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products and manufactures. As Britain took a large part of the wine that was Portugal’s chief export, joining the Continental Blockade was unthinkable, and yet fighting France and Spain was not much of an option either. Some attempt had been made to reorganize the army since the peace of 1801, but no more than 20,000 men were under arms out of a theoretical total of some 48,000. In the circumstances, then, the only hope was to play for time in the belief that Britain would send troops or ships to defend their old ally (something that was not so improbable: British expeditionary forces had repeatedly been sent to Portugal in the eighteenth century, while in 1806 even the lacklustre Talents had dispatched a squadron to Lisbon the moment that invasion threatened). Thus, while Napoleon was told that Portugal was prepared to declare war on Britain and close her ports to her ships, the chief minister, Antonio de Araujo, appealed to the Portland administration for help and in general made it very clear that he was still loyal. ‘The French [are] insisting on all British subjects being turned out of the country and their property [being] confiscated,’ wrote one British resident. ‘The Prince Regent’s reply to this is that he will sooner risk the loss of his kingdom than act so treacherous a part against such a friend and ally as England has ever been to Portugal.’19

Napoleon was unready for war: the troops had to be scraped together from depots all over France and their Spanish counterparts faced enormous logistical difficulties. Lisbon was therefore told it need only detain British subjects on a provisional basis and sequester rather than confiscate their goods, the original deadline of 2 September also being extended for a further month. Yet this meant nothing. Indeed, in the wake of Copenhagen the emperor was more inclined to severity than ever. ‘About this time’, wrote Fouché, ‘was known the success of the attack upon Copenhagen by the English, which was the first blow given to the secret stipulations of Tilsit, in virtue of which the navy of Denmark was to be placed at the disposal of France. Since the catastrophe of Paul I, I never saw Napoleon abandon himself to more violent transports. What most struck him in this vigorous enterprise was the promptness of the resolution of the English ministry.’20 Typical of these ‘transports’ was the outburst witnessed by Metternich at Fontainebleau on 16 October: ‘I will no longer tolerate an English ambassador in Europe; I will declare war against any power who receives one at his court after two months from this time. I have 300,000 Russians at my disposal and with that powerful ally I can do everything. The English declare they will no longer respect neutrals on the sea; I will no longer recognize them on the land.’21

In Portugal, meanwhile, it had been decided that heroics had better be set aside in favour of other methods. Although news had now been received that no aid would be forthcoming from the British, reports from Paris suggested that Napoleon’s entourage could be bribed into dissuading him from taking action. Napoleon was once again told that the government would not give way, but as a mark of good faith, the batteries that protected Lisbon from the sea were placed in a state of defence and 6,000 troops thrown into the coastal fortress of Peniche. Meanwhile, large amounts of gold and jewels were placed at the disposal of certain confidential agents in Paris. Whether a more positive answer would have made any difference is unclear, but Napoleon now had all the pretext he needed while his 25,000-strong intervention force - the so-called First Corps of Observation of the Gironde - was ready for action. No sooner had he received the Portuguese answer, then, than Napoleon ordered its commander, General Junot, to cross the Spanish frontier and make all haste for the Portuguese capital: ‘You will tell . . . Junot,’ the emperor told his Minister of War, General Clarke, ‘that my ambassador has left Lisbon, and that there is therefore not a moment to lose if the English are to be forestalled.