I do not presume to say, that the conduct of all corps of cavalry, infantry and artillery, were alike; but such officers as have been much employed with a British army in the field, must be aware of what he had to contend with, to prevent irregularities, and above all drunkenness, and the crimes arising out of its demoralizing effects, into which our soldiers invariably fell; so much so, that the greater part of them could never be trusted out of the sight of those who had the charge of them; and the annoyances and sufferings of the unlucky officers who had too often to bear the blame for their disorderly conduct, especially in going to and returning from the several hospital stations, and upon escort, and other duties, which took them away from their corps in Portugal, Spain, and other countries, cannot have forgotten what they had to encounter, and they must fully bear me out when I say, that it was perfect misery to have any thing to do with them; and nothing but the certainty of being flogged, if caught by the Provost absent from their corps, kept many of them in the line of march, or in their camps afterwards; and as for their conduct at sieges, and upon other occasions, when they had the power of breaking loose, or from under the watchful eyes of their officers, the less that is here said by me upon the subject the better. This is really a melancholy picture to draw of most of our soldiers; but I lament to say it is a true one, and I am also reluctantly obliged to admit, that the almost only redeeming quality which they possessed, was undaunted courage in battle. But to show that I do not make these assertions on slight grounds (and I would never have been induced to do so without an important object in view), I must beg that the words of his Grace the Duke of Wellington, upon several occasions, may be duly considered. In the month of May, 1809, he thus, in general orders, addresses his army--"The Commander of the Forces is much concerned to be obliged again to complain of the conduct of the troops; not only have outrages been committed by whole corps, but there is no description of property of which the unfortunate inhabitants of Portugal have not been plundered by the British soldiers, whom they have received into their houses, or by stragglers from the different regiments of the army. The Commander of the Forces apprehends that the interior discipline of the regiments is materially relaxed, &c. &c."