Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . e spring of 1813 he disposed of considerablymore than 200,000 men ; half of this force was com-posed of Spanish troops, for the most part in theeastern provinces ; the other half comprised his Brit-ish and Portuguese army, from 70,000 to 80,000 fight-ing men, in the highest state of efficiency for war,and besides some 30,000 Spaniards, better soldiersthan most of the levies of their race. Wellingtonhad more than 100,000 men in his hands ; he hadleft nothing undone to make them ready to takethe field and to ma
Wellington, soldier and statesman, and the revival of the military power of England . e spring of 1813 he disposed of considerablymore than 200,000 men ; half of this force was com-posed of Spanish troops, for the most part in theeastern provinces ; the other half comprised his Brit-ish and Portuguese army, from 70,000 to 80,000 fight-ing men, in the highest state of efficiency for war,and besides some 30,000 Spaniards, better soldiersthan most of the levies of their race. Wellingtonhad more than 100,000 men in his hands ; he hadleft nothing undone to make them ready to takethe field and to march rapidly over long distances ;and he had the support of the bands of the omnipre-sent guerrillas, of British squadrons commanding thenorthern seaboard, and of the Sicilian expedition onthe coast at the east. He was now distinctly su-perior to the enemy in force ; the plan of his in-tended operations was grand yet simple. He wouldfall on the French armies in his front, which certainlywould not be as strong as his own ; he would turntheir positions upon the Douro ; he would force. LORD LYNEDOCH.(After the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence.) Vitoria 201 them to retreat before they could unite ; he wouldthreaten their communications, perhaps seize them,continually outflanking them on his left, and having,if possible, brought them to bay, he would, if success-ful, drive them across the Pyrenees. This fine con-ception was thoroughly carried out, if one or twoshortcomings perhaps appear ; the possession of thenorthern seaboard, of which he was assured, wouldobviously facilitate the great outflanking move-ment. Wellington had his preparations made in the lastdays of April; his operations had begun by themiddle of May. He marched with some 90,000men ; his left wing, about 40,000 strong, underGraham, a lieutenant, who had distinguished him-self at Salamanca and on other fields, had advancedthrough the difficult country of the Trasos Montes;his task was to cross the Esla, in the first in
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