Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to Major General O'Donoju.
' Plasencia, 13th July, 1809.
' MY DEAR SIR, ' We arrived here
last night, and Colonel O'Lalor has this day communicated to me your letter of
the 12th, with the information from your officers sent on a reconnoisance
towards the Alberche, for which I am much obliged to you.
' I desired Sir R. Wilson to write to you respecting the two
battalions of infantry; and I shall be very much obliged to you if you will
tell General Cuesta that I have ordered Sir Robert to march on the 15th, and
that it is desirable that the battalions should go tomorrow to El Toril, or at
all events next day to Miajadas, to communicate from thence with Sir Robert,
whom I will desire to leave orders for them at El Toril.
' I have desired Sir Robert to move thus early, in order
that he may cover and assist the Commissaries, whom I am about to send into the
Vera de Plasencia, to endeavor to draw some subsistence from thence.
' Sir Robert tells me that the road by Miajadas, Talayuela
and the Venta de St. Julian is a good one for artillery. I have sent an officer
to examine it as far as Oropesa, and I expect his report to-morrow. If it
should turn out to be good, it would probably be most convenient that I should
march by that road; and I shall be obliged to you if in the mean time, till I
shall receive the Officer's report, which I shall communicate to you, that you
will ask General Cuesta whether he thinks that any inconvenience will result
from my being so far from him when he shall cross the Tagus. If he does, I
shall go by the road originally fixed. We shall have some difficulty in getting
all the bread we shall require at this place, but I still hope that we shall
do.
' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to Marshal Beresford.
' Plasencia, 13th July, 1809.
' MY DEAR BERESFORD, ' I have
received your letter of the 7th.
' Dr. Ferguson writes to Mr. Thompson, to desire that you
may have a certain proportion of medicines, for which Mr. Villiers must give
his receipt.
' I am sorry that I cannot allow any officers to take
soldiers as servants from the British regiments in this army. You will observe
that the late Commander of the Forces gave orders that officers belonging to
regiments in this army should have Portuguese batmen and servants, for the hire
of which he gave them an allowance ; and it would be rather an extraordinary
circumstance if I were to allow soldiers as servants to officers not belonging
to regiments in Portugal, particularly when the Commander in Chief in England,
by their own account, consented to their bringing servants with them from their
regiments. I therefore return their application.
' In respect to the commissions for your officers, the
question is exactly whether the commission by the local government will give
their authority equally with that given to others by the Prince. If it will
not, they ought to have the Prince's commission.
' I do not think I should do you much good in giving you any
part of our Commissariat. Nothing can be worse than it is; and I should
recommend to you to take the Portuguese Commissariat, and do the best you can
with it.
' I wish you would desire your Commissaries and others
employed not to take carts from the neighbourhood of the Tagus for the service
of the Portuguese army, and to give up to the British Commissary at Abrantes
above 200 carts, which are collected at Thomar for the use of the Portuguese
army.
' You will recollect that to take carts in our neighbourhood
is inconsistent with our arrangements for the two Commissariats. In consequence
of this seizure of the carts for the Portuguese army, we cannot move our
ammunition or our money from Abrantes.
' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to the Right Hon. J. H. Frere.
' Plasencia, 13th July, 1809.
' MY DEAR SIR, ' I received your
letter of the 8th, at General Cuesta's head quarters, to which I went on the
10th in order to settle the plan of our future operations.
' I stated to the General my opinion that the principal
attack upon the enemy's posts on the Alberche ought to be made by the united
force of the British army and the Spanish army under his command; that it would
be desirable to detach a corps consisting of 10,000 men, on our left, towards
Avila, to turn the enemy's right; and that Vanegas, after having driven
Sebastiani's corps across the Tagus, by which alone he is understood now to be
opposed, should turn to his right, across the Tagus, either at Aranjuez or at
Fuente Duenas, and threaten Madrid by the enemy's left.
' The General proposed that I should make the projected
detachment to Avila from the British army, which I declined, on the ground that
the British troops, to act with advantage, must act in a body, and that I
thought that the detachment might with more propriety and advantage be made
from the Spanish army, which already appeared to me to be more numerous than
was necessary for the operations on the Alberche, or than would be found
convenient in reference to its state of discipline.
' I then proposed that this Spanish detachment should march
by the Puerto de Banos, that by Arenas and the Puerto del Pico being deemed
impracticable for artillery. General Cuesta, however, declined making any large
detachment from his army, but offered to send two battalions of infantry and a
few cavalry, to join Sir Robert Wilson's Portuguese brigade, and march upon
Arenas, and thence upon Escalona on the Alberche, in communication with the
left of the British army. He adopted, however, the remainder of the plan
proposed, which we shall begin to carry into execution on the 18th instant.
' General Cuesta having declined to send any large
detachment to the quarter proposed by me, I of course have no opportunity of
requesting that the Duque de Albuquerque should have the command, to which I
certainly should have been disposed, as well on account of your recommendation
as from his own character.
' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Major General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to the Right. Hon. J. H. Frere.
' Plasencia, 13th July, 1809.
' MY DEAR SIR, ' I have received
your letters of the 8th ; and you will see in the accompanying letters an
account of my endeavors to prevail upon General Cuesta to make a detachment
upon Avila, and eventually upon Segovia.
' I agree with you in thinking that such a detachment would
be a great advantage in a military point of view, and it might be attended by
the political advantages to which you refer.
' In order to enable you to endeavor to attain the political
advantages, I write the accompanying letter; but I must at the same time inform
you that I do not consider the movement to be necessary as a military measure ;
nay, that to order it at present, when we have settled our operations, might be
very inconvenient, and would certainly create delay ; and I conceive it would
excite a jealousy of me in the mind of Cuesta which does not appear now to
exist. The General received me well, and was very attentive to me, but I had no
conversation with him, as he declined to speak French, and I cannot talk
Spanish.
' I settled the plan of operations with General O'Donoju,
who appears to me to be a very able officer, and well calculated to fill his
situation. It is impossible for me to say what plans General Cuesta entertains.
' The general sentiment of the army, as far as I can learn
it from the British Officers, appears to be contempt of the Junta and of the
present form of the Government ; great confidence in Cuesta, and a belief that
he is too powerful for the Junta, and that he will overturn that Government.
This sentiment appears to be so general, that I conceive that the Duque de
Albuquerque must entertain it equally with others, but I have not seen the
Duque, as he was at Puente de Arzobispo.
' I acknowledge that I conceive that the Junta would gain
but little by the change of the person in whose hands the command should be
placed; that person in the existing state of the Government must be formidable
to them, particularly if he should be successful; and if this be true, I do not
know whether there are not some advantages to be derived from the employment of
Cuesta.
' By dividing the troops into different armies they may
certainly diminish the danger, but this security can only be temporary, for in
proportion as the French concentrate their troops, the Spanish armies must do
so likewise ; and they must, when together, be under one head, and this head
will be an object of fear and danger to the Junta.
' I do not know what your opinion is of O'Donoju : he is
certainly an able man, and I think that if it is your opinion that he can be
trusted, I could talk confidentially to him; and if I did not guide their
measures, and prevent all mischief, either by Cuesta or others, I should at
least obtain a knowledge of their real designs, ' I have no reason to complain,
on the contrary, I have reason to be satisfied with Sr. . He .only
appears to me to be too anxious to obtain a knowledge of our plans, but I do
not know whether I ought to attribute this appearance of anxiety in him to my
prejudices against him, or to his desire to make his own employment of more
importance, to his curiosity, or to his wish to make himself useful. A man in
his situation must have a foreknowledge of all our intended operations, and if
he is not honest, he has it in his power to do us much mischief.
has certainly the mind and manners of an intrigant, and he comes from a part of
Spain of which the people are most likely not to be inimical to the French.
' Besides the anxiety of - to obtain a
knowledge of our plans from me, I have heard him making inquiries respecting
the strength of corps, from others, with the result of which inquiries he
certainly had no concern.
' Upon the whole I am not quite sure that it would not have
been better to send me eight or ten Spanish Assistant Commissaries to act with
mine, and that the Junta should have given general orders throughout the
country that my requisitions should be attended to.
' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to the Right Hon. John Villiers.
' Plasencia, 13th July, 1809.
' MY DEAR VILLIERS, ' I have
received your letters of the 6th and 7th. I did not understand, when I desired
Mr. Murray to pay you £80,000, that you had already received
£35,000, otherwise I should certainly have confined the supply to you to
£45,000 ; but as I ordered that you might have £80,000 out of the
sum of money arrived from England, which sum I then thought and still think can
be spared from the demands of the army, I desire Mr. Murray to give you the sum
of £80,000 besides £85,000 which you have received, making a total
of £115,000. When I reflect that the largest sum you have ever stated to
be necessary for you is £125,000, I hope that I may say that the wants of
the Portuguese army, in money, have been well supplied by us; and I wish I
could say, with equal truth, that our wants in mules, carriages, provisions,
&c., for which we are ready to pay, had been equally well supplied by them
; or that they had been supplied at all. Seven or eight regiments of infantry
are at this moment waiting at Lisbon for want of twelve mules for each
regiment, to be purchased by the officers, to carry camp kettles, medicine
chests, &c., &c. !
' In respect to further supplies of money for the Portuguese
troops, I must regulate them from time to time, by the knowledge I shall have
of the state of the treasury at Lisbon, Cadiz, and Gibraltar; and of the wants
of the British army; that being, in every possible case, the object to be
attended to in the first instance. As far as I can arrange it you shall feel no
inconvenience from delay in the issue of money to your orders, which money can
be given from the British military chest. But I must consider the British army
in the first instance; and you must attribute any inconvenience which may
result from the delay not to me, but to those who have evidently undertaken to
accomplish objects which they are not able to reach from the want of pecuniary
means. I send you a dispatch from Mr. Frere, which I beg you to put up in a
cover and forward to Mr. Canning.
' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
' I shall answer your letter of the 7th to-morrow morning.'
.
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to the Right Hon. the Judge Advocate General.
' Plasencia, 14th July, 1809.
' SIR, ' I have the honor to
enclose the proceedings of a General Court Martial on the trial of 0
J, of the regiment, for mutiny and for attempting to shoot Ensign
, of the regiment, of which crime the Court at first acquitted
him, but upon a revisal of its sentence, under my direction, the Court found
him guilty, and sentenced him to be shot.
' The Court at the same time represented to me that 0
J was insane, and they entered into an inquiry upon this subject, of
which I likewise enclose the proceedings, as well as the report of Deputy
Inspector of Hospitals, Ferguson, on 0 J's health, and a memorial
from 0 J to myself. ' I am desirous of receiving his Majesty's
commands respecting the execution of the sentence of the General Court Martial
on 0 J.
' I have the honor to be, &c. ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to Brigadier General Cox.
' Plasencia, 14th July, 1809.
' MY DEAR SIR, ' I have received
your letter of the 9th. I request you to have each man that you may find
belonging to the British army clothed and fed. Send me from time to time a list
of their names, and of the regiments to which they belong, and I shall send you
directions how they are to be disposed of; and an account of the disbursements
made for each man, and I shall have the money reimbursed to you. I am obliged
to you for the orders you have given to the assistant surgeon and party of the
87th regiment. I do not think that Soult is able to attack Ciudad Rodrigo,
although it is not impossible that he may annoy the frontier. He has no
artillery, and is not well provided with arms.
' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to Marshal Beresford.
'Plasencia, 14th July, 1809.
' MY DEAR BERESFORD, ' I have
received your letters of the 8th and 9th. I had already received from the Duque
del Parque the extract from Soult's letter, of which I have since received
copies from Seville. The latter are much more full and important than the
former, particularly as they relate to Portugal ; and I send you the extracts
of what is written on this subject.
' I do not believe that Ney has quitted Galicia ; at least
we have not heard that he has; and you will see that Soult ordered him to
remain there. ' Soult can certainly do nothing against Portugal, for he is in a
most miserable state, without arms, artillery, ammunition, shoes, &c. But
if Ney withdraws from Galicia, Romana must in some manner be brought into play.
Your plan for him appears to be a good one, and will, I hope, keep all in check
till we shall have decided our affairs with Victor.
' I have given orders that you may have 1000 camp kettles,
including the 70 without crates. Villiers must give his receipt for them.
' I shall write for your great coats and clothing. I see no
objection to your giving your English officers the bat and forage of their
English rank, and two months' advance of their regimental English pay.
' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to Vice Admiral the Hon. G. Berkeley.
' Plasencia, 14th July, 1809.
' SIR, 'I have had the honor of
receiving your letter of the 5th, relative to the disembarkation of the
ordnance and stores; and having conversed on the subject with the officer
commanding the artillery, it appears to me that it would be expedient to retain
in the Tagus the ships (11) named in the margin, with the ordnance and stores
on board; and that the stores in the other ships, of which you enclose me a
list, should be disembarked, with the exception of those on board the Richmond,
No. 321, which stores are to be left in that ship ; and that she, with her
stores on board, and those ships from which the stores shall be disembarked,
should be sent home as soon as may be possible.
' I have the honor to be, &c. ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley,
K.B., to the Right Hon. John Villiers.
' Plasencia, 14th July, 1809.
' MY DEAR VILLIERS, ' I have
perused Dom M. de Forjaz's paper respecting carts, &c., upon which I will
send him some observations as soon as I shall have conversed upon the subject
of it with the Quarter Master General and the Commissary General. In the
meantime I beg you will inform Dom M. de Forjaz that the greater-part of what
he has recommended has already been carried into execution.
' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
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