While at Shorncliffe he renewed his intimacy with Pitt, who was then residing at Walmer Castle, and his close friendship with Lady Hester Stanhope led to the erroneous belief that he was betrothed to her. On his return to office Pitt caused Moore to be made a Knight of the Bath, and about the same time came his promotion to the rank of lieutenant-general. Fox, when he suc ceeded to office, showed the same appreciation of Moore, and in 1806 sent him to the Mediterranean as second-in-command to his brother, General H. E. Fox. In the various minor expeditions of the time Moore had a share, at first as a subordinate, but soon, when Fox went home on account of ill-health, as commander-in chief of the British army employed in the Mediterranean.
In 1808 Moore was ordered to the Baltic, to assist Gustavus IV., king of Sweden, against Russia, France and Denmark. The con duct of the king, who went so far as to place Sir John Moore under arrest when he refused to acquiesce in his plans, ruined any chance of successful co-operation, and the English general returned home, making his escape in disguise. He was at once ordered to proceed with his division to Portugal, where he was to be under the command of Sir Hew Dalrymple and Sir Harry Burrard. To Moore, as a general of European reputation, who had held a chief command, the appointment of two senior officers to be over him appeared as a bitter insult, though his resentment did not divert him from his duty. He met his reward, for when, in the excite ment caused by the convention of Cintra, Dalrymple and Burrard were ordered home, Moore was left in command of the largest British army that had been employed since the commencement of the war.
It was not long before the Spaniards summoned Sir John Moore's army to assist them against the advance of Napoleon, and the troops were marched into Spain, Salamanca being their rendezvous. There Moore remained for a month, calling up Sir David Baird's corps from Corunna to assist him. Soon, however, the overwhelming success of the emperor's attack threatened to isolate Moore, and it was then that he formed the magnificent resolution of marching northwards against the French line of retreat. The bold and skilful operations which followed this step will be found outlined in the article PENINSULAR WAR. Moore's advance paralysed the emperor's victorious armies. Napoleon himself turned against the British army, which was soon in grave danger, but Spain was saved. Under these circumstances took place the famous retreat on Corunna. The indiscipline of a large proportion of the troops made it painful and almost disastrous, but the reserve under Edward Paget, in which served Moore's old Shorncliffe regiments, covered itself with glory in the ceaseless rearguard fighting which marked every step of the retreat. The
march ended with the glorious battle of Corunna (Jan. 16, 1809), where, early in the day, Sir John Moore received his death wound. He would not suffer his sword to be unbuckled, though the hilt galled his wound, and so he was borne from the field. His last hours were cheered by the knowledge of victory, and his only care was to recommend his friends, and those who had distinguished themselves, to the notice of the government. He died with the name of Lady Hester Stanhope on his lips. By his own wish he was buried, before dawn on the i 7th, in the ramparts of Corunna. The poem by the Rev. Charles Wolfe, "The Burial of Sir John Moore," became one of the most popular in the language.
For many years controversy, largely political, raged over the events of the Corunna campaign, and only at a later period has any examination of Sir John Moore's merits and services been made in a dispassionate spirit. Mistakes were doubtless made in the retreat, but it is sufficient to accept Napoleon's view that they were probably inseparable from the difficulties with which Moore was surrounded. His greatest claim to renown is, however, inde pendent of his conduct of armies in the field. He was the finest trainer of men that the British army has ever known. He had the true gift of the great man, judgment of character. While Welling ton, whose work would have been vain but for Moore's achieve ments, perpetually complained of his officers and formed no school, Moore's name is associated with the career of all who made their mark. The history of the Light Division is sufficient in itself to indicate the results of Moore's training on the rank and file. In opposition to the majority, who regarded the lash and the gallows as the source of discipline, he sought always and by every means to develop the moral qualities no less than the physi cal. Of the senior officers Hope, Graham, Edward Paget, Hill and Craufurd all felt and submitted to his ascendancy. The flower of the younger generation, Colborne, Hardinge and the Napiers, though they gained their laurels under Wellington and in chief command, were ever proud to call themselves "Sir John Moore's men." See, besides the works mentioned in the article PENINSULAR WAR, J. C. Moore, Life of Sir John Moore (1834); The Diary of Sir John Moore (ed. by Sir J. F. Maurice, 19(34) and the Records of the 52nd (Oxfordshire Light Infantry).