 Amusingly, but quite naturally for the times, all the correspondence between these allies during the war with France was in French.In 1811 the Spanish parliament, the "Cortes", nominated him as the President of the Council of Spain and sent him on a secret mission to the Prince Regent in London.He returned in 1812 and although he was proposed by Wellington as head of the 4th Army under British control, his enemies at the Spanish court decreed otherwise and he had to be content with leading his own regiment.