British troops were billeted for the most part in two monasteries, the Incarnation and the Jesuit College. This was in accordance with Portuguese custom and caused no difficulties. Indeed, not only did Beresford first obtain the permission of the Bishop of Funchal but he ensured the religious orders were financially compensated for this arrangement, a move which was unusual at the time. Further, he ensured that the payment of the troops was a burden on the British treasury and provisions for his force were purchased rather than plundered. Food was in short supply in January because the victuallers to the fleet had not appeared, but Hood ordered the landing of such supplies as the transports with the fleet could spare.25 Meat was brought in from the Azores and other provisions from Africa.26 However, medicines had to be sought from England as due to the speed of departure a considerable amount had been left at Portsmouth. Here, as throughout the Peninsula, British policy directing payment for provisions was in marked contrast to that of the French, which required its armies to live off the land.
The defences of the island, while they had been improved by the Governor prior to Beresford’s arrival, he found to be inadequate. This was particularly the case with the artillery (a common problem for the British in Portugal) which Beresford described as ‘unserviceable and much more dangerous to those that fire them than those they may be fired at’. Beresford told Castlereagh that if the island was to be properly defended guns must be sent from England.27
British policy, however, was undergoing change within weeks of Beresford’s arrival in Madeira. Britain was highly desirous of obtaining the right to trade directly with Brazil, a privilege previously reserved to Portugal, and the Portuguese made their agreement to granting such a right conditional on the ending of British sovereignty over Madeira. In mid February, Beresford was informed by Castlereagh that the emigration of the Portuguese court had materially changed the circumstances under which orders had been given to occupy the island and accordingly it had been resolved to adopt a system which would ‘remove suspicion from the Portuguese government that we occupy the island with any other view than to preserve the sovereignty of the Crown’.28 Accordingly the civil government would be returned to Portugal while the military command would remain with Britain which would be responsible for the defence of the island.
On 1 March 1808, Castlereagh wrote to Beresford formally informing him of the plan to return Madeira to the Regent, and this was announced on 26 March.29 The island’s former Governor was reinstated on 24 April just four moths after Beresford had landed at Funchal. Writing that day to Castlereagh, Beresford was able to inform him that he and the Portuguese governor enjoyed the ‘best of friendly relations’.30 However, the restoration of Portuguese authority led to the rescission of many of Beresford’s civil reforms.
Beresford, promoted to the rank of Major General in March 1808, was clearly hungry for action and very concerned that he would miss out in the enduring conflict with France.31 Shorn of his civil powers in Madeira he repeatedly sought a transfer from the island and was delighted when notified by letter of 16 July that he should transfer to Portugal. He was directed to take with him the 3rd regiment together with one company of artillery. If the British army was not employed there or in Spain, his orders were to proceed to Gibraltar.32 Beresford left the island on HMS Undaunted on 23 August for Portugal. His successor in Madeira was General Meade, and henceforth the British role in Madeira was confined to a military one. While the military occupation of Madeira did not end until 1814, it is noteworthy that the quality and number of the troops sent there was reduced. Not only was the 3rd Regiment sent to Portugal with Beresford in the summer of 1808, but the 11th Regiment was subsequently replaced by a regiment of veterans. This attitude probably reflected an assessment by the British government that French intervention was extremely unlikely due to maritime weakness.
The British citizens on the island obviously appreciated his time in the archipelago, for in 1810 the Factory authorised the presentation to Beresford of a sword and a piece of plate valued at £310.33 An entry in the books of Cossart Gordon and Company, the wine merchants in Funchal for 6 September 1808, refers to the arrival of General Meade and goes on to state: ‘His predecessor General Beresford rendered himself extremely popular with all ranks in the island and it was with extreme regret we parted with him.’34 One of Beresford’s achievements while on the island was to acquire the land which became the new burial ground for the Anglican church in Funchal, at the time as a military cemetery.35 In 1811 he was to repeat that success by persuading the Portuguese government and religious authorities to establish a military graveyard at Elvas following the battle of Albuera.
4 THE DEFEAT OF THE FIRST FRENCH INVASION OF PORTUGAL AND THE CONVENTION OF CINTRA, 1808
The increasingly harsh rule of Junot during the winter of 1807 and spring of 1808 gave rise to an incremental unwillingness by the Portuguese to obey Prince João’s instruction to cooperate and not oppose the Franco-Spanish invader. Junot’s despotic behaviour resulted in the withdrawal of local officials’ cooperation and active popular resistance. It is sometimes not fully appreciated that such resistance emerged very quickly, notwithstanding the royal directive to cooperate with the French invader. The replacement of the Portuguese flag with that of France on the Castelo de São Jorge on 13 December 1807 led to unrest in Lisbon that was quickly put down by French arms.1 Junot’s intentions became even clearer when nine days later, on 22 December, he reduced the numbers of regiments in the Portuguese army, ultimately virtually extinguishing it with the formation of the Portuguese Legion, which was dispatched to northern Europe where they fought for Napoleon under pro-French officers with considerable distinction until the end of the war.2 In early 1808 Junot dissolved both the militia and the ordenança.3 The situation was further aggravated by acts of aggrandisement along with the plundering of Portuguese churches and households.4
On 1 February, Junot disclosed that Napoleon had declared that the house of Braganza had ceased to rule in Portugal and imposed a substantial imposition of 40 million cruzados on the country.5 Napoleon’s real intentions were now made clear with the announcement that the entire kingdom of Portugal would become a French dependency with Junot as Governor. On the same day he dissolved the Regency Council and replaced it with a council of his own appointees, made up of French and Portuguese.6 Resentment was rising. In February, nine Portuguese were brutally executed in Caldas da Rainha on the orders of General Loison, who was to make a name for himself as a merciless soldier in the Peninsula.7 In March, the French army occupied the fort of Elvas.
The spark that ignited serious opposition to Napoleonic ambitions in the Iberian peninsula proved to be the enforced abdication of Carlos IV of Spain and the waiving under duress of a claim to his throne by his son Ferdinand VII.8 The French managed to crush the resistance of the ‘Dos de Mayo’ in Madrid, but opposition to French rule in the shape of Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain soon spread throughout much of the country. The divisions of the Spanish army in northern and southern Portugal managed to extricate themselves to Galicia and Badajoz, respectively, though Junot disarmed and imprisoned the division under Carafa based in Lisbon on 11 June.9
While Junot retained his grip on Lisbon and a number of important strongholds including the fortresses of Almeida, Elvas and Peniche, the vacuum left by the departing Spanish soon resulted in the emergence of increased opposition to French rule. In Alentejo that opposition was firmly put down by General Loison, but Porto witnessed an uprising on 6 June and the emergence of the self-styled Supreme Junta under the Bishop of Porto, which could dispose of a not inconsiderable armed force under Lieutenant General Bernardim Freire de Andrade (Bernardim Freire).10 On 1 May, the Prince Regent declared war on France from the safety of Rio de Janeiro, having been informed that the Regency Council he had left in Lisbon had been dismissed by Junot.
In London, the risings against French domination in Spain and Portugal were seized upon with alacrity. In early July the government was informed of the rising in Porto and on 7 July a delegation was sent to London to request help with arms and soldiers.11 The government had been assembling a force at Cork for embarkation for South America, where it was designated
