118 SWABEY DIARY. 
Pero Vizeu stands under a precipice near the summit of a perpendicu- 
lar mountain, and is little calculated to contain cavalry, at least not 
more than two troops of dragoons should be quartered there: forage is 
to be had, but at a considerable distance . . .. . 
31st December.—An equally bad party with the gun. 
Ist January, 1812,—Was again employed as yesterday, my dog 
“Rough” has had so much to do lately in this way, that to-day he 
fairly gave in, and I was obliged to carry him home at least two miles, 
when so tired that my own weight would have been quite sufficient. 
All our troop dined with Bull to-day. Colonel Hlley,1 Deputy-Adjutant- 
General of the Ist division of cavalry was of the party ; he is a highly ° 
entertaining and intelligent character. A letter I saw from an English 
officer at Cadiz spoke highly of the deserved reputation of the Spanish 
General Ballesteros, and of his two late well-earned pieces of success. 
The weakness of the Cortes and its bad and inefficient administration 
has been lately conspicuous in their House of Assembly. It was sur- 
rounded by a mob demanding the head of an unpopular member. He 
was saved with great difficulty by some of the more popular ones 
engaging to bring him to trial. One member, a priest, hearing his 
own name mentioned by the populace fainted with fear, so much has 
superstition and an oppressive government weakened the minds of men. 
Ballesteros supports his army and plans his operations entirely inde- 
pendently of the Cortes. As he is said to have influence and power 
enough, it is much to be wished that he would establish a new govern- 
ment on a better basis, or at least improve it by diminishing the numbers 
of the Executive. 
“Tn the autumn of 1811, General Ballesteros, by adopting a sys- 
tem of warfare similar to that of the Guerrillas, manceuvred in 
the south of Andalusia with much success against various 
French detachments ; supported by Gibraltar and the strong 
country of the Ronda, the inhabitants of which were ever in 
arms. He appeared so formidable, that Soult deemed it neces- 
sary to send a division of 8,000 or 10,000 men against him. 
Ballesteros long avoided a general action by rapid marches ; at 
last on the 14th October, being driven to the very extremity of 
the Peninsula, he took refuge, and found security and support 
under the guns of the British fortress To support his opera- 
tions a detachment of British and Spanish troops were sent 
to occupy Tarifa. Godinot at once turned his attention to 
dislodging the invaders, but failed and retired, Ballesteros in 
his turn became the assailant and gained considerable advan- 
1 Colonel John Elley: this distinguished officer entered the army as a private soldier and rose by 
his own merit. He served in the Corufia campaign and was present at the actions of Sahagun 
and Benevente. He afterwards served under Lord Wellington in Spain, and was employed on 
the staff from 1807 to 1819, when he returned to and commanded his old regiment the Horse 
Guards. He commanded the rear-guard of cavalry at Talavera, was present at the battles of 
Fuentes de Honor, Salamanca (wounded), Vitoria, Orthes and Toulouse. 
At the battle of Waterloo he was severely wounded. For his services he was made a K.C.B., 
K.C.H., K.M.T., and received the gold cross and three clasps. He was Colonel-in-Chief of the 
17th Lancers ; he represented Windsor in Parliament in Sir Robert Peel’s government. Lieut.- 
General Sir John Elley died 23rd January, 1839; leaving large bequests to charities ; also money 
to provide plate for the 7th Hussars and 17th Lancers. 
