SWABEY DIARY. 595 
26th May.—Last night after making up my journal, an order came 
to me to meet Sir Thomas Graham at Castro, whither I immediately 
went taking with me only a man to look after my horse, as the note 
hinted that as small a party as possible was to be seen. I reached 
Castro just before dark, where I found Mr. Pitts! of the Royal 
Engineers. Soon after came General Graham accompanied only by 
Colonel De Lancey,” Quarter-Master-General, and one hussar. After 
drinking tea we separated for the night, and it fell to my lot to have 
no decent place to lie down in. I did indeed find some blankets but 
my good friends the fleas did not allow me much rest. I slept in my 
clothes, and at day-light we assembled for our expedition, the object 
of which was to find a place to throw a bridge across the Douro to 
ensure support by communication with Lord Wellington. It was 5 
o’clock when we started at a full gallop, as is the custom of Sir 
Thomas Graham. As he had fresh horses, three at different points, 
I only one, Colonel De Lancey two, and Pitts being only moderately 
mounted, we were soon left in the lurch ; whether the General is mad 
or blind I have not decided ; it required one of these imperfections to 
carry him in cold blood over the rocks and precipices. I should as 
soon have thought of riding from Dover to Calais; nevertheless I 
followed him ; yet with all this the General is not quick, for want of 
foresight he loses much time and distance in galloping blindly on. 
We traversed the rocky bank of the Douro from Pino to El Bano de 
Villa Campo, never was there so inaccessible a river; at very few 
places was it possible to get to its brink, much less to mount the other 
side. Many places were proposed and negatived by me and the Hn- 
gineer. At length at Villa Campo we fixed on a spot, not indeed so 
good as might be wished, but one where it was not quite unreasonable 
to make the attempt. 
This over, the General went home and sent me to enquire into the 
practicability of some fords on the Hsla. I found no reason to alter 
my former report except by stating that the inhabitants, and not the 
French as I had thought, had destroyed the ford at Abnendra to pre- 
vent invasions from the opposite quarter. On the whole I decided 
that the Hsla from Benevente downwards is only to be forded there or 
near Villa Beza at this time of the year. I saw a letter from Zamora 
stating that 3000 French had arrived, I concluded the rear-guard, be- 
cause the letter stated their having destroyed the bridge. It likewise 
said that they were rejoicing on account of reported advantages gained 
over the Russians; this I take to be the defeat of Beauharnais.® It is 
1 Lieutenant Pitts was killed in the affair at Tarbes on March 20th, 1814. 
? Colonel Sir William De Lancey was Quarter-Master-General to the army in the Netherlands 
in 1816. He was killed at the battle of Waterloo. 
3 Beauharnais tells the story of his defeat in an intercepted letter to Berthier, from Sassalie, 
November 8th, 1812.—(F.A.w.) 
“ During the retreat from Moscow, on November 7th, Beauharnais’s corps was attacked with such 
fury by the Cossacks that a temporary dispersion took place, the silence of the French bulletins in 
regard to this affair is supplied by the Viceroy’s letter in which he says,” ‘‘ Your highness will be 
surprised to find me still upon the Vop, but my situation is critical enough; whole trains of horses 
have perished in harness at once ; yesterday 400 died, and to-day perhaps double that number—I 
must not conceal from your highness that sacrifices must be expected, and that these three days of 
suffering have so dispirited the soldier, that I believe him this moment very little capable of 
making any effort; numbers of men are dead with hunger and cold, and others in despair have 
eutned themselves to be taken by the enemy.” Quarterly Review, No. 16, December 1812, 
p. 470, 
