Shortly after Corunna, a Colonel Digby Hamilton wrote to Lieutenant General Brownrigg (Quartermaster General) reporting the chaos caused on the retreat by the excessive number of women and children acconpanying the army, and suggesting that a high-ranking officer should be appointed and put over the Baggage Master to inspect all wheeled transport, decide in what order it should proceed with the marching columns, and to appoint guards for the baggage - and punish stragglers and plunderers. [ the letter is in TNA WO 1/237, ff 383-389]

Was anything done about this - how did Wellington cope with the problem, or did he nip it in the bud at the very beginning? And would Moore have been empowered to make this sort of arrangement without Horse Guards approval?

Janet Macdonald