H I T A I N. 





for it w.i: 



! ; j had left Ma- 



*1 

 v. -- li '., 



'" ilri.l in , 



ill till' iv.ir of tile- I)ihi;'.h; a:ul ;'.>at Soiilt, ul'.nse pn- 

 Iciioh'i- sition gave him a choice. of retreating, as w 11 as a 

 cd to IT- JKUVI r of taking our army in flan';, had 1- 

 1\ reinforced. There was not a mo 



alt's army alone was superior to the Briti-.li. Ju- 

 not, with another corps, threatened their right (lank. 

 Bonaparte pushed on so rapidly, th.it the advanced 

 guard of his cav;ilry p?. -'.! thioi: ; ;h TordesiUas tlic 



the v.in of the British left S 

 Both Frencli and British were moving to the 

 point, B< -in ver.te, which was distant from the Eng- 

 lish ahout 10, and from tl'.e French about GO miles. 

 In fir.e, the whole disposable fore.- of the French 

 .,y, forming an irregular crescent, was movii, ; 

 v itli rapid steps to surround the British. Bonaparte's 

 L \ , i-iul part of his artillery, actually came up 

 with the rear of the British at Bencventc, hut were 

 repulsed by the skill and gallantry of Lord Paget. 

 Bonaparte, however, although disappointed in over- 

 taking our army at Bev.eve:ite, w:>s confident that 

 Soult would reach Astorga in sufficient time to cut 

 off their retreat. In this attempt Soult also was 

 foiled, by the able dispositions of the British gene- 

 ral, who drew off his whole forces before the enemy 

 could come up with him. General Moore had at 

 first entertained hopes of being able to make a stand 

 in Gallicia. V.'hciher such a stand could have been 

 of avail had the Spaniards given us support, is doubt- 

 ful ; but their total apathy left no room for the ex- 

 periment. The delay of a day's march would have 

 enabled the enemy to surround our army. Had Ge- 

 neral Moore halted at Astorga, the retreat to Co- 

 runna would have been cut off. Bonaparte formed a 

 junction at Astorga with the army of Soult ; and 

 finding, by the retreat of the British from thence, 

 that they could not be surrounded, he detached a 

 large force to harass and pursue them. Three Mar- 

 shals of France, with as many divisions, were com- 

 manded to follow them. Although the enemy had 

 hitheito been frustrated in his view of surrounding 

 the British army, yet a multitude of severe distresses 

 were accumulating on their retreat. The weather 

 was severe, and provisions were scanty and irregu- 

 larly supplied. The inhabitants of Spain gave no 

 aid to their persevering allies, and made no attempt 

 to annoy or retard the enemy. Instead of this, they 

 fled from their houses, barring their doors, and car- 

 rying off cattle, provisions, and forage ; everything 

 that could be useful to the British, or lessen their 

 distresses. It is a melancholy truth, which must be 

 added, that the conduct of the British soldiers, in 

 every thing except courage, was unworthy of their 

 cause and character during the greater part of the 

 retreat, and was such as to draw censure from their 

 commander. 



artial en- On arriving at Lugo, the general was anxious to 

 agement make a stand ; and though the force which hung on his 

 t Lugo. rear was considerably superior, he wished to engage it 

 there rather than nearer the place of his embarka- 

 tion. On the 7th of. January 180.0, he observed the 

 French force accumulating on his left wing, and re- 



paired thither iii ;., i '., val Leit! 



'/ 



' i out of the :' [ _M regiment, in which lie had early in G 



'it and the voice of 



their general soanimatcd the men, that they rushed for- 

 ' : ,i',ed bayonets, and drove back a co- 



lumn of tin- enemy, before whom they had been 

 tiring, with considerable slaughter. 



A month had now elapsed since the central junta 

 had promised to Sir John Moore that 1 1,000 Spa- 

 nish soldier.') should be united to his army : this cn- 

 incnt tlu.-y h.-.d apparently stampt with complete 

 validity, by <!<-pntiiv. ; - a number of the junta to com- 

 municate it. Mr Fr.TC had given authority to this 

 ion, by deputing Charles Stuart, F. ; !o- 



matic agent, to introduce tho Spanish deputy, . 

 to present his letter from Truxillo. The month was 

 (.lapsed, and not a Spanish soldier had been seen ; 

 not an effort had been made to attack the French 

 posts when weakened by the pursuit of the whole 

 disposable force of France after Sir John Moore. 



Earljr in the morning of the 8th of January, the Sir John 

 British army was marshalled in array at Lugo, and NIo< ' re <" 

 offered battle to the enemy. But Marshal Souk did " h g 

 not stir from his post ; he had experienced sufficient- ]r. cilc |, 

 ly the talents of the general, and the intrepidity of 

 the troops whom he had to engage. On the other 

 hand, the British commander perceived that it would 

 be equally imprudent for him to attack the stronger 

 position of the French, or to remain longer in his own. 

 Reinforcements were pouring in on the enemy the 

 country had no sustenance for our troops, and to 

 stop was inevitably to have been surrounded by an 

 enemy of quadruple force. On the night of the 

 same day in which they had offered battle at Lugo, 

 a retreat was ordered. 



On the llth of January the British reached Co- He arrives 

 runna, pursued by 70,000 Frenchmen, under the com- atCorunna, 

 mand of Bonaparte, who had a great superiority in 

 cavalry ; and in daily contact with the enemy, the 

 army nad traversed 250 miles of mountainous coun- 

 try, without being either beaten in their rear-guard, 

 or thrown into confusion, or losing a single stand- 

 ard, f 



The position of the heights farthest from Corunna, 

 but most important for its defence, was necessarily 

 abandoned to the enemy, from the small force of our 

 numbers, being insufficient to cover so large an extent 

 of ground, and a second range, of much inferior ad- 

 vantage, was occupied. On the 16th, the British Battle of 

 army were drawn up in order of battle, to receive Coninna. 

 the enemy, who commenced a destructive cannonade 

 from eleven guns planted on tl'.e heights, and five 

 strong columns were seen advancing to attack the 

 British. As the position of the right wing of the 

 British was unavoidably bad, and the enemy were 

 threatening it with their most formidable attack, Sir 

 John Moore placed himself where his presence v. 

 most needed to animate, and his skill to direct. It 

 was soon perceived that the French extended beyond 

 the right flank of the British, and that their object 

 was to turn it. In Order to prevent them, halt of 

 the 4th regiment, which formed this flank, were or- 

 dered to fall back, to refuse their right, and thus 



f- Narrative of General Moore's Campaign, page 336. 



