T
2
2 vols
4/6
with Buchanan's bam! Life
1560
སཾ དཎ
ARTES
1837
LIBRARY
VERITAS
SCIENTIA
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
TUEROR
SI-QUÆRIS-PENINSULAM-AMINAM)
CIRCUMSPICE
+
1
DP
38
.555
1827
RECOLLECTIONS
OF
THE PENINSULA.
66
BY THE AUTHOR OF
(6
SKETCHES OF INDIA,
SCENES AND IMPRESSIONS IN EGYPT AND ITALY,”
66 STORY OF A LIFE," AND
"NOTES AND REFLECTIONS DURING A RAMBLE
IN GERMANY."
Sheron Joseph Moyle.
FIFTH EDITION.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1827.
LONDON:
Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode,
New-Street-Square.
@3-23-27 JWE
Librarian
Grant
10-14-26
13440
PREFACE.
THE following pages have occupied and
amused the leisure of my winter evenings,
in a dull uninteresting garrison on home
service.
I relate what I saw, thought, and felt, as
a man, a traveller, and a soldier, during five
interesting years.
The style of a soldier can need no apo-
logy; it is beneath the notice of a scholar
and the critic. We pass our lives in con-
versing with mankind; they in convers-
ing with books. We only observe and
draw hasty conclusions; they observe, com-
pare, and study. Ours is a life of action;
theirs of repose. We write to amuse; they
to instruct.
RECOLLECTIONS
OF
THE PENINSULA.
HE, to whom the interest of foreign scenes,
the animation of the daily march, and the
careless gaiety of camps are familiar, may
be expected to languish in the solitude
of a barrack-room, and to feel restless at a
life of dull and wearisome inaction. Ac-
customed to the array of thousands, he
turns with indifference from the parade of
a regiment; nor can the ordinary duties of
a quiet garrison be supposed to satisfy him
who has served with armies in the field.
The life of a soldier abroad is one of foreign
travel, as well as of active employment;
and it combines, therefore, rational enjoy-
ment with honourable service. The cam-
B
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
paigns of the British army in Spain had
peculiarly that character; for we moved
over large tracts of country, and our oper-
ations were not, as is often the case in war,
confined to marches and countermarches
in particular districts. The British sol-
diers, who landed on the banks of the
Tagus, visited, in succession, those of the
Douro, the Ebro, and the Bidassoa; were
encamped under the walls of Madrid, and
bivouacked on the Pyrenean mountains.
In those scenes, and on that service, many
of us experienced feelings of contentment,
joy, and pride, for the return of which we
may look, perhaps, in vain. At the dis-
tance of time at which I write, all that was
disagreeable in campaigning is forgotten;
while that which delighted, is, especially in
my present frame of mind, very fondly re-
membered.
The unpretending volume I offer is not
copious; but the few anecdotes I relate are
true, the military sketches are faithful, and
my descriptions of towns and scenery are,
with all their imperfections, at least my
own.
For the reflections, opinions, and
1
THE PENINSULA.
3
warm (perhaps romantic) expressions of
feeling I have scattered through these pages,
they are such as naturally arose to me, both
as a soldier and a man.
It was in the last week of June, 1809,
that I embarked at Portsmouth, to follow
and join my regiment, which had already
sailed for Portugal. On the tenth morn-
ing after my departure from England, the
vessel which bore me was passing under
the rock of Lisbon, impelled by a favour-
able breeze, and she in a very few hours
dropped her anchor in the harbour of
Lisbon, nearly abreast of Belem Castle,
and about a mile from the shore. Few
scenes can compare with that which feasts
the eye
of a traveller, who, from the deck
of a vessel in the Tagus, first gazes on
Lisbon, rising proudly and beautifully
above him. The northern bank of the
river on which this capital is built, makes
a handsome and sweeping curve throughout
the whole extent of the city, which, includ-
ing its suburbs, covers several hills, rising
more or less abruptly from that quarter
where its quays, squares, and some of its
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4
RECOLLECTIONS OF
most regular streets are conveniently dis-
posed. The number of palaces, convents,
and churches, which crown this amphithe-
atre of buildings; the dazzling whiteness
of the houses; the light appearance of the
windows and balconies; the tasteful ar-
rangement of plants, flowers, and shrubs,
on their roofs and terraces; the golden
orange-groves which adorn the suburbs;
and the stately specimens of Indian or
American botany, which are, here and
there, scattered through the scene, produce
an effect which may be felt, and which
may be conceived, but which cannot be
described.
Boats from the shore soon crowded round
our vessel, and I leaned over her side to
look, for the first time, at natives of Portu-
gal. The dark-brown complexion, bare and
muscular throat, expressive eye, and white
teeth, together with the general vivacity of
their deportment, strike an Englishman, at
first, very forcibly: their costume, too, is
quite new to him, and I think, very pic-
turesque. Short petticoat-trowsers of white
linen, a red sash, and their legs and arms
THE PENINSULA.
5
LO
free and naked, mark very strongly the
difference between the boatmen of the Ta-
gus and the Thames.
The British troops at Lisbon were at
this time all encamped in the Prince's
Park, a large enclosure above the suburb of
Belem, carefully preserved. In an old
ruined house, the only building in or near
the encampment, the mess of my regiment
still held its social sittings; and here,
round a rudely constructed table of casks
and planks, seated on portmanteaus, stones,
or knapsacks, we enjoyed our evening far
more than we had often done at a board
better provided, and in the most commo-
dious mess-room. The conversation no
longer ran in the same dull, unvarying
strain, on scenes of expensive folly and
fatiguing amusement; the dignity of our
profession, which will naturally in such
scenes glide from the view, again rose be-
fore us, arrayed in its best and brightest
colours. New prospects and eager hopes
gave an animation and interest to the
discourse, which, seasoned as it was by
some excellent wine, made time fly swiftly,
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6
RECOLLECTIONS OF
:
and it was midnight before I entered my
tent. Here a couch of heath, freshly ga-
thered, with my knapsack for a pillow, and
a blanket for a covering, invited me to re-
pose; but I was far too happy to sleep.
The night was hot: I opened the door
of my tent, raised all the walls, and throw-
ing myself on my bed of heather, I indulged
in waking dreams. We can only command
the services of sleep when we are contented
or weary; but when our happiness arises
from the prospect of still greater enjoy-
ment, the mind is too active for slumber,
and the very body becomes restless. At
four in the morning I refreshed myself with
dressing, leisurely, in the open air; and at
five the corps was under arms, to be in-
spected by General Catlin Crawford.
One thousand and seventy bayonets, all
fine-sized, efficient men, then mustered
under our colours. My regiment has never
been very roughly handled in the field, al-
though it has borne handsome share of
honourable peril. But, alas! what between
sickness, suffering, and the sword, few, very
few of those men are now in existence.
We
THE PENINSULA.
1
had yearly supplies of men from the depôt;
they too have for the most part disappeared.
Our inspection over, I set forth, with
some companions, to devote a day to Lis-
bon. We passed from the bridge of Alcan-
tara, by one continued street, through the
suburbs, to the city.
The appearance of every thing around
me was so totally novel, that it is impos-
sible for me to describe the singular, yet
pleasing impression produced on my mind.
To find myself walking amid a concourse of
people, differing in feature, complexion,
and dress, so widely from the natives of
England; to hear the continued sound of a
language I could not understand; and to
find myself, though a youthful foreigner, an
object of notice and respect, as a British
officer, was at once strange and delightful.
The picturesque dress of the common pea-
sants; the long strings of loaded mules;
the cabriolets; the bullock-cars, as rude
and ancient in their construction, as those
in the frontispiece to the Georgics of the
oldest Virgils; the water-carriers; the le-
monade-sellers; and, above all, the monks
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8
RECOLLECTIONS OF
•
and friars in the habits of their orders; the
style of the houses, the handsome entrances,
the elegant balconies, the rare and beautiful
plants arranged in them, all raised around
me a scene which, real as it was, seemed
almost the deception of a theatre. In the
small square of San Paulo, we stopped, and
breakfasted in a light, cheerful room, which
looked out on the quay. Here, while sip-
ping my coffee, I commanded a view of the
noble harbour, crowded with vessels; while
many pilot and fishing barks, with their
large, handsome Latin sails, were coming
up or going down the river; and, nearer
the shore, hundreds of small neat boats,
with white or painted awnings, were trans-
porting passengers from one quay to an-
other, or to the more distant suburbs of Al-
cantara and Belem. The whole of this
picture was lighted up by a sun, such as is
only to be met with in a southern climate,
and so bright, that it appeared to animate
every thing on which it shone. Imme-
diately under the window of our café, some
Moorish porters, of whom there are many
in Lisbon, were occupied in their surprising
THE PENINSULA.
9
labours.
Their Herculean frames, small
turbans, and striking features, and their
prodigious exertions in lifting and carrying
immense and weighty packages, presented
us with a new and uncommon scene. My
mind naturally reverted to that era in past
ages, when these Moormen, now so de-
graded, and, politically considered, so insig-
nificant, swayed the sceptre of this beau-
teous land, and when, from the very source
to the mouth of the golden Tagus, the
crescent was triumphantly displayed. We
proceeded, immediately after breakfast, to
take a survey of the city; and ascending a
very steep, though well-built street, made
our way to the church of San Roque. My
attention was arrested in passing the mag-
nificent house, or rather palace, of the Baron
Quintella, by the sight of one of those
large groups of beggars, so common in this
country. Round the gateway, and under the
walls of this mansion, they lay, indolently
stretched out, and only implored our cha-
rity by extending the hand. To follow,
and importune us, was an exertion they
never dreamed of; and in this last particu-
10
RECOLLECTIONS OF
lar, they must be allowed to irritate a pas-
senger far less, than the sturdy beggars oc-
casionally met with in London, and the
more numerous swarms which infest half
the towns in Ireland.
In the southern countries of Europe,
openly professing the Roman Catholic re-
ligion, the giving of alms is considered an
imperative duty; and according to their
méans, all persons supply the wants of the
necessitous. From the gates of the con-
vents, from the kitchens of the wealthy,
food is daily distributed to a certain num-
ber of mendicants; and there is no person,
however humble his condition, if he be
above want, who does not give a something
in charity, every day of his life. Hence,
secure of the means to support their wretch-
ed existence, they betake themselves daily
to their respective stations, await the sum-
mons from the porter of the monastery, or
the palace, and thankfully receive the small
coin of the casual passenger. It is true,
that such scenes are painful; but we must
learn the cause of them, before we abuse
the nation by which they are presented.
T
THE PENINSULA.
11
Without poor laws, or poor rates, without
workhouses, or any parish institutions, these
beggars are, of necessity, exposed to public
view, and supported in the eye of day. The
numbers of those who subsist on public
charity in Portugal, as compared even with
our own country, would not be found so
great as we might at first imagine; and, in-
deed, in their mild climate, and with their
peculiar habits, these unfortunate paupers
might, after all, gain little in real happiness,
by the introduction of poor houses and
parish officers.
We entered the church of San Roque just
as the consecrated wafer was held
up to
view. The low bending posture of a vast
congregation, all of whom were on their
knees, and most of whom beat their breasts
fervently with their hands, quite startled
me, and I bent my head, with mingled feel-
ings of reverence and shame. These, how-
ever, were soon dispelled; for when this
crowd rose to depart, I could see no trace
on their features of serious impression; they
all entered into conversation with vivacity
and eagerness, and the ladies threw their
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12
RECOLLECTIONS OF
brilliant eyes around them, with all the con-
sciousness of their power. Many of the la-
dies were followed by black female servants,
and some by superior attendants of a cer-
tain age, who had all the appearance of,
and were, I believe, duennas.
When the church was cleared, we walked
slowly round it. It was spacious and hand-
some: the shrines were rich, but not so
overloaded with gilding as many I after-
wards saw. The decorations of the high
altar were not remarkable; but a finely
executed mosaic, over one of the side altars,
representing the baptism of our Saviour by
St. John, was at once a most curious and
beautiful specimen of art. I have never
seen any mosaic work since, half so delicate,
or, indeed, at all to be compared with it.
At a large fountain in this neighbourhood
we stopped for a moment, to view the pa-
tient and industrious Gallegos, who, pro-
vided with small wooden barrels, supply all
the citizens with water, at a trifling cost.
These men are natives of the distant pro-
vince of Gallicia, in Spain; they pass the
best of their days in this city, and in this
THE PENINSULA.
13
humble occupation; and return with their
small savings to repose in the country which
gave them birth, when, through age or in-
firmity they are no longer able to work.
There are, also, many Gallicians in Lisbon,
who act as porters and servants, and they
bear a very high character for honesty and
fidelity.
In the course of our walk we visited all
the best parts of the city. The Rocio, or
square of the Inquisition, is a fine spacious
place; and near the palace of that tribunal,
the destructive influence of which, I learned
with pleasure, had been very greatly re-
pressed, a large detachment of the police
guards, both horse and foot, were parading :
their costume, appointments, and, in fact,
their whole appearance, was soldier-like and
imposing. While attentively observing
them, I was not a little surprised to see the
cavalry dismount, the infantry present arms,
and then the whole, on one knee, with their
heads bare, join as in an act of devotion.
On turning round, I perceived the proces-
sion of the host passing across the square,
and all the multitude that filled it was
kneeling, motionless, and uncovered.
14
RECOLLECTIONS OF
Not far from hence, in an open space
near the gardens of the Salitre, a fair or
market for the sale of horses is often held.
The contrast between this scene and a horse-
fair in England is great indeed: the small
size, long tails, and flowing manes of the
Portuguese horses; their paces, either a
slow prancing amble, or a high short gal-
lop; and the clumsiness and singularity of
their horse furniture and saddlery ;-strike
an Englishman at first very forcibly. The
collars of their mules are of worsted, of the
most curious patterns, of all colours, and
generally ornamented with bells. The
head-stalls and reins of their riding-horses
are all studded with brass ornaments, and
the saddles are heavy wooden frames, co-
vered with buff leather, soft, and padded,
and having on the pummel and cant two
high projections, so contrived as to wedge
in the rider. Their stirrup is the large
wooden one, covering the foot, and the very
same which was used four centuries ago.
From the horse-fair we passed into the gar-
*
* The Portuguese gentlemen have, however, latterly
:
THE PENINSULA.
15
J
den of the Salitre: it is small, but affords a
cool and shady promenade. Returning by
the Rocio, we walked to the Commercial
square, which is truly handsome, and very
regularly built. One front of it is open to
the river, and large and convenient flights
of stone steps descend to the very edge of
the water. A lofty piazza runs round two
sides of it, and here the merchants meet to
learn the news of the day, and transact the
business of the exchange. In the centre is
a fine equestrian statue of John the Great,
in bronze. Three very well-built, uniform
streets, communicate between this square
and that of the Inquisition: one wholly
filled with the shops of gold jewellers and
lapidaries, another by silversmiths, and a
third by cloth-merchants and embroiderers.
The shops are small, and the windows have
a singular appearance, looking like square
glass cases, detached and placed outside for
show. The accommodations in the houses
above these shops are excellent, each fa-
adopted the saddles of English form, and in many things
now imitate the English closely.
:
-
16
RECOLLECTIONS OF
mily here, as in Paris, occupying a separate
floor.
I purchased some trinkets in Gold Street
cheap and very elegant. Their chain-work
is delicate, and their crosses have a cha-
racter, both as to form and setting, very
peculiar, and I think tasteful. We next
visited the castle, and the convent of St.
Vincent. The former is certainly not re-
markable for any thing but its site; and
the soldiers on duty had nothing martial in
their carriage and appearance. I have al-
ways a mingled and undefined feeling of.
pride and humiliation, when I reflect on
what discipline can do towards the form-
ation of an army; I say humiliation, because
the well-organised bands of a despot can,
by skilful dispositions and unity of effort,
always defeat numbers vastly superior, of
men, animated, perhaps, by the purest pa-
triotism that ever warmed or ennobled the
heart, but unassisted by a practical acquaint-
ance with war. I feel proud, however, to
think, that by the discipline we gave, to
second the courage they never wanted, the
Portuguese were enabled to repel their un-
THE PENINSULA.
17
principled invaders; and, by the side of our
own gallant troops, to carry the white stand-
ard of their country into the fertile region
of southern France.
At the convent of St. Vincent we were
received with the most flattering politeness.
The good fathers presented us with fruit
and wine, and showed us the building, with
an eagerness, perhaps, not wholly free from
pride. Their apartments, though very plainly
furnished, were exceedingly comfortable;
and all of them opened into a long spacious
gallery, at the extremity of which a large
window commanded a view of that ever-
varying and ever-beautiful scene, the har-
bour of Lisbon. Their church was splen-
didly adorned: the holy vessels, for the
service of the altar, rich and sumptuous;
the organ fine, but singular in its construc-
tion, the pipes being arranged horizontally.
The vestments for the use of the officiating
priests were truly magnificent.
They had
a small garden well laid out, and prettily
embellished with fountains and busts. Most
of the monks here are well born, and edu-
cated with some care. They spoke highly
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
of our nation, and of the late successes of
Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley) in
the north of Portugal, and they asked many
intelligent questions about the army.
We departed, pleased with our cordial
reception, and not a little surprised at the
comfort in which these holy brethren lived.
This was the first convent I had ever seen;
nor could I find it in my heart to apply to
its inmates the contemptuous epithets with
which they are too often branded. While
I regret that any government, or religion,
should condemn so many of its members to
a life of cheerless celibacy and useless de-
votion, I am far from despising, or even
blaming, the unhappy victims of ecclesias-
tical policy and pride: for, believe me, the
discipline of the wealthiest orders is suffi-
ciently austere to shut out all those enjoy-
ments of life which are so generally and so
highly prized; and there are few, if any of
us, who rail at monks, who could consent,
even from a sense of duty, to lead the in-
sipid and wearisome lives of those unhappy
men.
On our way back to the Largo de San
THE PENINSULA.
19
Paulo, where we dined, I entered many of
their churches, but there was in general
little to admire. The decorations were in a
tawdry and offensive taste; and a profusion
of badly-executed carved work, gilt and
painted, quite fatigued the eye. One cus-
tom of this, and I believe all Catholic coun-
tries, delighted me: at all hours the gates
of the churches stand open, and in them, at
all hours, may be seen some individuals
pouring forth their hearts in prayer at the
shrines of their respective saints. In the
hour of affliction, distress, or terror, hither
they come; and here, protected and assisted
by the holiness and solemnity of the place,
they repose their sorrows and their fears in
the bosom of their God, and invoke his
mercy and forgiveness. How many a pros-
trate penitent have I seen, too much ab-
sorbed in his devotions to cast one hasty
glance of curiosity around him, disturbed as
he must have been by my approach! Oh!
there are, I believe, moments in the life of
every man, when to fly to a consecrated
temple, and to throw himself at the foot of
the altar, unsummoned by any bell for
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
prayers, but urged solely by the tone of his
mind, and the overflowing of his heart, must
be felt as a pure and a holy pleasure. Oc-
cupied in such reflections, I walked slowly
behind my companions, when suddenly
raising my eyes, they had disappeared.
Several persons, with ready and natural po-
liteness, by voice and gesture, directed me,
and I followed them through the gates of
the arsenal. Here we remained a very short
time; for to the eyes of Englishmen, al-
though the building was fine, the docks and
yard appeared rather those of a private ship-
builder, than the grand naval depôt of a
nation. Yet it was impossible to forget,
that this nation had equipped and sent forth
the vessel which bore the enterprising
Vasco de Gama, and that her mariners were
the first who found and followed that path
over the trackless ocean to India, which has
since been ploughed by so many keels,
freighted with European avarice and am-
bition.
At our dinner, which was served at an
hotel kept by a Frenchman, I found some
of our party had been very differently im-
THE PENINSULA.
21
pressed with the morning's ramble to what
I had been. They drew comparisons be-
tween London and Lisbon, exultingly, with-
out reflecting that it was impossible to do
this fairly. Where I had been struck by the
fine appearance of some public building, or
private palace, they had only seen the heaps
of dirt lying near the portals ; — where I
had gazed, with pleasure, on some diver-
sified groups of market peasantry, in their
national costume, they had discovered a
squalid beggar mingling in the crowd; —
while I had seen some expressive face, lean-
ing over a balcony, on one side of the street,
and had inhaled the perfume of some rich
and powerful exotics, they, on the other,
had encountered a fishwoman frying Sar-
dinias at her stall, or been saluted by some
unfortunate puff off air, impregnated with
garlic :
with such different eyes do men
look upon the same scenes.
After con-
* In the Preface to a late work on Lisbon, in two
small volumes, by a lady, I find these few pages of mine
noticed in such a manner, that the reproach of the
disappointed traveller, although conveyed in language,
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22
RECOLLECTIONS OF
triving to make a very excellent meal, in
spite of the clamours of my companions at
and with a turn of compliment the most flattering, is suf-
ficiently apparent. It is now fifteen years since I first
visited the city of Lisbon; twelve since I last looked
upon it; eight since I penned this short, and hurried
description-a recollection indeed-a mere recollection,
but a faithful picture of what I should expect to see
again, if I sailed for the Tagus to-morrow.
True it is, there are many things in Lisbon
"unsightly to strange ee,
(For hut and palace show 'like filthily,
The dingy denizens are reared in dirt;")
but after all it is a city,
"that sheening far, celestial seems to be."
I am sure that I should approach, and gaze upon it
to-morrow with an admiration very little chilled or
weakened by long years of travel, or by the fixedly im-
pressed aspect of many scenes of a different, and (I ad-
mit in some few instances) of a superior beauty; but I
cannot, will not plead guilty to the clothing of "really
disgusting realities in the garb of enchantment;" had I
the ability to perform this miracle, I should be wanting
in inclination. Alas! the realities this lady speaks of,
are of a nature rather to humiliate, and depress. The
dirty shirt, the uncombed hair, the scratching search,
the ashheap, the offal, the ordure and the puddle, and
THE PENINSULA.
23
+
the style of the cookery, and the manner
of serving up the dinner, I went with one
of them to the theatre, in the Rua das
Condes.
the open shameless sacrifice to Cloacina; these things
are found in Naples, in Rome, in Venice, aye, and in
the corners of all cities, where there is much want, and
no hope. Indolence is the besetting sin of all southern
nations; dirt is the offspring of indolence; despotic
princes, and lazy priests are most encouraging godfathers
of the ragged bantling. I must be pardoned for smiling
at the notion that the officers of Wellington's army,
who were literally, in many instances, domesticated
among the people (of all classes) had unfavourable op-
portunities for observing on the manners and customs of
the Portuguese nation, compared to this amiable and
animated lady, whose seclusion and confinement in a city
so very unsocial, we quite mourn over as we read of it.
As to Mr. Matthews, if he had opened his moral eye
a little wider in Lisbon, during his three weeks sojourn,
his numerous and admiring readers would have thanked
him. In the very few remarks he has offered on the
state of society there, he has fallen into one or two most
unaccountable errors. I must also observe, that the taste
of that sensible and well-informed gentleman is not easily
warmed into admiration. See his Remarks on the Genius
and Merits of Michael Angelo, and his cold promenade
through the noble Collection of Statues in the Museo
Borbonico at Naples.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
The action of the performers, though
vulgar, was sufficiently expressive to give
me an insight into the comedy they repre-
sented; the subject of it was very droll, and
not unlike our " Beggar's Opera." To the
play succeeded a tolerable ballet: a Ma-
dame Brunet, a handsome woman, and a
graceful dancer, formed the chief attraction
of it. There was also a grotesque, or comic
dance, executed by four clumsy-looking
men, whose activity was nevertheless truly
surprising, and very loudly applauded by
the spectators. The form of this house is
ugly and ill-contrived, being narrow and
long; and the stage too, though sufficiently
deep, has no width. The sound of the
Portuguese language is very unpleasing to
foreigners, from the nasal tone. The in-
strumental music, however, in their orches-
tra, is excellent. Here, as in other parts of
the Continent, ladies do not dress for the
theatre. I saw some very pretty women,
who seemed, by the way, infinitely more
diverted with watching the effects of the
representation on us Englishmen, than the
performance itself. The Portuguese have
THE PENINSULA.
25
often been described by travellers as being
very negligent about their persons, and very
dirty in their dress and appearance. I con-
fess I did not find them so; on the contrary,
I had occasion to remark, that all the mid-
dling and upper classes of society were very
particular, both as to the fineness and white-
ness of their linen. The middle-sized plump
form, black, bright, and expressive eyes, and
regular teeth of a dazzling whiteness, are
the peculiar characteristics of the beauty of
a Portuguese female, and constitute here, as
they would any where else, a very pretty
woman. Neither is the stature of the men
in Lisbon, though certainly lower than that
of Englishmen, so diminutive as it has been
often, and very falsely, represented. My
friend and I parted at the door of the
theatre, and after taking an ice at the Grotto,
a very
excellent coffee-room in the Largo
de San Paulo, much frequented by English
and Americans, I threw myself into one of
the small boats constantly plying here, and
protected by an awning from the heavy
dew, was rowed swiftly to a landing-place
below Alcantara, and not very distant from
26
RECOLLECTIONS OF
our camp. It was past the hour of mid-
night when I left Lisbon, and the most per-
fect stillness reigned in the crowded har-
bour, save here and there at intervals the
bells striking the hour, or the hoarse voice
of some seamen challenging the passing
boat, whose gently plashing oars were faintly
heard.
There is something inexpressibly sooth-
ing in the sensations we experience at
such an hour, and in such a scene. Its
effect on me was too delightful to be
ever forgotten. In passing very near
the garden of a handsome residence, in
which lights were yet burning, my ear
caught the sound of music. I bade my
boatmen rest upon their oars, and distinct-
ly heard a very beautiful air, sung by a
sweet female voice, and accompanied by
the guitar.
I thought of England for one short mo-
ment with a sigh, and with all that heaviness
of heart which a youth alone can feel, and
which youthful spirits alone can conquer.
The rapidly following challenges of the
British sentinels first awoke me from the
THE PENINSULA.
27
reverie into which this invisible syren had
thrown me, and hurrying to my tent, alike
pleased with my day, and exhausted by
fatigue, I threw myself, dressed as I was,
upon my bed of heath, and slept pro-
foundly. The whole of the next day I
was confined by duty to the lines of the
encampment; I found my Portuguese
grammar the best company possible. The
first principles of grammar are every where
the same, and as Latin is the ground-work
of both the languages spoken in the Penin-
sula, I found my studies rather amusing
than laborious. I suffered no peasant,
muleteer, or fruit-woman to pass the door
of my tent unquestioned, and by paying
very particular attention to their manner
and tone, I was soon enabled to make my
own wants and enquiries intelligible, and
to comprehend their replies. Charles the
Fifth has wisely observed, the more lan-
guages a man can speak, the more fre-
quently does he feel himself a man; a
remark founded on a close observation of
human nature. The pride of a man of
any
intellect receives a severe wound, when he
28
RECOLLECTIONS OF
is first thrown into a circle of foreigners,
whose conversation he cannot understand.
His very
features lose their ordinary intelli-
gence, and, like a deaf man in a crowded
and brilliant assembly, he wears the eager
look of restless and mortified anxiety, or
the more painful gaze of cheerless and
vacant stupidity. To a military man, some
acquaintance with the language of the
country which is the theatre of war, is
almost indispensable, and a more intimate
knowledge of it, if it does not prove, as it
often has done, an introduction to notice,
and a ready and creditable channel to pro-
fessional distinction, will be a constant
source of satisfaction, pleasure, and ad-
vantage. Though daily expecting a route,
our column remained nearly a month in
this camp.
Between visits to Lisbon and
Belem, and daily walks in the neighbour-
hood, the whole of this time to me passed
very delightfully.
I regretted, in common with others, the
arrangement which delayed us at Lisbon,
while we panted to be marching in advance;
but to consume time uselessly by thinking
A
THE PENINSULA.
29
D
and talking of what I had not the power
to remedy, was never in my nature. Be-
sides, there was too much variety and no-
velty all around me, for any feeling of
tedium and discontent to dwell long in my
bosom. To-day I would indulge in the
unaccustomed pleasure of wandering in a
spacious orange grove, or seated by some
garden fountain, under the shade of a lux-
uriant fig tree, learn my self-prescribed
lesson in Portuguese, while some smiling
labourer would place the choicest fruit at
my feet, resisting any attempt of mine to
reward him, with such sayings as, "They
are my master's; he is hospitable and ge-
nerous. "God gives enough for all."
"You are the brave English, our allies: if
you were not here to fight for us, stranger
hands might reap our corn, and spoil our
vineyards." Another morning I would
go and explore what I had left unseen. At
Belem there is a Royal Museum, small
indeed, but well selected. It is indebted
""
for its principal curiosities to South America
and India.
There is, or rather was, a menagerie in
30
RECOLLECTIONS OF
the king's garden, for at the time I saw it,
it contained nothing remarkable. In the
garden are a few shady walks, but nothing
like space,
space, variety, or arrangement. Near
it stands a large unfinished palace of the
finest masonry, and built on a scale far
more magnificent than any thing to be met
with in England. I walked, however,
through the long suit of lofty chambers
with very little gratification, and felt that
comfort was never likely to be an inmate
there. This same comfort, the household
god of the English gentleman, is unknown
on the Continent, and never consents to
dwell amid marble pillars, polished mirrors,
and gilt furniture. The convent of White
Friars at Belem, is a noble Gothic building;
its handsome and vaulted cloisters, beauti-
ful garden, spacious galleries, and conveni-
ent chambers, all bespeak opulence. The
grand entrance of its church is highly and
curiously ornamented in sculptured stone.
The decorations of the interior correspond
most fully. The shrines, the high altar,
the choir, the organ, are all rich, yet ele-
gantly so. Four large sarcophagi of marble,
THE PENINSULA.
31
containing the ashes of buried royalty, are
placed on either side of the church, not
very distant from the high altar, and pro-
duce a fine and solemn effect. The good
father who accompanied me, a venerable
old man of seventy, had been nearly half a
century a brother of the order, and an in-
mate of the convent. He had seen it, he
told me, in the day of its glory, when it
boasted a numerous and respected brother-
hood. It was now, he said, losing mem-
bers, property, and influence daily; he
pointed out the stone to me under which
he prayed to rest his bones, and told me
he hoped that the blessing of death might
not long be withheld. While he spoke to
me, the tears trembled in his aged eyes,
and I could not control a strong expression
of sympathy, which at the moment I sin-
cerely felt. On reflection, however, reason
and humanity bade me rejoice. Perhaps
we owe, even to the armies of the ambi-
tious Napoleon, one blessing. Ecclesiasti-
cal government, monastic pride, and the
withering tyranny of the priesthood, have
shrunk before them; and though I hear it
32
RECOLLECTIONS OF
daily asserted, that the priests in the Pe-
ninsula again exercise their baleful influence
over the liberty and the happiness of the
people, still I am convinced that the au-
thority of the church in Spain and Portugal
has received a blow, from the effects of
which it can never perfectly recover. The
seeds of a new and a better order of things
have been sown, and though weeds may
for
a time obstruct their growth, that specula-
tive and daring hand which cleans the
encumbered soil, will reap an abundant and
a healthy harvest. At some distance from
these walls was a small convent of Irish
nuns it is not very richly endowed, nor
are the sisters many in number. I spoke
with some of them, but cannot say that I
felt half the interest I should wish to have
deceived myself into feeling, at the grate
of a nunnery.
:
One of the noviciates was certainly pretty;
she asked me, with great innocence, if I did
not admire Pope's Epistle from Eloisa to
Abelard; said that she thought it beautiful ;
and that she was indebted to an English
officer, who had kindly lent her a volume
THE PENINSULA.
33
of poetry, for the perusal of this poem and
others. I left her, not without some emotion
of pity, for I thought that the man who had
lent her the book of which she spoke, ought
at least to have accompanied it with a
ladder of ropes, and a promise of assistance
and protection. Some evenings I would
take a boat and row about the harbour, in
order to catch views of the city from differ-
ent points; others, I walked into Lisbon
to look around me, or to make some trifling
purchase, but not a day passed without
enjoyment. I went frequently to the con-
vent of the Estrella to hear the service.
The church is most beautiful; the build-
ing exquisitely finished; and the interior
chastely ornamented. A very elegant and
well-proportioned dome, plain handsome
altars, adorned with very tolerable paintings,
the finest masonry, and a profusion of rich
marble, call forth the admiration of all
strangers. The service is always decently
and solemnly performed, and the soft
melodious voices of some of these nuns,
as they chant the responses, or sing the
anthem, touch the very soul. I often
D
34
RECOLLECTIONS OF
returned from this service alone, and walk-
ed slowly back to the camp, by an unfre-
quented pathway, which passes exactly
under the grand arch of the famous Lisbon
aqueduct. This noble arch, the chief won-
der and beauty of this magnificent work,
is 340 feet in height, by about 240 in
breadth, or span. The sight of an aqueduct
carries with it, to the mind of an English-
man, impressions altogether new.
It is a
work of utility and grandeur, of which he
has read in ancient history, and in travels,
but which he prides himself to consider the
advancement of science has rendered in
most cases useless, and he is therefore ill
prepared to waste any admiration on such
a work, especially where it is not hallowed
by antiquity; but when such an arch, as
that of which I speak, first meets his eye,
he is struck with astonishment and awe;
it appears as a proud monument of the
power of man, a record of the prodigious
labours which man, living in social and
happy union with his fellow-man, can
effect.
I was very anxious, before we marched,
THE PENINSULA.
35
to visit Cintra, a spot celebrated by all
travellers, and proverbial with the inha-
bitants of Lisbon, for its romantic beauty.
Our party, consisting of six, having obtained
leave for two days, left the encampment
at four o'clock one morning, in three decent
cabriolets, and after a slow, but pleasant
drive of two hours, reached Caluz, a sum-
mer palace of the queen's, with a small
town attached. The country through which
we passed to Caluz presented nothing in
its appearance remarkable, if I except some
fields of Indian corn, and some hedges,
formed by American aloes of prodigious
size, and uncommon beauty. The prickly
pear, a very hideous plant, was here and
there scattered among them. At Caluz,
we visited the palace; the building is not
fine, and the apartments are neither mag-
nificently nor elegantly decorated; there
are, indeed, some very handsome mirrors,
but the furniture, in general, is in a tawdry
and wretched taste. The garden well suits
the character of the palace; it is laid out in
a formal, quaint style; trees, hedges, and
box being tortured into every possible
D 2
36
RECOLLECTIONS OF
variety of shape. Some clumsy statues, de-
faced busts, and ill-designed fountains, com-
plete the picture.
The
We hastened back to our coffee, and,
after breakfast, resuming our seats, arrived
in less than three hours at Cintra.
scenery, as you approach this town, is truly
enchanting. The rich and variegated wood,
which clothes the side of the mountain
rising above Cintra, the sunny brown, or
rather the golden tinge of the mossy sward
towards the crest of it, and the bare, grey,
and rude-shaped rock, which crowns its
lofty summit, form a picture, such as only
the pencil of a master, or the pen of a poet,
could attempt to sketch with fidelity. The
town itself, though considerably elevated,
lies far below the mountain, and all around
is beauty, shade, and repose. The white
and furrowed bark, and the fantastic form
and growth of the pale cork-tree, the low
dark olive, the green leaf and golden fruit
of the orange, the trellised vine, and the
wild geranium, all here combine to deck
the face of nature with charms, which, to
the eye of a northern visitor, have new and
THE PENINSULA.
37
irresistible attractions. We soon left our
inn, and, mounted on asses, with two
sprightly boys for our guides, set forth to
visit the convent, which is built nearly at
the top of the Cintra mountain. You
lounge at your ease, in any posture, on a
large pack-saddle, covered with
green cloth,
and it is really surprising to see with how
much safety and activity these animals
carry you up paths, rocky, uneven, and
dangerously steep. A monk received us at
the gate of the convent, and conducted us
all over it; it is a very perfect, complete
thing; but the site of it is, for singularity
and boldness, unrivalled. It is secluded,
utterly secluded, from the world; yet here
the eye may range over the vast Atlantic,
far as the strength of mortal vision permits,
or may rest on lovely vales, and dark-
bosomed glens far beneath. The ear, too,
may catch, on the one side, the hoarse
voice of the rising storm; or may listen, on
the other, to those pleasing and sweet
sounds, which speak of rural occupations
and of rural happiness.
If a man, at the age of fifty, stood alone
D 3
38
RECOLLECTIONS OF
in the world, without wife, relative, or friend,
to such a spot as this might he retire for
life. When death carries off our little store
of affection, by laying its icy hand on the
hearts where that treasure was hoarded,
whither can we go for comfort? The sad
bosom, and the rayless eye, are ill calculated
to inspire new loves, or attract new friend-
ships. Oh! I can imagine many cases,
where the calm of a retired monastery
would afford consolation to the wounded
spirit. Would that cloisters were only filled
with such children of misfortune!
Not very distant from this convent, on
another rude eminence, stands an ancient
Moorish castle, remarkable for nothing but
having contained Moors. I stood on it for
a quarter of an hour, and my mind's eye
peopled it with its turbaned defenders. I
looked out at the noble scene around me ;
for them, too, had the ocean smiled, and
their eyes had reposed on the verdant
meads and dark groves now spread below
me. There is a pleasure in the association
of ideas, and in the power of conjuring up,
as it were, scenes and images around you,
THE PENINSULA.
39
which all men have felt, but which I should
labour in vain to define; from it, however,
arises much of the charm of travelling.
He who could stand on the solitary field of
Waterloo, without imagining to himself his
gallant countrymen, and their fierce oppo-
nents; or who could pass the Rubicon,
without seeing the cohorts of Cæsar, and
their daring leader, should return to his
parlour and his newspaper. In another
part of this mountain, and not so lofty in
its situation, is a convent, curiously built,
among some wild and romantic rocks; the
walls, doors, and furniture, are all of cork.
Some poor, humble Franciscans inhabit it
they have a pretty garden, and a small
orangery: they presented us with fruit,
were very courteous, and seemed thankful
for the trifle we gave them. From hence
we rode by a very agreeable path to the
Quinta of Coulares, so highly celebrated for
its delicious wine. The vale is most beau-
tiful; in one part of it is a house, built some
twenty years ago, by an English gentleman
of large fortune. This mansion, surrounded
as it is by every thing to make it a desirable
;
D 4
40
RECOLLECTIONS OF
residence, is in a state of desolation and ruin.
It had been fitted up by this wealthy man
in a style of the most princely magnificence;
but riches cannot forbid the intrusion of
sorrow, discontent, sickness, or shame.
Some one of these unbidden guests drove
him from this voluptuous seat, and the
winds and rains of heaven, as if to mock
the vain scheme of human happiness, have
nearly destroyed this costly temple of
pleasure.
On our return to the inn at Cintra we
found a comfortable dinner, cooked and
served up in the plain English fashion;
well-cooled wine of Coulares, which very
greatly resembles claret, left the epicure
nothing to desire; and fatigued, yet de-
lighted with our day, we retired to excellent
beds, in clean, well-furnished chambers.
I rose early on the following morning,
and visited the palace; it is a very ancient
and curious building, and bears evident
marks of having been erected on the site,
and with the materials, of some Moorish
edifice.
All the rooms are floored with large flat
THE PENINSULA.
41
tiles of a red colour, ornamented with a
sort of white figuring much defaced by time.
In one of the apartments you are shown a
path worn deep by the hurried and restless
footsteps of a royal captive, who was con-
fined here for fifteen years, nearly two cen-
turies ago. During the whole period the
wretched and despicable Alphonso bore
the empty and valueless title of king, while
the handsome, bold, and active Pedro, his
younger brother, swayed the sceptre of his
realms, and revelled in the charms of her,
to whom a brother had been espoused. It
has been generally reported, however, by
historians, that Alphonso was a prince alike
impotent in body, and imbecile in mind. I
hope, for the sake of humanity, that such
was really the case; but in countries, where
civil and religious liberty is denied to the
subject, truth is often strangely distorted.
We were unwilling to leave Cintra without
visiting the handsome villa of the Marquis
of Marialva. I was much gratified with it ;
it is a superb residence, every way worthy
of a noble master. One chamber struck
me as remarkably elegant; the walls were
42
RECOLLECTIONS OF
covered with the richest white satin, all the
borders and the cornices of gold moulding,
and the whole of the furniture white and
gold, to correspond; there were also some
fine slabs of white marble, of very extraor-
dinary beauty.
Here, or in the adjoining chamber, the
well-known convention of Cintra was signed.
That it should ever have been rendered
necessary, is the real, and only just cause of
complaint. At the moment that it was
signed, Sir Arthur Wellesley satisfactorily
proved to the House of Commons, that it
was a measure alike politic and expedient.
I can, however, image to myself the counte-
nance of Sir Arthur, when he saw himself
arrested in the career of victory, by the
arrival of a senior colleague. It has been
reported, I know not with what truth, that
the illustrious Wellington, after delivering
his military opinion, on the field of Vimiera,
from which the enemy was retiring defeated
and discomfited, and after hearing the de-
cision of Sir Harry Burrard, turned his
horse's head, and with a cold and contempt-
uous bitterness, said aloud to his aid-de-
THE PENINSULA.
43
camp, "You may think about dinner, for
there is nothing more for soldiers to do
this day."
We returned to Lisbon by Beyras, a town
celebrated for having given the title of
count to the great Marquis de Pombal ;
and where the house and gardens, long
occupied by him, are still shown. The
house merits no description; yet it was
impossible to walk through the silent and
deserted chambers, without awakening the
liveliest recollections of this great man's
political career. Here, from this retired
closet, opening on that shady terrace, per-
haps this wise statesman sent forth the
famous decree, which drove out the intrigu-
ing Jesuits, and banished them from Portu-
gal. Here did he digest those plans for
the general improvement of every depart-
ment of the state, which, had they been
promoted by, or met with less resistance
from, his successors, would have given to
this small kingdom a far more honourable
rank among the nations of Europe, than
she has ever enjoyed. This minister's
presence of mind, firmness, and activity,
44
RECOLLECTIONS OF
on that dreadful occasion when Lisbon
was visited by the great earthquake, are
well known. While the awful ruins of the
city were yet tottering around him; while
the shrieks of the wounded, the widowed,
and the childless, pierced his ear; while
the horrid grave of thousands was spread
before him; he was seen every where en-
couraging and reassuring the people, calm-
ing their fears, and alleviating their distress,
by all the measures which wisdom, energy,
and humanity could suggest. This man,
at the death of his royal master, was dis-
missed from office, and banished from
court, and ended his days at the small vil-
lage of Pombal, in the disregarded obscu-
rity of private life.
As our carriages drove into the encamp-
ment, we were saluted by the joyful intelli-
gence that the orders were come, and that
we were to march for Spain in two days.
The next day was full of the bustle of pre-
paration our heavy baggage had already
been left in England, and we now received
a fresh order to disencumber ourselves of
every thing not absolutely necessary. My
THE PENINSULA.
45.
brother subaltern and I had a small baggage
mule, lightly laden,between us, and in this,
the infancy of our zeal, we carried knap-
sacks; four of us formed a small, social
mess, and had the comfort of a canteen
but neither officers nor men, at this period,
had tents, and none except field officers
and adjutants were mounted. One mule
per company, with camp-kettles, the few
baggage animals of the officers, and the
train of the brigade commissariat, formed
the whole of our incumbrance. On the
morning of July 28, at an early hour, we
struck and delivered over our tents; three
days' provision was issued to the men, and
at about seven, our brigade marched from
its ground, to embark for Santarem, a town
about forty miles up the Tagus, whither it
was arranged we were to be conveyed by
water. I shall never forget my sensations
on marching through the streets of Lisbon
they were filled with people; the windows
crowded with faces, wearing the kindest and
most animated looks: loud, long, and con-
tinued vivas were poured forth on every
side; shawls, handkerchiefs, and hands were
46
RECOLLECTIONS OF
waving from every balcony, and the women
threw flowers and garlands on our heads.
It was highly pleasing to observe this ex-
pression of public feeling on the part of the
Portuguese, and I am persuaded that, with
few exceptions, the nation detested the
idea of submitting to the yoke of France.
That there were some of the higher classes,
who, corrupted by education, blinded by
fear, and unstimulated by interest or patri-
otism to resist the French armies, both
expected their return, and wished them
success, is not only probable, but certainly
true. But these formed a very inconsider-
able, and a very worthless part of the popu-
lation. I did not form this opinion from
the vivas of a crowd, gazing on our hand-
some and well-appointed troops, but from
all which I had observed since I landed.
From the quay of the Commercial Square
our men sprung into the boats, and our little
fleet was soon sailing up the river, under
a favourable breeze. It must have been a
beautiful sight, for those on the quays and
along the banks, to mark our fair array.
The polished arms, the glittering cap-plates,
THE PENINSULA.
47
Here you
and the crimson dress of the British soldiers,
crowded in open barks, must have produced
a very fine effect.
And we, too, gazed on
a scene far different indeed, but most peace-
ful, most lovely. The northern bank of the
river from Lisbon to Villa Franca (about
six leagues) presents a continued succession
of rural beauties; convents, chapels, and
quintas, gardens and vineyards, wood and
verdure, cattle and groups of villagers, all
blended in bright and gay confusion, arrest
the eye and address the heart.
saw, in their cool and shaded cloisters,
small parties of monks, in the dark and pic-
turesque dress of their orders, observing us
as we passed along; there some happy fa-
mily, parents, children, and servants, would
hurry to their garden terrace on the water's
edge, and salute us with smiles and vivas;
while a little farther, in the back ground,
you might discern some solitary nun, who
from the high and grated casement of her
convent, looked out upon the strange and
brilliant show, and hastily withdrew. About
two leagues above Villa Franca, the breeze
died away, and not a breath of air stirred
48
RECOLLECTIONS OF
on the water. Our boatmen took to their
poles, and with all their exertion made
little more than a league, when the shades
of evening closed in, and we brought-to
near the bank. Here we found a Portu-
guese tent, which had been pitched for
some day-guard, but was abandoned for the
night; of this my cheerful little mess took
possession, and here we ate our cold meat
and drank our wine with all the gaiety of a
party of pleasure.
The
After an hour's labour in the morning,
finding we made little or no way by water,
we landed and marched to Santarem.
situation of this city is very striking; it
is built on bold, elevated ground, hanging
directly over the Tagus, the southern bank
of which it completely commands. The re-
giment was quartered for the night in a con-
vent, and I received a billet on a private
house. At the door of it, I was met by the
owner, a gentlemanlike-looking well-dress-
ed man of about sixty, and of a very mild
pleasing address: he led the way to a neat
apartment, and a pretty bedchamber. I
was covered with dust and dirt, and declined
THE PENINSULA.
49
1
them as too good; but how was my confu-
sion increased, when my host himself
brought me water in a silver basin to wash,
while his good lady presented me with cho-
colate, bearing it herself on a salver. I
feared that they had mistaken my rank from
my two épaulettes, and I explained to them
that I was a simple Lieutenant. No; they
well knew my rank, but did not pay me the
less attention: they perfumed my chamber
with rose-water, took off my knapsack with
their own hands, and then left me to re-
fresh myself by washing and dressing, and
to recover from the pleasing astonishment,
into which their cordial and polite reception
had thrown me. In the evening my party
dined here, and the worthy host presented
us with some magnums of fine old wine,
and the choicest fruit. We made scruples;
he overruled them with true and unaffected
hospitality, and we, in return, pressed on his
acceptance six bottles of excellent Sauterne,
the remains of our small stock of French
wine.
Such was my treatment in the first billet
I ever entered in Portugal, and such, with
E
50
RECOLLECTIONS OF
very few exceptions, was the character of
the reception given by Portuguese of all
classes, according to their means, at the
commencement of the peninsula struggle,
to the British army: rich and poor, the
clergy and laity, the fidalgo and the peasant,
all expressed an eagerness to serve, and a
readiness to honour us. In these early
marches the villa, the monastery, and the
cottage were thrown open at the approach
of our troops; the best apartments, the
neatest cells, the humble but only beds,
were all resigned to the march-worn officers
and men, with undisguised cheerfulness.
It is with pain I am compelled to confess,
that the manners of my strange but well-
meaning countrymen soon wrought a change
in the kind dispositions of this people.
When they saw many assume as a right all
which they had accorded from politeness,
and receive their respectful attentions and
cordial services as expressions of homage,
due to the courage, wealth, and power of
the British nation; - when the simplicity
of their manners, their frugality, the spare-
ness of their diet, the peculiarities of their
THE PENINSULA.
51
dress, and their religious prejudices were
made the subjects of derision and ridicule;
when they witnessed scenes of brutal in-
toxication, and were occasionally exposed to
vulgar insult, from uneducated and over-
bearing Englishmen ; — when, I say, all
this occurred, they began to examine our
individual titles to their esteem; they were,
often, very soon disenchanted; and the
spirit which we had awakened in them, ma-
nifested itself in various acts of neglect,
rudeness, and even resentment. The En-
glish are admired not only in Portugal, but
over all Europe, as a free, an enlightened,
and a brave people, but they cannot make
themselves beloved; they are not content
with being great, they must be thought so,
and told so. They will not bend with good
humour to the customs of other nations, nor
will they condescend to soothe (flatter they
never do) the harmless self-love of friendly
foreigners. No: wherever they march or
travel, they bear with them a haughty air of
conscious superiority, and expect that their
customs, habits, and opinions should super-
sede, or at least suspend, those of all the
É 2
52
RECOLLECTIONS OF
countries through which they pass. Among
liberal-minded and well-educated English-
men, there will ever be many bright excep-
tions to this general picture; and they,
perhaps, will be the first to confess, that
this portrait of my travelling countrymen
has not been too highly coloured.
Santarem, like all other cities in Portugal,
has its convents, churches, and chapels, the
natural pride of its citizens, and the objects
which all idlers and strangers visit. There
is little remarkable in any of them. At
their university I passed half an hour in
conversation with one of the professors. He
requested me to read for him a page of
Virgil, after the manner of my country. I
did so; and returning the book to him, he
also read one: no third person could have
supposed that we had been reading the
same language. Our pronunciation may,
and from habit does undoubtedly sound the
richest to an English ear; but theirs is cer-
tainly the nearest to the Italian, and per-
haps, therefore, to the Roman. There are
not very many students at this college, and
as they are almost all educated for the
THE PENINSULA.
53
church or the cloister, their studies are
entirely confined to theology, and their
reading to the perusal of sacred biography,
such as the lives of the saints, martyrs,
and holy men. As the shades of evening
closed in, our column formed in the plain be-
low the town, and commenced its march to
Golegâo, a large village about four leagues
distant.
With a small advanced guard I entered
Golegâo at the head of the regiment, just
as early matin-bell was summoning the
inhabitants to prayers. The attendance on
public worship throughout Spain and Por-
tugal is extremely regular, and no occupa-
tion, or manner of life, is suffered to inter-
fere with this sacred duty. To mass go
the muleteers before they load their train ;
and from the door of the chapel the peasants
sally forth to their daily labours. The very
changing of night into day, a measure
rendered necessary by the extreme heat,
carried with it the charm of novelty. I was
well lodged, and hospitably treated, in a
humble but clean cottage, and with the
night again set forward.
E 3
54
RECOLLECTIONS OF
This march, and the following, our route,
which passed by Punhete to Abrantes, led us
often for miles along the banks of the Tagus,
and through villages built on the very edge
of the river. A clear bright silver moon
lighted our silent path; not a lamp burn-
ing in any of the cottages; not a human
voice to be heard: not a sound, save the
dull tread of our weary men, and the
gentle tone in which the waters told their
ceaseless flow. The moon-beams which
played upon the bright arms of our gallant
soldiers, shone also on the glistening nets
of the peaceful fisherman, which hung
spread upon the rocks near his deserted
bark. All within these humble dwellings
was repose, and their happy inmates slum-
bered sweetly, unconscious that the tide of
war (harmless and friendly indeed to them,
yet bearing on its wave not only youth,
ambition, and courage, but, perhaps, even
ferocity and crime,) rolled, in the dead of
night, past the vine-clad walls of their de-
fenceless cots. The town of Abrantes is
well situated; it stands lofty, and com-
mands the passage of the Tagus, over which,
THE PENINSULA.
55
at this point, a bridge of boats communi-
cates with the southern provinces. We
crossed the river, and occupied for one
night a camp of standing huts, formed
many weeks before by some division of our
army, which had halted in that neighbour-
hood. At sunrise the following morning
we were again in motion, and marched on-
wards to the village of Gaviao. Our road
led, in part, through plains covered with
gumcistus in flower, the frail leaves of which
are remarkable for their delicate whiteness;
and in part, over uplands all clothed with
heath, but a heath so rich in the variety,
the beauty, and the fragrance of its plants,
that the traveller forgot, or forgave, the
absence of the corn-field, the vineyard, and
the cottage.
As the chill dews of evening were de-
scending on our bivouack, near this last
village, a staff-officer, with a courier, came
galloping into it, and alighted at the quarter
of our general. It was soon known among
us, that a severe and sanguinary action had
been fought by our brother soldiers at Ta-
lavera. Disjointed rumours spoke of a
E 4
56
RECOLLECTIONS OF
+
dear-bought field, a heavy loss, and a sub-
sequent retreat. I well remember how we
all gathered round our fires to listen, to
conjecture, and to talk about this glorious,
but bloody, event. We all naturally regret-
ted that, in the honours of such a day, we
had borne no share; and talked long, and
with an undefined pleasure, about the car-
nage. Yes, strange as it may appear, sol-
diers, and not they alone, talk of the slaugh-
ter of battle-fields with a sensation, which,
though it suspends the lively throb of the
gay and careless heart, partakes, neverthe-
less, of pleasure. Nay, I will go farther:
in the very exposure of the person to the
peril of sudden and violent death, cureless
wounds, and ghastly laceration, excitement,
strong, high, and pleasurable, fills and ani-
mates the bosom: hope, pride, patriotism,
and awe, make up this mighty feeling, and
lift a man, for such moments, almost above
the dignity of his nature. Such moments
are more than equal to years of common
life. And where, on the 28th of July, when
death was gathering her bleeding victims
on the field of Talavera, where then were
THE PENINSULA.
57
we?-That very day we were sailing on
the Tagus' ample bosom : our eyes resting
on scenes of smiling peace and romantic
loveliness, and our hearts beating high and
hopefully.
Our drum beat two hours before the
dawn of day, and at an early hour we
reached Niza; not, however, before the
sun had acquired such fierce and burning
power, as to strike me down thrice, in a
very few minutes. During a short halt, I
threw myself on the parched-up grass, and
sleep overcame me; my hat fell off, and the
scorching rays of the sun shone full upon
my naked head: awaked by the sound of the
bugle, I suddenly rose, but immediately fell
senseless; my brother officers recovered me
by the usual means, but, on my attempting
to stand, the same violent effect was twice
more produced.
Three days' rest at Niza quite restored
me, and I was enabled to resume all my
duties. During this short interval the troops
had, luckily for me, halted. On the fourth
morning we marched to cross the Tagus at
Villa Velha, and pursued our route to Zarza la
58
RECOLLECTIONS OF
Major, the first town on the Spanish frontier,
in the road to Placentia. This movement
was made, I believe, without any instruction
from Sir Arthur Wellesley; and had for its
object the diversion of Soult's force, which
was known to have arrived in the neigh-
bourhood of Coria and Placentia ; and
which, it was thought, might act offensively
against the British, on their retreat from
Talavera; which, encumbered as they were
with wounded, could not have immediately
followed the battle, or been effected with
any extraordinary rapidity. The scenery
on this march, after passing the Tagus, is
not very remarkable; but the road from
Niza to Villa Velha is truly romantic; and
the river, at that point, forcing its narrow,
deep, and angry course between lofty and
precipitous banks, which rise into brown
and barren mountains, forms a grand and
imposing picture. We bivouacked daily.
It is a pleasing sight to see a column arrive
at its halting ground. The camp is generally
marked out, if circumstances allow of it, on
the edge of some wood, and near a river
or stream. The troops are halted in open
THE PENINSULA.
59
columns, arms piled, picquets and guards
paraded and posted, and, in two minutes,
all appear at home. Some fetch large stones
to form fire-places; others hurry off with
canteens and kettles for water, while the
wood resounds with the blows of the bill-
hook. Dispersed, under the more distant
trees, you see the officers: some dressing;
some arranging a few boughs to shelter them
by night; others kindling their own fires;
while the most active are seen returning
from the village, laden with bread, or, from
some flock of goats, feeding near us, with
a supply of new milk. How often, under
some spreading cork-tree, which offered
shade, shelter, and fuel, have I taken up
my lodging for the night; and here, or by
some gurgling stream, my bosom fanned by
whatever air was stirring, made my careless
toilet, and sat down with men I both liked
and esteemed, to a coarse but wholesome
meal, seasoned by hunger and by cheer-
fulness. The rude simplicity of this life
I found most pleasing. An enthusiastic
admirer of nature, I was glad to move and
dwell amid her grandest scenes, remote
60
RECOLLECTIONS OF
from cities, and unconnected with what is
called society. Her mountains, her forests,
and, sometimes, her bare and bladeless
plains, yielding me a passing home: her
rivers, streams, and springs, cooled my
brow, and allayed my thirst. The incon-
venience of one camp taught me to enjoy
the next; and I learned (a strange lesson
for the thoughtless) that wood and water,
shade and grass, were luxuries. I saw the
sun set every evening: I saw him rise again
each morning in all his majesty, and I felt
that my very existence was a blessing.
Strange, indeed, to observe how soon men,
delicately brought up, can inure themselves
to any thing. Wrapt in a blanket, or a
cloak, the head reclining on a stone, or a
knapsack, covered by the dews of night, or
drenched perhaps by the thunder-shower,
sleeps many a youth, to whom the car-
peted chamber, the curtained couch, and
the bed of down, have been from infancy.
familiar.
As we forded the river Elga, which, on
the road we were marching, divides Por-
tugal and Spain, I promised myself much
THE PENINSULA.
61
pleasure from seeing a town inhabited by
Spaniards, whose language, manners, cus-
toms, and dress, I knew, differed widely
from the Portuguese, and were, from na-
tional pride, kept quite as distinct on the
frontiers as elsewhere. Our column passed
close to the town of Zarza, and took up its
ground on a bare rocky eminence, about a
mile in front. Not a soul came out to meet
us, not a soul followed us to our bivouack.
All was still as at midnight, yet the noon-
day sun shone fiercely down. No sooner
was my regiment dismissed, than I hastened
into the town, and entered it among the
first. The streets were deserted, and the
houses barred; the church alone stood
open, but the plate from the altar and the
contents of the sacristy, had been removed.
The market-place indeed was fast filling
with our Spanish muleteers, and, from their
dress and language, you might almost have
fancied them inhabitants: but you looked
around in vain for women and children to
favour this illusion; the sound of their soft
and innocent voices was no where to be
heard, and in the unmoved features of our
62
RECOLLECTIONS OF
I
muleteers, you could not trace the anxious
feelings of the husband and the father.
passed out of the town by a narrow lane,
which led towards some gardens; as I
walked slowly on, full of thought, my eye
was attracted by the sight of a pair of cas-
tanets, which, dropped in the hurry of flight,
lay directly in the path: to how much of
innocent delight, youthful pleasure, and
parental pride, had these little symbols of
happier and more tranquil times been wit-
nesses! Oh! England thou enviable
spot-thou" precious stone set in the silver
sea," from how many of the evils of war do
thy rocks and waves protect thee!—I turned
aside into a garden, and saw a peasant at
the further end of it, who, on perceiving
me, fled, and would have concealed himself:
I overtook him, and reassuring him by my
voice and manner, he became communica-
tive. From him I learnt that the inhabi-
tants of Zarza had expected the French
that morning, and, dreading their arrival,
had all fled in the course of the night, some
to Alcantara, others to the woods and
mountains. I purchased some very fine
THE PENINSULA.
63
musk and water-melons from this peasant,
paying him a trifle more than their value,
which appeared to excite very strongly both
his astonishment and gratitude.
The scene of this morning made a deep
and lasting impression on me. It is true
that I have since witnessed horrors, which
might well have taught me to think lightly
of an occurrence, which I afterwards found
was not uncommon; but first impressions
are too powerful to be ever forgotten. The
greater part of this day, too, the thermome-
ter had been from ninety-five to ninety-
eight, another reason for remembering Zarza
and the scorching unsheltered bivouack.
The next morning our General returned
from a conference with Marshal Beresford,
who was in the neighbourhood of Pena Gar-
cia and Pena Macor, with a body of Portu-
guese, and the same evening we retreated
across the Elga and re-entered Portugal;
movement rendered prudent, I believe, by
the force and vicinity of the enemy, for we
had only six battalions, unsupported by
cavalry or artillery. We now retraced our
steps to Alemtejo. One of our camps, on
64
RECOLLECTIONS OF
this short retreat, was formed on ground the
most wild and picturesque. Half way be-
tween Villa Velha and Niza, the road winds
through a deep and narrow valley, inclosed
on all sides by rudely-shaped and rocky
hills; through it flows a small streamlet,
descending from the heights in the rugged
channel of a wintry torrent, and faintly
marking out its course with a silvery thread
of the purest water. Here, at night-fall, af-
ter being nearly eighteen hours under arms,
we halted: the heights ascend on all sides
of this little vale so steep and perpendicu-
lar, that it is impossible to preserve any re-
gular formation, and the men were dispersed
in groups all up the hills.
the hills. I and my com-
panions spread our cloaks and kindled our
fire upon a rocky ledge, close to the top of
that ravine down which the rivulet fell, and
thus we overlooked the whole encampment.
The short dry brushwood, though it made
bad fires, sent forth bright and beauteous
flames, and the sudden and magic illumin-
ation of this rude and warlike scene may be
conceived, but, I feel, it is impossible to
describe it. The fitful glare which gave to
THE PENINSULA.
65
view the groups of soldiers, here only show-
ing the dark outlines of human figures, and
there throwing a fiery light on their arms,
their dress, and features, the glow reflected
from the stream, and the dark, lofty masses
of hill and rock in the back ground, formed
a picture such as only the genius of a Byron,
or a Southey, could convey to the mind of
a reader in the language of description.
We halted at Niza for a fortnight, and
hutted in a wood near the town. Here, in a
thick well-built bower, with a bed of heath,
a large smooth slate, to serve for a table,
and a bench of cork, I lived as comfortably,
and, from the novelty, far more content-
edly, than I should have done in the best-
furnished apartments in England.
On the 7th of September we broke up
from Niza, and marched into cantonments
in Spanish Estremadura. Our route passed
by Portalegre, Elvas, Badajos, and Talavera
Real. The valley by which you approach
Portalegre is fertile and very beautiful.
Quintas, gardens, vineyards, and corn-fields,
cover the last six miles on your road to the
city, which is airy, well-built, and hand-
F
66
RECOLLECTIONS OF
somely situated on a lofty eminencé, shel-
tered to the north by mountains, planted
with vines to their very summits, and over-
looked on the south by heights, richly cloth-
ed with wood to the very edge of the grey
and broken ridges of rock which crown
them. To the eastward it commands a fine
and boundless prospect over the undulating
plains, which stretch in the direction of Ba
dajos and Elvas. We were billeted for the
night in this city, and, after dressing in a
cool, retired apartment, which opened into
a small orangery, I visited the cathedral : it
is handsome, has a fine-toned organ, and the
singing was sweet. It was the evening
service, and afterwards I heard a requiem
chaunted or sung over the grave of some de-
ceased person of rank; there was a long pro-
cession, and several monks assisted, all bear-
ing torches ; surrounding the graven stone,
under which lay the mouldering remains of
this wealthy corpse, or rather once wealthy
man, they broke forth into a fine and solemn
strain. The number of deep and powerful
bass voices, contrasted with the soft and fe-
minine tones of the youthful choristers, pro-
THE PENINSULA.
67
duced a very grand effect, far superior to
any thing ever heard in our cathedral ser-
vice. I am free, however, to confess, that
the singing of some individuals in our Eng-
lish choirs, is not easily to be surpassed;
still, we never hear that astonishing bass
which peals forth from a large assemblage
of priests and friars, and which is, at once, so
awful and so truly imposing. The light bri-
gade, under General Robert Crawford, was
quartered in Portalegre at this time. The
regiments composing it were very fine, and
in the highest possible order; they had had
the mortification of joining Lord Welling-
ton's army on the field of Talavera, the day
after the battle. I here saw the parade of
the 95th regiment, a corps as generally, as
it is justly, admired. We continued our
march the next day, halting at Arronches,
a small, unimportant town, and from thence
proceeded the following morning to a bi-
vouack under the walls of Elvas. Near
this last town two men in the column died
on the line of march, from the joint effects
of heat and fatigue. The thermometer rose,
in the course of that day, to 100 in the open-
F 2
68
RECOLLECTIONS OF
air. Elvas is a frontier town of strength,
and boasts the protection of an impregnable
out-fort (La Lippe), which is looked upon
as a chef-d'œuvre of skill in the art of forti-
fication. The hospitals of our army were
established in this town; and, in walking
through the streets, or passing the convents
appropriated to them, my eyes continually
rested on men, who had been wounded in
the late battle of Talavera. As I returned
the salutes of these gallant sufferers, I felt
my cheek glow like scarlet. What would
I not then have given, for the proud privi-
lege of being numbered with those officers,
who had commanded them in the field of
honour, and who now, their contracted
limbs supported by crutches, or their shat-
tered arms lightly suspended in black silk
handkerchiefs, were moving indolently in
the cool shade, with that contented look,
which the sensation of returning health al-
ways bestows, and here doubly interesting
from a consciousness of the noble cause,
which had stretched them on the bed of
pain. I followed a large group of them
into the shop of a Moorish sutler, called
THE PENINSULA.
69 ·
Tamet, and well known to all the British
army as the Turk. This man sold almost
every thing which could be useful to officers
on service, and was civil and liberal, far
more so than any one, in his situation, I
ever met with. Here, while making a few
purchases, I listened eagerly to the conver
sation around me. It was of a character to
me deeply interesting; for they spoke of
our political relations with Spain, of the
military character of the Spaniards, and of
the prospects of the war; but I confess I
quite blushed for their want of information
and liberality. The contempt with which
they spoke of Spanish prowess, was not
only uncharitable, but unmerited; the ge-
nerous and fearless ardour with which the
Spaniards first rushed to arms, and intre-
pidly threw down the gauntlet of defiance
to that man, before whom Italy, Austria,
Prussia, and Russia had successively bent
the knee, and yielded up the palm of vic-
tory; the heroic perseverance with which
they endured toil, privation, and defeat;
the undying resolution with which, though
daily routed, they still presented themselves
3
D
1
F 3
70
RECOLLECTIONS OF
before the victorious legions of a brave and
skilful enemy, and retired from one field, only
to offer themselves as willing victims on an-
other: the unexampled heroism with which
Zaragoza, and some other towns, were de-
fended by their inhabitants, without distinc-
tion of age or sex; all these were facts,
which ought to have been known to my
fellow-countrymen, and on the memory of
which the impartial soldier, and the good
man, will ever dwell with enthusiasm and
delight.—I had evidently been unfortunate
in the group; for, I believe, that in no
army of Europe are so many gentlemen,
and men of education and independent feel-
ing to be found, as in our own. But, the
British army must not be made responsible
for the folly and ignorance of many, who
have been too much honoured by admission
into her ranks. We must not look to all
who have fought our battles, in the vain
hope of meeting heroes; we shall find but
men.- No.-Scars and decorations can only
effectually ennoble men of virtue, of sense,
and of courage.-If, however, the romantic
illusions of a youthful and heated fancy
THE PENINSULA.
71
have been destroyed by observation and
inquiry, my attachment to the profession
of arms has not deserted me; confirmed
and happy in my choice of it, I now follow
it with more silent devotion, more rational
hopes, and less obtrusive zeal. I passed the
evening of this day under a canopy of lux-
uriant and shady vines, which stretched
their creeping stems over the trellis-work of
a covered garden-path. Here, by the side
of a well, our humble repast was spread;
the green and purple clusters hanging over
our heads, afforded us an excellent dessert;
and after drinking some fine. well-cooled
wine of Borba, I rolled myself in my cloak
and slept soundly, till, roused by drums and
bugles, I sprung up, and hastened to fall in
with the column, which was on this day to
enter Spain. After descending from Elvas,
the road to Badajos lies over a brown and
level plain, which, extending far beyond
that city, seems only bounded by the hori-
zon; though here and there in the distance,
a few blue mountains may be seen; but
these only rise like rocky islands in the
ocean, and serve rather to mark more
F 4
72
RECOLLECTIONS OF
strongly the dreary flatness, than to vary the
fatiguing prospect, or relieve the aching sight.
A shallow and nameless rivulet marks
the confines of Portugal, and, passing this
strange limit, you enter the kingdom of
Spain. A few miles beyond this, you tra-
verse the city of Badajos, in front of which
we bivouacked for the night. The town of
Badajos is fortified, and though it certainly
did not present the appearance of great
strength, its defences were afterwards so
much improved by the French, while they
held it, as to cost us in the reduction of it,
in 1812, a very heavy and murderous loss.
Many a man smiled in those days at the
insignificant appearance of its works, who
was doomed to perish in the assault, which
restored it to our arms. It is in the mar-
ket-place, and the streets of Badajos, that the
stranger soon discovers that he is among
another people, and in a separate, and, were
it not for the dust of Portugal still covering
his dress, he might almost judge, in a re-
mote kingdom.
A chain of mountains, or a spacious
channel, could hardly prepare him for a
THE PENINSULA.
73
greater change.
Features, carriage, cos-
tume, language, and manners, all proclaim
a distinct race. The style of building, too,
differs: fewer windows front the streets,
and most of these are grated with long
bars, curving outwards at the bottom. The
larger houses have a small square court
within, ornamented with a fountain, and
embellished with plants in large pots, or
frames of wood; round this court the build-
ing runs, putting forth a covered balcony,
into which the windows of the residence look.
The countenance of the Spaniard is no-
ble, his stature tall, his walk erect, his de-
portment haughty: his manner of speaking
varies greatly; it is generally grave and
solemn, but on points of deep interest and
feeling, is animated beyond expression.
There is very great variety in the costume
of Spaniards, for the natives of each pro-
vince are readily distinguished by their
dress, and, when you see an assemblage of
men from various parts of Spain, the effect
is very striking. The market-place of
Badajos, which, at the time I saw it, was
crowded with strangers, had all the
appear-
74
RECOLLECTIONS OF
ance of a picturesque and well-arranged
masquerade. The different modes of dress,
ancient, and not liable to daily changes,
are, no doubt, the same they were four
centuries ago.
The Estremaduran himself has a brown
jacket without a collar, and with sleeves,
which lace at the shoulder, so that they are
removed at pleasure. The red sash is uni-
versally worn, and a cloak is generally car-
ried on the left arm. A jacket and waist-
coat profusely ornamented with silk lace,
and buttons of silver filigree, the hair
clubbed, and tied with broad black riband,
and a neat cap of cloth, or velvet, mark
the Andalusian. The ass-driver of Cordova
is clothed in a complete dress of the tawny
brown leather of his native province.
The lemonade-seller of Valencia has a
linen shirt open at the neck, a fancy waist-
coat without sleeves, a kilt of white cotton,
white stockings rising to the calf, and san-
dals. Muleteers, with their broad body-
belts of buff leather, their capitans or train
masters, with the ancient cartridge-belts,
and the old Spanish gun, were mingled in
'THE PENINSULA.
75
these groups. Here, too, were many offi-
cers and soldiers of the patriot armies,
which, raised in haste, were not regularly
or uniformly clothed, if I except some of
the old standing force. Of these, you might
see the royal carabineer, with the cocked
hat, blue coat faced with red, and, instead
of boots, the ancient greaves, of thick hard
black leather, laced at the sides. The dra-
goon, in a uniform of yellow, black belts,
and a helmet with a cone of brass. The
royal, or Walloon guards, in their neat dress
of blue and red, with white lace: the com-
mon soldier in brown. Mingled with these
was the light-horseman in a hussar-jacket
of brown, and overalls, capped, lined, and
vandyked at the bottom with tan leather;
here, again, a peasant with the cap and
coat of a soldier, there, a soldier from Na-
varre, or Arragon, with the bare foot, and
the light hempen sandal of his country.
There was a pleasure I took in the contem-
plation of these scenes, which the deep in-
terest I felt in the fate of the unfortunate
Spaniards, very greatly enhanced. They
are people of the most primitive, and un-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
corrupted singleness of heart; a people,
whose national character is very ill under-
stood, and has been very often and very
cruelly misrepresented. Shut out from the
rest of Europe by their geographical posi-
tion, having long since ceased to be a com-
mercial people, and their country, grand
and beautiful as are its features, being little
visited, from its utter want of convenience
and accommodation for travellers, the Spa-
niards, until the late contest, had been long
lost sight of. The rays of science and of
truth, which had enlightened other nations,
shone not on wretched Spain; the institu-
tions for civil and religious liberty, which
had given new dignity and value to exist-
ence, over half Europe, were there un-
known, and the Spaniards themselves
trembled at the march of improvement, of
which they heard only, as of a spirit of
destruction, from whose wrathful, though
salutary visitations, they were happy to be
spared. Such apathy was appalling, but it
was not incurable; their energies lay dor-
mant, but were not dead. Enervated by the
conquest of America, a conquest achieved
THE PENINSULA.
77
by such high and heroic enterprize, as gives
to historical detail all the charm and the
splendour of romance, but which opened on
them the floodgates of wealth, and its at-
tendant miseries, the Spaniards neglected
to promote domestic trade, manufactures,
and husbandry. They had been a martial
people; such are usually averse to daily
labour and habitual exertion: the countries
of Europe, however, had by successful
leagues shaken their power, and circum-
scribed their means of indulging this rest-
less passion for glory. Their swords might
then have been turned into ploughshares,
and they might have become peacefully in-
dustrious and prosperously happy. They
were made, however, by the easy conquest
of New Spain, suddenly, and without effort,
wealthy, and from this misfortune they
have never yet recovered.
Let us briefly examine the common
charges now preferred against them. They
are accused of being indolent, and it is true
that they are not very laborious, for their
wants are few, and these by the fruitfulness
of their soil are readily supplied; but they
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
are not half so indolent as prejudiced tra-
vellers would pretend. It is objected, that,
in many of their provinces, there are spa-
cious tracts of land uncultivated. On en-
quiry you will find, that there is no water
to assist in fertilizing many of these deserts,
while others have been set apart as public
sheep walks, by the authority of the govern-
ment, for whose impolicy in sanctioning so
absurd a custom, the wretched and power-
less inhabitants must not be condemned.
If, however, an appearance of cultivation is
the true criterion of industry, in many of
their mountainous districts, well supplied
with water, we see vines and fruit trees on
the steepest cliffs, and corn produced in
small plots of ground, on the summits of
precipitous and rocky mountains, inaccessi-
ble save to the active goat, and the labo-
rious peasant.
The Spaniards are often despised for their
ignorance. It is true, that, in the philoso-
phy of nature and metaphysical inquiry,
they are far behind most other nations in
Europe; but, in such principles of moral
ethics, as should regulate human conduct,
น
THE PENINSULA.
79
they are well versed, and their practice
keeps pace with their knowledge. On such
subjects they have a dignified and forceful
eloquence, which would confound the mere
scholar. Unpractised in schools, and little
acquainted with books, experience, and ob-
servation form them, and they can boast of
solid characters, and sound judgments.
The Spaniards are reproached with being
very superstitious; and they are so. But
superstition is not always the parent of
crime. Those who would attribute to a
willing and consenting nation, the establish-
ment of that merciless tribunal, the Inquisi-
tion, greatly err; that barbarous institution
originated in the wicked and detestable
policy of cruel rulers and crafty ecclesias-
tics, who built up their iniquitous power
upon the piety, reverence, and zeal of a de-
vout and enthusiastic people.
The Spaniards, blessed with a fertile
imagination and a lively fancy, are exalted,
consoled, or awed, by the strange creations
and idols of their subject minds. The arm
is nerved with tenfold vigour, the heart
steeled with tenfold courage, the tear of
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affliction is dried, or the commission of
crime averted by feelings of irresistible in-
fluence, the offspring of holy superstition.
In a country where the laws are ill adminis-
tered, this authority of conscience rules the
heart of each individual, and with such suc-
cess, that I do not hesitate to say, I think
there are fewer atrocious crimes committed
in Spain, than in the British islands: there is
more manslaughter, but less murder, less
deliberate assassination. There are bands
of robbers in their mountain-passes, and
their extensive forests, but there are fewer
villains in their towns and villages, and
crimes are rarely heard of in the peaceful
bosom of their inoffensive societies. The
Spaniards are hospitable and generous, and
unaffectedly so: they are good fathers, and
husbands, humane, and considerate masters
of families. They are patriotic and brave,
temperate and honest. I am here speaking
of the mass of the Spanish people, of her
citizens, her yeomen, and her peasantry, not
of the nobler and more wealthy classes; for
among these, alas! many examples of de-
generacy are to be found. Some of these
•
THE PENINSULA.
81
have lost all, which made the Spaniard
respectable, without acquiring that which
has given the more polished and enlight-
ened inhabitants of other countries their ad-
mitted superiority. For myself, I look for-
ward eagerly to that moment, when forced,
by the loss of her American colonies, to
examine her resources at home, and to learn
the true value of her possessions in the
Peninsula, Spain shall, once more, exhibit
herself in greatness and in glory to asto-
nished Europe; when she will forget her
ancient maxim, that it is wiser to bear with
the failings of kings, than to punish them ;
when she will have firmness enough to
represent her grievances, and resolution
enough to insist on their redress-when
she will abolish the impious and hellish
powers of the Inquisition, and secure to
herself liberty without licentiousness, and
religion without persecution.
: These observations may seem perhaps
misplaced. It may be so: but I do not
follow the order either of a traveller or nar-
rator. My travels and campaigns are over,
and I am rather mingling past and pre-
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sent reflections, than confining myself to
the ordinary detail of first sights and first
impressions.
I wandered about the town for some
hours, and walked in the evening on their
alameda, or promenade. Here I saw seve-
ral fine and beautiful women. The dress of
the Spanish lady is remarkably elegant,
and generally adorns a very perfect shape.
Black is the universal colour, and the robe
is most tastefully worked and vandyked. A
mantilla, or veil of black silk or lace, and
sometimes of white lace, is thrown over the
head, and, leaving the face uncovered, falls
gracefully over the shoulders, and is con-
fined at the waist by the arms of the wearer.
They are both expensive and particular in
dressing their feet with neatness, and their
little shoes fit closely. The large black
eye, the dark expressive glance, the soft
blood-tinged olive of the glowing com-
plexion, make the unwilling Englishman
confess the majesty of Spanish beauty, and
he feels that though the soft blue eye, and
delicate loveliness of his own country women
awaken more tender feelings of interest,
:
THE PENINSULA..
83
he would deny, or dispute in vain, the com-
manding superiority of these dark-eyed and
fine-formed damsels. The gentlemen and
noblemen who walked with them had no-
thing striking in their appearance: the
cocked hat was universally worn, and their
dress, in other respects, resembled that
which the French wore some thirty years
ago. I turned with much satisfaction to a
group of English officers then passing, who
were all fine-looking young men ; and I ob-
served several Spaniards of the middling
and lower classes (the true and proper sam-
ples of that people), drawing comparisons
between them and their own degenerate
hidalgos, very greatly to the advantage of
my countrymen.
I left the town highly gratified with all I
had seen and heard, yet somewhat disap-
pointed that I had not, with all my watch-
ing and loitering near his quarters, succeed-
ed in catching one glance at Wellington,
whom at that time I had never seen. My
comrades had again found a garden near
the bivouack; and after a very delightful
evening I lay down on a mat, spread for me
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
by one of the gardeners, without even a
cloak, and composed myself to sleep. Such
is the climate of Spain.
We reached Torre Major, the village al-
lotted to our brigade, in two days, passing
through and bivouacking for the night near
Talavera. Some regiments of the division
Hill, to which our brigade was attached,
lay at Montijo, a town in our route, about
four miles from Torre Major; among others
the twenty-ninth regiment. It was the
first corps distinguished for its services,
which I had ever seen under arms. Nothing
could possibly be worse than their clothing ;
it had become necessary to patch it; and
as red cloth could not be procured, grey,
white, and even brown had been used: yet,
under this striking disadvantage, they could
not be viewed by a soldier without admir-
ation. The perfect order and cleanliness
of their arms and appointments, their steadi-
ness on parade, their erect carriage, and
their firm and free marching, exceeded any
thing of the kind which I had ever seen.
No corps of any army or nation, which I
have since had an opportunity of seeing,
THE PENINSULA.
85
has come nearer to my idea of what a
regiment of infantry should be, than the old
twenty-ninth.
Our village was a collection of mud cot-
tages, not a tree near it, and looked, as we
approached, poor and mean: we were, how-
ever, very agreeably surprised on entering
it. The dwelling of the Spanish peasant is
very clean, and owing to the extreme thick-
ness of the walls, and the smallness of the
windows, delightfully cool. I got a com-
fortable little room, with a good bed, two or
three of the little low chairs, and the small
low table of the country.
The poorer
Spaniards sit very low, and their food is
spread on a table still lower, a custom very
ancient and very inconvenient. I however
thought myself in high luck to be lord of
this little sanctum, and generally retired to
rest too much fatigued to find fault with my
thick hard mattress, and my coarse though
white sheets.
The life of the Spanish villager is simple,
and not without its pleasures. He rises
early, and after mass goes forth to labour: a
bit of dry bread and a few grapes, or a slice
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In
of the water-melon supply his breakfast: a
plain dish of vegetables, generally a sort of
bean, boiled with the smallest morsel of
bacon to flavour it, forms the dinner; and
their drink is water, or the weak common
wine of the country. They invariably, whe-
ther in their houses or in the fields, take
their siesta after dinner, and proceed again
to labour in the cool of the evening.
the front of their cottages you may almost
always see low benches of stone: on these,
after supper, they seat themselves to smoke
their segars; and here, surrounded by their
families, they frequently remain till a late
hour, enjoying the refreshing air of night,
and all the luxury of that calm and lovely
season, so grateful and reviving in their
warm climate.
How often have I stood apart and gazed
on these happy groups, how often have I
listened to their pleasing ditties, the pauses
and cadences of which they mark so feel-
ingly, yet so simply, with the light guitar!
Oftentimes too, when the moon shines
brightly, their youth will meet together,
and by that soft light, dance to the cheerful
THE PENINSULA.
87
sound of the merry castanets, the rude but
sprightly fandango, or the more graceful
bolero of their country. What is there to
despise or ridicule in a life like this? Yet
I have often met among my countrymen,
with those who would laugh with contempt
at the innocent, and not irrational, amuse-
ments of this contented peasantry.
Some of their customs in husbandry are
very ancient, among others, the treading
out of their corn with cattle, instead of
threshing it. This is all done in the open
air, where the grain is afterwards spread to
dry and harden; oxen or mares are used
for this purpose, and you may see five or
six at a time trotting round in a circle, upon
the out-spread wheat in straw. This prac-
tice obtained in the very earliest ages of the
world, and one cannot therefore look upon
it, without awakening in the mind, by the
natural laws of suggestion, a train of the
most interesting recollections.
I made an excursion from our canton-
ment in this village to the town of Merida,
a place of some note, situated on the Gua-
diana, about four leagues in front of us.
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Myself, a friend, and an acquaintance from
another corps, who has long since been
numbered with the slain, set off at an early
hour, and after a pleasant ride of two hours,
reached Merida. We procured a billet for
the day, as a place of retreat, and imme-
diately after breakfast, though the mid-day
heat was scorching and oppressive, walked
forth to see those monuments of antiquity
for which Merida is so deservedly cele-
brated among well-informed Spaniards, but
of which I never even heard or read, till ac-
cidentally cantoned in Estremadura. This
city was founded by Augustus, and the
lands around it were granted by him to the
veterans of some disbanded cohorts, who
had long and faithfully served the empire.
On entering Merida, you pass the Gua-
diana by a handsome stone bridge * of Ro-
man architecture, and in the highest state
* This bridge has sixty-four arches, and is one thou-
sand yards in length; the antiquary will learn with sorrow,
that two arches of this old bridge were, in the spring of
1812, blown up by the British, in the course of their
military operations in the province of Estremadura.
THE PENINSULA.
89
of preservation; above it, on ground the
most elevated in the city, stands a Roman
castle*, the venerable walls of which,
though rough and discoloured, or rather
coloured by the touch of time, appear se-
cure and undecayed. These antiquities of
themselves would have well rewarded our
visit, for the design of them had probably
been given by some celebrated Roman
architect eighteen centuries before; and
conquered Spaniards, from whose hands the
shield and the sword so long, but so vainly,
opposed to their invaders, had been reluct-
antly dropped, were employed, perhaps, in
raising these monuments of the greatness,
the power, and the genius of their victors.
Such was the policy of the Romans; they
always thus, by the erection of public works
of magnificence and utility, while they re-
corded their own triumphs, gilt over the
very chains they imposed, and made their
provincial subjects feel proud even of de-
pendency. Merida had its amphitheatre, its
* This castle was of great extent, the centre area
being two hundred yards square.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
naumachia, its baths, its triumphal arches,
its temples and votive altars.
In a plain near the city are very grand
and striking remains of the amphitheatre.*
Its form, except in height, is still preserved ;
the seats appear quite perfect; the vaulted
dens where the beasts were confined, and
which open on the arena, are uninjured, and
their arched roofs are strong as ever; the
whole building is of stone, and the Roman
cement used in its construction, is as hard,
and seems to have been as durable, as the
stone itself. Not very distant, you distinctly
trace the naumachia †; and the low stone
channel or conductor, by which the hollow
space or basin was filled with water, may
still be seen.
Crowded on the seats of this
amphitheatre, or pressing round the sides
* This amphitheatre has two tiers of seats, seven rows
in the lower, five in the upper. Its diameter is fifty
paces, and it is capable of holding with ease more than
two thousand spectators.
+ The basin of this naumachia is one hundred paces
by sixty, its form oval, its depth twenty feet in the centre,
and the banks for the spectators rise about twenty feet
above its sides.
THE PENINSULA.
91
of the naumachia, you may still fancy the
haughty legionaries, and the wondering
Spaniards, gazing on the magnificent exhi-
bitions of those splendid ages.
As you pass from this scene towards the
town, you are struck by the lofty and pic-
turesque ruins of two aqueducts *, one
erected by the Romans, the other built by
the Moors. I defy any man, of common
education and feeling, to look upon such
memorials of other days, unmoved.
I wandered from my companions, and
seating myself under the shade of the first,
fell into a train of thought, at once solemn
and delightful. Here, on this very spot,
had the Roman eagle been displayed in the
day of its pride and glory; here, Roman
knights and soldiers, men born perhaps on
the banks of the Tiber, and educated in
imperial Rome, whose familiar language
was that in which a Cicero wrote, and a
Virgil sung, and who had served and fought
* The Roman aqueduct has three tiers of arches, the
Moorish only two.
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1
in Greece and Asia, laid down their helm
and cuirass, and claimed their hardly-earned
reward.
Over the same plain had the rude and
unlettered Goths moved as conquerors, till
in turn the haughty and glittering crescent
rose o'er their drooping banner, and count-
less Moors, known by their snowy turbans,
and silken vests, borne on the fleet coursers
of Africa, and brandishing their curved
falchions in all the insolence of triumph,
rode shouting to those walls which an Au-
gustus had built, and over which a Trajan
had once held sway.
There is something infinitely affecting in
having such scenes forced upon our imagin-
ations by the presence of monuments,
which, though crumbling before the cease-
less and consuming power of time, have yet
survived, for so many centuries, the perish-
able hands of the mortals who raised them.
There is a pleasure too, though it is not
perhaps a Christian one: we are gratified,
when reflecting on the shortness, uncer-
tainty, and obscurity of our own lives, to
mark the silent triumph of time, alike
THE PENINSULA.
93
""
desolating and
In one of the
"o'er all that has been, o'er all that is
for the very wrecks of antiquity, still
scattered over the earth, serve but to
proclaim, more sadly, the
enduring tyranny of time.
streets of Merida may be seen a large and
lofty arch*, said to be a triumphal one,
erected in honour of Trajan. It bears, how-
ever, no inscription, nor is it in any way
adorned with sculpture or relief; it has,
nevertheless, the true Roman character; it
is handsome in its proportions, and solid
in its construction: very large massive
stones, arranged with the most just and
admirable skill, and put together without
cement, compose this still perfect work.
In another part of the city three votive
altars have been raised one above the other,
and form a sort of pillar, on the top of
which, some good and devout fathers have
very provokingly placed the clumsy image
of a saint. Strange revolution! that altars
sculptured and adorned by the hands of
* This arch is fifty feet in height, and the base and
sides of it are exceedingly thick.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
heathens and idolaters, should now form
a column to elevate a statue for Christian
adoration.
Near this place two small chapels have
been built out of the materials, and upon
the sites, of Roman temples; one of these,
now dedicated to the Virgin, has the fol-
lowing inscription in large Roman charac-
ters, immediately above the entrance:
"Marti Sacrum."
The baths are surprisingly perfect, but
not large, though they have evidently been
very handsome. You descend to them by
a long flight of stone steps; the subterra-
neous chambers are gloomy, and not spa-
cious, but extremely cool; the basins still
contain water, supplied by some spring,
but they are foul from neglect and disuse.
These bathing rooms are lighted from the
top of the building, which just above the
water is open; a cornice runs round these
rooms, most curiously and delicately finish-
ed, and the vine leaves and bunches of
grapes, thus represented, appear as perfect
as if they had not been executed many
years. There are, doubtless, more vestiges
THE PENINSULA.
95
of Roman sculpture and masonry scat-
tered and lost in the materials with which
several of the private houses in and about
Merida have been erected; and the found-
ation of many an old building, and the
bed of many a garden, would well reward
the search and labour of an antiquary.
The remains which I have noticed, are all
that the eager traveller can now discover;
they are, however, sufficient in number, and
interesting enough in character, to throw
a sacred and indescribable charm around
this small but venerable city.
In our billet, whither we returned to
dinner, we found our patrona not a little
fidgety and anxious at the idea of our having
passed the hottest hours of the day ex-
posed to the burning rays of the sun; the
Spaniards themselves are very cautious in
this particular, and usually shut up their
windows, and confine themselves to their
houses, if not to their beds, during the op-
pressive heat of noon. This good lady was
civil and full of conversation: she had two
daughters, one of whom, the youngest, a
girl of about seventeen, was, without any
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
exception, the most lovely, the most beau-
tiful woman I saw while in Spain. To a
very perfect form, she added a most fault-
less and most expressive countenance:
never shall I forget her graceful, elegant
movements, and the natural, yet chastened
animation with which she spoke. I have
never seen her since the moment that
we mounted our horses to return ; she
leaned gracefully over the balcony, and
kissed her hand to us as we rode off, wish-
ing us success and honour in war, with all
that noble enthusiasm which stamps the
Spanish heroine. In the course of our
conversation, she had expressed herself
warmly about the profession of arms,
saying repeatedly, that she would accept
the hand of no man who had not fought
for his country, and who was not a true
Spaniard. Was Spain a country to be
subdued, when such was the spirit of her
daughters ?
As we passed out of the town, we saw
several officers, men, and horses of the
heavy brigade of British cavalry, stationed
there. The cattle were in wretched con-
THE PENINSULA.
97
dition, and the men looked sickly. Both
officers and privates were very ill dressed,
and their brown and shapeless hats had a
most unmilitary appearance. Whoever had
seen these regiments in England; in pale,
sallow-looking men, and skeleton horses,
would hardly have recognized the third
Dragoon Guards and fourth Dragoons, two
corps enjoying, and deservedly, a well-
earned name. Thus, oftentimes, on actual
service, vanishes all that brilliancy which
has won the heart and fixed the choice of
so many a youth, and which appeared so
gay and attractive on crowded esplanades
at home.
We pursued our way, for a few miles,
slowly and silently, for we had too much
food for reflection to feel even the wish to
talk. Our day had been one of too de-
lightful a character to often recur, and
bright enough to counterbalance weeks of
fatigue and inconvenience. As the shades
of night closed in upon us, we, by accident,
left our track, and, at length, wholly lost
our way. After wandering for some time,
we descried a fire on the plain, at a con-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
siderable distance, and made towards it.
Three shepherds were standing near it, and
restraining, with difficulty, two enormous
wolf-dogs, whom our approach had alarmed
and irritated. The appearance of this
group was singularly picturesque, and would
have made a fine subject for a painting.
The shepherds of these immense plains
wear an upper dress of sheepskin, with the
woolly side outwards, which covers the
breast and back, and protects the thighs.
These are made of white or black skin, as
it may be; two of the present party had
white, the other black; two of them were
armed with long Spanish guns, for the
protection of their flocks, and the other had
the ancient crook. Their dogs were of a
dun or mouse-colour, smooth-haired, par-
taking, in the form of their heads, both of
the bull and mastiff, and both taller, and
every way larger than any I ever saw in
England. We had disturbed the whole
party, and their looks of surprise and in-
quiry, together with the fierce and eager
attitude of their dogs, not a little increased
the effect. One of them, good-naturedly,
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99
came a few hundred yards with us, to set
us in the right road; and, finding it late,
we spurred quickly home, well pleased with
all our adventures, not excepting that, which
had arisen from our losing our way, and
delayed our return.
The autumnal season, in Estremadura,
is proverbially unhealthy, and numbers of
the inhabitants die annually of the alarming
fever which prevails in the dreaded month
of September. The unwholesome vapours,
which arise from the beds of the many
stagnant pools scattered over the surface
of these plains, and always dried up by the
summer heats, are said to produce this evil.
Be this as it may, towards the end of Sep-
tember, this insidious and resistless enemy
found his way into our tranquil quarters,
crowded our hospitals with sick, and filled
the chapel vaults with victims, over whom
we gloomily and sullenly mourned. We
would have resigned them in the field of
battle, perhaps, with a sigh, yet not without
some proud feeling of consolation ; but
here, to see the cheek blanched, and the
arm unnerved by disease, was a constant
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100
RECOLLECTIONS OF
source of affliction and despondency. There
is nothing about which Englishmen are so
generally incredulous, or to which they ap-
pear so indifferent, as any report touching
the danger of a season or a climate, and
the approach of sickness and mortality;
for this very reason, when once an alarming
disease appears among them, they are over-
come with surprise, they lose all elasticity
of spirit, hope forsakes them, and they sink
unresistingly to the grave. This does not
proceed altogether from weakness of cha-
racter; on the bed of sickness, the English
soldier thinks more seriously of death, and
his accountability hereafter, than perhaps
any other, if we except the Protestant
soldiers of the north of Germany. The
inhabitants of the south of Europe, and
the men who compose the mass of the
continental armies, are, for the most
part, members of the Roman or Greek
church; and, certain it is, that on the bed
of death all of these religious persuasions
do appear to entertain a confidence of
salvation, which, to the sober-minded and
humble Protestant, however, innocent and
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101
happy a feeling, seems mistaken, if not pre-
sumptuous. Strong in youth and health,
and of a sanguine disposition, I took my
daily exercise, under a burning sun, with
very little apprehension. Sometimes, in-
deed, the passing corpse, and the painful
sight of its destruction in the vault, would
give a momentary chill to my blood. A
very few hours after death, the Spaniards,
in that province, are carried to the chapel,
cast into the vault, their bodies immediately
broken with staves, quick lime thrown upon
them, and they are soon utterly consumed.
This is well-as it should be, I believe;
and, in a hot climate, a most necessary pre-
caution against the danger of infection;
but to us, accustomed as we were to a
decent interment, and a closed coffin, the
practice was, at first, revolting. On the
fourth of October, our division, commanded
by General Hill, was reviewed on the plain
near Montigo, by Lord Wellington. We
had a league to march to the ground, and
were kept under arms a considerable time
before his Lordship arrived. I was in the
highest possible spirits, eager to behold the
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102
RECOLLECTIONS OF
hero, and as he passed very slowly down
the line, observing the men with a keen
scrutinizing look, I had the fullest oppor-
tunity for indulging my curiosity. I was
much struck with his countenance; and, in
his quick-glancing eye, prominent nose, and
pressed lip, saw, very distinctly marked, the
ready presence of mind, and imperturbable
decision of character, so essential in a leader,
and by which the name of this great com-
mander has been rendered so deservedly
illustrious. I returned home after the re-
view, passed a most cheerful evening, could
talk of nothing but war and Wellington
was that night stretched on the bed of sick-
ness, and, in a few days, lay at the very
point of death. Youth, an excellent con-
stitution, and high hopeful spirits, enabled
me to rally, and in three weeks I was pro-
nounced convalescent. The old woman of
my house, who had passed many an hour,
during my illness, before the small shrine
of the saint that adorned her bed-room, and
had put up daily prayers for the health and
conversion of the young heretic, was highly
delighted, and considered my recovery as a
THE PENINSULA.
103
miraculous proof of her saint's power, and
a gratifying one of her own worthiness.
For myself, during the whole time, I had
been supported by an internal feeling of
the most cheerful confidence; and antici-
pating both honour as a soldier, and intel-
lectual pleasure as a traveller, in my pro-
spective service, I was unwilling to believe
that I could be cut off before I had tasted
of the former, or half-satisfied my thirsting
curiosity. Neither is the sick-bed of a sol-
dier lonely or deserted. It is true, the
anxious care and tender offices of a mother,
and the affectionate solicitude of a sister,
are wanting. Those comforts, which at
home are sure to be provided for the
chamber of an invalid, are wanting.
here, some warm-hearted friend will smooth
the pillow for your feverish head; will
speak to you in the manly yet feeling lan-
guage of encouragement; will procure, and
often prepare for you some delicacy; and,
in the dark and silent hour of evening, will
sit quietly by your side, consoling you by
affectionate pressures of the hand, for pain
and suffering, and watching anxiously that
Yet
H 4
104
RECOLLECTIONS OF
nothing may interrupt or scare your need-
ful slumbers. Yes, - such a picture is not
romantic; in civil life, men have homes,
parents, wives, children, brothers, sisters;
but in the profession of arms they become
dependent upon friends. Nowhere is friend-
ship more true, more warm, more exalted,
than in the army; absence from the mother-
country, privation, peril, the pursuit and
attainment of honour, are so many ties
which bind soul to soul, in bonds bright
and indestructible. Although out of im-
mediate danger and convalescent, it was
thought prudent that I should change the
air, and I was ordered, by the staff-surgeon,
to Elvas. My colonel, who was also a great
invalid, and was going to appear before a
medical board at Badajos, took me with
him. This board, consisting of physicians.
to the forces, now changed my destination
for Lisbon; telling me that Elvas would
have proved my grave, and that the staff-
surgeon was highly censurable for having
so inconsiderately disposed of me. I had
journeyed from Torre Major to Badajos on
a bullock-car, occasionally relieving myself.
THE PENINSULA.
105
by mounting a led horse of the colonel's,
who rode himself by my side. From Ba-
dajos to Elvas we went in a cabriolet; and
from thence I had suffered so much by the
motion, both of the car and carriage, that
I made an effort to proceed on horseback.
The accommodation which we met with on
two, out of the five nights we passed on
the road, is worthy of mention.
It was rather advanced in the day when
we left Elvas, proposing to sleep at Estre-
mos, a town about six leagues distant.
From my extreme debility, however, I was
unable to ride at such a pace as would have
ensured the accomplishment of our journey
before nightfall.
At the distance of two leagues from Es-
tremos, the sun set with the most threaten-
ing appearances. A sky heavily overcast;
a breathless, yet speaking stillness around
us; far off, amid the southern hills, a low
muttering sound, that faintly reached us;
all foretold a violent autumnal storm.
ing both invalids, we felt not a little anxious
about shelter, and spurred forward, but
strength was denied me, and I fell on the
Be-
1.
106
RECOLLECTIONS OF
neck of my horse, nearly fainting: the
colonel would not leave me, and bidding
me recline on my saddle, made his groom
lead my animal by the bridle. Here you
may frequently travel from one town to
another without passing a village, a coun-
try-house, a cottage, or indeed a human
being. No clean ale-house as in Eng-
land; no rustic auberge as in France, in-
vites you to refreshment and repose. If
you are benighted, and the weather be fine,
you must betake yourself to the first tree:
if it be stormy,, and you have no baggage
or conveniences for encamping, you must
wander on. Luckily, however, for us, we
espied a light at some distance from the road,
and made towards it. It proceeded from
a solitary cottage; and a woman, who an-
swered to our knocks, expressed her wil-
lingness to receive us.
Wretched as was
her appearance, I never saw more cordial,
more fearless hospitality: she heaped up
her little fire, killed, and stewed for us two
out of the few chickens she had, spread for
us two straw mattresses near the hearth,
and regarded us the while with looks of the
THE PENINSULA.
107
Seated on a
most benevolent pleasure.
rude bench of cork, near this cottage fire,
I thankfully partook of the repast she pre-
pared; and while the thunder burst in
peals the most loud and awful over our
heads, and the pouring rain beat rudely on
her humble dwelling, with a heartfelt sens-
ation of gratitude I composed myself to
rest.
Comfort is ever comparative; and, after
all, if his wishes be moderate, how little
does man require! Sick, hungry, and ex-
hausted, I wanted shelter, food, and repose:
I enjoyed all these blessings; the storm
raged without, but not a raindrop fell on
me. I never ate with a keener relish, I
never passed a night in more sweet or re-
freshing slumbers. Yet where, let me ask,
was the hotel in England which, in the
caprice of sickness, would have satisfied
all my wants and wishes? When we rose
with the morning to depart, our good host-
ess was resolute in refusing any remuner-
ation, though the wretched appearance of
her hovel, and the rags on her children,
bespoke the extreme of poverty. "No,"
108
RECOLLECTIONS OF
said she; "the saints guided you to my
threshold, and I thank them. My husband,
too, was journeying yesterday; perhaps last
night, amid that thunder-storm, he also
knocked at some Christian's door, and
found shelter."
We caught one of the children outside,
and forcing some dollars into its little
hands, mounted, and rode off. I shall
never forget that night, or that speech;
and no sermon on the charities of life
could be more instructive.
At Estremos I was obliged to give up
all
idea of riding farther, and was borne the
rest of my journey on a creaking bullock-
car.
We stopped for one night at a com-
mon posada, about five leagues from Aldea
Gallega, the town where, in travelling down
by this route, you generally embark on the
Tagus, and cross to Lisbon. This posada is
a building, in size and appearance not much
unlike an English barn. It is very simply
divided. Below is stabling for fifty or sixty
mules or more; and at the farthest extre-
mity, without any partition between it and
the space allotted to the animals, is the
THE PENINSula.
109
kitchen. Above is a large loft, with one or
two corners boarded off, dignified with the
name of chambers, and furnished with dirty
mattresses and iron lamps. The stable was
filled with mules, the kitchen with mule-
teers, and the loft with vermin; yet herė,
for want of better accommodation, were we
compelled to pass the night; I need hardly
add, it was a sleepless one. People of any
rank or condition in life, both in Spain and
Portugal, when necessitated to make jour-
neys, always lodge in private houses, to
which they gain admittance, either by re-
gular billets, recommendations, or by hiring
chambers for the night. These posadas, of
which I speak, are seldom resorted to by
any but muleteers; for whose accommod-
ation, and to more equally divide the jour-
neys of their trains, we often find them built
in spots two or three leagues from any town
or village.
The life of the muleteer is very hardy,
and pretty much the same in all parts of
the Peninsula. He is exposed to all wea-
thers, for he is ever on the road. Each in-
dividual has the charge of three or four
110
RECOLLECTIONS OF
mules; and the labour of loading and un-
loading them daily, and foraging for them,
is not trifling. The food of the muleteer is
coarse; a large dish of chick-pease, boiled
with a morsel of pork; a sausage, or some
dry salt fish, fried in strong oil, are his most
common and favourite dishes. He drinks
more than the Spanish peasant, and gene-
rally carries a large leathern bottle or bag,
filled with wine. He never undresses at
night, but sleeps either in the stable with
his mules, or on the floor of the kitchen;
indeed, in the summer, more generally in
the open air, for he often bivouacks. In
all places, a pack-saddle is his pillow, and
a mule-cloth his coverlet. He is an honest,
good-tempered, cheerful creature, and you
almost always hear him singing on the road.
A train of mules is seldom less than fifty;
but it is not uncommon to meet two or
three trains, or more, travelling the same
road, and laden with the same merchan-
dise. Each train has its captain or leader,
who is invariably a trust-worthy man of the
best character.
Two days after my arrival in Lisbon, I
THE PENINSULA.
111
suffered a severe relapse, and was for six
weeks confined to my bed, during one of
which my life was altogether despaired of.
To nature, and a most careful attendant, I
was indebted for that favourable change,
which medicine had in vain laboured to
produce. This attendant, a valuable pri-
vate servant of my colonel's, was placed
over me by him, with orders never to leave
me till I died or recovered: though himself
a delicate invalid, he had resigned what he
most wanted to my service. Such kindness
I can never forget; and life, preserved to
me by such generous friendship, became an
increased blessing.
To feel yourself daily regaining health and
strength is, under all circumstances, delight-
ful. At Lisbon, the period of my conva-
lescence glided away with the most pleasing
rapidity. I dined daily in a most. agreeable
society; I passed my mornings in studying
the Portuguese and Spanish languages; and
oftentimes of an evening, muffled up as an
invalid, I stole, in a cabriolet, to the theatre
of San Carlos, or to the Opera Buffa, and
enjoyed the sweet music of Portugallo, and
112
RECOLLECTIONS OF
the pleasing voices and admirable acting of
Vaccani and Scarameli.
Lisbon too, at the beginning of the year
1810, independent of its usual gaiety as a
metropolis and a large commercial city, pre-
sented a novel and interesting spectacle.
The note of preparation had already sound-
ed, and it was well known that the invasion
of Portugal, a measure long and avowedly
contemplated by France, could not be far
distant. The French armies, victorious in
the field of Ocaña, had burst through the
vaunted defiles of the Sierra Morena, en-
tered Seville, Cordova, Jaen, and Grenada,
without resistance, and two corps were ac-
tually blockading Cadiz, the last and only
refuge of the patriot government. The
most active operations were carrying on in
Catalonia by Suchet; and troops from the
corps of Ney, then stationed between the
Tormes and the Douro, were marched
against Leon and Asturias, with a view to
the complete and secure reduction of those
important provinces. It was plain, how-
ever, that though the armies of France,
aided by skill, courage, and discipline, could
THE PENINSULA.
113
噂
​march triumphantly from the Pyrenees to
the Pillars of Hercules; and though they
held the capital for the Usurper, and over-
awed both the Castiles; still it was plain,
that they could never hope effectually to
subdue Spain, or even to retain possession
of it, until they had subjugated Portugal,
and driven out British soldiers from her
camps, and British influence from her cabi-
net. The clouds were already gathering,
and the storm was distinctly foretold: sub-
mitting themselves to the able guidance
and prudent counsels of their faithful, and
more experienced allies, the Portuguese
manfully girded their loins for the contest,
and resolved bravely to abide the issue of a
struggle. The discipline of their army was
daily improving. The uncommon exer-
tions of Marshal Beresford, and the British
officers under him, were rewarded by the
praises of all who witnessed the miraculous
change in the appearance, movement, and
general conduct of the soldiers committed
to their charge. The old, incorrigibly in-
dolent, and useless Portuguese officers were
I
114
RECOLLECTIONS OF
The
placed on the retired list, and their com-
missions were given to young men, full of
zeal, willing to learn, and able to discharge
the active duties required of them.
streets of Lisbon glittered with uniforms;
the shop-windows of all the embroiderers
furnished a grand display of military orna-
ments. The magazines of the gunsmiths
and the sword-cutlers were constantly filled
with customers: even the peaceful mer-
chants formed themselves into corps, and
volunteered to perform the duties of the
garrison. These corps, both horse and foot,
were most handsomely clothed and appoint-
ed; their cavalry wore hussar-jackets of
brown, covered with gold lace, and were,
generally speaking, well mounted. The
commercial regiment of infantry furnished
a grand guard, daily, near the exchange. I
often attended the parading and mounting
of their duties, all which was conducted in
the most orderly and soldier-like manner.
Their band was excellent; it was composed
entirely of professed musicians, and they
were all masters of the instruments on
}
THE PENINSULA.
115
which they performed. I have had the
good fortune to hear many very fine bands;
never any, however, superior to this.
There were, as may be supposed, in the
ranks of these commercial corps, many awk-
ward and uncouth figures; but any dispo-
sition to smile at them was immediately
repressed by the reflection that they might,
perhaps, in the hour of approaching peril,
be called upon to prove the sincerity of
their patriotism, and the nature of their re-
spect for those sacred obligations, which a
voluntary drawing of the sword had imposed
on them.
About the close of the month of March,
being perfectly restored to health, I rejoined
my regiment. The corps of General Hill,
to which it was attached, lay at this time
distributed in cantonments in the province
of Alemtejo. The General's head-quarters
were established at Portalegre, in which
city two brigades and a half of the second
division of infantry were quartered. My
regiment lay detached in Alegrete, a small
town, most romantically situated, in a wild
and picturesque country, about three leagues
I 2
116
RECOLLECTIONS OF
from Portalegre, in the direction of Albu-
querque. My journey to the
to the army had
quite the character of an excursion for
pleasure. We had a small agreeable party,
all convalescents from sickness; and having
benefited a little by experience, we carried
with us many little comforts and conveni-
ences we had the last year neglected or
despised. We proceeded up the Tagus
by water to Abrantes, sleeping every night
in some town or village on the banks of
the river; and from Abrantes, we, in four
days, reached our destination. The soft
season of the year, the mild balmy air, the
rich verdure, and the various fruit-trees,
clothed in their beauteous blossoms, all
contributed to beguile any sense of fatigue;
and I seemed, on the day of my arrival, to
have made no exertion since I left Lisbon.
Alas! when I came again to stand on the
parade, for how many a face did my eye in-
quire in vain ! —in the space of four short
months, my regiment had buried nearly
three hundred men, all in the prime of life,
and vigour of their manhood. They had
all fallen victims to the sickly season, in
THE PENINSULA.
117
;
Spanish Estremadura. The officers of the
army had not suffered in proportion to the
men, as they were enabled to live more ge-
nerously; for, at that time, wine and spirits
were never issued regularly to the soldiers
and the wine, which was occasionally pro-
cured for them, was very indifferent. There
was, moreover, a very great scarcity of bark
in the regimental hospitals, and numbers
perished for the want of it. Some
Some power-
ful reason of a political or military nature,
doubtless, caused Lord Wellington to oc-
cupy and maintain a position, which proved
so cruelly fatal to the health and efficiency
of his small army.
April, May, and June, we remained sta-
tionary: once, indeed, we broke up, and
bivouacked for a couple of nights about two
leagues in advance, in consequence of some
slight demonstration made by a moveable
column belonging to the corps d'armée of
Regnier, then commanding in Spanish
Estremadura, but, the enemy retiring, we
returned to our tranquil quarters. There is
not a rock, a mountain, a stream, an orange
garden, a chapel, a shrine, or a cross near
I 3
118
RECOLLECTIONS OF
Alegrete, but I know and recollect, and can
recall them all. At this very moment that
I am writing, at the distance of nearly seven
years, I can summon before me the fort, the
church, the square, the old priest, the pea-
sants, their wives, their children. We had
become quite domesticated among them;
they liked our men, and they were both
kind and respectful to the officers. Fond
of passing my mornings alone, each day I
took my solitary ride or ramble; a practice
I think delightful; and which, I find, makes
me doubly enjoy society and conversation
in the evening.
How strongly does the mind attach itself
to any spot, where it has daily resorted to
give fancy the rein, and suffered her to
range undisturbed through the paths of her
own fair creation! The trees and shrubs
are as tender-hearted friends, who have be-
come acquainted with your weakness, but
care not to expose it. In one of my walks,
here, after wandering along the rude and
pathless banks of a clear mountain stream,
which now leaped, now run, now rippled,
now smoothly flowed along its ever-varying
THE PENINSULA.
119
bed, I arrived at a small, romantic chapel,
such a one as you often find in the Penin-
sula, a league or more from any human ha-
bitation. In the shade, near the door, I
observed a small basket, apparently filled
only with the most beautiful flowers; I ap-
proached to take one; when, stooping, I
beheld a lovely infant, about a year old; it
was dressed prettily and tastefully; though
pale, I thought it slept, for its paleness did
not appear as of death; it was, however,
cold and lifeless, yet it had nothing of the
corpse, nothing of the grave about it. I
kissed its delicate fair face, and thought,
not without a sigh, on its parents. A voice
startled me, and turning, I beheld a decent-
looking peasant woman, with an old man
and two or three children from ten to fif-
teen years of age. "Are you the mother
of this babe ?" said I:-"Yes, Senhor."
"I pity you from my heart."
Senhor? To have borne and buried a
Christian, without sin, I look on as a bless-
ing, and I praise the Holy Virgin that she
has vouchsafed to take him to herself.” — I
gazed earnestly at the woman.
59
-"How so,
Was this
I 4
120
RECOLLECTIONS OF
insensibility? or was it enthusiastic rever-
ence for, and pious resignation to, the will
of God?—I decided for the latter; for I
saw her bend over her child with an ex-
pression of countenance rapturously affec-
tionate. I knelt down, once more, to read
its innocent features. Yes, there was the
charm: remorse, fear, and doubt, could not
be traced there. All was innocence, and
purity, and truth. -"Your child," said I,
66
So
my good woman, is perhaps ere now a
cherub in heaven." "Senhor, you can-
not be a heretic ?"-" No, I am a Christian
of another sect."-"Ah! you must be a
Christian; I thought so, but the priests
said you English were all heretics.'
much for priests and peasants. The breach
between the Roman Catholic and the Pro-
testant church has certainly been rendered
unnaturally, if not impassably wide, by the
stubborn pride and designing policy of a
crafty and intolerant priesthood. Though
I am here speaking of the Roman Catholic
clergy, I cannot but feel that the violence
of the early reformers, who, in detestation
of the Romish church, abrogated many
THE PENINSULA.
121
things, defiled, perhaps, by abuse, but de-
cent in themselves, and allowed in the pri-
mitive church, very greatly assisted to pro-
duce this evil. Do we not, I would ask, in
essentials, think alike ? and is not the grand
and blessed scheme of man's redemption,
through the mediation of Christ, the first
article of belief, and the resting-place of
faith with us both ? I certainly, in the
course of my residence in Spain, had occa-
sion often to reflect that my countrymen
were too apt to confound the errors and
abuses of the church government among
the Roman Catholics, with the belief and
practices of their religion.
But to return to my recollections. — In
one of my rides, about two leagues from the
cantonment, as I was stopping to water my
mule in a mill-stream, I heard, on the op-
posite bank, the sound of voices, loud and
cheerful as in song, and, at intervals, a note
of the guitar. Riding forward through the
trees, I soon came upon an open green,
where I found about a hundred villagers,
assembled near a small chapel to celebrate
the festival of San Domingo. The mass
122
RECOLLECTIONS OF
was over, and they were all seated on the
ground, refreshing themselves with cakes
and wine. They were in their holiday
dresses, and those dresses were, for the most
part, exceedingly picturesque. At my first
appearance there was a dead silence; they
looked as if they dreaded some news which
might break up their happy meeting; or,
at all events, as if they knew me for an
Englishman, and disliked my intrusion;
but when I dismounted, and, throwing my-
self on the ground among them, asked to
be allowed to share their mirth and happi-
ness, no words can describe their delighted
cordiality. I had so accustomed myself to
converse with the peasantry, that we soon
became familiar, and I passed with them
six very pleasant hours. After their light
repast, the best of which was spread before
me and a Capuchin friar, they rose to
dance; and though there was nothing grace-
ful in their style of moving, still the total
novelty of the picture, the dresses, the
singing, the guitars, the cork-trees, and the
chapel, produced a very pleasing effect;
and could the curtain of Drury-lane rise
THE PENINSULA.
123
and discover sucha scene and such a group,
the applause would know no bounds. Amid
this festive party there was one very pretty
girl, with fair blue eyes and a blooming
complexion, beauties very uncommon in
Portugal, and these the conscious damsel
had artfully contrived to set off, by a black
hat, lined with pink silk, and a pretty well-
fancied dress. Her mother, who seemed
very proud of her, asked me, if she would
really be considered a pretty girl among
Englishwomen? and on my assuring her,
that I had never yet seen the spot where
she would not be considered very hand-
some, the old woman turning quickly, said,
"Ah, Senhor, where shall I conceal her
from shame and insult when the French
come again to ravage our country ?"
"Let us hope," said I, "that God may
enable us to defend your country." She
made no reply, but shook her head mourn-
fully. I repressed a sigh, and immediately
turned the conversation; for why should
idle anticipation of to-morrow's misery be
suffered to cloud the innocent gaiety of to-
day? They broke up at sunset, and all re-
t
124
RECOLLECTIONS OF
turned peaceably to their homes, without
noise, quarrelling, or intoxication. I am
free to confess, that I very much admire the
manners and customs of these happy pea-
sants, nor have I ever subscribed to that
prejudiced opinion, which affects to con-
demn or despise them as senseless and
frivolous.
On the 30th of June, our regiment was
called in from its advanced station, and
joined its brigade in the town of Portalegre,
and all appearances justified the belief, that
the campaign was about to open. We re-
mained for twelve days here; I was very
fortunate in my billet. My host, a mild,
well-informed, venerable old canon, gave
me most excellent apartments, and a free
access to a little cabinet, in which he had a
pretty selection of French authors, and
some very handsome editions of the classics.
The windows of my chamber commanded
a most enchanting prospect, and I had no
want or wish unsatisfied, if I except the
natural anxiety I always felt to take the
field, and gain the proud experience of a
soldier.
THE PENINSULA.
125
At this time the corps of Junot and Ney,
under the orders of Massena, occupied po-
sitions on or near the Agueda; the troops
of Ney, indeed, were carrying on the siege
of Ciudad Rodrigo. Regnier, with the se-
cond corps of the French army, lay cantoned
in Spanish Estremadura, in a state of the
most active preparation, appearing to me-
nace and watch us in Alemtejo.
On the 13th of July we marched to a
camp near Alpalhâo, where we halted five
days, waiting until Regnier, who was then
drawing near the Tagus, should cross that
river, in order that we might make an im-
mediate and corresponding movement. We
were here all reviewed, and I had the satis-
faction of seeing, for the first time, a large
division of Portuguese under arms. The
men were remarkably fine, and, considering
the short time that had elapsed since their
organization, in very high order. Twenty-
four regiments of the line, six of light in-
fantry, ten of cavalry, together with a due
proportion of excellent artillery, then com-
posed the native army of Portugal: their
effective strength might be about thirty-five
thousand; of this number, however, many
1
126
RECOLLECTIONS OF
regiments were not yet in a sufficient state
of forwardness to take the field, and remain-
ed therefore in garrisons. The total force
of British and Portuguese in the field, in-
cluding Hill's corps, could not have exceed-
ed fifty-eight thousand; of these twenty-
five thousand were Portuguese. About
eight thousand British, and six thousand
Portuguese, composed the command of
General Hill. All the other divisions
of the army were under the immediate
orders of Lord Wellington, and lay most
ably distributed, opposite the main French
force commanded by Massena. My ob-
ject, however, is not to give a profes-
sional sketch of the campaigns, but to pre-
sent to the reader, as faithfully as I can,
the varieties and pleasures of a life on active
service, as they deeply impressed me,though
more perhaps as a traveller, and a man of
feeling, than as a scientific soldier. Not
that I was indifferent to the interest which
every intelligent mind must take in exten-
sive military operations, and in seeing war
carried on, on a grand scale, throughout a
series of brilliant campaigns; but although
I was provided with good maps, although
THE PENINSULA.
127
eager in my inquiries, intimate with some
clever and communicative staff officers, and,
from a long habit of military reading,
often just, or rather fortunate in my con-
clusions, still I felt and feel, that, after all,
the best information of a regimental officer
of humble rank must be very imperfect.
It is a great misfortune for the British army
which served in the Peninsula, and for the
Duke of Wellington himself, that no man,
possessed of the necessary information, and
the ability to work upon his materials, has
been found to give a correct and valuable
history of their campaigns. It is quite idle
to send the official documents and papers
required for such a work to the most able
writer, and acknowledged historian of the
day. Such a man, however great his ta-
lents, however nervous and rich his lan-
guage, is, and must be, ill qualified to write
a military work, if he be a civilian, unac-
quainted with armies, and has never served :
he may indeed succeed in painting the
noble struggles of a patriotic population; he
may describe, in a glowing strain of manly
eloquence, such a defence as that of Sara-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
gossa, or the courageous exploits of Moun-
tain-Guerillas; but he can never impart, to
an account of the operations of regular
armies, that charm and interest it is cer-
tainly capable of receiving; he will find
writing on the subject at all, a laborious and
painful task, and will, after all, perhaps,
produce a book, the dry perusal of which
disappoints himself, and satisfies no one.
- No. A man must, like a Xenophon,
or a Polybius, march with an army before
he ventures to become the historian of its
exploits. Would that some division gene-
ral with the pen of a Burgoyne, or a Hutch-
inson, had marched and fought with the
British troops in the Peninsula !
On July
But to return to our camp.
18th, we again broke up, and marching by
Niza, towards the Tagus, crossed that river
at Villa Velha, and pursued our route
through Sarnadas, and Castello Branco, to
Atalaya, a considerable village situated at
the very foot of that magnificent range of
mountains called the Sierra de Estrella, to
the north of which lay our main force under
the orders of Wellington. Instructed by
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129
our last year's wants, our officers now took
the field very comfortably provided; many
of us were mounted, most of us carried
tents; and experience having shown us what
would be really useful, we had, at our leisure,
procured and planned many
many little camp-con-
veniences. Myself and my companion had
our tent, camp-table, and stools, paillasses,
canteen, &c.; and, after our servants got
accustomed to the life, provided the weather
was fair, and no especial order of march, or
readiness, interfered, our meals were pre-
pared and served in bivouacks, the most rude
and unfrequented, altogether remote from
towns or cities, with the greatest regularity,
cleanliness, and comfort. A quarter of an
hour after the halt of the column, our tent
was pitched, kettle boiled, breakfast-cloth
spread, and tea-things laid out under some
shady tree, the goats milked, and we were
seated in comfort at our cheerful meal. The
dinner, too, no great variety in the cookery
to be sure, for there are but two dishes seen
in a camp, namely, soup and bouilli, or an
Irish stew, but these with rice, pumpkin,
tomatis, and a bottle of good country wine,
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
left a moderate man little to wish for, and
nothing to grumble at. At the bivouack,
near Villa Velha, we took up our ground
within a mile of a Spanish division under
the orders of General Carrera, which was
marching to Badajos. This was a remark-
ably fine body of men, though completely
disorganised by defeat, and almost disheart-
ened by the absence of that hope and en-
couragement which success can, alone, ef-
fectually inspire. They had been present
at the fatal affair of Alba de Tormes, and
had now just witnessed the fall of Ciudad
Rodrigo. Upon us they appeared to look
with a contempt, which their ignorance as
soldiers, and their zeal as Spaniards, made
in some measure excusable. They knew
little, if any thing, about the regular prac-
tice of war; they only knew that we had
not fired a shot by their side, since the bat-
tle of Talavera; that our companions in
arms under Sir John Moore had fled through
the strong country of Gallicia, without
fighting, two years before, and their angry
and contemptuous looks told us plainly,
that they expected we should retire through
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131
Portugal on the advance of Massena, with
similar precipitation. I was vexed to ob-
serve all this, but made great allowances for
the natural irritation of their feelings, under
so much national distress and danger, and
found it in my heart to forgive them. Car-
rera, the General who commanded them,
sat under some trees with a party of their
superior officers, smoking a segar: his head
was uncovered, and he had on a light un-
dress waistcoat: he was a strikingly hand-
some man. As our well-appointed troops
filed past this spot towards their ground, he
regarded them with the most silent and
provoking haughtiness. He was not a man
of any talent, but he was a young, ardent,
intrepid soldier, and a true friend to his
country. In the year 1811 or 1812, he fell in
the streets of Murcia, covered with sabre
wounds, having maintained for a short time
a most unequal struggle with five French
dragoons. I mention the meeting with this
Spanish division with a view to show how
they were often led, and how little system
and method there was in the march, and
movements of men, who, I should have said,
1.
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were scattered through their bivouack,
without any regularity of formation, or any
appearance of discipline and control, and
subjected to the orders of generals, perhaps
impelled in most cases by patriotism, but
seldom governed, or even enlightened, by
judgment.
In the town of Castello Branco there is
little remarkable. Its citadel and walls are
in a state of ruin and decay. Although not
fortified, it is still very important, as a mi-
litary station, for the country round it, es-
pecially on the grand road which passes by
Sobreira Formosa towards the Zezere, and
abounds in strong and defensible positions:
it has been also formerly a Roman station ;
and wherever we can trace the awful ves-
tiges of those all-conquering soldiers, the
Roman legions, we feel, I think, a very
exalted and indefinable satisfaction. From
our camp near Atalaya, the eye ranged over
the southern face of the proud Sierra d'Es-
trella, rising many thousand feet above the
level of the sea, traversed by good roads,
formed with infinite labour over clefts of
rocks, and gemmed with several white towns
THE PENINSULA.
133
and villages, which lie nestling and sparkling
on its ample bosom. We remained here
eight days, three of which it rained inces-
santly, and with great violence. A bivouack
in heavy weather does not, I allow, present
a very comfortable appearance. The offi-
cers sit shivering in their wet tents, idle
and angry till dinner-time, after which they
generally contrive to kill the evening with
mulled wine, round a camp-kettle lid filled
with hot wood ashes, by way of a fire. The
men with their forage-caps drawn over their
ears huddle together under banks or walls,
or crowd round cheerless, smoky fires,
cursing their commissaries, the rain, and the
French. When, however, the clouds rolled
away, and the sun shone forth again in all
its splendour, again was spread before us
the grand prospect of the Estrella, ever the
same, yet ever varying; for who shall paint
the bright and changing hues, which, at
the rise and set of sun, visit scenes like
these?
On the thirtieth we marched from Ata-
laya carrying with us, I remember, a good
supply of the delicious wine of Alpedrinha,
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
a mountain-village about a league from our
camp. We halted for the night at Tenelhas,
and the following day marched for Sazedas,
a small town, with a fine position near it for
a camp. As we did not get our orders to
march from the bivouack at Tenelhas until
late in the afternoon, we did not expect to
reach our ground before night-fall; for
large bodies of troops, encumbered with
artillery and baggage, of necessity move
slow, but, as not unfrequently happened,
the troops were halted for the night, right
and left of the road, in the formation of
march: no baggage, no cloaks, no supper;
but an uncomfortable, fitful, broken dog-
sleep, in a heavy dew. I give both sides of
the picture; because the pleasures and joys
of any life, as they exist only by comparison,
so they can arise only out of its varieties.
We halted until the seventeenth of Au-
gust at Sazedas, where the division was re-
gularly and comfortably hutted.
Whenever we remained a week or a
fortnight stationary, the suttlers who follow-
ed the army overtook and opened their tem-
porary shops in the towns near us, or in our
THE PENINSULA.
135
very camps; and thus we were often well,
though dearly, supplied with many com-
forts, such as tea, sugar, brandies, wines, se-
gars, &c.
In these sort of camps we felt
two serious wants, I allow; books, and the
society of women. It is true that in the
Peninsula we never enjoyed either the one
or the other in perfection; yet in quarters
we could often procure a few odd volumes
of Latin or French, which served to beguile,
and often usefully to occupy our time; and
for female society you frequently met with
agreeable and interesting girls in your billet.
Indeed I remember at Portalegre we used
to frequent the grates of two nunneries, and
all the sisters seemed flattered by our atten-
tions. A military band was often brought
down to the outer court of their sacred
prisons, for their amusement; and some of
the officers would sit for hours in the con-
vent-parlours, talking with the nuns, whom
a double row of thick gratings, so contrived
that you could only shake hands in the
space between the two rows, separated from
their gay inamoratas.
inamoratas. Some of these un-
fortunates were young and engaging: one,
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
a very pretty interesting girl, in the convent
of Santa Clara, died before we left the city.
She was passionately in love with a British
officer, who was himself at the time much
affected by her loss. I considered her death
a mercy; for she must have either lived a
life of hopeless misery, or dared to rend
asunder the sacred tie which bound her to
her country, her family, and her convent,
and have survived, perhaps, after all, the
very flame to which she had so innocently
given birth.
In another convent in that city, I remem-
ber a sister, neither young nor beautiful,
but so interesting as to rivet attention and
to awaken all one's sympathy. She was
not always herself; and when in the fit of
her strange melancholy, she would come to
the grate and sing; sweetly indeed, but
with a wildness, that filled the eyes of those
who heard her with tears. She never
wept herself; but smiled often, and most
mournfully. She had been disappointed in
love early in life, and sent into the convent;
at least we heard so. I should like to have
known her history; but on this she never
THE PENINSULA.
137
:
spoke, and I respected her sorrow too much
to pain her by an unguarded question. She
was very fond of the English officers; in
whose countenances, at least in many, she
might have observed an expression of
manly pity, which soothed perhaps her
wounded heart.
But, if such opportunities of occupying
the mind and indulging the feelings were
not to be met with in a camp, still it had
its peculiar pleasures. You rose with the
sun daily, and you had a fine martial scene
constantly before your eyes; you walked
and rode through a beautiful country, plan-
ning schenes of future happiness, or che-
rishing natural (it matters not how vain)
hopes of future distinction: nor is the
precious" Far niente” to be forgotten; for
it is not necessary to have the genius, or
the passion of Rousseau, to appreciate this
enjoyment. All persons who have feeling
and fancy, know how delightful are the un-
connected and confused reveries of solitude,
and the idle exercise of thought. The ro-
mantic scenery of the Peninsula assists and
promotes such feelings. Often, too, in our
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
camps, we received papers and letters from
dear old England, and our eager politicians
assembled round the appointed tent or
tree, allotted as our news-room. Often
would we dine together, in small convivial
parties, to talk over past scenes, and future
prospects. At times, as the sun set, and the
shades of evening fell around us, walking on
some upland near the camp, you might
catch the mellowed and softened tones of a
distant band, breathing forth some sweet and
touching air, with which you had been from
boyhood acquainted.
Oh, Memory! how pure, how exquisite
are thy pleasures! To thee, and to thy
sister Hope, the bright handmaids who sup-
port us through the rude path of existence,
how deeply are all men indebted !
On the seventeenth of August, our bat-
talion and another were moved to a camp
at San Domingo, about five miles in ad-
vance of Sazedas, as a support to some light
infantry and cavalry, which lay detached in
front of us again, occupying Castello Branco
and the adjacent villages. Our bivouack
here was a very delightful one: the trees
THE PENINSULA.
139
were large and beautiful; a most transpa-
rent brook of sweet water ran past our lines;
and the men were hutted with great comfort,
neatness, and regularity. Our General oc-
cupied a small chapel by the road-side, the
only building near us; and peasants from
the distance of two or three leagues, hearing
that our discipline was strict, and that we
paid liberally for every thing, soon esta-
blished a market in our camp, and brought
us constant supplies of bread, milk, eggs,
poultry, honey, and excellent country wine.
He who has fed on coarse ration beef and
hard biscuit, and that for two or three weeks
at a time, will express no surprise at my
noticing these trifles; and he who has
never served, may smile at the mention of
them, provided he does so with good hu-
mour, and ends by excusing me.
While we remained here an affair of ca-
valry took place in front of us, in which
some of our 13th light dragoons captured a
foraging party of the enemy. The prison-
ers were marched past our ground to head-
quarters. I had never as yet, though up-
140
RECOLLECTIONS OF
wards of a year in the country, seen a
French soldier; and I walked out alone to
meet the escort. I know not how it was,
but I had certainly connected very strange
ideas with the appearance of the French
soldiery. What I expected to see I cannot
at all define; not, certainly, men of fair,
fresh complexions, tall, well made, and
handsome. Such, however, were the pri-
soners: they were chasseurs, about sixty in
number, clothed in neat green uniforms,
with very becoming forage-caps. Some of
them seemed cast down and depressed, a
few irritated and indignant; but the greater
part gazed around them with fearless and
careless curiosity, while their laughing blue
eyes certainly indicated any thing rather
than cruelty. It is true these men were
very few of them natives of France; but
although Germans, they were soldiers of
the French army
marched with it, fought
with it, and were enemies whom we often
encountered. Much of Napoleon's cavalry
was composed of Germans; and the very
numbered regiments of France, of all arms,
THE PENINSULA.
141
·
contained Italians, Belgians, Dutch, and
other foreigners.* They were, therefore,
samples of the foe with whom we were to
contend. Among them, indeed, was one
man, whose horrible and ferocious counté-
nance I shall never forget. He was of the
middle size, stout, and muscular; the hair
of his head and his immense mustachios
were perfectly white, his face pale, his eyes
small and somewhat red, and the expression
of his look was at once unnatural and piti-
less. His fellow-soldiers seemed to shun
him; and on my questioning them, I found
that he was a native of some province de-
pendant upon Austria. His language, they
said, was hardly intelligible to them: he
was quite a savage, they added; but a
Though the detachment here named was composed
of Germans, I must say, from subsequent experience,
that I have never seen finer men than among the na-
tive troops of France. We certainly have, in England,
strange prejudices even about the personal appearance
of Frenchmen; nor are they at all confined to the lowest
classes; few Englishmen of education are at all pre-
pared, when they first cross the Channel, for the sight of
such fine, athletic, well-formed men, as are often to be
met with in France.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
brave one, and good food for powder. I
shuddered at the very thought that such a
man should be a soldier. To such a wretch,
thought I, the weeping female, would kneel
in vain: the smile of the helpless babe, the
groan of the wounded warrior, would never
stay that uplifted arm. He was the only
individual of the party wounded, for there
had been little, if any resistance; but such
a man was to be disabled, before he could
be disarmed.
On the second of September, our batta-
lion returned to Sazedas; on the twelfth
we broke up, and marched upon Sobreira
Formosa, where we halted for five days.
Though the face of the country was moun-
tainous, the weather was oppressively hot :
we were, however, protected by spreading
horse-chesnuts, the finest, I think, I ever
saw.
A Portuguese division was encamped
here, very near us: at their evening parade,
I walked down their line. The time seemed
fast approaching, when we might probably
fight side by side; and, on their efficiency,
the possibility of prolonging the glorious
THE PENINSULA.
143
struggle in the Peninsula would very greatly
depend. The grenadiers of the brigade of
Algarve particularly attracted my notice:
they were all fine-sized, soldier-like men ;
and their brown complexions, black mus-
tachios, and large dark eyes, gave them a
truly martial appearance. I here, for the
first time, heard them sing their even-
ing hymn: the companies were formed in
circles round their officers at sunset, and
chaunted forth this their evening service
in a strain which was, to me, alike novel,
solemn, and pleasing. On the morning of
the seventeenth, we were again put in
motion, and marched rapidly to the Mon-
dego, on the southern bank of which, some-
where near the Ponte de Murcella, we
halted. In our route we crossed the Zezere,
near Villa del Rey; our bivouack near
which town was wretched in the extreme.
It rained in torrents, and the tent was
hardly any protection: thunder too, and
lightning, which frightened our cattle, and
a high wind beating against our canvass,
completed our misery. And yet with a
mind amused and spirits elated we suffer
144
RECOLLECTIONS OF
little, and these discomforts are felt as
nothing. I well recollect my companion
mulled some wine for me, and I afterwards
crept under my blankets, and throwing an
oil-cloth over me, contrived to forget the
tempest and its miseries, in a very sound
and uninterrupted sleep. With the sun I
rose; and what a change to reward us!
The morning was heavenly, the weather
mild, the trees and fields all glittering with
rain-drops, and the face of nature looked gay
and refreshed. Our march for the first two
leagues, after fording the Zezere, lay through
a very pretty country, well cultivated, with
many neat-looking cottages and vineyards,
all blushing with fruit. As we passed
along, the peasants brought out wine and
peaches, plums and grapes, selling cheaply
to the officers, and giving fruit generously
to many of the men for nothing. We en-
camped near some fine plantations of fir on
that night, and made large and most bril-
liant fires: the next evening, just as we had
halted and began cooking, we received or-
ders to march forward again in an hour,
and continued in motion the whole night,
THE PENINSULA.
145
over very bad roads, which greatly delayed
the guns, and rendered our march a slow
and fatiguing one.
Our men had received lately rather a
short allowance of bread; and although
they were all gaiety and good humour, this
forced march a little tired them. I shall
never forget the speech of one of our men
to his comrade, as they toiled on stumbling
in the dark just before me, and it certainly
does describe a soldier's share of campaign-
ing very wittily: "Bill," said he, "the par-
liament and the great men at home, they
do know all about the movements of the
army and the grandè lord, but they don't
know any thing about indivijals (indivi-
duals); for instance, now, they don't know
that you are damned tired, and that I hae
got no pong"* (pao). There is more in
such a speech than at first strikes upon the
ear, and the man of reflection might philo-
sophise on it with advantage.
We took up our ground near a small vil-
Paỡ,”—in Portuguese,"bread." The English
soldiers vulgarly pronounced it "pong."
L
146
RECOLLECTIONS OF
lage behind the Sierra de Murcella, on the
twenty-third, and remained three days sta-
tionary; our picquets occupying posts on
the very crests of those stupendous moun-
tains, and overlooking an immense and
beautiful tract of country to the north-east.
I was twenty-four hours at one of these
posts. Unless the elevation of a mountain
is so considerable, as to enable you to look
down upon the country below you, as upon a
map drawn by nature, I confess I am no great
admirer of what are termed open and ex-
tensive prospects: the eye is strained and
fatigued, and the fancy never much de-
lighted. But here, to look down upon the
winding course of the calm and tranquil
Mondego, and to watch the romantic Alva
hurrying gladly along to pour its tributary
waters into her peaceful bosom, was a scene
beautiful, as rare. Could a day pass heavily
where the eye might rest on such a land-
scape? impossible!-Nor is a night on
outline picquet without its charms: when
all around, or near you, is hushed and
silent; when no sound meets the ear, but
the soft foot-fall of your watchful sentries,
THE PENINSULA.
147
the mind, rejoicing in its freedom, and
undiverted by any outward objects, looks
in upon itself with grateful rapture. All is
still, yet you seem to listen to many a well-
known voice; all is dark, yet the features
of the absent, whom you love, beam brightly
upon you, and happy and distant scenes rise
busily before you, and gild these lonely
hours with pleasures the most enviable, and
the most refined.
On the twenty-sixth we again moved,
and fording the Mondego, climbed the lofty
Sierra de Buzaco; and found ourselves on
the right of Wellington's army, and in
order of battle. Our position extended
nearly eight miles along this mountainous
and rocky ridge, and the ground on which
we formed inclining with a slope to our
own rear, most admirably concealed both
the disposition and the numbers of our
force. My regiment had no sooner piled
arms, than I walked to the verge of the
mountain on which we lay, in the hope that
I might discover something of the enemy.
Little, however, was I prepared for the
magnificent scene which burst on my asto-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
nished sight. Far as the eye could stretch,
the glittering of steel, and clouds of dust
raised by cavalry and artillery, proclaimed
the march of a countless army; while,
immediately below me, at the feet of those
precipitous heights on which I stood, their
picquets were already posted; thousands of
them were already halted in their bivouacks,
and column too after column, arriving in
quick succession, reposed upon the ground
allotted to them, and swelled the black and
enormous masses. The numbers of the
enemy were, at the lowest calculation, se-
venty-five thousand, and this host formed in
three distinct and heavy columns; while to
the rear of their left, at a more considerable
distance, you might see a large encampment
of their cavalry, and the whole country be-
hind them seemed covered with their train,
their ambulance, and their commissariat.
This, then, was a French army: here lay,
before me, the men who had once, for
nearly two years, kept the whole coast of
England in alarm; who had conquered
Italy, overrun Austria, shouted victory on
the plains of Austerlitz, and humbled, in
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149.
one day, the power, the pride, and the
martial renown of Prussia, on the field
of Jena. To-morrow, methought, I may,
for the first time, hear the din of battle,
behold the work of slaughter, share the
honours of a hard-fought field, or be num-
bered with the slain. I returned slowly to
the line; and, after an evening passed in
very interesting and animated conversation,
though we had neither baggage nor fires, we
lay down, rolled in our cloaks, and with the
stony surface of the mountain for our bed,
and the sky for our canopy, slept or thought
away the night. Two hours before break
of day, the line was under arms; but the
two hours glided by rapidly and silently.
At last, just as the day dawned, a few dis-
tant shots were heard on our left, and were
soon followed by the discharge of cannon
and the quick, heavy, and continued roll of
musquetry. We received orders to move,
and support the troops attacked: the whole
of Hill's corps, amounting to fourteen thou-
sand men, was thrown into open column,
and moved to its left in steady double quick,
and in the highest order.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
When within about a furlong of one of
the points of attack, from which the enemy
was just then driven by the seventy-fourth
regiment, I cast my eye back to see if I
could discover the rear of our divisions:
eleven thousand men were following; all
in sight, all in open column, all rapidly
advancing in double quick time. No one,
but a soldier, can picture to himself such
a sight; and it is, even for him, a rare and
a grand one. It certainly must have had a
very strong effect on such of the enemy as,
from the summit of the ridge, which they
had most intrepidly ascended,,beheld it, and
who, ignorant of Hill's presence, thought
they had been attacking the extreme of the
British right. We were halted exactly in
rear of that spot, from which the seventy-
fourth regiment, having just repulsed a
column, was retiring in line, with the most
beautiful regularity, its colours all torn with
shot. Here a few shells flew harmlessly
over our line, but we had not the honour
of being engaged. The first wounded man
I ever beheld in the field was carried past
me, at this moment; he was a fine young
THE PENINSULA.
151
*
Englishman, in the Portuguese service, and
lay helplessly in a blanket, with both his
legs shattered by cannon-shot. He looked
pale, and big drops of perspiration stood on
his manly forehead; but he spoke not-
his agony appeared unutterable. I secretly
wished him death; a mercy, I believe, that
was not very long withheld. About this
time, Lord Wellington, with a numerous
staff, galloped up, and delivered his orders
to General Hill, immediately in front of our
corps; I therefore distinctly overheard him.
"If they attempt this point again, Hill,
you will give them a volley, and charge
bayonets; but don't let your people follow
them too far down the hill." I was par-
ticularly struck with the style of this order, so
decided, so manly, and breathing no doubt
as to the repulse of any attack; it con-
firmed confidence. Lord Wellington's sim-
plicity of manner in the delivery of orders,
and in command, is quite that of an able
man. He has nothing of the truncheon
about him; nothing full-mouthed, import-
ant, or fussy: his orders, on the field, are
all short, quick, clear, and to the purpose.
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
The French, however, never moved us
throughout the day; their two desperate
assaults had been successfully repelled, and
their loss, as compared to ours, exceedingly
severe. From the ridge, in front of our
present ground, we could see them far
better than the evening before; arms, ap-
pointments, uniforms, were all distinguish-
able. They occupied themselves in remov-
ing their wounded from the foot of our
position; but as none of their troops broke
up, it was generally concluded that they
would renew their attacks on the morrow.
In the course of the day, our men went
down to a small brook, which flowed be-
tween the opposing armies, for water; and
French and English soldiers might be seen
drinking out of the same narrow stream,
and even leaning over to shake hands with
each other. One private of my own regi-
ment actually exchanged forage-caps with a
soldier of the enemy, as a token of regard and
good-will. Such courtesies, if they do not
disguise, at least soften the horrid features
of war; and it is thus we learn to reconcile
our minds to scenes of blood and carnage.
THE PENINSULA.
153
Towards sunset, our picquets were sent
down the hill, and I plainly saw them posted
among the corpses of those who had fallen
in the morning. Nothing, however, imme-
diately near us, presented the idea of recent
slaughter; for the loss, on our side, was so
partial, and, considering the extent of our
line, so trifling, that there was little, if any,
vestige of it; not so the enemy's; but as
they suffered principally on their retreat
down the hill, their slain lay towards the
bottom of it; from whence, indeed, they
had been removing their wounded.
The view of the enemy's camp by night
far exceeded, in grandeur, its imposing
aspect by day. Innumerable and brilliant
fires illuminated all the country spread be-
low us: while they yet flamed brightly, the
shadowy figures of men and horses, and the
glittering piles of arms, were all visible.
Here and there, indeed, the view was inter-
rupted by a few dark patches of black fir,
which, by a gloomy contrast, heightened
the effect of the picture: but, long after the
flames expired, the red embers still emitted
the most rich and glowing rays, and seemed,
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
like stars, to gem the dark bosom of the
earth, conveying the sublime ideas of a
firmament spread beneath our feet. It was
long before I could tear myself from the
contemplation of this scene. Earnestly did
I gaze on it; deeply did it impress me;
and my professional life may never, per-
haps, again present to me any military
spectacle more truly magnificent. Every
one was fully persuaded that the morning
would bring with it a general and bloody
engagement. Our line was in a constant
state of preparation: the men lay, with
their accoutrements on, in a regular column
of companies, front and rear ranks head to
head, and every man's firelock by his side.
As early as three o'clock we were roused,
and stood to arms, at our posts. In a sort
of gorge, between two of those rude mis-
shapen ridges of rock which rise on the
Sierras, my regiment was stationed, with
another battalion. This gorge was consi-
dered one of the most vulnerable points of
the whole line; and it was thought that the
main efforts of the enemy would be directed
against it.
At about half past four, the
THE PENINSULA.
155
picquets sent word that the enemy was get-
ting under arms: the picquets were imme-
diately and silently withdrawn, and one
staff-officer remained on
remained on the look-out.
About five, he came quickly up: and, as he
passed the commander of our line, said,
"Be prepared, sir; they are certainly com-
ing on. A very heavy column has just ad-
vanced to the foot of the position, and you
may expect an attack every moment." My
bosom beat quick, very quick; it was pos-
sible, that the few minutes of my existence
were already numbered. Such a thought,
however, though it will, it must, arise, in
the first awful moment of expectation, to
the mind of him who has never been en-
gaged, is not either dangerous or despicable,
and will rather strengthen than stagger the
resolution of a manly heart.
And now,
thought I, as the first note of an enemy's
trumpet struck my ear, now they come:
but no; it ceased, that thrilling sound, and
proved only a parley, with a flag of truce, to
deliver some trifling message.
The sun
shone forth, but not on a field of blood; the
French columns returned to their ground,
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
and appeared, throughout the day, to busy
themselves in hutting: towards evening
some of them were seen moving, and, at
midnight, it was ascertained, that they were
all in motion, to turn our right. We now
immediately broke up, and descending from
our formidable position, recrossed the Mon-
dego, and our corps of the army marched
on San Miguel. We all naturally felt the
deepest disappointment at having thus
marched and toiled, without that sweet re-
ward for which youth and ambition always
sigh; many months, however, were yet to
elapse before the valued privilege of dis-
charging the important, perilous duties of
our profession, was yet to be accorded to
us. But, as a lesson in the art of war, none,
perhaps, was ever more instructive and in-
teresting than this memorable campaign.
Our army, inferior both in numbers and
composition to that opposed to us, could
only hope for success from the prudent
measures, and able guidance, of a wise and
valiant general.
From the moment that Almeida fell, the
dispositions and movements of Wellington
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157
5
excited universal admiration. He availed
himself, most ably, of the only advantage
which, with an army like ours, it would,
perhaps, have been possible to obtain. He,
by a most rapid and skilful manoeuvre, threw
us into a position at Buzaco, so strong and
commanding, as to be alike secure from the
artillery, and inaccessible to the cavalry of
the enemy. Here, from the lofty ridge of
one of their native Sierras, he first showed
to the Portuguese levies the array of their
formidable invaders; and here he allotted
to them the easy task of repulsing, by the
side of British soldiers, one of those despe-
rate and hopeless assaults, which his know-
ledge of the French character encouraged
him to expect. By this master-stroke of mi-
litary skill and sound policy, the Portuguese
were inspired with a confidence in him
and in themselves, which never afterwards
forsook them. But Lord Wellington clearly
saw, that in playing for so mighty a stake
as the political existence of a nation, the
fate of the war should never be suffered to
depend on the glorious hazards of a battle;
as soon, therefore, as he found the position
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
of Buzaco no longer tenable, he decided
on retiring to lines near Lisbon, which had
been long fortifying with care, and there
to defend the seat of the government, and
the capital of the country. To give effect,
however, to this plan of defence, it was
necessary, not only that the allied army
should retire to the fortified position of
Torres Vedras, but that the whole country
between it and the frontier, which it was
at all probable the enemy might occupy,
should be abandoned by all classes of in-
habitants, and that every thing which might
contribute to the subsistence, or facilitate
the progress of their troops, should be
carefully removed. My pen altogether fails
me, I feel that no powers of description
can convey to the mind of my reader, the
afflicting scenes, the cheerless desolation,
we daily witnessed on our march from the
Mondego to the lines. Wherever we moved,
the mandate which enjoined the wretched
inhabitants to forsake their homes, and to
remove or destroy their little property,
had gone before us. The villages were
deserted; the churches, retreats so often,
THE PENINSULA.
159
yet so vainly confided in, were empty; the
mountain cottages stood open and unte-
nanted; the mills in the valley, but yes-
terday so busy, were motionless and silent.
We bivouacked, on the 4th of October,
near Thomar: the neighbourhood of this
place is exceedingly pretty, and the town
itself regularly built, and beautifully clean.
It had counted, a few days before, a popu-
lation of nearly 4000; the morning we en-
tered it, a few hundreds only remained,
and these were fearfully hurrying their de-
parture.
There was a remarkably fine convent in
this town, of the order of Christ, richly
endowed, and very superb in its church,
buildings, and every thing connected with
its establishment. I had no occasion to
ask for admission; I followed a group of
noisy muleteers, who had chosen it for
their night's lodging, and whose mules were
already drinking out of the marble fountain,
or trampling over the neat garden, round
which ran handsome, high-arched, and
echoing cloisters, yesterday responsive
only to the pacing of some thoughtful monk,
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
now resounding with the boisterous laugh-
ter and coarse jests of rude, merry mule-
teers. In the kitchen, some lay servants of
the convent yet lingered, and the table in
the refectory was covered with the crums
of the last meal, which the banished fathers
had that morning partaken of. The church,
however, large, magnificent, and gloomy,
still inspired reverence and awe; and the
muleteers, who walked thither with me,
sunk into silence, and crossed themselves,
as they knelt before the high altar, round
which lamps, trimmed by some pious hand,
were yet burning. The streets through
which I hastened back to my home, (for
cannot a tent become our home?) had an
air of loneliness, quite oppressive to the
heart: no one stood on the thresholds, -
no face looked from the casements, - not
a voice was to be heard.
The flanks of our line of march from this
place were literally covered with the flying
population of the country. In Portugal,
there are, at no time, many facilities for
travelling, and these few the exigencies of
the army had very
had very greatly diminished.
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161
Rich indeed were those in good fortune, as
in possession, who still retained a cabriolet
and mules for its service. Those who had
bullock-cars, asses, or any mode of trans-
porting their families and property, looked
contented and grateful; for respectable men
and delicate women, of the second class,
might on every side be seen walking slowly
and painfully on foot, encumbered by heavy
burdens of clothes, bedding, and food.
We bivouacked near Santarem on the
evening of the sixth. Crowds of the inha-
bitants, who till our arrival were unwilling
to believe that the enemy would be suffered
to penetrate so far, were now, with a silent
and mournful activity, preparing for flight.
I walked slowly towards the house where I
had been once so hospitably treated: the
doors were barred; the casements shut in;
the kind-hearted owner had forsaken it. I
climbed the garden wall, and saw beneath
it the plants and flowers, of which himself
and his good wife had appeared so proud,
arranged as he had probably left them not
two days before, and bearing evidence of
his latest care.
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162
RECOLLECTIONS OF
I returned to the camp by a circuitous
path, which led across a vineyard. Here
the order had suddenly broken in upon
and suspended the cheerful labours of the
vintage. In one part the vines were yet
teeming with fruit; in another, large heaps
of grapes gathered, but not carried to the
wine-press, lay deadening in the sun, with
baskets half-filled near them; and the print
of little feet between the vine-rows showed
that children had been sharing the light and
pleasing toil, which at that happy season
employs their parents. On the following
morning our columns traversed the city,
and, descending into the Lisbon road, con-
tinued their route.
Immediately below the town the bank of
the river was crowded with fugitives, wait-
ing to be transported across, and the most
affecting groups of families sat weeping on
the ground. I well remember a serious
thoughtful-looking man, of about fifty,
seated on a horse, and carrying before him
a very aged mother, who had been bedrid-
den for many years, and who lay upon his
arm so helplessly, and with an aspect so
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163
pale and withered, that you might have
thought the grave had yielded up its dead.
Here monks, gentlemen, peasants, and men-
dicants, were all crowded together: the
silent nun and the complaining damsel sat
side by side. There was a strange, yet
natural, familiarity among them; natural,
for it was the offspring of misery. How
soon can the arrows of misfortune level the
paltry distinctions of this world! Here
vanity was stifled, rank forgotten all was
agitation, anxiety, and alarm.
:
This melancholy picture was forcibly
contrasted by the gay and careless security
of our cheerful soldiery. For what, let me
ask, does the soldier suffer, compared to
the wretched inhabitant whose country is
made the theatre of war? The soldier's
wants are all provided for: he is fed and
clothed; he sleeps, too, in comparative
tranquillity; for, wrapt in his watch-cloak,
he
reposes in a camp, surrounded by arms
and comrades, and ever prepared for resist-
ance, which may indeed bring with it death,
but a death always honourable, seldom
unrevenged. But to see our
our dwellings
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
burnt, our daughters insulted, and our fa-.
milies driven forth houseless, this is misery,
this is the curse of war; and if as men we
are roused up to resist and die, our death is
aggravated by all the horrors of acute men-
tal suffering and fearful anxiety. Oh! we
hardly suspect, until the dreadful moment
of separation arrives, how dear is the roof,
be it of marble or of straw, which has from
infancy been our home. Good God! how
much does that one word convey! The
chamber in which we have slept, the fes-
tive board round which we have so often
assembled, the garden in which we have
strayed, the many little holydays of the
heart we have there enjoyed. It is not the
soldier, the mariner, the merchant, or per-
haps even the Englishman, with his boasted
fireside, who can feel this so fully as the
contented and happy residents in less civil-
ised countries, who having little necessity,
and little opportunity for travelling, con-
tract no habits of restlessness, and feel not
a wish, dream not of a pleasure beyond the
mountain or the vale, on which their eyes.
first opened. Moreover, the very practices
THE PENINSULA.
165
of their religion in the Peninsula, to them
appear to sanctify their dwellings; for all
their cottages have their little shrines, saints,
and crucifixes, which are regarded by the
people with the same affectionate reverence,
that marked the attachment of the ancient
Romans for their household gods.
On the afternoon of the eighth we en-
tered Alhandra, a small pretty town on the
banks of the Tagus, about four leagues
from Lisbon. It lay immediately in front
of the right of our celebrated lines, and was
occupied as a sort of advanced post by one
brigade of our division, during the whole
time that the French remained before them.
This town, too, was deserted; and here, to
our very great comfort, we were put under
cover, for the weather began to be wet,
cold, and disagreeable. In this place a
most strange though comfortable lodging
fell to the lot of myself and my comrade.
We took up our quarters in the sacristy of
a church. This chamber was lofty, spa-
cious, and gloomy: twelve figures, as large
as life, the images of some departed saints,
were placed in niches all round the walls :
м3
166
RECOLECTIONS OF
they were habited, too, in the black dresses
of some monastic order; and what with
the glare of their eyes, the stirring of their
robes, and the faint glimmering of our lamp,
they seemed almost to live and move, and
frown upon us. They could not, however,
repress the mirth, frighten away the appe-
tite, or scare the slumbers of men so cheer-
ful, so hungry, and so tired as we were.
Our cloaks, I remember, and some of our
blankets, were excessively damp, which
might perhaps have made our night's rest
somewhat uncomfortable; luckily for us,
however, the priests had left the drawers in
the sacristy full of their vestments ; and
with gay and heavy pontificals spread be-
neath and over us, we slept as sound as any
canon in the closes of York or Durham.
The day after we marched in here, a few
prisoners, taken in a cavalry skirmish near
Azimbuja, were brought in. They belonged
to the French heavy dragoons, and I thought
their appearance particularly martial. The
brazen helmet, with the lofty cone, black-
horse hair, and tiger-skin band, looked very
noble; and the thick wiry mustachios of
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167
the weather-beaten men who bore them,
and who were all wounded, well became
these warlike casques. The head-dress of
our own dragoons has since been greatly
improved upon the French model; but at
the time I speak of, they still wore awk-
ward shapeless hats.
About nine o'clock on the evening of the
tenth, as I was turning into my strange
bed, we received orders to march immedi-
ately for some fortified heights, about a
league and a half to the rear and left. The
rain in Portugal is almost as heavy as under
the tropics, and it fell this night in continued
and overwhelming torrents; it was also un-
commonly dark, and I think we were about
six hours groping our way as many miles.
In the small mountain-village where we
halted, I got into a little cottage with my
company; but the place was so confined,
that we could neither lie down nor even
sit, and we remained on our feet, crowded
together till daylight, when we divided our-
selves among the miserable hovels more
equally. The posts and batteries in the
neighbourhood, with the defence of which
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
we were charged for three days, were by no
means in a perfectly serviceable condition ;
as in some, no guns were at the time
mounted, and in others, the necessary am-
munition had not been provided.
I confess, when I revert to this period of
the campaign, I am more and more asto-
nished that Massena never attempted to
force our position. The French infantry,
which was concentrated in front of us at
Buzaco, might certainly, without any very
prodigious exertion, have reached our lines
by the tenth, and on that, or the ensuing
day, might have attacked them. I shall
ever be of opinion, that if the enemy had
determined to sacrifice every thing to the
grand object of penetrating our line, and
marching on Lisbon, they might very pos-
sibly have effected their purpose. It is not
to be denied that our position was provided
with formidable redoubts and batteries;
nevertheless it was a very extensive one,
and the defence of it would not altogether
have depended on the abilities of Welling-
ton, or the bravery of the army. The con-
fusion or misapprehension of any one
THE PENINSULA.
169
general as to what he was to provide for
and protect, the fear of responsibility, and
the absence of discretion in a common
brigadier, might have neutralised both the
talents of the leader and the courage of
the men, and proved fatal to our hopes.
We should have been more particularly
liable to such a misfortune, in the hurry of
the two or three first days after we entered
the lines, and before the grammar of their
defence was thoroughly understood by all
our generals. A well-conducted assault
would have borne with it the character of a
coup de main, and must have been decided
by musketry and the bayonet : Massena,
however, delayed for his artillery, suffered
the golden opportunity to escape him; nor
did he, when his guns arrived, venture to
attack us.
On the thirteenth my regiment again
moved to Bucellas. Near this town ran
the second line of defence; and the
post
being considered highly important, six
British battalions were stationed in it in
reserve. The whole time that we remained
here our line was regularly under arms two
170
RECOLLECTIONS OF
hours before break of day every morning;
and when the sun appeared above the hori-
zon, we generally manoeuvred for an hour
before we were dismissed. For a few days
on our first arrival in this quarter, my friend
and I pitched our tent in the market-place.
Here I took my meals, but slept with my
company in a church, in which about two
hundred of our men were accommodated.
The senior officer had the sacristy, the
next a little chamber or recess behind the
high altar, and the rest of us made ourselves
truly comfortable in the large organ-loft.
I used often to lean out of this gallery, and
contemplate the strange scene below me.
How a sober citizen from St. Paul's church-
yard would have stared to see a sergeant of
grenadiers writing his reports on the com-
munion table, a fifer lounging at his ease in
the pulpit, and practising his favourite
quick step, and the men dividing and call-
ing off their rations of raw beef on tombs
of polished marble. Such, however, is but
too faithful a picture of an every-day occur-
rence on actual service.
Lisbon, after the first alarm, became as
THE PENINSULA.
171
it were intoxicated by a strong feeling of
security: there never was a period when
this city was more crowded with objects of
misery, or when provisions were more ex-
travagantly dear; yet at no time had their
theatres been better filled, their societies
more gay and brilliant, than when seventy
thousand vindictive enemies lay within
sixteen miles of the city, panting for the
plunder of it. It is but justice to add, that
every thing which prudence and humanity
could suggest was done by the inhabitants
of Lisbon, to alleviate the public misfortune.
The port was open to all vessels laden with
provisions, the magazines were filled with
them, charitable institutions were set on
foot, and food was daily distributed to such
of the fugitives as were necessitous and
helpless, while labour was provided for the
others. The police, too, of the city was
most active; and whatever secret and trea-
sonable spirit existed among the disaffected,
was compelled to remain inactive and harm-
less. Still, I thought it strange to see such
fearless and inconsistent gaiety among peo-
ple who might, in the course of a few short
172
RECOLLECTIONS OF
hours, be placed at the mercy of a conqueror :
but the truth is, we are all the creatures of
custom, and a very short experience will´
reconcile us to any thing. Hence it is,
that the inhabitants of Portici sleep tran-
quilly under the burning Vesuvius; and
mariners sing jovially while rocked upon
the restless waves, in which the starting
of a single plank might ingulf them for
ever!
From a lofty height, about half a league
from Bucellas, I could command a view of
the Tagus; and here I frequently walked,
and distinctly saw the gun-boats stationed
on the right of our position, exchanging
their fire with the French cannon at Villa
Franca. The immediate neighbourhood of
Villa Franca is covered with handsome
quintas, and on some of them I had gazed,
on my passage up the Tagus in July, 1809,
with pardonable envy. How little did my
mind, at that time, associate with scenes so
smiling, the ideas of devastation and death!
Our army, during the whole of this pe-
riod, was supplied with provisions from the
commissariat stores at Lisbon; and these
THE PENINSULA.
173
were conveyed to us, at times, in a manner
amusingly novel.
I remember well, one day, seeing a file of
about one hundred cabriolets, laden with
sacks of biscuit and flour; and the evening's
amusement of many a fair lady was, by the
absence of her carriage on this coarse, but
useful service, altogether destroyed. While
we remained in this cantonment, a Portu-
guese officer died in the town: I attended
the funeral, and was very much impressed
with the ceremony. The custom of expos-
ing the body, dressed as in life and health,
on an open bier, may, by its frequency, pro-
duce little effect on the natives of Portugal;
but to the eye of an Englishman it carries
with it an air of solemnity, painful yet
salutary; and I defy him to look upon the
pale features of a clay-cold corpse with the
same light-hearted indifference that he too
often regards the passing hearse in England.
I have more than once distinctly stated,
that it is not my intention to offer a profes-
sional view of the progress and conduct of
the war, or to enter at all upon a regular
detail of movements and positions. My
174
RECOLLECTIONS OF
humble wish is to draw a picture of cam-
paigning; and if I succeed in recalling one
scene of interest to the mind of any veteran
who served in the Peninsula, or if I kindle
one spark of enthusiasm in the bosom of·
a youthful soldier, however feebly I may
have written, I feel that I shall not have
written in vain. I have deemed it neces-
sary to repeat this, that it may not be sup-
posed that a man, with any knowledge of,
or attachment to his profession, could be
inattentive to the relative situations of the
opposing armies, so extraordinary at the
period of which I write, and on which it
might be expected I should comment and
enlarge. No; such a task would far ex-
ceed the limits of a light trifling work like
this, and would, moreover, be presumptuous
in an officer of my age and rank. I consider
the Peninsula war to have been a most
instructive course of military study; and I
have, in common with other officers, trea-
sured up the lessons it afforded with care,
and the hope of future advantage.
On the night of the 14th of November,
the enemy retired from the position they
THE PENINSULA.
175
had so long occupied in our front; and on
the 15th, about mid-day, our column moved
from Bucellas: we marched six leagues,
passing through Alhandra, Villa Franca,
and Villa Nova, and halted at Caregada.
The day was wet and stormy, and the roads
deep and heavy; but our line of march was
all gaiety and animation. To follow up a
retreating army is at all times amusing;
but when you do so for the first time, your
curiosity and pleasure are almost puerile.
On approaching Villa Franca, our eyes
were all busily engaged in marking the
traces of the French. Here, to the left, was
a path worn by their sentries; here, again,
had lain the main body of their picket:
there, to the right, they had planted two
guns; instead of sand-bags or gabions, se-
veral large painted garden-tubs, with the
plants that once adorned them cut away,
had been piled up to form a battery. At
the entrance of Villa Franca, the street
was barricadoed; chests, wine-casks, and
mattresses, formed the strange barrier:
here, on one of the very first houses, a chalk
scribble showed it had been the quarter
176
RECOLLECTIONS OF
of a company of French grenadiers; there
had been the billet of a chef de bataillon ;
in that neat-looking mansion with green
window-shutters and unbroken windows
had lodged, as appeared by a scribble over
the door, a chef d'état major. In short,
look where you would, you saw spots that
were yesterday peopled with your enemies;
men wearing a different dress, speaking a
different language, and ready to fight and
bleed in a different cause.
It was late in the evening when we ar-
rived at Caregada, and the town was already
filled with our troops, principally artillery
and cavalry. The houses and stables were
all occupied; and into these last, some of
our officers and men, with great difficulty,
got admission. By far the greater propor-
tion of us, however, passed this dark and
dreary night in the open streets.
In a
town which had been for weeks deserted by
its inhabitants, and so lately evacuated by
an enemy, as may readily be supposed,
there was no want of dry fuel, and we made
large fires, without being very scrupulous
in our choice of wood; old planks, palings,
THE PENINSULA.
177
doors, and window-shutters, were consumed
with very little hesitation. Many of us
sent to borrow chairs from those houses
already occupied, and sat lounging round
our fires till day-break. The scene was
altogether diverting: we had no cooking,
for the baggage was not up, and there was
of course nothing to be had in an empty
town: a little biscuit, and a draught of
country wine from a soldier's wooden can-
teen, was my supper; and I leaned back
in a chair my corporal had got for me,
all cushioned with blue damask, and orna-
mented with gilding, and attempted, but in
vain, to sleep. The continued rain kept
my shoulders wet and chilly, while the
blazing fire scorched my legs, so that it was
impossible to preserve the same posture
for five minutes. At length day came; the
cavalry and artillery moved, and in a few
minutes I thought myself highly fortunate to
get into a room with four others: a room
which had once, perhaps, been handsome
and comfortable; but had then neither
furniture, doors, nor casements.
After enjoying the luxury of a basin of
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
hot tea, I visited a small camp, which had
been constructed by the enemy, near the
town; for two brigades of French infantry
had been hutted in the immediate vicinity.
These huts were exceedingly neat, well-
built, and arranged in a regular line, with
a fine piece of ground well-cleared to the
front. The huts of the officers were large
and very commodious, having many little
ingenious contrivances for comfort and con-
venience. I was much struck by one thing
I observed here, and which, no doubt, a
good catholic would have considered as a
most daring and impious profanation: a
French officer had torn out a large scripture
painting, which had been the altar-piece of
some chapel, and had spread it, with the
subject outwards, over his hut; and here
he had lain, sheltered from the rain by
canvass, which the representation of some
holy scene, or miraculous event, had ren-
dered sacred in the eyes of the people, and
before which many a knee had been bent,
and many a head bowed in reverence, for
the space, perhaps, of a century before. In
one small neat little bower, I found lying
THE PENINSULA.
179
on the ground a small Paris edition of
"St. Pierre's Studies of Nature;" it had
apparently been much read, and had pro-
bably charmed and consoled the solitary
hours of some amiable man, whom attach-
ment to the profession of arms had led to
march under the eagles of Napoleon. Yes,
in the French army, as in all others, the
good hearts far outnumber the bad: much
that we hear of the ferocity and cruelties
of armies is untrue; much exaggerated.
It is true, that soldiers (I shall speak not
of officers) have a blamable disposition to
waste and destroy; but it is the heedless
and mischievous wantonness of the school-
boy, not the vindictive malice of the man.
Soldiers are often placed in situations,
which, from their nature and their novelty,
give birth to an elevation of spirits it is
difficult to control. I have seen common
men distributed through a suite of rooms in
the empty palace of a nobleman: they have
been surrounded by mirrors and marble,
and I have observed in their countenances
a jocular eagerness to smash and destroy
them. But this does not arise out of cru-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
elty. No: in such a case, a soldier feels
himself lifted, for a moment, above his low
and ordinary condition; while the banished
owner of the proud mansion, in which he
lodges, appears humbled below him; and
that mind must be superior to human in-
firmity, which did not, at such a thought,
carelessly exult. But I am persuaded that
the sudden appearance of the sufferer, and
his weeping family, in ninety-nine cases
out of a hundred, would reproduce the
generous feelings of pity and forbearance.
Again, on the subject of plunder, setting
aside assaults or battles, the soldier is often
harassed with toil and hunger, impatient
and pennyless. It is the object and the
end of discipline to prevent and punish
plunder under circumstances like these ;
for it is seldom in any other that a soldier,
in any army (even a French one), turns
marauder. But when troops are neither
fed, clothed, or paid with regularity, they
are tempted beyond their strength; and
the military man, who has served, learns
how and when to make allowances for
those disorders, which the world is ever
THE PENINSULA.
181
too forward to characterise as barbarous
and licentious. My opinion of the mo-
ral excellence of soldiers is very supe-
rior to that generally entertained; and I
think that we should find as much virtue,
and as many amiable qualities, among ten
thousand soldiers, as among a similar num-
ber of individuals taken, without selection,
from the bosom of civil society. It will
be remarked by those who live among sol-
diers, that they are charitable and generous,
kind to children, and fond of dumb ani-
mals: add to this, a frequent exposure to
hardship, privation, and danger, makes them
friendly, and ready to assist each other.
Nor are they without a just and laudable
pride. The worthless characters who are
to be met with in every regiment (and
society) are generally shunned; nor have I
ever seen an expression of discontent on
their countenances at the just punishment
of a moral offender.
We marched forwards the next morning
to Azimbuja; here we learned that the
enemy had taken up a position at Santa-
rem, that Lord Wellington had halted at
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
Cartaxo, and that our force, under Hill,
was to cross immediately to the south bank
of the Tagus. About four hundred French
prisoners, taken in front, passed through
this place for Lisbon. They were all in-
fantry, for the most part weak and sickly
stragglers, and a few incautious marauders ;
these last alone retained the appearance of
soldiers. The French foot usually march
and fight in their great coats; a practice
certainly convenient and economical, but
carrying with it a very dull and dirty ap-
pearance. Their cap, however, is always
soldier-like and handsome; and when they
do wear their full uniform, I think the ge-
neral effect good. The red worsted épau-
lettes give breadth to the shoulders; and
the coat, with the facings buttoned back,
and the skirts sloped away above the hips,
give lightness and height to the whole
figure.
In Azimbuja I had a pretty little cham-
ber, with doors, windows, and some little
furniture, preserved probably by the chef
d'escadron who had lodged here before
me, and who had left behind him, in a
THE PENINSULA.
183
favourite quotation, which I found scrib-
bled every where on the walls, a pretty
faithful sample of his spirit : —
"Le premier, qui fut Roi, fut un soldat heureux."
On the 19th we were transported across
the Tagus by the boats of the fleet, which
had been sent up the river, with a propor-
tion of officers and seamen for that pur-
pose. Admiral Sir Thomas Williams and
Captain Beresford superintended the pass-
age of the troops; and this important ser-
vice was performed for us by the navy with
their accustomed order, expedition, and
regularity. From this period, until the
latter end of February, we were stationed
at Almeyrim, a small country town, about
two miles from the left bank of the Tagus,
and directly opposite Santarem, the head-
quarters of the French army. Almeyrim
would, in itself, have been insupportably
dull, as there were no families in the place
above the middling class in life, and the
scenery around was not remarkable for its
beauty; but from the relative position of
the armies, it proved exceedingly interest-
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ing: for, although we remained nearly
three months unmolested by the enemy,
and inactive ourselves, we could none of us
feel certain that we should continue so.
We should never have been surprised, had
the alarm-drum, at midnight, roused us
from our beds; and the idea that this was
possible took from the insipidity of a life,
in other respects, monotonous.
Our pic-
quets lay on the bank of the river, and
could plainly observe, with the naked
eye, every motion of the enemy in the
lower town of Santarem, and on the roads
which led out from the city. On that
leading to Cartaxo, we every day saw their
picquets posted, and their fatigue parties
felling trees to form abattis, digging en-
trenchments, or constructing breast-works;
while on that to their rear, forage-parties,
detachments, or orderlies, were constantly
going out and returning.
All this was to me an inexhaustible source
of amusement: I often walked out with
my glass, and passed whole mornings in
watching them: here I would see a troop
of their dragoons exercising on the plain
below the town; there a general officer
THE PENINSULA.
185
riding out with his staff; here some field-
officer visiting his guards and picquets;
and there several of their men washing and
cleaning their arms and appointments on
the very brink of the stream. You con-
stantly heard the sound of their voices;
and, on a still day, might readily distin-
guish what they said. We often, indeed,
conversed courteously with their officers,
until the prating impudence of some indi-
vidual caused such intercourse to be forbid-
den, most properly, I admit; for simplicity
and indiscretion might have produced in-
calculable mischief.
About a mile from Almeyrim, embo-
somed among trees, but commanding a fine
view of the towers and buildings of Upper
Santarem, stood a beautiful quinta, in his
happier and innocent days, the residence
of the Marquis de Alorna, a nobleman of
Portugal, once a general in her armies;
but one who, deceived or corrupted by
the French, had fled his country, openly
espoused their cause, and had now returned
as the guide and counsellor of their legions.
This miserable man was, for three months,
186
RECOLLECTIONS OF
resident in Santarem; a town in which he
had often, no doubt, been greeted with
affection and respect, by a smiling and a
happy population; but where his eye now
encountered, on every side, the glance of
suspicion, contempt, or indignation from
foreigners, who, notwithstanding their own
bold and lawless aggressions, may some-
times reverence the patriot who opposes
them, but will ever distrust and despise
the very traitor who serves them. The
quinta de Alorna was at this time occupied
by some servants, who held it for the
crown; and many a morning did I pass
there, reading in the library, walking on
the terrace, and wandering in the grounds.
I learned, from some of the peasants, that
the marquis had been a kind landlord, a
tender husband and father, and had passed
many months every year in this pleasing
retreat. What must such a man have felt,
when, from the window of his cheerless
billet, he looked down upon this family
mansion, and knew that he was banished
from it for ever! I can hardly image to
myself a situation more painful: - he
THE PENINSULA.
187
must have regarded the quinta as a fearful
monument of days of peace, gone by for
ever; as the tomb of his honour and hap-
piness, the grave of all his hopes. Of all
criminals, I look upon the traitor as one,
whose punishment in this life is the most
certain; for it is a punishment which the
smiles of fortune and of power can neither
avert or soften it is a restless poison of
the mind, an ever-aching void in the deso-
late and lonely heart: -kindred, friend-
ship, love, all cast from their blessed
bosoms the wretch who has betrayed his
country.
About the middle of February, as I was
one day walking by the river side with three
or four companions, we observed an unusual
crowd on the opposite bank, and several
French officers. They saluted us with a
"Bon jour, Messieurs ;" and soon we fell
into conversation. They were exceedingly
courteous. They spoke in the highest
terms of Romana, who had lately died,
calling him" Le seul général Espagnol
digne de son grade." They asked after
Lord Wellington; saying he had done
188
RECOLLECTIONS OF
wonders with the Portuguese, and praising
him greatly for his conduct of the campaign.
They next enquired, if our king was not
dead; and on our replying that he was not,
one of them spoke, but inaudibly; another
in a louder voice, repeated, " Le général dit,
que toute le monde aime votre Roi George,
qu'il a été bon père de famille, et bon père
de son peuple." We were thus, at once,
let into the rank of one of their party, and
not a little delighted at the manner in
which they had spoken of our excellent
and unfortunate sovereign. A great deal
of good humour prevailed; we quizzed
each other freely. They asked us how we
liked bacallâo and azete, instead of English
roast beef: and we, what they did at San-
tarem without the restaurateurs, cafés, and
salles de spectacle of their dear Paris?
They replied, laughing, that they had a
theatre; and asked us to come over, and
witness the performance of that evening,
which would be," L'Entrée des François
dans Lisbon.' A friend of mine most
readily replied, that he recommended to
them "La répétition d'une nouvelle pièce,
""
14
THE PENINSULA.
189
·
La Fuite des François.'"
They burst
into a long, loud, and general laugh-the
joke was too good, too home.
Their gene-
ral, however, did not think it wise to remain
longer; but he pulled off his hat, and wish-
ing us good day with perfect good humour,
went up the hill, and the group immediately
dispersed.
island, to
On the 21st of February some alarm was
excited by a party of the enemy crossing
over to a large island in the Tagus, about a
league above Santarem, and immediately
opposite Alpiaça, a small town on the south
bank. They, however, only foraged it, and
retired, without attempting to establish any
communication with Alemtejo; but we, in
consequence, fixed a post on the
secure it against further insult.
of the party stationed here from the 1st to
the 5th of March. A loop-holed chapel,
a circular pig-stye, dignified with the name
of a redoubt, and a few miserable hovels,
formed the defences and cantonments of our
little garrison, which consisted of two com-
panies of infantry and twelve dragoons. On
the night of the fourth of March, as I was
I was one
190
RECOLLECTIONS OF
going my rounds, my ear caught some un-
usual noise on the French bank; and ap-
proaching to the edge of the water, and
lying down, I distinctly heard the trampling
of horses, the sound of wheels, and the
cracking of whips. For three hours I lay
perfectly still, listening to those truly grate-
ful sounds. It was now evident that a
second campaign was about to open; and
that we should leave the narrow limits we
had occupied since October, for some new
and more interesting scenes. The next
day our detachment quitted the island;
and it was known that the enemy had
broke up from Santarem, and was in full
retreat.
On the sixth, about noon, we marched
from Alpiaça, in the highest possible spirits.
After moving for four days through a very
pretty country, our brigade was halted in a
small neat village of Alemtejo, about one
league from Abrantes. I had forgot to
mention that the command of all the troops
on the south bank of the Tagus had, in the
absence of General Hill, who was ordered
home for the recovery of his health, been
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191
intrusted to Marshal Beresford. This officer
had, by the direction of Lord Wellington,
taken with him a considerable detachment
of his army corps, and pursued the retreat-
ing divisions of Massena, in the direction of
Thomar; where, it was inferred from his
first movements, he had some intention
of collecting a force. The French com-
mander, however, proceeded for the Mon-
dego, and was followed by the main body
of the allies, headed by Wellington in per-
The proposed operations of our little
son.
army,
in Spanish Estremadura, were, from
these dispositions, of necessity suspended,
until the return of the marshal and his de-
tachment. During this short interval we
remained stationary in our quiet canton-
ment. The cottages in which we, were
quartered were pleasingly scattered over
the face of the country; had all their little
gardens, in the midst of which they stood,
and their walls, clothed with the creeping
vine, which extended itself over their hum-
ble roofs, or, spreading along a sort of light
trellis-work, formed grateful and shady por-
ticoes before their doors. The season of the
192
RECOLLECTIONS OF
year, too, was warm and delightful as an
English May. Some orange groves in the
neighbourhood were in high beauty, and
presented us with a sight altogether novel.
The same tree, from which you pluck the
ripe and juicy orange, presents you, on the
neighbouring branch, the delicate blossom,
and again, on another, the unripe fruit,
green and flavourless. There were the
most beautiful walks and rides in every
direction around us, and nothing could be
more rural than the scene constantly before
our eyes. Nor was the pleasure at all dimi-
nished by seeing two distinct classes of so-
ciety, very strongly contrasted to observe,
on the same spot, the peaceful demeanour
of husbandmen, and the tumultuous gaiety
of soldiers; to hear the tinkling guitar,
silenced by drums, trumpets, and bugles,
sounding the hour of rest; to see the rustics
going quietly forth at sunrise, to their daily
labour, and the soldiers coming, fully armed,
from vine-covered cottages, and hurrying
with brisk steps to the field of exercise; to
mark the gay confidence of our men, and
the silent humility, yet eager wonder of the
THE PENINSULA.
193
peasants. All this gave a man something
to think of in his walks, which made him
forget the want of a book, or a companion.
The soldiers, too, seemed to feel all the
ordinary delight which such a scene, in the
soft season of spring, naturally inspires,
even in uncultivated minds, and they were
all health and high spirits.
On the eighteenth of the month we were
again in motion, and marched, by Porta-
legre, to Arronches, where we rested three
days. When Massena broke up from San-
tarem on the fifth, we, on the south bank,
had calculated on marching to the relief of
Badajos, an important fortress in Spanish
Estremadura, at that time besieged by the
Duke of Dalmatia. This design, with the
execution of which we should certainly have
been charged, was frustrated by the gover-
nor, who suddenly surrendered the place
to a weak corps of the enemy, on terms
the most disgraceful. The fall of Badajos
was immediately followed by the attack
and capture of Campo Mayor; a place not
capable of any resistance, and from which,
0
194
RECOLLECTIONS OF
T
indeed, we ourselves drove the enemy, two
days after they had entered it.
It was on the afternoon of the twenty-
fifth that we halted in a very pretty bivou-
ack, on the banks of the Caya: our camp lay
in a beautiful valley surrounded by hills; on
the sides of these the infantry took up their
ground, while our cavalry occupied the ver-
dant flat on the banks of the stream.
On the morning of the twenty-sixth we
marched upon Campo Mayor: and, at the
distance of about two miles from its walls,
we halted to let the cavalry pass to the
front. They were about 2000 in number;
they moved past us in file at a brisk trot;
their cattle were in beautiful condition, and
occasionally broke into a proud prancing
canter,
It is at such a moment, and in such a
situation, that an infantry officer cannot
altogether suppress a feeling of envy. It
is true, that to his service belongs the tug
of war, and that more men are killed in one
hour by a hot fire of musketry, than in one
day of galloping and sabring; for the injury
THE PENINSULA,
195
of a sabre-cut, as compared to a gun-shot
wound, is, in nine cases out of ten, trifling;
still the heart will follow the trampling of
a squadron of cavalry, the rattling of all
their appointments, and the noble animat-
ing sound of their brazen trumpets. On this
particular day I felt this very strongly: we
knew that there was every probability of a
handsome affair with the enemy, who would,
of course, evacuate the town, and retire
upon Badajos; but the nature of the ground
was so favourable for the operations of
horse, that it was also very likely the en-
gagement would be entirely confined to
troops of that arm. Our suspicions were
not ill-founded; the French were no sooner
apprised of our advance, than they hastily
formed behind the town. Four regiments
of their cavalry presented a front to our
people, while their infantry (a column
of about 1200) commenced its retreat,
carrying with it several pieces of artillery.
A most brilliant charge was made upon
the enemy's dragoons by our thirteenth
light, supported by the Portuguese. Our
people behaved with great intrepidity;
o 2
196
RECOLLECTIONS OF
At
?
but the affair was altogether conducted, on
our part, with such a total absence of skill,
that the French secured the retreat of their
infantry and guns, sustaining indeed a loss*
but a loss very little heavier than our own.
Our fine brigade of heavy cavalry was never
brought up to the enemy, and our columns
of infantry followed slowly in the rear.
every half mile we met some mark of this
ill-conducted contest, which was carried on
to the very gates of Badajos; near which
several of our men, who, consulting only
their courage, had pursued without any
order or regularity, and, indeed, with the
main body of the French cavalry marching
on in their rear, were captured. In spite
of the interest excited on such a day, it is
mortifying to a man of spirit, and painful
to a man of feeling, to follow, in cold blood,
and
gaze upon the piteous spectacle of dead
and dying scattered in your path. I re-
member well, among the events of this day,
having remarked one fine manly corpse
* About 300 killed, wounded, and taken.
THE PENINSULA.
197
very
very particularly: it lay a few yards from
the road-side, alone, naked, the face and
breast downwards, and on the back of the
head a deep and frightful cleft, inflicted by
the sabre; all around the spot where it lay
the ground was deeply indented with the
print of horses' feet, who appeared to have
gone over it at a furious pace. The sky
was cloudy, and the wind high; the body
was cold and pale, the fine-formed limbs
stiff and motionless; the spirit, which had
animated it, not an hour before, had indeed
fled: yet, I know not how it was, the
corpse made a forcible appeal to the feel-
ings, and seemed to suffer, it looked so
comfortless, so humbled, so deserted.
English dragoon, leading a wounded horse,
and conducting two prisoners, one of whom
had sabre-cuts on the cheek and shoulder,
passed me while I was contemplating this
scene. "Do you recollect," said I, "friend,
what took place here?" Yes, sir; they
shewed us a front here, and we charged and
drove them; but this man, who was an
officer, tried to rally them, and was cut
down by our adjutant, as I think."
An
At
03
198
RECOLLECTIONS OF
this moment, one of the French horsemen,
leaning down, exclaimed, "C'est le colo-
nel!" "Comment diable !" said the other.
"C'est bien lui," said his comrade; "il
est mort. Ah! qu'il étoit brave soldat, ce
vilain champ de bataille n'est pas digne
d'un tel victime." They passed on. What!
this carcass, on which the flies were already
settling, which lay, all spurned and blood-
stained, on the rude and prickly heath, had
been, but one short hour before, a man of
rank, perhaps also of talent, fortune, courage,
whose voice breathed command, whose eye
glanced fire, whose arm shook defiance; -
even so, such is war!
The same day a young French officer was
taken by the falling of his horse; he was of
the compagnie d'élite of the twenty-sixth
dragoons; a handsome youth, with a fine fair
complexion; a serjeant escorted him past
our column, which was, at the time, halted.
I shall never forget the mortified and
mournful dejection of his countenance: he
suffered the bridle of his horse to hang on its
neck, and sat in the saddle, thoughtfully care-
less. As he passed us, some of our officers
THE PENINSULA.
199
moved their hats to him; he returned their
salute, taking off his large bearskin cap with
much grace, but I could see that his eyes
were filled with tears. A very few yards
behind us, he had to pass a Portuguese
column, whose officers crowded forward to
look at him, with a sort of triumphant
curiosity. Though his back was to me, I
saw that this awakened all his pride and
spirit, for he placed himself erect in his
seat, spurred and reined up his horse, and
rode slowly and haughtily by them. Two
days after the affair, a flag of truce came to
Elvas, to bring this young man some bag-
gage and money. The French captain who
came, remained with his young friend for
half an hour, in the officers' guard-room, at
one of the barriers. The trumpeter, who
accompanied the flag, was a vieux mous-
tache, of about forty, with the chevrons of
twenty years' service on his arm. This
man, when the two friends came out, and
the captain mounted, rode up to the young
officer, and cordially grasping his hand, put
into it a purse of money, and rode off. The
purse, I found, had been made up among
-#
0 4
200
RECOLLECTIONS OF
the privates of the compagnie d'élite, who
had charged the old trumpeter with its de-
livery. This was too strong a testimony,
both of the amiability and gallantry of this
youth, not to create a deep feeling of inter-
est for him; and it was sorrowful to think,
that he might be doomed for years, perhaps,
to pine away, in an obscure garret at some
dépôt of prisoners in England; his profes-
sional hopes and prospects blasted, and the
brightest season of his life chilled by po-
verty, and consumed in inaction. But, to
return.― After being in motion the whole
day, alternately amused by the sight of
prisoners and captured horses, and our own
dragoons displaying the curious contents of
the valises they had plundered, and, again,
shocked by the sight of slain and wounded,
we retraced our steps to Campo Mayor, and
encamped close to its walls.
The next day we marched to Elvas,
where we halted till the first of April,
when we moved to Borba, a very pretty
town, about six leagues from Elvas, and
highly celebrated for its rich and excellent
wine. While we were thus disposed of
THE PENINSULA.
201
in cantonments, our engineers were busily
employed in throwing a bridge over the
Guadiana at Jurumenha. This work pro-
ceeded but slowly, from the great want of
materials, and was rendered extremely diffi-
cult, from the heavy and sudden rises of
the river, caused by the melting of the
snows. A flying bridge was, however, at
length established, and our army was trans-
ported to the Spanish bank in safety, and
without opposition, on the night of the
fifth of April. On the sixth we moved
about three miles, and took up our ground
on a plain covered with gumcistus: a small
village, lying a little to the rear of our
right, was occupied by the head-quarters
and staff. Here a most extraordinary acci-
dent occurred, for which it is difficult to
account satisfactorily. A body of the ene-
my eluded the vigilance of some Portuguese
outposts, and surprised a squadron of
English dragoons, all of whom they cap-
tured. These dragoons had been, for
twenty-four hours previous, on out-line
picquet, and were desired to consider them-
selves released from duty, though they
202
RECOLLECTIONS OF
were still kept close to the line of picquets,
an arrangement by which, combined with
the utter want of caution in the outposts,
they were taken. But this was not all:
the enemy arrived at Marshal Beresford's
quarter in the village, and the first alarm
was given by the fire of a serjeant's guard,
posted over the person of the marshal.
They took several horses belonging to the
staff from their stables; and if they had
not been unnecessarily alarmed, to find
that they had penetrated so far, they might
have carried off the whole of our head-
quarter staff, for they returned themselves
unmolested.
On the morning of the eighth we moved
to invest Olivença, in which the enemy
had shut up a small garrison. The occu-
pation of this place was absolutely neces-
sary to us as a depôt, or place d'armes ;
for the French had a very strong garrison
in Badajos, which might avail itself of our
march to the front, to insult, or altogether
interrupt, our communications; and, for the
same reason, we constructed a tête du pont
at Jurumenha.
THE PENINSULA.
203
We
The order of our march, on the morning
of the eighth, was very beautiful.
moved in four parallel columns, at well-
regulated intervals. The two flank columns
were of cavalry, who marched with advanced
guards and flankers; the two central co-
´lumns were divisions of infantry, with their
guns.
The skirmishers of the 13th dra-
goons moved on some eminences to the
left of our line of march, and kept an eager
look-out on the Badajos road; while the
advanced guard of the heavy cavalry, on
the right, pursued one of the roads which
led directly on the town of Olivença, our
near approach to which was announced by
the sound of its cannon. From the nature
of the country we passed over, all the co-
lumns had a fine distinct view of each other,
and we all came in sight of the fortress
nearly at the same moment; and halting on
the heights which overlooked it, just out
of gun-shot, had a full view of the place
while the summons went in.
On a day like this, every one seems on
the "qui vive." All faces are cheerful, all
204
RECOLLECTIONS OF
eyes strained; spy-glasses are out; and
every one looks pleased who has been
lucky enough to distinguish a brazen hel-
met, a broad-topped cap, or, in fact, any
thing French. The governor rejecting the
summons, General Cole was left with the
fourth division to conduct the siege, and
on the afternoon of the tenth the army ad-
vanced. I was on the rear guard; and as
the main body moved two hours before us,
it was already dark when we reached the
bivouack. There was a something so strik-
ingly beautiful in the appearance of it, that
I shall never forget the picture. The night
was excessively dark, and, under such cir-
cumstances, the common camp fires would
of themselves have produced a fine effect
but they had been, for the most part, made
in hollow cork-trees, of which great num-
bers were scattered through the ground;
and to see the red fires in their fantastic
cavities, and the bright and consuming
flames issuing from their tops, illuminating
the pale branches, causing a red atmosphere
above, and showing to great advantage the
troops, their arms and horses, was a scene
;
THE PENINSULA.
205
so picturesque, so magical, that no descrip-
tion could do it justice.
Olivença, which was only provided with
a garrison of four hundred men, fell as soon
as ever it was possible to bring guns to bear
on it, and was occupied by the division
which besieged it: the rest of us pushed
many leagues southward. At Los Santos
de Maimona, another affair took place be-
tween our cavalry and a small body of
the enemy's horse. Our people killed and
wounded several, and took about seventy
prisoners; but were certainly not successful,
to the extent we might have been, had they
been more vigorously pushed. These pri-
soners were hussars, very handsomely
clothed and appointed, particularly those
of the tenth French. This corps wore a
jacket and pelisse of light blue, or French
grey, neatly ornamented with white lace
and black fur: their caps, boots, and ac-
coutrements, excellent: their hair clubbed
in a manner not unbecoming; and their
whole appearance soldier-like.
We lay for a few days at Zafra, a clean
good city, on the route to Andalusia. We
206
RECOLLECTIONS OF
looked forward with eager hope to the
chance of a triumphant march over the
Sierra Morena, that rude and majestic bar-
rier of southern Spain. The towers of fair
Seville already seemed to rise before us;
and, in imagination, we were already wan-
dering amid the romantic scenery on the
banks of the far-famed Guadalquiver. Ba-
dajos, however, was first to be gained; a
fortress, the possession of which was to us
most important, whether we looked to of
fensive operations in Spain, or to the mere
defence of Portugal.
We broke up from our cantonments on
the third of May: the same evening our
division arrived at Talavera-Real, a town
on the high road to Badajos, and distant
from it about ten miles. It was just at the
dawn of day, on the fourth, that the heads
of all the columns, destined to besiege Ba-
dajos, crowned every little eminence round
the city, and formed the investment of the
place. Our previous night-march had been
well arranged as to time; and this opera-
tion, which is at all times interesting, was
executed, on this occasion, with admirable
THE PENINSULA.
207
skill, and in the most beautiful order. The
sky was cloudless and serene, the morning
air mild and pleasant. The enemy's pic-
quets skirmished prettily with our advance,
and they threw both shot and shells from
the town, but with little or no effect. They
sent out the few dragoons they had, to as-
sist in reconnoitring our force; and these
men performed their duty with a degree
of coolness and intrepidity which could
not have been surpassed. I saw individuals
ride up within pistol-shot of our infantry
skirmishers; and one man galloped boldly
as near to a column, not very distant from
the height on which my regiment was
formed. The scene was quite a review one :
the walls of Badajos were crowded with
spectators; and from the top of the castle
the tri-coloured standard, an ensign which
has spread terror over half Europe, was
calmly floating. Our regiment lay for four
days in a small narrow dell, under cover of
their fire, but within gun-shot of the city.
On the night of the eighth, our brigade
broke ground; at so considerable a distance,
however, that we sustained no loss, but
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
opened the first parallel, and covered our-
selves before break of day. I regard the
operations of a siege as highly interesting:
the daily progress of the labours; the
trenches filled with men, who lie secure
within range of the garrison; the fire of
the batteries; the beautiful appearance of
the shells and fire-balls by night; the
challenges of the enemy's sentries; the
sound of their drums and trumpets; all
give a continued charm and animation to
this service. But the duties of a besieging
force are both harassing and severe; and,
I know not how it is, death in the trenches
never carries with it that stamp of glory,
which seals the memory of those who perish
in a well-fought field. The daily exploits
of the northern army under Lord Welling-
ton, and Graham's victory at Barossa, made
us restless and mortified at our comparative
ill fortune; for as yet we had struggled
only with privation, hardship, and disease.
On the 13th, in the afternoon, while loung-
ing in our camp of ease, about four miles
from the trenches, we were surprised by an
order, to hold ourselves in readiness to
THE PENINSULA.
209
Reports
march, at the shortest notice.
soon began to circulate, that Soult was
moving rapidly, at the head of a considerable
force, to succour Badajos; that a corps of
Spaniards, under the orders of Blake, was
marching from Ayamonte, to co-operate
with us; that the siege was to be imme-
diately raised; and that a battle might be
shortly expected. On the 14th we broke
up, and marched upon Valverde; halted
for the night, and moved forwards at mid-
day, on the 15th, to Albuera, which place
we reached about five in the evening. Our
cavalry had already retired upon this post;
the enemy's horse, who were vastly superior
in number, having pushed them from Santa
Martha in the morning. Albuera, the scene
of a most murderous and sanguinary con-
flict, it may not be amiss to describe. It
is a small inconsiderable village, uninha-
bited and in ruins: it is situated on a stream
from which it takes its name, and over
which there are two bridges; one about two
hundred yards to the right of the village,
large, handsome, and built of hewn stone;
the other, close to the left of it, small, nar-
P
210
RECOLLECTIONS OF
row, and incommodious. This brook is not
above knee-deep: its banks, to the left of the
small bridge, are abrupt and uneven; and,
on that side, both artillery and cavalry
would find it difficult to pass, if not impos-
sible; but to the right of the main bridge,
it is accessible to any description of force.
The enemy occupied a very large extensive
wood, about three quarters of a mile distant,
on the other side of the stream, and posted
their picquets close to us. The space be-
tween the wood and the brook was a level
plain; but on our side the ground rose
considerably, though there was nothing
which could be called a height, as from
Albuera to Valverde* every inch of ground
is favourable to the operations of cavalry -
not a tree, not a ravine, to interrupt their
movements.
I shall here interrupt my private recol-
lections, to give a rapid and general sketch
*I consider the wood, near Valverde, as too distant
from the scene of action at Albuera to be considered, in
any way, when speaking generally of the face of the
country.
THE PENINSULA.
211
of the battle, which took place on the
morrow. On the morning of the 16th
our people were disposed as follows: The
Spanish army*, under the orders of Ge-
neral Blake, was on the right, in two lines ;
its left rested on the Valverde road, on
which, just at the ridge of an ascent, rising
from the main bridge, the right of our
division (the second) was posted, the left
of it extending to the Badajos road, on
ground elevated above the village, which
was occupied by two battalions of German
riflemen; General Hamilton's Portuguese
division being on the left of the whole.
General Cole, with two brigades of the
fourth division (the fusileer brigade and
one of Portuguese), arrived a very short time
before the action, and formed, with them, our
second line. These dispositions the enemy
soon compelled us to alter. At eight
o'clock he began to move; and menacing,
with two columns, the village and bridges,
under cover of his cavalry, he filed the
main body of his infantry over the rivulet,
* It joined us on the night of the 15th.
P 2
212
RECOLLECTIONS OF
beyond our right, and attacked that flank
with very superior numbers and with
great impetuosity. The greater part of the
Spaniards hastily formed front to the right
to meet the attack; and, after a short and
gallant resistance, were overpowered and
driven from their ground. The enemy
now commanded and raked our whole po-
sition: the fire of his artillery was heavy,
but, fortunately for us, not very well di-
rected. It became now imperiously neces-
sary to retake, at any price, the important
post, unfortunately, not blamably, lost by
the Spaniards. The three brigades of the
division Stewart marched on it in double
quick time, led by that general. The first,
or right brigade, commanded by Colonel
Colborne, was precipitated into action un-
der circumstances the most unfavourable:
it deployed by corps as it arrived near the
enemy, fired, and was in the act of gallantly
charging with the bayonet on the heavy
column of their infantry, when a body of
Polish lancers, having galloped round upon
its rear in this most unfortunate moment
(for a charge is often a movement of exult-
THE PENINSULA.
213
ing confusion), overthrew it with a great
and cruel slaughter. The 31st regiment,
not having deployed, escaped this misfor-
tune; and the third brigade, under General
Houghton, and second, under Colonel Aber-
cromby, successively arriving, re-established
the battle; and, with the assistance of the
fusileer brigade under Sir William Myers,
the fortunes of this bloody day were re-
trieved, and the French driven in every
direction from the field. I should not
omit to mention, that, during the whole
of the day, there was very heavy skirmish- ·
ing near the village, which was occupied
and held, throughout the contest, by the
German light infantry, under the orders
of Major-General Alten. General Lumley,
who commanded the allied cavalry, dis-
played great ability, and foiled every at-
tempt of the enemy's horse to turn our
right*, who were in that arm very superior,
and who directed their efforts repeatedly
·
* This may sound inconsistent; but it will be under-
stood that the order of battle was changed from its
commencement; and again, the Polish horse were but
a small body, detached for a particular object.
P 3
214
RECOLLECTIONS OF
to that object. The Portuguese troops,
with the exception of one brigade, were
very little engaged in this affair, and num-
bers of the Spanish troops never came
into action. The brunt of the battle fell
on the British, who lost 4,103 killed and
wounded, including in this number 120 of
the German legion. The Portuguese lost
about 400; the Spaniards 1,800: making a
total of about 6,300. The French lost, at
the lowest calculation, 9,000. Soult had
about 24,000; and we were, perhaps, in
point of numbers, a little superior to him
altogether, but had only 7,000 English.
The two British brigades, who more par-
ticularly distinguished themselves on this
glorious day, were the fusileer brigade,
commanded and led by Sir William Myers,
and the third brigade of the second division,
headed by General Houghton. The first
of these, composed of two battalions of the
7th regiment and one of the 23d, lost up-
wards of 1000 men; and the other, com-
posed of the 29th, first 48th, and 57th
regiments, lost 1,050 men killed and
wounded, having entered the field about
THE PENINSULA.
215
1,400 strong. This last brigade went into
action led by a major-general, and with
its due proportion of field-officers and
captains. I saw it at three in the after-
noon : — a captain commanded the brigade;
the 57th and 48th regiments were com-
manded by lieutenants; and the junior
captain of the 29th regiment was the senior
effective officer of his corps. Not one of
these six regiments lost a man by the sabre
or the lance; they were never driven, never
thrown into confusion; they fought in line,
sustaining and replying to a heavy fire, and
often charging; and when the enemy at
length fled, the standards of these heroic
battalions flew in proud, though mournful
triumph, in the centre of their weakened
but victorious lines. I have read the annals
of modern warfare with some attention, and
I know of little which can compare with,
nothing which has surpassed, the enthusi-
astic and unyielding bravery, displayed by
these corps on the field of Albuera. Yet this
dear-bought, and, let me add, not useless
victory, won by unaided courage, graced
with no trophies, and followed by no pro-
P 4
216
RECOLLECTIONS OF
portionate result, has almost sunk into obli-
vion, or is remembered only, and spoken
of, as a day of doubtful success, if not of
positive disaster. It was certainly not use-
less, because the object of Marshal Soult,
which was the relief of Badajos, and the
expulsion of our troops from Spanish Estre-
medura, was wholly defeated; but it had
yet a higher, a nobler, a more undying use;
it added one to the many bright examples
of British heroism; it gave a terrible and
long-remembered lesson to the haughty le-
gions of France; and, when Soult rode by
the side of his imperial master on the field
of Waterloo, as the cheering of the English
soldiery struck upon his ear, Albuera was
not forgotten, and he could have whispered
him, that they were men, who could only
be defeated, by being utterly destroyed. So
much for the battle, generally considered.
I would now relate what fell under my own
observation, and describe, if it be possible,
my feelings on that day. We stood to our
arms an hour before break of day: it was a
brilliant sight, at sunrise, to see the whole
of the French cavalry moving on the plain;
THE PENINSULA.
217
but in a short time they retired into the
wood, leaving their picquets as before. The
battalion being dismissed, I breakfasted,
and immediately afterwards set out to walk
towards the Spanish troops, little dreaming,
that day, of a general action. But the sound
of a few shots caused me to return; and I
found our line getting hastily under arms,
and saw the enemy in motion. The prelude
of skirmishing lasted about an hour and a
half, and our division lost a few men by
random gun-shot; all this time we were
standing at ease, and part of it exposed to
a heavy, chilling, and comfortless rain.
Sounds, however, which breathed all the
fierceness of battle, soon reached us; the
continued rolling of musketry, accompanied
by loud and repeated discharges of cannon
on our extreme right, told us, convincingly,
that the real attack was in that quarter. The
brigades of our division were successively
called to support it. We formed in open
column of companies at half-distance, and
moved in rapid double quick to the scene
of action. I remember well, as we moved
down in column, shot and shell flew over
218.
RECOLLECTIONS OF
and through it in quick succession: we sus-
tained little injury from either; but a captain
of the twenty-ninth had been dreadfully
lacerated by a ball, and lay directly in our
path. We passed close to him, and he
knew us all; and the heart-rending tone in
which he called to us for water, or to kill
him, I shall never forget. He lay alone,
and we were in motion, and could give him
no succour; for on this trying day, such of
the wounded as could not walk, lay unat-
tended where they fell:- all was hurry and
struggle; every arm was wanted in the
field. When we arrived near the discom-
fited and retiring Spaniards, and formed
our line to advance through them towards
the enemy, a very noble-looking young
Spanish officer rode up to me, and begged
me, with a sort of proud and brave anxiety,
to explain to the English, that his country-
men were ordered to retire, but were not
flying. Just as our line had entirely cleared
the Spaniards, the smoky shroud of battle
was, by the slackening of the fire, for one
minute blown aside, and gave to our view
the French grenadier caps, their arms, and
THE PENINSULA.
219
the whole aspect of their frowning masses.
It was a momentary, but a grand sight; a
heavy atmosphere of smoke again enve-
loped us, and few objects could be discerned
at all, none distinctly. The coolest and
bravest soldier, if he be in the heat of it,
can make no calculation of time during an
engagement. Interested and animated, he
marks not the flight of the hours, but he
feels that
“Come what come may,
Time and the hour run through the roughest day.”
This murderous contest of musketry
lasted long. We were the whole time pro-
gressively advancing upon and shaking the
enemy. At the distance of about twenty
yards from them, we received orders to
charge; we had ceased firing, cheered, and
had our bayonets in the charging position,
when a body of the enemy's horse was dis-
covered under the shoulder of a rising
ground, ready to take advantage of our im-
petuosity. Already, however, had the
French infantry, alarmed by our preparatory
cheers, which always indicate the charge,
220
RECOLLECTIONS OF
broken and fled, abandoning some guns and
howitzers about sixty yards from us. The
presence of their cavalry not permitting us
to pursue, we halted and recommenced firing
on them. The slaughter was now, for a few
minutes, dreadful; every shot told; their
officers in vain attempted to rally them;
they would make no effort. Some of their
artillery, indeed, took up a distant position,
which much annoyed our line; but we did
not move, until we had expended every
round of our ammunition, and then retired,
in the most perfect order, to a spot sheltered
from their guns, and lay down in line, ready
to repulse any fresh attack with the bayonet.
To describe my feelings throughout this
wild scene with fidelity, would be impos-
sible at intervals, a shriek or groan told
that men were falling around me; but it
was not always that the tumult of the con-
test suffered me to catch these sounds. A
constant feeling to the centre of the line,
and the gradual diminution of our front,
more truly bespoke the havoc of death.
As we moved, though slowly, yet ever a
little in advance, our own killed and
THE PENINSULA.
221
wounded lay behind us; but we arrived
among those of the enemy, and those of
the Spaniards who had fallen in the first
onset: we trod among the dead and dying,
all reckless of them. But how shall I pic-
ture the British soldier going into action?
He is neither heated by brandy, stimulated
by the hope of plunder, or inflamed by the
deadly feelings of revenge; he does not
even indulge in expressions of animosity
against his foes; he moves forward, con-
fident of victory, never dreams of the
pos-
sibility of defeat, and braves death with
all the accompanying horrors of laceration
and torture, with the most cheerful intre-
pidity. Enough of joy and triumph. The
roar of the battle is hushed; the hurry of
action is over; let us walk over the corpse-
encumbered field. Look around, behold
thousands of slain, thousands of wounded,
writhing with anguish, and groaning with
agony and despair. Move a little this way,
here lie four officers of the French hun-
dredth, all corpses. Why, that boy cannot
have numbered eighteen years! How beau-
tiful, how serene a countenance! Perhaps,
•
222
RECOLLECTIONS OF
on the banks of the murmuring and peace-
ful Loire, some mother thinks anxiously of
this her darling child. Here fought the third
brigade; here the fusileers: how thick these
heroes lie! Most of the bodies are already
stripped; rank is no longer distinguished.
Yes this must have been an officer; look
at the delicate whiteness of his hands, and
observe on his finger the mark of his ring.
What manly beauty! what a smile still plays
upon his lip! He fell, perhaps, beneath
his colours; died easily; he is to be en-
vied. Here charged the Polish lancers ;
not long ago, the trampling of horses, the
shout, the cry, the prayer, the death-stroke,
all mingled their wild sounds on this spot;
it is now, but for a few fitful and stifled
groans, as silent as the grave. What is this?
A battered trumpet; the breath which filled,
this morning, its haughty tone, has fled,
perhaps, for ever. And here again, a broken
lance. Is this the muscular arm that wielded
it? 'Twas vigorous, and slew, perhaps, a
victim on this field; it is now unnerved by
death. Look at the contraction of this
body, and the anguish of these features;
THE PENINSULA. ·
223
eight times has some lance pierced this
frame. Here again lie headless trunks, and
bodies torn and struck down by cannon
shot; such death is sudden, horrid, but 'tis
merciful. Who are these that catch every
moment at our coats, and cling to our feet,
in such a humble attitude? The wounded
soldiers of the enemy, who are imploring
British protection from the exasperated and
revengeful Spaniards. What a proud com-
pliment to our country!
Some readers will call this scene ro-
mantic, others disgusting: no matter; it is
faithful; and it would be well for kings,
politicians, and generals, if, while they talk
of victories with exultation, and of defeats
with philosophical indifference, they would
allow their fancies to wander to the theatre
of war, and the field of carnage. Incredible
as it may appear Marshal Beresford evi-
dently thought a renewal of their attack, on
the 17th, very possible; for he had us under
arms two hours before break of day, and
made arrangements, which certainly indi-
cated any thing rather than intention to
advance. It is to be presumed, that could
$
224
RECOLLECTIONS OF
the marshal have guessed the dreadful
slaughter he had made in the ranks of the
enemy, and their consequent disorganiza-
tion and discontent, he would have entered
the wood, to which they retired on the
evening of the sixteenth, and thus have
achieved a more complete triumph than
any up to that period gained in the Penin-
sula. Report said that Blake very strongly
urged this measure. Our army was in-
dubitably equal to an affair on the evening
of the sixteenth: we had been reinforced
by a British brigade under the orders of
Colonel Kemmis, who arrived after the bat-
tle; the casualties of our German light bat-
talions had been trifling; our Portuguese
division was quite fresh, as were two Spa-
nish divisions; and our cavalry, an arm
most ably commanded by General Lumley,
had sustained little or no loss; and all the
troops were much animated by what they
had witnessed. Had Wellington command-
ed on this day, he would have altogether
destroyed the army of Soult, and captured
the whole of his matériel; and the men,
who fought in the ranks of the two distin-
?
225
THE PENINSULA.
:
guished brigades I had occasion to parti-
cularise, in my general sketch of the action,
would not now, perhaps, have had the mor-
tification of walking, unnoticed and unde-
corated, by the side of the more fortunate
heroes of Waterloo. The whole of the
seventeenth we never ventured across the
stream, but stood looking at the enemy's
picquets and videttes, posted impudently
on the little plain between us and their
bivouack. On the eighteenth they retired,
destroying the contents of many of their
tumbrils and ammunition cars, to facilitate
the conveyance of their wounded; and they
were followed, at a respectful distance, by
our cavalry and light infantry. It was not
until the nineteenth, that is, three days
after the battle, that we occupied the wood
to which the enemy, after their bloody de-
feat, had been driven in discomfiture and
confusion.
Our wounded were removed, with as
much expedition as possible, to Valverde;
but the field hospitals, for two or three days
after the engagement, presented scenes, at
the recollection of which humanity quite
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226
RECOLLECTIONS OF
shudders. I never can forget seeing, on the
twentieth, the small chapel at Albuera filled
with French wounded, very great numbers
of whom had suffered amputation, and who
lay on the hard stones, without even straw,
in a dirty, comfortless state; all which was
unavoidably the case, for we had nothing to
give them on the spot, and, owing to the
want of conveyances, they were forced to
wait till our own people had been carried
to the rear.
This same day I again went down to that
part of the field, which was covered with
the slain; they lay ghastly and unburied:
here and there, indeed, you might remark
a loose-made grave, where some officers or
soldiers had been to perform an act of pri-
vate friendship. I was much struck with
one affecting, though simple proof of the
attachment of our peninsular allies: the
hands of vast numbers of the British corpses
had been clasped together in the attitude
.of prayer, and placed by the Spaniards in
the manner they superstitiously imagine it
important to lay out their dead.
On the 22d we marched upon Solano,
THE PENINSULA.
227
and the 23d resumed our old quarters at
Almendralejo. We found here three hun-
dred French soldiers, all wounded, who had
been left in a convent, and recommended
to our protection. Several hundred pri-
soners were made, at the different canton-
ments of the army, under similar circum-
stances; but General Gazan carried four
thousand wounded to Seville in safety. The
Hon. William Stewart, our division general,
paid great attention to such of the enemy
as were left in Almendralejo; he almost
daily visited their hospitals, and satisfied
himself, by personal enquiries, whether they
were properly taken care of. I have more
than once been present at these visits, and
the gratitude of these poor fellows was
strongly pictured on their countenances,
and in every thing they said. In speaking
of their own commanders, they called Soult
blood-thirsty and avaricious, saying that he
cared not how he sacrificed his men, and
that he was wholly bent on the pursuit of
dignities and wealth.
On the 25th of May, General Lumley
had a brilliant affair with the enemy's
Q 2
228
RECOLLECTIONS OF
:
·
cavalry, near Usagre; and conducting it,
as he did every thing, both with skill and
intrepidity, he overthrew and routed them,
though very superior in number, sabring
several on the spot, and taking nearly one
hundred prisoners. The detachment cap- -
tured was composed entirely of French
heavy dragoons, of the 4th, 20th, and
26th regiments: many of them were se-
verely cut over the head and face; but
they were, with few exceptions, fine sol-
dier-like looking men, who had apparently
seen a great deal of service; and they all
wore that warlike helmet, which I have
before mentioned, and which we have since
adopted.
During the whole time that we remained
stationary at Almendralejo, the siege of Ba-
dajos was carried on, under the direction of
Wellington in person, by two divisions of
the army of the north, which had come
from Beira to strengthen us in this quarter.
Two gallant assaults were made on the fort
of San Christoval, the possession of which
would have secured the reduction of the
place. Our troops displayed great courage,
THE PENINSULA.
229
but were repulsed.* On the 10th of June
the siege was raised; for it was known that
Marshal Marmont was breaking up from
the environs of Ciudad Rodrigo, and about
to form a junction with Soult, for the relief
of Badajos. On the 11th we retired from,
Almendralejo, on the 14th and 15th we
bivouacked near Albuera, and on the 17th
we forded the Guadiana, about three leagues
to the south of Badajos, and marched upon
Elvas. On the line of march this day, I
saw a body of the Estremaduran legion; a
corps raised, clothed, and commanded by a
General Downie, an Englishman, who had
formerly been a commissary in our service.
Any thing so whimsical or ridiculous as the
dress of this corps, I never beheld: it was
meant to be an imitation of the ancient
costume of Spain. The turned-up hat,
slashed doublet, and short mantle, might
have figured very well in the play of Pi-
zarro, or at an exhibition of Astley's; but
in the rude and ready bivouack, they ap-
* Their repulse was caused by obstacles which no
valour could overcome.
:
Q 3
230
RECOLLECTIONS OF
peared absurd and ill chosen. In the midst
of our misery and discomfort, the same
evening, we could not avoid laughing at
the recollection of these poor devils, who,
in their fantastic dresses, must have been
exposed to the same violent storm which
extinguished our fires, soaked our ground,
and, forcing its way through our tents,
drenched us to the skin.
On the 18th we were moved into Elvas,
to get a drying and a night's rest under
cover. Many of our wounded officers and
men were in hospital, or billets in this town,
and the day was of course quite a holiday
of the heart to us all. It was a strange
thing to see, in the crowded wards of the
hospitals, English and French soldiers lying
helplessly side by side, or here and there
performing little kind offices for each other,
with a willing and a cheerful air. Their
wants and thoughts, I observed, they com-
municated to each other in phrases of Spa-
nish, which language many of the French
privates spoke fluently, and our men under-
stood well enough for all common purposes.
On the 19th we marched to the banks of
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231
#
the Caya, and were placed in position at
a spot called Torre-de-Moro, about two
leagues from Elvas, and directly on the
frontier. We remained here until the 21st
of July, leading a regular, healthful, pleas-
ing camp life. For one week, indeed, our
regiment being on an advanced post, and
distributed in three very pretty gardens;
the foot of a large thick-spreading mul-
berry-tree, a fountain of clear water spark-
ling near it, was my happy and tranquil
resting-place. Disposed of in Campo Mayor,
or bivouacked in situations to admit of their
being readily brought together, lay almost
all the divisions of the allied army; and on
the banks of the Caya, I imagine, we should
certainly have fought, had the enemy at-
tempted to pass that river. Their superi-
ority of numbers, however, especially in
cavalry, had rendered it impossible for us
to hazard any thing on the plains of Spa-
nish Estremadura.
On the 22d of June, Soult and Marmont
made a strong reconnoissance; but their
object in saving Badajos having been gained,
they made no further demonstration. About
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
the middle of July, Marmont returned with
his people to the north; and Lord Wel-
lington, crossing the Tagus at Villa Velha,
marched to Beira, leaving the troops under
General Hill cantoned in Alentejo. From
the 22d of July to the third of September,
our division lay at Villa Viçosa, a handsome
well-built town, about five leagues from
Elvas. A hunting-palace; a fine large pre-
serve, walled in, and filled with deer and
game; wide streets, handsome houses, a
royal chapel, and several churches and con-
vents, attest the former rank of this town,
which was once a favourite country retreat
for the court of Portugal. Our billets here
were very comfortable; the walks and rides
in the park, which, from the inequalities of
the ground, and the thickness of the under-
wood, had all the character of a wilderness,
were strikingly beautiful; the markets well
supplied, and the vineyards of Borba, so
celebrated for its wine, lay within two miles
of us.
One of my daily amusements was
attendance at the royal chapel, where the
music and singing were both very excellent.
Often, indeed, would the organist introduce
THE PENINSULA.´
233
into his voluntaries the most touching airs,
and, sometimes, airs of too tender and vo-
luptuous a character for the solemnity of a
church. During my stay in this town, I
was one day attracted by the sight of an
unusual crowd at the chapel of a convent,
and on entering it I found, that a lady,
having completed her year as noviciate, was
then taking the veil. I arrived so late, and
was so distant from the altar, that I saw
nothing of the ceremony; but I heard the
faint sound of a soft pleasing voice; the
utterance was tremulous and indistinct; the
words were quite lost. A bystander told
me that the unfortunate female had then
pronounced her vow. The most breathless
silence had prevailed while the noviciate
had spoken; the deep voice of a priest re-
plied, and seemed to confirm her vow by a
short prayer. To this succeeded an anthem,
sweetly sung by the sisters, and in parts of
which, all the priests and many of the con-
gregation devoutly joined. The notes of
praise and thanksgiving sounded proud and
joyous. The altars, shrines, and walls of
the chapel were all decorated with flowers;
་
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
and, as the crowd came out, you might ob-
serve all the relations of the youthful victim
dressed gaily, as on a festival. I felt quite
oppressed with melancholy; and the bril-
liant scene, and animated music, so ill ac-
cording with a sacrifice at the altar, like
that I had just witnessed, struck me to the
very soul. In the grave we only deposit
the lifeless and insensible body; but when
we devote youth, affection, and reason to
the cheerless cloister, we bury and entomb
the heart. Such is the cruel perversion of
monastic institutions; in which, if they
served only as the retreats of deserted age,
disappointment, and sorrow, we should find
little, perhaps nothing, to condemn.
From Villa Viçosa we moved to Portale-
gre, a favourite and often-visited quarter.
About this time, some movements of a
French division under the orders of Ge-
neral Girard, who had crossed the Guadiana
at Merida, and was insulting and foraging
the northern district of Estremadura, ren-
dering it necessary for us to take the field,
the division was assembled in bivouack,
near the village of Codiceira, on the 22d of
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235
October. The weather, I well remember,
was on that night so severe, that three
Portuguese soldiers died on the ground from
the effect of the heavy and pouring rain.
After some marches and manoeuvres, which
were well and quietly conducted, we arrived
at dusk, on the evening of the 27th, at the
village of Alcuescar, distant only four miles
from the small town of Arroyo de Molinos,
where the division of Girard slept that night,
in fearless but mistaken security. We lay
upon our arms, without fires, about six
hours; and at two in the morning of the
28th, we moved forward, in profound si-
lence, by a narrow bad road, upon Arroyo
de Molinos, near which town we halted, at
half-past six, on ground highly favourable
both to our formation and concealment.
We were here divided into three columns,
The first brigade was directed straight for-
wards on the town; our own, with one of
Portuguese, made a rapid circuitous march
to the right of it, and arrived, under cover
of fog and rain, within a few yards of the
road, by which alone the enemy could re-
tire, and on which he was then forming,
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
preparatory to his march, in profound ig-
norance of our approach: our cavalry moved
in the centre ready to act as occasion might
require.
The cheers of the first brigade, which en-
tered the town charging, and bayonetted,
drove, or captured his rear-guard, first an-
nounced to the enemy his imminent and
unexpected danger. He would have rapidly
retired in vain; our cavalry galloped for-
wards, dispersed, sabred, and made prisoners
his few horse, who, after attempting some
formation on the left of the infantry, which
stood for a moment in a posture of defence,
fled in great confusion. About two hundred
yards behind the spot, where the enemy's
columns were formed on the plain, rose the
rocky and precipitous Sierra de Montanches,
and to this, on seeing our brigade advancing
rapidly upon them, they ran with unresist-
ing panic. We followed them closely, and
scrambling among the rocks, quite mixed
with them, and made prisoners at every
step; until the number of pursuers being
diminished by exhaustion and fatigue, and
being encumbered with arms, ammunition,
THE PENINSULA.
237
and knapsacks, all which such of the enemy
as escaped threw from them, we desisted
from the pursuit. A general of cavalry,
the Prince d'Aremberg, (a colonel of chas-
seurs, and a connection of Napoleon's,) a
chief of the staff, two lieut.-colonels, thirty
officers, and about twelve hundred privates,
taken prisoners, together with the capture
of a half brigade of artillery, and all their
baggage, rewarded our fatigues and priva-
tions, and we returned in high spirits to
Arroyo. The French sustained some loss
from the fire of the first brigade, and some
from the guns, which accompanied that
column; but our share of the business,
among the rocks, was a scene of laughter
and diversion, rather than of bloodshed and
peril; for though some of the enemy's gre-
nadiers discharged their muskets at us be-
fore they broke them, still our loss was very
trifling, and the danger too inconsiderable
to be thought or spoken of. We had here
a most amusing specimen of French cha-
racter in the French column one of the
regiments was numbered thirty-four; in the
British column also the thirty-fourth regi-
238
RECOLLECTIONS OF
ment led the pursuit, and got quite mixed
with the enemy. Several of the French
officers, as they tendered their swords, em-
braced the officers of the English thirty-
fourth, saying,-"Ah, Messieurs, nous
sommes des frères, nous sommes du trente-
quatrième régiment tous deux.”—“ Vous
êtes des braves." -"Les Anglois se bat-
tent toujeurs avec loyauté, et traitent bien
leurs prisonniers."-"Ah, Messieurs, la
fortune de la guerre est bien capricieuse."
- Under any circumstances, however un-
fortunate, this people will find some method
of disarming wrath, courting favour, and
softening their fate:- they have spirits,
too, wonderfully elastic; and have the rea-
diest ingenuity in framing excuses for any
disaster, or disgrace, which may befall them.
I was on duty over the prisoners, a few days
after the affair: at the close of the day's
march a chapel was allotted to them for the
night, and to have seen them take posses-
sion of it, one really would have thought
that they were still marching free, and in
arms; they entered it, singing, "Grenadiers,
ici; grenadiers, ici” Voltigeurs, là, là
66
;
THE PENINSULA.
239
voltigeurs, là, là” and ran tumultuously,
the grenadiers to the
geurs to the gallery.
were at home
singing, some dancing
66
altar, and the volti-
In ten minutes all
- some playing cards, some
here a man was
performing Punch behind a great coat, with
infinite drollery — there again, quieter men
were occupied in repairing their clothes or
shoes, while in one part of the chapel a
self-elected orator was addressing a groupe
on their late capture, in such terms, as,
Messieurs, vous n'êtes pas déshonorés."—
"On nous a trompé ; cet espion, cet Es-
pagnol, nous a vendu."-"Et comment!
qui vous a dit cela?" said a rough voice.
"Monsieur," replied my orator, "vous me
permettrez de savoir.
de savoir. Je suis de Paris
même, et je connois la guerre." — This
speech was highly approved; for several
vociferated -"Ah! oui, il a raison;
nous avons été vendus par ce vilain es-
pion." "Nous aurions battu les Anglois
dans une affaire rangée, mais certainement,"
said my little Parisian; and just then, the
rations making their appearance, they all
hurried to the door, and singing some song,
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
the chorus of which was "Bonne soupe,
bonne soupe," they eagerly took their meat,
and set about preparing it.
I should lose sight, however, of the
French military character, if I omitted to
notice, that several of the serjeants and old
soldiers who were decorated and wore the
chevrons of service, appeared exceedingly
sulky, and vented their anger in a sort of
muttering smothered swearing. Those who
have seen a ferocious Frenchman utter from
between his closed teeth his favourite oath
of "Sacré Dieu !" will agree that there are
few things more savage and offensive. The
troops taken at Arroyo were all remarkably
fine men, selected for the service on which
they had been employed. Girard escaped
himself with the small remains of a brigade;
and, most fortunately for him, the first bri-
gade of his division had marched at five in
the morning under General Remond, or it
would probably have shared the same fate
as that under his immediate command.
Soult placed Girard in arrest when he re-
joined the army of the South, and made a
most severe report of his neglect and mis-
THE PENINSULA.
241
conduct to the Emperor; but Girard was a
favourite with Buonaparte, and got through
this affair without the loss of head or com-
mission. Napoleon understood the cha-
racter of his officers, and knew when and
whom to pardon, foreseeing whose gratitude
and services would be valuable.
At the battle of Lutzen, in the year.
1813, General Girard displayed great abi-
lity, and gave a bright example of his zeal,
devotion, and courage; for, although se-
verely wounded and covered with blood, he
refused to be taken from the field, declaring
aloud, that the moment was then arrived,
when every true Frenchman should conquer
or die on the ground on which he fought.
One thing in our success at Arroyo de Mo-
linos gratified our division highly; it was a
triumph for our General, a triumph all his
own. He gained great credit for this well-
conducted enterprise, and he gained what,
to one of his mild, kind, and humane cha-
racter, was still more valuable, a solid and
a bloodless victory; for it is certainly the
truest maxim in war, "that conquest is
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
twice achieved, where the achiever brings
home full numbers.
After these operations, our division re-
turned to Portalegre, and, towards the close
of November, an order from England to
proceed to India, called me, for a time,
from a corps, a service, and a country, to
all of which I felt a very strong attachment.
With spirits much depressed, myself and a
brother-officer, destined also to join the first
battalion, set out on our sorrowful journey
to Lisbon, on the morning of the 27th of
November. If I except the adventures of
one evening, our route to Lisbon presented
no occurrence of sufficient interest to im-
press my memory.
In attempting to ride a nearer road from
Garfete to Abrantes, than that which led by
Gaviao, we lost our way, and were obliged
to put up for the night in a poor goatherd's
hut. We here, however, witnessed a scene
of domestic happiness and patriarchal man-
ners, which gave us reason to rejoice that
we had slept under such a roof. The family
consisted of a venerable old peasant, his
THE PENINSULA.
243
daughter, a woman of about four-and-thirty,
and her five children: the eldest, a most
beautiful girl of fifteen; and the youngest,
a fine black-eyed boy of eight. The hus-
band of this woman was absent on a jour-
ney; the old peasant was not within; and
when we first entered, the mother and her
children were at supper: they pressed us
to partake of it; we declined, but procured
from them some fine rich goat's milk; and
boiling it up with bread of Indian corn,
made an excellent meal. It was late when
the old man came in from his labour; he
expressed great delight at our having rested
in his cot, as, he said, there was no house
within two leagues of that spot, the night
dark and stormy, and the road bad and dan-
gerous.
A small wooden bowl of vegetable
soup was brought him for his supper; he
crossed himself, and said a short grace; but
my astonishment was not a little excited,
by observing, that during the whole time he
was eating his frugal meal, the family all
stood up; and with their hands closed and
lifted up, and their eyes raised towards the
crucifix, prayed; not with extravagant fer-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
vour, nor as if it were a tame unmeaning
form, but with much natural feeling, and
seemed to invoke blessings on the head of
this, the respected elder of their cottage.
The old man, too, however habitual it
might be, appeared deeply impressed with
the ceremony, and took his food with a sort
of quiet, solemn thankfulness. The ex-
pression of the grand-daughter's counte-
nance, who seemed much attached to him,
was really seraphic; and I thought the
whole scene quite a subject for a painting.
In general, the beauty of people, in a com-
mon class of life, carries with it a stamp of
vulgarity, for which it is difficult to account,
but which checks admiration. Here it was
far otherwise. An expressive eye of the
deepest blue, an elegant contour of counte-
nance, dark clustering ringlets, and a per-
fect form, would have made this cottage
girl remarkable any where; and she would
have been gazed on with interest as well as
pleasure, amid the most brilliant assemblies
of a capital or a court. When we lay down
for the night, all the children knelt at the
feet of their grandfather and received his
THE PENINSULA.
245
:
blessing, sealed by him with a kiss upon
their young foreheads. I slept with a sort
of sweet and superstitious confidence under
this happy roof; so much, and so pleasingly,
had I been affected by the simplicity of man-
ners, among its poor contented inmates.
In the morning, after literally forcing on
them a small present, we set forward highly
gratified, and took a very pleasant bridle-
path to Abrantes, where we embarked for
Lisbon. Here we were detained a consi-
derable time waiting for a passage, a cir-
cumstance most vexatious and provoking;
for with the prospect before us of a long
banishment and a remote service, we were
naturally eager to avail ourselves of every
spare moment we might enjoy in England,
prior to the sailing of the fleet for India.
Our detention at Lisbon, though during
the greater part of December, gave us an
opportunity of being present at the gay and
splendid festival of Christmas-eve. At the
dark and gloomy hour of midnight, on the
24th of December, the whole population of
that crowded city is alert and in motion.
Tapers blaze in every hand, and, dressed in
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
their gayest attire, all persons hasten to the
churches, which are open, fancifully deco-
rated with superb hangings, and brilliantly
illuminated. Here, the natal day of our
Saviour is ushered in with all the pecu-
liarities and pomp of Catholic worship.
The music, the incense, the innumerable
lights, the delighted devotion of the kneel-
ing multitudes, and the loud and swelling
hymns, which close the ceremony of this
midnight mass, produce an effect, which
acts too powerfully on the senses. The
more I see of the Roman Catholic religion,
the less am I surprised that the people of
southern Europe, who are certainly both
impassioned and imaginative, should attach
themselves to a church, the forms and cere-
monies of which, addressing both the senses
and the fancy, make, to them, the attend-
ance on public worship a business of plea-
sure, as well as of duty. The scenic
representations of Gospel-history, which,
on high fasts and festivals, are to be met
with in almost all the churches of the Pe-
ninsula, however ridiculous they may ap-
pear, are not without their use; for to them
THE PENINSULA.
247
(most inadequate, I admit, to their pur-
pose,) the poorer classes are, nevertheless,
indebted for much of the instruction they
receive, concerning the life and miracles of
the divine Founder of our blessed faith.
It was on the 29th day of December, 1811,
that I sailed from the Tagus for England,
and it was early in the month of August,
1812, that, having escaped my banishment
to India, by a fortunate and well-timed pro-
motion, I landed once more on the Quay
of Lisbon. The glorious news of the vic-
tory of Salamanca greeted me on my ar-
rival. The joy of the Portuguese at this
signal triumph, so honourable to their
troops, as well as our own, knew no bounds.
Masses, processions, illuminations, and new
overtures and marches in honour of it, per-
formed night after night, in crowded thea-
tres, bespoke their patriotic pleasure. The
consummate skill displayed by Wellington
in this memorable engagement, was, to a
soldier again about to enter camps under
his command, a proud and flattering augury
of success; and, in spite of all the croaking
I had been compelled to listen to in Eng-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
land, made me look forward with a confident
hope to an honourable and glorious con-
clusion of this interesting war. Nor, as an
ardent admirer of the Spanish character,
was my opinion of their courage and con-
stancy at all shaken. It is true, their armies
and their garrisons had met with great, but
not surprising misfortunes; I say not sur-
prising, because the military man of pro-
fessional experience could not have expected
that the half-organised and ill-commanded
armies of Spain would successfully oppose
the victorious and veteran legions of a re-
nowned military power in the open field, or
in the more difficult operations of regular
warfare. Their armies were beaten in al-
most every engagement, and their fortresses,
though often bravely defended, fell one after
the other into the hands of the invaders.
Want of skill in some of their leaders, and
treachery in others, to whose reputed talents
they had blindly and helplessly yielded up
the task of directing their courage, led to
these fatal misfortunes; but Spain, that is,
the country, the people, still resisted. The
inhabitants of towns and cities occupied by
THE PENINSULA.
249
the French, secretly contributed money for
this purpose, and were ever ready to convey
useful information to their brethren in arms.
The brave peasants inhabiting all their
mountainous districts, disbanded soldiers,
and spirited volunteers, from every part of
Spain, rallied around chieftains, whose
hearty and valiant efforts in the cause were
daily crowned with partial, but highly use-
ful successes. In Catalonia, Navarre, Arra-
gon, and Biscay, Eroles, Lacy, and Mina
commanded large bodies of Guerillas,
equally formidable from their surprising
activity, and their undaunted courage. In
the very heart of Spain, Empecinado, at
the head of a bold and loyal peasantry,
spread terror to the very gates of Madrid;
while Don Julian Sanchez led his enter-
prising horse into Old Castile; and, though
surrounded by their principal establish-
ments, daily captured their convoys and
supplies, and kept their cantonments in a
constant state of anxiety and alarm. No:
the efforts of the Spaniards to deliver
themselves from the yoke of France must
never be forgotten; and no man of gene-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
rosity or of candour would willingly cast a
shade over their heroic exertions. They
had no government, no ministers, no gene-
rals; yet, under all these disadvantages,
they ever remained true to the cause; and
it is to their partial and continual struggles
against the French detachments scattered
over the face of their country, that we are
indebted for our ultimate success. Had
not the forces of the enemy been so con-
stantly employed, and their communications
so often menaced by the active hatred of
the Spanish people, it is vain to suppose
that even the ability and genius of a Wel-
lington, or the discipline and intrepidity of
a British army, (which, however excellent
in composition, was numerically feeble,)
could have long resisted the combinations
of eight marshals of France, and the efforts
of two hundred thousand soldiers.
While my mind thus fondly dwells upon
the patriotism of the Spanish people, how
does my heart sink within me to think of
their present wrongs, their wretchedness,
their degradation! and all this heaped upon
their heads by the very monarch they bled
THE PENINSULA.
251
to liberate and restore. But I am consoled
by the firm belief, that the Spaniards will
soon awaken the eyes of their monarch to
the injustice, the cruelty, and the misrule
of his detested advisers; or will, by one
mighty effort, free themselves from his
odious tyranny, and place the sceptre of
their beauteous land in abler and more vir-
tuous hands.
The news of this battle of Salamanca
made me anxious to join my regiment, still
under General Hill, with as much expedi-
tion as possible; for it was natural to sup-
pose that this event, and Lord Wellington's
advance into the very heart of Spain, would
either compel Soult to raise the siege of
Cadiz, and retire from Andalusia, or would
lead to some offensive movements on our
part to free the south from the presence of
the enemy. I left Lisbon for Estremadura,
happily unincumbered by any detachment.
At Abrantes I met a column of three thou-
sand of the prisoners taken at Salamanca.
They were in a very exhausted state, from
the length of their march, the heat of the
weather, and the want of shoes and other
252
RECOLLECTIONS OF
necessaries; and, unlike my friends at Ar-
royo-de-Molinos, they had neither a word
nor a laugh to disguise their mortification.
I never saw Frenchmen more thoroughly
cut down; and, what appeared not a little
to increase their vexation, they were es-
corted by four hundred awkward-looking,
ill-appointed Portuguese militia-men, whose
air of pride and importance as they regu-
lated the motions of these "vainqueurs
d'Austerlitz,” was truly entertaining. It is
not generous to exult over fallen foes; but
it is difficult to pity them when your eyes
have rested on scenes of desolation and ruin
caused by many, perhaps, whose appearance
would otherwise interest you in their favour.
Not a town or a village had I passed, on my
route from Lisbon, but affecting traces of
the invasion of this smiling country were
every where to be seen. Cottages all roof-
less and untenanted, the unpruned vine,
growing in rank luxuriance over their ruined
walls, neglected gardens, the shells of fine
houses, half destroyed by fire, convents and
churches, too solid to be demolished, stand-
ing open and neglected, with the ornamental
THE PENINSULA.
253
wood or stone work, which once adorned
them, broken down and defaced; all pro-
claimed silently, but forcibly, that I was
travelling through a country which had
been the theatre of war, and exposed to the
ravages of contending armies. Such are the
scenes which, not only in Portugal, but
throughout Spain, arrest the eye at every
step, and make the Briton, while he sighs
over the miseries of the peaceful citizens,
and laborious peasants, whose towns and
villages have been thus visited by violence
and rapine, offer up many a grateful prayer
for the secure and heaven-defended posi-
tion of his happier countrymen.
From Abrantes I travelled alone, and in
great comfort: every morning after jour-
neying about two leagues, in some pleasant
spot, under a shady tree near a stream, or
by some solitary chapel or fountain, I halted
for an hour, had my baggage unloaded, my
animals unsaddled and fed, and making a
fire to boil my kettle, sat down in great
comfort to my breakfast.
breakfast. I carried
I carried up the
country with me this time a collection of
about fifty volumes, which my friend and
254
RECOLLECTIONS OF
I
messmate had directed me to purchase for
him in London. The best of the British
poets and classics were of the number, and
oftentimes would I lounge over a favourite
author till the heat of the day was gone by,
and pursue my route to the town, where I
proposed sleeping in the cool of the even-
ing. A large wood, on my road from Altera
de Chao to Monforte, was said to be much
infested by robbers, and I was advised not
to ride that stage alone; however, I felt
protected by my uniform, and set forward,
halting midway to breakfast, as usual.
took a post in a most romantic and seques-
tered spot, about a quarter of a mile from
the road-side, near a natural fountain, from
which the water welled forth with a soft and
soothing sound. It was not until I was
already seated at my breakfast, that I disco-
vered at the foot of a dark mass of rock-
stone, very near me, one of those rude
wooden crosses, always erected in this
country, to denote the spot where acci-
dental, sudden, or violent death has over-
taken some wretched traveller. It had
scratched on it a very recent date, and in
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255
spite of the attractions of Johnson's Ras-
selas, and a good breakfast, I will own that
I swallowed my meal with what haste and
appetite I could, and again set forward.
However, my day's ride passed over very
quietly; I had not the bad fortune, or good,
as some would have considered it, to meet
with any banditti, or even an adventure, if
I except encountering in a dark and nar-
row glen a monk and a muleteer, who.
came pricking on at a sober pace, and gave
me full time to decide, that they might
have sat very well for Schedoni and Spa-
latro, and would have made an admirable
frontispiece to Mrs. Radcliffe's Italian.
It was not without a feeling of deep and
mournful interest, that, on the evening I
halted at Badajos, I walked round the walls
of that dearly-purchased fortress. At the
time I saw it, the works were rapidly re-
pairing; but the town presented a wretched
appearance, most of the loftier buildings,
and all those near the breaches, having
been demolished by the fire of our batte-
ries. The murderous assault of the 6th of
April must have been dreadful to look
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upon.
At the main breach alone upwards
of two thousand men are said to have
fallen, and, at this point, not one soul pe-
netrated into the town. Some of our
officers, who were wounded, and taken on
the breach, and carried through it, repre-
sented it as provided with defences, through
which the most intrepid soldiers could
never have forced their way; a ditch, cut-
ting it off from the body of the place, a
breast-work, and strong chevaux-de-frize of
sword-blades, were the obstacles opposed to
us, and to these must be added a heavy and
incessant fire of musketry. The escalade
at the castle was a fine bold effort, and was
indeed eminently successful. Some out-
works also were carried at the bayonet's
point in a gallant style; and the division,
which penetrated into the town by the bas-
tion of San Vincente, deserves uncommon.
credit. I leant long and silently over the
parapet at that angle by which it ascended.
What a scene on the night of the 6th of
April must these walls have presented!
Blazing cressets, fire-balls, rockets, the ex-
plosion of shells, and the red flashes of
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257
cannon and musketry, must have spread
around a terrific illumination; terrific, for
it lighted up a scene of wild confusion and
reeking slaughter. The reports of cannon,
the rattle of musketry, the shouts of the
assailants, and the drums and trumpets of
the garrison, were the sounds which, that
night, scared sleep from the pillows of the
wretched citizens; and the huzza of victory
was to them the prelude of a scene of vio-
lence and plunder. Happy are ye, my
countrymen, who read only of these things,
and are spared such trials! How cheerful,
how grateful should ye be to that presiding
Power, which keeps from your humble and
boasted castles, war and its dark train of
miseries! In the morning, before I left the
city, as I was passing a large church, I
heard the sound of hammers and anvils,
and, on entering, I found that this hand-
some building had been converted by the
French, during the siege, into a work-shop;
by us it had still been applied to the same
purpose, and there, where a peaceful con-
gregation had often met to offer up their
prayers, blacksmiths, armourers, and car-
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penters, were now busily occupied in their
noisy labours.
On my road to Zafra I stopped, for one
hour, in the ruined village of Albuera, and
walked alone over the field. Some redoubts
had been lately constructed on it by General
Hill, as a measure of precaution, in the
event of his corps ever being compelled to
fight upon this ground; but for these works,
there was nothing which spoke of war, or
soldiers. All was rural, and sunny, and
silent. No marks of feet, or hoofs, upon
the plain! the grass grew thick and strong,
and wild flowers were springing from that
turf, which had been moistened by valour's
purest blood. Not a vestige of the me-
morable battle remained. As I was mount-
ing to pursue my journey, a rude inscrip-
tion, scratched with charcoal on the chapel
wall, caught my eye; it ran thus: —
"La Guerre en Espagne est la Fortune
des Généraux, l'Ennui des Officiers, et le
Tombeau des Soldats.'
It was in this same chapel, fifteen months
before, that I had seen several hundred
French prisoners, many of whom were
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259
dying, and all of whom were dreadfully
wounded, stretched in their last agonies,
and groaning with anguish. How painfully
and faithfully illustrative of the truth of this
brief inscription, was the scene with which
my memory then supplied me.
I passed
the night at the pretty village of Almendral;
near this place, as I learned from my host,
a wealthy intelligent peasant, a French
corps, under the orders of Marshal Mor-
tier, had been for some weeks bivouacked
in the year 1811. In speaking of the strict
discipline maintained by Mortier, and of
the protection he gave them, and their
property, my host used a very strong ex-
pression; for he styled him the father of
the peasants. This quite corresponded with
the language of the French soldiers about
this same Marshal, and hearty was the
blessing which I bestowed on this respected
name. Yes, although we shrink from the
mention of some French leaders, who ap-
pear to have gloried in oppression and
cruelty, it cannot be denied that many high-
minded and honourable men have marched
with the armies of France; and while some
•
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of my countrymen inveigh against all the
French military with undistinguishing se-
verity, they would do well to recollect, that
a soldier cannot, under any government,
choose his service, or be held responsible
for the justice of that war in which he may
chance to be employed. How many Eng-
lishmen served on the expedition against
Copenhagen, with distinction and honor,
who may have considered it a daring act of
aggression, justifiable on the doctrine of
expediency alone? an argument we seldom
admit when speaking of the actions or
politics of an enemy.
·
At the village of Santa Martha, I again
entered the high road. This wretched
place was in a sad condition; for it had
been occupied, alternately, by French and
English, several times in the course of the
spring and summer, and its resources were
completely exhausted. Provisions were
dear and scarce; and on every side po-
verty and want assailed you with imploring
prayers. It was really heart-breaking to
look upon the squalid appearance of the
children, which is always more affecting
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261
than that of grown beggars; for childhood
is the season of careless and playful joy,
and to see the roses on their
young cheeks
blighted by the icy touch of famine, is pe-
culiarly distressing.
On the road from Santa Martha to Zafra
you pass a town called Feria, which is beau-
tifully situated on the side of a lofty hill on
your right, from the summit of which a
Moorish fort and tower, still frowning,
though decayed, look nobly down, and
speak to the reflecting traveller, of men,
and days, and deeds, now, as a tale, gone by.
- In Zafra, I once more embraced my
brother officers, and found myself at home.
Wander where he will, a regiment is ever,
to a single man, the best of homes. There
is no manner of life, which so effectually
conceals from us the cheerlessness and the
helplessness of celibacy, as the desultory
life of a soldier. For him who, by the
want of fortune or other controlling cir-
cumstances, is debarred the exquisite hap-
piness of reposing his aching heart on that
blessed resting-place, the bosom of a wife,
- for such a man there is no life, save one
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of travel or of military occupation, which
can excite feelings of interest or consol-
ation. The hazard of losing life, which
a soldier is often called on to encounter,
gives to his existence, as often as it is pre-
served, a value it would, otherwise, soon
cease to possess. Frequent change of coun-
try and of scene, enliven and divert your
thoughts; and if it is painful at a certain
age, to think that, when you fall, no widow,
no child, will drop a tear over your grave,
it is, on the other hand, a comfort to
know, that none are dependant on your
existence; that none will be left unpro-
vided and in misery at your death.
Zafra is a fine town, built at the foot of
a high and steep hill, from the summit of
which you command a very extensive view
of mountain scenery. Near Zafra are the
remains of a large and handsome convent,
once the pride and the boast of the city.
The French have entirely destroyed it: on
one of its ruined walls, I saw "Compagnie
d'élite du vingtseptième dragons," marked
in chalk. This monastery, however, was
one of those which had been erected within
the last century, was not hallowed by anti-
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263
quity, and the sight, therefore, of its totter-
ing ruins excited no feeling, but one of
pleasure, unmingled with regret, and undis-
turbed by any recollection of interest.
The evening after my arrival in this
quar-
ter I went to a ball given by some British
officer of rank. The country-dances now
in use among the Spaniards, and intro-
duced, I imagine, either by the French or
Germans, are all in waltz time and to waltz
movements; they are uncommonly grace-
ful. There were some very pretty women
at this assembly. My worthy countrymen
do not shine in the soft and pleasing move-
ments of the waltz; they deserve, however,
to be laughed at, for why do they not sit
still? I really quite pitied some of the
Spanish girls, whose eyes, heads, arms, and
indeed, whole frames, seemed to move in
voluptuous unison with the music, when I
saw their waists encircled by the arms of
awkward, ungraceful partners. In the
course of the evening, a handsome young
Spaniard and a pretty-made little girl,
danced for us the bolero. This beautiful
dance is too well known to need descrip-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
tion; it has much of the ballet character;
is very expressive, and tells quite a little
tale of love. The sound of the castanets,
too, with which the motion of it are always
accompanied, is both cheerful and animating.
I found by the news here, that Lord
Wellington had entered Madrid on the 12th,
in triumph; and that Joseph Buonaparte
had retired upon Valencia. Soult was
making preparations to evacuate Andalu-
sia; and it was conjectured that he would
march through Grenada and Murcia, and
probably join the King.
On the 28th of August, we marched on
the Seville road, to Bienvenida. On the
following day, we proceeded to Ilerena; we
here received accounts that Colonel Skerret
had entered Seville, and that the French
had taken the route of Cordova. Our move-
ment southward was stopped at the small
town of Ayllones; and we counter-marched
on the Guadiana, passing by Maguilla, el
Campillo, and Zalamea, to Quintana, where
we halted three, and then to a village about
ten miles from the Guadiana, where we
remained seven days. This short halt
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265
was probably to await the instructions of
Wellington.
On the 13th, the corps was again in mo-
tion; and my brigade marched to the city
of Medellin. On the high ground, before
you descend to the river, on which this city
is built, you enjoy one of those grand and
sublime views, which fix themselves for ever
in the imagination; and of which the
recollection is so lasting and so delightful.
To the right is seen the bold Sierra de Gua-
dalupe, and behind it, many a lofty range of
mountains, which rise one above the other
in rude majesty, ever varying to the eye
of the moving traveller, in form, and height,
and hue. To the left, less distant and not
so lofty, rise the abrupt and precipitous
Sierras de Montanches; below you, the
rich vale of the Guadiana, populous and
fertile, lies smiling with corn fields and
vineyards, among which, several white
towns and villages are scattered in the most
pleasing sites. The town of Medellin is
very ancient, and not well built. A large
citadel, which it once boasted, is now a heap
of useless ruins; it is famous, however, for
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
having given birth to the celebrated Hernan
Cortez, the bold and adventurous con-
queror of Mexico. They pretend to show
the very house in which he was born, and
in which, three hundred years ago, he
played about a disregarded child; as a
young man, being idle, dissipated, and un-
ruly, he so irritated his father, that the old
man drove him in anger from his peaceful
roof. Such was the origin, and such the
early life of this wonderful man, upon
whose exploits posterity has dwelt with
so much admiration, and for whose atroci-
ties it has so often indignantly blushed.
In the evening, I walked over that field,
which, in the spring of 1809, proved so fatal
to the Spaniards. This battle was most
rashly and presumptuously courted on dis-
advantageous ground; and as naturally as
deservedly lost. The victims in this disas-
trous battle were never buried; no charit-
able hands were near to perform this last
kind office; at every step, human bones,
bleached by the sun and wind, lay scattered
in my path. It was painful and humiliating
to carry the mind back to the slow decay
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267
of the manly bodies which once covered
them - bodies, in which the full tide of
youth, and health, and spirits, was stopped
suddenly and for ever, and which had lain
all exposed to the wolf of the mountains,
and the eagle of the rock, who left the
cavern and the cliff, to make their feast on
man!
On the 14th we marched to Escurial, on
the 15th to Santa Cruz. The situation of
this last village is very beautiful, and the
neighbourhood highly picturesque. Above
it rises a proud majestic mountain, whose
broad sides, towards the base, are clothed
with the olive and the vine in rich profu-
sion, while the higher region has a crown
of heath, and rock-stone, most beautifully
variegated with colourings, such as the art
of the painter would in vain attempt to
imitate. On the 16th we marched to
Truxillo, once a considerable city, filled
with palaces and convents, and reckoning
above eight hundred inhabited houses. It
had been one of the richest and most
flourishing commercial cities in the interior
of Spain. The decay of trade gave the
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
first blow to its prosperity, and the French,
in a three months' residence, completed
its destruction. Of seventeen palaces only
two remain inhabited, and five hundred
houses empty, deserted and fast falling to
decay, only remind you of what it once
was, what it no longer is. It still, however,
looks nobly in the distance, and, ere you
reach the walls, you imagine you are about
to enter a magnificent city. On a hill
above it stand the solid remains of a Roman
castle, said by the priests to have been
built by Julius Cæsar. Now, to be sure,
the priests in Spain know very little about
these matters; but it matters not whether
I was deceived; I, for the time, enjoyed
the pleasure of fancying, as I walked over
the ruin, that the foot of Cæsar had once
rested where I trode. The tottering walls
of some later works adjoining it, show that
it has, since those days, been a station of
the Moors. In the square of Truxillo
stands a large, noble-looking mansion, once
the residence of the family of Pizarro, and
built, probably, out of the rich and precious
spoils of injured and insulted Peru. The
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269
sculpture and relief which adorn the front
of this building, tell, with fidelity, the tale
of the founder, but in a manner very revolt-
ing to the feelings of an Englishman. Peru-
vians kneeling, and prostrate, in all the
attitudes of terror and supplication; their
wrists and ancles bound by manacles and
fetters, the chains of which appear to weigh
them down, are, every where, represented
in stone-work. The origin of Pizarro, one
of the most enterprising and intrepid sol-
diers, and, at the same time, the most mer-
ciless conqueror, whose actions are recorded
in the page of modern history, is yet more
extraordinary than that of Cortez. In a
wood, under the walls of this very city, of
which he was afterwards the most wealthy
and distinguished noble, he, as a boy, tended
swine, and followed for years that mean and
humble occupation.
On the 19th, we marched to Jaraicejo,
and, on the 20th, to Almaraz. The mag-
nificent scenery for the last two leagues of
the road to Almaraz, quite overpowers the
mind. You move along a high ridge, and
descend gradually from it to the Tagus. On
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
the right, large broken masses of wild, un-
trodden mountains, clothed in those tints
for which there is no name, and which lan-
guage would in vain describe, bound your
view. Far, very far below you, on either
side,. lie valleys, here verdant with grass,
there yellow, with corn, and here again, so
deep and narrow, that the sun never lights
upon their dark and cheerless glens. We
crossed the Tagus by a pontoon bridge.
The motion of a bridge of this sort, the
first time you ever stand on one, is very
unpleasant; you stagger, as at sea, and feel
quite giddy. We marched over it in files
four deep. It is, to be sure, surprising in
modern war, to see with what facility an
army moves. Is it thought that mountains
can impede your march, or that a river can
oppose an obstacle? Vain barriers! Can-
non are dragged up rocky and precipitous
paths, over which no mountain-peasant ever
ventured to lead his car; and, in a few
hours, a bridge is thrown over a river,
before impassable, and a whole army has
defiled by it. We now marched by Naval-
Moral and Calzada, to Oropesa, where we
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271
halted a few days. To the left of our line
of march, the long chain of the lofty Sierra
de Avila, its clefts, ravines, and rugged
sides, though leagues from you, all, from
the clearness and purity of the atmosphere,
distinctly visible, invites and rewards your
gaze.
Near Naval-Moral we met a Spanish
family of rank travelling, a sight very un-
common. The ladies and female attend-
ants were seated in a large heavy, old-
fashioned carriage, covered with carved
work, and tarnished gilding. This vehicle
was drawn by eight mules, which two fine-
looking men on foot guided, solely by the
voice, calling out their names, to which
they appeared by their movements to an-
swer with great docility. The gentlemen of
the party rode with the male servants, all
conversing familiarly together; and these
last often put their heads into the carriage-
window, and spoke to the ladies. The
Spaniards, I have often observed, however
exalted their rank, are exceedingly kind and
affable to their servants and inferiors. And
indeed, the lower classes have much natu-
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ral politeness; nor is there any thing in
their language, or manner, which disgusts
or offends. They have no vulgarity in
their freedom, nor servility in their respect.
I have often sat round the fire of a Posada,
amid Spaniards of all classes, whom chance
has assembled together; and have been
quite charmed to mark the general good-
humour, and the easy, unembarrassed pro-
priety of behaviour of the common pea-
sants. Talavera de la Reyna, where we
halted for one night, on the 27th, was, or
rather had been, a fine town, famous for its.
manufactures of silk and porcelain. The
country round Talavera is very pleasing;
there are many trees and gardens, and a
great deal of rich verdure. The memorable
and bloody battle of July 28, 1809, was
fought near this town; and I walked with
a very proud feeling over the left of the
position, which our countrymen so bravely
and successfully maintained throughout
that arduous day. I look upon the battle
of Talavera to have been one of the most
important that was fought in the Peninsula ;
and the real and best fruit of which was the
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273
gaining of time; time invaluable, and pre-
cious beyond all ordinary calculation; for
if that battle had not been fought, Portugal
would certainly have been invaded a year
earlier than it was, and could not have been
effectually defended.
There is a wide and excellent road from
Talavera to Cevolla, which borders on the
Tagus the whole way, and the country you
pass through is covered with olive-grounds,
and rich, extensive vineyards. At a village
where we slept on the 29th, distant about
fifteen miles from Toledo, the inhabitants
received us with the liveliest demonstrations
of joy we were the first British soldiers
they had ever seen, and they treated us with
very great hospitality. In the evening,
and indeed throughout the night, guitars
and castanets were sounding in front of
every cottage, and the cheerful peasants
gaily testified their joy by dance and song.
Their fandangos and seguidillas are very
pleasing; and so long did I linger viewing
these happy groups, that the men were
already assembling for the march, before I
had tasted of repose.
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The approach to Toledo, whither we
marched in the morning, is fine, and the
situation of that interesting city very re-
markable. It stands on a conical rock of
granite, the base of which is bathed, on two
sides, by the Tagus. The appearance of
this peninsula, crowded with spires, and
turrets, and masses of lofty buildings, when
seen at the distance of about three miles, is
noble and imposing. We marched into it
amid the loud and continued acclamations
of a patriotic multitude were most cor-
dially welcomed, and billeted in the best
houses. My host was a rosy-looking canon,
who lodged me superbly, and treated me
most courteously. After dressing, and tak-
ing a goblet of delicious white wine, I sallied
forth to gaze round me, and see all I could
before sunset; for with the dawn of day we
were again to march forward. The cathe-
dral of Toledo is deservedly the first object
of attention with every stranger. I passed
three hours in it, but must not attempt a
minute description of it. It is upwards of
four hundred feet in length, and more than
two hundred in width. It is built entirely
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275
of freestone and marble. Its gates are of
bronze, most curiously wrought. The in-
terior of this magnificent temple is richly
and splendidly decorated, and corresponds
most fully with the noble appearance of
its exterior. I speak not, however, of
shrines refulgent with gold, and sparkling
with jewels; of silver statues, costly plate,
and embroidered vestments covered with
pearls and precious stones. The treasures
and wealth of this cathedral, inferior, per-
haps, only to those of the famed Loretto,
have disappeared. They have been torn
forth by the daring hand of plunder, a cir-
cumstance no one can regret ; for they may
now, eventually, benefit society, by encour-
aging industry, and rewarding exertion. I
speak of ornaments which still remain, be-
cause their removal would have been im-
possible, and their destruction useless. Of
grand monuments, of tombs, screens, and
altars adorned with sculpture, or carved with
the most delicate and elaborate execution.
A fine screen of marble, which is upwards
of fifty feet in height, and covered with re-
lief, representing the Ascension, attracts
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and rivets the attention of every beholder.
Many of the best pictures this church could
once boast the possession of have been re-
moved; but in the cloisters are several fine
Scripture-paintings by Bayeu, whose designs
and colouring are very pleasing. I heard
mass, but was not struck with any thing so
grand in the ceremonial, as I had, in such a
place, expected. The organ, indeed, was
excellent, and the singing good; but had
it not been for the noble pile of building
above me, I could hardly have supposed the
service to be that, at which the primate of
all Spain had been wont to assist. The
truth, however, was, that the day of the
pomp, pride, and power of this cathedral
was gone by. Six hundred ecclesiastics
once belonged to the service of it, and they
were all well provided for. The present
number of officiating priests is inconsider-
able; nor are they now either powerful or
wealthy. The memory of the great and
good cardinal Ximenes is greatly venerated
in Toledo, and a prayer for his soul is re-
peated daily at the close of high mass.
One word more; this venerable church
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277
has been built nearly nine hundred years;
has been successively possessed by Moors
and Christians, and was once surrounded by
the habitations of two hundred thousand
people, among whom, arts, sciences, and
manufactures were busily promoted and
encouraged. Of churches, colleges, con-
vents, hospitals, and chapels, upwards of
ninety once adorned the streets and squares
of this city. It now reckons about six
thousand houses, and thirty thousand inha-
bitants.
I walked from the cathedral to the Al-
cazar, a palace built on the site of the an-
cient residence of the Gothic kings by
Charles the Fifth, and long occupied by him.
Its grand staircase and spacious gallery, no
longer crowded with guards and courtiers,
are now dirty, deserted, and silent. This
edifice, however, though neglected and de-
caying, still wears a stately and imposing
aspect; and its handsome front, immense
quadrangle, and elegant colonnade, declare
it to have been the pride and ornament of a
happier period. Its situation is very com-
manding; it stands on the edge of a rocky
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
precipice, nearly perpendicular; at the
bottom of which, but full five hundred feet
below it, the Tagus flows. As I toiled
through the steep, narrow, inconvenient
streets, I never felt one movement of impa-
tience; for the extreme antiquity of this
city gives it an irresistible character of
interest; and the religio loci always operates
most delightfully on the fancy. Hannibal
won this spot for Carthage; Romans dwelt
in it; Gothic kings reigned in it; Moors
have possessed it, and some of the turreted
walls still surrounding it were built by
them; Spaniards, with their blood, last
purchased, and still hold it. What a flight
for the imagination! to travel back, to con-
jure up the various scenes acted in the
city, and to see sovereigns, warriors, and
prelates, whose mouldering dust now sleeps
beneath your feet, pass in review before you!
So wonderful, however, are the powers of
the human mind, that such an indulgence
of thought is not only possible, but easy;
nor is it denied even to one, who has burst
half-educated from the study, and carried
with him to the camp little but the imper-
THE PENINSULA.
279
fect, though fond, recollections of his earlier
pursuits.
In the afternoon, I dined with a friend in
his billet; and we, who had taken our
meals the day before in a cottage-chamber
not eight feet square, were now seated in
an apartment, hung with the richest crim-
son damask, filled with heavy antique fur-
niture, and, indeed, so gloomily magnifi-
cent, as to very greatly interfere with com-
fort, if not to oppress the spirits.
In the evening we went to the theatre :
the play was over, but we were much en-
tertained with a broad, ridiculous farce of
two or three scenes, which was acted with
some spirit; a boy and girl danced some
boleros and fandangos prettily; but, upon
the whole, the amusements hardly repaid
you for the annoyance of sitting in a dirty,
unadorned, and ill-lighted theatre, and for
the poor and wretched appearance of almost
all the performers. On leaving the theatre,
we bent our steps to the Archbishop's
palace, where a ball was given in honour of
our arrival. The streets were all illumin-
ated; the façade of the palace, and the
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dome of the cathedral, most brilliantly and
tastefully lighted up, produced a very fine
effect. Among the dark sparkling eyes,
and olive complexions, of the ladies, who
were dancing in the ball-room, one girl
with light-blue eyes, and exceedingly fair,
attracted universal notice. On enquiry I
found that she was an orphan, the daughter
of Irish parents, who had lived and died in
Madrid; and that she had been sent by the
government to the Collegio de Doncellas,
in this city; a very noble institution, where
unfortunate young ladies of rank are sup-
ported with comfort and elegance; edu-
cated with great liberality, and portioned
and given in marriage by the crown.
The
ball was kept up with great spirit till a late
hour, and though I could not venture to
join in the waltz, I sat very happily, busied
in contemplating the cheerful scene. I felt
great interest about the pretty orphan,
who I heard, sometimes, attempt a little
English to her partner, but with a very
foreign accent. How fond such a girl must
necessarily become of the husband of her
choice; -no bosom to lean upon but his;
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281
-no parents, no brothers, no sisters, to
claim a share in the generous affections of
her youthful heart. Poor girl! I have not
forgotten the shades which, at times, even
in the lively movements of the dance,
stole over your mild countenance; and the
purest pleasure I enjoyed that evening was
pitying you.
It was very late when I returned to my
billet, but I had all the luxury of a short,
deep slumber, in a capital bed, with sheets
of the finest linen, and trimmed with broad
muslin borders. In two hours the bugle
roused me; in my ante-chamber, neatly laid
out on a marble slab, I found chocolate,
fruit, and sweet biscuits; and my good
canon already up, and waiting to take leave
of me. I drank his chocolate, shook him
cordially by the hand, mounted, and rode
off; and found myself, before mid-day, in a
vile, open, unsheltered bivouack, with very
little, and very bad water, and not a breath
of air stirring around. Such were the
varieties, which not unfrequently presented
themselves during our marches in the Pe-
ninsula. The next day again brought us
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
into excellent quarters in the small town of
Yepes, where we halted for three weeks ;
during the whole of which period I had
the undisturbed possession of three very
handsome apartments.
At our entrance into Yepes, a deputation
of the principal inhabitants and the clergy
came out to offer a congratulatory address
to our General; and in the evening they
lighted bonfires and made great rejoicings.
This small town is quite surrounded by
vineyards, and celebrated for a very deli-
cious white wine. It was the season of the
vintage when we arrived; and, for the first
week, we saw nothing but cars and mules,
laden with baskets of ripe luscious-looking
grapes, and surrounded and followed by
groups of vintagers of both sexes and
all ages, smiling and singing, and looking
contented and happy. In this town, also, in
addition to cheap and plentiful markets,
we could procure the finest red wine
from Val de Penas, in La Mancha. Long
strings of asses, remarkable for their size
and beauty, brought this every week, from
the interior of the province; and we were
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283
enabled, during our stay, to keep tables
quite luxurious. Aranjuez, a place well
worth visiting, lay within ten miles of us;
and as it was within so short a ride, we
made frequent excursions to it. Until
close to the spot, you are little prepared,
by the appearance of the surrounding
country, for the beautiful vale you are about
to descend into. All around, and in front,
as far as the eye can reach, plains, not
indeed barren, but unadorned with trees,
and brown, and parched by the summer
and autumnal suns, extend and bound the
horizon. Such is the view as you ride
towards Aranjuez; but, on a sudden, you
find yourself on the very edge of a green
valley, filled with groves, and parks, and
gardens; and in this enchanting situation,
stand the palace and the town.
The palace is not a magnificent build-
ing, but a truly comfortable residence, and
a rural and shady retreat from the cares
and fatigues of royalty. The grounds are
extensive, and contain several avenues of
lofty and shady elms, nearly three miles.
in length. The garden round the palace is
284€**
RECOLLECTIONS OF
beautiful, is filled with smaller trees, shrubs,
and underwood; and is, perhaps, rather
improved to the eye of taste, by having
been of late neglected. The parterres and
the long alleys have lost much of their
formality; and though many of the statues,
busts, and fountains, have been broken
and defaced, still nature has found a robe
to conceal this deformity; for, in many
parts, luxuriant ivy, and numerous other
creepers, have spread themselves over the
ruined fountains, filled the vacant niches,
and covered the empty pedestals; and
several of the mutilated statues, which are
yet standing, are half-coated with a moul-
ing green. All this almost encourages you
to fancy that you are walking amid aca-
demic groves, hallowed by antiquity.
The interior of this palace, like all
others, has long suites of apartments, some
of which are hung with pictures. The best,
are a few of the Flemish and Dutch schools,
representing dead game, and subjects of
still life; but there are no landscapes of
historical pieces at all striking. The
chapel, indeed, is adorned with some good
THE PENINSULA.
285
Some
paintings in fresco, by Bayeu; the same,
whose works I saw and admired in the
cloisters of the cathedral at Toledo. Some
of the ceilings, too, have fine allegorical
paintings, evidently designed and executed
by some artist of the Italian school.
of the chambers in the palace are fitted
up in a taste curious, perhaps, but not, I
think, pleasing. One, for instance, is en-
tirely pannelled with square tiles of China;
another with looking-glass. I did not at
all admire them. About two miles from
the palace stands a building, called Casa
del Labrador, erected in 1803, by Charles
the Fourth; and intended as a retreat still
more private than the palace. The archi-
tecture of this royal farm-house is not fine,
though the portico and terrace, ornamented
with statues and busts, from the antique,
have a handsome appearance; but the in-
terior is fitted up in a style more rich,
costly, and elegant, than any thing I ever
beheld.
In the vestibule all is marble: the stair-
case is the finest mahogany. The rooms
above are all different, as to the style of
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
their decorations; but all superb. Some
are of marble, with the richest gold mould-
ings; some of the most precious woods
beautifully carved and inlaid; some hung
with the best modern tapestry; while
others are covered with landscapes, deli-
cately and curiously wrought in needle-
work. I was more struck myself with the
richness and variety of the marbles (all of
which were from different provinces in
Spain) than with the more costly and valu-
able ornaments. However, for my part,
I was not sorry to quit the spot;
spot; for
you
grow fatigued and restless with gazing on
the dazzling splendour of such apartments.
My companion was envying the possession
of this voluptuous residence, till I reminded
him, that the late owner had met with infi-
delity in his queen, ingratitude in his son,
treason in his counsellors, and contempt
among his people; and that while we were
ranging without care or fear, through these
peaceful groves, the miserable Charles was
dwelling in captivity beyond the Appenines.
We returned through the town; it is mo-
dern, and regularly built at right angles;
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287
the streets are wide and spacious, some
adorned with fountains, and some of them
having a double row of trees in the centre;
the houses, too, are very uniform; most of
them are white, and have their window-
shutters painted green. We entered one
large magnificent house, which had formerly
been the habitation of a grandee, but was
now filled with soldiers. The ceilings and
sides of the large spacious apartments, in
which they lay, were all painted elegantly
in fresco. How little did the mistress of
this stately mansion suppose, that, within
so short a period, her company saloons, so
often filled with youth, and beauty, and
fashion, and unsuspecting pride, would be
converted, by the fate of war, into barracks.
These revolutions in the common order of
things are strange; but to none do they
appear so strange as to an Englishman,
who, throughout his whole life, never dis-
tantly contemplates the possibility of being
driven from the shelter of his own roof.
The present dulness and desertion of Aran-
juez is felt the more, from the modern and
gay style of its buildings; and from the
288
RECOLLECTIONS OF
recollection, that it was not very long ago
a place of the most fashionable resort, and
filled, during the summer, with nobles and
courtiers.
The situation of public affairs did not
long permit us to remain quiet in our ex-
cellent cantonments. In the north, Burgos
very successfully resisted all attempts to
reduce it; and the army under Clausel,
which had taken shelter behind the Ebro,
began to recover strength and confidence,
and to menace such of our forces as were
covering or conducting the operations
against that fortress. On our side, Soult,
who had effected his junction with Joseph
Buonaparte, at Almanza, on the borders of
Valencia, was advancing with powerful
forces to Madrid, while Ballasteros, who
might have rendered the most important
services by harassing Soult on his route,
and uniting his people to ours on the Tagus,
obstinately halted in Grenada. Ballasteros
was a man who wanted neither courage nor
ability; but his silly pride would not allow
him to receive the orders of Wellington;
and, by his ridiculous vanity, the cause was
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289
妻​。
very much injured at a most critical mo-.
ment, and it became impossible for us to
maintain ourselves in the heart of Spain,
or to defend Madrid. On the night of the
22d of October, our brigade marched from
Yepes to Aranjuez: on the 26th we crossed
the Tagus, and manœuvred until the 30th
on that river and the Jarama. An attempt
was made by the enemy on the 30th to
possess themselves of the Puente-larga, on
the Jarama river; they were, however,
repulsed by a British brigade, under Co-
lonel Skerret, with a trifling loss on both
sides.
In the night of the 30th we commenced
our retreat; and at nine o'clock in the
morning of the 31st our columns were
passing under the walls of Madrid. This
city I had never seen, and orders were
very properly, but provokingly issued, that
no one should be allowed to leave the co-
lumns, and no one, on any account, be
permitted to enter the city. I was literally
burning with curiosity, and would almost
have faced a volley of musketry to see
Madrid; in fact, I am a friend to discipline,
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but I could not resist. I stole from the
column, made my way over a bridge, and
passed half an hour in riding through the
streets and squares. Only half an hour! —
What could you, exclaims my reader, what
could you see in the time? Why I saw
the new palace, a most noble building,
which has immortalised its architect Sac-
chetti. It is quadrangular in its form-
each front 470 feet in length, and 100 in
height, from base to cornice, with a most
elegant ballustrade above; it certainly
yields the palm to no edifice it has fallen
to my lot to see, but the Louvre. I went
slowly down the Calla-ancha, a wide,
handsome, and magnificent street. I looked
into the Prado, stood, under the Puerto
d'Alcala, a gate, or barrier of the city, the
central arch of which is seventy feet in
height. I alighted in the grand square,
and had coffee served to me in a large
saloon, filled with the gentlemen of Madrid.
One of them, approaching me, said, with
tears in his eyes, "I know the English are
brave, and loyal - I know this retreat is a
measure of necessity; but why, why did
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291
you come hither, if you could not calculate
on maintaining possession? You little
know the misery and terror which at this
moment fill the bosoms of the inhabitants
of this city. A few hours may deliver them
up to the vengeance of Spain's deadly ene-
mies, and the disaffected traitors within
these walls have watched us well: they
will represent every act of loyalty as a
crime, every viva as a cry of insurrection
against the odious government of Joseph."
My heart quite sunk within me, as he spoke;
I could only reply, that the policy of the
French would never suffer them to punish
offences so general; that they would feel
their own stay uncertain, and must calcu-
late on our return at some future period;
that this mortifying abandonment of the
capital was never contemplated when we
advanced, and, even now, was only rendered
necessary by the folly of their own country-
man, Ballasteros. He pressed my hand,
uttered a "viva mil annos" as I mounted
my horse, and I was soon out of his sight.
The people, though dreadfully dejected,
showed no signs of anger or indignation,
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but were respectful and friendly to the last.
I left the city, encountered no General to
put me under an arrest, a punishment I am
free to confess I deserved, and reached the
camp highly delighted at having seen Ma-
drid; for, after all, is it not possible to see
in one half hour a scene of interest which
may be remembered for ever? I would
certainly have given much to have examined
Madrid at my leisure; but for the general
effect of the superb palace, the streets, the
squares, the outward picture of that city,
I have seen, admired them, and can speak,
as to the impression produced, as well as
a man who has passed weeks there as a
resident.
Our bivouack, on the evening of the first
of November, commanded a clear but dis-
tant view of the town and palace of Escu-
rial. Though within two leagues of us, I
could not visit them; but I was well re-
conciled to this disappointment, for I ex-
amined the palace attentively with my glass,
and could discover that the royal residence,
and the convent attached to it, formed a
shapeless, and frightful pile of building.
THE PENINSULA.
293
What, indeed, could be expected, when a
whimsical monarch commanded his archi-
tect to take a gridiron for his model, and in
the erection of the edifice, and the dispo-
sition of its various parts, to conform most
strictly to this strange plan? The convent
of San Lorenzo was, in its day, exceedingly
wealthy, and could once boast a valuable
library of thirty thousand volumes, and a
very fine collection of paintings, among
which were several master-pieces of the fa-
mous Titian: this celebrated and exquisite
painter resided for upwards of five years in
Spain, and left many precious works behind
him. Indeed, at one period of her history,
Spain, from her intimate connection with
Italy, was not only embellished by the
labours of Italian architects, but the saloons
of her kings and nobles were furnished with
many a rich production of the Italian pencil.
The names of Michael Angelo, Raphael,
Guido, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Caraccis,
were well known in Madrid, while the works
of Murillo, and other natives of Spain,
attest, that there was a time when the di-
vine art of painting met with honour and
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encouragement among Spaniards of rank
and affluence.
On the 2d of November, after a delight-
ful march through a romantic country, we
took up our ground at the foot of the Gua-
darama pass on the following morning
we ascended these rude* mountains, and
moved upon Villa Castin. The ascent to the
top of the pass is four miles, but the royal
road is so fine, and so admirably laid down,
that your cannon meet with no obstacle,
which an additional pair of horses, or a
drag-rope, cannot overcome. The descent
into the plains of old Castile is not less than
eight miles, and eight more bring you to
Villa Castin. Descriptions of scenery are,
at best, but feeble, for to describe material
objects with the pen is difficult, if not im-
possible. I shall therefore content myself
with saying, that the southern face of the
Guadarama mountains is bare, brown, and
rocky, but the northern side most majesti-
cally wild; large projecting masses of rock,
✓
* The most elevated points of the Sierra de Guada-
rama are eight thousand feet above the level of the sea.
1
THE PENINSULA.
295
scene.
dark, and thick plantations of the mountain
fir; tumbling torrents, and steep patches of
the liveliest verdure, all boldly blended, are
the features of this grand and uncommon
Our march this day was rendered
still more interesting by the distinct view,
which, from the top of the pass, you en-
joyed of the various columns, defiling by
the beautifully winding road, on which not
less than thirty thousand men might be
seen in motion. The plains of old Castile
are very extensive, and their extreme flat-
ness is fatiguing to the eye, but they are in
general well cultivated, and filled with towns
and villages. We traversed them rapidly.
On the 5th we were in communication with
Lord Wellington, who had broken up from
before Burgos, and was retiring on Sala-
manca, followed by Clausel.
On the 6th we halted, for one day, on the
heights of Cantaracilla, reached Alba de Tor-
mes on the evening of the seventh, and the
whole of the allies were posted on the eighth
in and near Salamanca, and along the line of
the Tormes, occupying the town of Alba on
the right, with some British, and a division of
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
Portuguese. The French armies of the
north, south, and centre, which had followed
us from Burgos on the one side, and Madrid
on the other, successively arrived in our
front; and it was generally thought that
Lord Wellington would try the fate of a
battle. On the 10th, a column of infantry,
with cannon, attacked the town and castle
of Alba; it was repulsed. On the 14th,
Soult, who commanded for Joseph, caused
an immense force to pass the Tormes above
Alba. Our division immediately fell back,
on its right, from that neighbourhood, and
drew nearer Salamanca. From a high
rocky ridge, behind which our division
was formed in contiguous close columns,
we saw the enemy's infantry, occupying
a low wooded height, about a mile from us.
They showed about five thousand of their
horse on the plain below us, while on that
to our rear, the whole of our cavalry was
formed and ready to act. There was some
skirmishing and cannonading, but no affair
of moment. On the fifteenth, at daylight,
the whole of our army was in order of
battle; our division was posted behind the
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297
Arripeles, and every one anticipated a fierce
and general engagement. The French
had ninety thousand men, and nearly two
hundred pieces of artillery. Our division
had not been present at the glorious victory
of Salamanca, and longed eagerly for the
battle; for they naturally thought that a
brilliant and successful contest, on a much
grander scale, and on the same ground,
would give them a right to speak of the
field of Salamanca with a soldier's pride.
This jealousy of fame, this " avarice of
praise," is common in camps; and I need
hardly add, incalculably useful to sove-
reigns and commanders-in-chief. Soult,
however, had no intention of fighting: he
declined the challenge, manoeuvred on our
right, and threatening our communication
with Portugal, compelled us to retreat. It
is evident that Lord Wellington, who,
from the 8th to the 15th, kept all his
forces concentrated on the Tormes, anxi-
ously desired and expected a general en-
gagement. Indeed, it has been said, and
is probable, that on the morning of the
15th, could he have supposed that Soult
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would refuse fighting, he would himself
have been the assailant, and have marched
boldly on the heights of Mozarbes. It was
not until ten o'clock in the forenoon that
the retreat was ordered, which, had it been
the original intention of His Lordship,
would, no doubt, have been entered upon
six hours earlier. About two in the after-
noon, our column, having moved by its
right, arrived on the high road to Ciudad
Rodrigo, and marched towards the Agueda.
About noon, on this day, the rain began to
fall in torrents, wetting us to the skin, yet
not being without its use, for it most ad-
mirably masked our movements.
I have, in the course of these pages, often
painted the bivouack as a scene of enjoy-
ment and pleasure, and many will accuse
me of exaggeration; but I have spoken as
I felt, and I can truly declare that, in nine
cases out of ten, we enjoy rather than
suffer. But it is not to be denied, that
we occasionally endure what a person,
unacquainted with service, can ill con-
ceive, and would with difficulty be per-
suaded to credit. From the 15th to the
THE PENINSULA.
299
evening of the 19th, our sufferings were
of this description. On our march we
were deluged with rain, the roads were
deep and miry, and we had repeatedly to
ford rivers and streams, some of which were
breast high. In our bivouacks the ground
was soaked, no dry wood to be had, and
our fires, if any, were smoky and cheerless.
In addition to this we were miserably pro-
vided, having neither bread, biscuit, nor
flour. *
Lean bullocks, which travelled
with us, were slaughtered daily as we halt-
ed, and putting your miserable ration on a
stick, or the point of your sword, you
broiled it on wood-ashes, and ate it gree-
* Such was the scarcity of bread, that a friend of
mine, a paymaster, who lost our column, and was wan-
dering for two days on another road, overtook a Spanish
peasant, who was journeying with his wife and children
towards Ciudad Rodrigo, and seeing a loaf of bread on
the mule he was leading, he begged to purchase it, but
the man refused to sell it. Faint and almost wild with
hunger, he pulled out a doubloon, and offered it as the
price of the loaf, but the man still declined, saying,
pithily," My little ones cannot eat gold."
What a
lesson for the pampered citizen, who thinks there is
nothing gold cannot buy!
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
dily, half-smoked, and half-raw, without
knife, fork, or any conveniences, the whole
of our baggage having, of course, preceded
us. On the 16th, indeed, my regiment was
posted as a picket on a small plateau, just
above the village of Matilla, and we cer-
tainly had some prospect of comparative
comfort. In this hamlet, though there was
no bread, we luckily found a few potatoes,
which having eagerly purchased, we were
boiling at a tolerable fire, in a mean hovel,
and chuckling at our good fortune, when
the sound of a few shots caused us to run
out, and we found about two squadrons of
our German Hussars retiring before a
large body of the enemy's horse.
As we
had only piled arms in column at quarter
distance, we were instantaneously formed,
and the enemy halted about musket-shot
We stood, for about fifteen mi-
nutes, calmly looking at each other. They
were about two thousand in number, all
covered with large white cloaks, and looked
remarkably well. It certainly was a sight,
which, on any ordinary occasion, it would
have been worth losing a dinner for; but
from us.
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301
hungry and exhausted as we were, the
bustle they caused was very unseasonable.
They suffered us to retire through the vil-
lage, and across the plain to the wood,
where our division lay, unmolested; for
as they had no guns, it would have been a
ticklish affair to attempt any thing against
a steady battalion of infantry; but they
pushed down about six squadrons to the
left of the village, and had a trifling brush
with some of our cavalry, who came up
hastily from their camp, after which they
retired, and occupied for the night Matilla
and the heights.
In our bivouack on the 17th, a cannon-
ade, directed against the right column, and
very distant from us, caused us to stand to
our arms shivering for two hours, after
which we broiled our ration, and lay down
in a swamp, nearly ancle-deep in water, to
repose. This same day, Sir Edward Paget,
our second in command, was taken, while
quietly riding in an interval between two
divisions, one of which was marching in
his rear.
A few Polish lancers had ad-
venturously straggled through the wood on
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
our flank, and coming down upon the
road, carried him off through the forest
undiscovered.
On the night of the 18th the rain ceased
for a short time; but just as we were com-
posing ourselves for sleep, a handful of
Indian corn was issued to each man, and
they all immediately began pounding it
between large stones, which strange hand-
mills they passed from one to the other,
keeping up such a noise throughout the
whole night, that no one in camp could
possibly have closed his eyes. Such were
the little additions to our annoyance and
misery. The sufferings of mind, however,
on a retreat, are far less endurable than
privation and fatigue: these last, animated
by the hopes which a forward movement
never fails to inspire, we cheerfully bear;
but it is distressing to feel, that if you
drop from inanition and exhaustion, you fall
an easy and unresisting prey to the enemy.
The loss of our army on this retreat was
very considerable, fully equal to the casual-
ties of a general action, and, thanks to
the supineness of the French, who never
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303
vigorously pushed us, that it was not
doubled.
On the night of the 20th, our corps of
the army was distributed in mountain-vil-
lages, south of the Sierra de Francia, and
here we halted for eight days. Here, too,
we were restored to our baggage, and
under cover. Miserable as were the ho-
vels in which we were quartered, our gaiety
in these chimney-corners, where we sat
roasting chesnuts, and boiling potatoes,
would not a little have surprised our friends
at home, could they by magic have been
transported from their curtained and car-
peted drawing-rooms to these mountain-
cots, and have seen the accommodation
we thought ourselves so fortunate in pro-
curing.
On the 28th, the whole of Hill's corps
marched for the province of Coria. Our
route lay through that mountainous region,
which divides the Partido de Ciudad Ro-
drigo from that of Alcantara, in Estrema-
dura.
The scenery, as is ever the case in
such a country, was truly magnificent: the
passage of the rude and lofty Sierra de
304
RECOLLECTIONS OF
;
Gata, and the descent from the top of the
pass to the town, abound with subjects for
the pencil of a Salvator Rosa. A rugged
and dangerous road winds amid the thickest
brushwood, and around the boldest rocks
below it, on one side, are precipices the
most frightful, while above, on the other,
huge masses of mountain-stone terrifically
impend, and seem to threaten the traveller
with instant destruction. We were very
fortunate in our day, and saw this country
to great advantage. In the very loftiest
regions of the Sierra, a veil of mist enve-
loped us, which, as we descended, gradually
cleared away, and gave to our view plains,
and woods, and villages, all lighted by a
glorious sun, and smiling as in summer.
The little town of Gata lies immediately
at the foot of these mountains, most roman-
tically situated, and half-concealed by thick
groves of chesnut trees, which grow there
to a handsome and prodigious size, are
found in great abundance, and whose ches-
nuts are indeed the principal food of the
poorer inhabitants.
inhabitants. The march, to a man
of any mind or feeling, always presents
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305
enjoyment, especially when it lies among
mountains, those grand features of scenery,
which are, throughout romantic Spain,
thrown everywhere by the bold hand of
nature in the richest and wildest profusion.
"Oh! there is sweetness in the mountain-air,
And life that bloated ease can never hope to share.”
BYRON.
My regiment lay at a small village in the
neighbourhood of Coria, from November
to the middle of May. When settled in
our winter quarters, Lord Wellington ad-
dressed a sweeping and angry circular to
the troops, reproaching them with having
displayed a greater want of discipline on
their retreat" than any army with which,"
said his Lordship, "I have ever served, or
of which I have ever read." In this same
circular, the men were told that they had
suffered no privation which could justify
the least irregularity, or account for the
losses which had been sustained, and they
were bitterly reproached for not cooking
with the same expedition as the French
soldiery. As to the first charge, I am con-
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RECOLLECTIONS OF
fident that his Lordship was never made
acquainted with the extent of their priva-
tions; and for the latter, most satisfactory
reasons might have been given for our com-
parative tardiness in preparing our food.
The French soldiers mess by twos and
threes, and have small kettles; the English,
at that time, had large camp-kettles of iron,
one to every ten men. The French took
wood of all sorts, and wherever they found
it; our orders, on this head, were properly,
but particularly strict. Neither were the
irregularities, though great, by any means
general: there were corps, and many corps,
who maintained their discipline, and whose
casualties were comparatively trifling, and
most satisfactorily accounted for. I be-
lieve the interior economy of British re-
giments, and the discipline of a British
company, in a regiment well commanded,
to be superior to that of any army in
the world; and sure I am, that the Duke
of Wellington, who, since that period, has
served with some, and seen troops of all
the other armies in Europe, is now of the
same opinion. The army felt all this
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307
deeply, though they made every allowance
for the severe disappointment which the
failure before Burgos, and the loss of ground
in the heart of Spain, must have naturally
produced in the bosom of that commander,
through whose ability and valour their si-
tuation in the foregoing August had been
rendered so transcendently brilliant.
Coria, the head quarters of Sir Rowland
Hill throughout the winter from 1812 to
1813, is a small town of about 600 houses,
prettily situated on the river Alagon; has
a cathedral, and is further adorned by the
fine remains of a Moorish tower and castle.
Wherever you move in Spain, the vestiges
of these warlike Moors are to be traced.
It is strange that more is not known,
among us, about the state of Spain, under
their dominion, for they were certainly a
civilized and polished people, and intro-
duced many arts and sciences among the
natives of Spain, which, till their arrival,
were unknown: they had knowledge of
agriculture, skill, and taste in architecture;
had their learned men, poets, and men of
science, and from what we know of the
x 2
308
RECOLLECTIONS OF
costliness of their dress and arms, must
have had precious and flourishing manufac-
tures. Even as late as the beginning of
the sixteenth century, a million of Moris-
coes, who, doubtless, if they did not retain
the dress, customs, and manners of their
ancestors, had many cherished traditions
concerning their greatness and their his-
tory, still dwelt in Spain; yet nothing is
known. I should anxiously have desired
to visit those provinces in the south, which
the Moors so long occupied, and where
they have left behind them such noble me-
morials, as the Alhambra of Grenada, the
Mosque of Cordova, and other magnificent
ruins found south of the Sierra Morena.
Cheerfully would I thus have employed my
winter leisure, but a military man is spared
the trouble of exercising his will in these
matters. I therefore remained, like others,
quiet under the roof of an honest peasant,
and made myself as contented as I could.
In the neighbourhood of our cantonment,
the Alagon, a river, whose waters were
more beautifully clear than any I ever be-
held, pursued its tranquil course; behind
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309
us rose some rocky heights, well wooded,
where the walks were exceedingly pretty,
and many leagues in our front, the eye
might ever seek, and rest upon the stupen-
dous mountains of Bejar, covered with eter-
nal snow. Many as were the weeks we
passed in the same small village, I never
looked upon that finely-formed Sierra but
with a feeling that almost repressed the
wish to wander. The season too of winter
is in that province mild as an English
spring; our tables were well supplied with
game and wine: we had books and news-
papers; these last contained long details of
the Russian campaign, and were therefore
highly interesting. To be sure, in such a
situation, a sigh for the fire-side, the even-
ing concert, the ball, the play, the well-
remembered gaieties of England, will
intrude; yet how many were the social
evenings, how many the happy hours of
rational and lively converse, which I en-
joyed in that quiet village, with men, whom
death, wounds, and distant service have
now torn from my side.
Rapidly did time glide by till spring
x 3
310
RECOLLECTIONS OF
again returned, and brought with it new
hopes, and the prospect of another inte-
resting campaign. Every effort had been
made, during our long halt, to render the
various corps efficient in discipline, field
exercise, and equipment. An order of
Lord Wellington's directed, that three
tents per company should be carried for
the men, on the bat mules, hitherto appro-
priated to the conveyance of the large iron
camp kettles, the use of which was discon-
tinued, and small ones substituted, to be
carried by the soldiers themselves.
The twentieth of May found us again
in the field, bivouacked at the foot of
the Puerto de Baños, through which, a
better road than that of Gata runs from
Plasencia to Salamanca. The sun was
shining fiercely upon our tents in the vale,
while immediately above us, at an immense
elevation, rose the snowy and frozen peaks
of the Sierra de Bejar. The following
morning we climbed the pass; the ascent
commences at Baños, a small town, very
poor,
and in ruins, having been plundered,
and half destroyed by a corps of the French
THE PENINSULA..
311
in 1809. It is famous for a remarkably
fine natural hot bath, and was it not seated
in so wild and rude a country, would
doubtless have been much frequented by
invalids. We halted, for one night, at the
very top of the pass; the march down into
Castile is romantic and beautiful in the ex-
treme; below, meadows clothed with the
richest verdure, watered with innumerable
streams, and enclosed with hedge-rows, as
in England, promise you delightful situ-
ations for encamping; and, ever as you
raise your eye to the right, and above you,
are majestic mountains, covered with eter-
nal snow; and at the rising and setting of
the sun, all bright and varying with hues
and tints of the most heavenly dye.
We traversed a very interesting country
to Salamanca, where we arrived on the
twenty-sixth: the enemy's rear-guard, con-
sisting of 400 cavalry, 3000 infantry, and
four guns, evacuated the town as we ap-
proached. We did not march into the
city, but forded the Tormes a mile to the
right of it. The French fired a few shots
at our leading brigade of cavalry as it
4
x 4
312
RECOLLECTIONS OF
formed after passing the river, and then
rapidly retired along the Tormes towards
Babila Fuente. They were pursued, can-
nonaded, and much pressed by our cavalry,
and horse artillery, and sustained a loss of
about 200 killed and wounded, and as
many taken. We were, this day, in com-
munication with the column which marched
under the order of Wellington, who was
himself present at the affair with the ene-
my's rear-guard.
There is scarcely a place in all Spain, the
name of which is so familiar to our ears as
Salamanca. Le Sage, in his admirable Gil
Blas, has immortalized it, and we all feel
acquainted with the students of Salamanca;
but we looked for them in vain, as we
walked under the handsome stone piazza
of the most noble looking square in Spain.
These were, indeed, filled with a motley
crowd of people, but we could discern no
youthful scholars in their academic habits.
Many thousands once studied in this uni-
versity. A few, with some of the old
professors, still lingered in the deserted
colleges, or might be seen pacing in the
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313
spacious aisles of the elegant cathedral.
But war spares neither the abode of piety,
nor the seat of learning; numbers of the
students, at an early period of the war,
obeyed the sacred call of their country,
and left their peaceful colleges for the tu-
multuous camp. In the year 1812, two
convents in Salamanca were fortified and
garrisoned by the French, besieged and
taken by the British; thus, an open and
quiet city became a scene of contest, con-
fusion, and blood-shed. Monks yielded up
their cells to soldiers; all the houses for a
certain space round these convents were
razed; while the more distant were injured,
and beat down by the heavy fire of the
French batteries, and many of the streets
and lanes were enfiladed by their cannon;
heaps of ruins every where presented them-
selves to my sight; and, tired of gazing on
poor Salamanca in such a state of degrada-
tion, I returned to my tent and my blanket.
On our line of march, the following morn-
ing, the British and Portuguese divisions of
infantry, in the corps of Sir Rowland Hill,
passed Lord Wellington in review; we had
314
RECOLLECTIONS OF
upwards of 14,000 bayonets, and made a
very fine
appearance. There is something
very pleasing to real soldiers in being re-
viewed in this ready convenient manner,
without fuss or preparation; and to a gene-
ral there must be something, I think, gra-
tifying in looking at his men all rough and
dusty with the march, even as they would
go into battle.
Our division encamped the same evening
in a wood, near Orbada, about sixteen miles
in front of Salamanca; here, and distributed
in the neighbourhood, the right wing of the
army halted, while the left, in pursuance of
Wellington's able disposition, was gaining
the enemy's right by the route of Miranda
and Carvajales. On the third of June, we
were again in motion, and on the fourth
we passed the Douro, near Toro, without
opposition, for the enemy, out-manoeuvred
and alarmed, was compelled to abandon
the line of that river, without an effort,
and hastily retired, destroying the bridges;
that at Toro we repaired with a temporary
platform, and our infantry crossed it by
files; the cavalry, artillery, and baggage
THE PENINSULA.
315
|
passing at a ford about a quarter of a mile
above the town. Toro is a fine handsome
old city, and is adorned with a very large
and beautiful tower of Moorish construc-
tion, in the highest preservation; there are
also convenient public walks all round the
walls, thickly planted with trees. We bi-
vouacked for the night, in a good pine
wood, near the village of Morales, and
close to the ground where the day previous
our hussars had had a very brilliant affair
with a superior body of French heavy dra-
goons, sabring great numbers, and taking
about two hundred prisoners. We con-
tinued our march across the fertile plains
of the province of Valladolid; on the sixth
we saw that city, at a distance, and halted
within two leagues of it on the seventh,
but I had no opportunity of visiting it; on
the eighth we took up our ground near a
ruined village; out of two hundred houses
only ten remained habitable. There was
a church in this place, which had been
most curiously and ingeniously fortified by
the French, as a post for a detachment;
platforms were constructed here for all their
316
RECOLLECTIONS OF
sentries, so raised and protected, as to se-
cure them from surprise: such was the
state of watchfulness and preparation,
which, even amid the plains occupied by
their armies, traversed by their columns,
and scoured by their cavalry, all the small
detachments of the enemy were compelled
most strictly to observe. These things are
proofs of the resistance of the Spanish na-
tion, and the active hatred of the people;
for if such was the situation of the enemy,
in the very plains, where discipline may,
and often does most successfully oppose
both courage and numbers, what must it
have been amid the more mountainous dis-
tricts, abounding in fastnesses and rocky
passes, known to, and tenable by, a brave
and patriotic peasantry. The Guerilla sys-
tem had certainly a most powerful, a most
material influence in the salvation of Spain.
May the same system, acted upon by the
ablest partizans among the "Liberales,'
again save her from the worst, the most
formidable of enemies, a domestic tyrant, a
monarch who may have the right to govern,
but not the right to oppress her.
22
THE PENINSULA.
317
It was not until the 12th that we saw the
enemy, and so cleanly had they retreated,
that we had met with no stragglers, and
since the affair of cavalry at Toro, had taken
no prisoners. Our march and movements
on the 12th were rather interesting. Sir
Rowland Hill's corps broke up from Man-
zana at five o'clock in the morning, and
moved forwards in two columns, the right
on Celada, the left, in which I was, on Horn-
illo, through Juntana. The enemy skir-
mished very prettily with our cavalry at
Hormasa, a small village, on a river of that
name, and made a short stand to favour the
retreat of the main body of their rear guard;
they then retired slowly up the heights,
above Hornillo, whither we followed them,
They had at Hormasa about four squadrons
and three battalions. Their infantry formed
line on these heights, and as we ascended
on their flank, threw it back, changing its
direction, but still presenting us a front.
At last, perceiving that we were in great
strength, and had large bodies of cavalry
up, they threw themselves into squares, and
retiring over the river Arlanzon, joined the
318
RECOLLECTIONS OF
remainder of the French corps under Count
Reille, and the whole took the road to
Burgos. These troops manoeuvred very ra-
pidly and steadily; and effected their retreat
in most beautiful order, in the face of our
cavalry, and under the fire of some of our
artillery, which, however, did very little exe-
cution. At the close of this affair, I had
the gratification of seeing on these heights
nearly the whole of the British cavalry.
Most of the brigades passed us in columns
of half squadrons, as they were returning to
take up their ground for the night. The
masses of heavy dragoons, with their brazen
helmets, horse-hair plumes, and long crim-
son cloaks, had a most superb and martial
appearance; and were happily contrasted
by the light, ready, and active look of the
hussars, whose equipment and dress were
neat and becoming.
Our infantry columns returned also, and
encamped on the line of the Hormasa river,
leaving strong picquets on the heights. One
of these picquets I commanded; it began
to rain heavily towards the evening, and
poured for several hours. To add to our
THE PENINSULA.
319
gos,
comfort we had nothing to eat, and on these
bare hills there was no wood for firing.
The morning, however, brought with it con-
solation; for, at early dawn, while gazing
with my glass at the distant castle of Bur-
I had the satisfaction to see it suddenly
enveloped in thick white smoke, and the
sound of a tremendous explosion announced
to me that the enemy had blown up, and
would of course abandon it. In ten minutes
a second explosion followed, and, in about
a quarter of an hour, I could distinctly see
the yawning ruins.
A very large French army was now col-
lected on the Ebro; for Joseph, with all the
troops who had been at Madrid, Segovia,
&c. had marched rapidly by the pass of So-
mosierra, on Avanda and Burgos, and were
now moving in front of us. Although there
was no longer a Burgos to besiege or block-
ade, to have forced the pass of Pancorro,
and have crossed the Ebro at Miranda had
been impossible. Wellington moved as ra-
pidly by the left, on an unfrequented road,
and passing the Ebro by the Puente de
Arenas, marched directly on Vittoria, whi-
320
RECOLLECTIONS OF
ther the enemy retired. Our column moved
on the evening of the 13th to Villorejo.
The road lay through a very pretty valley,
filled with small, neat-looking villages: corn
and meadow land, poplars and willows, gave
it quite an English character. On the whole
of the 15th, as we traversed the plain to
Villacusa, we had a fine distinct view of
the sierras of Asturias on our left.
On the 16th, we descended by a steep
and rocky road into a low secluded valley,
through which the Ebro, here narrow and
inconsiderable, winds its way, and crossing
the river by a stone bridge of five arches,
turned to the left, and followed a road run-
ning, for nearly two miles, along the bank
of the Ebro, and almost on a level with its
waters. The view of this valley on your
descent to it, the vale itself, and the singu-
larly picturesque road by which you pass
out from it, are among the most enchanting
scenes it has ever fallen to my lot to con-
template. Here you may imagine yourself
transported to the happy retreat described
in Rasselas. On every side mountains in-
close and shelter this favoured spot; all the
THE PENINSULA.
321
passes leading to and from it are concealed
from you;
you; the fields all teem with cul-
tivation, and the orchards all blush with
fruit: the ash, the beech, and the poplar,
the woodbine, the rose, and a thousand
shrubs, shade and adorn the rural dwellings.
The narrow wheel-track, by which you
leave this elysium, runs curving at the foot
of impending precipices, so bold and varied
in their forms, and the character of their
beauties, that no pen could describe them
justly. Here they are clothed with rich and
shaggy brushwood, there naked to their
blue or grey summits, which frown above
you; and here, again, from the rude clefts
and fissures of the rock, grow solitary trees.
and plants, where no hand can ever reach
them, while, in some places, thick wreaths
of ivy half cover the projecting crags. The
river brawls along between these cliffs, often
impeded by huge masses of mountain stone,
which have fallen in some wintry storm, or
been detached by some violent convulsion
of nature, and now form islands in its bed.
In a scene so lovely, soldiers seemed quite
misplaced, and the glittering of arms, the
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322
RECOLLECTIONS OF
trampling of horses, and the loud voices of
the men, appeared to insult its peacefulness.
On the three following days our bivouacks
were delightful; fine wood and water, and
grand scenery, all combined to make us
cheerful and contented.
At half past seven on the morning of
the 21st, our column entered the high
road running from Miranda to Vittoria, and
marching through the small town of Puebla,
amid the vivas of the inhabitants, with our
music playing and colours flying, we, in
half an hour more, halted in the presence
of the French army, which was formed
in order of battle, on a position of great
strength. Their right was stationed near the
city of Vittoria, their centre commanded
the valley of the Zadorra, and their left
rested on the lofty heights which rise above
Puebla.* The battle array of a large army
is a most noble and imposing sight. To
see the hostile lines and columns formed,
* On a very steep and commanding height on the
right of the enemy's centre, flew a white standard, said
to mark the head-quarters and the presence of Joseph
Buonaparte.
THE PENINSULA.
323
1
and prepared for action; to observe their
generals and mounted officers riding smartly
from point to point, and to mark every now
and then, one of their guns opening on your
own staff, reconnoitring them, is a scene
very animating, and a fine prelude to a ge-
neral engagement. On your own side, too,
the hammering of flints and loosening of
cartridges; the rattle of guns and tumbrils,
as they come careering up to take their
appointed stations; and the swift galloping
of aides-de-camp in every direction, here
bringing reports to their generals, there
conveying orders to the attacking columns,
all speak of peril and death, but also of
anticipated victory; and so cheeringly, that
a sensation of proud hope swells the bosom,
which is equal, if not superior, to the feel-
ing of exultation in the secure moment of
pursuit and triumph. With the exception of
the sixth, which was detained at Medina,
all the divisions of the Anglo-Portuguese
army, and those of the Spanish under the
orders of Giron, Longa, and Murillo, were
present in this field. We could not have
Y 2
324
RECOLLECTIONS OF
had less than 74,000 men, and the French
about 60,000, with a numerous artillery.
The corps of Sir Rowland Hill, in pur-
suance of the general arrangements, began
the action by attacking the enemy's left.
From the moment that we passed Puebla,
a Spanish brigade, under the orders of
General Murillo, was sent up the heights,
rising above that town, and was afterwards
supported by the 71st regiment, some light
companies, and a battalion of Portuguese
caçadores, all commanded by the Honour-
able Colonel Cadogan, of the 71st. These
troops were heavily engaged long before
the action became general, and sustained
great loss; but, at length, succeeded in gain-
ing possession of these important heights,
and in dislodging and driving down the
enemy. My brigade marched upon the
village of Subijana de Alava, in front of the
line, and had orders to carry it with the
bayonet. The enemy opened upon us with
fourteen pieces of artillery, from their po-
sition, as we moved down, but with little
effect. I could never persuade myself that
they would resign so important a post as
THE PENINSULA.
325
the village without a struggle; and when
we got close to it, and began to find the
ground difficult and intersected with walls
and banks, I expected every moment to be
saluted with a murderous discharge of mus-
quetry, and to see them issue forth; and I
had prepared my men to look for, and dis-
regard such an attack. Not a soul, how-
ever, was in the village; but a wood a few.
hundred yards to its left, and the ravines
above it, were filled with French light
infantry. I, with my company, was soon
engaged in smart skirmishing among the
ravines, and lost about eleven men, killed
and wounded, out of thirty-eight.
English do not skirmish so well as the
Germans or the French; and it really is
hard work to make them preserve their
proper extended order, cover themselves,
and not throw away their fire; and in the
performance of this duty, an officer is, I
think, far more exposed than in line-fight-
ing. I enjoyed, however, from my elevated
post, a very fine view of the field. Below
me, it was really dreadful to see how the
other regiments, which skirmished opposite
The
Y 3
326
RECOLLECTIONS OF
the wood, suffered from the fire of the
French voltigeurs. It was about two o'clock
when the fourth and light divisions crossed
the Zadorra, by a bridge opposite Nanclares,
deployed, and advanced boldly against the
enemy's centre and town of Ariñez. About
the same hour, the third and seventh di-
visions forced the bridge of the Puentes,
and attacked, and drove his right. All this
time there was a tremendous fire of artillery
on both sides: but, as this slackened, the
enemy was seen preparing to retire; and
he soon abandoned every village, height,
and position, in great confusion. We
marched rapidly in pursuit, but to little
purpose; and halted in the evening in a
bivouack about two miles in front, and to
the right of Vittoria. Here, news about
the general result of the battle came pour-
ing in every moment; and we found, that
the enemy, having been cut off from the
Bayonne road by Sir Thomas Graham,
(who, with the British and Spanish divi-
sions under his orders, had dislodged him,
after a sharp conflict, from Gamarra Mayor,
and Abechuco,) had fled in the direction of
THE PENINSULA.
327
Pampeluna, abandoning the whole of his
baggage and artillery. One hundred and
fifty pieces of cannon, 415 caissons, their
military chest, and upwards of 3000 car-
riages, waggons, and cars, laden with stores,
treasure, and plunder, had fallen into our
hands. Our loss had been about 5000
killed and wounded; and that of the French
not more considerable. I confess, I was
disappointed with the result, and had looked
for more solid, and less high-sounding ad-
vantages. It is true, the capture of all
their artillery and matériel was a brilliant
triumph; and in those days when generals
would have sacrificed an army for their
preservation, would have been regarded
with wonder and admiration. For my part,
I would much sooner have heard of heavy
casualties in the French ranks, and have
seen a good solid column of them pri-
soners. I was smiled at, and called un-
reasonable; but this very army, deprived
of its artillery, stripped of its baggage, and
driven into France in twelve days after the
victory, in eighteen more resumed the
offensive, assaulted our positions in the
Y 4
328.
RECOLLECTIONS OF
-
passes of the Pyrenees, penetrated to within
a league of Pampeluna, and fought a battle
for its relief. After all, however, when I
reflect, that our army was brought, in five-
and-forty days, from the frontiers of Portu-
gal to the confines of France, a distance of
400 miles; and that a powerful enemy was
driven before us, through the defiles of the
lower Pyrenees, I am lost in admiration of
the talent of Wellington; and should, per-
haps, feel ashamed to own my disappoint-
ment on the field of Vittoria.
In this battle, one regiment of our di-
vision, the 71st, suffered severely, losing
400 men, and their gallant commander, the
Hon. Colonel Cadogan. This brave officer,
it is reported, mortally wounded, and fully
aware of his situation, begged to be carried
to a higher point than that on which he
fell, that he might see how the battle went,
and gaze to the last on the advance of our
victorious troops. This trait of patriotism
would have figured well in Greek or Roman
story; as it is, it remains a camp anecdote,
related or listened to with pleasure, but
without wonder, by men, who have seen.
1
THE PENINSULA.
329
common British soldiers, covered with
wounds, expire in the very act of cheering.
I am one, who suspect, that three hundred
British grenadiers would have held the
pass of Thermopylæ as stoutly as the
Spartans; and have considered it as the
simple discharge of a perilous and import-
ant duty, to die on the ground on which
they fought. Not that I think less highly
of the ancients; but only as highly of the
moderns. Insensible to a tale of heroism
I can never feel; and I admit, that such a
tale is ever hallowed by the remoteness of
the age in which the action it relates has
been performed; but I condemn those who
rave about Greeks and Romans; and because
division and regiment do not sound quite
so classical as legion and cohort, would per-
suade us, that musketeers are not as brave
as hastati; or British captains worthy to be
classed with Roman centurions.
On the morning of the 22d, the army
marched forwards, leaving a captain's de-
tachment from every regiment in Vittoria.
I was sent on this unpleasant duty. The
streets of the town, as may be imagined,
330
RECOLLECTIONS OF
were all bustle and confusion: here, cars,
filled indiscriminately with French, English,
and Portuguese wounded, were conveying
their groaning burthens to the convents
allotted for their hospitals. There, officers
wounded and pale, their uniforms all blood-
stained and dirty, were riding towards their
billets at a slow pace; their servants lead-
ing the animals by the bridle, and often
supporting their drooping and suffering
masters, to whom the agony of motion
appeared intolerable. Here, a few groups
of French prisoners stood, eagerly looking
out from the door of the church where they
were confined; there, our detachments lay
halted in the streets, waiting for orders;
while long trains of commissariat mules
laden with biscuit, were filing past us to
follow the army. From the gate, Spanish
troops were marching in to garrison Vit-
toria, while astonishment was painted on
the features of the inhabitants; to whom,
having been so long under the dominion
of the French, their present situation ap-
peared novel, and their liberation almost
incredible.
1
THE PENINSULA.
331
For two or three days, I was employed
with strong fatigue parties, collecting the
guns and caissons scattered on the roads,
and among the fields to the north of the
town. We dragged into park 174 cannon
of these, ninety were field-pieces, all foul-
mouthed from recent use. The ground, for
nearly a square league, was covered with
the wreck of carriages, cars, chests, and
baggage; and, here and there, whole fields
were literally white with thickly-scattered
papers. In their search for money and
valuables, the soldiers had ransacked every
thing; they had torn out the lining of the
carriages, and cut open the padding; they
had broken all the correspondence chests of
the various military and civil offices, and
had strewn out papers, returns, and official
documents, that had been, for years, per-
haps, accumulating. You saw the finest
military books and maps trod under foot,
and utterly spoiled by the rain, that had
fallen the day after the battle. In one
part, very near a half-destroyed barouche,
I found a very interesting and beautiful
letter, written in English, and addressed
332
RECOLLECTIONS OF
to his wife from Naples, by a Monsieur
Thiebault 00 who, it appeared, had been
treasurer to Joseph Buonaparte. With a
little trouble, I discovered not less than
twenty written by the same person, and in
the same amiable and affectionate, strain ;
they were dated from various places in
Italy and Spain, and contained many na-
tural and pleasing descriptions. I gathered
them up, and returned home, rejoicing in
my treasure.
In the evening I went to a
café, and seeing there several of the French
officers taken, I asked one of them, if he
knew a Monsieur Thiebault, the king's
treasurer; he replied, extremely well, that
he had been killed by a chance shot among
the baggage on the 21st; that his son was
a prisoner*, and quite disconsolate; and
that his wife, a most sweet woman, and a
* I made a packet of the letters, and sent them to
the son, accompanied by a note, to which I did not sign
my name, that he might not be distressed, by knowing
or meeting one who had read this affectionate corre-
spondence; and I had the happiness of learning, that
the recovery of these papers, these precious memorials
of an amiable parent, have proved the greatest conso-
lation to this unhappy young man.
THE PENINSULA.
333
native of Scotland, had left Vittoria for
Bayonne on the 20th, and was still ignorant
of her irreparable loss.
When the history of any individual, who
has fallen, is thus brought before us, we feel
deeply, but wander over ground, covered
with
corpses, about whom we know nothing,
with comparative indifference; yet, if we
knew the history attached to each lifeless
body, on which we gazed, with what tales
of sorrow should we not become acquainted!
It would be, perhaps, difficult to select a
more painful anecdote connected with the
battle of Vittoria than the following: — A
paymaster of a regiment of British infantry
had two sons, lieutenants in the corps in
which he served; he was a widower, and
had no relations besides these youths; they
lived in his tent, were his pride and delight.
The civil staff of a regiment usually remain
with the baggage when the troops engage,
and join them with it afterwards. In the
evening, when this paymaster came up, an
officer met him. 66
My boys," said the old
man, "how are they? Have they done their
duty ?" "They have behaved most nobly;
334
RECOLLECTIONS OF
but you have lost" "Which of them?"
-"Alas! both: they are numbered with
the dead.'
""
If this page should meet the eye of a
man visited with affliction, let him think
how heavily the arrows of misfortune light-
ed
upon this
grey head, and be resigned.
A friend of mine, belonging to another
corps, lay wounded in Vittoria. I heard of
it, and hastened to his billet. I found him
reclining on a sofa, and looking, as I thought,
remarkably well. He received me cordially
and cheerfully. "I rejoice," said I, "to
see you smiling; your injury is of course
slight.”—“ You are mistaken; my wound is
mortal, and my hours, I believe, are almost
numbered. I shall never leave this room
but as a corpse; but these are events which
should never take a soldier by surprise."
With him the hurry and excitement of the
conquered field had been exchanged for the
calm, the awful calm of the chamber of
death: he had been but yesterday in the
season of his youth, his strength, and his
hope; he was now gazing steadily upon,
and advancing towards his grave. He died
THE PENINSULA.
335
in two days. I saw him laid in the garden
of a convent. Returning from his funeral,
I met a serjeant of my regiment, who had
come with an escort from the division.
"How are they all, serjeant ?" said I.
"We have lost Mr.
""
" How? in
an affair ?" "No; we had a dreadful
storm among the mountains, and in one of
the narrowest passes, himself and his horse
were struck by lightning, and killed on
the spot." This, too, was a noble-minded,
zealous officer, one who had braved many a
scene of peril, and whose ambition it had
ever been to perish in the field. You grow
familiar on service with death and sorrow ;
you do not weep—but if he have an eye
to observe, and a heart to feel, few men see
or suffer more than a soldier.
In Vittoria, I found an excellent book-
seller's shop, and procured some of the
classics, and the best French authors —
Paris editions, and pocket-size, uncommonly
cheap. This bookseller assured me that
he had sold more books to the British in
the course of one fortnight, than he had
disposed of for two years to the French
336
RECOLLECTIONS OF
constantly passing through that city; and
expressed great surprise, that among our
officers so many reading men should be
found.
It is certainly true, that in England the
education of our military men appears, by
comparison with those who study for the
learned professions, neglected and imper-
fect; but the British officers have better
. manners, more extensive information, and
more cultivated minds, than those of any
army in the world. I speak not of scientific
attainments, for I believe the study of for-
tification, gunnery, and military mathema-
tics, is more general with French and foreign
officers than our own. One notion, how-
ever, is very prevalent in England about
the French army, which is exceedingly er-
roneous. It is thought, that their marshals,
their generals, and chiefs of the staff, are
almost always mathematicians, draftsmen,
men of science, and perfect tacticians.
This is by no means the case. Zeal, intre-
pidity, ready intelligence, fearlessness under
responsibility, and a practical acquaintance
with war, are the qualities which have
THE PENINSULA.
337
recommended, and lifted to honour and
renown, the most distinguished officers of
France. Genius directs, science obeys.
The man of a daring and intelligent mind
commands an army; the men of science
labour, unseen, in the lower departments,
and assist its operations. By their exer-
tions, the face of a country is accurately
mapped. Elevations and distances are cor-
rectly given; bridges are constructed, mili-
tary roads traced up the pathless mountain,
and fortresses breached; but, to decide
upon the march, the assault, or the battle,
belongs to the mind of a leader, to whom
success with the compass and the pencil
may have been denied ; and, doubtless, abler
draftsmen, and abler mathematicians than
themselves, have marched under the orders
of a Wellington, and a Napoleon.
On the 5th of July, the detachments of
our division marched to rejoin the army.
I must not leave Vittoria without remark-
ing, that it is a very clean town, has a very
handsome square, excellent houses, good
shops, and a well supplied market. The
complexion of the inhabitants was much
Z
338
RECOLLECTIONS OF
fairer than any I had before seen; some of
the women, indeed, had blue eyes, and the
brown hair and healthful cheek of our own
countrywomen; which is not surprising,
for the climate is cool and pleasant. The
country, which we traversed, to Pampeluna,
has a bold and interesting character. You
are constantly moving through defiles and
amid mountains. In the neighourhood
of the villages, the eye rests with pleasure
on vineyards and corn-fields, overhanging
each other on the sloping sides of the
loftiest heights, and streams and rivulets
sparkle all around.
In a village about three leagues from
Pampeluna, where I passed the night, I met
with a very fine man, a native of Arragon,
and a Guerilla. He was wounded in the
leg, and of course for a time incapable
of service. The circumstances of his situ-
ation, the fate of his family, and his lan-
guage, will explain the nature both of the
formation and feelings of many of these
Guerilla corps, better, perhaps, than a far
longer and more detailed account of them.
I asked him where he lived, and under
THE PENINSULA.
339
whom he served. "Senhor," said he, “I
have no home, no relations, nothing save my
country and my sword. My father was led
out, and shot in the market-place of my na-
tive village; our cottage was burned, my
mother died of grief, and my wife, who had
been violated by the enemy, fled to me, then
a volunteer with Palafox, and died in my arms,
in a hospital in Saragossa. I serve under
no particular chief. I am too miserable, I
feel too revengeful to support the restraint
of discipline and the delay of manoeuvre.
I
go on any enterprize I hear of; if I am
poor, on foot; if chance or plunder has
made me rich, on horseback; I follow the
boldest leader; but I have sworn never to
dress a vine or plough a field till the enemy
is driven out of Spain." Such was the
desperate, the undying hatred to the French
which many of these Guerillas cherished
-a hatred which often had its source in
wrongs and losses like those I have related.
I have often heard my prejudiced country-
men speak of these Guerillas as irregular
and lawless banditti, who only fought for,
and who subsisted on, plunder. It is true
Z 2
340
RECOLLECTIONS OF
they did subsist on plunder, but it was the
plunder of their enemies. They were not
paid, and could not live without support.
Feelings, deadly feelings of revenge, drove
them to exchange the plough and the
pruning hook for the sword and the lance;
and as their free and haughty spirits re-
jected the idea of serving in the ranks as
soldiers, in no way could they give up their
time to war, but by plundering where they
conquered.
At the time I passed Pampeluna, it was
blockaded by our troops. It is the chief
city of Navarre, and one of the finest and
most perfect fortresses in Spain. The road
by which our detachments filed towards
Villa Alba, ran along the face of a height
within one mile of the place, and command-
ing a fine view both of the city and works.
It was a summer-afternoon; there was no
stir, no bustle, no firing: it was a scene of
still life. There is something infinitely
grand in that air of stern repose and war-
like security, which hangs over the grey
walls of a formidable fortress, round which
blockading foes lie idly in their scattered
THE PENINSULA.
341
*
Such was
camps, and attempt nothing.
the aspect of Pampeluna: it frowned de-
fiance, and was to be starved into submis-
sion. I looked with uncommon interest
upon this scene. Groups of people were
promenading the walls. Female figures
leaning from the balconies; French sol-
diers lay indolently stretched out on the
glacis, and on the grass near them cattle
were feeding, while the sound of the con-
vent and church bells conveyed, the idea of
profound peacefulness.
In my billet, a little beyond Villa Alba,
I met with excellent treatment, and my
host presented me with some fine wine of
a tawny forbidding colour, but of most ex-
quisite flavour. Our route from hence to
Ortiz was singularly beautiful. There is a
constant succesion of verdant fertile valleys.
Hedges of myrtle, and a fine clear stream,
whose banks are all gaily and wildly decked
with shrubs and flowers, give them a most
rural and romantic character. It was pain-
ful, however, to see, that wherever in the
space, on either side of the road, the ground
had been flat and covered with corn, all
1
z 3
342
RECOLLECTIONS OF
was trodden down by the march of the
retiring French army. Between Ortiz and
Lanz, the scenery is fine, and you pass
a most magnificent forest of oaks. From
Lanz to Berroeta the road, which is diffi-
cult and rocky, ascends a lofty mountain,
so lofty, indeed, that Barretti says it is full
as high as Mount Cenis. We were three
hours descending to Berroeta, by a narrow
and broken road, by which, however, some
Portuguese artillery, under the direction of
a most active and intelligent officer, did
contrive to pass. When this was reported
to the French officers, they were perfectly
incredulous, declaring that they had viewed
that road as altogether impassable for guns.
At Berroeta we entered the beautiful vale
of Elizondo, or, as it is often called, San
Estenan. It extends about two leagues
and a half, and is bounded to the north by
the Lower Pyrenees, which rise just above
the village of Maya. The vale itself is so
elevated that you are, perhaps, rather dis-
appointed at first, by the appearance of
the mountains which surround you. They
are, indeed, bold and grand, and their sides
THE PENINSULA.
343
We
are intersected by numberless wild and
rugged ravines; some of them, too, have
crests of grey and jagged rock; yet, again,
the tops of many are round, smooth, and
verdant, and seem to invite ascent.
passed through the small town of Elizondo,
where the head-quarters of Lord Hill were
established: through that of Maya, the
division head-quarters; and striking off
here to the right, with a guide sent from
the regiment, I pursued the path with my
detachment towards a lofty mountain, on
the very summit of which I discerned the
white tents of my corps like small flakes
of snow lying still unmelted on its top. I
had now done with roads and villages. The
face of the country grew bolder every step.
We moved up a path so perpendicular and
rocky, that it was wonderful how a mule
with any burden could make its way.
two hours and a half we toiled and toiled,
till at length the greeting shout of our
comrades, who crowded round us with
welcoming hands and voices, told us, that
rough and rugged as were these mountain-
wilds, they contained for us a home. I
For
z 4
344
RECOLLECTIONS OF
was not allowed a moment's repose. Two
companions caught me by the hands, and
hurrying me forward to an elevated spot
a few hundred yards in front of our en-
campment, bade me, as a reward for my
fatiguing march, look on the scene below
me; and what a scene of loveliness, cul-
tivation, and verdure! France lay stretched
out beneath us; our view was only bounded
by the horizon. From the point at which
we stood, the arid and sandy deserts of the
Landes were hid from us by a fine screen
of mountain, while the lovely plains of
southern France, all carpeted with corn
and pasture, woods and vineyards, lay
spread before us, finely contrasting their
rich produce and smiling villages with the
air of desolation, loneliness, and grandeur,
that reigned more immediately around us;
for here the chain of the Pyrenees was
in part discoverable. To the right, lofty
peaks, white with the snows of ages, bold
and varied in their forms, and with hues
ever changing, as the light or shadow
rested on them, rose above each other in
rude majesty. Never was a nobler barrier
THE PENINSULA.
345
placed between two nations by the hand
of Heaven than this chain of the Py-
renees, against whose western point the
rough and restless waters of the Bay of
Biscay are ever fiercely beating; while the
Mediterranean gently washes the feet of
its eastern cliffs. It is true these moun-
tains are not so lofty as the Alps; Mount
Perdu, the highest of them, not being quite
12,000 feet above the level of the sea. But,
like the Alps, they have their glaciers, their
icy caverns; like them are subject to the
avalanche; and, doubtless, all the wonders
of nature, which have so charmed the
visitors of Alpine scenery, would be met
with in the central and eastern Pyrenees,
were they as carefully explored. Our camp
lay full seven thousand feet above the level
of the sea, but was quite free from snow,
except here and there in some clefts a few
patches remained; nor were we, except
towards the dawn of morning, at all incom-
moded by cold. The corps presented here
a very novel appearance. From the great
want of shoes, many of the men had been
provided with the light hempen sandal,
346
RECOLLECTIONS OF
made and worn by the natives of this pro-
vince, and well adapted to the steep and
slippery heights by which they are sur-
rounded; the becoming cap, too, of these
mountaineers, was quite the fashion with
our officers.
But the natural grace and
agility of the finely-formed race of men
who inhabit these mountain-vales, are not
to be acquired by him who has been born
in cities, and nurtured on the plain. Their
light step in ascending the loftiest moun-
tains, their activity in leaping from one
fragment of rock to another, as they cross
the wild ravines and tumbling torrents
which often intercept their path, and the
secure, yet fearless rapidity of their course
down the most dangerous steeps, are truly
astonishing to the eye of a stranger.
From the vale of Elizondo there is a pass
which leads by Maya, through the village
of Urdaz, into France; and there are three
mountain-paths on the right, called the
Puertas de Ariete, Espegue, and Lareta.
With the defence of the Espegue pass our
corps was charged when I joined; and in a
THE PENINSULA.
347
+
spot, about half a mile from our camp, we
daily mounted a strong picket.
I shall never forget the rude path which
led to it, or the happy day I passed there;
the dash of torrents and the scream of eagles
were the only sounds heard in that wild
region. At times, the picturesque figure
of one of the herdsmen or hunters of
those solitudes was seen hurrying past, who
smiled on and saluted us. How wonder-
fully hath Providence ordered our desires,
when it can make the mountaineer look
from his barren portion of rock and snow,
upon the golden vales beneath him without
a sigh, and live contentedly a life of peril
and privation, while one of comparative
ease and plenty is offered to his choice;
and thus it is with us all. He who has a
cultivated mind and a rich imagination
delights to travel, and store his mind with
images, the recollection of which may
brighten his hours of retirement and reflec-
tion; but ask the Englishman, as he climbs
the Alps, gazes on the Rhine, pauses amid
the ruins of ancient Rome, or views the
splendid scenery of the Bay of Naples, -
348
RECOLLECTIONS OF
ask him if he will become a dweller in any
of these countries for ever—these countries,
rich in scenes which he contemplates with
enthusiasm, and for which, in his own
gloomy climate, he may look in vain :-
he would laugh at the simplicity of the
question. No; the same power, which has
allotted such smiling paths of creation to
others, has girt in his own precious country
with rock and sea; and has, by a thousand
advantages, endeared to him a land, from
the tame scenery and clouded atmosphere
of which, the natives of romantic Switzer-
land and brilliant Italy would turn aside,
almost with a feeling of disgust.
•
In a very few days, my regiment changed
its ground for a bivouack in front of the
village of Maya. As we wound down the
mountain, a friend told me an anecdote of
Spanish courage, which I have pleasure in
recording. In a skirmish with the enemy,
on the 7th of July, he observed, that a
peasant, armed only with a horse-pistol,
had introduced himself among his skir-
mishers; seeing that the pistol could not
possibly take effect, he thanked him, praised
THE PENINSULA.
349
him for his
go away.
courage, but advised him to
"Mas cerca puedo matar?"
(Can I kill nearer ?) said the man eagerly.
"Si," said my friend, smiling. The man
immediately ran considerably in front of
the line of skirmishers, fired, returned to
load again, went forward, and continued so
to fight in company with our men; escap-
ing, I rejoice to add, unhurt. To this
anecdote, I may add one of British genero-
sity of sentiment: I heard a section of our
men speaking in terms of great admiration
of the gallantry of a French officer, who,
it seems, had made himself very conspi-
cuous in a late skirmish in trying to bring
on his men. "I was sorry to see him
drop, poor fellow," said one." Ah!" said
another," he came so close there was no
missing him; I did for him!" " Did
you!" rejoined the first speaker; "by God,
I could not have pulled a trigger at him.
No; damn me, I like fair fighting, and hot
fighting; but I could not single out such a
man in cold blood."
My regiment and the brigade now lay
bivouacked, for some time, in rear of the
350
RECOLLECTIONS OF
Maya heights; and a steep and toilsome
ascent of two miles and a half separated
us from that part of the heights, with the
defence of which we were charged, and on
which we daily
daily mounted a picket of
eighty men. About one mile in rear of
the picket-post lay the light companies of
the brigade, as a post of communication and
a support.
On the 25th of July, the enemy attacked
and carried the pass of Maya with an over-
whelming force.
It was a day of brave confusion. It was
a surprise, and it was not a surprise. It
was one, because the nature of the country
favoured the near approach and concealed
advance of large bodies of the enemy; and
the troops who were destined to defend
the right of these heights were two miles
and a half distant, and had not time to
arrive and form. Only one regiment, in
fact, arriving at all in sufficient time to
fight on the important ground; and this
corps, breathless with exertion, and en-
gaging by groups, as they came up. Again,
it was not a surprise, because no affair was
THE PENINSULA.
151
ever more regularly opened and contested
by the picket and light companies than
that of the 25th of July. It was not a day
to be easily forgotten by me, for it threw
me into the hands of the enemy, and dis-
appointed me of the honour of marching
under British colours, fearlessly, nay, tri-
umphantly, displayed into some of the finest
provinces of southern France. Such a day
of my life I shall give as one of strange re-
collections.
It was a pleasant arbour on the banks
of a mountain-stream, that I breakfasted
on that very morning (aye, and I well
remember, with a volume of the Rambler
for a companion). At seven o'clock, I
relieved the picket on the Maya Heights,
and learned from the captain of it, that he
had seen a group of horse and a column
of troops pass along the face of a distant
hill, at dawn, and disappear. I requested
him to make a special report of this when
he reached the camp, which he did. A
deputy quarter-master general came up
soon after; rode a little in front, said, that
there was, indeed, a small column dis-
352
RECOLLECTIONS OF
cernible about three miles off in a vale,
but that it was only a change of bivouack,
or some trifling movement of no conse-
quence.
I thought otherwise, and the event
proved I was not mistaken. The light
companies were, indeed, ordered up by
this officer, as a measure of precaution:
how very weak and insufficient a one, will
be seen. In less than two hours, my
picket and the light companies were
heavily engaged with the enemy's advance,
which was composed entirely of voltigeur
companies, unincumbered by knapsacks,
and led by a chosen officer. These fellows
fought with ardour, but we disputed our
ground with them handsomely, and caused
them severe loss; nor had we lost the po-
sition itself, though driven from the ad-
vances of it, when joined by the hastily
arriving groups of the right corps of our
brigade (my own regiment).
The enemy's numbers now, however, in-
creased every moment; they covered the
country immediately in front of, and around,
us.
The sinuosities of the mountains, the
THE PENINSULA.
353
ravines, the water-courses, were filled with
their advancing and overwhelming force.
The contest now, if contest it could be
called, was very unequal; and, of course,
short and bloody. I saw two-thirds of my
picquet, and numbers, both of the light com-
panies and my own regiment, destroyed.
Among other brave victims, our captain of
grenadiers nobly fell, covered with wounds;
our colonel desperately wounded, and many
others; and surviving this carnage was my-
self made prisoner. I owe the preservation
of a life, about which I felt, in that irritating
moment, regardless, to the interference of
a French officer, who beat up the muskets
of his leading section, already levelled for
my destruction; which must (for I was
within six or seven paces of them) have
annihilated me. This noble fellow, with
some speech about "un François sait
respecter les braves," embraced me, and
bade an orderly conduct me to Count
d'Erlon.
The column by which I was taken was
composed of the 8th and 75th regiments of
A A
1
&
354
RECOLLECTIONS OF
99
the French line. Good God! how sudden
a change! A minute before I had been
uttering, and listening to the cry of " For-
ward;" now I heard all around me "En
avant, “En avant,” “Vive Napoléon,”
"Vive l'Empereur." I was in the midst
of these men ; they passed me hurried, and
roughly. None insulted, none attempted
to plunder me. But in a ravine, full of
rascally sculking stragglers, who are always
the cowards and plunderers of an army, I
was robbed by the very fellow, who, willing
to leave the fight, had volunteered to con-
duct me.
The appearance of some slightly
wounded men returning from the front,
and of a sergeant-major, caused him to run
off with his booty, and by the sergeant-
major I was conducted to Count d'Erlon,
who was on horseback, on a commanding
height near, surrounded by a large group
of staff officers. "Un capitaine Anglois,
général," said my conductor. The count
took off his hat instantly, and spoke to me in
a manner the most delicate, and the most
flattering, asking no questions, but compli-
t
THE PENINSULA.
355
menting highly the brave resistance which
had been offered to him.
It was a strange scene - French faces
and uniforms all around me; and two
columns of his reserve halted just behind
him. They were not here disarmed, ragged,
looking spiritless, or affecting misplaced
gaiety. Their clothing was nearly new,
their appointments excellent, and their
whole appearance clean, steady, and sol-
dier-like.
One of the officers of the count's staff
dismounted, and offered me "la goutte"
from his leathern bottle, which I declined.
The enemy suffered severely; slightly-
wounded men were passing every minute,
and on the face of the heights lay very
many of the killed and severely wounded.
Small parties of the English prisoners, too,
might be seen bringing in from the left of
the Maya Heights, and from the rear,
where they still contended in a brave, dis-
jointed manner, without support. The
count soon dismissed me, saying he had no
horse to offer me, but that the town whither
A A 2
356
RECOLLECTIONS OF
he had ordered the prisoners was not very
distant; and, turning to the serjeant-major,
he bade him conduct himself towards the
English officers taken, (for two others were
brought up while I was with him,) as he
would to Frenchmen of the same rank.
In the rear of the column of reserve, all
the English taken were collected; and here
I met a brother officer, a lieutenant of our
light company, who had much distinguished
himself throughout the day, and was taken
in another part of the field, and not many
minutes after my capture. He was my
most intimate and valued friend, and meet-
ing him under such circumstances over-
came me. I shed tears. "Regardez
donc," said a vulgar-looking French officer,
who was observing us, "regardez comme
ils sont des enfans ces Anglois; ils pleurent."
Ah, mon ami," said his companion,
"vous ne connoissez pas les Anglois :
ce ne sont pas les larmes de l'enfance qu'ils
versent."
66
Our party now set forward, conducted
and followed by but few; for as there was
'
THE PENINSULA.
357
no possibility of escape, we were guided
rather than escorted. There were 140.
English in all, but not more than 40 of
-
any
My-
one regiment, and only four officers. As
we passed along, we met more French
troops coming up along the narrow moun--
tain road. None of the soldiers offered
to insult us; many of the officers indeed
saluted us, though here and there a deco-
rated officer smoothed his mustachios as he
looked upon us, with an air of impatient
brusquerie. It was quite amusing to see
the rapidity with which a lie had been
framed, and passed down their files.
self, and one of the officers taken as batta-
lion officers, wore épaulettes of bullion. As
the leading sections of this French brigade
passed us, we heard them say, " Deux chefs
de bataillon prisonniers ; " but, as the rear
came up, they were crying out "En avant,"
"l'affaire va bien "-"deux bataillons
prises aux ennemis.” It was in vain I said
"Je ne suis que capitaine;" still the cry
ran, "Vive Napoléon,” "Deux bataillons
prises aux ennemis."" Battre une fois ces
3.58
RECOLLECTIONS, ETC.
Anglois ce seroit un plaisir," muttered an
elderly-looking, hard-featured colonel, as
he passed us, bowing gravely, unconscious,
no doubt, that we understood this nega-
tive acknowledgment of our past and re-
peated successes.
THE END.
LONDON:
Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode,
New-Street-Square.

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