MOORE, SIR JOHN

MOORE, SIR JOHN, English general, born at Glasgow, 13th November 1761, was eldest son of the preceding. He entered the army as ensign when only fifteen, and first distinguished himself in the descent upon Corsica (1794); he served in the West Indies (1796), in Ireland during the rebellion of 1798, and in Holland in 1799. He was in Egypt in 1801 with the army under Abercromby, and obtained the Order of the Bath for his services in command of the reserve. When war again broke out in 1802 Moore served in Sicily and Sweden. In 1808 he was sent with a corps of 10,000 men to strengthen the English army in the Peninsula. He arrived in Mondego Bay, August 19, and assumed the chief command on the return to England of Sir H. Burrard. In October he received instructions to co-operate with the forces of Spain in the expulsion of the French from the Peninsula. He moved his army from Lisbon with the intention of advancing by Valladolid to unite himself with the Spanish general Romana, and threaten the communications between Madrid and France. But the apathy of the Spaniards, the successes of the French in various parts of the Peninsula, and, above all, the folly and intrigues of his own countrymen, soon placed him in a critical position. Yet he had determined to make a bold advance from Salamanca to attack Soult when the news reached him that Madrid had fallen, and that Napoleon was marching to crush him at the head of 70,000 men. Moore's forces amounted to only 25,000 men, and he was consequently forced to retreat. In December he began a disastrous march from Astorga to Coruña, a route of near 250 miles, through a desolate and mountainous country, made almost impassable by snow and rain, and harassed by the enemy. The soldiers suffered intolerable hardships, and arrived at Coruña in a very distressed state. It was impossible to embark without fighting, and Soult was in readiness to attack as soon as the troops should begin to embark. The battle was mainly one of infantry, for the cavalry after destroying their horses had gone on board, and the bulk of the artillery, for which the ground was not adapted, had also been withdrawn. On the 16th January 1809 the French came on in four strong columns. A desperate battle ensued. While animating the 42d Regiment in a brilliant charge in an early stage of the action, Moore was struck by a cannon-ball on the left shoulder and died in the moment of victory. The French were defeated with the loss of 2000 men; and the dead leader was buried at night just before the embarkation of his troops. The British army in this expedition lost their magazines and 6000 soldiers. Soult, with a noble feeling of respect for his valour, raised a monument to Moore's memory on the field of battle, and at home another was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. His uncommon capacity was sustained by the purest virtue and governed by a disinterested patriotism, while a certain heroic ascendancy of character and the singular beauty of his person powerfully impressed every one who came near him. Wolfe's verses on the burial of Sir John Moore have helped to keep his memory green. See the Life by his brother (2 vols. 1834), and Napier's Peninsular War (vol. i.).