ENGLAND’S OLDEST ALLY – PART TWO
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1793 to 1815 seven coalitions were formed to fight the French. Consistent in all these coalitions was Britain, which was the major financier. All other members were at some stage defeated by France, occupied by France or allied to France. Napoleon recognised that his chief enemy was Britain, not because of the British Army, which was tiny compared to that of the French, but because of British money and the British navy. Napoleon knew he could not invade the UK – the Royal Navy would prevent that – but he was well aware that Britain had become the richest country in the world by industrialising and making her money by importing raw materials and exporting manufactured goods, and also that she imported 30 per cent of the food that she ate. If Napoleon could prevent other countries from trading with Britain, then she would soon be bankrupt and starving. By the Berlin decree of November 1806 all those nations under French occupation or allied to her (most of Europe and Russia) were forbidden from engaging in any commerce with Britain. The smugglers rubbed their hands, French wines and brandy continued to arrive, the Royal Navy ensured that foodstuffs arrived from North America and British ships flying the flag of the USA continued to trade with Russia. A country that refused to break off relations with the UK was Portugal, citing the Treaty of Windsor, and as at that time Spain was allied with France, Portugal was subjected to a Franco-Spanish invasion under Marshal Junot in November 1807. Prince John of Braganza, acting as regent for his mother Queen Maria who was mentally ill, ordered his countrymen not to resist, knowing that overwhelming force was about to descent upon them, and the Royal Navy removed him, the royal family, most of the government, the national treasury and various valuables to Brazil. The French duly occupied Lisbon.
The following year Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the first Duke of Wellington) landed in Montego Bay in Portugal and marched south. After defeating the French at the battles of Rolica and Vimeiro Junot asked for terms, and by the Convention of Sintra all French troops were to leave Portugal, transported back to France in British ships. The Convention was unpopular in England, where many failed to understand that it was the best deal the men on the ground could get, and the British generals, including Wellesley, were recalled to England to explain. That left Lieutenant General Sir John Moore in command of British troops in Portugal. Against his better judgment Moore was persuaded to enter Spain to support the Spanish (who had risen against the French), leading to the apalling retreat to Corruna in the depths of a Spanish winter, with the French snapping at their heels. IN January 1809 the Royal Navy performing one of its traditional roles of removing a beaten army to be used somewhere else.
In March 1809 the French launched another invasion of Portugal, led by Marshal Soult, who captured Oporto in March. Once again Sir Arthur Wellesley was sent out from England. He landed in Lisbon and marched north, fighting the Battle of Oporto in May and driving the French out of Portugal. The Portuguese Junta, acting in the name of Prince John, asked the British to reorganise their army, depleted by Napoleon sending most of it to the Baltic after the first invasion of 1807. General William Carr Beresford, who had served with Wellesley in India, was appointed a marshal in the Portuguese army, British officers and sergeants were seconded to the Portuguese, the attraction being one step in rank without purchase and a commission for the sergeants. All had to learn Portuguese and the plan was to have one Portuguese battalion in each British brigade, then to form Portuguese brigades with one in each British division and finally to form Portuguese divisions. This worked very well and by the autumn of 1810 nearly half of Wellesley’s army was Portuguese and by the end of the war their troops were every bit as good as the British.
Having defeated Soult at Oporto Wellesley chased him into Spain and fought the Battle of Talavera in July. It was another victory but Wellington (ennobled as Viscount Wellington after the battle) knew he could not stay in Spain, for whatever promises of support the Spaniards made, he knew that they could not keep them. He therefore withdrew back to Portugal, fighting the delaying battle of Bussaco on the way, and by October his Anglo-Portuguese army was safe inside the Lines of Torres Vedras. The latter were three lines of fortifications north of Lisbon, extending 34 miles from the River Tagus to the Atlantic. Most are still there, and it was probably the finest feat of military engineering ever. It was constructed in absolute secrecy by Portuguese labourers and artisans supervised by British and Portuguese engineers, and turned out to be impregnable, as the French discovered to their dismay when they had no choice but to withdraw back to Spain, thus ending the third invasion.
While the Portuguese come in for favourable mention in most British accounts of the Peninsula War, it is unfortunate that there is no complete book in English devoted to their contribution – which was immense. I cannot write it as I do not speak or read Portuguese, but a bilingual Portuguese scholar should write it as it would sell well in the UK where there is still a considerable appetite for aspects of this war.
One incident which was not in the spirit of the Treaty was in 1890, when Portugal attempted to join their colonies of Angola, on the West coast of Africa, to Mozambique on the east coast, via what is now Zambia. This would have interrupted the British plan for ‘Cairo to the Cape’ and in 1890 they issued an ultimatum to Portugal to remove their troops from the area. The Portuguese complied, but (rightly) felt aggrieved that their ally should behave in that way. In fact it was an unnecessary act of bullying, as to allow Portugal to take what became Northern Rhodesia would not have impacted on British interests.
On the outbreak of the First World War Portugal impounded German ships in the Tagus and, besides cooperating in Africa, later sent two infantry divisions of 40,000 men to the Western Front under British command. Altogether Portugal mobilised 100,000 men of whom 7,000 were killed or died of wounds.
On the outbreak of the Second World War Portugal announced that they would stand by the Treaty, but Britain advised them to stay neutral. Nevertheless Portuguese aircraft actively searched for German submarines and reported their location to the British and allowed the British to use the Azores as an anti-submarine base. At the end of that war Portugal joined NATO with British support, despite the opposition of the USA on the grounds that Portugal was not a democracy (the only member of NATO which was not). The USA blocked Spanish membership for the same reason, only permitting Spanish entry after the death of Franco. During the Falklands War of 1982 Portugal again, quoting the Treaty, offered the British the use of the Azores as an air to air refuelling base.
A staunch ally for over 600 years, every Portuguese knows that Henry the Navigator’s mother was English, although the very existence of the Treaty may have passed the majority of today’s British public by. Economically Portugal is the poorest country in Europe, but they are a tough people with a proud history, and we are fortunate to have them as friends.
Thank you for this very pleasant overview of the Peninsular War. It calls to mind Bernard Cornwell’s series on Rifleman Sharpe and Gates’ book, The Spanish Ulcer.