On 25 October 1810, Captain Lewis Ruman, who was acting as a spymaster in French occupied Spain, received the following report from one of his spies.
Valladolid October 18, 1810
On the 18th and 19th they entered with 2 Infantry Regiments – Chasseurs of the line – and one Cavalry of 600 Horses; [The French made the following demands.] You will ensure the preparation of rations, for up to 8 to 10,000 men who will arrive in a few days; although the Commissioner told me 15,000. They are from the Corps that we told you and Colonel Baseconcelles; others assure me that they come from Vitoria and Bilbao as well as from Navarra.
They all come under the command of General Goyne, who today had a major dispute over the command with General Kellerman. This same Goyne, instantly ordered Major General Barthelemy [Jean-Barthélemy-Claude-Toussaint Darmagnac] under arrest.
My question is who was this General Goyne?
A few clues that may narrow the search down. . .
He was not assigned to Massena's Army of Portugal since it was deep into Portugal.
He was senior to both Kellermann and Darmgnac.
To make matters more difficult. . .
The report was written in Spanish and the spy may have misspelled his word.
Ruman was transcribing the report and may have had trouble reading his spy's handwriting.
Could Goyne be a civilian official mistaken for a military officer?
Below is a copy of his handwriting.
Thanks!
Bob
Hi Bob,
At that time the big force that would have been moving to Valladolid from France would have been the 9th Corps under the Comte d'Erlon. The 9th Corps was a corps in name only and consisted of 4th battalions which were being shuffled along to their parent regiments in the Army of Portugal and the Army of the South. The 9th Corps was forced to move very slowly, because it was not a proper corps d'armee and did not have much of its own transport forcing it to rely upon the local garrison commanders for provisions, which I'm sure you are aware were difficult to procure. The result was that it took the 9th Corps much longer than expected to work its way to the Portuguese frontier.
D'Erlon would have been a senior general, but how that would be corrupted to Goyne is a matter of conjecture.
Best regards, Terry
Hello Bob,
I'm afraid I can't contribute much as to who the General "Goyne" you are looking for might be, but General Kellermann was Governor of the 6th Governorate, which included Valladolid, Valencia and Toro, until Sep/Oct 1810. His Chief of Staff was Adjudant commandant Francois Dominique Barbe Berthélémy. I assume that he is the one named in the spy's report and who is said to have been placed under arrest and that "Major General" is the designation for his function rather than a rank.
The General Darmagnac you mentioned was on leave in France at the time...
Regards
Immo