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and conclusive, as any recorded in the page of history. It was therefore unfair, as some noble lords had done, to describe such an operation, merely as an affair with the rear guard of Soult's corps. After this Lord Wellington immediately proceeded to the south, to oppose Victor, who had actually advanced in that direction, but who, on the approach of Lord Wellington, had thought it prudent to retreat. What was the situation of Spain when Lord Wellington advanced into that country? The supreme central government had been long established, and their authority was gene rally recognized. The part of the country, through which his march lay, abounded in resources of every description, nor was it fair to entertain a doubt of the power and disposition of the Spanish government, to render them available. The joint request of the supreme Junta and General Cuesta to Lord Wellington, was, that he would cooperate with the Spanish army in driving Victor beyond the Tagus. How could Lord Wellington have refused his assistance for the attainment of that limited object? Would not a refusal on his part have argued a supposition that the Spanish government was incompetent to perform its duty? and that the country, though full of provisions, was unwilling to supply them? Besides, how could he have answered for the safety of Portugal, without striking such a blow against Victor, as might prevent him from joining and co-operating with Soult, or any French corps that might invade that kingdom from the northward? The plan concerted between Lord Wel

lington and General Cuesta, was briefly this: Lord Wellington, supported by General Cuesta, was to move against Victor's corps. In the mean time Venegas, by a circuitous march, was to threaten Madrid, in order, by this demonstration, to draw off the attention of the French corps, under Sebastiani and King Joseph, and prevent them from forming a junction with Victor. From this plan, if duly executed, Lord Wellington was justified in expecting every success. Accordingly, he advanced against Victor at Talavera, on the 22d of July, and soon came in sight of the enemy, whom he proposed to attack on the following morning. Victor's corps was then unsupported by any other, and consisted of no more than 28,000

men.

If, therefore, the attack upon Victor had been made on the 23d, as proposed by Lord Wellington, must not the result have been most glorious and complete? General Cuesta, however, refused to attack the enemy on that day; for what reason had not been explained. But the consequence was, that Victor retreated, and made his escape on the very night of the 23d, and effected a junction between Sebastiani and King Joseph. At the same time General Venegas, who ought to have been at Argonda on the 22d, perplexed with orders, and counter-orders, from the Junta, did not arrive there till the 29th. Against such strange mismanagement what human prudence could provide?

Lord Wellesley perfectly agreed with the noble lords on the other side of the house, as to the necessity of a radical change in the government of Spain; and his opi

nions on that head, he believed, were not unknown. But that change, however, could not be the work of a day. But were we, therefore, to abandon the Spaniards to the mercy of their cruel invaders? to desert them in the crisis of their fortunes? As to the battle of Talavera, nothing more could be said of that battle in a military point of view, than that the British troops had succeeded in repulsing the attack of a French army almost double their numbers, the efforts of which had been directed chiefly against the British. And, with respect to its consequences, he would boldly maintain, that the defeat of the enemy at Talavera had essentially contributed to the main objects of the campaign. For, unless that blow had been struck against Victor, it would have been impossible to prevent the enemy from over-running the south of Spain, or from making a fresh irruption into Portugal. It saved the south of Spain from absolute destruction. It had afforded time to Portugal to organize her army, and to strengthen her military ports. It also enabled Lord Wellington to take a position, where he might derive supplies from Spain, at the same time that he drew nearer to his own magazines -upon the whole, he did not hesitate to say, that his brother was as justly entitled to every distinction that his sovereign had conferred on him, and to every honour and reward which it was in the power of that house to bestow, as any noble lord, who, for his personal services, had obtained the same dis

tinctions, or who sat there by de scent from his illustrious ancestors.

Lord Grenville observed, that the propriety of giving the infor mation relative to the campaign, and especially the calamitous march into Spain, required on a former occasion by his friend Lord Grey, had been supported by the manner, in which his noble friend, the Marquis of Wellesley, had discussed the subject. He had very properly taken a comprehensive view of the causes and consequences of that battle. The events of twenty-four hours might he sufficient to prove the merits of the soldier; but the case of a general was widely different. The present question was, whether a British army ought to have been risked in an enterprize which depended so much on Spanish cooperation. This question was none of his seeking; but he must say, that even a victory, if attended with calamitous consequences, did not deserve the thanks of that house. He believed that Lord Wellington was fettered by the nature of the service on which he had been sent, and by his instructions, and that the plan and its calamitous circumstances, ought to be attributed to ministers.

The vote of thanks to Lord Wellington was carried without a division. The motions for thanks to the inferior officers and army were carried unanimously.

Thanks to Lord Wellington and the army at Talavera were moved in the

House of Commons, February 1.

See various Extracts, from the Correspondence of the Marquis of Wellesley, with Mr. C. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Vol. LI. 1909. History of Europe, Chap. X. pp. 182-193,

The

The arguments pro and con were, as might well be supposed, the same in substance as those that had been urged in the House of Lords. The motion was made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord Milton observed, that their votes of thanks, from their frequency, lost their value, and ceased to be an honour. They had got so much into the habit of voting thanks, that it was now almost an insult not to vote them. It was not sufficient to say, that Sir Arthur Wellesley had got out of the danger into which he had run, with great skill. He should have shewn his skill in avoiding it. What thanks would the house bestow on an admiral, who first ran his fleet among rocks and shoals, and then evinced great ability in getting it off again? The ambition of Sir Arthur Wellesley was conspicuous in both the battles of Talavera and Vimeira. In both he seemed to have fought merely for a peerage; certainly more with such a view, than was consistent with the conduct of a good and prudent commander. The whole campaign was wrapped in mystery, and he was determined to have information before he voted honours. Lord Milton concluded with mov ing, as an amendment to the motion before them, "That the thanks of the house should be given to the officers and troops who served under Lord Wellington, for their undaunted courage and gallantry, on the 27th and 28th of July, in the battle of Talavera. But while the house gave this praise to the officers and inen, for their undaunted courage and gallantry, they had to lament, that the army, since that period, had been unable VOL. LII.

to resume offensive operations. They had also to lament, that after the battle, they had suffered the enemy to pass two days in inactivity, without attacking them, and also, for having allowed themselves to be cut off at the bridge of Arzobispo."

Mr. Vernon, in a maiden speech, seconded the amendment.-In proportion as he admired the firmness and bravery of the army, he regretted that it should have been not only unprofitably employed, but unnecessarily exposed. Lord Wellington might have learned more discretion from the experience of Sir John Moore's incursion into Spain. Lord Wellington had not the same excuse, nor the same incitement as Sir John Moore to penetrate into Spain, He was invested with large limits of discretion, which that admirable officer, Sir John Moore, was not, and had no officious and impertinent interference to encounter. He had not to contend against the arrogant dictates of a rash and presumptuous diplomatist; of blind but obtrusive zeal, seeking, by the display of devotion to the cause of the Junta, to establish a claim to a Spanish marquisate. It was stated, that if two things had occurred, we should have succeeded better. If the Spanish Junta had not acted as they did, and if the Spanish general had done his duty, the success would have been more complete. this might have been foreseen. But if the object of the march into Spain, was to fall on General Victor single-handed, as soon as Cuesta refused the co-operation, which was promised, it was the duty of Lord Wellington to have

All

retired.

retired. On what grounds, Mr. Vernon asked, did Lord Wellington calculate, that his 25,000 men would be able to contend with 100,000 Frenchmen, in the heart of the peninsula? It had been said, that the French armies had been checked by this battle; but the real result of the battle of Talavera was, that our army was checked-checked in its proposed march to Madrid, for which important service Joseph Buonaparte had thanked his troops. The resources of Spain were stated to consist in her loyalty and religion. There were systems of religion, such as those which inculcate predestination, that inspire an extraordinary contempt of danger. He did not know that such was the character of the religion to which the Spaniards were bigoted; neither did he calculate much on their loyalty to such a sovereign as Ferdinand VII. who had voluntarily thrown himself into the hands of the enemy, and might be said to have resigned his crown. If he saw the crown and the altar surrounded with equal laws, and the spirit of liberty, the animating principle and bond of union among the Spaniards, then he should rot despair of that country. This he believed to have been the principle which dictated the heroic resistance of Saragossa and Gerona. He was not, however, for deserting the Spaniards altogether. He would wish to lend them every assistance except a British army.

Lord Castlereagh supported the motion for thanks to Lord Wellington, not only by a description of the battle of Talavera, but by

a brief review of the whole campaign, in the same manner as had been done by the Marquis of Wellesley in the House of Peers.

Mr. Whitbread observed, that while Lord Wellington accused General Cuesta of delay, he ought to have stated the grounds of it; and in not doing it he did that general injustice. The Spaniards, whom he represented as taking no part in the action,, he was, nevertheless, necessitated to mention no less than five times in his dispatch; and it was rather too much to say that he had contended with double his numbers. He had even mentioned a Spanish general, who was wounded in bringing up his inactive infantry to assist in the battle.

Mr. Windham, too, was sorry that such a letter as had been sent by Lord Wellington had ever been written. It proclaimed glory which did not belong to him. As in a sea engagement, it could not be contended that the hull of a vessel had nothing to do with the guns, which gained the victory. So with the Spanish army; they did all that was required of them. They kept their position.

But the vic

tory itself must have been of use to the Spanish cause, as it shewed them that a British army was invincible. And the victory well deserved the honour of the reward moved to be bestowed on it by the house.

Many other members spoke on the opposite side of the question. The vote of thanks to Lord Wellington was carried without a division. Thanks to the other officers unanimously; and also, unanimously, acknowledgments to the

Compare Hist. of Europe, Vol. LI. [1809] pp. 185. 186.

поп

non-commissioned officers and pri

vates.

An act of parliament was passed for settling an annuity of 2000l. ayear on Lord Wellington, though not altogether without opposition, in both houses. On the 26th of February, the day appointed for the second reading of Lord Wellington's annuity bill in the House of Commons, a petition was presented from the city of London, against it.

Sir J. Newport thought it would have been well if the services of Lord Wellington had been rewarded with the vacant sinecure place of the tellership of the exchequer. That place, however, instead of being given to one who had fought for his country abroad, had been bestowed on a person who had distinguished himself only by fighting the battles of ministers at home. Though he did justice to the prowess of Lord Wellington, while no such acknowledgment had been made of the services of General Moore, it did not become ministers to propose such a grant to the noble lord who had fought the battle of Talavera.

When it was known that there was an intention on the part of ministry to move a vote of thanks to Lord Gambier, for the victory in Basque Roads, in both houses of parliament, Lord Cochrane expressed a determination to oppose the vote in the House of Commons, on the ground that the admiral had not done all that he might have done, and that through his neglect, or delay, part of the enemy's fleet had made its escape; which would have been destroyed,

as well as the other ships, had Lord Gambier done his duty to the utmost. Lord Gambier, at his own earnest solicitation, was tried by a court-martial, and honourably acquitted.

In the House of Commons, January 29, Lord Cochrane rose to make a motion, of which he had given notice, for the minutes of the court-martial held on Lord Gambier: a document absolutely necessary, in order to enable every member fairly and impartially to decide whether the thanks, now in the contemplation of his majesty's ministers, were due to Lord Gambier, for the part he took in what had been denominated by them, a victory in Basque Roads. It had been asserted by the chancellor of the exchequer, on a former occasion, that the merits of this case had been already decided on; that a court-martial had proclaimed Lord Gambier's honourable acquittal, and displayed the zeal, ability, and anxiety he manifested for the welfare of his majesty's service. However this might be, all this, and an officer's having done nothing wrong, did not entitle him to the thanks of the house; which, if bestowed on trifling, or indeed on any occasion not marked by brilliant achievement, would dwindle into utter contempt, even with those on whom they should be conferred. They were already held lightly in the estimation of the navy, and such, Lord Cochrane freely confessed, was his own feeling respecting them. After a revision of the trial, Lord Cochrane pledged himself, by every thing valuable to man, if the minutes should

See Vol. LI. [1809] Hist. Eur. p. 227.

↑ Mr. Yorke.

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