Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 4.djvu/338

80 with which the proceedings of the secret expedition to Holland commenced, colonel Hope had the misfortune to he so severely wounded as to render his farther attendance on the expedition impracticable. From the effects of his wound he recovered during the ensuing October, when he was appointed adjutant-general to the duke of York, lieutenant-colonel Alexander Hope, his brother by his father's third marriage, being appointed his successor as deputy adjutant-general. In 1800, colonel Hope joined the expedition to Egypt under Sir Ralph Abercromby, who had been his commanding officer at the attack on the Helder. He still acted as adjutant-general, and on the 13th of May he was appointed brigadier-general in the Mediterranean. Were we to follow this active officer's footsteps through the progress of the Egyptian war, we should merely repeat what the best pens in Europe have been engaged in discussing for thirty years, and what generally is known; suffice it to say, that he was engaged in the actions of 8th and 13th March, 1801, and that he received a wound on the hand at the battle of Alexandria. In June he was able to proceed with the army to Cairo, where he has received credit as an able negotiator, for the manner in which he settled the convention for the surrender of that place with the French commander, general Belliard. On the 11th of May, 1802, he was promoted to the rank of a major-general. On the 30th of June, 1805, he was appointed deputy governor of Portsmouth: an office he resigned the same year, on being nominated to a command with the troops sent to the continent under lord Cathcart. On the 3rd of October, 1805, he was made colonel of the 2nd battalion of the 60th foot, and on the 3rd of January, 1806, colonel of the 92nd foot. On the 25th of April, 1808, he was made a lieutenant-general.

Lieutenant-general Hope was among the most eminent and persevering partakers in that exterminating war in the Peninsula, where, as in the conflicts of ancient nations, every thing gained was the price of blood. On the 8th of August he landed with the British forces in Portugal;—during the ensuing month he was appointed British commandant at Lisbon; and on the French gradually evacuating the town, in terms of their convention, he took possession of the castle of Belem on the 10th, and of the citadel on the 12th. The restless spirit of the Portuguese, on the knowledge that the French were to leave the country, caused their long-smothered indignation to appear in insults, threats, and even attempts on the lives of the general officers; to depart in safety was the object of the French, and general Hope had the difficult task of preventing the oppressed people from making dangerous displays of public feeling, a duty he performed with moderation and energy, and which he was enabled finally to complete.

Sir John Moore divided his forces into two columns, one of which under his own command, marched by Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, while the other proceeded to the Tagus under the command of general Hope. While thus separated from his celebrated commander, both experienced the full danger and doubt which so amply characterized the disastrous campaign. The few Spanish troops who had struck a blow for their country, fleeing towards the Tagus, brought to general Hope the traces of the approach of the victorious French. His column, consisting of three thousand infantry and nine hundred cavalry, were in want and difficulty. The inhospitable country afforded insufficient supplies of provision, they were destitute of money, and of many necessary articles