2000 18th August 1813
Wellington consulted his maps at his headquarters in
Valladolid and read the latest reports from his three corps commanders. During the previous week he had visited each
of them to explain the overall plan and their role in it. Each division has received reinforcements to
bring them up to their full strength.
Every man has five days supplies.
He is confident that he has done
all that he can to prepare his army for the next phase of the campaign to drive
the French from Spain. Now the corps
commanders must play their part.
80 miles away Marshal Soult sat in the castle of Burgos and
considered the daily reports from his three corps commanders. Following the loss of Valladolid one month
earlier he had deployed his army to hold the strategic city of Burgos and
secure his communications with France.
He was also well positioned to advance on Madrid again after he has
defeated Wellington. This time he knew
the approximate location of the Anglo-Spanish army and their intentions were
clear – they must capture Burgos.
Unlike the earlier campaign this time he is ready and his divisions are well
deployed. His agents report that half
of Wellington’s army is composed of Portuguese or Spanish. True the Spanish guerrillas are more active
than at any time in the past, but they pose no real military threat. His army have also received reinforcement and are now at full strength. It was true that only half of them were
French, and more of those conscripts than he would have wished. But his corps commanders were experienced
and proven commanders. He was confident
that within a month the English would once more be retreating to Portugal as
they had done the previous year.
Meanwhile the six corps commanders drafted their final
orders for 19th August 1813.
The Burgos campaign is about to commence.
