Convention of Sintra The Convention of Sintra was an agreement signed on August 30 , 1808 during the Peninsular War . By the agreement , the defeated French were allowed to evacuate their troops from Portugal without further conflict . The Convention was signed at the Palace of Queluz , in Queluz , Sintra , Estremadura . The French forces under Jean - Andoche Junot were defeated by the Anglo - Portuguese forces commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley at Vimeiro on August 21 , and found themselves almost cut off from retreat . However , at that moment , Wellesley was superseded by the arrival of Sir Harry Burrard and then the next day by Sir Hew Dalrymple . Both were cautious old men who had seen little recent fighting ; rather than push the French , they were satisfied to open negotiations . Wellesley had sought to take control of the Torres Vedras and cut the French retreat with his unused reserve , but he was ordered to hold . Talks between Dalrymple and François Kellerman led to the signing of the Convention . Dalrymple allowed terms for Portugal similar to those a garrison might receive for surrendering a fortress . The 20 , 900 French soldiers were evacuated from Portugal with all their equipment and ' personal property ' ( which was mostly looted Portuguese valuables ) by the British Navy . They were transported to Rochefort , Junot arriving there on October 11 . Avoiding all Spanish entanglements and getting free transport meant the French travelled loaded , not light like a defeated garrison marching to their own lines . The Convention was seen as a disgrace back in the United Kingdom . A complete defeat of Junot had been transformed into a French escape . Dalrymple also ignored the Royal Navy ' s concern about a blockaded Russian squadron in Lisbon . The squadron was allowed to sail to Portsmouth , and eventually to return to Russia , despite the fact that Britain and Russia were at war . This was also embarrassing . Wellesley wanted to fight , but he signed the preliminary Armistice under orders . He took no part in negotiating the Convention and did not sign it . Dalrymple ' s reports were written , however , to centre any criticism on Wellesley , who still held a ministerial post in the government . Wellesley was subsequently recalled from Portugal , together with Burrard and Dalrymple , to face an 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 . Sir John Moore , commenting on the Inquiry , expressed the popular sentiment that " Sir Hew Dalrymple was confused and incapable beyond any man I ever saw head an army . The whole of his conduct then and since has proved him to be a very foolish man . " Lord Byron laments the Convention in his " Childe Harold ' s Pilgrimage : " And ever since that martial synod met , < br > Britannia sickens , Sintra ! at thy name ; < br > And folks in office at the mention fret , < br > And fain would blush , if blush they could , for shame . < br > How will posterity the deed proclaim ! < br > Will not our own and fellow - nations sneer , < br > To view these champions cheated of their fame , < br > By foes in fight o ' erthrown , yet victors here , < br > Where Scorn her finger points , through many a coming year ? < br > " The Convention of Sintra " is also the name of a pamphlet written by the future British Poet Laureate William Wordsworth in 1808 ; he also wrote a passionate sonnet that , in his own words , was " " composed while the author was engaged in writing a tract occasioned by " " the Convention , in which he laments the bondage felt by " " suffering Spain " " . An excerpt from the ' tract ' itself can be found in " William Wordsworth : Selected Prose " , Penguin Classics 1988 ; the whole may be found in The Prose Works of William Wordsworth through googlebooks . It is interesting for its recognition of the significance of guerrilla warfare in the Peninsular War . The term ' guerrilla ' was not then current and is not used by Wordsworth . He mentions Wellesley ( Wellington ) but does not anticipate his future importance .