Julian Stockwin - The Iberian Flame - Thomas Kydd 20

The precise point at which it can be said with certainty that the long Peninsular War had its beginning I do believe can be defined, depending on your point of view. It is either the moment at which Bonaparte decided to turn an ally into a victim and thereby brought upon himself the tribulations that followed, or the point at which the British first landed in support of the Iberians, never to leave until their work was done. I tend to the latter – and not only because it was the Royal Navy that did the deed. The landing by Royal Marines at Figueira da Foz until relieved by Wellesley’s landings, depicted here, was indeed Britain’s first permanent foothold on the peninsula, and the navy, guarding the sea-lanes as efficiently as it did, was able to keep it so until victory was gained.

The terms of the highly questionable Convention of Cintra, so reviled in England, were actually brought about by Kellermann, the astute French negotiator at the talks. Keeping his knowledge of English hidden from Burrard, he learned of the general’s pressing need for a tangible victory and held out for outrageous conditions, including the transport of his entire army, with its flags, honours and loot intact, back to France to continue his war.

It is not so well known that Bonaparte himself came to confront the British intervention, and it is piquant to think that, but for Wellesley’s junior status, it would have been him, not Moore, who would have faced him and his juggernaut army. As it was, Bonaparte noted the headlong retreat with much satisfaction but fatally left the final destruction details to his marshals, abandoning the Spanish winter and mountains for Paris. Soult was no match for Moore, and history took its course with Britain’s only effective army preserved for another day.

The passage back to England for the army through the winter storms of Biscay was a hard one, officers with drawn swords posted to stop the mass of men in the over-packed transports moving about in the savage gales. When the exhausted, dirty, ragged soldiers staggered ashore, people ran from them in horror but at last, after their inhuman march, they had got their rest.

Some would deride Corunna as another Dunkirk, a defeat touted as a triumph. Yet in both cases it was only territory that was lost, the precious trained men saved for another day, and at Corunna their cannon as well, both owing all to Britannia’s mastery of the seas. What followed the death of this hero, Moore, like Wolfe before Québec, was a full-hearted demand by the British people for support of any kind to the Iberians, resulting in a confused alliance with the Spanish patriots. In token, Portland’s government thought to make the magnanimous gesture of returning to Spain their arms from the Tower of London captured from the Spanish Armada. Wellesley doggedly remained in Iberia, erecting the impregnable defences of the Lines of Torres Vedras at Lisbon to become the bridgehead for his later advances. Eventually he admitted reluctantly that without the navy his victories would have been impossible.

To the many who assisted me in the research for this book I am deeply grateful. My appreciation also goes to my agent Isobel Dixon, my editor at Hodder & Stoughton Oliver Johnson, designer Larry Rostant for another stunning cover, and copy editor Hazel Orme. And, as always, my heartfelt thanks to my wife and literary partner, Kathy.

And to those interested in what the future holds for Thomas Kydd, rest assured there are more adventures to come …

Glossary

aviso

small craft employed for fleet communications, not combat

binnacle

wooden case protecting the compass with a light at night

blashy

blustery, rainy weather

bobbery

high jinks

bonne bouche

sweetmeat

braxy

an inflammatory disease of sheep

bumboat

a boat carrying provisions or small merchandise out to ships on speculation

cabal

a clandestine association for purposes not always benign

carcass

a shell of iron containing incendiary materials

cartel

an official agreement covering, for instance, the exchange of prisoners

catching crabs

an oar plied clumsily that catches the water instead of a smooth in and out pull

conjunct

term used in Kydd’s day for amphibious operations

Cortes

a form of legislative assembly in Iberia

Crapaud

French for toad; pejorative term by an Englishman for a Frenchman

dimber

handsome-looking

El Escorial

the historical residence of the King of Spain; also a monastery, basilica, pantheon, etc.

fascines

bundles of twigs and branches bound together to form a quick blocking of a breach

Fencibles

a body of men raised for local maritime defence of the realm

foul-weather jack

sailor who relishes bad weather for its grandeur and spectacle

gibbous moon

when more than half but less than full

Gunter’s scale

a general-purpose ruler in navigation with one side in natural, the other logarithmic lines

hard tack

‘bread’ that is long-lasting, a form of biscuit as opposed to ‘soft-tommy’ soft baked bread

hulks

vessels condemned from sea employment, used for housing convicts and others

in a bumper

a toast with glasses filled to brimming

Indiaman

a ship employed by the East India Company for trade; usually with rich cargoes

kilderkin

a small cask containing eighteen gallons

larboard

to the left (later ‘port’) as opposed to starboard, to the right

league

three sea miles

lee

to the side downwind

lee shore

if the coast is downwind from a vessel, a dangerous situation if the ship is disabled

Mamelukes

a military body consisting of Circassian slaves employed by various Muslim countries

mandrel

a metal bar or fitment around which a material may be shaped

mirador

a decorated observation tower

missal

a Roman Catholic book containing all the prayers and responses needed to celebrate Mass

mizzen halliards

those lines responsible for raising and lowering sails on the mizzen mast

nob

a person of wealth and social standing

noggin

a unit of liquid measure equal to one quarter of a pint

objets de bizarrerie

a curiosity

offing

to seaward; keeping clear of tricky inshore waters

ostler

one employed to take care of horses at an inn or other establishment

pannier market

country stall market where sale goods are limited to what can be carried on an animal pannier

parole

freedom granted an officer for his word of honour he will not abscond

pavillon

French flag

pelf

riches, lucre

pillion

riding behind

pistol-shot

a distance of twenty-five yards

poltroon

base or cowardly character

poop

the smaller deck raised above the quarterdeck in vessels larger than a frigate

porth

a sheltered, sandy cove where a coasting vessel might informally land or take on cargo

raise the wind

have such an energetic and full-on celebration to be the centre of a vortex of wind

reales

Spanish: twenty

reales

to the peso, about a hundred to a pound sterling

roadstead

offshore anchorage outside a harbour where dues need not be paid

roil

to be in a state of turbulence or agitation

rope-hooky

an affected curl to the fingers about the palm to flaunt one’s deep-sea mariner’s credentials

rummer

a type of glass for drinking rum or whisky

scowbunker

pejorative term for a seaman fit to serve only in a lowly scow