Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . arges atleast had got over the Douro, and had occupied theSeminary, with a not inconsiderable force, beforethe enemy had the least notion of what was takingplace; the surprise, in fact, was discreditable andcomplete. The French now fell on the troops, whohad gathered within the kind of fortress marked outfor them ; but they were ravaged by the fire of theguns from the hill and the convent; the populationof Oporto sent a number of barges to the help ofWellesley; the British army was before long acrossthe Douro
Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . arges atleast had got over the Douro, and had occupied theSeminary, with a not inconsiderable force, beforethe enemy had the least notion of what was takingplace; the surprise, in fact, was discreditable andcomplete. The French now fell on the troops, whohad gathered within the kind of fortress marked outfor them ; but they were ravaged by the fire of theguns from the hill and the convent; the populationof Oporto sent a number of barges to the help ofWellesley; the British army was before long acrossthe Douro. Meanwhile the columns of Murray wereseen advancing; they, too, had passed the riverhigher up ; this was the signal for a precipitate re-treat of the enemy; Soults whole army hastenedout of Oporto, leaving guns and stores behind, andlosing many men ; it made for the roads leading toAmarante, where the Marshal expected to find Loi-son. Had Murray acted with vigour he must havedestroyed a large part of the defeated host ; it ex-posed, in its flight, its flanks to him; but he missed. LORD WELLESLEY.(From the painling by Sir Thomas Lawrence.) The Dotcro—Talavera 87 his opportunity, whatever the cause ; he allowed theenemy to escape scot-free. The campaign on the Douro, above all, the passageof the great river under the very eyes of Soult,were signal instances of what Wellesley couldachieve in war. He owed something, indeed, totreason in his adversarys camp, and something tothe remissness shown by the French Marshal; anaccident enabled him to find the means of sending apetty detachment across the stream; but all thisdoes not in the least detract from his merit. Hegave proof of marked skill in sending Beresford tothreaten the French line of retreat, though he couldhardly have anticipated the success he gained; hetook the right course in advancing from Coimbraupon Oporto. But the passage of the Douro wasthe great exploit; it was a most conspicuous exhi-bition of resource in tactics
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