Duke of Wellington’s letter from 1810 slamming Portuguese soldiers for not pulling their weight against French invaders during Peninsular War goes up auction at £2,200
- A letter written by the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsula War has come to light after 210 years
- The furious duke told his men that they weren’t pulling their weight in their battle against the invading French army
- Sent to a British diplomat in October 1810, he called their behaviour ‘infamous’ and said some of them were ‘pretending to be soldiers’
- The letter is expected to fetch £2,000 at an auction on Wednesday
A letter from the Duke of Wellington in which he slams troops that were ‘pretending to be soldiers’ in 1810 has gone up for sale.
The hero of Waterloo laid into the Militia of Lisbon for not giving enough to the cause during their battle against the invading French in Portugal in the Peninsular War.
One section of the letter sees Wellington label their behaviour as ‘infamous’ as he criticised their efforts.
In the letter, pictured, he said the behaviour of the troops was ‘infamous’ and called for new measures to make them buck up their ideas
The Duke of Wellington slammed his soldiers who he said weren’t doing enough as they fought the French in the Peninsula War in 1810
The Lisbon Volunteer Chausseurs were in the firing line in particularly after a third of their ranks failed to show up to the front line of battle.
The four-page document, which will go to auction on Wednesday, was sent by Wellington to British diplomat Charles Stuart on October 16, 1810.
His mood had not been helped by the recent loss of 40 boats at the city of Santarem.
Wellington wrote: ‘I intended and do advert to the conduct of all the Militia of Lisbon, as well as that of Thomar.
‘The conduct of the whole is infamous, and some measures must be adopted to force people who pretend to be soldiers and receive pay and provisions as such to do their duty.
‘The Lisbon Volunteer Chasseurs are as bad as the rest. I don’t believe one third of the number are here.’
The letter has been put up for sale by a European collector with International Autograph Auctions Europe, of Malaga, Spain. It is expected to fetch £2,000. (2,200 euros).
Francisco Pinero, of International Autograph Auctions Europe, said: ‘This is a letter of fine military content written in the wake of a loss to the enemy.
‘It is being sold by an extremely reputed European expert and collector.’
Wellington ended up victorious in the battle despite his discontent with the soldiers. In 1810, during the Peninsular War (1807-14), a newly enlarged French army under Marshal Andre Massena invaded Portugal.
Wellington defeated the French by building a network of forts, before he defeated Napoleon in 1815 to cement his status as the hero of Waterloo
Wellington was tasked with repelling this new threat but public opinion in Britain, shared by some in the army, was that they should evacuate the country.
Instead, Wellington first slowed the French down at Buaco, then prevented them from taking the Lisbon Peninsula by building the Lines of Torres Vedras, an impressive network of forts.
The baffled and starving French invasion forces retreated after six months.
In 1815, Wellington cemented his hero status by defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.