Talk:Convention of Cintra

"the French travelled loaded, not light . . "
" . . like a defeated garrison marching to their own lines": I've an idea our article overstates a point here. Do we have a reference?

I'm familiar with the phrase "retire bag and baggage", in military use of the general period. My understanding is tht the phrase expresses the terms often agreed when a garrison withdrew, surrendering its position, typically when the strategic picture meant that resupply was not a foreseeable possibility and a defence, however determined, could not outlast a siege. And I seem to recall reading tht the phrase isn't just emphatic repetition: tht bag and baggage mean different things, and the meaning is tht the retiring force would be permitted to withdraw unhindered with the soldiers carrying their own kit and with the force's baggage train following. That is (in the terms used in our article), it was normal for a force honorably surrendering a position and returning to its lines to travel "loaded", not "light". Can anybody help? -'' SquisherDa (talk) 23:13, 12 February 2020 (UTC)