General Burrard had arrived in Maceira roads aboard HMS Brazen on 20 August.24 Wellesley went on board this sloop that evening to report and hand over command. The British army was then before Vimeiro and Wellington proposed to advance the next day. Burrard, perhaps feeling he needed further information, suggested delaying any advance. Matters were taken out of Wellesley’s hands on the morning of 21 August when the French chose to attack the British force. After the battle, the victorious Wellesley wished to pursue the defeated French but Burrard, who had by then joined the army, prohibited such a move even though the French were in considerable disorder.25 Burrard clearly felt the French still had their reserve intact and a substantial superiority in cavalry and accordingly caution was required in his mind. He wished to wait for Sir John Moore with reinforcements.26 As a result the French were able to retire on Torres Vedras.
Dalrymple, stationed at Gibraltar, had received his instructions from Castlereagh on 7 August.27 He was directed to seek to expel the French from Lisbon and cut off their retreat to Spain if possible. Sailing from Gibraltar on 13 August, he reached the mouth of the Tagus on 19 August and there conferred with Admiral Cotton. He left the 42nd Regiment, which had travelled with him from Gibraltar, with Cotton in case the opportunity arose to land at Lisbon; while Dalrymple proceeded to Maceira where he landed on 22 August, establishing there his initial headquarters. Assuming command, he met Wellesley who once again urged an advance. Dalrymple made it clear he was not in a position to form an opinion on the merits of such a proposal, having just landed, but he did authorise Wellesley to prepare to march the army.28
Within hours of Dalrymple landing at Maceira, General François Étienne Kellerman (who had commanded the reserve at Vimeiro) arrived under a flag of truce to propose an armistice.29 This suspension of arms was stated to be for the specific purpose of negotiating a convention for the evacuation of the French army from Portugal. Furthermore the armistice provided:
it is agreed provisionally that the French army shall not, in any case, be considered as prisoners of war; that all the individuals who compose it shall be transported to France with their arms and baggage, and the whole of their private property, from which nothing shall be exempted.30
The balance of the armistice provided for the neutrality of the port of Lisbon so that the Russian fleet trapped there could sail at will, guarantees of security for those who had supported France in Portugal, the transport of French artillery and the horses of the cavalry to France, and a forty-eight hour notice of termination of the suspension of arms.31
While the clause quoted above was to become central to the disagreements that followed, each of the provisions referred to gave rise to debate, both during the formation of the terms for the suspension of arms and the subsequent convention.32 Importantly, Kellerman assured the British that the words used regarding baggage and private property meant their strict grammatical meaning and did not cover merchandise of any sort. Wellesley for his part advocated unavailingly that the suspension of arms should be for only forty-eight hours rather than determinable on forty-eight hours notice.
The days following the signing of the suspension of arms were spent negotiating the terms of the convention, on the one hand, and the preparation for the renewal of conflict, on the other. However the ink was barely dry on the suspension of arms terms before Bernardim Freire expressed his dissatisfaction. The Portuguese commander visited Dalrymple at his new headquarters at Ramalhal on 23 August. He was given a copy of the terms of armistice and immediately objected on a number of grounds including the failure to consult the Junta of Porto, as the Portuguese leadership, and the provisions designed to protect those who had cooperated with the French during the occupation of Portugal. Dalrymple was clearly sensitive to the potential for friction with Britain’s ally for he requested the objections in writing, but apparently these were not forthcoming. Bernardim Freire agreed to establish Major Ayres Pinto de Souza as a liaison officer to attend on the British commander.33
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Murray had taken a copy of the terms to Admiral Cotton who insisted that the Russian fleet should not be allowed to sail free, and in effect should be excluded from the terms of any convention and subject to a separate agreement.34 Ultimately this was to involve the surrender of the Russian fleet to Admiral Cotton, on the basis it would be returned at the conclusion of hostilities, and the repatriation to Russia of its crews.35 However, when Murray returned to headquarters on 25 August with the news that Cotton objected to the proposed inclusion of the Russian fleet in the convention, Dalrymple, having called a conference with both Burrard and Wellesley in attendance, determined to tell the French that the cessation of hostilities would end at twelve noon on 28 August, given the terms were not acceptable. Murray was dispatched to Junot with this instruction, but with authorisation to extend the cessation for a further twenty-four hours if he was making progress with negotiations.
Murray did make progress in further discussions with Kellerman and on the morning of 29 August, Captain Adolphus John Dalrymple, a son of the British commander, arrived back at Ramalhal with an amended treaty agreed between Murray and Kellerman. Once again Dalrymple convened a meeting of his Lieutenant Generals.36 Objections were raised to the proposals, and a further draft containing alterations was sent back to Murray.37 Meanwhile, the cessation of hostilities ended and Dalrymple moved his headquarters into Torres Vedras. Junot accepted the convention as altered and signed the terms, together with some additional articles of an administrative nature, at his headquarters in Lisbon on 30 August.38 In ratifying the terms, he signed as Duke of Abrantes. No one may have noticed at the time, but the acknowledgment of this title was itself to cause resentment in Portugal when it became known.39
On 31 August at 7.30 am, Captain Dalrymple arrived back at Torres Vedras with the definitive treaty. Sir Hew Dalrymple convened a further meeting of his Lieutenant Generals in Burrard’s headquarters; a meeting which on this occasion did not include either Wellesley or Paget who were with their troops. Dalrymple ratified the ‘Convention of Cintra’ with no disapproval being made by those present. It was noted that Junot had failed to sign one part of the treaty, and Lieutenant Colonel Lord Proby was sent to Lisbon with both copies in order that this might be rectified.40 One copy was later returned to the British commander but meanwhile in its absence Murray was detailed to explain its substance to Pinto da Souza.
The Convention contained twenty-two articles and three supplementary articles.41 In essence, the French army was to evacuate Portugal and be transported to any French port between Rochefort and Lorient, the means for doing so to be supplied by the British government. The Convention provided for the hand over of the strong places in Portugal to the British army and for the gradual embarkation of the French army in three divisions. The execution of the Convention and its terms was to give rise to discussion and disagreement when it became known in the United Kingdom, but more immediately a number of articles became the subject of anger and dispute in Portugal, rendering its implementation fraught with difficulty. While several articles were to prove contentious between the British and their Portuguese allies, the interpretation of Article V by the French leadership and the manner in which the British command reacted gave rise to complaint and recrimination in Portugal and criticism at home. Article V provided:
The French army shall carry with it all its equipments, and all that is comprehended under the name of property of the army; that is to say, its military chest, and carriages attached to the Field Commissariat and Field Hospitals; or shall be allowed to dispose of such part of the same, on its account, as the Commander-in-Chief may judge it unnecessary to embark. In like manner, all individuals in the army shall be at liberty to dispose of their private property of every description; with full security hereafter for the purchasers.
The possibility of disagreement as between