158] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



countr5'niea, and was repaid by 

 more honours and rewards than 

 had been bestowed on any British 

 general since the time of Marlbo- 

 rough. In the course of the year 

 he added to his former titles those 

 of Earl and Marquess, and received 

 from parliament the most substan- 

 tial proofs of the nation's gratitude. 

 That he could have done more 

 than he effected, no one has ven- 

 tured to surmise ; but whether it 

 was within the duty, or the power 

 of the English ministry to have 

 placed him at the head of a greater 

 force, will be differently judged of 

 according to the opinion formed of 

 the importance of the contest, and 

 the resources of the country. That 

 his army must have been much di- 

 minished by the severe service to 

 which it was put, could not be 

 doubted ; and they who were ac- 

 quainted with its state must have 

 been apprized of its inadequacy to 

 effect the great things which were 

 fondly expected from it ; at the 

 same time, so many other demands 

 pressed upon the purse and the po- 

 pulation of Great Britain, and its 

 internal condition was so disturbed, 

 that it is not extraordinary if sup- 

 plies to maintain this distant war 

 were dealt with a sparing hand. 



The public has never been ac- 

 quainted with the extent of the 

 losses sustained by the allied army 

 in this campaign ; but there is no 

 doubt that they must have been 

 very considerable. In particular, 

 its retreat from Burgos to its winter 

 quarters, pursued by a superior 

 and enterprising ^oe, though con- 

 ducted with great military skill, 

 could not fail of being very disas- 

 trous. But more than its loss of 

 men, horses, and equipage, is to be 

 lamented the stain incurred by its 



character on the occasion ; a staff! 

 impressed by the commander-in« 

 chief himself. Lord Wellingtou, 

 in an address to his army, has, in 

 the face of his country, and all Eu- 

 rope, reproached it with a want of 

 discipline, greater, he says, than 

 any army with which he had ever 

 served, or of which he had ever 

 read. He proceeds : " It must be 

 obvious to every officer, that from 

 the moment the troops commenced 

 their retreat from the neighbour- 

 hood of Burgos on the one hand, 

 and from Madrid on the other, the 

 officers lost all command over their 

 men. Irregularities and outrages 

 of all descriptions were committed 

 with impunity ; and losses iiave 

 been sustained which ought never 

 to have occurred." It is to be 

 hoped that his lordship's feelings 

 have given a degree of exaggera- 

 tion to his expressions ; otherwise 

 it is difficult to conceive how such 

 troops can recover the esteem of 

 their countrymen, or desei ve the 

 confidence of their allies. 



We shall now take a view of the 

 transactions of the Spanish Cortes 

 and government during a period 

 so fertile of important events to the 

 nation. That many persons were 

 dissatisfied with the proceedings 

 of the Cortes, and were probably 

 jealous of a design of that body, to 

 perpetuate its power under a re- 

 publican constitution, appeared 

 from a speech of one of the mem- 

 bers, Senor Vera, on December 29. 

 After a severe censure of their con- 

 duct, he moved the following pro- 

 positions : 1. That a new regency- 

 should be forthwith appointed, and 

 at its head a personage of the royal 

 faiuily, invested with the full pow- 

 ers of king according lo the consti- 

 tution. 2. That such person be 



empowered 



