HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



appointments from Lord Castle- 

 reagh, was enabled to quit Lis- 

 bon. The accounts of both Por- 

 tuguese and British officers, sent 

 to examine the roads, agreed in 

 stating those leading through the 

 mountains which form the north- 

 ern boundary of Portugal to be 

 impassable for artiller)'. The 

 Spanish commissary-general had 

 declared his inability to furnish 

 provisions on the road by Elvas. 

 The army was, therefore, neces- 

 sarily divided. Five brigades of 

 artillery, the whole cavalry, and 

 four regiments of infantry, under 

 General Hope, marched by Elvas 

 on the Madrid road to Badajoz 

 and Espinar : from whence they 

 were to join the commander-in- 

 chief at Salamanca, by the Escu- 

 rial road. Two brigades of infan- 

 try, under General Paget, moved 

 onward by Elvas and Alcantara ; 

 two brigades, under General Be- 

 resford, by Coimbra and Almeida ; 

 and three brigades, under General 

 Fraser, by Abrantes and Almeida: 

 the total amount of the forces that 

 left Portugal was 18,628; of which 

 only 912 was cavalry. 



The situation of Salamanca, 

 nearly half way between Corunna 

 and Madrid, seemed to point it 

 out as a place where the columns 

 of the generals Hope and Baird, 

 moving in opposite directions, co- 

 vered, as it had been promised 

 they would, by the Spanish armies 

 of the left and centre, might most 

 conveniently effect their junction 

 with the main body. 



Sir David Baird arrived at Co- 

 runna on the 13th of October, but 

 was not permitted to land till the 

 3ist, by which time advices had 

 been sent, and orders received 

 from the Junta at Madrid. This 



intelligence, which was communi- 

 cated to Sir John Moore previously 

 to his leaving Lisbon, gave him 

 some idea of the sort of co-ope- 

 ration and assistance he had to ex- 

 pect from the Spanish government. 



The British army in its march 

 through Portugal, had experienced 

 sometimes the cool civility to allies 

 whose assistance was acceptable ; 

 but oftener a constrained hospita- 

 lity towards guests whom it would 

 be dangerous to refuse. The peo- 

 ple, entirely destitute of public 

 spirit, took no pait in public af- 

 fairs whatever. They were, be- 

 sides, slothful, and altogether un- 

 informed of what was passing in 

 the world, and even of the politi- 

 cal and physical circumstances of 

 their own country. Of their ig- 

 norance. Sir J. Moore had a strik- 

 ing proof in the accounts they had 

 given him of their ov/n roads, 

 which he found, on his arrival at 

 Atalaia, to be practicable for ar- 

 tillery ; a discovery which, if it 

 had been sooner made, would have 

 been of the utmost importance, iH 

 sparing General Hope's circuitous 

 course by the Escurial, and thus 

 enabling the various columns more 

 speedily to effect their junction. 

 These circumstances were not cal- 

 culated to give the English any 

 favourable prepossession of the 

 people they were sent to defend. 

 Better things, however, were to 

 be expected from the Spaniards ; 

 and, with this impression, the ar- 

 my looked towards the elevated 

 site of Ciudad Rodrigo, where it 

 was received with shouts of " Viva 

 los Ingleses," and a greater de- 

 gree of enthusiasm than had yet 

 been witnessed. 



As Sir John Moore approached 

 the scene of action, he gradually 



acquired 



