1831.] 



C 217 ] 



MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 



A Narrative of the Peninsular War, by 

 Major Leith Hay, 2 vols. I2mo, Not a 

 narrative of the war, but a book of and 

 about the said war ; or, more correctly, 

 a sketch of what fell under the writer's 

 own eye at all times worth more than 

 a statement compiled from reports, 

 where every thing is of necessity ge- 

 neralized, or at least where every 

 thing like individuality must disap- 

 pear. Major Hay, for a subaltern, 

 as he then was, had unusual op- 

 portunities of witnessing the varieties 

 of service in the Peninsular struggle, 

 and abundant as have been memoirs on 

 the subject, we scarcely think his super- 

 fluous. No two men are placed precisely 

 in the same circumstances, and of course, 

 if they keep their eyes open, one sees 

 something different from his neighbour. 

 In general Major Hay is eulogistic, and 

 one motive for publishing is to comme- 

 morate the achievements of inferior of- 

 ficers, overlooked by others, though now 

 and then, when the tide of opinion is too 

 strong to stem, he yields a confession of 

 the possibility of error ; but with respect 

 to the French, he gives free wing to his 

 censures they rarely did anything but 

 blunder. He attributes in fact most 

 of our successes to French blunders, 

 without perceiving that in the same pro- 

 portion he detracts from the merits of 

 his friends. To be sure, there is merit 

 hij seizing upon an adversary's slips ; 

 but higher, at least in the estimation of 

 most persons, in creating occasions, and 

 higher still in playing your own game, 

 than in following your opponent's. 



Major Leith Hay was in the Peninsula 

 as early as August 1808, in the capacity 

 of aide-de-camp to General Leith, who 

 was despatched to the north coast to col- 

 lect information. Under General Leith's 

 orders were Major Lefevre, Colonels 

 Jones, Paisley, and Birch. None of 

 these officers are so much as noticed by 

 Colonel Napier, who very flippantly, in 

 the opinion of Major Hay, and erro- 

 neously in fact, represents the officers, 

 so employed, all as their own masters, 

 and with no earthly qualification for the 

 office, but some little acquaintance with 

 the language of the country. To Major 

 Hay this seems excessively harsh and 

 unjust, and with some bitterness he af- 

 firms that, Colonel Jones, for instance, 

 was a man of at least equal authority 

 with Colonel Napier himself. Informa- 

 tion at head quarters was sadly defec- 

 tive, but the English were new to the 

 country, and the Spaniards lazy. Before 

 General Moore's disastrous retreat, 

 Major Hay and his superior joined the 

 army, and were present at the battle of 

 Corunna. " The misfortunes of Moore's 

 M.M. New Series. Voi.XI. No.G2. 



army," says the Major, " were occasioned 

 by inexperience in campaigning, by an 

 ignorant commissariat, by bad roads, and 

 dreadful weather - but never by the 

 enemy." Major Hay was also with his 

 regiment at the battle of Talavera, the 

 success of which, if success it could be 

 called, is thus accounted for: "Great 

 firmness to grapple with responsibility, 

 self-possession to rise above adverse cir- 

 cumstances, a vigorous mind to decide 

 promptly and correctly, brave troops, 

 and the good fortune of being indecisively 

 and injudiciously opposed, brought Sir 

 Arthur Wellesley through the battle of 

 Talavera." 



Of the 10,000 who filled the hos- 

 pitals on the plains of Estramadura, 

 after the battle of Talavera, the author 

 was one ; and though he had full three 

 months to speculate on the causes which 

 induced the commander-in-chief to linger 

 on these miserable plains, with the 

 troops perishing by thousands, Major 

 Hay " never, neither then nor since, 

 could discover a sufficient reason for 

 Lord Wellington's subjecting his army 

 to this mortal and apparently unneces- 

 sary infliction." After his recovery, the 

 Major joined 'the army in Portugal, 

 and assisted in the conflict at Busaco ; 

 and after reaching the lines of Torres 

 Vedras, accompanied General Leith to 

 England, before Massena shewed any 

 symptoms of evacuating Portugal. Early 

 in January of the following year (1812) 

 he was again in the field, and time 

 enough to witness the fall of Ciudad 

 Rodngo. At the battle of Salamanca 

 he was wounded, but again on his legs 

 in time to reach Madrid and join in the 

 retreat from the capital, which was all 

 but as disastrous as Sir John Moore's. 

 Circumstances luckily were more fa- 

 vourable the soldiers were better sea- 

 soned, and in the opinion of Major Hay, 

 if we understand him, better command- 

 ed. 



During the following winter, and 

 till May 1813, the Major was employed 

 as a scout, and such were the facilities 

 afforded by the goodwill of the natives, 

 that he was able to keep close to the 

 enemy's quarters for months without 

 detection or danger. He ventured, how- 

 ever, once too often. He was discovered 

 and secured, and refusing to give his 

 parole, was treated with some harsh- 

 ness ; but the treatment was not surely 

 to be complained of, for the refusal of 

 his parole was equivalent to an avowal 

 of a design to escape. In fact he was 

 liberally treated, for a few days before 

 the battle of Vittoria he was exchanged 

 for an officer then in England, who had 

 been captured in the field. To the Major's 

 2 F 



