To James Madison from George W. Erving, 14 October 1806 (Abstract)
From George W. Erving, 14 October 1806 (Abstract)
§ From George W. Erving. 14 October 1806, Madrid. No. 16. “I had the honor to write to you last by original & duplicate on the 6th Inst. In that letter I mentioned the departure of Lord St Vincents from Lisbon in consequence of an arrangement made at Paris between the Portuguese & French governments; I mentioned also that this arrangemt had not appeared to have relaxed the military preparations which the Spanish government were making & hinted at the true object of these preparations, the suggestion grounded upon information received from the best authority, as particularly stated in my unofficial letter of the 7th. All that has since ⟨o⟩ccurred, & some private communications which have ⟨b⟩een made to me, tend further to justify the ⟨i⟩nsinuation referred to; And I have this ⟨m⟩oment procured a printed proclamation of the Prince of Peace, dated the 5th, to be published tomorrow, which seems to speak very forcibly to the same point. As the post is at the moment of departure for Lisbon I seize the opportunity of transmitting to you this interesting & curious document.”1
RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, DD, Spain, vol. 10). RC 2 pp.; marked “Duplicate” and dated “At Night”; docketed by Wagner. For enclosure, see n. 1.
1. The enclosed proclamation (2 pp.; in Spanish; docketed by Wagner) stated that the Spanish cavalry lacked horses, and called on the provinces of Andalusia and Extremadura to provide regiments or companies of skilled mounted horsemen to serve Charles IV of Spain for the duration of the current crisis. After striving to rouse the potential recruits’ desire for glory, and flattering them as unsusceptible to fear, treachery, or seduction, Manuel Godoy threatened that they would become suspect and incur imputations against their honor if they ignored his call, and asserted that their local preceptors would, in that case, cause them to understand their duty.