Maxims And Opinions Of Field Marshal His Grace The Duke Of Wellington, Selected From His Writings And Speeches During A Public Life Of More Than Half A Century by Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

A >> Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington >> Maxims And Opinions Of Field Marshal His Grace The Duke Of Wellington, Selected From His Writings And Speeches During A Public Life Of More Than Half A Century

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On the 12th of May, he carried Oporto by a _coup de main_. So complete
was the surprise, that Sir Arthur and his staff sat down to the dinner
which had been prepared for the French commander.

On the 28th July following, the battle of Talavera was fought, after
which (on the 26th August), Sir Arthur was raised to the peerage by the
titles of Baron Douro of Wellesley and Viscount Wellington of Talavera.
In the February following, he received the thanks of parliament for
Talavera, and a pension of L2000 per annum was voted to him and his two
next heirs male.

So inferior was the numerical force of his army to that of the enemy
that Lord Wellington found his operations must for some time be confined
to the defence of Portugal; and he, therefore, gave orders for the
fortification of the lines of Torres Vedras, by which the capital of the
country was covered. They extended from the sea to the Tagus, at a
point where the width of that river is such as to afford an adequate
protection.

It was characteristic of the mind of the man of whom we are writing,
that these works were planned and executed with a secrecy that baffled
the penetration of the enemy, and equally the suicidal curiosity of the
English newspapers.

Massena was now the general of the French army. Wellington, before
retiring within the lines, fought the action of Busaco (ten months after
the battle of Talavera), in which the French lost 5000 men, killed or
wounded, and as many more disabled. After this victory, the English
withdrew within the lines, to cover Lisbon. Massena took up a position
at Santaren, from whence he gradually retreated towards the frontiers,
several affairs occurring between his troops and the English, by whom he
was closely followed. At length, he crossed the frontier, and
Wellington's object was, thus far, attained. On the 26th of the same
month, he received the thanks of both houses of parliament for the
liberation of Portugal.

In the meanwhile, the army of Massena had been re-organized and
reinforced, and on the 3rd of May he again attacked the allied British
and Portuguese forces, for the purpose of relieving the fortress of
Almeida, which was under blockade. The action was fought at Fuentes
D'Onoro, and resulted in the defeat of the French. Massena was then
superseded, and Marmont appointed in his place.

The next object of the British commander was to take Badajoz and Ciudad
Rodrigo. The latter was stormed on the 19th January, and the former on
the 9th of April. For both, the thanks of parliament were voted; and
Lord Wellington, after having been created Conde de Vimeiro in Portugal,
and Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain, was raised to an earldom (of
Wellington) at home, with another vote of 2000 l. per annum to maintain
the title.

On the 22nd of July, Marmont's army, which had been strongly reinforced,
attacked the allies near Salamanca. The two armies had been watching
each other for a considerable time, waiting for the favourable moment to
attack. At length Marmont began, and having superior numbers, extended
his left for the purpose of turning the British right. Wellington, when
informed of this by one of his staff, was seated on the ground eating
some cold beef; suddenly starting up, he exclaimed, "Marmont's good
genius has forsaken him." He immediately attacked the French where they
had weakened their line, and overthrew them from left to right. The loss
of the enemy was severe, and Marmont himself lost an arm in the battle.

On the 12th of August following, Lord Wellington entered Madrid, and was
appointed generalissimo of the Spanish armies--a troublesome honour
which there was some difficulty in inducing him to accept. He was
created a marquis at home, thanks were voted to him for the battle of
Salamanca, and he received a grant of 100,000 l. to purchase land. He
was also in December of the same year made Duque da Vittoria in
Portugal.

In the meantime, the enormous force which had been brought together by
the French, the refusal of the Spanish generals to co-operate, the
failure of an attempt to capture the fortress of Burgos, and other
causes, compelled the allies to retreat to Ciudad Rodrigo, with the
determination of returning to Spain at a more fitting time. This retreat
was conducted in the most admirable manner, and closed the campaign of
1812.

The foregoing is necessarily a most meagre outline of events, on which
volumes have been written. Those who may be anxious to read the Duke of
Wellington's own account of the military operations, will find in the
public despatches his annual summaries: for 1809, in despatch No. 343;
for 1810, No. 504; and for 1811, No. 615. For 1812 there is no such
summary.

It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the difficulties with
which the Duke of Wellington had to contend during these the three first
years of his service in Spain, were confined to the making of military
dispositions and the winning of battles. Other causes there were,
operating as a drawback at every forward step, and obstacles sufficient
to have wearied a less stout heart or a less determined spirit. To
oppose to a skillful and veteran enemy he had but an inadequate force,
most scantily supplied with provisions, and even with money. The French
generals, restrained by no principle of honour or even of policy, were
accustomed to plunder mercilessly for the subsistence of their troops:
the English commander would take nothing from the people but what was
paid for on the spot in money or in bills on the English government.
Yet, such was the apathy (or worse) of the Portuguese authorities, that
even on these terms provisions were not forthcoming; and important
operations were constantly delayed or frustrated by the want of the
necessary subsistence for the troops.

The reader of the Duke's despatches will glean much of his character
from the letters written from time to time to these persons; and,
scattered through the extracts which form a part of this volume, will be
found characters of both Spaniards and Portuguese, (that is to say in
the civil service) that are not very flattering to the national vanity.
Well may he say, in a letter to Mr. Villiers on the 25th of May 1811,
"No man can appreciate better than yourself the difficulties with which
I have had to contend; but I believe you are not aware of all of them. I
persevered in the system which I thought best, notwithstanding that it
was the opinion of every British officer in the country that I ought to
embark the army; while, on the other hand, the Portuguese civil
authorities contended that the war ought to be maintained on the
frontier, for which they wanted not only physical force, but the means
of providing for the force which they could produce in the field. I
believe that nothing but _something worse than firmness could have
carried me through_ the nine months' discussion with these contending
opinions. To this add that people in England were changing their
opinions almost with the wind, and you will see that I had not much to
look to, excepting myself."

Nothing could be more ignoble than the conduct of the people of Lisbon
as to the billeting of the very soldiers who had saved them from the
enemy. On one occasion the Duke writes to order his wine, &c. to be
removed from the house of a Signor Bandeira, and to have a house taken
for him, "in order," he says, "to mortify the people of Lisbon a little
as to their conduct about billets. I am slaving like a negro for them: I
have saved the people, in Lisbon particularly, from the enemy, and I
take nothing from them, while they continually torment me with their
frivolous complaints on subjects on which they ought to have no feeling.
* * I shall not be sorry if the government and principal people of
Lisbon know the reason why I take this house; viz., that I will not lay
myself under obligation to any of them." Strong language this, from a
man of the Duke's impassible temperament. But unfortunately there was
too much reason for this, and indeed, for much more animadversion on
more serious subjects, as regards many of the chief men of the
Peninsula.

Nor were these the only annoyances he had to submit to. In the early
part of his service in the Peninsula, before he had by his brilliant
deeds utterly silenced for the present and the future the cavillings of
the envious, he was subjected to repeated attacks in Parliament, to
predictions of failure--to everything in short that was calculated to
dispirit him and his army. The government, too, seemed hardly to have
"backed him up" as they might have done, either with respect to the
force at his command, or their approval of his plans.

Nor were these attacks confined to parliament. On the 2nd January, 1810,
writing to Mr. Villiers, he says: "You see the dash the Common Council
have made at me![1] I act with a sword hanging over me, which will fall
upon me, whatever may be the result of affairs here; but they may do
what they please,--I shall not give up the game here as long as it can
be played." Again, two months after, he refers to what has passed in
parliament about him, and observes, "that it does not give him one
moment's concern."

[Footnote 1: They had voted an address for an inquiry into his conduct.]

Throughout the dispatches and letters will be found very interesting
passages referring to all these difficulties in his path.

In May, 1819, the British again advanced into Spain, and on the 21st of
June completely defeated the French at Vittoria, for which the thanks of
parliament were voted on the 8th of July. What was felt in another
quarter will be seen by the following letter written by the Prince
Regent.

_To Field Marshal the Marquis of Wellington, K.G._

Carlton House, 3rd July, 1818

My dear Lord.--Your glorious conduct is beyond all human praise, and far
above my reward. I know no language the world affords worthy to express
it.

I feel I have nothing left to say, but most devoutly to offer up my
prayer of gratitude to Providence, that it has, in its Omnipotent
bounty, blessed my country and myself with such a general. You have sent
me, amongst the trophies of your unrivalled fame, the staff of a French
marshal, and I send you in return that of England.

The British army will hail it with rapturous enthusiasm, while the whole
universe will acknowledge those valorous exploits which have so
imperiously rallied for it.

That uninterrupted health and still increasing laurels may continue to
crown you through a glorious and long career of life, are the never
ceasing and most ardent wishes of, my dear lord, your very sincere and
faithful friend.

G.P.R.

On the 22nd, the Regency of Spain gave the Marquis of Wellington the
estate of the Soto de Roma, in Granada, "in the name of the Spanish
nation, in testimony of its sincere gratitude."

On the 28th of July, the French, under Marshal Soult, having re-entered
Spain, the battle of Sovauren was fought; and on the 8th of September,
St. Sebastian fell. On the 7th of October, the passage of the Bidassoa
was effected; and on the 10th of November, the whole of the army
descended into France. Other battles ensued; and on the 10th of April,
1814, was fought the final battle of Toulouse, which ended the war.

On the 3rd of May, the illustrious commander was advanced in the
peerage by the titles of Marquis of Douro and Duke of Wellington; and,
soon after, a grant of L400,000 was voted him by parliament. He arrived
in England on the 23rd of June, and on the next day proceeded to
Portsmouth to the Prince Regent, who was there with the allied monarchs.

A few days afterwards, a scene took place in the House of Lords--when
for the first time the Duke took his seat there--enough to make a
nation's heart beat with gratitude, pride, and exultation. It is thus
described:

"On the 28th of June, shortly after 3 o'clock, the Lord Chancellor
having taken his seat, the Duke of Wellington was introduced, supported
by the Dukes of Richmond and Beaufort, in military uniform, and in their
ducal robes. Being arrived in the body of the House, the Duke made the
usual obeisance to the Lord Chancellor, and shewed his patent and right
of summons: these noblemen then approached the table, where his Grace's
various patents, as baron and viscount, earl, marquis, and lastly as
duke, were each read by the clerks. The oaths were then administered,
and the Test Rolls were signed by him. He then, accompanied by his noble
supporters, took his seat on the dukes' bench, and saluted the house in
the usual manner, by rising, taking off his hat, and bowing
respectfully. The Lord Chancellor then rose, and, pursuant to their
lordships' orders, addressed his Grace:--

"My Lord Duke of Wellington,--I have received the commands of this
house, which I am persuaded has witnessed with infinite satisfaction
your Grace's personal introduction to this august assembly, to return
your grace the thanks and acknowledgments of this house, for your great
and eminent services to your king and country."

"In the execution of these commands, I cannot forbear to call the
especial attention of all who hear me to a fact in your Grace's life,
singular, I believe, in the history of the country, and infinitely
honourable to your Grace, that you have manifested, upon your first
entrance into this house, your right, under various grants, to all the
dignities in the peerage of this realm which the crown can confer. These
dignities have been conferred at various periods, but in the short
compass of little more than four years, for great public services,
occurring in rapid succession, claiming the favour of the crown,
influenced by its sense of justice to your grace and the country; and on
no one occasion in which the crown has thus rewarded your merits have
the Houses of Parliament been inattentive to your demands upon the
gratitude of the country. Upon all such occasions, they have offered to
your Grace their acknowledgments and thanks, the highest honours they
could bestow."

"I decline all attempts to state your Grace's eminent merits in your
military character; to represent those brilliant actions, those
illustrious achievements, which have attached immortality to the name of
Wellington, and which have given to this country a degree of glory
unexampled in the annals of this kingdom. In thus acting, I believe I
best consult the feelings which evince your Grace's title to the
character of a truly great and illustrious man."

"My duty to this house cannot but make me most anxious not to fall
short of the expectation which the house may have formed as to the
execution of what may have been committed to me on this great occasion;
but the most anxious consideration which I have given to the nature of
that duty has convinced me that I cannot more effectually do justice to
the judgment of the house, than by referring your Grace to the terms and
language in which the house has so repeatedly expressed its own sense of
the distinguished and consummate wisdom and judgment, the skill and
ability, the prompt energy, the indefatigable exertion, perseverance,
the fortitude and the valour, by which the victories of Vimeiro,
Talavera, Salamanca and Vittoria were achieved; by which the sieges of
Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz were gloriously terminated; by which the
deliverance of Portugal was effectuated; by which the ever memorable
establishment of the allied armies on the frontiers of France was
accomplished; armies pushing forward, in the glory of victory at Orthes,
to the occupation of Bordeaux. These achievements, in their immediate
consequence infinitely beneficial to the common cause, have, in their
final results, secured the peace, prosperity, and glory of this country;
whilst your Grace's example has animated to great exertions the other
nations of Europe, exertions rescuing them from tyranny, and restoring
them to independence, by which there has been ultimately established
among the nations of Europe that balance of power which, giving
sufficient strength to every nation, provides that no nation shall be
too strong. I presume not to trespass upon the house by representing the
personal satisfaction which I have derived from being the honoured
instrument of conveying to your Grace the acknowledgments and thanks of
this house upon every occasion upon which they have been offered to your
Grace, or by endeavouring to represent the infinite gratification which
I enjoy in thus offering, on behalf of the house, on this day, to your
Grace in person, those acknowledgments and those thanks. Your Grace is
now called to aid hereafter, by your wisdom and judgment, the great
council of that nation, to the peace, prosperity, and glory of which
your Grace has already so essentially contributed; and to tender your
Grace, now taking your seat in this house, in obedience to its commands,
the thanks of the house in the words of its resolution--That the thanks
of this house be given to Field-marshal the Duke of Wellington, on his
return from his command abroad, for his eminent and unremitting services
to his majesty and the public."

The Duke answered the address to the following effect:--

"My lords, I have to perform a duty to which I feel myself very
inadequate, to return your lordships my thanks for the fresh mark of
your approbation of my conduct and of your favour."

"I assure your lordships that I am entirely overcome by the honours
which have been conferred upon me; and by the favour with which I have
been received in this country by the Prince Regent, by your lordships,
and by the public."

"In truth, my lords, when I reflect upon the advantages which I enjoyed
in the confidence reposed in me, and the support afforded by the
government, and by his royal highness the commander-in-chief, in the
cordial assistance which I invariably received upon all occasions from
my gallant friends, the general officers of the army, who are an honour
to their country, the gallantry and discipline of the troops, and in the
manner in which I was encouraged and excited to exertion by the
protection and gracious favour of the prince, I cannot but consider
that, however great the difficulties with which I had to contend, the
means to contend with them were equal to overcome them; and I am
apprehensive that I shall not be found so deserving of your favour as I
wish."

"If, however, my merit is not great, my gratitude is unbounded; and I
can only assure your lordships, that you will always find me ready to
serve his majesty to the utmost of my ability in any capacity in which
my services can be at all useful to this great country."

His Grace then retired to unrobe; he wore a field-marshal's uniform,
with his insignia of the garter. On his return into the House he sat for
a few minutes on the extremity of one of the benches, and then retired
for the evening.

In addition to the pecuniary remuneration voted by Parliament to the
Duke of Wellington for his distinguished services, the House of Commons
resolved to pay him the highest tribute of respect and applause that it
was possible to bestow on a subject, that of its thanks, accompanied
with a deputation of its members to congratulate him on his return to
this country Lord Castlereagh rose in the house, on the 27th June, to
make a motion for this purpose, which was unanimously agreed to; and a
committee was appointed to wait on his Grace, to know what time he would
name for receiving the congratulations of the house. Lord Castlereagh
having reported from the committee that it was the Duke's desire to
express to the house his answer in person, the following day, July 1,
was appointed for the solemnity.

At about a quarter before five, the speaker being dressed in his
official robes, and the house being crowded with members, some of them
in military and naval uniforms, and many of them in the court dresses in
which they had been attending the speaker with an address to the Prince
Regent on the peace, the house was acquainted that the Duke of
Wellington was in waiting. His admission being resolved on, and a chair
being set for him on the left hand of the bar towards the middle of the
house, his Grace entered, making his obeisances, while all the members
rose from their seats. The speaker then informing him that a chair was
placed for his repose, he sat down in it for some time, covered, the
serjeant standing on his right hand with the mace grounded, and the
members resumed their seats. He then rose, and spoke, uncovered, to the
following effect:--

"Mr. Speaker,--I was anxious to be permitted to attend this house, in
order to return my thanks in person for the honour they have done me in
deputing a committee of their members to congratulate me on my return to
this country; and this, after the house had animated my exertions by
their applause upon every occasion which appeared to merit their
approbation, and after they had filled up the measure of their favours
by conferring upon me, upon the recommendation of the Prince Regent, the
noblest gift that any subject had ever received."

"I hope it will not be deemed presumptuous in me to take this
opportunity of expressing my admiration of the great efforts made by
this house and the country at a moment of unexampled pressure and
difficulty, in order to support the great scale of operations by which
the contest was brought to so fortunate a termination. By the wise
policy of parliament, the government was enabled to give the necessary
support to the operations which were carried on under my direction; and
I was encouraged by the confidence reposed in me by his majesty's
ministers, and by the commander-in-chief, by the gracious favour of his
royal highness the Prince Regent, and by the reliance which I had on the
support of my gallant friends the general officers of the army, and on
the bravery of the officers and troops, to carry on the operations in
such a manner as to acquire for me those marks of the approbation of
this house, for which I have now the honor to make my humble
acknowledgments."

"Sir, it is impossible for me to express the gratitude which I feel; I
can only assure the house that I shall always be ready to serve his
majesty in any capacity in which my services can be deemed useful, with
the same zeal for my country which has already acquired for me the
approbation of this house."

This speech was received with loud cheers, at the end of which the
speaker, who had sat covered during its delivery, rose, and thus
addressed his Grace:--

"My Lord,--Since last I had the honour of addressing you from this
place, a series of eventful years has elapsed; but none without some
mark and note of your rising glory."

"The military triumphs which your valour has achieved upon the banks of
the Douro and the Tagus, of the Ebro and the Garonne, have called forth
the spontaneous shouts of admiring nations. Those triumphs it is
needless on this day to recount. Their names have been written by your
conquering sword in the annals of Europe, and we hand them down with
exultation to our children's children."

"It is not, however, the grandeur of military success which has alone
fixed our admiration, or commanded our applause; it has been that
generous and lofty spirit which inspired your troops with unbounded
confidence, and taught them to know that the day of battle was always a
day of victory; that moral courage and enduring fortitude, which, in
perilous times, when gloom and doubt had beset ordinary minds, stood
nevertheless unshaken; and that ascendancy of character, which, uniting
the energies of jealous and rival nations, enabled you to wield at will
the fate of mighty empires."

"For the repeated thanks and grants bestowed upon you by this house,
in gratitude for your many and eminent services, you have thought fit
this day to offer us your acknowledgments: but this nation well knows
that it is still largely your debtor. It owes to you the proud
satisfaction, that, amidst the constellation of great and illustrious
warriors who have recently visited our country, we could present to them
a leader of our own, to whom all, by common acclamation, conceded the
pre-eminence; and when the will of heaven, and the common destinies of
our nature, shall have swept away the present generation, you will have
left your great name and example as an imperishable monument, exciting
others to like deeds of glory, and serving at once to adorn, defend, and
perpetuate the existence of this country amongst the ruling nations of
the earth."

"It now remains only that we congratulate your Grace upon the high and
important mission on which you are about to proceed, and we doubt not
that the same splendid talents, so conspicuous in war, will maintain,
with equal authority, firmness, and temper, our national honour and
interests in peace."

His Grace then withdrew, making the same obeisance as when he entered;
and all the members rising again, he was reconducted by the serjeant to
the door of the house.

On the 7th July, when the Prince Regent went in state to St. Paul's, to
return public thanksgiving for the restoration of peace, the Duke of
Wellington was seated on the right hand of his royal highness, with the
sword of state before him.

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