HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



17 



through Tordesillas on the 24th 

 of December, on the same day tlie 

 van of the British army left Saiia- 

 gun : and both moved towards the 

 same point, which was Benevento. 

 The retreat of the British army 

 began by the passage of the river 

 Eslar. The Marquis of Rcimana 

 was left in possession of the bridge 

 of Mansilla, and the road to Leon. 

 Sir David Baird crossed the Eslar 

 by the ferry of Valentia, where 

 he took post to cover the maga- 

 zines at Benevento and Zamora. 

 Sir John Moore with the remain- 

 der of the" army passed by the 

 bridge of Castro Gonsaio. These 

 movements were masked by the 

 cavalry under Lord Paget, who, 

 advancing close to the posi- 

 tions of the enemy, fell in with, 

 and defeated several detachments 

 of cavalry which Buonaparte had 

 pushed forward from Torde- 

 sillas. 



At Benevento Sir John Moore 

 for the first time since the com- 

 mencement of the retreat, judged 

 it necessary to publish general or- 

 ders reflecting in the severest 

 terms on the conduct of both of- 

 ficers and soldiers. The subjects 

 of the censures were chiefly the 

 marauding and drunkenness of the 

 soldiers, the extreme relaxation of 

 discipline, which appeared in va- 

 rious ways, and the free criticisms 

 in which a number of officers had 

 indiscreetly indulged their fancies 

 and humours on military opera- 

 tions. '« The qualities'* (required 

 by the arduous posture of aft'airs), 

 said the general, " are not bravery 

 alone, but patience and constancy 

 under fatigue and hardship, obe- 

 dience to command, sobriety, 

 firmness, and resolution in every 

 different situation in which they may 



Vol. LL ^ 



be placed. — It is impossible for 

 the general to explain to his 

 army the motive of the move- 

 ment he directs. The comman- 

 der of the forces, however, can 

 assure the army that he has made 

 none since he left Salamanca, 

 which he did not foresee, and was 

 not prepared for : and, as far as he 

 is a judge, they have answered the 

 purposes for which they were in- 

 tended. When it is proper to 

 fight a battle, he will do it, and he 

 will choose the time and place 

 he thinks most fit. In the mean 

 time, he begs the officers and sol- 

 diers of the army to attend dili- 

 gently to the discharge of their 

 parts, and to leave to him and the 

 general officers the decision of 

 measures which belong to them 

 alone. The army may rest assured, 

 that there is nothing he has more 

 at heart than their honour, and 

 that of their country." The spirit 

 of insubordination and disorder 

 that prevailed in his own army 

 was a subject of not lessdisquietude 

 and anxiety to the general, than 

 the rapid movements of the ene- 

 my. We find him again issuing 

 general orders at I-ugo, 6th Janu- 

 ary, 1809, " Generals and com- 

 manding officers of the corps must 

 be as sensible as the commander 

 of the forces of the complete disor- 

 ganization of the army. — The com- 

 mander of the forces is tired of 

 giving orders which are never at- 

 tended to : he therefore appeals to 

 the honour and feelings of the ar- 

 ray he commands, and if these are 

 not sufficient to induce them to 

 do their duty, he must despair of 

 succeeding by any other means. 

 He was forced to order one soldier 

 to be shot at Villa Franca, and he 

 will order all others to be execut- 

 C ed 



