have money in abundance, supplies of all kinds find us out; but as soon as the means fail us, we are obliged to go the Lord knows where in search of them. Dollars here, are the only sinews of war.

"I had a letter from General Maitland, down from Gibraltar, on his way to Sicily. I find he was appointed to that command without any application or previous intimation of the intention. In a pecuniary view it is certainly by no means an advantageous change for him, as the revenue of a lieutenant-general will barely make the military pot boil, leaving the family entirely out of the question.

"I hope Mrs. M. and the young ladies continue in good health, and amuse themselves well with the rural scenes about Sydenham. Pray offer them my best respects. Has your elder son returned from his travels? I hope well stored with useful observations. My best respects to him and all the young ones.

"I am beginning to grow tired of this vagrant life. We have been since March in continual movement-sometimes in miserable abandoned cottages, and as frequently without any covering whatever. I have constantly, for a whole year, made use of a bundle of straw as a bed, and I do not see any probability of a change for some time longer. dear sir, "Very faithfully yours,

"With my best wishes, my

"T. PICTON."

After this the British army proceeded to the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo. Picton here received the intelligence of the death of his uncle, a general in the army, at the advanced age of eighty-four. He was made his sole heir. This decease made a very great impression upon him. The assault took place soon after-the town was carried with immense loss on our side. All this is very well narrated by Mr. Robinson, and the fall of that so often contested city has now become matter of history. However, we shall subjoin the following account of it from one of General Picton's letters in our possession.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"Zamarra, 27th Jan. 1812.

"Since I last had the pleasure of writing to you, we have been engaged in a most arduous undertaking; a winter's siege in a climate to the full as severe as that of England. Marmont, calculating that we were safely lodged in winter quarters, and would not, on various accounts, undertake any thing of consequence at such a season, moved the whole of his army southward, for the purpose of co-operating with Soult and Suchet, in overwhelming Blake and the Catalonians before the opening of another campaign, when their whole united force would become disposable on this side. As soon as Lord Wellington saw him so far advanced, as to afford him a probable opportunity of being able to capture Ciudad Rodrigo before he could return to its relief, he suddenly assembled four divisions of the army, and completely invested the place on the 8th instant; and carried the approaches and works on with such astonishing rapidity, that there were

two practicable breaches in the body of the place on the evening of the 19th, when it was determined to assault at all points. The business was divided between the 3rd and the light divisions. The assault took place at seven o'clock in the evening. The 3rd division had by far the most difficult attack on the main breach, where the enemy were most prepared. The troops were, in consequence, exposed to a severe fire of hot shells and musketry, as well as several explosions, from which they suffered severely; but nothing could damp their ardour for a single moment. They rushed impetuously forward, drove the enemy from the breach as well as the entrenchments they had thrown up to defend it. The light division shortly after seconded in the attack allotted to them, and in a few minutes we drove them from all their points of defence, and became undisputed masters of the city. Our loss on the occasion was very considerable, particularly in officers, of whom forty-one (in the 3rd division) were killed or wounded. It was necessary to accelerate the attack, as Marmont was returning rapidly, with a large army, to its relief. Upon the whole, it has been a most important, as well as brilliant achievement, and does much honour to the talents of our commander. By this enterprise he has gained two great points. He has effected an important diversion in drawing Marshal Marmont's army back to this frontier, and he has, at the same time, gained a position of the greatest importance to our ulterior operations. I don't know whether you will be able to decipher this scrawl. My eyes are growing so bad, that I can with difficulty make out any writing-particularly my own. Be so good as to offer my best remembrances to Mrs. M. and all the family.

My dear sir,
"Very faithfully yours,

"T. PICTON."

After the place was in possession of our troops, at great personal hazard, the subject of our remarks made himself extremely active in endeavouring to suppress the excesses of the soldiers, wild from the excitement of the storming. For General Picton's conduct, during all these proceedings, he received the Duke of Wellington's warmest thanks, both publicly and privately.

Another siege succeeded, that of Badajoz, perhaps one of the most dearly bought upon record. It is well detailed, and upon various authorities, by Mr. Robinson, all of them highly honourable to Picton. This part of the work will be read with the greatest attention, as it displays, in colours the most striking, the devoted bravery of the British character, from the lowest to the highest ranks. It was in the ditch, before the castle, which his troops afterwards carried, that Sir Thomas Picton received his wound. Had that castle not been carried, Badajoz would not have been won, and honour, and perhaps the Peninsula, have been lost. It was taken by escalade, and that in a manner that seems almost miraculous. The attacks on all the other points miserably, disastrously failed, for five thousand of our best troops were slaughtered in the breaches; whilst Picton's assault, that was at first intended only to have been a feint, proved

to be the means of turning a bloody defeat into certainly no bloodless victory.

But we must hasten on. We cannot pause to record the many noble deeds Picton performed, nor the many amusing anecdotes connected with himself and his fighting division; we cannot even dwell upon Lord Liverpool's merited eulogium upon his character and his services, and those stirring events in which he participated, or which he directed. We must content ourselves with a slight and very rapid sketch. Soult advanced to relieve, and retreated from Badajoz when he heard of its fall. Marmont moved upon Ciudad Rodrigo, and afterwards marched upon Almeida. The British advanced upon Castile, and at length Marmont, receiving reinforcement, again assumed the offensive. At length, in Salamanca, General Picton was confined to his bed, by a dangerous attack of fever, common to the country. Indeed, he became so ill, that he was obliged to permit the command of the third division to devolve upon General Pakenham. Just before this period he addressed the following letter to his friend, Mr. Marryat.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"Before Salamanca, 24th June, 1812.

"We passed the Tormes by difficult fords on the 17th, and I had a continued skirmish with Marshal Marmont during the whole of that day. We entered the city on the same evening, but the French occupied a strongly-fortified point, which they have ever since maintained with obstinacy; and we have lost many valuable officers and men in attempting to dislodge them. On the 19th, Marshal Marmont, being joined by the reinforcements he expected, advanced within three miles of our position in front of Salamanca, and he made every apparent disposition for attacking us, and extended his army along our front so as to almost bring the two armies in contact in various points. In this extraordinary situation we remained, with various skirmishes and trifling affairs of posts, during the whole of the 22nd. On the morning of the 23rd, we discovered that he had silently decamped during the night, with all the appearance of a retreat upon Valladolid. However, we shortly after discovered that he had made that nocturnal movement for the purpose of approaching his left to the Tormes, and he now appears to be meditating the passage of that river, for the purpose of getting into our rear and acting upon our line of communication. We have also passed the river with three divisions of the army, and are endeavouring to counteract this manœuvre. The armies are, I believe, nearly equal at present; but the enemy has the means of reinforcing himself at hand, and we have no hopes of any addition to our force. My hopes are far from sanguine. We may operate as an admirable diversion and distract the enemy considerably by obliging him to concentrate his forces, which will lay him open to the enterprises of the Guerillas, but I have no hopes of being able to effect any thing substantial. I am perfectly tired with the continual movements and fatigue of this unceasing kind of warfare, in a country where we are exposed to every kind of privation, and, I may almost say, want. I mean to make my interest, as soon as I

find a favourable opportunity, for some one to succeed me in the command of the third division.

Owing to his illness, he was not present at the numerous brilliant affairs before, and the dreadful but glorious struggle that gained for the English arms the decisive battle of, Salamanca. Indeed, he found the re-establishment of his health proceed so slowly, that at length, and with much reluctance, he was compelled to depart for England, and repair to the waters of Cheltenham, that had before proved to him so beneficial.

We shall not follow the example of Mr. Robinson, and detail all the operations of the allied armies until General Picton again joined. In a voluminous publication such redundancy may be necessary; but we shall take up the thread of history when it is again interwoven with the events of our hero's life.

On the 1st of February, 1813, he was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, and shortly after, his health being re-established, he returned to his command in the allied army, where he was received by his division with a feeling that may be truly designated as

enthusiasm.

It is not our province here to narrate the mistakes and the vacillations of Joseph Buonaparte, then titular King of Spain, and which led to the glorious battle of Vittoria. For all this, we must again refer the curious, who are not already versed in that portion of their country's history, to Mr. Robinson's second volume. We will merely give General Picton's account of that affair in one of our original letters to his friend Marryat, which, from his hand, must be looked upon as a curious document.

46

St. Estevan, among the Pyrenees, 24th July, 1813.

"MY DEAR SIR, "The Gazette' account of the battle of Vittoria is a most incorrect relation of the circumstances of that memorable event: most uncandidly attributing to arrangement and manœuvre alone what was in a very considerable degree effected by blood and hard fighting. The arrangements and combinations preparatory to the action were certainly excellent; but the centre of the enemy's army did not immediately fall back upon Vittoria on seeing the arrangements for its attack, (as represented in the official dispatch,) but, in fact, disputed every inch of the ground, and was driven from several strong positions by the third division alone, and with a loss, in killed and wounded, of eighty-nine officers, seventy-one sergeants, and one thousand four hundred and seventy-five rank and file; a number which exceeded one-third of the whole casualties of the army on that memorable day, and being in the same proportion to our own effective numbers, which were under five thousand. Upon the whole, the division has not had its proportion of credit; but its operations were in the view of the whole army, and murder will out in the end.

"Soult is assembling the beaten army, and says that he will begin offensive operations in less than a fortnight. The whole of our army except the cavalry, is either watching his movements or covering the siege of St. Sebastian, which is a fortress of importance, as well to cover the left of our line as to facilitate our communication with England and, of course, our supplies. O'Donnel, with the Spanish army of reserve, is employed in the investment of Pampeluna, which may hold out for a couple of months longer. The surrender of this place, with that of St. Sebastian and Santona, will render us secure on this side, and then we must combine our operations with the unfortunate army of Alicant, and endeavour to eject Souchet from the South. Our numbers are naturally considerably diminished by the excessive fatigue of forced marches as well as the casualties of war. It is of the greatest importance to replace them and augment our numbers, so as to enable us to do something decisive at so critical and favourable a conjuncture. Now is the time or never: fifteen or twenty thousand men would do more than fifty thousand under any other circumstances. I have been almost blind of an obstinate inflammation of the eyes, which, by a long continuance, is almost become chronical. I must give over the business after this campaign, or it will give me up, which I must not run the risk of.

"I hope Mrs. M. and all the family continue in good health. We have already made great ravages in the jar of mince meat, which is allowed to be unique; and we have had the honour of celebrating her munificence in flaming bumpers of champagne. With my best wishes and compliments of the season to yourself and any part of your family,

My dear sir,

Very faithfully yours,

"T. PICTON."

By this victory that arrogant force, that had so lately threatened to drive the English out of Portugal into the sea, were now, in their turn, not only ignominiously expelled from Portugal, but actually hunted out of Spain, and the horrors of war were carried into that France, which its armies had so long vaunted as being inviolable. We have now the pleasure of giving the reader an original letter written by the gallant general from the French territories. It contains some very able views of the then state of affairs.

"MY DEAR SIR,

"Camp before Pamplona, 7th July, 1813.

"I have just been favoured with your letters and enclosures, for which I return you many thanks. I am happy to find, that you have at length succeeded in your privy council cause, for it would have been monstrous to have sent the judge back to Trinidad, under the whole circumstances of the case. I shall be very happy to have an opportunity of meeting the wishes of my old friend, Mr. De Granville, and I will take an early opportunity of recommending him for an ensigncy in my own regiment.

"I hope our operations here have not fallen short of your sanguine expectations. There certainly never was a more complete rout than