Fire and Sword (70 page)
Authors: Simon Scarrow
Arthur glanced at Canning. ‘When do you want me to sail for Portugal?’
‘The sooner the better. Best strike while the iron is hot, eh? I would like your force to land before the end of July.’
Arthur raised his eyebrows. ‘That does not give me much time to prepare.’
‘Really?’ Canning frowned. ‘How much time do you need? Our opportunity lies before us now, Wellesley. It may slip from our grasp unless you act quickly.’ Canning paused. ‘Of course, there are plenty of other general officers who might be able to act with greater alacrity.’
‘I will be ready on time,’ Arthur replied firmly.
‘Good.Then your first task will be to defeat General Junot and drive him from Lisbon and out of the country.’
‘Do we have any estimate of Junot’s strength?’
Canning nodded. ‘Our Portuguese spies tell us that he has no more than ten thousand men.Your command can handle that.’
‘Yes. As long as the reports of your spies are accurate.’
‘They are. Our agents in Lisbon had proved to be very reliable to date.You should have nothing to worry about. Now I suggest you set about making your preparations to leave as swiftly as possible.’
On returning to Harley Street Arthur immediately wrote a letter to Kitty to inform her of his new command. This time there was little likelihood of his returning to his duties in Dublin for a long time indeed. In which case, Kitty should move to London as soon as possible. He told her that this was the opportunity to serve his country that he had been waiting for for so many years, and that Kitty should be proud of him. Once she came to London, he continued, he would be content in the knowledge that his brothers would ensure that she was looked after, and help her run the family’s affairs until he returned.
Having folded, sealed and addressed the letter to Kitty, Arthur next wrote to the Duke of Richmond to inform him of the coming campaign. He offered his profound gratitude to the Duke for the confidence he had shown in Arthur by appointing him to the post of Chief Secretary. However, his primary duty lay in serving his country on the battlefield, until peace was won. After Bonaparte was defeated Arthur pledged to return to his post in Dublin as swiftly as possible.
Once the letters had been written Arthur turned his attention to making a list of the preparations necessary for the coming campaign. There were staff officers to appoint, books to purchase. He must also arrange to meet a deputation from Spain, and representatives of the Portuguese government in exile. As the day wore on and dusk settled over London Arthur added further pages of notes to the growing pile, until at length, as a footman lighted a lantern to illuminate his study, Arthur sat back in his chair with a smile.
At last he could prove his worth to the world. With ten thousand men he would clear the French out of Portugal, and once that had been achieved the government must surely see that with adequate reinforcements there was ample opportunity of bleeding Bonaparte’s army dry in the hostile plains and mountains of Spain.
The following weeks passed in a welter of details and meetings until early July, when all was ready. Kitty and the two infants had joined Arthur in London and on the eve of his departure he held a final private dinner for his brothers Richard,William and Henry. It was the first time for a number of years that they had gathered together, and as they chattered light-heartedly over the meal, catching up on each other’s news, Arthur could not help thinking back to the days of their childhood when they had played in the gardens of Dangan Castle in Ireland. It seemed an idyllic interlude now. Carefree games on the lawn while faint notes of violin music issued from their father’s recital room. Their mother would sit and sew in the shade of an oak tree and the outside world promised so much.Then came the French revolution and the war, and looking round the table Arthur was proud to note that each of them had risen to the challenge and served their country with distinction. At that moment he felt a surge of affection for his brothers and, slightly the worse for wear, leaned forward and picked up his glass.
‘A toast, my brothers!’
Henry looked at him with an amused smile. ‘A toast? Have you not yet drunk enough, Arthur?’
‘A toast,’ Arthur insisted. ‘I give you family, honour and duty. Long may we hold true to those values.’
Richard nodded. ‘Family, honour and duty.’
The others joined in as they all raised their glasses and then drained every drop.
Shortly afterwards William made his apologies and rose to leave, bracing himself against the table as the room spun round.
‘Oh dear,’ he muttered. ‘I don’t think I am very well.’
‘Come, William!’ Henry laughed as he stood up and moved round the table to support his older brother. ‘Let me take you home. I must bid the rest of you farewell.Thank you for a fine meal, Kitty. God speed and good luck to you, Arthur. Teach those damned Frenchies a lesson!’
‘I will,’ Arthur replied. ‘I promise. God save you, Henry, and you, William.’
When they had left Arthur turned to Kitty, who had been quiet all night. ‘Are you all right, my dear?’
‘I am fine. Quite fine,’ she replied.
‘Really?’ Arthur looked at her closely. ‘You are not sickening for anything?’
‘No. I said I am fine, thank you.’
‘Then why the long face?’
She looked up at him and now he could see the tears gleaming in the corners of her eyes. Her lips were trembling when she spoke. ‘You are going off to war again. I don’t know when you may return, if you return. So far fortune has spared you and sent you home to me in one piece. But can that last, Arthur? One day, a French bullet will find your heart, or a sickness will strike you down. Then I will be left a widow and your children will grow up hardly having known a father. And you ask how I feel?’
Before Arthur could summon a reply she had risen and hurried from the room, leaving her husband and brother-in-law staring after her in surprise.
‘Bless my soul,’ Richard muttered.
‘I’ll speak to her later. Put her mind at rest.’ Arthur poured himself another glass of wine and stared into its red depths.The room was silent for a while before Richard spoke again.
‘Your mood has changed.What are you thinking?’
‘Hm?’ Arthur stirred and looked at his brother. ‘Oh, it just struck me that I have not faced the French since I was in Flanders, fifteen years ago. They were good then, and I dare say that with all the experience Bonaparte has given them they will be even more formidable. They have humbled every army in Europe, except our own. In addition, they outnumber our men overwhelmingly. It is quite a daunting prospect.’
Richard looked at his brother searchingly. ‘Do you think you can beat them?’
‘I think so. They have faced armies who were already unnerved by the prospect of fighting French soldiers. It is my belief that our men are made of tougher stuff. They are better trained, better led in most respects, and, above all, they have self-confidence. If the French manoeuvre against us in columns, as I have heard they always do, then I believe that our men, in line, will be steady enough to carry the day.’ Arthur took a sip from his glass. ‘If I am wrong then they will bury my cold body in some ditch in Portugal, and you will soon be learning the Marseillaise.’
Chapter 43
Mondego Bay, Portugal, 30 July 1808
The British fleet lay heaved to off the coast. In addition to the transports there was a squadron of warships assigned to protect Arthur’s force. His strength had been increased by a further five thousand men under the command of Major-General Sir Brent Spencer, following further intelligence that Junot had up to twenty thousand men in his army. In the days before the transports had arrived off the coast of Portugal Arthur had been cruising along the coast looking for a place to land his soldiers so that they could march on Lisbon.A landing at the Portuguese capital itself was out of the question. The mouth of the Tagus was covered by a number of strong forts which commanded the approaches to the harbour. In addition, the British had discovered a squadron of eight Russian warships at anchor off Lisbon. With the treaty between France and Russia still in effect the Russian squadron presented a possible danger and was best avoided, Arthur decided. Sailing north along the coast from Lisbon it soon became clear that there were very few places suitable for landing his army.
Mondego Bay itself was covered by a centuries-old fort constructed from a pale yellow stone, and the British fleet was about to move on when a small boat put out from the shore and made directly for the British warships. On board was the excited representative of a group of students from Coimbra University. In broken English he explained that they had seized the fort from the small French garrison that had been posted there by General Junot.
‘How long ago?’
‘Two days.’ The student grinned. ‘Two days before, we kick them out.’
‘Kicked them out? You let them go?’
‘Yes!’ The student nodded. ‘They run like dogs with tails between legs.’
‘Then they will have had time to report the loss of the fort,’ Arthur mused. He turned to Admiral Cotton, the commander of the naval squadron. Cotton was a senior officer of long experience who approached his duty with caution. ‘We have to ensure that the army is ashore before the French can retake the fort.’
Cotton looked surprised and gestured towards the shore, where a wide expanse of rough-looking surf pounded the sand.‘It is not a good place to land your army, Sir Arthur.The conditions are too difficult, too dangerous.’
‘We’ll land here,’ Arthur replied firmly. ‘We have already sailed a hundred miles up the coast from Lisbon searching for a suitable place. We cannot afford to keep looking or we will put too great a distance between us and our goal.We land here. Now, I would be grateful if you would send ashore a hundred of your marines to reinforce our gallant student allies.’ Arthur patted the Portuguese youth on the shoulder and the latter beamed with pride as he puffed out his chest.
Admiral Cotton looked wearily at the student and shrugged his shoulders.‘As you wish. I will have our marines ashore within the hour.’
‘Thank you,Admiral. Let me know the moment we are in possession of the fort. Then we can begin disembarking our troops at once. In the meantime I propose to entertain our young guest in the wardroom, if you don’t mind?’
‘Not at all,’ Cotton grumbled. ‘Be my guest.’
Arthur led the student down the gangway and automatically ducked as they went below deck.There was a bump and a groan behind him as the student learned the first lesson of naval architecture.
‘Mind your head,’ Arthur muttered unhelpfully.
As the student drank eagerly from the decanter placed before him, Arthur questioned him about life under the French. The student’s cheerfulness faded as he told of the arrogance and cruelty of Bonaparte’s soldiers.They stripped the land of food and valuables as they passed and punished any attempt at resistance by the Portuguese people with wanton severity. Five days earlier, so the student said, a French patrol had been set upon by the townspeople of Évora when the French had attempted to take gold and silver plate from the local church. In return, the commander of the nearest French division, General Loison, had marched a column to Évora and killed every man, woman and child in the town. There was nothing left there but bodies and ghosts, the student said with scarcely suppressed rage.
As Arthur listened to him, and shared his anger at the horrors of war, he could not help feeling a measure of satisfaction that the French had, as ever, managed to turn the local population against them. Now Arthur could be sure that the Portuguese would welcome the British soldiers about to descend on their land. Of course, it was essential that every man in the army knew how vital it was to behave in a way that would retain the support and loyalty of the locals. He decided that it was time to issue his first General Order, so that the troops would understand that Portugal was a friendly country and no liberties were to be taken with the property or persons of the Portuguese.
As the student came to the end of his account, there was a knock and a marine entered the wardroom and saluted.
‘General, there’s a brig joining the fleet. They’ve signalled that they have an urgent despatch on board for you.’
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