Napoleon Officially Funds the 1811 Campaign Against Wellington and the English in the Spanish/Portuguese Peninsula

“You will allocate 1,500,000 francs to send to the army of Portugal, which, with the 3,500,000 francs that I gave you to this army, will make a total of 5,000,000. You will send 1,000,000 to the Central army. These funds will be taken from the funds of the armies of Spain and Portugal of 1810.”

The Peninsular War was a key focal point of the Napoleonic Wars, one that drained French forces and energies and led to a rise to leadership of the Duke of Wellington, who would be Napoleon’s nemesis. It pitted the French and its allied armies against the Anglo-Portuguese armies under Wellington and Spanish insurgents. The war began when France, with the consent of Spain, crossed the Iberian Peninsula and invaded Portugal in 1807. In May 1808, France turned on its ally when Napoleon handed the throne of Spain to his brother Joseph and forced the abdication of King Carlos IV. A puppet Spanish government was formed, but an insurrection broke out against it that required France to expend significant resources to counter. Where once Napoleon had bragged that 12,000 men could conquer Spain, now he required 80,000 to keep peace in just a portion. That number grew exponentially over time.

British military intervention became a reality for Napoleon in August 1808, when the Duke of Wellington landed in Portugal and successfully threw the French out of that country. The next few years saw competing incursions, with the troops led by Wellington attempting to push the French eastward and the French attempting renewed and unsuccessful invasions of Portugal.

1811 saw a series of major and minor confrontations between French General Massena and General Wellington along the Portuguese frontier. Wellington would come out the main victor but Napoleon was pouring resources into the Peninsula to stem the bleeding.

This important letter shows him funding the coming conflicts with the English and Portuguese.

Letter signed, Paris, March 8, 1811 to Marshall Berthier, Minister of War. “My cousin, Give the order for 3 million to go from Bayonne to Burgos. You will distribute 500,000 francs between the corps of the province of Santander and the other districts of the Northern army which need it the most… You will allocate 1,500,000 francs to send to the army of Portugal, which, with the 3,500,000 francs that I gave you to this army, will make a total of 5,000,000. You will send 1,000,000 to the Central army. These funds will be taken from the funds of the armies of Spain and Portugal of 1810. Let me know what is returned by the Treasury for 1810 and for this year.”