OF THE WAR IN THE PENINSULA AND IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE FROM A. D. 1807 TO A. D. 1811 BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR W. F. P. NAPIER, K.C.B. PREFACE. FOR six years the Peninsula was devastated by the war of independence. The blood of France, Germany, England, Portugal, and Spain was shed in the contest, and in each of those countries, authors, desirous of recording the sufferings, or celebrating the valor of their countrymen, have written largely touching that fierce struggle. It may, therefore, happen that some will demand, why I should again relate "a thrice-told tale?" I answer, that two men observing the same object, will describe it diversely, following the point of view from which either beholds it; that which in the eyes of one is a fair prospect, to the other shall appear a barren waste, and yet neither may see aright! Wherefore, truth being the legitimate object of history, I hold it better that she should be sought for by many than by few, lest, for want of seekers, amongst the mists of prejudice, and the false lights of interest, she be lost altogether. That much injustice has been done, and much justice left undone, by those authors who have hitherto written concerning this war, I can assert from personal knowledge of the facts. That I have been able to remedy this, without falling into similar errors, is more than I will venture to assume; but I have endeavored to render as impartial an account of the campaigns in the Peninsula, as the feelings which must warp the judgment of a contemporary historian will permit. I was an eye-witness to many of the transactions that I relate; and a wide acquaintance with military men has enabled me to consult distinguished officers, both French and English, and to correct my own recollections and opinions by their superior knowledge. Thus assisted, and thus encouraged to undertake the work, I offer it to the world with the less fear, because it contains original documents, which will suffice to give it interest, although it should have no other merit. Many of those documents I owe to the liberality of Marshal Soult, who, disdaining national prejudices, with the confidence of a great mind, placed |