HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



51 



officer. In no vote of thanks had 

 the commander-in-chief ever be- 

 fore been left out. The conduct 

 of Sir Hyde Parker, who had en- 

 trusted the execution of the busi- 

 ness at Copenhagen in 1801 to 

 Lord Nelson, became a subject of 

 animadversion ; yet Sir Hyde Par- 

 ker was thanked by both houses. 

 If the conduct of Sii' A. W. in- 

 stead of producing a brilliant re- 

 sult, had led to some disaster, Sir 

 H. 13. would have been responsi- 

 ble, and it would have been no 

 excuse that he had delegated the 

 command to Sir A. Wellesley. — 

 The name of Sir Harry Burrard, 

 under all these circumstances, 

 ought not to be omitted in the 

 vote of thanks, and he there- 

 fore moved, that it should be in- 

 serted. 



The Chancellor of the Exchequer^ 

 in reply to Mr. Whitbread , said , that 

 with respect to the case of Sir Hyde" 

 Parker at Copenhagen, that Ad- 

 miral had been than"ked for the dis- 

 position he had made. But Sir 

 H. Burrard did not lay claim ei- 

 ther to the disposition or execu- 

 tion. In answer to Lord Folk- 

 stone, he said, that though the 

 British troops in the field were 

 superior in number to the French, 

 yet, out of eight brigades, of which 

 the army consisted, only five had 

 been engaged in the action.* 



General Sleruart, after profess- 

 ing the highest respect for Sir H. 

 Burrard, said, that he had not the 

 good fortune to be present at the 

 battle of Vimiera, but that he ar- 

 rived soon after, and observed the 



sentiment of enthusiasm in favour 

 of Sir A. W. that prevailed from 

 the general to the drummer. It 

 was impossible for him adequately 

 to describe it. But he might use 

 the emphatic language of an expe- 

 rienced general who had served in 

 most of our armies on the conti- 

 nent, and was fully capable of 

 judging of the question — he 

 meant general Anstruther, an offi- 

 cer for whom he entertained the 

 sincerest love and affection, who 

 had promised to become one of 

 the brightest ornaments of the 

 British army, but who, unfortu- 

 nately for his country, died in con- 

 sequence of the fatigue of the late 

 retreat. That distinguished officer 

 had stated to him that it was im- 

 possible for him to conceive any 

 thing more admirable than the 

 conduct of Sir A. W. from the 

 commencement of his operations 

 to the result of the battle of Vi- 

 miera; that there was no difficulty 

 which he did not contrive to ob- 

 viate ; that his mind was full of 

 resources ; that he managed his 

 army like a machine, of the na- 

 ture of which he was complete 

 master ; and that no officer he 

 ever saw conducted the operations 

 of an army with more distinguished 

 ability.— That such was the opi- 

 nion entertainedofSir A. W. by ge- 

 neral Anstruther, was confirmed by 

 Mr. W. Adam, who had seen 

 a letter written by the general on 

 the field of battle, in which he 

 said, that such was the confidence 

 of the army of Vimiera in Sir A. 

 W. and such his talents for com- 

 mand, 



" It is not to be expected that lawyers should be competent judges of military 

 plans and operations. There are few military officers, we presume, who will not 

 admit that diflerent corps may be as advantageously posted as if they \yere brought 

 immediately, or at the commencement, and ni the first stage, into action. If they 

 are not so posted, it must be the fault of the general. 



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