Comparative Conduct
I have listened to Zack's podcast on discipline and conduct of British troops in the Peninsular campaigns and I am mindful of the events surrounding Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajoz. I'm also of the understanding that Spanish troops were not encouraged to continue with Wellington's army deeper into French territory from 1814 at least in part due to concerns of reprisals. Very little I have speaks to the conduct of Portuguese troops in either Spanish or French territory. It seems clear that their alliance with Spain was an unnatural one born of circumstances just as that of the British with the Spanish. Like the Spanish over the French occupation, the Portuguese had much to be bitter about. How does their record compare to either of their allies?
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Wellington resisted requests to speed up his advance into France in 1815. He knew that if he out-marched his supplies that discipline would suffer. Plunder and worse the inevitable result. That would meaning losing the goodwill of the French people, potentially fuelling risings and spontaneous attacks on his lines of communication. His Peninsula experience taught him well about the value of guerrilla war. He had no desire to bring it down upon himself.