th compelled to surrender in the month
of February. Sir Arthur Wellesley, being restored to the command of the
British army in Portugal, landed at Lisbon on the 22nd of April, and
immediately marched upon Oporto, which Soult had occupied early in the
year. Soult was defeated under the walls of the town, and forthwith
began his retreat towards Galicia, which he effected under circumstances
as miserable as had attended Sir John Moore's march on Coruna in the
preceding campaign. Sir Arthur was prevented from urging the pursuit of
Soult by the intelligence that Marshal Victor was laying Andalusia
waste, being opposed only by Cuesta, a bigoted old general, and an army
which had lost heart by repeated disasters. The English leader perceived
that if he marched into Galicia, Victor must possess the means of
instantly re-occupying Portugal; and resolved, in place of following
Soult, to advance towards this more formidable enemy. He effected a
junction with Cuesta at Oropesa, on the 20th of July, and marched along
the Tagus towards the position of Victor. He, however, having a force at
least double that of Wellesley, assumed the offensive, and attacked the
allies, on the 28th, at Talaveyra de la Reyna. The battle ended in the
total defeat and repulsion of Victor; but Wellesley found it impossible
to advance further into Spain, because Ney, Soult and Mortier were
assembling their divisions, with the view of coming between him and
Portugal. The English retired, therefore, to Badajos, and thence to the
Portuguese frontier.

On the eastern side of the Peninsula, Blake, advancing with the view of
recovering Zaragossa, was met on the 19th of June by Marshal Suchet,
Duke of Albufera, and totally routed. The central Spanish army, under
Ariezaga, attempted, with equal ill-fortune, to relieve Madrid. King
Joseph, accompanied by Soult, Victor, and Mortier, met them at Ocana on
the 19th November, and broke them utterly. In December Girona
surrendered to Augereau; and the intrusive King appeared to be in
possession of far the greater part of Spain. But his command extended
no further than the actual presence of his brother's legions. Wherever
they were posted, all was submission; beyond their lines the country
remained as hostile as ever. The soldiery of the defeated armies
dispersed themselves in small bands, watching every opportunity to
surprise detachments and cut off supplies; and, in spite of all their
victories, the situation of the in