of it, that he may get the king’s positive orders repeated to him, which I hope he may receive at Placentia, to which place I reckon I may persuade him to march, though not without difficulty.”
The confederate army halted at Placentia on April 28th, a fortnight before the relief of Barcelona, and about a month before the intelligence arrived. Lord Galway still insisted on marching to Madrid. The next halting-place was the Bridge of Almaras. Lord Galway was in high spirits with the series of successes gained in so short a time. But the Marquis das Minas grew colder and colder; and at the Bridge of Almaras the Portuguese generals resolved unanimously to go home.
If Lord Galway had thought only of his own fame, he would have withdrawn from his command. Delay spoilt his plan. The Portuguese were afraid that Barcelona would be recaptured by the French, and allow the enemy to oppose them at Madrid. Lord Galway replied that at the worst there would be time for a safe retreat, after having won both glory and booty. The Portuguese having indicated that they might advance if good news came from Barcelona, Lord Galway remained with them. A party, who were for laying aside all thoughts of occupying Madrid, proposed to besiege Badajoz. A majority were willing to attack Ciudad-Rodrigo. That town being on the route to the capital, Lord Galway sided with the majority.
Great hopes had been excited in England. The Duke of Marlborough wrote to Lieutenant-General Erie, 17th May 1706 —
“We have had a very ill beginning of the campaign in Italy and the Upper Rhine; but if Lord Galway gets to Madrid, and our fleet relieves Barcelona, as we have reason to believe it has, it will make amends.”
And to Lord Galway from the Camp at Helchin, 16th July 1706 —
“All the world is sensible of the difficulties you have undergone, and own that the Portuguese consenting to advance at last is purely the effect of your unwearied instances and good offices. I heartily congratulate your lordship on the good effect they have had, so much for the common good and your own glory, and persuade myself your endeavours will be no less effectual in accomplishing his Majesty’s happy settlement on the throne, and the entire reduction of his kingdoms. This being almost the chief end of the present war, will, I hope, soon make way for a happy and lasting peace, which may give us the opportunity of enjoying in quiet some fruits of the toil and labours it has been our lot to undergo for the public. One of the greatest satisfactions I then propose to myself is that of your friendship and conversation.
At Barcelona his progress had been watched with interest. There the intelligence of the fall of Alcantara caused great joy. Prince Lichtenstein wrote to the Count de Goes: “We may conjecture from the enemies’ motions that they look upon Spain as lost, especially as my Lord Galway has taken Alcantara, and obtained a great victory over them.”
Ciudad-Rodrigo having been taken, and news having come that the British fleet had relieved Barcelona, the allied army advanced and halted before Madrid on June 29. Even in this march the Marquis das Minas and the Portuguese advanced unwillingly; and such had been their delays from first to last, that they found the capital deserted. For the time, Madrid had ceased to be a capital. Philip had withdrawn the tribunals and the nobility, so that there was necessarily an interregnum. All that Lord Galway could do was to proclaim Charles III. at what might be his future capital, and to cause the formal proclamation to be made through the continent and islands of Spain. The population was passive, although Castile and Arragon professed adherence to Charles III. The next imperative step was to fight the French, but it was quite essential to be reinforced by the troops under the Earl of Peterborough. It was also most desirable to have the prestige of the personal presence of his Majesty. Lord Galway sent Colonel Dubourgay with despatches to the titular king, and another officer with a letter to Lord Peterborough, inviting the king and the earl to unite in striking the final blow.
It was a brilliant honour, and yet a practical embarrassment, that to Lord Galway belonged all the credit of being at Madrid. A letter, a copy of which I found among the manuscripts in the British Museum, graphically represents the position of affairs:—[1]
- ↑ Stepney Papers, vol. xx. MS. copy, docqueted, “Extract of Letter from Madrid, probably from General Stanhope to his father in the Hague.” Brigadier Stanhope (afterwards first Earl Stanhope) was with Charles III. as ambassador, and therefore at this date not at Madrid. The writer perhaps was Colonel William Stanhope, afterwards Karl of Harrington. It is remarkable that at a later date (1719) this colonel was married in the French Church in the Savoy, London.
