BERESFORD WILLIAM: (1768-1854) Anglo-Irish General in the British Army, and a Marshal in the Portugu

BERESFORD WILLIAM: (1768-1854) Anglo-Irish General in the British Army, and a Marshal in the Portugu

‘It is said the Prince of Peace has been beheaded 

and that the King has resigned his crown 

which is said to be (ad interim) on the brow of the Prince of Asturias’

 

BERESFORD WILLIAM: (1768-1854) Anglo-Irish General in the British Army, and a Marshal in the Portuguese Army, who fought alongside the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War. Beresford led the failed British invasion of Buenos Aires in 1808. A good, lengthy A.L.S., W. C. Beresford, seven pages, folio, Madeira, 18^th & 19^th April 1808, to Sir William Sidney Smith in Rio de Janeiro. Beresford writes an informative letter, expressing disappointment and regret at his correspondent's sudden departure and continuing, in part, 'If anything goes forward in your part of the world you may be sure I'll hasten to the Spanish port that lies within your command…..I shall feel most gratified & happy provided some one there goes and wipes away the stigma that late occurrences has left upon our name in that quarter. I am rebut to giving you the names of all those our friends there, it would fill this paper, for with very slight & few exceptions all the Creole part are such, and the Clergy of that description more so than the laity, but all upon the principle of our assisting their independence…..You will easily conceive that among the numbers that wish for emancipation from the Spanish yoke there must be some more forward and adventurous than others…..Pina who came from Buenos Ayres with me and who was Linieres secretary is now at Rio de Janeiro and is most capable to let you into the characters of all on the Rio de la Plata…..His conduct in leaving his country was from the purest & most patriotic motives and not from interested ones, nor could I ever prevail upon him to accept any pecuniary remuneration for the service he did me…..Since your leaving us we have had a merchant importer from England and have seen papers to the 22^nd Ult. General Whitelock's defence was closed and the Court Martial was to be laid before the King…..His defence was very indifferent.….In fact he has left everything to be decided by the evidences on the prosecution and I do not see how he can escape with less than cashiering. Passengers which came in….say that the expedition to the Baltic had been countermanded. If this is true I conclude the King of Sweden has been obliged to join the confederacy. There had been some skirmishes in Finland between his troops and the Russians & the latter had advanced. I think it is fortunate if he has joined the confederacy as I do not see how he could have resisted, and I rejoice in it as it will leave us a considerable disposable Force and there is now nowhere but South America to employ it. By those who go in the Hydra you will learn the reports of the tragedy performed or about to be performed in Spain…..It is said the Prince of Peace has been beheaded and that the King has resigned his crown which is said to be (ad interim) on the brow of the Prince of Asturias. What truth there is in all this it is not easy to discern but we may draw from it there has been an uproar at Madrid and as the instigators to it can not be very doubtful we may conclude that whosever blood first flowed was but a prelude to much more and that finally the royal family will all suffer……I have not had a syllable from His Majesty's ministers…..I can not but conclude they are waiting intelligence from Rio de Janeiro…..The enclosed I wrote yesterday morning and in the evening came here…..the long looked for dispatches & their contents…..were not to me unpleasant or unwelcome. They contain the new arrangements for this Island, and by which the civil government is to be restored to the Portuguese…..I am promised to be immediately recalled and with having hopes of being shortly employed…..but where heaven knows. I have not seen any newspapers but it appears the news of the Swedes having made a peace is premature, it is however wished for by all in England, and must I conceive shortly take place, in the mean time I am certain our fleet proceeds to the Baltic, but I do not learn any army goes with it……Here then I think as late news from the Mediterranean as could be brought via Holland from England'. In a postscript Beresford further informs his correspondent, 'Poor Lord Claud H[amilton] is I fear in a very hopeless way. We must not be surprised to hear at any moment of his departure….' With integral address leaf, also signed ('Maj. Genl. Beresford') and bearing the remnants of a red wax seal (small area of paper loss where originally broken). Some light, minor overall age wear, VG

 

Sir William Sidney Smith (1764-1840) British Admiral and intelligence officer who served in the American and French revolutionary wars and the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon Bonaparte, reminiscing later in his life, said of Smith: 'That man made me miss my destiny'.

 

In October 1807, Spain and France signed a treaty to divide Portugal between them. The following month Smith was appointed to command an expedition to Lisbon, either to assist the Portuguese in resisting the attack or to destroy the Portuguese fleet and blockade the harbour at Lisbon should that be unsuccessful. Smith arranged for the Portuguese fleet to sail for Rio de Janeiro, at that time a Portuguese colony. He was involved in planning an attack on the Spanish colonies in South America, in combination with the Portuguese, contrary to his orders, but he was recalled to Great Britain in 1809 before any of the plans could be carried out.

Beresford occupied Madeira, in the name of the King of Portugal, as Governor and Commander-in-Chief for six months from December 1807.