418 
SPAIN. 
marches towards Madrid, and at the end of November his 
advanced guard reached the important pass of Somosierra. 
This pass was defended by a body of 13,000 Spaniards, 
with sixteen pieces of cannon. They were attacked by the 
French under the Duke of Belluno, and after making a con¬ 
siderable stand, were entirely defeated. On the 2d of Decem¬ 
ber Buonaparte arrived in the neighbourhood of Madrid, and 
on the 5th, he was master of that capital. 
While the Spanish patriots were thus pursuing their plan 
of opposition to French tyranny with various success, the 
British cabinet were fitting out formidable expeditions to the 
coasts of Spain and Portugal. The British army under the 
command of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, proceeded 
on their march to the frontiers of Spain. And about the 
middle of the same month, a body of 13,000 British troops, 
under the command of Sir David Baird, arrived at Corunna, 
and proceeded through the interior of the country, intend¬ 
ing to join Sir John Moore in the neighbourhood of Madrid. 
A brigade of 10,000 men under General Hope, reached 
that capital, and established themselves at the Escurial; but 
on the approach of Buonaparte, were under the necessity 
of retiring. 
Experience has shown that in their military campaigns 
on the continent, British forces have to contend with nume¬ 
rous difficulties, surmountable only by the utmost prudence 
and vigilance on the part of the commanding officers, and 
by a considerable degree of skill and foresight on that of 
the projectors of such undertakings. Never perhaps were 
these difficulties more severely felt than in the march of Sir 
John Moore from Portugal to the centre of the Spanish 
territory. It was found that in whatever direction he might 
prosecute his march, he would encounter either bad roads or 
scanty supplies of provisions. In particular, the difficulty 
of transporting the artillery over the Portuguese mountains 
was extreme; and the Portuguese at Lisbon were either 
egregiously ignorant of the state of the roads which led 
through their own country to the Spanish frontiers, or were 
unwilling to communicate the information which they 
really possessed. Under these circumstances it was found 
necessary to divide the British army; and it was determined 
to send forward one division consisting of 6000 men under 
the command of Lieutenant-General Hope, which was direct¬ 
ed to march by Elvas, to enter Spain by Badajos, and to pro¬ 
ceed along the Madrid road by way of Espinar. Another 
division, consisting of two brigades under General Paget, 
was detached by way of Elvas and Alcantara, where it was 
to pass the Tagus. Two brigades under General Beresford 
moved through Portugal by way of Coimbra and Almeida 
towards Salamanca, while three Brigades under General 
Fraser marched towards the frontiers of Spain by Abrantes 
and Almeida. 
Burgos had been recommended by the Spanish govern¬ 
ment as the point of union for the British troops, and Ma¬ 
drid and Valladolid were appointed for magazines. The 
British had been led to expect that they would find between 
60,000 and 70,000 Spaniards assembed under General Blake 
and the Marquis de la Romana in the provinces of Asturias 
and Gallicia, and that a much greater number was ready to 
co-operate with them under the command of Caslanos on the 
front and left of the principal French position. The Span¬ 
iards had been represented as unanimous in their enthusiasm 
for the cause of liberty, and as ready to treat the British 
troops as the saviours of their country. How tar this infor¬ 
mation was correct, will be seen presently. 
In marching through the Portuguese territory, the troops 
first encountered difficulties which they were not prepared to 
expect. The contractorat Lisbon, who had agreed to supply 
the divisions with rations on the march, failed in his contract, 
and excessive inconvenience was experienced from the want 
of money. The divisions under Generals Fraser and Beres¬ 
ford were obliged to halt, and it was some time before they 
could again set forward. The proceedings of the central 
junta, on which all the movements both of the British and 
Spanish armies chiefly depended, were languid, tardy, and 
irresolute; and before the British troops could assemble in 
any force in Spain, the principal armies of the patriots had 
been defeated and dispersed in almost every quarter. On 
the 8th of November Sir Johu Moore reached Almeida. 
The weather was at this time extremely unfavourable, and 
the troops were exposed to almost incessant rain. They 
entered Spain on the 11th of November, and on the 13th 
Sir John arrived with his advanced guard at Salamanca, 
where he halted, intending to assemble there all the troops 
which were on their march through Portugal. While he re¬ 
mained at Salamanca, he was informed that a considerable 
French force had advanced and taken possession of Vallado¬ 
lid, at the distance of only twenty leagues, by which one of 
the places that had been intended for magazines was lost. 
At this time Sir John had with him only three brigades of 
infantry without artillery, and it would be at least ten days 
before the whole of the divisions could come up. He was 
thus exposed to almost an immediate attack by the French 
without any effectual support from the Spaniards. 
The situation of affairs in Spain had now become extremely 
critical; and every account sent to Sir John Moore by men 
of sound judgment, was filled with convincing proofs that 
the Spanish government had concealed from their ally the 
very desperate state of their affairs. General Hope, by a 
long and tiresome march, had reached the neighbourhood of 
Madrid, whence he wrote a letter to Sir John, stating that 
every branch was affected by the disjointed and inefficient 
construction of the government. On the 28th of November, 
Sir John was advertised of the late defeat and dispersion of 
Castanos, and of the little probability there was of his being 
able to march forward, so as to effect any thing of advant¬ 
age. He therefore determined to fall back, though this 
determination was evidently in opposition to the wishes and 
advice of his officers. Fresh dispatches, however, from the 
seat of government, diminishing the losses which had been 
sustained by the patriots, and exaggerating the ardour with 
which the people were actuated, induced him to delay his 
retreat, especially as he had now a complete, though small 
corps, with cavalry and artillery, and could, by a movement 
to the left, easily effect a junction with Sir David Baird, 
while the division under General Hope had, by rapid 
marches, arrived in the neighbourhood of Salamanca. 
In addition to the misrepresentations by which the com¬ 
mander of the British forces, and the British envoy at Aran- 
juez, had been deceived, they had now to contend with two 
designing men, who, it soon appeared, were in the French 
interest. These were Don Morla, the late governor of Cadiz, 
and a M. Charmilly. By the machinations of these men, 
Mr. Frere was led to advise, and Sir John Moore strongly 
incited to undertake, bringing the whole of the British force 
to the neighbourhood of Madrid, where they would soon 
have been completely within the power of the enemy. 
Though by these arts Sir John was effectually misled, he 
did not suffer himself to be drawn into so dangerous a snare. 
He, however, advanced beyond Salamanca, and sent forward 
the reserve and General Beresford’s brigade towards Toro, 
on the Douro, where they were to unite with the cavalry 
under Lord Paget, who had advanced thither from Astorga. 
On December 12th, Lord Paget, with the principal part of 
the cayalrv, marched from Toro to Tordesillas, while the 
brigade under General Stewart moved from Arivolo. In the 
vicinity of Tordesillas, near the village of Rueda, the British 
forces were first opposed by the French, a small party of 
whom were attacked and defeated. 
While Sir John Moore was at Toro, he received intelli¬ 
gence that the Duke of Dalmatia was at Saldana with a con¬ 
siderable body of French troops, that Junot, Duke of 
Abrantes, was marching with another towards Burgos, and 
that a third, under the Duke of Treviso, was destined for 
Zaragoza, He was very desirous that the first of these gene¬ 
rals should advance to meet him, and with this view he had 
come forward to Toro, which he reached on the 16th of 
December. He had hoped for effectual assistance from the 
corps commanded by the Marquis de la Romana, but he 
soon found that this general could render him no support. 
He had now resolved to threaten the communication between 
France 
