some doubloons immediately by accepting a part of my pay on +England in another Treasury Bill. + +_Friday, January 7th._—Lord Wellington is not yet returned here, and we +are, therefore, still deserted; but nothing has been done. The French +have been manœuvring for these three days on our right flank, but in +vain, as our General was ready for them. Yesterday, however, he was +nearly bringing them to blows. A part of their force remained on our +side of the Adour, between the Nive and the Bidocque. This was too near +our position, and they were to have been driven across, but prudently +went away in good time of their own accord, consequently nothing was +done, and I think nothing will be done just now. + +The French head-quarters here are at (I believe) Peyrehorade, a town +on the Gave, of some little river commerce. In our present suspense we +were at last amused yesterday by the arrival of two mails, and I have +got letters, papers, &c. + +You kill men for me faster than I do in reality, and that is enough. I +am only aware of forty-one having been shot or hung since my arrival +in the country; and that is quite enough too, you will say, almost as +many as you hang in all England in a year. You were quite right about +the lost letter from me; it contained a full description of St. Jean +de Luz, and of my horrible muddy journey from St. Fé to this civilized +place, with a sketch of my house and its vicinity, &c., a ground plot +of my quarter, which, if time and room permit, I will repeat. And as +you do not congratulate me on my escape from being shot, I suppose that +story was there also. + +_Later._—As Lord Wellington is still away, I continue to scribble to +you. This place has been a very flourishing town, and of considerable +trade, but is much in decay; this partly before the late wars, from the +bar having increased, so that only small vessels can get in now, and +the evil still increases. At low water the river only ripples over the +bar of sand, scarcely a foot deep, and at times the river is choked up +by the sand, so that it cannot make its way out, and floods the town. +This happened twice last year, but has not recurred this year, though +at times the bed of the river has been quite changed, and the water +nearly stopped. + +Sacoa is a very safe harbour; for small vessels drawing under ten +feet, quite safe. They lie there high and dry, according to the tide. +The houses of the former merchants are rather magnificent, though some +are in ruins, and their number, for the size of the town, considerable. +It has been called a sort of little Paris for the Basques. Near the +sea the water has been, and is, gaining on the town and bay. There are +many ruins; one is part of an old convent, now beyond the sea-wall, +and almost in the sea, and some say a whole street has been washed +away. The great sea-wall made by Bonaparte, six hundred yards long, was +constructed to save the town, and makes a good dry walk. + +Sibour is also a very large village, or small town, of inferior houses, +where at present two brigades of Guards are, and two other regiments +of Lord Aylmer’s brigade, besides some staff cavalry, &c. Most of the +better houses have French papers from Paris, and it looks very well. +The whole wall forms one landscape, like tapestry—sea-ports from Vernet +or Claude, &c.; some in colours, some in bistre or an imitation of +Indian ink, some Chinese, but in better perspective. The brown and +black are very pretty. Most of the walls are papered. The lower parts +of the houses are all a sort of warehouse (where they are not shops); +this serves us for stabling, but they are flagged, which having no +straw is noisy, and they smell much also. Almost all the men of a +better sort went away from St. Jean de Luz; several women, for the most +part old, stayed, and many have since returned; but no society, or +anything of that sort, is as yet set on foot here. The deputy mayor, +who stayed, sold all the wine he could appropriate, his own, and all +unclaimed, as well as other things, and is, I believe, making money +of us very fast. The town is now all a market or fair, and full of +Spaniards and Portuguese, as well as French and Bascos, all pillaging +poor John Bull, by selling turkeys for 25_s._ and 30_s._, and fowls for +12_s._ and 14_s._ + +The people from Bilboa have been most active. Little has arrived from +England or Lisbon as yet, which is extraordinary; but the danger of the +coast is, probably, the cause. During the bad weather ten vessels of +ours found their way into Bayonne, one with fifty-two Irish bullocks, +by which we lost part of the best beef we ever get, and one with +seven hundred trusses of hay, others with biscuit, &c. This is very +provoking. The Bayonne mayor showed us the post-list of the whole taken +in each ship. How we shall get on with our animals I know not, for they +tell me that they hear from England, in the Commissariat, there is but +little hay on the sea for us, from want of transport, and there is no +straw to be got at all now within thirteen leagues, or about forty +miles, from hence. I am, however, advised to send for it; and if this +movement shall come to nothing, will do so to-morrow. + +It is fortunate that we are so near the sea, and have some advantage +as to transport in the river Nivelle also, for our transport is much +diminished by desertion of the muleteers from want of pay. The army is +more numerous than when at Frenada and in Portugal, and our transport +is now less. Were we to wander into France (as you suppose), away from +the coast, we should find it difficult to live at all. The boats of +this place are famous, and the men stayed here, or have escaped here, +and are all in our pay now, and thus things are brought round from +Passages here by sea, and then up to the division by the river as far +as Ustaritz, where they are then distributed to the mules of each +division. Even with this help the army cannot be supplied with rum, +except by buying it very dear on the spot of the suttlers, for nearly +all our remaining mules are required for bread and a little corn for +the staff. The meat supplies itself in a way—that is, about two-thirds +only of the flesh which leaves Valencia, &c., in Spain, arriving here, +falls under the butcher’s knife, besides the number which die on +the road; and yet all that can be stopped, when fagged or lame, are +distributed at the stations on the way. The suttlers, by the great +profit they make, can pay the muleteers as high as two dollars a-day +for each mule to carry up their produce, making us pay for it in the +end. This evil increases, for our muleteers, who only have one dollar +a-day for each mule (and enough in all conscience), are tempted to +desert and get into the service of the suttlers, who thus supply the +men with rum only at a dear rate, when we cannot do it. The pay of our +muleteers is now over-due twenty-one months for each mule: they have, +therefore, their own way, and are under no control at all. Nothing but +a sort of _esprit de corps_, and the fear of losing all claim to the +debt, makes them keep with us at all; and we must submit to their fraud +and carelessness, for we have no remedy. + +As an instance of this, it may be mentioned that one brigade of mules, +which had twenty-four thousand pounds of barley given to them to bring +here, five leagues from Passages, only delivered eighteen thousand, and +almost openly admitted that they had taken the rest, which I suppose +they had sold to raise money. We could only set off the value against +their debt, for fear of losing them without getting others. There was +a grand consultation the other day, at which Lord Wellington, the +Commissary-general and his people, General Alava the Spanish General, +and most of the principal Spanish Capistras, or directors of the mules +and owners, were present, to settle what could be done. They resolved +to make the arrears all a debt, to acknowledge it, and then begin a +sort of new score. This is in imitation of the Portuguese; only they +do not pay the debt at all, but wipe off the arrears. One month’s pay +was also given by bills on the Treasury at a great discount, still +this was something to go on with, and we have not Marshal Beresford’s +absolute power to control these Spaniards, as he does the Portuguese. +Somehow, however, you see we get on. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, Sunday, January 9th, post-day +again._—As to length, at least, you shall have no reason to complain +this mail, though I am at work again at business; for on Friday night +all our warriors returned home to their respective quarters, and the +Commander-in-Chief to his papers. The latter had so increased upon him +in his five days’ absence, that he was quite overwhelmed; and when I +went in with a great bundle to add to them, he put his hands before his +eyes and said, “Put them on that table; and do not say anything about +them now, or let me look at them at all.” + +This week’s manœuvring has not this time ended in smoke, but without +smoke, as nearly as possible, for our men could not get within a long +shot of the French, without following them beyond what our present +plans would admit. They remained a short time on our side of the river +Arrun, as it is called, in Casini’s great map, and Gambouri, in my part +of the French National Atlas, a small river which runs by La Bastide +and falls into the Adour, near Urt, a place half-way between Bayonne +and where the Gaves fall into the Adour. + +We collected on the heights above Bastide, and made the signal by +a little mountain gun to advance. The French made use of the same +signal to commence their retreat across the river, and scarcely a shot +was fired. La Bastide, which is on this side of the river, we never +entered: but remaining satisfied with that line, the matter ended +there. A change of weather, to rain of no trifling kind, will probably, +I think, oblige both parties to be quiet for some little time again, +until sun and air return to us without wet, and dry roads enable the +troops to move a little this difficult country. It is at present very +hard work to get on, even in the best roads, and across the country, +which is much intersected with streams and rivers, and has only clayey +poached roads, and strong fences of hedge and ditch; it is almost +impassable. Lord Wellington, I believe, always went back to his brother +Marshal, Beresford, at Ustaritz, to which place he sent for some +English hay for his horses. The Adjutant-general’s department remained +mostly at Hasparren, which is, it is said, a very pretty small town in +a rich cultivated valley of meadows, where they fell in with a small +stock of excellent hay, not quite eaten by our cavalry, who are in that +part of the country. + +All the people at head-quarters have come back safe and sound; but with +horses a little knocked up, and rather stiff with riding about twelve +or even fourteen hours a-day. Most of them, however, look the better +for the exercise. The most fagged of all I saw was our naval hero, Sir +G. Collier, with his lame leg. He had ridden everywhere after Lord +Wellington in hopes of seeing a fight, and coming in, I suppose, for +another knock on shore, but all in vain. He says, that the French never +will stand when he comes, and nothing is ever done. He is about to +leave this station. + +And now for a little account of the Spaniards, in order to show you how +they plague Lord Wellington. We have undertaken to assist and direct, +with our engineers, in putting St. Sebastian into some order, and into +a state of defence. The actual working-party are, however, nearly all +Spanish. These have nearly all deserted, and little or nothing is going +on but quarrels between our people and the Spaniards in authority, who +thwart them. At first Lord Wellington thought that we were to blame, +and seemed angry; but he told Col. E—— at last, “If they go on so, d—— +them, they may finish the work for themselves; but go over and see +about it, and make a report to me.” + +_Later._—Another English mail arrived, and another letter from you +of the 27th and 28th, with papers to the 27th, &c. The great news +which yours contained as to Lord Castlereagh we had heard through the +French outpost five days since; but the report only stated that he +had actually landed at Morlaix, on his way to Manheim, to the general +Congress, for a peace. This was believed before your account came, as +it agreed with the general tenor of the late English news; at least I +thought so, for one. Whether it will end in a peace, however, is very +doubtful, especially if Bonaparte finds that in consequence of this +negotiation he keeps all quiet in France, and the conscription goes on +without resistance, and his armies in March next will be formidable. If +he can once assume an imposing position, it is doubtful in my opinion +whether he will come into the terms of the Allies. _Mais c’est à voir_, +and he has much to do to put himself in such a position. + +Many of the French conscripts here join almost without any uniforms +or necessaries for a soldier, yet every deserter who comes in has +everything nearly new, and is better provided for than any of our men, +except the few who have just had their new clothing, &c., of which the +Guards, who, by the by, returned here last night to their old quarters, +form part. Just now the Italians begin to desert the French, and say it +is in consequence of their having heard that their division, which was +marched to the rear some short time since, was all disarmed and treated +as prisoners of war. This may not be fact; but the effect is that many +Italians come over to us. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + Rumours of War—The Rival Dinner-Tables—“Slender Billy”—Bonaparte’s + Trickery—Spanish Violence—Wellington with the Hounds—French and + English Aspects; the Outsides of the Nations. + + + Head-quarters, St. Jean de Luz, + January 11, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Fine weather is now returned, and no doubt before we have been quiet +another week, should it last, we shall be stirred up a little by the +French. At present, all our usual avocations are proceeding, and all is +quiet. + +The only event in my own establishment which has occurred is my taking +into my service a Spanish lad, in addition to my other servants, but +it will end in my getting rid of an idle Portuguese, who does nothing. +I found the lad begging and in misery, by the sea-side, and asked his +history. He told me he was without father and mother, and came from +a village two leagues beyond Madrid; that he had been under-stable +servant to a French Commandant, who had gone wounded from Bayonne to +the rear, towards Paris, and had turned him off. He therefore came back +here, towards Spain. At first I only gave him food, and then, that I +might not have to try him, took him to General Alava, who promised to +send him to General Frere, to make a drummer of him. The next morning +he called upon me before he started, and, being prepossessed by his +looks, I have taken him on trial. He seems active and useful; and I +hope will not return my charity by robbing me, of which there is some +risk. + +A party of our suttling merchants here behaved ill the other night, +by insulting a sick officer; the worst among them escaped. One is +now in confinement, and I have sent in his charge. They are all in a +terrible fright of military law. Most probably he will not be tried if +he makes an apology; but it has answered Lord Wellington’s intention +by convincing these men that there is law here, and that they are +followers of the army and liable to that law. + +On the neutral ground, on the great road to Bayonne, between our +picquets and the French, in front of Biaritz, there are at present, +in one of the houses unoccupied by either party, three young damsels +alone. They are rather pretty and interesting, and all say very modest. +For a time General Stopford, I believe, out of gallantry, put a +safeguard there, but it was considered out of our position, and there +was some quizzing. So the damsels are left quiet and alone again. They +come daily into our lines, to bring milk, &c., and some flirtation goes +on; but there they are safe. This is creditable to both sides. + +I am told that the people at Hasparren, when the French approached the +place last week, and it was thought might occupy it, were manifestly +alarmed and dissatisfied, and wished us to stay. This might be from the +fear of a conflict there, or from the benefits now derived from us, +when the first irruption and mischief are over. Fowls are still, near +there, to be had for 2_s._ each, and turkeys from 7_s._ to 9_s._; but +this will not last, as people here have given, and others now ask, as +much as 12_s._ for fowls, and 30_s._ for turkeys, or even more. General +Cole, as we advanced, bought nine geese, at a dollar each; and this was +grand pay, and not from fear. Here they are 25_s._ each. + +_Later._—How uncertain everything is with us! Marshal Beresford’s +aide-de-camp is just come in to Lord Wellington, and there is some +stir on our right again. Lord Wellington and several others are off +in that direction, and I am told the former stays out all night; this +looks as if something was suspected. I dine to-day at head-quarters, +and am to go as usual, though the chief is away. He asked me yesterday, +but I told him that General Hill had asked me three days before, and +expected me. “Very well,” said he, “but I advise you to come to me, +nevertheless, as you will get a much better dinner, for General Hill +gives the worst dinners going.” To General Hill’s, however, I went; and +though plain fare, compared to Lord Wellington’s, whose table is just +now very good, and much improved, I got a very good dinner. + +If any dependence could be placed on appearances, I should say nothing +important was going on to-day; for I saw Lord Wellington after he had +seen the aide-de-camp, and he read a long letter quietly through, +seeming quite at his ease; but he takes all that arises so coolly that +this proves nothing. A sudden change again to rain will, in my opinion, +damp the plans of the French, if they had any, as well as give all +those gone off to the right a miserable ride, as it seems well set in +for the day. Wind and wet seem here to be winter. + +What a change has arisen for our young Prince of Orange who was here! +I only hope he will not be spoilt by success and prosperity. In a +little time, after all, it would not surprise me to hear of his looking +back to the time he spent here at head-quarters as the pleasantest +part of his life. Slender Billy was his nickname with those who were +intimate with him, and he knew it; for one day, at dinner, Lord Fitzroy +Somerset, not knowing that he was present, said, “Where is Slender +Billy to-day?” Upon which the Prince put his head forward, and called +out, “Here I am, Fitzroy; what do you want?” + +_January 12th._—Lord Wellington and his party came back to dinner +yesterday. The cause of the bustle was as follows. We had in our +possession a mill which belonged rather to the French position than to +ours; they attacked it, and, after some brisk firing, it was abandoned +to them, and then all was quiet again. This news passed Lord Wellington +on the road, but missed him, or he would not have gone on as far as he +did. Ustaritz is about fifteen good miles from hence, and the road in +parts almost up to a horse’s belly. Lord Wellington rode there in the +rain in two hours and ten minutes, and back in two hours and a half, up +and down hills and through the clay: this proves a horse. + +The next piece of news you will, probably, hear first: but if you +should not, you have to learn that the cunning Bonaparte has been +making a treaty with King Fernando VII. privately about a peace with +Spain, and that he has sent it to the Cortes for their approval, and +has appointed an ambassador for that purpose to Madrid. The gubernador, +or preceptor and major domo of King Ferdinand, is either at Madrid or +on his way thither. Spain, and Madrid in particular, is said to be in +much agitation. The Cortes are to meet the 15th of January. This is a +very artful plan to create jealousies between us, if not to procure +a partial peace. We shall see now of what the Regency and Cortes are +made. They have in professions bullied much, and resolved never to +treat at all whilst a Frenchman remained in Spain. How they will act up +to their resolution is now to be seen. + +_Friday, January 14th._—We have now French papers up to the 3rd from +Paris, and have got Bonaparte’s valedictory address, on setting out +for the army in France, to fight on old French territory. This, I +think, if the Allies persist, must end the business soon, for if he +is well beaten, there must certainly be a rising in France; and if he +beats the Allies, we shall in my opinion have a peace, except that he +seems determined, even now, not to give up Holland, and that we must +at all events retain, if possible. The crisis is, however, apparently +approaching, and that rapidly. + +We remain here in _statu quo_. French desertion is diminishing, and +seems for the moment quiet. The only event of interest has been the +folly of two Portuguese officers near the Adour. They had had a long +parley with the French, were, it is said, drinking together, but +were somehow persuaded by their French new acquaintance to pass over +the river for a dance, or wine, or some reason of that sort, under a +promise of being allowed to return safe. They went, however, and have +never got back. Lord Wellington has written to Gazan, reminding him +of his having sent back six French soldiers, who were taken by the +Portuguese in the heat of the campaign, owing to a similar promise or +understanding, not having been known to them as made to the French. +Lord Wellington claims the two Portuguese in the same way, as being +taken by a breach of faith in the French officers. If this be not +acceded to, he then requests that the two officers may be put for some +time into close confinement or arrest, which, he says, they deserve, +and might probably meet here if restored. As yet no answer is arrived. + +A French dragoon of the 21st chasseurs, a deserter, came in yesterday, +giving a curious account of his reason for deserting. He says he had +been fourteen years in the French service, and was now a corporal; +that his own captain’s nephew had lately joined as a private in his +troop, and that he, the corporal, had to place this man on duty; that +he was not tractable or obedient, and that he was obliged to strike him +with the flat of his sword; that the nephew told the uncle, and, when +they returned, the captain, as soon as he met the deserter, gave him a +severe blow in the face with his fist; and that, in consequence, he +immediately got on his horse, and came off to us. He is a fine-looking +soldier: and, though he has sold his horse for a hundred dollars, says, +that he now repents much what he was induced to do in the heat of the +moment; but it is now too late—the deed is done, and he must persevere. + +I forgot to tell you, in my last, of an act of Spanish violence at +Vittoria, which has caused a strong sensation in the English army, +especially at Vittoria. The Honourable Captain G——, of the 94th, was +quartered there, and had had some intrigue with a girl. He at first +took her home to his quarter. Her friends had recourse to the police. +The armed police came, and were in the house to take the girl: Captain +G—— resisted, and the police were fairly turned out again by him and +his servant. When out of the house, they are said to have formed, as +it were, and then to have fired in through the door in cool blood, +and with no particular object as to taking Captain G——. The latter +was shot, and died almost immediately. Had this happened during the +conflict, it might have been correct enough, though rather harsh and +unnecessary in an armed police against an individual for comparatively +a trifling offence; but as the story is told, it is quite inexcusable, +and seems to have been merely an act of spite and vexation, at having +suffered themselves to be repulsed by the captain. It was revenge for +having exposed their cowardice. + +The fox-hounds were out yesterday, and killed a fox; but had not a +very good run. Lord Wellington wore the Salisbury hunt-coat, sky-blue +and black cape. The Spanish General Frere accompanied him, and as +formerly he was a general of cavalry, and the fox soon took to earth, I +understand Frere kept up, but all his staff were distanced. + +I feel now quite at ease about my animals, for I have collected straw +and hay, and furze enough for about eight days, which is with us +looking very forward, as much so as is prudent. My Spanish boy, after +being here a day or two, told me he would rather set out and try to +find his way to Madrid, so I dismissed him, lest he should take a horse +or mule to expedite him on his journey. + +We cannot prevent the Spanish boats from still getting down the Adour +to Bayonne, though it is not quite so easy as it was to navigate the +river. If all remains quiet, Lord Wellington talks of giving a ball +here on the 18th of January, the Queen’s birthday, but nothing can +be settled long beforehand. The English ladies will be few, and all +married women. We have still only four of the legitimate kind. The +mayor of the town says that a number of the ladies who frequented the +balls before we came, and of whom I found a list in my quarter, are +still here, and will be forthcoming if called upon. + +I find my French “seat of war” a most useful acquisition, as it now +contains the whole war, except our own, and that I have in the map of +this department, which is on a superior scale. + +From four to six o’clock our promenade on the wall is quite gay, for +all the great men of business, including Lord Wellington himself, +generally appear there at that time, and the Guards also, though the +exertion of walking, to which we men of business are accustomed to take +at a true twopenny postman’s long trot, is too great for them; yet they +are formed about in knots and groups, sitting on the wall, or gently +lounging on it, and add to the gaiety of the scene. We soon perceive +when their turn of duty at the outposts takes them away to the front +for a week. + +As a proof of the supine and inactive state of the Spanish government, +bread and corn are so cheap and abundant this year in the Castiles, +that they are quite without demand, and it even answers to bring +Spanish bread up here to sell, above fifty, and, I believe, a hundred +miles; and yet the Spanish nation, relieved from the French army +and our own, cannot supply the few men we have in front with us, in +France and on the frontier, with money or anything. To prevent their +plundering, we now not only have clothed Don Carlos’s soldiers, near +Hasparren, but have given them a month’s pay, and provided them with +rations of biscuits from England. With such a nation, and such a +population, the state of the Spanish army, and the supplies, which get, +I think, worse instead of better, is most provokingly disgraceful to +their government and leading men. + +I have been much struck with the change in the appearance of this +town, when French head-quarters were here, and now that it has become +the head-quarters of the English. It shows the difference between the +two nations. When I was last there, all was gay and glittering, full +of chattering officers in their best uniforms, with gold lace and +ornaments, and prancing country steeds with housings and trappings +of all kinds. The shops were crowded with sky-blue and scarlet caps +embroidered with silver and gold, and pantaloons the same, smart +cloaks, trinkets, &c. The road was covered with long cars, bringing in +supplies drawn by mules gaily ornamented, and with bells, and waggoners +with blue frocks, and long smacking whips, whilst the quay was nearly +deserted, only a few boats to be seen which had just returned from an +unsuccessful attempt to send in shot and shells to St. Sebastian; the +sailors idle, and scarcely the appearance of a port visible. Bread and +vegetables were abundant; other eatables, not so. + +Now we have, on the contrary, a different scene; not a piece of +finery is to be seen, no gay caps, no pantaloons, no ornaments. The +officers all in their morning great coats; Lord Wellington in his +plain blue coat, and round hat, or perhaps in his sky-blue Salisbury +hunting dress. The streets, full of Spanish mules, with supplies, and +muleteers, &c., all running against you, and splashing you as you walk; +every shop crowded with eatables—wines, sauces, pickles, hams, tongues, +butter, and sardines. The quay is now always a busy scene, covered with +some rum casks, and flour casks, and suttler stores; the sailors all +in our pay, at work constantly and making fortunes; the pilots in full +hourly employment, bringing in vessels here or at Sacoa. The latter is +full of masts and sails from Passages, Bilboa, Lisbon, or the West of +England. The prices are still enormous, and of course, the activity is +the result. The French peasants are always on the road between this +place and Bayonne, bringing in poultry, and smuggling out sugar in +sacks on their heads. + +The Basques must have been a very happy race twenty years since, +for though generally a poor country, there is plenty of their +usual food—Indian corn, and excellent meadows by the rivers, which +are numerous. Fish is easily procured—the houses are spacious and +comfortable, and the children seem numerous, well-grown, intelligent, +and healthy. The men are tall, straight, and active; the women, stout +and useful, and rather good-looking. Nor was any great deficiency +of young men observable; the proportions seemed much the same as in +England, though certainly there are not so many tall idle fellows about +as in Ireland. The town, however, had evident marks of a tendency to +retrograde and decay. + +_Later, the 16th._—By the last French papers (which we now have to the +8th, and which bring us the good news from Genoa), I find the accounts +of Bonaparte setting out to put himself at the head of a hundred and +eighty thousand men near Dijon or Maçon, is at least premature, for he +is still reviewing at Paris. We have stories of disturbances arising +out of the conscription, but nothing certain seems known about them. +The French, a few days since, surprised a few of our forage mules near +Lahoupon; I believe only eight. Lahoupon is a place which neither party +is fixed in, but both patrole through occasionally. + +P.S.—Notwithstanding Cobbett says, we men from the Peninsula must never +think of marrying English women, we may at least be anxious about our +friends; for we are not, I conclude, worn out for friendship, as well +as for love. Tell me all you can, as usual, about every one in your +world. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + State of Feeling in France—Rocket-Practice—The Prince Regent’s + Hobby—The Mayor’s Ball—The Flag-of-Truce. + + + Head Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, + January 18th, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +After two or three days’ continual rain, we have at last a clear +beautiful day; thermometer in my room at 63°. + +In the midst of a terrible storm the day before yesterday a little +cockle shell of a sloop arrived in the open bay here, with the Count +de Grammont on board and Colonel Abercrombie, with despatches and a +paper of the 10th. This told us the principal news. We have thus heard +that the Danes are with us; ideas of peace thrown aside, and the Allies +across the Rhine. This is popular news here; for almost all are against +a peace with Bonaparte, partly from public feelings that such a peace +would be injurious to England and the world, partly the fact that any +peace would not be desirable to our military men, especially to those +on the staff, whose splendour would be much shorn by it. The civilians +and regimental officers, who are not on the eve of a step, are alone +inclined to a peace; to many it will be ruinous. + +We again hear of refractory conscripts, and men refusing to march, in +the right of the department de Landes and elsewhere, and I believe +it in some degree. But this alone will not do without a more general +feeling and even then scarcely, unless a portion of the army takes a +part and declares its views against the common enemy Bonaparte, whom +all Europe are now hunting like a mad dog. + +The Count de Grammont has made a most expeditious trip. He had had +communications with the persons on his former property here, and I +suppose his visit home was connected with this, to know what line to +pursue, &c. The feelings of this part of France seem, as yet, to be +still the same: all desire peace, and for that purpose are eager to +get rid of Bonaparte; but there is no feeling manifested towards the +Bourbons, not hitherto, at least; and I really believe the military +men, and even many civilians, would rather have Bonaparte if they could +be sure of a peace with him. He has done much for them, and on a great +scale. The Code Napoleon has been a great work, and from what I hear +is much liked. Instead of being governed, and oppressed in fact, by +the rich, as they were before, they are now governed by the law, and +that a good law; and as the mayor here and several others say, well +administered, when the state was not concerned. The only defect seemed +to be that the magistrates having been latterly ill-paid, a temptation +to corruption on their part existed; and this was a change from +anarchy, and therefore the more felt, as then the strongest (I mean +in means and territory) was everything and the poor man nothing. In +short, the only really great grievance felt at this distance from the +court of the tyrant seems to have been the horrid conscription and its +tremendous increase of late, and the want of commerce. Nor would the +French feel either of these so much as any other nation in Europe. The +first she would not feel so much, on account of the natural tendency of +the inhabitants to a military life and habits; the last, from the great +internal resources of France in other respects, making loss of commerce +of much less importance to her than to almost any other power which +had been accustomed to enjoy them. I do not mean less than Austria, +which has been so generally shut out from commerce to any extent, but +compared with England, Holland, or Sweden. + +_Thursday, 20th._—Another change again in the weather. Yesterday it +was quite a fine, sunny, warm day, till one or two o’clock, like our +May, and we were all out, witnessing some experiments made with the +rockets, about two miles off, when a storm gathered, and soon the rain +and wind came, and has continued to this time. The night has been very +boisterous, and one of our Commissariat transports has been on shore +in the bay here, stranded, and it is feared that five or six lives are +lost: all hands are now at work moving the stores—corn and hay. + +All the military men in the vicinity were here with Lord Wellington, +including General Frere, the Spanish General. The ground-rockets, +intended against cavalry, did not seem to answer very well. They +certainly made a most tremendous noise, and were formidable spitfires; +no cavalry could stand if they came near them, but in that seemed the +difficulty, for none went within half a mile of the intended object, +and the direction seemed extremely uncertain. The ground was very bad, +and on a flat, or along a road, where they would ricochet or bound +along straight they might do very well, but in the present experiment +they went bang into the ground, sometimes within two hundred yards, and +sometimes one way and sometimes another. Some of them, instead of going +fourteen hundred yards, as intended, were off in a hundred, and some +pieces of the shell came back even amongst us spectators, one very near +Dr. N—— and me, whilst we were standing on one side, out of the way as +we thought. The fire, however, seemed very strong, as one got into a +green hedge, and set it in a blaze directly; the furze and heath were +on fire, and only put out by the rain. Those which were let off at an +elevation supposed for burning towns, &c., were much more successful, +and some went very near the spot, compared with others; that is, I +think they would have hit Bayonne, for instance, somewhere or other, +and no doubt have set fire to the town; but the part of the town you +could not very well choose, for their power seemed very different, and +the wind at times carried them three hundred or four hundred yards away +from the direction intended. + +Upon the whole I do not think they were much admired, though in +certain cases they might be useful, especially when the enemy are in a +mountainous track, like at the battle of Pamplona, and near us. Where +guns could not be got up without great difficulty, these rockets could +be carried by hand, or on mules, and being let off near, would have +tremendous effect even upon infantry when in column. General ——, who +is very wise and knowing in the secret views and springs of everything +(or at least would be thought so), says that all that fuse of the Crown +Prince and Sir Charles Stewart, as to the effect of the rockets in the +North, was to please the Prince Regent in England, the great patron of +the rockets. + +The stranded ship was, I hear, driven out of the harbour of Sacoa by +the gale. This is quite extraordinary, for the vessels are there quite +shut up. The place is, however, too full by far, for no transport likes +to move again when once safe there. The packet lost in the harbour of +Passages last week shows you the sort of gales and seas we have here. + +This morning, a French picquet of about thirty men were marched off +from hence, prisoners; they were surprised by us two nights ago. We got +close, and when challenged, an old Highlander called out “deserter,” so +the sentinel did not fire, and our men got in among them and carried +off the picquet. I am not very glad of this, for I fear it will lead +the French to try and return the compliment, and make the outpost duty +much more dangerous and troublesome than it has been. If it only leads +to their shooting our next deserter, so much the better. Deserters +continue to come in and tell strange stories. They say that Marshal +Soult has issued orders, that whenever a foreigner is to be on outpost +duty, all his necessaries, knapsack, &c., are to be taken from him, +and he is besides to be watched and placed with others. They even say +that a German posted on sentry has his shoes taken away from him. This, +barring exaggeration, no doubt is nearly true. + +It is reported that last week three hundred young conscripts belonging +to one regiment were employed to carry bread to the brigade, and that +when near one of the French sentinels, they were challenged by him, but +from not understanding matters, they made no answer, and advanced; upon +which he fired at them, when the whole three hundred threw down their +bread and ran into camp, crying, that the enemy were coming. + +But the best story of all, if true, was told by the mayor of Biaritz, +who states that he understands three French divisions are under orders +to proceed direct to Lyons, whether to meet Schwartzenburg or on +account of disturbances does not seem clear, even if the story be true. + +_Friday, January 21st._—In spite of the wet yesterday, Lord Wellington +having heard of the surprised picquet, set off to the front to inquire +about it, or, as he said last night, to know if it was worth while to +surprise it again, as it has been renewed by the French; but he thought +not, and was back here to dinner, and in the evening at a ball at the +mayoralty. This ball was an attempt to ascertain how far anything +of the sort would answer. The mayor was to manage it, and ask all +the ladies, and a list of the officers to be asked was given to him, +and tickets sent out, and he was to provide the best entertainment +he could for a dollar-a-head from the gentlemen only, which will be +collected accordingly. It went off, however, but ill, and will not in +my opinion be renewed. There were about a dozen or fifteen elderly +women, French, who have remained here, and who seemed of the better +order, but who came in our country town fashion, with the cloak, the +woman servant, and the large lantern, only many of them brought the +maid in with them to sit behind and look on. Then there were about +sixteen or eighteen younger ladies, French, but who seemed to be nearly +all the tradesmen’s families in the place, none of the better sort, +but from behind the counter in the morning. They were, however, well +dressed, and danced tolerably for French—for English very finely. About +half a dozen old Frenchmen, some respectable; and about eight young +beaux of the place, who had escaped the conscription, and who had +remained here, made up the French party. There were six English ladies +altogether, but who, excepting one, declined dancing French dances or +waltzes, and there was nothing else but one country dance, which went +off ill. I have no doubt the French either thought them excessively +fine, or that they could not dance. There might be quite as much of the +latter as the former. Then to complete the assembly, came about two +hundred officers, all in their best, and forming a very smart squeeze. +What would your fine ladies in London have not given for such a display +of gentlemen? All the field officers of six battalions of the Guards, +and about fifty other guards’ officers, and all the head-quarters’ +staff, generals, aides-de-camp, were there. + +I think Cobbett would have admitted that, with so many fine young men +there, the whole Peninsula squad could not be quite so despicable in +the eyes of the English fair. Three sets of cotillions were formed, and +some waltzes, but the whole went off but indifferently. A Frenchman +of about forty or fifty, one of the police of the town, volunteered a +hornpipe, which was tolerably good. About 12 or 1 o’clock a long table +was opened for the ladies, covered with pastry of different shapes: +no meat—the wine, claret. At half-past one I came away, leaving the +dancers rather beginning to romp. This will not do, because the belles +are not good enough to please in a sober way, and if liberties are +taken they would be offended, or at least their male relations would be +for them. Lord Wellington was soon off, and whilst there seemed to be +principally occupied with little military arrangements. He, however, +seemed pleased with the thing, and asked me as I passed, if I thought +Gazan ever had a better ball? I only said, “I am sure there never +were so many gentlemen in the mayor’s house before.” Better dancing, +however, there may have been. + +Still rain, without ceasing. I have been skipping with one of my mule +ropes, instead of my walk to-day with my umbrella. I got to the wrecked +ship yesterday. The best account seems to be that she pulled up the +post to which she was fastened in Sacoa harbour, and drifted out; the +captain was on shore; the missing are three men and a woman, and they +are supposed to be lost, and it is believed that the men were in the +rigging trying to make things right, when the mast broke. The Guards +were set to work as fatigue-parties at low water, and the cargo removed +on shore, consisting of hay and biscuit, not much damaged by the wreck. +The hay, however, of which one truss fell to my share, was previously +almost mouldy with wet, perhaps a little taste of salt may give it a +relish, and any how it is as good as coarse straw and furze, and better +than nothing, which is my mules’ long forage at present. The muleteer +is so popular, the Portuguese give him so much drink to make him dance +and amuse them, that he is very ill with it, and lying below with a +blister and emetic; and the mules therefore get no grass, as I cannot +turn them out; and straw I cannot afford them. + +Another ingenious trick has just been told me of the French here. They +advanced towards Murillo’s Spaniards,—the latter fired at them; they +sent in to say they were very much surprised, for they understood they +were at peace with the Spaniards now, as a treaty was signed. Murillo +sent back for answer, that he knew of no peace, and that, if the Cortes +or Regency had signed such a peace, still he should continue to do as +the English did, and fire at the French until orders came to him to the +contrary, and that regularly through the Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo. This +is all as it should be, but the trick is a curious one. + +_Saturday, 22nd._—The weather is now more like winter than it has yet +been. At St. Jean de Luz we have a raw, cold air, no sun, a damp fog. +La Rhüne and all the hills round are covered with snow; nothing but a +little sleet has fallen here. + +_Sunday, Post-day._—A fine day, but really like winter; the coldest we +have had, and a north-east wind, which will, I think, before it arrived +here, have frozen you all up stiff in England and in Holland. We were +all yesterday surprised by the news that the French picquets were all +withdrawn near Bayonne on our front on this side, and that we might +proceed close in to the works round Bayonne. What this exactly means +we none of us know; Lord Wellington, however, was over immediately, to +have a peep into the town on that side. Careless about himself, he got +so close, that I understand there were some French in a house within +about forty yards of him; nor did he move until he thought a French +frigate lying in the harbour seemed to be making preparations to fire +at the party. I mentioned to you it was on the 10th of December, in +front here, that he got quite in the midst of the broken Portuguese, +where there were cross fires on all sides, and was fearful on moving +off quickly back, even though he wanted to go and order up fresh +troops, lest the bad example might increase the disorder, and throw +the men in greater confusion; so he went leisurely back, until out of +sight, and then cantered off to the unbroken part of the column. + +We have more reports of insurrections in France, and the French have +been circulating the story, that the preliminaries of peace (a general +peace) are already signed, and have sent the report in here. I suspect +that it is all a trick, for all shifts and schemes are now resorted +to; amongst others, Bonaparte has sent back Palafox to Spain—it is +concluded, to intrigue, for he is well known now, and the Cortes +have, I am told, refused to receive him or take any notice of him. +The promotion of O’Donoghue as Lieutenant-general, and his quitting +the situation of War Minister in consequence, is considered a sort of +triumph on our part, for he was suspected of being inimical to Lord +Wellington and the British interests. Of his successor, Moreno, I know +nothing, except that he has generally been of the War Council, and in +civil-military employments, and has not seen much service. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, January 26th, 1814._—I have now +another letter to thank you for, of the date of the 11th instant, and +papers to the same period, for which my best thanks are also due. These +arrived by the sloop of war, with Colonel Bunbury, and are particularly +acceptable, for (except Lord Wellington), no one has letters by the +packet, or papers later than the 5th. Colonel Bunbury brought one of +the 13th for Lord Wellington. In some degree, however, all your papers +now lose their interest, for we have a sort of information through +Paris very much quicker, and though not very much to be depended +upon, and not very full or accurate, yet it gives us, making all due +allowances, a tolerable insight into what is passing. We have thus now +papers of the 17th from Paris, from which it appears the Allies have +been at Besançon, Dijon, and even Langres, whilst your accounts only +carry them to the frontiers of Switzerland. + +The deficiency of my Spanish maps does not signify, for I merely sent +them home as a sort of memorial of Vittoria. All I had were only about +the tenth part of Lopez, and nearly one-half of what I had are gone to +the bottom in the little Catherine, in which I sent two parcels. + +General G—— was always famous here for hospitality and very large +parties. The only objection to them was the too great crowd at dinner. +From what I saw, however, I liked him extremely. There was a wide +distance between him and Lord Wellington in material points for a +Commander-in-Chief, though I believe he was more popular with those +under him, and particularly with his staff. + +You need never apologize for forwarding a letter by any officer sent +out express in a ship of war, and direct to head-quarters, for that is +the best of all conveyances when available. They are sure to use the +greatest expedition, and to have the best sailing-vessel. An officer +coming out with convoy in a transport to join his regiment is quite +_une autre chose_, and to be as much avoided. + +We have for the last three days had a touch of your late weather, and +have had snow on the ground to the sea’s edge every night fresh, and +remaining all day on the ground. It is still not very cold in reality, +and indeed less so than could be wished, for if colder, we should feel +it less. This seems paradoxical, but the truth is, that the ground here +is not hard, and the snow, when trodden upon in the streets, melts, and +forms a most chilling mud, and there is a cold evaporation going on +worse than a hard frost. It is here every day like the first beginning +of a cold thaw. + +Yesterday one of my deputies, passing through here, dined with me. He +is a very gentleman-like, quiet, and most diligent character, and I +only hope my mention of him, in particular to General Pakenham, the +Adjutant-general, coupled with that of Colonel Royals, whose Adjutant +he has been, may do him some service. He has been down at Coimbra, +and elsewhere. His name is Arden, and he is a lieutenant in the 61st. +He was last from St. Andero, and told me a curious story about a late +flag-of-truce there. + +Much of our clothing was, you may have heard, carried to Santona, +near there, as a prize. Many of our men were, consequently, in +absolute tatters. Lord Wellington proposed to Soult to buy it at a +valuation, and let the Governor of Santona have the money to pay his +garrison. Soult agreed, and gave an order, with a pass. Mr. Drake, the +Commissary, was ordered to go into Santona, in consequence, with a +flag to treat. Instead of one trumpeter, five persons improperly went +with him. The French officer on the post came out, told him he did +not understand a flag-of-truce with five persons, and the Spaniards +drawn up so near, that he might suspect treachery, and must do his +duty, though Soult’s orders and pass might be all regular. In short, +said he, “I return in, and in one minute I fire a gun at you; so make +the best of your way off.” Though the party offered to be taken in as +prisoners, the Frenchman went in; so off they ran, and just as they +turned the corner of a house, a twenty-four pounder was after them. +The Governor was angry with the officer. A new flag with one person +advanced: Drake was admitted, but was blinded for nearly a league; and +yet the person near him and another, let in afterwards, were permitted +to see all. When the mission was understood, and the party discovered +to be civilians, the Governor was very polite. He gave them good wine, +but bad bread and meat, which the power of fancy made Drake think +was horseflesh. He then said that the shoes, gaiters, pantaloons, and +some of the caps, his men then wore, so that as to those the mission +was too late; but the jackets they were welcome to purchase, with some +other things, and a bargain was soon made. The Governor then said, +“I know your road home is infamous to St. Andero—you shall return in +our privateer row-barge.” This they did in a very short time, and the +finale was a formal complaint from the Spanish authorities at St. +Andero, against Drake, for having dared to let a French row-boat enter +St. Andero without their leave and their pass. When in the town all the +children, &c., crowded round Drake and his party to see an Englishman. +This made the Governor very angry, and he had them dispersed, asking +them “what there was to look at in an Englishman?” at which they +shouted under his nose—“_Viva los Ingleses! Viva! Viva!_” I wish the +higher class of Spaniards were as staunch as the peasantry and rabble. + +_Saturday._—Our regular mail has not yet arrived; so your papers up +to the 11th have been in most constant request; for, though there +was one here up to the 13th, there was no regular set to the 11th. +The snow has ended in torrents of cold rain again; the roads, almost +more impassable, if that be possible, than they were before, of +course impede all movement, even if intended. Nothing but a rising or +commotions, would tempt us out, and that must be without cannon in a +great measure, and dependant for provisions principally on the country, +as our transport diminishes daily in the army, from the death of mules, +or desertion of muleteers. + +The life of the subaltern officers just now is very arduous and +unpleasant; winter quarters they certainly have, but that is all; four +or five in a room, comforts very few, a great deal of duty with forage +parties, and going to Passages for corn, bread, &c., and always in the +wet, and up to the knees in mud. Matters, however, must, in my opinion, +end soon. + +We have French papers to the 20th, and by them find the Allies at +Langres, Dijon, and Lyons; we are told that they are well received. +Upon this it must very much turn at last. The news from the French +camp and from Bayonne is of peace. Our mayor has had a letter from +his confidential friend at Bayonne. The basis was at last agreed +upon on both sides, and a congress to take place at Basle. This may +be fabricated, for the purpose of keeping the country and army here +quiet until the event be really so. The French must now or never get +rid of Bonaparte, if they wish it. It is not very flattering to the +Bourbons, that even the repeated sufferings and disasters the nation +has endured from Bonaparte scarcely seem to be able to rouse up the +least attachment to them; and that even the last necessity seems hardly +to make the people willing to run any risks for the old royal family. +Yet I am almost sure the feeling would rapidly spread, from the sort of +despair now prevailing as to _la pauvre France_, if a good beginning +could be but once made. + +You must remember the article of capitulation as to the _Commissaire +de Guerre_ and his family, the brother’s wife, and two daughters, &c., +at St. Sebastian. They have never yet returned to France, and are now +here. The exchange of the _Commissaire_ could never be arranged; and +the ladies, though offered to return without him, would not do so, +expecting that he would every day be able to accompany them. Lord +Wellington let them remain at Passages, until the matter was finally +settled; and there they have been all the time in the same house with +one of our Commissaries, Mr. M——. And now, when they were all to go +back, the latter has declared himself the admirer professed of the +youngest girl, and they are after all halted here at St. Jean de Luz +until he can marry her, and then the rest of the party pass into the +French lines. I met them at dinner yesterday; they are a pleasant +family. The girl pleasing and rather pretty, and in the English style; +the mother a clever woman; the other girl not pretty, but odd, and, I +think, clever. + +Our new Admiral is arrived, having left England on the 21st. All our +mails are thus forestalled, as we have still only mail papers and +letters to the 5th. We are told that there is no news in particular, +but that all is warlike. Our story here is, however, of a still later +date, and may possibly still be true. The only other news we have +is from Catalonia; and that, it is to be feared, is bad. You will, +however, get it before you have this, I conclude, from the _Gazette_. +General Donkin told me his letters stated that we had made an attack +on Moulins del Rey on the Lobregat, near Barcelona; that the Spaniards +were to cross the river and turn the French: that they were too slow +and too late, and so the whole plan failed; but that we suffered but +little, and that the loss was nearly all Spanish, who lost two colonels +killed. I do not believe that all Spain would drive Suchet or his army +out, except by time, and wear and tear—never by force. The Government, +however, have behaved well, I believe, as to the late French attempts +through Ferdinand, and through our English hero—Palafox. + +I am sorry not to be able still to admire the latter. It is mortifying +to strike out the name of one of the few Spanish heroes which this five +years’ war has produced. I am now, however, satisfied that the Spanish +insurrection, and all its good consequences, was owing to the thorough +ignorance and want of calculation, and of information and judgment of +the Spaniards. If they had had more common sense, and knowledge of the +true state of things, even their zeal and patriotism (which I admit +were considerable) would never have induced them to adopt a course +so devoid of all prospect of a favourable result, and which every +thinking, impartial, able man must have pronounced a desperate mad +scheme. We owe it principally, I am sure, to their excessive pride and +ignorance, their good opinion, yet want of knowledge of themselves. And +this accounts for the most able men at first all going the wrong way. + +_Sunday, 30th, Post-day._—Nothing but wind and rain, wind and rain +for ever, and no more news. Some of the deserters say that the French +head-quarters are removed to my old place, Mont de Marsan; but I +should think that this can scarcely be yet. The new Admiral dined at +head-quarters yesterday, but I understand, has brought little news. +One ship under his orders, it is feared, has been lost already, as we +have a report of a sloop of war, _The Holly_, lost at Passages, and +several of the crew with it. This is certainly a terrible coast. There +is now a vessel riding in the bay here, very uneasy, and cannot enter; +and one was as nearly as possible lost yesterday morning close to +Sacoa; the surf broke over her. The exertions of the French pilots were +astonishing. + +_Sunday, later, 5 o’clock, 30th._—We have two French officers come +out here from England to seek a better fate by a little _intrigo_, I +suppose. One is a Basque of this country on half-pay from our service, +and the other, a Monsieur La Fitte, I believe a clever man, and a La +Vendée hero. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + Army Supplies—Offending Villages—Symptoms of Work—Arrival of the Duke + D’Angoulême—The Bridge across the Adour—Wellington and his Chief + Engineer—His Activity. + + + Head-quarters, St. Jean de Luz, + February 2, 1814. + + MY DEAR M—— + +Here we remain absolutely tied by the leg by the horrible state of the +roads, and weather, and without any regular news from England. Nothing +but reports on the side of France which would encourage us to proceed; +and, on the sea-side, of heavy gales, and lost vessels. I am just now +driven in by a furious hailstorm, and yet the weather is mild, and has +been till this moment pleasant enough. We have two ships in the little +bay here; one full of hay, which has been four days nearly within +three hundred yards of the shore, and in hourly danger of drifting +on the beach—yet we have not been able, in spite of our distress, to +get out a truss; and the other a brig transport, empty, and driven in +here by stress of weather. A frigate was also off here all yesterday, +apparently labouring much, and fearful of the coast. We certainly have +undertaken a bold thing in wintering in such a place, but it was a +choice of difficulties. + +If we had money we should do well, but that is as scarce as anything +else. Plenty of supplies would come in from the right from the French, +had we cash to give in return. As it is, in consequence of the little +ready money we gave at first, a great quantity of cattle, food, &c., +has been obtained, but now we are reduced to Treasury Bills, and that +cannot last, and the loss is very great. Even the muleteers get a past +payment now in those bills, and the consequence is that a person may +buy them with dollars at the rate of 7_s._ 4_d._, and, I believe, 7_s._ +6_d._ a dollar. The army is also six months, and the staff seven months +in arrear of their pay. + +We have, however, I believe, plenty of bread and biscuit, and meal for +a month with the army and corn at Passages in abundance. The short +transport from thence is almost too much for us, and the supply is by +no means general to the animals, whilst long forage is quite a rarity. +The destruction in the oxen is frightful in the rear. Our great depôt +is as far back as Palencia, and even there, in store, the cattle die +very fast, and the moment they march they fall away to nothing and die +by fifties. Our Commissary-general almost despairs of getting more up, +although he has made depôts of bran and straw, &c., on the road, to try +and obviate the total want of food. It is now in contemplation to ship +cattle from St. Andero, where there is a store; but then we have rather +a scarcity of naval transports also. Cattle would come in as fast as we +wished from twenty leagues to our right, could we but pay for it. As it +is, I am almost inclined to think that we shall, as a choice of evils, +be obliged, in spite of the roads, to move towards our right in quest +of food. + +Two of the villages in that direction have justly incurred Lord +Wellington’s displeasure by plundering and seizing our forage parties, +of which we have lately lost several. One or two were taken by the +peasants of those two villages, and Lord Wellington has issued a +proclamation addressed to them and that country, reminding them that +he told them to remain at home, and be quiet, and to take no part, +and that if they did so he would protect them; but that he would not +have this treachery in return. If they did not like this proposal, +well and good, then let them quit their _foyers_ and leave their +villages, and take the consequence, and he should be prepared to +meet them as enemies; but they must make this election. The curé +of one of these villages was carried off as a hostage for their +good behaviour in future. We have strong reports of commotions and +internal dissatisfactions in France, and that Bonaparte is reduced to +concentrate his army round Paris. If this be true Lord Wellington must +be half mad about the roads. I find he is gone out to-day to look about +him. Two nine-pounders have just drawn up opposite my windows with +eight horses each, and the men have left their guns under the charge of +the Provost guard. I suppose they are on the march. I must inquire what +this means. + +_February 3rd._—The artillery is said to mean nothing; but still I +think if we get fine weather for a week we shall have a start. In +confirmation of what I have written above, as to the loss of cattle, +I will give you two instances: three hundred and sixty head of +convalescent bullocks, which had been left at Vittoria to get into +order, were marched for the army; sixty only have arrived thus far, +all the rest have been left at stations between, or been given to the +different alcaldes, and receipts taken for them—a new mode lately +adopted. Five hundred of another lot of fresh bullocks, collected at +Palencia, were marched all this way, three hundred only have reached +Vittoria, and all the bad road and scarcity of food is yet to come. +This is really quite alarming. + +_February 3rd, later._—I find the guns mean nothing; they are only +going on to the front to replace two now there, which are to come +back to refit. Still, however, if we could but get fine weather, I +think we should make a stir. Bets were going on as to a peace, or our +being at Bayonne and across the Adour in six weeks; and symptoms of a +move shortly are perceptible. The rain, however, continues. Colonel +Bunbury made one attempt to go to the right of our army the day before +yesterday, but only got half way, and is unwell in consequence. He is +to leave this either in Lord Wellington’s carriage, or to go round by +water to Passages. The sea is, however, quiet, and now only torments +our anxious curiosity by throwing up parts of wrecks and bodies. A +ship-cable, with the G.R., was found at Bidart, and three men and a +woman. Some say that the latter had silk stockings on. One body cast up +here was half eaten, and I saw a backbone only yesterday. The bodies of +the mules float in and out every tide. + +As a proof of the state of forage here, and of the manner in which we +are imposed upon, five shillings were yesterday demanded for a sack of +chopped furze from the surrounding hills, and thus sold in the market. +Straw fetches two shillings for a small handful, of which a horse would +eat two or three in a day. + +I have just seen a Spanish Captain who was taken prisoner little more +than three months since. He has been to Maçon on the Saone since, +where the Allies now are, about six hundred miles from this, having +been first plundered of his great coat and pantaloons. He was about +thirty-five days getting there on foot all the way, staid there forty +days, and then was about thirty-six days more returning here, also on +foot, having been exchanged. He says the notion is that we have the +Duke d’Angoulême here, and that very many wish it to be so. This is +like my finding many persuaded that we had the Duke de Berri with our +army when I was a prisoner. I suspect, however, we shall in part verify +this notion now, as I just hear one of the best quarters in the town is +to be cleared immediately for an unknown great man, now at Passages, +and just arrived from England. At first they even talked of moving the +Adjutant-general, Pakenham, to make room for him. This mystery will, +however, soon be cleared up. Rain, which is never pleasant, was never +so disagreeable as now. The fate of France may depend upon it. + +The owner of my house is a well-bred woman, who lives in a great house +opposite. She lives in one corner of it, whilst General Wimpfen and his +staff, and Colonel M——, his wife, and three children, occupy all the +best part. She has, she told me, thirteen houses round here, five are +burnt, and two coming down, and yet she seems resigned and satisfied +that we have really behaved very well; that it is the fate of war, and +owing to the ill fortune of having property in a frontier country near +armies, and is quite inevitable. She only exclaims, “_Oh la pauvre +France!_” This is a novel language to the French of late. + +_4th, Friday._—Still rain, rain, rain, all night. All yesterday, all +the night before, and still continuing. Oh! that we had your frost +instead; all things would have been very different. + +The great man just arrived, and now here, turns out to be the Duke +d’Angoulême, and Count Damas is come out with him, but till the plot +thickens the Duke is _incog._ + +Our pontoons from the Bidassoa are now passing over the St. Jean de +Luz bridge. This looks like something, and we have to-day at last a +dry day, or at least a half day, for I must not be too sure yet. The +wind is getting round to the north a little, or north-east, and if that +remains it will do, especially as it is full moon; though I have not +much more faith in the moon, in respect of weather than Lord Wellington +has, who says it is nonsense. In addition to all your news, we have +French news of a battle at St. Dizier, near Chalons, and that the +Allies have been beaten. It is to be feared that it is not all to go so +smoothly as hitherto, unless a rising takes place. + +All odd strangers who come to head-quarters here have been long +called tigers. Of course we now have “The Royal Tiger.” This is a +head-quarters’ joke for you. We have had for some time here a Madame +de ——, the wife of the Commandant of ——, come to make arrangements +beforehand, and here she certainly has been making many little +arrangements not much to the advantage of her husband, and not quite +consistent with conjugal fidelity. When the Commandant arrived +yesterday at last, she immediately began to blame him for his +unnecessary delay, and insinuated that another lady was the cause. This +is very hard upon a poor old man, but I suppose the lady thought it +right to take the initiative. + +The publication of the Leipsig letters, which George mentions, of +Murray’s, will be very curious, but I think it is not right to let +these be published. Similar letters were taken in Spain more than +once, and police reports. The old letters which were too late (those I +mean from you) were from the Secretary of State’s office, not from the +Judge-Advocate’s office. They were probably mislaid at the former. + +_Sunday, Post-day._—A bright sun and a smiling sky, with a smooth bay +covered with ships, quite a Vernet. I have just returned from the +church service on the beach, in a square of about two thousand five +hundred guards, and all the staff here present. As I returned I picked +up your letter of the 26th, and papers at the post-office. I have just +got some business come in, for desertion has commenced again now that +we are quiet and idle. A corporal and twelve men all went off together +a few nights since, all foreigners, and I believe French. Our people at +home are very careless in selecting soldiers to enlist into our corps +from the prisons. What can be better for a Frenchman in a prison-ship +than to receive 4_l._, new clothes, arms, &c., and then to be sent into +his own country, and put in a situation to join his comrades, with +only the difficulty of watching a good occasion. In yesterday’s return, +however, nine men have deserted, mostly English. Your English news is +all good as far as it goes, and if this weather will but hold a little, +you will hear of more glory and more broken heads here. In addition to +the pontoons which have passed up, scaling-ladders have gone through +here. If we could but cross the mouth of the Adour below Bayonne, +and get at the citadel at once by scaling and storm, there would be +something like a blow, and the town would be at our mercy immediately. + +We have some gentlemen here, but very few, who begin to find the work +too warm for them. I have been saved two cases of this sort, very +awkward ones, by resignations, and have been consulted on two others +by General Cole, very suspicious ones, but not so clear as the other +two who are let off thus, to save the reputation of the regiments. An +officer should think a little before he engages in service, such as we +have had here the last few years. + +More business, so I must put an end to this quickly. I have not seen +the Royal Tiger, but am to dine at head-quarters to-day, and hope he +may be there. The French ladies are staunch Bonapartists. They say we +shall have another Quiberon business, and that the Allies are coming +into France the same old road as twenty years since, and will return by +it. + +I have been so pressed to change my old mare, which was in high +condition, that, to oblige Major D—— of the Guards, I have done so, +and taken “Mother Goose” (a pet name of General Hulse’s formerly) in +exchange, and fifteen guineas to boot. Mother Goose is a very good +mare, but never would stand fire. She is not so large or showy as my +old lady, but I like her much. She was valued at eighty-five guineas, +and has always sold for that. I put mine at a hundred guineas. I gave +more—four hundred dollars; as dollars cannot be had under 7_s._, and +the exchange is still higher on the muleteer Treasury bills. These, +however, I should not think it right to deal in. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, Thursday, February 10th, 1814._—Thus +far the week has passed without my having commenced my usual Journal to +you; for I have had a return of business, and also several gentlemen to +swear, and certificates and affidavits to make out, to enable friends +to take out administration in England to deceased officers’ estates. We +have also again had two fine days, and I have been able to get a ride +or two in consequence. On Sunday, at head-quarters, I met the Royal +Tiger at dinner—the Duke d’Angoulême and Monsieur Damas. + +Before dinner I got into conversation with the Duke, without knowing +who he was, for they were both dressed alike in a fancy uniform, +very like our navy Captain’s undress, a plain blue coat, with two +gold epaulettes. He seemed much pleased with his prospects, and very +sanguine as to the result. The day was fine; he was sure the weather +would last a month. I said that the natives told me we should have +rain, and no settled weather until March was half over. He was sure +I had been misinformed; the fact was, however, that it rained half +that very night and the whole of the next day. Every day he expected +to proceed to France, and saw all difficulties vanish. “_Les pauvres +conscripts de Bayonne fondaient comme la neige; ils étoient presque +tous à l’hôpital_,” and so on. + +That we shall make a dash soon, unless peace prevents it, I fully +believe from all I see and hear, and an embargo which has been laid on +all small vessels in the river here confirms this. We have also to-day +an order for twelve days’ hay at Passages, for which we are to send to +the ships ourselves, as Government have just now sent us out a good +lot of English hay, and if we march it must be all left behind, for we +have no means of carrying it with us. At least the animals will thus +all start with a belly full, which is something, and to many a novelty. + +I do not think much of the little Duke; his figure and manners are by +no means imposing, and his talents appear not very great. He seems +affable and good-tempered, and though not seemingly a being to make +a kingdom for himself, he may do very well to govern one when well +established. Lord Wellington was in his manner droll towards them. As +they went out, we drew up on each side, and Lord Wellington put them +first; they bowed and scraped right and left so oddly, and so actively, +that he followed with a face much nearer a grin than a smile. + +They were at church on Sunday, but I cannot learn with any effect; +hitherto we cannot judge, for this small corner dare not speak +out their minds, if they were in his favour. We hear of a strong +disposition at Bordeaux and in Brittany. I have as yet seen only apathy +and indifference, but I still expect a burst if the war should last. + +I must now go to Lord Wellington about a poor old Doctor, who has been +charged with having a soldier servant. I expect a jobation for what I +shall state in his favour, for this is a very heinous offence in the +eyes of Lord Wellington. + +_Same day, later._—Lord Wellington, as I supposed, insisted on the +Doctor’s being tried, but was good-humoured, though just going out +with the hounds, when in general he does not like interruption. This +particular Doctor had a right to a servant of his own regiment, but +he had one of another. I suggested that he had never joined his own +regiment since he was appointed, and could not, therefore, have one +of that corps. “Then he should have gone without,” was the answer, +and as for the Doctor’s good character, that went for nothing. Lord +Wellington never attends to individual hardships, but to the general +good, and as many abuses go on at depôts in the rear, every time he +discovers an instance he is inexorable in trying to punish, especially +when he finds it out himself, as he did this in another trial of the +same poor Doctor, by some of the evidence. The Doctor, foolish man, +desired it might be put on the minutes that he would ask such a witness +no question, as he had been his servant at the time, and was so still. + +I have just heard an anecdote which shows strongly the Spanish +character, and also why Lord Wellington likes Colonel Dickson as his +chief artillery officer. On the 9th of November last the order was +given for the troops to march to the attack at four the next morning. +This was when we were at Vera. Every one had known for weeks that +this was to take place the earliest moment it was possible; and that +the fall of Pamplona and better weather were the only reasons of the +army being in such a position as we then were, perched up on the +sides of all the mountains so late in the year, with the prospect of +snow daily. At nine that night General Frere, the Spanish General, +who is considered to be one of their best, sent word that the Spanish +army under his command was without any ammunition, and could not get +any up in time. At ten o’clock Dickson was sent for, just as he was +going to bed. Instead of saying nothing could be done, or making any +difficulties, he proposed giving the Spaniards immediately the reserve +ammunition of the nearest English division, and said that he would send +out orders instantly, and undertake to get the English reserve replaced +in time, and this was done. + +Poor E—— got a very loud discourse all the way home from church +last Sunday. The oxen of the pontoon train were all dying, and in +cross roads were useless, for they could not move singly except +with difficulty, much less draw a pontoon of two tons weight. It +had been reported in consequence that three troops of artillery +must be dismounted to draw the pontoon. Lord Wellington was vexed +excessively. “Where are the pontoon horses?” “None were ever sent out +from England; never had anything but oxen, and five hundred have died +since we left Frenada.” This answer still did not satisfy him. He +must, notwithstanding, have known it from the returns which he sees, +but still he seemed, though he could not tell why, to think poor E—— +blameable. The latter said that he had no orders to send to England for +horses, and no one seemed to think they would be necessary, and he had +never had them. + +_Friday, 11th._—I went last night to our third ball, in hopes of seeing +the Duke d’Angoulême there, and to observe how he was received. He did +not attend. All our other great men were there—Lord Wellington and all +the French, as yet very few in numbers. The owner of General Cole’s +quarters near Ustaritz, I believe named Larrique, was there. He had +come over to pay his respects to the Bourbons. He was always royally +disposed, and had been once imprisoned for this inclination. I am told +several others have been to the Duke to pay their respects merely, but +this is all they dared do as yet. They assure him the landholders and +peasantry further on only wait our advance, and the absence of the +French army, to rise and declare for the Bourbons. If they do not take +this line soon, and that decidedly, peace may make it too late, and +frustrate all these petty plans of counter-revolution in the bud. The +Duke seems quite ignorant of the people here, and of the country, and +those Basques I have talked to do not seem to know much more of him. +The few squires left may, however, give the tone to the rest. + +I hear that we have quite ruined Bayonne market by our higher prices, +&c., and things are not only dear there, but not to be had, for no +one will there give the price we do for such luxuries, as poultry, +vegetables, &c., certainly are; and therefore they are brought here. + +_Saturday, 12th._—The news now is, that Soult and about three thousand +infantry, and one thousand eight hundred cavalry, are gone off to the +rear, and it seems to be believed; for it has come through so many +channels to us. Another report is, that seven of the thirty tyrants +(senators) have gone over to the Allies, to pay their respects to the +Bourbons; this is not in such credit as the other story. In short, we +have what the military men call “shaves” (I suppose barbers’ stories) +every day and every hour. The best fact I can tell you is, that we +have had three days’ fine weather now together, and this last is +absolutely warm, I only fear too warm to last; thermometer in my room, +window open, and no fire, 58° in the sun. I rode a league out and back +yesterday almost without a splash. The mule roads across the country, +though improved, are, however, still very bad; three more such days +will, nevertheless, do wonders, and about that time I hope we shall be +ready. + +All the carpenters, &c., are ordered from the Guards to the front. The +Rocket Brigade also went up last night; and ships are ordered round +from Passages. Dr. Macgregor, who was there yesterday, tells me that he +thinks it will be three days before they will have procured ropes and +all they require with them. This smiling sun makes every one cheerful, +though it prognosticates many broken heads. + +The only thing, it appears to me, the Guards look blue about, is the +prospect of an aquatic expedition. Our sick, though nothing compared to +last year, have increased this last month. To show you how much depends +on seasoning them, two regiments, the 84th, and, I think, the 62nd, who +came out two months since, and have scarcely had any work, but arrived +after all the bad quarters in the mountains, and have not marched +forty miles and been generally housed, are absolutely unfit for the +field. One has four hundred and more sick out of six hundred. They are +obliged, in consequence, to be sent in a body, as regiments, to Vera, +one of the hospital stations. They are, I believe, two battalions, and +mostly young lads or elderly men, neither of which class of soldiers +can stand this work at all. Some of our old regiments have scarcely +a man in the hospital, except the wounded, and it is astonishing how +well some of the Portuguese regiments stand it, who are more exposed +than our men. The last month’s rest, and the new clothes, which most +regiments have now received, will revive the army amazingly; some who +are still without their clothes are, to be sure, absolutely in rags, or +like the king of the beggars. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, Sunday the 13th, Post-day, 5 +o’clock._—Our “shave” of to-day is a Congress. Yesterday the Allies +were at Paris. I am sorry to say the sea has risen, and the wind +changed, and the weather threatens again. All are hard at work, +however, at the bridges, &c. It will be a ticklish thing to cross at +the mouth of the Adour. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, February 15th, 1814._—The plot now +thickens a little. Lord Wellington was off at three in the morning +yesterday for Hasparren, for two or three days, to superintend a +movement which is to take place: first, on our right, to drive the +French divisions of General Foy and Harispe across the Gave d’Oleron, +and prevent their molesting our right flank, whilst the passage of the +Adour is attempted on the left. The accounts this morning are, that +the troops assembled for this purpose yesterday, but that no affair +has hitherto taken place. General Pakenham was yesterday at Passages +to see to the shipping there, and clear out the hospital; and to-day +he has gone over to the right, to report to Lord Wellington and to +assist there. All is in motion: two bridges are preparing, one, as +I supposed, below Bayonne, and another above; the former will be +accompanied by an aquatic expedition. + +With regard to this grand bridge, a most provoking occurrence has taken +place. An embargo was laid on about twenty-four vessels in the St. Jean +de Luz river to form this bridge, and to assist in the conveyance of +troops, &c. Old Ocean, however, did not approve; and as he is not under +Lord Wellington’s orders, and seems, like the Spaniards, to like to +thwart Lord Wellington a little, he (Old Ocean) threw up the day before +yesterday such a mound of shingle at the mouth of the river, that he +has most effectually embargoed the whole shipping, and made a dry +bank, a hundred feet wide, quite firm across the entrance, which all +yesterday was used as a road backwards and forwards from Sibour to this +place. From the present state of the tides there was no prospect of an +opening in the natural way for a week and more, until the springs; so +to-day a fatigue party of the Guards are at work digging and shovelling. + +In my early walk this morning I found them at it, with a young engineer +officer, doing it, it struck me, very ill. I could not help meddling; +however, I had no weight, until an old Frenchman came, sent by the +mayor, to whom I advised them to apply; and then, as the young engineer +did not understand French, I acted as interpreter. The old man’s plan +and mine agreed, and so I carried my point. It is hoped we shall be +able to dig a way through by this evening, and to-morrow to let the +shipping out. It has never happened before since we have been here, +though very often the river is nearly dry. + +One brig of war has arrived and the _Gleaner_ ketch, and Lieutenant +Douglas is on shore here superintending the fastening together of a +quantity of masts, &c., to form a boom, I believe, across the Adour—I +suppose to prevent anything floating down from destroying the bridge. +I heard yesterday, what one can scarcely believe, that the naval +officer asked leave to survey the mouth of the Adour, but that Lord +Wellington told him to go to the engineers, and they would give him +plans and soundings, &c.: that he went to E—— accordingly, and found he +had none at all; and Toffini’s coast stops short at Passages! + +It is surely very odd, now that we have been in front of Bayonne for +three months, that no plans should have been sent out, without being +asked for, from England. I since have heard from E—— that he did write, +and has nothing in consequence but a little printed plan of Bayonne, +and no soundings, &c. I trust still that Lord Wellington will poke out +his way across. Our outposts’ reports to-day are that the Cossacks are +close to Paris, and Fontainebleau pillaged by them. I am sorry for +that, as that palace escaped the Revolution almost entirely. The truth +of the whole story may well be questioned. + +_February 16th._—No news from the right; no one returned yet; the +reports are, that the French do not stand, but retire before us. In the +mean time things are going on well here. The weather is fine again, +the sea quiet, the river has quite cleared his course, and to-day the +navigation is open. The fort at the mouth of the Adour sent a few shots +against the _Lyra_ brig when cruising yesterday to inspect; but no harm +done. Every one is busy. + +Poor —— does not seem to draw well with Lord Wellington. The latter +received him so queerly at the last interview, that —— says he shall do +all he can to execute what he is ordered, and be quiet. Lord Wellington +never consulted him, and has never even told him exactly where the +grand bridge which he is preparing is to be; and the consequence is, +the width of the river has not been precisely ascertained at the place +intended, where the engineers have instruments which would do it in a +minute, if they were ordered. Without orders they cannot, as it would +require a guard of three hundred or four hundred men to go near enough, +and that can only be with orders. But then, were I ——, I should ask for +the guard and do it, propose it first, or try and get it quietly from +the Adjutant-general without troubling Lord Wellington, and let him +find the thing done. —— seems to be too much of the English official +school; has too much regard to forms and regular orders. All this +_entre nous_. Elphinstone of the Engineers tells me he wrote for a plan +of Bayonne four months since, and has only received a very miserable +one, of scarcely any use. + +The grand bridge is to be formed of the largest vessels now in the +harbour—about fifty of them. Pontoons would never do. They are to +be about 25 feet or 27 feet apart, and cable bridges between to +communicate with planks, each vessel carrying its own materials to +plank, &c. This is a grand plan, but rather arduous. I hope it may +answer, as it will be an event in military matters, crossing a great +river at the mouth below the fortified town, and that in the hands of +the enemy on both sides of the river. + +_February 17th, Thursday._—Still fine weather, and no one returned, +and no news from Lord Wellington. I had a report here through the +emigrés, and _son Altesse Royale_, as he is now called, that the +Allies are within a league of Paris. “_Quelle mauvaises nouvelles! ils +m’ont dit._” Their alarm at the reported Congress at Chatillon sur +Seine, and Lord Castlereagh, has to-day of course a little subsided in +consequence. A peace with Bonaparte would ruin them for ever. If Paris +now declares itself, on the other hand it will spread, and the whole +business, in my opinion, be at an end in their favour. If not, it is +clear that their party is very small, and their interests forgotten. + +_The 18th, Friday._—Still Lord Wellington not returned; but we had +some news of what has been done on the right. The French retired +skirmishing, but would never stand to let us charge. They were obliged +to remain longer than they wished to cover some guns which they carried +off; and also, the evening before last, they intended to take up their +ground for the night in a position which Lord Wellington thought it +would suit him to drive them from. By doing this late in the day they +were obliged to resist more than they probably otherwise would, if +they had expected it, and been prepared for the retreat. We have taken +about ten or twelve officers prisoners, and about two hundred men. Some +say that we might have had as many thousands, could we have been two +hours sooner. These things are always, however, said. Supposing that +we had been two hours sooner, the French would have been just where +they were; and it is forgotten that if we had moved sooner, they might +probably just have done the same thing. We have ourselves sustained +some loss, and that in a greater proportion of officers than men. I +am told, about a hundred and twenty men. General Pringle is shot in +the breast,—an awkward place, but they hope not badly, considering the +situation. General Byng’s aide-de-camp, Captain Clitherow, is killed, +and, I believe, Lieutenant Moore, of the Artillery. Aides-de-camp +and Brigade-Majors have suffered much of late; Lord Wellington’s are +uncommonly fortunate. I have heard also that Lieutenant-colonel Bruce +is wounded, a Bevan (Major or Colonel in the Portuguese service), +and some subalterns of the two brigades of General Byng and General +Pringle, the only two engaged. + +By the last accounts Lord Wellington’s head-quarters were at Garris, +near St. Palais, and the French are driven across the Bidouge, a +river that runs into the Adour below the Gaves, and near Grammont’s +place, Guiche, of which he is duke. The French have only picquets +on our side the first Gave—the Gave d’Oleron, when they are driven +across. I think Lord Wellington will return here to-morrow to inspect +the grand bridge and the operations on this side, which are the most +ticklish. Elphinstone would have his bridge ready to-morrow night if +the materials get round in time from Passages, and provided one vessel +is got out from our river here, for one could not be moved over the +bar yesterday, from its having the guns on board, which are to be +dropped into the Adour, to assist in moving the vessels of the bridge. +By taking out the guns this difficulty may be got over, but the wind +is not fair from Passages. This is the worst part of the business, +for though the elements alone may be to blame, still Lord Wellington, +if his plans are thwarted, will be in a rage with ——. He banishes the +terms difficulty, impossibility, and responsibility from his vocabulary. + +The moment he has done on the right, he wants to be ready here, as he +knows that so long as he remains there, the attention of the French is +drawn that way, and the same when he shall return here. We have now +no troops here. The guards have moved into Bidart, and we have now +permanently occupied Biaritz in front of Bayonne; General Vandeleur +sleeps there, and all his horses are unsaddled. The light division +have crossed the Nive. The fifth moved a little more to their right, +to occupy part of the ground of the light near Arbonne and Arrauntz, +towards Ustaritz; and the third division, under General Picton, have +gone up to St. Jean Pied de Port, but hitherto without opposition. +The Adjutant-general, when he went himself over to the hospital +stations of Fontarabia and Passages, routed out about fourteen hundred +convalescents, and malingerers, and they passed through here for +their regiments yesterday, for every man is wanted now. Unluckily, no +reinforcements have arrived from England; why we cannot say, for the +wind is fair, and the papers say they sailed a month since, and the +regiments have had notice of their intended arrival. The artillery +also expect five hundred horses, which would now be an inestimable +treasure, as many are going and getting weak. There are also about six +thousand Portuguese ready to join in Portugal, but who remain for want +of transport, as I am told: this is unlucky, as they were well-seasoned +recruits. + +It is curious that even latterly, ever since we left the mountains, +almost all our advanced troops—the advanced line—have been Portuguese; +they not only stop our deserters, but go off very much less themselves. +From the terrible loss of oxen, we are all now, officers and all in +this neighbourhood, living upon salt rations, sea-beef and pork. +Luckily for me, however, we can now buy a little fresh meat. I am very +much vexed with myself for not having desired you to send me out a good +map of France, for I have only the department on this side the Adour, +and the whole seat of the war is now France. I should like to have got +the abridged or reduced Casini, which is used here, and liked, a map +about five or six feet by four or five, and Stockdale’s vicinity of +Bayonne, taken from Casini’s large one. These two would have been a +treasure, now that we are likely to move; and I conclude Stockdale will +go on publishing some more of Casini to follow us up. + +We have begun to establish a recruiting-party at head-quarters, to +select out of the French deserters good subjects for the _Chasseurs +Britanniques_, &c. I hope it will answer, but I have my doubts. In the +mean time, I shall have to play the part of a magistrate, and swear +them all in. The news from Bayonne to-day is, that a courier arrived +yesterday express from Paris in sixty hours; of course he brought +something very important. The story in Bayonne is, that the negotiation +and Congress is broken up already, and this is now considered most +excellent news here, excepting by a few soldiers of fortune, and real +lovers of their trade, who think it would flourish much better after a +peace with Bonaparte than with the Bourbons. What a contrast between +the _Moniteur_ a year and a half since about Moscow, &c., and the late +ones about the works round Paris, and the room left—eighteen inches—for +the _piétons_ only to pass, &c., and the immense zeal and activity: +_Dejà on voit les embrassures pour quatres canons_. You will have seen +all this, however, and have been as much amused, no doubt, as we have +been. + +I have just seen Major D——, who is returned from the right. He says +that we have been well received in general, and found a tolerable +supply of everything in the new country we have been in. If the +inhabitants will but stay, they will find a good market for everything; +instead of losing the produce for nothing; and stragglers, single +plunderers, dare not commit depredations on the houses in that case. +The people here are in despair at the expected entrance of the +Spaniards. We have now shops in abundance, and a good market, and can, +with plenty of money, procure most things; and now we are on the point +of being off. + +_18th February, later._—I have just been with Elphinstone, and seen all +his drawings and plans for the grand bridge. They seem very good, and +the whole will be ready by Sunday morning, provided the naval gentleman +can carry his vessels in; but he thinks that will not do on account of +the tides before Wednesday. Six or seven small boats are to be carried +from here on carriages; these are to be launched, and are to tow across +the first party on rafts, which are made by some platforms placed on +the pontoons. This first party I would rather not accompany. To show +you how little Lord Wellington listens to objections, and how he rather +likes to cut up the routine work, I may mention that Elphinstone told +him the quantity of plank necessary would take time, and make a delay. +“No,” says he, “there are all your platforms of your batteries which +have been sent out in case of a siege. Cut them all up.” “Then when we +proceed with the siege what is to be done?” quoth Elphinstone. “Oh, +work your guns in the sand until you can make new ones out of the +pine-wood near Bayonne.” So all the English battering platforms have +been cut up accordingly. + +At Elphinstone’s I met the Admiral, who came round to-day to assist, +and some small vessels have arrived with him. We have now Sacoa choked +full, and quite a flotilla in the open bay, with a wind right on shore +into the bay. I only hope it will not take to blowing hard in this +direction whilst our operations are going on. The battering train and +siege apparatus have also arrived at Passages from St. Andero. This has +been done quite snug; even Elphinstone did not know of their coming +until here they were. + +Letters have come in from the right; all has gone on well there. The +French are driven quite across the Gave de Mauleon or Soiron, as it +is called in my map, a little river which is the left branch of the +Gave d’Oleron, and runs into the Gave d’Oleron below Oleron town. The +Adjutant-general writes, that the French have given up all that at +present was wanted in that direction. Adieu! + +_Saturday the 19th._—To-day we have a French bulletin sent in to us of +a victory over the forces of the Allies, the Russian army destroyed, +and the French in pursuit—baggage, cannon, all taken. This is awkward +when we expected daily to hear of the Allies in Paris, and it will +have a bad effect on the cause in France, even if it is only a slight +check to the allied armies. The French here have their proclamations +printed, and _fleurs-de-lis_ are being made. Lord Wellington says that +they must wait until he is more advanced before they begin to circulate +them. He is expected back to-day. The weather has been very cold +again, and sleet or snow has just begun to fall. I have also to-day to +acknowledge a letter from you of the 8th, and papers from the 2nd to +the 8th inclusive. + +I am just interrupted by a noise at the Provost guard opposite, and +the arrival of about a hundred and eighty French prisoners escorted +by a party of the 57th regiment, who might with great advantage +change clothes with the French. The latter are in general very well +clothed, and very fine young men, a few older soldiers amongst them +in particular. The young conscripts look rather pale and sickly. Our +57th men are absolutely in rags and tatters, here and there five or +six inches of bare thigh or arm are visible through the patches; some +have had only linen pantaloons all winter through. They all get their +new clothing to-morrow at Sacoa; the whole regiment comes down here for +that purpose, and then nearly the whole will have had their clothing +this year, all but one or two regiments. + +_Later, 4 o’clock._—Lord Wellington is just returned from the right, +and so eager is he when anything is in hand, that I saw him going round +by the Admiral’s and Colonel Elphinstone’s before he went home on +horseback, after a tolerably long ride too. The Admiral he carried off +with him. + +_20th February, Post-day._—The first thing I saw this morning in my +walk on the wall was Lord Wellington looking at the sea at half-past +seven. The wind was strong, right into the bay, and not a ship could +stir. He soon saw the Admiral come out also to look, and carried him +off home. I saw Lord Wellington about some Courts-martial just now, +and expected to be rather snubbed; but he was in high good humour, +and I was, of course, as short as possible. The moment is, however, +ticklish. Had the gale this morning increased, none of the ships in +the bay, in my opinion, could have stood it. It was right into the bay +against them, and they were anchored within two hundred, three hundred, +or four hundred yards of the shore. The slip of an anchor or breaking +of a cable would have been destruction, and we have now a wreck on +each side of the bay, which is ominous and terrific to strangers and +new-comers. + +_Later._—Lord Wellington is already beginning to provide against the +failure of his bridge plan from winds and tides, and I understand +will not wait above a day or two on this account. Arrangements are in +consequence being formed to make the main movement still by the right +altogether, and to come round on Bayonne in case the bridge scheme will +not very speedily answer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + Movements of the Army—-Narrow Escape of Wellington—Anecdote + of Wellington at Rodrigo—Novel Scaling Ladders—Sir Alexander + Dickson—Wellington’s Vanity—Operations resumed—Spanish Officers—The + Passage of the Adour—The Road to Bayonne—Death of Captain Pitts. + + + Head-quarters, St. Jean de Luz, + Tuesday, February 22, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +As the movements going on give me now a little more leisure, and it +is impossible to say how soon my opportunities of writing may be +arrested by a march, I begin my weekly despatch early this week. Lord +Wellington, when he returned from driving the French across the Gave, +found his expedition here could not leave port owing to bad wind and +tide, though all was ready. He therefore instantly set about new +arrangements, so as to be independent in a great measure of the result +of this grand bridge. + +All the divisions of the army consequently moved towards the right +yesterday, except the Guards and the rest of the first division, which +remain in our front backed by a corps of Spaniards at Guethary and +Bidart, in advance of St. Jean de Luz, through which place, however, +they did not march. To superintend this movement Lord Wellington was +off again yesterday for Garris, near to St. Palais, with most of the +head-quarters’ staff, Adjutant-general Pakenham remaining here on +account of a slight illness. + +The last move left us in front of the Gave, the French still strong in +Sauveterre and on a ridge of hills and strong ground running between +the two Gaves d’Oleron and Pau. The plan is now, it is concluded, to +drive them across both Gaves, and then make good our way round to the +other side of the Adour and the citadel of Bayonne. In the meantime, +as the plan here is still expected to take effect to-morrow morning +early, we are all alive; the little bay full of shipping and small +ships of war, which cruise backward and forwards, or anchor there, with +carpenters, sappers, soldiers, &c., on board, and all the flotilla +ready in Sacoa, and the Admiral superintending. + +Head-quarters are come home delighted with the country on the Gaves, +and with their reception. The people in many instances come in numbers +to meet our troops instead of offering resistance. The prisoners also +many of them say they are ready to serve _son Altesse Royale_, but this +is rather too soon to begin, it is thought, for this may be only to +escape and return to their old army. + +One young man, who was of the country, ran into his father’s house +as they were marching by, and all the family were found around him. +He was separated and marched off; but the story has been told at +head-quarters, and General Pakenham has sent for the man back (who was +on his way to Passages), and means to send him home to his friends. + +I was talking to General Pakenham yesterday about forming a French +royalist corps out of the prisoners and deserters. It must be done +very cautiously of course at first, but it would in my opinion have a +good effect and soon increase. At present the idea that all deserters +must be sent away from their own country to England deters many from +deserting, who would otherwise be willing. This object would also do +away with the disgraceful ideas naturally attached to desertion in a +soldier’s mind. + +Reports say that Lord Wellington had a narrow escape with his staff, +whilst reconnoitring on the right in the late move. He is said to have +been going up a hill when a French cavalry regiment was coming up +on the other side. The engineer officer was going round and saw the +regiment; upon which he galloped back to give information, but before +he could reach Lord Wellington they were just close to the top of the +hill, and Colonel Gordon, who was in the advance, saw some of the +French videttes close. He gave the alarm, but they all had a gallop for +it, pursued by some of the dragoons. + +Though the English horses were most of them well tired, they were soon +out of reach of the French, and all escaped. Lord Wellington relies +almost too confidently on the fleetness and excellence of his animals, +when we consider what the loss would be if he were caught; he is, +however, now rather more cautious. + +A few days since I heard an anecdote about the siege of Rodrigo, which +shows the man. Scarcely any one knew what was to be done; the great +preparations were all made in Almeida, and most supposed, as I believe +the French did, that everything which arrived was for the purpose of +defence there, not of attack elsewhere. On a sudden the army was in +front of Rodrigo. A new advanced work was discovered, which had to +be taken before any progress could be made in the siege. To save men +and time, an instant attack was resolved upon. Scaling-ladders were +necessary; the engineers were applied to; they had none with them, for +they were quite ignorant of the plans—an inconvenience which has often +arisen in different departments from Lord Wellington’s great secrecy, +though the general result, assisted by his genius, has been so good. +The scaling could not take place without ladders; Lord Wellington was +informed of this. “Well,” says he, “you have brought up your ammunition +and stores, never mind the waggons, cut them all up directly, they +will make excellent ladders—there you see, each side piece is already +cut.” This was done, and by the help of these novel ladders, the work +was scaled forthwith. + +At Badajoz, he found so little to be had in the regular way for a +siege, from want of transport, and so many difficulties in consequence +from the regular bred artillery generals, that he became principal +engineer himself, making use of Colonel Dickson, the acting man, +as his instrument. These sieges procured Dickson his majority and +lieutenant-colonelcy; and though only a Captain in the Royal Regiment +of Artillery, he now conducts the whole of that department here, +because he makes no difficulties. + +In one instance Lord Wellington is not like Frederick the Great. He +is remarkably neat, and most particular in his dress, considering his +situation. He is well made, knows it, and is willing to set off to the +best what nature has bestowed. In short, like every great man present +or past, almost without exception, he is vain. He cuts the skirts of +his own coats shorter, to make them look smarter: and only a short time +since, on going to him on business, I found him discussing the cut of +his half-boots, and suggesting alterations to his servant. The vanity +of great men shows itself in different ways, but in my opinion always +exists in some shape or other. + +_February 22nd, 5 o’clock._—The flotilla has just got out of Sacoa Bay +preparatory to the operations to-morrow. A beautiful sight! Six or +seven ships of war, and fifty other vessels—everyone alive! Forty form +the bridge. I hope it may succeed, but many doubt it. + +P.S. Lord Wellington is moving on the Gaves with seven divisions. The +cable bridge is in the boats, and the engineers on board. The affair is +to begin by driving in the picquets, when five hundred men are then to +be sent over on the rafts, the guns of the French battery spiked, the +French corvette burnt, and then the bridge is to be thrown across! + +_February 24th, 1814._—I rose at half-past four, to go over and see +the crossing of the Adour yesterday, and the formation of the bridge. +At daylight I discovered that the whole flotilla had been dispersed by +the gale of the night before, and no part was near the mouth of the +Adour. Several officers returned in consequence, declaring that nothing +could be done. Thinking otherwise myself, and that this movement would +somehow take place, being connected with Lord Wellington’s movement on +our right on the Gaves, I went on, and found all the Spaniards on the +road in front of Bayonne, but doing nothing. All was quiet for a very +long time. About twelve o’clock, however, they were ordered to move on +and make a feint, and an attack was made by our great guns and rockets +at the same time, on the French armed corvette and gun-boats, to +destroy the latter, and at the same time to draw off the attention of +the French from the mouth of the river below Anglet, where we intended +to cross on the rafts. + +The Spaniards were not much opposed, and went on boldly enough, as far +as was intended, and had a few wounded. The sharp-shooting, however, +was very slack. The fifth division at the same time, made a show on +their side, between the Nive and the Adour, but not with any serious +intention. I then went into an empty house with Dr. Macgregor and some +others, to make a fire and get some breakfast, which they had brought +with them; and adding our several stocks together, we fared very well. +We then made our way through Anglet, and across the sands, and through +a pine-wood, to the river’s mouth. A brigade of Guards, another of the +King’s German Legion, the Light Battalion (most excellent men), and a +Rocket Brigade, were there all ready to pass, but from the immense +difficulties which had been met with in the transport of the boats and +pontoons over land, only two of the light companies were over about one +o’clock, when I arrived, and a temporary suspension of the passage of +men had been ordered by General Hope. + +The order, however, had just come again to pass over as fast as +possible, and before I left the spot (about three o’clock) three rafts, +formed each upon three pontoons, and carrying each about fifty or +fifty-five men, were at work ferrying across on a cable, and the six +small boats were also plying, so that about five hundred men were then +nearly over, and they were going at the rate of two hundred, or two +hundred and fifty per hour. I left the rocket men, each with one rocket +ready in his hand, and three on his back in a case, with three poles on +his shoulder, just going to cross. + +Elphinstone had been quite in despair; the pontoon car sunk so much +in the sand, that at last thirty horses would not move them, and for +the last five hundred yards they were conveyed on the shoulders of the +guardsmen; twenty-six men to a pontoon. At length all his difficulties +were thus overcome, and the non-arrival of the bridge, of which we +could see nothing, was not his fault, but that of the weather. + +I helped the engineering again a little, by joining the party who were +endeavouring to find the best place to which to fix cables against +high-water—as I discovered the last tide-mark in the sands, and thus +found a landing-place and post, clearly above high-water mark; for the +springs were past, and of course every succeeding tide would rise to +a less height. We then proceeded along the river towards our battery +on the bank, which was firing at the corvette, &c. When we had gone a +little way through the pine-wood, we found all the roads almost stopped +by trees cut down by the French, and the road we took near the bank, +which was clear, carried us opposite a smaller French corvette and +three gun-boats, which had just placed themselves in the river. At +first we thought them a part of our intended bridge, but soon found it +otherwise, and that we should be fired at, for our small party on the +other side the river had not advanced, and all the opposite bank and +village, as well as the boats, were still in possession of the French. +We therefore turned, and at last made our way through to the battery. +There we learnt that the guns and rockets had sunk one gun-boat, and +frightened away the rest and the corvette, which had all been hauled up +close to the bridge under Bayonne, where we saw them. + +I could not understand that the rockets had done more than cause some +alarm, though twelve had been fired at once at the shipping, and from +no great distance. Only one, or at most two, had fairly struck, and +nothing had been burnt. The heavy guns had struck the corvette, but +could not do much damage before she was off, and just at first the +corvette and battery on the French side seem to have had the best of +it. Count Damas, who was there with the Duke d’Angoulême, looking on, +told me that the artillery had knocked off the colours of the corvette +whilst he was there, and that one of the light Germans had jumped into +the water, had fetched out the colours, and had presented them to the +commanding artillery officer. Others say that these colours were on the +gun-boat. The French were so alarmed at the rockets, that the vessel, +when struck, was abandoned. + +Close to our guns we found the other brigade of Guards, &c., making an +immense fire with the fir-trees, which had been cut down on all sides, +for the day, though fine, was very cold. Dr. Macgregor, one or two +others, as well as myself, went up a little sand-hill near, just to +look round, when a twenty-four pound shot from Bayonne came close to +us point blank. The horses turned right round, and the Doctor losing +his hat, I thought at first that he had been struck. Of course we soon +beat a retreat, and found we were in a spot where this was the usual +reception, and a position of which the French were jealous. + +Just as I came away, a little before five, I saw a column of French, +apparently about seven hundred, going very quickly through the wood on +the opposite bank from the citadel towards our men, who had passed to +attack them. I knew that we had nearly a battalion across, about seven +hundred men, and did not feel much alarm with regard to the event. I +pitied the men more for the cold night they were likely to pass on the +bare sands, without baggage, &c. This morning I have heard an attack +was made just afterwards, but that some of the rocket skirmishers were +put in advance with the other skirmishers on our side, and the French +were so alarmed that, though much superior, they would not advance, and +our men beat them off. + +The flotilla was this morning collected near the mouth of the Adour, +and, I suppose, before this the bridge is begun. At any rate we could +have passed across as many men as we wished before this. No one has +returned to-day to this moment, and as I had business, and one of my +horses was a little sore in the back, I staid at home. My grey pony +started before six yesterday morning, and I was not at home till past +seven at night, having ridden above thirty miles. + +Some of the Spanish regiments were very fine men, and well equipped +in every respect, much better than some of our poor fellows; but the +officers looked very bad indeed; and when the men advanced, they were +led on by their officers with cloaks on, folded over their mouths, +looking as miserable as possible. + +The men also, like the French, always march with their great coats on +over everything, so that our good new clothes were all concealed by +their own old threadbare overcoats. On the other hand, none of our +men had their coats on, cold as it was, and everyone was alive and in +activity. I stood next to Don Carlos d’Espagne, and heard him receive +his directions and information as to what parts we occupied and what +the French, &c. General Hope (though not well, and too soon, I believe) +came on to take the command, of which the division were very glad. + +I fear the Spaniards, though better than they were, and though only the +best were in advance, will soon begin to do mischief. As I returned +here I saw all their stragglers about the houses near the road, and +telling every one that in Spain _Francesi roban e rompen todos todos_. +They soon soil our new clothing, and go about with dirty and scowling +discontented faces, like some of our good countrymen in Ireland. The +industry of the French on the sand-banks had been very great in the +cultivation of the vine. The south-east side of the very bank on which +the sea beat on the north-west, a pure white sand, was divided with +square reed enclosures, and covered with vines. The Anglet wine (which, +as a very light wine, is in repute), I believe, is there produced. Many +of the inhabitants at Anglet and the neighbourhood, remained, and, in +general, seemed glad the movement was over. One old woman, in a house +that was near the river’s mouth, said she was most happy to see us, +as she had been for the last two months in complete misery, not being +allowed to speak to any strangers by the French, nor even allowed to +go to Bayonne to buy a few sous-worth of snuff. I suppose they feared +the spread of information, for this was close to the spot intended for +our bridge, of which I understand, and have no doubt, they had a very +clear knowledge. Two persons of the better class have come in here by +sea from Bordeaux, round by Passages, to pay their respects, and give +information to _son Altesse Royale_. Colonel La Fitte told me that they +were as anxious there for Lord Wellington as the Jews were for the +Messiah, so sanguine are the emigrés. + +_February 26th._—All accounts now agree that the French have from +ten thousand to above eleven thousand in the town and citadel, three +thousand in the latter, the rest in the town and lines. Another show +was made against our people the morning after they crossed, but no +attack. Considering that the French had eleven thousand men, that it +was eight or nine hours before we had above five or six hundred men +across, this passage of the Adour and our establishment on the right +bank is most disgraceful to their troops, or to their General, and +proportionally creditable to ours. In the evening of the 24th our +flotilla crossed the bar and got into the Adour over a most tremendous +surf. Several accidents ensued in consequence, and many lives were +lost; some say as many as forty in the whole, of all nations. I believe +about fifteen English sailors were lost. None but the English sailors +would have dared to enter at such a time. Five boats were upset, most +of them very near it, and one brig, with stores, aground, as well as +one small ship of war, a gun-vessel I believe. Some of the flotilla +never got in at all. The place fixed for the bridge was not so wide as +was expected and prepared for, so sufficient boats are ready, and last +night all but about three were moored in their berths ready, and, in my +opinion, the bridge would be passable to-day. + +The loss of the French in the gun-boats and corvettes was greater than +we supposed, for the inhabitants inform us that a Captain of cannoniers +was killed, and several men, and the Captain of the corvette lost his +arm. The rockets also did mischief on shore: one man who is now in +here, had both legs carried off by a rocket. I have been since told, +the French lay down on their faces, and then ran away from them. An +order has been issued in Bayonne for all persons who have not and +cannot procure six months’ provisions to quit the town, and numbers +were coming this way along the road yesterday. I went out that way +on purpose to meet them, and talk to them. They all agreed in the +number of men, about eleven thousand, but said that a great part were +conscripts and weakly. + +This I concluded to be the case, as all those unequal to an active +campaign would be naturally left in the walls for quiet garrison duty. +The alarm had been terrible in the town, where an attack was expected +two days since. Every householder was ordered to have an immense tub +filled with water, ready at his door, &c. Count Reille has gone to +the rear, some said ill, and Thouvenot commanded again, and most said +that Marshal Soult was gone to Paris, some to Mount Marsan, and that +Count Gazan commanded. A Frenchman, who came yesterday, told Monsieur +d’Arcangues, an inhabitant here, that he had just passed through La +Vendée, and that that country was in arms again; that he had himself +seen several armed parties, amounting some of them to seven or eight +hundred men. This will at least stop the conscription a little. + +I communicated this good news to _son Altesse Royale_, and at the same +time made him a little _cadeau_, by begging that he would permit me to +send him King Joseph’s saddle-cloth, which I had picked up at Vittoria, +but had never used, as being rather too splendid (blue with a very +broad gold border). He was very civil, and in return lent me a paper +of the 11th, which he had just got out with his baggage from England, +a second edition of the _Courier_, containing in the corner a notice +of the arrival of the message through France from Lord Castlereagh, +a piece of news which alarmed him not a little, though our French +accounts still say that the negotiations are broken off, and the +Allies close to Paris. + +General Harispe had raised about three thousand or three thousand +eight hundred of his countrymen, the Basques, a fine race of people, +but since our late move most of them have run home, and his corps, +the maire here told me yesterday, is reduced to about five hundred. +Our officers remain delighted with their reception on the right. They +all say that every one talks with horror of making war in an enemy’s +country; but they can declare from experience that they never wish +again to make war in a friendly one, if this is to be the manner of +making war in an enemy’s. Nothing has been done on the right of any +consequence yet, merely preparations in case this bridge had failed; if +so, I think we should now have Lord Wellington back here directly from +Garris, where he has been, and the move will at last take place. + +I have just got my mules back from Passages, with six days’ hay, and +am now ready, though my Guardsman tailor has carried half my new +clothes with him across the Adour, and I never expect to see them +more, and have a Frenchman at work. Considering your lost box and all +contingencies, my last suit will probably stand me in about 35_l._ +sterling! + +The ride along the high road to Bayonne yesterday was interesting. The +refugees from the town, several of them very pretty Basques, were all +coming this way, laden with the little baggage they could carry off; +our artillery all moving up the contrary way; as well as the Spanish +troops; and hundreds of Basques, men and women, with great loads on +their heads (like our Welsh fruit-women going to Covent-Garden), only +their baskets were full of bread, biscuits, &c., and all in requisition +for the Spaniards. The bât animals and baggage parties of the Spaniards +are not a little amusing, and their led chargers with their tails +buckled up, and in swaddling clothes, with dirty magnificent housings, +dancing about half-starved, with their heads in the air. Every fifty +yards a dead bullock or horse, but chiefly the former, and every two +hundred, an ox dying, and a Spanish muleteer or straggler waiting until +the bullock driver abandoned him, to turn him up, and cut his heart +out, before he was dead, but when in a state too weak to resist. The +heart alone seemed to be worth the trouble, as nothing else could be +cut off from the bones, and bone and all did not pay the cutting up and +carriage. + +The destruction and present price of cattle are tremendous, and I hear +we have been obliged to give the Spaniards some of our best Irish +cattle, as we had no other at hand. The only meat they seemed to have +with them was a number of ox cars with sides of Spanish bacon; this, +and sardines, seemed to form their supply. The men, however, are very +fine men, and in my opinion, were they well commanded, would make +excellent troops. Nevertheless, I was by no means sorry to find that +we had still an English brigade of about twelve or fifteen hundred men +(Lord Aylmer’s) between us and the eleven thousand French at Bayonne, +for I am sure five thousand French would force their way through the +fifteen thousand Spaniards if they chose to try, though we should in +the end prevent their return. At any rate we should have early notice, +and alarm from the runaways. The French beat our men at that, for we +cannot catch them, and the Spaniards would not be easily caught by the +French. + +We had a most anxious scene here two nights since. Just as our vessels +got into the Adour, a suttling brig, Dutch-built, and very strong, to +save pilotage fees, tried to get into this river without the pilot +boats. The boats towing missed the mouth, were both swamped, and the +men in most imminent danger, as well as the vessel, which was driven +in without guidance, aground for an hour, but saved, and at last all +lives were saved, or at least all but one. When the boat was filled, +another wave drove it against the ship, and three caught hold of the +ship-chains and got in; the fourth was knocked about in the water +between the ship, the boat, and the wall, but at last got his chin on +the sinking boat, came up the harbour so, was hauled in and saved. In +my morning walk on the sea wall, I found another ship on shore, a large +brig with a valuable cargo, a private speculation. This will be the +third wreck, but considering how many vessels have been here, and how +they have been all exposed, and half of them absolutely at the mercy of +any north or north-west squalls, we have been most fortunate. + +_Later._—In my ride to-day I met about thirty or forty wounded men of +the Buffs and 39th, second division; but this is the consequence of +the last move, I believe, as they told me they were wounded at or near +Cambo. We have reports of an affair, but here nothing is yet known. We +are becoming, instead of being like head-quarters, the centre of all +good information, a mere hospital station in the rear, and famous as +usual for ill-founded reports, which the medical men probably invent +from _ennui_ on these occasions. A large brig has arrived from Bordeaux +with wine, but, in my opinion, almost too late for the speculation. + +_Sunday, 27th February, Post-day._—In my walk this morning I saw +another boat swamped, trying to get out of the river over the bar. It +was actually worked by the surf into this position, with the stern +stuck into the sand of the bar, and fairly went over, with the five +men. For some time all five were visible, two swimming, and three +clinging to the keel of the wreck, which was bottom uppermost. Another +boat, which had intended to follow this one out, was fortunately close +at hand, just out of the reach of the surf, and by this means the +two swimmers were saved by giving them a rope’s end, and also one of +the three from the wreck, as it floated inwards. There was a struggle +between the three, when a wave came, and two appeared no more. The +relations of the two men witnessed their loss, as well as myself, for +we were standing on the edge of the wall within ten yards of the men, +but unable to help them. The distress you may conceive. We become in +some degree hardened by seeing death so continually, and in so many +forms, as we do here. + +I have also this morning met with five English seamen, part of the +crew of one of our provision ships, which were lost some months since +on this coast. The master and four men, being from St. Andero, and the +French having heard of the fever there at that time, they were put +under quarantine on the coast, about forty miles on the other side of +Bayonne. Afterwards they escaped, and lived among the inhabitants, who, +they say, treated them well, as the master had money. At last, hearing +from the French that we had crossed the Adour, they made through the +woods this way, and fell in with our cavalry about three leagues on +the other side of Bayonne, General Vandeleur being on that side of the +Adour, with two regiments. They mention that they saw on the road going +to Dax a number of the wounded French from Bayonne, and also troops +retiring that way, they were told, to the amount of fifteen thousand, +but the number must have been considerably exaggerated. + +The servant of Captain Pitts, of the Engineers, came in yesterday with +an account of his master’s death. Captain Pitts was one of General +Cole’s staff, and a most spirited, zealous, skilful, and promising +young man. He was killed on the right a few days since, when our +men had driven the French over the Gave d’Oleron. He went down to +reconnoitre, and take a sketch of the banks, and make observations +with a view to the formation of a bridge. His servant says that he had +finished, and was looking round just before he came off, when a ball +struck him on the head. General Cole’s staff have been very unfortunate +this last year, and indeed the loss of officers in his whole division +has been very considerable. I used to think that it sometimes affected +his spirits, though it never induced him to endeavour to diminish it, +for he always was and would be foremost in danger. + +Count Damas has just informed me, that Lord Wellington has now crossed +both the Gaves, and is near Orthes; but we have no authentic news from +him. All accounts agree that General Picton was wounded in the affair +on crossing the Gave; but, it is said, not badly. + +I picked up this morning a Spanish paper, and on making it out, +found that it was a letter from a Spanish officer in camp, near +Bayonne, telling some friend in the rear that Murillo and Mina had +beat the French across the Gave, and were in pursuit along with two +English divisions, having taken forty guns, &c., and adding that the +inhabitants were _muy malos_, but that we treated them as well as +Spaniards, and that they, the Spaniards, were ordered to do the same, +but that we should see, &c. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Jean de Luz, February 28th, 1814._—Lieut.-Colonel +C—— has now returned here, and we have at length some authentic +accounts of what has passed. Lord Wellington was at Orthes, where +he left him, intending to stay there a short time to arrange +communications with General Hope’s column, &c. Our men forded the Gave +de Pau, and drove the enemy from Orthes. As they made some stand in +that town, it was a little _rompé’d_, as we call it. General Picton +was not wounded, and our loss has been inconsiderable upon the whole. +Colonel C—— returned by my old road through Peyrehorade, Ramons, and +across the Adour, at Port de Lanne, and so to Bayonne, and then across +the new bridge here. He found the first division driving the French +from the heights above the citadel of Bayonne, close into the town last +night. This was done, but with some loss and much firing. Those hills +are important, for in some measure they command the citadel. To-morrow +we march to join head-quarters. I believe we shall not pass the new +bridge, as a Spanish army crosses that way, and will occupy it all day, +and the road also; in addition to which, we have hitherto only cavalry +patroles along that road, and the French have halted a force at Dax, +or Acts, or Ax (in the different maps). I understand that we are to +go by Ustaritz, Hasparren, Garris, Sauveterre, and Orthes. This is a +roundabout bad road, but will be a new country to me. The weather most +luckily continues fine hitherto. + +Our accounts from the interior are, that Toulouse and Bordeaux are +both ready to hoist the white flag, and only wait for our sanction and +declaration. This point of etiquette may spoil all. I think we should +declare our readiness to support them the moment they declare publicly +their readiness to take that part. This is a critical moment. Many are +alarmed at Schwartzenburg’s not having made more progress; he seems +to have hung back, for his army was stronger than Blucher’s, and was +forwarded six weeks since, and yet we only hear of Blucher being near +Paris. I must now prepare to “_romper de march_” as Jack Portugoose +calls it. So adieu. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + Passage of the River—Start for Orthes—Effect of the Battle—Feelings + of the French—Wellington wounded—St. Sever—Church and + School—Aire—Wellington on the Conduct of the Allies—Indurating effects + of War. + + + Head-quarters, St. Sever, + March 5th, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Here I am with head-quarters, and within two leagues of my old quarter, +Mont de Marsan. We have had a most unpleasant, and, for the baggage +animals, a most laborious journey, from the terrible state of the +weather—hail-storms, rain-storms, with violent south-westerly winds +almost all the time. By warm clothing and good living I have escaped +with only one day’s return of rheumatism, which has now gone off, and I +feel in very tolerable repair. + +On the 1st of March we left St. Jean de Luz, and passed the grand +bridge below Bayonne, in sight of, and I really believe within gunshot +of the walls. We all filed over in safety, and then along the sea-wall +for half a mile, with water on both sides, to Boucaut. I was surprised +that the animals were not more alarmed. + +The bridge answered perfectly; it consisted of thirty-six two-masted +vessels, with anchors across all the way at the head and stern of +each; a strong beam across the centre of each, between the masts, to +which the cables were fastened, to form the road, so that each formed +a separate bridge, and the destruction of one cable only affected one +space. The boards were then fixed on these cables, and were interlaced +all the way by small cords, through notches in the boards; and thus we +went safely along between the masts, in a road about twelve or fourteen +feet wide, differing, however, from a common bridge, for the arches +between the boats (from the stretching of the cables) formed concaves +instead of convex arches, some of them descending nearly to the water’s +edge. It answered, however, perfectly, and will continue to do so, +unless the Spaniards suffer the Trench to come and destroy it. Of this +I have my doubts. The crews were living in their vessels at the head +and stern, cooking away and going on as usual. Five or six gun-boats +were moored about it, then came the boom and boats ready to tow ashore +any fireship. + +At Boucaut we found Sir John Hope and his staff, so we were ordered to +the next village on the road. Our managing Quarter-Master clumsily went +to a bad village of a dozen houses, out of the road, when there was a +very good one on the right road, only a few miles further on. Several +of us had no houses, and were told we must find them for ourselves. +After waiting for some time until my baggage came, I determined to go +on the right road until I found a quarter vacant, trusting with full +confidence to the good disposition of the inhabitants, which is most +excellent towards the English. After looking into five, I found a +vacant one a mile and a-half off, no officer within half a mile, and no +English troops within two miles, and none at all towards the interior +of France on that road. The people expected some one, and a bed was +ready, and a hearty welcome I received. + +In my way I went round by the picquet, within about eight hundred yards +of Bayonne citadel, where my tailor was on fatigue-duty in the works, +and I thus recovered my clothes. As I was just going to bed at eight +o’clock, a violent cannonading and sharp musketry commenced sounding +close by us. I did not think it prudent to go to bed until it ceased, +for we were within about a mile and a-half of a garrison of eleven +thousand men; but suspecting what was the case, that it was only our +people driving the French out of a field-work on the hill, and hemming +them in closer to the citadel, I was little alarmed. + +My host and his family were great royalists in their professions, as +they had for the last six months been more than usually oppressed by +the French. He had a house and ten acres of land; the house probably +worth about 10_l._ a-year in England. The rent of his land was one-half +the produce of corn and maize; the taxes on his house had been already +that year sixty francs, and his contributions fifteen bushels of maize +and, I think, ten of corn. He said that no one could live if this +continued, and that all the young men were carried off. He had one +quarter to pay still, but expecting us every day, he put it off from +time to time, though much threatened, and now thought himself safe. + +From thence we started early for Peyrehorade, rather a large place, +nearly as large as Kingston-upon-Thames. It was a market-day, and the +people of the country crowded in as usual. They all stared at us, most +saluted us; all were civil, and we got our quarters with much more +facility, and met with ten times the civility we had ever done in +Spain. I never witnessed a single quarrel, though the town was crowded +as it is during an election with you, and we had only about twenty +dragoons to protect all the twelve hundred animals and baggage of +head-quarters. + +My host was particularly civil, and gave me a very good apartment and +an excellent dinner—some roast beef _à l’Anglaise_, a duck, and a fowl. +The whole family dined with us, wife, mother, and two daughters. The +eldest son, who had been intended for an attorney, had been taken as +a conscript, and was wounded at Leipsic—since that time they had not +heard of him. I comforted them by suggesting that he must have been +left at Mayence. The next son was sixteen, and at school at St. Sever; +next year it became his turn to take his chance as a conscript. You may +well conceive that we were considered as welcome guests; independently +of the expectation of having coffee and sugar cheap for grandmamma, and +English linens, muslins, &c., for the two ugly misses. + +On the 3rd of March we started again for Orthes, the scene of the +famous battle, of which you will have heard before you receive this +letter, and of which we received several imperfect accounts as we went +along. The reception all along the road, and at Orthes, was the same as +at Peyrehorade. Dr. M—— and Major G—— just stopped in the stable of a +château for shelter, when the owner came out and took them in, and gave +them cold turkey and champaign. At Orthes I got an excellent quarter +at the house of the _Juge de Paix_, who was very hospitable as usual; +and as the weather was so excessively bad, and my Portuguese almost +dead with their walk of twenty miles in the rain and mud, I stopped the +night there, notwithstanding the head-quarters were regularly eight +miles further at Soult. I knew the latter was a miserable place, which +was another inducement with me to remain. + +At Orthes I found about two thousand wounded, one thousand English, +and the others French and Portuguese; the latter had behaved well, as +usual. I found the Adjutant-general, Pakenham, confined to his bed, ill +at the inn, but, at nine at night, and this morning, very much better. +The hospitals are all established, and in full activity. Lord March was +shot in the chest, but the surgeon hoped he would do well, and thought +so; he could not, however, find the ball, but had reason to think it +had not passed the lungs. Colonel Brook’s brother (a schoolfellow of +George’s) was shot through the lungs, and there is little hope of him. + +The affair at Orthes was quite unexpected; as they had suffered our +army to pass all the rivers, no one expected this desperate stand, for +such I am told it was, the French having seldom fought better. They +stood some time after they had ceased to fire, and it is therefore +concluded that they had had no ammunition left; and even after our +cavalry (who behaved well) was in the midst of them cutting away. At +last they gave way, and then fled quickly. Their loss no one knows, as +the wounded got off to the villages round; but all say that their army +is actually reduced above eight thousand men, as the conscripts are +all running home as fast as they can. Above twenty had come back to +Peyrehorade; and one gentleman-like young man I met at my quarter there +was a convalescent conscript, and such he said he should now always +remain, unless affairs took another turn again. + +Our state here is most curious; all riding about singly, entering any +house we please, and well received everywhere, the baggage straggling +all over the country; every one declaring that one man had caused +all their misery for the last three years. The Bourbons are almost +forgotten; and few, even of the better sort of people, know who the +Duke d’Angoulême is. All want peace, and, therefore, wish him well. The +French people are just now humbled to a most astonishing degree—I could +scarcely have believed it possible. + +I went about talking to the people, and explaining a little who our +“royal tiger” is, and why he came as he did. At Flagenan I found the +_maire_ and townspeople waiting to pay their respects to him in form. +This was bolder than at most places; and I was sorry to mortify them +by telling them he had already passed. At Peyrehorade, when the French +army went by, every place was shut up; when we came, every place and +all the shops were opened. + +Their horror of the Spaniards is, however, very great. Still the people +would take no active part; they remained quiet, hoping for peace. At +Orthes Marshal Soult ordered the inhabitants to arm and assist; and +the action was so close, on a formidable position on the hills above +the town, that several balls fell into the houses; but instead, the +inhabitants all shut themselves up, and there waited the event. He +vowed vengeance, and declared that the town should be pillaged in +consequence. Of course they wished us success, as you may well conceive. + +In many places the French have done much injury to the inhabitants +as they went off, burning mills, bridges, forage, and the suburbs of +Navarens, on military accounts, but plundering also very considerably +on private accounts. The people now fear that we are too weak, and +begin to tremble. + +It is a trying time for them. The schoolmaster here has rubbed out his +_Collége Impériale_. This may be his ruin if matters change again. +At Mont de Marsan, as I expected, we have found immense stores. This +place, St. Sever, is larger than Orthes or Peyrehorade, and is said to +have had much _émigré_ and _ancienne noblesse_. The reception, however, +as to quarters, has not been quite so good as hitherto, more from +alarm, probably than anything else. + +Lord Wellington and General Alava were close together when struck, and +both on the hip, but on different sides, and neither seriously injured, +as the surgeon told me who dressed them. Lord Wellington’s was a bad +bruise, and the skin was broken. I fear that his riding so much since +has made it rather of more consequence; but hope the two days’ halt +here will put him in the right way again, as all our prospects here +would vanish with that man. + +From this vicinity the French took the road to Toulouse, and, you will +observe, made another stand near Aire. The Portuguese, I am sorry to +say, ran at that place; and we were at first repulsed, but General +Barnes’s brigade came up, and set all to rights, by driving the French +on again, and taking some prisoners. Our way here has been in some +degree difficult and dangerous, from the flooded rivers and broken-down +bridges, which have been hitherto only slightly repaired, so as to be +just passable. At the Adour, it is reported that we have here actually +been delayed two days. At Port de Lanne, we passed it on two large +rafts, and two ferry-boats, with some risk: my boat was nearly over, +from two spirited horses being on board; and my little mule, with his +panniers on, jumped into the water. This put my linen and sugar, &c., +in a pretty mess, as you may suppose, and drowned the live fowls on his +back. At Peyrehorade I also lost a mule, and was obliged, consequently, +to overload the rest. + +At this place I last night recovered my mule, and lost nothing on +the road, except the drowned fowls, which can now be replaced here. +The history of all the mishaps on a march is curious. I dined at the +ferry-house, and did not go away till all my own nine animals were +clear over. Some persons have never heard of their baggage since, and +are now here without it: it will turn up soon, no doubt, at least in +great part. + +My old host at Mont de Marsan has sent to inquire after me. One feels +now quite strange in an enemy’s country, meeting deserters around on +the road, gens-d’armes, the same conscripts going home, and a stout +peasantry with great Irish bludgeons, all very civil and friendly; +and Lord Wellington, by proclamation, ordering the _maires_ to form +an armed police, and protect their own districts themselves from +stragglers, muleteers, &c. + +I always expected that Soult would retire towards Toulouse, to fall +back on Suchet, and either hang on our flank, if we should go on to +Bordeaux, or draw us from the sea and our supplies if we follow him up. +We can push on to Bordeaux and the river, in my opinion, and then sweep +on before us towards Toulouse. Time will show Lord Wellington’s plans, +which no one can do more than guess at. In the end I was right as to +his crossing the Gaves in force. + +I have just met with the Baron de Barthe. He tells me that all prospers +with the royal cause, and that the French provinces of Poitou, Guienne, +Brittany, &c., are all in open insurrection, and the white flag +flying. P——’s account of the state of France on his side coincides, +as you must observe, almost precisely with mine, as far as I have yet +seen. The people are all at market here to-day, just as if nothing +were the matter, and we were not here. Hitherto there is only hatred +in many of the lower classes and a few of the higher to Bonaparte; +but no effort for the Bourbons, and much alarm in the purchasers of +national property. The _ancienne noblesse_ is beginning to talk and +to stir a little, and the _nouveaux riches_ are by some laughed at. +Public opinion begins to dare to vent itself, and the minds of the +people at large are, I think, veering fast. Many think us too weak at +present. It is said that we move to-morrow to Aire, on the Toulouse +road; but nothing is fixed. I went to inquire after Lord Wellington +to-day; he was busy writing, and said he was better, and looked well +enough. The Duke d’Angoulême has sent to Mont de Marsan as his agent a +_professeur_, who was despised there, and this has given offence. The +truth is that he does not know where as yet to find men of weight and +talent. + +_St. Sever, March 6th, 1814._—The mail is to be dispatched to-day, +so I add a few lines, as we halt here again to-day, and probably +to-morrow, owing to the flooded state of the river, and the enemy +having destroyed the bridges in their retreat to Auch, where we are +told they now are. Marshal Soult, it is said, finding that the Italians +also are now beginning to desert since Murat’s new alliances, has +ordered all Italian soldiers to be disarmed. Another story current, but +not so much to be relied on, is, that Bonaparte has been badly wounded, +and desired General Macdonald to put him out of his misery; and that +the latter took him at his word, and shot him. + +The Duke d’Angoulême was at high mass again to-day, at which some +hundreds of the new levy attended, my hosts tell me, known by their +short cropped heads. Our situation here is so different from what it +was in Spain, that it is quite droll. I have a general invitation from +my host whilst I stay. To-day I go to Lord Wellington’s. + +_Later on the 7th._—We stay to-day, as the bridges are not repaired +and the floods have not quite subsided. I walked down to the bridge +with Lord Wellington yesterday, and observed him limp a little, and he +said he was in rather more pain than usual, but that it was nothing. At +dinner yesterday, he said he was laughing at General Alava having had a +knock, and telling him it was all nonsense, and that he was not hurt, +when he received this blow, and a worse one, in the same place himself. +Alava said it was to punish him for laughing at him. At dinner we had +the new Swedish tiger, the Prince’s aide-de-camp, who had been here a +few days, covered with gold. His pantaloons are most _magnifique_. He +seemed a good-tempered man, but I did not think very much of him. + +Two of the Bordeaux people were also there, who are to return to-day, +and General Frere’s aide-de-camp from Peyrehorade, as he is marching +up that way by Orthes. The people in office at Pau sent to say that +they were ready to declare for the King, and Count Damas boldly enough +went over there to see the state of things. He has come back safe, and +reports them ready, but that they cannot take any public step until +we are in force there. Amongst other opinions and feelings here, we, +the English, have our partisans. Many say they should like an English +Government, and Lord Wellington told me, laughing, he believed we had +almost as many friends and partisans as the Bourbons. Peace certainly +is by far the most popular project of all. I am excessively hurried +with business to-day, and must prepare to see Lord Wellington. + +_Head-Quarters, Aire, March 11th, 1814._—By a sudden order we moved +from St. Sever to this place yesterday, so far on our road to Toulouse, +and the scene of the battle a few days since, when the Algarve brigade +(all Portuguese) took to their heels, and the English brigade of +General Barnes behaved so well. + +We are now playing a bolder game than usual. The French, as I +suspected, took the Toulouse road from St. Sever, and have a column in +our front on the road to Auch, I believe, and another near or towards +Tarbes. This leaves Bordeaux open. To take advantage of this, we have +also divided two divisions under Marshal Beresford; the seventh and +the fourth are gone to Bordeaux, and must be by this time close to the +town, which is said to be ripe to join us, and declare for the King, +The Duke d’Angoulême is gone that way. + +In front here we have Sir Rowland Hill’s corps, the second and sixth +divisions, and also the third and light divisions; and General Frere’s +Spanish army of twelve thousand men, to be fed by us, is on its road +up, and to be, it is understood, at St. Sever to-day; and to support +this main movement against Soult, who is said to be near Auch. In the +meantime, General Hope remains with the first division, including all +the Guards and German Legion (the choice men and in high order, and +undiminished by service nearly), together with the fifth division and +General Don Carlos d’Espagne’s Spanish brigade, and, it is believed, +also Lord Aylmer’s British one, to blockade and take Bayonne. It +is most unfortunate that so large a force should be required for +that object; but we dare not trust, I conclude, the bridge and our +communications to the Spaniards’ keeping. + +Great preparations are making against Bayonne, and the garrison have +been driven in very close to the citadel; but no steps have been +hitherto taken for the actual siege by regular approaches or batteries. +Our army is thus very much divided just now, and the communications +would be difficult, except that the country is with us. All the French +posting establishment has remained, and nearly everything goes on as +usual. The people quietly suffer us to take our own measures, and +offer no opposition, though not openly declaring or helping us. It is +remarkable that we go about as if in England, and yet no mischief has +been done either to officers, men, or baggage. If the country people +had been like the Spaniards, and against us, what we are now doing +would have been out of the question. Half our army, by straggling +about, would have been knocked on the head. We have, fortunately, just +now plenty of money, and pay for everything; and the English are in the +highest repute. + +In general, also, we have behaved well. There are, however, many +instances to the contrary; and many more, I am sorry to say, amongst +the Portuguese. When the Spaniards come, I am afraid things will be +much worse. The mischief done by, and injury arising from, the passing +through a country of the very best disciplined army is considerable. +The people feel that, and are ready in general to submit to much, +especially as the French army has been so much worse than ours, and +does not pay for anything, whilst, on the other hand, we enable many to +make almost little fortunes against quiet times; and Lord Wellington +begins upon a plan, which I hope he will have funds to continue, of +paying for all damage done when fairly stated. Some most exaggerated +and unreasonable demands have been made to him in consequence. Guineas +are already spread all over this province, and pass most readily. + +I am at an apothecary’s here, who was, I am sorry to say, robbed by our +men just after the attack. Lord Hill offered to send him the money, +nearly 15_l._ and a watch; but he declined taking it. + +Lord Wellington has a cold, but rode here yesterday in his white cloak, +in a terribly cold day, with the snow directly in his face; for we have +now got another little winter here, which is unusual. + +At the latter place there was a large church which was built by the +English. In general, it is exactly in the style we call Saxon, or Old +English, circular arches and Saxon ornaments. I suspect, however, it +must have been built just as the Gothic style was coming into fashion, +as the side aisle arches and part of the body of the church were +Pointed or Gothic; and this did not appear to have been, like some +of ours, a subsequent alteration. A handsome small old Corinthian +façade was inserted within the large Saxon heavy arch, which formed +the original entrance of the front of the church. In the town was a +very good school, called _Le Collége Impérial_. About ninety-two boys +were then in the school, who all remained, and were very civil to our +officers whenever we went there. The boys seemed to wish us well; and +they do not usually conceal their real opinions. The establishment +was in an old Benedictine abbey, and was exceedingly good. The lower +cloisters and the great church, gutted at the Revolution, formed +excellent play-places; and all the great corridors above were half +enclosed by small wooden rooms for the boys, each having one to himself +about eight feet by five, holding his bed, his chair, table, and box; +and, by being all open at the top to the gallery, they were airy and +yet retired and private. The expense of this school is about 400 +francs, or 20_l._ a-year. For this, Latin, writing, French, geography, +music, dancing, and a little mathematics were taught. Some boys could +read Livy, Tacitus, and Cicero. The dinner and other arrangements are +cleanly and good. Napoleon gave them the building. The funds were all +private, no foundation, lands, or allowances from Government. + +The road from St. Sever here was through a rich flat bottom near the +Adour, with a high bank all the way on the south side, with several +chateaux. We crossed the Adour to come here at Sever, over our +newly-made bridge; came along the great road on the north bank, and +recrossed again at a ferry at this place, this for the fourth time +since we left St. Jean de Luz. The country seems well cultivated, and +not unlike parts of the Bath road, in Berkshire—a flat corn country, +with wooded, rising grounds and villas at some distance, which +formed the valley. We passed Grenade, rather a large village, about +eight miles from St. Sever, and a large chateau about six miles off, +belonging to the Marquis de St. Maurice, the chateau deriving its name +from him. We also passed a small village, about four miles further on, +called Cageres; and four miles more brought us here. The bridge at +Barcelonne is about a mile and a half higher up, over the Adour, and +has not been destroyed by the French; they only broke one arch of wood, +which we have repaired. We were to have crossed there to get hither, +but I came almost the first, found a ferry just re-established, and +came over; most followed the same way. + +Aire is not so large a town as St. Sever or Orthes; it is about the +size of Epsom. It is close to the river, is old and dirty, and half +deserted. Several good houses gutted, or, at least, without furniture; +and the ruins of a very large modern-built bishop’s palace, destroyed +during the Revolution, when this place suffered much. At Upper Aire, +which stands well on a hill half a mile above this, is a celebrated +school or college, or rather two united. It was first formed about +sixty or eighty years since, a handsome building erected for the +purpose, and well contrived—in plan much like that at St. Sever. It +was in great repute before the Revolution, but was then destroyed, and +almost completely gutted. Within the last ten years, the professors +and clergy have by degrees, by charities, charity sermons, and +great exertions, nearly restored the whole again without Government +assistance; and, before this late attack, above two hundred boys were +there. In one building there are above a hundred boys, all destined +for the church; in another, above a hundred for lay employments. An +old church built by the English, but much altered, and in a much later +style than that at St. Sever, stands between the schools, is used by +them as a church, and unites the two establishments. The whole has +a good broad play-terrace on the brow of the hill above the river. +Education here is cheaper than at St. Sever, though there are no +Government funds at either. The yearly cost is about three hundred or +three hundred and fifty francs. I rather think clothing was, however, +included in the estimate at St. Sever, and that would make the two +much alike. The studies are the same. It puts me in mind of Maynooth +College, near Dublin, and seemed what our colleges were three or four +centuries ago. + +My patron or host at St. Sever is a sort of small landholder and +noble, with his house in town and villa two miles off, which dated, +as he took care to tell me, 130 years, as the builder’s mark and +his ancestor’s name proved, and therefore, “_C’est clair, mais ce +n’est rien pour moi, c’est bien vrai maintenant, que ma famille est +supérieure à celle de M. le Maire de notre ville_,” &c. M. le Maire +had made most of his money by dabbling with national property during +the Revolution, and succeeded better than many others here. “But,” +continued my host, “as I have always been considered one of the +noblesse, I have suffered accordingly; _mais n’importe_—I am grown a +philosopher. I never can see such times as Robespierre’s again; so +I see English, Spanish, Portuguese, and all with indifference, and +remain quiet. At the same time I am now English (he always said _nous +autres_, which often puzzled me), and I wish the cause well, and +would contribute much to its success.” He seemed surprised that this +contribution of maize for our horses was all paid for instantly, and +that in gold, and at a fair good price, even though M. le Maire, who +managed it (no one knew for what), detained eleven sous out of every +eighty from all to whom he made payments. M. La Borde de Menos was my +host’s name. He was very civil, and I dined with his family—his wife, +two daughters, and a son—whenever I was not engaged, which happened +only twice, at Lord Wellington’s. He also gave my men wine, &c.; in +short, I believe he rejoiced much at the change he had experienced in +having me instead of a whole company of officers, men and all, which he +had one day when we first came. + +In return for his treatment, I bought toys for the lad; gave some tea +to Madame in case of sickness, and a pretty cadeau to Mademoiselle. In +a word, we parted excellent friends. The many stories he told me of +what had passed in Robespierre’s time were curious. M. La Borde was +obliged to act with the Representant, and attend all meetings, to be +only pillaged and abused by every one, and to bow and say, “Thank you +all,” with his hat in his hand; and this was to prevent their having +an excuse for guillotining him, as thirty of the principal people were +put to death in the small town of St. Sever. The living alone and +staying away was of itself a heinous offence, and every requisition of +a cart for a day’s use was called for _sous peine de mort_. That was +the form of all demands. A ball was given by the Representant. Every +one was obliged to go or be suspected. Madame went. She had a valuable +gold watch-chain; but not daring to show it, she went with a cut steel +one. The Representant said, “_Mais où est donc votre chaine d’or? Le +publique en a besoin._” She was obliged to swear it had been stolen, +and to hide it ever afterwards. The Representant seemed incredulous, +and the risk of this fraud was great, but it answered. Monsieur was not +so lucky; he had a valuable ring, and attended one of the meetings with +it on. The Representant said, “_Tu F—— Noble, donnez moi ta bague, ce +n’est pas pour des gens comme toi; le publique en a besoin._” He took +it off and gave it up, and some months after saw it on the finger of +one of the Representant’s relations. + +I have now a will to draw up in case of accident, for Sir N. P——, +bart., to secure 10,000_l._ to each of his younger children. He is here +with his regiment; so adieu. + +Lord Wellington abuses the Allies for having been beaten when they +had the game in their hands; and says, one ran his head against the +Marne, and the other against the Seine, and the whole was ill-managed. +We have the further news of a French column having made its way from +Lyons to near Geneva again; but a report still later, that the Allies, +under Blucher, got into Bonaparte’s rear. These checks are, even if +they end in nothing, of the greatest use to him. They deter people +from declaring their opinions; may make every difference in that way +here and at Bordeaux; and I should not be surprised if they encouraged +Marshal Soult to make another stand near here, on this side the +Garonne, which I do not think he would otherwise have done. + +I am told that he is in a position at present from Tarbes to Plaisance, +on a ridge of hills, and that the country is full of positions. My +news is from M. D——, the husband of my young Spanish Bilboa lady, who +came to me to-day. They have left Bayonne from fear, and are waiting +the events of the war at Pau, whence he came over here—and like a true +placeman, thinking matters were about to change, he insinuated to me +that he should like an appointment under the new order of things—under +the direction of the Bourbons or the English. + +He also wanted a passport for his little wife’s brother to go back +to Bilboa, from General Alava. This I have obtained for him; but on +condition that the civil authorities are written to, and the brother +examined on his arrival, as to his conduct, &c. M. D—— was Colonel +F——’s friend and not mine; and to confess the truth, I had no great +opinion of him, but thought he was only attentive to Colonel F—— +to serve his own purposes, and seemed to be rather an intriguing +gentleman. It is, however, quite my principle that every one should be +allowed to go home, and go about his business; and I am sure that Spain +will profit by the residence of any one who has lived at all with the +French, and acquired some notions of what mankind are capable of, and +of human exertion. + +In my walks to-day, I met a poor gentleman who told me we had taken all +his forage, and that his oxen were starving, and that he must sell +them; he was going to a contractor for that purpose. I advised him to +go to our Commissary Haines, to whom I took him, for I thought each +would gain by a bargain direct. His oxen are to be inspected to-morrow. +During our conversation, he told me that he was the brother-in-law of +Dulau, the French bookseller in Soho Square, and that the latter had no +nearer relation, but that he could never hear of him, or write to him. +I undertook to send his letter. If such a letter is enclosed to you, +therefore, you will know all about it, and my poor man may get a legacy +or something by it, from the great Mr. Dulau, for such he must be. + +_Saturday, March 12th._—We remain here to-day, and shall do so probably +for a few days, unless the French move off. We seem to be moving up. +A brigade of artillery and some troops were yesterday taking the +direction to Pau, to secure that town, I conclude, as we have now only +artillery there, and also, perhaps, to turn the left of the French +position at Tarbes. Lord Wellington is better; his hounds go out +to-day, and I should not be surprised at his being out with them. As a +proof how savage war makes every one, even an English soldier, I may +tell you that poor H——’s body was stript by the English soldiers of his +own division, to which he was acting as Adjutant-general, and almost +before his body was cold. I believe two or three men have been flogged +for this. By degrees we all get hardened to anything. + +I find the same sort of custom here as to letting land, as is to be +found near Bayonne. The landlord puts a peasant into a little farm, +furnishes it, pays the taxes, and finds the necessary cattle, beasts, +and horses, for the cultivation of the land; in return, he receives +the full half of the clear produce as rent, but in kind, and very +little money is seen. Before we came, bread was three sous the pound, +which would be about sixpence three-farthings the quartern loaf. A +goose has been five francs of late, but that is dear. Fowls are now +only half-a-crown or three shillings each, and very good even to the +English. If we remain long in a place, we soon cause the prices to +rise. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + Reports from the Seat of War—The Duke d’Angoulême—The German + Cavalry—Misconduct of the Spaniards—Attacks on our Grazing + Parties—Movement of Head-Quarters—Death of Colonel Sturgeon—Visit to + the Hospital—New Quarters—Skirmishes—Wellington and the Mayor. + + + Head-quarters, Aire, + March 16, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Here we remain still, and probably shall do so for a few days, for the +French Marshal not only keeps his position near Conchez, across our +road to Tarbes and Toulouse, but does not seem disposed to go beyond +demonstrations, and cannot muster courage to attack us, and we, I +believe, are not quite prepared to attack him. The glorious reception +Marshal Beresford met with at Bordeaux, and the spirited and decided +conduct of the _maire_, &c., there, you will have heard by the last +mail, for the news came after my letter, but before Lord Wellington’s +bag was dispatched. We have all sorts of reports from the vicinity of +Paris, about the battle at Meaux, of a large French corps having gone +over to Bernadotte. There are reports from Bordeaux, but all uncertain; +I think, however, that the _maire_ must have had some good intelligence +to induce him to take the line he has done, which must be his ruin, and +that of all his friends, if we make peace at last with Bonaparte. + +The Duke d’Angoulême, at first, it is said, declined a burgher +guard, and preferred an English one. This will not do: he must show +confidence and spirit, and rely upon his French friends, and give no +offence by partialities for the English. This was bad advice in some +one about him, for I understand he personally has always wished to take +a decided line, and risk his personal safety for the cause. + +We hear the Royalist party are beginning _à la lanterne_ again, but I +hope this is not true. The inhabitants of Bordeaux must arm and protect +themselves. We shall leave but a small force there. The river and their +own people must be their chief reliance. Lord Wellington has sent for +the fourth division from Marshal Beresford to help here. Canning went +off at four o’clock on the 14th, with these orders (as I understand); +he was sent from Gartin by Lord Wellington, eleven miles from this in +front, and was here in an hour. Whilst he was dressing and getting a +fresh horse, I got him his money from the Paymaster, and he was off, +remounted for Roquefort, twenty miles; and thence he was to post the +other seventy miles all night to Bordeaux. He was heard of at Langon, +about three or four in the morning, so that by nine o’clock on the +15th he would be in Bordeaux; and as the fourth division, which was at +Langon, would march that day, in about two days more they will be here. +All our 18-pounders and some other reinforcements will arrive, and then +Soult must be off, or I hope get another beating. + +The heavy German Cavalry (for by its name they wish to be known, for it +carries credit with it), went through here two days since in admirable +order, the horses in particular, but the latter are altogether too +slight for the men, who are all large, bony, heavy men, of a certain +age, and experienced heroes. It will not be easy by a royal order, and +light jacket and caps, to transform these gentlemen into light Germans, +nor do the corps like it at all. Ponsonby’s heavy brigade is also close +by, fresh from Spain, like the Germans, and in the same excellent +condition. Nearly ten thousand Spaniards, very fine-looking men, and in +good discipline, are also two miles from this, at or near Barcelona. +Hitherto they have behaved in general much better than was expected on +the march; but we feed them, as they have no transport. If they will +but fight a little in return, and take their share of loss, we should +do famously. + +Murillo’s Spaniards, I am sorry to say, have begun very ill in our +front. The day before yesterday, Soult made an advance against them; +when they were ordered to fall back a little to a rivulet, and there +defend themselves. Once with their backs turned, however, away they +went, and never stopped until the Buffs were ordered up to stop the +French, who, the moment they saw the red coats coming on, were off home +again very quickly, but not quite so rapidly as the Spaniards had run +from them. + +The Portuguese cavalry had a little affair, and behaved well. The 14th +Dragoons had also an affair the day before yesterday. Half a squadron +under Captain Babington were ordered by Colonel Harvey to drive off +a French half squadron, and then halt until he came up. They upset +the French, saw another whole squadron beyond, were tempted to go on +by their first success, and succeeded in a great measure again, but +Captain Babington was taken. The wounded French dragoons of the 5th +regiment, brought in here prisoners, are all very fine men, and the +whole regiment are said to be the same sort of men. They came in much +cut about the head and hands. + +The forage animals of head-quarters were yesterday very nearly getting +into a terrible scrape—about two hundred and fifty animals, and two of +mine in the number. They foolishly went in front of our picquets, or +nearly so, though regularly under commissariat directions. Whilst they +were loading at a farm, one peasant slipped away, and it is concluded +told some French dragoons near what was going on, whilst the other in +the house gave some of the party wine. There were four artillerymen +unarmed in the house, and about six Portuguese, one of whom was mine, +when a French officer of cavalry, with his sword drawn, came to the +window, told them all to come out, and that they were prisoners. When +they came out, seeing that he was alone and his party three or four +hundred yards off, they mounted their mules, and nearly all got off, +with the loss of, it is said, only one man and two or three mules. +Some fellows galloped all the way here without their loads or cords, +and at first spread an alarm that all were taken. They arrived home in +the course of the day, and my Portuguese brought home a load of good +hay and two deserted ropes in triumph. It is thought that the party +should have brought off the officer prisoner, but most are satisfied +with having got their own property back again. He cut one of the +artillerymen on the finger, who put up his arm to save himself. + +Another party of muleteers with stores from Mont de Marsan to Bordeaux, +with supplies for the seventh division, to which they belonged, were +attacked three days since on their road near Roquefort, quite in our +rear and on our communications, by some French partizans, a sort of +guerillas called _La Bande_. These now, it is said, are employed by +Soult: they were formerly a set of _douaniers_, or smuggler catchers. +Several mules were killed and wounded, and, I believe, some muleteers +killed, and some of the money taken. It is to be feared that the +Spanish muleteers will begin to be alarmed at this. We have cavalry, +however, on the road, and they will now be more on the look out in +future. + +This place is now much crowded. Three new Generals came in yesterday +and to-day,—Sir Stapleton Cotton to-day, with, about a hundred animals +belonging to himself and his staff. I was turned out of my stable in +consequence, though but a very bad one, and my animals are now in a +back kitchen turned into a stable. At Barcelona the Spaniards turned +out the cavalry with much less ceremony. It is said that a company, +with a Captain at their head, gallantly charged Captain S——’s horses +and bâtmen (General C——’s aide-de-camp), and were very successful. One +little blood-horse kicked about, broke loose, and made a good defence, +without injuring himself; but another horse, not so quick in his +retreat, received two slight bayonet wounds, and a slight cut with a +sabre, and the Spaniards carried the day, behaving like heroes! + +Our people are all moved in consequence, and I hope that these +_valorosos_ and blood-thirsty gentlemen will soon be allowed to contend +with a more glorious enemy, and will behave with equal spirit when the +opportunity shall arrive. + +The Swedish (Bernadotte’s) aide-de-camp is, it seems, to campaign with +us; he is buying horses, &c., and preparing for the field. He is a +great talker, and, I understand, of this country. From his conversation +he seems to have served against us under Massena in Portugal, but how +he is what he is I do not exactly understand. + +The weather is still very cold. Lord Wellington would not even +condescend to-day to go and look at the French. He only sent Colonel +Gordon to go on to Gartin, and report. + +_Head-Quarters, 17th March, Aire._—About three o’clock yesterday we +learnt that the French were off, and filed through Conchez, apparently +on the way to Tarbes. I think they will not venture to go too near the +mountains, but must make for Toulouse. If not, our fourth division, +which, it is said, will be here to-night, will make us strong enough, +I hope, to push a column through Auch straight to Toulouse, while the +rest follow Soult, and we should then be at Toulouse first. I conclude +he will turn that way from Tarbes. General Hill moved a little after +the French yesterday to keep them in sight. The rest of the army will, +in my opinion, get in motion to-day or to-morrow, and head-quarters +move on very soon afterwards. About fifty prisoners were sent in here +last night, mostly dragoons. + +We are all alive again with regard to the Allies, and the stories from +Bordeaux are most animating. In addition to this, we move after Soult +to-morrow. Head-quarters to be at Viella, nearly three leagues in +advance, towards Auch. I fear we shall, as part of head-quarters, see +neither Toulouse nor Bordeaux; for if my generalship correspond with +Lord Wellington’s, Soult will in my opinion cross the Garonne, and our +right will go to Toulouse, and we, as part of head-quarters, shall +pass the river by some bridge to be laid down below near Agen,—more +towards the centre of our movements. The scene at Bordeaux I much +regret to have lost. We already hear of disturbances at Toulouse, and +even reports of Louis XVIII. being proclaimed at Paris. From the want +of a popular Bourbon cry at Bordeaux, I hear they have set up “Henri +IV.,” and “Gode sav de King.” The weather to-day is delightful: I only +hope it will last. We are told that Suchet has offered to withdraw all +his garrisons from Spain into France, and give up the towns in their +present state; this has been referred, it is said, to Lord Wellington, +and by him refused, as only releasing so many men for present use, who +must sooner or later, if we persevere, be prisoners. This is quite +right no doubt for the common cause. + +_Viella, 18th._—I have just time to add a few lines at this place, +which is about nine miles from Aire, on the road to Tarbes, and our +head-quarters to-day. It is a small scattered village, so much so that +I am at a farm at least two miles or more from the main village, and +nearly by myself at the last house in the commune. I have, however, +a doctor and a commissary within a quarter of a mile, and as we are +fortunately well received, and welcomed everywhere, it does not +signify. I feel quite at ease. + +We had a tiresome march here, for the third division, the sixth, and +the heavy Germans with the baggage of all three, the whole of the +pontoon train, the artillery of the two divisions, head-quarter’s +baggage, and eight thousand Spaniards all went the same road, over our +newly-made bridge across the Leis, a small stream which falls into the +Adour, near Barcelonne. The French, in destroying this bridge, had not +blown up or burnt the main centre pier, so that about twenty-five elm +trees, about twenty-five feet long, and bundles of fascines, about +twelve feet long, placed crosswise, and then covered with dirt, in two +days’ time made us a famous bridge. + +Some time hence, when the fascines get rotten, some luckless car or +horseman will no doubt go through into the water, which is deep, and +about twenty feet below. The high roads are excellent, and the country, +though not a rich soil, very pretty and loveable. Almost every drain +under the road, or a small arch for streams to pass under, had been +broken down; some left so from neglect of late, some I believe just +made on purpose to delay us: faggots, and a little mould, with a few +small trees at bottom, soon made a passage, but created delays. + +_19th, 7 o’clock._—To-day we move to Maubourguet, nearly in the Tarbes +road. This looks as if Soult was making for Tarbes, and not Toulouse. +I can scarcely believe this. If he places his rear on the mountains, +he gives up Toulouse, and the richest country; and if beaten when up +there, will, in my opinion, escape with difficulty. He may expect some +reinforcements from Suchet that way, but still must go to Toulouse. + +We, however, have now a chance of seeing the latter, whereas I thought +we should have crossed nearer Agen, lower down the river. + +My patron here is very friendly. The French plundered him terribly, +and all his neighbours. They call them brigands, and dread them +more than our army. My man let five Portuguese dragoons through his +premises, and, he says, saved them. He is of a class of men that +existed in former days in England; the owner and cultivator of eighty +acres of land, partly corn, partly wood, partly vineyards, and partly +meadow—thus he has all within himself. He has a wife and four children, +two women servants, two pair of oxen, of which he has been obliged to +sell one pair to pay the French contributions. He has two labourers, +both deserters, for keeping whom he knows he is liable to a fine of +from five hundred to three thousand francs, and to be confined five +years, but he can get no other servants, and of course these are +faithful. + +His land, he says, is worth about 50_s._ an acre. It requires much +labour, but when left alone he says is good enough to make them very +happy. In spite of all that he has suffered, and his earnest desire for +peace, he is certainly no friend to the Bourbons. He curses Bonaparte +for his ambition, has a tolerably just notion of all his losses in the +North, and in Spain, from the soldiers; but still, would rather, in my +opinion, have Bonaparte and peace than the Bourbons. I can never get +him to say a word, good or bad, as to the latter. At the same time, +like all the rest of the French, he would just now submit to anything +for peace. All have the highest respect for Lord Wellington, which they +say they learn from the French army, high and low. + +_Maubourguet, 5 o’clock._—We left Viella at nine, and after a tiresome +ride through baggage the whole way, arrived here about four o’clock, +though it is only about fifteen miles. The bridges were all broken +down, and nearly every gutter across the road, but this only caused +delays, and was quite ineffectual. The troops and artillery waggons all +found some way round or through. When about twelve miles on our road, +we found the last three miles quite choked with all the baggage of +head-quarters and the troops. At first I conceived the delay arose in a +broken bridge being repaired, and was patient; but a sharp firing and +cannonade soon commenced in front of Maubourguet, near Vic, and then, +guessing that it was an intentional halt, I made my way through it +here, and found every one in front, and a sharp firing about four miles +in advance, near Vic Bigorre. + +I met also a party of the fine German cavalry wounded going to the +rear; they had had an affair the day before yesterday in advance of +Madiran, half way between that place and this, and with two squadrons +instantly upset four squadrons of French chasseurs, took many horses, +and cut up many men, but the French ran too fast to leave any +prisoners. This tempted the Germans to attack yesterday a very superior +force, it is said three times their number—three French regiments; and +I hear they suffered much. + +In the first affair they had about four killed and eighteen wounded. +We were at first without orders as to staying here and unpacking, but +a report soon reached us that the French would not stand, and were +off. So we all unpacked quietly before the firing ceased, and prepared +for dinner in this town, where five hundred French cavalry had passed +the night, and had only departed about eight in the morning, with the +curses of the inhabitants. Our Portuguese were principally engaged, it +is said, yesterday, and without much loss. The sixth division entered +Vic last night. + +_Maubourguet, 7 o’clock, 20th, Sunday._—No orders last night. Lord +Wellington very late home; but I have just learned that we are to move +to-day to Tarbes, taking it for granted that the French will be out to +make room for us. This is very strange, and so is the confidence of our +men. When we halted yesterday the bâtmen were saying, when within three +miles of this place, the head-quarters, “We must only wait a little +till the troops have cleared our quarters for us and made room.” + +I now cannot understand Soult’s plans. He seems to be making for the +mountains, and to have suffered us in some measure to cut him off from +Toulouse. Colonel Canning arrived last night from Bordeaux with an +account of a grand defeat of Bonaparte, and that he had fallen back on +Orleans. This I expected if he were not killed, as I concluded he would +try and unite with the Lyons army and Soult’s, and make one more stand +in the heart of the kingdom. If this be true, Lord Wellington must be +careful as to passing the Garonne; Soult’s junction, nevertheless, +will at any rate be doubtful. Our men are in the highest spirits, and +driving all before them; weather fine. + +_Tournay, March 21st._—At nine left Maubourguet; about four miles +further I stopped at Vic Bigorre, to see poor Colonel Sturgeon’s +body. He was a very clever man and officer, and particularly skilful +as a bridge engineer, and in all languages. He went too close to the +skirmishers, to reconnoitre, and was shot in the head just under the +eye. I also went over the hospital, to assist Dr. M’Gregor in giving +directions to the French as to arrangements, to talk to and satisfy +some wounded French officers, and to get bedding, straw, and help from +the _maire_ by requisition instantly. We had about two hundred wounded +there of all nations, many Portuguese, one of whom was undergoing +the operation of amputation of his leg and thigh, very high up, and +seemed in great agony. The French surgeon thought that Dr. M’Gregor was +finding fault, and stopped, and turned to us to explain. I understand +he was doing it in a clumsy way, but Dr. M’Gregor begged me to praise +him highly, or he would be alarmed and do it still worse. Close to +Vic, by the road-side, were about a dozen bodies of men killed by +cannon-shot, and terribly mauled. + +Having loaded a mule with oats from a French store at Vic, I proceeded +towards Tournay. The road was crammed, and some sharp skirmishing going +on about three miles beyond the town, which had commenced on the Vic +side. The French only left the town about nine o’clock, and tried to +blow up the bridge, but were stopped by two or three gun-shots. They +stood their ground tolerably, on a very strong ridge of hills, until +night, and remained _en bivouac_ on them last night. At three this +morning they were off; and here we are after them again, about nine +miles on the road to Toulouse, at this place, Tournay, which was last +night Marshal Soult’s head-quarters. + +Tarbes is a good town and contains a number of good houses. From the +houses being large, and having yards and gardens, and from there being +one or two large open spaces or squares, it covers a good deal of +ground, but does not count, I understand, above ten or eleven thousand +inhabitants. The people received us in general very well, but were +quite passive, taking no part in any way. They had been kept quite in +ignorance of all that was going on in the north, and at Bordeaux in +particular—at least a great part of them. I explained, and harangued +all I could in order to set them right. My own patron was, it struck +me, a strong Bonapartist, and I took some pains to plague him a little +accordingly. We have had no sort of interruption to-day, except from +the multitudes passing, which form a continued stream, from five in the +morning, along a wide road, until about four or five in the day. The +fine weather has unfortunately turned to rain, but I hope will return +to us again. + +You will see by the map that Soult has taken to the Toulouse road at +last. He is at Mont St. Jean to-day, it is said; and that, as usual, +when inclined to run, the French beat our people in marching, and we +cannot cut him off. He has run some risks by going this roundabout +road; and had we been strong enough to have pushed along the Auch road +also, we should have puzzled him a little. We shall now, most probably, +drive him gradually to the Garonne. It is likely, in my opinion, that +he will make another stand. I have been turned out of my stable, and +had much trouble with the _maire_, so have only time to seal up. + +P.S. The country, from Maubourguet to Vic, Tarbes, and part of the +way here, was all a flat, of rich country, like the country between +Bridgewater and across into Somersetshire; except that half the meadows +at least were vineyards and orchards in one, and interlaced very +prettily; the fruit-trees kept small, about ten feet high, and the +vines trained off at about six, and all intertwined and furled together +with withy-bands. This was famous cover, as no musquet-ball could pass +far through the trees; a few common shot had destroyed the quincunx +regularity in many places. The water meadows were very beautiful, +and the system seemed to be understood and well managed; the streams +beautifully clear. The background of this large flat was all the way to +the Haute Pyrenees covered with snow; but the higher Pic du Midi was +never visible, always in the clouds; the lower one was. The Alps are +far superior, as far as I can judge. Adieu. + +_Nine o’clock at night, Isle en Dodon, March 24th, 1814._—Our post +and movements are now so uncertain and sudden, that I know not when +or how to write to you, and fear that my last was sent too late, and +may probably be sent with this, by which means all the zest of late +news from the army will be lost. I have just heard, by accident, that +a mail will go to-night, and have only time to scribble a few hasty +lines immediately after dinner. My last finished at Tournay; thence +we proceeded the next day to Galan, a poor village, and rather a wild +mountain road, the short cut to Toulouse. Our second division and +cavalry followed the enemy along the high road by Lannernezon, Mont St. +Jean, and St. Gaudens. One corps of their army went also through Galan. +The _maire_ of the latter was a fine old man of eighty-two, and a good +friend. + +I was at a miserable half-furnished house, and my baggage being stopped +by the Spanish troops, it did not arrive until seven o’clock; luckily +it came in time for me to dress, in order to dine with Lord Wellington, +a mile off, in the rain. The _maire_ had been an hour in the room with +Lord Wellington before he found him out, talking by the fire in his +quarter, until at last Lord Wellington, having let him go on some time, +asked him to dinner. This staggered him, and led to an explanation. The +_maire_ said, that the night before he had had Generals Clausel and +Harispe, and that they only ordered a dinner to be prepared, and did +not ask him to eat part of his own, or thank him, or take the least +notice of him. He could not, therefore, believe that Lord Wellington +was the enemy’s General, after having been so treated, as he said, +“like a dog,” by his friends. + +My own patron was a half-starved apothecary without medicines or +drugs. He offered to dress a fowl for me, but was very willing instead +to sell me one for twice its value, for dinner the next day. + +_23rd._—We moved again to Boulognes, about sixteen miles, rather a long +march, and in part bad road, though in general the roads all over this +part of France are very much superior to ours in England; compared with +our best roads, they are very superior to any in the distant counties, +and to many of our main and best roads, even in the neighbourhood of +London. The light, third, fourth, and sixth divisions of cavalry, and +about eight thousand Spaniards, all move with this column, and we +reach of course by mid-day, when all is in motion, with the artillery +and baggage, about ten miles. The second division and cavalry follow +the French. At St. Gaudens the 13th Dragoons came up with the French +rear cavalry, formed just outside the town, charged, broke them, drove +them pell-mell through the town on their reverse beyond it. There they +re-formed; the 13th charged again; then the French ran, with the 13th +after them, for two miles. The result is said to be a hundred and +twenty prisoners and horses, besides killed. + +From Boulognes we to-day marched to this place—Isle en Dodon. The +majority of the people here seem to be friends of Bonaparte, and the +assistant _maire_ in particular, with whom I had much conversation; for +he gave Doctor Hume and me a joint billet at the empty house where he +gave out the billets, and no stable at all. As I was obliged to have +him in the room so long, I determined to work him a little for treating +us so ill. + +The _maire_ of Boulognes ran away at first. At night he came back +and went to Lord Wellington, who showed him his proclamations and +regulations, &c. The _maire_ said he had taken the oath to Bonaparte, +and would not act. “Very well,” said Lord Wellington, “then the +people must choose another; but now you have taken your line, I must +take mine, and send you over the Garonne into the French lines.” He +gave orders accordingly, to Colonel S——. The _maire_ ran away, and +could not be found. Colonel S—— took up the father, to march him off +until the son appeared. This brought him out; he remonstrated with +Lord Wellington, said he was one of the first men of the country, and +should be ruined by this. Lord Wellington said, “He should have thought +of that sooner, and he must go;” and to this place he came to-day a +prisoner. + +We have just received orders to march to Samatan to-morrow. All here +have a notion that Suchet’s forces join Soult near here; that is, have +done so, or are to do so; but we are a little in the dark, and the +ignorance of the French about everything is astonishing: they seem +quite stupified. But Bonaparte has many friends still, and the reports +in the French papers, though upon the whole good, are not decisive. +The armistice seems to have gone off from the arrangements about +Italy. We are living, like the rest of the armies and the French, by +requisitions; but we hitherto pay in money, which others do not. We +consume everything, however, like locusts. + +Lord Wellington popped between Colonel G—— and me as we were discussing +the allied battles this morning, and suddenly took a part, to my great +astonishment, in our conversation. + +On leaving Tarbes a party of civilians went round by Bagnières to see +the baths, the rooms, &c., a sort of Spa, about twelve miles round, +and where no troops had been; not an Englishman there, but they were +told they would be well received, and so they were indeed. The _maire_ +addressed them; the people were in crowds, so that it required force +to enable them to pass. The National Guard turned out and presented +arms to them: it was like Lord Wellington’s entry into Zamora, they +say, such an outcry! such a display! A ball was proposed, but as there +was a French garrison about six miles off, and no allied troops near, +the party declined staying, and went off highly pleased with their +excursion. This is very odd, for on the road we go, all is stupefaction +and indifference. I should have enjoyed this, but am obliged to be very +prudent now, after my late escape. Adieu again. + +The schoolmaster, or _prêtre_, at Boulognes had written a long poem +entitled “_Mon Rêve_,” a prophecy nearly of everything which has taken +place, and containing much in honour of Lord Wellington. He said he had +long had it concealed, and volunteered spouting it out to us, to his +own great satisfaction, and it really was not bad. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + Difficulties of the March—Failure of the Bridge of Boats—The + Garonne—Excesses of Murillo’s Corps—Bad News—Exchange of + Prisoners—Arrival before Toulouse—A Prisoner of War—Anecdote of + Wellington. + + + Head-quarters, Samatan, + March 25, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +At eight this morning, we left L’Isle en Dodon for this place, about +eight miles nearer to Toulouse, from which we (the head-quarters) are +now only distant about twenty-six miles. Our troops at St. Lys, and St. +Foy, and that vicinity, are within eleven miles; our right is still a +little more in the rear on the St. Gaudens’ road, near Martres, under +General Hill. + +I have just met with a corn-factor who left Toulouse this morning. +He says that Marshal Soult arrived there with about eight thousand +men last night. The same number were expected to-day, and a force +of twelve thousand men from Suchet’s army was expected to join, or +rather, the twelve thousand men were to be principally a reinforcement +of conscripts, collected by the Imperial Commissioner Caffarelli. A +small bridge, called St. Antoine, near St. Martin, about a mile from +Toulouse, was destroyed on the road from Isle Jourdain to Toulouse, and +some works were being formed, and an appearance of defence was being +made near to St. Martin, at a place where three roads branch off, a +mile from Toulouse, and called La Pate d’Ore. The narrator, though no +judge, thought the works could not be completed in time, and that if we +pressed on we should pass them without much difficulty. The bridge, he +said also, was mined; it is a very noble bridge, but it was reported +that there was a ford passable so near, that it was thought the mine +would not be made use of. + +The news from Paris had ceased for some days, and this gave rise to +many stories of Paris having been taken, &c. I am lodged here with some +very civil good people, and who, in my opinion, really wish us well, +and are very different from the _maire adjoint_ at the last place, +who seemed a good Bonapartist, as are many of the people at L’Isle en +Dodon. About six miles from that place, and ten from this, we passed +through a very good old-fashioned town, larger than this, called +Lombez, where the people, in spite of having had a division of troops +quartered in their houses and in the church, seemed to wish us very +well. + +The country in this neighbourhood is a wide flat near the river, with a +gently rising boundary of hill and good corn land, the soil heavy, and +the roads very deep in consequence. I always expected my horses’ shoes +to be sucked off every ten minutes by the strong clay. + +The _maire_ of Boulognes continues his route with us, looking very +forlorn, and with three staff corps men round him, our gens-d’armes. +He began to repent to-day, and offered to act as _maire_, but Lord +Wellington said it was too late. He then wrote to his wife, saying, “He +was a martyr to his principles,” &c., when his offer had been refused. +So much for the principles of this good friend of Napoleon! Had his +offer been accepted, he would have gone on as _maire_. His friend +Bonaparte was, however, I really and truly think, never greater than he +has been in his adversity during the last three months. The manner in +which he has fought against all his difficulties is very astonishing, +and it would not surprise me now if he succeeded in fighting himself +into a tolerable peace. His boldness in finding fault with his +generals, &c., and having them disgraced and tried at this moment, is +very striking. In short, I am almost inclined to believe that his own +spirit, the bad conduct of the Cossacks, and the wavering policy of +some of our Allies, will enable him to keep his place amongst the list +of sovereigns, though never to triumph over them all, as he intended, +and very nearly managed to do. + +There are several good chateaux near here I am told: one of these is +occupied by Major M——, in our service, who was a prisoner of war, and +thought it the best way to pass his captivity in double chains, or +rather to cast off one chain by taking another, and by marrying an +heiress, enjoy himself whilst here. I understand that he has served as +_maire_ of the place; General Pakenham and Colonel Campbell know him. + +The army is now almost entirely fed on the country, and the rations +paid for in bills or ready money. Our transports, such as they were, +are quite outrun by our continual marches and distance from the depôts. +We do not even resort to our grand prize-magazine at Mont de Marsan. We +are also boldly isolated in the country, with scarcely five hundred men +the whole way between this and Bayonne; and between this and Tarbes I +believe none at all. Were not the general disposition of the people so +good, at least so submissive, the stragglers and parties joining the +army would be all destroyed; as it is, we have had few accidents. An +affair is expected in a day or two near Toulouse, but this is doubtful. +In the meantime King Ferdinand must be in Spain, as he long since +passed through Toulouse on his way there. + +_9 o’clock at night._—Later accounts from the front say that the French +are leaving Toulouse, but I think they will make a show of resistance +at least. Lord Wellington said at dinner to-day he feared that they +would blow up the bridge, but that he had his pontoons with him, and +by showing the enemy that he could pass either above or below the +bridge, he would try to save it. To-morrow will determine much, as +head-quarters move four leagues to St. Lys, within about three leagues +of Toulouse, and the troops are to move down into the plain in which +the town stands. This is hard work for the men and baggage-animals, as +the roads are excessively deep, and it is said will be worse to-morrow +than to-day. We pass through St. Foy. We cannot learn where Marshal +Suchet is; Lord Wellington does not know. He received despatches by a +courier from Catalonia after dinner to-day, dated the 16th of March. +It was not known there for certain that he had quitted Catalonia; +several here say positively that he is gone towards Lyons. The post +goes to-morrow early. You probably get two or three of my letters +together, for we have now no regular post-day, and I am often quartered +at a distance. I do not know when the mail leaves head-quarters, and by +wishing to send you the last news, I may miss the post altogether. + +_Head-Quarters, St. Lys, March 27th, 1814._—To-day, Sunday, we make a +halt here, which most of the army is very much in need of. This is in +order to enable Lord Wellington to make arrangements and reconnoitre, +&c. Four divisions are in our front, and General Hill on our right. +Nothing has been done to-day but the driving in of some French picquets +on this side of a little stream about two leagues from hence, and +half-way to Toulouse, and we are now placed on that stream. There +seemed to be but little firing. I saw it from the top of the tower of +the church here, but it was soon over. From the same place the view +all around was very extensive and magnificent; Toulouse was plainly +visible, and much of the country beyond, together with a number of +villages, chateaux, &c., in the large plain through which the Garonne +takes its circular course from the Pyrenees. The snowy summits of the +latter closed the prospect with their heads in the clouds. + +Having had some trouble to mount to this gallery round the church, by +means of the bells and their scaffolding, for there was no ladder, I +was up there for two hours with my glass, in a tolerably clear and +fine day. Of the importance of the latter you have no idea. Yesterday +was entirely rainy, and our road was, perhaps, as bad as any we have +ever passed with artillery, and that is saying much. The troops were +splashed up to their caps, and hundreds were walking barefoot in the +clay up to the calves of their legs for about five miles, whilst the +best of the road was that like to Hounslow in the worst season after +a thaw. Lord Wellington said, the French, after consultation, had +determined that this road was not passable for their artillery, but by +means of lighter carriages and better horses, five brigades of our guns +have got over this difficulty. + +To give you a notion of it, I may mention that Lord Wellington’s +barouche was three hours stuck fast in it at one place; one hind wheel +up to the axle, the other in the air. No one was in it except General +Alava, who was unwell. I left them endeavouring to move it by means +of four artillery horses, in addition to his own six mules, but in +vain; six oxen in addition at last got it clear. Lord Wellington is +gone to-day round by Plaisance to the right, to General Hill on the +St. Gaudens’ road, as that division is now approaching near us. I am +always afraid of some accident in these parties in an enemy’s country, +for there is generally no escort—only a few officers and two or three +orderlies at the most. + +In a Toulouse paper of the 22nd, which I saw yesterday, I was amused +with observing, among other articles—“Bordeaux, 12th March. By +accounts from this place troops without number are pouring through to +join the grand army under the Duke of Dalmatia. The disposition of the +people is excellent.” Then again, “March 15th. The prefect is taking +measures for a number of improvements in the different communes.” These +lies and frauds are curious. We also notice, that in publishing Soult’s +proclamations in the Paris papers, in which he calls Lord Wellington +the commander of brigands, the introductory part relating to the battle +of Orthes is omitted altogether. It does not appear that any battle has +taken place at all. We hope the silence as to Schwartzenburg means as +much, and that the truth will be a set-off to any check given to St. +Priest. + +Bonaparte’s movements to Rheims and Chalons we cannot here comprehend. +Many of the people here talk such bad French that I am often taken for +a Frenchman, and my patron here told me that I need not be afraid to +own it, for he was a Royalist, and always had been so. His simplicity +yesterday provoked me excessively. I gave him some of my old silver +spoons to take care of. Thinking all soldiers and followers of an army +virtuous and honest, he left the spoons, with a loaf, in his kitchen, +and left his door open, to let every one in who chose. On my return, +his loaf and my spoons were gone. This vexed me excessively, but +redress was in vain. + +_Seisses, 28th March._—At daybreak this morning head-quarters moved +to this place, most of us, in my opinion, fully expecting to be in +Toulouse before night. We arrived here, within a league of the Garonne, +by eight o’clock, when, to our great mortification, the part of the +second division which had left this village at ten last night was just +returning here again after daylight, owing to the bridge of boats +having been too short, and the troops therefore unable to pass the +river. + +This is most vexatious, for the immediate passage of the Garonne +without a halt, and triumphant entry into Toulouse would have been an +exploit worthy of our General. With five more pontoons the whole would +have been effected, and, most probably, with little loss. In front of +Toulouse the enemy had been left quiet, and pressed but little; the +grand movement was to have been on the right to the banks of the river +near Portet. Just below where the Arrige and the Garonne unite, a +league above Toulouse, the bridge was to have been laid in the night, +and half the army over or ready to pass by daylight. The width of the +river was supposed to be about one hundred and forty yards, or four +hundred and fifty feet, the stream strong; for this we were prepared. +The boats were in the river, the cables, I believe, fixed, and every +precaution taken for secrecy, when the discovery was made that five +more pontoons would be necessary, as the river was twenty yards, or +about eighty feet wider. The boats were all withdrawn, and the troops +all in their way to head-quarters again before daylight; but it was a +_grand coup manqué_. Apparently there must have been great inadvertence +somewhere, though it may have been that no measurement was allowed, or +even close observations, for fear of exciting suspicion. + +I think it will be a triumph to E——, though I am sure he will not +feel it as such. He told Lord Wellington at St. Jean de Luz that, in +consequence of some order of his, the pontoon train would be rendered +imperfect, and that if the army met with a wide river it would be +stopped. Thus it has happened, and Lord Wellington, though in general +so much a gainer by his decision and resources in getting rid of +difficulties, has for once suffered for not attending to the counsel of +his more steady and regularly-bred scientific advisers. + +As the troops were not yet ordered out of the town, and were in +possession of the houses, we remained for some hours with our baggage +standing loaded, until our billets were settled. Most part of this time +I spent in surveying the immense plain covered with farms, villas, +villages, towns, and chateaux, in the neighbourhood of Toulouse, as +well as the town itself. The number of apparently splendid mansions +was considerable, some belonging to merchants of Toulouse; some to +the old nobles who had not emigrated; some to the _nouveaux riches_ +of the Revolution and Bonaparte. The latter were much abused, the +_fournisseurs_ of the army, the intendents or tax-gatherers, &c. I +believe there was much fraud in the management of the collection of +contributions; and of late, particularly, much more was collected under +the pretence of the necessities of the army, and to provision Bayonne, +than ever reached its destination; and being but ill paid regularly, +the managers took the liberty of paying themselves well irregularly. + +Murillo’s corps has plundered again of late, and was guilty of some +excesses last night. One man was caught in the fact, stealing wine, and +brought forward. Lord Wellington had him shot in the most impressive +manner this morning, before all the corps, after a solemn admonition, +and much parade. The man, it is said, appeared absolutely dead from +fear before a musquet was fired. He was unluckily one of the least +culpable, for he had only taken away a bottle of wine by force; but he +was caught in the fact, and suffered for the sake of example—as the +least guilty in reality often do, from the most guilty being also the +most knowing. + +Lord Wellington has not yet returned; he must now exert his wits, to +cure this mishap, which will not, in my opinion, put him in the best of +humours. + +The Pyrenees were to-day perfectly clear, and very striking. An immense +snowy barrier almost entirely white, with scarcely any bare rock +visible. They are not by any means so picturesque as the Alps. They +form a large mass, without much variety of form and character; and have +not that contrast of pointed, craggy, fancifully-shaped rocks, rounded +lower hills covered with verdure, and fine forest scenery, which is +seen in Switzerland. + +Two of the medical officers and one of the 42nd of the sixth division, +taken at Hagenau, have escaped and come into us, but plundered of +everything. The French marched them seven or eight leagues a-day, +nearly thirty miles; and the one I spoke to had been concealed four +days after his escape with scarcely anything to eat, until he had an +opportunity of joining our corps under General Hill. + +_Head-Quarters, Seisses, March 31st, 1814._—Our disappointment in +crossing the river on the 28th has kept us here ever since: and the +halt has given me employment, which has prevented my writing to you. +As soon as we become quiet, I am set to work in order to prevent all +arrears, and to let punishment follow the offence as fast as possible. + +Our General has spent his mornings in riding all over the country to +reconnoitre; and he dispatches all his other multitude of business +at odd hours and times. The new plan was at last resolved upon, and +last night the execution of it commenced. The divisions on this side +Toulouse are pushed in close to the suburbs of St. Cyprien, near which +the French have been for some days most busily at work, fortifying +themselves to defend the bridge. Finding the river so wide below the +junction with the Arrige at Portet, General Hill (with great difficulty +owing to the rapidity of the Garonne, caused by the last two days’ +continual rain) succeeded at last, in pursuance of his orders, in +fixing his pontoons across that river above the junction with the +Arrige; and having been nearly all night at work, began to cross about +four o’clock this morning, and has sent word that he is over. A ridge +of high land forms a sort of tongue between the two rivers. This he +is to take post upon immediately, and march off a corps as rapidly as +possible, about three leagues, to a bridge over the Arrige, which he is +to surprise and preserve if possible, and defend, thus fixing himself +securely between the two rivers, preparatory to further movements of +the rest of the army. The Spaniards under Murillo crossed with General +Hill. General Frere’s Spaniards move into the ground which General Hill +leaves. + +I was upon the church-tower early this morning, and saw the Spanish +column moving all along the plain, headed by some of our heavy +dragoons; the fog on the river prevented my seeing more. On descending, +I found Lord Wellington and all his suite, just about to be off, when +the arrival of an English mail to the 16th, stopped him. By this +we have your very bad news from Holland, and many private letters +accounting for the failure. All here are open-mouthed at the reported +consequences; namely, that the reinforcements intended for Lord +Wellington are going to Holland. This is worse than the defeat. Very +little was ever expected here from that army from various causes; it +was always considered as so many men quite thrown away, as regards the +main cause. I thought them, latterly, worse than inefficient, after +they had once given the Dutch an opportunity of arming, by clearing +their country, for they have the effect of preventing exertion on the +part of the Dutch. The moment they had cleared Holland they should, +in my opinion, have been sent to us, and thus by a sense of pressing +danger, ought to have roused the sleepy heavy Dutchmen to do something +for themselves when once well in the scrape, getting only arms and +artillery and stores from England. + +By the exchange of prisoners, the officers so much wanted by the +French, whom Lord Wellington has taken here, will get back again by +these losses in Holland, another way in which that army has done more +harm than good. It would have been better to leave our people prisoners +than to release French regular officers at this moment, for their value +in the newly-raised corps is immense, and considerably beyond that of +ours to England. Besides the numbers in the town would have hastened +its surrender, or compelled the governor to send them out without +exchange. + +This is, however, reasoning upon general principles, and not upon +personal feelings as to the officers taken: I do think, however, that +this exchange was permitting humanity to have more weight than policy. +There seem to have been much blundering and confusion in the execution +of our attack, and from what I can hear the plan was allowed to fail +just when the difficulties were nearly all over. It is always to be +regretted when our people are ordered to run their heads against stone +walls and heavy guns, and that even here, for I think the French seem +to understand that work best, and we lose more in one of these affairs +than we do in gaining a great battle in the fair field, where the +French cannot be brought now to stand against us. On this ground, I +feel a little anxious, even as to Toulouse, supposing the French to +remain firm, which is doubtful, and still more as to Bayonne. + +Mr. C—— and a commissariat officer arrived here yesterday from +Bordeaux: the accounts they bring are bad enough. The National Guard +are disarmed; no arming of any consequence going on; no efficient +English naval force has arrived; and the people, though they shout +for the King at the opera, &c., are all in a terrible fright lest +the French should return, since we have so small a force there; and, +according to report, many repent of what they have done. + +The Duke d’Angoulême does not appear to me to be made of stuff to gain +a kingdom, though he would have kept one and been popular, from his +amiable qualities. He has committed many blunders, I am told, and the +white cockade gentry, like the _emigrés_ of old, amuse themselves with +inventing lies concerning Bonaparte and his armies, which the _maire_ +of Bordeaux publishes in a bulletin, which Bonaparte’s bulletins, lying +as they are, effectually and satisfactorily contradict the next day. + +The _maire_ is becoming daily more unpopular. We have an account +of Augereau having been defeated—which I hope rests upon better +foundations; as well as private accounts from Paris of the great +reduction of Bonaparte’s forces by his various rapid marches, continual +fighting, and desertion. Almost the only town in this country, +excepting Bordeaux, which has been active in the Royal cause is +Bagnières, which has proclaimed the king; no troops of either army have +passed that way. + +The rest of the population in our rear are in general quietly waiting +the event, and are now with a very few exceptions only on our side, +because they think they see an end to the war quicker that way. But I +am sure, from personal observation, that let Bonaparte be successful a +little, and Lord Wellington be compelled to retreat, and let them only +see the same prospect of peace by Bonaparte’s means, and three-fourths +of the population would all be against us again. + +The sulky _maires_, and other public functionaries, now all submission, +would then become active enemies, and all the _pensionnaires_ and +_douaniers_ and national landholders who are now really frightened to +death, would be roused into activity. This is a picture, however, which +I hope never to see realized; and if Toulouse and Lyons can be induced +to enter into a common cause with Bordeaux, the events will, it is to +be hoped, be far different. Had I the Duke d’Angoulême’s stake to play +for, I should somehow have raised a force before this at Bordeaux, and +should certainly have been over here post to enter Toulouse, and have +paraded through Pau, Tarbes, &c., in the way, and tried to do something. + +The only great hit he has hitherto made is to get the new prefect of +the department des Landes to publish and circulate his proclamations, +and sign them: this certainly is a beginning, and it is said that +some have found their way into Toulouse. The _maire_ of Galan, who +was really in my opinion a Royalist, pointing to his head, asked +me, speaking of the Duke d’Angoulême, whether “_il y voit quelque +chose là?_” of which he seemed to have doubts. The lower, and older +population in the villages certainly, though knowing nothing of the +Bourbons, have a sort of vague wish for old times again, and therefore +were friendly. The middling classes are not by any means so favourably +disposed. + +You have no conception of my obligation to you for sending the +newspapers so regularly, and getting them forwarded in Lord +Wellington’s bag. On the march in our present state, by this means +I have my letters and papers sometimes almost a week before any one +else; for the public bag has been lately obliged to come up, for want +of transport, in a bullock-car, with one weak soldier of the guides as +a guard. When we are stationary I sometimes suffer by this plan, for +single papers are got a-day or two later than my letter, but now I am a +great gainer, and my newspapers are in the greatest request. + +_Head-Quarters, Seisses, April 1st, 1814._—Here we are still in front +of “the great big town where the French are,” as the Irishmen call +Toulouse. The French yesterday moved about four divisions out of +Toulouse after General Hill’s movement, and in the evening went back +again into the town. This I believe made Lord Wellington suspect that +Soult intended to try an attack upon the columns of the British who +remained in front of the town on this side, and he would have wished, +in my opinion, for nothing better, as we had a rising ground commanding +the roads where they must make their debouches, and cannon ready +placed to give them a warm reception instantly. In consequence of this +expectation, Lord Wellington and his staff were off early to the front; +about eleven o’clock, finding all quiet, they returned, and we remained +_in statu quo_ for the day. + +I never expected that anything would be done if it depended on the +French, for their game seems to be merely to endeavour to keep us on +this side of the river, and to leave us to get over the difficulties +as we can, and not to run any hazards by molesting us, or giving us +even a fair chance by an attack on their posts. It is said that after +all it is found that General Hill’s road would lead us so much round, +and that the roads round that way to Toulouse would be so bad, that +the plan mentioned in my letter under date of the 31st is abandoned; +that in consequence General Hill will be ordered to return across the +river to-night, and that the pontoons will be taken up afterwards, and +an attempt made to place them lower down the river at last, and below +Toulouse, which, if it succeeds, will place us at once upon the main +good road to Bordeaux. Time will show whether this information of mine +is correct. If this plan be practicable, it will be far better than +the other. In truth the Garonne is a formidable barrier just now, when +there are no fords. + +The disappointment of not having Graham’s army here is very great, much +worse so if the reinforcements intended for us should go that way. So +much did Lord Dalhousie with his weak divisions at Bordeaux expect +General Graham’s army, that I am told he has twice sent to the coast +in expectation of their arrival, together with a naval expedition, on +a report of some distant sails being seen. This last _Gazette_ is a +woeful contrast! The importance of that ten thousand men at Bordeaux +is immense, and all agree that the country northwards would be ready +to come forward and join us if we were stronger and dared advance. +The weak state of our force at Bordeaux alarms them all, and keeps +everything back; a naval force to co-operate and to assist against the +castle of Blaye, was also expected to be ready the moment the news +of our arrival at Bordeaux was received, as it must have been such a +probable event. As it is Lord Dalhousie was about to make some attempt, +I understand, to take a position across the Garonne, between the +Dordogne and the Garonne. + +I have just been told another piece of news—unpleasant if it be true. +It is said that the Duke d’Angoulême’s new _Préfet des Landes_ ordered +the _maire_ of St. Sever to proclaim Louis XVIII., and that the old +maire, a prudent sly fellow, who has made much money in the Revolution, +declined to do so unless by Lord Wellington’s orders, and wrote to +Lord Wellington to know if he was obliged to do what he was desired. +It is said that Lord Wellington replied “No,” and suspended the new +préfet for giving the order. This is a most awkward state of things; +each town, each _maire_, is allowed thus to take this strong step if +they please, but there is to be no influence used, so that all prudent +people naturally enough will remain quiet and do nothing, and the +desperately zealous alone will act; yet so long as the conferences +remain in existence, this cannot be otherwise. + +Some more Spaniards are ordered up whom we are to feed also; how far +they will come I know not. The siege of Bayonne is, it is understood, +at last determined upon in earnest; as yet only preparation of +fascines, &c., have been made. I am told now, that the horses of the +brigades of artillery of General Hope’s column, are sent down to +Renteria to bring up the heavy battery train and siege stores. The +Guards begin to talk of more “bloody work,” but I sincerely hope not +another Bergen-op-Zoom! That left column once released, would set us +quite at ease here. Just now, our necessarily-divided army cannot be +so efficient as from its numbers compared with the French it might be +presumed to be. + +For fear of being too late for the post, I shall now seal up my three +letters in one packet and send it off. + +In appearance, the size of Toulouse is very considerable, particularly +its length. It seems much larger than Bristol; whether really so or not +we have not just now conveniently the means of ascertaining. + +All who come from Bordeaux are in ecstasies with the place and the life +there. It seems everything a bachelor officer with a little money could +wish for—everything to be had, and everything (except maps now) very +cheap. + +_Head-Quarters, Grenade, April 5th, 1814._—In pursuance of the change +of plans as to the passage of this formidable river, the Garonne, in +the face of thirty thousand men, under the command of Marshal Soult, we +very suddenly moved on Sunday morning, the 3rd, to Colomiers, a poor +dirty village on the high road from Auch to Toulouse. The pontoons had +been previously moved in the night from the neighbourhood of Carbonne, +where they had been previously fixed, and where General Hill had passed +over to the vicinity of Grenade. On the night of the 4th, about eight +or nine o’clock, the whole army, excepting General Hill’s columns, were +put in motion towards Grenade, the pontoons were launched in the river, +the bridge successfully formed during the night, and about ten thousand +men passed over without resistance by daybreak. It rained furiously +almost all the night, and a failure was in consequence much apprehended +by many, from the increased rapidity and breadth of the current of the +river. Hitherto all has gone on well. General Hill’s corps remained in +front of the suburbs and bridge of St. Cyprien near Toulouse. + +Lord Wellington and his staff were all off about two or three o’clock +in the morning, or rather night, for the river side near the bridge, +and passed over early in the morning. Lord Wellington reconnoitred +yesterday on the right bank to within about five or six miles of +Toulouse, and did not return here until after dark. Civil departments +and baggage were ordered to move across the country to Corn Barieu, a +poor dirty place on the cross-road to Grenade, at daylight, and there +to remain loaded till further orders. It was only four miles of bad +road, and we were there about half-past six. I conclude we were kept +at that point so that we might be secure, and away from the high road +out of Toulouse, in case of accidents, and at the same time ready to go +into Toulouse, in case the French should abandon the town and bridge on +hearing of our passage of the river; whilst, on the other hand, if they +remained fast, we were ready to come on here. + +The poor mules remained loaded until near two o’clock before they +were ordered on, and afterwards fell in with such columns of baggage, +cavalry, and troops, particularly Spaniards, all converging to the +bridge, that they did not arrive here until about seven or eight +o’clock at night, having had to pass a deep cross country, by a clayey +unformed road, in places sinking up to the middle, for the night’s +rain and quantity of animals passing had quite cut it up. I left the +printing-press and Mr. S——’s carriage fast in the mud, and many a load +upset; at last I believe all arrived safe. + +Whilst we were waiting in suspense, as I dare not again go much to the +front, Dr. M’Gregor and several other civilians and I passed our time +pleasantly enough. There was a chateau on a hill close to us, which +commanded all the country, and particularly Toulouse. To that we bent +our steps, and finding a young lad, son of the owner, in the house, +we got our horses into the stable, bought corn for them, and from +the Doctor’s canteen made a good breakfast, and then posted ourselves +with our glasses to see what was going on. Had there been any fight +we should have commanded the whole scene beautifully. As it was, we +only traced our columns of baggage, Spaniards, and cavalry across the +country, in two lines of about six or seven miles’ length, all moving +gradually to the bridge. We also saw some large fires in Toulouse, but +have not yet learnt whether they were anything in particular. About +half-past one we set out again, and fought our way through mud and clay +and baggage and Spaniards for about ten miles; and I am now again in +a civilized home, but with rather a forward tradesman, who gave me a +roast fowl for supper, but took his place and had his full share with +me. It is odd enough that a man of his description, in a large good +house, stables, and three or four horses, should boast, as he does, +that he can talk French, and that his daughter of eight years old has +learnt to talk French, and can speak and understand it a little when +she chooses. Their patois I can scarcely make out, certainly, not so +well as Spanish or Portuguese. + +The country is all very rich and populous, and covered with villages +and chateaux. The former are generally in evident decay; the latter are +large and showy on the outside, but for the most part old, dirty, out +of repair, and nearly unfurnished inside, with none of the comforts +even of a cit’s villa, and still less of a great man’s house in +England. At the same time one cannot but feel how much of what we in +England think necessaries are mere superfluity. One cause of their +present appearance in part may be, that the owners generally live +from seven to ten months in the year in the great towns, Toulouse in +particular, and only spend September and October in their chateaux to +see to the harvests, so that they, somewhat like the Portuguese lords, +when they do come, bring nearly all their furniture and comforts with +them. By this means, luckily, we have not done these chateaux much +damage. The young man whom we found in the chateau near Corn Barieu, +had been sent out just before we arrived, to see what was going on, and +to protect the place. He had not been able to hold any communication +with his friends in Toulouse since, and I dare say, as I told him, they +were in a terrible fright, and thought the Spaniards had roasted and +eaten him up. + +It unfortunately rained again all last night. This has swelled the +river, and alarmed us a little, for there are at times such floods +here that our bridge would not stand them, and we are now half on each +side. This was also very unlucky for the troops, many of whom must have +bivouacked without their tents and baggage. I have hitherto heard of no +ill consequences, and it is thought that the French must either come +out and fight us immediately, or be off and leave us at our ease for +a short time to try and refit and get shoes for our poor barefooted +soldiers. In the meantime we are here with no other orders than to +be ready packed to march at ten o’clock, but not loaded. It is now +half-past ten, and I have been quietly writing this, and four letters +on business, since breakfast. + +When last at Seisses I met at Lord Wellington’s Major M——, of the 53rd, +the _ci-devant_ prisoner and French squire, whom I mentioned before in +my letters. He was at Toulouse when we came by his former house, and he +took the opportunity of our pontoon bridge at Carbonne to come over to +us, for to go out he was compelled. + +I do not quite understand his own story, so as to make his conduct +correct. He was always on a sort of parole in Languedoc and Gascony. +On our coming near Toulouse he was told that he must retire towards +Montpelier. He asked delay on the plea of health, got a day, and +was then ordered to move post by Carcassonne. He went two stages, +then turned to the right, came over to us, and now rides about, a +strange figure, in a new handsome 53rd uniform, and a great French +cocked hat, with his English loop and button. He is, moreover, a round +broken-backed country-squire volunteer sort of gentleman, on a high +white tumble-down French nag. He was of course full of information and +conversation, but I rather doubted the accuracy of the former. + +He told us that Bonaparte was making for Metz, giving up Paris; and +that he intended to relieve his garrisons in that direction even +as far as Wesel, and then to try and bring the war to the frontier +again. This would be giving up nearly all France, and putting himself +between the Crown Prince at Liege and the Allies near Paris; whereas, +if compelled to leave Paris, his line, in my opinion, must be to fall +back towards Lyons, and to endeavour to unite in that direction with +Augereau, and even with Soult, who will very likely fall back that way +also. If Bonaparte were to go to Metz, Lord Wellington said he thought +then the Allies, on entering Paris, would probably let the King be +proclaimed, and that he should not then despair of seeing Bonaparte +a grand Guerilla chief on a large scale, fighting about for his +existence, which he had never expected to happen in his lifetime. Major +M—— also said that Soult’s plan was, if obliged to give up Toulouse, +to go towards the Black Mountains, and retreat by way of Carcassonne, +making his stand there in a country where our superior cavalry could +not act. If he does this, I think half his men will desert, and the +remainder be in jeopardy, unless Suchet brings him more assistance than +is thought possible. Suchet is said to be withdrawing everything, and +to be mustering all he can. Oh that we had your English reinforcements, +and General Graham’s army! for our own real English army dwindles +away very fast in this active service, and ten thousand men may make +all the difference in regard to the event. The 53rd regiment and the +eighteen-pounders are, I hear, hutted at Tarbes, to try to reduce +a small garrison at Lourdes. The Householders are also arrived, I +believe, as far as Tarbes. + +On the 23rd of March, Caffarelli sent his orders to all the communes +round Toulouse, for a considerable distance (about fifty communes), +to send men to work at the fortifications in front of Toulouse. The +numbers to be sent by requisition were very considerable; but we have +rather disturbed the march of the larger half. He also called upon all +the inhabitants to arm, and to make the town a second Saragoza. + +Major M—— says he was told that there was not the same motive. I +understand they have been obliged to arm by compulsion, but it is +supposed will do nothing. Some old French officers also came to Soult +to offer to raise Guerillas corps in our rear. Major M—— said that +their offers were to be accepted; but, except a few for plunder, I +do not think, as yet, they will find many followers. Lord Wellington +makes the _maires_ responsible for any disturbances in the rear, and +threatens garrisons, as on the French plan, _garnissaires_, in case of +a breach of order. To execute this duty the _maires_ are allowed to arm +guards in their communes. All the communes around here were to have +_garnissaires_, in case the workmen did not arrive—that is, soldiers to +keep in their houses gratis. + +_One o’clock, same day._—Here we are still; and I hope shall not move +to-day, unless to go into Toulouse, for there is a report that the +French are moving off now, and that we have taken two cars of money. +This I will not vouch for. What is more certain is, that our pontoon +bridge is on its legs again by land, and moving towards Toulouse, to be +laid down nearer the town, to make our communications shorter between +the two parts of our army, on the right and left bank. This, it is +to be feared, may draw head-quarters into some little dirty village +near the bridge; and I should like to enjoy the tolerable clean brick +room which I have to myself, and a little stable with some hay for my +horses, for one day, if it suits our plans. + +At first I was surprised at Major M——’s boldness, and, as it appeared +to me, folly, in going about in his uniform, in a way to do no good +to anybody, and possible harm to himself. I have now heard that he +has been divorced from his lady, and of course by the French law from +his _château_ and _terre_ also, and that now he has nothing whatever +to lose. He may as well make a merit of his love of England and the +Bourbons. His daughter, about sixteen, is married, and the property +goes with her. A party of five dragoons took yesterday a messenger from +Montauban to Soult. It was known by eleven o’clock at Montauban that we +had cut off the communications on the main road. The messenger was sent +round a bye-road but was caught. His despatches were, it is reported, +principally complaints that the people would not arm for the fight, +and were not very material. I pitied the man. He was a respectable man +of business in Montauban; but being told that unless he became a civic +soldier he must be a regular, he put on his sword “by compulsion,” was +sent to carry these letters, and thus fell into our hands. He says +that it will be his ruin to send him to England as a prisoner; and I +hope, though he is threatened with this, that Lord Wellington will +soon release him. This is to be hoped, for I believe his story to be +true, for the Préfet of Montauban is reported to be a most furious +Bonapartist, and that he compels the people to take up arms in the +cause, and even threatens their lives if they do not. All here profess +great friendship for us, and I believe, at present, are sincere. + +_Six o’clock._—About two o’clock I saw Lord Wellington come in, and the +real news was, that all was quiet on both sides the river, but that +the floods had carried away or sunk one pontoon, and that the bridge +was impassable. It was just on the point of being moved higher when +this happened. Just now, it is not safe to place it anywhere. We have +only three divisions and three brigades of artillery across, and two +or three, it is believed, of cavalry. The Spaniards are not over, as +I supposed, but were to have gone over this morning. Unless Soult is +an arrant coward, he must now attack these men, and it is to be feared +that we shall have sharp work. A position, however, may be taken near +the river, so as to enable our artillery on this side to assist. The +river has fallen above a foot since morning, as it has hitherto been +fine to-day, but I am sorry to say it has now begun to rain again, and +it looks very much like another bad night. Rain upon the present river +would be tremendous. A quarter of an hour after Lord Wellington came +home from Toulouse, I met him going off again to cross the river; it is +to be concluded, therefore, that something important had happened. + +_6th of April, 9 o’clock at night. Head-Quarters at Grenade._—My +principal occupation to-day, when not engaged by business, has been to +watch the river. It continued to fall many hours after the last rain +had ceased, and began to rise at ten to-day, about fifteen hours after +the last rain commenced, and five after it ceased; at this rate it will +continue to rise until six or eight to-night, and then fall again; and +if the weather relent a little, to-morrow, probably, our bridge will be +restored. + +Marshal Soult has left our three divisions quite quiet on the other +side. If he knows their numbers this is playing the game of a coward. +At present he seems to think of nothing but fortifying Toulouse with +ditches and works, and his men are hard at work. This makes the delay +very unfortunate for us. It has, indeed, been so on every account, for +we have to-day received accounts which appear to be believed, that +twelve hundred French cavalry, cuirassiers, from Suchet’s army, joined +yesterday; and that he is endeavouring to gain time; and the elements +seem to favour his obtaining it. + +The only two events here to-day have been, first, the arrival of the +pontoon which was lost and floated away. Lieutenant Reid, of the +Engineers, galloped to Verdun, two leagues down the river, offered a +reward of _cent francs_, or five pounds, to any inhabitants who would +get boats and stop the pontoon and bring it ashore: the deserter +was thus secured, and to-day brought back in triumph by a party of +soldiers. The other arrival astonished us all. A troop of the Royal +Horse Guards Blue arrived with drawn swords and a Captain’s guard +escorting a carriage. Some said that it was the Duke d’Angoulême, some +one great person, some another. One officer asked the Captain if it +was King Ferdinand? This was a hoax. At last it was discovered to be a +_maire_ of a small commune near Tarbes, and his wife. The _maire_ is +supposed to have been endeavouring to favour a guerilla system, and +exciting the people to arm. He was in consequence ordered to be sent to +head-quarters. The Blues were in high condition; and Lord Wellington, +when he was told of the French cuirassiers, said, “Well, then, we must +have the Householders for these gentlemen, and see what they can make +of them.” + +I must tell you two little anecdotes about the pontoon bridge. The +French were very jealous of any attempt of the kind, and had cavalry +videttes, &c., all along their banks of the river. The engineer wished +to measure the breadth of the river at the spot intended; and for this +purpose got into conversation with the French vidette a long time, but +had no opportunity. At last he pretended that the calls of nature +were imperative. The Frenchman, out of decency, withdrew. The engineer +popped out his sextant, took the angle, &c., and was off. + +Lord Wellington himself, with two other officers went to the spot also +to reconnoitre with his own eyes. Concealing his General’s hat with an +oil-skin, he got into conversation with the French vidette, dismounted, +got down to the water-side, looked all about him, saw all he wished, +and came away. This was, in my opinion, risking too much; but no French +soldier would have any idea of the commander of the Allied Forces going +about thus with two attendants. Lord Wellington was yesterday over +alone on foot, and went on upon a horse of General Cole’s, as horses +could not pass. Even General P—— was a little uneasy, and sent about +eight o’clock to know if he had come back safe. He returned about seven +o’clock, when it was dusk. To-day he has a great dinner in honour of +Badajoz. + +_7th April, Grenade._—We have at last a fine clear day, and warm. The +river is falling rapidly. By this evening probably our bridge may be +re-established, and to-morrow I conclude that we shall pass more troops +and advance against Toulouse and the French marshal, who is digging and +working away as usual. The French made several attempts to destroy our +bridge before the floods did the business for them. They sent us down +all their dead horses, several trees, &c., and a large old boat, which +struck a pontoon, and went down itself instead of the pontoon. They +sent down also a sort of armed log stuck round with swords, and rolling +round and round in the stream as it went along, like a great fish, in +hopes that the swords would strike and cut the cable which holds the +boats. + +Major M—— has just told me that he has had news from the interior of +another defeat of Bonaparte at Arcis-sur-Aube, and of his having lost +one hundred guns, &c., and being then manœuvring in the rear of the +Allies. This seems probable. He has also an account of the departments +in the west of France having all sent in to the Duke d’Angoulême at +Bordeaux for orders; this is also probable, and that the Royalists gain +ground fast. His accounts add in the postscript,—“The Allies entered +Paris April 1st.” This ought to be, I think, from former accounts, +and I hope it is so. The last _Moniteur_ we have of the 30th talks +of Bonaparte’s return to Paris to cover the city. How he could then +get there seems the difficulty. Lord Wellington also had yesterday a +private letter from the interior, in which it is said, “_un événement +bien imprévu est arrivé à Paris_,” and no comment. He guesses it to be +the flight of the Empress. You see what confused accounts we get of all +late events! + +_7th (6 o’clock.)_—In addition to the above we have now news that the +Bourbons have been proclaimed at Paris, and that in the name of the +Emperor of Austria the house of Napoleon has been declared to cease +to reign. I must now seal up, for Lord Wellington has written his +English letters to-day, Thursday, although Saturday is the usual day. +In addition to this, I think, from many symptoms, that we shall move +to-morrow. + +P.S.—The _maire_ brought in with such a magnificent escort, is now +quietly walking about here with his wife and no guard. The bridge is to +be fixed nearly in the same place again to-night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + Uncertain Intelligence—Capture of Toulouse—Wellington at the + Theatre—The “Liberator”—Ball at the Prefecture—The Feelings of the + French—Soult and Suchet—Ball at the Capitole. + + + Head-quarters, Grenade, + April 10, 1814, 1 o’clock. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Here we are still, away from all that is going on, but expecting every +moment an order to enter Toulouse. The day before yesterday the bridge +was re-established (the 8th), and by one o’clock the Spaniards had all +passed over. The order then came for a brigade of Portuguese artillery +to do the same. They were passing when I went there, soon after one +o’clock; and just as a gun was quitting the last boat to ascend the +bank, down went the boat; the gun, however, run off safe, but two of +the Portuguese pontoon-train sailors got a ducking, which was all the +mischief except a delay of about two hours to fish up the pontoon, drag +it on shore, turn it upside down, to clear out the water, and then +launch it again, and refit the board. + +By four o’clock I left the remainder of the guns going over. The +head-quarters of Lord Wellington remained at St. Jouy that night, and +last night Lord Wellington has only pushed the troops on a little, +to reconnoitre, and in the evening the 18th Hussars, under Colonel +Vivian, had a brilliant affair. They charged the French cavalry on +the high-road, broke them, sabred several, and took about seventy +prisoners, with the loss of a few officers wounded, and, it is +believed, only about six or eight men. Unluckily, Colonel Vivian +received a ball in the arm, which, it is feared, will render amputation +necessary. Yesterday (the 9th), the bridge was taken up very early, +and ordered to be immediately fixed about four miles nearer the town +of Toulouse, at a little place called Assaic. The light divisions +were close to that point, on this side of the river, as a security in +case of any attack on the second division, near St. Cyprien and the +bridge of Toulouse. They were ordered to cross the river as soon as our +pontoons were ready, and a movement was intended, and ordered yesterday. + +From some difficulties, or bad management, the bridge of boats was not +ready until nearly three o’clock, when it was thought too late. Lord +Wellington was more vexed, and in a greater state of anger, than he +usually is when things go wrong, even without any good cause. He said +that his whole plans for the day were frustrated and nothing could be +done; and the light divisions were counter-ordered to remain where they +were on this side the river, and head-quarters remained at St. Jouy. + +The French, it appeared, while still keeping a force to defend the +bridge of Toulouse, had before this taken a strong position on the +hills beyond the town, and had made there some strong works, upon +which they were constantly busy. The last two days and nights their +main body rested on the hills, bivouacking in this position, and in an +uncomfortable state, hourly expecting an attack. This morning about +seven it commenced: the firing was heavy for about two hours, until +nine, and has continued partially since. As I dare not cross the river +and go to the front, I went with my glass to the highest look-out here, +and saw the French redoubt very plainly, firing away briskly: since +that all has been silent here, and free from smoke. The stories of the +people here are that, with the loss of six thousand men, we have taken +the redoubt and thirty-six pieces of ordnance. + +The former, from the direction of the fire, it is certain, is a +lie, and perhaps the latter. As, however, we have now some sort of +official news that the Allies are in Paris, and the Imperial Court at +Orleans, and as there is no account of Bonaparte, the French here will +probably not fight much; and if beaten, it is certain that many, nay +thousands, will run home, and the army be much diminished. I suspect +that Bonaparte will try to unite his corps and all the remains of corps +near Paris, and Augereau’s from Lyons, and Marshal Soult’s and Suchet’s +from Provence, towards Montpelier; but it is to be hoped that even +regiments, and perhaps Marshals, will begin to desert, when it is found +that Paris is taken, and the royal party proclaimed and gaining ground. + +We certainly are in a very odd state just now in France. Our military +chest, Paymaster, Doctors, Commissaries, &c., and nearly all our +money, are in this place, which is altogether without troops; only +about a dozen staff corps men, and about ten of the paymaster’s +ordinary marching guard. The whole army is nearly four leagues in +front, and our only protection is the good-will of the people, and +the river. Yet we are told that there are French troops at Montauban, +about four leagues off, and nothing between us except the river. All +feel, notwithstanding, quite secure, and have no anxiety but to enter +Toulouse. + +In the mean time Lord Dalhousie with a part of the seventh division +has crossed, not only the Gironde, but the Dordogne, and we are told, +is to take Fort Blaze by storm: I suppose his whole force is not above +three thousand five hundred men. Bayonne has not yet been seriously +attacked, nor do we hear of any very great distress in the town, which +is surprising, considering the length of the blockade. + +In the attack to-day, it is said that the third and sixth divisions +were to form the right of the attack on the river, the fourth the +centre, and the light and large body of Spaniards to make the flank +movement on the left, to get on the hills and turn the French position, +whilst the cavalry advance also in that direction, to be ready to take +advantage of the enemy’s retreat. + +_Five o’clock, same day._—No one returned, and no news: and yet no +firing heard, and no orders. I fear that the resistance has been +greater than was expected, and begin to be fidgety and uneasy. The +reports are now, that eight thousand English wounded, and fighting +in the streets now going on. If such complete ignorance of the truth +exists within ten miles of what is passing, you may judge how false +reports circulate: we receive contradictory rumours every hour. All +we know for certain is, that two hours ago Lord Wellington’s baggage +remained at St. Jouy without orders; I despair, therefore, of seeing +Toulouse to-day. + +_Grenade, April 11th, 8 o’clock, morning._—The firing continued all day +yesterday, and until past eight at night, and began again at four this +morning, and has continued to this time, but has now lessened. Several +of our civilians returned home here last night. I understand our loss +is very considerable. We drove the enemy from all the heights, but +with difficulty. The Spaniards failed in the attack of a redoubt, were +put to the rout completely, and, it is reported, would have lost their +guns, which the French were within two or three hundred yards of, had +not the Portuguese stepped in to their support, and enabled them to +rally again. + +This is really too bad—my friend says the ground was covered with dead +Spaniards, and that he saw but few French; this is generally the result +of alarm and flight. The redoubt was taken, but not by the Spaniards, +it is said; the fire close to Lord Wellington was most severe. Near +the town the French fought very hard in the houses, particularly at +some houses near the lock of the canal close to the river. We each +occupied some of the houses, and fired continually; the French houses +were loop-holed, and they had the best. We were obliged to bring guns, +&c.; and, unfortunately, the most successful shell fell into one +of our own houses, and burnt out our own people. Among the killed, +&c., I hear, is Colonel Coghlan of the 61st, an excellent officer, +Lieutenant-colonel Forbes, Captain Gordon, 10th Hussars. Colonel +Fitzclarence is wounded in the thigh: he charged with his troops two +French squadrons, he says, up a hill, beat them, but on the top was +received by infantry: the first shot carried away part of his sword, +the second hit him on the thigh, and they fell back. We were close to +the town and to the bridge last night on all sides, and had moved our +bridge up within two miles of the town. The French have barricaded the +houses and streets, fixed swivels on the tops, lined the roofs with +men, &c., and seem determined to defend the town with desperation. An +officer deserted yesterday, and says he will serve no longer under a +man who acts like a madman, as Soult now does, in defending a town like +Toulouse in such a manner.—It is madness. + +Four Spanish officers came in here yesterday, who had escaped from +Italy through Switzerland, and had walked here. They seemed in great +distress. We had no Commissary here: I therefore gave them eight +pounds of bread and a dozen eggs, got them a quarter for the night, +and advised them to stay here until this morning, and then proceed to +head-quarters. One had served in Colonel Roche’s corps in Catalonia, +and spoke English tolerably. Our delay here, and in taking the town, +has alarmed the people very much. All who have relations and friends in +Toulouse are terribly frightened. The officer who deserted says that +many will do the same as soon as the business is over, and occasions +arise. Captain O. K——, the French-English officer from Toulouse, who +came over to the Duke d’Angoulême at St. Jean de Luz, arrived here +yesterday from Bordeaux. He says, that things are going on well, +especially since the news from Paris; that the Duke has now eighteen +hundred men formed; and that French officers come in every day with +fleur-de-lys embroidered on their Napoleon uniforms, and thus tender +their services. O. K—— was here on his road to Aurillac, to Auvergne, +&c., where, he says, a party is formed and ready to rise. He must take +care of his head, for he goes about talking very imprudently. + +_Head-Quarters, Toulouse, April 13th, 1814, Section 3, No. 676._—To +give you any notion of what we have all felt from the changes which +the last thirty-six hours have produced, you must go back to my first +sheet, and you will feel more as I did, by reading in succession what +has occurred than by anything I can now write. I was about to destroy +the first sheet, as much of it is now not worth the trouble of reading; +but thought it would give you a better idea of the feelings, from day +to day, of the army. + +An order came for civil departments to march, to cross the pontoons, +and to proceed on the high road to Toulouse to a church only three +miles from the town, and there halt and wait for orders. We were off in +ecstasies, expecting all to dine in Toulouse, and that the French were +off, and our men after them. Judge of our vexation, when, on arriving +at the church, we were all turned back off the road, to a miserable +village of about ten houses, called St. Albains; and were there to +find quarters for the night, in places just quitted by the plundering +Spaniards, and left nearly in the state in which the French left the +houses in Spain as they passed. + +When we arrived, we found many of the Spaniards still in possession, +and four of us disarmed and seized three of them in the act of +plundering. The people were screaming in every direction, the houses +abandoned, and the inhabitants just beginning to return to witness the +mischief done. Everything had been ransacked—all the closets, &c., +broken open; the rags and remnants on the floor, mixed with hundreds of +egg-shells, and the feathers of the plundered fowls, &c. Much linen was +carried off, the sheets and heavy articles in the yard; the tables were +covered with broken dishes, bottles, bones, and twine; and the cellars +with the wine-casks running. In about two hours we got possession of +the quarters, and got the inhabitants in to clean them, and by five +o’clock had divided the places among us. My whole baggage lost its +road, and did not arrive at all—five mules and a horse loaded. + +You may conceive the disappointment and the vexation we experienced. +Dr. M’Gregor said that our loss was terrible! He was just returned +from collecting all the wounded in villages, and, by Lord Wellington’s +desire, was hurrying every one possible instantly to the rear. They +were passing all night in cars. The Spaniards were moaning and crying +most desperately, and were to reach Fenoullet that night, Sole +Jourdain the next, and then to be sent on further if necessary. The +accommodations were very bad. The accounts from the town were that +the French were continuing to barricade every house and loophole, and +arming to defend themselves to the last. + +The army was said to be now much weakened; the Spaniards could not +be depended upon; the reinforcements were not come up from England, +and a story was going about and believed by many who ought to have +known better, that we were out of ammunition, and could not use our +artillery. You may conceive that I went (without my baggage and +comforts), with this news, sorrowfully to bed, ordering my servant to +be off at five in the morning in search of my stragglers. + +On the 12th, at 6 o’clock, I was up and wandering about alone, +listening to an occasional heavy gun, seeing wounded men pass, and +waiting for the return of my man. About eight I saw Henry returning +alone, and was expecting more bad news, when he told me that the French +were off, that we were to march for Toulouse directly, and that my +baggage was all safe at a house a league off on the road; and that, +therefore, he had ordered them to pack and be off with the rest. +Think of our sensations on hearing of this welcome change! The last +twenty-four hours had been among the most critical of the war, and +now all was safe and right again. I found out the clergyman, Mr. B——, +got a razor and a cup of tea, whilst my horse was getting ready, and +was then off, to go round by head-quarters and to enter Toulouse with +Lord Wellington. About eleven I arrived at the fortified entrance, and +found, instead of the enemy behind the new works, the _maire_ of the +town, almost all the officers of the _garde urbaine_, a considerable +number of national guard officers, deserters, &c., and about two +hundred smart but awkward men of the city guard, and a band of music, +all with the white cockade, and a great crowd of citizens besides, all +waiting with anxiety to receive Lord Wellington, and carry him in form +to the mayoralty. Unluckily, from some mismanagement and mistake, he +went in at another entrance, and passed on, almost unknown. Hearing +this, I went to the mayoralty with General Packington’s aide-de-camp, +and found it was so; and, therefore, we went back to inform the mayor +officially, and to beg he would return to the _maison commune_. He +did so, though an immense crowd entered the mayoralty in form, and an +introduction then took place, and Lord Wellington showed himself at +the window, amidst the shouts and waving handkerchiefs and hats of +every one. + +The procession then went with Lord Wellington to his quarters, the +Prefêt’s palace, amidst the applause of the inhabitants all the way. +Nothing could be more gratifying than his reception, and that, indeed, +of all the English; the most respectable inhabitants, many of them, not +only anxiously showing us the way to our billets, but offering their +homes without any billets, or receiving us with a sincere welcome as +soon as the paper was delivered. Lord Wellington announced a ball in +the evening at the Prefecture, and left Marshal Beresford with three +divisions and cavalry to follow Marshal Soult for the day. + +We thought nothing could make us happier, when at five o’clock in +came Colonel Ponsonby from Bordeaux with the Paris news, which you +know. He told us that the official accounts would arrive in an hour or +two. Ponsonby came through Montauban: the French officer commanding +there taking his word, and letting him pass. I had been, at Colonel +Campbell’s request, examining General St. Hilaire and his servant. St. +Hilaire was found, under suspicious circumstances, in the town, and was +just put under arrest, and Campbell luckily asked me to dine with Lord +Wellington, which I should have been very sorry to have missed. + +Just as we were sitting down to dinner, about forty of us, General +Frere, and several Spaniards, General Picton, and Baron Alten, the +principal French, &c., in came Cooke with the despatches. The whole was +out directly, champagne went round, and after dinner Lord Wellington +gave “Louis XVIII.,” which was very cordially received with three times +three, and white cockades were ordered for us to wear at the theatre +in the evening. In the interim, however, General Alava got up, and +with great warmth gave Lord Wellington’s health, as the _Liberador +del’ Espagna_! Every one jumped up, and there was a sort of general +exclamation from all the foreigners—French, Spanish, Portuguese, +Germans, and all—_El Liberador d’Espagna! Liberador de Portugal! Le +Liberateur de la France! Le Liberateur de l’Europe!_ And this was +followed, not by a regular three times three, but a cheering all in +confusion for nearly ten minutes! Lord Wellington bowed, confused, and +immediately called for coffee. He must have been not a little gratified +with what had passed. + +We then all went to the play. The public were quite in the dark as +to what had just arrived, but Lord Wellington was received in the +stage-box (where he sat, supported by Generals Picton, Frere, and +Alava, &c., and also the _maire_) with no little applause, I assure +you. At the door the people would scarcely take the money from us; +and in the opposite stage-box the French left the box themselves, and +made room for us. We had the white cockades on the breast. The English +officers in the house stared, and did not know what to make of it. +Some thought it a foolish, giddy trick. In about ten minutes Lord +Wellington turned his hat outwards to the front of the box: it was +seen, and a shout ensued immediately. The play was “_Richard, oh mon +Roi_,” which was fixed upon really before the news came. The “_Henri +IV._” was played, and then the new French constitution was read aloud +from one of the boxes. The people most anxious, and in general pleased; +in some things not. I think most of it very good, if the French can +enjoy anything so like our own constitution, for such it is, under +other names; but this is doubtful. The article worst received was that +leaving all the sales of emigrant lands to stand good; and it does +appear to me that, when, by means of paper, an estate had been bought +for the price of a team of horses, an equitable arrangement would +have been better, to be settled by Government Commissioners. This +was followed by “God save the King,” which was received with great +applause. + +When the play was over, we adjourned to the ball at Lord Wellington’s. +The only drawback was our meeting on the way the cars of the wounded +in the streets, now moving to the excellent hospitals here. This on +consideration was also a satisfaction, for many lives will be saved by +the wounded being brought here, instead of being sent to rear. You will +now guess what we felt, and what a species of trance we were in. + +Here we are halted, whilst the news is sent on to Soult, with whom +Marshal Beresford could not come up. The arrival of the news was at the +moment we should have selected, except for the loss of life. For Lord +Wellington’s character, however, even that was good, and eight hours +sooner it would have been said that the late battle was no victory on +our part, and that we should never have entered Toulouse, nor would the +real sentiments of the town have been known. + +On inquiry, I find that the French loss has been great. General Taupin, +one of my friends on La Rhüne, killed; General D’Armagnac, who took +me, wounded; Harispe wounded, and here a prisoner; two other Generals +wounded, &c. Our loss fell principally, you will see, on the sixth +division, and the Scotch Brigade in particular, and on the Spaniards. +With regard to the latter, it is said that, upon the whole, the men for +a long time behaved well, and that if General Frere had been as skilful +as brave, and the officers better, they probably would have succeeded +in their object, which certainly happened to be the most arduous duty +of the day. They arrived on a sort of smooth glacis below the French +works, under a fire admitted to be more severe than almost any since +Albuera. Decision and skill and rapidity were then required. The men +were kept too long in this fire—they broke—and then ran like sheep. One +French regiment, it is said, drove more than four thousand of them, and +in such a manner that they almost upset a Caçadore Portuguese regiment +by main force. Three companies of the latter stood firm, beat back +the Spaniards with their firelocks, laughed at them, enjoyed it, and +completely checked the French. The redoubt was afterwards taken by our +men, with great loss, as you will see. General Frere was in despair; +he exerted himself to the utmost to rally his men; at last, by his +exertions, assisted by Lord Wellington in person, one or two Spanish +companies were formed, and became steady. Upon this the rest soon +followed, and formed up also. The Spaniards had then a less arduous +post assigned them; all went on well again, and I believe they behaved +fairly enough. Their loss is considerable. + +This morning the whole conversation of the officers turns upon half-pay +and starvation. With some, want of preferment; with others, promotion; +and with those who have promotion, a determination to enjoy themselves +now that all is over, and their dangers and sufferings past. As to my +own prospects, they are so completely in the air, that my being never +much of an architect for building in that element, I go quietly on with +my work, and trust to the future. + +I shall defer any account of this place, &c., for fear of being too +late for the despatches, and now say adieu. + +Pray forward the enclosed two letters, which are from Madame de Baudré, +my hostess at Mont de Marsan, who desired me to take care of them, and +enclosed them in a letter of great professions of kindness for me, only +exceeded by the most romantic ones for the Bourbons, and stating the +great losses her family and connexions have lately sustained. + +_Head-Quarters, Toulouse, April 15th, 1814._—Here we are quietly +waiting the result of the communication of the late news to Marshal +Soult, &c. Cooke has come back from his head-quarters. The Marshal +hesitates a little at present. He objects that he has no authentic +documents from Bonaparte or the authorities whom he represents, and +seems to have some doubts of the extent of the late news—or pretends +to have. In short, as yet he takes no decided line, but it is said has +applied for an armistice, probably wishing to gain time, to consult +Suchet, &c., and learn more of the state of things. + +Colonel Gordon was sent to him yesterday by Lord Wellington with +a flag-of-truce; and it is understood that a positive answer and +determination was required, and the armistice refused. Lord Wellington +and all the officers yesterday attended Colonel Coghlan’s funeral in +the morning, at the Temple, and went from thence in procession to the +Protestant burial-ground out of the town. + +In the evening Lord Wellington gave another more magnificent ball at +the Prefecture. It was too crowded to dance much, or well, but went +off with great glee and general satisfaction. The ladies were very +prettily dressed, in general, with the exception of a few of the high +ugly bonnets, and there were several very pleasing-looking girls, and +good dancers; but I do not think that in general the women are handsome +here. I met with one very good-humoured chatty lady, about eighteen +probably, who said she had only left her “Maman,” with whom she had +always lived near Carcassonne, one month, and that, in that time she +had witnessed many strange things:—the ravages of the French army, +the passage of our army over the Garonne, a great battle (which was +all visible quite plainly from the churches here, and even from the +houses), the preparations for a siege, the retreat of the French, our +triumphal entry, the change of the national government, and her own +marriage. + +Captain Tovey, of the 20th, taken at Orthes, has escaped, and came in +here yesterday. He would not give his parole, and made several attempts +to be off. In consequence he was hardly treated, but is now safe. He +met with every assistance from the French inhabitants; and at the +last house he was in, the owner made him leave his peasant’s dress, +and equipped him in a new suit, boots and all, French cut, to pass our +lines, and go to head-quarters in. The villages through which he passed +were proclaiming the King; and he was told that Soult’s house, near +Carcassonne, had been destroyed by the mob. + +The French here discover the same volatile character as ever. _Vive le +Roi!_ is shouted as vigorously as _Vive l’Empereur!_ was, I am told, a +few years since, when Bonaparte made his then really popular entry, and +gave his fêtes here, of which the most fulsome _procès verbal_ still +exists, signed by a maire-adjoint of the same name as the one who now +signs the King’s proclamation, and I believe he is the same man—Lameluc. + +The inhabitants are all at work as usual, and very active. +Fleurs-de-lys are now upon the skirts of the coats instead of eagles, +and last night on the theatre dropscene. The busts of Bonaparte are +smashed. The Capitolium ornaments are all undergoing a change. All +the N.’s and B.’s, &c., are effaced; and the workmen are now busily +employed working round the cornice of the great staircase at the +Capitol, changing all the alternate ornaments of a handsome cornice, +every other one having been a _bee_. The English are everything, and in +general estimation. To return the compliment of our wearing their white +cockade on our black one, they now wear a black one on their white. +The Spaniards are considered much as the Cossacks. The Capitolium is a +very fine building, and as the splendid velvet and gold canopy, and the +throne of Bonaparte at one end, had no decided emblems except that of +authority generally, it has, after some doubts, been allowed to remain, +and is not destroyed. We are to have a grand ball there, it is said, +given on Sunday, by the inhabitants, if approved of, and we stay. + +The theatre is about the size of the Haymarket Theatre; in width rather +larger, but much deeper, and something in the improved shape of Covent +Garden. The actors are tolerable. It is, however, inferior to the +Bordeaux Theatre, and certainly to that of Lyons. + +The stone bridge over the Garonne, of seven arches, is very solid and +substantial, wide, and upon the whole a splendid work, but not very +graceful in its architecture. It is like Kew bridge in general shape, +but in much heavier and substantial proportions. + +Several improvements have been some time since commenced in the city, +but most of them are now at a stand, and have been so for some time. +The cathedral of St. Etienne is an unfinished Gothic building, the +great aisle being wanting to the new building. Instead of this, a large +sort of Westminster Hall, of more ancient date, joins the cathedral on +one side. This was originally intended to be pulled down or altered. + +There is some good tapestry and fine painted glass, which have escaped +here, as in several other churches, the revolutionary destruction. + +The streets here are like the old parts of Paris, in general narrow, +with a gutter in the middle; and the houses very good, but high shops +below, and three stories of good rooms above. Several handsome hotels, +with their great gates and small gardens. I am in a dirty place, but +tolerably well off. The people are civil; I have good stabling, and one +comfortable room, now it is cleaned. + +C—— gives rather a strange account of our Allies, but seems to think +from their numbers, and the general feeling, that the business has at +last been well-blundered through. There is a good story told of an +incident which happened at the interview with Soult the other day. +The substance of the news somehow got wind, and the army, whilst the +Marshal was closeted with C——, gave a loud shout. The aide-de-camp +went to inquire the cause, and returned saying, “_Ce n’est qu’un +lièvre, Monseigneur_.” You ought to know that nothing causes a louder +shout amongst troops than a hare crossing them. General M—— said the +aide-de-camp should have been asked whether it was a Leipzig hare? If +Soult does not declare himself, his army will, I think, desert him. I +have now only just received a letter from you, of the 22nd March, and +papers. + +The French works at the entrance of the town, by the bridge (_tête de +pont_), were very strong, and cost much in labour and materials, for no +use. They were formed by close piles of timber like the caissons for +the foundation of a bridge, filled up with earth, and the tops lined by +barrels of earth, with a ditch and guns, &c., placed, and the walls of +the buildings round all loop-holed. + +I rode all over the positions of the battle yesterday, on the hills, +and examined all the forts and the monuments of French industry and +British courage. They were most formidable places to approach, for the +hills formed a regular smooth glacis from the works at the top to the +valley below, and half way down were long low heaps of sod, or turf, +made up to protect the advanced sharp-shooters, who were lying safe on +the ground, protected behind them, though the barrier was not above two +feet high. A church and a house loop-holed, formed the sort of citadel +to two of the forts or redoubts for musquetry, with the guns around +the outside. The ditches were not so deep, nor the works so complete +as those near Vera, where the French had more time, nor were the roads +or mountains so difficult to ascend; but there was less shelter to +approach, from the greater smoothness of the ground. Almost the only +chance of safety was following some hollow roads, and a ride or two on +the hills. + +_16th (4 o’clock)._—I have just heard that the mail goes in half an +hour. There is, therefore, little time to add to this. Colonel G—— is +come back: Soult very civil, but high and proud in his manner, not yet +satisfied, and so circumstanced, does not yet join the royal cause; the +consequence is, I hear, that the troops move to-morrow morning, and I +fear we shall do the same then or soon after. This is very provoking, +for the general result seems clear, and all bloodshed now useless. I +suspect the truth of the hare story, as it is said that Soult’s army +is still ignorant of what has happened, at least, nearly so. Pains +are now being taken to circulate the proclamations, news, &c., in all +directions round him, that the troops may learn the real state of +things. I have to-day received the parcel from you, letter to 29th, and +newspapers. Many thanks. + +The museum here contains but a bad second-rate set of pictures. About a +hundred have been carried away during the month of March, no one knows +where; but I presume they were the best of those which were portable +from their size. + +There has been some difference of opinion, and confusion, we hear, at +Montauban about royalty. Bayonne, it is to be feared, will abide by +Soult, and do nothing yet. + +_Head-Quarters, Toulouse, April 18th, 1814, 5 o’clock._—The troops +moved as I told you yesterday, and the order was actually out for +head-quarters to move to-day, when Count Gazan came in yesterday, about +mid-day, to announce Marshal Soult’s submission, I believe, to the new +order of things, and to arrange cantonments, &c., for the two armies. +He was closeted with General Murray a long time, and arrangements were +made. He returned this morning to have the articles ratified, and +to-night Lord G. Lennox has orders to be in readiness to go to England +through Paris with the news. This last fact you will, perhaps, have +heard, and probably before you get this. + +We had yesterday a grand _Te Deum_, a most strange noisy military +and religious ceremony attended with all the drums and military band; +French civic soldiers, with their hats on, hallooing, shouting, +singing, organs, &c., an immense crowd, and great cordiality. +Unluckily, Gazan passed the door as the crowd was coming out; he was +hooted, and saluted with “_A bas Soult!_” &c. This was a pity, but +these changeable gentlemen are all in extremes. The troops are all +going into cantonments immediately, and we shall for some time, I +conclude, be quiet. + +The bad news from Bayonne is very unlucky. General Hope is, I hear, not +dangerously wounded; and his aide-de-camp is gone to Bayonne to comfort +him in his confinement, which I trust will now be soon over. The affair +seems to have been a surprise in a great measure, and the chief loss +was in regaining the church, &c., of St. Etienne, which had been easily +lost at first. Lord Dalhousie, on the other hand, seems to have gone on +well alone, across the Dordogne. + +The arsenal is here on a very large scale, and would have been a very +great acquisition, were the war to have gone on. The French carried +away almost everything but materials, of which there is abundance of +wheel carriages, &c., and all the forges, &c., in order. + +_Head-Quarters, Toulouse, April 23rd, 1814._—Our life has now fallen +into the old routine way again, and not only without daily events and +little incidents to excite the mind, as has hitherto been the case, +but also with the additional flatness and indifference, which cannot +but be felt so immediately after a succession of such occurrences as +have taken place within the last month. You will now have only the +tittle-tattle of a country town (a French town certainly, and therefore +somewhat novel), with which you must be satisfied. When Count Gazan +came over here, to settle the terms of the armistice and line of +demarcation, &c., with Generals Murray and Wimpfen, he was so much +engaged that I could not see him, as I wished to do, and he went very +suddenly back again. The terms you will see in the papers. + +When all the Spanish garrisons are collected in France, this southern +French army will again be respectable. Our troops are all moving into +their cantonments along the Garonne on the left bank, except a few on +this right bank, within the department of the Haute Garonne, which +remains nearly all ours for the present. We have had a variety of +strangers—the two Sir Charles Stewarts the first place. The Lisbon +minister only stopped here one day on his way to Holland; the other Sir +Charles, from Paris, came, as it is whispered here, to signify a wish +on the part of the Allies that Lord Wellington would be the English +commissioner at the general Congress. If so, and this seems very +probable, I think he does well to refuse, for he cannot stand higher +than he does. Were he to go, the other diplomatists would be surprised +at his method of getting through business. We should certainly have a +general peace many weeks sooner, if not months, than we are likely to +have otherwise. + +I was walking with C—— in Lord Wellington’s garden about eight o’clock +in the morning, three days since, when we saw a queer-looking figure +approach, of whom we could make out nothing from the complete mixture +of undress and magnificence—a pair of not clean overalls on, a common +short pelisse, and a foraging cap, but the whole breast covered with +stars and little crosses, and swords and orders of all sorts. + +I was not a little surprised at being introduced to Sir Charles +Stewart. He had arrived at two in the morning and had gone to bed, +without sending word to Lord Wellington, depending upon finding him at +home at eight o’clock, when to his mortification he found that Lord +Wellington had been since five in the morning out hunting; and when +Sir Charles asked where he could go to meet him, the best information +he could get was, that it was in a forest somewhere about eighteen +miles distant, but no one knew exactly where, for the only persons who +knew, about four in number, were out with him. Patience, therefore, was +his only remedy; and instead of being off again in two hours as he said +he had intended, he was obliged to stay long enough to give us a few +anecdotes from the Allies. Two of Marshal Suchet’s aides-de-camp, and +two or three French colonels from his army and that of Soult, have also +been here. + +With one of Suchet’s aides-de-camp I had much conversation. He is a +gentleman-like young man. He told me that Suchet was at Perpignan +when he heard of Soult’s affair here; but that he then thought it +prudent to hasten to Narbonne, and there he was when the news from +Paris arrived. Had the war gone on, therefore, we should evidently +have had a dance, as I expected, to the Mediterranean, on the road to +Montpelier, after these united marshals, and should have required your +utmost exertions and reinforcements from England; as it is, all is +well. Suchet’s aide-de-camp said that he found very different feelings +towards Soult in this country from what there were towards his master +in the districts where he had commanded, and that he feared Soult had +conducted himself very badly. The two marshals are, I understand, very +jealous of each other. I asked him if Suchet had the least notion or +expectation previously of what has happened. He said, “No: who could +expect such a change in the minds of every one, and such a revolution +in seven days’ time?” Then he laughed, and said, “At present we were +_à la mode_;” and as I met him at the grand ball at the Capitole here +again, he said, “There, you have nothing to do now but to make the most +of your advantages, and amuse yourselves: all the beauties have now +declared for you.” + +I rather pitied him, when at that meeting a number of pert apprentices, +with immense white cockades on, and some still with Napoleon buttons +and smart civic uniforms, were continually coming up to him, and +reaching about up to his chin, asking him, pertly, “Oh! are you Soult’s +aide-de-camp, or Suchet’s? Well, how do you like what is going on?” +fellows, that a month ago would have almost cleaned his shoes had they +been asked. Some of them even thought he was English, and in bad patois +French, complimented him on the progress he had made in the French +language. His military pride was much put to the trial, and he could +hardly smother his feelings. He then asked me to show him his new King, +of whom there was an old picture hung up, as he said it was now time +to make acquaintance with his new sovereign, as well as with this new +state of society. + +The grand ball given by the town at the Capitole on Thursday went off +well, except that it was just such a crowd as an Easter Monday ball at +the Mansion House. The rooms were very handsome, and the five hundred +English, Spanish, and Portuguese officers added not a little to the +effect of the scene. Nearly the whole were generals, aide-de-camps, +staff-officers, or at least field-officers, and every order and +ornament of every nation was worn. Lord Wellington was most splendid. +The amusement commenced by leading him into the Salle de Trone +_ci-devant_ Bonaparte, where, over the vacant chair in the centre, was +the picture of King Louis XVIII., and on each side that of the Duke +d’Angoulême, and one of Lord Wellington himself—the latter a hasty +caricature likeness taken by a painter here at the play from memory. He +was then entertained with a short concert, principally consisting of La +Chasse d’Henri IV., and “God save the King,” sung by the public singers +from a gallery, amidst the clouds—goddesses and cupids painted above +them. + +I had got Mr. K——, the famous English officer singer, to go with me +to the leader of the band, and to give him the catch-club harmony of +“God save the King,” and we wrote them down full instructions, and all +the words for the song, solo, trio, chorus, &c., the words spelt also +according to the French pronunciation, while the musician caught by the +ear and scribbled down all the parts, one by one, from K——’s singing. +It was an interesting scene. They had a rehearsal, and Mr. K—— gave the +_prima donna_ a few private lessons, and the whole in consequence went +off really surprisingly well. The supper-tables were filled by about +four sets successively, the English having the preference, sentinels +letting us in, and keeping out the French until the last. This went on +until there was not even bread and water remaining. + +The press, now, is at work here, printing Cevallo’s old history of +the conduct of the French in Spain, and a variety of things, which +to the natives are news. There seems to be a disposition to buy the +books and read; nothing, however, will make the French what Cobbett +calls us, “a thinking people.” They seem to be as frivolous as ever. +The next thing wished for here, and at Bordeaux, is to get rid of this +new constitution, and have the Bourbons as before; at least the party +is strong for this line, and, unless something decisive is done soon, +and the old military dispersed about, and gens-d’armes, I think they +will even yet have a squabble about several things among themselves, +which makes me wish that we should be off as soon as possible, and +have nothing to do with them. As soon as all the foreign garrisons are +withdrawn, and the line of the French empire settled, the faster we +withdraw from within it the better. I always expected the royal cause +would gain ground as it has, when once fairly tried. It was the only +source of peace, and that was what all wanted, on any terms. Of course +the acceptance of the Bourbons made it all easy; but I believe all the +southern departments would gladly have been English, to secure peace, +and get sugar, sell their wines, and get rid of conscriptions and +acquisitions. + +Lord Wellington gives another grand ball at the _ci-devant_ Prefecture, +now Palais Royale, on Monday next. On Tuesday, he resigns his place +there to the Duke d’Angoulême, and as there is an old adage about two +kings of Brentford, I suspect he will soon afterwards take a trip +somewhere else, at least for a time. I doubt, however, his leaving the +armies altogether, while they remain in force, and the French marshals +likewise. + +Bordeaux must be very proud of the example they have given to France. +They must take especial care to conceal their subsequent alarms, and +half-repentance of what they have done. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +Toulouse—Its Churches—Protestant Service—Libraries—Reception of the +Duke d’Angoulême—The French Generals—Popularity of Wellington. + + + Head-quarters, Toulouse, + April 27, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Though I have nothing now to amuse you with, but the result of my +morning walks and inquiries in this town, I shall proceed as usual, +more with a wish to preserve my own crude observations, than hoping to +interest you much by the perusal. + +My last was finished on Saturday. On Sunday, about half-past eleven, I +attended the service at the Protestant chapel, established under the +sanction and patronage of Bonaparte, as a sort of church-wardenish +gold-lettered record informed me. The service began with a prayer +by the clerk; he then gave out a psalm, more noisy than musical, +and without the accompaniment of the organ. I was astonished that +such a small congregation could make so much noise and discord. One +greasy-headed, methodistical-looking man, near me, continued in an +unceasing roar, bearing much more resemblance to a well-known noise +with which our mules so frequently indulge us, than any known harmony. +A short prayer, and a long chapter from the New Testament, with the +Commentary, as printed in the book, was then delivered from the pulpit +or reading-desk (for there was but one) by a clergyman, who then +entered. Another psalm ensued. The organ then played to introduce a +young preacher, who took the reader’s place, and gave us a prayer and +the Ten Commandments, and another psalm, partly to the organ; but +before half a stave was finished, the organist found that his notes and +the vocal ones were so different, that he ceased playing, and though +he made two or three attempts at a single note afterwards, he found it +would not do, and gave it up. + +The young preacher then read a text from the Bible, and gave us a +very good extempore discourse about half-an-hour long. The subject +was the vanity of this world, and the danger of temptation and evil +communication. The language and delivery were clear and distinct; there +was no rant, but much propriety of manner. A psalm followed, and the +organ was not so much distanced; then the Lord’s Prayer and Belief, and +a prayer for all descriptions of persons and denominations, like that +of our own Church praying for dignitaries, &c. And then another psalm, +at last, in tolerable harmony, but very noisy. A blessing concluded the +whole. + +At first there were only about forty-five persons; some half-dozen old +gentlemen were in the seats near the altar. These had backs. About +twenty-five women were in the right-hand seats; and about fifteen +men in the left. The side-seats were chairs placed in rows, and all +fastened to each other. In the course of the service, the numbers +increased to about sixty or seventy. The congregation appeared to be +nearly all of the middling class of tradesmen; only about three of our +poor men took their allotted seats, quite at the back. As no one ever +knelt down, there was no occasion for either room or cushions for that +purpose. The men sat with their hats occasionally on and off, and legs +crossed, at their ease, in the style of the House of Commons; but were +attentive to the sermon. The three poor men all fell asleep, snoring +so loud that a sort of beadle was obliged to awaken them. I was not +much surprised on the whole, comparing this scene with that in the +Roman Catholic churches, that the proselytes amongst the highest and +lowest classes were not not numerous. This service suits neither. It +is most adapted to an independent tradesman, who thinks a little for +himself, and can see the errors of the Catholics, and likes the economy +of the chapel. It might be accident, but I saw scarcely any white +cockades,—only one or two of the elder, and I suppose richer, members +of the community wear them in their hats. + +On Monday I looked into nearly all the churches, present and +_ci-devant_, of Toulouse. The cathedral of St. Etienne I have already +mentioned. The next in size and consequence is St. Saturnin, or more +commonly called St. Surnin. This is a curious building, in the dark +heavy Saxon style (reminding one of the early attempts at Grecian +revival, and the introduction of the Gothic), all circular except the +angular main pillars of the centre of the cross, which were heavy +octagons; the roof circular, and upper windows double circles. Except +the pillars, nearly the whole is made of the flat tile or brick, +which is curious. It was built in the present form about the year +1160 to 1190. There are monuments of the Earls of Toulouse, &c., of +founders, and in a dark vaulted chapel under the grand altar are relics +innumerable—of the thorns in the crown placed on the head of Christ; +the heads of Barnabas, of Simon, and of Jude; parts of their bodies +also; parts of Peter; besides bishops, &c.; the body and figure of +Thomas Aquinas; and an English saint, a king, whose name I could not +make out. We heard much of the riches with which all these relics were +formerly surrounded. It is said that the revolutionists carried off +four hundredweight of gold, besides silver. All the most valuable part, +however, as the good Catholics are bound to think, were fortunately +spared, and still remain in excellent preservation, and tolerably fine +with gilding. + +The general effect of the building is gloomy and superstitious, and a +strange unpleasant smell, which some say proceeds from large vaults +underneath, which are filled with bodies which do not corrupt, makes +one glad to get out of the building as soon as curiosity is satisfied. +They do not bury their dead in the church now, and the vaults I +mentioned are walled up. In the remaining churches now in use there +is little worthy of notice, but there are two very large _ci-devant_ +convent churches. That of the Jacobins is worthy of notice; one long +building only, like King’s College Chapel (not a cross), and with one +lofty row of circular pillars all down the centre. This forms as it +were two equal main aisles, and no side aisles. On the sides are rows +of chapels and a large cloister. Almost the whole is in brick, except +the centre pillars. It is now regularly fitted up as cavalry barrack +stables; and they are excellent, easily containing in the whole, I +should think, about seven hundred horses. There is an octagon building +adjoining, with a slender pillar, fitted up the same. Near this is +another large, long, similar building, formerly a chapel, but without +the centre pillars, and the scale of course somewhat smaller. This +is the forage store for the cavalry barrack. We have them now both +in use, as the French had. I must now go in my best to meet the Duke +d’Angoulême. + +_Friday, the 26th._—About two o’clock on Wednesday the most interesting +scene commenced since that of the first day of our entrance, and a +more splendid one still. Lord Wellington, surrounded by about three +hundred horsemen, composed of general officers, aides-de-camp, and +staff officers of all descriptions, and of the four nations, Spanish, +English, French and Portuguese, went out to meet the Duke d’Angoulême, +all in their best uniforms, on their best chargers, and covered with +white cockades. The only French general of the opposing army who came +in time for this was Clausel, and he was for some time side by side +with Lord Wellington. When we had gone about six miles, and arrived at +a sort of triumphal arch on a hill, the Duke appeared, escorted by a +guard of our heavy dragoons and a double French guard of honour from +Bordeaux and Toulouse. We drew up on each side, after the interview +with Lord Wellington, to let them pass, and then all joined in the +procession to the town. + +The sides of the road were crowded with carriages and people, and the +enthusiasm of the lower classes, and of the women in particular, was +excessive. The Duke and Lord Wellington, after being joined by more +guards of honour and more suite, as we approached the town, entered the +street over the grand bridge, amidst the shouts and acclamations of a +multitude crowding every window. The scene reminded me of the London +streets at Lord Nelson’s funeral. From the _tête de pont_, which still +in part exists, over the bridge, up to the cathedral through all the +principal streets, was a double line of English troops, between which +the procession passed. Several of the regiments had got their clothing, +and they looked admirably, especially the Scotch 91st. + +A sort of moveable _garde urbaine de l’infanterie_ on each side kept +also with us all the way. White flags, exhibiting French ingenuity +to the utmost, were hanging from every window. Sheets, table-cloths, +towels, &c., covered with green paper fleurs-de-lys formed excellent +standards, and paper flags were innumerable. The women, and some of the +old men, were quite mad with joy, and screamed, _Vive le Roi et vivent +les Anglois!_ till they were stopped by absolute exhaustion, or some by +tears of joy. Every house was hung with laurel mixed with the white, +and the lower story covered entirely with old tapestry, old carpets, or +sheets, and paper fleurs-de-lys. In the morning this made the streets +look something like Brokers’-alley certainly, but the effect, when +mixed with the rest of the scene, was not bad. + +After passing under another triumphal arch of table-cloths, laurel, +fleurs-de-lys, &c., we reached the cathedral, and a _Te Deum_ +succeeded. This was much like the last, only rather more in order, and +the public bodies were more numerous and in their costume. The ten +Judges and the President, in their red robes, like our aldermen, with +small black-and-gold caps. The Judges de Premier Instance, in black +Master-of-Arts gowns, with sky-blue sashes; the Avocats in black gowns +alone; the professors of sciences and arts in their crimson-coloured +Master-of-Arts gowns, and those of belles-lettres in orange; the +Archbishop and clergy in full costume. The music was not very striking, +but many of the old people cried with joy. + +About six o’clock the Duke dined with Lord Wellington, and went to +the play in the evening, where the acclamations were renewed with +fresh vigour; the women in the streets caught hold of his coat to kiss +it. Yesterday the Duke had a _grande messe_, and then a full-dress +drawing-room—this in the morning. In the evening the great rooms of the +Capitolium were opened again for music and dancing. The Duke came in +there too soon, when scarcely five hundred people were arrived, but in +another hour the crowd was immense. The dresses of the women were very +splendid, and the variety of orders and uniforms made the scene very +gay. General Villette was there, as well as Clausel, and a number of +French officers. The Duke was just the same as at St. Jean de Luz, and +remembered all his old acquaintance there, myself among the rest. + +He not only gave me a gracious nod during the first procession, +but surprised me by coming round behind the chairs of the ladies, +where I was standing, in the music-room, and gave me his hand, and +reminded me of King Joseph’s saddle-cloth, which I had given the +Duke, and which was on his horse, as I observed, when he entered +the town. His affability and good-nature are striking; but he must +acquire more dignity and self-possession, as his figure is against +him in appearance, and he seems shy; in short he must learn the trade +of kingcraft, like any other, and a quiet rational man is just now +the best king the French can have. The great rock to avoid is the +probability of being misled by indiscreet emigrants. + +I was, it must be confessed, rather at a loss what to say to the Duke, +but when he talked of the saddle-cloth, I replied, that “Its only +merit, which was as a trophy, now was at an end, as the family of +the Bonapartes had ceased to be objects to triumph over.” This, and +a lame congratulation on what had happened, completed my speech; as, +however, it was as new to me to address royalty as it was to him to +act it, I hope if occasion offers I may improve by practice as well as +his Highness. One circumstance amused me much in all this scene: the +good city of Toulouse covered its streets with sand, and made the air +resound with cries, and every house had two paper lanterns in every +window at night; and they were, in general, I am convinced, sincere in +this, although one might have been induced to think otherwise from the +acts of the authorities and public offices. A set of _garde urbaine_ +officers (the new gens-d’armes) ran all the way at the head of the +procession, prompting the cries, and setting them going all the way +we went; and the illuminations were, by special order of the mayor, +from the Bureau d’Illuminations, as usual in the time of Bonaparte’s +system. My intended observation is this—the city loyalty vented itself +in cries, in _Te Deums_, in music, and in farthing candles, and +dancing, shouting, draperies, &c., but the Royal Duke was placed in +the Palais Royale (_ci-devant_ Prefecture), and no provision made for +his table or for his establishment or Bordeaux guard of honour, and our +head-quarters’ Commissary was called upon to feed the animals, &c., of +the guard and followers, and Lord Wellington to entertain the Prince +and invite the principal citizens to meet him. + +The old notion of the sign of the Four Alls—“John Bull pays for all,” +seems to be as well known here as elsewhere in the world. There seems +no principle now-a-days more generally diffused or adopted more readily +in every quarter. Our rations are all procured, you must be aware, by +requisitions, through the mayors of the country, &c., to be provided by +the districts, and you would naturally think the same authority could +provide for all French deserters, and for the Royal troops of guards +and establishment; but then who would pay for all these requisitions? +All we have is paid for; and it is _bien plus commode_ to come to our +store ready collected than to form one for these purposes. + +An odd incident occurred to me just before the procession on Wednesday. +I was at Lord Wellington’s new hotel, the great inn, the Hotel de +France, endeavouring to find his room, to leave a Court-martial, when +I stumbled on my friend the Dutch aide-de-camp of General Clausel, +who told me he was looking for one of our Marshal’s aides-de-camp in +waiting to introduce his General, who was behind him, and who, on my +turning round, recognized me, as he and his division took me prisoner. +To their great surprise, I told them that there was no chance of +finding an aide-de-camp, but perhaps we might find a serjeant, and +I was on the search. It so happened that there was no one but an +ignorant sentinel. In trying a door or two, we all blundered upon +Lord Wellington, who came himself to the door; so I introduced the +astonished Clausel, and walked off. + +My Dutch friend told me that Soult and Suchet would have had about six +aides-de-camp, &c., in the first room, and a general officer in waiting +in the second. I own that I think our great man goes to the opposite +extreme; but he does not like being watched and plagued. Just after +the state _levée_ yesterday, I saw him cross the crowded square in his +blue coat and round hat, almost unnoticed and unknown even to the very +people who half an hour before had been cheering him. In one angle of +Lord Wellington’s hotel lives Madam C——, a Spanish beauty, married into +a French family of rank, who are the proprietors of the hotel, but who +have been obliged to let nearly the whole, reserving this angle. I do +not mean to be scandalous; but this, perhaps, may have decided the +choice of the house. + +Lord Wellington to-day had intelligence that Marshal Suchet was on his +way here, and has been with his staff about a dozen miles to meet him +in form. The French Marshal, from some confusion, did not appear, and +Lord Wellington would wait no longer, but returned alone. In our grand +procession to meet the royal Duke on Wednesday a ridiculous accident +happened. A French post carriage with three horses abreast ran away, +and came full drive down upon us, the Frenchmen all bawling, the horses +pulling all ways, and clearing all before them. Our three hundred +warriors were all broken in an instant, and dispersed over the ditches, +and in all directions, until at last one unfortunate horseman ran foul +of the French horses, and the whole came down together. Fortunately +nobody was materially hurt. + +_Saturday, Post-day._—As I returned home last night by the Palais Royal +from dinner, I found every one going, without regular invitation, into +the Palais Royal to the Prince, who held a _soirée_; so I entered +likewise, and found him surrounded by dancing as usual, and by Marshals +and Generals only to be outdone at Paris. Suchet had arrived with his +staff. Colonel Canning, who was left behind for him, brought him in +about two hours after Lord Wellington returned. General Lamarque and +several other officers came with him, two Generals, as aides-de-camp, +besides Colonels, &c. The Marshal himself was a strange figure. His +head and cheeks and chin all overgrown with hair, like a wild man of +the woods: and his dress more splendid than the drum-major of one of +our Guards’ bands on a birthday. + +The contrast had a singular effect. The uniform was blue, but almost +concealed, and could have stood alone with gold embroidery. Every seam, +edge, and button, before and behind, above and below, was _galloné_ +with a sort of oak-leaf pattern about three inches wide, and on his +breast were two gold and silver stars, as large as our Garter star, and +several small orders of different kinds. He would have been rather a +good-looking man if dressed in a more moderate style. Lord Wellington +and several of his Generals, being in their plain uniforms, made the +French General’s extravagance the more striking. + +Soult’s aide-de-camp also came in, and a guard was ready, and an hotel +for him, but he did not appear. Generals Lamarque, Clausel, Villette, +and three or four more, and a number of embroidered _Payeurs_ and +_Commissaires Généraux_, _Préfêts_, &c., increased the general glitter; +but nothing looked better than our scarlet. The Prince and Suchet had +much conversation, and seemed more easy and gay than I had seen the +former before with any of his new friends. + +Scarcely any Frenchman has worn the Spanish or Portuguese cockade; and +amidst all the cries you never hear a _viva_ for either Spaniards or +Portuguese. They are in consequence very angry and sulky, and I think +a little jealous of us. This you may well imagine, when you learn that +they all along consider that _they_ have accomplished all that has +happened, and that we have assisted a little certainly, but that they +could have done without us. Except those about Lord Wellington, who +do it more out of compliment to him, the Spaniards in general, and a +great number of the Portuguese, will not in consequence wear the white +cockade. + +I see no harm in this, for as we fought a whole century to prevent +the two kingdoms of France and Spain from being both under the +Bourbons, it is quite as well now that it happens to be our interest +to fight for the contrary doctrine, that there should be as little +cordiality between them as possible. A Spanish soldier was told the +other day in the street to cry “_Vive le Roi! Vivent les Bourbons!_” +He made no answer. The request was repeated, and he was asked why +he made a difficulty. He was still silent at first, but then rapped +out a favourite Spanish oath, then “_Viva Fernando VII.! Viva Lord +Wellington!_ Los Espanoles care for nothing more;” and nothing more +would he say. + +It is remarkable enough, but the fact is that Lord Wellington is very +popular with the common Spanish soldiers, I am told, and with the +country people; but with the generality of officers, regimental in +particular, and with the highest classes in Spain, it is rather the +reverse. + +It is curious now to see Lord Wellington play the second fiddle, having +been so long established leader. It will serve to break him in by +degrees for England and peace. He carries it off very well. Most of +our Lieutenant-generals are gone to Paris, or going, and many other +officers. I suppose it will be best for me to remain with the army to +the last, or at least as long as Lord Wellington remains, and then go +straight to London and report my arrival. + +At the Capitolium on Thursday, young B——, with whom I was talking, as +we were very hot and tired, persuaded me to sit down with him on the +bottom step of the vacant throne. The Prince and all the grandees were +then in another room, but we were soon routed up by the _garde urbaine_ +sentinel, to the mortification and vexation of my young honourable +companion at not being allowed at Toulouse what he was entitled to in +the House of Lords in England. He is well; and dancing away cotillions, +waltzes, &c. + +_Later._—We have just had an arrival, and Lord Wellington quits this +place for Paris immediately: I hope, however, that he will return +shortly, as he now intends to do. We all here said that matters would +never be well arranged at Paris without him, and that he would go at +last. + +_Head-Quarters, Toulouse, May 2nd, 1814._—Having thanked you for your +letter of the 12th of April, and papers to the same date, I must +proceed on my old subject, Toulouse, and its sights and curiosities, +regretting on your account, as well as my own, that they are not more +interesting. + +The great cannon-foundry here was formerly one of the most prominent, +but it has now ceased to work for nearly three or four years. How or +why this could happen, when military works and manufactures seemed +alone to flourish in France during that period, I cannot say. The fact +is, everything remains in a state as if the workmen were only all gone +away to dinner, but in silent desolation, like a scene in Herculaneum, +or Southey’s town under water. Unfinished moulds, guns, &c., and tools +are lying about in all directions. To show how much the whole has been +neglected, even _Egalité_ has been suffered to remain on one entrance +pillar, _Liberté_ on the other, and the word _Impérial_ in the middle. +The fleur-de-lys will, I suppose, find its way there soon by some +accident. + +Suchet now commands both armies here. He told the Duke d’Angoulême that +he had sixteen thousand men of his own army at his service. This hero, +to whom the day of the month, yesterday (May-day), reminded me of a +much nearer resemblance than the drum-major, has left us, and is off to +his troops. + +There are two public libraries here, in which I have spent the better +part of a morning each, one containing about thirty thousand volumes, +the other about twenty-five thousand. The former has too large a +proportion of ecclesiastical learning; but they both contain some good +editions of classics and good historians, annals, &c., particularly +the smaller library. They are old episcopal and private foundations, +and have neither gained nor lost much by the Revolution, which is +rather extraordinary. There seems to have been no very valuable early +editions or manuscripts—nothing very much worth plundering; and they +say they were too conscientious to take advantage of the times, and +enrich themselves by plunder. The arrangement of the books is not bad. +Firstly, good polyglot and other Bibles of all kinds; then commentaries +on sacred history, &c.; then history in general; then laws of nations, +&c.; then laws in general, essays, &c.; then French voyages, arts, +sciences, classics, and belles lettres. There is an atlas of the Grand +Canal and its vicinity on an immense scale, which might have been +important had we proceeded, though I think no other stand would have +been made until after we had gone beyond the limits of the canal, and +after a junction of Soult with Suchet at Narbonne. Amongst the books +pointed out as of the most interest, were Racine’s Greek editions of +Euripides and Æschylus, containing his name and several notes in his +own handwriting,—a remarkably neat hand. The editions were Stephens’ +and Stanley’s. The notes were either short free translations of +passages and sentiments, or memoranda to call attention to particular +passages for future use and application, or they were short remarks of +approbation or disapprobation of scenes, passages, &c. I copied out +nearly the whole, not being very long, and I now enclose them. Will +you oblige me by putting them into my Euripides or somewhere, to be +preserved. + +Several of the private houses here of the merchants and nobles are on +a very large scale, and contain very spacious suites of rooms round +the court-yard. The architecture is, in general, very moderate. Most +of the mansions have only the merit of extent; and one or two which +have an attempt at more are in bad taste. The one most remarkable is +particularly so. It has an immense heavy stone cornice, out of all +proportion, and the capitals of all the pillars are a species of false +Corinthian, or rather, Composite, with the upper ornaments, spread +eagles, in most barbarous taste, and in the place of the most beautiful +part of the true pillars of the Composite order. + +Toulouse appears to have been for a very considerable time nearly +stationary in size. There is not, as in some of our country towns, and +in some of those in France, the new town as well as the old. The old +brick walls, with occasional towers, remain entire almost all round, +and still form nearly the city boundary, for there is scarcely any +suburbs without the walls. At several of the entrances within there +seems to have been some vacant spaces, and in two or three places an +ornamental sort of crescent or square has been commenced,—one lately, +but the others before the Revolution. They are all unfinished. In +general, however, all within the city walls is covered with building of +some sort or another. + +The splendid façade of the Capitolium was raised before the Revolution. +Henry IV. commenced the work, it is said, and his statue remains there. +A very small beginning has been made towards stone façades on one of +the other sides of the Grande Place of the Capital, but in general the +old shabby buildings still remain, and seem likely to do so, for some +time to come. + +_May 3rd._—Our Prince is gone to review his new army under Suchet, and +leaves us quiet. Every day carries off some of our higher officers, +and we all expect to move the instant Lord Wellington returns, if not +before. To-morrow, if possible, I go with a party and passport to +see the great basin de Feriol, the main feeder of the Grand Canal. +It is the sight of this country, and therefore, though expecting to +be disappointed, I have agreed to join Dr. Macgregor and a party +to-morrow, and return the next day. It is near Revel, about thirty-two +miles off. + +I yesterday attended the Court of Appeal here for the four departments +around—Aude, Tarn, Lot and Garonne, and Arriège. There were ten judges +present: there exist, and may be present, as many as sixteen, and a +quorum of seven is necessary to form a Court. There were, besides the +_Procureur-Général_ and _Advocat-Général_, about twenty-five barristers +in gowns, nearly like ours, but with bonnets instead of wigs. They +were dirty, and mostly old, and looked precisely like a set of +provincial barristers in England. The same habits make the manners and +appearance so similar in nations nearly equally civilized, that, until +the language betrayed the difference, I could have fancied myself in +England again. + +The subject in dispute was half an acre of vineyard, and it turned on +the construction of a confused legacy in a will of an old gentleman. +The eagerness with which the contest was maintained reminded me of a +Court of Quarter Sessions in England,—all talking at once, and with +abundance of noise and action, especially just as the ten judges, like +our juries, had laid their heads together to consider, and whilst _le +Procureur-Général_ was summing up the law and argument previously to +the Court. Either the lawyers and judges must be starving, or the +judicial establishment must be very expensive in France now. + +There are, besides this Court, others of _Première Instance_ in each +department, and in four departments you have more judges than in +England. Unless some changes are made, the French, in my opinion, +will find their whole government, which is calculated for a larger +empire, in every way much too expensive. This will prevent any great +reduction of ordinary taxation. The King and his court to be paid; the +senate; all the marshals and grand dignitaries, the prefêts, &c. Each +department now has a salary to pay its prefêt nearly as large as that +of an intendant of a whole province before the Revolution. The King +will find abundance of patronage, if this goes on; but a great part of +the national income will be consumed in the management and support of +the different species of rulers. One advantage in this, it is to be +hoped, will be to keep France more quiet in future, as I have otherwise +little faith in the present temper of this changeable race. + +_May 7, 1814. Post-day._—At five o’clock on Wednesday morning I went +to Dr. Macgregor’s to breakfast, preparatory to our expedition to St. +Feriol, having obtained our leave and a passport for that purpose. Our +party consisted of Dr. H——, Colonel G——, and P——, General H——, and Mr. +J——, and Mrs. J——. On account of the latter, who was in an interesting +condition, we set out on the canal road towards Castelnaudary, that she +might go in the boat. We rode along the towing-path very pleasantly for +about twenty miles. Finding that Castelnaudary would be so much out of +the way, we then left the canal and rode across through Villefranche +and St. Felix to Revel, about twenty-two miles further. This water +scheme delayed us much, so that we did not reach Revel until seven or +eight at night, and it also lengthened our ride considerably. + +The ordinary dinner at twelve, at the lock-house, was however, +entertaining, and partly made up for this; but, in truth, ladies should +learn on these occasions, when in such a state, to stay at home. We +expected a _malheur_ every hour, she was so fatigued. + +On Thursday morning, after breakfast, we went three miles to Sorège, +to see the great college or school establishment there, which is about +three miles from Revel. It was formerly attached to a convent, and +a sort of Government military establishment. At the Revolution the +buildings were sold, and the present director and his brother, who +was one of the professors of the old establishment, bought the whole, +and undertook to continue, and, as they say, to improve the plan as a +private specution. There are now about three hundred boys, from eight +to nineteen, or even twenty-one years old. On the present arrangement, +four hundred and forty is the limit. The number, it is said, once +amounted to nearly six or seven hundred. There are now about thirty +Protestant boys. The rest are Catholics. Most of the Spanish boys, once +very numerous, left the school during the late war. This peace, it is +supposed, will bring them back, even in greater numbers. English boys +are also expected to come again, as formerly. + +The building is very spacious, and is prettily situated, under the +side of a mountainous tract of country, at the head of a valley. The +accommodation is very ample, and the order and arrangement very great; +though, in my opinion, it is less cleanly than the college at Aire. The +studies are more varied; and the whole is complete in itself; for there +is a priest, a doctor, an Italian professor of mineralogy, anatomy, +a riding-master, and teachers of all kinds. The regular studies for +all the boys are French, Latin, a little Greek, mathematics to some +extent, dancing, swimming, drawing from models and casts, perspective, +drawing from anatomical study, fortification, &c.; and for the upper +boys, riding—for which purpose about sixteen horses are at the disposal +of the riding-master. In addition to this, every boy has his own +bedstead of iron; and all the two upper classes of the three into +which the whole school is divided have separate places to sleep in. +Every boy, at a certain time, either follows in his studies the choice +of his parents, or his own inclination, and may learn Italian, German, +English, Spanish, or any musical instrument; even the pianoforte. The +drawing-school is hung round with the approved productions of the boys, +and is spacious, and so is the riding-school. There is also a theatre, +regularly fitted up, in which the boys recite, and act plays and +perform concerts; asking the neighbours to come and form an audience. +The establishment also contains a small botanical garden, a tolerable +collection of mineralogy, and a piece of water for the purpose of +swimming. The boys were all in uniform, and looked healthy and well. As +they come from all quarters, it is usual to leave them there all the +year round, and this is rather expected and desired. They come clothed +at first, but afterwards everything is found them, and the parents +have nothing to do but to pay _mille francs_, about 45_l._ or 50_l._, +annually, and no bills or extras of any kind are ever sent or charged, +whatever may be learnt by the boys: this is rather dearer than at Aire +or St. Sever, I believe, but not much, when all circumstances are +considered. + +We found the schoolmasters consequential and prosy, as they usually +are with us. The Italian, who was more particularly so, was formerly +the professor who managed the Grand Duke of Tuscany’s collection. This +education would, I think, suit many an orphan or natural son destined +for the English army, and with small means. He would join his regiment +at eighteen, with much more useful knowledge than could be obtained for +the same money in England, as to languages, &c., and much information +useful to a military man. He would also come away, with at least one +or two accomplishments probably, by which he might amuse himself in +country-quarters, and be kept out of mischief. It might also answer +for mercantile men, merchants, clerks, &c., though, perhaps, some of +these pursuits would only make them idle. Most of the boys are destined +for merchants or soldiers, I understood. For other professions, +probably, we have as good, or better, and as cheap an education in +Yorkshire, and other places in England. This sort of education accounts +for the general distribution of a certain extent of acquirement which +we see amongst the French officers, and for the advantages they possess +as to the power of self-amusement. When prisoners of war, they have a +smattering of drawing, dancing, singing, music, acting, &c. + +We then went to the basin of St. Feriol. On our way I rode up a valley +to see some foundries of copper, which were much talked of; only one +of a number was at work, as times were so bad. I found the copper was +Swedish, and only worked there on account of the facilities of wood and +water to work the bellows and anvil. The work in which the men were +then engaged, was making saucepans and pots, and stewing-pans for the +Toulouse ships, and on a very small scale. I always like to ascertain +that there is nothing to see when a sight is talked of. We went then +over the hill to the basin. + +The extent of this basin rather surprised me; but though it was almost +exactly what I expected to find it, I was very glad to have seen it. +The shape of the ground, and course of the stream, were particularly +fortunate and well adapted to the plan, and the great dam or dyke, +which pens back the water, so as to form a small lake, in depth, near +the wall, from fifty to sixty feet, is a noble work. It consists of +three main walls, well _terrassed_ or puddled between each, and with +two large arched vaults, one quite at the bottom, covering the natural +bed of the river; the other higher up, and leading to the _robinets_ +or great cocks, which let out the water as required. The river coming +down the valley fills the basin, not being able to find its vent, and +therefore spreading over the ground, and filling all the hollows up +to the dam wall, which is about sixty feet high. The banks, except +the natural dam, are the natural shape of the ground, and there is +no excavation at all. When full, the water as required is let out by +a hatch, and so runs by into the stream, which conducts it, after +about ten miles circuit, to the highest point of the canal, whence +the locks descend both ways to Toulouse, and to the Mediterranean. +It then supplies both. When the basin is low, the next opening is a +sort of hatch or floodgate, lower down in the wall; when lower still, +the water is let off by three great _robinets_ or cocks at the end of +the _voute_, about thirty feet or so below the surface. When these +are opened, the rushing of the water makes a tremendous noise, at a +distance like that of thunder. When it is required to empty or clean +the basin, the river is turned off, and the contents of the basin empty +themselves in the original bed of the stream: the contents of the basin +are, in my opinion, six millions of tons of water. There is another +smaller basin, about ten miles higher up, in the mountains, and another +near the canal, whence the stream enters it. + +The whole seems well managed. The canal itself is kept in great order, +like our New River, the banks trimmed, &c.; and in width it exceeds +even our Royal Canal in Ireland, probably by several yards. + +With much delay and difficulty, we got Mrs. J—— through these sights, +after much unnecessary alarm and fright in the vaults. We returned +about five to dinner at Revel, where we slept again yesterday. We had +a hot ride home through Caraman and Lentar, about thirty-two miles. +The country round the canal and in the bottoms is rich and fertile, +but it contains little wood. It is like some of our Somersetshire +and Dorsetshire valleys, but more covered with villas and chateaux, +and villages. The road back, by Caraman, is through a much poorer +country, but also like the higher bad parts of Somersetshire, and that +neighbourhood—such as near Chard and the hills round Bath. + +The villages seem in a state of decay, and the inhabitants poor, but +the country upon the whole is in much better condition, in point of +cultivation and appearance, than one could suppose after what has +passed in the last twenty years. In one or two out-of-the-way places +we were stared at, and followed like monsters or sights, but were +everywhere well received by the people. At Sorège some French cavalry +was quartered; but they were nearly all gone to the grand review before +the Duke d’Angoulême. I should like to have been there also; but we +understood it would not be liked, and that the Duke was to go without +English altogether: this was quite right. I am told that the review +went off well, and that Soult himself set a good example. + +It is strange to think of our carrying off Bonaparte in a frigate; and +his conversation with Augereau is curious after the address of the +latter to his men. King Joseph is gone off and escaped; but no one need +be much afraid of him now. + +The style of nearly all the French chateaux is similar; all front and +appearance. + +On my return yesterday I dined with Mr. B—— and his French hosts, for I +scarcely know whose dinner it was; I believe a joint effort. The wines +were the patron’s, and very good. He is a man of fortune, a Monsieur de +T——, and speaks English tolerably. The wife is a pleasing woman, and +rather good-looking and young. They were very civil, and she sang and +played in the evening very fairly. At least she had much execution and +dash, if not feeling, in her playing. Like most of our young female +players, she left out all the andantes and slow passages. + +The furniture of the two or three rooms in which she lived was very +splendid. Handsome carpets were alone wanting to make her own room in +particular an elegant fine lady’s drawing-room in England. In some +respects, particularly as to the gilding, there was both more show and +taste than generally are seen with us. The pianoforte was particularly +handsome; it was by Erard of Paris, and, though only a small one, cost +a hundred louis d’or. The whole content of her room cost, it is said, a +thousand louis d’or. + +In the variety and materials of the ladies’ dresses here, there seems +to be also a very considerable degree of luxury—more perhaps than with +us. + +We are now very dull, and as the Prince is still absent, do not +even hear the “_Vive le Roi!_” or “_Vivent les Bourbons!_” &c., as +usual. I was much amused yesterday at seeing pasted up at a country +inn, a halfpenny print of the royal Duke d’Angoulême in his best, on +horseback, and surrounded by a copy of most loyal verses singing his +praises and those of the Bourbons, and the English, in the measure, and +going to the music of the famous Marseillais hymn; in short, a sort of +parody of that song, beginning “_Allons enfans de la Garonne_,” &c. +What changes! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + Toulouse—Mr. Macarthy’s Library—The Marquess of Buckingham—General + Hope—Wellington’s Dukedom—The Theatre—A Romantic Story—Feeling towards + the English—The Duke on the Russian Cavalry. + + + Head-Quarters, Toulouse, + May 11, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——. + +The very small number of sights which this town affords being +exhausted, and Lord Wellington being still absent, we are in truth +more dull than we should be in a country town in England. The only +interesting subject of conversation now is, who goes to America, and +who does not? Some of the regiments move to-day towards Bordeaux from +hence for the purpose of embarking upon this new expedition, which I +should think would all end in a mere demonstration. Lord Wellington is +expected here to-morrow, and we shall then know what is to happen; and +head-quarters will, I conclude, move immediately. + +I have heard nothing since my last, and seen but one thing worth +mentioning, and that is, Mr. Macarthy’s library, which the old father +and grandfather have been sixty years collecting, and which is now to +be sold on the father’s death for the benefit of the widow and nine +children. This is the library for which the Duke of Devonshire offered +25,000_l._ sterling as it stands; but the bargain was never closed, as +he wished the whole to be embarked at the risk of the owner, and they +wanted to have the money for it as it stands here, to be moved by the +purchaser. The owner now talks of sending it to Paris, and having a +public sale there by auction, thinking that emperors and kings will +then bid against the Duke of Devonshire, Earl Spencer, and others of +our book-loving nobles. + +It contains a considerable number of fine copies of “Principes +editiones,” filling one side of a large room all upon vellum. There is +also Cardinal Ximenes’ polyglot edition of the Bible; his own copy—the +only one on vellum; and a number of valuable books and some fine MSS. +Amongst the rest is the first printed edition of the Psalms in 1457, of +which we are told the only other perfect copy is in our king’s (George +the Third’s) library; that Lord Spencer had only an imperfect copy, +and that twelve thousand francs had been already offered for this one +volume! So the world goes! This sum would furnish a handsome set of +all the best French authors, and amusement for life; but many, you +find, prefer a single black-letter volume, which one must go to school +again to learn to read, and which, indeed, looks like a child’s great +black-letter spelling book, or the books among the giant friends of +Gulliver. A single page as a specimen would be as good to me as the +whole, and thus five hundred curiosos would be gratified for a few +guineas a-head; or a lottery would be still better—fifty pages for the +highest prize, and a few lines for every one; no blanks! There would be +another advantage in this, that it would be employment for some worthy +collector for half his life to reassemble all the parts and put the +book together again. + +The Marquess of Buckingham has been here, and is now going to Tarbes +and Barege, and then returns to see our great man. We hear the latter +was at the review at Paris in his blue coat and round hat. This is +quite like him, and upon a good principle; the marshals, the public +functionaries, the kings and the emperors, would have outdone anything +he could have put on except this. + +I am sorry not to have returned from Revel through Castelnaudary. Some +of the officers did so, and by that means fell in with a division of +the French army. The French officers were very civil, but told the same +story—“If the Emperor had not deserted us, we never would have deserted +him; and the men are of the same opinion; but as it was, there was +nothing else to be done.” Colonels B—— and C—— went over to the second +review at Montauban, where the Duke d’Angoulême reviewed Count Reille’s +corps—two divisions. If I had known this had been permitted, I should +have been very curious to be of the party. The men, it is said, were +well equipped and in high order. The officers in general looked very +shabby and unlike gentlemen. + +Suchet was smiling and in high good humour, and very fine as he was +here. Soult was only to be distinguished by a most enormous hat, and by +a surly look, which is described as unpleasantly penetrating, and more +bespeaking talent than amiability. He took little notice of the English +officers, but the aides-de-camp and staff officers, both belonging to +Soult and to the other Generals, did so when they learnt who they were, +and appeared very earnest in their attentions and civilities. They went +there in a carriage, but were splendidly mounted immediately; Colonel +—— on Count Erlar’s led and caparisoned charger. + +_Thursday, 12th._—Lord Wellington not having yet returned, and of +course nothing positive being known as to our destination, we have only +those passing reports which the military men call “shaves.” + +General Hope is, I fear, likely to suffer long from his wounds. He has +astonished the Generals at Bayonne by making three of them presents +each of an English horse out of his stud. It is an odd circumstance, +but I believe true, that the sort of notice we had of an intended +sortie by the enemy at Bayonne, which was given by a deserter just +before it took place, only did us mischief. The out-picquets were +doubled, and as no picquets could stand the rush of four or five +thousand men, we only lost so many more prisoners by this. The men were +alarmed with the expectation of such an attack. The only fault spoken +of in this business was the abandonment of the church of St. Etienne, +which might and ought to have been maintained. The fifth division were +but just on duty there, and scarcely knew their posts. General Hay met +the men running back from it, and was stopping and leading them on +again, telling them he would show them how to defend the church, when +he was killed. Some of the muskets of our men were found there, broken +by the French, and thrown away unfired. An English officer, with about +twenty men, maintained himself in a house near the church the whole +time, though it was much less defensible than the church. + +Our position there, close under the works, it is said, was liable to +such a sortie every night, and some well-informed persons wonder it +did not take place sooner. General Hope’s eager courage led him into a +situation where, I am told, no one could under ordinary circumstances +remain the shortest time without almost a certainty of destruction. +Even as it was, it is said that a party of Guards ought to have carried +him off, as at first only four Frenchmen were near him when his horse +fell, and the Guards then were close by. The French had made the +outworks of the citadel very strong; they must have been stormed first, +which would have cost us about twelve or fifteen thousand men. It +would then have taken sixteen days to establish batteries on the crest +of the glacis, the only possible way of breaching the citadel. The +garrison, who are now excessively bold, and who have demanded rations +for nineteen thousand two hundred men, say they should have even then +stood a storming twice—in the citadel, and again in the town at last. + +Making all due allowance for this gasconading, it is quite as well to +have been saved the necessity of taking Bayonne. It would have taken +all our transports about sixteen days to bring up materials for four +days’ open trenches from Passages by land, and we must then, for the +remainder of the time, have trusted to the uncertainty of the water +communication. The object of the French sortie was supposed to be the +destruction of our three stores of fascines and gabions, &c., which +we had been six weeks and more cutting, collecting, and forming, and +for which purpose we had stripped the environs for near five miles +round the town. In that respect we were quite prepared for the whole +siege, and it is remarkable enough that we remained nearly all that +time sufficiently near the French works to form the first parallel, +and that without making works to protect ourselves, because doing so +would only have drawn down a fire which no works could have enabled us +to live under, and there was nothing to be done but to remain as quiet +as possible until the siege began. Had we withdrawn at all, the French +having seen the importance of the ground, which we got as it were +almost by accident, would have made it necessary to begin the siege +by the storming of the works they would soon have made there. Thus we +were obliged to keep what we had got, unless resolved to turn the whole +into blockade. The French engineers admire our bridge very much, and +say it will figure in military history; but their officers in general +in Bayonne have hitherto been very sulky, and we are yet by no means +friends. Very little accommodation is afforded us in any way. + +We are infinitely obliged to Bonaparte for having lost his head, and +blundered as he did latterly, and suffered the Allies to enter Paris, +and put an end to the war. Had he succeeded at Paris, or had Soult +and Suchet united succeeded against us here, near the shores of the +Mediterranean, where our next conflict would have been, you would have +found, when a retreat became necessary, and that the French saw that +way out of their difficulties, instead of a return to royalty, that +we should have had the other party, and that a strong one, uppermost, +and a cry the other way, with parties in our rear. Thinking, as we do, +the French army, and a great part of the French nation, quite as much +responsible and to blame as Bonaparte, for a considerable portion of +the misery caused by France (for to effect this they were his willing +agents so long as it was out of France, and only deserted him when he +was in distress, and because his good fortune had left him, and by +no means from principle)—thinking this, their excess of loyalty only +disgusts us. Of course we are glad to promote it, but must despise the +majority of the Bourbon shouters—a few honourable individuals, and a +small party, of course, excepted. + +_Friday, 13th May._—Lord Wellington not yet returned, and the late very +warm weather turned to a steady rain. The Paris papers of the 8th, +received this morning, make Lord Wellington ambassador in France, and a +Duke. + +I was last night at the play to see _La Reine de Golconde_, an +opera, with some pretty music. I mention this merely on account of +a curious circumstance attending it. A French General, according to +the story, fights for the deposed Queen and restores her. The troops +of this French General and liberator were a part of the grenadier +company of our Scotch _sans culottes_ here in their own costume; and +as they marched past, commanded and headed by the French General in +the full costume of a general officer of Bonaparte’s army, the house +immediately applauded the English heroes. The sensations of the French +officers present must have been strange, and not very agreeable. These +Scotchmen are considered by all the inhabitants (particularly of the +town) as having had the principal share in their defeats in sight of +the town. The mutes, bearers, and others in the procession were all +English soldiers. + +We have had no disturbances or quarrels here, and our officers seem all +to have behaved with considerable propriety; in short, the inhabitants +dread our departure, and the return of their own people. They say that +all order ceases, and all security, the moment our side of the line of +demarcation is passed. One furious old gentleman at the _café_ this +morning said publicly, that he thought the only regret was, that the +war had not lasted three months longer, to destroy the remainder of +the French brigands; and that as for Soult, he should have been sent +in here, that the women might cut pieces out of his flesh with their +scissors, and that he might afterwards have been executed publicly for +his conduct to this city. + +_Saturday, Post-day._—Lord Wellington returned in the middle of the +night, and, having had a cold, that and the effects of his journey make +him look rather thin. He has been so taken up with business that I only +saw him for a moment. Report says that he leaves us again in a day or +two. I shall, if possible, ask leave, on our arrival at Bordeaux, to be +independent, and find my own way home: yet I believe it would be best +to go home with the army. + +_Head-Quarters, Toulouse, May 21, 1814._—Immediately after my last, +Lord Wellington left us for Madrid. Nearly every one has quitted the +army; I mean the great men, generals, &c. We are reduced to a few quiet +parties and have no events to observe upon, and see no strangers to +write about; everything is tame and stupid and the weather growing hot +makes us languid and idle. + +Lord Wellington, on his return here, was absolutely overwhelmed with +business, and every department was at work in a sort of confusion and +hurry that has never happened before. + +On Sunday, the Duke gave a splendid ball and supper at the Prefêt’s +or Palais Royal, where everything went off much as usual. The ladies +dressed well, and danced admirably; and the supper was not a matter of +mere form with them. Their early dinners, and their greater exertion in +dancing, make them certainly more voracious than our fair ones. + +On Monday, the Marquess of Buckingham returned, and was introduced +to his new cousin of Wellington. The latter seemed, I understand, +not a little surprised at being embraced and saluted on the cheek by +his new relative. He had not been in the habit of receiving those +embraces _à la mode Française_, and, I take it, prefers very much the +kind attentions of the fair ones here, with whom he is an universal +favourite. + +On Monday the Marquess of Buckingham dined with him, as well as a large +party of French and English. I was of the number, and we all went to a +concert of very moderate music in the evening at the Capitolium. The +Duke at eight the next morning was off for Madrid. He intends to rejoin +us at Bordeaux, and then to return through Paris, and to be in London +about the 10th of June. This is a great deal too much, and I think +almost impossible. These exertions make him look thin and rather worn; +but he was very gay, and in excellent spirits whilst here. + +The American party was all settled by him finally, and is all on +the road to Bordeaux, or now there. It will be of about nine or ten +thousand men, I should think, and strong in artillery. Our faithful +six 18-pounders, which have marched all the way from Lisbon since this +day twelvemonth! on roads which never have, I think, or will see such +animals again, were embarked yesterday on the Garonne, for Bordeaux, to +be of the party; and their little grand-children, the mountain guns, +go also. At first the expedition was by no means popular, but is now +tolerably so, and the staff appointments have been of course much in +request. Lord Fitzroy Somerset, who is the great manager of all this, +and prime minister, has been very busy, and we have all the intrigues +of a little court in miniature. Those who have been long here on the +staff, and with high brevet rank, will feel much a return to their +regimental duty and rank, and still more if their fate be half-pay? I +hear of nothing except all this, and the schemes to get provided for. +The regimental officers are those who like this new expedition the +least. + +On seeing the Duke of Wellington the last time, I said, I concluded he +would wish me to go down to Bordeaux with the army. He answered, “Oh, +yes, you had better.” We are already almost without Generals. We shall +remain here, it is said, some days yet. The orders, however, are all +given for our movement as soon after we receive official news of the +garrison of Figueras having marched for France as possible. In the mean +time all wounded, &c., are moving now. The cavalry also are to set out +on their way overland to England as soon as the French Government have +finally agreed to that arrangement. I should not at all dislike to +march with this party. The Portuguese troops remain with the British +until the Commissaries can part entirely with the mule transport. They +then separate, taking all the mules and muleteers with them attached +to different regiments for rations, &c., and set out through Spain for +Portugal, a good three months’ trip, the weather growing warmer and +warmer all the way, to the great enjoyment, I conclude, of the natives. +At Almeida the muleteers have been promised to be paid all their +arrears. + +The British from hence are to encamp near Bordeaux, ready to be off as +transports arrive. The Spaniards move out of France the first of all, +at the signal of Figueras, to the joy of all parties. The Guards and +troops at Bayonne are likely to be the last, for they are to remain +until all stores, wounded, &c., are clear out of the Adour and St. Jean +de Luz, &c. The people here will be very sorry to lose us, partly from +the loss of the money spent here, and partly from their dread of those +who will succeed us—their own countrymen. + +I understand General Clausel was the only one of the French here who +admitted the truth that they were fairly beaten into taking their +King. The others feel it, but will not own it, and are very sulky in +consequence; and in general not civil to our officers. Some of the +French gens-d’armes are expected on Monday in this town to do duty, I +believe, to levy taxes, &c. It is to be hoped that this will not lead +to quarrels with our men. + +The continuance of the _Droits réunis_ is very unpopular, and, in my +opinion, the effervescence of loyalty is somewhat subsiding already. +We all expect disturbances also in Spain. I hope the Duke will resign +his command, and have nothing to do with either party. It is said even +the armies are divided, and ours here (Frere’s) is for the Cortes. +What with Spain, Ireland, Norway, America, and perhaps the interior of +France, the world will after all, it is feared, not be in that state of +profound peace which was generally expected. + +Yesterday and to-day I have received letters from you of the 3rd and +10th of May, and papers to the latter date, which contain precisely the +same news as those from London through Paris. There seems to be nothing +very important either way. + +I have just got the papers relating to a most extraordinary story of a +murder at Lisbon. It is a most complete novel, and would be incredibly +romantic as such. A Commissary named R—— had an English girl (a lady) +who lived with him. Another Commissary named S——, his friend, had long +been living in the same house with him. After a time Mr. R—— conceived +that Mr. S—— was undermining the affections of the lady. He taxes her +with it, she confesses, and says she has promised to live with S——, +but swears nothing improper had ever passed. Mr. R—— persuades her to +give up this scheme, stating how dishonourably S—— had betrayed him, +his friend. He then tells this friend his discovery, and upbraids him. +S—— says that the lady has been faithless to R——, and is the betrayer. +R——, in despair, is going to quit the house, the lady, and the whole +connexion; but he previously repeats to her what Mr. S—— told him. +She solemnly denies it, and then goes out with S——. I should have +mentioned that the three had just before this conversation ridden out +together without speaking, and sat together at dinner without speaking +or eating. The explanation between R—— and the lady then took place, +immediately after which S—— and the lady went out of the house. Three +pistol-shots are heard. R—— goes into the garden, finds his mistress +shot dead. S—— ran by him into the house apparently wounded, his +handkerchief to his head. He forced his way to a table-drawer, took out +a razor, and cut his throat quite across. He still survived both wounds +when the account came away, and deliberately confesses in writing +that by the lady’s desire, by their joint consent and agreement, he +was to kill both; her first, and then himself. This he endeavoured to +accomplish, but in vain as to himself. Mr. R—— declines telling who the +lady is, except in a court of justice, in order to prevent unnecessary +pain to her friends in England. + +I have been asked, “What is to be done?” and whether, if the delinquent +is mad, I thought that he must be tried for the murder? It surely was +very unfortunate that the poor man had not been left in the hands of +the Portuguese surgeons and doctors, who pronounced him a dead man, and +his wounds incurable. The skill of an English surgeon has unluckily +enabled this unhappy being to stand the chance of either being hung or +confined for life as a madman for the rest of his days. + +_The 22nd, Post-day._—I send you, being dull myself, a part of a +_Gazette de France_, which paper I take in regularly. Some part of the +_Franc parleur_ is well done. The same feelings exist here in the army. +Were I a French officer I should feel in the same way. + +We have now rain, and the weather cooler again: hitherto it has not +been ever very unpleasantly hot, though at times above our summer heat, +and with rain and without sun at 69°. + +You ask me in your last letter about religion and manners here? The +former seems again much what it was before the Revolution. The churches +are in general well attended, but principally (as the case is all over +the world, I believe,) by your sex in particular of all ages, by the +very old of both sexes, who go there to make their peace; and the very +young who are taken there by their older friends and relations. With +regard to manners, the old French memoirs would still, I think, apply +very tolerably to the description of their present state, except that +the same things are done and said with rather more coarseness perhaps +now than in old times. + +Our cavalry have not moved yet, as the approval of the French +Government has not arrived. They are intended to move in two columns, +one up the Paris road, nearly through Cahors, &c.; the other more to +the left, through Angoulême, Poictiers, and to unite at a town on the +Seine. + +_Head-Quarters, Toulouse, May 27th, 1814._—My new friends and +acquaintance fall off daily around me, and our party at head-quarters +is continually on the decline. + +I am not a little amused with the Toulouse paper of yesterday. We, +the English, have been for these last six weeks praised to the skies, +and treated as, and called the deliverers of Toulouse city and its +inhabitants. Soult’s troops are now expected in here in a few days, +and the gens-d’armes have actually arrived. The Toulouse _Gazette_, +therefore, exhorts the inhabitants to receive with open arms and to +feast, and entertain those brave troops, whose courage and noble +conduct they witnessed on the hills, above this city, when fighting for +the defence of the inhabitants. They also assure the public, that the +statement in an early number of the _Gazette_, that Marshal Soult owed +the safety of his retreat to the clemency of Lord Wellington, under +whose guns the French troops filed off, was all an error and mistake +(as it certainly was), and that the retreat was in fact as secure as +the defence of the heights was noble and courageous. Had we had but +about five thousand more men up, to cross the canal at once, this might +have been another story. The _Gazette_ should have waited until we were +off. + +I dined yesterday with a Monsieur Castellan, a gentleman of very good +fortune, and who, I understand, has a good house, pictures, library, +&c., at Paris, and lands in Normandy and elsewhere. He was formerly, +at the commencement of the Revolution, Attorney-general to the +Parliament of Toulouse, and on that account desired to be introduced +to me, and gave us an excellent dinner. In 1781, he was a man who +figured much here, and also in the English papers, on account of his +early resistance to the orders of the Court, and being imprisoned in +consequence. He was followed by all the inhabitants to his prison, and +released in a short time by the triumph of his own party. He seems to +be a good constitutionalist. + +He mentioned several curious facts of Bonaparte’s tyranny, such as his +putting persons to death without trial, and without inquiry. Two of +these persons he knew in particular. They were chiefs of La Vendée. +When all the hopes of that party were gone, terms were offered to these +two men. One came in to sign them, when he was instantly shot. The +other, in consequence, remained concealed three years in Normandy. At +last he was told privately, that if he would retire from the country +quietly, a passport should be given to him. He agreed, received his +pass, and made for the coast; but when he arrived near the sea-side two +gens-d’armes shot him. + +This made a noise; the Juge de Paix began a _procès verbal_, and the +Préfet was active in endeavouring to apprehend the soldiers. The Judge +and Préfet were not in the secret. Suddenly a senator came from Paris. +The Préfet was suspended from his office, and the Juge de Paix enjoined +at his peril not to stir a step in the business. Monsieur Castellan’s +servant acted as clerk in the _procès verbal_ which had commenced, and +the murder took place close to his estate in Normandy. He therefore, he +said, knew the facts. + +Another story, for the truth of which he vouched, and which from +the circumstances appeared to be true, shows a little the state of +Napoleon’s court and their morals. A young cousin of Monsieur de +Castellan was the Emperor’s page—a very good-looking boy. At the +carnival he was dressed as a girl at the play, and one of the grand +chamberlains fell in love with him. The page continued the disguise and +the joke every night during the carnival, and was courted and fêted +with presents by the lover. At last the discovery was made, and the +mortified chamberlain stopped the boy’s promotion in consequence, under +the pretence that the page was ordered not to go to the play. + +I wished very much to have had time during my visit to Monsieur +Castellan to look over a very curious collection of original letters +which he had in portfolios, and of which I looked at one or two only. +The most valuable were of the Valois family, and were numerous and +confidential, coming to M. Castellan through a great-uncle, and derived +from an ambassador of the family in Spain. There were several from +Catherine de Medicis, mostly about the marriage of her daughters with +the Spanish royal family, and which (as she had good occasion to do) +she always finished by desiring might be burnt as soon as read. + +The eldest daughter was first sent, being intended for the son, Don +Carlos, but Philip the Second took a fancy to her, and though the son +was in love, married her. An intrigue was suspected with the son, +as the daughter was also in love with Don Carlos; the finale was, +as history records and romance writers have improved upon, that Don +Carlos and the lady suffered death. After this, and knowing, as she +must have done, the cause, or at least the reports of all suspected, +Catherine writes, saying that she must forget the mother in the Queen, +and proposes to make up a match between King Philip and her youngest +daughter. The writer desires the person addressed to get at the King’s +mistress and his confessor, and to secure them both as friends to her +plans. The remaining letters were those of eminent men, some from +Rousseau, Voltaire, &c., and appeared to contain nothing particularly +interesting. + +A few days since I think I half made a convert of a fat silversmith’s +lady here, of whom I was purchasing some articles. She asked me if we +had a religion in England at all like theirs. I said, “Yes; very like.” +“But,” said she (and that weighed very much with her), “you do not use +these great silver cups, &c., in your country?” To this I replied, +“Indeed we do, and want them much larger than you do in France, for +with us we let every one taste that pleases of the wine, and you only +let the priests.” This rather staggered her, when the sale of the cups +and sacramental plate came into her head. + +_May 28th, Saturday, Post-day._—Our cavalry have at last got leave +to pass through France, and will commence their route on the 1st of +June. It is probable that we shall move soon after. I have this moment +received a packet from you, with papers and enclosures to the 16th, +and having your letter now before me, will go through it in answer. +The alarms you mention about the quarrels between the Allies, and +the French, and the army, and the National Guards, seem to have been +principally of English invention. We have heard little of this matter +here, though I have no doubt that the French officers and soldiers are +vexed and mortified, and as the Irish say sometimes, they would easily +“pick a quarrel” just now, when they meet with any occasion. There is +the same feeling here, only hitherto scarcely any officers of the army +have arrived. + +I witnessed last Sunday a quarrel between a gend’arme and a +garde-urbaine, about cutting off some acacia blossoms in the public +walk. The latter was disarmed at last, after a scuffle and fight, in +which, from the noise and confusion, you would have supposed several +limbs and lives would have been lost (as would have been the case in +half the time in England), but in which in reality no one seemed to +come out the worse. The gend’arme, however, was very neatly beaten at +last, as two of the garde-urbaine overtook him again, and whilst one +tried to wrest the conquered sword back again, the other cut the belt +of the gend’arme, by which his own sword fell, and in recovering that +he lost the trophy, with which the two lads made off in triumph. + +An officer of the French regular army who was here by accident a few +days since, saw the caricature of Bonaparte in a window, the face +made up of “_victimes_,” with the cobwebs, &c., introduced, which I +conclude you have seen. He entered the shop in a rage, and desired the +shopman to take it from the window, threatening to cut him down if he +refused. It has not appeared in the window since, and the man when now +asked for the print by an Englishman or Royalist, says, “They are all +sold.” + +The Duke of Wellington’s misfortune from the Cossack charge I have +not heard of here. He came back most highly admiring and praising the +Russian cavalry as in appearance the best in Europe, and saying there +was scarcely a private horse in the regiment he saw for which a short +time ago we should not willingly have given a hundred and fifty or +two hundred guineas in Spain. The draught and artillery horses, also, +though very small, and unlike those of the cavalry, he thought had +great appearance of hardiness and activity. Some of your other stories +concerning us here are really, in my opinion, mere inventions. + +By-the-by, what inventions and scandal we shall have now to fill the +newspapers and afford conversation for all our idlers! As soon as peace +is signed, they will have little else but that to live upon; whilst the +politician must pore over all the debates of the multiplied popular +assemblies in modern Europe, which will all be aping our House of +Commons. + +Our clergy here were ten days ago praying for rain, and they have not +sued in vain, for we have had it for this week in showers only, and in +the English fashion, not like our mountain and St. Jean de Luz rain. +We have also had tremendous storms of wind, which were not prayed +for; and more than that, a bit of an earthquake, felt principally at +Pau and in that vicinity, but, it is said, by some perceived here. It +is not surprising that old Mother Earth should just at first shake +a little at all that has passed lately; but I hope she will take it +quietly, and be as peaceably inclined as her inhabitants now are. +The recovery of the balance of Europe will be a fine subject for an +essay. This superiority over the ancient associated states of Greece, +which when once upset never could right themselves again, is a matter +of considerable triumph for the moderns, and promises to check for +some time another age of barbarism. I should say that one great cause +of this has been the more general diffusion of knowledge amongst the +middling classes. Public opinion and more fixed principles of the +advantages of independence, have got the better at last of a system of +universal tyranny of the most ingenious and complicated nature, and +extending to every individual, and every hole and corner within its +clutches. I must now seal up for the post. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + Preparations for Departure—Bordeaux—Imposition on the + English—Greetings from the Women—Mausoleum of Louis XVI. + + + Wednesday, June 1, 1814. + Toulouse. + + MY DEAR M——, + +Here we are still, but on the point of moving. The orders are actually +out, and our route fixed. We start on Saturday, the 4th of June, I +suspect on purpose to avoid festivities on that day. On the 10th we +hope to be at Bordeaux: 4th, Isle en Jourdain; 5th, Auch; 6th, Condom; +7th, halt; 8th, Castel Jelous; 9th, Langon; 10th, Bordeaux. This will +be sharp work for loaded mules, and warm for us all, for the weather is +now clearing up, and promises to be hot again. + +I am tired of Toulouse, and not sorry to leave it, though the +inhabitants continue to be civil and friendly. So indeed they ought +to be, as they have made no little money out of us, and have been +continually entertained by balls, &c. Since the Duke has been away +we have had three balls given by the Adjutant-general, General Byng, +and by the aides-de-camp. At last I was, by accident, introduced to +a Madame de Vaudreuil. She was it turns out, wife to the son of the +old admiral, our _emigré_ Marquis in England, and your cousin. I was +then introduced to the husband, and we had some conversation on family +matters. He mentioned his nephew, the aide-de-camp in Ireland, and +inquired much after the Hochepieds, &c. To-morrow I am to breakfast +with them, and you shall hear more. He is a little man, but high, and +in repute here. + +No events of any consequence have occurred. The only thing at all +worth mentioning which I can recollect is a trait of the conduct of +the French lower officers of Soult’s army. Two of the officers of the +43rd British rode towards Montauban a few days since, out of their own +limits, without a passport. This, though foolish just now, was a venial +offence, and committed by many French, who come in here within our line +of demarcation. On a bridge near the town our two gentlemen were met by +about eight or ten, not gentlemen, but officers of the French garrison +there. The latter immediately attacked the two British officers rudely, +told them that they ought to know better their own limits, and added +at last that if they intended to come again, they advised them to come +with their coats off, sleeves turned up, and swords drawn. One man +actually went so far as to come behind one of our officers to knock his +hat off, that he might get out the white cockade; in short, the two +Englishmen were obliged to yield and return back. + +An apology was, it is said, sent in to our General, from the commanding +officer at Montauban, stating that he was sorry for what had happened, +and hoping we would consider it as the act of some _mauvais sujets_ +in the lower commissioned ranks of the army, and not the act of, or +sanctioned by, the garrison in general. I believe, however, that it is +intended still to make some remonstrance on the subject. + +Dr. Macgregor has returned here, delighted with his trip to Montpelier, +Avignon, Nismes, Valence, &c. He was received most cordially +everywhere, and at some places quite enthusiastically. Almost at every +place, he fell in with fêtes and entertainments in consequence of the +late changes, and the whole country was covered with conscripts and +deserters going home: he thinks he must have seen from ten to fifteen +thousand. Everywhere, he found much jealousy between the military, the +national guards, and the civilians, as is the case here. There were +several quarrels in consequence. At the playhouse at Montpelier the +applause was so violent at a new popular piece called “The Conscript,” +that a French General, who was there with his suite, conceived it a +marked insult to himself and rose to leave the house, but was persuaded +to remain. + +The Society of Medicine at Montpelier made the Doctor a member, with +such fine speeches, that even though he only half understood them, they +raised his blushes. + +_Friday, June 3rd._—In the midst of the bustle and confusion of my +preparations for the march of to-morrow, I received this day your +letter and papers to the 24th of May. I had just been reading in +to-day’s French paper London news of the same date, so that, even this +late mail, of only nine or ten days from London, brought us nothing +new politically from England. The details, however, and private news +are always interesting. I shall have more occasion for them as I am +going the road on this (the Toulouse) side of the Garonne, instead +of our military route, and shall be nearly, if not quite, alone, +for almost every other person who goes this way intends to travel +post, or ride faster than would suit me this warm weather. This road +is said to be by far the most picturesque, rich, and amusing; and, +having a passport ready, I mean to start at five to-morrow. My route +is through Grisolles, Castel Sarazin, Monteil, Moissac, Agen, Port +St. Marie (where I shall try and see our _emigré_ friend, the Baron +de Trenqueléon), Tomeirs, Reolle; then, if necessary, cross the river +to Langon, but if not, keep the right bank, opposite Bordeaux. I have +sent my baggage and Henry on in the line of march, and only take a +Portuguese _ci-devant_ servant to the Prince of Orange, and now mine, +on a pony, with a small valise, and intend to trust to the inns for +everything. Thus I shall avoid troops, and nearly all places through +which they have passed. + +The last detachment of cavalry will leave this to-morrow, to start +to Grisolles and Montauban on Sunday. The Hussars in advance leave +Montauban to-day. The last infantry will move from hence on Sunday; and +the whole infantry from hence will be assembled at Bordeaux (excepting +what may be embarked) by the 17th of June. The last Portuguese will +pass Bayonne about the 23rd; and then the Guards and troops there will +be at liberty to move—not before. The Spaniards are nearly all out of +the country already! + +Sir W. W. Wynne has been here these last five or six days, to succeed +the Marquess of Buckingham; they are specimens of what are considered +our greatest peers and commoners. The people here stare at them, and +look strange. The inhabitants are seriously sorry for our departure, +I really believe. We had a sort of farewell party at the Duke’s house +yesterday, given by Colonel C. Campbell, of all the great men here: +we dined, then went to the play, and then to the ball. Some of our +Generals are so pleased that they talk seriously of returning here +after peace is signed, and they have laid by their laurels in England. +Having so many things to do, I must now end this, and leave it to go by +the post, for I shall be away from head-quarters, and the regular post, +perhaps, next mail. Do not be surprised if you do not hear again very +soon. On my arrival at Bordeaux I shall endeavour to write immediately, +and let you know my plans. + +_Head-Quarters, Bordeaux, June 13th, 1814._—On Saturday (11th), I sent +you a few hasty lines, I will now try and fill up the interval from +Toulouse here, with an account of my proceedings during that time. + +After a tremendous thunder-storm, at six in the morning of the 4th +of June, I started along the rich plain in which Toulouse stands, and +proceeded through Grisolles, and a number of small places, to Castle +Sarazin; but not liking the appearance of the latter, I went on to +Moissac, which is just across the Tarn, at which place the plain +ceases, and the road becomes hilly. + +The distance was about forty-five miles to Moissac; the country all +rich and fertile, but much too bare of wood, and the road is tiresome +from its uniformly level character. The river ran the whole way, about +half a mile from the road, and the opposite bank being high, bounded +the view on that side, and formed a picturesque object, though not the +most profitable, for the soil seemed less rich. The flat lands must be +subject to great losses and damage from floods, as there is no fall for +the sudden torrents which descend. The corn in many places had suffered +much this year. + +At Grisolles, I passed the last of the cavalry (the Blues) on their +way home. The Life Guards entered Montauban with laurels. The Préfet +immediately told the commanding officer, that he understood his men +were come into the town in a triumphant manner, and seemed much vexed, +until reminded that it was the 4th of June, when he became civil, +and admitted the validity of the reason. On stopping at the village +of Fignan, to give my horses some corn, I was very glad to find the +inhabitants regretting the departure of the Portuguese regiment which +had been quartered there, as they had behaved so well. They told me +the people cried when they crossed the water, and the next day so many +soldiers came back to take another farewell of their new friends, that +the officers were compelled to place a guard to prevent it. + +The Tarn at Moissac was wide, and the current very strong. The passage +by the ferry, a troublesome one, backwards and forwards, through +the remains of the ruined buttresses of an old bridge. On landing I +asked for the Commandant or French General. There had been unpleasant +altercations of late near that place and neighbourhood. The officer +of whom I inquired pointed to General Key, the late governor of St. +Sebastian, who happened to be near. I announced myself to him, and was +received civilly by him, and then immediately went to the inn. + +The only sights noticeable in the town are a great water-mill in the +river, with about twenty-four pair of mill-stones, and a number of +establishments for purifying wheat and preparing flour. These last +were on a large scale, but without machinery of any ingenuity, and one +steam-engine would have saved them nearly all their labour, which was +great. The country round is famous as a corn country, and Moissac was +once a great place of export for flour and wheat by the canal, &c., of +Toulouse, to Montpelier, and by the Tarn and Garonne to Bordeaux, and +thence to the French islands and foreign settlements. The inhabitants +wished much to begin dealing with the English; but I told them that our +Parliament was about to prevent that taking place. + +There is a curious old church at Moissac with many carved grotesque +figures at the entrance. The style is nearly the old English, but in +some places, the early Gothic. The accommodation at the inns is very +good; but the joke of Milord Anglois has commenced, and is increasing +fast. We were all _mon Commandant_ and _mon Général_; and paid +accordingly. + +The next day, on leaving Moissac, I ascended a long hill, and continued +on rich high ground above the river, in a country of cultivated, +undulating scenery, with more wood, somewhat resembling Devonshire or +Somersetshire, with the exception of the want of hedges. This continued +about seven miles, when I came down again, having a fine view of the +river, and continued my way along the banks over a rich flat through +several villages and small towns to Agen, about thirty-four miles from +Moissac. The valley was here much narrower and varied than that at +Toulouse, bounded on both sides by gentle hills, cultivated and rich, +as well as apparently populous, along the whole way. The French troops +were in cantonments in every village, and in general looked very sulky. +A few touched their caps to me, as I was in my scarlet uniform; but +most looked sulky and took no notice. I was, however, never insulted. +The cries of the children all the way, and often of the country-women, +and sometimes of the men, of _vivent les Anglois!_ certainly did not +contribute to put their soldiers and officers in better humour. If so +disposed, I could easily, as the Irish say, “have picked a quarrel.” + +At Agen all was gaiety and bustle. It was the Sunday before their +great fair; and all was preparing for that, as well as for the service +which was to take place in the great church the next day for Louis +XVI., the Queen, &c. I immediately went to the Commandant of the town. +He was civil, but the numerous officers looked very much disposed to +be impertinent, if occasion should offer. The eager curiosity of the +townspeople to see the English, and to be civil, was very pleasing; +every one seemed anxious to show some attention. Here I fell in with +Dr. M—— and Mr. and Mrs. J——, and after dining together, we went to the +play. + +It was a little narrow theatre, but almost new, and very clean and +neat. The performances were not despicable. There was a good-looking +singer, with no bad voice, from Bordeaux. In the character she acted +much happened to be said of her innocence and inexperience. From the +constant joking this gave rise to in the audience, and from some very +prominent feature in her person, I conclude that she had lately been +under the necessity of retiring from Bordeaux, from some little _faux +pas_. And this, I was told afterwards, was the case. + +Agen is an old and rather shabby town of about ten or eleven thousand +inhabitants; but the walks and country around it are picturesque. +The next morning I staid until after the ceremony had commenced in +the church, and peeped in, to see what was going on, and whether the +military attended. Many of the latter did so, with crape round their +arms. I was immediately admitted without a ticket; and the old priests, +several of whom had been _émigrés_, and spoke a little English, were +very civil to me. About twenty milliners had made really a very elegant +linen and crape mausoleum for the occasion, nearly twenty feet high. +Four fluted pillars, one at each corner, were made of fine white linen, +the festoons round the base were of black and white crape, urns on the +pillars, and other ornaments of the same. About a hundred and fifty +wax candles were arranged up the steps on every side of the tomb, and +above it were lilies springing fresh from the centre, and the crown, in +elegant crape, suspended above the whole. + +About ten o’clock I started again to find out the Baron de Trenqueléon +at Port St. Marie, which was about twelve miles from Agen. On inquiry +at the inn, I found a friend of his son’s who had left him only a few +hours before. I, therefore, determined to cross the river again, in +order to pay him a visit, and to stay there the night. Trenqueléon +Chateau is about five miles from Port St. Marie, on the road thence to +Nerac, on the side of the hills which enclose the valley in which the +Garonne descends. It is old-fashioned, in the style of the Tuileries, +and apparently large. In reality, it does not contain much room, but is +a comfortable place. + +Except two higher wings, it is, in fact, only a ground-floor house. +The rooms are lofty, spacious, and decently furnished for a French +house in the country. There is a great square garden in front, like a +wilderness full of weeds, with a square plantation and straight walks. +The roads run about two hundred yards from it on one side, and a small +river navigable for boats on the other, which runs into the Garonne +about four miles below. This would be convenient to export the produce, +if there were a market, which of late had been the case. + +I found the old Baron feeble, without the use of his limbs, in a +great chair penned in like a child. He was surrounded by a large +party—his wife, his son, and his son’s wife, daughter to the _maire_ +of Agen; an old lady, whom I took for the Baron’s sister; and five +young ladies, who called him “Papa.” One of these was in weeds, and +one about twenty-five or thirty; the rest young. One was a fresh, +ruddy, English-looking girl. All were most attentive and civil. The +old Baron made me repeatedly kiss him, and cried several times as he +conversed with me. He remembered all our friends in England during +his emigration. He was very anxious to know all I could tell him of +my brothers. He asked much after your sister and brother, and the +T—— family. His table was bad, but there was quantity, and a hearty +welcome. I was put into his uncle’s room, our old friend the Bishop +of Montpelier. His family seemed attentive to him, and, except at +meal times, seemed to live around him, some at work, some reading +the papers to him, and some sitting ready to talk, and with no other +occupation. The poor girls must lead a very dull life in the Chateau de +Trenqueléon, for from the state of the Baron’s health they do not go +out to balls or amusements even at Agen. + +On the following morning I left Trenqueléon about twelve o’clock, and +crossed the river again at a ferry near Aiguillon, which is a pretty +town, small, but well situated. I got on to Tomeins that night. The +country continues to be the same rich valley the whole way, and is +very populous. Tomeins is a small ill-built town of perhaps about five +thousand inhabitants. There is nothing of interest in it, except a fine +sort of Richmond-terrace view from the public walk overhanging the +river. The women struck us as very pretty, and they were peculiarly +eager about “_les Anglois_” one or two calling out in English, as we +passed near the windows where they were, “How you do? how you do?” +&c., and then running away to hide themselves. And this came from +well-dressed girls in good houses. + +On the 8th I proceeded through Marmande de la Reolle, to breakfast; and +then crossing the river again near Langon, I intended to stop at the +pretty village of Barsac, about five miles on this side Langon, where +the good wine of that name comes from. Finding all this part full of +our sixth division, just arrived, I was obliged to push on to Ceron, a +mere post stage and a poor inn. + +On the 9th I proceeded to this place (Bordeaux), and arrived by one +o’clock, when my order to proceed to Tarragona (for the trial of Sir J. +Murray) was put into my hands. I found every one in the same hurry and +confusion as when the Duke paid us his last visit at Toulouse. + +The country continued nearly the same until we got some way beyond +Barsac; we then began to skirt the Landes, and had only sand and firs, +a sort of Bagshot Heath, but still broken by frequent villages and +chateaux, which are very numerous around Bordeaux. + +During my journey I always stopped at some small inn for a feed of corn +in the course of the way, and also during rain, which was frequent and +heavy. I gave the chance passengers their wine to make them talk. A +drunken Frenchman seemed much like an English one, and was sometimes +very entertaining; but the feeling of the soldiers was the most +curious. At one place I found two discharged soldiers going home on +leave; they said that they had been betrayed by their Generals, &c., +and that the game was up, so they had applied for their discharges, +for they would not fight for the King. They had served seven or eight +years, and now intended to be quiet, though their wounds would not have +prevented their fighting for the Emperor. One had lost a finger only, +the other had received a knock in the leg, which rather made him halt a +little; they had both above sixteen months’ pay due to them, but said +that they concluded, of course, the King would never pay the Emperor’s +debts, and they were satisfied to be discharged without pensions. They +said that nine-tenths of the soldiers of the army would have remained +firm to the Emperor if their Generals had been faithful, and had agreed +in opinion with them; “_mais n’importe—c’est fini_.” + +The Trenqueléon party told me, they were for some time in great +uneasiness, for we had no troops near them on the left bank of the +river, and on the right bank only came down to the river Lot. Thus Agen +was the centre of the formation of partisan corps who were to cross the +river near them, and scour the country to annoy us. + +In three or four instances they succeeded in this; and the Commissioner +was issuing most violent orders to compel all persons to form their +corps immediately (these if caught by us would be hung), and to teach +the women also, to entice our soldiers into their houses by wine, +&c., to make them prisoners and kill them, and even to instruct their +children to cut the back sinews of the horses in the stables at night, +saying they must do as the Spaniards did by them in Spain. + +The Baron’s family said they had different feelings, but would have +been compelled to do much of this had matters gone on. They also talked +with much horror of the state of terror in which they had been kept by +Bonaparte’s agents. One deputy Préfet some time since alarmed them by +quietly telling some of their neighbours (who told them again) that +they were in a terrible scrape, and had been detected corresponding +with the English. They went instantly to the Préfet to know what this +meant, and found it was one of my father’s letters about the Bishop of +Montpelier’s affairs, which had been stopped by the police. My father +was the Bishop’s executor in England. The Préfet afterwards told him +to be easy—“_ce n’étoit rien_.” The Baron seems to have been a popular +character in the neighbourhood. + +_12th, later._—A mail goes to-day, and I have a pile of papers a foot +high to arrange by to-morrow. The Duke goes away and leaves the army +the day after, Wednesday the 14th, consequently all is a bustle of +business, balls, dinners, operas, plays, all proceeding at once. My +next will give you an account of this handsome town. I am in quarters +at Monsieur Emerigon’s, a barrister now at Paris, but daily expected +to return. The Duke has written strongly home to put off this intended +Court-martial at Tarragona; all here detest it, and grumble. The worst +is, that we are to remain here in suspense until an answer arrives. + +I am writing without my coat, and so are all the Duke’s Secretaries, +&c., on account of the heat. The thermometer shut up in my writing-desk +is at 76°. The sun most ardent when out. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + The Opera-house—The Cathedral—The Synagogue—A Jewish Wedding—Strange + Show-house—Wellington and King Ferdinand. + + + Head-quarters, Bordeaux, + June 16, 1814. + + MY DEAR M——, + +As I have no news to communicate, you must be satisfied with the best +account of Bordeaux which the excessive heat permits me to give you. +The Duke is gone for good, and we are left here in a state of dull, and +almost feverish uncertainty. Time slips away fast, however, and my fate +will soon be decided. + +Before breakfast I take an hour’s ride to look about the town and +suburbs, and make my observations. The restaurateurs are so hot that I +prefer my own society and a mutton-chop with abundance of vegetables +and fruit, and my bottle of claret or Sauterne, to the incessant +dinners going on in public. My wine I get from the housekeeper of my +landlord, Monsieur Emerigon, the counsellor, as she in his absence +sells his produce for him—his wine, namely Sauterne Emerigon, which is +really very good, his pigeons, his ortolans, his poultry, his cherries, +his vegetables, &c. As he has not yet returned from Paris, I have +also taken possession of his _salle à manger_, and drawing-room, in +addition to my bedroom. I only now want to get into his library. He is +a royalist, and one of the commissioners sent from Bordeaux to Paris. + +Bordeaux is a very handsome town, and very superior to Toulouse—as a +city indeed there is no comparison; still in my opinion there was more +_ton_ and fashion at Toulouse. The prosperity of the place was arrested +by the Revolution, when it was in a state of splendid commercial +prosperity, rapidly increasing in magnificence. Toulouse, on the +contrary, I take it, was even then on the decline. Another advantage +Bordeaux has, in addition to its having been laid out, like Bath, +with modern improvement as to the width of the streets, namely, the +convenience of stone quarries close at hand, instead of bricks to form +the buildings, and this with water carriage. It has besides a stone +somewhat similar to Portland stone, a complete Bath stone cut by the +saw and adze like that at Bath; and of course these advantages have not +been neglected by Frenchmen. + +The Garonne is a noble river, not very much wider than the Thames at +London Bridge, but it appears deeper, and of more importance; the tide +occasionally reaches up as high as the neighbourhood of Langon. The +quays probably extend nearly two miles, and in general are well-built +and handsome, and the river just now full of shipping. The quays are +inferior to those at Lyons, and the few half-rotten ships on the stocks +in the spacious yard, show strongly the urgent necessity of what the +people did on the late occasion. + +The Grand Theatre is a very handsome building, with a colonnade of +twelve pillars in front. The whole height of the building, with its +connexions of taverns, Exeter Change, &c., runs back to the river. In +its front is a square, with two handsome streets branching off right +and left. One has the double row of trees, in the foreign fashion, +in the centre, with paved carriage-roads outside, and is spacious, +ornamental, and useful. At the end of this is the other Theatre, de +la Gaieté, and that leads into a sort of wide avenue street planted +all the way, and nearly a mile long. On one side again of this is +the _ci-devant_ Champ de Mars, or Jardin Publique, a spacious public +planted walk. The town contains several other planted wide streets, and +a handsome Palais-Royal, _ci-devant_ Du Préfet. There is not any one +very handsome square, and upon the whole Brussels is to be preferred; +and it is a town probably nearly of the same size. + +The Opera House is handsome in the inside, but dirty, and not well +contrived so as to hold the greatest numbers. It consists of twelve +large Corinthian pillars, which occupy much of the room; and all +the upper boxes are like baskets projecting between them, and only +two deep. The shape of the house is a flat horseshoe, and well +proportioned. The singing tolerably good; and the dancing by no means +despicable. Except perhaps one or two of our best, it is better than at +our London theatres. The dresses are rich and expensive. The reception +of our Duke was very gracious; and it was not a little curious to +hear “God save the King” sung constantly with “_Vive Henri IV.!_” +_A l’Anglois, à l’Anglois!_ was also a popular cry, and produced a +hornpipe tune, always attended with great acclamation, but what the +connexion was I cannot say. Some impudent sailors always called out +for “Rule Britannia,” but French _politesse_ could not go so far. Two +Americans would not pull off their hats one night to “God save the +King,” and were shouldered out of the house in consequence. + +The upper boxes are entirely filled with very smartly dressed ladies +of a certain class, whose wardrobes have improved during the last two +months, I have no doubt, as much as that of the similar class of ladies +at Toulouse,—and the last was very visible. The Theatre de la Gaieté +is a sort of Sadler’s Wells, neither more elegant, nor more chaste. +The rope dancing is decidedly good. There is also a Musée here, as +well as at Toulouse, but much inferior. There are not half a dozen +original pictures of any tolerable master. The antique inscriptions +are very uninteresting, to me at least, and there were no antiques +affording pleasure to an artist or amateur. The collection of birds, +serpents, butterflies, minerals, &c., are tolerable, but only of the +second order. The library also appeared smaller and inferior to that at +Toulouse, but there were many more readers, which surprised me. + +There is also a deaf and dumb establishment here similar to that at +Paris, and a very civil and apparently very intelligent master. I +stayed there two hours, to have a regular lesson of the principles +of the education illustrated by the female pupils, who were the most +forward. There were about seventy scholars, mainly supported by the +Government. The pupils were not quite so skilful as those at Paris, +but it is always an interesting exhibition. To find out what we were, +the teacher ingeniously made a pupil ask us what nation we were of, +and of what profession, and as all the deaf and dumb pupils rejoiced +in the answer, and seemed much pleased, I determined to keep up our +good character, and gave the damsels a Napoleon, for which I got much +dumb-show thanks in return. + +The cathedral, or principal church, of St. André, is a good Gothic +building of about the second class, built by “_vos Messieurs les +Anglais_,” as we are instantly told. It is in one respect unfinished; +for both the north and south fronts are intended to have each two light +Gothic spires on the towers, whereas only one pair is built—the other +has been but just commenced. The pair that exist were some little +time since out of repair, and a part had fallen down. Bonaparte saw +this, and graciously said they must be put in order directly. The +Bourdelois were grateful, thinking he intended to have it done, but he +only ordered it, and a tax on the commune at the same time, to pay for +it. In the same way, as he came from Lyons to Bordeaux, he found the +road bad, and much out of repair: this he also ordered to be repaired +immediately; but an _impôt_ all along the communes on the road, beyond +the expense of the repairs, followed likewise as immediately. The +Préfet’s palace he also ordered to be put in complete order, and it was +just finished in time to receive the Duke d’Angoulême, which was not +quite according to the wishes and intentions of the said Bonaparte. + +The Exchange at Bordeaux is a well-contrived handsome building, and the +square in the centre, roofed in with sky-lights, to form a convenient +place for the different walks. The cloisters round are full of shops, +jewellery, maps, &c. + +_June 28th._—I have just returned from the synagogue, where I have been +these two hours. There are nearly two thousand Jews at Bordeaux. “It +is no wonder the Christians are well fleeced,” as my French companion +observed, “when there are two thousand persons in the town who impose +it upon themselves as a duty, and cheat for religion’s sake.” The +chapel is a new building, the style of architecture not good, being +a sort of imitation of Saxon, or rather of no particular order, but +the shape of the temple is excellent, the proportions good, and the +whole imposing. A colonnade formed by pillars runs all round, with a +gallery above for the women, who are separated from the men. The altar +at the end, with the ark of the covenant and the books of Moses, &c. +The branch in the centre; round this the reading-desks, with the rows +of lights for the priests, &c. The upper gallery is arched over like +Covent Garden, with a circular roof. + +The Jews were very civil. The singing was tolerably good; the singing +boys, about twenty in number, in white surplices and sky-blue silk +sashes and scarfs, and bonnets, had a good effect, mixed with the +old priests in their hoods. The ceremony of producing the books of +Moses and returning them to the ark was the most imposing in point +of solemnity, and was attended by music; but what to me was the most +striking, was when at a certain period in the service called the +Benediction, every parent found immediately his son or grandson, or the +children their parents. In short, after a few moments’ bustle, you saw +every one, whatever his age, imposing his hooded head and hands on his +own offspring, and every generation thus at the same instant receiving +the benediction from his own parent respectively. This was really an +imposing scene. + +The most truly Jewish part followed, for by solemn proclamation +every sacred office, namely, the opening of the ark, the drawing the +curtains, carrying the books, putting on the ornaments, reading out +of them when produced, the right of assisting in every part of the +ceremonies, was regularly put up to auction, and sold to the highest +bidder. The biddings were from one franc to three and five, and even +at times up to forty and fifty. As I was informed, these profits were +given to the poor. There was a little spoilt Jew child, about six years +old, for whom its papa had, I conclude, bought the privilege of placing +the silver ornaments on the tops of the wooden rollers of the vellum +Pentateuch, and the little creature seemed much pleased and excessively +proud of his office. On Wednesday next there is to be a wedding, and if +not engaged, it is my intention to be present. + +The coffee-houses here, before we came, were very good, and are not +very dear. They are now so hot and crowded, and in such confusion that +I prefer my dinner solo. Being in a great measure fixed by _la carte_ +as to prices, I believe we are less imposed upon at the restaurateurs +than anywhere else. + +I rode out one day about four miles on the old Bayonne road, to see +a house and garden much talked of here, belonging to a Mons. R——, the +Portuguese Consul, a queer old man, who goes about in a scarlet uniform +like that of our former English Generals, and with a white-feathered +General’s hat. The grounds and gardens are large, and in the first +style of a Paddington tea-garden, with a mixture of Hawkstone nonsense +and Walsh Porter’s sham villages, &c. The house is nothing remarkable, +consisting of a number of rooms by no means good; not a single good +picture, only some bad indecent ones and very free prints. The most +ludicrous part was a regular inscription of “Library” over a door which +led to a little closet with one small set of book-shelves, containing a +dozen or two of great almanacs, and a few odd volumes of all sorts of +books, the whole in number about a hundred. + +On the landing-place on the stairs is a negro, carved in wood, holding +a bottle and glass. The flower-garden—which is in the old style, is +tolerable. There are no good statues, but plenty of cut trees in all +shapes, temples, &c., the whole being an endeavour to make poor Nature +as little likely to know herself as possible. There were trees with +the stems in frames and the tops pointed. In the cut promenades in +the woods were tombs and wooden painted figures, of all sorts and +descriptions. There were dogs in their houses, the prodigal son feeding +swine, a mad lady half naked in a cage, &c. In another part of the +garden was a labyrinth, and a windmill with a wooden man looking out of +one window and a woman out of the other, and below these a wooden cow +and some sheep, goats, deer of the same material, grazing. + +Strangers are admitted to survey this place on any day. The doors were +opened to about a dozen of us, and we were turned loose, without any +showman, into the house and grounds, and ranged about where we pleased. +On Sunday every one is admitted, and it is said there is much company. +The walks are cool, and it is not surprising that they are frequented. +The whole is one mode out of many of obtaining notoriety. An ingenious +way for preserving the flowers is by an inscription insinuating that +every flower is a transformed female. This would not, I fear, succeed +in England. The poor ladies would have many a pinch and squeeze, and +lose many a limb, if Kensington Gardens were full of such flowers, and +had no other protector. + +_Sunday, 19th._—The embarkation of the troops is now going on with +more spirit. The fourth division are, I believe, all on board, if +not sailed, and everything is by degrees moving down towards the +camp at Blanquefort, and the place of embarkation, Pouillac, about +thirty-five miles below this. From the state of uncertainty in which +I remain I shall be one of the last, if I go at all, that is, whether +our Tarragona Court-martial is put an end to. All accounts which have +reached me agree with P——’s. I have thought all along that, with the +help and assistance of Bonaparte himself, who was our best ally, +almost the whole of what has happened has arisen, as it were, from the +peculiar state of the nations of Europe, and from a natural course of +events directed by Providence, and with which the Allies had nothing to +do, except not to prevent it by their blunders or quarrels. + +We have various letters from Toulouse, to officers of the army, full of +regret for the loss of their English friends, and by no means satisfied +with the exchange for their own countrymen. The army is vexed at this, +and matters are worse, as they do nothing but grumble and quarrel in +consequence. The reception of the French troops when they entered, it +is said, was very flat and provoking. D’Armagnac, who was supposed to +have saved the town by advising Soult to be off, was sent in first, +with two thousand five hundred men, and he and his officers bowed and +were very anxious to court a cordial greeting; but the dull silence +was scarcely broken, and the French officers could not contain their +vexation and abuse in consequence. There was, I believe, more sincerity +in the professions of the Toulousians towards us, as far as the +majority was concerned, than is usual with Frenchmen, or than we could +reasonably have expected from them. + +On the other hand, the accounts from the cavalry, of their treatment in +their march through France, is very different from ours at Toulouse:—in +this they all agree. The officers, trusting to French hospitality, have +left their own beds behind, and having had to bivouac almost as much +as in Spain, they have had a bad time of it. Several letters have come +from Mr. H——, who went with the column through Angoulême and Poictiers. +He has written from both these places. He says, “The inhabitants +profess openly that, as we chose to march through France, they will +try and make us repent of it. They scarcely give any quarters, send +the men leagues about out of the road, and only let the Commissary buy +his provisions on the road. At Angoulême, a town which might quarter +ten thousand men without inconvenience for a short time, they would +only suffer a few officers and the General in the town, and most +of those were quartered at inns. The General and one servant got a +billet at a private house, but he was to pay if he took more in with +him. The incivility is general; the doors were all shut against us. +The playhouse at Angoulême was empty the night it was known that our +officers would be there. Nothing to be had without paying.” This is the +same spirit of vexation as that in the army—a conviction that they have +been beaten, and that this march is a sort of proof and token of it. + +_Head-Quarters, Bordeaux, June 26th, 1814._—My life has been every day +the same—a ride early, at work at home all the middle of the day, a +dinner generally solo, and another walk or ride in the evening, or, as +the weather has become cooler again, sometimes the play. + +I have spoken to Colonel M—— about your friends who think of a removal +to the south of France, he having many connexions at Toulouse. He is +decidedly of opinion that that should be the place of abode, for a +family of ladies especially; I am rather disposed to be of the same +opinion. Pau, however, which I have not seen, is much recommended. +Supposing they fix on Toulouse, Colonel M—— says, of course, that +the house which they will require for comfort must be large, giving +them four rooms with _lits de maître_, and four beds for _filles de +chambres_, and about four other servants, and three good sitting rooms, +&c. He thinks such a house may be had for about eighteen hundred francs +a-year, that is, about 75_l._ a-year. I can assure them, that in point +of economy, all must depend upon their arrangements being made by some +French friends, and not by an English one. In house-rent, in wine, +in everything, an inhabitant will get articles at one-third of the +price demanded of the English. The French have no ideas of honesty or +moderation towards the English, and not much towards any one in matters +of trade. The extortion, and even the downright frauds committed, +especially on travellers, are quite disgraceful, and every tradesman +assists his neighbour in getting a job, and fleecing the _milords_. +I believe they are like the Jews, and have, from continual practice, +arrived at the same conclusion as the others from religion, namely, +that they are performing a duty when they cheat an Englishman. + +There are two Protestant chapels here, and one excellent preacher, in +the style of a London chapel preacher, only extempore; I heard one very +eloquent French sermon delivered by him, with great propriety. The +service, the singing, and other parts of the duty, are but moderately +performed. + +The courts of justice are much the same as at Toulouse, and about nine +or ten judges generally attend. I was unfortunately obliged to leave +Toulouse before their criminal sessions with a jury commenced, and on +my arrival here they were over. This takes place only once in three +months, unless something extraordinary or a great press of business +occurs. I attended a case of misdemeanor, a bad assault, in the +criminal court, but that was an appeal only, and being of the class of +_petits delits_, there never is a jury—but a president and five judges. +The same number presides when there is a jury, in more penal trials; +and in certain cases when the jury are divided, as for instance seven +against five, then the judges are called in to vote as jurymen, and the +proportion of votes required by law calculated on the whole numbers. +There was much unnecessary delay and argument in the case I heard. It +was like one of our worst-managed cases of motions for a new trial +on account of deficiency of evidence, which are always of the most +tiresome class. + +_Post-day, June 27th._—I have been to the Jew’s wedding. The ceremony +consists principally of singing and drinking, and blessings in Hebrew. +There must be something Jewish, however, as usual, and that is +concerning the ring, which, as soon as it is produced, is shown round +to all the rabbies near, and some elders, &c., and to the sponsors, to +be sure it is really gold, or otherwise the marriage is void, and the +true old clothesman-like way in which they all spied at the ring was +very amusing. Nearly the last ceremony is the bridegroom’s smashing a +wine-glass in a plate on the floor, with an idea that he and his spouse +are then as difficult to separate as it would be to reunite the glass. +The gentleman showed gallantry by exerting all his force, and looking +most fiercely as he broke the glass. + +I understand that the Duke of Wellington came back from Madrid with a +much better impression of King Ferdinand than when he went, thinking +that he showed talent, firmness, and character. The manner in which he +received the Duke may have somewhat disposed him to this favourable +judgment. I understand the King immediately treated the Duke as a +grandee of Spain, by shaking hands with him, and putting his hat on, +and that the king declared almost the only two acts of the Cortes, +which he approved of _in toto_, were those which made the Duke +commander of all the Spanish armies, and gave him the estate in the +South. + +We have had news from our cavalry from the vicinity of Paris, from +Chartres; all the officers have deserted their regiments to see +Paris—that present wonder of wonders! They have occasionally lately +been better treated, that is, whenever they met with a Royalist patron +at their quarters. H—— says there seems to be two parties everywhere, +and it is a sort of lottery which they fall into the hands of; that, +when he wrote last from Chartres he had been “stuffed to death,” made +to eat three or four meals a-day, and to attend a party given on +purpose for him every evening: this, I conclude, was all a _douce_ +violence. + +Still no news as to our Tarragona plan. My patron, Monsieur Emerigon, +says, that at Paris the Emperor of Russia individually was the most +popular, except perhaps the English and our Duke; that the Russian +troops were not in such favour; the King of Prussia so-so. Blucher and +his troops better, but the Emperor of Austria the worst of all; and +every one must have observed the marked difference of his reception +from that of the other sovereigns. + +I am to-day turned out of my room, which is the dining-room, as my +patron gives a dinner, to which he has asked me. I must not therefore +complain. + +We have been paid up a good deal of money at this place, where the +quantity of gold and silver we have circulated is quite incredible. +Every one talks of it, and the piles and piles of empty money-boxes +of all sorts, and from all quarters, fully prove it. At present we +have immense quantities of French money, Napoleons and Louis, gold +and silver, from Paris, whilst, on the other hand, I am told that the +French are here buying up our guineas and Portuguese gold, to turn them +into Louis, as they have begun a new coinage both here and at Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + Country Fêtes—Brawls with the French—The Duke d’Angoulême—Mademoiselle + Georges—The Actress and the Emperor—French Acting and French + Audiences—Presentation of a Sword to Lord Dalhousie—Georges’ + Benefit—Departure. + + + Head-quarters, Bordeaux, July 4, 1814, + Post-day. + + MY DEAR M——, + +We have still had no instruction how to proceed, and are waiting the +determination in England. In the mean time I am being gradually stewed, +for the heat has again commenced, and is in full operation. My life +is quite retired and monotonous, and affords no incidents. The only +variety that has arisen is, that yesterday I dined at three o’clock +with my patron’s sister, a West Indian elderly single lady, and a +female party. I was the only beau, the brother was engaged; and in the +evening I rode over about three miles to Briges, a village, where they +were keeping an annual fête. + +The crowd of country-people dancing and singing was very considerable, +and the road was covered with the lower class, going and returning. The +difference between this and our country fêtes seems to be, that there +was nothing to buy or sell, and but little eating and drinking going +on, the principal occupation being dancing and talking, laughing, and +parading about. It seems impossible to make such a people as the French +very unhappy in any way, however bad their government, except by the +conscription. + +Those who are satisfied with salads, sour wine, dancing, and other +amusements entirety depending upon themselves and the meeting of the +two sexes, can only be disappointed and deprived of their happiness +by the removal of one sex altogether. Leave them alone, and they have +nearly all they wish. John Bull, on the contrary, wants many things +more to put him into the same state of joy and satisfaction. + +Several of Marshal Soult’s officers have got into Bordeaux of late; +disputes and quarrels have been the consequence, but hitherto they +have been of no great moment. Every opportunity of seeking a row was +eagerly laid hold of by the French—a jostle on the stairs at the +theatre was sufficient. Lord Dalhousie, who is in command here now, has +been obliged to forbid any officer going to the Theatre de la Gaieté +where this was most likely to arise, and to order off every officer +not on duty here to camp. We have here now only the Guards and staff +officers. The inhabitants are all with us, particularly a set of very +fine-looking young men, but a little hot-headed, who compose the Duke +d’Angoulême’s guard of honour. They have been also insulted, and a few +days since paraded with bludgeons to see if this would be repeated +either against themselves or the English, and they determined to resist +either on the spot. No great harm has yet happened. As far as I can +learn, there have been about three fights, but none fatal. + +A young Tyrolean, in the pay-office department, having been insulted, +watched and followed the offender home. He then went for his sword, +which we never wear (but the French always do), returned, and insisted +upon instant satisfaction. Upon this the Frenchman’s zeal began to +cool, but it was too late; the Tyrolean insisted upon his going out +into a backyard and fighting directly. He cut him across the face, +and was just about running his sword into his body, when a friend +interfered, and stopped him, saying that “he had done enough.” + +Another Frenchman has been horsewhipped by an English officer, who, +when insulted, returned with his sword and whip, and offered the +Frenchman his choice, and as the latter persisted in asking for time, +he chose for him and gave him the whip. All this makes Lord Dalhousie +anxious to get the troops off, and as I hear Lord Keith has promised +plenty of transports, in answer to his pressing letters on the subject, +we expect to be all away in ten days’ time, and some immediately. There +are nearly eighteen thousand men still in France, including the fifth +division at Bayonne, where, by-the-by, the disposition on the part of +the French to be uncivil, sulky, and quarrelsome has been much greater. +On the contrary, the generals and superior officers are very civil, +particularly Marshal Suchet, to the few English officers remaining at +Toulouse, and General Villette, who is here, is also very civil. + +_Later._—A ship is just arrived in sixty-four hours from Plymouth, +telling us that fifteen sail of the line, and as many frigates are +close at hand, but no news of our destination. + +_Head-Quarters, Bordeaux, July 10th, 1814._—I have now received two +letters and packets of papers from you by the last mail, including +those up to the 28th June. The same mail brought orders for all the +members of the Court-martial appointed for Tarragona to proceed direct +for England, and there report themselves to the Adjutant-general. +Upon this I asked Lord Dalhousie (our present chief) what I was to +do? and was by him desired to remain here to the last and move with +the head-quarters, who remain here till the troops move. This must, +I think, take place in about a week or ten days, unless you cease to +send shipping from England. We shall in three days’ time have only a +brigade of Guards remaining for the city duty. The rest who will not +be already embarked will be at Pouillac in readiness. + +We have now got our small share of Royalty also at Bordeaux, as the +Duke d’Angoulême has arrived again, and means to stay a few days +before he goes to join Madame la Duchesse at the Baths at Vichy. He +looks worn, and less calculated than ever for public show, but still +apparently as amiable as before. The Duc de G——, though still, I +believe, in our 10th Hussars, came in with him, as his aide-de-camp. +The Duc de G—— is come back much disgusted with Paris, and even almost +with France and Frenchmen. He says that Paris is a dirty place, +without society and manners, and that he has met with no one to whose +word or whose honour he would fairly trust: that all seemed to be a +system of deception and falsehood, and that unless things mend, and +alter considerably, he should feel almost disposed, in case of any +unfortunate quarrel with England, to renounce France, rejoin his +regiment, and become an Englishman. This, I conclude, is the depression +of first feelings, which, in the case of emigrants, must be very strong +just now. Matters have not quite proceeded to their tastes, and they +must every hour meet with that which must inevitably disgust them. + +We have now also at Bordeaux the celebrated Mademoiselle Georges, the +actress from Paris, and Mons. Joami, also from the metropolis. In +spite of the heat, I have been three times to hear them in Voltaire’s +plays, _Merope_, _Phedre_, and _l’Orphelin de la Chine_. The man has +neither much figure nor countenance, and I should place him only as a +second-rate performer, though still very superior to the ordinary set +here in that line. In fact there are no tragic performers here at all; +and the inferiority, beneath mediocrity, with which every other part is +sustained, takes off the interest with which these tragedies would be +otherwise attended. + +Mdlle. Georges herself is also in many parts deficient, both in good +taste and in true nature. She is of a large figure, but now fallen to +pieces; and I am rather surprised that the _ci-devant_ Emperor should +have fancied her anywhere except during his Moscow campaign. The story, +however, goes here, that at one of their interviews, Bonaparte was +taken ill, and in her confusion and ignorance Mdlle. Georges rang the +Empress’s bell instead of that for the attendants, and that on the +arrival of Maria Louise there was of course a scene. + +Mdlle. Georges’ voice is good, and her countenance would by many be +considered fine. In some parts of her acting I think she is strikingly +great, but generally forced and extravagant. She runs into extremes +from crying to laughing, and from low ghost-like intonations to loud +vulgar screams. Upon the whole, one comes away fatigued from one of +these representations, and not much pleased or affected. And what +convinces me that it really is inferiority in the drama or in the +actress, and not merely the difference of style and manner, or national +feeling as to composition and taste, which causes this, is, that +the French part of the audience never seem affected like an English +audience under the influence of really fine acting. You never hear the +generally suppressed sobs, or see the eyes full of tears all round the +house as with us at an English tragedy, when, for example, Mrs. Siddons +plays, and every one goes away with a serious impression. In the French +auditors you only hear bursts of “_Très beau, très beau! superbe! +magnifique!_” &c., always applied to some extravagant and sudden change +of tone or manner; and now, at this present moment, if there happens to +be a royal sentiment which can be applied, it is encored like a song. +No one seems carried away by feelings which he cannot command; but the +applause is given as it would be to a mountebank for a clever trick. +The distressed heroine or empress spits in her pocket-handkerchief, or +on the stage in the true French style, and certainly not in a manner +to excite admiration or interest, or to impress the spectators very +strongly with ideas of her dignity and elegance. + +The first night the Duke d’Angoulême was at the play (on his arrival +here this time), we had verses and songs in his honour, and “_Vive +Henry IV.!_” without end. At last came for once, “God save the King,” +which was received very differently from what it was even when I first +came here; coolly and civilly enough, except by a few; and I believe we +have a few sincere friends here. + +As Paris gave a sword to General Sacken, Bordeaux is to give one to +Lord Dalhousie; and I really think the town has (as they certainly +ought to have) some feelings of gratitude towards him for his attention +to everything which can be of service to the city, and in successful +efforts to preserve order, and prevent any mischief being done to the +inhabitants. This sword will be a curious heir-loom in the Dalhousie +family, given to their ancestor by the French civil authorities of +Bordeaux. + +As a trait of the natural French feelings of vanity, I may tell you, +that my loyal patron Mons. Emerigon said, not only should we have been +all originally prevented from entering France, had the people been of +one mind with the Emperor and the army, but that all along a single +word of complaint from Louis XVIII. of the conduct of the allied troops +would have been a signal for their entire destruction at any period +since. + +I am now told that the fifth division, from Bayonne are also on their +march hither to embark. This will probably cause some little more +delay; but I think in ten days we must be on board ship. + +_Head-Quarters, Bordeaux, July 15th, 1814._—Our final departure from +hence appears, at last, to be gradually approaching. The numbers of the +English diminish daily; and though we have for this month past been +talking of the “next week,” I begin to think that another week will +really and truly see us off, and the French army again in possession of +Bordeaux. + +The tradesmen of the town will miss us greatly. They have made a +famous time of it these last three months, for the army has in that +time received six months’ pay, and most of it has found its way into +the pockets of the keepers of the restaurateurs, the hotels, &c. +Bordeaux has had its full share of the spoils of the _milords_. Nor +have the inhabitants suffered anything by the army, except the little +inconvenience of giving up a room or two in general as quarters for +the officers, who partly made up even for this by giving their hosts +tickets for the play, taking boxes for the ladies, &c., and making them +presents every now and then. The only persons who have suffered by us +at all in the neighbourhood, are those who have small gardens near +the camp. They certainly have had their vegetables and fruit gathered +gratis, and have generally not even had their share. This evil is, +however, exaggerated, and much of it which really exists, has been done +by the French peasantry and country servants, who, if a soldier takes +six cabbages, immediately take a dozen more themselves, sell them in +the camp, and swear to the owners that the soldiers are the culprits. + +Those who have vineyards as well as gardens, have also their full +revenge in the price of their wines, which were immediately doubled, by +the arrival of the troops, and the latter in fact pay dearly for their +vegetables, though they get a good part for nothing. It is fortunate +for the inhabitants that we shall be off before the grapes begin to +ripen, and for our own soldiers likewise. Surrounded by vineyards, the +temptations would be irresistible, and the means of offence almost +boundless; so that the loss to the cultivators of them principal +harvest, and the injury to the soldiers, would be very considerable. + +I have bought a violoncello to amuse myself this warm weather, and as +my host, M. Emerigon, plays the violin in very excellent style, we have +frequently music of an evening before he goes to his consultations. + +We most of us, nevertheless, begin to find Bordeaux dull,—I do +in particular. My occupation has nearly ceased, except as to +swearing the paymasters, &c., to their accounts, and now and then a +Court-martial,—not enough to give me full employment. The constant +expectation of moving, the uncertainty when I may be wanted, and the +natural indolence arising from the heat, prevent me from voluntarily +engaging in any regular study or pursuit, and even prevent my making +any excursions beyond a league or two on my pony. Shut up in this +town, which, though airy, as to the general breadth of the streets and +openings, is still in fact hot and low, and built in a country like +that round Woolwich or Deptford, I get thin and languid, and shall be +glad to be braced by the sea-air and the cooler climate of England. + +_Saturday, 1st._—As yet we have had no packets this week, and being +beyond the usual time, this makes us believe the reports which have +been some days in circulation, that you mean to send no more packets +from England. I have still hopes. + +I must tell you a trait completely French, of one of the noble guard of +honour of the Duke d’Angoulême at Bordeaux. I had met him twice in the +family with whom I live: on one of these occasions, at dinner. He dined +here yesterday, and whilst the rest of the party were taking their +coffee, I went to my room to dress, as I dined at Lord Dalhousie’s. +This guardsman slipped up stairs after me. He came bowing into my +room, whilst I was in my shirt, and without any excuse or apology, +immediately began to tell me he had a little favour to ask, and hoped +that I would oblige him, and say nothing of it in the family, for he +would not ask them, and was anxious they should not know anything about +it; and at last said, “Could I just let him have five guineas or so, +for which he would give me a bit of paper.” In short, he added that +he was rather deficient in cash, and I should oblige him infinitely +by the loan, which should be paid when he could. As I fully expected +an application to ask some favour of Lord Dalhousie or the Duke of +Wellington, or something very disagreeable, I felt rather relieved by +the explanation in full. As he was quite a young man, had just got a +commission in the new regiment to be raised in Martinique, and was, I +concluded, of good character, from his connexion with M. Emerigon and +his family, who are held in great esteem, I counted him out his five +guineas (all the time in my shirt), and he went away very happy, saying +that he would go below and leave me a bit of paper, though I told him +there was pen and ink in my room. The paper said that he would send +Mr. —— six guineas to England (a guinea more than I had given him) as +soon as he could. It was signed—_P. de V. De R——, De La Martinique_, +leaving my name a blank, and not inquiring where he should send, so as +to reserve, I presume, enough to satisfy his conscience in not repaying +the money, that he should never know where to send it. His bit of paper +only confirmed me in my notion that I was doing an act of charity, and +not turning Jew or money-lender. + +The guard of honour are to-day dismissed, by order of the higher powers +from Paris. In truth, there are quite troops enough in France, without +adding the expense of these gentlemen, with their white feathers a +yard long, who would be of no use except to quarrel with the regular +troops. Only four years since Bonaparte, when at Bordeaux, was attended +everywhere by a guard of honour of the same description. Volunteers +were his only body-guard. + +The Prefêt of Bordeaux last night gave a fête to the Duke d’Angoulême. +I went with M. Emerigon. The Duke came a few minutes after eight +o’clock in his carriage and six, dressed, I believe, in the uniform of +a Field-Marshal, with the _cordon-bleu_, &c. He was received by the +Prefêt, attended by Generals Villette, Blagnac, Clement de la Ronciere, +&c., &c., and a number of old and new nobility, all in their best; and +having been, as it were, proclaimed to the company by the Prefêt, the +Duke went about most graciously, talking to every one as usual. + +About ten supper was announced, for the Duke has very early habits; +and in about half an hour afterwards he came to the window to see very +pretty fireworks, which were let off in the main street, surrounded +by thousands of people below, and at all the windows. It was a gay +and attractive scene. Soon after eleven the Duke went home, for he +rises at five, and works hard at business, on petitions, &c., and at +four o’clock to-morrow morning is to start for Bayonne. He had been +at two reviews in the course of yesterday, and had both times been in +tolerably severe storms. I fancy he must now and then wish himself +quiet again, as he has been for the last twenty years. I am almost +sure I should. The new barons and nobility seem to make very good +courtiers. Indeed, the duties are all the same; it is only a change in +the cry and the idol, the same worship exists as before. The Prefêt, +Monsieur le Baron de V——, while the fireworks were going on, observed +to all around him (loud enough on purpose for the Duke to hear)—how +fortunate he was to have thought of the fireworks; that the idea had +come into his head, as he observed that every one would see Monseigneur +so well at the window, whilst the fireworks were going off; and then +how plainly we can read the inscriptions—O yes, observe _Vive le Duc +d’Angoulême! Vivent les Bourbons!_ and the fleurs-de-lys—how well they +look in the midst of the fire! He felt quite happy that he had thought +of all this to gratify the people, as it necessarily must do.—Now the +inscriptions were close to us, and in letters a foot long. And note +besides, that this Baron was one of the functionaries who ran away from +Bordeaux, when the Duke came here on the 12th of March, and who would +probably not now hold his situation, if my patron and some others had +not persuaded him to return in good time, and continue in his office to +wait the result. The Duke must see through this, and be disgusted. + +The women here are not as well dressed as at Toulouse—not so stylish. +They do not show so much blood and fashion. I believe, however, among +the higher orders, that there is much more morality, and that there +is a greater difference in reality, as well as in outward appearance, +between the ladies in the dress-boxes, and those in the tier above, +than there was at Toulouse. + +Shortly after eleven o’clock the few English who were present at the +fête, had nearly all gone home, being chiefly Generals and their +aides-de-camp. I came away, leaving the company waltzing and dancing +away with less spirit and skill than at Toulouse. + +I met with some very liberal Catholics here; for instance, a gentleman +said yesterday, before me, that if all the pieces of the true Cross +were collected, they would, when put together, make a cross half a +mile long. A lady in company said to a friend (also before me), that +she did not much trouble the father confessor, and indeed that it was +what she liked the least of any part of her duty. She added that their +religion depended on faith, hope, and charity, and that she understood +(addressing me), ours did so too, but that theirs required a good deal +of hope. Madame Emerigon, with whom I live, has returned home highly +delighted with Paris, but abuses the inhabitants, who, she says, think +only of making money, taking in strangers, provincials and foreigners, +and amusing themselves day and night. + +She is a French creole from one of the islands. A little mulatto girl, +about fourteen, always stands behind her chair, laughing at all her +mistress says. The hairdresser is generally seated in one corner of the +room, half the dinner-time, joining in the conversation, and sometimes +adorning Madame, whilst we are taking our wine, and during this time an +idle Paris lad, of the girl’s age, whom Madame seems to have fancied +because he speaks such good French, and not the Patois, is running +about, bustling, but in reality doing little or nothing from morning +till night. Three other female servants, and a nephew of the family, +complete the party on this side of the house, or rather wing. + +In an opposite wing, are, first in the upper part, two respectable old +ladies, and their servants; below them _au-premier_, is an old West +Indian gentleman and his two sons, both _ci-devant_ of the Imperial +guard of honour, from Bordeaux, and his two daughters, with servants, +&c. None of these are very elegant, nor, as far as I can judge from +one visit, very well bred. They amused me the whole time with talking +of the superiority of the French troops, and how the Imperial guards +in particular could beat all the Allies if not more than two to one, +as they always had done, to which I only said that I believed the +Imperial Guards had been all withdrawn from the army of Spain, at +least I supposed so, and that I had had, therefore, no opportunity +of judging. One Miss also asked what the English lived upon? as she +understood we ate no bread. Upon which a French visitor, to save me the +trouble of explanation, informed her that we principally lived upon +_des potates_ (which is now the word here for potatoes) and _betraves_, +with which accurate information she seemed quite satisfied. This sort +of conversation, and a few songs quite in the French style, which I do +not at all admire, though one of the demoiselles had a good voice, have +not tempted me to pay another visit. + +The other night I went to the benefit of Madame Georges. She acted +Semiramis, in Voltaire’s play, and with considerable success, +particularly when she let Nature have its way. She also acted in the +sentimental farce of _La Belle Fermière_, and really well, if she had +but omitted a miserable song, accompanied by an old violin or two +behind the scenes, all out of tune. The orchestra, as well as every +part of the house, was full—almost every passage crammed near the +openings to the boxes. The play began at seven o’clock, and the company +were all ready by four, and I saw many well-dressed women going to +the play at two and three o’clock, as a box cannot be engaged without +paying almost double price. The Duke was very well received, and as +there was luckily no band, we escaped about five-and-twenty _Vive Henry +IV.!_ which we should otherwise have had. + +Mr. Wilberforce should exert himself in getting little essays written +in French, on the Slave Trade, circulated in France, in some degree at +least to enlighten the people. At present, even the more intelligent +and better sort of men seem only to consider the English as playing +the part of Don Quixote in this business, and consider the whole as a +sort of romantic affectation of humanity; whilst many others insinuate +motives not quite so honourable, by stating that, having well supplied +our own islands with slaves, we wish to give up all the other colonies, +with a diminished black population, and in bad condition, and then +to prevent their ever recovering themselves. This is to be done by +the abolition of the Slave Trade; whilst our own islands, in full +prosperity, will be ready to reap the benefit of the distress of their +rivals. + +_July 18th._—I have now only time to seal up and to tell you that the +returns of embarkations are just arrived from Pouillac, by which it +appears that all the troops are now actually on board, except the +two brigades of Guards, one of which entered Pouillac to-day to be +prepared, and the other is still here. At present no more shipping is +ready, though more are expected; some say we shall be moving about +to-morrow week, some this day fortnight; but I believe no one knows +anything of the matter. + + * * * * * + +From the following entry in the Diary kept by Mrs. Larpent, it appears +that Mr. F. S. Larpent arrived at his father’s house, at East Sheen, on +the 8th August, 1814. + +_8th August, 1814._—“In the evening came Seymour, looking younger than +when he went away, and in excellent health, after having been absent +two years, all but a fortnight. We thanked God sincerely for this great +mercy and happiness.” + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +[Although the annexed letter does not come chronologically within the +scope of Mr. Larpent’s Journal, as there is an anticipatory notice, +towards the close of the second volume, of Sir John Murray’s trial, it +may not inappropriately be inserted here.] + + Paris, January 19th, 1815. + + MY DEAR SIR, + + In regard to Sir John Murray’s trial, I intended to prove the charges + framed by my directions against him, in consequence of the orders of + Government, by the production of my Instructions and his Reports, all + of which are in the Government Offices. + + Sir John Murray contends that one paragraph of my Instructions + directed him not to risk an action. I think he has mistaken my meaning + in that paragraph; but whether he has or not, that paragraph did not + recall the other Instructions for his conduct. + + The object of that paragraph was to prevent the Spanish Generals Elio + and the Duque del Parque, from taking advantage of Sir John Murray’s + absence, and the temporary command which they had of the cavalry + belonging to Sir John Murray’s and Whittingham’s corps, to attack the + French. There existed a prevailing opinion among the Spanish officers + that their failures were to be attributed to the want of good cavalry; + and this paragraph of the Instructions was drawn with the view of + preventing those officers from attempting to fight a general action + when circumstances should have placed a small body of good cavalry at + their disposal, more particularly as all the manœuvres ordered by the + Instructions had in view to prevent the necessity of a general action. + + I have not by me the Instructions, but, as well as I recollect, this + meaning of the paragraph is obvious; and it will be particularly + observed that it comes in after the directions for the formation of + the Corps Romain in Bohemia with the Duque del Parque and General + Elio. I think, as I before stated, that this paragraph has nothing to + say to the question of Sir John Murray’s guilt or innocence of the two + charges, though it has to that brought against him by the Admiral. + + The Court has, of course, a right to judge of my meaning by the words + in which it is conveyed, in whatever manner I may now explain it or + you may explain it for me, as the obvious meaning of those words was + to be the guide of Sir John Murray’s conduct. I must add also, that + whatever care I may have taken, it is not improbable that in drawing + an Instruction for the operations of so many corps, all with separate + Commanders-in-Chief, I may not in every instance have made use of the + language which should convey the meaning I had in my mind. + + There is nothing else that occurs to me; but I shall be glad to hear + from you occasionally during the trial, and receive a copy of the + evidence when it can be got. + + Believe me, + Ever yours, most faithfully, + WELLINGTON. + + _To F. S. Larpent, Esq._ + _&c. &c._ + + +LONDON: W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + + pg 65 Changed: that is the best way, I believe, if posible + to: that is the best way, I believe, if possible + + pg 102 Changed: not to neglect making up her deficiences + to: not to neglect making up her deficiencies + + pg 125 Changed: the obligation of cuting so much of the corn + to: the obligation of cutting so much of the corn + + pg 137 Changed: too much for them, end are consequently retiring + to: too much for them, and are consequently retiring + + pg 144 Changed: round the botton of an insulated hill + to: round the bottom of an insulated hill + + pg 159 Changed: und and there the first charge of cavalry took place + to: und and there the first charge of cavalry took place + + pg 208 Changed: prisoners aad deserters say nearly five thousand + to: prisoners and deserters say nearly five thousand + + pg 308 Changed: given up their lodgings and and have packed up + to: given up their lodgings and have packed up + + pg 330 Changed: He is a stanch Frenchman + to: He is a staunch Frenchman + + pg 457 Changed: and thence he was was to post the other + to: and thence he was to post the other + + pg 458 Changed: every precaution taken for secresy + to: every precaution taken for secrecy + + pg 471 Changed: probably let the King he proclaimed + to: probably let the King be proclaimed + + pg 482 Changed: stay here until this mornimg + to: stay here until this morning + + pg 493 Changed: who were lyng safe on the ground + to: who were lying safe on the ground + + pg 520 Changed: like our New River, the bands trimmed + to: like our New River, the banks trimmed + + New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the + public domain. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75413 *** |