Sir John was now actively engaged in examining the positions, natural and arti- In making arrangements for the approachficial, in the neighbourhood of Corunna. ing battle, Sir John had been occupied since The former were considerable, and con- day break. About an hour before mid-day sisted of two ranges of hills, surrounding he returned to head-quarters, and sending the town in the manner of an amphitheatre; for Brigadier-general Stewart, he desired the first being about four miles distant, the him to proceed to England, and communi

cate to government the state of the army and the approaching crisis, adding that he was incapable of writing, on account of the fatigue which he had undergone; but having taken two hours' rest and some refreshment, he wrote off his last despatch.

In the course of the evening of the 14th, the transports from Vigo hove in sight, and soon came into the harbour. Immediately the embarkation of the remainder of the sick, the dismounted cavalry, the best of the horses (the rest having been shot, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy), and fifty-two pieces of cannon, was proceeded with. Only eight 6-pounders were kept, to be employed in the approaching battle. On the same day, a magazine of 4,000 barrels of gunpowder, deposited on a hill, and which had been sent from England for the use of the patriots, was, after as many barrels had been conveyed to Corunna as the few mules and carts there could accomplish, blown up with an explosion so terrific, that the city was shaken to its foundation, the earth shook for leagues around, and the waters of the ocean heaved and swelled as in a violent storm.

On the 15th the enemy advanced to the height on which the magazine had been blown up, and directly opposite the British position; and frequent fusilades took place between the outposts of the hostile armies.

On the morning of the 16th, no intention appearing on the part of the enemy to attack, preparations were made for embarking the army, which was fixed to take place that night. On that day the commander-inchief issued his last order. About noon he proceeded to visit the outposts, to explain his intentions to the general officers. But he had not proceeded far on the road towards the position of the army, when he received a report from General Hope, "that the enemy's line was getting under arms." Expressing his apprehensions that there would not be daylight enough to profit sufficiently from the advantages which he anticipated as certain, he hastened to the scene of action. Already the advanced pickets and the enemy's light troops, who were pouring rapidly down the hill on the right wing of the British, were engaged. On reaching the field, Sir John immediately dispatched orders to the generals at the different points. General Fraser's brigade, which was in the rear, was ordered to move up and take position on the right; and General Paget was ordered to advance with the reserve to support Lord William Bentinck.

The enemy now commenced a destructive cannonade from eleven heavy guns, which soon overpowered the English 6-pounders. At the same moment four strong columns of infantry advanced from the French position, two of which were directed against the British right wing, which was the weakest point. The third column directed its march against the centre, and the fourth slowly moved on the left wing, along the road from El Burgo. A fifth column halted half down the descent of their position, towards the left.

The right wing appearing the object of the enemy's principal attack, an aide-decamp was dispatched to desire General Paget to bring up the reserve to the right of Lord William Bentinck's brigade, consisting of the 4th, the 42nd, and the 50th regiments.

The two hostile lines, though separated by low stone-walls and hedges, now advanced against each other, while showers of balls flew about in every direction. As they closed, the left of the enemy's line extending beyond the right flank of the British, a body of the enemy was observed moving up the valley to turn it. To meet the emergency, the 4th regiment, which formed that flank, immediately fell back, refusing their right, and making an obtuse angle with their left. In that formation they commenced a heavy flanking fire against the advancing enemy-a movement which so pleased Sir John Moore, who had taken his station near them, and was watching the manoeuvre, that he called out to the regiment-"That is exactly what I wanted to be done." At the same moment, riding up to the 50th, he addressed that gallant corps with some words of encouragement, which so animated the men, that they rushed forward and drove the enemy, who had gained possession of Elvina, out of the village. Then proceeding to the 42nd, and saying to them, "Highlanders, remember Egypt!" that regiment also rushed forward, driving the enemy before them till they were stopped by one of the low stone-walls which intervened between the two armies.

Prior to this movement, Sir John, seeing the position of the 42nd critical, had directed Captain Hardinge to order up a battalion of the guards to the left flank of the highlanders. While Captain Hardinge was reporting to the commander-in-chief that the guards were advancing, a cannon-ball struck Sir John on the left shoulder, and beat him

to the ground. Though the shot had carried away the left shoulder and part of the collarbone, leaving the arm hanging by the flesh, the intrepid sufferer raised himself and sat up, "without a muscle of his face altered, or the least indication of sensation of pain," looking intently on the highlanders, who were warmly engaged; and when told by Hardinge that they were advancing, his countenance immediately brightened. As the blood was flowing fast, he was carried off the field in a blanket, by six soldiers of the 42nd and the guards. While being removed, he ordered Captain Hardinge to report his wound to General Hope, who, as Sir David Baird had been wounded in an early part of the action, assumed the command.

General Paget, conformably to his orders, had hastened to the right with the reserve. Colonel Beckwith had also dashed forward with the rifle corps, and had penetrated so far on the enemy's flank as nearly to have carried a piece of their artillery, but was forced to retire before a corps of much superior force which was moving up the valley. This corps General Paget attacked with the reserve, and quickly repelled it. Pressing forward, he bore down all opposition in his front, so that the enemy, perceiving their wing exposed, entirely withdrew it.

the action. The English army consisted of 14,500 men; that of the French exceeded 20,000.

was

To cover the embarkation, a rear-guard of 2,000 men, under General Beresford, occupied the lines in front of the town; and a corps of reserve, under General Hill, stationed on a promontory behind the town. The whole army being embarked during the night, the pickets were withdrawn before daylight, and immediately went on board the transports; so that the only force which remained ashore now was the rearguard.

As soon as the enemy perceived that the English position was abandoned, they pushed on some light troops to the heights of St. Lucia; and about noon of the 17th, placed some cannon upon a rising ground near the harbour, and fired at the transports. The masters of the vessels were so frightened, that they cut their cables, by which misconduct four of the transports were stranded. The troops of the stranded transports being put on board other ships, and the vessels. burnt, the fleet set sail from the harbour. At two o'clock of the 17th, General Hill's brigade embarked under the citadel; and during that night and the following morning, General Beresford sent off such of the sick and wounded as could be safely removed; The enemy's onset on the centre had and, lastly, the rear-guard, about noon, been gallantly resisted by General Man- entered the boats and reached the fleet ning's horse and Leith's brigade; and their without the least interruption from the efforts on the left wing had been unavailing, enemy; so strongly had the bloody repulse as the position on that side was strong. they had experienced inspired them with One of their corps had taken possession of respect for British valour. As the transports a village on the road to Betanzos, but it was (in which were Beresford's troops) joined quickly dislodged, with loss, by some com- the fleet, signal was made for sailing, and panies of the 14th, under Lieutenant-colonel the whole, under a strong convoy, made Nichols. for England.

The enemy had now fallen back on every point; but light beginning to fail, all pursuit was desisted from, as it was well known that reinforcements would reach the French, so as to render the retention of their position impossible. Orders were therefore issued for the troops to move from the field by brigades at ten o'clock at night, and march for Corunna for embarkation. To cover the retreat of the columns, the pickets left to guard the ground lighted many fires. The loss of the British, in killed and wounded, had been between seven and eight hundred; that of the enemy about 2,000: the great disparity of loss having occurred by fresh muskets being served out to the English from the stores in Corunna just prior to

As Sir John Moore had been heard frequently to declare, that if he should be killed in battle he wished to be buried where he had fallen, he was interred in a grave dug by a party of the 9th regiment on the ramparts of the citadel, his body retaining the uniform in which he had been killed, wrapped up in his military cloak and blanket.

When Marshal Soult took possession of Corunna, he ordered a monument to be erected to the memory of Sir John Moore; but the French consul, to whom the duty was delegated, having omitted to put the marshal's design into execution, at a subsequent, period the Marquis of Romana and one of Sir John Moore's countrymen erected

a monument, bearing the simple but touching had sustained its ancient renown: not a inscription:

"JOHN MOORE,

LEADER OF THE ENGLISH ARMIES,

SLAIN IN BATTLE, 1809."

Thus ended the first English campaign in Spain during the struggle of the patriots for independence. In it the English army

piece of artillery, a standard, nor a single military trophy had fallen into the enemy's hands; for the useless 3-pounders which had been abandoned were spiked, and all the ammunition and baggage which could not be carried forward were destroyed.

longer despaired of the liberation of their country from the thraldom of the oppressor. On the 28th he proceeded to Coimbra, where the head-quarters of the army were established. From that city he, on the 9th of May, moved forward with an army consisting of about 25,000 British and Portuguese forces, on Oporto, for the purpose of dislodging Soult from that city, and clearing the northern provinces of Portugal of the enemy; with the design also of turning Soult's left flank, and thus cutting off his retreat by Braga, or through Tras-os-Montes, to Astorga and Leon. The army advanced in two columns. The right, consisting of 6,000 infantry and 1,000 horse, under Marshal Beresford, proceeded to the Upper Douro, by Viseu and Lamego, for the purpose of co-operating with Silviera, who was

SIR ARTHUR WELLESLEY'S SECOND CAMPAIGN IN PORTUGAL. THE British cabinet having determined to time in the hands of Sir John Cradock. In resume military operations in Spain on be- a moment, his presence infused new life half of the patriots, invited Sir Arthur and confidence into every department of the Wellesley to the command of the forces government and the army. The Portudestined for that purpose. To provide an guese, both civil and military, were enthuadequate military force, two acts of parlia-siastic in their reception of him, and no ment were passed to give greater activity to enlistment from the militia. But as Soult had, since the evacuation of Spain by the English army after the battle of Corunna, invaded the north of Portugal, and obtained possession of Oporto, though garrisoned by thrice the number of his army, it was determined first to undertake the liberation of that country from the French yoke. Accordingly, Sir Arthur was requested to furnish his opinion of the best mode of accomplishing that purpose. In a memorandum dated 7th of March,* the British general stated his opinion, that the Portuguese military establishment should be increased and put into a state of efficiency, and officered by British officers; by which Portugal might not only be defended, but which would be highly useful to the Spaniards in their contest with the enemy, and which might even-in possession of the line of Tamega and the tually decide the contest. In furtherance of this advice, General Beresford, with the rank and title of field-marshal in the Portuguese service, was appointed generalissimo of the forces in Portugal, and a number of English officers took service in the Portuguese army.

In prosecution of the magnificent plan which his genius had conceived, Sir Arthur, resigning his office of secretary for Ireland, prepared to proceed to the scene of action. On the 15th of April he set sail from Portsmouth for Lisbon in the Surveillante frigate, which was nearly lost in a storm at the back of the Isle of Wight, the night after she quitted Spithead. On the 22nd he arrived at Lisbon, and took the command of the army, which had been for some See Gurwood's Wellington Despatches.

bridge of Amarante. The left, consisting of 15,000 infantry and 1,600 horse, under the immediate command of Sir Arthur, moved by the Vauga direct on Oporto. General Mackenzie, with 3,000 British and 4,000 Portuguese, advanced to Alcantara and the eastern frontier of Portugal, in order to protect that part of the country from Lapisse and Victor's movements, who were stationed in Estremadura. The English general had hoped to be able to surprise and cut off that part of Soult's force on the left or southern side of the Douro, in its retreat from the Vauga to that river; but the French marshal obtaining information of the approach of the English, rapidly withdrew them, except the rear-guard, behind the Douro. At the same time he dispatched Loison to dislodge Silviera from the banks

of the Tamega and the bridge of Amarante, | brigade; and at the same time, their right a task which the French general did not being vigorously attacked by a Portuguese find much difficulty in performing.

In its march towards Oporto, the British advanced guard fell in with the outposts of the enemy at Vendos Nevos. Their main body, consisting of 4,000 infantry and a few squadrons of cavalry, was posted on the heights above Gijon, having their front covered by wood and broken ground. Their flank was soon turned by General Murray's

brigade, their centre was driven in by the rifles. By a rapid retreat, the enemy reached the Douro on the night of the 11th of May, which they instantly crossed, and burned the bridge of boats at Oporto. They were closely pursued by Sir Arthur, who appeared on the southern bank of the river on the 12th of May, about a mile above the city of Oporto and its suburb, Villa-Nova.

PASSAGE OF THE DOURO.

appeared on Soult's flank; while Murray's column, which had crossed at Avintes, showed itself on the French left, and threatened their line of retreat. Soult, seeing his desperate situation, ordered a retreat. Soon the city was evacuated-horse, foot, and artillery tumultuously rushing from it, being fiercely assailed in their flight past the Seminary by repeated volleys from the troops which had debouched from that building to attack them. They fled with the greatest rapidity, and in the utmost confusion, towards Amarante, with the intention of passing through Tras-osMontes into Spain; lost 500 men in killed and wounded, many prisoners, five guns, and a large quantity of ammunition in the action; and leaving in Oporto 700 sick, and fifty French guns in the arsenal. The English loss was twenty-three killed and ninetyeight wounded. At four o'clock, Sir Arthur sat down to the dinner which had been prepared for his opponent. The enemy was pursued for a short distance, but the harassed state of the troops caused the pursuit to be suspended for that night.

EARLY on the morning of the 12th, the British commander-in-chief dispatched General Murray to cross the Douro at the ferry of Avintes, about five miles above Oporto; and the brigade of guards was directed to cross the river below Villa-Nova, and as near as possible to Oporto, while the main body of the army attempted to effect a passage from the Serra convent at VillaNova, to an old building entitled the Seminary (Seminario), on the opposite bank, by means of any boats which could be obtained. Three boats having been procured by Colonel Waters, twenty-five of the Buffs were quickly ferried over in one of them, and the two others rapidly following, and having deposited the men on the bank of the river, returned for fresh ladings, until the first battalion of the regiment-consisting of 1,000 men, under the command of Major-general Sir Edward Paget-were established in the building. The French at last perceiving the British on the right side of the river, cavalry, infantry, and artillery hurried forth from the city, and coming furiously down on the Seminary, attacked the Buffs, who gallantly maintained their On taking possession of the city, Sir position till supported successively by the Arthur published the following proclama48th and 66th regiments, under General tion:-"I call on the inhabitants of Oporto Hill, on whom the command soon devolved, to be merciful to the wounded and prisSir Edward Paget being wounded. The oners! By the laws of war they are enwell-directed fire of the battery of twenty titled to my protection, which I am deterguns on the projecting promontory on the mined to afford them; and it will be worheights of Villa-Nova, at last became so thy the generosity and the bravery of the powerful as to drive the enemy from all Portuguese nation, not to revenge the insides of the building, except the iron gate juries which may have been done to them on the north. In the meantime, the bri- on these unfortunate persons, who can be gade of guards and the 29th regiment, un- considered only as instruments in the hands der General Sherbrooke, had been ferried of the more powerful, who are still in arms over the river in large boats brought to them by some of the citizens of Oporto, and charging the enemy through the streets,

against us:" and, in addition to enjoining the inhabitants to be merciful to the French wounded and prisoners, he wrote to Mar