By May 1811 Oliver was with the 14th Regiment of line, then before Badajoz in the first Anglo-Portuguese siege of that city, when a controversy arose concerning the alleged mistreatment of Spanish lemonade sellers in the lines by a Major Lacerda (who apparently was already under arrest but clearly at liberty, presumably on parole). Lacerda refused to be questioned by Oliver on the incident whereupon Oliver struck him. For his own conduct Oliver was placed under arrest by General Fonseca, on the orders of Major General John Hamilton, the matter being referred to the Marshal. In the interim Oliver sought permission to return to the trenches with his regiment. His commitment to the cause was admirable but ended most unfortunately when poor Oliver died a month later of wounds received during the second siege of Badajoz and he is buried in the British Cemetery at Elvas.26
On another occasion, Lieutenant Colonel John Grant was deprived of command of a battalion of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion for striking a fellow officer. In imposing the sentence Beresford made it clear that he did not wish to lose Grant’s services and he was requested to report to HQ. Baron Eben, in transferring the battalion to Lieutenant Colonel Hawkshaw, noted it had been much improved under Grant.27
A third incident involved George McGregor of the 8th Portuguese Regiment along with a Captain Marlay and Captain Charles Western and two Portuguese officers, the brothers João and José María Alferezes.28 It resulted in a Court of Enquiry in Almeida with Lieutenant Colonel António de Lacerda Pinto da Silveira of the 11th Portuguese as President. As reported by McGregor to Beresford’s military secretary, Robert Arbuthnot, it involved name-calling by the Portuguese resulting in João Alferezes being slapped by Captain Western. A campaign of harassment was then mounted by fellow officers of the Alferezes’ over the next few days. McGregor confronted them on leaving Captain Marlay’s house one evening and being certain they could not mistake him for Western, as McGregor was in English uniform, he threw down his sword and approached them with open arms. However, the Portuguese brothers drew their swords, one in front of him and the other behind. Western then arrived, picked up McGregor’s sword and put them to flight. McGregor went to the Colonel (Vasconcellos) and asked him to put the two Portuguese under arrest which he agreed to do.
The British officers went in search of their Portuguese counterparts and broke down the door to a house, whereupon the Officer of the Guard arrived with soldiers and demanded McGregor give up his sword and go with him and a sentinel, claiming these were the orders of Colonel Vasconcellos. McGregor refused on the basis these could not be the orders. The Officer of the Guard told his troops to prepare to fire and a Mexican standoff ensued, with Western challenging them to shoot. The Officer of the Guard returned with another Major and the Guard was sent away. McGregor went before the Colonel, claiming he had been grossly insulted. In reply the Colonel claimed he should not be wearing a British uniform and that he should obey his orders. McGregor told him he considered himself a British officer and did not consider himself under arrest.29
Following a report from the President of the Court of Enquiry, Beresford determined to dismiss McGregor from the Portuguese service.30 McGregor was a colourful character and by 1812 he was involved in the independence movements in South America, serving under Simon Bolivar and others. Later he was involved in a number of fraudulent schemes to entice settlers to Central America. This case exemplifies Beresford’s preparedness to rely on the integrity of a Portuguese officer in a difficult case involving a British officer.
Whereas some of the British officers, and presumably likewise some of their Portuguese counterparts, found it hard to deal with these antagonisms, others merely regarded it as something which must be coped with and sought instead to emphasise their own sense of duty. Alexander Dickson in 1809 found his Portuguese commanding artillery officer extremely difficult but, rather than succumb, he determined to do all he could to help the common cause stating, ‘I am determined to make no difficulties and to do all I can’; qualities that no doubt endeared himself to Wellington a few years later when he placed the young Lieutenant Colonel in charge of all the Allied artillery prior to the campaign in the Pyrenees.31
Beresford’s emphasis on discipline extended not just to Portuguese officers and men but to the British officers in the Portuguese service. Not only did he seek to make promotions on merit, but he brooked no opposition to his authority as Commander in Chief, even when its source was a senior officer such as Lieutenant Colonel Robert Wilson, commander of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion. Beresford and Wilson had served together before. While they would have both briefly been in Egypt at the same time, in the summer of 1801, they do not appear to have met there. In 1805, however, they formed part of the army under General Sir David Baird which captured the Cape of Good Hope, and indeed Wilson and his dragoons landed with Beresford at Saldanha, thus missing the battle at Blaauwberg.32 In 1808 it was Beresford who had inspected the newly formed Loyal Lusitanian Legion following their arrival in Portugal, and Beresford’s correspondence leading up to and including the Porto campaign in the spring of 1809 contains a considerable number of letters to Wilson.
When Beresford arrived in Portugal, Wilson was harassing the French on the Spanish border with one of the battalions of the Legion. Cradock informed him of Beresford’s arrival and appointment and that the British officers with him were getting one step up in rank, telling Wilson that he too should do so and that Cradock would support him. Wilson, with part of the garrison of Almeida, joined Beresford at Viseu on his march north in the campaign against Soult, which resulted in the scrambled French withdrawal from northern Portugal, but it was shortly afterwards when Beresford began in earnest the reform of the Portuguese army that matters reached an impasse which was to lead to Wilson leaving the Peninsula.
Beresford proposed to appoint Wilson a Brigadier, but made it clear that on promotion Wilson would not be in command of the Legion, but as a general officer and could not be restricted to any particular corps or place. Wilson, for his part, said that he had been appointed to raise, command and discipline the Legion and on 23 May first tendered his resignation. Beresford said while Wilson’s departure would be a loss, he could not concede the principle, as it would be incompatible with all military systems. Wilson countered by saying that rather than retire he would prefer to join his regiment and hope to be relieved in due course. Beresford said that if he wanted to remain a Colonel then he would always serve with his corps, but he hoped Wilson would serve on the same principles as other officers of his rank served.
Wilson rejoined his regiment at Castelo Branco in early June but then unsuccessfully sought to enlist Castlereagh’s assistance so that he could retain the Legion under his own direction. Wellesley backed Beresford’s decision and in the autumn of 1809 Wilson left the Peninsula not to return; he was succeeded as Colonel of the Legion by Baron Eben.33 Where British officers, such as Wilson and Colonel William Mayne, felt aggrieved that officers now joining Beresford in Portugal were receiving expedited promotion whereas those who had come to Portugal earlier were not able to avail of the same advantage, Beresford clearly sought to address that issue.
In reality, Wilson and Mayne wanted to remain independent of Beresford and the Portuguese command structure and instead sought integration in the British army. When that objective was frustrated, they left the Peninsula. Wellesley, noting that they were absent from the Portuguese service without leave, observed they could not be punished for their misconduct back in Britain because they were not in His Majesty’s service. He was extremely critical of their conduct, suggesting they not be employed in future in England as Inspecting Field Officers or otherwise.34 However, he warned Beresford to tread carefully, on the basis that Robert Wilson had friends at home spreading rumours that Wellington (as Arthur Wellesley had now become) had mistreated Wilson because of jealousy, observing ‘he has many faults, but one above all others is that he cannot speak the truth’.35
Wellesley and Beresford were amongst the few field officers who did not go home at any stage prior to the conclusion of the war in 1814. They both became increasingly irritated by requests from officers to go home on leave, sometimes under the disguise of pressing business. There was no issue if the applicant was obviously ill, and a number of officers who went home because of illness returned later to