Lieut. General Viscount Wellington, K.B. to
Marshal Sir W. C. Beresford, K.B.
' Villa Fermosa, 30th April, 1811.
' MY DEAR BERESFORD, ' I arrived here on the 28th. The
enemy are certainly in strength on the Agueda, their principal force being at
Ciudad Rodrigo. The river is not yet fordable, at least not for infantry, and
they have hitherto made no movement, excepting two of reconnaissance towards
the bridge on the Azava near Marialva.
' I am much concerned to be obliged to write to you again
upon the continued and increasing inefficiency of the Portuguese regiments with
this army, which I am afraid cannot now be attributed to the Portuguese
Government. The brigade in the 5th division. Sir William Erskine reported
yesterday to be only 700 men; General Pack's brigade, General Campbell has just
told me, is only 1400; the 9th regiment has 700 men; the 21st 400, as General
Picton informed me this morning. All the General officers, and the staff
officers, of the army, are calling out about the Portuguese hospitals.
' The recent movements of the enemy of course rendered
necessary the removal of all encumbrances from the army, and I saw on Sunday
the sick of the 9th and 21st regiments going away in a most shameful state,
some men being scarcely able to crawl; others, who were able to walk,
plundering the country ; and some of them having arms, or accoutrements, or
necessaries, and there being no carriage for arms or accoutrements with them,
of course the arms, and accoutrements, and necessaries of all the soldiers sent
away upon this occasion will be lost, if the head quarters of the regiment
should be moved from their present station.
' Then upon all these complaints and difficulties I can give
no answer, and can apply no remedy, because I do not know upon what principle
any of your regulations have been framed ; indeed I do not know what your
regulations are, and I have no means whatever of acquiring the necessary
information. I hope that you will have sent off Hardinge, or somebody,
immediately upon your return to Olivença on the 24th.
' I assure you that, if some effectual steps are not taken,
the Portuguese force with this part of the army will be annihilated , and I can
venture to take no steps till I can get here a staff officer who understands
what has been done, upon what principle, and what is the regulation.
' Among other complaints which General Picton made this
morning, one was of the absence of Mr. Robertson, the staff surgeon.
' I must report to Government the state of the Portuguese
army. The ministers and the English public believe that we have 30,000 men for
whom we pay, and half as many more supported by the Portuguese Government. I do
not believe that I have here 11,000, or that you have 5000, and of the number
many are not fit for service. There is really now no excuse for this
inefficiency, excepting the want of order and regularity, which I cannot
enforce without the assistance of some of the staff of the Portuguese army. The
men have halted for nearly a month, they have nothing to do, and arc as well
fed as our own soldiers.
' Believe me, &c. WELLINGTON.
Lieut. General Viscount Wellington, K.B, to
C. Stuart, Esq.
' Villa Fermosa, 3Oth April, 1811
' MY DEAR SIR, ' I have received your letters of the
21st, 23d, and 24th, and I am concerned to say that I have not leisure to read
the voluminous documents to which they relate. I shall read them, however, upon
the first opportunity I have, and shall send you answers to them. I can only
now say that the British Commissary General can have nothing to say to the
Portuguese Commissariat, excepting under the arrangement of June, 1809.
' I have referred to Mr. Kennedy all the complaints
respecting the officers of the British Commissariat.
' I wish that there were no complaints of wants from the
Portuguese troops, but it is really a fact that I have not 11,000 men with this
army.
' I cannot allow French prisoners to work at any works on
our account. It is hard upon me that neither the British nor the Portuguese
Government can or will take care of the prisoners taken by this army. I
suppose, therefore, I must send them back to the enemy. I have written to
England upon the subject, which is all I can do.
' The enemy have as yet made no movement, they are, however,
very strong on the Agueda, particularly at Ciudad Rodrigo.
' I have unfortunately lost my keys, and many of your
letters are locked up in my boxes. If you should want answers to any, you must
send me duplicates.
' Believe me, &c. WELLINGTON.
' I enclose another anonymous letter received this day,
which I think comes from the same person.'
Lieut. General Viscount Wellington, K.B. to
C, Stuart, Esq.
' Villa Fermosa, 30th April, 1811,
' SIR . ' I have had the honor of receiving your letter
of the 21st instant, conveying the desire of the Portuguese Government that
larger proportions of specie than have hitherto been paid into the military
chest, should be paid in future, as a part of the army is in Spain under the
command of Sir William Beresford.
' The Portuguese Government appear to forget that the
British army are in Spain likewise ; and that four-fifths of the Portuguese
army are supplied with provisions by the British Commissary: they have also
omitted to notice that the Portuguese troops with this part of the army have
not been paid since January last, in consequence of which, desertion begins to
be very prevalent among them.
' In respect to the issue of paper or metal to the chest of
the aids by the Commissary General, it is a matter of indifference in respect
to the expense. If the Commissary General issues paper, he allows for the
discount, and the Portuguese Government, I should imagine, are able to purchase
the metal in the market as well as the Commissary General.
' The object of this request, therefore, appears to be to
throw upon the British Commissariat trouble and responsibility which ought
properly to belong to the Portuguese Treasury.
' But to demand metal from the British Commissariat,
although the common, is not the most efficient mode of procuring specie to pay
the armies, and provide for the demands upon the Government; some mode should
be devised of collecting the taxes, particularly that upon the property of rich
merchants, which has frequently been recommended by me, but hitherto without
effect.
' I have the honor to be, &c. '
WELLINGTON,
Lieut. General Viscount Wellington, K.B., to
the Earl of Liverpool, Secretary of State.
' Villa Fermosa, 1st May, 1811.
' MY LORD, ' Having received intelligence from Lieut.
General Sir Brent Spencer on the 27th April, two days after I addressed your
Lordship last, that the enemy were increasing their force on the Agueda, I
arrived here on the 28th.
' The enemy had, on the 23rd, attacked our piquets on the
Azava, but were repulsed. Captains Dobbs and Campbell, of the 52nd, and Lieut.
Eeles of the 95th regiment, distinguished themselves upon this occasion, in
which the allied troops defended their post against very superior numbers of
the enemy. Lieut. Prichard, 1st batt. 52nd regiment, and 17 soldiers, were
wounded.
' The enemy repeated their attack upon our piquets on the
Azava on the 27th, and were again repulsed; and this day again they
reconnaitred the banks of this river with 8 squadrons of cavalry, and 3
battalions of infantry. They did not make any attempt to pass the river, nor
did they attack the piquets upon the bridge of Marialva.
' They have collected a very large force at Ciudad Rodrigo.
Marshal Massena, and the head quarters of the army, are at that place ; and it
is generally reported in the country that they propose to raise the blockade of
Almeida. I do not intend to allow them to relieve this place, unless I should
be convinced that they have such a superiority of force as to render the result
of a contest for this point doubtful.
' From all the accounts which I have received, I believe
that they have still in that place provisions for the garrison, which is stated
to consist of 1500 men, for one fortnight.
' The enemy may be stronger than they were when they were
obliged to evacuate Portugal, and they may be reinforced
by detachments of troops, particularly the Guards, under the
command of Marshal Bessieres; but still I feel confident that they have it not
in their power to defeat the allied army in a general action; and I hope to be
able to prevent them from relieving this place, unless they should bring the
contest to that issue in a situation unfavorable to us.
' The river Agueda is not yet fordable for infantry, but is
so for cavalry.
" Sir William Beresford has taken up the position which I
had proposed for him in Estremadura, but I have not yet heard that he had
re-established his bridge at Jurumenha,
' I have no late intelligence from Cadiz, or from the north
' of Spain..
' It has been frequently reported that King Joseph was about
to quit Madrid; and I have always considered these reports to be so little
founded, excepting in the wishes of those who circulated them, that I have
omitted to communicate them to your Lordship. However, at last, I have reason
to believe that there is some foundation for a report which I have received
that King Joseph was to be at Valladolid, on his road . to France, on the 27th
of April. The guerrillas are all active to intercept his progress, but he has
with him a considerable escort, of 1000 French troops, and all the Spanish
troops in his cause, called Juramentados.
' The departure of the King, whatever political effect it
may have in Spain, will relieve the French from the necessity of taking care of
his. person, and will increase their disposable force, particularly in the
southern provinces. But if we should be able to obtain possession of Almeida, I
hope to have it in my power to reinforce our troops in that quarter to such an
extent as to render our operations, at least in Estremadura, free from risk,
whatever may be the force which the enemy may be enabled by circumstances to
assemble.
' I have the honor to be, &c. '
WELLINGTON. '
Lieut. General Viscount Wellington, K.B., to
the Earl of Liverpool, Secretary of State.
' Villa Fermosa, 1st May, 1811.
' MY LORD, ' I have the honor to enclose the States of
the army to the 15th of April,
' Although the number of sick on the Return is consider
able, I have the satisfaction of informing your Lordship that the soldiers of
the army are remarkably healthy, notwithstanding the fatigues which they have
undergone in the last two months. Many of those returned sick absent, are
recovered and on their road to join; or are at the depots at Lisbon or Coimbra,
and waiting for an opportunity to join.
' I enclose a letter from Sir William Beresford, regarding
the loss of horses by the 4th dragoons in the late service in Estremadura. Your
Lordship will observe how few remain of the horses recently sent to that
regiment from the 3rd dragoons.
' I am concerned to be obliged to report to your Lordship
the very inefficient state of the Portuguese army. His Royal Highness's
Ministers will have had under their view the complaints which had been made
from time to time by Marshal Sir William Beresford and myself, of the want of
provisions by the Portuguese troops while the army were in cantonments on the
Rio Mayor river. These wants have produced the usual fatal effects. The twelve
Portuguese regiments of infantry, five battalions of Cacadores, one battalion
of the Lusitanian Legion, and two regiments of cavalry, which are with this
part of the army, and which ought to amount to 21,800 rank and file, do not
amount to 11,000 fit for duty. Some regiments which ought to have 1400 men,
have only 300 for duty, others 400; and General Pack's brigade, which has
always been distinguished on service, and of which the General has taken the
utmost care, which ought to have 3400 rank and file, has only 1545, by a return
sent me this day.
' The brigade of Portuguese cavalry, which ought to have
1000 rank and file, has only 400!
' I have not a late Return of the Portuguese army, by which
I can show your Lordship the state of the whole; but I am certain that,
including the garrisons of Elvas and Abrantes, there are not 20,000 rank and
file present and fit for duty.
' I am sensible that there must always be a considerable
difference in the number of men effective on the establishment, and those
present for duty ; but when the Portuguese Government maintain an establishment
of nearly 50,000 regular troops' which is nearly complete, it might be expected
that more than half would be fit for duty ;yet the number is now reduced below
20,000.
' The expense of every man produced in the field, is
therefore enormous; and the Portuguese Government is ruined by the failure to
keep in order its own departments..
' Your Lordship is aware that I have frequently represented
this subject to the Portuguese Government; and at last, I deem it proper to
draw to it the attention of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent's Ministers.
' I have the honor to be, &c. '
WELLINGTON |