Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . strong; it wasagreed, after some hot discussion, to march to and re-gain the Spanish capital, which Wellington, it wasknown, had left. Joseph re-entered Madrid on the 2ndday of November; Hill, who after pursuing DErlon,had held a position on the upper Tagus, with a com-posite army of some 25,000 men, having retreatedthrough the Guadarrama to join his chief. Wel-lington, by this time falling back from Burgos, wasnow gravely threatened by two armies, that of Sou-ham and that of Joseph and Soult; each of thesewa
Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . strong; it wasagreed, after some hot discussion, to march to and re-gain the Spanish capital, which Wellington, it wasknown, had left. Joseph re-entered Madrid on the 2ndday of November; Hill, who after pursuing DErlon,had held a position on the upper Tagus, with a com-posite army of some 25,000 men, having retreatedthrough the Guadarrama to join his chief. Wel-lington, by this time falling back from Burgos, wasnow gravely threatened by two armies, that of Sou-ham and that of Joseph and Soult; each of thesewas probably a match for his own, if for the presentthey were far apart; such had been the result of 1 Soult had taken away with him a number of important pic-tures, among others the magnificent Dona di Gloria of Murillo,and placed these in his mansion in Paris. Many years after-wards the Marshal showed the collection to Lord Cowley, nephewof Wellington, and remarked that no doubt the Duke had agallery of the same kind. The reply was excellent : Non, Marechal ; il vous a VISCOUNT ROWLAND HILL.(From the painting by H. W Pickersgill, ) Burgos 183 maintaining a fruitless siege. French writers, whohave contended that in this position of affairs, theBritish General, like Napoleon in the campaign ofItaly, could have fallen on and defeated his dividedenemies, appear to be altogether in error. During these events Wellington in retreat fromBurgos was followed by Souham with some 40,000men, Caffarelli having gone back with the Army ofthe North. The operations of Souham were cautious;some engagements of no importance took place ; butthe British soldiery, as so often has been the case,when falling back a long distance before an enemy,began to show symptoms of insubordination andwant of discipline. Meanwhile Joseph had marchedout of Madrid in order to effect his junction withSouham,— a rapid and well-conceived movement;he was accompanied by Soult and his Chief-of -Staff Jou
Size: 1280px × 1952px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidwellingtonso, bookyear1904
