(Lefebure’s) from England, the surviving men and horses of the Chestnut Troop should be handed over to it, and Captain Ross and his officers return to England to organize a new troop. Luckily for him, Captain Lefebure’s troop suffered so much from a storm on its way to the Peninsula that, on its arrival, it was little more efficient than the one it was [Sidenote: Memoir of Sir H. D. Ross.] meant to relieve; so, to Captain Ross’s delight, he had his vacancies completed from the new arrivals, and Captain Lefebure had, instead, the duty of rebuilding his troop. The head-quarters of the English General, on whom the title of Lord Wellington was bestowed after Talavera, were at Badajoz until the end of 1809. He devoted himself to the strengthening of his position, with the double motive of ensuring to himself the possession of Lisbon and the Tagus, and of securing the unmolested embarkation of his troops, should reverses render it necessary. The lines of Torres Vedras, which were to play so important a part in the campaign of 1810, were matured in the winter of 1809. Lord Wellington had given up all hope of succeeding by means of the Spaniards; but he by no means despaired of offering an effectual resistance to the most powerful French attacks by means of the combined English and Portuguese army under his command. He felt confidence in his troops. As [Sidenote: Lord Wellington to Colonel Malcolm, Badajoz, 3 Dec. 1809.] he boasted to a correspondent, “I command an unanimous army.” Supplies in Portugal were better arranged than in Spain; and, with the remembrance fresh in his mind of Talavera, which he himself pronounced “the hardest-fought battle of modern days, and the most glorious in its results to the English troops,” he looked forward to the next campaign with quiet confidence, and displayed during the winter an industry in strengthening his position which, at all events, deserved success. NOTE.--Although the Peninsular War eclipses in point of interest any other operations in which the Royal Artillery was engaged in 1809, it would be a great omission, were no allusion made to the services of the Corps, in the beginning of 1809, during the operations in the West Indies under General Beckwith and Sir George Prevost, which resulted in the capture of the French colonies of Cayenne and Martinique. Over 500 officers and men of the Royal Artillery were present under the command of Brigadier-General Stehelin, and the value of their services may be ascertained from the following extract from the General Order issued at the termination of the campaign:-- [Sidenote: G. O. Dated 8 March, 1809.]