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Wellington's Dispatches
July 8th - 9th, 1809

 
   

Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to Deputy
Paymaster General Boys.

' Plasencia, 8th July, 1809.

' SIR,
' The Quarter Master General has communicated to me your letter of the 5th, which has astonished and disappointed me not a little. I cannot understand why you did not move at an earlier day, after I had quitted Abrantes; nor for what reason you did not make known to me, at an earlier period, the difficulties in procuring conveyance for the military chest, if these difficulties prevented its removal. I beg that, upon your arrival within the Spanish frontier, you will take measures for moving at least two stages in a day, in order to join head quarters; from whence you are not in future to separate yourself without my orders.

' I have the honor to be, &c. ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to the
Commissary General.

' Plasencia, 8th July, 1809.

SIR,
' I enclose the copy of a letter which I have received from Mr. Boys, which has surprised and disappointed me not a little. You must have been aware—indeed Mr. Dalrymple was repeatedly informed—that I waited only for money to commence my advance into Spain, as I was determined that the army should not be reduced in that country to the difficulties under which it had labored in Portugal for want of money. Yet I am sorry to observe that Mr. Boys, who, I expected, would have left Abrantes a day or two after me, does not come away till the 5th, nine days after I had set out; and then, instead of bringing with him all the money in his possession, he brings only about £23,000, out of which sum I know that he would have to pay £5 or 6,000 to the paymasters of the regiments which had been stationed at Castello Branco, and who had omitted to send in their estimates before I quitted Abrantes.

' Thus, then, the object for which I stayed so long at Abrantes has been defeated, and the promise which I have made to the Spanish authorities upon the frontier—viz., " that ready money should be paid for the supplies furnished to the British troops," will be violated; and the Commissaries will experience all the difficulties in procuring supplies, and the troops will suffer the distress, for the want of them, which we suffered in Portugal.

' All these evils would have been avoided if Mr. Boys had been supplied with thirty carts, which is the largest number that would have been required to draw £60,000 in silver, which I believe is the utmost of the Sum he had in the military chest at Abrantes.

' It is impossible that any man can pretend that Portugal, or even the neighbourhood of Abrantes, could not supply thirty carts for this service. I cannot, and nobody can believe, that, if proper measures had been adopted, a sufficient number of carts could not have been procured to remove the treasure at an early period; and I now beg that, immediately upon the receipt of this letter, you will wait upon the Commissary at Abrantes, and tell him that I desire he will employ parties of the militia at that place to bring in carts in sufficient numbers to remove, not only the money, but the provisions and stores which you have received directions to remove.

' You will then adopt efficient measures to have the drivers of the carts fed and paid during their march; and you will send off every thing without loss of time.

' It is necessary that positive orders should be given not to put more than 600 lbs. on any cart ; and that a certain number of spare carts should accompany the convoy. ' I hope that efficient measures have been adopted to secure the arrival of the £60,000 in Spanish gold with General R. Craufurd, and that I shall not be disappointed there also.

' I have the honor to be, &c. ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to the
Officer Commanding the Artillery at Castello Branco.

Plasencia, 8th July, 1809.

' SIR,
' I learn from the Deputy Paymaster General that he has been unable to move the military chest from Abrantes for want of carts, and I beg that, upon the receipt of this letter, you will call upon the magistrate at Castello Branco to supply as many carts as he can get, and you will employ the artillery men under your command to press them. You will then send them under escort of the artillery men under your command to Abrantes by the road of Villa Velha.

' After taking the carts to Abrantes the artillery men may return, as there are escorts at Abrantes for the money as well as for the ordnance stores, &c.;

' The number of carts wanted for the money is thirty ; but I doubt not but others are required to move the ordnance stores.

' I have the honor to be, &c. ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to the
Officer Commanding the Artillery.

' Plasencia, 8th July, 1809.

' SIR,
' It is desirable that all the horses belonging to the artillery in different parts of Portugal should be ordered to be collected at Lisbon, with the exception of those attached to Captain Baynes's brigade at Castello Branco.

' It is desirable that a 9 pounder and a 6 pounder brigade should be equipped for the field with these horses, and should be encamped upon the high ground behind Belem with the seven battalions of infantry now there; and I beg that you will give directions accordingly.

' In case this letter should not find you upon the road, I send a duplicate of it to the officer commanding the artillery at Lisbon, through the Commissariat at that station, in order that he may take measures to carry these orders into effect.

' I have the honor to be, &c. ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to Colonel Peacocke.

' Plasencia, 8th July, 1809.

' MY DEAR SIR,
' I enclose a letter for the officer commanding the artillery, which I beg of you to peruse and deliver to the officer commanding the artillery at Lisbon.

' Although I have thus given directions that the strength of the body of troops in the camp at Belem should be augmented, I beg that you will understand that they are to move, but not till I shall send orders for their movement, after I shall have received from you and from the General Officers commanding them a report of their state, such as I directed should be made in my letter to you of the 28th June.

' I beg that you will communicate this letter to Major General Lightburne and to Brig. General Catlin Craufurd, who, I conclude, command these troops.

' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to the
Right Hon. J. H. Frere.

' Plasencia, 8th July, 1809.

' MY DEAR SIR,
' I have arrived here with the advanced guard of the British troops. The army which was with me on the Tagus will be here on the 9th and 10th, having marched some of them from the neighbourhood of Santarem since the 27th of last month. The distance is not far from 200 miles. The cavalry and part of the infantry lately arrived will be up in two or three days afterwards.

' I am going over to see General Cuesta the day after tomorrow, and I shall return here on the 12th. I shall write to you from his quarters.

' You will have heard that General Franceschi is taken with dispatches from Soult to King Joseph, and other interesting papers. I have seen the purport of these papers; but I shall be very much obliged to you if you will send me copies of the originals, which have been sent to Seville, as well as General Franceschi and his aides de camp.

' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to Lieut. Colonel Roche.

' Plasencia, 8th July, 1809.

' SIR,
' I have received your letter of the 6th. I have this day received from Almeida the purport of the letters taken from General Franceschi's possession, of which I have given to Lieut. Colonel O'Lalor a copy to forward to General Cuesta, who may not have received them.

' From these it appears that Soult has evacuated Galicia and come to Zamora, solely with a view to give repose and to refit his army, and that he intends to plunder Braganza and to threaten Portugal; and he has detached small corps under Colonel Guipe, the precise object of whose operations is not stated. Ney remains, and must remain, in Galicia.

' I beg that you will tell General O'Donoju that I have no apprehensions for Portugal. Braganza must be plundered, and that we cannot help; but I have taken measures to prevent any serious impression being made upon Portugal. I think, however, that the corps under Colonel Guipe may be destined to pass through the Puerto de Perales or the Puerto de Banos to endeavor to ascertain what is going on in this quarter. The latter will be occupied on the 11th instant, but it is very desirable that some measures should be taken to occupy the Puerto de Perales, from whence the enemy could equally and most effectually annoy my communications with Portugal.

' I propose going over to see General Cuesta on the 10th, to stay with him the 11th, and to return on the 12th.

' I have the honor to be, &c. ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B. to the
Right Hon. John Villiers.

' Plasencia, 8th July, 1809.

' MY DEAR VILLIERS,
' Beresford will have communicated to you the accounts which he has received from General Cox of the capture of General Franceschi and his aides de camp, and of the letters taken on his person. From these letters it appears to me that Soult has been obliged to come out from Galicia to Zamora solely for the purpose of giving repose to and refitting his army; that he intends to plunder Braganza, which I conceive we cannot well prevent, and by his position, as well as by his movements, to threaten Portugal ; that Ney remains in Galicia, in which kingdom he is to fortify certain points, and to occupy them with his troops.

' You are aware that Beresford is about to collect his army upon the frontier, somewhere south of the Douro ; and I defy Soult to do him or Portugal any injury as long as his army is in its present situation, or by any amelioration of its situation which can be produced in a short period of time. He may be able to plunder Braganza, or any other village, but I trust that the Portuguese Government will have firmness sufficient to look at the great objects of the war, and not to disturb our plans or operations by calling for detachments to protect trifling objects upon the frontier ; which detachments, after all, will not be able to effect any of the objects which the Government would have in view in calling for them.

' Beresford's army on the frontier of Portugal will protect that country, and will add much to the strength of my left flank. Hereafter it will be able to accomplish more important objects; and in the mean time, I do not think it much signifies whether a village more or less is plundered. ' I arrived here this day. It is said that King Joseph has crossed the Tagus with some of Victor's cavalry and infantry, and the reinforcement he brought with himself, and is gone to join Sebastiani's corps, which will thus amount to 30,000 men; and that his intention is to beat Vanegas, who has 20,000 men, and then to penetrate to Seville by Cordova. Victor remains near Talavera with the remainder of his army, it is said, in great distress for provisions. ' I enclose the copy of a letter which I have received from Mr. Boys, and the copy of one which I have in consequence written to the Commissary General. I shall be very much obliged to you if you will mention to the Government the great inconvenience which the army has felt, ever since its arrival in Portugal, for the want of the assistance of the Civil Government to procure the supplies it has required, particularly of carriages and mules. For the latter I have written to you, I believe, not less than ten letters ; but they have not yet assisted the British army with one, and the magistrates of the country have rather prevented than aided us in procuring carts.

' I hope that now that we have left the country, more attention will be paid to our demands; and that I shall not. want that which alone I shall require from Portugal, the means of moving the money, and ordnance stores, which I shall want from Lisbon. I shall be obliged to you if you will send to Beresford the observations contained in the first part of this letter.

' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to Marshal Beresford.

'Plasencia, 9th July, 1809.

' MY DEAR BERESFORD,
' I have received your letters of the 4th and 5th. I have not forgotten either the Puerto de Banos or the Puerto de Perales, and have called upon Cuesta to occupy both. The former is already, and the latter will be so in a day or two.

' I have no apprehension that Soult will be able to do any thing for some time with his whole corps, but I think that that column ought to be watched. Your position in this view of the enemy's operations will materially aid our left. I believe that the enemy do not know now where we are.

' In respect to your officers, I have no objection to your appointing them to regiments, if you think you can do so without inconvenience hereafter. All that I say is that the decision of the Commander in Chief and of Government upon my letter of the 7th June must be final, and must be carried into execution.

' I have not yet been able to obtain a return of our camp stores. As soon as I can get a return, I will spare you what can be given without inconvenience to the British troops; but I must have Mr. Villiers's receipt for every thing.

' I should have thought that the arrangements which I had made for paying Mr. Villiers £80,000 of the money lately arrived would have enabled you to have taken the field. I am going to Cuesta's camp, and I shall write to you again when I return.

' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


Lieut. General the Hon. Sir A. Wellesley, K.B., to the Right Hon. John Villiers.

' Plasencia, 9th July, 1809.

' MY DEAR VILLIERS,
' I have received your letter of the 5th, and I am perfectly satisfied with any notice taken by the government of the present acts of enmity committed by the people of Portugal on the troops, which I fear that the latter deserve but too well.

' We must have some general rule of proceeding in cases of criminal outrages by British officers and soldiers, by which the individuals guilty of them may be brought to early punishment. As matters are now conducted, the government and I stand complimenting each other, while no notice is taken of the murderer; and the example of his early trial and punishment is lost to the troops.

' The artillery man who has committed the murder at Cascaes must be tried according to the laws of the country, or for a military offence under the Articles of War. My opinion is that he ought, and all guilty of similar offences, ought to be tried (I mean tried in earnest, and not as the officers of the —th were tried) according to the laws of the country ; but if the government prefer that we should take cognizance of these offences, as being of a military nature, we will do so at once in every case, but they must assist us in obliging the witnesses to come forward and give their testimony on oath, to which I find they have great objections.

' I have been working ever since I have been in Portugal to effect the object proposed by government in respect to the carts, but the army commenced ill before I arrived, and I have never been able to get it right since.

' I shall most readily come into any measure proposed by government to remedy the horrible abuses and hardships now existing, and occasioned entirely by the mode in which carts are taken for the service of the British army.

' Let me see the plan of the government before they promulgate it. I have directed that the money borrowed from Mr. Quintella at Oporto be repaid to him at Lisbon.

' Believe me, &c.; ' ARTHUR WELLESLEY.


 
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