With Moore At Corunna
Excerpt
From the termination of the campaigns of
Marlborough—at which time the
British army won for itself a reputation rivalled by that of no
other in
Europe—to the year when the despatch of a small army
under Sir Arthur
Wellesley marked the beginning of another series of British
victories as
brilliant and as unbroken as those of that great commander, the
opinion
had gained ground in Europe that the British had lost their
military
virtues, and that, although undoubtedly powerful at sea, they could
have
henceforth but little influence in European affairs. It is
singular that
the revival of Britain’s activity began under a Government
which was one
of the most incapable that ever controlled the affairs of the
country. Had
their deliberate purpose been to render nugatory the
expedition
which—after innumerable vacillations and changes of
purpose—they
despatched to Portugal, they could hardly have acted otherwise than
they
did.
