198 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



Pen-niche, Fort St. Julian, and 

 other forts in the vicinity of Lisbon. 

 The account given of the battle 

 of Buzaco, commands our atten- 

 tion by its striking dissimilitude to 

 the ordinary dispatches of the 

 French generals, or at least those 

 published by the French govern- 

 ment in their name. It wears an 

 air of moderation, consistency, 

 and verisimilitude, and is, in fact, 

 not very greatly at variance with 

 that of lord Wellington. " Hav- 

 ing reconnoitred the position of 

 Buzaco," he says, " I directed an 

 attack on the left by the second 

 corps, and on the centre by the 

 sixth : the eight corps remained 

 in reserve. The position is cer- 

 tainly the strongest in all Portugal. 

 General Regnier, however, gained 

 the top of the ridge, and was be- 

 ginning to establish himself there, 

 when general Hill, with a corps 

 of 20,000 men, in close column, 

 attacked the troops, who, worn 

 out by fatigue, were beginning to 

 form on the ridge of the moun- 

 tains, and drove them down. This 

 retreat, supported by a good re- 

 serve, was executed in good order, 

 and the second corps resumed its 

 first position. In the centre were 

 the divisions of Loison and Mar- 

 chand. The first made an attack 

 on the rightof the road which leads 

 to the convent of Buzaco, and the 

 other on the left. Gen. Loison 

 being obliged to climb a very steep 

 mountain to regain the great road, 

 reached it after great exertions ; 

 but he had not sufficient time to 

 form there in close column, and 

 to establish himself, when two 

 English columns came up in close 

 order, and protected by a nume- 

 rous artillery, charged this divi- 

 sion, and forced it to retreat. Ge- 

 neral Marchaad, who was to sup- 



port this attack, took up a posi- 

 tion to check the enemy. The 

 English did not dare to advance 

 above 300 fathoms from their line 

 of battle. The remainderoftheday 

 was spent in skirmishing. Hav- 

 ing attentively reconnoitred this 

 position, which lord Wellington 

 would not have ventured to oc- 

 cupy, if he had not, like me, con* 

 sidered it to be extremely strong, 

 my plan was immediately decided 

 on, and I endeavoured to obtain 

 by my manoeuvres an advantage 

 which would have cost too many 

 brave men. I sent out reconnoi- 

 tring parties of infantry and ca- 

 valry towards the right and left, 

 and to keep the enemy in doubt 

 as to the course of my movements. 

 From the intelligence I received, 

 I decided on turning the English 

 army by my right. The position 

 of the bridge of Mnrcella, which 

 the enemy had fortified, and on 

 which he could make a flank 

 movement by the ridge of Pen- 

 Acova, favoured his means of 

 moving thither his whole force in 

 less than two hours, while the 

 road to Sardas, crossing the Colde 

 Caramuela, brought me to Bojaloo, 

 in an open and fertile country. 

 This movement turned the left of 

 the enemy, and gave me the 

 power of manoeuvring on his flank. 

 At six in the evening of the 28th, 

 I quitted the position of the Moira, 

 and marched on Bojaloo. The 

 eighth corps, which had not suf- 

 fered, formed the advanced guard ; 

 the sixth corps the main body ; 

 and the second the rear guard. 

 All my wounded followed on the 

 carriages of the artillery and bag- 

 gage train, and on beasts of bur- 

 then. The enemy perceiving, af- 

 ter midnight, this manoeuvre, 

 marched in great disorder towards 



