Army of Portugal

“ It is an open frontier, all equally rugged, but all equally to be penetrated. If the French succeed in Spain it will be vain to attempt to resist them in Portugal. The Portuguese are without a military force ... no dependence can be placed on any aid that they can give. The British must in that event, I conceive, immediately take steps to evacuate the country. Lisbon is the only port, and therefore the only place from whence the army, with its stores, can embark.... We might check the progress of the enemy while the stores are embarking, and arrangements are being made for taking off the army. ”

“ The case of Spain and of Portugal was entirely different when they rose against Napoleon. The former country was in possession of the greater part of its own fortresses, had not been systematically disarmed, and could dispose—in Galicia and Andalusia—of large bodies of veteran troops. Portugal was without an army, an arsenal, a defensible fortress, or a legal organization—civil or military—of any kind. ”

“ By it, it was stipulated that Portugal should be delivered up to the British army, and the French should evacuate it, with arms and baggage, but not as prisoners of war; that the French should be transported, by the [75] British, into their own country; that the army should carry with it all its artillery, cavalry, arms, and ammunition, and the soldiers all their private property. ”

“ Of cavalry the Army of Portugal only gave up one squadron-cadre, the Army of the Centre three.
In addition, the small number of foreign auxiliary troops still left in Spain were ordered back to France, save the remnant of Palombini’s and Severoli’s Italians and the Rheinbund units [369] in the Army of the Centre, viz. the 7th Polish Lancers (the last regiment of troops of this nationality left south of the Pyrenees) , the Westphalian horse in the Army of the Centre, and the Berg and Westphalian infantry in Catalonia. ”

“ The winter had passed, and the early spring of Portugal had brought to that country reinforcements, money, and equipments, the want of which had but too frequently impeded the success of our army in the Peninsula. Transports were continually floating up the sunny Tagus, with their red-cross flags waving from the masts—their decks covered with glittering accoutrements, and hearty soldiers: fresh detachments and fresh regiments were daily filing off the public squares of Lisbon, to join the grand army ”

“ Yet he had 60,000 men, of whom 30,000 were English, including General Spencer’s divisions just drawn in from the north, 14,000 Portuguese, and 16,000 Spaniards; there were 5,000 cavalry among them. It is vexatious that no general action could take place: our success would not be doubtful. But we may hope that another occasion may present itself, especially if the Army of Portugal continues to keep in touch with the Army of the South, and communicates with it, as it is now doing. ”

“ Of course, there is no end more laudable than that of winning the affection and confidence of the inhabitants of Portugal. But do not forget that the safety of the French army is the first thing. Disarm the Portuguese: keep an eye on the disbanded soldiers, lest reckless leaders should get hold of them and make them into the nucleus of rebel bands.... Lisbon is an inconveniently large place: it is too populous, and its people cannot help being hostile to you. Keep your troops outside it, in cantonments along the sea-front’: and so forth [167] . ”

“ Portugal, at this juncture, deserted by her government and by her pitiful king, who fled to Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, fell easily into the power of a French army, under Marshal Junot, who was thereupon created Duke of Abrantes, a town on the Portuguese frontier.
All Europe cried aloud at these lawless proceedings, and the Spaniards, so long our enemies, with our old allies the Portuguese, were alike filled with fury and resentment. The peasantry flew to arms, and the provinces became filled by bands of guerillas, brave but reckless ”

“ It will be necessary that he should give to General Gardanne, or any other general, a force of 6000 men, with six pieces of cannon, in order to reopen the communication, and that a corps of the same force should be placed at Almeida, to correspond with him. In short, it is important that the communications of the army of Portugal should be re-established, in order that during all the time that the English remain in the country the rear of the Prince of Essling may be securely guarded. ”

“ If all this be true, our business is not to fight the French army, which we certainly cannot beat out of the Peninsula, but to give occupation to as large a portion of it as we can manage, and to leave the war in Spain to the guerrillas. As long as the French do not interfere with our supplies, or the resources of the Portuguese Government, or any point of our security, I think it very immaterial whether they are in Spain or Portugal. ”

“ Over and above the regular army and the militia, the Portuguese military system contemplated the utilization of the whole levée en masse of the nation under the name of the Ordenança. This was no foreshadowing of the modern idea of universal service, but a survival of the mediaeval practice which, in Portugal as in England, made every freeman liable to be called out in time of extremity, at his own cost and with his own weapons. Every peasant between sixteen and sixty was theoretically supposed to be enrolled in one of the companies of 250 which each group of villages was supposed to possess. ”

“ Notwithstanding these adverse circumstances, the King of Portugal resolved to adhere to his ancient alliance with Great Britain; and in consequence of this decision, France and Spain declared war against him. A powerful Spanish army assembled on the frontiers, and threatened to crush the Portuguese, when a military force, with artillery, arms, stores, provisions, and money, was furnished by Great Britain to assist its faithful ally; and the SIXTY-SEVENTH, which had returned with the expedition from the coast of France, was one of the regiments selected for service in Portugal. ”

“ But in the nineteenth century it was no longer possible to reckon upon it as a serious line of defence, especially when the enemy to be held back was not the disorderly Spanish army but the legions of Bonaparte. When there were not even arms enough in Portugal to supply the line-battalions with a musket for every man, it was insane to summon together huge masses of peasantry, and to make over to them some of the precious firearms which should have been reserved for the regulars. ”

“ The Portugueze gained several advantages at different times over the Spaniards, and thus prevented them from approaching the frontiers. The king of Portugal might even have penetrated into Castille, had his generals been more able, or his body of regular troops more considerable. The greater part of his army being composed of militia, was much fitter to make incursions than to keep the field: he was frequently destitute even of means to pay his troops, and having abolished most of the taxes on his first accession to the crown, in order to gain the favour of his people ”

“ Junot’s main advantage lay in the extreme military impotence of Portugal. That realm found its one sole centre in Lisbon, where a tenth of the population of the whole kingdom and half of its wealth were concentrated. At Lisbon alone was there an arsenal of any size, or a considerable store of muskets and powder. Without the resources of the capital the nation was absolutely unable to equip anything fit to be called an army. ”

“ But if these 30,000 men were not composed of undisciplined peasants and raw recruits, but consisted of British troops, in addition to the British army already in Portugal, he should consider it nothing but infatuation to think of defending Portugal, even with such a force. Against a power possessing the whole means of Spain, as he must suppose the French to do at this moment, Portugal was the least defensible of any country in Europe. ”

“ The first consul was not to be thus deceived, and he informed his ally that if Spain were not prepared to invade Portugal, French troops should be sent to her assistance. To avoid receiving such aid, if possible, the Prince of the Peace took the field at the head of between thirty and forty thousand men, and entered the Portuguese province of Alemtejo. The prince of Brazil thereupon summoned the whole population of Portugal to arm in defence of the country, and in person led an army against the invaders, but offered scarcely any opposition to their progress. ”

“ The approaching rainy season renders the advance of an enemy into Portugal very difficult, and confines our defence to particular posts. The British army is, I believe, going into cantonments about Elvas, Badajos, etc., etc. Ours between Abrantes and Coimbra. The former in a very good state of defence commands the Tagus and secures our right, while we are in reach of all the passes of Muradal, etc., and within reach of the Douro if necessary. ”

“ It will be remembered that he had always declared that any attack on Portugal would be regarded as a sufficient cause for the entrance of England into the war. The French troops still occupied Spain, and in the civil war which was continued in that country the royalists had been joined by several regiments of the Portuguese army. In spite of urgent demands and repeated promises that these deserting troops should be disbanded, they were allowed, if not encouraged, by the Spanish royalists to make inroads into constitutional Portugal. ”

“ Their numbers are certainly diminishing daily, while they do us no mischief; on the contrary, we are nearer to our resources than ever we were, and they leave the whole of the north of Spain open to the operations of the guerrillas.
But if the army now in Portugal is to be assisted by other corps, operating north of the Douro and south of the Tagus, before I can have secured the supplies of provisions I require, I must then seek to dislodge them by more determined means than I have tried hitherto. ”

“ XVII. No native of Portugal shall be rendered accountable for his political conduct during the period of the occupation of this country by the French army. And all those who have continued in the exercise of their employments, or who have accepted situations under the French Government, are placed under the protection of the British commanders. They shall suffer no injury in their persons or property, it not having been at their option to be obedient or not to the French Government. They are also at liberty to avail themselves of the stipulations of the sixteenth article. ”

“ If he joined the Bourbon alliance, well and good, for the forces of France and Spain would obtain possession of Portugal at an easy rate; but if not, if he still adhered to his old alliance with England, then it would be manifest to all the world, if he lost the kingdom, it would be his own fault: in such cheap estimation does ambition hold morality.
At this period, Portugal had not an army exceeding 20,000 men, and her fleet was reduced to six ships of the line and a few frigates, while her fortresses were in ruins. ”

“ Some of the corps were short of muskets: those which had them were armed with weapons of bad quality [261] , and various calibre. All were deficient in the most essential articles of equipment. It was not fair to expect that such troops could oppose with any prospect of success a well-armed and well-disciplined veteran army like that of France [262] .’
The regular troops, and the totally undisciplined Ordenanza levies, did not form the whole military force of Portugal. There also existed, mainly on paper, another line of defence for the kingdom. ”

“ Both sir Arthur Wellesley and sir John Moore advanced from Portugal to aid the Spanish armies. The first general commanded twenty-five thousand, the last twenty thousand men; but there was this difference: that, in 1808, Portugal was so disorganised as to require a British force to keep down anarchy; whereas, in 1809, Portugal formed a good base of operations, and a Portuguese army was acting in conjunction with the British. ”

“ Spain to join in the enterprise; and when Portugal was subdued, he seized on the Spanish monarchy. The inhabitants revolted against his authority. A British force, commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, proceeded to their aid: and on the return of the King's Own from Gottenburg, they were immediately ordered to proceed to the Peninsula. Having landed in Maceira Bay, in Portugal, on the 25th of August, they advanced on Lisbon, and after the French army capitulated and vacated Portugal, they encamped within two leagues of Lisbon. ”

“ Portugal being now free from the presence of an enemy, an army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, was sent up the country in the autumn, to assist the Spaniards in their resistance to the armies of France, and the first battalion of the Fifth Regiment was selected to form part of this expedition. ”

“ He has discovered that there are no positions in the mountains of Portugal; nay, he will scarcely allow that there are mountains at all; and he insists that they offer no defence against an invader, but that the rivers do—that the Douro defends the eastern frontier of Beira, and that the frontier of Portugal generally is very compact and strong for defence, and well suited for a weak army to fight superior numbers;—that the weak army cannot be turned and cut off from Lisbon, and the strong army must invade in mass and by one line. ”

“ They had before them examples of perseverance unexampled in any other cause than that of liberty; they had seen the least military nations316 of Europe become formidable, and successfully resist the best disciplined troops of France. Small as Portugal was, the establishment of the Portugueze army had been of the greatest consequence, as the foundation of the success of the allied armies in the Peninsula; and as it gave, in addition to the general national feeling, a military tone, under the influence of which the Portugueze troops have been raised to an equality with the British. ”