Note 22 — BOOK THE FIRST 1807-1810

[This letter, dated January 13, 1809, was written to Lord Castlereagh (Castlereagh Correspondence, vii. 26). The passage referred to in the text is as follows: “Your lordship knows that had I followed my own opinion as a military man, I should have retired with the army from Salamanca. The Spanish armies were then beaten. I was sensible, however, that had the British been withdrawn, the loss of the cause would have been imputed to their retreat. It was for this reason that I made the march to Sagunhan. As a diversion it succeeded: I brought the whole disposable force of the French against this army, and it has been allowed to follow it without a single movement being made to favour my retreat.”]