The History of the Present War in Spain and Portugal, from its commencement to the Battle of Vittoria ... To which will be added, Memoirs of the Life of Lord Wellington ... With ... engravings, maps, etc

Front matter

ss&Msrag wa&saps^ o_x_ THE HISTORY OF THE PRESENT WAR IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL, FROM ITS COMMENCEMENT TO THE Battle of mtttorta. ILLUSTRATED WITH Anecdotes, Civil, Military, and Political, AND A Geographical View of those Kingdoms. TO WHICH WILL BE ADDED, MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF LORD WELLINGTON, AND Biographical Sketches of the most eminent Commanders who have distinguished themselves during the War in the Peninsula. By THEOPHILUS CAMDEN,,Esq. AUTHOR OF THE IMPERIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND, BRITISH REPORTER, &C. EMBELLISHED WITH A SERIES OF ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS, MAPS, &c. LONDON : Printed hy W. Stratford, Crovm Court, Temple-Bar;for J. STRATFORD, No. 112, HOLBORN-flILL. 1813, MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE Most Noble ARTHUR, Marquis and Earl of WELLINGTON, Viscount Wellington of Talavera, and of Wellington, and Baron Douro, of Wellesley, in the County of Somerset) Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, &c. &c.

Chapter I. Since

the study of Biography has always beeri held in the highest estimation, as well on account of the information it conveys to mankiud, as of the instruction it usually contains, the lives of great and eminent men must be doubly entertaining, more par ticularly of those whose lives have been spent in the service of their country, and whose illustrious talents have shone forth in a brilliant manner on the great theatre of the world, especially in a military capacity. The Most Noble the Marquis of Wellington is de scended from a family who were originally of English descent, being settled in the county of Rutland for time immemorial, under the name of Cowley, Cooley, or Colley*, as is the present mode of orthography. In the reign of king Henry the Eighth, many gen tlemen of family were induced, in consequence of grants from his majesty, to migrate from this country * In Glaiston church, in the county of Rutland, is a monument for Walter Colley, Esq. and Agnes his wife.

He was lord of the Manor in 1407. No. XXVI. * A t» MEMOIRS OP THE LIFE OF II to Ireland, and among the rest were two brothers of the family from whom the Marquis of Wellington de scended, namely, Walter and Robert Cowley, who established themselves at Kilkenny, and were presented by the king, in the twenty-second year of his reign, with a grant of the office of clerk of the crown in chancery for, and during the space of, their natural lives respectively. Both these brothers were brought up to the profes sion of the law ; and the younger, Robert, became Master of the Rolls; while the eldest, Walter, the immediate ancestor of the present noble family, was appointed Solicitor-general of Ireland in 1537; but he surrendered that office in the year 1546, and was two years afterwards raised to that of Surveyor-general of the kingdom of Ireland.

Sir Henry Colley, eldest son of Walter, appears to have dedicated himself to the profession of arms; for he held a commission of captain in the army from queen Elizabeth ; from whom he also received a war rant in the year 1559, to execute martial law in the districts of OfFaley, Carbery, and other places. By his conduct on this occasion he gave such satisfaction, that he was shortly after appointed a commissioner of array for the county of Kildare; and was soon after chosen representative in parliament for the borough of Thomas-town in that county. As a reward for his ser vices, he received the honour of knighthood from Sir Henry Sidney, lord-deputy of Ireland, and was appointed a member of the privy council. When Sir Henry Sidney went out of office, he recommended Sir Henry Colley to his successor in the following hand some manner, — in a letter which he wrote to him : — " My good Lord," says he, " I had almost forgotten, by reason of diversity of other matter, to recommend unto you, amongst others of my friends, Sir Henry Cowley, a knight of mine own making; who, whilst he was young, and the ability and strength of his body served, was valiant, fortunate, and a good ser vant; and having, by roy appointment, the charge of of the King's County, kept the county well ordered, and in good obedience.

He is as good a borderer as ever I found any where. I left him at my coming thence a counsellor, and esteemed him for his experi ence and judgement, very sufficient for the room he was called unto. He was a sound and fast friend to me ; so I doubt not but your lordship shall find, when you have occasion to employ him." Sir Henry Cowley is also further most honourably mentioned by Sir Nicholas Maltby, who says, '.* He is an English gentleman, seneschal of the county, who governed very honestly, but now is sore oppressed by the rebels, the Connors." By his lady Catherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Cussack, of Cussington, in the county of Meath, lord chancellor of Ireland ; he had three sons, of whom the second, Sir Henry Cow ley of Castle Carbery, was the immediate ancestor of the present line.

During the life-time of his illustri ous father, and in the reign of queen Elizabeth, he was made constable of Philipstown Fort, and after wards seneschal of the King's County ; and, in the year 1561, was appointed by the earl of Sussex, lord deputy, providore of the army, which was an office equivalent to that of commissary-general of the pre» sent day. He was long occupied in'preserving and securing the peace of the county ; in which, after great trouble, he appears to have been at last successful ; for, in the year 1571, he prevailed on all the leading representatives of thelrish families in that neighbourhood to appear before him at Philipstown, and to bind themselves, by mutual recognizances, not only to preserve the public peace, but also to answer for each other's good behaviour, and to deliver up each other to him, whenever he should call upon them.

It was not, however, till the year 1576, that he received the honour of knighthood in Christ-church, Dublin, on St. George's day ; and be appears to have fulfilled his military duties till the year 1599, and to have been representative in parliament for the borough of Managhan in the year 1613. * A % He MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF He was married to Anne, daughter of his grace Adam Loftus, archbishop of Dublin, and his eldest son, Sir Henry Colley, succeeded him at Castle Car bery, of whom all we know is, that he married Anne, daughter and heiress of Christopher Peyton, Esq. auditor^general of Ireland ; and his eldest son Dudley Colley, of Castle Carbery, Esq. having distinguished himself in the royal cause, was appointed au officer in the army of king Charles the Second, soon after the Restoration, and had also a grant and confirmation of the lands of Ardkill and Collingstown in the county of Kildare.

He was likewise a member of parliament for Philipstown. Mr. Dudley Colley married Anne, the daughter of Henry Warren of Grangeby in the county of Kildare, Esq. ; and by her had a numerous family of children, of whom Henry was his successor ; and a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Garret Wellesley (or Wesley) of Dangan in the county of Meath, Esq*. Henry Colley, Esq. succeeded his father, Dudley Colley, and by his marriage with Mary, the only daughter of Sir William Usher, of Dublin, knight, left a numerous offspring. His youngest son, Richard Colley, was the first who adopted the surname of Wel lesley, as heir to his first cousin, Garret Wellesley, of Dangan, Esq. who, being the last of that family, left all his estates to him, on condition of his taking the name and arms of that family, all which was granted, and recorded in the Herald's Office, in the year 1728.

This gentleman appears to have held several offices under the crown : he was auditor and registrar of the * It is said that the family of Wesley or Wellesley, is of Saxon origin, and that they were anciently settled in the county of Sus sex. Part of this family migrated to Ireland in the twelfth cen tury; for, in the year 1172, the first Irish ancestor was standard bearer toHenry the Second. The descendants of this gentleman distinguished themselves greatly during several successive reigns in a military capacity, and received various grants of lands for the services they performed ; but this family being now extinct, their name, though not their blood, is represented by the present noble family of Colley Wellesley. royal V royal hospital of Kilmainham, second chamberlain of the court of exchequer, sheriff of the county of Meath in the year 1734, and member of parliament for the borough of Trim in the same year.

Richard Colley Wellesley was the first of the family who was ennobled ; for, in consideration of his various public services, his majesty king George the Second, was pleased to create him a peer of Ireland, by the title of Baron of Mornington, in the year 1747. Lord Mornington married Elizabeth, daughter of John Sale, L.L.D. registrar of the diocese of Dublin, and representative iu parliament for the borough of Carysfort; and his eldest son, Garret, having succeeded him in the barony, was, in the year 1760, created viscount Wellesley, and earl of Mornington, having before that period held the office of custos rotulorum of the county of Meath. . He married Anne, eldest daughter of the right honourable Arthur Hill, viscount Dungannon*, and had i.ssue, the present marquis of Wellesley, Wil liam, now Wellesley Pole, in consequence of inherit ing the estates of William Pole, of Ballifin, Esq. Arthur, the subject of our present biographical his tory, and several other children.

The first nobleman of this family died whilst the greater part of his family remained in infancy, so that a very important charge devolved upon their amiable mother, whose prudent conduct overcame the ob stacles attendant upon an impaired state of fortune, which arose from causes which it had been impossible * The family of the right honourable Arthur Hill, -viscount Dungannon, is very ancient, being of Norman origin, and hav ing the name* of De la Montagne, which iu English signifies Hill. They did not, however, adopt the name of Hill, till ihe reign of Edward the Third, at which period they possessed considerable estates in land in .Staffordshire atid the county of Devon. An early ancestor of this family was Sir John Hill, a learned serjeant of the law in the reign of Edward the Third; and they first settled in Ireland in the reign of queen Elizabeth, under the patronage of Walter Devereux, the famous «arl of Essex; and from this period their loyalty has constantly gained them the favour of the succeed ing monarchs. to VI MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF to counteract.

It has been asserted, that by her wise and prudential œconomy, in conjunction with the energetic application of an active and well informed mind, she supplied not only the deficiencies of a broken fortune, but also the loss of an excellent fa ther to her children. It must, however, be noticed, that much of this power to do good on the part of lady Mornington, arose from the generous liberality of the present marquisWellesley, who had left college, and was nearly of age, and who, with a magnanimity, greatness of soul, and fraternal love, which greatly redounds to his honour, gave up the sole su perintendance and the entire management of the family estates to her guidance; and, although in the bloom of youth, he not only chearfully submitted to those prudential restraints which her paternal care suggested, but actually paid off all his father's debts, out of an honourable regard to the memory of a be loved parent.

Mr. Arthur Wellesley, the particulars of whose life we are now about to delineate, was born on the 1st of May, 1769; and, at an early age was sent to Eton, that he might receive the benefit of a public education, and where indeed he made a considerable progress by his attentive and close application. At length, fixing on the science of arms for his profession, he went, at the close of the American war, to Angiers* in France, in order that he might acquire the * Angiers, a city of France, and capital of the duchy of An jou, now the department of Maire and Loire. It is seated a little above the place where the Sarte and the Loire lose themselves in the Maire. This last river divides the city into two equal parts, called the High and the Low town. There are twelve parishes in the city, and four in the suburbs, which contain upwards of thirty six thousand inhabitants.

Its greatest extent is along tl»e declivity of a hill, which reaches quite down to the river side. The castle -Has builtby St. Louis, about the middle of the thirteenth century. The walls, fosses, and numerous towers, of the castle, which yet subsist, evince its former magnificence ; and its situation in the centre of the city, on a rock over-hanging the river, conduces to {ITS the theory of military tactics in that celebrated seminary, which was then under the direction and super intendance of the great Pignerol, who had long been considered as the Yauban of modern warlike architec ture and engineering. Here Mr. Wellesley acquired a fund of information, and by that means laid a good foundation for his future observations and study; and while at this seminary our young candidate for military fame re ceived at an early age his first commission in the army, which was that of an ensign in the forty-first regi ment, dated December 25, 1787.

This appointment, which, by the way, may be considered as merely no minal, added spurs to his application; and as this ap pointment took place during a time of peace, be had leisure to apply his scientific knowledge to garrison and regimental purposes, in which his conduct wa3 such as to merit the esteem of all his brother officers. While at Angiers he sedulously applied himself to the perusal and study of the best authors on the subject of military tactics, and thus formed a solid founda tion for his future military glory ; and, having lm own rank and connections to trust to for promotion, give it an air of grandeur, though at present in decay. It was the principal residence of the kings of Sicily, as dukes of Anjou, but is now in a state of great decay. The cathedral of Angiers is a venerable structure; and although it has undergone manyaltera. tions in the course of ages since its construction, yet the architec ture is singular, and deserves attention.

Here lies interred with her ancestor, the renowned Margaret, daughter of Rene, king of Sicily, and queen of Henry VI. of England. She expired, after her many intrepid, but ineffectual, efforts, to replace her husband on the throne, in the year 1482, at the castle of Dam pier, in An jou. The university of Anjou was founded in 1398, and the academy of belles lettres in 1685. This last consists of thirty acade micians. At the eud of the suburbs of Bretigny are the quarriej of Ann-iers, so famous for the fine slate which is got from thence. The pieces are of the thickness of a crown piece, and a foot square. All the houses in Angiers are covered with this slate, which has gained it the appellation of the Black City. The walls with which king John of England surrounded it, in 1214, remain nearly en tire, and are of very great circumference, ht MEMOIRS OF THE LIVE OF he preserved throughout a gentlemanly and steady in* dependence.

Mr. Wellesley was made a lieutenant January 23, 1788, and he was a lieutenant in the twelfth light dragoons June 25, 1789; he was a captain in the fiftyeighth June 30, 1791 ; and when he was only twenty-three years of age, he bore the rank of captain in the eighteenth regiment of light dragoons; from which corps, on the 30th of April, 1793, he was appointed to the majority of his present regiment, the thirty-third, in the room of major Gore, who resigned. Captain Wellesley, however, was not to be satisfied with this, and therefore did not long remain in this junior rank of a field officer, but availed himself of his seniority to purchase in succession from lieutenant-colonel Yorke, who resigned his commission in that regiment; and his appointment took place on the 30th of September following.

The generc-ty of the marquis Wellesley here again showed itself, and he paid the money for the purchase of the lieutenantcolonelcy. Lieutenant-colonel Wellesley, now scarcely twenty-four years of age, embarked in active service under his countryman the earl of Moira, and, early in the year 1794, he actually set out with that armament which was intended to erect the standard of loyalty in Brittany; but the fate of the Netherlands and of Flanders was no sooner decided by the unfortunate issue of the early part of the campaign of that year, under his royal highness the duke of York, than lord Moira was ordered with his little army to proceed to Ostend. Lieutenant-colonel Wellesley had therefore no op portunity of distinguishing himself, or of exhibiting his military knowledge, till this expedition to Hol land; and in the disastrous termination of that expe dition he obtained his share of that portion of military reputation which belongs to a well-conducted retreat.

He led off a brigade in a style which obtained him much praise from military men. The difficulty, and therefor* THE M.4RQUIS OF WELLINGTON," IX therefore the merit of this service, can only be duly estimated by those who have experienced the character of the English soldier in retreat. Accustomed to victory, habitually contemning their enemies, and invariably imputing any disadvantageous circumstances to the conduct of their officers, it is almost impossible to preserve any discipline, any close order, any military confidence and submission to their officers' judgement, in an English army retreating. Sir John Moore, the great master of English discipline, and one who was never excelled in the management of a regiment, never appeared in such doubtful colours, and to so little advantage, as in his memorable retreat to Corunna.

He indeed most admirably brought his army off, but his army left their discipline behind them. On the arrival of the British troops in England from the expedition to Holland, every exertion was made use of to prepare them for foreign service, and the thirty-third regiment being under orders for the West Indies, lieutenant-colonel Wellesley embarked in the fleet, which under the command of admiral Christian was intended to proceed to that station : but the heavy equinoctial gales in the year 1795 having repeatedly driven them back, the destination of great part of the forces was altered, and the thirty-third regi ment was ordered to Ireland to recruit, where they remained till the lieutenant-colonel was once more called into active service. In the year 1797, lieutenant-colonel. Wellesley accompanied his regiment to India, and was appointed by lord Teignmouth's government to command a brigade in the proposed expedition under Sir JamesCraig, against the Manilla Isies ; but this expedition was set aside by the orders of lord Buckinghamshire.

Part of the troops were actually embarked for the service of that expedition, but the intrigues of the French with the native princes of India, obliged the governor-general to change his plans, and reserve his troops for the defence of the British territories in India. Notwithstanding the friendly protestations of Tip- No. XXVII. * B poo X MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF poo Sultaun, the experience of the campaigns under the marquis of Cornwallis, had shewn that the loss of the Coimbatore country and other districts, and even of many of his hill forts in the Mysore, had produced no steady effect on his mind, and he seemed to dread nothing while he remained in possession of his capital. The earl of Mornington, (now marquis of Wellesley) who had been sent out to India in the high station of governor-general, and who arrived at Calcutta on the 17th of May, 1798, therefore determined on decisive measures, and the reduction of Seringapatam, Tip poo's capital, was deemed an object of the first consi deration.

The state of politics in India at this period was more serious than usual, as all the efforts of an enterprising European enemy, in addition to the intrigues of Tippoo Sultaun, were now directed against us. Tippoo, impelled by his rooted hatred to the British nation, had already dispatched two ambassadors from Mangaloreto the Isle of France, where they arrived to wards the close of January, 1798. These ambassadors were received formally and publicly by the French go vernment, with every circumstance of distinction and respect; and they were entertained at the public ex pence during their abode in that island. By means of his ambassadors Tippoo Sultaun concluded an alliance with France, offensive and defensive, and engaged to subsidize whatever troops France might send to his assistance, with a view to drive the English from the shores of Hindoostan.

This being speedily known at Calcutta, the earl of Mornington conceived himself perfectly justified in asserting that the Sultaun had most flagrantly violated the treaties subsisting between him and the company, and that he had actually com mitteeman act of direct hostility and aggression against the British government in India. In addition to this, the governor-general had received undoubted intelligence, that Tippoo had for some time previous been employed in military pre parations, agreeably to the hostile spirit of his engagements THE MARQUIS OF WELLINGTON. XI ments with our inveterate enemy ; that the greater part of his army was in a state of equipment for the field; and that a considerable portion of it was actually encamped under his own personal command. All this, however, was in direct opposition to the communications from Tippoo himself; for he had not even then attempted to alledge the slightest pretext of a grievance on the part of the British government ; and even in his letters to sir John Shore, (now lord Teignmouth, ) whilst his ambassadors were actually at the Isle of France, nay, dated on the very day on which the French force landed at Mangalore, he de clared that " his friendly heart was disposed to pay every regard to truth and justice, and to strengthen the foundations of harmony* and concord between the two nations ;" and be concluded with expressing a de sire that sir John Shore would impress lord Morning ton with a sense of the friendship and unanimity so firmly subsisting between the two states.

Lord Mor nington was, however, not led away by these pacific declarations; but considered that his treaty with France, and the admission of a French force into his army, was equivalent to a declaration of War, and therefore determined on an immediate attack upon his capital, as the surest means of frustrating his insidious designs. The departure of a large force destined for Manilla, it was afterwards ascertained, would have proved a signal to the watchful vengeance of Tippoo to invade the Carhaiic, even without waiting for the arrival of a French force, the assistance of which did not appear necessary to him during the contemplated absence of so considerable a portion of our troops. The whole proposed plan of operation became, therefore, necessarily changed, and the Madras army, tinder lieutenant-general Harris, was concentered at Vellore, in the Carnatic, but, from the unavoidable delays in providing the necessary equipments for so large a force, it was not in a condition to begin its march before the 1 J th of February, 1799.

The con- * B % tingent MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF tingent of the Nizam, amounting to about six thousand of the Company's troops, under the command of colonel Roberts, and subsidized by his highness, to gether with the same number of his own nativeinfantry, mar.hed from Hyderabad, under the command of Meer Allum Bahaudur, and had arrived at Chittou, even before general Harris was ready to march from Vellore. In order to give the Nizam's force the utmost respec tability, the commander-in-chief not only strengthened it with some of the Company's battalions, but ap pointed the thirty-third regiment to join it, giving the general command of the British force thus serving to colonel Wellesley. This arrangement, which was highly gratifying to Meer Allum, added greatly to the confidence of his troops, and tended much to render them essentially useful.

Colonel Wellesley had thus under his command the whole of the Nizam's detachment, forming the reserve of the army, and comprizing his own regiment, the thirty-third, the eleventh, part of the second and fourth, two battalions of the first Bengal regiment, two brigades of artillery, the Nizam's infantry, com manded by captain Malcolm, and the cavalry of the same prince commanded by his own native officer, Meer Allum. Along with these he had a distinct staff; and the cavalry alone amounted to six thousand men. The whole army under general Harris being returned thirty-six thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine fighting men, all well equipped, excellent in discipline, and never surpassed by any army ever formed in India, in the skill and ability of the officers in all departments. The commander-in-chief, lieutenant-generai Harris, having determined to advance to Seringapatam by the route of Taulgautporam and Cankanelli, the march commenced at day-break on the 10th of March, 1799.

The cavalry were in advance, the baggage on the right, and the detachment under colonel Wellesley, which had marched by the left, moved parallel at some distance THE MARQUIS OF WELLINGTON. tance on the right flank of the army. On the 27th of March they had a slight skirmish with the Sultaun's forces, but in which colonel Wellesley distinguished himself. On the 1st of April, the whole army was within thirteen miles of Seringapatam ; on the 3d, the army marched by the left, and colonel Wellesley's division keeping on tbe right, moved along the bank of the river Cauvery, the whole encamping again upon the high road, at the dipstance of five miles from that for-1 tress ; and on the 5th the whole British army took up its ground opposite the west face of the fort, at the distance of only three thousand five hundred yards, the left being to the river Cauvery, while colonel Wel lesley, with his division, was encamped en potence to the right of the whole.

At length the siege commenced, and after a stout re sistance was taken, and the body of Tippoo Sultaun ■was found among the slain. On this occasion colonel Wellesley's regiment, the thirty-third, formed part of the left column under lieutenant-colonel Dunlop, which was to attack the northern rampart. General Baird received the unhappy princes, the sons of Tippoo, and shewed them every mark of respect. He then gave them in charge to lieutenant-colonel Agnew and cap tain Marriot, by whom they were conducted to head quarters in camp, escorted by the light company of colonel Wellesley's own regiment, the thirty-third, whilst, as they passed, the troops were ordered to pay them the compliment of presented arms. When the body of the Sultaun was discovered, and brought from under the gateway where it lay, his eyes were open, and the body was so warm, that colonel Wellesley for a few moments doubted whether he was alive or not ; but on feeling his pulse and heart that doubt was removed.

Every delicacy was shewn to the remains of the unfortunate chief; and the preparations for his funeral were superintended by the principal cauzee of Seringapatam, every article which he thought proper to order being provided, that the ceremony might MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF XIV might be performed with as much pomp as circumstances would permit. Indeed colonel Wellesley, who was then appointed commandant, gave directions not only that four flank companies of Europeans should attend, but also that minute guns should be fired during the interval, a mark of respect which the prince Abdul Khalie at first declined the acceptance of, until he was convinced of its true intent. On the morning of the 5th of May, colonel Wel lesley relieved general Baird ; and on the following day was appointed to the permanent command of Se ringapatam, on which occasion he, with the greatest promptitude used every means in his power to prevent every kind of excess.

Public notice was given that severe examples would be made of any persons detected in the act of plundering the houses, or molesting the inhabitants : four men were in consequence executed for plundering, and the most perfect tranquillity was immediately restored. These examples, and the per sonal activity of the colonel himself, who went into all the houses of the principal inhabitants to establish safe guards, soon produced a general confidence ; the in habitants who had fled on the night of the storm, returned to their habitations, and resumed their usual occupations : in a few days the bazars were stored with all kinds of merchandize and provisions, for which there was a ready and advantageous sale ; and three days after the taking of the place the principal streets were so crowded, that they were almost impassable, presenting more the appearance of a fair than of a captured city.

Upwards of ten lacks of rupees worth of jewels, and the amount of five hundred camel lpads of muslins, shawls, rich cloths, and various kinds of merchandize, were found as prize to the captors. Thesultaun's throne being too unweildy to be carried away, was broken up: it was a howdar or armed seat, upon a tyger, covered with sheet gold : the ascent to it was by silver steps, gilt, having silver nails, and all the other fastenings of the same metal. The canopy was alike THE MARQUIS OF WELLINGTON. XV alike superb, and decorated with a costly fringe of fine pearls all round it. The eyes and teeth of the tyger were of glass. It was valued at sixty thousand pago das, upwards of twenty-five thousand pounds sterling. The sheet gold alone was estimated at forty thousand pagodas. Every inch of the howdar contained an Arabic sentence, chiefly from the Koran, superbly stamped, being raised and polished in the most beau tiful manner.