194 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



ofdefensive operations as profound 

 as any we read of in history. 

 While he was employed in making 

 demonstrations on the frontier of 

 Spain, immense fortifications were 

 rising in a line from the sea to the 

 Tagus, at a short distance from 

 Lisbon. To these, which were 

 almost impregnable, it was iiis 

 plan to retreat, where he would 

 be near his resources, and receive 

 reinforcements. After the surren- 

 der of Almeida, he began to retreat 

 slowly and in good order, and to 

 concentrate the different corps of 

 his arn.y, which had been sepa- 

 rated for the purpose of watching 

 and guarding other points that 

 were menaced by the French army 

 of Portugal. The troops with 

 which he made head against Mas- 

 sena, at the couimencement of the 

 campaign, did not exceed the 

 number of 25,000. On the 19th 

 of September he occupied an ad- 

 vanced position behind the Alva, 

 at Ponte Mureella. 



The British troops, when they 

 began to retreat, destroyed ?]\ the 

 bridges and mills on the Coa. A 

 division of Portuguese militia, 

 under general Miller, occupied the 

 strong fortress ol Chaves; another, 

 under general Siiviera, lay on the 

 northern banks of the Douro ; 

 and another, under general Trent, 

 in the vicinity of St. John of Pes- 

 quiera. So that if the French 

 should advance, as was expected, 

 by Vizeu, they would be harassed 

 by bodies of Portuguese militia. 

 These movements on the part of 

 the British army, were preceded 

 by a proclamation issued by lord 

 Wellington, the 4th of August, 

 1810. Having briefly stated the 

 sufferings of such villages on the 

 fiOQtier of Portugal as, confiding 



in the promises of the French, 

 had remnined at their homes, and 

 submitted to their authority ; suf- 

 ferings greater than any calami- 

 ties that could have been inflicted 

 by a cruel enemy ; he told them, 

 that there was no safety for them, 

 but in a fixed and determined re- 

 solution to impede as much as 

 possible the advance of the enemy 

 into the interior of the country, 

 by removing all that could be of 

 use to the enemy, or facilitate his 

 progress. The army under his 

 command would protect aj great 

 a portion of the country as pos- 

 sible ; but the people alone could 

 preserve their property by placing 

 it beyond the grasp of tbo enemy. 

 The duty he owed to the prince 

 regent of Portugal, and the Por- 

 tuguese nation, constrained him to 

 make use of the power and author- 

 ity with which he was vested, for 

 the purpose of compelling such 

 persons as might appoar to be 

 careless and remiss, to make the 

 necessary exertions for saving 

 themselves from danger, and their 

 country from ruin. For this rea- 

 son, ail magistrates and persons 

 holding offices under government, 

 that should remain in towns and 

 villages after receiving orders from 

 any military officer to depart; and 

 all persons, of whatever class, who 

 should hold any communication, 

 or in any manner assist the enemy, 

 were to be considered as traitors 

 to their country, and judged and 

 punished as such an enormous 

 crime deserved. 



While the British army was on 

 its retreat by Ponte Mureella, the 

 whole of the French forces were 

 drawn together in the neighbour- 

 hood of Pen-hell, to the number of 

 about 80,000, in pursuit of it. Lo»<J 



