ALS - LORD FITZROY SOMERSET, WELLINGTON'S MILITARY SECRETARY, WRITES
FROM THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE PYRENEES CAMPAIGN IN LESACA

NICE PENINSULAR WAR LETTER FROM THE MAN WHO WOULD BECOME LORD RAGLAN AND LEAD THE BRITISH IN THE CRIMEA - MUCH AS HE LEARNED AT THE SIDE OF WELLINGTON

WILLIAM NAPIER, WHO SERVED IN THE PENINSULA AND LATER WROTE ONE OF THE TWO DEFINING HISTORIES OF THAT CAMPAIGN, SAID OF LORD FITZROY SOMERSET THAT HE, "IS AS GOOD AS HE IS CLEVER AND NEARLY AS CLEVER AS LORD WELLINGTON HIMSELF."

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The Situation in August 1813

Marshall Soult had just taken over as Commander-in-Chief of the French Army of Spain on July 12th. He had reorganized the French forces, added artillery and garrison troops from France and was about to re-enter Spain (with instructions from Napoleon to relieve the fortresses of Pamplona and San Sebastian which had been under siege by Wellington since June). Wellington was attempting to conduct two sieges with one siege train, which he concentrated on San Sebastián. The two fortresses were about forty miles apart and separated by the rugged Sierra de Aralar, a flanking massif of the Pyrenees. This necessarily divided Wellington's army and complicated supply and communications leaving him to comment that, "we are not so strong as we ought to be." Soult on the other hand had the advantage of being able to mass his forces and strike an overwhelming blow at any one of several points along Wellington's rather broad front.

Soult chose to cross the Pyrenees at both the Maya Pass (D'Erlon) and the Passes at Roncesvalles (Clausel & Reille). While there was initial French success, Soult ultimately missed a critical amalgamation of his divided forces and was driven back to Spain. It was during this time that, as Michael Glover in his The Peninsular War observes: "Wellington with Lord FitzRoy Somerset (His Military Secretary who later became Lord Raglan, Commander-in-Chief in the Crimea) rode down to Sorauren bridge. As they approached, French Cavalry came into sight. Sitting on the parapet of the bridge, Wellington wrote a short note to Murray and sent it off with Somerset." As Wellington himself observed: "It was rather alarming, certainly, and it was a close run thing... I looked pretty sharp after them, however, every now and then until I had completed my orders and then set off and I saw them just near one end of the village as I went out at the other." It was in fact this appearance of Wellington at Sorauren that, when reported to Soult, gave him pause and caused him to waste a day in consideration of Wellington's plans; a crucial day as it turned out as his army had rations for only four. It was certainly in this crucible of fire that Lord Raglan learned his stock and trade and indeed how to keep one's composure and focus even under imminent threat.

Wellington's troops ultimately succeeded in repulsing Soult and forcing his retreat. Wellington himself was sore tempted to follow him back into France, but the fortresses of Pamplona and San Sebastian remained untaken and would lie at his back. While Wellington was confidant that he could prevail in the local theater of operations, he was also concerned about the developments in Eastern Europe where Napoleon faced the Northern Coalition. If they made peace with Napoleon, France could turn its full weight against his Iberian Army and it would be run for the devil back to Portugal. That being the case it seemed prudent to take the fortresses of Pamplona and San Sebastian before proceeding into France. What Wellington did not know on this date of August 17th was that the Armistice of Pleischwitz had not only expired without a peace agreement, but that Austria had five days earlier declared war on France. Despite England's attempt to get such news to Wellington as fast as possible, bad winds prevented him from getting the news from Britain; he later learned about it in a French newspaper on September 11th!

Transcription:

Lezaca (Lecasa) August 17, 1813

My Dear Sir,

     Referring to your letter of the 10th Ultimo (previous month) to Lord Wellington, I beg to transmit to you a letter received from Capt Craig giving all the information he has been able to acquire relative to the Captivity of Mr. Lopez in Fort St Julian. As he appears to be deranged and as nothing can be brought against him, I am desired by Lord Wellington to say he has no objection whatever to his Release from Confinement.
     I have received your letter of the 6th Instant (this month) & a very sorry that any verbal answer of mine to a Question put to me by Sir Robert Kennedy regarding Exemptions from the Corn Market duty should have been the cause of a disagreeable correspondence between you and the Portuguese Gov't.
     The fact is, that I told Sir Robert that I was convinced all applications of the description in question which had been transmitted to me, had been forwarded to you, which is certainly the case, but I don't recollect that Lord Wellington has often had occasion to apply to you for exemption from Corn duties.
     Mr. Pipon has now been desired to read Duplicates of this letters on this subject

                                   Very truly yours,
                                            FitzRoy Somerset

Sir Charles Stuart KGB

Context Notes

Clearly FitzRoy Somerset was catching up on the necessary administrative details that plague any military staff at a divisional level. In this case the reference to a deranged detainee at Fort St. Julian is not unique. We have a number of letters dealing with, primarily British, soldiers held at Fort St. Julian or the Castello  (both "detention centers" near Lisbon) who were found "deranged", released, and then caught the first ship back to England! One can suppose that there was a thriving business in the "insanity defense" amongst the Judge's Advocate Corps' business, an area that would benefit from further research. The Captain Craig referred to was on General Warren Peacocke's (Commandant of Lisbon) staff and his letters all seem to deal with prisoner's of war, spies and criminal cases. Sir Robert Hugh Kennedy was the Commissary General of the Army in Portugal (described as "Wellington's efficient and energetic Commissary-General") and at the Lesaca Headquarters at this time (see his included letter below); Mr. James Pipon was the Deputy Commissary General (still back in Lisbon). In that capacity the Commissary General had much to do with the supply lines into Portugal and Spain their attendant problems of duties, schedules, negotiations, payments and transportation. This letter deals with the exemption from Corn Market Duties (likely to distinguish between military supplies which might enter duty free and merchant supplies for the public market which were subject to an excise tax). We have seen a great deal of correspondence regarding importation duties and the fights over them, such as the "Telemachus Matter" - even on necessary and essential supplies of food and war materiel. Below is a related (and included) letter from Sir Robert to Lord FitzRoy Somerset, two weeks later, also treating with the subject of an exemption from the payment of the corn market duty.

"The Commissariat was directed by the Commissary General, who was the only member of the civilian staff to receive his instructions directly from His Majesty’s Treasury in London. With the start of the Peninsular War, his was the most vital department of the seven for as Wellington himself wrote, “It is very necessary to attend to detail, and to trace a biscuit from Lisbon into a man’s mouth on the frontier, and to provide for its removal from place to place, by land and water, or no military operations can be carried on.” The prime task of the commissaries and their clerks was to trace that biscuit; or more precisely, to procure, to transport and to issue enough food, drink, fodder and essential replacement clothing to every unit in the army. They were helped by locally-employed butchers and bakers; tailors, saddlers and shoemakers; secretaries and interpreters; guides, cart drivers and muleteers - at one time seven or eight thousand pack mules were in commissary service. Even the duties of the lower ranks demanded industry, diplomacy, ingenuity, physical and mental energy, strength of character and personality, and great stamina."

[from William Reid's, Tracing the Biscuit: The British Commissariat in the Peninsular War]

Lezaca (Lesaca today) 2 September 1813

My Lord,

I have the honor to transmit to your Lordship two returns, numbered 12 and 13, of Grain imported into Lisbon, for the supply of the Army, on which it is requested to obtain an Exemption from the payment of the Corn Market Duty, through the interference of his Excellency the Commander of the Forces.

I have the honor to be My Lord your Lordship's obed't humble servant
R(obert) H(ugh) Kennedy

To:
The Lord FitzRoy Somerset, Military Secretary

Biographical Note

Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, GCB, PC
(30 September 1788–28 June 1855)

Fitzroy James Henry Somerset — later Lord Raglan — was born at Badminton on 30 September 1788; he was educated at Westminster School. He was the eighth and youngest son of Henry, fifth Duke of Beaufort .

Raglan was commissioned as a Cornet in the 4th Light Dragoons on 9 June 1804, being promoted to Lieutenant on 30 May 1805. In 1807 he accompanied Sir Arthur Paget's mission to Constantinople. The same year he was selected to serve on the staff of Sir Arthur Wellesley in the expedition to Copenhagen. In the following year he accompanied Wellington to Portugal, and during the whole of the Peninsular War was at his right hand, first as aide-de-camp and then as military secretary. He was present at the battles of Roliça and Vimeiro. Raglan returned to England with Wellington and went back to Portugal in the spring of 1809. Raglan served on Wellington's staff until the close of the French Wars, being appointed as his military secretary on 1 January 1811. He was wounded at the Battle of Buçaco and promoted to Brevet-Major on 9 June after the battle of Fuentes d'Onoro. He accompanied the stormers of the 52nd light infantry as a volunteer at Ciudad Rodrigo and specially distinguished himself at the storming of Badajoz, being the first to mount the breach, and afterwards securing one of the gates before the French could organize a fresh defence. At Wellington's special request he was made Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel on 27 April 1812.

He received the cross with five clasps for the Peninsula campaign and was created a KCB on 2 January 1815. On 25 July 1814 he was transferred to the 1st Guards regiment, as Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel. On 6 August 1814 he married Lady Emily Harriet Wellesley-Pole, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Mornington, the Duke of Wellington's niece. During the short period of the Bourbon rule in 1814 and 1815 he was Secretary to the British Embassy at Paris. On the renewal of the war he again became Aide-de-Camp and Military Secretary to the Duke of Wellington.

At Waterloo he was wounded in the right arm and had to undergo amputation, but he quickly learned to write with his left hand, and on the conclusion of the war resumed his duties as Secretary to the Embassy at Paris (where Sir Charles Stuart was now Ambassador). Raglan was promoted to the rank of Major-General on 27 May 1825; in 1826 he went with Wellington to St. Petersburg on the accession of Nicholas I. Whilst there he assisted in the negotiations for a common action against Turkey on behalf of Greece, which was trying to gain its independence from the Porte. He was also an MP for Truro in 1818-20 and in 1826-9. When Wellington became Commander-in-Chief of the army after the Duke of York died on 22 January 1827, Raglan became the military secretary at the Horse Guards, holding the post for more than twenty-five years. Wellington described him as 'a man who wouldn't tell a lie to save his life'.  Raglan became a Colonel of the 53rd Foot on 19 November 1830, a Lieutenant-General on 28 June 1838 and was created a Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Bath on 24 September 1852. He was granted an honourary Degree in 1834 when Wellington became Chancellor of Oxford University. Wellington died on 14 September 1852 and Hardinge succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief; Raglan succeeded Hardinge as Master-General of the Ordnance. He was appointed as a Privy Councillor and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Raglan of Raglan, Monmouthshire, on 12 October 1852.

At the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853, Raglan was chosen to command the British troops, despite the fact that he was sixty-five years old. He left London on 10 April and reached Constantinople at the end of the month. By the end of June most of the English and French armies were in camp at Varna. On 29 June instructions were sent to Raglan that he should prepare for the siege of Sebastopol. On 14 September nearly fifty thousand men were landed without opposition at Kalamita Bay on the west coast of the Crimea, an ideal landing-place chosen by Raglan himself. The French intransigence was not the only cause of Lord Raglan's anxiety. At the beginning of September, Charles Grenville reported to Parliament that there were many who were 'not at all satisfied with Raglan, whom they think old-fashioned and pedantic.' Then came the Battle of Alma. Now they praised him with enthusiasm. One of them, who before the battle of the Alma had urged that Lord Raglan ought to be examined by a Court of Enquiry, now stood up in the House of Commons and suggested to cheers that he should be honoured by the Garter. The Duke of Newcastle wrote to tell him that he and his brave army would now 'be able to pass a merry Christmas, and be able to enjoy the comfortable reflection that in the coming year' they would return home to a 'grateful country, full of honours'. 'The boldness with which the masterly flank movement was designed is only equaled,' he assured him in another letter, 'by the decision with which it was executed. Her Majesty attributes the success of this striking military exploit to the consummate judgment displayed by your Lordship in directing the remarkable night march of the army.'  Lord Hardinge told him that 'nothing can exceed the universal admiration of all of us, for the judgment, ability and nerve shown by you in all your operations. The flank movement by your left, bringing your Army and siege guns down to a safe harbour at Balaclava and at a short distance from Sebastopol and in communication with the Navy, is a masterpiece ... the greatest operation of modern times.'

On 20 September the battle of the Alma was fought and won, raising hopes of an early capture of Sebastopol. The defenses of the fortress were incomplete but the Allied commanders were convinced that a bombardment would have to precede the assault so preparations were made for a siege. On 25 October the Russians attacked Balaclava; this resulted in the legendary 'Charge of the Light Brigade'. On 5 November the battle of Inkerman was fought. On November 5th Raglan became a Field Marshal. However, after the Battle of Inkerman, a winter in the Crimea was inevitable. On 14 November the 'great storm' in the Black Sea wrecked twenty-one vessels which were full of urgently-needed supplies; then the cold weather set in. The sufferings and losses of the troops increased so that at one point, of the remaining troops, only 9,000 were considered battle ready and 23,000 not fit for duty. The appalling loss of non-battle related troops led to a government enquiry which eventually cleared Raglan but he took the loss personally.

Finally after re-supply and reinforcements, 18 June 1855 was chosen for the general assault on Sebastopol: the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. It was to be preceded by a two-hour cannonade but the French commander decided at the last moment to attack at daybreak, a decision that Raglan reluctantly accepted. The result was disastrous. The French columns were driven back with heavy loss. Raglan ordered the British forward against the Redan where the two leading British columns met a murderous fire of grapeshot and musket fire. Raglan felt responsible for the failure. He was already suffering from dysentery and on the evening of 28 June he died. His body was taken to the Caradoc with the full military honours: the seven miles of road from his headquarters to Kazatch Bay was lined with troops. The ship reached Bristol on 24 July; Raglan was buried privately at Badminton, the Beaufort Estate, on the 26 July.

A note on the Photograph: In 1855 Roger Fenton left England to photograph in the Crimea, where the British, allied with the Ottoman Empire and France, were engaged in war against the Russians. His was the first large-scale photographic documentation of a war. Field Marshall Lord Raglan was the commander of the British Forces in the field, whose distinguished military career included the Battle of Waterloo, where he lost an arm. In this photograph his sleeve is conspicuously pinned up in a kind of half-mast salute. Raglan sits in a doorway and looks away from the camera, his careworn body positioned at the boundary between light and shadow. Although the positioning is practical in terms of the light source, it is also metaphorical, placing Raglan on the cusp between a brilliant career and the twilight of life. The bright-white plumage of his hat lies across his lap like a dying bird. The bird is perhaps symbolic; Raglan was gravely ill with dysentery when the photograph was made and died within the month.

[extracts from Marjie Bloy's, Senior Research Paper and Hibbert's The Destruction of Lord Raglan]

Document Specifications:  A very fine handwritten letter signed by FitzRoy Somerset from Wellington's Headquarters in Lesaca and dated August 17th 1813. Folded letter measures 9¼" tall x 7¼" wide (236mm x 185mm). On single sheet of unwatermarked wove paper with some toning and small 15mm tear in upper right fold. Wax seal remnant mark on back page. Writing on two pages of four. The Kennedy letter is one page and measures 12" tall x 7½" wide on batonne laid paper with a large seated Britannia in triple line oval crested by crown watermark. The letter is autograph signed by Kennedy but the body text is in a clerical hand and dated September 2, 1813 at Lesaca. Rough right side with some gaps and toning. Whether you collect Wellington Headquarter pieces, autographs and letters of British General Officers of the Peninsular War, or are a fan of Lord Raglan, this are two very nice pieces tying these things all together.

From the Sir Charles Stuart, Lord Rothesay, Correspondence. Stuart was His Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal during the greater part of the Peninsular War (10 January 1810 to 26 May 1814). He was a personal friend and confidante of Wellington and Nelson, member of the Portuguese Regency (the only British Subject in the war ever permitted to hold an official position in a foreign government while also representing Britain), and later ambassador to Netherlands & France. The most important foreign diplomat of the Peninsular War, his archive of diplomatic, military and intelligence dispatches are second only to Wellington's Dispatches.

 Offered by Berryhill & Sturgeon, Ltd

End of Item - BSL - 1813 Raglan Lesaca

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