182 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



mand. In my private letter of the 

 7th instant, I mentioned to your 

 lordship the reports of the assem- 

 blage of the French forces at Barce- 

 lona, and that marshal Suchet was 

 likewise in march from Valencia ; 

 and stated it as my opinion, that 

 should these reports be confirmed, 

 the object your lordship had in 

 view could not be accomplished. 

 Unfortunately these rumours prov- 

 ed true, and reluctantly I resolved 

 upon raising the siege and embark- 

 ing the array, as the only means of 

 avoiding a general action, which 

 must have been fought under 

 every disadvantage. I cannot at 

 this moment refer to dates, but 

 it is sufficient for the present to 

 state, that the French force at B:ir- 

 celona was never rated to me at 

 less than 8,000, and that previous 

 to their march it would amount to 

 10,000, witli 14 pieces of artillery. 

 I have, however, no account that 

 it ever exceeded eight, and that is 

 the number on which my calcula- 

 tion was formed. This force, upon 

 the evening of the 9th, or morning 

 of the 10th, marched out from 

 Barcelona, and entered Villa 

 Franca, at four o'clock in the even- 

 ing of the II th, from whence it 

 was reported to me to march at 

 12 o'clock at night for Vendrells, 

 distant only 18 or 20 miles from 

 Tarragona by the great road, and 

 a few miles further by another 

 road, by which cannon can easily 

 pass. On the 9th or 10th the 

 arrival of marshal Suchet at Va- 

 lencia was made known to me ; 

 his exact force was never perfectly 

 ascertained, but from the intelli- 

 gence received from Valencia, he 

 marched from thence with 9,000 

 men, and certainly in the rear of 

 that place had the power of draw- 



ing great reinforcements tohia 

 army. 



To these corps must be added, 

 a body of 1,000 men, which had 

 previously arrived at Tortosa, and 

 another corps, independent of the 

 garrison of 2,500 men, who had 

 arrived at Lerida. These corps, 

 which I amsurel do not exaggerate, 

 amount to 20,500 men, with which, 

 in four or five days, marshal Suchet 

 could attack the allied army, if he 

 thought proper ; or avoid an ac- 

 tion, if he wished still more to re- 

 inforce his army. Your lordship, 

 on the other hand, will observe, 

 that I could scarcely bring into the 

 field 12,000 men, and that the 

 army of Catalonia was stated to 

 me at 8,500, making 20,500, 

 of which two British, and two 

 Spanish divisions were at the Col 

 de Balaguer, and could not be 

 withdrawn ; and I could not leave 

 less than 2,500 to cover the artil- 

 lery and stores, and to contain the 

 garrison of Tarragona. The two 

 corps, at the least, would amount 

 to upwards of 4,500 men, leaving 

 me 16,000 men to meet the best 

 French troops in Spain, amounting 

 to upwards of 20,000. 



I am sure there is nobody more 

 willing to give full credit to the 

 gallantry of the Spanish troops 

 than I am, but your lordship well 

 knows that they are unable to 

 move, and I could not therefore 

 depend upon the execution of any 

 order which necessarily obliged 

 them to make a movement ; and 

 of troops of this description I had 

 about 13,000 men; unless, there- 

 fore, I could place them in posi- 

 tion, which, as the French had the 

 option of fighting when and where 

 they pleased, it was impossible I 

 could place any reliance upon them. 



