The Creevey Papers
Sir Arthur Wellesley to Samuel Whitbread, 4 September 1809
“Badajos, Sep. 4, 1809.*
“Dear Sir,
“I am very much obliged to you for your letter of the
10th of August [sic] which I received yesterday. As I
had more than once received from you those marks of your attention and of your
good opinion which you have been pleased to repeat in
* The date of Wellesley’s patent as Viscount
Wellington of Talavera. |
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| 1809.] | MR. WHITBREAD HAS EXPLAINED. | 105 |
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your letter, and as it
indeed appeared by the report of your speech which I read that you had
expressed the same sentiments on that occasion, I was anxious to remove from
your mind an impression which it appeared had been made upon it, and which must
have been injurious to me—that I had made an exaggerated statement of the
operations of the troops under my command. In fact, I did not state with what
numbers of the enemy the army was engaged when it passed the Douro, as I did
not know them when I wrote my dispatch; and that was what I wanted to explain
to you. I will not enter into any statement of our affairs in this part of the
world; I daresay that you will hear and read enough, and speak more upon them
than some of us will like. I rather think, however, that between numbers on the
side of the enemy and strength of position on ours, we are so equally balanced
that neither party will do the other much mischief. It will be satisfactory,
however, for you to hear that the French begin to be convinced
‘que les Francois ne seront jamais les maitres des
Anglois.’
“Ever, dear Sir, Yours most faithfully,
