Convention of Cintra

Last updated
Palace of Queluz, where the Convention of Cintra was signed. Palais royal de Queluz - Vue generale.jpg
Palace of Queluz, where the Convention of Cintra was signed.
Junot embarks for France, after the Convention of Cintra, at Cais do Sodre, Lisbon The Embarkation of Genl. Junot, after the Convention of Cintra, at Quai Sodre (Henri L' Eveque, F. Bartolozzi).png
Junot embarks for France, after the Convention of Cintra, at Cais do Sodré, Lisbon

The Convention of Cintra (or Sintra) was an agreement signed on 30 August 1808, during the Peninsular War. By the agreement, the defeated French were allowed to evacuate their troops from Portugal without further conflict. [1] The Convention was signed at the Palace of Queluz, in Queluz, Cintra, Estremadura.

Contents

The French forces under Jean-Andoche Junot were defeated by the Anglo-Portuguese forces commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley at Vimeiro [2] on 21 August and found themselves almost cut off from retreat. However, at that moment, Wellesley was superseded by the arrival of Sir Harry Burrard and then the next day by Sir Hew Dalrymple. Both were cautious old men who had seen little recent fighting; rather than push the French, they were satisfied to open negotiations. Wellesley had sought to take control of the Torres Vedras area high ground and cut the French retreat with his unused reserve, but he was ordered to hold. Talks between Dalrymple and François Kellerman led to the signing of the Convention.

Dalrymple allowed terms for Portugal similar to those a garrison might receive for surrendering a fortress. The 20,900 French soldiers were evacuated from Portugal with all their equipment and 'personal property' (which may have included looted Portuguese valuables[ citation needed ]) by the British Navy. They were transported to Rochefort, France. Junot arrived there on 11 October. Avoiding all Spanish entanglements and getting free transport meant the French travelled loaded, not light like a defeated garrison marching to their own lines.

The Convention was seen as a disgrace by many in the United Kingdom [3] who felt that a complete defeat of Junot had been transformed into a French escape, while Dalrymple had also ignored the Royal Navy's concern about a blockaded Russian squadron in Lisbon. The squadron was allowed to sail to Portsmouth, and eventually to return to Russia, despite the fact that Britain and Russia were at war.

Wellesley wanted to fight, but he signed the preliminary Armistice under orders. He took no part in negotiating the Convention and did not sign it. Dalrymple's reports were written, however, to centre any criticism on Wellesley, who still held a ministerial post in the government. Wellesley was subsequently recalled from Portugal, together with Burrard and Dalrymple, to face an official inquiry. The inquiry was held in the Great Hall at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from 14 November to 27 December 1808. All three men were cleared; but while Wellesley soon returned to active duty in Portugal, Burrard and Dalrymple were quietly pushed into retirement and never saw active service again. Sir John Moore, commenting on the Inquiry, expressed the popular sentiment that "Sir Hew Dalrymple was confused and incapable beyond any man I ever saw head an army. The whole of his conduct then and since has proved him to be a very foolish man."

Lord Byron laments the Convention in his Childe Harold's Pilgrimage:

And ever since that martial synod met,

Britannia sickens, Cintra! at thy name;
And folks in office at the mention fret,
And fain would blush, if blush they could, for shame.
How will posterity the deed proclaim!
Will not our own and fellow-nations sneer,
To view these champions cheated of their fame,
By foes in fight o'erthrown, yet victors here,

Where Scorn her finger points, through many a coming year?

The Convention of Cintra is also the name of a pamphlet written by the future British Poet Laureate William Wordsworth in 1808; he also wrote a passionate sonnet that, in his own words, was "composed while the author was engaged in writing a tract occasioned by" the Convention, in which he laments the bondage felt by "suffering Spain". Delays in publication meant that journalistic, and satirical, features of Wordsworth's prose have been overlooked. [4] [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peninsular War</span> 1807–1814 war against Napoleon in Iberia

The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Vimeiro</span> 1808 Battle during the Peninsular War

In the Battle of Vimeiro on 21 August 1808, the British under General Arthur Wellesley defeated the French under Major-General Jean-Andoche Junot near the village of Vimeiro, near Lisbon, Portugal, during the Peninsular War. This battle put an end to the first French invasion of Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Moore (British Army officer)</span> British Army general (1761–1809)

Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, also known as Moore of Corunna, was a senior British Army officer. He is best known for his military training reforms and for his death at the Battle of Corunna, in which he repulsed a French army under Marshal Soult during the Peninsular War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria I of Portugal</span> Queen of Portugal from 1777 to 1816

Dona Maria I was Queen of Portugal from 24 February 1777 until her death in 1816. Known as Maria the Pious in Portugal and Maria the Mad in Brazil, she was the first undisputed queen regnant of Portugal and the first monarch of Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Roliça</span> 1808 Battle during the Peninsular War

At the Battle of Roliça, the first battle fought by the British army during the Peninsular War, an Anglo-Portuguese army under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated an outnumbered Imperial French division under General of Division Henri François Delaborde, near the village of Roliça in Portugal. The French retired in good order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Harry Burrard, 1st Baronet, of Lymington</span> British Army general

General Sir Harry Burrard, 1st Baronet was a British soldier who fought in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and in the Peninsular War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple</span> British Army general

General Sir Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple, 1st Baronet was a Scottish general in the British Army and Governor of Gibraltar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Spencer</span> British Army general

General Sir Brent Spencer was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army, seeing active service during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars. During the Peninsular War he became General Wellesley's second-in-command on two occasions. He fought at Vimeiro and testified in Wellesley's favour at the inquiry following the Convention of Cintra. He led a division at Bussaco and two divisions at Fuentes de Onoro. After the latter action, he had an independent command in northern Portugal. Wellesley, now Lord Wellington, was not satisfied that Spencer was up to the responsibilities of second-in-command and he was replaced by Thomas Graham. Miffed, Spencer left Portugal and never returned. He became a full general in 1825.

Sir Adolphus John Dalrymple, 2nd Baronet of High Mark was a British army officer and politician.

Michael Glover (1922–1990) served in the British army during the Second World War, after which he joined the British Council and became a professional author. He has written many articles and books on Napoleonic and Victorian warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio de Castro</span>

António de São José de Castro was a Bishop of Porto, Patriarch of Lisbon, and Governor of Portugal during the Transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil following Napoleon's Invasion of Portugal (1807).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernardim Freire de Andrade</span>

Bernardino Freire de Andrade e Castro was a Portuguese Army general officer who was appointed, in July 1808, commander-in-chief of the Portuguese forces in the north of the country during the Peninsular War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military career of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington</span>

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington,, was one of the leading British military and political figures of the 19th century. Often referred to solely as "The Duke of Wellington", he led a successful military career in the Indian subcontinent during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–99) and the Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805), and in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Évora (1808)</span> 1808 battle during the Peninsular War

The Battle of Évora saw an Imperial French division under Louis Henri Loison attack a combined Portuguese-Spanish force led by Francisco de Paula Leite de Sousa. Encountering Leite's smaller body of soldiers outside Évora, the French easily brushed them aside and went on to storm the city, which was held by poorly armed townsmen and militia. The French butchered the Portuguese defenders and brutally sacked the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort of São Vicente</span> 19th-century fort in Portugal

The Fort of São Vicente is located in the town and municipality of Torres Vedras, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. In 1809 it was the first of 152 forts, redoubts and other defences to be developed as part of three defensive lines between the Atlantic Ocean and the River Tagus that were designed by the Duke of Wellington to protect the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, from possible invasion by French troops during the Peninsular War. These came to be known as the Lines of Torres Vedras. Together with the Fort of Alqueidão, it is considered the most important fortress of those constructed for the Lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort of Casa</span> 19th-century fort in Portugal

The Fort of Casa was the most easterly of the forts and redoubts built in 1809-10 during the Peninsular War on the second line of the three defensive Lines of Torres Vedras aimed at protecting the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. It is situated in the town of Forte da Casa, in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, in the Lisbon District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort of Arpim</span> 19th-century fort in Portugal

The Fort of Arpim is in the parish of Bucelas in the municipality of Loures, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It was constructed during the Peninsular War, forming part of the first of three defensive Lines of Torres Vedras aimed at protecting Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, from French invasion. The fort, which never saw battle, has been restored and can be visited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort of Subserra</span> 19th-century fort in Portugal

The Fort of Subserra, also known as the Fort of Alhandra, is situated at 142 metres above sea level close to Alhandra in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira in the Lisbon District of Portugal. Together with other smaller redoubts and batteries that also had the Subserra name, it was built during the Peninsular War (1807–14) as part of the first line of defence of the Lines of Torres Vedras planned by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington to protect the Portuguese capital of Lisbon and, if necessary, his own retreat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forts of Ajuda</span> 19th-century forts in Portugal

The Forts of Ajuda are located in the parish of Bucelas, in the municipality of Loures in the Lisbon District of Portugal. Just a short distance apart, the Forts of Ajuda Grande (Big) and Ajuda Pequeno (Small) were built in 1810 as part of the Lines of Torres Vedras, which were defensive lines to protect the Portuguese capital Lisbon from invasion by the French during the Peninsular War (1807–14).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort of Carvalha</span> 19th-century fort in Portugal

The Fort of Carvalha is located in the parish of São Tiago dos Velhos, at the highest point of the municipality of Arruda dos Vinhos, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It was built in 1809-10 as part of the first of the three Lines of Torres Vedras, which were defensive lines to protect the Portuguese capital Lisbon from invasion by the French during the Peninsular War (1807–14) or, in the event of defeat, to safely embark a retreating British Army.

References

  1. Horward, Donald D. (1994). Napoleon and Iberia – The Twin Sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, 1810. Greenhill Books. p. 5, reference to the signing of the Convention of Sintra and its conditions. ISBN   9781853671838.
  2. Newitt, Malyn (2009). Portugal – In European and World History (First ed.). Reaktion Books Ltd. p. 159, paragraph 2, reference to Junots defeat at the battle of Vimeiro. ISBN   9781861895196.
  3. Esdaile, Charles (2002). The Peninsular War. Penguin Books. p. 102, reference to the serious embarrassment by the British to the agreed terms of the Convention. ISBN   9780140273700.
  4. Valladares, Susan (2013). ""For the sake of illustrating principles": Wordsworth, the Convention of Cintra, and Satirical Prints" (PDF). European Romantic Review. 24 (5): 531–554. doi:10.1080/10509585.2013.828400. S2CID   144572557.
  5. Wordsworth, William (1876). the Prose Works of William Wordsworth. E. Moxon. Retrieved 2 January 2020.

Bibliography