696 



WELLINGTON, DUKE OP. 



WELLINGTON, DUKE OP. 



606 



northern part of the kingdom about 10,000 men in arms, of which 

 Dumber 5000 are to march with me towards Lisbon, the remainder 

 are employed in a distant blockade of Almeida, and in the protection 

 of Oporto, which is now the seat of the government. The insurrection 

 is general throughout Alemtejo and Algarve to the southward, and in 

 Entre Douro o Minho, Tras-os-Montes, and Beira, to the northward ; 

 but for want of arms the people can do nothing against the enemy." 



The French commander-in-chief, Junot, on the news of the landing 

 of the English, determined to abandon the provinces, except the 

 fortresses of Elvaa and Almeida, and to collect his force in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Lisbon. He sent a division of about 5000 men, under 

 De Laborde, towards Leiria, to keep tho English in check; and he 

 ordered Loison, who had returned from his expedition into Alemtejo, 

 and had crossed the Tagus at Abrantes, to join De Laborde at Leiria. 

 But the rapid advance of the English obliged De Laborde to fall back 

 before he could be joined by Loison, and nowDe Laborde determined 

 to make a stand alone in the favourable position of Rolica, hoping 

 every moment to see Loison appear on his right. 



General Wellesley, having driven the enemy's pickets from Obidas, 

 marched on the 17th of August to attack De Labordo. Ho formed 

 his army into three columns : the right, consisting of Portuguese, was 

 ordered to make a demonstration on the enemy's left; the left to 

 ascend tho hills on the enemy's right, and thus watch the approach of 

 Loison ; and the centre, which was the column of attack, to march 

 along the valley to the front of De Laborde's position. The French, 

 after a gallant defence, were obliged to retire, which they did in good 

 order, being protected by their cavalry. They withdrew to Torres 

 Vedras, where they were joined by Loison's corps. The loss of the 

 French in the engagement at Rolica was supposed to be above 600 

 killed and wounded, besides three pieces of cannon ; that of the 

 British was 480. It must be observed here, once for all, that the 

 losses of the French throughout the war were never accurately known, 

 as they published no returns, whilst the British official returns of 

 killed, wounded, and prisoners, made by the respective officers in 

 command of regiments after a battle, were always published in the 

 ' Gazette.' 



On the 18th of August General Wellesley advanced to Lourinha, 

 keeping along the coast-road leading to Mafra. On the 1 9th he moved 

 to Vimiero, where he was joined the next day by Generals Anstruther 

 and Ackland, with two brigades just arrived off the coast from England, 

 and which raised his force to about 17,000 British, besides 1600 

 Portuguese. At the same time however General Wellesley was super- 

 seded in the chief command by Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Burrard, 

 who arrived from England. The government at home had determined, 

 in consequence of the propitious appearance of affairs in the Peninsula, 

 to have there an army of 30,000 British troops, and with that view 

 they ordered the corps of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, which 

 had just returned from a fruitless expedition to the Baltic, to proceed 

 to Portugal ; and they gave the chief command of the army to Lieu- 

 tenant-General Sir Hew Dalrymple, governor of Gibraltar, with Sir 

 Harry Burrard under him as second in command ; and Lieuteiiant- 

 Generals Sir John Moore, Sir Arthur Wellesley, the Hon. John Hope, 

 Lord Paget, and Mackenzie Fraser, to command respectively divisions 

 of the army. 



Sir Harry Burrard arrived in a frigate in Maceira Bay, near Vimiero, 

 on the evening of the 20th, and General Wellesley immediately went 

 on board, and reported to him the situation of the army, and his own 

 intended plan of operations, which was to march along the coast-road 

 to Mafra, and thus turn the strong position which De Laborde and 

 Loison had taken at Torres Vedras. By this means he would oblige 

 the French either to give battle or retreat to Liabon under great dis- 

 advantages. Sir Harry Burrard however decided not to advance any 

 farther till the arrival of the reinforcements under Sir John Moore. 

 But the enemy in the meantime was bringing the question to a speedy 

 issue. 



Junot, having joined De Laborde and Loison at Torres Vedras with 

 all his force, estimated at about 14,000 men, of whom 1600 were 

 cavalry, attacked the English in the position of Vimiero early in the 

 morning of the 21st of August. The principal attack was made upon 

 tho British centre and left, with a view, according to a favourite 

 French expression in those times, of driving the English into the sea, 

 which was close in their rear. The attack was made with great 

 bravery and steadiness, but was as gallantly repulsed by the British ; 

 it was repeated by General Kellerman at the head of the French 

 reserve, which was also repulsed; and the French, being charged with 

 the bayonet, withdrew on all points in confusion, leaving many pri- 

 soners, among them a general officer, and 14 cannon, with ammunition, 

 c., in the hands of the British. The loss of the French in killed and 

 wounded was estimated at about 1800, and that of the British was 

 720. Sir Harry Burrard landed, and was present on the field during 

 part of the engagement, but he declined assuming the command, _.r 

 in any way interfering with General Wellesley 's dispositions, till the 

 enemy was repulsed. Towards the close of tho action, when the 

 French were seen retiring in confusion, General Wellesley wished to 

 follow up his victory ; General Ferguson on the left was actually close 

 upon the retreating enemy, and if General Hill and the advanced 

 guard had marched straight upon Torres Vedras they would have 

 reached it before the French, who would thus have. been cut off from 



Lisbon, and perhaps obliged to lay down their arms. Such was Sir 

 Arthur's view ; but Sir Harry Burrard thought it advisable not to 

 move any farther, especially on account of tho superiority of the 

 enemy's cavalry. General Ferguson was ordered to desist from pur- 

 suit, and the French officers were thus enabled to rally their men, and 

 make good their retreat to Torres Vedra*. 



On the 22nd of August Sir Hew Dalrymple, the commander-in? 

 chief, landed in Maceira Bay, and assumed the command. In the 

 course of the day General Kellerman appeared with a flag of truce on 

 the part of Junot to propose an armistice, preparatory to entering 

 upon a convention for the evacuation of Portugal by the French. The 

 terms were discussed between General Kellerman and Sir Hew Dal- 

 rymple, who in the end directed General Wellesley to sign tho 

 armistice. Among the articles there was one which prejudged the 

 terms of the final convention by stipulating that the French array 

 should not " in any case " be considered as prisoners of war, and that 

 all the individuals composing it should be carried to France with 

 arms and baggage, and " their private property of every description, 

 from which nothing should be detained !" This, of course, would 

 include the church plate and other public and private property which 

 the French had taken either at Lisbon or in the various towns which 

 they had sacked in consequence of the insurrection, and which they 

 had divided among themselves. General Wellesley did not " entirely 

 approve of the manner in which the instrumeut was worded ; " but 

 the articles, being laid before the commander-iu-chief, were signed by 

 him that same evening. The armistice however was made subject to 

 the approbation of the Admiral, Sir Charles Cotton; and as one article 

 of it stipulated that the Russian fleet in the Tagus, under Admiral 

 Siniavin, should enjoy all the advantages of a neutral port, Sir Charles 

 objected to this, but offered to enter into a separate arrangement with 

 the Russian admiral. On the 25th Sir Hew Dalrymple signified to Junot 

 that the armistice would be at an end on the 28th, at uoon, unless a 

 convention for the evacuation of Portugal by the French should be 

 agreed upon before that day. In the meantime the army had made 

 a forward movement from Vimiero to Ramalha], near Torres Vedras, 

 within the boundaries stipulated by the armistice. Sir John Moore 

 had also arrived in Maceira Bay, and his troops were about being 

 landed. Junot, now perceiving the necessity of coming to terms, 

 commissioned General Kellerman to confer with Colonel Murray, 

 quartermaster-general to the British army, about the final convention. 

 The favourable moment for pushing upon the French was now past; 

 and if they could not be brought to evacuate the country by sea, they 

 might either defend themselves within Lisbon, or cross the Tagus to 

 Elvas, which, being a place regularly fortified, would have required a 

 long siege, during which the British army could not have been made 

 available in Spain. ('Dispatches,' iv., p. 120.) General Wellesley 

 handed to Sir Hew Dalrymple a memorandum for Colonel Murray, 

 suggesting, among other things, a separate agreement with the Russian 

 admiral, and the propriety of devising some mode to make the French 

 give up the church plate which they had seized. On the 29th tho 

 draft of the proposed convention was brought to the British h , ;i i- 

 quartera at Torres Vedras, and, being laid before a meeting of general 

 officers, several alterations were made, aud the form so altered was 

 returned to Junot, and was at last signed by him on the 30th, with 

 the omission of several of the alterations, and was ratified by Sir Hew 

 Dalrymple on the 31st. Sir Arthur Wellesley was not present at the 

 final ratification, being then at Sobral with his division. This docu- 

 ment has become known by the name of the Convention of Ciutra, 

 though it was arranged at Lisbon and finally ratified at Torres Vedras. 

 The article which gave most offence was that by which the French, 

 under the name of baggage, were allowel to carry off much of the 

 plunder of Portugal. Some limits however were put to this abuse by 

 a commission being appointed, with General Beresford at the head, to 

 superintend the strict execution of the terms of the convention. 

 Through the exertions of the commissioners the spoils of the Museum, 

 and the Royal Library were restored, together with the money taken 

 from, the public treasury. With regard to the Russian fleet, it was 

 agreed that the ships should be held as a pledge by Great P.rit lin 

 during the war, and that the crews should be conveyed home in British 

 ships. 



The French embarked in the month of September, and the British 

 troops took possession of the forts of Lisbon in the name of the Prince 

 Regent of Portugal. The whole country being now free from the 

 enemy, a council of regency was appointed, of which the active Bishop 

 of Oporto was a member. The joy of the Portuguese in general was 

 manifested in the most unequivocal manner. But in England the 

 terms of the convention were the subject of severe aud loud censure, 

 and the government appointed a board of inquiry to examine into the 

 matter. Sir Hew Dalrymple and Sir Harry Burrard were recalled in 

 order to be examined by the board, as well as Sir Arthur Wellesley, 

 who had already asked and obtained leave to return to England. The 

 court sat in the month of November, and, after a long examination, 

 reported that, the Convention of Cintra having been productive of 

 great advantages to Portugal, to the army and navy, and to the 

 general service, the court was of opinion that no further military pro- 

 ceeding was necessary on the subject, " because, however some of us 

 may differ in our sentiments respecting the fitness of the convention 

 in the relative situation of the two armies, it is our unanimous decla- 



