The Convention of Sintra (or Cintra) was an agreement signed on August 30, 1808 during the Peninsular War. By the agreement the defeated French were allowed to evacuate their armies from Portugal without further conflict. The convention was signed at the Palace of Queluz in Sintra, Estremadura.
Following the French defeat by forces commanded by Arthur Wellesley at Vimeiro on August 21 the French forces under Jean-Andoche Junot found themselves almost cut off from retreat. The British command was then augmented by Harry Burrard and then Hew Dalrymple. Both were cautious men who rather than push the French were happy to open negotiations. Wellesey had sought to take control of the Torres Vedras and cut the French retreat but was ordered to hold. Following talks between Dalrymple and Francois Kellerman the convention was signed. 20,900 French soldiers were allowed to evacuate from Portugal with all their equipment and the British transported them to Rochefort, Junot arriving there on October 11.
The convention was seen as a disgrace back in the United Kingdom. A complete defeat of Junot had been transformed into a French escape. The commanders seen as responsible - Wellesley, Burrard and Dalrymple, were recalled from Portugal to face a official inquiry. The inquiry was held in the Great Hall at the Royal Hospital at Chelsea from November 14 to December 27, 1808. All three men were cleared but while Wellesley soon returned to active duty in Portugal, Burrard and Dalrymple were quietly pushed into retirement and never saw active service again.
External link
Inquiry into the Convention of Cintra (http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/diplomatic/c_inquiry.html)
To leave Cintra with nothing more than an allusion to its hills and vales and forests and palaces and quintas and views, is not sufficient to one who has passed many summer months there and has become familiar with all its charming characteristics, its nature and art.
It was from the mountains of Cintra that this monarch discovered the great fleet of English, French, and Flemings who were on their way to the Holy Land to redeem the Holy Sepulchre, and whom he induced to join him in relieving Lisbon from Moorish rule.
Among the remarkable spots in Cintra is a cave or den dug out among boulders, cut out of rock, floored by the primary foundations of the earth, and roofed with artificial tiles.
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