XI. 1808. August. CHAP. entirely unacquainted with the actual state of the French army. When he reached the beach they were embarking the wounded for Porto; during the whole night the sailors had been thus employed, wading nearly up to the middle in the sea, and displaying as much humanity as skill. Arriving at Vimeiro, he found the army on the ground which it had occupied the day before, the dead lying on the field, and the carts still busy in removing the wounded. That ground had not been chosen as a military position, but merely as a halting-place, and it was now necessary to remove from it, because of the late action. Sir Hew therefore gave orders for marching the next morning at day-break toward Lisbon by way of Mafra. Like his predecessor, he thought that Sir Arthur had entered upon a hazardous operation, which, unless it obtained complete success, must end in complete ruin, the British having no prospect of support, nor any thing upon which to fall back in case of disaster, so that on their part the battle would be fought for existence, while the enemy, in case of defeat, would lose only what were killed or taken. But he differed from Sir Harry Burrard in this, that he deemed it imprudent to wait for Sir John Moore's division, the arrival of which was extremely uncertain, and that he saw the necessity of pursuing active measures. The French, he knew, must either give him battle, for the sake of defending Lisbon, (a chance which he was willing to take, though XI. they were superior in cavalry, and, as he thought, CHAP. in numbers, and though they would have the great advantage of choosing their ground;) or they would cross the Tagus. 1808. August. arrives to armistice. Soon after mid-day an alarm was given that the Kellermann enemy were advancing to renew the attack; the propose an position was taken as on the preceding morning. It proved to be a body of cavalry with a flag of truce; and General Kellermann alighting at head-quarters, proposed an armistice, for the purpose of concluding a treaty for the evacuation of Portugal by the French. Sir Hew immediately called for his two predecessors. He himself had no means of knowing, but from them, what the consequences of yesterday's battle really had been; the responsibility was his, but for the information upon which the agreement was to be founded, he trusted to them, and more especially to Sir Arthur. That General's plans had been completely defeated by the refusal to follow up the victory, and by the change which Sir Harry Burrard, before he landed, had made in the intended destination of Sir John Moore's corps. Considering, therefore, that in consequence of these errors the enemy had been allowed leisure to resume a formidable position between the British army and Lisbon, and could not now by any increase of the British numbers be prevented from crossing the Tagus, and occupying in strength the strong place of Elvas, with its stronger fort La Lippe, and Almeida; that the Tagus would not for some time longer be open XI. 1808. August. CHAP. to the fleet, the army meantime depending upon the ships for supplies, and that its communication with them by the coast must at that season be most precarious: considering also how important it was that the troops should not be delayed by regular sieges in Portugal, but march as soon as possible into Spain, he thought it expedient that the French should be allowed to evacuate Portugal with their arms and baggage, and that every facility for this purpose should be afforded them. They occupied at that time, in a military point of view, he thought, the whole of Portugal, having every strong hold in their hands; their present situation enabled them still to avail themselves of those possessions, and to strengthen them as they might think proper; and he was of opinion that an army which had its retreat open, and possessed such advantages, had a fair claim to be allowed such terms. He wished, however, to limit the suspension of arms to eight-and-forty hours. Sir Hew preferred that it should be unlimited, as it had been proposed; in this he had a view to the disembarkation of Sir John Moore's corps, which was not forbidden by the agreement. Terms of the armistice. An armistice accordingly for the purpose of negotiating a definitive convention was concluded upon *these terms: That the river Si It is asserted by General Thiebault, that General Kellermann was sent to feel his ground, under pretext of a conference relating to the prisoners and wounded. Upon that General's return he says, "On conçoit de quel interêt étoient les nouvelles qu'il rapportoit, et combien elles parurent heureuses quand on sut à quel point il avoit réalisé tout ce qu'on avoit pu esperer. Il avoit XI. 1808. sandre should be the line of demarcation be- CHAP. tween the two armies, and that neither of them should occupy Torres Vedras; that the English August. general should bind himself to comprehend the armed Portugueze in the truce, and that their line of demarcation should be from Leiria to Thomar: that it was agreed that the French army should in no case be considered as prisoners of war; that all the individuals of it should be transported to France with their arms and bag été reçu avec la plus grande distinction; il avoit eu le talent de faire prendre aux Anglais l'initiative des propositions qu'il avoit à leur faire; sachant parfaitement l'Anglais, il avoit suivi la partie la plus mysterieuse de leurs conversations; il s'étoit fortifié de la certitude que, malgré l'énormité de leurs avantages, les Anglais, incertains de l'epoque de l'arrivée des renforts, qu'ils attendoient, n'étoient pas tranquilles sur leur position: il étoit parvenu à traiter pour la flotte Russe en même temps que pour l'armée Française, et cela en faisant pressenter que les Russes alloient se joindre à nous : il étoit arrivé de cette manière à demander même que nous émmenassions la flotte Portuguese, non pour l'obtenir, mais afin d'avoir quelque chose à céder, dans le cas où des articles d'une haute importance seroient trop contestés; et c'est ainsi, que par autant d'habilité que de fermeté et d'adresse, il parvint à conclure et à signer un traité provisoire." This statement is sent into the world with General Kellermann's sanction, Baron Thiebault's Re • Voici quelques-unes des phrases qu'il recueillit: Notre position est delicate-Le corps de Sir John Moore n'est pas encore arrivé à Figuières lation having, as the preface La bonne intelligence des Russes et СНАР. XI. 1808. August. Junot re turns to Lisbon. gage and private property, and that they should be deprived of no part of it whatsoever: that no individual, whether Portugueze, Frenchman, or of a nation allied to France, should be molested for his political conduct, but be protected, both in person and property, and have liberty to retire from Portugal within a limited time, with all his effects: that the neutrality of the port of Lisbon should be acknowledged for the Russian fleet; that is to say, that, when the English army and fleet should be in possession of the city and port, the Russian fleet should neither be disturbed during its stay, nor stopped when it might choose to depart, nor pursued when it had sailed, till after the time fixed, in such cases, by maritime law: that all the French artillery, and all their cavalry horses, should be transported to France. A demur was, with good reason, made concerning the baggage and private property which the French were to carry off with them; and Kellermann explained, that the words were only to bear their strict grammatical meaning. The article regarding the Russians underwent more discussion. Sir Hew insisted, that this was a point referable to the Admiral, and that if he did not agree to it, it must be struck out; with this understanding on the part of the French negotiator that article was framed. While Kellermann was thus employed in the British camp, Junot occupied the positions of the Cabeça de Montechique and Mafra, and hastened himself to Lisbon. On the 20th official |