extent of patronage at which he himself seemed astonished, particu- larly as he had before been allowed to name one major, four captains, four lieutenants, and one ensign, in his own regiment. Indeed, his merit cannot be sufficiently estimated without adding the circumstance that he alone, of all the commanders of Portu- guese corps, had not, up to that time, had the assistance of any one (even non-commissioned) British officer. In the 13th regi- ment there was only one captain, by whom indeed he was perfectly well seconded. In fact, he had very early, or rather from the very beginning, discovered the good qualities of the Portuguese, and declared his persuasion that they would make, as they have turned out to be, excellent soldiers. Ke had by this time gained the confi- dence and affection of both officers and men, and went on improving them, until, in the judgment of the general officers who reviewed them, they were become equal in appearance to most British regi- ments.
Towards the end of April, 181 1, he was recommended by Marshal Beresford to be Portuguese Military Secretary to Lord Wellington, and arrived at head quarters the day before the battle of Fuente d'Onore. Here he found himself, suddenly, in the charge made by General Stewart with the 14th dragoons ; and afterwards perceiving the 7th Portuguese regiment, which had been ordered to cover General Houston's retreat, without a field officer, he dismounted, and took the command of the left wing ; and, having taken post in a rocky ground, maintained himself as long as was necessary, losing eight or ten out of eighty men, and having his arm grazed by a musket ball. Some time after this, being rather disappointed as to the nature of the situation in which he was placed, he solicited, and, after some delay obtained, leave to return to his regiment, which he did towards the end of June. He found it a prey to internal animosities and dissensions, owing to his successors having been transported into some acts of violence by the ill conduct of certain of the Portuguese officers, which had set them and the British at variance. By Colonel Le Mesurier, however, harmony and order were quickly restored, and all parties reconciled. He had felt some apprehension lest his quitting Lord Wellington should have operated unfavourably for him in respect to his promotion in our service ; but he was relieved from it by his commission of British lieut. -colonel coming out on the 3d of October. This was followed by his being selected, in the middle of March following, to command the fortress of Almeida, at a time when Marmonts move-
�� �
