harsh.119
The findings of the Board of Inquiry proved to be of great consequence. In supporting the actions of the military on the ground, those findings made it possible for Wellesley to be placed in command of Britain’s next foreign expedition. In the autumn and early winter of 1808, Beresford was to participate in the attempt of Sir John Moore to assist Spain deliver itself of the French invader. Beresford’s star was in the ascendant as a result of his efforts to limit the French interpretation of the Convention, his role in policing Lisbon, and in improving relations between the British military in Portugal and the Portuguese political elite remaining in that country. One British officer arriving in Lisbon at the close of September reckoned that the vigilance of Beresford had saved the populace of in excess of £200,000 in recovered private and public wealth. He credited Beresford with proving to the inhabitants that ‘we were not the sanctioners of robbery, the protectors of plunderers, and the carriers of violated property’.120 Given the reported strength of the ill feeling towards the British following the execution of the Convention of Cintra, it is not difficult to see why Beresford’s conduct in the implementation of the Convention would ensure he would be welcomed back to Portugal in 1809.121
5 PORTUGAL AND SPAIN: FROM LISBON TO LA CORUÑA, 1808–1809
‘I well remember what a fine looking soldier he was.
He was equal to his business too’1
Beresford was certainly very active while stationed in Lisbon. We have already seen his involvement with the implementation of the Convention of Cintra and his role in securing calm in Lisbon. Apart from his relationship with a number of Portuguese military personnel, it is clear that Beresford at this time began to forge contacts with the various members of the Regency Council. Dalrymple was using Beresford as a go-between with Forjaz and others during September and this continued under Burrard in October.2
In a move which may have had some bearing on subsequent events, Beresford studied the current state of the Portuguese army and sent a report on it to General Bernardim Freire de Andrade, commander of the Portuguese forces in the northern part of the country, as well as to the reconstituted Regency.3 Beresford had displayed an interest in the organisation of the Portuguese military while in Madeira, deliberately ignoring government instructions in order to do so. Now we see him exhibiting a keen interest in the means of defending Portugal. In the report, Beresford advocated that troops should be transferred away from their home towns in order to be trained, so that they could develop into a fighting unit.4 He also stressed the need for regular pay, proper equipment and ready supplies. Finally, he recognised the need to reform the officer corps. All of these recommendations were to play a part in the reform of the Portuguese army in the period after 1809, though Burrard, in sending a copy of Beresford’s ‘plan’ home in October 1808, expressed no great hopes for its implementation:
Major General Beresford gave in a plan to the Regency for the reorganization of the Portuguese army of which I send a copy, as I do not believe it has been transmitted home. I am afraid little has been done on it, but consultation and debate, and I must repeat that without a Minister here equal to the task of instructing, urging and conciliating the government and people I think nothing beneficial will ensue either to Portugal, Great Britain or the general cause of Europe.5
Beresford expressed his frustration at this time about both the inactivity of the British army and uncertainty as to who would command it, a frustration born perhaps of having missed the battles in August 1808. On 30 September he wrote to his old friend Edward Cooke referring to Dalrymple’s recall and expressing a desire shared by many: ‘who is finally to have command of this army is what we are all anxious to know, and we trust a speedy decision as we do not understand rotting here doing nothing, while our friends the Spaniards are, with such earnestness, demanding our assistance’.6
Beresford was soon given another task. No sooner had he handed responsibility for Lisbon back to the Portuguese when riots broke out in Porto, instigated it was widely believed by the Bishop, António de São José de Castro, who initially expressed the view that the Regency Council had no authority given their cooperation with the French.7 When appointed one of the Regency Council to replace those removed on the grounds of collaboration with the French, he feared that his influence might be threatened by that body.8 There is little room for doubt that this concern led the Bishop to avoid coming to Lisbon at this time. Beresford was directed to Porto with some 2,500 troops to put an end to the disturbances.9 Subsequently, some of the troops were intended to occupy Almeida, surrendered by the French on 2 October under the terms of the Convention of Cintra. The decision to send Beresford reflects his high standing at the time with Burrard writing to Castlereagh: ‘I trust Major General Beresford will be successful in putting a fortunate termination to insurrection, as he has been happy in conducting some very intricate and difficult affairs in this town.’10
Burrard directed Sir Robert Wilson, in command of the recently constituted Loyal Lusitanian Legion, to meet Beresford at Coimbra.11 When Beresford arrived there on 22 October he learnt that peace had been restored in Porto. Sending on the troops to garrison at Almeida, Beresford visited the Bishop personally in Porto on 31 October. He secured the agreement of the Bishop that the latter would go to Lisbon in about a month to join the other members of the Council. In the event it was April 1809 before he did so. Beresford clearly realised the Bishop was seeking to advance his own position, but he managed to avoid taking sides while remaining on good terms with the cleric. Because Beresford could combine a cold demeanour with a considerable temper when roused, his diplomatic skills have perhaps not been adequately acknowledged. These skills had already been evidenced at Buenos Aires and during his time as Governor of Madeira. Now they were being honed further, with his involvement in the implementation of the Convention of Cintra and his mission to Porto. While there were many disagreements with the Regency Council before the end of the war in 1814, it will become clear that Beresford, in conjunction with Forjaz and Wellington (and with the financial support of Great Britain), managed to motivate the Portuguese army in such a manner as to enable Portugal to play a vital part in what was to become an Allied success.
With the recall of Wellesley along with Burrard and Dalrymple, the British army came under the command of Sir John Moore. His instructions envisaged the British force providing auxiliary help to the armies of Spain. Spanish success at Bailén resulted in Napoleon going to the Peninsula to conduct the war, and by the end of 1808 in excess of 200,000 French troops were in Spain to quell the insurrection there. Moore felt that an invasion of Spain was justified in order to help the Spanish, but he soon found himself on the back foot when his army of over 30,000 was faced by superior French forces. Initially he was delayed by lack of resources, the subject of correspondence with Castlereagh.12 Logistics led Moore to direct the army from Portugal to Salamanca in three divisions marching by different routes. Moore’s forces entered Spain from Portugal in early November, with Moore reaching Ciudad Rodrigo on the eleventh of that month. A portion of his forces reached Salamanca two days later. Beresford’s brigade initially formed part of the 3rd Division under Lieutenant General Mackenzie Fraser, who took his troops from Coimbra via Viseu to Salamanca. Beresford’s Brigade was used as a flanking brigade on the march there and by 6 November was stated by Moore to be at Pinhel and Celorico and their environs.13 Two weeks later, Beresford confirmed to his half-brother, the 2nd Marquis of Waterford, that they had reached Salamanca where he was quartered in the Bishop’s house, mentioning that he had a very good cook with him but surprisingly there was a shortage of wine. He observed that Salamanca was somewhat like Oxford with its colleges and churches, though the difference being that the Spanish city had monasteries for men and women. The buildings he found beautiful and the cathedral decidedly so.14 The news from Spain was all bad, with the successive defeats of armies under Blake and Castaños at Espinosa de los Monteros and Tudela, causing Beresford to opine that there was no prospect of his meeting his half-brother before the passing of another winter. Following the French capture of Madrid, Beresford was to observe that the defence had been trifling ‘not from want of inclination of the people but
