In the House of Commons Sir Arthur was addressed in his place by the Speaker on the 27th January, 1809.

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"Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley,

"After the events of the last year, it was impossible that Parliament should re-assemble without directing its earliest attention to the services of the British Army in Portugal; and amidst the contending opinions which have prevailed upon other questions, the public voice has been loud and general, in admiration of your splendid achievements.

"It is your praise to have inspired your troops with unshaken confidence and unbounded ardour, to have commanded not the obedience alone, but the hearts and affections of your companions in arms; and having planned your operations with the skill and promptitude which have so eminently characterized all your former exertions, you have again led the armies of your country to battle with the same deliberate valour and triumphant success which have long since rendered your name illustrious in the remotest part of this empire.

"Military glory has ever been dear to the nation; and great military exploits in the field, or upon the ocean, have their sure reward in Royal favour, and the gratitude of Parliament, It is, therefore, with the highest satisfaction that, in this fresh instance, I now proceed to deliver to you the thanks of this House; and I do now accordingly, by the command, and in the name of the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, thank you for the distinguished valour, ability, and conduct, displayed by you on the 17th and 21st of August last in Portugal, on the latter of which days you obtained at Vimiera, over the army of the enemy, a signal victory, honorable and glorious to the British arms."

To the above flattering address, Sir Arthur Wellesley made the following reply:

"Mr. Speaker,

"I beg leave to express my acknowledgments to the House, for the high honor which they have conferred upon me, by the notice they have taken, and the approbation they have conveyed R. M. Cal.

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of my conduct during the time I commanded his Majesty's troops in Portugal.

"No man can value more highly than I do, the honorable distinction which has been conferred upon me, a distinction which it is in the power of the Representatives of a free people alone to bestow, and which it is the peculiar advantage of the officers and soldiers in the service of his Majesty, to have held out to them as the object of their ambition, and to receive as the reward of their services.

"I beg leave, at the same time to return to you, Sir, my thanks for the handsome terms in which your kindness, I ought to say your partiality for me, has induced you to convey the approbation of the House."

Notwithstanding the unfortunate issue of the campaign in Spain, and the deplorable state in which Sir John Moore's army returned to England, it was determined that further efforts should be made by Great Britain in aid of the patriotic exertions which were still continued throughout Spain and Portugal. Lieutenant-General Sir John Cradock, who had succeeded to the command of the troops in the latter country after the departure of Sir John Moore, took up a defensive position in the neighbourhood of Lisbon; but on receiving reinforcements from England, he made preparations for advancing on Oporto, in order to dislodge the French under Marshal Soult. Accordingly on the 9th of March, 1809, the British army, amounting, in the whole, to about 18,000 men, advanced from the neighbourhood of the capital, and on the 22d, the main body of the infantry had arrived in the city of Leyria; on the same day, Sir Arthur Wellesley landed at Lisbon, to take the command of the army, and on the 2d of May arrived in Coimbra, where the whole of the army was now assembled.

On the 6th, Sir Arthur reviewed his whole force in the plain below Coimbra, and next day commenced his march in the direction of Oporto. At this period, Marshal Soult, with the main body of his army, was in Oporto, and his advanced guard of cavalry stationed on the north bank of the Vouga. The French force was understood to be 24,000, but very much scattered. The army under Marshal Victor was in the neigh

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bourhood of Badajos. Major-General Mackenzie's brigade had advanced to Abrantes, on the Tagus, and the Lusitanian legion, commanded by Colonel Mayne, had proceeded to Alcantara, as a corps of observation. Sir Arthur, who had been appointed Marshal-General of the Portuguese troops by the Prince Regent, directed some of their battalions, the most advanced in discipline, to join the British brigades.

On the 10th of May the cavalry and advance of the AngloPortuguese army crossed the Vouga, and defeated a considerable body of the enemy's cavalry, and a few infantry. Next day the army came up with the French advanced guard, consisting of about 5000 men, and defeated them on the heights near Grijo, from whence they retired across the Douro, in the course of the night, and destroyed the bridge of boats. Marshal Soult hoped by this measure to arrest the progress of the combined army; but on reaching the banks of the river, Sir Arthur pushed over a small force, under Major-General Sir Edward Paget, who maintained himself in Oporto until reinforcements arrived, when the French were driven out with great loss. The combined army had marched upwards of 80 miles in the four preceding days, through a difficult country, and achieved the capture of Oporto, after a series of operations conducted with the utmost celerity and skill. Perhaps the passage of the Douro ought to be esteemed one of the most brilliant of Sir Arthur's exploits, when the obstacles he had to encounter are duly appreciated. The French officers did justice to his merit, by allowing that this achievement had never been equalled, even by Buonaparte; and Marshal Soult was evidently taken by surprise, no arrangements having been made for retreat. Five pieces of cannon were captured on the field, and 59 pieces with 37 tumbrils, and a considerable quantity of ammunition, were found in the arsenal, and upwards of 1000 sick in the hospitals. Marshal Soult retired by Braga, Salamonde, and Montalegre, into Gallicia, leaving behind him a fourth of his army, with the whole of his baggage and artillery. The pursuit was continued as far as Montalegre, a frontier town of the province of Tras os Montes, where the advance of this combined army halted, and soon after returned to Oporto.

Marshal Beresford, who had crossed the Douro, near Lamego, on the 10th, with Major-General, now LieutenantGeneral Chowne, Tilson's brigade of infantry, and a considerable body of Portuguese, in order to cut off the retreat of the enemy to Gallicia, by the way of Chaves, found on his arrival at Amarante, on the Tawega, that Brigadier-General Silveira had been obliged to evacuate that position, which was now occupied by a division of the French army, under General Loison. On the morning of the 13th, General Loison retreated in the direction of Braga, and joined the main body of the army under Marshal Soult. Brigadier-General Silveira, in the mean time, marched to occupy the pass of Ruivaes, between Salamonde and Montalegre, but unfortunately arrived too late to check the enemy in his retreat. Marshal Beresford directed his march on Chaves, with the view of intercepting the enemy, should he march by that road, which was the only one practicable for carriages: these he had, however, destroyed, and effected his escape through the mountains.

About the middle of June, the whole of the British troops were assembled in the neighbourhood of Abrantes, Sir Arthur's head-quarters. Marshal Victor, on receiving intelligence of Marshal Soult's discomfiture and subsequent retreat into Gallicia, retired from the frontiers towards Madrid, so that of the 50,000 French, who lately threatened and infested Portugal, not one remained. After a fortnight's repose, the British army quitted the banks of the Tagus, and advanced into Spain, for the purpose of co-operating with General Cuesta, commanding the army of Estremadura. Sir Arthur had stipulated that the Spanish government should furnish 500 mules for the transport of his provisions, and expected to have found a Spanish commissary at Zzara Mayor, to aid that department of the British army in procuring their supplies. In this he was disappointed, but, convinced of what importance a British force in Spain was to the patriotic cause, he continued his march to Placentia, where the whole of the army was concentrated on the 16th of July. General Cuesta had eagerly pressed the advance of the British, with an assurance of ample supplies, but although the troops were now in one of the most fertile districts of Spain, the

indolence of the magistrates was such, that Sir Arthur in vain entreated them to furnish provisions, without which he found himself unable to proceed. Although mortified at the delays which had hitherto taken place, and the little attention paid by the Spaniards to fulfil their engagements, Sir Arthur felt disposed to continue the system of operations concerted betwixt General Cuesta and himself, and, after receiving a promise from the authorities of Placentia, that the supplies required for the army would be collected without further delay, the British moved forward on the 17th of July, and formed a junction with the army of Estremadura on the 20th.

The combined army, on the 22d, advanced to Talavera de la Reyna, whence the enemy was dislodged, in the course of the morning, by the advance of the British and Spaniards. The French retired upon their main body, posted on the left bank of the Alberche, closely pursued. Next day, Sir Arthur proposed attacking Marshal Victor, on the 23d, but General Cuesta wished it postponed till the following day; when the army, on reaching the banks of the river, had the mortification to discover that the enemy had availed himself of the delay, and was in full retreat. There can be no doubt, had Sir Arthur's propositions for attacking the enemy on the 23d been adopted, that the destruction of Marshal Victor's corps would have been inevitable.

· General Cuesta commenced a pursuit of Marshal Victor on the 24th, and Sir Arthur declined further co-operation with the Spaniards, “on account of the great insufficiency, as to the means of conveyance in Spain." General Cuesta, on the 26th, was attacked near Torrijos, and obliged to fall back to Talavera. On the same day, Joseph Buonaparte, having collected the whole of his disposable force in that part of Spain, amounting to 47,000 men, drove in the advanced guard of the Spaniards, who retired in a disorderly manner across the Alberche, to the position in front of Talavera. Sir Arthur on the same afternoon withdrew the advanced guard of the British, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir J. C. Sherbrooke from Caselegas, across the Alberche, leaving a division of infantry, a brigade of cavalry, and a brigade of artillery, under Major-General Mackenzie, in the woods on the right bank of that river, about one