general came to the determination of attacking the French under general Laborde at Roleia.

Roleia is situated on an eminence, having a plain in its front, at the end of a valley which commences at Caldas, and is closed to the southwards by mountains which come in contact with the hills forming the valley on the left. In the centre of the valley, and about eight miles from Roleia, is the town and old Moorish fort of Obidos, from whence the enemy's piquets had been driven on the 15th. From that time the French had posts in the hills on both sides of the valley, as well as in the plain in front of the main army, which was posted on the heights opposite to Roleia; its right resting upon the hills, its left, on which was a windmill, and the whole covering four or five passes into the mountains on their rear. Their force amounted to about 6000, of which about 500 were cavalry, with five pieces of canuon. And there was some reason to believe that general Loison, who was at Rio Major on the 16th, would join general Laborde by his right in the course of the night. The plan of attack was formed accordingly, and the army breaking up from Caldas on the 17th, was formed into three columns; the right destined to turn the enemy's left, and penetrate into the mountains in his rear; the left to ascend the hills at Obidos, to turn all the posts on the left of the valley, and also watch the motions of Gen. Loison; the centre column to

attack general Laborde's position in front. The enemy was defeated, but retreated in good order. By this victory the road was cleared to Lisbon. On the day after the battle the British army moved to Lourinha, to protect the landing and facilitate the junction of the troops under general Anstruther; and on the 21st they resumed their march.

General Junot, having been informed of the large reinforcement expected under the command of Sir John Moore, determined to attack the British army before the reinforcement should arrive. For this purpose he left Lisbon with nearly the whole of the forces under his command, and came up with Sir Arthur on the morning of the 21st of Aug. A hard fought battle+ ensued. The French, with fixed bayonets, attacked the British with their usual impetuosity. They were driven back by our troops with the bayonet. They renewed their attacks, in different columns, again and again, and were as often driven back with cooler intrepidity and greater strength of arm. At last they fled from the charge. In this battle the French lost 13 pieces of cannon, 23 ammunition waggons, and about 3000 in killed, wounded, and missing. One general officer was wounded and taken prisoner, and another was killed. Our loss in killed, wounded, and missing, amounted to nearly a thousand.

After the dispositious for the battle of Vimeira had been made, Sir H. Burrard arrived at the scene

of

of action, but declined to take upon himself the command of the army. On the 22d, Sir Hew Dalrymple, who had been called from bis situation of lieutenant-governor of Gibraltar, to take the command of all the different corps sent by the British government into Portugal, reached Cintra, the place to which the British army had moved after the battle. Within a very few hours after his arrival, a flag of truce came in from Junot, proposing a cessation of hostilities, in order that a convention might be settled, by which the French should evacuate Portugal.

When intelligence was received in England, that in the words of Sir Arthur Wellesley, "The whole of the French force in Portugal, under the command of the duke of Abrantes in person, had sustained a signal defeat;" there was an universal expectation, that it would be followed up with other victories, and ultimately lead to some solid advantage.

That such an advantage had in fact been obtained, was firmly believed, when, on the arrival of the next dispatches from the army, the firing of the Park and Tower guns was heard, and that too, at a time of night very unusual, if not quite unprecedented. But how great was the surprise of the public when it was understood that the discharge of the Park and Tower guns related to a convention, signed at Cinura, by which it was, among other stipulations, agreed on, "That the English government should be at the expence of transporting the

whole of the French army to any of the ports between Rochfort and L'Orient. When the army arrived in France, it was to be at liberty to serve again immediately. All the property of the army, as well as the personal property of the individuals of the army, was to be sacred and untouched. It might either be carried off into France or sold in Portugal. In the latter case, full security was to be given by the British to the purchasers, that the property they had would not be taken from them, nor they themselves molested on account of the purchase."

But

The whole of this convention will be found in another part of this volume. It was founded on the basis of an armistice agreed upon between Sir Arthur Wellesley and general Kellerman on the day after the battle of Vimeira. the seventh article of that preliminary treaty, stipulating that the Russian fleet should be allowed either to remain in the Tagus unmolested as long as it thought proper, or to return home, was afterwards rejected by Sir Charles Cotton; between whom and the Russian admiral Siniavian, a convention was agreed to for the surrender of the Russian fleet to the British fleet t, on the 3d of September.

The regret and the indignation of the British nation was raised by the convention of Cintra, to a painful height. The throne was besieged, as it were, with petitions from all parts of the kingdom, calling loudly for an inquiry into

that

that transaction. The answer to the petition from the city of London, that for The institution of an inquiry, there was no need of their interference," was universally deemed ungracious. It was supposed to have been framed by the minister noted for briskness and petulance. An inquiry was set on foot. The board in their report*, after giving a well-arranged, and not altogether an uncircumstantial account of Sir Arthur Wellesley's expedition, declared, "That on a consideration of all circumstances, as set forth in the report, they most humbly submitted their opinion, that no further military proceeding was necessary on that subject. Because some of them might differ in their sentiments respecting the fitness of the convention in the relative situation of the two armies, it was their unanimous declaration, that unquestionable zeal and firmness appeared throughout to have been exhibited by lieutenant-general Sir Hew Dalrymple, Sir Harry Burrard, and Sir Arthur Wellesley, as well as that the ardour and gallantry of the rest of the officers and soldiers, on every occasion during the expedition, had done honour to the troops, and reflected lustre on bis majesty's arms."

But his royal highness the duke of York, in a letter to Sir David Dundas, president of the board of inquiry, observed to the board, that in their report, their opinion respecting the conditions of the armistice and convention had been altogether omitted. He therefore thought it his duty to call their attention to these two principal points

in this important case, the armistice and convention, and to desire that they might be pleased to take the same again into their most serious consideration, and subjoin to the opinion they had already given on the other points, whether, under all the circumstances that appeared in evidence before them, respecting the relative situation of the two armies, on the 23d of August, it was their opinion, that an armistice was advisable, and if so, whether the terms of the armistice were such as ought to have been agreed on? And whether, upon a like consideration of the relative situation of the two armies subsequently to the armistice, and when all the British forces were landed, it was their opinion, that a convention was advisable, and if so, whether the terms of that convention were such as ought to have been agreed upon. The board met again. The questions proposed by the commander in chief were put to each of the members. Some approved the treaties in question, adding the reasons of their approbation; others disapproved them, giving the reasons of their disapprobation. A formal declaration of disapprobation on the part of the king, of both the armistice and convention, with reasons, was officially communicated to sir Hew Dalrymple*.

Sir Arthur Wellesley had strenuously recommended a pursuit of the French; and great pains was taken by his friends at home, to screen him from the odium of both the armistice and convention: with which Sir Arthur appears indeed to

have

have expressed much dissatisfaction to his friends in private, though he had not hinted any disapprobation when in consultation with the other generals. But the board unanimously approved the judgment of Sir Harry Burrard, in abstaining from pursuit. "A superior cavalry," they observed, "retarding our advance, would have allowed the enemy's infantry, without any degree of risk, to continue their retreat in the most rapid manner, till they should have arrived at any given and advantageous point of rallying and formation: nor did Sir A. Wellesley, on the 17th of August, when the enemy had not half the cavalry he had on the 21st, pursue a more inconsiderable and beaten army, with any marked advantage."

In short, the report of the board was an indirect censure on Sir Arthur; for if Sir Harry Burrard was justified under all the circumstances in not advancing until the arrival of the reinforcements under Sir John Moore, Sir Arthur Wellesley, who knew that he must be speedily reinforced, judged ill in pushing forward and exposing himself to an attack, from which the enemy could only experience, at the worst, the disadvantage of a repulse, instead of waiting for a day or two, for such an augmentation of numbers as would have ensured the ruin of

the enemy, notwithstanding the superiority of cavalry. It was generally believed, and it was probably the truth, that Sir Arthur, confiding in the bravery of his troops, burned with a desire to have a brush with the French, before he should be superseded in the command by the arrival of Sir John Moore.

All Spain and Portugal, as well as the English garrison at Gibraltar, was indignant at the Convention of Cintra.

As the defeat of Junot and the deliverance of Portugal were only mediate, and not the ultimate objects of the British army, it marched from Lisbon, but not till the 27th of October, nearly two months after the convention of Cintra, under the command of general Sir John Moore, to the assistance of the Spanish patriots. The general's

instructions were, to march through Spain with his face towards Burgos; which was to be the general rendezvous of the British troops: not only of those now under the command of that officer, but of those with which he was to be reinforced from England. And he was to combine his operations with those of the commander in chief of the Spanish armies. But the issue of this expedition, together with the arduous struggle that preceded it, carries us into the year 1809.

VOL. L.

СНАР.

The two Erfurth, were each of HE two emperors, when they

them attended by a very numerous and brilliant suite, and kings, sovereign princes, and other persons of high distinction, came day after day, to do homage to the great emperor of the West. Among others who attended Alexander, were his brother the grand duke Constantine*, the count Romanzow, and the two counts Toltson, one of whom was the Russian ambassador at Paris. The suite of Buonaparte was composed of Berthier, Talleyrand, Caulincourt, Champagny, secretary Maret, the principal writer of official reports, the generals Lasnes, and Duroc, all of them bearing their new titles of princes, dukes, and counts, and in short all the staff officers belonging to the French army cantoned in Bavaria. The kings and sovereign princes of Germany, waited for the most part on Buonaparte in person. The Austrian general, count St.

tember 28th, with an apology from Vincent, arrived at Erfurth, Sep

the emperor of Austria, for not attending the conference, and no doubt the strongest and most polite assurances of friendship towards both the French and Russian emperor. Count St. Vincent was closeted a long time with Buonaparte. Great was the pomp and ceremony, and most splendid the feasts and other entertainments, that took place on the occasion of this imperial and royal convention. The little town of Erfurth was astonished to witness a magnificence, that would have been admired at Paris. The first dinner was given by Buonaparte.

Napoleon and Alexander held their conferences every day at ten o'clock. These being over, they rode out together, either in the same carriage or on horseback, to take a view of the adjacent country. In one of these rides Alexander consented to tra verse together with Buonaparte the whole