CORUNNA. 279 



The ill-fated Sir John Moore, I recol- 

 lect, whose pensive brow indicative of 

 all that was brave and noble, reflected 

 the lofty intelligence of the venerable 

 author of " Zeluco " arrived from Sweden, 

 whither he had been sent on a futile ex- 

 pedition, to recruit and refresh his army 

 of 10,000 men, prior to his joining the 

 British forces at Lisbon, where the famous 

 Convention of Cintra had been lately 

 signed. There he took the command, and 

 marched through Portugal into Spain, 

 where, joined by Sir David Baird, who 

 had disembarked at Ferrol with 5,000 

 men from Ireland, he advanced upon 

 Madrid. He had not proceeded far before 

 he was compelled to retreat before a su- 

 perior French army, commanded by Napo- 

 leon in person, with Marshals Soult and 

 Ney, and the elite of his staff. 



A battle was fought before^ Corunna, in 

 which we claimed the victory. The 

 General-in-chief was killed, and hastily 



