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Felix I. Lessambo
International
Project Finance
The Public-Private
Partnership
International Project Finance
Felix I. Lessambo
International Project
Finance
The Public-Private Partnership
Felix I. Lessambo
New Britain, CT, USA
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
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Acknowledgments
v
Contents
vii
viii CONTENTS
4 Bankability 33
4.1 General 33
4.2 Bankability Assessment 34
4.2.1 Certainty of Revenue Stream 34
4.2.2 Risk Factors 36
4.2.2.1 Political Environment 36
4.2.2.2 Economic Environment 37
4.2.2.3 Legal System 37
4.2.2.4 Regulatory Framework 37
4.2.2.5 Environmental Risk 38
4.2.2.6 Project Specificity 38
4.2.2.7 Project Financial Structure 39
4.2.2.8 Third-Party Risk Allocation 39
4.2.2.9 Contract Agreement 40
4.3 Bankability Tradeoff 40
5 Public Procurement: Laws and Regulations 43
5.1 General 43
5.2 Public Procurement Legal Framework 44
5.3 Principles of Public Procurement 45
5.3.1 Transparency 45
5.3.2 Integrity 46
5.3.3 Efficiency 46
5.3.4 Fairness 47
5.3.5 Openness 47
5.3.6 Competition 48
5.3.7 Accountability 48
5.4 Public Procurement Cycle 48
5.4.1 Competitive Tendering 48
5.4.2 Pre-qualification of Bidders 49
5.4.3 Processing and Evaluating Bids 49
5.4.4 Making Award Recommendations 50
5.4.5 Negotiating Contracts 50
5.4.6 Contract Award Letter and Signing
the Contract 50
5.5 Public Procurement Laws in the United States, EU,
and China 50
CONTENTS ix
Glossary 199
Bibliography 203
Index 211
Acronyms
xv
xvi ACRONYMS
xvii
List of Tables
xix
CHAPTER 1
1.1 General
The origins of project finance date back to the thirteenth century, when
the financing of a mining operation was structured not unlike todays’
methods. In 1299 A.D., the English Crown financed the exploration
and the development of the Devon silver mines by repaying the Floren-
tine merchant bank, Frescobaldi, with output from the mines.1 In the
seventeenth century, another form of project finance emerged with fund
sailing ship voyages with Investors providing financing for trading expe-
ditions on a voyage-by-voyage basis. Upon return, the cargo and ships
were liquidated and the proceeds of the voyage split among investors.2
Over centuries, project financing has evolved into primarily a vehicle
for assembling a consortium of investors, lenders, and other partici-
pants to undertake infrastructure projects that would be too large for
individual investors to underwrite. To date, project financing, as an alter-
native to conventional direct financing, is a well-established technique
for large capital-intensive projects. Finnerty defines project finance as
1 John W. Kensinger and John D. Martin (1993): Project Finance: Raising Money the
Old-Fashioned Way. In Donald H. Chew, Jr. (Ed.) The New Corporate Finance: Where
Theory Meets Practice (p. 326). New York: McGraw-Hill.
2 Kensinger and Martin (1993): Project Finance- Raising Money the Old fashion Way.
McGraw-Hill.
built under the supervision of the state and were funded from the respec-
tive budgetary resources of sovereign borrowings. In 1978, the United
States passed the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURPA) and established
a private market for electric power. In so doing, the United States paved
the way for the growth of project financing in many other industrial
countries. Similarly, recent large-scale privatizations in developing coun-
tries aimed at strengthening economic growth and stimulating private
sector investment have given further impetus to project finance struc-
turing. In the 1990s as a means of financing projects designed, to help
meet the tremendous infrastructure needs existing in both developed and
developing countries, project financing almost replaced the traditional
financing model that prevailed for centuries. Perhaps the most prolific
use of project financing has been in the UK, where something called
the “Private Finance Initiative” (PFI) has been used. PFI was started in
1992 and has been managed by the British government as a systematic
public-private partnership program.
• Highly leveraged
• Long-term
The tenor for project financings can easily reach 15–20 years.
4 F. I. LESSAMBO
The project company is the borrower. Since these newly formed enti-
ties do not have their own credit or operating histories, it is necessary for
lenders to focus on the specific project’s cash flows. That is, “the financing
is not primarily dependent on the credit support of the sponsors or the
value of the physical assets involved.” Thus, it takes an entirely different
credit evaluation or investment decision process to determine the poten-
tial risks and rewards of a project financing as opposed to a corporate
financing. In the former, lenders place a substantial degree of reliance on
the performance of the project itself. As a result, they will concern them-
selves closely with the feasibility of the project and its sensitivity to the
impact of potentially adverse factors. Lenders must work with engineers
to determine the technical and economic feasibility of the project. From
the project sponsor’s perspective, the advantage of project finance is that
it represents a source of off-balance sheet financing.
• Numerous participants
• Allocated risk
Because many risks are present in such transactions, often the crucial
element required to make the project go forward is the proper alloca-
tion of risk. This allocation is achieved and codified in the contractual
arrangements between the project company and the other participants.
The goal of this process is to match risks and corresponding returns to the
parties most capable of successfully managing them. For example, fixed-
price, turnkey contracts for construction, which typically include severe
penalties for delays put the construction, risk on the contractor instead
on the project company or lenders. The risks inherent to a typical project
financing and their mitigants are discussed in more detail below.
• Costly
6 OECD (2015): Infrastructure Financing Instruments and Incentives (p. 10). https://
www.oecd.org/finance/private-pensions/Infrastructure-Financing-Instruments-and-Incent
ives.pdf.
6 F. I. LESSAMBO
• PPP Rationale
– PPP enables the public sector to reduce its borrowing figure and the
projects will be financed using private sector capital.
– PPP provides efficient use of resources for delivering public services.
– PPP allows the public sector to enjoy value for money in the long-
term, as the private sector is not only providing the financing but
also operating the PPP facilities for the benefit of the public.
– PPP enables the public sector to provide services at a lower price.
1 INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT FINANCE 7
• PPP Scope
The scope of the PPP framework indicates the types of projects for which
the framework applies. As such, the scope is generally defined by juris-
diction, sector, size, and contract type. The scope of the PPP has to
be established during the process of strategic planning. The scope of
the public-private partnership must be considered in terms of geograph-
ical area and service requirements. However, the regulatory framework
is another aspect through which the parameters of the partnership must
be defined. In terms of geographical area, the scope needs to be defined
with regard to both the nature of the project (e.g., if the service to be
provided is water supply, waste management, and so on) and the objec-
tives of the decision-maker. Projects often deliver improved value for
money if the scope of the contract is increased to provide greater possi-
bilities for innovation and economies of scale. However, other projects
may be sufficiently large and/or complex to the degree that there exist a
number of sub-options to the PPP. These options may relate to the sepa-
ration of a business by function or geographical area. For example, if the
government is considering the use of a PPP to provide integrated waste
management services in a particular region, it could use a number of area-
based contracts or separate PPP contracts for waste collection and waste
treatment/disposal. Where such sub-options exist, the costs and benefits
of each sub-option need to be appraised in monetary and non-monetary
terms and the preferred option identified in the PPP assessment.
– Engaging all stakeholders that are either directly involved in the PPP
project or directly or indirectly affected in the short and/or long
run,
– Ensuring clear accountability mechanisms;
– Ensuring transparency, including in public procurement frameworks
and contracts;
– Ensuring participation, particularly of local communities in decisions
affecting their communities;
– Ensuring effective management, accounting, and budgeting for
contingent liabilities, and debt sustainability;
– Alignment with national priorities and relevant principles of effective
development
The OECD has set forth the following principles for the governance of
PPP7 :
2.1 General
Project finance is the process of financing a specific economic unit that the
sponsors create, in which creditors share much of the venture’s business
risk and funding is obtained strictly for the project itself.1 Project finance
is generally structured to maximize tax benefit and to assure that all avail-
able tax benefits are used by the sponsors or transferred to the extent
possible to another party through a partnership, lease, or vehicle.2 Project
finance differs from traditional finance where the primary source of repay-
ment for investors and creditors is the sponsoring company, backed by its
entire balance sheet, not the project alone.
3 Stefan Cristian Gherghina (2021): Corporate Finance. Journal of Risk & Financial
Management, MDPI.
4 Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (2001): Working Paper on the Internal
Ratings-Based Approach to Specialised Lending Exposures (p. 2), BIS.
5 Molenaar, K., Sobin, N., Gransberg, D., Tamera McCuen, T.L., Sinem Korkmaz, S.,
and Horman, M. (2009): Sustainable, High Performance Projects and Project Delivery
Methods. The Charles Pankow Foundation and The Design-Build Institute of America.
2 PROJECT FINANCING AND DIRECT CONVENTIONAL FINANCING 13
Fig. 2.1 PPP versus Traditional Procurement (Source World Bank [2019])
6 Benjamin C. Esty (2003): The Economic Motivations for Using Project Finance
(p. 10), HBS. https://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~charvey/Teaching/BA456_2006/Esty_F
oreign_banks.pdf.
2 PROJECT FINANCING AND DIRECT CONVENTIONAL FINANCING 15
sponsors. That is, sponsors do not expose themselves to the risk of finan-
cial distress in the event the project has trouble. Although creditors’
security will include the assets being financed, lenders rely on the oper-
ating cash flow generated from those assets for repayment. Depending
upon the structure of project financing, the project sponsors may not be
required to report any of the project debt on its balance sheet because
such debt is non-recourse or of limited recourse to the sponsor.
2.5.2 Disadvantages
A project finance project needs to be carefully structured to ensure that
all the parties’ obligations are negotiated and are contractually binding.
Financial and legal advisers and other experts may have to spend consid-
erable time and effort on this structuring and on a detailed appraisal of
the project. These steps will add to the cost of setting up the project and
may delay its implementation. Moreover, the sharing of risks and bene-
fits brings unrelated parties into a close and long relationship. A sponsor
must consider the implications of its actions on the other parties associ-
ated with the project if the relationship is to remain harmonious over the
long-term.
Since project finance structuring hinges on the strength of the project
itself, the technical, financial, environmental, and economic viability of the
project is a paramount concern. Anything that could weaken the project
is also likely to weaken the financial returns of investors and creditors.
Therefore, an essential step of the procedure is to identify and analyze the
project’s risks, then to allocate and mitigate them. Such risks are many and
varied. Some may relate to a specific subsector, others to the country and
policy environment, and still others to factors that are more general. Last
but not least, a complex financing mechanism can require significant lead
times. Project finance is expensive to arrange as it involves establishing
the project company, forming a consortium of equity-holders and lenders,
gaining agreement to a complex set of contractual arrangements between
the parties involved, and arranging costly documentation.
16 F. I. LESSAMBO
7 Jakob Müllner (2017): International Project Finance: Review and Implications for
International Finance and International Business. Management Review Quarterly, Vol. 67,
97–133.
2 PROJECT FINANCING AND DIRECT CONVENTIONAL FINANCING 17
finance model transaction has been considered, but will not work because
of the need to fill a gap in project risks that only the government can
fill. Because of the many ways it can be applied, it is a very flexible
model. From natural resource exploitation, many developing countries
have extended the recourse to PPP in other areas.
8 https://www.eranove.com/en/africa/atinkou/.
9 IFC (2016): Eranove, Côte d’Ivoire. https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/projectDetail/SII/
39096.
18 F. I. LESSAMBO
10 https://www.publicpower.org/policy/public-utility-regulatory-policies-act-1978.
11 Asghar, Zahid (2018): Energy—GDP Relationship: A Causal Analysis for the Five
Countries of South Asia. Applied Econometrics and International Development, Vol. 8,
Issue 1, 167–180.
CHAPTER 3
3.1 General
The financing of PPP combines equity, loans, and government grants.
The initial equity investors, who develop the PPP proposal, are typically
called project shareholders. Typical equity investors include project devel-
opers, engineering or construction companies, infrastructure management
companies, and private equity funds. Lenders to PPP projects in devel-
oping countries include commercial banks, multilateral and bilateral
development banks and finance institutions, and institutional investors
such as pension funds and insurance companies. Projects’ shareholders
often have an incentive to finance a PPP with a high ratio of debt
to equity—that is, to achieve high advantage. Conversely, governments
often provide more protection to debt investors than to equity investors,
providing a further incentive for high leverage.
of debt capital have senior claim on income and assets of the project.
The other sources of project finance include grants from various sources,
supplier’s credit, etc. Government grants can be made available to make
PPP projects commercially viable, to reduce the financial risks of private
investors, and to achieve socially desirable objectives such as to induce
economic growth in lagging or disadvantaged areas. Many governments
have established formal mechanisms for the award of grants to PPP
projects. Where grants are available, depending on government policy
they may cover 10–40% of the total project investment (Table 3.1).
Generally, debt finance makes up the major share of investment needs
(usually about 70–90%) in PPP projects. The common forms of debt are.
1 Esty, B., and Megginson, W. (2003): Creditor Rights, Enforcement, and Debt Owner-
ship Structure—Evidence from the Global Syndicated Loan Market. Journal of Financial
and Quantitative Analysis, 689–721.
2 Weber, Barbara, and Alfen HH (2010): Wilhelm: Infrastructure as an Asset Class:
Investment Strategies Project Finance and PPP, Wiley Finance Series.
22 F. I. LESSAMBO
related to the liquidation value of the asset and in its ability to generate
cash flow to service debt payments.
• Bridge Finance
One option with bridge financing is for a company to take out a short-
term, high-interest loan, known as a bridge loan. Companies who seek
bridge financing through a bridge loan need to be careful, however,
because the interest rates are sometimes so high that it can cause further
financial struggles.
• Stapled Financing
• Equity Finance
Equity finance refers to all financial resources that are provided to firms
in return for an ownership interest. Investors may sell their shares in the
firm/project, if a market exists, or they may get a share of the proceeds if
the asset is sold. They are crucial in the financing of infrastructure invest-
ments as the providers of risk capital to initiate a project or refinancing.
Listed shares are indirect participation rights in corporations, projects,
and other entities; investors hold minority positions with limited ability
to influence management. Unlisted shares often confer direct ownership,
24 F. I. LESSAMBO
• Mezzanine Loan
• Hybrid Instruments
• Pension Funds
which tend to keep up with inflation, help hedge pension funds’ liabilities
that are also inflation-prone. Additionally, pension funds are interested in
diversifying their portfolios to lower the volatility of their returns. Infras-
tructure investments can be attractive when the correlation between their
anticipated returns and those of traditional assets is low.
• Government Grants
The sponsors are the generally the project owners with an equity stake
in the project. It is possible for a single company or for a consortium to
sponsor a project. Because project financings use the project company as
the financing vehicle and raise non-recourse debt, the project sponsors
do not put their corporate balance sheets directly at risk in these often
high-risk projects. However, some project sponsors incur indirect risk
by financing their equity or debt contributions through their corporate
balance sheets. To further buffer corporate liability, many of the multi-
national sponsors establish local subsidiaries as the project’s investment
vehicle.
• Project Company
• Contractor
These primary contractors will then sub-contract with local firms for
components of the construction. Contractors also own stakes in projects.
• Operator
• Supplier
The cost of the input usually drives the project’s competitiveness. The
supplier provides the critical input to the project. If only a few firms domi-
nate the supply of a critical factor of production relative to the number
of potential customers, a project, absent mitigating factors, could be at
higher risk because the supplier is in a better position to dictate terms
of sale. Projects that rely on fixed and dedicated transportation systems,
such as pipelines or rail lines, to deliver necessary inputs, may have few
substitutes available.
• Customer
The customer is the party who is willing to purchase the project’s output,
whether the output be a product (electrical power, extracted minerals,
etc.) or a service (electrical power transmission or pipeline distribution).
The goal for the project company is to engage customers who are willing
to sign long-term, offtake agreements.
• Multilateral Agencies
• Legal Advisers
• The Trustee
• Insurance Companies
The risk transfer contracts that we described earlier have the effect of
transferring many of the project risks from the project sponsor to the
other parties to the project. Further risks are transferred by a variety of
insurance contracts, such as completion insurance, insurance against force
majeure, and insurance against political risks.
5 World Bank (2017): Public–Private Partnerships, Reference Guide, p. 14, World Bank
Document, 122,038-WP-PUBLI-PPPReferenceGuideVersion.pdf.
6 Idem.
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no related content on Scribd:
morning, at five o'clock, to put the regiment through it very tolerably.
But this was rather sharp work upon all concerned; for the grand
review was to take place at 11, a.m.—the Major was quite hoarse—
and a new card had to be finely written out for the General.
The review came off admirably—the Major (his voice cleared by the
yolks of eggs) was not often wrong; at least this was not observed,
and it did not signify, as both officers and men had fully determined
to do well, not only on the Major's account, but on their own.
At the long wished-for conclusion, the General came solemnly
forward, and in front of the regiment, really covered the blushing, but
exhausted, Major with praises and honourable acknowledgments,
and approbation of his own and the corps' most admirable
performances.
On the return of the Adjutant from the field, he, as in duty bound,
waited upon his Commanding officer. "I suppose, poor —— made a
very pretty business of it to-day?" "A most admirable review; and I
have, upon no occasion, ever seen the regiment do better; so much,
so, that the General expressed in the strongest terms his admiration
of our day's performance!"
This was quite enough, but the symptoms of the Lieutenant-
Colonel's attack of bilious fever, were not alleviated by the account of
the Major's unlooked-for success. Such were the men to whom the
command of our regiments was too often confided, and who
generally contrived to render soldiers indifferent to events, and
reckless in their conduct.
I had the luck to be stationed in the West of Ireland under a General,
who considered that nothing tended so effectually to make first-rate
soldiers, as to accustom them to prolonged exposure, under arms, to
deluges of rain, and to all kinds of weather; and certainly in that part
of Ireland, there was no want of his favourite specific—rain. I must,
however, at the same time acknowledge, that of this he himself took
ample doses. Two other regiments, and the one to which I belonged,
and a body of cavalry and artillery, formed his brigade; and the more
gloomy and threatening the weather, the more certain were we of a
repetition of the General's admired refrigerant system, for his
practice in this line was extensive and unwearied; we had frequently,
on such occasions, to take up favourite positions, and to make long
and fatiguing excursions, over high sand-hills, which were some
miles distant from our cantonments. But, notwithstanding this
excellent treatment, our soldiers did not become a whit the more
water-proof; and many of them most provokingly went into hospitals
with violent pains in their backs, bones, &c. and which, to the
General's surprise, often terminated in fever.
How differently were Sir Thomas Brisbane's kindly feelings evinced
for those placed under his care (indeed Sir Thomas Picton always
wished his commanding officers to act in the same manner). No
officer commanding a corps was allowed, under any pretence, to
keep his men unnecessarily under arms, especially after a march. As
soon as the soldiers reached their cantonments, or ground of
encampment, they were ordered to be instantly dismissed, and
allowed to go into their quarters or tents to take off their
accoutrements, knapsacks, &c. so that they might as soon as
possible recover from the fatigues of the march; for keeping men
standing, after being heated, till they became chilled, was always
found to be injurious to their health.
After the troops came down the river Plata from Buenos Ayres, we
were kept in what our Generals chose to denominate, barracks afloat
—that is to say—in transports off Monte Video. One of these great
officers came unexpectedly on board our head-quarter ship, which
was certainly kept in fine order. The moment he set his foot on deck
he called for the officer of the day, who happened to be also the
senior officer on board, and ordered him to show him all over the
ship. I believe he must have been surprised at the man-of-war style
adopted, and at the extreme cleanliness and regularity of every thing
(for even in spite of the remonstrances of the masters of the
transports, as to their decks being ruined, the soldiers were kept
constantly rubbing away with the holy stones), at all events, he found
no fault, but unfortunately in passing the ship's coppers, he thought
fit to demand what was in them, and being told rice for the soldiers'
dinners, he, with great dignity and gravity, inquired of the alarmed
officer the quantity of rice in them? The unlucky wight, not knowing
well what to say, and being fully aware, that to betray ignorance
upon such important points, was an unpardonable crime, answered
at once, about 1000 pounds—terrible mistake, at least the
threatened consequences were terrible—for this worthy coadjutor of
General Whitelock, in an instant, set upon the unlucky miscalculator
of boiled and unboiled rice, and declared that he had never met with
such a downright ignorant blockhead in all his life; for the hold of the
ship (and she was 700 tons burden) could not contain that quantity
when boiled; "and now, Sir," continued this great commander, "I shall
take care to make you suffer for such ignorance and inattention to
your duty, and shall report your conduct upon this occasion to the
Horse Guards, in order to have your promotion stopped." Whether
he kept his word or not I cannot tell; but I am rather inclined to
believe, that he had other matters to occupy his attention, on his
return to England, which came more home to himself.
I could bring many more examples of this kind forward, but I must no
longer occupy the reader's attention with such frivolous matters.
But it is impossible to show in a more satisfactory manner, what was
the state of a British army in the field than by giving, as I intend to do
after a few observations, a letter from his Grace the Duke of
Wellington to the Generals commanding divisions and brigades; yet,
I trust it will not be deemed presumptuous if I venture to say that the
real causes of irregularities and bad conduct on the part of soldiers,
are not always perceived or ascribed even by men of the greatest
talents and experience to the proper sources; but having, in the
retreat from Madrid and Burgos, which is that alluded to by his
Grace, had much to do with the part of the rear-guard under Sir
Edward Pakenham, who then commanded the 3rd division of
infantry, during the absence of Sir Thomas Picton, and having also
seen a good deal on many other occasions, I hope I may be
considered authorized to remark, that owing to the admirable
management and unwearied exertions of Sir Edward Pakenham, the
conduct of the division on that retreat was, I may say, tolerably good,
except upon the night after we left Madrid; when many a pig was
slain in the woods, and the lives of the staff and other officers of the
division and brigades seriously endangered in their endeavours,
under a sharp fire of musketry, kept up at these animals, to put a
stop to such disorderly conduct on the part of the soldiers, as
actually left the division, from the hunt having become almost
general, at the mercy of the French, had they known what we were
about; for they were close at hand, and must have wondered what
could have occasioned the uproar and firing in our camp. But what
occurred, day after day, during the retreat amongst the numerous
disorderly stragglers from the several divisions, some of whom, in
spite of all that could be done, occasionally fell into the hands of the
enemy, most clearly evinced very bad conduct on the part of the
troops, and also a want of management somewhere; but the
irregularities, his Grace laments, were comparatively nothing to what
occurred in the retreat to Corunna. In this instance, also, the
weather, as usual in Spain, in the month of November, was very
severe, so much so, that some men who had been barely able to
reach the resting, or rather halting place for the night, which was,
perhaps, an open ploughed field, become quite a swamp from the
rain, were in the morning found dead, from the effects of cold, wet,
and want of sufficient food, much of which, from those having charge
of it, not knowing in what direction to move, had gone astray; and in
one instance, we, as rear-guard, obtained a supply of biscuit, by
taking a quantity of it off the hands of a conductor of a brigade of
mules, who, in a few minutes more, had he not been prevented,
would have led them in amongst the enemy.
After the troops from Madrid and Burgos met, the army, when there
were roads running nearly parallel to each other, marched generally
in two columns; but I must say matters were not always well
managed, and we had no properly organized police, who could have
promptly, when necessary, enforced discipline, for what were a few
provosts with their infantry guards, generally accompanying the
baggage? The columns sometimes unfortunately and probably
unavoidably, came into contact with each other on the same road,
occasioning a certain degree of confusion, which afforded
opportunities for some of the soldiers to escape from under the eyes
of their officers, however watchful they might be, and to become as
usual irregular; and at other times the columns (probably also
unavoidably), considering the state of the weather, the nature of the
country, and the then bad roads, were at times too far asunder, and
the communication not having been kept up as it should have been
by either our cavalry or infantry, the army became liable to sudden
and unlooked for events; and in one instance of this kind, I believe it
was, that one of our generals was taken by a French patrole, that
through mistake, occasioned by the rain, and a hazy state of the
atmosphere, and a want of proper precaution on our part, had
actually contrived to get in between our columns, certainly not very
much to our military credit.
When his Grace's letter reached us after the retreat, the feeling of
the officers commanding brigades and corps was, that, in this
instance, if nothing were said about the pig hunt, the 3rd division,
although a few of its soldiers had fallen into the hands of the enemy,
did not deserve the censure pronounced against the army in general;
and it was thought right that Sir Edward Pakenham should be waited
upon, in order to induce him to point out this to Lord Wellington, for
they were besides hurt at the implied superiority of the French in
even making fires and in quick cooking. Sir Edward, however, soon
settled the matter, by declaring in his usually laconic manner, that
"he would do no such thing," and adding, "let whoever the cap fits
wear it."
They all knew well in what this supposed superiority of the French
lay, for the truth was, they never hesitated to turn a town or village
inside out, if it suited their purposes, or to pull down a house, or half
a dozen of them, if necessary, so as to get dry wood for their fires,
whereas our people had to be marched regularly under officers for
beef, bread, water, and wood, and they had seldom any thing else
for it, but to cut down, bring in, and use the green branches of trees
as fuel to cook with. This accounts for the observable difference
between the two armies, for when our soldiers occasionally, and
when not a tree was to be seen, got a house or two to burn, which
were always paid for, they could then cook as quickly as their
practised foes.
"Sir, Frenada, Nov. 28th, 1812.
"I have ordered the army into cantonments, in which I hope that
circumstances will enable me to keep them for some time, during
which the troops will receive their clothing, necessaries, &c. which
are already in progress by different lines of communication to the
several divisions and brigades.
"But besides these objects I must draw your attention in a very
particular manner to the state of discipline of the troops. The
discipline of every army, after a long and active campaign, becomes
in some degree relaxed, and requires the utmost attention on the
part of the general and other officers to bring it back to that state in
which it ought to be for service; but I am concerned to have to
observe that the army under my command has fallen off in this
respect in the late campaign to a greater degree than any army with
which I have ever served, or of which I have ever read. Yet this army
has met with no disaster; it has suffered no privations, which but
trifling attention on the part of the officers could not have prevented,
and for which there existed no reason whatever in the nature of the
service; nor has it suffered any hardships, excepting those resulting
from the necessity of being exposed to the inclemencies of the
weather at a moment when they were most severe.
"It must be obvious however to every officer, that from the moment
the troops commenced their retreat from the neighbourhood of
Burgos on the one hand, and from Madrid on the other, the officers
lost all command over their men. Irregularities and outrages of all
descriptions were committed with impunity, and losses have been
sustained which ought never to have occurred.
"Yet the necessity for retreating existing, none was ever made in
which the troops made such short marches; none in which they
made such long and repeated halts, and none in which the retreating
armies were so little pressed on their rear by the enemy. We must
look therefore for the existing evils, and for the situation in which we
now find the army to some cause, besides those resulting from the
operations in which we have been engaged.
"I have no hesitation in attributing these evils to the habitual
inattention of the officers of the regiments to their duty, as prescribed
by the standing regulations of the service, and by the orders of this
army.
"I am far from questioning the zeal, still less the gallantry and spirit of
the officers of the army, and I am quite certain, that if their minds can
be convinced of the necessity of minute and constant attention to
understand, recollect, and carry into execution the orders which have
been issued for the performance of this duty, and that the strict
performance of this duty is necessary to enable the army to serve
the country as it ought to be served, they will in future give their
attention to these points.
"Unfortunately the inexperience of the officers of the army has
induced many to consider that the period during which an army is on
service is one of relaxation from all rule, instead of being, as it is, the
period during which of all others every rule for the regulation and
control of the soldier, for the inspection and care of his arms,
ammunition, accoutrements, necessaries, and his field equipments,
and his horse and horse appointments, for the receipt and issue and
care of his provisions, and the regulation of all that belongs to his
food, and the forage of his horse, must be most strictly attended to
by the officers of his company or troop, if it is intended that an army,
and a British army in particular, shall be brought into the field of
battle in a state of efficiency to meet the enemy on the day of trial.
"These are points then to which I most earnestly intreat you to turn
your attention, and the attention of the officers of the regiments
under your command, Portuguese as well as British, during the
period in which it may be in my power to leave the troops in their
cantonments. The commanding officers of regiments must enforce
the orders of the army, regarding the constant inspection and
superintendance of the officers over the conduct of the men of their
companies in their cantonments, and they must endeavour to inspire
the non-commissioned officers with a sense of their situation and
authority, and the non-commissioned officers must be forced to do
their duty, by being constantly under the view and superintendance
of the officers. By these means the frequent and discreditable
recourse to the authority of the Provost, and the punishments by the
sentence of courts-martial will be prevented, and the soldiers will not
dare to commit the offences and outrages, of which there are too
many complaints, when they know that the officers and non-
commissioned officers have their eyes and attention turned towards
them.
"The commanding officers of regiments must likewise enforce the
orders of the army, regarding the constant real inspection of the
soldiers' arms, ammunition, accoutrements, and necessaries, in
order to prevent at all times the shameful waste of ammunition, and
the sale of that article, and of the soldiers' necessaries. With this
view, both should be inspected daily.
"In regard to the food of the soldier, I have frequently observed and
lamented in the late campaign, the facility and celerity with which the
French soldiers cooked, in comparison with those of our army.
"The cause of this disadvantage is the same with that of every other
description, the want of attention of the officers to the orders of the
army, and to the conduct of their men, and the consequent want of
authority over their conduct. Certain men of each company should
be appointed to cut and bring in wood, others to fetch water, and
others to get the meat, &c., to be cooked; and it would soon be
found, if this practice were daily enforced, and a particular hour for
seeing the dinners, and for the men dining named, as it ought to be,
equally as for the parade, that cooking would no longer require the
inconvenient length of time which it has lately been found to take,
and that the soldiers would not be exposed to the privation of their
food at the moment at which the army may be engaged in operations
with the enemy.
"You will, of course, give your attention to the field exercise and
discipline of the troops. It is very desireable, that the soldiers should
not lose the habit of marching; and the divisions should march ten or
twelve miles twice in each week, if the weather should permit, and
the roads in the neighbourhood of the cantonments of the division
should be dry. But I repeat, that the great object of the attention of
the general and field officers must be, to get the captains and
subalterns of regiments to understand and perform the duties
required of them, as the only mode by which the discipline and
efficiency of the army can be restored and maintained during the
next campaign.
"I have the honour to be, &c. &c.
(
Signed) "Wellington.