retreat upon, and at the battle of Corunna. Though a great admirer 

 of Sir John Moore, he was much annoyed at this retreat, and could 

 never afterwards speak of it with patience his conviction having 

 been that the army ought to have turned round upon its pursuers 

 whilst it was strong, and to have maintained a footing in the Pe- 

 ninsula, instead of waiting to fight at Corunna after it had been se- 

 riously weakened by retreat, and then quitting the country. From 

 his intercourse with the Marquis of Romagna and others, he was 

 also convinced that the Spanish troops might under improved ar- 

 rangements have been made more useful. 



Captain Pasley next accompanied the expedition to Walcheren ; 

 he was employed in reconnoitring the coasts of Cadsand and Wal- 

 cheren under the fire of the enemy's batteries ; and he was present 

 at the siege of Flushing in 1809. Leading a storming party of 100 

 men under Colonel Pack, to obtain possession of a French battery 

 on the dyke according to his own proposal, he was first wounded 

 (though not disabled) by a bayonet in the thigh, and then, after 

 reaching the top of the dyke, shot through the body by a French 

 soldier from below, belonging to a fresh party of about sixty whom 

 he challenged to surrender to twenty men. The bullet passed in at 

 one side and out at the other, injuring the spine in its progress, and 

 it was hardly expected at first that he could recover. Portions of 

 bone, sash, and clothes came out of the wound afterwards by degrees, 

 and it rendered him incapable of duty for more than a year*. 



In November 1810 Captain Pasley published the first edition of 

 his 'Essay on the Military Policy and Institutions of the British 

 Empire/ This work appeared in a time of great national despon- 

 dency ; and its principal objects were to advocate greater energy 

 and perseverance in prosecuting the war with France, judicious 

 offensive action in the conduct of that war, and especially a more 

 vigorous policy in Spain, and to demonstrate that Great Britain 

 had " sufficient force and a favourable opportunity for destroying 

 the French empire." It attracted great attention, and was highly 

 approved on account of the manly and patriotic spirit which it dis- 

 played, though the doctrines of political economy which it contained 

 were disputed. It ran rapidly through four editions, and was favour- 



* He took advantage of this opportunity to teach himself German amongst 

 other things. 



