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From the Battle of Corunna to - The End of the Talavera Campaign - -Author: Charles Oman - -Release Date: March 4, 2017 [EBook #54279] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE PENINSULA WAR *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Coe, Ramon Pajares Box and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - * Italics are denoted by underscores as in _italics_, and small caps - are represented in upper case as in SMALL CAPS. - - - - -[Illustration: _General Joseph Palafox_ - _From the Portrait by Goya in the Prado Gallery._ - _Walker & Cockerell Ph. Sc._] - - - - - A HISTORY OF THE - PENINSULAR WAR - - BY - CHARLES OMAN, M.A. - - FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE - AND DEPUTY PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY (CHICHELE) - IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD - CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE REAL ACADEMIA - DE LA HISTORIA OF MADRID - - - VOL. II - - JAN.-SEPT. 1809 - - FROM THE BATTLE OF CORUNNA TO THE - END OF THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN - - - WITH MAPS, PLANS AND ILLUSTRATIONS - - - OXFORD - AT THE CLARENDON PRESS - 1903 - - - - - HENRY FROWDE, M.A. - PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD - LONDON, EDINBURGH - NEW YORK - - - - -PREFACE - - -The second volume of this work has swelled to an even greater bulk -than its predecessor. Its size must be attributed to two main -causes: the first is the fact that a much greater number of original -sources, both printed and unprinted, are available for the campaigns -of 1809 than for those of 1808. The second is that the war in its -second year had lost the character of comparative unity which it -had possessed in its first. Napoleon, on quitting Spain in January, -left behind him as a legacy to his brother a comprehensive plan for -the conquest of the whole Peninsula. But that plan was, from the -first, impracticable: and when it had miscarried, the fighting in -every region of the theatre of war became local and isolated. Neither -the harassed and distracted French King at Madrid, nor the impotent -Spanish Junta at Seville, knew how to combine and co-ordinate the -operations of their various armies into a single logical scheme. Ere -long, six or seven campaigns were taking place simultaneously in -different corners of the Peninsula, each of which was practically -independent of the others. Every French and Spanish general fought -for his own hand, with little care for what his colleagues were -doing: their only unanimity was that all alike kept urging on their -central governments the plea that their own particular section of the -war was more critical and important than any other. If we look at -the month of May, 1809, we find that the following six disconnected -series of operations were all in progress at once, and that each -has to be treated as a separate unit, rather than as a part of one -great general scheme of strategy--(1) Soult’s campaign against -Wellesley in Northern Portugal, (2) Ney’s invasion of the Asturias, -(3) Victor’s and Cuesta’s movements in Estremadura, (4) Sebastiani’s -demonstrations against Venegas in La Mancha, (5) Suchet’s contest -with Blake in Aragon, (6) St. Cyr’s attempt to subdue Catalonia. -When a war has broken up into so many fractions, it becomes not only -hard to follow but very lengthy to narrate. Fortunately for the -historian and the student, a certain amount of unity is restored in -July, mainly owing to the fact that the master-mind of Wellesley has -been brought to bear upon the situation. When the British general -attempted to combine with the Spanish armies of Estremadura and La -Mancha for a common march upon Madrid, the whole of the hostile -forces in the Peninsula [with the exception of those in Aragon and -Catalonia] were once more drawn into a single scheme of operations. -Hence the Talavera campaign is the central fact in the annals of -the Peninsular War for the year 1809. I trust that it will not be -considered that I have devoted a disproportionate amount of space to -the setting forth and discussion of the various problems which it -involved. - -The details of the battle of Talavera itself have engaged my special -attention. I thought it worth while to go very carefully over the -battle-field, which fortunately remains much as it was in 1809. A -walk around it explained many difficulties, but suggested certain -others, which I have done my best to solve. - -In several other chapters of this volume I discovered that a -personal inspection of localities produced most valuable results. -At Oporto, for example, I found Wellesley’s passage of the Douro -assuming a new aspect when studied on the spot. Not one of the -historians who have dealt with it has taken the trouble to mention -that the crossing was effected at a point where the Douro runs -between lofty and precipitous cliffs, towering nearly 200 feet above -the water’s edge! Yet this simple fact explains how it came to pass -that the passage was effected at all--the French, on the plateau -above the river, could not see what was going on at the bottom of the -deeply sunk gorge, which lies in a ‘dead angle’ to any observer who -has not come forward to the very edge of the cliff. I have inserted a -photograph of the spot, which will explain the situation at a glance. -From Napier’s narrative and plan I am driven to conclude that he had -either never seen the ground, or had forgotten its aspect after the -lapse of years. - -A search in the Madrid _Deposito de la Guerra_ produced a few -important documents for the Talavera campaign, and was made most -pleasant by the extreme courtesy of the officers in charge. It -is curious to find that our London Record Office contains a good -many Spanish dispatches which do not survive at Madrid. This -results from the laudable zeal with which Mr. Frere, when acting -as British minister at Seville, sent home copies of every Spanish -document, printed or unprinted, on which he could lay his hands. -Once or twice he thus preserved invaluable ‘morning states’ of the -Peninsular armies, which it would otherwise have been impossible to -recover. Among our other representatives in Spain Captain Carroll -was the only one who possessed to a similar degree this admirable -habit of collecting original documents and statistics. His copious -‘enclosures’ to Lord Castlereagh are of the greatest use for the -comprehension of the war in the Asturias and Galicia. - -Neither Napier nor any other historian of the Peninsular War has gone -into the question of Beresford’s reorganization of the Portuguese -army. Comparing English and Portuguese documents, I have succeeded -in working it out, and trust that Chapter III of Section XIII, and -Appendix No. V, may suffice to demonstrate Beresford’s very real -services to the allied cause. - -It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge much kind help that I have -received from correspondents on both sides of the sea, who have -come to my aid in determining points of difficulty. Of those in -England I must make particular notice of Colonel F. A. Whinyates, -R.A., a specialist in all matters connected with the British -artillery. I owe to him my Appendix No. XI, which he was good enough -to draw up, as well as the loan of several unpublished diaries of -officers of his own arm, from which I have extracted some useful -and interesting facts. I must also express my obligation to Mr. -E. Mayne, for information relating to Sir Robert Wilson’s Loyal -Lusitanian Legion, of which his relative, Colonel W. Mayne, was in -1809 the second-in-command. The excerpts which he was kind enough to -collect for me have proved of great service, and could not have been -procured from any other quarter. Nor must I omit to thank two other -correspondents, Colonel Willoughby Verner and the Rev. Alexander -Craufurd, for their notes concerning the celebrated ‘Light Division,’ -in which the one is interested as the historian of the old 95th, and -the other as the grandson of Robert Craufurd, of famous memory. - -Of helpers from beyond the Channel I must make special mention of -Commandant Balagny, the author of _Napoléon en Espagne_, who has -supplied me with a great number of official documents from Paris, -and in especial with a quantity of statistics, many of them hitherto -unpublished, which serve to fix the strength and the losses of -various French corps in 1809. I also owe to him my Appendix VI (iii), -a most interesting _résumé_ of the material in the French archives -relating to the strange ‘Oporto conspiracy’ of Captain Argenton -and his confederates. This obscure chapter of the history of the -Peninsular War is, I think, brought out in its true proportions -by the juxtaposition of the English and French documents. It is -clear that Soult’s conduct was far more sinister than Napier will -allow, and also that the plot to depose the Marshal was the work -of a handful of military intriguers, not of the great body of -highly-placed conspirators in whose existence the mendacious Argenton -has induced some historians to believe. - -At Madrid General Arteche placed at my disposal, with the most -bountiful liberality, his immense stores of knowledge, which I had -learnt to appreciate long before, as a conscientious student of his -_Guerra de la Independencia_. He pointed out to me many new sources, -which had escaped my notice, and was good enough to throw light on -many problems which had been vexing me. For his genial kindness I -cannot too strongly express my obligation. - -Of the officers at the Madrid _Deposito de la Guerra_, whose courtesy -I have mentioned above, I must give special thanks to Captain Emilio -Figueras, from whom (just as these pages are going to press) I have -received some additional figures relating to the Army of Estremadura -in 1809. - -Finally, as in my first volume, I must make special acknowledgement -of the assistance of two helpers in Oxford--the indefatigable -compiler of the Index, and Mr. C. E. Doble, whose corrections and -suggestions have been as valuable in 1903 as in 1902. - - C. OMAN. - - ALL SOULS COLLEGE, - _June 20, 1903_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - SECTION IX - AFTER CORUNNA (JAN.-FEB. 1809) - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. The Consequences of Moore’s Diversion: Rally of the - Spanish Armies: Battle of Ucles 1 - - II. Napoleon’s departure from Spain: his plans for the - Termination of the War: the Counter-Plans of the - Junta: Canning and Cadiz 15 - - - SECTION X - THE AUTUMN AND WINTER CAMPAIGN IN CATALONIA - - I. The Siege of Rosas 37 - - II. St. Cyr relieves Barcelona: Battles of Cardadeu and - Molins de Rey 58 - - III. The Campaign of February, 1809: Battle of Valls 76 - - - SECTION XI - THE SECOND SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA (DEC. 1808-FEB. 1809) - - I. The Capture of the Outworks 90 - - II. The French within the Walls: the Street-fighting: the - Surrender 115 - - - SECTION XII - THE SPRING CAMPAIGN IN LA MANCHA AND ESTREMADURA - - I. The Rout of Ciudad Real 143 - - II. Operations of Victor and Cuesta: the Battle of Medellin 149 - - - SECTION XIII - SOULT’S INVASION OF PORTUGAL - - I. Soult’s Preliminary Operations in Galicia (Jan.-March - 1809) 170 - - II. Portugal at the moment of Soult’s Invasion: the Nation, - the Regency, and Sir John Cradock 196 - - III. The Portuguese Army: its History and its Reorganization 208 - - IV. Combats about Chaves and Braga: Capture of Oporto - (March 10-29, 1809) 223 - - V. Soult’s halt at Oporto: Operations of Robert Wilson and - Lapisse on the Portuguese Frontier: Silveira’s defence - of Amarante 250 - - VI. Intrigues at Oporto: the Conspiracy of Argenton 273 - - - SECTION XIV - WELLESLEY’S CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN PORTUGAL (MAY 1809) - - I. Sir Arthur Wellesley: the general and the man 286 - - II. Wellesley retakes Oporto 312 - - III. Soult’s Retreat from Oporto 343 - - - SECTION XV - OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN SPAIN (MARCH-JUNE 1809) - - I. Ney and La Romana in Galicia and the Asturias 367 - - II. The French abandon Galicia 390 - - III. Operations in Aragon: Alcañiz and Belchite - (March-June 1809) 406 - - - SECTION XVI - THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN (JULY-AUG. 1809) - - I. Wellesley at Abrantes: Victor evacuates Estremadura 433 - - II. Wellesley enters Spain 449 - - III. Wellesley and Cuesta: the interview at Mirabete 463 - - IV. The March to Talavera: Quarrel of Wellesley and Cuesta 483 - - V. Concentration of the French Armies: the King takes - the offensive: Combats of Torrijos and Casa de Salinas 494 - - VI. The Battle of Talavera: the Preliminary Combats - (July 27-28) 507 - - VII. The Battle of Talavera: the Main Engagement (July 28) 527 - - VIII. The Retreat from Talavera 559 - - IX. The end of the Talavera Campaign: Almonacid 599 - - - APPENDICES - - I. The ‘Army of the Centre,’ Jan. 11, 1809. The Spanish Army - at the Battle of Ucles 621 - - II. The Garrison of Saragossa 622 - - III. The French Army in Spain, in Feb. 1809 624 - - IV. The Spanish Army at Medellin 627 - - V. The Portuguese Army in 1809: organization and numbers 629 - - VI. Papers relating to the intrigues at Oporto, - April-May 1809 632 - - VII. Strength of Wellesley’s Army, May 6, 1809 640 - - VIII. Soult’s Report on Galicia, June 25, 1809 642 - - IX. Suchet’s and Blake’s Armies, May and June 1809 643 - - X. Papers relating to the Talavera Campaign: strength and - losses of the British, Spanish, and French Armies 645 - - XI. The British Royal Artillery in the Peninsula, 1809 654 - - XII. Venegas’s Army of La Mancha in June-July 1809 655 - - - INDEX 657 - - -MAPS AND PLANS - - - I. UCLES AND ROSAS _To face_ 54 - - II. GENERAL MAP OF CATALONIA: BATTLE OF VALLS ” 88 - - III. SARAGOSSA, THE SECOND SIEGE ” 134 - - IV. MEDELLIN ” 166 - - V. BRAGA (LANHOZO) AND OPORTO ” 248 - - VI. NORTHERN PORTUGAL, SHOWING SOULT’S AND WELLESLEY’S - CAMPAIGNS OF 1809 ” 360 - - VII. ALCAÑIZ AND MARIA ” 426 - - VIII. TALAVERA ” 550 - - IX. CENTRAL SPAIN, SHOWING THE LOCALITIES OF - THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN ” 596 - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - JOSEPH PALAFOX, EQUESTRIAN PORTRAIT BY GOYA _Frontispiece_ - - A PORTUGUESE CAVALRY SOLDIER, 1809 212 - - A PORTUGUESE INFANTRY SOLDIER, AND A MAN OF THE ORDENANZA 222 - - THE DOURO ABOVE OPORTO, THE LOCALITY OF WELLESLEY’S - CROSSING 336 - - COINS STRUCK IN SPAIN DURING THE PENINSULAR WAR 478 - - - - -ERRATA IN VOL. II - - -The following facts I discovered in Madrid and Lisbon when it was too -late to correct the chapters in which the mis-statements occur. - -(1) Page 82, note 93. I have found from a Madrid document that part, -though not the whole, of the Regiment of Baza was present at Valls. -One battalion was left behind with Wimpffen: one marched with Reding: -about 800 men therefore must be added to my estimate of the Spanish -infantry. - -(2) Page 318, note 394. I found in Lisbon that the regiments which -marched with Beresford to Lamego were not (as I had supposed) nos. 7 -and 19, but nos. 2 and 14, with the 4th cazadores. Those which joined -from the direction of Almeida were two battalions of no. 11 (1st of -Almeida) and one of no. 9. - -(3) Page 366. A dispatch of Beresford at Lisbon clears up my doubts -as to Silveira’s culpability. Beresford complains that the latter -lost a whole day by marching from Amarante to Villa Pouca without -orders; the dispatch directing him to take the path by Mondim thus -reached him only when he had gone many miles on the wrong road. The -time lost could never be made up. - - - - -SECTION IX - -AFTER CORUNNA - -(JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1809) - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE CONSEQUENCES OF MOORE’S DIVERSION: RALLY OF THE SPANISH ARMIES: -BATTLE OF UCLES - - -With the departure of Napoleon from Madrid on December 21, the -offensive action of the French army in central Spain came to a -stand. The Emperor had taken away with him the field army, which -had been destined to deliver those blows at Lisbon and Seville -that were to end the war. The troops which he had left behind him -in the neighbourhood of Madrid were inadequate in numbers for any -further advance, and were forced to adopt a defensive attitude. The -only regions in which the invaders continued to pursue an active -policy were Aragon and Catalonia, from which, on account of their -remoteness, the Emperor had not withdrawn any troops for his great -encircling movement against Sir John Moore. In both those provinces -important operations began on the very day on which Bonaparte set out -to hunt the English army: it was on December 21 that Lannes commenced -the second siege of Saragossa, and that St. Cyr, after relieving -Barcelona, scattered the army of Catalonia at the battle of Molins de -Rey. But the campaigns of Aragon and Catalonia were both of secondary -importance, when compared with the operations in central Spain. As -the whole history of the war was to show, the progress of events in -the valley of the lower Ebro and in the Catalan hills never exercised -much influence on the affairs of Castile and Portugal. It is not, -therefore, too much to assert that it was Moore’s march on Sahagun, -and that march alone, which paralysed the main scheme of the Emperor -for the conquest of Spain. - -Between December 21 and January 2 the central reserves of the French -army had been hurried away to the Esla and the plains of northern -Leon. It was not till the new year had come that the Emperor began -to think of sending some of them back to the neighbourhood of -Madrid. The 8th Corps had been incorporated with the 2nd, and sent -in pursuit of Moore: the corps of Ney and the division of Lapisse -were left to support Soult in his invasion of Galicia. The Imperial -Guard marched back to Valladolid. Of all the troops which had been -distracted to the north-west, only Dessolles’ division of the Central -Reserve returned to the capital. Such a reinforcement was far from -being enough to enable Joseph Bonaparte, and his military adviser -Jourdan, to assume the offensive towards the valleys of the Tagus -and Guadiana. The consequences of Moore’s diversion were not only -far-reaching but prolonged: it was not till the middle of March -that the army of the king was able to resume the attempt to march -on Seville, and by that time the condition of affairs had been -profoundly modified, to the advantage of the Spaniards. - -The intervening time was not one of rest for Joseph and his army. -Their movements require careful attention. When Napoleon hurried -the main body of his troops across the Somosierra in pursuit of -the British, he left behind him the corps of Victor, shorn of -Lapisse’s division, the whole of the corps of Lefebvre[1], and the -three independent cavalry divisions of Lasalle, Latour-Maubourg and -Milhaud--in all 8,000 horse and 28,000 foot with ninety guns. There -was also the Royal Guard of King Joseph, four battalions of foot, -and a regiment of horse, beside two skeleton regiments of Spanish -deserters, which the ‘Intrusive King’ was raising as the nucleus of a -new army of his own[2]. - - [1] Save two Dutch and one German regiment of Leval’s division, - which had been left behind on garrison duty in Biscay and Old - Castile. - - [2] This was done by the Emperor’s orders. The _cadres_ of these - regiments, called _Royal-Étranger_ and _Royal-Napoléon_, were - formed partly of Frenchmen, partly of Spanish _Afrancesados_. The - rank and file of the first regiment were to be raised from the - Swiss and Germans who had served in the old Spanish army: some - of them had adhered to the French, others, when taken prisoners - in the late campaign, had offered to serve King Joseph. The - second regiment was to be composed of native Spaniards. See - _Correspondance de Napoléon_, 14,531. - -Of these troops the incomplete German division of Leval (2nd of the -4th Corps) and King Joseph’s guards formed the garrison of Madrid. -This force seeming too small, the division of Ruffin (1st of the 1st -Corps) was ordered in to reinforce them. The rest of the army lay -in two concentric semicircles outside Madrid: the inner semicircle -was formed of infantry: there was a regiment at Guadalajara[3], a -whole division under Marshal Victor himself at Aranjuez[4], and two -divisions of the 4th Corps under Marshal Lefebvre at Talavera[5]. -Outside these troops was a great cavalry screen. In front of -Victor the three cavalry brigades of Latour-Maubourg’s division -lay respectively at Tarancon, Ocaña, and Madridejos, watching the -three roads from La Mancha. West of them lay Milhaud’s division -of dragoons, in front of Talavera, in the direction of Navalmoral -and San Vincente, observing the passes of the Sierra de Toledo. -Lastly, as a sort of advanced guard in the direction of Estremadura, -Lasalle’s light cavalry had pushed on to the great bridge of Almaraz, -behind which the wrecks of the mutinous armies of Belvedere and San -Juan were beginning to collect, under their new commander Galluzzo[6]. - - [3] The 55th, a stray remnant left behind by Dessolles. - - [4] Division of Villatte. It had one battalion detached, along - with the 26th Chasseurs, at Toledo. - - [5] Division of Valence and Sebastiani. - - [6] Lasalle’s division (often altered in composition) now - consisted of the 10th and 26th Chasseurs, 9th Dragoons and Polish - Lancers. - -The Emperor’s parting orders to Jourdan had been to send forward -Lasalle and Lefebvre to deal a blow at the Estremaduran army. They -had, he wrote, twice the numbers necessary to break up the small -force of disorganized troops in front of them. On December 24, -Lefebvre was to cross the Tagus, scatter Galluzzo’s men to the winds, -and then come back to Talavera, after building a _tête-de-pont_ at -Almaraz. Lasalle’s cavalry would be capable of looking after what was -left of this force, for it would not give trouble again for many a -week to come. Victor, on the side of La Mancha, must keep watch on -any movements of the Spaniards from the direction of Cuenca or the -Sierra Morena. He would have no difficulty in holding them off, for -‘all the débris of the insurgent armies combined could not face even -the 8,000 French cavalry left in front of them--to say nothing of the -infantry behind[7].’ - - [7] See for all these details _Nap. Corresp._, 14,609. - -The first portion of the orders of the Emperor was duly carried out. -On December 24 the Duke of Dantzig advanced from Talavera upon the -bridges of Arzobispo and Almaraz, behind which lay 6,000 or 7,000 of -Galluzzo’s dispirited levies. He made no more than a feint at the -first-mentioned passage, but attacking the more important bridge of -Almaraz carried it at the first rush, and took the four guns which -Galluzzo had mounted on the southern bank to command the defile. -The Spaniards, scattered in all directions, abandoned the banks of -the Tagus, and placed themselves in safety behind the rugged Sierra -de Guadalupe. So far the Emperor’s design was carried out: but -Lefebvre then took a most extraordinary step. Instead of returning, -as he had been ordered, to Talavera, and remaining in that central -position till further orders should be sent him, he went off on an -inexplicable adventure of his own. Leaving only Lasalle’s cavalry -and two Polish battalions on the Tagus, he turned north, as if -intending to join the Emperor, crossed the mountains between New -and Old Castile, and on January 5 appeared at Avila in the latter -province[8]. Not only was the march in complete contravention of the -Emperor’s orders, but it was carried out in disobedience to five -separate dispatches sent from Madrid by Jourdan, in the name of King -Joseph. Lefebvre paid no attention whatever to the ‘lieutenant of the -Emperor,’ in spite of vehement representations to the effect that -he was exposing Madrid by this eccentric movement. It was indeed -an unhappy inspiration that led him to Avila, for at this precise -moment the Spaniards were commencing a wholly unexpected offensive -advance against the Spanish capital, which Lefebvre, if he had -remained at Talavera, might have aided in repelling. Much incensed -at his disobedience Napoleon deprived him of the command of the 4th -Corps, and sent him back to France. ‘This marshal,’ he wrote to King -Joseph, ‘does nothing but make blunders: he cannot seize the meaning -of the orders sent him. It is impossible to leave him in command of -a corps;--which is a pity, for he is a brave enough fellow on the -battle-field[9].’ Sebastiani, Lefebvre’s senior divisional general, -replaced him in command of his corps. - - [8] Napier misrepresents this move in the strangest way, saying - (i. 364) merely that ‘the Duke of Dantzig recrossed the Tagus and - took post between Talavera and Plasencia.’ Avila is fifty miles - north of these places, and on the other side of the Guadarrama. - - [9] Napoleon to Joseph from Valladolid, Jan. 9, _Nap. Corresp._, - 14,671. - -The new Spanish advance upon Madrid requires a word of explanation. -We have seen that the weary and dilapidated Army of the Centre, now -commanded by the Duke of Infantado, had reached Cuenca on December -10, after escaping from the various snares which Napoleon had set for -it during its march from Calatayud to the valley of the upper Tagus. -When he had escaped from Bessières’ pursuit, the duke proceeded to -give his army a fortnight’s much-needed rest in the mountain villages -round Cuenca. He sent back to Valencia the wrecks of Roca’s division, -which had originally been raised in that kingdom. It had dwindled -down to 1,455 men, from its original 8,000[10]. The other troops, the -2nd, 3rd, and 4th divisions of the old army of Andalusia[11], had not -suffered quite so much, as they had not been seriously engaged at -Tudela, but they were half-starved and very disorderly. Infantado was -forced to shoot an officer and two sergeants for open mutiny before -he could restore the elements of discipline[12]. - - [10] See the figures furnished by the Valencian Junta in - Argüelles, ii. 74. It must he remembered that 4,800 of the - division had escaped to Saragossa, and took part in its defence. - - [11] The 1st division had only four battalions present, the - others having been at Madrid, in the army of San Juan. - - [12] The officer, a Lieutenant Santiago, had refused to march on - Cuenca, and when the order was repeated, unlimbered his battery - across the road and threatened to fire on the troops who were - marching in that direction. See Arteche, iii. 12. - -The province of Cuenca is the most thinly peopled and desolate of -all the regions of Spain[13], and though some stores and food were -procured from Valencia, it was impossible to re-equip the army in -a satisfactory way. Winter clothing, in particular, was absolutely -unprocurable, and if the men had not been placed under roofs in -Cuenca and the villages around, they must have perished of cold. -But a fortnight’s rest did much for them: many stragglers came -up from the rear, a few reinforcements were received, and to the -surprise of the whole army the brigade of the Conde de Alacha, which -had been cut off from the rest of the troops on the day of Tudela, -turned up intact to join its division. This detachment, it will -be remembered[14], had been left in the mountains near Agreda, to -observe the advance of Marshal Ney: after the rout it had nearly -fallen into the hands of the 6th Corps, and had been forced to turn -off into obscure by-paths. Then, passing in haste between the French -divisions in New Castile, it had finally succeeded in reaching Cuenca. - - [13] It had only 311 inhabitants to the square league in 1803, as - compared with 926 in Andalusia, and 2,009 in Guipuzcoa. - - [14] See vol. i. p. 437. - -Infantado, finding that the French still hung back and advanced -no further into his mountain refuge, proceeded to reorganize his -army; the three weakened battalions of the old line regiments were -consolidated into two or often into one. The four divisions of the -original Andalusian host were amalgamated into two, with an extra -‘vanguard’ and ‘reserve’ composed of the best troops[15]. This -rearrangement had not yet been fully completed when the duke made -up his mind that he would venture on an advance against Madrid. He -could learn of nothing save cavalry in his front, and he had received -early notice of the departure of Napoleon to the north. Giving the -command of his vanguard and the greater part of his cavalry to -General Venegas, he bade him descend into the plains, and endeavour -to surprise the brigade of dragoons which lay at Tarancon[16]. This -task Venegas attempted to execute on Christmas Day: he had already -turned the town with half his force, and placed himself across the -line of retreat of the dragoons, before they knew of his approach. -Warned, just in time of his danger, the French brigadier resolved to -cut his way through: he charged down on the enemy, who fell into a -line of battalion squares with long intervals between them. Dashing -between the squares the two regiments got through with the loss of -fifty or sixty men. The Spanish cavalry, which arrived late on the -field, made no attempt to pursue. On the same day Infantado had sent -out another column under General Senra, with orders to march on -Aranjuez: finding that it was held not only by cavalry but by a heavy -force of infantry, the Spanish brigadier wisely halted at a discreet -distance, for which he was sharply taken to task by his chief. It is -certain that if he had gone on, Victor would have made mincemeat of -his little force of 4,000 men. - - [15] For these changes see Appendix I. - - [16] Perreimond’s brigade of Latour-Maubourg’s division. - -Although the advance of Venegas and Senra soon stopped short, the -news that the Spaniards were descending in force into the plain -of New Castile was most discomposing to King Joseph, who was at -this moment very weak in troops. Lefebvre had just started on his -eccentric march to Avila: Dessolles was not yet back from the north, -and there was no disposable reserve at Madrid save the single -division of Ruffin, for the king’s guards and Leval’s Germans were -barely enough to hold down the capital, and could not be moved. The -situation was made worse by the revolt of several of the small towns -of the upper Tagus, including Chinchon and Colmenar, which rose under -the belief that Infantado’s army would soon be at their gates. There -was nothing between the duke and Madrid save the single infantry -division of Villatte, which lay with Marshal Victor at Aranjuez, and -the six dragoon regiments of Latour-Maubourg, a force of little more -than 9,000 sabres and bayonets. - -Fortunately for King Joseph, Infantado was a most incapable general, -and allowed his opportunity to slip by. By driving in the French -cavalry screen, he had given notice of his existence, and spread -alarm up to the gates of Madrid. But in order to profit by the -situation he should have dashed in at once, before the enemy had time -to draw together. If he had marched from Cuenca with his reserves, in -the wake of Venegas, he could have brought 20,000 men to bear upon -Victor, before the latter could receive the very moderate succours -that King Joseph could send him. Instead of doing anything of the -kind, he remained quiescent at his head quarters, and did not even -send Venegas any further orders, either to advance or to retreat. -From December 26 to January 11, the Spanish vanguard lay at Tarancon, -as if with the express intention of giving the French time to -concentrate. The duke meanwhile, as his dispatches show, was drawing -up a grandiose plan of operations, which included not only the -eviction of King Joseph from Madrid, but the cutting of Napoleon’s -communication and the raising of the siege of Saragossa! He was -most anxious to induce the Central Junta to move forward all their -other forces to aid him. But they could do nothing, so deplorable -was the state of their army, but bid the weak division of 6,000 men, -which was guarding the Sierra Morena, to begin a demonstration in -La Mancha. In pursuance of this order Del Palacio made a forward -movement, as dangerous as it was useless, to Villaharta on the upper -Guadiana. - -Jourdan and the Intrusive King, meanwhile, were for ten days in a -state of great anxiety, expecting every moment to hear that the whole -Spanish army had descended from the mountains and thrown itself upon -the upper Tagus. They ordered Victor to move from Aranjuez to Arganda -to parry such a blow, and made preparations for reinforcing him with -Ruffin’s division, while the rest of the garrison of Madrid, with -the French civilians, and the mass of _Afrancesados_, were to shut -themselves up in the forts on the Retiro, being too few to hold the -entire city. But the expected advance of Infantado never occurred, -and Jourdan and Victor were able to put down the insurrection of the -little towns in the plain without any interruption. Chinchon was -stormed, and the whole male population put to the sword; at Colmenar -there were executions on a large scale, and a fine of 50,000 piastres -was levied. The rest of the insurgents fled to the hills[17]. - - [17] Jourdan confesses to this massacre in the most open way. - ‘Le 27e Léger s’étant présenté aux portes de Chinchon, fut - reçu à coups de fusil. Cette provocation occasionna la perte - des habitants: ils furent _tous_ tués, et la ville incendiée.’ - _Mémoires du Maréchal Jourdan_, 139. - -On January 8, 1809, the fears of Joseph and Jourdan came to a happy -end, for on that day the division of Dessolles marched in from Old -Castile, while on the 10th the 4th Corps appeared, having been sent -back in haste from Avila by the Emperor. This reinforcement of more -than 20,000 men completely cleared the situation. The French line of -defence could now be re-established: Valence’s Polish division was -placed at Toledo: Leval’s Germans, completed by the arrival of their -belated Dutch brigade, were sent to Talavera. Sebastiani’s division, -with Dessolles and the king’s guard, remained to garrison Madrid. -Ruffin was sent out to join Victor, who was ordered to march at once -on Tarancon and fall upon the Spanish corps which had remained there -in such strange torpidity since Christmas day[18]. The Emperor, -sending these orders from Valladolid, expressed himself in a somewhat -contemptuous strain as to his brother’s fears. ‘The army of Castaños’ -(i.e. of Infantado) ‘was as great a fiction as that of La Romana: -rumour made them 20,000 strong, while really there were not more than -5,000 of them[19]. Victor had ten times as many men as were necessary -for clearing off the Spaniards. The panic at Madrid had been absurd -and discreditable: all that was wanted was to catch and hang a dozen -_mauvais sujets_, and the capital would keep quiet.’ - - [18] All these movements are most clearly set forth in Jourdan’s - _Mémoires_, by far the best authority for the campaign of Ucles. - - [19] _Nap. Corresp._, 14,637 and 14,684. - -On January 12 Victor marched from Aranjuez with the twenty-one -battalions of Villatte’s and Ruffin’s divisions, the squadrons of -light horse which formed his corps-cavalry, and the three brigades -of dragoons composing the division of Latour-Maubourg--in all some -12,000 foot and 3,500 horse. He did not find Venegas at Tarancon: on -hearing that the French were massing in front of him, that officer -had called in the outlying brigade of Senra, and had retired ten -miles to Ucles, in the foot-hills of the mountains of Cuenca. He sent -news of Victor’s approach to Infantado, but the latter gave him no -definite orders either to fight or to retreat. He merely forwarded to -him three or four more battalions of infantry, and announced that he -was coming up from Cuenca with the reserves: he fixed no date for his -probable arrival. - -Much troubled by the want of definite orders, Venegas doubted -whether he ought to hold his ground and await his chief, or fall -back into the mountains. After some hesitation he resolved to take -the more dangerous course, tempted by the fine position of Ucles, -which offered every advantage for a defensive action. He had with -him about 9,500 infantry in twenty-two very weak battalions, some of -which had no more than 250 or 300 bayonets. Of cavalry he had nine -incomplete regiments, giving only 1,800 sabres[20]. There were but -five guns with the army, of which one had broken down, and was not -fit for service. The town of Ucles lies in the midst of a long ridge -stretching north-east and south-west, with a steep slope towards -the plain, from which the French were approaching. Venegas drew up -his men in a single long line, with the town in the centre. Four -battalions were barricaded in Ucles: six took post to the left of -it, eight to the right. Only one was held back in reserve, but three -with four regiments of cavalry were left out in front, to observe the -French advance, in the neighbourhood of the village of Tribaldos. -The four guns and the remainder of the cavalry were drawn up before -the town. It is almost needless to point out the faults of this -order-of-battle--over-great extension and the want of a reserve. The -position was too long for the numbers available. Moreover the men -were not in good fighting trim: though several of the old regiments -from Baylen were among them, their spirits were low: they had not yet -recovered from the dreadful fatigues of the retreat from Tudela, and -they had little confidence in their leaders. - - [20] Beside the twenty battalions given in the Appendix to - Arteche, iv, Venegas’s narrative shows that at least two more - (Baylen and Navas de Tolosa) were present. - -Victor marched from Tarancon at daybreak on January 13, with one -division on each of the two routes which lead eastward from that -place, Villatte’s on the southern road which goes directly to Ucles, -Ruffin’s on the longer and more circuitous path, which, running -parallel to the other, ultimately rejoins it at Carrascosa some -way behind that town. The majority of Latour-Maubourg’s cavalry -accompanied the former column. - -Already on the previous night Victor’s vedettes had discovered the -Spanish outpost at Tribaldos: very early on the following morning it -was driven in by the advance of Villatte’s column, and joined the -main body of the army of Venegas. The Marshal then pushed forward to -the foot of the hills, to reconnoitre the enemy’s position. Having -discerned the lie of the ground, and the distribution of the Spanish -forces, his mind was soon made up. Orders were promptly sent to -Ruffin to leave the road on which he was advancing, and to close in -upon the right flank and rear of Venegas’s army. Meanwhile Villatte -and the cavalry drew up in front of Ucles, with a strength of about -7,000 bayonets and 2,500 sabres. The dragoons were placed in the -centre; in front of them was ranged a battery, which commenced to -shell the town and the Spanish horse drawn up before its gates. -This was only a demonstration: the real blow was to be given by an -attack on the Spanish left, where the hillside was of easier access -than on the steep and rocky northern end of the ridge. Villatte’s -second brigade, the 94th and 95th regiments, executed a circular -march under the eyes of the enemy, and having turned their extreme -flank, rapidly climbed the hill and formed up at right angles to the -Spanish line. These six battalions fell upon the exposed wing and -rolled it up without much difficulty, till they arrived under the -very walls of Ucles, driving the enemy before them. Venegas, who was -watching the fight from the court of the monastery which dominates -the town, had tried to hurry up reinforcements from his right wing: -but they arrived too late to be of any use. When the attack on the -enemy’s left was seen to be making good progress, and the attention -of the Spaniards was distracted to that point, Victor directed the -first brigade of Villatte’s division to assail the steep hill on the -Spanish right. They carried it with ease, for half the defenders had -been withdrawn to reinforce the left, and the rest were demoralized -by the evident disaster on the other flank. The whole of Venegas’s -army fled eastward without any further endeavour to hold their -ground, the considerable force of cavalry in the centre making no -attempt, as it would appear, to cover the retreat of the foot. Such -rearguard as there was consisted of two or three infantry battalions -under General Giron. - -Suddenly the Spaniards of the right wing and centre saw rising up in -front of them, as they fled, an imposing line of French infantry, -barring their further progress. This force consisted of the nine -battalions of Ruffin’s division. They had lost their way while -seeking for the Spanish flank, and (like Ferguson at Roliça) made too -wide a circle to enable them to intervene in the actual fighting. -But the very length of their turning movement proved advantageous, -as they had now got into the direct rear of the retreating army. -Driven on by the pursuing dragoons of Latour-Maubourg, the Spaniards -found themselves rushing into the very arms of Ruffin’s division. -The disaster was complete, and more than half of Venegas’s army was -encircled and captured. Most of the cavalry, indeed, escaped, by -dispersing and riding rapidly round the flanks of Ruffin’s line. But -the slow-moving infantry was trapped: a few battalions from the left -wing got off to the south-east, and General Giron with a remnant of -his brigade cut his way through a gap between two French regiments. -All the rest had to surrender. - -Of Venegas’s 11,000 men, about 1,000 had been killed or wounded: four -generals, seventeen colonels, 306 other officers and 5,560 rank and -file were captured[21]. The French secured the four guns which formed -the sole artillery of the beaten army, and twenty standards[22]. -Their own loss was insignificant--Victor returned his total -casualties at 150 men, and probably did not much understate them, as -he had met with no serious resistance. - - [21] These numbers are probably exact: Jourdan quotes them - from his own official report to Berthier of Jan. 20. See his - _Mémoires_, p. 144. - - [22] As the wrecks of fifteen or sixteen battalions had - surrendered, there seems no reason to doubt the number of - standards. But the Spaniards asserted that Victor eked out his - trophies, by taking down the old battle-flags of the knights of - Santiago from their church in Ucles. - -Though they had suffered so little, the French showed great ferocity -after the fight. They not only sacked the town of Ucles, but executed -in cold blood sixty-nine of its notables, including many monks, who -were accused of having fired on the assailants from their convent -windows. When the column of Spanish prisoners was sent off to Madrid, -orders were given (it is said by Victor himself) that those who would -not keep up with the rest should be shot, and we have good French -authority to the effect that this was regularly done; thirty or more -a day, mostly the wounded and the sick, were shot by the wayside when -they dropped behind[23]. - - [23] Cf. the _Mémoires_ of Rocca (of the 2nd Hussars, Victor’s - corps-cavalry), p. 68, and Schepeler. - -What, meanwhile, had happened to the Spanish Commander-in-chief, and -the 9,000 men whom he had retained at Cuenca? Infantado had started -to join Venegas on January 12: he slept that night at Horcajada, -fifteen miles to the east of Ucles. Resuming his march next morning, -he had got as far as Carrascosa, when a disorderly mob of 2,000 -routed infantry hurtled into his vanguard. Questioning the fugitives, -he learnt the details of the battle of Ucles, and found that the -victorious army of the French was only five miles away. Then with a -promptitude very different from his torpor of the last three weeks, -the duke turned his column to the rear, and made off with all speed. -He first returned to his base at Cuenca to pick up his baggage and -stores, and then marched by vile cross-roads and in abominable -weather to Chinchilla in the kingdom of Murcia, which he reached on -January 20. His artillery, forced to go at a snail’s pace among the -hills and torrents, and escorted by a single cavalry regiment only, -was surprised and captured by Digeon’s dragoons at Tortola, a few -miles to the south of Cuenca (Jan. 18). Fifteen guns were lost on -this occasion: several of the French authorities ingeniously add them -to the trophies of Ucles, and write as if they had all been taken -from Venegas in open battle[24]. - - [24] Notably the ever-inaccurate _Victoires et Conquêtes_, and - Thiers. The usually-sensible Belmas makes the Spanish prisoners - amount to 13,000 men, two thousand more than Venegas ever put in - line. - -Victor after occupying Cuenca, and finding that Infantado was now -too far away to be pursued with any chance of success, turned down -into the plains of La Mancha, to strike at the small Andalusian -force which had advanced under Del Palacio, to lend countenance to -Infantado’s projects for a march on Madrid. This division, some 6,000 -strong, had reached Villaharta on the upper Guadiana, but when the -news of Ucles arrived, its commander hastily drew it back to the foot -of the passes. Finding no enemy to attack, Victor, after crossing La -Mancha unopposed, took up his post at Madridejos, on the high-road -between Madrid and the Despeña Perros, and waited for further orders -from Head Quarters. - -It was only after the victory of Ucles that King Joseph was permitted -by his brother to make his formal entry into Madrid. Up to this -moment he had been told to stop at the Palace of the Pardo, far -outside the walls, and only to pay furtive and unostentatious -visits to his official abode in the city. When the inhabitants of -the capital had been sufficiently impressed by the arrival of the -numerous columns of the 4th Corps and of Dessolles, and had seen -the banners and the prisoners taken at Ucles paraded through their -streets, their king was once more sent among them. Joseph made his -appearance on January 22, passed through a long lane of French -bayonets to the church of San Isidro, where a _Te Deum_ was chanted -for the late victories, and then entered his palace. Here he received -numerous deputations of Spaniards who swore him fealty. But the moral -effect of these oaths was not very great, for the local notables -attended under the pressure of the bayonet. Napoleon had sent orders -that every town in Castile of more than 2,000 souls must dispatch -delegates to Madrid, or the consequences would be unpleasant[25]. The -delegates appeared, but it may be guessed with what feelings they -mouthed their oaths and their protestations of joy and loyalty. Yet -Joseph, determined to play the part of the benevolent monarch, took -the whole farce seriously, and answered with lavish declarations of -his love and sympathy for the great Spanish nation. Sentiments of -the kind were to be the staple of his fruitless and copious oratory -for the next four years. His heart would have sunk within him if -only he could have recognized their futility: but 1809 was but just -beginning, and he was far from realizing the full meaning of his -position: it took a very long time to thoroughly disenchant this -hard-working and well-meaning prince. - - [25] _Nap. Corresp._, 14,729, from Valladolid, Jan. 16. - - - - -SECTION IX: CHAPTER II - -NAPOLEON’S DEPARTURE FROM SPAIN: HIS PLANS FOR THE TERMINATION OF THE -WAR: THE COUNTER-PLANS OF THE JUNTA - - -Four days after the battle of Ucles Napoleon quitted Spain. He had -rested at Valladolid from January 6 to January 17, after his return -from the pursuit of Sir John Moore. Though he had failed to entrap -the British Army he was not discontented with his achievements. -He was fully convinced that he had broken the back of the Spanish -insurrection, and that he could safely return to France, leaving -the completion of the work to his brother and his marshals. He was -anxious to hear that Saragossa had fallen, and that the English had -been driven out of the Peninsula. When these two events should have -come to pass, his armies might resume, under the guidance of his -subordinates, the original advance against Portugal and Andalusia -which had been so effectually frustrated by Moore’s daring move. - -Meanwhile he spent full eleven days at Valladolid, busy with all -manner of desk-work, connected not merely with Spain, but with the -affairs of the whole continent. He was evidently anxious to leave -an impression of terror behind him: he hectored and bullied the -unfortunate Spanish deputations that were compelled to come before -him in the most insulting fashion. His harangues generally wound up -with the declaration that if he was ever forced to come back to Spain -in arms, he would remove his brother Joseph, and divide the realm -into subject provinces, which should be governed by martial law. Some -French soldiers (probably marauders) having been assassinated, he -arrested and threatened to hang the whole municipality of Valladolid, -finally releasing them only when three persons accused (rightly -or wrongly) of the murders were delated to him and executed. He -sent advice to King Joseph to deal in the same way with Madrid: -nothing would keep the capital quiet, he wrote, but a good string -of executions[26]. It was to be many years before he realized that -hanging did no good in Spain, and was only repaid by additional -assassinations. In return for this good advice to his brother, he -extorted from him fifty of the choicest pictures of the royal gallery -at Madrid; but in compensation Joseph was invited to annex all that -he might choose from the private collections of the exiled Spanish -nobility and the monasteries of the capital[27]. - - [26] ‘Faites donc pendre une douzaine d’individus à Madrid: il - n’y manque point de mauvais sujets, et sans cela il n’y aura rien - de fait.’ _Nap. Corresp._, 14,684. Compare Lecestre, _Lettres - inédites de Napoléon_, i. 275, where orders are given that thirty - persons, who had already been acquitted by the civil tribunals, - should he rearrested, tried again before a court martial, and - promptly shot! Napoleon to Joseph, Jan. 16, 1809. - - [27] ‘Je préfèrerais que vous prissiez tous les tableaux qui - se trouvent dans les maisons confisquées et dans les couvents - supprimés, et que vous me fissiez présent d’une cinquantaine de - chefs-d’œuvre. Vous sentez qu’il ne faut que de bonnes choses.’ - _Nap. Corresp._, 14,717. - -Suggestions have sometimes been made that Napoleon hastened his -departure from Spain, because he saw that the suppression of the -insurrection would take a much longer time than he had originally -supposed, and because he wished to transfer to other hands the -lengthy and inglorious task of hunting down the last armies of the -Junta. This view is certainly erroneous: his three months’ stay in -Spain had not opened the Emperor’s eyes to the difficulties of the -business that he had taken in hand. Though many of his couriers and -aides-de-camp had already been ambuscaded and shot by the peasantry, -though he was already beginning to see that a blockhouse and a -garrison would have to be placed at every stage on the high-roads, -he believed that these sinister signs were temporary, and that the -country-side, after a few sanguinary lessons had been given, would -sink down into the quiet of despair. - -His final legacy to his brother, on departing, was a long dispatch -giving a complete plan of operations for the next campaign. Soult, -after forcing the English to embark, was to march on Oporto. Napoleon -calculated that he ought to capture it on February 1, and that on -February 10 he would be in front of Lisbon. The Portuguese levies he -practically disregarded as a fighting force, and he was ignorant that -there still remained 8,000 or 10,000 British troops on the Tagus, who -would serve to stiffen their resistance. - -When Soult should have captured Oporto, and be well on the way -to Lisbon, Victor was to go forward with his own 1st Corps, the -division of Leval from the 4th Corps, and the cavalry of Milhaud, -Latour-Maubourg, and Lasalle. He was to strike at Estremadura, occupy -Merida and Badajoz, and join hands with Soult along the Tagus. -Lisbon being reduced, Victor was to borrow a division from Soult and -march on Seville with 40,000 men. With such a force, as the Emperor -calculated, he would subdue the whole of Andalusia with ease. - -Meanwhile Saragossa must (as Napoleon rightly thought) fall some -time in February. When it was disposed of, the 3rd and 5th Corps -would provide a garrison for Aragon, and then march on Valencia, -which would be attacked and subdued much about the same time that -Victor would arrive at Seville. St. Cyr would have made an end of -the Catalans long before. Thus the whole Peninsula would be subdued -ere the summer was over. There was nowhere a Spanish army that could -make head against even 10,000 French troops. The only possible -complication would be that Moore’s army might conceivably take ship, -not for England, but for Lisbon or Cadiz. If the English, ‘the only -enemy who could create difficulties,’ took this course, the Emperor -might have to give further orders. But it does not seem that he -regarded this as a likely contingency, since he had conceived an even -exaggerated idea of the losses and demoralization which the British -had suffered in the retreat to Corunna. To Joseph he wrote, ‘reserve -yourself for the expedition to Andalusia, which may start three weeks -hence. With 40,000 men, marching by an unexpected route [i.e. by -Badajoz, not by La Carolina], you will surprise the enemy and force -him to submit. This is an operation which will make an end of the -war: I leave the glory of it to you[28].’ To Jerome Napoleon he wrote -in the most laconic style, ‘the Spanish affair is done with[29],’ and -then proceeded to discuss the general politics of the Continent, as -if his whole attention could now be given to the doings of Austria -and Russia. On January 18 he rode out of Valladolid, and after -six days of incessant travel reached Paris on the 24th. His first -care after his arrival was to scare the intriguers of the capital -into good behaviour. His second was to endeavour to treat Austria -after the same fashion. He had not yet made up his mind whether the -ministers of Francis II meant mischief, or whether they had merely -been presuming on his long absence in Spain: on the whole he thought -that they could be reduced to order by bold language, and by the -ostentatious movement of troops on the Rhine and upper Danube. But he -was not sure of his conclusion: in his correspondence letters stating -that Austria has been brought to reason, alternate with others -in which she is accused of incorrigible perversity, and a design -to make war in the spring[30]. The Emperor’s suspicions are most -clearly shown by the fact that in February he ordered the whole of -the Imperial Guard, except two battalions and three squadrons, to be -brought up from Spain and directed on Paris[31]. In the same month he -sent secret orders to the princes of the Confederation of the Rhine, -to bid them be ready to mobilize their contingents at short notice. - - [28] Napoleon to Joseph, Jan. 11, 1809, _Nap. Corresp._, 14,684. - - [29] Almost the same words are found in a dispatch to Mollien - of Jan. 24, ‘Aujourd’hui les affaires d’Espagne sont à peu près - terminées.’ This was written _after_ the Emperor had returned to - Paris. - - [30] Cf., for example, _Nap. Corresp._, 14,741 and 14,749, - where Austria is said to have changed her tone and stopped her - preparation, with 14,721 and 14,779, which show a most hostile - spirit against her. - - [31] For the details, see _Nap. Corresp._, 14,780, written to - Bessières from Paris on Feb. 15. - -It is clear that as regards the affairs of Spain the Emperor was in -January and February, 1809, as much deluded as he had been seven -months before, in June, 1808. The whole plan of campaign which he -dictated at Valladolid, and sent as his parting gift to Joseph and -Jourdan, was absolutely impracticable, and indicated a fundamental -ignorance of the character of the Spanish war. It would have been a -perfectly sensible document if the struggle had been raging in Italy -or Germany, though even there the calculations of distance and time -would have been rather hazardous. Twenty-three days were given to -Soult to expel the English, to pacify Galicia, to take Oporto, and -to march on Lisbon! Even granting that all had gone as the Emperor -desired, the estimate was too short by half. It was midwinter; -Galicia and northern Portugal form one of the most mountainous -regions in Europe: their roads are vile; their food supplies are -scanty; their climate at that season of the year detestable. Clearly -the task given to Soult could not be executed in the prescribed -time[32]. - - [32] As a matter of fact, as has been stated elsewhere, Soult - though working his hardest did not leave Corunna till Feb. 20, - 1809, nor take Oporto till March 29. - -But this is a minor point: it was not so much in his ‘logistics’ that -the Emperor went wrong as in his general conception of the character -of the war. He imagined that in dealing with Spain he might act as -if he were dealing with Austria or Prussia--indeed that he had an -enormous extra advantage in the fact that the armies of Ferdinand VII -were infinitely inferior in mere fighting power to those of Francis -II or Frederick William III. By all the ordinary rules of modern -warfare, a nation whose capital had been occupied, and whose regular -armies had been routed and half-destroyed, ought to have submitted -without further trouble. The Emperor was a little surprised that -the effect of Espinosa and Gamonal, of Tudela and Ucles, had not -been greater. He had almost expected to receive overtures from the -Junta, asking for terms of submission. But somewhat disappointed -though he might be, he had not yet realized that Spain was not as -other countries. The occupation of Madrid counted for little or -nothing. The insurrectionary armies, when driven into a corner, did -not capitulate, but dispersed, and fled in small parties over the -hills, to reunite on the first opportunity. Prussian or Austrian -troops under similar circumstances would have quietly laid down their -arms. But to endeavour to grasp a Spanish corps was like clutching -at a ball of quicksilver: the mass dispersed in driblets between the -fingers of the manipulator, and the small rolling pellets ultimately -united to form a new force. Large captures of Spaniards only took -place on the actual battle-field (as at Ucles or Ocaña), or when an -army had shut itself up in a fortress and could not get away, as -happened at Saragossa and Badajoz. Unless actually penned in between -bayonets, the insurgents abandoned cannon and baggage, broke their -ranks and disappeared, to gather again on some more propitious day, -either as fresh armies or as guerrilla bands operating upon the -victor’s lines of communication. - -Nor was this all: in Italy, Germany, and Austria Bonaparte had dealt -with regions where the population remained quiescent when once the -regular army had been beaten. Risings like that of Verona in 1797, or -of the Tyrol in 1805, were exceptional. The French army was wont to -go forward without being forced to leave large garrisons behind it, -to hold down the conquered country-side. A battalion or two placed in -the chief towns sufficed to secure the communication of the army with -France. Small parties, or even single officers bearing dispatches, -could ride safely for many miles through an Italian or Austrian -district without being molested. It was not thus in Spain: the -Emperor was to find that every village where there was not a French -garrison would be a focus of active resistance, and that no amount of -shooting or hanging would cow the spirits of the peasantry. It was -only after scores of aides-de-camp had been murdered or captured, and -after countless small detachments had been destroyed, that he came to -realize that every foot of Spanish soil must not only be conquered -but also held down. If there was a square of ten miles unoccupied, a -guerrilla band arose in it. If a district thirty miles long lacked a -brigade to garrison it, a local junta with a ragged apology for an -army promptly appeared. Three hundred thousand men look a large force -on paper, but when they have to hold down a country five hundred -miles broad they are frittered away to nothing. This Great Britain -knows well enough from her recent South African experience: but it -was not a common matter of knowledge in 1809. If the Emperor had been -told, on the day of his entry into Madrid, that even three years -later his communication with Bayonne would only be preserved by the -maintenance of a fortified post at every tenth milestone, he would -have laughed the idea to scorn. Still more ridiculous would it have -appeared to him if he had been told that it would take a body of 300 -horse to carry a dispatch from Salamanca to Saragossa, or that the -normal garrison of Old Castile would have to be kept at 15,000 men, -even when there was no regular Spanish army nearer to it than Oviedo -or Astorga. In short he, and all Europe, had much to learn as to the -conditions of warfare in the Peninsula. If he had realized them in -March, 1808, there would have been no treachery at Bayonne, and the -‘running sore,’ as he afterwards called the Spanish war, would never -have broken forth. - -Meanwhile the conquest of Spain was hung up for a month and more -after the victory of Ucles. The Emperor had bidden Joseph and Jourdan -to wait till the February rains were over, before sending out the -great expedition against Andalusia; the siege of Saragossa was -prolonged far beyond expectation, and Soult in Galicia (as we shall -presently see) found the time-allowance which his master had set him -inadequate to the verge of absurdity. The French made no further move -of importance till March. - -The Central Junta, therefore, were granted three full months from the -date of their flight from Aranjuez to Seville, in which to reorganize -their armies for the oncoming campaign of 1809--a respite which they -gained (as we have already shown) purely and solely through Moore’s -splendid inspiration of the march to Sahagun. - -The members of the Junta trailed into Seville at various dates -between December 14 and December 17. Their rapid journey at midwinter -through the Sierra de Guadalupe and the still wilder Sierra Morena -had been toilsome and exhausting[33]. It proved fatal to their -old president, Florida Blanca, who died of bronchitis only eleven -days after he had arrived at Seville. In his stead a Castilian -Grandee of unimpeachable patriotism but very moderate abilities, -the Marquis of Astorga, was elected to the presidential chair. The -Junta had no enviable task before it: the news of the disasters -on the Ebro and the fall of Madrid had thrown the nation into a -paroxysm of unreasoning fury. Ridiculous charges of treason were -being raised against all those who had been in charge of the war. -Blake and Castaños (of all people!) were being openly accused of -having sold themselves to Napoleon. There were a number of political -assassinations in the regions to which the French had not yet -penetrated: most of the victims were old friends of Godoy. It looked -at first as if the central government would be unable to restore any -sort of order, or to organize any further resistance. Some of the -local juntas, whose importance had disappeared with the meeting of -the Supreme Junta, showed signs of wishing to resume their ancient -independence. Those of Seville and Jaen were especially disobliging. -But the evils of disunion were so obvious that even the most -narrow-minded particularists settled down after a time into at least -a formal obedience to the central government. - - [33] It will be remembered (see vol. i. p. 529), that they went - via Talavera, Merida, and Llerena. - -The enforced halt made by the French after Napoleon’s departure for -Madrid was the salvation of Spain. By the month of January things -were beginning to assume a more regular aspect, and some attempt -was made to face the situation. The most favourable part of that -situation was that money at least was not wanting for the moment. The -four or five millions of dollars which the British Government had -distributed to the provincial Juntas and to the ‘Central’ had long -been spent, and in 1809 no more than £387,000 in specie was advanced -to Spain. Spent also was the enormous amount of money accruing from -patriotic gifts and local assessments. But there had just arrived -at Cadiz a large consignment of specie from America. The Spanish -colonies in the New World had all adhered without hesitation to the -cause of Ferdinand VII, and their first and most copious contribution -had just come to hand. Not only had the Governors of Mexico and -Peru and the other provinces strained every nerve to raise money, -but a vast patriotic fund had been collected by individuals. There -were rich merchants and land-holders in America who made voluntary -offerings of sums as large as 100,000 or 200,000 dollars apiece. -The money which came to hand early in 1809 amounted to more than -£2,800,000, and much more was received ere the close of the year. It -was with this sum, far more than with British money, that the Spanish -armies were paid and fed: but their equipment mainly came from -England. The stores of arms, clothing, and munition which had existed -in the arsenals of the Peninsula when the war broke out, had all been -exhausted in the autumn, and had not even sufficed to equip fully the -unfortunate armies which were beaten on the Ebro. The government and -the local juntas had set up new manufactories at Seville, Valencia, -and elsewhere, which were already turning out a large quantity of -weapons, accoutrements, and uniforms: it was now that the armies -began to appear in the rough brown cloth of the country and in -leather shakos, abandoning the old white uniform and plumed hat -which had been the garb of the Spanish line. But the reclothing and -rearmament of the troops could never have been completed without the -enormous consignments of cloth, powder, muskets, lead, and leather -work which came from England. It is true that much was lost by the -fortune of war before it could be utilized--notably the considerable -amount of muskets, ammunition, and cloth which had been landed in -Galicia for La Romana’s army. This, as we have seen, was either -destroyed by Sir John Moore’s army or captured by Soult, because -the Galician Junta had kept it waiting too long at the base. But -all that went to Andalusia, Valencia, and Catalonia came safely to -hand. Palafox’s army was re-equipped, just before the second siege of -Saragossa began, with British stores sent up by Colonel Doyle from -Tarragona. The armies of the south and east also received enormous -consignments of necessaries. - -It remains to speak of the purely military aspect of the Junta’s -position. When January began, the wrecks of the Spanish armies were -distributed in a wide semicircle reaching from Oviedo to Gerona, -while the French lay in their midst. In the Asturias there were still -14,000 or 15,000 men under arms: the relics of Acevedo’s division of -Blake’s army had fallen back, and joined the other levies which the -local Junta had assembled. The whole force was watching the two lines -on which the French could conceivably move during the winter--the -coast route from Santander to Gijon, and the pass of Pajares which -leads from Leon to Oviedo. - -In Galicia, La Romana’s army, now engaged in the miserable retreat -from Astorga to Orense, had fallen into the most wretched condition. -Of the 22,000 men who had been assembled at Leon in December only -6,000 or 7,000 were now to be found: the Galician battalions had -melted home when the army fell back among their native mountains. -They cannot be much blamed, for they were suffering acute starvation: -in the spring they came back to join the colours readily enough. -The regulars, who still hung together, were famished, naked, -typhus-ridden, and incapable of any great exertion. Their general’s -only care was to keep them as far as possible from Soult and Ney, -till the winter should have passed by, and food and clothing be -procured. - -Between La Romana’s men at Orense and the army of Estremadura on -the Tagus there was no Spanish force in the field. When Lapisse -and D’Avenay had occupied Zamora and Salamanca, the only centre of -resistance in Leon was the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, which was held -by a handful of local militia. Portuguese troops were beginning to -collect in its rear at Almeida, but with them the Junta had nothing -to do. - -The Estremaduran army had now passed from the hands of Galluzzo to -those of Cuesta. The Junta, in spite of the memories of Cabezon -and Rio Seco, had once more given the obstinate and incapable old -soldier an important command. Apparently they had been moved by the -widespread but idiotic cry imputing treachery to the generals who -had been beaten on the Ebro, and gave Cuesta an army because (with -all his faults) no one ever dreamed of accusing him of treachery or -sympathy with the French. His forces consisted (1) of the wrecks -of Belvedere’s army from Gamonal, (2) of the débris of San Juan’s -army from Madrid, (3) of new Estremaduran levies, which had not gone -forward to Burgos in October, but had remained behind to complete -their organization, (4) of the four dismounted cavalry regiments from -Denmark, which had been sent to the south when La Romana landed at -Santander, in order to procure equipment and horses. In all, the army -of Cuesta had no more than 10,500 foot and 2,000 or 2,500 horse. The -spirit of the old troops of San Juan and Belvedere was still very -bad, and they were hardly recovered from their December mutinies and -murders. After Lefebvre had driven them back from the Tagus, and -occupied the bridges of Almaraz and Arzobispo, the Estremadurans had -retired to Merida and Truxillo: on January 11 their most advanced -position was at the last-named place. - -To the east of Estremadura lay the weakest point of the Spanish line: -Andalusia and its mountain barrier of the Sierra Morena were almost -undefended in January, 1809. It will be remembered that all through -the autumn of the preceding year the local juntas, intoxicated -with the fumes of Baylen, had let the months slip by without doing -much to organize the ‘Army of Reserve,’ of which they had spoken -so much in August and September. It resulted that, when Reding had -marched for Catalonia, and the last belated fractions of Castaños’ -army had been forwarded to Madrid, Andalusia was almost destitute -of troops. When the Junta fled to Seville, it looked around for an -army with which to defend the passes of the Sierra Morena. Nothing -of the kind existed: the only force available consisted of nine or -ten battalions, mainly new levies, which were dispersed through the -‘Four Kingdoms’ completing their armament and organization. They were -hastily mobilized and pushed forward to the Sierra Morena, but not -more than 6,000 bayonets and 500 sabres could be collected. This was -the sole force that lay between the French at Madrid and the Junta at -Seville. The charge of the division, whose head quarters were placed -at La Carolina, was given to the Marquis del Palacio, who in the -general shifting of commanders had just been recalled from Catalonia. - -The British Government’s knowledge of the danger to which Andalusia -was exposed, from the absolute want of troops to defend it, led to an -untoward incident, which did much to endanger its friendly relations -with the Junta. On hearing of the fall of Madrid, and of Moore’s -retreat towards Galicia, Canning harked back to one of his old ideas -of the previous summer, the notion that British troops might be -sent to the south of Spain, if a safe basis for their operations -were secured. This, as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs -believed, would best be provided by the establishment of a garrison -in Cadiz. It was all-important that this great centre of commerce -should not fall into the hands of the French, and early in January it -was known in London that there was no adequate Spanish force ready to -defend the passes of Andalusia. If Napoleon had an army large enough -to provide, not only for the pursuit of Moore, but for the dispatch -of a strong corps for an attack on Seville, it seemed probable that -the French might overrun Southern Spain as far as the sea, without -meeting with serious opposition. Accordingly, Canning wrote to Frere, -on the fourteenth day of the new year, 1809, to offer the assistance -of a considerable British force for the defence of Andalusia, if -Cadiz were placed in their hands. - -‘The question of the employment of a British army in the south -of Spain,’ he wrote, ‘depends essentially upon the disposition -of the Spanish Government to receive a corps of that army into -Cadiz. Without the security to be afforded by that fortress, it is -impossible to hazard the army in the interior, after the example of -the little co-operation which Sir John Moore represents himself to -have received from the Spaniards in the north.... In consequence of -the imminent danger, and of the pressing necessity for immediate -decision arising from Sir John Moore’s retreat, and from the -defenceless state in which you represent Andalusia to be, His -Majesty’s Government have deemed it right (without waiting for the -result of your communication with the Central Junta) to send a force -direct to Cadiz, to be admitted into that fortress. Four thousand -men under Major-General Sherbrooke are directed to sail immediately, -and he is informed that he is to expect instructions from you on -his arrival, containing the determination of the Spanish Government -respecting his admission into Cadiz.... In the event of a refusal -of the Junta to afford this proof of confidence, Major-General -Sherbrooke is directed to proceed to Gibraltar[34].’ - - [34] Canning to Frere, Jan. 14, 1809 (Record Office). - -The last paragraph of this dispatch shows that Canning’s intentions -were perfectly honourable, and that he did not intend to bring any -pressure to bear upon the Junta in the event of their refusing to -admit a British garrison into Cadiz. His views were founded upon the -information available in London when he wrote, and he was under the -impression that a French army might probably be marching upon Seville -at the moment when his letter would reach Frere’s hands. But--as we -have seen--the diversion of the main force of Napoleon’s army of -invasion against Moore, had rendered any such expedition impossible, -and no immediate danger was really to be apprehended. - -The same idea, however, had entered into Frere’s mind, and long -before he received Canning’s dispatch he had been sounding members -of the Central Junta as to the way in which they would look on -a proposal to send British troops to Cadiz. The answer which he -received from their secretary, Martin de Garay, was not reassuring: -Don Martin ‘energetically repudiated’ the project: there would be -no objection, he said, to admit a garrison, if Cadiz became ‘the -ultimate point of retreat’ of the armies and government of Spain. -But the danger that had appeared so pressing some weeks before had -passed by, the French had stopped their advance, and the Junta were -now hoping to defend Estremadura and the course of the Tagus. The -invaders, as they trusted, would be met and checked on the line -of Alcantara and Almaraz. They deprecated any sending of British -troops to Cadiz, and hoped that Lisbon would be the point to which -reinforcements would be dispatched, as its evacuation would have -deplorable results. De Garay, in a second letter, spoke of rumours -to the effect that Cradock was proposing to evacuate Portugal, and -trusted that they were not true. As a matter of fact they were, and -that timid commander was already making secret preparations to embark. - -Frere gave up for the present any idea of pressing the project -further, unless the French should recommence their advance on -Andalusia. He had not yet received Canning’s dispatch from London, -and did not know that the home government had taken to heart the plan -for occupying Cadiz and sending a large expedition to Andalusia. But -on February 2, before any hint of the kind had reached him, he was -informed by a dispatch from Lisbon that troops had been already sent -off to Cadiz[35]. This step was the work of Sir George Smith, one of -the numerous British military agents in the Peninsula, who had taken -upon himself to force events to an issue, without first taking the -precaution of communicating either with the home government or the -British ambassador at Seville. Smith was a hasty and presumptuous -man, full of zeal without discretion. The defencelessness of -Andalusia had impressed him, just as it had impressed Canning and -Frere. But instead of opening communications with the Junta, as -they had both done, he had merely written in very urgent terms to -Cradock, and adjured him to detach troops from the scanty garrison of -Portugal in order to secure Cadiz. The general, when thus pressed, -consented to fall in with the scheme, and set aside a brigade under -Mackenzie, which he shipped off from Lisbon at twenty-four hours’ -notice (February 2). He also ordered the 40th regiment, then in -garrison at Elvas, to march on Seville. Both Cradock and Smith were -gravely to blame, for they had no authorization to attempt to occupy -Cadiz, without obtaining the consent of the Spanish Government[36]. -They should have consulted both Frere and the Junta before moving a -man: but it was only when the troops had actually embarked that they -thought fit to notify their action to the ambassador at Seville. - - [35] The 29th, 3/27th, and 2/9th regiments. - - [36] As Canning wrote to Frere, after receiving the news of the - abortive expedition, ‘The enclosed copy of the instructions under - which Sir G. Smith was sent out, will show you that the step - taken by that officer was not to have been taken _except at the - direct solicitation of the Spanish authorities_.... He has been - directed to leave Cadiz at once, and you may assure the Junta - that no separate or secret commission was, has been, or ever will - be entrusted to any officer or other person,’ Feb. 26 (Record - Office). - -On receiving their letters Frere was placed in an unenviable -position. Having just seen his own proposals negatived by the Junta -in polite but decisive terms, he now learnt that a British force had -been sent off to carry out precisely the plan which the Spaniards had -refused to take into consideration. Four days later he was informed -that Mackenzie’s brigade, which had chanced upon a favourable wind, -was actually lying in Cadiz harbour, and that Sir George Smith was -endeavouring to induce the local authorities of the place to permit -them to land. The Junta, as was inevitable, suspected Frere of having -been in the plot, and imagined that he was trying to force their hand -by the display of armed force. Cadiz was at Smith’s mercy, for it -was only garrisoned by its urban guards; and the populace were by no -means unwilling to see the British land, for the fear of the French -was upon them, and they welcomed the approach of reinforcements of -any kind. - -The supreme authority in Cadiz at this moment was the Marquis of -Villel, a special commissioner sent down by the Central Junta, of -which he was a member. He refused to be cajoled by Smith, and very -properly referred his demand for permission to disembark to the -government at Seville. The latter, not unnaturally incensed, turned -for explanations to Frere. The ambassador’s conduct when placed in -this dilemma was by no means wise or straightforward. Instead of -frankly disavowing Smith’s action, he adopted the tortuous course[37] -of pretending that the expedition from Lisbon had been sent with -his knowledge and consent, but that he would not allow it to land -without the leave of the Junta. The Spaniards replied in terms of -some indignation, and returned a frank negative to the demand. Their -secretary, de Garay, wrote that the unexpected appearance of General -Mackenzie’s force was ‘painful and disagreeable intelligence, Cadiz -being no longer in danger from the French, and two Spanish regiments -being already on their way to reinforce the garrison. The measure -which had been taken would admit of a thousand interpretations, and -a consent to hand over the fortress to the British would compromise -the Central Junta with the whole nation.’ The fact was that Spanish -public opinion was strongly opposed to allowing the British to obtain -a foothold in Cadiz; there was a deeply-rooted notion abroad that, if -once occupied, the place might be kept permanently in our hands, and -be turned into a second Gibraltar. - - [37] Frere, by his own showing, exceeded the bounds of diplomatic - evasion. He writes to Canning (Feb. 9) to say that the dispatch - of the Lisbon troops had been a complete surprise to him, as he - had not received any information on the subject. ‘It occurred - to me, however, that it was best to take it upon myself, and to - affect to consider it a thing of course, and to say that I had - sent orders in conformity with the note which I had received from - Mr. de Garay. In order to give this some semblance of truth, I - did afterwards write a letter to Lisbon to this effect, and sent - it off before I dispatched my note to Mr. de Garay. This did not - prevent me from being assailed by remonstrances.’ Finally he - proceeded to tell the Junta ‘that he only wished to see Cadiz - occupied in the extreme case of an immediate attack by the - French’ (Record Office). - -Unfortunately for the credit of Great Britain with her allies, -tumults broke out at Cadiz within a few days of the arrival of -Mackenzie’s army, which supplied an excuse to malevolent Spaniards -for attributing the worst motives to their allies. As a matter of -fact they were not stirred up by Sir George Smith or any other -emissary of the British Government, but were the results of the -eccentric behaviour of the Marquis de Villel[38]. This personage -was a very strange character, a sort of nineteenth-century Spanish -Puritan, with a taste for playing the benevolent despot. He -attributed the misfortunes of his country (and not without much -reason) to her moral decadence. His idea of the way to commence her -regeneration was peculiar, considering the circumstances of the -time. He issued an edict commanding all married pairs living apart, -to reunite, issued laws repressing theatre-going, late hours, and -gambling, legislated concerning the length of ladies’ skirts, and -organized a grand _battue_ against women of light reputation, of whom -he imprisoned some scores. When he proceeded to engage in a sort of -moral inquisition into the private life of all classes, he naturally -became very unpopular, and on the first opportunity the populace rose -against him. He had ordered into the city a newly-embodied ‘Swiss’ -battalion, raised from the prisoners of Dupont’s army and other -deserters of all nationalities. The cry was raised by his enemies -that he was admitting Frenchmen in disguise into the sacred fortress, -with the purpose of betraying it to the enemy. Other rumours were -put about to the effect that he was deliberately neglecting the -fortifications, and supplying the batteries with powder adulterated -with sand[39]. - - [38] For Villel’s eccentricities in detail see Toreno, i. pp. - 375-6, and Arteche, v. p. 107. - - [39] See Col. Leslie (of the 29th), _Memoirs_, p. 94. - -When the foreign battalion drew near to Cadiz on February 22, and -began to march up the long spit which connects the city with the Isla -de Leon, the storm burst. A mixed multitude of rioters shut the gates -against the troops, and then swept the streets, maltreating Villel’s -subordinates, and slaying Don José Heredia the commander of the -coast-guard, a person very unpopular with the smugglers, who formed -an appreciable element in the crowd. The High Commissioner himself -was besieged in his house, hunted from it, and nearly murdered: he -only escaped by the kind offices of the head of a Capuchin convent, -who took him within his gates, and made himself responsible to the -rioters for keeping the refugee in safe custody. The mob next tried -to break open the state prison, for the purpose of slaying General -Caraffa and other political captives. Fortunately Felix Jones, the -military Governor, succeeded in saving these unhappy persons, by the -not over-willing aid of the urban guards, many of whom had joined in -the outbreak. - -The rioters expressed great friendliness for the British, and many of -them kept inviting the troops in the offing to come ashore. It was -very lucky that no attention was paid to these solicitations[40], -for if they had landed the worst suspicions of the Junta would have -appeared justified, and the insurrection would have been attributed -to the machinations of Frere or Smith. Fortunately the latter had -died, only a few days before the troubles broke out, the victim of -a fever which carried him off after no more than twenty-four hours -of illness. If he had survived till the twenty-second, he would have -been quite capable of taking the fatal step of listening to the -appeals of the rioters, and ordering the troops ashore. - - [40] Mackenzie wrote that ‘it was evident that the people were - favourable to our landing and occupying the town, for it was - frequently called for during the tumult.’ But ‘the utmost care - was taken to prevent our officers or soldiers from taking any - part whatever on this occasion, and except when I was applied to - by the Governor for the interference of some British officers as - mediators, we stood perfectly clear.’ Dispatch to Castlereagh in - the Record Office, dated Lisbon, March 13, 1809. - -As it turned out the whole expedition ended in an absurd fiasco. -When the riots had died down, the Junta recalled the eccentric de -Villel, but they would not listen to any proposals from Frere for -admitting British troops into Cadiz, even when he suggested that -only two battalions should remain there, while the rest, including -Sherbrooke’s division, which was expected to arrive in a few days, -should come up and join the 40th regiment at Seville, with the -ultimate purpose of marching into Estremadura. The Junta replied -that ‘the loyalty of the British Ministry and the generosity of its -efforts to assist Spain were beyond suspicion: but the National -Government must respect national prejudices, and avoid exposing -itself to censure. If there were any urgent danger, they would have -no hesitation in admitting the troops of their allies into Cadiz. But -the French were still far away, and there was no immediate prospect -of their approach. The British expedition would be more usefully -employed in Catalonia, or in some other theatre of war, than in -Cadiz[41].’ By March 4, when this final answer was sent to Frere, the -state of affairs had so much changed, that the representations made -by the Junta were more or less correct. The imminent danger which had -existed in January had passed away. - - [41] Martin de Garay to Frere, March 4 (Record Office). - -Accordingly, after lying idly for four weeks in their transports, -and gazing with much unsatisfied curiosity on the white houses, the -green shutters, and the flat roofs of Cadiz, across the beautiful -bay, Mackenzie’s regiments set sail again for Lisbon on March 6. As -they ran out of the harbour, they met Sherbrooke’s belated convoy, -whose arrival had been delayed by fearful tempests in the Bay of -Biscay. The whole force, 6,000 bayonets strong, was brought back to -Portugal. It might have been of infinite service to Cradock if it had -remained at Lisbon and had never been sent to Cadiz, and its presence -might have induced him to adopt measures less timid and futile than -those which (as we shall see) he had pursued during January and -February[42]. - - [42] Napier enlarges on this incident at great length in pages - 14-19 of his second volume. In his persistent dislike for - Canning, Castlereagh and Mr. Frere, as well as for the Spaniards, - he concludes that the business ‘indicated an unsettled policy, - shallow combination, and had agents on the part of the British - Cabinet, and an unwise and unworthy disposition in the Supreme - Junta,’ while Smith was ‘zealous and acute’ and Cradock ‘full of - zeal and moral courage.’ It is hard to give an unqualified assent - to any one of these views. Smith was wrong in acting without - giving any notice of his intentions to the Junta: Cradock’s zeal - was equally untempered by discretion. The British Cabinet, acting - on the information available in the end of December, was right to - be anxious about Cadiz, and equally right to abandon its attempt - to occupy the place in March, when the conditions of the war had - changed, and the Junta had shown its dislike to the proposal. - As to the Spaniards, the matter was only broached to them in - February, when the danger of an immediate French advance had - passed away, and they were entirely justified in their answer, - which was framed as politely as could be contrived. We must not - blame them overmuch for their suspicion: England, though now a - friend, had long been an enemy--and the fate of Gibraltar was - always before their eyes. - -But this unfortunate incident has detained us too long; we must -return to the state of the Spanish armies at the end of the month of -January. Beyond the levies of the Marquis Del Palacio at La Carolina, -there was a long gap in the Spanish line of defence. The next force -under arms was the army of Infantado, now engaged in its exhausting -winter march from Cuenca to the Murcian border. After the rout of -Ucles it was still 12,000 strong, though destitute of all supplies -and not fit for immediate service. The Junta ordered it to march from -Chinchilla to join Del Palacio’s force at the mouth of the Despeña -Perros, and so to strengthen the defences of Andalusia. This was -done, and the two forces were safely united, so that when a few more -new battalions had been brought up from Granada, 20,000 men were -placed between Victor and Andalusia. The Junta removed Infantado from -command, rightly judging that he had sacrificed Venegas at Ucles by -his neglect to send orders and his sloth in coming up to join his -subordinate. The charge of the force at La Carolina (still called -‘the Army of the Centre’) was made over to General Cartaojal. - -Beyond Infantado’s depleted corps lay the army of Valencia. Its -nucleus was the remains of the old division of Llamas and Roca, which -had served with Castaños at Tudela. The local Junta rapidly recruited -this skeleton force from 1,500 up to 5,000 men[43]. They added to -it several new regiments raised during the winter in Valencia and -Murcia, and by February had 10,000 men available for succouring -Aragon and Catalonia, though their quality left much to be desired. - - [43] See the table in Argüelles on p. 74 of his Appendix-volume. - -A little further north Palafox was still holding out with splendid -desperation in Saragossa, where he had shut himself up with the whole -army of Aragon. His original 32,000 men were already much thinned -by pestilence and the sword, but in January their spirit was yet -unbroken, and though it was clear that they were doomed to final -destruction, if they were not relieved from the outside, yet they -were still doing excellent work in detaining in front of them the -whole of the 3rd and 5th French Army Corps. - -There yet remains to be described the strongest of all the Spanish -armies, that of Catalonia. In addition to the original garrison of -the province, and to its gallant _miqueletes_ and _somatenes_, there -had been gradually drafted into the principality (1) the greater -part of the garrison of the Balearic Isles, some 9,000 men; (2) -Reding’s Granadan division which started from its home over 10,000 -strong; (3) 2,500 men of Caraffa’s old division from Portugal; (4) -the Marquis of Lazan’s Aragonese division from the side of Lerida, -about 4,000 bayonets. Thus in all some 32,000 men in organized corps -had been massed in Catalonia, and the _somatenes_ added some 20,000 -irregulars. Of course the Spanish strength in January did not reach -these figures. Many men had been lost at the siege of Rosas and in -the battles of Cardadeu and Molins de Rey: yet there were still -40,000 troops of one sort or another available; the spirit of the -country was irritated rather than lowered by the late defeats; the -French only occupied the ground that was within the actual circle of -fire of their garrisons. If the Catalans had been content to avoid -general engagements, and to maintain an incessant guerrilla warfare, -they might have held their own. Though the enemy had a very capable -commander in General St. Cyr, they had as yet accomplished nothing -more than the capture of the antiquated fortress of Rosas, the relief -of Barcelona, and the winning of two fruitless battles. Catalonia -remained unsubdued till the very end of the struggle. - -Reckoning up all their armies, the Junta had in the end of January -some 135,000 men in arms,--a force insufficient to face the French in -the open, for the latter (even after the departure of the Imperial -Guard) had still nearly 300,000[44] sabres and bayonets south of the -Pyrenees, but one quite capable of keeping up the national resistance -if it were only conducted upon the proper lines. For, as Napoleon -and his marshals had yet to learn, no Spanish district could be -considered conquered unless a garrison was left in each of its towns, -and flying columns kept in continual motion through the open country. -Of the 288,000 French who now lay in Spain more than half were really -wanted for garrison duty. A district like Galicia was capable of -keeping 40,000 men employed: even the plains of Old Castile and Leon -swallowed up whole divisions. - - [44] 288,000 on Feb. 15. See Napier’s extracts from the Imperial - muster rolls, i. 514. These numbers include the sick and detached. - -But, unfortunately for Spain, the mania for fighting pitched battles -was still obsessing the minds of her generals. Within a few weeks -three wholly unnecessary and disastrous engagements were to be -risked, at Valls, Ciudad Real, and Medellin. Instead of playing a -cautious defensive game, and harassing the French, the Spaniards -persisted in futile attempts to face the enemy in general actions, -for which their troops were wholly unsuited. The results were so -deplorable that but for a second British intervention--Wellesley’s -march to Talavera--Andalusia would have been in as great peril in -July, 1809, as it had been in January. - -The Central Junta must take its share of the responsibility for this -fact no less than the Spanish generals. It still persisted in its old -error of refusing to appoint a single commander-in-chief, so that -each army fought for its own hand, without any attempt to co-ordinate -its actions with those of the others. Indeed several of the generals -were at notorious enmity with their colleagues--notably Cuesta and -Venegas. It was to no purpose that the Central Government displayed -great energy in organizing men and collecting material, if, when -the armies had been equipped and sent to the front, they were used -piecemeal, without any general strategical scheme, and led ere long -to some miserable disaster, such as Ucles, or Medellin, or Ocaña. The -Junta, the generals, and the nation were all alike possessed by the -delusion that with energy and sufficient numbers they might on some -happy morning achieve a second Baylen. But for such a consummation -Duponts and Vedels are required, and when no such convenient -adversaries were to be found, the attempt to encompass and beat a -French army was certain to end in a catastrophe. - -The only Spanish fighters who were playing the proper game in 1809 -were the Catalonian _somatenes_, and even they gave battle far -too often, and did not adhere with a sufficient pertinacity to -the harassing tactics of guerrilla warfare. General Arteche has -collected in his fourth volume something like a dozen schemes for -the expulsion of the French from Spain, which were laid before the -Junta, or ventilated in print, during this year. It is interesting to -see that only one of them advocates the true line of resistance--the -avoiding of battles, the harassing of the enemy’s flanks and -communications, and the employment of numerous flying bands instead -of great masses[45]. Some of the other plans are the wild imaginings -of ignorant fools--one wiseacre wished to run down the French -columns with pikemen in a sort of Macedonian phalanx, another to arm -one-sixth of the troops with hand-grenades! But the majority of the -Junta’s self-constituted advisers thought that numbers were the only -necessary thing, and proposed to save Spain by crushing the invaders -with levies _en masse_ of all persons between sixteen and fifty--one -enthusiast makes the age-limit fourteen to seventy! - - [45] See Arteche, iv. 115-51: the advocate of the guerrilla game - was a certain Faustino Fernandez. - -These were the views of the nation, and the generals and the Junta -were but infected with the common delusion of all their compatriots. -They would not see that courage and raw multitudes are almost -helpless when opposed by equal courage combined with skill, long -experience of war, superior tactics, and intelligent leading. - - - - -SECTION X - -THE AUTUMN AND WINTER CAMPAIGN IN CATALONIA - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE SIEGE OF ROSAS - - -Before we follow further the fortunes of Southern Spain, it is -necessary to turn back and to take up the tale of the war on the -Eastern coast at the point where it was left in Section V. - -The same torpor which was notable in the operations of the main -armies of the Spaniards and the French during the months of September -and October was to be observed in Catalonia also. On the Ter and the -Llobregat the inability of the French to move was much more real, and -the slackness of the Spaniards even more inexplicable, than on the -Ebro and the Aragon. - -In the early days of September the situation of the invaders was -most perilous. After the disastrous failure of the second siege of -Gerona, it will be remembered that Reille had withdrawn to Figueras, -close to the French frontier, while Duhesme had cut his way back to -Barcelona, after sacrificing all his artillery and his baggage on the -way. Both commanders proceeded to report to the Emperor that there -was need for ample reinforcements of veteran troops, or a catastrophe -must inevitably ensue. Meanwhile Reille preserved a defensive -attitude at the foot of the Pyrenees; while Duhesme could do no more -than hold Barcelona, and as much of its suburban plain as he could -safely occupy without risking overmuch his outlying detachments. -He foresaw a famine in the winter, and devoted all his energies to -seizing and sending into the town all foodstuffs that he could find -in the neighbourhood. His position was most uncomfortable: the late -expedition had reduced his force from 13,000 to 10,000 sabres and -bayonets. The men were demoralized, and when sent out to forage saw -_somatenes_ behind every bush and rock. The populace of Barcelona -was awaiting a good opportunity for an _émeute_, and was in constant -communication with the insurgents outside. - -The blockade was not as yet kept up by any large section of the -Captain-General’s regular troops, nor had any attempt been made to -run lines around the place. It was conducted by an elastic cordon of -four or five thousand _miqueletes_, supported by no more than 2,000 -infantry of the regular army and possessing five or six field-guns. -The charge of the whole line was given to the Conde de Caldagues, -who had so much distinguished himself in the previous month by his -relief of Gerona. He had been entrusted with a force too small to -man a circuit of twelve or fifteen miles, so that Duhesme had no -difficulty in pushing sorties through the line of Spanish posts, -whenever he chose to send out a sufficiently strong column. But any -body that pressed out too far in pursuit of corn or forage, risked -being beset and mishandled on its return march by the whole of the -_somatenes_ of the country-side. Hence there was a limit to the power -to roam of even the largest expeditions that Duhesme could spare -from his depleted garrison. The fighting along the blockading cordon -was incessant, but never conclusive. On September 2 a strong column -of six Italian battalions swept aside the Spaniards for a moment -in the direction of San Boy, but a smaller expedition against the -bridge of Molins de Rey was repulsed. The moment that the Italians -returned to Barcelona, with the food that they had scraped together -in the villages, Caldagues reoccupied his old positions. There were -many skirmishes but no large sorties between September 2 and October -12, when Milosewitz took out 2,000 men for a cattle-hunt in the -valley of the Besos. He pierced the blockading line, routing the -_miqueletes_ of Milans at San Jeronimo de la Murtra, and penetrated -as far as Granollers, twenty miles from Barcelona, where he made an -invaluable seizure, the food dépôt of the eastern section of the -investing force. But he was now dangerously distant from his base, -and as he was returning with his captures, Caldagues fell upon him -at San Culgat with troops brought from other parts of the blockading -line. The Italians were routed with a loss of 300 men[46], and their -convoy was recaptured. After this Duhesme made no more attempts to -send expeditions far afield: in spite of a growing scarcity of food, -he could not afford to risk the loss of any more men by pushing his -sorties into the inland. - - [46] So Vacani. Laffaille gives the incredible figure of 48! - -Meanwhile Reille at Figueras was in wellnigh as forlorn a situation. -His communications with Perpignan were open, so that he had not, -like Duhesme, the fear of starvation before his eyes. But in other -respects he was almost as badly off: the _somatenes_ were always -worrying his outposts, but this was only a secondary trial. The main -trouble was the want of clothing, transport, and equipment: the -heterogeneous mob of _bataillons de marche_, of Swiss and Tuscan -conscripts, had been hurried to the frontier without any proper -preparations: this mattered comparatively little during the summer; -but when the autumn cold began Reille found that troops, who had -neither tents nor greatcoats, and whose original summer uniforms were -now worn out, could not keep the field. His ranks were so thinned by -dysentery and rheumatic affections that he had to put the men under -cover in Figueras and the neighbouring towns, and even to withdraw -to Perpignan some of his battalions, whose clothing was absolutely -dropping to pieces. His cavalry, for want of forage in the Pyrenees, -were sent back into Languedoc, where occupation was found for them -by Lord Cochrane who was conducting a series of daring raids on -the coast villages between the mouth of the Rhone and that of the -Tech[47]. Reille continued to solicit the war minister at Paris for -clothing and transport, but could get nothing from him: all the -resources of the empire were being strained in September and October -to fit out the main army, which was about to enter Spain on the side -of Biscay, and Napoleon refused to trouble himself about such a minor -force as the corps at Figueras. - - [47] See Cochrane’s _Autobiography_, pp. 269-85. - -The Spaniards, therefore, had in the autumn months a unique -opportunity for striking at the two isolated French forces in -Catalonia. Two courses were open to them: they might have turned -their main army against Barcelona, and attempted to besiege instead -of merely to blockade Duhesme: or on the other hand they might have -left a mere cordon of _somatenes_ around Duhesme, and have sent all -their regulars to join the levies of the north and sweep Reille -across the Pyrenees. The resources at their disposition were far -from contemptible: almost the whole garrison of the Balearic Isles -having disembarked in Catalonia, there were now some 12,000 regulars -in the Principality, and the local Junta had put so much energy -into the equipment of the numerous _tercios_ of _miqueletes_ which -it had raised, that the larger half of them, at least 20,000 men, -were more or less ready for the field. Moreover they were aware that -large reinforcements were at hand. Reding’s Granadan division, 10,000 -strong, was marching up from the south, and was due to arrive early -in November. The Aragonese division under the Marquis of Lazan, which -had been detached from the army of Palafox, was already at Lerida. -Valencia had sent up a line regiment[48], and the remains of the -division of Caraffa from Portugal were being brought round by sea to -the mouth of the Ebro[49]. Altogether 20,000 men of new troops were -on the way to Catalonia, and the first of them had already come on -the scene. - - [48] Two battalions of the 2nd of Savoia: the old regiment - of the name had been completed to four battalions, two were - with Castaños and called 1st of Savoia, the other two came to - Catalonia. - - [49] Four battalions of Provincial Grenadiers of Old and New - Castile had already come up. - -Unfortunately the Marquis Del Palacio, the new Captain-General -of Catalonia, though well-intentioned, was slow and undecided to -the verge of absolute torpidity. Beyond allowing his energetic -subordinate Caldagues to keep up the blockade of Barcelona he did -practically nothing. A couple of thousand of his regulars, based -on Gerona and Rosas, lay opposite Reille, but were far too weak -to attack him. About 3,000 under Caldagues were engaged in the -operations around Barcelona. The rest the Captain-General held back -and did not use. All through September he lay idle at Tarragona, -to the great disgust of the local Junta, who at last sent such -angry complaints to Aranjuez that the Central Junta recalled him, -and replaced him by Vives the old Captain-General of the Balearic -Islands, who took over the command on October 28. - -This gave a change of commander but not of policy, for Vives was as -slow and incapable as his predecessor. We have already had occasion -to mention the trouble that he gave in August, when he refused to -send his troops to the mainland till actually compelled to yield by -their mutiny. When he took over the charge of operations he found -20,000 foot and 1,000 horse at his disposition, and the French -still on the defensive both at Barcelona and at Figueras. He had a -splendid opportunity, and it was not yet too late to strike hard. But -all that he chose to attempt was to turn the blockade of Barcelona -into an investment, by tightening the cordon round the place. To -lay siege to the city does not seem to have been within the scope -of his intentions, but on November 6 he moved up to the line of the -Llobregat with 12,000 infantry and 700 horse, mostly regulars. He -had opened negotiations with secret friends within the walls, and -had arranged that when the whole forces of Duhesme were sufficiently -occupied in resisting the assault from outside, the populace should -take arms and endeavour to seize and throw open one of the gates. -But matters never got to this point: on November 8 several Spanish -columns moved in nearer to Barcelona, and began to skirmish with the -outposts of the garrison. But the attack was incoherent, and never -pressed home. Vives then waited till the 26th, when he had received -more reinforcements, the first brigade of Reding’s long-expected -Granadan division. On that day another general assault on Duhesme’s -outlying posts was delivered, and this time with considerable -success: several of the suburban villages were carried, over a -hundred Frenchmen were captured, and the line of blockade was drawn -close under the walls. Duhesme had no longer any hold outside the -city. But Barcelona was strong, and its garrison, when concentrated -within the place, was just numerous enough to hold its own. Duhesme -had thought for a moment of evacuating the city and retiring into the -citadel and the fortress of Montjuich: but on mature consideration -he resolved to cling as long as possible to the whole circuit of the -town. He had heard that an army of relief was at last on the way, -and made up his mind to yield no inch without compulsion. - -Thus Vives wasted another month without any adequate results: he -had, with the whole field army of Catalonia, done nothing more than -turn the French out of their first and weakest line of defence. The -fortress was intact, and to all intents and purposes might have been -observed as well by 10,000 _somatenes_ as by the large force which -Vives had brought against it. - -Meanwhile the enemy, utterly unopposed on the line of the Pyrenees, -was getting together a formidable host for the relief of Barcelona. -When he had recognized that Reille’s extemporized army was -insufficient alike in quantity and in quality for the task before -it, the Emperor had directed on Perpignan (as we have already -seen[50]) two strong divisions of the Army of Italy, one composed of -ten French battalions under General Souham, the other of thirteen -Italian battalions. The order to dispatch them had only been given -on August 10, and the regiments, which had to be mobilized and -equipped, and then to march up from Lombardy to the roots of the -Pyrenees, did not begin to arrive at Perpignan till September 14: the -artillery, and the troops which came from the more distant points, -only appeared on October 28. Even then there was a further week’s -delay, for the Emperor had monopolized for the main army, on the -side of the Bidassoa, all the available battalions of the military -train: the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees had no transport save that -which the regiments had brought with them, and it was with the -greatest difficulty that a few hundred mules and some open carts were -collected from the French border districts. It was only on November -5 that the army crossed the Pyrenees, by the great pass between -Bellegarde and La Junquera. - - [50] Vol. i. p. 333. - -The officer placed in command was General Gouvion St. Cyr, who -afterwards won his marshal’s bâton in the Russian war of 1812. He was -a general of first-rate ability, who had served all through the wars -of the Revolution with marked distinction: but he disliked Bonaparte -and had not the art to hide the fact. This had kept him back from -earlier promotion. St. Cyr was by no means an amiable character: he -was detested by his officers and his troops as a confirmed grumbler, -and selfish to an incredible degree[51]. He was one of those men who -can always show admirable and convincing reasons for not helping -their neighbours. _C’était un mauvais compagnon de lit_, said one of -the many colleagues, whom he had left in the lurch, while playing -his own game. From his morose bearing and his dislike for company he -had got the nickname of ‘_le hibou_.’ He was cautious, cool-headed, -and ready of resource, so that his troops had full confidence in -him, though he never commanded their liking. Even from his history -of the Catalonian war, one can gather the character of the man. It -is admirably lucid, and illustrated with original documents, Spanish -no less than French, in a fashion only too rare among the military -books of the soldiers of the Empire. But it is not only entirely -self-centred, but full of malevolent insinuations concerning Napoleon -and the author’s colleagues. In his first chapter he broaches the -extraordinary theory that Napoleon handed over to him the Catalonian -army without resources, money, or transport, in order that he might -make a fiasco of the campaign and ruin his reputation! He actually -seems to have believed that his master disliked to have battles won -for him by officers who had not owed to him the beginning of their -fortunes[52], and would have been rather pleased than otherwise to -see the attempt to relieve Barcelona end in a failure. - - [51] For several curious and interesting stories concerning - St. Cyr, the reader may search the third volume of Marbot’s - _Mémoires_. Marbot is not an authority to be followed with much - confidence, but the picture drawn of the marshal is borne out by - other and better writers. - - [52] ‘On ne pourra pas échapper à la pensée que Napoléon, avec sa - force immense, a été assez faible pour ne vouloir que des succès - obtenus par lui-même, ou du moins sous ses yeux. Autrement on eût - dit que la victoire était pour lui une offense: il en voulait - surtout à la fortune quand elle favorisait les armes d’officiers - qui ne lui devaient pas leur élévation.’ _Journal de l’Armée de - Catalogne_, p. 26. - -These are, of course, the vain imaginings of a jealous and suspicious -hypochondriac. It is true that Napoleon disliked St. Cyr, but he -did not want to see the campaign of Catalonia end in a disaster. He -gave the new general a fine French division of veteran troops, and, -as his letter to the Viceroy Eugène Beauharnais shows, the picked -regiments of the whole Italian army. The Seventh Corps mustered -in all more than 40,000 men, and 25,000 of these were concentrated -under St. Cyr’s hand at Perpignan and Figueras. It is certain that -the troops were not well equipped, and that the auxiliary services -were ill represented. But this was not from exceptional malice on -Napoleon’s part: he was always rather inclined to starve an army with -which he was not present in person, and at this moment every resource -was being strained to fit out the main force which were to deliver -the great blow at Madrid. Catalonia was but a ‘side show’: and when -St. Cyr tries to prove[53] that it was the most important theatre of -war in the whole peninsula, he is but exaggerating, after the common -fashion of poor humanity, the greatness of his own task and his own -victories. - - [53] St. Cyr, p. 23. - -Before starting from Perpignan St. Cyr refitted, as best he could, -the dilapidated battalions of Reille, which were, he says, in -such a state of nudity that those who had been sent back within -the French border had to be kept out of public view from motives -of mere decency[54]. The whole division had suffered so much from -exposure that instead of taking the field with the 8,000 men which it -possessed in August, it could present only 5,500 in November, after -setting aside a battalion to garrison Figueras[55]. - - [54] Ibid., p. 19. - - [55] For composition see the table of the 7th Corps in Appendix - of vol. i. The figures given by St. Cyr are Pino 8,368, Souham - 7,712, Chabot 1,988, Reille 4,000. The last is an understatement, - as shown by the morning state of Reille’s division in Relmas, ii. - 456, which shows 4,612 excluding the garrison of Figueras, more - than 1,000 strong. - -But though Reille was weak, and the division of Chabot (a mere corps -of two Neapolitan battalions and one regiment of National Guards) -was an almost negligible quantity, the troops newly arrived from -Italy were both numerous and good in quality. Souham’s ten French -battalions had 7,000 bayonets, Pino’s thirteen Italian battalions -had 7,300. Their cavalry consisted of one French and two Italian -regiments, making 1,700 sabres. The total force disposable consisted -of 23,680 men, of whom 2,096 were cavalry, and about 500 artillery. -In this figure are not included the National Guards and dépôts left -behind to garrison Bellegarde, Montlouis, and other places within -the French frontier, but only the troops available for operations -within Catalonia. - -On his way to Perpignan, St. Cyr had visited the Emperor at Paris, -so as to receive his orders in person. Napoleon informed him that he -left him _carte blanche_ as to all details; the one thing on which he -insisted was that Barcelona must be preserved: ‘si vous perdiez cette -place, je ne la reprendrais pas avec quatre-vingt mille hommes.’ -This then was to be the main object of the coming campaign: there -were about two months available for the task, for Duhesme reported -that, though food was growing scarce, he could hold out till the end -of December. To lessen the number of idle mouths in Barcelona he -had been giving permits to depart to many of the inhabitants, and -expelling others, against whom he could find excuses for severity. - -The high-road from Figueras to Barcelona was blocked by the fortress -of Gerona, whose previous resistance in July and August showed -that its capture would be a tedious and difficult matter. St. Cyr -calculated that he had not the time to spare for the siege of this -place: long ere he could expect to take it, Duhesme would be starved -out. He made up his mind that he would have to march past Gerona, -and as the high-road is commanded by the guns of the city, he would -be forced to take with him no heavy guns or baggage, but only light -artillery and pack-mules, which could use the by-paths of the -mountains. It was his first duty to relieve Barcelona by defeating -the main army of Vives. When this had been done, it would be time -enough to think of the siege of Gerona. - -But there was another fortress which St. Cyr resolved to clear -out of his way before starting to aid Duhesme. On the sea-shore, -only ten miles before Figueras, lies the little town of Rosas, -which blocks the route that crawls under the cliffs from Perpignan -and Port-Vendres to the Ampurdam. The moment that the French army -advanced south from Figueras, it would have Rosas on its flank, and -even small expeditions based on the place could make certain of -cutting the high-road, and intercepting all communications between -the base and the field force that had gone forward. But it was more -than likely that the Spaniards would land a considerable body of -troops in Rosas, for it has an excellent harbour, and every facility -for disembarkation. Several English men-of-war were lying there; it -served them as their shelter and port of call while they watched for -the French ships which tried to run into Barcelona with provisions, -from Marseilles, Cette, or Port-Vendres. Already they had captured -many vessels which endeavoured to pierce the blockade. - -St. Cyr therefore was strongly of opinion that he ought to make -an end of the garrison of Rosas before starting on his expedition -to aid Duhesme. The place was strategically important, but its -fortifications were in such bad order that he imagined that it might -be reduced in a few days. The town, which counted no more than 1,500 -souls, consisted of a single long street running along the shore. It -was covered by nothing more than a ditch and an earthwork, resting -at one end on a weak redoubt above the beach, and at the other upon -the citadel. The latter formed the strength of the place: it was a -pentagonal work, regularly constructed, with bastions, and a scarp -and counterscarp reveted with stone. But its resisting power was -seriously diminished by the fact that the great breach which the -French had made during its last siege in 1794 had never been properly -repaired. The government of Godoy had neglected the place, and, when -the insurrection began, the Catalans had found it still in ruins, -and had merely built up the gap with loose stones and barrels filled -with earth. A good battering train would bring down the whole of -these futile patchings in a few days. A mile to the right of the -citadel was a detached work, the Fort of the Trinity, placed above a -rocky promontory which forms the south-eastern horn of the harbour. -It had been built to protect ships lying before the place from being -annoyed by besiegers. The Trinity was built in an odd and ingenious -fashion: it was commanded at the distance of only 100 yards by the -rocky hill of Puig-Rom: to prevent ill effects from a plunging fire -from this elevation, its front had been raised to a great height, -so as to protect the interior of the work from molestation. A broad -tower 110 feet high covered the whole side of the castle which faces -inland. ‘Nothing in short, for a fortress commanded by adjacent -heights, could have been better adapted for holding out against -offensive operations, or worse adapted for replying to them. The -French battery on the cliff was too elevated for artillery to reach, -while the tower, which prevented their shot from reaching the body -of the fort, also prevented any return fire at them, even if the fort -had possessed artillery. In consequence of the elevated position of -the French on the cliff, they could only breach the central portion -of the tower. The lowest part of the breach they made was nearly -sixty feet above its base, so that it could only be reached by long -scaling ladders[56].’ It is seldom that a besieger has to complain of -the difficulty caused to him by the possession of ground completely -dominating a place that he has to reduce: but in the course of -the siege of Fort Trinity the French were undoubtedly incommoded -by the height of the Puig-Rom. The garrison below, hidden in good -bomb-proofs and covered by the tower, suffered little harm from their -fire. To batter the whole tower to pieces, by a downward fire, was -too long and serious a business for them; they merely tried to breach -it. - - [56] Lord Cochrane’s _Autobiography_, i. 303. He adds ‘A pretty - correct idea of our relative positions may be formed if the - unnautical reader will imagine our small force placed in the nave - of Westminster Abbey, with the enemy attacking the great western - tower from the summit of a cliff 100 feet higher than the tower, - so that the breach in course of formation corresponds to the - great west window of the Abbey. It was no easy matter to them to - scale the external wall of the tower up to the great window, and - more difficult still to get down from the window into the body - of the church. These were the points I had to provide against, - for we could not prevent the French either from breaching or from - storming.’ - -If the ground in front of Fort Trinity was too high for the French, -that of the town of Rosas was too low. It was so marshy that in wet -weather the ditches of their siege works filled at once with water, -and their parapets crumbled into liquid mud. The only approach -on ground of convenient firmness and elevation was opposite a -comparatively narrow front of the south-eastern corner of the place. - -The garrison of Rosas, when St. Cyr undertook its siege, was -commanded by Colonel Peter O’Daly, an officer of the Ultonia, who -had distinguished himself at Gerona; it was composed of a skeleton -battalion (150 men) of the governor’s own Irish corps, of half the -light infantry regiment 2nd of Barcelona, of a company of Wimpffen’s -Swiss regiment, and 120 gunners. These were regulars: of new levies -there were the two _miquelete tercios_ of Lerida and Igualada, with -some companies of those of Berga and Figueras. The whole force -was exactly 3,000 strong. It would be wrong to omit the mention of -the British succours which took part in the defence. There lay in -the harbour the _Excellent_, 74, and two bomb-vessels: when the -_Excellent_ departed on November 21 she was replaced by the _Fame_, -another 74-gun ship, and during the last days of the siege Lord -Cochrane in his well-known frigate the _Impérieuse_ was also present. -It is well to remember their exact force, for the French narrators of -the leaguer of Rosas are prone to call them ‘the British squadron,’ -a term which seems rather too magnificent to apply to a group of -vessels never numbering more than one line-of-battle ship, one -frigate, and two bomb-vessels. - -St. Cyr moved forward on November 5, with the four divisions of -Souham, Pino, Reille, and Chabot, which (as we have seen) amounted in -all to about 23,000 men. He had resolved to use Pino and Reille--some -12,000 men--for the actual siege, and Souham and Chabot for the -covering work. Accordingly the weak division of the last-named -officer was left to watch the ground at the foot of the passes, in -the direction of Figueras and La Junquera, while Souham took up the -line of the river Fluvia, which lay across the path of any relieving -force that might come from the direction of Gerona. St. Cyr remained -with the covering army, and gave the conduct of the siege to Reille, -perhaps because he had already made one attack on the town in August. - -On November 6 Reille marched down to the sea, driving before him -the Spanish outlying pickets, and the peasantry of the suburban -villages, who took refuge with their cattle in Rosas. On the seventh -the investment began, Reille’s own division taking its position on -the marshy ground opposite the town, while Pino encamped more to the -left, upon the heights that face the fort of the Trinity. The head -quarters were established at the village of Palau. A battalion of the -2nd Italian light infantry was placed far back, to the north-east, to -keep off the _somatenes_ of the coast villages about Llanza and Selva -de Mar from interfering in the siege. - -Next day the civil population of Rosas embarked on fishing-vessels -and small merchantmen, and departed to the south, abandoning -the whole town to the garrison. They just missed seeing some -sharp fighting. The covering party who had been detached to the -neighbourhood of Llanza were beset during a dense mist by the -_somatenes_ of the coast: two companies were cut to pieces or -captured; the rest were saved by General Fontane, who led out -three battalions from Pino’s lines to their assistance. While this -engagement was in progress, the garrison sallied out with 2,000 men -to beat up the main camp of the Italians; they were repulsed after -a sharp fight; the majority got back to the citadel, but one party -being surrounded, Captain West of the _Excellent_ landed with 250 of -his seamen and marines, cut his way to them, and brought them off in -safety. West had his horse shot under him (a curious note to have to -make concerning a naval officer), and lost ten men wounded. - -After the eighth there followed seven days of continuous rain, which -turned the camp of Reille’s division into a marsh, and effectually -prevented the construction of siege works in the low-lying ground -opposite to the town. The only active operation that could be -undertaken was an attempt to storm the fort of the Trinity, -which the French believed to be in far worse condition than was -actually the case. It was held by eighty Spaniards, under the Irish -Lieutenant-Colonel Fitzgerald, and twenty-five of the _Excellent’s_ -marines[57]. The six voltigeur and grenadier companies of the 2nd -Italian light infantry delivered the assault with great dash and -resolution. But as the strong frontal tower of the fort was high -and unbreached, they could make no impression, their ladders proved -useless, and they were repulsed with a loss of sixty men. Their -leader, the _chef-de-bataillon_ Lange, and several other officers -were left dead at the foot of the walls. - - [57] James’s _Naval History_, v. p. 90. - -Seeing that nothing was to be won by mere escalade, Reille had to -wait for his siege artillery, which began to arrive from Perpignan -on November 16. He at once started two batteries on the Puig-Rom to -breach the Fort of the Trinity, and when the ground had begun to grow -dry in front of the town, opened trenches opposite its north-eastern -angle. When a good _emplacement_ had been found a battery was -established which played upon the citadel, and commanded so much -of the harbour that Reille hoped that the British ships would be -compelled to shift their anchorage further out to sea. The Spaniards -and the _Excellent_ replied with such a heavy fire that in a few -hours the battery was silenced, after its powder magazine had been -exploded by a lucky shell [November 19]. - -Next day, however, the French repaired the damage and mounted more -guns, whose fire proved so damaging that Captain West had to move -further from the shore. The assailants had established a marked -superiority over the fire of the besieged, and availed themselves of -it by pushing out parallels nearer to the town, and building four -more breaching batteries. With these additional resources they began -to work serious damage in the unstable bastions of the citadel. They -also knocked a hole in the Fort of the Trinity: but the breach was so -far from the foot of the wall that it was still almost inaccessible, -the heaps of rubbish which fell into the ditch did not even reach the -lowest part of the gap. - -On the twenty-first the _Excellent_ was relieved by the _Fame_, and -Captain West handed over the task of co-operating with the Spaniards -to Captain Bennett. The latter thought so ill of the state of -affairs, that after two days he withdrew his marines from the Trinity -Fort, an action most discouraging to the Spaniards. But at this -juncture there arrived in the bay the _Impérieuse_ frigate, with her -indefatigable commandant Lord Cochrane, a host in himself for such a -desperate enterprise as the defence of the much-battered town. He got -leave from his superior officer to continue the defence, and manned -the Trinity again with his own seamen and marines. They had hardly -established themselves there, when the Italian brigade of Mazzuchelli -made a second attempt to storm the fort: but it was repulsed without -even having reached the foot of the breach. - -Cochrane, seeing that the battery which was playing on the Trinity -was on the very edge of a precipitous cliff, resolved to try whether -it would not be possible to surprise it at night, by landing -troops on the beach at the back of the Puig-Rom; if they could get -possession of the guns for a few minutes he hoped to cast them over -the declivity on to the rocks below. O‘Daly lent him 700 _miqueletes_ -from the garrison of the town, and this force was put ashore with -thirty of the _Impérieuse’s_ marines who were to lead the assault. -The Italians, however, were not caught sleeping, the attack failed, -and the assailants were beaten back to the rocks by the beach, with -the loss of ten killed and twenty wounded, beside prisoners[58]. -The boats of the frigate only brought off 300 men, but many more -escaped along the beach into the hilly country to the east, and were -neither captured nor slain [November 23]. The sortie, however, had -been disastrous, and the Governor, O’Daly, was so down-hearted at -the loss of men and at the way in which the walls of the citadel -were crumbling before his eyes, that he began to think of surrender. -Nor was he much to blame, for the state of things was so bad that -it was evident that unless some new factor was introduced into the -siege, the end was not far off. The utter improbability of relief -from without was demonstrated on the twenty-fourth. Julian Alvarez, -the Governor of Gerona and commander of the Spanish forces in the -Ampurdam, was perfectly well aware that it was his duty to do what he -could for the succour of Rosas. But his forces were insignificant: -Vives had only given him 2,000 regular troops to watch the whole -line of the Eastern Pyrenees, and of this small force half was shut -up in Rosas. Nevertheless Alvarez sallied out from Gerona with -two weak battalions of Ultonia and Borbon, and half of the light -infantry regiment of Barcelona. Picking up 3,000 local _miqueletes_ -he advanced to the line of the Fluvia, where Souham was lying, -with the division that St. Cyr had told off to cover the siege. -The Spaniards drove in the French outposts at several points, but -immediately found themselves opposed by very superior numbers, and -brought to a complete stand. Realizing that he was far too weak to -do anything, Alvarez retreated to Gerona after a sharp skirmish. If -he had pushed on he would infallibly have been destroyed. O’Daly -received prompt news of his colleague’s discomfiture, and saw that -relief was impossible. The fact was that Vives ought to have brought -up from Barcelona his whole field army of 20,000 men. With such a -host Souham could have been driven back, and Reille compelled to -relax the investment, perhaps even to raise the siege. But the -Captain-General preferred to waste his men and his time in the futile -blockade of Duhesme, who could have been just as well ‘contained’ by -10,000 _somatenes_ as by the main Spanish army of Catalonia. The only -attempt which Vives made to strengthen his force in the Ampurdam was -to order up to Gerona the Aragonese division of 4,000 men under the -Marquis of Lazan, which was lying at Lerida. This force arrived too -late for the skirmish on the Fluvia, and when it did appear was far -too small to accomplish anything. Alvarez and Lazan united had only -8,000 bayonets, while St. Cyr’s whole army (as we have already seen) -was 25,000 strong, and quite able to maintain the siege, and at the -same time to provide a covering force against a relieving army so -weak as that which now lay at Gerona. - - [58] Compare the narrative of Lord Cochrane, i. 299-300, with - those of Belmas, ii. 441, and St. Cyr. The latter is, of course, - wrong in saying that the whole sortie was composed of British - seamen and marines. It is curious that Cochrane states his own - loss at more than the French claimed to have killed or taken. - -The siege operations meanwhile were pushed on. Fresh batteries were -established to sweep the harbour, and to render more difficult the -communication of the citadel and the Trinity fort with the English -ships. A new attack was started against the eastern front of the -town, and measures were taken to concentrate a heavier fire on the -dilapidated bastion of the citadel, which had been destroyed in the -old siege of 1794 and never properly repaired. On the twenty-sixth -an assault was directed by Pino’s division against the town front. -This was defended by no more than a ditch and earthwork: the -Italians carried it at the first rush, but found more difficulty in -evicting the garrison from the ruined houses along the shore. Five -hundred _miqueletes_, who were barricaded among them, made a very -obstinate resistance, and were only driven out after sharp fighting. -One hundred and sixty were taken prisoners, less than a hundred -escaped into the citadel: the rest perished. The besiegers at once -established a lodgement in the town, covering themselves with the -masonry of the demolished houses. It was in vain that the _Fame_ and -_Impérieuse_ ran close in shore and tried to batter the Italians out -of the ruins. They inflicted considerable loss, but failed to prevent -the enemy from finding shelter. Next night the lodgement in the town -was connected with the rest of the siege works, and used as the base -for an attack against a hitherto unmolested front of the citadel. - -Just after the storming of the town, the garrison received the -only succour which was sent to it during the whole siege; a weak -battalion of regulars from the regiment of Borbon was put ashore near -the citadel under cover of the darkness. It would have been more -useful on the preceding day, for the defence of the outer works. -After the arrival of this small succour the Governor, O’Daly, sent -eighty men of the Irish regiment of Ultonia to reinforce Cochrane in -the Trinity fort, withdrawing a similar number of _miqueletes_ to the -citadel. - -The guns established by the besiegers in their new batteries among -the ruins of the town made such good practice upon the front of the -citadel that Reille thought it worth while on the twenty-eighth to -summon the Governor to surrender. O’Daly made a becoming answer, -to the effect that his defences were still intact and that he -was prepared to continue his resistance. To cut him off from his -communication with the sea, the only side from which he could expect -help, Reille now began to build batteries along the water-front of -the town, which commanded the landing-places below the citadel. The -English ships proved unable to subdue these new guns, and their power -to help O’Daly was seriously diminished. It was only under cover of -the darkness that they could send boats to land men or stores for -the citadel. On the thirtieth they tried to take off the sick and -wounded, who were now growing very numerous in the place: but the -shore-batteries having hit the headmost boat, the rest drew off and -abandoned the attempt. The prospects of the garrison had grown most -gloomy. - -Meanwhile the Trinity fort had been perpetually battered for ten -days, and the hole in the great frontal tower was growing larger. -It can hardly be called a breach, as owing to the impossibility of -searching the lower courses of the wall by the plunging fire from the -Puig-Rom, the lowest edge of the gap was forty feet from the ground. -The part of the tower which had been opened was the upper section -of a lofty bomb-proof casemate, which composed its ground story. -Lord Cochrane built up, with the débris that fell inwards, and with -hammocks filled with earth and sand, new walls inside the bomb proof, -cutting off the hole from the interior of the tower: thus enemies -entering at the gap would find that they had only penetrated into the -upper part of a sort of cellar. The ingenious captain also set a long -slide or shoot of greased planks just under the lip of the hole, so -that any one stepping in would be precipitated thirty feet into the -bottom of the casemate. But the mere sight of this mantrap, as he -called it, proved enough for the enemy, who never pushed the attack -into it. - -On November 30 Pino’s division assaulted the fort, the storming -party being composed of six grenadier and voltigeur companies of the -1st and 6th Italian regiments. They came on with great courage, and -planted their ladders below the great hole, amid a heavy fire of -musketry from the garrison. The leaders succeeded in reaching the -edge of the ‘breach,’ but finding the chasm and the ‘mantrap’ before -them, would not enter. They were all shot down: grenades were dropped -in profusion into the mass at the foot of the ladders, and after a -time the stormers fled back under cover, leaving two officers and -forty men behind them. They were rallied and brought up again to the -foot of the breach, but recoiled after a second and less desperate -attempt to enter. The garrison lost only three men killed and two -wounded, of whom four were Spaniards. They captured two prisoners, -men who had got so far forward that they dared not go back under the -terrible fire which swept the foot of the tower. These unfortunates -had to be taken into the fort by a rope, so inaccessible was the -supposed breach. After this bloody repulse, the besiegers left Lord -Cochrane alone, merely continuing to bombard his tower, and throwing -up entrenchments on the beach, from which they kept up an incessant -musketry fire on the difficult landing-place by which the fort -communicated with the ships. - -[Illustration: BATTLE OF UCLÉS - JANUARY 13TH 1809] - -[Illustration: SIEGE OF ROSAS - NOV. 6 TO DEC. 5 1809] - -Their main attention was now turned to the citadel, where O’Daly’s -position was growing hopeless. ‘Their practice,’ says Cochrane, ‘was -beautiful. So accurately was their artillery conducted that every -discharge “ruled a straight line” along the lower part of the walls. -This being repeated till the upper portion was without support, as -a matter of course the whole fell into the ditch, forming a breach -of easy ascent. The whole proceedings were clearly visible from the -Trinity[59].’ On December 3 the Governor played his last card: the -worst of the damage was being done by the advanced batteries placed -among the ruins of the town, and it was from this point that the -impending assault would evidently be delivered. O’Daly therefore -picked 500 of his best men, opened a postern gate, and launched -them at night upon the besiegers’ works. The sortie was delivered -with great dash and vigour: the trench guards were swept away, the -breaching batteries were seized, and the Spaniards began to throw -down the parapets, spike the guns, and set fire to the platforms and -fascines. But heavy reserves came up from the French camp, and their -attack could not be resisted. Before any very serious damage had been -done, the besieged were driven out of the trenches by sheer force of -numbers, and forced to retire to the citadel, leaving forty-five dead -behind them. Reille acknowledged the loss of one officer and twelve -men killed, and nineteen men wounded. - - [59] Cochrane, _Autobiography_, i. 307. - -On the fourth the siege works were pushed forward to within 200 yards -of the walls of the citadel, and the breach already established -in the dilapidated bastion was enlarged to a great breadth. After -dark the French engineers got forward as far as the counterscarp, -and reported that an assault was practicable, and could hardly -fail. The same fact was perfectly evident to O’Daly, who sent out a -_parlementaire_ to ask for terms. He offered to surrender in return -for leave to take his garrison off by sea. Reille naturally refused, -as the Spaniards were at his mercy, and enforced an unconditional -surrender. - -The state of things being visible to Lord Cochrane on the next -morning, he hastily evacuated the Trinity fort, which it was useless -to hold after the citadel had fallen. His garrison, 100 Spaniards and -eighty British sailors and marines, had to descend from the fort by -rope ladders, as the enemy commanded the proper point of embarkation. -They were taken off by the boats of the _Fame_ and _Impérieuse_ under -a heavy musketry fire, but suffered no appreciable loss. The magazine -was left with a slow match burning, and exploded, ruining the fort, -before the garrison had got on board their ships. - -St. Cyr, in his journal of the war in Catalonia, suggests that -Bennett and Cochrane ought to have tried to take off the garrison of -the citadel in the same fashion. But this was practically impossible: -the communication between the citadel and the sea had been lost -for some days, the French batteries along the beach rendering -the approach of boats too dangerous to be attempted. If Captain -Bennett had sent in the limited supply of boats that the _Fame_, the -_Impérieuse_ and the two smaller vessels[60] possessed they would -probably have been destroyed. For they would have had to make many -return journeys in order to remove 2,500 men, under the fire of heavy -guns placed only 200 or 300 yards away from the landing-place. It -was quite another thing to remove 180 men from the Trinity, where -the enemy could bring practically nothing but musketry to bear, and -where the whole of the garrison could be taken off at a single trip. -Another futile charge made by the French against the British navy, is -that the _Fame_ shelled the beach near the citadel while the captive -garrison was marching out, and killed several of the unfortunate -Spaniards. If the incident happened at all (there is no mention of -it in Lord Cochrane or in James) it must have been due to an attempt -to damage the French trenches; Captain Bennett could not have known -that the passing column consisted of Spaniards. To insinuate that the -mistake was deliberate, as does Belmas, is simply malicious[61]. - - [60] These were the two bomb-vessels _Meteor_ and _Lucifer_. The - _Magnificent_ 74 came up the same day, but after the evacuation - of the Trinity. - - [61] St. Cyr does not say so (p. 50), but only that the Spaniards - imagined that it was done deliberately. Belmas (p. ii. 453) asks - if it was not irritation on the part of the British. Arteche does - not repulse the silly suggestion, as he reasonably might (iv. - 270). - -O’Daly went into captivity with 2,366 men, leaving about 400 more -in hospital. The total of the troops who had taken part in the -defence, including the reinforcements received by sea, had been about -3,500, so that about 700 must have perished in the siege. The French -loss had been at least as great--Pino’s division alone lost thirty -officers and 400 men killed and wounded[62], besides many sick. It -is probable that the total diminution in the ranks of Reille’s two -divisions was over 1,000, the bad weather having told very heavily on -the ill-equipped troops. - - [62] Belmas, ii. 454, and Vacani, ii. 315, agree in these figures. - -So ended an honourable if not a very desperate defence. The place -was doomed from the first, when once the torpid and purblind Vives -had made up his mind to keep his whole force concentrated round -Barcelona, and to send no more than the insignificant division of -Alvarez and Lazan to the help of O’Daly. Considering the dilapidated -condition of the citadel of Rosas, and the almost untenable state of -the town section of the fortifications, the only wonder is that the -French did not break in at an earlier date. The first approaches of -Reille’s engineers were, according to Belmas, unskilfully conducted, -and pushed too much into the marsh. When once they received a right -direction, the result was inevitable. Even had the artillery failed -to do its work Rosas must nevertheless have fallen within a few days, -for it was insufficiently provisioned, and, as the communication -with the sea had been cut off since November 30, must have yielded -ere long to starvation. The French found an ample store of guns -(fifty-eight pieces) and much ammunition in the place, but an utterly -inadequate supply of food. - - -[N.B.--Belmas, St. Cyr, and Arteche have all numerous slips in their -narration, from not having used the British authorities. Vacani’s -account is, on the whole, the best on the French side. Much may be -learnt from James’s _Naval History_, vol. v, but more from Lord -Cochrane’s picturesque autobiography. From this, e.g., alone can -it be ascertained that the column which attacked the Puig-Rom on -November 23 was composed of _miqueletes_, not of British soldiers. -Cochrane is represented by several writers as arriving on the -twenty-fourth or even the twenty-sixth, while as a matter of fact -he reached Rosas on the twenty-first. It may interest some to know -that Captain Marryat, the novelist, served under Cochrane, and -was mentioned in his dispatch. So the description of the siege of -Rosas in Marryat’s _Frank Mildmay_, wherein his captain is so much -glorified, is a genuine personal reminiscence, and not an invention -of fiction.] - - - - -SECTION X: CHAPTER II - -ST. CYR RELIEVES BARCELONA: BATTLES OF CARDADEU AND MOLINS DE REY - - -When Rosas had fallen St. Cyr was at last able to take in hand the -main operation which had been entrusted to him by Napoleon--the -relief of Barcelona. While the siege was still in progress he had -received two letters bidding him hasten to the relief of Duhesme -without delay[63], but he had taken upon himself the responsibility -of writing back that he must clear his flank and rear before he dared -move, and that he should proceed with the leaguer of Rosas, which -could only last a few days longer, unless he received formal orders -to abandon the undertaking. He ventured to point out that the moral -and political effects of taking such a step would be deplorable[64]. -Napoleon’s silence gave consent, and St. Cyr’s plea was justified by -the fall of the place on December 5. - - [63] Berthier to St. Cyr, Burgos, Nov. 13. ‘Si Roses tarde à être - pris, il faut marcher sur Barcelone sans s’inquiéter de cette - place, &c.,’ and much to same effect from Coubo, Nov. 16 [wrongly - printed in St. Cyr, Nov. 10]. - - [64] St. Cyr to the Emperor, Nov. 17, from Figueras. - -Rosas having been captured, the French general had now at his -disposition all his four divisions, those of Souham, Pino, Reille, -and Chabot, which even after deducting the casualties suffered in -the siege, and the losses experienced by the covering troops from -the bad weather, still amounted to 22,000 men. After counting up -the very considerable forces which the Spaniards might place in his -way, he resolved to take on with him for the relief of Barcelona -the troops of Souham, Pino, and Chabot, and to leave behind only -those of Reille. With about 5,000 or 5,500 soldiers of not very good -quality that officer was to hold Figueras and Rosas, watch Gerona, -and protect the high-road to Perpignan. St. Cyr himself with the -twenty-six battalions and nine squadrons forming the other three -divisions, a force of some 15,000 infantry and 1,500 horse, took his -way to the south. - -The first obstacle in his way was Gerona: but if he stopped to -besiege and take it, it was clear that he would never reach Barcelona -in time to save Duhesme from starvation: that general had reported -that his food would only last till the end of December, and Gerona -would certainly hold out more than three weeks. Indeed, as we shall -see, when it was actually beleaguered in the next year, it made a -desperate defence, lasting for nearly six months[65]. St. Cyr saw -from the first that he must leave the fortress alone, and slip past -it. As it commanded the high-road, this resolution forced him to -abandon any intention of taking forward his artillery and his wheeled -transport. They could not face the rugged by-paths on to which he -would be compelled to throw himself, and he marched without a single -gun, and with his food and provisions borne on pack-horses and mules, -of which he had a very modest provision. - - [65] May 30 to Dec. 10, 1809. - -St. Cyr was quite well aware that if General Vives were to resign -the blockade of Barcelona to his _miqueletes_ and _somatenes_, and -to come against him with his whole army, the task of relieving -Duhesme would be dangerous if not impossible. There are but two -roads from Gerona to Barcelona, and across each of them lie half a -dozen positions which, if entrenched and held by superior numbers, -he could not hope to force. These two routes are the coast-road -by Mataro and Arens de Mar--which the French had used for their -first march to Gerona in August--and the inland road up the valley -of the Besos by Hostalrich and Granollers. But the former had -been so conscientiously destroyed by Lord Cochrane and the local -_somatenes_[66] that St. Cyr regarded it as impassable; there were -places where it had been blasted away for lengths of a quarter or -a half of a mile. Moreover, at many points the army would have to -defile under the cliffs for long distances, and might be shelled by -any British men-of-war that should happen to lie off the coast[67]. -Accordingly the French general determined to try the inland road, -though he would have to march round Gerona and the smaller fortress -of Hostalrich, and though it was cut by several admirable positions, -where the Catalans might offer battle with reasonable prospects of -success. It was all-important that Vives should be left as long as -possible in uncertainty as to his adversary’s next move, and that the -Catalans should be dealt with in detail rather than in mass. St. Cyr -resolved, therefore, to make a show of attacking Gerona, and to try -whether he could not catch Lazan and Alvarez, and rout them, before -the Captain-General should come up to their assistance. - - [66] See vol. i. p. 331. - - [67] St. Cyr, _Journal de l’Armée de Catalogne_, p. 58. - -On December 9, therefore, St. Cyr had his whole corps, minus the -division of Reille, concentrated on the left bank of the river Ter. -On the next day he manœuvred as if about to envelop Gerona. He had -hoped that this move would tempt Lazan and Alvarez to come out and -meet him in the open. But fully conscious that their 8,000 men would -be exposed to inevitable defeat, the two Spanish officers wisely kept -quiet under the walls of their stronghold. Having worked round their -flank, St. Cyr on the eleventh sent back the whole of his artillery -and heavy baggage to Figueras, and plunged into the mountains; at La -Bispal he distributed four days’ biscuit to his men, warning them -that there would be no further issue of rations till they reached -Barcelona. The light carts which had been dragged thus far with the -food were burnt. As to munitions, each soldier had fifty cartridges -in his pouch, and the pack-mules carried 150,000 more, a reserve -of only ten rounds for each man[68]. The equipment of the army, in -short, was such that if it failed to force its way to Barcelona -within six days it must starve, while if it was forced to fight -three or four heavy engagements it would be left helpless, without -a cartridge for a final battle. The general, if not the men in the -ranks, fully realized the peril of the situation. - - [68] St. Cyr says that Napoleon falsified his report, when - reprinting it in the _Moniteur_, and put 150 instead of 50 rounds - per man, to disguise the risk that had been run (p. 58). - -On the twelfth St. Cyr pushed along the mountains above Palamos and -San Feliu, brushing away a body of _miqueletes_ from the coast-land -under Juan Claros, who tried to hold the defile. On the thirteenth -the French reached Vidreras, where they were again on a decent road, -that which goes from Gerona to Malgrat. They now perceived that -they were being followed by Lazan and the garrison of Gerona, whose -camp-fires were visible on the heights to the north, while troops, -evidently detached from the blockade of Barcelona, were visible in -front of them. It was clear that St. Cyr had at least succeeded in -placing himself between the two main forces which the enemy could -oppose to him, and might engage them separately. He might also count -on the Spaniards looking for him on the Malgrat-Mataro road, on -which he was now established, while it was his intention to abandon -it, in order to plunge inland once more, and to fall into the main -_chaussée_ to Barcelona, south of Hostalrich. That a path existed, -along which such a movement could be carried out, was only known to -the general by the report of a Perpignan smuggler, who had once kept -sheep among these hills. But when exploring parties tried to find -it, they lost their way, and reported that no such route existed. If -this was the fact, St. Cyr was ruined: but he refused to believe the -officers who assured him that the smuggler had erred, and pushing -among the rocks finally discovered it himself. During his exploration -he was nearly cut off by a party of _somatenes_, and his escort had -to fight hard in order to save him. - -But the road was found, and on the fifteenth the army followed it, -almost in single file, while the dragoons had to dismount and lead -their horses. They saw the fortress of Hostalrich in the valley below -them, and passed it in sight of the garrison. Some of the latter came -out, and skirmished with the rearguard of St. Cyr’s long column, -but they were too weak to do much harm, while Lazan, whose advent -from the north would have caused more serious difficulties, had been -completely eluded, and never came in sight. - -In the afternoon the whole expeditionary force safely descended into -the Barcelona _chaussée_ near San Celoni, from which place they drove -out four battalions of _miqueletes_, the first troops that the tardy -Vives had detached from his main army. The men were much fatigued, -and the _somatenes_ were beginning to give trouble both in flank and -rear, but St. Cyr insisted that they should not encamp by San Celoni, -but push southward through the difficult defile of the Trentapassos, -so that they might not find it held against them on the following -morning. This was done, and the best of the many positions which -the Spaniards might have held to oppose the march of the invaders -was occupied without the least resistance. St. Cyr encamped at the -southern end of the pass, and saw before him, when the night had -fallen, a line of watch-fires far down the valley of the Besos which -showed that the Spaniards from the leaguer of Barcelona had at last -come out to oppose him. - -The conduct of Vives during the last six days had been in perfect -keeping with the rest of his slow and stupid guidance of the -campaign. He had received in due course news of the fall of Rosas, -and soon after the additional information that St. Cyr had crossed -the Ter and was threatening Gerona. Opinion was divided in the camp -of the Catalans as to whether the French were about to lay siege to -that fortress, or to pass it by and make a dash for the relief of -Duhesme. If they sat down before Gerona there was no need to hurry: -if they should pass it by, it would be necessary to move at once, -in order to occupy the defiles against them. The opinion of the -more intelligent officers was that St. Cyr would be forced to march -to aid Duhesme, whose want of provisions was well known by secret -intelligence sent out from Barcelona. Unfortunately Vives inclined -to the other side: he preferred to believe the alternative which did -not impose on him the necessity for instant and decisive action. He -did nothing, and pretended to be waiting for further news. It reached -him on the night of December 11-12, in the form of a message from the -Junta of Gerona, to the effect that the French had sent back their -artillery and were plunging into the mountains in the direction of La -Bispal, so that it was clear that they must be marching to relieve -Duhesme. It might have been expected that the Captain-General would -now at last break up from his lines, and hasten to throw himself -across the path of the approaching enemy. But after holding a long -and fruitless council of war he contented himself with sending -out Reding, with that part of the newly-arrived Granadan division -which had reached Catalonia. On the twelfth therefore the Swiss -General started by the inland road with seven battalions of his own -Andalusian levies and a regiment of cavalry. Next day he reached -Granollers and halted there. At the same time Francisco Milans, with -four tercios of _miqueletes_, was sent out to guard the coast-road, -the other possible line of approach by which St. Cyr might arrive. -Reding had 5,000 men, Milans 3,000: but Vives still lay before -Barcelona with two-thirds of his army, at least 16,000 or 17,000 -bayonets. It was in vain that Caldagues, the preserver of Gerona, -implored him to leave no more than a screen of _miqueletes_ in the -lines, and to sally forth to fight with every regular soldier that he -could muster. The Captain-General refused to listen, supporting his -inactivity by pleading that the advice sent from Gerona did not speak -of the enemy’s force as very large: the defiles, he urged, were so -difficult that Reding and Milans, aided by Lazan, ought to be able to -hold them against any small expeditionary force. - -Thus St. Cyr was left to work out his daring plan without any serious -opposition. The only force with which he came in contact was Milans’ -brigade of _miqueletes_, who, finding the coast-road clear, had -crossed the mountains and occupied San Celoni. These were the troops -whom St. Cyr drove away on the afternoon of the fifteenth, before -entering the defile of the Trentapassos. - -On receiving news of this combat, which had taken place only -twenty-one miles from his lines, Vives at last set out in person. -But persisting in his idiotic notion of blocking Barcelona to the -last moment, he left Caldagues before the place with 12,000 men, -and marched with a single brigade of 4,000 bayonets to join Reding. -Moving all through the night of the fifteenth-sixteenth he joined -the Granadans at daybreak at Cardadeu on the high-road. Their united -strength was only 9,000 men, of whom 600 were cavalry, and seven -guns[69]. This was the whole force which fought St. Cyr, for Lazan, -moving with culpable slowness, was still far north of San Celoni, -when he should have been pressing on the rear of the French, while -Milans with the _miqueletes_, who had been beaten on the previous -day, was some miles away in the mountains on the right, and quite out -of touch with his commander-in-chief. Nine thousand Spaniards, in -short, were within ten miles of the field, yet took no part in the -battle. St. Cyr in his central position kept them apart, and they -failed to combine with Vives and his force at Cardadeu. - - [69] Cf. Cabanes, with Arteche, iv. 276. - -The valley of the Besos at this point has broadened out, and is -no longer the narrow defile that is seen a few miles further to -the north. But there is much broken ground on both sides of the -high-road. A little way north of Cardadeu is a low hill covered with -pines, lying to the right of the _chaussée_: at the foot of the hill -is a ravine which the road has to cross at right angles, and which -falls into the stream called the Riera de la Roca. The country-side -was composed partly of cultivated ground, partly of thickets of pine -and oak, which rendered it difficult for either side to get a general -view of its adversaries’ movements. - -Vives, who had only reached his fighting-ground at dawn, had no time -to reconnoitre his position, or to make any elaborate scheme for -getting the best use out of the _terrain_. He hastily drew up his -army in two lines across the high-road: the front line was behind -the ravine, the second higher up on the pine-clad hill. Reding’s -troops held the right wing on the lowest ground, and extended as -far as the river Mogent, a branch of the Besos. Vives’ own Catalan -regiments formed the centre and left: they were mainly placed on the -hill commanding the road, with three guns in front of their centre, -and two further to the left on a point from which they could enfilade -a turn of the _chaussée_. The _miqueletes_ of Vich, on the extreme -left, held a spur of the higher mountains which bound the valley of -the Besos. The reserve drawn up on the high-road, behind the main -position, consisted of two guns, two squadrons of horse (Husares -Españoles, lately arrived from Majorca) and two battalions. - -St. Cyr could make out very little of his adversaries’ force or -position; the woods and hills masked the greater part of the -Spanish line. But he knew that he must attack, and that promptly, -for every hour that he delayed would give time for Lazan to come -up in his rear, and Milans on his left flank. He left behind him -at the southern outlet of the Trentapassos the three battalions -of Chabot’s division, with orders to hold the defile at all costs -against Lazan, whenever the latter should appear. With the other -twenty-three battalions forming the divisions of Pino and Souham -he marched down the high-road to deal with Vives. It was necessary -to attack at once: ‘the biscuit distributed at La Bispal was just -finished: the cartridges were running low, for many had been spent -in the preceding skirmishes. There was, in fact, only ammunition -for one hour of battle[70].’ St. Cyr saw that he must win by one -short and swift stroke, or suffer a complete disaster. Accordingly, -he had resolved to form his two strong divisions--more than 13,000 -men--into one great column, which was to charge the Spanish centre -and burst through by its own impetus and momentum. Pino’s thirteen -Italian battalions formed the head of the mass: Souham’s ten French -battalions its rear. The General’s plan is best expressed in his -own words: his orders to Pino, who was to lead the attack, ran as -follows:-- - - [70] St. Cyr, _Journal de l’Armée de Catalogne_, p. 64. - -‘The corps must fight in the order in which I have arranged it this -morning. There is neither time nor means to make dispositions to -beat the Spaniards more or less thoroughly. The country-side is so -broken and wooded that it would take three hours to reconnoitre -their position, and in two hours Lazan may be on the spot attacking -our rear. Not a minute can be lost: we must simply rush at and -trample down[71] the corps in our front, whatever its strength may -be. Our food is done, our ammunition almost exhausted. The enemy -has artillery, which is a reason the more for haste: the quicker we -attack, the less time will he have to shell us. There must be no -attempt to feel his position; not one battalion must be deployed. -Though his position is strong we must go straight at it in column, -and burst through the centre by striking at that one point with our -whole force. The enemy must be given no time to prepare his defence -or bring up his reserves. You must not change the disposition in -column in which we march, even in order to take great numbers of -prisoners. Our sole end is to break through and to get as close as we -can to Barcelona this evening. Our camp-fires must be visible to the -garrison by night, to show that we are at hand to raise the siege.’ - - [71] ‘Il faut passer sur le ventre au corps de troupes en face, - quel que soit son nombre.’ St. Cyr, p. 66. - -This order of battle was most hazardous: if St. Cyr had found in -front of him two steady English divisions instead of Reding’s raw -Granadan levies and the gallant but untrained Catalan _miqueletes_, -it is certain that affairs would have gone as at Busaco or Talavera. -Dense columns attacking a fair position held by good troops in line -are bound to suffer terrible losses, and ought never to succeed. But -St. Cyr knew the enemies with whom he had to deal, and his method -was well adapted to his end. If he ran some risk of failing at the -commencement of the action, it was simply because his subordinates -did not follow out his directions. - -General Pino, on whom the responsibility of opening the attack -devolved, started with every intention of obedience. But when he -arrived at the foot of the Spanish position, and the balls began to -fall thickly among his leading battalions, he lost his head. His -column only faced the Spanish right centre, and the heavy flanking -fire from the hostile wings daunted him. Instead of pushing straight -before him with his whole force, as St. Cyr had ordered, he threw -out five battalions of Mazzuchelli’s brigade to his left[72], and -two battalions under General Fontane to his extreme right[73]; the -six battalions of his rear brigade were not yet up to the front, -and took no part in the first assault. Thus he attacked on a front -of three-quarters of a mile, instead of at one single point. His -columns, after driving in the Spanish front line, came to a stand -half-way up the hill, in a very irregular array, the flanks thrown -forward, the centre hanging somewhat back. Reding, against whom the -main attack of Mazzuchelli’s brigade had been directed, brought up -his second line, and when the Italians were slackening in their -advance hurled at them two squadrons of hussars, and led forward his -whole division. The assailants broke, and fell back with loss. - - [72] Three battalions of the 4th of the line, and two of the 2nd - Light Infantry. - - [73] One battalion of the 2nd Light Infantry and one of the 7th - of the line. - -St. Cyr, coming up to the front at this moment, was horrified to -mark the results of Pino’s disobedience of his orders. But he had -still Souham’s division in hand, and flung it, in one solid mass of -ten battalions, upon Reding’s right; at the same time he commanded -Pino to throw the two regiments of his intact rear brigade upon -the Spanish centre[74], while Fontane’s two battalions continued -to demonstrate against the enemy’s left. The result was what might -have been expected: the column of Souham burst through the Granadan -division, and completely routed the right wing of the Spanish army: -at the same moment Pino’s main column forced back Vives and the -Catalans along the line of the high-road. All at once fell into -confusion, and, when St. Cyr bade his two Italian cavalry regiments -charge up the _chaussée_, the enemy broke his ranks and fled to -the hills. Five of the seven Spanish guns were captured, with two -standards and some 1,500 unwounded prisoners. Reding, who stayed -behind to the last, trying to rally a rearguard for the protection -of the routed host, was nearly taken prisoner, and had to draw his -sword and cut his way out. Vives, whose conduct on this day was -anything but creditable, scrambled up a cliff after turning his horse -loose, and came almost alone to the sea-shore near Mongat, where he -was picked up by the boats of the _Cambrian_ frigate, and forwarded -to Tarragona. Besides the prisoners the Spaniards lost at least a -thousand men, and many of the _miqueletes_ dispersed to their homes. -St. Cyr acknowledged 600 casualties, nearly all of them, as might -have been expected, in Pino’s division. - - [74] Three battalions each of the 1st and 6th of the line. - -Reding at last succeeded in rallying some troops at Monmalo near San -Culgat, and covered the retreat of the main mass of the fugitives -to join the troops who had been left in the lines before Barcelona. -As to the detached Spanish corps under Milans and the Marquis of -Lazan, the former never came down from the hills till the fighting -was over, though it was only four or five miles from the scene of -action[75]. The latter, which was following in St. Cyr’s rear, moved -with such extreme slowness that it had not yet reached San Celoni -when the battle was fought, and did not even get into contact with -Chabot’s division, which had been left behind to guard against its -approach[76]. On learning of the defeat the Marquis marched back to -Gerona, and rejoined Alvarez. Thus Vives got no assistance whatever -from his outlying corps: if Lazan is to be trusted, this was largely -the fault of the Commander-in-chief himself, for no dispatch from -him reached his subordinates after December 14, and they had no -knowledge of his movements or designs. - - [75] See the account of Cabanes, who was with Milans this day, in - his _History of the War in Catalonia_. - - [76] See the narrative of an officer in the division of Lazan, - printed by Cabanes as an appendix. - -Meanwhile Caldagues, who had been left in charge of the blockade, had -maintained his post, and repulsed a heavy sortie which Duhesme and -the garrison had directed against his posts on the sixteenth. But -when the news of the battle of Cardadeu reached him in the evening, -he evacuated all the parts of his line which lay to the east of the -Llobregat, and concentrated his 12,000 men at Molins de Rey and San -Boy, on the further bank of that river. He was forced to abandon at -Sarria the large dépôt of provisions from which the left wing of the -investing force had been fed. - -The road from Cardadeu and San Culgat to Barcelona being thus left -open, St. Cyr marched in triumph into Barcelona on the morning of the -seventeenth. He complains in his memoirs that he did not discover -one single vedette from the garrison pushed out to meet him, and -that Duhesme did not come forth to receive him, or give him a single -word of thanks. Indeed, when the Governor at last presented himself -to meet the commander of the Seventh Corps, he spent his first words -not in expressing his appreciation for the service which had been -rendered him, but in demonstrating that he had never been in danger, -and could have held out for six weeks more. He was somewhat abashed -when St. Cyr replied by presenting him with a copy of one of his own -former dispatches to Berthier, which painted the condition of the -garrison in the blackest colours, and asked for instant succours lest -the worst might happen[77]. - - [77] St. Cyr, as any reader of his _Mémoires_ can see, was - malicious and sarcastic. But Duhesme has a bad reputation for - carelessness and selfishness, and his writings make an even worse - impression than those of St. Cyr. Probably the latter’s narrative - is fairly correct. - -It was clear that the two generals would not work well together, but -as St. Cyr held the supreme command, and was determined to assert -himself, Duhesme could do no more than sulk in silence. The conduct -of the operations against the Catalans had been taken completely out -of his hands. - -St. Cyr’s daring march to Barcelona had been crowned with complete -success. It was by far the most brilliant operation on the French -side during the first year of the war. That it was perilous cannot -be denied: if the commander of the Seventh Corps had found the -whole army of Vives entrenched at the passage of the Tordera, or -across the defile of the Trentapassos, it seems impossible that he -could have got forward to Barcelona. Thirty thousand men, of whom -half were regular troops, might have been opposed to him, and they -could have brought artillery against him, while he had not a single -piece. If once checked he must have retreated in haste, for he had -only ammunition for a single battle. But the rapid and unexpected -character of his movements entirely puzzled the enemy, and he was -fortunate in having a Vives to contend against. ‘When the enemy has -no general,’ as Schepeler remarks while commenting on this campaign, -‘any stroke of luck is possible.’ Against a capable officer St. Cyr -would probably have failed, but he had a shrewd suspicion of the -character of his opponent from what had happened during the siege -of Rosas: he dared much, and his daring was rewarded by a splendid -victory. - -The campaign, however, was not yet completed. Barcelona had been -relieved, but only a fraction of the Spanish army had been met and -beaten. Caldagues lay behind the Llobregat with 11,000[78] men who -had not yet been engaged. Reding had joined him with the wrecks of -the troops which had fought at Cardadeu, some 3,000 or 4,000 men. -They lined the eastern bank of the river, only six or seven miles -from the suburbs of Barcelona, occupying the entrenchments which -had been constructed to shut in Duhesme during the blockade. These -were strengthened with several redoubts, some of them armed with -heavy artillery, and the positions were good, but too extensive -for a force of 14,000 or 15,000 men. Their weak point was that the -Llobregat even in December is fordable in many places, and that if -the French attacked in mass at one point they were almost certain -of being able to force their way through the line. Reding, and his -second-in-command Caldagues, were both of opinion that it would be -wise to evacuate the lines, if St. Cyr should come out in force -against them, and to fall back on the mountains in their rear, -which separate the valley of the Llobregat from the coast-plain of -Tarragona. Here there was a strong position at the defile of Ordal, -where it was intended to construct an entrenched camp. But there was -a strong temptation to hold on in the old lines for as long a time -as possible, for by retiring to Ordal the army would leave open the -high-road to Lerida and Saragossa, and give up much of the plain to -the incursions of the French foragers. Reding sent back to Vives, -who had now landed in his rear and placed himself at Villanueva de -Sitjas, to ask whether he was to retreat at once, or to hold his -ground. The Captain-General sent back the inconclusive reply that -‘he might fall back on Ordal if he could not defend the line of the -Llobregat.’ Thus he threw back the responsibility on his subordinate, -and Reding, anxious to vindicate his courage before the eyes of the -Catalans, resolved after some hesitation to retain his positions, -though he had grave doubts of the possibility of resistance. - - [78] Some of his _miqueletes_ had absconded during the withdrawal - from the eastern half of the river. - -He was not allowed much time to ponder over the situation. The reply -of Vives only reached him on the night of December 20-21. On the next -morning St. Cyr came out of Barcelona and attacked the lines. He -had brought with him every available man: Duhesme had been left to -hold the city with Lecchi’s Italians alone: his other division (that -of Chabran), together with the three which had formed the army of -succour--those of Souham, Pino, and Chabot--were all directed against -the lines. The plan of St. Cyr was to demonstrate against the bridge -of Molins de Rey, the strongest part of the Spanish position, with -Chabran’s 4,000 men, while he himself crossed the fords lower down -the Llobregat with the 14,000 bayonets of the other three divisions, -and turned the right flank of the enemy. - -At five o’clock on a miserable gusty December morning the French -came down towards the river: Chabran led off by making a noisy -demonstration opposite the redoubts at the bridge, on the northern -flank of the position. This, as St. Cyr had intended, drew Reding’s -attention to that flank: he reinforced his left with troops drawn -from his right wing on the lower and easier ground down stream. An -hour later the other attacking columns advanced, that of Souham -crossing the ford of San Juan Despi, while Pino and Chabot passed -by that of San Feliu. No proper attempt was made to dispute their -advance. Outnumbered, and strung out along a very extensive position, -the Catalans soon saw their line broken in several places. The only -serious opposition made was by the centre, which advanced down hill -against Souham and tried to charge him, but gave back long before -bayonets had been crossed. - -The most fatal part of Reding’s position was that on his extreme -right Chabot’s three battalions had got completely round his flank, -and kept edging in on the rear of his southern wing, which abandoned -hill after hill as it saw its retreat threatened. Pino and Souham -had only to press on, and each regiment in their front gave way in -turn when it saw its exposed flank in danger. At last the whole of -the Spanish right and centre was pushed back in disorder on to the -still intact left behind the bridge of Molins de Rey. Now was the -time for Chabran to turn his demonstration into a real attack: if -he had crossed the river and advanced rapidly, he would have caught -the shaken masses in front, while the rest of the army chased them -forward into his arms. But being timid or unenterprising, he let the -flying enemy pass across his front unmolested, and only forded the -river when they had gone too far to be caught. The unhappy Vives came -up at this moment, just in time to see his whole army on the run, and -headed their flight to the hills. - -Thus the Spaniards got away without any very crushing losses, -though their historian Cabanes confesses that if Chabran had moved -a quarter of an hour earlier he would have captured half the army -of Catalonia. As it was, St. Cyr took about 1,200 prisoners only, -though his dragoons pursued the routed enemy for many miles. It was -a great misfortune for the Catalans that among these captives was -the Conde de Caldagues, the one first-rate officer in their ranks. -He was taken by the pursuers at Vendrell, many miles from the field, -when his exhausted horse fell under him. St. Cyr captured the whole -artillery of the Spaniards, twenty-five cannon[79], of which several -were pieces of heavy calibre, mounted in redoubts. The field-pieces -were more useful to him, as he was very short of artillery; he had -brought none with him, while Duhesme had been obliged to destroy the -greater part of his during the retreat from Gerona in August. He -also made prize of a magazine of 3,000,000 cartridges and of many -thousands of muskets, which the routed enemy cast away in their haste -to escape over the hills. Some of the fugitives fled south, and did -not stop till they reached Tortosa and the Ebro: others dispersed in -the direction of Igualada and Lerida, but the main body rallied at -Tarragona. - - [79] St. Cyr says twenty-five in his report to Napoleon, but - increases the number to fifty in his _Mémoires_, p. 87. - -The victorious French divisions were pushed far out from the -battle-field so as to occupy not only the whole plain of the -Llobregat, but also the defiles over the hills leading to Tarragona. -Chabran was placed at Martorell, Chabot at San Sadurni, Souham at -Vendrell, and Pino at Villanueva de Sitjas and Villafranca. Thus the -pass of Ordal was in the victor’s hands, and he had it in his power -to march against Tarragona without having any further positions to -force. But the siege of that place did not form, at present, any part -of St. Cyr’s designs. His aim was first to collect such magazines at -Barcelona as would feed his whole army of 25,000 men till the harvest -was ripe, and secondly to reopen his communication with France. The -sea route was rendered dangerous by the English ships, which were -continually hovering off the coast. The land route was blocked by -the fortresses of Hostalrich and Gerona. St. Cyr imagined that it -was more important to make an end of these places, and open his -route to Perpignan, than to attack Tarragona. The latter place was -strong, and the greater part of the Catalan army had taken refuge in -it. The siege would need, as he supposed, many months, and could not -be properly conducted till a battering-train and a large store of -ammunition had been brought down from France. - -It is possible that the French general might have come to another -conclusion if he had been aware of the state of panic and -disorganization among the Catalans at this moment. The _miqueletes_ -had mostly dispersed to their homes, the regular troops were -mutinous, and the populace was crying treason and looking for -scape-goats. The incapable Vives was frightened into resignation, -and finally replaced by Reding, whose courage at least was beyond -suspicion, if his abilities were not those of a great general. The -smaller towns were full of tumults and assassination: at Lerida -a certain Gomez declared himself dictator and began to seize and -execute all suspected persons. He did not stop till he was caught -and beheaded by a battalion which Reding sent out against him. In -short, anarchy reigned in Catalonia for ten days, and it is possible -that if St. Cyr had marched straight to Tarragona he might have -taken the place, though its inhabitants were working hard at their -fortifications, and vowing to emulate Saragossa. Many historians of -the war have blamed the French general for not making the attempt: -but there was much to urge in his defence. It is perfectly possible -that the Tarragonese might have made a gallant stand, in spite of -all their troubles, for the garrison was large if disorderly. If -they held out, St. Cyr had neither a siege equipage nor sufficient -magazines to feed his army when concentrated in a single spot. The -French troops were exhausted, and suffering dreadfully from the -inclement winter weather. Lazan and Alvarez were in full force in the -Ampurdam, and were giving Reille’s weak division much trouble. - -Probably therefore St. Cyr was justified in halting for a month, -which he employed in clearing the whole country-side for thirty miles -round Barcelona, and in collecting the stores of food which his army -required before it could make another move. The halt allowed time -for the Catalans to rally, and for Reding to reorganize his army: -by February he was ready once more to try his fortune in the field. -Indeed, he was ere long more formidable than St. Cyr had expected, -for he was joined by the second brigade of his own Granadan division, -which came up from Valencia not long after the battle of Molins de -Rey, and the last reserves from Majorca had also sailed to aid him, -after giving over the fortifications of the Balearic Isles to the -marines of the fleet, and the urban guards of Palma and Port Mahon. -The _miqueletes_, too, returned to their standards when the first -panic was over, and in a month Catalonia could once more show an army -of 30,000 men. The first incident which occurred to encourage the -insurgents was that on January 1. Lazan fell upon and very severely -handled a detached battalion of Reille’s division at Castellon in -the Ampurdam[80], and when Reille came up against him in person with -2,500 men, inflicted on him a sharp check at the fords of the Muga. -Not long after, however, the Marquis withdrew from this region, and -marched back toward Aragon, taking with him his own division and -leaving only the weak corps of Alvarez to deal with Reille. His -retreat was caused by the news of his brother’s desperate position -in Saragossa. Hoping to make a diversion in favour of Palafox, Lazan -marched to Lerida, where he began to gather in all the men that he -could collect before moving back to his native province. Thus the -pressure on Reille was much reduced. - - [80] This was the 4th battalion of the 2nd of the line, which had - joined Reille in the late autumn, and did not form part of his - original division as detailed in the Appendix to vol. i. St. Cyr - says that it only lost sixty prisoners besides some casualties. - Lazan wrote that he took ninety prisoners, and killed or wounded - over 200 more Frenchmen. - -St. Cyr’s men, meanwhile, made many expeditions into the valleys -above Barcelona. They cleared the defile of Bruch leading into the -upper valley of the Llobregat, which the _somatenes_ had held so -gallantly against Schwartz and Chabran in June. They took, but did -not hold, the almost inaccessible peak of Montserrat, and on the -coast-road dominated the country as far as Mataro. But they could not -reopen the communications with France: their general did not dare to -set about the siege of Gerona while Reding had still the makings of -an army in the direction of Tarragona. It was not till that brave but -unfortunate officer had received his _third_ defeat in February that -St. Cyr was able to turn his attention to the north, and the road to -Perpignan. For the present, the French general found himself mainly -occupied by the imperious necessity for scraping together food not -only for his own army, but for the great city of Barcelona, where -both the garrison and the people were living from hand to mouth. -For the resources of the neighbouring plain were nearly exhausted, -and the only external supply came from occasional merchantmen from -Cette or Marseilles, whose captains were tempted to run the British -blockade by the enormous price which they could secure for their -corn if it could be brought safely through. It was only somewhat -later that the Emperor directed the naval authorities in Provence to -dispatch regular convoys to Barcelona under a strong escort, whenever -the British cruisers were reported to have been blown out to sea. -Meanwhile the problem of food supplies remained almost as urgent -a question for St. Cyr as the movements of his adversaries in the -field. - - - - -SECTION X: CHAPTER III - -THE CAMPAIGN OF FEBRUARY, 1809: BATTLE OF VALLS - - -More than a month had elapsed since the battle of Molins de Rey -before any important movements were made in Catalonia. Early in -February St. Cyr drew in his divisions from the advanced positions -in the plain of Tarragona, which they had taken up after the victory -of Molins de Rey. They had eaten up the country-side, and were being -much harassed by the _miqueletes_, who had begun to press in upon -their communications with Barcelona, in spite of all the care that -was taken to scour the country with small flying columns, and to -scatter any nucleus of insurgents that began to grow up in the French -rear. Owing to the dispersion of the divisions of the 7th Corps these -operations were very laborious; between the new year and the middle -of February St. Cyr calculated that his men had used up 2,000,000 -cartridges in petty skirmishes, and suffered a very appreciable -loss in operations that were practically worthless[81]. Accordingly -he drew them closer together, in order to shorten the dangerously -extended line of communication with Barcelona. - - [81] St. Cyr, _Campagne de Catalogne_, p. 98. - -Reding, during this period of waiting, had been keeping quiet in -Tarragona, where he was reorganizing and drilling the harassed -troops which had been beaten at Cardadeu and Molins de Rey. He had, -as we have already seen, received heavy reinforcements from the -South[82] and the Balearic Isles[83]; but it was not in numbers only -that his army had improved. St. Cyr’s inaction had restored their -_morale_. They were too, as regards food and munitions, in a much -better condition than their adversaries, as they could freely draw -provisions from the plain of the Lower Ebro and the northern parts -of Valencia, and were besides helped by corn brought in by British -and Spanish vessels from the whole eastern Mediterranean. Reding had -also got a good supply of arms and ammunition from England. As he -found himself unmolested, he was finally able to rearrange his whole -force, so as not only to cover Tarragona, but to extend a screen of -troops all round the French position. He now divided his army into -two wings: he himself, on the right, kept in hand at Tarragona the -1st Division, consisting mainly of the Granadan troops: while General -Castro was sent to establish the head quarters of the 2nd Division, -which contained most of the old battalions of the army of Catalonia, -at Igualada. Their line of communication was by Santa Coloma, -Sarreal, and Montblanch. This disposition was probably a mistake: -while the French lay concentrated in the middle of the semicircle, -the Spanish army was forced to operate on outer lines sixty miles -long, and could not mass itself in less than three or four days. By -a sudden movement of the enemy, either Reding or Castro might be -assailed by superior numbers, and forced to fall back on an eccentric -line of retreat before he could be succoured by his colleague. - - [82] Regiments of Santa Fé, and 1st of Antequera, three - battalions with 3,600 men in November, and probably 3,000 in - February. - - [83] Swiss Regiment of Beschard, about 2,000 strong, and Majorca - Militia [sometimes called ‘Palma’], 600 strong. - -It would seem that, encouraged by St. Cyr’s quiescence, his own -growing strength, and the protestations of the Catalans, Reding had -once more resolved to resume the offensive. The extension of his left -to Igualada was made with no less ambitious a purpose than that of -outflanking the northern wing of the French army, and then delivering -a simultaneous concentric attack on its scattered divisions as they -lay in their cantonments. Such a plan presupposed that St. Cyr would -keep quiet while the preparations were being made, that he would -fail to concentrate in time, and that the Spanish columns, operating -from two distant bases, would succeed in timing their co-operation -with perfect accuracy. At the best they could only have brought some -30,000 men against the 23,000 of St. Cyr’s field army--a superiority -far from sufficient to give them a rational chance of success. It is -probable that at this moment Reding’s best chance of doing something -great for the cause of Spain would have been to leave a strong -garrison in Tarragona, and march early in February with 20,000 men to -the relief of Saragossa, which was now drawing near the end of its -powers of resistance. Lannes and Junot would have had to raise the -siege if an army of such size had come up against them. But, though -intending to succour Saragossa in a few weeks, Reding was induced -by the constant entreaties of the Catalans to undertake first an -expedition against St. Cyr. He sent off no troops to aid the Marquis -of Lazan in his fruitless attempt to relax the pressure on his -brother’s heroic garrison, but devoted all his attention to the 7th -Corps. - -St. Cyr was not an officer who was likely to be caught unprepared by -such a movement as Reding had planned. The extension of the Spanish -line to Igualada and the upper Llobregat had not escaped his notice, -and he was fully aware of the advantage which his central position -gave him over an enemy who had been obliging enough to draw out his -fighting strength on an arc of a circle sixty miles from end to end. -Without fully realizing Reding’s intentions, he could yet see that -the Spaniards were giving him a grand opportunity of beating them -in detail. He resolved to strike a blow at their northern wing, -convinced that if he acted with sufficient swiftness and energy he -could crush it long ere it could be succoured from Tarragona. - -It thus came to pass that Reding and St. Cyr began to move -simultaneously--the one on exterior, the other on interior -lines--with the inevitable result. On February 15 Castro, in -accordance with the instructions of the Captain-General, began to -concentrate his troops at Igualada, with the intention of advancing -against the French divisions at San Sadurni and Martorell. At the -same time orders were sent to Alvarez, the Governor of Gerona, -to detach all the men he could spare for a demonstration against -Barcelona, in order to distract the attention of Duhesme and the -garrison. Reding himself, with the troops at Tarragona, intended to -march against Souham the moment that he should receive the news that -his lieutenants were ready to strike. - -At the same moment St. Cyr started out on his expedition against -Igualada. He took with him Pino’s Italian division[84], and ordered -Chabot and Chabran to concentrate with him at Capellades, seven or -eight miles to the south-east of Castro’s head quarters. By taking -this route he avoided the northern bank of the Noya and the defiles -of Bruch, and approached the enemy from the side where he could most -easily cut him off from reinforcements coming from Tarragona. - - [84] Troops from Barcelona under Lecchi came out to replace Pino - at Villafranca. - -The concentration of the three French columns was not perfectly -timed, those of Pino and Chabran finding their way far more difficult -than did Chabot. It thus chanced that the latter with his skeleton -division of three battalions, arrived in front of Capellades many -hours before his colleagues. His approach was reported to Castro at -Igualada, who sent down 4,000 men against him, attacked him, and beat -him back with loss[85] into the arms of Pino, who came on the scene -later in the day [Feb. 17]. The Spaniards were then forced to give -back, and retired to Pobla de Claramunt on the banks of the Noya, -where they were joined by most of Castro’s reserves. St. Cyr had now -concentrated his three divisions, and hoped that he might bring the -enemy to a pitched battle. He drew up in front of them all his force, -save one of Pino’s brigades, which he sent to turn their right [Feb. -18]. The Spaniards, having a fine position behind a ravine, were at -first inclined to fight, and skirmished with the enemy’s main body -for some hours. They narrowly missed capturing both St. Cyr and Pino, -who had ridden forward with their staff to reconnoitre, and fell into -an ambush of _miqueletes_, from which they only escaped by the speed -of their horses[86]. - - [85] Chabot lost a Neapolitan colonel (Carascosa) and many other - prisoners. - - [86] St. Cyr says nothing of his own danger, but the incident - is given at length by Vacani, iii. 93, who mentions that one of - Pino’s aides-de-camp was wounded. - -But late in the day the Spanish General received news that -Mazzuchelli, with the detached Italian brigade, was already in his -rear and marching hard for Igualada. He immediately evacuated his -position in great disorder, and fell back on his head quarters, -closely pursued by St. Cyr. The main body of the Spaniards, with -their artillery, just succeeded in passing through Igualada before -the Italians came up, and fled by the road to Cervera. The rear was -cut off, and had to escape in another direction by the path leading -to Manresa. Both columns were much hustled and lost many prisoners, -yet they fairly outmarched their pursuers and got away without any -crushing disaster[87]. But their great loss was that in Igualada -the French seized all the magazines which had been collected from -northern Catalonia for the use of Castro’s division. This relieved -St. Cyr from all trouble as to provisions for many days: he had now -food enough not only to provide for his field army, but to send back -to Barcelona. - - [87] ‘Si nous ne fîmes pas dans cette affaire le nombre de - prisonniers que nous eussions dû y faire,’ says St. Cyr, ‘c’est - que dans cette journée l’ennemi fit plus usage de ses jambes que - de ses armes. Quelques centaines seulement, la plupart blessés, - tombèrent entre nos mains’ [_Campagne de Catalogne_, p. 107]. - -St. Cyr had now done all the harm that was in his power to the -Spanish left wing--he had beaten them, seized their magazines, -driven them apart, and broken their line. He imagined that they were -disposed of for many days, and now resolved to turn off for a blow at -Reding and the other half of the Catalonian army, who might meanwhile -(for all that he knew) be attacking Souham with very superior numbers. - -Accordingly on Feb. 19 he started off with Pino’s division to join -Souham and fall upon Reding, leaving Chabot and Chabran, with all -the artillery of the three divisions, to occupy Igualada and guard -the captured magazines from any possible offensive return on the -part of Castro. He marched by cross-roads along the foot-hills of -the mountains of the great central Catalonian sierra, intending -to descend into the valley of the Gaya by San Magin and the abbey -of Santas Cruces, where (as he had learnt) lay the northernmost -detachments of Reding’s division[88]. Thus he hoped to take the enemy -in flank and beat him in detail. He sent orders to Souham to move -out of Vendrell and meet him at Villarodoña, half-way up the course -of Gaya, unless he should have been already attacked by Reding and -forced to take some other line. - - [88] The details of this cross-march in a badly-surveyed country, - where the maps are very deficient, are more easily to be made - out from Vacani’s narrative (pp. 95-8) than from St. Cyr’s own - account. - -At San Magin the French commander came upon some of Reding’s troops, -about 1,200 men with two guns, under a brigadier named Iranzo. -They showed fight, but were beaten and sought refuge further down -the valley of the Gaya in the fortified abbey of Santas Cruces. So -bare was the country-side, and so bad the maps, that St. Cyr found -considerable difficulty in tracking them, and in discovering the best -way down the valley. But next day he got upon their trail[89], and -beset the abbey, which made a good defence and proved impregnable -to a force unprovided with artillery. St. Cyr blockaded it for two -days, and then descended into the plain, where he got in touch with -Souham’s division, which had advanced from Vendrell, and was now -pillaging the hamlets round Villarodoña, in the central valley of the -Gaya[90] [February 21]. - - [89] St. Cyr (p. 109) has a curious story to the effect that he - had failed entirely to find the road, but ultimately discovered - it by giving leave to a wounded Spanish officer to return to - Tarragona. He was followed at a discreet distance by scouts, who - noted the way that he took, and he thus served as a guide of - Pino’s division as far as the convent of Santas Cruces. - - [90] Souham had anticipated St. Cyr’s orders, and started to - advance from Vendrell before his chief’s dispatch from Igualada - came to hand. - -Meanwhile Reding was at last on the move. On receiving the news of -the combat of Igualada, he had to choose between the opportunity -of making a counter-stroke at Souham, and that of marching to the -aid of his lieutenant, Castro. He adopted the latter alternative, -and started from Tarragona on February 20 with an escort of about -2,000 men, including nearly all his available cavalry[91]. It was -his intention to pick up on the way the outlying northern brigades -of his division. This he succeeded in doing, drawing in to himself -the troops which were guarding the pass of Santa Cristina, and -Iranzo’s detachment at Santas Cruces. This force, warned of his -approach, broke through the blockade at night, and reached its -chief with little or no loss [February 21]. Thus reinforced Reding -pushed on by Sarreal to Santa Coloma, where Castro joined him with -the rallied troops of his wing, whom he had collected when the -French attack slackened. They had between them nearly 20,000 men, an -imposing force, with which some of the officers present suggested -that it would be possible to fall upon Igualada, crush Chabot and -Chabran, and recover the lost magazines. But Reding was nervous -about Tarragona, dreading lest St. Cyr might unite with Souham and -fall upon the city during his absence. After holding a lengthy -council of war[92] he determined to return to protect his base of -operations. Accordingly, he told off the Swiss General Wimpffen, -with some 4.000 or 5,000 of Castro’s troops, to observe the French -divisions at Igualada, and started homeward with the rest of his -army, about 10,000 infantry, 700 cavalry, and two batteries of field -artillery[93]. He had made up his mind to return by the route of -Montblanch and Valls, one somewhat more remote from the position -of St. Cyr on the Gaya than the way by Pla, which he had taken in -setting out to join Castro. Reding could only have got home without -fighting by taking a circuitous route to the east, via Selva and -Reus: the suggestion that he should do so was made, but he replied -that having baggage and artillery with him he was forced to keep to -a high-road. He chose that by Valls, though he was aware that the -place was occupied: but apparently he hoped to crush Souham before -Pino could come to his aid. He was resolved, it is said, not to -court a combat, but on the other hand not to refuse it if the enemy -should offer to fight him on advantageous ground. [February 24.] The -truth is, that he was bold even to rashness, could never forget the -great day of Baylen, in which he had taken such a splendid part, and -was anxious to wash out by a victory the evil memories of Cardadeu -and Molins de Rey. He set out on the evening of February 24, and by -daybreak next morning was drawing near the bridge of Goy, where the -high-road to Tarragona crosses the river Francoli, some two miles -north of the town of Valls. His troops, as was to be expected, were -much exhausted by the long march in the darkness[94]. - - [91] Two battalions of _miqueletes_ (Lerida and 1st of - Tarragona), 300 cavalry, a field-battery, and a battalion of - Reding’s own regiment of Swiss, about 2,100 men in all. - - [92] Col. Doyle was present at this council: his account of it - is in the Record Office. He declares that he himself was all for - fighting, that Reding wavered, and the majority refused to take - risks. - - [93] There is a detailed estimate of Reding’s army given by St. - Cyr in his Appendix no. 11. He says that the figures were given - him by ‘a Spanish general taken prisoner at Valls,’ which must - mean the Marquis of Casteldosrius, the only officer of that rank - captured. The names of nearly all the battalions cited in this - list are to be verified, either in Reding’s dispatch or in the - narrative of Cabanes--all indeed except the regiment of Baza, - and the three Miquelet Tercios, 1st and 2nd of Tarragona and - Lerida. But it is probable that Casteldosrius gave St. Cyr a - morning state of the whole army collected at Santa Coloma on the - twenty-fourth, and that these corps (with a total force of 3,000 - men) formed part of the force left with Wimpffen at Santa Coloma. - I am driven to this conclusion by the statement of Doyle in his - letter written from Santa Coloma, on the day before the battle, - that Reding was marching “with 500 horse and a little over 10,000 - foot,” for Tarragona. Doyle is arguing in favour of fighting, and - has no object in understating the numbers. His figures are borne - out by all the Spanish narratives. The force must have stood as - follows:-- - - INFANTRY. - - Granadan Division: - - Reding’s Swiss (one batt.) 500 - Iliberia (or 1st of Granada) 1,860 - Santa Fé (two batts.) 2,300 - 1st of Antequera 1,100 - ------ - 5,760 - - From the Old Catalan Army: - - Guards [150 Spanish, 280 Walloons] 430 - Soria 1,000 - 2nd of Savoia 800 - Provincial Grenadiers of Old and New Castile 1,300 - Wimpffen’s Swiss (two batts.) 1,140 - Palma Militia 350 - ------ - 5,020 - - CAVALRY. - - Husares of Granada 450 - Husares Españoles 250 - ---- - 700 - ARTILLERY. - - 2 batteries, 8 guns 200 - - SAPPERS. - - 1 Company 100 - ------ - Total 11,800 - - [Erratum from p. xii: I have found from a Madrid document that - part, though not the whole, of the Regiment of Baza was present - at Valls. One battalion was left behind with Wimpffen: one - marched with Reding: about 800 men therefore must be added to my - estimate of the Spanish infantry.] - - [94] These details are from Doyle’s letter of Feb. 24, in the - Record Office. - -St. Cyr, meanwhile, had not been intending to strike a blow at -Tarragona. He regarded it as much more necessary to beat the -enemy’s field army than to close in upon the fortress, which would -indubitably have offered a long and obstinate resistance. When he -got news of Reding’s march to Santa Coloma he resolved to follow -him: he was preparing to hasten to the succour of his divisions at -Igualada, when he learnt that the Swiss general had turned back, -and was hurrying home to Tarragona. He resolved, therefore, to try -to intercept him on his return march, and blocked his two available -roads by placing Souham’s division at Valls and Pino’s at Pla. They -were only eight or nine miles apart, and whichever road the Spaniards -took the unassailed French division could easily come to the aid of -the other. - -Reding’s night march, a move which St. Cyr does not seem to have -foreseen, nearly enabled him to carry out his plan. In fact, as we -shall see, he had almost made an end of the French division before -the Marshal, who lay himself at Pla with the Italians, arrived to -succour it[95]. - - [95] The French forces engaged at Valls were:-- - - Souham’s Division: - 1st Léger (three batts.). - 42nd of the Line (three batts.). - - Provisional regiment: - [One batt. each of 3rd Léger and 67th Line, two batts. - 7th Line.] - - 10 battalions, about 5,500 men. - 24th Dragoons, about 500 men, two batteries. - - Pino’s Division: - 1st Italian Light Regiment (three batts.). - 2nd Italian Light Regiment (three batts.). - 4th Line (three batts.). - 6th ” ” ” - 7th ” (one batt.). - - 13 battalions, about 6,500 men. - 7th Italian Dragoons (‘Dragoons of Napoleon’) and Italian - Royal Chasseurs, together about 800 men. - - Total about 13,800 men, a force somewhat superior to that of the - Spaniards, if the latter had only the corps given in the last - table. - -In the early morning, between six and seven o’clock, the head of the -long Spanish column reached the bridge of Goy, and there fell in -with Souham’s vedettes. The sharp musketry fire which at once broke -out warned each party that a combat was at hand. Souham hastily -marched out from Valls, and drew up his two brigades in the plain -to the north of the town, placing himself across the line of the -enemy’s advance. Reding at first made up his mind to thrust aside the -French division, whose force he somewhat undervalued, and to hurry -on his march toward Tarragona. The whole of his advanced guard and -part of his centre crossed the river, deployed on the left bank, -and attacked the French. Souham held his ground for some hours, but -as more and more Spanish battalions kept pressing across the bridge -and reinforcing the enemy’s line, he began after a time to give -way--the numerical odds were heavily against him, and the Catalans -were fighting with great steadiness and confidence. Before noon the -French division was thrust back against the town of Valls, and Reding -had been able to file not only the greater part of his army but all -his baggage across the Francoli. The way to Tarragona was clear, and -if he had chosen to disengage his men he could have carried off the -whole of his army to that city without molestation from Souham, who -was too hard hit to wish to continue the combat. It is even possible -that if he had hastily brought up all his reserves he might have -completely routed the French detachment before it could have been -succoured. - -But Reding adopted neither one course nor the other. After driving -back Souham, he allowed his men a long rest, probably in order to -give the rear and the baggage time to complete the passage of the -Francoli. While things were standing still, St. Cyr arrived at full -gallop from Pla, where he had been lying with Pino’s division, to -whom the news of the battle had arrived very late. He brought with -him only Pino’s divisional cavalry, the ‘Dragoons of Napoleon’ and -Royal Chasseurs, but had ordered the rest of the Italians to follow -at full speed when they should have got together. As Pla is no more -than eight miles from Valls, it was expected that they would appear -within the space of three hours. But, as a matter of fact, Pino did -not draw near till the afternoon: one of his brigades, which lay far -out, received contradictory orders, and did not come in to Pla till -past midday[96], and the Italian general would not move till it had -rejoined him. Three hours were wasted by this _contretemps_, and -meanwhile the battle might have been lost. - - [96] Vacani, iii. 105-6. This fact is mentioned by no other - author. - -On arriving upon the field with the Italian cavalry, St. Cyr rode -along Souham’s line, steadied it, and displayed the horsemen in his -front. Seeing the French rallying, and new troops arriving to their -aid, the Spanish commander jumped to the conclusion that St. Cyr had -come up with very heavy reinforcements, and instead of continuing his -advance, or pressing on his march toward Tarragona, suddenly changed -his whole plan of operations. He would not stand to be attacked in -the plain, but he resolved to fight a defensive action on the heights -beyond the Francoli, from which he had descended in the morning. -Accordingly, first his baggage, then his main body, and lastly his -vanguard, which covered the retreat of the rest, slowly filed back -over the bridge of Goy, and took position on the rolling hills to the -east. Here Reding drew them up in two lines, with the river flowing -at their feet as a front defence, and their batteries drawn up so as -to sweep the bridge of Goy and the fords. The right wing was covered -by a lateral ravine falling into the Francoli; the left, facing the -village of Pixamoxons, was somewhat ‘in the air,’ but the whole -position, if long, was good and eminently defensible. - -St. Cyr observed his adversary’s movement with joy, for he would have -been completely foiled if Reding had refused to fight and passed on -toward Tarragona. Knowing the Spanish troops, a pitched battle with -superior numbers was precisely what he most desired. Accordingly he -took advantage of the long time of waiting, while Pino’s division -was slowly drawing near the field, to rest and feed Souham’s tired -troops, and then to draw them up facing the southern half of Reding’s -position, with a vacant space on their right on which the Italians -were to take up their ground, when at last they should arrive. - -When St. Cyr had lain for nearly three hours quiescent at the foot -of the heights, and no reinforcements had yet come in sight, Reding -began to grow anxious. He had, as he now realized, retired with -unnecessary haste from in front of a beaten force, and had assumed a -defensive posture when he should have pressed the attack. At about -three o’clock he made up his mind that he had committed an error, -but thinking it too late to resume the fight, resolved to retire on -Tarragona by the circuitous route which passes through the village -of Costanti. He sent back General Marti to Tarragona to bring out -fresh troops from the garrison to join him at that point, and issued -orders that the army should retreat at dusk. He might perhaps have -got off scatheless if he had moved away at once, though it is equally -possible that St. Cyr might have fallen upon his rearguard with -Souham’s division, and done him some damage. But he waited for the -dark before marching, partly because he wished to rest his troops, -who were desperately fatigued by the night march and the subsequent -combat in the morning, partly because he did not despair of fighting -a successful defensive action if St. Cyr should venture to cross the -Francoli and attack him. Accordingly he lingered on the hillside in -battle array, waiting for the darkness[97]. - - [97] Arteche, v. 207-9, makes Reding deliver a second attack - on Souham in the early afternoon. This is, I think, an error, - caused by a misreading of Cabanes’ somewhat confused account of - the fight, from which it might be possible (if no other sources - existed) to deduce a second Spanish advance. But Cabanes is - really dealing with the later phases of the first combat only. - It is conclusive that neither Reding himself, in his official - dispatch, St. Cyr, Doyle, nor Vacani mention any engagement in - the early afternoon. - -This gave St. Cyr his chance; at three o’clock Pino’s belated -division had begun to come up: first Fontane’s brigade, then, an hour -and a half later, that of Mazzuchelli, whose absence from Pla had -caused all the delay. It was long past four, and the winter afternoon -was far spent when St. Cyr had at last got all his troops in hand. - -Allowing barely enough time for the Italians to form in order of -battle[98], St. Cyr now led forward his whole army to the banks -of the Francoli. The two divisions formed four heavy columns of a -brigade each: and in this massive formation forded the river and -advanced uphill, driving in before them the Spanish skirmishers. The -Italian dragoons went forward in the interval between two of the -infantry columns; the French cavalry led the attack on the extreme -right, near the bridge of Goy. - - [98] St. Cyr in his Memoirs (p. 123) makes the curious statement - that he silenced his artillery after it had fired only three - rounds, lest he should frighten off the Spaniards before he - could reach them with his infantry, and so prevent the latter - from closing and winning as decisive a victory as possible. One - is almost prone to doubt the story, and to suppose that the - cessation of fire was due to the fear of killing his own men when - they were getting close to the Spanish line. Arteche puts this - incident too early in the fight, during Reding’s supposed second - attack. - -For a moment it seemed as if the two armies would actually cross -bayonets all along the line, for the Spaniards stood firm and opened -a regular and well-directed fire upon the advancing columns. But St. -Cyr had not miscalculated the moral effect of the steady approach of -the four great bodies of infantry which were now climbing the hill -and drawing near to Reding’s front. Like so many other continental -troops, who had striven on earlier battle-fields to bear up in line -against the French column-formation, the Spaniards could not find -heart to close with the formidable and threatening masses which were -rolling in upon them. They delivered one last tremendous discharge -at 100 yards’ distance, and then, when they saw the enemy looming -through the smoke and closing upon them, broke in a dozen different -places and went to the rear in helpless disorder, sweeping away the -second line, higher up the hill, which ought to have sustained them. -The only actual collision was on the extreme left, near the bridge -of Goy, where Reding himself charged, with his staff, at the head of -his cavalry, in a vain attempt to save the desperate situation. He -was met in full career by the French 24th Dragoons, and thoroughly -beaten. In the _mêlée_ he was surrounded, three of his aides-de-camp -were wounded[99] and taken, and he himself only cut his way out -after receiving three sabre wounds on his head and shoulders, which -ultimately proved fatal. - - [99] Among them was an English officer named Reid. - -If there had not been many steep slopes and ravines behind the -Spanish position, nearly the whole of Reding’s army must have -perished or been captured. But the country-side was so difficult that -the majority of the fugitives got away, though many were overtaken. -The total loss of the Spaniards amounted to more than 3,000 men, of -whom nearly half were prisoners[100]. All the guns of the defeated -army, all its baggage, and several stands of colours fell into the -hands of the victors. The French lost about 1,000 men, mostly in the -early part of the engagement, when Souham’s division was driven back -under the walls of Valls. - - [100] Including Colonels Dumont and Antunez commanding - respectively the Walloon and Spanish guards, the Marquis of - Casteldosrius commanding the cavalry brigade, three of Reding’s - aides-de-camp, and eighty other officers. Two colonels were - killed, a brigadier-general (Saint Ellier) and many other - superior officers wounded. - -[Illustration: PART OF CATALONIA - TO ILLUSTRATE ST CYR’S CAMPAIGN - NOV. 1808 TO MARCH 1809] - -[Illustration: BATTLE OF VALLS - FEB. 25 1809] - -The Spaniards had not fought amiss: St. Cyr, in a dispatch to -Berthier, acknowledges the fact--not in order to exalt the merit of -his own troops, but to demonstrate that the 7th Corps was too weak -for the task set it and required further reinforcements[101]. But -Reding did not give his men a fair chance; he hurried them into the -fight at the end of a long night march, drew them off just when they -were victorious, and altered his plan of battle thrice in the -course of the day. No army could have done itself justice with such -bad leading. - - [101] ‘Votre Altesse me dit qu’il n’y a rien autour de nous - qui puisse résister à 6,000 hommes. Je lui demande pardon. La - division Souham a été quelque temps seule le 25, et nous avons - vu qu’il était temps que l’autre division arrivât.... On ne peut - nier que les troupes espagnoles gagnent tous les jours, et nous - sommes forcés de leur rendre justice; à la bataille de Valls - elles se sont très-bien battues.’ St. Cyr to Berthier, Valls, - March 6, 1809. - -The wrecks of the beaten force straggled into Tarragona, their -spirits so depressed that it was a long time before it was possible -to trust them again in battle. When they once more took the field it -was under another leader, for Reding, after lingering some weeks, -died of his wounds, leaving the reputation of a brave, honest, and -humane officer, but of a very poor general. - -St. Cyr utilized his victory merely by blockading Tarragona. He -moved Souham to Reus, and kept Pino at Valls, each throwing out -detachments as far as the sea, so as to cut off the city from all -its communications with the interior. An epidemic had broken out in -the place, in consequence of the masses of ill-attended wounded who -cumbered the hospitals. It would seem that the French General hoped -that the pestilence might turn the hearts of the garrison towards -surrender. If so, he was much deceived: they bore their ills with -stolid patience, and being always victualled from the sea suffered -no practical inconvenience from the blockade. It seems indeed that -St. Cyr would have done far better to use the breathing time which he -won at the battle of Valls for the commencement of a movement against -Gerona. Till that place should be captured, and the high-road to -Perpignan opened, there was no real security for the 7th Corps. Long -months, however, were to elapse before this necessary operation was -taken in hand. - - - - -SECTION XI - -THE SECOND SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA - -(DECEMBER 1808-FEBRUARY 1809) - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE CAPTURE OF THE OUTWORKS - - -While Napoleon was urging on his fruitless pursuit of Sir John -Moore, while St. Cyr was discomfiting the Catalans on the Besos and -the Llobregat, and while Victor was dealing his last blow to the -dilapidated army of Infantado, there was one point on which the war -was standing still, and where the French arms had made no great -progress since the battle of Tudela. Saragossa was holding out, with -the same tenacity that she had displayed during the first siege in -the July and August of the preceding summer. In front of her walls -and barricades two whole corps of the Emperor’s army were detained -from December, 1808, till February, 1809. As long as the defence -endured, she preserved the rest of Aragon and the whole of Valencia -from invasion. - -The battle of Tudela had been fought on November 23, but it was not -till nearly a month later that the actual siege began. The reason -for this delay was that the Emperor had called off to Madrid all the -troops which had taken part in the campaign against Castaños and -Palafox, save Moncey’s 3rd Corps alone. This force was not numerous -enough to invest the city till it had been strengthened by heavy -reinforcements from the North. - -After having routed the Armies of Aragon and the Centre, Marshal -Lannes had thrown up the command which had been entrusted to him, -and had gone back to France. The injuries which he had suffered -from his fall over the precipice near Pampeluna[102] were still far -from healed, and served as the excuse for his retirement. Moncey, -therefore, resumed, on November 25, the charge of the victorious -army: on the next day he was joined by Ney, who, after failing -to intercept Castaños in the mountains[103], had descended into -the valley of the Ebro, with Marchand and Dessolles’ divisions of -infantry, and Beaumont’s light cavalry brigade. On the twenty-eighth -the two marshals advanced along the high-road by Mallen and Alagon, -and on the second day after appeared in front of Saragossa with -all their troops, save Musnier’s division of the 3rd Corps and the -division of the 6th Corps lately commanded by Lagrange, which had -followed the retreating army of Castaños into the hills on the road -to Calatayud. They were about to commence the investment of the city, -when Ney received orders from the Emperor, dispatched from Aranda, -bidding him leave the siege to Moncey, and cross the mountains into -New Castile with all the troops of the 6th Corps: he was to find -Castaños, and hang on his heels so that he should not be able to -march to the help of Madrid. - - [102] See vol. i. p. 436. - - [103] See vol. i. pp. 446-7. - -Accordingly the Duke of Elchingen marched from the camp in front -of Saragossa with the divisions of Marchand and Dessolles, and -the cavalry brigades of Beaumont and Digeon. At Calatayud he -came up with the force which had been dispatched in pursuit of -Castaños,--Musnier’s division of the 3rd Corps, and that of the 6th -Corps which Maurice Mathieu had taken over from Lagrange, who had -been severely wounded at Tudela[104]. Leaving Musnier at Calatayud -to protect his communications with Aragon, Ney picked up Maurice -Mathieu, and passed the mountains into New Castile, where he fell -into the Emperor’s sphere of operations. We have seen that he took a -prominent part in the pursuit of Sir John Moore and the invasion of -Galicia. - - [104] Few of the French historians mention these changes, but - they are quite certain. On Nov. 23 ‘the division Maurice Mathieu’ - means the 1st of the 3rd Corps; on Dec. 1, it means the 2nd of - the 6th Corps. - -Moncey, meanwhile, was left in front of Saragossa with his 1st, 3rd, -and 4th Divisions--the 2nd being still at Calatayud. This force -consisted of no more than twenty-three battalions, about 15,000 men, -and was far too weak to undertake the siege. The Marshal was informed -that the whole corps of Mortier was to be sent to his aid, but it -was still far away, and with very proper caution he resolved to draw -back and wait for the arrival of the reinforcements. If the Spaniards -got to know of his condition, they might sally out from Saragossa and -attack him with more than 30,000 men. Moncey, therefore, drew back -to Alagon, and there waited for the arrival of the Duke of Treviso -and the 5th Corps. It was not till December 20 that he was able to -present himself once more before the city. - -Thus Saragossa gained four weeks of respite between the battle of -Tudela and the commencement of the actual siege. This reprieve was -invaluable to Palafox and the Aragonese. They would have been in -grave danger if Lannes had marched on and assaulted the city only two -days after the battle, and before the routed army had been rallied. -Even if Ney and Moncey had been permitted to begin a serious attack -on November 30, the day of their arrival before the place, they would -have had some chance of success. But their sudden retreat raised the -spirits of the defenders, and the twenty extra days of preparation -thus granted to them sufficed to restore them to full confidence, -and to re-establish their belief in the luck of Saragossa and the -special protection vouchsafed them by its patron saint Our Lady of -the Pillar. Napoleon must take the blame for all the consequences of -Ney’s withdrawal. He had ordered it without fully realizing the fact -that Moncey would be left too weak to commence the siege. Probably he -had over-estimated the effect of the defeat of Tudela on the Army of -Aragon. For the failure of Ney’s attempt to surround Castaños he was -only in part responsible, though (as we have seen) he had sent him -out on his circular march two days too late[105]. But to draw off the -6th Corps to New Castile (where it failed to do any good), before the -5th Corps had arrived to take its place before Saragossa, was clearly -a blunder. - - [105] See vol. i. pp. 446-7. - -Palafox made admirable use of the unexpected reprieve that had been -granted him. He had not, it will be remembered, taken part in person -in the battle of Tudela, but had returned to his head quarters on the -night before that disaster. He was occupied in organizing a reserve -to take the field in support of his two divisions already at the -front, when the sudden influx of fugitives into Saragossa showed him -what had occurred. In the course of the next two days there poured -into the place the remains of the divisions of O’Neille and St. -March from his own Army of Aragon. With them came Roca’s men, who -properly belonged to Castaños, but having fought in the right wing -had been separated from the main body of the Andalusian army[106]. -In addition, fragments of many other regiments of the Army of the -Centre straggled into Saragossa. At least 16,000 or 17,000 men of -the wrecks of Tudela had come in ere four days were expired. To help -them, Palafox could count on all the newly organized battalions of -his reserve, which had never marched out to join the field army: they -amounted to some 10,000 or 12,000 men, but many of the regiments had -only lately been organized and had not received their uniforms or -equipment. Nor was this all: several belated battalions from Murcia -and Valencia came in at various times during the next ten days[107], -so that long ere the actual siege began Palafox could count on -32,000 bayonets and 2,000 sabres of more or less regularly organized -corps. He had in addition a number of irregulars--armed citizens -and peasants of the country-side--whose numbers it is impossible to -fix, for though some had been collected in _partidas_ or volunteer -companies, others fought in loose bands just as they pleased, and -without any proper organization. They may possibly have amounted to -10,000 men at the time of the commencement of the siege, but so many -were drafted into the local Aragonese battalions before the end of -the fighting, that when the place surrendered in February, there were -less than a thousand[108] of these unembodied irregulars under arms. - - [106] By far the larger part of Roca’s division reached - Saragossa; the Spanish returns show that 4,500 men joined - Palafox, and only 1,500 escaped to Cuenca with the rest of the - ‘Army of the Centre.’ - - [107] Among these were the 1st and 2nd Tiradores de Murcia, the - regiment of Florida Blanca, the 3rd and 5th Volunteers of Murcia, - and the 3rd Volunteers of Valencia, all of which had arrived too - late for Tudela. - - [108] To be exact, 756 was the number of _paisanos_ as opposed to - _tropa_ in the return of the garrison on Feb. 20. See Arteche, - Appendix to vol. iv. - -But it was not so much for the reorganization of his army as for the -strengthening of his fortifications that Palafox found the respite -during the first three weeks of December profitable. During the first -siege it will be remembered that the fortifications of Saragossa -had been contemptible from the engineer’s point of view: the flimsy -mediaeval _enceinte_ had crumbled away at the first fire of the -besiegers, and the real defence had been carried out behind the -barricades. By the commencement of the second siege everything had -changed, and the city was covered by a formidable line of defences, -executed, as was remarked by one of the French generals[109], -with more zeal and energy than scientific skill, but presenting -nevertheless most serious obstacles to the besieger. - - [109] See Cavallero’s criticism of this statement of Rogniat on - p. 17 of his interesting little work. - -After the raising of the first siege by Verdier, the Spaniards had -been for some time in a state of such confidence and exultation -that they imagined that there was no need for further defensive -precautions. The next campaign was to be fought, as they supposed, -on the further side of the Pyrenees. But the long suspension of -the expected advance during the autumn months began to chill their -spirits, and, as the year drew on, it was no longer reckoned -unpatriotic or cowardly to take into consideration the wisdom of -strengthening the inland fortresses in view of a possible return of -the French. In September, Colonel San Genis, the engineer officer who -had worked for Palafox during the first siege, received permission -to commence a series of regular fortifications for Saragossa. The -work did not progress rapidly, for the Aragonese had not as yet -much belief in the possibility that they might be called on once -again to defend their capital. San Genis only received a moderate -sum of money, and the right to requisition men of over thirty-five -from the city and the surrounding villages. The labour had to be -paid, and therefore the labourers were few. The new works were -sketched out rather than executed. Things progressed with a leisurely -slowness, till in November the dangers of the situation began to be -appreciated, and the approach of the French reinforcements drove the -Saragossans to greater energy. But it was only the thunderclap of -Tudela that really alarmed them, and sent soldiers and civilians, -men, women, and children, to labour with feverish haste at the -completion of the new lines. Between November 25 and December 20 the -amount of work that was carried out was amazing and admirable. If Ney -and Moncey had been allowed to commence the regular siege before the -month of November had expired, they would have found the whole system -of works in an incomplete condition. Three weeks later Saragossa had -been converted into a formidable fortress. - -The only point where San Genis’ scheme had not been fully developed -was the Monte Torrero. It will be remembered that this important -hill, whose summit lies only 1,800 yards from the walls of Saragossa, -overlooks the whole city, and had been chosen during the first siege -as the _emplacement_ for the main breaching batteries. To keep the -French from this commanding position was most important, and the -Spanish engineer had intended to cover the whole circuit of the -hill with a large entrenched camp, protected by continuous lines of -earthworks and numerous redoubts, with the Canal of Aragon, which -runs under its southern foot, as a wet ditch in its front. But, when -the news of Tudela arrived, little or nothing had been done to carry -out this scheme: the fortification of the city had absorbed the main -attention of the Aragonese, and while that was still incomplete -the Monte Torrero had been neglected. In December it was too late -to begin the building of three or four miles of new earthworks, -and in consequence nothing was constructed on the suburban hill -save one large central redoubt, and two small works serving as -_têtes-de-pont_, at the points where the Madrid and the La Muela -roads cross the Canal of Aragon. St. March’s Valencian division, -still 6,000 strong, was told off for the defence of the hill, but had -no continuous line of works to cover it. The only strength of the -position lay in the canal which runs round its foot: but this was not -very broad, and was fordable at more than one point. In short, the -Monte Torrero constituted an outlying defence which might be held for -some time, in order to keep the besiegers far off from the body of -the place, rather than an integral part of its line of defence. - -It was on the works of Saragossa itself that the energy of more -than 60,000 enthusiastic labourers, military and civilian, had -been expended during the month that followed Tudela. The total -accomplished in this time moves our respect: it will be well to take -the various fronts in detail. - -On the Western front, from the Ebro to the Huerba, there had been -in August nothing more than a weak wall, many parts of which were -composed of the rear-sides of convents and buildings. In front of -this line there had been constructed by November 10 a very different -defence. A solid rampart reveted with bricks taken from ruined -houses, and furnished with a broad terrace for artillery, and a ditch -forty-five feet deep now covered the entire western side of the -city. The convents of the Augustinians and the Trinitarians, which -had been outside the walls during the earlier siege, had been taken -into this new _enceinte_ and served as bastions in it. There being -a space 600 yards long between them, where the curtain would have -been unprotected by flanking fires, a great semicircular battery had -been thrown out, which acted as a third bastion on this side. Strong -earthworks had also been built up to cover the Portillo and Carmen -gates. As an outlying fort there was the castle of the Aljafferia, -which had received extensive repairs, and was connected with the -_enceinte_ by a ditch and a covered way. It would completely enfilade -any attacks made on the north-western part of the new wall. - -On the Southern front of the defences the work done had been even -more important. Here the new fortifications had been carried down -to the brink of the ravine of the Huerba, so as to make that stream -the wet ditch of the town. Two great redoubts were pushed beyond -it: one called the redoubt of ‘Our Lady of the Pillar’ lay at the -bridge outside the Santa Engracia gate. It was provided with a deep -narrow ditch, into which the water of the river had been turned, and -armed with eight guns. The corresponding fort, at the south-east -angle of the town, was made by fortifying the convent of San José, -on the Valencia road, just beyond the Huerba. This was a quadrangle -120 yards long by eighty broad, furnished with a ditch, and with a -covered way with palisades, cut in the counterscarp. It held twelve -heavy guns, and a garrison of no less than 3,000 men. Between San -José and the Pillar redoubt, the old town wall above the Huerba had -been strengthened and thickened, and several new batteries had been -built upon it. It could not well be assailed till the two projecting -works in front of it should be reduced, and if they should fall it -stood on higher ground and completely commanded their sites. The -convent of Santa Engracia, so much disputed during the first siege, -had been turned into a sort of fortress, and heavily armed with guns -of position. - -On the eastern front of the city from San José to the Ebro, the -Huerba still serves as a ditch to the place, but is not so steep or -so difficult as in its upper course. Here the suburb of the Tanneries -(Las Tenerias), where that stream falls into the Ebro, had been -turned into a strong projecting redoubt, whose fire commanded both -the opposite bank of the Ebro on one side, and the lower reaches of -the Huerba on the other. Half way between this redoubt and San José -was a great battery (generally called the ‘Palafox Battery’) at the -Porta Quemada, whose fires, crossing those of the other two works, -commanded all the low ground outside the eastern front of the city. - -It only remains to speak of the fortifications of the transpontine -suburb of San Lazaro. This was by nature the weakest part of the -defences, as the suburb is built in low marshy ground on the river’s -edge. Here deep cuttings had been made and filled with water, three -heavy batteries had been erected, and the convents of San Lazaro and -Jesus had been strengthened, crenellated and loopholed, and turned -into forts. The whole of these works were joined by palisades and -ditches. They formed a great _tête-de-pont_, requiring a garrison -of 3,000 men. As an additional defence for the flanks of the suburb -three or four gunboats, manned by sailors brought up from Cartagena, -had been launched on the Ebro, and commanded the reach of the river -which runs along the northern side of the city. - -Yet great as were the works which now sheathed the body of Saragossa, -the people had not forgotten the moral lesson of the first siege. -When her walls had been beaten down, she had resisted behind her -barricades and the solid houses of her narrow streets. They fully -realized that this might again have to be done, if the French -should succeed in breaking in at some point of the long _enceinte_. -Accordingly, every preparation was made for street fighting. Houses -were loopholed, and communications were pierced between them, without -any regard for private property or convenience. Ground-floor windows -were built up, and arrangements made for the speedy and solid closing -of all doors. Traverses were erected in the streets, to guard as -far as was possible against the dangers of a bombardment, and an -elaborate system of barricades, arranged in proper tactical relation -to each other, was sketched out. The walls might be broken, but the -people boasted that the kernel should be harder than the shell. - -Outside the city, where the olive groves and suburban villas and -summer houses had given much cover to the French during the first -siege, a clean sweep had been made of every stone and stick for 800 -yards around the defences. The trees were felled, and dragged into -the city, to be cut up into palisades. The bricks and stones were -carried off to revet the new ramparts and ditches. The once fertile -and picturesque garden-suburbs were left bald and bare, and could be -perfectly well searched by the cannon from the walls, so that the -enemy had to contrive all his cover by pick and shovel, or gabion and -fascine. - -The soldiery, whose spirits had been much dashed by the disaster of -Tudela, soon picked up their courage when they noted the enthusiasm -of the citizens and the strength of the defences. Indeed, it was -dangerous for any man to show outward signs of doubt or fear, for the -Aragonese had been wrought up to a pitch of hysterical patriotism -which made them look upon faintheartedness as treason. Palafox -himself did his best to keep down riots and assassinations, but his -followers were always stimulating him to apply martial law in its -most rigorous form. A high gallows was erected in the middle of the -Coso, and short shrift was given to any man convicted of attempted -desertion, disobedience to orders, or cowardice. Delations were -innumerable, and the Captain-General had the greatest difficulty in -preserving from the popular fury even persons whom he believed to -be innocent. The most that he could do for them was to shut them -up in the prisons of the Aljafferia, and to defer their trial till -the siege should be over. The fact was that Palafox was well aware -that his power rested on the unlimited confidence reposed on him by -the people, and was therefore bent on crossing their desires as -little as he could help. He was careful to take counsel not only -with his military subordinates, but with all those who had power -in the streets. Hence came the prominence which is assigned in all -the narratives of the siege to obscure persons, such as the priests -Don Basilio (the Captain-General’s chaplain) and Santiago Sass, and -to the demagogues ‘Tio Jorge’ and ‘Tio Marin.’ They represented -public opinion, and had to be conciliated. It is going too far to -say, with Napier, that a regular ‘Reign of Terror’ prevailed in -Saragossa throughout the second siege, and that Palafox was no -more than a puppet, whose strings were pulled by fanatical friars -and bloodthirsty gutter-politicians. But it is clear that the -Captain-General’s dictatorial power was only preserved by a careful -observation of every gust of popular feeling, and that the acts -of his subordinates were often reckless and cruel. The soldiers -disliked the fanatical citizens: the work of Colonel Cavallero, the -engineer officer who has left the best Spanish narrative of the -siege, is full of this feeling. He sums up the situation by writing -that ‘The agents of the Commander-in-chief sometimes abused their -power. Everything was demanded in the name of King and Country, -every act of disobedience was counted as high treason: on the other -hand, known devotion to the holy cause gave unlimited authority, and -assured impunity for any act to those who had the smallest shadow of -delegated power. Even if the citizens had not been unanimous in their -feelings, fear would have given them an appearance of unanimity. -To the intoxication of confidence and national pride caused by -the results of the first siege, to the natural obstinacy of the -Aragonese, to the strength of a dictatorial government supported -by democratic enthusiasm, there was added an exalted religious -fanaticism. Our Lady of the Pillar, patroness of Saragossa, had, it -was supposed, displayed her power by the raising of the first siege: -it had been the greatest of her miracles. Anything could be got from -a people in this frame of mind[110].’ - - [110] Cavallero, pp. 68-9. Belmas translates the paragraph almost - word for word in ii. 144-5 of his work, without acknowledgement. - -Palafox knew well how to deal with his followers. He kept himself -always before their eyes; his activity was unceasing, his supervision -was felt in every department. His unending series of eloquent, if -somewhat bombastic, proclamations was well suited to rouse their -enthusiasm. He displayed, even to ostentation, a confidence which he -did not always feel, because he saw that the strength of the defence -lay in the fact that the Aragonese were convinced in the certainty of -their own triumph. The first doubt as to ultimate success would dull -their courage and weaken their arms. We cannot blame him, under the -circumstances, if he concealed from them everything that was likely -to damp their ardour, and allowed them to believe everything that -would keep up their spirits. - -Meanwhile he did not neglect the practical side of the defence. The -best testimony to his capacity is the careful accumulation which -he made of all the stores and material needed for a long siege. -Alone among all the Spanish garrisons of the war, that of Saragossa -never suffered from hunger nor from want of resources. It was the -pestilence, not starvation, which was destined to prove the ruin of -the defence. Before the French investment began Palafox had gathered -in six months’ provisions for 15,000 men; the garrison was doubled by -the arrival of the routed army from Tudela: yet still there was food -for three months for the military. The citizens had been directed -to lay in private stocks, and to feed themselves: this they had -done, and it was not till the end of the siege that they began to -run short of comestibles. Even when the place fell there were still -large quantities of corn, maize, salt fish, oil, brandy, and forage -for horses in the magazines[111]. Only fresh meat had failed, and -the Spaniard is never a great consumer of that commodity. Military -stores had been prepared in vast quantities: there was an ample -stock of sandbags, of timber for palisading, of iron work and spare -fittings for artillery. Instead of gabions the garrison used the -large wicker baskets employed for the vintage, which were available -in profusion. Of artillery there were some 160 pieces in the place, -but too many of them were of small calibre: only about sixty were -16-pounders or heavier. Of these more than half were French pieces, -abandoned by Verdier in August in his siege-works, or fished out of -the canal into which he had thrown them. Of cannon-balls there was -also an ample provision: a great part, like the siege-guns, were -spoil taken in the deserted camp of the French in August. Shells, -on the other hand, were very deficient, and the workmen of the local -arsenal could not manufacture them satisfactorily. The powder was -made in the place throughout the siege: the accident in July, when -the great magazine in the Seminary blew up with such disastrous -results, had induced Palafox to order that no great central store -should be made, but that the sulphur, saltpetre, and charcoal should -be kept apart, and compounded daily in quantities sufficient for -all requirements. So many thousand civilians were kept at work on -powder-and cartridge-making that this plan never failed, and no great -explosions took place during the second siege. - - [111] Cavallero, pp. 81 and 148. - -It will be remembered that want of muskets had been one of the chief -hindrances of the Aragonese during the operations in July and August. -It was not felt in December and January, for not only had Palafox -collected a large store of small arms during the autumn, to equip his -reserves, but he received, just before the investment began, a large -convoy of British muskets, sent up from Tarragona by Colonel Doyle, -who had gone down to the coast by the Captain-General’s desire, -to hurry on their transport. As the siege went on, the mortality -among the garrison was so great that the stock of muskets more than -sufficed for those who were in a state to bear arms. - -Such were the preparations which were made to receive the French, -when they should finally present themselves in front of the walls. -All had been done, save in one matter, to enable the city to make -the best defence possible under the circumstances. The single -omission was to provide for a field force beyond the walls capable -of harassing the besiegers from without, and of cutting their -communications with their base. From his 40,000 men Palafox ought -to have detached a strong division, with orders to base itself upon -Upper Aragon, and keep the French in constant fear as to their -supplies and their touch with Tudela and Pampeluna. Ten thousand -men could easily have been spared, and the mischief that they might -have done was incalculable. The city had more defenders than were -needed: in the open country, on the other hand, there was no nucleus -left for further resistance. Almost every available man had been -sent up to Saragossa: with the exception of Lazan’s division in -Catalonia, and of three other battalions[112], the whole of the -32,000 men raised by the kingdom of Aragon were inside the walls. -Outside there remained nothing but unorganized bands of peasants to -keep the field and molest the besiegers. The only help from without -that was given to the city was that supplied by Lazan’s small -force, when it was withdrawn from Catalonia in January, and 4,000 -men could do nothing against two French army corps. Even as it was, -the French had to tell off the best part of two divisions to guard -their communications. What could they have done if there had been a -solid body of 10,000 men ranging the mountains, and descending at -every favourable opportunity to fall upon some post on the long line -Alagon-Mallen-Tudela-Pampeluna by which the besiegers drew their food -and munitions from their base? - - [112] The battalions of Alcañiz, Tauste, and _Tiradores de - Doyle_; the last were at Jaca, and afterwards served with Blake’s - army at Maria and Belchite. They are wrongly put in Saragossa, in - Arteche, iv. Appendix. - -It would seem that the neglect of Palafox to provide for this -necessary detachment arose from three causes. The first was his -want of real strategical insight--which had been amply displayed -during the autumn, when he was always urging on his colleagues his -ridiculous plan for ‘surrounding’ the French army, by an impossible -march into Navarre and the Pyrenees. The second was his conviction, -well-founded enough in itself, that his troops would do much better -behind walls than in the open[113]. The third was a strong belief -that the siege would be raised not by any operations from without, -but by the rigours of the winter. In average years the months of -January and February are tempestuous and rainy in Aragon. The low -ground about Saragossa is often inundated: even if the enemy were not -drowned out (like the besiegers of Leyden in 1574), Palafox thought -that they would find trench-work impossible in the constant downpour, -and would be so much thinned by dysentery and rheumatism that they -would have to draw back from their low-lying camps and raise the -siege. Unfortunately for him the winter turned out exceptionally -mild, and (what was worse) exceptionally dry. The French had not -to suffer from the awful deluge which in Galicia, during this same -month, was rendering the retreat of Sir John Moore so miserable. -The rain did no more than send many of the besiegers to hospital: it -never stopped their advance or flooded their trenches. - - [113] See the remarks in defence of Palafox in Arteche, iv. 332-4. - -When Palafox had nearly completed his defences--the works on the -Monte Torrero alone were still hopelessly behindhand--the French at -last began to move up against him. On December 15 Marshal Mortier -arrived at Tudela with the whole of the 5th Corps, veterans from -the German garrisons who had not yet fired a shot in Spain. Their -ranks were so full that though only two divisions, or twenty-eight -battalions, formed the corps, it counted 21,000 bayonets. It had also -a brigade of two regiments of hussars and chasseurs as corps-cavalry, -with a strength of 1,500 sabres. The condition of Moncey’s 3rd Corps -was much less satisfactory: it was mainly composed of relics of the -original army of Spain--of the conscripts formed into provisional -regiments with whom Napoleon had at first intended to conquer the -Peninsula[114]. Its other troops, almost without exception, had -taken part in the first siege of Saragossa under Verdier, a not very -cheerful or inspiriting preparation for the second leaguer[115]. All -the regiments had been thinned by severe sickness in the autumn; on -October 10 they had already 7,741 men in hospital--far the largest -figure shown by any of the French corps in Spain. The number had -largely increased as the winter had drawn on, and the battalions -had grown so weak that Moncey consolidated his four divisions into -three during his halt at Alagon. The whole of the 4th division was -distributed between the 2nd and 3rd, so as to bring the others up -to a decent strength. On December 20 the thirty-eight battalions -only made up 20,000 effective men for the siege, while more than -10,000 lay sick, some with the army, some in the base hospitals -at Pampeluna. The health of the corps grew progressively worse -in January, till at last in the middle days of the siege it had -15,000 men with the colours, and no less than 13,000 sick. We find -the French generals complaining that one division of the 5th Corps -was almost as strong and effective at this time as the whole -combined force of the 3rd Corps[116]. Nevertheless these weary and -fever-ridden troops had to take in charge the main part of the siege -operations. - - [114] The 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, 121st, and 2nd Legion of - Reserve were all formed in this way. - - [115] These were the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of the Vistula, 44th and - 14th of the line, and one battalion each of the 70th and 5th - Léger. - -During the twenty days of his halt at Alagon, Moncey had employed -his sappers and many of his infantry in the manufacture of gabions, -wool-packs, and sandbags for the projected siege. He was continually -receiving convoys of heavy artillery and ammunition from Pampeluna, -and when Mortier came up on December 20, had a sufficiency of -material collected for the commencement of the leaguer. The two -marshals moved on together on that day, and marched eastward towards -Saragossa, with the whole of their forces, save that four battalions -were left to guard the camp and dépôts at Alagon, and three more -at Tudela to keep open the Pampeluna road[117]. Gazan’s division -crossed the Ebro opposite Tauste, to invest the transpontine suburb -of Saragossa: the rest of the army kept to the right bank. Late in -the evening both columns came in sight of the city. They mustered, -after deducting the troops left behind, about 38,000 infantry, -3,500 cavalry, and 3,000 sappers and artillerymen. They had sixty -siege-guns, over and above the eighty-four field-pieces belonging to -the corps-artillery of Mortier and Moncey. The provision of artillery -was copious--far more than the French had turned against many of -the first-class fortresses of Germany. The Emperor was determined -that Saragossa should be well battered, and had told off an extra -proportion of engineers against the place, entrusting the general -charge of the work to his aide-de-camp, General Lacoste, one of the -most distinguished officers of the scientific corps. - - [116] See the table in Belmas, ii. 381. - - [117] These were all detached from Moncey. The Alagon garrison - consisted of four battalions of the 2nd Legion of Reserve, 2,500 - strong. At Tudela were three battalions of the 121st regiment, - 1,800 bayonets. - -When the reinvestment began, Gazan on the left bank established -himself at Villanueva facing the suburb of San Lazaro. Mortier -with Suchet’s division took post at San Lamberto opposite the -western front of the city. Moncey, marching round the place, ranged -Grandjean’s troops opposite the Monte Torrero, on the southern front -of the defences, and Morlot further east near the mouth of the -Huerba. His other division, that of Musnier, formed the central -reserve, and guarded the artillery and the magazines. The Spaniards -made no attempt to delay the completion of the investment, and kept -quiet within their walls. - -On the next morning the actual siege began. It was destined to last -from December 20 to February 20, and may be divided into three -well-marked sections. The first comprises the operations against the -Spanish outworks, and terminates with the capture of the two great -bridge-heads beyond the Huerba, the forts of San José and Our Lady of -the Pillar: it lasted down to January 15. The second period includes -the time during which the besiegers attacked and finally broke -through the main _enceinte_ of the city: it lasts from January 16 to -January 27. The third section consists of the street-fighting, after -the walls had been pierced, and ends with the fall of Saragossa on -February 20. - -Having reconnoitred the whole circuit of the Spanish defences on -the very evening of their arrival before the city (December 20), -Moncey and Mortier recognized that their first task must be to evict -the Spaniards from the Monte Torrero, the one piece of dominating -ground in the whole region of operations, and the spot from which -Saragossa could be most effectively attacked. They were rejoiced to -see that the broad hill was not protected by any continuous line -of entrenchments, but was merely crowned by a large open redoubt, -and defended in front by the two small bridge-heads on the Canal of -Aragon. There was nothing to prevent an attempt to storm it by main -force. This was to be made on the following morning: at the same -time Gazan, on the left bank of the Ebro, was ordered to assault the -suburb of San Lazaro. Here the marshals had underrated the strength -of the Spanish position, which lay in such low ground and was so -difficult to make out, that it presented to the observer from a -distance an aspect of weakness that was far from the reality. - -At eight on the morning of December 21 three French batteries, placed -in favourable advanced positions, began to shell the redoubts on the -Monte Torrero, with satisfactory results, as they dismounted some of -the defender’s guns and exploded a small dépôt of reserve ammunition. -An hour later the infantry came into action. Moncey had told off for -the assault the divisions of Morlot and Grandjean, twenty battalions -in all[118]. The former attacked the eastern front of the position, -fording the canal and assailing the left-hand _tête-de-pont_ on -the Valencia road from the flank. The latter, which had passed the -canal far outside the Spanish lines, and operated between it and -the Huerba, attacked the south-western slopes of the hill. The -defence was weak, and when a brigade of Grandjean’s men pushed in -between the main redoubt on the crest and the Huerba, and took the -western part of the Spanish line in the rear, the day was won. St. -March’s battalions wavered all along the line; and as his reserves -could not be induced to fall upon the French advance, the Valencian -general withdrew his whole division into the city, abandoning the -entire circuit of the Monte Torrero. The assailants captured seven -guns--some of them disabled--in the three redoubts, and a standard -of the 5th regiment of Murcia. They had only lost twenty killed and -fifty wounded; the Spanish loss was also insignificant, considering -the importance of the position that was at stake, and hardly any -prisoners were taken[119]. The besiegers had now the power to bombard -all the southern front of Saragossa, and dominated, from the slopes -of the hill, the two advanced forts of San José and the Pillar. The -leaders of the populace were strongly of opinion that the Valencian -division had misbehaved, and they were not far wrong. Palafox had -great difficulty in protecting St. March, whose personal conduct -had been unimpeachable, from the wrath of the multitude, who wished -to make him responsible for the weakness shown by his men[120]. The -officer who lost the Monte Torrero in the first siege had been tried -and shot[121]: St. March was lucky to escape even without a reprimand. - - [118] Morlot’s division was short of the 121st and the 2nd Legion - of Reserve, left behind at Alagon and Tudela, and had only nine - battalions present. - - [119] Moncey to Berthier, Dec. 23. - - [120] Cavallero, pp. 89-90. - - [121] See vol. i. p. 153. - -Meanwhile things had gone very differently at the other point where -the French had tried to break down the outer defences of the city. -The attack on the transpontine suburb of San Lazaro had been allotted -to Gazan’s division. This was a very formidable force, 9,000 veterans -of the best quality, who were bent on showing that they had not -degenerated since they fought at Friedland. Owing to some slight -mistake in the combination, Gazan only delivered his attack at one -o’clock, two hours after the fighting on the Monte Torrero had -ceased. His leading brigade, that of Guérin, six battalions strong, -advanced against the northern and eastern fronts of the defences -of the suburb. The Spaniards were holding as an outwork a large -building called the Archbishop’s Tower (Torre del Arzobispo)[122] -on the Villanueva road, 600 yards in front of the main line of -entrenchments. This Gazan’s men carried at the first rush, killing -or capturing 300 men of a Swiss battalion[123] which held it. They -then pushed forward towards the inner fortifications, but were taken -in flank by a heavy artillery fire from a redoubt which they had -overlooked. This caused them to swerve towards the Barcelona road, -where they got possession of a house close under the convent of -Jesus, and threatened to cut off the garrison of that stronghold -from the rest of the defenders of the suburb. At this moment a -disgraceful panic seized the defenders of the San Lazaro convent, -which lay directly in front of the assailants. They abandoned their -post, and began to fly across the bridge into Saragossa. But Palafox -came up in person with a reserve, and reoccupied the abandoned post. -He then ordered a sortie against the buildings which the French -had seized, and succeeded in driving them out and compelling them -to retire into the open ground. Gazan doubted for a moment whether -he should not send in his second brigade to renew the attack, for -the six battalions that had borne the brunt of the first fighting -had now fallen into complete disorder. But remembering that if this -force failed to break into the suburb he had no reserves left, and -that Palafox might bring over the bridge as many reinforcements as -he chose, the French general resolved not to push the assault any -further. He drew back and retired behind the Gallego stream, where he -threw up entrenchments to cover himself, completely abandoning the -offensive. For two or three days he did not dare to move, expecting -to be attacked at any moment by the garrison. A sudden rise of the -Ebro had cut off his communication with Moncey, and he could neither -send the marshal an account of his check, nor get any orders from -him[124]. His casualty-list was severe, thirty officers and 650 men -killed and wounded: the Spaniards lost somewhat less, even including -the 300 Swiss who were cut to pieces at the Archbishop’s Tower. - - [122] Belmas calls it a factory (ii. 151), but Palafox in his - dispatch gives the name above. - - [123] ‘Suizos de Aragon.’ - - [124] An officer of sappers named Henri, and one of his privates, - tried to reopen communication by swimming the river on an - ice-cold night. They reached the further bank, but died of - exhaustion among the reeds, where their corpses were found next - morning: thus the message was never delivered. Belmas, ii. 153. - -Palafox next morning issued a proclamation, extolling the valour -shown in the defence of the suburb, treating the loss of the Monte -Torrero as insignificant, and exaggerating the losses of the French. -The Saragossans were rather encouraged than otherwise by the results -of the day’s fighting, and spoke as if they had merely lost an -outwork by the unsteadiness of St. March’s Valencians, while the main -hostile attack had been repulsed. But it is clear that the capture -of the dominating heights south of the city was an all-important -gain to the French. Without the Monte Torrero they could never have -pressed the siege home. As to the failure at the suburb, it came -from attacking with headlong courage an entrenched position that had -not been properly reconnoitred. The assault should never have been -delivered without artillery preparation, and was a grave mistake. -But clearly Mortier’s corps had yet to learn what the Spaniards were -like, and to realize that to turn them out from behind walls and -ditches was not the light task that they supposed. - -Moncey so thoroughly miscalculated the general effect of the fighting -upon the minds of the Spaniards, that next morning he sent in to -Palafox a flag of truce, with an officer bearing a formal demand for -the surrender of the city. ‘Madrid had fallen,’ he wrote: ‘Saragossa, -invested on all sides, had not the force to resist two complete -_corps d’armée_. He trusted that the Captain-General would spare the -beautiful and wealthy capital of Aragon the horrors of a siege. Ample -blood had already been shed, enough misfortunes already suffered by -Spain.’ Palafox replied in the strain that might have been expected -from him--‘The man who only wishes to die with honour in defence of -his country cares nothing about his position: but, as a matter of -fact, he found that his own was eminently favourable and encouraging. -In the first siege he had held out for sixty-one days with a garrison -far inferior to that now under his command. Was it likely that -he would surrender, when he had as many troops as his besiegers? -Looking at the results of the fighting on the previous day, when -the assailants had suffered so severely in front of San Lazaro, he -thought that he would be quite as well justified in proposing to the -Marshal that the besieging army should surrender “to spare further -effusion of blood,” as the latter had been to make such a proposition -to him. If Madrid had fallen, Madrid must have been sold: but he -begged for leave to doubt the truth of the rumour. Even at the worst -Madrid was but a town, like any other. Its fate had no influence on -Saragossa[125].’ - - [125] The two letters may be found in full in the appendices to - Belmas, vol. ii. - -Having received such an answer Moncey had only to set to work as fast -as possible: his engineer-in-chief, General Lacoste, after making a -thorough survey of the defences, pronounced in favour of choosing two -fronts of attack, both starting on the Monte Torrero, and directed -the one against the fort of San José and the other against that of -the Pillar. These projecting works would have to be carried before -any attempt could be made against the inner _enceinte_ of the town. -At the same time, Lacoste ordered a third attack, which he did not -propose to press home, to be made on the castle of the Aljafferia, -on the west side of the town. It was only intended to distract the -attention of the Spaniards from the points of real danger. On the -further bank of the Ebro, Gazan’s division was directed to move -forward again, and to entrench itself across all the three roads, -which issue from the suburb, and lead respectively to Lerida, Jaca, -and Monzon. He was not to attack, but merely to blockade the northern -exits of Saragossa. Communications with him were established by -means of a bridge of boats and pontoons laid above the town. Gazan -succeeded in shortening the front which he had to protect against -sorties by letting the water of the Ebro into the low-lying fields -along its banks, where it caused inundations on each of his flanks. - -On the twenty-third the preliminary works of the siege began, -approaches and covered ways being constructed leading down from the -Monte Torrero to the spots from which Lacoste intended to commence -the first parallels of the two attacks on the Pillar and San José. -Preparations of a similar sort were commenced for the false attack on -the left, opposite the Aljafferia. Six days were occupied in these -works, and in the bringing up of the heavy artillery, destined to arm -the siege-batteries, from Tudela. The guns had to come by road, as -the Spaniards had destroyed all the barges on the Canal of Aragon, -and blown up many of its locks. It was not till some time later that -the French succeeded in reopening the navigation, by replacing the -sluice-gates and building large punts and floats for the carriage of -guns or munitions. - -Just before the first parallel was opened Marshal Moncey was recalled -to Madrid [December 29], the Emperor being apparently discontented -with his delays in the early part of the month. He was replaced in -command of the 3rd Corps by Junot, whose old divisions had been made -over (as we have seen in the first volume) to Soult’s 2nd Corps. This -change made Mortier the senior officer of the besieging army, but he -and Junot seem to have worked more as partners than as commander and -subordinate. Junot, in his report to the Emperor[126] on the state in -which he found the troops, enlarges at great length on the deplorable -condition of the 3rd Corps. Many of the battalions had never received -their winter clothing, hundreds entered the hospitals every day, and -there was no corresponding outflow of convalescents. No less than 680 -men had died in the base hospital at Pampeluna in November, and the -figure for December would be worse. He doubted if there were 13,000 -infantry under arms in his three divisions--here he exaggerated -somewhat, for even a fortnight later the returns show that his -‘present under arms,’ after deducting all detachments and sick, were -still over 14,000 bayonets: on January 1, therefore, there must -have been 15,000. He asked for money, reinforcements, and a supply -of officers, the commissioned ranks of his corps showing a terrible -proportion of gaps. On the other hand, he conceded that the 5th -Corps was in excellent condition, its veterans suffering far less -from disease than his own conscripts. Either of Gazan’s and Suchet’s -divisions was, by itself, as strong as any two of the divisions of -the 3rd Corps. - - [126] Junot to Berthier, Jan. 1, 1809. - -On the night of the twenty-ninth--thirtieth, within twelve hours -of Moncey’s departure, the first parallel was opened, both in the -attack towards San José and in that opposite the Pillar fort. When -the design of the besiegers became evident, Palafox made three -sallies on the thirty-first, but apparently more with the object of -reconnoitring the siege-works and distracting the workers than with -any hope of breaking the French lines, for there were not more than -1,500 men employed in any of the three columns which delivered the -sorties. The assault on the trenches before San José was not pressed -home, but opposite the false attack at the Aljafferia the fighting -was more lively; the French outposts were all driven in with loss, -and a squadron of cavalry, which had slipped out from the Sancho -gate, close to the Ebro, surprised and sabred thirty men of a picket -on the left of the French lines. Palafox made the most of this small -success in a magniloquent proclamation published on the succeeding -day. He should have sent out 15,000 men instead of 3,000 if he -intended to get any profit out of his sorties. An attack delivered -with such a force on some one point of the lines must have paralysed -the siege operations, and might have proved disastrous to the French. - -Meanwhile the besiegers, undisturbed by these sallies, pushed forward -their works on the northern slopes of the Monte Torrero. The attack -opposite San José got forward much faster than that against the -Pillar: its second parallel was commenced on January 1, and its -batteries were all ready to open by the ninth. The other attack was -handicapped by the fact that the ground sloped down more rapidly -towards the Huerba, so that the trenches had to be made much deeper, -and pushed forward in perpetual zigzags, in order to avoid being -searched by the plunging fire from the Spanish batteries on the other -side of the stream, in the _enceinte_ of the town. To get a flanking -position against the Pillar redoubt, the left attack was continued -by another line of trenches beyond the Huerba, after it has made its -sharp turn to the south. - -Before the engineers had completed their work, and long ere the -breaching batteries were ready, a great strain was thrown upon the -besiegers by fresh orders from Napoleon. On January 2, Marshal -Mortier received a dispatch, bidding him march out to Calatayud -with one of his two divisions, and open up the direct communication -with Madrid. Accordingly he departed with the two strong brigades -of Suchet’s division, 10,000 bayonets. This withdrawal threw much -harder work on the remainder of the army: Junot was left with not -much more than 24,000 men, including the artillerymen, to maintain -the investment of the whole city. He was forced to spread out the -3rd Corps on a very thin line, in order to occupy all the posts from -which Suchet’s battalions had been withdrawn. Morlot’s division -came down from the Monte Torrero to occupy the ground which Suchet -had evacuated: Musnier had to cover the whole of the hill, and to -support both the lines of approach on which the engineers were busy. -Grandjean’s division remained on its old front, facing the eastern -side of the city, and Gazan still blockaded the suburb beyond the -Ebro. As the last-named general had still 8,000 men, there were -only 15,000 bayonets and the artillery available for the siege, a -force far too small to maintain a front nearly four miles long. If -Palafox had dared to make a general sortie with all his disposable -men, Junot’s position would have been more than hazardous. But -the Captain-General contented himself with making numerous and -useless sallies on a petty scale, sending out the most reckless and -determined of his men to waste themselves in bickering with the -guards of the trenches, when he should have saved them to head a -general assault in force upon some weak point of the siege lines. The -diaries and narratives of the French officers who served at Saragossa -are full of anecdotes of the frantic courage shown by the besieged, -generally to no purpose. One of the strangest has been preserved by -the very prosaic engineer Belmas, who tells how a priest in his robes -came out on January 6 in front of Gazan’s lines, and walked among -the bullets to within fifty yards of the trenches, when he preached -with great unction for some minutes, his crucifix in his hand, to the -effect that the French had a bad cause and were drawing down God’s -anger upon themselves. To the credit of his audience it must be said -that they let him go off alive, contenting themselves with firing -over his head, in order to see if they could scare him into a run. - -At daybreak on January 10, the whole of the French batteries opened -upon San José and the Pillar fort. The fire against the latter was -distant and comparatively ineffective, but the masonry of San José -began to crumble at once: its walls, solid though they were, had -never been built to resist siege artillery. The roofs and tiles came -crashing down upon the defenders’ heads, and most of their guns were -silenced or injured. The besiegers suffered little--Belmas says -that only one officer and ten men fell, though two guns in the most -advanced battery were disabled. The loss of the Spaniards on the -other hand was numbered by hundreds, more being slain by the fall -of stones and slates than by the actual cannon balls and shells of -the assailants. At nightfall Palafox withdrew most of the guns from -the convent, but replaced the decimated garrison by three fresh -battalions. It was clear that the work would fall next day unless the -besiegers were driven off from their batteries. At 1 A.M., therefore, -300 men made a desperate sally to spike the guns. But the French were -alert, and had brought up two field-pieces close to the convent, -which repressed the sortie with a storm of grape. - -Next morning the bombardment of San José recommenced, and by the -afternoon a large breach had been established in its southern wall. -At four o’clock General Grandjean launched a picked force, composed -of the seven voltigeur companies of the 14th and 44th regiments, -upon the crumbling defences[127]. The garrison had already begun -to quit the untenable post, and only a minority remained behind to -fight to the last. The storming column entered without much loss, -partly by laying scaling-ladders to the foot of the breach, partly by -using a small bridge of planks across the ditch, which the Spaniards -had forgotten to remove. They only lost thirty-eight men, and made -prisoners of about fifty of the garrison who had refused to retire -into the city when the rest fled. - - [127] Belmas, ii. 175. - -Though San José was thus easily captured, it was difficult to -establish a lodgement in it, for the batteries on the _enceinte_ -of Saragossa searched it from end to end, dominating its ruined -quadrangle from a superior height. But during the night the besiegers -succeeded in blocking up its gorge, and in connecting the breach with -their second parallel by a covered way of sandbags and fascines. -The convent was now the base from which they were to attack the -town-walls behind it. - -But before continuing the advance in this direction it was necessary -to carry the fort of Our Lady of the Pillar, the other great -outwork of the southern front of Saragossa. The main attention of -the besiegers was directed against this point from the twelfth to -the fifteenth, and their sapping gradually took them to within a -few yards of the counterscarp. The Spanish fire had been easily -subdued, and a practicable breach established. On the night of the -fifteenth-sixteenth the fort was stormed by the Poles of the 1st -regiment of the Vistula. They met with little or no resistance, the -greater part of the garrison having withdrawn when the assault was -seen to be imminent. A mine under the glacis exploded, but failed -to do any harm: another, better laid, destroyed the bridge over the -Huerba, behind the fort, when the work was seen to be in the power of -the assailants. Lacoste reported to Junot that the Poles lost only -one killed and two wounded--an incredibly small casualty list[128]. - - [128] Lacoste to Junot, Jan. 16, in Belmas, ii. 378. - -The fall of the fort of the Pillar gave the French complete -possession of all the ground to the south of the Huerba, and left -them free to attack the _enceinte_ of the city, which had now lost -all its outer works save the Aljafferia: in front of that castle the -‘false attack’ made little progress, for the besiegers did not press -in close, and contented themselves with battering the old mediaeval -fortress from a distance. On that part of the line of investment -nothing of importance was to happen. - - - - -SECTION XI: CHAPTER II - -SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA: THE FRENCH WITHIN THE WALLS: THE STREET-FIGHTING: -THE SURRENDER - - -Lacoste’s first care, when the Pillar and San José had both fallen -into his hands, was to connect the two works by his ‘third parallel,’ -which was drawn from one to the other just above the edge of the -ravine of the Huerba. In order to assail the walls of the city that -stream had to be crossed, a task of some difficulty, for its bed was -searched by the great batteries at Santa Engracia along the whole -front between the two captured forts, while north of San José the -‘Palafox Battery’ near the Porta Quemada completely overlooked the -lower and broader part of the river bed. The Spaniards kept up a fast -and furious fire upon the lost works, with the object of preventing -the besiegers from moving forward from them, or constructing fresh -batteries among their ruins. In this they were not successful: -the French, burrowing deep among the débris, successfully covered -themselves, and suffered little. - -The second stage of the siege work, the attack on the actual -_enceinte_ of Saragossa, now began. The two points on which it was -directed were the Santa Engracia battery--the southern salient of -the town--and the extreme south-eastern angle of the place, where -lay the Palafox Battery and the smaller work generally known as the -battery of the Oil Mill (Molino de Aceite). The former was less than -200 yards from the Pillar fort, the latter not more than 100 from San -José, but between them ran the deep bed of the Huerba. - -From the twelfth to the seventeenth the French were busily engaged -in throwing up batteries in the line of their third parallel, and on -the morning of the last-named day no less than nine were ready. Five -opened on Santa Engracia, four on the Palafox battery: at both points -they soon began to do extensive damage, for here the walls had not -been entirely reconstructed (as on the western front of the city), -but only patched up and strengthened with earthworks at intervals. -The masonry of the convent of Santa Engracia suffered most, and began -to fall in large patches. Palafox saw that the _enceinte_ would -be pierced ere long, and that street-fighting would be the next -stage of the siege. Accordingly he set the whole civil population -to work on constructing barricades across the streets and lanes of -the south-eastern part of the city, in the rear of the threatened -points, and turned every block of houses into an independent fort by -building up all the doorways and windows facing towards the enemy. -The spirits of the garrison were still high, and the Captain-General -had done his best to keep them up by issuing gazettes containing -very roseate accounts of the state of affairs in the outer world. -His communication with the open country was not completely cut, for -thrice he had been able to send boats down the Ebro, which took their -chance of running past the French batteries at night, and always -succeeded. One of these boats had carried the Captain-General’s -younger brother, Francisco Palafox, who had orders to appeal to -the Catalans for help, and to raise the peasants of Lower Aragon. -Occasional messengers also got in from without: one arrived on -January 16 from Catalonia, with promises of aid from the Marquis of -Lazan, who proposed to return from Gerona with his division, in order -to fall upon the rear of the besiegers. Palafox not only let this be -known, but published in his Official Gazette some utterly unfounded -rumours, which the courier had brought. Reding, it was said, had -beaten St. Cyr in the open field: the Duke of Infantado was marching -from Cuenca on Aragon with 20,000 men. Sir John Moore had turned to -bay on the pursuing forces of the Emperor, and had defeated them at -a battle in Galicia in which Marshal Ney had been killed[129]. To -celebrate this glorious news the church bells were set ringing, the -artillery fired a general salute, and military music paraded the -town. These phenomena were perfectly audible to the besiegers, and -caused them many searchings of heart, for they could not guess what -event the Saragossans could be celebrating. - - [129] Was this a distorted rumour of the combat of Cacabellos, - and the death of General Colbert, the commander of Ney’s - corps-cavalry, on Jan. 3? - -The garrison needed all the encouragement that could be given to -them, for after the middle of January the stress of the siege began -to be felt very heavily. Food was not wanting--for, excepting fresh -meat and vegetables, everything was still procurable in abundance. -But cold and overcrowding were beginning to cause epidemic disorders. -The greater part of the civil population had taken refuge in their -cellars when the bombardment began, and after a few days spent in -those dark and damp retreats, from which they only issued at night, -or when they were called on for labour at the fortifications, began -to develop fevers and dysentery. This was inevitable, for in most of -the dwellings from twenty to forty persons of all ages were crowded -in mere holes, no more than seven feet high, and almost unprovided -with ventilation, where they lived, ate, and slept, packed together, -and with no care for sanitary precautions[130]. The malignant fevers -bred in these refuges soon spread to the garrison: though under -cover, the soldiery were destitute of warm clothing (especially the -Murcian battalions), and could not procure enough firewood to cook -their meals. By January 20 there were 8,000 sick among the 30,000 -regular troops, and every day the wastage to the hospital grew more -and more noticeable. Many officers of note had already fallen in -the useless sorties, and in especial a grave loss had been suffered -on January 13, when Colonel San Genis, the chief engineer of the -besieged, and the designer of the whole of the defences of the -city, was killed on the ramparts of the Palafox battery, as he was -directing the fire against the new entrenchment which the French were -throwing up across the gorge of the San José fort[131]. He had no -competent successor as a general director, for his underlings had no -grasp of siege-strategy, and were only good at details. They built -batteries and barricades and ran mines in pure opportunism, without -any comprehensive scheme of defence before their eyes. - - [130] For the description of these miserable and most - insalubrious refuges, see Cavallero, pp. 90-100. - - [131] I give the date of San Genis’ death from Arteche, iv. - Belmas, on the other hand, puts it on Jan. 26, and Cavallero - apparently on Jan. 28, for he says that it was three days before - that of Lacoste, who was shot on Feb. 1. - -The French meanwhile were very active, though the constant increase -of sickness in the 3rd Corps was daily thinning the regiments, -till the proportion of men stricken down by fever was hardly less -than that among the Spaniards. On the seventeenth and eighteenth -Lacoste began to contrive a descent into the bottom of the ravine -of the Huerba, by a series of zigzags pushed forward from the third -parallel, both in the direction of Santa Engracia and in that of the -Palafox battery. The latter was repeatedly silenced by the advanced -batteries of the besiegers, but they could not subdue the incessant -musketry fire from windows and loopholes which swept the whole bed -of the Huerba, and rendered the work at the head of the new sap most -difficult and deadly. Sometimes it had to be completely abandoned -because of the plunging fire from the city[132]. Yet it was always -resumed after a time: the French found that their best and easiest -work was done in the early morning, when, for day after day, a -dense fog rose from the Ebro, which rendered it impossible for the -Spaniards to see what was going on, or to aim with any certainty -at the entrenchments. Irritated at the steady if slow progress of -the enemy, Palafox launched on the afternoon of January 23 the most -desperate sortie that his army had yet essayed against the advanced -works of the French. At four o’clock on that day[133] three columns -dashed out and attacked the line of trenches: one, as a blind, was -sent out opposite the Aljafferia, to distract the attention of -Morlot’s division from the main sally. The other two were serious -attacks, but both made with too small numbers--apparently no more -than 200 picked men in each. The left-hand column became hotly -engaged with the trenches to the north of San José, and got no -further forward than a house a little beyond the Huerba, from which -they expelled a French post. But the right-hand force carried out -a very bold programme. Crossing the Huerba below Santa Engracia, -they broke through the third parallel, and then made a dash at two -mortar-batteries in the second parallel which had particularly -annoyed the defence on that morning. The commander of the sortie, -Mariano Galindo, a captain of the Volunteers of Aragon, led his -men so straight that they rushed in with the bayonet on the first -battery and spiked both its pieces. They were making for the second -when they were overwhelmed by the trench guard and by reinforcements -hurrying up from Musnier’s camp. Of a hundred men who had gone -forward with Galindo from the third parallel twelve were killed and -thirty, including their brave leader, taken prisoners. The French -stated their loss at no more than six killed and five wounded, a -figure that seems suspiciously low, considering that the first line -of trenches had been stormed by the assailants, and a battery in the -second line captured and disabled. Galindo had gone forward more than -500 yards, into the very middle of the French works, before he was -checked and surrounded. It was a very gallant exploit, but once more -we are constrained to ask why Palafox told off for it no more than a -mere handful of men. What would have happened had he thrown a solid -column of 10,000 men upon the siege-works, instead of a few hundred -volunteers? - - [132] Belmas, ii. 198. - - [133] Oddly enough, Belmas places this sortie on Jan. 21, on - which day, as Arteche shows, none of the Spanish accounts speak - of a sortie, while the latter give at great length details of the - fighting on the twenty-third. Probably the Spanish date is the - correct one. - -On the twenty-second, the day before Galindo’s sortie, Junot was -superseded in command of the besieging army by Lannes, who had been -restored to health by two months’ holiday, and was now himself -again. He arrived just in time to take charge of the important task -of storming the main _enceinte_, for which Junot’s preparations -were now far advanced. But though the siege operations looked not -unpromising, he found the situation grave and dangerous. Belmas and -the other French historians describe this as the most critical epoch -of the whole Saragossan episode[134]. The fact was that at last -there were beginning to be signs of movement in the open country of -Aragon. During the month that had elapsed since the siege began, the -peasantry had been given time to draw together. Francisco Palafox, -after escaping from the city, had gone to Mequinenza, and was -arming the local levies with muskets procured from Catalonia. He -had already a great horde assembled in the direction of Alcañiz. -On the other bank of the Ebro Colonel Perena had been organizing -a force at Huesca, from northern Aragon and the foot-hills of the -Pyrenees. Lastly, it was known that Lazan was on his way from -Gerona to aid his brothers, and had brought to Lerida his division -of 4,000 men[135], a comparatively well-organized body of troops, -which had been under arms since October. Even far back, on the way -to Pampeluna, insurgents had gathered in the Sierra de Moncayo, and -were threatening the important half-way post of Tudela, by which the -besieging army kept up its communication with France. - - [134] Belmas, ii. 203. - - [135] Napier (i. 376) calls them ‘Catalonians’: but they were all - Aragonese, sent to aid Catalonia in October. - -Hitherto these gatherings had looked dangerous, but had done no -actual harm. General Wathier, with the cavalry of the 3rd Corps, had -scoured the southern bank of the Ebro and kept off the insurgents; -but now they were pressing closer in, and on January 20 a battalion, -which Gazan had sent out to drive away Perena’s levies, had been -checked and beaten off at Perdiguera, only twelve miles from the camp -of the besiegers. - -Lannes could not fail to see that if he committed himself to -the final assault on Saragossa, and entangled the 3rd Corps in -street-fighting, he might find himself assailed from the rear on -all points of his lines. There were no troops whatever in front of -Saragossa to form a ‘covering-force’ to beat off the insurgents, if -they should come down upon his camps while he was storming the city, -for the 3rd Corps and Gazan’s division had now only 20,000 infantry -for the conduct of the siege. - -Accordingly the Marshal resolved to undo the Emperor’s arrangements -for keeping up the line of communication with Madrid, and to draw in -Mortier, with Suchet’s strong and intact division, from Calatayud, -where he had been lying for the last three weeks. This was the -only possible force which he could use to provide himself with a -covering army. The touch with Madrid, a thing of comparatively minor -importance, had to be sacrificed, except so far as it could be kept -up by the division of Dessolles, which had now come back from the -pursuit of Sir John Moore, and had pushed detachments back to its old -posts at Sigüenza and Guadalajara. - -Mortier therefore evacuated Calatayud by the orders of Lannes, and -came back to the Ebro: passing behind the besieging army he crossed -the river and took post at Perdiguera with 10,000 men, facing the -levies of Perena in the direction of Huesca. It was only when he -had made certain of having this powerful reinforcement close at -hand, ready to deal with any interference from without, that Lannes -dared to proceed with the assault. At the same time that Mortier -arrived at Perdiguera, he sent out Wathier, with two battalions and -two regiments of cavalry, to deal with the insurgents of the Lower -Ebro, where Francisco Palafox had been busy. Four or five thousand -peasants with one newly-levied regiment of Aragonese volunteers tried -to resist this small column, but were beaten on the twenty-sixth -in front of the town of Alcañiz, which fell into Wathier’s hands, -and with it 20,000 sheep and 1,500 sacks of flour, which had been -collected for the revictualling of Saragossa, in case the investment -should be broken. They were a welcome windfall to the besieging army, -where food was none too plentiful, since the plain country where it -lay encamped had now been eaten bare, and convoys of food from Tudela -and Pampeluna were rare and inadequate. - -On January 24 the French had succeeded in pushing three approaches -across the Huerba, and were firmly established under its northern -bank. Two days later they made lodgements in ruins, cellars, and -low walls where buildings had been pulled down, in the narrow space -between the town wall and the river bank, below the Palafox battery. -The cannon of the defenders could only act intermittently: every -night the parapets were repaired, but every morning after a few hours -of artillery duel the Spanish guns were silenced by the dreadful -converging fire poured in upon them. Meanwhile Palafox was heaping -barricade upon barricade in the quarters behind the threatened -points, and fortifying the houses and convents which connected them. - -The final crisis arrived on the twenty-seventh. There were now -three practicable breaches,--two were on the side of the Palafox -battery, one in the convent of Santa Engracia. To storm the first and -second Lannes told off the light companies of the first brigade of -Grandjean’s division; to the third was allotted the 1st regiment of -the Vistula from Musnier’s division. Heavy supports lay behind them, -in the third parallel, with orders to rush in if the storming parties -should prove successful. - -The assault was delivered with great dash and swiftness at noon on -the twenty-seventh. On two points it was successful. At the most -northern breach the assailants reached the summit of the wall, but -could not get down into the city, on account of the storm of musketry -from barricades and houses that swept the gap into which they had -advanced. They merely made a lodgement in the breach itself, and -could penetrate no further. But in the central breach, close beneath -the Palafox battery, the voltigeurs not only passed the walls, but -seized the ‘Oil Mill’ which abutted on them, and a triangular block -of houses projecting into the town. At the Santa Engracia breach they -were even more fortunate: the Poles carried the convent with their -first rush: its outer wall had been battered down for a breadth of -thirty yard and entering there the stormers drove out the Spaniards -from the interior buildings of the place, and got into the large -square which lies behind it, where they seized the Capuchin nunnery. -Thus a considerable wedge was driven through the _enceinte_, and the -Spaniards had to evacuate the walls for some little distance on each -side of Santa Engracia. From the stretch to the west of that convent -they were driven out by an unpremeditated assault of Musnier’s -supports, who ran out from the trenches on the left of the Huerba, -and escaladed the dilapidated wall in front of them, when they saw -the garrison drawing back on account of the flanking fire from Santa -Engracia. They got possession of the whole outer _enceinte_ as far as -the Trinitarian convent by the Carmen gate. - -These successes were bought at the moderate loss of 350 men, of -whom two-thirds fell in the fighting on the Santa Engracia front; -the Spaniards lost somewhat more, including a few prisoners. In any -ordinary siege the day would have settled the fate of the place, for -the besiegers had broken through the _enceinte_ in two places, and -though the space seized inside the Palafox battery was not large, yet -on each side of Santa Engracia the assailants had penetrated so far -that a quarter of a mile of the walls was in their possession. But -Saragossa was not as other places, and the garrison were perfectly -prepared with a new front of defence, composed of batteries and -crenellated houses in rear of the lost positions. Two wedges, one -large and one small, had been driven into the town, but they had to -be broadened and driven further in if they were to have any effect. - -On the twenty-eighth, therefore, a new stage of the siege began, and -the street-fighting, which was to last for twenty-four days more, -had its commencement. Lannes had heard, from those who had served -under Verdier in the first siege, of the deplorable slaughter and -repeated repulses that had followed the attempt to carry by main -force the internal defences of the city. To hurl solid columns of -stormers at the barricades and the crenellated houses was not his -intention. He had made up his mind to advance by sap and mine, as -if he were dealing with regular fortifications. His plan was to use -each block of houses that he gained as a base for the attack upon the -next, and never to send in the infantry with the bayonet till he had -breached by artillery, or by mines, the building against which the -assault was directed. This form of attack was bound to be slow, but -it had the great merit of costing comparatively little in the way of -casualties. The fact was that the Marshal had not the numbers which -would justify him in wasting lives by assaults which might or might -not be successful, but which were certain to prove very bloody. The -whole Third Corps, as we have already seen, did not now furnish much -more than 13,000 bayonets, while Gazan’s men were all occupied in -watching the suburb, and Suchet’s lay far out, as a covering corps -set to watch Perena and Lazan. - -There was no one single dominating position in the city whose -occupation was likely to constrain the besieged to surrender. The -whole town is built on a level, and its fifty-three solidly-built -churches and convents formed so many forts, each of which was -defensible in itself and could not be reduced save by a direct -attack. All that could be done was to endeavour to capture them one -by one, in the hope that at last the Saragossans would grow tired -of their hopeless resistance, and consent to surrender, when they -realized that things had gone so far that they could only protract, -but could not finally beat off, the slow advance of the besieging -army. - -The work of the French, therefore, consisted in spreading out from -their two separate lodgements on the eastern and southern sides of -the city, with the simple object of gaining ground each day and of -driving the Spaniards back towards the centre of the place. On the -right attack the most important objective of the besiegers was the -block of monastic buildings to the north of the Palafox battery, -the twin convents of San Augustin and Santa Monica, which lay along -the northern side of the small wedge that they had driven into the -north-eastern corner of the town. As these buildings lay on ground -slightly higher than that which the French had occupied, it was -difficult to attack them by means of mines. But an intense converging -fire was brought to bear upon them, both from batteries outside the -walls, playing across the Huerba, and by guns brought inside the -captured angle of the _enceinte_. The outer walls of Santa Monica -were soon a mass of ruins: nevertheless the first attack on it -[January 29] was beaten off, and it was only on the next day, after -twenty-four hours more of furious bombardment, that Grandjean’s men -succeeded in storming, first the convent and then its church, after a -furious hand-to-hand fight with the defenders. - -After establishing themselves in Santa Monica the French were able -to capture some of the adjoining houses, and to turn their attention -against its neighbour San Augustin. They ran two mines under it, and -at the same time battered it heavily from the external batteries -beyond the Huerba. On February I the explosion took place: it opened -a breach in the east end of the convent church, and the storming -party, entering by the sacristy, got possession of the choir chapels -and the high altar. But the Spaniards rallied in the nave, ran a -barricade of chairs and benches across it, and held their own for -some time, firing down from the pulpit and the organ loft with -effect. Some climbed up into the roof and picked off the French -through the holes which the bombardment had left in the ceiling. -For some hours this strange indoor battle raged within the spacious -church. But at last the French carried the nave, and at night only -the belfry remained untaken. Its little garrison pelted the French -with grenades all day, and saved themselves at dusk by a sudden and -unexpected dash through the enemy. - -In the first flush of success, after San Augustin had been stormed, -the 44th regiment, from Grandjean’s division, tried to push on -through the streets towards the centre of the town. They captured -several barricades and houses, and struggled on till they had nearly -reached the Coso. But this sort of fighting was always dangerous -in Saragossa: the citizens kept up such a fierce fire from their -windows, and swarmed out against the flanks of the column in such -numbers, that the 44th had to give back, lost all that it had taken -beyond San Augustin, and left 200 dead and wounded behind. Even -the formal official reports of the French engineers speak with -respect of the courage shown by the besieged on this day. The houses -which they had lost in the afternoon they retook in the dusk, by -an extraordinary device. Finding the French solidly barricaded in -them, and proof against any attack from the street, hundreds of the -defenders climbed upon the roofs, tore up the tiles and entered by -the garrets, from which they descended and drove out the invaders by -a series of charges which cleared story after story[136]. Many monks, -and still more women, were seen among the armed crowds which swept -the assailants back towards Santa Monica. It was especially noticed -that the civilians did far more of the fighting than the soldiers. -This was their own special battle. - - [136] Report of General Laval (commanding-in the trenches this - day) to Lannes, in Appendix xxvi, of Belmas, vol. ii. Cf. von - Brandt, p. 34. - -Irritated at his losses on this day, Lannes issued a general order, -expressly forbidding any attempts to storm houses and barricades by -main force. After an explosion, the troops were to seize the building -that had been shattered, and to cover themselves in it; they were not -to go forward and fall upon intact defences further to the front. - -While the struggle was raging thus fiercely from January 28 to -February 1, in the eastern area of street-fighting, there had been a -no less desperate series of combats all around Santa Engracia, on the -southern front of attack. Here Musnier’s division was endeavouring -to drive the Spaniards out of the blocks of houses to the right and -left of the captured convent. They worked almost entirely by mines, -running tunnels forward from beneath the convent to blow down the -walls of the adjoining dwellings. But even when the mines had gutted -the doomed buildings, it was not easy to seize them: the few men who -survived the explosion did not fly, but held out among the ruins, -and had to be bayonetted by the assailants who rushed out from the -convent to occupy the new lodgements. Time after time the defenders, -though perfectly conscious that they were being undermined, and that -by staying on guard they were courting certain death, refused to -evacuate the threatened houses or to retire into safety. Hence their -losses were awful, but the French too suffered not a little, while -pushing forward to occupy each building as it was cleared by the -explosion. The constant rain of musket balls from roofs and church -towers searched out the ruins in which they had to effect their -lodgements, and many of the assailants fell before they could cover -themselves among the débris. - -On the thirty-first the Spaniards made a sudden rush from the -Misericordia buildings, to recover the Trinitarian convent, the most -western point on the _enceinte_ which had fallen into the hands of -the French at the assault of the twenty-seventh. They charged in upon -it with the greatest fury, and blew open the gate with a four-pounder -gun which they dragged up by hand to the very threshold. But the -French had built up the whole entrance with sandbags, which held -even when the doors had been shattered; and, after persisting for -some time in a fruitless attempt to break in, the Saragossans had to -retire, foiled and greatly thinned in numbers. - -On the following day (February 1) the French began to move forward -from Santa Engracia towards the Coso, always clearing their way by -explosions, and risking as few men as possible. Nevertheless they -could not always keep under cover, and this day they suffered a -severe loss: their chief engineer, General Lacoste, was shot through -the head, while reconnoitring from a window the houses against which -his next attack was to be directed[137]. He was succeeded in command -by Colonel Rogniat, one of the French historians of the siege. That -officer, as he tells us, discovered that his sappers were using too -large charges of powder, which destroyed the roofs and four walls of -each house that they undermined, so that the infantry who followed -had no cover when they first took possession. He therefore ordered -the substitution of smaller measures of powder, so as to throw down -only parts of the wall of the building nearest to the French lines, -and to leave the roof and the outer walls uninjured. In this way it -was much more easy to establish a lodgement, since the storming-party -were covered the moment that they had dashed into the shattered -shell. The only plan which the Spaniards could devise against this -method of procedure, was to set fire to the ruins, and to prevent -the entry of the assailants by burning down all that was left of the -house. As the buildings of Saragossa contained little woodwork, and -were not very combustible[138], the besieged daubed the walls with -tar and resin to make them blaze the better. When an explosion had -taken place, the surviving defenders set fire to the débris of floors -and roofs before retiring[139]. In this way they sometimes kept the -French back for as much as two days, since they could not make their -lodgement till the cinders had time to cool. Countermining against -the French approaches was often tried, but seldom with success, -for there were no trained miners in the city: the one battalion of -sappers which Palafox possessed had been formed from the workmen of -the Canal of Aragon, who had no experience in subterranean work. On -the other hand the French had three whole companies of miners, beside -eight more of sappers, who were almost as useful in the demolition of -the city. They maintained a distinct ascendent underground, though -they not unfrequently lost men in the repeated combats with knife and -pistol which ensued when mine and countermine met, and the two sides -fought for the possession of each other’s galleries. - - [137] There is a full account of his death in Legendre, i. - 149; that officer was in the room with him, when he and his - aide-de-camp, Lalobe, were simultaneously shot through the head - as they peered out of a side window where they thought themselves - unobserved. - - [138] The ceilings in all the better sort of houses were made of - vaulted arches, not of beams and boards. - - [139] See Cavallero, p. 120, and compare Belmas, ii. 253. - -The first week of February was now drawing to its close, and the -advance of the French into the city, though steady, had been -extremely slow. Every little block of five or six houses cost a day -to break up, and another to entrench. The waste of life, though not -excessive, was more than Lannes could really afford, and he waited -impatiently, but in vain, for any signs that the obstinacy of the -defence was slackening. But though he could not see it, the garrison -were being tried far more hardly than the besiegers. It was not so -much the loss by fire and sword that was ruining them as the silent -ravages of the epidemic fevers. Since the French had got within the -walls, and the bombardment of the city was being carried on from a -shorter range than before, the civilian population had been forced to -cling more closely than ever to its fetid cellars, and the infectious -fever which had appeared in January was developing at the most -fearful rate. Living under such insanitary conditions, and feeding -on flour and salt fish, for the vegetables had long been exhausted, -the Saragossans had no strength to bear up against the typhus. Whole -families died off, and their bodies lay forgotten, tainting the air -and spreading the contagion. Even where there were survivors, they -could not easily dispose of the dead, for the urban cemeteries were -gorged, and burials took place in trenches hastily opened in streets -or gardens. Outside the churches there were hundreds of corpses, -some coffined, others rolled in shrouds or sheets, waiting in rows -for the last services of the church, which the surviving clergy were -too few to read. The shells from the incessant bombardment were -continually falling in these open spaces, and tearing the dead to -pieces. Ere the siege was over there was a mass of mutilated and -decaying bodies heaped in front of every church door. Hundreds more -lay in the debatable ground for which the Spaniards and French were -contending, and the whole town reeked with contagion. The weather -was generally still and warm for the time of year, with a thick fog -rising every morning from the low ground by the Ebro. The smoke from -the burning houses lay low over the place, and the air was thick -with the mingled fumes of fire and pestilence. If it nauseated the -French, who had the open country behind them, and were relieved by -regiments at intervals, and allowed a rest in their camps outside -the walls, it was far more terrible to the Spaniards. The death rate -rose, as February drew on, from 300 up to 500 and even 600 a day. -The morning state of the garrison on the fourth day of the month -showed 13,737 sick and wounded, and only 8,495 men under arms. As the -total had been 32,000 when the siege began, nearly 10,000 men must -already have perished by the sword or disease. The civil population, -containing so many women, children, and aged persons, was of course -dying at a much quicker rate. Yet the place held out for sixteen -days longer! Palafox himself was struck down by the fever, but still -issued orders from his bed, and poured out a string of hysterical -proclamations, in which his delirium is clearly apparent. - -The terrible situation of the Saragossans was to a large extent -concealed from the besiegers, who only saw the line of desperate -fighting-men which met them in every house, and could only guess at -the death and desolation that lay behind. Every French eye-witness -bears record to the low spirits of the troops who were compelled to -fight in the long series of explosions and assaults which filled the -early weeks of February. The engineer Belmas, the most matter-of-fact -of all the historians of the siege, turns aside for a moment from his -traverses and mining-galleries, to describe the murmurs of the weary -infantry of the 3rd Corps. ‘Who ever heard before,’ they asked, ‘of -an army of 20,000 men being set to take a town defended by 50,000 -madmen? We have conquered a quarter of it, and now we are completely -fought out. We must halt and wait for reinforcements, or we shall all -perish, and be buried in these cursed ruins, before we can rout out -the last of these fanatics from their last stronghold[140].’ Lannes -did his best to encourage the rank and file, by showing them that the -Spaniards were suffering far more than they, and by pointing out that -the moment must inevitably come when the defence must break down from -mere exhaustion. He also endeavoured to obtain reinforcements from -the Emperor, but only received assurances that some conscripts and -convalescents for the 3rd Corps should be sent to him from Pampeluna -and Bayonne. No fresh regiments could be spared from France, when -the affairs of Central Europe were looking so doubtful[141]. The -best plan which the Marshal could devise for breaking down the -resolution of the Spaniards was to lengthen his front of attack, and -so endeavour to distract the attention of the besieged from the main -front of advance towards the Coso. - - [140] Belmas, ii. 294. Cf. Rogniat and Legendre. - - [141] Berthier to Lannes, Paris, Feb. 10. - -This was only to be done by causing the division of Gazan, which had -so long remained passive in front of the suburb, to open an energetic -attack on that outlying part of the fortress. The advantage to be -secured in this direction was not merely that a certain amount of -the defenders would be drawn away from the city. If the suburb were -captured it would be possible to erect batteries in it, which would -search the whole northern side of Saragossa, the one quarter of the -city which was still comparatively unaffected by the bombardment. -Here the bulk of the civil population was crowded together, and -here too Palafox had collected the greater part of his stores and -magazines. If the last safe corner of the city were exposed to a -bombardment from a fresh quarter, it would probably do much to lower -the hopes of the defenders. - -During the last days of January Gazan’s division had pressed back -the Spanish outposts in front of the suburb, and on the thirtieth of -that month Lannes had sent over two companies of siege artillery, to -construct batteries opposite the convents of Jesus and San Lazaro. -It was not till February 2-3, however, that he ordered a serious and -active attack to be pressed in this quarter. From the trench which -covered the front of Gazan’s investing lines a second parallel was -thrown out, and two breaching batteries erected against the Jesus -convent: on the fourth an advance by zigzags was pushed still further -forward, and more guns brought up. Some little delay was caused by -an unexpected swelling of the Ebro, which inundated that part of the -trenches which lay nearest to the river: but by the eighth all was -ready for the assault. The Jesus convent, as a glance at the map -will readily show, was the most projecting point of the defences of -the suburb, and was not well protected by any flanking fire from the -other works--indeed it was only helped to any appreciable extent by -a long fire across the water from the northern side of Saragossa, -and by the few gunboats which were moored near the bridge. It was a -weak structure--merely a brick convent with a ditch beyond it--and -the breaching batteries had found no difficulty in opening many large -gaps in its masonry. On the eighth it was stormed by Taupin’s brigade -of Gazan’s division: the garrison made a creditable resistance, -which cost the French ninety men, and then retired to San Lazaro -and the main fortifications of the suburb. The French established -themselves in the convent, and connected it with their siege-works, -finally turning its ruins into part of the third parallel, which they -began to draw out against the remaining transpontine works. They -would probably have proceeded to complete their operations in this -direction within the next two or three days, if it had not been for -an interruption from without. The two brothers, Lazan and Francisco -Palafox, had now united their forces, and had come forward to the -line of the Sierra de Alcubierre, only twenty miles from Saragossa, -the former with his 4,000 men from Catalonia, the latter with a mass -of peasants. Mortier, from his post at Perdiguera, reported their -approach to Lannes, and the latter went out in person to meet them, -taking with him Guérin’s brigade of Gazan’s division, and leaving -only that of Taupin to hold the lines opposite the suburb. Faced by -the 12,000 veteran bayonets of the 5th Corps, the two Palafoxes felt -that they were helpless, and retreated towards Fraga and Lerida, -without attempting to fight. On the thirteenth, therefore, Lannes -came back to the siege with the troops that he had drawn away from -it. While he was absent Palafox had a splendid opportunity for a -sortie on a large scale against Taupin and his isolated brigade, for -only 4,000 men were facing the suburb. But the time had already gone -by in which the garrison was capable of such an advance. They could -not now dispose of more than 10,000 men, soldiers and peasants and -citizens all included, and none of these could be drawn away from the -city, where the fighting-line was always growing weaker. Indeed, its -numbers were so thinned by the epidemic that Palafox was guarding -the Aljafferia with no more than 300 men, and manning the unattacked -western front with convalescents from the hospitals, who could -hardly stand, and often died at their posts during the cold and damp -hours of the night. All his available efficients were engaged in the -street-fighting with the 3rd Corps. - -For while the attack on the suburb was being pressed, the slow -advance of the besiegers within the walls was never slackened. -On some days they won a whole block of houses by their mining -operations: on others they lost many men and gained no advantage. The -right attack was extending itself towards the river, and working -from the convent of San Augustin into the quarter of the Tanneries. -At the same time it was also moving on toward the Coso, but with -extreme slowness, for the Spaniards made a specially desperate -defence in the houses about the University and the Church of the -Trinity. One three-storied building, which covered the traverse -across the Coso to the south of the University, stood _ten_ separate -assaults and four explosions, and held out from the ninth to the -eighteenth, effectually keeping back the advance of the besiegers -in this direction[142]. Nor could the French ever succeed in -connecting their field of operations on this front with that which -centred around Santa Engracia. Down to the very end of the siege the -Saragossans clung desperately to the south-eastern corner of the -city, and kept control of it right down to the external walls and the -bank of the Huerba, where they still possessed a narrow strip of 300 -yards of the _enceinte_. - - [142] Belmas, ii. 314, and before. - -The left attack of the French, that from the Santa Engracia side, -made much more progress, though even here it was slow and dearly -bought. On February 10, however, in spite of several checks, the -besiegers for the first time forced their way as far as the Coso, -working through the ruined hospital which had been destroyed in the -first siege. On the same day, at the north-western angle of their -advance, they made a valuable conquest in the church and convent of -San Francisco. A mine was driven under this great building from the -ruins of the hospital, and filled with no less than 3,000 pounds of -powder. It had not been discovered by the Spaniards, and the convent -was full of fighting-men at the moment of the explosion. The whole -grenadier company of the 1st regiment of Valencia and 300 irregulars -were blown up, and perished to a man[143]. Nor was this all: in -the northern part of the building was established the main factory -for military equipment of the Army of Aragon: it was crammed with -workpeople, largely women, for Palafox had forgotten or refused to -withdraw the dépôt to a less convenient and spacious but more safe -position. All these unfortunate non-combatants, to the number of at -least 400, perished, and the roof-tops for hundreds of yards around -were strewn with their dismembered limbs. - - [143] In Lejeune, i. 169, the reader will find some horrible - anecdotes of this explosion. - -It might have been expected that, as the immediate consequence of -this awful catastrophe, the French would have made a long step -forward in this direction. But such was not the case: before the -smoke had cleared away Spaniards rushed forward from the inner -defences, and occupied part of the ruins of San Francisco. A body -of peasants, headed by the _émigré_ colonel de Fleury, got into the -bell-tower of the convent, which had not fallen with the rest, and -kept up from its leads a vigorous plunging fire upon the besiegers, -when they stole forward to burrow into the mass of débris. But -with the loss of some thirty men the French succeeded in mastering -two-thirds of the ruins: next day they cleared the rest, and stormed -the belfry, where de Fleury and his men were all bayonetted after -a desperate fight on the winding stairs. It was first from the -commanding height of this steeple that the French officers obtained a -full view of the city. The sight was encouraging to them: they could -realize how much the inner parts of the place had suffered from the -bombardment, and noted with their telescopes the small number of -defenders visible behind the further barricades, the heaps of corpses -in the streets, and the slow and dejected pace of the few passengers -visible. Two great gallows with corpses hanging from them especially -attracted the eyes of the onlookers[144]. Other circumstances united -on this and the following day (February 11-12) to show that the -defence was at last beginning to slacken. A great mob of peasants, -mainly women, came out of the Portillo gate towards Morlot’s -trenches, and prayed hard for permission to go through the lines to -their villages. They were not fired on, but given a loaf apiece, and -then driven back into the city. It was still more significant that at -night, on the eleventh, four or five bodies of deserters stole out -to the French; they were all foreigners, belonging to the ‘Swiss’ -battalion[145] which was shut up in Saragossa: several officers -were among them. To excuse themselves they said that Palafox and -the friars were mad, and that they judged that all further defence -had become impossible. Yet the siege was to endure for nine days -longer[146]! - - [144] Lejeune, i. 177. - - [145] The ‘Suizos de Aragon,’ of which the unfortunate Fleury had - been colonel, had not all perished on Dec. 21. - - [146] Arteche, iv. 472, and Lejeune, i. 179. - -Though the two main attacks continued to press slowly forward, and -that on the left had now reached the Coso and covered a front of -100 yards on the southern side of that great street, it was not on -this front that the decisive blow was destined to be given. On the -eighteenth Lannes determined to deliver the great assault on the -suburb, where the batteries in the third parallel and about the -Jesus convent had now completely shattered the San Lazaro defences. -All Gazan’s men being now back in their trenches, since Mortier’s -expedition had driven off the Marquis of Lazan, Lannes considered -that he might safely risk the storm. Fifty-two siege-guns played on -San Lazaro throughout the morning of the eighteenth, and no less -than eight practicable breaches were opened in it and the works to -its right and left. At noon three storming columns leaped out of the -trenches and raced for the nearest of these entries. All three burst -through: there was a sharp struggle in the street of the suburb, and -then the French reached and seized a block of houses at the head of -the bridge, which cut the defence in two and rendered a retreat into -Saragossa almost impossible. The Spaniards, seeing that all was lost, -split into two bodies: one tried to force its way across the bridge; -but only 300 passed; the rest were slain or captured. The main part, -consisting of the defenders of the western front of the suburb, -formed in a solid mass and, abandoning their defences, tried to -escape westward up the bank of the Ebro, into the open country. They -got across the inundation in their front, but when they had gone thus -far were surrounded by two regiments of French cavalry, and forced to -surrender. They numbered 1,500 men, under General Manso, commanding -the 3rd division of Palafox’s army, the one which furnished the -garrison of the suburb. The officer commanding the whole transpontine -defence, Baron de Versage, had been killed by a cannon-ball on the -bridge. - -[Illustration: SECOND SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA - DEC. 1808 TO FEB. 1809] - -This was not the only disaster suffered by the Saragossans on the -eighteenth: at three in the afternoon, when the news of the loss -of the suburb had had time to spread round the town, and the -attention of the besieged was distracted to this side, Grandjean’s -division attacked the houses and barricades in the north-eastern part -of the city, which had so long held them at bay. A great mine opened -a breach in the University, which was stormed, and with it fell the -houses on each side, as far as the Coso. At the same time another -attack won some ground in the direction of the Trinity convent, and -the Ebro. Next day the Spaniards in this remote corner of the town, -almost cut off from the main body of the defenders, and now battered -from the rear by new works thrown up in the suburb, in and about San -Lazaro, drew back and abandoned the quarter of the Tanneries, the -quays, and the outer _enceinte_ looking over the mouth of the Huerba. - -On the nineteenth it was evident that the end had come: a third of -the ever-dwindling force of effective men of which Palafox could -dispose had been killed or captured at the storm of San Lazaro. The -city was now being fired on from the north, the only side which had -hitherto been safe. The epidemic was worse than ever--600 a day are -said to have died during the final week of the siege. The last mills -which the garrison possessed had lately been destroyed, and no more -flour was issued, but unground corn, which had to be smashed up -between paving-stones, or boiled and eaten as a sort of porridge. -The supply of powder was beginning to run low; not from want of -material to compound it, but from the laboratories having been mostly -destroyed and from the greater part of the arsenal workmen having -died. Only about 700 pounds a day [six quintals] could now be turned -out, and the daily expenditure in the mines and barricades came to -much more. - -On this morning the French noted that at many points the defence -seemed to be slackening, and that parts of the line were very -feebly manned. They made more progress this day than in any earlier -twenty-four hours of the siege. Their main work, however, was to run -six large mines under the Coso, till they got below the houses on its -further side, somewhat to the right of San Francisco. Rogniat placed -3,000 pounds of powder in each, a quantity that was calculated to -blow up the whole quarter. - -It was not necessary to use them. The spirits of the defenders had -at last been broken, and surrender was openly spoken of--though its -mention ten days earlier would have cost the life of the proposer. -Palafox on his sick bed understood that all was over; he sent for -General St. March and resigned the military command to him. But in -order that he might not seem to be shirking his responsibility, and -trying to put the ignominy of asking for terms on his successor, -he sent his aide-de-camp Casseillas to Lannes, offering surrender, -but demanding that the troops should march out with the honours of -war and join the nearest Spanish army in the field. Then he turned -his face to the wall, and prepared to die, for the fever lay heavy -upon him, and broken with despair and fatigue he thought that he -had not many hours to live. St. March’s appointment not being well -taken--the loss of the Monte Torrero was still remembered against -him--Palafox’s last act was to give over charge of the city to a -Junta of thirty-three persons[147], mainly local notables and clergy, -to whom the finishing of the negotiations would fall. - - [147] Their names can be found on p. 494 of Arteche, vol. iv. - -Of course Lannes sent back the Captain-General’s aide-de-camp with -the message that he must ask for unconditional surrender, and that -the proposal that the garrison should be allowed to depart was -absurd. The fighting was resumed on the morning of the twentieth, -and the French were making appreciable progress, when the Junta -once more sent to ask terms from the besiegers. It was not without -some bitter debate among themselves that they took this step, for -there was still a minority, including St. March and the priest Padre -Consolation, who wished to continue the resistance. They were backed -by a section of the citizens, who began to collect and to raise angry -cries of Treason. But the whole of the soldiery and the major part -of the civilian defenders were prepared to yield. At four o’clock in -the afternoon they sent out to ask for a twenty-four hours’ truce to -settle terms of surrender. Lannes granted them two hours to send him -out a deputation charged with full powers to capitulate, and ordered -the bombardment and the mining to cease. His aide-de-camp, who bore -the message, was nearly murdered by fanatics in the street[148], and -was rescued with difficulty by some officers of the regular army. -But the Junta sent him back with the message that the deputation -should be forthcoming, and within the stipulated time eleven of its -members came out from the Portillo gate[149], to the Marshal’s head -quarters on the Calatayud road. There was not much discussion: Lannes -contented himself with pointing out to the Spaniards that the place -was at his mercy: he had the plan of his siege-works unrolled before -them, and pointed out the position of the six great mines under the -Coso[150], as well as those of the advanced posts which he had gained -during the last two days. The deputies made some feeble attempts to -secure that the name of Ferdinand VII should appear in the articles -of capitulation, and that the clergy should be guaranteed immunity -and undisturbed possession of their benefices. Lannes waved all such -proposals aside, and dictated a form of surrender which was on the -whole reasonable and even generous. The garrison should march out -on the following day, and lay down its arms 100 yards outside the -Portillo gate. Those who would swear homage to King Joseph should -have their liberty, and might take service with him if they wished. -Those who refused the oath should march as prisoners to France. -The city should be granted a general pardon: the churches should -be respected: private property should not be meddled with. The -citizens must surrender all their weapons of whatever sort. Any civil -magistrates or employés who wished to keep their places must take the -oath of allegiance to King Joseph. - - [148] In Lejeune, i. 194-5, will be found a most picturesque - account of the interview of the French envoy with the - fever-ridden and despairing Junta, almost hysterical with rage - and shame, but accepting the inevitable. - - [149] It is notable that there was not a single churchman among - them, though there were eight among the thirty-three members - of the Junta. The clergy represented to the last the fighting - section. - - [150] Lejeune, in his interesting narrative of this interview, - says that he saw one of the deputies pore over the map and - recognize his own house among the mined buildings; he crossed - himself five or six times, and cried in accents of bitter grief - ‘_Ah la Casa Ciscala_.’ The name of Don Joachim Ciscala does - occur among the eleven signatures, so the story is probably true. - Lejeune, i. 198. - -On the following morning the garrison marched out: of peasants and -soldiers there were altogether about 8,000 men, 1,500 of whom were -convalescents from the Hospitals. ‘Never had any of us gazed on a -more sad or touching sight,’ writes Lejeune; ‘these sickly looking -men, bearing in their bodies the seeds of the fever, all frightfully -emaciated, with long black matted beards, and scarcely able to hold -their weapons, dragged themselves slowly along to the sound of the -drum. Their clothes were torn and dirty: everything about them bore -witness to terrible misery. But in spite of their livid faces, -blackened with powder, and scarred with rage and grief, they bore -themselves with dignity and pride. The bright coloured sashes, the -large round hats surmounted by a few cock’s-feathers which shaded -their foreheads, the brown cloaks or _ponchos_ flung over their -varied costumes, lent a certain picturesqueness to their tattered -garb. When the moment came for them to pile their arms and deliver up -their flags, many of them gave violent expression to their despair. -Their eyes gleamed with rage, and their savage looks seemed to -say that they had counted our ranks, and deeply regretted having -surrendered to such a small army of enemies[151].’ - - [151] Lejeune, i. 202. - -Another and more matter-of-fact eye-witness adds, ‘They were a most -motley crowd of men of all ages and conditions, some in uniform, more -without it. The officers were mostly mounted on mules or donkeys, and -were only distinguished from the men by their three-cornered hats and -their large cloaks. Many were smoking their _cigarillos_ and talking -to each other with an aspect of complete indifference. But all were -not so resigned. The whole garrison, 8,000 to 10,000 strong, defiled -in front of us: the majority looked so utterly unlike soldiers, -that our men said openly to each other that they ought not to have -taken so long or spent so much trouble in getting rid of such a -rabble[152].’ The column was promptly put in motion for France, under -the escort of two of Morlot’s regiments. Many died on the way from -the fever whose seeds they carried with them. Few or none, as might -have been supposed, took advantage of the offer to save themselves -from captivity by taking the oath to King Joseph. - - [152] Von Brandt, _Aus meinem Leben_, pp. 43-4. - -It is sad to have to confess that the French did not keep to the -terms of the capitulation. That Lannes could not restrain his men -from plunder, as he had promised, was hardly surprising. There were -so many empty houses and churches containing valuables, that it was -not to be wondered at that the victors should help themselves to all -they could find. But they also plundered occupied houses, and even -stole the purses of the captive officers. What was worse was that -many assassinations took place, especially of clergy, for the French -looked upon the priests and friars as being mainly responsible for -the desperate defence. Two in especial, Padre Basilio Bogiero, the -chaplain of Palafox, and Santiago Sass, a parish priest, were shot -in cold blood two days after the surrender[153]. Public opinion in -the French ranks was convinced that they, more than any one else, -had kept the Captain-General up to the mark. Palafox himself was -treated with great brutality. As he lay apparently moribund, the -French officer who had been made interim governor of Saragossa came -to his bedside, and bade him to sign orders for the surrender of -Jaca and Monzon. When he refused, this colonel threatened to have -him shot, but left him alone when threats had no effect. Ere he was -convalescent he was sent off to France, where the Emperor ordered -that he should be treated, not as a prisoner of war, but as guilty -of treason, and shut him up for many years as a close captive in the -donjon of Vincennes. - - [153] For details, see Arteche, iv. 512-3. - -The state in which Saragossa was found by the French hardly bears -description. It was a focus of corruption, one mass of putrefying -corpses. According to a report which Lannes elicited from the -municipal officers, nearly 54,000 persons had died in the place -since the siege began[154]. Of these about 20,000 were fighting-men, -regular or irregular, the rest were non-combatants. Only 6,000 had -fallen by fire and sword: the remainder were victims of the far more -deadly pestilence. A few days after the siege was ended Lannes stated -that the total population of the town was now only 15,000 souls, -instead of the 55,000 which it had contained when the siege began. -But his estimate does not include some thousands of citizens who had -fled into the open country, the moment that they were released from -investment, in order to escape from the contagion in the city. ‘Il -est impossible que Saragosse se relève,’ wrote the marshal; ‘cette -ville fait horreur à voir.’ It was weeks indeed before the dead were -all buried: months before the contagion of the siege-fever died out -from the miserable city. Even after five years of the capable and -benevolent government of Suchet it was still half desolate, and no -attempt had been made to rebuild the third of its houses and churches -which had been reduced to ashes by the mines and the bombardment. - - [154] Lannes to Berthier, March 19, 1809. - -The French losses in front of Saragossa are not easy to calculate. -Belmas says that the total of casualties was about 3,000 in the -infantry, but he takes no notice of the losses by siege-fever, except -to say that many died from it. He does not give the losses of the -artillery, except of that small part of it which was not attached -either to the 3rd or to the 5th Corps. Considering that the 3rd Corps -alone had 13,123 sick on January 15, and that typhus is a notoriously -deadly disease, it is probable that the total losses of the French -during the siege amounted to 10,000 men. It is hard otherwise to -explain the difference between the 37,000 men that the 3rd Corps -counted in October, and the 14,000 men which it mustered when Suchet -took over its command in April. The sufferings of the 5th Corps -were small in comparison, for till February began it took no very -serious part in the siege, and its health was notoriously far better -than that of Junot’s divisions[155]. But we cannot be far wrong in -concluding with Schepeler and Arteche that the total French loss must -have been 10,000 men, rather than the 4,000 given by Napier, who is -apparently relying on Rogniat. That officer gives only the casualties -in battle, and not the losses in hospital. - - [155] It seems quite clear that the ‘1,500 men in hospital’ which - Belmas mentions on ii. 327 is a misprint for 15,000. For his own - figures show that (p. 381) there were 13,000 invalids six weeks - earlier, and before the deadly street-fighting had begun. How - many died we cannot say, but Suchet in April had only 10,527 men - present in nineteen battalions (_Mémoires_, i. 331), with eight - more battalions ‘on command,’ which would give another 4,000. Von - Brandt (p. 50) carefully says that the total of 3,000 dead does - not include ‘the thousands who perished in hospital.’ - -So ended the siege of Saragossa--a magnificent display of civic -courage, little helped by strategy or tactics. For Palafox, though a -splendid leader of insurgents, was, as his conduct in October and -November had shown, a very poor general. He made a gross initial -mistake in shutting up 40,000 fighting-men in a place which could -have been easily defended by 25,000. If he had sent one or two -divisions to form the nucleus of an army of relief in Lower Aragon, -with orders to harass, but not to fight pitched battles, it is hard -to see how the siege could have been kept up. His second fault was -the refusal to make sorties on a large scale during the first half -of the siege, while he was still in possession of great masses of -superfluous fighting-men. He sent out scores of petty sallies of a -few hundred men, but never moved so many as 5,000 on a single day. -Such a policy worried but could not seriously harm the French, while -it destroyed the willing men of the garrison; if the Captain-General -had saved up all the volunteers whom he lost by tens and twenties in -small and fruitless attacks on the trenches, he could have built up -with them a column-head that would have pierced through the French -line at any point that he chose. Anything might have been done during -the three weeks while Mortier was at Calatayud, and especially during -the days when Gazan with his 8,000 men was cut off by the floods, and -isolated on the further bank of the Ebro. - -The Captain-General’s conduct, in short, was not that of a capable -officer. But it is absurd to endeavour to represent him as a coward, -or as a puppet whose strings were pulled by fanatical friars. He knew -perfectly well what he was doing, and how to manage the disorderly -but enthusiastic masses of the population[156]. There can be no doubt -that his personal influence was all-important, and the effect of his -constant harangues and proclamations immense. It would be quite as -true to say that the friars and the mob-orators were his tools, as -that he was theirs. He had to humour them, but by humouring them he -got out of them the utmost possible service. Against the stories that -his proclamations were written for him, and that he had to be goaded -into issuing every order that came from his head quarters, we have -the evidence of Vaughan and others who knew him well. It is unanimous -in ascribing to him incessant activity and an exuberant fluency in -composition. Arteche has preserved some minutes on the siege which he -wrote long after the Peninsular War was over: they are interesting -and well-stated, but more creditable to him as a patriot than as a -military man[157]. There can be no doubt that the garrison might have -been much more wisely handled: but it is doubtful whether under any -other direction it would have shown so much energy and staying power. -There is certainly no other Spanish siege, save that of Gerona, where -half so much resolution was shown. If the defence had been conducted -by regular officers and troops alone, the place would probably have -fallen three weeks earlier. If the monks and local demagogues had -been in command, and patriotic anarchy alone had been opposed to -the French, Saragossa would possibly have fallen at an even earlier -date, from mere want of intelligent direction. Palafox, with all his -faults, supplied the connecting link between the two sections of the -defenders, and kept the soldiery to work by means of the example of -the citizens, while he restrained the citizens by dint of his immense -personal influence over them, won in the first siege. In short, he -may have been vain, bombastic, and a bad tactician, but he was a good -Spaniard. If there had been a few dozen men more of his stamp in -Spain, the task of the French in 1808-9 would have been infinitely -more difficult. The example of Saragossa was invaluable to the nation -and to Europe. The knowledge of it did much to sicken the French -soldiery of the whole war, and to make every officer and man who -entered Spain march, not with the light heart that he felt in Germany -or Italy, but with gloom and disgust and want of confidence. They -never failed to do their duty, but they fought without the enthusiasm -which helped them so much in all the earlier wars of the Empire. - - [156] The foundation for most of the stories against Palafox - seems to be Lannes’ letter to Napoleon of 19 mars: ‘Ce - pauvre misérable prêtait seulement son nom aux moines et aux - intrigants.’ I cannot find anywhere the source from which Napier - draws his statement that Palafox hid himself in a bomb-proof, and - lived ‘in a disgusting state of sensuality,’ shirking all the - dangers of the siege (i. 389). - - [157] Arteche, iv. 507-8. - - - - -SECTION XII - -THE SPRING CAMPAIGN IN LA MANCHA AND ESTREMADURA - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE ROUT OF CIUDAD REAL - - -By the middle of the month of February, as we have already seen, -Andalusia was once more covered by two considerable Spanish armies: -Cartaojal, with the wrecks of Infantado’s host and the new levies of -Del Palacio, was holding the great passes at the eastern end of the -Sierra Morena. Cuesta had rallied behind the Guadiana the remains -of the army of Estremadura. He was at present engaged in reducing -it to order by the only method of which he was master, the shooting -of any soldier who showed signs of disobedience or mutiny[158]. The -army deserved nothing better: its dastardly murder of its unfortunate -general in December justified any amount of severity in his successor. - - [158] There are details in the diary of a citizen of Badajoz in - the _Vaughan Papers_. - -Meanwhile Victor, after his victory at Ucles, and his vain attempt -to surprise Del Palacio, had passed away to the west, leaving -nothing in the plains of La Mancha save the dragoons of Milhaud and -Latour-Maubourg, who were placed as a cavalry screen across the -roads to the south, with their divisional head quarters at Ocaña and -Madridejos respectively. - -The Marshal drew back to the valley of the Tagus, and marched by -Toledo on Almaraz; this was in strict execution of the plan dictated -by Napoleon before he left Spain. It will be remembered that he had -directed that, when the February rains were over, Victor should -move on Badajoz, to assist by his presence in that direction the -projected attack of Soult on Lisbon. Only when Estremadura and -Portugal had been subdued was the attack on Andalusia to be carried -out. Soult, as we shall see, was (by no fault of his own) much slower -in his movements than Napoleon had expected, and Victor waited in -vain at Talavera for any news that the invasion of Portugal was in -progress. Hence the Spaniards gained some weeks of respite: the ranks -of their armies were filled up, and the spirits of their generals -rose. - -Cartaojal remained for some time at La Carolina, reorganizing and -recruiting the depleted and half-starved battalions which Infantado -had handed over to him. He had expected to be attacked by Victor, -but when he learnt that the Marshal had gone off to Toledo, and that -La Mancha was covered only by a thin line of cavalry, he began to -dream of resuming the offensive. Such a policy was most unwise: it -shows that Cartaojal, like so many other Spanish generals, was still -possessed with the fatal mania for grand operations and pitched -battles. He had in his head nothing less than a plan for thrusting -back the cavalry screen opposite to him, and for recovering the whole -of La Mancha. If Victor’s corps had been the only force available -to oppose him, there would have been something to say for the plan. -An advance on Toledo and Madrid must have brought back the Duke of -Belluno from his advance towards Estremadura. But, as a matter of -fact, Jourdan and King Joseph had not left the roads to La Mancha -unguarded: they had drafted down from Madrid two infantry divisions -of the 4th Corps, whose command Sebastiani had now taken over from -Lefebvre. The first division lay at Toledo: the third (Valence’s -Poles) at Aranjuez; thus the former supported Latour-Maubourg, the -latter Milhaud. - -Ignorant, apparently, of the fact that there was anything but cavalry -in his front, Cartaojal resolved to beat up the French outposts. -With this object he told off half his infantry and two-thirds of his -horse, under the Duke of Albuquerque, a gallant and enterprising, -but somewhat reckless, officer, of whom we shall hear much during -the next two years of the war. Marching with speed and secrecy, -Albuquerque, with 2,000 horse and 9,000 infantry, fell upon Digeon’s -brigade of dragoons at Mora on February 18. He tried to cut it off -with his cavalry, while he attacked it in front with his foot. But -Digeon saw the danger in time, and fell back in haste, after losing a -few men of the 20th Dragoons and some of his baggage. His demand for -assistance promptly brought down Sebastiani, with the 1st division of -the 4th Corps, and the two remaining brigades of Latour-Maubourg’s -cavalry. The moment that he heard that a heavy force had arrived -in his front, Albuquerque retired as far as Consuegra, where the -French caught up his rear, and inflicted some loss upon it. He then -fell still further back, crossed the Guadiana, and took post at -Manzanares. Sebastiani did not pursue him beyond Consuegra, giving as -his excuse the exhausted condition of the country-side[159]. - - [159] For these operations compare Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, pp. - 178-9, and Arteche, v. 228-31. - -Cartaojal meanwhile, with the rest of his army, had come up from the -passes to Ciudad Real, following in wake of Albuquerque’s advance. -When he met with his lieutenant they fell to quarrelling, both as to -what had already occurred, and as to what should now be done, for -the Duke was anxious to induce his chief to make a general advance -on Toledo, while Cartaojal desired him to take a single division of -infantry and to try the adventure himself. While they were disputing, -orders came from the Supreme Junta that troops were to be detached -from the Army of La Mancha to strengthen that of Estremadura. -Cartaojal took the opportunity of getting rid of Albuquerque, by -putting him at the head of the detachment which was to be sent to -Cuesta. The Duke, not loth to depart, went off with a division of -4,500 infantry and a regiment of cavalry[160], and marched down the -Guadiana into Estremadura. - - [160] The cavalry regiment had only 264 sabres: the infantry - battalions were Campomayor, Tiradores de Cadiz, Granaderos - del General, militia of Cordova, Guadix and Osuna. Only the - first-named was an old regular corps. - -Cartaojal remained for the first three weeks of March at Ciudad Real -and Manzanares with the main body of his force, about 2,500 horse -and 10,000 foot, keeping behind him, at the foot of the passes, a -reserve of 4,000 men under La Peña. This was tempting providence, -for he was now aware that the whole 4th Corps, as well as a great -mass of cavalry, was in front of him, and that he might be attacked -at any moment. His position, too, was a faulty one; he had descended -into the very midst of the broad plain of La Mancha, and had occupied -as his head quarters an open town, easy to turn on either flank, and -with a perfectly fordable river as its sole defence. As if this peril -was not sufficient, Cartaojal suddenly resolved that he would make -the dash at Toledo which Albuquerque had proposed to him, though he -had refused to send his whole army against that point when the scheme -was pressed upon him by his late second-in-command. The nearest -hostile troops to him were a regiment of Polish lancers, belonging -to Lasalle’s division, which lay at Yébenes, twenty miles outside -Toledo. Making a swift stroke at this force, while it was far from -expecting any advance on his part, Cartaojal drove it in, killing -or taking nearly 100 of the Poles (March 24). But Sebastiani came -up to their aid with an infantry division and three regiments of -Milhaud’s dragoons. The Spaniard refused to accept battle, and fell -hastily back to Ciudad Real, where he established his whole army -behind the river Guadiana, in and about the open town. He was most -unsafe in the midst of the vast plain, and was soon to rue his want -of caution. Sebastiani had been joined by his Polish division and by -part of his corps-cavalry, and having some 12,000 or 13,000 men in -hand[161], had resolved to pay back on Cartaojal the beating up of -his outpost at Yébenes. On March 26, Milhaud’s division of dragoons -seized the bridge of Peralvillo, close to Ciudad Real, and crossed -to the southern bank of the Guadiana. The Spanish general called -up all his cavalry, and some of his foot, and marched to drive the -dragoons back. They withdrew across the water, but still held the -bridge, behind which they had planted their artillery. Next morning -Sebastiani’s infantry came up, and he determined to attack Ciudad -Real. Cartaojal, who was taken completely off his guard, was suddenly -informed that column after column was pressing across the bridge and -marching against him. He did not dream for a moment of fighting, -but gave orders for an instant retreat towards the passes. He threw -out his cavalry and horse artillery to cover the withdrawal of his -infantry, who hurried away in half a dozen small bodies across the -interminable plain. Sebastiani charged the Spanish horse with his -Polish lancers and Dutch hussars, supported by Milhaud’s dragoons. -The covering force broke and fled, and the pursuers came up with -several of the columns of the retreating infantry. Some of them were -dispersed, others were surrounded and taken prisoners. The pursuit -was continued next morning, till it was interrupted by a fearful -burst of rain, which darkened the horizon, hid the fugitives, and -stopped the chase, or Cartaojal’s army might have been entirely -destroyed. He lost in this rout, which it would be absurd to call a -battle, five guns, three standards, and more than 2,000 prisoners, -among whom were sixty-one officers. The loss in killed and wounded -was probably not very great, for there had been no attempt at a -stand, and the troops which were cut off had surrendered without -resistance[162]. The loss of the French was insignificant, probably -less than 100 men in all. They had stayed their pursuit at Santa Cruz -de Mudela, from whence they returned to Ciudad Real, where they lived -on the magazines which Cartaojal had collected before his unfortunate -march on Yébenes. Sebastiani dared not follow the fugitives into the -mountains, as he had received orders to clear La Mancha, but not to -invade Andalusia: that was to be the task of Victor. - - [161] He had his own original division of the 4th Corps (twelve - batts.), Valence’s Poles (six batts.), the 3rd Dutch Hussars - (part of his corps-cavalry), the regiment of Polish lancers, and - Milhaud’s three regiments, the 12th, 16th and 21st Dragoons: - apparently in all 12,744 men. - - [162] It seems clear that the 2,000 killed and wounded, given by - Jourdan (p. 186) and _Victoires et Conquêtes_, is merely a rough - estimate. Belmas’ figures (i. 69) are still more absurd: he makes - the Spaniards lose 9,000 men from an army which did not exceed - 16,500 all told, including the rear division of La Peña. - -Cartaojal recrossed the Despeña Perros, and established his head -quarters at Sta Elena, in front of La Carolina. His army had been -more frightened than hurt, and when the stragglers came in, still -numbered 2,000 horse and 12,000 infantry. But he was not allowed -to retain its command. Justly indignant at the carelessness with -which he had allowed himself to be surprised in front of Ciudad -Real, and at his general mismanagement, the Supreme Junta deposed -him, and replaced him by Venegas, though the record of the latter’s -operations at Ucles was hardly encouraging to the soldiery. By the -middle of April the army had been reinforced by new Granadan levies, -and could take the field, although its state of discipline was bad -and its _morale_ much shaken by the late events. - - - - -SECTION XII: CHAPTER II - -OPERATIONS OF VICTOR AND CUESTA: BATTLE OF MEDELLIN - - -While Cartaojal and his Andalusian levies were faring so ill in La -Mancha, the army of Estremadura and its obstinate old general were -going through experiences of an even more disastrous kind. Cuesta, -it will be remembered, had rallied about Badajoz and Merida the -demoralized troops that had served under San Juan and Galluzzo. He -was, contrary to all expectation, allowed to remain unmolested for -some weeks. The irrational movement of Lefebvre to Plasencia and -Avila[163] had left him for the moment almost without an enemy in -his front. Along the middle Tagus he had nothing opposed to him save -Lasalle’s four regiments of light cavalry, supported by Leval’s -German division at Talavera. While Victor was engaged in the campaign -of Ucles, and in his subsequent circular march through La Mancha to -Toledo, the army of Estremadura enjoyed a time of complete rest. -Cuesta’s fault was not want of energy: after shooting a competent -number of mutineers, and disgracing some officers who had shown signs -of cowardice, he distributed his troops into three new divisions -under Henestrosa, Trias, and the Duke Del Parque, and began to move -them back towards the Tagus. As there was nothing in his way except -Lasalle’s light horse, he was able to take up, at the end of January, -the same line which Galluzzo had been forced to evacuate in December. -The French cavalry retired behind the river to Oropesa, abandoning -the great bridge of Almaraz, the main passage of the Tagus, on -January 29. Thereupon Cuesta broke the bridge, a difficult task, for -his mines failed, and the work had to be completed with the pick. It -was so badly managed that when the key-stone at last gave way, an -engineer officer and twenty-six sappers were still upon the arch, -and were precipitated into the river, where they were every one -drowned. The Captain-General then established his head quarters at -Deleytosa, a central point in the mountains, from which he commanded -the two passages of the Tagus, that at Almaraz and that by the -Puente del Conde, near Meza de Ibor. He arranged his 15,000 men with -advanced guards at the water’s edge, opposite each of the possible -points of attack, and reserves on the high ground to the rear. This -forward position gave much encouragement to the peasantry of New -Castile, and bands of guerrillas began (for the first time) to be -seen on the slopes of the Sierra de Gredos and the Sierra de Toledo. -There was a feeling of uneasiness even up to the gates of Madrid. - - [163] See pp. 4-5 of this volume. - -To restrain the advances of the Spaniards, King Joseph sent out -Lasalle’s cavalry and Leval’s Germans on February 19, with orders -to clear the nearer hills. They crossed the Tagus at the bridge of -Arzobispo, a little below Talavera, and forced back the division of -Trias, which was watching this flank of Cuesta’s position. But the -country was almost impassable for cavalry, a mere mass of ravines and -spurs of the Sierra de Guadalupe, and after advancing as far as the -pass of San Vincente, and seeing the Spaniards begin to gather in -force on his front and flank, Lasalle retreated, and recrossed the -Tagus without having effected anything of importance. - -It was not till a month later that the French took the offensive -in earnest. Victor was now returned from his excursion into La -Mancha, with his two divisions of the 1st Corps, and the six dragoon -regiments of Latour-Maubourg, whom he had drawn off to Toledo, -handing over the charge of observing Cartaojal to Milhaud and -Sebastiani. Uniting these forces to those of Leval and Lasalle, he -massed at Talavera an army of some 22,000 or 23,000 men, of whom -5,000 were admirable cavalry[164]. - - [164] This is the estimate of Jourdan (_Mémoires_, p. 181), and - exactly agrees with the figures which I give on p. 152. - -Joseph and Jourdan were now of the opinion that it was time for -Victor to move forward on Estremadura, in accordance with the great -plan for the conquest of southern Spain, which the Emperor had left -behind as his legacy when he departed from Valladolid. It was true -that this movement was to have been carried out in co-operation with -the advance of Marshal Soult upon Portugal; but no news could be got -of the Duke of Dalmatia’s present position. The last dispatch from -him was nearly a month old. Writing from Orense on February 24 he -had stated that he hoped to be at Chaves by March 1, and should then -march on Oporto and Lisbon. According to Napoleon’s calculations he -was to be at the last-named city within ten days of the capture of -Oporto. It was therefore, in the opinion of Joseph and Jourdan, high -time that Victor should start, in order to get in touch with Soult -when the Portuguese capital should be occupied. - -The Duke of Belluno, however, raised many difficulties, even when he -had been shown the Emperor’s orders. He complained that he ought to -have the help of Lapisse’s division, the second of his own Corps, -which still lay at Salamanca. He doubted whether he could dare to -take on with him, for an expedition into Estremadura, the German -division of Leval: he ought, perhaps, to leave it at Talavera and -Almaraz, in order to keep up his communications with Madrid. If this -were done he would muster only 16,000 men for his great forward -movement, and he had the gravest doubt whether Soult could or would -give him the assistance of which the Emperor had written, even if he -seized Lisbon within the appointed time. Finally, he was short of -engineer officers, sappers, horses, and reserve ammunition. - -Much of what the Duke of Belluno wrote was true: in particular, the -idea of co-operation with Soult was perfectly chimerical: Napoleon -had worked out all his logistics to an erroneous result, from want of -a real conception of the conditions and difficulties of war in the -Peninsula. But some of the pleas which Victor urged merely serve to -show his disinclination to accept the task which had been set him; -and in especial he underrated the numbers of his troops beyond the -limit of fair statement. He had with him nine battalions of Ruffin’s -division, twelve of Villatte’s, eight of Leval’s; of cavalry he had -six regiments of Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons, three of Lasalle’s -light cavalry[165], two regiments of his own corps-cavalry, and the -Westphalian regiment of the 4th Corps which was attached to Leval’s -Germans. The total must have amounted to 15,000 infantry, and about -5,500 cavalry: he had also sixty guns with 1,600 artillerymen[166]. - - [165] 26th and 10th Chasseurs and 9th Dragoons; the fourth - regiment, the Polish lancers, was with Sebastiani (see pp. 146-7). - - [166] The February figures for Victor’s men _présents sous les - armes_ are:-- - - 1st Division, Ruffin 5,429 - 3rd Division, Villatte 6,376 - German Division [deducting one battalion] 3,127 - Corps-cavalry [two regiments] 1,386 - Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons 2,527 - Lasalle’s three regiments 1,121 - Westphalian _Chevaux-Légers_ 487 - Artillery of 1st Corps 1,523 - Leval’s artillery (two batteries) 184 - ------ - Total 22,160 - -In spite of his reluctance Victor was forced to yield to the pressure -of Jourdan and the Emperor’s explicit orders. On March 14 he began to -make his preparations to cross the Tagus and to attack Cuesta: it was -reported to him that the roads starting from the two bridges which -were in his power, those of Talavera and Arzobispo, were neither of -them practicable for artillery, and that only the route by Almaraz -was suitable for the guns and heavy baggage. But the bridge of -Almaraz was broken, and beyond it were visible entrenchments thrown -up by the Spaniards, and a considerable body of troops--the division -of General Henestrosa. The Duke of Belluno determined to clear the -way for a crossing at Almaraz, by sending infantry across the Tagus -by the passages higher up-stream, with orders to sweep the southern -bank till they came opposite to the broken bridge. They were to -dislodge the force behind it, and then the artillery, the baggage, -and cavalry were to cross on a bridge of rafts, which was being -prepared close to Almaraz, in order to be ready the moment that it -should be wanted. - -On March 15, therefore, Leval’s Germans crossed the Tagus by the -bridge of Talavera, with some of Lasalle’s cavalry, while on the -next morning Victor himself passed at Arzobispo with the divisions -of Villatte and Ruffin. The combined column pushed westward by a bad -road on the hillside overhanging the river, in a difficult country -of rocks and woods, seamed with countless ravines, where cavalry -could barely act and artillery would have been perfectly useless. -Cuesta, on hearing of this movement to turn his flank, threw back -his right wing, and bade it make a stand behind the ravine of the -little river Ibor, which falls into the Tagus half-way between -Arzobispo and Almaraz. His force in this direction consisted of the -division of the Duke del Parque, about 5,000 strong, with six guns. -On the seventeenth Victor’s columns, with the Germans of Leval at -their head, arrived before the defiles of Meza de Ibor, and found -themselves confronted by the Duke, who was firmly established on -the other side of the ravine, in a fine position, with his guns on -a projecting rock which enfiladed the high-road. Victor directed -Leval’s eight[167] battalions to cross the ravine, and storm the -heights on the other side. This they did in very gallant style, but -not without heavy losses, for the Estremadurans, confident in the -strength of their rugged fighting-ground, made a long and vigorous -resistance, till the Germans actually came to close quarters with -them and ran in with the bayonet. Del Parque’s line then crumpled -up, and dispersed over the hillsides: finding it impossible to bring -off his guns, he cast them over the precipice into the ravine below. -The Germans lost seventy killed and 428 wounded while climbing the -difficult slopes: Del Parque’s men probably suffered far less, as -they absconded when the enemy closed, and had been under cover till -that moment. The supposition of some French authorities that the -defenders of Meza de Ibor lost 1,000 men is most improbable. The -country was one exactly suited for a cheap defence, and for an easy -scattering over the hills in the moment of defeat. - - [167] One Hessian battalion was still absent, in garrison at - Segovia, so the total of the division was not much over 3,000. - -The Duke fell back on Deleytosa, higher up the side of the Sierra de -Guadalupe, where Cuesta had established his head quarters. Here he -was joined by another of the Estremaduran divisions, that of General -Trias, nearly 5,000 strong. Henestrosa, with the rest of the army, -was still watching the passage at Almaraz, where Cuesta had made up -his mind that the main attack of the French would be delivered. He -persisted for some time in believing that Victor’s movement across -the Talavera and Arzobispo bridges was merely a feint; and thus it -was that Del Parque had been left alone to bear the first brunt of -the attack. When he was at last convinced that the bulk of Victor’s -infantry was on his flank, and that Almaraz was hopelessly turned, -the old Captain-General hastily sent orders to Henestrosa to abandon -his entrenchments opposite the bridge, and to retreat on Truxillo -across the mountains. He himself took that path without delay, and -got off in safety with his two leading divisions, but Henestrosa had -to brush across the front of the advancing French, and was in some -danger. Luckily for him Victor was more set on clearing the road from -Almaraz than on pursuing the enemy. - -When Henestrosa had disappeared, the passage was open, and the -cavalry of Latour-Maubourg and Beaumont, guarding the artillery and -baggage-train of the 1st Corps, crossed on the rafts which had been -prepared long before, and joined the infantry and the Marshal. The -passage presented more difficulties than had been expected, for it -proved impossible to construct a permanent bridge; the stream was -very fierce, and the anchors by which the floats were moored found -no hold in the smooth rocky bottom. The guns passed either by being -sent over on rafts or by means of a rope ferry, which was with some -difficulty rigged up. It was not till some time later that a solid -bridge of boats was built at this most important passage[168]. One -cavalry regiment was left behind to protect it[169]. - - [168] Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, p. 182. - - [169] Apparently the Westphalian _Chevaux Légers_, which had - hitherto been attached to Leval’s German division. - -Cuesta, when he had united his three divisions, would have dearly -loved to give battle to Victor behind Truxillo, in the excellent -position of the Puerto de Santa Cruz, where the _chaussée_ from -Madrid to Badajoz crosses the Sierra de Guadalupe. His love for -general engagements was by no means cured by the event of his -experiments at Cabezon and Medina de Rio Seco. But he was withheld -from offering battle not by mere prudence, but by the fact that -he was expecting to receive two considerable reinforcements. The -Marquis de Portago was bringing up a detachment from Badajoz--three -battalions[170] which had been intended to form the nucleus of a -new Fourth division that was being organized in that fortress. At -the same moment Albuquerque was expected from the east, at the head -of the 4,500 men whom the Supreme Junta had detached from the -army of La Mancha, and had sent down the Guadiana to join that of -Estremadura. Cuesta wished to pick up these 7,000 men before he gave -battle. - - [170] Four more had to be left behind in the fortress. - -Accordingly he evacuated the pass of Santa Cruz, and fell back -southward towards his reinforcements, leaving Henestrosa with the -bulk of his cavalry to act as a rearguard. That officer carried out -his duty with a dash and a vigour that were rare in Spanish armies -at this date. When the fiery Lasalle came pressing up against him -with his usual fury, the Spanish general contrived to inflict on him -two distinct checks. At Berrocal, half-way down the defile of Santa -Cruz, he made a sudden halt and drove in the leading squadron of the -French by a charge of his Royal Carbineers, a small remnant of the -Guard-Cavalry which had been serving with the Army of Estremadura -since its formation [March 20]. The French lost ten killed and -fifteen wounded[171]. - - [171] Jourdan, p. 182. - -This was a trifle, but on the next day Henestrosa scored a far more -tangible advantage. Noting that Lasalle’s leading regiment, the 10th -Chasseurs, had got far ahead of the rest of the division, and was -pushing on with reckless haste, he laid a trap for it in front of -the village of Miajadas. Presenting a small body of cavalry on the -high-road, he hid on each side of it a strong regiment of his own -horse, with orders to fall upon the flank and rear of the French when -they should have passed the ambush. The two corps set aside for this -surprise were Infante and Almanza, both regiments of La Romana’s army -from Denmark, which had not yet drawn their sabres since the war -commenced. - -Colonel Subervie of the 10th Chasseurs, advancing with heedless -confidence to charge the body of Spaniards in front of him, suddenly -saw himself enveloped and surrounded by the two regiments placed -in ambush. There was a furious _mêlée_, in which the chasseurs -lost one officer and sixty-two men killed and about seventy more -wounded, before they could cut their way out of the snare. The -sight of Lasalle’s main body coming up in haste to the rescue made -Henestrosa give the order for a prompt retreat, which he accomplished -without loss. ‘We arrived,’ writes a French officer of one of the -supporting regiments, ‘too late, and saw nothing but a cloud of dust -in the distance, made by the Spaniards as they rode away, and the -colonel of the 10th tearing his hair at the sight of his numerous -wounded[172].’ This lesson taught Lasalle more caution: it was -creditable to Henestrosa, though it must be confessed that he had two -men to one in the skirmish, in addition to the advantage of taking -his enemy by surprise. Oddly enough the regiments which accomplished -this successful _coup_ on the twenty-first were the same which -behaved worst in the great battle of the next week[173]. - - [172] Rocca, p. 268. - - [173] See pp. 162-3. - -At Miajadas, where this skirmish had taken place, the road descending -from the pass of Santa Cruz forks in two directions. One branch goes -towards Merida and Badajoz, the other and less important to Medellin, -La Serena, and the upper Guadiana. It would have been natural for -Cuesta to take the former route, which brought him nearer to his -base at Badajoz, and at the same time enabled him to cover the main -road to Andalusia, at which Victor was presumably aiming. But the -old general left this line unprotected, and retired by the eastern -path to Medellin. His main object was to secure his junction with the -reinforcements from La Mancha, which Albuquerque was bringing to him. -They were nearing La Serena, and would be cut off from him if he took -the road to Badajoz. At the same time he argued that, as he had thus -placed himself on the flank of the French, they could not afford to -march past him, since the moment that they left Merida behind them he -would be enabled to cut their communications with Madrid. He imagined -that Victor would prefer to fight him, and would not dare either to -take in hand the siege of Badajoz, or to advance against Andalusia, -without clearing his flank by a general action. The moment that he -should have picked up Albuquerque, Cuesta was prepared to indulge the -enemy with a fight, and if he were not attacked himself he intended -to take the offensive. This was sheer madness; even when he had drawn -in his last reserves the old general had but 20,000 foot and 3,000 -horse[174], a number which only exceeded Victor’s total by three or -four thousand men because the latter had been dropping detachments -between Almaraz and Merida. Considering the relative value of the -individual soldiery of the two armies, Cuesta’s behaviour was that of -a criminal lunatic. We shall see that his tactics were as bad as his -strategy. - - [174] The Spanish statements that Cuesta had only 2,200 horse - seem disproved by a letter from Cuesta’s camp, Col. D’Urban to - Cradock (April 7), to the effect that Cuesta had already rallied, - after Medellin, fully 3,000 horse, but only 6,000 or 7,000 foot - [Record Office]. - -The Marshal had left the two Dutch battalions of Leval’s division -at Truxillo, in charge of his sick: he dropped the 1st Dragoons of -Latour-Maubourg’s division at Miajadas, to guard the cross-roads, -and sent out the 4th and 9th from the same division along the upper -Guadiana, where they soon learnt of Cuesta’s presence on the other -side of the river. Lasalle’s light horse rode down to Merida, and -occupied the old Roman capital of western Spain without having to -strike a blow. Learning that the Spaniards had not retreated in -this direction, but by the eastern road, the Marshal (as Cuesta had -supposed likely) directed the bulk of his infantry on Medellin; -only the division of Ruffin remained behind, at the cross-roads of -Miajadas. - -Meanwhile Cuesta had evacuated Medellin, and fallen back to La -Serena, where Albuquerque joined him on the twenty-seventh. The -moment that the army was united, he turned back, and retraced his -steps towards his former position. On the twenty-eighth he reached -the town of Don Benito, only five miles from Medellin, and learnt -to his great pleasure that Victor was before him and quite ready to -fight. The Marshal had swept the whole country-side with his numerous -cavalry during the last four days, and discovering that there was no -Spanish force opposite him in any direction save that of La Serena, -had ordered Lasalle and Ruffin to march up and join him from Merida -and Miajadas. On the morning of the twenty-ninth he had his entire -army united, save the two Dutch battalions left at Truxillo, two -more of Leval’s battalions left at Merida[175], the 1st Dragoons at -Miajadas, and one other cavalry regiment which had been told off to -guard the bridge of Almaraz. He cannot have had less than 13,000 -infantry and 4,500 horse, even when allowance is made for the sick -and the losses at Meza de Ibor and Miajadas. Cuesta outnumbered him -by 6,000 infantry, but was overmatched in cavalry by more than three -to two, since he had but 3,000 sabres, and even more hopelessly in -artillery, since Victor had brought over fifty guns to the field, -while he had only thirty. - - [175] Frankfort and the 1st of Hesse. See Sausez’s _Régiment de - Francfort_, p. 30. - -Having been joined in the early morning by Lasalle’s and Ruffin’s -detachments, Victor had drawn out his army in front of Medellin, when -his cavalry brought him the news of the approach of the Spaniards. -Medellin, an ancient town dominated by a Moorish citadel on a lofty -hill, lies in the angle between the river Guadiana and the Hortiga -torrent. The latter, easily fordable in March and dry in June, is -an insignificant stream but flows at the bottom of a steep ravine. -The Guadiana, on the other hand, is a river of the first class: the -great bridge which leads into Medellin is no less than 450 yards -long. There were several fords up-stream from the bridge, but in -March, when the river was high, it is doubtful whether they were -practicable. Victor’s line, drawn in a quarter of a circle from the -Hortiga to the Guadiana, was well protected on either flank by the -broad river and the steep ravine. His order of battle was rather odd: -its front line was composed of a division of infantry (Villatte’s of -twelve battalions) in the centre, with two projecting wings, each -composed of a cavalry division supported by two battalions of Leval’s -Germans. On the right, near the Hortiga, was Latour-Maubourg with -five of his six regiments of dragoons[176] and ten horse artillery -guns. On the left, beside the Guadiana, was Lasalle with three of -his own light cavalry regiments, and the 2nd Hussars of Victor’s -corps-cavalry. The remaining battalion of Leval’s division[177] was -with Villatte in the centre. Ruffin’s division, forming the reserve, -lay far to the rear on the further side of the Hortiga. He had with -him one cavalry regiment[178] and a reserve of artillery: one -battalion was detached to guard the baggage, which was parked at the -bridge-head below the town. - - [176] The sixth regiment (1st Dragoons) was still absent at - Miajadas. - - [177] The division had started with nine battalions, but two (as - will be remembered) were left behind at Truxillo, and two more - at Merida. Those with Lasalle were the two Baden battalions, - those with Latour-Maubourg a Nassau battalion, and one formed of - the united light companies of the division. The second Nassau - battalion was to the rear, with Villatte. See Sémélé’s narrative, - p. 463. - - [178] 5th Chasseurs, of the corps-cavalry of the 1st Corps. - -Victor’s army, therefore, formed a short and compact arc of a circle, -a mile and a half outside of Medellin. Facing him, three or four -miles away, was the Spanish army, ranged in a much larger arc, also -extending from the Hortiga to the Guadiana, in front of the town of -Don Benito. It was deployed along a series of gentle heights, on -either side of the main road from Medellin. The position, though -rather long for the Spanish numbers, presented many advantages for a -defensive battle: but it was Cuesta’s intention to go forward, not -to receive the attack of the French. He saw with pleasure that the -enemy had come half-way to meet him, and was about to fight with a -difficult defile (the bridge of Medellin) in his rear. Secure from -being outflanked by Victor’s numerous cavalry, for the two streams -covered his wings, he resolved to march straight before him and to -bear down the French line by a direct frontal attack. On his left -were the divisions of Del Parque and Henestrosa, eight battalions in -a single line, all deployed four deep. They had no supports whatever, -save one battalion of grenadiers which marched behind their centre. -On their outside flank rode three regiments of cavalry, close to -the ravine of the Hortiga[179]. The centre was composed of the four -battalions of the division of Trias, all drawn up in the same fashion -as the left wing. The right was formed by Portago’s incomplete -division[180] (only three battalions) and by the contingent from La -Mancha which Albuquerque had just brought up--seven strong battalions -with 4,500 bayonets. Outside Albuquerque’s extreme right, and on the -banks of the Guadiana, was placed a cavalry force corresponding to -that on the extreme left, and also formed of three regiments[181]. -A few remaining squadrons of cavalry were posted in the intervals -between the wings and the centre[182]. The artillery went forward, -each battery with the division to which it was attached. This was a -most extraordinary order of battle: with the object of securing his -flanks and of covering the whole space between the rivers, Cuesta -was advancing with a front of nearly four miles and a depth of only -four men! There is no parallel in modern history for such a dangerous -array. If any single point in the long line gave way, there was no -reserve with which to fill the gap and save the day. And it was -morally certain that a weak point would be found somewhere, for many -of the battalions were raw troops which had never seen fire, and the -greater part of the others had graduated in the school of panic under -Belvedere and San Juan. - - [179] These were the regiments Infante and Almanza (from Denmark) - and the new cavalry regiment of Toledo. Letter of Sir Benjamin - D’Urban to Cradock, April 8, 1809 (Record Office). - - [180] Its remainder was garrisoning Badajoz. Those on the field - were Badajoz (two batts.), and 3rd of Seville (one batt.). - - [181] Apparently these regiments were Albuquerque’s regiment - from the Andalusian army, with the Cazadores de Llerena (a new - Estremaduran corps) and Del Rey (one of the Baltic regiments). - - [182] These were the two hussar regiments, Voluntarios de España, - and Maria Luisa, the latter of which had been re-named ‘Hussars - of Estremadura’. - -Cuesta, however, was eminently satisfied with himself and with his -order of battle: he intended to envelop the shorter French line with -converging fire, to thrust it back on to the defile of Medellin, -and if possible to seize the bridge behind its left flank, and to -endeavour to cut off its retreat. Blind self-confidence could go no -further! - -When Victor advanced from Medellin he was aware of the proximity of -the Spaniards, and could see their cavalry vedettes on all the hills -in front of Don Benito, but it was not till his army had marched some -distance across the bare and level fields, that Cuesta revealed his -order of battle. When the French were well advanced in the plain, -the whole Army of Estremadura crowned the heights, and then swept -downward from them, in one continuous line forming an exact quarter -of a circle. The infantry was well closed up; each regiment had its -mounted officers in front, and the generals were riding up and down -the line, perpetually supervising the dressing of their battalions, -for they were quite conscious that in the order which Cuesta had -chosen any gap or wavering in the line would be ruinous. Each -division had its battery in front, and in the long intervals between -the guns a very thick line of skirmishers covered the advance of the -main body. - -Facing this imposing line, as it will be remembered, the French had -the five dragoon regiments of Latour-Maubourg on the right, and the -four light cavalry regiments of Lasalle on the left, each supported -by two of Laval’s German battalions. The centre under Villatte was -somewhat ‘refused,’ and was much farther from the Spaniards than were -the two powerful wings of cavalry. As the enemy advanced, Victor -bade Latour-Maubourg and Lasalle to seize any good opportunity for -a charge, but not to risk, unless circumstances favoured them, a -general attack on the Spaniards, until they should have begun to lose -their order. The wings of the enemy being covered by the two rivers, -there could be no question of flank attacks, and frontal charges by -cavalry on unbroken infantry are proverbially dangerous. - -When, however, the armies drew near, Latour-Maubourg thought that he -saw his chance, and bade one of his brigades (2nd and 4th Dragoons) -charge Del Parque’s infantry in the Spanish left-centre. The attack -completely failed: a fortunate discharge of the Duke’s divisional -battery blew a gap in the centre of the charging line; the battalions -on each side stood firm and opened a heavy fire, and the dragoons -went to the rear in disorder. Their flight exposed the flank of the -two German battalions which formed the centre of Latour-Maubourg’s -line. The Spanish infantry pressed forward, and engaged them with -vigour. This determined Victor to order his right wing to fall back -and to get into line with Villatte, before making another stand. -Accordingly Latour-Maubourg retired, his unbroken regiments moving -off in very good order, but suffering considerably from the fire of -the Spanish skirmishers, who ran forward with great rapidity and -pressed them hard. - -The retreat of the right wing made it necessary for Lasalle on the -left to conform to the general movement. He also began to draw back -towards Medellin. ‘For two hours,’ writes one of his officers[183], -‘we gave back slowly and quietly, facing about at every fifty yards -to show a front, and to dispute the ground. Amid the endless whizzing -of bullets flying over our heads, and the deafening roar of the -shells, which rent the air and tore up the earth around us, we heeded -only the voice of our commanders. The further we retired the louder -shouted our foes. Their skirmishers were so numerous and daring that -they sometimes compelled ours to fall back for protection into our -ranks. They kept calling to us from a distance that no quarter should -be given, and that Medellin should be the Frenchman’s grave. General -Lasalle was riding backward and forward in front of his division, -with a lofty, fearless air. In the space which separated us there -might be seen the horses of disabled friends and foes, running on -every side, most of them wounded, some of them dragging their dead -masters by the stirrup, and struggling to free themselves from the -unmanageable load.’ - - [183] Rocca (of the 2nd Hussars), _Mémoires de la Guerre - d’Espagne_, 80. - -In this fashion the French retired before the advancing army of -Cuesta, till they drew near the point where Victor intended to make -his stand. The right wing reached the new line of defence first: it -halted on the crest of the rising-ground to the north of the point -where Villatte’s infantry stood. The Marshal placed ten guns in -line, ordered the two German battalions to stand firm on each flank -of the artillery, and sent up the 94th of the Line from Villatte’s -division to aid them, as well as a battalion of picked grenadiers. -Latour-Maubourg’s horsemen, now all in good order again, covered -their flanks. - -Then came the critical moment of the battle. If the Spaniards could -still push their advance, and thrust back the French infantry, -Victor’s position would be very serious. For a moment it seemed that -they might succeed. The battalions of Henestrosa and Del Parque came -forward with a steadiness that Spanish troops had not yet often -shown during the war. They closed upon the guns, in spite of their -rapid fire, and attacked the three battalions on their flanks, which -had been thrown into square for fear of cavalry attacks, and were -therefore not in very good order for defending themselves against -infantry. - -The leading Spanish officers had actually ridden into the -battery[184], and were cutting down the gunners, when Latour-Maubourg -ordered his dragoons to charge. The moment that he saw them on the -move, Cuesta, who had been riding on this flank, with the three -regiments of cavalry which covered the end of his line, ordered a -counter-charge against the flank of the advancing French. Then -followed a disgraceful scene: the Spanish squadrons rode forward in -an irresolute way for a few score yards, and then suddenly halted, -turned, and galloped to the rear in a disorderly mass before they had -arrived anywhere near the French dragoons. They collided with Cuesta, -upset him and rode over him[185]: the old man was with difficulty -saved and set upon his horse by his aides-de-camp. The fugitives -never drew rein, and fled far away to the north, almost without -losing a man. Their conduct was all the more disgraceful, because -two of the three regiments were old troops from the Baltic, which -had come back with La Romana and had not shared in any of the early -disasters of the Spanish armies. - - [184] Cuesta in his dispatch mentions that General Henestrosa, - Captain Yturrigarey, and the English Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin - D’Urban were the first three into the battery. - - [185] In a dispatch in the Record Office, Cuesta says that the - particular corps which rode down himself and his staff was the - raw ‘Toledo’ regiment. - -The result of this shameful panic was instant disaster to the whole -Spanish right wing. Of Latour-Maubourg’s division one brigade went -off in pursuit of the routed cavalry, but the other three regiments -charged in flank the battalions of Henestrosa and Del Parque, just -as they stormed the French battery on which they were intent. A -long line without supports, such as that which these two divisions -presented, was helpless when attacked by cavalry on the flank--it -suffered exactly the same fate which befell Colborne’s brigade at -Albuera two years later. While engaged in front with the three -battalions already before it, and with the regiment which Villatte -had sent up to aid them, it could not throw back its flank to face -the horsemen: nor had it any reserve whatever that could be utilized -to hold off Latour-Maubourg. The whole line was rolled up, and dashed -into atoms. Many men were cut down, a few captured, the remainder -fled in utter disorder towards the north. The French urged the -pursuit with cruel vigour, merciless all the more because they had -for a moment doubted of their victory. - -While this struggle was raging on the northern part of the field, -Lasalle had been still falling back before the divisions of -Albuquerque, Portago, and Trias, across the plain which borders the -Guadiana. The Spanish line were still moving forward with great -steadiness, but had begun to fall into a sort of _échelon_ formation, -with the cavalry near the river most in advance, the infantry of -Albuquerque a little behind, and the Estremaduran battalions of the -centre still further to the rear. The fact was that General Eguia, to -whom Cuesta had given the charge of his whole right wing, was trying -to edge his cavalry between Lasalle and the Guadiana, in order to cut -him off from the bridge of Medellin. This end of the line, therefore, -was pushing forward very rapidly, while Trias, on the other hand, was -coming forward rather slowly, from a desire not to lose touch with -Del Parque’s division, the nearest troops to him in the other half of -the army. - -Lasalle was keeping an anxious eye on the development of the action -further to the north, and the moment that he saw Latour-Maubourg -halt and prepare to charge, followed his example. His first blow was -delivered at the cavalry next the river: he flung against them the -2nd Hussars, with a chasseur regiment in support. These two corps, -charging with great fury, easily broke the Andalusian lancers, -who were leading the pursuit, and hurled them back upon the other -squadrons of the Spanish right. The whole body was thrown into -disorder and driven off the field, leaving the flank of Albuquerque’s -division completely uncovered. Lasalle then re-formed his men and -prepared to charge the infantry. He had been reinforced meanwhile -by one of Villatte’s brigades (63rd and 95th of the Line) and by -the one battalion of Leval’s Germans, which had hitherto remained -with the centre. While these seven battalions of fresh troops -delivered a frontal attack on Albuquerque and Trias, Lasalle hurled -his four regiments of cavalry upon their unprotected right flank. -The Spaniards were doomed to destruction, but for some time kept -up a show of resistance; Albuquerque had got two or three of his -battalions out of line into column, and for a moment these held back -Lasalle’s chasseurs. But the fight lasted for a few minutes only: -a new French force was coming up. Latour-Maubourg, returning from -the pursuit of Cuesta with two of his dragoon regiments, appeared -upon the flank and rear of Trias’ division and charged in upon it -from behind. This last assault was decisive: the whole Spanish line -broke up and fled eastward over the open ground along the river. -The six regiments of French cavalry were soon in pursuit, and rode -in among the flying horde, using the sabre with reckless cruelty, -and far more intent on slaughter than on taking prisoners. Lasalle’s -chasseurs were specially savage, having to avenge the bloody check -which they had received at Miajadas in the preceding week[186]. -‘Our troops,’ says a French witness, ‘who had been threatened with -no quarter by the Spaniards if they had been overpowered, and who -were enraged by five hours of preliminary fighting, at first spared -no one. The infantry, following behind at a distance, dispatched -the wounded with their bayonets. Most of all they were pitiless to -such of the Spanish regiments as were without a proper military -uniform[187].’ Another eye-witness describes the pursuit as ‘one -continuous slaughter till night fell.’ Some of the Spanish battalions -dispersed in the most helpless confusion, and fled in all directions -when the line was broken. Others tried to close up and to defend -themselves: this made their flight slower, and sometimes led to their -complete extermination. Rocca says that he saw the two regiments of -Spanish and Walloon Guards lying dead _en masse_ in the order which -they had occupied at the moment of the breaking of the line[188]. -The statement is borne out, at least as to the Walloons, by the fact -that the next morning-state of Cuesta’s army which has been preserved -shows that regiment with only 300 men surviving out of two whole -battalions[189]. If any of the infantry of the Spanish right wing -escaped at all, it was partly owing to the fact that the two cavalry -regiments in the centre of the line[190] showed a much better spirit -than their comrades on the wings, and protected the flight of some -battalions. Moreover a frightful thunderstorm swept over the plains -late in the afternoon, darkened the whole horizon, and caused the -French squadrons to halt and cease their pursuit. - - [186] Half-a-dozen French authorities speak of the wrath of the - chasseurs as justifiable, because their comrades at Miajadas had - been murdered (_égorgés_, or _lâchement assassinés_). But the - Spaniards had killed them in fair fight. - - [187] Rocca, _Mémoires_, p. 82. - - [188] Ibid., p. 84. - - [189] See the Table in Arteche, vi. 476. - - [190] These were the hussar regiments ‘Volunteers of Spain’ and - ‘Estremadura’ (late Maria Luisa). Cuesta says in his dispatch - that they saved the battalions of Merida, and Provincial of - Badajoz, which had been surrounded and nearly cut off. - -[Illustration: BATTLE OF MEDELLIN - MARCH 28TH 1809] - -The slaughter, nevertheless, had been terrible. Of the 10,000 men -whom the Spaniards lost on this fatal day three-fourths fell by the -edge of the sword: only 1,850 prisoners were sent back to Talavera, -and even if some others had succeeded in escaping during their march -to the rear, it is certain that the Spanish casualty-list amounted -to at least 7,500 men. Nine standards were taken--less than might -have been expected, for the twenty-three Spanish battalions present -must have brought forty-six to the field. Twenty pieces of artillery -fell into the hands of the French, out of the thirty which Cuesta had -possessed. Some few batteries therefore (perhaps the horse artillery -of the evasive cavalry brigades) had succeeded in escaping from the -rout. - -Most French authors unite in stating that the total loss on their -side was only 300 men[191]. This figure is as absurd as that given -for Soult’s losses at Corunna: there were five hours of fighting, -and for a long time the battle had gone by no means in favour of -Victor’s men. It is improbable that they suffered less than 1,000 -casualties, and the figure may have been higher, for one brigade -of Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons was beaten back while charging -guns--always a bloody business for cavalry--while the German -battalions which retired across the plain in column, played on by -artillery and harassed by skirmishers, must also have suffered -severely. - - [191] This is the figure given by Jourdan, and General Sémélé, - who ought to have known the facts. It is, of course, reproduced - by Thiers, and the other historians. But I agree with Napier - (ii. 71) in considering the figure ‘scarcely credible.’ Rocca - says that the French lost 4,000 men, but from the context, I - suspect this to be a misprint for 400. Schepeler, always a very - well-informed and impartial writer, guesses at 2,000, and he may - not be far wrong. - -Cuesta’s cavalry, owing to the disgraceful cowardice shown by the -majority of the regiments, had got off comparatively intact. The -whole of his dreadful losses had fallen on his infantry, and they -had been scattered so far and wide over the Estremaduran plain that -it was many days before he could get together a respectable force. -He took refuge at Monasterio[192] in the mountains in the direction -of Andalusia, and sent urgent appeals for reinforcements to the -Central Junta. It might have been expected that the Junta would -disgrace him and remove him from command, as they had Cartaojal, -Infantado, and Castaños. But apparently they were rather cheered -by the fact that Cuesta had seriously disputed the victory with -the French, than angered with the want of generalship which he had -shown. They voted that he and his army had deserved well of the -State, and distributed honours and promotion to all the officers whom -he recommended for good conduct during the action. Rocca remarks -that they must have had in their minds the doings of the Romans -after Cannae, when the steadfast Senate thanked the consul Varro -‘for not having despaired of the republic,’ instead of removing him -for rashness and incompetence[193]. At any rate, they conferred on -Cuesta the post of Captain-General of Estremadura, and hurried up to -reinforce him all the troops that they could spare, a strong brigade -of new Granadan levies[194], and a division drawn from the army of -Cartaojal consisting of nine old battalions of regular troops with a -force of 6,000 bayonets[195]. Thus reinforced the host of Cuesta was -as strong as on the eve of Medellin, and once more mustered 20,000 -foot and 3,000 horse. By the middle of April the whole had been drawn -together, and reorganized into five divisions of foot and two of -horse. This was the army that was to co-operate with Wellesley in the -campaign of Talavera. - - [192] By April 8 he had collected there 3,000 horse and 6,000 or - 7,000 foot. Letter of D’Urban to Cradock, April 8. - - [193] Rocca, _Mémoires_, p. 86. - - [194] Regiment of Velez-Malaga (three batts.), and 2nd battalion - of Antequera, 3,600 bayonets in all. - - [195] Also some stray squadrons of cavalry which had gone to the - rear to get horses in Andalusia (Letter of Frere to Castlereagh - in Record Office). - -‘In any other country of Europe,’ wrote Marshal Jourdan, ‘the gaining -of two such successes as Medellin and Ciudad Real would have reduced -the country-side to submission, and have enabled the victorious -armies to press forward to new conquests. In Spain the reverse was -the case: the greater the disaster suffered by the national troops, -the more willing were the population to rise and take arms. Already -the communications between Victor and Sebastiani were cut: several -bearers of dispatches were massacred, and even some detachments cut -off. An insurrection almost burst out at Toledo, where a garrison -of insufficient strength had been left. It was only averted by the -providential arrival of an officer with a reinforcement of 500 men. -The communications of the 1st Corps with Madrid were in no better -state: bands of insurgents gathered in the valley of the Tietar, and -threatened to fall upon Almaraz and to break the bridge of boats. The -King had to send down in haste 600 bayonets from Madrid to preserve -this all-important post[196].’ At the same time the road from Almaraz -to Salamanca was closed by a trifling Spanish force of two battalions -under the brigadier Carlos d’España which had been levied about -Caceres and Bejar, and occupied the pass of Baños. It was aided by -a battalion of the Loyal Lusitanian legion, which Sir Robert Wilson -had sent forward from Almeida. Thus Lapisse at Salamanca could only -communicate with Victor at Merida by the circuitous route of Arevalo, -Madrid, and Almaraz. - - [196] Jourdan, _Mémoires_, pp. 187-8. - -The Duke of Belluno had been ordered by the Emperor to beat the Army -of Estremadura, and then to get into touch with Soult, who should -have been due at Lisbon long ere this. But no news of the 2nd Corps -had come to hand: it was known to have penetrated into northern -Portugal, but its exact position could not be learnt. Victor, -refusing to move till he had news of his colleague, cantoned his -army at Merida and Medellin, and put the old castles of both these -places, as well as that of Truxillo, in a state of defence. He would -probably have done well to utilize the time of necessary waiting in -laying siege to Badajoz. But he contented himself with watching that -fortress and observing the reorganized army of Cuesta, which had -now grown once more to a respectable force, and might have harassed -considerably any part of the 1st Corps which should attempt to molest -the capital of Estremadura. Instead of attacking the place, Victor -contented himself with sending to it vain summonses to surrender, and -with endeavouring to discover whether it might not contain traitors -ready to negotiate with King Joseph. He brought down from Madrid, -as his agent, a Spanish magistrate named Sotelo, who had become a -zealous _Afrancesado_. Through this person he addressed letters both -to the governor of Badajoz and to the Central Junta at Seville. -After setting forth all the evils which the continuance of the war -was bringing upon Spain, Sotelo stated that his king was ready to -grant the most liberal and benevolent terms to the Junta, in order -to spare further effusion of blood. The letter was duly forwarded -to Seville, where it was laid before the government. The ironical -answer was promptly returned ‘that if Sotelo possessed full powers to -negotiate for peace on the basis of the restoration of Ferdinand VII, -and the prompt evacuation of Spain by the French armies, peace would -be possible. If not, the Junta must continue to carry out the mandate -conferred upon it by the nation; according to which it could conclude -no truce or treaty except on the two conditions stated above.’ Sotelo -tried to continue the negotiation, but his offers were disregarded, -and Victor soon realized that he would obtain no further advantages -save by his sword. He remained at Merida waiting in vain for the news -of Soult’s advance on Lisbon, which was, according to Napoleon’s -orders, to be the signal for the 1st Corps to resume its advance. - - -N.B.--For the campaign of Medellin I have used the narratives of -Rocca and Sémélé (the latter often very inaccurate), the _Mémoires_ -of Jourdan, the day-book of the Frankfort regiment of Laval’s -division, and Victor’s correspondence with King Joseph, and on the -Spanish side the dispatches of Cuesta, also two letters from D’Urban -(British attaché on Cuesta’s staff) to Cradock, and some enclosures -sent by Frere to Castlereagh. - - - - -SECTION XIII - -SOULT’S INVASION OF PORTUGAL - - - - -CHAPTER I - -SOULT’S PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS IN GALICIA - -(JANUARY 19-MARCH 6, 1809) - - -After the departure of Bonaparte for Paris there were, as we have -already shown, only two points in the Peninsula where the strength -of the French armies was such as to allow them to continue the great -movement of advance which their master had begun. We have already -seen how Victor, after advancing from the Tagus to the Guadiana, -found his initiative exhausted, even after his victory at Medellin. -He had halted, and refused to take the offensive against Lisbon or -Andalusia till he should be heavily reinforced. - -It remains to be seen how the other French army available for -immediate field operations had fared. Moore’s daring march and -the ensuing retreat had drawn up into the extreme north-west of -the Peninsula the 2nd, 6th, and 8th _corps d’armée_. Of these the -last-named had been dissolved at the new year, and the bulk of its -battalions had been transferred to Soult’s corps, which on January -20 had a nominal effective of more than 40,000 men. Ney’s Corps, the -6th, was much smaller, and does not seem to have amounted to more -than 16,000 or 18,000 sabres and bayonets. But between Astorga, the -rearmost point occupied by Ney, and Corunna, which Soult’s vanguard -had entered on January 19, there were on paper 60,000 men available -for active operations. Nor had they to guard their own communications -with Madrid or with France. Lapisse’s numerous division had been -left at Salamanca; there was a provisional brigade at Leon[197]; -Bonnet held Santander with another division; there were detachments -in Zamora, Valladolid, and the other chief towns of the Douro valley. -Somewhat later, in April, the Emperor moved another whole army -corps, that of Mortier, into Old Castile, when it became available -after the fall of Saragossa. Even without this reinforcement he -thought that the rear of the army in Galicia was adequately covered. -The parting instructions of Bonaparte to Soult have already been -cited: when the English should have embarked, the Duke of Dalmatia -was to march on Oporto, and ten days later was to occupy Lisbon. -We have already seen that the scheme of dates which Napoleon laid -down for these operations was impossible, even to the borders of -absurdity: Oporto was to be seized by February 1, and Lisbon by -February 10! But putting aside this error, which was due to his -persistent habit of ignoring the physical conditions of Spanish roads -and Spanish weather, the Emperor had drawn up a plan which seemed -feasible enough. Ney’s corps was to move up and occupy all the chief -strategical points in Galicia, taking over both the garrison duty -and the task of stamping out any small lingering insurrections in -the interior. This would leave Soult free to employ the whole of his -four divisions of infantry and his three divisions of cavalry for the -invasion of Portugal. Even allowing for the usual wastage of men in a -winter campaign, the Emperor must have supposed that, with a nominal -effective of 43,000 men, Soult would be able to provide more than -30,000 efficients for the expedition against Lisbon[198]. Considering -that the Portuguese army was still in the making, and that no more -than 8,000 British troops remained in and about Lisbon, the task -assigned to the Duke of Dalmatia did not on the face of it appear -unreasonable. - - [197] It was composed of the few battalions of the 8th Corps - which had not been drafted into the 2nd. - - [198] When the Emperor looked at the half-monthly returns of the - army, which were forwarded to him as regularly as possible, and - which pursued him wheresoever he might go, he must have seen - the following statistics--those of Jan. 15 in the French War - Office--for the 2nd Corps, taking the gross totals:-- - - Infantry: Merle 12,119; Mermet 11,810; Delaborde 5,038; Heudelet - 6,592: Total 35,559. - - Cavalry: Lorges 1,769; Lahoussaye 3,087; Franceschi 2,512: Total - 7,368. Artillery and Train 1,468. - - Total of the whole corps 44,395. By Jan. 30, it had risen to - 45,820. - -But in Spain the old saying that ‘nothing is so deceptive as -figures--except facts,’ was pre-eminently true. No map--those of 1809 -were intolerably bad--could give the Emperor any idea of the hopeless -condition of Galician or Portuguese mountain-roads in January. No -tables of statistics could enable him to foresee the way in which -the population would receive the invading army. We may add that -even an unrivalled knowledge of the realities of war would hardly -have prepared him to expect that the campaign of Galicia would, in -one month, have worn down Soult’s available effectives to a bare -23,000 men. Such was the modest figure at which the 2nd Corps stood -on January 30, for it had no less than 8,000 men detached, and the -incredible number of over 10,000--one man in four--in hospital. -For this figure it was not the muskets of Moore’s host which were -responsible: it was the cold and misery of the forced marches from -Astorga to Corunna, which seem to have tried the pursuer even more -than the pursued. The 8,000 ‘detached’ were strung out in small -parties all the way from Leon to Lugo--wherever the Marshal had been -obliged to abandon stores or baggage that could not travel fast, he -had been forced to leave a guard: he had also dropped small garrisons -at Villafranca, Lugo, and Betanzos, to await Ney’s arrival; but the -most important drain had been that of his dismounted dragoons[199]. -In his cavalry regiments half the horses had foundered or perished: -the roads so deadly to Moore’s chargers had taken a corresponding -toll from the French divisions, and at every halting-place hundreds -of horsemen, unable to keep up with the main body, had been left -behind. In any other country than Spain these involuntary laggards -would have found their way to the front again in a comparatively -short time. But Soult was commencing to discover that one of the main -features of war in the Peninsula was that isolated men, or even small -parties, could not move about in safety. The peasantry were already -beginning to rise, even before Moore’s army took its departure; they -actually cut the road between Betanzos and Lugo, and between Lugo -and Villafranca, within a few days after the battle of Corunna. This -forced the stragglers to mass, under pain of being assassinated. -Hundreds of them were actually cut off: the rest gathered in small -wayside garrisons, and could not get on till they had been formed -into parties of considerable strength. The rearmost, who had been -collected at Astorga by General Pierre Soult, the Marshal’s brother, -did not join the corps for months--and this body was no less than -2,000 or 2,500 strong. The other detachments could not make their way -to Corunna even when Marshal Ney had come up: it was only by degrees, -and after delays covering whole weeks, that they began to rejoin. -The only solid reinforcement received by Soult, soon after the -departure of the English army, consisted of his rear division, that -of Heudelet, which came up from Lugo, not many days after the battle -of January 16. - - [199] The state of the cavalry of the 2nd Corps on Jan. 30 gives - the following astounding result:-- - - _Present under Arms._ _Absent._ _Sick._ - Lorges 809 617 108 - Lahoussaye 1,130 1,400 256 - Franceschi 1,120 991 208 - ----- ----- --- - 3,059 3,008 572 - - The drain under the second column represents mainly the men who - had dropped to the rear, from losing their horses or being unable - to take them on. - -Soult was still far from suspecting the full difficulty of the -task that was before him. He had been much encouraged by the tame -way in which the Governor of Corunna had surrendered on January -19. If Alcedo had made the least semblance of fight he could have -detained the Marshal before his walls for an indefinite time. The -city was only approachable by a narrow and well-fortified isthmus, -and the French could not have battered this formidable front to any -effect with the six-pounders which formed their only artillery. -The surrender of the place gave Soult some food, the considerable -resources of a rich harbour town, and (most important of all) a -large number of guns of position, suitable for use against the other -fortress which he must take ere he moved on against Portugal. - -This place was Ferrol, the second naval arsenal of Spain, which -faces Corunna across the broad inlet of Ares Bay--only thirteen -miles distant by water, though the land road thither by Betanzos, -round the head of the fiord, is forty miles long. To make sure of -this place was obviously Soult’s first duty: if left unmolested it -would prove a dangerous nucleus round which the Galician insurgents -could concentrate. For it contained a regular garrison, consisting -of the dépôts and half-trained recruits of La Romana’s army, and -of 4,000 or 5,000 sailors. There were lying in the harbour, mostly -half-dismantled and unready for sea[200], no less than eight -line-of-battle ships and three frigates. Their crews, much depleted, -but still numerous, had been landed to assist the soldiers in -garrisoning the forts[201]. In addition several thousand citizens -and peasants had taken arms, for muskets abounded in Ferrol, from -the stores lately received from England. With these resources it is -clear that a governor of courage and resolution might have made a -long defence; they were far greater than those with which Palafox -had preserved Saragossa; and Ferrol was no open town, but a fortress -which had been kept in good repair for fear of the English. But, -for the misfortune of Galicia, the commander of Ferrol, Admiral -Melgarejo, was a traitor at heart. He was one of the old bureaucrats -who had only followed the patriotic cause because it seemed for -the moment to be in the ascendant; if patriotism did not pay, he -was perfectly prepared to come to terms and to do homage to Joseph -Bonaparte. - - [200] For the state of this squadron see the report by Admiral De - Courcy in the _Parliamentary Papers_ for 1809, Spain, March 29, - 1809, p. 4. - - [201] The marines had been taken away in July, 1808, and formed - half a brigade in the division of the Army of Galicia. But the - seamen were available. - -On January 23 Soult marched against Ferrol with the infantry division -of Mermet, the dragoons of Lorges, and the heavy guns which he -had found in Corunna. He left Delaborde in garrison at the latter -place, posted Merle at Betanzos, a half-way house between the two -fortresses, and directed Franceschi’s cavalry division on Santiago -and Lahoussaye’s on Mellid, in order to see whether there was any -Spanish field-force visible in western Galicia. On the twenty-fifth -the Marshal presented himself in front of Ferrol, and summoned the -place to surrender. Melgarejo was determined not to fight, and -several of his chief subordinates supported him. The armed citizens -persisted in their idea of defending the place, but when the French -broke ground in front of the walls and captured two small outlying -redoubts, they allowed themselves to be overpersuaded by their -treacherous chief. On January 26 the place surrendered, and on the -following day Soult was received within the walls. The capitulation -had two shameful clauses: by the first the civil and military -authorities undertook to take the oath of allegiance to King Joseph. -By the second the splendid men-of-war in the harbour were handed over -intact, a most valuable acquisition for the Emperor if Galicia was -to remain under his control. Any one but a traitor would have burnt -or scuttled them before surrendering. But Melgarejo, after receiving -high testimonials from Soult, hastened up to Madrid and took office -under the _Rey Intruso_[202]. Along with the squadron 1,500 naval -cannon, an immense quantity of timber, cordage, and other stores, and -20,000 muskets newly imported from England, fell into the hands of -the French. - - [202] The Supreme Junta very properly condemned him and Alcedo, - the governor of Corunna, to the penalties of high treason. - -On the day after Ferrol was occupied, Soult received the last -communication from the Emperor which was to reach him for many a -day[203]. It was dated from Valladolid on January 17. We have already -had occasion to refer to it more than once, while dealing with the -controversies of King Joseph and Marshal Victor. This dispatch -repeated the Emperor’s former orders, with some slight concession in -the matter of dates. Instead of reaching Oporto on February 1 the -Marshal was to be granted four extra days, and after taking Oporto -on February 5, he was to reach Lisbon on the sixteenth instead of -the tenth. Soult was also told that he would not have to depend -on his own resources alone: Victor with the 1st Corps would be at -Merida by the time that the 2nd Corps was approaching the Portuguese -capital: he would be instructed to send a column in the direction of -Lisbon, to make a diversion in favour of the attack from the north, -and at the same time Lapisse from Salamanca should move on Ciudad -Rodrigo and Almeida. Bessières was, so the Emperor said, under strict -orders to send Lapisse forward into Portugal the moment that the -news should reach him that the 2nd Corps had captured Oporto. This -combination sinned against the rules of strategy, as they had to be -practised in Spain. The Emperor had yet to realize that in order -to make operations simultaneous, when troops starting from bases -several hundred miles apart are to co-operate, it is necessary that -their generals should be in free communication with each other. But -Soult, when he had advanced into Portugal, was as much out of touch -with the other French corps as if he had been operating in Poland or -Naples. It was literally months before accurate information as to his -situation and his achievements reached Salamanca, Merida, or Madrid. -The movements of Victor and Lapisse being strictly conditioned by -the receipt of news concerning Soult’s progress, and that news being -never received, or received too late, the combination never did and -never could take place. Napoleon had forgotten to reckon with the -ubiquitous Spanish insurgent: here, as in so many cases, he was -unconsciously assuming that the bearer of dispatches could ride -freely through the country, as if he were in Saxony or Lombardy; -and that Soult could make known his movements and his desires as -often as he pleased. French critics of the Emperor generally confine -themselves to censuring him for sending the 2nd Corps to attempt -unaided a task too great for it[204]; this is not quite fair, for -he had intended to support Soult by two strong diversions. The real -fault lay in ignoring the fact that in Spain combined operations, -which presuppose constant communication between the participants, -were practically impossible. The same error was made in 1810, when -Drouet was told to co-operate in Masséna’s invasion of Portugal, and -in 1811 when Soult was directed to lend a helping hand to that same -invasion. It is impossible to give effective aid to a colleague whose -condition and whose whereabouts are unknown. - - [203] Compare _Instructions de l’Empereur_ of Jan. 17, with - Berthier to Soult of Jan. 21. - - [204] ‘Il faut croire,’ says St. Chamans, Soult’s senior - aide-de-camp, ‘que Napoléon, au moment où il ordonna une pareille - opération, était possédé d’un esprit de vertige. Comment - pouvait-il risquer, au milieu d’un royaume insurgé, un si faible - corps d’armée, sans communication avec ses autres troupes - d’Espagne?’ [_Mémoires_, p. 117]. ‘Tout était en erreur,’ says Le - Noble, another 2nd Corps writer, ‘dans le projet de soumettre le - Portugal en 1809 avec une armée si faible et dépourvue de moyens. - L’Empereur a montré une confiance aveugle’ (p. 65). - -On January 29 the Duke of Dalmatia set to work to reorganize his -army for the great expedition that had been assigned to him. It was -impossible to march at once, as the Emperor had commanded, because -Ney had not yet arrived at the front, and it was necessary to turn -over the charge of Corunna and Ferrol to him before departing further -south. Moreover, there were many other arrangements to be made: -a base hospital had to be organized at Corunna for the thousands -of sick and wounded belonging to the 2nd Corps. Its transport had -to be reconstructed, for most of the animals had died during the -forced marches in pursuit of Moore[205]. A new stock of munitions -had to be served out from the stores so fortunately captured at -Ferrol. The military chest of the corps had been left behind at -Astorga, and showed no signs of appearing: to provide for the more -urgent day-by-day needs of the army, the Marshal had to squeeze -forced contributions out of the already exhausted towns of Corunna, -Ferrol, and Santiago, which had long ago contributed all their -surplus resources to the fitting out of Blake’s army of Galicia. -These same unhappy places had to submit to a heavy requisition of -cloth and leather, for the replacing of the garments and boots worn -out in the late marches. But even with the aid of 2,500 English -greatcoats discovered in store at Corunna, and other finds at Ferrol, -the wants of the army could not be properly supplied; it started -on the campaign in a very imperfectly equipped condition[206]. The -most dangerous point in its outfit was the want of mules: most of -the valleys of inner Galicia and northern Portugal are destitute -of carriage roads. To bring up the food and the reserve ammunition -pack-animals were absolutely necessary, and Soult could only collect -a few hundreds. Even if his men should succeed in living on the -country, and so solve the problem of carrying provisions, they could -not hope to pick up powder and lead in the same way. When, therefore, -the heavy baggage on wheels had to be left behind, the 2nd Corps was -only able to carry a very insufficient stock of cartridges: twice, -as we shall see, it almost exhausted its ammunition and was nearly -brought to a standstill on the way to Oporto. - - [205] The authors, English and French, who express a humanitarian - horror at the shooting of 3,000 horses and mules before the - embarkation of Moore’s army, forget what a godsend these would - have been to Soult, if the English had left them to fall intact - into his hands. The slaughter was dreadful, but perfectly - necessary and justifiable. - - [206] All these details come from Le Noble, who as - _Ordonnateur-en-Chef_ of the 2nd Corps, had full experience of - the difficulty of equipping it for the Portuguese expedition. - -It was not till February had already begun that Soult was able to -move forward the whole of his army, for he refused to withdraw -Delaborde’s division from Corunna and Mermet’s from Ferrol, till Ney -should have brought up troops of the 6th Corps to relieve them. The -Duke of Elchingen, though apprised of the Emperor’s orders, lingered -long at Lugo, and it was not till he came down in person to the -coast that Soult could call up his rear divisions. Meanwhile a small -exchange of troops between the two corps was carried out: Ney, being -short of cavalry, received a brigade of Lorges’ dragoons to add to -his own inadequate force of two regiments of light horse. In return -he made over to the 2nd Corps three battalions of the 17th Léger, -which had accompanied him hitherto. They were added to Delaborde’s -division, which had been only eight battalions strong. - -Even before the troops from Ferrol and Corunna were able to move, -Soult had put the rest of his army on the march for Portugal. On -January 30 Franceschi’s light horsemen started along the coast-road -from Santiago to Vigo and Tuy, while further inland Lahoussaye’s -division of dragoons, quitting Mellid, took the rough mountain path -across the Monte Testeyro, by Barca de Ledesma and Cardelle, which -leads to Rivadavia and Salvatierra on the lower Minho. Merle’s and -Heudelet’s infantry started several days later, and were many miles -behind the advanced cavalry. - -Lahoussaye’s division met with no opposition in the rugged -region which it had to cross, and occupied Salvatierra without -difficulty. Franceschi scattered a few peasants at the defile of -Redondela outside Vigo, and then found himself at the gates of that -harbour-fortress. The governor, no less weak and unpatriotic than -those of Ferrol and Corunna, surrendered without firing a shot. His -excuse was that he had only recruits, and armed townsfolk, to man -his walls and handle his numerous artillery. But his misconduct -was even surpassed by that of the Governor of Tuy, who capitulated -to Franceschi’s 1,200 horsemen three days later in the same style, -though he was in command of 500 regular troops, and was implored -to hold out by the local junta. Throughout Galicia, in this unhappy -month, the officials and military chiefs showed a most deplorable -spirit, which contrasted unfavourably with that of the lower classes, -both in the towns and the country-side. - -The way to the frontier of Portugal had thus been opened, with an -ease which seemed to justify Napoleon’s idea that the Spaniards -would not hold out, when once their field armies had been crushed. -Franceschi and Lahoussaye reported to the Duke of Dalmatia that -they had swept the whole northern bank of the Minho, and that there -was nothing in front of them save the swollen river and a few bands -of Portuguese peasantry, who were observing them from Valenza, the -dilapidated frontier fortress of the neighbouring kingdom. - -Both the French and the Galicians of the coast-line might well have -forgotten the fact that there was still a Spanish army in existence -within the borders of the province. It is long since we have had -occasion to mention the fugitive host of the Marquis of La Romana. -After being hunted out of Ponferrada by Soult on January 3, he had -followed in the wake of Craufurd’s brigades on their eccentric -retreat down the valley of the Sil. But while the British troops -pushed on to Vigo and embarked, the Spaniards halted at Orense. -There the Marquis endeavoured to rally his demoralized and starving -host, with the aid of the very limited resources of the district. He -had only 6,000 men left with the colours, out of the 22,000 who had -been with him at Leon on December 25, 1808. But there were several -thousands more straggling after him, or dispersed in the side valleys -off the road which he had followed. Most of these men had lost -their muskets, many were frost bitten, or suffering from dysentery. -The surviving nucleus of the army was composed almost entirely of -the old regulars: the Galician militia and new levies had not been -able to resist the temptation to desert, when they found themselves -among their native mountains. The Marquis hoped that, when the -spring came round, they would find their way back to the army: in -this expectation, as we shall see, he was not deceived. For nearly -a fortnight the wrecks of the army were undisturbed, and La Romana -was able to collect enough efficients to constitute two small corps -of observation, one of which he posted in the valley of the Sil, to -watch for any signs of a movement of the French from the direction -of Ponferrada, while the other, in the valley of the Minho, kept -a similar look out in the direction of Lugo. The latter force was -unmolested, but on January 17 General Mendizabal, who was watching -the southern road, reported the approach of a heavy hostile column. -This was Marchand’s division of Ney’s corps: the Marshal had divided -his force at Ponferrada; he himself with Maurice Mathieu’s division -had kept the main road to Lugo, while Marchand had been told off to -clear the lateral valleys and seize Orense. La Romana very wisely -resolved that his unhappy army was unfit to resist 8,000 French -troops. On January 19 he evacuated Orense, and fled across the Sierra -Cabrera to Monterey on the Portuguese frontier. Here at last he found -rest, for Marchand did not follow him into the mountains, but, after -a short stay in Orense, marched to Santiago, where he was directed to -relieve Soult’s garrison. - -The Marquis was completely lost to sight in his frontier fastnesses, -and was able to do his best to reorganize his battered host. By -February 13 he had 9,000 men under arms, nearly all old soldiers, -for the Galician levies were still scattered in their homes. His -dispatches during this period are very gloomy reading: he complains -bitterly of the apathy of the country-side and the indiscipline of -his officers. What could be expected of subalterns, he asks, when -a general (Martinengo of the 2nd division) had absconded without -asking leave or even reporting his departure? ‘I know not where the -patriotism, of which every one boasted, is now to be found, since -on the smallest reverse or misfortune, they lose their heads, and -think only of saving themselves--sacrificing their country and -compromising their commander.’ Much harassed for want of food, La -Romana kept moving his head quarters; he was sometimes at Verin and -Monterey, sometimes at Chaves just inside the Portuguese frontier, -more frequently at Oimbra. He had only nine guns left; there was -no reserve of ammunition, and the soldiers had but few cartridges -remaining in their boxes. The strongest battalion left in the army -had only 250 bayonets--many had but seventy or eighty, and others -(notably the Galician local corps) had completely disappeared. He -besought the Central Junta to obtain from the British money, muskets, -clothing, and above all ammunition, or the army would never be fit to -take the field[207]. A similar request in the most pressing terms was -sent to Sir John Cradock at Lisbon. - - [207] Most of these details are from two interesting dispatches - of La Romana in the Foreign Office papers at the Record Office. - They are dated from Chaves on Jan. 28 and Feb. 13. They are - unpublished and seem to be unknown even to General Arteche, who - has made such a splendid collection of the materials in the - Spanish archives which bear on this obscure corner of the war. - There was an English officer, Captain Brotherton, with the army - of La Romana: but his reports, which Napier had evidently seen, - are now no longer to be found. No doubt they were bound up in the - January-March 1809 book of Portuguese dispatches, which since - Napier’s day has disappeared from the Record Office, leaving no - trace behind. - -Soult could not but be aware that La Romana’s army, or some shadow -of it, was still in existence: but since it sedulously avoided any -contact with him, and had completely evacuated the coast-land of -Galicia, he appears to have treated it as a ‘negligible quantity’ -during his first operations. Its dispersion, if it required any -further dispersing, would fall to the lot of Ney and the 6th Corps, -not to that of the army sent against Portugal. - -Franceschi and Lahoussaye, as we have already seen, reached the Minho -and the Portuguese border on February 2. It was only on the eighth -that the Duke of Dalmatia set out from Santiago to follow them, in -company with the division of Merle. Those of Delaborde and Mermet, -released by the arrival of Ney, took the same route on the ninth and -tenth respectively. The rear was brought up by the reserve and heavy -artillery, and by that brigade of Lorges’ dragoons which had not -been handed over to the 6th Corps. The coast-road being very good, -Soult was able to concentrate his whole army within the triangle -Tuy, Salvatierra, Vigo by the thirteenth, in spite of the hindrances -caused by a week of perpetual storm and rain. - -It was the Marshal’s intention to enter Portugal by the great -coast-road, which crosses the Minho at Tuy and proceeds to Oporto -by way of Valenza and Braga. But as Valenza was a fortress, and its -cannon commanded the broad ferry at which the usual passage was made, -it was clearly necessary to choose some other point for crossing -the frontier river. After a careful survey Soult fixed on a village -named Campo Saucos, only two miles from the mouth of the Minho, -as offering the best starting-point. He established a battery of -heavy guns on his own side of the river, and collected a number of -fishing-boats[208], sufficient to carry 300 men at a voyage. As he -could not discover that the Portuguese had any regular force opposite -him, he resolved to attempt the passage with these modest resources. - - [208] These boats were brought to Campo Saucos overland, for - a full mile and more. They came from La Guardia and other - fishing-villages on the coast; but finding it impossible to - get them over the bar of the Minho in such furious weather, - and against the swollen stream, Soult dragged them from the - beach north of the mouth to the crossing-point on rollers, much - as Mohammed II did with his galleys at the famous siege of - Constantinople in 1453. But Soult’s vessels were, of course, much - smaller. - -There would have been no great difficulty in the enterprise during -ordinary weather. But the incessant rains had so swelled the Minho -that it was now a wild, ungovernable torrent, which it was hard to -face and still harder to stem. When the heavy Atlantic surf met -the furious current of the stream, during the rising of the tide, -the conflict of the waters made the passage absolutely impossible. -It had to be attempted at the moment between the flow and the -ebb--though there was at that hour another danger--that the boats -might be carried past the appointed landing-place and wrecked on -the bar at the mouth of the river. But this chance Soult resolved -to risk: on February 16, long before daybreak, his twenty or thirty -fishing-boats, each with a dozen men on board, launched out from -the northern shore, and struck diagonally across the stream, as -the current bore them. They were at once saluted by a heavy but -ill-directed fire from the Portuguese bank, where hundreds of -peasants were at watch even during the hours of darkness. The -soldiers rowed and steered badly--Soult had only been able to give -them as guides a mere handful of men trained to the water[209]. The -furious current swept them away: probably also their nerve was much -tried by the fusillade, which, though more noisy than dangerous, -yet occasionally picked off a rower or a helmsman. The general -result was that only three boats with thirty-five or forty men got -to the appointed landing-place, where they were made prisoners by -the Portuguese. The rest were borne down-stream, and came ashore at -various points on the same side from which they had started, barely -avoiding shipwreck on the bar. - - [209] Soult had got together a few dozen seamen, French prisoners - of war, found at Corunna and Ferrol, who had been captured at sea - by Spanish cruisers. They were not ‘marines’ as Napier calls them - (ii. 38), but _marins_ (see Le Noble, p. 75, and again p. 78). - -The attempt to pass the Minho, therefore, ended in a ridiculous -fiasco: it showed the limitations of the French army, which among -its numerous merits did not possess that of good seamanship. Soult -was deeply chagrined, not because of the insignificant loss of men, -but because of the check to his prestige. He resolved that he would -not risk another such failure, and at once gave orders for the whole -army to march up-stream to Orense, the first point where there was a -bridge over the Minho. This entailed a radical change in his general -plan of operations, for he was abandoning the good coast-road by Tuy -and Valenza for a very poor mountain-way from Orense to Chaves along -the valley of the Tamega. There was another important result from -the alteration--the new route brought the French army down upon La -Romana’s camp of refuge: his cantonments in and about Monterey lay -right across its path. But neither he nor Soult had yet realized -the fact that they were about once more to come into collision. The -Marshal did not know where the Marquis was; the Marquis did not at -first understand the meaning of the Marshal’s sudden swoop inland. -Some of the Spanish officers, indeed, were sanguine enough to imagine -that the French, after their failure on the lower Minho, would -abandon Galicia altogether[210]! - - [210] Letter of Captain Brotherton [now lost] quoted in Napier, - ii. 438, and dated from Oimbra on Feb. 21. - -The whole French army had now made a half-turn to the left, and -was marching in a north-easterly direction. Lahoussaye’s dragoons, -starting from Salvatierra, led the advance, Heudelet’s division -marched at the head of the infantry; Delaborde, Mermet, and Merle, -each at a convenient interval from the preceding division, stretched -out the column to an interminable length. The heavy artillery and -wagon train brought up the rear. Nine hundred sick, victims of the -detestable weather of the first fortnight of February, were left -behind at Tuy under the guard of a half-battalion of infantry. - -It was on the march from Tuy to Orense that Soult began to realize -the full difficulties of his task. He had already met with small -insurgent bands, but they had been dispersed with ease, and he had -paid little attention to them. Now however, along the steep and -tiresome mountain road above the Minho, they appeared in great force, -and showed a spirit and an enterprise which were wholly unexpected -by the French. The fact was that in the month which had now elapsed -since the battle of Corunna, the peasantry and the local notables -had found time to take stock of the situation. The first numbing -effect of the presence of a large hostile army in their midst had -passed away. Ruthless requisitions were sweeping off their cattle, -the only wealth of the country. Although Soult had issued pacific -proclamations, and had tried to keep his men in hand, he could not -restrain the usual plundering propensities of a French army on the -march. Enough atrocities had already been committed to make the -Galicians forget the misconduct of Moore’s men. La Romana, from his -refuge at Monterey, had been dispersing appeals to the patriotism -of the province, and sending out officers with local knowledge -to rouse the country-side. These probably had less effect on the -Galicians--the Marquis was a stranger and a defeated general--than -the exhortations of their own clergy. In the first rising of the -peasantry most of the leaders were ecclesiastics: in the region -which Soult was now traversing the peasantry were raised by Mauricio -Troncoso, Abbot of Couto, and a friar named Giraldez, who kept the -insurgents together until, some weeks later, they handed over the -command to military officers sent by La Romana or by the Central -Junta. In the valley of the Sil, beyond Orense, it was Quiroga, -Abbot of Casoyo, who first called out the country-side[211]. Every -narrative of the Galician insurrection, whether French or Spanish, -bears witness to the fact that in almost every case the clergy, -regular and secular, were the earliest chiefs of the mountaineers. It -was characteristic of the whole rising that many of the bands took -the field with the church-banners of their parishes as substitutes -for the national flag. - - [211] All the details of the Galician insurrection may be found - in the very interesting _Los Guerrilleros Gallegos de 1809_, of - Pardo de Andrade, reprinted at Corunna in 1892. It is absolutely - contemporary and mainly composed of original documents written by - men who shared in the rising. But naturally it contains errors - and exaggerations. - -This much is certain, that as soon as the violent February rains -showed signs of slackening, the whole of rural Galicia flew to arms. -From Corcubion on the surf-beaten headland of Finisterre, to the -remote headwaters of the Sil under the Sierra de Penamarella, there -was not a valley which failed to answer the appeal which La Romana -had made and which the clergy had circulated. From the weak and -sporadic movements of January there sprang in February a general -insurrection, which was all the more formidable because it had no -single focus, was based on no place of arms, and was directed not by -one chief but by fifty local leaders, each intimately acquainted with -the district in which he was about to operate. - -The first result of this widespread movement was to complete the -severance of the communications between the various French divisions -in Galicia. From the earliest appearance of the invaders, as we -have already seen, there had been intermittent attempts to cut the -lines of road by which the 2nd and 6th Corps kept touch with each -other and with Madrid. But hitherto a convoy, or escort of a couple -of hundred men, could generally brush aside its assailants, and get -through from post to post. In February this power of movement ceased: -the insurgents became not only more numerous and more daring, but -infinitely more skilful in their tactics. Instead of endeavouring -to deliver combats in the open, they broke the bridges, burnt the -ferry-boats, cut away the road in rocky places, and then hung -persistently about any corps that was on the move, as soon as it -began to get among the obstacles. They fired on it from inaccessible -side-hills, attacked and detained its rearguard so as to delay its -march, thus causing a gap to grow between it and the main body, and -only closed when the column was beginning to get strung out into a -series of isolated groups. The convoys which were being sent up from -Astorga to the 2nd and 6th Corps were especially vulnerable to such -tactics: the shooting of a few horses in a defile would hopelessly -block the progress of everything that was coming on from behind. The -massing of men to repair or rehorse disabled wagons only gave the -lurking insurgent a larger and an easier target. Hence the bringing -up to the front of the heavy transport of the French army became such -a slow and costly business, that the attempt to move it was after -a time almost abandoned. Another point which the insurgents soon -perceived was the helplessness of the French cavalry among rocks -and defiles. A horseman cannot get at an enemy who lurks above his -head in precipitous crags, refuses to come down to the high-road, -and takes careful shots from his eyrie into the squadron below. If, -worried beyond endurance, the French officers dismounted some of -their men to charge the hillside, the lightly-equipped peasants fled -away, and were out of sight before the dragoons in their heavy boots -could climb the first fifty yards of the ascent. The copious annals -of the Galician guerrilla bands almost invariably begin with tales of -the annihilation of insufficiently guarded convoys, or of the defeat -and extermination of small bodies of cavalry caught in some defile. A -very little experience of such petty successes soon taught them the -right way to deal with the French. The invaders could not be beaten -_en masse_, but might be cut off in detail, harassed into exhaustion, -and so isolated one from the other that it would require the sending -out of a considerable expedition to carry a message between two -neighbouring garrisons, or to forward a dispatch down the high-road -to Madrid. - -In a very short time intercommunication between the various sections -of the French army in Galicia became so rare and uncertain, that each -commander of a garrison or chief of a column found himself in the -condition of a man lost in a fog. His friends might be near or far, -might be faring ill or prosperously, but it was almost impossible -to get news of them. Every garrison was surrounded with a loose -screen of insurgents, which could only be pierced by a great effort. -Each column on the march moved on surrounded by a swarm of active -enemies, who closed around again in spite of all attempts to brush -them off. In March and April Ney, on whom the worst stress of the -insurrection fell, could only communicate with his outlying troops -by taking circular tours at the head of a force of several thousand -men. Sometimes he found, instead of the post which he had intended -to visit, only a ruined village full of corpses. Ere the Galician -rising was three months old, the bands had become bold and skilful -enough to cut off a strong detachment or to capture a place held by a -garrison several hundreds strong. In June they actually stopped the -Marshal himself, with a whole division at his back, in his attempt to -march from Santiago to recapture Vigo. - -But these times were still far in the future: and when, on February -17, Soult started on his march along the Minho from Tuy to Orense, -the peasantry were far from being the formidable opponents that -they afterwards became. Nevertheless, the progress of the 2nd Corps -was toilsome and slow in the extreme. The troops had been divided -between two paths, of which the so-called high-road, a mile or -two from the river, was only a trifle less impracticable than the -rougher path along the water’s edge. Lahoussaye’s dragoons had been -put upon the latter track; Heudelet’s infantry division led the -advance on the upper road. All day long the march was harassed by -the insurgents, who descended from the hills and hung on the left -flank of Heudelet’s column, delivering partial attacks whenever -they thought that they saw an opportunity. The French advanced with -difficulty, much incommoded by the need of dragging on their cannon, -which could hardly be got forward even with the aid of the infantry. -Lahoussaye, on the other path, was assailed in a similar way, besides -being molested by the Portuguese, who moved parallel to him on the -south side of the Minho, taking long shots at his dragoons wherever -the path was close enough to the water’s edge to be within range of -their own bank. If the peasantry had confined themselves to these -tactics, they might have harassed Soult at small cost to themselves. -But they had not yet fully learnt the guerrilla’s trade. At Mourentan -on the path by the river, and at Francelos on the high-road, they -had resolved to offer direct resistance to the enemy, and so put -themselves within reach of the invader’s claws. At each place they -had barricaded the village, had run a rough entrenchment across the -road, and stood to receive the frontal shock of the French attack. -They were, of course, routed with great slaughter when they thus -exposed themselves in close combat: several hundred perished, among -whom were many of their clerical leaders. Thus Soult was able -to push on and occupy Rivadavia, which he found evacuated by its -inhabitants. His soldiery had sacked and burnt all the villages on -the way, and (according to the Spanish narratives) shot all adult -males whom they could catch, whether found with arms or not[212]. - - [212] Long details of all this fighting may he found in the - narrative of the Alcalde of Rivadavia, on pp. 130-44 of vol. - ii. of _Los Guerrilleros Gallegos_. The details are probably - exaggerated, but the reader can hardly refuse to believe that - there is a solid substratum of truth. The Alcalde notes that the - infantry were far better behaved than Lahoussaye’s dragoons, of - whom he tells tales of quite incredible ferocity, even alleging - that they burnt the wounded. - -On the eighteenth, having cut his way as far as Rivadavia, the Duke -of Dalmatia came to the conclusion that it was hopeless to endeavour -to carry on with him his heavy artillery and his baggage. On such -roads as he had been traversing, and amid the continual attacks -of the insurgents, they would be of more harm than use. In all -probability they would ere long fall so far behind that, along with -their escort, they would become separated from the army, and perhaps -fall into the hands of the Spaniards. Accordingly he sent orders to -the rear of the column that Merle’s division should conduct back to -Tuy all the heavy baggage and thirty-six guns of large calibre. Only -twenty pieces, mostly four-pounders, were to follow the expedition. -When the wagons had been turned back, there were only pack-horses -and mules sufficient to carry 3,000 rounds for the guns, and 500,000 -cartridges for the infantry. This was a dangerously small equipment -for an army which had a whole kingdom to conquer, and which was -forced to waste many shots every day on keeping off the irrepressible -insurgents. But Soult was determined that he should not be accused -of shrinking from the task imposed on him, or allowing himself to be -thwarted by bands of half-armed peasants. - -The heavy guns and the train, therefore, were deposited at Tuy, along -with the large body of sick and wounded who had already been left -there. General Lamartinière, an officer in whom Soult placed much -confidence, was left in command. He was warned that he would have to -take care of himself, as his communication with the army would be -cut the moment that Merle’s troops resumed their march to join the -rear of the advancing column. Nor did Soult err in this: when the -2nd Corps had gone on its way, Tuy and the neighbouring post of Vigo -were immediately beset by a thick swarm of peasants, who kept them -completely blockaded. - -Having thus freed himself from every possible incumbrance, the Duke -of Dalmatia pushed briskly on for Orense and its all-important -bridge. The insurgents had not fallen back very far, and on the -nineteenth Heudelet’s division had two smart engagements with them, -and drove them back to Masside, in the hills to the left of the road. -The valley was here wider and the route better than on the previous -day, and much more satisfactory progress was made. On the twentieth, -still pushing on, Soult found that the ferry of Barbantes, ten miles -below Orense, was passable. The Galicians had scuttled the ferry-boat -in an imperfect fashion: some voltigeurs crossed on a raft, repaired -the boat, and set it working again. Soult then pushed across the -river some of Mermet’s battalions, intending to send them to Orense -by the south bank, if it should be found that the bridge was broken. -Meanwhile Heudelet continued to advance by the road on the north -side: his column arrived at its goal, and found Orense undefended and -its bridge intact. The townsfolk made no attempt to resist: they had -not left their dwellings like the peasants, and their magistrates -came out to surrender the place in due form. They appealed to Soult’s -clemency, by showing him that they had kept safe and properly cared -for 136 sick French soldiers, left behind by Marchand when he had -marched through the town in the preceding month. - -Where, meanwhile, it will be asked, was the army of La Romana? The -Marquis had now 9,000 men collected at Oimbra and Monterey, and it -might have been expected that he would have moved forward to defend -the line of the Minho and the bridge of Orense, as soon as he heard -of the eastward march of the 2nd Corps. He made no such advance: his -dispatches show that the sole precautions which he took were to send -some officers with fifty men to aid the peasants of the lower Minho, -and afterwards to order another party, only 100 strong, to make sure -that the ferry-boats between Tuy and Orense were all destroyed or -removed--a task which (as we have already seen) they did not fully -perform. If he had brought up his whole force, instead of sending -out these paltry detachments, he would have made the task of Soult -infinitely more bloody and dangerous, though probably he could not -have prevented the Marshal from carrying out his plan. His quiescence -is not to be explained as resulting from a reluctance to fight, -though he was fully conscious of the low _morale_ of his army, and -was at his wits’ end to complete its dilapidated equipment. It came -from another cause, and one much less creditable to his military -capacity. Underrating Soult’s force, which he placed at 12,000 -instead of 22,000 men, he was labouring under the idea that the 2nd -Corps was about to retire from Galicia altogether, in face of the -general insurrection and the want of food. The march of the French to -Orense appeared in his eyes as the first stage of a retreat up the -valley of the Sil to Ponferrada and Astorga, and he imagined that the -province would soon be quit of them. Hence he contented himself with -stirring up the peasantry, and left to them the task of harassing -Soult’s columns, being resolved to make the proverbial ‘bridge of -gold’ for a flying enemy. From this vain dream he was soon to be -awakened. - -From the 21st to the 24th of February the Duke of Dalmatia was busily -employed in bringing up the rear divisions of his army to Orense. -None of them reached that place without fighting, for the bands which -had been driven off by Heudelet and Lahoussaye returned to worry -the troops of Delaborde, Merle, and Mermet, when they traversed the -route from Salvatierra to Orense. Jardon’s brigade of the last-named -division had a sharp fight near Rivadavia, and Merle had to clear -his way at Crecente by cutting to pieces a body of insurgents which -had fortified itself in that village. When the whole army was -concentrated between Rivadavia and Orense, the Marshal sent out large -detachments to sweep the valleys in the immediate neighbourhood of -those places. They found armed peasantry in every direction, but in -each case succeeded in thrusting them back into their hills, and -returned to Orense driving before them large herds of cattle, and -dragging behind them country wagons with a considerable amount of -grain. The longest and most important of these expeditions was one -made by Franceschi, who marched, with his own horsemen and one of -Heudelet’s brigades, along the road which the whole army was destined -to take in its invasion of Portugal. They routed one band of peasants -at Allariz, and another at Ginzo, half way to Monterey [February 23]. -Still there was no sign of La Romana’s army, which remained behind -the mountains of the Sierra Cabrera in complete quiescence, though -Franceschi’s advanced posts were only twenty miles away[213]. - - [213] Le Noble says (p. 96) that at Ginzo the peasants had with - them General Mahy and La Romana’s vanguard division. But General - Arteche gives documentary evidence (p. 347) to prove that on that - day Mahy and his troops were at Baltar, twenty miles away behind - the mountains. If there were regulars present they were only - detachments or stragglers. - -Soult kept his head quarters at Orense for nine days, during which -he was busied in collecting stores of food, repairing his artillery, -whose carriages had been badly shaken by the villainous roads, and in -endeavouring to pacify the country-side by proclamations and circular -letters to the notables and clergy. In this last scheme he met with -little success; from the bishop of Orense downwards almost every -leading man had taken refuge in the hills, and refused to return. -Silence or defiant replies answered the Marshal’s epistolary efforts. -His promises of protection and good government were sincere enough; -but the commentary on them was given by the excesses and atrocities -which his troops were committing in every outlying village. It was -not likely that the Galicians would come down from their fastnesses -to surrender[214]. - - [214] For the bishop of Orense’s sarcastic reply see Arteche, v. - 351. For the general effect of the proclamation see St. Chamans: - of the atrocities of the French, _Los Guerrilleros Gallegos_ give - ample and sometimes incredible accounts. - -The general advance of the army towards Portugal had been fixed for -March 4. It was not made under the most cheerful conditions. Not -only were the neighbouring peasantry still defiant as ever, but -bad news had come from the north. An aide-de-camp of Marshal Ney, -who had struggled through to Orense in despite of the insurgents, -brought a letter from his chief, which reported that the rising had -become general throughout the province, and apparently expressed -strong doubts as to the wisdom of invading Portugal before Galicia -was subdued. The Duke of Elchingen, as it would seem, wished his -colleague to draw back, and to aid him in suppressing the bands of -the coast and the upper Minho [215]. He might well doubt whether the -6th Corps would suffice for this task, if the 2nd Corps marched far -away towards Oporto, and got completely out of touch. Soult, however, -had the Emperor’s orders to advance into Portugal in his pocket. He -knew that if he disobeyed them no excuse would propitiate his master. -Probably he was not sorry to leave to Ney the unenviable task of -dealing with the ubiquitous and irrepressible Galician insurgents. -He sent back the message that he should march southward on March 4, -and continued his preparations. This resolve was not to the liking -of some of his subordinates: many of the officers who had served -with Junot in Portugal by no means relished the idea of returning to -that country. They did not conceal their feelings, and made the most -gloomy prophecies about the fate of the expedition. It was apparently -Loison who formed the centre of this clique of malcontents: he found -many sympathizers among his subordinates. Their discontent was the -basis upon which, two months later, the strange and obscure ‘Oporto -Conspiracy’ of Captain D’Argenton was to be based. At the present -moment, however, they contented themselves with denunciations of -the madness of the Emperor in planning the expedition, and of the -blind obedience of the Marshal in undertaking it. They told their -comrades that the numbers, courage, and ferocity of the Galicians -were as nothing compared with those of their southern neighbours, and -that during the oncoming operations those who found a sudden death -upon the battle-field would be lucky, for the Portuguese not only -murdered but tortured the prisoners, the wounded, and the stragglers. -It was fortunate for Soult that the majority of his officers paid -comparatively little attention to these forebodings, which they -rightly ascribed to the feelings of resentment and humiliation with -which the members of Junot’s army remembered the story of their -former disasters[216]. But it did not make matters easier for the -Marshal that even a small section of his lieutenants disbelieved in -the feasibility of his undertaking, and expected disaster to ensue. -Yet the opening scenes of the invasion of Portugal were to be so -brilliant and fortunate, that for a time the murmurs of the prophets -of evil were hushed. - - [215] See Le Noble (p. 98) for this dispatch and its effect on - the _morale_ of the army. - - [216] For the malcontents and their views see Le Noble, pp. - 98-9. St. Chamans, on the other hand (p. 119), says that the - army started in good spirits and with a great contempt for all - insurgents, Spanish or Portuguese. As a trusted staff officer of - the Marshal, he no doubt represents the optimistic view at head - quarters. - -On March 4 the Marshal’s head quarters were moved forward from Orense -to Alariz, on the road to Monterey and the frontier. The main body of -the army accompanied him, but Franceschi and Heudelet were already -far in front at Ginzo, only separated from La Romana’s outposts by -the Sierra Cabrera. From that point there are two difficult but -practicable roads[217] into Portugal: the one descends the valley of -the Lima and leads to Oporto by Viana and the coast. It is easier -than the second or inland route, which after crossing the Sierra -Cabrera descends to Monterey and Chaves, the frontier town of the -Portuguese province of Tras-os-Montes. But every military reason -impelled Soult to choose the second alternative. By marching on Viana -he would leave La Romana, whose presence he had now discovered, far -in his rear. The Marquis would be a bad general indeed if he did not -seize the opportunity of slipping back into Galicia, reoccupying -Orense, and setting the whole country-side aflame. It was infinitely -preferable to fall upon him from the front, rout him, and fling him -back among the Portuguese. Accordingly Franceschi, leading the whole -army, crossed the mountains on the fifth, and came hurtling into La -Romana’s cantonments long ere he was expected. Heudelet was just -behind him, Mermet and Delaborde a march further back: Merle brought -up the rear, guarding a convoy of 800 sick and wounded whom the -Marshal had resolved to bring on with him, rather than to leave them -at Orense to fall a prey to the insurgents. The dragoons of Lorges -and Lahoussaye were kept out on the right and left respectively, -watching the one the valley of the Lima, the other the head waters of -the Tamega. - - [217] There was also a third road, that by Montalegre and - Ruivaens, by which Soult ultimately evacuated Portugal; but as it - was not available for wheeled traffic, it could not be used by an - army with artillery. - -Down to the last moment the Marquis had been giving out his intention -of retiring into Portugal and co-operating with General Silveira, the -commandant of the Tras-os-Montes, in the defence of Chaves and the -line of the Tamega. But he was on very strained terms with his ally, -who showed no great alacrity to receive the Spaniards across the -frontier: his troops had been quarrelling with the Portuguese, and -he was very reluctant to expose his half-rallied battalions to the -ordeal of a battle, which Silveira openly courted. - -On the very day on which Soult started from Orense, La Romana made -up his mind that, instead of joining the Portuguese, he would -escape eastwards by the single road, over and above that of Chaves, -which was open to him. Accordingly his army suddenly started off, -abandoning the meagre magazines which it had collected at Oimbra -and Verin, and made for Puebla de Senabria, on the borders of the -province of Leon, by the road which coasts along the north side of -the Portuguese frontier, through Osoño and La Gudina. This sudden -move bore the appearance of a mean desertion of the Portuguese in -their day of peril: but it was in other respects wise and prudent. -It discomfited all Soult’s plans, since he failed to catch the -army of Galicia, which escaped him and placed itself on his flank -and rear instead of on his front. It was small consolation to the -Marshal that Franceschi came on the rearguard of the Spaniards at -La Trepa near Osoño and routed it. Seven skeleton regiments, only -1,200 bayonets in all, under General Mahy, were caught retiring along -a hillside and completely ridden down by the French cavalry. Three -standards and 400 prisoners were captured, 300 men more were killed, -the rest dispersed. But La Romana’s main body, meanwhile, had got -away in safety, and Soult had failed to strike the blow which he -intended[218]. He was soon to hear of the Marquis again, in quarters -where he little expected and still less desired to find him[219]. - - [218] Compare the narrative of the colonel of the Barcelona Light - Infantry, printed by Arteche in v. 359-61 of his _Guerra de la - Independencia_, with the highly-coloured account in Le Noble, - 104-5. The seven Spanish Corps engaged were Segovia, Zamora, - Barcelona, Majorca, Orense, Betanzos, Aragon. None of them had - more than 200 bayonets in line: the Galician regiments far less. - The three last-named corps lost a flag each. [Betanzos should be - substituted for Tuy in the list in Le Noble, p. 105, line 10.] - - [219] Napier (ii. 47) is wrong in saying that La Romana escaped - via Braganza; he did not enter Portugal, but kept on his own side - of the frontier, on the Monterey-La Gudina-Puebla de Senabria - road. - -Meanwhile the Portuguese were left alone to bear the brunt of the -attack of the 2nd Corps. It is time to relate and explain their -position, their resources, and their designs. - - - - -SECTION XIII: CHAPTER II - -PORTUGAL AT THE MOMENT OF SOULT’S INVASION: THE NATION, THE REGENCY, -AND SIR JOHN CRADOCK - - -Soult’s vanguard crossed the Portuguese frontier between Monterey and -Chaves on March 9, 1809: it was exactly five months since the last -of Junot’s troops had evacuated the realm on October 9, 1808. In the -period which had elapsed between those two dates much might have been -done to develop--or rather to create--a scheme of national defence -and a competent army. Unhappily for Portugal the Regency had not -risen to the opportunity, and when the second French invasion came -upon them the military organization of the realm was still in a state -of chaos. - -During the autumn months of 1808 the Portuguese Government had been -almost as sanguine and as careless as the Spanish Supreme Junta. -They had seen Junot beaten and expelled: they still beheld a large -British army in their midst; and they did not comprehend the full -extent of the impending danger, when the news came that Bonaparte was -nearing the Pyrenees, and that the columns of the ‘Grand Army’ were -debouching into the Peninsula. It was not till Moore had departed -that they began to conceive certain doubts as to the situation: nor -was it till Madrid had fallen that they at last realized that the -invader was once more at their gates, and that they must prepare to -defend themselves. - -There were still two months of respite granted to them. -Portugal--like Andalusia--was saved for a moment by Moore’s march to -Sahagun. The great field army which Napoleon had collected for the -advance on Lisbon was turned off northwards to pursue the British, -and on the New Year’s day of 1809 the only French force in proximity -to the frontier of the realm was the division of Lapisse, which -Bonaparte had dropped at Salamanca to form the connecting link -between Soult and Ney in Galicia, and the troops under Victor and -King Joseph in the vicinity of Madrid. - -But the danger was only postponed, not averted, by Moore’s daring -irruption into Old Castile. This the Portuguese Regency understood; -and during the first two months of 1809 they displayed a considerable -amount of energy, though it was in great part energy misdirected. -Their chief blunder was that instead of straining every nerve to -complete their regular army, on which the main stress of the invasion -was bound to fall, they diverted much of their zeal to the task of -raising a vast _levée en masse_ of the whole able-bodied population -of the realm. This error had its roots in old historical memories. -The deliverance of Portugal from the Spanish yoke in the long war of -independence in the seventeenth century, had been achieved mainly -by the _Ordenanza_, the old constitutional force of the realm, -which resembled the English _Fyrd_ of the Middle Ages. It had done -good service again in the wars of 1703-12, and even in the shorter -struggle of 1762. But in the nineteenth century it was no longer -possible to reckon upon it as a serious line of defence, especially -when the enemy to be held back was not the disorderly Spanish army -but the legions of Bonaparte. When there were not even arms enough -in Portugal to supply the line-battalions with a musket for every -man, it was insane to summon together huge masses of peasantry, and -to make over to them some of the precious firearms which should -have been reserved for the regulars. The majority, however, of the -_Ordenanza_ were not even supplied with muskets, they were given -pikes--weapons with which their ancestors had done good service in -1650, but which it was useless to serve out in 1809. The Regency -had procured some 17,000[220] from the British Government, and had -caused many thousands more to be manufactured. Both on the northern -and the eastern frontier great hordes of country-folk, equipped with -these useless and antiquated arms, were gathered together. Destitute -of discipline and of officers, insufficiently supplied with food, -the prey of every rumour, true or false, that ran along the border, -they were a source of danger rather than of strength to the realm. -The cry of ‘treachery,’ which inevitably arises among armed mobs, -was always being raised in their encampments. Hence came tumults and -murders, for the peasantry had a strong suspicion of the loyalty of -the governing classes--the result of the subservience to the French -invader which had been displayed by many of the authorities, both -civil and military, in 1808. Orders which they did not understand, -or into which a sinister meaning could be read by a suspicious mind, -generally caused a riot, and sometimes the assassination of the -unfortunate commander whom the Regency had placed over the horde. -In Oporto the state of affairs was particularly bad: the bishop, -though a sincere patriot and a man of energy, had drunk too deeply -of the delights of power during his rule in the summer months. After -being made a member of the Regency by Dalrymple, he should have -remained at Lisbon and worked with his colleagues. But returning to -his own flock, he reassumed the authority which he had possessed -during the early days of the insurrection, and pursued a policy of -his own, which often differed from that of his Regency at large, and -was sometimes in flagrant opposition to it. His position, in fact, -was similar to that of Palafox at Saragossa, and like the Aragonese -general he often practised the arts of demagogy in order to keep -firm his influence over the populace. He was all for the system of -the _levée en masse_; and summoned together unmanageable bands which -he was able neither to equip nor to control. He praised their zeal, -was wilfully blind to their frequent excesses, and seldom tried to -turn their energies into profitable channels. Indeed, he was so -ignorant of military matters himself, that he had no useful orders -to give. He ignored the advice of the Portuguese generals in his -district, and got little profit from that of two foreign officers -whom the British Government sent him--the Hanoverian General Von -der Decken and the Prussian Baron Eben. These gentlemen he seems to -have conciliated, and to have played off against the native military -authorities. But if they gave him good counsel, there are no signs in -his actions that he turned it to account. All the British witnesses -who passed through Oporto in January and February 1809, describe the -place as being in a state of patriotic frenzy, and under mob law -rather than administered by any regular and legal government[221]. -The only fruitful military effort made in this part of Portugal was -that of the gallant Sir Robert Wilson, who raised there in November -and December his celebrated ‘Loyal Lusitanian Legion.’ This was -intended to be the core of a subsidiary Portuguese division in -British pay, distinct from the national army. When Wilson arrived -in Oporto the bishop welcomed him, and forwarded in every way the -formation of the corps. In a few days the Legion had 3,000 recruits -of excellent quality, of whom Wilson could arm and clothe only some -1,300, for the equipment which he had brought with him was limited. -He soon discovered, however, that the bishop’s zeal in his behalf was -mainly due to the desire to have a solid force at hand which should -be independent of the Portuguese generals. He wished the Legion to -be, as it were, his own body-guard. Sir Robert was ill pleased, and -being unwilling to mix himself in the domestic feuds of the bishop -and the Regency, or to become the tool of a faction, quitted Oporto -as soon as his men could march. With one strong battalion, a couple -of squadrons of cavalry, and an incomplete battery--under 1,500 men -in all--he moved first to Villa Real (Dec. 14), and then to the -frontier, where he posted himself near Almeida and took over the task -of observing Lapisse’s division, which from its base at Salamanca -was threatening the Portuguese border. Of his splendid services in -this direction we shall have much to tell. The unequipped portion of -the Legion, left behind at Oporto, was handed over to Baron Eben, -and became involved in the tumultuous and unhappy career of the -bishop[222]. - - [220] List of Arms sent to Portugal on p. 9 of _Parliamentary - Papers_ for 1809. - - [221] The Portuguese volume for December 1808 and - January-February 1809 in the Record Office being mysteriously - lost, Cradock’s correspondence and that of the other British - officers in Portugal is no longer available. But Napier took - copious notes from it, while it was still forthcoming; they will - be found on pp. 425-31 of his vol. ii, and bear witness to a - complete state of anarchy in Oporto. - - [222] The first battalion used to call the second ‘Baron Eben’s - runaways’ when they met again, as Mayne assures us in his - _History of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion_. - -Meanwhile Lisbon was almost as disturbed as Oporto, and might -have lapsed into the same state of anarchy, if a British garrison -had not been on the spot. The mistaken policy of the Regency had -led to the formation of sixteen so-called ‘legions[223]’ in the -capital and suburbs. These tumultuary levies had few officers and -hardly any arms but pikes. They were under no sort of discipline, -and devoted themselves to the self-imposed duty of hunting for -spies and ‘_Afrancesados_.’ Led by demagogues of the streets, they -paraded up and down Lisbon to beat of drum, arresting persons whom -they considered suspicious, especially foreign residents of all -nationalities. The Regency having issued a decree prohibiting this -practice [January 29], the armed levies only assembled in greater -numbers next night, and engaged in a general chase after unpopular -citizens, policemen, and aliens of all kinds. Many fugitives were -only saved from death by taking refuge in the guard-houses and the -barracks where the garrison was quartered. Isolated British soldiers -were assaulted, some were wounded, and parties of ‘legionaries’ -actually stopped aides-de-camp and orderlies carrying dispatches, -and stripped them of the documents they were bearing. The mob was -inclined, indeed, to be ill-disposed towards their allies, from the -suspicion that they were intending to evacuate Lisbon and to retire -from the Peninsula. They had seen the baggage and non-combatants -left behind by Moore put on ship-board; early in February they -beheld the troops told off for the occupation of Cadiz embark and -disappear. When they also noticed that the forts at the Tagus mouth -were being dismantled[224] they made up their minds that the British -were about to desert them, without making any attempt to defend -Portugal. Hence came the malevolent spirit which they displayed. It -died down when their suspicions were proved unfounded by the arrival -of Beresford and other British officers, at the beginning of March, -with resources for the reorganization of the Portuguese army, and -still more when a little later heavy reinforcements from England -began to pour into the city. But in the last days of January and the -first of February matters at Lisbon had been in a most dangerous and -critical condition: the Regency, utterly unable to keep order, had -hinted to Sir John Cradock that he must take his own measures against -the mob, and for several days the British general had kept the -garrison under arms, and planted artillery in the squares and broader -streets--exactly as Junot had done seven months before. The ‘legions’ -were cowed, and most fortunately no collision occurred: if a single -shot had been fired in anger, there would have been an end of the -Anglo-Portuguese alliance, and it is more than likely that Cradock--a -man of desponding temperament--would have abandoned the country. - - [223] They were raised by a decree of Dec. 23, 1808. - - [224] This was a proper precaution, as the sea-forts could be of - no use for defending Lisbon from a land attack, while, if Lisbon - got into French hands again, they would have been invaluable for - resisting an attack from the side of the sea. But Cradock was far - too precipitate in commencing an operation which betrayed such - want of confidence. - -His force at this moment was by no means large: when Moore marched -for Salamanca in October he had left behind in Portugal six -battalions of British and four of German infantry[225], three -squadrons of the 20th Light Dragoons (the regiment that had been so -much cut up at Vimiero), one of the 3rd Light Dragoons of the King’s -German Legion, and five batteries, only one of which was horsed. -From Salamanca, when on the eve of starting on the march to Sahagun, -Sir John had sent back two regiments to Portugal, in charge of his -great convoys of sick and heavy baggage[226]. To compensate for this -deduction from his army he had called up a brigade of the troops left -in Portugal; but only one battalion of it--the 82nd--reached him -in time to join in his Castilian campaign[227]. The net result was -that seven British infantry regiments from Moore’s army were left -behind, in addition to the four German corps. Two more had arrived -from England in November[228], and a fresh regiment of dragoons in -December[229]. - - [225] These were the 2/9th, 29th, 1/40th, 1/45th, 82nd, 97th, - and 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 7th line battalions of the King’s German - Legion. - - [226] The 1/3rd and 5/60th. The last battalion was mainly - composed of foreigners, and had received more than 200 recruits - from the deserters of Junot’s army. Moore would not trust it, and - sent it back. It afterwards did splendid service under Wellesley. - - [227] The battalions that did not get up in time were the 1/45th - and 97th. - - [228] These were the 3/27th and 2/31st, which had sailed with - Baird from Portsmouth, but were sent on from Corunna to Lisbon - when the rest of Baird’s expedition landed in Galicia. - - [229] The 14th Light Dragoons. - -Thus when Sir John Cradock took over the command at Lisbon on -December 14, 1808, he had at his disposal in all thirteen battalions -of infantry, seven squadrons of cavalry, and five batteries, a force -of about 12,000 men[230]. But not more than 10,000 were effective, -for Sir John Moore had left behind precisely those of his regiments -which were most sickly, when he marched for Spain. He had moreover -discharged more than 2,000 additional sick upon Portugal ere he began -field operations: they were encumbering the hospitals of Almeida and -Lamego when Cradock appeared. The 10,000 men fit for service were -scattered all over Portugal: the two battalions, which had just come -back from Spain, and the two others which had been too late to join -Moore, were in the north, at Almeida and Lamego[231]. One battalion -was in garrison at Elvas[232]. Six lay in Lisbon, as also did the -whole of the cavalry and guns[233]: two were on the march from -Abrantes to Almeida[234]. - - [230] Napier (ii. 5) much under-estimates when he calls the - whole ‘10,000 including sick.’ Cradock’s regiments add up to - about 12,133 men including those in hospital. In addition there - were all Moore’s sick, who, though many had died in the interim, - presented on Feb. 18 in Portugal convalescents to the number of - 2,000 men. - - [231] The 1/3rd, 1/45th, 5/60th, and 97th. - - [232] The 1/40th. - - [233] The four German battalions, the 3/27th and 2/31st. - - [234] The 2/9th and 29th. - -Such a dispersion of forces would have appalled the most enterprising -of generals, and this was a title to which Cradock had certainly no -claims. The two obvious courses between which he had to choose, were -either to concentrate his little army on the frontier and make as -much display of it in the face of the French as might be possible, -or to abandon all idea of protecting exterior Portugal, and collect -the scattered regiments in or about Lisbon. Cradock chose the second -alternative. He argued that he was too weak to be of any effectual -service on the frontier, and moreover found that there would be a -vast difficulty in moving forward even the Lisbon garrison, for -nearly all the available transport had been requisitioned for the -use of Moore’s army, and had been carried off into Spain. Neither of -these pleas is convincing: with regard to the first, it is merely -necessary to point out that Sir Robert Wilson, with 1,500 men of -the Lusitanian Legion, not yet three months old, made his presence -felt on the frontier, checked Lapisse, and kept the whole province -of Salamanca in a state of unrest. Ten thousand British bayonets -and sabres could have done much more. As to the food and supplies, -Cradock was arguing in the old eighteenth-century style, as if a -British army was bound to move with all its baggage and impedimenta, -its women and children. If he had chosen to ‘march light,’ and to -take the route through the fertile and well-peopled Estremadura, he -could have reached Abrantes or Almeida or any other goal that he -chose. - -The fact was that the reasons for refusing to adopt a ‘forward -policy’ were moral and not physical. Cradock, in common with Sir John -Moore and many other British officers, believed that Portugal could -not be defended, and was thinking more of securing himself a safe -embarkation than of exercising any influence on the main current of -the war. - -When Moore’s army had passed out of sight, and was known to be -retiring in the direction of Galicia, it seemed to Cradock that -his own position was hopeless. Even if granted time to concentrate -his scattered battalions, he would be forced to fly to the sea and -take shipping the moment that any serious French force crossed the -frontier. He had not sufficiently accurate information to enable him -to see that both Lapisse at Salamanca, and the weak divisions of the -4th Corps which lay in the valley of the Tagus, could not possibly -move forward against him. It would have been insane for either of -these forces to have attacked Portugal--the one was at this moment -less than 10,000, the other about 12,000 strong--they were without -communications, and separated by 100 miles of pathless sierras. -Moreover the troops in the valley of the Tagus were fully occupied in -observing the Spanish army of Estremadura. At the opening of the New -Year, therefore, Cradock was in absolutely no danger, and might have -gone forward either to Abrantes or to Almeida in perfect security. In -the first position he would have menaced the flank of the 4th Corps: -in the second he would have exercised a useful pressure on Lapisse. -In either case he would have encouraged the Portuguese and lent moral -support to the Spaniards. - -But Cradock was possessed by that miserable theory which was so -frequently expounded by the men of desponding mind during the -early years of the Peninsular War, to the effect that Portugal was -indefensible, and would have to be evacuated whenever a strong French -force approached its frontier[235]. It was fortunate for England and -for Europe that Wellesley had other views. The history of the next -three years was to show that a British general could find something -better to do than to pack up his baggage and prepare to embark, -whenever the enemy came down in superior strength to the Portuguese -border. - - [235] Sir John Moore himself ventilated this view in a letter - to Lord Castlereagh from Salamanca, Nov. 25, 1808. It is this - fact that explains Napier’s very tender treatment of Cradock, - who quoted Moore as his justifying authority. Moreover Cradock - had been very obliging in placing all his papers at Napier’s - disposal, a fact which prepossessed the historian in his favour. - -No doubt Cradock would have had to take to his transports if the -French had possessed on January 1, 1809, an army of 40,000 men -available for the invasion of Portugal, and ready to advance. They -did not happen to own any such force; and till he was certain that -such a force existed, Cradock was gravely to blame for ordering every -British soldier to fall back on Lisbon, and for openly commencing to -destroy the sea-forts of the capital. It is true that the dispatches -which he received from home gave him many directions as to what he -was to do if the enemy appeared in overpowering strength: he was to -blow up the shore batteries, destroy all military and naval stores, -and embark with the British troops and as many Portuguese as could -be induced to follow. But this was only to take place ‘upon the -actual approach of the enemy towards Lisbon in such strength as may -render all further resistance ineffectual[236].’ To commence these -preparations when the nearest troops of the enemy were at Salamanca -and Almaraz was premature and precipitate in the highest degree. Till -the French began to move, every endeavour should have been made to -encourage the Portuguese and to maintain a show--even if it were but -a vain show--of an intention to defend the frontier. If Lapisse had -heard that Cradock was at Almeida he would have been nailed down to -Salamanca: if Victor had heard that he was at Alcantara, or even at -Abrantes, he would never have dared to pursue Cuesta into southern -Estremadura. - - [236] Castlereagh to Cradock, Dec. 24, 1808. Napier makes on - this the curious remark that the ministry gave contradictory - orders when they told Cradock to make a show of preparation for - resistance, yet to get ready for embarkation if it should prove - necessary. - -Cradock, however, drew into Lisbon every available man: Brigadier -Cameron, with the troops from Almeida and Oporto, started back on a -weary march from the north, via Coimbra, bringing not only his own -four battalions, but 1,500 convalescents and returned stragglers from -Moore’s army. Richard Stewart, with the two battalions that had been -at Abrantes, also came in to the capital, and all the British troops -were concentrated by the beginning of February, save the 40th regiment, -which still lay at Elvas. Having thus got together about 10,000 men, -Cradock, with almost incredible timidity, began to draw them back to -Passo d’Arcos, a place behind Lisbon near the mouth of the Tagus, from -which embarkation was easy. When Villiers, the British minister at -Lisbon, remonstrated with him on the deplorable political consequences -of assuming this ignoble position on the water’s edge, Cradock replied, -“I must object to take up a ‘false position,’ say Alcantara, or to -occupy the heights in front of Lisbon, which would only defend a -certain position, and leave the remainder [of Portugal?] to the power -of the enemy, one which we must leave upon his approach, and seek -another, bearing the appearance of flight, and yet not securing our -retreat. The whole having announced the intention of defending Lisbon, -but giving up that idea upon the approach of the enemy, for positions -liable to be turned on every side cannot be persevered in by an -inferior force.” - -On the day [February 15] upon which Cradock wrote this extraordinary -piece of English prose composition, whose grammar is as astounding -as its argument, the nearest French troops were at Tuy in Galicia, -Salamanca in Leon, and the bridge of Arzobispo on the central Tagus, -points respectively 230, 250, and 240 miles distant from Lisbon as -the crow flies, and infinitely more by road. Further comment is -hardly necessary. - -At this moment Cradock might have had at his disposal 2,000 more -British troops, but he had chosen to fall in with Sir George Smith’s -hasty and unauthorized scheme for the occupation of Cadiz[237], -and had sent off to that port a whole brigade[238], under General -Mackenzie. He also dispatched orders to Colonel Kemmis of the 40th -to hand over Elvas to the Portuguese, and march to Seville. The -battalion moved into Andalusia, and placed itself at the disposition -of Mr. Frere, who found it as useless as the force which Smith had -drawn off to Cadiz. It was several months before the 40th rejoined -the army of Portugal. - - [237] See p. 27. - - [238] The 3/27th, 2/9th, 29th, and some small details of - artillery, &c. - -Influenced by the remonstrances of Mr. Villiers, and somewhat -comforted by the fact that the French armies had nowhere crossed the -Portuguese frontier, Cradock was at last persuaded to give up his -position at Passo d’Arcos; he fixed his head quarters at Lumiar, left -2,000 men in garrison at Lisbon, and cantoned the remainder of his -army at Saccavem and other places a few miles in front of the city. -This was better than leaving them on the sea-shore; but the move was -no more than a miserable half measure. It was almost as indicative -of an intention to depart without fighting as the retreat to Passo -d’Arcos had been. In short, from January to the end of April the -British army exercised no influence whatever on the military affairs -of the Peninsula. Yet by March it was beginning to grow formidable -in numbers: early in that month all the troops which had been drawn -off to Cadiz were sent to Lisbon, and by the addition of seven good -battalions to his corps[239] Cradock found himself at the head of -over 16,000 men. There were but 800 effective cavalry, and of the six -batteries only two, incredible as it may seem, were properly horsed, -though three months had passed by since the general had begun his -first complaints on this point[240]. But 16,000 British troops were -a force not to be despised, and if Wellesley or some other competent -officer had been in command, we cannot doubt that they would have -been turned to some profitable use. Under Cradock they remained -cantoned in the suburbs of Lisbon for the whole time during which -Soult was completing his conquest of Oporto and northern Portugal, -and Victor executing his invasion of Estremadura. It was not till -Soult’s advanced guard was on the Vouga [April 6] that Hill and -Beresford[241] succeeded in inducing the general to carry forward his -head quarters to Leiria and his outposts to Thomar[242]. Fortunately -his tenure of command was at last drawing to an end. On April 22 Sir -Arthur Wellesley arrived in Lisbon and took over charge of the troops -in Portugal. How startling were the consequences of this change of -generals we shall soon see: ere May was out the whole Peninsula -realized once more that there was a British Army within its limits--a -fact that might well have passed unnoticed during the last four -months. - - [239] Not only Mackenzie’s brigade, but also Tilson’s brigade, - the 2/87th and 1/88th, and the stronger battalions of H. - Campbell, which had gone to Cadiz directly from England--the - first battalions of the 2nd (Coldstream) and 3rd (Scots Fusilier) - Guards. - - [240] In a letter of March 20 to Mr. Villiers, Cradock makes the - astounding statement that after scouring all Portugal for horses - for three months, he was still unable to provide them for four - out of his six batteries. - - [241] Cradock’s controversial letters to Lord Londonderry, - printed in the latter’s history (ii. 286-7), do no more than bear - out Londonderry’s accusations of torpidity against Sir John. - - [242] Cradock contended that before the arrival of Hill and - Sherbrooke and the return of Mackenzie from Cadiz, he had only - 10,225 men, and, deducting sick and garrisons for the Lisbon - forts, could only have marched out with 5,221. [Letter to - Londonderry on p. 302, vol. ii. of the latter’s work.] He had - sent 3,500 men to Cadiz and Seville, on Sir George Smith’s - unhappy inspiration, or his force would have been much larger. - As to the resolution to march against Soult, which he afterwards - claimed to have made, it is sufficient to say that Wellesley on - his arrival wrote to Castlereagh that ‘Sir John Cradock does - not appear to have entertained any decided intention of moving - forward: on the contrary he appears (by his letters to Mr. - Villiers) to have intended to go no further till he should hear - of Victor’s movements.’ [_Well. Corresp._, Lisbon, April 24.] - - - - -SECTION XIII: CHAPTER III - -THE PORTUGUESE ARMY: ITS HISTORY AND ITS REORGANIZATION - - -While the Regency was wasting much of its energy on the arming of -the undisciplined masses of the _Ordenanza_, and while Cradock sat -supine at Passo d’Arcos and at Saccavem, one useful piece of work at -least was being taken in hand. This was the reorganization of the -Portuguese regular army, a task which the Regency determined, though -only so late as February, 1809, to hand over to a British general -officer. - -To explain the chaotic condition of the force at the moment when -Soult was just about to enter Portugal, a short account of its -previous history is necessary. It had received its existing shape -from a foreign hand, that of the well-known ‘Conde de La Lippe,’ -i.e. the German Marshal, Frederick Count of Lippe-Bückeburg, who -had been entrusted with its command during the short war with Spain -in 1762. He it was who first gave Portugal an army of the modern -type, modelled on the ordinary system of the eighteenth century, -and showing many traces of adaptations from a Prussian original. -The Marshal was a great organizer and a man of mark: his name is -perhaps best remembered in connexion with the citadel of Elvas, -which he rebuilt, and christened La Lippe after himself: under that -designation we shall repeatedly have to mention it while describing -the early years of the Peninsular War. - -As he left it, the Portuguese army consisted of twenty-four regiments -of the line, each forming a single battalion of seven companies and -806 men. There were twelve regiments of cavalry, each originally -composed of no more than 240 sabres, and three regiments of artillery -of eight batteries each, besides a few garrison companies of that -arm. After La Lippe’s departure the army had shared in the general -decay of strength and organization in the kingdom, which prevailed -during the reign of the mad queen Maria, and her son the feeble -Prince-Regent John. But the lack of mere numerical strength was not -nearly so fatal to its efficiency as the rustiness and rottenness of -its internal machinery. Under an octogenarian commander-in-chief, the -Duke of Alafoens, every department of the army had been decaying in -the latter years of the eighteenth century. All the typical faults -of an army of the _ancien régime_ after a long period of peace were -developed to the highest possible pitch. Commissions were sold, or -given away by intrigue and corruption, often to persons of unsuitable -rank and education[243]: promotion was slow and perfectly arbitrary: -the pay of the officers was very low, while every incentive to petty -jobbing and embezzlement was afforded by the vicious system under -which the colonel contracted with the government for his regiment, -and the captain with the colonel for his company. In the Portuguese -army, as in all others where this antiquated practice prevailed, the -temptation to fill the muster-rolls with ‘dead-heads’ and absentees, -so that the contractor might save their food and pocket their pay, -had been too strong for the ordinary officer to resist. Hence came -the empty ranks of the battalions, the ludicrous disproportion -of horses to men in the cavalry, the depleted condition of the -regimental stores and equipment. - - [243] All authorities agree as to the inferior character and - status of a great part of the Portuguese officers. Dumouriez - remarks [1766] that ‘their pay does not enable them to live - better than the common soldiers, whose comrades and relatives - they often are. The subaltern ranks are filled from the - inferior classes, and their hatred of foreigners prevents their - association with, or receiving any improvement from, them: hence - it is that they remain in such ignorance and wretchedness’ (p. - 17). Halliday remarks (p. 106) that ‘even captains had not - the rank of gentlemen.’ Compare with this Patterson’s curious - note (vol. i. p. 250), ‘The familiarity that subsists between - the native officers and their men renders ineffective all - the authority of the former, at the same time defeating the - object to be attained by discipline. They eat, gamble, and - drink together. I have even seen them waltzing and figuring - off in the _contra-danza_, captains with corporals, majors - with drumboys--all Jack-fellows well met, and excellent boon - companions. They will not of themselves do anything, their good - qualities must be elicited by strangers. I know of nothing that - stamps the character of Lord Beresford as a man of energy and - perseverance, more than the way in which he has organized them, - and from a miserable undisciplined rabble produced, in course of - time, a fair body of fighting troops, who performed (encouraged - by their English officers) some spirited service during the war.’ - -The short Spanish war of 1801-2 had revealed the complete -disorganization of the army. Hasty measures were taken to strengthen -it: in the moment of panic every infantry regiment was ordered to -raise a second battalion, and though the number of companies per -battalion was lowered from seven to five, yet as each of them was -now to consist of 150 instead of 116 men, the total strength of each -infantry corps was raised to 1,500 officers and men. At the same time -the cavalry regiments were supposed to have been increased to 470 -sabres[244], and a fourth regiment of artillery was created. Nor was -this all: an ‘Experimental Legion’ for light infantry service, eight -companies strong, with a couple of squadrons and a horse-artillery -battery attached to it, was soon afterwards raised by the Marquis -D’Alorna. - - [244] Of these, twelve squadrons were originally cuirassiers - (Dumouriez, p. 18), but their armament had been discarded before - 1800, and one regiment only was light horse. - -But after the peace of Badajoz had been signed the army was allowed -to sink back into its old sloth and inefficiency. When Junot entered -Portugal in December, 1807, it is doubtful if there were as many -as 20,000 troops really embodied, though the nominal total of the -national army reached nearly 50,000 men[245]. - - [245] - - Twenty-four regiments of infantry of two battalions each 36,000 - twelve regiments of cavalry at 470 5,640 - four regiments of artillery at 989 3,956 - ten garrison companies of artillery (veterans) 1,300 - ‘Experimental Legion,’ engineers, &c. 1,500 - ------ - Total 48,396 - - Halliday gives an even larger figure, 52,204. - -Portugal had a few keen soldiers (such as Gomez Freire de Andrade, -and the renegade D’Alorna), who had received abroad a good military -education, and had even written military books. But the majority of -the officers were slack, ignorant, and incompetent; while the men -were half-drilled, badly disciplined, and ill-equipped. The only -attempt which had been made to introduce any of the modern military -discoveries which had been worked out in the wars of the French -Revolution, consisted in the creation of the already-mentioned -‘Experimental Legion’ which D’Alorna had been allowed to raise and -to train with a new light-infantry drill, adapted by himself from -French models. The main body of the army looked with some jealousy -and suspicion on this corps, and had made no effort to copy it. - -The French invasion of Portugal had dashed to pieces the old regular -army. Junot, it will be remembered, had disbanded the greater part -of the men, and formed with the remainder a few battalions, which he -had begun to send off to France ere the insurrection of June, 1808, -broke out. Some of them took an involuntary share in the first siege -of Saragossa: others were hurled into the red holocaust of Wagram. - -When Portugal rose against the invader, the local juntas endeavoured -to call back to arms all the dispersed officers and men, to serve as -a nucleus for the insurrectionary hosts. The system of recruiting -which La Lippe had introduced made this comparatively easy: he had -instituted regimental districts in a very complete form. Each corps -was named after a particular town or region[246], drew its conscripts -from that locality, and was usually quartered in it. When Junot -disbanded the old army, the men naturally returned to their homes. -It resulted that when, for example, the Oporto Junta summoned out -to service the late members of the 6th and 18th regiments of the -line, the two units belonging to the Oporto district, it could be -certain of finding the greater part of the rank and file without much -difficulty. To reconstitute in a hurry the corps of officers was a -much harder matter: a disproportionate number of the more competent -holders of commissions had been drafted into the contingent sent -to France: comparatively few resided in their proper regimental -districts, many in Lisbon, which was still in Junot’s hands. Hence -the battalions which fought under Leite at Evora, or accompanied -Wellesley to Vimiero, bore their old names indeed, but were not -merely ill-equipped and low in numbers, but lacked a due supply of -officers. Considering the inefficiency of the regiments even before -they were destroyed by Junot, they might now be described as no more -than ‘the shadow of a shade.’ - - [246] Except two Lisbon regiments, named Viera Tellez and Freire, - from former colonels of distinction [Nos. 4 and 16]. - -When the French had been driven out of Portugal, and the Junta of -Regency took in hand the reconstruction and enlargement of the army, -the problem of organization seemed almost insoluble. The government -decreed that the regiments of infantry of the line should be raised -to their full establishment of 1,500, a figure which they had never -really attained in the old days. It was also decided to create six -new battalions of riflemen (Cazadores), a class of infantry of -which D’Alorna’s ‘Experimental Legion’ had hitherto been the sole -representatives in Portugal. As to the cavalry and artillery, it was -an obvious fact that the dearth of horses in the kingdom made it -impossible to enlarge the number of units. The twelve old regiments -of horse[247], the thirty-two old batteries of artillery were to be -reconstructed, but no new ones were to be created. - - [247] It was intended, however, to give each cavalry regiment an - extra squadron. - -Considering that the old corps of officers in Portugal was -notoriously incompetent, it was hard to see how the expanded army was -to be drilled and disciplined. About 25,000 recruits were suddenly -shot into the old _cadres_; they could be readily procured, for -not only were volunteers forthcoming in great numbers, but if they -ran short a stringent conscription law was in existence. But how -were the regiments to be officered? It was true that a considerable -amount of the raw material for officers was obtainable, for patriotic -enthusiasm was driving the young men of the upper classes into the -army, in a way that had never before been seen--the service had not -hitherto been popular, owing to its poor pay and prospects. But one -cannot officer raw recruits with equally raw ensigns, and call the -result a regular army. Moreover, arms and equipment were lamentably -deficient: Junot had confiscated and destroyed almost all the store -of arms belonging to the old army: it is said that the insurgents -had not 10,000 serviceable muskets among them when Wellesley landed. -The British had distributed some 42,000 more between August and -December[248]; but what were these among so many? There were to be -over 50,000 regulars, when the establishment was completed, and -the Regency hoped to call out some 40,000 militia when the first line -of defence had been equipped, and after that to arm the vast masses -of the _Ordenanza_. - - [248] _Parliamentary Papers_, 1309. Return No. 5, p. 9. - -[Illustration: _Portuguese Dragoon of the 1st (Alcantara) Regiment_ - _From a drawing of 1809._ - _Walker & Cockerell Ph. Sc._] - -The natural results followed. In obedience to the decree issued by -the Regency, a considerable number of men were collected at each -regimental dépôt. Of these about one-third, on an average, were old -soldiers: but the proportion varied, for some corps had suffered more -than others from the drafts of trained men which Junot had sent off -to France. A good many of the regiments succeeded, so far as numbers -went, in constituting their two battalions without much difficulty. -Others were less fortunate, and could only raise one: two were so -hopelessly incomplete that Beresford distributed the few hundred men -whom they could produce among other corps, and temporarily disbanded -them[249]. It was the same with the cavalry, of which two regiments -were wholly without horses, and several were so absurdly short of -mounts that they could not be used[250]. Even of the corps which -were not dissolved, several were so weak that they had not recruited -themselves up to half their nominal strength even by September[251]. -This was more especially the case in the Alemtejo, where the -population displayed an apathy that contrasted strongly with the -turbulent enthusiasm prevalent in Lisbon and in the North. - - [249] The 8th and 22nd, both Alemtejo regiments, were entirely - drafted off, and were raised again afresh with recruits in the - autumn. - - [250] The 2nd and 3rd, both Alemtejo regiments, were never horsed - during the whole war, and did foot-service in garrisons of the - interior. - - [251] In September the 3rd, 5th, 15th, 21st, and 24th had not - raised their second battalions. Of these the 5th and 15th were - Alemtejo regiments. - -Two invaluable sets of Returns, in the Record Office, show us that, -as far as mere numbers went, the Regency had not done so much as -it should, in the way of increasing the total of men under arms, -during the two months that followed the Convention of Cintra. On -September 13, according to a report from Baron Decken, who had -gone round the insurrectionary armies of Freire, Leite, and the -Monteiro Mor, there were under arms 13,272 line infantry, 3,384 light -infantry (Cazadores), 1,812 cavalry, and 19,000 militia: the force -of artillery is not given. But of these 37,000 men only 13,600 -had serviceable weapons and equipment, and were fit to take the -field[252]. - - [252] Report of Baron Decken, Sept. 13, 1808 (Record Office). - -On November 26 these figures had risen to 22,361 infantry, 3,422 -cavalry, 4,031 artillery, and 20,880 militia. But, owing to the -importation of English muskets during the last two months, there were -now 31,833 men properly equipped, of whom 2,052 were mounted men. The -remaining 19,000 had still nothing more than pikes, or non-military -firearms, such as fowling-pieces and blunderbusses: 1,400 cavalry -were still without horses[253]. - - [253] Return of the Portuguese army, Nov. 26 (Record Office). - -The figures are very moderate, but the worst part of the situation -was that a collection of 1,000 or 1,500 men does not constitute -a regiment, even if 300 or 400 of them chance to have been old -soldiers. There were not, it is clear, muskets enough to arm more -than two-thirds of the rank and file: belts, pouches, knapsacks, and -other equipment were still more deficient. Yet the really fatal point -was that there was a wholly inadequate number of officers, and that -of those who were forthcoming the elder men were mostly incompetent, -and the younger entirely untrained. In the official correspondence of -the early months of 1809 the most prominent fact that emerges is the -difficulty that was found in discovering colonels and majors capable -of licking into shape the incoherent mass of men at the regimental -head quarters, and of teaching the newly-appointed junior officers -their duty. It seemed that their long peace-service in small garrison -towns had taken all energy and initiative out of the seniors of the -army of the _ancien régime_. They gazed with despair on the task -before them, and seemed quite incapable of coping with it. When a -British general took over the command of the Portuguese army, he -complained that ‘Long habits of disregard to duty, and consequent -laziness, make it not only difficult but almost impossible to induce -the senior officers of this service to enter into any regular and -continued attention to the duties of their situations, and neither -reward nor punishment will induce them to bear up against the -fatigue[254].’ It was only when a whole generation of colonels had -been cleared away that the army grew efficient, and the reorganized -regiments began to distinguish themselves in the field. - - [254] Beresford to Wellesley, _Wellington Supplementary - Dispatches_, vi. p. 774. - -For the purpose of mobilization every regiment had been sent in the -autumn of 1808 to its proper head quarters, in the centre of its -recruiting district. There they still lay in the end of February, -when Soult was drawing near the frontier. There was absolutely no -Portuguese army in the field, only a number of battalions, squadrons, -and batteries, in a more or less imperfect state of organization, -scattered broadcast over the country. They were, as we have already -seen, still insufficiently supplied with arms and equipment. Of -transport and train, to enable them to move, there was hardly a -trace. The only thing approaching a concentration of force was that -in Lisbon and its immediate vicinity there were seven regiments -of foot and three of horse, which were there assembled simply -because their head quarters and their recruiting ground lay in this -quarter[255]. Of the remainder of the infantry two regiments were in -Algarve, in the far south; five in the Alemtejo; four in Beira; two -in the Tras-os-Montes, four in Oporto and the adjoining province of -Entre-Douro-e-Minho. It was with the last six alone that Soult had to -deal when he invaded northern Portugal[256]: not one of the others -was moved up to aid the northern regiments in holding him back. - - [255] These were the 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th of the - line, and the 1st, 4th, and 7th cavalry. Of the foot the 1st, - 4th, 10th, and 16th were Lisbon regiments, the 7th was named from - and belonged to Setubal, the 13th to Peniche, the 19th to Cascaes. - - [256] These were the 6th, 9th, 12th, 18th, 21st, and 24th. The - 6th and 18th belonged to Oporto, the 9th to Viana, the 12th to - Chaves, the 21st to Valenza, the 24th to Braganza. - -Impressed with the state of hopeless disarray in which their army -lay, and conscious that for stores and weapons to equip it, and money -to pay it, they could look only to Great Britain, the Regency asked -in February for the appointment of a British commander-in-chief. This -was the best pledge that they could give of their honest intention -to place all their military resources at the disposition of their -allies. It had another obvious advantage: Bernardino Freire, Leite, -Silveira, the Monteiro Mor, and the other Portuguese generals -commanding military districts were at feud with each other. It would -be very difficult to place one above the rest, and to secure for -him loyal co-operation from his subordinates. It was probable that -an Englishman, a stranger to their quarrels and intrigues, would be -better obeyed. - -The Regency, it would seem, suggested that they would be glad to see -the post of commander-in-chief given to Sir Arthur Wellesley. But -the victor of Vimiero refused to accept it, probably because he had -already secured from Lord Castlereagh the promise that he should be -sent out again to Portugal to supersede Cradock. When he had declined -the offer it was, to the surprise of most men, passed on to General -Beresford. This officer had the advantage of knowing Portuguese; he -had commanded one of Moore’s brigades during the Corunna retreat, -and had seen much service on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a -comparatively young man, being only in his forty-first year, and -was very junior in his rank, having only become a major-general in -1807. Many officers who were his elders had coveted the post, and -some friction was caused by the fact that with his new Portuguese -commission he outranked several of his seniors in Cradock’s army. -Beresford was a good fighting-man, and a hard worker; but he was -neither a tactician nor a strategist, and did not shine when placed -in independent command--as witness Albuera. When Wellington had -learnt his limitations, he never gave him a task of any great -difficulty, and in the later years of the war either kept him under -his own eye or sent him on errands where it was not easy to go -wrong. For really responsible work in 1812-14 he always used Hill, -Hope, or Graham. But in 1809 Beresford was, but for his undoubted -courage, more or less of an unknown quantity to his colleagues and -his subordinates. Fortunately he turned out a good organizer, if a -mediocre general. For what he did in the way of reforming, and almost -recreating, the Portuguese army he deserves considerable credit. -Every one will remember the quaint story of how he was received by -his army after a short absence, with the ingenuous cry of ‘Long live -Marshal Beresford--who takes care of our stomachs[257].’ This in -one way was a high compliment--it was not every general, English, -French, or Spanish, who succeeded in filling his soldiers’ bellies -during the Peninsular War. The power to do so was not the least among -the qualities necessary for a commander-in-chief. - - [257] The same story is told of General Robert Craufurd and his - cazadores, in Costello’s _Memoirs_. - -Why the British cabinet chose Beresford, from among many possible -candidates, for the very responsible post now put in his charge, it -is hard to see. Castlereagh knew him, as being (like himself) one of -a powerful Anglo-Irish family connexion, with strong parliamentary -influence. This may have told in his favour: it was perhaps also -remembered that he was a personal friend of Wellesley, whom -Castlereagh was intending to send out to command the British army -in Portugal, and moreover his junior. This would facilitate matters -when the two generalissimos had to act together; Beresford would -probably prove a more tractable colleague and subordinate to the -self-confident, autocratic, and frigid Wellesley, than any officer -who was a stranger to him or his senior in years and service. It is -by no means impossible that Castlereagh nominated him at Sir Arthur’s -private suggestion. But into the secrets of ministerial patronage it -is useless to pry. - -Appointed to his new post in February, only a month after he had -returned from the Corunna expedition, Beresford at once set sail for -Lisbon, and took up the command ere three weeks had expired since -his appointment. He arrived at the very moment at which Soult was -about to pass the northern frontier, and was at once gazetted as a -Portuguese field marshal. After a short survey of those parts of his -command which lay in and about Lisbon, he reported to the Regency -that the dearth of officers, and especially of competent superior -officers, was so great, that he could not hope to reorganize the -army unless he were allowed to give commissions in the Portuguese -service to many foreigners. As a preliminary measure he asked for -volunteers from Sir John Cradock’s army, and obtained about enough -English officers to give three to each regiment. The main inducement -which attracted candidates was Beresford’s pledge that every one -accepted for the Portuguese service should gain a step--a lieutenant -would become a captain, a captain a major. The Marshal at once -placed all the battalions with notoriously inefficient commanders -in charge of British officers, and drafted into them a larger -proportion of his volunteers than was given to those which were in -better state. He also got leave from the British cabinet to offer -Portuguese commissions to officers serving in corps on the home -station. This gave him by the end of the year some scores of men of -the sort required, and it was by them that the new army was mainly -formed and disciplined[258]. The British drill was introduced, and -to teach it Beresford was allowed to borrow many non-commissioned -officers from Cradock’s regiments[259]. As was but natural, there -arose considerable friction between the new comers and the native -Portuguese officers, over whose heads they were often placed. This -was inevitable, but led to less harm than might have been expected, -because the rank and file, quick to recognize soldierly qualities, -took kindly to their new commanders, and served them loyally and well. - - [258] For notes on the difficulties and friction caused by - clashing pretensions of British and Portuguese seniority in rank, - see _Wellington Dispatches_, vol. iv. pp. 368-81, 394-5, and - several other letters to Castlereagh and Beresford. - - [259] Largely from the 1/3rd foot. See _Wellington Dispatches_, - vol. iv. p. 463. Other regiments also contributed. - -In the beginning Beresford’s reorganization only extended to the -regiments in Lisbon and the south. Those stationed beyond the Douro -were already in the field, and actively engaged with Soult. They had -hardly received any assistance, either of officers or of arms and -equipment, before they became involved in the campaign of March, -1809[260]. In fairness to them this must be borne in mind, when their -conduct in battle is compared with that of the reorganized army in -the following year. The Portuguese Regency, in their report on the -Oporto campaign sent to their Prince on May 31, 1809, pleaded with -truth ‘that the armies formed in the northern provinces were motley -assemblies, whose numbers and good will bore witness to the zeal of -the people, and their determination not to accept the French yoke, -but which could not with any propriety be called regular troops. -They were composed of incomplete and fractional regiments, and the -larger proportion of the rank and file consisted of recruits, many -of whom had not been a month under arms. Some of the corps were -short of muskets: those which had them were armed with weapons of bad -quality[261], and various calibre. All were deficient in the most -essential articles of equipment. It was not fair to expect that such -troops could oppose with any prospect of success a well-armed and -well-disciplined veteran army like that of France[262].’ - - [260] A few British officers had arrived, such as Col. Patrick - who commanded the 12th of the line in Silveira’s army. - - [261] Some of the muskets sent by the British were in the hands - of the Oporto troops, but none had reached the Tras-os-Montes - regiments of Silveira’s army. - - [262] All this is analysed from the Portuguese historian Da Luz - Soriano. - -The regular troops, and the totally undisciplined _Ordenanza_ levies, -did not form the whole military force of Portugal. There also -existed, mainly on paper, another line of defence for the kingdom. -This was the militia: according to the old military system of the -realm each regimental district had to supply not only its line -battalion, but also two (or sometimes one) battalions of militia. -There should have been forty-three such regiments in existence in -1808, and early in 1809 the Regency ordered that they should be -raised to forty-eight, and that each should consist of two battalions -of 500 men each[263]. This force, however, was purely a paper army: -the militia had not been called out since the war of 1802; there were -a few officers bearing militia commissions, but no rank and file. -When the Regency decreed its mobilization, all that could be done was -that the local authorities should tell off such eligible young men -as had not been embodied in the regular army, for militia recruits. -But as there were neither officers to drill them, nor muskets to -arm them, the conscription was but a farce. The men were not even -called out in many districts, since it was useless to do so till arms -could be procured for them. But in the two northern provinces, when -Soult crossed the frontier, the militia-men took the field alongside -with the _Ordenanza_, from whom they were distinguished by name -alone, for they were almost as destitute of uniform, weapons, and -officers as the _levée en masse_ itself. It would seem that most of -the other border regiments of militia were also mobilized in the -spring of 1809, in the neighbourhood of Almeida, Castello Branco, -and Elvas. That they were perfectly useless was shown in Mayne’s -fight with Victor at the bridge of Alcantara (May 14), when their -conduct contrasted shamefully with the steady and obstinate fighting -of the Lusitanian Legion[264]. In June, Wellesley ordered that all -men for whom there were no arms should be sent home on furlough, and -that the regiments should endeavour to drill and exercise their men -by relays of 200 at a time, each batch being kept two months under -arms. This was apparently because there were not arms, officers, or -drill-sergeants enough to provide for more than a small proportion -of the available number of militia-men[265]. In this way between -8,000 and 10,000 militia were to be out during the times of the year -when the country-side could best spare them from the labour of the -fields. The rest were to be left at home, unless an actual invasion -of Portugal should occur. From the modest scope of this plan, it may -easily be guessed what the state of the militia had been four months -earlier, when Soult was in the Tras-os-Montes, and Beresford had -barely begun his work of reorganization. - - [263] For the local organization and nomenclature of the - militia regiments, the reader is referred to the table of the - Portuguese army in Appendix II. It will be seen that there were - theoretically sixteen regiments in the provinces invaded by - Soult, beyond the Douro. - - [264] See Mayne, _History of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion_, p. - 231, and _Wellington Dispatches_, vol. iv. p. 350. - - [265] _Wellington Dispatches_, vol. iv. pp. 389-90 and 478 [June, - 1809]. - -The militia-men were supposed to provide their own uniforms, the -result of which was that few save the officers ever owned uniforms at -all. In 1810 Wellesley had to make formal representation to Masséna -that they were part of the armed force of the Portuguese kingdom, -and not banditti, as the Marshal threatened to deny the rights of -regular combatants to any prisoners not wearing a military dress. -The officers, however, had a blue uniform similar to that of the -line, save that they had silver instead of gold lace on their collars -and wrists. The militia were not entitled to any pay when mobilized -within the limits of their own province. When taken over its border -officers and men were supposed to draw half the pay of the regulars -of corresponding rank, but did not find it easy to obtain the modest -stipend to which they were entitled. - -Throughout the war the Portuguese militia were only intermittently -in the field: the longest continuous piece of service which they -performed was that during Masséna’s invasion, when they were all -mobilized for more than a year on end, from June 1810 to July 1811. -At other times, the whole or parts of various regiments were under -arms for periods of varying length, either to relieve the regulars -from garrison duty, or to watch the less-exposed frontier points -in times when the French were active in the neighbouring districts -of Spain. They were very seldom exposed to the ordeal of battle, -as their presence in the line would have been a source of danger -rather than a help. But they were useful for secondary work, such as -guarding convoys, maintaining lines of communication, and (most of -all) restraining minor raids by small bodies of the enemy. During -Masséna’s invasion the greater part of them were not drawn within the -lines of Torres Vedras, like the Portuguese regulars, but left out in -the country-side, to shift for themselves. Here they did invaluable -service in cutting the Marshal’s line of communication with Spain, -and harassing all his detachments. It was they who surprised and -captured his wounded and his dépôt at Coimbra, who worried Drouet, -and who turned back Gardanne, when he tried to push forward from -Almeida in order to join the main French army. - -But all this was in the far future when the spring campaign of -1809 began. At that date, as we have already seen, the militia -were as undisciplined, as ill-armed, and as useless as the mass of -_Ordenanza_ levies, with which they were confused. - -A word must be added as to the theoretical organization of this last -force. It dated back to the Middle Ages, and had been regularly used -during the days of the enfranchisement of Portugal from the yoke of -the Spanish Hapsburgs, in the seventeenth century. The ‘ordinance’ -was a Royal decree summoning to arms all males between sixteen and -sixty with the exception of ecclesiastics. In districts owning a -feudal lord, that person was ex-officio declared chief-captain -(_capitão mor_) of his fief, and charged with the summoning of his -vassals to the field. Where manorial customs had disappeared, the -senior magistrate of the town, village, or district had to take -up the post of _capitão mor_, unless a substitute was named by -the crown. It was the duty of this commander to call out all the -able-bodied men of his region, to divide them into companies of 250 -men, and to name a captain, ensign, sergeant, clerk (_meirinho_), -and ten corporals for each of these bodies. Persons able to provide -a horse were to serve apart, as cavalry, under separate commanders; -but no one ever saw or heard of mounted _Ordenanza_ troops during -the Peninsular War; all the horses of the country did not suffice -to provide chargers even for the twelve regiments of the regular -army. The whole levy was supposed to be called out twice a year by -the _capitão mor_, in order that it might be seen that every man -was properly enrolled in a company. But as a matter of fact the -_Ordenanza_ had not been summoned out, save in 1762 and 1802, since -the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. Nor had any care been -taken to see that every householder possessed a weapon of some sort, -as the law directed. When they mustered in 1809, the men with pikes -outnumbered those with fowling-pieces or blunderbusses, and the men -furnished with no more than scythes on poles, or goads, or such-like -rustic weapons, were far more numerous than the pikemen. - -The whole mass was perfectly useless; it was cruel to place it in the -field and send it against regular troops. Tumultuous, undisciplined, -unofficered, it was doomed to massacre whenever it allowed the enemy -to approach. It would have been well to refrain from calling it -out altogether, and to turn over the few serviceable arms which it -possessed to the militia. - -NOTE.--By far the best account of the Portuguese army and military -system is to be found in Halliday’s _Present state of Portugal and -the Portuguese Army_, an invaluable book of 1812. Something can -be gleaned from Dumouriez’s _Essay on the military topography of -Portugal_ [1766]. A little information comes from Foy, but many of -his statements in his vol. ii. are inaccurate. The Wellington and -Beresford dispatches in the Record Office are, of course, full of -information, but would be very unintelligible but for Halliday’s -explanatory memoir, as they presuppose knowledge of the details of -organization, but do not generally describe them. For the Lusitanian -Legion, see Mayne’s monograph on that corps, and the dispatches of -Sir Robert Wilson. I have inserted in an appendix a table of the -reorganized army as it stood in the autumn of 1809. - -[Illustration: _Portuguese Infantry - a Private of the Lisbon Regiment - and a man of the Algarve Ordenanza. - From a drawing of 1809. - Walker & Cockerell Ph. So._] - - - - -SECTION XIII: CHAPTER IV - -COMBATS ABOUT CHAVES AND BRAGA: CAPTURE OF OPORTO (MARCH 10-29, 1809) - - -When La Romana marched off to the east, and abandoned his Portuguese -allies to their own resources, the duty of defending the frontier -fell upon General Francisco Silveira, the military governor of the -Tras-os-Montes. He had mobilized his forces at Chaves the moment that -Soult’s departure from Orense became known, and had there gathered -the whole levy of his province. The total amounted to two incomplete -line regiments[266] four battalions of disorderly and ill-equipped -militia[267], the skeletons of two cavalry regiments, with hardly 200 -horses between them[268], and a mass of the local _Ordenanza_, armed -with pikes, goads, scythes, and fowling-pieces. The whole mass may -have numbered some 12,000 men, of whom not 6,000 possessed firearms -of any kind[269]. Against them the French marshal was marching at the -head of 22,000 veterans, who had already gained experience in the art -of mountain-warfare from their recent campaign in Galicia. The result -was not difficult to foresee. If the Portuguese dared to offer battle -they would be scattered to the winds. - - [266] The 12th and 24th regiments--Chaves and Braganza. - - [267] Militia of Chaves, Villa Real, Miranda, and Braganza. - - [268] The 6th and 9th cavalry. - - [269] Brotherton to Castlereagh, March 13. - -Silveira’s levies were not the only force in arms on the frontier. -The populous province of the Entre-Douro-e-Minho[270], roused to -tumultuous enthusiasm by the bishop of Oporto, had sent every -available man, armed or unarmed, to the front. A screen of militia -and regulars under General Botilho was watching the line of the lower -Minho: a vast mass of _Ordenanza_, backed by a very small body of -line troops lay in and about Braga, under General Bernardino Freire; -another multitude was still thronging the streets of Oporto and -listening to the windy harangues of the bishop. But none of these -masses of armed men were sent to the aid of Silveira. He was not one -of the bishop’s faction, nor was he on good terms with his colleague -Freire. Neither of them showed any inclination to combine with him, -and their followers, in the true spirit of provincial particularism, -thought of nothing but defending their own hearths and homes, and -left the Tras-os-Montes to take care of itself. Yet they had for -the moment no enemy in front of them but the small French garrison -of Tuy, and could have marched without any risk to join their -compatriots. - - [270] Entre-Douro-e-Minho had a population of 500,000 souls, - Tras-os-Montes only 180,000. - -Relying on the aid of La Romana, General Silveira had taken post -at Villarelho on the right bank of the Tamega, leaving the defence -of the left bank to the Spaniards, whom he supposed to be still -stationed about Monterey and Verin. On the very day upon which the -Army of Galicia absconded, the Portuguese general sent forward a -detachment, consisting of a line regiment and a mass of peasants, to -menace the flank of the French advance. This force, having crossed -the Spanish frontier, got into collision with the enemy near Villaza. -Since Franceschi’s horsemen and Heudelet’s infantry had turned off -to the east in pursuit of La Romana, the Portuguese fell in with -the leading column of Soult’s main body--a brigade of Lahoussaye’s -dragoons supported by Delaborde’s division. This force they ventured -to attack, but were promptly beaten off by Foy, the brigadier of -the advanced guard, who routed them and captured their sole piece -of artillery. The shattered column fell back on the main body at -Villarelho, and then Silveira, hearing of the departure of the -Spaniards, resolved to retire and to look for a defensive position -which he might be able to hold by his own unaided efforts. There -was none such to be found in front of Chaves, for the valley of -the Tamega widens out between Monterey and the Portuguese frontier -fortress, and offers no ground suitable for defence. Accordingly -Silveira very prudently decided to withdraw his tumultuary army to -the heights of San Pedro, a league to the south of the town, where -the space between the river and the mountains narrows down and -offers a short and compact line of resistance. But he waited to be -driven in, and meanwhile left rear-guards in observation at Feces de -Abaxo on the left, and Outeiro on the right bank, of the Tamega. - -Soult halted three days at Monterey in order to allow his rearguard -and his convoy of sick to close up with the main body. But on March -10 he resumed his advance, using the two parallel roads on the two -banks of the Tamega. Franceschi’s light horse and Heudelet’s division -pushed down the eastern side, Caulaincourt’s brigade of dragoons[271] -and Delaborde’s infantry down the western side of the river. Merle -and Mermet were still near Verin. As the Tamega was unfordable in -most places, the army seemed dangerously divided, but Soult knew well -that he was running little or no risk. Both at Feces and Outeiro the -Portuguese detachments, which covered Silveira’s main body, tried to -offer serious resistance. They were of course routed, with the loss -of a gun and many prisoners. - - [271] Of Lahoussaye’s division. - -On hearing that his enemy was drawing near, Silveira ordered -his whole army to retreat behind Chaves to the position of San -Pedro[272]. This command nearly cost him his life; the ignorant -masses of militia and _Ordenanza_ could only see treason in the -proposed move, which abandoned the town to the French. The local -troops refused to march, and threatened to shoot their general: -he withdrew with such of his men as would still obey orders, but -a mixed multitude consisting of part of the 12th regiment of the -line (the Chaves regiment), and a mass of _Ordenanza_ and militia, -remained behind to defend the dilapidated town. Its walls had never -been repaired since the Spaniards had breached them in 1762; of -the fifty guns which armed them the greater part were destitute of -carriages, and rusting away in extreme old age; the supply of powder -and cannon-balls was wholly insufficient for even a short siege. But -encouraged by the advice of an incompetent engineer officer[273], who -said that a few barricades would make the place impregnable, 3,000 -men shut themselves up in it, and aided by 1,200 armed citizens, -defied Soult, and opened a furious fire upon the vedettes which he -pushed up to the foot of the walls. The Marshal sent in a fruitless -summons to surrender, and then invested the place on the evening of -the tenth; all night the garrison kept up a haphazard cannonade, -and shouted defiance to the French. Next morning Soult resolved -to drive away Silveira from the neighbouring heights, convinced -that the spirits of the defenders of Chaves would fail the moment -that they saw the field army defeated and forced to abscond. The -divisions of Delaborde and Lahoussaye soon compelled Silveira to -give ground: he displayed indeed a laudable prudence in refusing to -let himself be caught and surrounded, and made off south-eastward -towards Villa Real with 6,000 or 7,000 men. The Marshal then summoned -Chaves to surrender for the second time; the garrison seem to have -tired themselves out with twelve hours of patriotic shouting, and to -have used up great part of their munitions in their silly nocturnal -fireworks. When they saw Silveira driven away, their spirits sank, -and they allowed their leader, Magelhaes Pizarro, to capitulate, -without remonstrance. In short, they displayed even more cowardice -on the eleventh than indiscipline upon the tenth of March. On the -twelfth the French entered the city in triumph. - - [272] Brotherton to Cradock, from Povoa de Aguiar, March 13. - - [273] He was called Magelhaes Pizarro, but cannot be said to - have shown either the endurance of the Portuguese seaman, or the - reckless courage of the Spanish _conquistador_, whose historic - names he bore. - -Soult was much embarrassed by the multitude of captives whom he had -taken: he could not spare an escort strong enough to guard 4,000 -prisoners to a place of safety. Accordingly he made a virtue of -necessity, permitted the armed citizens of Chaves to retire to their -homes, and dismissed the mass of 2,500 _Ordenanza_ and militia-men, -after extracting from them an oath not to serve against France during -the rest of the war. The 500 regulars of the 12th regiment were -not treated in the same way. The Marshal offered them the choice -between captivity and enlisting in a Franco-Portuguese legion, which -he proposed to raise. To their great discredit the majority, both -officers and men, took the latter alternative--though it was with the -sole idea of deserting as soon as possible. At the same moment Soult -made an identical offer to the Spanish prisoners captured from Mahy’s -division at the combats of Osoño and La Trepa on March 6: they -behaved no better than the Portuguese: several hundred of them took -the oath to King Joseph, and consented to enter his service[274]. - - [274] See Naylies, p. 81; St. Chamans, p. 120; Le Noble, p. 120; - and Des Odoards, p. 213. - -The Duke of Dalmatia had resolved to make Chaves his base for -further operations in Portugal. He brought up to it from Monterey -all his sick and wounded, including those who had been transported -from Orense; the total now amounted to 1,325, of whom many were -convalescents already fit for sedentary duty. To guard them a single -company of a French regiment, and the inchoate ‘Portuguese Legion,’ -were detailed, while the command was placed in the hands of the _chef -de bataillon_ Messager. The flour and unground wheat found in the -place fed the army for several days, and the small stock of powder -captured was utilized to replenish its depleted supply of cartridges. - -From Chaves Soult had the choice of two roads for marching on Oporto. -The more obvious route on the map is that which descends the Tamega -almost to its junction with the Douro, and then strikes across to -Oporto by Amarante and Penafiel. But here, as is so often the case -in the Peninsula, the map is the worst of guides. The road along -the river, frequently pinched in between the water and overhanging -mountains, presents a series of defiles and strong positions, is -considerably longer than the alternative route, and passes through -difficult country wellnigh from start to finish. - -The second path from Chaves to Oporto is that which strikes westward, -crosses the Serra da Cabrera, and descends into the valley of the -Cavado by Ruivaens and Salamonde. From thence it leads to Braga, on -the great coast-road from Valenza to Oporto. The first two or three -stages of this route are rough and difficult, and pass through ground -even more defensible than that on the way to Amarante and Penafiel. -But when the rugged defiles of the watershed between the Tamega and -the Cavado have been passed, and the invader has reached Braga, -the country becomes flat and open, and the coast plain, crossed by -two excellent roads, leads him easily to his goal. It has also to -be remembered that, by adopting this alternative, Soult took in -the rear the Portuguese fortresses of the lower Minho, and made it -easy to reopen communications with Tuy and the French forces still -remaining in Galicia. - -If any other persuasion were needed to induce the Marshal to take the -western, and not the eastern, road to Oporto, it was the knowledge of -the position of the enemy which he had attained by diligent cavalry -reconnaissances. It was ascertained that Silveira with the remains of -his division had fallen back to Villa Pouca, more than thirty miles -away, in the direction of Villa Real. He could not be caught, and -could retreat whithersoever he pleased. Freire, on the other hand, -was lying at Braga with his unwieldy masses, and had made no attempt -to march forward and fortify the passes of the Serra da Cabrera. -By all accounts that the horsemen of Franceschi could gather, the -defiles were blocked only by the _Ordenanza_ of the mountain villages. - -This astounding news was absolutely correct. Freire’s obvious course -was to defend the rugged watershed, where positions abounded. But -he contented himself with placing mere observation posts--bodies -of thirty or 100 men--in the passes, while keeping his main army -concentrated. The truth was that he was in a state of deep depression -of mind, and prepared for a disaster. Judging from the line which he -adopted in the previous year, while co-operating with Wellesley in -the campaign against Junot, we may set him down as a timid rather -than a cautious general. He had no confidence in himself or in his -troops: the indiscipline and mutinous spirit of the motley levies -which he commanded had reduced him to despair, and he received -no support from the Bishop of Oporto and his faction, who were -omnipotent in the province. Repeated demands for reinforcements of -regular troops had brought him nothing but the 2nd battalion of the -Lusitanian Legion, under Baron Eben. The Bishop kept back the greater -part of the resources of which he could dispose, for the defence of -his own city, in front of which he was erecting a great entrenched -camp. Freire had also called on the Regency for aid, but they had -done no more than order two line battalions under General Vittoria -to join him, and these troops had not yet crossed the Douro. When he -heard that the French were on the march, and that he himself would -be the next to receive their visit, he so far lost heart that he -contemplated retiring on Oporto without attempting to fight. Instead -of defending the defiles of Ruivaens and Salamonde, he began to send -to the rear his heavy stores, his military chest, and his artillery -of position. This timid resolve was to be his ruin, for the excitable -and suspicious multitude which surrounded him had every intention of -defending their homes, and could only see treason and cowardice in -the preparations for retreat. In a few days their fury was to burst -forth into open mutiny, to the destruction of their general and their -own ultimate ruin. - -Soult meanwhile had set out from Chaves on March 14, with Franceschi -and Delaborde at the head of his column, as they had been in all the -operations since their departure from Orense. Mermet and Lahoussaye’s -dragoons followed on the fifteenth: Heudelet, with whom were the head -quarters’ staff and the baggage, marched on the sixteenth: Merle, -covering the rear of the army, came in from Monterey on that day, -and started from Chaves on the seventeenth. Only Vialannes’ brigade -of dragoons[275] was detached: these two regiments were directed to -make a feint upon Villa Real, with the object of frightening and -distracting Silveira, lest he should return to his old post when -he heard that the French army had departed, and fall upon the rear -of the marching columns. They beat up his outposts at Villa Pouca, -announced everywhere the Marshal’s approach with his main body, -and retired under cover of the night, after having deceived the -Tras-os-Montes troops for a couple of days. - - [275] Lorges’ other brigade, that of Fournier, had been (as it - will be remembered) left behind in Galicia with Marshal Ney. - -The divisions of Delaborde and Franceschi, while clearing the passes -above Chaves, met with a desperate but futile resistance from the -_Ordenanza_ of the upper Cavado valley. Practically unaided by -Freire, who had only sent to the defile of Salamonde 300 regular -troops--a miserable mockery of assistance--the gallant peasantry did -their best. ‘Even the smallest villages,’ wrote an aide-de-camp of -Soult, ‘tried to defend themselves. It was not rare to see a peasant -barricade himself all alone in his house, and fire from the windows -on our men, till his door was battered in, and he met his death on -our bayonets. The Portuguese defended themselves with desperation, -and never asked for quarter: if only these brave and devoted fellows -had possessed competent leaders, we should have been forced to give -up the expedition, or else we should never have got out of the -country. But their resistance was individual: each man died defending -his hamlet or his home, and a single battalion of our advanced -guard easily cleared the way for us. I saw during these days young -girls in the fighting-line, firing on us, and meeting their death -without recoiling a step. The priests had told them that they were -martyrs, and that all who died defending their country went straight -to paradise. In these petty combats, which lasted day after day, we -frequently found, among the enemy’s dead, monks in their robes, their -crucifixes still clasped in their hands. Indeed, while advancing -we could see from afar these ecclesiastics passing about among the -peasants, and animating them to the combat[276].... While the columns -were on the march isolated peasants kept up a continual dropping fire -on us from inaccessible crags above the road: at night they attacked -our sentries, or crept down close to our bivouacs to shoot at the -men who sat round the blaze. This sort of war was not very deadly, -but infinitely fatiguing: there was not a moment of the day or night -when we had not to be upon the _qui vive_. Moreover, every man who -strayed from the ranks, whether he was sick, drunk, tired, or merely -a marauder, was cut off and massacred. The peasants not only murdered -them, but tortured them in the most horrid fashion before putting -them to death[277].’ - - [276] Every French diarist of Soult’s army has tales of the stoic - courage displayed by the Portuguese clergy. A story from Naylies - of Lahoussaye’s dragoons may serve as an example. Near Braga he - came on a cart escorted by a single priest with a gun on his - shoulder. He was the chaplain of a convent, who was taking out - of harm’s way a party of nuns. When he saw himself overtaken, he - quietly waited in the middle of the road, shot the first dragoon - dead, and was killed by the second as he was trying to reload his - musket. - - [277] St. Chamans, _Mémoires_, pp. 119-21. - -Among scenes of this description Franceschi and Delaborde forced -their way down the valley of the Cavado, till they arrived at the -village of Carvalho d’Este, six miles from Braga, where they found -a range of hills on both sides of the road, occupied by the whole -horde of 25,000 men who had been collected by Freire. The division -which followed the French advanced guard had also to sustain several -petty combats, for the survivors of the _Ordenanza_ whom Delaborde -had swept out of the way, closed in again to molest each column, as -it passed by the defiles of Venda-Nova, Ruivaens, and Salamonde. -Mermet’s division, which brought up the rear, had to beat off a -serious attack from Silveira’s army[278]. For that general, as soon -as he discovered that he had been fooled by Lorges’ demonstration, -sent across the Tamega a detachment of 3,000 men, who fell upon -Soult’s rear. But a single regiment drove them off without much -difficulty: they drew back to their own side of the mountains, and -did not quit the valley of the Tamega. - - [278] For combats waged by Lahoussaye’s dragoons, who were in the - middle of the long column, see the journal of Naylies (pp. 83-4). - For attacks on Mermet, in the rear column, see Fantin des Odoards - (p. 214). - -It was on March 17 that Franceschi and Delaborde pushed forward -to the foot of the Portuguese position, which swept round in a -semicircle on each side of the high-road. Its western half was -composed of the plateau of Monte Adaufé, whose left overhangs the -river Cavado, while its right slopes upward to join the wooded Monte -Vallongo. This latter hill is considerably more lofty than the -Monte Adaufé and less easy of access. In front of the position, and -bisected by the high-road, is the village of Carvalho d’Este: at the -foot of the Monte Vallongo is another village, Lanhozo, whose name -the French have chosen to bestow on the combat which followed. To the -left-rear of the Monte Adaufé, pressed in between its slopes and the -river, is a third village, Ponte do Prado, with a bridge across the -Cavado, which is the only one by which the position can be turned. -The town of Braga lies three miles further to the rear. The invaders -halted on seeing the whole range of hills, some six miles long, -crowned with masses of men in position. Franceschi would not take -it upon himself to attack such a multitude, even though they were -but peasantry and militia, of the same quality as the horde that had -been defeated near Chaves a few days before. He sent back word to the -Marshal, and drew up in front of the position to await the arrival of -the main body. But noting that a long rocky spur of the Monte Adaufé -projected from the main block of high ground which the enemy was -holding, he caused it to be attacked by Foy’s brigade of infantry, -and drove back without much difficulty the advanced guard of the -Portuguese. The possession of this hill gave the French a foothold on -the heights, and an advantageous _emplacement_ for artillery such as -could not be found in the plain below. - -It was three days before the rest of Soult’s army joined the leading -division--not until the twentieth was his entire force, with the -exception of Merle’s infantry, concentrated at the foot of the -enemy’s position, and ready to attack. This long period of waiting, -when every mind was screwed up to the highest pitch of excitement, -had completely broken down the nerve of the Portuguese, who spent the -hours of respite in hysterical tumult and rioting. Freire, as we have -already seen, had been planning a retreat on Oporto, but he found the -spirit of his army so exalted that he thought it better to conceal -his project. He pretended to have abandoned the idea of retiring, -and gave orders for the construction of entrenchments and batteries -on the Monte Adaufé, to enfilade the main approach by the high-road. -But he could not disguise his down-heartedness, nor persuade his -followers to trust him. Presently the wrecks of the _Ordenanza_ -levies, who had fought at Salamonde, fell back upon Braga, loudly -accusing him of cowardice, for not supporting them in their advanced -position. The whole camp was full of shouting, objectless firing in -the air, confused cries of treason, and mutinous assemblies. On the -day when the French appeared in front of the position Freire grew so -alarmed at the threats against his life, which resounded on every -side, that he secretly quitted Braga to fly to Oporto. But he was -recognized and seized by the _Ordenanza_ of Tobossa, a few miles to -the rear. They brought him back to the camp as a prisoner, and handed -him over to Baron Eben, the colonel of the 2nd battalion of the -Lusitanian Legion, who had been acting as Freire’s second-in-command. -This officer, an ambitious and presumptuous man, and a great ally of -the Bishop of Oporto, played the demagogue, harangued the assembled -multitude, and readily took over the charge of the army. He consigned -his unfortunate predecessor to the gaol of Braga, and led on the -mutineers to reinforce the array on Monte Adaufé. When Eben had -departed, a party of _Ordenanza_ returned to the city, dragged out -the wretched Freire, and killed him in the street with their pikes. -The same afternoon they murdered Major Villasboas, the chief of -Freire’s engineers, and one or more of his aides-de-camp. They also -seized and threw into prison the _corregidor_ of Braga, and several -other persons accused of sympathy with the French. Eben appears to -have winked at these atrocities--much as his friend the Bishop of -Oporto ignored the murders which were taking place in that city. By -assuming command in the irregular fashion that we have seen, he had -made himself the slave of the hysterical horde that surrounded him, -and had to let them do what they pleased, lest he should fall under -suspicion himself[279]. - - [279] I agree with General Arteche in thinking that Eben’s - dispatch to Cradock, from which this narrative is mainly drawn, - does him no credit. Indeed, it is easy to adopt the sinister - view that Eben was aiming at getting the command, did nothing to - discourage the mob, and was indirectly responsible for Freire’s - murder. As Arteche remarks ‘with a little more resolution and - a little less personal ambition, the Baron could probably have - prevented the catastrophe’ (vol. v. p. 393). But Freire’s conduct - had been so cowardly and incapable that the peasants were - reasonably incensed with him. Why had he not defended the rugged - defiles of Venda Nova and Salamonde, and what could excuse his - absconding and abandoning his army? - -It would seem, however, that Eben did the little that was possible -with such material in preparing to oppose Soult. He threw up more -entrenchments on the Monte Adaufé, mounted the few guns that he -possessed in commanding situations, and did his best to add to the -lamentably depleted store of munitions on hand. Even the church roofs -were stripped for lead, when it was found that there was absolutely -no reserve of cartridges, and that the _Ordenanza_ had wasted half -of their stock in demonstrations and profitless firing at the French -vedettes. On the morning of the nineteenth he extended his right -wing to some hills below the Monte Vallongo, beyond the village of -Lanhozo, a movement which threatened to outflank and surround that -part of the French army which was in front of him, and to cut it off -from the divisions still in the rear. This could not be tolerated, -and Mermet’s infantry were dispatched to dislodge the 2,000 men who -had taken up this advanced position. They were easily beaten out of -the village and off the hill, and retired to their former station -on the Monte Vallongo. The French here captured two guns and some -prisoners. Soult gave these men copies of a proclamation which he had -printed at Chaves, offering pardon to all Portuguese who should lay -down their arms, and sent them back into Eben’s lines under a flag -of truce. When the _Ordenanza_ discovered what the papers were, they -promptly put to death the twenty unfortunate men as traitors, without -listening to their attempts to explain the situation. - -On the morning of March 20, Soult had been joined by Lorges’ -dragoons and his other belated detachments, and prepared to attack -the enemy’s position. To defend it Eben had now, beside 700 of -his own Legion[280], one incomplete line regiment (Viana, no. 9), -the militia of Braga and the neighbouring places, and some 23,000 -_Ordenanza_ levies, of whom 5,000 had firearms, 11,000 pikes, and the -remaining 7,000 nothing better than scythes, goads, and instruments -of husbandry. There were about fifteen or twenty pieces of artillery -distributed along the front of the six-mile position, the majority -of them in the entrenchments on the Monte Adaufé, placed so as to -command the high-road. - - [280] Eben’s dispatch is in the Record Office, in the - miscellaneous volume at the end of the Portugal 1809 series. - -Knowing the sort of rabble that was in front of him, Soult made no -attempt to turn or outflank the Portuguese, but resolved to deliver a -frontal attack all along the line, in the full belief that the enemy -would give way the moment that the charge was pushed home. He had now -about 3,000 cavalry and 13,000 infantry with him--Merle being still -absent. He told off Delaborde’s division with Lahoussaye’s dragoons -to assail the enemy’s centre, on both sides of the high-road, where -it crosses the Monte Adaufé. Mermet’s infantry and Franceschi’s -light horse attacked, on the left, the wooded slopes of the Monte -Vallongo. Heudelet’s division, on the right, sent one brigade to -storm the heights above the river, and left the other brigade as a -general reserve for the army. Lorges’ dragoons were also held back in -support. - -As might have been expected, Soult’s dispositions were completely -successful. When the columns of Delaborde and Heudelet reached -the foot of the enemy’s position, the motley horde which occupied -it broke out into wild cheers and curses, and opened a heavy but -ineffective fire. They stood as long as the French were climbing up -the slopes, but when the infantry debouched on to the plateau of -Monte Adaufé they began to waver and disperse[281]. Then Soult let -loose the cavalry of Lahoussaye, which had trotted up the high-road -close in the rear of Delaborde’s battalions, the 17th Dragoons -leading. There was no time for the reeling mass of peasants to -escape. ‘We dashed into them,’ wrote one officer who took part in -the charge[282]; ‘we made a great butchery of them; we drove on -among them pell-mell right into the streets of Braga, and we pushed -them two leagues further, so that we covered in all four leagues -at full gallop without giving them a moment to rally. Their guns, -their baggage, their military chest, many standards fell into our -power[283].’ - - [281] Eben, in his report, says that at the moment of the French - assault one of his guns in the battery commanding the high-road - burst, and killed many of those standing about, and that the rout - commenced with the stampede caused by this explosion. - - [282] Naylies [of the 19th Dragoons], p. 87. - - [283] Even while flying through the streets of Braga, some of - the routed horde found time to pay a visit to the town gaol, and - to murder the _corregidor_ and the other prisoners who had been - placed there on the eighteenth. - -Such was the fate of the Portuguese centre, on each side of the -high-road. Further to the right, above the Cavado, Heudelet was -equally successful in forcing his way up the northern slopes of the -Monte Adaufé; the enemy broke when he reached the plateau, but as -he had no heavy force of cavalry with him, their flight was not so -disastrous or their loss so heavy as in the centre. Indeed, when they -had been swept down into the valley behind the ridge, some of the -Portuguese turned to bay at the Ponte do Prado, and inflicted a sharp -check on the Hanoverian legion, the leading battalion in Heudelet’s -advance. It was not till the 26th of the line came up to aid the -Germans that the rallied peasantry again broke and fled. They only -lost 300 men in this part of the field. - -Far to the left, in the woods on the slope of the Monte Vallongo, -Mermet and Franceschi had found it much harder to win their way to -the edge of the plateau than had the troops in the centre. But it -was only the physical obstacles that detained them: the resistance -of the enemy was even feebler than in the centre. By the time that -the infantry of Mermet emerged on the crest of the hill, the battle -had already been won elsewhere. The Portuguese right wing crumpled up -the moment that it was attacked, and fled devious over the hillsides, -followed by Franceschi’s cavalry, who made a dreadful slaughter among -the fugitives. Five miles behind their original position a body of -militia with four guns rallied under the cliffs on which stands the -village of Falperra. The cavalry held them in check till Mermet’s -leading regiment, the 31st Léger, came up, and then, attacked by both -arms at once, the whole body was ridden down and almost exterminated. -‘The commencement was a fight, the end a butchery,’ wrote an officer -of the 31st; ‘if our enemies had been better armed and less ignorant -of the art of war, they might have made us pay dearly for our -victory. But for lack of muskets they were half of them armed with -pikes only: they could not manœuvre in the least. How was such a mob -to resist us? they could only have held their ground if they had been -behind stone walls[284].’ - - [284] Fantin des Odoards, p. 216. - -The rout and pursuit died away in the southern valleys beyond Braga, -and Soult could take stock of his victory. He had captured seventeen -guns, five flags, and the whole of the stores of Eben’s army: he had -killed, according to his own estimate, some 4,000 men[285], and taken -only 400 prisoners. This shocking disproportion between the dead and -the captives was caused by the fact that the French in most parts -of the field had given no quarter. Some of their historians explain -that their cruelty resulted from the discovery that the Portuguese -had been murdering and mutilating the stragglers who fell into their -hands[286]. But it was really due to the exasperation of spirit that -always accompanies guerrilla warfare. Constantly worried by petty -ambushes, ‘sniped’ in their bivouacs, never allowed a moment of rest, -the soldiers were in a state of nervous irritation which found vent -in needless and unjustifiable cruelty. In the fight they had lost -only forty killed and 160 wounded, figures which afford no excuse for -the wholesale slaughter in the pursuit to which they gave themselves -up. - - [285] Eben, in his report to Cradock at the Record Office, says - 1,000 only, of whom more than 200 belonged to the Lusitanian - Legion. - - [286] Le Noble, p. 142. St. Chamans, p. 121. Naylies and Fantin - des Odoards, though both mentioning the slaughter in which they - took part, do not give this justification for it. The latter says - that the French gave no quarter save to men in uniform. - -In the first flush of victory the French supposed that they had made -an end of the _Ordenanza_, and that northern Portugal was at their -feet. ‘Cette journée a été fatale à l’insurrection portugaise,’ wrote -one of the victors in his diary[287]. But no greater mistake could -have been made: though many of the routed horde dispersed to their -homes, the majority rallied again behind the Avé, only ten or twelve -miles from the battle-field. Nor did the battle of Braga even open -the way to Galicia: General Botilho, with the levies of the Valenza -and Viana district, closed in behind Soult and blocked the way to -Tuy, the nearest French garrison. The Marshal had only conquered the -ground on which he stood, and already his communication with Chaves, -his last base, had been intercepted by detachments sent into the -passes by Silveira. - - [287] Fantin des Odoards, p. 216. - -Soult halted three days at Braga, a time which he utilized for the -repair of his artillery, and the replenishing of the cartridge boxes -of his infantry from the not too copious supply of munitions captured -from the Portuguese. His cavalry scoured the country down the Cavado -as far as Barcelos, and southward to the line of the Avé, only to -find insurgents everywhere, the bridges broken, and the fords dredged -up and staked. - -The Marshal, however, undaunted by the gloomy outlook, resolved to -march straight for his destined goal, without paying any attention to -his communications. He now made Braga a temporary base, left there -Heudelet’s division in charge of 600 sick and wounded, and moved on -Oporto at the head of his three remaining infantry divisions and all -his cavalry. - -Two good _chaussées_, and one additional mountain road of inferior -character, lead from Braga to Oporto, crossing the Avé, the one -four, the next six, the third twenty-four miles from the sea. The -first and most westerly passes it at Ponte de Avé, the second at -Barca de Trofa, where there is both a bridge and a wide ford, the -third and least obvious at Guimaraens not far from its source in the -Serra de Santa Catalina. Soult resolved to use all three for his -advance, wisely taking the difficult road by Guimaraens into his -scheme, since he guessed that it would probably be unwatched by the -Portuguese, precisely because it was far less eligible than the other -two. He was perfectly right: the Bishop of Oporto, the moment that -he heard of the fall of Braga, pushed up some artillery and militia -to aid the _Ordenanza_ in defending both the Ponte de Avé and the -Barca de Trofa bridges. Each was cut: batteries were hastily thrown -up commanding their approaches, and entrenchments were constructed in -their rear. At Barca de Trofa the ford was dredged up and completely -blocked with _chevaux de frise_. But the remote and secondary passage -at Guimaraens was comparatively neglected, and left in charge of such -of the local _Ordenanza_ as had returned home after the rout of Braga. - -Soult directed Lorges’ dragoons against the western road: he himself -with Delaborde’s and Merle’s infantry and Lahoussaye’s cavalry took -the central _chaussée_ by Barca de Trofa. On the difficult flanking -path by Guimaraens he sent Franceschi’s light horse and Mermet’s -infantry. On both the main roads the Portuguese positions were so -strong that the advancing columns were held back: Soult would not -waste men--he was beginning to find that he had none to spare--in -attempting to force the entrenched positions opposite him. After -feeling them with caution, he pushed a column up-stream to a small -bridge at San Justo, which had been barricaded but not broken. Here -he established by night a heavy battery commanding the opposite bank. -On the morning of the twenty-sixth he opened fire on the Portuguese -positions across the water, and, when the enemy had been well -battered, hurled the brigade of General Foy at the fortified bridge. -It was carried, and Delaborde’s division was beginning to pass, when -it met another French force debouching on the same point. This was -composed of Mermet and Franceschi’s men: they had beaten the local -_Ordenanza_ at Guimaraens, crossed the Avé high up, and were now -pushing along the southern bank to take the Barca de Trofa position -in the flank. Thus Soult found that, even if his frontal assault at -San Justo had failed, his left-hand column would have cleared the way -for him a few hours later, being already across the river and in the -enemy’s rear. Indeed his lateral detachment had done all that he had -expected from it, and at no great cost. For though the _Ordenanza_ -had opposed it bravely enough, they had never been able to hold it -back. The only notable loss that had been sustained was that of -General Jardon, one of Mermet’s brigadiers, who had met his death by -his own recklessness. Finding his men checked for a moment, he had -seized a musket and charged on foot at the head of his skirmishing -line. This was not the place for a brigadier-general, and Jardon died -unnecessarily, doing the work of a sub-lieutenant. - -Finding the French across the river at San Justo, the Portuguese, who -were defending the lower bridges, had to give way, or they would have -been surrounded and cut off. They yielded unwillingly, and at Ponte -de Avé actually beat off the first attempt to evict them. But in the -end they had to fly, abandoning the artillery in the redoubts that -covered the two bridges[288]. - - [288] Le Noble (pp. 157-8), and Napier following him, say that - the Portuguese murdered their commander, Brigadier-General - Vallongo, when the bridges were forced, tore him in pieces, and - buried his scattered members in a dunghill. It is a relief to - know from Da Luz Soriano, the Portuguese historian, that nothing - of the kind occurred, and that there was no officer of the name - of Vallongo in the Portuguese army. - -On the twenty-seventh, therefore, Soult was able to press close in -to Oporto, for the line of the Avé is but fifteen miles north of the -city. On approaching the heights which overhang the Douro the French -found them covered with entrenchments and batteries ranged on a long -front of six or seven miles, from San João de Foz on the sea-shore -to the chapel of Bom Fin overlooking the river above the town. Ever -since the departure of the French from Orense and their crossing of -the frontier had become known, the whole of the populace had been at -work on the fortifications, under the direction of Portuguese and -British engineer officers. In three weeks an enormous amount of work -had been done. The rounded summits of the line of hills, which rise -immediately north of the city, and only half a mile in advance of -its outermost houses, had been crowned with twelve redoubts armed -with artillery of position. The depressions between the redoubts had -been closed by palisades and abattis. Further west, below the city, -where the line of hills is less marked, the front was continued by -a deep ditch, fortified buildings, and four strong redoubts placed -in the more exposed positions. It ended at the walls of San João da -Foz, the old citadel which commands the mouth of the Douro, and had -in this direction an outwork in another ancient fort, the castle of -Quejo, on the sea-shore a mile north of the estuary. There were no -less than 197 guns of various calibres distributed along the front of -the lines. Nor was this all: the main streets of the place had been -barricaded to serve as a second line of defence, and even south of -the river a battery had been constructed on the height crowned by the -Serra Convent, which overlooks the bridge and the whole city. - -To hold this enormous fortified camp the Bishop of Oporto had -collected an army formidable in numbers if not in quality. There -was a strong nucleus of troops of the regular army: it included the -two local Oporto regiments (6th and 18th of the line), two more -battalions brought in by Brigadier-General Vittoria, who had been too -late to join in the defence of Braga, a battalion of the regiment -of Valenza (no. 21), a fraction of that of Viana (no. 9), with the -wrecks of the 2nd battalion of the Lusitanian Legion, which had -escaped from Eben’s rout of the twentieth, and the skeleton of an -incomplete cavalry regiment (no. 12, Miranda). In all there cannot -have been less than 5,000 regular troops in the town, though many of -the men were recruits with only a few weeks of service. To these may -be added three or four militia regiments in the same condition as -were the rest of the corps of that force, i.e. half-armed and less -than half-disciplined[289]. But the large majority of the garrison -was composed of the same sort of levies that had already fought -with such small success at Chaves and Braga--there were 9,000 armed -citizens of Oporto and a somewhat greater number of the _Ordenanza_ -of the open country, who had retired into the city before Soult’s -advancing columns. The whole mass--regulars and irregulars--may have -made up a force of 30,000 men--nothing like the 40,000 or 60,000 of -the French reports[290]. Under the Bishop the military commanders -were three native brigadier-generals, Lima-Barreto, Parreiras, -and Vittoria. Eben had been offered the charge of a section of -the defences, but--depressed with the results of his experiment -in generalship at Braga--he refused any other responsibility than -that of leading his battalion of the Lusitanian Legion. The Bishop -had allotted to Parreiras the redoubts and entrenchments on the -north of the town, to Vittoria those on the north-east and east, to -Lima-Barreto those below the town as far as St. João da Foz. The -regulars had been divided up, so as to give two or three battalions -to each general; they were to form the reserve, while the defences -were manned by the militia and _Ordenanza_. There was a lamentable -want of trained gunners--less than 1,000 artillerymen were available -for the 200 pieces in the lines and on the heights beyond the river. -To make up the deficiency many hundreds of raw militia-men had been -turned over to the commanders of the batteries. The natural result -was seen in the inferior gunnery displayed all along the line upon -the fatal twenty-ninth of March. - - [289] Apparently the regiments of Oporto, Baltar, Feira, and - Villa de Conde. - - [290] I draw these deductions from Beresford’s and Eben’s reports - in the Record Office. Beresford (writing to Castlereagh on March - 29, the day of the storm) complains that he can get no proper - ‘morning states’ out of the officers at Oporto, but says that - the Bishop has there nos. 6 and 18 of the line, Vittoria’s two - battalions and the wrecks of the 2nd Lusitanian Legion. He speaks - of two or three militia regiments, 9,000 armed citizens, and - an indefinite number of _Ordenanza_. Eben gives some details - concerning his own doings. Da Luz Soriano mentions Champlemond - and his battalion of the 21st of the line. As to the _Ordenanza_, - 9,000 seems a high estimate for the local Oporto horde, for that - town with 70,000 souls had already supplied two regiments of the - line, two battalions of the Lusitanian Legion, and a militia - regiment, 6,500 men in all. - -To complete the picture of the defenders of Oporto it must be -added that the anarchy tempered by assassination, which had been -prevailing in the city ever since the Bishop assumed charge of the -government, had grown to a head during the last few days. On the -receipt of the news of the disaster at Braga it had culminated in a -riot, during which the populace constituted a sort of Revolutionary -Tribunal at the Porto do Olival. They haled out of the prisons all -persons who had been consigned to them on a charge of sympathizing -with the French, hung fourteen of these unfortunates, including -the brigadier-general Luiz da Oliveira, massacred many more in -the streets, and dragged the bodies round the town on hurdles. -The Bishop, though he had 5,000 regular troops at hand, made -no attempt to intervene--‘he could not stand in the way of the -righteous vengeance of the people upon traitors.’ On the night of -the twenty-eighth he retired to a place of safety, the Serra Convent -across the river, after bestowing his solemn benediction upon the -garrison, and handing over the further conduct of the defence to the -three generals whose names we have already cited. - -The town of Oporto was hidden from Soult’s eyes by the range of -heights, crowned by fortifications, which lay before him. For the -place was built entirely upon the downslope of the hill towards -the Douro, and was invisible till those approaching it were within -half a mile of its outer buildings. It is a town of steep streets -running down to the water, and meeting at the foot of the great -pontoon-bridge, more than 200 yards long, which links it to the -transpontine suburb of Villa Nova, and the adjacent height of the -Serra do Pilar. The river front forms a broad quay, along which -were lying at the time nearly thirty merchant ships, mostly English -vessels laden with port wine, which were wind-bound by a persistent -North-Wester, and could not cross the bar and get out to sea. - -Although his previous attempts to negotiate with the Portuguese had -not been very fortunate, the Marshal thought it worth while to send -proposals for an accommodation to the Bishop. He warned him not -to expose his city to the horrors of a sack, pointed out that the -raw levies of the garrison must inevitably be beaten, and assured -him that ‘the French came not as enemies, but as the deliverers -of Portugal from the yoke of the English. It was for the benefit -of these aliens alone that the Bishop would expose Oporto to the -incalculable calamities attending a storm[291].’ The bearer of the -Marshal’s letter was a Portuguese major taken prisoner at Braga, who -would have been massacred at the outposts if he had not taken the -precaution of explaining to his countrymen that Soult had sent him -in to propose the surrender of the French army, which was appalled at -the formidable series of defences to which it found itself opposed! -The reply sent by the Bishop and his council of war was, of course, -defiant, and bickering along the front of the lines immediately -began. While the white flag was still flying General Foy, the most -distinguished of Soult’s brigadiers, trespassed by some misconception -within the Portuguese picquets and was made prisoner. While being -conducted into the town he was nearly murdered, being mistaken -for Loison, for whom the inhabitants of Oporto nourished a deep -hatred[292]. - - [291] Le Noble, p. 161. - - [292] Some of the French writers say that Foy was taken prisoner - while carrying a flag of truce and a second letter for the - Bishop’s eye. But what really seems to have happened was that he - conceived a notion that one of the Portuguese outposts wished - to surrender, rode in amongst them, and began to urge them to - lay down their arms. But they seized him and sent him to the - rear; his companion, the _chef de bataillon_ Roger, drew his - sword and tried to cut his way back to his men, whereupon he was - bayonetted. One cannot blame the Portuguese, for officers, in - time of truce, have no right to come within the enemy’s lines, - still less to urge his troops to desertion. Foy proved that - he was not Loison by holding up his two hands. Loison being - one-handed (as his nickname _Maneta_ shows), the populace at once - saw that they had made a mistake. I follow the narrative in Girod - de l’Ain’s new life of Foy (p. 78), corroborated by Le Noble (p. - 162). Napier (ii. p. 57), of course, gives a version unfavourable - to the Portuguese. - -On finding that the Portuguese were determined to fight, Soult began -his preparations for a general assault upon the following day. He -drove in the enemy’s outposts outside the town, and captured one or -two small redoubts in front of the main line. Having reconnoitred the -whole position, he told off Delaborde and Franceschi to attack the -north-eastern front, Mermet and one brigade of Lahoussaye’s dragoons -to storm the central parts of the lines, due north of the city, where -the fortifications were most formidable, Merle and the other brigade -of Lahoussaye to press in upon the western entrenchments below the -city. There was no general reserve save Lorges’ two regiments of -cavalry, and these had the additional task imposed upon them of -fending off any attack on the rear of the army which might be made -by scattered bodies of _Ordenanza_, who were creeping out into the -woods along the sea-coast, and threatening to turn the Marshal’s -right flank. - -Soult had but 16,000 men available,--of whom 3,000 were cavalry, -and therefore could not be employed till the infantry should have -broken through the line of fortifications which completely covered -the Portuguese front. Nevertheless he had no doubts of the result, -though he had to storm works defended by 30,000 men and lined with -197 cannon. He now knew the exact fighting value of the Portuguese -levies, and looked upon Oporto as his own. - -The Marshal’s plan was not to repeat the simple and simultaneous -frontal attack all along the line by which he had carried the day -at Braga. There was a good deal of strategy in his design: the two -flank divisions were ordered to attack, while the centre was for -a time held back. Merle, in especial, was directed to do all that -he could against the weakest point of the Portuguese line, in the -comparatively level ground to the west of the city. Soult hoped that -a heavy attack in this direction would lead the enemy to reinforce -his left from the reserves of his centre, and gradually to disgarnish -the formidable positions north of the city, when no attack was made -on them. If they committed this fault, he intended to hurl Mermet’s -division, which he carefully placed under cover till the critical -moment, at the central redoubts. A successful assault at this point -would finish the game, as it would cut the Portuguese line in two, -and allow the troops to enter the upper quarters of the city in their -first rush. - -The French were under arms long ere dawn, waiting for the signal to -attack. The Portuguese also were awake and stirring in the darkness, -when at three o’clock a thunderstorm, accompanied by a terrific -hurricane from the north-west, swept over the city. In the midst of -the elemental din some of the Portuguese sentinels thought that they -had seen the French columns advancing to the assault: they fired, the -artillery followed their example, and for half an hour the noise of -the thunderstorm was rivalled by that of 200 guns of position firing -at nothing. Just as the gunners had discovered their mistake, the -tempest passed away, and soon after the day broke. So drenched and -weary were the French, who had been lying down under the torrential -rain, that Soult put off the assault for an hour, in order to allow -them to dry themselves and take some refreshment; the pause also -allowed the sodden ground to harden. - -At seven all was again ready, and Merle’s and Delaborde’s regiments -hurled themselves at the entrenchments above and below the city. Both -made good progress, especially the former, who lodged themselves -in the houses and gardens immediately under the main line of the -Portuguese left wing, and captured several of its outlying defences. -Seeing the position almost forced, Parreiras, the commander of the -central part of the lines, acted just as Soult had hoped, and sent -most of his reserve to reinforce the left. The Marshal then bade -Merle halt for a moment, but ordered Delaborde, on his eastern flank, -to push on as hard as he could. The general obeyed, and charged right -into the Portuguese entrenchments, capturing several redoubts and -actually breaking the line and getting a lodgement in the north-east -corner of the city. Parreiras, to aid his colleague in this quarter, -drew off many of his remaining troops, and sent them away to the -right, thereby leaving his own section of the line only half -manned. Thereupon Soult launched against the central redoubts his -main assaulting column, Mermet’s division and the two regiments of -dragoons. The central battalion went straight for the main position -above the high-road, where the great Portuguese flag was flying on -the strongest redoubt. The others attacked on each side. This assault -was decisive: the Portuguese gunners had only time to deliver two -ineffective salvos when the French were upon them. They charged into -the redoubts through the embrasures, pulled down the connecting -abattis, and swept away the depleted garrison in their first rush. -The line of the defenders was hopelessly broken, and Mermet’s -division hunted them down the streets leading to the river at full -speed. - -The centre being thus driven in, the Portuguese wings saw that all -was lost, and gave way in disorder, looking only for a line of -retreat. Vittoria, with the right wing, abandoned his section of -the city and retreated east along the Vallongo road, towards the -interior: he got away without much loss, and even turned to bay and -skirmished with the pursuing battalions of Delaborde when once he -was clear of the suburbs. Far other was the lot of the Portuguese -left wing, which had the sea behind it instead of the open country. -General Lima-Barreto, its commander, was killed by his own men: -he had given orders to spike the guns and double to the rear the -moment that he saw the central redoubts carried. Unfortunately for -himself, he was among a mass of men who wished to hold on to their -entrenchments in spite of the disaster on their right. When he -reiterated his order to retreat, he was shot down for a traitor. -But Merle’s division soon evicted his slayers, and sent them flying -towards St. João da Foz and the sea. There was a dreadful slaughter -of the Portuguese in this direction: some escaped across the river -in boats, a large body slipped round Merle’s flank and got away to -the north along the coast (though Lorges’ dragoons pursued them among -the woods above the water and sabred many): others threw themselves -into the citadel of St. João and capitulated on terms. But several -thousands, pressed into the angle between the Douro and the ocean, -were slaughtered almost without resistance, or rolled _en masse_ into -the water. - -The fate of the Portuguese centre was no less horrible. Their -commander, Parreiras, fled early, and got over the bridge to report -to the Bishop the ruin of his army. The main horde followed him, -though many lingered behind, endeavouring to defend the barricades -in the streets. When several thousands had passed the river, some -unknown officer directed the drawbridge between the central pontoons -to be raised, in order to prevent the French from following. This was -done while the larger part of the armed multitude was still on the -further bank, hurrying down towards the sole way of escape. Nor was -it only the fighting-men whose retreat was cut off: when the news -ran round the city that the lines were forced, the civil population -had rushed down to the quays to escape before the sack began. It was -fortunate that half the people had left Oporto during the last two -days and taken refuge in Beira. But tens of thousands had lingered -behind, full of confidence in their entrenchments and their army of -defenders. A terrified mass of men, women, and children now came -pouring down to the bridge, and mingled with the remnants of the -routed garrison. The pontoons were still swinging safely on their -cables, and no one, save those in the front of the rush, discovered -that there was a fatal gap in the middle of the passage, where the -drawbridge had been raised. There was no turning back for those -already embarked on the bridge, for the crowds behind continued to -push them on, and it was impossible to make them understand what had -happened. The French had now begun to appear on the quays, and to -attack the rear of the unhappy multitude: their musketry drowned the -cries of those who tried to turn back. At the same time the battery -on the Serra hill, beyond the river, opened upon the French, and -the noise of its twenty heavy guns made it still more impossible to -convey the news to the back of the crowd. For more than half an hour, -it is said, the rush of fugitives kept thrusting its own front ranks -into the death-trap, forty feet broad, in the midst of the bridge. -If anything more was needed to add to the horror of the scene, it -was supplied by the sudden rush of a squadron of Portuguese cavalry, -which--cut off from retreat to the east--galloped down from a side -street and ploughed its way into the thickest of the crowd at the -bridge-head, trampling down hundreds of victims, till it was brought -to a standstill by the mere density of the mass into which it had -penetrated. So many persons, at last, were thrust into the water that -not only was the whole surface of the Douro covered with drowning -wretches, but the gap in the bridge was filled up by a solid mass of -the living and the dead. Over this horrid gangway, as it is said, -some few of the fugitives scrambled to the opposite bank[293]. - - [293] Le Noble, and Napier following him, state that the breach - in the bridge was caused merely by some of the central pontoons - sinking under the weight of the passing multitude. Hennegan, - who was present in Oporto that day, says the same. But it seems - safer to follow Da Luz Soriano and other Portuguese witnesses, - who state that no such accident occurred, but that the early - fugitives pulled up the drawbridge in order to stay the pursuit, - reckless as to the fate of those who were behind them. Historians - telling a story to the discredit of their own party may generally - be trusted. - -At first the French, who had fought their way down to the quay, had -begun to fire upon the rear of the multitude which was struggling to -escape. But they soon found that no resistance was being offered, and -saw that the greater part of the flying crowd was composed of women, -children, and non-combatants. The sight was so sickening that their -musketry died down, and when they saw the unfortunate Portuguese -thrust by thousands into the water, numbers of them turned to the -charitable work of helping the strugglers ashore, and saved many -lives. The others cleared the bridge-head by forcing the fugitives -back with the butt ends of their muskets, and edging them along the -quays and into the side streets, till the way was open. In the late -afternoon some of Mermet’s troops mended the gap in the bridge with -planks and rafters, and crossed it, despite of the irregular fire of -the Portuguese battery on the heights above. They then pushed into -the transpontine suburb, expelled its defenders, and finally climbed -the Serra hill and captured the guns which had striven to prevent -their passage. - -Meanwhile the parts of Oporto remote from the pontoon-bridge had -been the scene of a certain amount of desultory fighting. Many -small bodies of the garrison had barricaded themselves in houses, -and made a desperate but ineffectual attempt to defend them. In the -Bishop’s palace at the south end of the town 400 militia held out -for some hours, and were all bayonetted when the gates were at last -burst open. Street-fighting always ends in rapine, rape and arson, -and as the resistance died down the victors turned their hands -to the usual atrocities that follow a storm. It was only a small -proportion of them who had been sobered and sickened by witnessing -the catastrophe on the bridge. The rest dealt with the houses and -with the inhabitants after the fashion usual in the sieges of that -day, and Oporto was thoroughly sacked. It is to the credit of Soult -that he used every exertion to beat the soldiers off from their prey, -and restored order long ere the following morning. It is to be wished -that Wellington had been so lucky at Badajoz and San Sebastian. - -[Illustration: COMBAT OF BRAGA - (OR LANHOZO) - MARCH 20TH 1809] - -[Illustration: OPORTO - MARCH-MAY 1809 - SHOWING THE PORTUGUESE LINES] - -The French army had lost, so the Marshal reported, no more than -eighty killed and 350 wounded, an extraordinary testimony to the -badness of the Portuguese gunnery. How many of the garrison and -the populace perished it will never be possible to ascertain--the -figures given by various contemporary authorities run up from -4,000 to 20,000. The smaller number is probably nearer the truth, -but no satisfactory estimate can be made. It is certain that some -of the regiments which took part in the defence were almost -annihilated[294], and that thousands of the inhabitants were drowned -in the river. Yet the town was not depopulated, and of its defenders -the greater proportion turned up sooner or later in the ranks of -Silveira, Botilho, and Trant. The slain and the drowned together may -perhaps be roughly estimated at 7,000 or 8,000, about equally divided -between combatants and non-combatants. - - [294] E.g. the 21st of the line had even in September, nearly - six months after the storm, only 193 men under arms. - -Soult meanwhile could report to his master that the first half of -his orders had been duly carried out. He had captured 200 cannon, a -great store of English ammunition and military equipment, and more -than thirty merchant vessels, laden with wine. He had delivered Foy -and some dozens of other French captives--for it would be doing the -Portuguese injustice to let it be supposed that they had killed or -tortured all their prisoners. In short, the victory and the trophies -were splendid: yet the Marshal was in reality almost as far from -having completed the conquest of northern Portugal as on the day -when he first crossed its frontier. He had only secured for himself -a new base of operation, to supersede Chaves and Braga. For the next -month he could do no more than endeavour ineffectually to complete -the subjugation of one single province. The main task which his -master had set before him, the capture of Lisbon, he was never able -to contemplate, much less to take in hand. Like so many other French -generals in the Peninsula, he was soon to find that victory is not -the same thing as conquest. - - -N.B.--The sources for this part of the Portuguese campaign are very -full. On the French side we have, besides the Marshal’s dispatches, -the following eye-witnesses: Le Noble, Soult’s official chronicler; -St. Chamans (one of the Marshal’s aides-de-camp); General Bigarré, -King Joseph’s representative at the head quarters of the 2nd Corps; -Naylies of Lahoussaye’s dragoons; and Fantin des Odoards of the 31st -Léger. On the Portuguese side we have the lengthy dispatches of Eben, -the narrative of Hennegan (who had brought the British ammunition to -Oporto), some letters from Brotherton, who was first with La Romana -and then with Silveira, and a quantity of official correspondence in -the Record Office, between Beresford and the Portuguese. - - - - -SECTION XIII: CHAPTER V - -SOULT’S HALT AT OPORTO: OPERATIONS OF WILSON AND LAPISSE ON THE -PORTUGUESE FRONTIER: SILVEIRA’S DEFENCE OF AMARANTE - - -Oporto had been conquered: the unhappy levies of the Bishop had been -scattered to the winds: by the captures which it had made the French -army was now, for the first time since its departure from Orense, -in possession of a considerable store of provisions and an adequate -supply of ammunition. Soult was no longer driven forward by the -imperative necessity for finding new resources to feed his troops, -nor forced to hurry on the fighting by the fear that if he delayed -his cartridges would run short. He had at last leisure to halt and -take stock of his position. The most striking point in the situation -was that he was absolutely ignorant of the general course of the war -in the other regions of the Peninsula. When he had been directed -to march on Oporto, he had been assured that he might count on the -co-operation of Lapisse, who was to advance from Salamanca with his -9,000 men, and of Victor, who was to stretch out to him a helping -hand from the valley of the Tagus. It was all-important to know how -far the promised aid was being given: yet the Marshal could learn -nothing. More than two months had now elapsed since he had received -any dispatches from the Emperor. It was a month since he had obtained -his last news of the doings of his nearest colleague, Ney, which had -been brought to him, as it will be remembered, just as he was about -to leave Orense. At that moment the Duke of Elchingen had been able -to tell him nothing save that the communications between Galicia and -Leon had been broken, and that the insurrection was daily growing -more formidable. After this his only glimpse of the outer world had -been afforded by Portuguese letters, seized in the post-offices of -Braga and Oporto, from which he had learnt that his garrisons left -behind at Vigo and Tuy were being beleaguered by a vast horde of -Galician irregular levies. ‘The march of the 2nd Corps,’ wrote one of -Soult’s officers, ‘may be compared to the progress of a ship on the -high seas: she cleaves the waves, but they close behind her, and in a -few moments all trace of her passage has disappeared[295].’ To make -the simile complete, Fantin des Odoards should have compared Soult to -the captain of a vessel in a dense fog, forging ahead through shoals -and sandbanks without any possibility of obtaining a general view of -the coast till the mists may lift. To all intents and purposes, we -may add, the fog never dispersed till May had arrived, and Wellesley -hurtled down in a dreadful collision on the groping commander, ere he -had fully ascertained his own whereabouts. - - [295] Fantin des Odoards, _Journal_, April 28, p. 226. - -When the whole country-side is up in arms, as it was in Galicia and -northern Portugal in the spring of 1809, it is useless to dispatch -small bodies of men in search of news. They are annihilated in a -few hours: but to make large detachments and send them out on long -expeditions, so weakens the main army that it loses its power of -further advance. This was the fate of the 2nd Corps after the fall of -Oporto. Soult, compelled to seek for information at all costs, had -to send one of his four infantry divisions back towards Galicia, to -succour Tuy and Vigo and obtain news of Ney, while another marched -eastward to the Tras-os-Montes, to look for signs of the advance of -Lapisse from Salamanca. When these detachments had been made, the -remainder of the army was too weak to resume the march on Lisbon -which the Emperor had commanded, and was forced to remain cantoned in -the neighbourhood of Oporto. - -The details of Soult’s disposition of his troops after the fall of -Oporto were as follows: Franceschi’s cavalry, supported by Mermet’s -division of infantry, were pushed forward across the Douro on the -road to Coimbra, to watch the movements of the wrecks of the Bishop’s -army, which had retired to the line of the Vouga. Merle’s division -and half Delaborde’s remained in garrison at Oporto, while Lorges’ -and one brigade of Lahoussaye’s dragoons were kept not far from -them, in the open country north of the city, about Villa de Conde -and Vallongo. The other brigade of Lahoussaye’s division, supported -by Foy’s infantry, was sent out on an expedition towards the -Tras-os-Montes, with orders to brush away Silveira and seek for news -of the expected approach of Lapisse. Loison was placed in command -of this detachment. Finally, Heudelet’s division, which had been -guarding the sick and the stores of the army at Braga, was ordered to -send on all the _impedimenta_ to Oporto, and then to prepare to march -northward in order to relieve Tuy and Vigo, and to get into touch -with Ney and the 6th Corps. - -It was clear that the further movements of the Duke of Dalmatia would -depend on the intelligence which Loison and Heudelet might obtain. If -Ney should have crushed the Galician insurgents, if Lapisse should be -met with somewhere on the borders of Spain, matters would look well -for the resumption of the advance on Lisbon. It was also to be hoped -that Lapisse would be able to give some information as to the doings -of Victor and the 1st Corps. For it was necessary to find out how the -Duke of Belluno had been faring in Estremadura, and to know whether -he was prepared to co-operate in that general movement against the -Portuguese capital which the Emperor had prescribed in his parting -instructions from Valladolid. - -As a matter of fact, Victor, having beaten Cuesta at Medellin on the -day before Soult captured Oporto (March 28), had reached the end of -his initiative, and was now lying at Merida, incapable, according to -his own conception, of any further offensive movement till he should -have received heavy reinforcements. Ney in Galicia was fighting hard -against the insurgents, and beginning to discover that though he -might rout them a dozen times he could not make an end of them. He -had not a man to spare for Soult’s assistance. - -There remained Lapisse, who in his central position at Salamanca -should have been, according to Napoleon’s design, the link between -Ney, Victor, and Soult. He had been directed, as it will be -remembered[296], to move on Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, to capture -both these fortresses, and then to advance into Portugal and to -strike at Abrantes: when he arrived there it was hoped that he would -find Soult on his right and Victor on his left, and would join them -in the general assault on Lisbon. There can be no doubt that Napoleon -was giving too heavy a task to Lapisse: he had but a single division -of infantry--though it was a strong one of twelve battalions--and -one provisional brigade of cavalry[297], in all about 9,000 men. -This was ample for the holding down of the southern parts of the -kingdom of Leon, or even for the attack on Almeida and Rodrigo: -but it was a small force with which to advance into the mountains -of central Portugal or to seize Abrantes. If he had carried out -his instructions, Lapisse would have had to march for nearly 200 -miles through difficult mountain country, beset every day by the -_Ordenanza_, as Soult had been in his shorter route from Orense to -Oporto. And if he had ever cut his way to Abrantes, he ought to have -found himself faced by Cradock’s 9,000 British troops and by the -reorganized Portuguese regular army, which lay in and about Lisbon, -with a strength which even in February was not less than 12,000 men. - - [296] See p. 175. - - [297] On Feb. 1 the force was, _présents sous les armes_, 7,692 - infantry, about 1,000 cavalry, and 200 gunners. - -Napoleon had given Lapisse too much to do: but on the other hand that -general performed far too little. Though he could never have reached -Abrantes, he ought to have reached Almeida, where his presence would -have been of material assistance to Soult, more especially if he had -from thence pushed exploring columns towards Lamego and Vizeu, before -plunging into the mountains on the road to the south. As a matter of -fact, Lapisse in February and March never advanced so much as fifty -miles from Salamanca, and allowed himself to be ‘contained’ and -baffled, for two whole months, by an insignificant opposing force, -commanded by a general possessing that enterprise and initiative -which he himself entirely lacked. - -The officer who wrecked this part of Napoleon’s plan for the invasion -of Portugal was Sir Robert Wilson, one of the most active and capable -men in the English army, and one who might have made a great name -for himself, had fortune been propitious. But though he served with -distinction throughout the Napoleonic war, and won golden opinions -in Belgium and Egypt, in Prussia and Poland, no less than in Spain, -he never obtained that command on a large scale which would have -enabled him to show his full powers. It may seem singular that a man -who won love and admiration wherever he went, who was decorated by -two emperors for brilliant feats of arms done under their eyes, who -was equally popular in the Russian, the Austrian, or the Portuguese -camp, who had displayed on a hundred fields his chivalrous daring, -his ready ingenuity, and his keen military insight, should fail to -achieve greatness. But Wilson, unhappily for himself, had the defects -of his qualities. When acting as a subordinate his independent and -self-reliant character was always getting him into trouble with his -hierarchical superiors. He was not the man to obey orders which he -believed to be dangerous or mistaken: he so frequently ‘thought for -himself’ and carried out plans quite different from those which had -been imposed upon him, that no commander-in-chief could tolerate him -for long. His moves were always clever and generally fortunate, but -mere success did not atone for his disobedience in the eyes of his -various chiefs, and he never remained for long in the same post. All -generals, good and bad, agree in disliking lieutenants who disregard -their orders and carry out other schemes--even if they be ingenious -and successful ones[298]. It must be added that Wilson dabbled -in politics on the Whig side, and was not a favourite with Lord -Castlereagh, a drawback when preferments were being distributed. - - [298] Wellington, e.g., writes to him on August 5, 1809, ‘It - is difficult for me to instruct you, when every letter that I - receive from you informs me that you have gone further off, and - are executing some plan of your own.’ - -But when trusted with any independent command, and allowed a free -hand, Wilson always did well. Not only had he all the talents of an -excellent partisan chief, but he was one of those genial leaders -who have the power to inspire confidence and enthusiasm in their -followers, and are able to get out of them double the work that an -ordinary commander can extort. He was in short one of those men who -if left to themselves achieve great things, but who when placed in a -subordinate position quarrel with their superiors and get sent home -in disgrace. From the moment when Beresford assumed command of the -Portuguese army his relations with Wilson were one long story of -friction and controversy, and Wellesley (though acknowledging his -brilliant services) made no attempt to keep him in the Peninsula. -He wanted officers who would obey orders, even when they did not -understand or approve them, and would not tolerate lieutenants who -wished to argue with him[299]. - - [299] It is most unfortunate that while Wilson wrote and - published admirable narratives of his doings in Prussia and - Poland in 1806-7, and of his Russian and German campaign of - 1812-3, he has left nothing on record concerning Portugal in - 1808-9. Moreover the life, by his son-in-law, breaks off in 1807, - and was never finished. My narrative is constructed from his - dispatches in the Record Office, the correspondence of Wellesley - and Beresford, and Mayne and Lillie’s _Loyal Lusitanian Legion_. - -It was Wilson who first showed that the new levies of Portugal -could do good service in the field. While Silveira and Eben were -meeting with nothing but disaster in the Tras-os-Montes and the -Entre-Douro-e-Minho, he was conducting a thoroughly successful -campaign on the borders of Leon. From January to April, 1809, he, -and he alone, protected the eastern frontier of Portugal, and with a -mere handful of men kept the enemy at a distance, and finally induced -him to draw off and leave Salamanca, just at the moment when Soult’s -operations on the Douro were becoming most dangerous. - -The force at his disposal in January, 1809, consisted of nothing -more than his own celebrated ‘Loyal Lusitanian Legion.’ We have -already had occasion to mention this corps while speaking of the -reorganization of the Portuguese army (see page 199). On December 14, -as we have seen, he had led out his little brigade of Green-coats -towards the frontier[300]. - - [300] It will he remembered that it was only the first division - of the Legion that marched. The second, which could not go - forward for want of uniforms and arms, was left behind in charge - of Baron Eben. That officer had strict orders to move out to - Almeida the moment that he should receive the muskets, &c. that - were on their way from England. Eben, however, disregarded his - instructions, became one of the Bishop’s clique, and involved his - men in the campaign against Soult, thereby marring Wilson’s plans - and depriving him of half his proper force. - -Wilson’s reasons for moving forward were partly political, -partly military: on the one hand he wished to get away from the -neighbourhood of the Bishop of Oporto, whose intrigues disgusted -him; on the other he saw that it was necessary to bring up a force -to cover the frontier of Portugal, when Moore marched forward into -Spain. As long as Moore had remained at Salamanca, there was a strong -barrier in front of Portugal: but when he departed it was clear that -the kingdom must defend itself. Wilson therefore advanced to Pinhel, -near Almeida, and there established his little force in cantonments. - -He was at this place when the startling developments of the campaign -in the last ten days of December, 1808, took place. Moore retired on -Galicia, Napoleon’s army swept on into Leon, and Wilson found himself -left alone with the whole defence of the north-eastern frontier -of Portugal thrown on his hands. He soon heard of the storming of -Zamora and Toro, and learnt that Lapisse’s division had arrived at -Salamanca. Three marches might bring that general to the border. - -A few days later Wilson received from Sir John Cradock the news that -he had ordered the British garrison to evacuate Almeida[301], and -to retire on Lisbon, as the whole remaining force in Portugal would -probably have to embark in a few days. The new commander-in-chief -added that he should advise Wilson to bring off his British officers -and depart with the rest, as the Portuguese would be unable to make -any head against Bonaparte, and it would be a useless sacrifice -to linger in their company and be overwhelmed. This pusillanimous -counsel shocked and disgusted Wilson: he called together his -subordinates, and found that they agreed with him in considering -Cradock’s advice disgraceful. They resolved that they could not -desert their Portuguese comrades, and were in honour bound to see -the campaign to an end, however black the present outlook might -appear[302]. - - [301] It consisted of the 45th and 97th regiments. - - [302] Napier, who is very friendly to Cradock, makes no mention - of this extraordinary dispatch. But it is fully substantiated by - Mayne and Lillie, who were both present at Wilson’s council of - war, and heard the matter discussed. See their _History of the - Lusitanian Legion_, p. 43. - -When therefore the British garrison of Almeida was withdrawn, Wilson -entered that fortress with the Legion and took charge of it. He -obtained from the Regency leave to appoint his lieutenant-colonel, -William Mayne, as the governor, and also received permission to -assume command of the local levies in the neighbourhood. These -consisted of the skeletons of two line regiments (nos. 11 and 23) -whose reorganization had but just begun. There were also two militia -regiments (Guarda and Trancoso) to be raised in the district, but at -this moment they existed only in name, and possessed neither officers -nor arms. For immediate action Wilson could count upon nothing but -the 1,300 men of the Lusitanian Legion. - -Nevertheless he resolved to advance at once, and to endeavour to -impose on Lapisse by a show of activity. Leaving the Portuguese -regulars and 700 men of the Legion to garrison Almeida, he crossed -the frontier with his handful of cavalry (not 200 sabres), two guns, -and 300 men of his light companies. Passing the Spanish fortress -of Ciudad Rodrigo he advanced some distance on the Salamanca road, -and took up his position behind the Yeltes river, with his right -resting on the inaccessible Sierra de Francia, and his left at San -Felices, half way to the Douro. His whole force constituted no more -than a thin line of pickets, but he acted with such confidence and -decision, beating up the French outposts with his dragoons, raiding -well forward in the direction of Ledesma and Tamames, and stirring up -the peasants of the mountain country to insurrection, that Lapisse -gave him credit for having a considerable force at his back. The -French general had expected to meet with no opposition on his way -to Almeida, believing that Cradock was about to embark, and that -the Portuguese would not fight. He was accordingly much surprised -to find a long line in his front, occupied by troops dressed like -British riflemen, and commanded by British officers--whose strength -he was unable to ascertain. He halted, in order to take stock of his -opponent, when a bold push would have shown him that only a skeleton -army was before him. In an intercepted dispatch of February[303] he -reported that the peasantry informed him that Wilson had 12,000 men, -and that as many more were in garrison at Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida. - - [303] See the _Lusitanian Legion_, p. 47. - -As the weeks wore on, and the winter drew to an end, Wilson obtained -some slight reinforcements. When he first advanced the Spaniards -could give him no help, for the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo itself -consisted of nothing but its six companies of urban militia, and -a new battalion of 500 men, which had been on the point of setting -out to join La Romana when its way to Leon was intercepted by the -French. There were 1,400 men to man a fortress which required a -garrison of 4,000[304]! But before January was out, Pignatelli, the -captain-general of Castile, had sent into the place a regiment which -he had raised in the mountains of Avila, and Carlos d’España[305] had -begun to form some new battalions from the peasantry of the Ciudad -Rodrigo district, stiffened by stragglers from La Romana’s army[306]. -In February the Central Junta gave Wilson a provisional command over -the Spanish forces in Leon, and he used his authority to draw upon -the garrison of Rodrigo for detachments to strengthen his outposts. -He also requisitioned men from Almeida, when the Portuguese regiments -there placed had begun to fill up their ranks to a respectable -strength. A few cavalry of the re-formed 11th of the line were -especially useful to him for scouting work. - - [304] This fact comes from a letter of Ramon Blanco, governor - of Ciudad Rodrigo, dated Jan. 13, which Frere sent home to - Castlereagh, and which is therefore now in the Record Office. - Blanco complains that he is absolutely without trained - artillerymen of any sort. - - [305] Carlos d’España, whose name we shall so frequently meet - during the succeeding years, was no Spaniard, but a French - _émigré_ officer of the name of D’Espagne. Englishmen, on account - of his name, sometimes took him for a prince of the Spanish royal - family. - - [306] Sir Robert Wilson to Frere, dated Jan. 29, in the Record - Office. The regiment sent by Pignatelli was called ‘Volunteers of - Avila.’ - -With this small assistance, Wilson, whose total force never exceeded -400 horse and 3,000 infantry, kept Lapisse employed throughout -February and March. He beat up the French quarters on several -occasions, and twice captured large convoys of provisions which -were being directed on Salamanca; to fall upon one of these, a -great requisition of foodstuffs from Ledesma, he dashed far within -Lapisse’s lines, but brought out all the wagons in safety and -delivered them to the governor of Ciudad Rodrigo. At last, emboldened -by his adversary’s timidity, he extended his right beyond the Sierra -de Francia, and established part of the Legion under Colonel Mayne in -the Puerto de Baños, the main pass between Salamanca and Estremadura. -Thus Lapisse was completely cut off from all communication with -Victor and the French army on the Tagus, save by the circuitous route -through Madrid. - -Jourdan, writing in the name of King Joseph, had duly transmitted to -Lapisse the Emperor’s orders to march on Abrantes, the moment that -it should be known that Soult had arrived at Oporto. He had even -reiterated these directions in February, though both he and the King -doubted their wisdom. Victor had written to Madrid to suggest that -Alcantara would be a much better and safer objective for the division -to aim at than Abrantes[307]. He wished to draw Lapisse’s troops -(which properly belonged to the 1st Corps) into his own sphere of -operations, and repeatedly declared that without them he had no hope -of bringing his Estremaduran campaign to a happy end, much less of -executing any effective diversion against Portugal. Jourdan agreed -with him, opining that Lapisse would miscarry, if he invaded central -Portugal on an independent line of operations. But no one was so -convinced of this as Lapisse himself, who, with his exaggerated ideas -of the strength of Wilson, was most reluctant to move forward. As -late as the end of March the Emperor’s orders were still ostensibly -in vigour[308], and the general only excused himself for not -marching, by pretending that he could not venture to advance till he -had certain news of Soult’s movements. This the Galician insurgents -were obliging enough to keep from him. - - [307] Victor to King Joseph, from Toledo, Feb. 3, 1809. - - [308] This is shown by a letter of March 23 from Solignac, one of - Lapisse’s brigadiers, which was intercepted by guerrillas. The - general writes to his friend Raguerie that the march on Abrantes - is certain, and that letters for him had better be readdressed to - Lisbon [Record Office]. - -At last, however, Jourdan yielded to Victor’s wishes, and authorized -Lapisse to drop down on to Alcantara, keeping outside the limits of -Portugal, instead of making the attack on Rodrigo and the subsequent -dash at Abrantes which the Emperor had prescribed[309]. Overjoyed -at escaping from the responsibility which he dreaded, Lapisse first -prepared to march southward by the Puerto de Baños. But when he -found it held by Mayne and the troops of Wilson’s right wing, he made -no attempt to force the passage, but resolved to carry out his design -by stratagem. Massing his division, he marched on Ciudad Rodrigo upon -April 6. He pierced with ease the feeble screen of Wilson’s outposts -and appeared in front of the Spanish fortress, which he duly summoned -to surrender. But though the place might easily have been carried by -a _coup de main_ in January, it was now safe against anything but -a formal siege, and Lapisse had neither a battering-train nor any -real intention of attacking. When the governor returned a defiant -answer, the French division made a show of sitting down in front -of the walls. This was done in order to draw Wilson to the aid of -the place, and the move was successful. Calling in all his outlying -detachments from the nearer passes and collecting some of Carlos -d’España’s levies, Sir Robert took post close to the walls of Ciudad -Rodrigo, with a battalion of the Legion under Colonel Grant, some -other Portuguese troops and four guns[310]. - - [309] Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, p. 189, show that he and Joseph - authorized the move, at Victor’s instance, and prove that it was - not made on Lapisse’s own responsibility, as Napier supposes [ii. - 72], but in obedience to superior orders. - - [310] This narrative is from Mayne and Lillie, supplemented by - Jourdan and other French sources. Wilson thought that he had - foiled a real attack on Rodrigo, but was mistaken: Lapisse was - only feinting. - -Having thus lured Wilson away from the passes, the French general -suddenly broke up by night, and made a forced march for the Puerto -de Perales, the nearest mountain-road to Alcantara. He thus obtained -a full day’s start, and got off unmolested. Sir Robert and Carlos -d’España followed on his track as soon as they discovered his -departure, and Mayne also pursued, from the Puerto de Baños, but none -of them could do more than harass his rearguard, with which they -skirmished for three days in the passes. It would not have been wise -of them to attempt more, even if they could have got into touch with -the main body, for the French division was double their strength. -Meanwhile the peasantry of the Sierra de Gata endeavoured to stop -Lapisse’s progress, by blocking the defiles; but he swept them away -with ease, and they never succeeded in delaying him for more than a -few hours. Their incessant ‘sniping’ and night attacks exasperated -the French, who dealt most ruthlessly with the country-side as they -passed. When they arrived at Alcantara, and found the little town -barricaded, they not only refused all quarter to the fighting-men -when they stormed the place, but committed dreadful atrocities on the -non-combatants. Not only murder and rape but mutilation and torture -are reported by credible witnesses[311]. After the houses had been -sacked, the very tombs in the churches were broken open in search of -plunder. Leaving Alcantara full of corpses and ruins [April 12], the -division marched on by Caceres and joined Victor in his camp near -Merida[312] [April 19]. - - [311] It is impossible to make out why Alcantara was treated so - much worse than other places taken by storm, but the facts are - well vouched for. The report of the local authorities to Cuesta - says that not only all peasants taken with arms in their hands, - but more than forty non-combatants were butchered, and that not - a woman who had remained in the place escaped rape. Lillie, - the historian of the Lusitanian Legion, who was with the force - that pursued Lapisse from Rodrigo, says that he saw the traces - of ‘acts of barbarity that would disgrace the most savage and - uncivilized of mankind’--corpses deliberately mutilated and laid - out to roast on piles of burning furniture, with the bodies of - domestic animals, such as pigs and dogs, placed on the top of the - pile as if in jest [_Lusitanian Legion_, pp. 66-7]. The German - historian Schepeler gives very similar details, adding the note - about the dragging up of bones and coffins from the churches. - - [312] All Napier’s criticism (ii. 85-6) on Lapisse’s movement to - Alcantara is vitiated by his ignorance of the fact that Jourdan - and the King, at Victor’s instance, had sent him orders to go - there. But nothing can excuse his previous inaction in February - and March. He ought to have attacked Rodrigo before the end of - January, when it was still almost without a garrison, and in a - state of great disrepair. - -Since Lapisse, then, had moved off far to the south, and thrown -in his lot with his old comrades of the 1st Corps, it was in vain -that Soult sought for news of him on the Douro after the fall -of Oporto. When Loison set out to cross the Tamega and to enter -the Tras-os-Montes, in order that he might obtain information of -the movements of the division at Salamanca, that division was -making ready for its march to Alcantara; a fortnight later it had -disappeared from the northern theatre of operations altogether, and -Soult’s last chance of obtaining external help for his invasion of -Portugal was gone. This section, in short, of Napoleon’s great plan -for the march on Lisbon had been foiled, and foiled almost entirely -by Sir Robert Wilson’s happy audacity and resourceful generalship. -But for him, the timidity of Cradock, the impotence of the -Spaniards, and the disorganization of the Portuguese army might have -brought about the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, at the same -moment that Soult was entering Portugal on its northern frontier. His -services have never received their proper meed of praise, either from -the government which he served so well, or from the historians who -have told the annals of the Peninsular War. - -We must now return to the details of the Duke of Dalmatia’s -operations. His movements were clearly dependent on the results of -the two expeditions under Heudelet and Loison, which he had sent out -to the north and the east after his victory of March 29. - -Heudelet, after discharging on to Oporto the sick and wounded and the -stores which he had been guarding at Braga, started out northward -on April 6, with the 4,000 infantry of his own division and Lorges’ -dragoons, whom the Marshal had ordered up to his aid from Villa de -Conde. Heudelet was ordered to disperse the insurgents in the valleys -of the Lima and Minho, and to relieve Tuy and Vigo, where the French -garrisons were known to be in a state of siege. To reach them it was -necessary to pierce through the screen of militia and _Ordenanza_ -under General Botilho, which had cut off all communication between -Galicia and the army of Portugal since the month of February. - -On April 7 the French general neared the line of the Lima, only to -find the bridges barricaded and Botilho’s horde entrenched behind -them. After some preliminary skirmishing, fords were discovered, -which Heudelet’s infantry passed upon the following morning, sending -the unfortunate Portuguese flying in every direction and capturing -the three guns which formed their sole artillery. On the tenth -the frontier fortress of Valenza was reached: it was found to be -in a dilapidated condition, and garrisoned by only 200 men, who -surrendered at the first summons. Tuy, where General Lamartinière had -been shut up for the last seven weeks, faces Valenza across the broad -estuary of the Minho, so that Heudelet was now in full communication -with it. - -Lamartinière, as it will be remembered[313], had been left behind, -with Soult’s heavy artillery, wheeled transport, and sick, when the -2nd Corps marched for Orense on February 16. He had gathered in -several belated detachments which had started from Santiago in the -hope of joining the rear of the marching column, so that he had the -respectable force of 3,300 men, though 1,200 of them were invalids or -convalescents. The walls of Tuy were in a bad state of repair, but -the governor had found no great difficulty in maintaining himself -against the Galician insurgents on his own side of the Minho, and -the Portuguese levies from the other bank which Botilho sent to -the aid of the Spaniards. But he had been completely shut in since -Soult’s departure, and could give no information concerning Ney’s -operations in northern Galicia, or the general progress of the war -in the other parts of Spain. The only news which he could supply was -that Vigo, the next French garrison, had fallen into the hands of the -enemy. On his way to Portugal Soult had dropped a force of 700 men -at that fortress, lest its excellent harbour should be utilized by -the British for throwing in supplies to the Galician insurgents. The -paymaster-general of the 2nd Corps, with his treasure and its escort, -had lagged behind during the Marshal’s advance, and, being beset by -the peasantry, had entered Vigo instead of pushing on to Tuy. - - [313] See p. 188. - -When Soult had passed out of sight on the way to Orense, the -Galicians of the coast-land, headed by Pablo Morillo, a lieutenant -of the regular army whom La Romana had sent down from the interior, -and by Manuel Garcia Del Barrio[314], a colonel dispatched by the -Central Junta from Seville, had taken arms in great numbers, and -blockaded Vigo. The French commander, Colonel Chalot, found himself -unable to defend the whole extent of the fortifications for sheer -want of men, and could not prevent the insurgents from establishing -themselves close under the walls and keeping up a continual fire upon -the garrison. He believed that a serious assault would infallibly -succeed, and only refused to surrender because he was ashamed to -yield to peasants. On March 23 two English frigates, the _Lively_ -and _Venus_, appeared off the harbour mouth, and began to supply the -insurgents with ammunition, and to land heavy naval guns for their -use. On the twenty-seventh one of the gates was battered in, and the -Galicians were preparing to storm the place, when Chalot surrendered -at discretion, only stipulating that he and his men should be handed -over to the British, and not to the Spaniards. This request was -granted, and Captain Mackinley received twenty-three officers and -nearly 800 men as prisoners, besides a number of sick and several -hundred non-combatants belonging to the train, and camp-followers. -The plunder taken consisted of sixty wagons, 339 horses, and more -than £6,000 in hard cash, composing the military chest of the 2nd -Corps [March 28]. - - [314] Napier’s ‘Colonel Barrois.’ - -The Galicians had somewhat relaxed the blockade of Tuy in order to -press that of Vigo, and on the very day when Chalot surrendered, -General Lamartinière had sent out a flying column to endeavour to -communicate with his colleague. It returned pursued by the Spaniards, -to report to the governor that Vigo had fallen[315]. On its way back -to Tuy it suffered a loss of seventy prisoners and nearly 200 killed -and wounded. - - [315] Most of these details as to the fall of Vigo come from - a contemporary account in Andrade’s collection, printed in - _Los Guerrilleros Gallegos_, pp. 129-37. Le Noble asserts that - only 794 men were captured, but Captain Mackinley says that he - received nearly 1,300 prisoners, including 300 sick and many - non-combatants. He had the best opportunities of knowing, and - must be followed. Le Noble and the Spaniards do not give the - French commander’s name, but I find that of Chalot as the senior - officer among the prisoners in the list in the Record Office. - Next to him is the paymaster-general Conscience. Toreno and - Schepeler agree with Captain Mackinley in giving the number of - the prisoners at over 1,200. - -Heudelet and Lamartinière had now some 7,000 men collected at Tuy, -a force with which they could easily have routed the whole of -the insurgents of the Minho, and forced them to retire into the -mountains. But Soult’s orders to his lieutenants were to avoid -operations in Galicia, and to concentrate towards Portugal. Tuy was -evacuated, and its garrison transferred across the frontier-river -to the Portuguese fortress of Valenza. Before the transference was -completed, the French generals received an unexpected visit from -some troops of the 6th Corps. Ney, disquieted as to the condition of -Tuy and Vigo, had sent a brigade under Maucune to seek for news of -their garrisons. This force, cutting its way through the insurgents, -came into Tuy on April 12. Thus Heudelet was at last able to get -news of the operations of Ney. The information received was not -encouraging: the Duke of Elchingen was beset by the Galicians on -every side: La Romana had cut off one of his outlying garrisons, that -of Villafranca, and his communications with Leon were so completely -cut off that he had no reports to give as to the progress of affairs -in the rest of Spain. Finding that Vigo was lost, and the garrison of -Tuy relieved, Maucune retraced his steps and returned to Santiago, -harassed for the whole of his march by the insurgents of the -coast-land. - -Meanwhile Heudelet’s communication with Oporto had been interrupted, -for the Portuguese, routed on the Lima a week before, had come back -to their old haunts, seized Braga, and blocked the high-road and -the bridges. Soult only got into touch with his expeditionary force -by sending out Lahoussaye with 3,000 men to reopen the road to the -North. When this was done, he bade Heudelet evacuate Valenza (whose -fortifications turned out to be in too bad order to be repaired -in any reasonable space of time), and to disperse his division in -garrisons for Braga, Viana, and Barcelos. The whole of the convoy and -the sick from Tuy were sent up to Oporto. - -The net result of Heudelet’s operations was that the Marshal, -at the cost of immobilizing one of his four infantry divisions, -obtained a somewhat precarious hold upon the flat country of -Entre-Douro-e-Minho. The towns were in his hands, but the _Ordenanza_ -had only retired to the hills, and perpetually descended to worry -Heudelet’s detachments, and to murder couriers and foraging parties. -Meanwhile 4,000 men were wasted for all purposes of offensive action. -Vigo, Tuy, and Valenza had all been abandoned, and touch with the -army of Galicia had been completely lost. - -Even this modest amount of success had been denied to Soult’s -second expedition, that which he had sent under Loison towards the -Tras-os-Montes. The enemy with whom the French had to deal in this -region was Silveira, the same officer who had been defeated between -Monterey and Chaves in the early days of March, when the 2nd Corps -crossed the Portuguese frontier. He had fled with the wrecks of -his force towards Villa Real, at the moment when Soult marched on -Braga, and the Marshal had fondly hoped that he was now a negligible -quantity in the campaign. This was far from being the case: the -moment that Silveira heard that the French had crossed the mountains -and marched on Braga, he had rallied his two regular regiments and -his masses of _Ordenanza_, and pounced down on the detachment under -Commandant Messager, which Soult had left in garrison at Chaves. -This, it will be remembered, consisted of no more than a company -of infantry, a quantity of convalescents and stragglers, and the -untrustworthy Spanish-Portuguese ‘legion,’ which had been formed -out of the prisoners captured on March 6 and 12[316]. On the very -day upon which Soult was routing Eben in front of Braga, Silveira -appeared before the walls of Chaves with 6,000 men. Messager retired -into the citadel, abandoning on the outer walls of the town a few -guns, which the Portuguese were thus enabled to turn against the -inner defences. After a siege of five days and much ineffective -cannonading, the governor surrendered, mainly because the native -‘legion’ was preparing to open the gates to Silveira. Twelve hundred -men were captured, of whom only one-third were Frenchmen capable of -bearing arms, the rest being sick or ‘legionaries.’ - - [316] Le Noble, though he mentions the formation of the legion - (p. 120), omits to state that it was left at Chaves. But St. - Chamans establishes this fact (p. 120); he calls the corps - ‘les Espagnols et Portugais qui se disaient de notre parti.’ - Des Odoards (p. 212) also speaks of the ‘legion,’ as does - Naylies (p. 81). Its existence explains both the feebleness - of Messager’s defence, and the large number of prisoners whom - Silveira captured. The fighting force of the garrison was only - the one company, plus some hundreds of convalescents, who in the - fortnight since Soult’s departure had been able to resume their - arms. - -Having made this successful stroke, Silveira marched down the Tamega -to Amarante, making a movement parallel to Soult’s advance on Oporto. -His recapture of Chaves brought several thousands more of _Ordenanza_ -to his standard, and at Amarante he was joined on the thirtieth by -many of the fugitives who had escaped from the sack of Oporto on the -previous day. He spread his army, now amounting to 9,000 or 10,000 -men, along the left bank of the Tamega, whose bridges and fords he -protected with entrenchments. Advanced guards were pushed out on the -further side of the river on the three roads which lead to Oporto. - -When, therefore, the troops under Loison, which Soult had sent out -towards the Tras-os-Montes, drew near the Tamega, they found the -Portuguese in force. The cavalry could get no further forward than -Penafiel; when Foy’s infantry came up (April 7) Loison tried to -force the enemy back, both on the Amarante and on the Canavezes -road. He failed at each point, and sent back to the Marshal to ask -for reinforcements. Seeing him halt, Silveira, whose fault was not a -want of initiative, actually crossed the river with his whole army, -and fell upon the two French brigades. He was checked, but not badly -beaten, and Loison remained on the defensive (April 12). - -At this moment Soult heard of the fall of Chaves, full seventeen -days after it had happened. Realizing that Silveira was now growing -formidable, he sent to Loison’s aid General Delaborde with the second -of his infantry brigades, and Lorges’ dragoons. These reinforcements -brought the troops facing Silveira up to a total of some 6,500 -men--nearly a third of Soult’s whole disposable force. As Heudelet -was still absent on the Minho with 4,000 men more, the Marshal had -less than 10,000 left in and about Oporto. It was clear that the -grand march on Lisbon was not likely to begin for many a long day. - -On April 18 Loison advanced against Silveira, who boldly but unwisely -offered him battle on the heights of Villamea in front of Amarante. -Considering that he had but 2,000 regulars and 7,000 or 8,000 -half-armed militia and _Ordenanza_, his conduct can only be described -as rash in the extreme. He was, of course, beaten with great loss, -and hustled back into the town of Amarante. He would have lost both -it and its bridge, but for the gallantry of Colonel Patrick, an -English officer commanding a battalion of the 12th of the line, who -rallied his regiment in the streets, seized a group of houses and a -convent at the bridge-head and beat off the pursuers[317]. Patrick -was mortally wounded, but the passage of the river was prevented. -This saved the situation: Silveira got his men together, planted his -artillery so as to command the bridge, and took post in entrenchments -already constructed on the commanding heights on the left bank. Next -day Loison stormed the buildings at the bridge-head, but found that -he could get no further forward. The town was his, but he could -not debouch from it, as the bridge was palisaded, built up with a -barricade of masonry and raked by the Portuguese artillery. Soult -now sent up to aid Loison still further reinforcements, Sarrut’s -brigade of infantry from Merle’s division and the second brigade of -Lahoussaye’s dragoons. Thus no less than 9,000 French troops, nearly -half the army of Portugal, were concentrated at Amarante. - - [317] Silveira to Beresford (Record Office). Cf. Foy’s dispatch - to Loison (April 19), in which he owns that he failed to hold the - convent, and retired with a loss of ninety-one men of the 17th - regiment. - -The fact that twelve whole days elapsed between the arrival of these -last succours and the forcing of the passage of the Tamega had -no small influence on the fate of Soult’s campaign. Hitherto the -initiative had lain with him, and he had faced adversaries who could -only take the defensive. This period was nearly at an end, for on -April 22 Wellesley had landed at Lisbon, the English reinforcements -had begun to arrive, and an army, differing in every quality from -the hordes which the Marshal had encountered north of the Douro, was -about to assume the offensive against him. By the time that Loison at -last forced the bridge of Amarante, the British were already on the -march for Coimbra and Oporto. - -Silveira and his motley host, therefore, were doing admirable service -to the cause of their country when they occupied 9,000 out of Soult’s -21,000 men from April 20 to May 2 on the banks of the Tamega. The -ground was in their favour, but far stronger positions had been -forced ere now, and it was fortunate that this one was maintained for -so many days. The town of Amarante, it must be remembered, lies on -comparatively low ground: its bridge is completely commanded by the -heights on which Silveira had planted his camp and his batteries. The -river flows in a deep-sunk ravine, and was at this moment swollen -into an impassable torrent by the melting of the mountain snows. -Loison more than once sent swimmers by night, in search of places -where the strength of the current might be sufficiently moderate -to allow of an attempt to pass on rafts or boats. Not one of these -explorers could get near the further bank: they were swept off by -the rushing water and cast ashore far down stream, on the same side -from which they had started. There had been bridges above Amarante -at Mondim and Aroza, and below it at Canavezes, but reconnaissances -showed that they had all three been blown up, and that Portuguese -detachments were watching their ruins, to prevent any attempt to -reconstruct them. Loison found, therefore, that he could not turn -Silveira’s position by a flanking movement: there was nothing to do -save to wait till the river should fall, or to attempt to force the -bridge of Amarante at all costs. Continual rains made it hopeless to -expect the subsidence of the Tamega for many days, wherefore Loison -devoted all his energies to the task of capturing the bridge. Even -here there was one difficulty to be faced which might prove fatal: -the French engineers had discovered that the structure was mined. It -was necessary, therefore, not only to drive back the Portuguese, but -to prevent them from blowing up the bridge at the moment of their -retreat. - -Loison had entrusted the details of the attack on the bridge to -Delaborde, whose infantry held the advanced posts. That officer -first tried to approach the head of the bridge by means of a flying -sap; but when it had advanced a certain distance the fire of the -Portuguese from across the river became so deadly, that after many -men had been killed in the endeavour to work up to the palisades -on the bridge, the attempt had to be abandoned. The next device -recommended by the engineers was that an attempt should be made to -lay a trestle bridge at a spot some way below the town, where a -mill-dam contracted the width of the angry river. This was found to -be impossible, the stream proving to be far deeper than had been -supposed, while the Portuguese from the left bank picked off many of -the workmen [April 25]. - -Soult was now growing vexed at the delay, and sent two guns of -position from Oporto to Loison, to enable him to subdue the fire of -the enemy’s batteries. He also offered to call up Heudelet’s division -from Braga, even at the cost of abandoning his hold on the northern -part of the province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho. But a mere increase -of his already considerable force would have been of no service to -Loison; it was a device for passing the Tamega that he needed. - -Such a scheme was at last laid before him by Captain Bouchard, one -of his engineers[318]. The French officers had discovered, by a -careful use of their glasses, that the Portuguese mine, which was -to destroy the bridge, was situated in its left-hand arch, and that -the mechanism by which it was to be worked was not a ‘sausage’ or a -train of powder[319], but a loaded musket, whose muzzle was placed -in the mine, while to its trigger was attached a cord which ran to -the nearest trenches beyond the river. The musket was concealed -in a box, but its cord was visible to those provided with a good -telescope. Bouchard argued that if the cord could be cut or broken, -the enemy would not be able to touch off the mine, and he had thought -out a plan for securing his end. He maintained that an explosion at -the French side of the bridge would probably sever the cord without -firing the mine, and that a sudden assault, made immediately after -the explosion, and before the Portuguese could recover themselves, -might carry the barricades. In spite of the strongly-expressed doubts -of Foy and several other generals, Bouchard was finally permitted to -carry out his scheme. - - [318] Napier, ii. pp. 80-1, consistently mis-calls him Brochard. - - [319] Either of these might easily have been fired by a casual - shot, during the long cannonading which had been in progress. The - Portuguese, therefore, avoided them. - -He executed it on the night of May 2, when a dense fog chanced to -favour his daring and hazardous proceedings. Having first told off -some _tirailleurs_ to keep up a smart fire on the enemy’s trenches -and distract his attention, he sent four sappers, each provided with -a small powder-barrel, on to the bridge. The men, dressed in their -grey _capotes_, crawled on hands and knees, each rolling his barrel -(which was wrapped in cloth to deaden the sound) before him. They -kept in the shadow, and getting close under the parapet of the bridge -crept on till they reached the outermost Portuguese palisade. One -after another, at long intervals, each got forward unobserved, left -his barrel behind, and crawled back. The fourth sapper, starting to -his feet on his return journey, was observed by the Portuguese and -shot down, but Silveira’s men did not realize what he had been doing, -and merely took him for some daring explorer who was endeavouring -to spy out the state of the defences. After waiting for an hour, -Bouchard sent out a fifth sapper, who dragged behind him a ‘sausage’ -of powder thirty yards long, which he successfully connected with the -four barrels. All was now ready, and a battalion of picked grenadiers -from Delaborde’s division, filed silently down into the street near -the bridge-head: a whole brigade came behind them. - -At two o’clock Bouchard fired his sausage, and the explosion -followed. There were two chances of failure--one that the apparatus -for firing the mine might not be disturbed by the concussion, the -other that the shock might prove too strong, reach the mine, and -destroy the bridge. Neither of these fatalities took place: the -explosion duly broke the cord, shattered the nearest palisades, -but did not affect the mine. Before the smoke had cleared away -Delaborde’s grenadiers had dashed out on to the bridge, scrambled -over the barricades, and driven off the guard on the further -side. Regiment after regiment followed them, and charged up the -mountain-side towards Silveira’s batteries and entrenchments. None -of the Portuguese were under arms, save the few companies guarding -the debouches from the bridge. These were swept away, and the French -columns came storming into the bivouacs of the enemy before he was -well awake. Hardly half a dozen cannon shots were fired on them from -the batteries, and the greater part of the army of the Tras-os-Montes -fled without firing a shot. Silveira escaped almost naked by the back -window of the house above the bridge in which he had been sleeping. - -All the ten guns in the Portuguese batteries, five standards, and -several hundred prisoners fell into the hands of the victorious -French, who lost (it is said) no more than two killed and seven -wounded. Their good fortune had been extraordinary: without the -opportune fog which hid their advance, their preliminary operations -would probably have been discovered. If their explosion had done -a little more or a little less than was hoped, the bridge might -have been totally destroyed, or its barricades left practically -uninjured--either of which chances would have foiled Bouchard’s plan. -But the luck of the army of Portugal was still in the ascendant, and -all went exactly as had been intended. - -Thus the Tamega was passed, and Silveira decisively beaten: his -levies had fled in all directions, and Soult opined that it would -take a long time to rally them. The day after the fight Loison -was joined at Amarante by Heudelet’s division from Braga, which, -in obedience to the Marshal’s orders, had marched to join the -expeditionary force, leaving only a single battalion behind to hold -Viana. This was an unfortunate move, as on Heudelet’s departure the -_Ordenanza_ came down from the Serra de Santa Catalina, and overran -the district which had been evacuated, in spite of Lorges’ dragoons, -who had been directed to keep the roads clear after the infantry had -been withdrawn. - -Meanwhile there were far more troops at Amarante than were needed -for the pursuit of Silveira, so Soult called back to Oporto the -division of Delaborde, leaving to Loison the infantry of Heudelet -and Sarrut, with Lahoussaye’s two brigades of dragoons, a force of -about 7,000 men. He ordered his lieutenant to scour the country as -far as Villa Real, and to send reconnaissances on the roads toward -Chaves and Braganza, with the object of frightening the insurgents -to retreat as far as possible. But Loison was not to advance for -more than two days’ march into the Tras-os-Montes, for rumours were -beginning to arrive concerning the appearance of British troops in -the direction of Coimbra, and the Marshal wished to keep his various -divisions close enough to each other to enable them to concentrate -with ease. If there were any truth in the news from the south, it -would be dangerous to allow a force which formed a third of the -whole army of Portugal to go astray in the heart of the mountains -beyond the Tamega. Loison accordingly marched off on May 8 towards -Villa Real, which he occupied without meeting with resistance. He -learnt that Silveira and his regulars had crossed the Douro, and gone -off in the direction of Lamego; but Botilho had fled up the Tamega -towards Chaves, and the _Ordenanza_ were lurking in the hills. He -then returned to Amarante, where we may leave him, at the end of his -tether, while we describe the state of affairs in Oporto. - - - - -SECTION XIII: CHAPTER VI - -INTRIGUES AT OPORTO: THE CONSPIRACY OF ARGENTON - - -It will have occurred to every student of the operations of the army -of Portugal during the month of April, that it was strange that -Marshal Soult should have remained quiescent at Oporto, while the -fate of his entire campaign was at stake during the fighting on the -Tamega. His head quarters were only thirty miles from Amarante--but -one day’s ride for himself and his staff--yet he never paid a single -flying visit to the scene of operations, even after he had come to -the conclusion that Loison was mismanaging the whole business. He -sent his lieutenant many letters of reproach, forwarded to him guns -of position, and ample reinforcements, but never came himself to -the spot to urge on the advance, even when ten and twelve days had -elapsed since the first unsuccessful attempts to force the passage of -the Tamega. - -The explanation of this persistent refusal of the Marshal to quit -Oporto is to be found in the political not the military state of -affairs. At Chaves he had proclaimed himself Viceroy of Portugal: -his viceroyalty at that moment embraced only just so much soil as -was covered by the encampments of his battalions. But after the -capture of Oporto and the occupation of the neighbouring towns of -the Entre-Douro-e-Minho, his position assumed an air of reality, and -he himself allowed the duties of the viceroy to trespass on those of -the commander of the Second Corps d’Armée. Nay more, there is good -reason to believe that he was not merely dreaming of setting up a -stable government in northern Portugal, but of something else. The -evidence as to his intentions is hard to weigh, for most of it comes -from the letters and diaries of men who disliked him, but there are -certain facts which cannot be disguised, and the inference from them -is irresistible. - -With the example of Murat’s exaltation before them, the more -ambitious and capable of Napoleon’s marshals could not refrain from -dreaming of crowns and sceptres. Nothing seemed impossible in those -astounding days, when the Emperor was creating sovereigns and realms -by a stroke of the pen, whenever the notion seized him. The line -between an appanaged duke and a vassal prince was a very thin one--as -the case of Berthier shows. Junot had dreamed of royalty at Lisbon -in 1808, and there seems little doubt that the same mirage of a -crown floated before Soult’s eyes at Oporto in 1809. The city itself -suggested the idea: in the Treaty of Fontainebleau Napoleon had put -on paper the project for creating a ‘king of Northern Lusitania,’ -with Oporto as his capital and the Entre-Douro-e-Minho as his realm. -Soult was cautious and wary, but he was also greedy and ambitious. -If, on the one hand, he had a wholesome fear of his master, he had -on the other good reasons for believing that it might be possible to -force his hand by presenting him with a _fait accompli_. - -There was in the city the nucleus of a party which was not wholly -indisposed to submit to the French domination. It was mainly composed -of those enemies of the Bishop of Oporto who had been suffering from -his anarchical rule of the last two months. They were the friends -and relatives of those who had perished by the dagger or the rope, -during the mob-law which had prevailed ever since Dom Antonio -returned from Lisbon. To these may be added some men of purely -material interests, who saw that the insurrection was ruining them, -and a remnant of the old corrupt bureaucracy which had submitted once -before to Junot--whose only thought was to keep or gain profitable -posts under the government of the day, whatever that government might -be. The whole body of dissidents from the cause of patriotism and -independence was so small and weak, that it is impossible to believe -that they would have taken any overt action if they had not received -encouragement from Soult. - -This much is certain--that when the disorders which accompanied the -capture of Oporto were ended, Soult showed himself most anxious to -conciliate the Portuguese, not only by introducing a regular and -orderly government, but by going out of his way to soothe and flatter -any notable who lingered in the city. In his anxiety to win over -the clergy he caused new silver vessels and candelabra to be made -to replace those which had been stolen from the churches in the -sack[320]. He filled up all civil appointments, whose holders had -fled, from the small number of persons who were ready to adhere to -the French. He again, as already at Chaves, endeavoured to enlist -a native military force, by putting tempting offers before those -officers of the regular army who had been made prisoners. All this -might have had no other cause than the wish to build up a party -of _Afrancesados_, such as already existed in Spain, and Soult -openly declared that such was his object[321]. This was the only -purpose that he avowed in his dispatches to the Emperor, and in his -communications with his colleagues. - - [320] See Le Noble (Soult’s partisan and official vindicator), p. - 207, and Fantin des Odoards, p. 227. - - [321] See his conversation with his aide-de-camp, St. Chamans, - in the latter’s _Mémoires_, p. 139. The Marshal said that he was - in a hazardous military position and that ‘je ne puis m’en tirer - qu’en divisant les Portugais entre eux, et j’emploie pour cela le - meilleur moyen politique qui soit en mon pouvoir.’ Compare Fantin - des Odoards, p. 227. - -But if the Marshal had no ulterior object in view, it is singular -that all his native partisans concurred in setting on foot a movement -for getting him saluted as king of northern Portugal. The new -municipal authorities, whom he had established in the half-deserted -towns occupied by his troops, sent in petitions begging him to assume -the position of sovereign. Documents of this kind came in from Braga, -Barcelos, Guimaraens, Feira, Oliveira and Villa de Conde. In Oporto -proclamations were posted on the walls declaring that ‘the Prince -Regent by his departure to Brazil had formally resigned his crown, -and that the only salvation for Portugal would be that the Duke of -Dalmatia, the most distinguished of the pupils of the great Napoleon, -should ascend the vacant throne[322].’ A priest named Veloso and -other persons went about in the street delivering harangues in favour -of the creation of the ‘kingdom of Northern Lusitania.’ A register -was opened in the municipal buildings to be signed by all persons -who wished to join in the petition to the Marshal to assume the -regal title, and a certain number of signatures were collected. A -newspaper, called the _Diario do Porto_, was started, to support -the movement, and ran for about a month. It is said that Soult’s -partisans even succeeded in gathering small crowds together, before -the mansion where his head quarters were established, to shout -_Viva o Rei Nicolao!_ and that the acclamations were acknowledged -by showers of copper coins thrown from the windows[323]. The latter -part of this story is no doubt an invention of Soult’s enemies, but -it was believed at the time by the majority of the French officers, -and ‘_Le Roi Nicolas_’ was for the future his nickname in the army -of Portugal[324]. On April 19 the Marshal ordered his chief of the -staff, General Ricard, to issue a circular letter to the generals -of divisions and brigades[325], inviting their co-operation in the -movement, and assuring them that no disloyalty to the Emperor would -be involved even if the Marshal assumed regal powers[326]. This -document is the most convincing piece of evidence that exists as to -Soult’s intentions. In it there is no attempt made to conceal the -movement that had been set on foot: the writer’s only preoccupation -is to show that it was not directed against Napoleon. When, five -months later, Ricard’s circular came under the Emperor’s eye, it -roused his wrath to such a pitch that he wrote in the most stinging -and sarcastic terms to Soult. ‘He is astounded,’ he says, ‘to find -the chief of the staff suggesting to the generals that the Marshal -should be requested to take up the reins of government, and assume -the attributes of supreme authority. If he had assumed sovereign -power on his own responsibility, it would have been a crime, clear -_lèse-majesté_, an attack on the imperial authority. How could a -man of sense, like Soult, suppose that his master would permit him -to exercise any power that had not been delegated to him? No wonder -that the army grew discontented, and that rumours got about that the -Marshal was working for himself, not for the Emperor or France. After -receiving this circular, it is doubtful whether any French officer -would not have been fully justified in refusing to obey any further -orders issued from Oporto[327].’ - - [322] Fantin des Odoards, writing at Oporto under the date May 5, - says that he had just read this proclamation on the walls, and - was astounded at it, for the great bulk of the population was so - hostile that the project seemed absolutely insane. - - [323] St. Chamans, aide-de-camp to Soult, speaks of the crowds - assembled by Veloso and others (p. 134): Bigarré says that - General Ricard threw money to the crowd for seven days running - from the Marshal’s balcony, and then stopped because the harvest - of _vivas_ was not large enough (p. 245). - - [324] See Fantin des Odoards, p. 229, and Jourdan, p. 218. - - [325] This strange document will be found printed in the Appendix. - - [326] See Chamans, pp. 134 and 140. He ends with observing that - Soult ‘aurait voulu se faire demander pour roi de Portugal par - les habitants, qu’alors, le premier pas fait, il aurait sollicité - les suffrages de l’armée, ils auraient été consignés sur des - registres pour chaque corps, et il aurait mis toutes ces pièces - sous les yeux de l’Empereur, en lui demandant son approbation.’ - - [327] Napoleon to Soult from Schönbrunn, Sept. 26, _Nap. - Corresp._, 15,871. - -This was written from Vienna, before the Emperor had received any -full and exact account of the details of Soult’s intrigues. Had he -but known them all, it is doubtful if he would have granted his -lieutenant the complete pardon and restoration to favour with which -his dispatch concludes[328]. - - [328] Napier’s conclusions as to Soult’s conduct are wholly - warped by his strong predilection for the Marshal--which dated - back to the time when the latter dealt kindly with his wounded - brother on the day after Corunna. He understates Soult’s - encouragement of the movement, and will have us believe that - it was purely the work of the Portuguese. He omits all mention - of Ricard’s circular, and finally suppresses all mention of - Napoleon’s angry upbraidings except the following (ii. p. 75): - ‘The Emperor wrote to Soult that the rumour had reached him, - adding, with a delicate allusion to the Marshal’s previous - services, “I remember nothing but Austerlitz.”’ Now it was not - a _rumour_ which had reached Schönbrunn, but a copy of Ricard’s - circular, which the Emperor quotes _verbatim_. Therefore Napoleon - was writing with tangible evidence, not with camp reports, - to guide him. How far Napier’s sentence above gives a fair - impression of the tone of the dispatch which I have reproduced, - I leave the reader to judge. It was a surprise to myself when I - put the two together. Once and for all, it must be remembered - that Napier can never be trusted when Soult is in question--the - Marshal’s intrigues, his greed, his shameful plundering of - Andalusian churches, are all concealed. - -There can be no doubt that the Duke of Dalmatia might have put a -stop to all the activity of his Portuguese friends by merely raising -his hand. It would have sufficed for him to assure the deputations -which visited him that his duty as the lieutenant of the Emperor -forbade him to listen to their proposals. He could have caused -the proclamations to be torn down, and have silenced the street -orators. ‘They could not have made him king against his own will,’ -as one of his officers remarked[329]. But no action of the kind -was taken; and the movement was openly encouraged. The Marshal’s -explanation, that he was only taking the best means in his power to -build up a French party in Oporto, will not stand examination. Why -should the scheme involve his own promotion to the throne, if his -views were disinterested, and his actions merely intended to serve -his master’s ends? Is it conceivable that the Portuguese should, of -their own accord, and without any suggestion from without, have hit -upon the idea of crowning a conqueror whose very name was strange -to them three weeks before, and whose hands were red with the blood -of thousands of their fellow countrymen? Clever and cautious though -the Marshal was, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that he -had for once allowed his ambition to take the bit between its teeth, -and to whirl him off into an enterprise that was worthy of the most -hair-brained of adventurers. - - [329] Fantin des Odoards, p. 220. - -Meanwhile the consequences of his intrigue were strange and various. -The army received the news of what was going on at Oporto with -puzzled surprise. Of those who were not present at the centre of -affairs, some refused to believe the stories that reached them, and -merely observed that the Marshal was not such a fool as to take in -hand a plan that was both treasonable to his master and preposterous -in itself[330]. Others, particularly his personal enemies, not only -credited the information but began to concert measures for resisting -him if he should try to carry out his scheme. This party was very -strong among the officers of Junot’s old army of Portugal, who had -been transferred in large numbers to the 2nd Corps. They disliked the -expedition, had been prophesying disaster from the first, and had -criticized every move of the Marshal. Now they found in the news of -his intrigue another excuse for running counter to his orders. There -is good reason for believing that Loison and Delaborde had actually -conferred on the necessity for seizing and imprisoning the Marshal -if he should take the final step and allow himself to be proclaimed -king. Both these generals were faithful adherents of Napoleon, -and had no thought save that of serving their master. But there -were other officers who watched the progress of affairs with very -different eyes. - - [330] So writes Naylies, of Lahoussaye’s dragoons, who, being - absent at Amarante and elsewhere, never saw the doings in Oporto: - ‘Il s’est répandu dans l’armée qu’il aspirait à la souveraineté - du pays: on en conçut d’abord quelques inquiétudes, qui furent - bientôt dissipées’ (p. 119). - -There had existed in the French army from the day when the empire was -first proclaimed, a party of malcontents who still regarded Bonaparte -as a usurper, and were only biding their time till it might be safe -to deal a blow at him. Hitherto his career had been so uniformly -successful that no opportunity had arisen. But secret societies, of -which the _Philadelphes_ was the best known, were at work all through -the years of the Emperor’s reign: their one object was to be ready -for a _coup d’état_ when the favourable moment should arrive. The -history of these associations is so obscure that it is impossible to -estimate their strength at any given time--no trustworthy historian -ever arose from their ranks to tell the story of their schemes, when -lips were unsealed by the fall of Napoleon[331]. It is only by the -sudden appearance of phenomena like Malet’s conspiracy of 1812, and -the plot which we are now about to describe, that the reality of the -existence of these secret societies is proved. - - [331] Charles Nodier’s _Histoire des conspirations militaires - sous l’Empire_ is unfortunately quite untrustworthy. He was - never among the _Philadelphes_, and writes as a credulous and - ill-informed outsider. Nevertheless there is a basis of fact - underlying his work. - -In the army of Portugal there was a group of officers who belonged to -the band of the discontented, and were perfectly prepared to execute -a _pronunciamiento_ against the empire if the times and circumstances -proved propitious. We know the names of four[332]: Donadieu, colonel -of the 47th of the line; Lafitte, colonel of the 18th Dragoons; his -brother, a captain in the same regiment, who was serving on Soult’s -staff; and Argenton, another captain, who was adjutant of Lafitte’s -regiment; two other plotters are hidden under the assumed names of -‘Dupont’ and ‘Garis,’ by which they were introduced to Wellesley. -There were _certainly_ other officers implicated, for it is -inconceivable that six men could have planned an insurrection unless -they were sure of a certain measure of support. At this moment they -were carrying on an active propaganda of discontent, especially among -the officers of Delaborde’s division and of Lahoussaye’s dragoons. -There were many men who saw the full iniquity of the Spanish War, -and were disgusted at finding themselves involved in it[333]. Others -loathed the hanging and burning, the shooting of priests and women, -the riding down of half-armed peasants, which had been their lot for -the last two months. Still more were simply discontented at being -lost in a remote corner of Europe, where glory and profit were both -absent, and where ignominious death at the hands of the lurking -‘sniper’ or the midnight assassin came all too frequently--sometimes -death accompanied by torture. It was three months since the army had -received a mail from France; they might as well have been in Egypt -or America, and they felt themselves forgotten by their master. In -many a mind the question arose whether the game was worth playing: -must they for ever persist in this wretched interminable campaign, in -order that the Duke of Dalmatia might become a king, or even in order -that the Emperor might be able to apply the Continental System in its -full rigour to this land of brutish peasants and fanatical monks? A -speedy return to France seemed the one thing desirable. - - [332] The names of Argenton, Lafitte, and Donadieu are public - property. Napier gives them, as does Bigarré. The names of - ‘Dupont’ and ‘Garis’ are in suppressed paragraphs of the - _Wellington Dispatches_ which Gurwood chose to omit, and are also - found in the minutes of Argenton’s trial at Paris. - - [333] The reader may trace this feeling in Foy’s diaries, and - Naylies (p. 67). - -It is easy to understand that the conspirators found many -sympathizers, so long as they confined themselves to setting forth -the miseries of the campaign, and to criticizing the Marshal and the -Emperor. But they erred when they took a general readiness to grumble -for a sign that the army was ripe for revolt. However discontented -the officers might be, there were very few of them who were prepared -to engage in the game of high treason. The vast majority were still -unable to dissociate the idea of the Emperor from the idea of -France. It was only a few who could rise (or sink) to the conception -of turning their arms against Bonaparte in order to free France -from autocracy. This bore too close a resemblance to treachery to -be palatable to men of honour. None save exalted Jacobins, or men -of overweening ambition and few scruples, could contemplate the -idea with patience. When we find that the plans of the conspirators -included not merely a _pronunciamiento_, but the conclusion of a -secret pact with the enemies in arms against them, we are driven to -conclude that they belonged to the last-named of these classes--that -their heads were turned with the grandiose notion of getting an army -into their power and changing the fate of Europe. - -The conspirators, observing the course of affairs at Oporto, were -fully convinced that Soult would within a few days declare himself -‘King of Northern Lusitania.’ This act would produce an outburst of -wrath in the army, and they hoped to turn the inevitable mutiny to -their own profit. They intended to seize the Marshal, and then to -make an appeal to the soldiery, not in the name of Napoleon but in -that of France. They were also prepared to lay hands on any general -who might attempt to assume command of the troops in the Emperor’s -interest[334]. Donadieu and Lafitte had secured some of the officers -of their own regiments, and believed that the men would follow them. -The other corps, as they hoped, would be drawn away after them, and -the cry of liberty and the promise of an instant return to France -would lure the whole army into rebellion. So far the plot, though -rash and hazardous, might conceivably have been carried out. But -their next step was to be the issue of an appeal to Ney’s divisions -and the other French troops in northern Spain to join them, and -march upon the Pyrenees. Even though there were members of the -secret societies scattered all through the army, it seems absolutely -impossible to believe that they could have carried away with them -into open revolt the whole of their companions. The movement of -protest against Napoleon would have begun and ended with the 2nd -Corps, if even it got so far as the initial _pronunciamiento_[335]. -To be effective it would have required a strong backing in France, -and the list of the leaders in that country, on whom the conspirators -said that they relied for aid, does not give us a high opinion of -the strength and organization of the plot. The persons named were -the old Jacobin general Lecourbe, Macdonald who--though they did not -know it--had just been taken back into favour by the Emperor, and -Dupont, who was in prison and incapable for the moment of helping -himself or any one else[336]. They also spoke of sending for Moreau -from America, and placing him at the head of the whole movement. -But it is clear that they were not in actual communication with the -generals in France, much less with the exiled victor of Hohenlinden. -The whole plan was ill-considered; it was the result of the intense -irritation against Soult and Bonaparte felt by the officers of the -army of Portugal, acting upon the disordered ambition of a knot -of intriguers. Anger and vain self-confidence blinded them to the -inadequacy of their resources. - - [334] Napier and Le Noble both hint that Loison was in the - plot, and perhaps Delaborde, though they do not actually name - these officers. But I think that their innocence is proved by - Argenton’s declaration to Wellesley (Wellesley to Castlereagh, - May 7, Record Office), that Loison was attached to Bonaparte, and - would certainly seize Soult if he proclaimed himself king for - ‘ambitious abuse of his authority and disobedience to his master.’ - - [335] This, at the time, was Wellesley’s eminently sensible - conclusion. He wrote to Castlereagh on April 27, ‘I doubt whether - it will be quite so easy as their emissary thinks to carry their - intentions into execution: I also doubt whether it follows that - the successful revolt of this one corps would be followed by - that of others, and I am convinced that the method proposed - by M. D’Argenton would not answer that purpose.’ _Wellington - Dispatches_, iv. 276. - - [336] These are the names omitted in the printed version of the - _Wellington Dispatches_: that of Moreau does not occur there, but - is to be found in the confession which Argenton made to Soult: - see Le Noble, p. 236. - -It was a main condition of the projected outbreak that Soult’s -position should be made impossible: the most favourable course of -events, so the conspirators held, would be that he should persist -in his monarchical ambitions and proclaim himself king. When he did -so, the party loyal to Bonaparte among his officers would make an -attempt--successful or unsuccessful--to seize his person. Chaos and -civil strife within the army would result, and it was then that the -conspirators intended to show their hand. It would seem that their -Machiavellian foresight went so far that they proposed to wait till -the Marshal should be imprisoned, or should find himself involved -in hostilities with the Bonapartists, and then offer him the aid of -their regiments, on condition that he should put himself at the head -of the anti-imperialist movement. All this was too ingenious for -practical work. But the next development of the plot was even more -astonishing in its futile cunning. - -The conspirators wished to draw the English commander at Lisbon into -their scheme--it was Cradock whom they had in view, for Wellesley -was in England when the plot began, and when it developed he had -landed indeed, but his arrival was not known. The part which they had -allotted to Cradock was twofold--he was to be asked to send secret -advice to the Portuguese notables of the north, ordering them to -feign an enthusiastic approval of Soult’s designs on the crown, and -to join with all possible clamour in the demonstrations at Oporto. -When this unexpected outburst of devotion to his person should be -forthcoming, they supposed that the Marshal would not hesitate any -longer to assume the crown. Then would follow civil strife and the -desired opportunity for intervention by the conspirators. The second -request which they intended to make was that Cradock should bring -up the British army to the front, and place it so as to make it -dangerous or impossible for Soult to force his way out of Portugal in -the direction of the middle Douro and Salamanca. They suggested Villa -Real in the Tras-os-Montes as a suitable position for him. Their -idea in making this proposal was that the army would be filled with -despair at seeing its best line of retreat cut off (that by Galicia -was growing to be considered impossible), and would therefore be more -incensed against Soult, and at the same time more inclined to secure -safety by coming to a pact and agreement with the enemy[337]. - - [337] It must be remembered that the whole plot was far advanced, - and that Argenton had placed himself in treasonable communication - with the British, before Wellesley landed. Sir Arthur came ashore - on the night of April 22. On the morning of the twenty-fifth, - he received a visit from Beresford, who came down from Coimbra - to tell him that a French officer, bearing the message of the - conspirators, had come within the Portuguese lines on the Vouga - on the twenty-first. Argenton arrived at Lisbon the same night, - and had his first interview with the new commander-in-chief, - whom he found in charge of the British army, and not (as he had - expected) Sir John Cradock. The three requests made were (1) - that Wellesley would ‘press upon Soult’s Corps’--the seizure of - Villa Real being suggested, (2) that he would give passports to - Argenton and two others to go to France, (3) that he would stir - up the Portuguese to flatter and deceive Soult into taking overt - steps of treason. Cf. _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 274 [Lisbon, - April 27] and 308 [Coimbra, May 7]. - -The officer who volunteered for the dangerous task of going within -the English lines was Captain Argenton, the adjutant of Lafitte’s -regiment of dragoons. He was a vain, ready, plausible man, full of -resources but destitute of firmness: his character is sufficiently -shown by the fact that he ultimately wrecked the plot by his -indiscretion in tampering with loyal Bonapartists, who delated him, -and that when seized he betrayed the whole scheme to Soult in the -hope of saving his life. Clearly he was deficient both in the caution -and in the stoic courage required for a conspirator--successful or -unsuccessful. - -We must note that he started from the camp of Lahoussaye’s dragoons, -near Amarante, on April 19, that he reached the French outposts on -the Vouga and got into communication with Major Douglas, one of -Beresford’s officers in the Portuguese service, on the twenty-first, -finally, that at the invitation of Douglas and Beresford he came -into Lisbon and reached that city on the twenty-fifth, just in time -to meet the newly-landed Wellesley. The plot meanwhile stood still -in his absence, for the Duke of Dalmatia did not take the overt step -which would have given the plotters their opportunity--he refrained -from accepting the crown which his Portuguese partisans were so -continually pressing him to assume. Nothing decisive had occurred, -when the situation was suddenly changed by the appearance of the -British army upon the offensive on May 7[338]. - - [338] It is to these days, and probably to some date about May - 4-7, that belongs General Bigarré’s curious story about the - conspirators (see his _Mémoires_, p. 235, and Le Noble, p. 238; - the latter printed the story in 1821 without names, the former’s - version was only given to the light a few years ago; they agree - in every point). The story is too good to be omitted. Bigarré - says that, walking the quay of Oporto on a moonlight night, - he came on Lafitte and Donadieu, muffled in their cloaks and - vehemently discussing something in a dark corner. He stole up - to them unnoticed, slapped his friend Donadieu on the back, and - suddenly shouted in their ears ‘_Ah! je vous y prends, Messieurs - les conspirateurs_.’ Lafitte whipped out a pistol, and had nearly - shot the practical joker, before Donadieu could reassure him that - this was only a boisterous piece of fun and that Bigarré knew - nothing. It was not till much later that the latter found out - what had been brewing. - - -N.B.--For some documents bearing on Argenton’s conspiracy see -Appendix at the end of this volume. - - - - -SECTION XIV - -WELLESLEY’S CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN PORTUGAL - -(MAY 1809) - - - - -CHAPTER I - -SIR ARTHUR WELLESLEY - - -On Nov. 25, 1808, Sir John Moore, in answer to a question from Lord -Castlereagh, wrote the following conclusions as to the practicability -of defending Portugal[339]: - - [339] In common fairness to Moore, it is necessary to quote - Wellesley’s own words on their fundamental difference of opinion - as to the possibility of defending Portugal. ‘I have as much - respect as any man can have for the opinion and judgement of Sir - J. Moore, and I should mistrust my own (if opposed to his) in - a case where he had an opportunity of knowing and considering. - But he positively knew nothing of Portugal, and _could_ know - nothing of its existing state.’ Yet he says that ‘The greatest - disadvantage under which I labour is that Sir John Moore gave an - opinion that the country could not be defended by the army under - his command.’ Wellington to Lord Liverpool, from Vizeu, April 2, - 1810. - -‘I can say generally that the frontier of Portugal is not defensible -against a superior force. It is an open frontier, all equally rugged, -but all equally to be penetrated. If the French succeed in Spain it -will be vain to attempt to resist them in Portugal. The Portuguese -are without a military force ... no dependence can be placed on any -aid that they can give. The British must in that event, I conceive, -immediately take steps to evacuate the country. Lisbon is the only -port, and therefore the only place from whence the army, with its -stores, can embark.... We might check the progress of the enemy while -the stores are embarking, and arrangements are being made for taking -off the army. Beyond this the defence of Lisbon or of Portugal should -not be thought of.’ - -Four months later, on March 7, 1809, Sir Arthur Wellesley answered -the same question, put to him by the same minister, in very different -terms. - -‘I have always been of opinion that Portugal might be defended, -whatever might be the result of the contest in Spain, and that in -the meantime measures adopted for the defence of Portugal would be -highly useful to the Spaniards in their contest with the French. My -notion was that the Portuguese military establishment ought to be -revived, and that in addition to those troops His Majesty ought to -employ about 20,000 British troops, including about 4,000 cavalry. -My opinion was that, even if Spain should have been conquered, the -French would not be able to overrun Portugal with a smaller force -than 100,000 men. As long as the contest may continue in Spain, this -force [the 20,000 British troops], if it could be placed in a state -of activity, would be highly useful to the Spaniards, and might -eventually decide the contest.’ - -Between these two divergent views as to the practicability of -defending Portugal, Lord Castlereagh had to make his decision. On -it--though he could not be aware of the fact--depended the future -of Britain and of Bonaparte. He carefully considered the situation; -after the disasters of the Corunna retreat it required some moral -courage for a minister to advise the sending of another British -army to the Peninsula. Moore’s gloomy prognostications were echoed -by many military experts, and there were leading men--soldiers and -politicians--who declared that the only thing that now remained to -be done was to withdraw Cradock’s 10,000 sabres and bayonets from -Lisbon, before the French came near enough to that city to make their -embarkation difficult. - -Castlereagh resolved to stake his faith on the correctness of -Wellesley’s conclusions: all through these years of contest he had -made him his most trusted adviser on things military, and now he did -not swerve from his confidence. He announced to him, privately in the -end of March, and officially on April 2[340], that the experiment of -a second expedition to Portugal should be tried, and that he himself -should have the conduct of it. Reinforcements should at once be sent -out to bring the British army at Lisbon up to a total of 30,000 -men--the number to which Wellesley, on consideration, raised the -original 20,000 of which he had spoken. Beresford had already sailed, -with orders to do all that he could for the reorganization of the -disorderly native forces of Portugal. The few regiments in England -that were ready for instant embarkation were sent off ere March -ended, and began to arrive at Lisbon early in April[341]. Others were -rapidly prepared for foreign service; but it was a misfortune that -the Corunna battalions were still too sickly and depleted to be able -to sail, so that troops who had seen nothing of the first campaign -had to be sent out. The majority of them were ‘second battalions’ -from the home establishment[342], many of them very weak in numbers -and full of young soldiers, as they had been drained in the previous -year to fill their first battalions up to full strength. Finally, -just behind the first convoys of reinforcements, Wellesley himself -set sail from Portsmouth, after resigning his position as Under -Secretary for Ireland, which, by a curious anomaly, he had continued -to hold all through the campaign of Vimiero, and the proceedings of -inquiry concerning the Convention of Cintra. He sailed upon April -14, in the _Surveillante_ frigate, had the narrowest of escapes -from shipwreck on the Isle of Wight during the first night of his -voyage, but soon obtained favourable winds and reached Lisbon on the -twenty-second, after a rapid passage of less than eight days. Just -before he started there had been received from Portugal not only -the correct intelligence that Soult had stormed Oporto upon March -29, but a false rumour that Victor had been joined by the corps of -Sebastiani[343] and had after his victory at Medellin laid siege to -Badajoz[344]. If this had been true, the Duke of Belluno would have -been strong enough to move against Portugal with 25,000 men, after -detaching a competent force to watch the wrecks of Cuesta’s army. -Fortunately the whole story was an invention: but it kept Wellesley -in a state of feverish anxiety till he reached Lisbon. His fears are -shown by the fact that he drew up a memorandum for Lord Castlereagh, -setting forth the supposed situation, and asking what he was to do -on arriving, if he should find that Cradock had already embarked his -troops and quitted Portugal[345]. The Secretary of State, equally -harrassed by the false intelligence, replied that he was to make an -effort to induce the Spaniards to let him land the army at Cadiz, -and, if they should refuse, might reinforce the garrison of Gibraltar -to 8,000 men, and bring the rest of the expeditionary force back to -England[346]. - - [340] The official notice is dated April 2 (_Wellington - Supplementary Dispatches_, vi. p. 210), but several letters dated - late in March show that the matter had been already settled. - - [341] The troops from the abortive expedition to Cadiz, under - Mackenzie, Sherbrooke and Tilson, turned up about the middle of - March at Lisbon. But Hill, with the first body of the second - batch of reinforcements, only appeared upon April 5. - - [342] Of the first ten battalions to appear, seven were 2nd - battalions--those of the 7th, 30th, 48th, 53rd, 66th, 83rd, 87th - regiments. Some were very weak, with less than 750 bayonets, e.g. - the 7th (628 men), 30th (698 men), 66th (740 men). - - [343] This came from Beresford at Lisbon (see _Wellington - Supplementary Dispatches_, vi. p. 219). - - [344] Wellesley to the Duke of Richmond, April 14 (_Supplementary - Dispatches_, vi. 227). - - [345] _Wellington Supplementary Dispatches_, vi. 221-2. It - is very creditable to Sir Arthur that, adverting to another - possibility, viz. that Cradock may have plucked up courage to go - out against the French, and have successfully beaten them off, he - declares that ‘he could not reconcile it with his feelings’ to - supersede a successful general. He remembered his own state of - mind when supplanted by Burrard on the day of Vimiero. - - [346] Castlereagh to Wellesley, _Supplementary Dispatches_, vi. - 222 and 228. - -It was therefore an immense relief to Wellesley to find, when he -landed, that the news from Estremadura was false, that Victor had -not been reinforced, and that the 1st Corps was lying quiescent at -Merida. Soult was still at Oporto, Cradock had not been molested, and -the French invasion was at a standstill. - -It is comparatively seldom that the historian is able to compare in -detail a general’s original conception of a plan of campaign with the -actual scheme which he carried out. Still less common is it to find -that the commander has placed on record his ideas as to the general -policy to be pursued during a war, before he has assumed charge of -his army or issued his first orders. It is therefore most fortunate -that we have three documents from Wellesley’s hand, written early -in 1809, which enable us to understand the principles on which he -believed that the Peninsular War should be fought out. These are -his _Memorandum on the Defence of Portugal_, which we have already -had occasion to quote, and the two dispatches to Lord Castlereagh -and to Mr. Frere which he wrote immediately after his arrival in -Lisbon. The first gives us his general view of the war. He believed -that an English army of 20,000 or 30,000 men, backed by the levies -of Portugal, would be able to maintain itself on the flank of the -French army in Spain. Its presence there would paralyse all the -offensive actions of the enemy, and enable the Spaniards to make -head against the invaders as long as Portugal remained unsubdued. -The news that a British army had once more taken the field would, -he considered, induce the French to turn their main efforts against -Portugal[347], but he believed that considering the geography of the -country, the character of its people, and the quality of the British -troops, they would fail in their attempt to overrun it. They could -not succeed, as he supposed, unless they could set aside 100,000 -men for the task, and he did not see how they would ever be able -to spare such a large detachment out of the total force which they -then possessed in the Peninsula--a force whose numerical strength -(in common with all British statesmen and soldiers of the day) he -somewhat underrated. Being in the secrets of the Ministry, he was -already aware in March that a new war in Germany was about to break -out within the next few months. When Austria took the field, Napoleon -would not be able to spare a single battalion of reinforcements for -Spain. If the Spaniards pursued a reasonable military policy, and -occupied the attention of the main armies of the French, the enemy -would never be able to detach a force of 100,000 for the invasion of -Portugal. He would underrate the numbers required, make his attempt -with insufficient resources, and be beaten. When Wellesley landed at -Lisbon, and found that Soult had halted at Oporto, that Victor lay -quiescent at Merida, and that Lapisse with the troops from Salamanca -had gone southward to join the 1st Corps, and so severed the only -link which bound together the army in Northern Portugal and the army -in Estremadura, he was reassured as to the whole situation. Soult and -Victor, isolated as they now were, would each be too weak to beat the -Anglo-Portuguese army. They were too far apart to make co-operation -between them possible, considering the geography of Central Portugal, -and the fact that the whole country behind each was in a state of -insurrection[348]. - - [347] Memorandum of March 7, ‘As soon as the newspapers shall - have announced the departure of officers for Portugal, the French - armies in Spain will receive orders to make their movements - towards Portugal, so as to anticipate our measures for its - defence,’ &c. - - [348] It is noteworthy that Wellesley, when he was placed in - communication with Argenton three days later, considered that - one of the few useful facts which he had got from the plotter - was that Soult and his army had no knowledge of where Victor - might be, or of what he was doing. This was a far more precious - piece of information than any details as to the conspiracy, which - Wellesley regarded from the first as doomed to failure: see - _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 274. - -But ‘the best defensive is a vigorous local offensive,’ and Wellesley -saw the advantage of the central position of the British army upon -the Tagus. A few marches would place it at a point from which it -could fall either upon Victor to the right or Soult to the left, -before either marshal could be in a position to lend help to his -colleague, probably long before he would even be aware that his -colleague was in danger. Wellesley could strike at the one or the -other, with almost perfect certainty of catching him unreinforced. -Ney, it was true, lay behind Soult, but he was known to be entangled -in the trammels of the vigorous Galician insurrection. Victor had -Sebastiani in his rear, but the 4th Corps was having occupation -found for it by the Spanish army of La Mancha. It was improbable -that either Soult or Victor, if suddenly attacked, could call up any -appreciable reinforcements. Victor, moreover, had Cuesta to observe, -and could not move off leaving 20,000 Spaniards behind him. Soult -was known to be distracted by Silveira’s operations on the Tamega. -Wellesley, therefore, saw that it was well within his power to strike -at either of the marshals. He would, of course, be obliged to place -a ‘containing force’ in front of the one whom he resolved to leave -alone for the present. But this detachment need not be very large, -and might be composed for the most part of Portuguese troops: its -duty would be to distract, but not to fight the enemy. - -On the whole Wellesley thought it would be best to make the first -onslaught on Soult. ‘I should prefer an attack on Victor,’ he wrote, -two days after landing, ‘in concert with Cuesta, if Soult were not -in possession of a fertile province of this kingdom, and of the -favourite town of Oporto, of which it is most desirable to deprive -him. Any operation upon Victor, connected with Cuesta’s movements, -would require time to concert, which may as well be employed in -dislodging Soult from the north of Portugal, before bringing the -British army to the eastern frontier[349].... I intend to move -upon Soult, as soon as I can make some arrangement, on which I can -depend, for the defence of the Tagus, to impede or delay Victor’s -progress, in case he should come on while I am absent.’ ‘I think it -probable,’ he wrote on the same day but in another letter, ‘that -Soult will not remain in Portugal when I pass the Mondego: if he -does, I shall attack him. If he should retire, I am convinced that it -would be most advantageous for the common cause that we should remain -on the defensive in the North of Portugal, and act vigorously in -co-operation with Cuesta against Victor[350].’ - - [349] Wellesley to Castlereagh, from Lisbon, April 24. I have - ventured to substitute ‘before bringing’ in the last sentence for - the unmeaning ‘and to bring’ which is clearly a _lapsus calami_. - - [350] Wellesley (to Mr. Frere, at Seville) from Lisbon, April - 24. In many sentences this dispatch is only a repetition of that - to Castlereagh. But in others Sir Arthur makes his meaning more - clear, by a more detailed explanation. - -Further forward it was impossible to look: a blow at Soult, followed -by another at Victor, was all that could at present be contemplated. -Wellesley was directed, by the formal instructions which he had -received from Castlereagh, to do all that was possible to clear -Portugal and the frontier provinces of Spain from the enemy, but -not to strike deep into the Peninsula till he should have received -permission from home to do so. Nevertheless he had devoted some -thought to the remoter possibilities of the situation. If Portugal -were preserved, and Soult and Victor beaten off, more ambitious -combinations might become possible. He expressed his conviction that -the French occupation of Spain would only be endangered when a very -large force, acting in unison under the guidance of a single mind, -should be brought together. The co-operation of the English army and -that of Cuesta ‘might be the groundwork of further measures of the -same and a more extended description[351].’ He was under no delusions -as to the easiness of the task before him: he did not hurry on in -thought, to dream of the expulsion of the French from the Peninsula -as a goal already in sight. But he believed that he and his army -‘might be highly useful to the Spaniards and might eventually decide -the contest[352].’ - - [351] Wellesley to Frere, Lisbon, April 24, 1809. - - [352] _Memorandum on the Defence of Portugal_, of March 7. - -It is the survey of documents such as these that enables us to -appreciate Wellesley at his best. He had gauged perfectly well the -situation and difficulties of the French. He saw exactly how much -was in his own power. The whole history of the Peninsular War for -the next two years is foreseen in his prophetic statement, that with -30,000 British troops and the Portuguese levies he would guarantee -to hold his own against any force of less than 100,000 French, and -that he did not think that the enemy would find it easy to collect -an army of that size to send against him. This is precisely what he -accomplished: for the first fifteen months after his arrival he held -with ease that frontier which Moore had described as ‘indefensible -against a superior force.’ When at last Napoleon, free from all -other continental troubles, launched against him an army under -Masséna, which almost reached the figure[353] that he had described -as irresistible in 1809, he showed in 1810-11 that he had built up -resources for himself which enabled him to beat off even that number -of enemies. Though four-fifths of Spain had been subdued, he held his -own, because he had grasped the fundamental truth that (to use his -own words) ‘the more ground the French hold down, the weaker will -they be at any given point.’ In short, he had fathomed the great -secret, that Napoleon’s military power--vast as it was--had its -limits: that the Emperor could not send to Spain a force sufficient -to hold down every province of a thoroughly disaffected country, -and also to provide (over and above the garrisons) a field army -large enough to beat the Anglo-Portuguese and capture Lisbon. If the -French dispersed their divisions, and kept down the vast tracts of -conquered territory, they had no force left with which to take the -offensive against Portugal: if they massed their armies, they had to -give up broad regions, which immediately relapsed into insurrection -and required to be subdued again. This was as true in the beginning -of the war as in the end. In 1809 the army that forced Wellesley -to retreat after Talavera was only produced by evacuating the -whole province of Galicia, which passed back into the hands of the -insurgents. In 1812, in a similar way, the overpowering force which -beat him back from Burgos, had been gathered only by surrendering to -the Spanish Government the whole of the four kingdoms of Andalusia. -On the other hand, during the long periods when the enemy had -dispersed himself, and was garrisoning the whole south and centre of -Spain, e.g. for the first six months of 1810, and for the last six -months of 1811, Wellesley held his own on the Portuguese frontier -in complete confidence, assured that no sufficient force could be -brought up against him, till the enemy either procured new troops -from France or gave up some great section of the regions which he was -holding down. A detailed insight into the future is impossible to -any general, however great, but already in April 1809 Wellesley had -grasped the main outlines of the war that was to be. - - [353] If to Masséna’s field army of 60,000 men we add the troops - on his communications (viz. the 9th Corps and the garrisons of - Rodrigo and Almeida) and also the force which Soult and Mortier - brought up against Badajoz and Elvas--a force against which - Wellesley had to provide, by making large detachments--the full - number of 100,000 is reached. - -Before passing on to the details of the campaign on the Douro, with -which Wellesley’s long series of victories began, it is well to -take a glance at the man himself, as he sat at his desk in Lisbon -dictating the orders that were to change the face of the war. - -Arthur Wellesley was now within a few days of completing his fortieth -year. He was a slight but wiry man of middle stature, with a long -face, an aquiline nose, and a keen but cold grey eye. Owning an iron -constitution on which no climate or season seemed to make the least -impression, he was physically fit for all the work that lay before -him--work more fatiguing than that which falls to most generals. For -in the Peninsula he was required, as it soon appeared, to be almost -as much of a statesman as of a general; while at the same time, owing -to the inexperience of the British officers of that day in warfare on -a large scale, he was obliged for some time to discharge for himself -many of the duties which properly fall to the lot of the chief of -the staff, the commissary-general, the paymaster-general, and the -quartermaster-general in a well organized army. No amount of toil, -bodily or mental, appeared too much for that active and alert mind, -or for the body which seven years of service in India seemed to have -tanned and hardened rather than to have relaxed. During the whole of -his Peninsular campaigns, from 1808 to 1814, he was never prostrated -by any serious ailment. Autumn rains, summer heat, the cold of -winter, had no power over him. He could put up with a very small -allowance of sleep, and when necessary could snatch useful moments of -repose, at any moment of the twenty-four hours when no pressing duty -chanced to be on hand. His manner of life was simple and austere in -the extreme; no commander-in-chief ever travelled with less baggage, -or could be content with more Spartan fare. Long after his wars were -over the habit of bleak frugality clung to him, and in his old age -men wondered at the bare and comfortless surroundings that he chose -for himself, and at the scanty meals that sustained his spare but -active frame. Officers who had long served in India were generally -supposed to contract habits of luxury and display, but Wellesley -was the exception that proved the rule. He hated show of any kind; -after the first few days of the campaign of 1809 he discarded the -escort which was wont to accompany the commander-in-chief. It was on -very rare occasions that he was seen in his full uniform: the army -knew him best in the plain blue frock coat, the small featherless -cocked hat, and the short cape, which have been handed down to us -in a hundred drawings. Not unfrequently he would ride about among -his cantonments dressed like a civilian in a round hat and grey -trousers[354]. He was as careless about the dress of his subordinates -as about his own, and there probably never existed an army in which -so little fuss was made about unessential trappings as that which -served in the Peninsula from 1809 to 1814[355]. Nothing could be less -showy than its head-quarters’ staff--a small group of blue-coated -officers, with an orderly dragoon or two, riding in the wake of the -dark cape and low glazed cocked hat of the most unpretentious of -chiefs. It contrasted in the strangest way with the plumes and gold -lace of the French marshals and their elaborately ornate staffs[356]. - - [354] See, for example, the anecdote in Sir G. L’Estrange’s - _Reminiscences_, p. 194. Picton was equally given to the use (or - abuse) of _mufti_, and fought Quatre Bras in a tall hat! - - [355] ‘Provided we brought our men into the field well appointed, - and with sixty good rounds in their pouches, he never looked to - see whether our trousers were black or blue or grey. Scarcely any - two officers dressed alike. Some wore grey braided coats, others - brown, some liked blue: many from choice or necessity stuck to - the “old red rag.” We were never tormented with that greatest of - _bores_ on active service, uniformity of dress.’ _Grattan’s With - the 88th_, p. 50. - - [356] To find a humorous contrast to Wellington’s staff, the - reader might consult Lejeune’s account of that of Berthier, who - had allowed him to design a special and gorgeous uniform, all - fur feathers and braid, for his aides-de-camp. Lejeune dwells - with the enthusiasm of a tailor on his efforts and their glorious - effect on parade [Lejeune, i. p. 95]. - -Considered as a man Wellesley had his defects and his limitations; -we shall have ere long to draw attention to some of them. But from -the intellectual point of view he commands our undivided admiration -as a practical soldier[357]. A careful study of his dispatches -leaves us in a state of wonder at the imbecility of the school -of writers--mostly continental--who have continued to assert for -the last eighty years that he was no more than a man of ordinary -abilities, who had an unfair share of good luck, and was presented -with a series of victories by the mistakes and jealousies of the -generals opposed to him. Such assertions are the results of blind -ignorance and prejudice. When found in English writers they merely -reflect the bitter hatred that was felt toward Wellesley by his -political opponents during the second and third decades of the -nineteenth century. In French military authors they only represent -the resentful carpings of the vanquished army, which preferred to -think that it was beaten by anything rather than by the ability of -the conqueror. In 1820 every retired colonel across the Channel -was ready to demonstrate that Toulouse was an English defeat, that -Talavera was a drawn battle, and that Wellesley was over-rash or -over-cautious, a fool or a coward, according as their thesis of the -moment might demand[358]. They were but echoing their Emperor’s -rancorous remark to Soult, on the hillside of La Belle Alliance, when -after telling the Marshal that he only thought his old adversary a -good general because he had been beaten by him, he added, ‘Et moi, je -vous dis que Wellington est un mauvais général, et que les Anglais -sont de mauvaises troupes[359].’ - - [357] Lord Roberts, in his _Rise of Wellington_, only slightly - overstates his case when he observes that the more we study - Wellesley’s life in detail, the more we respect him as a general - and the less we like him as a man. If we come upon much that is - hard and unsympathetic, there are too many redeeming traits to - justify the statement in its entirety. - - [358] The reader curious in such things may find as much as he - desires of this sort of stuff in Thiébault, Marbot, Le Noble and - Lemonnier Delafosse. - - [359] These phrases are preserved in the notes of Soult’s - aide-de-camp Baudus. - -Bonaparte consistently refused to do justice to the abilities of -the Duke. He regarded him as a bitter personal enemy, and his whole -attitude towards Wellesley was expressed in the scandalous legacy to -Cantillon[360] which disgraces his last will and testament. In strict -conformity with their master’s pose, his followers, literary and -military, have refused to see anything great in the victor of June -18, 1815. Even to the present day too many historians from the other -side of the straits continue to follow in the steps of Thiers, and to -express wonder at the inexplicable triumphs of the mediocre general -who routed in succession all the best marshals of France. - - [360] Cantillon was the assassin who fired on Wellington in Paris - on Sept. 10, 1818. - -To clear away any lingering doubts as to Wellesley’s extraordinary -ability, the student of history has only to read a few of his more -notable dispatches. The man who could write the two Memoranda to -Castlereagh dated September 5, 1808, and March 7, 1809[361], foresaw -the whole future of the Peninsular War. To know, at that early -stage of the struggle, that the Spaniards would be beaten when--and -wherever they offered battle, that the French, in spite of their -victories, would never be able to conquer and hold down the entire -country, that 30,000 British troops would be able to defend Portugal -against any force that could be collected against them, required the -mind of a soldier of the first class. When the earliest of those -memoranda was written, most Englishmen believed that the Spaniards -were about to deliver their country by their own arms: Wellesley saw -that the notion was vain and absurd. When, on the other hand, he -wrote the second, the idea was abroad that all was lost, that after -Corunna no second British army would be sent to the Peninsula, and -that Portugal was indefensible. Far from sharing these gloomy views -he asks for 30,000 men, and states that though Spain may be overrun, -though the Portuguese army may be in a state of hopeless disarray, -he yet hopes with this handful of men to maintain the struggle, and -eventually to decide the contest. How many generals has the world -seen who could have framed such a prophecy, and have verified it? - - [361] Wellington to Castlereagh, Zambujal, Sept. 5, 1808, and - London, March 7, 1809. - -To talk of the good fortune of Wellesley, of his ‘lucky star,’ is -absurd. He had, like other generals, his occasional uncovenanted -mercies and happy chances: but few commanders had more strokes of -undeserved disappointment, or saw more of their plans frustrated -by a stupid subordinate, an unexpected turn of the weather, an -incalculable accident, or a piece of false news. He had his fair -proportion of the chances of war, good and bad, and no more. If -fortune was with him at Oporto in 1809, or at El Bodon in 1811, how -many were the occasions on which she played him scurvy tricks? A few -examples may suffice. In May 1809 he might have captured the whole -of Soult’s army, if Silveira had but obeyed orders and occupied -the impregnable defile of Salamonde. On the night of Salamanca he -might have dealt in a similar fashion with Marmont’s routed host, if -Carlos d’España had not withdrawn the garrison of Alba de Tormes, -in flat disobedience to his instructions, and so left the fords -open to the flying French. It is needless to multiply instances of -such incalculable misfortune; any serious student of the Peninsular -War can cite them by the dozen. Masséna’s invasion of Portugal in -1810 would have been checked by the autumn rains, and never have -penetrated far within the frontier, but for the unlucky bomb which -blew up the grand magazine at Almeida, and reduced in a day a -fortress which ought to have held out for a month. In the autumn -of 1812 the retreat beyond the Douro need never have been made, if -Ballasteros had obeyed orders, and moved up from Granada to threaten -Soult’s flank, instead of remaining torpid in his cantonments 200 -miles from the theatre of war. - -Wellington was not the child of fortune; he was a great strategist -and tactician, placed in a situation in which the military dangers -furnished but half his difficulties. He had to cherish his single -precious British army corps, and to keep it from any unnecessary -loss, because if destroyed it could not be replaced. With those -30,000 men he had promised to keep up the war; the home government -was reluctant to risk the whole of its available field army in one -quarter, and for years refused to raise his numbers far above that -total. It was not till the middle of 1810 that his original five -divisions of infantry were increased to six, nor till 1811 that his -seventh and eighth divisions were completed[362]. Right down to 1812 -it was certain that if he had lost any considerable fraction of his -modest army, the ministry might have recalled him and abandoned -Portugal. He had to fight with a full consciousness that a single -disaster would have been irreparable, because it would have been -followed not by the sending off of reinforcements to replace the -divisions that might be lost, but by an order to evacuate the -Peninsula. His French opponents fought under no such disabilities; -when beaten they had other armies at hand on which to fall back, and -behind all the inexhaustible reserve of Napoleon’s conscription. -Considering the campaigns of 1809-10-11 it is not Wellington’s -oft-censured prudence that we find astonishing, but his boldness. -Instead of wondering that he did not attempt to relieve Rodrigo or -Almeida in July-August 1810, or to fall upon Masséna at Santarem -in January 1811, we are filled with surprise at the daring which -inspired the storming of Oporto, and the offering of battle at Busaco -and Fuentes d’Oñoro. When a defeat spelt ruin and recall, it required -no small courage to take any risks: but Wellesley had the sanest -of minds; he could draw the line with absolute accuracy between -enterprise and rashness, between the possible and the impossible. -He had learned to gauge with wonderful insight the difficulties and -disabilities of his enemies, and to see exactly how far they might -be reckoned upon in discounting the military situation. After some -time he arrived at an accurate estimate of the individual marshals -opposed to him, and was ready to take the personal equation into -consideration, according as he had to deal with Soult or Masséna, -Marmont or Jourdan. In short, he was a safe general, not a cautious -one. When once the hopeless disparity between his own resources and -those of the enemy had ceased to exist, in the year 1812, he soon -showed the worth of the silly taunts which imputed timidity to him, -by the smashing blows which reduced Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, -and the lightning-stroke which dashed to pieces Marmont’s army at -Salamanca. In the next year, when for the first time he could count -on an actual superiority of force[363], his irresistible march to -Vittoria displayed his mastery of the art of using an advantage to -the uttermost. Napoleon himself never punished a strategic fault on -the part of the enemy with such majestic ease and confidence. - - [362] The Fifth Division was not completed till Oct. 8, 1810, the - Sixth and Seventh on March 8, 1811. - - [363] Though even then the superiority, such as it was, consisted - entirely of Spanish troops of doubtful quality. - -Of Wellington as a tactician we have already had occasion to speak in -the first volume of this work[364]. It is only necessary to repeat -here that the groundwork of his tactics was his knowledge of the -fact that the line could beat the column, whether on the offensive -or the defensive. The _data_ for forming the conclusions had been in -possession of any one who chose to utilize them, but it was Wellesley -who put his knowledge to full account. Even before he left India, it -is said, he had grasped the great secret, and had remarked to his -confidants that ‘the French were sweeping everything before them -in Europe by the use of the formation in column, but that he was -fully convinced that the column could and would be beaten by the -line[365].’ Yet even though the epoch-making, yet half-forgotten, -fight of Maida had occurred since then, the first Peninsular battles -came as a revelation to the world. After Vimiero and Talavera it -became known that the line was certainly superior for the defensive, -but it was only the triumphant line-advance of Salamanca that -finally divulged the fact that the British method was equally sure -and certain for the attack. If Wellesley’s reputation rested on the -single fact that he had made this discovery known to the world, he -would have won by this alone a grand place in military history. But -his reputation depends even more on his strategical than on his -tactical triumphs. He was a battle-general of the first rank, but -his talents on the day of decisive action would not have sufficed to -clear the French out of Spain. His true greatness is best shown by -his all-embracing grasp of the political, geographical, and moral -factors of the situation in the Peninsula, and by the way in which -he utilized them all when drawing up the plans for his triumphant -campaigns. - - [364] See pp. 114-22 of vol. i. - - [365] The same idea is well marked in a conversation reported by - Croker, which took place in London, on the eve of Wellesley’s - departure to assume command of the troops at Cork with whom he - was about to sail for the Peninsula. After a long reverie, he - was asked the subject of his thoughts. ‘To say the truth,’ he - replied, ‘I am thinking of the French I am going to fight. I - have not seen them since the campaign in Flanders [1794-5] when - they were capital soldiers, and a dozen years of victory under - Buonaparte must have made them better still. They have besides a - new system of strategy, which has outmanœuvred and overwhelmed - all the armies of Europe. ’Tis enough to make one thoughtful; but - no matter, the die is cast: they may overwhelm me, but I don’t - think they will outmanœuvre me. First, because I am not afraid - of them, as everybody else seems to be; and secondly, because, - if all I hear of their system be true, I think it a false one - against steady troops. I suspect all the continental armies are - half beaten before the battle begins. I, at least, will not be - frightened beforehand.’ Croker’s _Diary and Correspondence_, vol. - i. p. 13, under the date June 14, 1808. - -As to tactics indeed, there are points on which it would be easy to -point out defects in Wellesley’s method--in especial it would be -possible to develop the two old, but none the less true, criticisms -that he was ‘pre-eminently an infantry general,’ and that ‘when he -had won a battle he did not always utilize his success to the full -legitimate end.’ The two charges hang closely together, for the one -defect was but the consequence of the other; a tendency to refrain -from making the greatest possible use of his cavalry for breaking up -an enemy who had already begun to give ground, and for pursuing him -_à outrance_ when he was well on the run, was the natural concomitant -of a predilection for the use of infantry in the winning of battles. -If Napoleon had commanded the British army at Salamanca, Marmont’s -troops would have been annihilated by a rapid cavalry pursuit, -instead of merely scattered. If Wellington had commanded the French -army in the Jena-Auerstadt campaign, it is reasonably certain that -Hohenlöhe’s broken divisions would have escaped into the interior, -instead of being garnered in piecemeal by the inexorable and untiring -chase kept up by the French horse. The very distrust which Wellington -expressed for the capacities of the British cavalry[366], who after -all were admirable troops when well handled, is but an illustration -of the fact that he was no true lover of the mounted arm. But of this -we have already spoken, and it is unnecessary to dwell at greater -length on his minor deficiencies than on his numerous excellencies on -the day of battle. - - [366] See vol. i. p. 119. - -A far more serious charge against Wellesley than any which can -be grounded on his tactical faults, is that, though he won the -confidence of his army, he could never win their affection. ‘The -sight of his long nose among us on a battle morning,’ wrote one -of his veterans, ‘was worth ten thousand men, any day of the -week[367].’ But it was not personal attachment to him which nerved -his soldiers to make their best effort: he was feared, respected, -and followed, but never loved. He was obeyed with alacrity, but not -with enthusiasm. His officers and his men believed, and believed -rightly, that he looked upon them as admirable tools for the task -that had been set him, and did his best to keep those tools unbroken -and in good repair, but that he felt no deep personal interest in -their welfare. It is seldom that the veterans who have served under a -great commander have failed to idolize as well as to respect him. But -Wellesley’s men, while acknowledging all his greatness, complained -that he systematically neglected both their feelings and their -interests[368]. It was but too true: he showed for his army, the -officers no less than the rank and file, a certain coldness that was -partly bred of intellectual contempt, partly of aristocratic hauteur. -There are words of his on record concerning his men which can never -be forgiven, and words, too, not spoken in the heat of action or the -moment of disappointment, but in the leisure of his later years. -Take, for example, the passage in Lord Stanhope’s _Conversations -with the Duke of Wellington_, where he is speaking of the rank and -file: ‘they are the scum of the earth; English soldiers are fellows -who have enlisted for drink. That is the plain fact--they have _all_ -enlisted for drink[369].’ He described the men who won Talavera as ‘a -rabble who could not bear success,’ and the Waterloo troops as ‘an -infamous army’--the terms are unpardonable. His notions of discipline -were worthy of one of the drill sergeants of Frederic the Great. ‘I -have no idea of any great effect being produced on British soldiers,’ -he once said before a Royal Commission, ‘by anything but the fear of -immediate corporal punishment.’ Flogging was the one remedy for all -evils, and he declared that it was absolutely impossible to manage -the army without it. For any idea of appealing to the men’s better -feeling, or moving them by sentiment, he had the greatest contempt. - - [367] See Kincaid, chap. v, May 3, 1811. - - [368] The feelings, expressed more or less clearly in a hundred - memoirs, may be summed up in a paragraph by Wm. Grattan of the - 88th. ‘In his parting General Order to the Peninsular army he - told us that he would never cease to feel the warmest interest - for our welfare and honour. How this promise was kept every one - knows. That the Duke of Wellington is one of the most remarkable - (perhaps the greatest) man of the present age, few will deny. But - that he neglected the interests and feelings of his Peninsular - army, as a body, is beyond all question. And were he in his grave - to-morrow, hundreds of voices that now are silent would echo what - I write’ (p. 332). - - [369] _Conversations with the Duke of Wellington_, p. 14. [Nov. - 4, 1831.] - -The most distressing feature in Wellington’s condemnation of the -character of his soldiery is that he was sinning against the light: -officers, of less note but of greater heart, were appealing to the -self-respect, patriotism, and good feeling of their men, with the -best results, at the very moment that Wellesley was denouncing them -as soulless clods and irreclaimable drunkards. It was not by the -lash that regiments like Donnellan’s 48th or Colborne’s 52nd, or -many other corps of the Peninsular army were kept together. The -reminiscences of the Napiers, and many other regimental officers of -the better class, are full of anecdotes illustrating the virtues of -the rank and file. There are dozens of diaries and autobiographies -of sergeants and privates of Wellesley’s old divisions, which prove -that there were plenty of well-conditioned, intelligent, sober and -religious men in the ranks--it is only necessary to cite as examples -the books of Surtees, Anton, Morris, and Donaldson[370]. If there -were also thousands of drunkards and reckless brutes in the service, -the blame for their misdoings must fall to a great extent on the -system under which they were trained. The ruthless mediaeval cruelty -of the code of punishment alone will account for half the ruffianism -of the army. - - [370] It is often forgotten that there was a strong religious - element in the rank and file of the Peninsular army. In a letter - from Cartaxo [Feb. 3, 1811], Wellington mentions, with no great - pleasure, the fact that there were three separate Methodist - meetings in the Guards’ brigade alone, and that in many other - regiments there were officers who were accustomed to preach and - pray with their men. For the spiritual experiences of a sergeant - in the agonies of conversion, the reader may consult the diary of - Surtees of the 95th during the year 1812. - -The same indiscriminate censure which Wellesley poured on his men he -often vented on his officers, denouncing them _en masse_ in the most -reckless fashion. There were careless colonels and stupid subalterns -enough under him, but what can excuse such sweeping statements as -that ‘When I give an order to an officer of the line it is, I venture -to say, a hundred to one against its being done at all,’ or for his -Circular of November, 1812, declaring that all the evils of the -Burgos retreat were due ‘to the habitual inattention of the officers -of regiments to their duty.’ It was a bitter blow to the officers of -the many battalions which had kept their order and discipline, to -find themselves confused with the offending corps in the same general -blast of censure. But by 1812 they were well accustomed to such -slashing criticism on the part of their commander. - -Such a chief could not win the sympathy of his army, though he might -command their intellectual respect. Equally unfortunate were his -autocratic temper and his unwillingness to concede any latitude of -instructions to his subordinates, features in his character which -effectually prevented him from forming a school of good officers -capable of carrying out large independent operations. He trained -admirable generals of division, but not commanders of armies, for -he always insisted on keeping the details of operations, even in -distant parts of the theatre of war, entirely under his own hand. -His preference for Hill as a commander of detached corps came -entirely from the fact that he could trust that worthy and gallant -officer to make no movements on his own initiative, and to play a -safe waiting game which gave his chief no anxiety. In his younger -days, while serving under other generals, Wellesley had been by no -means an exponent of blind obedience or unquestioning deference to -the orders of his superiors. But when placed in command himself he -was autocratic to a fault. He was prone to regard any criticism of -his directions as insubordination. He preferred a lieutenant on -whom he could rely for a literal obedience to orders, to another -of more active brain who possessed initiative and would ‘think for -himself.’ There was hardly an officer in the Peninsular army to whom -he would grant a free hand even in the carrying out of comparatively -small tasks[371]. His most trusted subordinates were liable to -find themselves overwhelmed with rebukes delivered in the most -tempestuous fashion if they took upon themselves to issue a command -on their own responsibility, even when the great chief was many -leagues away. Sometimes when their inspirations had been obviously -useful and successful, he would wind up his harangue, not with an -expression of approval, but with a recommendation to the effect -that ‘matters had turned out all right, but they must never again -act without orders[372].’ This was not the way to develop their -strategical abilities, or to secure that intelligent co-operation -which is more valuable than blind obedience. It may be pleaded in -Wellesley’s defence that at the commencement of the war he had many -stupid and discontented officers under him, and that their carpings -at his orders were often as absurd as they were malevolent. But it -was not only for them that he reserved his thunders. They fell not -unfrequently on able and willing men, who had done no more than think -for themselves, when an urgent problem had been presented to them. -He was, it must be confessed, a thankless master to serve: he was -almost as pitiless as Frederic the Great in resenting a mistake or -an apparent disobedience to orders. The case of Norman Ramsay may -serve as an example. Ramsay was perhaps the most brilliant artillery -officer in the Peninsular army: the famous charge of his guns through -a French cavalry regiment at Fuentes d’Oñoro is one of the best-known -exploits of the whole war. But at Vittoria he made an error in -comprehending orders, and moved forward from a village where the -commander-in-chief had intended to keep him stationed. He was placed -under arrest for three weeks, cut out of his mention in dispatches, -and deprived of the brevet-majority which had been promised him. His -career was broken, and two years later he fell, still a captain, at -Waterloo. - - [371] Robert Craufurd and Hill were perhaps the only exceptions. - - [372] Take, for example, his behaviour to Sir James MacGrigor, - perhaps the most successful of his chiefs of departments. - MacGrigor, being at Salamanca, while Wellesley was at Madrid [Aug. - 1812], ordered on his own authority the bringing up of stores for - the mass of wounded left behind there after the battle. He then - came to bring his report to Madrid. ‘Lord Wellington was sitting - to a Spanish painter [Goya] for his portrait when I arrived, and - asked me to sit down and give him a detail as to the state of the - wounded at Salamanca. When I came to inform him that for their - relief I had ordered up purveying and commissariat officers, he - started up, and in a violent manner reprobated what I had done. - His Lordship was in a passion, and the Spanish artist, ignorant - of the English language, looked aghast, and at a loss to know - what I had done to enrage him so much. “I shall be glad to know,” - he asked, “who is to command the army, I or you? I establish one - route, one line of communications for the army; you establish - another, and order up supplies by it. As long as you live, sir, - never do that again; never do _anything_ without my orders.” I - pleaded that there was no time to consult him, and that I had - to save lives. He peremptorily desired me “never again to act - without his orders.” ... A month later I was able to say to him, - “My Lord, recollect how you blamed me at Madrid for the steps - which I took on coming up to the army, when I could not consult - your Lordship, and acted for myself. Now, if I had not, what - would the consequences have been?” He answered, “It is all right - as has turned out; but I recommend you still _to have my orders - for what you do_.” This was a singular feature in the character - of Lord Wellington.’ MacGrigor’s _Autobiography_, pp. 302-3 and - 311. - -It would almost seem that Wellesley had worked out for himself some -sort of general rule, to the effect that incompetent being more -common than competent subordinates, it would be safer in the long -run to prohibit all use of personal initiative, as the occasions on -which it would be wisely and usefully employed would be less numerous -than those on which it would result in blunders and perils. He had a -fine intellectual contempt for many of the officers whom he had to -employ, and never shrank from showing it. When once he had made up -his mind, he could not listen with patience to advice or criticism. -It was this that made him such a political failure in his latter -days: he carried into the cabinet the methods of the camp, and could -not understand why they were resented. His colleagues ‘started up -with crotchets,’ he complained: ‘I have not been used to that in the -early part of my life. I was accustomed to carry on things in quite -a different manner. I assembled my officers and laid down my plan, -and it was carried into effect without any more words[373].’ For -councils of war, or other devices by which a weak commander-in-chief -endeavours to discharge some of the burden of responsibility upon the -shoulders of his lieutenants, Wellesley had the greatest dislike. He -never allowed discussion as long as he held supreme authority in the -field: he would have liked to enforce the same rule in the cabinet -when he became prime minister of England. Sometimes he had glimpses -of the fact that it is unwise to show open scorn for the opinion of -others, especially when they are men of influence or capacity[374]. -But it was not often that the idea occurred to him. His reception of -an officer who came with a petition or a piece of advice was often -such that the visitor went away boiling with rage, or prostrated -with nervous exhaustion. Charles Stewart is said to have wept after -one stormy interview with his chief, and Picton, whose attempts at -familiarity were particularly offensive to the Duke, would go away -muttering words that could not be consigned to print[375]. A passage -from the memoir of the chief of one of his departments may suffice to -paint the sort of scene which used to occur:-- - - [373] Salisbury MSS., 1835. Quoted in Sir Herbert Maxwell’s - _Wellington_, ii. 194. - - [374] Take, as a rare instance of recognition of this fact, his - remark in 1828 that ‘When the Duke of Newcastle addressed to me a - letter on the subject of forming an Administration, I treated him - with contempt. No man _likes_ to be treated with contempt. I was - wrong.’ Ibid. ii. 213. - - [375] For a record of such an interview by an eye-witness see - Gronow’s _Reminiscences_, p. 66. - -‘One morning I was in his Lordship’s small apartment, when two -officers were there, to request leave to go to England. A general -officer, of a noble family, commanding a brigade, advanced, saying, -“My Lord, I have of late been suffering much from rheumatism--.” -Without allowing him time to proceed further, Lord Wellington rapidly -said--“and you must go to England to get cured of it. By all means. -Go there immediately.” The general, surprised at his Lordship’s -tone and manner, looked abashed, while he made a profound bow. To -prevent his saying anything more, his Lordship turned to address me, -inquiring about the casualties of the preceding night[376],’ &c. - - [376] Sir James MacGrigor’s _Memoirs_, pp. 304-5. - -Hardly less humiliating to many of Wellesley’s subordinates than -personal interviews of this kind, were the letters which they -received from him, when he chanced to be at a distance. He had not -the art, probably he had not the wish, to conceal the fact that he -despised as well as disliked many of those whom the fortune of war, -or the exigencies of home patronage, placed under his command. The -same icy intellectual contempt which he showed for the needy peers, -the grovelling place-hunters, and the hungry lawyers of Dublin, when -he was under-secretary for Ireland, pierces through many of his -letters to the officers of the army of Portugal. Very frequently -his mean opinion of their abilities was justifiable--but there was -no need to let it appear. In this part of the management of men -Wellesley was deficient: he failed to see that it is better in the -end to rule subordinates by appealing to their zeal and loyalty -than to their fears, and that a little commendation for work well -performed goes further in its effect on an army than much censure -for what has been done amiss. When he has to praise his officers in -a dispatch, the terms used are always formal and official in the -extreme--it is the rarest thing to find a phrase which seems to come -from the heart. The careful reader will know what importance to -attach to these expressions of approval, when he notes that the names -of subordinates whom Wellesley despised and distrusted are inserted, -all in due order of seniority, between those of the men who had -really done the work[377]. All commanders-in-chief have to give vent -to a certain amount of these empty and meaningless commendations, -but few have shown more neglect in discriminating between the really -deserving men and the rest than did the victor of Salamanca and -Waterloo. Occasionally this carelessness as to the merits and the -feelings of others took the form of gross injustice, more frequently -it led to nothing worse than a complete mystification of the readers -of the dispatch as to the relative merits of the persons mentioned -therein[378]. - - [377] He honourably mentioned Murray in his Oporto dispatch, and - Tripp in his Waterloo dispatch! Both had behaved abominably. - - [378] Take, for example, the case of Baring of the K. G. L. at - Waterloo. In a dispatch, not written immediately after the battle - (when accurate information might have been difficult to procure), - but _two months_ later, Wellesley says that La Haye Sainte was - taken at two o’clock, ‘through the negligence of the officer - who commanded the post.’ Yet if anything is certain, it is that - Baring held out till six o’clock, that his nine companies of the - K. G. L. kept back two whole French divisions, and that when - he was driven out, the sole cause was that his ammunition was - exhausted, and that no more could be sent him because the enemy - had completely surrounded the post. If Wellington had taken any - trouble about the ascertaining of the facts, he could not have - failed to learn the truth. - -The explanation of this feature in Wellesley’s correspondence is a -fundamental want of broad sympathy in his character. He had a few -intimates to whom he spoke freely, and it is clear that he often -showed consideration and even kindness to his aides-de-camp and other -personal retainers; there were one or two of his relatives to whom he -showed an unswerving affection, and whose interests were always near -his heart[379]. Among these neither his wife nor his elder brother -Richard, the great Governor-General of India, were to be numbered. He -quarrelled so bitterly with the latter that for many years they never -met. No doubt there were faults on both sides, yet Wellington might -have borne much from the brother who started him on his career. But -for him the position of Resident in Mysore would not have been given -to so junior an officer, nor would the command of the army that won -Assaye and Argaum have been placed in his hands. It is small wonder -that the grievances and petty ambitions of the average line officer -never touched the heart of the man who could be estranged from his -own brother by a secondary political question. - - [379] See especially his charming letters to his niece, Lady - Burghersh, lately published. - -It has often been noted that when the wars were over he showed little -predilection for the company of his old Peninsular officers. Some of -his most trusted subordinates hardly looked upon his face after 1815: -he clearly preferred the company of politicians and men of fashion to -that of the majority of his old generals. They only met him at the -formal festivity of the annual Waterloo Banquet. - -The remembrance of the countless panegyrics upon Wellington, not -only as a general but as a man, which have appeared during the last -sixty years, has made it necessary, if painful, to speak of his -limitations. For two whole generations it seemed almost treasonable -to breathe a word against his personal character--so great was the -debt that Britain owed him for Salamanca and Waterloo. His frigid -formalism was regarded with respect and even admiration: his lack -of geniality and his utter inability to understand the sentimental -side of life were even praised as signs of Spartan virtue. Certain -episodes which did not fit in too happily with the ‘Spartan hero’ -theory were deliberately ignored[380]. The popular conception of -Arthur Wellesley has been largely built up on laudatory sketches -written by those who knew him in his old age alone. He lives in our -memories as a kind of Nestor, replete with useful and interesting -information, as Lord Stanhope drew him in his _Conversations with the -Duke of Wellington_. This was not the man known to his contemporaries -in the years of the Peninsular War. - - [380] His relations with the other sex were numerous and - unedifying. From his loveless and unwise marriage, made on - a point of duty where affection had long vanished, down to - his tedious ‘correspondence with Miss J.,’ there is nothing - profitable to be discovered. See Greville’s _Diaries_ [2nd - Series], iii. 476. - -Yet there was much to admire in Wellesley’s personal character. -England has never had a more faithful servant. Though intensely -ambitious, he never allowed ambition to draw him aside from the most -tedious and thankless daily tasks. When once convinced that it was -his duty to undertake a piece of work, he carried it through with -unswerving industry and perseverance, if not always with much tact -or consideration for the feelings of others[381]. He was unsparing -of himself, careless of praise or blame, honest in every word and -deed. He was equally ready to offend his king or to sacrifice his -popularity with the multitude, when he thought that he had to face a -question in which right and wrong were involved. He was essentially, -what he once called himself, using a familiar Hindustani phrase, -‘a man of his salt.’ In spite of all his faults he stands out a -majestic figure in the history of his time. It is the misfortune of -the historian that when he sees so much to admire and to respect, he -finds so little that commands either sympathy or affection. - - [381] When we read Wellington’s interminable controversies with - the Portuguese Regency and the Spanish Junta, we soon come to - understand not merely the way in which they provoked him by their - tortuous shuffling and their helpless procrastination, but still - more the way in which he irritated them by his unveiled scorn, - and his outspoken exposure of all their meannesses. A little - more diplomatic language would have secured less friction, and - probably better service. - - - - -SECTION XIV: CHAPTER II - -WELLESLEY RETAKES OPORTO - - -On arriving at Lisbon, Wellesley, as we have already seen, was -overjoyed to find that the situation in Portugal remained just as it -had been when he set sail from Portsmouth: Victor was still quiescent -in his cantonments round Merida: Soult had not moved forward on -the road toward Coimbra, and was in the midst of his unfruitful -bickerings with the army of Silveira. Lapisse had disappeared -from his threatening position in front of Ciudad Rodrigo, and had -passed away to Estremadura. All the rumours as to an immediate -French advance on Badajoz and Abrantes, which had arrived just as -the new commander-in-chief was quitting England, had turned out to -be baseless inventions. There were reassuring dispatches awaiting -him from the English attachés with the armies of Cuesta and La -Romana[382], which showed that Galicia was in full insurrection, and -that a respectable force was once more threatening Victor’s flank. -Accordingly it was possible to take into consideration plans for -assuming the offensive against the isolated French armies, and the -defensive campaign for the protection of Lisbon, which Wellesley had -feared to find forced upon him, was not necessary. - - [382] Monro to Beresford, April 15, and MacKinley’s inclosure from - Vigo of April 16, 1809. - -Within thirty-six hours of his arrival the British commander-in-chief -had made up his mind as to the strategy that was incumbent on him. -He resolved, as we have already seen, to leave a containing force -to watch Victor, while he hastened with the main body of his army -to strike a blow at Soult, whose corps was clearly in a state of -dispersion, which invited attack. The Duke of Dalmatia was operating -at once upon the Minho, the Tamega, and the Vouga, and it seemed -likely that a prompt stroke might surprise him, in the midst of the -movement for concentration which he would be compelled to make, when -he should learn that the British were in the field. - -The forces available for Wellesley’s use consisted of some 25,000 -British[383] and 16,000 Portuguese troops. Cradock, urged on by -Hill and Beresford, had advanced with the main body of his army to -Leiria and lay there upon the twenty-fourth, the day upon which he -received Wellesley’s notification that he had been superseded and -was to sail to take up the governorship of Gibraltar. But four or -five newly arrived corps still lay at Lisbon, and more were expected. -The army was very weak in cavalry, there were but four regiments and -fractions of two others available[384]. Of the infantry there were -only present five of the battalions[385] which had served at Vimiero -and knew the French and their manner of fighting. The rest were all -inexperienced and new to the field, and the majority indeed were -weak second battalions, which had not originally been intended for -foreign service, and had been made up to their present numbers by -large and recent drafts from the militia[386]. Even at Talavera, six -months after the campaign had begun, it is on record that many of the -men were still showing the names and numbers of their old militia -regiments on their knapsacks. The battalions which had joined in -Moore’s march into Spain only began to reappear in June, when Robert -Craufurd brought back to Lisbon the 1/43rd, 1/52nd and 1/95th, which -were to form the nucleus of the famous Light Division. The remainder -of the Corunna troops, when they had been rested and recruited, were -drawn aside to take part in the miserable expedition to Walcheren. -When Wellesley first took the field therefore, these veterans of the -campaign of 1808 were only represented by the two ‘battalions of -detachments’ which General Cameron had organized from the stragglers -and convalescents of Moore’s army. - - [383] Excluding troops that arrived at Lisbon just after - Wellesley’s arrival. - - [384] The 3rd Dragoon Guards, 4th Dragoons, 14th and 16th Light - Dragoons, with one squadron of the 3rd Light Dragoons of the K. - G. L., and two of the 20th Light Dragoons. - - [385] The 2/9th, 1/45th, 29th, 5/60th and 97th. - - [386] Of Wellesley’s twenty-one British battalions, ten were 2nd - battalions, [of the 7th, 9th, 24th, 30th, 31st, 48th, 53rd, 66th, - 83rd, 87th], two were single-battalion regiments [the 29th and - 97th], three first battalions [of the 3rd, 45th and 88th], two - Guards’ battalions [1st Coldstreams and 1st Scots Fusiliers], two - ‘battalions of detachments,’ one a 3rd battalion (27th), one a - 5th battalion [60th]. - -The Portuguese troops which Wellesley found available for the -campaign against Soult consisted entirely of the line regiments -from Lisbon and the central parts of the realm, which Beresford had -been reorganizing during the last two months. The troops of the -north had been destroyed at Oporto, or were in arms under Silveira -on the Tamega. Those of the south were garrisoning Elvas, or still -endeavouring to recruit their enfeebled _cadres_ at their regimental -head quarters. But Beresford had massed at Thomar and Abrantes -ten[387] line regiments, some with one, some with their statutory two -battalions, three newly raised battalions of Cazadores, and three -incomplete cavalry regiments, a force amounting in all to nearly -15,000 sabres and bayonets. Though Wellesley considered that they -‘cut a bad figure,’ and that the rank and file were poor and the -native officers ‘worse than anything he had ever seen,’ he was yet -resolved to give them a chance in the field. Beresford assured him -that they had improved so much during the last few weeks, and were -showing such zeal and good spirit, that it was only fair that they -should be given a trial[388]. - - [387] These regiments were the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, - 15th, 16th, 19th, raised respectively at Lisbon (1st, 4th, 10th, - 16th), Estremoz (3rd), Setubal (7th), Peniche (13th), Villa - Viciosa (15th), Cascaes (19th), Campomayor (20th), the 1st, 4th - and 5th Cazadores, and 1st, 4th and 7th Cavalry. - - [388] It is fair to the Portuguese to note that other witnesses - of May 1809 speak much more favourably of them. Londonderry (i. - p. 305) writes that ‘they had applied of late so much ardour to - their military education that some were already fit to take the - field, and it only required a little experience to put them on a - level with the best troops in Europe. There was one brigade under - General Campbell (the 4th and 10th regiments), which struck me as - being in the finest possible order: it went through a variety of - evolutions with a precision and correctness which would have done - no discredit to our own army.’ - -Accordingly Wellesley resolved to brigade certain picked battalions -among his English troops, and to take them straight to the front, -while he told off others to form part of the ‘containing force’ -which was to be sent off to watch Victor and the French army of -Estremadura. The remainder, under Beresford himself, were to act as -an independent division during the march on Oporto. - -Five days of unceasing work had to be spent in Lisbon before -Wellesley could go forward, but while he was making his arrangements -with the Portuguese regency, drawing out a new organization for -Beresford’s commissariat, and striving to get into communication -with Cuesta, the British troops were already being pushed forward -from Leiria towards Coimbra, and the Portuguese were converging -from Thomar on the same point, so that no time was being lost. -It was during this short and busy stay at Lisbon that Wellesley -was confronted with the conspirator Argenton, who had come up to -the capital in company with Major Douglas. He did not make a good -impression on the commander-in-chief, who wrote home that he had no -doubt as to the reality of the plot against Soult, and the discontent -of the French army, but thought it unlikely that any good would come -from the plot[389]. He refused to promise compliance with Argenton’s -two requests, that he would direct the Portuguese to fall in with -Soult’s plans for assuming royal power, and that he would bring the -British army forward to a position in which it would threaten the -retreat of the 2nd Corps on Leon. The former savoured too much of -Machiavellian treachery: as to the latter, he thought so little of -the profit likely to result from the plot, that he would not alter -his plans to oblige the conspirators. The only information of certain -value that he had obtained from the emissary was that Soult had -no idea of Victor’s position or projects. All that he granted to -Argenton was passports to take him and his two friends, ‘Captains -Dupont and Garis,’ to England, from whence they intended to cross -into France, in order to set their friends in the interior on the -move. Great care was taken that Argenton on his return journey to -Oporto should see as little as possible of the British army, lest he -should be able to tell too much about its numbers and dispositions. -He was conducted back by Douglas to the Vouga, by a circuitous route, -and safely repassed Franceschi’s outposts[390]. - - [389] _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 273-5, 276. To Castlereagh. - Wellesley says that the plot will probably fail, and that even - if the 2nd Corps mutinied, they would not carry away the other - French armies, as Argenton hoped. He had therefore refused to - commit himself to anything. - - [390] _Wellington Dispatches_, ii. 306. - -On the twenty-ninth Wellesley at last got clear of Lisbon, where the -formal festivities and reception arranged in his honour had tried him -even more than the incessant desk-work which had to be got through -before the organization of his base for supplies was completed. On -April 30 he pushed forward to Leiria, on May 1 to Pombal, on the -second he reached Coimbra and found himself in the midst of his army, -which had only concentrated itself at that city during the last five -days. - -All was quiet in the front: Trant, who was holding the line of the -Vouga with 3,000 disorderly militia and some small fragments rallied -from the line regiments which had been dispersed at Oporto, reported -that Franceschi and the French light cavalry had remained quiescent -for many days. The same news came in from Wilson, who, after pursuing -Lapisse to Alcantara, had come back with part of his troops to the -neighbourhood of Almeida, and had a detachment at Vizeu watching the -flank of the French advance. Silveira reported from Amarante that he -was still holding the line of the Tamega, and had at least 10,000 -enemies in front of him. All therefore seemed propitious for the -great stroke. - -Wellesley’s plan, as finally worked out in detail, was to push -forward his main body upon Oporto with all possible speed, while -sending a flanking column under Beresford to cross the Douro near -Lamego, join Silveira, and intercept Soult’s line of retreat upon -the plains of Leon by way of the Tras-os-Montes. If he could move -fast enough, he hoped to catch the Marshal with his army still -unconcentrated. His design, as he wrote to Castlereagh, was ‘to -beat or cripple Soult,’ to thrust him back into Galicia; he doubted -whether it would be possible to accomplish more with the force that -was at his disposal, but if any chance should occur for destroying or -surrounding the enemy he would do his best. Rumours that the Marshal -was preparing to evacuate Oporto were in the air: if they were true, -and the French were already making ready to retreat, it was unlikely -that they would stand long enough to run into danger. - -The detailed arrangements for the distribution of the troops were as -follows:-- - -It was first necessary to provide a ‘containing force’ to hold back -Victor, in case he should make an unexpected move down the Tagus -or the Guadiana. For this purpose Wellesley told off one of his -brigades, that of Mackenzie, together with two regiments of heavy -cavalry and one of infantry which had lately arrived at Lisbon, and -were now on their march to Santarem. With these four battalions, one -field battery, and eight squadrons, Mackenzie was to take post at -Abrantes, and behind the line of the Zezere[391]. There he was to -be joined by the larger half of Beresford’s reorganized Portuguese -army--seven battalions of line troops, three of Cazadores, five -squadrons of cavalry, and three batteries[392]. He would also have -three regiments of militia at his disposal, to garrison the fortress -of Abrantes. His whole force, excluding the militia, would amount -to 1,400 British and 700 Portuguese cavalry, nearly 3,000 British -infantry, 6,000 Portuguese infantry, and four batteries. These 12,000 -men ought to be able to hold back any force that Victor could detach -for a raid along the Tagus: for, having Cuesta’s army in his front, -it was absolutely impossible that he could march with his whole corps -into Portugal. If the Marshal moved forward south of the Tagus, that -river should be held against him, and since it was in full flood it -would be easy to keep him back, as all the boats and ferries could -be destroyed, and it would be useless for him to present himself -opposite Vella Velha, Abrantes, or Santarem. If he advanced north of -the Tagus, the line of the Zezere was to be maintained against him -as long as possible, then those of the Nabao and Rio Mayor. But the -main army would be back from the north, to reinforce the ‘containing -force,’ long ere the Marshal could push so far. As an outlying post -on this front Wellesley ordered Colonel Mayne, with the part of -Wilson’s Lusitanian Legion that had not returned to the north and a -militia regiment, to occupy Alcantara. He was to break its bridge if -forced out of the position. - - [391] The regiments were, giving their force present with the - colours from the return of May 5:-- - - 3/27th Foot 726 - 2/31st ” 765 - 1/45th ” 671 - 2/24th ” [From Lisbon] 750 - ----- - 2,912 - - 3rd Dragoon Guards 698 - 4th Dragoons 716 - One battery Field Artillery - [Captain Baynes’s], six-pounders 120 - ----- - 1,534 - - Total 4,446 - - - [392] The Portuguese regiments were:--1st Foot [La Lippe] one - batt., 3rd and 15th Foot [1st and 2nd of Olivenza] each one - batt., 4th Foot [Freire] and 13th Foot [Peniche] two batts. each. - 1st, 4th and 5th Cazadores, one batt. each. Five squadrons of - the 4th and 7th cavalry. Total, 6,000 foot, 700 horse, and three - field-batteries, about 7,100 men. - -Victor being thus provided for, Wellesley could turn the rest of -his army against Soult at Oporto. For the main operation he could -dispose of 17,000 British and 7,000 Portuguese troops present with -the colours, after deducting the sick, the men on detached duty, and -one single battalion left in garrison at Lisbon. He divided them, as -we have already stated, into a larger force destined to execute the -frontal attack upon Soult, and a smaller one which was to cut off his -retreat into central Spain. - -The flanking column, 5,800 men in all, was entrusted to Beresford: -it was composed of one British brigade (that of Tilson) consisting -of 1,500 bayonets[393], a single British squadron (the 4th of the -14th Light Dragoons) with five battalions[394], three squadrons[395], -and two field-batteries of Portuguese. These troops were originally -directed to join Silveira at Amarante, and co-operate with him in -defending the line of the Tamega. But on May 3 there arrived at -Coimbra the unwelcome news that Loison had forced the bridge of -Amarante, and that Silveira in consequence had retired south of the -Douro and was lying at Lamego with the wrecks of his army, some 4,000 -men at most. This untoward event did not cause Wellesley to change -the direction of Beresford’s column, but rendered him more cautious -as to pushing it beyond the Douro. He ordered his lieutenant to pick -up Sir Robert Wilson’s small force at Vizeu[396], to join Silveira -at Lamego, and then to guide his further operations by the attitude -of the French. If they tried to pass the Douro he was to oppose -them strenuously; if they still clung to the northern bank and had -not advanced far beyond Amarante, he might cross, and occupy Villa -Real, if he thought the move safe and the position behind that town -defensible. But he was to risk nothing; if the whole of Soult’s corps -should retreat eastward he was not to attempt to stop them, ‘for,’ -wrote Wellesley, ‘I should not like to see a single British brigade, -supported by 6,000 or 8,000 Portuguese, exposed to be attacked by -the French army in any but a very good post[397].’ If Loison alone -were left on the Tamega, Beresford might take post at Villa Real -and fight: if, however, Soult should appear at the head of his -entire force, it would be madness to await him: the column must fall -back and allow him to pass. ‘Remember,’ added Wellesley in another -letter[398], ‘that you are a commander-in-chief _and must not be -beaten_: therefore do not undertake anything with your troops if you -have not some strong hope of success.’ Beresford’s column was sent -off a day before the rest of the army, in order to allow the flanking -movement time to develop before the frontal attack was pushed home. -He left Coimbra on May 6, was at Vizeu on the eighth, and joined -Silveira at Lamego on the tenth; all his movements passed completely -unobserved by the enemy, owing to the wide sweep to the right which -he had been ordered to make. - - [393] Viz. 2/87th, 669 bayonets, 1/88th, 608 bayonets, five - companies of the 5/60th, 306 bayonets. - - [394] Two battalions each of the regiments nos. 7 (Setubal), - 19 (Cascaes), and one of no. 1 (La Lippe), as far as I can - ascertain, composed this force. - - [Erratum from p. xii: I found in Lisbon that the regiments which - marched with Beresford to Lamego were not (as I had supposed) - nos. 7 and 19, but nos. 2 and 14, with the 4th cazadores. Those - which joined from the direction of Almeida were two battalions of - no. 11 (1st of Almeida) and one of no. 9.] - - [395] Regiment, no. 1. - - [396] Wilson had been removed by Beresford from his own - Lusitanian Legion, and told to take up the command of the Brigade - at Almeida: it was, apparently, with two battalions drawn from - the garrison of that fortress that he now joined Beresford. - - [397] Wellesley to Beresford, Coimbra, May 7. _Wellington - Dispatches_, iv. 309. - - [398] Ibid. iv. 320. - -The infantry of Wellesley’s main force, with which the frontal attack -on Oporto was to be made, consisted of six brigades of British, -one of the King’s German Legion, and four picked battalions of -Portuguese who were attached respectively to the brigades of A. -Campbell, Sontag, Stewart, and Cameron. Of cavalry, in which he was -comparatively weak, he had the whole of the 16th, three squadrons -of the 14th, and two of the 20th Light Dragoons, with one squadron -more from the 3rd Light Dragoons of the King’s German Legion. The -artillery, twenty-four guns in all, was composed of two British and -two German field-batteries. No horse artillery had yet been received -from England, though Wellesley had been urging his need for it on the -home authorities, at the same time that he made a similar demand for -good light infantry, such as that which had formed the light brigade -of Moore’s army[399], and for remounts to keep his cavalry up to full -fighting strength. The army was not yet distributed into regular -divisions, but the beginnings of the later divisional arrangement -were indicated by the telling off the brigades of Richard Stewart -and Murray to serve together under Edward Paget (who had commanded -Moore’s reserve division with such splendid credit to himself during -the Corunna retreat), while those of H. Campbell, A. Campbell, and -Sontag were to take their orders from Sherbrooke, and those of Hill -and Cameron to move under the charge of the former brigadier. The -cavalry was under General Cotton, with Payne as brigadier; the senior -officer of artillery was General E. Howorth[400]. - - [399] _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. pp. 270, 281, 305. - - [400] The whole force consisted of the following, present with - the colours:-- - - CAVALRY: _Officers._ _Men._ - - 14th Light Dragoons 20 471 - 16th ” ” 37 673 - 20th ” ” 6 237 - 3rd ” ” K.G.L. 3 57 - - INFANTRY: - - H. Campbell’s brigade: - Coldstream Guards 33 1,194 - 3rd Foot Guards 34 1,228 - One company 5/60th 2 61 - - A. Campbell’s brigade: - 2/7th Foot 26 559 - 2/53rd Foot 35 787 - One company 5/60th 4 64 - 1/10th Portuguese -- -- - - Sontag’s brigade: - 97th Foot 22 572 - 2nd Batt. Detachments 35 787 - One company 5/60th 2 61 - 2/16th Portuguese -- -- - - R. Stewart’s brigade: - 29th Foot 26 596 - 1st Batt. Detachments 27 803 - 1/16th Portuguese -- -- - - Murray’s brigade: - 1st Line Batt. K.G.L. 34 767 - 2nd ” ” 32 804 - 5th ” ” 28 720 - 7th ” ” 22 688 - - Hill’s brigade: - 1/3rd Foot 28 719 - 2/48th Foot 32 721 - 2/66th Foot 34 667 - One company 5/60 Foot 2 61 - - Cameron’s brigade: - 2/9th Foot 27 545 - 2/83rd Foot 29 833 - One company 5/60 Foot 2 60 - 2/10th Portuguese -- -- - - With Lawson’s battery of 3-pounders, and Lane’s, Heyse’s, and - Rettberg’s of 6-pounders. Allowing 600 each for the Portuguese - battalions, the total comes to 16,213 infantry, 1,504 cavalry, - and 550 gunners, also sixty-four men of the wagon train, and - thirty-nine engineers. Total, 18,370. - -It will be noted that of the total force with which Wellesley was -about to assail the 2nd Corps, about 16,400 were British troops -and 11,400 Portuguese. Considering that Soult had at least 23,000 -sabres and bayonets, of whom not more than 2,200 were in his -hospitals, and that over three-eighths of the allies were untried -and newly-organized levies, it cannot be denied that the march on -Oporto showed considerable self-confidence, and a very nice and -accurate calculation of the chances of war on the part of the British -Commander-in-chief. - -On the very day on which the vanguard marched out from Coimbra -upon the northern road, Wellesley received a second visit from the -conspirator Argenton, who had returned from consulting his friends -at Oporto and Amarante. He brought little news of importance: Soult -had not yet proclaimed himself king, and therefore the plotters -had taken no open steps against him. The French army had not begun -to move, but it appeared that the Marshal was pondering over the -relative advantages of the lines of retreat available to him, for -Argenton brought a memorandum given him by (or purloined from) some -staff-officer, which contained a long exposition of the various -roads from Oporto, and stated a preference for that by Villa Real -and the Tras-os-Montes[401]. He had a number of futile propositions -to lay before Wellesley, and especially urged him to make sure of -Villa Real and to cut off the Marshal’s retreat on Spain. The traitor -was sent back, with no promises of compliance; and every endeavour -was made to keep from him the fact that the allied army was already -upon the move. Unfortunately he had passed many troops upon the -road from Coimbra to the Vouga, and had guessed at what he had not -seen. On the following day he passed through the French lines on his -return journey, and by the way endeavoured to spread the propaganda -of treason. One of the infantry brigades which lay in support of -Franceschi’s cavalry was commanded by a general Lefebvre, with whom -Argenton had long served as aide-de-camp. Knowing that his old chief -was weak and discontented[402], the emissary of the malcontents -paid a midnight visit to him, revealed to him the outlines of the -conspiracy, and endeavoured to enroll him as a fellow plotter. He -had misjudged his man: Lefebvre listened to everything without -showing any signs of surprise or anger, but hastened to bear the -tale to Soult, and arranged for Argenton’s arrest on his return to -Oporto upon the following morning. Confronted with the Marshal, the -traitor held his head high, and boasted that he was the agent of a -powerful body of conspirators. He invited Soult to declare against -the Emperor, and deliver France from servitude. He also warned him -that Wellesley had arrived at Coimbra, and told him that 30,000 -British troops of whom 3,000 at least were cavalry, would fall upon -Franceschi that day. Thus, owing to his conference with Argenton, -Wellesley lost the chance of surprising Soult, who was warned of the -oncoming storm exactly at the moment when it was most important that -he should still be kept in the dark as to the force that was marching -against him [May 8]. - - [401] Wellington to Beresford, from Coimbra, May 7, 1809. - - [402] He told Wellesley that the general was ‘a man of weak - intellect,’ and that he thought that he had won him over to the - plot from the way in which he received the news of it. Wellesley - to Castlereagh, May 15, from Oporto. - -Soult sent back Argenton to his prison, after threatening him with -death: but uncertain as to the number of the conspirators, he was -thrown for a moment into a state of doubt and alarm. He probably -suspected Loison and Lahoussaye of being in the plot against him, as -well as the real traitors--possibly Mermet also[403]. Feeling the -ground, as it were, trembling beneath his feet, he began to make -instant preparations for retreat: orders were sent to Franceschi to -fall back on Oporto, and not to risk anything by an attempt to hold -off Wellesley longer than was prudent. Loison was informed that he -must clear the road beyond Amarante, as the army was about to retire -by the Tras-os-Montes, and he would now form its advanced guard. -Lorges at Braga was directed to gather in the small fractions of -Heudelet’s division which had been left at Viana and other places -in the north, and to march in their company upon Amarante by the -way of Guimaraens. The Marshal saw, with some dismay, that these -isolated detachments would not be able to join the main body till the -fourteenth or fifteenth of May; it was necessary to hold Oporto as -long as possible in order to give them time to come up. - - [403] This may be perhaps inferred from Soult’s letter to King - Joseph, written after the retreat, in which he says that he had - intended to pack off Lahoussaye and Mermet from the front: ‘À - cette époque j’ai voulu faire partir ces généraux, qui n’ont - pas toujours fait ce qui était de leur pouvoir pour le succès - des opérations; mais j’ai preféré attendre d’être arrivé à - Zamora, afin de ne pas accréditer les bruits d’intrigues et de - conspirations qui eurent lieu à Oporto, auxquels ils n’ont pas - certainement pris aucune part.’ [Intercepted letter in Record - Office.] - -Next day Soult contrived to extort some more information from the -unstable Argenton. Receiving a promise of life for himself and pardon -for his fellow conspirators (which the Marshal apparently granted -because he thought that accurate information concerning the plot -would be worth more to him than the right to shoot the plotters), the -captain gave up the names of all the leaders. Much relieved to find -that none of his generals were implicated, Soult did no more than -arrest the two colonels, Lafitte and Donadieu, leaving the smaller -fry untouched[404]. He kept his promise to Argenton by hushing up -the whole matter. The colonels suffered no harm beyond their arrest: -Argenton escaped from custody (probably by collusion with the officer -placed in charge of his person)[405], and got back to the English -lines the day after the capture of Oporto[406]. Some months later he -secretly revisited France, was recognized, captured, and shot on the -Plain of Grenelle[407]. - - [404] Soult so far managed to forget the whole business that - he, two years later, sent the younger Lafitte to present to the - Emperor the English flags captured at Albuera! [See St. Chamans, - p. 133.] - - [405] Most of this comes from Argenton’s confession to Wellesley - on May 13. See _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. p. 339. He said that - he slipped away from the gendarmes at the advice of Lafitte, who - told him that his friends would come to no harm if the chief - witness against them vanished. - - [406] The extraordinary clemency shown to the conspirators by - Soult, the providential escape of Argenton, the favours which the - Marshal afterwards lavished on Lafitte, and the trouble which - he took to hush up the whole matter, led many of his enemies to - suspect that he himself had been in the plot, and had intended - to combine his scheme for Portuguese kingship with a rising - against Bonaparte at the head of his _corps d’armée_: Argenton’s - confession made this impossible. - - [407] For further details on Argenton’s fate, see the Appendix. - -At the very moment when Soult was cross-examining Argenton, issuing -hurried orders for the concentration of his troops, and preparing -for a retreat upon Amarante, Wellesley’s advanced guard was drawing -near the Vouga and making ready to pounce upon Franceschi. Two roads -lead northward from Coimbra, the main _chaussée_ to Oporto which -runs inland via Ponte de Vouga and Feira, and a minor route near the -coast, which passes by Aveiro and Ovar. Five of Wellesley’s brigades -and the whole of his cavalry marched by the former route. Moving -forward under the screen of Trant’s militia, which still held the -line of the Vouga, they were to fall on the enemy’s front at dawn -on May 10. The five squadrons of the 14th and 16th Light Dragoons -under Cotton led the advance: then followed the infantry of Edward -Paget--the two brigades of Murray and Richard Stewart. Sherbrooke’s -column marched in support, ten miles to the rear. It was intended -that the whole mass should rush in upon Franceschi’s pickets, and -roll them in upon his main body before the advance from Coimbra was -suspected. Unhappily Soult had already warned his cavalry commander -of the coming storm upon the ninth, and he was not caught unprepared. - -Meanwhile the remaining two infantry brigades of Wellesley’s army, -those of Hill and Cameron, were to execute a turning movement against -Franceschi’s flank. Orders had been sent to the magistrates of the -town of Aveiro, bidding them collect all the fishing-boats which were -to be found in the great lagoon at the mouth of the Vouga--a broad -sheet of shallow water and sandbanks which extends for fifteen miles -parallel to the sea, only separated from it by a narrow spit of dry -ground. At the northern end of this system of inland waterways is -the town of Ovar, which lay far behind Franceschi’s rear. Hill was -directed to ship his men upon the boats, and to throw them ashore at -Ovar, where they were to fall upon the flank of the French, when they -should be driven past them by the frontal advance of the main body. - -If all had gone well, the French detachment might have been -annihilated. Franceschi had with him no more than the four weak -cavalry regiments of his own division[408], not more than 1,200 -sabres, with one light battery, and a single regiment of infantry. -But not far behind him was the rest of Mermet’s division, eleven -battalions of infantry with a strength of some 3,500 men. One -regiment, the 31st Léger, lay at Feira, near Ovar, while Ferrey’s -brigade was five miles further back, at Grijon. - - [408] 1st Hussars, 8th Dragoons, 22nd Chasseurs and Hanoverian - Chevaux-légers. - -On the night of the ninth the British advanced guard reached the -Vouga: after only a few hours’ repose the cavalry mounted again at 1 -A.M., and pushed forward in order to fall upon the enemy at daybreak. -The night march turned out a failure, as such enterprises often do in -an unexplored country-side seamed with rocks and ravines. The rear -of the cavalry column got astray and fell far behind the leading -squadrons: much time was lost in marching and countermarching, and at -dawn the brigade found itself still some way from Albergaria Nova, -the village where Franceschi’s head quarters were established[409]. -It was already five o’clock when they fell in with and drove back -the French outlying pickets: shortly after they came upon the whole -of Franceschi’s division, drawn out in battle array on a rough -moor behind the village, with a few companies of infantry placed -in a wood on their flank and their battery in front of their line. -General Cotton saw that there was no chance of a surprise, and very -wisely declined to attack a slightly superior force of all arms with -the 1,000 sabres of his two regiments. He resolved to wait for the -arrival of Richard Stewart’s infantry brigade, the leading part of -the main column. When Franceschi advanced against him he refused to -fight and drew back a little[410]. Thus some hours of the morning -were wasted, till at last there arrived on the field Lane’s battery -and a battalion of the 16th Portuguese, followed by the 29th and -the 1st Battalion of Detachments. Like the cavalry, the infantry -had been much delayed during the hours of darkness, mainly by the -impossibility of getting the guns up the rocky defile beyond the -Vouga, where several caissons had broken down in the roadway. It -was only after daylight had come that they were extricated and got -forward on to the upland where lies the village of Albergaria. - - [409] For details of this fatiguing night march and its gropings - in the dark see Tomkinson’s (16th Dragoons) _Diary_, pp. 4-5, and - Hawker’s (14th Light Dragoons) _Journal_, p. 47. - - [410] The Light Dragoons, says Hawker (_Journal_, p. 48), - ‘finding ourselves opposed by a heavy column of cavalry, retired - a little.’ Their total loss was one officer and two men wounded, - and one man missing. On this slender foundation Le Noble founds - the following romance (p. 240). ‘Le général Franceschi charge à - la tête de sa division ceux qui l’attaquent en front, renverse - la première ligne, et tandis qu’elle se rétablit, se retire, - et fond avec 6 pièces et deux régiments sur la colonne qui le - tournait par sa droite. L’ennemi est culbuté, la colonne recule, - et le général se retire sur Oliveira avec quelques prisonniers.’ - All this fuss produced _four_ casualties in the two English - regiments. See official report of casualties for May 10, 1809. - -Wellesley himself came up along with Stewart’s brigade, and had -the mortification of seeing all his scheme miscarry, owing to the -tardiness of the arrival of his infantry. For at the very moment -when Franceschi caught sight of the distant bayonets winding up the -road, he hastily went to the rear, leaving the 1st Hussars alone in -position as a rearguard. This regiment was charged by the 16th Light -Dragoons, and driven in with some small loss. Under cover of this -skirmish the French division got away in safety through the town of -Oliveira de Azemis, which lay behind them, and after making two more -ineffectual demonstrations of a desire to stand, fell back on the -heights of Grijon, where Mermet’s infantry division was awaiting them. - -The whole day’s fighting had been futile but spectacular. ‘I must -note,’ says an eye-witness, ‘the beautiful effect of our engagement. -It commenced about sunrise on one of the finest spring mornings -possible, on an immense tract of heath, with a pine wood in rear -of the enemy. So little was the slaughter, and so regular the -manœuvring, that it all appeared more like a sham-fight on Wimbledon -Common than an action in a foreign country[411].’ The picturesque -side of the day’s work must have been small consolation to Wellesley, -who thus saw the first stroke of his campaign foiled by the chances -of a night march in a rugged country--a lesson which he took to -heart, for he rarely, if ever again, attempted a surprise at dawn in -an unexplored region. - - [411] Hawker, pp. 49-50. Tomkinson has words to much the same - effect, ‘it was more like a field-day than an affair with the - enemy: all the shots went over our heads, and no accident - appeared to happen to any one’ (p. 6). - -An equal disappointment had taken place on the flank near the -sea. Hill’s brigade had marched down to Aveiro, where the local -authorities had worked with excellent zeal and collected a -considerable number of boats, enough to carry 1,500 men at a trip. -During the night of the ninth-tenth the flotilla was engaged in -sailing up the long lagoon which leads to Ovar. It was quite early -in the morning when the brigade came to land, and if Franceschi had -been driven in at an early hour he would have found Hill in a most -threatening position on his flank. But the French cavalry was still -ten or twelve miles away, engaged in its bloodless demonstration -against Cotton’s brigade. Finding from the peasants that there were -French infantry encamped quite close to him, at Feira, and that the -English main column was still at a distance, Hill kept his men within -the walls of Ovar, instead of engaging in an attempt to intercept -Franceschi’s retreat. He was probably quite right, as it would have -been dangerous to thrust three battalions, without cavalry or guns, -between Mermet’s troops at Feira and the retiring columns of the -French horsemen. Hill therefore sent back his boats to bring up -Cameron’s brigade from Aveiro, and remained quiet all the morning. -At noon his pickets were driven in by French infantry: Mermet had at -last heard of his arrival, and had sent out the three battalions of -the 31st Léger from Feira to contain him and protect Franceschi’s -flank. The _voltigeur_ companies of this force pressed in upon Hill, -but would not adventure themselves too far. The afternoon was spent -in futile skirmishing, but at last the retreating French cavalry went -by at a great pace, and the English Light Dragoons, following them -in hot pursuit, came up with the 31st Léger. Hill, seeing himself -once more in touch with his friends, now pushed out of Ovar in force, -and pressed on the French _voltigeur_ companies, which hastily -retired, fell back on their regiment, and ultimately retired with -it and rejoined Mermet’s main body on the heights above Grijon. The -skirmishing had been almost bloodless--Hill lost not a single man, -and the French infantry only half-a-dozen wounded[412]. - - [412] The best account of this little skirmish is in the - _Journal_ of Fantin des Odoards of the 31st Léger (p. 230). - Napier does not mention that the reason why Hill did not move - in the afternoon was simply that he was already ‘contained,’ - and engaged with a force of French infantry of nearly his own - strength. - -On the morning of May 11, therefore, Hill’s troops on the left -and Cotton’s and Paget’s on the right lay opposite the position -which Mermet and Franceschi had taken up. Sherbrooke was still more -than ten miles to the rear, having barely crossed the Vouga, while -Cameron had not yet sailed up from Aveiro. Wellesley had therefore -some 1,500 cavalry and 7,000 infantry under his hand, with which to -assail the 1,200 horse and 4,200 foot of the two French divisions. -The enemy were strongly posted: Grijon lies in a valley, with woods -and orchards around it and a steep hillside at its back. The French -_tirailleurs_ held the village and the thickly-wooded slopes on each -side of it: behind them the fifteen battalions of Mermet were partly -visible among the trees on the sky-line of the heights. - -Wellesley was anxious to see whether the enemy intended to hold his -ground, or would retire before a demonstration: he therefore threw -the light companies of Richard Stewart’s brigade into the woods -on each side of Grijon. A furious fire at once broke out, and the -advancing line of skirmishers could make no headway. Realizing that -the French intended to fight a serious rearguard action, Wellesley -refused to indulge them with a frontal attack and determined to -turn both their flanks. While Cotton’s cavalry and the two English -battalions of Stewart’s brigade drew up opposite their centre, -Murray’s Germans marched off to the left, to get beyond Mermet’s -flank, while Colonel Doyle, with the battalion of the 16th Portuguese -which belonged to Stewart’s brigade, entered the woods on the extreme -right. Hill’s brigade, a mile or two to the left of Murray, pushed -forward on the Ovar-Oporto road, at a rate which would soon have -brought them far beyond the enemy’s rear. - -The meaning of these movements was not long hidden from the French: -the 1st and 2nd battalions of the King’s German Legion, led by -Brigadier Langwerth, were soon pressing upon their right flank, while -the Portuguese battalion plunged into the woods on the other wing -with great resolution. Wellesley himself was watching this part of -the advance with much interest: it was the first time that he had -sent his native allies into the firing line, and he was anxious to -see how they would behave. They surpassed his expectations: the 16th -was a good regiment, with a number of students of the University -of Coimbra in its ranks. They plunged into the thickets without a -moment’s hesitation, and in a few minutes the retiring sound of the -musketry showed that they were making headway in the most promising -style. This sight was an enormous relief to the Commander-in-chief: -if the Portuguese could be trusted in line of battle, his task became -immeasurably more easy. ‘You are in error in supposing that these -troops will not fight,’ he wrote to a down-hearted correspondent: -‘one battalion has behaved remarkably well under my own eyes[413].’ - - [413] Wellesley to Mackenzie [the latter had written that - he dared not trust his Portuguese battalions], _Wellington - Dispatches_, iv. p. 350. - -Mermet and Franceschi did not hesitate for long, when they saw their -flank guard beaten in upon either side, and heard that Hill was -marching upon their rear. They gave orders for their whole line to -retire without delay: the plateau behind them was so cut up with -stone walls enclosing fields, that the cavalry could be of no use in -covering the retreat, so Franceschi went to the rear first at a round -trot. Mermet followed, leaving the three battalions of the 31st Léger -to act as a rearguard[414]. - - [414] See Fantin des Odoards. Le Noble (incorrect as always) says - that the 47th brought up the rear. - -The whole British line now pressed in as fast as was possible in the -woods and lanes: the infantry could never overtake the enemy, but -two squadrons of the 16th and 20th Light Dragoons, galloping along -the high road, came up with Mermet’s rear a mile beyond the brow of -the hill. Charles Stewart, who was leading them on, was one of those -cavalry officers who thoroughly believe in their arm, and think that -it can go anywhere and do anything. He at once ordered Major Blake of -the 20th to charge the enemy, though the French were retiring along -a narrow _chaussée_ bordered with stone walls. Fortunately for the -dragoons their opponents were already shaken in _morale_: the three -battalions were not well together, isolated companies were still -coming in from the flanks, and the colonel of the 31st had completely -lost his head. On being charged, the rearguard fired a volley, which -brought down the front files of the pursuing cavalry, but then -wavered, broke, and began scrambling over the walls to escape out of -the high road into the fields. There followed a confused _mêlée_, for -the English dragoons also leaped the walls, and tried to follow the -broken enemy among thickets and ploughland. Of those of the French -who fled down the high road many were sabred, and a considerable -number captured: indeed the eagle of the regiment was in considerable -danger for some time. But the British had no supports at hand; they -scattered in reckless pursuit of the men who had taken to the fields, -and many were shot down when they had got entangled among trees and -walls. However, the charge, if somewhat reckless, was on the whole -successful: the dragoons lost no more than ten killed, one officer -and thirty troopers wounded, with eight or ten missing, while the -French regiment into which they had burst left behind it over 100 -prisoners and nearly as many killed and wounded[415]. - - [415] There are two excellent accounts of this charge in the - diaries of Tomkinson of the 16th Light Dragoons and Fantin des - Odoards of the 31st Léger. The former (pp. 9-11) holds that the - charge was indefensible, and blames Charles Stewart for ordering - it, and Major Blake for carrying it out. A different impression - is received from the French diarist, who speaks of it as a - complete rout of his regiment and very disastrous. ‘Assaillis - en détail nous avons été facilement mis en désordre, attendu - notre morcellement et la confusion que des charges audacieuses - de cavalerie mettaient dans nos rangs. Les trois bataillons ont - lâché pied et se sont enfuis à vau de route. Si le pays n’avait - pas offert des murs, des fossés et des haies, ils auraient été - entièrement sabrés.... Peu à peu les débris du régiment se sont - ralliés a la division, qui était en position à une lieue de - Porto. Notre perte a été considérable, mais notre aigle, qui a - couru de grands dangers dans cette bagarre, a fort heureusement - été sauvée.... Les dragons étaient acharnés a nous poursuivre, - et mal a pris ceux qui au lieu de gagner les collines out suivi - le vallon et la grande route’ (p. 231). It seems probable (a - thing extremely rare in military history) that Tomkinson and Des - Odoards, the two best narrators of the fight, actually met each - other. The former mentions that he chased an isolated French - infantry man, fired his pistol at his head, but missed, and that - he was at once shot in the shoulder by another Frenchman and - disabled. Then turning back, he was again fired at by several men - and brought down. Des Odoards says that he was chased by a single - English dragoon, who got up to him, fired at him point blank and - missed, whereupon a corporal of his company, who had turned back - to help him, shot the dragoon, who dropped his smoking pistol at - Des Odoards’ feet, and rolled off his horse. The narratives seem - to tally perfectly. - -For the rest of the day Mermet and Franceschi continued to fall back -before the advancing British, without making more than a momentary -stand. At dusk they reached Villa Nova, the transpontine suburb of -Oporto, which they evacuated during the night. The moment that they -had crossed the bridge of boats Soult caused it to be blown up, -and vainly believed himself secure, now that the broad and rapid -Douro was rolling between him and his enemy. The total loss of the -French in the day’s fighting had been about 250 men, of whom 100 -were prisoners. That of the British was two officers and nineteen -men killed, six officers and sixty-three men wounded, and sixteen -men missing. Nearly half the casualties were in the ranks of the -two squadrons of dragoons, the rest were divided between the light -companies of the 1st Battalion of Detachments, the 1st and 2nd -battalions of the German Legion, and the 16th Portuguese[416]. - - [416] The officers killed were Captain Detmering of the 1st K. - G. L., and a Portuguese ensign of the I/16th. Those wounded were - Captain Ovens and Lieutenant Woodgate of the 1st Battalion of - Detachments, Lieutenants Lodders and Lahngren of the K. G. L., - Cornet Tomkinson of the 16th Light Dragoons, and a Portuguese - lieutenant of the 1/16th. It would seem that some of the fourteen - ‘missing’ were infantry killed in the woods, whose bodies were - never found, but several belonged to the maltreated dragoon - squadrons, and were taken from having pursued too fast and far. - -On the night of the eleventh-twelfth, when Mermet and Franceschi -had joined him, Soult had collected in Oporto the main body of his -army: he had in hand of cavalry Franceschi’s four regiments, and of -infantry fifteen battalions of Mermet’s division, seven battalions -of Merle’s (forming Reynaud’s brigade), and seven of Delaborde’s, a -force in all of about 10,000 bayonets and 1,200 sabres. Only a few -miles away, at Baltar, on the road to Amarante, were Caulaincourt’s -dragoons and the remaining regiment of Delaborde’s division, an -additional force of somewhat over 2,000 men. With 13,000 men at his -disposal and a splendid position behind the Douro, he imagined that -he might retreat at leisure, maintaining the line of the impassable -river for some days more. He intended to hold Oporto long enough to -enable Loison to clear the road to Villa Real, and to allow Lorges -and the belated troops from the north time to march in to Amarante. -He was somewhat vexed to have received no news from Loison for four -days, but, when last heard of [on May 7], that general was moving -forward into the Tras-os-Montes, with orders to push on and open -a way for the army as far as the Spanish border. Silveira having -retired to the south bank of the Douro, the Marshal had no doubt that -Loison would easily brush away the _Ordenanza_, and open for the -whole _corps d’armée_ the passage to Zamora and the plains of Leon. - -Meanwhile the only danger which the Marshal feared was that Wellesley -might send forward the fleet of fishing-boats which had carried -Hill to Ovar, bring them to the estuary of the Douro, and use them -to pass troops across its lowest reach, just within the bar at -its mouth. Accordingly he told Franceschi to patrol carefully the -five miles of the river that lie between Oporto and the sea. The -infantry was comfortably housed in the city, with pickets watching -the quays: every boat on the river, as it was supposed, had either -been destroyed or brought over to the north bank. Wellesley would, as -Soult calculated, be compelled to spend several days in making his -preparations for passing the Douro, since he had no means of pushing -his army across the broad stream, save the fishing-smacks which he -might bring round from the lagoon of Ovar. - -The Marshal therefore was quite at his ease, even though he knew that -Wellesley’s vanguard was at Villa Nova in force. He imagined that he -could count on ample time for the evacuation of Oporto, and began -to make arrangements for a leisurely retreat. His first care was to -send off eastward all his convalescents, his reserve ammunition, -and his wheeled vehicles, of which he had collected a fair supply -during his seven weeks’ halt at Oporto. These were to march, under -the convoy of Mermet’s division, during the course of the morning. -The other troops from Merle’s and Delaborde’s divisions, together -with Franceschi’s horse, were to watch the lower Douro and check any -attempt of the British to cross. The Marshal was himself lodged at a -villa on the high ground west of the city, from which he commanded -a fine view of the whole valley from Oporto to the sea: the view -up-stream was blocked by the hill crowned by the Serra Convent, where -the river makes a slight bend in order to get round the projecting -heights on the southern bank. So thoroughly were both Soult and his -staff impressed with the idea that Wellesley would endeavour to -operate below, and not above, the city, that while the lower reaches -of the Douro were watched with the greatest care, a very inefficient -look-out was kept on the banks above Oporto: there would seem to -have been but a single battalion placed in that direction, and this -small force was lying far back from the river, with no proper system -of pickets thrown forward to the water’s edge. Yet the opposite bank -was full of cover, of thickets, gardens and olive groves, screening -several lanes and by-paths that had led down to ferries. Such of the -boats as had not been scuttled had been brought over to the north -bank, but they were not all protected by proper guards. All this was -inexcusably careless--the main blame must fall on the Marshal for his -_parti pris_ in refusing to look up-stream: though some must also -be reserved for General Quesnel, the governor of Oporto, and for -Foy, the brigadier whose battalions were in charge of the eastern -suburb of the city. But the fact was that none of the French officers -dreamed of the possibility that Wellesley might make an attempt, on -the very morning of his arrival, to cross the tremendous obstacle -interposed in his way by the rolling stream of the Douro. That he -would deliver a frontal attack on them in full daylight was beyond -the limits of the probable. They had no conception of the enterprise -of the man with whom they had to deal. - -There was this amount of truth in their view, that the British -General would not have made his daring stroke at Oporto, unless -he had ascertained that the carelessness of his adversaries had -placed an unexpected chance in his hands. By ten o’clock in the -morning Wellesley had concentrated behind Villa Nova the whole of -his force--the three columns of Paget, Hill, and Sherbrooke were now -up in line. They were kept out of sight of the enemy, some in the -lateral lanes of the suburb, but the majority hidden behind the back -slope of the hills, where orchards and vineyards gave them complete -cover from observers on the northern bank. - -While the troops were coming up, Sir Arthur mounted the Serra -height, and reconnoitred the whole country-side from the garden -of the convent. He had with him Portuguese notables who were well -acquainted with Oporto and its suburbs, including several persons -who had come over the river on the preceding day, and could give him -some notion of the general disposition and emplacement of the French -army. Sweeping the valley with his glasses he could see Franceschi’s -vedettes moving about on the heights down-stream, and heavy columns -of infantry forming up outside the north-eastern gates of the city. -At eleven o’clock this body moved off, escorting a long train of -wagons--it was Mermet’s division starting for Amarante in charge of -Soult’s convoy of sick and reserve artillery. On the quays, below the -broken bridge, many French pickets were visible, ensconced at the -openings of the streets which lead down to the water. But turning -his glass to the right, Wellesley could note that up-stream matters -looked very quiet, the rocky banks above the deep-sunk river were -deserted, and nothing was visible among the gardens and scattered -houses of the south-eastern suburb. It was possible that French -troops might be ensconced there, but no sign of them was to be seen. - -Many intelligence-officers had already been sent off, to scour the -southern bank of the river, and to ascertain whether by any chance -the enemy had overlooked some of the boats belonging to the riverside -villages. In a short time two valuable pieces of news were brought up -to the Commander-in-chief. The large ferry-boat at Barca d’Avintas, -four miles above the city, had been scuttled, but not injured beyond -the possibility of hasty repairs. It was already being baled out -and mended by the villagers. Nearer at hand a still more important -discovery was made. Colonel Waters, one of the best scouts in the -army, had met, not far south of the suburban village of Cobranloes, -an Oporto refugee, a barber by trade, who had crossed over from the -north bank in a small skiff, which he had hidden in a thicket. The -man reported that the opposite bank was for the moment unguarded by -the French, and pointed to four large wine-barges lying stranded -below the brink of the northern shore, with no signs of an enemy -in charge. Yet the position was one which should have been well -watched: here a massive building, the bishop’s Seminary, surrounded -by a high garden wall, lies with its back to the water. It was an -isolated structure, standing well outside the eastern suburb, in -fairly open ground, which could be easily swept by artillery fire -from the dominating position of the Serra heights. Waters had with -him as guide the prior of Amarante, and by his aid collected three or -four peasants from the neighbouring cottages. After some persuasion -from the ecclesiastic, these men and the barber consented to join the -British officer in a raid on the stranded barges on the further bank. -It was a hazardous undertaking, for one French picket had lately been -seen to pass by, and another might appear at any moment. But the -necessary half-hour was obtained; Waters and his fellows entered the -barber’s skiff, crossed the river unseen, got the four barges afloat, -and returned with them to the southern bank. They turned out to be -big clumsy vessels, capable of holding some thirty men apiece. The -explorer had noted that the Seminary buildings above were perfectly -empty. - -On receiving this intelligence, Wellesley resolved to take the chance -which the fates offered him. If the French had shown themselves -alert and vigilant, he could not have dared to throw troops across -the river into their midst. But they seemed asleep at high noon, and -their manifest negligence encouraged him. His mind was soon made up: -he ordered Murray with two battalions of his brigade[417], two guns, -and two squadrons of the 14th Light Dragoons, to march hard for Barca -d’Avintas, cross on the ferry, and seize a position on the opposite -bank capable of being defended against superior numbers. But this -(as the small force employed sufficiently demonstrates) was only -intended as a diversion. The main blow was to be delivered nearer -at hand. Wellesley had resolved to endeavour to seize the abandoned -Seminary, and to throw his main body across the river at this point -if possible. The local conditions made the scheme less rash in fact -than it appears on the map. The east end of the Serra hill completely -commands all the ground about the Seminary: three batteries[418] -were quietly pushed into the convent garden and trained upon the -roads leading to that isolated building--one along the shore, the -other further inland. If the place could once be seized, it would -be possible to protect its garrison by fire across the water. There -were only two artillery positions on the French bank, from which -the Seminary could be battered: one, close to the water’s edge, was -completely under the guns of the Serra convent. The other, on the -heights by the chapel of Bom Fin, was rather distant, and could not -be used against boats crossing the river, as they would be invisible -to gunners working on this emplacement. Cannon placed there might -do some damage to the Seminary buildings, but could not prevent the -garrison from being reinforced. Realizing all this at a glance, -Wellesley hurried down Hill’s brigade to the water’s edge, and the -moment that the leading company of the Buffs had got on board the -barges, bade them push off. In a quarter of an hour the first vessel -was over, and a subaltern and twenty-five men rushed up into the -empty enclosure of the Seminary, and closed the big iron gate opening -into the Vallongo road, which formed its only land-exit. The men from -the other barges were just behind: they set themselves to lining the -garden wall and to piling up wood and earth against it, in order to -give themselves a standing-place from which they could fire over the -coping. The barges went back with all speed, and were again loaded -and sent off. Meanwhile Wellesley and his staff were looking down in -breathless anxiety on the quiet bend of the river, the silent suburb, -and the toiling vessels. At any moment the alarm might be given, and -masses of the enemy might debouch from the city and dash in upon the -Seminary before enough men were across to hold it. For the best part -of an hour the Commander-in-chief must have been fully aware that -his daring move might end only in the annihilation of two or three -companies of a good old regiment, and a check that would appear as -the righteous retribution for recklessness. - - [417] 1st and 2nd Line battalions of the K.G.L., also a - detached company of rifles of the K.G.L. - - [418] Lane’s and Lawson’s British guns, and one K.G.L., battery. - -But no stir was seen in Oporto: the barges crossed for a second time -unmolested: on their third trip they carried over General Edward -Paget, whom Wellesley had placed in command of the whole movement. -More than half the Buffs had passed, and the Seminary was beginning -to be adequately manned, when at last some shots were heard outside -the gates, and a few minutes later a line of French _tirailleurs_, -supported by three battalions in column, came rushing down upon the -enclosures. A full hour had passed between the moment when the first -boatload of British soldiers had been thrown across the river, and -the time when the French discovered them! - -[Illustration: WELLESLEY’S PASSAGE OF THE DOURO. - -N.B. The trees on the cliff to the right are close outside the -enclosure of the Serra Convent: the roof of the Seminary is just -visible over the crest of the hill on the other bank. In the -background are the low slopes above Avintas.] - -The fact was that the enemy’s commander was in bed, and his staff -breakfasting! The Duke of Dalmatia had sat up all night dictating -dispatches, and making his arrangements for a leisurely flitting, -for he intended to stay two days longer in Oporto, so as to cover -the march of his other divisions towards Amarante and Villa Real. -His desk-work finished, he went to bed at about nine o’clock[419], -in full confidence that he was well protected by the river, and that -Wellesley was probably engaged in the laborious task of bringing up -boats to the mouth of the Douro, which would occupy him for at least -twenty-four hours. The staff were taking their coffee, after a late -_déjeuner_, when the hoof-beats of a furious rider startled them, -and a moment later Brossard, the aide-de-camp of General Foy, burst -into the Villa shouting that the English had got into the town. Led -to the Marshal’s bedside, he hurriedly explained that Foy had just -discovered the enemy passing by boats into the Seminary, and was -massing his brigade for an attack upon them. The Marshal started -up, sent his staff flying in all directions to warn the outlying -troops, ordered all the remaining _impedimenta_ to be sent off on -the Vallongo road, and dispatched Brossard back to Foy to tell him -to ‘push the English into the river.’ He was hardly dressed and on -horseback, when the noise of a distant fusillade, followed by heavy -artillery fire, gave the news that the attack on the Seminary had -already begun. - - [419] Soult’s doings on this day are best told by his - aide-de-camp St. Chamans, who was with him all the morning. No - attention need be paid to the narrative of his panegyrist Le - Noble, who tells a foolish story to the effect that a commandant - Salel came at six o’clock (more than four hours before the Buffs - began to pass), and assured some of Soult’s staff that the - English were already crossing the river. ‘On hearing this,’ says - Le Noble, ‘the Marshal sent for Quesnel, the governor of Oporto, - and asked if there was any truth in the rumour. The latter denied - it and Soult was reassured. If only Salel had been believed, - all the English who had then passed might have been killed or - captured,’ and a disaster avoided. As a matter of fact Quesnel - was right, and not a British soldier had yet crossed [_Campagne - de Galice_, p. 247]. - -It had been only at half-past ten that Foy, riding along the heights -by the Chapel of Bom Fin, had been informed that there were boats -on the river, filled with red-coated soldiery. It took him wellnigh -three-quarters of an hour to bring up his nearest regiment, the -17th Léger, and only at 11.30 did the attack on the Seminary begin. -The three battalions beset the northern and western sides of the -Seminary, and made a vigorous attempt to break in, while some guns -were hurried down to the river bank, just below the building, to fire -upon the barges that were bringing up reinforcements. - -Wellesley, from his eyrie on the Serra heights, had been watching -for the long-expected outburst of the French. The moment that they -came pressing forward, he gave orders for the eighteen guns in the -convent garden to open upon them. The first shot fired, a round of -shrapnel from the 5½-inch howitzer of Lane’s battery, burst just -over the leading French gun on the further bank, as it was in the -act of unlimbering, dismounted the piece, and by an extraordinary -chance, killed or wounded every man and horse attached to it[420]. -A moment later came the blast of the other seventeen guns, which -swept the level ground to the west of the Seminary with awful effect. -The French attack reeled back, and the survivors fled from the open -ground into the houses of the suburb, leaving the disabled cannon -behind them. Again and again they tried to creep forward, to flank -the English stronghold, and to fire at the barges as they went and -came, but on every occasion they were swept away by the hail of -shrapnel. They could, therefore, only attack the Seminary on its -northern front, where the buildings lay between them and the Serra -height, and so screened them from the artillery. But in half an -hour the 17th Léger was beaten off and terribly mauled; they had to -cross an open space, the Prado do Bispo, in order to get near their -adversaries, and the fire from the garden wall, the windows, and the -flat roof of the edifice, swept them away before they could close. - - [420] This interesting fact I owe to the diary of Captain Lane, - still in manuscript, of which a copy has been sent me by Col. - Whinyates, R. A., a specialist on the history of the British - artillery in the Peninsula. - -Meanwhile the English suffered little: the only serious loss -sustained was that of General Edward Paget, whose arm was shattered -by a bullet. He was replaced in command by Hill, who (like him) had -crossed in one of the earlier barges. The number of troops in the -building was always growing larger, the Buffs were all across, and -the 66th and 48th were beginning to follow. - -After a short slackening in the engagement, General Delaborde came -up, with the three battalions of the 70th of the line, to support -his brigadier. This new force executed a far more sustained and -desperate attack on the Seminary than had their predecessors. -Hill in his letters home called it ‘the _serious_ attack.’ But it -had no better fortune than the last: a thousand English infantry, -comfortably ensconced behind stone walls, and protected on their -flanks by the storm of shot and shell from the opposite bank of the -river, could not easily be moved. So well, indeed, were they covered, -that in three hours’ fighting they only lost seventy-seven men[421], -while the open ground outside was thickly strewn with the dead and -wounded Frenchmen. - - [421] Viz. 1/3rd, fifty men, 2/48th, seventeen men, 2/66th, ten - men, killed and wounded. The French 17th alone lost 177 [Foy’s - Dispatch]. - -Soult was now growing desperate: he ordered up from the city -Reynaud’s brigade, which had hitherto guarded the quays in the -neighbourhood of the broken bridge. His intention was to make one -more attack on the Seminary, and if that failed to draw off in the -direction of Vallongo and Amarante. This move made an end of his -chances; he had forgotten to reckon with the Portuguese. The moment -that the quays were left unguarded, hundreds of citizens poured out -of their houses and ran down to the water’s edge, where they launched -all the boats that had been drawn ashore, and took them over to the -English bank. Richard Stewart’s brigade and the Guards who had been -waiting under cover of the houses of Villa Nova, immediately began -to embark, and in a few moments the passage had begun. The 29th was -first formed up on the northern bank, and dashed up the main street -into the city, meeting little or no opposition; the 1st Battalion of -Detachments and the Guards’ brigade soon followed. In half an hour -they had come upon the flank of the French force which was attacking -the Seminary, and had taken in the rear and captured one of Soult’s -reserve batteries, whose horses were shot down before they could -escape along a narrow lane. As the British went pouring through -Oporto the whole population, half mad with joy, stood cheering at the -windows and on the roofs, waving their handkerchiefs and shouting -_Viva_. The rabble poured down into the streets, and began to attack -the French wounded, so that Sherbrooke had to detach a company to -protect them from assassination[422]. - - [422] All this is well described by Leslie of the 29th (p. 113), - Stothert of the Scots Fusilier Guards (p. 41), and Cooper of the - 2/7th, who crossed later. - -When Soult found himself thus attacked in the flank, he saw that -there was no more to be done, and bade the whole army retreat at -full speed along the road to Vallongo and Baltar. They went off in a -confused mass, the regiments all mingled together, and the artillery -jammed in the midst of the column. Hill came out of the Seminary and -joined in the pursuit, which was urged for three miles. ‘They made -no fight,’ writes an eye-witness, ‘every man seemed running for his -life, throwing away their knapsacks and arms, so that we had only -the trouble of making many prisoners every instant, all begging for -quarter and surrendering with great good humour[423].’ - - [423] Leslie, ibid. - -The French army might have been still further mauled, and indeed -almost destroyed, if Wellesley’s detached force under Murray had -been well handled by its commander. The two battalions of the German -Legion, with their attendant squadrons of the 14th Light Dragoons, -had crossed the Douro at the ferry of Barca d’ Avintas wholly -unopposed. It was a slow business, but the detachment was over -long ere Soult had abandoned his attack on the Seminary. Advancing -cautiously along the river bank, Murray suddenly saw the whole French -army come pouring past him in total disorder on the line of the -Vallongo road. He might have made an attempt to throw himself across -their path, or at least have fallen upon their flank and endeavoured -to cut the column in two; but thinking them far too strong for his -small force, and forgetting their demoralization, he halted and -allowed them to go by. When all had passed, General Charles Stewart, -who had been sent in search of Murray by the Commander-in-chief, -came galloping up to the force, and took from it a squadron of the -14th[424], with which he made a dash at the enemy’s last troops. The -French had now formed a sort of rearguard, but the dragoons rode -into it without hesitation. The French generals were bringing up the -rear, and trying to keep their men steady. Delaborde was unhorsed -and for a moment was a prisoner, but escaped owing to his captor -being killed. Foy received a sabre cut on the shoulder. The infantry -broke, and nearly 300 of them were cut off and captured. But the -dragoons also suffered heavily; of about 110 men who took part in the -charge no less than thirty-five men were killed and wounded. Murray, -who watched the whole skirmish from his position on a neighbouring -hillside, gave no assistance to his cavalry, though the intervention -of his two battalions would have led to the capture of the whole of -Soult’s rearguard. It was to infantry of Sherbrooke’s division that -the dragoons turned over their prisoners before rejoining their other -squadron[425]. - - [424] So Hawker of that regiment, who took part in the charge, - and describes it well. In Wellesley’s dispatch, _two_ squadrons - are wrongly named. - - [425] The best account of this charge is the diary of Hawker; - it runs as follows: ‘After going at full speed, enveloped in a - cloud of dust for nearly two miles, we cleared our infantry, and - that of the French appeared. A strong body was drawn up in close - column, with bayonets ready to receive us on their front. On each - side of the road was a stone wall, bordered outwardly with trees. - On our left, in particular, numbers of the French were posted - with their pieces resting on the wall, which flanked the road, - ready to give us a running fire as we passed. This could not but - be effectual, as our men (in threes) were close to the muzzles of - their muskets, and barely out of the reach of a _coup de sabre_. - In a few seconds the ground was covered with our men and horses. - Notwithstanding this we penetrated the battalion in the road, the - men of which, relying on their bayonets, did not give way till - we were close upon them, when they fled in confusion. For some - time the contest was kept up hand to hand. After many efforts - we succeeded in cutting off 300, of whom most were secured as - prisoners. But our loss was very considerable. Of fifty-two - men in the leading troop ten were killed, and eleven severely - wounded (besides others slightly), and six taken prisoners.’ (Of - the last all save one succeeded in slipping off and got back.) - Out of four officers engaged three were wounded: Hervey, the - major in command, lost an arm. Foy called the attack ‘une charge - incroyable.’ - -So ended the battle of Oporto, daring in its conception, splendidly -successful in its execution, yet not so decisive as it might have -been, had Murray but done his duty during the pursuit. The British -loss was astoundingly small--only twenty-three killed, ninety-eight -wounded, and two missing: among the dead there was not a single -officer: the wounded included a general (Paget) and three majors. -The casualties of the French were, as was natural, much greater: -the attacks on the Seminary had cost them dear. They lost about 300 -killed and wounded and nearly as many prisoners in the field, while -more than 1,500 sick and wounded were captured in the hospitals of -Oporto[426]. The trophies consisted of the six field-pieces taken -during the fighting, a great number of baggage wagons, and fifty-two -Portuguese guns, dismounted but fit for further service, which were -found in the arsenal. Soult had destroyed, before retreating, the -rest of the cannon which he had captured in the Portuguese lines on -March 29. - - [426] Fantin des Odoards (p. 233) says that the French left - 1,800 men in the hospitals. This is probably a little too high - an estimate: there were only 2,150 French sick in Braga, Viana, - and Oporto on May 10--five-sixths of them at Oporto. But many - convalescents had marched with Mermet early on the eleventh. - Wellington in his first dispatch merely says that he had taken - 700 sick in the hospitals. But three days later, in a letter - to Admiral Berkeley, he writes that he has 2,000 sick, wounded - and captured French in his hands, and must send them to England - at once (_Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 337). He therefore asks - for shipping for them at the rate of two tons per man. Allowing - for 300 unwounded prisoners at Oporto, and 100 at Grijon, there - remain 1,500, or somewhat more, for the men in hospital. - - - - -SECTION XIV: CHAPTER III - -SOULT’S RETREAT FROM OPORTO - - -The headlong charge of Hervey’s squadron of the 14th Light Dragoons -was the last molestation which fell to the lot of Soult’s retreating -column on the afternoon of May 12. Marching till dark, the disordered -infantry encamped at Baltar, ten miles from Oporto, where they -fell in with the detached regiment of Delaborde’s division and -with Caulaincourt’s dragoons, who had been guarding this half-way -stage between Amarante and Oporto, ever since Loison had marched on -into the Tras-os-Montes ten days before. Of the rest of the French -army, Franceschi (always in the post of danger) covered the rear at -Vallongo, just west of Baltar. Mermet, with the division that had -marched from Oporto before Wellesley’s attack was developed, had -encamped on the Souza river, four miles ahead of the main column. -The Marshal had thus nearly 13,000 men concentrated, and proposed -next day to push on for Amarante, in the wake of Loison, who (as he -supposed) must now be well ahead in the Tras-os-Montes, clearing -for him the way into Spain. It was disquieting, however, to find -that no news from that general had yet come to hand--indeed he had -not been heard of since May 7, when he was just starting out on his -expedition. Wherever Loison might be, the Marshal was bound to follow -him in haste, since it was certain that Wellesley would be close at -his heels, and that no time was to be lost in lingering. - -At half-past one in the morning Soult was roused from sleep, and -informed that the long-expected messenger from Loison had at last -arrived[427]. The news which he brought was nothing less than -appalling: the French detached corps had been not only checked but -beaten, the bridge of Amarante had been lost, and Loison was hastily -retreating to the north-west at the moment that his chief was moving -eastward to join him. - - [427] See Le Noble, _Campagne de Galice_, pp. 250-2. - -Beresford’s turning movement, in fact, had been completely -successful--far more so than Wellesley had thought likely; he had not -only succeeded in placing himself across the French line of retreat -into Spain, but had beaten Loison and thrown him back into Soult’s -arms. - -What had happened was shortly this. On May 8 Beresford had picked -up Wilson’s detachment at Vizeu: on the tenth he had met Silveira -at Lamego. He had thus concentrated some 10,500 or 11,000 men, all -Portuguese save Tilson’s brigade and the single squadron of the -14th Light Dragoons. Learning at Lamego that, as late as the ninth, -Loison was still in the neighbourhood of Amarante, and had not yet -penetrated far into the Tras-os-Montes, Beresford resolved to take -the risk of passing the Douro and to throw his army directly across -the path of the advancing French. On the tenth, the same day on -which the force from Coimbra reached Lamego, he sent Silveira over -the river by the bridge of Peso da Regoa, which had never passed out -of the hands of the Portuguese and had a strong _tête-de-pont_ on -its northern side. Silveira had barely crossed when Loison, who had -spent the previous day at Mezamfrio, ten miles away on the Amarante -road, came up against him with Heudelet’s and Sarrut’s infantry and -Marisy’s dragoons--about 6,500 sabres and bayonets. Emboldened by -having entrenchments to help him, and by knowing that Beresford was -close behind, Silveira stood firm at the _tête-de-pont_ and accepted -battle. - -Loison was somewhat discouraged by his adversary’s confidence, and -did not fail to note the masses of troops on the southern bank of -the Douro, which were moving up to the bridge to support Silveira. -However, late in the afternoon he attacked the Portuguese, but was -steadily met and beaten off with some loss[428]. Thereupon he drew -back and retired to Mezamfrio. On the following day (May 11) he -continued his retreat to Amarante, closely pursued by Silveira, who -kept driving in his rearguard wherever it attempted to make a stand. - - [428] Loison reported to Soult that he lost only a _chef de - bataillon_ and eighty men, but that the horses of himself and - Generals Heudelet and Maransin were killed under them. The - figures given are probably an understatement. - -Beresford meanwhile brought his own troops across the Douro on May -11, in the wake of Silveira’s division. On the twelfth he pushed -forward to Amarante, intending to fight Loison if the latter should -try to hold his ground beyond the bridge. But on his approach he -found that the French rearguard (Sarrut’s brigade) had already been -driven across the water by the Portuguese[429]. The bridge, however, -still remained in Loison’s hands, and as it was no less defensible -from the eastern than from the western bank, the army could get no -further forward. - - [429] The British brigade of Tilson was to have led the attack. - They were burning for a fight. ‘I never witnessed so much - enthusiasm,’ writes an eye-witness, ‘as was shown by the men. - The advance was a perfect trot, but on our arrival we found the - enemy had fled.’ (From an unpublished letter of Lord Gough, - then colonel of the 87th regiment, which has been placed at my - disposal by the kindness of Mr. R. Rait of New College, who is - preparing a life of that officer.) - -Matters were now at a deadlock, for if Beresford could not cross -the Tamega, it was clear that Loison, even if heavily reinforced -from Oporto, would not be able to force the imposing position on -the heights commanding the bridge, which was now held by 11,000 -men, including a British brigade. But he might, and should, have -continued to hold the town and the bridge-head, till further orders -reached him from Soult. Instead of doing so, he made up his mind -to retreat at once, and marched off early on the evening of May 12 -along the road to Guimaraens and Braga. Thus at the moment when -Soult was retiring on Amarante, Loison abandoned the position which -covered his chief’s chosen line of retreat. Moreover, he was so -tardy in sending news of his intentions to head quarters, that the -aide-de-camp who bore his dispatch only reached Baltar after midnight -on the twelfth-thirteenth: this was the first report that Soult had -received from him since May 8. It was a military crime of the highest -magnitude that he had neither informed his chief of the check at -Peso da Regoa on the tenth, nor of his retreat to Amarante on the -eleventh. Knowledge of these facts would have been invaluable to -the Marshal, since it would have shown him that the route through -the Tras-os-Montes was blocked, and that he must not count upon an -undisturbed retreat into Spain. If he had known of this, he would not -have evacuated Oporto by the Baltar road, but would have been forced -to march northward on Braga or Guimaraens, instead of due east. So -strange, in fact, was Loison’s slackness, that Soult’s advocates -have not hesitated to accuse him of deliberate treachery, and have -hinted that he was engaged in Argenton’s plot--a hypothesis which -would have explained his conduct clearly enough. But, as a matter -of fact, Argenton’s revelations to Wellesley show that this was not -the case, and that the conspirators looked upon Loison and Delaborde -as the two officers who were most likely to give them trouble. It -must therefore have been sheer military incapacity, and disgust at -the whole Portuguese expedition, which lay at the bottom of Loison’s -misbehaviour. Disbelieving in Soult’s plan of campaign, he was -probably bent on compelling his chief to retire to Braga, and was (of -course) quite ignorant of the fact that Wellesley’s capture of Oporto -had changed the whole face of affairs, and that the retreat in that -direction was no longer open. - -Despondent, tired out by the work of the preceding day, and suffering -physically from a heavy fall from his horse during the retreat, Soult -was roused from his slumbers to read Loison’s disastrous dispatch. -When he had made out its full meaning he was appalled. All his plans -were shattered, and he was clearly in imminent danger, for Wellesley -from Oporto and Beresford from Amarante might converge upon him in -the morning, with nearly 30,000 men, if it should chance that they -had made out his position. No help could come from Loison, who, -having now reached Guimaraens, was separated from the main body by -the roadless expanse of the rugged Serra de Santa Catalina. Eastward -lay one hostile force, westward another, to the south was the -impassable Douro, to the north the inhospitable mountains. It was -useless to think of making a desperate dash at Beresford’s army: in -open ground an attack on the Portuguese might have been practicable, -but the bridge of Amarante was a post impossible to force in a hurry, -and while the attack on it was in progress, it was certain that -Wellesley would come up from the rear. The situation and the results -of Baylen would inevitably be reproduced. - -Realizing this, the Duke of Dalmatia came to the conclusion that -the only course open to him was to abandon everything that could -not be carried on his men’s backs, and to make a desperate attempt -to cross the Serra de Santa Catalina before the news of his straits -had reached the enemy. He imagined that there must be some sort -of a footpath from Baltar or Penafiel to Guimaraens: in a thickly -peopled country like Northern Portugal, the hill-folk have short cuts -of their own--the only difficulty for the stranger is to discover -them. Hasty inquiries in the bivouac of the army produced a Navarese -camp-follower, who said that he knew the localities and could point -out a bad mule-track, which climbed the hillside above the Souza -torrent, and came down into the valley of the Avé, not far south of -Guimaraens[430]. It was the kind of path in which the army would meet -every sort of difficulty, and where the head of the column might be -stopped by a couple of hundred _Ordenanza_, if it should chance that -the Portuguese peasantry were on the alert. But it seemed the only -practicable way out of the situation, and the Marshal resolved to try -it. - - [430] ‘Un de ces Navarrins, qui vont tous les ans en Portugal - parcourir les villages pour y couper les cochons qu’on veut - engraisser,’ says Le Noble [p. 254]. ‘Une espèce de contrebandier - que le général Dulauloi avait trouvé,’ says St. Chamans, Soult’s - aide-de-camp (p. 147). - -At daybreak the army was warned of its danger; and wasting no time -on councils of war or elaborate orders, Soult sent round word that -the troops were to abandon everything that could not be carried on -the backs of men or horses, and to take to the hills. An immense mass -of baggage and plunder had to be left on the banks of the Souza, -including the whole of the heavy convoy which Mermet had escorted -out of Oporto on the previous day. The Marshal even decided that the -infantry should turn out of their knapsacks everything except food -and cartridges, an order which those who had in their possession -gold plate and other valuable plunder of small bulk took care to -disobey. The cannon were destroyed by being placed mouth to mouth -and discharged simultaneously in pairs. As much of the reserve -ammunition for infantry as could be packed in convenient bundles -was laden on the backs of the artillery horses. The rest, with all -the powder wagons, was collected in a mass, ready to be fired when -the army should have absconded. One curious circumstance, which -displays better than anything else the hurry of the retreat, is worth -mentioning. The military chest of the 2nd Corps was well filled--it -is said to have contained nearly £50,000 in Portuguese silver. The -Marshal ordered the paymaster-in-chief to serve out all that he could -to the regimental paymasters. Only two of these officials could be -found, and they were unable to carry off more than a fraction of the -money. Soult then ordered the treasure-chests to be broken open, and -sent word that the men, as they passed, might help themselves. But -hardly a soldier took advantage of the offer: they looked at the -bulky bags of _cruzados novos_, shook their heads, and hurried on. -Those who were tempted at first were seen, later in the day, tossing -the weighty pieces into the ravine of the Souza. Perceiving that -there was no way of getting rid of the mass of silver, Soult at last -ordered the _fourgons_ containing it to be dragged alongside of the -powder wagons. When the train was exploded, after the rearguard had -passed, the money was scattered to the winds. For years after the -peasants of Penafiel were picking up stray coins on the hillside[431]. - - [431] Several of the French diarists relate this curious - incident. ‘L’argent blanc ne tentait personne,’ says Fantin des - Odoards, p. 234, ‘à cause de sa pesanteur et de son inutilité - momentaire. On permit le pillage des fourgons du payeur, et chose - inouïe, il n’y fut presque pas touché. Les soldats regardaient - en passant les sacs, secouaient la tête et s’éloignaient sans y - mettre la main. Pour moi, je m’emparai d’un sac de 2,400 francs; - cette lourde somme m’embarassait: elle aurait blessé mon cheval, - et après l’avoir portée pendant une lieue je l’abandonnai’ [p. - 234]. ‘Les grenadiers du 70e servaient d’escorte au trésor,’ says - Le Noble, ‘l’intendant-général les invita de prendre des fonds. - Ayant rencontré leur officier, le lieutenant Langlois, à Toro, - il lui demanda ce qu’avaient pu emporter ses soldats. “_Rien_,” - répliqua-t-il, “ils portaient la caisse à tour de rôle pour - quelque distance, et la jetèrent ensuite.”’ Naylies also mentions - the dispersion of the treasure. The reader will compare this - incident with the rolling of Moore’s treasure down the cliffs of - Herrerias during the Corunna retreat. Soult certainly scattered - his cash more widely. - -As the French army was beginning its weary climb over the Serra de -Santa Catalina a heavy drenching rain commenced to fall. It lasted -for three days, and added much to the miseries of the retreat; but -it was not without its advantages to the fugitive host, for it kept -the Portuguese peasantry indoors, and it would seem that no one in -the mountain villages got wind of the movement for many hours. It -was not till the French had crossed the ridge and descended, late -in the dusk, on to the village of Pombeiro in the valley of the Avé -that they began to be molested by the _Ordenanza_. After a few shots -had been fired the peasants were driven off. Next morning [May 14] -Soult got into communication with Loison, who was still lying at -Guimaraens with all his troops. On the same day Lorges’ dragoons and -the garrison of Viana came in from the north, and the whole army, -still over 20,000 strong, was reconcentrated. The first danger, that -of destruction piecemeal, had been avoided. But Soult’s desperate -move had only warded off the peril for the moment: he had still to -fear that Wellesley and Beresford might close in upon him before he -could get clear of the mountains. - -It remains to be seen how the two British generals had employed the -day during which the French were scaling the heights of the Serra -de Santa Catalina. Wellesley had crossed in person to Oporto long -ere the fighting was over, and had established his head quarters -in Soult’s villa on the heights, where he and his staff thought -themselves fortunate in finding ready for their consumption the -excellent dinner which had been prepared for the Marshal. As long -as daylight lasted the British infantry continued to be ferried -over to the city, but they were not all across when night fell. The -artillery, the train, and all the regimental baggage were still on -the wrong side of the river, and as the great bridge was destroyed -beyond hope of repair, all the _impedimenta_ had to be brought over -in boats and barges. It was mainly this fact that delayed Wellesley -from making an early move on the thirteenth. He could not advance -without his guns and his reserve ammunition, and did not receive them -till the day was far spent and the natural hour for marching was -past. There were other circumstances which hindered him from pressing -on as he would have liked to do. The infantry were tired out: they -had marched more than eighty miles during the last four days, and -had fought hard at Grijon and Oporto. Human nature could do no more -without a halt, and Wellesley was forced to grant it. Moreover, -there was the question of food to be taken into consideration. The -troops had outrun their supplies, and the provision wagons were still -trailing up from Coimbra. In Oporto no stores of any importance were -discovered, for Soult had stopped collecting more than he could -carry, the moment that he made up his mind to retreat, and had been -living from hand to mouth during the last few days of his sojourn in -the city. The only thing that abounded was port wine, and from that -the soldiers had to be kept away, or results disastrous to discipline -would have followed[432]. - - [432] When the troops got at the wine they drank only too well: - Hartmann in his _Journal_ records that twenty of his German - Legion gunners drank forty-one bottles of port at a sitting (p. - 71). - -With great reluctance, therefore, Wellesley resolved to halt for -a day, only sending forward Murray and the German Legion, with a -couple of squadrons, along the Baltar road. This brigade did not come -up with Soult’s rearguard, though they found ample traces of his -passage in the shape of murdered stragglers and abandoned plunder. -No doubt the Commander-in-chief would have directed them to push on -further, and have supported them with every battalion that could -still march ten miles, if only he had been aware of the fact that -Beresford had got possession of the bridge of Amarante, and that the -enemy was therefore in a trap. But he was only in communication with -his lieutenant by the circuitous route of Lamego and Mezamfrio, and -the last news that he had received of the turning column led him to -believe that it was still in the neighbourhood of Villa Real, and -that Loison continued to hold the passage of the Tamega. Writing to -Beresford on the night of the capture of Oporto, he desired him to -make every effort to hold on to Villa Real, and to keep Soult in -check till he himself could overtake him[433]. - - [433] _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 327. To Marshal Beresford, - from Oporto, night of the twelfth. - -It was not till the afternoon of the thirteenth that Wellesley -obtained information that put him on the right track. The -intelligence officer with Murray’s column[434] sent him back word -that heavy explosions had been heard at Penafiel, and that the smoke -of large fires was visible along the hillside above it. This gave -a strong hint of what was probably taking place in that direction, -but it was not till five in the afternoon that full information came -to hand. This was brought by the Portuguese secretary of General -Quesnel, who had deserted his employer and ridden back to Oporto, -to give the valuable news which would save him from being tried for -treason for serving the enemy. He gave an accurate and detailed -account of all that had happened to Soult’s column, and had seen it -start off on the break-neck path to Guimaraens. Only about Loison was -he uncertain--that officer, he said, was probably still at Amarante, -holding back Silveira and Beresford[435]. - - [434] A Captain Mellish, _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 330 [to - Murray] and 332 [to Beresford]. - - [435] Deposition of the Secretary to the late Governor of - Oporto. _Wellington Supplementary Dispatches_, vi. 262 [May 13, - afternoon]. - -On receipt of this important intelligence Wellesley sent orders to -Murray to press on his small force of cavalry, and some mounted -rifles (if he could secure horses or mules) as far as Penafiel, to -verify the secretary’s information[436]. A later dispatch bade him -press on to Amarante, if Loison was still there, in order to take -that officer in the rear; but if he were gone, the Legionary brigade -was to follow Soult over the hills towards Guimaraens and Braga, and -endeavour to catch up his rearguard[437]. The orders arrived too -late: Murray, on the morning of the fourteenth, learnt that Loison -had long ago departed, and that Soult was far on his way. He followed -the Marshal across the Serra de Santa Catalina, but never got near -him, though he picked up many French stragglers, and saw the bodies -of many more, who had been assassinated by the peasantry[438]. - - [436] _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 330, afternoon of May 13. - - [437] Ibid. iv. 332, morning of May 14. - - [438] It is astonishing to find that Murray succeeded in taking - two light three-pounder guns over this difficult path. The fact - reflects great credit on his gunners. - -Meanwhile Beresford had acted with great decision, and with an -intelligence which he did not always display. When, on the morning -of the thirteenth, he found that the French had disappeared, and -that Amarante (after having been thoroughly sacked)[439] had been -abandoned to him, he did not waste time in a fruitless pursuit of -Loison in the direction of Guimaraens, but resolved to endeavour -to cut off the retreat of the whole French army towards the north. -If they had absconded by way of Braga, the chase would fall to -Wellesley’s share, but if they had taken the other road by Chaves, -all would depend on his own movements. Accordingly he resolved to -march at once on the last named town, without waiting for orders -from the Commander-in-chief. Having hastily collected three days’ -provisions, he moved off himself by the high-road up the valley of -the Tamega, detaching Silveira and his division to strike across -country, and occupy the defiles of Ruivaens and Salamonde on the -Braga-Chaves road, where it would be possible to detain, if not to -stop, the retreating columns of Soult if they should take this way -[May 14]. While on his march Beresford received Wellesley’s letters, -which prescribed to him exactly the line of conduct that he had -already determined to pursue[440]. After three difficult marches in -drenching rain, which turned every rivulet into an almost impassable -torrent, and spoilt the inadequate provision of bread which had been -served out to the men, the division reached Chaves about 12 p.m. -on the night of the sixteenth-seventeenth. The men were absolutely -exhausted; though the distance covered had not exceeded some fourteen -or fifteen miles per day, yet the rain, the starvation, and the bad -road had much thinned the ranks, and those who had kept up with the -colours were dropping with fatigue. The slowness of the column’s -advance was certainly not Beresford’s fault; he had allowed only a -six hours’ halt each day on the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth, -and had been pushing on as hard as was, humanly speaking, possible. -Nevertheless he was too late: on the seventeenth, the all-important -day of the campaign, he held Chaves, but his troops were too tired -to start early or to march far. The bad weather which made the French -retreat so miserable, had at least saved the flying army from its -pursuers[441]. - - [439] The state of Amarante was dreadful. ‘I was never witness to - such a scene of misery and horror as here presented itself,’ says - Lord Gough in an unpublished letter to his father. ‘Every house - and public building of every description, with the exception of a - monastery which covered the passage of the bridge, a chapel, and - about five detached houses, was burnt to the ground, with many of - the late inhabitants lying dead in the streets.’ - - [440] The best testimony to Beresford’s good conduct is that - Wellesley (_Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 343) says that he had - exactly anticipated the instructions sent him, and carried them - out on his own initiative. Napier’s criticism (ii. 116-7) is - unfair and misleading. - - [441] The best account of Beresford’s forced march is to be found - in the unpublished letter of Lord Gough (then major of the 87th) - which, as I have already mentioned, has been shown me by Mr. R. - Rait of New College. He says: ‘The business of crossing the river - took the Brigade (Tilson’s) four hours: the evening set in with - a most dreadful fall of rain, which continued all night, and the - next three days and nights. Our road lay over almost impassable - mountains, made more so by the rain that swelled the mountain - rivulets into rivers. In the dark many men lost the column, - several fell into pits excavated by the falling water: many lay - down in the road from fatigue and hunger, and the greater part - lost their shoes.... Next day we pursued our melancholy march at - five o’clock, the men nearly fainting with hunger: about twelve - we fell in with some cars of bread belonging to a Portuguese - division, which Gen. Tilson pressed for the men; this (with - some wine) enabled us to proceed, and that night at twelve we - reached Chaves, after a forced march of three days, with only - twelve hours’ halt. The men were without a shoe to their feet, - and hundreds fallen out from fatigue and hunger.... The 88th had, - of 700 with which they joined us, only 150 in the ranks.... Part - of the officers and nearly all the men had their feet cut to the - bone for want of shoes.’ - -Soult meanwhile had gathered in Loison and Lorges, and his whole army -was concentrated at Guimaraens on the morning of the fourteenth. From -the point where he now lay, in the upper valley of the Avé, there -are only two carriage roads, that to Amarante by which Loison had -arrived, and that to Braga. There was a bare chance that if Wellesley -had received his information late, and moved slowly, it might be -possible to escape from him by the road to Braga. If, however, he -had marched promptly from Oporto, he would be able to intercept the -retreating army at that place. Soult refused to take this risk, and -resolved instead to plunge once more into the mountains, and to cross -the watershed between the Avé and the Cavado by a rugged hill-path, -no better than that which had served him between Penafiel and -Guimaraens. It was accordingly necessary to sacrifice all the guns, -munitions, and baggage belonging to Loison and Lorges, just as those -of Mermet and Delaborde had been destroyed on the banks of the Souza. -The guns were burst, the ammunition exploded, the baggage piled in -heaps and burned. After this second holocaust the army struck up a -track by the Salto torrent, which ultimately brought them over the -crest, and down upon the village of Lanhozo, eight miles from Braga, -and just at the foot of the position which Eben had occupied during -his unhappy battle on March 20. The weather had been abominable, and -the rearguard had been forced to bivouac in misery on the hills, -the darkness having come down upon them before the descent into the -valley of the Cavado was completed. - -Next morning Soult sent out Lahoussaye’s dragoons down the valley -of the Cavado towards Braga, to see if that city was already in -Wellesley’s hands or whether it was still possible to escape across -his front and gain the high road to Galicia. As the Marshal had -feared would be the case, they met British light cavalry pushing -briskly up the road towards them; it was clear that the pursuers were -already in Braga, and Soult at once ordered his columns to turn their -faces to the north-east, and follow the road up the Cavado towards -Salamonde and Ruivaens. The British were ere long visible in close -pursuit. - -Sir Arthur had quitted Oporto on the fourteenth with his whole force -except the brigade of Murray, which had already gone forth on the -eastern line of pursuit, and the 20th Light Dragoons, which he had -been ordered to send back to Lisbon. On that day his army covered -twenty-two miles of road in vile weather, and slept at Villa Nova de -Famelicção. On the fifteenth the British started early, and their -vanguard had already marched twelve miles and reached Braga when -the French dragoons were descried. The latter, seeing themselves -forestalled, retired on their main body, and when Wellesley’s men -mounted the crest of the Monte Adaufé (Eben’s old position in the -battle of March 20), they caught a glimpse of the whole French -army retiring up the valley. Soult, immediately on hearing that -the pursuers were in Braga, had commenced a new retreat. He had -rearranged his order of march. Loison now led the column, with -Heudelet’s division and Lorges’ dragoons: then came the droves of -artillery horses and pack-mules, with the reserve ammunition and the -little baggage that had been saved, followed by Delaborde and Mermet. -Merle’s infantry and Franceschi’s horse were in the rear, under the -Marshal’s own command. In this order the French remounted the stream -of the Cavado as far as Salamonde, where the broad valley narrows -down to a defile. They were followed by the British light dragoons, -but the infantry of the pursuing column had not got far beyond Braga, -where Wellesley’s head quarters were established that night. Murray’s -German brigade, which had crossed the mountains from Guimaraens in -Soult’s wake, joined the main body on this evening. - -On reaching Salamonde Soult was informed by the cavalry in his front -that they had been brought to stand at the bridge of Ponte Nova, a -few miles up the defile, by a body of _Ordenanza_, who had taken up -the wooden flooring of the bridge, torn down its balustrades, and -barricaded themselves upon the further side. Unless they could be -dislodged ruin stared the Marshal in the face: for the British were -close in his rear, and there was no lateral line of escape from the -precipitous defile. Surrender next morning must follow. In this -crisis Soult saw no chance of safety before him save a dash at the -half-demolished bridge. When darkness had fallen he sent for Major -Dulong, an officer of the 31st Léger, who enjoyed the reputation of -being the most daring man in the whole army, and told him that he -must surprise the Portuguese by a sudden rush at midnight, and win -the passage at all costs. He was allowed to pick 100 volunteers from -his own regiment for the enterprise. - -The safety of a whole army has seldom depended upon a more desperate -venture than that which Dulong took in hand. Nothing remained of the -bridge save the two large cross-beams, no more than three or four -feet broad; they were slippery with continuous rain, and had to be -passed in complete darkness under the driving sleet of a bitter north -wind. Fortunately for the assailants the same cold and wet which -made their enterprise so dangerous had driven the _Ordenanza_ under -cover: they had retired to some huts a little way beyond the bridge. -If they left any one on guard, the sentinel had followed his friends, -for when Dulong and his party crept up to the passage they found it -absolutely deserted. They crossed in single file, and reached the -further side unobserved, losing one man who slipped and fell into the -fierce river below. A moment later they came on the Portuguese, who -were surprised in their sleep: many were bayonetted, the rest fled -in dismay--they were but a few score of peasants, and were helpless -when once the passage had been won. - -For six hours Soult’s sappers were working hard to replace the -flooring of the ruined bridge with tree trunks, and boards torn from -the houses of the neighbouring village. At eight it was practicable, -and the troops began to cross. It was a long business: for 20,000 -men with 4,000 cavalry horses and a great drove of pack-animals had -to be passed over the narrow, rickety, and uneven structure, whose -balustrades had not been replaced. All the day was spent in hurrying -the troops across, but they got forward so slowly that Soult saw -himself forced to place a strong rearguard in position, to hold back -the pursuers till the main body was safe. He left behind a brigade of -Merle’s division, and two of Franceschi’s cavalry regiments, ranged -behind a lateral ravine which crosses the road some distance below -the bridge. They were placed with their right on the rough river bank -and their left on the cliffs which overhang the road; orders were -given to the effect that they must hold on at all costs till the army -had completed the passage of the Ponte Nova. At half-past one the -British light dragoons arrived in front of the position, saw that -they could not force it, and started a bickering fire with the French -pickets, while they waited for the main body to come up. - -Owing to the long distance which Wellesley’s infantry had to cover, -the day wore on without any serious collision on this point. But -meanwhile Soult found that another and more serious danger lay ahead -of him. After crossing the Cavado at the Ponte Nova there were two -paths available for the army--the main road leads eastward to Chaves -by way of Ruivaens, a branch, however, turns off north to Montalegre -and the sources of the Misarella, the main affluent of the Cavado. -The former was the easier, but there was a grave doubt whether Chaves -might not already be in the hands of Beresford and his turning -column--as a matter of fact it only arrived there a few hours after -Soult stood uncertain at the parting of the ways. Bearing this in -mind, the Marshal resolved to take the more rugged and difficult -path; but when Loison and the vanguard were engaged in it they found -that the bridge over the Misarella, the _Saltador_ as it was called -from the bold leap which its single arch makes across the torrent, -was held against them. Again it was only with _Ordenanza_ that the -army had to deal: Beresford had just reached Chaves, but his troops -were some miles further back; Silveira, who ought to have been at -Ruivaens that morning, had not appeared at all. But Major Warre, -an officer of Beresford’s staff, had ridden ahead to rouse the -peasantry, and had collected several hundred half-armed levies at -the _Saltador_ bridge, which he encouraged them to hold, promising -that the regulars would be up to support them before nightfall. -Unfortunately he could not persuade them to destroy the bridge, on -which all the cross-communications of the Misarella valley depend. -But they had thrown down its parapets, built an _abattis_ across its -head, and thrown up earthworks on each side of it so as to command -the opposite bank. This, unhappily, was not enough to hold back -20,000 desperate men, who saw their only way of salvation on the -opposite bank. - -When Loison found his advance barred, he made an appeal to that same -Major Dulong who had forced the Ponte Nova on the preceding night. -Again that daring soldier volunteered to conduct the forlorn hope: -he was given a company of _voltigeurs_ to lead the column, and two -battalions of Heudelet’s division to back them. Forming the whole in -one continuous mass--there was only room for four men abreast--he -dashed down towards the bridge amid a spluttering and ineffective -fire from the Portuguese entrenchments on the opposite bank. The -column reached the arch, passed it, was checked but a moment while -tearing down the _abattis_, and then plunged in among the scared -_Ordenanza_, who fled in every direction, leaving the passage free. -Dulong was wounded, but no more than eighteen of his companions were -hit, and at this small sacrifice the army was saved. Late in the -afternoon the whole mass began to stream up the Montalegre road; -they had no longer anything more to fear than stray shots from the -scattered _Ordenanza_, who hung about on the hillsides, firing into -the column from inaccessible rocks, but doing little damage. - -If Dulong had failed at the Saltador Soult would have been lost, -for just as the passage was forced the rumbling of cannon began to -be heard from the rear. Merle was attacked by the British, and was -being driven in. At five o’clock the Guards’ brigade, forming the -head of Wellesley’s infantry, had come up with the French rearguard. -It was formidably posted, but Sir Arthur thought that it might be -dislodged. Accordingly he placed the two three-pounders, which -accompanied the column, on the high road, and began to batter the -French centre, while he sent off the three light companies of the -brigade[442] to turn the French left flank on the cliffs to the -south. When the crackling of their musketry was heard among the -rocks, he silenced his guns and flung the Guards upon the enemy’s -main body. They broke, turned, and fled in confusion, though the -regiment on the road, the 4th Léger, was considered one of the best -in the French army[443]. - - [442] The brigade had a company of the 5/60th attached, so had - three instead of two light companies. - - [443] ‘Il y avait à l’arrière-garde un excellent régiment - d’infanterie légère, qui (vu la nature du terrain) pouvait - facilement braver une armée entière: et bien, à l’apparition - de l’ennemi, il s’est débandé sans qu’on ait pu lui faire - entendre raison. La confusion qui a été le résultat de cette - terreur panique a été épouvantable. Fantassins et cavaliers se - précipitaient les uns sur les autres, jetaient leurs armes, et - luttaient à qui courrait le plus vite. Le pont étroit et sans - parapet ne pouvait suffire à l’impatience des fuyards, ils se - pressaient tellement que nombre d’hommes furent précipités et - noyés dans le torrent ou écrasés sous les pieds des chevaux. Si - les Anglais avaient été en mesure de profiter de cette épouvante, - je ne sais pas en vérité ce que nous serions devenus, tant la - peur est contagieuse, même chez les plus braves soldats.’ Fantin - des Odoards, p. 236. - -The chase continued as far as the Ponte Nova, which the broken -troops crossed in a struggling mass, thrusting each other over the -edge (where the balustrades were wanting) till the torrent below was -choked with dead men and horses. The British guns were brought up -and played upon the weltering crowd with dreadful effect. But the -night was already coming on, and the darkness hid from the pursuers -the full effect of their own fire. They halted and encamped, having -slain many and taken about fifty prisoners, of whom one was an -officer. It was only at daybreak that they realized the terrors -through which the French had passed. ‘The rocky bed of the Cavado,’ -says an eye-witness, ‘presented an extraordinary spectacle. Men and -horses, sumpter animals and baggage, had been precipitated into -the river, and literally choked its course. Here, with these fatal -accompaniments of death and dismay, was disgorged the last of the -plunder of Oporto. All kinds of valuable goods were left on the road, -while above 300 horses, sunk in the water, and mules laden with -baggage, fell into the hands of the grenadier and light companies of -the Guards. These active-fingered gentry found that fishing for boxes -and bodies out of the stream produced pieces of plate, and purses and -belts full of gold money. Amid the scenes of death and desolation -arose their shouts of the most noisy merriment[444].’ - - [444] Lord Munster’s _Campaign of 1809_, pp. 177-8. - -On the night of the 17th Soult’s army poured into Montalegre, a -dilapidated old town on the edge of the frontier, from which all the -inhabitants had fled. Little or no food could be procured, and the -houses did not suffice to shelter more than a part of the troops. -Next morning the 2nd Corps took to its heels once more, and climbed -the Serra de Gerez, which lies just above the town. On descending -its northern slope they had at last entered Spain, and had reached -safety. But the country was absolutely desolate: for twenty miles -beyond Montalegre there was hardly a single village on this rugged -by-path. Still dreading pursuit, the Marshal urged on his men as fast -as they could be driven forward, and in two long marches at last -reached Orense. - -Wellesley, however, had given up any hope of catching the 2nd -Corps, when once it had passed the Saltador and reached the Spanish -frontier. He had halted the British infantry at Ruivaens, and only -sent on in chase of the flying host the 14th Light Dragoons and the -division of Silveira, which had at last appeared on the scene late -in the evening of the seventeenth. What this corps had been doing -during the last forty-eight hours it is impossible to discover. It -had started from Amarante on the same day that Beresford marched for -Chaves, and ought to have been at Ruivaens on the sixteenth, when it -would have found itself just in time to intercept Soult’s vanguard -after it had passed the Ponte Nova. Apparently the same wild weather -and constant rain which had delayed Beresford’s column had checked -his subordinate. At any rate it is certain that Silveira, though he -had a shorter route than his chief, only got to Ruivaens late on -the seventeenth, while the other column had reached Chaves more than -twelve hours earlier. - -The French had disappeared, and it was only next morning that -Silveira followed them up on the Montalegre road. He captured a few -laggards by the way, but on reaching the little town found that -Soult’s rearguard had quitted it two hours before his arrival[445]. -By Wellesley’s orders he pushed on for one day more in pursuit, but -found that the enemy was now so far ahead that he could do no more -than pick up moribund stragglers. On the nineteenth, therefore, he -turned back and retraced his steps to Montalegre[446]. - - [445] The French rearguard actually saw Silveira arriving. - Naylies, p. 90. - - [446] For this part of the pursuit see the diary of Hawker - [of the 14th Light Dragoons], who returned to Montalegre with - Silveira’s men. - -Much the same fortune had befallen Beresford’s column. By Wellesley’s -orders Tilson’s brigade and their Portuguese companions marched from -Chaves by Monterey on the eighteenth, on the chance that Soult, after -passing the Serra de Gerez, might drop into the Monterey-Orense -road. But the Marshal had not taken this route: he had kept to -by-paths, and marched by Porquera and Allariz, to the left of the -line on which Beresford’s pursuit was directed. At Ginzo the cavalry -of the pursuing column picked up fifty stragglers, and came into -contact with a small party of Franceschi’s _chasseurs_, which Soult -had thrown out to cover his flank. Learning from the peasantry that -the French had gone off by a different route, Beresford halted and -returned to Chaves. His men were so thoroughly worn out, and the -strength of the column was so much reduced, that he could have done -little more even if he had come upon the main body of the enemy[447]. - - [447] These details are mainly from the letter of Gough of the - 87th, which I have already had occasion to quote, when dealing - with Beresford’s movements. I cannot find any corroboration for - Napier’s account of Beresford’s and Silveira’s pursuit in ii. pp. - 112-3 of his history. - -[Illustration: NORTHERN PORTUGAL - TO ILLUSTRATE MARSHAL SOULT’S CAMPAIGN - OF MARCH TO MAY 1809] - -On May 19 Soult’s dilapidated and starving host poured into Orense, -where they could at last take a day’s rest and obtain a decent meal. -The Marshal caused the troops to be numbered, and found that he had -brought back 19,713 men. As he had started from the Spanish frontier -with 22,000 sabres and bayonets, and had received 3,500 more from -Tuy, when Lamartinière’s column joined him, it would appear that he -had left in all some 5,700 men behind him. Of these, according to the -French accounts[448], about 1,000 had fallen in the early fighting, -or died of sickness, before Wellesley’s appearance on the Vouga. -About 700, mostly convalescents, had been captured at Chaves by -Silveira[449]. After the storm of Oporto the British army found 1,500 -sick in the hospitals of that city, of Braga and of Viana[450]. They -also took some 400 unwounded prisoners at Oporto and at Grijon[451]. -It results therefore that the losses of the actual retreat from -Baltar to Orense, between the thirteenth and the nineteenth of May, -must have been rather more than 2,000 men. But all these had been -able-bodied fighting-men--the sick, as we have seen, were abandoned -before the break-neck march over the mountains began: adding them and -the prisoners of the eleventh-twelfth, to the actual casualties of -the retreat, on the same principle which we used when calculating the -losses of Moore’s army in the Corunna campaign, we should get a total -of 4,000 for the deficiency in the French ranks during the nine days -which elapsed between Wellesley’s passage of the Vouga and Soult’s -arrival at Orense. Thus it would seem that about one-sixth of the -2nd Corps had been destroyed in that short time--a proportion almost -exactly corresponding to that which Moore’s force left behind it in -the retreat from Sahagun to Corunna, wherein 6,000 men out of 33,000 -were lost. - - [448] See mainly Le Noble’s calculation on pp. 353-4 of his - _Campagne de 1809_. - - [449] The rest of Silveira’s prisoners were Hispano-Portuguese - ‘legionaries,’ see p. 266. - - [450] Napier (ii. 113) says, ‘1,800 at Viana and Braga, 700 at - Oporto,’ figures that should be reversed, for at the two last - places only the sick of Heudelet’s and Lorges’ divisions were - captured, while at Oporto the main central hospital fell into the - hands of the British. Le Noble says that there were 2,150 men in - hospital altogether on May 10. - - [451] See p. 341. - -In other respects these two famous retreats afford some interesting -points of comparison. Moore had an infinitely longer distance to -cover: in mere mileage his men marched more than twice as far as -Soult’s[452]: their journey occupied twenty days as against nine. On -the other hand the French had to use far worse roads. From Benavente -to Corunna there is a good _chaussée_ for the whole distance: -from Baltar to Orense the 2nd Corps had to follow impracticable -mule-tracks for more than half the way. As to the weather, there -was perhaps little to choose between the two retreats: the nine -days of perpetual rain, during which Soult effected his passage of -four successive mountain chains, was almost as trying as the cold -and snow through which the British had to trudge. Moore’s men were -not so hardly pressed by starvation as the 2nd Corps, and they were -moving through a country-side which was not actively hostile, if it -could scarcely be described as friendly. On the other hand they were -pursued with far greater vigour than the French: their rearguard -was beset every day, and had constantly to be fighting, while -Soult’s troops were hard pressed only on two days--the sixteenth and -seventeenth of May. This advantage the Marshal gained by choosing an -unexpected line of retreat over obscure by-paths: if he had taken -either of the high-roads by Braga and Chaves his fate would have been -very different. On this same choice of roads depends another contrast -between the two retreats: to gain speed and safety Soult sacrificed -the whole of his artillery and his transport. When he arrived at -Orense, as one of his officers wrote, ‘the infantry had brought -off their bayonets and their eagles, the cavalry their horses and -saddles--everything else had been left behind--the guns, the stores, -the treasure, the sick.’ Moore, in spite of all the miseries of his -march, carried down to Corunna the whole of his artillery, part of -his transport, and the greater number of his sick and wounded. If -he lost his military chest, it was not from necessity but from the -mismanagement of the subordinates who had charge of it. His army was -in condition to fight a successful battle at the end of its retreat, -and so to win for itself a safe and honourable departure. - - [452] The respective distances seem to be about 255 and 120 miles. - -Both generals, it will be observed, were driven into danger by causes -for which they did not regard themselves as responsible. Soult was -placed in peril by attempting to carry out his master’s impracticable -orders. Moore thought himself bound to run the risk, because he had -realized that there was a political necessity that the English army -should do something for the cause of Spain, for it could not with -honour retire to Portugal before it had struck a blow. In their -management of their respective campaigns both made mistakes. Moore -hurried his men too much, and did not take full advantage of the many -positions in which he could have held off the pursuer by judicious -rearguard actions. Soult’s faults were even greater: nothing can -excuse his stay at Oporto during the days when he should have been -directing Loison’s movements at Amarante. That stay was undoubtedly -due to his vain intrigues with the Portuguese malcontents; it was -personal ambition, not any military necessity, which detained him -from his proper place. Still more worthy of blame was his disposition -of his forces at the moment when the British troops crossed the -Vouga: they were scattered in a dangerous fashion, which made -concentration difficult and uncertain. But the weakest feature of his -whole conduct was that he allowed himself to be surprised in Oporto -by Wellesley on May 12. When an army in close touch with the enemy is -taken unawares at broad midday, by an irruption of its opponents into -the middle of the cantonments, the general-in-chief cannot shift the -blame on to the shoulders of subordinates. It was Soult’s duty to see -that his officers were taking all reasonable precautions to watch the -British, and he most certainly did not do so. Indeed, we have seen -that he turned all his attention to the point of least danger--the -lower reaches of the Douro--and neglected that on which the British -attack was really delivered. It was only when he found himself on -the verge of utter ruin, on May 13, that he rose to the occasion, -and saved his army, by the daring march upon Guimaraens which foiled -Wellesley’s plans for intercepting his retreat. To state that ‘his -reputation as a general was nowise diminished by his Portuguese -campaign’ is to do him more than justice[453]. It would be more true -to assert that he showed that if he could commit faults, he could -also do much towards repairing their consequences. - - [453] Napier, ii. 113. - -As to Wellesley, it is not too much to say that the Oporto campaign -is one of his strongest titles to fame. He had, as we have already -seen, only 16,400 British and 11,400 Portuguese troops[454], of -whom the latter were either untried in the field or demoralized by -their previous experiences beyond the Douro. His superiority in mere -numbers to Soult’s corps of 23,000 men was therefore small, and he -was lamentably destitute of cavalry and artillery. It was no small -feat to expel the enemy from Northern Portugal in nine days, and to -cast him into Galicia, stripped of his guns and baggage, and with a -gap of more than 4,000 men in his ranks. This had been accomplished -at the expense of no more than 500 casualties, even when the soldiers -who fell by the way from sickness and fatigue are added to the 300 -killed and wounded of the engagements of May 11, 12, and 17. There is -hardly a campaign in history in which so much was accomplished at so -small a cost. Wellesley had exactly carried out the programme which -he had set before himself when he left Lisbon--the defeat of the -enemy and the deliverance of the two provinces beyond the Douro. He -had expressly disclaimed any intention or expectation of destroying -or capturing the 2nd Corps[455], which some foreign critics have -ascribed to him in their anxiety to make out that he failed to -execute the whole project that he had taken in hand. - - [454] See p. 321. - - [455] ‘In respect to Soult, I shall omit nothing that I can do - to destroy him--but I am afraid that with the force I have at my - disposal, it is not in my power to prevent him retreating into - Spain.’ Wellesley to Frere, May 9, 1809. - -There was, it is true, one short moment at which he had it in his -power to deal Soult a heavier blow than he had contemplated. On the -night of May 12-13, when the Marshal in his bivouac at Baltar learnt -of Loison’s evacuation of Amarante, the main body of the 2nd Corps -was in a deplorable situation, and must have been destroyed, had -the British been close at hand. If Wellesley had pursued the flying -foe, on the afternoon of the victory of Oporto, with all his cavalry -and the less fatigued regiments of his infantry, nothing could have -saved the French. But the opportunity was one which could not have -been foreseen: no rational officer could have guessed that Loison -would evacuate Amarante, and so surrender his chief’s best line -of retreat. It was impossible that Wellesley should dream of such -a chance being thrown into his hands. He constructed his plans on -the natural hypothesis that Soult had still open to him the route -across the Tamega; and he was therefore more concerned with the idea -that Beresford might be in danger from the approach of Soult, than -with that of taking measures to capture the Marshal. His men were -fatigued with the long march of eighty miles in four days which had -taken them from the Mondego to Oporto: his guns and stores had not -yet passed the bridgeless Douro. It was natural, therefore, that he -should allow himself and his army a night’s rest before pressing on -in pursuit of Soult. It will be remembered that he did push Murray’s -brigade along the Baltar road in the tracks of the Marshal, but that -officer never came up with the French. If blame has to be allotted to -any one for the failure to discover the unhappy situation of the 2nd -Corps upon the morning of the thirteenth, it would seem that Murray -must bear the burden rather than the Commander-in-chief. He should -have kept touch, at all costs, with the retreating French, and if -he had done so would have been able to give Wellesley news of their -desperate plight. - -As to the pursuit of Soult, between the fourteenth and the -eighteenth, it is hard to see that more could have been done than -was actually accomplished. ‘It is obvious,’ as Wellesley wrote to -Castlereagh, ‘that if an army throws away all its cannon, equipment, -and baggage, and everything that can strengthen it and enable it -to act together as a body; and if it abandons all those who are -entitled to its protection, but add to its weight and impede its -progress[456], it must be able to march by roads on which it can -not be followed, with any prospect of being overtaken, by an army -which has not made the same sacrifices[457].’ This puts the case in -a nutshell: Soult, after he had abandoned his sick and destroyed -his guns and wagons, could go much faster than his pursuers. The -only chance of catching him was that Beresford or Silveira might be -able to intercept him at the Misarella on the seventeenth. But the -troops of the former were so exhausted by their long march in the -rain from Amarante, that although they reached Chaves on the night -of the sixteenth-seventeenth, they were not in a condition to march -eighteen miles further on the following morning. Whether Silveira, -who had taken a shorter but a more rugged route than Beresford, -might not have reached Ruivaens ten or twelve hours earlier than -he did is another matter. Had he done so, he might have held the -cross-roads and blocked the way to Montalegre. We have no details of -his march, though we know that he had a bad mountain-path to traverse -in abominable weather. All military critics have joined in condemning -him[458], but without a more accurate knowledge of the obstacles that -he had to cross, and of the state of his troops, we can not be sure -of the exact amount of blame that should fall upon him. It is at any -rate clear that Wellesley was not responsible for the late arrival of -the Portuguese division at Ruivaens and the consequent escape of the -enemy. - - [456] From Montalegre, May 18, 1809. - - [457] i.e. its sick and wounded. - - [458] Napier, Arteche, and Schepeler all agree in this, the - former only making the excuse that Silveira may not have fully - understood Beresford’s orders, owing to the difficulty of - language. But Beresford spoke and wrote Portuguese fluently. - -[Erratum from p. xii: A dispatch of Beresford at Lisbon clears up my -doubts as to Silveira’s culpability. Beresford complains that the -latter lost a whole day by marching from Amarante to Villa Pouca -without orders; the dispatch directing him to take the path by Mondim -thus reached him only when he had gone many miles on the wrong road. -The time lost could never be made up.] - -Beyond Montalegre it would have been useless to follow the flying -French. An advance into Galicia would have taken the British army -too far from Lisbon, and have rendered it impossible to return in -time to the Tagus if Victor should be on the move. That marshal, as -we shall see, was showing signs of stirring from his long spell of -torpidity, and it was a dispatch from Mackenzie, containing the news -that the 1st Corps was on the move, that made Wellesley specially -anxious to check the pursuit, and to draw back to Central Portugal -before matters should come to a head in Estremadura. He could safely -calculate that it would be months rather than weeks before Soult -would be in a condition to cause any trouble on the northern frontier. - - -N.B.--There are admirable accounts of the horrors of Soult’s retreat -in the works of Le Noble, St. Chamans, Fantin des Odoards, and -Naylies. The pursuit of the main body of the English army is well -described by four eye-witnesses--Lord Londonderry, Stothert, Hawker, -and Lord Munster. For the march of Beresford’s corps I have only the -details given by Lord Gough’s letter, cited heretofore. - - - - -SECTION XV - -OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN SPAIN (MARCH-JUNE 1809) - - - - -CHAPTER I - -NEY AND LA ROMANA IN GALICIA AND THE ASTURIAS - - -While following the fortunes of Soult and the 2nd Corps in Northern -Portugal, we have been constrained to withdraw our attention from -Galicia, where we left Marshal Ney busied in a vain attempt to beat -down the insurrections which had sprung up in every corner of the -kingdom, at the moment when the melting of the snows gave notice -that spring was at hand. It was with no good will that the Duke of -Elchingen had seen his colleague depart from Orense and plunge into -the Portuguese mountains. Indeed he had done his best to induce -Soult to disregard the Emperor’s orders, and to join him in a -strenuous effort to pacify Galicia before embarking on the march to -Oporto[459]. When he found that his appeal had failed to influence -the Duke of Dalmatia, and that the 2nd Corps had passed out of sight -and left the whole of Galicia upon his hands, he was constrained to -take stock of his position and to think out a plan of campaign. - - [459] See p. 192. - -Ney had at his disposal some 17,000 men, consisting of the -twenty-four infantry battalions of his own corps, which formed the -two divisions of Marchand and Maurice Mathieu, of the two regiments -of his corps-cavalry, and of Fournier’s brigade of Lorges’ dragoons, -which Soult, by the Emperor’s orders, had transferred to him before -crossing the Minho. Among his resources it would not be fair to count -the two garrisons at Vigo and Tuy which the 2nd Corps had left -behind it. They numbered more than 4,000 men, but were so placed as -to be more of a charge than a help to Ney. They failed to keep him in -touch with Soult, and their necessities distracted some of his troops -to their aid when he was requiring every man for other purposes. - -On March 10, when he was left to his own resources, Ney had -concentrated the greater part of his corps in the north-western -corner of Galicia. He had placed one brigade at Lugo, a second with -Fournier’s dragoons at Mondonedo, in observation of the Asturias, -a third at Santiago, the remainder at Corunna and Ferrol. The -outlying posts had been called in, save a garrison at Villafranca, -the important half-way stage between Lugo and Astorga, where the -Marshal had left a battalion of the 26th regiment, to keep open his -communication with the plains of Leon. The insurgents were already so -active that touch with this detachment was soon lost, the peasants -having cut the road both east and west of Villafranca. - -The whole month of March was spent in a ceaseless endeavour to keep -down the rising in Northern Galicia: the southern parts of the -kingdom had been practically abandoned, and the French had no hold -there save through the garrisons of Tuy and Vigo, both of which (as -we have seen in an earlier chapter) were blockaded by the local -levies the moment that Soult had passed on into Portugal. - -Ney’s object was to crush and cow the insurgents of Northern Galicia -by the constant movement of flying columns, which marched out from -the towns when his brigades were established, and made descents on -every district where the peasantry had assembled in strength. This -policy had little success: it was easy to rout the Galicians and to -burn their villages, but the moment that the column had passed on -the enemy returned to occupy his old positions. The campaign was -endless and inconclusive: it was of little use to kill so many scores -or hundreds of peasants, if no attempt was made to hold down the -districts through which the expedition had passed. This could not -be done for sheer want of numbers: 16,000 men were not sufficient -to garrison the whole of the mountain valleys and coast villages of -this rugged land. The French columns went far afield, even as far -as Corcubion on the headland of Cape Finisterre, and Ribadeo on the -borders of Asturias: but though they scathed the whole region with -fire and sword, they made no impression. Moreover, they suffered -serious losses: every expedition lost a certain number of stragglers -cut off by the peasantry, and of foragers who had wandered too far -from the main body in search of food. All were murdered: for the -populace, mad at the burning of their homes and the lifting of their -cattle--their only wealth--never gave quarter to the unfortunate -soldiers who fell into their hands. - -It is curious and interesting to compare Ney’s actual operations -with the orders which the Emperor had sent to him[460]. In these he -was directed to establish his head quarters at Lugo, and to leave no -more than a regiment at Ferrol and another regiment at Betanzos and -Corunna. He was to keep a movable column of three battalions at work -between Santiago and Tuy, to ‘make examples’ and prevent the English -from landing munitions for the insurgents. With the rest of his -corps, five regiments of infantry and a brigade of cavalry, he was -to establish himself at Lugo, and from thence to send out punitive -expeditions against rebellious villages, to seize hostages, to lend -aid if necessary to Soult’s operations in Portugal, and finally ‘to -utilize the months of March and April, when there is nothing to fear -on the Galician coasts, for an expedition to conquer the Asturias.’ -Here we have all Napoleon’s illusions concerning the character of the -Peninsular War very clearly displayed. He supposes that a movable -column of one regiment can hold down a rugged coast region one -hundred miles long, where 20,000 insurgents are in arms. He thinks -that punitive expeditions, and the taking of hostages, will keep a -province quiet without there being any need to establish garrisons -in it. ‘Organize Galicia,’ he writes, ‘make examples, for severe -examples well applied are much more effective than garrisons.... -Leave the policing of the country to the Spanish authorities. If you -cannot occupy every place, you can watch every place: if you cannot -hold every shore-battery to prevent communication with the English, -you can charge the natives with this duty. Your movable columns will -punish any of the people of the coast who behave badly.’ - - [460] Napoleon to Ney, from Paris, Feb. 18, 1809. - -To Ney, when he received this dispatch, many weeks after it had been -written, all this elaborate advice must have appeared very futile. -Considering the present attitude of the whole population of Galicia, -he must have been much amused at the proposal that he should entrust -them with the task of keeping off the British, should ‘organize’ -them, and ‘make them police themselves.’ As to ‘severe examples’ he -had now been burning villages and shooting monks and alcaldes for two -months and more: but the only result was that the insurrection flared -up more fiercely, and that his own stragglers and foragers were being -hung and tortured every day. As to the idea of movable columns, he -had (on his own inspiration) sent Maucune to carry out precisely the -operations that the Emperor desired in the country between Santiago -and Tuy. The column had to fight every day, and held down not one -foot of territory beyond the outskirts of its own camp. And now, in -the midst of all his troubles, he was ordered to attempt the conquest -of the Asturias, no small undertaking in itself. The Emperor’s letter -ended with the disquieting note that ‘no further reinforcements can -be sent to Galicia. It is much more likely that it may be necessary -to transfer to some other point one of the two divisions of the Sixth -Corps[461].’ - - [461] ‘Ne comptez sur aucun renfort: croyez plutôt qu’on pourrait - être dans le cas de porter ailleurs une de vos divisions.’ - -We have hitherto had little occasion to mention the two Spanish -regular armies on which Ney, in addition to all his troubles with -the insurgents, had to keep a watchful eye. The first was the force -in the principality of Asturias, which had been lost to sight since -the day on which it fled homeward after the battle of Espinosa. The -second consisted of the much-tried troops of La Romana, who since -their escape from Monterey had enjoyed some weeks of comparative -rest, and were once more ready to move. - -The Asturian force was far the larger in point of numbers, and ought -to have made its influence felt long ere now. But even more than -the other Spaniards, the Asturians were given over to particularism -and provincial selfishness. In 1808 they had done nothing for -the common cause save that they had lent the single division of -Acevedo--comprising about half their provincial levy[462]--to -the army which Blake led to defeat in Biscay. After Espinosa this -corps had not retired with La Romana to Leon, but had fallen back -within the frontier of its native principality, and had joined the -large reserve which had never gone forward from Oviedo. During the -three winter months, the Asturians had contented themselves with -reorganizing and increasing the numbers of their battalions, and with -guarding the passes of the Cantabrian chain. They had refused to send -either men or money to La Romana, thereby provoking his righteous -indignation, and furnishing him with a grudge which he repaid in due -season. When he was driven away from their neighbourhood, and forced -to retire towards Portugal, they still kept quiet behind their hills, -and made but the weakest of attempts to distract the attention of the -enemy. There were at first no French forces near them save Bonnet’s -single division at Santander, which was fully occupied in holding -down the Montaña, and a provisional brigade at Leon consisting of -some stray battalions of the dissolved Eighth Corps[463]. As neither -of these forces had any considerable reserves behind them[464], when -once Ney and Soult had passed on into Galicia, it is clear that a -demonstration in force against Santander or Leon would have thrown -dismay along the whole line of the French communications, and have -disarranged all the Emperor’s plans for further advance. - - [462] Acevedo’s division, deducting the regular troops [Hibernia - (two batts.), and Provincial of Oviedo], had some 6,000 men: - while 5,200 remained behind in Asturias. See pp. 632 and 637 of - vol. i. - - [463] Apparently consisting in February of three battalions and a - Spanish Legion which Napoleon had organized out of the prisoners - of Blake’s and La Romana’s armies: 2,998 men in all. The - Legion waited till it had received arms and clothing, and then - deserted _en masse_ and went to join the insurgents. For angry - correspondence on this incident see Napoleon to King Joseph, Feb. - 20, and King Joseph to Napoleon, March 7, 1809. - - [464] The total of French troops in Old Castile, garrisoning - Valladolid, Soria, Palencia, and Burgos, &c., was only 5,342 men. - Nothing was disposable for field operations save Kellermann’s - division of dragoons. In Biscay, behind Bonnet, there were only - 1,762 men, and in Alava 876. Practically nothing could have been - sent to reinforce Leon or Santander, till Mortier’s corps came up. - -The only operation, however, which the Asturians undertook was a -petty raid into Galicia with 3,000 or 4,000 men, who went to beat -up Ney’s detachment at Mondonedo on April 10, and were driven off -with ease[465]. The Junta had fully 20,000 men under arms, but they -contrived to be weak at every point by trying to guard every point. -They had sent, to observe Bonnet, the largest body of their troops, -nearly 10,000 men, under General Ballasteros: he had taken up the -line of the Deba, and lay with his head quarters at Colombres, -skirmishing occasionally with the French outposts. At the pass of -Pajares, watching the main road that descends into the plain of -Leon, were 3,000 men, and 2,000 more at La Mesa guarded a minor -defile. Another division of 4,000 bayonets was at Castropol, facing -Ney’s detachment which had occupied Mondonedo: this was the column -which had made the feeble advance in April to which we have already -alluded. Finally, a Swiss Lieutenant-General named Worster lay at -Oviedo, the capital of the principality, with a small reserve of -2,000 men[466]. It does not seem that Cienfuegos, the Captain-General -of Asturias, exercised any real authority, as the Junta took upon -itself the settling of every detail of military affairs[467]. Thus -a whole army was wasted by being distributed all along the narrow -province, awaiting an attack from an enemy who was far too weak to -dream of advancing, and who, as a matter of fact, did not move till -May. La Romana might well be indignant that the Asturians had done -practically nothing for the cause of Spain from December to March, -especially since they had obtained more than their share of the -British arms and money[468] which had been distributed in the autumn -of 1808. - - [465] For this fiasco see Toreno, i. pp. 400-1. - - [466] These dispositions of the Asturian army, which have never - before been published, are taken from a dispatch from the Junta - at Oviedo, which Mr. Frere sent to Lord Castlereagh on March 24 - [Record Office]. The regiments were:-- - - At Colombres, under Maj.-General F. Ballasteros: - Luanco, Castropol, Navia, Luarca, Villaviciosa, Llanes, Cangas - de Oñis, Cangas de Tineo, Don Carlos. - - At Pajares and Farna, under Brigadier Don Christoval Lili: - Siero, Provincial of Oviedo, Covadonga. - - At La Mesa, under Brigadier Don F. Manglano: - Riva de Sella, Pravia. - - At Castropol, under Colonel T. Valdez: - Lena, Grado, Salas, Ferdinando VII. - - At Oviedo, under Lieut.-General Worster: - Gijon, Infiesto. - - The Junta report that they have over 20,000 men, the regiments - being very strong, some of them reaching 1,200 bayonets, or even - more. - - [467] Carrol to La Romana, March 28, ‘The Junta, in fact, command - the armies in every respect. They have absolute power, and - have rendered themselves highly obnoxious to the people of the - province, and are at present entirely guided by the will and - caprice of three or four individuals...’ - - [468] Such also was the opinion of Captain Carrol, the British - representative at Oviedo. He writes to Castlereagh on Feb. 10 in - the following terms: ‘I am sorry to have to represent that the - supplies hitherto granted to this province have not been applied - (to use the mildest expressions) with that judgment and economy - that might have been expected, and that the benefits resulting to - this province and the common cause are by no means proportionate - to the liberality with which those supplies were granted by the - British Government’ [Record Office]. Toreno, as a patriotic - Asturian, hushes up all these scandals. - -Ney’s new troubles in April did not spring from the activity of the -Asturian troops, but from that of the much-battered army of Galicia, -which was destined in this month to achieve the first success that -had cheered its depleted ranks since the combat of Guenes. When -La Romana, on March 8, had found himself free from the pursuit of -Franceschi’s cavalry, he had marched by leisurely stages to Puebla de -Senabria on the borders of Leon. He doubted for a moment whether he -should not turn southward and drop down, along the edge of Portugal, -to Ciudad Rodrigo, the nearest place of strength in Spanish hands. -But, after much consideration, he resolved to leave behind him the -weakest of his battalions and his numerous sick, together with his -small provision of artillery, and to strike back into Galicia with -the best of his men. It would seem that he was inspired partly by the -desire of cutting Ney’s communications, partly by the wish to get -into touch with the Asturians, whose torpidity he was determined to -stir up into action. Accordingly he left at Puebla de Senabria his -guns and about 2,000 men, the skeletons of many ruined regiments, -under General Martin La Carrera, while with the 6,000 infantry that -remained he resolved to cross the Sierra Negra and throw himself -into the upper valley of the Sil. The road by Corporales and the -sources of the Cabrera torrent proved to be abominable; if the army -had possessed cannon or baggage it could not have reached its goal. -But after several hard marches La Romana descended to Ponferrada on -March 16. He learnt that the insurrection had compelled the French to -concentrate all their small posts, and that there was no enemy nearer -than Villafranca on the one hand and Astorga on the other. Thus he -found himself able to take possession of the high-road from Astorga -to Lugo, and to make use of all the resources of the Vierzo, and -of Eastern Galicia. He might have passed on undisturbed, if he had -chosen, to join the Asturians. But learning that the French garrison -at Villafranca was completely isolated, he resolved to risk a blow at -it, in the hopes that he might reduce it before Ney could learn of -his arrival and come down from Lugo to its aid. He was ill prepared -for a siege, for he had but one gun with him--a 12-pounder which he -had abandoned in January when retreating from Ponferrada to Orense, -and which he now picked up intact, with its store of ammunition, at a -mountain hermitage, where it had been safely hidden for two months. - -Marching on Villafranca next day he fell upon the French before -they had any conception that there was a hostile force in their -neighbourhood. He beat them out of the town into the citadel after a -sharp skirmish, and then surrounded them in their refuge, and began -to batter its gates with his single gun. If the garrison could have -held out for a few days they would probably have been relieved, for -Ney was but three marches distant. But the governor, regarding the -old castle as untenable against artillery, surrendered at the first -summons. Thus La Romana captured a whole battalion of the 6th Léger, -600 strong[469], together with several hundreds more of convalescents -and stragglers who had been halted at Villafranca, owing to the -impossibility of sending small detachments through the mountains[470] -when the insurgents were abroad[471]. - - [469] The number of unwounded prisoners was 574, that of killed - and wounded nearly 700. - - [470] The captives were sent off immediately into the Asturias. - Carrol saw them arrive at Oviedo. - - [471] There is a long dispatch of Mendizabal to La Romana in the - Record Office, giving details of the storm of Villafranca, which - was all over in four hours. - -Having accomplished this successful stroke La Romana was desirous -of pursuing his way to the Asturias, where he was determined to -make his power felt[472]. He took with him only one regiment (that -of La Princesa, one of his old corps from the Baltic), and handed -over the temporary command of the army to General Mahy, with orders -to hold on to the Vierzo as long as possible, but to retire on the -Asturias if Ney came up against him in force. The Marshal, however, -did not move from Lugo; when he heard of the fall of the garrison of -Villafranca, he was already so much entangled with the insurrection -that he could spare no troops for an expedition to the Vierzo. In -order to reopen the communication with Astorga he would have had to -call in his outlying brigades, and at the present moment he was more -concerned about the fate of Tuy and Vigo than about the operations of -La Romana. Accordingly, Mahy was left unmolested for the greater part -of a month in his cantonments along the banks of the Sil; it was a -welcome respite for the much-wandering army of Galicia. - - [472] Captain Carrol had written to him a few days before to beg - him to hasten to Oviedo: ‘I strongly advise your Excellency’s - repairing to this city (Oviedo), and adopting such plans and - measures for the better government of the province and the active - operations of the army as your Excellency shall think meet.’ - There were similar appeals from Spanish officers discontented - with the Junta. - -Romana meanwhile betook himself to Oviedo with his escort, and on -arriving there on April 4 entered into a furious controversy with -the Junta. Finding them obstinate, and not disposed to carry out -his plans without discussion, he finally executed a petty _coup -d’état_[473]. It bears an absurd resemblance to Cromwell’s famous -dissolution of the Long Parliament. Coming into their council-room, -with Colonel Joseph O’Donnell and fifty grenadiers of the Princesa -regiment, he delivered an harangue to the members, accusing them of -all manner of maladministration and provincial selfishness. Then he -signed to his soldiers and bade them clear the room[474]. - - [473] It may be worth while to quote the opening clauses of - La Romana’s proclamation explaining his _coup d’état_; it is - dated the day after his ‘purge’ of the Junta: a copy exists in - the Record Office, forwarded to Castlereagh by Carrol:--‘Me es - forzoso manifestar con mucho sentimiento que la actual Junta - de Asturias, aunque de las mas favorecidas por la generosidad - britannica en toda classe de subsidios, es la que menos ha - coadyuvado a la grande y heroyca empresa de arrojar a los - enemigos de nuestro patrio suelo. Formada esta Junta por intriga, - y por la prepotencia de algunos sugetos y familias conexionadas, - se propuse arrogarse un poder absoluto e indefinido: serven los - individuos mutuamente en sus proyectos y despiques, desechan con - pretextos infundidos y aun calumniosos al que no subscribiese a - ellos, y contentan a los menesterosos con comisiones o encargos - de interes,’ &c. - - [474] Carrol, who was an eye-witness of the scene, thought that - the Marquis ‘had re-formed the Junta in the most quiet, peaceable - and masterly manner.’ The last epithet seems the most appropriate - of the three. Carrol to Castlereagh, April 10, 1809 [in Record - Office]. - -La Romana then, on his own authority, nominated a new Junta; but -many of its members refused to act, doubting the legality of his -action, while the dispossessed delegates kept up a paper controversy, -and sent reams of objurgatory letters to the Government at Seville. -Ballasteros and his army, at the other side of the Principality, -seem to have paid little attention to La Romana, but the Marquis so -far got his way that he began to send much-needed stores, medicines, -munitions, and clothing to his troops in the Vierzo. He even -succeeded in procuring a few field-pieces for them[475], which were -dragged with difficulty over the passes viâ Cangas de Tineo. - - [475] Letters of La Romana to Mahy in Appendix to Arteche, vol. - vi. p. 145. - -Thus strengthened Mahy, much to his chief’s displeasure, advanced -from the Vierzo towards Lugo, with the intention of beating up the -French brigade there stationed. He took post at Navia de Suarna, just -outside the borders of the Asturias, and called to his standards all -the peasantry of the surrounding region. La Romana wrote him urgent -letters, directing him to avoid a battle and to await his own return. -‘He should remember that it was the policy of Fabius Maximus that -saved Rome, and curb his warlike zeal[476].’ It is satisfactory to -find that one Spanish general at least was free from that wild desire -for pitched battles that possessed most of his contemporaries. - - [476] Ibid., p. 146. - -Mahy, thus warned, halted in his march towards Lugo, and remained in -his cantonments in the valley of the Navia. His chief should have -returned to him, but lingered at Oviedo till April was over, busy -in the work of reorganization and in the forwarding of supplies. -Meanwhile the French hold on Southern Galicia had completely -disappeared: Vigo had fallen in March, Tuy had been evacuated. -Maucune’s column had cut its way back to Santiago with some -difficulty, bringing to Ney the news of Soult’s capture of Oporto, -but also the assurance that the whole valley of the Minho and the -western coast-land had passed into the hands of the insurgents. - -What the Duke of Elchingen’s next move would have been, if he had not -received further intelligence from without, we cannot say. But in the -first week in May the long-lost communication with Madrid was at last -reopened, and he was ordered to take his part in a new and broad plan -of operations against La Romana’s army and the Asturias. - -Ever since La Romana had stormed Villafranca, and all news from -Galicia had been completely cut off, King Joseph and his adviser -Jourdan had been in a state of great fear and perplexity as to the -condition of affairs in the north-west. Soult had long passed out of -their ken, and now Ney also was lost to sight. In default of accurate -information they received all manner of lugubrious rumours from -Leon and Astorga, and imagined that the Sixth Corps was in far more -desperate straits than was actually the case. Fearing the worst, they -resolved to find out, at all costs, what was going on in Galicia. -To do so it was necessary to fit out an expedition sufficiently -strong to brush aside the insurgents and communicate with Ney. -Troops, however, were hard to find. Lapisse had already marched -from Salamanca to join Victor. In Old Castile and Leon there were -but Kellermann’s dragoons and a few garrisons, none of which could -leave their posts. Marshal Bessières, to whom the general charge of -the northern provinces had been given by the Emperor, could show -conclusively that he was not able to equip a column of even 5,000 men -for service in Galicia. - -The only quarter whence troops could be procured was Aragon, where -everything had remained quiet since the fall of Saragossa. The -Emperor had issued orders that of the two corps which had taken part -in the siege, the Third only should remain to hold down the conquered -kingdom: hence Mortier and the Fifth should have been disposable to -reinforce the troops in Old Castile. But, with the Austrian war upon -his hands, Napoleon was thinking of withdrawing Mortier and his -15,000 men from Spain. In a dispatch dated April 10, he announced -that the Marshal was to retire from Aragon to Logroño in Navarre, -from whence he might possibly be recalled to France if circumstances -demanded it[477]. At the same moment King Joseph was writing to -Mortier to summon him into Old Castile, and pointing out to him that -the safety of the whole of Northern Spain depended upon his presence. -Much perplexed by these contradictory orders, the Duke of Treviso -took a half-measure, and marched to Burgos, which was actually in Old -Castile, but lay only three marches from Logroño and upon the direct -route to France. A few days later the Emperor, moved by his brother’s -incessant appeals, and seeing that it was all-important to reopen -the communication between Ney and Soult, permitted Mortier to march -to Valladolid, where he was in a good position for holding down the -entire province of Old Castile. He also gave leave to the King to -employ for an expedition to Galicia the two regiments of the Third -Corps, which had escorted the prisoners of Saragossa to Bayonne, and -which were now on their homeward way to join their division in Aragon. - - [477] Napoleon to Joseph, from Paris, April 10, 1809. - -It was thus possible to get together enough troops to open the -way to Galicia. The charge of the expedition was handed over to -Kellermann, who was given his own dragoons, the two regiments from -Bayonne, a stray battalion of Leval’s Germans from Segovia, a Polish -battalion from Buitrago, and a provisional regiment organized from -belated details of the Second and Sixth Corps, which had been lying -in various garrisons of Castile and Leon[478]. He had altogether -some 7,000 or 8,000 men, whom he concentrated at Astorga on April -27. Marching on Villafranca he met no regular opposition, but was -harassed by the way by the peasantry, who had abandoned their -villages and retired into the hills. Mahy had moved off the main -road by making his advance to Navia de Suarna, and was not sighted -by Kellermann, nor did the Spaniard think fit to meddle with such a -powerful force as that which was now passing him. - - [478] For details concerning the composition of this expedition - see Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, p. 196. - -On May 2 the column reached Lugo, where it fell in with Maurice -Mathieu’s division of the Sixth Corps, and obtained full information -as to Ney’s position. The Marshal was absent at Corunna, but sent his -chief of the staff to meet Kellermann and concert with him a common -plan of operations. It was settled that they should concentrate their -attention on La Romana and the Asturians, leaving southern Galicia -alone for the present, and taking no heed of Soult, of whom they had -received no news for a full month. - -For the destruction of the Spanish armies of the north a concentric -movement was planned. Ney undertook to concentrate the main body -of his corps at Lugo, and to fall on the Asturians from the west, -crushing Mahy on the way. He stipulated, however, that he should -be allowed to return to Galicia as quickly as possible, lest the -insurgents should make havoc of his garrisons during his absence. -Kellermann was to retrace his steps to Astorga and Leon, and from -thence to march on the Asturias by the pass of Pajares, its great -southern outlet. At the same moment Bonnet at Santander was to be -requested to fall on from the east, and to attack Ballasteros and the -division that lay behind the Deba. - -When it was reported to Mahy and La Romana that Kellermann had -turned back from Lugo, and was retreating upon Astorga, they failed -to grasp the meaning of his movement, and came to the conclusion -that his expedition had been sent out with no purpose save that -of communicating with Ney. Unconscious that a simultaneous attack -from all sides was being prepared against them, they failed to -concentrate. By leaving small ‘containing’ detachments at the -outlying posts, they could have massed 20,000 men against any one of -the French columns: but they failed to see their opportunity and were -caught in a state of complete dispersion. Ballasteros with 9,000 men -still lay opposite Bonnet; Worster at Castropol did not unite with -Mahy’s army at Navia de Suarna; and La Romana remained at Oviedo with -two regiments only. - -Hence came hopeless disaster when the French attack was at last -let loose upon the Asturias. On May 13 the Duke of Elchingen drew -together at Lugo four of the eight infantry regiments which formed -the Sixth Corps, with two of his four cavalry regiments, and eight -mountain-guns carried by mules. This formed a compact force of 6,500 -bayonets and 900 sabres[479]. He left behind him four battalions and -a cavalry regiment under Maucune at Santiago, the same force under -the cavalry brigadier Fournier at Lugo, two battalions at Corunna, -one at Betanzos, and one at Ferrol. - - [479] The force that marched on the Asturias was composed of the - 25th Léger, 27th and 59th of Maurice Mathieu’s division, the 39th - from Marchand’s, the 3rd Hussars, and 25th Dragoons. - - Maucune’s detachment consisted of two battalions each of the 6th - Léger and the 76th, with the 15th Chasseurs and one battery. - - Fournier’s detachment was composed of the 15th Dragoons, two - battalions of the 69th, and one of the 76th. - -The obvious route by which the Marshal might have advanced on Oviedo -was the coast-road by Mondonedo and Castropol, which Worster was -guarding. But in order to save time and to fall upon the enemy on an -unexpected line, he took a shorter but more rugged mountain road by -Meyra and Ibias, which led him into the valley of the Navia. This -brought him straight upon Mahy’s army: but that general, when he learnt -of the strength that was directed against him, retreated in haste after -a skirmish at Pequin, and fled, not to the Asturias, but westward into -the upper valley of the Minho. [May 14.] This move was vexatious to -Ney, who would have preferred to drive him on to Oviedo, to share in -the general rout that was being prepared for the Asturians. The Marshal -refused to follow him, and pushed on to Cangas de Tineo in the valley -of the Narcea, capturing there a large convoy of food and ammunition -which was on its way from La Romana to Mahy. On May 17 he hurried on -to Salas, on the 18th he was at the bridge of Gallegos on the Nora -river, only ten miles from Oviedo. Here for the first time he met with -serious opposition: hitherto he had suffered from nothing but casual -‘sniping’ on the part of the peasantry. His march had been so rapid -that La Romana had only heard of his approach on the seventeenth[480], -and had not been able to call in any of his outlying detachments. -The Marquis was forced to attempt to defend the passage of the Nora -with nothing more than his small central reserve--the one Galician -regiment (La Princesa, only 600 bayonets) that he had brought with him -from Villafranca, and one Asturian battalion--not more than 1,500 men. -Naturally he was routed with great loss, though Ney allows that the -Princesa regiment made a creditable defence at the bridge[481]. The -Spanish troops therefore dispersed and fled eastward, while Romana rode -down to the seaport of Gijon and took ship on a Spanish sloop of war -along with the members of his Junta. The Marshal seized Oviedo on the -nineteenth: the place was pillaged in the most thorough fashion by his -troops. In his dispatch he makes the excuse that a few peasants had -attempted to defend some barricades in the suburbs, and that they, not -the soldiery, had begun the sack. _Credat Judaeus Apella!_ The ways -of the bands of Napoleon are too well known, and we shall not believe -that it was Spaniards who stole the cathedral plate, or tore the bones -of the early kings of Asturias from their resting-places in search of -treasure[482]. On May 20 Ney marched with one regiment down to Gijon, -where he found 250,000 lbs. of powder newly landed from England, and -a quantity of military stores. An English merchantman was captured -and another burnt[483]. A detached column occupied Aviles, the second -seaport of the Asturias. - - [480] Carrol gives an excellent account of the French invasion - in a long dispatch written from Vigo on June 3. He says that the - Marquis only heard of Ney’s approach by the peasants flying from - Cangas de Tineo on the morning of May 17. He himself was sent - out to verify the incredible information, and came on the French - as they were crossing the Navia, only thirty miles from Oviedo. - He rode back in haste, and met one Asturian battalion coming up, - and afterwards the regiment of La Princesa. Romana had no other - troops, and only a few hundred half-armed peasantry joined in the - defence of the bridge of Gallegos. - - [481] ‘Ce dernier pont de Gallegos fut assez bien défendu par le - régiment de la Princesse, mais néanmoins il fut enlevé, ainsi - qu’une pièce de douze.’ Ney to King Joseph, Oviedo, May 21. - - [482] ‘Les magasins et les plus riches maisons de la ville furent - pillés par les paysans et la populace. Ces malheureux, ivres - d’eau-de-vie, entreprirent de défendre la ville et firent feu - dans toutes les rues.’ Ney to King Joseph, Oviedo, May 21. - - [483] They were called the Pique and the Plutus. Carrol was - nearly captured while burning the latter, and escaped in an open - boat. - -On the following day, May 21, a detachment sent inland from Oviedo -up the valley of the Lena, with orders to search for the column -coming from the south, got into touch with that force. Kellermann -had duly reached Leon, where he found orders directing him to send -back to Aragon the two regiments of the Third Corps which had been -lent him[484], and to take instead a division of Mortier’s corps, -which was now disposable for service in the north. Accordingly he -picked up Girard’s (late Suchet’s) division, and leaving one of its -brigades at Leon, marched with the other and the remainder of his -original force, to storm the defiles of Pajares. He had with him -between 6,000 and 7,000 troops, a force with which he easily routed -the Asturian brigade of 3,000 men under Colonel Quixano, which had -been set to guard the pass. At the end of two days of irregular -fighting, Kellermann descended into the valley of the Lena and met -Ney’s outposts on May 21. The routed enemy dispersed among the hills. - - [484] The 116th and 117th of Morlot’s division. - -It remains to speak of the third French column which started to -invade the Asturias, that of Bonnet. This general marched from -Santander on May 17 with 5,000 men, intending to attack Ballasteros, -and force his way to Oviedo by the coast-road that passes by San -Vincente de la Barquera and Villaviciosa. But he found no one to -fight, for Ballasteros had been summoned by La Romana to defend -Oviedo, and had started off by the inland road viâ Cangas de Oñis and -Infiesto. The two armies therefore were marching parallel to each -other, with rough mountains between them. On reaching Infiesto on -May 21, Ballasteros heard of the fall of Oviedo and of the forcing -of the pass of Pajares: seeing that it would be useless to run into -the lion’s mouth by proceeding any further, he fell back into the -mountains, and took refuge in the upland valley of Covadonga, the -site of King Pelayo’s famous victory over the Moors in the year 718. -Here he remained undiscovered, and was gradually joined by the wrecks -of the force which Ney had routed at Oviedo, including O’Donnell and -the Princesa regiment. Bonnet passed him without discovering his -whereabouts, advanced as far as Infiesto and Villaviciosa, and got -into touch with Kellermann. - -Thus the three French columns had all won their way into the heart -of the Asturias, but though they had seized its capital and its -seaports, they had failed to catch its army, and only half their task -had been performed. Of all the Asturian troops only the two small -forces at Oviedo and Pajares had been met and routed. Worster had not -been molested, Mahy had doubled back into Galicia, Ballasteros had -gone up into the mountains. If the invasion was to have any definite -results, it was necessary to hunt down all these three divisions. -But there was no time to do so: Ney was anxious about his Galician -garrisons; Bonnet remembered that he had left Santander in charge of -a weak detachment of no more than 1,200 men. Both refused to remain -in the Asturias, or to engage in a long stern chase after the elusive -Spaniards, among the peaks of the Peñas de Europa and the Sierras -Albas. They decided that Kellermann with his 7,000 men must finish -the business. Accordingly they departed each to his own province--and -it was high time, for their worst expectations had been fulfilled. -Mahy in the west and Ballasteros in the east had each played the -correct game, and had fallen upon the small garrisons left exposed in -their rear. Moreover, the insurgents of Southern Galicia had crossed -the Ulla and marched on Santiago. If Ney had remained ten days longer -in the Asturias, it is probable that he would have returned to find -the half of the Sixth Corps which he had left in Galicia absolutely -exterminated. - -The Marshal, however, was just in time to prevent this disaster. -Handing over the charge of the principality to Kellermann, he marched -off on May 22 by the coast-road which leads to Galicia by the route -of Navia, Castropol, and Ribadeo. He hoped to deal with Worster by -the way, having learnt that the Swiss general had advanced from -Castropol by La Romana’s orders, and was moving cautiously in the -direction of Oviedo. But Worster was fortunate enough to escape: he -went up into the mountains when he heard that Ney was near, and had -the satisfaction of learning that the Marshal had passed him by. The -rivers being in flood, and the bridges broken, the French had a slow -and tiresome march to Ribadeo, which they only reached on May 26. -Next day the Duke of Elchingen was at Castropol, where he received -the news that Lugo had been in the gravest peril, and had only been -relieved by the unexpected appearance of Soult and the Second Corps -from the direction of Orense. - -The sequence of events during the Marshal’s absence had been -as follows. When Mahy found that he had escaped pursuit, he had -immediately made up his mind to strike at the French garrisons. He -tried to persuade Worster to join him, or to attack Ferrol, but could -not induce him to quit the Asturias. So with his own 6,000 men Mahy -marched on Lugo, beat General Fournier (who came out to meet him) -in a skirmish outside the walls, and drove him into the town. Lugo -had no fortification save a mediaeval wall, and the Spaniards were -in great hopes of storming it, as they had stormed Villafranca. But -when they had lain two days before the place, they were surprised to -hear that a large French force was marching against them; it was not -Ney returning from the Asturias, but the dilapidated corps of Soult -retreating from Orense. Wisely refusing to face an army of 19,000 -men, Mahy raised the siege and retired to Villalba in the folds of -the Sierra de Loba. On May 22 Soult entered Lugo, where he was at -last able to give his men nine days’ rest, and could begin to cast -about him for means to refit them with the proper equipment of an -army, for, as we have seen, they were in a condition of absolute -destitution and wholly unable to take the field. - -At Castropol Ney heard at one and the same moment that Lugo had -been in danger and that it had been relieved. But he also received -news of even greater importance from another quarter. Maucune and -the detachment which he had left at Santiago had been defeated in -the open field by the insurgents of Southern Galicia, and had been -compelled to fall back on Corunna. This was now the point of danger, -wherefore the Marshal neither moved to join Soult at Lugo, nor set -himself to hunt Mahy in the mountains, but marched straight for -Corunna to succour Maucune. - -The force which had defeated that general consisted in the main of -the insurgents who had beleaguered Tuy and Vigo in March and April. -They were now under Morillo and Garcia del Barrio, who were beginning -to reduce them to some sort of discipline, and were organizing them -into battalions and companies. But the core of the ‘Division of the -Minho,’ as this force was now called, was composed of the small body -of regulars which La Romana had left at Puebla de Senabria, under -Martin La Carrera. That officer, after giving his feeble detachment -some weeks of rest, had marched via Monterey and Orense to join the -insurrectionary army. He brought with him nine guns and 2,000 men. On -May 22 Carrera and Morillo crossed the Ulla and advanced on Santiago -with 10,000 men, of whom only 7,000 possessed firearms. Maucune -came forth to meet them in the Campo de Estrella[485], outside the -city, with his four battalions and a regiment of chasseurs, thinking -to gain an easy success when the enemy offered him battle in the -open. But he was outnumbered by three to one, and as the Galicians -showed much spirit and stood steadily to their guns, he was repulsed -with loss. Carrera then attacked in his turn, drove the French into -Santiago, chased them through the town, and pursued them for a -league beyond it. Maucune was wounded, and lost 600 men--a fifth of -his whole force--and two guns. He fell back in disorder on Corunna. -He had the audacity to write to Ney that he had retired after an -indecisive combat: but the Marshal, reading between the lines of his -dispatch, hastened to Corunna with all the troops which had returned -from the Asturias, and did not consider the situation secure till he -learnt that Carrera had not advanced from Santiago. - - [485] The plain from which Santiago gets its name of Santiago de - Compostella. - -Leaving his main body opposite the ‘Division of the Minho,’ the Duke -of Elchingen now betook himself to Lugo, to concert a joint plan of -operation with Soult [May 30]. The results of their somewhat stormy -conference must be told in another chapter. - -Meanwhile the situation behind them was rapidly changing. On May 24 -La Romana, who had landed at Ribadeo, rejoined Mahy and his army -at Villalba. The Marquis, on surveying the situation, came to the -conclusion that it was too dangerous to remain in the northern angle -of Galicia, between the French army at Lugo and the sea. He resolved -to return to the southern region of the province, and to get into -touch with Carrera and the troops on the Minho. He therefore bade -his army prepare for another forced march across the mountains. They -murmured but obeyed, and, cautiously slipping past Soult’s corps by -a flank movement, crossed the high-road to Villafranca and reached -Monforte de Lemos. From thence they safely descended to Orense, -where La Romana established his head quarters [June 6]. Thus the -Spaniards were once more in line, and prepared to defend the whole of -Southern Galicia. - -We have still to deal with the state of affairs in the Asturias. -After Ney’s departure on May 22, Kellermann lay at Oviedo and Bonnet -at Infiesto. But a few days later the latter general received the -disquieting news that Ballasteros, whose movements had hitherto -escaped him, was on the move towards the east, and might be intending -either to make a raid into the plains of Castile, or to descend on -Santander and its weak garrison. - -Ballasteros, as a matter of fact, had resolved to stir up trouble in -Bonnet’s rear, with the object of drawing him off from the Asturias. -Leaving his refuge at Covadonga on May 24 he marched by mule-tracks, -unmarked on any map, to Potes in the upper valley of the Deba. There -he remained a few days, and finding that he was unpursued, and that -his exact situation was unknown to the French, resolved to make a -dash for Santander. Starting on June 6 and keeping to the mountains, -he successfully achieved his end, and arrived at his goal before the -garrison of that place had any knowledge of his approach. On the -morning of June 10 he stormed the city, driving out General Noirot, -who escaped with 1,000 men, but capturing 200 of the garrison and 400 -sick in hospital, as well as the whole of the stores and munitions of -Bonnet’s regiments. Among his other prizes was the sum of £10,000 in -cash, in the military chest of the division. Some of the French tried -to escape by sea, in three corvettes and two luggers which lay in the -harbour, but the British frigates _Amelia_ and _Statira_, which lay -off the coast, captured them all. This was a splendid stroke, and if -Ballasteros had been prudent he might have got away unharmed with -all his plunder. But he lingered in Santander, though he knew that -Bonnet must be in pursuit of him, and resolved to defend the town. -The French general had started to protect his base and his dépôts, -the moment that he ascertained the real direction of Ballasteros’ -march. On the night of June 10 he met the fugitive garrison and -learnt that Santander had fallen. Late on the ensuing day he reached -its suburbs, and sent in two battalions to make a dash at the place. -They were beaten off; but next morning Bonnet attacked with his -whole force, the Asturians were defeated, and Ballasteros’ raid -ended in a disaster. He himself escaped by sea, but 3,000 of his men -were captured, and the rest dispersed. The French recovered their -sick and prisoners, and such of their stores as the Spaniards had -not consumed[486]. The wrecks of Ballasteros’ division drifted back -over the hills to their native principality, save one detachment, -the regulars of La Romana’s old regiment of La Princesa. This small -body of 300 men turned south, and by an astounding march across -Old Castile and Aragon reached Molina on the borders of Valencia, -where they joined the army of Blake. They had gone 250 miles through -territory of which the French were supposed to be in military -possession, but threaded their way between the garrisons in perfect -safety, because the peasantry never betrayed their position to the -enemy. - - [486] All this may be studied in two dispatches of Bonnet to King - Joseph, dated Santander, June 12 and June 20. - -Disastrous as was its end, Ballasteros’ expedition had yet served its -purpose. Not only had it thrown the whole of the French garrisons in -Biscay and Guipuzcoa into confusion, but even the Governor of Bayonne -had been frightened and had sent alarming dispatches to the Emperor. -This was comparatively unimportant, but it was a very different -matter that Bonnet had been forced to evacuate the Asturias, all of -whose eastern region was now free from the invaders. - -More was to follow: Kellermann still lay at Oviedo, worried but -not seriously incommoded by Worster and the Asturians of the west. -But a few days after Bonnet’s departure he received a request from -Mortier (backed by orders from King Joseph), that the division of -the 5th Corps which had been lent him should instantly return to -Castile. This was one of the results of Wellesley’s campaign on -the Douro, for Mortier, hearing of Soult’s expulsion from Northern -Portugal, imagined that the British army, being now free for further -action, would debouch by Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo and fall upon -Salamanca. He needed the aid of his second division, which Kellermann -was forced to send back. But it would have been not only useless -but extremely dangerous to linger at Oviedo with the small remnant -of the expeditionary force, when Girard’s regiments had been -withdrawn. Therefore Kellermann wisely resolved to evacuate the whole -principality, and returned to Leon by the pass of Pajares in the -third week of June. - -Thus ended in complete failure the great concentric attack on the -Asturias. The causes of the fiasco were two. (1) The French generals -chose as their objective, not the enemy’s armies, but his capital -and base of operations. Both Ney and Bonnet while marching on Oviedo -left what (adapting a naval phrase) we may call an ‘army-in-being’ -behind them, and in each case that army fell upon the detachments -left in the rear, and pressed them so hard that the invading forces -could not stay in the Asturias, but were forced to turn back to -protect their communications. (2) In Spain conquest was useless -unless a garrison could be left behind to hold down the territory -that was overrun. But neither Ney, Kellermann, nor Bonnet had any -troops to devote to such a purpose: they invaded the Asturias with -regiments borrowed from other regions, from which they could not long -be spared. As later experience in 1811 and 1812 showed, it required -some 8,000 men merely to maintain a hold upon Oviedo and the central -parts of the principality. The invaders had no such force at their -disposition--the troops from the 6th Corps were wanted in Galicia, -those of the 5th Corps in Castile, those of Bonnet in the Montaña. If -it were impossible to garrison the Asturias, the invasion dwindled -down into a raid, and a raid which left untouched the larger part -of the enemy’s field army was useless. It would have been better -policy to hunt Mahy, Worster, and Ballasteros rather than to secure -for a bare three weeks military possession of Oviedo and Gijon. If -Soult had not dropped from the clouds, as it were, to save Lugo: -if Ballasteros had been a little more prudent at Santander, the -Asturian expedition would have ended not merely in a failure, but in -an ignominious defeat. It should never have been undertaken while -the Galician insurrection was still raging, and while no troops were -available for the permanent garrisoning of the principality. - -Searching a little deeper, may we not say that the ultimate cause -of the fiasco was Napoleon’s misconception of the character of the -Spanish war? It was he who ordered the invasion of the Asturias, and -he issued his orders under the hypothesis that it could be not only -conquered but retained. But with the numbers then at the disposal of -his generals this was impossible, because the insurrection absorbed -so many of their troops, that no more could be detached without -risking the loss of all that had been already gained. By grasping at -the Asturias Napoleon nearly lost Galicia. Only Soult’s appearance -prevented that province from falling completely into the hands of -Mahy and La Carrera: and that appearance was as involuntary as it was -unexpected. If the Duke of Dalmatia had been able to carry out his -original design he would have retreated from Oporto to Zamora and not -to Orense. If Beresford had not foiled him at Amarante, he would have -been resting on the Douro when Fournier was in such desperate straits -at Lugo. In that case Ney might have returned from Oviedo to find -that his detachments had been destroyed, and that Galicia was lost. -It was not the Emperor’s fault that this disaster failed to occur. - - - - -SECTION XV: CHAPTER II - -THE FRENCH ABANDON GALICIA - - -When, upon May 30, 1809, Ney arrived at Lugo, and met Soult in -conference, it seemed that, now or never, the time had come when a -serious endeavour might be made to subdue the Galician insurgents. -The whole force of the 2nd and 6th Corps was concentrated in the -narrow triangle between Ferrol, Corunna, and Lugo. The two marshals -had still 33,000 men fit for service, after deducting the sick. If -they set aside competent garrisons for the three towns that we have -just named, they could still show some 25,000 men available for field -operations, and with such a force Ney was of the opinion that the -insurrection might be beaten down. It was true that the 2nd Corps -was in a deplorable condition as regards equipment, but on the other -hand Corunna and Ferrol were still full of the stores of arms and -ammunition that had been captured when they surrendered. Clothing, no -doubt, was lamentably deficient, and Ney could only supply hundreds -where Soult asked for thousands of boots and _capotes_; but he -refitted his colleague’s troops with muskets and ammunition, and -furnished him with eight mountain-guns--field-pieces the Duke of -Dalmatia would not take, though a certain number were offered him; -for after his experience of the way that his artillery had delayed -him in February and March he refused to accept them. Horses and -mules were unattainable--nearly half Soult’s cavalry was dismounted, -and he had lost most of his sumpter-beasts between Guimaraens and -Montalegre. Nevertheless, the corps, after a week’s rest at Lugo, -was once more capable of service. Its weakly men had been left in -hospital at Oporto, or had fallen by the way in the dreadful defiles -of Ruivaens and Salamonde. All that remained were war-hardened -veterans, and Soult, out of his 19,000 men, had no more than 800 -sick and wounded. He resolved to disembarrass himself of another -hindrance, his dismounted cavalry, and in each regiment made the 3rd -and 4th squadrons hand over their chargers to the 1st and 2nd. The -1,100 troopers thus left without mounts were armed with muskets, and -formed into a column, to which were added the _cadres_ of certain -infantry battalions belonging to the regiments which had suffered -most. In these the 3rd, or the 3rd and 4th, battalions turned over -their effective rank and file to the others, while the officers and -non-commissioned officers were to be sent home to their dépôts to -organize new units. The whole body was placed under General Quesnel, -who was directed to cut his way to Astorga by the great high-road: -it was hoped that he would come safely through, now that La Romana -had withdrawn his army to Southern Galicia. The expedient was a -hazardous one; but the column was fortunate: it was forced to fight -with a large assembly of peasants at Doncos, half-way between Lugo -and Villafranca, but reached its goal with no great loss, though for -every mile of the march it was being ‘sniped’ and harassed by the -guerrillas. - -Soult’s available force, after he had sent his sick into the -hospitals of Lugo, and had dismissed Quesnel’s detachment, was about -16,500 or 17,000 sabres and bayonets. Ney had about 15,000 men left. -The two marshals were bound, both by the Emperor’s orders and by the -mere necessities of the situation, to co-operate with each other. But -there was a fundamental divergence between their aims and intentions. -Ney had been given charge of Galicia, and he regarded it as his duty -to conquer and hold down the province. He refused to look beyond his -orders, or to take into consideration the progress of operations -in other parts of the Peninsula. Soult, on the other hand, always -loved to play his own game, and had no desire to stay in Galicia in -order to lighten his colleague’s task. He was disgusted with the -land, its mountains, and its insurgents, and was eager to find some -excuse for quitting it. He had no difficulty in discovering many -excellent reasons for retiring into the plains of Leon. The first -was the dilapidated state of his troops: in spite of the resources -which Ney had lent, the 2nd Corps still lacked clothing, pay, and -transport. Soult had written to King Joseph on May 30 to ask that all -these necessaries might be sent forward to Zamora, where he intended -to pick them up. A still more plausible plea might be found in the -general state of affairs in Northern Spain. The Emperor’s main object -was the expulsion of the British army from the Peninsula. But if the -2nd Corps joined the 6th in a long, and probably fruitless, hunt -after the evasive La Romana, Wellesley would be left free to march -whithersoever he might please. He might base himself on Almeida and -Ciudad Rodrigo, and make a sudden inroad into Leon and Old Castile, -where the small corps of Mortier would certainly prove inadequate to -hold him back. Or he might go off to the south, and fall upon Victor -in Estremadura, a move which might very probably lead to the loss of -Madrid. Soult therefore was of opinion that his duty was to drop down -into Leon, and there join with Mortier in making such a demonstration -against Portugal as would compel the British army to stand upon the -defensive, and to abandon any idea of invading Spain either by the -valley of the Douro or that of the Tagus. ‘He could not keep his eye -off Portugal,’ as Jourdan and King Joseph, no less than Ney, kept -complaining[487]. There cannot be the least doubt that Soult was -quite right in turning his main attention in this direction. It was -the English army that was the most dangerous enemy; and it was the -flanking position of Portugal that rendered the French movements -toward the south of Spain hazardous or impracticable. - - [487] The phrase occurs in a dispatch of Jourdan’s written in - August. - -Nevertheless all the Duke of Dalmatia’s arguments seemed to his -colleague mere excuses destined to cover a selfish determination -to abandon the 6th Corps, and to shirk the duty of co-operating in -the conquest of Galicia. He insisted that Soult must aid him in -crushing La Romana before taking any other task in hand. And he had -a strong moral claim for pressing his request, because it was from -the resources which he had furnished that the 2nd Corps had been -re-equipped and rendered capable of renewed service in the field. -The marshals wrangled, and their followers copied them, for a fierce -feud, leading to a copious exchange of recrimination and many duels, -sprang up during the few days that the staffs of the two corps lay -together at Lugo[488]. At last Soult yielded, or feigned to yield, -to Ney’s instances: he promised to lend his aid for the suppression -of the Galician insurrection under certain conditions. A plan for -combined action was accordingly drawn up. - - [488] There is clear evidence of this quarrel in the diaries and - memoirs of the officers of both corps. ‘Nous fûmes d’abord bien - reçus à Lugo’--writes Soult’s aide-de-camp St. Chamans--‘mais le - Maréchal Ney étant arrivé, les choses changèrent de face, et on - eût dit que nous n’étions plus un corps français: tout nous était - refusé: même nos malades mouraient en foule dans les hôpitaux, - faute d’aliments: car tout était réservé, par les ordres de Ney, - pour son corps d’armée, et on peut bien dire qu’on nous traita - de Turc en Maure’ (p. 150). Des Odoards is equally precise: - ‘Une fâcheuse mésintelligence a éclaté entre les troupes de Ney - et les nôtres: les duels sont survenus, et peu s’en est fallu - qu’oubliant que nous sommes, les uns et les autres, enfants de - la France, il n’y ait eu engagement général. Le non-succès de - notre entreprise, l’état de délabrement de notre tenue, out servi - de texte aux mauvaises plaisanteries, aux propos outrageants, - dont des scènes sanguinaires ont été la suite. Les soldats seuls - ont d’abord pris part à ces rixes, puis elles ont gagné les - officiers, et s’il faut croire certain bruits, les maréchaux ont - eu eux-mêmes une entrevue fort orageuse’ (p. 240). According to - the common report this ‘stormy interview’ actually ended in Ney’s - drawing his sword upon Soult, and being only prevented by General - Maurice Mathieu from assailing him. This tale was told to Captain - Boothby (see his _Memoirs_, ii. p. 31) by a French officer who - said that he had been an eye-witness of the scene. - -According to this scheme Ney was to advance from Corunna to Santiago -with the 6th Corps, and was to drive the main body of the insurgents -southward in the direction of Vigo and Tuy, following the line of -the great coast-road. Soult meanwhile was to operate in the inland, -against the enemy’s exposed flank. He was to march from Lugo down -the valley of the upper Minho, pushing before him all that stood in -his way, with the object of thrusting the enemy on to Orense, and -then towards the sea. If all went right, La Romana’s army as well as -the insurgents of the coast, would finally be enclosed between the -two marshals and the Atlantic cliffs, and, as it was hoped, would -be exterminated or forced to surrender. The obviously weak point of -the plan was that it did not allow sufficiently for the power which -the enemy possessed of escaping, by dispersion, or by taking to the -mountains. Even if the details of the two movements had been carried -out with perfect accuracy, it is probable that the Galicians would -have crept out of some gap, or slipped away between the converging -corps, or saved themselves by a headlong retreat into Portugal. -The Marshals might have captured Vigo and Orense: it is extremely -unlikely that they could have done more, especially as they had to -deal with a general like La Romana, who had made up his mind that his -duty was to avoid pitched battles, and to preserve his army at all -costs. If Cuesta or Blake had been in command the scheme would have -been much more feasible; but La Romana was the only Spanish commander -then in the field who had resolved never to fight if he could help it. - -On June 1 Ney and Soult parted, starting the one upon the road to -Corunna, the other upon that which makes for Orense by the valley of -the upper Minho. It would seem that neither of them had any great -confidence in the success of the plan adopted, and that each was -possessed by the strongest doubts as to the loyalty with which his -colleague would support him. Soult was on the watch for any good -excuse for throwing up the scheme and retiring to Zamora. Ney was -determined not to risk himself and his corps overmuch, lest he should -find himself left in the lurch by Soult at the critical moment[489]. - - [489] ‘Il se sépara de Ney, avec lequel il eût l’air d’arrêter, - pour la conservation de la Galice, un plan de campagne auquel - tous les deux étaient, je crois, résolus d’avance de ne pas - se conformer, car ils voulaient le moins possible se trouver - ensemble.’ St. Chamans (p. 151). This represents the view of - Soult’s staff. - -Meanwhile the Spaniards had been straining every nerve to reorganize -the army of Galicia, employing the short time of respite that -they had gained in drafting back into the old corps the numerous -stragglers who began to return to their colours as the summer drew -on, and in raising new battalions of volunteers. La Romana lay in -person at Orense with the main body of the original army, which -had now risen to a force of about 7,000 properly equipped men, and -nearly 3,000 unarmed recruits: he had still only four guns[490]. The -‘Division of the Minho’ was no longer under Carrera and Morillo: they -had been superseded by the arrival of the Conde de Noroña to whom -the Central Junta had given over the command. This officer found -himself at the head of about 10,000 men, of whom only about 2,500 -were regulars, the rest were peasantry new to the career of arms, but -so much exhilarated by their late successes at Vigo and the Campo -de Estrella, that it was hard to hold them back from taking the -offensive[491]. Fortunately Noroña was gifted not only with tact but -with caution: he knew how to keep the horde together without allowing -them to get out of hand, and utterly refused to risk them in the open -field[492]. - - [490] La Romana (June 1, in the Record Office) gives present at - Orense 9,633 men--of whom 7,094 were old soldiers, including 381 - cavalry and 379 artillery. - - [491] Carrol to Castlereagh, from Vigo, June 11. - - [492] For some notes concerning Noroña’s character see Arteche, - vi. 188. - -On June 5 Ney arrived before Santiago with the main body of the -6th Corps--eighteen battalions, three cavalry regiments and two -batteries: he had again left Corunna, Ferrol, and Lugo in the charge -of very small garrisons, and was by no means without misgivings as -to their fate during his absence. But he thought that his first duty -was to concentrate a field force sufficiently large to face and beat -the whole army of Galicia, in case La Romana should join Noroña for a -combined attack on the 6th Corps. - -On the news of the Marshal’s approach the Spanish general drew back -all his forces behind the estuary known as the Octavem (or Oitaben), -a broad tidal stretch of water where several small mountain torrents -meet at the head of a long bay. Noroña might have disputed the lines -of the Ulla and the Vedra, but neither of these rivers affords such -a good defensive position as the Oitaben. Here the hills of the -interior come down much nearer to the sea than they do at the mouths -of the Ulla and the Vedra, so that there is a much shorter line to -defend, between low-water mark and the foot of the inaccessible -Sierra de Suido. There was no road inland by which the position could -be turned, so that the Galicians had only to guard the six miles of -river-bank between the sea and the mountain. There were two bridges -to be watched: the more important was that of Sampayo, where the -main _chaussée_ to Vigo passes the Oitaben just where it narrows -down and ceases to be tidal. The second was that of Caldelas, four -miles further inland, where a side-road to the village of Sotomayor -crosses the Verdugo, the most northern of the three torrents which -unite to form the Oitaben. Noroña had broken down four arches of -the great Sampayo bridge. That of Caldelas he had not destroyed, -but had barricaded: he had drawn a double line of trenches on the -hillside that dominates it, and placed there a battery containing -some of his small provision of artillery--he had but nine field-guns -and two mortars taken from the walls of Vigo. Morillo was given -charge of this part of the position, Noroña took post himself at -Sampayo. He had neglected no minor precaution that was possible--some -gunboats, one of which was manned by English sailors drawn from the -two frigates in the bay, patrolled the tidal part of the Oitaben, and -flanked the broken bridge. Winter, the senior naval officer present, -put his marines on shore: along with sixty stragglers from Moore’s -army, who had been liberated by the peasants from French captivity, -they garrisoned Vigo, which lies a few miles beyond the Oitaben. - -On June 7 Ney reached the front of the position and ascertained -that the bridge of Sampayo was broken. His artillery exchanged some -objectless salvos with that of Noroña, while his cavalry rode inland -to look for possible points of passage. They could find none save -the fortified bridge of Caldelas, and a very difficult ford just -above it, commanded, like the bridge, by the Spanish trenches on the -hillside. The Marshal was also informed that at the Sampayo itself -there was another ford, passable only at low tide for three hours at -a time. - -These reports were by no means encouraging: the Spanish position was -almost impregnable, and there was no way of turning it. Indeed the -only road by which the enemy could be taken in flank or rear was -that from Orense to Vigo, along the Minho. This Ney could not reach: -but supposing that Soult had carried out the plan of operations to -which he had assented on June 1, it was just possible that he might -appear, sooner or later, on that line, and so dislodge the enemy. -However it was equally possible that he might be still far distant, -and so Ney resolved to make an attempt to force the passage of -the Oitaben. On the morning of June 8 therefore, after a long but -fruitless cannonade, one body of infantry endeavoured to pass at the -ford opposite the village of Sampayo[493], while another, with some -cavalry, attempted to cross the other ford at Caldelas, and to storm -its bridge. At both places the Galicians stood their ground, and the -heads of the column were exposed to such a furious fire that they -suffered heavily and failed to reach the further bank. The Marshal -therefore drew them back, and refused to persist in an attack which -would only have had a chance of success if the enemy had misbehaved -and given way to panic. The French lost several hundred men[494], the -Galicians, safe in their trenches, suffered far less. - - [493] Carrol, writing from Vigo two days later, says that the - French infantry ‘seemed determined _at any risk_ to cross the - water at low tide,’ that they came on very boldly, but could not - face the fire, and finally gave back. - - [494] Carrol, in the letter just quoted, says that thirty-nine - dead bodies were left before the bridge-head of Caldelas, which - the French could not carry off because of the hot fire that - played upon the spot. He estimates the French total loss at 300, - while that of Noroña was only 111. - -That evening Ney received news which convinced him that Soult had -left him in the lurch, and had no intention of prosecuting his march -on Orense, to turn the enemy’s flank. It was reported that the 2nd -Corps, after making only two days’ march from Lugo, had stopped short -at Monforte de Lemos, and showed no signs of moving forward. Indeed -the Duke of Dalmatia had put the regiments into cantonments and was -evidently about to make a lengthy halt. - -Since the Duke of Elchingen was now convinced that the enemy could -not be dislodged from behind the Oitaben without his colleague’s aid, -and since that colleague showed no signs of appearing within any -reasonable time, the game was up. On the morning of the ninth Ney -gave orders for his troops to draw off, and to retire by the road -to Santiago and Corunna. He made no secret of his belief that Soult -had deliberately betrayed him, and had never intended to keep his -promise[495]. Without the aid of the 2nd Corps he had no hopes of -being able to suppress the Galician insurrection. But till he should -learn precisely what his colleague was doing, he could not make up -his mind to abandon the province. He therefore sent off on June 10 an -aide-de-camp with a large escort, by the circuitous route via Lugo. -This officer bore a dispatch, which explained the situation, reported -the check at Sampayo, and demanded that the 2nd Corps should not -move any further away, but should return to lend aid to the 6th in -its time of need. It was more than ten days before an answer was -received. But on the twenty-first Soult’s reply came to hand: he -had been found marching, not towards Orense, but eastward, in the -direction of the frontiers of Leon. He refused to turn back, alleging -that this was not in the bond signed at Lugo, and that his troops -were in such a state of exhaustion that he was forced to lead them -into the plains, to rest them and refit them. Such a reply seemed to -justify Ney’s worst suspicions; abandoned by his colleague, and with -the care of the whole of Galicia thrown upon his hands, he refused -to risk the safety of the 6th Corps in the unequal struggle. He -evacuated Corunna and Ferrol on the twenty-second and concentrated -his whole force at Lugo. There he picked up the sick and wounded of -Soult’s corps as well as his own, and in six forced marches retired -along the high-road by Villafranca to Astorga, which place he reached -on June 30. Every day he had been worried and molested by the local -guerrillas, but neither Noroña nor La Romana had dared to meddle -with him. In his anger at the constant attacks of the insurgents, he -sacked every place that he passed, from Villafranca and Ponferrada -down to the smallest hamlets. Twenty-seven Galician towns and -villages are said to have been burned by the 6th Corps during its -retreat. Such conduct was unworthy of a soldier of Ney’s calibre: it -can only be explained by the fact that he was almost beside himself -with wrath at being foiled by Soult’s breach of his plighted word, -and vented his fury on the only victims that he could reach. - - [495] ‘I have been assured,’ says Napier (ii. 127), ‘by an - officer of Ney’s personal staff [Col. D’Esménard] that he rashly - concluded that personal feelings had swayed Soult to betray the - 6th Corps. In this error he returned in wrath to Corunna.’ But - was his conclusion rash, or wrong? - -We must now turn back to trace the steps of the 2nd Corps in its -devious march from Lugo to the plains of Leon. Soult had sent out -Loison with one division by the road down the left bank of the Minho -on June 1. He himself followed with the rest of the army on the next -day. On the third the Marshal reached the little town of Monforte de -Lemos, between the Minho and the Sil, which he found deserted by its -inhabitants. In obedience to La Romana’s orders they had all gone up -into the mountains. - -If Soult had been honestly desirous of carrying out his compact with -Ney, his next step would have been to make a rapid march on Orense. -He must have been able to calculate that his colleague would now be -in touch with Noroña’s forces somewhere to the south of Corunna, -and it was his duty to co-operate by descending the Minho in the -enemy’s rear. The mere fact that he remained for the unconscionable -space of eight days at Monforte, is a sufficient proof that he never -intended to carry out his part of the compact. During this time [June -3-11], while Ney was fighting out to an unsuccessful end his campaign -against Noroña, Soult was absolutely quiescent, at a place only -thirty miles from his starting-point at Lugo. He was unmolested save -by small bands of local guerrillas, who fled to the hills whenever -they were faced. His official chronicler Le Noble pleads that there -were no fords to be found either over the Minho or over the Sil[496]. -But in eight days, unopposed by any serious enemy, the engineers of -the 2nd Corps could certainly have built bridges if the Marshal had -ordered them to do so. Meanwhile the troops rested, and rejoiced in -the abundant supplies of food and wine which they gathered in from -the neighbourhood, for Monforte lies in the centre of a fertile -upland and its neighbourhood had never before suffered from the ills -of war[497]. - - [496] Le Noble, p. 280. - - [497] Fantin des Odoards, p. 242. - -On the eleventh Soult at last moved on. But it was not in the -direction of Orense. He had no news of Ney, and professed to be -concerned that the 6th Corps had not yet been heard of on the -Orense road. Finally he announced that he was compelled to believe -that the Duke of Elchingen had not executed his part of the joint -campaign[498], and that there was no longer any reason that the 2nd -Corps should carry out its share of the plan. Accordingly he marched, -not toward Ney, but in the opposite direction, up the valley of the -Sil, with his face set towards the east. He pretended that he hoped -to catch and disperse the corps of La Romana, to whom he attributed -a design of marching on Puebla de Senabria--the same movement that -the Marquis had executed once before in the first days of March. But -as a matter of fact La Romana was at Orense, and far from having -any intention of retreating eastward, if he were attacked by the 2nd -Corps, he was looking on Portugal as his line of retreat[499]. - - [498] ‘Le Maréchal crut, _ou feignit de croire_, que Ney avait - changé d’idée,’ says his aide-de-camp St. Chamans, p. 151. - - [499] La Romana writes to Carrol from Orense, on June 9, to - say that he had been intending to march by cross-roads to fall - on Ney’s flank, and so aid the division of Noroña. But Soult’s - appearance at Monforte with 12,000 men [an under-estimate] - compels him to remain behind to observe that marshal [Record - Office]. - -On the thirteenth Soult reached Montefurado, where the Sil is bridged -by masses of rocks which have fallen into its bed: the river forces -its way beneath them by a tunnel sixty feet broad, which is supposed -to have been cut by the Romans. Crossing on this natural bridge, -he turned southward to follow the valley of the Bibey, which leads -to Puebla de Senabria and the plains of Leon. He met no resistance -save from the local insurgents, headed by the Abbot of Casoyo and -a partisan called El Salamanquino, who received little or no aid -from the regular army. Indeed the only Spanish troops in this remote -corner of Galicia were 200 men under an officer called Echevarria, -a dépôt left behind at Puebla de Senabria by La Carrera, when he -had marched to Vigo in May. This handful of men joined the local -guerrillas, and the appearance of their uniforms among the enemy’s -ranks served Soult as an excuse for stating that he was contending -with the army of La Romana. Any reader of his dispatches would -conclude that during the last days of June he was opposed by a -considerable body of that force. As a matter of fact he was never -anywhere near the Galician army, which lay first at Orense, then at -Celanova, finally at Monterey on the Portuguese frontier, always -moving to the right, parallel with the Marshal’s advance, so as to -avoid being outflanked on its southern wing. It was with the peasants -of the valley of the Bibey alone that Soult had to do. Thrusting -them to right and left, and cruelly ravaging the country-side on -both banks of the river, he reached Viana on June 16. From thence -Franceschi sent a flying expedition over the hills to La Gudina, on -the road from Monterey to Puebla de Senabria. It brought back news -that La Romana had come down to Monterey when the 2nd Corps moved to -Viana, but that he was evidently not marching eastward. It had met -and routed a party of Spanish cavalry sent out from Monterey[500]; -the prisoners taken from them said that the Marquis was returning to -Orense now that he had seen the 2nd Corps committing itself to an -advance up the valley of the Bibey, and passing away in the direction -of the plains of Leon. - - [500] Carrol was with this party. He had come out from Vigo to - join La Romana, was at La Gudina on June 16, and retreated to - Monterey when Franceschi attacked that point. The Marquis turned - back when he saw Franceschi move off eastward, and retired to his - old head quarters at Orense. If Soult had pushed westward, the - Spaniards had the choice between the road to Chaves and that back - to Orense, and were in no danger. - -It was while halting at Larouco, during this march, that Soult -received the dispatch which Ney had written to him from Santiago on -June 10. His reply, as we have already seen, was a peremptory refusal -to turn back to the aid of the 6th Corps. He asserted that he had -fulfilled his part of the bargain made at Lugo (which he assuredly -had not), and refused to undertake any further offensive operations -with troops in a state of utter destitution and fatigue. He declared -to his staff, and wrote to King Joseph, that he believed that Ney had -deliberately mismanaged his expedition against Vigo, and had suffered -himself to be checked, in order to have an excuse for detaining -the 2nd Corps in Galicia[501]. Why, he asked, had not the Duke of -Elchingen sent a turning column against Orense, instead of making a -frontal attack against the line of the Oitaben? The plain answer to -this query--viz. that Ney with a field-force of only 10,000 men, and -having three weak garrisons behind him, could not afford either to -divide his army or to go too far from Corunna and Lugo--he naturally -did not give. - - [501] ‘Il (Ney) m’engageait à rester en Galice, et me - représentait qu’il pourrait résulter pour lui de fâcheuses - conséquences si j’en sortais. Cette proposition m’étonna: il me - parut que M. le Maréchal Ney se conduisait à m’obliger à rester - en Galice: car certainement rien ne l’empêchait de manœuvrer sur - Orense, tandis que moi-même j’agissais contre La Romana.... Je - me crus encore plus obligé qu’auparavant de suivre mon premier - projet.’ Soult to Joseph, June 25. - -Accordingly, on June 23, Soult abandoned the valley of the Bibey, -and crossed the watershed of the Sierra Segundera in two columns, -one descending on to La Gudina, the other on to Lobian. On the -twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth the whole army was united at Puebla -de Senabria. The town was taken without a shot being fired; and the -French found there several cannon which La Carrera had not carried -off when he marched to Vigo, and which Echevarria had spiked but -neglected to destroy. The corps rested for five days in Puebla -de Senabria, where it obtained abundance of food and comfortable -lodging. But Franceschi and his light-horse, now reduced to not -more than 700 sabres, were pushed on at once to Zamora, to bear -news to King Joseph of the approach of the 2nd Corps, and to beg -that the stores, money, artillery, and clothing, which Soult had -demanded in his letter from Lugo, might be forwarded to him as soon -as possible[502]. Although the authorities at Madrid had heard -nothing of the doings of the Marshal since June 1, they had already -prepared much of the material required, and sent it to Salamanca. -From thence it was now transferred to Zamora and Benavente, where it -was handed over to the war-worn 2nd Corps. Other stores were procured -from Valladolid and even from Bayonne. But the artillery, the most -important of all the necessaries, was long in coming. - - [502] On reaching Zamora, Franceschi handed over the charge of - his division to General Pierre Soult, the Marshal’s brother, and - rode on towards Madrid with no escort but two aides-de-camp. They - were captured near Toro by the celebrated guerrilla chief El - Capuchino (Fray Juan Delica), who sent the important dispatches - which they were bearing to Seville: Frere instantly forwarded a - copy to Wellesley (July 9), who thus got invaluable information - as to Soult’s situation and future intentions. In the Record - Office there is a letter requesting that the news of Franceschi’s - captivity may be sent to his wife in Paris, which was duly done. - The unfortunate general was imprisoned first at Granada and then - at Cartagena: in both places, it is said, he was treated with - unjustifiable rigour, and kept in close confinement within four - walls--it was the same usage that Napoleon meted out to Palafox. - He died of a fever in 1811, after two years’ captivity. - -Soult’s main body had broken up from Puebla de Senabria on June 29: -from thence Mermet’s, Delaborde’s, and Lorges’ troops marched to -Benavente, and those of Merle and Heudelet to Zamora. In these places -they enjoyed a few days of rest and began to refit themselves. But -it was not long before they were called upon to take part in another -great campaign, and once more to face their old enemies the English. - -The first care of the Duke of Dalmatia, after he had emerged from the -Galician Sierras, had been to write long justificatory dispatches to -the Emperor and King Joseph. They are most interesting documents, -and explain with perfect clearness his reasons for abandoning Ney -and returning to the valley of the Douro. His main thesis is that -it was his duty to keep the English in check, since they were the -one really dangerous enemy in the Peninsula. Since it was notorious -that Wellesley had quitted Northern Portugal, it was practically -certain that he must be intending to march southward, to fall upon -Victor, and strike a blow at Madrid. It was necessary, therefore, -that the 2nd Corps should follow him, and be ready to aid in the -defence of the capital. The safety of Madrid was far more important -than the subjection of Galicia, and the Marshal had no hesitation -in sacrificing the lesser object in order to secure the greater. -Ney, he thought, would be strong enough to make head against Noroña -and La Romana united: but he could not hope to hold down the whole -of Galicia, and he would have either to be reinforced, or to be -permitted to evacuate the province. - -As to the conquest of Galicia, it would take many men and many -months. At present it would be impossible to find the forces -necessary for its complete subjection. This could only be done by -fortifying not merely Corunna, Ferrol, and Lugo, but also Tuy, -Monterey, Viana, and Puebla de Senabria. Each of these places should -be given a garrison of 5,000 or 6,000 men, and furnished with stores -calculated to last for four months. In addition there would have to -be blockhouses built along the high-road from Lugo to Villafranca, -and on several other lines. Columns operating from each of the seven -great garrisons should be continually moving about, keeping open the -communication between stronghold and stronghold, and chastising the -insurgents. - -Thus Soult calculated that the subjection of Galicia would require -from 35,000 to 42,000 men, continually on the move, and never liable -to be called upon for any service outside the province. It was -absurd, therefore, for him to suggest in a later paragraph that Ney -might be left to hold his own. What was the use of setting 15,000 -men to work on a task that would strain the energies of 35,000? And -where was King Joseph to find the additional 20,000 men, if the 2nd -Corps were withdrawn into Leon to watch the British army? No such -force could be drawn from any other part of Spain, and it would be -useless to ask for reinforcements from France while the Austrian War -was calling every available man to the Danube. Soult’s view, clearly, -was that Galicia would have to be abandoned for the present, though -he did not choose to say so. Till the English had been destroyed, or -driven into the sea, King Joseph would never be able to find 35,000 -men to lock up in the remote and mountainous north-western corner of -the Peninsula[503]. - - [503] There is so much valuable information in these dispatches - of Soult, dated June 25, from Puebla de Senabria, that I have - printed the most important paragraphs as an Appendix--omitting - the lengthy narrative of the operations on the Sil and the - Bibey in which the Marshal vainly flattered himself that he - had dispersed the armies of La Romana and ‘Chavarria’ (i.e. - Echevarria). - -There is not the slightest doubt that Soult’s views were perfectly -correct. Looking at the war in the Peninsula as a whole, it was a -strategical blunder to endeavour to hold Galicia before Portugal had -been conquered. And while the force of the French armies in Spain -remained at its present figure, it was impossible to spare two whole -army corps for this secondary theatre of operations. The attempt -to subdue the province had only been made because Moore had drawn -after him to Corunna the armies of Soult and Ney: and, since they -were on the spot, the temptation to use them there was too great to -be withstood. This is but one more instance of the way in which the -famous march to Sahagun had disarranged all the Emperor’s original -plans for the conquest of the Peninsula. - -It has often been debated whether it would be truer to say that -Galicia was delivered by Wellesley’s operations or by the valour -and obstinacy of its own inhabitants. After giving all due credit -to the gallant peasantry who checked Ney and harassed Soult, to the -prudence of the untiring La Romana, and to Noroña’s cautious courage, -it is yet necessary to decide that the real cause of the evacuation -of the province by the invaders was the presence of the victorious -British army in Portugal. The two Marshals might have maintained -themselves there for an indefinite time, if they could have shut -their eyes to what was going on elsewhere. But Soult was quite -right in believing that it would be mad to persist in the attempt to -subdue Galicia, while Wellesley was in the field, and nothing lay -between him and Madrid but the 22,000 men of the 1st Corps. If he -and Ney had lingered on in the north, engaged in fruitless hunting -after La Romana, while July and August wore on, Madrid would have -fallen into the hands of Wellesley and Cuesta, and King Joseph would -once more have been forced to go upon his travels, to Burgos or -elsewhere. The Talavera campaign only failed of success because the -2nd and the 6th Corps were withdrawn from the Galician hills just -in time to concentrate at Salamanca and fall upon the rear of the -victors. If they had been wandering around Monterey or Mondonedo at -the end of July, instead of being cantoned in the plains of Leon, the -capital of Spain would undoubtedly have been recovered by Wellesley -and Cuesta--though whether those ill-assorted colleagues could have -held it for long is another question. Into such possibilities it is -useless to make inquiry. - - -N.B.--My best authority for this campaign is the set of dispatches -by Carrol in the Record Office. He was at Vigo from June 3 to June -14; with La Romana from June 16 to July 11. Thus he was on the spot -for the fight on the Oitaben, and also for the operations against -Soult. Napier’s narrative is more than usually faulty in dealing -with the end of the Galician campaign. He writes as a partisan of -Soult, and his whole tale is drawn from the Marshal’s dispatches and -from the book of the panegyrist, Le Noble. His whole picture of the -desperate condition of La Romana is untrue: the Marquis had always -open to him a safe retreat into Portugal, and his army was never -engaged with Soult at all. Carrol’s dispatches make this quite clear. -The map (facing p. 125 of vol. ii.) is so hopelessly inaccurate both -as to distances, and as to the relative positions of places to each -other, that I can only compare it to those ingenious diagrams which -a railway produces, in order to show that it possesses the shortest -route from London to Edinburgh, or from Brussels to Berlin. - - - - -SECTION XV: CHAPTER III - -OPERATIONS IN ARAGON: ALCAÑIZ AND BELCHITE - -(MARCH-JUNE 1809) - - -When, upon February 20, the plague-stricken remnant of the -much-enduring garrison of Saragossa laid down their arms at the feet -of Lannes, it seemed probable that the whole of North-Eastern Spain -must fall a helpless prey to the invader. The time had come when the -3rd and the 5th Corps, freed from the long strain of the siege, were -once more available for field-operations. For the last two months -almost every dispatch that the Emperor or King Joseph wrote, had -been filled with plans and projects that began with the words ‘When -Saragossa shall have fallen.’ If only Palafox and his desperate -bands were removed, it would be easy to trample down Aragon, to take -Catalonia in the rear, and finally to march to the gates of Valencia, -and end the struggle on the eastern coast. - -Now at last the 30,000 men of Mortier and Junot could be turned to -other tasks, and there seemed to be every reason to expect that -they would suffice to carry out the Emperor’s designs. There was no -army which could be opposed to them, for, only a few days after the -capitulation of Saragossa, Reding had risked and lost the battle of -Valls, and the wrecks of his host had taken refuge within the walls -of Tarragona. - -The only surviving Spanish force which was under arms in the valley -of the Ebro consisted of the single division, not more than 4,000 -strong, under the Marquis of Lazan. After his vain attempt to come -to the rescue of Saragossa in the early days of February, Lazan had -drawn back to Fraga and Monzon, forced to look on from afar at the -last stage of his brother’s desperate resistance. In the rest of the -kingdom of Aragon there were but two or three scattered battalions -of new levies[504], and some guerrilla bands under Perena and other -chiefs. - - [504] See sect. xi. chap. i. pp. 101-2. - -The mistaken policy which had led Joseph Palafox to shut up in -Saragossa not only his own army but also the succours which he had -procured from Valencia and Murcia, now bore its fruit. There was no -force left which could take the field against the victorious army -of Lannes. It seemed therefore that the war in Aragon must come to -a speedy end: the French had but to advance and the whole kingdom -must fall into their hands. The national cause, however, was not -quite so desperate as might have been supposed. Here, as in other -regions of Spain, it was ere long to be discovered that it was one -thing to destroy a Spanish army, and another to hold down a Spanish -province. A French corps that was irresistible when concentrated on -the field of battle, became vulnerable when forced to divide itself -into the number of small garrisons that were needed for the permanent -retention of the territory that it had won. Though the capital of -Aragon and its chief towns were to remain in the hands of the enemy -for the next five years, yet there were always rugged corners of the -land where the struggle was kept up and the invader baffled and held -in check. - -Yet immediately after the fall of Saragossa it seemed for a space -that Aragon might settle down beneath the invader’s heel. Lannes, -whose health was still bad, returned to France, but Mortier and -Junot, who now once more resumed that joint responsibility that they -had shared in December, went forth conquering and to conquer. They -so divided their efforts that the 5th Corps operated for the most -part to the north, and the 3rd Corps to the south of the Ebro, though -occasionally their lines of operations crossed each other. - -The kingdom of Aragon consists of three well-marked divisions. On -each side of the Ebro there is a wide and fertile plain, generally -some thirty miles broad. But to the north and the south of this rich -valley lie range on range of rugged hills. Those on the north are -the lower spurs of the Pyrenees: those to the south form part of the -great central ganglion of the Sierras of Central Spain, which lies -just where Aragon, Valencia, and New Castile meet. - -The valley of the Ebro gave the French little trouble: it was not a -region that could easily offer resistance, for it was destitute of -all natural defences. Moreover, the flower of its manhood had been -enrolled in the battalions which had perished at Saragossa, and few -were left in the country-side who were capable of bearing arms--still -fewer who possessed them. The plain of Central Aragon lay exhausted -at the victor’s feet. It was otherwise with the mountains of the -north and the south, which contain some of the most difficult ground -in the whole of Spain. There the rough and sturdy hill-folk found -every opportunity for resistance, and when once they had learnt by -experience the limitations of the invader’s power, were able to keep -up a petty warfare without an end. Partisans like Villacampa in the -southern hills, and Mina in the Pyrenean valleys along the edge of -Navarre, succeeded in maintaining themselves against every expedition -that was sent against them. Always hunted, often brought to bay, they -yet were never crushed or destroyed. - -But in March 1809 the Aragonese had not yet recognized their own -opportunities: the disaster of Saragossa had struck such a deep blow -that apathy and despair seemed to have spread over the greater part -of the kingdom. When Mortier and Junot, after giving their corps -a short rest, began to spread movable columns abroad, there was -at first no resistance. The inaccessible fortress of Jaca in the -foot-hills of the Pyrenees surrendered at the first summons; its -garrison was only 500 strong, yet it should have made some sort of -defence against a force consisting of no more than a single regiment -of Mortier’s corps, without artillery. [March 21[505].] The fall -of this place was important, as it commands the only pass in the -Central Pyrenees which is anything better than mule-track. Though -barely practicable for artillery or light vehicles, it was useful for -communication between Saragossa and France, and gave the French army -of Aragon a line of communication of its own, independent of the long -and circuitous route by Tudela and Pampeluna. - - [505] Toreno gives some curious details about the surrender - of Jaca, which he says was largely due to the intrigues of a - friar named José de Consolation, who preached resignation and - submission to God’s will in such moving terms that the greater - part of the garrison deserted! He was afterwards found to have - been an agent of the French. The Central Junta sent the Governor - Campos, the Corregidor Arcón, and the officers commanding the - artillery and engineers before a court-martial, which condemned - them all to death. Only the engineer was caught (he had openly - joined the French) and shot. [Arteche, vi. p. 10.] - -Other columns of Mortier’s corps marched against Monzon and Fraga, -the chief towns in the valley of the Cinca. On their approach the -Marquis of Lazan retired down the Ebro to Tortosa, and both towns -were occupied without offering resistance. Another column marched -against Mequinenza, the fortress at the junction of the Ebro and -Segre: here, however, they met with opposition; the place was only -protected by antiquated sixteenth-century fortifications, but it -twice refused to surrender, though on the second occasion Mortier -himself appeared before its walls with a whole brigade. The Marshal -did not besiege it, deferring this task till he should have got all -of Eastern Aragon well in hand. At this same time he made an attempt -to open communications with St. Cyr in Catalonia, sending a regiment -of cavalry under Colonel Briche to strike across the mountains -beyond the Segre in search of the 7th Corps. Briche executed half -his mission, for by great good fortune combined with very rapid -movement, he slipped between Lerida and Mequinenza, got down into -the coast-plain and met Chabot’s division of St. Cyr’s army at -Montblanch. When, however, he tried to return to Aragon, in order to -convey to the Duke of Treviso the information as to the distribution -of the 7th Corps, he was beset by the _somatenes_, who were now on -the alert. So vigorously was he assailed that he was forced to turn -back and seek refuge with Chabot. Thus Mortier gained none of the -news that he sought, and very naturally came to the conclusion that -his flying column had been captured or cut to pieces. - -Meanwhile Junot and the 3rd Corps were operating south of the Ebro. -The Duke of Abrantes sent one of his three divisions (that of -Grandjean) against Caspe, Alcañiz, and the valleys of the Guadalope -and Martin, while another (that of Musnier) moved out against the -highlands of the south, and the mountain-towns of Daroca and Molina. -Most of the battalions of his third division, that of Morlot, were -still engaged in guarding on their way to France the prisoners of -Saragossa. - -Of the two expeditions which Junot sent out, that which entered the -mountains effected little. It lost several small detachments, cut off -by the local insurgents, and though it ultimately penetrated as far -as Molina, it was unable to hold the place. The whole population had -fled, and after remaining there only six days, the French were forced -to return to the plains by want of food. [March 22--April 10.] The -Aragonese at once came back to their former position. - -Grandjean, who had moved against Alcañiz, had at first more -favourable fortune. He overran with great ease all the low-lying -country south of the Ebro, and met with so little opposition that he -resolved to push his advance even beyond the borders of Valencia. -Accordingly he ascended the valley of the Bercantes, and appeared -before Morella, the frontier town of that kingdom, on March 18. -The place was strong, but there was only a very small garrison in -charge of it[506], which retired after a slight skirmish, abandoning -the fortress and a large store of food and equipment. If Grandjean -could have held Morella, he would have secured for the French army -a splendid base for further operations. But he had left many men -behind him at Caspe and Alcañiz, and had but a few battalions in -hand. He had gone too far forward to be safe, and when the Junta of -Valencia sent against him the whole of the forces that they could -collect--some 5,000 men under General Roca--he was compelled to -evacuate Morella and to fall back on Alcañiz. [March 25.] - - [506] Only the single regiment, America, whose cadre, sent back - by Infantado from Cuenca, was being filled up with recruits from - the Morella district. [Junot to King Joseph, from Saragossa, - March 25.] - -Mortier and Junot were concerting a joint movement for the completion -of the conquest of Eastern Aragon, and an advance against Tortosa, -when orders from Paris suddenly changed the whole face of affairs. -The Emperor saw that war with Austria was inevitable and imminent: -disquieted as to the strength of the new enemy, he resolved to draw -troops from Spain to reinforce the army of the Danube. The only -corps which seemed to him available was that of Mortier, and on -April 5 he ordered that the Duke of Treviso should concentrate his -troops and draw back to Tudela and Logroño. It might still prove to -be unnecessary to remove the 5th Corps from the Peninsula; but at -Logroño it would be within four marches of France if the Emperor -discovered that he had need of its services in the north. On the same -day Napoleon removed Junot from his command, probably on account of -the numerous complaints as to his conduct sent in by King Joseph. -To replace him General Suchet, the commander of one of Mortier’s -divisions, was directed to take charge of the 3rd Corps[507]. - - [507] See Joseph’s letter of April 6, and the Emperor’s orders, - from Paris, of April 5 and April 10. - -Ten days later the imperial mandate reached Saragossa, and on -receiving it Mortier massed his troops and marched away to Tudela. -We have already seen[508] that his corps was never withdrawn from -Spain, but merely moved from Aragon to Old Castile. But its departure -completely changed the balance of fortune on the Lower Ebro. The -number of French troops in that direction was suddenly reduced by one -half, and the 3rd Corps had to spread itself out to the north, in -order to take over all the positions evacuated by Mortier. It was far -too weak for the duty committed to its charge, and at this moment it -had not even received back the brigade sent to guard the Saragossa -prisoners, which (it will be remembered) had been called off and lent -to Kellermann[509]. There were hardly 15,000 troops left in the whole -kingdom of Aragon, and these were dispersed in small bodies, with -the design of holding down as much ground as possible. The single -division of Grandjean had to cover the whole line from Barbastro to -Alcañiz--places seventy miles apart--with less than 5,000 bayonets. -The second division, Musnier’s, with its head quarters at Saragossa, -had to watch the mountains of Upper Aragon. Of the 3rd division, that -of Morlot, the few battalions that were available were garrisoning -Jaca and Tudela, on the borders of Navarre. No sooner had Mortier’s -corps departed, than a series of small reverses occurred, the -inevitable results of the attempt to hold down large districts with -an inadequate force. Junot, who was still retained in command till -his successor should arrive, seemed to lack the courage to draw in -his exposed detachments: probably his heart was no longer in the -business, since he was under sentence of recall. Yet he had six weeks -of work before him, for by some mischance the dispatch nominating -Suchet to take his place reached Saragossa after that general had -marched off at the head of his old division of Mortier’s corps. -Cross-communication being tardy and difficult, it failed to catch -him up till he had reached Valladolid. Returning from thence with a -slow-moving escort of infantry, Suchet did not succeed in joining -his corps till May 19. He found it in a desperate situation, for the -last four weeks had seen an almost unbroken series of petty reverses, -and it looked as if the whole of Aragon was about to slip out of the -hands of the French. It was fortunate for the 3rd Corps that its new -commander, though hitherto he had never been placed in a position -of independent responsibility, proved to be a man of courage and -resource--perhaps indeed the most capable of all the French generals -who took part in the Peninsular War. A timid or unskilful leader -might have lost Aragon, and imperilled the hold of King Joseph on -Madrid. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the entire French -position in Spain would have been gravely compromised if during the -last weeks of May the 3rd Corps had been under the charge of a less -skilful and self-reliant commander. - - [508] See p. 378. - - [509] See p. 378. - -In the month that elapsed before Suchet’s arrival the consequences -of the withdrawal of the 5th Corps from the Lower Ebro were making -themselves felt. The Aragonese were not slow to discover the decrease -in the numbers of the invaders, and to note the long distances that -now intervened between post and post. The partisans who had retired -into Catalonia, or had taken refuge in the mountains of the south -and the north, began to descend into the plains and to fall upon the -outlying French detachments. On May 6 Colonel Perena came out of -Lerida, and beset the detachment of Grandjean’s division which held -the town and fortress of Monzon, with a horde of peasants and some -Catalan _miqueletes_. The governor, Solnicki, thereupon fell back -to Barbastro, the head quarters of Habert’s brigade. That general -considered that he was in duty bound to retake Monzon, and marched -against it with six battalions and a regiment of cuirassiers. He -tried to cross the Cinca, not opposite the town, but much lower -down the stream, at the ferry of Pomar. [May 16.] But just as his -vanguard[510] had established itself on the other bank, a sudden -storm caused such a rising of the waters that its communication -with the main body was completely cut off. Thereupon Habert marched -northward, and tried to force a passage at Monzon, so as to secure -a line of retreat for his lost detachment. The bridge of that town -however had been barricaded, and the castle garrisoned: Habert was -held at bay, and the 1,000 men who had crossed at the ferry of Pomar -were all cut off and forced to surrender. After marching for three -days among the insurgents, and vainly endeavouring to force their -way through the horde, they had to lay down their arms when their -cartridges had all been exhausted. [May 19.] Only the cuirassiers -escaped, by swimming the river when the flood had begun to abate, and -found their way back to Barbastro. - - [510] It consisted of eight _compagnies d’élite_, viz. the - _voltigeur_ companies of the 14th Line, and the 2nd of the - Vistula, and the grenadier and voltigeur companies of the 116th - of the Line, with half a squadron of the 13th Cuirassiers. [Von - Brandt, p. 62.] - -In consequence of this disaster the French lost their grip on the -valley of the Cinca, for the insurgents, under Perena and the Catalan -chief Baget, moved forward into the Sierra de Alcubierre and raised -the whole country-side in their aid. Habert, fearing to be cut off -from Saragossa, thereupon retired to Villafranca on the Ebro, and -abandoned all North-Eastern Aragon[511]. - - [511] This little campaign can be studied in detail in Von - Brandt, pp. 60-8. He was serving as lieutenant in the 2nd of - the Vistula, and gives many details which are not to be found - in Suchet or Arteche. Toreno would seem (ii. 10) to be wrong in - saying that Habert tried to storm Monzon, and got over the river - there, but was beaten back by Baget. Von Brandt says that there - was nothing but a hot fire across the water, and that the attack - could not be pushed home. - -Meanwhile the other brigade of Grandjean’s division, which still -lay at Alcañiz, south of the Ebro, was also driven in by the -Spaniards. Its commander Laval was attacked by a large force coming -from Tortosa, and was forced to draw back to San Per and Hijar -[May 18-19]. At the news of his retreat all the hill-country of -Southern Aragon took arms, and the bands from Molina and the other -mountain-cities extended their raids down the valley of the Huerta -and almost to the gates of Saragossa. - -The Spanish force which had seized Alcañiz was no mere body of -armed peasants, but a small regular army. General Blake had just -been given the post of commander-in-chief of all the forces of -the _Coronilla_--the old kingdom of Aragon and its dependencies, -Valencia and Catalonia. Burning to atone for his defeats at Zornoza -and Espinosa by some brilliant feat of arms, he was doing his best -to collect a new ‘Army of the Right.’ From Catalonia he could draw -little or nothing: the troops which had fought under Reding at Valls -were still cooped up in Tarragona, and unfit for field-service. But -Blake had concentrated at Tortosa the division of the Marquis of -Lazan--the sole surviving fraction of the old Army of Aragon--and the -troops which he could draw from Valencia. These last consisted at -this moment of no more than the reorganized division of Roca from the -old ‘Army of the Centre.’ Its depleted _cadres_ had been sent back -by Infantado from Cuenca, and the Junta had shot into them a mass of -recruits, who in a few weeks had raised the strength of the division -from 1,500 to 5,000 bayonets. Other regiments were being raised in -Valencia, but in the early weeks of May they were not yet ready -for the field, though by June they gave Blake a reinforcement of -nearly 12,000 men[512]. Murcia could provide in May only one single -battalion for Blake’s assistance: all its field army had perished at -Saragossa. The total force of the new ‘Army of the Right’ when it -advanced against Alcañiz was less than 10,000 men--the Valencians in -its ranks outnumbered the Aragonese by four to three. - - [512] It is necessary to enter a protest against Napier’s - statement (vol. ii. p. 252), that Valencia did not do its fair - share in defending the general cause of Spain--that ‘from - the very commencement of the insurrection its policy was - characterized by a singular indifference to the calamities that - overwhelmed the other parts of the country.’ The contribution of - Valencia to the national armies raised in 1808-9, compares well - with that of the other provinces. These troops, too, were not - used for local defence, but employed in other parts of Spain. - Argüelles’ answer to Napier on this point seems conclusive: (see - the Appendix-volume of his _Observaciones_, &c.). The troops sent - out by Valencia were:-- - - Men. - (1) To join the division of Llamas in the ‘Army of the - Centre’ [Roca’s later division], thirteen battalions, - about 6,000 - (2) To join the division of O’Neille in Aragon, one - regiment 800 - (3) To join the division of St. March in Aragon, nine - battalions 6,000 - (4) Joined Palafox at Saragossa between the date of Tudela - and the commencement of the siege, one battalion 500 - (5) Sent to Catalonia in December, two battalions 800 - (6) Raised to recruit Roca’s division in January 4,000 - (7) Raised to join Blake between April and June 1809 11,881 - ------ - Total 29,981 - - These figures are exclusive of cavalry and artillery, and in some - cases are under-estimated, as no morning-states of the troops - survive for the earlier months of the campaign of 1808, and - these totals are taken from returns made late in the year, when - the regiments had begun to run low in numbers. For the enormous - monetary contribution made by Valencia in 1808-9, see the tables - in Argüelles. - -When Suchet therefore arrived at Saragossa on May 19, and took over -the command of the 3rd Corps from the hands of Junot, the prospect -seemed a gloomy one for the French. Their outlying detachments had -been forced back to the neighbourhood of Saragossa: the central -reserve (Musnier’s two brigades) was small: the third division -(with the exception of one regiment) was still absent--one of its -brigades was with Kellermann in Leon[513], and some detachments were -scattered among the garrisons of Navarre. After the sick and the -absent had been deducted, Suchet found that he had not much more -than 10,000 men under arms, though the nominal force of the 3rd -Corps was still about 20,000 sabres and bayonets. Nor was it only -in numbers that the Army of Aragon was weak: its _morale_ also left -much to be desired. The newly-formed regiments which composed more -than half of the infantry[514] were in a deplorable condition, a -natural consequence of the haste with which they had been organized -and sent into the field. Having been originally composed of companies -drawn from many quarters, they still showed a mixture of uniforms of -different cut and colour, which gave them a motley appearance and, -according to their commander, degraded them in their own eyes and -lowered their self-respect[515]. They had not yet fully recovered -from the physical and moral strain of the siege of Saragossa. Their -pay was in arrear, the military chest empty, the food procured from -day to day by marauding. There was much grumbling among the officers, -who complained that the promotions and rewards due for the capture -of Saragossa had almost all been reserved for the 5th Corps. The -guerrilla warfare of the last few weeks had disgusted the rank and -file, who thought that Junot had been mismanaging them, and knew -absolutely nothing of the successor who had just replaced him. The -whole corps, says Suchet, was dejected and discontented[516]. - - [513] See p. 378. - - [514] The 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, and 121st of the line were - all formed from the ‘Provisional Regiments’ of 1808. - - [515] Suchet’s _Mémoires_. i. p. 11. - - [516] ‘Le 3me corps avait beaucoup souffert au siège de - Saragosse. L’infanterie était considérablement affaiblie: les - régiments de nouvelle formation surtout se trouvaient dans un - état déplorable, par les vices inséparables d’une organisation - récente et précipitée.... Des habits blancs bleus et de formes - différentes, restes choquants de divers changements dans - l’habillement, occasionnaient dans les rangs une bigarrure - qui achevait d’enlever à des soldats déjà faibles et abattus - toute idée de considération militaire. L’apparence de la misère - les dégradait à leurs propres yeux ... Dans un état voisin du - découragement, cette armée était loin de compenser par sa force - morale le danger de sa faiblesse numérique.’ Suchet, p. 16. - - Von Brandt speaks to much the same effect, and says that some - of the troops gave a bad impression, and that he saw battalions - which looked as if they would not stand firm against a sudden and - fierce attack, such as that which Mina and his guerrillas used to - deliver [p. 61]. - -Nevertheless there was no time to rest or reorganize these sullen -battalions: the Spaniards were pressing in so close that it was -necessary to attack them at all costs: the only other alternative -would have been to abandon Saragossa. Such a step, though perhaps -theoretically justifiable under the circumstances, would have ruined -Suchet’s military career, and was far from his thoughts. Only two -days after he had assumed the command of the corps, he marched out -with Musnier’s division to join Laval’s troops at Hijar. [May 21.] He -had sent orders to Habert to cross the Ebro and follow him as fast -as he was able: but that general, who was still on the march from -Barbastro to Villafranca, did not receive the dispatch in time, and -failed to join his chief before the oncoming battle[517]. - - [517] From a casual reading of Suchet, i. 17-21, it might be - thought that the general had been joined by Habert before the - battle. But he certainly was not, as the Memoirs of Von Brandt, - who was with Habert, show that this brigade was at Villafranca, - forty miles from Alcañiz, on the twenty-third, and only started - (too late) to join its chief on the twenty-fourth. The mention - of the 2nd of the Vistula on p. 21 of Suchet is a misprint for - the 3rd of the Vistula of Musnier’s division. Half the 13th - Cuirassiers was also absent with Habert. - -On May 23, however, Suchet, with Musnier’s and Laval’s men, presented -himself in front of Blake’s position at Alcañiz. He had fourteen -battalions and five squadrons with him--a force in all of about -8,000 men, with eighteen guns[518]. He found the Spaniards ready -and willing to fight. They were drawn up on a line of hills to the -east of Alcañiz, covering that town and its bridge. Their position -was good from a tactical point of view, but extremely dangerous when -considered strategically: for Blake had been tempted by the strong -ground into fighting with the river Guadalope at his back, and had -no way of crossing it save by the single bridge of Alcañiz and a -bad ford. It was an exact reproduction of the deplorable order of -battle that the Russians had adopted at Friedland in 1807, though not -destined to lead to any such disaster. The northern and highest of -the three hills occupied by the Spaniards, that called the Cerro de -los Pueyos, was held by the Aragonese troops. On the central height, -called the hill of Las Horcas, was placed the whole of the Spanish -artillery--nineteen guns--guarded by three Valencian battalions: this -part of the line was immediately in front of the bridge of Alcañiz, -the sole line of retreat. The southern and lowest hill, that of La -Perdiguera, was held by Roca and the rest of the Valencians, and -flanked by the small body of cavalry--only 400 sabres--which Blake -possessed[519]. The whole army, not quite 9,000 strong, outnumbered -the enemy by less than 800 bayonets, though in French narratives it -is often stated at 12,000 or 15,000 men[520]. - - [518] According to Suchet’s own figures from his May 15 return, - the forces engaged must have been:-- - - Musnier’s Division: - 114th Line (three batts.) 1,627 - 115th Line (three batts.) 1,732 - 1st of the Vistula (two batts.) 1,039 - 121st Line (one batt. only) 400 - Detachment of the 64th and 40th of - the Line [General’s escort] 450 - ------- - 5,248 - - Laval’s Brigade: - 14th Line (two batts.) 1,080 - 3rd of the Vistula (two batts.) 964 - Cavalry, 4th Hussars 326 - Half 13th Cuirassiers 200 - Artillery 320 - ------- - 2,890 - Total 8,138 - - [519] The Spanish line-of-battle was as follows:-- - - Left wing, General Areizaga: - Daroca, Volunteers of Aragon, Tiradores de Doyle, - Reserve of Aragon, 1st Tiradores de Murcia, Company - of Tiradores de Cartagena--five and one-sixth batts. 2,669 - - Centre, Marquis of Lazan: - Volunteers of Valencia, Ferdinando VII, 3rd batt. of - America, detachment of Traxler’s Swiss--three and a - half batts. 1,605 - - Right wing, General Roca: - 3rd batt. of Savoia, 2nd batt. of America, 1st of - Valencia (three batts.), 2nd Cazadores of Valencia, - 1st Volunteers of Saragossa--seven batts. 3,742 - - Cavalry (detachments of Santiago, Olivenza, and Husares - Españoles) 445 - - Artillery 245 - - - [520] Napier, for example, following French sources, gives Blake - 12,000 men. - -Suchet seems to have found some difficulty at first in making out -the Spanish position--the hills hid from him the bridge and town of -Alcañiz, whose position in rear of Blake’s centre was the dominant -military fact of the situation. At any rate, he spent the whole -morning in tentative movements, and only delivered his main stroke -in the afternoon. He began by sending Laval’s brigade against the -dominating hill on the right flank of the Spanish position. Two -assaults were made upon the Cerro de los Pueyos, which Suchet in his -autobiography calls feints, but which Blake considered so serious -that he sent off to this flank two battalions from his left wing and -the whole of his cavalry. Whether intended as mere demonstrations or -as a real attack, these movements had no success, and were repelled -by General Areizaga, the commander of the Aragonese, without much -difficulty. The Spanish cavalry, however, was badly mauled by -Suchet’s hussars when it tried to deliver a flank charge upon the -enemy at the moment that he retired. - -When all the fighting on the northern extremity of the line had -died down, Suchet launched his main attack against Blake’s centre, -hoping (as he says) to break the line, seize the bridge of Alcañiz, -which lay just behind the hill of Las Horcas, and thus to capture -the greater part of the Spanish wings, which would have no line of -retreat. The attack was delivered by two of Musnier’s regiments[521] -formed in columns of battalions, and acting in a single mass--a -force of over 2,600 men. A column of this strength often succeeded -in bursting through a Spanish line during the Peninsular War. But on -this day Suchet was unlucky, or his troops did not display the usual -_élan_ of French infantry. They advanced steadily enough across the -flat ground, and began to climb the hill, in spite of the rapid and -accurate fire of the artillery which crowned its summit. But when -the fire of musketry from the Spanish left began to beat upon their -flank, and the guns opened with grape, the attacking columns came to -a standstill at the line of a ditch cut in the slope. Their officers -made every effort to carry them forward for the few hundred yards -that separated them from the Spanish guns, but the mass wavered, -surged helplessly for a few minutes under the heavy fire, and then -dispersed and fled in disorder. Suchet rallied them behind the five -intact battalions which he still possessed, but refused to renew -the attack, and drew off ere night. He himself had been wounded in -the foot at the close of the action, and his troops had suffered -heavily--their loss must have been at least 700 or 800 men[522]. -Blake, who had lost no more than 300, did not attempt to pursue, -fearing to expose his troops in the plain to the assaults of the -French cavalry. - - [521] Three battalions of the 114th of the Line, and two of the - 1st of the Vistula. - - [522] Suchet gives a very poor account of Alcañiz in his - _Mémoires_. In spite of his many merits, he did not take a - beating well, and slurs over this action, just as in 1812 he - slurs over his defeat at Castalla. He does not even give an - estimate of his killed and wounded, and has the assurance to say - that he left the enemy only ‘l’opinion de la victoire’ (i. 20). - Blake clearly makes too much of the French attack on his right in - his dispatch. - -The morale of the 3rd Corps had been so much shaken by its -unsuccessful début under its new commander, that a panic broke out -after dark among Laval’s troops, who fled in all directions, on -a false alarm that the Spanish cavalry had attacked and captured -the rearguard. Next morning the army poured into San Per and Hijar -in complete disorder, and some hours had to be spent in restoring -discipline. Suchet discovered the man who had started the cry of -_sauve qui peut_, and had him shot before the day was over[523]. - - [523] Suchet, _Mémoires_, p. 20. - -The French had expected to be pursued, and many critics have blamed -Blake for not making the most of his victory and following the -defeated enemy at full speed. The Spanish general, however, had good -reasons for his quiescence: he saw that Suchet’s force was almost -as large as his own; he could not match the French in cavalry; -and having noted the orderly fashion in which they had left the -battle-field, he could not have guessed that during the night they -would disband in panic. Moreover--and this was the most important -point--he was expecting to receive in a few days reinforcements -from Valencia which would more than double his numbers. Till they -had come up he would not move, but contented himself with sending -the news of Alcañiz all over Aragon and stimulating the activity of -the insurgents. As he had hoped, the results of his victory were -important--the French had to evacuate every outlying post that they -possessed, and the whole of the open country passed into the hands of -the patriots. Perena and the insurgents of the north bank of the Ebro -pressed close in to Saragossa: other bands threatened the high-road -to Tudela: thousands of recruits flocked into Blake’s camp, but he -was unfortunately unable to arm or utilize them. - -Within a few days, however, he began to receive the promised -reinforcements from Valencia--a number of fresh regiments from the -rear, and drafts for the corps that were already with him[524]. He -also used his authority as supreme commander in Catalonia to draw -some reinforcements from that principality--three battalions of -Reding’s Granadan troops and one of _miqueletes_: no more could -be spared from in front of the active St. Cyr. Within three weeks -after his victory of Alcañiz he had collected an army of 25,000 men, -and considered himself strong enough to commence the march upon -Saragossa. It was in his power to advance directly upon the city by -the high-road along the Ebro, and to challenge Suchet to a battle -outside its southern gates. He did not, however, make this move, but -with a caution that he did not often display, kept to the mountains -and marched by a side-road to Belchite [June 12]. Here he received -news of Napoleon’s check at Essling, which had happened on the -twenty-second of the preceding month; it was announced as a complete -and crushing defeat of the Emperor, and encouraged the Spaniards in -no small degree. - - [524] The drafts were so large that the troops of Lazan’s - division, which had numbered 3,979 in May, were 5,679 in June, - those of Roca rose similarly from 3,449 to 5,525. The Valencian - Junta claimed to have sent in all 11,881 men to reinforce Blake, - and the returns bear them out. They also gave him 2,000,000 - reals in cash--about £22,000--raised by a special contribution - in fifteen days. Their report says that they had sent on every - armed man in the province, and that the city was only guarded by - peasants armed with pikes. (Argüelles.) - -From Belchite Blake, still keeping to the mountains, pursued his -march eastward to Villanueva in the valley of the Huerba. This move -revealed his design; he was about to place himself in a position from -which he could threaten Suchet’s lines of communication with Tudela -and Logroño, and so compel him either to abandon Saragossa without -fighting, or to come out and attack the Spanish army among the hills. -Blake, in short, was trying to manœuvre his enemy out of Saragossa, -or to induce him to fight another offensive action such as that of -Alcañiz had been. After the experience of May 25 he thought that he -could trust his army to hold its ground, though he was not willing -to risk an advance in the open, across the level plain in front of -Saragossa. - -Suchet meanwhile had concentrated his whole available force in -that city and its immediate neighbourhood; he had drawn in every -man save a single column of two battalions, which was lying at La -Muela under General Fabre, with orders to keep back the insurgents -of the southern mountains from making a dash at Alagon and cutting -the high-road to Tudela. He had been writing letters to Madrid, -couched in the most urgent terms, to beg for reinforcements. But -just at this moment the Asturian expedition had drawn away to the -north all the troops in Old Castile. King Joseph could do no more -than promise that the two regiments from the 3rd Corps which had -been lent to Kellermann should be summoned back, and directed to -make forced marches on Saragossa. He could spare nothing save these -six battalions, believing it impossible to deplete the garrison of -Madrid, or to draw from Valladolid the single division of Mortier’s -corps, which was at this moment the only solid force remaining in the -valley of the Douro. - -Suchet was inclined to believe that he might be attacked before this -small reinforcement of 3,000 men could arrive, and feared that, with -little more than 10,000 sabres and bayonets, he would risk defeat -if he attacked Blake in the mountains. The conduct of his troops in -and after the battle of Alcañiz had not tended to make him hopeful -of the result of another action of the same kind. Nevertheless, when -Blake came down into the valley of the Huerba, and began to threaten -his communications, he resolved that he must fight once again; the -alternative course, the evacuation of Saragossa and a retreat up the -Ebro, would have been too humiliating. Suchet devoted the three weeks -of respite which the slow advance of the enemy allowed him to the -reorganization of his corps. He made strenuous exertions to clothe -it, and to provide it with its arrears of pay. He inspected every -regiment in person, sought out and remedied grievances, displaced -a number of unsatisfactory officers, and promoted many deserving -individuals. He claims that the improvement in the morale of the -troops during the three weeks when they lay encamped at Saragossa was -enormous[525], and his statements may be verified in the narrative of -one of his subordinates, who remarks that neither Moncey nor Junot -had ever shown that keen personal interest in the corps which Suchet -always displayed, and that the troops considered their new chief both -more genial and more business-like than any general they had hitherto -seen, and so resolved to do their best for him[526]. - - [525] Suchet, _Mémoires_, p. 23. - - [526] Von Brandt, _Aus meinem Leben_, i. 67. - -Forced to fight, but not by any means confident of victory, the -French commander discharged on to Tudela and Pampeluna his sick, -his heavy baggage, and his parks, before marching out to meet Blake -upon June 14. The enemy, though still clinging to the skirts of the -hills, had now moved so close to Saragossa that it was clear that he -must be attacked at once, though Suchet would have preferred to wait -a few days longer, till he should have rallied the brigade from Old -Castile. These two regiments, under Colonel Robert, had now passed -Tudela, and were expected to arrive on the fifteenth or sixteenth. -But Blake had now descended the valley of the Huerba, and had pushed -his outposts to within ten or twelve miles of Saragossa. He had -reorganized his army into three divisions, one of which (mainly -composed of Aragonese troops) was placed under General Areizaga, -while Roca and the Marquis of Lazan headed the two others, in which -the Valencian levies predominated. Of the total of 25,000 men which -the muster-rolls showed, 20,000 were in line: the rest were detached -or in hospital. There were about 1,000 untrustworthy cavalry and -twenty-five guns. - -In his final advance down the Huerba, Blake moved in two columns. -Areizaga’s division kept to the right bank and halted at Botorrita, -some sixteen miles from Saragossa. The Commander-in-chief, with the -other two divisions, marched on the left bank, and pushing further -forward than his lieutenant, reached the village of Maria, twelve -miles from the south-western front of the city. A distance of six -or seven miles separated the two corps. Thus Blake had taken the -strategical offensive, but was endeavouring to retain the tactical -defensive, by placing himself in a position where the enemy must -attack him. But he seems to have made a grave mistake in keeping his -columns so far apart, on different roads and with a river between -them. It should have been his object to make sure that every man was -on the field when the critical moment should arrive. - -Already on the morning of the fourteenth the two armies came into -contact. Musnier’s division met the Spanish vanguard, thrust it back -some way, but then came upon Blake and the main body, and had to give -ground. Suchet, on the same evening, established his head quarters at -the Abbey of Santa Fé, and there dictated his orders for the battle -of the following day. Having ascertained that Areizaga’s division was -the weaker of the two Spanish columns, he left opposite it, on the -Monte Torrero, a mile and a half outside Saragossa, only a single -brigade--five battalions--under General Laval, who had now become -the commander of the 1st Division, for Grandjean had been sent back -to France. Protected by the line of the canal of Aragon, these 2,000 -men[527] were to do their best to beat off any attack which Areizaga -might make against the city, while the main bodies of both armies -were engaged elsewhere. The charge of Saragossa itself was given -over to Colonel Haxo, who had but a single battalion of infantry[528] -and the sapper-companies of the army. - - [527] 44th of the Line, 1,069 bayonets, and 3rd of the Vistula, - 964 bayonets, according to Suchet’s figures. - - [528] Apparently a battalion of the 121st of the Line, the rest - of which regiment was still in Navarre. - -Having set aside these 3,000 men to guard his flank and rear, Suchet -could only bring forward Musnier’s division, and the remaining -brigade of Laval’s division (that of Habert), with two other -battalions, for the main attack. But he retained with himself the -whole of his cavalry and all his artillery, save one single battery -left with the troops on Monte Torrero. This gave him fourteen -battalions--about 7,500 infantry--800 horse, and twelve guns--less -than 9,000 men in all--to commence the battle. But he was encouraged -to risk an attack by the news that the brigade from Tudela was now -close at hand, and could reach the field by noon with 3,000 bayonets -more. It would seem that Suchet (though he does not say so in his -_Mémoires_) held back during the morning hours, in order to allow -this heavy reserve time to reach the fighting-ground. - -Blake was in order of battle along the line of a rolling hill -separated from the French lines by less than a mile. Behind his -front were two other similar spurs of the Sierra de la Muela, each -separated from the other by a steep ravine. On his right flank was -the river Huerba, with level fields half a mile broad between the -water’s edge and the commencement of the rising ground. The village -of Maria lay to his right rear, some way up the stream. The Spaniards -were drawn out in two lines, Roca’s division on the northernmost -ridge, Lazan’s in its rear on the second, while the cavalry filled -the space between the hills and the river. Two battalions and half a -battery were in reserve, in front of Maria. The rest of the artillery -was placed in the intervals of the first line. - -The French occupied a minor line of heights facing Blake’s front: -Habert’s brigade held the left, near the river, having the two -cavalry regiments of Wathier in support. Musnier’s division formed -the centre and right: a squadron of Polish lancers was placed far -out upon its flank. The only reserve consisted of the two stray -battalions which did not belong either to Musnier or Habert--one of -the 5th Léger, another of the 64th of the Line[529]. - - [529] The battalion of the 5th Léger belonged to Morlot’s - division, the rest of which was dispersed in Navarre or absent: - that of the 64th was one which Suchet had brought from Valladolid - as his personal escort, and which properly belonged to the 5th - Corps. - -Blake’s army was slow in taking up its ground, while Suchet did not -wish to move till the brigade from Tudela had got within supporting -distance. Hence in the morning hours there was no serious collision. -But at last the Spaniards took the initiative, and pushed a cautious -advance against Suchet’s left, apparently with the object of worrying -him into assuming the offensive rather than of delivering a serious -attack. But the cloud of skirmishers sent against Habert’s front grew -so thick and pushed so far forward, that at last the whole brigade -was seriously engaged, and the artillery was obliged to open upon the -swarm of Spanish _tirailleurs_. They fell back when the shells began -to drop among them, and sought refuge by retiring nearer to their -main body[530]. - - [530] Suchet says the morning was occupied in mere ‘tiraillement’ - of the Spanish skirmishers and the 2nd of the Vistula. This is - not borne out by the narrative of Von Brandt, of that corps. - He says that the enemy came on ‘sehr lebhaft,’ that both - battalions of his regiment were deeply engaged, that a regiment - of Spanish dragoons in yellow [he calls it Numancia, but it was - really Olivenza] charged into the skirmishing-line and nearly - broke it. The 2nd of the Vistula used up all its cartridges, - and lost ground. ‘Die Kavalleriezüge wurden jedoch jedesmal - zurückgewiesen, aber nichtsdestoweniger verloren wir allmählich - Terrain.’ The Spaniards were only driven off by a battery being - drawn forward into the fighting-line. Then the fight stood still, - but the regiment had suffered very heavily, and was finally drawn - back and put into the reserve. (_Aus meinem Leben_, pp. 71-2.) - -About midday the bickering died down on the French left, but shortly -after the fire broke out with redoubled energy in another direction. -Disappointed that he could not induce Suchet to attack him, Blake -had at last resolved to take the offensive himself, and columns -were seen descending from his extreme left wing, evidently with the -intention of turning the French right. Having thus made up his mind -to strike, the Spanish general should have sent prompt orders to his -detached division under Areizaga, to bid it cross the Huerba with -all possible speed, and hasten to join the main body before the -engagement had grown hot. It could certainly have arrived in two -hours, since it was but six or seven miles away. But Blake made no -attempt to call in this body of 6,000 men (the best troops in his -army) or to utilize it in any way. He only employed the two divisions -that were under his hand on the hillsides above Maria. - -The attack on the French right, made between one and two o’clock, -precipitated matters. When Suchet saw the Spanish battalions -beginning to descend from the ridge, he ordered his Polish lancers -to charge them in flank, and attacked them in front with part of the -114th regiment and some _voltigeur_ companies. The enemy was thrown -back, and retired to rejoin his main body. Then, before they were -fully rearranged in line of battle, the French general bade the whole -of Musnier’s division advance, and storm the Spanish position. He was -emboldened to press matters to an issue by the joyful news that the -long-expected brigade from Tudela had passed Saragossa, and would be -on the field in a couple of hours. - -The eight battalions of the 114th, 115th, and the 1st of the Vistula -crossed the valley and fell upon the Spanish line between two and -three o’clock in the afternoon. Roca’s men met them with resolution, -and the fighting was for some time indecisive. Along part of the -front the French gained ground, but at other points they were beaten -back, and to repair a severe check suffered by the 115th, Suchet had -to engage half his reserve, the battalion of the 64th, and to draw -into the fight the 2nd of the Vistula from Habert’s brigade upon -the left. This movement restored the line, but nothing appreciable -had been gained, when a violent hailstorm from the north suddenly -swept down upon both armies, and hid them for half an hour from each -other’s sight. - -[Illustration: BATTLE OF ALCAÑIZ - MAY 23RD 1809] - -[Illustration: BATTLE OF MARIA - JUNE 15TH 1809] - -Before it was over, Suchet learnt that Robert and his brigade had -arrived at the Abbey of Santa Fé, on his right rear. He therefore -resolved to throw into the battle the wing of his army which he had -hitherto held back,--Habert’s battalions and the cavalry. When the -storm had passed over, they advanced against the Spanish right, in -the low ground near the river. The three battalions[531] of infantry -led the way, but when their fire had begun to take effect, Suchet -bade his hussars and cuirassiers charge through the intervals of -the front line. The troops here opposed to them consisted of 600 -cavalry under General O’Donoju--the whole of the horsemen that Blake -possessed, for the rest of his squadrons were with Areizaga, far away -from the field. - - [531] The 2nd of the Vistula having been distracted to the - centre, Habert had only the two battalions of the 14th of the - Line, and one of the 5th Léger from the reserve. - -The charge of Wathier’s two regiments proved decisive: the Spanish -horse did not wait to cross sabres, but broke and fled from the -field, exposing the flank of the battalions which lay next them in -the line. The cuirassiers and hussars rolled up these unfortunate -troops, and hunted them along the high-road as far as the outskirts -of Maria; here they came upon and rode down the two battalions which -Blake had left there as a last reserve, and captured the half-battery -that accompanied them. - -The Spanish right was annihilated, and--what was worse--Blake had -lost possession of the only road by which he could withdraw and -join Areizaga. Meanwhile Habert’s battalions had not followed the -cavalry in their charge, but had turned upon the exposed flank of -the Spanish centre, and were attacking it in side and rear. It is -greatly to Blake’s credit that his firmness did not give way in this -distressing moment. He threw back his right, and sent up into line -such of Lazan’s battalions from his rear line as had not yet been -drawn into the fight. Thus he saved himself from utter disaster, and -though losing ground all through the evening hours, kept his men -together, and finally left the field in a solid mass, retiring over -the hills and ravines to the southward. ‘The Spaniards,’ wrote an -eye-witness, ‘went off the field in perfect order and with a good -military bearing[532].’ But they had been forced to leave behind them -all their guns save two, for they had no road, and could not drag the -artillery up the rugged slopes by which they saved themselves. Blake -also lost 1,000 killed, three or four times that number of wounded, -and some hundreds of prisoners. The steadiness of the retreat is -vouched for by the small number of flags captured by the French--only -three out of the thirty-four that had been upon the field. Suchet, -according to his own account, had lost no more than between 700 and -800 men. - - [532] ‘Ihr Rückzug geschah in aller Ordnung und militärischer - Haltung. Sie lagerten in der Nacht uns gegenüber, und hielten - am anderen Morgen die Höhen von Botorrita ganz in der Nähe des - Schlachtfeldes.’ [Von Brandt, i. 73.] - -When safe from pursuit the beaten army crossed the Huerba far above -Maria, and rejoined Areizaga’s division at Botorrita on the right -bank of that stream. - -Next morning, to his surprise, Suchet learnt that the enemy was still -in position at Botorrita and was showing a steady front. The victor -did not march directly against Blake, as might have been expected, -but ordered Laval, with the troops that had been guarding Saragossa, -to turn the Spaniards’ right, while he himself manœuvred to get round -their left. These cautious proceedings would seem to indicate that -the French army had been more exhausted by the battle of the previous -day than Suchet concedes. The turning movements failed, and Blake -drew off undisturbed at nightfall, and retired on that same road to -Belchite by which he had marched on Saragossa, in such high hopes, -only four days back. - -The battle of Maria had been on the whole very creditable to -the Valencian troops. But the subsequent course of events was -lamentable. On the way to Belchite many of the raw levies began to -disband themselves: the weather was bad, the road worse, and the -consciousness of defeat had had time enough to sink into the minds -of the soldiery. When Blake halted at Belchite, he found that he had -only 12,000 men with him: deducting the losses of the fifteenth, -there should have been at least 15,000 in line. Of artillery he -possessed no more than nine guns, seven that had been with Areizaga, -and two saved from Maria[533]. - - [533] Suchet (i. 24) says that Blake had been reinforced by 4,000 - Valencians, when he fought at Belchite. This seems to have been - an error, his reinforcement being Areizaga’s 6,000 men picked up - at Botorrita, who were all Aragonese. - -It can only be considered therefore a piece of mad presumption on -the part of the Spanish general that he halted at Belchite and again -offered battle to his pursuers. The position in front of that town -was strong--far stronger than the ground at Maria. But the men were -not the same; on June 15 they had fought with confidence, proud of -their victory at Alcañiz and intending to enter Saragossa in triumph -next day. On June 18 they were cowed and disheartened--they had -already done their best and had failed: it seemed to them hopeless -to try the fortunes of war again, and they were half beaten before a -shot had been fired. The mere numerical odds, too, were no longer in -their favour: at Maria, Blake had 13,000 men to Suchet’s 9,000--if we -count only the troops that fought, and neglect the 3,000 French who -came up late in the day, and were never engaged. At Belchite, Blake -had about 12,000 men, and Suchet rather more, for he had gathered in -Laval’s and Robert’s brigades--full 5,000 bayonets, and could put -into line 13,000 men, even if allowance be made for his losses in the -late battle[534]. It is impossible to understand the temerity with -which the Spanish general courted a disaster, by resolving to fight a -second battle only three days after he had lost the first. - - [534] He had twenty-two battalions and eight squadrons at - Belchite (as he says himself, _Mémoires_, i. p. 34), while at - Maria he had only fourteen battalions and seven squadrons. - -Blake’s centre was in front of Belchite, in comparatively low-lying -ground, much cut up by olive groves and enclosures. His wings were -drawn up on two gentle hills, called the Calvary and El Pueyo: the -left was the weaker flank, the ridge there being open and exposed. -It was on this wing therefore that Suchet directed his main effort; -he sent against it the whole of Musnier’s division and a regiment -of cavalry, while Habert’s brigade marched to turn the right: the -centre was left unattacked. The moment that Musnier’s attack was well -pronounced, the whole of the Spanish left wing gave way, and fell -back on Belchite, to cover itself behind the walls and olive-groves. -Before the French division could be re-formed for a second attack, -an even more disgraceful rout occurred on the right wing. Habert’s -brigade had just commenced to close in upon the Spaniards, when a -chance shell exploded a caisson in rear of the battery in Blake’s -right-centre. The fire communicated itself to the other powder-wagons -which were standing near, and the whole group blew up with a terrific -report. ‘This piece of luck threw the whole line into panic,’ writes -an eye-witness, ‘the enemy thought that he was attacked in the rear. -Every man shouted Treason! whole battalions threw down their arms -and bolted. The disorder spread along the entire line, and we only -had to run in upon them and seize what we could. If they had not -closed the town-gates, which we found it difficult to batter in, I -fancy that the whole Spanish army would have been captured or cut to -pieces. But it took some time to break down the narrow grated door, -and then a battalion stood at bay in the Market Place, and had to be -ridden down by our Polish lancers before we could get on. Lastly, we -had to pass through another gate to make our exit, and to cross the -bridge over the Aguas in a narrow formation. This gave the Spaniards -time to show a clean pair of heels, and they utilized the chance with -their constitutional agility. We took few prisoners, but got their -nine guns, some twenty munition wagons, and the whole of their very -considerable magazines. General Suchet wrote up a splendid account of -the elaborate manœuvres that he made. But I believe that my tale is -nearer to the facts, and that the order of battle which he published -was composed _après coup_. The whole affair did not last long enough -for him to carry out the various dispositions which he details[535].’ - - [535] Certainly on reading Suchet’s report one would not be - inclined to think that the whole matter was such a disgraceful - rout as Von Brandt (i. 74-5) describes in the above paragraphs. - -The whole Spanish army was scattered to the winds. It was some days -before the Aragonese and Catalans began to rally at Tortosa, and the -Valencians at Morella. The total loss in the battle had not been -large--Suchet says that only one regiment was actually surrounded and -cut to pieces, and only one flag taken[536]. But of the 25,000 men -who had formed the ‘Army of the Right’ on June 1, not 10,000 were -available a month later, and these were in a state of demoralization -which would have made it impossible to take them into action. - - [536] _Mémoires_, p. 36. - -Suchet was therefore able to set himself at leisure to the task of -reducing the plains of Aragon, whose control had passed out of his -hands in May. He left Musnier’s division at Alcañiz to watch all -that was left of Blake’s army, while he marched with the other two -to overrun the central valley of the Ebro. On June 23 he seized -Caspe and its long wooden bridge, and crossed the river. Next he -occupied Fraga and Monzon, and left Habert[537] and the 3rd division -to watch the valley of the Cinca. With the remaining division, that -of Laval, he marched back to Saragossa [July 1], sweeping the open -country clear of guerrilla bands. Then he sat down for a space in -the Aragonese capital, to busy himself in administrative schemes for -the governance of the kingdom, and in preparation for a systematic -campaign against the numerous insurgents of the northern and southern -mountains, who still remained under arms and seemed to have been -little affected by the disasters of Maria and Belchite. - - [537] Morlot’s division had been handed over to Habert, who - resigned his brigade of Laval’s division to the Polish colonel - Chlopicki. - -Thus ended Blake’s invasion of Aragon, an undertaking which promised -well from the day of Alcañiz down to the battle of June 15. It -miscarried mainly through the gross tactical error which the general -made in dividing his army, and fighting at Maria with only two-thirds -of his available force. His strategy down to the actual moment of -battle seems to have been well-considered and prudent. If he had put -the Aragonese division of Areizaga in line between the river and -the hill, instead of his handful of untrustworthy cavalry, it seems -likely that a second Alcañiz might have been fought on the fatal -fifteenth of June. For Suchet’s infantry attack had miscarried, -and it was only the onslaught of his cavalry that won the day. Had -that charge failed, Saragossa must have been evacuated that night, -and the 3rd Corps would have been forced back on Navarre--to the -entire dislocation of all other French operations in Spain. If King -Joseph had received the news of the loss of Aragon in the same week -in which he learnt that Soult and Ney had evacuated Galicia, and -Kellermann the Asturias, he would probably have called back Victor -and Sebastiani and abandoned Madrid. For a disaster in the valley of -the Douro or the Ebro, as Napoleon once observed, is the most fatal -blow of all to an invader based on the north, and makes central Spain -untenable. While wondering at Blake’s errors, we must not forget to -lay part of the blame at the door of his lieutenant Areizaga--the -incapable man who afterwards lost the fatal fight of Ocaña. An -officer of sound views, when left without orders, would have ‘marched -to the cannon’ and appeared on the field of Maria in the afternoon. -Areizaga sat quiescent, six miles from the battle-field, while the -cannon were thundering in his ears from eleven in the morning till -six in the afternoon! - -As for Suchet, we see that he took a terrible risk, and came -safely through the ordeal. There were many reasons for evacuating -Saragossa, when Blake came down the valley of the Huerba to cut the -communications of the 3rd Corps. But an enterprising general just -making his début in independent command, could not well take the -responsibility of retreat without first trying the luck of battle. -Fortune favoured the brave, and a splendid victory saved Saragossa -and led to the reconquest of the lost plains of Aragon. Yet, with -another cast of the dice, Maria might have proved a defeat, and -Suchet have gone down to history as a rash officer who imperilled the -whole fate of the French army in Spain by trying to face over-great -odds. - - - - -SECTION XVI - -THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN - -(JULY-AUGUST 1809) - - - - -CHAPTER I - -WELLESLEY AT ABRANTES: VICTOR EVACUATES ESTREMADURA - - -When Wellesley’s columns, faint but pursuing, received the orders -which bade them halt at Ruivaens and Montalegre, their commander -was already planning out the details of their return-march to the -Tagus. From the first moment of his setting forth from Lisbon, he had -looked upon the expedition against Soult as no more than a necessary -preliminary to the more important expedition against Victor. He would -have preferred, as we have already seen[538], to have directed his -first blow against the French army in Estremadura, and had only been -induced to begin his campaign by the attack upon Soult because he saw -the political necessity for delivering Oporto. His original intention -had been no more than to manœuvre the 2nd Corps out of Portugal. But, -owing to the faulty dispositions of the Duke of Dalmatia, he had been -able to accomplish much more than this--he had beaten the Marshal, -stripped him of his artillery and equipment, destroyed a sixth of his -army, and flung him back into Galicia by a rugged and impracticable -road, which took him far from his natural base of operations. He had -done much more than he had hoped or promised to do when he set out -from Lisbon. Yet these ‘uncovenanted mercies’ did not distract him -from his original plan: his main object was not the destruction of -Soult, but the clearing of the whole frontier of Portugal from the -danger of invasion, and this could not be accomplished till Victor -had been dealt with. The necessity for a prompt movement against -the 1st Corps was emphasized by the news, received on May 19 at -Montalegre, that its commander was already astir, and apparently -about to assume the offensive. Mackenzie reported from Abrantes, with -some signs of dismay, that a strong French column had just fallen -upon Alcantara, and driven from it the small Portuguese detachment -which was covering his front. - - [538] See p. 292. - -Accordingly Wellesley turned the march of his whole army southward, -the very moment that he discovered that the 2nd Corps had not fallen -into the trap set for it at Chaves and Ruivaens. He had resolved to -leave nothing but the local levies of Silveira and Botilho to watch -Galicia, and to protect the provinces north of the Douro. ‘Soult,’ -he wrote, ‘will be very little formidable to any body of troops -for some time to come.’ He imagined--and quite correctly--that the -Galician guerrillas and the army of La Romana would suffice to find -him occupation. He did not, however, realize that it was possible -that not only Soult but Ney also would be so much harassed by the -insurgents, and would fall into such bitter strife with each other, -that they might ere long evacuate Galicia altogether. This, indeed, -could not have been foreseen at the moment when the British turned -southwards from Montalegre. If Wellesley could have guessed that by -July 1 the three French Corps in Northern Spain--the 2nd, 5th, and -6th--would all be clear of the mountains and concentrated in the -triangle Astorga-Zamora-Valladolid, he would have had to recast his -plan of operations. But on May 19 such a conjunction appeared most -improbable, and the British general could not have deemed it likely -that a French army of 55,000 men, available for field-operations, -would be collected on the central Douro, at the moment when he had -committed himself to operations on the Tagus. Indeed, for some weeks -after he had departed from Oporto the information from the north -made any such concentration appear improbable. While he was on his -march to the south he began to hear of the details of Ney’s and -Kellermann’s expedition against the Asturias, news which he received -with complacency[539], as it showed that the French were entangling -themselves in new and hazardous enterprises which would make it -more difficult than ever for them to collect a force opposite the -frontier of Northern Portugal. Down to the very end of June Wellesley -had no reason to dread any concentration of French troops upon his -flank in the valley of the Douro. It was only in the following month -that Soult was heard of at Puebla de Senabria and Ney at Astorga. By -that time the British army had already crossed the frontier of Spain -and commenced its operations against Victor. - - [539] See the letter to Colonel Bourke, _Wellington Dispatches_, - iv. 390-400. - -At the moment when Wellesley turned back from Montalegre and set his -face southward, he had not yet settled the details of his plan of -campaign. There appeared to be two courses open to him. The first was -to base himself upon Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, and advance upon -Salamanca. This movement, which he could have begun in the second -week of June, would undoubtedly have thrown into disorder all the -French arrangements in Northern Spain. There would have been no force -ready to oppose him save a single division of Mortier’s corps--the -rest of that marshal’s troops were absent with Kellermann in the -Asturias. This could not have held the British army back, and a bold -march in advance would have placed Wellesley in a position where he -could have intercepted all communications between the French troops -in Galicia and those in and about Madrid. The movement might appear -tempting, but it would have been too hazardous. The only force that -could have been used for it was the 20,000 troops of Wellesley’s -own army, backed by the 12,000 or 15,000 Portuguese regulars whom -Beresford could collect between the Douro and the Tagus. The -Spaniards had no troops in this direction save the garrison of Ciudad -Rodrigo, and a battalion or two which Carlos d’España had raised on -the borders of Leon and Portugal. On the other hand, the news that -the British were at Salamanca or Toro would certainly have forced -Ney, Soult, and Kellermann to evacuate Galicia and the Asturias and -hasten to the aid of Mortier. They would have been far too strong, -when united, for the 30,000 or 35,000 men of Wellesley and Beresford. -La Romana and the Asturians could have brought no corresponding -reinforcements to assist the British army, and must necessarily have -arrived too late--long after the French corps would have reached the -Douro[540]. The idea of a movement on Salamanca, therefore, did not -even for a moment enter into Wellesley’s mind. - - [540] Napier (ii. 149) calls this alternative plan of campaign ‘a - movement in conjunction with Beresford, del Parque, and Romana - by Salamanca.’ This is a most inappropriate description of it: - about June 10, when operations might have commenced, Del Parque’s - army did not yet exist. There were only three or four of Carlos - d’España’s battalions at or near Rodrigo. La Romana, on the other - hand, was at Orense facing Soult, and could not have reached - Almeida or Rodrigo for weeks after the campaign would have begun. - -The other alternative open to the British general, and that which -he had from the first determined to take in hand, was (as we have -already seen) a march against Victor. Such a movement might be -carried out in one of two ways. (1) It would be possible to advance -against his flank and rear by keeping north of the Tagus, and -striking, by Coria and Plasencia, at Almaraz and its great bridge of -boats, across which ran the communication between the 1st Corps and -Madrid. This operation would have to be carried out by the British -army alone, while the Spanish army of Estremadura, acting from a -separate base, kept in touch with Victor but avoided compromising -itself by any rash attack upon him. The Marshal, placed in a central -position between Wellesley’s and Cuesta’s forces, would certainly try -to beat one of them before they got the chance of drawing together. -(2) It was equally possible to operate against Victor not on separate -lines, but by crossing the Tagus, joining the Spaniards somewhere in -the neighbourhood of Badajoz, and falling upon the Marshal with the -united strength of both armies. This movement would be less hazardous -than the other, since it would secure the concentration of an army -of a strength sufficient to crush the 25,000 men at which the 1st -Corps might reasonably be rated. But it would only drive Victor back -upon Madrid and King Joseph’s reserves by a frontal attack, while the -other plan--that of the march on Almaraz--would imperil his flank and -rear, and threaten to cut him off from the King and the capital. - -Before making any decision between the two plans, Wellesley wrote -to Cuesta, from Oporto on May 22, a letter requesting him to state -his views as to the way in which the operations of the British and -Spanish armies could best be combined. He informed him that the -troops which had defeated Soult were already on their way to the -south, that the head of the column would reach the Mondego on the -twenty-sixth, and that the whole would be concentrated near Abrantes -early in June. It was at that place that the choice would have to be -made between the two possible lines of attack on Victor--that which -led to Almaraz, and that which went on to Southern Estremadura. -A few days later Wellesley dispatched a confidential officer -of his staff--Colonel Bourke--to bear to the Spanish general a -definite request for his decision on the point whether the allied -armies should prepare for an actual junction, or should manœuvre -from separate bases, or should ‘co-operate with communication,’ -i.e. combine their movements without adopting a single base or a -joint line of advance. Bourke was also directed to obtain all the -information that he could concerning the strength, morale, and -discipline of Cuesta’s army, and to discover what chance there was -of securing the active assistance of the second Spanish army in the -south--that which, under General Venegas, was defending the defiles -in front of La Carolina[541]. - - [541] See the ‘Memorandum for Lieut.-Col. Bourke’ in _Wellington - Dispatches_, iv. 372-3. - -It was clear that some days must elapse before an answer could arrive -from the camp of the Estremaduran army, and meanwhile Wellesley -continued to urge the counter-march of his troops from the various -points at which they had halted between Oporto and Montalegre. All -the scattered British brigades were directed on Abrantes by different -routes: those which had the least distance to march began to arrive -there on the eleventh and the twelve of June. - -The Commander-in-chief had resolved not to take on with him the -Portuguese regulars whom he had employed in the campaign against -Soult. Both the brigades which had marched on Amarante under -Beresford, and the four battalions which had fought along with -Wellesley in the main column, were now dropped behind. They were -destined to form an army of observation, lest Mortier and his 5th -Corps, or any other French force, might chance to assail the front -between the Douro and the Tagus during the absence of the British -in the south. Beresford, who was left in command, was directed to -arrange his troops so as to be able to support Almeida, and resist -any raid from the direction of Salamanca or Zamora. The main body -of the army lay at Guarda, its reserves at Coimbra. The Portuguese -division which had been lying on the Zezere in company with -Mackenzie’s troops, was also placed at Beresford’s disposition, so -that he had about eighteen battalions, four regiments of cavalry, and -five or six batteries--a force of between 12,000 and 15,000 men. It -was his duty to connect Wellesley’s left wing with Silveira’s right, -and to reinforce either of them if necessary. The Commander-in-chief -was inclined to believe, from his knowledge of the disposition of the -French corps at the moment, that no very serious attack was likely -to be directed against Northern Portugal during his absence--at the -most Soult might threaten Braganza or Mortier Almeida. But it was -necessary to make some provision against even unlikely contingencies. - -The only Portuguese force which Wellesley had resolved to utilize for -the campaign in Estremadura was the battalion of the Loyal Lusitanian -Legion, under Colonel Mayne, which had been stationed at Alcantara -watching the movements of Victor. Sir Robert Wilson, now recalled -from Beresford’s column and placed once more with his own men, was -to take up the command of his old force, and to add to it the 5th -Cazadores, a regiment which had hitherto been lying with Mackenzie’s -division at Abrantes. With these 1,500 men he was to serve as the -northern flank-guard of the British army when it should enter Spain. - -When Wellesley first started upon his march, he was under the -impression that his plan of campaign might be settled for him by -the movements of Victor rather than by the devices of Cuesta. The -rapidity of his progress was partly caused by the news of the -Marshal’s attack on Alcantara, an operation which might, as it -seemed, turn out to be the prelude of a raid in force upon Central -Portugal. That it portended an actual invasion with serious designs -Wellesley could not believe, being convinced that Victor would have -to leave so large a proportion of his army to observe Cuesta, that -he would not be able to set aside more than 10,000 or 12,000 men for -operations in the valley of the Tagus[542]. But such a force would be -enough to sweep the country about Castello Branco and Villa Velha, -and to beat up Mackenzie’s line of defence on the Zezere. - - [542] Wellesley to Mackenzie, from San Tyrso, May 21. - -The actual course of events on the Tagus had been as follows. Victor, -even after having received the division of Lapisse, considered -himself too weak either to march on Cuesta and drive him over the -mountains into Andalusia, or to fall upon Central Portugal by an -advance along the Tagus[543]. He had received vague information of -the formation of Mackenzie’s corps of observation on the Zezere, -though apparently he had not discovered that there was a strong -British contingent in its ranks. But he was under the impression that -if he crossed the Guadiana in force, to attack Cuesta, the Portuguese -would advance into Estremadura and cut his communications; while if -he marched against the Portuguese, Cuesta would move northward to -attack his rear. Accordingly he maintained for some time a purely -defensive attitude, keeping his three French infantry divisions -concentrated in a central position, at Torremocha, Montanches, and -Salvatierra (near Caceres), while he remained himself with Leval’s -Germans and Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons in the neighbourhood of -Merida, observing Cuesta and sending flying columns up and down the -Guadiana to watch the garrison of Badajoz and the guerrillas of the -Sierra de Guadalupe. He had not forgotten the Emperor’s orders that -he was to be prepared to execute a diversion in favour of Marshal -Soult, when he should hear that the 2nd Corps was on its way to -Lisbon. But, like all the other French generals, he was profoundly -ignorant of the position and the fortunes of the Duke of Dalmatia. On -April 22 the head-quarters staff at Madrid had received no more than -a vague rumour that the 2nd Corps had entered Oporto a month before! -They got no trustworthy information concerning its doings till May -was far advanced[544]. Victor, therefore, depending on King Joseph -for his news from Northern Portugal, was completely in the dark as -to the moment when he might be called upon to execute his diversion -on the Tagus. The Portuguese and Galician insurgents had succeeded -in maintaining a complete blockade of Soult, and thus had foiled all -Napoleon’s plans for combining the operations of the 1st and the 2nd -Corps. - - [543] Compare the two dispatches of Victor to Jourdan of April 25 - (acknowledging the receipt of Lapisse’s division) and of May 21. - - [544] See King Joseph to Napoleon, of the dates April 22 and May - 24, 1809. - -Victor was only stirred up into a spasmodic activity in the second -week in May, by the news that a Portuguese force had crossed the -frontier and occupied Alcantara, where the great Roman bridge across -the Tagus provided a line of communication between North-Western -and Central Estremadura. This detachment--as we have already -seen--consisted of no more than Colonel Mayne’s 1st battalion of the -Loyal Lusitanian Legion, brought down from the passes of the Sierra -de Gata, and of a single regiment of newly-raised militia--that of -the frontier district of Idanha. They had with them the six guns -of the battery of the Legion and a solitary squadron of cavalry, -Wellesley had thrown forward this little force of 2,000 men to -serve as an outpost for Mackenzie’s corps on the Zezere. But rumour -magnified its strength, and Victor jumped to the conclusion that -it formed the vanguard of a Portuguese army which was intending -to concert a combined operation with Cuesta, by threatening the -communication of the 1st Corps while the Spaniards attacked its front. - -Labouring under this delusion, Victor took the division of Lapisse -and a brigade of dragoons, and marched against Alcantara upon the -eleventh of May. As he approached the river he was met at Brozas -by Mayne’s vedettes, whom he soon drove in to the gates of the -little town. Alcantara being situated on the south side of the -Tagus, it was impossible to defend it: but Mayne had barricaded and -mined the bridge, planted his guns so as to command the passage, -and constructed trenches for his infantry along the northern bank. -After seizing the town, Victor opened a heavy fire of artillery and -musketry against the Portuguese detachment. It was met by a vigorous -return from the further bank, which lasted for more than three hours -before the defence began to flag. The Marshal very properly refused -to send forward his infantry to attempt the storm of the bridge -till his artillery should have silenced that of the defenders. -At about midday the Idanha militia, who had already suffered not -inconsiderable losses, deserted their trenches and fled. Thereupon -Mayne fired his mine in the bridge, but unhappily for him the tough -Roman cement defied even the power of gunpowder; only one side of the -arch was shattered; the crown of the vault held firm, and the passage -was still possible. The Legion still kept its ground, though it had -lost many men, and had seen one of his guns dismounted, and the rest -silenced by the French artillery. But when Victor hurled the leading -brigade of Lapisse’s division at the bridge he succeeded in forcing -it[545]. Mayne drew off his legionaries in good order and retreated -to the pass of Salvatierra, leaving behind him a gun and more than -250 killed and wounded[546] [May 14]--a heavy loss from the 1,000 men -of the single battalion which bore the whole brunt of the fighting. - - [545] Compare Victor to Jourdan of May 21, with the account - of the combat in Appendix I of Mayne and Lillie’s _Lusitanian - Legion_. - - [546] The exact losses of the L. L. L. were--killed, three - officers and 103 rank and file; wounded, five officers and 143 - rank and file; missing, fifteen rank and file. Of the Idanha - militia, Mayne returned the whole as missing next morning. - -Victor went no further than Alcantara, having satisfied himself that -the Portuguese force which had made such a creditable resistance -consisted of a single weak brigade, and did not form the vanguard of -an army bent on invading Estremadura. After remaining for no more -than three days at Alcantara, and trying in vain to obtain news of -the whereabouts of Soult--who was at that moment being hunted past -Guimaraens and Braga in the far north--the Marshal drew back his -troops to Torremocha near Caceres. - -His advance, though it had only lasted for six days, and had not been -pushed more than a few miles beyond Alcantara, had much disturbed -General Mackenzie, who dreaded to find himself the next object of -attack and to see the whole of the 1st Corps debouching against him -by the road through Castello Branco. Wellesley wrote to him that he -need not be alarmed, that Victor could not spare more than 10,000 -or 12,000 men for his demonstration, and that the 8,000 British and -Portuguese troops behind the Zezere were amply sufficient to maintain -defensive operations till the main army from the north should come -up. He expressed his opinion that the French force at Alcantara -was ‘a mere reconnoitring party, sent out for the purpose of -ascertaining what has become of Soult,’ a conclusion in which he was -perfectly right. Mackenzie[547], who betrayed an exaggerated want of -confidence in his Portuguese troops, was profoundly relieved to see -the enemy retire upon the seventeenth. He had advanced from Abrantes -and taken up a defensive position along the Sobreira Formosa to -resist the Marshal, but he had done so with many searchings of heart, -and was glad to see the danger pass away. When Victor had retired -into Central Estremadura, Mayne came back with all due caution, and -reoccupied the bridge of Alcantara. - - [547] See Wellesley to Mackenzie, May 21, and also Wellesley to - Frere on the same day. _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 350-1. - -Wellesley, therefore, had been perfectly well justified in his -confidence that nothing was to be feared in this direction. The -French could not possibly have dared to undertake more than a -demonstration in the direction of Castello Branco. King Joseph’s -orders to Victor had prescribed no more[548], and the Marshal had -accomplished even less. In his letter of excuse to Jourdan he -explained that he would gladly have left Lapisse’s division at -Alcantara, or even have moved it forward for some distance into -Portugal[549], if he had not found it absolutely impossible to feed -it in the bare and stony district north of the Tagus, where Junot’s -army had been wellnigh starved in November 1807. The peasantry of the -villages for fifteen leagues round Alcantara had, as he declared, -gone off into the mountains with their cattle, after burying their -corn, and he had found it impossible to discover food for even three -days’ consumption of a single division. - - [548] See Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, p. 190. - - [549] A move by which he flattered himself that he would not only - ‘inquiéter les Anglais,’ but also ‘dégager le duc de Dalmatie,’ - an end which no raid with 8,000 or 10,000 men to Castello Branco - could possibly have accomplished. Victor to Jourdan, May 29. - -During Victor’s absence at Alcantara, Cuesta had sent down a part of -his troops to make a raid on Merida, the Marshal’s advanced post on -the Guadiana. It failed entirely; the garrison, two battalions of -Leval’s German division, maintained themselves with ease in a large -convent outside that town, which Victor had patched up and turned -into a place of some little strength. On hearing that the Spaniards -were descending from the mountains, King Joseph ordered the Duke of -Belluno to attack them at once. But on the mere news of the Marshal’s -approach Cuesta called back his detachment into the passes, sweeping -off at the same time the inhabitants of all the villages along the -Guadiana, together with their cattle and their stores of provisions. - -At the beginning of June Victor began to press the King and Jourdan -for leave to abandon his hold on Southern Estremadura, and to -fall back towards the Tagus. He urged that his position was very -dangerous, now that Cuesta’s army had been recruited up to a force -of 22,000 infantry and 6,000 horse, especially since the Portuguese -had once more got possession of Alcantara. His main contention was -that he must either be reinforced up to a strength which would -permit him to attack Andalusia, or else be permitted to withdraw -from the exhausted district between the Guadiana and the Tagus, in -order to seek a region where his men would be able to live. The only -district in this neighbourhood where the country-side was still -intact was that north of the Tagus, around the towns of Plasencia and -Coria--the valleys of the Alagon and Tietar. To move the army in this -direction would involve the evacuation of Central Estremadura--it -would be necessary to abandon Merida, Truxillo, and Caceres, with -the sacrifice of a certain amount of prestige. But unless the 1st -Corps could be reinforced--and this, as Victor must have known, -was impossible[550]--there was no other alternative. The internal -condition of the army was growing worse day by day. ‘The troops are -on half rations of bread: they can get little meat--often none at -all. The results of starvation are making themselves felt in the -most deplorable way. The men are going into hospital at the rate of -several hundreds a day[551].’ A few days later Victor adds, ‘If I -could even get together enough biscuit to feed the army for merely -seven or eight days I should not feel so uncomfortable. But we have -no flour to issue for a bread ration, so cannot bake biscuit[552].’ -And again he adds, ‘The whole population of this region has retired -within Cuesta’s lines, after destroying the ovens and the mills, and -removing every scrap of food. It seems that the enemy is resolved to -starve us out, and to leave a desert in front of us if we advance.... -Carefully estimating all my stores I find that I have barely enough -to last for five days in hand. We are menaced with absolute famine, -which we can only avoid by moving off, and there is no suitable -cantonment to be found in the whole space between Tagus and Guadiana: -the entire country is ruined.’ - - [550] He suggests in a letter of June 8, that Mortier’s corps - should be brought up to Plasencia to help him. But this was - wholly impracticable. - - [551] Victor to Jourdan, from Torremocha, May 24. - - [552] Victor to Jourdan, May 29. - -Joseph and Jourdan replied to the first of these dismal letters by -promising to send the 1st Corps 300,000 rations of biscuit, and by -urging its commander to renew his attack on Alcantara, in order -to threaten Portugal and ‘disengage the Duke of Dalmatia’--who, -on the day when their dispatch was written, was at Lugo, in the -north of Galicia, some 300 miles as the crow flies from Victor’s -head quarters[553]. They received the answer that such a move was -impossible, as Mayne had just blown up the bridge of Alcantara, and -it was now impossible to cross the Tagus[554]. - - [553] Jourdan to Victor, June 1. - - [554] Victor to Jourdan, June 8. Oddly enough he was wrong in his - statement by two days, for Mayne blew up the bridge on the tenth - only. - -A few days later the news arrived at Madrid that Soult had been -defeated and flung out of Portugal[555]. It had taken three weeks -for information of this transcendent importance to reach the king! -Seriously alarmed, Joseph and Jourdan sent Victor his long-denied -permission to retire from Estremadura and place himself behind the -Tagus. They do not seem to have guessed that the victorious Wellesley -would make his next move against the 1st Corps, but imagined that -he would debouch into Old Castile by way of Rodrigo and Salamanca, -wherefore their main idea was to strengthen Mortier and the army -in the valley of the Douro[556]. Thus it fell in with their views -that Victor should draw back to the line of the Tagus, a general -concentration of all the French troops in the Peninsula seeming -advisable, in face of the necessity for resisting the supposed -attack on Old Castile. Another reason for assuming a defensive -attitude was the gloomy news from Aragon, where Suchet, after -his defeat at Alcañiz, had retired on Saragossa and was sending -despairing appeals for reinforcements to Madrid. - - [555] June 10, Joseph to Napoleon. - - [556] Cf. Joseph’s letters of June 10 and June 16 to Napoleon: - but there seems to be much vacillation in his decisions. - -Accordingly, the 1st Corps evacuated Estremadura between the -fourteenth and the nineteenth of June, and, crossing the Tagus, -disposed itself in a position on the northern bank, with its right -wing at Almaraz and its left at Talavera. Here Victor intended to -make his stand, being confident that with the broad river in front of -him he could easily beat off any attack on the part of the Spanish -army. - -But when Wellesley and Cuesta first began to correspond concerning -their joint movement against the French in Estremadura, Victor was -still in his old cantonments, and their scheme of operations had been -sketched out on the hypothesis that he lay at Merida, Torremocha, and -Caceres. It was with the design of assailing him while he still held -this advanced position, that Cuesta drew up his paper of answers to -Wellesley’s queries and dispatched it to Abrantes to meet the British -general on his arrival[557]. - - [557] Cuesta’s replies, sent on by Bourke, are dated June 4 and - June 6, i.e. ten and eight days respectively before Victor began - his retreat beyond the Tagus on June 14. - -If the old Captain-General’s suggestions were by no means marked -with the stamp of genius, they had at least the merit of variety. -He offered Wellesley the choice between no less than three plans of -campaign. (1) His first proposal was that the British army should -descend into Southern Estremadura, and join him in the neighbourhood -of Badajoz. From thence the united host was to advance against Victor -and assail him in front. But meanwhile Cuesta proposed to send out -two subsidiary columns, to turn the Marshal’s flanks and surround -him. One was to base itself on Alcantara and march along the northern -bank of the Tagus to seize Almaraz: the other was to push by La -Serena through the Guadalupe mountains to threaten Talavera. By these -operations, if Victor would be good enough to remain quiet in his -present cantonments, he would be completely surrounded, his retreat -would be cut off, and he would finally be compelled to surrender. -The scheme was of course preposterous. What rational man could have -supposed it likely that the Marshal would remain quiescent while -his flanks were being turned? He would certainly have hastened to -retire and to throw himself upon the detached columns, one or both of -which he could have annihilated before the main armies of the allies -could get within touch of him[558]. Wellesley refused to listen for -a moment to this plan of campaign. (2) The second proposal of Cuesta -was that the British army should pass the Tagus at Alcantara and -operate against Victor’s flank, while the Spanish army attacked him -in front. To this the same objection could be urged: it presupposed -that the Frenchman would remain fixed in his present cantonments: but -he certainly would not do so when he heard that he was to be assailed -on both flanks; he would retire behind the Tagus at once, and the -British army would have wasted its march, and be obliged to return to -the north bank of that river: moreover, it would involve a very long -movement to the south to get in touch with Victor’s flank. Probably -it would be necessary to descend as far into Estremadura as Caceres, -and, when that point was reached, the Marshal could make the whole -manœuvre futile by retiring at once behind the Tagus at Almaraz. To -follow him to the north bank the British would have to retrace their -steps to Alcantara. - - [558] Wellesley writes in commenting on this plan [_Wellington - Dispatches_, iv. 402]: ‘At all events these two detachments - on the two flanks appear to me to be too weak to produce any - great effect upon the movements of Victor.... I think it would - be nearly certain that the Marshal would be able to defend the - passage [of the Tagus] with a part only of his force, while with - the other part he would beat one or both of the detachments sent - round his flank. Indeed the detachment which should have been - sent from La Serena toward Talavera, being between the corps - of Victor and Sebastiani, could hardly escape.’ Wellesley also - points out that it is useless to expect that Victor would wait in - his present cantonments: at the first news of the approach of the - British army he will retire to Almaraz and Arzobispo. - -The third proposal of Cuesta--the only one in which Wellesley could -find any prospect of success, was that the British army, keeping -north of the Tagus, should march by Castello Branco on Plasencia. -There it would be in the rear of Victor’s best line of retreat by -the bridge of Almaraz. If the manœuvre could be kept very secret, -and executed with great speed, Almaraz, perhaps also the subsidiary -passage at Arzobispo, might be seized. Should the Marshal get early -news of the movement, and hurry back across the Tagus to fend off -this stab in the rear, Wellesley was prepared to fight him in the -open with equal forces, conceiving that he was ‘sufficiently strong -to defend himself against any attack which Victor might make.’ He -hoped that Cuesta was able to guarantee that he also was competent -to hold his own, supposing that the Marshal, neglecting the British -diversion, should concentrate his corps and strike at the Spanish -army. - -On the whole, therefore, Wellesley was not disinclined to fall in -with this plan, which had the extra merit of remaining feasible even -if Victor withdrew north of the Tagus before either of the allied -armies had completed its march. He made one countersuggestion, viz. -that Cuesta might move eastward, with the whole or part of his army, -join the army of Venegas in La Mancha, and attack Sebastiani, leaving -the British alone to deal with Victor. But he did not wish to press -this plan, thinking that an attack on the enemy’s left was on first -principles less advisable than one on his right, because it did not -offer any chance of cutting him off from Madrid[559]. - - [559] I print as an Appendix this all-important letter to Bourke, - regarding Cuesta’s three plans of campaign. - -The answer to Cuesta’s proposals was sent off from Abrantes, which -Wellesley, preceding his army by three or four days’ march, reached -upon June 8. He had now under his hand Mackenzie’s Anglo-Portuguese -force, but the leading brigades of the troops who had fought at -Oporto could not arrive before the eleventh or twelfth. There -was thus ample time to concert the joint plan of campaign before -the whole army would be concentrated and ready to move. But when -Cuesta’s reply to the dispatch of June 8 came to hand upon June 13, -Wellesley was much vexed to find that the old Captain-General had -expressed a great dislike for the idea that the British army should -march upon Plasencia and Almaraz--though it had been one of his own -three suggestions. He now pleaded urgently in favour of the first -of his original alternatives--that Wellesley should come down to -Badajoz and join him in a frontal attack upon Victor. With much -reluctance the British general resolved to comply, apparently moved -by his ally’s openly expressed dislike to being left to face Victor -alone. ‘I must acknowledge,’ he wrote to Colonel Bourke, ‘that _I_ -entertain no apprehension that the French will attack General Cuesta: -I am much more afraid that they are going away, and strengthening -themselves upon the Tagus[560].’ To the Spanish General he sent a -dispatch to the same effect, in which he pledged himself to march to -join the army of Estremadura, though he frankly stated that all his -information led him to believe that Victor had no intention of taking -the offensive, and that the junction was therefore unnecessary. He -expressed his hope that Cuesta would avoid all fighting till they had -met, the only possible danger to the allied cause being that one of -the two armies should suffer a defeat before the other had started on -the combined movement to which they were committed[561]. - - [560] Wellesley to Bourke, from Abrantes, June 14. - - [561] Wellesley to Cuesta, from Abrantes, June 14. - -Fortunately for all parties concerned, the march on Badajoz which -Wellesley so much disliked never had to be begun, for on the day -after he had sent off his dispatch to Cuesta he received reliable -information from several sources, to the effect that Victor had -evacuated and blown up the fortified convent of Merida, and had -sent off all his baggage and heavy artillery towards Almaraz. -During the next four days the whole of the 1st Corps marched for -that all-important bridge, and crossed it. On the nineteenth Victor -had established his entire army north of the Tagus, at Almaraz, -Arzobispo, and Talavera. Thus the whole face of affairs was changed, -and the advance of the British army into Southern Estremadura was -rendered unnecessary. It was fortunate that the news of the retreat -of the 1st Corps was received at Abrantes just in time to allow of -the countermanding of the march of Wellesley’s army on Badajoz, for -that fruitless movement would have begun if the Duke of Belluno had -been able to retain his starving army in its positions for a few days -longer. - - - - -SECTION XVI: CHAPTER II - -WELLESLEY ENTERS SPAIN - - -The retreat of Victor beyond the Tagus forced Wellesley to concert -yet another plan of operation with Cuesta, since the position of -the French army, on which the whole of the recently adopted scheme -depended, had just suffered a radical change. It was clear that -every consideration now pointed to the necessity for adopting -the combination which Wellesley had urged upon his colleague in -his letter of June 8, viz. that the British army should move on -Plasencia and Almaraz. It would now be striking at the flank instead -of the rear of Victor’s corps, but it was clear that under the new -conditions it would still be in a position to roll up his whole army, -if he should endeavour to defend the passages of the Tagus against -the Spaniards, who were now approaching them from the front. For -Cuesta had descended from the mountains when he heard of Victor’s -retreat, and was now approaching Almaraz. - -It took some time, however, to induce the Captain-General to consent -to this move. To the extreme vexation of his colleague he produced -other plans, so gratuitously impracticable that Wellesley wrote to -Castlereagh to say that he could conceive no explanation for the old -man’s conduct save a desire to refuse any scheme urged on him by -others, and a resolve to invent and advocate alternative plans of his -own out of mere pride and wrongheadedness. ‘The best of the whole -story,’ he added[562], was that Cuesta was now refusing to accept a -plan which he himself had suggested in one of his earlier letters, -merely because that plan had been taken up and advocated by his ally. -‘The obstinacy of this old gentleman,’ he concluded, ‘is throwing -out of our hands the finest game that any armies ever had[563].’ - - [562] Wellesley to Castlereagh, Abrantes, June 17. The real cause - of Cuesta’s angry and impracticable attitude will be shown in the - next chapter. - - [563] Wellesley to Frere from the same place, June 14. - -The necessity for working out a new scheme for the combined -operations of the British and Spanish armies, in view of Victor’s -retreat to Almaraz, entailed the loss of a few days. It would have -been impossible to start on the advance to Plasencia till Cuesta had -promised to accept that movement as part of the joint campaign. There -was also some time to be allowed for concluding an agreement with -Venegas, the General of the La Carolina army, whose connexion with -the campaign must become much more intimate, now that the fighting -was to take place not in Estremadura, but further north, in the -valley of the Tagus. For while Victor lay at Merida and Sebastiani at -Manzanares and Ciudad Real, the Spanish forces which faced them were -very far apart. But when Victor retired to Talavera, and Sebastiani -to Madridejos, in the end of June, Cuesta and Venegas--each following -the corps opposed to him--could draw closer together. It was evident -that the Andalusian army ought to be made to play an important part -in the combined operations of July. - -It would be unfair to the Spanish generals to let it be supposed -that the necessity for settling on a common scheme of operations -with them was the sole cause which detained Wellesley at Abrantes -from the eighth to the twenty-seventh of June. The leading brigades -of the British troops from Oporto had begun to reach Abrantes on the -eleventh, and the more belated columns came up on the fourteenth and -fifteenth. But it would have been impossible to have moved forward -without some further delay, even if Wellesley had been in possession -of a complete and satisfactory plan of operations on the day upon -which his whole force was concentrated on the line of the Zezere. At -the least he would have required another week for preparations. - -His hindrances at this moment were manifold. The first was the -distressed condition of those of his brigades which had seen -most service during the Oporto campaign. Many regiments had been -constantly on the march from May 9 to June 14, without obtaining -more than two days’ rest in the whole time. Their shoes were worn -out, their jaded baggage-animals had dropped to the rear, and they -were leaving so many stragglers on the way that it was absolutely -necessary to give them a moderate rest at Abrantes, in order to -allow the ranks to grow full and the belated baggage to come up. -The regiments which had followed Beresford in the forced march -from Amarante to Chaves were worst off--they had never completely -recovered from the fatigues of those three days of constant rain and -storm spent on the stony roads of the Tras-os-Montes[564]. In any -case some delay must have occurred before all the troops were ready -to march. But many circumstances conspired to detain the army at -Abrantes for several days after the moment at which Wellesley had -determined to start for Plasencia. The first was the non-arrival of -convoys of shoes and clothing which he had ordered up from Lisbon. -The transport of the army was not yet fully organized, its officers -were lacking in experience, if not in zeal, and orders were slowly -executed. Many corps had, in the end, to start for Spain without -receiving the much-needed stores, which were still trailing up from -Santarem to Abrantes when Wellesley gave the signal to advance. -Another hindrance was the lack of money: the army was obliged to pay -for its wants in coin, but hard cash was so difficult to procure -both in London and in Lisbon that arrears were already beginning to -grow up. At first they vexed the soul of Wellesley almost beyond -endurance, but as the war dragged on they only grew worse, and the -Commander-in-chief had to endure with resignation the fact that both -the pay of the men and the wages of the Portuguese muleteers and -followers were overdue for many months. In June 1809 he had not yet -reached this state of comparative callousness, and was endeavouring -to scrape together money by every possible device. He had borrowed -£3,000 in Portuguese silver from the merchants of the impoverished -city of Oporto: he was trying to exchange bills on England for -dollars at Cadiz, where the arrival of the American contribution had -produced a comparative plenty of the circulating medium. Yet after -all he had to start from Abrantes with only a comparatively moderate -sum in his military chest[565], the rest had not reached him on June -28, the treasure convoy having taken the unconscionable time of -eleven days to crawl forward from Lisbon to Abrantes--a distance of -no more than ninety miles[566]. - - [564] With regard to these regiments [5/60th, 2/87th, 1/88th], - Wellesley writes in very bitter terms to Donkin on June 16, - saying that the number of their stragglers was scandalous, and - that the laggards were committing all manner of disorders in the - rear of the army. It is fair to remember that the battalions - had suffered exceptional hardships, as may be seen from the - narratives of Gough of the 87th, and Grattan of the 88th. - - [565] The main convoy only reached Abrantes when Wellesley had - advanced to Plasencia, in Spain. See letter to the officer - commanding Artillery at Castello Branco, dated July 8, from - Plasencia. - - [566] Cf. Wellesley to Frere, June 14, to Commissary-General - Murray, June 16, both from Abrantes, and to Castlereagh, June 27. - -A third cause of delay was the time spent in waiting for -reinforcements from Lisbon. Eight or nine regiments had landed, or -were expected to arrive within the next few days. It was in every -way desirable to unite them to the army before the campaign should -begin. This was all the more necessary because several corps had -to be deducted from the force which had been used in the Oporto -campaign. Under stringent orders from home, Wellesley had sent back -two infantry battalions and part of two cavalry regiments to Lisbon, -to be embarked for Gibraltar and Sicily[567]. In return he was to -receive a much larger body of troops. But while the deduction was -immediate, the addition took time. Of all the troops which were -expected to reinforce the army, only one battalion caught him up at -Abrantes, while a second and one regiment of Light Dragoons[568] -joined later, but yet in time for Talavera. Thus at the commencement -of the actual campaign the force in the field was, if anything, -slightly less in numbers than that which had been available in -May. It was particularly vexatious that the brigade of veteran -light infantry, for which Wellesley had made a special demand on -Castlereagh as early as April, did not reach Abrantes till long after -the army had moved forward. These three battalions, the nucleus of -the famous Light Division[569], had all gone through the experiences -of Moore’s campaign, and were once more under their old leader Robert -Craufurd. Detained by baffling winds in the Downs, the transports -that bore them only reached Lisbon at various dates between June 28 -and July 2, though they had sailed on May 25. Their indefatigable -brigadier hurried them forward with all speed to the front, but in -spite of his exertions, they only came up with the main army after -the day of battle was over. The same was the fate of two batteries of -horse artillery[570]--an arm in which Wellesley was wholly deficient -when he marched into Spain. They arrived late, and were still far to -the rear when the march from Abrantes began. - - [567] The 2/9th and 2/30th were sent to Gibraltar in May. The two - squadrons of the 20th Light Dragoons and the one squadron of the - 3rd Hussars of the K. G. L. were sent to Sicily at the same time. - - [568] The 1/48th, 1/61st, and 23rd Light Dragoons. - - [569] 1/43rd, 1/52nd, 1/95th. Of these three units only 1/43rd - had been in Robert Craufurd’s old brigade, during the march - to Sahagun. The other two had been in Anstruther’s brigade of - Paget’s reserve; they had therefore fought at Corunna, while - Craufurd and the ‘flank brigade’ which includes the 1/43rd, had - been detached from the main army and had embarked at Vigo. - - [570] A and I troops. The first joined in company with Craufurd. - The second only appeared much later. - -It thus resulted that although there were over 33,000 British troops -in the Peninsula at the commencement of July 1809, less than 21,000 -could be collected for the advance on Plasencia which was now about -to begin. More than 8,000 men lay at Lisbon, or were just starting -from that city, while 4,500 were in hospital[571]. The sick seemed -more numerous than might have been expected at the season of the -year: though the fatigues of the Oporto campaign accounted for -the majority of the invalids, yet Wellesley was of opinion that a -contributory cause might be found in the slack discipline of certain -regiments, where inefficient commanding officers had neglected -sanitary precautions, and allowed their men to neglect personal -cleanliness, or to indulge to excess in wine and unripe fruit and -vegetables. It was his opinion that the number of men in hospital -should never exceed ten per cent. of the total force. But all through -the war he found that this proportion was exceeded. - - [571] Writing to Castlereagh on June 30, Wellesley remarks that - ‘according to your account I have 35,000 men--according to my - own I have only 18,000,’ but this was before he had been joined - by the 1/61st, the 23rd Dragoons, and certain details. It is - certain, from the careful table of troops engaged at Talavera - which is to be found in the Record Office, that somewhat over - 22,000 men entered Spain, and that after deducting sick left at - Plasencia and elsewhere, just 20,600 fought at Talavera. - -With the internal condition of many of his regiments Wellesley was -far from satisfied. His tendency to use the plainest, indeed the -harshest, terms concerning the rank and file, is so well known that -we are not surprised to find him writing that ‘the army behave -terribly ill: they are a rabble who cannot bear success any more -than Sir John Moore’s army could bear failure[572].’ He complained -most of all of the recruits sent him from the Irish militia, who -were, he said, capable of every sin, moral or military. Though -he was ‘endeavouring to tame the troops,’ yet there were several -regiments in such bad order that he would gladly have sent them -home in disgrace if he could have spared a man. The main offence, -of course, was robbery of food from the Portuguese peasantry, often -accompanied by violence, and now and then by murder. The number of -assistant-provost-marshals was multiplied, some offenders were caught -and hanged, but marauding could not be suppressed, even while the -troops were receiving full rations in their cantonments at Abrantes. -When they were enduring real privation, in the wilds of Estremadura, -matters grew much worse. Though many regiments were distinguished -for their good behaviour, yet there were always some whose excesses -were a disgrace to the British army. Their Commander never shrank -from telling them so in the most incisive language; he was always -complaining that he could not get a sufficient number of the -criminals flogged or hanged, and that regimental court-martials were -far too lenient in their dealings with offenders[573]. - - [572] These topics occur in many dispatches to Castlereagh. - Perhaps the most notable is that of May 31, 1809, written at - Coimbra. - - [573] Wellesley’s anxiety to make examples may be traced in - the series of letters concerning a private of the 29th which - occur in his July dispatches. The man had been acquitted by a - court-martial on the ground of insanity, but this did not satisfy - the Commander-in-chief, who sends repeated orders that the award - must be revised, and the man, if possible, executed. - -It was at Abrantes that Wellesley first arranged his army in -divisions, and gave it the organization which, with certain -modifications, it was to maintain during the rest of the war. His six -regiments of cavalry were to form a single division consisting of one -heavy and two light brigades, commanded respectively by Fane, Cotton, -and Anson. The twenty-five battalions of infantry were distributed -into four divisions of unequal strength under Generals Sherbrooke, -Hill, Mackenzie, and A. Campbell. Of these the first was by far the -largest, counting four brigades of two battalions each: the first -(Henry Campbell’s) was formed of the two battalions of Guards, the -second (Cameron’s) of two line regiments, the third and fourth, -under Low and Langwerth, comprised the infantry of the King’s German -Legion. The second and third divisions each consisted of two brigades -of three battalions each[574]. The fourth, and weakest, showed only -five battalions in line. Of artillery there were only thirty guns, -eighteen English and twelve German: all were field-batteries, as none -of the much-desired horse artillery had yet reached the front[575]. -They were all of very light calibre, the heaviest being a brigade of -heavy six-pounders belonging to the German Legion. - - [574] Viz. 2nd, Tilson and Richard Stewart; 3rd, Mackenzie and - Donkin; 4th, A. Campbell and Kemmis. - - [575] A and I batteries R. H. A. were both late for Talavera. - -On June 28 the army at last moved forward: that day the head quarters -were at Cortiçada, on the Sobreira Formosa. On the thirtieth Castello -Branco, the last Portuguese town, was reached. On July 3 the leading -brigades passed the Elga, the frontier river, and bivouacked on -the same night around Zarza la Mayor, the first place in Spanish -Estremadura. At the same time Sir Robert Wilson’s small column of -1,500 Portuguese crossed the border a little further north, and -advanced in a direction parallel to that of the main army, so as to -serve as a flank guard for it in the direction of the mountains. - -King Joseph meanwhile was in a state of the most profound ignorance -concerning the impending storm. As late as July 9 he wrote to his -brother that the British had not as yet made any pronounced movement, -and that it was quite uncertain whether they would invade Galicia, -or strike at Castile, or remain in the neighbourhood of Lisbon[576]! -On that day the head of the British army had entered Plasencia, and -was only 125 miles from Madrid. It is impossible to give any better -testimonial than this simple fact to the way in which the insurgents -and the guerrillas served the cause of the allies. Wellesley had -been able to march from Oporto to Abrantes, and from Abrantes to -Plasencia, without even a rumour of his advance reaching Madrid. All -that Joseph had learnt was that there was now an allied force of -some sort behind Alcantara, in the direction of Castello Branco. He -took it for granted that they were Portuguese, but in one dispatch -he broaches the theory that there might be a few English with -them--perhaps from having heard a vague report of the composition of -Mackenzie’s division on the Zezere in May. He therefore wrote in a -cheerful tone to the Emperor that ‘if we have only got to deal with -Cuesta and the Portuguese they will be beaten by the 1st Corps. If -they have some English with them, they can be beaten equally well by -the 1st Corps, aided by troops which I can send across the Tagus via -Toledo’ (i.e. the 5,000 or 6,000 men of the Central Reserve which -could be spared from Madrid). ‘I am not in the least disquieted,’ -he continued, ‘concerning the present condition of military affairs -in this part of Spain[577].’ In another epistle to his brother he -added that ‘if the English should be at the back of Cuesta, it would -be the happiest chance in the world for the concluding of the whole -war[578].’ - - [576] Joseph to Napoleon, from Talavera, July 9, 1809. - - [577] Joseph to Napoleon, from Almagro, July 2, 1809. - - [578] Joseph to Napoleon, from Madridejos, July 3, 1809. It is - fair to the King to say that in this letter he concludes that he - had better call Mortier down into New Castile if the English are - really on the move. - -It was lucky for the King that he was not induced to try the -experiment of falling upon Wellesley and Cuesta with the 28,000 men -of Victor and the Central Reserve. If he had done so, he would have -suffered a frightful disaster and have lost Madrid. - -In the end of June and the first days of July Joseph’s main attention -had been drawn off to that part of his front where there was least -danger, so that he was paying comparatively little heed to the -movements of the allies on the lower Tagus. He had been distracted -by a rash and inexplicable movement of the Spanish army of La -Mancha. When General Venegas had heard of the retreat of Victor from -Estremadura, and had been informed that Cuesta was about to move -forward in pursuit of the 1st Corps, he had concluded that his own -troops might also advance. He argued that Sebastiani and the 4th -Corps must beat a retreat, when their right flank was uncovered by -Victor’s evacuation of the valley of the Guadiana. He was partly -justified in his idea, for Joseph had drawn back Sebastiani’s -main body to Madridejos when Victor abandoned Merida. It was safe -therefore to advance from the Despeña Perros into the southern skirts -of La Mancha, as far as Manzanares and the line of the Guadiana. But -to go further forward was dangerous, unless Venegas was prepared -to risk a collision with Sebastiani. This he was certainly not in -a condition to do: his troops had not yet recovered from the moral -effects of the rout of Ciudad Real, and his brigades were full of -new battalions of untried Andalusian reserves. He should have been -cautious, and have refused to move without concerting his operations -with Cuesta: to have had his corps put _hors de combat_ at the very -beginning of the joint campaign of the allied armies would have been -most disastrous. - -Nevertheless Venegas came down from the passes of the Sierra Morena -with 18,000 infantry, 3,000 horse, and twenty-six guns, and proceeded -to thrust back Sebastiani’s cavalry screen and to push in his -outposts in front of Madridejos. The French general had in hand at -this moment only two infantry divisions and Milhaud’s dragoons; his -third division and his light cavalry were still absent with Victor, -to whom they had been lent in March for the campaign of Medellin. But -with 13,000 foot and 2,000 horse[579] he ought not to have feared -Venegas, and could have given a good account of him had he chosen to -attack. But having received exaggerated reports of the strength of -the Spanish army, he wrote to the King that he was beset by nearly -40,000 men and must be reinforced at once, or he would have to fall -back on Madrid[580]. Joseph, fully believing the news, sent orders to -Victor to restore to the 4th Corps the divisions of Leval and Merlin, -and then, doubting whether these troops could arrive in time, sallied -out of Madrid on June 22 with his Guards and half the division of -Dessolles--about 5,500 men. - - [579] The July strength of Sebastiani’s corps, _présents sous les - armes_, was 1st division (French) 8,118, 2nd division (Valence’s - Poles) 4,784, Milhaud’s dragoons 2,249--total 15,151. - - [580] Joseph to Napoleon, from Illescas, June 23: ‘Le général - Sebastiani a devant lui des forces triples des siennes.’ Joseph - to Napoleon, from Moral, July 1: ‘L’armée de 36,000 à 40,000 - hommes qui menaçait le 4me Corps s’est enfuie et a repassé la - Sierre Morena.’ - -It was lucky for Venegas that Sebastiani had refused to fight him, -but still more lucky that the news of the King’s approach reached -him promptly. On hearing that Joseph had joined the 4th Corps on -June 25 he was wise enough to turn on his heel and retreat in all -haste towards his lair in the passes of the Sierra Morena. If he had -lingered any longer in the plains he would have been destroyed, for -the King, on the arrival of Leval’s and Merlin’s divisions, would -have fallen upon him at the head of 27,000 men. As it was, Venegas -retired with such promptitude to Santa Cruz de Mudela, at the foot of -the passes, that the French could never catch him. Joseph pursued him -as far as Almagro and El Moral, on the southern edge of La Mancha, -and there stopped short. He had received, on July 2, a dispatch -from Victor to the effect that Cuesta had repaired the bridge of -Almaraz and begun to cross the Tagus, while a body of 10,000 allied -troops, presumably Portuguese, had been heard of in the direction of -Plasencia[581]. (This was in reality the whole army of Wellesley!) -Rightly concluding that he had pushed the pursuit of Venegas too far, -the King turned back in haste, left Sebastiani and the 4th Corps -behind the Guadiana, and returned with his reserve to Toledo, in -order to be in a position to support Victor. His excursion to Almagro -had been almost as reckless and wrongheaded as Venegas’s advance to -Madridejos, for he had separated himself from Victor by a gap of 200 -miles, at the moment when the British army was just appearing on -the Marshal’s flank, while Cuesta was in his front. If the allied -generals had concentrated their forces ten days earlier--a thing that -might well have happened but for the vexatious delays at Abrantes -caused by Cuesta’s impracticability--the 1st Corps might have been -attacked at the moment when Joseph lay at the foot of the Sierra -Morena, in a position too remote from Talavera to allow him to come -up in time to succour Victor. - - [581] For all this see Joseph to Napoleon, from Moral [July 1], - and from Almagro [July 2]. - -While the King was absent on his expedition in pursuit of Venegas the -most important change in the situation of affairs on the Tagus was -that the Duke of Belluno had drawn back his troops from the line of -the Tagus, where they had been lying since June 19, and had retired -behind the Alberche. His retreat was not caused by any apprehension -as to the appearance of Wellesley on his flank--a fact which was -completely concealed from him--but by sheer want of provisions. On -June 25 he sent to the King to say that his army was again starved -out of its cantonments, and that he had eaten up in a week the small -remnant of food that could be squeezed out of the country-side -between the Tagus and the Tietar, and was forced to transfer himself -to another region. ‘The position,’ he wrote, ‘is desperate. The -1st Corps is on the eve of dissolution: the men are dropping down -from mere starvation. I have nothing, absolutely nothing, to give -them. They are in a state of despair.... I am forced to fall back on -Talavera, where there are no more resources than here. We must have -prompt succour, but where can it be found? If your Majesty abandons -me in my present wretched situation, I lose my honour, my military -record--everything. I shall not be to blame for the disaster which -menaces my troops, but I shall have to bear the blame. Tomorrow -I shall be at Talavera, waiting your Majesty’s orders. The enemy -[Cuesta] has a pontoon-train: if he wishes to cross the Tagus he can -do so, for the 1st Corps can no longer remain opposite him. Never was -there a more distressing situation than ours[582].’ - - [582] Victor to King Joseph, from the head quarters of the 1st - Corps, Calzada, near Oropesa, June 25. Intercepted dispatch in - the Record Office. - -On June 26, therefore, Victor transferred himself to Talavera, and -adopted a position behind the Alberche, after burning the materials -of the late pontoon bridge at Almaraz, which he had taken up and -stored in case they might again be needed. His movement was a lucky -one for himself, as it took him further away from Wellesley’s army, -which was just about to start from Abrantes with the object of -turning his flank. It puzzled Cuesta, who sought for some other -explanation of his departure than mere starvation, and was very -cautious in taking advantage of it. However, on the day after -the French had withdrawn, he pushed troops across the Tagus, and -prepared to construct another bridge at Almaraz to replace that -which the French had destroyed. His cavalry pushed out to Navalmoral -and Oropesa, and further to the east he passed some detachments -of infantry across the bridge of Arzobispo, which Victor--most -unaccountably--had left intact. Fortunately he did no more, and -refrained from advancing against Talavera, a step which from his -earlier record we should judge that he might well have taken into -consideration. - -On the part of the allies things were now in a state of suspense -from which they were not to stir for a fortnight. Cuesta was waiting -for Wellesley, Wellesley was pushing forward from Zarza la Mayor to -join Cuesta. Venegas was recovering at Santa Cruz de Mudela from the -fatigues of his fruitless expedition into La Mancha. - -But on the French side matters suffered a sudden change in the last -days of July--the hand of the Emperor was stretched out from the -banks of the Danube to alter the general dispositions of the army -of Spain. On June 12 he had dictated at Schönbrunn a new plan of -campaign, based on information which was already many weeks old -when it reached him. At this date the Emperor was barely aware that -Soult was being pressed by Wellesley in Northern Portugal. He had -no detailed knowledge of what was taking place in Galicia or the -Asturias, and was profoundly ignorant of the intrigues at Oporto -which afterwards roused his indignation. But he was convinced that -the English army was the one hostile force in Spain which ought to -engage the attention of his lieutenants. Acting on this belief he -issued an order that the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Corps--those of Soult, -Mortier, and Ney--were to be united into a single army, and to be -told off to the task of evicting Wellesley from Portugal. They were -to put aside for the present all such subsidiary enterprises as the -subjection of Galicia and the Asturias, and to devote themselves -solely to ‘beating, hunting down, and casting into the sea the -British army. If the three Corps join in good time the enemy ought -to be crushed, and then the Spanish war will come to an end. But the -troops must be moved in masses and not march in small detachments.... -Putting aside all personal considerations, I give the command of -the united army to the Duke of Dalmatia, as the senior marshal. His -three Corps ought to amount to something between 50,000 and 60,000 -men[583].’ - - [583] Napoleon to Clarke [Minister of War], from Schönbrunn, June - 12, 1809. - -This dispatch reached King Joseph at El Moral in La Mancha on July -1, and Soult at Zamora on July 2. It had been drawn up in view of -events that were taking place about May 15. It presupposed that the -British army was still in Northern Portugal, in close touch with -Soult, and that Victor was in Estremadura[584]. As a matter of fact -Soult was on this day leading his dilapidated corps down the Esla, -at the end of his retreat from Galicia. Ney, furious at the way -in which his colleague had deserted him, had descended to Astorga -three days before. Mortier was at Valladolid, just about to march -for Villacastin and Madrid, for the King had determined to draw him -down to aid in the defence of the capital. Finally, Cuesta, instead -of lying in the Sierra Morena, as he was when Napoleon drew up his -orders, was now on the Tagus, while Wellesley was no longer in touch -with Soult on the Douro, but preparing to fall upon Victor in New -Castile. The whole situation was so changed that the commentary which -the Emperor appended to his orders was hopelessly out of date--as was -always bound to be the case so long as he persisted in endeavouring -to direct the course of affairs in Spain from the suburbs of Vienna. - - [584] The Emperor’s dispatch contained many rebukes to Victor for - not pushing towards the North, to join hands with Soult. Jourdan - very truly remarks that if the 1st Corps had been sent in that - direction, King Joseph must infallibly have lost Madrid. - -Soult was overjoyed at receiving the splendid charge which the -Emperor’s decree put into his hands, though he must have felt secret -qualms at the idea that ere long some account of his doings at Oporto -must reach the imperial head quarters and provoke his master’s wrath. -There was a bad quarter of an hour to come[585]. But meanwhile he -was given a formidable army, and might hope to retrieve the laurels -that he had lost in Portugal, being now in a position to attack the -British with an overwhelming superiority of numbers. It must have -been specially delightful to him to find that Ney had been put under -his orders, so that he would be able to meet his angry colleague in -the character of a superior officer dealing with an insubordinate -lieutenant. - - [585] The Emperor’s stormy dispatch came in due course, but only - in September, see pp. 276-7. - -Soult’s first action, on finding himself placed in command of the -whole of the French forces in North-western Spain, was to issue -orders to Mortier to march on Salamanca, and to Ney to bring the -6th Corps down to Benavente. These dispositions clearly indicate an -intention of falling upon Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, and assailing -Northern Portugal--the plan which the Duke of Dalmatia had broached -to the King in his letter from Puebla de Senabria on June 25, before -he had received the news that the 5th and 6th Corps had been added to -his command. - -It is clear that on July 2 Soult had no knowledge of Wellesley’s -movements, and thought that the British army was quite as likely to -be aiming at Salamanca as at Madrid. It is also evident that he was -aware that he would be unable to move for some weeks. Till the 2nd -Corps should have received the clothing, munitions, and artillery -which had been promised it, it could not possibly take the field for -the invasion of Portugal. - -Soult, therefore, was obliged to wait till his stores should be -replenished, and till the two corps from Astorga and Valladolid -should concentrate on his flanks. It was while he was remaining -perforce in this posture of expectation that the news of the real -condition of affairs in New Castile was at last brought to him. - - - - -SECTION XVI: CHAPTER III - -WELLESLEY AND CUESTA: THE INTERVIEW AT MIRABETE - - -It was not till the third day of July that Wellesley had been able to -cross the Spanish border. Since Victor had assumed his new position -to the north of the Tagus as early as the nineteenth of the preceding -month, there was a perilous fortnight during which Cuesta and his -army were left alone to face the French. All through this time of -waiting, the British Commander-in-chief was haunted by the dread that -the old Captain-General might repeat his earlier errors, and once -more--as at Rio Seco and Medellin--court a pitched battle. Wellesley -had done his best to urge caution, by letters written not only to -Cuesta himself, but to his Chief-of-the-staff O’Donoju and to Colonel -Roche, who had now replaced Bourke as British representative at the -head quarters of the Army of Estremadura. Fortunately they were not -needed: the Spanish General was for once cautious: he followed Victor -at a respectful distance, and when he had reached the Tagus and -repaired the bridge of Almaraz, held back his army to the southern -bank and only pushed a few small detachments beyond the stream to -search for the enemy. Since the French had withdrawn to Talavera on -June 26 there was no collision. The cavalry of the 1st Corps were -discovered upon the upper Tietar and the Alberche, but they preserved -a defensive attitude, and the Spaniards did not provoke them by any -rash attempt to drive them back upon their main body. All remained -quiet, as Wellesley had rather desired than expected. - -Cuesta’s strategical position, therefore, was perfectly secure, -since he kept his main body to the south of the river, and showed -no desire to meddle with Victor before the arrival of the British. -At this moment military affairs were not the only things that were -engaging the attention of the old Captain-General. He was watching -with considerable anxiety the course of events at Seville, where -he was aware that he had many enemies. Ever since his high-handed -action against the deputies of Leon in the preceding autumn, he knew -that the Central Junta, and especially its Liberal wing, viewed -him with suspicion and dislike. It was with great reluctance that -they had placed him in command of the Estremaduran army, and if he -had not been popular with the Conservative and clerical party and -with some of the military cliques, he would not have retained his -post for long. At this moment there were many intrigues stirring -in Andalusia, and if some of them were directed against the Junta, -others had no other end than the changing of the commanders of -the various armies. While the Junta were debating about forms of -government, and especially about the summoning of a national Cortes -in the autumn, there were a number of officers of damaged reputation -whose main object was to recover the military rank of which they had -been deprived after misfortunes in the field. Infantado, who thought -that it was absurd that he should have been disgraced after Ucles, -while Cuesta had been rewarded after Medellin, was at the head of one -party of intriguers, which included Francisco Palafox and the Conde -de Montijo, and had secured the aid of Colonel Doyle, late British -agent in Aragon and Catalonia, an officer who showed a lamentable -readiness to throw himself into the intestine quarrels of the Spanish -factions[586]. Their actions went to the very edge of high treason, -for Montijo stirred up a riot at Granada on April 16, attacked the -provincial authorities, and almost succeeded in carrying out a -_pronunciamiento_ which must have led to civil war. The Junta did no -more than banish him to San Lucar, from which place he continued his -plots with Infantado, in spite of the warning that he had received. - - [586] Doyle, as his numerous letters in the Record Office show, - was such a furious partisan of the family of Palafox, that he - believed that all the Spanish authorities were in a conspiracy to - keep them down. He especially hated Blake. - -In Seville, faction if not so openly displayed was equally violent. -There was, as we have already said, a large section of the Junta -whose dearest wish would have been to displace Cuesta: it was they -who had obtained the nomination of Venegas to take charge of the -troops in La Mancha, merely because he was known to be an enemy of -the elder general. Yet since the two armies would have to co-operate -in any attempt to recover Madrid, it was clearly inexpedient that -their commanders should be at enmity. Some of the politicians at -Seville were set on giving high command to the Duke of Albuquerque, -an energetic and ambitious officer, but one gifted with the talent -of quarrelling with every superior under whom he served: he was -now bickering with Cuesta just as in March he had bickered with -Cartaojal. The Duke was a great admirer of all things English, and -a personal friend of Frere, the British minister. The latter did -his best to support his pretensions, often expressing in official -correspondence with the Junta a desire that Albuquerque might be -given an independent corps, and entrusted with the charge of the -movement that was to be concerted in conjunction with Wellesley’s -army. - -But it was not so much Albuquerque as Wellesley himself that Cuesta -dreaded as a possible successor. For Frere was possessed with the -notion that the time had now arrived at which it would be possible to -press for the appointment of a single Commander-in-chief of all the -Spanish armies. The obvious person to fill this post was the victor -of Vimiero and Oporto, if only Spanish pride would consent to the -appointment of a foreigner. Frere had sufficient sense to refrain -from openly publishing his idea. But he was continually ventilating -it to his private friends in the Junta, in season and out of season. -There can be no doubt that both from the military and the political -point of view the results of Wellesley’s exaltation to the position -of Generalissimo would have been excellent. If he had controlled -the whole of the Spanish armies in the summer of 1809, the course -of affairs in the Peninsula would have taken a very different turn, -and the campaign of Talavera would not have been wrecked by the -hopeless want of co-operation between the allied armies. But it was -not yet the time to press for the appointment: great as Wellesley’s -reputation already was, when compared with that of any Spanish -general, it was still not so splendid or so commanding as to compel -assent to his promotion[587]. Legitimate national pride stood in the -way, and even after Espinosa, and Tudela, and Medellin the Spaniards -could not believe that it was necessary for them to entrust the whole -responsibility for the defence of their country to the foreigner. -Only a few of the politicians of Seville showed any liking for the -project. Wellesley himself would have desired nothing so much as -this appointment, but being wiser and less hopeful than Frere, he -thought it useless to press the point. When the sanguine diplomat -wrote to him, early in June, to detail his attempts to bring home the -advisability of the project to his Spanish friends, the general’s -reply was cautious in the extreme. ‘I am much flattered,’ he said, -‘by the notion entertained by some of the persons in authority at -Seville, of appointing me to the command of the Spanish armies. I -have received no instruction from Government upon that subject: but -I believe that it was considered an object of great importance in -England that the Commander-in-chief of the British troops should -have that situation. But it is one more likely to be attained by -refraining from pressing it, and leaving it to the Spanish themselves -to discover the expediency of the arrangement, than by any suggestion -on our parts.’ He concluded by informing Frere that he could not -conceive that his insinuation was likely to have any effect, and that -the opinion of the British Ministry was probably correct--viz. that -at present national jealousy made the project hopeless[588]. - - [587] On June 9, Frere writes to tell Wellesley that if he could - only have destroyed Soult at Oporto, instead of merely chasing - him across the frontier, it would have been possible to secure - him the post of Generalissimo at once. This chance had gone by, - but ‘your friends here (among whom you may count Mr. de Garay) - are doing their best for you.’ [Record Office, from Seville, June - 9, 1809.] - - [588] Wellington to Frere, from Abrantes, June 16, 1809. - -Now it was impossible that Frere’s well-meaning but mistaken -endeavours should escape the notice of Cuesta’s friends in Seville. -The British Minister had spoken to so many politicians on the -subject, that we cannot doubt that his colloquies were promptly -reported to the Captain-General of Estremadura. This fact goes far to -explain Cuesta’s surly and impracticable behaviour towards Wellesley -during the Talavera campaign. He disliked his destined colleague -not only because he was a foreigner, and because he showed himself -strong-willed and outspoken during their intercourse, but because -he believed that the Englishman was intriguing behind his back to -obtain the post of Generalissimo. This belief made him determined to -assert his independence on the most trifling matters, loth to fall -in with even the most reasonable plans, and suspicious that every -proposal made to him concealed some trap. He attributed to Wellesley -the design of getting rid of him, and was naturally determined to do -nothing to forward it. - -The English officers who studied Cuesta’s conduct from the outside, -during the Talavera campaign, attributed his irrational movements and -his hopeless impracticability to a mere mixture of pride, stupidity, -and obstinacy. They were wrong; the dominant impulse was resentment, -jealousy, and suspicion--a combination far more deadly in its -results than the other. He awaited the approach of Wellesley with a -predisposition to quarrel and a well-developed personal enmity, whose -existence the British general had not yet realized. - -We have dealt in the last chapter with the strength and organization -of the British army at the moment when Wellesley crossed the -frontier on July 3. It remains to speak of the two Spanish armies -which were to take part in the campaign. We have already seen that -Cuesta’s host had been reinforced after Medellin with a new brigade -of Granadan levies, and a whole division taken from the army of La -Mancha[589]. Since that date he had received large drafts both of -infantry and cavalry from Andalusia. Six more regiments of horse -had reached him, besides reinforcements for his old corps. All were -now strong in numbers, and averaged between 400 and 500 sabres, so -that by the middle of June he had fully 7,000 mounted men under his -orders. Eight or nine additional regiments of infantry had also come -to hand since April--some of them new Andalusian levies, others -old corps whose _cadres_ had been filled up since the disaster of -Ucles. His infantry counted about 35,000 bayonets, divided into five -divisions and a ‘vanguard’: the latter under Zayas was about 4,000 -strong, each of the others exceeded 5,000. The cavalry formed two -divisions, under Henestrosa and Albuquerque, one composed of seven, -one of six regiments. There were thirty guns--some of heavy calibre, -nine-and twelve-pounders--with about 800 artillerymen. The whole -army, inclusive of sick and detached, amounted to 42,000 men, of whom -perhaps 36,000 were efficients present with the colours[590]. - - [589] I can nowhere find the date of the transference, but it - took place before July: the old regiments of Calatrava, Sagunto, - Alcantara, and Pavia, which were with Venegas’s army in March, - had been transferred to Cuesta’s by June, as also the new - regiments of Sevilla, and Cazadores de Madrid. My most valuable - source of information is an unpublished dispatch of Cuesta’s in - the Madrid War Office, which gives all the names of regiments, - but not their numbers. - - [590] These totals may be regarded as certain, being drawn from - the dispatch of Cuesta’s alluded to above, which I was fortunate - enough to find at Madrid. Unfortunately no regimental figures are - given, only the gross total. - -The second Spanish army, that of La Mancha under Venegas, was much -weaker, having furnished heavy detachments to reinforce Cuesta before -it took the field in June. Its base was the old ‘Army of the Centre,’ -which had been commanded by Castaños and Infantado. Some twenty -battalions that had seen service in the campaign of Tudela were still -in its ranks: they had been recruited up to an average of 500 or -600 bayonets. The rest of the force was composed of new Andalusian -regiments, raised in the winter and spring, some of which had taken -part in the rout of Ciudad Real under Cartaojal, while others had -never before entered the field. The gross total of the army on June -16 was 26,298 men, of whom 3,383 were cavalry. Deducting the sick in -hospital, Venegas could dispose of some 23,000 sabres and bayonets, -distributed into five divisions. The horsemen in this army were not -formed into separate brigades, but allotted as divisional cavalry -to the infantry units. There was little to choose, in point of -efficiency, between the Estremaduran army and that of La Mancha; both -contained too many raw troops, and in both, as was soon to be proved, -the bulk of the cavalry was still as untrustworthy as it had shown -itself in previous engagements. - -The Spaniards therefore could put into the field for the campaign -of July on the Tagus some 60,000 men. But the fatal want of unity -in command was to prevent them from co-ordinating their movements -and acting as integral parts of a single army guided by a single -will. Venegas was to a certain degree supposed to be under Cuesta’s -authority, but as he was continually receiving orders directly from -the Junta, and was treated by them as an independent commander, he -practically was enabled to do much as he pleased. Being a personal -enemy of Cuesta, he had every inducement to play his own game, -and did not scruple to do so at the most important crisis of the -campaign,--covering his disregard of the directions of his senior -by the easy pretext of a desire to execute those of the central -government. - -On July 15, the day when his share in the campaign commenced, the -head quarters of Venegas were at Santa Cruz de Mudela, just outside -the northern exit of the Despeña Perros. His outposts lay in front, -at El Moral, Valdepeñas, and Villanueva de los Infantes. He was -divided by a considerable distance--some twenty-five miles--from the -advanced cavalry of Sebastiani’s corps, whose nearest detachment was -placed at Villaharta, where the high-road to Madrid crosses the river -Giguela. - -Meanwhile we must return to Wellesley, who having crossed the -frontier on July 3, was now moving forward by short marches to -Plasencia. On the fourth the head quarters were at Zarza la Mayor, -on the sixth at Coria, on the seventh at Galisteo; on the eighth -Plasencia was reached, and the general halted the army, while -he should ride over to Almaraz and confer in person with Cuesta -on the details of their plan of campaign. In the valley of the -Alagon, where the country was almost untouched by the hand of war, -provisions were obtainable in some quantity, but every Spanish -informant agreed that when the troops dropped down to the Tagus they -would find the land completely devastated. Wellesley was therefore -most anxious to organize a great dépôt of food before moving on: -the local authorities professed great readiness to supply him, and -he contracted with the Alcaldes of the fertile Vera de Plasencia -for 250,000 rations of flour to be delivered during the next ten -days[591]. Lozano de Torres, the Spanish commissary-general sent -by the Junta to the British head quarters, promised his aid in -collecting the food, but even before Wellesley departed to visit -Cuesta, he had begun to conceive doubts whether supplies would be -easily procurable. The difficulty was want of transport--the army had -marched from Portugal with a light equipment, and had no carts to -spare for scouring the country-side in search of flour. The General -had relied on the assurances sent him from Seville to the effect -that he would easily be able to find local transport in the intact -regions about Coria and Plasencia: but he was disappointed: very -few carts could be secured, and the store of food in the possession -of the army seemed to shrink rather than to increase during every -day that the army remained in the valley of the Alagon, though the -region was fruitful and undevastated. It is certain that the British -commissaries had not yet mastered the art of gathering in provisions -from the country-side, and that the Spanish local authorities could -not be made to understand the necessity for punctuality and dispatch -in the delivery of the promised supplies. - - [591] Wellesley to Frere, _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. 524. - -On July 10 Wellesley started off with the head-quarters staff to -visit Cuesta, at his camp beyond the bridge of Almaraz, there to -concert the details of their joint advance. Owing to an error made -by his guides he arrived after dusk at the hamlet below the Puerto -de Mirabete, around which the main body of the Army of Estremadura -was encamped. The Captain-General had drawn out his troops in the -afternoon for the inspection of the British commander. When at -last he appeared they had been four hours under arms in momentary -expectation of the arrival of their distinguished visitor, and -Cuesta himself, though still lame from the effect of his bruises at -Medellin, had sat on horseback at their head during the greater part -of that time. - -Two admirable accounts of the review of the Estremaduran host in the -darkness were written by members of Wellesley’s staff. It is well -worth while to quote one of them[592], for the narrative expresses -with perfect clearness the effect which the sight of the Spanish -troops made upon their allies:-- - - [592] That of Charles Stewart (Lord Londonderry) on pp. 382-3 of - the first volume of his _History of the Peninsular War_. - -‘Our arrival at the camp was announced by a general discharge of -artillery, upon which an immense number of torches were made to blaze -up, and we passed the entire Spanish line in review by their light. -The effect produced by these arrangements was one of no ordinary -character. The torches, held aloft at moderate intervals, threw a -red and wavering light over the whole scene, permitting at the same -time its minuter parts to be here and there cast into the shade, -while the grim and swarthy visages of the soldiers, their bright arms -and dark uniforms, appeared peculiarly picturesque as often as the -flashes fell upon them. Nor was Cuesta himself an object to be passed -by without notice: the old man preceded us, not so much sitting upon -his horse as held upon it by two pages, at the imminent risk of being -overthrown whenever a cannon was discharged, or a torch flamed out -with peculiar brightness. His physical debility was so observable as -clearly to mark his unfitness for the situation which he held. As to -his mental powers, he gave us little opportunity of judging, inasmuch -as he scarcely uttered five words during the continuance of our -visit: but his corporal infirmities were ever at absolute variance -with all a general’s duties. - -‘In this way we passed by about 6,000 cavalry drawn up in rank -entire, and not less than twenty battalions of infantry, each of 700 -to 800 bayonets. They were all, without exception, remarkably fine -men. Some indeed were very young--too young for service--particularly -among the recruits who had lately joined. But to take them all -in all, it would not have been easy to find a stouter or more -hardy looking body of soldiers in any European service. Of their -appointments it was not possible to speak in the same terms of -commendation. There were battalions whose arms, accoutrements, and -even clothing might be pronounced respectable[593]: but in general -they were deficient, particularly in shoes. It was easy to perceive, -from the attitude in which they stood, and the manner in which they -handled their arms, that little or no discipline prevailed among -them: they could not but be regarded as raw levies. Speaking of them -in the aggregate they were little better than bold peasantry, armed -partially like soldiers, but completely unacquainted with a soldier’s -duty. This remark applied to the cavalry as much as to the infantry. -Many of the horses were good, but the riders manifestly knew nothing -of movement or of discipline: and they were on this account, as -also on that of miserable equipment, quite unfit for service. The -generals appeared to have been selected by one rule alone--that of -seniority. They were almost all old men, and, except O’Donoju and -Zayas, evidently incapable of bearing the fatigues or surmounting -the difficulties of a campaign. It was not so with the colonels and -battalion commanders, who appeared to be young and active, and some -of whom were, we had reason to believe, learning to become skilful -officers.... Cuesta seemed particularly unwilling that any of his -generals should hold any serious conversation with us. It is true -that he presented them one by one to Sir Arthur, but no words were -exchanged on the occasion, and each retired after he had made his -bow.’ Albuquerque, of whom the Captain-General was particularly -jealous, had been relegated with his division to Arzobispo, and did -not appear on the scene. - - [593] As to the equipment of the Spaniards, the following - quotation from Leslie (p. 135) may be worth giving: ‘Their - uniforms were of every variety of colour, the equipment and - appointments of the most inferior description. One could - not but lament these defects, for the men were remarkably - fine, possessing all the essential qualities to make good - soldiers--courage, patience, and soberness. Their officers, - in general, were the very reverse! The line infantry were in - blue uniforms with red facings. The Provincial Corps, called - “Volunteers,” were mostly dressed in the brown Spanish cloth of - the country, with green or yellow facings. Some had chakoes, - others broad-brimmed hats with the rim turned up at one side: - all had cap-plates of tin announcing their designation. Some had - belts, others none. They had no pouches, but a broad belt of soft - leather, in which were placed a row of tin tubes, each holding a - cartridge, with a fold of leather to cover them, fastened round - the waist. The cavalry were heavy and light dragoons, with some - regiments of Hussars. Some were tolerably well dressed, in blue - or yellow uniforms with red facings. Some had boots, but more - long leather leggings, coming up above the knee. The horses were - small, active, and hardy, of the Spanish Barbary breed.’ - -The all-important plan of campaign was settled at a long -conference--it lasted for four hours--on the morning of the following -day. According to all accounts the scene at the interview must have -been curious. Cuesta could not, or would not, speak French: Wellesley -was not yet able to express himself fluently in Spanish. Accordingly, -O’Donoju, the chief of the staff of the Army of Estremadura, acted as -interpreter between them, rendering Wellesley’s views into Spanish -and Cuesta’s into English. The greater part of the discussion -consisted in the bringing forward of plans by the British commander -and their rejection by the Captain-General. Cuesta was full of -suspicion, and saw a trap in every proposal that was made to him: -he imagined that Wellesley’s main object was to edge him out of the -supreme command. He was almost silent throughout the interview, only -opening his lips to give emphatic negatives, for which O’Donoju -proceeded to find ingenious and elaborate explanations. - -It was not the principles on which the campaign was to be conducted, -but the details of the distribution of the troops on which the -trouble arose. The enemy’s position and force was fairly well known -to both generals, except in one all-important particular. They were -aware that Victor lay behind the Alberche with not much more than -22,000 men, that Sebastiani was at Madridejos with a somewhat smaller -force[594], and that King Joseph with his central reserve, which they -over-estimated at 12,000 men, was able at any moment to join the -1st Corps. Hence they expected to find some 34,000 French troops at -Talavera, and rightly considered that with the 55,000 men of their -two armies they ought to give a good account of them. Sebastiani, as -they supposed, might be left out of the game, for occupation for him -would be found by the army of La Mancha, which was to be told off for -this purpose and directed to cling to the skirts of the 4th Corps and -never to lose sight of it. As Venegas would have, according to their -calculations, nearly double the numbers of Sebastiani, he would have -no difficulty in keeping him in check. - - [594] They estimated him at only 10,000 men, but he had really - 20,000, Wellesley to Castlereagh, July 15, from Plasencia. - -But it was not only on the French troops in New Castile that watch -had to be kept. It was necessary to take into account the enemy -beyond the mountains, in the valley of the Douro. The allied generals -were aware that Mortier and Soult must both be considered. The former -they knew to be at Valladolid, and they had learnt that King Joseph -was proposing to bring him down towards Madrid--as was indeed the -fact. Accordingly they expected that he might turn up in a few days -somewhere in the direction of Avila. Soult they knew to be at Zamora, -and from the dispatches captured with General Franceschi ten days -before, they had a good knowledge of his force and intentions. A -study of these documents led them to conclude that he could not move -for many weeks, owing to the dilapidated state of his corps--which -he had painted in the most moving terms in his letters to King -Joseph[595]. They also gathered that if he moved at all, he would -be inclined to threaten Northern Portugal or Ciudad Rodrigo: in the -dispatches captured with Franceschi he had named Braganza as a point -at which he might strike. Accordingly they opined that he need not -be taken very seriously into consideration, especially as he was -wholly destitute of artillery[596]. Yet he might be drawn into the -field by the news that Madrid was in danger. If he were induced to -bring help to the King, he would almost certainly work by making -a diversion against the communications of the British army, and -not by directly joining himself to Joseph’s army by the long and -circuitous march from Zamora to Madrid. To carry out such a diversion -he would be obliged to cross the lofty Sierra de Francia by one of -the passes which lead from the Salamanca region into the valley of -the Alagon--perhaps by the defile of Perales, but much more probably -by the better known and more practicable pass of Baños. Wellesley -took the possibility of this movement into serious consideration, -but did not think that it would be likely to cause him much danger -if it should occur, for he believed that Soult would bring with him -no more than the 15,000 or 18,000 men of his own 2nd Corps. That he -would appear not with such a small force, but with Ney and Mortier -in his wake, leading an army of 50,000 bayonets, did not enter into -the mind of the British commander. Mortier was thought to be moving -in the direction of Avila: Ney was believed to be contending with the -Galician insurgents in the remote regions about Lugo and Corunna. The -news of his arrival at Astorga had not yet reached the allied camps, -and he was neglected as a factor in the situation. Wellesley and -Cuesta had no conception that any force save that of Soult was likely -to menace their northern flank and their line of communications when -they committed themselves to their advance on Madrid. To provide -against a possible movement of the 2nd Corps into the valley of the -Tagus, therefore, all that was necessary was to hold the defiles of -Perales and Baños. The former had already been seen to, for even -before the meeting of Wellesley and Cuesta, Carlos d’España had -blocked it with two or three battalions drawn from the garrison of -Ciudad Rodrigo. For the latter Wellesley hoped that Cuesta would -provide a sufficient garrison[597]. The old Captain-General promised -to do so, but only sent 600 men under the Marquis Del Reino, a wholly -inadequate detachment[598]. - - [595] Soult had written [from Puebla de Senabria, June 25]: ‘Je - me propose de reposer les troupes trois ou quatre jours: pendant - ce temps elles se prépareront des subsistances, on raccommodera - la chaussure, les chevaux seront ferrés, et je menacerai de - nouveau le Portugal: peut-être même je ferai faire une incursion - vers Bragance, afin d’opérer une diversion qui ne peut pas - manquer de produire quelque effet.... Je me fais précéder à - Zamora (où je compte être rendu le 2 juillet) par l’ordonnateur - Le Noble, qui doit réclamer près l’intendant-général de l’armée - des moyens en tout genre qui me manquent--tel que l’habillement, - chaussure, ambulance, officiers de santé, administration, - transport militaire, payeurs, argent pour solde et dépenses - extraordinaires, postes etc. J’ai l’honneur de supplier Votre - Majesté de daigner donner des ordres pour qu’il soit fait droit - a ses demandes: mes besoins sont très grands.... Il y a plus de - cinq mois que je n’ai reçu ni ordre, ni nouvelle, ni secours, par - conséquent je dois manquer de beaucoup de choses.’ - - [596] Wellesley’s views at this moment appear in his - correspondence, e.g. to Mr. Villiers, July 8: ‘I defy Soult to do - Beresford or Portugal any injury as long as his army is in its - present situation--or any amelioration of that situation which - can be produced in a short period of time.’ To Beresford, July 9: - ‘I have no apprehension that Soult will be able to do anything - with his corps for some time, but I think that column ought to be - watched.’ To Beresford, July 14: ‘I do not believe that Ney has - quitted Galicia, at least we have not heard that he has. Soult - can do nothing against Portugal, for he is in a most miserable - state, without arms, artillery or ammunition, stores, &c.’ - - [597] Wellesley to Beresford, July 9: ‘I have not forgotten - either the Puerto de Baños or the Puerto de Perales, and have - called upon Cuesta to occupy both. The former is already - held, and the latter will be so in a day or two.’ [This was - unfortunately not to be the case.] - - [598] I cannot discover the names of the two very weak - battalions, the smallest in Cuesta’s army, which were detached - for this purpose under Del Reino. They are _not_ the same as the - two battalions which joined Wilson (Merida and 3rd of Seville). - -Wellesley’s first proposal to his Spanish colleague was that the -main bodies of both armies should advance against Victor, while -a detachment of 10,000 men should move out to the left, in the -direction of Avila, to look for Mortier, if he were to be found in -that direction, and if not to turn the enemy’s right and threaten -Madrid. He hoped that Venegas and the army of La Mancha might at the -same time move forward against Sebastiani, and keep him so fully -employed that he would not be able to spare a man to aid Victor and -King Joseph. - -Cuesta at once refused to make any detachment in the direction of -Avila from his own army, and suggested that Wellesley should find -the 10,000 men required for this diversion. The English general -objected that it would take exactly half his force, and that he -could not split up such a small unit, while the Spaniards could -easily spare such a number of troops from their total of 36,000 men. -This argument failed to move Cuesta, and the project was dropped, -Wellesley thinking that it was not strictly necessary, though very -advisable[599]. - - [599] Wellesley to Frere, July 13: ‘You will see, in the - accompanying letter, an account of my endeavour to prevail on - General Cuesta to make a detachment upon Avila. I agree with you - that it would be a great advantage from a military point of view - ... but I must at the same time inform you that I do not consider - the movement to be _necessary_ as a military measure.’ Frere and - Wellesley had hoped that Albuquerque might be placed in command - of this large detachment, and might distinguish himself at its - head. - -The only flanking force which was finally set aside for operations on -the left wing, for the observation of the French about Avila and the -feint at Madrid, consisted of Sir Robert Wilson’s 1,500 Portuguese, -and a corresponding body of two battalions and one squadron from -the Spanish army[600]--about 3,500 men in all. It played a part of -some little importance in the campaign, but it is hard to see that -it would have exercised any dominant influence even if it had been -raised to the full strength that Wellesley had desired. Mortier, as -a matter of fact, was not near Avila, and so the 10,000 men sent in -this direction would not have served the end that the British general -expected. The 5th Corps had been called off by Soult, contrary to -the wishes of the King, and no body of troops was needed to contain -it, on this part of the theatre of war. It was ultimately to appear -at a very different point, where no provision had been made for its -reception. - - [600] Battalions of Merida (1,170 bayonets) and 3rd of Seville - (810 bayonets). - -Far more important were the arrangements which Wellesley and Cuesta -made for the diversion on their other flank. It was from the -miscarriage of this operation, owing to the wilful disobedience of -the officer charged with it, that the failure of the whole campaign -was to come about. They agreed that Venegas with the 23,000 men -of the army of La Mancha, was to move up the high-road from his -position at Santa Cruz de Mudela, and drive Sebastiani before him. -Having pushed back the 4th Corps to the Tagus, Venegas was then to -endeavour to force the passage of that river either at Aranjuez or -at Fuentedueñas, and to threaten Madrid. It was calculated that -Sebastiani would be forced to keep between him and the capital, and -would be unable to spare a man to reinforce Victor and King Joseph. -Thus Wellesley and Cuesta with 56,000 men would close on the King -and the Marshal, who could not have more than 35,000, and (as it was -hoped) defeat them or at least manœuvre them out of Madrid. A glance -at the map will show one peculiarity of this plan: it would have been -more natural to bid Venegas march by the bridge of Toledo rather than -by those of Aranjuez and Fuentedueñas; to use the latter he would -have to move towards his right, and to separate himself by a long -gap from the main army of the allies. At Toledo he would be within -thirty-five miles of them--at Aranjuez seventy, at Fuentedueñas 100 -miles would lie between him and the troops of Wellesley and Cuesta. -It would appear that the two generals at their colloquy came to the -conclusion that by ordering Venegas to use the eastern passages of -the Tagus they would compel Sebastiani to remove eastward also, -so that he would be out of supporting distance of Victor. They -recognized the bare possibility that Sebastiani might refuse to -devote himself to the task of holding back the army of La Mancha, -might leave Madrid to its fate, and then hurry off to join the King -and the 1st Corps in an assault on the main Anglo-Spanish army. In -this case they settled that Venegas should march on the capital and -seize it, a move which (as they supposed) would force Joseph to -turn back or to re-divide his army[601]. But it is clear that they -did not expect to have to fight Victor, the King, and Sebastiani -combined, as they were ultimately forced to do at Talavera on July -28. They supposed that Venegas would find occupation for the 4th -Corps, and that they might count on finding only the 1st Corps and -Joseph’s Madrid reserves in front of them. - - [601] All these details as to the joint plan are better expressed - in Cuesta’s Apologetic _Manifesto_, published after his - resignation, than in Wellesley’s _Dispatches_ to Castlereagh and - Frere. - -When armies are working in a joint operation from separate bases -it is all-important that they should time their movements with the -nicest exactitude. This Wellesley and Cuesta attempted to secure, -by sending to Venegas an elaborate time-table. He was ordered to -be at Madridejos on July 19, at Tembleque on the twentieth, at -Santa Cruz de la Zarza on the twenty-first, and at the bridge of -Fuentedueñas on the twenty-second or twenty-third. All this was on -the supposition that Sebastiani would have about 12,000 men and would -give ground whenever pressed. If he turned out by some unlikely -chance--presumably by having rallied the King’s reserves--to be much -stronger, Venegas was to manœuvre in the direction of Tarancon, to -avoid a general action, and if necessary to retreat towards the -Passes from which he had started. It would be rather an advantage -than otherwise if (contrary to all probability) the French had -concentrated their main force against the army of La Mancha, for this -would leave Victor helpless in front of the united hosts of Wellesley -and Cuesta, which would outnumber him by two to one. - -[Illustration: SPANISH COINS OF THE PERIOD OF THE PENINSULAR WAR] - -What the allied generals never expected was that Venegas would let -Sebastiani slip away from his front, without any attempt to hold him, -and would then (instead of marching on Madrid) waste the critical -days of the campaign (July 24-29) in miserable delays between Toledo -and Aranjuez, when there was absolutely no French field-force between -him and Madrid, nor any hostile troops whatever in his neighbourhood -save a weak division of 3,000 men in garrison at Toledo. The failure -of the Talavera campaign is due even more to this wretched indecision -and disobedience to orders on the part of Venegas than to the -eccentricities and errors of Cuesta. If the army of La Mancha had -kept Sebastiani in check, and refused to allow him to abscond, there -would have been no battles on the Alberche on July 27-28, for the -French would never have dared to face the Anglo-Spaniards of the -main host without the assistance of the 4th Corps. - -But to return to the joint plan of Wellesley and Cuesta: on July 23, -the day on which Venegas was to reach Fuentedueñas (or Aranjuez) -the 56,000 men of the grand army were to be assailing Victor behind -the Alberche. The British were to cross the Tietar at Bazagona on -the eighteenth and follow the high-road Navalmoral-Oropesa. The -Estremadurans, passing the Tagus at Almaraz and Arzobispo, were -to move by the parallel route along the river bank by La Calzada -and Calera, which is only five or six miles distant from the great -_chaussée_. Thus the two armies would be in close touch with each -other, and would not be caught apart by the enemy. On reaching -Talavera they were to force the fords of the Alberche and fall upon -Victor in his cantonments behind that stream. Sir Robert Wilson -and the 3,500 men of his mixed Spanish and Portuguese detachment -were to move up as the flank-guard of the allied host, and to push -by the head waters of the Tietar for Escalona on the side-road to -Madrid[602]. - - [602] Cuesta’s and Wellesley’s accounts of their joint plan on - the whole agree wonderfully well. - -Criticisms of the most acrimonious kind have been brought to bear on -this plan by English, French, and Spanish writers. Many of them are -undeserved; in particular the tritest objection of all, made _ex post -facto_ by those who only look at the actual course of the campaign, -that Wellesley was exposing his communications to the united forces -of Soult, Ney, and Mortier. There was on July 10, when Cuesta and -Wellesley met, no reason whatever for apprehending the contingency -of the march of the three marshals upon Plasencia. Soult, as his own -letters of June 25 bore witness, was not in a condition to move--he -had not a single piece of artillery, and his troops were in dire -need of rest and re-equipment. Ney was believed to be at Corunna or -Lugo--Soult’s intercepted dispatches spoke of the 6th Corps as being -destined to remain behind in Galicia, and he (as the allied generals -supposed) ought best to have known what his colleague was about to -do. How could they have guessed that, in wrath at his desertion by -the Duke of Dalmatia, Ney would evacuate the whole kingdom, abandon -fortresses like Ferrol and Corunna, and march for Astorga? Without -Ney’s corps to aid him, Soult could not possibly have marched on -Plasencia--to have done so with the 2nd Corps alone would have -exposed him to being beset by Wellesley on one side and by Beresford -on the other. As to Mortier and the 5th Corps, Cuesta and Wellesley -undervalued their strength, being unaware that Kellermann had sent -back from the Asturias the division that had been lent him for his -expedition to Oviedo. They thought that the Duke of Treviso’s force -was more like 7,000 than 17,000 bayonets, and--such as it was--they -had the best of reasons for believing that it was more likely to -march on Madrid by Avila than to join Soult, for they had before them -an intercepted dispatch from the King, bidding Mortier to move down -to Villacastin in order to be in supporting distance of the capital -and the 1st Corps. - -On the whole, therefore, the two generals must be excused for not -foreseeing the descent of 50,000 men upon their communications, -which took place three weeks after their meeting at the bridge of -Almaraz: the data in their possession on July 10 made it appear most -improbable. - -A much more valid criticism is that which blames the method of -co-operation with Venegas which was employed. ‘Double external lines -of operations’ against an enemy placed in a central position are -notoriously perilous, and the particular movement on Fuentedueñas, -which the army of La Mancha was ordered to execute, was one which -took it as far as possible from Wellesley’s and Cuesta’s main body. -Yet it may be urged in their defence that, if they had drawn in -Venegas to join them, they would have got little profit out of having -23,000 more Spaniards on the Alberche. Sebastiani on the other hand, -who could join Victor at the same moment that the corps from La -Mancha joined the allies, would bring some 17,000 excellent troops to -Talavera. The benefit of drawing in Venegas would be much less than -the disadvantage of drawing in Sebastiani to the main theatre of war. -Hence came the idea that the army from the Passes must be devoted to -the sole purpose of keeping the 4th Corps as far as possible from -the Alberche. Even knowing that Venegas was hostile to Cuesta, and -that he was a man of no mark or capacity, Wellesley could not have -expected that he would disobey orders, waste time, and fail utterly -in keeping touch with Sebastiani or threatening Madrid. - -The one irreparable fault in the drawing up of the whole plan of -campaign was the fundamental one that Wellesley had undertaken -to co-operate with Spanish armies before he had gauged the weak -points of the generals and their men. If he had held the post of -commander-in-chief of the allied forces, and could have issued -orders that were obeyed without discussion, the case would have been -different. But he had to act in conjunction with two colleagues, -one of whom was suspicious of his intentions and jealous of his -preponderant capacity, while the other deliberately neglected to -carry out clear and cogent orders from his superior officer. Cuesta’s -impracticability and Venegas’s disobedience could not have been -foreseen by one who had no previous experience of Spanish armies. -Still less had Wellesley realized all the defects of the Spanish -rank and file when placed in line of battle. That he did not hold an -exaggerated opinion of their merits when he started on the campaign -is shown by letters which he wrote nine months before[603]. But he -was still under the impression that, if cautiously handled, and not -exposed to unnecessary dangers, they would do good service. He had -yet to witness the gratuitous panic of Portago’s division on the -eve of Talavera, and the helplessness of the Spanish cavalry at the -combats of Gamonal and Arzobispo. After a month’s experience of -Cuesta and his men, Wellesley vowed never again to take part in grand -operations with a Spanish general as his equal and colleague. This -was the teaching of experience--and on July 10 the experience was yet -to come. - - [603] See Wellington to Castlereagh, from Ramalhal, Sept. 1808. - -The interview at the bridge of Almaraz had not been very satisfactory -to Wellesley, but it was far from having undeceived him as to the -full extent of the difficulties that lay before him. He wrote to -Frere at Seville that he had been on the whole well received, and -that Cuesta had not displayed any jealousy of him. As that sentiment -was at this moment the predominant feeling in the old man’s breast, -it is clear that he had succeeded in hiding it. But the obstinate -silence of Wellesley’s colleague had worried him. O’Donoju had done -all the talking, and ‘it was impossible to say what plans the general -entertains.’ He was moreover somewhat perturbed by the rumours -which his staff had picked up from the Estremaduran officers, to the -effect that Cuesta was so much the enemy of the Central Junta that he -was plotting a _pronunciamiento_ for its deposition[604]. As to the -fighting powers of the Spanish army, Wellesley wrote to Castlereagh -that ‘the troops were ill clothed but well armed, and the officers -appeared to take pains with their discipline. Some of the corps of -infantry were certainly good, and the horses of the cavalry were -in good condition.’ Only ten days later he was to utter the very -different opinion that ‘owing to their miserable state of discipline -and their want of officers properly qualified, these troops are -entirely incapable of performing any manœuvre however simple[605],’ -and that ‘whole corps, officers and men, run off on the first -appearance of danger[606].’ - - [604] ‘The general sentiment of the army appears to be contempt - for the Junta and the present form of government, great - confidence in Cuesta, and a belief that he is too powerful for - the Junta, and will overturn that government. This sentiment - appears to be so general that I conceive that the Duke of - Albuquerque must entertain it equally with others: but I have not - seen him.’ Wellesley to Frere from Plasencia, July 13. - - [605] Wellesley to Castlereagh, Talavera, Aug. 1. - - [606] Wellesley to his brother the Marquis Wellesley, Deleytosa, - Aug. 8. - -The British Commander-in-chief had indeed many moral and mental -experiences to go through between the interview at Mirabete on July -10, and the retreat from Talavera on August 2! - - - - -SECTION XVI: CHAPTER IV - -THE MARCH TO TALAVERA: QUARREL OF WELLESLEY AND CUESTA - - -Having returned to his army on July 12, Wellesley gave orders for -the whole force to get ready for a general advance on the morning of -the eighteenth, the day which had been chosen for the commencement -of operations at the conference of Almaraz. It would have been in -every way desirable to have moved out at once, and not to have waited -for these six days. If the march against Victor had been fixed for -the thirteenth or fourteenth, the French would have been caught -unprepared, for as late as the seventeenth King Joseph and his -adviser Jourdan were under the impression that the force at Plasencia -consisted of nothing more than a Portuguese division of 10,000 men, -and it was only on the twenty-second that they received the definite -information that the whole British army was upon the Tietar[607]. -It is clear that, by advancing five days earlier than he actually -did, Wellesley might have caught the enemy in a state of complete -dispersion--the 4th Corps being on July 20 still at Madridejos in La -Mancha, and the King with his reserves at Madrid. If attacked on the -seventeenth or the eighteenth, as he might well have been, Victor -would have found it impossible to call up Sebastiani in time, and -must have fallen back in haste to the capital. The allies could then -have cut him off from the 4th Corps, which must have retreated by a -circuitous route, and could not have rejoined the main body of the -French army in time for a battle in front of Madrid. - - [607] See Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, and his letter to Soult of July - 17, in which no sign whatever appears of the knowledge of the - advance of the British from Portugal. - -It would appear that Wellesley had fixed the date of his advance -so late as the eighteenth mainly because of the difficulty as to -the collection of provisions, which was now looming before him in -larger proportions than ever. But it is possible that the necessity -for allowing some days for the transmission of the plan of campaign -to Venegas also counted for something in the drawing up of the -time-table. It would have been rash to start before the army of La -Mancha was prepared to take its part in the joint plan of operations. -So much depended upon the diversion which Venegas was to execute, -that it would have been a mistake to move before he could break -up from his distant cantonments at Santa Cruz de Mudela. No word, -however, concerning this appears in Wellesley’s correspondence. From -July 13 to July 18 his dispatches show anxiety about nothing save his -food and his transport. Every day that he stayed at Plasencia made -him feel more uncomfortable concerning the all-important question -of supplies. The corn which the Alcaldes of the Vera had promised -to secure for him had begun to come in, though in driblets and -small consignments, but there was no means of getting it forward: -transport was absolutely unprocurable[608]. Wellesley sent officers -to scour the country-side as far as Bejar and Ciudad Rodrigo, but -they could procure him neither mules nor carts. He also pressed -the Spanish commissary-general, Lozano de Torres, to hunt up every -animal that could be procured, but to small effect. The fact was -that Estremadura was not at any time rich in beasts or vehicles, and -that the peasantry had sent away most of those they owned while the -French lay at Almaraz, lest they should be carried off by the enemy. -Wellesley, who did not understand the limited resources of this part -of Spain, was inclined to believe that the authorities were hostile -or even treacherous. The Central Junta had promised him transport in -order to make sure of his starting on the campaign along the Tagus, -and when transport failed to appear, he attributed it to ill-will -rather than to poverty. No doubt he was fully justified in his view -that an army operating in a friendly country may rationally expect -to draw both food and the means to carry it from the regions through -which it is passing. But sometimes the provisions or the transport -are not forthcoming merely because the one or the other is not to -be found. It is certain that both Estremadura and the valley of the -central Tagus were at this moment harried absolutely bare: Victor’s -despairing letters from Caceres in May and from La Calzada in June -are sufficient proof of the fact. In a district where the Marshal -said that ‘he could not collect five days’ provisions by any manner -of exertion,’ and that ‘his men were dropping down dead from actual -starvation, so that he must retire or see his whole corps crumble -away[609],’ it is clear that the Central Junta could not have created -food for the British army. Cuesta’s troops were living from hand to -mouth on supplies sent forward from Andalusia, or they could not -have continued to exist in the land. The only district which was -intact was that between Coria and Plasencia, and this was actually -at the moment feeding the British army, and had done so now for ten -days or more. But unfortunately the Vera could give corn but no -draught animals. If Wellesley had known this, he must either have -exerted himself to procure more transport before leaving Abrantes--a -difficult task, for he had already drained Portugal of carts and -mules--or have refused to march till the Spaniards sent him wagon -trains from Andalusia. It would have taken months for the Junta to -collect and send forward such trains: they had dispatched all that -they could procure to Cuesta. The campaign on the Tagus, in short, -would never have been fought if Wellesley had understood the state of -affairs that he was to encounter. - - [608] That food was coming in, but no transport, is clearly - proved by Wellesley’s letter to the Junta of Plasencia on July - 18: ‘Upon entering Spain I expected to derive that assistance - in provisions and other means [i.e. transport] which an army - invariably receives from the country in which it is stationed, - more particularly when it has been sent to aid the people of - that country. _I have not been disappointed in the expectation - that I had formed of receiving supplies of provisions, and I am - much obliged to the Junta for the pains they have taken._ I am - convinced that they did everything in their power to procure us - the other means we required [transport], although I am sorry to - say that we have not received them.’ - - [609] See pp. 443 and 459. - -The causes, therefore, of the deadlock that was about to occur -were partly the light-hearted incompetence of the Central Junta in -promising the British army the use of resources which did not exist, -partly Wellesley’s natural ignorance of the miserable state of -Central Spain. He had never entered the country before, and could -not know of its poverty. He had trusted to the usual military theory -that the country-side ought to provide for a friendly army on the -march: but in Spain all military theories failed to act. Napoleon -committed precisely similar errors, when he directed his army corps -to move about in Castile as if they were in Germany or Lombardy, and -found exactly the same hindrances as did the British general. In -later years Wellesley never moved without a heavy train, and a vast -provision of sumpter-beasts and camp-followers. In July 1809 he had -still to learn the art of conducting a Spanish campaign. - -Meanwhile he was beginning to feel most uncomfortable about the -question of provisions. His anxiety is shown by his letters to -Frere and Beresford; ‘it is impossible,’ he wrote, ‘to express the -inconvenience and risk that we incur from the want of means of -conveyance, which I cannot believe the country could not furnish, -_if there existed any inclination to furnish them_. The officers -complain, and I believe not without reason, that the country gives -unwillingly the supplies of provisions that we have required ... -and we have not procured a cart or a mule for the service of -the army[610].’ But to O’Donoju, the chief of the staff of the -Estremaduran army, he wrote in even more drastic terms, employing -phrases that were certain to provoke resentment. He had, he said, -scoured the whole region as far as Ciudad Rodrigo for transport, and -to no effect. ‘If the people of Spain are unable or unwilling to -supply what the army requires, I am afraid that they must do without -its services.’ He had been forced to come to a painful decision, and -‘in order to be fair and candid to General Cuesta’ he must proceed -to inform him that he would execute the plan for falling upon Victor -behind the Alberche, but that when this had been done he would -stir no step further, and ‘begin no new operation till he had been -supplied with the means of transport which the army requires[611].’ - - [610] Wellesley to Frere, Plasencia, July 16. - - [611] Wellesley to O’Donoju, Plasencia, July 16. - -After dispatching this ultimatum, whose terms and tone leave -something to be desired--for surely Cuesta was the last person to be -saddled with the responsibility for the pledges made by his enemies -of the Central Junta--Wellesley issued orders for the army to march. -He had been joined at Plasencia by the last of the regiments from -Lisbon, which reached him in time for Talavera[612], but had been -forced to leave 400 sick behind him, for the army was still in a -bad condition as regards health. It was therefore with little over -21,000 men that he began his advance to the Alberche. It was executed -with punctual observance of the dates that had been settled at the -interview at Almaraz. On July 18 the army crossed the Tietar on a -flying bridge built at Bazagona, and lay at Miajadas. On the next -night the head quarters were at Centinello; on the twentieth the -British entered Oropesa. Here Cuesta joined them with his whole army, -save the two battalions lent to Wilson, and the two others under -the Marquis Del Reino which had been sent to the Puerto de Baños. -Deducting these 2,600 bayonets and his sick, he brought over 6,000 -horse and 27,000 foot to the rendezvous. The junction having taken -place on the twenty-first, the advance to Talavera was to begin next -morning. Oropesa lies only nineteen miles from that town, and as -Victor’s cavalry vedettes were in sight, it was clear that contact -with the enemy would be established during the course of the day. -Accordingly the allied armies marched with caution, the Spaniards -along the high-road, the British following a parallel path on the -left, across the slopes of the hills which divide the valley of the -Tietar from that of the Tagus. - - [612] The 1/61st Foot and 23rd Light Dragoons. - -About midday the Spaniards fell in with the whole of the cavalry -division of Latour-Maubourg, which Victor had thrown out as a -screen in front of Talavera. He had ascertained on the evening of -the preceding day that Cuesta was about to move forward, and was -anxious to compel him to display his entire force. Above all he -desired to ascertain whether the rumours concerning the presence of -British troops in his front were correct. Accordingly he had left -two battalions of infantry in the town of Talavera, and thrown out -the six regiments of dragoons in front of it, near the village of -Gamonal. The Spaniards were advancing with Albuquerque’s cavalry -division as an advanced guard. But seeing Latour-Maubourg in his -front the Duke refused to attack, and sent back for infantry and -guns. Cuesta pushed forward the division of Zayas to support him, but -even when it arrived the Spaniards made no headway. They continued -skirmishing for four hours[613] till the British light cavalry began -to appear on their left. ‘Though much more numerous than the enemy,’ -wrote an eye-witness, ‘they made no attempt to drive him in, but -contented themselves with deploying into several long lines, making a -very formidable appearance. We had expected to see them closely and -successfully engaged, having heard that they were peculiarly adapted -for petty warfare, but we found them utterly incapable of coping -with the enemy’s _tirailleurs_, who were driving them almost into a -circle.’ - - [613] ‘And,’ adds Lord Munster, from whom this quotation is taken - (p. 199), ‘it is my belief that they would have continued _till - now_ if we had not aided them.’ - -On the appearance, however, of Anson’s cavalry upon their flank the -French went hastily to the rear, skirted the suburbs of Talavera, and -rode off along the great Madrid _chaussée_ to the east, followed by -the British light dragoons. As they passed the town two small columns -of infantry came out of it and followed in their rear. Albuquerque -sent one of his regiments against them, but could not get his men to -charge home. On three separate occasions they came on, but, after -receiving the fire of the French, pulled up and fell into confusion. -The impression made by the Spanish cavalry on the numerous British -observers was very bad. ‘No men could have more carefully avoided -coming to close quarters than did the Spaniards this day[614],’ wrote -one eye-witness. ‘They showed a total lack not only of discipline but -of resolution[615],’ observes another. - - [614] Londonderry, i. 392. - - [615] Lord Munster, p. 200. - -After crossing the plain to the north of Talavera the French, both -cavalry and infantry, forded the Alberche and halted on the further -bank. On arriving at the line of underwood which masks the river the -pursuers found the whole of Victor’s corps in position. The thickets -on the further side were swarming with _tirailleurs_, and two -batteries opened on Anson’s brigade as it drew near to the water, and -sent balls whizzing among Wellesley’s staff when he pushed forward to -reconnoitre the position. - -It was soon seen that Victor had selected very favourable -fighting-ground: indeed he had been staying at Talavera long enough -to enable him to get a perfect knowledge of the military features of -the neighbourhood. The 1st Corps was drawn up on a range of heights, -about 800 yards behind the Alberche, with its left resting on the -impassable Tagus, and its right on a wooded hill, behind which the -smaller river makes a sharp turn to the east, so as to cover that -flank. The position was formidable, but rather too long for the -22,000 men who formed the French army. Having learnt from the people -of Talavera that the enemy had received no reinforcements up to that -morning, from Madrid or any other quarter, Wellesley was anxious to -close with them at once. The afternoon was too far spent for any -attempt to force the passage on the twenty-second, but on the next -day (July 23) the British general hoped to fight. The Alberche was -crossed by a wooden bridge which the enemy had not destroyed, and was -fordable in many places: there seemed to be no reason why the lines -behind it might not be forced by a resolute attack delivered with -numbers which were as two to one to those of the French. - -Accordingly Wellesley left the 3rd division and Anson’s light horse -in front of the right wing of Victor’s position, and encamped the -rest of his army some miles to the rear, in the plain between -Talavera and the Alberche. In the same way Albuquerque and Zayas -halted for the night opposite the bridge on the French left, while -the main body of the Spaniards occupied the town in their rear. In -the evening hours Wellesley endeavoured to urge upon Cuesta the -necessity for delivering an attack at dawn: he undertook to force -the northern fords and to turn the enemy’s right, if his colleague -would attack the southern fords and the bridge. The Captain-General -‘received the suggestion with dry civility,’ and asked for time to -think it over. After a conference with his subordinates, he at last -sent word at midnight that he would accept the proposed plan of -operations. - -At 3 o’clock therefore on the morning of the twenty-third, Wellesley -brought down Sherbrooke’s and Mackenzie’s divisions to the ground -opposite the fords, and waited for the arrival of the Spanish columns -on his right. They did not appear, and after long waiting the -British general rode to seek his colleague. He found him opposite -the bridge of the Alberche, ‘seated on the cushions taken out of -his carriage, for he had driven to the outposts in a coach drawn by -nine mules, the picture of mental and physical inability.’ The old -man murmured that the enemy’s position had not been sufficiently -reconnoitred, that it would take time to get his army drawn out -opposite the points which it was to attack, that he was not sure -of the fords, that the bridge over which his right-hand column -would have to advance looked too weak to bear artillery, and many -other things to the same effect--finally urging that the forcing -of the Alberche must be put off to the next day. As he had not got -his troops into battle order, it was clear that the morning would -be wasted, but Wellesley tried to bargain for an attack in the -afternoon. The Captain-General asked for more time, and would listen -to no arguments in favour of fighting on that day. After a heated -discussion Wellesley had to yield: he could not venture to assail the -French with his own army alone, and without any assistance from the -Spaniards. Accordingly it was agreed that the advance should not be -made till the dawn of the twenty-fourth. - -In the afternoon the pickets sent back information that Victor seemed -to be on the move, and that his line was growing thin. Cuesta was -then persuaded to go forward to the outposts; he was hoisted on to -his horse by two grenadiers, while an aide-de-camp stood on the other -side to conduct his right leg over the croup and place it in the -stirrup. Then, hunched up on his saddle, he rode down to the river, -observed that the greater part of the enemy were still in position, -and refused to attack till next morning. - -At dawn, therefore, on the twenty-fourth the allied army moved -forward to the Alberche in three columns, and found, as might have -been expected, that the French had disappeared. On seeing the masses -of redcoats opposite his right upon the previous day, Victor had -realized at last that he had before him the whole British army. He -had sent his train to the rear in the afternoon, and drawn off his -entire force after dusk. By dawn he was more than ten miles away, on -the road to Santa Ollala and Madrid. It was useless to pursue him -with any hope of forcing him to a battle. The chance of crushing him -before he should receive any further reinforcements had disappeared. -It is not at all to his credit as a general that he had held his -ground so long; if he had been attacked on the twenty-third, as -Wellesley had desired, he must certainly have suffered a disaster. -He had but 22,000 men; and it is clear that, while the Spaniards -were attacking his left and centre, he could not have set aside men -enough to hold back the assault of the solid mass of 20,000 British -troops upon his right. He should have vanished on the twenty-second, -the moment that Latour-Maubourg reported that Wellesley’s army was in -the field. By staying for another day on the Alberche he risked the -direst disaster. - -The British general would have been more than human if he had not -manifested his anger and disgust at the way in which his colleague -had flinched from the agreement to attack, and sacrificed the -certainty of victory. He showed his resentment by acting up to the -terms of his letter written from Plasencia five days before, i.e. by -announcing to Cuesta that, having carried out his pledge to drive -the French from behind the Alberche, he should now refuse to move -forward, unless he were furnished with transport sufficient to make -it certain that the army could reach Madrid without any privations. -He was able to state with perfect truth that he had already been -forced to place his troops on half-rations that very morning: to -the 10,000 men of Sherbrooke’s and Mackenzie’s divisions and of -Anson’s light cavalry, he had only been able to issue 5,000 rations -of bread[616]. Nothing, of course, could be found at Talavera, where -the French had been quartered for many days. Victor had only been -maintaining his troops by the aid of biscuit sent down from Madrid, -and by seizing and threshing for himself the small amount of corn -which had been sown in the neighbourhood that spring. Wellesley was -wrong in supposing that the 1st Corps had been supporting itself -with ease from the country-side[617]. He was equally at fault when -he asserted that the ‘Spanish army has plenty to eat.’ Cuesta was at -this moment complaining to the Junta that he was short of provisions, -and that the food which he had brought forward from the Guadiana was -almost exhausted. Meanwhile every exertion was being made to collect -flour and transport from the rear: Wellesley wrote to O’Donoju that -he had at last hopes of securing some wagons from the Plasencia -district within three days, and that ‘in the meantime he might get -something to eat.’ He had some days before sent orders back even so -far as Abrantes, to order up 200 Portuguese carts which had been -collected there, and the Central Junta had informed him that a train -for his use had already started from Andalusia. But ‘there was no -very early prospect of relieving the present distress[618].’ - - [616] Wellesley to Sherbrooke, Talavera, July 24. - - [617] Wellesley to Castlereagh, July 24. - - [618] Wellesley to Beresford, from Plasencia, July 14. - -Cuesta was, as might have been expected, as angry with Wellesley for -refusing to move forward from Talavera, as Wellesley was with Cuesta -for missing the great opportunity of July 23. When informed that the -British army was not about to advance any further, he announced that -he for his part should go on, that Victor was in full flight, and -that he would pursue him to Madrid. ‘In that case’ dryly observed -Wellesley, ‘Cuesta will get himself into a scrape; but any movement -by me to his assistance is quite out of the question. If the enemy -discover that we are not with him, he will be beaten, or must return. -The enemy will make this discovery to-day, if he should risk any -attempt upon their rearguard at Santa Ollala[619].’ In reply to the -Captain-General’s declaration that he should press Victor hard, his -colleague only warned him that he would be wiser ‘to secure the -course of the Tagus and open communication with Venegas, while the -measures should be taken to supply the British army with means of -transport[620].’ The Spaniard would not listen to any such advice, -and hurried forward; though he had been for many weeks refusing to -fight the 1st Corps when it lay in Estremadura, he was now determined -to risk a second Medellin. Apparently he was obsessed by the idea -that Victor was in full retreat for Madrid, and would not make a -serious stand. Underlying his sudden energy there was also some -idea that he would disconcert his masters of the Central Junta by -recovering the capital: he had discovered, it would seem, that -the Junta had sent secret orders to Venegas, directing him to take -charge of the city on its reconquest, and giving him authority to -nominate the civil and military officers for its administration. If -the Army of Estremadura seized Madrid, while the Army of La Mancha -was still lingering on the way thither, all these plans would be -frustrated[621]. - - [619] Wellesley to Frere, Talavera, July 25. - - [620] Ibid.; and also Wellesley to O’Donoju, July 25. - - [621] Cf. Arteche, vi. 358, with Wellesley’s remarks on the - inexplicable eagerness of Cuesta to be in Madrid on an early day. - -Accordingly Cuesta pushed on very boldly on the afternoon of the -twenty-fourth, dividing his army into two columns, of which one -marched on Santa Ollala by the high-road to the capital, while the -other moved by Cevolla and Torrijos on the side-road to Toledo. He -was uncertain whether Victor had retired by one or by both of these -routes: if all his corps had taken the former path, the natural -deduction was that he was thinking only of Madrid: if the Toledo -road had also been used, there was reason for concluding that the -Marshal must be intending to join Sebastiani and the 4th Corps, who -might be looked for in that direction. Late in the day the Spanish -general ascertained that the main body of Victor’s army had taken the -latter route: he proceeded to follow it, placing his head quarters -that night at Torrijos, only fifteen miles from Toledo. Next morning -he learnt to his surprise and dismay that he had in front of him not -only the 1st Corps, but also Sebastiani and the King’s reserves from -Madrid: for just at this moment the whole French force in New Castile -had been successfully concentrated, and nearly 50,000 men were -gathered in front of the 33,000 troops of the Army of Estremadura. -Venegas’s diversion had utterly failed to draw off the 4th Corps -to the East; the King had come down in haste from Madrid, and thus -the whole plan of campaign which the allied generals had drawn up -had been foiled--partly by the sloth of Venegas, partly by Cuesta’s -inexplicable and perverse refusal to fight on July 23 upon the line -of the Alberche. - - - - -SECTION XVI: CHAPTER V - -CONCENTRATION OF THE FRENCH ARMIES: THE KING TAKES THE OFFENSIVE: -COMBATS OF TORRIJOS AND CASA DE SALINAS - - -It is now necessary to turn to the French camp, in order to realize -the course of events which had led to the concentration of such a -formidable force in the environs of Toledo. Down to the twenty-second -of July Joseph and his adviser Jourdan had remained in complete -ignorance of the advance of Wellesley upon Plasencia, and seem to -have been perfectly free from any apprehension that Madrid was in -danger. Since their return from their fruitless pursuit of the -army of La Mancha, they had been spending most of their energy in -a controversy with Soult. The Duke of Dalmatia, not content with -the command of the three army corps which Napoleon had put at his -disposal, had been penning elaborate dispatches to the King to demand -that the greater part of the remaining French troops in Spain should -be used to co-operate in his projected campaign against the English -in Portugal. He wrote on July 13 to urge on Joseph the necessity (1) -of drawing large detachments from the armies of Aragon and Catalonia, -in order to form a corps of observation in the kingdom of Leon to -support his own rear; (2) of placing another strong detachment at -Plasencia to cover his flank; (3) of transferring every regiment that -could be spared from Madrid and New Castile to Salvatierra on the -Tormes, just south of Salamanca, in order to form a reserve close in -his rear, which he might call up, if necessary, to strengthen the -60,000 men whom he already had in hand. He also demanded that Joseph -should send him at once 200,000 francs to spend on the fortification -of Zamora, Toro, and other places on the Douro, as also 500,000 -francs more for the present expenses of the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Corps. -If this were granted him, together with 2,000,000 rations of flour, -and a battering-train of at least forty-eight heavy guns for the -sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, he thought that he should be -in a position to deliver a serious attack on Northern Portugal, and -ultimately to drive the British army into the sea[622]. - - [622] Soult to Joseph, July 13. Compare with this Jourdan to - Soult of July 17, the reply to these modest demands. - -On the day upon which the Duke of Dalmatia made these comprehensive -demands upon King Joseph, the British army had been for ten days in -Spain, and was preparing to advance from Plasencia on Madrid. It was -therefore an exquisitely inappropriate moment at which to demand -that the greater part of the King’s central reserve should be sent -off from the capital to the neighbourhood of Salamanca. There were -other parts of Soult’s lists of requisitions which were equally -impracticable. It is clear that Suchet could not have spared a man -from Aragon, and that St. Cyr, with the siege of Gerona on his hands, -would have found it absolutely impossible to make large detachments -from Catalonia. Even if he and Suchet had been able to send off -troops to Leon, they would have taken months to reach the Galician -frontier. The demand for 700,000 francs in hard cash was also most -unpalatable: King Joseph was at this moment in the direst straits -for money: his brother could send him nothing while the Austrian war -was in progress, and as he was not in proper military possession of -any large district of Spain, he was at this moment in a condition of -hopeless bankruptcy. He confessed to Soult that he was living from -hand to mouth, by the pitiful expedient of melting down and coining -the silver plate in the royal palace at Madrid. - -Jourdan therefore replied, in the King’s behalf, to Soult that he -must do his best with the 60,000 men already at his disposition, -that no troops from Catalonia, Aragon, or Madrid could be spared, -and that money could not be found. All that could be given was the -battering-train that had been demanded, 600,000 rations of biscuit, -and an authorization to raise forced contributions in Old Castile. -For the protection of his flanks and his communications the Marshal -must utilize Kellermann’s dragoons and the other unattached troops in -the valley of the Douro, a force which if raised to 12,000 men by -detachments from the 5th or 6th Corps could keep La Romana and the -Galicians in check[623]. - - [623] Jourdan to Soult, July 17, 1809, from Madrid. - -It is curious to note how entirely ignorant both Soult and the King -were as to the real dangers of the moment. Soult had drawn up, and -Joseph acceded to[624], a plan for the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, -and an invasion of Northern Portugal--operations which would take -long weeks of preparation--at the time when Madrid was in imminent -danger from the combined armies of Wellesley, Cuesta, and Venegas. -The Marshal’s plan was perfectly correct from the point of view of -the higher strategy--the main objective of the French was certainly -the British army, and it would have been highly advisable to invade -Northern Portugal with 60,000 men in the front line, and 40,000 -in support, if the circumstances of the moment had permitted it. -But these circumstances were hidden alike from Soult and the King, -owing to the impossibility of obtaining accurate information of -the movements of the allies. The fundamental difficulty of all -French operations in the Peninsula was that the commanders could -never discover the whereabouts of the enemy till he actually came -in contact with their outposts. Hence it chanced that Soult was -planning, and Joseph approving, a campaign on the borders of Northern -Portugal, at the precise moment when the British were on the march -for Talavera. - - [624] ‘Le roi pense, comme vous, qu’il est important de s’emparer - de Ciudad Rodrigo; cette place servira de place d’armes aux - troupes qui seront dans le cas d’entrer en Portugal.’--Ibid. - -It was actually not until July 22 that the King’s eyes were at last -unsealed. Victor having come into collision with the cavalry of -Wellesley’s advanced guard, sent news to Madrid that the British army -had joined Cuesta, and had reached the Alberche. On the same day, -by a fortunate chance, there also arrived in the capital another -emissary of Soult, with a message much less impracticable than that -which had last been sent. This was General Foy, whom the Duke of -Dalmatia had dispatched on July 19, after receiving very definite -rumours that the British were moving in the valley of the Tagus, -and not approaching Old Castile[625]. The Marshal sent word that -in this case he must of course concert a common plan of operations -with the King, and abandon any immediate action against Portugal. He -suggested that his best plan would be to concentrate his three corps -at Salamanca, and to march against the flank and rear of the English -by way of Bejar and the Puerto de Baños. If the King could cover -Madrid for a time with the 1st and 4th Corps, he would undertake to -present himself in force upon Wellesley’s line of communications, a -move which must infallibly stop the advance of the allies towards the -capital. If they hesitated a moment after his arrival at Plasencia, -they would be caught between two fires, and might be not merely -checked but surrounded and destroyed. Soult added, however, that he -could not move till the 2nd Corps had received the long-promised -provision of artillery which was on its way from Madrid, and till he -had rallied Ney’s troops, who were still at Astorga, close to the -foot of the Galician mountains. - - [625] Compare Le Noble’s account of Soult’s proposals (pp. 312-3) - with Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, and with the _Vie Militaire du Général - Foy_, p. 83. - -Napoleon, at a later date, criticized this plan severely, declaring -that Soult ought to have marched on Madrid to join the King, and -not on Plasencia. He grounded his objections to the scheme on the -strategical principle that combined operations on external lines -should be avoided. ‘The march of Marshal Soult,’ he wrote, ‘was -both dangerous and useless--dangerous, because the other army might -be beaten (as happened at Talavera) before he could succour it, so -that the safety of all my armies in Spain was compromised: useless, -because the English had nothing to fear; they could get behind the -Tagus in three hours; and whether they crossed at Talavera or at -Almaraz, or anywhere else, they could secure a safe line of retreat -on Badajoz.’ Against this criticism the defence made by both Soult -and King Joseph was that it would have required a much longer time -to bring the three corps from the Douro to Madrid than to Plasencia; -that it would have taken them at least ten days to reach Madrid, and -that during those days the King and his army might have been beaten -and driven out of the capital by the united forces of Wellesley, -Cuesta, and Venegas. It was, of course, impossible to foresee on -July 22 that Wellesley would refuse to pursue Victor beyond Talavera, -or that Venegas would let Sebastiani slip away from him. Accordingly -King Joseph and Jourdan fell in with Soult’s suggestion, because -they thought that he would come sooner into the field if he marched -on Plasencia, and would remove the pressure of the British army from -them at a comparatively early date. As a matter of fact, he took a -much longer time to reach Plasencia than they had expected: they had -hoped that he might be there on July 27, while his vanguard only -reached the place on August 1, and his main body on the second and -third[626]. But it seems clear that the expectation that he would -intervene on the earlier date was far too sanguine. Soult dared not -move till his three corps were well closed up, and since Ney had to -come all the way from Astorga, it would have been impossible in any -case to mass the army at Plasencia much earlier than was actually -done. Napoleon’s remark that Soult could not hope to catch or -surround the British army seems more convincing than his criticism -of the march on Plasencia. If the passes of the Sierra de Gata had -been properly held, and prompt news had been transmitted to Talavera -that the French were on the move from the valley of the Douro, -Wellesley would have had ample time to cover himself, by crossing -the Tagus and transferring his army to the line of operations, -Truxillo-Badajoz. The British general always defended himself by this -plea: and complained that those who spoke of him as being ‘cut off -from Portugal,’ by the arrival of Soult at Plasencia, forgot that he -had as good a base at Elvas and Badajoz as at Abrantes. - - [626] For the controversy about the expected date of Soult’s - arrival at Plasencia, see Joseph’s and Jourdan’s letter to - Napoleon, in Ducasse’s _Mémoires du Roi Joseph_, and on the other - side Le Noble’s _Campagne de 1809_. - -But we must not look too far forward into the later stages of the -campaign. It is enough to say that Jourdan and Joseph sent back -Foy to rejoin Soult, on the same day that he had reached Madrid, -bearing the orders that the Marshal was to collect his three corps -with the greatest possible haste, and to march by Salamanca on -Plasencia, where they trusted that he might present himself on the -twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth of the current month. Meanwhile it -was necessary to hold back Cuesta and Wellesley till the Duke of -Dalmatia’s operations in their rear began to produce their effect. -The only possible way of doing this was to concentrate in all haste -every available man in New Castile, and to cover Madrid as long -as possible. This massing of the French forces turned out to be -perfectly feasible, since Venegas had neglected to press in upon -Sebastiani, so that it was possible to withdraw the whole 4th Corps -from in front of him, and to send it to reinforce Victor, without -any immediate danger. Accordingly, the 1st Corps was directed to -fall back from its perilous advanced position on the Alberche, and -to draw near to Toledo: Sebastiani was told to abandon Madridejos -and La Mancha, and to hasten by forced marches toward the same -point: while the King himself resolved to leave Madrid with the -slenderest of garrisons, and to carry the rest of the central reserve -to the general rendezvous. Accordingly, he left only one brigade -of Dessolles’ division, with a few of his untrustworthy Spanish -levies, to hold the capital: the total did not amount to much over -4,000 men, and General Belliard, the governor of the city, was -warned that he must be prepared to retreat into the Retiro forts, -with his troops and the whole body of the _Afrancesados_ and their -families, if anything untoward should occur. For it was possible -that an insurrection might break out, or that Venegas might succeed -in slipping into Madrid by the roads from the east, or again, that -Wilson (whose column had been heard of at Escalona and was believed -to be much larger than was actually the case), might attempt a _coup -de main_ from the west. Leaving Belliard in this dangerous and -responsible position, the King marched out upon the twenty-third -with the remaining brigade of Dessolles’s division, the infantry and -cavalry of his French Guard, two squadrons of chasseurs and fourteen -guns, a force of some 5,800 men[627]. He had reached Navalcarnero, -with the intention of joining Victor on the Alberche, when he -received the news that the Marshal had retired towards Toledo, and -was lying at Bargas behind the Guadarrama river. Here Joseph joined -him on the morning of July 25. - - [627] The whole consisted of: - - Infantry of the Guard 1,800 - _Chevaux-Légers_ of the Guard 250 - Godinot’s Brigade of Dessolles’s Division 3,350 - 27th Chasseurs (two squadrons) 250 - Artillery (two batteries) 200 - ----- - Total 5,850 - - -On their concentration a force of 46,000 men was collected, Victor -having brought up 23,000, the King 5,800, and Sebastiani 17,500. The -latter had placed four of the six Polish battalions of Valence’s -division in Toledo, and was therefore short by 3,000 bayonets of -the total force of his corps. With such a mass of good troops at -their disposition, Joseph, Jourdan, and Victor were all agreed that -it was right to fall upon the Spaniards without delay. They were -astonished to find that the British army was not in their front, but -only Cuesta’s troops. They had expected to see the whole allied host -before them, and were overjoyed to discover that the Estremadurans -alone had pushed forward to Torrijos and Santa Ollala. Instead, -therefore, of being obliged to fight a defensive battle behind the -river Guadarrama, it was in their power to take the offensive. - -This was done without delay: on the morning of July 26 the French -army advanced on Torrijos, with the 1st Corps at the head of the -column. But Cuesta, when once he had discovered the strength of the -force in his front, had resolved to retreat. Victor found opposed -to him only the division of Zayas and two cavalry regiments, which -had been told off to cover the withdrawal of the Estremaduran army. -The Marshal sent out against this rearguard the chasseurs of Merlin -and the dragoons of Latour-Maubourg, who drove in the Spanish horse, -almost exterminating the unfortunate regiment of Villaviciosa, which, -in retiring, chanced to blunder against the high stone walls of some -enclosures from which exit was difficult[628]. Zayas then went to -the rear, and retired towards the cavalry division of Albuquerque, -which Cuesta hastily sent to his assistance. The French cavalry -took some time to re-form for a second attack, and their infantry -was still far off. The Spanish rearguard therefore, covered by -Albuquerque’s horse, had time enough to fall back on the main body, -which was already in full retreat. Their cavalry then followed, and -being not very strenuously pursued by Merlin and Latour-Maubourg, got -off in safety. The whole army, marching at the best of its speed, -and in considerable disorder, finally reached the Alberche without -being caught up by the enemy. Cuesta found the British divisions of -Sherbrooke and Mackenzie guarding the river: Wellesley had sent them -forward when he heard of the approach of the French, and had placed -the former on the hills above the further side of the bridge, to -cover the passage, and the latter in reserve. He rode out himself to -meet the Spanish general, and begged him to carry his army beyond -the Alberche, as it would be extremely dangerous to be caught with -such an obstacle behind him, and no means of retreat save a long -bridge and three fords. But Cuesta tempted providence by declaring -that he should encamp on the further bank, as his troops were too -exhausted to risk the long defile across the bridge after dark. His -sullen anger against Wellesley for refusing to follow him on the -twenty-fourth was still smouldering in his breast, and the English -were convinced that he remained on the wrong side of the river out -of pure perversity, merely because his colleague pressed him to put -himself in safety. He consented, however, to retreat next morning to -the position which Wellesley had selected in front of Talavera. - - [628] ‘The cavalry regiment of Villaviciosa, drawn up in an - enclosure with but one exit, was penned in by the enemy and cut - to pieces without a possibility of escape. A British officer - of engineers, present with them, saved himself by his English - horse taking at a leap the barrier which the Spanish horses were - incapable of clearing.’ Lord Munster, p. 208. - -The French made no appearance that night, though they might well have -done so, and the Spanish army, bivouacing confusedly in the narrow -slip of flat ground between the heights and the Alberche, enjoyed -undisturbed rest during the hours of darkness. It is impossible not -to marvel at the slackness with which Victor conducted the pursuit: -he had twelve regiments of splendid cavalry to the front[629], and -could undoubtedly have pressed the Estremadurans hard if he had -chosen to do so. Cuesta’s retreating columns were in such a state of -confusion and disorder that a vigorous assault on their rear might -have caused a general _débandade_. But after driving in Zayas in the -early morning, Victor moved very slowly, and did not even attempt -to roll up Albuquerque’s cavalry rearguard, though he could have -assailed it with very superior numbers. When taxed with sloth by -Marshal Jourdan, he merely defended himself by saying that the horses -were tired, and that the infantry was still too far to the rear to -make it right for him to begin a combat which might develop into a -general engagement. But it is hard to see that he would have risked -anything by pressing in upon Albuquerque, for if Cuesta had halted -his whole army in order to support his rearguard, there was nothing -to prevent the French cavalry from drawing off, and refusing to close -till the main body of the 1st Corps should come up. - - [629] He had six regiments of Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons, 3,200 - sabres, four regiments of Merlin’s Division, 1,007 sabres, two - regiments of Beaumont’s (corps-cavalry of 1st Corps) 980--a total - of over 5,000 men. - -Thanks to Victor’s slackness the Spaniards secured an unmolested -retreat across the Alberche on the following morning. It is said -that Cuesta, in sheer perversity and reluctance to listen to any -advice proffered him by Wellesley, delayed for some hours before -he would retreat, and that when at last he yielded to the pressing -solicitations of his colleague he remarked to his staff ‘that he had -made the Englishman go down on his knees’ before consenting. - -All through the morning hours of the twenty-seventh the Army of -Estremadura was pouring across the bridge and the fords, not in the -best order. They had almost all passed, when about noon the French -cavalry began to appear in their front. When the enemy at last began -to press forward in strength, Wellesley directed Sherbrooke’s and -Mackenzie’s divisions to prepare to evacuate their positions on the -eastern bank, which they did as soon as the last of the Spaniards had -got into safety. The first division passed at the bridge, the third -at the fords near the village of Cazalegas: then Sherbrooke marched -by the high-road towards Talavera, while Mackenzie, who had been told -off as the rearguard, remained with Anson’s light horse near the -ruined Casa de Salinas, a mile to the west of the Alberche. - -It may seem strange that Wellesley made no attempt to dispute the -passage of the river, but the ground was hopelessly indefensible. The -left bank (Victor’s old position of July 22) completely commands the -right, the one being high, the other both low and entirely destitute -of artillery positions. Moreover, a great part of the _terrain_ -was thickly strewn with woods and olive plantations, which made it -impossible to obtain any general view of the country-side. They -would have given splendid cover for an army advancing to storm the -heights on the French bank, but were anything but an advantage to -an army on the defensive. For, unable to hold the actual river bank -because of the commanding hills on the further side, such an army -would have been forced to form its line some way from the water, and -the tangled cover down by the brink of the stream would have given -the enemy every facility for pushing troops across, and for pressing -them into the midst of the defender’s position without exposing them -to his fire. Wellington had examined the line of the Alberche upon -the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth, and had pronounced it absolutely -untenable; ‘no position could be worse,’ he wrote to O’Donoju[630], -but he had discovered one of a very different kind a little to the -rear, and had already settled the way in which it was to be occupied. -It presented so many advantages that even Cuesta had consented to -accept it as a good fighting-ground, and the Estremaduran army was -at this very moment occupied in arraying itself along that part of -the line which had been allotted to it. Sherbrooke’s division was -retiring across the plain to fall into the section which Wellesley -had chosen for it, and Hill’s and Campbell’s troops were moving to -their designated ground. Only Mackenzie and the light cavalry had yet -to be established in their post. - - [630] Wellesley to O’Donoju, from Cazalegas, July 25. - -In the act of withdrawing, this division became involved in an -unfortunate combat, which bid fair for a moment to develop into a -disaster. Its two brigades had been halted close to the ruined house -called the Casa de Salinas, in ground covered partly with underwood -and partly with olive groves. The cavalry had been withdrawn to the -rear, as it was impossible to use it for vedettes in such a locality. -The infantry was supposed to have a chain of pickets thrown out in -its front, but it would appear that they must have been badly placed: -as one eye-witness confesses, ‘we were by no means such good soldiers -in those days as succeeding campaigns made us, and sufficient -precautions had not been taken to ascertain what was passing in the -wood[631],’ and between it and the ford below Cazalegas. French -cavalry alone had hitherto been seen, and from cavalry Mackenzie’s -troops were certainly safe in the tangled ground where they were now -lying. - - [631] Lord Munster, p. 210. - -But already Victor’s infantry had reached the front, and its leading -division, that of Lapisse, had forded the Alberche far to the north, -and had entered the woods without being observed by the outlying -pickets of Mackenzie’s left brigade[632]. It had even escaped the -notice of Wellesley himself, who had just mounted the roof of the -ruined Casa de Salinas, the only point in the neighbourhood from -which anything like a general view of the country-side could be -secured. While he was intent on watching the heights above the -Alberche in his front, and the cavalry vedettes descending from them, -the enemy’s infantry was stealing in upon his left. - - [632] Several eye-witnesses declare that Lapisse’s division - escaped notice owing to a curious chance. Before abandoning the - further bank of the Alberche, Mackenzie’s troops had set fire to - the huts which Victor’s corps had constructed on the Cazalegas - heights, during their long stay in that position. The smoke from - the burning was driven along the slopes and the river bottom - by the wind, and screened one of the fords from the British - observers in the woods; over this ford came Lapisse’s unsuspected - advance. - -Lapisse had promptly discovered the line of British outposts, and -had succeeded in drawing out his division in battle order before it -was observed. He had deployed one regiment, the 16th Léger, as a -front line, while the rest of his twelve battalions were coming on in -support. - -While, therefore, Wellesley was still unconscious that the enemy was -close upon him, a brisk fire of musketry broke out upon his left -front. It was the French advance driving in the pickets of Donkin’s -brigade. The division had barely time to stand to its arms--some -men are said to have been killed before they had risen from the -ground--and the Commander-in-chief had hardly descended from the -roof and mounted his charger, when the enemy was upon them. The -assault fell upon the whole front of Donkin’s brigade, and on the -left regiment (the 2/31st) of that of Mackenzie himself. So furious -and unexpected was it, that the 87th, 88th, and 31st were all broken, -and driven some way to the rear, losing about eighty prisoners. It -was fortunate that the French advance did not strike the whole line, -but only its left and centre. The 1/45th, which was just outside the -limit of Lapisse’s attack, stood firm, and on it Wellesley re-formed -the 31st, while, a little further to the north, the half-battalion of -the 5/60th also held its ground and served as a rallying-point for -the 87th and 88th. The steadiness of the 1/45th and 5/60th saved the -situation; covered by them the division retired from the woods and -formed up in the plain, where Anson’s light horsemen came to their -aid and guarded their flanks. The French still pressed furiously -forward, sending out two batteries of horse artillery to gall the -retreating columns, but they had done their worst, and during the -hours of the late afternoon Mackenzie’s infantry fell back slowly and -in order to the points of the position which had been assigned to -them. Donkin’s brigade took post in the second line behind the German -Legion, while Mackenzie’s own three regiments passed through the -Guards and formed up in their rear. Their total loss in the combat -of Casa de Salinas had been 440 men--the French casualties must have -been comparatively insignificant--probably not 100 in all[633]. - - [633] Unfortunately the French returns do not separate the losses - of the twenty-seventh from those of the twenty-eighth of July. - Only the 16th Léger can have suffered any appreciable damage. - -From the moment when the fray had begun in the woods till dusk, -the noise of battle never stopped, for on arriving in front of the -allied position, the French artillery drew up and commenced a hot, -but not very effective, fire against those of the troops who held the -most advanced stations. As the cannonade continued, the different -regiments were seen hurrying to their battle-posts, for, although the -arrangements had all been made, some brigades, not expecting a fight -till the morrow, had still to take up their allotted ground. - -‘The men, as they formed and faced the enemy, looked pale, but the -officers riding along their line, only two deep, on which all our -hopes depended, observed that they appeared not less tranquil than -determined. In the meanwhile the departing sun showed by his rays -the immense masses moving towards us, and the last glimmering of the -light proved their direction to be across our front, toward the left. -The darkness, only broken in upon by the bursting shells and the -flashes of the French guns, closed quickly upon us, and it was the -opinion of many that the enemy would rest till the morning[634].’ - - [634] Lord Munster, p. 212. - -Such, however, was not to be the case: there was to be hard fighting -in front of Talavera before the hour of midnight had arrived. - - - - -SECTION XVI: CHAPTER VI - -THE BATTLE OF TALAVERA: THE PRELIMINARY COMBATS - -(JULY 27-28) - - -The position which Wellesley had selected as offering far better -ground for a defensive battle than any which could be found on the -banks of the Alberche, extends for nearly three miles to the north -of the town of Talavera. It was not a very obvious line to take -up, since only at its northern end does it present any well marked -features. Two-thirds of the position lie in the plain, and are only -marked out by the stony bed of the Portiña, a brook almost dried up -in the summer, which runs from north to south and falls into the -Tagus at Talavera. In the northern part of its course this stream -flows at the bottom of a well-marked ravine, but as it descends -towards the town its bed grows broad and shallow, and ceases to be -of any tactical or topographical importance. Indeed, in this part of -the field the fighting-line of the allies lay across it, and their -extreme right wing was posted upon its further bank. - -The town of Talavera, a place of 10,000 souls, which had been a -flourishing industrial centre in the sixteenth century, but had long -sunk into decay, lies in a compact situation on the north bank of -the Tagus. It possesses a dilapidated bridge of forty-five arches, -the only passage across the river between Arzobispo and Toledo. Its -site is perfectly flat, save for a low knoll crowned by the chapel of -Nuestra Señora del Prado, just outside the eastern, or Madrid, gate, -and overlooking the _Alameda_ (public promenade) and the neighbouring -gardens. The place had no suburbs, but was surrounded by a broad -belt of olive groves and enclosures, which extend for a full mile to -the north and east, and hide the houses and walls from the traveller -approaching from either of those directions. When the allies entered -Talavera they found it deserted by most of its inhabitants, who had -fled up into the villages of the Sierra de Toledo during the French -occupation. Many, however, descended to reoccupy their homes when the -enemy departed. Victor’s men had plundered most of the houses, and -turned many of the churches into barracks or stables: hence the town -presented a picture of abject desolation[635]. - - [635] ‘The French troops during their stay had been guilty of - great excesses: a number of houses were completely destroyed, - and the furniture burnt for fuel. In every quarter were to be - seen marks of the devastation they had committed. The Cathedral, - a handsome modern building, was uninjured, the enemy having - contented himself with carrying off all the splendid ornaments - used in the ceremonies of religion. But in the church of San - Antonio the French had destroyed everything, and converted it - into a barrack,’ &c. Stothert’s _Narrative of the Campaigns of - 1809-11_, pp. 81-2. - -For a mile and a half beyond the northern wall of Talavera the -ground covered by gardens and olive groves is perfectly flat; it -then commences to rise, and swells up into a long hill, the Cerro de -Medellin. This height runs from east to west, so that its front, and -not the full length of its side, overhangs the Portiña ravine. Its -loftiest point and its steepest face are presented to that declivity, -while to the west and south it has gentle and easily accessible -slopes, sinking gradually down into the plain. This hill, the most -commanding ground in the neighbourhood of Talavera, had been chosen -by Wellesley as the position of his left wing. It formed, including -its lower slopes, about one-third of the line which he had determined -to occupy, the rest of the front lying in the low ground among the -olives and gardens. North of the Cerro de Medellin is a narrow -lateral valley, only half a mile broad, separating this hill from the -main chain of the Sierra de Segurilla, the mountains which form the -watershed between the basin of the Tagus and that of the Tietar. The -British general had intended at first that his position should extend -no further north than the hill, but in the course of the action he -was compelled to lengthen his front, and to post troops both in the -valley and on the mountain spurs beyond it. - -By the agreement made with Cuesta, at the conference near the bridge -of the Alberche on the evening of the twenty-sixth, it was settled -that the Spanish army should hold the town of Talavera and the -wooded and enclosed ground for a mile beyond it. The British had -their right among the olive groves, but their centre and left on -the open slopes of the Cerro de Medellin. This order of battle was -the only one which it was possible to adopt. Wellesley had already -discovered that the army of Estremadura could not manœuvre, and -would be much safer behind walls and enclosures than in the open, -and Cuesta had gladly accepted the proposal that he should occupy -this part of the position. Having only a little more than a mile of -front to defend, he was able to provide a double and triple line with -his 32,000 men[636]. His Vanguard and 1st division, under Zayas, -occupied the eastern outskirts of the town, with a battery placed -upon the knoll crowned by the chapel of Nuestra Señora del Prado. A -brigade of cavalry (four regiments) was deployed in the open ground -of the Prado, close to the bank of the Tagus. The 2nd division, that -of Iglesias, held Talavera, whose ancient walls, though imperfect in -many places, were still quite defensible. The 3rd and 4th divisions -(Manglano and Portago) were ranged in a double line among the gardens -and enclosures to the north of the town, as far as a low hillock -called the Pajar de Vergara, where they touched Wellesley’s left. -Behind them were the rest of Cuesta’s cavalry (ten regiments) and the -5th division (Bassecourt) forming the reserves. - - [636] The Spaniards had lost 1,000 men, mainly by dispersion, in - the retreat from Torrijos on the twenty-sixth. - -The Spanish position was immensely strong. The front was completely -screened by groves and enclosures occupied by skirmishers: the -first line was drawn up along the slightly sunken road leading from -Talavera to the north, which provided the men with an excellent -parapet and good cover[637]. The second line was equally well placed -behind the Portiña rivulet, which was bordered by trees along its -whole front. The only good artillery position was that outside the -Madrid gate, in front of Zayas’ division, but three other batteries -were planted in the least defective emplacements that could be found -in the front line. The rest of the Spanish guns were in reserve, in -line with Bassecourt and the cavalry. - - [637] Cf. Londonderry, i. 403; and Arteche, vi. 293. - -The northern half of the position had its strong points, but also -its defects. For the first half mile beyond the Spanish left it was -still covered by groves and gardens, and had on its right front the -little eminence of the Pajar de Vergara. On this knoll a redoubt had -been commenced, but no more had been done than to level a space, -eighty yards long and twenty feet broad, on its summit, and to throw -up the excavated earth in front, thus forming a bank three or four -feet high. In this work, indifferently well protected, lay Lawson’s -battery of 3-pounders, the lightest guns of Wellesley’s artillery. -Beside and behind them were the five battalions of the 4th division, -Campbell’s brigade in the front line, Kemmis’s in the second, to the -rear of the Portiña. - -On the left of the 4th division the enclosed ground ended, and cover -ceased. Here, forming the British centre, were drawn up the eight -battalions of Sherbrooke’s division, in a single line. The Guards’ -brigade, under Henry Campbell, was in perfectly flat level ground, -without shade or cover. Next to them, where there is a gentle -ascent towards the foot of the Cerro de Medellin, were Cameron’s -two battalions; while the two weak brigades of the King’s German -Legion, under Langwerth and Low, continued the front on to the -actual hill, with the Portiña, now flowing in a well-marked ravine, -at their feet[638]. The whole of this part of the British line was -bare rolling ground covered with long dry grass and scattered shrubs -of thyme. There was no cover, and before the Guards’ and Cameron’s -brigades the front was not defined by any strong natural feature. On -the other hand, the _terrain_ on the opposite side of the Portiña was -equally bare, and gave no advantage to an enemy about to attack. - - [638] Thus, counting from right to left, the front of - Sherbrooke’s brigade was composed as follows: 1st Coldstream - Guards, 1st Scots Fusilier Guards, 61st, 83rd, 1st Line K. G. L., - 2nd ditto, 5th ditto, 7th ditto. - -It was otherwise in the portion of the front where the four German -battalions of Langwerth and Low were placed. They had a steep ravine -in front of them, but on the opposite side, as a compensating -disadvantage, the rolling upland swells into a hill called the -Cerro de Cascajal, which, though much less lofty than the Cerro -de Medellin, yet afforded good artillery positions from which the -English slopes could be battered. - -Behind Sherbrooke’s troops, as the second line of his centre, -Wellesley had drawn up his 3rd division and all his cavalry. Cotton’s -light dragoons were in the rear of Kemmis’s brigade of the 4th -division. Mackenzie’s three battalions supported the Guards: then -came Anson’s light and Fane’s heavy cavalry, massed on the rising -slope in the rear of Cameron. Lastly Donkin’s brigade, which had -suffered so severely in the combat of Casa de Salinas, lay high up -the hill, directly in the rear of Low’s brigade of the King’s German -Legion. - -It only remains to speak of the British left, on the highest part -of the Cerro de Medellin. This section of the front was entrusted -to Hill’s division, which was already encamped upon its reverse -slope. Here lay the strongest point of the position, for the hill -is steep, and well covered in its front by the Portiña, which now -flows in a deep stony ravine. But it was also the part of the -British fighting-ground which was most likely to be assailed, since -a quick-eyed enemy could not help noting that it was the key of the -whole--that if the upper levels of the Cerro de Medellin were lost, -the rest of the allied line could not possibly be maintained. It -was therefore the part of the position which would require the most -careful watching, and Wellesley had told off to it his most capable -and experienced divisional general. But by some miscalculation, on -the evening of the twenty-seventh Hill’s two brigades were not lying -on their destined battle-line, but had halted half a mile behind -it--Richard Stewart’s battalions on the left, Tilson’s on the right -flank of the reverse slope. It is difficult to see with whom the -responsibility lay, for Wellesley was far to the right, engaged -in planting Mackenzie’s troops in their new position behind the -centre, while Hill had ridden over towards Talavera to search for -his Commander-in-chief and question him about details, and returned -rather late to give his brigadiers the exact instruction as to the -line they were to take up at nightfall[639]. There were piquets on -the crest, and the greater part of the front slopes were covered by -Low’s two battalions of the King’s German Legion, but the actual -summit of the Cerro was not occupied by any solid force, though the -brigades that were intended to hold it lay only 800 yards to the -rear. It was supposed that they would have ample time to take up -their ground in the morning, and no one dreamt of the possibility of -a night attack. - - [639] It would seem, on the whole, that the responsibility for - the absence of the division from its destined fighting-ground - lay with Hill, generally the most cautious and reliable of - subordinates. He says, in a memorandum drawn up in 1827, in - answer to an inquiry about Talavera, that he had gone to dine in - Talavera, and then saw Mackenzie’s division come back into the - line. Returning to his own troops, he found them moving out of - their bivouac, but not on their fighting-ground. He was getting - them into line, when the firing suddenly began in his front. - - These details I give from the valuable (unpublished) map by - Lieut. Unger of the K. G. L. artillery, which Colonel Whinyates - has been good enough to place at my disposition. It carefully - marks the emplacement of every British battery. Elliott was at - this moment in command of the battery which had been under Baynes - during the Oporto campaign, while Sillery had that which had been - under Lane. - -Of the very small force of artillery which accompanied the British -army, we have already seen that Lawson’s light 3-pounder battery -had been placed in the Pajar de Vergara entrenchment. Elliott’s and -Heyse’s were in the centre of the line; the former placed in front -of the Guards, the latter before Langwerth’s brigade of the German -Legion. Rettberg’s heavy 6-pounders were on the Cerro de Medellin, -with Hill’s division: at dusk they had been brought back to its -rear slope and were parked near Richard Stewart’s brigade. Finally -Sillery’s battery was in reserve, between the two lines, somewhere -behind Cameron’s brigade of Sherbrooke’s division. This single -unit was the only artillery reserve of which Wellesley could dispose. - -The precise number of British troops in line was 20,194, after -deducting the losses at Casa de Salinas; that of the Spaniards was -within a few hundreds of 32,000. The French, as we have already seen, -had brought a little more than 46,000 men to the field, so that the -allies had a superiority of some 6,000 in mere numbers. If Wellesley -could have exchanged the Army of Estremadura for half their strength -of British bayonets, he might have felt quite comfortable in his -strong position. But his confidence in the value of his allies, even -when firmly planted among walls and groves, was just about to receive -a rude shock. - -It was about seven o’clock when the heads of Victor’s columns, -following in the wake of the horse artillery which had been galling -Mackenzie’s retreat, emerged from the woods on to the rolling plateau -facing the allied position. Ruffin appeared on the right, and -occupied the Cascajal hill, opposite the Cerro de Medellin. Villatte -followed, and halted in its rear. More to the left Lapisse, adopting -the same line that had been taken by Mackenzie, halted in front of -the British centre: the corps-cavalry, under Beaumont, was drawn -up in support of him. Latour-Maubourg’s six regiments of dragoons, -further to the south, took ground in front of the Spaniards. The King -and Sebastiani were still far to the rear: their infantry was only -just passing the Alberche, though their advanced cavalry under Merlin -was already pushing forward in the direction of Talavera down the -high-road from Madrid[640]. - - [640] All these details are from the report drawn up by Sémélé, - the chief of the staff of the 1st Corps, at Talavera on Aug. 10. - -If Napoleon, or any other general who knew how to make himself -obeyed, had been present with the French army, there would have been -no fighting on the evening of July 27. But King Joseph counted for -little in the eyes of his nominal subordinates, and hence it came to -pass that the impetuous Victor took upon himself the responsibility -of attacking the allies when only half the King’s army had come -upon the field. With no more object, as it would seem, than that of -harassing the enemy, he sent to the front the batteries belonging -to Ruffin, Lapisse, and Latour-Maubourg, to join in the cannonade -which his horse artillery had already begun. At the same time -Merlin’s light horse pressed forward in the direction of Talavera, -to feel for the front of the Spaniards, whose exact position was -hidden by the olive groves. The British artillery replied, but no -great harm was done to either side. Yet in the Spanish part of the -line a dreadful disaster was on the point of occurring. When the -artillery fire began, and the French light horse were seen advancing, -the Estremaduran troops between Talavera and the Pajar de Vergara -delivered a tremendous salvo of infantry fire along the whole line, -though the enemy was too far off to take any damage. But, immediately -after, four battalions of Portago’s division, which formed part of -the left of Cuesta’s line and touched Campbell’s right, suddenly -shouted ‘treason!’ broke, and went off to the rear in complete -disorder. Wellesley, who, as it chanced, was behind Campbell’s -troops, and witnessed the whole rout, declared that he could -conceive no reason for their behaviour except that they must have -been frightened by the crash of their own tremendous volley[641]. -Two of these four battalions were troops who had never been in -action before: the other two had been badly cut up at Medellin, -and brought up to strength by the incorporation of a great mass of -recruits[642]. This might have excused a momentary misconduct, but -not a prolonged rush to the rear when the enemy was still half a mile -off, still less the casting away of their arms and the plundering -of the British camp, through which the multitude fled. Cuesta -sent cavalry to hunt them up, and succeeded in hounding back the -majority to their ranks, but many hundreds were still missing on the -following morning. They fled in small bands all down the valley of -the Tagus, dispersing dismal information on all sides. It is sad to -have to acknowledge that in their rush through the British camp they -carried away with them some commissaries and a few of the baggage -guard, who did not halt till they got to Oropesa, twenty miles from -the field[643]. Strange to say, this panic had no appreciable ill -effects: the French were not in a position to take advantage of it, -having no troops, save a few light horse, in front of the spot where -it occurred. The Spaniards to the right and rear of the absconding -regiments did not flinch, and as the second line held firm, there was -no actual gap produced in the allied position. But Wellesley noted -the scene, and never forgot it: of all that he had witnessed during -the campaign, this was the sight that struck him most, and most -influenced his future conduct. Cuesta also took account of it in his -own fashion, and at the end of the battle of the next day proposed -to decimate in the old Roman fashion, the battalions that had fled! -He actually chose by lot some 200 men from the fugitives, and after -trying them by court-martial prepared to shoot them. His British -colleague begged off the majority, but the old Captain-General -insisted on executing some twenty-five or thirty who were duly put to -death on the morning of the twenty-ninth[644]. - - [641] Wellesley to Castlereagh, Aug. 25: ‘Two thousand of them - ran off on the evening of the twenty-seventh, not 100 yards from - where I was standing, who were neither attacked, nor threatened - with an attack, and who were only frightened by the noise of - their own fire. They left their arms and accoutrements on the - ground, their officers went with them, and they plundered the - baggage of the British army, which had been sent to the rear. - Many others went, whom I did not see.’ - - [642] The panic-stricken regiments were Leales de Fernando VII, - which had been garrisoning Badajoz when Medellin was fought, - Badajoz (two batts.) which had been in the battle, and Toledo. - - [643] ‘I wish I could assert with truth that this retrogression - was confined to our Spanish allies. But the truth must be told, - and I regret to say that stragglers from the British army were - among them, taking a similar direction to the rear. As they - passed, they circulated reports of a most disheartening nature.’ - Col. Leach’s _Rough Sketches_, p. 81. He was with Craufurd’s - brigade, then coming up by forced marches from Plasencia, - which met the fugitives near Oropesa on the morning of the - twenty-eighth. ‘The road was crowded with fugitives, Spaniards - innumerable, and lots of English commissary clerks, paymasters - and sutlers, to say nothing of a few soldiers who said they were - _sick_.’ _Autobiography_ of Sir George Napier, p. 108. - - [644] ‘Early in the morning some twenty-five Spanish soldiers, - dressed in white, attended by several Popish priests, were - marched up to the front of our regiment and shot. One, a young - lad of nineteen or twenty years, dropped before the party fired, - but to no use. For after the volley at ten paces, the firing - party ran forward and shooting them in the head or breast - completed their horrid work. These unfortunates belonged to - regiments that had given way in the late battle.’ _Diary_ of - Cooper (of the 7th Fusiliers), pp. 25-6. - -After the panic had died down, Victor gradually withdrew his -batteries[645], but it was with no intention of bringing the combat -to a real termination. He had resolved to deliver a night attack on -the key of the British position, when the whole of his corps should -have reached the front. Having reconnoitred the allied lines, and -noted the distribution of their defenders, he had determined to -storm the Cerro de Medellin in the dark. During his long stay at -Talavera he had acquired a very thorough knowledge of its environs, -and understood the dominating importance of that height. If he -could seize and hold it during the night, he saw that the battle of -the next day would be already half won. Accordingly, still without -obtaining King Joseph’s leave, he determined to assail the Cerro. He -told off for the storm his choicest division, that of Ruffin, whose -nine battalions were already ranged on the front of the Cascajal -heights. At the same time Lapisse’s division was to distract the -attention of the British centre by a noisy demonstration against its -front. - - [645] That the panic took place at dusk, and not during the - night attack, is completely proved by the _Journal_ of General - Sémélé, where it is noted as occurring in consequence of Victor’s - earliest demonstration; as also by Wellesley’s note. - -Night attacks are proverbially hazardous and hard to conduct, and -it cannot be disputed that Victor showed an excessive temerity in -endeavouring to deliver such a blow at the steady British troops, at -an hour when it was impossible to guarantee proper co-operation among -the attacking columns. But for an initial stroke of luck he ought not -to have secured even the small measure of success that fell to his -lot. - -At about nine o’clock, however, Ruffin moved down to the attack. -Each of his three regiments was formed in battalion columns, the 9th -Léger in the centre, the 96th on its left, the 24th on its right. -The first-named regiment was to deliver a frontal attack, the other -two to turn the flanks of the hill and attack over its side-slopes. -At the appointed moment the three regiments descended simultaneously -into the ravine of the Portiña, and endeavoured to carry out their -respective sections of the programme. The 9th, chancing on the place -where the ravine was most easily negotiable, crossed it without much -difficulty, and began to climb the opposite slope. On mounting half -way to the crest, it suddenly came on Low’s brigade of the German -Legion, lying down in line, with its pickets only a very small -distance in advance of the main body. It is said that the brigadier -was labouring under the delusion that some of Hill’s outposts were -in his front, and that he was screened by them. It is at any rate -clear that he was taken wholly unprepared by the midnight attack of -the French. His sentries were trampled down in a moment, and the -9th Léger ran in upon the Germans, firing into them point blank and -seizing many of them as prisoners almost ere they were awake. The -7th K. G. L. was completely broken, and lost 150 men--half of them -prisoners--in five minutes. The 5th, the right-hand battalion of -Low’s brigade, came off better, as it was not in the direct path of -the French; but it was flung sideways along the southern slope of -the hill, and could not be re-formed for some time. Meanwhile the -three French columns, somewhat separated from each other in this -first clash of arms, went straight on up the Cerro, and in a few -minutes were nearing its crest. The two leading battalions actually -reached and crowned it, without meeting with any opposition save -from the outlying picket of Richard Stewart’s brigade. The third was -not far behind, and it seemed almost certain that the position might -be won. At this moment General Hill, who was occupied in drawing -out his division on the rear slope, but had not yet conducted it -to its fighting-ground, interfered in the fight. He had seen and -heard the sudden outbreak of musketry on the frontal slopes, as -the French broke through Low’s brigade. But when it died down, he -was far from imagining that the cause was the complete success of -the enemy. Nevertheless, he directed his nearest brigade, that of -Richard Stewart, to prepare to support the Germans if necessary. He -was issuing his orders to the colonel of the 48th, when he observed -some men on the hill top fire a few shots in his direction. ‘Not -having an idea,’ he writes, ‘that the enemy were so near, I said to -myself that I was sure it was the old Buffs, as usual, making some -blunder.’ Accordingly he galloped up the hill, with his brigade-major -Fordyce, shouting to the men to cease firing. He rode right in among -the French before he realized his mistake, and a voltigeur seized -him by the arm and bade him surrender. Hill spurred his horse, which -sprang forward and got clear of the Frenchman, who lost his hold but -immediately raised his musket and fired at three paces’ distance, -missing the General but hitting his charger. Hill escaped in the -midst of a scattering volley, which killed his companion Fordyce, and -got back as fast as he could to Richard Stewart’s brigade. Without -delaying for a moment, even to change his wounded horse, he led on -the nearest regiments to recover the hill top. So great was the -confusion, owing to the sudden attack in the dark, that Stewart’s -men moved forward, not in their proper order, but with the 1st -Battalion of Detachments on the right, the 29th in the centre, and -the 1/48 on the left. This arrangement brought the first-named unit -first into touch with the enemy. The Detachments came into immediate -collision with the leading battalions of the French, who were now -somewhat in disorder, and trying to re-form on the ground they had -won. The two forces opened a furious fire upon each other, and both -came to a standstill[646]. But Hill, coming up a moment later at the -head of his centre regiment, cleared the hill top by a desperate -charge: passing through the Detachments, the 29th delivered a volley -at point-blank range and closed. The enemy broke and fled down the -slope that they had ascended. The 29th wheeled into line and followed -them, pouring in regular volleys at short intervals. But before -they had gone far, they became dimly conscious of another column to -their left, pushing up the hill in the darkness. This was the rear -battalion of the 9th Léger, which had fallen somewhat behind its -fellows. It was moving up diagonally across the front of the British -regiment, with drums beating and loud shouts of _vive l’Empereur_. -Taken in flank by the fire of the right companies of the 29th, it -could make no effective resistance, and ere long broke and rolled -back in disorder into the bed of the Portiña, where it met with the -wrecks of the rest of the regiment, and retired in company with them -up the slopes of the Cerro de Cascajal. - - [646] The Battalion of Detachments was decidedly checked. They - got somewhat into confusion, and halted. ‘The soldiers seemed - much vexed,’ writes Leslie of the 29th, ‘we could hear them - bravely calling out “There is nobody to command us! Only tell us - what to do, and we are ready to dare anything.” There was a fault - somewhere.’ Leslie, p. 144. - -The remainder of Ruffin’s division took little or no part in the -fighting. The three battalions of the 24th, which ought to have -mounted the hill on the right, lost their way in the darkness and -wandered up the valley between the Cerro de Medellin and the northern -mountains: they never came into action. The 96th, on the left of the -attack, chanced upon a part of the Portiña ravine which was very -precipitous: they found it difficult to descend, were very late in -reaching the other side, and then fell into a futile bickering fight -with the 5th and 2nd battalions of the King’s German Legion, which -terminated--with small damage to either party--when the main attack -in the centre was seen to have failed. - -The loss of the French in this night battle was about 300 men, -almost all in the 9th Léger. It included sixty-five prisoners, among -whom was the colonel of the regiment, who was left on the ground -desperately wounded. The British casualties were somewhat heavier, -entirely owing to the disaster to the 5th and 7th battalions of -the K. G. L., which suffered when surprised, a loss of 188 men, -eighty-seven of whom were made captives. Richard Stewart’s brigade, -which bore the brunt of the fighting and decided the affair, had only -125 killed and wounded[647]. - - [647] Though the French official reports of casualties do not - give any officers of the 9th Léger as prisoners, it is certain - that Colonel Meunier was taken. See Leslie, p. 143. Being - recovered, along with the other wounded prisoners, when Talavera - was evacuated, his name did not get down among the list of - missing, which was only drawn up on Aug. 10. - -Thus ended, in well-deserved failure, Victor’s night attack, of which -it may suffice to say that even its initial success was only due to -the gross carelessness of Low’s brigade in failing to cover their -front with a proper screen of outlying pickets. To attack in the dark -across rugged and difficult ground was to court disaster. The wonder -is not that two-thirds of the division went astray, but that the -other third almost succeeded in the hazardous enterprise to which it -was committed. Great credit is due to the 9th Léger for all that it -did, and no blame whatever rests upon the regiment for its ultimate -failure. The Marshal must take all the responsibility. - -The wrecks of the French attacking columns having rolled back beyond -the ravine, and the flanking regiments having abandoned their futile -demonstrations, the Cerro de Medellin was once more safe. The troops -occupying it were rearranged, as far as was possible, in the dark. -The front line on its left and highest part was now formed by Richard -Stewart’s brigade, ranged, not in its proper order of seniority, -but with the 29th on the left, the 1st Battalion of Detachments in -the centre, and the 1/48 on the right. Tilson’s brigade, the other -half of Hill’s division, was to the south of Stewart, continuing his -line along the crest. Low’s battalions of the King’s German Legion -were drawn off somewhat to the right, closing in towards Langwerth’s -brigade, so as to leave the central slopes of the Cerro de Medellin -entirely to Hill’s men. Donkin’s brigade of Mackenzie’s division lay -close behind them. After the warning that had been given by Victor’s -first assault, the greatest care was taken to make a second surprise -impossible. Stewart’s and Low’s brigades threw forward their pickets -to the brink of the Portiña ravine, so close to the enemy that all -night they could hear the _Qui vive_ of the sentries challenging -the visiting rounds, only two or three hundred yards above them. On -several occasions the outposts opened fire on each other, and the -word ‘stand to your arms,’ ran along the whole line. In front of -Sherbrooke’s division, about midnight, there was a false alarm, which -led to a whole brigade delivering a volley at an imaginary column of -assault, while their own pickets were still out in front, with the -result that two officers and several men were killed or wounded[648]. -A similar outbreak of fire, lasting for several minutes, ran along -the front of the Spanish lines an hour later. It seems to have been -caused by French foragers, in search of fuel, blundering against the -Estremaduran pickets on the edge of the olive groves. - - [648] See the Diary of Boothby of the R. E., one of the victims - of this unhappy fusilade, p. 5. - -Altogether the night was not a peaceful one, and the troops were much -harassed by the perpetual and unnecessary calls to stand to their -arms. Many of them got little sleep, and several British diarists -have left interesting impressions on record of their long vigil. -There was much to keep them awake: not only the repeated blaze -of fire running along parts of the allied line, but the constant -signs of movement on the French side of the Portiña. Some time -after midnight long lines of torches were seen advancing across -and to the right of the Cerro de Cascajal; these were markers with -flambeaux, sent out to fix the points on which Victor’s artillery -were to take up their positions, as was soon shown by the rattling of -gun-carriages, the noise of wheels, and the cracking of whips, which -were plainly heard in the intervals of stillness, when the hostile -pickets ceased their bickering musketry fire. The French were pushing -up their guns into the very front of their line, and when the dawn -began to break they were visible only 600 or 800 yards away from the -British lines. A few deserters came over during the night, mainly -from Leval’s German division; all agreed that the enemy was about to -deliver a second attack in the early morning. - -The dawn was an anxious moment: with the growing light it was -possible to make out broad black patches dotting the whole of the -rolling ground in front of the British army. Every instant rendered -them more visible, and soon they took shape as French regiments -in battalion columns, ranged on a front of nearly two miles, from -the right end of the Cerro de Cascajal to the edge of the woods -facing the Pajar de Vergara. The object which drew most attention -was an immense solid column at the extreme right of the hostile -line, on the lower slopes above the Portiña, with a thick screen of -_tirailleurs_ already thrown out in its front, and evidently ready -to advance at the word of command. The other divisions lay further -back: in front of them artillery was everywhere visible: there were -four batteries on the midslope of the Cascajal hill, and six more -on the rolling ground to the south. In the far distance, behind the -infantry, were long lines of cavalry dressed in all the colours of -the rainbow--fifteen or sixteen regiments could be counted--and far -to the rear of them more black masses were slowly rolling into view. -It was easily to be seen that little or nothing lay in front of the -Spaniards, and that at least five-sixths of the French army was -disposed for an attack on the British front. There were 40,000 men -visible, ready for the advance against the 20,000 sabres and bayonets -of Wellesley’s long red line[649]. - - [649] There are admirable narratives of the night-vigil and the - dawn of Talavera, in the narratives of Leslie, Leith-Hay, and - Lord Munster. - -An attack was imminent, yet there were many things which might have -induced the French generals to hold back. Was it worth while to -assail the allies in the admirable position which they now held, when -it was possible to drive them out of it without risking a battle? -Orders had been sent to Soult, six days before, to bid him fall on -Wellesley’s communications by way of Plasencia. It was believed that -he must have started ere now, and that the news of his approach would -reach the enemy within the next forty-eight hours. This intelligence -would compel them to go behind the Tagus, and to abandon the Talavera -position. Both Jourdan and King Joseph were doubtful of the policy -of risking a general action. But the initiative was taken out of -their hands by Victor. He had already placed his corps so close -to the British lines that it would have been hard to withdraw it -without an engagement. He had also, during the night, sent a dispatch -to the King, stating that he should storm the Cerro de Medellin at -dawn unless he received counter-orders. He appeared so confident of -success that Joseph and his adviser Jourdan did not venture to bid -him desist. They were, as the latter confessed, largely influenced by -the knowledge that if they refused, Victor would delate them to the -Emperor for culpable timidity in letting the British army escape[650]. - - [650] ‘Le duc de Bellune rendit compte au roi du résultat de sa - première attaque, et le prévint qu’il la renouvellerait au point - du jour. Peut-être aurait on dû lui donner l’ordre d’attendre.... - Mais ce maréchal, étant resté longtemps aux environs de Talavera, - devait connaître parfaitement son terrain, et il paraissait si - sûr du succès, que le roi le laissait libre d’agir comme il le - désirait.... Il sentait que s’il adopterait l’avis du Maréchal - Jourdan le duc de Bellune ne manquerait pas d’écrire à l’empereur - “qu’on lui avait fait perdre l’occasion d’une brillante victoire - sur les Anglais”.’ Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, pp. 256 and 259. - -The Duke of Belluno was still persisting in his idea that it might -be possible to seize the key of Wellesley’s position by a partial -attack, without engaging the rest of his corps till it had already -been won. Accordingly he gave orders to his subordinates Lapisse -and Villatte that they were not to move till Ruffin, with the -first division, should have gained the Cerro de Medellin. In a -similar way the King made the advance of the 4th Corps conditional -on the preliminary success of Victor’s right. This seems to have -been bad policy, as it left Wellesley free to devote the whole -of his attention to the point where the first attack was to be -delivered. It was clear that the threatening column on the lower -slopes of the Cerro de Cascajal would start the game. Victor had -drawn up his troops in the following order. Ruffin on the extreme -left, and considerably in advance, was to attack the Cerro on its -north-eastern and eastern fronts. Behind him on the summit of the -Cascajal hill, were Villatte’s twelve battalions, and in rear of -all the two regiments of Beaumont, the Marshal’s corps-cavalry. To -Villatte’s left, but on lower ground opposite Sherbrooke’s line, lay -Lapisse’s division, with Latour-Maubourg’s six regiments of dragoons -in support. This completed the array of the 1st Corps: on their left -stood Sebastiani and his 4th Corps, facing the Guards, Campbell, -and the northernmost battalions of the Spanish army, opposite the -Pajar de Vergara. Sebastiani’s French division was on his right, his -German division on his left, while the stray Polish brigade (the -only part of Valence’s division that was on the field) supported the -Germans. In second line was Merlin’s light horse, while Milhaud’s six -regiments of dragoons lay out on the extreme left, observing the town -of Talavera. King Joseph and his reserve--the Guards and the brigade -of Dessolles--were far to the rear, just outside the woods round the -Casa de Salinas. - -At about five in the morning the watchers on the Cerro de Medellin -saw the smoke of a gun curl up into the air from the central battery -in front of Villatte’s division. The ensuing report was the signal -for the whole of Victor’s artillery to open, and twenty-four guns -spoke at once from the Cascajal heights, and thirty more from the -lower ground to their right. The cannonade was tremendous, and the -reply wholly inadequate, as Wellesley could only put four batteries -in line, Rettberg’s on the summit of the Cerro, Sillery’s from the -lower slope near Donkin’s position, and those of Heyse and Elliott -from the front of Sherbrooke’s division. The French fire was both -accurate and effective, ‘they served their guns in an infinitely -better style than at Vimiero: their shells were thrown with -precision, and did considerable execution[651].’ Wellesley, who stood -in rear of Hill’s line on the commanding height, at once ordered -Richard Stewart’s and Tilson’s brigades to go back from the sky-line, -and to lie down. But no such device was practicable in Sherbrooke’s -division, where the formation of the ground presented no possibility -of cover, and here much damage was done. After a few minutes the -English position was obscured, for the damp of the morning air -prevented the smoke from rising, and a strong east wind blew it -across the Portiña, and drove it along the slopes of the Cerro[652]. -So thick was the atmosphere that the defenders heard rather than saw -the start of Ruffin’s division on its advance, and only realized its -near approach when they saw their own skirmishers retiring up the -slope towards the main line. The light companies of Hill’s division -came in so slowly and unwillingly, turning back often to fire, and -keeping their order with the regularity of a field-day. The general, -wishing to get his front clear, bade the bugles sound to bring them -in more quickly, and as they filed to the rear in a leisurely way was -heard to shout (it was one of the only two occasions on which he was -known to swear), ‘D--n their filing, let them come in anyhow[653].’ - - [651] Eliott’s Narrative, in his _Defence of Portugal_, p. 238. - - [652] Lord Munster, p. 226. - - [653] Leslie, p. 147. The other occasion on which Hill used - strong language was at the battle of St. Pierre in 1814, when - Wellington remarked: ‘If Hill is beginning to swear we had better - get out of the way.’ - -When the light companies had fallen back, the French were at last -visible through the smoke. They had mounted the lower slopes of the -Cerro without any loss, covered by their artillery, which only ceased -firing at this moment. They showed nine battalions, in three solid -columns: Victor had arranged the divisions with the 24th in the -centre, the 96th on the left, and the 9th Léger, which had suffered -so severely in the night-battle, upon the right. This arrangement -brought the last-named regiment opposite their old enemies of the -29th, and the Battalion of Detachments, while the 1/48th and 2/48th -had to deal with the French centre, and the Buffs and 66th with -their left. When Ruffin’s columns had got within a hundred yards of -the sky-line, Hill bade his six battalions stand to their feet and -advance. As they lined the crest they delivered a splendid volley, -whose report was as sharp and precise as that of a field-day. The -effect was of course murderous, as was always the case when line met -column. The French had a marked superiority in numbers; they were -nearly 5,000 strong, Hill’s two brigades had less than 4,000[654]. -But there was the usual advantage that every British soldier could -use his weapon, while the French, in column of divisions, had the -normal mass of useless muskets in the rear ranks. The first volley -brought them to a standstill--their whole front had gone down at the -discharge--they lost the impetus of advance, halted, and kept up a -furious fire for some minutes. But when it came to a standing fight -of musketry, there was never a doubt in any Peninsular battle how the -game would end. The French fire began ere long to slacken, the front -of the columns shook and wavered. Just at this moment Sherbrooke, -who had noted that the divisions in his own front showed no signs -of closing, took the 5th battalion of the King’s German Legion out -of his left brigade[655], and sent it against the flank and rear -of Ruffin’s nearest regiment--the 96th of the line. When the noise -of battle broke out in this new quarter, the French lost heart and -began to give ground. Richard Stewart, at the northern end of the -British line, gave the signal to his brigade to charge, and--as a -participator in this fray writes, ‘on we went, a wall of stout hearts -and bristling steel. The enemy did not fancy such close quarters, and -the moment our rush began they went to the right-about. The principal -portion broke and fled, though some brave fellows occasionally faced -about and gave us an irregular fire.’ Nothing, however, could stop -Hill’s division, and the whole six battalions rushed like a torrent -down the slope, bayonetting and sweeping back the enemy to the line -of black and muddy pools that marked the course of the Portiña. Many -of the pursuers even crossed the ravine and chased the flying French -divisions right into the arms of Villatte’s troops, on the Cascajal -hill. When these reserves opened fire, Hill’s men re-formed on the -lower slope of the Cerro, and retired to their old position without -being seriously molested, for Victor made no counter-attack. - - [654] Ruffin had 5,200 men, minus about 300 lost on the previous - night, while Hill had 3,853, minus 138 lost in that same battle - in the dark. - - [655] This operation is described in the narrative of the K. G. - L. officer, printed by Beamish (p. 212). The narrator, however, - mistakes the French regiment’s number, and says twenty-six for - ninety-six. - -Ruffin’s three regiments had been terribly punished: they had lost, -in forty minutes’ fighting, 1,300 killed and wounded, much more -than a fourth of their strength. Hill’s brigades had about 750 -casualties[656], including their gallant leader, who received a wound -in the head, and had to go to the rear, leaving the command of his -division to Tilson. The loss of the German battalion which had struck -in upon the French rear was insignificant, as the enemy never stood -to meet it. - - [656] These losses can be accurately ascertained. Ruffin’s - whole loss in the two days of fighting was 1,632, of whom 300 - of the 9th Léger had fallen on the night of July 27. He was - not seriously engaged during the rest of the day, so must have - lost 1,300 in this fight. Hill’s total loss on July 28 was 835, - but much of it was suffered in the afternoon, when (though not - attacked by infantry) his division was under a heavy shell fire. - -Thus was Victor’s second attempt to storm the Cerro de Medellin -rebuked. It was a rash and unscientific operation, and received a -merited chastisement. The Marshal should have sent in all his corps, -and attacked the whole British line, if he wished to give his men a -fair chance. He obviously underrated the troops with which he had to -deal--he had never seen them before the combat of Casa de Salinas -on the previous day--and had no conception of the power of the line -against the column. Even now baffled rage seems to have been his -main feeling, and his only desire was to make the attempt again with -larger forces. - -The whole engagement had taken about an hour and a half, and the -morning was still young when the Marshal re-formed his line, and -reported his ill-success to the King. After the cannonade died down -he bade his men take their morning meal, and the British on the -Cerro could see the whole 1st Corps turn to cooking, behind their -strong line of pickets. A sort of informal armistice was established -in a short time; both parties wished to use the stagnant water of -the Portiña, and after a little signalling hundreds of men came -down with their canteens from either side, and filled them with the -muddy fluid. In spite of the heavy fighting which had just ended, -all parties agree that a very friendly spirit was shown. The men -conversed as best they could, and were even seen to shake hands -across the pools. Many of the officers came down a little later, -and after a short colloquy agreed that either party might take off -its wounded without molestation. As there were hundreds of French -lying on the west bank of the Portiña, and a good many English on -its further side, there was a complete confusion of uniforms as the -bearers passed and repassed each other at the bottom of the ravine. -But no difficulties of any sort arose, and for more than two hours -the two parties were completely mixed. This was the first example of -that amicable spirit which reigned between the hostile armies all -through the war, and which in its later years developed into that -curious code of signals (often described by contemporaries), by which -French and English gave each other notice whenever serious work was -intended, refraining on all other occasions from unnecessary outpost -bickering or sentry-shooting. - - - - -SECTION XVI: CHAPTER VII - -THE BATTLE OF TALAVERA: THE MAIN ENGAGEMENT - -(JULY 28) - - -The informal armistice which had followed the combat of the early -morning had drawn to an end, when at about 10 o’clock the British -observers on the Cerro de Medellin saw a large and brilliant staff -riding along the French line from right to left. It finally halted, -and took post on the most commanding point of the Cascajal heights. -This was the entourage of King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan, who had -determined to make a careful examination of the allied lines before -committing themselves to any further action. When they halted on the -summit of the hill, from which the best general view was obtainable, -Victor came to meet them, and a council of war was held. - -It soon developed into a lengthy and animated dispute; lasting for -more than an hour. Jourdan was of opinion that, considering the -strength of the hostile position, and the decisive way in which the -1st Corps had been repulsed, it would be unwise to proceed with -another attack. He pointed out that Wellesley would now be perfectly -aware that his left was the point which must be assailed, and that -movements visible behind the British line showed that it was already -being reinforced. The only good move now available was to endeavour -to turn the Cerro by the little valley to its north-east, which -separates it from the Sierra de Segurilla: but it was clear that the -enemy realized this as well as themselves. A considerable body of -cavalry was already appearing at its southern end. If the Duke of -Belluno, instead of delivering two frontal assaults, had been prudent -enough to push men down this valley under cover of the darkness, so -as to have a lateral attack ready at dawn, something might have been -done. But now the imperial troops would have to win the valley by -hard fighting, before they could use it as a starting-point for the -assault on the hill. If a general attack were delivered, and the army -were once more repulsed, it risked its line of communication and its -retreat on Madrid. For the whole Spanish host might come out of the -woods and fall upon its flank, while it was engaged with the British, -and in that case the Madrid road would be cut, and the King would -have to retreat on Avila, sacrificing his capital and his arsenals. -On the whole Jourdan held that it would be wise and prudent to assume -a defensive posture, and either to hold the present position or to -retire to the more favourable ground behind the Alberche, four miles -to the rear. In a few days the enemy would hear of Soult’s operations -upon their line of communication, and would be forced to break up and -retire. - -Very different, as might have been expected, were Victor’s views. He -declared that the British position was far from impregnable, and that -the prestige of the French army would be destroyed if it retired, -after two partial checks, from in front of an enemy who had not been -seriously attacked. The only fault in the preceding operations had -been that the whole army had not joined in, at the moment when the -Cerro had been stormed. If the King would undertake to use the 4th -Corps against the allied centre, he pledged himself to break their -right with his own three divisions of infantry. He would not only -assail the Cerro from in front, but would turn it from both flanks. -If such an attack did not succeed _il faudrait renoncer à faire la -guerre_. This phrase he dinned into Joseph’s and Jourdan’s ears so -repeatedly that they both saved it up for future use, and taunted him -with it in the acrimonious correspondence which followed the battle. - -King Joseph would have preferred to follow Jourdan’s cautious plan, -and to hold back. Sebastiani, whose opinion he asked, agreed with -him. But both seem to have been terrorized by the Marshal’s stormy -tirades, and still more by the thought of what the Emperor would -say, if he heard that battle had been refused, contrary to Victor’s -advice. The ultimate decision was still in the balance, when two -pieces of news were received: the first was a dispatch from General -Valence, the Governor of Toledo, to effect that the army of Venegas, -whose position had hitherto been unknown--for nothing had been heard -of him since Sebastiani had escaped from his front--had at last come -on the scene. His advanced guard had presented itself before the -bridges of Toledo, and was already skirmishing there. The second item -of intelligence was a dispatch from Soult, acknowledging the receipt -of the orders which had been sent to him upon the twenty-second, and -stating his intention of carrying them out at the earliest possible -moment. But he complained that the promised train of artillery had -not yet reached the 2nd Corps, and declared that he could not move -till it had come to hand, and till he had brought down the 6th Corps -from Astorga. He was therefore of opinion that he could not possibly -reach Plasencia till August 3, perhaps not till two days later. - -This news was decisive: it was now clear that the Duke of Dalmatia -would not be able to bring pressure to bear upon the rear of the -allies for some six or seven days. Meanwhile Venegas was within two -marches of Madrid, and had nothing in front of him save the four -Polish battalions at Toledo. If the King refused to fight, and took -up a defensive position on the Alberche, he would have to detach -15,000 men to hold back the army of La Mancha from the capital. -This would leave him with only 30,000 men to resist Wellesley and -Cuesta, and it was clear that such a force would be overmatched -by the allies. If he kept a larger number in their front, Venegas -would be able to capture Madrid, the thing of all others which -Joseph was resolved to prevent. Accordingly the King and Jourdan -reluctantly fell in with Victor’s plans, and consented to fight in -the afternoon. If they defeated the British and the Estremadurans on -the twenty-eighth, the army of La Mancha could easily be disposed of -upon the twenty-ninth or thirtieth. - -This decision once made, it only remained to settle the details -of the attack. The King determined to assail the British centre -and right with the infantry of Sebastiani’s corps--twenty-three -battalions in all, or some 14,000 men. Victor with the three infantry -divisions of the 1st Corps--thirty-three battalions, still over -16,000 strong in spite of their losses--undertook to fall upon the -English left, to storm the Cerro de Medellin and also to turn it on -its northern side, so as to envelop Wellesley’s flank. The Spaniards -were to be left alone behind their walls and orchards--only Milhaud’s -dragoons were told off to watch the exits from Talavera. Of the rest -of the cavalry a few could be utilized in Victor’s turning movement -in the valley below the Sierra de Segurilla: but the main body--all -Beaumont’s and Latour-Maubourg’s eight regiments--were ranged in -a second line, to act as a reserve for the frontal attack of the -infantry, and to aid it if it were checked. The King’s Guards and -the brigade of Dessolles were to be kept back, and only utilized to -clinch the victory or to retrieve a repulse. - -The 30,000 men who were to deliver the grand assault on the allied -position were drawn up as follows. Leval’s Germans advanced on the -left, taking as their objective the battery on the Pajar de Vergara. -They faced Campbell’s British division, and slightly overlapped -it, so as to cover the three or four battalions on the extreme -northern wing of Cuesta’s line. In their rear as supports followed -the two Polish battalions from Valence’s division. On Leval’s right, -Sebastiani’s four French regiments continued the line: this was the -strongest division on the field and counted over 8,000 bayonets. It -faced the Guards and the right battalion of Cameron’s brigade. Here -ended the troops of the 4th Corps: beyond them Victor’s 2nd division, -that of Lapisse, was about to assail the German Legion and Cameron’s -left-hand regiment, the 83rd. Still further north Villatte’s division -lay opposite the steepest slopes of the Cerro de Medellin. This -position looked more formidable in the eyes of the Duke of Belluno -since he had seen his first two assaults upon it fail. It was now -heavily manned: Tilson’s, Richard Stewart’s, and Donkin’s brigades -were all visible upon its crest. After some hesitation the Marshal -resolved to leave it alone for the present, and not to attack it -till some impression should have been made upon other parts of -Wellesley’s line. Accordingly he left in front of it only Villatte’s -second brigade--the six battalions of the 94th and 95th regiments. -The other brigade--the 27th and 63rd--was directed to join in the -flanking movement to the north of the Cerro, which was to encompass -Wellesley’s extreme left. But the main force told off for this -advance consisted of the much-tried remnants of Ruffin’s division, -now not more than 3,700 strong. The employment of these troops for -such a critical operation seems to have been a mistake--they had -already received two bloody checks, and had lost more than a third -of their officers and 1,500 men in the late fighting. Though good -regiments, they could now be considered as little more than ‘a spent -force.’ This fact sufficiently explains the feebleness of the French -advance upon this part of the field during the afternoon hours. - -Behind the French infantry of the 4th and 1st Corps were deployed no -less than twelve regiments of horse: Latour-Maubourg’s three brigades -of dragoons were drawn up in the rear of Lapisse and Sebastiani: -Beaumont supported Villatte, and lastly the four regiments of -Merlin’s (late Lasalle’s) division followed Ruffin in his turning -movement. Far to the rear Dessolles and Joseph’s Guards took up a -position facing the British centre, from which they could support the -right or the left of their own front line as might be necessary. - -The drawing up of this line of battle took time, and while the French -were shifting their positions and establishing their new front, -Wellesley had ample leisure to provide against the oncoming storm. He -had established himself upon the crest of the Cerro, and from thence -could overlook every movement of the enemy. Of the new dispositions -the only one which struck him as likely to cause trouble was the -extension of Ruffin and Villatte to the northward. It was clear that -they were intending to advance up the valley that separates the -Sierra de Segurilla from the Cerro de Medellin, in order to take -the hill in the flank, and assail the 2nd Division from the side. -It was therefore necessary to make arrangements for checking this -manœuvre. Wellesley’s first order was that Fane’s and Anson’s cavalry -should move round the back of the Cerro, and take up new ground at -the head of the valley. From this position they would be able to -charge in the flank any force that might push up the trough of the -depression, in order to get behind Hill’s line. He also withdrew half -Rettberg’s battery from the front of the height, and placed it on -a projecting lateral spur from which it could enfilade the valley. -Nor were these his only precautions; he sent a hasty message to -Cuesta, pointing out that the greater part of the Spanish line was -not threatened, and asking if he could spare reinforcements for the -left wing. The Spanish general behaved in a more liberal fashion than -might have been expected from his previous conduct. He consented to -lend Wellesley his reserve division, that of Bassecourt, about 5,000 -strong, and also put at his disposition a battery of twelve-pounders, -heavier guns than any which the British army possessed. The French -were so slow in moving that there was ample time, before the battle -grew hot, to send Bassecourt’s division round the rear of the British -line, and to place it on the lower slopes of the Sierra de Segurilla, -so as to continue to the northward the front formed by the British -cavalry. Of the Spanish guns placed at Wellesley’s disposition, -four were put into the Pajar de Vergara redoubt, by the side of -Lawson’s battery: the other two accompanied Bassecourt’s infantry, -and were placed on the northern spur of the Cerro de Medellin, near -Rettberg’s six-pounders. Somewhat later the Duke of Albuquerque -brought round the whole of his cavalry division--six regiments and -a horse-artillery battery--to the same quarter, and drew them up in -two lines to the rear of Anson’s and Fane’s brigades. But before he -arrived the battle had already begun. - -When the whole of the French infantry was ready, at about two o’clock -in the afternoon, the King gave orders for the artillery to open, -and eighty guns of the 1st and 4th Corps began to play upon the -British line. In some places the troops were only some 600 yards -from the enemy’s batteries, and the loss in many regiments was very -appreciable before a single musket had been fired. Only thirty -British and six Spanish pieces could reply: they were overwhelmed -from the first by the superior number of the French guns. It was -therefore with joy that Wellesley’s infantry saw that the artillery -engagement was not to last for long. All along the hostile line the -battalion-columns of Ruffin, Lapisse, Sebastiani, and Leval were -moving up to the attack, and when they reached the front, and threw -out their screen of tirailleurs, the guns grew silent. Only from the -Cerro de Cascajal, where Villatte was hanging back in obedience to -Victor’s orders, did the cannonade against Hill’s brigades continue. - -The first troops to come into collision with the allies were Leval’s -Germans, upon the extreme left of the French line. This, it is said, -was contrary to the King’s orders; he had intended to hold this -division somewhat back, as it was in danger of being outflanked by -the Spaniards if it made a premature advance[657]. But Leval had a -tangled terrain of vines and olive groves in his front: when once he -had entered it he lost sight of the troops on his right, and fearing -to be late on account of the obstacles in his front, committed the -opposite fault. He came rushing in upon Campbell’s outpost line -half an hour before the other divisions had closed with the British -centre, the time being then 2.30 in the afternoon. - - [657] See Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, p. 260. - -The nine battalions of the German division were arrayed in a single -line of battalion columns[658], with a thick screen of tirailleurs in -their front. But their order had been so much broken up by the walls -and thickets that the 4,500 bayonets appeared to the British like -one confused mass of skirmishers. They came on fast and furiously, -chasing the pickets of the 7th and 53rd before them, till they -emerged into the comparatively open ground in front of the Pajar de -Vergara[659]. Here the defence was standing ready for them: Campbell -had brought up one battalion of his rear brigade into his front -line, so that the 40th, as well as the 53rd and 7th, were facing the -attack. On his right lay the redoubt with its ten guns: further to -the south the two left-hand units of the French division were opposed -to troops of Cuesta’s army. Hence it came that while the Nassau and -Dutch regiments faced the British infantry, the Baden regiment was in -front of the guns, while the Hessians and the Frankfort battalion had -to do with the Spaniards. - - [658] Their order from left to right was as follows: - Frankfort-Hesse (two batts.), Baden (two batts.), Holland (two - batts.), Nassau (two batts.). - - [659] There is a legend which occurs in all French narratives of - Talavera--starting with the contemporary accounts, and including - Desprez’s and Jourdan’s _Mémoires_. It is to the effect that - Leval’s division, in its first advance, came upon an English - battalion, which several writers call the 45th, lying in front - of the rest of the allied line. It is alleged that the Nassau - regiment surrounded and almost captured it--that they would have - taken it prisoner indeed _en masse_, if the troops on their - left (Holland and Baden) had held firm. But at least ‘on lui - prit une centaine d’hommes, le major, le lieutenant-colonel, et - le colonel--ce dernier mourut de ses blessures’ (Jourdan). No - such incident can have occurred, for (1) no English regiment - lost more than twenty-one ‘missing’ on this side of the field. - (2) No English officer of higher rank than a captain was taken - prisoner in the battle. (3) Only one officer was killed in the - whole of Campbell’s division, and he was a lieutenant of the 7th - Fusiliers. (4) The 45th was not engaged with Leval’s men, but lay - to the left and supported the Guards in resisting Sebastiani: it - lost one officer (a captain) and twelve men missing, but this - was in the great _mêlée_ in the centre, at the end of the day’s - fighting: it had no officer killed. I am driven to conclude - that the whole is some gross exaggeration of the surprise of - Campbell’s pickets in the vineyards, and that instead of a - ‘battalion’ we should read the light companies of the division. - Cooper of the 7th Fusiliers, who was in the skirmishing line, - says that the Germans got close among them by calling out - ‘Españoles’ and pretending to be Spaniards. A few prisoners - (twenty-six in all) were lost in this way. - -When the Germans surged out from among the olive groves into the -comparatively open ground in front of the Pajar de Vergara, the -musketry opened along both lines at a distance of about 200 yards, -the assailants delivering a rolling fire, while the defenders of -the position answered with regular battalion volleys. Several times -Leval’s men advanced a few score paces, and the distance between -the two divisions was growing gradually less. But the attacking -force was evidently suffering more than the allies: in the centre -especially, where the ten guns of the redoubt were firing canister -into the disordered mass, the casualties of the Baden battalions were -terrible: they could not bear up against the blasts of _mitraille_, -and after their colonel, von Porbeck, had fallen, they broke and -began to recoil. Seeing part of the enemy’s line falling into -disorder, General Campbell ordered his front line to charge. Then -Colonel Myers of the 7th, seizing the King’s colour of his regiment, -ran out in front of the line and calling ‘Come on, Fusiliers,’ led -the advance[660]. His own battalion, the 40th and the 53rd, at once -closed with the Nassau and Dutch regiments, who shrank back into the -thickets and melted away from the front. The victors pursued them for -some distance, capturing in their onward career a whole battery of -six guns, which was being brought forward to reply to the artillery -of the redoubt, but had failed to reach the clearing before the line -in front of them gave way. The three battalions on Leval’s extreme -left, which had the Spaniards in front of them, had been exchanging -volleys with their opponents without notable advantage on either -side, when the rest of the division broke. When their companions -retired they also were forced to draw back, in order to prevent -themselves from being turned on both flanks. Campbell was cautious -enough to stop his men before they had gone far forward among the -thickets, and brought them back to their old position: he spiked the -guns that he had taken, and left them in the clearing in front of -the redoubt. His losses had been very small, owing to his admirable -self-restraint in calling back his charging regiments before they got -out of hand. - - [660] This was the Myers who fell in storming the famous hill of - Albuera in 1811. See Cooper (of the 7th), p. 22. - -Leval therefore was able to rally his division at leisure, upon the -two Polish battalions which formed its supports. He had lost in the -three-quarters of an hour during which he was engaged some six or -seven hundred men. The battle was raging by now all down the line, -and when the Germans were re-formed, they received orders to advance -for a second time, to cover the flank of Sebastiani’s division, -now hotly engaged with Sherbrooke’s right brigades. Neglecting -chronological considerations, in order to finish the narrative of -the action in this quarter, it may suffice to say that Leval’s -second attack was made at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon: it was -not delivered with so much energy as had been shown in his first. It -encountered the same obstacles, and could not surmount them. Once -more the advance rolled up through the olive groves, and reached the -clearing in front of the battery. Again the head of the attacking -masses withered away under the musketry fire and the salvos from the -English and Spanish guns, and the whole finally went to the rear -in disorder. Campbell, in repelling this attack, used his second -brigade as well as his first, and pushed the enemy further back than -he had done during the earlier fighting: the Spaniards also came out -of their line and continued to flank the retreating enemy with two -or three battalions and a half-battery[661]. As the Hessians and -Frankforters in their front began to give way, they were assailed -by one of Henestrosa’s cavalry regiments, the _Regimiento del Rey_, -which charged with great spirit, and cut up many men before they -could form square. The bulk of the two battalions, however, clubbed -together in a mass and retired into the woods, defending themselves -as best they could. The victorious Spanish horsemen while following -them, came upon a second French battery which (like that captured -by the British brigade on their left) was being brought forward by -a narrow lane between two olive groves. They cut down the gunners -and took four pieces, which were dragged back into the redoubt. This -was by far the best piece of work done by Spanish cavalry during the -whole of the first years of the war, and did much to atone for the -panic of the previous night in the eyes of the British observers upon -the right wing. - - [661] ‘Another lull in the storm, and fresh formation. “Here they - come again” said many voices: so they did, but we were ready - and gave them such a warm reception that they speedily went to - the right-about. As in their first attack they now left behind - several pieces of cannon, which we secured as before. After these - two attacks and sharp repulses we were not troubled with their - company any more.’ Cooper, p. 23. - -The repulse of Leval’s division was complete, and its wrecks, once -more rallied upon the two Polish battalions in their rear, drew -back into the plain, and were completely put out of action. In this -attack they lost not only the four guns taken by the Spaniards, but -seven more pieces of artillery. Convinced that he could not carry -the Pajar de Vergara position unless he could bring guns to bear -upon the redoubt, and check the ravages of its salvos of canister, -Leval had tried to push his remaining two batteries into the firing -line. Again, as in the first attack, they were left helpless when -the infantry broke, and became the prey of the pursuers. It would -seem that he lost on this day seventeen guns in all[662]. The total -of the casualties in his division were 1,007, nearly a quarter of -its force: the colonels of the Baden and Frankfort regiments and the -major commanding the Dutch battery had been left on the field[663]. -Campbell had suffered on a very different scale--he had only lost 236 -men, and it is improbable that the Spaniards on his right had more -than 150 or 180 casualties, since they only fought with one wing of -the attacking force. Wellesley, not without reason, gave the highest -praise in his dispatch to Campbell, for the admirable and cautious -defence which he had made. The management of the 4th Division, -indeed, contrasted strongly with that of the troops to its left, -where Sherbrooke’s brigades--as we shall see--risked the loss of the -battle by their rash pursuit of the enemy, far beyond the limits of -the position which had been given them to defend. - - [662] There can be no rational doubt that the total number of - guns taken was seventeen, as set forth in Charles Stewart’s - report to Wellesley, as Adjutant-general, viz. ‘four - eight-pounders, four six-pounders, one four-pounder, one six-inch - howitzer, taken by Brigadier-general A. Campbell’s brigade, - with one six-inch howitzer and six other guns left by the enemy - and found in the woods’ of which four were in the hands of the - Spaniards. Wellesley, in his dispatch, made the error of stating - that twenty guns had been taken, being under the impression that - the Spaniards had captured seven pieces, while they themselves - only claim four--a Captain Piñero was mentioned in Eguia’s - dispatch for causing them to be brought back to the Spanish line. - The British took thirteen guns: three days after the battle - Wellesley made them over to his allies. He writes to O’Donoju - [Talavera, Aug. 1]: ‘We have got thirteen pieces of French - artillery, which I wish to give over to the Spanish army--the - other seven [four] you have already got. I shall be obliged if - you will urge General Cuesta to desire the commanding officer - of his artillery to receive charge of them from the officer - commanding the British artillery.’ This is surely conclusive as - to the numbers. - - Jourdan in his _Mémoires_ acknowledges the loss of apparently - _all_ Leval’s guns--three batteries. ‘L’artillerie du général - Leval, qu’on avait imprudemment engagée au milieu des bois, des - vignes et des fosses, ayant eu la plupart de ses chevaux tués, - ne put pas être retirée; événement fâcheux qu’on eut le tort - impardonnable de cacher au roi’ [p. 261]. Desprez says that _six_ - pieces only were lost: Thiers allows _eight_. - - But the most interesting point of the controversy comes out - in Napoleon’s correspondence with his brother Joseph. On Aug. - 25, the Emperor writes in hot anger to say that he sees from - the English newspapers that Joseph had lost twenty guns, a - fact concealed in the King’s dispatch. He desires to be told - at once the names of the batteries that were captured and the - divisions to which they belonged. Jourdan replies in the King’s - behalf on Sept. 15, that _no_ guns have been lost--four pieces - of Leval’s artillery had been for a moment in the hands of the - British, but they were recaptured. Joseph himself writes to the - same effect next day: ‘Wellesley n’a pris aucune aigle, il n’en - montrera pas plus que de canons.’ On the nineteenth, Jourdan - writes to Clarke, the Minister of War, to say that he has just - found out that _two_ guns had been lost by Leval. Sénarmont, - the artillery chief of the 4th Corps, explains to Jourdan, in a - letter of September 27, that _ten_ pieces had been lost in the - olive groves, but that all were recovered save _two_, one Dutch - six-pounder, and one French eight-pounder. The truth comes out in - Desprez’s narrative. He says that the King, hearing that Leval - had left guns abandoned in front of the Pajar de Vergara, ordered - Sebastiani to have them brought in: ‘Le général assura que déjà - elles avaient été reprises. Cette assertion était inexacte. Le - général Sebastiani était-il lui-même en erreur? Ou les ordres - donnés lui paraissaient-ils inexécutables? Je n’ai jamais eu - le mot de l’énigme: quoi qu’il en soit, les pièces tombèrent - le lendemain au pouvoir de l’ennemi. Le Général Sénarmont, qui - commandait l’artillerie, ne rendit pas compte de cette perte. Le - général Sebastiani l’avait prié avec instance de la cacher. Aussi - dans son rapport sur la bataille Joseph déclara-t-il positivement - qu’on n’avait pas perdu un canon. Plus tard les journaux anglais - firent connaître la vérité. L’Empereur, qui savait apprécier - leur exactitude, reprocha à son frère de l’avoir trompé. Joseph - eut assez de délicatesse pour accepter ces reproches et ne point - déclarer de quelle manière les choses s’étaient passées’ [p. 491]. - - In short, Sebastiani and Sénarmont conspired to hide the truth, - and Joseph, who liked them both (see his letters in Ducasse, - especially vi. 456, where on Sept. 30 he sends Sénarmont a gold - box as a sort of ‘consolation prize’), hushed the matter up in - their interests. The most curious part of the matter is that on - Sept. 27, Sénarmont was able to say with literal exactness that - only two pieces were missing, for fifteen of the lost guns had - been retaken on August 5, behind the bridge of Arzobispo, during - the retreat of Cuesta’s army. They had been given back to their - owners long before September, so were no longer missing. But this - can hardly be called ‘the whole truth and nothing but the truth.’ - - [663] The losses were killed: officers six, men ninety-seven: - wounded, officers twenty-four, men 803: prisoners, seventy-seven - men. Campbell lost killed: officers one, men thirty-two: wounded, - officers six, men 171: missing, officers one, men twenty-five--a - total of 236. The Spaniards may have had 150 casualties--it is - difficult to see that they can have suffered much more, as they - had only two hostile regiments in front of them. - -We must now turn to their doings--the most desperate fighting that -occurred during the day. Sherbrooke’s eight battalions had to -endure the preliminary cannonade for more than half an hour after -Campbell’s men were closely engaged with the enemy. It was not till -three o’clock that the two French divisions opposed to them began -to descend towards the Portiña, in an orderly and imposing array. -Each of the French generals had drawn up his twelve battalions in -two lines--the front line deployed in column of divisions, the -supporting line in solid column of battalions. But there was this -difference in their arrangements, that Lapisse had placed his -brigades one behind the other, while Sebastiani had preferred to work -his brigades side by side, each with one regiment in first and one -in second line. The former therefore had Laplannes’ brigade (16th -Léger and 45th Line) opposed to Low’s and Langwerth’s regiments of -the German Legion and Cameron’s 2/83rd. The latter had the 28th of -Rey’s and the 58th of Liger-Bellair’s brigades ranged over against -the 1/61st and the British Foot-Guards. When the cannonade of the -French batteries ceased, the twelve battalions of their first line, -preceded by the usual swarm of _tirailleurs_, moved down toward the -Portiña. They crossed the brook and pressed on towards the red line -that stood awaiting their approach, driving before them with ease -the comparatively insignificant screen of light troops that lay in -front of the British centre. Sherbrooke, who was responsible for the -whole line of the defence, since his division exactly covered the -ground on which the French attack was delivered, had issued orders -that the troops were not to fire till the enemy came within fifty -yards of them, and that they were then to deliver a single volley and -charge. This programme was executed with precise obedience: though -suffering severely from the enemy’s musketry, the division held in -its fire till the hostile columns were close upon them, and then -opened with one tremendous discharge which crashed out simultaneously -along the whole eight battalions. The leading ranks of Lapisse’s and -Sebastiani’s front line went down in swathes,--one French witness -says that the infantry of the regiments of the 4th Corps lost a third -of their numbers in less than ten minutes. When the charge which -Sherbrooke had ordered followed close upon the blasting musketry -fire, the enemy retired in disorder and fell back beyond the Portiña. - -The divisional general had apparently forgotten to caution his -colonels against the danger of carrying their advance too far. -Instead of contenting themselves with chasing the broken enemy as -far as the brook, and then returning to their positions, the four -brigades of the 1st division all crossed the water and pursued the -French into their own ground; the German Legion on the left actually -began to push them up the lower slopes of the Cerro de Cascajal, -while the Guards on the right went forward far into the rolling plain -in front of them. Cameron halted his two battalions not far beyond -the Portiña; but on each side of him the pursuit was pressed with -reckless energy, and without any remembrance of the fact that the -enemy had strong reserves. - -Thus it came to pass that a disaster followed the first success of -Sherbrooke’s division. Both the Germans on the left and the Guards on -the right found themselves in face of intact troops, behind whom the -broken front line of the enemy took refuge. They were in no condition -to begin a new combat, for they were in complete disorder, and there -was a broad gap on the inner flank of each brigade, owing to the fact -that Cameron had halted and refused to push forward into danger. -Hence came a perilous crisis: the French reserves moved forward, -the guns on the Cascajal height enfiladed the German Legion, while -two regiments of Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons moved in upon the right -flank of the Guards. The whole of the six battalions that had joined -in the reckless advance were forced to recoil, fighting desperately -but losing ground every moment, and pressed into clumps and masses -that presented no trace of their former line of battle. When they -fell back to the point where Cameron had stopped, the 61st and 83rd -became involved in their retreat, and were forced to repass the -Portiña in their company. The French followed with shouts of victory, -pushing their advantage to the utmost and slaughtering the disordered -battalions by hundreds. The disaster was worst on the left, where -half the strength of the 2nd Line Battalion of the German Legion--387 -men--was destroyed in twenty minutes, and the 5th battalion of that -same corps lost over 100 prisoners. The Guards suffered almost as -heavily: out of their 2,000 men 611 went down killed or wounded: but -they left no prisoners behind. - -It seemed that the day might well be lost, for Wellesley’s reserves -were small. Such as they were, however, they were at once put into -action. Mackenzie brought forward his brigade to the ground which the -Guards had originally covered, and drew them up to withstand the rush -of Sebastiani’s division--the 2/24th on the right, the 2/31st on the -left, with the 1/45th between them. The disordered household troops -passed through their intervals, and rallied behind them with splendid -promptness: ‘their good humour and determination after such dreadful -losses’ says an eye-witness, ‘was shown by their giving a loud hurrah -as they took up their new ground[664].’ At the same time Cotton -brought up the single brigade of light cavalry which was in reserve, -and drew them up on Mackenzie’s right, so as to cover his flank. -Sebastiani came up with great boldness against the fresh front thus -presented to him, and for twenty minutes there was a furious musketry -battle in the British right centre. Mackenzie himself fell, and his -three battalions lost 632 men out of about 2,000: but they held their -own, and finally the enemy recoiled. They were helped somewhat in -their inclination to retreat by a charge of the Light Dragoons upon -the flank of their left-hand regiment, the 75th, which had about 150 -men sabred[665]. Thus on this point the battle was saved: the main -credit must go to Mackenzie’s brigade, which has never received the -praise that was its due, for its general was killed, and thus no -report from the 3rd division was sent in to Wellesley, who omitted -all mention of its doings in his Talavera dispatch[666]. It is never -too late to do homage to forgotten valour, and to call attention to -a neglected feat of arms. The services of the 24th, 31st, and 45th -saved the day for Britain[667]. - - [664] Lord Munster, p. 231. - - [665] General Desprez, relating the doings of Sebastiani’s - division, says that the 75th were cut up by _Spanish_ light - horse: but there were no cavalry of that nation in this part of - the field, and it would seem that the French were misled by the - blue uniforms of the Light Dragoons. - - [666] Except that he mentioned the colonels of the 31st and 45th - among the officers who had done well in the battle. - - [667] The only place where a good account of the doings of - Mackenzie’s brigade is to be found is in the excellent regimental - history of the 24th. I fully share the indignation expressed by - its author at the unmerited oblivion in which its splendid doings - have been lying for so many years. [See Paton’s _Annals of the - 24th Regiment_.] - -Sebastiani therefore drew back terribly mauled: his division had -lost _all_ its four colonels, seven of its twelve battalion-chiefs, -seventy other officers and 2,100 rank and file--including some sixty -prisoners. There was no more fight left in them. They recoiled into -the plain, and drew up at last not far from the wrecks of Leval’s -division, a full mile beyond the Portiña. - -Meanwhile, however great may have been the danger in the British -right-centre, that in the left-centre was even greater. Cameron’s, -Low’s, and Langwerth’s brigades were all in the most desperate -position: the former, not having pushed so far to the front as the -four German battalions, had suffered least of the three--though it -had lost 500 men out of 1,400. But the Legionary troops were in far -worse case--Langwerth had been killed, and his brigade was reduced -from 1,300 to 650 bayonets--just fifty per cent. of the men had been -lost. Low had gone into action with only 950 rank and file, owing to -the heavy casualty-list of the preceding night. Of these he now lost -350, including 150 made prisoners in the disorderly retreat down the -slope of the Cerro de Cascajal. That these troops ever rallied and -made head at all, when they had recrossed the Portiña, is much to -their credit. - -The situation was saved by Wellesley’s own prescience. The moment -that he saw the rash attack on the French line to which Sherbrooke -had committed himself, he looked round for supports which might -be utilized to stay the inevitable reaction that must follow. -Mackenzie’s brigade was available on the right-centre, and was used -as we have seen. But there were no infantry reserves behind the -left-centre: it was necessary to send down troops from the Cerro -de Medellin. Villatte was then threatening its front, Ruffin was -marching to turn its northern flank, and Wellesley did not dare -to detach a whole brigade from the key of the position. He took, -however, Richard Stewart’s strongest battalion, the 1/48th under -Colonel Donnellan (which had still over 700 bayonets in line even -after its losses in the morning) and sent it at full speed down the -southern slope of the Cerro. It arrived in time to take position on -the old ground of the British line, at the moment that the retreating -masses came rolling back across the Portiña. If the 48th had been -carried away in the general backward movement, the day would have -been lost: but the regiment stood firm, and allowed Cameron’s and -Langwerth’s troops to pass by its flanks and form up in its rear. -While it was holding back Lapisse’s central advance, the defeated -brigades rallied and re-formed with admirable celerity, and the -battle was restored. Here, as further to the right, the fighting now -resolved itself into a furious musketry-combat between enemies both -of whom were now spent and weakened by their previous exertions[668]. -In such a duel the line had always the advantage over the column in -the end. The French, when once brought to a standstill by the 1/48th, -lost their _élan_, and stood heaped together in disorderly masses, -keeping up a rolling fire but gaining no ground. Howorth turned -upon them the batteries on the Cerro de Medellin, which enfiladed -their flank and added to their confusion. General Lapisse himself -was killed at this moment, as he was trying to urge on his men to -a final advance. It was probably, however, not his death--on which -all the French accounts lay great stress--but rather the defeat -of Sebastiani’s division on their immediate right which finally -shook the _morale_ of the French regiments, and induced them to -move back, first at a slow pace, then in undisguised retreat. The -shattered remnants of the German Legion and of the 1/48th, 1/61st, -and 2/83rd were in no condition to follow. Seldom have two combatants -so thoroughly mauled each other as had the twelve French and the -seven allied battalions which fought in this part of the field. Of -the 6,800 men of Lapisse’s division, the general, sixty-nine other -officers, and 1,700 men were _hors de combat_. Of 4,300[669] British -and German troops opposed to them almost exactly the same number had -been lost--a general (Langwerth), seventy-seven officers, and 1,616 -men. That the smaller force should ever have held its ground after -losing more than a third of its number is almost miraculous. There -was no such a victory as this during the whole war, save Albuera. - - [668] In most modern English narratives of Talavera it is stated - that the 1/48th supported the Guards. This must be a mistake, - caused by a misreading of Wellesley’s dispatch. It is certain - that the Guards fell back on Mackenzie’s brigade. Contemporary - accounts by officers of the 2/24th speak of the Coldstreams - passing through them to re-form: the Scots Fusiliers therefore - must have had the 2/31st and 1/45th behind them. Donnellan and - the 1/48th really supported Langwerth’s German battalions, as - Lord Londonderry (the only historian who has got the facts right) - clearly shows (i. p. 410). It is curious that the historians of - the battle have not seen that the Germans, in their dreadfully - mauled condition, could not have been rallied without external - aid: this aid was given by Donnellan, while Mackenzie was saving - the Guards. - - [669] The figures are (after deducting the losses of the earlier - combats): Low’s brigade 964, Langwerth’s 1,315, Cameron’s 1,306, - 1/48th 700, a total of 4,285. The losses were: Low 326, Langwerth - 721, Cameron 547, 1/48th _about_ 100, a total of 1,694, including - officers. (See tables in Appendix.) - -While the main stress of the battle had been rolling across the -lower slopes, above the middle course of the Portiña, matters had -been comparatively quiet on the Cerro de Medellin. Victor, it will -be remembered, had ordered that Villatte was to make no serious -attack on the height until the divisions to his left had made some -impression upon the British centre. But Lapisse and Sebastiani, in -spite of their temporary successes, had never broken into Wellesley’s -position. The assault on the Cerro therefore was never made, though -a furious artillery fire was kept up against its garrison throughout -the afternoon. The handful of British guns upon the crest could -make no adequate reply: hence the three brigades of Tilson, Richard -Stewart, and Donkin were suffering very serious losses from the long -cannonade. Wellesley had made them shelter themselves, as far as was -possible, behind the sky-line. Nevertheless the storm of shot and -shell that beat upon the position was not without effect. In Donkin’s -brigade no one, save the light companies skirmishing along the lower -slopes, discharged a musket that afternoon, yet the casualties in its -ranks were no less than 195[670]. Hill’s two brigades, though better -covered, had still many killed and wounded. That the return-fire of -the British artillery and skirmishers was not altogether ineffective -is shown by the fact that the two regiments of Villatte’s second -brigade, which held the opposite slope, lost 185 men, and even the -squadrons of Beaumont in its rear had a few troopers disabled[671]. -Nevertheless the fighting in this part of the field was not only -indecisive but comparatively innocuous to both sides, when compared -with the awful slaughter that was going on to their right. - - [670] For a description of the sufferings of the 88th, whose - battalion companies did not fire a single shot, during the - cannonade of the afternoon, see Grattan’s _Connaught Rangers_, - vol. iii. p. 91. - - [671] For these losses, see the Talavera Appendix. - -It only remains to tell of the combat to the north of the Cerro, in -the narrow valley that separated the British position from the Sierra -de Segurilla. Here the engagement began at a much later hour than in -the centre. All the observers on the hill speak of the first contest -of Campbell and Leval as being concluded, and of that of Sherbrooke -and Sebastiani as being at its height, before the French right wing -began to move. - -The French troops in this direction, it will be remembered, were the -three regiments of Ruffin, now mere wrecks of their former selves, -and the first brigade of Villatte’s division, that of Cassagne. The -six battalions of the latter force were near the Cerro de Medellin, -while Ruffin’s men stood further to the north, under the Sierra de -Segurilla. In support of them both lay Merlin’s division of light -cavalry. - -At the moment when Victor had received permission to turn the flank -of the Cerro, it had appeared that he would meet little opposition. -But long ere the French were ready to advance, they had seen allied -troops arriving in haste and taking up their position at the southern -end of the valley. First Fane’s and Anson’s cavalry had drawn up on -the level ground, then Bassecourt’s Spanish infantry had appeared on -the rocky slopes of the Sierra, and had thrown out a long skirmishing -line opposite Ruffin’s right. Lastly Albuquerque’s whole cavalry -division had ridden round from the rear of the centre, and taken post -behind Anson and Fane. There were now over 5,000 bayonets and 5,000 -sabres in face of the French brigades. - -It was clear that any attempt to storm the northern face of the Cerro -would expose the troops that attempted it to a flank attack from -the allied troops in the valley. It was this that made Ruffin and -Villatte (who was present in person with Cassagne’s brigade) very -chary of molesting Hill’s position. On the other hand if the French -advanced up the valley to attack the cavalry at its southern end, -they would expose themselves to a flanking fire from the guns on the -Cerro and from Hill’s right-hand infantry brigade. - -Nevertheless, when the roar of the invisible battle on the other side -of the Cascajal height was at its loudest, the two French generals -began a cautious advance towards the front. They at once came under -a tiresome flanking artillery fire from the Cerro: half Rettberg’s -battery of the German Legion had been placed on a spur from which -it enfiladed Villatte’s nearest regiment. Two heavy Spanish -twelve-pounders opened from another part of the slope[672], and -Albuquerque had also placed his horse-artillery guns in a position -from which they bore up the valley. The pieces that accompanied the -French advance, being in the trough of the depression, could do -little harm in return. - - [672] Hartmann of the K.G.L. artillery has a note on these - pieces: they were useful because of their heavy calibre, none - of the British guns being heavier than six-pounders. They were - bright new brass cannon from the arsenal at Seville: their - machinery for sighting and elevation was of a most primitive - type--a century out of date. The lieutenant in command seemed - unable to hit anything with them, whereupon Hartmann got off his - horse, himself laid a gun, and had the luck to dismount a French - piece in the valley. After this the Spaniards fired better and - did very good service. - -After advancing as far as the path which leads from Talavera to -Segurilla, Ruffin deployed his right regiment, the much depleted -9th Léger, and sent it up the Sierra to form a screen opposite -Bassecourt’s infantry. The other six battalions, the 24th and 96th, -advanced in column along the valley, with the 27th from Cassagne’s -brigade on their left; presently the whole came level with the -northern slope of the Cerro, just reaching the farm of Valdefuentes -at its foot. - -At this moment Lapisse’s attack had already been beaten off, and -Wellesley was able to turn his attention from the centre to the flank -of his line[673]. Crossing the crest of the Cerro, he studied for -a moment the situation of the French regiments, and then sent down -orders for Anson’s brigade of light dragoons to charge them, with -Fane’s heavy cavalry in support. The moment that the British horsemen -were seen to be advancing the enemy hastily formed squares--the -24th and 96th slightly to the west of the Segurilla road, the 27th -in a more advanced position just under the walls of the farm of -Valdefuentes. A battalion of _grenadiers réunis_, and the 63rd of the -Line, which formed Villatte’s supports, also fell into square far to -the rear. The concentration of the French regiments in vast masses -of three battalions each gave a great opportunity to the allied -artillery, which found easy targets in the square blocks of men at -their feet. - - [673] That the charge of Anson’s light dragoons came after - victory had been secured in the centre is clear from several - eye-witnesses, e.g. Leith-Hay of the 29th, who was on top of - the Cerro, and close to Wellesley, writes: ‘The favourable - termination of the battle in the centre created great excitement: - the cheer, which had been re-echoed from the height had hardly - died away, when a scene of another character was in preparation. - The movements of the divisions Ruffin and Villatte had during - the late contest been vacillating and uncertain. Formed to all - appearance to attack the height, they had even advanced some - distance towards its base. Sir Arthur crossed with rapid steps - from the right of the 29th to the part of the hill looking down - on Anson’s brigade. It was immediately known that a charge would - take place’ (i. p. 158). - -As Anson’s brigade advanced, the right regiment, the 23rd Light -Dragoons, found itself opposite the large square of the 27th -Léger, while the 1st Light Dragoons of the German Legion faced the -smaller masses of the 24th and 96th. The ground seemed favourable -for a charge, and though an attack on unbroken infantry is always -hazardous, the squadrons came on with great confidence and were soon -closing in at headlong speed upon the hostile line. - -An unforeseen chance of war, however, wrecked the whole plan. The -long dry waving grass of the valley seemed to show a level surface, -but the appearance was deceitful. About a hundred and fifty yards in -front of the French squares was a narrow but deep ravine, the bed of -a small winter-torrent which discharges its waters into the Portiña -during the rainy season. It was about fifteen feet broad and ten feet -deep in the northern part of the field, a little narrower in its -southern course. There were many places at which it could be crossed -with ease by a horseman moving alone and at a moderate pace. But for -squadrons riding knee to knee at headlong speed it was a dangerous -obstacle, and indeed a trap of the most deadly sort. It was wholly -invisible to the horsemen till they came upon it. Colonel Elley, the -second in command of the 23rd, who rode two lengths ahead of the -front line of his regiment, mounted on a grey horse, and conspicuous -to every observer on the Cerro de Medellin, was the first man to -discover the peril[674]. His charger cleared it at a bound; but -knowing that the inferior mounts of the rank and file would certainly -come to grief, he wheeled round on the further bank, threw up his -hand and tried to wave back his followers. It was too late: the two -squadrons of the front line were on the brink of the ravine before -they could understand his action. Some of the troopers cleared the -obstacle in their stride; some swerved in time and refused to take -the leap; others scrambled into and over the less difficult points -of the ditch: but many fell horse and man into the trap, and were -then crushed by the rear rank falling in on top of them. There were -several broken necks, and scores of broken arms and legs in the -leading squadrons. The second line got warning of the obstacle by -seeing the inexplicable disorder into which their fellows had fallen. -They slackened their pace, but were borne into the confused mass at -the ravine before they could entirely bring themselves to a stand. -Meanwhile the front face of the square formed by the 27th Léger -opened fire on the unhappy regiment. - - [674] Leith-Hay, p. 159. - -The German light dragoons, on the northern side of the valley, came -upon the fatal cutting at a point where it was somewhat shallower and -broader than in front of the 23rd--one of their officers estimates it -in his narrative at eighteen feet in width and six or eight in depth. -Their disaster therefore was not so complete as that of their British -comrades. But many troopers of the first line were unhorsed, and -others, though keeping their saddles, could not manage to scramble up -the further side of the ravine. The rear squadrons came up in time -to add to the confusion, and reined up among the survivors of the -front[675]. - - [675] Napier, ii. 176, has a story that Col. Arentschildt of the - German dragoons discovered the ravine in time, and checked his - line, crying, ‘I will not kill my young mans’--thereby saving - his regiment and taking no part in the charge. This is entirely - disproved by the narratives of the officers of the 1st K.G.L. - Dragoons, quoted in Beamish’s _History of the King’s German - Legion_. The evidence of Colonel von der Decken alone suffices to - show that the regiment fell into the trap, suffered severe losses - therein, and then executed a disorderly and ineffective charge on - Ruffin’s squares, after which it returned to its old position, - with a loss of nearly forty men. Napier seems to have been misled - by the statement of Major Ponsonby of the 23rd, to the effect - that the Germans turned back at the ravine. He also says that - Seymour, Colonel of the 23rd, was wounded, but that officer’s - name does not appear in the casualty list. - -The two regiments were now in utter confusion, and had already -suffered severe loss both by the fall into the ravine and by the -French musketry which had opened upon them. Their colonels would -have been wise to give up the attempt to advance and to fall back in -their old position. How could squadrons in such a disordered state -hope to break into French squares? But both Seymour of the 23rd and -Arentschildt were officers of high mettle, and throwing prudence to -the winds they collected such of their men as had leaped or scrambled -over the ravine, and led them against the hostile infantry. Probably -little more than half of either corps took part in the final charge. - -Be this as it may, both the 23rd and the Legionary dragoons made an -attempt to gallop in upon the squares in their front. The Germans -rode at that of the 24th regiment, received its fire, and were -repulsed, though a few men fell close in upon the bayonets. They then -galloped off and fell back up the valley. Far more disastrous was the -fate of the English regiment. The survivors of the two left squadrons -charged the square of the 27th Léger, were repulsed with heavy loss, -recrossed the ravine, and struggled back to the British lines. But -Colonel Elley and the right squadrons, having no enemy immediately in -their front, rode furiously between the French square and the farm of -Valdefuentes, and charged a line of cavalry which was visible a few -hundred yards to the rear[676]. This was the leading brigade [10th -and 26th Chasseurs] of Merlin’s division, which was acting in support -of Villatte and Ruffin. The squadrons in front of the 23rd swerved -to the side when charged[677], but on passing them the British -dragoons found another regiment of Merlin’s second line opposed to -them[678]. They dashed at it, whereupon the regiment that had evaded -them swung round and fell upon their rear. Encircled by fivefold -numbers the remnant of Drake’s and Allen’s squadrons of the 23rd -were annihilated. Only a few well-mounted officers[679], including -their leader Elley, and two or three troopers cut their way through -the enemy, rode off to the northward, and ultimately escaped to -Bassecourt’s Spanish line on the Sierra de Segurilla. The total loss -of the regiment was 207 killed, wounded and missing out of 450 sabres -who took the field in the morning. Of these, three officers and 105 -men were prisoners--most of them wounded. - - [676] In this charge they carried away with them, and almost - captured, Generals Villatte and Cassagne, who had failed to take - refuge in the square of the 27th, and were caught outside it. - [Sémélé’s Report.] - - [677] In the French official reports it is said that General - Strolz, the brigadier, drew aside the 10th Chasseurs, in order - to fall upon the British dragoons from the flank. Rocca (p. 104) - says that the regiment was charged and broke, but rallied again. - _Victoires et Conquêtes_ has: ‘le 10me de chasseurs ne pouvait - soutenir cette charge, ouvrit ses rangs, mais bientôt rallié il - chargea ses adversaires en queue.’ As the regiment only lost five - killed it does not seem likely that it was broken. The French - records do not give the number of its wounded. - - [678] This was the Westphalian _Chevaux-légers_ regiment. - - [679] Among the other officers who cut their way through was - Lord George William Russell, desperately wounded by a cut on the - shoulder. Only three officers (two wounded) were taken prisoners - from these two squadrons: two others were killed: it would - seem therefore that out of twelve present with the two right - squadrons, several succeeded in getting out of the trap. Elley - says that the whole body that followed him did not exceed 170 - sabres, and that seven or eight only cut their way through the - enemy. - -It was late in the afternoon when the survivors of the 23rd found -their way back to the western end of the valley, and the battle in -the centre had long died down to a cannonade. Ruffin and Villatte -now had it in their power to advance again, but did not do so. If -they had gone further forward they would have lent their flank still -more to Hill’s troops upon the Cerro, and would have had to deploy, -a movement which would have exposed them, when no longer protected -by formation in square, to charges from the mass of allied cavalry -still visible in their front--Fane’s brigade and Albuquerque’s -strong division. Bassecourt’s Spaniards were holding their ground -against the flank-guard which had been sent up on to the Sierra de -Segurilla, and to drive them back Ruffin would have had to detach -more battalions from his main column. News had been received that -the central attack had completely failed. It was natural, therefore, -that after some hesitation the French right wing retired, and fell -back up the valley of the Portiña. Villatte’s two regiments had lost -about 200 men while standing in square under the fire of the guns on -the Cerro. They could no longer be regarded as fresh troops fit for -a prolonged advance, while the wrecks of Ruffin’s battalions, having -now been under fire three separate times in eighteen hours, were -utterly exhausted. It is clear that Victor could not have dared to -risk a serious attack upon the British left with these forces. - -[Illustration: BATTLE OF TALAVERA - THE MAIN ENGAGEMENT - 3 TO 5 P.M. JULY 28TH 1809] - -The battle had now come to a standstill: of the five French infantry -divisions in the front line those of Leval, Sebastiani, and Lapisse -were reforming their diminished ranks in the plain, far to the east -of the Portiña, while Villatte and Ruffin had fallen back on to the -slopes of the Cerro de Cascajal. The only intact infantry still -remaining at the disposition of the King were his own 1,800 Guards, -and the 3,300 bayonets of Dessolles. With these and with Villatte’s -two brigades, which had only lost 400 men, it would have been -possible to prepare one more assault upon the British position. -Victor, raging with anger at his third repulse, was anxious to -continue the action, though he had lost nearly one man in four of -his infantry, and had not won an inch of ground. The King was less -hopeful: the frightful slaughter had subdued his spirits, and he -asked himself whether the 5,000 men of his reserve would suffice to -break the thin red line against which the whole of the 1st and 4th -Corps had hurled themselves in vain. For a moment he seemed inclined -to risk his last stake, and the Guards and Dessolles were ordered -to move forward. But they had not gone far when a counter-order was -sent to check them: Milhaud, whose dragoons had spent the whole day -in observing the Spanish lines, had sent in a message to the effect -that Cuesta was at last showing signs of life, and that he could see -numerous troops pushing to the front among the olive groves in front -of the town. The news was not true, for nothing more than vedettes -and small exploring parties had been sent out by the Spanish general. -But the very suspicion that the Army of Estremadura might at last -be preparing to take the initiative was enough to damp the very -moderate ardour of King Joseph. If he committed himself to one final -dash at the English, and engaged both his reserve and the rallied -divisions of his front line, in an attack upon their allied centre -and left, what could he do in the event of the sudden appearance of -the whole Spanish army in the act of turning his southern flank? -Twenty-five thousand men, or more, might suddenly sally out from -the screen of groves, and fling themselves upon the left flank of -Sebastiani’s corps. To hold them back nothing would be available but -the 5,000 sabres of Milhaud and Latour-Maubourg; of infantry not one -man would be left to parry such a stroke. The King could not flatter -himself that anything but a disaster could ensue. Even if it were -not true that the Spaniards were already in motion, there was every -reason to believe that they might deliver an attack when they saw -the last French reserves put into action against the British. Few -generals would have resisted such a tempting opportunity. It was to -be remembered also that some of the Spaniards had actually come out -of their lines, and fallen upon Leval’s flank, when the last assault -had been pressed against the Pajar de Vergara. A third advance in -this quarter might yet rouse the whole Estremaduran army out of its -apathy, and induce it to charge home upon Sebastiani’s left wing. - -Jourdan and most of the members of Joseph’s staff were convinced -that it would be mad to deliver a last attack on the British line, -in face of the possible consequences of an advance by the Spaniards. -The Marshal declared that[680] it was impossible to proceed with any -further scheme of advance, and that the only safe course was to draw -back the whole army towards the Alberche. His master was relieved to -find a good reason for ending a battle which had been begun without -his permission, and continued under his very reluctant sanction. -Orders were sent along the whole line, directing both the 1st and the -4th Corps to abandon their fighting-ground and fall back to their -old position of the twenty-seventh. The cavalry divisions of Merlin, -Latour-Maubourg, and Milhaud were to cover the retreat. - - [680] The best account of all this comes from the _Mémoire_ of - General Desprez, who was riding with the head-quarters staff at - this moment. - -Victor was furious at receiving these directions. He averred to the -officer who bore the King’s dispatch that from his point of vantage -on the Cascajal he could command a view of the whole Spanish army, -and that he was positive that not a Spaniard had moved. He even -pretended to observe signs of a retreat in Wellesley’s lines, and -persisted that the mere demonstration of a fourth attack would induce -the allies to abandon their position. How he came to form any such -conclusion it is hard to see, for the whole British army was still -preserving its old ground, and no one from the Commander-in-chief -down to the youngest private was dreaming of a movement to the rear. -It would indeed have been insane to desert a strong position, in -order to retreat across the open in face of an army possessing 7,000 -excellent cavalry! But Victor, still loth to withdraw and to own -himself beaten, sent word to the King that he took it upon himself to -remain on the slopes of the Cascajal till he should receive further -orders, and that he yet hoped that the reserve might be sent forward -and the battle renewed. - -When Victor’s message reached the King, it had already been -discovered that all the rumours concerning the advance of the -Spaniards were false. But the hour was now late, and (as Jourdan -observed) if the army were to gain a final success--a most -problematical occurrence--there would be no daylight left in which -to push it to its legitimate end. He thought it better to take the -prudent course, to refuse to risk the reserve, whose defeat would -have the most fatal consequences, and to prepare for a retreat. The -orders were accordingly issued that the army should fall back to -its old camping-ground of the morning, deferring the passage of the -Alberche till the next day[681]. - - [681] All this is again derived from Desprez, who both carried - the King’s orders to Victor, and bore back Victor’s remonstrances - to the King. - -While the French commanders were in controversy concerning their -movements, the battle had died down into a cannonade, kept up with -great vehemence by the batteries on the Cerro de Cascajal. The -British and German guns never ceased their reply, but--as had been -the case during the whole day--they were far too few to subdue the -enemy’s fire: considering how they were overmatched, it is wonderful -that there was but one piece disabled, and that only sixty-six -gunners were put _hors de combat_. The opposing batteries were hit -almost as hard, for the artillery of the 1st Corps had sixty-four -casualties. - -A distressing accident took place during this final strife between -the hostile batteries: a large area of dry grass on the lower -slopes of the Cerro de Medellin took fire, from smouldering wadding -fanned by the wind. Many of the severely wounded of both sides -were scorched, and some burnt to death, by the short but devouring -conflagration that ran along the hillside[682]. - - [682] Lord Munster, p. 235; Leith-Hay, p. 162. - -By dusk the whole of the 4th Corps was rolling to the rear, and the -last rays of daylight showed Wellesley the welcome view of a general -retreat opposite his right and centre. Victor clung obstinately to -the Cerro de Cascajal till far into the hours of darkness. But at -last the cold fit supervened, his spirits sank, and he withdrew at -3 A.M. full of resentment, and well stocked with grievances for -the acrimonious correspondence with Joseph and Jourdan in which he -indulged for the next six weeks. - -There can be little doubt that Jourdan was right in refusing to -fall in with the younger marshal’s plans for a fourth assault on -the British. Wellesley was well settled into his fighting-ground: -at the southern end of his line Campbell was perfectly safe at the -Pajar de Vergara redoubt. He had lost no more than 236 men, so that -his whole division was practically intact. Hill’s brigades on the -Cerro were also in perfectly good order--they had not been attacked -since the morning, and would have been quite competent to defend -themselves at five o’clock in the afternoon. The cannonade which they -had been enduring had done some harm, but there were still 3,000 -men in line, to hold a most formidable position. The only point of -the British front on which the French could have hoped to make any -impression was the centre. Here the Guards and Cameron’s brigade had -suffered heavily, and the four battalions of the German Legion even -worse--they had lost a full fifty per cent. of their numbers. But -Mackenzie’s division was now in line with Sherbrooke’s, its first -brigade supporting the Guards, its second (Donkin’s) linked to the -Germans. Considering the way in which the British centre had dealt -with the 15,000 bayonets of Sebastiani and Lapisse during the main -engagement, the French critics who hold that they would have given -way before the 5,000 men of Dessolles and the Royal Guard, even when -backed by the rallied divisions, show a very optimistic spirit. -Moreover when the battle had waxed hot in this quarter, the French -would have had no certainty that Campbell and the Spaniards might not -have fallen upon their flank. For Leval’s much depleted division was -no longer in front of the British right--it had been withdrawn behind -Sebastiani[683], and there was nothing to prevent the reserve-brigade -of the 4th division from going to the aid of Sherbrooke’s men. The -chances of war are incalculable, but there seems no reason to believe -that Victor’s judgement as to the probability of success was any -better at five o’clock in the afternoon than it had been at five -o’clock in the morning. Jourdan was the wiser man. - - [683] See Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, p. 262. - -Thus ended the battle of Talavera, in which 16,000 British supported -and repulsed the attack of 26,000 French infantry--omitting from the -total of the assailants the division of Villatte, which was only -slightly engaged. The Cerro de Medellin was strong ground, but not -so strong as to counterbalance a superiority of 10,000 men. The real -fighting power of Wellesley’s foot-soldiery was shown in the lower -parts of the field, where Sherbrooke’s and Mackenzie’s 8,000 bayonets -achieved their marvellous success over the 15,000 men of Lapisse -and Sebastiani. Doomed to apparent ruin by their own rash valour -in pursuing the enemy across the Portiña, they yet recovered their -line, re-established the battle, and finally won an almost incredible -victory. The ‘First Division’ of the Peninsular army,--the Guards -and the German Legion who fought side by side throughout the whole -war,--had many proud days between 1809 and 1814, but surely Talavera -was the most honourable of them all. Yet probably Mackenzie’s brigade -and Donnellan’s 48th must claim an even higher merit--it was their -prompt and steady help which gave their comrades time to re-form, and -warded off the possibility of disaster at the critical moment. - -The Spaniards had little to do upon July 28, but what little they -had to do was well done. The charge of the cavalry regiment Rey was -well timed and gallantly delivered. The few battalions engaged near -the Pajar de Vergara and in Bassecourt’s division behaved steadily. -The artillery sent to aid the British was manfully worked and did -good service. But if only the Spanish army had been able to manœuvre, -what a difference there must have been in the battle! When Leval, -Sebastiani, and Lapisse fell back in disorder at 4 P.M., what would -have been the fate of the French if Cuesta could have led out 25,000 -men upon their flank and rear? He did not attempt to do so, and -probably he was right. Yet it was hard for a British army to have to -fight in line with allies who were perfectly useless for any large -offensive movement. - -The losses of Talavera, as we have already shown, were tremendous -on both sides. Adding together the casualties of the twenty-seventh -and the twenty-eighth, the British lost 5,365 men, 801 killed, 3915 -wounded, and 649 missing. Of the last-named 108 belonged to the -unfortunate 23rd Dragoons, and nearly 300 to the German Legion. -Two generals, Mackenzie and Langwerth, had been killed, and three -colonels, Ross of the Coldstream Guards, Donnellan of the 48th, and -Gordon of the 83rd. - -The French losses were decidedly heavier, though the percentage in -the regiments was in most cases far lower than that in the victorious -British force. The total was 7,268, of whom 761 were killed, 6,301 -wounded, and 206 missing[684]. General Lapisse and von Porbeck of the -Baden regiment, one of Leval’s brigadiers, were the only officers -of distinction slain. But the number of field-officers wounded was -enormous--in Sebastiani’s division _all_ the colonels, and seven out -of twelve of the battalion commanders were disabled. - -Cuesta never issued any proper return of his casualties. He stated -in one of his dispatches that they amounted to 1,201 men. This -figure cannot possibly represent killed and wounded alone. Only one -cavalry regiment, five or six battalions, and three batteries were -engaged, none of them heavily. The British troops which fought in -their neighbourhood had very modest losses, which made it incredible -that the comrades in line with them should have suffered to the -extent of more than 400 or 500 men. The balance must represent the -missing from the stampede of Portago’s division upon the night of -the twenty-seventh. Major-General Manglano, who commanded one of -the divisions near the Pajar de Vergara, and de Lastra, the gallant -colonel of the _regimiento del Rey_, were wounded. - -The only trophies taken on either side were the seventeen guns of -Leval’s division captured by Campbell and the Spanish cavalry. - - [684] These ‘missing’ do not include the French wounded taken on - the field, and recovered when Victor came back to Talavera on - Aug. 6 and captured the British hospitals. The French return was - drawn up only after Aug. 18, when these men had been released. - - -N.B.--I have used of British sources mainly Lord Londonderry, Lord -Munster, Leslie and Leith-Hay of the 29th, Stothert of the Guards, -Cooper of the 2/7th, Hawker of the 14th Light Dragoons, and letters -of Elley and Ponsonby of the 23rd Light Dragoons. Of French sources I -have found Jourdan’s _Mémoires_, Victor’s dispatches and controversial -letters with King Joseph, Sémélé’s journal of the 1st Corps, and -Desprez’s narrative the most useful. From Colonel Whinyates I have -received an unpublished map, drawn on the spot by Unger of the K.G.L., -which fixes all the artillery position with admirable accuracy. - - -NOTES ON THE TOPOGRAPHY OF TALAVERA - -I looked over the proofs of the last three chapters, seated on the -small square stone that marks the highest point of the Cerro de -Medellin, after having carefully walked over the whole field from end -to end, on April 9, 1903. The ground is little changed in aspect, -but the lower slopes of the Cerro, and the whole of its opposite -neighbour the Cascajal hill, are now under cultivation. The former -was covered with barley nine inches high, and the rough vegetation -of thyme and dry grass, which the narratives of 1809 describe, was -only to be seen upon the higher and steeper parts of the hill, and -on the sides of the ravine below. The latter is steep but neither -very broad nor particularly difficult to negotiate. Even in April the -Portiña had shrunk to a chain of pools of uninviting black water. -The ditch fatal to the 23rd Light Dragoons, in the northern valley, -is still visible. In its upper part, where the German regiment met -it, the obstacle is practically unchanged. But nearer to the farm of -Valdefuentes it has almost disappeared, owing to the extension of -cultivation. There is only a four-foot drop from a field into a piece -of rough ground full of reeds and bent-grass, where the soil is a -little marshy in April. I presume that when the field was made, the -hollow was partly filled up, and the watercourse, instead of flowing -in a well-defined narrow ditch, has diffused itself over the whole -trough of the ground. - -In the central parts of the field the Portiña forms a boundary, but -not an obstacle. Where Cameron and the Guards fought Sebastiani’s -8,000 men, the ground is almost an exact level on both sides of the -little stream. There is no ‘position’ whatever on the English bank, -which is, if anything, a little lower than the French. The Pajar -de Vergara is a low knoll twenty feet high, now crowned by a large -farmhouse, which occupies the site of the old battery. The ground in -front of it is still covered with olive groves, and troops placed -here could see nothing of an advancing enemy till he emerges from -the trees a hundred yards or so to the front. On the other hand -an observer on the summit of the Cerro de Medellin gets a perfect -bird’s-eye view of this part of the ground, and could make out the -enemy all through his progress among the olives. Wellesley must have -been able to mark exactly every movement of Leval’s division, though -Campbell could certainly not have done so. In the Spanish part of -the line the groves have evidently been thinned, as there are now -many houses, forming a straggling suburb, pushed up to and along -the railway, which now crosses this section of the line. In 1809 -Talavera was still self-contained within its walls, which it has now -overstepped. The Cascajal is practically of the same height as the -main eastern level of the Cerro de Medellin: but the triple summit of -the latter is much loftier ground; and standing on it one commands -the whole of the Cascajal--every one of Villatte’s battalions must -have been counted by Wellesley, who could also mark every man along -the whole French front, even into and among the olive groves occupied -by Leval’s Germans. Victor on the Cascajal could get no such a -general view of the British position, but could see very well into -Sherbrooke’s line. Hill’s troops, behind the first crest of the Cerro -de Medellin, and Campbell’s in the groves must have been much less -visible to him. There is a ruined house, apparently a mill, in the -ravine between the two Cerros. As it is not mentioned in any report -of the battle, I conclude that it was not in existence in 1809. The -Pajar de Vergara farm is also modern, and the only building on the -actual fighting-ground which existed on the battle-day was evidently -the farm of Valdefuentes, which is alluded to by several narrators, -French and English. - - - - -SECTION XVI: CHAPTER VIII - -THE RETREAT FROM TALAVERA - - -When the dawn of July 29 had arrived, the plain and the rolling hills -in front of the allied position were seen to be absolutely deserted. -No trace of the French army was visible save the heaps of dead upon -the further side of the Portiña: the wounded had been carried off, -with the exception of those who had fallen within the British lines, -and so become prisoners of war. It was soon discovered that the -enemy had left a screen of cavalry along the western bank of the -Alberche: but whether his main body lay close behind the stream, or -had retired towards Madrid, could not be ascertained without making -a reconnaissance in force. Such an operation was beyond Wellesley’s -power on the morning after the battle. He was neither able nor -willing to send out a large detachment to beat up the enemy’s camps, -with the object of ascertaining his situation and intentions. The -British army was utterly exhausted: on the preceding day the men -had fought upon half-rations: when the contest was over they had -found that only a third of a ration had been issued: this scanty -pittance was sent up to the regiments in the evening, as they still -lay in battle-order on the ground that they had held during the day. -Water was almost equally deficient: it was difficult to procure: -nothing but the wells of the few houses in the rear of the position -being available. Only on the morning of the twenty-ninth, when the -departure of the enemy had become certain, were the troops allowed to -return to their old bivouacs in the rear, and there to seek repose. -Even then it was only a minority of the men who could be spared from -duty. The gathering in of the vast numbers wounded--French as well -as English--and their removal into Talavera demanded such enormous -fatigue-parties that the larger number of the survivors had to be -told off to this work and were denied the rest that they had so well -earned. - -It is certain that the British army could have done nothing upon the -twenty-ninth even if their commander had desired to push forward -against the enemy. The men were not only tired out by two days of -battle, but half-starved in addition. But Wellesley was far from -feeling any wish to pursue the French. His infantry had suffered so -dreadfully that he could not dream of exposing them to the ordeal -of another engagement till they had been granted a respite for the -refreshment of body and spirit. Of his divisions only that of A. -Campbell--the smallest of the four--was practically intact. The -others had suffered paralysing losses--in Hill’s ranks one man out -of every four had been stricken down, in Mackenzie’s one man in -every three, while Sherbrooke’s frightful casualty-list showed that -nearly two men out of five were missing from the ranks. Never, save -at Albuera, was such slaughter on the side of the victors seen again -during the whole course of the Peninsular War. ‘The extreme fatigue -of the troops,’ wrote Wellesley, ‘the want of provisions, and the -number of wounded to be taken care of, have prevented me from moving -from my position[685].’ - - [685] Wellesley to Castlereagh, Aug. 1, _Wellington Dispatches_, - iv. p. 553. - -On the morning of the twenty-ninth the depleted strength of the -army was partly compensated by the arrival of the first of those -reinforcements from Lisbon which Wellesley had been anxiously -expecting. At about six o’clock Robert Craufurd came upon the scene -with the three regiments of his Light Brigade--all old battalions -who had shared in Moore’s Corunna campaign. He was accompanied by -a battery of horse artillery (A troop), the first unit of that arm -which came under Wellesley’s command. But the Light Brigade were -almost as weary as their comrades who had fought in the battle: they -had only reached Talavera by a forced march of unexampled severity. -Hearing at Navalmoral that the two armies were in presence, Robert -Craufurd had hurried forward with almost incredible swiftness. -Dropping his baggage and a few weakly men at Oropesa he had marched -forty-three miles in twenty-two hours, though the day was hot and -every soldier carried some fifty pounds’ weight upon his back. All -day long the cannon was heard growling in the distance, and at short -intervals the brigade kept meeting parties of Spanish fugitives, -interspersed with British sutlers and commissaries, who gave the -most dismal accounts of the progress of the fight. In spite of his -desperate efforts to get up in time Craufurd reached the field -thirteen hours too late, and heard to his intense chagrin that the -battle had been won without his aid[686]. Weary though his men were, -they were at once hurried to the front, to relieve A. Campbell’s -division on the line of advanced posts. There they found plenty -of employment in burying the dead, and in gathering up the French -wounded, whom it was necessary to protect from the fury of the -Spanish peasantry. - - [686] For excellent accounts of this forced march see Col. Leach - (95th), _Rough Sketches of the Life of an Old Soldier_ (pp. - 81-2), and Sir George Napier’s _Autobiography_, pp. 108-10. - The distance was forty-three miles, not as W. Napier states - sixty-two. That all the stragglers met on the way were not - Spaniards is unfortunately evident from both narratives. Nor were - all the British stragglers non-combatants. - -The arrival of Craufurd’s brigade did something towards filling up -the terrible gap in the ranks of the British infantry, but was far -from enabling Wellesley to assume the offensive. Indeed the advent -of fresh troops only accentuated the difficulty of feeding the army. -Corn was still almost unobtainable; the supplies from the Vera -de Plasencia showed no signs of appearing, and even oxen for the -meat-ration, which had hitherto been obtainable in fair quantities, -were beginning to run short. Nothing was to be had from Talavera -itself, where Victor had exhausted all the available food many weeks -before, nor could any assistance be got from the Spanish army, who -were themselves commencing to feel the pinch of starvation. - -All Wellesley’s hopes at this juncture were founded on the idea that -the diversion of Venegas upon the Upper Tagus would force the French -host in his front to break up, in order to save Madrid from an attack -in the rear. The army of La Mancha had failed to keep Sebastiani in -check, and to prevent him from appearing on the field of Talavera. -But since the enemy had concentrated every available man for the -battle, it was certain that Venegas had now no hostile force in his -front, and that the way to the capital was open to him. If he had -pushed on either by Aranjuez or by Toledo, he must now be close to -the capital, and King Joseph would be obliged to detach a large force -against him. That detachment once made, the army behind the Alberche -would be so much weakened that it would be unable to face the British -and Cuesta. If it offered fight, it must be beaten: if it retired, -the allies would follow it up and drive it away in a direction which -would prevent it from rejoining the troops that had been sent against -Venegas. On the twenty-ninth Wellesley was under the impression that -the army of La Mancha had already brought pressure to bear upon the -French, for a false report had reached him that on the previous day -it had captured Toledo. His dispatches written after the arrival of -this rumour indicate an intention of moving forward on the thirtieth -or thirty-first. The King, he says, must now detach troops against -Venegas. This being so, it will be necessary to induce Cuesta to -advance, supporting him with the British army ‘as soon as it shall be -a little rested and refreshed after two days of the hardest fighting -that I have ever been a party to. We shall certainly move towards -Madrid, if not interrupted by some accident on our flank[687].’ - - [687] Wellington to Beresford, Talavera, July 29, 1809. - -The last words of this sentence are of great importance, since -they show that already upon the day after Talavera Wellesley was -beginning to be uneasy about his left flank. Some time before the -battle he had received news from the north, to the effect that -both Ney and Kellermann had returned to the valley of the Douro, -after evacuating Galicia and the Asturias[688]. He had therefore -to take into consideration the chance that the enemy might move -southward, and fall upon his line of communication with Portugal, -not only with the corps of Soult, but with a large additional force. -Unfortunately the information that had reached him from the plains -of Leon had been to the effect that Ney’s and Kellermann’s troops -were much reduced in numbers and efficiency, so that even when they -had joined Soult the total of the French field army upon the Douro -would not much exceed 20,000 men[689]. This misconception affected -all his plans: for if the hostile force about Salamanca, Zamora, -and Benavente was no greater than was reported, it followed that -any expedition sent against his own communications could not be -more than 12,000 or 15,000 strong, since Soult would be forced to -leave a containing force in front of Beresford and Del Parque, who -now lay in the direction of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo. Any French -advance against Bejar and Plasencia, therefore, would, as Wellesley -supposed, be a mere raid, executed by a comparatively small force. -He doubted whether Soult dared undertake such an operation: ‘the -enemy,’ he wrote, ‘would not like to venture through the passes into -Estremadura, having me on one side of him, and you [Beresford] and -Romana upon the other[690].’ He was therefore not much disturbed -in mind about the movements of the French in the valley of the -Douro. If he had but known that not 20,000 men but 50,000 men were -now concentrating at Salamanca, his feelings would have been far -different. But it was not till some days later that it began to -dawn upon him that Soult was far stronger than he had supposed, and -that there might be serious danger to be feared from this quarter. -Meanwhile he hoped to prevent any advance of the French in the -direction of Plasencia, by causing a strong demonstration to be -made in the valley of the Douro. He wrote to Beresford that he must -contrive to arrange for joint action with La Romana and the Army of -Galicia. If they appeared in strength in the direction of Ciudad -Rodrigo, the Duke of Dalmatia might be deterred from making any -movement to the south. If, however, the Spaniards proved helpless or -impracticable, the Portuguese army would have to confine itself to -the defence of its own frontier. - - [688] On July 14 Wellesley writes to Beresford that he does not - believe that Ney has quitted Galicia [_Wellington Dispatches_, - iv. 510], because of the tenour of the captured dispatches of - Soult to King Joseph. These, of course, had been written under - the idea that the 6th Corps was still holding on to Corunna and - Lugo: it was not till some days later that Soult learned of - his colleagues’ unexpected move. But Wellesley knew of Ney’s - move before the battle of Talavera, as is shown by _Wellington - Dispatches_, iv. 545. - - [689] ‘The enemy have on the Douro and in the neighbourhood not - less than 20,000 men, being the remains of the Corps of Soult, - Ney, and Kellermann.’ To Frere, July 30. - - [690] To Beresford, from Talavera, July 29, 1809. - -On the morning of July 30 Wellesley received the first definite -information which led him to conclude that the French forces from the -north were actually contemplating the raid upon his communications -which on the preceding day he had regarded as doubtful. The Marquis -Del Reino, whom, as it will be remembered, Cuesta had sent to the -Puerto de Baños with two weak battalions, reported that troops -from the Douro valley were threatening his front. At the same time -messages were received from the Alcaldes of Fuente Roble and Los -Santos, places on the road between Salamanca and Bejar, to the effect -that they had received orders from Soult to prepare 12,000 and 24,000 -rations respectively, for troops due to arrive on July 28. The -numbers given counted for little in Wellesley’s estimation, since -it is the commonest thing in the world for generals to requisition -food for a far larger force than they actually bring with them. But -at least it seemed clear that some considerable detachment from -Salamanca was on its way towards the Puerto de Baños. In consequence -of this fact Wellesley wrote to the Spanish government, and also -informed Cuesta, that in the event of a serious attempt of the enemy -to cut his communications, he should ‘move so as to take care of -himself,’ and do his best to preserve Portugal[691]--in other words, -that he should abandon the projected march on Madrid which had been -his main purpose on the preceding day. He was still, however, under -the impression that Soult had no very large force with him, as is -sufficiently shown by the fact that on the thirty-first he suggested -to Cuesta that it would be well to detach one of his divisions--say -5,000 men--to strengthen the insignificant force which was already -in position at the Puerto de Baños. ‘I still think,’ he wrote, ‘that -the movements of General Beresford with the Portuguese army on the -frontier, and that of the Duque del Parque from Ciudad Rodrigo, -combined with the natural difficulties of the country, and the -defence by the Marquis Del Reino, may delay the enemy’s advance till -the arrival of your division[692].’ It is clear that when he wrote -in these terms Wellesley was still labouring under the delusion that -Soult’s advance was a mere raid executed by one or two divisions, and -not a serious operation carried out by a large army. - - [691] Wellesley to Frere, July 30. ‘My first duty is to attend - to the safety of Portugal: at all events if my flank and - communication with Portugal are not secured for me, while I am - operating in the general cause, I must move to take care of - myself, and then the general cause will suffer.’ - - [692] Wellesley to O’Donoju, July 31, 1809. - -While Wellesley was spending the three days which followed the battle -of the twenty-eighth in resting his men and pondering over his next -move, the enemies whom he had defeated at Talavera were in a state -of even greater uncertainty and indecision. By daylight on July 29, -as we have already seen, the whole French army had retired behind -the Alberche, leaving only a screen of cavalry upon its western -bank. The King was under the impression that Wellesley and Cuesta -would probably follow him up ere the day had passed, and drew up -his whole force along that same line of heights which Victor had -occupied upon the twenty-second and twenty-third of the month. But -when nothing appeared in his front during the morning hours save a -few vedettes, he realized that he might count upon a short respite, -and took new measures. After sending off to his brother the Emperor -a most flagrantly mendacious account of the battle of Talavera[693], -he proceeded to divide up his army. As Wellington had foreseen, -he detached a large force to hold back Venegas and the army of La -Mancha, who were at last coming into the field upon his flank. He was -bound to do so, under pain of imperilling the safety of Madrid. - - [693] A few lines of this astounding document may be worth - quoting--‘Sire, hier l’armée anglaise a été forcée dans ses - positions. Outre les 25 à 30 mille Anglais de Wellesley, nous - avons eu affaire à l’armée de Cuesta, qui s’élevait de 35 à - 40 mille hommes. Le champ de bataille _sur lequel nous sommes - établis_ (!) est jonché de leurs morts.... Je me mets en marche - pour secourir Madrid, qui est menacé par un corps de Portugais - arrivés à Navalcarnero, et par l’armée de Venegas, qui tente de - pénétrer par Aranjuez.... J’ai un regret, sire, c’est celui de - n’avoir pas fait prisonnière toute l’armée anglaise.’ _Mémoires - de Joseph_, vi. 284. Napoleon, not deceived for a moment by this - rhodomontade, sent back a scathing rebuke to his brother for - endeavouring to hide the truth from him. (Napoleon to Jourdan, - Aug. 21.) - -It is time to cast a glance at the operations of the incompetent -general whose sloth and disobedience had wrecked the plan that -Wellesley and Cuesta had drawn out at their conference near -Almaraz. On July 16 Venegas had begun to move forward from El -Moral, Valdepeñas, and Santa Cruz de Mudela, in accordance with -the directions that had been sent him. He occupied Manzanares and -Daimiel, and then came into collision with Sebastiani’s cavalry at -Villaharta and Herencia, for the 4th Corps had not yet begun to -withdraw towards Madrid. Owing to the profound ignorance in which the -enemy still lay as to the advance of Wellesley and Cuesta, Sebastiani -had not, on the nineteenth, received any order to fall back or to -join Victor and the King. Thus, when pressed by the advanced troops -of Venegas, he did not retire, but held his ground, and showed every -intention of accepting battle. Learning from the peasantry that he -had the whole of the 4th Corps in front of him, and might have to -deal with nearly 20,000 men, the Spanish general halted, and refused -to advance further. In so doing he was fulfilling the spirit of the -instructions that had been sent him, for Cuesta and Wellesley had -wished him to detain Sebastiani and keep in touch with him--not -to attack him or to fight a pitched battle. They had taken it for -granted that the Frenchman would receive early news of their own -advance, and would already be in retreat before Venegas came up with -him. But it was not till July 22, as we have already seen, that -Victor and King Joseph obtained certain intelligence of the march of -the allies upon Talavera. Until the orders for a retreat arrived from -Madrid, the 4th Corps was kept in its old position at Madridejos, -and courted rather than avoided an engagement with the army of La -Mancha[694]. - - [694] For these operations I am relying on General Arteche’s - excerpts from the _Vindicacion de los Agravios_, published by - Venegas in his own defence. - -Venegas, after summoning his divisional generals to a council of war, -refused to attack Sebastiani, and wisely, for his 23,000 men would -certainly have been beaten by the 20,000 Frenchmen who still lay in -front of him. From the nineteenth to the twenty-second the two armies -faced each other across the upper Guadiana, each waiting for the -other to move. Late on the twenty-third, however, Sebastiani received -his orders to evacuate La Mancha, and to hasten to Toledo in order to -join Victor and the King, in a combined assault upon Wellesley and -Cuesta. - -It was on the next day that Venegas committed the ruinous error which -was to wreck the fate of the whole campaign. On the morning of the -twenty-fourth the 4th Corps had disappeared from his front: instead -of following closely in the rear of Sebastiani with all speed, -and molesting his retreat, as his orders prescribed, he made no -attempt to prevent the 4th Corps from moving off, nor did he execute -that rapid flanking march on Aranjuez or Fuentedueñas which his -instructions prescribed. He moved forward at a snail’s pace, having -first sent off to Cuesta an argumentative letter, in which he begged -for leave to direct his advance on Toledo instead of on the points -which had been named in his orders. On the twenty-sixth he received -an answer, in which his Commander-in-chief authorized him to make his -own choice between the route by Aranjuez and that by Toledo. - -Venegas had already committed the fatal error of letting Sebastiani -slip away unmolested: he now hesitated between the idea of carrying -out his own plan, and that of obeying Cuesta’s original orders, and -after much hesitation sent his first division under General Lacy -towards Toledo, while he himself, with the other four, marched by -Tembleque upon Aranjuez. So slow and cautious was their advance -that Lacy only arrived in front of Toledo on July 28--the day that -the battle of Talavera was fought, while Venegas himself occupied -Aranjuez twenty-four hours later, on the morning of the twenty-ninth. -He had taken six days to cross the sixty miles of open rolling plain -which lie between the Guadiana and the Tagus, though he had been -absolutely unopposed by the enemy whom he had allowed to slip away -from his front. Sebastiani had marched at the rate of twenty miles -a day when he retired from Madridejos to Toledo, Venegas and Lacy -followed at the rate of ten and twelve miles a day respectively. Yet -the special duty imposed on the army of La Mancha had been to keep in -touch with the 4th Corps. Further comment is hardly necessary. - -On the morning of the day when Wellesley was assailed by the forces -of Victor and King Joseph, General Lacy appeared in front of Toledo. -The town was held by 3,000 men of Valence’s Polish division: it is -practically impregnable against any attack from the south, presenting -to that side a front of sheer cliff, overhanging the river, and -accessible only by two fortified bridges. To make any impression on -the place Lacy would have had to cross the Tagus at some other point, -and then might have beset the comparatively weak northern front -with considerable chances of success. But he contented himself with -demonstrating against the bridges, and discharging some fruitless -cannon-shot across the river. General Valence, the Governor of -Toledo, reported to Jourdan that he was attacked, and his message, -reaching the battle-field of Talavera after Victor’s second repulse, -had a certain amount of influence on the action of King Joseph. The -place was never for a moment in danger, as Lacy made no attempt to -pass the Tagus in order to press his attack home. - -On the following morning (July 29) Venegas reached the other great -passage of the Tagus, at Aranjuez, with two of his divisions, and -occupied the place after driving out a few French vedettes. He -pressed his cavalry forward to the line of the Tajuna, and ere -nightfall some of them had penetrated almost as far as Valdemoro, the -village half way between Aranjuez and Madrid. No signs of any serious -hostile force could be discovered, and secret friends in the capital -sent notice that they were being held down by a very weak garrison, -consisting of no more than a single French brigade and a handful of -the King’s Spanish levies. There was everything to tempt Venegas to -execute that rapid march upon the capital which had been prescribed -in his original orders, but instead of doing so this wretched officer -halted for eight whole days at Aranjuez [July 29 to August 5]. - -On the day after Talavera Jourdan and Joseph had not yet discovered -the whereabouts of the main body of the army of La Mancha: but Lacy -had made such a noisy demonstration in front of Toledo that they -were inclined to believe that his chief must be close behind him. -Accordingly the garrison of Toledo was reinforced by the missing -brigade of Valence’s Polish division, and raised to the strength of -4,700 men. The King, with the rest of Sebastiani’s corps and his own -Guards and reserves, marched to Santa Ollala, and on the next day -[July 30] placed himself at Bargas, a few miles in rear of Toledo. -In this position he would have been wholly unable to protect Madrid, -if Venegas had pressed forward on that same morning from Aranjuez, -for that place is actually nearer to the capital than the village -at which Joseph had fixed his head quarters. The sloth displayed by -the Spanish general was the only thing which preserved Madrid from -capture. On August 1, apprised of the fact that the main body of -the army of La Mancha was at Aranjuez and not before Toledo, Joseph -transferred his army to Illescas, a point from which he would be able -to attack Venegas in flank, if the latter should move forward. Only -Milhaud’s division of dragoons was thrown forward to Valdemoro, on -the direct road from Aranjuez to Madrid: it drove out of the village -a regiment of Spanish horse, which reported to Venegas that there was -now a heavy force in his front. For the next four days the King’s -troops and the army of Venegas retained their respective positions, -each waiting for the other to move. The Spaniard had realized that -his chance of capturing Madrid had gone by, and remained in a state -of indecision at Aranjuez. Joseph was waiting for definite news of -the movements of Wellesley and Cuesta, before risking an attack on -the army of La Mancha. He saw that it had abandoned the offensive, -and did not wish to move off from his central position at Illescas -till he was sure that Victor was not in need of any help. Yet he was -so disturbed as to the general state of affairs that he sent orders -to General Belliard at Madrid to evacuate all non-combatants and -civilians on to Valladolid, and to prepare to shut himself up in the -Retiro. - -The doings of Victor, during the five days after he had separated -from the King, require a more lengthy consideration. Left behind -upon the Alberche with the 1st Corps, which the casualties of the -battle had reduced to no more than 18,000 men, he felt himself in a -perilous position: if the allies should advance, he could do no more -than endeavour to retard their march on Madrid. Whether he could -count on any further aid from the King and Sebastiani would depend -on the wholly problematical movements of Venegas. Somewhat to his -surprise Wellesley and Cuesta remained quiescent not only on the -twenty-ninth but on the thirtieth of July. But an alarm now came from -another quarter: it will be remembered that the enterprising Sir -Robert Wilson with 4,000 men, partly Spaniards, partly Portuguese of -the Lusitanian Legion, had moved parallel with Wellesley’s northern -flank during the advance to Talavera. On the day of the battle he had -‘marched to the cannon’ as a good officer should, and had actually -approached Cazalegas, at the back of the French army, in the course -of the afternoon. Learning of the results of the fight, he had -turned back to his old path upon the twenty-ninth, and had entered -Escalona on the upper Alberche. At this place he was behind Victor’s -flank, and lay only thirty-eight miles from Madrid. There was no -French force between him and the capital, and if only his division -had been a little stronger he would have been justified in making a -raid upon the city, relying for aid upon the insurrection that would -indubitably have broken out the moment that he presented himself -before its gates. - -It was reported to Victor on the thirtieth not only that Wilson was -at Escalona, but also that he was at the head of a strong Portuguese -division, estimated at 8,000 or 10,000 men. The Marshal determined -that he could not venture to leave such a force upon his rear while -the armies of Wellesley and Cuesta were in his front, and fell back -ten miles to Maqueda on the high road to Madrid. On the following -day, still uneasy as to his position, he retired still further, to -Santa Cruz, and wrote to King Joseph that he might be forced to -continue his retreat as far as Mostoles, almost in the suburbs of -Madrid [Aug. 2]. He was so badly informed as to the movements of the -allies, that he not only warned the King that Wilson was threatening -Madrid, but assured him that the British army from Talavera had -broken up from its cantonments and was advancing along the Alberche -towards the capital[695]. Joseph, better instructed as to the actual -situation of affairs, replied by assuring him that Wellesley and -Cuesta were far more likely to be retreating on Almaraz than marching -on Madrid, as they must have heard ere now of Soult’s advance on -Plasencia. He ordered the Marshal to fall back no further, and to -send a division to feel for Wilson at Escalona. On detaching Villatte -to execute this reconnaissance [Aug. 5] Victor was surprised to find -that Sir Robert’s little force had already evacuated its advanced -position, and had retreated into the mountains. For the last four -days indeed Victor had been fighting with shadows--for the British -and Estremaduran armies had never passed the Alberche, while Wilson -had absconded from Escalona on receiving from Wellesley the news that -Soult had been heard of at the Puerto de Baños. In consequence of the -needless march of the 1st Corps to Maqueda and Santa Cruz, the allied -generals were able to withdraw unmolested, and even unobserved, from -Talavera, and were far upon their way down the Tagus before their -absence was suspected. The erratic movements of Victor may be excused -in part by the uniform difficulty in obtaining accurate information -which the French always experienced in Spain. But even when this -allowance is made, it must be confessed that his operations do not -tend to give us any very high idea of his strategical ability. He was -clearly one of those generals, of the class denounced by Napoleon, -_qui se font des tableaux_, who argue on insufficient data, and take -a long time to be convinced of the error of their original hypothesis. - - [695] Jourdan to Belliard, Aug. 3, from Illescas: ‘Le duc de - Belluno dit que toute l’armée anglaise marche sur la rive droite - de l’Alberche, et qu’hier elle était à une lieue d’Escalona.’ - -Neither Victor nor King Joseph, therefore, exercised any influence -over the doings of Wellesley and Cuesta at Talavera between the 29th -of July and the 3rd of August. The allies worked out their plans -undisturbed by any interference on the part of the old enemies whom -they had beaten on the battle day. Down to August 1 the British -general had been unconvinced by the rumours of Soult’s approach, -at the head of a large army, which were persistently arriving from -the secret agents in the direction of Salamanca[696]. It was only -on the evening of that day that he received news so precise, and so -threatening, that he found himself forced to abandon for the moment -any intention of pushing on towards Madrid, in consequence of the -impending attack on the line of his communications with Portugal. It -was announced to him that the vanguard of the French army from the -north had actually entered Bejar on the twenty-ninth and was driving -in the trifling force under the Marquis Del Reino, which Cuesta had -sent to the Puerto de Baños. - - [696] There are two letters of Wellington to Castlereagh, written - on Aug. 1; both indicate that Wellesley was still unconvinced - as to Soult’s intention, and the second states that he does - not believe that the French will pass the Puerto de Baños. The - definite news came at night. - -Whatever might be the force at Soult’s disposal--and Wellesley was -still under the delusion that it amounted at most to a single corps -of 12,000 or 15,000 men--it was impossible to allow the French to -establish themselves between the British army and Portugal. If they -were at Bejar on the twenty-ninth they might easily reach Plasencia -on the thirty-first. On receiving the news Cuesta, who had hitherto -shown the greatest reluctance to divide his army, detached his 5th -division under Bassecourt, with orders to set out at the greatest -possible speed, and join the Marquis Del Reino. This move was tardy -and useless, for it is four long marches from Talavera to Plasencia, -so that Bassecourt must arrive too late to hold the defiles. If he -found the French already established on the river Alagon, his 5,000 -men would be utterly inadequate to ‘contain’ double or triple that -number of Soult’s troops. As a matter of fact the enemy had entered -Plasencia on the afternoon of August 1, before the Spanish division -had even commenced its movement to the west[697]. - - [697] Napier seems to have the dates wrong here: he says that - the 5th Corps seized Plasencia on July 31 [vol. ii. p. 184], - But Soult’s official report to the Minister of War, dated Aug. - 13, says that his vanguard forced the Puerto de Baños on the - twenty-ninth, but only captured Plasencia on Aug. 1. If Plasencia - had fallen on the thirty-first, Wellesley and Cuesta would have - known the fact on the second: but as it was captured on the first - only, they were still in ignorance when their conference took - place. - -On the morning of August 2 Wellesley and Cuesta held a long and -stormy conference. The Captain-General proposed that Wellesley -should detach half his force to assist Bassecourt, and stay with the -remainder at Talavera, in order to support the Army of Estremadura -against any renewed attack by Victor and King Joseph[698]. The -English commander refused to divide his force--he had only 18,000 -effectives even after Craufurd had joined him, and such a small body -would not bear division. But he offered either to march against Soult -with his entire host, or to remain at Talavera if his colleague -preferred to set out for Plasencia with his main body. Cuesta chose -the former alternative, and on the morning of the third Wellesley -moved out with every available man, intending to attack the enemy -at the earliest opportunity. He was still under the impression that -he would have to deal with no more than a single French corps, -and was confident of the result. His only fear was that Victor -might descend upon Talavera in his absence, and that Cuesta might -evacuate the place on being attacked. If this should happen, the -English hospitals, in which there lay nearly 5,000 wounded, might -fall into the hands of the enemy. On halting at Oropesa he sent -back a note to O’Donoju, the chief of the staff of the Estremaduran -army, begging him to send off westward all the British wounded who -were in a condition to travel. He asked that country carts might be -requisitioned for their assistance, if no transport could be spared -by the Spanish troops[699]. - - [698] Wellesley’s letters in these critical days are full of - complaints as to his colleague’s impracticability: ‘I certainly - should get the better of everything,’ he writes to Castlereagh, - ‘if I could manage General Cuesta: but his temper and disposition - are so bad that this is impossible.’ _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. - p. 553. - - [699] Wellesley to O’Donoju, from Oropesa, afternoon of Aug. 3. - -Wellesley was setting out with 18,000 men to attack not the mere -15,000 men that he believed to be in his front, but three whole -_corps d’armée_, with a strength of 50,000 sabres and bayonets. -In his long career there were many dangerous crises, but this was -perhaps the most perilous of all. If he had remained for a little -longer in ignorance of the real situation, he might have found -himself involved in a contest in which defeat was certain and -destruction highly probable. - -The real situation in his front was as follows. On receiving the -dispatch from Madrid which permitted him to execute his projected -march upon Plasencia, Soult had begun to concentrate his army [July -24]. Mortier and the 5th Corps were already in march for Salamanca -in pursuance of earlier orders: they arrived in its neighbourhood -the same day on which Foy brought the King’s orders to his chief. -The 2nd Corps was already massed upon the Tormes, and ready to move -the moment that it should receive the supply of artillery which had -been so long upon its way from Madrid. Ney and the 6th Corps from -Benavente and Astorga had far to come: they only reached Salamanca -on July 31; if we remember that the distance from Astorga to the -concentration point was no less than ninety miles we cease to wonder -at their tardy arrival. - -Soult had strict orders from the Emperor to march with his troops -well closed up, and not to risk the danger of being caught with his -corps strung out at distances which would permit of their being met -and defeated in detail[700]. He was therefore entirely justified in -refusing to move until the 6th Corps should be in supporting distance -of the rest of his army, and the 2nd Corps should have received the -cannon which were needed to replace the pieces that they had lost -in Portugal. For this reason we must regard as unfounded all the -vehement reproaches heaped upon him by Joseph and Jourdan during -the acrimonious correspondence that followed upon the end of the -campaign. It would have been wrong to start the 5th Corps upon its -way to Plasencia till the 2nd Corps was ready to follow, and the much -needed guns only came into Salamanca on the twenty-ninth, though -their approach had been reported on the preceding day. - - [700] Orders of Napoleon from Schönbrunn, June 12: ‘Les trois - corps doivent fournir 50 à 60 mille hommes. Si cette réunion a - lieu promptement les Anglais doivent être détruits; mais il faut - se réunir, _et ne pas marcher par petits paquets_. Cela est le - principe général pour tous les guerres, mais surtout pour un pays - où l’on ne peut pas avoir de communication.’ - -We cannot therefore blame Soult for sloth or slackness when we find -that he started Mortier upon his way on July 27, and followed him -with his own corps upon July 30, the day after the guns arrived, and -the day before Ney and his troops were due to reach Salamanca from -the north. - -The order of march was as follows: the vanguard was composed of -the whole corps of Mortier, nearly 17,000 strong[701], reinforced -by three brigades of dragoons under Lahoussaye and Lorges with a -strength of 2,000 sabres. The 2nd Corps followed; though it started -three days later than the 5th it was gradually gaining ground on -the vanguard all through the march, as it had no fighting to do or -reconnaissances to execute. Hence it was only twenty-four hours -behind Mortier in arriving at Plasencia. Its strength was 18,000 men, -even after it had detached the brigades of dragoons to strengthen -the vanguard, and placed five battalions at the disposal of General -Kellermann[702]. During its stay at Zamora and Toro it had picked up -a mass of convalescents and details, who had not taken part in its -Galician campaign. The rear was formed by Ney’s troops, which started -from Salamanca only one day behind the 2nd Corps. The infantry was -not complete, as a brigade of 3,000 men was left behind on the Douro, -to assist Kellermann in holding down the kingdom of Leon. Hence, even -including a brigade of Lorges’ dragoons, the 6th Corps had only some -12,500 men on the march. The whole army, therefore, as it will be -seen, was about 50,000 strong. - - [701] By the return of July 15, the 5th Corps had 16,916 men, the - attached brigades of dragoons, 1,853: the 2nd Corps had 18,740 - (deducting Lorges and Lahoussaye): the 6th Corps 15,700, of whom - one brigade of infantry (3,200 bayonets) was left behind. The - total then was 50,009. - - [702] The Marshal had dissolved one of his four divisions, that - of Mermet, making over the 122nd of the line, reduced to two - battalions, and the Swiss units to Kellermann, and distributing - the other regiments between Merle, Delaborde, and Heudelet. - -Just before he marched from Salamanca Soult had heard that -Beresford’s Portuguese were commencing to show themselves in force -in the direction of Almeida, while Del Parque’s small division at -Ciudad Rodrigo was beginning to be reinforced by troops descending -from the mountains of Galicia. Trusting that the danger from this -quarter might not prove imminent, the Marshal left in observation of -the allies only the remains of the force that Kellermann had brought -back from the Asturias--the 5th division of dragoons and a few -battalions of infantry, strengthened by the five battalions from the -2nd Corps and the one brigade detached from Ney. The whole did not -amount to more than 9,000 or 10,000 men, scattered along the whole -front from Astorga to Salamanca. It was clear that much was risked in -this direction, for Beresford and Del Parque could concentrate over -20,000 troops for an attack on any point that they might select. But -Soult was prepared to accept the chances of war in the Douro valley, -rightly thinking that if he could crush Wellesley’s army on the Tagus -any losses in the north could easily be repaired. It would matter -little if the Spaniards and Portuguese occupied Salamanca, or even -Valladolid, after the British had been destroyed. - -Mortier, starting on July 27, on the road by Fuente Roble and Los -Santos, made two marches without coming in touch with any enemy. It -was only on the third day that he met at La Calzada the vedettes -of the trifling force under the Marquis Del Reino which Cuesta had -sent to hold the Puerto de Baños. After chasing them through Bejar, -the Marshal came upon their supports drawn up in the pass [July -30]. Del Reino thought himself obliged to fight, though he had but -four battalions with a total of 2,500 or 3,000 bayonets[703]. He -was of course dislodged with ease by the overwhelming numbers which -Mortier turned against him--the first division of the 5th Corps alone -sufficed to drive him through the pass. Thereupon he retired down the -Alagon, and after sending news of his defeat to Cuesta fell back to -Almaraz, where he took up the bridge of boats and removed it to the -southern bank of the Tagus. - - [703] Cuesta, in a dispatch in the _Deposito de la Guerra_, - which seems unpublished, says that Del Reino fought with four - battalions. He had started with no more than two, so must have - rallied two others. I can find no trace of what they were, but - conclude that they must have been some of those battalions of - the Army of Estremadura which are not named in the _Ordre de - Bataille_ of the divisions present at Talavera. As I have shown - in my Talavera Appendix, there were eight regiments which had - belonged to Cuesta’s army in March but do not appear in the - divisional return of July. Most of these were in garrison at - Badajoz: but two or three may well have been sent to guard the - passes when the army advanced from the Guadiana in the end of - June. - -Having cleared the passes upon the thirtieth, the 5th Corps advanced -to Candelaria and Baños de Bejar upon the thirty-first, and entered -Plasencia on the first of August. Here Mortier captured 334 of -Wellesley’s sick, who had been left behind as being incapable of -removal. On the preceding day the town had been full of British -detachments: the place was the half-way house between Portugal -and Talavera, and many commissaries, isolated officers going to -or from the front, and details marching to join their corps, had -been collected there. Captain Pattison, the senior officer present, -withdrew to Zarza, with every man that could march, when he heard -of Mortier’s approach, taking with him a convoy which had recently -arrived from Abrantes. But he was obliged to leave behind him a -considerable amount of corn, just collected from the Vera, which had -been destined for Wellesley’s army. The whole civil population of -Plasencia fled to the hills, in obedience to an order of the local -Junta, and the British soldiers in the hospital were the only living -beings whom the French vanguard found in the city. The men of the 5th -Corps plundered the deserted houses, as was but natural, but behaved -with much humanity to the captured invalids[704]. - - [704] For details of Mortier’s march see the memoir of Naylies, - of Lahoussaye’s Dragoons, who was with the vanguard. According to - the _Diary_ of Fantin des Odoards, Soult pushed his kindness to - the British invalids so far as to leave with them a small supply - of muskets, with which to defend themselves against guerrillas. - -After seizing Plasencia Mortier halted for a day, in obedience to -Soult’s orders, that he might allow the 2nd Corps to close up before -he pressed in any further towards Wellesley. The Duke of Dalmatia -was determined to run no risks, when dealing with an adversary so -enterprising as his old enemy of Oporto. On August 2 he himself and the -leading divisions of his corps reached Plasencia: the rest were close -behind. On the same afternoon, therefore, the advance could be resumed, -and Mortier set out on the high road towards Almaraz and Talavera, -having eight regiments of horse--3,000 men--in his front. He slept that -night at Malpartida, seven miles in advance of Plasencia, and moved on -next morning to the line of the Tietar and the village of Toril. One of -his reconnoitring parties approached the bridge of Almaraz and found it -broken: another reached Navalmoral. He was now drawing very close to -Wellesley, who had encamped that day at Oropesa, and was only thirty -miles away: indeed the British and the French cavalry came in contact -that evening in front of Navalmoral. - -On August 3, by a curious coincidence, each Commander-in-chief was -at last informed of his adversary’s strength and intentions by a -captured dispatch. A Spanish messenger was arrested by Soult’s -cavalry, while bearing a letter from Wellesley to General Erskine -dated August 1. In this document there was an account of the battle -of Talavera, which had hitherto been unknown to Soult. But the most -important clause of it was a request to Erskine to find out whether -the rumours reporting the advance of 12,000 French towards the Puerto -de Baños were correct. The Duke of Dalmatia thus discovered that his -adversary, only two days before, was grossly underrating the numbers -of the army that was marching against his rear. He was led on to hope -that Wellesley would presently advance against him with inferior -numbers, and court destruction by attacking the united 2nd and 5th -Corps[705]. - - [705] See Le Noble, p. 320. - -This indeed might have come to pass had not the allies on the same -day become possessed of a French dispatch which revealed to them the -real situation of affairs. Some guerrillas in the neighbourhood of -Avila intercepted a friar, who was an agent of King Joseph, and was -bearing a letter from him to Soult. They brought the paper to Cuesta -on August 3: it contained not only an account of the King’s plans and -projects, but orders for the Marshal, which mentioned Ney and the 6th -Corps, and showed that the force marching on Plasencia was at least -double the strength that Wellesley had expected[706]. This letter -Cuesta sent on to his colleague with laudable promptness; it reached -the British commander in time to save him from taking the irreparable -step of marching from Oropesa to Navalmoral, where the vanguard of -Mortier’s cavalry had just been met by the vedettes of Cotton’s light -horse. Wellesley had actually written to Bassecourt to bid him halt -at Centinello till he himself should arrive, and then to join him -in an attack on the French[707], when he was handed the intercepted -letter which showed that Soult had at least 30,000 men in hand. - - [706] See Arteche, vi. 342, and _Wellington Dispatches_, iv. - 561; the letter itself is not published by Gurwood, but Lord - Londonderry, then on Wellesley’s staff, gives an analysis of it. - It contained, according to him, orders to Soult to hasten his - march, and to bring up Ney’s corps with all speed, while the king - himself undertook to threaten Talavera again with Victor’s forces - [Londonderry, i. p. 416]. - - [707] Wellesley to Bassecourt, from Oropesa, August 3. So - confident was the British commander at this moment, that he - wrote to Beresford on the same morning, telling him that Soult - when assailed would probably retire at once, either by the pass - of Perales or that of Baños. He wished his lieutenant to send - Portuguese troops to the outlets of those defiles, to intercept - the retreating enemy. - -This unpalatable news changed the whole prospect of affairs: it -would be mad to assail such an enemy with a force consisting of no -more than 18,000 British troops and Bassecourt’s 5,000 Spaniards. -Wellesley had therefore to reconsider the whole situation, and to -dictate a new plan of campaign at very short notice, since his -cavalry were actually in touch with the enemy at the distance of a -single day’s march from Oropesa. On the morrow he must either fight -or fly. The situation was made more complicated by the fact that -Cuesta, when forwarding the French dispatch, had sent information -to the effect that he considered his own situation at Talavera so -much compromised that he was about to retreat at once, with the -design of crossing the Tagus at Almaraz, and of taking up once more -his old line of communications, which ran by Truxillo to Badajoz. -It may be asked why the Captain-General did not adopt the simpler -course of crossing the Tagus at Talavera, and moving under cover of -the river, instead of executing the long flank march by Oropesa to -Almaraz on the exposed bank, where the French were known to be in -movement. The answer, however, is simple and conclusive: the paths -which lead southward from Talavera are impracticable for artillery -and wheeled vehicles. Infantry alone could have retreated by the -route which climbs up to the Puerto de San Vincente, the main pass -of this section of the Sierra de Guadalupe: nor was the track along -the edge of the river from Talavera to Arzobispo any better fitted -for the transport of a large army. It is this want of any adequate -communication with the south which makes Talavera such a dangerous -position: no retreat from it is possible save that by the road to -Oropesa, unless the retiring army is prepared to sacrifice all its -impedimenta. - -Cuesta has been criticized in the most savage style by many English -writers, from Lord Londonderry and Napier downwards, for his hasty -departure from Talavera. It is fair to state in his defence the fact -that if he had tarried any longer in his present position he might -have been cut off not merely from Almaraz--that passage was already -impracticable--but also from the bridge of Arzobispo, the only other -crossing of the Tagus by which artillery and heavy wagons can pass -southward. If he had started on the fourth instead of the third he -might have found Mortier and Soult interposed between him and this -last line of retreat. He would then have been forced to abandon all -his _matériel_, and to hurry back to Talavera, in order to take the -break-neck track to the Puerto de San Vincente. But there was every -reason to believe that Victor might arrive in front of Talavera on -the evening of the fourth or the morning of the fifth, so that this -last road to safety might have been already blocked. Thus the Spanish -army, if it had started on the fourth for Oropesa, might have found -itself caught between the two French corps, and vowed to inevitable -destruction. As a matter of fact Victor moved slowly and cautiously, -and only reached Talavera on the sixth--but this could not possibly -have been foreseen. We cannot therefore blame Cuesta’s precipitate -departure upon the night of August 3. - -His main body marched under cover of the darkness to Oropesa, where -they arrived, much wearied and in some disorder, on the following -morning. He left Zayas’s division and Albuquerque’s horse as a -rearguard, to hold Talavera till midday on the fourth, with orders -to make a semblance of resistance and to detain Victor for a few -hours if he should appear. But no hostile force showed itself: by -his unwise retreat to Santa Cruz the Marshal had drawn back so far -from the enemy that he could not take advantage of their retrograde -movement when it became known to him. Villatte’s division and -Beaumont’s cavalry only reached Talavera on the morning of the sixth. - -The departure of the Estremaduran army had one deplorable result. It -exposed the English hospitals at Talavera, with their 4,000 wounded, -to capture by the enemy. Wellesley, before he had marched off, had -given orders that all the men capable of being moved should be sent -off towards Plasencia and Portugal as soon as possible. But he had no -transport that could cope with the task of transferring such a mass -of invalids towards his base. He wrote from Oropesa begging Cuesta -to requisition carts from the country-side for this purpose[708]. -But it was notorious that carts were not to be had--all Wellesley’s -letters for the last three weeks were full of complaints to the -effect that he could not procure them by money or by force. When -the Spaniards were themselves departing, bag and baggage, it was an -inopportune moment at which to ask them to provide transport: yet -since the British wounded had been left to their care they were bound -in honour to do all that could be done to save them. It is said that -Cuesta made over[709] no more than seven ox-carts and a few mules to -Colonel Mackinnon, the officer charged with the task of evacuating -the hospitals. These and about forty vehicles of various kinds -belonging to the British themselves were all that could be procured -for the use of the wounded. They could only accommodate a tithe of -the serious cases: the men with hurts of less consequence were forced -to set out upon their feet. ‘The road to Oropesa,’ writes one of -their fellow sufferers, ‘was covered with our poor limping bloodless -soldiers. On crutches or sticks, with blankets thrown over them, they -hobbled woefully along. For the moment panic terror lent them a force -inconsistent with their debility and their fresh wounds. Some died -by the road, others, unable to get further than Oropesa, afterwards -fell into the hands of the enemy[710].’ The rest trailed onward to -the bridge of Arzobispo, where Wellesley provided transport for many -of them by unloading baggage-wagons, and ultimately reached Truxillo, -at which place the new hospitals were established. Of the whole 4,000 -about 1,500 had been left at Talavera as hopeless or dangerous cases, -and these became the captives of the French: 2,000 drifted in, at -various times, to Truxillo: the remaining 500 expired by the wayside -or were taken by the French in the villages where they had dropped -down[711]. - - [708] Wellesley to O’Donoju, Aug. 3, 1809. - - [709] I am bound to say that after reading the Spanish - narratives, I doubt whether Cuesta had at his disposal the large - amount of spare vehicles of which Londonderry and Napier speak. - - [710] Boothby, _A Prisoner of France_, p. 40. For the adventures - of two wounded officers on their weary way to Truxillo see the - _Diary_ of Hawker, and the narrative of Colonel Leslie. The - latter made a personal appeal to Cuesta, whose carriage he had - met by the roadside. The old general sent for the Alcalde, and - made him provide a mule--though it turned out to be a very bad - one--for the wounded officer. This small fact to his credit needs - recording, after the copious abuse heaped on him. - - [711] The invalids were admirably cared for by the enemy. See - Boothby. - -Long before Cuesta and his host had arrived at Oropesa, Wellesley -had made up his mind that the only course open to him was to abandon -the march towards Navalmoral and Almaraz, and to turn aside to the -bridge of Arzobispo. As the French were known to be at Navalmoral, -it would have been impossible to force a passage to Almaraz without -a battle. If the enemy were to be estimated at two corps, or 30,000 -men, according to the indications of the intercepted letter, they -would probably be able to detain the Anglo-Spanish army till Victor -should arrive from the rear. For, without accepting a pitched battle, -they would be strong enough to harass and check the allies, and to -prevent them from reaching Almaraz till the 1st Corps should come -upon the scene. ‘I was not certain,’ wrote Wellesley to Beresford -two days later, ‘that Ney was not with Soult: and I _was_ certain -that, if not with him, he was at no great distance. We should -therefore have had a battle to fight in order to gain the road to -Almaraz--Plasencia was then out of the question--and if Victor had -followed Cuesta, as he ought to have done, another battle, probably, -before the bridge could be re-established[712]. Then it was to be -considered that, Cuesta having left Talavera, the bridge of Arzobispo -would have been open to the enemy’s enterprise: if they had destroyed -it, while we had failed in forcing Soult at Navalmoral, we were -gone.’ - - [712] The Marquis del Reino (it will be remembered) had broken - the boat-bridge of Almaraz on August 2, after abandoning the - Puerto de Baños. - -It is impossible not to bow before Wellesley’s reasoning. The French -critics object that only Mortier was at Navalmoral on August 4, -Soult being twenty miles behind him at Bazagona on the Tietar, so -that it would have been possible for the British army to have driven -back the 19,000 men of the Duke of Treviso, and to have forced its -way to Almaraz[713]. But even if Wellesley had fought a successful -action with Mortier on August 4, Soult would certainly have joined -his colleague on the fifth, before the bridge could have been -repaired, or at any rate before the whole Anglo-Spanish army and all -its impedimenta could have crossed the Tagus. If attacked during -their passage by the 37,000 men of the 2nd and 5th Corps they would -have fared badly. Wellesley was perfectly correct in his decision; -indeed the only point in which he was deceived was that he believed -the enemy in his front to be Soult’s and Ney’s Corps, whereas -they were in reality those of Soult and Mortier. Ney only reached -Plasencia on August 4, and did not join the main body of the army -till two days later. - - [713] See for example, Le Noble, pp. 339-40. - -When Wellesley and Cuesta met at Oropesa, early on the morning -of August 4, they found themselves as usual engaged in a heated -controversy. The British general had directed his divisions to hold -themselves ready to march on the bridge of Arzobispo without further -delay. Cuesta on the other hand had been attacked by a recrudescence -of his old disease, the mania for fighting pitched battles[714]. He -proposed that the allied armies should remain on the north bank of -the Tagus, adopt a good defensive position, and defy Soult to attack -them. Wellesley would not listen for a moment to this project, and -finally declared that in spite of all arguments to the contrary, he -should cross the Tagus that day at the head of his army. The two -generals parted in wrath, and at six o’clock the British commenced -their march to Arzobispo, only nine miles distant; the whole force -crossed its bridge before evening, and established itself in bivouac -on the south side of the river. - - [714] ‘As usual, General Cuesta wanted to fight general actions,’ - writes Wellesley to Beresford, from Arzobispo, on the afternoon - of this same day. - -Cuesta remained at Oropesa for the whole day of August 4, and was -there joined both by Bassecourt, who had fallen back from Centinello, -and by Zayas and Albuquerque, who had evacuated Talavera at noon -and made a forced march to join their chief. He appeared disposed -to fight even though his ally had abandoned him. In the afternoon -Mortier’s cavalry pressed in against him. He turned fiercely upon -them, deployed a whole division of infantry and 1,200 horse in their -front, and drove them back towards their supports. This vigorous -action had a result that could not have been foreseen: Mortier jumped -to the conclusion that he was himself about to be attacked by the -whole Spanish army--perhaps by Wellesley also[715]. He halted the -5th Corps in advance of Navalmoral, and wrote to implore Soult to -come up to his aid without delay. The Duke of Dalmatia hurried up -with all speed, and on August 5 brought the 2nd Corps to Casatejada, -only six miles in the rear of his colleague. Ney, following with a -like promptness, advanced that day to Malpartida, a march behind the -position of Soult. - - [715] ‘M. le Maréchal duc de Trévise crut qu’il serait attaqué,’ - says Soult in his report of August 13. He therefore held back, - and sent for the 2nd Corps. Hence came Cuesta’s salvation. - -On the sixth, therefore, the whole army from the Douro was -practically concentrated, and Soult and Mortier advanced against -Cuesta with Ney close in their rear. They found that they were too -late: after remaining in battle order in front of the bridge of -Arzobispo during the whole of the fifth, courting the attack which -Mortier had been too cautious to deliver, the Captain-General had -crossed the Tagus that night, and had occupied its further bank. He -had left in front of the bridge only a small rearguard, which retired -after a skirmish with the advanced cavalry of the 5th Corps. For -once Cuesta had found luck upon his side; if Mortier had ventured to -assail him on the fifth, and had forced him to an engagement, in a -position from which retreat was difficult, and with the Tagus at his -back, his situation would have been most perilous. For even if he had -kept the 5th Corps at bay, he could not easily have withdrawn in face -of it, and Soult would have been upon him on the next morning. In -escaping across the narrow bridge of Arzobispo his losses must have -been terrible: indeed the greater part of his army might have been -destroyed. - -Finding, on the evening of August 6, that both the British and the -Estremaduran armies were now covered by the Tagus, whose line they -appeared determined to defend, Soult was forced to think out a new -plan of campaign. His original design of taking the allies in the -rear and cutting off their retreat had miscarried: he must now either -halt and recognize that his march had failed in its main purpose, or -else deliver a frontal attack upon the line of the Tagus. The bridge -of Almaraz was broken, and troops (the detachment of the Marquis -Del Reino) were visible behind it. The bridge of Arzobispo was not -destroyed, but the Spaniards were obviously ready to defend it. It -was barricaded, the mediaeval towers in its midst were manned by -a detachment of infantry, and a battery for twelve guns had been -placed in an earthwork erected on a knoll thirty yards in its -rear, so as to sweep all the approaches. Considerable forces both -of cavalry and of infantry were visible on the hillsides and in the -villages of the southern bank. Cuesta, in fact, while proposing -to fall back with his main body to Meza de Ibor and Deleytosa, in -order to recover his communication with his base at Badajoz, had -left behind a strong rearguard, consisting of Bassecourt’s infantry -division and Albuquerque’s six regiments of cavalry, a force of 5,000 -bayonets and nearly 3,000 sabres. They were ordered to defend the -bridge and the neighbouring ford of Azutan till further orders should -reach them. The ground was very strong; indeed the ford was the one -perilous point, and as that passage was narrow and hard to find, -Cuesta trusted that it might be maintained even against very superior -numbers. So formidable did the defence appear that Soult halted -during the whole day of August 7, while he took stock of the Spanish -positions, and sought up-stream and down-stream for means of passage -other than the bridge. He was not at first aware of the existence -of the ford: it was only revealed to him by the imprudence of the -Spanish cavalry, who rode their horses far into the stream when -watering them, thus showing that there were long shallows projecting -from the southern bank. By a careful search at night the French -intelligence-officers discovered that the river was only deep for -a few yards under their own bank[716]: for the rest of its breadth -there were only two or three feet of water. Having found the point, -not far from the bridge, where the more dangerous part of the channel -was fordable, they advised the Marshal that the passage of the -river would present no insurmountable difficulties. Soult resolved -to deliver an assault both on the bridge and on the ford upon the -morning of August 8. Nor was it only at Arzobispo that he determined -to force the line of the Tagus. He directed Ney, who was bringing up -his rear at the head of the 6th Corps, to turn aside to the broken -bridge of Almaraz, and to endeavour to cross the river by aid of a -ford which was said to exist in that neighbourhood. Sketch-maps were -sent to the Marshal in order to enable him to locate the exact point -of passage--it would seem that they must have been very faulty. - - [716] General Arteche, who has examined the ford, notes that the - main channel, narrow but with a rocky bottom, is close under the - northern, i.e. the French, bank. The remaining two-thirds of the - breadth of the river has a hard sandy bottom and is in August - extremely shallow. If once, therefore, the deep water under the - nearer bank was crossed, the French had no difficulties before - them. - -Meanwhile Wellesley had passed the Tagus four days and Cuesta three -days before the Marshal’s attack was ready, and both had been granted -time to proceed far upon their way. It was fortunate that they were -not hurried, for the road from Arzobispo to Meza de Ibor and thence -to Deleytosa and Jaraicejo, though passable for guns and wheeled -vehicles, was steep and in a deplorable condition of disrepair. -It took Wellesley two days to march from the bridge to Meza de -Ibor, a distance of only seventeen miles, because of the endless -trouble caused by his artillery. There were places where he had -practically to remake the roadway, and others where whole companies -of infantry had to be turned on to haul the cannon up slopes where -the half-starved horses could make no headway. These exertions were -all the more exhausting because the men were falling into a state of -great bodily weakness from insufficient supplies. Even at Talavera -they had on many days received no more than half rations: but after -passing Oropesa regular distributions of food ceased altogether for -some time: there were still a few slaughter-oxen with the army, but -bread or biscuit was unobtainable, and the troops had to maintain -themselves on what they could scrape up from the thinly peopled and -rugged country-side. A diet of overripe _garbanzos_, parched to the -hardness of bullets, was all that many could obtain. Better foragers -eked them out with honeycomb stolen from the peasants’ hives, and -pork got by shooting the half-wild pigs which roam in troops among -the woods on the mountain side. Many, in the ravenous eagerness -of hunger, ate the meat warm and raw, and contracted choleraic -complaints from their unwholesome feeding[717]. - - [717] For details of these privations see the diary of Leach of - the 95th, p. 92. - -Divining that Soult would probably make a dash at Almaraz as well as -at Arzobispo, Wellesley sent on ahead of his main body the brigade -of Robert Craufurd, to which he attached Donkin’s much depleted -regiments, in order to make up a small division. As they were -unhampered by guns or baggage this detachment reached Almaraz on the -sixth, after a fifteen hours’ forced march on the preceding day. They -took over charge of the broken bridge and the ford from the Spanish -troops of the Marquis Del Reino, and proceeded to entrench themselves -in the excellent positions overlooking the point where the river -was passable. Thus Ney, when he reached Almaraz on the following -day, found the enemy already established opposite him, and ready to -dispute the crossing. About 4,000 British troops and 1,500 Spanish -troops were holding the river bank: immediately at their backs -was the narrow and eminently defensible defile of Mirabete, which -completely commands the road to Truxillo: it was an even stronger -position than that which covered the ford and the ruined bridge. - -On August 7 therefore Wellesley considered himself in a comparatively -satisfactory situation. The passage at Almaraz was held by a -vanguard consisting of the best troops in the army. Two divisions, -the cavalry, and all the guns had traversed the worst part of the -road, and had reached Deleytosa, only nine miles behind Craufurd’s -position. If the French should attack on the following day, the -main body could reinforce the light brigade in a few hours. One -division, in the rear, was holding the position of Meza de Ibor, -which Wellesley did not wish to evacuate until the Spanish army was -ready to occupy it. He had discovered that there were points between -Arzobispo and Almaraz where the passage of the Tagus was not wholly -impracticable for small bodies of infantry[718], and dreaded that the -enemy might throw a detachment across the stream to make a dash for -the Meza. If this position had been lost the communication between -the two armies would have been broken. - - [718] Wellesley to O’Donoju, from Deleytosa, Aug. 7. - -Cuesta, meanwhile, was engaged in the steep and stony mountain road -over which Wellesley had toiled on the 5th and the 6th of August. -His vanguard was now close to Meza de Ibor: the rest of the army was -strung out between that point and Val de la Casa: the Captain-General -himself had his head quarters on the night of the seventh at Peraleda -de Garbin, ten miles west of Arzobispo. Bassecourt and Albuquerque -were still covering the rear, with Mortier’s corps now plainly -visible in their front. On their steadiness depended the safety -of the whole army, for Cuesta had more baggage and more guns[719] -than Wellesley, and therefore the road over the hills was even -more trying to him than to his colleague. There was a congestion -of wheeled transport at certain spots on the road which created -hopeless confusion, and barred the march of the cavalry and even -of the infantry divisions. It was only removed by setting whole -battalions to work to drag the wagons out of the way. Cuesta’s -ultimate destination was the Meza de Ibor, a position of unparalleled -strength, which could be held even after the enemy had crossed the -Tagus. That they would ultimately win their way over the river was -certain, for already news had arrived that Victor, after reaching -Talavera on Aug. 6, had pushed infantry over its bridge on the road -to Herencia and Aldea Nueva. Troops coming from this direction would -outflank the Arzobispo position, and compel Albuquerque to abandon -it. Even without cavalry or guns this detachment of the 1st Corps -would be strong enough to dislodge the guard of the bridge, by -falling upon its rear, while Mortier was attacking it in front. As -the cavalry of Victor and Soult had met, half way between Oropesa and -Talavera, upon the afternoon of the seventh, the two marshals were -now in full communication, and able to concert any plans that they -might please for joint operations. - - [719] Beside his own thirty guns he had the seventeen captured - French pieces which had been won at Talavera. Wellesley, it will - be remembered (p. 543), had handed them over to him. - -The Duke of Dalmatia, however, preferred to win all the credit for -himself, and attacked without allowing his colleague’s troops time -to approach the Spanish position. It was fortunate for Albuquerque -that the rivalry of the two hostile commanders saved him from the -joint assault, which would have been far more ruinous to him than the -actual combat of Aug. 8 was destined to prove. - -Having full knowledge of the existence and the locality of the ford -of Azutan, Soult had resolved to launch his main attack upon this -point, while directing only a subsidiary attack upon the fortified -bridge. This last was only to be pushed home in case the troops sent -against the ford should succeed in making good their footing upon the -further bank. A careful observation of the Spanish lines showed that -both Albuquerque and Bassecourt were holding back the main body of -their divisions at some distance from the water’s edge, in the groves -around the three villages of Pedrosa, Burgillo, and Azutan. There -was only a single regiment of cavalry watching the river bank, and -two or three battalions of infantry manning the towers of the bridge -of Arzobispo and the redoubt in its rear. The Spaniards showed every -sign of a blind confidence in the strength of their position behind -the broad but shallow Tagus. - -Knowing their habits, Soult selected for the moment of his attack -the hour of the _siesta_. It was between one and two o’clock in the -afternoon when he bade his columns, which had been drawn up under -cover, and at some distance from the water’s edge, to advance to -force the passage. For the assault upon the ford he had collected the -whole of his cavalry, no less than twelve regiments. Lahoussaye’s -dragoons formed the van, then came Lorges’ brigade, then the -division of light horse belonging to the 2nd Corps, in the rear the -corps-cavalry of Mortier. This mass of 4,000 horsemen was to be -followed by the first brigade of Girard’s infantry division of the -5th Corps, while its second brigade was to assault the bridge, when -Lahoussaye and Lorges should have won the passage of the ford and -have established themselves on the flank of the Spanish defences. -Gazan’s division, the second of the 5th Corps, was to support -Girard, while the masses of the infantry of the 2nd Corps remained -in reserve. All the light artillery of the army was to gallop down -to the water’s edge at various selected points, when the attacking -columns were first put in movement, and to distract the attention of -the enemy’s guns so far as lay in their power. - -At about 1.30 P.M. Caulaincourt’s brigade of Lahoussaye’s dragoons, -a force of about 600 sabres, sallied out from its cover behind -the village of Arzobispo, and moved down to the ford at a sharp -trot. It plunged into the water, had passed the deeper part of the -channel almost before the Spaniards had guessed its intention, and -soon reached the shallows on the opposite bank. The only hostile -force ready to meet it was a single regiment (the 1st Estremaduran -Hussars) which was watching the ford, and a battalion of infantry -which Bassecourt sent down in haste from the redoubt behind the -bridge. A fierce charge of Caulaincourt’s dragoons dispersed and -routed the Spanish horse; after they had been driven off the victors -turned upon the battalion, which tried to form square on their -approach, but was late in finishing its manœuvre. It was assailed -before the rear side had been formed, broken up, and cut to pieces. - -Soult had thus gained a precious half-hour, during which the -remainder of his cavalry, squadron after squadron, came pouring over -the ford, and began to form up on the southern bank. When several -regiments had passed he also let loose the infantry brigade which -was to attack the bridge. So narrow was the approach that only a -single battalion (the 1st of the 40th of the line) could deliver the -assault. But the _tirailleur_ companies of several other battalions, -and two batteries of horse artillery, opened a lateral fire from -various points of the northern bank, to distract the Spaniards -from the frontal attack. The fraction of Bassecourt’s division -which was in position at the bridge and the redoubt had already -been completely cowed by seeing Lahoussaye’s cavalry forming up in -their flank and rear. If they waited to resist the infantry attack, -it was clear that they would be cut off from their sole line of -retreat by the dragoons. They abandoned their positions after firing -a couple of scattering volleys, and fled eastward along the river -bank towards the village of Azutan. The heavy guns in the redoubt -were left behind, and fell into the hands of Caulaincourt. Girard’s -infantry was therefore able to cross the river almost without loss, -two regiments at the bridge, two at the ford which the cavalry had -already utilized. A few men were drowned in the second column, having -strayed into deep water by swerving to the right or left of the -proper route. - -Meanwhile Albuquerque’s horse and Bassecourt’s second brigade, -roused from their ill-timed siesta, were pouring out of the villages -which had sheltered them from the noontide heat. The infantry--four -battalions apparently--drew up beside a wood, on the slope a mile -above the bridge, and waited to be attacked. The cavalry, however, -came on in one great mass, and charged down upon Lahoussaye’s -division, which was covering the deployment of the rest of the French -horse. Albuquerque’s only thought was to engage the enemy before he -had succeeded in passing the whole of his squadrons over the ford. -Vainly hoping to atone for his previous slackness by haste that came -too late, he had hurried his five regiments forward as soon as the -men could saddle and bridle their horses. Fractions of the different -corps were mixed together, and no proper first or second line had -been formed. The whole mass--some 2,500 sabres--in great disorder, -galloped down upon the two brigades of Lahoussaye, and engaged them -for a short time. But Lorges’ dragoons and part of Soult’s light -horse were now at hand to aid the leading division; the Spaniards -were beset in flank as well as in front, and broke after the first -shock. Albuquerque, who showed plenty of useless personal courage, -tried in vain to rally them on the 2nd Estremaduran Hussars, the only -regiment which remained intact. It was borne away by the backrush -of the rest, and scattering over the hillsides the whole body fled -westward and northward, some towards Peraleda de Garbin, others -towards Pedrosa. Bassecourt’s infantry went off to the rear as soon -as they saw their comrades routed, and took to the hills. By keeping -to rocky ground they suffered comparatively little loss. - -The French urged the pursuit of Albuquerque’s fugitive horsemen for -many miles, chasing them as far as the defile of La Estrella in the -Sierra de Guadalupe in one direction, and beyond Val de la Casa in -the other. On the latter road the chase only ceased when the dragoons -came upon the divisions of Henestrosa and Zayas, from Cuesta’s main -army, drawn up across their path. The losses of the Spaniards were -very considerable--600 men and 400 horses were captured, and over 800 -killed and wounded. One flag was taken, that of the regiment cut to -pieces by Lahoussaye’s dragoons at the commencement of the fighting. -The pieces in the redoubt, and the divisional battery of Albuquerque, -16 guns in all, were lost. By an additional mischance the French also -recovered fourteen of their own seventeen guns that had been taken at -Talavera. Cuesta had not been able to utilize these pieces for want -of gunners: they were trailing along in the rear of his army, very -indifferently horsed, when the French dragoons swept along the road -to Peraleda. On the approach of the pursuers they were abandoned by -the wayside. This capture enabled Soult to assert that he had taken -in all 30 cannon, and emboldened Sebastiani, a few weeks later, to -declare that he had never lost his guns at Talavera[720]. Having -recovered them he could exhibit them--all save two or three--in -evidence of his mendacious statement. - - [720] The fact that these guns were actually French explains - Le Noble’s statement that the captured pieces were largely ‘de - modèle français.’ Napier has a strange statement, whose source - I cannot discover, to the effect that ‘Cuesta on his march to - Meza d’Ibor left fifteen guns upon the road, which Albuquerque’s - flight uncovered. A trumpeter attending an English flag of truce - treacherously or foolishly made known the fact to the French, who - immediately sent cavalry to fetch them off.’ Napier, ii. 189. - -Soult declared in his official report that his cavalry had lost only -28 killed and 83 wounded, his artillery 4 wounded, his infantry -hardly a man, save some few drowned at the ford. - -The rout of the Spanish rearguard and the capture of the bridge of -Arzobispo gave Soult a foothold on the southern bank of the Tagus, -but little more. The road by which he could now advance against -the allies was detestable--we have already seen how its cliffs and -ravines had tried the British and the Estremaduran armies. To reach -Cuesta’s new position on the Meza de Ibor the Duke of Dalmatia would -have had to make a two days’ march through these defiles, dragging -his guns with him. His cavalry he would have been forced to leave -behind him, as there would have been no means of employing it in the -mountains. Meanwhile Wellesley had established himself in the ground -which he had selected behind the broken bridge of Almaraz, and Cuesta -had got the whole of his infantry and half his artillery over the -Ibor stream and arrayed them on the Meza, where the rocky slopes are -impregnable against a frontal attack, if the defending army shows -ordinary determination[721]. All through the ninth and the morning -of the tenth the Spaniards were dragging the rest of their guns and -their baggage up the steep zigzag path between the river and the -summit of the plateau, and it was not till the end of the latter day -that everything was in position. It is probable therefore that if -Soult had pressed his pursuit with all possible speed, he might have -captured some of the Spanish _impedimenta_ on the morning of the -tenth. But there were defiles between Peraleda and the Ibor river -where Cuesta’s rearguard might possibly have detained him till the -guns and baggage were in safety[722]. - - [721] It will he remembered that on March 17, Victor turned Del - Parque’s division out of the Meza de Ibor position. But the - latter had only 5,000 men, not enough to man the whole line, - while the Duke of Belluno had two divisions for the frontal - attack, and turned the Meza with another, that of Villatte. - Cuesta had 30,000 men and more, quite sufficient to hold the - entire position. - - [722] Wellesley went to visit his allies on the Meza upon the - morning of Aug. 10, and found that half the guns and baggage had - been dragged up on the ninth, but that there was still a great - accumulation at the foot of the steep slope, between the Ibor - river and the lower edge of the plateau. He was in great distress - at the notion that the French might come up at any moment, drive - in the rearguard, and capture the rear sections of the Spanish - train; see _Wellington Dispatches_, v. 22, to Lord Wellesley, - from Deleytosa, Aug. 10. - -The Duke of Dalmatia, however, paused at the bridge of Arzobispo -before committing himself to a second advance against the allies. He -was averse to making an isolated attack upon the admirable position -now occupied by the Estremaduran army, and wished to combine it with -a simultaneous assault upon the British. It will be remembered that -he had detached Ney’s corps from the rear of his line of march, and -ordered it to attempt the passage of the Tagus at Almaraz, by the -ford which he knew to exist close to the ruined bridge. He also wrote -to Victor to desire him to push forward the two infantry divisions -which had crossed the river at Talavera, and to direct them on -Mohedas and Alia, so as to turn Cuesta’s flank by a long circuitous -march among the rugged summits of the Sierra de Guadalupe. - -Neither of these subsidiary movements was carried out. One division -of Ney’s corps, and Fournier’s brigade of dragoons reached Almaraz on -Aug. 8: the other division and the light cavalry had followed the 2nd -Corps so closely that it had passed Navalmoral on its way eastward, -and had to make a long counter-march. It was not till the ninth or -tenth therefore that the Duke of Elchingen would have been in a -position to attempt the passage of the Tagus. Craufurd’s detachment -had been established at Mirabete, behind the broken bridge, since -Aug. 6, and two days later the main body of the British army had -reached Deleytosa, where it was within a few hours’ march of the -vanguard, and perfectly ready to support it. If Ney had endeavoured -to pass the Tagus on the ninth or tenth with his 12,500 men, it is -clear that the head of his column must have been destroyed, for -the ford was narrow and difficult, and indeed barely passable for -infantry even in the middle of August[723]. But the Marshal did not -even attempt the passage, for the simple reason that his intelligence -officers failed to discover the ford, and reported to him that none -existed. He sent word to Soult that the scheme was impracticable, and -drawing back from the water’s edge concentrated his whole corps at -Navalmoral [Aug. 9]. - - [723] From Soult’s dispatch of Aug. 13, it appears that a Colonel - Ornano, with a regiment of dragoons, was detailed to examine the - banks of the Tagus in search of the ford, but failed to find - it. The cause is not hard to seek, for it crosses the river - diagonally on a narrow shelf of rock with deep water on either - side. It is not less than four feet deep, and Leach of the 95th, - who was on guard at its southern end, describes it as ‘not - exactly practicable for infantry even at the driest season of - the year’ (p. 94). The English, knowing its exact course, were - established in positions from which they could concentrate upon - it in a few minutes. We may rationally suppose, therefore, that - Ney would have found the Tagus not less difficult to pass on Aug. - 9, than the Oitaben had been on June 8. - -Victor, at the other end of the French line, showed no desire to -adventure his infantry among the defiles of the Sierra de Guadalupe, -without guns or cavalry, and refused to move up into the mountains in -order to turn Cuesta’s right flank. Thus the whole plan concerted by -the Duke of Dalmatia for a general attack on the allies came to an -ignominious conclusion. - -It would appear, indeed, that his chance of inflicting a serious -blow on the enemy had passed away long ere he brought the 2nd and -5th Corps down to the bridge of Arzobispo. It was on the fifth, when -Mortier refused to close with Cuesta and allowed him to withdraw -across the Tagus, that Soult had lost his best opportunity. On that -day the Spaniards were still on the wrong side of the river, and the -British vanguard had not yet reached the broken bridge of Almaraz. -If Mortier had engaged the army of Cuesta, and Ney had found and -attacked the ford at Almaraz before Craufurd’s arrival, the position -of the allies would have been forlorn indeed. But on the fifth Soult -had not yet discovered the real position of affairs; and the head of -Ney’s corps was only just debouching from Plasencia, two long marches -from Almaraz. In short ‘the fog of war,’ as a modern writer has -happily called it, was still lying thick about the combatants, and -Soult’s best chance was gone before he was even aware of it. - -On August 9, matters looked far less promising, even though the -bridge of Arzobispo had been won. Since Ney sent word that he could -not cross at Almaraz, while Victor declined to commit himself to any -schemes for an advance into the eastern mountains, Soult saw that -he must construct another scheme of operations. His own preference -was for a march into Portugal by way of Coria and Castello Branco. -Such an attack upon Wellesley’s base, made by the 50,000 men of -the 2nd, 5th, and 6th Corps, would compel the British to abandon -Almaraz, to give up their connexion with Cuesta, and to march in -haste by Truxillo, Caceres, and Portalegre on Abrantes, in order to -cover Lisbon. It was even possible that, if the invading army made -great haste, it might reach Abrantes before the British: in that -case Wellesley would be forced to keep to the southern bank of the -Tagus and cross it at Santarem, comparatively close to the capital. -Thus all Central Portugal might be won without a battle, and Lisbon -itself might fall ere the campaign ended, since the 20,000 men of the -British general, even when aided by the local levies, could not (as -Soult supposed) hold back three French _corps d’armée_[724]. There -was another alternative possible--to march not on Lisbon but on -Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, and to invade Portugal by the northern -road. But this plan would take a longer time to execute, and promised -less decisive results. - - [724] Soult to Joseph, Aug. 9, from Arzobispo: ‘Je serai disposé - soit à marcher sur Lisbonne pour détruire les établissements - anglais avant que leur armée ne puisse y arriver, et à lui rendre - son embarquement difficile, soit à marcher sur Ciudad Rodrigo - pour en faire le siège.... Dans le cas du premier mouvement (qui - produira infailliblement de grands résultats) j’aurai l’honneur - de prier V. M. d’avoir la bonté de faire connaître à MM. les - maréchaux ducs de Trévise et d’Elchingen que telle est son - intention, afin que toute observation soit ainsi prévenue, et - qu’on ne puisse m’attribuer aucun sentiment d’amour-propre.’ - -But even before the combat of Arzobispo had taken place, Joseph and -Jourdan had determined that they would not permit Soult to carry -out any schemes of advance against Portugal. They could show very -good grounds for their decision. If the Duke of Dalmatia marched -off to attack Lisbon, he would leave the 1st and 4th Corps and the -King’s reserve,--less than 50,000 men in all, after the losses of -Talavera,--opposed to Cuesta, Wellesley, and Venegas, who between -them would have at least 75,000[725]. If the British army should -refuse to be drawn away towards Portugal, and should recross the -Tagus at Almaraz with Cuesta in its wake, the situation would be -deplorable. Victor would be exposed, just as he had been on July 22 -and 23, to a joint attack from the two armies. And on this occasion -Sebastiani and the King would not be able to bring him help, for they -were now closely engaged with Venegas near Aranjuez. If they moved -away from the front of the army of La Mancha, Madrid would be lost in -two days. If they did not so move, Wellesley and Cuesta might crush -Victor, or drive him away on some eccentric line of retreat which -would uncover the capital. Jourdan therefore, writing in the name of -Joseph, had informed Soult in a dispatch dated Aug. 8, that it was -impossible to permit him to march on Portugal, as his departure would -uncover Madrid and probably bring about a fatal disaster. He also -urged that the exhaustion of the troops rendered a halt necessary, -and that it would be impossible to feed them, if they advanced into -the stony wilderness on the borders of Portugal before they had -collected magazines. For the present the King would be contented to -keep the allies in check, without seeking to attack or disperse them, -until the weather began to grow cooler and the troops had rested from -their fatigues. - - [725] Joseph, exaggerating the enemy’s force, was under the - impression that they had fully 100,000 men: see his letter to - Napoleon of July 31. - -[Illustration: THE CAMPAIGN OF TALAVERA - JULY-AUGUST 1809] - -As if intending to put it out of Soult’s power to undertake his -projected expedition into Portugal, Jourdan and Joseph now -proceeded to deprive him of the control of one of his three army -corps. They authorized Ney to recross the mountains and to return to -Salamanca, in order to protect the plains of Leon from the incursions -of the Spaniards of Galicia. Deprived of such a large section of his -army, Soult would be unable to march against Abrantes, as he so much -desired to do. There were good military reasons, too, for sending -off Ney in this direction: Kellermann kept reporting that La Romana -was on the move, and that unless promptly succoured he should find -himself obliged to abandon Benavente and Zamora and to fall back on -Valladolid. The Spaniards from Ciudad Rodrigo had already taken the -offensive, and Del Parque’s advanced guard had even seized Salamanca. - -Ney accepted with alacrity the chance of withdrawing himself from the -immediate control of his old enemy Soult; he received his permission -to return to Leon on Aug. 9: on the tenth his whole corps was on -the move, and on the eleventh he had retired to Plasencia. On the -following day he plunged into the passes and made for Salamanca with -all possible speed[726]. - - [726] Ney has been accused of deserting Soult, and retiring - from Almaraz and Navalmoral on his own responsibility, and - contrary to the orders of his immediate superior. But Jourdan’s - dispatch of Aug. 9 to the Minister of War shows that the Duke - of Elchingen was obeying directions sent to him from the royal - head quarters. ‘Le roi a pensé,’ he writes, ‘qu’on ne devait - pas, quant à présent, chercher à pénétrer ni en Andalousie ni en - Portugal.... Le duc de Dalmatie renverra promptement le 6me corps - sur Salamanque pour en chasser les ennemis, et couvrir la Vieille - Castille conjointement avec le Général Kellermann.’ Ney then was - strictly correct in stating in his dispatch of Aug. 18, that he - had acted in obedience to his orders. - -While the 6th Corps was dispatched to the north, the King directed -Soult to take up, with the rest of his troops, a defensive position -opposite the allied armies on the central Tagus. The 2nd Corps was -to occupy Plasencia, the 5th to watch the passages at Almaraz and -Arzobispo, while keeping a detachment at Talavera. Thus all Soult’s -plans for an active campaign were shattered, and he was told off to -act as a ‘containing force.’ Meanwhile Joseph drew Victor and the -1st Corps away from Talavera, towards Toledo and La Mancha, with -the intention of bringing them into play against Venegas. For just -as Soult had always ‘an eye on Portugal,’ so Joseph had always ‘an -eye on Madrid.’ He could not feel secure so long as a Spanish army -lay near Toledo or Aranjuez, only two marches from the gates of his -capital, and was determined to dislodge it from this threatening -position before taking any other operation in hand. He had accepted -as true rumours to the effect that part of Cuesta’s troops had -retired in the direction of Ocaña[727] to join the army of La Mancha, -and even that 6,000 British[728] had been detached in this same -direction. Thus he had persuaded himself that Venegas had 40,000 men, -and was desirous of drawing in Victor to his head quarters before -delivering his attack, thinking that Sebastiani and the central -reserve would be too weak for the task. - - [727] Joseph to Napoleon, from Valdemoro, August 7. - - [728] Jourdan to Belliard, from Bargas, August 8. - - - - -SECTION XVI: CHAPTER IX - -THE END OF THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN: ALMONACID - - -While King Joseph’s orders were being carried out, Wellesley and -Cuesta found themselves, to their great surprise, unmolested by any -hostile force. The army which had been in their front at Almaraz and -Arzobispo disappeared on August 10, leaving only small detachments -to watch the northern bank of the Tagus. It was soon reported to -Wellesley that Victor had passed away towards Toledo, and that -another corps--or perhaps two[729]--had retired to Plasencia. The -object of this move however had to be determined, before the British -general could take corresponding measures. Was Soult about to invade -Portugal by way of Coria and Castello Branco, or was he merely -taking up cantonments, from which he could observe the British and -Estremaduran armies, while the King and Victor moved off against -Venegas? On the whole Wellesley was inclined to believe that the -latter hypothesis was the correct one, and that the enemy was about -to ‘refuse’ his right wing, and to use his left for offensive action -against the army of La Mancha. As was generally the case, his -prescience was not at fault, and he had exactly divined the King’s -intentions[730]. He had nevertheless to guard against the possibility -that the other alternative might prove to be correct, and that -Central Portugal was in danger--as indeed it would have been if -Joseph had allowed Soult to carry out his original plan. - - [729] See Wellesley’s letter of Aug. 14 to Beresford, concerning - the departure of the French. Robert Craufurd estimated the force - that had marched on Plasencia at 15,000 men, Donkin at 25,000. If - the latter had judged the numbers correctly, Wellesley supposed - that both Ney and Soult must have gone by this road: this was - actually the case. - - [730] Wellesley to Villiers, Aug. 12: ‘The French having been - moving since the ninth towards Plasencia.... I can form no - decided opinion respecting their intentions. I think, however, - that if they meditated a serious attack on Portugal they would - not have moved off in daylight, in full sight of our troops. I - suspect these movements are intended only as a feint, to induce - us to separate ourselves from the Spaniards, in order to cover - Portugal.’ - -Wellesley resolved therefore to maintain his present position at -Jaraicejo and Mirabete till he should be certain as to the intentions -of the French. If they were really about to invade Portugal, he would -march at once for Abrantes. If not, he would keep his ground, for by -holding the passage at Almaraz he was threatening the French centre, -and detaining in his front troops who would otherwise be free to -attack the Spaniards either in La Mancha or in Leon. - -Meanwhile measures had to be taken to provide a detaining force in -front of Soult, lest an attack on Portugal should turn out to be in -progress. This force was provided by bringing down Beresford and the -Portuguese field army to Zarza and Alcantara, and sending up to their -aid the British reinforcements which had landed at Lisbon during the -month of July. Beresford, it will be remembered, had received orders -at the commencement of the campaign directing him to concentrate his -army behind Almeida, to link his operations with those of Del Parque -and the Spanish force at Ciudad Rodrigo, but at the same time to -be ready to transfer himself either northward or southward if his -presence should be required on the Douro or the Tagus. In accordance -with these instructions Beresford had collected thirty-two battalions -of regular infantry, with one more from the Lusitanian Legion, and -the University Volunteers of Coimbra, as also five squadrons from -various cavalry regiments, and four batteries of artillery--a force -of 18,000 men in all[731]. On July 31 he had crossed the Spanish -frontier, and lay at San Felices and Villa de Cervo, near Ciudad -Rodrigo. There he heard of Soult’s march from Salamanca towards -Plasencia, and very properly made up his mind to bring his army down -to Estremadura by a line parallel to that which the French had taken. -He crossed the Sierra de Gata by the rough pass of Perales, and on -August 12 fixed his head quarters at Moraleja, near Coria, on the -southern slope of the mountains. His cavalry held Coria, while his -right wing was in touch with the English brigades from Lisbon, which -had just reached Zarza la Mayor. These were the seven battalions of -Lightburne and Catlin Craufurd[732], which Wellesley had vainly hoped -to receive in time for Talavera. They numbered 4,500 bayonets, and -had with them one battery of British artillery. - - [731] These regiments were, Line infantry, nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, - 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 23, all (save no. 15) two battalions - strong, and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th Cazadores, with no. - 2 of the Lusitanian Legion, and the ‘Voluntarios Académicos’ of - Coimbra. - - [732] Viz. 2/5th, 2/11th, 2/28th, 2/34th, 2/42nd, 2/39th, 2/88th. - -Thus even before Soult reached Plasencia, there was an army of 18,000 -Portuguese and 4,500 British on the lower Tietar, ready to act as a -detaining force and to retard the Marshal’s advance, if he should -make a serious attempt to invade Portugal. On Aug. 15, by Wellesley’s -orders, Beresford left Moraleja and transferred his whole army to -Zarza, in order to be able to fall back with perfect security on -Castello Branco should circumstances so require. If he had remained -at Moraleja he might have been cut off from the high-road to Abrantes -by a sudden movement of the enemy on Coria[733]. - - [733] See Wellesley to Beresford, Aug. 14. - -Wellesley now felt comparatively safe, so far as matters strategical -were concerned. If the enemy, contrary to his expectation, should -march into Portugal, he could join Beresford at Abrantes, and stand -at bay with some 24,000 British and 18,000 Portuguese regulars, a -force sufficient to check the 30,000 men who was the utmost force -that Soult could bring against him after Ney’s departure. Meanwhile, -till the Marshal should move, he retained his old position at -Mirabete and Jaraicejo. Though the French showed no signs of activity -in his front, the weary fortnight during which the British army -lay in position behind the Tagus were perhaps the most trying time -that Wellesley spent during his first campaign in Spain. It was a -period of absolute starvation for man and beast, and the army was -going to pieces under his eyes. Ever since the British had arrived -in front of Talavera on July 22, rations as we have already seen had -been scanty and irregular. But the fourteen days spent at Deleytosa -and Jaraicejo were even worse than those which had preceded them. -The stores collected at Plasencia had been captured by the French: -those gathered at Abrantes were so far distant that they could not -be drawn upon, now that the high-road north of the Tagus had been -cut by the enemy. The army had to live miserably on what it could -wring out of the country-side, which Victor two months before had -stripped to the very bones. Wellesley had hoped to be fed by the -Spanish Government, when he threw up his line of communication with -Abrantes, and took up that with Badajoz. But the Spanish Government -was a broken reed on which to lean: if it fed its own armies most -imperfectly, it was hardly to be expected that it would deal -more liberally with its allies. The trifling stores brought from -Talavera had long been exhausted: the country-side had been eaten -bare: from the South very little could be procured. The Spanish -Commissary-General Lozano de Torres[734] occasionally sent up a -small consignment of flour from Caceres and Truxillo, but it did not -suffice to give the army even half-rations. It was to no purpose -that at Abrantes provisions abounded at this moment, for there was -no means of getting them forward from Portugal[735]. The enemy lay -between the army and its base dépôt, and there was no transport -available to bring up the food by the circuitous route of Villa Velha -and Portalegre. Even so early as August 8 Wellesley began to write -that ‘a starving army is actually worse than none. The soldiers lose -their discipline and their spirit. They plunder in the very presence -of their officers. The officers are discontented, and almost as bad -as the men. With the army that a fortnight ago beat double their -numbers, I should now hesitate to meet a French corps of half that -strength.’ On the eleventh he wrote to warn Cuesta that unless he was -provided with food of some sort he should remain no longer in his -advanced position, but fall back towards Badajoz, whatever might be -the consequences. ‘It is impossible,’ he stated, ‘for me to remain -any longer in a country in which no arrangement has been made for the -supply of provisions to the troops, and in which all the provisions -that are either found in the country or are sent from Seville (as -I have been informed for the use of the British army) are applied -solely and exclusively to the use of the Spanish troops[736].’ - - [734] That this official did something, if not so much as - Wellesley required, is shown by the letter to Cuesta of Aug. - 11, in which it is said that ‘the British army has received no - provisions since it was at Deleytosa, excepting some sent from - Truxillo by Señor Lozano de Torres,’ while again on Aug. 8, - Wellesley says that ‘we have had nothing since the third, save - 4,000 lbs. of biscuit, and that was divided among 30,000 [say - 23,000] mouths.’ - - [735] On Aug. 12, Wellesley writes from Jaraicejo to say that the - dépôt at Abrantes is much too large, and that some of the flour - ought to be sent back to Santarem, or even to Lisbon, till only - 300,000 rations should be left. - - [736] Wellesley to his brother Lord Wellesley, at Seville, Aug. 8. - -The Junta sent Wellesley a letter of high-flown praise for his -doings at Talavera, a present of horses, and a commission as -Captain-General in their army. But food they did not send in any -sufficient quantities. All the convoys that came up from Andalusia -were made over to Cuesta’s army, and the Estremaduran districts which -were supposed to be allotted for the sustenance of the British had -little or nothing to give. When we remember that in June Victor had -described this same region as absolutely exhausted and incapable of -furnishing the 1st Corps with even five days’ supplies, we shall -not wonder that Wellesley’s troops starved there in August. It was -impossible however to convince the British general that the suffering -of his men were the result of Spanish penury rather than of Spanish -negligence and bad faith. There was much just foundation for his -complaints, for the Junta, after so many promises, had sent him -no train from Andalusia. Moreover detachments and marauding bands -from Cuesta’s army frequently intercepted the small supplies of -food which British foraging parties were able to procure[737]. When -taxed with their misdoings, Cuesta replied that Wellesley’s men had -not unfrequently seized and plundered his own convoys, which was -undoubtedly true[738], and that the British soldiers were enjoying -such abundance that he had been told that some of them were actually -selling their bread-ration to the Spaniards because they had no need -of it--which was most certainly false[739]. - - [737] See Wellesley to Cuesta from Jaraicejo, Aug. 11. - - [738] Lord Munster (p. 251) confesses that ‘so pressing were our - wants that one of our commissaries took from them (the Spaniards) - by force a hundred bullocks and a hundred mule loads of bread.’ - Cuesta needs no further justification. But it is clear that his - own men were doing things precisely similar. - - [739] See the above-quoted dispatch to Cuesta of Aug. 11. - -That Wellesley was using no exaggerated terms, when he declared -that his army was literally perishing for want of food, is proved -by the narratives of a score of British officers who were present -in the Talavera campaign[740]. That his ultimate retreat was caused -by nothing but the necessity of saving his men is perfectly clear. -The strategical advantage of maintaining the position behind the -Almaraz passage was so evident, and the political disadvantages of -withdrawing were so obvious, that a man of Wellesley’s keen insight -into the facts of war must have desired to hold on as long as was -possible. Unless Soult were actually attacking Portugal, Mirabete -and Jaraicejo afforded the best ground that could be selected for -‘containing’ and imposing upon the enemy. So long as the British -army lay there it was practically unassailable from the front, while -it was admirably placed for the purpose of making an irruption into -the midst of the enemy’s lines, if he should disperse his corps in -search of food, or detach large forces towards La Mancha or Leon. ‘If -I could only have fed,’ wrote Wellesley, ‘I could, after some time, -have struck a brilliant blow either upon Soult at Plasencia, or upon -Mortier in the centre[741]. It is clear that by a dash across the -Almaraz passage he could have fallen upon either of these forces, and -assailed it with good hope of success before it could be succoured -by the other. But such a venture was impossible to an army which -had lost one-third of its cavalry horses from starvation within -three weeks, and whose battalions were brought so low by physical -exhaustion that few of them could be relied upon to march ten miles -in a day. - - [740] See especially the remarks of Leach, George Napier, - Leith-Hay, Stothert, and Cooper. - - [741] Wellesley to Castlereagh, from Truxillo, Aug. 21, 1809. - -Wellesley declared that, having once linked his fortunes to those -of the Spanish army of Estremadura, he had considered himself bound -to co-operate with it as long as was humanly speaking possible, -and implicit credit may be given to his assertion[742]. The limit -of physical endurance, however, was reached on August 20, the day -on which he was finally compelled to commence his retreat in the -direction of Truxillo and Badajoz. - - [742] In his dispatch to the Marquis Wellesley, from Merida, - Aug. 24, he observes that he had considered himself in honour - bound to continue his co-operation unless (1) Soult should invade - Portugal, or (2) the Spaniards should move off towards another - theatre of war, i.e. La Mancha, or (3) he should himself be - starved out, as actually happened. - -Before that day arrived one event occurred which seemed to make -useful co-operation between the two allied armies more feasible than -it had been at any date since the campaign began. On the night of -August 12-13 Cuesta, whose health had been steadily growing worse -since the injuries that he had received at Medellin, was disabled -by a paralytic stroke which deprived him of the use of one of his -legs. He resigned on the following day, and was succeeded by his -second-in-command Eguia, an officer whose conciliatory manners and -mild disposition promised to make communication between the head -quarters of the two allied armies comparatively friendly. Cuesta, -after receiving from the Central Junta a letter of recall couched -in the most flattering terms, retired to the baths of Alhama. When -he had somewhat recovered his strength, he turned his energies -to writing a long vindication of his whole conduct in 1809, and -then engaged in a furious controversy with Venegas, concerning -the latter’s disobedience of orders in July. Engaged in these -harmless pursuits he ceased to be a source of danger to his country. -Unfortunately his removal from the theatre of war was not of such -benefit to the common cause as might have been hoped. The Junta -found ere long a general just as rash and incapable, if not quite so -old, to whom to entrust the command of its largest army. Juan Carlos -Areizaga, the vanquished of Ocaña, was entirely worthy to be the -spiritual heir of Cuesta’s policy. - -But for the present General Eguia was for some weeks in charge of -the Army of Estremadura. His first idea was to persuade Wellesley -to postpone his departure, and to retain his advanced position. He -urged this request upon his colleague with more zeal than tact, and -to no good effect. By using in one of his dispatches the phrase that -other considerations besides the want of food must be determining -the movements of the British army[743], he roused Wellesley’s -wrath. The famine was so real that any insinuation that it was -a mere pretext for retreat was certainly calculated to wound the -general whose troops were perishing before his eyes. Expressing -deep indignation[744] Wellesley refused to listen to a proposal -that he should divide with the Estremadurans the stores of food at -Truxillo--which indeed were hopelessly inadequate for the sustenance -of two armies. Nor would he even accept an offer made him on August -20 by Lorenzo Calvo de Rozas, who came in haste from the Central -Junta, to the effect that he might appropriate the whole of the -magazine at Truxillo, leaving the Spanish army to provide for itself -from other resources. The proposal was probably honest and genuine, -but Wellesley knew the dilatory habits of the Junta so well that he -was convinced that the dépôt made over to him would never be properly -replenished, and would soon run dry[745]. - - [743] Eguia’s unhappy phrase was ‘If notwithstanding this answer - [to the effect that the Truxillo magazines should be placed in - charge of a British commissary] your Excellency should persist - in marching your troops into Portugal, I shall be convinced - that other causes, and not only the want of subsistence, have - induced your Excellency to decide on taking such a step.’ [From - Deleytosa, Aug. 19.] - - [744] ‘I have had the honour of receiving your Excellency’s - letter of this day’s date, and I feel much concerned that - anything should have occurred to induce your Excellency to - express a doubt of the truth of what I have written to you. - As however your Excellency entertains that doubt, any further - correspondence between us appears unnecessary, and accordingly - this is the last letter which I shall have the honour of - addressing to you.’ Wellesley to Eguia, Aug. 19. - - [745] ‘It is said that Don L. de Calvo promised and engaged to - supply the British army, upon which I have only to observe that I - had already trusted too long to the promises of Spanish agents, - and I had particular reason for want of confidence in Don L. de - Calvo. At the moment when he was assuring me that the British - army should have all the food the country could afford, I had - in my possession an order from him directing the magistrates of - Guadalupe to send to the Spanish head quarters provisions which - a British commissary had prepared for the magazine at Truxillo.’ - Oct. 30, to Marquis Wellesley. - -Marching therefore by short stages, for the exhaustion of his troops -made rapid progress impossible[746], he started from Jaraicejo on -August 20, and moved by Truxillo and Miajadas to the valley of the -Guadiana, where he cantoned the army about Merida, Montijo, and -Badajoz. The British head quarters were fixed at the last-named place -from September 3 till December 27, 1809, and, excepting for some -small changes in detail, the army retained the position which it had -now taken up for nearly four months. In the fertile region along -the Guadiana the troops were fed without much trouble: but they did -not recover the health that they had lost in the time of starvation -among the barren hills behind Arzobispo and Mirabete. In spite of the -junction of reinforcements and the return of convalescents to the -ranks, the army could never show more than from 23,000 to 25,000 men -under arms during the autumn months. When the rainy season began, the -intermittent ague which was known to the British as ‘Guadiana fever’ -was never absent: it did not often kill, but it disabled men by the -thousand, and it was not till Wellesley moved back into Portugal at -midwinter that the regiments recovered their normal health. - - [746] ‘I have no provisions, no horses, no means of transport, I - am overloaded with sick; the horses of the cavalry are scarcely - able to march, or those of the artillery to draw their guns. The - officers and soldiers alike are worn down by want of food and - privations of every description.’ Wellesley to Marquis Wellesley, - Miajadas, Aug. 22. - -If he had been free to follow his personal inclination, it is -probable that Wellesley would have moved back into Portugal -in September. But strategical and political reasons made this -impossible. While based on Badajoz he still threatened the French -hold on the valley of the Tagus, and compelled the King to keep -two army corps at least in his front. Since it was always possible -that he might return to Almaraz and threaten Madrid, a containing -force had to be told off against him. He was also in a position from -which he could easily sally out to check raids upon Portugal: from -Badajoz he could either join Beresford in a few marches, or fall by -Alcantara upon the flank of any detachment that Soult might lead -forward in the direction of Castello Branco and Abrantes. He was -convinced that no such raids would be made, but their possibility -had to be taken into consideration, and while lying in his present -cantonments he was well placed for frustrating them. But political -considerations were even more powerful than military considerations -in chaining him to Badajoz. The Junta at Seville were most anxious -to keep the British army in their front: they were convinced that, -if it retired on Portugal, Joseph and Soult would at once organize -an invasion of Andalusia, and they were well aware that Eguia and -Venegas would not suffice to hold back the 70,000 men who might -then be directed against them. In the dispatches which the Marquis -Wellesley (who had superseded Frere at Seville on August 11) kept -sending to his brother, the main fact conveyed was the absolute -despair with which the Spanish Government viewed the prospect of -the removal of their allies towards Portugal. ‘Don Martin de Garay -[the secretary to the Junta] declared to me with expressions of the -deepest sorrow and terror’--wrote the Marquis on August 22--‘that if -your army should quit Spain, at this critical moment, inevitable and -immediate ruin must ensue to his government, to whatever provinces -remain under its authority, to the cause of Spain itself, and to -every interest connected with the alliance so happily established -between Great Britain and the Spanish nation.... No argument produced -the effect of diminishing the urgency of his entreaties, and I have -ascertained that his sensations are in no degree more powerful than -those of the Government and of every description of people within -this city and its vicinity.... Viewing the painful consequences -that would follow your retreat into Portugal, I feel it my duty -to submit to your consideration the possibility of adopting some -intermediate plan, which may have some of the advantages of retreat -into Portugal, without occasioning alarm in Spain, and so endangering -the foundations of the alliance between that country and Great -Britain[747].’ - - [747] Lord Wellesley to Sir Arthur Wellesley, Seville, Aug. 22. - -A stay at Badajoz was obviously the only ‘intermediate plan’ that was -worth taking into consideration; and considering the urgency of his -brother’s representations Wellesley could not refuse to halt within -the Spanish border. The military advantages of the position that he -had now taken up were not inconsiderable, and no profit that could -have been got by returning into Portugal could have counterbalanced -the loss of the Spanish alliance. In the valley of the Central -Guadiana, therefore, the British army remained cantoned. But no -arguments that the Junta could produce availed to persuade Wellesley -to engage in another campaign with a Spanish colleague at his side. -Not even when the tempting offer was made that Albuquerque should be -given command of half of the Estremaduran army, and placed under his -orders, would he consent to pledge himself to offensive operations. - -Meanwhile, dispatches had arrived from England, containing the -official news that the Austrian War was at an end: rumours to that -effect had already reached the British camps from French sources -before Wellesley left Oropesa[748]. The whole character of the -continental struggle was changed by the fact that the Emperor had -once more the power to send reinforcements to Spain, or even to go -there himself. The situation required further consideration, and the -British Government resolved to place upon Wellesley’s shoulders the -all-important task of deciding whether the struggle in the Peninsula -could still be maintained, and how (in the event of his giving an -affirmative answer) it could best be carried on[749]. He replied that -in the existing state of affairs, and considering the bad state of -the Spanish armies, neither 30,000 nor even 40,000 British troops -would suffice to maintain Andalusia against the unlimited numbers of -French whom the Emperor could now send across the Pyrenees. But he -held that Portugal might be defended with success, if the Portuguese -army and militia could be completed to their full strength, and -the country well organized for resistance. It was probable that the -borders of Portugal could not be maintained; ‘the whole country -is frontier, and it would be difficult to prevent the enemy from -penetrating by some point or other.’ He would have therefore ‘to -confine himself to preserving what is most important,--the capital.’ -But this he was prepared to undertake, and strongly advised the -ministry to make no attempt to defend both Andalusia and Portugal, -but to leave the Junta to their own vain devices, and to make sure of -Lisbon[750]. - - [748] The Armistice of Znaim was signed July 12. The Falmouth - packet with the news reached Lisbon only on Aug. 9. Yet Wellesley - had heard rumours of peace as early as Aug. 4 [_Well. Disp._ iv. - 560]. - - [749] Canning to Lord Wellesley, London, Aug. 12: ‘The question - which first arises is whether the state of things in Spain be - such as that a British army of 30,000 men, acting in co-operation - with the Spanish armies, could be reasonably expected either to - effect the deliverance of the whole Peninsula, or to make head - against the augmented force which Bonaparte may now be enabled to - direct against that country. Upon this question your Excellency - will receive the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley, to whom a copy of - this dispatch is transmitted. If the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley - shall be that, with so limited a force as 30,000 men, offensive - operations in Spain could not prudently be attempted, and if he - shall conceive that the utmost object to which such an army would - be adequate is the defence of Portugal, your Excellency will then - only have to state to the Spanish Government the nature of the - instructions under which Sir A. Wellesley now acts.... If on the - other hand Sir A. Wellesley shall entertain the opinion that with - an effective British army of 30,000, combined with the Spanish - and Portuguese armies, it might be possible either to expel the - French from Spain, or to resist even their augmented force with - a reasonable prospect of success ... your Excellency will then - also receive the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley as to the conditions - necessary to be obtained from the Spanish Government, as a - preliminary to entering on any concerted system of joint military - operations.’ - - [750] For Wellesley’s answer to Canning see his reply to his - brother on Sept. 5, containing his ‘Observation on Mr. Secretary - Canning’s Dispatch of Aug. 12,’ combined with the reference to - his own dispatch of Aug. 24, which (as he writes to Castlereagh - on Sept. 4) ‘gives the government my opinion upon all the points - referred to in Mr. Canning’s dispatches.’ The quotation above - comes from this last-named document of Aug. 24. - -Thus, in September 1809 Wellesley enunciated with great clearness the -policy that he was about to employ in the next year. The lines of -Torres Vedras are already hovering before his imagination, and after -a flying visit to Lisbon in October they took definite shape in his -‘Memorandum for Colonel Fletcher’ of the twentieth of that month. -In that document the whole project for defending the Portuguese -capital by a series of concentric fortifications is set forth, and -the modifications which it afterwards suffered were only in matters -of detail. In short the Lines which were to check Masséna had been -thought out in the British general’s provident mind exactly twelve -months before the French army appeared in front of them. - -In following the fortunes of Wellesley we have now got far beyond -the point to which we have conducted the general history of the -Talavera campaign. It is time to turn back to the movements of Soult -and King Joseph, and to explain the reasons which made it possible -for the British army to remain unmolested at Jaraicejo and Mirabete -till August 20, and then to retire to Merida and Badajoz without -imperilling the safety of their Estremaduran allies. - -The King, as we have already seen, had made up his mind that the -all-important point, at this stage of the campaign, was to make an -end of the army of Venegas, and to relieve Madrid from danger. He -had therefore called Victor towards Toledo, and directed Mortier -to relieve the divisions of the 1st Corps which lay at Talavera -with troops from the 5th Corps. The result of this movement was to -leave Soult too weak to undertake any important operations against -Portugal. For Mortier’s men, being strung out on the long line from -Talavera to Navalmoral, with both Wellesley’s and Cuesta’s armies -in their front, could not be relied upon to lend aid for an advance -on Castello Branco or Abrantes. The Duke of Dalmatia therefore, when -he had reached Plasencia, could dispose of nothing but his own 2nd -Corps and Lahoussaye’s four regiments of dragoons. He dared not march -on Portugal with no more than 20,000 men, when the allies had it in -their power to fall upon Mortier the moment that his back was turned. -Accordingly he waited at Plasencia, sending out cavalry to Coria and -Torejoncillo, but did nothing more. Meanwhile Beresford and the two -British brigades from Lisbon were drawing near him, and on August -16 the Portuguese cavalry, advancing from the pass of Perales and -Moraleja, drove out the two French squadrons which were occupying -Coria, and thus warned Soult that a new army was coming into play -against him. Two days later Beresford had transferred himself to -the Castello Branco road, and a force of 23,000 men had been thrown -between the 2nd Corps and the Portuguese frontier. - -Meanwhile the King had met with unexpected good fortune in his -attack on Venegas. On August 5 he had set out from Valdemoro with -the intention of attacking the army of La Mancha in its position -at Aranjuez. It seemed unlikely that he would find it there, for -Venegas had displayed such excessive caution in his advance from the -Sierra Morena to the Tagus, and had so tamely refused to take his -opportunity of pouncing upon Madrid, that it seemed probable that he -would retreat at the first sign of the King’s approach. But rushing -to the opposite extreme of conduct, the Spanish general was now -ready to court destruction. He had received on the preceding night, -that of August 4, Cuesta’s dispatch of the third, informing him -that Soult had crossed the mountains and that both the British and -the Estremaduran armies were quitting Talavera. The Captain-General -warned him that he might expect an attack from the King’s army, and -ordered him to avoid an action, and to fall back towards the Despeña -Perros if he were pressed. Serenely putting aside the orders of -Cuesta, Venegas refused to retreat, and announced that he should not -copy the conduct of a superior who had fled even before the enemy -was in sight. He announced his intention of fighting, and directed -his army to concentrate in the neighbourhood of Aranjuez. Of his -five divisions, three were holding that town when the French came in -sight; the other two were écheloned between Aranjuez and Tembleque, -apparently in order to watch the roads from Toledo and Añover. The -enemy might, as Venegas saw, turn his flank either by crossing the -bridges of the former place, or by passing the easy ford at the -latter. A detachment of 800 men had been left to watch the debouches -from Toledo, and a couple of battalions observed the ford of Añover. - -King Joseph meanwhile, marching with a force composed of Sebastiani’s -corps, the Central Reserve, and Milhaud’s division of dragoons, -arrived in front of Aranjuez on August 5. Sebastiani, whose troops -led the advance, drove in the Spanish outposts, who retired across -the Tagus and broke the town bridge behind them. But beyond the river -the greater part of the army of La Mancha was visible in battle -order, prepared to receive the attack: Venegas himself, however, -chanced to be absent at the moment, as he had ridden over that -morning to visit his left wing, and General Giron was in temporary -charge of the defence. Sebastiani risked an attack on the Spanish -position, which was accessible by means of two fords. But finding -that the enemy was in great force and stood firm, he drew off his men -after a sharp skirmish. - -King Joseph now determined not to press the attack on Aranjuez and -its fords, but to cross the Tagus at points where he could secure -a less difficult passage. He countermarched Sebastiani’s corps to -the bridge of Toledo, and gave Milhaud orders to force the ford of -Añover. This manœuvre cost him three days; it was only on the evening -of August 8 that he succeeded in concentrating his main body at -Toledo. On the following morning Sebastiani passed the bridges and -drove off the Spanish detachment that was observing them: it fell -back on a larger force, and the 4th Corps pressing its advance, came -into contact with a whole hostile division. - -Venegas had not failed to guess the plan which the King would adopt, -and had moved off from Aranjuez towards Toledo, by roads parallel -to those which the French had employed. His 5th division, 4,000 -bayonets, under Major-General Zerain, was in front, and thus was the -first to meet Sebastiani’s attack. It was driven in after a sharp -skirmish, and retired a few miles to the small town of Almonacid, on -the high-road to Mora and Madridejos. On the same evening Milhaud’s -dragoons assailed the ford of Añover, drove off the small force that -was guarding it, and fell into line on Sebastiani’s left flank. On -the next morning Venegas came up with his remaining four divisions, -those of Lacy, Vigodet, Giron, and Castejon, and joined Zerain at -Almonacid. Thus both sides were concentrated for battle, save that -Joseph and his reserves, owing to the delay caused by a defile over -the narrow bridge of Toledo, were some ten miles to the rear of -Sebastiani. The Spanish army, after the deduction of men in hospital -or detached, amounted to about 23,000 men, of whom nearly 3,000 were -horse: it had forty guns. The King and Sebastiani had some 21,000 -sabres and bayonets, but of these nearly 4,000 were cavalry, so that -the French army enjoyed its usual preponderance in that arm, in -numbers no less than in efficiency. Two of its infantry divisions, -those of Leval and Sebastiani, had suffered heavily at Talavera: -the rest of the infantry--Valence’s Poles and the King’s guards and -reserves--had not been engaged in that battle; all the cavalry was -equally intact[751]. - - [751] The French force at Almonacid stood as follows:--4th - Corps; Sebastiani’s division 6,000 men, Valence’s 4,000, Leval’s - 3,000, and corps-cavalry (Merlin) 1,000. Milhaud’s dragoons had - 2,200 men present; the King had brought up 600 horse and about - 4,800 foot of his guards and of Dessolles’ division. The total - therefore was about 3,800 cavalry and 17,800 foot. - -Both armies were prepared to fight: King Joseph had resolved that -Madrid would never be safe till the army of La Mancha had been -beaten. Venegas was eager to meet him: he had persuaded himself -that the French troops which had passed the bridge of Toledo did -not amount to more than 14,000 men, and hoped for an easy victory. -He held a council of war on the night of the tenth, and found his -subordinates as ready to fight as himself. They determined to attack -Sebastiani on the dawn of August 12, and the Commander-in-chief -exclaimed with exultation that, whatever other Spanish officers -might do, he at least would never earn the nickname of _El General -Retiradas_[752]. - - [752] This remark I find in the narrative of General Bouligni, - the commanding officer of engineers in the Army of La Mancha - [Arteche, vi. 370]. Venegas was aiming his sneer at Castaños and - at La Romana, who had got the nickname of ‘Marquis de la Romeria’ - from his perpetual strategical movements to the rear. - -The French, however, anticipated Venegas, for on the morning of -August 11, at half-past five o’clock, Sebastiani presented himself in -front of the Spanish position and opened a furious attack, without -waiting for the arrival of King Joseph and the reserve. The army of -La Mancha had therefore to fight a defensive engagement, and never -got the chance of carrying out the ambitious designs of its chief. - -The battle-field of Almonacid bears a strong resemblance to that of -Ucles, where Venegas six months before had made such a deplorable -début in the character of a ‘fighting general.’ As at Ucles, the -Spanish army was arrayed on a series of eminences on each side of a -small town, with a long array of infantry and guns in its centre, and -the cavalry on the wings. As if to emphasize the resemblance, Venegas -committed his old fault of keeping no adequate reserve in hand, and -distributed his whole force in one thin line, with no more than four -battalions and two cavalry regiments drawn up in support to the rear -of the centre! The only points in which there was a marked difference -between Ucles and Almonacid was that on the latter field the eminence -on the Spanish left--a hill called Los Cerrojones--was so much higher -than the rest of the ground that it formed the key of the position, -just as the Cerro de Medellin had done at Talavera. Moreover, there -was a long hill behind Almonacid--the Cerro del Castillo--which gave -an admirable rallying-point for the army if it should be forced out -of its first fighting-ground. - -The main line of the Spanish order of battle was formed, counting -from right to left, by the divisions of Vigodet (no. 2), Castejon -(no. 4), Zerain (no. 5), and Lacy (no. 1), with a brigade of the -division of Giron (no. 3) continuing the array on to the Cerrojones. -The second brigade of Giron formed the sole reserve; it was drawn up -on the Cerro del Castillo, where the ruins of the mediaeval fort that -gave the hill its name were turned to account as a place of strength. -It had two cavalry regiments in its rear: the rest of the troops of -that arm were distributed between the two flanks. - -When Sebastiani came upon the field he fell upon the Spanish line -without a moment’s hesitation. Apparently he thought that delay would -only give the enemy time to rearrange his troops and strengthen his -weak points. At any rate he did not wait for the arrival of the King -and the reserve, but attacked at once. It was the same fault that -Victor had committed at Talavera, but Sebastiani was not destined -to receive the condign punishment that befell the Duke of Belluno. -Noting that the steep hill on the Spanish left was the key of the -position, he resolved to storm it before attacking the rest of the -hostile line. Accordingly he threw out Milhaud’s dragoons and his -own French division to ‘contain’ the Spanish centre and right, while -Leval’s Germans and Valence’s Poles were directed to assail the -Cerrojones. The former division turned the flank of the hill, while -the latter attacked it in front. - -The Spanish brigade on the hill made a stubborn resistance, and -even held back the Poles till its flank was turned by the Germans. -Venegas sent to its aid his miserably inadequate reserve under Giron, -and some battalions drawn from the first division. But these troops -came too late, the Cerrojones were lost, and the reinforcements only -succeeded in checking the French advance behind the hill, on the -slopes between it and Almonacid. The key of the position was thus in -Sebastiani’s hands, and, seeing the Spanish centre outflanked, he let -loose upon it his French division, which drove in Lacy and Zerain, -and captured the town of Almonacid and three guns. Venegas was thus -forced to draw back his whole line, and re-formed it on the Cerro -del Castillo, which lay behind his original position. The troops -were much disordered by this retrograde movement, yet made a very -creditable effort to maintain their new ground. But King Joseph and -the reserve had now come on the field, and Dessolles’ troops were -thrown into the front line to aid the infantry of the 4th Corps. -After a stubborn fight the Spanish left and centre again broke, and -Venegas was only able to save them from complete destruction by -bringing up Vigodet’s division, which was almost intact, and throwing -it in the way of the advancing enemy. It held out long enough to -allow the main body to escape, and then followed its comrades in -retreat down the high-road to Mora and Madridejos. The French -cavalry was let loose in pursuit, but does not seem to have been so -successful in its work as had been the case at Ucles and Medellin. At -any rate the bulk of the Spaniards escaped in more or less order, and -only the stragglers were cut up. - -The losses of Venegas’s army would appear to have been about 800 -killed and 2,500 wounded[753], besides a considerable number of -prisoners--perhaps 2,000 in all, for Sebastiani’s dispatch giving -the figure of 4,000 cannot be trusted. The army of La Mancha had -also lost twenty-one of its forty guns, all its baggage and several -standards. Still the defeat was far less crushing than Medellin had -been, and the whole army was rallied at the passes with no great -difficulty. It had fought very creditably, as is sufficiently vouched -for by the fact that Sebastiani acknowledged a loss of 319 killed -and 2,075 wounded. The Polish division in especial had suffered very -severely while storming the Cerrojones at the opening of the combat. - - [753] But see General Arteche’s calculation in vi. 392 of his - _Guerra de la Independencia_. - -Thus ended the part taken by the Army of La Mancha in the Talavera -campaign. No words are too strong to use in condemnation of Venegas’s -conduct. After wrecking the plan of campaign drawn up by Wellesley -and Cuesta by his criminal slackness and timidity in July, he then -proceeded to the extreme of culpable rashness. He had ample time -to retire to the South, when his position was compromised by the -departure of the British and Estremaduran armies from Talavera. -Instead of doing so he remained behind, and courted an unnecessary -battle, in which his unskilful dispositions secured the defeat of -an army which tried to do its duty and defended itself far better -than could have been expected. He should have been court-martialled -and shot for his repeated and impudent disobedience of Cuesta’s -orders. But the Junta, conscious that they were themselves to blame -for giving him secret directions which clashed with those of the -Commander-in-chief, spared him, and only removed him from command -some weeks later, in order to replace him by Areizaga, an officer of -exactly the same level of merit and intelligence. - -After his--or rather Sebastiani’s--victory at Almonacid King Joseph -established the 4th Corps in cantonments around Toledo and Aranjuez, -and sent Victor and the 1st Corps into La Mancha to observe the -passes and to contain the wrecks of Venegas’s army. He returned -himself with his guards and the reserve to Madrid on August 15, -celebrated a _Te Deum_, and published an extravagant account of -his own achievements, in which he claimed to have discomfited the -attempt of 120,000 enemies (there were but 80,000 at the most liberal -estimate) with the aid of 40,000 invincible French troops. The -co-operation of Soult’s 50,000 men was consigned to oblivion in this -extraordinary document. - -The moment that he heard of the defeat of Venegas, Soult wrote to -the King, renewing the demand which he had made ten days before -for permission to invade Portugal. Now that the army of La Mancha -had been disposed of, he considered that Victor might come back to -Talavera and Almaraz, so as to set free Mortier and the 5th Corps -for the attack on Portugal. He also suggested that Ney, having put -things right at Salamanca, might now be recalled to the valley of the -Tagus, and rejoin the 2nd and 5th Corps. He supported his demands -by an unfounded assertion that Wellesley was on his march to unite -with Beresford by way of Alcantara, and asked for leave to attack the -latter before the main British army should have joined him. In a few -days more, he said, it would be too late to move, for Beresford and -Wellesley would have concentrated their forces, so that he would have -45,000 Anglo-Portuguese in his front[754]. - - [754] Soult to Joseph, Aug. 18, from Plasencia. - -Joseph refused to listen to these arguments, and had fair reasons to -show for his negative reply to the Marshal’s requests. Wellesley, as -he truly remarked, was not marching for Alcantara to join Beresford: -he was still at Jaraicejo in close touch with the Estremaduran army. -If Mortier were removed to the Portuguese border, Wellesley and Eguia -might descend upon Victor and crush him. It was impossible to leave -less than two corps to defend the Middle Tagus. As for Ney, he could -not quit Leon, for Del Parque and the Galicians were concentrating -in great force upon his front. Indeed, he had just written to -request that the 2nd Corps might be moved up to Salamanca to support -him[755]. It was not now the time to engage in further offensive -operations either against Portugal or against Andalusia. The troops -were exhausted; the hospital of Madrid contained at the moment 12,000 -sick and wounded, the cavalry was so distressed by incessant work -that few regiments could put 250 men in line. The transport was worn -out, and new horses and mules were impossible to procure, for the -King had no money with which to purchase them. Finally, and this was -the most conclusive point of all, orders had been received from the -Emperor countermanding all active operations till the hot season -should be over[756]. It was impossible to say what his intentions -might be, now that he was freed from the Austrian War. He might come -himself to Spain, or he might send large reinforcements to the King. -In any case it would be impossible to move till his will was known -and his mind made up[757]. - - [755] Ney to Jourdan, from Salamanca, Aug. 22. - - [756] See Joseph to Clarke, Aug. 22, and Napoleon to Clarke, - Sept. 7. - - [757] For a presentment of Joseph’s case see Chapter xii. of - Jourdan’s _Mémoires_. - -These arguments were conclusive, and Soult was forced to remain -quiescent: all that he could do was to push small parties to Zarza -and Coria when Beresford had evacuated those places. - -Thus the Talavera campaign came to an end. There was now a long -pause in the movements both of the allies and of the French. The -subsequent fighting in October belongs to a totally independent -series of operations. The combatants who had been engaged in July and -August rested in September: Soult was left at Plasencia, Mortier at -Talavera and Navalmoral, Ney at Salamanca; Victor’s head quarters -were at Daymiel in La Mancha, Sebastiani lay along the Tagus from -Aranjuez to Toledo. Of the allied troops Wellesley’s army was -cantoned about Badajoz and Merida. The Estremadurans under Eguia -covered the passages of the Tagus from Deleytosa, Jaraicejo, and -Truxillo: Venegas was reorganizing his depleted corps at his old -quarters in the passes by La Carolina. Beresford was observing Soult -from Castello Branco, and lastly, the Galicians were moving down by -divisions to join Del Parque’s forces at Ciudad Rodrigo, where a -formidable army was now beginning to be collected. - -The Talavera campaign, in short, had settled nothing. The attempt -of the allies to capture Madrid had failed, but the attempt of the -French to surround Wellesley and Cuesta by Soult’s flank march had -failed also. Looking to the net results of all the fighting since -May, it could be said that the balance of loss stood against the -French. They had abandoned Galicia and the Asturias, as well as -their precarious hold on Northern Portugal. They had gained nothing, -save that their forces were concentrated in a good central position, -instead of being scattered from Corunna and Oporto as far as Merida -and Manzanares. The next move was in the hands of the Emperor: it -remained to be seen how he would deal with the situation in the -Peninsula, now that he, at last, had time to study it in detail. - -Before passing on to the new series of operations which took place -in the late autumn, one minor side-issue of the Talavera campaign -remains to be narrated--the fate of the small roving column of -4,000 Spaniards and Portuguese under Sir Robert Wilson, which had -been threatening Madrid in the King’s absence, and which had caused -so many misgivings in the mind of Marshal Victor. Wilson’s doings -were to give one more proof of his extraordinary resourcefulness -and vigour, if any further evidence were needed after his masterly -handling of Lapisse in the spring. It will be remembered that on -August 4 he had slipped away from Escalona, on hearing from Wellesley -that Soult had descended upon Plasencia. He intended to join the -main army at Talavera, but on nearing that place discovered that -it had already been evacuated, and that both the British and the -Estremaduran armies had disappeared in the direction of Oropesa. -Accordingly he directed his steps to the westward, hoping to overtake -Wellesley on his march. On his way, however, he was caught up by -Villatte’s division of Victor’s corps, which had been vainly hunting -for him at Nombella and Escalona since the fifth. Thrown out of his -path by this force, Wilson turned up into the mountains, intending to -escape by the northern bank of the Tietar. He soon learnt, however, -from the peasantry that Soult had sent a brigade under Foy to look -for him in the Vera of Plasencia, and that Hugo, the governor of -Avila, had come down to hold against him the passes of Arenas and -Monbeltran. Thus ringed around with foes, he did not lose his nerve, -but turning up into the Sierra de Gredos, by a mule-path that leads -from Aldea Nueva to the upper valley of the Alagon, escaped in the -direction of Bejar. From thence he intended to strike across towards -Portugal. But a new enemy now came upon him: he had evaded Villatte -and Foy only to run into the arms of Ney, who on this day [August 12] -was preparing to cross the Puerto de Baños on his way to Salamanca. -There was still time to escape from the Marshal’s front and to retire -to Ciudad Rodrigo unmolested. But Wilson saw the rocky defile of -the Puerto in front of him, and could not resist the temptation of -holding it against the enemy, though he was well aware that with -a force of less than 4,000 men, destitute of artillery, he could -not seriously hope to repulse a whole army corps. Nevertheless he -offered battle in the pass, and fought a running fight for nine hours -against Ney’s vanguard, defending three successive positions, from -each of which he had to be expelled. In his last stand he held on too -long, and allowed the enemy to close. His four battalions were all -broken, and fled over the hills to Miranda de Castañar, where they -rallied on the next day. The Marshal acknowledged in his dispatch to -King Joseph a loss of five officers and thirty men killed, and ten -officers and 140 men wounded, which shows that he had been forced -to fight hard to clear the pass. He claimed to have ‘destroyed’ -Wilson’s detachment, and declared that 1,200 Spaniards and Portuguese -had fallen. But Wilson’s returns show that his total loss, killed, -wounded, and missing, was under 400, among whom there was not a -single field officer or captain. Having assuaged his thirst for a -fight by this gallant, if unnecessary, engagement, Wilson escaped to -the Pass of Perales, and finally reached Castello Branco on August -24, where he fell in with Beresford, and was at last in safety, after -his many wanderings among the summits of the Sierra de Gredos and -the Sierra de Gata. This hazardous march was his last achievement in -the Peninsula; after a bitter quarrel with Beresford concerning the -status of his Lusitanian Legion in the Portuguese army, he sailed for -England in October, and never returned to Portugal. - - - - -APPENDICES - - - - -I - -THE ‘ARMY OF THE CENTRE,’ JAN. 11, 1809 - -THE SPANISH ARMY AT THE BATTLE OF UCLES - -[N.B.--From the Tables in Arteche, vol. v.] - -The Battalions which fought at Ucles are indicated by a star *. - - -Vanguard Division, Major-General Duke of Albuquerque: - Corona (1st and 3rd batts.) 415, *Murcia 652, *Cantabria - (1st batt.) 315, *Provincial of Jaen 342, *Provincial of - Chinchilla 354, *Voluntarios Catalanes 499, *Cazadores de - Barbastro 221, *Campomayor 465, Tiradores de Castilla 666 = 3,929 - -1st Division, Lieut.-General Marquis de Coupigny: - Reyna (1st and 3rd batts.) 494, *Africa (1st and 3rd batts.) - 771, *Burgos (1st and 3rd batts.) 519, 1st of Seville 193, - *3rd of Seville 106, Provincial of Granada 176, Provincial - of Bujalance 101, *Provincial of Cuenca 626, Provincial of - Ciudad Real 268, Provincial of Plasencia 180, Voluntarios - de Valencia 327, *Navas de Tolosa 542, *Tiradores de Cadiz - 818 = 5,121 - -2nd Division, Major-General Conde de Orgaz: - *Ordenes Militares (1st, 2nd, and 3rd batts.) 848, *4th of - Seville 224, 5th of Seville 304, 1st Voluntarios de Madrid - 688, Provincial de Leon 484, Provincial de Logroño 265, - *Provincial de Toro 265, Provincial de Valladolid 378, - *Baylen 472, Tiradores de España 407, *Voluntarios de - Carmona 456, Voluntarios de Ledesma 497 = 5,288 - -Reserve, Lieut.-General La Peña: - Spanish Guards (1st and 2nd batts.) 1,217, *Walloon Guards - (1st batt.) 425, *Granaderos Provinciales de Andalucia 522, - *Irlanda (1st batt.) 377, Granaderos del General 324, - Provincial de Cordova 622, Provincial de Guadix 391, - Provincial de Lorca 417 = 4,295 - - -CAVALRY. - - *Reyna 276, *Principe 141, *Borbon 119, *España 342, - *Santiago 74, *Tejas 131, *Pavia 428, *Lusitania 158, - *Dragones de Castilla 125, Farnesio ?, Montesa ?, - Calatrava ?, Sagunto ?, Alcantara ? = 1,814 - -Estimating the 5 regiments without returns at 1,000 sabres, we get -2,814 in all. - -ARTILLERY 386. - -*SAPPERS 383. - -Total of the Army, 21,216. - -Of these the following, with a strength of 11,500 men, were present -at Ucles, - - Of the Vanguard 2,848 - ” 1st Division 2,804 - ” 2nd ” 1,917 - ” Reserve 1,634 - ” Cavalry 1,814 - ” Sappers 383 - ” Artillery 100 - ------ - Total 11,500 - -There is a discrepancy between this total and the numbers borne -in the battalions above. It is caused by the fact that Irlanda, -Ordenes Militares, and Tiradores de Cadiz were not complete on the -battle-morning, but had companies detached. - - - - -II - -THE GARRISON OF SARAGOSSA - -[From the return of Jan. 1, 1809, given by Ibieca, corrected by -reference to Arteche iv. 550-1, and the Conde de Clonard, ii. 284-93.] - -INFANTRY. - -1st DIVISION, Brigadier-General F. BUTRON: - - _Present - _Gross under - Total._ arms._ - Walloon Guards 530 450 - Estremadura 610 390 - Granaderos de Palafox 1,005 752 - Fusileros del Reyno 1,571 1,291 - Don Carlos 1,014 534 - Batallon del Carmen 771 661 - Batallon del Portillo 834 594 - Batallon de Torrero 720 485 - Batallon de Calatayud 967 881 - 1st Ligero de Zaragoza 680 566 - 2nd Ligero de Zaragoza 666 546 - 1st Cazadores Catalanes 625 465 - 2nd Voluntarios de Aragon 1,200 1,060 - ------ ----- - Divisional Total 11,193 8,675 - - 2nd Division, Brigadier-General D. FIBALLER: - - Spanish Guards 898 676 - 2nd of Valencia 954 726 - 1st Volunteers of Aragon 1,183 970 - Cazadores de Fernando - VII (Aragonese) 545 345 - ----- ----- - Divisional Total 3,580 2,717 - - 3rd Division, Brigadier-General JOSÉ MANSO: - - Peñas de San Pedro 594 241 - 1st of Huesca 1,274 973 - Florida Blanca 352 229 - 1st Tiradores de Murcia 750 343 - 1st of Murcia 1,272 631 - 2nd of Murcia 1,159 477 - 3rd of Murcia 1,098 438 - Suizos de Aragon 496 361 - ----- ----- - Divisional Total 6,995 3,693 - - 4th Division, Major-General F. ST. MARCH: - - Voluntarios de Borbon 436 317 - Voluntarios de Castilla 542 292 - Voluntarios de Chelva 789 529 - Voluntarios de Turia 903 483 - Cazadores de Fernando - VII (Valencians) 304 190 - Segorbe 412 313 - Soria [Militia] 172 130 - 1st of Alicante 730 309 - 5th of Murcia 1,040 423 - 2nd Tiradores de Murcia 131 91 - ----- ----- - Divisional Total 5,459 3,077 - - ROCA’S DIVISION of the ‘Army of the Centre’: - - 1st of Savoia 347 105 - Orihuela 731 315 - 1st Cazadores de Valencia 505 275 - Murcia [Militia] 633 426 - America ? 148 - Avila [Militia] ? 277 - ----- ----- - Total 2,216 1,546 - - Details from Regiments of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Divisions of the - ‘Army of the Centre’: viz.:-- - - Carmona, Guadix [Militia], Voluntarios de Madrid, Ordenes - Militares, Toro (Militia) Africa, Burgos [Militia] Navas - de Tolosa, Baylen, 5th of Seville, Campomayor, Cadiz, - Cuenca, Tiradores de Cartagena, 1st of Valencia--all small - fragments of regiments which had fought at Tudela in the - left wing, but had taken refuge in Saragossa: the numbers - vary from 200 to ten men Total, perhaps 1,200 - - -CAVALRY. - - Rey, Numancia, Fuensanta, Husares de Palafox, Cazadores de - Fernando VII, Husares de Aragon. With fragments of the - following regiments of the ‘Army of the Centre’: Borbon, - Lusitania, Olivenza, Pavia, Reyna, Santiago, Tejas - Gross Total sabres, about 2,000 - -ARTILLERY about 1,800 - - -ENGINEERS. - - Zapadores de Aragon, ditto de Valencia, ditto de Calatayud 800 - -TOTALS. - - _Effectives - _Gross._ Present._ - Infantry of the four Aragonese Divisions 27,227 18,162 - Cavalry 2,000 1,600 - Artillery 1,800 1,600 - Engineers 800 700 - Details of the Army of the Centre 4,191 2,746 - ------ ------ - 36,018 24,808 - -All these are regularly organized corps. It is impossible to state the -figures of the irregulars with any certainty. - -N.B.--Ibieca errs in including Doyle, La Reunion, Fieles Zaragozanos -and 3rd of Valencia in the Garrison, they were detached in Aragon, the -first at Jaca, the two next with the Marquis of Lazan. See the tables -on pp. 284-293 of vol. vi. of the Conde de Clonard’s great work. - - - - -III - -STATE OF THE FRENCH ARMY IN SPAIN, - -FEBRUARY 1, 1809 - -N.B.--This return includes effective men, _présents sous les armes_, -only, not sick or detached. - -1st Corps, Marshal VICTOR: - - 1st Division, Ruffin [9th Léger, 24th and 96th Line (three - batts. each)] 5,429 - 2nd Division, Lapisse [16th Léger, 8th, 45th, and 54th Line - (three batts. each)] 7,692 - 3rd Division, Villatte [27th Léger, 63rd, 94th, and 95th Line - (three batts. each)] 6,376 - Corps-Cavalry, Beaumont [2nd Hussars, 5th Chasseurs] 1,386 - Westphalian Chevaux-Légers 487 - Artillery [with 48 guns] 1,523 - État Major 33 - ------ - Total 22,926 - -2nd Corps, Marshal SOULT: - - 1st Division, Merle [2nd and 4th Léger, 15th (four batts. - each) and 36th Line (three batts.)] 6,498 - 2nd Division, Mermet [31st Léger (four batts.), 47th Line - (four batts.), 122nd (four batts.), 2nd, 3rd, 4th Swiss - (one batt. each)] 5,459 - 3rd Division, Delaborde [17th, 70th, 86th Line (three batts. - each)] 4,954 - 4th Division, Heudelet [26th Line (two batts.), 66th Line - (two batts.), 15th Léger (one batt.), 32nd Léger (one - batt.), 82nd Line (one batt.), _Légion du Midi_ (one - batt.), Hanoverian Legion (one batt.), _Garde de Paris_ - (one batt.)] 3,158 - Corps-Cavalry, Franceschi [1st Hussars, 8th Dragoons, 22nd - Chasseurs, Hanoverian Chevaux-Légers] 1,340 - Artillery (the men included under divisional totals), 54 guns - État Major 43 - ------ - Total 21,452 - -N.B.--Lahoussaye’s Dragoons, and one brigade of Lorges’ Dragoons, were -also present with the corps, with a strength of 2,000 sabres. - -3rd Corps, General JUNOT: - - 1st Division, Grandjean [14th Line (three batts.), 44th - Line (three batts.), 2nd and 3rd of the Vistula (two - batts. each)] 5,866 - 2nd Division, Musnier [114th and 115th Line (three batts. - each), 1st of the Vistula (two batts.), 2nd Legion of - Reserve] 3,544 - 3rd Division, Morlot [5th Léger (one batt.), 116th and - 117th Line (four batts. each), 121st Line (four batts.)] 2,637 - Corps-Cavalry, Wathier [13th Cuirassiers, 4th Hussars, - Polish Lancers, Provisional regiments] 1,652 - Engineers and Sappers (for siege of Saragossa) 2,336 - Artillery (the men included under divisional totals), 40 guns - État Major 36 - ------ - Total 16,071 - -4th Corps, General SEBASTIANI: - - 1st Division, Sebastiani [28th, 32nd, 58th, 75th Line - (three batts. each)] 5,660 - 2nd Division, Leval [Holland, Nassau, Baden, Hesse (two - batts. each), Frankfort (one batt.)] 3,127 - 3rd Division, Valence [4th, 7th, 9th Polish (two batts. - each)] 3,915 - Corps-Cavalry [5th Dragoons, 3rd Dutch Hussars, Polish - Lancers] 1,781 - Artillery (with 30 guns) 894 - État Major 22 - ------ - Total 15,399 - -5th Corps, Marshal MORTIER: - - 1st Division, Suchet [17th Léger, 40th, 64th, 88th Line - (three batts. each), 34th Line (four batts.)] 8,477 - 2nd Division, Gazan [21st, 28th, 100th, 103rd Line (three - batts. each)] 7,110 - Corps-Cavalry, Delaage [10th Hussars, 21st Chasseurs] 926 - Artillery (with 30 guns) 1,420 - État Major 26 - ------ - Total 17,959 - -6th Corps, Marshal NEY: - - 1st Division, Marchand [6th, 39th, 69th, 76th Line (three - batts. each)] 6,853 - 2nd Division, Maurice Mathieu [25th Léger, 27th, 50th, - 59th (three batts. each)] 6,917 - Corps-Cavalry, Lorcet [3rd Hussars, 15th Chasseurs] 840 - Artillery (with 30 guns) 1,534 - État Major 32 - ------ - Total 16,176 - -N.B.--One brigade of Lorges’ Dragoons was also present with the corps. - -7th Corps, General GOUVION ST. CYR: - - 1st Division, Souham [1st Léger (three batts.), 3rd Léger - (one batt.), 7th Line (two batts.), 42nd Line (three - batts.), 67th Line (one batt.)] 6,220 - 2nd Division, Chabran [2nd, 10th, 37th, 56th, 93rd Line, - and 2nd Swiss (one batt. each)] 4,037 - 3rd Division, Chabot [Chasseurs des Montagnes (one batt.), - 2nd Neapolitans (two batts.)] 1,633 - 4th Division, Reille [2nd Line (one batt.), 32nd Léger - (one batt.), 113th Line (two batts.), 16th and 56th Line - (one batt. each), Valais (one batt.)] 3,980 - 5th Division, Pino [Italian 1st and 2nd Léger, 4th and 6th - Line (three batts. each), 7th Line (one batt.)] 8,008 - 6th Division, Lecchi [Italian 2nd, 4th, 5th Line, Velites - (one batt. each), 1st Neapolitans (two batts.)] 3,941 - German Division, Morio [2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 1st Light of - Westphalia] 5,321 - Cavalry, French [24th Dragoons, 3rd Provisional Cuirassiers, - 3rd ditto Chasseurs] 1,730 - Cavalry, Italian [Dragoons of Napoleon, Royal Chasseurs, - Chasseurs of the Prince Royal, Neapolitan Chasseurs] 1,862 - Artillery, French 2,050 - Artillery, Italian 585 - Artillery, German 48 - ------ - Total 39,415 - -RESERVE CAVALRY. - - 1st Division of Dragoons, Latour-Maubourg: - 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, 14th, 26th Dragoons 2,527 - 2nd Division of Dragoons, Milhaud: - 12th, 16th, 20th, 21st Dragoons 2,125 - 3rd Division of Dragoons, Lahoussaye: - 17th, 18th, 19th, 27th Dragoons 1,335 - 4th Division of Dragoons, Lorges: - 13th, 15th, 22nd, 25th Dragoons 1,228 - 5th Division of Dragoons, Millet: - 3rd, 6th, 10th, 11th Dragoons 1,470 - Light-Cavalry Division of Lasalle: - 10th, 26th Chasseurs, 8th Dragoons 1,495 - Artillery, batteries attached to the Cavalry Divisions: 712 - ------ - Total 10,892 - -RESERVE AT MADRID: - - Division Dessolles [12th Léger, 43rd, 51st, 55th Line - (each three batts.), 8,507; Royal Guards, 2,200; 27th - Chasseurs, 500] 11,207 - -GARRISONS OF THE NORTH (Marshal BESSIÈRES): - - In Biscay, Alava, Guipuzcoa, Santander, Old Castile, - and Leon 19,902 - -GRAND PARK OF ARTILLERY 2,579 - -GRAND TOTAL OF ‘_Présents sous les armes_,’ 193,978. - -At the same time there were Sick 56,404, Detached 36,326, Prisoners -1,843. - -GROSS TOTAL of the whole army in Spain, 288,551. - - - - -IV - -THE SPANISH ARMY AT MEDELLIN - - -Cuesta’s army at Medellin was composed of the following regiments. -It is, unfortunately, impossible to say how they were brigaded -at the moment, as the only return available is that of April 4, -when the original distribution of the army had been broken up, -and the Andalusian division distributed among the other four. The -Estremaduran battalions were very strong, some few of them ranging up -to 1,100 and even 1,400 bayonets, though others had but 500 or 700. - -(1) Troops of Belvedere’s old army of Estremadura: - - *Spanish Guards (4th batt.); *Walloon Guards (4th batt.); *2nd - of Majorca; *2nd Light of Catalonia; †Provincial of Badajoz; - †Provincial Grenadiers; ‡Badajoz (two batts.); ‡Zafra; ‡Truxillo; - ‡Merida; ‡Plasencia; ‡La Serena; ‡Leales de Ferdinando VII (two - batts.) - - Total. Fifteen batts. - -(2) Troops of San Juan’s old ‘Army of Reserve of Madrid’: - - Walloon Guards (2nd batt.); *Jaen (two batts.); *Irlanda (two - batts.); †Provincial of Toledo; †Provincial of Burgos; ‡2nd - Volunteers of Madrid; ‡3rd of Seville - - Total. Nine batts. - -(3) Troops under Albuquerque, from the Army of the Centre: - - *Campomayor; †Provincial of Guadix; †Provincial of Cordova; - ‡Osuna (two batts.); ‡Granaderos del General; ‡Tiradores de Cadiz - - Total. Seven batts. - -N.B.--Of these troops, Plasencia, Zafra, Truxillo, and the ‘Leales -de Ferdinando VII’ (two batts.) were in garrison at Badajoz and not -present in the field. - -The probable strength of the infantry engaged at Medellin was about -20,000 bayonets. - - -CAVALRY. - -(1) Old troops of the Army of Estremadura: - - *4th Hussars (‘Volunteers of Spain’); *1st Hussars of Estremadura - [late Maria Luisa]. - -(2) Old troops of La Romana’s army, from Denmark: - - *Rey; *Infante; *Almanza. - -(3) New Levies: - - ‡Cazadores de Llerena; ‡Imperial de Toledo. - -There was also present one regiment from Andalusia, which had joined -with Albuquerque, apparently *Reyna. - -Eight regiments in all, with an odd squadron of Carabineros Reales -in addition. Effectives very low. Total about 3,000 or 3,200 sabres. -Several regiments had a squadron detached in Andalusia, in search of -remounts. - - -ARTILLERY. - -Thirty guns, about 650 men; Sappers, two companies, about 200 men. -Total, about 24,000 men. - - - - -V - -ORGANIZATION OF THE PORTUGUESE ARMY IN 1809 - -The numbers are from the first complete return available, that of -Sept. 15 in the Record Office. - - -INFANTRY OF THE LINE. - -N.B.--Each regiment consisted of two battalions of seven companies -each, which should have numbered 770 officers and men, the regiment -totalling 1,550, with staff. - - _Strength._ - 1st Regt. (1st of Lisbon or La Lippe) 1,330 - 2nd Regt. (Lagos or Algarve) 1,301 - 3rd Regt. (1st of Olivenza[758]) 679 - 4th Regt. (Freire) 1,477 - 5th Regt. (1st of Elvas) 759 - 6th Regt. (1st of Oporto) 1,082 - 7th Regt. (Setubal) 1,312 - 8th Regt. (Evora) 369 - 9th Regt. (Viana) 1,511 - 10th Regt. (2nd of Lisbon) 1,370 - 11th Regt. (1st of Almeida) 1,498 - 12th Regt. (Chaves) 1,491 - 13th Regt. (Peniche) 1,361 - 14th Regt. (Tavira) 1,239 - 15th Regt. (2nd of Olivenza[758]) 577 - 16th Regt. (Viera Telles) 696 - 17th Regt. (2nd of Elvas) 1,218 - 18th Regt. (2nd of Oporto) 1,371 - 19th Regt. (Cascaes) 1,519 - 20th Regt. (Campomayor) 1,218 - 21st Regt. (Valenza) 193 - 22nd Regt. (Serpa) 1,479 - 23rd Regt. (2nd of Almeida) 1,521 - 24th Regt. (Braganza) 505 - ------ - Total 27,076 - - [758] Though named from Olivenza these regiments were actually - raised in Northern Beira, with head quarters at Lamego, Olivenza - having been ceded to Spain in 1801 at the treaty of Badajoz. - - -CAZADORES. - -N.B.--These were single-battalion corps with a proper effective of -770 men. - - _Strength._ - 1st (Castello de Vide) 620 - 2nd (Moura) 425 - 3rd (Villa Real) 607 - 4th (Vizeu) 619 - 5th (Campomayor) 321 - 6th (Oporto) 560 - ----- - Total 3,152 - -The 7th, 8th, and 9th Cazadores were formed later, out of the three -battalions of the Lusitanian Legion. The 10th, 11th, and 12th were -raised in the year 1811. - -The brigading of the Portuguese regular infantry was practically -permanent, very few changes having been made after 1810, when the -greater part of the regiments were attached in pairs to the British -divisions. The arrangement was as follows, 1811-14:-- - - 1st Brigade 1st (Lisbon) and 16th (Viera Telles) [attached to 1st - Division]. - 2nd ” 2nd (Lagos) and 14th (Tavira). - 3rd ” 3rd (1st of Olivenza) and 15th (2nd of Olivenza) - [attached to 5th Division]. - 4th ” 4th (Freire) and 10th (2nd of Lisbon) [attached - to 2nd Division]. - 5th ” 5th (1st of Elvas) and 17th (2nd of Elvas). - 6th ” 6th (Oporto) and 18th (2nd of Oporto). - 7th ” 7th (Setubal) and 19th (Cascaes) [attached to 7th - Division]. - 8th ” 8th (Evora) and 12th (Chaves) [attached to 6th - Division]. - 9th ” 9th (Viana) and 21st (Valenza) [attached to 3rd - Division]. - 10th ” 11th (1st of Almeida) and 23rd (2nd of Almeida) - [attached to 4th Division]. - 11th ” 13th (Peniche) and 24th (Braganza). - The 20th (Campomayor) and 22nd (Serpa) were never brigaded. - The 1st and 3rd Cazadores were attached to the Light Division. - The 2nd was attached to the 7th Portuguese Brigade, in the 7th Division. - The 4th was attached to the 1st Portuguese Brigade, in the 1st Division. - The 6th was attached to the 6th Portuguese Brigade. - - -CAVALRY. - -N.B.--Each regiment should have had 594 men, in four strong squadrons. - - _Strength._ - 1st (Alcantara Dragoons) 559 - 2nd (Moura) 400 - 3rd (Olivenza) 394 - 4th (Duke of Mecklenburg, Lisbon) 559 - 5th (Evora) 581 - 6th (Braganza) 578 - 7th (Lisbon) 564 - 8th (Elvas) 287 - 9th (Chaves) 572 - 10th (Santarem) 475 - 11th (Almeida) 482 - 12th (Miranda) 589 - ----- - Total 6,040 - - -ARTILLERY. - -Four regiments with head quarters respectively at (1) Lisbon, (2) Faro -in Algarve, (3) Estremoz in Alemtejo, (4) Oporto. The total strength -was 4,472 officers and men. - -There were also a few garrison companies, largely composed of invalids, -which were mainly stationed in the forts round Lisbon. Their force is -not given in Beresford’s _General State_ of the Regular Army. - - -THE LUSITANIAN LEGION. - -This abnormal force, under Sir Robert Wilson, comprehended in 1809-10 -three battalions of infantry, with an establishment of ten companies -and 1,000 men each, one regiment of cavalry of three squadrons, which -never seems to have been complete, and one battery of field artillery. -Its total force was about 3,500 men. In 1811 the three battalions were -taken into the regular army as the 7th, 8th, and 9th Cazadores. - - -ENGINEERS. - -There were a few officers of the old army, who were engaged in raising -new companies of sappers, which were not yet ready when Beresford’s -report was drawn up. No figures are there given. - - -It would appear then that the total Regular force of Portugal in 1809 -amounted to about 33,000 foot, 6,300 horse, and 5,000 artillery. - - -MILITIA. - -The Portuguese Militia was raised by conscription, on a local basis, -the kingdom being divided into forty-eight regions, each of which -was to supply a regiment. These districts were combined into three -divisions, called the North, South, and Centre, each of which gave -sixteen regiments. The unit was a two-battalion corps, with nominally -1,500 men in twelve companies: this number was in practice seldom -reached. It was usual to keep the battalions under arms alternately, -for periods of two, three, or six months: it was seldom that the -whole regiment was embodied at once. In 1809 the whole force was but -in process of organization, many corps had not even been officered -or armed, and the majority had not commenced to raise their second -battalion. The local distribution was as follows:-- - -1ST DIVISION: ‘THE SOUTH.’ Comprising Algarve, Alemtejo, and Beira -Alta. - - Regiments of Lagos, Tavira, Beja, Evora, Villaviciosa, - Portalegre, Castello Branco, Idanha, Vizeu, Guarda, Trancoso, - Arouca, Tondella, Arganil, Covilhão, Lamego. - -2ND DIVISION: ‘THE CENTRE.’ Comprising Estremadura and Beira Baixa. - - Four Lisbon regiments, and one each from Torres Vedras, Santarem, - Thomar, Leyria, Soure, Lousão, Alcazar do Sul, Setubal, Coimbra, - Figueira, Aveiro, and Oliveira de Azemis. - -3RD DIVISION: ‘THE NORTH.’ Comprising Tras-os-Montes and -Entre-Douro-e-Minho. - - Regiments of Oporto, Villa de Conde, Braga, Viana, Barcelos, - Guimaraens, Penafiel, Arcos, Feira, Barca, Baltar, Mayo, Chaves, - Villa Real, Miranda and Braganza. - - - - -VI - -PAPERS RELATING TO THE INTRIGUES AT OPORTO, APRIL-MAY 1809 - - -I. GENERAL RICARD’S CIRCULAR. - -_Le général Ricard, chef d’état-major du 2e corps d’armée en Espagne, -à M. le général de division Quesnel._ - - - Oporto, le 19 avril 1809. - - Mon général, - -Son Excellence M. le maréchal duc de Dalmatie m’a chargé de vous écrire -pour vous faire connaître les dispositions que la grande majorité des -habitants de la province du Minho manifestent. - -La ville de Braga, qui une des premières s’était portée à -l’insurrection, a été aussi la première a se prononcer pour un -changement de système, qui assurât à l’avenir le repos et la -tranquillité des familles, et l’indépendance du Portugal. Le corrégidor -que son Excellence avait nommé s’était retiré à Oporto lors du départ -des troupes françaises, dans la crainte que les nombreux émissaires que -Sylveira envoyait n’excitassent de nouveaux troubles, et n’attentassent -à sa vie. Les habitants ont alors manifesté le vœu que ce digne -magistrat leur fût renvoyé, et une députation de douze membres a été -à cet effet envoyée près de Son Excellence. Pendant ce temps les -émissaires de Sylveira étaient arrêtés et emprisonnés. - -A Oporto, et à Barcelos, les habitants ont aussi manifesté les mêmes -sentiments, et tous sentent la nécessité d’avoir un appui auquel les -citoyens bien intentionnés puissent se rallier pour la défense et -le salut de la patrie, et pour la conservation des propriétés. A ce -sujet de nouvelles députations se sont présentées à Son Excellence, -pour la supplier d’approuver que le peuple de la province du Minho -manifestât authentiquement le vœu de déchéance du trône de la maison -de Bragance, et qu’en même temps S. M. l’Empereur et roi fût suppliée -de désigner un prince de sa maison, ou de son choix, pour régner en -Portugal, mais qu’en attendant que l’Empereur ait pu faire connaître -à ce sujet ses intentions, Son Excellence le duc de Dalmatie serait -prié de prendre les rênes du gouvernement, de représenter le souverain, -et de se revêtir de toutes les attributions de l’autorité suprême: le -peuple promettant et jurant de lui être fidèle, de le soutenir et de le -défendre aux dépens de la vie et de la fortune contre tout opposant, -et envers même les insurgés des autres provinces, jusqu’à l’entière -soumission du royaume. - -Le maréchal a accueilli ces propositions, et il a autorisé les -corrégidors des Comarques à faire assembler les Chambres, à y appeler -des députés de tous les ordres, des corporations, et du peuple dans -les campagnes, pour dresser l’acte qui doit être fait, et y apposer -les signatures de l’universalité des citoyens. Il m’a ordonné de vous -faire part de ces dispositions, pour que, dans l’arrondissement où -vous commandez, vous en favorisiez l’exécution, et qu’ensuite vous en -propagiez l’effet sur tous les points du royaume, où vous pourrez en -faire parvenir la nouvelle. - -M. le Maréchal ne s’est pas dissimulé qu’un évènement d’aussi grande -importance étonnera beaucoup de monde et doit produire des impressions -diverses; mais il n’a pas cru devoir s’arrêter à ces considérations: -son âme est trop pure pour qu’il puisse penser qu’on lui attribue aucun -projet ambitieux. Dans tout ce qu’il fait il ne voit que la gloire des -armes de Sa Majesté, le succès de l’expédition qui lui est confiée, et -le bien-être d’une nation intéressante, qui, malgré ses égarements, -est toujours digne de notre estime. Il se sent fort de l’affection de -l’armée, et il brûle du désir de la présenter à l’Empereur, glorieuse -et triomphante, ayant rempli l’engagement que Sa Majesté a elle-même -pris, de planter l’aigle impériale sur les forts de Lisbonne, après une -expédition aussi difficile que périlleuse, où tous les jours nous avons -été dans la nécessité de vaincre. - -Son Excellence ne s’est pas dissimulé non plus que depuis Burgos -l’armée a eu des combats continuels à soutenir; elle a réfléchi -sur les moyens d’éviter à l’avenir les maux que cet état de guerre -occasionne, et elle n’en a pas trouvé de plus propre que celui qui lui -est offert par la grande majorité des habitants des principales villes -du Minho, d’autant plus qu’elle a l’espoir de voir propager dans les -autres provinces cet exemple, et qu’ainsi ce beau pays sera préservé -de nouvelles calamités. Les intentions de Sa Majesté seront plus tôt -et plus glorieusement remplies, et notre présence en Portugal, qui -d’abord avait été un sujet d’effroi pour les habitants, y sera vue avec -plaisir, en même temps qu’elle contribuera à neutraliser les efforts -des ennemis de l’Empereur sur cette partie du continent. - -La tâche que M. le Maréchal s’impose dans cette circonstance est -immense, mais il a le courage de l’embrasser, et il croit la remplir -même avec succès, si vous voulez bien l’aider dans son exécution. Il -désire que vous propagiez les idées que je viens de vous communiquer, -que vous fassiez protéger d’une manière particulière les autorités ou -citoyens quelconques qui embrasseront le nouveau système, en mettant -les uns et les autres dans le cas de se prononcer et d’agir à l’avenir -en conséquence. Vous veillerez plus soigneusement que jamais à la -conduite de votre troupe, l’empêcherez de commettre aucun dégât ou -insulte qui pourrait irriter les habitants, et vous aurez la bonté, -monsieur le général, d’instruire fréquemment Son Excellence de l’esprit -des habitants et du résultat que vous aurez obtenu. - -J’ai l’honneur de vous prier d’agréer l’hommage de mon respect et de -mon sincère attachement. - - _Le général chef de l’état-major général_ - _Signé_: RICARD. - -Pour copie conforme à l’original resté dans les mains du général de -division Quesnel. - -Paris, le 11 juillet 1809. - - _Le ministre de la guerre_ - Comte d’Hunebourg. - - -II. WELLESLEY’S ACCOUNT OF ARGENTON’S PLOT. - -‘To Viscount Castlereagh, Secretary of State. - - ‘Villa Nova, 15th May, 1809. - - ‘My Lord, - -‘In my secret dispatch, of the 27th ultimo, I apprised your Lordship -that I had had certain communications with an Officer of the French -army, in respect to the discontent which prevailed against Marshal -Soult. I have since had further communications with the same Officer, -with the details of which I proceed to acquaint your Lordship. - -‘Captain Argenton met me within the posts of the British army, between -Coimbra and Aveiro on the night of the 6th instant, accompanied by -Mons. Viana, in the presence of Lieut.-Colonel Bathurst. He informed me -that the discontent had increased, and that there were a larger number -of Officers who were determined to seize their General than when he -had last seen me. He said, however, that they were divided into two -parties, one discontented with Buonaparte himself, and determined to -carry matters to extremities against him: the other, consisting of -Loison, Laborde, and others (whom he had before mentioned as attached -to the cause of the Emperor,) were dissatisfied with Soult’s conduct, -particularly with an intention which he was supposed to entertain to -declare himself King of Portugal; and that they were determined, if -he should take that step, to seize him and to lead the army back into -France, where it was understood the Emperor wished to see it. - -‘Captain Argenton then urged me again to lose no time in pressing upon -Soult, as the mode most likely to induce the more violent of the two -parties to endeavour to accomplish their purpose. But he said that if -my attack was likely to be delayed, it was desirable that I should -endeavour to prevail upon some of the towns over which I was supposed -to have influence, such as Coimbra, Aveiro, &c., to follow the example -of Oporto, and petition Soult to take upon himself the government of -the kingdom, as King; and that I even should write to him to urge the -adoption of this measure. - -‘In answer to this, I told him, that I certainly should make my attack -as soon as it was in my power, but that I could not fix any day, nor -state to him the plan of my operations; and that in respect to his -propositions, regarding the measures to be adopted by me to induce -Soult to declare himself King of Portugal, they were quite out of the -question; that I could not risk the loss of the confidence of the -people of Portugal by doing what he desired in respect to the people of -Coimbra, Aveiro, &c., nor my own character by writing the letter which -he proposed I should. I told him at the same time that I considered -that, notwithstanding all that had passed between him and me, I had a -full right to take what steps I pleased, even if the Officers of the -French army should seize their General. - -‘He then went away, and Mons. Viana returned with me to Coimbra, and -confirmed all the statements which Captain Argenton had made of the -discontent of the Officers of the army. - -‘I heard no more of Captain Argenton till the 13th, the day after the -capture of Oporto, on which day the original orders for the arrest -and secret detention of Captain Argenton, Colonel Lafitte of the 18th -dragoons, and Colonel Donadieu of the 47th regiment of infantry, were -found among some papers sent to me by the police of the town; the order -for the arrest of the first bearing date the 9th, and of the last two -the 10th instant. - -‘In a few hours afterwards, on the same day, Captain Argenton came into -Oporto, and informed me that, on the night of the day he had returned -from his last interview with me, he had been arrested, and his papers -had been seized, among which had been found the three passports which -I had given him. He said that he attributed his arrest to the General -of Division Lefevre, a man of weak intellect, to whom he had formerly -been aide de camp, and on whom he had endeavored to prevail, as he -thought successfully, to join the party. General Lefevre had, however, -informed Soult of all the circumstances, requiring only his promise -that Argenton should not be injured, and should retain his commission -and his military pretensions. - -‘Soult examined him in presence of General Lefevre respecting his -accomplices, but he declined to name any, and he was sent back to -prison in charge of a Captain of Gendarmerie. This person prevailed -upon him, with promises of pardon and indemnity to all concerned, to -consent to tell Soult the names of his accomplices, which he did on the -following night, notwithstanding, as he says himself, similar promises -in his own favor, made to General Lefevre, had not been performed, and -that as soon as he had named Colonels Lafitte and Donadieu, immediate -orders were sent for their arrest and secret detention. They marched, -in confinement, with the army from Oporto on the 12th, and on the 13th, -at five o’clock in the morning, Captain Argenton made his escape, at -the desire of Colonel Lafitte, from the party of Gendarmes in whose -charge he was detained. He now declares that the conspiracy still -exists, and that sooner or later it must burst forth and fall heavily -upon the head of the usurper; and he talked of the war in Spain as -being odious to the army and to the whole nation. - -‘Captain Argenton expressed a desire to return secretly to France, and -to bring to England his wife and family, she having, as he says, some -property, to enable him to live in England till the arrival of better -times in France. - -‘I told him that I would send him to England when an opportunity should -offer to apply for permission to go to France; and I shall have the -honor of addressing him to your Lordship when the opportunity shall -occur of sending him. - - ‘I have the honor to be, &c., - ‘ARTHUR WELLESLEY. - -‘VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH.’ - - -III. RÉSUMÉ DE L’AFFAIRE ARGENTON. - -(This analysis of the documents in the French archives relating to the -Oporto conspiracy has been placed at my disposal by the great kindness -of Commandant Balagny.) - - -Le 8 mai 1809, dans la nuit, le capitaine Argenton était arrêté -à Oporto par ordre du maréchal Soult. Son arrestation avait été -provoquée par les déclarations que, dans cette même nuit du 8, le -général Lefebvre et son aide de camp Favre étaient venus faire au -maréchal. Argenton leur avait, disent-ils, fait à l’un et à l’autre, -dans la journée du 8, des confidences sur l’objet de deux voyages -successifs à Lisbonne et à Coïmbre, près des généraux anglais, et leur -avait développé le plan d’une vaste conspiration militaire, dont les -ramifications s’étendaient dans toutes les armées impériales et dans -plusieurs départements de la France. Malgré la promesse formelle qu’ils -avaient faite à Argenton de garder un secret absolu, après s’être -concertés à Richuza, ils vinrent, dans la nuit, à Oporto, et, après -avoir obtenu du maréchal une audience secrète (à 10 heures et demie du -soir), lui dévoilèrent ce que leur avait confié Argenton. Aux termes -de leurs déclarations, il aurait dit, à l’un et à l’autre séparément, -qu’il était l’agent d’un comité, composé des généraux Laborde, Loison, -Merle, Lorges, Lahoussaye, Debelle, et des colonels Donadieu, Mejean, -Lafitte, Girardin, Corsin, et dont le but était de renverser l’Empereur -pour mettre fin au régime de guerres continuelles et de perpétuelles -conscriptions, que la France était lasse de supporter pour servir -l’ambition de Napoléon. Pour réaliser ce projet, le comité devait -par son intermédiaire passer une convention avec l’armée anglaise en -Portugal. Aux termes de cette convention, l’armée française évacuerait -le Portugal, suivie de l’armée anglaise, qui l’escorterait jusqu’aux -Pyrénées, où cette dernière resterait en observation pour l’appuyer -et pour déterminer les départements du Midi à se déclarer pour le -nouvel état de choses. A la faveur de trois passe-ports, délivrés -par les généraux anglais, trois officiers français[759], dont lui, -Argenton, devaient se rendre, l’un aux armées d’Espagne, l’autre à -l’armée d’Autriche, un troisième en France, pour rallier à la cause de -l’entreprise les mécontents de l’intérieur et des armées. L’Angleterre -promettait d’appuyer de son argent le succès de l’entreprise, et -Wellesley aurait promis à Argenton 60,000 fr. pour les débuts. Le -général Moreau devait être ramené d’Amérique par un navire anglais, et -prendre, sous un titre non encore désigné, la place de Napoléon déchu. -Le maréchal Soult serait invité à se mettre à la tête du mouvement. Si -le maréchal refusait, on devait s’emparer de sa personne, de façon à ce -que son opposition ne nuisît en rien à la réussite de l’entreprise. - - [759] Ces passe-ports devaient être délivrés aux noms supposés - de _Dupont_ et _Garis_, d’après les déclarations d’Argenton - lui-même, du maréchal Soult, du général Ricard, &c. L’un de ces - passe-ports devait être utilisé par le capitaine Favre, aide de - camp du général Lefebvre, qui voulait rentrer en France pour - démissionner. L’autre devait servir à un officier supérieur - _qu’Argenton ne nomme pas_, qui devait aller rendre compte de la - situation à l’Empereur. - -En présence de pareilles révélations, le maréchal Soult fit arrêter -sur-le-champ et conduire chez lui le capitaine Argenton, qui, devant -le général Lefebvre et Favre, refit, dans les mêmes termes, la -narration du plan du Comité, insistant, paraît-il, à diverses reprises, -pour tenter de décider le maréchal à entrer dans ses vues, en lui -dépeignant, sous des couleurs séduisantes, la grandeur et la noblesse -de l’entreprise, dont le but principal était de rendre à la France et -à l’Europe entière une paix que tout le monde souhaitait ardemment, -et que la folle ambition de l’Empereur rendait seule impossible. Mais -ne pouvant obtenir du maréchal la promesse formelle qu’aucun des -officiers dont il citerait les noms ne serait inquiété, il se refusa -à désigner les membres du Comité qui l’avait fait agir. Plus tard, -dans ses interrogatoires en France, il déclara que devant ce refus -de sa part le maréchal s’emporta violemment, le menaça de le faire -fusiller sur-le-champ, et qu’il ne dut son salut qu’à l’intervention -généreuse du général Lefebvre, qui rappela durement au Duc de Dalmatie -la promesse solennelle qu’il lui avait faite (à lui, Lefebvre), sur -l’honneur, qu’Argenton ne serait point inquiété. Il fut réintégré -dans sa prison, à son grand étonnement, dit-il. Furieux de se voir -sous les verrous, malgré la promesse formelle que lui aurait faite le -maréchal, prétend-il, il s’obstina d’abord dans un mutisme absolu, -refusant, pendant toute la matinée du 9, de se prêter à aucun nouvel -interrogatoire. Cependant, sur les instances réitérées et pressantes du -lieutenant de gendarmerie Bernon, que le maréchal envoya, à plusieurs -reprises, le voir dans sa prison, et sous la foi de la promesse -solennelle que lui apporta ce dernier, de la part du Duc, que lui et -tous les officiers compromis auraient l’honneur et la vie saufs, et -qu’un voile épais serait jeté à jamais sur cette affaire, il se décida -dans la soirée à écrire au maréchal qu’il consentait à lui faire des -aveux complets. Mais se ravisant, il lui écrivit une deuxième lettre -où il mettait comme condition à ses aveux qu’il n’y aurait _qu’un seul -témoin_ présent à ses déclarations, et qu’il désirait que ce témoin fût -le général Lefebvre. Pour des raisons qui sont demeurées inconnues, -le maréchal substitua, comme témoin, au général Lefebvre, le général -Ricard et le lieutenant Bernon. Argenton accepta cependant de faire ses -aveux et fut introduit à 10 heures du soir dans le salon du maréchal. -Le lieutenant Bernon et le général Ricard firent, dès le 10 mai, une -déclaration écrite des révélations faites devant eux au maréchal par -Argenton dans l’entrevue du 9 mai. Leurs déclarations concordent -entièrement avec celles du général Lefebvre et du capitaine Favre, -et ce serait toujours le fameux projet de renversement de l’Empire -qu’Argenton aurait indiqué comme but du Comité. - -A la suite de ces aveux, Argenton est reconduit dans sa prison et le -maréchal, faussant sa promesse, fait arrêter le colonel Lafitte, qui -commandait le régiment ou servait Argenton. - -Mais cependant l’armée anglaise se portait en avant et, à la suite -de circonstances demeurées bien obscures, le maréchal Soult était -surpris dans Oporto et sur le point de ne pouvoir s’en échapper. -Argenton, confié à la garde du lieutenant Bernon et d’un détachement -d’infanterie, est emmené dans la retraite. Le second jour il s’évade -subitement, dans des circonstances tellement romanesques que, malgré -le rapport du lieutenant Bernon au Duc de Conégliano, on est quelque -peu porté à croire que sa fuite fut facilitée par le commandement. - -Le 14 mai, au soir, Argenton fugitif gagnait Oporto, et de là se -rendait à Lisbonne d’où l’amiral anglais le faisait conduire à Londres -sur un vaisseau anglais, avec des lettres de recommandation pour le -ministre de la marine. Bien accueilli par ce dernier, qui lui proposa -même, dit-il, de le pensionner, il séjourna quelque temps à Londres. -Mais pris bientôt de la nostalgie du pays natal et dévoré du désir de -venir rejoindre sa femme pour vivre en France ‘ignoré dans quelque coin -perdu,’ il avise aux moyens de passer la Manche. Il fabrique un faux -cartel d’échange au nom de ‘Dessort,’ sous la signature du général -Ricard, chef d’état-major du maréchal Soult, et sur les recommandations -de l’Amirauté anglaise il s’embarque à Deal et atterrit à Sangatte le -28 juin 1809. Malgré son faux nom, Argenton ne tarde pas en effet à -être arrêté. - -Dès son premier interrogatoire, il s’était décidé à reconnaître son -identité et, avouant son faux de cartel d’échange, il abandonne le -pseudonyme de ‘Dessort’ et redevient Argenton. Mais ici la scène -change: se prêtant volontiers aux interrogatoires, il ne fait aucune -difficulté pour expliquer ses voyages près des généraux anglais; -mais il leur donne un but tout autre et il assigne au Comité, dont -il se dit toujours avoir été l’agent, des intentions totalement -différentes de celles que, selon Lefebvre, Ricard, Favre, et Bernon, -il aurait indiquées à Oporto. Il n’est plus question de conspiration -contre l’Empereur, de projets de renversement dynastique. Bien au -contraire, le Comité, entièrement dévoué à Napoléon et à sa cause, -voulait lui ramener une armée dont le sort était gravement compromis -par la maladresse du maréchal Soult, qui ne rêvait rien moins que -de faire de cette armée la sienne propre, et de s’en servir pour la -réalisation de ses projets ambitieux. Devant ses projets ouvertement -affichés de se faire décerner la couronne de Portugal, un parti de -mécontents s’était formé pour déjouer ses vues et le mettre dans -l’impossibilité de commettre le crime de lèse-majesté qu’il méditait. -A la tête de ce parti, se trouvait, dit Argenton, un comité composé -des généraux Laborde et Loison, des colonels Lafitte et St. Géniéz et -d’un colonel aide-de-camp du général Loison. Le Comité devait, dès que -le maréchal aurait mis en exécution son projet, nullement déguisé, de -s’emparer de la couronne, se saisir de sa personne, et, à la suite -d’une convention passée avec les généraux anglais, ramener en France -l’armée restée fidèle à Napoléon, et sauvée par cette intervention -d’une perte infaillible. Mais pour mener à bonne fin l’exécution de ce -projet, il fallait obtenir des généraux anglais qu’ils consentissent -à retarder leur attaque, qui était imminente, et se faire délivrer -par eux des passe-ports pour les officiers qui devaient aller rendre -compte à l’Empereur de ce qui se passait en Portugal. Argenton accepta -la mission d’aller à l’armée anglaise soumettre les propositions du -Comité. On l’adressa, dit-il, au nommé Viana, à qui il fut présenté par -le colonel Donadieu qui logeait chez lui, et ce fut ce Viana qui lui -servit de guide et d’escorte jusqu’à l’armée anglaise. Il se rendit à -Lisbonne, où il obtint du général Wellesley trois passe-ports et la -promesse d’une suspension d’armes de quelques jours. Revenu à Oporto, -il y resta quatre jours chez Viana, qui lui remit, à destination du -Comité, un dialogue intitulé ‘Le Moineau et le Perroquet,’ qui n’était, -paraît-il, que le sommaire d’une longue conversation entre Viana et -le maréchal, où ce dernier aurait développé ses projets ambitieux et -exposé en détail la ligne de conduite qu’il comptait suivre. Porteur -de ce document, il va rendre compte de sa mission au Comité. Le -général Laborde étant malade, il rendit compte au colonel Lafitte et, -le général Loison survenant à ce moment, il y eut chez Laborde une -conférence entre ces deux généraux et Lafitte. Lui, Argenton, n’y -assista pas; mais à l’issue de cette conférence son colonel lui déclara -qu’il fallait retourner près des Anglais, et lui fit tenir une lettre -écrite par le général Loison au général Wellesley. Toujours accompagné -de Viana, il partit d’Oporto le 1er mai, et se rendit à Coïmbre, où -il eut, en présence de Viana, une conférence avec Wellesley et finit, -après quelques difficultés, par obtenir une nouvelle suspension -d’hostilités pendant quatre jours, à la condition que le Comité -tiendrait le général anglais au courant des faits et gestes du Duc de -Dalmatie. De retour à Oporto, le 8 mai, il était arrêté au moment où -il s’apprêtait à partir pour se rendre près du Comité.--Telle est la -thèse qu’Argenton ne cesse de soutenir avec la dernière énergie, depuis -son retour en France jusque devant le peloton d’exécution qui va le -fusiller. Il subit trois interrogatoires à Boulogne, trois autres au -Ministère de la Police, quatre devant la Commission militaire chargée -d’instruire sa cause. Toujours avec la même impassibilité et le calme -le plus absolu, il répète la même chose, ne variant que sur quelques -questions de détails. Quand on lui donne lecture des dépositions -accablantes des généraux Lefebvre et Ricard, du capitaine Favre et du -lieutenant Bernon, il leur oppose froidement les dénégations les plus -formelles. Il est confronté avec les colonels Donadieu et Lafitte, qui, -arrêtés par ordre du Ministre de la Guerre, prétendent n’avoir jamais -eu connaissance de l’existence d’un comité dans l’armée, et n’avoir -jamais servi d’intermédiaire entre Argenton et ce comité. Vis-à-vis -d’eux, le capitaine garde toujours la même attitude. Lui seul dit la -vérité, assure-t-il, et il s’étonne du peu de mémoire des colonels. - -Traduit devant un conseil de guerre le 21 décembre 1809, le capitaine -Argenton se retranche toujours derrière les mêmes moyens de défense -et produit les mêmes arguments. Il a agi par ordre (verbal, il est -vrai), et il a cru servir à la fois les intérêts de l’armée qu’il a -sauvée et ceux de l’Empereur. Malgré une plaidoirie très éloquente -et très habile de son défenseur Falconnet, qui, pour défendre son -client, n’épargne pas le duc de Dalmatie, Argenton est condamné à mort. -Jusqu’à la dernière heure, il proteste de la pureté de ses intentions, -et maintient qu’il a toujours dit la vérité et qu’il est victime de -l’égoïsme de ceux qui l’ont fait agir. Avec une calme résignation, il -commande lui-même son peloton d’exécution et tombe sous les balles avec -ce courage romanesque qui caractérisait en lui l’homme extraordinaire -qui, à Tarvis, fit _seul_ toute une compagnie prisonnière. - - - - -VII - -MORNING STATE OF THE BRITISH FORCES IN PORTUGAL, UNDER SIR ARTHUR -WELLESLEY, K.B. - -HEAD QUARTERS, COIMBRA, MAY 6, 1809. - - - TABLE LEGEND: - A = _Officers._ - B = _Present._ - C = _Sick._ - D = _On Command._ - E = _Total._ - F = _Total Efficients Present, Officers and Men._ - - -------------------------------+-----+---------------------++-------++---------- - | |_Sergeants, Drummers,|| || - | |Rank and File, &c._ || || - -------------------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------++-------++---------- - | | | | || || - | A | B | C | D || E || F - | | | | || || - -------------------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------++-------++---------- - CAVALRY. | | | | || || - | | | | || || - 1st Brigade [Stapleton Cotton] | | | | || || - 14th Light Dragoons | 27 | 628 | 21 | 73 || 749 || 655 - 16th ” ” | 37 | 673 | 20 | 35 || 765 || 710 - 20th ” ” [two squadrons]| 6 | 237 | 6 | 63 || 312 || 243 - 3rd Light Dragoons K.G.L. | | | | || || - [one squadron] | 3 | 57 | 2 | 77 || 139 || 60 - | | | | || || ----1,668 - | | | | || || - 2nd Brigade [Fane] | | | | || || - 3rd Dragoon Guards | 25 | 698 | 10 | -- || 733 || 723 - 4th Dragoons | 27 | 716 | 13 | -- || 756 || 743 - | | | | || || ----1,466 - | --- | ----- | -- | --- || ---- || --------- - Total Cavalry | 125 | 3,009 | 72 | 248 || 3,454 || 3,134 - | --- | ----- | -- | --- || ---- || --------- - INFANTRY. | | | | || || - | | | | || || - Brigade of Guards [H. Campbell]| | | | || || - Coldstream Guards, 1st batt. | 33 | 1,194 | 75 | 3 || 1,305 ||1,227 - 3rd Foot Guards, 1st batt. | 34 | 1,228 | 79 | 8 || 1,349 ||1,262 - 1 company 5/60th Foot | 2 | 61 | 4 | -- || 67 || 63 - | | | | || || ----2,552 - | | | | || || - 1st Brigade [Hill] | | | | || || - 3rd Foot, 1st batt. | 28 | 719 | 104 | 50 || 901 || 747 - 48th ” 2nd ” | 32 | 721 | 52 | -- || 805 || 753 - 66th ” 2nd ” | 34 | 667 | 38 | 10 || 749 || 701 - 1 company 5/60th Foot | 2 | 61 | 4 | -- || 67 || 63 - | | | | || || ----2,264 - | | | | || || - 2nd Brigade [Mackenzie] | | | | || || - 27th Foot, 3rd batt. | 28 | 726 | 134 | 2 || 890 || 754 - 31st ” 2nd ” | 27 | 765 | 99 | 6 || 897 || 792 - 45th ” 1st ” | 22 | 671 | 125 | 27 || 845 || 693 - | | | | || || ----2,239 - | | | | || || - 3rd Brigade [Tilson] | | | | || || - 5/60th Foot [5 companies] | 14 | 306 | 32 | 2 || 354 || 320 - 87th ” 2nd batt. | 32 | 669 | 88 | 1 || 790 || 701 - 88th ” 1st batt. | 30 | 608 | 143 | 28 || 809 || 638 - 1st Portuguese, 1st batt. | -- | -- | -- | -- || -- || -- - | | | | || || ----1,659 - 4th Brigade [Sontag] | | | | || || - 97th Foot | 22 | 572 | 74 | 20 || 688 || 594 - 2nd batt. of Detachments | 35 | 787 | 221 | 16 || 1,059 || 822 - 1 company 5/60th Foot | 2 | 61 | 6 | -- || 69 || 63 - 16th Portuguese, 2nd batt. | -- | -- | -- | -- || -- || -- - | | | | || || ----1,479 - 5th Brigade [A. Campbell] | | | | || || - 7th Foot, 2nd batt. | 26 | 559 | 50 | 3 || 638 || 585 - 53rd ” ” ” | 23 | 691 | 59 | 3 || 776 || 714 - 1 company 5/60th Foot | 4 | 64 | 11 | 1 || 80 || 68 - 10th Portuguese, 1st batt. | -- | -- | -- | -- || -- || -- - | | | | || || ----1,367 - 6th Brigade [R. Stewart] | | | | || || - 29th Foot | 26 | 596 | 85 | 7 || 714 || 622 - 1st batt. of Detachments | 27 | 803 | 169 | 24 || 1,023 || 830 - 16th Portuguese, 1st batt. | -- | -- | -- | -- || -- || -- - | | | | || || ----1,452 - 7th Brigade [Cameron] | | | | || || - 9th Foot, 2nd batt. | 27 | 545 | 227 | 22 || 821 || 572 - 83rd ” ” ” | 39 | 833 | 73 | 23 || 968 || 872 - 1 company 5/60th Foot | 2 | 60 | 3 | 1 || 66 || 62 - 10th Portuguese, 2nd batt. | -- | -- | -- | -- || -- || -- - | | | | || || ----1,506 - King’s German Legion Brigade | | | | || || - [Murray] | | | | || || - 1st Line batt. K.G.L. | 34 | 767 | 125 | 9 || 935 || 801 - 2nd ” ” ” | 32 | 804 | 52 | 9 || 897 || 836 - 5th ” ” ” | 28 | 720 | 101 | 12 || 861 || 748 - 7th ” ” ” | 22 | 688 | 83 | 10 || 803 || 710 - | | | | || || ----3,095 - Unattached Troops (Lisbon) | | | | || || - 24th Foot, 2nd batt. | 18 | 750 | 26 | 3 || 797 || 768 - 30th ” ” ” | 15 | 447 | 49 | 197 || 708 || 462 - Independent Light Co. K.G.L. | 3 | 35 | 14 | 4 || 56 || 38 - | | | | || || ----1,268 - | --- |------ |-----| ---- || ------|| --------- - Total Infantry | 703 |18,178 |2,405| 501 || 21,787|| 18,881 - | | | | || || - ARTILLERY. | | | | || || - | | | | || || - British | 31 | 550 | 83 | 499 || 1,163 || 581 - King’s German Legion | 18 | 331 | 34 | 134 || 517 || 349 - Wagon Train attached | 3 | 61 | 18 | 83 || 165 || 64 - | -- | -- | -- | -- || -- || -- - Total Artillery | 52 | 942 | 135 | 716 || 1,845 || 994 - | | | | || || - ENGINEERS. | 12 | 27 | 1 | -- || 40 || 39 - | | | | || || - WAGON TRAIN. | 2 | 65 | 21 | 17 || 105 || 67 - -------------------------------+-----+-------+-----+-------++-------++---------- - General Total 894 22,221 2,634 1,482 27,231 23,115 - - - - -VIII - -SOULT’S REPORT ON GALICIA, - -JUNE 25, 1809. - -N.B.--The first half of this report, a lengthy narrative of the -Marshal’s march from Lugo to Puebla de Senabria, is omitted. - - -Je me permettrai, avant de terminer ce rapport, de présenter à Votre -Majesté quelques observations sur la situation actuelle de Galice. -Cette province est toujours en état de fermentation. Les menaces de -mort et d’incendie qu’employe La Romana; les nombreux agents qui -agissent en son nom; les exécutions qu’il fait; les dévastations qui -ont inévitablement lieu par les fréquents mouvements des troupes; -la ruine de la plupart des habitants; l’absence de toute autorité -qui représente Votre Majesté; l’influence des prêtres, qui sont -très-nombreux, et la grande majorité opposante; l’argent que les -Anglais répandent; la détresse des généraux français, qui, faute des -moyens, ne peuvent souvent payer les émissaires qu’ils employent: -toutes ces causes contribuent à augmenter de jour en jour le nombre des -ennemis, et à rendre la guerre qu’on fait dans ce pays très-meurtrière, -infiniment désagréable, et d’un résultat fort éloigné. On s’y battra -encore longtemps avant que Votre Majesté en retire quelque avantage, à -moins qu’elle n’adopte le système de faire fortifier sept à huit postes -importants, susceptibles de contenir chacun 5,000 à 6,000 hommes de -garnison, un hôpital, et des vivres pour quatre mois, pour maintenir la -population, fermer et garder les principaux débouchés dont l’ennemi ne -pourrait plus profiter, et aussi pour offrir aux colonnes qui agiraient -dans la province des appuis, quelque direction qu’elles suivissent. -Ainsi elles pourraient recevoir des secours et déposer leurs malades. -Cette dernière considération est très-puissante, et je ne dois pas -dissimuler à Votre Majesté qu’elle fait beaucoup sur le moral des -soldats, qui, dans l’état actuel des choses, sont exposés à périr de -misère, ou sous les coups des paysans, s’ils ont le malheur d’être -blessés, ou atteints de la fièvre, et de se trouver éloignés d’un lieu -sûr pour y chercher des secours. - -Je crois qu’avec une dépense d’un million on parviendrait à mettre -en état de défense la Galice, et certes jamais argent n’aurait été -mieux employé, d’autant plus que par la suite on pourrait diminuer -le nombre des troupes qui pour le moment y sont nécessaires; dans -cette persuasion j’ai engagé M. le Maréchal Ney à faire fortifier -Lugo, et à ordonner la construction de trois blocus sur la ligne de -Villa Franca; les places de Tuy, de Monterey, de Viana et de Puebla -de Sanabria, qui toutes peuvent contenir des canons, ont une enceinte -et un reste de fortification, pourraient aisément être rétablies et -rempliraient parfaitement cet objet; et, s’il le fallait, il est encore -d’autres postes qui par leur situation seraient à même de concourir à -la défense, sans que les frais fussent considérablement augmentés. Si -cette mesure, que je considère comme urgente et d’un résultat assuré, -n’est point adoptée, il deviendra nécessaire que des renforts soient -envoyés à M. le Maréchal Ney, ne fusse que pour remplacer ses pertes et -maintenir libres les communications, quoique aujourd’hui il puisse être -assez fort pour tenir tête au corps de La Romana et de Carrera réunis, -s’ils se présentaient en ligne. Mais leur système étant d’harceler sans -cesse et d’éviter une affaire générale, avec le temps ils auraient -l’avance la plus forte, et ils finiraient, même sans combattre, par -le détruire s’il n’était soutenu, et on ferait une perte d’hommes -incalculable sans obtenir le résultat qu’on se propose. - -Il est probable que je ne serai plus dans le cas d’entretenir Votre -Majesté au sujet de la Galice; ainsi, pour cette dernière fois, j’ai -cru de mon devoir de lui rendre compte des observations que mon séjour -dans cette partie de ses états et la connaissance que j’ai acquise -du caractère de ses habitants m’ont mis à même de faire. J’ai donc -l’honneur de supplier Votre Majesté de daigner excuser cette digression -en faveur et en considération des motifs qui l’ont dictée. - - J’ai l’honneur d’être, &c., - MARÉCHAL DUC DE DALMATIE. - -Puebla de Senabria, 25 juin 1809. - - - - -IX - - -A - -SUCHET’S ARMY OF ARAGON [3rd CORPS], - -MAY 15, 1809. - -Total _présents sous les armes._ - - 1st Division, General LAVAL: - 14th Line (two batts.), 1,080; 44th Line (two batts.), - 1,069; 2nd of the Vistula (two batts.), 880; 3rd ditto, - 964 3,993 - - 2nd Division, General Musnier: - 114th Line (three batts.), 1,627; 115th Line (three batts.), - 1,732; 1st of the Vistula (two batts.), 1,039 4,398 - - 3rd Division, General MORLOT: - 116th and 117th Line (each three batts.), _absent in - Castile_; 121st Line, _three batts. absent in Navarre_, - one present in Aragon, 400; 5th Léger (one batt.), 890 - - Troops detached from 5th Corps: - 64th Line (one batt.), one voltigeur company of 40th Line 450 - - CAVALRY BRIGADE, General WATHIER: - 4th Hussars, 326; 13th Cuirassiers, 390; Polish Lancers - (one squadron), 80 796 - - ARTILLERY 450 - ------ - General Total 10,977 - -N.B.--Of the nine absent battalions the 116th and 117th with a strength -of somewhat over 3,000 men rejoined Suchet on the day of Maria (June -15), thus raising this available force to about 13,000 men. The 121st -never came up from Navarre. - - -B - -BLAKE’S ARMY OF ARAGON, - -JUNE 15, 1809. - -Total present under arms at Maria. - - Vanguard Brigade, Colonel J. CREAGH: - Almeria (two batts.), Cazadores de Valencia (one batt.) 2,298 - - 1st Division, Major-General P. ROCA: - 1st of Savoia (three batts.), Granada (one batt.), Avila - Militia, Tiradores de Cariñena (one batt.), Tercio of - Tortosa 4,888 - - 2nd Division, Lieut.-General Marquis of LAZAN: - 1st Volunteers of Saragossa (one batt.), 3rd Cazadores de - Valencia (one batt.), 1st of Valencia (three batts.), - America (two batts.) 5,837 - - Cavalry Brigade, Colonel J. O’DONNELL: - Olivenza (four squadrons), Santiago (one squadron) 698 - - Artillery (seventeen guns) 200 - - Sappers (three companies) 309 - ------ - Total present 14,230 - - - 3rd Division, Lieut.-General C. AREIZAGA (absent at Botorrita): - Fernando 7th (one batt.), Grenadiers (four companies), - 1st Volunteers of Aragon (one batt.), 2nd ditto (one - batt.), Volunteers of Valencia (one batt.), Cazadores - de Palafox (one batt.), Daroca (one batt.), Tiradores - de Doyle (one batt.), Tiradores de Murcia (one batt.) 5,842 - - Cavalry: Husares Españoles, Santiago (one squadron each) 368 - - Artillery (eight guns) 120 - - Sappers 103 - ------ - Total absent at Botorrita 6,433 - - - - -X - -APPENDICES RELATING TO THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN - - -1 - -THE BRITISH FORCE AT TALAVERA - -FROM THE MORNING STATE OF JULY 25, 1809 - -Present and fit for Duty. - -CAVALRY DIVISION (Lieut.-Gen. PAYNE). - - Fane’s Brigade: - 3rd Dragoon Guards 525 - 4th Dragoons 545 - - Cotton’s Brigade: - 14th Light Dragoons 464 - 16th ” ” 525 - - Anson’s Brigade: - 23rd Light Dragoons 459 - 1st ” ” K.G.L. 451 - ----- - Total Cavalry 2,969 - - -INFANTRY. - - 1st (SHERBROOKE’S) DIVISION. - - H. Campbell’s Brigade: - 1st batt. Coldstream Guards 970 - 1st batt. 3rd Guards 1,019 - One company 5/60th Foot 56 - ----- - 2,045 - - Cameron’s Brigade: - 1/61st Foot 778 - 2/83rd ” 535 - One company 5/60th Foot 51 - ----- - 1,364 - - Langwerth’s Brigade: - 1st Line batt. K.G.L. 604 - 2nd ” ” ” 678 - Light Companies K.G.L. 106 - ----- - 1,388 - - Low’s Brigade: - 5th Line batt. K.G.L. 610 - 7th ” ” ” 557 - ----- - 1,167 - - Total of the 1st Division 5,964 - - - 2nd (HILL’S) DIVISION. - - Tilson’s Brigade: - 1/3rd Foot 746 - 2/48th Foot 567 - 2/66th ” 526 - One company 5/60th 52 - ----- - 1,891 - - R. Stewart’s Brigade: - 29th Foot 598 - 1/48th Foot 807 - 1st batt. of Detachments 609 - ----- - 2,014 - - Total of the 2nd Division 3,905 - - - 3rd (MACKENZIE’S) DIVISION. - - Mackenzie’s Brigade: - 2/24th Foot 787 - 2/31st ” 733 - 1/45th ” 756 - ----- - 2,276 - Donkin’s Brigade: - 2/87th 599 - 1/88th 599 - Five companies 5/60th 273 - ----- - 1,471 - - Total of the 3rd Division 3,747 - - - 4th (CAMPBELL’S) DIVISION. - - A. Campbell’s Brigade: - 2/7th Foot 431 - 2/53rd Foot 537 - One company 5/60th 64 - ----- - 1,032 - - Kemmis’s Brigade: - 1/40th Foot 745 - 97th ” 502 - 2nd batt. of Detachments 625 - One company 5/60th Foot 56 - ----- - 1,928 - - Total of the 4th Division 2,960 - - -ARTILLERY. - - British: - Three batteries, Lawson, Sillery, - Elliot 681 - - German: - Two batteries, Rettberg and - Heyse 330 - - Total of Artillery 1,011 - - ENGINEERS. 22 - - STAFF CORPS. 63 - - Total Present 20,641 - -The Army had also sick left in Portugal, about 3,246: sick at Plasencia -and Talavera about 1,149: on detachment in Portugal about 1,396: on -detachment in Spain about 107. Total absent or non-effective 5,898. The -newly arrived regiments at Lisbon, and the troops on their way to the -front under R. Craufurd are, of course, left out of this return. - - -2 - -THE ARMY OF ESTREMADURA AT TALAVERA - -[From an unpublished document in the Deposito de la Guerra, Madrid.] - - General-in-Chief, Lieut.-Gen. Gregorio de la Cuesta. - Second in Command, Lieut.-Gen. Francisco de Eguia. - Major-General of Infantry, Major-Gen. J. M. de Alos. - ” ” of Cavalry, Major-Gen. R. de Villalba, Marques de - Malaspina. - Officer Commanding Artillery, Brigadier-Gen. G. Rodriguez. - ” ” Engineers, Brigadier-Gen. M. Zappino. - - -INFANTRY. - - Vanguard--Brigadier-Gen. José Zayas: - 2nd Voluntarios of Catalonia, Cazadores de Barbastro - (2nd batt.), Cazadores de Campomayor, Cazadores de - Valencia y Albuquerque, Cazadores Voluntarios de - Valencia (2nd batt.) five batts. - - 1st Division--Major-General Marques de Zayas: - Cantabria (three batts.), Granaderos Provinciales, - Canarias, Tiradores de Merida, Provincial de - Truxillo seven batts. - - 2nd Division--Major-General Vincente Iglesias: - 2nd of Majorca, Velez-Malaga (three batts.), Osuna - (two batts.), Voluntarios Estrangeros, Provincial - de Burgos eight batts. - - 3rd Division--Major-General Marques de Portago: - Badajoz (two batts.), 2nd of Antequera, Imperial de - Toledo, Provincial de Badajoz, Provincial de Guadix six batts. - - 4th Division--Major-General R. Manglano: - Irlanda (two batts.), Jaen (two batts.), 3rd of - Seville, Leales de Fernando VII (1st batt.), 2nd - Voluntarios de Madrid, Voluntarios de la Corona eight batts. - - 5th Division--Major-General L. A. Bassecourt: - Real Marina, 1st Regiment (two batts.), Africa (3rd - batt.), Murcia (two batts.), Reyna (1st batt.), - Provincial de Sigüenza seven batts. - - -CAVALRY. - - 1st Division, Lieut.-General J. de Henestrosa: - Rey, Calatrava, Voluntarios de España, Imperial de Toledo, - Cazadores de Sevilla, Reyna, Villaviciosa, Cazadores de Madrid. - - 2nd Division, Lieut.-Gen. Duque de Albuquerque: - Carabineros Reales (one squadron), Infante, Alcantara, Pavia, - Almanza, 1st and 2nd Hussars of Estremadura. - - Totals, inclusive of sick, and troops on detachment: - 35,000 Infantry, 7,000 Cavalry, 30 guns. - -It is most unfortunate that no regimental or divisional totals are -given, but only the gross total of the whole army. - -N.B.--There were _at least_ four battalions detached, viz. Merida and -3rd of Seville, with Sir R. Wilson, and two others (names not to be -ascertained, Cuesta does not give them) under Del Reino at the Puerto -de Baños. Another was apparently dropped at Almaraz to guard the -bridge. Allowing 3,000 for these troops, and 5,000 for sick and men ‘on -command,’ the Army of Estremadura marched to Talavera with about 28,000 -foot, more than 6,000 horse, and 800 artillery. - -The following troops which had all been with the Army of Estremadura in -April are not named in the above return. Most of them were in garrison -at Badajoz, but some were in the Northern Passes--Spanish Guards (one -batt.), Walloon Guards (one batt.), Zafra, Plasencia, La Serena, Leales -de Fernando VII (2nd batt.), Provincial de Cordova, Tiradores de Cadiz. - - -3 - -STRENGTH OF THE FRENCH ARMY AT TALAVERA - -(Figures of July 15, excluding sick and men detached.) - - 1st Corps, Marshal Victor: _Strength._ - État-Major 47 - 1st Division (Ruffin), 9th Léger, 24th and 96th of the - Line, three batts. each 5,286 - 2nd Division (Lapisse), 16th Léger, 8th, 45th, 54th of - the Line, three batts. each 6,862 - 3rd Division (Villatte), 27th Léger, 63rd, 94th, 95th of - the Line, three batts. each 6,135 - Corps-Cavalry (Beaumont), 2nd Hussars, 5th Chasseurs 980 - ------ - 19,310 - - 4th Corps, General SEBASTIANI: - État-Major 13 - 1st Division (Sebastiani), 28th, 32nd, 58th, 75th of - the Line, three batts. each 8,118 - 2nd Division (Valence), one regiment only, 4th Polish, - two batts. 1,600 - 3rd Division (Leval), Nassau, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, - Holland, two batts. each: Frankfort, one batt. 4,537 - Merlin’s Light Cavalry, 10th and 26th Chasseurs, Polish - Lancers, Westphalian _Chevaux-Légers_ 1,188 - ------ - 15,456 - - Reserve Cavalry: - 1st Dragoon Division (Latour-Maubourg), 1st, 2nd, 4th, - 9th, 14th, 26th Dragoons 3,279 - 2nd Dragoon Division (Milhaud), 5th, 12th, 16th, 20th, - 21st Dragoons, and 3rd Dutch Hussars 2,356 - ------ - 5,635 - - From Madrid: - One Brigade of Dessolles’ Division, 12th Léger, 51st - Line, three batts. each 3,337 - King’s Guards, infantry 1,800 - ” ” cavalry 350 - 27th Chasseurs (two squadrons) 250 - ------ - 5,737 - The artillerymen are included in the divisional totals. - ------ - Total 46,138 - - -4 - -TALAVERA.--BRITISH LOSSES ON JULY 27 - - Table Legend: - A = _Officers._ - B = _Men._ - -(1) IN THE COMBAT OF CASA DE SALINAS. - - ----------------------------++-----------++------------++------------++-------- - || _Killed._ || _Wounded._ || _Missing._ || - _Regiments._ || A | B || A | B || A | B ||_Total._ - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++-------- - Cavalry: || | || | || | || - 14th Light Dragoons || -- | -- || -- | 1 || -- | -- || 1 - 1st ” ” K.G.L. || -- | 2 || 1 | 1 || -- | -- || 4 - 3rd DIVISION || | || | || | || - Mackenzie’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 2/24th Foot || -- | 1 || 1 | 6 || -- | 1 || 9 - 2/31st ” || 1 | 23 || 5 | 88 || -- | 2 || 119 - 1/45th ” || -- | 4 || 1 | 13 || -- | 7 || 25 - Donkin’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 5/60th Foot || -- | 3 || 1 | 4 || -- | 19 || 27 - 2/87th ” || 1 | 26 || 10 | 127 || -- | 34 || 198 - 1/88th ” || 2 | 7 || -- | 25 || -- | 30 || 64 - ++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++-------- - Total || 4 | 66 || 19 | 265 || -- | 93 || 447 - -(2) IN THE COMBAT IN FRONT OF TALAVERA AT 9 P.M. - - Staff || 1 | -- || -- | -- || -- | -- || 1 - 1st DIVISION || | || | || | || - H. Campbell’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1st Coldstream Guards || 1 | -- || -- | 2 || -- | -- || 3 - Cameron’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1/61st Foot || -- | 3 || 1 | 3 || -- | -- || 7 - Langwerth’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1st Line batt. K.G.L. || -- | 2 || -- | 7 || -- | -- || 9 - 2nd ” ” ” || -- | -- || -- | 3 || -- | -- || 3 - Light Companies, K.G.L. || -- | 4 || 2 | 25 || -- | 5 || 36 - Low’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 5th Line batt. K.G.L. || -- | 6 || -- | 34 || -- | 11 || 51 - 7th ” ” ” || -- | 19 || 1 | 49 || -- | 77 || 146 - 2nd DIVISION || | || | || | || - Tilson’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 2/48th Foot || -- | -- || -- | 3 || -- | -- || 3 - R. Stewart’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 29th Foot || -- | 10 || 1 | 43 || -- | 1 || 55 - 1/48th Foot || -- | -- || -- | 8 || -- | -- || 8 - 1st batt. Detachments || 1 | 14 || -- | 40 || 2 | 13 || 70 - || | || | ||[760]| || - ARTILLERY || -- | -- || -- | 2 || -- | -- || 2 - ENGINEERS || -- | -- || 1 | -- || -- | -- || 1 - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++-------- - Total || 3 | 58 || 6 | 219 || 2 | 107 || 385 - ----------------------------++-----+-----++---+--------++-----+------++-------- - - [760] The official report gives _three_ missing officers here. - But one of them was not a prisoner but turned up at Oropesa next - morning, nominally sick. For this distressing story, see Leslie, - pp. 155-6. - - -5 - -BRITISH LOSSES AT TALAVERA - -SECOND DAY. JULY 28, 1809. - - Table Legend: - A = _Officers._ - B = _Men._ - - ----------------------------++-----------++------------++------------++-------- - || _Killed._ || _Wounded._ || _Missing._ || - _Regiments._ || A | B || A | B || A | B ||_Total._ - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++-------- - Staff || 4 | -- || 9 | -- || -- | -- || 13 - CAVALRY. || | || | || | || - Fane’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 3rd Dragoon Guards || -- | -- || 1 | 1 || -- | 1 || 3 - 4th Dragoons || -- | 3 || -- | 9 || -- | -- || 12 - || | || | || | ||----15 - Cotton’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 14th Light Dragoons || -- | 3 || 6 | 6 || -- | -- || 15 - 16th ” ” || -- | 6 || 1 | 5 || -- | 2 || 14 - || | || | || | ||----29 - Anson’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1st Light Dragoons K.G.L. || -- | 1 || 2 | 32 || -- | 2 || 37 - 23rd Light Dragoons || 2 | 47 || 4 | 46 || 3 | 105 || 207 - || | || | || | ||----244 - ----------------------------++-----+-----+------+------++-----+------++------- - INFANTRY. || | || | || | || - 1st DIVISION (General || | || | || | || - SHERBROOKE): || | || | || | || - H. Campbell’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1st Coldstream Guards || 1 | 33 || 8 | 251 || -- | -- || 293 - 1st 3rd Guards || 5 | 49 || 6 | 261 || -- | 1 || 322 - || | || | || | ||----615 - Cameron’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1/61st Foot || 3 | 43 || 10 | 193 || -- | 16 || 265 - 2/83rd ” || 4 | 38 || 11 | 202 || -- | 28 || 283 - || | || | || | ||----548 - Langwerth’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1st Line batt. K. G. L. || 2 | 37 || 10 | 241 || -- | 1 || 291 - 2nd ” ” ” || -- | 61 || 14 | 288 || -- | 24 || 387 - Light Companies, K. G. L. || -- | 6 || -- | 37 || -- | -- || 43 - || | || | || | ||----721 - Low’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 5th Line batt. K. G. L. || 3 | 27 || 6 | 118 || -- | 101 || 255 - 7th ” ” ” || -- | 17 || 4 | 35 || -- | 54 || 110 - || | || | || | ||----365 - 2nd DIVISION (General HILL):|| | || | || | || - Tilson’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1/3rd Foot || -- | 26 || 2 | 107 || -- | 7 || 142 - 2/48th ” || -- | 12 || 2 | 53 || 1 | -- || 68 - 2/66th ” || -- | 16 || 11 | 88 ||-- | 11 || 126 - || | || | || | ||----336 - R. Stewart’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 29th Foot || -- | 26 || 6 | 98 || -- | 2 || 132 - 1st batt. Detachments || -- | 26 || 9 | 166 || -- | 2 || 203 - 1/48th Foot || -- | 22 || 10 | 135 || -- | 1 || 168 - || | || | || | ||----503 - 3rd DIVISION (General || | || | || | || - MACKENZIE): || | || | || | || - Mackenzie’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 2/24th Foot || -- | 44 || 10 | 268 || -- | 21 || 343 - 2/31st ” || -- | 21 || 3 | 102 || -- | 5 || 131 - 1/45th ” || -- | 9 || 2 | 134 || 1 | 12 || 158 - || | || | || | ||----632 - Donkin’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 5/60th Foot || -- | 7 || 6 | 25 || -- | 12 || 50[761] - 2/87th ” || -- | 9 || 3 | 43 || -- | 5 || 60 - 1/88th ” || 1 | 12 || 3 | 69 || -- | -- || 85 - || | || | || | ||----195 - 4th DIVISION (General || | || | || | || - A. CAMPBELL): || | || | || | || - Campbell’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 2/7th Foot || 1 | 6 || 3 | 54 || -- | 1 || 65 - 2/53rd ” || -- | 6 || 2 | 30 || -- | 1 || 39 - || | || | || | ||----104 - Kemmis’s Brigade: || | || | || | || - 1/40th Foot || -- | 7 || 1 | 49 || -- | 1 || 58 - 97th ” || -- | 6 || -- | 25 || 1 | 21 || 53 - 2nd batt. Detachments || -- | 7 || -- | 13 || -- | 1 || 21 - || | || | || | ||----132 - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++------- - ARTILLERY. || | || | || | || - British || 1 | 7 || 3 | 21 || -- | -- || 32 - German || -- | 3 || -- | 30 || -- | 1 || 34 - || | || | || | || - ENGINEERS || -- | -- || 1 | -- || -- | -- || 1 - STAFF CORPS || -- | -- || 2 | -- || -- | -- || 2 - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++------- - Total || 27 | 643 || 171 |3,235 || 6 | 439 || 4,521 - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++------- - -Total of the two days:--killed: 34 officers, 767 men; wounded: 196 -officers, 3,719 men; missing: 8 officers, 639 men. Grand Total, 5,363. - - [761] Many of the casualties of the 5/60th were in the companies - detached from the head quarters of the regiment, and not - serving in Donkin’s brigade. It is unfortunately impossible to - distinguish them, as all the regimental losses are given _en - bloc_ in the return. - - -6 - -TALAVERA.--THE FRENCH LOSSES - -N.B.--I owe these figures to the kindness of Commandant Balagny, who -has caused them to be copied in detail from the French Archives. - - Table Legend: - A = _Officers._ - B = _Men._ - - ----------------------------++-----------++------------++------------++--------- - || _Killed._ || _Wounded._ ||_Prisoners._|| - _Regiments._ || A | B || A | B || A | B || _Total._ - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++--------- - 1st Corps (MARSHAL VICTOR): || | || | || | || - État-Major Général || -- | -- || 1 | -- || -- | -- || 1 - || | || | || | || - 1st Division (Ruffin): || | || | || | || - 9th Léger || 3 | 35 || 14 | 340 || -- | 65 || 457 - 24th Line || 1 | 92 || 17 | 456 || 1 | -- || 567 - 96th Line || 3 | 36 || 19 | 548 || -- | -- || 606 - État-Major || -- | -- || 2 | -- || -- | -- || 2 - || | || | || | ||----1,632 - 2nd DIVISION (Lapisse): || | || | || | || - 16th Léger || 8 | 49 || 8 | 342 || -- | -- || 407 - 8th Line || 3 | 41 || 17 | 376 || -- | -- || 437 - 45th Line || 3 | 43 || 12 | 328 || -- | 2 || 388 - 54th Line || 2 | 54 || 14 | 462 || -- | -- || 532 - État-Major || -- | -- || 3 | -- || -- | -- || 3 - || | || | || | ||----1,767 - 3rd DIVISION (Villatte): || | || | || | || - 27th Léger || 1 | 25 || 4 | 159 || -- | -- || 189 - 63rd Line || -- | 2 || 2 | 36 || -- | -- || 40 - 94th Line || 1 | 20 || 1 | 123 || -- | -- || 145 - 95th Line || -- | -- || -- | 27 || -- | -- || 27 - || | || | || | ||---- 401 - CORPS-CAVALRY (Beaumont): || | || | || | || - 2nd Hussars || -- | 3 || 2 | 11 || -- | -- || 16 - 5th Chasseurs || -- | 1 || 3 | 19 || -- | -- || 23 - || | || | || | ||---- 39 - ARTILLERY AND ENGINEERS || 1 | 9 || 1 | 53 || -- | -- || 64 - ++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++ ----- - Total of 1st Corps || 26 | 410 || 120 |3,280 || 1 | 67 || 3,904 - || | || | || | || - 4th CORPS (GENERAL || | || | || | || - SEBASTIANI): || | || | || | || - || | || | || | || - 1st DIVISION (Sebastiani): || | || | || | || - 28th, 32nd, 58th, || 13 | 187 || 67 |1,852 || -- | 61 || 2,180 - 75th Line || | || | || | || - || | || | || | || - 2nd DIVISION (Leval): || | || | || | || - Baden, Hesse, Nassau, || | || | || | || - Holland, Frankfort || 6 | 97 || 24 | 803 || -- | 77 || 1,007 - || | || | || | || - 3rd DIVISION (Valence): || | || | || | || - 4th Polish Regiment || -- | 3 || -- | 37 || -- | -- || 40 - ++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++--------- - Total of 4th Corps || 19 | 287 || 91 |2,692 || -- | 138 || 3,227 - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++--------- - || | || | || | || - CAVALRY DIVISIONS-- || | || | || | || - || | || | || | || - 1st DIVISION of Dragoons || | || | || | || - (Latour-Maubourg): || | || | || | || - 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, || | || | || | || - 14th, 26th Dragoons || -- | 13 || 9 | 61 || -- | -- || 83 - || | || | || | || - 2nd DIVISION of Dragoons || | || | || | || - (Milhaud): || | || | || | || - 5th, 12th, 16th, 20th, || | || | || | || - 21st Dragoons || -- | -- || -- | 3 || -- | -- || 3 - || | || | || | || - Milhaud’s Artillery || -- | -- || -- | 3 || -- | -- || 3 - || | || | || | || - Merlin’s Light Cavalry || | || | || | || - DIVISION: || | || | || | || - 10th, 26th Chasseurs, || | || | || | || - || | || | || | || - Polish Lancers, || | || | || | || - Westphalian || | || | || | || - Chevaux-Légers || -- | 6 || -- | 42 || -- | -- || 48 - ++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++ ---- - Total of Cavalry Divisions || -- | 19 || 9 | 109 || -- | -- || 137 - ----------------------------++-----+-----++-----+------++-----+------++--------- - - GENERAL TOTALS:--45 officers, 716 rank and file _killed_; - 220 officers, 6,081 rank and file _wounded_; - 1 officer, 205 rank and file _missing_ = 7,268. - -NOTE.--No distinction is made in the French returns between losses on -July 27 and July 28, which cannot therefore be ascertained separately. - -These ‘Missing’ do not include the French wounded who were left within -the British lines on the night of July 28, and became prisoners, but -were freed again on Aug. 6 when Victor reoccupied Talavera and captured -the British hospitals. They must have been numerous in the divisions -of Ruffin, Lapisse, and Sebastiani. The French returns are those made -up for the Emperor’s use, some weeks after the battle--those of the -4th Corps as late as Sept. 19. The men in question therefore appear as -‘wounded,’ but not as ‘prisoners.’ - - - - -XI - -THE BRITISH ROYAL ARTILLERY IN THE PENINSULA IN 1809 - -N.B.--I owe this Appendix to Colonel F. A. Whinyates, R.A., who has -been good enough to compile it for the volume. - - -STAFF. - -Brigadier-General E. Howorth arrived at Lisbon in April 1809, and took -over the command of the R.A. from Lieut.-Colonel W. Robe. - -Brigade-Major R.A., Captain A. Dickson until appointed to the -Portuguese Artillery in June, when Captain J. May took over that -position. - - -FIELD-OFFICERS IN PORTUGAL. - -Lieut.-Col. H. Framingham, Lieut.-Col. W. Robe, Lieut.-Col. G. B. -Fisher, Major Julius von Hartmann, K.G.L. - -Troops R.H.A. and Companies R.A. in Portugal in 1809:-- - -(_a_) Horse Artillery: _Strength._ - 1. Captain H. Ross’s ‘A’ Troop, landed at Lisbon, July 2, - or 3, 1809 162 - 2. Captain R. Bull’s ‘I’ Troop, landed at Lisbon, August - 21, 1809 162 - -(_b_) Foot Artillery: - 3. Captain C. D. Sillery’s[762] No. 6 company, 7th batt., - landed at Lisbon, March 7, 1809 120 - 4. Captain A. Bredin’s No. 1 company, 8th batt., landed - at Lisbon, August 1808 125 - 5. Captain J. May’s No. 2 company, 1st batt., landed at - Lisbon, March 1809 127 - 6. Captain F. Glubb’s No. 10 company, 5th batt., landed - at Lisbon, March 1809 93 - 7. Captain R. Lawson’s No. 7 company, 8th batt., landed - at Lisbon, August 1808 66 - - [762] On arrival in Portugal, No. 6 company, 7th batt., was under - 2nd Captain H. B. Lane; Captain C. D. Sillery joined shortly - after the occupation of Oporto. - -(_c_) K.G.L. Artillery: - 1. Captain Tieling’s Company (No. 2). - 2. Captain Heise’s Company (No. 4). - -On taking up the command, General Howorth, with Colonel Robe’s -assistance, equipped five brigades of guns to take the field with -the army, viz. one brigade of heavy six-pounders, three brigades of -light six-pounders, and one brigade of three-pounders. Captain Glubb’s -company was stationed in Fort St. Julian, Lisbon, and Captain Bredin’s -in the Forts at Cascaes. The other companies were with the field army. - - -BRIGADES R.A. AT OPORTO. - -Captain C. D. Sillery’s No. 6 company, 7th batt., under 2nd Captain H. -B. Lane. Light six-pounder guns. - -Captain R. Lawson’s No. 7 company, 8th batt. Three-pounder guns. - -Captain Tieling’s No. 2 company, K.G.L., under 2nd Captain de Rettberg. -Heavy six-pounder guns. - -Captain Heise’s No. 4 company, K.G.L. Light six-pounder guns. - -[Captain May’s brigade was detached with Mackenzie’s force at Abrantes.] - - -BRIGADES R.A. AT TALAVERA. - -Captain C. D. Sillery’s No. 6 company, 7th batt. Light six-pounder guns. - -Captain J. May’s No. 2 company, 1st batt., under 2nd Captain W. G. -Elliott. Light six-pounder guns. - -Captain R. Lawson’s No. 7 company, 8th batt. Three-pounder guns. - -Captain Tieling’s No. 2 company, K.G.L., under 2nd Captain de Rettberg. -Heavy six-pounder guns. - -Captain Heise’s No. 4 company, K.G.L. Light six-pounder guns. - - -CASUALTIES AT TALAVERA. - -Killed: Lieut. H. Wyatt and seven men; wounded: Lieut.-Colonel H. -Framingham, 2nd Captain H. Baynes and J. Taylor and twenty-one men, R.A. - -K.G.L., killed: three men; wounded: thirty men. - - -In December 1809 the strength of the Royal Artillery under General -Howorth was as follows, viz.: - -R.H.A., 187 of all ranks, with 106 drivers attached. - -Foot Artillery, 627 of all ranks, with 545 drivers attached. - -K.G.L. 332 of all ranks with 160 drivers. - -There were 951 horses, and 132 mules with the Artillery. - - - -XII - -VENEGAS’S ARMY OF LA MANCHA - -FROM A RETURN OF JUNE 16, 1809. - - -1st Division, Brigadier-General PEDRO GIRON [afterwards -Brigadier-General T. LACY]: - - Burgos (two batts.), 1,085, Cuenca, 869, 1st of Loxa, - 703, Alcala, 629, 1st of España, 548, 1st of Seville, - 593 Total 4,427 - -2nd Division, Brigadier-General GASPAR VIGODET: - - Corona (two batts.), 1,130, Ronda, 1,096, Ordenes - Militares (two batts.), 836, Alcazar, 825, 1st of - Guadix, 522, Ciudad Real, 258 Total 4,667 - -3rd Division, Major-General PEDRO GRIMAREST [afterwards -Brigadier-General P. GIRON]: - - 2nd of Jaen, 985, Ecija, 902, 2nd of Cordova, 849, - Baylen (two batts.), 1,121, 1st Walloon Guards, 663, - Alpujarras, 579, Velez-Malaga, 445 Total 5,544 - -4th Division, Brigadier-General FRANCISCO CASTEJON: - - 5th of Seville, 535, 1st of Malaga, 743, 2nd Spanish - Guards, 953, Jerez, 650, 2nd of Loxa, 510, Bujalance, - 469, 3rd of Cordova, 422 Total 4,282 - -5th Division, Major-General T. ZERAIN: - - 2nd of España (two batts.), 1,064, 1st of Cordova - (three batts.), 2,044, Provincial of Seville, 887 Total 3,995 - -CAVALRY: - - Montesa, 349, Reina, 183, Granada, 322, España, 287, - Farnesio, 404, Santiago, 295, Alcantara, 343, - Principe, 324, Granaderos de Fernando VII, 527, - Dragones de la Reina, 180, Cazadores de Cordova, 169 Total 3,384 - -ARTILLERY: 35 guns; sappers, five companies, about 1,100 in all. - -Total, 27,399, including sick and men on detachment. - - - - -INDEX - - Albergaria Nova, combat of, 325 - - Albuquerque, Duke of, attacks Digeon at Mora, 145; - his quarrel with Cartaojal, 145; - sent to join Cuesta’s army, 145, 157; - at the battle of Medellin, 159-63; - his intrigues against Cuesta, 465; - at Talavera, 532, 545; - at Oropesa, 583; - routed by Soult at Arzobispo, 589-91. - - Alcañiz, battle of, 418-20. - - Alcantara, sacked by Lapisse, 261; - combat of, 440, 441. - - Almonacid, battle of, 614-6. - - Alorna, Marquis of, raises an ‘experimental legion’ in the Portuguese - army, 210. - - Alvarez, Julian, Governor of Gerona, his attempt to relieve Rosas, 51. - - Amarante, defended by Silveira, 267-71; - captured by Loison, 271; - Loison defeated at, 344, 345. - - Aranjuez, Venegas at, 568; - combat of, 612. - - Areizaga, Juan Carlos, general, at Alcañiz, 418; - his error at Maria, 431; - commands army of Andalusia, 605. - - Argenton, captain, his conspiracy against Soult, 279; - makes overtures to the English, 284; - his first interview with Wellesley, 315; - his second visit to Wellesley, 321; - his arrest and confession, 322-3; - his escape and death, 323. - - Arzobispo, combat of, 591. - - Astorga, Marquis of, elected President of the Central Junta, 21. - - Asturias, Junta and army of, their selfish policy, 370-1; - dissolution of the Junta by La Romana, 375, 376; - invaded by Ney and Kellermann, 379; - evacuated by the French, 387. - - Avé, passage of, by Soult, 239. - - - Badajoz, summoned to surrender by Victor, 168; - Wellington retires to, 607. - - Ballasteros, Francisco, general, in command at Colombres, 372; - escapes from the advancing French, 382; - his descent on Santander, 386; - driven out by Bonnet, 387. - - Barcelona, held by Duhesme against Vives, 41 - - Barrio, Manuel Garcia, Del, colonel sent by the Central Junta to lead - Galician insurgents against Vigo, 263. - - Bennett, captain, R. N. at the siege of Rosas, 50, 55, 56. - - Beresford, William Carr, general, appointed Commander-in-chief of the - Portuguese army, 216; - his reorganization of the army, 217, 218; - joins Wellesley with ten line regiments, 314; - commands flanking column at the advance on Oporto, 318; - at Amarante, 344, 345; - pursues Soult, 351, 360; - his march to Perales and Coria, 599; - retires to Castello Branco, 611. - - Blake, Joaquin, general, commands in Aragon, 414; - wins battle of Alcañiz, 418-20; - defeated at Maria, 423-7; - at Belchite, 429, 430. - - Blanca, Florida, Marquis, President of the Junta, death of, 21. - - Bogiero, Padre Basilio, chaplain of Palafox, shot by the French, 139. - - Bonnet, general, his advance into Asturias, 382; - his pursuit of Ballasteros, 386-7. - - Botilho, general, commands Portuguese force on the Minho, 223; - opposes Soult’s advance, 237. - - Bouchard, captain, French engineer officer, his ingenious scheme for - crossing the Tamega at Amarante, 270-1. - - Bourke, colonel, sent by Wellesley to Cuesta, 437. - - Braga, battle of, 235. - - - Cadiz, British proposal to garrison, 25; - negatived by the Junta, 26; - refusal of Villel to allow the British troops to land at, 28; - tumults in, 29-31. - - Caldagues, Conde de, commands the Catalonian troops round - Barcelona, 38, 39; - repulses sortie of Duhesme, 68; - retreats on Molins de Rey, 68; - taken prisoner by St. Cyr, 71. - - Canning, George, proposes to garrison Cadiz, 25, 26; - his correspondence with Wellesley, 609. - - Cardadeu, battle of, 64-7. - - Carrera, Martin La, checks Maucune at Santiago, 385. - - Carrol, W. P., captain, his adventures in Asturias, 373, 380; - in Galicia, 396, 401. - - Cartaojal, general, takes command of the Army of the Centre, 33, 143; - his quarrel with Albuquerque, 145; - attacks Lasalle’s division at Yébenes, 146; - routed by Sebastiani at Ciudad Real, 147; - deprived of his command by the Junta, 148. - - Casa de Salinas, combat of, 503. - - Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, his confidence in Wellesley, 287. - - Castro, general, routed at Igualada, 79. - - Catalonia, army of, its composition, 33, 40; - campaigns of St. Cyr, Vives, and Reding in, 38, 89. - - Cavallero, colonel, his account of feeling in Saragossa, 99. - - Cazadores (riflemen), new battalions of, raised in the Portuguese - army, 212. - - Chalot, colonel, surrenders Vigo, 263, 264. - - Chaves, surrender of, to Soult, 225, 226; - reoccupied by Silveira, 264. - - Chinchon, revolt of, 7; - massacre in, by the French, 8. - - Cienfuegos, Captain-General of Asturias, 372. - - Ciudad Real, the rout of, 143-7. - - Ciudad Rodrigo, resists Lapisse, 260. - - Cochrane, Lord, his raids on the coast of Languedoc, 39; - his defence of Rosas, 48, 50-5. - - Colmenar, insurrection of, against the French, is put down by Victor, 8. - - Corunna, surrenders to Soult, 173; - evacuated by Ney, 398. - - Cotton, Stapleton, general, commands brigade at Albergaria Nova, 325. - - Cradock, Sir John, general, dispatches British troops to Cadiz and - Seville, 27, 206; - condition of his force in Portugal, 201, 202; - his timid policy, 203; - retires to Passo d’Arcos, 205; - at Lumiar, 206; - advises Sir R. Wilson to retreat, 256; - superseded by Wellesley, 207; - Governor of Gibraltar, 313. - - Craufurd, Robert, arrives with light brigade at Talavera, after the - battle, 560; - holds Almaraz against Ney, 586, 587. - - Cuesta, Gregorio, general, commands Estremaduran army, 24, 143; - his operations against Victor, 152-8; - defeated at Medellin, 159-66; - appointed Captain-General of the Estremaduran army, 167; - his correspondence with Wellesley about the advance into Spain, 445-8; - his jealousy of Wellesley, 464-7; - receives Wellesley at Almaraz, 470-2; - quarrel with Wellesley at Talavera, 489-92; - pursues Victor, 492, 493; - retreats on Talavera, 500; - at the battle of Talavera, 509-56; - retreats on Oropesa, 579, 580; - withstands Mortier, 583; - his final disputes with Wellesley, 603; - retires from command, 605. - - - Dalmatia, Duke of: _see_ Soult. - - Dantzig, Duke of: _see_ Lefebvre. - - Decken, von der, Hanoverian general sent to Oporto by the British - Government, 198; - his report on the Portuguese army, 213. - - Delaborde, general, opposed to Soult’s ambitions in Portugal, 279. - - Del Reino, Marquis, defends the Pass of Baños, 572; - breaks the bridge of Almaraz, 576. - - D’España, Carlos, raises troops at Ciudad Rodrigo, 258; - follows Lapisse, 260. - - Digeon, general, captures artillery of the Spanish Army of the Centre - at Tortola, 13; - surprised at Mora, 144. - - Donadieu, colonel, one of Argenton’s conspirators, 279, 281; - his arrest, 323. - - Douglas, major, receives Argenton, 284; - brings him to meet Wellesley at Lisbon, 315. - - Doyle, Charles, colonel, British agent at Tarragona, sends muskets to - Saragossa, 101; - his intrigues in favour of Infantado, 464. - - Duhesme, general, at Barcelona, 37, 41, 58, 59; - relieved by St. Cyr, 68. - - Dulong, major, his exploit at the Ponte Nova, 355; - and at the Saltador, 357. - - Eben, Baron, Prussian colonel, sent to Oporto by the British - Government, 198; - sent to Freire’s army with the 2nd batt. of the Lusitanian - Legion, 228; - takes command of the army on Freire’s flight, 232; - defeated at Braga, 235; - at the siege of Oporto, 241. - - Eguia, Francisco, general, succeeds Cuesta, 605; - his quarrel with Wellesley, 606. - - _Excellent_, the, at Rosas, 48-9. - - - Ferrol, surrenders to Soult, 175. - - Fleury, de, colonel, holds the tower of San Francisco at Saragossa, - and is killed, 133. - - Foy, general, routs a detachment of Silveira’s force, 224; - taken prisoner at Oporto, 243; - delivered by Soult, 249; - surprised by the English at Oporto, 337; - sent by Soult to Joseph, 496; - pursues Robert Wilson, 619. - - Franceschi, general, receives the surrender of Vigo and Tuy, 178; - routs La Romana’s rearguard, 194; - at Lanhozo, 231; - at Albergaria Nova, 325; - at Grijon, 329; - at Zamora, 402; - his captivity and death, 402. - - Freire, Bernardino, general, at Braga, 224, 228; - his timidity, 228; - his flight, 232; - and death, 233. - - Frere, John H., British ambassador, his negotiations regarding the - British garrison for Cadiz, 26-31; - correspondence with Wellesley, 290; - supports Albuquerque against Cuesta, 465; - urges Wellesley’s claims to be Commander-in-chief, 465, 466. - - - Galicia, Soult’s operations in, 170-95; - its insurrection, 367-401; - evacuated by Soult and Ney, 398-402. - - Galindo, Mariano, leads a sortie from Saragossa, 119. - - Galluzzo, general, defeated by Lefebvre at Almaraz, 4. - - Garay, Don Martin de, Secretary to the Central Junta, declines the - British proposal to garrison Cadiz, 26, 27, 29; - his dealings with Lord Wellesley, 608. - - Gazan, general, takes part in the siege of Saragossa, 104, 107, 109; - present at Arzobispo, 589. - - German Legion, the King’s, losses of, at Talavera, 510. - - Girard, general, storms the bridge of Arzobispo, 589. - - Giron, Pedro, general, commands at Aranjuez, 612; - at Almonacid, 615. - - Grijon, combat of, 328-30. - - - Henestrosa, Juan, general, commands cavalry of Cuesta’s army, checks - Lasalle at Berrocal and at Miajadas, 155; - at Medellin, 163. - - Heudelet, general, sent out by Soult to relieve Tuy and Vigo, 262; - relieves Tuy, 263; - evacuates Tuy and Valenza, 265. - - Hill, Sir Rowland, general, Wellesley’s appreciation of, 304, 305; - in the advance on Oporto, 326-8; - defends the Seminary, 338-9; - at Talavera, 503, 517, 524; - wounded, 525. - - - Igualada, combat of, 79. - - _Impérieuse_, the, frigate, commanded by Lord Cochrane at Rosas, 48. - - Infantado, Duke of, commands Army of the Centre, 5; - at Cuenca, 5; - his hesitation and delay, 6-8; - starts to join Venegas, 12; - his march to Chinchilla, 13; - joins Del Palacio on the Despeña Perros, 32; - removed from command by the Junta, 33; - his intrigues against the Junta, 464. - - - Jaca, surrender of, 408. - - Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, his position at Madrid, 2-8; - makes formal entry into the capital, 13; - his anxiety about Soult and Ney’s expedition, 377; - dispatches an expedition to Galicia, 378; - correspondence with Victor, 443, 444; - leads his Guards from Madrid to pursue Venegas, 458; - joins Victor, 499, 500; - at the battle of Talavera, 527-54; - his mendacious report to Napoleon, 565; - retreats toward Madrid, 568; - marches against Venegas, 569; - his orders to Soult, 596; - wins battle of Almonacid, 614. - - Jourdan, Jean-Baptiste, marshal, military adviser to King Joseph, his - controversy with Victor, 151; - his comments on the Spanish resistance, 167; - sends orders to Lapisse to go to Alcantara, 259; - at Talavera, 527-54; - his orders to Soult, 596. - - Junot, general, Duke of Abrantes, besieges Saragossa, 110-19; - superseded by Lannes, 119; - removed from his command, 410. - - Junta, the Central, flies from Aranjuez to Seville, 21; - its refusal to allow a British garrison in Cadiz, 26, 27, 29, 31; - refuses to appoint a single Commander-in-chief for Spanish troops, 35; - rejects the offers of negotiation of Sotelo, 169; - the plots against, 464; - its negotiations with Wellesley, 466; - its fears of Cuesta and intrigues with Venegas, 468-9; - endeavours to prevent Wellesley’s return to Portugal, 608. - - - Kellermann, François Christophe, general, commands expedition to - Galicia, 378; - forces the pass of Pajares, 382; - evacuates the Asturias, 388; - commands in Leon, 575, 597. - - - Lacoste, general, commands engineers at the siege of Saragossa, 104, - 109, 115; - killed, 126. - - Lafitte, colonel, one of Argenton’s conspiracy, 279; - his arrest, 323. - - Lamartinière, general, left by Soult at Tuy, 188; - relieved by Heudelet, 262. - - Lanhozo, combat of, 231, 232. - - Lannes, Jean, marshal, besieges and takes Saragossa, 1, 119-36. - - Lapisse, general, his instructions from Napoleon for the invasion of - Portugal, 253; - held in check by Wilson, 257, 258; - escapes from Wilson and sacks Alcantara, 260, 261; - joins Victor at Merida, 261; - at Talavera, 504, 516, 522; - killed, 543. - - Lasalle, general, commands cavalry in Victor’s army, 150; - at Berrocal, 155; - at Medellin, 161. - - Lazan, Marquis of, brings the Aragonese division to Gerona, 52; - pursues St. Cyr, 61; - fails to appear at the battle of Cardadeu, 67; - his success in the Ampurdam, 73, 74; - promises to succour Saragossa, 116, 120; - unites with Francisco Palafox, 131; - retreats before Lannes, 131; - at Alcañiz, 417; - at Maria, 424. - - Lefebvre, general, delates Argenton to Soult, 321-2. - - Lefebvre, marshal, Duke of Dantzig, defeats Galluzzo at Almaraz, 4; - disobeys Napoleon’s orders, sent back to France, 4. - - Leval, general, at Talavera, 530. - - Lima-Barreto, general, at the defence of Oporto, 241; - killed, 246. - - Lippe, Conde de La (Frederick of Lippe-Bückeburg), his reorganization - of the Portuguese regular army, 208, 211. - - Lisbon, disturbed condition of, 200-1; - Wellesley’s plans for defence of, 610. - - Loison, general, his disinclination to advance into Portugal, 192; - hatred of the people of Oporto for, 243; - sent out by Soult to the Tras-os-Montes, 262; - resisted by Silveira, 267; - attacks Amarante, 267; - his difficulties, 267-71; - occupies Amarante, 271; - and Villa Real, 272; - disapproves of Soult’s ambitious views, 279; - checked by the Portuguese and abandons Amarante, 344, 345; - retreat of, to Guimaraens, 346. - - Lusitanian Legion, the, raised by Sir R. Wilson, 168; - on the Portuguese frontier, 199, 202; - 2nd batt. of, sent under Eben to Braga, 228; - at battle of Braga, 234; - 1st batt. defends Alcantara, 441; - engaged in Wilson’s march to Escalona, 479-570. - - - Mackenzie, general, commands brigade sent to garrison Cadiz, 28; - returns to Lisbon, 32; - commands ‘containing force’ left by Wellesley on his advance to - Oporto, 317; - killed at Talavera, 541. - - Mackinley, captain, R.N., receives the surrender of French garrison - of Vigo, 264. - - Madrid, formal entry of Joseph into, 14. - - Mahy, Nicolas, general, is defeated by Franceschi at La Trepa, 194; - left in command of La Romana’s army, 375; - retreats before Ney, 380; - his descent on Lugo, 384. - Maria, battle of, 423-8. - - Maucune, general, defeated by Carrera near Santiago, 385. - - Mayne, William, lieut.-col. of the Lusitanian Legion, governor of - Almeida, 256-8; - occupies Alcantara, 318; - driven out by Victor, 440-1. - - Medellin, battle of, 158-66. - - Melgarejo, governor of Ferrol, surrenders to Soult, 175. - - Mequinenza, refuses to surrender to Mortier, 409. - - Meza de Ibor, combat of, 153; - Cuesta at, 586, 592. - - Miajadas, combat of, 155. - - Milans, Francisco, leader of _miqueletes_, driven back by St. Cyr, 63; - fails to come up at battle of Cardadeu, 67. - - Minho, Soult repulsed at the, 182. - - _Miqueletes_, the Catalonian, surround Barcelona, 38, 60. - - Misarella, passage of the, 357. - - Molins de Rey, battle of, 1, 70, 71. - - Moncey, Bon Adrien de, marshal, in charge of the siege of Saragossa, - 91, 103-10; - recalled to Madrid, 110. - - Moore, Sir John, his views on the defence of Portugal, 286. - - Morella, taken and abandoned by Grandjean, 410. - - Morillo, Pablo, leads Galicians against Vigo, 263; - at combat of Santiago, 385. - - Mortier, Edouard, marshal, Duke of Treviso, leads the 5th Corps to take - part in the siege of Saragossa, 103-12; - operations of, in Eastern Aragon, 409; - recalled to Castile by Napoleon, 410, 411; - leads the vanguard of Soult’s force to Plasencia, 574; - meets Cuesta’s force at Oropesa, 583; - movements of, in the Tagus valley, 589. - - Murray, George, general, fails to stop the retreating French at Oporto, - 340, 341; - his pursuit of Soult, 350-1. - - Napoleon, Emperor, his parting orders to Jourdan, 3; - at Valladolid, 15-6; - quits Spain, 18; - his plan for the next campaign, 16; - its impracticability, 18-21, 171; - his dispatch to Soult on the invasion of Portugal, 175; - receives news of Soult’s ambitious views, 276; - his estimate of Wellesley, 297; - his orders to Ney for the subjection of Galicia, 369; - of the Asturias, 388; - his criticism of Soult’s advance on Plasencia, 497; - his rebukes to Joseph and Jourdan, 537, 565; - orders the cessation of active operations, 618. - - Ney, Michel, marshal, Duke of Elchingen, leaves Saragossa, 91; - joins Soult, 178; - his difficulties in Galicia, 191, 367-70; - captures Oviedo, 379-81; - his meeting with Soult at Lugo, 391; - repulsed by Noroña at the Oitaben, 396-7; - abandons Galicia, 398; - joins Soult in pursuit of Wellesley, 583; - fails at Almaraz, 594; - returns towards Salamanca, 597; - defeats Wilson at Baños, 620. - - - Noroña, Conde de, commands the ‘Division of the Minho,’ repulses - Ney at the Oitaben, 394-7. - - - O’Daly, Pedro, colonel, commands garrison of Rosas, 47, 50-6. - - O’Donoju, general, chief of Cuesta’s staff, 472. - - Oitaben, the, Ney repulsed by Noroña at, 395-7. - - Oporto, fortifications of, 240; - stormed by Soult, 241-8; - surprise and capture of, by Wellesley, 334-42. - - Oporto, the bishop of (Antonio de Castro), unwise zeal in rousing the - populace of Oporto, 198; - gathers an army for the defence of Oporto, 240, 241; - abandons the city, 242. - - _Ordenanza_, the Portuguese _levée en masse_, called out by the - Regency, 197; - its organization, 221, 222; - opposes Soult’s advance, 223-38. - - Orense, occupied by Soult, 189. - - Oviedo, captured and sacked by Ney, 381. - - - Paget, Edward, general, crosses the Douro at Oporto, 336. - - Palacio, Del, Marquis, escapes from Victor, 13; - commands Andalusian force, 25; - Captain-General of Catalonia, his slowness, 40; - recalled by the Central Junta, 41. - - Palafox, Francisco, escapes from Saragossa to seek help for the - garrison, 116; - arms the local levies, 119; - joins Lazan’s force, 131; - retreats before Lannes, 131; - intrigues against the Junta, 464. - - Palafox, Joseph, defends Saragossa, 92-136; - capitulates, 136-8; - taken prisoner to Vincennes, 139; - criticism of his defence, 140-2. - - Parque, Duke del, commands division of the Army of Estremadura at Meza - de Ibor, 153; - at Medellin, 161, 163; - commands at Ciudad Rodrigo, 574. - - Parreiras, general, takes part in the defence of Oporto, 241-6. - - Patrick, colonel, his gallant defence of the bridge of Amarante, 267. - - Peso de Regoa, combat of, 344. - - _Philadelphes_, the, secret society in France opposed to Napoleon, 279. - - Pino, general, at Cardadeu, 66; - at Valls, 87. - - Pizarro, Magelhaes, his futile attempt to defend Chaves, 225, 226. - - Ponte Nova, passage of the, 355-8. - - Portugal, condition of, in the spring of 1809, 196-208; - Soult’s and Wellesley’s campaign in March-May, 1809, 222-366. - - Portuguese army, its history and reorganization, 208-22. - - Puerto de Baños, combat of, 620. - - - Quiroga, Abbot of Casoyo, raises Galicians against Soult, 184. - - - Reding, Teodoro, general, sent by Vives against St. Cyr, 62, 63; - at Cardadeu, 64, 65, 66, 67; - joins Caldagues, at Molins de Rey, 69; - defeated by St. Cyr, 70, 71; - supersedes Vives as Captain-General of Catalonia, 73; - in Tarragona, 76, 77; - drives back Souham at Valls, 84; - defeated by St. Cyr, 86, 87; - wounded and dies, 89. - - Regency, the Portuguese, fails in organizing national defence after - Junot’s departure, 196, 197; - calls out the _Ordenanza_, 197; - asks for a British Commander-in-chief for the Portuguese army, 215; - its report on the Oporto campaign, 218; - attempts to mobilize the militia, 219. - - Reille, general, withdraws to Figueras, 37; - sufferings of his troops, 39; - besieges and takes Rosas, 48-57. - - Ricard, general, his circular letter on the subject of Soult’s election - as King of Portugal, 276. - - Roca, general, at Alcañiz, 417; - at Maria, 424. - - Rogniat, colonel, takes command of the French engineers at siege of - Saragossa, 126, 135. - - Romana, La, Marquis of, condition of his army, 23; - his wanderings, 179; retreats to Monterey, 180; - escapes from. Franceschi, 193-5; - captures Villafranca, 374-5; - his _coup d’état_ at Oviedo, 375, 376; - routed by Ney at the passage of the Nova, 381; - marches to Orense, 386; - his operations against Soult, 399-400. - - Rosas, siege of, 46-57. - - Ruffin, general, commands division guarding Madrid, 3, 7; - at battle of Ucles, 10, 11; - leads night-attack at Talavera, 516-8; - leads the second attack, 523, 525. - - - St. Cyr, Laurent Gouvion, general, commands French army in - Catalonia, 34; - his character, 43; - sends Reille to besiege Rosas, 46-57; - proceeds against Barcelona, 58-68; - wins battle of Cardadeu, 64-7; - of Molins de Rey, 70, 71; - routs Castro’s troops at Igualada, 79; - wins battle of Valls, 87, 88. - - St. March, general, takes part in the defence of Saragossa, 106; - receives military command of the city from Palafox, 136. - - Salamonde, combat of, 357-8. - - San Genis, colonel, fortifies Saragossa, 94; - killed on the ramparts, 117. - - Santander, Ballasteros’ descent on, 386; - retaken by Bonnet, 387. - - Santiago, combat near, 385. - - Saragossa, second siege of, 90-136; - its outworks stormed, 105-14, 123; - street-fighting in, 123-35; - capitulation of, 136; - condition of, after the siege, 139. - - Sass, Santiago, parish priest of Saragossa, shot by the French, 139. - - Sebastiani, Horace, general, succeeds to command of the 4th Corps, 5; - routs Cartaojal at Ciudad Real, 146, 147; - at Talavera, 522, 527, 529; - eludes Venegas, 566, 567; - wins battle of Almonacid, 614. - - Senra, general, joins Venegas before the battle of Ucles, 9. - - Silveira, Francisco, general, military governor of the - Tras-os-Montes, 223; - assembles his forces at Chaves, 223; - returns to San Pedro, 224, 225; - to Villa Pouca, 228; - recaptures Chaves, 266; - attacks Loison, 267; - defends Amarante, 267-71; - escapes across the Douro, 272, 318; - checks Loison at Peso de Regoa, 344; - pursues Soult, 352, 359, 360. - - Smith, Sir George, his endeavour to force a British garrison on - Cadiz, 27-9; - his death, 31. - - _Somatenes_, their good work in Catalonia, 35, 38. - - Sotelo, agent for Victor, tries to negotiate with the Governor of - Badajoz and Central Junta, 168, 169. - - Souham, general, repulsed by Reding at Valls, 84, 85. - - Soult, Nicolas, marshal, Duke of Dalmatia, receives instructions from - Napoleon for the invasion of Portugal, 18; - their impracticability, 18, 170-2; - difficulties of his task, 173; - captures Ferrol, 174, 175; - his final orders from Napoleon, 175, 176; - starts his troops for Portugal, 178; - fails to cross the Minho, 182; - difficulties of his progress in Galicia, 184-9; - occupies Orense, 189, and Chaves, 226; - wins battle of Braga, 235, 236; - storms Oporto, 242-8; - his ambitious views, 273-276; - his dealings with the Argenton conspiracy, 322, 323; - surprised by Wellesley in Oporto, 332-41; - his retreat, 343-60; - meets Ney at Lugo, 390; - abandons Galicia, 398-402; - his justificatory letters, 403-5; - appointed commander of the united army, 460, 461; - advances on Plasencia to support Joseph, 497, 573; - pursues Wellesley, 577-580; - routs Albuquerque at Arzobispo, 589-91; - his desire to invade Portugal, 595, 617; - checked by King Joseph, 618. - - Stewart, Charles, general, - at combat of Grijon, 329; - at battle of Oporto, 340; - at conference of Mirabete, 470-1. - - Suchet, general, takes command of the 3rd Corps, 412; - defeated at Alcañiz, 418-20; - wins battle of Maria, 423-7; - and of Belchite, 429. - - - Tactics, the, of Wellesley, 300, 301. - - Talavera, Victor retires to, 490; - the allied armies at, 491-2; - battle of, 502-56. - - Tarragona, blockaded by St. Cyr, 89. - - Troncoso, Mauricio, Abbot of Couto, raises the Galician peasantry - against Soult, 184. - - Tuy, surrendered to Franceschi, 178; - occupied by Lamartinière, 188; - relieved by Heudelet, 262; - evacuated by the French, 264. - - - Ucles, battle of, 10-12; - town of, sacked by the French, 12. - - - Valls, battle of, 82-9. - - Vaughan, Sir Charles, his testimony to Palafox’s character, 142. - - Venegas, Francisco, general, attempts to surprise Tarancon, 6; - defeated by Victor at Ucles, 9-12; - supersedes Cartaojal in command of the Army of the Centre, 148; - advances to meet Sebastiani, 457; - fails to carry out Wellesley’s and Cuesta’s orders, 478; - at Toledo, 529; - allows the army of Sebastiani to escape him, 566, 567; - loses the opportunity of occupying Madrid, 568; - his blunders, 612; - defeated at Almonacid, 614. - - - Victor, Claude Perrin, marshal, Duke of Belluno, defeats Spaniards at - Ucles, 9-12; - marches to Almaraz, 143, 144; - his controversy with Jourdan, 151; - drives back the Duke del Parque at Meza de Ibor, 153; - wins battle of Medellin, 158-66; - remains stationary at Merida, 252; - joined by Lapisse, 261; - seizes Alcantara, 440-41; - misery of his army, 443-4; - retires from Talavera, 490; - joined by Joseph and Jourdan, 500; - at Talavera, 504-55; - his night-attack, 516-8; - his second attack, 522; - his great attack, 531-54; - retreats on Madrid, 570; - reoccupies Talavera, 580; - in La Mancha, 618. - - Vigo, surrenders to Franceschi, 178; - blockaded by Galicians, 263; - surrenders to Capt. Mackinley, R.N., 264. - - Villafranca, captured by La Romana, 374, 375. - - Villatte, general, at the battle of Ucles, 11; - at Talavera, 522, 531. - - Villel, Marquis of, special commissioner at Cadiz, opposes landing of - British troops, 28; - his eccentric legislation, 29, 30; - recalled by the Junta, 31. - - Villiers, Hon. John, British minister at Lisbon, opposes Cradock’s - timid policy, 205. - - Vittoria, general, at the defence of Oporto, 241, 245. - - Vives, appointed Captain-General of Catalonia, 41; - invests Barcelona, 41; - fails to send help to Rosas, 51; - sends _miqueletes_ against St. Cyr, 61; - defeated at Cardadeu, 66, 67; - at Molins de Rey, 71; - superseded by Reding, 73. - - - Waters, colonel, seizes barges for the crossing of the Douro, 334, 335. - - Wellesley, Sir Arthur, takes command of British troops in - Portugal, 207; - declines the post of commander-in-chief of the Portuguese army, 216; - arrives in Lisbon, 283; - his opinions on the defence of Portugal, 287, 290, 293; - his character and abilities, 295-300; - his limitations, 302-11; - his tactics, 300, 301; - his interviews with Argenton, 315, 321; - advance on Oporto, 316-35; - attacks and takes Oporto, 335-42; - his pursuit of Soult, 354-66; - correspondence with Cuesta, 445-8; - reviews Cuesta’s troops at Almaraz, 470-2; - quarrel with Cuesta at Talavera, 491, 492; - his choice of the positions at Talavera, 503, 507; - wins battle of Talavera, 513-54; - marches on Plasencia, 573; - on Oropesa, 583; - holds the line of the Tagus, 600-1; - retires to Badajoz, 606; - his plans for the Defence of Portugal, 610. - - Wellesley, Richard, Marquis, his diplomacy at Seville, 608. - - West, captain, R. N., of the _Excellent_, at Rosas, 49, 50. - - Wilson, Sir Robert, commands the Loyal Lusitanian Legion, 168; - his differences with the bishop of Oporto, 199; - his character and record, 253, 254; - refuses to retreat as advised by Sir John Cradock, 256; - holds Lapisse in check, 257, 258; - joins Wellesley’s advance into Spain, 438; - threatens Victor’s flank after Talavera, 570; - his escape from Escalona, 619; - defeated by Ney at Baños, 620. - - Worster, lieut.-general, commands Asturian force, 372; - escapes from Ney, 383. - - -END OF VOL. II - - -Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, by HORACE HART, M.A. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - * Obvious printer errors have been silently corrected. - - * Original spelling was kept, but variant spellings were made - consistent when a predominant usage was found. - - * To aid referencing places and names in present-day maps and - documents, outdated and current spellings of some proper names - follow: - - Alariz, now Allariz, - Albuquerque, now Alburquerque, - Alemtejo, now Alentejo, - Aljafferia, now Aljafería, - Almanza, now Almansa, - Arens de Mar, now Arenys de Mar, - Arzobispo, now El Puente del Arzobispo, - Ballasteros, now Ballesteros, - Baylen, now Bailén, - Busaco, now Buçaco, - Cacabellos, now Cacabelos, - Cangas de Oñis, now Cangas de Onís, - Campo Saucos, now Camposancos - Cardadeu, now Cardedeu, - Cascaes, now Cascais, - Cette, now Sète, - Cevolla, now Cebolla, - Compostella, now Compostela, - Cordova, now Córdoba, - Corunna, now La Coruña, - Deleytosa, now Deleitosa, - Despeña Perros, now Despeñaperros, - El Moral, now Moral de Calatrava, - Estremadura, now Extremadura (for Spain), - Estremadura (for Portugal), - Florida Blanca, now Floridablanca, - Fuentedueñas, now Fuentidueña de Tajo, - Giguela (river), now Gigüela, - Grijon, now Grijó, - Guimaraens, now Guimarães, - Huerba (river), now Huerva, - La Bispal, now La Bisbal, - La Gudina, now La Gudiña, - Lanhozo, now Lanhoso, - Loxa, now Loja, - Majorca, now Mallorca, - Meza de Ibor, now Mesas de Ibor, - Mondonedo, now Mondoñedo, - Monmalo, now Montmeló, - Monterey, now Monterrey, - Osoño, now Villardevós (Osoño), - Pampeluna, now Pamplona, - Passo d’Arcos, now Paço de Arcos - Pillar, now Pilar, - Riva de Sella, now Ribadesella, - San Boy, now Sant Boi de Llobregat, - San Culgat, now Sant Cugat del Vallés, - San Per, now Samper de Calanda, - Saragossa, now Zaragoza, - Sarreal, now Sarral, - Senabria, now Sanabria, - Tajuna, now Tajuña, - Tortola, now Valdetórtola, - Truxillo, now Trujillo, - Vierzo, now El Bierzo, - Villa de Cervo, now Villar de Ciervo, - Villaharta, now Villarta de San Juan, - Villa Nova de Famelicção, now Vila Nova de Famalicão, - Villanueva de Sitjas, now Sitges, - Villarodoña, now Villarrodona, - Vincente, now Vicente, - Vittoria, now Vitoria, - Zornoza, now Amorebieta-Echano. - - * Chapter headers and Table of contents have been made consistent. - - * Footnotes have been renumbered into a single series. Each footnote - is placed at the end of the paragraph that includes its anchor. - - * In the following pages, the anchor placement for the mentioned - footnote is conjectured; no anchor was found in the printed original: - p. 27, n. 35; p. 49, n. 57; p. 293, n. 353; p. 316, n. 390; p. 343, - n. 427; p. 372, n. 466; p. 420, n. 524. - - * In Appendix IV, the meaning of the marks preceding regiment names - seems to be those used in Volume I, App. VIII: “* marks an old - regiment of the regular army; † a militia regiment; ‡ a regiment of - new levies.” - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A History of the Peninsula War, by Charles Oman - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE PENINSULA WAR *** - -***** This file should be named 54279-0.txt or 54279-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/2/7/54279/ - -Produced by Brian Coe, Ramon Pajares Box and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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} - .footnotes { border: none; } - .footnote { margin: 1em 0; } - } - - </style> - </head> - <body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's A History of the Peninsula War, by Charles Oman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: A History of the Peninsula War - Vol. II, Jan. - Sep. 1809. From the Battle of Corunna to - The End of the Talavera Campaign - -Author: Charles Oman - -Release Date: March 4, 2017 [EBook #54279] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE PENINSULA WAR *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Coe, Ramon Pajares Box and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="front"> - <hr class="full" /> - <p class="mt3"><a href="#tnote">Transcriber's note</a></p> - <p><a href="#ToC">Table of Contents</a></p> - <p><a href="#LoM">List of Maps</a></p> - <p><a href="#LoI">List of Illustrations</a></p> - <p><a href="#Err">Errata</a></p> - <p><a href="#Index">Index</a></p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="aftit" id="cover"> - <div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" - alt="Book front cover" /> - </div> -</div> - - -<div class="aftit"> - <hr class="chap0" /> - <div class="figcenter" id="ChapI_1"> - <img class="thick" - src="images/frontis.jpg" - alt="Frontispice illustration" /> - <p class="caption"> - <big><i>General Joseph Palafox</i></big><br /> - <i>From the Portrait by Goya in the Prado Gallery.</i><br /> - <small><i>Walker & Cockerell Ph. Sc.</i></small> - </p> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="tit"> - <h1 class="pt3" title="A HISTORY OF THE PENINSULAR WAR"><span - class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[p. i]</span><small>A HISTORY OF - THE</small><br />PENINSULAR WAR</h1> - - <p class="xl"><small>BY</small><br /> - CHARLES OMAN, M.A.</p> - - <p class="xs">FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE<br /> - AND DEPUTY PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY (CHICHELE)<br /> - IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD<br /> - CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE REAL ACADEMIA<br /> - DE LA HISTORIA OF MADRID</p> - - <p class="large mt2"><span class="smcap">Vol. II</span><br /> - <span class="smcap">Jan.-Sept. 1809</span><br /> - FROM THE BATTLE OF CORUNNA<br /> - TO THE END OF THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN</p> - - <p class="mt1">WITH MAPS, PLANS AND ILLUSTRATIONS</p> - - - <p class="large mt3">OXFORD<br /> - AT THE CLARENDON PRESS<br /> - 1903</p> -</div> - - -<div class="aftit pt3"> - <hr class="chap" /> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ii">[p. ii]</span>HENRY FROWDE, - M.A.<br /> - <small>PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD<br /> - LONDON, EDINBURGH<br /> - NEW YORK</small></p> - <hr class="chap" /> -</div> - - -<div class="chapter pt3"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[p. iii]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak">PREFACE</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="ti0"><span class="capitular">T</span><span -class="smcap">he</span> second volume of this work has swelled to an -even greater bulk than its predecessor. Its size must be attributed to -two main causes: the first is the fact that a much greater number of -original sources, both printed and unprinted, are available for the -campaigns of 1809 than for those of 1808. The second is that the war -in its second year had lost the character of comparative unity which -it had possessed in its first. Napoleon, on quitting Spain in January, -left behind him as a legacy to his brother a comprehensive plan for the -conquest of the whole Peninsula. But that plan was, from the first, -impracticable: and when it had miscarried, the fighting in every region -of the theatre of war became local and isolated. Neither the harassed -and distracted French King at Madrid, nor the impotent Spanish Junta at -Seville, knew how to combine and co-ordinate the operations of their -various armies into a single logical scheme. Ere long, six or seven -campaigns were taking place simultaneously in different corners of the -Peninsula, each of which was practically independent of the others. -Every French and Spanish general fought for his own hand, with little -care for what his colleagues were doing: their only unanimity was that -all alike kept urging on their central governments the plea that their -own particular section of the war was more critical and important than -any other. If we look at the month of May, 1809, we find that the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[p. iv]</span> following six disconnected -series of operations were all in progress at once, and that each has -to be treated as a separate unit, rather than as a part of one great -general scheme of strategy—(1) Soult’s campaign against Wellesley -in Northern Portugal, (2) Ney’s invasion of the Asturias, (3) Victor’s -and Cuesta’s movements in Estremadura, (4) Sebastiani’s demonstrations -against Venegas in La Mancha, (5) Suchet’s contest with Blake in -Aragon, (6) St. Cyr’s attempt to subdue Catalonia. When a war has -broken up into so many fractions, it becomes not only hard to follow -but very lengthy to narrate. Fortunately for the historian and the -student, a certain amount of unity is restored in July, mainly owing -to the fact that the master-mind of Wellesley has been brought to bear -upon the situation. When the British general attempted to combine with -the Spanish armies of Estremadura and La Mancha for a common march upon -Madrid, the whole of the hostile forces in the Peninsula [with the -exception of those in Aragon and Catalonia] were once more drawn into a -single scheme of operations. Hence the Talavera campaign is the central -fact in the annals of the Peninsular War for the year 1809. I trust -that it will not be considered that I have devoted a disproportionate -amount of space to the setting forth and discussion of the various -problems which it involved.</p> - -<p>The details of the battle of Talavera itself have engaged my special -attention. I thought it worth while to go very carefully over the -battle-field, which fortunately remains much as it was in 1809. A walk -around it explained many difficulties, but suggested certain others, -which I have done my best to solve.</p> - -<p>In several other chapters of this volume I dis<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_v">[p. v]</span>covered that a personal inspection of -localities produced most valuable results. At Oporto, for example, -I found Wellesley’s passage of the Douro assuming a new aspect when -studied on the spot. Not one of the historians who have dealt with it -has taken the trouble to mention that the crossing was effected at -a point where the Douro runs between lofty and precipitous cliffs, -towering nearly 200 feet above the water’s edge! Yet this simple -fact explains how it came to pass that the passage was effected at -all—the French, on the plateau above the river, could not see -what was going on at the bottom of the deeply sunk gorge, which lies -in a ‘dead angle’ to any observer who has not come forward to the very -edge of the cliff. I have inserted a photograph of the spot, which will -explain the situation at a glance. From Napier’s narrative and plan I -am driven to conclude that he had either never seen the ground, or had -forgotten its aspect after the lapse of years.</p> - -<p>A search in the Madrid <i>Deposito de la Guerra</i> produced a few -important documents for the Talavera campaign, and was made most -pleasant by the extreme courtesy of the officers in charge. It is -curious to find that our London Record Office contains a good many -Spanish dispatches which do not survive at Madrid. This results from -the laudable zeal with which Mr. Frere, when acting as British minister -at Seville, sent home copies of every Spanish document, printed or -unprinted, on which he could lay his hands. Once or twice he thus -preserved invaluable ‘morning states’ of the Peninsular armies, which -it would otherwise have been impossible to recover. Among our other -representatives in Spain Captain Carroll was the only one who possessed -to a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[p. vi]</span> similar degree -this admirable habit of collecting original documents and statistics. -His copious ‘enclosures’ to Lord Castlereagh are of the greatest use -for the comprehension of the war in the Asturias and Galicia.</p> - -<p>Neither Napier nor any other historian of the Peninsular War has -gone into the question of Beresford’s reorganization of the Portuguese -army. Comparing English and Portuguese documents, I have succeeded -in working it out, and trust that Chapter III of Section XIII, and -Appendix No. V, may suffice to demonstrate Beresford’s very real -services to the allied cause.</p> - -<p>It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge much kind help that I have -received from correspondents on both sides of the sea, who have come to -my aid in determining points of difficulty. Of those in England I must -make particular notice of Colonel F. A. Whinyates, R.A., a specialist -in all matters connected with the British artillery. I owe to him my -Appendix No. XI, which he was good enough to draw up, as well as the -loan of several unpublished diaries of officers of his own arm, from -which I have extracted some useful and interesting facts. I must also -express my obligation to Mr. E. Mayne, for information relating to Sir -Robert Wilson’s Loyal Lusitanian Legion, of which his relative, Colonel -W. Mayne, was in 1809 the second-in-command. The excerpts which he was -kind enough to collect for me have proved of great service, and could -not have been procured from any other quarter. Nor must I omit to -thank two other correspondents, Colonel Willoughby Verner and the Rev. -Alexander Craufurd, for their notes concerning the celebrated ‘Light -Division,’ in which the one is interested as the historian of the old -95th, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[p. vii]</span> the other -as the grandson of Robert Craufurd, of famous memory.</p> - -<p>Of helpers from beyond the Channel I must make special mention of -Commandant Balagny, the author of <cite>Napoléon en Espagne</cite>, -who has supplied me with a great number of official documents from -Paris, and in especial with a quantity of statistics, many of them -hitherto unpublished, which serve to fix the strength and the losses of -various French corps in 1809. I also owe to him my Appendix VI (iii), -a most interesting <i>résumé</i> of the material in the French archives -relating to the strange ‘Oporto conspiracy’ of Captain Argenton and his -confederates. This obscure chapter of the history of the Peninsular War -is, I think, brought out in its true proportions by the juxtaposition -of the English and French documents. It is clear that Soult’s conduct -was far more sinister than Napier will allow, and also that the plot to -depose the Marshal was the work of a handful of military intriguers, -not of the great body of highly-placed conspirators in whose existence -the mendacious Argenton has induced some historians to believe.</p> - -<p>At Madrid General Arteche placed at my disposal, with the most -bountiful liberality, his immense stores of knowledge, which I had -learnt to appreciate long before, as a conscientious student of his -<cite>Guerra de la Independencia</cite>. He pointed out to me many -new sources, which had escaped my notice, and was good enough to -throw light on many problems which had been vexing me. For his genial -kindness I cannot too strongly express my obligation.</p> - -<p>Of the officers at the Madrid <i>Deposito de la Guerra</i>, whose -courtesy I have mentioned above, I must give special thanks to Captain -Emilio Figueras, from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[p. -viii]</span> whom (just as these pages are going to press) I have -received some additional figures relating to the Army of Estremadura in -1809.</p> - -<p>Finally, as in my first volume, I must make special acknowledgement -of the assistance of two helpers in Oxford—the indefatigable -compiler of the Index, and Mr. C. E. Doble, whose corrections and -suggestions have been as valuable in 1903 as in 1902.</p> - -<p class="firma">C. OMAN.</p> - -<p class="small"><span class="smcap">All Souls College</span>,<br /> -<span class="pl5"><i>June 20, 1903</i>.</span></p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ToC"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[p. ix]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class="toc" summary="Table of contents"> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc">SECTION IX</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">After Corunna (Jan.-Feb. 1809)</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl small"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span></td> - <td class="tdr small"><small>PAGE</small></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap9_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Consequences of Moore’s Diversion: Rally of the - Spanish Armies: Battle of Ucles</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap9_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap9_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Napoleon’s departure from Spain: his plans for the - Termination of the War: the Counter-Plans of the - Junta: Canning and Cadiz</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap9_2">15</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2">SECTION X</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">The Autumn and Winter Campaign in Catalonia</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap10_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Siege of Rosas</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap10_1">37</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap10_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">St. Cyr relieves Barcelona: Battles of Cardadeu and - Molins de Rey</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap10_2">58</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap10_3">III.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Campaign of February, 1809: Battle of Valls</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap10_3">76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2">SECTION XI</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">The Second Siege of Saragossa (Dec. 1808-Feb. 1809)</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap11_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Capture of the Outworks</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap11_1">90</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap11_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The French within the Walls: the Street-fighting: the - Surrender</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap11_2">115</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2">SECTION XII</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">The Spring Campaign in La Mancha and Estremadura</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap12_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Rout of Ciudad Real</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap12_1">143</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap12_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Operations of Victor and Cuesta: the Battle of Medellin</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap12_2">149</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2">SECTION XIII</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Soult’s Invasion of Portugal</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap13_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Soult’s Preliminary Operations in Galicia (Jan.-March 1809)</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap13_1">170</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap13_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Portugal at the moment of Soult’s Invasion: the Nation, - the Regency, and Sir John Cradock</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap13_2">196</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap13_3"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[p. x]</span>III.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Portuguese Army: its History and its Reorganization</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap13_3">208</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap13_4">IV.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Combats about Chaves and Braga: Capture of Oporto - (March 10-29, 1809)</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap13_4">223</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap13_5">V.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Soult’s halt at Oporto: Operations of Robert Wilson and - Lapisse on the Portuguese Frontier: Silveira’s defence of Amarante</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap13_5">250</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap13_6">VI.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Intrigues at Oporto: the Conspiracy of Argenton</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap13_6">273</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2">SECTION XIV</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Wellesley’s Campaign in Northern Portugal (May 1809)</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap14_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Sir Arthur Wellesley: the general and the man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap14_1">286</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap14_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Wellesley retakes Oporto</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap14_2">312</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap14_3">III.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Soult’s Retreat from Oporto</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap14_3">343</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2">SECTION XV</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Operations in Northern Spain (March-June 1809)</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap15_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Ney and La Romana in Galicia and the Asturias</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap15_1">367</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap15_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The French abandon Galicia</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap15_2">390</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap15_3">III.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Operations in Aragon: Alcañiz and Belchite (March-June 1809)</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap15_3">406</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2">SECTION XVI</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">The Talavera Campaign (July-Aug. 1809)</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Wellesley at Abrantes: Victor evacuates Estremadura</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_1">433</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Wellesley enters Spain</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_2">449</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_3">III.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Wellesley and Cuesta: the interview at Mirabete</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_3">463</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_4">IV.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The March to Talavera: Quarrel of Wellesley and Cuesta</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_4">483</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_5">V.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Concentration of the French Armies: the King takes - the offensive: Combats of Torrijos and Casa de Salinas</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_5">494</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_6">VI.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Battle of Talavera: the Preliminary Combats (July 27-28)</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_6">507</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_7">VII.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Battle of Talavera: the Main Engagement (July 28)</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_7">527</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_8">VIII.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Retreat from Talavera</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_8">559</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#Chap16_9">IX.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The end of the Talavera Campaign: Almonacid</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#Chap16_9">599</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[p. xi]</span>APPENDICES</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The ‘Army of the Centre,’ Jan. 11, 1809. The Spanish Army - at the Battle of Ucles</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_1">621</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Garrison of Saragossa</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_2">622</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_3">III.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The French Army in Spain, in Feb. 1809</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_3">624</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_4">IV.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Spanish Army at Medellin</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_4">627</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_5">V.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The Portuguese Army in 1809: organization and numbers</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_5">629</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_6">VI.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Papers relating to the intrigues at Oporto, April-May 1809</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_6">632</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_7">VII.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Strength of Wellesley’s Army, May 6, 1809</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_7">640</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_8">VIII.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Soult’s Report on Galicia, June 25, 1809</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_8">642</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_9">IX.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Suchet’s and Blake’s Armies, May and June 1809</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_9">643</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_10">X.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Papers relating to the Talavera Campaign: strength and - losses of the British, Spanish, and French Armies</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_10">645</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_11">XI.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">The British Royal Artillery in the Peninsula, 1809</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_11">654</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapA_12">XII.</a></td> - <td class="tdl">Venegas’s Army of La Mancha in June-July 1809</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapA_12">655</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdl pt1"><a href="#Index">INDEX</a></td> - <td class="tdr pt1"><a href="#Index">657</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table class="toc" summary="List of maps" id="LoM"> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc2">MAPS AND PLANS</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="4" class="tdr small"><small>PAGE</small></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_1">I.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ucles and Rosas</span></td> - <td class="tdc"><i>To face</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_1">54</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_2">II.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">General Map of Catalonia: Battle of Valls</span></td> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_2">88</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_3">III.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Saragossa, the Second Siege</span></td> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_3">134</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_4">IV.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Medellin</span></td> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_4">166</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_5">V.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Braga (Lanhozo) and Oporto</span></td> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_5">248</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_6">VI.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Northern Portugal, showing Soult’s and - Wellesley’s Campaigns of 1809</span></td> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_6">360</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_7">VII.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Alcañiz and Maria</span></td> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_7">426</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_8">VIII.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Talavera</span></td> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_8">550</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdrs"><a href="#ChapM_9">IX.</a></td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Central Spain, showing the localities of - the Talavera Campaign</span></td> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapM_9">596</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table class="toc" summary="List of illustrations" id="LoI"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc2" id="LoP">ILLUSTRATIONS</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdr small"><small>PAGE</small></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap"><span class="smcap">Joseph Palafox, - Equestrian Portrait by Goya</span></span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapI_1"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">A Portuguese Cavalry Soldier, 1809</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapI_2">212</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">A Portuguese Infantry Soldier, - and a Man of the Ordenanza</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapI_3">222</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">The Douro above Oporto, the locality - of Wellesley’s crossing</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapI_4">336</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Coins struck in Spain during - the Peninsular War</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ChapI_5">478</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - - - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Err"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[p. xii]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak"><small>ERRATA IN VOL. II</small></h2> -</div> - -<p>The following facts I discovered in Madrid and Lisbon when it was -too late to correct the chapters in which the mis-statements occur.</p> - -<p id="Err_1">(1) <a href="#Page_82">Page 82</a>, <a -href="#Footnote_93">note 93</a>. I have found from a Madrid document -that part, though not the whole, of the Regiment of Baza was present at -Valls. One battalion was left behind with Wimpffen: one marched with -Reding: about 800 men therefore must be added to my estimate of the -Spanish infantry.</p> - -<p id="Err_2">(2) <a href="#Page_318">Page 318</a>, <a -href="#Footnote_394">note 394</a>. I found in Lisbon that the regiments -which marched with Beresford to Lamego were not (as I had supposed) -nos. 7 and 19, but nos. 2 and 14, with the 4th cazadores. Those which -joined from the direction of Almeida were two battalions of no. 11 (1st -of Almeida) and one of no. 9.</p> - -<p id="Err_3">(3) <a href="#Page_366">Page 366</a>. A dispatch of -Beresford at Lisbon clears up my doubts as to Silveira’s culpability. -Beresford complains that the latter lost a whole day by marching from -Amarante to Villa Pouca without orders; the dispatch directing him to -take the path by Mondim thus reached him only when he had gone many -miles on the wrong road. The time lost could never be made up.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap9_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[p. 1]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">SECTION IX</h2> - <p class="subh2"><span class="g1">AFTER CORUNNA</span><br /> - <small>(JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1809)</small></p> - <h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE CONSEQUENCES OF MOORE’S DIVERSION: RALLY OF - THE SPANISH ARMIES: BATTLE OF UCLES</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">With</span> the departure of Napoleon from -Madrid on December 21, the offensive action of the French army in -central Spain came to a stand. The Emperor had taken away with him the -field army, which had been destined to deliver those blows at Lisbon -and Seville that were to end the war. The troops which he had left -behind him in the neighbourhood of Madrid were inadequate in numbers -for any further advance, and were forced to adopt a defensive attitude. -The only regions in which the invaders continued to pursue an active -policy were Aragon and Catalonia, from which, on account of their -remoteness, the Emperor had not withdrawn any troops for his great -encircling movement against Sir John Moore. In both those provinces -important operations began on the very day on which Bonaparte set out -to hunt the English army: it was on December 21 that Lannes commenced -the second siege of Saragossa, and that St. Cyr, after relieving -Barcelona, scattered the army of Catalonia at the battle of Molins de -Rey. But the campaigns of Aragon and Catalonia were both of secondary -importance, when compared with the operations in central Spain. As the -whole history of the war was to show, the progress of events in the -valley of the lower Ebro and in the Catalan hills never exercised much -influence on the affairs of Castile and Portugal. It is not, therefore, -too much to assert that it was Moore’s march on Sahagun, and that march -alone, which paralysed the main scheme of the Emperor for the conquest -of Spain.</p> - -<p>Between December 21 and January 2 the central reserves<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[p. 2]</span> of the French army had been -hurried away to the Esla and the plains of northern Leon. It was not -till the new year had come that the Emperor began to think of sending -some of them back to the neighbourhood of Madrid. The 8th Corps had -been incorporated with the 2nd, and sent in pursuit of Moore: the corps -of Ney and the division of Lapisse were left to support Soult in his -invasion of Galicia. The Imperial Guard marched back to Valladolid. -Of all the troops which had been distracted to the north-west, only -Dessolles’ division of the Central Reserve returned to the capital. -Such a reinforcement was far from being enough to enable Joseph -Bonaparte, and his military adviser Jourdan, to assume the offensive -towards the valleys of the Tagus and Guadiana. The consequences of -Moore’s diversion were not only far-reaching but prolonged: it was -not till the middle of March that the army of the king was able to -resume the attempt to march on Seville, and by that time the condition -of affairs had been profoundly modified, to the advantage of the -Spaniards.</p> - -<p>The intervening time was not one of rest for Joseph and his army. -Their movements require careful attention. When Napoleon hurried -the main body of his troops across the Somosierra in pursuit of the -British, he left behind him the corps of Victor, shorn of Lapisse’s -division, the whole of the corps of Lefebvre<a id="FNanchor_1" -href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>, and the three independent -cavalry divisions of Lasalle, Latour-Maubourg and Milhaud—in -all 8,000 horse and 28,000 foot with ninety guns. There was also the -Royal Guard of King Joseph, four battalions of foot, and a regiment of -horse, beside two skeleton regiments of Spanish deserters, which the -‘Intrusive King’ was raising as the nucleus of a new army of his own<a -id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[p. 3]</span></p> - -<p>Of these troops the incomplete German division of Leval (2nd of the -4th Corps) and King Joseph’s guards formed the garrison of Madrid. -This force seeming too small, the division of Ruffin (1st of the 1st -Corps) was ordered in to reinforce them. The rest of the army lay -in two concentric semicircles outside Madrid: the inner semicircle -was formed of infantry: there was a regiment at Guadalajara<a -id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>, a whole -division under Marshal Victor himself at Aranjuez<a id="FNanchor_4" -href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>, and two divisions of -the 4th Corps under Marshal Lefebvre at Talavera<a id="FNanchor_5" -href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>. Outside these troops -was a great cavalry screen. In front of Victor the three cavalry -brigades of Latour-Maubourg’s division lay respectively at Tarancon, -Ocaña, and Madridejos, watching the three roads from La Mancha. West -of them lay Milhaud’s division of dragoons, in front of Talavera, in -the direction of Navalmoral and San Vincente, observing the passes -of the Sierra de Toledo. Lastly, as a sort of advanced guard in the -direction of Estremadura, Lasalle’s light cavalry had pushed on to -the great bridge of Almaraz, behind which the wrecks of the mutinous -armies of Belvedere and San Juan were beginning to collect, under -their new commander Galluzzo<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" -class="fnanchor">[6]</a>.</p> - -<p>The Emperor’s parting orders to Jourdan had been to send forward -Lasalle and Lefebvre to deal a blow at the Estremaduran army. They had, -he wrote, twice the numbers necessary to break up the small force of -disorganized troops in front of them. On December 24, Lefebvre was to -cross the Tagus, scatter Galluzzo’s men to the winds, and then come -back to Talavera, after building a <i>tête-de-pont</i> at Almaraz. Lasalle’s -cavalry would be capable of looking after what was left of this force, -for it would not give trouble again for many a week to come. Victor, -on the side of La Mancha, must keep watch on any movements of the -Spaniards from the direction of Cuenca or the Sierra Morena. He would -have no difficulty in holding them off, for ‘all the débris of the -insurgent armies combined could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[p. -4]</span> not face even the 8,000 French cavalry left in front of -them—to say nothing of the infantry behind<a id="FNanchor_7" -href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The first portion of the orders of the Emperor was duly carried -out. On December 24 the Duke of Dantzig advanced from Talavera upon -the bridges of Arzobispo and Almaraz, behind which lay 6,000 or 7,000 -of Galluzzo’s dispirited levies. He made no more than a feint at the -first-mentioned passage, but attacking the more important bridge of -Almaraz carried it at the first rush, and took the four guns which -Galluzzo had mounted on the southern bank to command the defile. The -Spaniards, scattered in all directions, abandoned the banks of the -Tagus, and placed themselves in safety behind the rugged Sierra de -Guadalupe. So far the Emperor’s design was carried out: but Lefebvre -then took a most extraordinary step. Instead of returning, as he had -been ordered, to Talavera, and remaining in that central position till -further orders should be sent him, he went off on an inexplicable -adventure of his own. Leaving only Lasalle’s cavalry and two Polish -battalions on the Tagus, he turned north, as if intending to join the -Emperor, crossed the mountains between New and Old Castile, and on -January 5 appeared at Avila in the latter province<a id="FNanchor_8" -href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>. Not only was the march -in complete contravention of the Emperor’s orders, but it was carried -out in disobedience to five separate dispatches sent from Madrid -by Jourdan, in the name of King Joseph. Lefebvre paid no attention -whatever to the ‘lieutenant of the Emperor,’ in spite of vehement -representations to the effect that he was exposing Madrid by this -eccentric movement. It was indeed an unhappy inspiration that led him -to Avila, for at this precise moment the Spaniards were commencing -a wholly unexpected offensive advance against the Spanish capital, -which Lefebvre, if he had remained at Talavera, might have aided in -repelling. Much incensed at his disobedience Napoleon deprived him -of the command of the 4th Corps, and sent him back to France. ‘This -marshal,’ he wrote to King Joseph, ‘does nothing<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_5">[p. 5]</span> but make blunders: he cannot seize the -meaning of the orders sent him. It is impossible to leave him in -command of a corps;—which is a pity, for he is a brave enough -fellow on the battle-field<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" -class="fnanchor">[9]</a>.’ Sebastiani, Lefebvre’s senior divisional -general, replaced him in command of his corps.</p> - -<p>The new Spanish advance upon Madrid requires a word of explanation. -We have seen that the weary and dilapidated Army of the Centre, now -commanded by the Duke of Infantado, had reached Cuenca on December -10, after escaping from the various snares which Napoleon had set -for it during its march from Calatayud to the valley of the upper -Tagus. When he had escaped from Bessières’ pursuit, the duke proceeded -to give his army a fortnight’s much-needed rest in the mountain -villages round Cuenca. He sent back to Valencia the wrecks of Roca’s -division, which had originally been raised in that kingdom. It had -dwindled down to 1,455 men, from its original 8,000<a id="FNanchor_10" -href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>. The other troops, -the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th divisions of the old army of Andalusia<a -id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>, had -not suffered quite so much, as they had not been seriously engaged -at Tudela, but they were half-starved and very disorderly. Infantado -was forced to shoot an officer and two sergeants for open mutiny -before he could restore the elements of discipline<a id="FNanchor_12" -href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>.</p> - -<p>The province of Cuenca is the most thinly peopled and desolate -of all the regions of Spain<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" -class="fnanchor">[13]</a>, and though some stores and food were -procured from Valencia, it was impossible to re-equip the army in -a satisfactory way. Winter clothing, in particular, was absolutely -unprocurable, and if the men had not been placed under roofs in Cuenca -and the villages around, they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[p. -6]</span> must have perished of cold. But a fortnight’s rest did much -for them: many stragglers came up from the rear, a few reinforcements -were received, and to the surprise of the whole army the brigade -of the Conde de Alacha, which had been cut off from the rest of -the troops on the day of Tudela, turned up intact to join its -division. This detachment, it will be remembered<a id="FNanchor_14" -href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>, had been left in the -mountains near Agreda, to observe the advance of Marshal Ney: after -the rout it had nearly fallen into the hands of the 6th Corps, and had -been forced to turn off into obscure by-paths. Then, passing in haste -between the French divisions in New Castile, it had finally succeeded -in reaching Cuenca.</p> - -<p>Infantado, finding that the French still hung back and advanced -no further into his mountain refuge, proceeded to reorganize his -army; the three weakened battalions of the old line regiments were -consolidated into two or often into one. The four divisions of the -original Andalusian host were amalgamated into two, with an extra -‘vanguard’ and ‘reserve’ composed of the best troops<a id="FNanchor_15" -href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>. This rearrangement had -not yet been fully completed when the duke made up his mind that he -would venture on an advance against Madrid. He could learn of nothing -save cavalry in his front, and he had received early notice of the -departure of Napoleon to the north. Giving the command of his vanguard -and the greater part of his cavalry to General Venegas, he bade him -descend into the plains, and endeavour to surprise the brigade of -dragoons which lay at Tarancon<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" -class="fnanchor">[16]</a>. This task Venegas attempted to execute on -Christmas Day: he had already turned the town with half his force, and -placed himself across the line of retreat of the dragoons, before they -knew of his approach. Warned, just in time of his danger, the French -brigadier resolved to cut his way through: he charged down on the -enemy, who fell into a line of battalion squares with long intervals -between them. Dashing between the squares the two regiments got through -with the loss of fifty or sixty men. The Spanish cavalry, which arrived -late on the field, made no attempt to pursue. On the same day Infantado -had sent out another column under<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[p. -7]</span> General Senra, with orders to march on Aranjuez: finding that -it was held not only by cavalry but by a heavy force of infantry, the -Spanish brigadier wisely halted at a discreet distance, for which he -was sharply taken to task by his chief. It is certain that if he had -gone on, Victor would have made mincemeat of his little force of 4,000 -men.</p> - -<p>Although the advance of Venegas and Senra soon stopped short, the -news that the Spaniards were descending in force into the plain of New -Castile was most discomposing to King Joseph, who was at this moment -very weak in troops. Lefebvre had just started on his eccentric march -to Avila: Dessolles was not yet back from the north, and there was no -disposable reserve at Madrid save the single division of Ruffin, for -the king’s guards and Leval’s Germans were barely enough to hold down -the capital, and could not be moved. The situation was made worse by -the revolt of several of the small towns of the upper Tagus, including -Chinchon and Colmenar, which rose under the belief that Infantado’s -army would soon be at their gates. There was nothing between the -duke and Madrid save the single infantry division of Villatte, which -lay with Marshal Victor at Aranjuez, and the six dragoon regiments -of Latour-Maubourg, a force of little more than 9,000 sabres and -bayonets.</p> - -<p>Fortunately for King Joseph, Infantado was a most incapable general, -and allowed his opportunity to slip by. By driving in the French -cavalry screen, he had given notice of his existence, and spread alarm -up to the gates of Madrid. But in order to profit by the situation -he should have dashed in at once, before the enemy had time to draw -together. If he had marched from Cuenca with his reserves, in the wake -of Venegas, he could have brought 20,000 men to bear upon Victor, -before the latter could receive the very moderate succours that King -Joseph could send him. Instead of doing anything of the kind, he -remained quiescent at his head quarters, and did not even send Venegas -any further orders, either to advance or to retreat. From December 26 -to January 11, the Spanish vanguard lay at Tarancon, as if with the -express intention of giving the French time to concentrate. The duke -meanwhile, as his dispatches show, was drawing up a grandiose plan -of operations, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[p. 8]</span> -included not only the eviction of King Joseph from Madrid, but the -cutting of Napoleon’s communication and the raising of the siege of -Saragossa! He was most anxious to induce the Central Junta to move -forward all their other forces to aid him. But they could do nothing, -so deplorable was the state of their army, but bid the weak division -of 6,000 men, which was guarding the Sierra Morena, to begin a -demonstration in La Mancha. In pursuance of this order Del Palacio made -a forward movement, as dangerous as it was useless, to Villaharta on -the upper Guadiana.</p> - -<p>Jourdan and the Intrusive King, meanwhile, were for ten days in a -state of great anxiety, expecting every moment to hear that the whole -Spanish army had descended from the mountains and thrown itself upon -the upper Tagus. They ordered Victor to move from Aranjuez to Arganda -to parry such a blow, and made preparations for reinforcing him with -Ruffin’s division, while the rest of the garrison of Madrid, with -the French civilians, and the mass of <i>Afrancesados</i>, were to shut -themselves up in the forts on the Retiro, being too few to hold the -entire city. But the expected advance of Infantado never occurred, and -Jourdan and Victor were able to put down the insurrection of the little -towns in the plain without any interruption. Chinchon was stormed, -and the whole male population put to the sword; at Colmenar there -were executions on a large scale, and a fine of 50,000 piastres was -levied. The rest of the insurgents fled to the hills<a id="FNanchor_17" -href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>.</p> - -<p>On January 8, 1809, the fears of Joseph and Jourdan came to a happy -end, for on that day the division of Dessolles marched in from Old -Castile, while on the 10th the 4th Corps appeared, having been sent -back in haste from Avila by the Emperor. This reinforcement of more -than 20,000 men completely cleared the situation. The French line of -defence could now be re-established: Valence’s Polish division was -placed at Toledo: Leval’s Germans, completed by the arrival of their -belated Dutch brigade, were sent to Talavera. Sebastiani’s<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[p. 9]</span> division, with Dessolles -and the king’s guard, remained to garrison Madrid. Ruffin was sent -out to join Victor, who was ordered to march at once on Tarancon and -fall upon the Spanish corps which had remained there in such strange -torpidity since Christmas day<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" -class="fnanchor">[18]</a>. The Emperor, sending these orders from -Valladolid, expressed himself in a somewhat contemptuous strain as to -his brother’s fears. ‘The army of Castaños’ (i.e. of Infantado) ‘was as -great a fiction as that of La Romana: rumour made them 20,000 strong, -while really there were not more than 5,000 of them<a id="FNanchor_19" -href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>. Victor had ten times as -many men as were necessary for clearing off the Spaniards. The panic -at Madrid had been absurd and discreditable: all that was wanted was -to catch and hang a dozen <i>mauvais sujets</i>, and the capital would keep -quiet.’</p> - -<p>On January 12 Victor marched from Aranjuez with the twenty-one -battalions of Villatte’s and Ruffin’s divisions, the squadrons of -light horse which formed his corps-cavalry, and the three brigades of -dragoons composing the division of Latour-Maubourg—in all some -12,000 foot and 3,500 horse. He did not find Venegas at Tarancon: on -hearing that the French were massing in front of him, that officer had -called in the outlying brigade of Senra, and had retired ten miles to -Ucles, in the foot-hills of the mountains of Cuenca. He sent news of -Victor’s approach to Infantado, but the latter gave him no definite -orders either to fight or to retreat. He merely forwarded to him three -or four more battalions of infantry, and announced that he was coming -up from Cuenca with the reserves: he fixed no date for his probable -arrival.</p> - -<p>Much troubled by the want of definite orders, Venegas doubted -whether he ought to hold his ground and await his chief, or fall -back into the mountains. After some hesitation he resolved to take -the more dangerous course, tempted by the fine position of Ucles, -which offered every advantage for a defensive action. He had with -him about 9,500 infantry in twenty-two very weak battalions, some of -which had no more than 250 or 300 bayonets. Of cavalry he had nine -incomplete<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[p. 10]</span> regiments, -giving only 1,800 sabres<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" -class="fnanchor">[20]</a>. There were but five guns with the army, -of which one had broken down, and was not fit for service. The town -of Ucles lies in the midst of a long ridge stretching north-east and -south-west, with a steep slope towards the plain, from which the French -were approaching. Venegas drew up his men in a single long line, with -the town in the centre. Four battalions were barricaded in Ucles: six -took post to the left of it, eight to the right. Only one was held back -in reserve, but three with four regiments of cavalry were left out -in front, to observe the French advance, in the neighbourhood of the -village of Tribaldos. The four guns and the remainder of the cavalry -were drawn up before the town. It is almost needless to point out the -faults of this order-of-battle—over-great extension and the want -of a reserve. The position was too long for the numbers available. -Moreover the men were not in good fighting trim: though several of the -old regiments from Baylen were among them, their spirits were low: they -had not yet recovered from the dreadful fatigues of the retreat from -Tudela, and they had little confidence in their leaders.</p> - -<p>Victor marched from Tarancon at daybreak on January 13, with one -division on each of the two routes which lead eastward from that place, -Villatte’s on the southern road which goes directly to Ucles, Ruffin’s -on the longer and more circuitous path, which, running parallel to -the other, ultimately rejoins it at Carrascosa some way behind that -town. The majority of Latour-Maubourg’s cavalry accompanied the former -column.</p> - -<p>Already on the previous night Victor’s vedettes had discovered the -Spanish outpost at Tribaldos: very early on the following morning it -was driven in by the advance of Villatte’s column, and joined the -main body of the army of Venegas. The Marshal then pushed forward to -the foot of the hills, to reconnoitre the enemy’s position. Having -discerned the lie of the ground, and the distribution of the Spanish -forces, his mind was soon made up. Orders were promptly sent to Ruffin -to leave the road on which he was advancing, and to close in upon the -right flank<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[p. 11]</span> and rear -of Venegas’s army. Meanwhile Villatte and the cavalry drew up in front -of Ucles, with a strength of about 7,000 bayonets and 2,500 sabres. -The dragoons were placed in the centre; in front of them was ranged a -battery, which commenced to shell the town and the Spanish horse drawn -up before its gates. This was only a demonstration: the real blow was -to be given by an attack on the Spanish left, where the hillside was of -easier access than on the steep and rocky northern end of the ridge. -Villatte’s second brigade, the 94th and 95th regiments, executed a -circular march under the eyes of the enemy, and having turned their -extreme flank, rapidly climbed the hill and formed up at right angles -to the Spanish line. These six battalions fell upon the exposed wing -and rolled it up without much difficulty, till they arrived under the -very walls of Ucles, driving the enemy before them. Venegas, who was -watching the fight from the court of the monastery which dominates -the town, had tried to hurry up reinforcements from his right wing: -but they arrived too late to be of any use. When the attack on the -enemy’s left was seen to be making good progress, and the attention -of the Spaniards was distracted to that point, Victor directed the -first brigade of Villatte’s division to assail the steep hill on the -Spanish right. They carried it with ease, for half the defenders had -been withdrawn to reinforce the left, and the rest were demoralized -by the evident disaster on the other flank. The whole of Venegas’s -army fled eastward without any further endeavour to hold their ground, -the considerable force of cavalry in the centre making no attempt, as -it would appear, to cover the retreat of the foot. Such rearguard as -there was consisted of two or three infantry battalions under General -Giron.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the Spaniards of the right wing and centre saw rising up -in front of them, as they fled, an imposing line of French infantry, -barring their further progress. This force consisted of the nine -battalions of Ruffin’s division. They had lost their way while seeking -for the Spanish flank, and (like Ferguson at Roliça) made too wide a -circle to enable them to intervene in the actual fighting. But the very -length of their turning movement proved advantageous, as they had now -got into the direct rear of the retreating army. Driven on by<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[p. 12]</span> the pursuing dragoons of -Latour-Maubourg, the Spaniards found themselves rushing into the very -arms of Ruffin’s division. The disaster was complete, and more than -half of Venegas’s army was encircled and captured. Most of the cavalry, -indeed, escaped, by dispersing and riding rapidly round the flanks -of Ruffin’s line. But the slow-moving infantry was trapped: a few -battalions from the left wing got off to the south-east, and General -Giron with a remnant of his brigade cut his way through a gap between -two French regiments. All the rest had to surrender.</p> - -<p>Of Venegas’s 11,000 men, about 1,000 had been killed or wounded: -four generals, seventeen colonels, 306 other officers and 5,560 -rank and file were captured<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" -class="fnanchor">[21]</a>. The French secured the four guns which -formed the sole artillery of the beaten army, and twenty standards<a -id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>. Their -own loss was insignificant—Victor returned his total casualties -at 150 men, and probably did not much understate them, as he had met -with no serious resistance.</p> - -<p>Though they had suffered so little, the French showed great ferocity -after the fight. They not only sacked the town of Ucles, but executed -in cold blood sixty-nine of its notables, including many monks, who -were accused of having fired on the assailants from their convent -windows. When the column of Spanish prisoners was sent off to Madrid, -orders were given (it is said by Victor himself) that those who would -not keep up with the rest should be shot, and we have good French -authority to the effect that this was regularly done; thirty or more -a day, mostly the wounded and the sick, were shot by the wayside -when they dropped behind<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" -class="fnanchor">[23]</a>.</p> - -<p>What, meanwhile, had happened to the Spanish Commander-in-chief, and -the 9,000 men whom he had retained at Cuenca? Infantado had started to -join Venegas on January 12: he slept that night at Horcajada, fifteen -miles to the east of Ucles.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[p. -13]</span> Resuming his march next morning, he had got as far as -Carrascosa, when a disorderly mob of 2,000 routed infantry hurtled into -his vanguard. Questioning the fugitives, he learnt the details of the -battle of Ucles, and found that the victorious army of the French was -only five miles away. Then with a promptitude very different from his -torpor of the last three weeks, the duke turned his column to the rear, -and made off with all speed. He first returned to his base at Cuenca to -pick up his baggage and stores, and then marched by vile cross-roads -and in abominable weather to Chinchilla in the kingdom of Murcia, which -he reached on January 20. His artillery, forced to go at a snail’s pace -among the hills and torrents, and escorted by a single cavalry regiment -only, was surprised and captured by Digeon’s dragoons at Tortola, a -few miles to the south of Cuenca (Jan. 18). Fifteen guns were lost -on this occasion: several of the French authorities ingeniously add -them to the trophies of Ucles, and write as if they had all been taken -from Venegas in open battle<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" -class="fnanchor">[24]</a>.</p> - -<p>Victor after occupying Cuenca, and finding that Infantado was now -too far away to be pursued with any chance of success, turned down into -the plains of La Mancha, to strike at the small Andalusian force which -had advanced under Del Palacio, to lend countenance to Infantado’s -projects for a march on Madrid. This division, some 6,000 strong, had -reached Villaharta on the upper Guadiana, but when the news of Ucles -arrived, its commander hastily drew it back to the foot of the passes. -Finding no enemy to attack, Victor, after crossing La Mancha unopposed, -took up his post at Madridejos, on the high-road between Madrid and the -Despeña Perros, and waited for further orders from Head Quarters.</p> - -<p>It was only after the victory of Ucles that King Joseph was -permitted by his brother to make his formal entry into Madrid. Up to -this moment he had been told to stop at the Palace of the Pardo, far -outside the walls, and only to pay furtive and unostentatious visits to -his official abode in the city. When the inhabitants of the capital had -been sufficiently impressed by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[p. -14]</span> the arrival of the numerous columns of the 4th Corps and of -Dessolles, and had seen the banners and the prisoners taken at Ucles -paraded through their streets, their king was once more sent among -them. Joseph made his appearance on January 22, passed through a long -lane of French bayonets to the church of San Isidro, where a <i>Te Deum</i> -was chanted for the late victories, and then entered his palace. Here -he received numerous deputations of Spaniards who swore him fealty. -But the moral effect of these oaths was not very great, for the local -notables attended under the pressure of the bayonet. Napoleon had -sent orders that every town in Castile of more than 2,000 souls must -dispatch delegates to Madrid, or the consequences would be unpleasant<a -id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>. The -delegates appeared, but it may be guessed with what feelings they -mouthed their oaths and their protestations of joy and loyalty. Yet -Joseph, determined to play the part of the benevolent monarch, took the -whole farce seriously, and answered with lavish declarations of his -love and sympathy for the great Spanish nation. Sentiments of the kind -were to be the staple of his fruitless and copious oratory for the next -four years. His heart would have sunk within him if only he could have -recognized their futility: but 1809 was but just beginning, and he was -far from realizing the full meaning of his position: it took a very -long time to thoroughly disenchant this hard-working and well-meaning -prince.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap9_2"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[p. 15]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER II">SECTION IX: CHAPTER II</h3> - <p class="subh3">NAPOLEON’S DEPARTURE FROM SPAIN: HIS PLANS FOR - THE TERMINATION OF THE WAR: THE COUNTER-PLANS OF THE JUNTA</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Four</span> days after the battle of Ucles -Napoleon quitted Spain. He had rested at Valladolid from January 6 to -January 17, after his return from the pursuit of Sir John Moore. Though -he had failed to entrap the British Army he was not discontented with -his achievements. He was fully convinced that he had broken the back of -the Spanish insurrection, and that he could safely return to France, -leaving the completion of the work to his brother and his marshals. He -was anxious to hear that Saragossa had fallen, and that the English -had been driven out of the Peninsula. When these two events should -have come to pass, his armies might resume, under the guidance of his -subordinates, the original advance against Portugal and Andalusia which -had been so effectually frustrated by Moore’s daring move.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile he spent full eleven days at Valladolid, busy with all -manner of desk-work, connected not merely with Spain, but with the -affairs of the whole continent. He was evidently anxious to leave -an impression of terror behind him: he hectored and bullied the -unfortunate Spanish deputations that were compelled to come before him -in the most insulting fashion. His harangues generally wound up with -the declaration that if he was ever forced to come back to Spain in -arms, he would remove his brother Joseph, and divide the realm into -subject provinces, which should be governed by martial law. Some French -soldiers (probably marauders) having been assassinated, he arrested -and threatened to hang the whole municipality of Valladolid, finally -releasing them only when three persons accused (rightly or wrongly) of -the murders were delated to him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[p. -16]</span> and executed. He sent advice to King Joseph to deal in the -same way with Madrid: nothing would keep the capital quiet, he wrote, -but a good string of executions<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" -class="fnanchor">[26]</a>. It was to be many years before he realized -that hanging did no good in Spain, and was only repaid by additional -assassinations. In return for this good advice to his brother, he -extorted from him fifty of the choicest pictures of the royal gallery -at Madrid; but in compensation Joseph was invited to annex all that -he might choose from the private collections of the exiled Spanish -nobility and the monasteries of the capital<a id="FNanchor_27" -href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>.</p> - -<p>Suggestions have sometimes been made that Napoleon hastened his -departure from Spain, because he saw that the suppression of the -insurrection would take a much longer time than he had originally -supposed, and because he wished to transfer to other hands the lengthy -and inglorious task of hunting down the last armies of the Junta. This -view is certainly erroneous: his three months’ stay in Spain had not -opened the Emperor’s eyes to the difficulties of the business that -he had taken in hand. Though many of his couriers and aides-de-camp -had already been ambuscaded and shot by the peasantry, though he was -already beginning to see that a blockhouse and a garrison would have -to be placed at every stage on the high-roads, he believed that these -sinister signs were temporary, and that the country-side, after a few -sanguinary lessons had been given, would sink down into the quiet of -despair.</p> - -<p>His final legacy to his brother, on departing, was a long dispatch -giving a complete plan of operations for the next campaign. Soult, -after forcing the English to embark, was to march on Oporto. Napoleon -calculated that he ought to capture it on February 1, and that on -February 10 he would be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[p. -17]</span> in front of Lisbon. The Portuguese levies he practically -disregarded as a fighting force, and he was ignorant that there still -remained 8,000 or 10,000 British troops on the Tagus, who would serve -to stiffen their resistance.</p> - -<p>When Soult should have captured Oporto, and be well on the way -to Lisbon, Victor was to go forward with his own 1st Corps, the -division of Leval from the 4th Corps, and the cavalry of Milhaud, -Latour-Maubourg, and Lasalle. He was to strike at Estremadura, occupy -Merida and Badajoz, and join hands with Soult along the Tagus. Lisbon -being reduced, Victor was to borrow a division from Soult and march on -Seville with 40,000 men. With such a force, as the Emperor calculated, -he would subdue the whole of Andalusia with ease.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Saragossa must (as Napoleon rightly thought) fall some -time in February. When it was disposed of, the 3rd and 5th Corps would -provide a garrison for Aragon, and then march on Valencia, which would -be attacked and subdued much about the same time that Victor would -arrive at Seville. St. Cyr would have made an end of the Catalans long -before. Thus the whole Peninsula would be subdued ere the summer was -over. There was nowhere a Spanish army that could make head against -even 10,000 French troops. The only possible complication would be -that Moore’s army might conceivably take ship, not for England, but -for Lisbon or Cadiz. If the English, ‘the only enemy who could create -difficulties,’ took this course, the Emperor might have to give -further orders. But it does not seem that he regarded this as a likely -contingency, since he had conceived an even exaggerated idea of the -losses and demoralization which the British had suffered in the retreat -to Corunna. To Joseph he wrote, ‘reserve yourself for the expedition to -Andalusia, which may start three weeks hence. With 40,000 men, marching -by an unexpected route [i.e. by Badajoz, not by La Carolina], you -will surprise the enemy and force him to submit. This is an operation -which will make an end of the war: I leave the glory of it to you<a -id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>.’ -To Jerome Napoleon he wrote in the most laconic style, ‘the -Spanish affair is done with<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" -class="fnanchor">[29]</a>,’ and then proceeded to discuss the general -politics of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[p. 18]</span> -Continent, as if his whole attention could now be given to the doings -of Austria and Russia. On January 18 he rode out of Valladolid, and -after six days of incessant travel reached Paris on the 24th. His first -care after his arrival was to scare the intriguers of the capital -into good behaviour. His second was to endeavour to treat Austria -after the same fashion. He had not yet made up his mind whether the -ministers of Francis II meant mischief, or whether they had merely -been presuming on his long absence in Spain: on the whole he thought -that they could be reduced to order by bold language, and by the -ostentatious movement of troops on the Rhine and upper Danube. But -he was not sure of his conclusion: in his correspondence letters -stating that Austria has been brought to reason, alternate with others -in which she is accused of incorrigible perversity, and a design -to make war in the spring<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" -class="fnanchor">[30]</a>. The Emperor’s suspicions are most clearly -shown by the fact that in February he ordered the whole of the Imperial -Guard, except two battalions and three squadrons, to be brought up from -Spain and directed on Paris<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" -class="fnanchor">[31]</a>. In the same month he sent secret orders to -the princes of the Confederation of the Rhine, to bid them be ready to -mobilize their contingents at short notice.</p> - -<p>It is clear that as regards the affairs of Spain the Emperor was -in January and February, 1809, as much deluded as he had been seven -months before, in June, 1808. The whole plan of campaign which he -dictated at Valladolid, and sent as his parting gift to Joseph and -Jourdan, was absolutely impracticable, and indicated a fundamental -ignorance of the character of the Spanish war. It would have been a -perfectly sensible document if the struggle had been raging in Italy -or Germany, though even there the calculations of distance and time -would have been rather hazardous. Twenty-three days were given to -Soult to expel the English, to pacify Galicia, to take Oporto,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[p. 19]</span> and to march on Lisbon! -Even granting that all had gone as the Emperor desired, the estimate -was too short by half. It was midwinter; Galicia and northern Portugal -form one of the most mountainous regions in Europe: their roads are -vile; their food supplies are scanty; their climate at that season -of the year detestable. Clearly the task given to Soult could not be -executed in the prescribed time<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" -class="fnanchor">[32]</a>.</p> - -<p>But this is a minor point: it was not so much in his ‘logistics’ -that the Emperor went wrong as in his general conception of the -character of the war. He imagined that in dealing with Spain he might -act as if he were dealing with Austria or Prussia—indeed that -he had an enormous extra advantage in the fact that the armies of -Ferdinand VII were infinitely inferior in mere fighting power to those -of Francis II or Frederick William III. By all the ordinary rules of -modern warfare, a nation whose capital had been occupied, and whose -regular armies had been routed and half-destroyed, ought to have -submitted without further trouble. The Emperor was a little surprised -that the effect of Espinosa and Gamonal, of Tudela and Ucles, had -not been greater. He had almost expected to receive overtures from -the Junta, asking for terms of submission. But somewhat disappointed -though he might be, he had not yet realized that Spain was not as other -countries. The occupation of Madrid counted for little or nothing. The -insurrectionary armies, when driven into a corner, did not capitulate, -but dispersed, and fled in small parties over the hills, to reunite -on the first opportunity. Prussian or Austrian troops under similar -circumstances would have quietly laid down their arms. But to endeavour -to grasp a Spanish corps was like clutching at a ball of quicksilver: -the mass dispersed in driblets between the fingers of the manipulator, -and the small rolling pellets ultimately united to form a new force. -Large captures of Spaniards only took place on the actual battle-field -(as at Ucles or Ocaña), or when an army had shut itself up in a -fortress and could not get away, as happened at Saragossa and Badajoz. -Unless actually penned in between bayonets, the insurgents abandoned -cannon and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[p. 20]</span> baggage, -broke their ranks and disappeared, to gather again on some more -propitious day, either as fresh armies or as guerrilla bands operating -upon the victor’s lines of communication.</p> - -<p>Nor was this all: in Italy, Germany, and Austria Bonaparte had -dealt with regions where the population remained quiescent when -once the regular army had been beaten. Risings like that of Verona -in 1797, or of the Tyrol in 1805, were exceptional. The French army -was wont to go forward without being forced to leave large garrisons -behind it, to hold down the conquered country-side. A battalion or -two placed in the chief towns sufficed to secure the communication of -the army with France. Small parties, or even single officers bearing -dispatches, could ride safely for many miles through an Italian or -Austrian district without being molested. It was not thus in Spain: the -Emperor was to find that every village where there was not a French -garrison would be a focus of active resistance, and that no amount of -shooting or hanging would cow the spirits of the peasantry. It was -only after scores of aides-de-camp had been murdered or captured, and -after countless small detachments had been destroyed, that he came to -realize that every foot of Spanish soil must not only be conquered -but also held down. If there was a square of ten miles unoccupied, a -guerrilla band arose in it. If a district thirty miles long lacked a -brigade to garrison it, a local junta with a ragged apology for an -army promptly appeared. Three hundred thousand men look a large force -on paper, but when they have to hold down a country five hundred miles -broad they are frittered away to nothing. This Great Britain knows -well enough from her recent South African experience: but it was not -a common matter of knowledge in 1809. If the Emperor had been told, -on the day of his entry into Madrid, that even three years later his -communication with Bayonne would only be preserved by the maintenance -of a fortified post at every tenth milestone, he would have laughed -the idea to scorn. Still more ridiculous would it have appeared to him -if he had been told that it would take a body of 300 horse to carry a -dispatch from Salamanca to Saragossa, or that the normal garrison of -Old Castile would have to be kept at 15,000 men, even when there was no -regular Spanish army nearer to it than Oviedo or Astorga. In short he, -and all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[p. 21]</span> Europe, had -much to learn as to the conditions of warfare in the Peninsula. If he -had realized them in March, 1808, there would have been no treachery at -Bayonne, and the ‘running sore,’ as he afterwards called the Spanish -war, would never have broken forth.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the conquest of Spain was hung up for a month and more -after the victory of Ucles. The Emperor had bidden Joseph and Jourdan -to wait till the February rains were over, before sending out the great -expedition against Andalusia; the siege of Saragossa was prolonged far -beyond expectation, and Soult in Galicia (as we shall presently see) -found the time-allowance which his master had set him inadequate to the -verge of absurdity. The French made no further move of importance till -March.</p> - -<p>The Central Junta, therefore, were granted three full months -from the date of their flight from Aranjuez to Seville, in which to -reorganize their armies for the oncoming campaign of 1809—a -respite which they gained (as we have already shown) purely and solely -through Moore’s splendid inspiration of the march to Sahagun.</p> - -<p>The members of the Junta trailed into Seville at various dates -between December 14 and December 17. Their rapid journey at midwinter -through the Sierra de Guadalupe and the still wilder Sierra Morena had -been toilsome and exhausting<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" -class="fnanchor">[33]</a>. It proved fatal to their old president, -Florida Blanca, who died of bronchitis only eleven days after he had -arrived at Seville. In his stead a Castilian Grandee of unimpeachable -patriotism but very moderate abilities, the Marquis of Astorga, was -elected to the presidential chair. The Junta had no enviable task -before it: the news of the disasters on the Ebro and the fall of -Madrid had thrown the nation into a paroxysm of unreasoning fury. -Ridiculous charges of treason were being raised against all those who -had been in charge of the war. Blake and Castaños (of all people!) -were being openly accused of having sold themselves to Napoleon. -There were a number of political assassinations in the regions to -which the French had not yet penetrated: most of the victims were -old friends of Godoy. It looked at first as if<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_22">[p. 22]</span> the central government would be unable to -restore any sort of order, or to organize any further resistance. Some -of the local juntas, whose importance had disappeared with the meeting -of the Supreme Junta, showed signs of wishing to resume their ancient -independence. Those of Seville and Jaen were especially disobliging. -But the evils of disunion were so obvious that even the most -narrow-minded particularists settled down after a time into at least a -formal obedience to the central government.</p> - -<p>The enforced halt made by the French after Napoleon’s departure for -Madrid was the salvation of Spain. By the month of January things were -beginning to assume a more regular aspect, and some attempt was made -to face the situation. The most favourable part of that situation was -that money at least was not wanting for the moment. The four or five -millions of dollars which the British Government had distributed to the -provincial Juntas and to the ‘Central’ had long been spent, and in 1809 -no more than £387,000 in specie was advanced to Spain. Spent also was -the enormous amount of money accruing from patriotic gifts and local -assessments. But there had just arrived at Cadiz a large consignment -of specie from America. The Spanish colonies in the New World had all -adhered without hesitation to the cause of Ferdinand VII, and their -first and most copious contribution had just come to hand. Not only had -the Governors of Mexico and Peru and the other provinces strained every -nerve to raise money, but a vast patriotic fund had been collected by -individuals. There were rich merchants and land-holders in America -who made voluntary offerings of sums as large as 100,000 or 200,000 -dollars apiece. The money which came to hand early in 1809 amounted to -more than £2,800,000, and much more was received ere the close of the -year. It was with this sum, far more than with British money, that the -Spanish armies were paid and fed: but their equipment mainly came from -England. The stores of arms, clothing, and munition which had existed -in the arsenals of the Peninsula when the war broke out, had all been -exhausted in the autumn, and had not even sufficed to equip fully the -unfortunate armies which were beaten on the Ebro. The government and -the local juntas had set up new manufactories at Seville, Valencia, -and elsewhere,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[p. 23]</span> which -were already turning out a large quantity of weapons, accoutrements, -and uniforms: it was now that the armies began to appear in the -rough brown cloth of the country and in leather shakos, abandoning -the old white uniform and plumed hat which had been the garb of the -Spanish line. But the reclothing and rearmament of the troops could -never have been completed without the enormous consignments of cloth, -powder, muskets, lead, and leather work which came from England. It -is true that much was lost by the fortune of war before it could be -utilized—notably the considerable amount of muskets, ammunition, -and cloth which had been landed in Galicia for La Romana’s army. -This, as we have seen, was either destroyed by Sir John Moore’s army -or captured by Soult, because the Galician Junta had kept it waiting -too long at the base. But all that went to Andalusia, Valencia, and -Catalonia came safely to hand. Palafox’s army was re-equipped, just -before the second siege of Saragossa began, with British stores sent up -by Colonel Doyle from Tarragona. The armies of the south and east also -received enormous consignments of necessaries.</p> - -<p>It remains to speak of the purely military aspect of the Junta’s -position. When January began, the wrecks of the Spanish armies were -distributed in a wide semicircle reaching from Oviedo to Gerona, while -the French lay in their midst. In the Asturias there were still 14,000 -or 15,000 men under arms: the relics of Acevedo’s division of Blake’s -army had fallen back, and joined the other levies which the local Junta -had assembled. The whole force was watching the two lines on which the -French could conceivably move during the winter—the coast route -from Santander to Gijon, and the pass of Pajares which leads from Leon -to Oviedo.</p> - -<p>In Galicia, La Romana’s army, now engaged in the miserable retreat -from Astorga to Orense, had fallen into the most wretched condition. Of -the 22,000 men who had been assembled at Leon in December only 6,000 -or 7,000 were now to be found: the Galician battalions had melted home -when the army fell back among their native mountains. They cannot be -much blamed, for they were suffering acute starvation: in the spring -they came back to join the colours readily enough. The regulars, -who still hung together, were famished, naked, typhus-ridden,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[p. 24]</span> and incapable of any great -exertion. Their general’s only care was to keep them as far as possible -from Soult and Ney, till the winter should have passed by, and food and -clothing be procured.</p> - -<p>Between La Romana’s men at Orense and the army of Estremadura -on the Tagus there was no Spanish force in the field. When Lapisse -and D’Avenay had occupied Zamora and Salamanca, the only centre of -resistance in Leon was the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo, which was held -by a handful of local militia. Portuguese troops were beginning to -collect in its rear at Almeida, but with them the Junta had nothing to -do.</p> - -<p>The Estremaduran army had now passed from the hands of Galluzzo to -those of Cuesta. The Junta, in spite of the memories of Cabezon and -Rio Seco, had once more given the obstinate and incapable old soldier -an important command. Apparently they had been moved by the widespread -but idiotic cry imputing treachery to the generals who had been beaten -on the Ebro, and gave Cuesta an army because (with all his faults) no -one ever dreamed of accusing him of treachery or sympathy with the -French. His forces consisted (1) of the wrecks of Belvedere’s army from -Gamonal, (2) of the débris of San Juan’s army from Madrid, (3) of new -Estremaduran levies, which had not gone forward to Burgos in October, -but had remained behind to complete their organization, (4) of the four -dismounted cavalry regiments from Denmark, which had been sent to the -south when La Romana landed at Santander, in order to procure equipment -and horses. In all, the army of Cuesta had no more than 10,500 foot -and 2,000 or 2,500 horse. The spirit of the old troops of San Juan and -Belvedere was still very bad, and they were hardly recovered from their -December mutinies and murders. After Lefebvre had driven them back -from the Tagus, and occupied the bridges of Almaraz and Arzobispo, the -Estremadurans had retired to Merida and Truxillo: on January 11 their -most advanced position was at the last-named place.</p> - -<p>To the east of Estremadura lay the weakest point of the Spanish -line: Andalusia and its mountain barrier of the Sierra Morena were -almost undefended in January, 1809. It will be remembered that all -through the autumn of the preceding year the local juntas, intoxicated -with the fumes of Baylen, had let the months slip by without doing much -to organize the ‘Army<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[p. 25]</span> -of Reserve,’ of which they had spoken so much in August and September. -It resulted that, when Reding had marched for Catalonia, and the last -belated fractions of Castaños’ army had been forwarded to Madrid, -Andalusia was almost destitute of troops. When the Junta fled to -Seville, it looked around for an army with which to defend the passes -of the Sierra Morena. Nothing of the kind existed: the only force -available consisted of nine or ten battalions, mainly new levies, which -were dispersed through the ‘Four Kingdoms’ completing their armament -and organization. They were hastily mobilized and pushed forward to the -Sierra Morena, but not more than 6,000 bayonets and 500 sabres could -be collected. This was the sole force that lay between the French at -Madrid and the Junta at Seville. The charge of the division, whose -head quarters were placed at La Carolina, was given to the Marquis -del Palacio, who in the general shifting of commanders had just been -recalled from Catalonia.</p> - -<p>The British Government’s knowledge of the danger to which Andalusia -was exposed, from the absolute want of troops to defend it, led to an -untoward incident, which did much to endanger its friendly relations -with the Junta. On hearing of the fall of Madrid, and of Moore’s -retreat towards Galicia, Canning harked back to one of his old ideas of -the previous summer, the notion that British troops might be sent to -the south of Spain, if a safe basis for their operations were secured. -This, as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs believed, would -best be provided by the establishment of a garrison in Cadiz. It was -all-important that this great centre of commerce should not fall into -the hands of the French, and early in January it was known in London -that there was no adequate Spanish force ready to defend the passes -of Andalusia. If Napoleon had an army large enough to provide, not -only for the pursuit of Moore, but for the dispatch of a strong corps -for an attack on Seville, it seemed probable that the French might -overrun Southern Spain as far as the sea, without meeting with serious -opposition. Accordingly, Canning wrote to Frere, on the fourteenth -day of the new year, 1809, to offer the assistance of a considerable -British force for the defence of Andalusia, if Cadiz were placed in -their hands.</p> - -<p>‘The question of the employment of a British army in the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[p. 26]</span> south of Spain,’ he wrote, -‘depends essentially upon the disposition of the Spanish Government to -receive a corps of that army into Cadiz. Without the security to be -afforded by that fortress, it is impossible to hazard the army in the -interior, after the example of the little co-operation which Sir John -Moore represents himself to have received from the Spaniards in the -north.... In consequence of the imminent danger, and of the pressing -necessity for immediate decision arising from Sir John Moore’s retreat, -and from the defenceless state in which you represent Andalusia to be, -His Majesty’s Government have deemed it right (without waiting for the -result of your communication with the Central Junta) to send a force -direct to Cadiz, to be admitted into that fortress. Four thousand men -under Major-General Sherbrooke are directed to sail immediately, and he -is informed that he is to expect instructions from you on his arrival, -containing the determination of the Spanish Government respecting his -admission into Cadiz.... In the event of a refusal of the Junta to -afford this proof of confidence, Major-General Sherbrooke is directed -to proceed to Gibraltar<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" -class="fnanchor">[34]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The last paragraph of this dispatch shows that Canning’s intentions -were perfectly honourable, and that he did not intend to bring any -pressure to bear upon the Junta in the event of their refusing to -admit a British garrison into Cadiz. His views were founded upon the -information available in London when he wrote, and he was under the -impression that a French army might probably be marching upon Seville -at the moment when his letter would reach Frere’s hands. But—as -we have seen—the diversion of the main force of Napoleon’s army -of invasion against Moore, had rendered any such expedition impossible, -and no immediate danger was really to be apprehended.</p> - -<p>The same idea, however, had entered into Frere’s mind, and long -before he received Canning’s dispatch he had been sounding members of -the Central Junta as to the way in which they would look on a proposal -to send British troops to Cadiz. The answer which he received from -their secretary, Martin de Garay, was not reassuring: Don Martin -‘energetically repudiated’ the project: there would be no objection, -he said, to admit a garrison, if Cadiz became ‘the ultimate point of -retreat’ of the armies and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[p. -27]</span> government of Spain. But the danger that had appeared so -pressing some weeks before had passed by, the French had stopped their -advance, and the Junta were now hoping to defend Estremadura and the -course of the Tagus. The invaders, as they trusted, would be met and -checked on the line of Alcantara and Almaraz. They deprecated any -sending of British troops to Cadiz, and hoped that Lisbon would be the -point to which reinforcements would be dispatched, as its evacuation -would have deplorable results. De Garay, in a second letter, spoke of -rumours to the effect that Cradock was proposing to evacuate Portugal, -and trusted that they were not true. As a matter of fact they were, -and that timid commander was already making secret preparations to -embark.</p> - -<p>Frere gave up for the present any idea of pressing the project -further, unless the French should recommence their advance on -Andalusia. He had not yet received Canning’s dispatch from London, -and did not know that the home government had taken to heart the plan -for occupying Cadiz and sending a large expedition to Andalusia. -But on February 2, before any hint of the kind had reached him, -he was informed by a dispatch from Lisbon that troops had been -already sent off to Cadiz<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" -class="fnanchor">[35]</a>. This step was the work of Sir George Smith, -one of the numerous British military agents in the Peninsula, who had -taken upon himself to force events to an issue, without first taking -the precaution of communicating either with the home government or -the British ambassador at Seville. Smith was a hasty and presumptuous -man, full of zeal without discretion. The defencelessness of Andalusia -had impressed him, just as it had impressed Canning and Frere. But -instead of opening communications with the Junta, as they had both -done, he had merely written in very urgent terms to Cradock, and -adjured him to detach troops from the scanty garrison of Portugal in -order to secure Cadiz. The general, when thus pressed, consented to -fall in with the scheme, and set aside a brigade under Mackenzie, which -he shipped off from Lisbon at twenty-four hours’ notice (February -2). He also ordered the 40th regiment, then in garrison at Elvas, -to march on Seville. Both Cradock and Smith were gravely to blame, -for they had no authorization<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[p. -28]</span> to attempt to occupy Cadiz, without obtaining the consent -of the Spanish Government<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" -class="fnanchor">[36]</a>. They should have consulted both Frere and -the Junta before moving a man: but it was only when the troops had -actually embarked that they thought fit to notify their action to the -ambassador at Seville.</p> - -<p>On receiving their letters Frere was placed in an unenviable -position. Having just seen his own proposals negatived by the Junta -in polite but decisive terms, he now learnt that a British force had -been sent off to carry out precisely the plan which the Spaniards had -refused to take into consideration. Four days later he was informed -that Mackenzie’s brigade, which had chanced upon a favourable wind, -was actually lying in Cadiz harbour, and that Sir George Smith was -endeavouring to induce the local authorities of the place to permit -them to land. The Junta, as was inevitable, suspected Frere of having -been in the plot, and imagined that he was trying to force their hand -by the display of armed force. Cadiz was at Smith’s mercy, for it was -only garrisoned by its urban guards; and the populace were by no means -unwilling to see the British land, for the fear of the French was upon -them, and they welcomed the approach of reinforcements of any kind.</p> - -<p>The supreme authority in Cadiz at this moment was the Marquis of -Villel, a special commissioner sent down by the Central Junta, of which -he was a member. He refused to be cajoled by Smith, and very properly -referred his demand for permission to disembark to the government at -Seville. The latter, not unnaturally incensed, turned for explanations -to Frere. The ambassador’s conduct when placed in this dilemma was -by no means wise or straightforward. Instead of frankly disavowing -Smith’s action, he adopted the tortuous course<a id="FNanchor_37" -href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> of<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_29">[p. 29]</span> pretending that the expedition from Lisbon -had been sent with his knowledge and consent, but that he would -not allow it to land without the leave of the Junta. The Spaniards -replied in terms of some indignation, and returned a frank negative -to the demand. Their secretary, de Garay, wrote that the unexpected -appearance of General Mackenzie’s force was ‘painful and disagreeable -intelligence, Cadiz being no longer in danger from the French, and -two Spanish regiments being already on their way to reinforce the -garrison. The measure which had been taken would admit of a thousand -interpretations, and a consent to hand over the fortress to the British -would compromise the Central Junta with the whole nation.’ The fact -was that Spanish public opinion was strongly opposed to allowing the -British to obtain a foothold in Cadiz; there was a deeply-rooted notion -abroad that, if once occupied, the place might be kept permanently in -our hands, and be turned into a second Gibraltar.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately for the credit of Great Britain with her allies, -tumults broke out at Cadiz within a few days of the arrival of -Mackenzie’s army, which supplied an excuse to malevolent Spaniards for -attributing the worst motives to their allies. As a matter of fact they -were not stirred up by Sir George Smith or any other emissary of the -British Government, but were the results of the eccentric behaviour -of the Marquis de Villel<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" -class="fnanchor">[38]</a>. This personage was a very strange character, -a sort of nineteenth-century Spanish Puritan, with a taste for playing -the benevolent despot. He attributed the misfortunes of his country -(and not without much reason) to her moral decadence. His idea of the -way to commence her regeneration was peculiar, considering the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[p. 30]</span> circumstances of the -time. He issued an edict commanding all married pairs living apart, -to reunite, issued laws repressing theatre-going, late hours, and -gambling, legislated concerning the length of ladies’ skirts, and -organized a grand <i>battue</i> against women of light reputation, of whom -he imprisoned some scores. When he proceeded to engage in a sort of -moral inquisition into the private life of all classes, he naturally -became very unpopular, and on the first opportunity the populace rose -against him. He had ordered into the city a newly-embodied ‘Swiss’ -battalion, raised from the prisoners of Dupont’s army and other -deserters of all nationalities. The cry was raised by his enemies that -he was admitting Frenchmen in disguise into the sacred fortress, with -the purpose of betraying it to the enemy. Other rumours were put about -to the effect that he was deliberately neglecting the fortifications, -and supplying the batteries with powder adulterated with sand<a -id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a>.</p> - -<p>When the foreign battalion drew near to Cadiz on February 22, and -began to march up the long spit which connects the city with the Isla -de Leon, the storm burst. A mixed multitude of rioters shut the gates -against the troops, and then swept the streets, maltreating Villel’s -subordinates, and slaying Don José Heredia the commander of the -coast-guard, a person very unpopular with the smugglers, who formed an -appreciable element in the crowd. The High Commissioner himself was -besieged in his house, hunted from it, and nearly murdered: he only -escaped by the kind offices of the head of a Capuchin convent, who took -him within his gates, and made himself responsible to the rioters for -keeping the refugee in safe custody. The mob next tried to break open -the state prison, for the purpose of slaying General Caraffa and other -political captives. Fortunately Felix Jones, the military Governor, -succeeded in saving these unhappy persons, by the not over-willing aid -of the urban guards, many of whom had joined in the outbreak.</p> - -<p>The rioters expressed great friendliness for the British, and many -of them kept inviting the troops in the offing to come ashore. It -was very lucky that no attention was paid to these solicitations<a -id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a>, for -if they had landed the worst suspicions of<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_31">[p. 31]</span> the Junta would have appeared justified, -and the insurrection would have been attributed to the machinations of -Frere or Smith. Fortunately the latter had died, only a few days before -the troubles broke out, the victim of a fever which carried him off -after no more than twenty-four hours of illness. If he had survived -till the twenty-second, he would have been quite capable of taking the -fatal step of listening to the appeals of the rioters, and ordering the -troops ashore.</p> - -<p>As it turned out the whole expedition ended in an absurd fiasco. -When the riots had died down, the Junta recalled the eccentric de -Villel, but they would not listen to any proposals from Frere for -admitting British troops into Cadiz, even when he suggested that -only two battalions should remain there, while the rest, including -Sherbrooke’s division, which was expected to arrive in a few days, -should come up and join the 40th regiment at Seville, with the ultimate -purpose of marching into Estremadura. The Junta replied that ‘the -loyalty of the British Ministry and the generosity of its efforts to -assist Spain were beyond suspicion: but the National Government must -respect national prejudices, and avoid exposing itself to censure. -If there were any urgent danger, they would have no hesitation in -admitting the troops of their allies into Cadiz. But the French were -still far away, and there was no immediate prospect of their approach. -The British expedition would be more usefully employed in Catalonia, -or in some other theatre of war, than in Cadiz<a id="FNanchor_41" -href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>.’ By March 4, when this -final answer was sent to Frere, the state of affairs had so much -changed, that the representations made by the Junta were more or less -correct. The imminent danger which had existed in January had passed -away.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, after lying idly for four weeks in their transports, -and gazing with much unsatisfied curiosity on the white<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[p. 32]</span> houses, the green shutters, -and the flat roofs of Cadiz, across the beautiful bay, Mackenzie’s -regiments set sail again for Lisbon on March 6. As they ran out of the -harbour, they met Sherbrooke’s belated convoy, whose arrival had been -delayed by fearful tempests in the Bay of Biscay. The whole force, -6,000 bayonets strong, was brought back to Portugal. It might have -been of infinite service to Cradock if it had remained at Lisbon and -had never been sent to Cadiz, and its presence might have induced him -to adopt measures less timid and futile than those which (as we shall -see) he had pursued during January and February<a id="FNanchor_42" -href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a>.</p> - -<p>But this unfortunate incident has detained us too long; we must -return to the state of the Spanish armies at the end of the month of -January. Beyond the levies of the Marquis Del Palacio at La Carolina, -there was a long gap in the Spanish line of defence. The next force -under arms was the army of Infantado, now engaged in its exhausting -winter march from Cuenca to the Murcian border. After the rout of -Ucles it was still 12,000 strong, though destitute of all supplies -and not fit for immediate service. The Junta ordered it to march -from Chinchilla to join Del Palacio’s force at the mouth of the -Despeña Perros, and so to strengthen the defences of Andalusia.<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[p. 33]</span> This was done, and the two -forces were safely united, so that when a few more new battalions had -been brought up from Granada, 20,000 men were placed between Victor and -Andalusia. The Junta removed Infantado from command, rightly judging -that he had sacrificed Venegas at Ucles by his neglect to send orders -and his sloth in coming up to join his subordinate. The charge of the -force at La Carolina (still called ‘the Army of the Centre’) was made -over to General Cartaojal.</p> - -<p>Beyond Infantado’s depleted corps lay the army of Valencia. Its -nucleus was the remains of the old division of Llamas and Roca, which -had served with Castaños at Tudela. The local Junta rapidly recruited -this skeleton force from 1,500 up to 5,000 men<a id="FNanchor_43" -href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a>. They added to it several -new regiments raised during the winter in Valencia and Murcia, and by -February had 10,000 men available for succouring Aragon and Catalonia, -though their quality left much to be desired.</p> - -<p>A little further north Palafox was still holding out with splendid -desperation in Saragossa, where he had shut himself up with the whole -army of Aragon. His original 32,000 men were already much thinned by -pestilence and the sword, but in January their spirit was yet unbroken, -and though it was clear that they were doomed to final destruction, -if they were not relieved from the outside, yet they were still doing -excellent work in detaining in front of them the whole of the 3rd and -5th French Army Corps.</p> - -<p>There yet remains to be described the strongest of all the Spanish -armies, that of Catalonia. In addition to the original garrison of -the province, and to its gallant <i>miqueletes</i> and <i>somatenes</i>, there -had been gradually drafted into the principality (1) the greater part -of the garrison of the Balearic Isles, some 9,000 men; (2) Reding’s -Granadan division which started from its home over 10,000 strong; (3) -2,500 men of Caraffa’s old division from Portugal; (4) the Marquis -of Lazan’s Aragonese division from the side of Lerida, about 4,000 -bayonets. Thus in all some 32,000 men in organized corps had been -massed in Catalonia, and the <i>somatenes</i> added some 20,000 irregulars. -Of course the Spanish strength in January did not reach these -figures. Many men had been lost at the siege of Rosas and in<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[p. 34]</span> the battles of Cardadeu -and Molins de Rey: yet there were still 40,000 troops of one sort or -another available; the spirit of the country was irritated rather -than lowered by the late defeats; the French only occupied the ground -that was within the actual circle of fire of their garrisons. If the -Catalans had been content to avoid general engagements, and to maintain -an incessant guerrilla warfare, they might have held their own. Though -the enemy had a very capable commander in General St. Cyr, they had -as yet accomplished nothing more than the capture of the antiquated -fortress of Rosas, the relief of Barcelona, and the winning of two -fruitless battles. Catalonia remained unsubdued till the very end of -the struggle.</p> - -<p>Reckoning up all their armies, the Junta had in the end of January -some 135,000 men in arms,—a force insufficient to face the French -in the open, for the latter (even after the departure of the Imperial -Guard) had still nearly 300,000<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" -class="fnanchor">[44]</a> sabres and bayonets south of the Pyrenees, -but one quite capable of keeping up the national resistance if it were -only conducted upon the proper lines. For, as Napoleon and his marshals -had yet to learn, no Spanish district could be considered conquered -unless a garrison was left in each of its towns, and flying columns -kept in continual motion through the open country. Of the 288,000 -French who now lay in Spain more than half were really wanted for -garrison duty. A district like Galicia was capable of keeping 40,000 -men employed: even the plains of Old Castile and Leon swallowed up -whole divisions.</p> - -<p>But, unfortunately for Spain, the mania for fighting pitched battles -was still obsessing the minds of her generals. Within a few weeks -three wholly unnecessary and disastrous engagements were to be risked, -at Valls, Ciudad Real, and Medellin. Instead of playing a cautious -defensive game, and harassing the French, the Spaniards persisted -in futile attempts to face the enemy in general actions, for which -their troops were wholly unsuited. The results were so deplorable -that but for a second British intervention—Wellesley’s march to -Talavera—Andalusia would have been in as great peril in July, -1809, as it had been in January.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[p. 35]</span></p> - -<p>The Central Junta must take its share of the responsibility for this -fact no less than the Spanish generals. It still persisted in its old -error of refusing to appoint a single commander-in-chief, so that each -army fought for its own hand, without any attempt to co-ordinate its -actions with those of the others. Indeed several of the generals were -at notorious enmity with their colleagues—notably Cuesta and -Venegas. It was to no purpose that the Central Government displayed -great energy in organizing men and collecting material, if, when -the armies had been equipped and sent to the front, they were used -piecemeal, without any general strategical scheme, and led ere long -to some miserable disaster, such as Ucles, or Medellin, or Ocaña. The -Junta, the generals, and the nation were all alike possessed by the -delusion that with energy and sufficient numbers they might on some -happy morning achieve a second Baylen. But for such a consummation -Duponts and Vedels are required, and when no such convenient -adversaries were to be found, the attempt to encompass and beat a -French army was certain to end in a catastrophe.</p> - -<p>The only Spanish fighters who were playing the proper game in -1809 were the Catalonian <i>somatenes</i>, and even they gave battle -far too often, and did not adhere with a sufficient pertinacity -to the harassing tactics of guerrilla warfare. General Arteche -has collected in his fourth volume something like a dozen schemes -for the expulsion of the French from Spain, which were laid -before the Junta, or ventilated in print, during this year. It is -interesting to see that only one of them advocates the true line of -resistance—the avoiding of battles, the harassing of the enemy’s -flanks and communications, and the employment of numerous flying -bands instead of great masses<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" -class="fnanchor">[45]</a>. Some of the other plans are the wild -imaginings of ignorant fools—one wiseacre wished to run down the -French columns with pikemen in a sort of Macedonian phalanx, another -to arm one-sixth of the troops with hand-grenades! But the majority -of the Junta’s self-constituted advisers thought that numbers were -the only necessary thing, and proposed to save Spain by crushing the -invaders with levies <i>en masse</i> of all persons between sixteen<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[p. 36]</span> and fifty—one -enthusiast makes the age-limit fourteen to seventy!</p> - -<p>These were the views of the nation, and the generals and the Junta -were but infected with the common delusion of all their compatriots. -They would not see that courage and raw multitudes are almost helpless -when opposed by equal courage combined with skill, long experience of -war, superior tactics, and intelligent leading.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap10_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[p. 37]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">SECTION X</h2> - <p class="subh2">THE AUTUMN AND WINTER CAMPAIGN IN CATALONIA</p> - <h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE SIEGE OF ROSAS</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Before</span> we follow further the fortunes of -Southern Spain, it is necessary to turn back and to take up the tale of -the war on the Eastern coast at the point where it was left in Section -V.</p> - -<p>The same torpor which was notable in the operations of the main -armies of the Spaniards and the French during the months of September -and October was to be observed in Catalonia also. On the Ter and the -Llobregat the inability of the French to move was much more real, and -the slackness of the Spaniards even more inexplicable, than on the Ebro -and the Aragon.</p> - -<p>In the early days of September the situation of the invaders was -most perilous. After the disastrous failure of the second siege of -Gerona, it will be remembered that Reille had withdrawn to Figueras, -close to the French frontier, while Duhesme had cut his way back to -Barcelona, after sacrificing all his artillery and his baggage on the -way. Both commanders proceeded to report to the Emperor that there -was need for ample reinforcements of veteran troops, or a catastrophe -must inevitably ensue. Meanwhile Reille preserved a defensive attitude -at the foot of the Pyrenees; while Duhesme could do no more than hold -Barcelona, and as much of its suburban plain as he could safely occupy -without risking overmuch his outlying detachments. He foresaw a famine -in the winter, and devoted all his energies to seizing and sending -into the town<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[p. 38]</span> all -foodstuffs that he could find in the neighbourhood. His position was -most uncomfortable: the late expedition had reduced his force from -13,000 to 10,000 sabres and bayonets. The men were demoralized, and -when sent out to forage saw <i>somatenes</i> behind every bush and rock. The -populace of Barcelona was awaiting a good opportunity for an <i>émeute</i>, -and was in constant communication with the insurgents outside.</p> - -<p>The blockade was not as yet kept up by any large section of the -Captain-General’s regular troops, nor had any attempt been made to -run lines around the place. It was conducted by an elastic cordon of -four or five thousand <i>miqueletes</i>, supported by no more than 2,000 -infantry of the regular army and possessing five or six field-guns. -The charge of the whole line was given to the Conde de Caldagues, who -had so much distinguished himself in the previous month by his relief -of Gerona. He had been entrusted with a force too small to man a -circuit of twelve or fifteen miles, so that Duhesme had no difficulty -in pushing sorties through the line of Spanish posts, whenever he -chose to send out a sufficiently strong column. But any body that -pressed out too far in pursuit of corn or forage, risked being beset -and mishandled on its return march by the whole of the <i>somatenes</i> of -the country-side. Hence there was a limit to the power to roam of even -the largest expeditions that Duhesme could spare from his depleted -garrison. The fighting along the blockading cordon was incessant, -but never conclusive. On September 2 a strong column of six Italian -battalions swept aside the Spaniards for a moment in the direction of -San Boy, but a smaller expedition against the bridge of Molins de Rey -was repulsed. The moment that the Italians returned to Barcelona, with -the food that they had scraped together in the villages, Caldagues -reoccupied his old positions. There were many skirmishes but no large -sorties between September 2 and October 12, when Milosewitz took out -2,000 men for a cattle-hunt in the valley of the Besos. He pierced the -blockading line, routing the <i>miqueletes</i> of Milans at San Jeronimo -de la Murtra, and penetrated as far as Granollers, twenty miles from -Barcelona, where he made an invaluable seizure, the food dépôt of the -eastern section of the investing force. But he was now dangerously -distant from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[p. 39]</span> his -base, and as he was returning with his captures, Caldagues fell -upon him at San Culgat with troops brought from other parts of the -blockading line. The Italians were routed with a loss of 300 men<a -id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a>, and -their convoy was recaptured. After this Duhesme made no more attempts -to send expeditions far afield: in spite of a growing scarcity of food, -he could not afford to risk the loss of any more men by pushing his -sorties into the inland.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Reille at Figueras was in wellnigh as forlorn a situation. -His communications with Perpignan were open, so that he had not, like -Duhesme, the fear of starvation before his eyes. But in other respects -he was almost as badly off: the <i>somatenes</i> were always worrying his -outposts, but this was only a secondary trial. The main trouble was -the want of clothing, transport, and equipment: the heterogeneous mob -of <i>bataillons de marche</i>, of Swiss and Tuscan conscripts, had been -hurried to the frontier without any proper preparations: this mattered -comparatively little during the summer; but when the autumn cold began -Reille found that troops, who had neither tents nor greatcoats, and -whose original summer uniforms were now worn out, could not keep the -field. His ranks were so thinned by dysentery and rheumatic affections -that he had to put the men under cover in Figueras and the neighbouring -towns, and even to withdraw to Perpignan some of his battalions, -whose clothing was absolutely dropping to pieces. His cavalry, for -want of forage in the Pyrenees, were sent back into Languedoc, where -occupation was found for them by Lord Cochrane who was conducting a -series of daring raids on the coast villages between the mouth of the -Rhone and that of the Tech<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" -class="fnanchor">[47]</a>. Reille continued to solicit the war minister -at Paris for clothing and transport, but could get nothing from him: -all the resources of the empire were being strained in September and -October to fit out the main army, which was about to enter Spain on the -side of Biscay, and Napoleon refused to trouble himself about such a -minor force as the corps at Figueras.</p> - -<p>The Spaniards, therefore, had in the autumn months a unique -opportunity for striking at the two isolated French forces in<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[p. 40]</span> Catalonia. Two courses were -open to them: they might have turned their main army against Barcelona, -and attempted to besiege instead of merely to blockade Duhesme: or -on the other hand they might have left a mere cordon of <i>somatenes</i> -around Duhesme, and have sent all their regulars to join the levies of -the north and sweep Reille across the Pyrenees. The resources at their -disposition were far from contemptible: almost the whole garrison of -the Balearic Isles having disembarked in Catalonia, there were now -some 12,000 regulars in the Principality, and the local Junta had -put so much energy into the equipment of the numerous <i>tercios</i> of -<i>miqueletes</i> which it had raised, that the larger half of them, at -least 20,000 men, were more or less ready for the field. Moreover they -were aware that large reinforcements were at hand. Reding’s Granadan -division, 10,000 strong, was marching up from the south, and was due to -arrive early in November. The Aragonese division under the Marquis of -Lazan, which had been detached from the army of Palafox, was already -at Lerida. Valencia had sent up a line regiment<a id="FNanchor_48" -href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>, and the remains of -the division of Caraffa from Portugal were being brought round by -sea to the mouth of the Ebro<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" -class="fnanchor">[49]</a>. Altogether 20,000 men of new troops were on -the way to Catalonia, and the first of them had already come on the -scene.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately the Marquis Del Palacio, the new Captain-General of -Catalonia, though well-intentioned, was slow and undecided to the -verge of absolute torpidity. Beyond allowing his energetic subordinate -Caldagues to keep up the blockade of Barcelona he did practically -nothing. A couple of thousand of his regulars, based on Gerona and -Rosas, lay opposite Reille, but were far too weak to attack him. About -3,000 under Caldagues were engaged in the operations around Barcelona. -The rest the Captain-General held back and did not use. All through -September he lay idle at Tarragona, to the great disgust of the local -Junta, who at last sent such angry complaints<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_41">[p. 41]</span> to Aranjuez that the Central Junta recalled -him, and replaced him by Vives the old Captain-General of the Balearic -Islands, who took over the command on October 28.</p> - -<p>This gave a change of commander but not of policy, for Vives was as -slow and incapable as his predecessor. We have already had occasion -to mention the trouble that he gave in August, when he refused to -send his troops to the mainland till actually compelled to yield by -their mutiny. When he took over the charge of operations he found -20,000 foot and 1,000 horse at his disposition, and the French still -on the defensive both at Barcelona and at Figueras. He had a splendid -opportunity, and it was not yet too late to strike hard. But all that -he chose to attempt was to turn the blockade of Barcelona into an -investment, by tightening the cordon round the place. To lay siege to -the city does not seem to have been within the scope of his intentions, -but on November 6 he moved up to the line of the Llobregat with 12,000 -infantry and 700 horse, mostly regulars. He had opened negotiations -with secret friends within the walls, and had arranged that when the -whole forces of Duhesme were sufficiently occupied in resisting the -assault from outside, the populace should take arms and endeavour -to seize and throw open one of the gates. But matters never got to -this point: on November 8 several Spanish columns moved in nearer to -Barcelona, and began to skirmish with the outposts of the garrison. -But the attack was incoherent, and never pressed home. Vives then -waited till the 26th, when he had received more reinforcements, the -first brigade of Reding’s long-expected Granadan division. On that day -another general assault on Duhesme’s outlying posts was delivered, and -this time with considerable success: several of the suburban villages -were carried, over a hundred Frenchmen were captured, and the line of -blockade was drawn close under the walls. Duhesme had no longer any -hold outside the city. But Barcelona was strong, and its garrison, -when concentrated within the place, was just numerous enough to hold -its own. Duhesme had thought for a moment of evacuating the city and -retiring into the citadel and the fortress of Montjuich: but on mature -consideration he resolved to cling as long as possible to the whole -circuit of the town. He had heard that an army of relief was at last -on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[p. 42]</span> the way, and made -up his mind to yield no inch without compulsion.</p> - -<p>Thus Vives wasted another month without any adequate results: he -had, with the whole field army of Catalonia, done nothing more than -turn the French out of their first and weakest line of defence. The -fortress was intact, and to all intents and purposes might have been -observed as well by 10,000 <i>somatenes</i> as by the large force which -Vives had brought against it.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the enemy, utterly unopposed on the line of the Pyrenees, -was getting together a formidable host for the relief of Barcelona. -When he had recognized that Reille’s extemporized army was insufficient -alike in quantity and in quality for the task before it, the Emperor -had directed on Perpignan (as we have already seen<a id="FNanchor_50" -href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a>) two strong divisions of -the Army of Italy, one composed of ten French battalions under General -Souham, the other of thirteen Italian battalions. The order to dispatch -them had only been given on August 10, and the regiments, which had -to be mobilized and equipped, and then to march up from Lombardy to -the roots of the Pyrenees, did not begin to arrive at Perpignan till -September 14: the artillery, and the troops which came from the more -distant points, only appeared on October 28. Even then there was a -further week’s delay, for the Emperor had monopolized for the main -army, on the side of the Bidassoa, all the available battalions of the -military train: the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees had no transport save -that which the regiments had brought with them, and it was with the -greatest difficulty that a few hundred mules and some open carts were -collected from the French border districts. It was only on November -5 that the army crossed the Pyrenees, by the great pass between -Bellegarde and La Junquera.</p> - -<p>The officer placed in command was General Gouvion St. Cyr, who -afterwards won his marshal’s bâton in the Russian war of 1812. He was -a general of first-rate ability, who had served all through the wars -of the Revolution with marked distinction: but he disliked Bonaparte -and had not the art to hide the fact. This had kept him back from -earlier promotion. St. Cyr was by no means an amiable character: -he was detested by his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[p. -43]</span> officers and his troops as a confirmed grumbler, and -selfish to an incredible degree<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" -class="fnanchor">[51]</a>. He was one of those men who can always show -admirable and convincing reasons for not helping their neighbours. -<i>C’était un mauvais compagnon de lit</i>, said one of the many colleagues, -whom he had left in the lurch, while playing his own game. From his -morose bearing and his dislike for company he had got the nickname of -‘<i>le hibou</i>.’ He was cautious, cool-headed, and ready of resource, so -that his troops had full confidence in him, though he never commanded -their liking. Even from his history of the Catalonian war, one can -gather the character of the man. It is admirably lucid, and illustrated -with original documents, Spanish no less than French, in a fashion -only too rare among the military books of the soldiers of the Empire. -But it is not only entirely self-centred, but full of malevolent -insinuations concerning Napoleon and the author’s colleagues. In his -first chapter he broaches the extraordinary theory that Napoleon handed -over to him the Catalonian army without resources, money, or transport, -in order that he might make a fiasco of the campaign and ruin his -reputation! He actually seems to have believed that his master disliked -to have battles won for him by officers who had not owed to him the -beginning of their fortunes<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" -class="fnanchor">[52]</a>, and would have been rather pleased than -otherwise to see the attempt to relieve Barcelona end in a failure.</p> - -<p>These are, of course, the vain imaginings of a jealous and -suspicious hypochondriac. It is true that Napoleon disliked St. -Cyr, but he did not want to see the campaign of Catalonia end in a -disaster. He gave the new general a fine French division of veteran -troops, and, as his letter to the Viceroy Eugène Beauharnais shows, the -picked regiments of the whole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[p. -44]</span> Italian army. The Seventh Corps mustered in all more than -40,000 men, and 25,000 of these were concentrated under St. Cyr’s hand -at Perpignan and Figueras. It is certain that the troops were not well -equipped, and that the auxiliary services were ill represented. But -this was not from exceptional malice on Napoleon’s part: he was always -rather inclined to starve an army with which he was not present in -person, and at this moment every resource was being strained to fit -out the main force which were to deliver the great blow at Madrid. -Catalonia was but a ‘side show’: and when St. Cyr tries to prove<a -id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> that it -was the most important theatre of war in the whole peninsula, he is but -exaggerating, after the common fashion of poor humanity, the greatness -of his own task and his own victories.</p> - -<p>Before starting from Perpignan St. Cyr refitted, as best he could, -the dilapidated battalions of Reille, which were, he says, in such a -state of nudity that those who had been sent back within the French -border had to be kept out of public view from motives of mere decency<a -id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>. The -whole division had suffered so much from exposure that instead of -taking the field with the 8,000 men which it possessed in August, -it could present only 5,500 in November, after setting aside a -battalion to garrison Figueras<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" -class="fnanchor">[55]</a>.</p> - -<p>But though Reille was weak, and the division of Chabot (a mere corps -of two Neapolitan battalions and one regiment of National Guards) was -an almost negligible quantity, the troops newly arrived from Italy -were both numerous and good in quality. Souham’s ten French battalions -had 7,000 bayonets, Pino’s thirteen Italian battalions had 7,300. -Their cavalry consisted of one French and two Italian regiments, -making 1,700 sabres. The total force disposable consisted of 23,680 -men, of whom 2,096 were cavalry, and about 500 artillery. In this -figure are not included the National Guards and dépôts left behind to -garrison Bellegarde, Montlouis, and other places<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_45">[p. 45]</span> within the French frontier, but only the -troops available for operations within Catalonia.</p> - -<p>On his way to Perpignan, St. Cyr had visited the Emperor at Paris, -so as to receive his orders in person. Napoleon informed him that he -left him <i>carte blanche</i> as to all details; the one thing on which he -insisted was that Barcelona must be preserved: ‘si vous perdiez cette -place, je ne la reprendrais pas avec quatre-vingt mille hommes.’ This -then was to be the main object of the coming campaign: there were about -two months available for the task, for Duhesme reported that, though -food was growing scarce, he could hold out till the end of December. -To lessen the number of idle mouths in Barcelona he had been giving -permits to depart to many of the inhabitants, and expelling others, -against whom he could find excuses for severity.</p> - -<p>The high-road from Figueras to Barcelona was blocked by the fortress -of Gerona, whose previous resistance in July and August showed that its -capture would be a tedious and difficult matter. St. Cyr calculated -that he had not the time to spare for the siege of this place: long ere -he could expect to take it, Duhesme would be starved out. He made up -his mind that he would have to march past Gerona, and as the high-road -is commanded by the guns of the city, he would be forced to take with -him no heavy guns or baggage, but only light artillery and pack-mules, -which could use the by-paths of the mountains. It was his first duty to -relieve Barcelona by defeating the main army of Vives. When this had -been done, it would be time enough to think of the siege of Gerona.</p> - -<p>But there was another fortress which St. Cyr resolved to clear out -of his way before starting to aid Duhesme. On the sea-shore, only ten -miles before Figueras, lies the little town of Rosas, which blocks the -route that crawls under the cliffs from Perpignan and Port-Vendres -to the Ampurdam. The moment that the French army advanced south from -Figueras, it would have Rosas on its flank, and even small expeditions -based on the place could make certain of cutting the high-road, -and intercepting all communications between the base and the field -force that had gone forward. But it was more than likely that the -Spaniards would land a considerable body of troops in Rosas, for it -has an excellent harbour, and every facility for disembarka<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[p. 46]</span>tion. Several English -men-of-war were lying there; it served them as their shelter and port -of call while they watched for the French ships which tried to run into -Barcelona with provisions, from Marseilles, Cette, or Port-Vendres. -Already they had captured many vessels which endeavoured to pierce the -blockade.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr therefore was strongly of opinion that he ought to make an -end of the garrison of Rosas before starting on his expedition to aid -Duhesme. The place was strategically important, but its fortifications -were in such bad order that he imagined that it might be reduced in a -few days. The town, which counted no more than 1,500 souls, consisted -of a single long street running along the shore. It was covered by -nothing more than a ditch and an earthwork, resting at one end on a -weak redoubt above the beach, and at the other upon the citadel. The -latter formed the strength of the place: it was a pentagonal work, -regularly constructed, with bastions, and a scarp and counterscarp -reveted with stone. But its resisting power was seriously diminished -by the fact that the great breach which the French had made during its -last siege in 1794 had never been properly repaired. The government of -Godoy had neglected the place, and, when the insurrection began, the -Catalans had found it still in ruins, and had merely built up the gap -with loose stones and barrels filled with earth. A good battering train -would bring down the whole of these futile patchings in a few days. A -mile to the right of the citadel was a detached work, the Fort of the -Trinity, placed above a rocky promontory which forms the south-eastern -horn of the harbour. It had been built to protect ships lying before -the place from being annoyed by besiegers. The Trinity was built in -an odd and ingenious fashion: it was commanded at the distance of -only 100 yards by the rocky hill of Puig-Rom: to prevent ill effects -from a plunging fire from this elevation, its front had been raised -to a great height, so as to protect the interior of the work from -molestation. A broad tower 110 feet high covered the whole side of the -castle which faces inland. ‘Nothing in short, for a fortress commanded -by adjacent heights, could have been better adapted for holding out -against offensive operations, or worse adapted for replying to them. -The French battery on the cliff was too elevated for artillery to -reach, while the tower, which prevented their shot from reaching the -body<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[p. 47]</span> of the fort, -also prevented any return fire at them, even if the fort had possessed -artillery. In consequence of the elevated position of the French on -the cliff, they could only breach the central portion of the tower. -The lowest part of the breach they made was nearly sixty feet above -its base, so that it could only be reached by long scaling ladders<a -id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>.’ It is -seldom that a besieger has to complain of the difficulty caused to him -by the possession of ground completely dominating a place that he has -to reduce: but in the course of the siege of Fort Trinity the French -were undoubtedly incommoded by the height of the Puig-Rom. The garrison -below, hidden in good bomb-proofs and covered by the tower, suffered -little harm from their fire. To batter the whole tower to pieces, by -a downward fire, was too long and serious a business for them; they -merely tried to breach it.</p> - -<p>If the ground in front of Fort Trinity was too high for the French, -that of the town of Rosas was too low. It was so marshy that in wet -weather the ditches of their siege works filled at once with water, and -their parapets crumbled into liquid mud. The only approach on ground of -convenient firmness and elevation was opposite a comparatively narrow -front of the south-eastern corner of the place.</p> - -<p>The garrison of Rosas, when St. Cyr undertook its siege, was -commanded by Colonel Peter O’Daly, an officer of the Ultonia, who -had distinguished himself at Gerona; it was composed of a skeleton -battalion (150 men) of the governor’s own Irish corps, of half the -light infantry regiment 2nd of Barcelona, of a company of Wimpffen’s -Swiss regiment, and 120 gunners. These were regulars: of new levies -there were the two <i>miquelete tercios</i> of Lerida and Igualada, -with some companies of those of Berga and<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_48">[p. 48]</span> Figueras. The whole force was exactly -3,000 strong. It would be wrong to omit the mention of the British -succours which took part in the defence. There lay in the harbour the -<i>Excellent</i>, 74, and two bomb-vessels: when the <i>Excellent</i> departed -on November 21 she was replaced by the <i>Fame</i>, another 74-gun ship, -and during the last days of the siege Lord Cochrane in his well-known -frigate the <i>Impérieuse</i> was also present. It is well to remember their -exact force, for the French narrators of the leaguer of Rosas are prone -to call them ‘the British squadron,’ a term which seems rather too -magnificent to apply to a group of vessels never numbering more than -one line-of-battle ship, one frigate, and two bomb-vessels.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr moved forward on November 5, with the four divisions of -Souham, Pino, Reille, and Chabot, which (as we have seen) amounted -in all to about 23,000 men. He had resolved to use Pino and -Reille—some 12,000 men—for the actual siege, and Souham -and Chabot for the covering work. Accordingly the weak division of the -last-named officer was left to watch the ground at the foot of the -passes, in the direction of Figueras and La Junquera, while Souham -took up the line of the river Fluvia, which lay across the path of any -relieving force that might come from the direction of Gerona. St. Cyr -remained with the covering army, and gave the conduct of the siege to -Reille, perhaps because he had already made one attack on the town in -August.</p> - -<p>On November 6 Reille marched down to the sea, driving before him -the Spanish outlying pickets, and the peasantry of the suburban -villages, who took refuge with their cattle in Rosas. On the seventh -the investment began, Reille’s own division taking its position on the -marshy ground opposite the town, while Pino encamped more to the left, -upon the heights that face the fort of the Trinity. The head quarters -were established at the village of Palau. A battalion of the 2nd -Italian light infantry was placed far back, to the north-east, to keep -off the <i>somatenes</i> of the coast villages about Llanza and Selva de Mar -from interfering in the siege.</p> - -<p>Next day the civil population of Rosas embarked on fishing-vessels -and small merchantmen, and departed to the south, abandoning the -whole town to the garrison. They just missed<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_49">[p. 49]</span> seeing some sharp fighting. The covering -party who had been detached to the neighbourhood of Llanza were beset -during a dense mist by the <i>somatenes</i> of the coast: two companies were -cut to pieces or captured; the rest were saved by General Fontane, who -led out three battalions from Pino’s lines to their assistance. While -this engagement was in progress, the garrison sallied out with 2,000 -men to beat up the main camp of the Italians; they were repulsed after -a sharp fight; the majority got back to the citadel, but one party -being surrounded, Captain West of the <i>Excellent</i> landed with 250 of -his seamen and marines, cut his way to them, and brought them off in -safety. West had his horse shot under him (a curious note to have to -make concerning a naval officer), and lost ten men wounded.</p> - -<p>After the eighth there followed seven days of continuous -rain, which turned the camp of Reille’s division into a marsh, -and effectually prevented the construction of siege works in the -low-lying ground opposite to the town. The only active operation -that could be undertaken was an attempt to storm the fort of the -Trinity, which the French believed to be in far worse condition -than was actually the case. It was held by eighty Spaniards, -under the Irish Lieutenant-Colonel Fitzgerald, and twenty-five of -the <i>Excellent’s</i> marines<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" -class="fnanchor">[57]</a>. The six voltigeur and grenadier companies of -the 2nd Italian light infantry delivered the assault with great dash -and resolution. But as the strong frontal tower of the fort was high -and unbreached, they could make no impression, their ladders proved -useless, and they were repulsed with a loss of sixty men. Their leader, -the <i>chef-de-bataillon</i> Lange, and several other officers were left -dead at the foot of the walls.</p> - -<p>Seeing that nothing was to be won by mere escalade, Reille had to -wait for his siege artillery, which began to arrive from Perpignan on -November 16. He at once started two batteries on the Puig-Rom to breach -the Fort of the Trinity, and when the ground had begun to grow dry in -front of the town, opened trenches opposite its north-eastern angle. -When a good <i>emplacement</i> had been found a battery was established -which played upon the citadel, and commanded so much of the harbour -that Reille hoped that the British ships would be compelled to shift -their anchorage further out to sea. The Spaniards and the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[p. 50]</span> <i>Excellent</i> replied with -such a heavy fire that in a few hours the battery was silenced, after -its powder magazine had been exploded by a lucky shell [November -19].</p> - -<p>Next day, however, the French repaired the damage and mounted -more guns, whose fire proved so damaging that Captain West had to -move further from the shore. The assailants had established a marked -superiority over the fire of the besieged, and availed themselves of -it by pushing out parallels nearer to the town, and building four -more breaching batteries. With these additional resources they began -to work serious damage in the unstable bastions of the citadel. They -also knocked a hole in the Fort of the Trinity: but the breach was so -far from the foot of the wall that it was still almost inaccessible, -the heaps of rubbish which fell into the ditch did not even reach the -lowest part of the gap.</p> - -<p>On the twenty-first the <i>Excellent</i> was relieved by the <i>Fame</i>, and -Captain West handed over the task of co-operating with the Spaniards -to Captain Bennett. The latter thought so ill of the state of affairs, -that after two days he withdrew his marines from the Trinity Fort, an -action most discouraging to the Spaniards. But at this juncture there -arrived in the bay the <i>Impérieuse</i> frigate, with her indefatigable -commandant Lord Cochrane, a host in himself for such a desperate -enterprise as the defence of the much-battered town. He got leave from -his superior officer to continue the defence, and manned the Trinity -again with his own seamen and marines. They had hardly established -themselves there, when the Italian brigade of Mazzuchelli made a second -attempt to storm the fort: but it was repulsed without even having -reached the foot of the breach.</p> - -<p>Cochrane, seeing that the battery which was playing on the -Trinity was on the very edge of a precipitous cliff, resolved to try -whether it would not be possible to surprise it at night, by landing -troops on the beach at the back of the Puig-Rom; if they could get -possession of the guns for a few minutes he hoped to cast them over -the declivity on to the rocks below. O‘Daly lent him 700 <i>miqueletes</i> -from the garrison of the town, and this force was put ashore with -thirty of the <i>Impérieuse’s</i> marines who were to lead the assault. The -Italians, however, were not caught sleeping, the attack failed, and the -assailants were beaten back to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[p. -51]</span> the rocks by the beach, with the loss of ten killed and -twenty wounded, beside prisoners<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" -class="fnanchor">[58]</a>. The boats of the frigate only brought off -300 men, but many more escaped along the beach into the hilly country -to the east, and were neither captured nor slain [November 23]. The -sortie, however, had been disastrous, and the Governor, O’Daly, was so -down-hearted at the loss of men and at the way in which the walls of -the citadel were crumbling before his eyes, that he began to think of -surrender. Nor was he much to blame, for the state of things was so bad -that it was evident that unless some new factor was introduced into -the siege, the end was not far off. The utter improbability of relief -from without was demonstrated on the twenty-fourth. Julian Alvarez, the -Governor of Gerona and commander of the Spanish forces in the Ampurdam, -was perfectly well aware that it was his duty to do what he could for -the succour of Rosas. But his forces were insignificant: Vives had -only given him 2,000 regular troops to watch the whole line of the -Eastern Pyrenees, and of this small force half was shut up in Rosas. -Nevertheless Alvarez sallied out from Gerona with two weak battalions -of Ultonia and Borbon, and half of the light infantry regiment of -Barcelona. Picking up 3,000 local <i>miqueletes</i> he advanced to the line -of the Fluvia, where Souham was lying, with the division that St. Cyr -had told off to cover the siege. The Spaniards drove in the French -outposts at several points, but immediately found themselves opposed by -very superior numbers, and brought to a complete stand. Realizing that -he was far too weak to do anything, Alvarez retreated to Gerona after -a sharp skirmish. If he had pushed on he would infallibly have been -destroyed. O’Daly received prompt news of his colleague’s discomfiture, -and saw that relief was impossible. The fact was that Vives ought to -have brought up from Barcelona his whole field army of 20,000 men. With -such a host Souham could have been driven back, and Reille compelled to -relax the investment, perhaps even to raise the siege. But the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[p. 52]</span> Captain-General preferred -to waste his men and his time in the futile blockade of Duhesme, who -could have been just as well ‘contained’ by 10,000 <i>somatenes</i> as by -the main Spanish army of Catalonia. The only attempt which Vives made -to strengthen his force in the Ampurdam was to order up to Gerona the -Aragonese division of 4,000 men under the Marquis of Lazan, which -was lying at Lerida. This force arrived too late for the skirmish on -the Fluvia, and when it did appear was far too small to accomplish -anything. Alvarez and Lazan united had only 8,000 bayonets, while St. -Cyr’s whole army (as we have already seen) was 25,000 strong, and -quite able to maintain the siege, and at the same time to provide a -covering force against a relieving army so weak as that which now lay -at Gerona.</p> - -<p>The siege operations meanwhile were pushed on. Fresh batteries were -established to sweep the harbour, and to render more difficult the -communication of the citadel and the Trinity fort with the English -ships. A new attack was started against the eastern front of the -town, and measures were taken to concentrate a heavier fire on the -dilapidated bastion of the citadel, which had been destroyed in the -old siege of 1794 and never properly repaired. On the twenty-sixth -an assault was directed by Pino’s division against the town front. -This was defended by no more than a ditch and earthwork: the Italians -carried it at the first rush, but found more difficulty in evicting -the garrison from the ruined houses along the shore. Five hundred -<i>miqueletes</i>, who were barricaded among them, made a very obstinate -resistance, and were only driven out after sharp fighting. One hundred -and sixty were taken prisoners, less than a hundred escaped into -the citadel: the rest perished. The besiegers at once established a -lodgement in the town, covering themselves with the masonry of the -demolished houses. It was in vain that the <i>Fame</i> and <i>Impérieuse</i> -ran close in shore and tried to batter the Italians out of the ruins. -They inflicted considerable loss, but failed to prevent the enemy from -finding shelter. Next night the lodgement in the town was connected -with the rest of the siege works, and used as the base for an attack -against a hitherto unmolested front of the citadel.</p> - -<p>Just after the storming of the town, the garrison received the only -succour which was sent to it during the whole siege; a weak<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[p. 53]</span> battalion of regulars from -the regiment of Borbon was put ashore near the citadel under cover of -the darkness. It would have been more useful on the preceding day, for -the defence of the outer works. After the arrival of this small succour -the Governor, O’Daly, sent eighty men of the Irish regiment of Ultonia -to reinforce Cochrane in the Trinity fort, withdrawing a similar number -of <i>miqueletes</i> to the citadel.</p> - -<p>The guns established by the besiegers in their new batteries among -the ruins of the town made such good practice upon the front of the -citadel that Reille thought it worth while on the twenty-eighth to -summon the Governor to surrender. O’Daly made a becoming answer, to the -effect that his defences were still intact and that he was prepared to -continue his resistance. To cut him off from his communication with the -sea, the only side from which he could expect help, Reille now began -to build batteries along the water-front of the town, which commanded -the landing-places below the citadel. The English ships proved unable -to subdue these new guns, and their power to help O’Daly was seriously -diminished. It was only under cover of the darkness that they could -send boats to land men or stores for the citadel. On the thirtieth -they tried to take off the sick and wounded, who were now growing very -numerous in the place: but the shore-batteries having hit the headmost -boat, the rest drew off and abandoned the attempt. The prospects of the -garrison had grown most gloomy.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the Trinity fort had been perpetually battered for ten -days, and the hole in the great frontal tower was growing larger. -It can hardly be called a breach, as owing to the impossibility of -searching the lower courses of the wall by the plunging fire from the -Puig-Rom, the lowest edge of the gap was forty feet from the ground. -The part of the tower which had been opened was the upper section of -a lofty bomb-proof casemate, which composed its ground story. Lord -Cochrane built up, with the débris that fell inwards, and with hammocks -filled with earth and sand, new walls inside the bomb proof, cutting -off the hole from the interior of the tower: thus enemies entering at -the gap would find that they had only penetrated into the upper part of -a sort of cellar. The ingenious captain also set a long slide or shoot -of greased planks just under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[p. -54]</span> lip of the hole, so that any one stepping in would be -precipitated thirty feet into the bottom of the casemate. But the mere -sight of this mantrap, as he called it, proved enough for the enemy, -who never pushed the attack into it.</p> - -<p>On November 30 Pino’s division assaulted the fort, the storming -party being composed of six grenadier and voltigeur companies of the -1st and 6th Italian regiments. They came on with great courage, and -planted their ladders below the great hole, amid a heavy fire of -musketry from the garrison. The leaders succeeded in reaching the edge -of the ‘breach,’ but finding the chasm and the ‘mantrap’ before them, -would not enter. They were all shot down: grenades were dropped in -profusion into the mass at the foot of the ladders, and after a time -the stormers fled back under cover, leaving two officers and forty -men behind them. They were rallied and brought up again to the foot -of the breach, but recoiled after a second and less desperate attempt -to enter. The garrison lost only three men killed and two wounded, of -whom four were Spaniards. They captured two prisoners, men who had got -so far forward that they dared not go back under the terrible fire -which swept the foot of the tower. These unfortunates had to be taken -into the fort by a rope, so inaccessible was the supposed breach. -After this bloody repulse, the besiegers left Lord Cochrane alone, -merely continuing to bombard his tower, and throwing up entrenchments -on the beach, from which they kept up an incessant musketry fire on -the difficult landing-place by which the fort communicated with the -ships.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_1"> - <img src="images/ucles.jpg" - alt="Map of the battle of Ucles" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/ucles-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">BATTLE of UCLÉS</span><br /> - <small>JANUARY 13<sup>TH</sup> 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter mt1"> - <img src="images/rosas.jpg" - alt="Map of the siege of Rosas" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/rosas-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">SIEGE of ROSAS</span><br /> - <small>NOV. 6 <small>TO</small> DEC. 5 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">Their main attention was now turned to the citadel, -where O’Daly’s position was growing hopeless. ‘Their practice,’ -says Cochrane, ‘was beautiful. So accurately was their artillery -conducted that every discharge “ruled a straight line” along the -lower part of the walls. This being repeated till the upper portion -was without support, as a matter of course the whole fell into the -ditch, forming a breach of easy ascent. The whole proceedings were -clearly visible from the Trinity<a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" -class="fnanchor">[59]</a>.’ On December 3 the Governor played his last -card: the worst of the damage was being done by the advanced batteries -placed among the ruins of the town, and it was from this point that -the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[p. 55]</span>impending -assault would evidently be delivered. O’Daly therefore picked 500 of -his best men, opened a postern gate, and launched them at night upon -the besiegers’ works. The sortie was delivered with great dash and -vigour: the trench guards were swept away, the breaching batteries were -seized, and the Spaniards began to throw down the parapets, spike the -guns, and set fire to the platforms and fascines. But heavy reserves -came up from the French camp, and their attack could not be resisted. -Before any very serious damage had been done, the besieged were driven -out of the trenches by sheer force of numbers, and forced to retire to -the citadel, leaving forty-five dead behind them. Reille acknowledged -the loss of one officer and twelve men killed, and nineteen men -wounded.</p> - -<p>On the fourth the siege works were pushed forward to within 200 -yards of the walls of the citadel, and the breach already established -in the dilapidated bastion was enlarged to a great breadth. After -dark the French engineers got forward as far as the counterscarp, -and reported that an assault was practicable, and could hardly -fail. The same fact was perfectly evident to O’Daly, who sent out a -<i>parlementaire</i> to ask for terms. He offered to surrender in return -for leave to take his garrison off by sea. Reille naturally refused, -as the Spaniards were at his mercy, and enforced an unconditional -surrender.</p> - -<p>The state of things being visible to Lord Cochrane on the next -morning, he hastily evacuated the Trinity fort, which it was useless -to hold after the citadel had fallen. His garrison, 100 Spaniards and -eighty British sailors and marines, had to descend from the fort by -rope ladders, as the enemy commanded the proper point of embarkation. -They were taken off by the boats of the <i>Fame</i> and <i>Impérieuse</i> under a -heavy musketry fire, but suffered no appreciable loss. The magazine was -left with a slow match burning, and exploded, ruining the fort, before -the garrison had got on board their ships.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr, in his journal of the war in Catalonia, suggests that -Bennett and Cochrane ought to have tried to take off the garrison -of the citadel in the same fashion. But this was practically -impossible: the communication between the citadel and the sea had -been lost for some days, the French batteries along the beach -rendering the approach of boats too dangerous to be attempted.<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[p. 56]</span> If Captain Bennett had -sent in the limited supply of boats that the <i>Fame</i>, the <i>Impérieuse</i> -and the two smaller vessels<a id="FNanchor_60" href="#Footnote_60" -class="fnanchor">[60]</a> possessed they would probably have been -destroyed. For they would have had to make many return journeys in -order to remove 2,500 men, under the fire of heavy guns placed only -200 or 300 yards away from the landing-place. It was quite another -thing to remove 180 men from the Trinity, where the enemy could -bring practically nothing but musketry to bear, and where the whole -of the garrison could be taken off at a single trip. Another futile -charge made by the French against the British navy, is that the -<i>Fame</i> shelled the beach near the citadel while the captive garrison -was marching out, and killed several of the unfortunate Spaniards. -If the incident happened at all (there is no mention of it in Lord -Cochrane or in James) it must have been due to an attempt to damage -the French trenches; Captain Bennett could not have known that the -passing column consisted of Spaniards. To insinuate that the mistake -was deliberate, as does Belmas, is simply malicious<a id="FNanchor_61" -href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a>.</p> - -<p>O’Daly went into captivity with 2,366 men, leaving about 400 more in -hospital. The total of the troops who had taken part in the defence, -including the reinforcements received by sea, had been about 3,500, so -that about 700 must have perished in the siege. The French loss had -been at least as great—Pino’s division alone lost thirty officers -and 400 men killed and wounded<a id="FNanchor_62" href="#Footnote_62" -class="fnanchor">[62]</a>, besides many sick. It is probable that the -total diminution in the ranks of Reille’s two divisions was over 1,000, -the bad weather having told very heavily on the ill-equipped troops.</p> - -<p>So ended an honourable if not a very desperate defence. The place -was doomed from the first, when once the torpid and purblind Vives had -made up his mind to keep his whole force concentrated round Barcelona, -and to send no more than the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[p. -57]</span> insignificant division of Alvarez and Lazan to the help -of O’Daly. Considering the dilapidated condition of the citadel of -Rosas, and the almost untenable state of the town section of the -fortifications, the only wonder is that the French did not break in -at an earlier date. The first approaches of Reille’s engineers were, -according to Belmas, unskilfully conducted, and pushed too much into -the marsh. When once they received a right direction, the result was -inevitable. Even had the artillery failed to do its work Rosas must -nevertheless have fallen within a few days, for it was insufficiently -provisioned, and, as the communication with the sea had been cut off -since November 30, must have yielded ere long to starvation. The French -found an ample store of guns (fifty-eight pieces) and much ammunition -in the place, but an utterly inadequate supply of food.</p> - - -<p class="nb mt2">[N.B.—Belmas, St. Cyr, and Arteche have all -numerous slips in their narration, from not having used the British -authorities. Vacani’s account is, on the whole, the best on the -French side. Much may be learnt from James’s <cite>Naval History</cite>, vol. v, -but more from Lord Cochrane’s picturesque autobiography. From this, -e.g., alone can it be ascertained that the column which attacked the -Puig-Rom on November 23 was composed of <i>miqueletes</i>, not of British -soldiers. Cochrane is represented by several writers as arriving on the -twenty-fourth or even the twenty-sixth, while as a matter of fact he -reached Rosas on the twenty-first. It may interest some to know that -Captain Marryat, the novelist, served under Cochrane, and was mentioned -in his dispatch. So the description of the siege of Rosas in Marryat’s -<i>Frank Mildmay</i>, wherein his captain is so much glorified, is a genuine -personal reminiscence, and not an invention of fiction.]</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap10_2"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[p. 58]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER II">SECTION X: CHAPTER II</h3> - <p class="subh3">ST. CYR RELIEVES BARCELONA: BATTLES OF CARDADEU - AND MOLINS DE REY</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> Rosas had fallen St. Cyr was -at last able to take in hand the main operation which had been -entrusted to him by Napoleon—the relief of Barcelona. While -the siege was still in progress he had received two letters bidding -him hasten to the relief of Duhesme without delay<a id="FNanchor_63" -href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a>, but he had taken upon -himself the responsibility of writing back that he must clear his -flank and rear before he dared move, and that he should proceed with -the leaguer of Rosas, which could only last a few days longer, unless -he received formal orders to abandon the undertaking. He ventured -to point out that the moral and political effects of taking such -a step would be deplorable<a id="FNanchor_64" href="#Footnote_64" -class="fnanchor">[64]</a>. Napoleon’s silence gave consent, and St. -Cyr’s plea was justified by the fall of the place on December 5.</p> - -<p>Rosas having been captured, the French general had now at his -disposition all his four divisions, those of Souham, Pino, Reille, -and Chabot, which even after deducting the casualties suffered in -the siege, and the losses experienced by the covering troops from -the bad weather, still amounted to 22,000 men. After counting up -the very considerable forces which the Spaniards might place in his -way, he resolved to take on with him for the relief of Barcelona the -troops of Souham, Pino, and Chabot, and to leave behind only those of -Reille. With about 5,000 or 5,500 soldiers of not very good quality -that officer was to hold Figueras and Rosas, watch Gerona, and protect -the high-road to Perpignan. St. Cyr himself with the twenty-six -battalions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[p. 59]</span> and nine -squadrons forming the other three divisions, a force of some 15,000 -infantry and 1,500 horse, took his way to the south.</p> - -<p>The first obstacle in his way was Gerona: but if he stopped to -besiege and take it, it was clear that he would never reach Barcelona -in time to save Duhesme from starvation: that general had reported -that his food would only last till the end of December, and Gerona -would certainly hold out more than three weeks. Indeed, as we shall -see, when it was actually beleaguered in the next year, it made a -desperate defence, lasting for nearly six months<a id="FNanchor_65" -href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a>. St. Cyr saw from the -first that he must leave the fortress alone, and slip past it. As it -commanded the high-road, this resolution forced him to abandon any -intention of taking forward his artillery and his wheeled transport. -They could not face the rugged by-paths on to which he would be -compelled to throw himself, and he marched without a single gun, and -with his food and provisions borne on pack-horses and mules, of which -he had a very modest provision.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr was quite well aware that if General Vives were to resign -the blockade of Barcelona to his <i>miqueletes</i> and <i>somatenes</i>, and -to come against him with his whole army, the task of relieving -Duhesme would be dangerous if not impossible. There are but two roads -from Gerona to Barcelona, and across each of them lie half a dozen -positions which, if entrenched and held by superior numbers, he could -not hope to force. These two routes are the coast-road by Mataro -and Arens de Mar—which the French had used for their first -march to Gerona in August—and the inland road up the valley of -the Besos by Hostalrich and Granollers. But the former had been so -conscientiously destroyed by Lord Cochrane and the local <i>somatenes</i><a -id="FNanchor_66" href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> that -St. Cyr regarded it as impassable; there were places where it had been -blasted away for lengths of a quarter or a half of a mile. Moreover, -at many points the army would have to defile under the cliffs for long -distances, and might be shelled by any British men-of-war that should -happen to lie off the coast<a id="FNanchor_67" href="#Footnote_67" -class="fnanchor">[67]</a>. Accordingly the French general determined to -try<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[p. 60]</span> the inland road, -though he would have to march round Gerona and the smaller fortress -of Hostalrich, and though it was cut by several admirable positions, -where the Catalans might offer battle with reasonable prospects of -success. It was all-important that Vives should be left as long as -possible in uncertainty as to his adversary’s next move, and that the -Catalans should be dealt with in detail rather than in mass. St. Cyr -resolved, therefore, to make a show of attacking Gerona, and to try -whether he could not catch Lazan and Alvarez, and rout them, before the -Captain-General should come up to their assistance.</p> - -<p>On December 9, therefore, St. Cyr had his whole corps, minus the -division of Reille, concentrated on the left bank of the river Ter. -On the next day he manœuvred as if about to envelop Gerona. He had -hoped that this move would tempt Lazan and Alvarez to come out and -meet him in the open. But fully conscious that their 8,000 men would -be exposed to inevitable defeat, the two Spanish officers wisely kept -quiet under the walls of their stronghold. Having worked round their -flank, St. Cyr on the eleventh sent back the whole of his artillery -and heavy baggage to Figueras, and plunged into the mountains; at La -Bispal he distributed four days’ biscuit to his men, warning them -that there would be no further issue of rations till they reached -Barcelona. The light carts which had been dragged thus far with the -food were burnt. As to munitions, each soldier had fifty cartridges -in his pouch, and the pack-mules carried 150,000 more, a reserve of -only ten rounds for each man<a id="FNanchor_68" href="#Footnote_68" -class="fnanchor">[68]</a>. The equipment of the army, in short, was -such that if it failed to force its way to Barcelona within six days -it must starve, while if it was forced to fight three or four heavy -engagements it would be left helpless, without a cartridge for a final -battle. The general, if not the men in the ranks, fully realized the -peril of the situation.</p> - -<p>On the twelfth St. Cyr pushed along the mountains above Palamos and -San Feliu, brushing away a body of <i>miqueletes</i> from the coast-land -under Juan Claros, who tried to hold the defile.<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_61">[p. 61]</span> On the thirteenth the French reached -Vidreras, where they were again on a decent road, that which goes from -Gerona to Malgrat. They now perceived that they were being followed -by Lazan and the garrison of Gerona, whose camp-fires were visible on -the heights to the north, while troops, evidently detached from the -blockade of Barcelona, were visible in front of them. It was clear -that St. Cyr had at least succeeded in placing himself between the two -main forces which the enemy could oppose to him, and might engage them -separately. He might also count on the Spaniards looking for him on -the Malgrat-Mataro road, on which he was now established, while it was -his intention to abandon it, in order to plunge inland once more, and -to fall into the main <i>chaussée</i> to Barcelona, south of Hostalrich. -That a path existed, along which such a movement could be carried out, -was only known to the general by the report of a Perpignan smuggler, -who had once kept sheep among these hills. But when exploring parties -tried to find it, they lost their way, and reported that no such route -existed. If this was the fact, St. Cyr was ruined: but he refused to -believe the officers who assured him that the smuggler had erred, and -pushing among the rocks finally discovered it himself. During his -exploration he was nearly cut off by a party of <i>somatenes</i>, and his -escort had to fight hard in order to save him.</p> - -<p>But the road was found, and on the fifteenth the army followed it, -almost in single file, while the dragoons had to dismount and lead -their horses. They saw the fortress of Hostalrich in the valley below -them, and passed it in sight of the garrison. Some of the latter came -out, and skirmished with the rearguard of St. Cyr’s long column, but -they were too weak to do much harm, while Lazan, whose advent from the -north would have caused more serious difficulties, had been completely -eluded, and never came in sight.</p> - -<p>In the afternoon the whole expeditionary force safely descended into -the Barcelona <i>chaussée</i> near San Celoni, from which place they drove -out four battalions of <i>miqueletes</i>, the first troops that the tardy -Vives had detached from his main army. The men were much fatigued, -and the <i>somatenes</i> were beginning to give trouble both in flank and -rear, but St. Cyr insisted that they should not encamp by San Celoni, -but push southward through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[p. -62]</span> the difficult defile of the Trentapassos, so that they might -not find it held against them on the following morning. This was done, -and the best of the many positions which the Spaniards might have held -to oppose the march of the invaders was occupied without the least -resistance. St. Cyr encamped at the southern end of the pass, and -saw before him, when the night had fallen, a line of watch-fires far -down the valley of the Besos which showed that the Spaniards from the -leaguer of Barcelona had at last come out to oppose him.</p> - -<p>The conduct of Vives during the last six days had been in perfect -keeping with the rest of his slow and stupid guidance of the campaign. -He had received in due course news of the fall of Rosas, and soon after -the additional information that St. Cyr had crossed the Ter and was -threatening Gerona. Opinion was divided in the camp of the Catalans -as to whether the French were about to lay siege to that fortress, or -to pass it by and make a dash for the relief of Duhesme. If they sat -down before Gerona there was no need to hurry: if they should pass -it by, it would be necessary to move at once, in order to occupy the -defiles against them. The opinion of the more intelligent officers -was that St. Cyr would be forced to march to aid Duhesme, whose want -of provisions was well known by secret intelligence sent out from -Barcelona. Unfortunately Vives inclined to the other side: he preferred -to believe the alternative which did not impose on him the necessity -for instant and decisive action. He did nothing, and pretended to be -waiting for further news. It reached him on the night of December -11-12, in the form of a message from the Junta of Gerona, to the effect -that the French had sent back their artillery and were plunging into -the mountains in the direction of La Bispal, so that it was clear that -they must be marching to relieve Duhesme. It might have been expected -that the Captain-General would now at last break up from his lines, -and hasten to throw himself across the path of the approaching enemy. -But after holding a long and fruitless council of war he contented -himself with sending out Reding, with that part of the newly-arrived -Granadan division which had reached Catalonia. On the twelfth therefore -the Swiss General started by the inland road with seven battalions -of his own Andalusian levies and a regiment<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_63">[p. 63]</span> of cavalry. Next day he reached Granollers -and halted there. At the same time Francisco Milans, with four tercios -of <i>miqueletes</i>, was sent out to guard the coast-road, the other -possible line of approach by which St. Cyr might arrive. Reding had -5,000 men, Milans 3,000: but Vives still lay before Barcelona with -two-thirds of his army, at least 16,000 or 17,000 bayonets. It was -in vain that Caldagues, the preserver of Gerona, implored him to -leave no more than a screen of <i>miqueletes</i> in the lines, and to -sally forth to fight with every regular soldier that he could muster. -The Captain-General refused to listen, supporting his inactivity by -pleading that the advice sent from Gerona did not speak of the enemy’s -force as very large: the defiles, he urged, were so difficult that -Reding and Milans, aided by Lazan, ought to be able to hold them -against any small expeditionary force.</p> - -<p>Thus St. Cyr was left to work out his daring plan without any -serious opposition. The only force with which he came in contact was -Milans’ brigade of <i>miqueletes</i>, who, finding the coast-road clear, had -crossed the mountains and occupied San Celoni. These were the troops -whom St. Cyr drove away on the afternoon of the fifteenth, before -entering the defile of the Trentapassos.</p> - -<p>On receiving news of this combat, which had taken place only -twenty-one miles from his lines, Vives at last set out in person. But -persisting in his idiotic notion of blocking Barcelona to the last -moment, he left Caldagues before the place with 12,000 men, and marched -with a single brigade of 4,000 bayonets to join Reding. Moving all -through the night of the fifteenth-sixteenth he joined the Granadans at -daybreak at Cardadeu on the high-road. Their united strength was only -9,000 men, of whom 600 were cavalry, and seven guns<a id="FNanchor_69" -href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>. This was the whole force -which fought St. Cyr, for Lazan, moving with culpable slowness, was -still far north of San Celoni, when he should have been pressing on -the rear of the French, while Milans with the <i>miqueletes</i>, who had -been beaten on the previous day, was some miles away in the mountains -on the right, and quite out of touch with his commander-in-chief. Nine -thousand Spaniards, in short, were within ten miles of the field, yet -took no part in the battle.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[p. -64]</span> St. Cyr in his central position kept them apart, and they -failed to combine with Vives and his force at Cardadeu.</p> - -<p>The valley of the Besos at this point has broadened out, and is no -longer the narrow defile that is seen a few miles further to the north. -But there is much broken ground on both sides of the high-road. A -little way north of Cardadeu is a low hill covered with pines, lying to -the right of the <i>chaussée</i>: at the foot of the hill is a ravine which -the road has to cross at right angles, and which falls into the stream -called the Riera de la Roca. The country-side was composed partly of -cultivated ground, partly of thickets of pine and oak, which rendered -it difficult for either side to get a general view of its adversaries’ -movements.</p> - -<p>Vives, who had only reached his fighting-ground at dawn, had no -time to reconnoitre his position, or to make any elaborate scheme for -getting the best use out of the <i>terrain</i>. He hastily drew up his -army in two lines across the high-road: the front line was behind the -ravine, the second higher up on the pine-clad hill. Reding’s troops -held the right wing on the lowest ground, and extended as far as the -river Mogent, a branch of the Besos. Vives’ own Catalan regiments -formed the centre and left: they were mainly placed on the hill -commanding the road, with three guns in front of their centre, and two -further to the left on a point from which they could enfilade a turn of -the <i>chaussée</i>. The <i>miqueletes</i> of Vich, on the extreme left, held a -spur of the higher mountains which bound the valley of the Besos. The -reserve drawn up on the high-road, behind the main position, consisted -of two guns, two squadrons of horse (Husares Españoles, lately arrived -from Majorca) and two battalions.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr could make out very little of his adversaries’ force or -position; the woods and hills masked the greater part of the Spanish -line. But he knew that he must attack, and that promptly, for every -hour that he delayed would give time for Lazan to come up in his rear, -and Milans on his left flank. He left behind him at the southern outlet -of the Trentapassos the three battalions of Chabot’s division, with -orders to hold the defile at all costs against Lazan, whenever the -latter should appear. With the other twenty-three battalions forming -the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[p. 65]</span> divisions of -Pino and Souham he marched down the high-road to deal with Vives. It -was necessary to attack at once: ‘the biscuit distributed at La Bispal -was just finished: the cartridges were running low, for many had been -spent in the preceding skirmishes. There was, in fact, only ammunition -for one hour of battle<a id="FNanchor_70" href="#Footnote_70" -class="fnanchor">[70]</a>.’ St. Cyr saw that he must win by one short -and swift stroke, or suffer a complete disaster. Accordingly, he had -resolved to form his two strong divisions—more than 13,000 -men—into one great column, which was to charge the Spanish -centre and burst through by its own impetus and momentum. Pino’s -thirteen Italian battalions formed the head of the mass: Souham’s ten -French battalions its rear. The General’s plan is best expressed in -his own words: his orders to Pino, who was to lead the attack, ran as -follows:—</p> - -<p>‘The corps must fight in the order in which I have arranged it -this morning. There is neither time nor means to make dispositions to -beat the Spaniards more or less thoroughly. The country-side is so -broken and wooded that it would take three hours to reconnoitre their -position, and in two hours Lazan may be on the spot attacking our rear. -Not a minute can be lost: we must simply rush at and trample down<a -id="FNanchor_71" href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> the -corps in our front, whatever its strength may be. Our food is done, our -ammunition almost exhausted. The enemy has artillery, which is a reason -the more for haste: the quicker we attack, the less time will he have -to shell us. There must be no attempt to feel his position; not one -battalion must be deployed. Though his position is strong we must go -straight at it in column, and burst through the centre by striking at -that one point with our whole force. The enemy must be given no time -to prepare his defence or bring up his reserves. You must not change -the disposition in column in which we march, even in order to take -great numbers of prisoners. Our sole end is to break through and to get -as close as we can to Barcelona this evening. Our camp-fires must be -visible to the garrison by night, to show that we are at hand to raise -the siege.’</p> - -<p>This order of battle was most hazardous: if St. Cyr had found<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[p. 66]</span> in front of him two steady -English divisions instead of Reding’s raw Granadan levies and the -gallant but untrained Catalan <i>miqueletes</i>, it is certain that affairs -would have gone as at Busaco or Talavera. Dense columns attacking a -fair position held by good troops in line are bound to suffer terrible -losses, and ought never to succeed. But St. Cyr knew the enemies with -whom he had to deal, and his method was well adapted to his end. If -he ran some risk of failing at the commencement of the action, it was -simply because his subordinates did not follow out his directions.</p> - -<p>General Pino, on whom the responsibility of opening the attack -devolved, started with every intention of obedience. But when he -arrived at the foot of the Spanish position, and the balls began to -fall thickly among his leading battalions, he lost his head. His column -only faced the Spanish right centre, and the heavy flanking fire from -the hostile wings daunted him. Instead of pushing straight before -him with his whole force, as St. Cyr had ordered, he threw out five -battalions of Mazzuchelli’s brigade to his left<a id="FNanchor_72" -href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a>, and two battalions -under General Fontane to his extreme right<a id="FNanchor_73" -href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a>; the six battalions of -his rear brigade were not yet up to the front, and took no part in -the first assault. Thus he attacked on a front of three-quarters of a -mile, instead of at one single point. His columns, after driving in the -Spanish front line, came to a stand half-way up the hill, in a very -irregular array, the flanks thrown forward, the centre hanging somewhat -back. Reding, against whom the main attack of Mazzuchelli’s brigade had -been directed, brought up his second line, and when the Italians were -slackening in their advance hurled at them two squadrons of hussars, -and led forward his whole division. The assailants broke, and fell back -with loss.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr, coming up to the front at this moment, was horrified -to mark the results of Pino’s disobedience of his orders. But he -had still Souham’s division in hand, and flung it, in one solid -mass of ten battalions, upon Reding’s right; at the same time he -commanded Pino to throw the two regiments of his intact rear brigade -upon the Spanish centre<a id="FNanchor_74" href="#Footnote_74" -class="fnanchor">[74]</a>, while Fontane’s two<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_67">[p. 67]</span> battalions continued to demonstrate against -the enemy’s left. The result was what might have been expected: the -column of Souham burst through the Granadan division, and completely -routed the right wing of the Spanish army: at the same moment Pino’s -main column forced back Vives and the Catalans along the line of the -high-road. All at once fell into confusion, and, when St. Cyr bade -his two Italian cavalry regiments charge up the <i>chaussée</i>, the enemy -broke his ranks and fled to the hills. Five of the seven Spanish guns -were captured, with two standards and some 1,500 unwounded prisoners. -Reding, who stayed behind to the last, trying to rally a rearguard for -the protection of the routed host, was nearly taken prisoner, and had -to draw his sword and cut his way out. Vives, whose conduct on this day -was anything but creditable, scrambled up a cliff after turning his -horse loose, and came almost alone to the sea-shore near Mongat, where -he was picked up by the boats of the <i>Cambrian</i> frigate, and forwarded -to Tarragona. Besides the prisoners the Spaniards lost at least a -thousand men, and many of the <i>miqueletes</i> dispersed to their homes. -St. Cyr acknowledged 600 casualties, nearly all of them, as might have -been expected, in Pino’s division.</p> - -<p>Reding at last succeeded in rallying some troops at Monmalo near -San Culgat, and covered the retreat of the main mass of the fugitives -to join the troops who had been left in the lines before Barcelona. As -to the detached Spanish corps under Milans and the Marquis of Lazan, -the former never came down from the hills till the fighting was over, -though it was only four or five miles from the scene of action<a -id="FNanchor_75" href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a>. The -latter, which was following in St. Cyr’s rear, moved with such extreme -slowness that it had not yet reached San Celoni when the battle was -fought, and did not even get into contact with Chabot’s division, which -had been left behind to guard against its approach<a id="FNanchor_76" -href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a>. On learning of the -defeat the Marquis marched back to Gerona, and rejoined Alvarez. Thus -Vives got no assistance whatever from his outlying corps: if Lazan -is to be trusted, this was largely the fault<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_68">[p. 68]</span> of the Commander-in-chief himself, for no -dispatch from him reached his subordinates after December 14, and they -had no knowledge of his movements or designs.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Caldagues, who had been left in charge of the blockade, -had maintained his post, and repulsed a heavy sortie which Duhesme -and the garrison had directed against his posts on the sixteenth. But -when the news of the battle of Cardadeu reached him in the evening, -he evacuated all the parts of his line which lay to the east of the -Llobregat, and concentrated his 12,000 men at Molins de Rey and San -Boy, on the further bank of that river. He was forced to abandon at -Sarria the large dépôt of provisions from which the left wing of the -investing force had been fed.</p> - -<p>The road from Cardadeu and San Culgat to Barcelona being thus left -open, St. Cyr marched in triumph into Barcelona on the morning of the -seventeenth. He complains in his memoirs that he did not discover -one single vedette from the garrison pushed out to meet him, and -that Duhesme did not come forth to receive him, or give him a single -word of thanks. Indeed, when the Governor at last presented himself -to meet the commander of the Seventh Corps, he spent his first words -not in expressing his appreciation for the service which had been -rendered him, but in demonstrating that he had never been in danger, -and could have held out for six weeks more. He was somewhat abashed -when St. Cyr replied by presenting him with a copy of one of his own -former dispatches to Berthier, which painted the condition of the -garrison in the blackest colours, and asked for instant succours -lest the worst might happen<a id="FNanchor_77" href="#Footnote_77" -class="fnanchor">[77]</a>.</p> - -<p>It was clear that the two generals would not work well together, -but as St. Cyr held the supreme command, and was determined to assert -himself, Duhesme could do no more than sulk in silence. The conduct of -the operations against the Catalans had been taken completely out of -his hands.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr’s daring march to Barcelona had been crowned with complete -success. It was by far the most brilliant operation on<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[p. 69]</span> the French side during -the first year of the war. That it was perilous cannot be denied: if -the commander of the Seventh Corps had found the whole army of Vives -entrenched at the passage of the Tordera, or across the defile of the -Trentapassos, it seems impossible that he could have got forward to -Barcelona. Thirty thousand men, of whom half were regular troops, might -have been opposed to him, and they could have brought artillery against -him, while he had not a single piece. If once checked he must have -retreated in haste, for he had only ammunition for a single battle. But -the rapid and unexpected character of his movements entirely puzzled -the enemy, and he was fortunate in having a Vives to contend against. -‘When the enemy has no general,’ as Schepeler remarks while commenting -on this campaign, ‘any stroke of luck is possible.’ Against a capable -officer St. Cyr would probably have failed, but he had a shrewd -suspicion of the character of his opponent from what had happened -during the siege of Rosas: he dared much, and his daring was rewarded -by a splendid victory.</p> - -<p>The campaign, however, was not yet completed. Barcelona had -been relieved, but only a fraction of the Spanish army had been -met and beaten. Caldagues lay behind the Llobregat with 11,000<a -id="FNanchor_78" href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> men -who had not yet been engaged. Reding had joined him with the wrecks -of the troops which had fought at Cardadeu, some 3,000 or 4,000 men. -They lined the eastern bank of the river, only six or seven miles -from the suburbs of Barcelona, occupying the entrenchments which had -been constructed to shut in Duhesme during the blockade. These were -strengthened with several redoubts, some of them armed with heavy -artillery, and the positions were good, but too extensive for a force -of 14,000 or 15,000 men. Their weak point was that the Llobregat -even in December is fordable in many places, and that if the French -attacked in mass at one point they were almost certain of being able -to force their way through the line. Reding, and his second-in-command -Caldagues, were both of opinion that it would be wise to evacuate the -lines, if St. Cyr should come out in force against them, and to fall -back on the mountains in their rear, which separate the valley<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[p. 70]</span> of the Llobregat from the -coast-plain of Tarragona. Here there was a strong position at the -defile of Ordal, where it was intended to construct an entrenched camp. -But there was a strong temptation to hold on in the old lines for as -long a time as possible, for by retiring to Ordal the army would leave -open the high-road to Lerida and Saragossa, and give up much of the -plain to the incursions of the French foragers. Reding sent back to -Vives, who had now landed in his rear and placed himself at Villanueva -de Sitjas, to ask whether he was to retreat at once, or to hold his -ground. The Captain-General sent back the inconclusive reply that -‘he might fall back on Ordal if he could not defend the line of the -Llobregat.’ Thus he threw back the responsibility on his subordinate, -and Reding, anxious to vindicate his courage before the eyes of the -Catalans, resolved after some hesitation to retain his positions, -though he had grave doubts of the possibility of resistance.</p> - -<p>He was not allowed much time to ponder over the situation. The -reply of Vives only reached him on the night of December 20-21. On the -next morning St. Cyr came out of Barcelona and attacked the lines. He -had brought with him every available man: Duhesme had been left to -hold the city with Lecchi’s Italians alone: his other division (that -of Chabran), together with the three which had formed the army of -succour—those of Souham, Pino, and Chabot—were all directed -against the lines. The plan of St. Cyr was to demonstrate against the -bridge of Molins de Rey, the strongest part of the Spanish position, -with Chabran’s 4,000 men, while he himself crossed the fords lower down -the Llobregat with the 14,000 bayonets of the other three divisions, -and turned the right flank of the enemy.</p> - -<p>At five o’clock on a miserable gusty December morning the French -came down towards the river: Chabran led off by making a noisy -demonstration opposite the redoubts at the bridge, on the northern -flank of the position. This, as St. Cyr had intended, drew Reding’s -attention to that flank: he reinforced his left with troops drawn -from his right wing on the lower and easier ground down stream. An -hour later the other attacking columns advanced, that of Souham -crossing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[p. 71]</span> the ford -of San Juan Despi, while Pino and Chabot passed by that of San Feliu. -No proper attempt was made to dispute their advance. Outnumbered, and -strung out along a very extensive position, the Catalans soon saw their -line broken in several places. The only serious opposition made was by -the centre, which advanced down hill against Souham and tried to charge -him, but gave back long before bayonets had been crossed.</p> - -<p>The most fatal part of Reding’s position was that on his extreme -right Chabot’s three battalions had got completely round his flank, and -kept edging in on the rear of his southern wing, which abandoned hill -after hill as it saw its retreat threatened. Pino and Souham had only -to press on, and each regiment in their front gave way in turn when it -saw its exposed flank in danger. At last the whole of the Spanish right -and centre was pushed back in disorder on to the still intact left -behind the bridge of Molins de Rey. Now was the time for Chabran to -turn his demonstration into a real attack: if he had crossed the river -and advanced rapidly, he would have caught the shaken masses in front, -while the rest of the army chased them forward into his arms. But being -timid or unenterprising, he let the flying enemy pass across his front -unmolested, and only forded the river when they had gone too far to be -caught. The unhappy Vives came up at this moment, just in time to see -his whole army on the run, and headed their flight to the hills.</p> - -<p>Thus the Spaniards got away without any very crushing losses, -though their historian Cabanes confesses that if Chabran had moved a -quarter of an hour earlier he would have captured half the army of -Catalonia. As it was, St. Cyr took about 1,200 prisoners only, though -his dragoons pursued the routed enemy for many miles. It was a great -misfortune for the Catalans that among these captives was the Conde de -Caldagues, the one first-rate officer in their ranks. He was taken by -the pursuers at Vendrell, many miles from the field, when his exhausted -horse fell under him. St. Cyr captured the whole artillery of the -Spaniards, twenty-five cannon<a id="FNanchor_79" href="#Footnote_79" -class="fnanchor">[79]</a>, of which several<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_72">[p. 72]</span> were pieces of heavy calibre, mounted in -redoubts. The field-pieces were more useful to him, as he was very -short of artillery; he had brought none with him, while Duhesme had -been obliged to destroy the greater part of his during the retreat -from Gerona in August. He also made prize of a magazine of 3,000,000 -cartridges and of many thousands of muskets, which the routed enemy -cast away in their haste to escape over the hills. Some of the -fugitives fled south, and did not stop till they reached Tortosa and -the Ebro: others dispersed in the direction of Igualada and Lerida, but -the main body rallied at Tarragona.</p> - -<p>The victorious French divisions were pushed far out from the -battle-field so as to occupy not only the whole plain of the Llobregat, -but also the defiles over the hills leading to Tarragona. Chabran was -placed at Martorell, Chabot at San Sadurni, Souham at Vendrell, and -Pino at Villanueva de Sitjas and Villafranca. Thus the pass of Ordal -was in the victor’s hands, and he had it in his power to march against -Tarragona without having any further positions to force. But the -siege of that place did not form, at present, any part of St. Cyr’s -designs. His aim was first to collect such magazines at Barcelona as -would feed his whole army of 25,000 men till the harvest was ripe, -and secondly to reopen his communication with France. The sea route -was rendered dangerous by the English ships, which were continually -hovering off the coast. The land route was blocked by the fortresses -of Hostalrich and Gerona. St. Cyr imagined that it was more important -to make an end of these places, and open his route to Perpignan, than -to attack Tarragona. The latter place was strong, and the greater part -of the Catalan army had taken refuge in it. The siege would need, as -he supposed, many months, and could not be properly conducted till a -battering-train and a large store of ammunition had been brought down -from France.</p> - -<p>It is possible that the French general might have come to -another conclusion if he had been aware of the state of panic and -disorganization among the Catalans at this moment. The <i>miqueletes</i> -had mostly dispersed to their homes, the regular troops were mutinous, -and the populace was crying treason and looking for scape-goats. The -incapable Vives was frightened<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[p. -73]</span> into resignation, and finally replaced by Reding, whose -courage at least was beyond suspicion, if his abilities were not -those of a great general. The smaller towns were full of tumults and -assassination: at Lerida a certain Gomez declared himself dictator and -began to seize and execute all suspected persons. He did not stop till -he was caught and beheaded by a battalion which Reding sent out against -him. In short, anarchy reigned in Catalonia for ten days, and it is -possible that if St. Cyr had marched straight to Tarragona he might -have taken the place, though its inhabitants were working hard at their -fortifications, and vowing to emulate Saragossa. Many historians of -the war have blamed the French general for not making the attempt: but -there was much to urge in his defence. It is perfectly possible that -the Tarragonese might have made a gallant stand, in spite of all their -troubles, for the garrison was large if disorderly. If they held out, -St. Cyr had neither a siege equipage nor sufficient magazines to feed -his army when concentrated in a single spot. The French troops were -exhausted, and suffering dreadfully from the inclement winter weather. -Lazan and Alvarez were in full force in the Ampurdam, and were giving -Reille’s weak division much trouble.</p> - -<p>Probably therefore St. Cyr was justified in halting for a month, -which he employed in clearing the whole country-side for thirty miles -round Barcelona, and in collecting the stores of food which his army -required before it could make another move. The halt allowed time -for the Catalans to rally, and for Reding to reorganize his army: -by February he was ready once more to try his fortune in the field. -Indeed, he was ere long more formidable than St. Cyr had expected, -for he was joined by the second brigade of his own Granadan division, -which came up from Valencia not long after the battle of Molins de -Rey, and the last reserves from Majorca had also sailed to aid him, -after giving over the fortifications of the Balearic Isles to the -marines of the fleet, and the urban guards of Palma and Port Mahon. The -<i>miqueletes</i>, too, returned to their standards when the first panic was -over, and in a month Catalonia could once more show an army of 30,000 -men. The first incident which occurred to encourage the insurgents -was that on January 1. Lazan fell upon and very severely handled a -detached battalion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[p. 74]</span> -of Reille’s division at Castellon in the Ampurdam<a id="FNanchor_80" -href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a>, and when Reille came up -against him in person with 2,500 men, inflicted on him a sharp check at -the fords of the Muga. Not long after, however, the Marquis withdrew -from this region, and marched back toward Aragon, taking with him his -own division and leaving only the weak corps of Alvarez to deal with -Reille. His retreat was caused by the news of his brother’s desperate -position in Saragossa. Hoping to make a diversion in favour of Palafox, -Lazan marched to Lerida, where he began to gather in all the men that -he could collect before moving back to his native province. Thus the -pressure on Reille was much reduced.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr’s men, meanwhile, made many expeditions into the valleys -above Barcelona. They cleared the defile of Bruch leading into the -upper valley of the Llobregat, which the <i>somatenes</i> had held so -gallantly against Schwartz and Chabran in June. They took, but did not -hold, the almost inaccessible peak of Montserrat, and on the coast-road -dominated the country as far as Mataro. But they could not reopen the -communications with France: their general did not dare to set about -the siege of Gerona while Reding had still the makings of an army in -the direction of Tarragona. It was not till that brave but unfortunate -officer had received his <i>third</i> defeat in February that St. Cyr was -able to turn his attention to the north, and the road to Perpignan. -For the present, the French general found himself mainly occupied by -the imperious necessity for scraping together food not only for his -own army, but for the great city of Barcelona, where both the garrison -and the people were living from hand to mouth. For the resources of -the neighbouring plain were nearly exhausted, and the only external -supply came from occasional merchantmen from Cette or Marseilles, whose -captains were tempted to run the British blockade by the enormous price -which they could secure for their corn if it could be brought safely -through. It<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[p. 75]</span> was -only somewhat later that the Emperor directed the naval authorities -in Provence to dispatch regular convoys to Barcelona under a strong -escort, whenever the British cruisers were reported to have been blown -out to sea. Meanwhile the problem of food supplies remained almost as -urgent a question for St. Cyr as the movements of his adversaries in -the field.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap10_3"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[p. 76]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER III">SECTION X: CHAPTER III</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE CAMPAIGN OF FEBRUARY, 1809: BATTLE OF VALLS</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">More</span> than a month had elapsed since -the battle of Molins de Rey before any important movements were made -in Catalonia. Early in February St. Cyr drew in his divisions from -the advanced positions in the plain of Tarragona, which they had -taken up after the victory of Molins de Rey. They had eaten up the -country-side, and were being much harassed by the <i>miqueletes</i>, who -had begun to press in upon their communications with Barcelona, in -spite of all the care that was taken to scour the country with small -flying columns, and to scatter any nucleus of insurgents that began to -grow up in the French rear. Owing to the dispersion of the divisions -of the 7th Corps these operations were very laborious; between the -new year and the middle of February St. Cyr calculated that his men -had used up 2,000,000 cartridges in petty skirmishes, and suffered a -very appreciable loss in operations that were practically worthless<a -id="FNanchor_81" href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a>. -Accordingly he drew them closer together, in order to shorten the -dangerously extended line of communication with Barcelona.</p> - -<p>Reding, during this period of waiting, had been keeping quiet in -Tarragona, where he was reorganizing and drilling the harassed troops -which had been beaten at Cardadeu and Molins de Rey. He had, as we -have already seen, received heavy reinforcements from the South<a -id="FNanchor_82" href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> -and the Balearic Isles<a id="FNanchor_83" href="#Footnote_83" -class="fnanchor">[83]</a>; but it was not in numbers only that his army -had improved. St. Cyr’s inaction had restored their <i>morale</i>. They -were too, as regards food and munitions, in a much better condition -than their adversaries, as they could freely draw provisions from the -plain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[p. 77]</span> of the Lower -Ebro and the northern parts of Valencia, and were besides helped by -corn brought in by British and Spanish vessels from the whole eastern -Mediterranean. Reding had also got a good supply of arms and ammunition -from England. As he found himself unmolested, he was finally able to -rearrange his whole force, so as not only to cover Tarragona, but -to extend a screen of troops all round the French position. He now -divided his army into two wings: he himself, on the right, kept in -hand at Tarragona the 1st Division, consisting mainly of the Granadan -troops: while General Castro was sent to establish the head quarters -of the 2nd Division, which contained most of the old battalions of the -army of Catalonia, at Igualada. Their line of communication was by -Santa Coloma, Sarreal, and Montblanch. This disposition was probably -a mistake: while the French lay concentrated in the middle of the -semicircle, the Spanish army was forced to operate on outer lines sixty -miles long, and could not mass itself in less than three or four days. -By a sudden movement of the enemy, either Reding or Castro might be -assailed by superior numbers, and forced to fall back on an eccentric -line of retreat before he could be succoured by his colleague.</p> - -<p>It would seem that, encouraged by St. Cyr’s quiescence, his own -growing strength, and the protestations of the Catalans, Reding had -once more resolved to resume the offensive. The extension of his left -to Igualada was made with no less ambitious a purpose than that of -outflanking the northern wing of the French army, and then delivering a -simultaneous concentric attack on its scattered divisions as they lay -in their cantonments. Such a plan presupposed that St. Cyr would keep -quiet while the preparations were being made, that he would fail to -concentrate in time, and that the Spanish columns, operating from two -distant bases, would succeed in timing their co-operation with perfect -accuracy. At the best they could only have brought some 30,000 men -against the 23,000 of St. Cyr’s field army—a superiority far from -sufficient to give them a rational chance of success. It is probable -that at this moment Reding’s best chance of doing something great -for the cause of Spain would have been to leave a strong garrison in -Tarragona, and march early in February with 20,000 men to the relief of -Sara<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[p. 78]</span>gossa, which was -now drawing near the end of its powers of resistance. Lannes and Junot -would have had to raise the siege if an army of such size had come -up against them. But, though intending to succour Saragossa in a few -weeks, Reding was induced by the constant entreaties of the Catalans to -undertake first an expedition against St. Cyr. He sent off no troops to -aid the Marquis of Lazan in his fruitless attempt to relax the pressure -on his brother’s heroic garrison, but devoted all his attention to the -7th Corps.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr was not an officer who was likely to be caught unprepared -by such a movement as Reding had planned. The extension of the Spanish -line to Igualada and the upper Llobregat had not escaped his notice, -and he was fully aware of the advantage which his central position -gave him over an enemy who had been obliging enough to draw out his -fighting strength on an arc of a circle sixty miles from end to end. -Without fully realizing Reding’s intentions, he could yet see that -the Spaniards were giving him a grand opportunity of beating them in -detail. He resolved to strike a blow at their northern wing, convinced -that if he acted with sufficient swiftness and energy he could crush it -long ere it could be succoured from Tarragona.</p> - -<p>It thus came to pass that Reding and St. Cyr began to move -simultaneously—the one on exterior, the other on interior -lines—with the inevitable result. On February 15 Castro, in -accordance with the instructions of the Captain-General, began to -concentrate his troops at Igualada, with the intention of advancing -against the French divisions at San Sadurni and Martorell. At the same -time orders were sent to Alvarez, the Governor of Gerona, to detach all -the men he could spare for a demonstration against Barcelona, in order -to distract the attention of Duhesme and the garrison. Reding himself, -with the troops at Tarragona, intended to march against Souham the -moment that he should receive the news that his lieutenants were ready -to strike.</p> - -<p>At the same moment St. Cyr started out on his expedition against -Igualada. He took with him Pino’s Italian division<a id="FNanchor_84" -href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a>, and ordered Chabot -and Chabran to concentrate with him at<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_79">[p. 79]</span> Capellades, seven or eight miles to the -south-east of Castro’s head quarters. By taking this route he avoided -the northern bank of the Noya and the defiles of Bruch, and approached -the enemy from the side where he could most easily cut him off from -reinforcements coming from Tarragona.</p> - -<p>The concentration of the three French columns was not perfectly -timed, those of Pino and Chabran finding their way far more difficult -than did Chabot. It thus chanced that the latter with his skeleton -division of three battalions, arrived in front of Capellades many -hours before his colleagues. His approach was reported to Castro -at Igualada, who sent down 4,000 men against him, attacked him, -and beat him back with loss<a id="FNanchor_85" href="#Footnote_85" -class="fnanchor">[85]</a> into the arms of Pino, who came on the scene -later in the day [Feb. 17]. The Spaniards were then forced to give -back, and retired to Pobla de Claramunt on the banks of the Noya, -where they were joined by most of Castro’s reserves. St. Cyr had now -concentrated his three divisions, and hoped that he might bring the -enemy to a pitched battle. He drew up in front of them all his force, -save one of Pino’s brigades, which he sent to turn their right [Feb. -18]. The Spaniards, having a fine position behind a ravine, were at -first inclined to fight, and skirmished with the enemy’s main body -for some hours. They narrowly missed capturing both St. Cyr and -Pino, who had ridden forward with their staff to reconnoitre, and -fell into an ambush of <i>miqueletes</i>, from which they only escaped -by the speed of their horses<a id="FNanchor_86" href="#Footnote_86" -class="fnanchor">[86]</a>.</p> - -<p>But late in the day the Spanish General received news that -Mazzuchelli, with the detached Italian brigade, was already in his rear -and marching hard for Igualada. He immediately evacuated his position -in great disorder, and fell back on his head quarters, closely pursued -by St. Cyr. The main body of the Spaniards, with their artillery, -just succeeded in passing through Igualada before the Italians came -up, and fled by the road to Cervera. The rear was cut off, and had -to escape in another direction by the path leading to Manresa. -Both<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[p. 80]</span> columns were -much hustled and lost many prisoners, yet they fairly outmarched their -pursuers and got away without any crushing disaster<a id="FNanchor_87" -href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a>. But their great loss was -that in Igualada the French seized all the magazines which had been -collected from northern Catalonia for the use of Castro’s division. -This relieved St. Cyr from all trouble as to provisions for many days: -he had now food enough not only to provide for his field army, but to -send back to Barcelona.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr had now done all the harm that was in his power to the -Spanish left wing—he had beaten them, seized their magazines, -driven them apart, and broken their line. He imagined that they -were disposed of for many days, and now resolved to turn off for a -blow at Reding and the other half of the Catalonian army, who might -meanwhile (for all that he knew) be attacking Souham with very superior -numbers.</p> - -<p>Accordingly on Feb. 19 he started off with Pino’s division to -join Souham and fall upon Reding, leaving Chabot and Chabran, with -all the artillery of the three divisions, to occupy Igualada and -guard the captured magazines from any possible offensive return on -the part of Castro. He marched by cross-roads along the foot-hills -of the mountains of the great central Catalonian sierra, intending -to descend into the valley of the Gaya by San Magin and the abbey -of Santas Cruces, where (as he had learnt) lay the northernmost -detachments of Reding’s division<a id="FNanchor_88" href="#Footnote_88" -class="fnanchor">[88]</a>. Thus he hoped to take the enemy in flank and -beat him in detail. He sent orders to Souham to move out of Vendrell -and meet him at Villarodoña, half-way up the course of Gaya, unless he -should have been already attacked by Reding and forced to take some -other line.</p> - -<p>At San Magin the French commander came upon some of Reding’s troops, -about 1,200 men with two guns, under a brigadier named Iranzo. They -showed fight, but were beaten<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[p. -81]</span> and sought refuge further down the valley of the Gaya in -the fortified abbey of Santas Cruces. So bare was the country-side, -and so bad the maps, that St. Cyr found considerable difficulty in -tracking them, and in discovering the best way down the valley. But -next day he got upon their trail<a id="FNanchor_89" href="#Footnote_89" -class="fnanchor">[89]</a>, and beset the abbey, which made a good -defence and proved impregnable to a force unprovided with artillery. -St. Cyr blockaded it for two days, and then descended into the plain, -where he got in touch with Souham’s division, which had advanced from -Vendrell, and was now pillaging the hamlets round Villarodoña, in the -central valley of the Gaya<a id="FNanchor_90" href="#Footnote_90" -class="fnanchor">[90]</a> [February 21].</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Reding was at last on the move. On receiving the news of -the combat of Igualada, he had to choose between the opportunity of -making a counter-stroke at Souham, and that of marching to the aid -of his lieutenant, Castro. He adopted the latter alternative, and -started from Tarragona on February 20 with an escort of about 2,000 -men, including nearly all his available cavalry<a id="FNanchor_91" -href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a>. It was his intention -to pick up on the way the outlying northern brigades of his division. -This he succeeded in doing, drawing in to himself the troops which were -guarding the pass of Santa Cristina, and Iranzo’s detachment at Santas -Cruces. This force, warned of his approach, broke through the blockade -at night, and reached its chief with little or no loss [February 21]. -Thus reinforced Reding pushed on by Sarreal to Santa Coloma, where -Castro joined him with the rallied troops of his wing, whom he had -collected when the French attack slackened. They had between them -nearly 20,000 men, an imposing force, with which some of the officers -present suggested that it would be possible to<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_82">[p. 82]</span> fall upon Igualada, crush Chabot and -Chabran, and recover the lost magazines. But Reding was nervous about -Tarragona, dreading lest St. Cyr might unite with Souham and fall upon -the city during his absence. After holding a lengthy council of war<a -id="FNanchor_92" href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> he -determined to return to protect his base of operations. Accordingly, -he told off the Swiss General Wimpffen, with some 4.000 or 5,000 of -Castro’s troops, to observe the French divisions at Igualada, and -started homeward with the rest of his army, about 10,000 infantry, -700 cavalry, and two batteries of field artillery<a id="FNanchor_93" -href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a>.<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_83">[p. 83]</span> He had made up his mind to return by the -route of Montblanch and Valls, one somewhat more remote from the -position of St. Cyr on the Gaya than the way by Pla, which he had -taken in setting out to join Castro. Reding could only have got home -without fighting by taking a circuitous route to the east, via Selva -and Reus: the suggestion that he should do so was made, but he replied -that having baggage and artillery with him he was forced to keep to a -high-road. He chose that by Valls, though he was aware that the place -was occupied: but apparently he hoped to crush Souham before Pino could -come to his aid. He was resolved, it is said, not to court a combat, -but on the other hand not to refuse it if the enemy should offer to -fight him on advantageous ground. [February 24.] The truth is, that -he was bold even to rashness, could never forget the great day of -Baylen, in which he had taken such a splendid part, and was anxious -to wash out by a victory the evil memories of Cardadeu and Molins de -Rey. He set out on the evening of February 24, and by daybreak next -morning was drawing near the bridge of Goy, where the high-road to -Tarragona crosses the river Francoli, some two miles north of the town -of Valls. His troops, as was to be expected, were much exhausted by -the long march in the darkness<a id="FNanchor_94" href="#Footnote_94" -class="fnanchor">[94]</a>.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr, meanwhile, had not been intending to strike a blow at -Tarragona. He regarded it as much more necessary to beat the enemy’s -field army than to close in upon the fortress, which would indubitably -have offered a long and obstinate resistance. When he got news of -Reding’s march to Santa Coloma he resolved to follow him: he was -preparing to hasten to the succour of his divisions at Igualada, when -he learnt that the Swiss general had turned back, and was hurrying home -to Tarragona. He resolved, therefore, to try to intercept him on his -return march, and blocked his two available roads by placing Souham’s -division at Valls and Pino’s at Pla. They were only eight or nine miles -apart, and whichever road the Spaniards took the unassailed French -division could easily come to the aid of the other.</p> - -<p>Reding’s night march, a move which St. Cyr does not seem to have -foreseen, nearly enabled him to carry out his plan. In fact,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[p. 84]</span> as we shall see, he -had almost made an end of the French division before the Marshal, -who lay himself at Pla with the Italians, arrived to succour it<a -id="FNanchor_95" href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a>.</p> - -<p>In the early morning, between six and seven o’clock, the head of -the long Spanish column reached the bridge of Goy, and there fell in -with Souham’s vedettes. The sharp musketry fire which at once broke -out warned each party that a combat was at hand. Souham hastily -marched out from Valls, and drew up his two brigades in the plain to -the north of the town, placing himself across the line of the enemy’s -advance. Reding at first made up his mind to thrust aside the French -division, whose force he somewhat undervalued, and to hurry on his -march toward Tarragona. The whole of his advanced guard and part of his -centre crossed the river, deployed on the left bank, and attacked the -French. Souham held his ground for some hours, but as more and more -Spanish battalions kept pressing across the bridge and reinforcing the -enemy’s line, he began after a time to give way—the numerical -odds were heavily against him, and the Catalans were fighting with -great steadiness and confidence. Before noon the French division was -thrust back against the town of Valls, and Reding had been able to -file not only the greater part of his army but all his baggage across -the Francoli. The way to Tarragona was clear, and if he had chosen to -disengage his men he could have carried off the whole of his army to -that city without molestation from Souham, who<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_85">[p. 85]</span> was too hard hit to wish to continue the -combat. It is even possible that if he had hastily brought up all his -reserves he might have completely routed the French detachment before -it could have been succoured.</p> - -<p>But Reding adopted neither one course nor the other. After driving -back Souham, he allowed his men a long rest, probably in order to give -the rear and the baggage time to complete the passage of the Francoli. -While things were standing still, St. Cyr arrived at full gallop from -Pla, where he had been lying with Pino’s division, to whom the news -of the battle had arrived very late. He brought with him only Pino’s -divisional cavalry, the ‘Dragoons of Napoleon’ and Royal Chasseurs, -but had ordered the rest of the Italians to follow at full speed when -they should have got together. As Pla is no more than eight miles -from Valls, it was expected that they would appear within the space -of three hours. But, as a matter of fact, Pino did not draw near -till the afternoon: one of his brigades, which lay far out, received -contradictory orders, and did not come in to Pla till past midday<a -id="FNanchor_96" href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a>, and the -Italian general would not move till it had rejoined him. Three hours -were wasted by this <i>contretemps</i>, and meanwhile the battle might have -been lost.</p> - -<p>On arriving upon the field with the Italian cavalry, St. Cyr rode -along Souham’s line, steadied it, and displayed the horsemen in his -front. Seeing the French rallying, and new troops arriving to their -aid, the Spanish commander jumped to the conclusion that St. Cyr had -come up with very heavy reinforcements, and instead of continuing his -advance, or pressing on his march toward Tarragona, suddenly changed -his whole plan of operations. He would not stand to be attacked in -the plain, but he resolved to fight a defensive action on the heights -beyond the Francoli, from which he had descended in the morning. -Accordingly, first his baggage, then his main body, and lastly his -vanguard, which covered the retreat of the rest, slowly filed back -over the bridge of Goy, and took position on the rolling hills to the -east. Here Reding drew them up in two lines, with the river flowing at -their feet as a front defence, and their batteries drawn up so as to -sweep the bridge of Goy and the fords. The right wing was covered by a -lateral ravine falling into the Francoli; the left, facing the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[p. 86]</span> village of Pixamoxons, was -somewhat ‘in the air,’ but the whole position, if long, was good and -eminently defensible.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr observed his adversary’s movement with joy, for he would -have been completely foiled if Reding had refused to fight and passed -on toward Tarragona. Knowing the Spanish troops, a pitched battle with -superior numbers was precisely what he most desired. Accordingly he -took advantage of the long time of waiting, while Pino’s division was -slowly drawing near the field, to rest and feed Souham’s tired troops, -and then to draw them up facing the southern half of Reding’s position, -with a vacant space on their right on which the Italians were to take -up their ground, when at last they should arrive.</p> - -<p>When St. Cyr had lain for nearly three hours quiescent at the foot -of the heights, and no reinforcements had yet come in sight, Reding -began to grow anxious. He had, as he now realized, retired with -unnecessary haste from in front of a beaten force, and had assumed a -defensive posture when he should have pressed the attack. At about -three o’clock he made up his mind that he had committed an error, -but thinking it too late to resume the fight, resolved to retire on -Tarragona by the circuitous route which passes through the village -of Costanti. He sent back General Marti to Tarragona to bring out -fresh troops from the garrison to join him at that point, and issued -orders that the army should retreat at dusk. He might perhaps have -got off scatheless if he had moved away at once, though it is equally -possible that St. Cyr might have fallen upon his rearguard with -Souham’s division, and done him some damage. But he waited for the dark -before marching, partly because he wished to rest his troops, who were -desperately fatigued by the night march and the subsequent combat in -the morning, partly because he did not despair of fighting a successful -defensive action if St. Cyr should venture to cross the Francoli and -attack him. Accordingly he lingered on the hillside in battle array, -waiting for the darkness<a id="FNanchor_97" href="#Footnote_97" -class="fnanchor">[97]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[p. 87]</span></p> <p>This gave -St. Cyr his chance; at three o’clock Pino’s belated division had begun -to come up: first Fontane’s brigade, then, an hour and a half later, -that of Mazzuchelli, whose absence from Pla had caused all the delay. -It was long past four, and the winter afternoon was far spent when St. -Cyr had at last got all his troops in hand.</p> - -<p>Allowing barely enough time for the Italians to form -in order of battle<a id="FNanchor_98" href="#Footnote_98" -class="fnanchor">[98]</a>, St. Cyr now led forward his whole army to -the banks of the Francoli. The two divisions formed four heavy columns -of a brigade each: and in this massive formation forded the river -and advanced uphill, driving in before them the Spanish skirmishers. -The Italian dragoons went forward in the interval between two of the -infantry columns; the French cavalry led the attack on the extreme -right, near the bridge of Goy.</p> - -<p>For a moment it seemed as if the two armies would actually cross -bayonets all along the line, for the Spaniards stood firm and opened -a regular and well-directed fire upon the advancing columns. But St. -Cyr had not miscalculated the moral effect of the steady approach of -the four great bodies of infantry which were now climbing the hill -and drawing near to Reding’s front. Like so many other continental -troops, who had striven on earlier battle-fields to bear up in line -against the French column-formation, the Spaniards could not find -heart to close with the formidable and threatening masses which were -rolling in upon them. They delivered one last tremendous discharge at -100 yards’ distance, and then, when they saw the enemy looming through -the smoke and closing upon them, broke in a dozen different places -and went to the rear in helpless disorder, sweeping away the second -line, higher up the hill, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[p. -88]</span> ought to have sustained them. The only actual collision -was on the extreme left, near the bridge of Goy, where Reding himself -charged, with his staff, at the head of his cavalry, in a vain attempt -to save the desperate situation. He was met in full career by the -French 24th Dragoons, and thoroughly beaten. In the <i>mêlée</i> he was -surrounded, three of his aides-de-camp were wounded<a id="FNanchor_99" -href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> and taken, and he himself -only cut his way out after receiving three sabre wounds on his head and -shoulders, which ultimately proved fatal.</p> - -<p>If there had not been many steep slopes and ravines behind the -Spanish position, nearly the whole of Reding’s army must have perished -or been captured. But the country-side was so difficult that the -majority of the fugitives got away, though many were overtaken. The -total loss of the Spaniards amounted to more than 3,000 men, of whom -nearly half were prisoners<a id="FNanchor_100" href="#Footnote_100" -class="fnanchor">[100]</a>. All the guns of the defeated army, all -its baggage, and several stands of colours fell into the hands of the -victors. The French lost about 1,000 men, mostly in the early part of -the engagement, when Souham’s division was driven back under the walls -of Valls.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_2"> - <img src="images/catalonia.jpg" - alt="Map of part of Catalonia" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/catalonia-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">PART of CATALONIA</span><br /> - <small>TO ILLUSTRATE S<sup>T</sup> CYR’S CAMPAIGN</small><br /> - <small><span class="smcap">NOV. 1808 to MARCH 1809</span></small> - </p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter mt1"> - <img src="images/valls.jpg" - alt="Map of battle of Valls" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/valls-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">BATTLE of VALLS</span><br /> - <small>FEB. 25 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">The Spaniards had not fought amiss: St. Cyr, in a -dispatch to Berthier, acknowledges the fact—not in order to exalt -the merit of his own troops, but to demonstrate that the 7th Corps was -too weak for the task set it and required further reinforcements<a -id="FNanchor_101" href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a>. -But Reding did not give his men a fair chance; he hurried them into -the fight at the end of a long night march, drew them off just -when they were victorious, and altered his plan of battle <span -class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[p. 89]</span>thrice in the course of the -day. No army could have done itself justice with such bad leading.</p> - -<p>The wrecks of the beaten force straggled into Tarragona, their -spirits so depressed that it was a long time before it was possible -to trust them again in battle. When they once more took the field it -was under another leader, for Reding, after lingering some weeks, died -of his wounds, leaving the reputation of a brave, honest, and humane -officer, but of a very poor general.</p> - -<p>St. Cyr utilized his victory merely by blockading Tarragona. He -moved Souham to Reus, and kept Pino at Valls, each throwing out -detachments as far as the sea, so as to cut off the city from all -its communications with the interior. An epidemic had broken out in -the place, in consequence of the masses of ill-attended wounded who -cumbered the hospitals. It would seem that the French General hoped -that the pestilence might turn the hearts of the garrison towards -surrender. If so, he was much deceived: they bore their ills with -stolid patience, and being always victualled from the sea suffered no -practical inconvenience from the blockade. It seems indeed that St. Cyr -would have done far better to use the breathing time which he won at -the battle of Valls for the commencement of a movement against Gerona. -Till that place should be captured, and the high-road to Perpignan -opened, there was no real security for the 7th Corps. Long months, -however, were to elapse before this necessary operation was taken in -hand.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap11_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[p. 90]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">SECTION XI</h2> - <p class="subh2">THE SECOND SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA<br /> - <small>(DECEMBER 1808-FEBRUARY 1809)</small></p> - <h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE CAPTURE OF THE OUTWORKS</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">While</span> Napoleon was urging on his -fruitless pursuit of Sir John Moore, while St. Cyr was discomfiting -the Catalans on the Besos and the Llobregat, and while Victor was -dealing his last blow to the dilapidated army of Infantado, there was -one point on which the war was standing still, and where the French -arms had made no great progress since the battle of Tudela. Saragossa -was holding out, with the same tenacity that she had displayed during -the first siege in the July and August of the preceding summer. In -front of her walls and barricades two whole corps of the Emperor’s army -were detained from December, 1808, till February, 1809. As long as the -defence endured, she preserved the rest of Aragon and the whole of -Valencia from invasion.</p> - -<p>The battle of Tudela had been fought on November 23, but it was not -till nearly a month later that the actual siege began. The reason for -this delay was that the Emperor had called off to Madrid all the troops -which had taken part in the campaign against Castaños and Palafox, save -Moncey’s 3rd Corps alone. This force was not numerous enough to invest -the city till it had been strengthened by heavy reinforcements from the -North.</p> - -<p>After having routed the Armies of Aragon and the Centre, Marshal -Lannes had thrown up the command which had been entrusted to him, -and had gone back to France. The injuries which he had suffered -from his fall over the precipice near Pampeluna<a id="FNanchor_102" -href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> were still far from -healed, and served as the excuse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[p. -91]</span> for his retirement. Moncey, therefore, resumed, on November -25, the charge of the victorious army: on the next day he was joined -by Ney, who, after failing to intercept Castaños in the mountains<a -id="FNanchor_103" href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a>, had -descended into the valley of the Ebro, with Marchand and Dessolles’ -divisions of infantry, and Beaumont’s light cavalry brigade. On the -twenty-eighth the two marshals advanced along the high-road by Mallen -and Alagon, and on the second day after appeared in front of Saragossa -with all their troops, save Musnier’s division of the 3rd Corps and -the division of the 6th Corps lately commanded by Lagrange, which had -followed the retreating army of Castaños into the hills on the road to -Calatayud. They were about to commence the investment of the city, when -Ney received orders from the Emperor, dispatched from Aranda, bidding -him leave the siege to Moncey, and cross the mountains into New Castile -with all the troops of the 6th Corps: he was to find Castaños, and hang -on his heels so that he should not be able to march to the help of -Madrid.</p> - -<p>Accordingly the Duke of Elchingen marched from the camp in front of -Saragossa with the divisions of Marchand and Dessolles, and the cavalry -brigades of Beaumont and Digeon. At Calatayud he came up with the force -which had been dispatched in pursuit of Castaños,—Musnier’s -division of the 3rd Corps, and that of the 6th Corps which Maurice -Mathieu had taken over from Lagrange, who had been severely -wounded at Tudela<a id="FNanchor_104" href="#Footnote_104" -class="fnanchor">[104]</a>. Leaving Musnier at Calatayud to protect -his communications with Aragon, Ney picked up Maurice Mathieu, and -passed the mountains into New Castile, where he fell into the Emperor’s -sphere of operations. We have seen that he took a prominent part in the -pursuit of Sir John Moore and the invasion of Galicia.</p> - -<p>Moncey, meanwhile, was left in front of Saragossa with his 1st, -3rd, and 4th Divisions—the 2nd being still at Calatayud. This -force consisted of no more than twenty-three battalions, about 15,000 -men, and was far too weak to undertake the siege. The Marshal was -informed that the whole corps of Mortier was<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_92">[p. 92]</span> to be sent to his aid, but it was still far -away, and with very proper caution he resolved to draw back and wait -for the arrival of the reinforcements. If the Spaniards got to know of -his condition, they might sally out from Saragossa and attack him with -more than 30,000 men. Moncey, therefore, drew back to Alagon, and there -waited for the arrival of the Duke of Treviso and the 5th Corps. It -was not till December 20 that he was able to present himself once more -before the city.</p> - -<p>Thus Saragossa gained four weeks of respite between the battle of -Tudela and the commencement of the actual siege. This reprieve was -invaluable to Palafox and the Aragonese. They would have been in grave -danger if Lannes had marched on and assaulted the city only two days -after the battle, and before the routed army had been rallied. Even -if Ney and Moncey had been permitted to begin a serious attack on -November 30, the day of their arrival before the place, they would -have had some chance of success. But their sudden retreat raised the -spirits of the defenders, and the twenty extra days of preparation -thus granted to them sufficed to restore them to full confidence, -and to re-establish their belief in the luck of Saragossa and the -special protection vouchsafed them by its patron saint Our Lady of -the Pillar. Napoleon must take the blame for all the consequences of -Ney’s withdrawal. He had ordered it without fully realizing the fact -that Moncey would be left too weak to commence the siege. Probably -he had over-estimated the effect of the defeat of Tudela on the Army -of Aragon. For the failure of Ney’s attempt to surround Castaños he -was only in part responsible, though (as we have seen) he had sent -him out on his circular march two days too late<a id="FNanchor_105" -href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a>. But to draw off the -6th Corps to New Castile (where it failed to do any good), before the -5th Corps had arrived to take its place before Saragossa, was clearly a -blunder.</p> - -<p>Palafox made admirable use of the unexpected reprieve that had -been granted him. He had not, it will be remembered, taken part in -person in the battle of Tudela, but had returned to his head quarters -on the night before that disaster. He was occupied in organizing a -reserve to take the field in support of his two divisions already at -the front, when the sudden<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[p. -93]</span> influx of fugitives into Saragossa showed him what had -occurred. In the course of the next two days there poured into the -place the remains of the divisions of O’Neille and St. March from -his own Army of Aragon. With them came Roca’s men, who properly -belonged to Castaños, but having fought in the right wing had been -separated from the main body of the Andalusian army<a id="FNanchor_106" -href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a>. In addition, fragments -of many other regiments of the Army of the Centre straggled into -Saragossa. At least 16,000 or 17,000 men of the wrecks of Tudela -had come in ere four days were expired. To help them, Palafox could -count on all the newly organized battalions of his reserve, which -had never marched out to join the field army: they amounted to some -10,000 or 12,000 men, but many of the regiments had only lately been -organized and had not received their uniforms or equipment. Nor was -this all: several belated battalions from Murcia and Valencia came -in at various times during the next ten days<a id="FNanchor_107" -href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a>, so that long ere the -actual siege began Palafox could count on 32,000 bayonets and 2,000 -sabres of more or less regularly organized corps. He had in addition -a number of irregulars—armed citizens and peasants of the -country-side—whose numbers it is impossible to fix, for though -some had been collected in <i>partidas</i> or volunteer companies, others -fought in loose bands just as they pleased, and without any proper -organization. They may possibly have amounted to 10,000 men at the time -of the commencement of the siege, but so many were drafted into the -local Aragonese battalions before the end of the fighting, that when -the place surrendered in February, there were less than a thousand<a -id="FNanchor_108" href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> of -these unembodied irregulars under arms.</p> - -<p>But it was not so much for the reorganization of his army as for -the strengthening of his fortifications that Palafox found<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[p. 94]</span> the respite during the -first three weeks of December profitable. During the first siege it -will be remembered that the fortifications of Saragossa had been -contemptible from the engineer’s point of view: the flimsy mediaeval -<i>enceinte</i> had crumbled away at the first fire of the besiegers, and -the real defence had been carried out behind the barricades. By the -commencement of the second siege everything had changed, and the city -was covered by a formidable line of defences, executed, as was remarked -by one of the French generals<a id="FNanchor_109" href="#Footnote_109" -class="fnanchor">[109]</a>, with more zeal and energy than scientific -skill, but presenting nevertheless most serious obstacles to the -besieger.</p> - -<p>After the raising of the first siege by Verdier, the Spaniards had -been for some time in a state of such confidence and exultation that -they imagined that there was no need for further defensive precautions. -The next campaign was to be fought, as they supposed, on the further -side of the Pyrenees. But the long suspension of the expected advance -during the autumn months began to chill their spirits, and, as the year -drew on, it was no longer reckoned unpatriotic or cowardly to take -into consideration the wisdom of strengthening the inland fortresses -in view of a possible return of the French. In September, Colonel -San Genis, the engineer officer who had worked for Palafox during -the first siege, received permission to commence a series of regular -fortifications for Saragossa. The work did not progress rapidly, for -the Aragonese had not as yet much belief in the possibility that they -might be called on once again to defend their capital. San Genis only -received a moderate sum of money, and the right to requisition men -of over thirty-five from the city and the surrounding villages. The -labour had to be paid, and therefore the labourers were few. The new -works were sketched out rather than executed. Things progressed with a -leisurely slowness, till in November the dangers of the situation began -to be appreciated, and the approach of the French reinforcements drove -the Saragossans to greater energy. But it was only the thunderclap of -Tudela that really alarmed them, and sent soldiers and civilians, men, -women, and children, to labour with feverish haste at the com<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[p. 95]</span>pletion of the new lines. -Between November 25 and December 20 the amount of work that was carried -out was amazing and admirable. If Ney and Moncey had been allowed to -commence the regular siege before the month of November had expired, -they would have found the whole system of works in an incomplete -condition. Three weeks later Saragossa had been converted into a -formidable fortress.</p> - -<p>The only point where San Genis’ scheme had not been fully developed -was the Monte Torrero. It will be remembered that this important -hill, whose summit lies only 1,800 yards from the walls of Saragossa, -overlooks the whole city, and had been chosen during the first siege as -the <i>emplacement</i> for the main breaching batteries. To keep the French -from this commanding position was most important, and the Spanish -engineer had intended to cover the whole circuit of the hill with a -large entrenched camp, protected by continuous lines of earthworks -and numerous redoubts, with the Canal of Aragon, which runs under -its southern foot, as a wet ditch in its front. But, when the news -of Tudela arrived, little or nothing had been done to carry out this -scheme: the fortification of the city had absorbed the main attention -of the Aragonese, and while that was still incomplete the Monte Torrero -had been neglected. In December it was too late to begin the building -of three or four miles of new earthworks, and in consequence nothing -was constructed on the suburban hill save one large central redoubt, -and two small works serving as <i>têtes-de-pont</i>, at the points where the -Madrid and the La Muela roads cross the Canal of Aragon. St. March’s -Valencian division, still 6,000 strong, was told off for the defence -of the hill, but had no continuous line of works to cover it. The only -strength of the position lay in the canal which runs round its foot: -but this was not very broad, and was fordable at more than one point. -In short, the Monte Torrero constituted an outlying defence which might -be held for some time, in order to keep the besiegers far off from -the body of the place, rather than an integral part of its line of -defence.</p> - -<p>It was on the works of Saragossa itself that the energy of more -than 60,000 enthusiastic labourers, military and civilian, had been -expended during the month that followed Tudela.<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_96">[p. 96]</span> The total accomplished in this time moves -our respect: it will be well to take the various fronts in detail.</p> - -<p>On the Western front, from the Ebro to the Huerba, there had been in -August nothing more than a weak wall, many parts of which were composed -of the rear-sides of convents and buildings. In front of this line -there had been constructed by November 10 a very different defence. -A solid rampart reveted with bricks taken from ruined houses, and -furnished with a broad terrace for artillery, and a ditch forty-five -feet deep now covered the entire western side of the city. The convents -of the Augustinians and the Trinitarians, which had been outside the -walls during the earlier siege, had been taken into this new <i>enceinte</i> -and served as bastions in it. There being a space 600 yards long -between them, where the curtain would have been unprotected by flanking -fires, a great semicircular battery had been thrown out, which acted -as a third bastion on this side. Strong earthworks had also been built -up to cover the Portillo and Carmen gates. As an outlying fort there -was the castle of the Aljafferia, which had received extensive repairs, -and was connected with the <i>enceinte</i> by a ditch and a covered way. It -would completely enfilade any attacks made on the north-western part of -the new wall.</p> - -<p>On the Southern front of the defences the work done had been even -more important. Here the new fortifications had been carried down -to the brink of the ravine of the Huerba, so as to make that stream -the wet ditch of the town. Two great redoubts were pushed beyond -it: one called the redoubt of ‘Our Lady of the Pillar’ lay at the -bridge outside the Santa Engracia gate. It was provided with a deep -narrow ditch, into which the water of the river had been turned, and -armed with eight guns. The corresponding fort, at the south-east -angle of the town, was made by fortifying the convent of San José, -on the Valencia road, just beyond the Huerba. This was a quadrangle -120 yards long by eighty broad, furnished with a ditch, and with a -covered way with palisades, cut in the counterscarp. It held twelve -heavy guns, and a garrison of no less than 3,000 men. Between San José -and the Pillar redoubt, the old town wall above the Huerba had been -strengthened and thickened, and several new batteries had been built -upon it.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[p. 97]</span> It could not -well be assailed till the two projecting works in front of it should -be reduced, and if they should fall it stood on higher ground and -completely commanded their sites. The convent of Santa Engracia, so -much disputed during the first siege, had been turned into a sort of -fortress, and heavily armed with guns of position.</p> - -<p>On the eastern front of the city from San José to the Ebro, the -Huerba still serves as a ditch to the place, but is not so steep or so -difficult as in its upper course. Here the suburb of the Tanneries (Las -Tenerias), where that stream falls into the Ebro, had been turned into -a strong projecting redoubt, whose fire commanded both the opposite -bank of the Ebro on one side, and the lower reaches of the Huerba on -the other. Half way between this redoubt and San José was a great -battery (generally called the ‘Palafox Battery’) at the Porta Quemada, -whose fires, crossing those of the other two works, commanded all the -low ground outside the eastern front of the city.</p> - -<p>It only remains to speak of the fortifications of the transpontine -suburb of San Lazaro. This was by nature the weakest part of the -defences, as the suburb is built in low marshy ground on the river’s -edge. Here deep cuttings had been made and filled with water, three -heavy batteries had been erected, and the convents of San Lazaro and -Jesus had been strengthened, crenellated and loopholed, and turned into -forts. The whole of these works were joined by palisades and ditches. -They formed a great <i>tête-de-pont</i>, requiring a garrison of 3,000 -men. As an additional defence for the flanks of the suburb three or -four gunboats, manned by sailors brought up from Cartagena, had been -launched on the Ebro, and commanded the reach of the river which runs -along the northern side of the city.</p> - -<p>Yet great as were the works which now sheathed the body of -Saragossa, the people had not forgotten the moral lesson of the first -siege. When her walls had been beaten down, she had resisted behind -her barricades and the solid houses of her narrow streets. They -fully realized that this might again have to be done, if the French -should succeed in breaking in at some point of the long <i>enceinte</i>. -Accordingly, every preparation was made<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_98">[p. 98]</span> for street fighting. Houses were loopholed, -and communications were pierced between them, without any regard for -private property or convenience. Ground-floor windows were built up, -and arrangements made for the speedy and solid closing of all doors. -Traverses were erected in the streets, to guard as far as was possible -against the dangers of a bombardment, and an elaborate system of -barricades, arranged in proper tactical relation to each other, was -sketched out. The walls might be broken, but the people boasted that -the kernel should be harder than the shell.</p> - -<p>Outside the city, where the olive groves and suburban villas and -summer houses had given much cover to the French during the first -siege, a clean sweep had been made of every stone and stick for 800 -yards around the defences. The trees were felled, and dragged into -the city, to be cut up into palisades. The bricks and stones were -carried off to revet the new ramparts and ditches. The once fertile -and picturesque garden-suburbs were left bald and bare, and could be -perfectly well searched by the cannon from the walls, so that the -enemy had to contrive all his cover by pick and shovel, or gabion and -fascine.</p> - -<p>The soldiery, whose spirits had been much dashed by the disaster of -Tudela, soon picked up their courage when they noted the enthusiasm -of the citizens and the strength of the defences. Indeed, it was -dangerous for any man to show outward signs of doubt or fear, for the -Aragonese had been wrought up to a pitch of hysterical patriotism -which made them look upon faintheartedness as treason. Palafox himself -did his best to keep down riots and assassinations, but his followers -were always stimulating him to apply martial law in its most rigorous -form. A high gallows was erected in the middle of the Coso, and -short shrift was given to any man convicted of attempted desertion, -disobedience to orders, or cowardice. Delations were innumerable, and -the Captain-General had the greatest difficulty in preserving from the -popular fury even persons whom he believed to be innocent. The most -that he could do for them was to shut them up in the prisons of the -Aljafferia, and to defer their trial till the siege should be over. -The fact was that Palafox was well aware that his power rested on the -unlimited confidence reposed on him by the people, and was therefore -bent on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[p. 99]</span> crossing -their desires as little as he could help. He was careful to take -counsel not only with his military subordinates, but with all those who -had power in the streets. Hence came the prominence which is assigned -in all the narratives of the siege to obscure persons, such as the -priests Don Basilio (the Captain-General’s chaplain) and Santiago Sass, -and to the demagogues ‘Tio Jorge’ and ‘Tio Marin.’ They represented -public opinion, and had to be conciliated. It is going too far to say, -with Napier, that a regular ‘Reign of Terror’ prevailed in Saragossa -throughout the second siege, and that Palafox was no more than a -puppet, whose strings were pulled by fanatical friars and bloodthirsty -gutter-politicians. But it is clear that the Captain-General’s -dictatorial power was only preserved by a careful observation of every -gust of popular feeling, and that the acts of his subordinates were -often reckless and cruel. The soldiers disliked the fanatical citizens: -the work of Colonel Cavallero, the engineer officer who has left the -best Spanish narrative of the siege, is full of this feeling. He sums -up the situation by writing that ‘The agents of the Commander-in-chief -sometimes abused their power. Everything was demanded in the name -of King and Country, every act of disobedience was counted as high -treason: on the other hand, known devotion to the holy cause gave -unlimited authority, and assured impunity for any act to those who -had the smallest shadow of delegated power. Even if the citizens -had not been unanimous in their feelings, fear would have given -them an appearance of unanimity. To the intoxication of confidence -and national pride caused by the results of the first siege, to the -natural obstinacy of the Aragonese, to the strength of a dictatorial -government supported by democratic enthusiasm, there was added an -exalted religious fanaticism. Our Lady of the Pillar, patroness of -Saragossa, had, it was supposed, displayed her power by the raising of -the first siege: it had been the greatest of her miracles. Anything -could be got from a people in this frame of mind<a id="FNanchor_110" -href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Palafox knew well how to deal with his followers. He kept himself -always before their eyes; his activity was unceasing, his supervision -was felt in every department. His unending series<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_100">[p. 100]</span> of eloquent, if somewhat bombastic, -proclamations was well suited to rouse their enthusiasm. He displayed, -even to ostentation, a confidence which he did not always feel, -because he saw that the strength of the defence lay in the fact that -the Aragonese were convinced in the certainty of their own triumph. -The first doubt as to ultimate success would dull their courage and -weaken their arms. We cannot blame him, under the circumstances, if he -concealed from them everything that was likely to damp their ardour, -and allowed them to believe everything that would keep up their -spirits.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile he did not neglect the practical side of the defence. -The best testimony to his capacity is the careful accumulation which -he made of all the stores and material needed for a long siege. Alone -among all the Spanish garrisons of the war, that of Saragossa never -suffered from hunger nor from want of resources. It was the pestilence, -not starvation, which was destined to prove the ruin of the defence. -Before the French investment began Palafox had gathered in six months’ -provisions for 15,000 men; the garrison was doubled by the arrival of -the routed army from Tudela: yet still there was food for three months -for the military. The citizens had been directed to lay in private -stocks, and to feed themselves: this they had done, and it was not -till the end of the siege that they began to run short of comestibles. -Even when the place fell there were still large quantities of corn, -maize, salt fish, oil, brandy, and forage for horses in the magazines<a -id="FNanchor_111" href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a>. Only -fresh meat had failed, and the Spaniard is never a great consumer of -that commodity. Military stores had been prepared in vast quantities: -there was an ample stock of sandbags, of timber for palisading, of -iron work and spare fittings for artillery. Instead of gabions the -garrison used the large wicker baskets employed for the vintage, which -were available in profusion. Of artillery there were some 160 pieces -in the place, but too many of them were of small calibre: only about -sixty were 16-pounders or heavier. Of these more than half were French -pieces, abandoned by Verdier in August in his siege-works, or fished -out of the canal into which he had thrown them. Of cannon-balls there -was also an ample provision: a great part, like the siege-guns, were -spoil<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[p. 101]</span> taken in -the deserted camp of the French in August. Shells, on the other hand, -were very deficient, and the workmen of the local arsenal could not -manufacture them satisfactorily. The powder was made in the place -throughout the siege: the accident in July, when the great magazine in -the Seminary blew up with such disastrous results, had induced Palafox -to order that no great central store should be made, but that the -sulphur, saltpetre, and charcoal should be kept apart, and compounded -daily in quantities sufficient for all requirements. So many thousand -civilians were kept at work on powder-and cartridge-making that this -plan never failed, and no great explosions took place during the second -siege.</p> - -<p>It will be remembered that want of muskets had been one of the chief -hindrances of the Aragonese during the operations in July and August. -It was not felt in December and January, for not only had Palafox -collected a large store of small arms during the autumn, to equip his -reserves, but he received, just before the investment began, a large -convoy of British muskets, sent up from Tarragona by Colonel Doyle, who -had gone down to the coast by the Captain-General’s desire, to hurry on -their transport. As the siege went on, the mortality among the garrison -was so great that the stock of muskets more than sufficed for those who -were in a state to bear arms.</p> - -<p>Such were the preparations which were made to receive the French, -when they should finally present themselves in front of the walls. All -had been done, save in one matter, to enable the city to make the best -defence possible under the circumstances. The single omission was to -provide for a field force beyond the walls capable of harassing the -besiegers from without, and of cutting their communications with their -base. From his 40,000 men Palafox ought to have detached a strong -division, with orders to base itself upon Upper Aragon, and keep the -French in constant fear as to their supplies and their touch with -Tudela and Pampeluna. Ten thousand men could easily have been spared, -and the mischief that they might have done was incalculable. The city -had more defenders than were needed: in the open country, on the other -hand, there was no nucleus left for further resistance. Almost every -available man had been sent up to Saragossa: with the exception of -Lazan’s division<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[p. 102]</span> -in Catalonia, and of three other battalions<a id="FNanchor_112" -href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a>, the whole of the -32,000 men raised by the kingdom of Aragon were inside the walls. -Outside there remained nothing but unorganized bands of peasants to -keep the field and molest the besiegers. The only help from without -that was given to the city was that supplied by Lazan’s small -force, when it was withdrawn from Catalonia in January, and 4,000 -men could do nothing against two French army corps. Even as it was, -the French had to tell off the best part of two divisions to guard -their communications. What could they have done if there had been a -solid body of 10,000 men ranging the mountains, and descending at -every favourable opportunity to fall upon some post on the long line -Alagon-Mallen-Tudela-Pampeluna by which the besiegers drew their food -and munitions from their base?</p> - -<p>It would seem that the neglect of Palafox to provide for this -necessary detachment arose from three causes. The first was his want -of real strategical insight—which had been amply displayed -during the autumn, when he was always urging on his colleagues his -ridiculous plan for ‘surrounding’ the French army, by an impossible -march into Navarre and the Pyrenees. The second was his conviction, -well-founded enough in itself, that his troops would do much better -behind walls than in the open<a id="FNanchor_113" href="#Footnote_113" -class="fnanchor">[113]</a>. The third was a strong belief that the -siege would be raised not by any operations from without, but by the -rigours of the winter. In average years the months of January and -February are tempestuous and rainy in Aragon. The low ground about -Saragossa is often inundated: even if the enemy were not drowned out -(like the besiegers of Leyden in 1574), Palafox thought that they would -find trench-work impossible in the constant downpour, and would be so -much thinned by dysentery and rheumatism that they would have to draw -back from their low-lying camps and raise the siege. Unfortunately -for him the winter turned out exceptionally mild, and (what was -worse) exceptionally dry. The French had not to suffer from the awful -deluge which in Galicia, during this same month, was rendering<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[p. 103]</span> the retreat of Sir -John Moore so miserable. The rain did no more than send many of the -besiegers to hospital: it never stopped their advance or flooded their -trenches.</p> - -<p>When Palafox had nearly completed his defences—the works on -the Monte Torrero alone were still hopelessly behindhand—the -French at last began to move up against him. On December 15 Marshal -Mortier arrived at Tudela with the whole of the 5th Corps, veterans -from the German garrisons who had not yet fired a shot in Spain. Their -ranks were so full that though only two divisions, or twenty-eight -battalions, formed the corps, it counted 21,000 bayonets. It had also -a brigade of two regiments of hussars and chasseurs as corps-cavalry, -with a strength of 1,500 sabres. The condition of Moncey’s 3rd -Corps was much less satisfactory: it was mainly composed of relics -of the original army of Spain—of the conscripts formed into -provisional regiments with whom Napoleon had at first intended to -conquer the Peninsula<a id="FNanchor_114" href="#Footnote_114" -class="fnanchor">[114]</a>. Its other troops, almost without exception, -had taken part in the first siege of Saragossa under Verdier, a not -very cheerful or inspiriting preparation for the second leaguer<a -id="FNanchor_115" href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a>. -All the regiments had been thinned by severe sickness in the autumn; -on October 10 they had already 7,741 men in hospital—far the -largest figure shown by any of the French corps in Spain. The number -had largely increased as the winter had drawn on, and the battalions -had grown so weak that Moncey consolidated his four divisions into -three during his halt at Alagon. The whole of the 4th division was -distributed between the 2nd and 3rd, so as to bring the others up to -a decent strength. On December 20 the thirty-eight battalions only -made up 20,000 effective men for the siege, while more than 10,000 lay -sick, some with the army, some in the base hospitals at Pampeluna. -The health of the corps grew progressively worse in January, till -at last in the middle days of the siege it had 15,000 men with the -colours, and no less than 13,000 sick. We find the French generals -complaining that one division of the 5th Corps was almost as strong and -effective at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[p. 104]</span> this -time as the whole combined force of the 3rd Corps<a id="FNanchor_116" -href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a>. Nevertheless these -weary and fever-ridden troops had to take in charge the main part of -the siege operations.</p> - -<p>During the twenty days of his halt at Alagon, Moncey had employed -his sappers and many of his infantry in the manufacture of gabions, -wool-packs, and sandbags for the projected siege. He was continually -receiving convoys of heavy artillery and ammunition from Pampeluna, -and when Mortier came up on December 20, had a sufficiency of material -collected for the commencement of the leaguer. The two marshals moved -on together on that day, and marched eastward towards Saragossa, -with the whole of their forces, save that four battalions were left -to guard the camp and dépôts at Alagon, and three more at Tudela to -keep open the Pampeluna road<a id="FNanchor_117" href="#Footnote_117" -class="fnanchor">[117]</a>. Gazan’s division crossed the Ebro opposite -Tauste, to invest the transpontine suburb of Saragossa: the rest of -the army kept to the right bank. Late in the evening both columns came -in sight of the city. They mustered, after deducting the troops left -behind, about 38,000 infantry, 3,500 cavalry, and 3,000 sappers and -artillerymen. They had sixty siege-guns, over and above the eighty-four -field-pieces belonging to the corps-artillery of Mortier and Moncey. -The provision of artillery was copious—far more than the French -had turned against many of the first-class fortresses of Germany. The -Emperor was determined that Saragossa should be well battered, and had -told off an extra proportion of engineers against the place, entrusting -the general charge of the work to his aide-de-camp, General Lacoste, -one of the most distinguished officers of the scientific corps.</p> - -<p>When the reinvestment began, Gazan on the left bank established -himself at Villanueva facing the suburb of San Lazaro. Mortier with -Suchet’s division took post at San Lamberto opposite the western front -of the city. Moncey, marching round the place, ranged Grandjean’s -troops opposite the Monte Torrero, on the southern front of the -defences, and Morlot further east near the mouth of the Huerba. His -other division,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[p. 105]</span> -that of Musnier, formed the central reserve, and guarded the artillery -and the magazines. The Spaniards made no attempt to delay the -completion of the investment, and kept quiet within their walls.</p> - -<p>On the next morning the actual siege began. It was destined to -last from December 20 to February 20, and may be divided into three -well-marked sections. The first comprises the operations against the -Spanish outworks, and terminates with the capture of the two great -bridge-heads beyond the Huerba, the forts of San José and Our Lady of -the Pillar: it lasted down to January 15. The second period includes -the time during which the besiegers attacked and finally broke through -the main <i>enceinte</i> of the city: it lasts from January 16 to January -27. The third section consists of the street-fighting, after the walls -had been pierced, and ends with the fall of Saragossa on February -20.</p> - -<p>Having reconnoitred the whole circuit of the Spanish defences on the -very evening of their arrival before the city (December 20), Moncey and -Mortier recognized that their first task must be to evict the Spaniards -from the Monte Torrero, the one piece of dominating ground in the whole -region of operations, and the spot from which Saragossa could be most -effectively attacked. They were rejoiced to see that the broad hill was -not protected by any continuous line of entrenchments, but was merely -crowned by a large open redoubt, and defended in front by the two small -bridge-heads on the Canal of Aragon. There was nothing to prevent an -attempt to storm it by main force. This was to be made on the following -morning: at the same time Gazan, on the left bank of the Ebro, was -ordered to assault the suburb of San Lazaro. Here the marshals had -underrated the strength of the Spanish position, which lay in such -low ground and was so difficult to make out, that it presented to the -observer from a distance an aspect of weakness that was far from the -reality.</p> - -<p>At eight on the morning of December 21 three French batteries, -placed in favourable advanced positions, began to shell the -redoubts on the Monte Torrero, with satisfactory results, as -they dismounted some of the defender’s guns and exploded a small -dépôt of reserve ammunition. An hour later the infantry came into -action. Moncey had told off for the assault<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_106">[p. 106]</span> the divisions of Morlot and Grandjean, -twenty battalions in all<a id="FNanchor_118" href="#Footnote_118" -class="fnanchor">[118]</a>. The former attacked the eastern front -of the position, fording the canal and assailing the left-hand -<i>tête-de-pont</i> on the Valencia road from the flank. The latter, which -had passed the canal far outside the Spanish lines, and operated -between it and the Huerba, attacked the south-western slopes of the -hill. The defence was weak, and when a brigade of Grandjean’s men -pushed in between the main redoubt on the crest and the Huerba, -and took the western part of the Spanish line in the rear, the day -was won. St. March’s battalions wavered all along the line; and as -his reserves could not be induced to fall upon the French advance, -the Valencian general withdrew his whole division into the city, -abandoning the entire circuit of the Monte Torrero. The assailants -captured seven guns—some of them disabled—in the three -redoubts, and a standard of the 5th regiment of Murcia. They had -only lost twenty killed and fifty wounded; the Spanish loss was also -insignificant, considering the importance of the position that was -at stake, and hardly any prisoners were taken<a id="FNanchor_119" -href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a>. The besiegers had -now the power to bombard all the southern front of Saragossa, and -dominated, from the slopes of the hill, the two advanced forts of -San José and the Pillar. The leaders of the populace were strongly -of opinion that the Valencian division had misbehaved, and they -were not far wrong. Palafox had great difficulty in protecting St. -March, whose personal conduct had been unimpeachable, from the -wrath of the multitude, who wished to make him responsible for the -weakness shown by his men<a id="FNanchor_120" href="#Footnote_120" -class="fnanchor">[120]</a>. The officer who lost the Monte Torrero -in the first siege had been tried and shot<a id="FNanchor_121" -href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a>: St. March was lucky to -escape even without a reprimand.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile things had gone very differently at the other point -where the French had tried to break down the outer defences of the -city. The attack on the transpontine suburb of San Lazaro had been -allotted to Gazan’s division. This was a very formidable force, -9,000 veterans of the best quality, who were bent on showing that -they had not degenerated since they fought at<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_107">[p. 107]</span> Friedland. Owing to some slight mistake -in the combination, Gazan only delivered his attack at one o’clock, -two hours after the fighting on the Monte Torrero had ceased. His -leading brigade, that of Guérin, six battalions strong, advanced -against the northern and eastern fronts of the defences of the suburb. -The Spaniards were holding as an outwork a large building called -the Archbishop’s Tower (Torre del Arzobispo)<a id="FNanchor_122" -href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> on the Villanueva -road, 600 yards in front of the main line of entrenchments. This -Gazan’s men carried at the first rush, killing or capturing 300 -men of a Swiss battalion<a id="FNanchor_123" href="#Footnote_123" -class="fnanchor">[123]</a> which held it. They then pushed forward -towards the inner fortifications, but were taken in flank by a heavy -artillery fire from a redoubt which they had overlooked. This caused -them to swerve towards the Barcelona road, where they got possession -of a house close under the convent of Jesus, and threatened to cut off -the garrison of that stronghold from the rest of the defenders of the -suburb. At this moment a disgraceful panic seized the defenders of the -San Lazaro convent, which lay directly in front of the assailants. -They abandoned their post, and began to fly across the bridge into -Saragossa. But Palafox came up in person with a reserve, and reoccupied -the abandoned post. He then ordered a sortie against the buildings -which the French had seized, and succeeded in driving them out and -compelling them to retire into the open ground. Gazan doubted for a -moment whether he should not send in his second brigade to renew the -attack, for the six battalions that had borne the brunt of the first -fighting had now fallen into complete disorder. But remembering that -if this force failed to break into the suburb he had no reserves left, -and that Palafox might bring over the bridge as many reinforcements -as he chose, the French general resolved not to push the assault any -further. He drew back and retired behind the Gallego stream, where he -threw up entrenchments to cover himself, completely abandoning the -offensive. For two or three days he did not dare to move, expecting to -be attacked at any moment by the garrison. A sudden rise of the Ebro -had cut off his communication with Moncey, and he could neither send -the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[p. 108]</span> marshal an -account of his check, nor get any orders from him<a id="FNanchor_124" -href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a>. His casualty-list was -severe, thirty officers and 650 men killed and wounded: the Spaniards -lost somewhat less, even including the 300 Swiss who were cut to pieces -at the Archbishop’s Tower.</p> - -<p>Palafox next morning issued a proclamation, extolling the valour -shown in the defence of the suburb, treating the loss of the Monte -Torrero as insignificant, and exaggerating the losses of the French. -The Saragossans were rather encouraged than otherwise by the results -of the day’s fighting, and spoke as if they had merely lost an outwork -by the unsteadiness of St. March’s Valencians, while the main hostile -attack had been repulsed. But it is clear that the capture of the -dominating heights south of the city was an all-important gain to the -French. Without the Monte Torrero they could never have pressed the -siege home. As to the failure at the suburb, it came from attacking -with headlong courage an entrenched position that had not been properly -reconnoitred. The assault should never have been delivered without -artillery preparation, and was a grave mistake. But clearly Mortier’s -corps had yet to learn what the Spaniards were like, and to realize -that to turn them out from behind walls and ditches was not the light -task that they supposed.</p> - -<p>Moncey so thoroughly miscalculated the general effect of the -fighting upon the minds of the Spaniards, that next morning he sent -in to Palafox a flag of truce, with an officer bearing a formal -demand for the surrender of the city. ‘Madrid had fallen,’ he wrote: -‘Saragossa, invested on all sides, had not the force to resist two -complete <i>corps d’armée</i>. He trusted that the Captain-General would -spare the beautiful and wealthy capital of Aragon the horrors of a -siege. Ample blood had already been shed, enough misfortunes already -suffered by Spain.’ Palafox replied in the strain that might have -been expected from him—‘The man who only wishes to die with -honour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[p. 109]</span> in defence -of his country cares nothing about his position: but, as a matter of -fact, he found that his own was eminently favourable and encouraging. -In the first siege he had held out for sixty-one days with a garrison -far inferior to that now under his command. Was it likely that he would -surrender, when he had as many troops as his besiegers? Looking at -the results of the fighting on the previous day, when the assailants -had suffered so severely in front of San Lazaro, he thought that he -would be quite as well justified in proposing to the Marshal that the -besieging army should surrender “to spare further effusion of blood,” -as the latter had been to make such a proposition to him. If Madrid had -fallen, Madrid must have been sold: but he begged for leave to doubt -the truth of the rumour. Even at the worst Madrid was but a town, like -any other. Its fate had no influence on Saragossa<a id="FNanchor_125" -href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Having received such an answer Moncey had only to set to work as -fast as possible: his engineer-in-chief, General Lacoste, after making -a thorough survey of the defences, pronounced in favour of choosing -two fronts of attack, both starting on the Monte Torrero, and directed -the one against the fort of San José and the other against that of the -Pillar. These projecting works would have to be carried before any -attempt could be made against the inner <i>enceinte</i> of the town. At the -same time, Lacoste ordered a third attack, which he did not propose to -press home, to be made on the castle of the Aljafferia, on the west -side of the town. It was only intended to distract the attention of -the Spaniards from the points of real danger. On the further bank of -the Ebro, Gazan’s division was directed to move forward again, and -to entrench itself across all the three roads, which issue from the -suburb, and lead respectively to Lerida, Jaca, and Monzon. He was not -to attack, but merely to blockade the northern exits of Saragossa. -Communications with him were established by means of a bridge of boats -and pontoons laid above the town. Gazan succeeded in shortening the -front which he had to protect against sorties by letting the water of -the Ebro into the low-lying fields along its banks, where it caused -inundations on each of his flanks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[p. 110]</span></p> - -<p>On the twenty-third the preliminary works of the siege began, -approaches and covered ways being constructed leading down from the -Monte Torrero to the spots from which Lacoste intended to commence -the first parallels of the two attacks on the Pillar and San José. -Preparations of a similar sort were commenced for the false attack on -the left, opposite the Aljafferia. Six days were occupied in these -works, and in the bringing up of the heavy artillery, destined to arm -the siege-batteries, from Tudela. The guns had to come by road, as -the Spaniards had destroyed all the barges on the Canal of Aragon, -and blown up many of its locks. It was not till some time later that -the French succeeded in reopening the navigation, by replacing the -sluice-gates and building large punts and floats for the carriage of -guns or munitions.</p> - -<p>Just before the first parallel was opened Marshal Moncey was -recalled to Madrid [December 29], the Emperor being apparently -discontented with his delays in the early part of the month. He was -replaced in command of the 3rd Corps by Junot, whose old divisions had -been made over (as we have seen in the first volume) to Soult’s 2nd -Corps. This change made Mortier the senior officer of the besieging -army, but he and Junot seem to have worked more as partners than as -commander and subordinate. Junot, in his report to the Emperor<a -id="FNanchor_126" href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> on -the state in which he found the troops, enlarges at great length on -the deplorable condition of the 3rd Corps. Many of the battalions had -never received their winter clothing, hundreds entered the hospitals -every day, and there was no corresponding outflow of convalescents. -No less than 680 men had died in the base hospital at Pampeluna in -November, and the figure for December would be worse. He doubted if -there were 13,000 infantry under arms in his three divisions—here -he exaggerated somewhat, for even a fortnight later the returns -show that his ‘present under arms,’ after deducting all detachments -and sick, were still over 14,000 bayonets: on January 1, therefore, -there must have been 15,000. He asked for money, reinforcements, and -a supply of officers, the commissioned ranks of his corps showing a -terrible proportion of gaps. On the other hand, he conceded that the -5th Corps was in excellent condition, its veterans suffering far<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[p. 111]</span> less from disease than -his own conscripts. Either of Gazan’s and Suchet’s divisions was, by -itself, as strong as any two of the divisions of the 3rd Corps.</p> - -<p>On the night of the twenty-ninth—thirtieth, within twelve -hours of Moncey’s departure, the first parallel was opened, both in -the attack towards San José and in that opposite the Pillar fort. -When the design of the besiegers became evident, Palafox made three -sallies on the thirty-first, but apparently more with the object of -reconnoitring the siege-works and distracting the workers than with -any hope of breaking the French lines, for there were not more than -1,500 men employed in any of the three columns which delivered the -sorties. The assault on the trenches before San José was not pressed -home, but opposite the false attack at the Aljafferia the fighting was -more lively; the French outposts were all driven in with loss, and a -squadron of cavalry, which had slipped out from the Sancho gate, close -to the Ebro, surprised and sabred thirty men of a picket on the left -of the French lines. Palafox made the most of this small success in a -magniloquent proclamation published on the succeeding day. He should -have sent out 15,000 men instead of 3,000 if he intended to get any -profit out of his sorties. An attack delivered with such a force on -some one point of the lines must have paralysed the siege operations, -and might have proved disastrous to the French.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the besiegers, undisturbed by these sallies, pushed -forward their works on the northern slopes of the Monte Torrero. The -attack opposite San José got forward much faster than that against -the Pillar: its second parallel was commenced on January 1, and its -batteries were all ready to open by the ninth. The other attack was -handicapped by the fact that the ground sloped down more rapidly -towards the Huerba, so that the trenches had to be made much deeper, -and pushed forward in perpetual zigzags, in order to avoid being -searched by the plunging fire from the Spanish batteries on the other -side of the stream, in the <i>enceinte</i> of the town. To get a flanking -position against the Pillar redoubt, the left attack was continued by -another line of trenches beyond the Huerba, after it has made its sharp -turn to the south.</p> - -<p>Before the engineers had completed their work, and long ere<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[p. 112]</span> the breaching batteries -were ready, a great strain was thrown upon the besiegers by fresh -orders from Napoleon. On January 2, Marshal Mortier received a -dispatch, bidding him march out to Calatayud with one of his two -divisions, and open up the direct communication with Madrid. -Accordingly he departed with the two strong brigades of Suchet’s -division, 10,000 bayonets. This withdrawal threw much harder work on -the remainder of the army: Junot was left with not much more than -24,000 men, including the artillerymen, to maintain the investment -of the whole city. He was forced to spread out the 3rd Corps on a -very thin line, in order to occupy all the posts from which Suchet’s -battalions had been withdrawn. Morlot’s division came down from the -Monte Torrero to occupy the ground which Suchet had evacuated: Musnier -had to cover the whole of the hill, and to support both the lines -of approach on which the engineers were busy. Grandjean’s division -remained on its old front, facing the eastern side of the city, and -Gazan still blockaded the suburb beyond the Ebro. As the last-named -general had still 8,000 men, there were only 15,000 bayonets and the -artillery available for the siege, a force far too small to maintain a -front nearly four miles long. If Palafox had dared to make a general -sortie with all his disposable men, Junot’s position would have been -more than hazardous. But the Captain-General contented himself with -making numerous and useless sallies on a petty scale, sending out -the most reckless and determined of his men to waste themselves in -bickering with the guards of the trenches, when he should have saved -them to head a general assault in force upon some weak point of the -siege lines. The diaries and narratives of the French officers who -served at Saragossa are full of anecdotes of the frantic courage shown -by the besieged, generally to no purpose. One of the strangest has been -preserved by the very prosaic engineer Belmas, who tells how a priest -in his robes came out on January 6 in front of Gazan’s lines, and -walked among the bullets to within fifty yards of the trenches, when he -preached with great unction for some minutes, his crucifix in his hand, -to the effect that the French had a bad cause and were drawing down -God’s anger upon themselves. To the credit of his audience it must be -said that they let him go off<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[p. -113]</span> alive, contenting themselves with firing over his head, in -order to see if they could scare him into a run.</p> - -<p>At daybreak on January 10, the whole of the French batteries opened -upon San José and the Pillar fort. The fire against the latter was -distant and comparatively ineffective, but the masonry of San José -began to crumble at once: its walls, solid though they were, had never -been built to resist siege artillery. The roofs and tiles came crashing -down upon the defenders’ heads, and most of their guns were silenced or -injured. The besiegers suffered little—Belmas says that only one -officer and ten men fell, though two guns in the most advanced battery -were disabled. The loss of the Spaniards on the other hand was numbered -by hundreds, more being slain by the fall of stones and slates than -by the actual cannon balls and shells of the assailants. At nightfall -Palafox withdrew most of the guns from the convent, but replaced the -decimated garrison by three fresh battalions. It was clear that the -work would fall next day unless the besiegers were driven off from -their batteries. At 1 <small>A.M.</small>, therefore, 300 men made a -desperate sally to spike the guns. But the French were alert, and had -brought up two field-pieces close to the convent, which repressed the -sortie with a storm of grape.</p> - -<p>Next morning the bombardment of San José recommenced, and by the -afternoon a large breach had been established in its southern wall. -At four o’clock General Grandjean launched a picked force, composed -of the seven voltigeur companies of the 14th and 44th regiments, -upon the crumbling defences<a id="FNanchor_127" href="#Footnote_127" -class="fnanchor">[127]</a>. The garrison had already begun to quit the -untenable post, and only a minority remained behind to fight to the -last. The storming column entered without much loss, partly by laying -scaling-ladders to the foot of the breach, partly by using a small -bridge of planks across the ditch, which the Spaniards had forgotten to -remove. They only lost thirty-eight men, and made prisoners of about -fifty of the garrison who had refused to retire into the city when the -rest fled.</p> - -<p>Though San José was thus easily captured, it was difficult to -establish a lodgement in it, for the batteries on the <i>enceinte</i> of -Saragossa searched it from end to end, dominating its ruined<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[p. 114]</span> quadrangle from a -superior height. But during the night the besiegers succeeded in -blocking up its gorge, and in connecting the breach with their second -parallel by a covered way of sandbags and fascines. The convent was now -the base from which they were to attack the town-walls behind it.</p> - -<p>But before continuing the advance in this direction it was necessary -to carry the fort of Our Lady of the Pillar, the other great outwork of -the southern front of Saragossa. The main attention of the besiegers -was directed against this point from the twelfth to the fifteenth, -and their sapping gradually took them to within a few yards of -the counterscarp. The Spanish fire had been easily subdued, and a -practicable breach established. On the night of the fifteenth-sixteenth -the fort was stormed by the Poles of the 1st regiment of the Vistula. -They met with little or no resistance, the greater part of the garrison -having withdrawn when the assault was seen to be imminent. A mine -under the glacis exploded, but failed to do any harm: another, better -laid, destroyed the bridge over the Huerba, behind the fort, when the -work was seen to be in the power of the assailants. Lacoste reported -to Junot that the Poles lost only one killed and two wounded—an -incredibly small casualty list<a id="FNanchor_128" href="#Footnote_128" -class="fnanchor">[128]</a>.</p> - -<p>The fall of the fort of the Pillar gave the French complete -possession of all the ground to the south of the Huerba, and left them -free to attack the <i>enceinte</i> of the city, which had now lost all its -outer works save the Aljafferia: in front of that castle the ‘false -attack’ made little progress, for the besiegers did not press in close, -and contented themselves with battering the old mediaeval fortress -from a distance. On that part of the line of investment nothing of -importance was to happen.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap11_2"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[p. 115]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER II">SECTION XI: CHAPTER II</h3> - <p class="subh3">SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA: THE FRENCH WITHIN THE WALLS: - THE STREET-FIGHTING: THE SURRENDER</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Lacoste’s</span> first care, when the Pillar -and San José had both fallen into his hands, was to connect the -two works by his ‘third parallel,’ which was drawn from one to the -other just above the edge of the ravine of the Huerba. In order to -assail the walls of the city that stream had to be crossed, a task of -some difficulty, for its bed was searched by the great batteries at -Santa Engracia along the whole front between the two captured forts, -while north of San José the ‘Palafox Battery’ near the Porta Quemada -completely overlooked the lower and broader part of the river bed. The -Spaniards kept up a fast and furious fire upon the lost works, with the -object of preventing the besiegers from moving forward from them, or -constructing fresh batteries among their ruins. In this they were not -successful: the French, burrowing deep among the débris, successfully -covered themselves, and suffered little.</p> - -<p>The second stage of the siege work, the attack on the actual -<i>enceinte</i> of Saragossa, now began. The two points on which it was -directed were the Santa Engracia battery—the southern salient of -the town—and the extreme south-eastern angle of the place, where -lay the Palafox Battery and the smaller work generally known as the -battery of the Oil Mill (Molino de Aceite). The former was less than -200 yards from the Pillar fort, the latter not more than 100 from San -José, but between them ran the deep bed of the Huerba.</p> - -<p>From the twelfth to the seventeenth the French were busily engaged -in throwing up batteries in the line of their third parallel, and on -the morning of the last-named day no less than nine were ready. Five -opened on Santa Engracia, four on the Palafox battery: at both points -they soon began to do exten<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[p. -116]</span>sive damage, for here the walls had not been entirely -reconstructed (as on the western front of the city), but only patched -up and strengthened with earthworks at intervals. The masonry of the -convent of Santa Engracia suffered most, and began to fall in large -patches. Palafox saw that the <i>enceinte</i> would be pierced ere long, and -that street-fighting would be the next stage of the siege. Accordingly -he set the whole civil population to work on constructing barricades -across the streets and lanes of the south-eastern part of the city, in -the rear of the threatened points, and turned every block of houses -into an independent fort by building up all the doorways and windows -facing towards the enemy. The spirits of the garrison were still high, -and the Captain-General had done his best to keep them up by issuing -gazettes containing very roseate accounts of the state of affairs -in the outer world. His communication with the open country was not -completely cut, for thrice he had been able to send boats down the -Ebro, which took their chance of running past the French batteries -at night, and always succeeded. One of these boats had carried the -Captain-General’s younger brother, Francisco Palafox, who had orders -to appeal to the Catalans for help, and to raise the peasants of Lower -Aragon. Occasional messengers also got in from without: one arrived on -January 16 from Catalonia, with promises of aid from the Marquis of -Lazan, who proposed to return from Gerona with his division, in order -to fall upon the rear of the besiegers. Palafox not only let this be -known, but published in his Official Gazette some utterly unfounded -rumours, which the courier had brought. Reding, it was said, had beaten -St. Cyr in the open field: the Duke of Infantado was marching from -Cuenca on Aragon with 20,000 men. Sir John Moore had turned to bay on -the pursuing forces of the Emperor, and had defeated them at a battle -in Galicia in which Marshal Ney had been killed<a id="FNanchor_129" -href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a>. To celebrate this -glorious news the church bells were set ringing, the artillery -fired a general salute, and military music paraded the town. These -phenomena were perfectly audible to the besiegers, and caused them -many searchings of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[p. 117]</span> -heart, for they could not guess what event the Saragossans could be -celebrating.</p> - -<p>The garrison needed all the encouragement that could be given to -them, for after the middle of January the stress of the siege began to -be felt very heavily. Food was not wanting—for, excepting fresh -meat and vegetables, everything was still procurable in abundance. -But cold and overcrowding were beginning to cause epidemic disorders. -The greater part of the civil population had taken refuge in their -cellars when the bombardment began, and after a few days spent in -those dark and damp retreats, from which they only issued at night, -or when they were called on for labour at the fortifications, began -to develop fevers and dysentery. This was inevitable, for in most of -the dwellings from twenty to forty persons of all ages were crowded -in mere holes, no more than seven feet high, and almost unprovided -with ventilation, where they lived, ate, and slept, packed together, -and with no care for sanitary precautions<a id="FNanchor_130" -href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a>. The malignant fevers -bred in these refuges soon spread to the garrison: though under cover, -the soldiery were destitute of warm clothing (especially the Murcian -battalions), and could not procure enough firewood to cook their -meals. By January 20 there were 8,000 sick among the 30,000 regular -troops, and every day the wastage to the hospital grew more and more -noticeable. Many officers of note had already fallen in the useless -sorties, and in especial a grave loss had been suffered on January 13, -when Colonel San Genis, the chief engineer of the besieged, and the -designer of the whole of the defences of the city, was killed on the -ramparts of the Palafox battery, as he was directing the fire against -the new entrenchment which the French were throwing up across the -gorge of the San José fort<a id="FNanchor_131" href="#Footnote_131" -class="fnanchor">[131]</a>. He had no competent successor as a general -director, for his underlings had no grasp of siege-strategy, and were -only good at details. They built batteries and barricades and ran -mines<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[p. 118]</span> in pure -opportunism, without any comprehensive scheme of defence before their -eyes.</p> - -<p>The French meanwhile were very active, though the constant increase -of sickness in the 3rd Corps was daily thinning the regiments, till -the proportion of men stricken down by fever was hardly less than that -among the Spaniards. On the seventeenth and eighteenth Lacoste began -to contrive a descent into the bottom of the ravine of the Huerba, by -a series of zigzags pushed forward from the third parallel, both in -the direction of Santa Engracia and in that of the Palafox battery. -The latter was repeatedly silenced by the advanced batteries of the -besiegers, but they could not subdue the incessant musketry fire -from windows and loopholes which swept the whole bed of the Huerba, -and rendered the work at the head of the new sap most difficult and -deadly. Sometimes it had to be completely abandoned because of the -plunging fire from the city<a id="FNanchor_132" href="#Footnote_132" -class="fnanchor">[132]</a>. Yet it was always resumed after a time: the -French found that their best and easiest work was done in the early -morning, when, for day after day, a dense fog rose from the Ebro, which -rendered it impossible for the Spaniards to see what was going on, or -to aim with any certainty at the entrenchments. Irritated at the steady -if slow progress of the enemy, Palafox launched on the afternoon of -January 23 the most desperate sortie that his army had yet essayed -against the advanced works of the French. At four o’clock on that day<a -id="FNanchor_133" href="#Footnote_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> -three columns dashed out and attacked the line of trenches: one, as a -blind, was sent out opposite the Aljafferia, to distract the attention -of Morlot’s division from the main sally. The other two were serious -attacks, but both made with too small numbers—apparently no -more than 200 picked men in each. The left-hand column became hotly -engaged with the trenches to the north of San José, and got no further -forward than a house a little beyond the Huerba, from which they -expelled a French post. But the right-hand force carried out a very -bold programme. Crossing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[p. -119]</span> the Huerba below Santa Engracia, they broke through the -third parallel, and then made a dash at two mortar-batteries in the -second parallel which had particularly annoyed the defence on that -morning. The commander of the sortie, Mariano Galindo, a captain of the -Volunteers of Aragon, led his men so straight that they rushed in with -the bayonet on the first battery and spiked both its pieces. They were -making for the second when they were overwhelmed by the trench guard -and by reinforcements hurrying up from Musnier’s camp. Of a hundred men -who had gone forward with Galindo from the third parallel twelve were -killed and thirty, including their brave leader, taken prisoners. The -French stated their loss at no more than six killed and five wounded, -a figure that seems suspiciously low, considering that the first line -of trenches had been stormed by the assailants, and a battery in the -second line captured and disabled. Galindo had gone forward more than -500 yards, into the very middle of the French works, before he was -checked and surrounded. It was a very gallant exploit, but once more -we are constrained to ask why Palafox told off for it no more than a -mere handful of men. What would have happened had he thrown a solid -column of 10,000 men upon the siege-works, instead of a few hundred -volunteers?</p> - -<p>On the twenty-second, the day before Galindo’s sortie, Junot was -superseded in command of the besieging army by Lannes, who had been -restored to health by two months’ holiday, and was now himself again. -He arrived just in time to take charge of the important task of -storming the main <i>enceinte</i>, for which Junot’s preparations were now -far advanced. But though the siege operations looked not unpromising, -he found the situation grave and dangerous. Belmas and the other -French historians describe this as the most critical epoch of the -whole Saragossan episode<a id="FNanchor_134" href="#Footnote_134" -class="fnanchor">[134]</a>. The fact was that at last there were -beginning to be signs of movement in the open country of Aragon. During -the month that had elapsed since the siege began, the peasantry had -been given time to draw together. Francisco Palafox, after escaping -from the city, had gone to Mequinenza, and was arming the local levies -with muskets procured from Catalonia. He had already a great horde -assembled in the direction of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[p. -120]</span> Alcañiz. On the other bank of the Ebro Colonel Perena -had been organizing a force at Huesca, from northern Aragon and the -foot-hills of the Pyrenees. Lastly, it was known that Lazan was on -his way from Gerona to aid his brothers, and had brought to Lerida -his division of 4,000 men<a id="FNanchor_135" href="#Footnote_135" -class="fnanchor">[135]</a>, a comparatively well-organized body of -troops, which had been under arms since October. Even far back, on the -way to Pampeluna, insurgents had gathered in the Sierra de Moncayo, and -were threatening the important half-way post of Tudela, by which the -besieging army kept up its communication with France.</p> - -<p>Hitherto these gatherings had looked dangerous, but had done no -actual harm. General Wathier, with the cavalry of the 3rd Corps, had -scoured the southern bank of the Ebro and kept off the insurgents; but -now they were pressing closer in, and on January 20 a battalion, which -Gazan had sent out to drive away Perena’s levies, had been checked -and beaten off at Perdiguera, only twelve miles from the camp of the -besiegers.</p> - -<p>Lannes could not fail to see that if he committed himself to -the final assault on Saragossa, and entangled the 3rd Corps in -street-fighting, he might find himself assailed from the rear on -all points of his lines. There were no troops whatever in front of -Saragossa to form a ‘covering-force’ to beat off the insurgents, if -they should come down upon his camps while he was storming the city, -for the 3rd Corps and Gazan’s division had now only 20,000 infantry for -the conduct of the siege.</p> - -<p>Accordingly the Marshal resolved to undo the Emperor’s arrangements -for keeping up the line of communication with Madrid, and to draw in -Mortier, with Suchet’s strong and intact division, from Calatayud, -where he had been lying for the last three weeks. This was the only -possible force which he could use to provide himself with a covering -army. The touch with Madrid, a thing of comparatively minor importance, -had to be sacrificed, except so far as it could be kept up by the -division of Dessolles, which had now come back from the pursuit of -Sir John Moore, and had pushed detachments back to its old posts at -Sigüenza and Guadalajara.</p> - -<p>Mortier therefore evacuated Calatayud by the orders of<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[p. 121]</span> Lannes, and came back to -the Ebro: passing behind the besieging army he crossed the river and -took post at Perdiguera with 10,000 men, facing the levies of Perena -in the direction of Huesca. It was only when he had made certain of -having this powerful reinforcement close at hand, ready to deal with -any interference from without, that Lannes dared to proceed with the -assault. At the same time that Mortier arrived at Perdiguera, he sent -out Wathier, with two battalions and two regiments of cavalry, to deal -with the insurgents of the Lower Ebro, where Francisco Palafox had been -busy. Four or five thousand peasants with one newly-levied regiment of -Aragonese volunteers tried to resist this small column, but were beaten -on the twenty-sixth in front of the town of Alcañiz, which fell into -Wathier’s hands, and with it 20,000 sheep and 1,500 sacks of flour, -which had been collected for the revictualling of Saragossa, in case -the investment should be broken. They were a welcome windfall to the -besieging army, where food was none too plentiful, since the plain -country where it lay encamped had now been eaten bare, and convoys of -food from Tudela and Pampeluna were rare and inadequate.</p> - -<p>On January 24 the French had succeeded in pushing three approaches -across the Huerba, and were firmly established under its northern bank. -Two days later they made lodgements in ruins, cellars, and low walls -where buildings had been pulled down, in the narrow space between the -town wall and the river bank, below the Palafox battery. The cannon of -the defenders could only act intermittently: every night the parapets -were repaired, but every morning after a few hours of artillery duel -the Spanish guns were silenced by the dreadful converging fire poured -in upon them. Meanwhile Palafox was heaping barricade upon barricade in -the quarters behind the threatened points, and fortifying the houses -and convents which connected them.</p> - -<p>The final crisis arrived on the twenty-seventh. There were now -three practicable breaches,—two were on the side of the Palafox -battery, one in the convent of Santa Engracia. To storm the first -and second Lannes told off the light companies of the first brigade -of Grandjean’s division; to the third was allotted the 1st regiment -of the Vistula from Musnier’s division. Heavy<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_122">[p. 122]</span> supports lay behind them, in the third -parallel, with orders to rush in if the storming parties should prove -successful.</p> - -<p>The assault was delivered with great dash and swiftness at noon -on the twenty-seventh. On two points it was successful. At the most -northern breach the assailants reached the summit of the wall, but -could not get down into the city, on account of the storm of musketry -from barricades and houses that swept the gap into which they had -advanced. They merely made a lodgement in the breach itself, and could -penetrate no further. But in the central breach, close beneath the -Palafox battery, the voltigeurs not only passed the walls, but seized -the ‘Oil Mill’ which abutted on them, and a triangular block of houses -projecting into the town. At the Santa Engracia breach they were even -more fortunate: the Poles carried the convent with their first rush: -its outer wall had been battered down for a breadth of thirty yard and -entering there the stormers drove out the Spaniards from the interior -buildings of the place, and got into the large square which lies behind -it, where they seized the Capuchin nunnery. Thus a considerable wedge -was driven through the <i>enceinte</i>, and the Spaniards had to evacuate -the walls for some little distance on each side of Santa Engracia. -From the stretch to the west of that convent they were driven out by -an unpremeditated assault of Musnier’s supports, who ran out from the -trenches on the left of the Huerba, and escaladed the dilapidated wall -in front of them, when they saw the garrison drawing back on account -of the flanking fire from Santa Engracia. They got possession of the -whole outer <i>enceinte</i> as far as the Trinitarian convent by the Carmen -gate.</p> - -<p>These successes were bought at the moderate loss of 350 men, of -whom two-thirds fell in the fighting on the Santa Engracia front; -the Spaniards lost somewhat more, including a few prisoners. In any -ordinary siege the day would have settled the fate of the place, for -the besiegers had broken through the <i>enceinte</i> in two places, and -though the space seized inside the Palafox battery was not large, yet -on each side of Santa Engracia the assailants had penetrated so far -that a quarter of a mile of the walls was in their possession. But -Saragossa was not as other places, and the garrison were perfectly -prepared with a new front of defence, composed of batteries and -crenel<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[p. 123]</span>lated houses -in rear of the lost positions. Two wedges, one large and one small, -had been driven into the town, but they had to be broadened and driven -further in if they were to have any effect.</p> - -<p>On the twenty-eighth, therefore, a new stage of the siege began, and -the street-fighting, which was to last for twenty-four days more, had -its commencement. Lannes had heard, from those who had served under -Verdier in the first siege, of the deplorable slaughter and repeated -repulses that had followed the attempt to carry by main force the -internal defences of the city. To hurl solid columns of stormers at the -barricades and the crenellated houses was not his intention. He had -made up his mind to advance by sap and mine, as if he were dealing with -regular fortifications. His plan was to use each block of houses that -he gained as a base for the attack upon the next, and never to send in -the infantry with the bayonet till he had breached by artillery, or by -mines, the building against which the assault was directed. This form -of attack was bound to be slow, but it had the great merit of costing -comparatively little in the way of casualties. The fact was that the -Marshal had not the numbers which would justify him in wasting lives by -assaults which might or might not be successful, but which were certain -to prove very bloody. The whole Third Corps, as we have already seen, -did not now furnish much more than 13,000 bayonets, while Gazan’s men -were all occupied in watching the suburb, and Suchet’s lay far out, as -a covering corps set to watch Perena and Lazan.</p> - -<p>There was no one single dominating position in the city whose -occupation was likely to constrain the besieged to surrender. The whole -town is built on a level, and its fifty-three solidly-built churches -and convents formed so many forts, each of which was defensible in -itself and could not be reduced save by a direct attack. All that could -be done was to endeavour to capture them one by one, in the hope that -at last the Saragossans would grow tired of their hopeless resistance, -and consent to surrender, when they realized that things had gone so -far that they could only protract, but could not finally beat off, the -slow advance of the besieging army.</p> - -<p>The work of the French, therefore, consisted in spreading out<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[p. 124]</span> from their two separate -lodgements on the eastern and southern sides of the city, with the -simple object of gaining ground each day and of driving the Spaniards -back towards the centre of the place. On the right attack the most -important objective of the besiegers was the block of monastic -buildings to the north of the Palafox battery, the twin convents of San -Augustin and Santa Monica, which lay along the northern side of the -small wedge that they had driven into the north-eastern corner of the -town. As these buildings lay on ground slightly higher than that which -the French had occupied, it was difficult to attack them by means of -mines. But an intense converging fire was brought to bear upon them, -both from batteries outside the walls, playing across the Huerba, and -by guns brought inside the captured angle of the <i>enceinte</i>. The outer -walls of Santa Monica were soon a mass of ruins: nevertheless the -first attack on it [January 29] was beaten off, and it was only on the -next day, after twenty-four hours more of furious bombardment, that -Grandjean’s men succeeded in storming, first the convent and then its -church, after a furious hand-to-hand fight with the defenders.</p> - -<p>After establishing themselves in Santa Monica the French were able -to capture some of the adjoining houses, and to turn their attention -against its neighbour San Augustin. They ran two mines under it, and -at the same time battered it heavily from the external batteries -beyond the Huerba. On February I the explosion took place: it opened a -breach in the east end of the convent church, and the storming party, -entering by the sacristy, got possession of the choir chapels and the -high altar. But the Spaniards rallied in the nave, ran a barricade of -chairs and benches across it, and held their own for some time, firing -down from the pulpit and the organ loft with effect. Some climbed up -into the roof and picked off the French through the holes which the -bombardment had left in the ceiling. For some hours this strange indoor -battle raged within the spacious church. But at last the French carried -the nave, and at night only the belfry remained untaken. Its little -garrison pelted the French with grenades all day, and saved themselves -at dusk by a sudden and unexpected dash through the enemy.</p> - -<p>In the first flush of success, after San Augustin had been<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[p. 125]</span> stormed, the 44th -regiment, from Grandjean’s division, tried to push on through the -streets towards the centre of the town. They captured several -barricades and houses, and struggled on till they had nearly reached -the Coso. But this sort of fighting was always dangerous in Saragossa: -the citizens kept up such a fierce fire from their windows, and swarmed -out against the flanks of the column in such numbers, that the 44th -had to give back, lost all that it had taken beyond San Augustin, -and left 200 dead and wounded behind. Even the formal official -reports of the French engineers speak with respect of the courage -shown by the besieged on this day. The houses which they had lost in -the afternoon they retook in the dusk, by an extraordinary device. -Finding the French solidly barricaded in them, and proof against any -attack from the street, hundreds of the defenders climbed upon the -roofs, tore up the tiles and entered by the garrets, from which they -descended and drove out the invaders by a series of charges which -cleared story after story<a id="FNanchor_136" href="#Footnote_136" -class="fnanchor">[136]</a>. Many monks, and still more women, were seen -among the armed crowds which swept the assailants back towards Santa -Monica. It was especially noticed that the civilians did far more of -the fighting than the soldiers. This was their own special battle.</p> - -<p>Irritated at his losses on this day, Lannes issued a general order, -expressly forbidding any attempts to storm houses and barricades by -main force. After an explosion, the troops were to seize the building -that had been shattered, and to cover themselves in it; they were not -to go forward and fall upon intact defences further to the front.</p> - -<p>While the struggle was raging thus fiercely from January 28 to -February 1, in the eastern area of street-fighting, there had been a -no less desperate series of combats all around Santa Engracia, on the -southern front of attack. Here Musnier’s division was endeavouring -to drive the Spaniards out of the blocks of houses to the right and -left of the captured convent. They worked almost entirely by mines, -running tunnels forward from beneath the convent to blow down the walls -of the adjoining dwellings. But even when the mines had gutted the -doomed buildings, it was not easy to seize them: the few men who<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[p. 126]</span> survived the explosion -did not fly, but held out among the ruins, and had to be bayonetted -by the assailants who rushed out from the convent to occupy the new -lodgements. Time after time the defenders, though perfectly conscious -that they were being undermined, and that by staying on guard they were -courting certain death, refused to evacuate the threatened houses or to -retire into safety. Hence their losses were awful, but the French too -suffered not a little, while pushing forward to occupy each building -as it was cleared by the explosion. The constant rain of musket balls -from roofs and church towers searched out the ruins in which they had -to effect their lodgements, and many of the assailants fell before they -could cover themselves among the débris.</p> - -<p>On the thirty-first the Spaniards made a sudden rush from the -Misericordia buildings, to recover the Trinitarian convent, the most -western point on the <i>enceinte</i> which had fallen into the hands of the -French at the assault of the twenty-seventh. They charged in upon it -with the greatest fury, and blew open the gate with a four-pounder gun -which they dragged up by hand to the very threshold. But the French -had built up the whole entrance with sandbags, which held even when -the doors had been shattered; and, after persisting for some time in a -fruitless attempt to break in, the Saragossans had to retire, foiled -and greatly thinned in numbers.</p> - -<p>On the following day (February 1) the French began to move forward -from Santa Engracia towards the Coso, always clearing their way by -explosions, and risking as few men as possible. Nevertheless they could -not always keep under cover, and this day they suffered a severe loss: -their chief engineer, General Lacoste, was shot through the head, -while reconnoitring from a window the houses against which his next -attack was to be directed<a id="FNanchor_137" href="#Footnote_137" -class="fnanchor">[137]</a>. He was succeeded in command by Colonel -Rogniat, one of the French historians of the siege. That officer, as -he tells us, discovered that his sappers were using too large charges -of powder, which destroyed the roofs and four walls of each<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[p. 127]</span> house that they -undermined, so that the infantry who followed had no cover when they -first took possession. He therefore ordered the substitution of smaller -measures of powder, so as to throw down only parts of the wall of the -building nearest to the French lines, and to leave the roof and the -outer walls uninjured. In this way it was much more easy to establish a -lodgement, since the storming-party were covered the moment that they -had dashed into the shattered shell. The only plan which the Spaniards -could devise against this method of procedure, was to set fire to the -ruins, and to prevent the entry of the assailants by burning down all -that was left of the house. As the buildings of Saragossa contained -little woodwork, and were not very combustible<a id="FNanchor_138" -href="#Footnote_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a>, the besieged daubed -the walls with tar and resin to make them blaze the better. When -an explosion had taken place, the surviving defenders set fire to -the débris of floors and roofs before retiring<a id="FNanchor_139" -href="#Footnote_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a>. In this way they -sometimes kept the French back for as much as two days, since they -could not make their lodgement till the cinders had time to cool. -Countermining against the French approaches was often tried, but seldom -with success, for there were no trained miners in the city: the one -battalion of sappers which Palafox possessed had been formed from the -workmen of the Canal of Aragon, who had no experience in subterranean -work. On the other hand the French had three whole companies of -miners, beside eight more of sappers, who were almost as useful in -the demolition of the city. They maintained a distinct ascendent -underground, though they not unfrequently lost men in the repeated -combats with knife and pistol which ensued when mine and countermine -met, and the two sides fought for the possession of each other’s -galleries.</p> - -<p>The first week of February was now drawing to its close, and the -advance of the French into the city, though steady, had been extremely -slow. Every little block of five or six houses cost a day to break up, -and another to entrench. The waste of life, though not excessive, was -more than Lannes could really afford, and he waited impatiently, but in -vain, for any signs that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[p. -128]</span> obstinacy of the defence was slackening. But though he -could not see it, the garrison were being tried far more hardly than -the besiegers. It was not so much the loss by fire and sword that -was ruining them as the silent ravages of the epidemic fevers. Since -the French had got within the walls, and the bombardment of the city -was being carried on from a shorter range than before, the civilian -population had been forced to cling more closely than ever to its -fetid cellars, and the infectious fever which had appeared in January -was developing at the most fearful rate. Living under such insanitary -conditions, and feeding on flour and salt fish, for the vegetables had -long been exhausted, the Saragossans had no strength to bear up against -the typhus. Whole families died off, and their bodies lay forgotten, -tainting the air and spreading the contagion. Even where there were -survivors, they could not easily dispose of the dead, for the urban -cemeteries were gorged, and burials took place in trenches hastily -opened in streets or gardens. Outside the churches there were hundreds -of corpses, some coffined, others rolled in shrouds or sheets, waiting -in rows for the last services of the church, which the surviving -clergy were too few to read. The shells from the incessant bombardment -were continually falling in these open spaces, and tearing the dead -to pieces. Ere the siege was over there was a mass of mutilated and -decaying bodies heaped in front of every church door. Hundreds more -lay in the debatable ground for which the Spaniards and French were -contending, and the whole town reeked with contagion. The weather -was generally still and warm for the time of year, with a thick fog -rising every morning from the low ground by the Ebro. The smoke from -the burning houses lay low over the place, and the air was thick with -the mingled fumes of fire and pestilence. If it nauseated the French, -who had the open country behind them, and were relieved by regiments -at intervals, and allowed a rest in their camps outside the walls, -it was far more terrible to the Spaniards. The death rate rose, as -February drew on, from 300 up to 500 and even 600 a day. The morning -state of the garrison on the fourth day of the month showed 13,737 -sick and wounded, and only 8,495 men under arms. As the total had been -32,000 when the siege began, nearly 10,000 men must already have<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[p. 129]</span> perished by the sword -or disease. The civil population, containing so many women, children, -and aged persons, was of course dying at a much quicker rate. Yet the -place held out for sixteen days longer! Palafox himself was struck down -by the fever, but still issued orders from his bed, and poured out a -string of hysterical proclamations, in which his delirium is clearly -apparent.</p> - -<p>The terrible situation of the Saragossans was to a large extent -concealed from the besiegers, who only saw the line of desperate -fighting-men which met them in every house, and could only guess at -the death and desolation that lay behind. Every French eye-witness -bears record to the low spirits of the troops who were compelled to -fight in the long series of explosions and assaults which filled the -early weeks of February. The engineer Belmas, the most matter-of-fact -of all the historians of the siege, turns aside for a moment from his -traverses and mining-galleries, to describe the murmurs of the weary -infantry of the 3rd Corps. ‘Who ever heard before,’ they asked, ‘of -an army of 20,000 men being set to take a town defended by 50,000 -madmen? We have conquered a quarter of it, and now we are completely -fought out. We must halt and wait for reinforcements, or we shall all -perish, and be buried in these cursed ruins, before we can rout out the -last of these fanatics from their last stronghold<a id="FNanchor_140" -href="#Footnote_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a>.’ Lannes did his best -to encourage the rank and file, by showing them that the Spaniards -were suffering far more than they, and by pointing out that the -moment must inevitably come when the defence must break down from -mere exhaustion. He also endeavoured to obtain reinforcements from -the Emperor, but only received assurances that some conscripts and -convalescents for the 3rd Corps should be sent to him from Pampeluna -and Bayonne. No fresh regiments could be spared from France, when the -affairs of Central Europe were looking so doubtful<a id="FNanchor_141" -href="#Footnote_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a>. The best plan which -the Marshal could devise for breaking down the resolution of the -Spaniards was to lengthen his front of attack, and so endeavour to -distract the attention of the besieged from the main front of advance -towards the Coso.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[p. 130]</span></p> - -<p>This was only to be done by causing the division of Gazan, which had -so long remained passive in front of the suburb, to open an energetic -attack on that outlying part of the fortress. The advantage to be -secured in this direction was not merely that a certain amount of -the defenders would be drawn away from the city. If the suburb were -captured it would be possible to erect batteries in it, which would -search the whole northern side of Saragossa, the one quarter of the -city which was still comparatively unaffected by the bombardment. Here -the bulk of the civil population was crowded together, and here too -Palafox had collected the greater part of his stores and magazines. If -the last safe corner of the city were exposed to a bombardment from -a fresh quarter, it would probably do much to lower the hopes of the -defenders.</p> - -<p>During the last days of January Gazan’s division had pressed back -the Spanish outposts in front of the suburb, and on the thirtieth of -that month Lannes had sent over two companies of siege artillery, to -construct batteries opposite the convents of Jesus and San Lazaro. -It was not till February 2-3, however, that he ordered a serious and -active attack to be pressed in this quarter. From the trench which -covered the front of Gazan’s investing lines a second parallel was -thrown out, and two breaching batteries erected against the Jesus -convent: on the fourth an advance by zigzags was pushed still further -forward, and more guns brought up. Some little delay was caused by -an unexpected swelling of the Ebro, which inundated that part of the -trenches which lay nearest to the river: but by the eighth all was -ready for the assault. The Jesus convent, as a glance at the map will -readily show, was the most projecting point of the defences of the -suburb, and was not well protected by any flanking fire from the other -works—indeed it was only helped to any appreciable extent by a -long fire across the water from the northern side of Saragossa, and -by the few gunboats which were moored near the bridge. It was a weak -structure—merely a brick convent with a ditch beyond it—and -the breaching batteries had found no difficulty in opening many large -gaps in its masonry. On the eighth it was stormed by Taupin’s brigade -of Gazan’s division: the garrison made a creditable resistance, -which cost the French ninety men, and then<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_131">[p. 131]</span> retired to San Lazaro and the main -fortifications of the suburb. The French established themselves in -the convent, and connected it with their siege-works, finally turning -its ruins into part of the third parallel, which they began to draw -out against the remaining transpontine works. They would probably -have proceeded to complete their operations in this direction within -the next two or three days, if it had not been for an interruption -from without. The two brothers, Lazan and Francisco Palafox, had now -united their forces, and had come forward to the line of the Sierra -de Alcubierre, only twenty miles from Saragossa, the former with his -4,000 men from Catalonia, the latter with a mass of peasants. Mortier, -from his post at Perdiguera, reported their approach to Lannes, and -the latter went out in person to meet them, taking with him Guérin’s -brigade of Gazan’s division, and leaving only that of Taupin to hold -the lines opposite the suburb. Faced by the 12,000 veteran bayonets -of the 5th Corps, the two Palafoxes felt that they were helpless, -and retreated towards Fraga and Lerida, without attempting to fight. -On the thirteenth, therefore, Lannes came back to the siege with the -troops that he had drawn away from it. While he was absent Palafox had -a splendid opportunity for a sortie on a large scale against Taupin -and his isolated brigade, for only 4,000 men were facing the suburb. -But the time had already gone by in which the garrison was capable of -such an advance. They could not now dispose of more than 10,000 men, -soldiers and peasants and citizens all included, and none of these -could be drawn away from the city, where the fighting-line was always -growing weaker. Indeed, its numbers were so thinned by the epidemic -that Palafox was guarding the Aljafferia with no more than 300 men, -and manning the unattacked western front with convalescents from the -hospitals, who could hardly stand, and often died at their posts during -the cold and damp hours of the night. All his available efficients were -engaged in the street-fighting with the 3rd Corps.</p> - -<p>For while the attack on the suburb was being pressed, the slow -advance of the besiegers within the walls was never slackened. On some -days they won a whole block of houses by their mining operations: on -others they lost many men and gained no advantage. The right attack was -extending<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[p. 132]</span> itself -towards the river, and working from the convent of San Augustin into -the quarter of the Tanneries. At the same time it was also moving on -toward the Coso, but with extreme slowness, for the Spaniards made a -specially desperate defence in the houses about the University and -the Church of the Trinity. One three-storied building, which covered -the traverse across the Coso to the south of the University, stood -<i>ten</i> separate assaults and four explosions, and held out from the -ninth to the eighteenth, effectually keeping back the advance of the -besiegers in this direction<a id="FNanchor_142" href="#Footnote_142" -class="fnanchor">[142]</a>. Nor could the French ever succeed in -connecting their field of operations on this front with that which -centred around Santa Engracia. Down to the very end of the siege the -Saragossans clung desperately to the south-eastern corner of the city, -and kept control of it right down to the external walls and the bank of -the Huerba, where they still possessed a narrow strip of 300 yards of -the <i>enceinte</i>.</p> - -<p>The left attack of the French, that from the Santa Engracia side, -made much more progress, though even here it was slow and dearly -bought. On February 10, however, in spite of several checks, the -besiegers for the first time forced their way as far as the Coso, -working through the ruined hospital which had been destroyed in the -first siege. On the same day, at the north-western angle of their -advance, they made a valuable conquest in the church and convent of San -Francisco. A mine was driven under this great building from the ruins -of the hospital, and filled with no less than 3,000 pounds of powder. -It had not been discovered by the Spaniards, and the convent was full -of fighting-men at the moment of the explosion. The whole grenadier -company of the 1st regiment of Valencia and 300 irregulars were blown -up, and perished to a man<a id="FNanchor_143" href="#Footnote_143" -class="fnanchor">[143]</a>. Nor was this all: in the northern part of -the building was established the main factory for military equipment -of the Army of Aragon: it was crammed with workpeople, largely women, -for Palafox had forgotten or refused to withdraw the dépôt to a less -convenient and spacious but more safe position. All these unfortunate -non-combatants, to the number of at least 400, perished,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[p. 133]</span> and the roof-tops for -hundreds of yards around were strewn with their dismembered limbs.</p> - -<p>It might have been expected that, as the immediate consequence of -this awful catastrophe, the French would have made a long step forward -in this direction. But such was not the case: before the smoke had -cleared away Spaniards rushed forward from the inner defences, and -occupied part of the ruins of San Francisco. A body of peasants, headed -by the <i>émigré</i> colonel de Fleury, got into the bell-tower of the -convent, which had not fallen with the rest, and kept up from its leads -a vigorous plunging fire upon the besiegers, when they stole forward to -burrow into the mass of débris. But with the loss of some thirty men -the French succeeded in mastering two-thirds of the ruins: next day -they cleared the rest, and stormed the belfry, where de Fleury and his -men were all bayonetted after a desperate fight on the winding stairs. -It was first from the commanding height of this steeple that the French -officers obtained a full view of the city. The sight was encouraging -to them: they could realize how much the inner parts of the place had -suffered from the bombardment, and noted with their telescopes the -small number of defenders visible behind the further barricades, the -heaps of corpses in the streets, and the slow and dejected pace of the -few passengers visible. Two great gallows with corpses hanging from -them especially attracted the eyes of the onlookers<a id="FNanchor_144" -href="#Footnote_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a>. Other circumstances -united on this and the following day (February 11-12) to show that the -defence was at last beginning to slacken. A great mob of peasants, -mainly women, came out of the Portillo gate towards Morlot’s trenches, -and prayed hard for permission to go through the lines to their -villages. They were not fired on, but given a loaf apiece, and then -driven back into the city. It was still more significant that at night, -on the eleventh, four or five bodies of deserters stole out to the -French; they were all foreigners, belonging to the ‘Swiss’ battalion<a -id="FNanchor_145" href="#Footnote_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> -which was shut up in Saragossa: several officers were among them. To -excuse themselves they said that Palafox and the friars were mad, and -that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[p. 134]</span> they judged -that all further defence had become impossible. Yet the siege was to -endure for nine days longer<a id="FNanchor_146" href="#Footnote_146" -class="fnanchor">[146]</a>!</p> - -<p>Though the two main attacks continued to press slowly forward, -and that on the left had now reached the Coso and covered a front -of 100 yards on the southern side of that great street, it was not -on this front that the decisive blow was destined to be given. On -the eighteenth Lannes determined to deliver the great assault on -the suburb, where the batteries in the third parallel and about the -Jesus convent had now completely shattered the San Lazaro defences. -All Gazan’s men being now back in their trenches, since Mortier’s -expedition had driven off the Marquis of Lazan, Lannes considered that -he might safely risk the storm. Fifty-two siege-guns played on San -Lazaro throughout the morning of the eighteenth, and no less than eight -practicable breaches were opened in it and the works to its right and -left. At noon three storming columns leaped out of the trenches and -raced for the nearest of these entries. All three burst through: there -was a sharp struggle in the street of the suburb, and then the French -reached and seized a block of houses at the head of the bridge, which -cut the defence in two and rendered a retreat into Saragossa almost -impossible. The Spaniards, seeing that all was lost, split into two -bodies: one tried to force its way across the bridge; but only 300 -passed; the rest were slain or captured. The main part, consisting of -the defenders of the western front of the suburb, formed in a solid -mass and, abandoning their defences, tried to escape westward up the -bank of the Ebro, into the open country. They got across the inundation -in their front, but when they had gone thus far were surrounded by two -regiments of French cavalry, and forced to surrender. They numbered -1,500 men, under General Manso, commanding the 3rd division of -Palafox’s army, the one which furnished the garrison of the suburb. The -officer commanding the whole transpontine defence, Baron de Versage, -had been killed by a cannon-ball on the bridge.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_3"> - <img src="images/saragossa.jpg" - alt="Map of the second siege of Saragossa" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/saragossa-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">SECOND SIEGE of SARAGOSSA</span><br /> - <small><span class="smcap">DEC. 1808 to FEB. 1809</span></small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">This was not the only disaster suffered by the -Saragossans on the eighteenth: at three in the afternoon, when the -news of the loss of the suburb had had time to spread round the town, -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[p. 135]</span>and the attention -of the besieged was distracted to this side, Grandjean’s division -attacked the houses and barricades in the north-eastern part of the -city, which had so long held them at bay. A great mine opened a breach -in the University, which was stormed, and with it fell the houses on -each side, as far as the Coso. At the same time another attack won some -ground in the direction of the Trinity convent, and the Ebro. Next -day the Spaniards in this remote corner of the town, almost cut off -from the main body of the defenders, and now battered from the rear by -new works thrown up in the suburb, in and about San Lazaro, drew back -and abandoned the quarter of the Tanneries, the quays, and the outer -<i>enceinte</i> looking over the mouth of the Huerba.</p> - -<p>On the nineteenth it was evident that the end had come: a third -of the ever-dwindling force of effective men of which Palafox could -dispose had been killed or captured at the storm of San Lazaro. The -city was now being fired on from the north, the only side which had -hitherto been safe. The epidemic was worse than ever—600 a day -are said to have died during the final week of the siege. The last -mills which the garrison possessed had lately been destroyed, and no -more flour was issued, but unground corn, which had to be smashed up -between paving-stones, or boiled and eaten as a sort of porridge. The -supply of powder was beginning to run low; not from want of material to -compound it, but from the laboratories having been mostly destroyed and -from the greater part of the arsenal workmen having died. Only about -700 pounds a day [six quintals] could now be turned out, and the daily -expenditure in the mines and barricades came to much more.</p> - -<p>On this morning the French noted that at many points the defence -seemed to be slackening, and that parts of the line were very -feebly manned. They made more progress this day than in any earlier -twenty-four hours of the siege. Their main work, however, was to run -six large mines under the Coso, till they got below the houses on its -further side, somewhat to the right of San Francisco. Rogniat placed -3,000 pounds of powder in each, a quantity that was calculated to blow -up the whole quarter.</p> - -<p>It was not necessary to use them. The spirits of the defenders<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[p. 136]</span> had at last been broken, -and surrender was openly spoken of—though its mention ten days -earlier would have cost the life of the proposer. Palafox on his -sick bed understood that all was over; he sent for General St. March -and resigned the military command to him. But in order that he might -not seem to be shirking his responsibility, and trying to put the -ignominy of asking for terms on his successor, he sent his aide-de-camp -Casseillas to Lannes, offering surrender, but demanding that the -troops should march out with the honours of war and join the nearest -Spanish army in the field. Then he turned his face to the wall, and -prepared to die, for the fever lay heavy upon him, and broken with -despair and fatigue he thought that he had not many hours to live. St. -March’s appointment not being well taken—the loss of the Monte -Torrero was still remembered against him—Palafox’s last act was -to give over charge of the city to a Junta of thirty-three persons<a -id="FNanchor_147" href="#Footnote_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a>, -mainly local notables and clergy, to whom the finishing of the -negotiations would fall.</p> - -<p>Of course Lannes sent back the Captain-General’s aide-de-camp with -the message that he must ask for unconditional surrender, and that the -proposal that the garrison should be allowed to depart was absurd. The -fighting was resumed on the morning of the twentieth, and the French -were making appreciable progress, when the Junta once more sent to ask -terms from the besiegers. It was not without some bitter debate among -themselves that they took this step, for there was still a minority, -including St. March and the priest Padre Consolation, who wished to -continue the resistance. They were backed by a section of the citizens, -who began to collect and to raise angry cries of Treason. But the -whole of the soldiery and the major part of the civilian defenders -were prepared to yield. At four o’clock in the afternoon they sent out -to ask for a twenty-four hours’ truce to settle terms of surrender. -Lannes granted them two hours to send him out a deputation charged with -full powers to capitulate, and ordered the bombardment and the mining -to cease. His aide-de-camp, who bore the message, was nearly murdered -by fanatics in the street<a id="FNanchor_148" href="#Footnote_148" -class="fnanchor">[148]</a>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[p. -137]</span> and was rescued with difficulty by some officers of the -regular army. But the Junta sent him back with the message that the -deputation should be forthcoming, and within the stipulated time eleven -of its members came out from the Portillo gate<a id="FNanchor_149" -href="#Footnote_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a>, to the Marshal’s head -quarters on the Calatayud road. There was not much discussion: Lannes -contented himself with pointing out to the Spaniards that the place was -at his mercy: he had the plan of his siege-works unrolled before them, -and pointed out the position of the six great mines under the Coso<a -id="FNanchor_150" href="#Footnote_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a>, as -well as those of the advanced posts which he had gained during the last -two days. The deputies made some feeble attempts to secure that the -name of Ferdinand VII should appear in the articles of capitulation, -and that the clergy should be guaranteed immunity and undisturbed -possession of their benefices. Lannes waved all such proposals aside, -and dictated a form of surrender which was on the whole reasonable and -even generous. The garrison should march out on the following day, and -lay down its arms 100 yards outside the Portillo gate. Those who would -swear homage to King Joseph should have their liberty, and might take -service with him if they wished. Those who refused the oath should -march as prisoners to France. The city should be granted a general -pardon: the churches should be respected: private property should not -be meddled with. The citizens must surrender all their weapons of -whatever sort. Any civil magistrates or employés who wished to keep -their places must take the oath of allegiance to King Joseph.</p> - -<p>On the following morning the garrison marched out: of peasants -and soldiers there were altogether about 8,000 men, 1,500 of whom -were convalescents from the Hospitals. ‘Never<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_138">[p. 138]</span> had any of us gazed on a more sad or -touching sight,’ writes Lejeune; ‘these sickly looking men, bearing in -their bodies the seeds of the fever, all frightfully emaciated, with -long black matted beards, and scarcely able to hold their weapons, -dragged themselves slowly along to the sound of the drum. Their clothes -were torn and dirty: everything about them bore witness to terrible -misery. But in spite of their livid faces, blackened with powder, and -scarred with rage and grief, they bore themselves with dignity and -pride. The bright coloured sashes, the large round hats surmounted -by a few cock’s-feathers which shaded their foreheads, the brown -cloaks or <i>ponchos</i> flung over their varied costumes, lent a certain -picturesqueness to their tattered garb. When the moment came for them -to pile their arms and deliver up their flags, many of them gave -violent expression to their despair. Their eyes gleamed with rage, and -their savage looks seemed to say that they had counted our ranks, and -deeply regretted having surrendered to such a small army of enemies<a -id="FNanchor_151" href="#Footnote_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Another and more matter-of-fact eye-witness adds, ‘They were a most -motley crowd of men of all ages and conditions, some in uniform, more -without it. The officers were mostly mounted on mules or donkeys, and -were only distinguished from the men by their three-cornered hats and -their large cloaks. Many were smoking their <i>cigarillos</i> and talking -to each other with an aspect of complete indifference. But all were -not so resigned. The whole garrison, 8,000 to 10,000 strong, defiled -in front of us: the majority looked so utterly unlike soldiers, that -our men said openly to each other that they ought not to have taken -so long or spent so much trouble in getting rid of such a rabble<a -id="FNanchor_152" href="#Footnote_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a>.’ The -column was promptly put in motion for France, under the escort of two -of Morlot’s regiments. Many died on the way from the fever whose seeds -they carried with them. Few or none, as might have been supposed, took -advantage of the offer to save themselves from captivity by taking the -oath to King Joseph.</p> - -<p>It is sad to have to confess that the French did not keep to -the terms of the capitulation. That Lannes could not restrain his -men from plunder, as he had promised, was hardly surprising.<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[p. 139]</span> There were so many -empty houses and churches containing valuables, that it was not to -be wondered at that the victors should help themselves to all they -could find. But they also plundered occupied houses, and even stole -the purses of the captive officers. What was worse was that many -assassinations took place, especially of clergy, for the French -looked upon the priests and friars as being mainly responsible for -the desperate defence. Two in especial, Padre Basilio Bogiero, the -chaplain of Palafox, and Santiago Sass, a parish priest, were shot -in cold blood two days after the surrender<a id="FNanchor_153" -href="#Footnote_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a>. Public opinion in the -French ranks was convinced that they, more than any one else, had kept -the Captain-General up to the mark. Palafox himself was treated with -great brutality. As he lay apparently moribund, the French officer who -had been made interim governor of Saragossa came to his bedside, and -bade him to sign orders for the surrender of Jaca and Monzon. When he -refused, this colonel threatened to have him shot, but left him alone -when threats had no effect. Ere he was convalescent he was sent off to -France, where the Emperor ordered that he should be treated, not as a -prisoner of war, but as guilty of treason, and shut him up for many -years as a close captive in the donjon of Vincennes.</p> - -<p>The state in which Saragossa was found by the French hardly bears -description. It was a focus of corruption, one mass of putrefying -corpses. According to a report which Lannes elicited from the -municipal officers, nearly 54,000 persons had died in the place -since the siege began<a id="FNanchor_154" href="#Footnote_154" -class="fnanchor">[154]</a>. Of these about 20,000 were fighting-men, -regular or irregular, the rest were non-combatants. Only 6,000 had -fallen by fire and sword: the remainder were victims of the far more -deadly pestilence. A few days after the siege was ended Lannes stated -that the total population of the town was now only 15,000 souls, -instead of the 55,000 which it had contained when the siege began. -But his estimate does not include some thousands of citizens who had -fled into the open country, the moment that they were released from -investment, in order to escape from the contagion in the city. ‘Il -est impossible que Saragosse se relève,’ wrote<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_140">[p. 140]</span> the marshal; ‘cette ville fait horreur -à voir.’ It was weeks indeed before the dead were all buried: months -before the contagion of the siege-fever died out from the miserable -city. Even after five years of the capable and benevolent government -of Suchet it was still half desolate, and no attempt had been made to -rebuild the third of its houses and churches which had been reduced to -ashes by the mines and the bombardment.</p> - -<p>The French losses in front of Saragossa are not easy to calculate. -Belmas says that the total of casualties was about 3,000 in the -infantry, but he takes no notice of the losses by siege-fever, except -to say that many died from it. He does not give the losses of the -artillery, except of that small part of it which was not attached -either to the 3rd or to the 5th Corps. Considering that the 3rd Corps -alone had 13,123 sick on January 15, and that typhus is a notoriously -deadly disease, it is probable that the total losses of the French -during the siege amounted to 10,000 men. It is hard otherwise to -explain the difference between the 37,000 men that the 3rd Corps -counted in October, and the 14,000 men which it mustered when Suchet -took over its command in April. The sufferings of the 5th Corps were -small in comparison, for till February began it took no very serious -part in the siege, and its health was notoriously far better than -that of Junot’s divisions<a id="FNanchor_155" href="#Footnote_155" -class="fnanchor">[155]</a>. But we cannot be far wrong in concluding -with Schepeler and Arteche that the total French loss must have been -10,000 men, rather than the 4,000 given by Napier, who is apparently -relying on Rogniat. That officer gives only the casualties in battle, -and not the losses in hospital.</p> - -<p>So ended the siege of Saragossa—a magnificent display of -civic courage, little helped by strategy or tactics. For Palafox, -though a splendid leader of insurgents, was, as his conduct in<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[p. 141]</span> October and November had -shown, a very poor general. He made a gross initial mistake in shutting -up 40,000 fighting-men in a place which could have been easily defended -by 25,000. If he had sent one or two divisions to form the nucleus -of an army of relief in Lower Aragon, with orders to harass, but not -to fight pitched battles, it is hard to see how the siege could have -been kept up. His second fault was the refusal to make sorties on a -large scale during the first half of the siege, while he was still in -possession of great masses of superfluous fighting-men. He sent out -scores of petty sallies of a few hundred men, but never moved so many -as 5,000 on a single day. Such a policy worried but could not seriously -harm the French, while it destroyed the willing men of the garrison; -if the Captain-General had saved up all the volunteers whom he lost by -tens and twenties in small and fruitless attacks on the trenches, he -could have built up with them a column-head that would have pierced -through the French line at any point that he chose. Anything might have -been done during the three weeks while Mortier was at Calatayud, and -especially during the days when Gazan with his 8,000 men was cut off by -the floods, and isolated on the further bank of the Ebro.</p> - -<p>The Captain-General’s conduct, in short, was not that of a capable -officer. But it is absurd to endeavour to represent him as a coward, -or as a puppet whose strings were pulled by fanatical friars. He knew -perfectly well what he was doing, and how to manage the disorderly -but enthusiastic masses of the population<a id="FNanchor_156" -href="#Footnote_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a>. There can be no doubt -that his personal influence was all-important, and the effect of -his constant harangues and proclamations immense. It would be quite -as true to say that the friars and the mob-orators were his tools, -as that he was theirs. He had to humour them, but by humouring them -he got out of them the utmost possible service. Against the stories -that his proclamations were written for him,<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_142">[p. 142]</span> and that he had to be goaded into issuing -every order that came from his head quarters, we have the evidence of -Vaughan and others who knew him well. It is unanimous in ascribing to -him incessant activity and an exuberant fluency in composition. Arteche -has preserved some minutes on the siege which he wrote long after -the Peninsular War was over: they are interesting and well-stated, -but more creditable to him as a patriot than as a military man<a -id="FNanchor_157" href="#Footnote_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a>. -There can be no doubt that the garrison might have been much more -wisely handled: but it is doubtful whether under any other direction it -would have shown so much energy and staying power. There is certainly -no other Spanish siege, save that of Gerona, where half so much -resolution was shown. If the defence had been conducted by regular -officers and troops alone, the place would probably have fallen three -weeks earlier. If the monks and local demagogues had been in command, -and patriotic anarchy alone had been opposed to the French, Saragossa -would possibly have fallen at an even earlier date, from mere want -of intelligent direction. Palafox, with all his faults, supplied the -connecting link between the two sections of the defenders, and kept -the soldiery to work by means of the example of the citizens, while -he restrained the citizens by dint of his immense personal influence -over them, won in the first siege. In short, he may have been vain, -bombastic, and a bad tactician, but he was a good Spaniard. If there -had been a few dozen men more of his stamp in Spain, the task of the -French in 1808-9 would have been infinitely more difficult. The example -of Saragossa was invaluable to the nation and to Europe. The knowledge -of it did much to sicken the French soldiery of the whole war, and to -make every officer and man who entered Spain march, not with the light -heart that he felt in Germany or Italy, but with gloom and disgust and -want of confidence. They never failed to do their duty, but they fought -without the enthusiasm which helped them so much in all the earlier -wars of the Empire.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap12_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[p. 143]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">SECTION XII</h2> - <p class="subh2">THE SPRING CAMPAIGN IN LA MANCHA AND ESTREMADURA</p> - <h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE ROUT OF CIUDAD REAL</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">By the</span> middle of the month of February, -as we have already seen, Andalusia was once more covered by two -considerable Spanish armies: Cartaojal, with the wrecks of Infantado’s -host and the new levies of Del Palacio, was holding the great -passes at the eastern end of the Sierra Morena. Cuesta had rallied -behind the Guadiana the remains of the army of Estremadura. He was -at present engaged in reducing it to order by the only method of -which he was master, the shooting of any soldier who showed signs -of disobedience or mutiny<a id="FNanchor_158" href="#Footnote_158" -class="fnanchor">[158]</a>. The army deserved nothing better: its -dastardly murder of its unfortunate general in December justified any -amount of severity in his successor.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Victor, after his victory at Ucles, and his vain attempt -to surprise Del Palacio, had passed away to the west, leaving -nothing in the plains of La Mancha save the dragoons of Milhaud and -Latour-Maubourg, who were placed as a cavalry screen across the -roads to the south, with their divisional head quarters at Ocaña and -Madridejos respectively.</p> - -<p>The Marshal drew back to the valley of the Tagus, and marched by -Toledo on Almaraz; this was in strict execution of the plan dictated -by Napoleon before he left Spain. It will be remembered that he had -directed that, when the February rains were over, Victor should -move on Badajoz, to assist by his presence<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_144">[p. 144]</span> in that direction the projected attack of -Soult on Lisbon. Only when Estremadura and Portugal had been subdued -was the attack on Andalusia to be carried out. Soult, as we shall see, -was (by no fault of his own) much slower in his movements than Napoleon -had expected, and Victor waited in vain at Talavera for any news that -the invasion of Portugal was in progress. Hence the Spaniards gained -some weeks of respite: the ranks of their armies were filled up, and -the spirits of their generals rose.</p> - -<p>Cartaojal remained for some time at La Carolina, reorganizing and -recruiting the depleted and half-starved battalions which Infantado -had handed over to him. He had expected to be attacked by Victor, but -when he learnt that the Marshal had gone off to Toledo, and that La -Mancha was covered only by a thin line of cavalry, he began to dream of -resuming the offensive. Such a policy was most unwise: it shows that -Cartaojal, like so many other Spanish generals, was still possessed -with the fatal mania for grand operations and pitched battles. He had -in his head nothing less than a plan for thrusting back the cavalry -screen opposite to him, and for recovering the whole of La Mancha. If -Victor’s corps had been the only force available to oppose him, there -would have been something to say for the plan. An advance on Toledo -and Madrid must have brought back the Duke of Belluno from his advance -towards Estremadura. But, as a matter of fact, Jourdan and King Joseph -had not left the roads to La Mancha unguarded: they had drafted down -from Madrid two infantry divisions of the 4th Corps, whose command -Sebastiani had now taken over from Lefebvre. The first division lay -at Toledo: the third (Valence’s Poles) at Aranjuez; thus the former -supported Latour-Maubourg, the latter Milhaud.</p> - -<p>Ignorant, apparently, of the fact that there was anything but -cavalry in his front, Cartaojal resolved to beat up the French -outposts. With this object he told off half his infantry and -two-thirds of his horse, under the Duke of Albuquerque, a gallant and -enterprising, but somewhat reckless, officer, of whom we shall hear -much during the next two years of the war. Marching with speed and -secrecy, Albuquerque, with 2,000 horse and 9,000 infantry, fell upon -Digeon’s brigade of dragoons at Mora on February 18. He tried to cut -it off with his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[p. 145]</span> -cavalry, while he attacked it in front with his foot. But Digeon saw -the danger in time, and fell back in haste, after losing a few men of -the 20th Dragoons and some of his baggage. His demand for assistance -promptly brought down Sebastiani, with the 1st division of the 4th -Corps, and the two remaining brigades of Latour-Maubourg’s cavalry. -The moment that he heard that a heavy force had arrived in his front, -Albuquerque retired as far as Consuegra, where the French caught up -his rear, and inflicted some loss upon it. He then fell still further -back, crossed the Guadiana, and took post at Manzanares. Sebastiani did -not pursue him beyond Consuegra, giving as his excuse the exhausted -condition of the country-side<a id="FNanchor_159" href="#Footnote_159" -class="fnanchor">[159]</a>.</p> - -<p>Cartaojal meanwhile, with the rest of his army, had come up from -the passes to Ciudad Real, following in wake of Albuquerque’s advance. -When he met with his lieutenant they fell to quarrelling, both as to -what had already occurred, and as to what should now be done, for -the Duke was anxious to induce his chief to make a general advance -on Toledo, while Cartaojal desired him to take a single division of -infantry and to try the adventure himself. While they were disputing, -orders came from the Supreme Junta that troops were to be detached from -the Army of La Mancha to strengthen that of Estremadura. Cartaojal -took the opportunity of getting rid of Albuquerque, by putting him -at the head of the detachment which was to be sent to Cuesta. The -Duke, not loth to depart, went off with a division of 4,500 infantry -and a regiment of cavalry<a id="FNanchor_160" href="#Footnote_160" -class="fnanchor">[160]</a>, and marched down the Guadiana into -Estremadura.</p> - -<p>Cartaojal remained for the first three weeks of March at Ciudad Real -and Manzanares with the main body of his force, about 2,500 horse and -10,000 foot, keeping behind him, at the foot of the passes, a reserve -of 4,000 men under La Peña. This was tempting providence, for he was -now aware that the whole<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[p. -146]</span> 4th Corps, as well as a great mass of cavalry, was in front -of him, and that he might be attacked at any moment. His position, -too, was a faulty one; he had descended into the very midst of the -broad plain of La Mancha, and had occupied as his head quarters an -open town, easy to turn on either flank, and with a perfectly fordable -river as its sole defence. As if this peril was not sufficient, -Cartaojal suddenly resolved that he would make the dash at Toledo -which Albuquerque had proposed to him, though he had refused to send -his whole army against that point when the scheme was pressed upon -him by his late second-in-command. The nearest hostile troops to him -were a regiment of Polish lancers, belonging to Lasalle’s division, -which lay at Yébenes, twenty miles outside Toledo. Making a swift -stroke at this force, while it was far from expecting any advance on -his part, Cartaojal drove it in, killing or taking nearly 100 of the -Poles (March 24). But Sebastiani came up to their aid with an infantry -division and three regiments of Milhaud’s dragoons. The Spaniard -refused to accept battle, and fell hastily back to Ciudad Real, where -he established his whole army behind the river Guadiana, in and about -the open town. He was most unsafe in the midst of the vast plain, and -was soon to rue his want of caution. Sebastiani had been joined by -his Polish division and by part of his corps-cavalry, and having some -12,000 or 13,000 men in hand<a id="FNanchor_161" href="#Footnote_161" -class="fnanchor">[161]</a>, had resolved to pay back on Cartaojal the -beating up of his outpost at Yébenes. On March 26, Milhaud’s division -of dragoons seized the bridge of Peralvillo, close to Ciudad Real, -and crossed to the southern bank of the Guadiana. The Spanish general -called up all his cavalry, and some of his foot, and marched to drive -the dragoons back. They withdrew across the water, but still held the -bridge, behind which they had planted their artillery. Next morning -Sebastiani’s infantry came up, and he determined to attack Ciudad -Real. Cartaojal, who was taken completely off his guard, was suddenly -informed that column after column was pressing across the bridge and -marching against him. He did<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[p. -147]</span> not dream for a moment of fighting, but gave orders for -an instant retreat towards the passes. He threw out his cavalry and -horse artillery to cover the withdrawal of his infantry, who hurried -away in half a dozen small bodies across the interminable plain. -Sebastiani charged the Spanish horse with his Polish lancers and -Dutch hussars, supported by Milhaud’s dragoons. The covering force -broke and fled, and the pursuers came up with several of the columns -of the retreating infantry. Some of them were dispersed, others were -surrounded and taken prisoners. The pursuit was continued next morning, -till it was interrupted by a fearful burst of rain, which darkened -the horizon, hid the fugitives, and stopped the chase, or Cartaojal’s -army might have been entirely destroyed. He lost in this rout, which -it would be absurd to call a battle, five guns, three standards, and -more than 2,000 prisoners, among whom were sixty-one officers. The -loss in killed and wounded was probably not very great, for there had -been no attempt at a stand, and the troops which were cut off had -surrendered without resistance<a id="FNanchor_162" href="#Footnote_162" -class="fnanchor">[162]</a>. The loss of the French was insignificant, -probably less than 100 men in all. They had stayed their pursuit at -Santa Cruz de Mudela, from whence they returned to Ciudad Real, where -they lived on the magazines which Cartaojal had collected before his -unfortunate march on Yébenes. Sebastiani dared not follow the fugitives -into the mountains, as he had received orders to clear La Mancha, but -not to invade Andalusia: that was to be the task of Victor.</p> - -<p>Cartaojal recrossed the Despeña Perros, and established his head -quarters at Sta Elena, in front of La Carolina. His army had been more -frightened than hurt, and when the stragglers came in, still numbered -2,000 horse and 12,000 infantry. But he was not allowed to retain its -command. Justly indignant at the carelessness with which he had allowed -himself to be surprised in front of Ciudad Real, and at his general -mismanagement, the Supreme Junta deposed him, and replaced<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[p. 148]</span> him by Venegas, though -the record of the latter’s operations at Ucles was hardly encouraging -to the soldiery. By the middle of April the army had been reinforced by -new Granadan levies, and could take the field, although its state of -discipline was bad and its <i>morale</i> much shaken by the late events.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap12_2"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[p. 149]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER II">SECTION XII: CHAPTER II</h3> - <p class="subh3">OPERATIONS OF VICTOR AND CUESTA: BATTLE - OF MEDELLIN</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">While</span> Cartaojal and his Andalusian -levies were faring so ill in La Mancha, the army of Estremadura and -its obstinate old general were going through experiences of an even -more disastrous kind. Cuesta, it will be remembered, had rallied about -Badajoz and Merida the demoralized troops that had served under San -Juan and Galluzzo. He was, contrary to all expectation, allowed to -remain unmolested for some weeks. The irrational movement of Lefebvre -to Plasencia and Avila<a id="FNanchor_163" href="#Footnote_163" -class="fnanchor">[163]</a> had left him for the moment almost without -an enemy in his front. Along the middle Tagus he had nothing opposed -to him save Lasalle’s four regiments of light cavalry, supported by -Leval’s German division at Talavera. While Victor was engaged in the -campaign of Ucles, and in his subsequent circular march through La -Mancha to Toledo, the army of Estremadura enjoyed a time of complete -rest. Cuesta’s fault was not want of energy: after shooting a -competent number of mutineers, and disgracing some officers who had -shown signs of cowardice, he distributed his troops into three new -divisions under Henestrosa, Trias, and the Duke Del Parque, and began -to move them back towards the Tagus. As there was nothing in his way -except Lasalle’s light horse, he was able to take up, at the end of -January, the same line which Galluzzo had been forced to evacuate in -December. The French cavalry retired behind the river to Oropesa, -abandoning the great bridge of Almaraz, the main passage of the Tagus, -on January 29. Thereupon Cuesta broke the bridge, a difficult task, -for his mines failed, and the work had to be completed with the pick. -It was so badly managed that when the key-stone at last gave way, an -engineer officer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[p. 150]</span> -and twenty-six sappers were still upon the arch, and were precipitated -into the river, where they were every one drowned. The Captain-General -then established his head quarters at Deleytosa, a central point in -the mountains, from which he commanded the two passages of the Tagus, -that at Almaraz and that by the Puente del Conde, near Meza de Ibor. -He arranged his 15,000 men with advanced guards at the water’s edge, -opposite each of the possible points of attack, and reserves on the -high ground to the rear. This forward position gave much encouragement -to the peasantry of New Castile, and bands of guerrillas began (for -the first time) to be seen on the slopes of the Sierra de Gredos and -the Sierra de Toledo. There was a feeling of uneasiness even up to the -gates of Madrid.</p> - -<p>To restrain the advances of the Spaniards, King Joseph sent out -Lasalle’s cavalry and Leval’s Germans on February 19, with orders -to clear the nearer hills. They crossed the Tagus at the bridge of -Arzobispo, a little below Talavera, and forced back the division of -Trias, which was watching this flank of Cuesta’s position. But the -country was almost impassable for cavalry, a mere mass of ravines and -spurs of the Sierra de Guadalupe, and after advancing as far as the -pass of San Vincente, and seeing the Spaniards begin to gather in force -on his front and flank, Lasalle retreated, and recrossed the Tagus -without having effected anything of importance.</p> - -<p>It was not till a month later that the French took the offensive in -earnest. Victor was now returned from his excursion into La Mancha, -with his two divisions of the 1st Corps, and the six dragoon regiments -of Latour-Maubourg, whom he had drawn off to Toledo, handing over the -charge of observing Cartaojal to Milhaud and Sebastiani. Uniting these -forces to those of Leval and Lasalle, he massed at Talavera an army -of some 22,000 or 23,000 men, of whom 5,000 were admirable cavalry<a -id="FNanchor_164" href="#Footnote_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a>.</p> - -<p>Joseph and Jourdan were now of the opinion that it was time for -Victor to move forward on Estremadura, in accordance with the great -plan for the conquest of southern Spain, which the Emperor had left -behind as his legacy when he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[p. -151]</span> departed from Valladolid. It was true that this movement -was to have been carried out in co-operation with the advance of -Marshal Soult upon Portugal; but no news could be got of the Duke of -Dalmatia’s present position. The last dispatch from him was nearly -a month old. Writing from Orense on February 24 he had stated that -he hoped to be at Chaves by March 1, and should then march on Oporto -and Lisbon. According to Napoleon’s calculations he was to be at the -last-named city within ten days of the capture of Oporto. It was -therefore, in the opinion of Joseph and Jourdan, high time that Victor -should start, in order to get in touch with Soult when the Portuguese -capital should be occupied.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Belluno, however, raised many difficulties, even when -he had been shown the Emperor’s orders. He complained that he ought -to have the help of Lapisse’s division, the second of his own Corps, -which still lay at Salamanca. He doubted whether he could dare to take -on with him, for an expedition into Estremadura, the German division -of Leval: he ought, perhaps, to leave it at Talavera and Almaraz, in -order to keep up his communications with Madrid. If this were done he -would muster only 16,000 men for his great forward movement, and he had -the gravest doubt whether Soult could or would give him the assistance -of which the Emperor had written, even if he seized Lisbon within the -appointed time. Finally, he was short of engineer officers, sappers, -horses, and reserve ammunition.</p> - -<p>Much of what the Duke of Belluno wrote was true: in particular, the -idea of co-operation with Soult was perfectly chimerical: Napoleon -had worked out all his logistics to an erroneous result, from want of -a real conception of the conditions and difficulties of war in the -Peninsula. But some of the pleas which Victor urged merely serve to -show his disinclination to accept the task which had been set him; and -in especial he underrated the numbers of his troops beyond the limit of -fair statement. He had with him nine battalions of Ruffin’s division, -twelve of Villatte’s, eight of Leval’s; of cavalry he had six regiments -of Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons, three of Lasalle’s light cavalry<a -id="FNanchor_165" href="#Footnote_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a>, two -regiments of his own corps<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[p. -152]</span>-cavalry, and the Westphalian regiment of the 4th Corps -which was attached to Leval’s Germans. The total must have amounted -to 15,000 infantry, and about 5,500 cavalry: he had also sixty guns -with 1,600 artillerymen<a id="FNanchor_166" href="#Footnote_166" -class="fnanchor">[166]</a>.</p> - -<p>In spite of his reluctance Victor was forced to yield to the -pressure of Jourdan and the Emperor’s explicit orders. On March 14 he -began to make his preparations to cross the Tagus and to attack Cuesta: -it was reported to him that the roads starting from the two bridges -which were in his power, those of Talavera and Arzobispo, were neither -of them practicable for artillery, and that only the route by Almaraz -was suitable for the guns and heavy baggage. But the bridge of Almaraz -was broken, and beyond it were visible entrenchments thrown up by the -Spaniards, and a considerable body of troops—the division of -General Henestrosa. The Duke of Belluno determined to clear the way -for a crossing at Almaraz, by sending infantry across the Tagus by -the passages higher up-stream, with orders to sweep the southern bank -till they came opposite to the broken bridge. They were to dislodge -the force behind it, and then the artillery, the baggage, and cavalry -were to cross on a bridge of rafts, which was being prepared close to -Almaraz, in order to be ready the moment that it should be wanted.</p> - -<p>On March 15, therefore, Leval’s Germans crossed the Tagus by the -bridge of Talavera, with some of Lasalle’s cavalry, while on the -next morning Victor himself passed at Arzobispo with the divisions -of Villatte and Ruffin. The combined column pushed westward by a bad -road on the hillside overhanging the river, in a difficult country of -rocks and woods, seamed with countless ravines, where cavalry could -barely act and artillery would have been perfectly useless. Cuesta, -on hearing of this movement to turn his flank, threw back his right -wing, and bade<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[p. 153]</span> it -make a stand behind the ravine of the little river Ibor, which falls -into the Tagus half-way between Arzobispo and Almaraz. His force in -this direction consisted of the division of the Duke del Parque, about -5,000 strong, with six guns. On the seventeenth Victor’s columns, -with the Germans of Leval at their head, arrived before the defiles -of Meza de Ibor, and found themselves confronted by the Duke, who was -firmly established on the other side of the ravine, in a fine position, -with his guns on a projecting rock which enfiladed the high-road. -Victor directed Leval’s eight<a id="FNanchor_167" href="#Footnote_167" -class="fnanchor">[167]</a> battalions to cross the ravine, and storm -the heights on the other side. This they did in very gallant style, -but not without heavy losses, for the Estremadurans, confident in the -strength of their rugged fighting-ground, made a long and vigorous -resistance, till the Germans actually came to close quarters with -them and ran in with the bayonet. Del Parque’s line then crumpled -up, and dispersed over the hillsides: finding it impossible to bring -off his guns, he cast them over the precipice into the ravine below. -The Germans lost seventy killed and 428 wounded while climbing the -difficult slopes: Del Parque’s men probably suffered far less, as they -absconded when the enemy closed, and had been under cover till that -moment. The supposition of some French authorities that the defenders -of Meza de Ibor lost 1,000 men is most improbable. The country was one -exactly suited for a cheap defence, and for an easy scattering over the -hills in the moment of defeat.</p> - -<p>The Duke fell back on Deleytosa, higher up the side of the Sierra de -Guadalupe, where Cuesta had established his head quarters. Here he was -joined by another of the Estremaduran divisions, that of General Trias, -nearly 5,000 strong. Henestrosa, with the rest of the army, was still -watching the passage at Almaraz, where Cuesta had made up his mind that -the main attack of the French would be delivered. He persisted for -some time in believing that Victor’s movement across the Talavera and -Arzobispo bridges was merely a feint; and thus it was that Del Parque -had been left alone to bear the first brunt of the attack. When he was -at last convinced that the bulk of Victor’s infantry was on his flank, -and that Almaraz was hopelessly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[p. -154]</span> turned, the old Captain-General hastily sent orders to -Henestrosa to abandon his entrenchments opposite the bridge, and to -retreat on Truxillo across the mountains. He himself took that path -without delay, and got off in safety with his two leading divisions, -but Henestrosa had to brush across the front of the advancing French, -and was in some danger. Luckily for him Victor was more set on clearing -the road from Almaraz than on pursuing the enemy.</p> - -<p>When Henestrosa had disappeared, the passage was open, and the -cavalry of Latour-Maubourg and Beaumont, guarding the artillery and -baggage-train of the 1st Corps, crossed on the rafts which had been -prepared long before, and joined the infantry and the Marshal. The -passage presented more difficulties than had been expected, for it -proved impossible to construct a permanent bridge; the stream was very -fierce, and the anchors by which the floats were moored found no hold -in the smooth rocky bottom. The guns passed either by being sent over -on rafts or by means of a rope ferry, which was with some difficulty -rigged up. It was not till some time later that a solid bridge of -boats was built at this most important passage<a id="FNanchor_168" -href="#Footnote_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a>. One cavalry regiment -was left behind to protect it<a id="FNanchor_169" href="#Footnote_169" -class="fnanchor">[169]</a>.</p> - -<p>Cuesta, when he had united his three divisions, would have dearly -loved to give battle to Victor behind Truxillo, in the excellent -position of the Puerto de Santa Cruz, where the <i>chaussée</i> from Madrid -to Badajoz crosses the Sierra de Guadalupe. His love for general -engagements was by no means cured by the event of his experiments at -Cabezon and Medina de Rio Seco. But he was withheld from offering -battle not by mere prudence, but by the fact that he was expecting -to receive two considerable reinforcements. The Marquis de Portago -was bringing up a detachment from Badajoz—three battalions<a -id="FNanchor_170" href="#Footnote_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> which -had been intended to form the nucleus of a new Fourth division that was -being organized in that fortress. At the same moment Albuquerque was -expected from the east, at the head of the 4,500 men whom the Supreme -Junta had detached from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[p. -155]</span> army of La Mancha, and had sent down the Guadiana to join -that of Estremadura. Cuesta wished to pick up these 7,000 men before he -gave battle.</p> - -<p>Accordingly he evacuated the pass of Santa Cruz, and fell back -southward towards his reinforcements, leaving Henestrosa with the bulk -of his cavalry to act as a rearguard. That officer carried out his duty -with a dash and a vigour that were rare in Spanish armies at this date. -When the fiery Lasalle came pressing up against him with his usual -fury, the Spanish general contrived to inflict on him two distinct -checks. At Berrocal, half-way down the defile of Santa Cruz, he made a -sudden halt and drove in the leading squadron of the French by a charge -of his Royal Carbineers, a small remnant of the Guard-Cavalry which had -been serving with the Army of Estremadura since its formation [March -20]. The French lost ten killed and fifteen wounded<a id="FNanchor_171" -href="#Footnote_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a>.</p> - -<p>This was a trifle, but on the next day Henestrosa scored a far -more tangible advantage. Noting that Lasalle’s leading regiment, the -10th Chasseurs, had got far ahead of the rest of the division, and -was pushing on with reckless haste, he laid a trap for it in front -of the village of Miajadas. Presenting a small body of cavalry on -the high-road, he hid on each side of it a strong regiment of his -own horse, with orders to fall upon the flank and rear of the French -when they should have passed the ambush. The two corps set aside for -this surprise were Infante and Almanza, both regiments of La Romana’s -army from Denmark, which had not yet drawn their sabres since the war -commenced.</p> - -<p>Colonel Subervie of the 10th Chasseurs, advancing with heedless -confidence to charge the body of Spaniards in front of him, suddenly -saw himself enveloped and surrounded by the two regiments placed in -ambush. There was a furious <i>mêlée</i>, in which the chasseurs lost one -officer and sixty-two men killed and about seventy more wounded, before -they could cut their way out of the snare. The sight of Lasalle’s -main body coming up in haste to the rescue made Henestrosa give the -order for a prompt retreat, which he accomplished without loss. ‘We -arrived,’ writes a French officer of one of the supporting regiments, -‘too late, and saw nothing but a cloud of dust in the distance,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[p. 156]</span> made by the Spaniards as -they rode away, and the colonel of the 10th tearing his hair at the -sight of his numerous wounded<a id="FNanchor_172" href="#Footnote_172" -class="fnanchor">[172]</a>.’ This lesson taught Lasalle more caution: -it was creditable to Henestrosa, though it must be confessed that -he had two men to one in the skirmish, in addition to the advantage -of taking his enemy by surprise. Oddly enough the regiments which -accomplished this successful <i>coup</i> on the twenty-first were the -same which behaved worst in the great battle of the next week<a -id="FNanchor_173" href="#Footnote_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a>.</p> - -<p>At Miajadas, where this skirmish had taken place, the road -descending from the pass of Santa Cruz forks in two directions. One -branch goes towards Merida and Badajoz, the other and less important -to Medellin, La Serena, and the upper Guadiana. It would have been -natural for Cuesta to take the former route, which brought him nearer -to his base at Badajoz, and at the same time enabled him to cover the -main road to Andalusia, at which Victor was presumably aiming. But the -old general left this line unprotected, and retired by the eastern -path to Medellin. His main object was to secure his junction with the -reinforcements from La Mancha, which Albuquerque was bringing to him. -They were nearing La Serena, and would be cut off from him if he took -the road to Badajoz. At the same time he argued that, as he had thus -placed himself on the flank of the French, they could not afford to -march past him, since the moment that they left Merida behind them he -would be enabled to cut their communications with Madrid. He imagined -that Victor would prefer to fight him, and would not dare either to -take in hand the siege of Badajoz, or to advance against Andalusia, -without clearing his flank by a general action. The moment that he -should have picked up Albuquerque, Cuesta was prepared to indulge the -enemy with a fight, and if he were not attacked himself he intended to -take the offensive. This was sheer madness; even when he had drawn in -his last reserves the old general had but 20,000 foot and 3,000 horse<a -id="FNanchor_174" href="#Footnote_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a>, a -number which only exceeded Victor’s total by<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_157">[p. 157]</span> three or four thousand men because the -latter had been dropping detachments between Almaraz and Merida. -Considering the relative value of the individual soldiery of the two -armies, Cuesta’s behaviour was that of a criminal lunatic. We shall see -that his tactics were as bad as his strategy.</p> - -<p>The Marshal had left the two Dutch battalions of Leval’s division -at Truxillo, in charge of his sick: he dropped the 1st Dragoons of -Latour-Maubourg’s division at Miajadas, to guard the cross-roads, -and sent out the 4th and 9th from the same division along the upper -Guadiana, where they soon learnt of Cuesta’s presence on the other side -of the river. Lasalle’s light horse rode down to Merida, and occupied -the old Roman capital of western Spain without having to strike a blow. -Learning that the Spaniards had not retreated in this direction, but by -the eastern road, the Marshal (as Cuesta had supposed likely) directed -the bulk of his infantry on Medellin; only the division of Ruffin -remained behind, at the cross-roads of Miajadas.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Cuesta had evacuated Medellin, and fallen back to La -Serena, where Albuquerque joined him on the twenty-seventh. The moment -that the army was united, he turned back, and retraced his steps -towards his former position. On the twenty-eighth he reached the town -of Don Benito, only five miles from Medellin, and learnt to his great -pleasure that Victor was before him and quite ready to fight. The -Marshal had swept the whole country-side with his numerous cavalry -during the last four days, and discovering that there was no Spanish -force opposite him in any direction save that of La Serena, had ordered -Lasalle and Ruffin to march up and join him from Merida and Miajadas. -On the morning of the twenty-ninth he had his entire army united, -save the two Dutch battalions left at Truxillo, two more of Leval’s -battalions left at Merida<a id="FNanchor_175" href="#Footnote_175" -class="fnanchor">[175]</a>, the 1st Dragoons at Miajadas, and one -other cavalry regiment which had been told off to guard the bridge of -Almaraz. He cannot have had less than 13,000 infantry and 4,500 horse, -even when allowance is made for the sick and the losses at Meza de -Ibor and Miajadas. Cuesta outnumbered him by 6,000 infantry,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[p. 158]</span> but was overmatched in -cavalry by more than three to two, since he had but 3,000 sabres, and -even more hopelessly in artillery, since Victor had brought over fifty -guns to the field, while he had only thirty.</p> - -<p>Having been joined in the early morning by Lasalle’s and Ruffin’s -detachments, Victor had drawn out his army in front of Medellin, when -his cavalry brought him the news of the approach of the Spaniards. -Medellin, an ancient town dominated by a Moorish citadel on a lofty -hill, lies in the angle between the river Guadiana and the Hortiga -torrent. The latter, easily fordable in March and dry in June, is an -insignificant stream but flows at the bottom of a steep ravine. The -Guadiana, on the other hand, is a river of the first class: the great -bridge which leads into Medellin is no less than 450 yards long. There -were several fords up-stream from the bridge, but in March, when -the river was high, it is doubtful whether they were practicable. -Victor’s line, drawn in a quarter of a circle from the Hortiga to -the Guadiana, was well protected on either flank by the broad river -and the steep ravine. His order of battle was rather odd: its front -line was composed of a division of infantry (Villatte’s of twelve -battalions) in the centre, with two projecting wings, each composed -of a cavalry division supported by two battalions of Leval’s Germans. -On the right, near the Hortiga, was Latour-Maubourg with five of his -six regiments of dragoons<a id="FNanchor_176" href="#Footnote_176" -class="fnanchor">[176]</a> and ten horse artillery guns. On the left, -beside the Guadiana, was Lasalle with three of his own light cavalry -regiments, and the 2nd Hussars of Victor’s corps-cavalry. The remaining -battalion of Leval’s division<a id="FNanchor_177" href="#Footnote_177" -class="fnanchor">[177]</a> was with Villatte in the centre. -Ruffin’s division, forming the reserve, lay far to the rear on the -further side of the Hortiga. He had with him one cavalry regiment<a -id="FNanchor_178" href="#Footnote_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> and -a reserve of artillery: one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[p. -159]</span> battalion was detached to guard the baggage, which was -parked at the bridge-head below the town.</p> - -<p>Victor’s army, therefore, formed a short and compact arc of a -circle, a mile and a half outside of Medellin. Facing him, three or -four miles away, was the Spanish army, ranged in a much larger arc, -also extending from the Hortiga to the Guadiana, in front of the town -of Don Benito. It was deployed along a series of gentle heights, on -either side of the main road from Medellin. The position, though rather -long for the Spanish numbers, presented many advantages for a defensive -battle: but it was Cuesta’s intention to go forward, not to receive -the attack of the French. He saw with pleasure that the enemy had come -half-way to meet him, and was about to fight with a difficult defile -(the bridge of Medellin) in his rear. Secure from being outflanked -by Victor’s numerous cavalry, for the two streams covered his wings, -he resolved to march straight before him and to bear down the French -line by a direct frontal attack. On his left were the divisions of -Del Parque and Henestrosa, eight battalions in a single line, all -deployed four deep. They had no supports whatever, save one battalion -of grenadiers which marched behind their centre. On their outside flank -rode three regiments of cavalry, close to the ravine of the Hortiga<a -id="FNanchor_179" href="#Footnote_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a>. -The centre was composed of the four battalions of the division of -Trias, all drawn up in the same fashion as the left wing. The right -was formed by Portago’s incomplete division<a id="FNanchor_180" -href="#Footnote_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> (only three battalions) -and by the contingent from La Mancha which Albuquerque had just -brought up—seven strong battalions with 4,500 bayonets. Outside -Albuquerque’s extreme right, and on the banks of the Guadiana, was -placed a cavalry force corresponding to that on the extreme left, and -also formed of three regiments<a id="FNanchor_181" href="#Footnote_181" -class="fnanchor">[181]</a>. A few remaining squadrons of cavalry -were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[p. 160]</span> posted in -the intervals between the wings and the centre<a id="FNanchor_182" -href="#Footnote_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a>. The artillery went -forward, each battery with the division to which it was attached. This -was a most extraordinary order of battle: with the object of securing -his flanks and of covering the whole space between the rivers, Cuesta -was advancing with a front of nearly four miles and a depth of only -four men! There is no parallel in modern history for such a dangerous -array. If any single point in the long line gave way, there was no -reserve with which to fill the gap and save the day. And it was morally -certain that a weak point would be found somewhere, for many of the -battalions were raw troops which had never seen fire, and the greater -part of the others had graduated in the school of panic under Belvedere -and San Juan.</p> - -<p>Cuesta, however, was eminently satisfied with himself and with his -order of battle: he intended to envelop the shorter French line with -converging fire, to thrust it back on to the defile of Medellin, and if -possible to seize the bridge behind its left flank, and to endeavour to -cut off its retreat. Blind self-confidence could go no further!</p> - -<p>When Victor advanced from Medellin he was aware of the proximity of -the Spaniards, and could see their cavalry vedettes on all the hills -in front of Don Benito, but it was not till his army had marched some -distance across the bare and level fields, that Cuesta revealed his -order of battle. When the French were well advanced in the plain, the -whole Army of Estremadura crowned the heights, and then swept downward -from them, in one continuous line forming an exact quarter of a -circle. The infantry was well closed up; each regiment had its mounted -officers in front, and the generals were riding up and down the line, -perpetually supervising the dressing of their battalions, for they were -quite conscious that in the order which Cuesta had chosen any gap or -wavering in the line would be ruinous. Each division had its battery in -front, and in the long intervals between the guns a very thick line of -skirmishers covered the advance of the main body.</p> - -<p>Facing this imposing line, as it will be remembered, the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[p. 161]</span> French had the five -dragoon regiments of Latour-Maubourg on the right, and the four light -cavalry regiments of Lasalle on the left, each supported by two of -Laval’s German battalions. The centre under Villatte was somewhat -‘refused,’ and was much farther from the Spaniards than were the -two powerful wings of cavalry. As the enemy advanced, Victor bade -Latour-Maubourg and Lasalle to seize any good opportunity for a charge, -but not to risk, unless circumstances favoured them, a general attack -on the Spaniards, until they should have begun to lose their order. The -wings of the enemy being covered by the two rivers, there could be no -question of flank attacks, and frontal charges by cavalry on unbroken -infantry are proverbially dangerous.</p> - -<p>When, however, the armies drew near, Latour-Maubourg thought that -he saw his chance, and bade one of his brigades (2nd and 4th Dragoons) -charge Del Parque’s infantry in the Spanish left-centre. The attack -completely failed: a fortunate discharge of the Duke’s divisional -battery blew a gap in the centre of the charging line; the battalions -on each side stood firm and opened a heavy fire, and the dragoons went -to the rear in disorder. Their flight exposed the flank of the two -German battalions which formed the centre of Latour-Maubourg’s line. -The Spanish infantry pressed forward, and engaged them with vigour. -This determined Victor to order his right wing to fall back and to -get into line with Villatte, before making another stand. Accordingly -Latour-Maubourg retired, his unbroken regiments moving off in very -good order, but suffering considerably from the fire of the Spanish -skirmishers, who ran forward with great rapidity and pressed them -hard.</p> - -<p>The retreat of the right wing made it necessary for Lasalle on -the left to conform to the general movement. He also began to draw -back towards Medellin. ‘For two hours,’ writes one of his officers<a -id="FNanchor_183" href="#Footnote_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a>, ‘we -gave back slowly and quietly, facing about at every fifty yards to -show a front, and to dispute the ground. Amid the endless whizzing of -bullets flying over our heads, and the deafening roar of the shells, -which rent the air and tore up the earth around us, we heeded only the -voice of our commanders. The further we retired the louder shouted -our foes. Their skirmishers were so numerous and daring that<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[p. 162]</span> they sometimes compelled -ours to fall back for protection into our ranks. They kept calling to -us from a distance that no quarter should be given, and that Medellin -should be the Frenchman’s grave. General Lasalle was riding backward -and forward in front of his division, with a lofty, fearless air. In -the space which separated us there might be seen the horses of disabled -friends and foes, running on every side, most of them wounded, some of -them dragging their dead masters by the stirrup, and struggling to free -themselves from the unmanageable load.’</p> - -<p>In this fashion the French retired before the advancing army of -Cuesta, till they drew near the point where Victor intended to make his -stand. The right wing reached the new line of defence first: it halted -on the crest of the rising-ground to the north of the point where -Villatte’s infantry stood. The Marshal placed ten guns in line, ordered -the two German battalions to stand firm on each flank of the artillery, -and sent up the 94th of the Line from Villatte’s division to aid -them, as well as a battalion of picked grenadiers. Latour-Maubourg’s -horsemen, now all in good order again, covered their flanks.</p> - -<p>Then came the critical moment of the battle. If the Spaniards could -still push their advance, and thrust back the French infantry, Victor’s -position would be very serious. For a moment it seemed that they might -succeed. The battalions of Henestrosa and Del Parque came forward -with a steadiness that Spanish troops had not yet often shown during -the war. They closed upon the guns, in spite of their rapid fire, and -attacked the three battalions on their flanks, which had been thrown -into square for fear of cavalry attacks, and were therefore not in very -good order for defending themselves against infantry.</p> - -<p>The leading Spanish officers had actually ridden into the battery<a -id="FNanchor_184" href="#Footnote_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a>, -and were cutting down the gunners, when Latour-Maubourg ordered his -dragoons to charge. The moment that he saw them on the move, Cuesta, -who had been riding on this flank, with the three regiments of cavalry -which covered the end of his line, ordered a counter-charge against -the flank<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[p. 163]</span> of the -advancing French. Then followed a disgraceful scene: the Spanish -squadrons rode forward in an irresolute way for a few score yards, and -then suddenly halted, turned, and galloped to the rear in a disorderly -mass before they had arrived anywhere near the French dragoons. They -collided with Cuesta, upset him and rode over him<a id="FNanchor_185" -href="#Footnote_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a>: the old man was with -difficulty saved and set upon his horse by his aides-de-camp. The -fugitives never drew rein, and fled far away to the north, almost -without losing a man. Their conduct was all the more disgraceful, -because two of the three regiments were old troops from the Baltic, -which had come back with La Romana and had not shared in any of the -early disasters of the Spanish armies.</p> - -<p>The result of this shameful panic was instant disaster to the whole -Spanish right wing. Of Latour-Maubourg’s division one brigade went -off in pursuit of the routed cavalry, but the other three regiments -charged in flank the battalions of Henestrosa and Del Parque, just as -they stormed the French battery on which they were intent. A long line -without supports, such as that which these two divisions presented, -was helpless when attacked by cavalry on the flank—it suffered -exactly the same fate which befell Colborne’s brigade at Albuera -two years later. While engaged in front with the three battalions -already before it, and with the regiment which Villatte had sent up -to aid them, it could not throw back its flank to face the horsemen: -nor had it any reserve whatever that could be utilized to hold off -Latour-Maubourg. The whole line was rolled up, and dashed into atoms. -Many men were cut down, a few captured, the remainder fled in utter -disorder towards the north. The French urged the pursuit with cruel -vigour, merciless all the more because they had for a moment doubted of -their victory.</p> - -<p>While this struggle was raging on the northern part of the -field, Lasalle had been still falling back before the divisions of -Albuquerque, Portago, and Trias, across the plain which borders the -Guadiana. The Spanish line were still moving forward with great -steadiness, but had begun to fall into a sort of <i>échelon</i> formation, -with the cavalry near the river most in<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_164">[p. 164]</span> advance, the infantry of Albuquerque a -little behind, and the Estremaduran battalions of the centre still -further to the rear. The fact was that General Eguia, to whom Cuesta -had given the charge of his whole right wing, was trying to edge his -cavalry between Lasalle and the Guadiana, in order to cut him off -from the bridge of Medellin. This end of the line, therefore, was -pushing forward very rapidly, while Trias, on the other hand, was -coming forward rather slowly, from a desire not to lose touch with Del -Parque’s division, the nearest troops to him in the other half of the -army.</p> - -<p>Lasalle was keeping an anxious eye on the development of the action -further to the north, and the moment that he saw Latour-Maubourg -halt and prepare to charge, followed his example. His first blow was -delivered at the cavalry next the river: he flung against them the -2nd Hussars, with a chasseur regiment in support. These two corps, -charging with great fury, easily broke the Andalusian lancers, who were -leading the pursuit, and hurled them back upon the other squadrons of -the Spanish right. The whole body was thrown into disorder and driven -off the field, leaving the flank of Albuquerque’s division completely -uncovered. Lasalle then re-formed his men and prepared to charge -the infantry. He had been reinforced meanwhile by one of Villatte’s -brigades (63rd and 95th of the Line) and by the one battalion of -Leval’s Germans, which had hitherto remained with the centre. While -these seven battalions of fresh troops delivered a frontal attack -on Albuquerque and Trias, Lasalle hurled his four regiments of -cavalry upon their unprotected right flank. The Spaniards were doomed -to destruction, but for some time kept up a show of resistance; -Albuquerque had got two or three of his battalions out of line into -column, and for a moment these held back Lasalle’s chasseurs. But the -fight lasted for a few minutes only: a new French force was coming -up. Latour-Maubourg, returning from the pursuit of Cuesta with two -of his dragoon regiments, appeared upon the flank and rear of Trias’ -division and charged in upon it from behind. This last assault was -decisive: the whole Spanish line broke up and fled eastward over the -open ground along the river. The six regiments of French cavalry -were soon in pursuit, and rode in among the flying horde, using the -sabre<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[p. 165]</span> with reckless -cruelty, and far more intent on slaughter than on taking prisoners. -Lasalle’s chasseurs were specially savage, having to avenge the bloody -check which they had received at Miajadas in the preceding week<a -id="FNanchor_186" href="#Footnote_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a>. -‘Our troops,’ says a French witness, ‘who had been threatened with -no quarter by the Spaniards if they had been overpowered, and who -were enraged by five hours of preliminary fighting, at first spared -no one. The infantry, following behind at a distance, dispatched the -wounded with their bayonets. Most of all they were pitiless to such -of the Spanish regiments as were without a proper military uniform<a -id="FNanchor_187" href="#Footnote_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a>.’ -Another eye-witness describes the pursuit as ‘one continuous slaughter -till night fell.’ Some of the Spanish battalions dispersed in the -most helpless confusion, and fled in all directions when the line -was broken. Others tried to close up and to defend themselves: -this made their flight slower, and sometimes led to their complete -extermination. Rocca says that he saw the two regiments of Spanish -and Walloon Guards lying dead <i>en masse</i> in the order which they had -occupied at the moment of the breaking of the line<a id="FNanchor_188" -href="#Footnote_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a>. The statement is -borne out, at least as to the Walloons, by the fact that the next -morning-state of Cuesta’s army which has been preserved shows that -regiment with only 300 men surviving out of two whole battalions<a -id="FNanchor_189" href="#Footnote_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a>. -If any of the infantry of the Spanish right wing escaped at all, -it was partly owing to the fact that the two cavalry regiments in -the centre of the line<a id="FNanchor_190" href="#Footnote_190" -class="fnanchor">[190]</a> showed a much better spirit than their -comrades on the wings, and protected the flight of some battalions. -Moreover a frightful thunderstorm swept over the plains late in the -afternoon, darkened the whole horizon, and caused the French squadrons -to halt and cease their pursuit.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_4"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[p. 166]</span></p> - <img src="images/medellin.jpg" - alt="Map of the battle of Medellin" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/medellin-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">BATTLE of MEDELLIN</span><br /> - <small>MARCH 28<sup>TH</sup> 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">The slaughter, nevertheless, had been terrible. Of the -10,000 men whom the Spaniards lost on this fatal day three-fourths -fell by the edge of the sword: only 1,850 prisoners were sent back to -Talavera, and even if some others had succeeded in escaping during -their march to the rear, it is certain that the Spanish casualty-list -amounted to at least 7,500 men. Nine standards were taken—less -than might have been expected, for the twenty-three Spanish battalions -present must have brought forty-six to the field. Twenty pieces of -artillery fell into the hands of the French, out of the thirty which -Cuesta had possessed. Some few batteries therefore (perhaps the horse -artillery of the evasive cavalry brigades) had succeeded in escaping -from the rout.</p> - -<p>Most French authors unite in stating that the total loss on their -side was only 300 men<a id="FNanchor_191" href="#Footnote_191" -class="fnanchor">[191]</a>. This figure is as absurd as that given for -Soult’s losses at Corunna: there were five hours of fighting, and for -a long time the battle had gone by no means in favour of Victor’s men. -It is improbable that they suffered less than 1,000 casualties, and -the figure may have been higher, for one brigade of Latour-Maubourg’s -dragoons was beaten back while charging guns—always a bloody -business for cavalry—while the German battalions which retired -across the plain in column, played on by artillery and harassed by -skirmishers, must also have suffered severely.</p> - -<p>Cuesta’s cavalry, owing to the disgraceful cowardice shown by the -majority of the regiments, had got off comparatively intact. The -whole of his dreadful losses had fallen on his infantry, and they had -been scattered so far and wide over the Estremaduran plain that it -was many days before he could get together a respectable force. He -took refuge at Monasterio<a id="FNanchor_192" href="#Footnote_192" -class="fnanchor">[192]</a> in the mountains in the direction of -Andalusia, and sent urgent appeals for reinforcements to the -Central Junta. It might <span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[p. -167]</span>have been expected that the Junta would disgrace him -and remove him from command, as they had Cartaojal, Infantado, and -Castaños. But apparently they were rather cheered by the fact that -Cuesta had seriously disputed the victory with the French, than -angered with the want of generalship which he had shown. They voted -that he and his army had deserved well of the State, and distributed -honours and promotion to all the officers whom he recommended for good -conduct during the action. Rocca remarks that they must have had in -their minds the doings of the Romans after Cannae, when the steadfast -Senate thanked the consul Varro ‘for not having despaired of the -republic,’ instead of removing him for rashness and incompetence<a -id="FNanchor_193" href="#Footnote_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a>. -At any rate, they conferred on Cuesta the post of Captain-General -of Estremadura, and hurried up to reinforce him all the troops -that they could spare, a strong brigade of new Granadan levies<a -id="FNanchor_194" href="#Footnote_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a>, -and a division drawn from the army of Cartaojal consisting of nine -old battalions of regular troops with a force of 6,000 bayonets<a -id="FNanchor_195" href="#Footnote_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a>. Thus -reinforced the host of Cuesta was as strong as on the eve of Medellin, -and once more mustered 20,000 foot and 3,000 horse. By the middle of -April the whole had been drawn together, and reorganized into five -divisions of foot and two of horse. This was the army that was to -co-operate with Wellesley in the campaign of Talavera.</p> - -<p>‘In any other country of Europe,’ wrote Marshal Jourdan, ‘the -gaining of two such successes as Medellin and Ciudad Real would have -reduced the country-side to submission, and have enabled the victorious -armies to press forward to new conquests. In Spain the reverse was -the case: the greater the disaster suffered by the national troops, -the more willing were the population to rise and take arms. Already -the communications between Victor and Sebastiani were cut: several -bearers of dispatches were massacred, and even some detachments cut -off. An insurrection almost burst out at Toledo, where a garrison of -insufficient strength had been left. It was only averted by<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[p. 168]</span> the providential arrival -of an officer with a reinforcement of 500 men. The communications of -the 1st Corps with Madrid were in no better state: bands of insurgents -gathered in the valley of the Tietar, and threatened to fall upon -Almaraz and to break the bridge of boats. The King had to send down in -haste 600 bayonets from Madrid to preserve this all-important post<a -id="FNanchor_196" href="#Footnote_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a>.’ -At the same time the road from Almaraz to Salamanca was closed by a -trifling Spanish force of two battalions under the brigadier Carlos -d’España which had been levied about Caceres and Bejar, and occupied -the pass of Baños. It was aided by a battalion of the Loyal Lusitanian -legion, which Sir Robert Wilson had sent forward from Almeida. Thus -Lapisse at Salamanca could only communicate with Victor at Merida by -the circuitous route of Arevalo, Madrid, and Almaraz.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Belluno had been ordered by the Emperor to beat the Army -of Estremadura, and then to get into touch with Soult, who should have -been due at Lisbon long ere this. But no news of the 2nd Corps had -come to hand: it was known to have penetrated into northern Portugal, -but its exact position could not be learnt. Victor, refusing to move -till he had news of his colleague, cantoned his army at Merida and -Medellin, and put the old castles of both these places, as well as that -of Truxillo, in a state of defence. He would probably have done well -to utilize the time of necessary waiting in laying siege to Badajoz. -But he contented himself with watching that fortress and observing -the reorganized army of Cuesta, which had now grown once more to a -respectable force, and might have harassed considerably any part of the -1st Corps which should attempt to molest the capital of Estremadura. -Instead of attacking the place, Victor contented himself with sending -to it vain summonses to surrender, and with endeavouring to discover -whether it might not contain traitors ready to negotiate with King -Joseph. He brought down from Madrid, as his agent, a Spanish magistrate -named Sotelo, who had become a zealous <i>Afrancesado</i>. Through this -person he addressed letters both to the governor of Badajoz and to -the Central Junta at Seville. After setting forth all the evils which -the continuance of the war was bringing upon Spain, Sotelo stated -that his king was ready to grant the most<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_169">[p. 169]</span> liberal and benevolent terms to the -Junta, in order to spare further effusion of blood. The letter was -duly forwarded to Seville, where it was laid before the government. -The ironical answer was promptly returned ‘that if Sotelo possessed -full powers to negotiate for peace on the basis of the restoration of -Ferdinand VII, and the prompt evacuation of Spain by the French armies, -peace would be possible. If not, the Junta must continue to carry out -the mandate conferred upon it by the nation; according to which it -could conclude no truce or treaty except on the two conditions stated -above.’ Sotelo tried to continue the negotiation, but his offers were -disregarded, and Victor soon realized that he would obtain no further -advantages save by his sword. He remained at Merida waiting in vain -for the news of Soult’s advance on Lisbon, which was, according to -Napoleon’s orders, to be the signal for the 1st Corps to resume its -advance.</p> - - -<p class="nb mt2">N.B.—For the campaign of Medellin I have used -the narratives of Rocca and Sémélé (the latter often very inaccurate), -the <cite>Mémoires</cite> of Jourdan, the day-book of the Frankfort regiment of -Laval’s division, and Victor’s correspondence with King Joseph, and -on the Spanish side the dispatches of Cuesta, also two letters from -D’Urban (British attaché on Cuesta’s staff) to Cradock, and some -enclosures sent by Frere to Castlereagh.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap13_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[p. 170]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">SECTION XIII</h2> - <p class="subh2">SOULT’S INVASION OF PORTUGAL</p> - <h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - <p class="subh3">SOULT’S PRELIMINARY OPERATIONS IN GALICIA<br /> - (JANUARY 19-MARCH 6, 1809)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">After</span> the departure of Bonaparte for -Paris there were, as we have already shown, only two points in the -Peninsula where the strength of the French armies was such as to allow -them to continue the great movement of advance which their master had -begun. We have already seen how Victor, after advancing from the Tagus -to the Guadiana, found his initiative exhausted, even after his victory -at Medellin. He had halted, and refused to take the offensive against -Lisbon or Andalusia till he should be heavily reinforced.</p> - -<p>It remains to be seen how the other French army available for -immediate field operations had fared. Moore’s daring march and -the ensuing retreat had drawn up into the extreme north-west of -the Peninsula the 2nd, 6th, and 8th <i>corps d’armée</i>. Of these the -last-named had been dissolved at the new year, and the bulk of its -battalions had been transferred to Soult’s corps, which on January -20 had a nominal effective of more than 40,000 men. Ney’s Corps, the -6th, was much smaller, and does not seem to have amounted to more -than 16,000 or 18,000 sabres and bayonets. But between Astorga, the -rearmost point occupied by Ney, and Corunna, which Soult’s vanguard -had entered on January 19, there were on paper 60,000 men available -for active operations. Nor had they to guard their own communications -with Madrid or with France. Lapisse’s numerous division had been -left at Salamanca; there was a provisional<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_171">[p. 171]</span> brigade at Leon<a id="FNanchor_197" -href="#Footnote_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a>; Bonnet held Santander -with another division; there were detachments in Zamora, Valladolid, -and the other chief towns of the Douro valley. Somewhat later, in -April, the Emperor moved another whole army corps, that of Mortier, -into Old Castile, when it became available after the fall of Saragossa. -Even without this reinforcement he thought that the rear of the -army in Galicia was adequately covered. The parting instructions of -Bonaparte to Soult have already been cited: when the English should -have embarked, the Duke of Dalmatia was to march on Oporto, and ten -days later was to occupy Lisbon. We have already seen that the scheme -of dates which Napoleon laid down for these operations was impossible, -even to the borders of absurdity: Oporto was to be seized by February -1, and Lisbon by February 10! But putting aside this error, which was -due to his persistent habit of ignoring the physical conditions of -Spanish roads and Spanish weather, the Emperor had drawn up a plan -which seemed feasible enough. Ney’s corps was to move up and occupy all -the chief strategical points in Galicia, taking over both the garrison -duty and the task of stamping out any small lingering insurrections in -the interior. This would leave Soult free to employ the whole of his -four divisions of infantry and his three divisions of cavalry for the -invasion of Portugal. Even allowing for the usual wastage of men in a -winter campaign, the Emperor must have supposed that, with a nominal -effective of 43,000 men, Soult would be able to provide more than -30,000 efficients for the expedition against Lisbon<a id="FNanchor_198" -href="#Footnote_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a>. Considering that -the Portuguese army was still in the making, and that no more than -8,000<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[p. 172]</span> British -troops remained in and about Lisbon, the task assigned to the Duke of -Dalmatia did not on the face of it appear unreasonable.</p> - -<p>But in Spain the old saying that ‘nothing is so deceptive as -figures—except facts,’ was pre-eminently true. No map—those -of 1809 were intolerably bad—could give the Emperor any idea -of the hopeless condition of Galician or Portuguese mountain-roads -in January. No tables of statistics could enable him to foresee the -way in which the population would receive the invading army. We may -add that even an unrivalled knowledge of the realities of war would -hardly have prepared him to expect that the campaign of Galicia -would, in one month, have worn down Soult’s available effectives to -a bare 23,000 men. Such was the modest figure at which the 2nd Corps -stood on January 30, for it had no less than 8,000 men detached, and -the incredible number of over 10,000—one man in four—in -hospital. For this figure it was not the muskets of Moore’s host which -were responsible: it was the cold and misery of the forced marches -from Astorga to Corunna, which seem to have tried the pursuer even -more than the pursued. The 8,000 ‘detached’ were strung out in small -parties all the way from Leon to Lugo—wherever the Marshal -had been obliged to abandon stores or baggage that could not travel -fast, he had been forced to leave a guard: he had also dropped small -garrisons at Villafranca, Lugo, and Betanzos, to await Ney’s arrival; -but the most important drain had been that of his dismounted dragoons<a -id="FNanchor_199" href="#Footnote_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a>. In -his cavalry regiments half the horses had foundered or perished: the -roads so deadly to Moore’s chargers had taken a corresponding toll from -the French divisions, and at every halting-place hundreds of horsemen, -unable to keep up<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[p. 173]</span> -with the main body, had been left behind. In any other country than -Spain these involuntary laggards would have found their way to the -front again in a comparatively short time. But Soult was commencing to -discover that one of the main features of war in the Peninsula was that -isolated men, or even small parties, could not move about in safety. -The peasantry were already beginning to rise, even before Moore’s army -took its departure; they actually cut the road between Betanzos and -Lugo, and between Lugo and Villafranca, within a few days after the -battle of Corunna. This forced the stragglers to mass, under pain of -being assassinated. Hundreds of them were actually cut off: the rest -gathered in small wayside garrisons, and could not get on till they had -been formed into parties of considerable strength. The rearmost, who -had been collected at Astorga by General Pierre Soult, the Marshal’s -brother, did not join the corps for months—and this body was no -less than 2,000 or 2,500 strong. The other detachments could not make -their way to Corunna even when Marshal Ney had come up: it was only -by degrees, and after delays covering whole weeks, that they began to -rejoin. The only solid reinforcement received by Soult, soon after the -departure of the English army, consisted of his rear division, that of -Heudelet, which came up from Lugo, not many days after the battle of -January 16.</p> - -<p>Soult was still far from suspecting the full difficulty of the -task that was before him. He had been much encouraged by the tame way -in which the Governor of Corunna had surrendered on January 19. If -Alcedo had made the least semblance of fight he could have detained -the Marshal before his walls for an indefinite time. The city was only -approachable by a narrow and well-fortified isthmus, and the French -could not have battered this formidable front to any effect with the -six-pounders which formed their only artillery. The surrender of the -place gave Soult some food, the considerable resources of a rich -harbour town, and (most important of all) a large number of guns of -position, suitable for use against the other fortress which he must -take ere he moved on against Portugal.</p> - -<p>This place was Ferrol, the second naval arsenal of Spain, -which faces Corunna across the broad inlet of Ares Bay—only -thirteen miles distant by water, though the land road thither<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[p. 174]</span> by Betanzos, round -the head of the fiord, is forty miles long. To make sure of this -place was obviously Soult’s first duty: if left unmolested it would -prove a dangerous nucleus round which the Galician insurgents could -concentrate. For it contained a regular garrison, consisting of the -dépôts and half-trained recruits of La Romana’s army, and of 4,000 or -5,000 sailors. There were lying in the harbour, mostly half-dismantled -and unready for sea<a id="FNanchor_200" href="#Footnote_200" -class="fnanchor">[200]</a>, no less than eight line-of-battle ships -and three frigates. Their crews, much depleted, but still numerous, -had been landed to assist the soldiers in garrisoning the forts<a -id="FNanchor_201" href="#Footnote_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a>. -In addition several thousand citizens and peasants had taken arms, -for muskets abounded in Ferrol, from the stores lately received from -England. With these resources it is clear that a governor of courage -and resolution might have made a long defence; they were far greater -than those with which Palafox had preserved Saragossa; and Ferrol was -no open town, but a fortress which had been kept in good repair for -fear of the English. But, for the misfortune of Galicia, the commander -of Ferrol, Admiral Melgarejo, was a traitor at heart. He was one of -the old bureaucrats who had only followed the patriotic cause because -it seemed for the moment to be in the ascendant; if patriotism did not -pay, he was perfectly prepared to come to terms and to do homage to -Joseph Bonaparte.</p> - -<p>On January 23 Soult marched against Ferrol with the infantry -division of Mermet, the dragoons of Lorges, and the heavy guns which -he had found in Corunna. He left Delaborde in garrison at the latter -place, posted Merle at Betanzos, a half-way house between the two -fortresses, and directed Franceschi’s cavalry division on Santiago -and Lahoussaye’s on Mellid, in order to see whether there was any -Spanish field-force visible in western Galicia. On the twenty-fifth -the Marshal presented himself in front of Ferrol, and summoned the -place to surrender. Melgarejo was determined not to fight, and several -of his chief subordinates supported him. The<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_175">[p. 175]</span> armed citizens persisted in their idea of -defending the place, but when the French broke ground in front of the -walls and captured two small outlying redoubts, they allowed themselves -to be overpersuaded by their treacherous chief. On January 26 the place -surrendered, and on the following day Soult was received within the -walls. The capitulation had two shameful clauses: by the first the -civil and military authorities undertook to take the oath of allegiance -to King Joseph. By the second the splendid men-of-war in the harbour -were handed over intact, a most valuable acquisition for the Emperor if -Galicia was to remain under his control. Any one but a traitor would -have burnt or scuttled them before surrendering. But Melgarejo, after -receiving high testimonials from Soult, hastened up to Madrid and took -office under the <i>Rey Intruso</i><a id="FNanchor_202" href="#Footnote_202" -class="fnanchor">[202]</a>. Along with the squadron 1,500 naval -cannon, an immense quantity of timber, cordage, and other stores, and -20,000 muskets newly imported from England, fell into the hands of the -French.</p> - -<p>On the day after Ferrol was occupied, Soult received the last -communication from the Emperor which was to reach him for many a day<a -id="FNanchor_203" href="#Footnote_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a>. It -was dated from Valladolid on January 17. We have already had occasion -to refer to it more than once, while dealing with the controversies of -King Joseph and Marshal Victor. This dispatch repeated the Emperor’s -former orders, with some slight concession in the matter of dates. -Instead of reaching Oporto on February 1 the Marshal was to be granted -four extra days, and after taking Oporto on February 5, he was to -reach Lisbon on the sixteenth instead of the tenth. Soult was also -told that he would not have to depend on his own resources alone: -Victor with the 1st Corps would be at Merida by the time that the 2nd -Corps was approaching the Portuguese capital: he would be instructed -to send a column in the direction of Lisbon, to make a diversion in -favour of the attack from the north, and at the same time Lapisse from -Salamanca should move on Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida. Bessières was, -so the Emperor said, under strict orders to send Lapisse forward into -Portugal the moment that the news should reach him that the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[p. 176]</span> 2nd Corps had captured -Oporto. This combination sinned against the rules of strategy, as they -had to be practised in Spain. The Emperor had yet to realize that in -order to make operations simultaneous, when troops starting from bases -several hundred miles apart are to co-operate, it is necessary that -their generals should be in free communication with each other. But -Soult, when he had advanced into Portugal, was as much out of touch -with the other French corps as if he had been operating in Poland or -Naples. It was literally months before accurate information as to his -situation and his achievements reached Salamanca, Merida, or Madrid. -The movements of Victor and Lapisse being strictly conditioned by the -receipt of news concerning Soult’s progress, and that news being never -received, or received too late, the combination never did and never -could take place. Napoleon had forgotten to reckon with the ubiquitous -Spanish insurgent: here, as in so many cases, he was unconsciously -assuming that the bearer of dispatches could ride freely through the -country, as if he were in Saxony or Lombardy; and that Soult could make -known his movements and his desires as often as he pleased. French -critics of the Emperor generally confine themselves to censuring him -for sending the 2nd Corps to attempt unaided a task too great for it<a -id="FNanchor_204" href="#Footnote_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a>; this -is not quite fair, for he had intended to support Soult by two strong -diversions. The real fault lay in ignoring the fact that in Spain -combined operations, which presuppose constant communication between -the participants, were practically impossible. The same error was made -in 1810, when Drouet was told to co-operate in Masséna’s invasion of -Portugal, and in 1811 when Soult was directed to lend a helping hand -to that same invasion. It is impossible to give effective aid to a -colleague whose condition and whose whereabouts are unknown.</p> - -<p>On January 29 the Duke of Dalmatia set to work to reor<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[p. 177]</span>ganize his army for the -great expedition that had been assigned to him. It was impossible to -march at once, as the Emperor had commanded, because Ney had not yet -arrived at the front, and it was necessary to turn over the charge of -Corunna and Ferrol to him before departing further south. Moreover, -there were many other arrangements to be made: a base hospital had to -be organized at Corunna for the thousands of sick and wounded belonging -to the 2nd Corps. Its transport had to be reconstructed, for most of -the animals had died during the forced marches in pursuit of Moore<a -id="FNanchor_205" href="#Footnote_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a>. -A new stock of munitions had to be served out from the stores so -fortunately captured at Ferrol. The military chest of the corps had -been left behind at Astorga, and showed no signs of appearing: to -provide for the more urgent day-by-day needs of the army, the Marshal -had to squeeze forced contributions out of the already exhausted towns -of Corunna, Ferrol, and Santiago, which had long ago contributed all -their surplus resources to the fitting out of Blake’s army of Galicia. -These same unhappy places had to submit to a heavy requisition of -cloth and leather, for the replacing of the garments and boots worn -out in the late marches. But even with the aid of 2,500 English -greatcoats discovered in store at Corunna, and other finds at Ferrol, -the wants of the army could not be properly supplied; it started on the -campaign in a very imperfectly equipped condition<a id="FNanchor_206" -href="#Footnote_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a>. The most dangerous -point in its outfit was the want of mules: most of the valleys of -inner Galicia and northern Portugal are destitute of carriage roads. -To bring up the food and the reserve ammunition pack-animals were -absolutely necessary, and Soult could only collect a few hundreds. -Even if his men should succeed in living on the country, and so solve -the problem of carrying provisions, they could not hope to pick up -powder and lead in the same way. When, therefore, the heavy baggage -on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[p. 178]</span> wheels had to be -left behind, the 2nd Corps was only able to carry a very insufficient -stock of cartridges: twice, as we shall see, it almost exhausted -its ammunition and was nearly brought to a standstill on the way to -Oporto.</p> - -<p>It was not till February had already begun that Soult was able -to move forward the whole of his army, for he refused to withdraw -Delaborde’s division from Corunna and Mermet’s from Ferrol, till Ney -should have brought up troops of the 6th Corps to relieve them. The -Duke of Elchingen, though apprised of the Emperor’s orders, lingered -long at Lugo, and it was not till he came down in person to the coast -that Soult could call up his rear divisions. Meanwhile a small exchange -of troops between the two corps was carried out: Ney, being short of -cavalry, received a brigade of Lorges’ dragoons to add to his own -inadequate force of two regiments of light horse. In return he made -over to the 2nd Corps three battalions of the 17th Léger, which had -accompanied him hitherto. They were added to Delaborde’s division, -which had been only eight battalions strong.</p> - -<p>Even before the troops from Ferrol and Corunna were able to move, -Soult had put the rest of his army on the march for Portugal. On -January 30 Franceschi’s light horsemen started along the coast-road -from Santiago to Vigo and Tuy, while further inland Lahoussaye’s -division of dragoons, quitting Mellid, took the rough mountain path -across the Monte Testeyro, by Barca de Ledesma and Cardelle, which -leads to Rivadavia and Salvatierra on the lower Minho. Merle’s and -Heudelet’s infantry started several days later, and were many miles -behind the advanced cavalry.</p> - -<p>Lahoussaye’s division met with no opposition in the rugged region -which it had to cross, and occupied Salvatierra without difficulty. -Franceschi scattered a few peasants at the defile of Redondela outside -Vigo, and then found himself at the gates of that harbour-fortress. -The governor, no less weak and unpatriotic than those of Ferrol and -Corunna, surrendered without firing a shot. His excuse was that he -had only recruits, and armed townsfolk, to man his walls and handle -his numerous artillery. But his misconduct was even surpassed by -that of the Governor of Tuy, who capitulated to Franceschi’s 1,200 -horsemen three days later in the same style, though he was in<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[p. 179]</span> command of 500 regular -troops, and was implored to hold out by the local junta. Throughout -Galicia, in this unhappy month, the officials and military chiefs -showed a most deplorable spirit, which contrasted unfavourably with -that of the lower classes, both in the towns and the country-side.</p> - -<p>The way to the frontier of Portugal had thus been opened, with an -ease which seemed to justify Napoleon’s idea that the Spaniards would -not hold out, when once their field armies had been crushed. Franceschi -and Lahoussaye reported to the Duke of Dalmatia that they had swept the -whole northern bank of the Minho, and that there was nothing in front -of them save the swollen river and a few bands of Portuguese peasantry, -who were observing them from Valenza, the dilapidated frontier fortress -of the neighbouring kingdom.</p> - -<p>Both the French and the Galicians of the coast-line might well have -forgotten the fact that there was still a Spanish army in existence -within the borders of the province. It is long since we have had -occasion to mention the fugitive host of the Marquis of La Romana. -After being hunted out of Ponferrada by Soult on January 3, he had -followed in the wake of Craufurd’s brigades on their eccentric retreat -down the valley of the Sil. But while the British troops pushed on to -Vigo and embarked, the Spaniards halted at Orense. There the Marquis -endeavoured to rally his demoralized and starving host, with the aid -of the very limited resources of the district. He had only 6,000 men -left with the colours, out of the 22,000 who had been with him at Leon -on December 25, 1808. But there were several thousands more straggling -after him, or dispersed in the side valleys off the road which he had -followed. Most of these men had lost their muskets, many were frost -bitten, or suffering from dysentery. The surviving nucleus of the -army was composed almost entirely of the old regulars: the Galician -militia and new levies had not been able to resist the temptation -to desert, when they found themselves among their native mountains. -The Marquis hoped that, when the spring came round, they would find -their way back to the army: in this expectation, as we shall see, he -was not deceived. For nearly a fortnight the wrecks of the army were -undisturbed, and La Romana was able to collect enough efficients to -constitute<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[p. 180]</span> two -small corps of observation, one of which he posted in the valley of -the Sil, to watch for any signs of a movement of the French from the -direction of Ponferrada, while the other, in the valley of the Minho, -kept a similar look out in the direction of Lugo. The latter force was -unmolested, but on January 17 General Mendizabal, who was watching the -southern road, reported the approach of a heavy hostile column. This -was Marchand’s division of Ney’s corps: the Marshal had divided his -force at Ponferrada; he himself with Maurice Mathieu’s division had -kept the main road to Lugo, while Marchand had been told off to clear -the lateral valleys and seize Orense. La Romana very wisely resolved -that his unhappy army was unfit to resist 8,000 French troops. On -January 19 he evacuated Orense, and fled across the Sierra Cabrera to -Monterey on the Portuguese frontier. Here at last he found rest, for -Marchand did not follow him into the mountains, but, after a short -stay in Orense, marched to Santiago, where he was directed to relieve -Soult’s garrison.</p> - -<p>The Marquis was completely lost to sight in his frontier fastnesses, -and was able to do his best to reorganize his battered host. By -February 13 he had 9,000 men under arms, nearly all old soldiers, -for the Galician levies were still scattered in their homes. His -dispatches during this period are very gloomy reading: he complains -bitterly of the apathy of the country-side and the indiscipline of his -officers. What could be expected of subalterns, he asks, when a general -(Martinengo of the 2nd division) had absconded without asking leave -or even reporting his departure? ‘I know not where the patriotism, of -which every one boasted, is now to be found, since on the smallest -reverse or misfortune, they lose their heads, and think only of saving -themselves—sacrificing their country and compromising their -commander.’ Much harassed for want of food, La Romana kept moving his -head quarters; he was sometimes at Verin and Monterey, sometimes at -Chaves just inside the Portuguese frontier, more frequently at Oimbra. -He had only nine guns left; there was no reserve of ammunition, and -the soldiers had but few cartridges remaining in their boxes. The -strongest battalion left in the army had only 250 bayonets—many -had but seventy or eighty, and others (notably the Galician local<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[p. 181]</span> corps) had completely -disappeared. He besought the Central Junta to obtain from the British -money, muskets, clothing, and above all ammunition, or the army would -never be fit to take the field<a id="FNanchor_207" href="#Footnote_207" -class="fnanchor">[207]</a>. A similar request in the most pressing -terms was sent to Sir John Cradock at Lisbon.</p> - -<p>Soult could not but be aware that La Romana’s army, or some shadow -of it, was still in existence: but since it sedulously avoided any -contact with him, and had completely evacuated the coast-land of -Galicia, he appears to have treated it as a ‘negligible quantity’ -during his first operations. Its dispersion, if it required any further -dispersing, would fall to the lot of Ney and the 6th Corps, not to that -of the army sent against Portugal.</p> - -<p>Franceschi and Lahoussaye, as we have already seen, reached the -Minho and the Portuguese border on February 2. It was only on the -eighth that the Duke of Dalmatia set out from Santiago to follow them, -in company with the division of Merle. Those of Delaborde and Mermet, -released by the arrival of Ney, took the same route on the ninth and -tenth respectively. The rear was brought up by the reserve and heavy -artillery, and by that brigade of Lorges’ dragoons which had not -been handed over to the 6th Corps. The coast-road being very good, -Soult was able to concentrate his whole army within the triangle Tuy, -Salvatierra, Vigo by the thirteenth, in spite of the hindrances caused -by a week of perpetual storm and rain.</p> - -<p>It was the Marshal’s intention to enter Portugal by the great -coast-road, which crosses the Minho at Tuy and proceeds to Oporto -by way of Valenza and Braga. But as Valenza was a fortress, and its -cannon commanded the broad ferry at which the usual passage was -made, it was clearly necessary to choose some<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_182">[p. 182]</span> other point for crossing the frontier -river. After a careful survey Soult fixed on a village named Campo -Saucos, only two miles from the mouth of the Minho, as offering the -best starting-point. He established a battery of heavy guns on his -own side of the river, and collected a number of fishing-boats<a -id="FNanchor_208" href="#Footnote_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a>, -sufficient to carry 300 men at a voyage. As he could not discover that -the Portuguese had any regular force opposite him, he resolved to -attempt the passage with these modest resources.</p> - -<p>There would have been no great difficulty in the enterprise during -ordinary weather. But the incessant rains had so swelled the Minho -that it was now a wild, ungovernable torrent, which it was hard to -face and still harder to stem. When the heavy Atlantic surf met the -furious current of the stream, during the rising of the tide, the -conflict of the waters made the passage absolutely impossible. It had -to be attempted at the moment between the flow and the ebb—though -there was at that hour another danger—that the boats might be -carried past the appointed landing-place and wrecked on the bar at -the mouth of the river. But this chance Soult resolved to risk: on -February 16, long before daybreak, his twenty or thirty fishing-boats, -each with a dozen men on board, launched out from the northern shore, -and struck diagonally across the stream, as the current bore them. -They were at once saluted by a heavy but ill-directed fire from the -Portuguese bank, where hundreds of peasants were at watch even during -the hours of darkness. The soldiers rowed and steered badly—Soult -had only been able to give them as guides a mere handful of men -trained to the water<a id="FNanchor_209" href="#Footnote_209" -class="fnanchor">[209]</a>. The furious current swept them away: -probably also their nerve was much tried by the fusillade, which, -though more noisy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[p. 183]</span> -than dangerous, yet occasionally picked off a rower or a helmsman. The -general result was that only three boats with thirty-five or forty men -got to the appointed landing-place, where they were made prisoners by -the Portuguese. The rest were borne down-stream, and came ashore at -various points on the same side from which they had started, barely -avoiding shipwreck on the bar.</p> - -<p>The attempt to pass the Minho, therefore, ended in a ridiculous -fiasco: it showed the limitations of the French army, which among -its numerous merits did not possess that of good seamanship. Soult -was deeply chagrined, not because of the insignificant loss of men, -but because of the check to his prestige. He resolved that he would -not risk another such failure, and at once gave orders for the whole -army to march up-stream to Orense, the first point where there was a -bridge over the Minho. This entailed a radical change in his general -plan of operations, for he was abandoning the good coast-road by Tuy -and Valenza for a very poor mountain-way from Orense to Chaves along -the valley of the Tamega. There was another important result from -the alteration—the new route brought the French army down upon -La Romana’s camp of refuge: his cantonments in and about Monterey -lay right across its path. But neither he nor Soult had yet realized -the fact that they were about once more to come into collision. The -Marshal did not know where the Marquis was; the Marquis did not at -first understand the meaning of the Marshal’s sudden swoop inland. -Some of the Spanish officers, indeed, were sanguine enough to imagine -that the French, after their failure on the lower Minho, would -abandon Galicia altogether<a id="FNanchor_210" href="#Footnote_210" -class="fnanchor">[210]</a>!</p> - -<p>The whole French army had now made a half-turn to the left, and -was marching in a north-easterly direction. Lahoussaye’s dragoons, -starting from Salvatierra, led the advance, Heudelet’s division marched -at the head of the infantry; Delaborde, Mermet, and Merle, each at a -convenient interval from the preceding division, stretched out the -column to an interminable length. The heavy artillery and wagon train -brought up the rear. Nine hundred sick, victims of the detestable -weather<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[p. 184]</span> of the -first fortnight of February, were left behind at Tuy under the guard of -a half-battalion of infantry.</p> - -<p>It was on the march from Tuy to Orense that Soult began to realize -the full difficulties of his task. He had already met with small -insurgent bands, but they had been dispersed with ease, and he had -paid little attention to them. Now however, along the steep and -tiresome mountain road above the Minho, they appeared in great force, -and showed a spirit and an enterprise which were wholly unexpected -by the French. The fact was that in the month which had now elapsed -since the battle of Corunna, the peasantry and the local notables had -found time to take stock of the situation. The first numbing effect -of the presence of a large hostile army in their midst had passed -away. Ruthless requisitions were sweeping off their cattle, the only -wealth of the country. Although Soult had issued pacific proclamations, -and had tried to keep his men in hand, he could not restrain the -usual plundering propensities of a French army on the march. Enough -atrocities had already been committed to make the Galicians forget the -misconduct of Moore’s men. La Romana, from his refuge at Monterey, -had been dispersing appeals to the patriotism of the province, and -sending out officers with local knowledge to rouse the country-side. -These probably had less effect on the Galicians—the Marquis -was a stranger and a defeated general—than the exhortations -of their own clergy. In the first rising of the peasantry most of -the leaders were ecclesiastics: in the region which Soult was now -traversing the peasantry were raised by Mauricio Troncoso, Abbot of -Couto, and a friar named Giraldez, who kept the insurgents together -until, some weeks later, they handed over the command to military -officers sent by La Romana or by the Central Junta. In the valley of -the Sil, beyond Orense, it was Quiroga, Abbot of Casoyo, who first -called out the country-side<a id="FNanchor_211" href="#Footnote_211" -class="fnanchor">[211]</a>. Every narrative of the Galician -insurrection, whether French or Spanish, bears witness to the fact -that in almost every case the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[p. -185]</span> clergy, regular and secular, were the earliest chiefs of -the mountaineers. It was characteristic of the whole rising that many -of the bands took the field with the church-banners of their parishes -as substitutes for the national flag.</p> - -<p>This much is certain, that as soon as the violent February rains -showed signs of slackening, the whole of rural Galicia flew to arms. -From Corcubion on the surf-beaten headland of Finisterre, to the remote -headwaters of the Sil under the Sierra de Penamarella, there was not a -valley which failed to answer the appeal which La Romana had made and -which the clergy had circulated. From the weak and sporadic movements -of January there sprang in February a general insurrection, which was -all the more formidable because it had no single focus, was based on -no place of arms, and was directed not by one chief but by fifty local -leaders, each intimately acquainted with the district in which he was -about to operate.</p> - -<p>The first result of this widespread movement was to complete the -severance of the communications between the various French divisions -in Galicia. From the earliest appearance of the invaders, as we have -already seen, there had been intermittent attempts to cut the lines -of road by which the 2nd and 6th Corps kept touch with each other and -with Madrid. But hitherto a convoy, or escort of a couple of hundred -men, could generally brush aside its assailants, and get through from -post to post. In February this power of movement ceased: the insurgents -became not only more numerous and more daring, but infinitely more -skilful in their tactics. Instead of endeavouring to deliver combats in -the open, they broke the bridges, burnt the ferry-boats, cut away the -road in rocky places, and then hung persistently about any corps that -was on the move, as soon as it began to get among the obstacles. They -fired on it from inaccessible side-hills, attacked and detained its -rearguard so as to delay its march, thus causing a gap to grow between -it and the main body, and only closed when the column was beginning to -get strung out into a series of isolated groups. The convoys which were -being sent up from Astorga to the 2nd and 6th Corps were especially -vulnerable to such tactics: the shooting of a few horses in a defile -would hopelessly block the progress of everything that was coming on -from behind. The massing of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[p. -186]</span> men to repair or rehorse disabled wagons only gave the -lurking insurgent a larger and an easier target. Hence the bringing up -to the front of the heavy transport of the French army became such a -slow and costly business, that the attempt to move it was after a time -almost abandoned. Another point which the insurgents soon perceived -was the helplessness of the French cavalry among rocks and defiles. A -horseman cannot get at an enemy who lurks above his head in precipitous -crags, refuses to come down to the high-road, and takes careful shots -from his eyrie into the squadron below. If, worried beyond endurance, -the French officers dismounted some of their men to charge the -hillside, the lightly-equipped peasants fled away, and were out of -sight before the dragoons in their heavy boots could climb the first -fifty yards of the ascent. The copious annals of the Galician guerrilla -bands almost invariably begin with tales of the annihilation of -insufficiently guarded convoys, or of the defeat and extermination of -small bodies of cavalry caught in some defile. A very little experience -of such petty successes soon taught them the right way to deal with -the French. The invaders could not be beaten <i>en masse</i>, but might -be cut off in detail, harassed into exhaustion, and so isolated one -from the other that it would require the sending out of a considerable -expedition to carry a message between two neighbouring garrisons, or to -forward a dispatch down the high-road to Madrid.</p> - -<p>In a very short time intercommunication between the various sections -of the French army in Galicia became so rare and uncertain, that each -commander of a garrison or chief of a column found himself in the -condition of a man lost in a fog. His friends might be near or far, -might be faring ill or prosperously, but it was almost impossible to -get news of them. Every garrison was surrounded with a loose screen -of insurgents, which could only be pierced by a great effort. Each -column on the march moved on surrounded by a swarm of active enemies, -who closed around again in spite of all attempts to brush them off. In -March and April Ney, on whom the worst stress of the insurrection fell, -could only communicate with his outlying troops by taking circular -tours at the head of a force of several thousand men. Sometimes he -found, instead of the post which he had intended to visit, only a -ruined village full of corpses.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[p. -187]</span> Ere the Galician rising was three months old, the bands -had become bold and skilful enough to cut off a strong detachment or -to capture a place held by a garrison several hundreds strong. In June -they actually stopped the Marshal himself, with a whole division at his -back, in his attempt to march from Santiago to recapture Vigo.</p> - -<p>But these times were still far in the future: and when, on February -17, Soult started on his march along the Minho from Tuy to Orense, -the peasantry were far from being the formidable opponents that they -afterwards became. Nevertheless, the progress of the 2nd Corps was -toilsome and slow in the extreme. The troops had been divided between -two paths, of which the so-called high-road, a mile or two from the -river, was only a trifle less impracticable than the rougher path -along the water’s edge. Lahoussaye’s dragoons had been put upon the -latter track; Heudelet’s infantry division led the advance on the -upper road. All day long the march was harassed by the insurgents, -who descended from the hills and hung on the left flank of Heudelet’s -column, delivering partial attacks whenever they thought that they saw -an opportunity. The French advanced with difficulty, much incommoded -by the need of dragging on their cannon, which could hardly be got -forward even with the aid of the infantry. Lahoussaye, on the other -path, was assailed in a similar way, besides being molested by the -Portuguese, who moved parallel to him on the south side of the -Minho, taking long shots at his dragoons wherever the path was close -enough to the water’s edge to be within range of their own bank. If -the peasantry had confined themselves to these tactics, they might -have harassed Soult at small cost to themselves. But they had not -yet fully learnt the guerrilla’s trade. At Mourentan on the path by -the river, and at Francelos on the high-road, they had resolved to -offer direct resistance to the enemy, and so put themselves within -reach of the invader’s claws. At each place they had barricaded the -village, had run a rough entrenchment across the road, and stood to -receive the frontal shock of the French attack. They were, of course, -routed with great slaughter when they thus exposed themselves in -close combat: several hundred perished, among whom were many of their -clerical leaders. Thus Soult<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[p. -188]</span> was able to push on and occupy Rivadavia, which he found -evacuated by its inhabitants. His soldiery had sacked and burnt all the -villages on the way, and (according to the Spanish narratives) shot all -adult males whom they could catch, whether found with arms or not<a -id="FNanchor_212" href="#Footnote_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the eighteenth, having cut his way as far as Rivadavia, the Duke -of Dalmatia came to the conclusion that it was hopeless to endeavour -to carry on with him his heavy artillery and his baggage. On such -roads as he had been traversing, and amid the continual attacks of the -insurgents, they would be of more harm than use. In all probability -they would ere long fall so far behind that, along with their escort, -they would become separated from the army, and perhaps fall into the -hands of the Spaniards. Accordingly he sent orders to the rear of the -column that Merle’s division should conduct back to Tuy all the heavy -baggage and thirty-six guns of large calibre. Only twenty pieces, -mostly four-pounders, were to follow the expedition. When the wagons -had been turned back, there were only pack-horses and mules sufficient -to carry 3,000 rounds for the guns, and 500,000 cartridges for the -infantry. This was a dangerously small equipment for an army which -had a whole kingdom to conquer, and which was forced to waste many -shots every day on keeping off the irrepressible insurgents. But Soult -was determined that he should not be accused of shrinking from the -task imposed on him, or allowing himself to be thwarted by bands of -half-armed peasants.</p> - -<p>The heavy guns and the train, therefore, were deposited at Tuy, -along with the large body of sick and wounded who had already been -left there. General Lamartinière, an officer in whom Soult placed much -confidence, was left in command. He was warned that he would have to -take care of himself, as his communication with the army would be cut -the moment that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[p. 189]</span> -Merle’s troops resumed their march to join the rear of the advancing -column. Nor did Soult err in this: when the 2nd Corps had gone on its -way, Tuy and the neighbouring post of Vigo were immediately beset by a -thick swarm of peasants, who kept them completely blockaded.</p> - -<p>Having thus freed himself from every possible incumbrance, the Duke -of Dalmatia pushed briskly on for Orense and its all-important bridge. -The insurgents had not fallen back very far, and on the nineteenth -Heudelet’s division had two smart engagements with them, and drove them -back to Masside, in the hills to the left of the road. The valley was -here wider and the route better than on the previous day, and much more -satisfactory progress was made. On the twentieth, still pushing on, -Soult found that the ferry of Barbantes, ten miles below Orense, was -passable. The Galicians had scuttled the ferry-boat in an imperfect -fashion: some voltigeurs crossed on a raft, repaired the boat, and set -it working again. Soult then pushed across the river some of Mermet’s -battalions, intending to send them to Orense by the south bank, if -it should be found that the bridge was broken. Meanwhile Heudelet -continued to advance by the road on the north side: his column arrived -at its goal, and found Orense undefended and its bridge intact. The -townsfolk made no attempt to resist: they had not left their dwellings -like the peasants, and their magistrates came out to surrender the -place in due form. They appealed to Soult’s clemency, by showing -him that they had kept safe and properly cared for 136 sick French -soldiers, left behind by Marchand when he had marched through the town -in the preceding month.</p> - -<p>Where, meanwhile, it will be asked, was the army of La Romana? -The Marquis had now 9,000 men collected at Oimbra and Monterey, and -it might have been expected that he would have moved forward to -defend the line of the Minho and the bridge of Orense, as soon as -he heard of the eastward march of the 2nd Corps. He made no such -advance: his dispatches show that the sole precautions which he -took were to send some officers with fifty men to aid the peasants -of the lower Minho, and afterwards to order another party, only 100 -strong, to make sure that the ferry-boats between Tuy and<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[p. 190]</span> Orense were all destroyed -or removed—a task which (as we have already seen) they did not -fully perform. If he had brought up his whole force, instead of sending -out these paltry detachments, he would have made the task of Soult -infinitely more bloody and dangerous, though probably he could not have -prevented the Marshal from carrying out his plan. His quiescence is not -to be explained as resulting from a reluctance to fight, though he was -fully conscious of the low <i>morale</i> of his army, and was at his wits’ -end to complete its dilapidated equipment. It came from another cause, -and one much less creditable to his military capacity. Underrating -Soult’s force, which he placed at 12,000 instead of 22,000 men, he was -labouring under the idea that the 2nd Corps was about to retire from -Galicia altogether, in face of the general insurrection and the want -of food. The march of the French to Orense appeared in his eyes as the -first stage of a retreat up the valley of the Sil to Ponferrada and -Astorga, and he imagined that the province would soon be quit of them. -Hence he contented himself with stirring up the peasantry, and left to -them the task of harassing Soult’s columns, being resolved to make the -proverbial ‘bridge of gold’ for a flying enemy. From this vain dream he -was soon to be awakened.</p> - -<p>From the 21st to the 24th of February the Duke of Dalmatia was -busily employed in bringing up the rear divisions of his army to -Orense. None of them reached that place without fighting, for the bands -which had been driven off by Heudelet and Lahoussaye returned to worry -the troops of Delaborde, Merle, and Mermet, when they traversed the -route from Salvatierra to Orense. Jardon’s brigade of the last-named -division had a sharp fight near Rivadavia, and Merle had to clear his -way at Crecente by cutting to pieces a body of insurgents which had -fortified itself in that village. When the whole army was concentrated -between Rivadavia and Orense, the Marshal sent out large detachments -to sweep the valleys in the immediate neighbourhood of those places. -They found armed peasantry in every direction, but in each case -succeeded in thrusting them back into their hills, and returned to -Orense driving before them large herds of cattle, and dragging behind -them country wagons with a considerable amount of grain. The longest -and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[p. 191]</span> most important -of these expeditions was one made by Franceschi, who marched, with -his own horsemen and one of Heudelet’s brigades, along the road which -the whole army was destined to take in its invasion of Portugal. -They routed one band of peasants at Allariz, and another at Ginzo, -half way to Monterey [February 23]. Still there was no sign of La -Romana’s army, which remained behind the mountains of the Sierra -Cabrera in complete quiescence, though Franceschi’s advanced posts -were only twenty miles away<a id="FNanchor_213" href="#Footnote_213" -class="fnanchor">[213]</a>.</p> - -<p>Soult kept his head quarters at Orense for nine days, during which -he was busied in collecting stores of food, repairing his artillery, -whose carriages had been badly shaken by the villainous roads, and in -endeavouring to pacify the country-side by proclamations and circular -letters to the notables and clergy. In this last scheme he met with -little success; from the bishop of Orense downwards almost every -leading man had taken refuge in the hills, and refused to return. -Silence or defiant replies answered the Marshal’s epistolary efforts. -His promises of protection and good government were sincere enough; but -the commentary on them was given by the excesses and atrocities which -his troops were committing in every outlying village. It was not likely -that the Galicians would come down from their fastnesses to surrender<a -id="FNanchor_214" href="#Footnote_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a>.</p> - -<p>The general advance of the army towards Portugal had been fixed -for March 4. It was not made under the most cheerful conditions. Not -only were the neighbouring peasantry still defiant as ever, but bad -news had come from the north. An aide-de-camp of Marshal Ney, who had -struggled through to Orense in despite of the insurgents, brought -a letter from his chief, which reported that the rising had become -general throughout the province, and apparently expressed strong<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[p. 192]</span> doubts as to the -wisdom of invading Portugal before Galicia was subdued. The Duke of -Elchingen, as it would seem, wished his colleague to draw back, and to -aid him in suppressing the bands of the coast and the upper Minho<a -id="FNanchor_215" href="#Footnote_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a>. He -might well doubt whether the 6th Corps would suffice for this task, -if the 2nd Corps marched far away towards Oporto, and got completely -out of touch. Soult, however, had the Emperor’s orders to advance into -Portugal in his pocket. He knew that if he disobeyed them no excuse -would propitiate his master. Probably he was not sorry to leave to Ney -the unenviable task of dealing with the ubiquitous and irrepressible -Galician insurgents. He sent back the message that he should march -southward on March 4, and continued his preparations. This resolve was -not to the liking of some of his subordinates: many of the officers -who had served with Junot in Portugal by no means relished the idea -of returning to that country. They did not conceal their feelings, -and made the most gloomy prophecies about the fate of the expedition. -It was apparently Loison who formed the centre of this clique of -malcontents: he found many sympathizers among his subordinates. -Their discontent was the basis upon which, two months later, the -strange and obscure ‘Oporto Conspiracy’ of Captain D’Argenton was to -be based. At the present moment, however, they contented themselves -with denunciations of the madness of the Emperor in planning the -expedition, and of the blind obedience of the Marshal in undertaking -it. They told their comrades that the numbers, courage, and ferocity -of the Galicians were as nothing compared with those of their southern -neighbours, and that during the oncoming operations those who found a -sudden death upon the battle-field would be lucky, for the Portuguese -not only murdered but tortured the prisoners, the wounded, and the -stragglers. It was fortunate for Soult that the majority of his -officers paid comparatively little attention to these forebodings, -which they rightly ascribed to the feelings of resentment and -humiliation with which the members of Junot’s army remembered the story -of their former disasters<a id="FNanchor_216" href="#Footnote_216" -class="fnanchor">[216]</a>. But it did<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_193">[p. 193]</span> not make matters easier for the Marshal -that even a small section of his lieutenants disbelieved in the -feasibility of his undertaking, and expected disaster to ensue. Yet the -opening scenes of the invasion of Portugal were to be so brilliant and -fortunate, that for a time the murmurs of the prophets of evil were -hushed.</p> - -<p>On March 4 the Marshal’s head quarters were moved forward from -Orense to Alariz, on the road to Monterey and the frontier. The -main body of the army accompanied him, but Franceschi and Heudelet -were already far in front at Ginzo, only separated from La Romana’s -outposts by the Sierra Cabrera. From that point there are two difficult -but practicable roads<a id="FNanchor_217" href="#Footnote_217" -class="fnanchor">[217]</a> into Portugal: the one descends the valley -of the Lima and leads to Oporto by Viana and the coast. It is easier -than the second or inland route, which after crossing the Sierra -Cabrera descends to Monterey and Chaves, the frontier town of the -Portuguese province of Tras-os-Montes. But every military reason -impelled Soult to choose the second alternative. By marching on Viana -he would leave La Romana, whose presence he had now discovered, far in -his rear. The Marquis would be a bad general indeed if he did not seize -the opportunity of slipping back into Galicia, reoccupying Orense, and -setting the whole country-side aflame. It was infinitely preferable to -fall upon him from the front, rout him, and fling him back among the -Portuguese. Accordingly Franceschi, leading the whole army, crossed the -mountains on the fifth, and came hurtling into La Romana’s cantonments -long ere he was expected. Heudelet was just behind him, Mermet and -Delaborde a march further back: Merle brought up the rear, guarding a -convoy of 800 sick and wounded whom the Marshal had resolved to bring -on with him, rather than to leave them at Orense to fall a prey to the -insurgents. The dragoons of Lorges and Lahoussaye were kept out on the -right and left<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[p. 194]</span> -respectively, watching the one the valley of the Lima, the other the -head waters of the Tamega.</p> - -<p>Down to the last moment the Marquis had been giving out his -intention of retiring into Portugal and co-operating with General -Silveira, the commandant of the Tras-os-Montes, in the defence of -Chaves and the line of the Tamega. But he was on very strained -terms with his ally, who showed no great alacrity to receive the -Spaniards across the frontier: his troops had been quarrelling with -the Portuguese, and he was very reluctant to expose his half-rallied -battalions to the ordeal of a battle, which Silveira openly courted.</p> - -<p>On the very day on which Soult started from Orense, La Romana made -up his mind that, instead of joining the Portuguese, he would escape -eastwards by the single road, over and above that of Chaves, which was -open to him. Accordingly his army suddenly started off, abandoning the -meagre magazines which it had collected at Oimbra and Verin, and made -for Puebla de Senabria, on the borders of the province of Leon, by the -road which coasts along the north side of the Portuguese frontier, -through Osoño and La Gudina. This sudden move bore the appearance -of a mean desertion of the Portuguese in their day of peril: but it -was in other respects wise and prudent. It discomfited all Soult’s -plans, since he failed to catch the army of Galicia, which escaped -him and placed itself on his flank and rear instead of on his front. -It was small consolation to the Marshal that Franceschi came on the -rearguard of the Spaniards at La Trepa near Osoño and routed it. Seven -skeleton regiments, only 1,200 bayonets in all, under General Mahy, -were caught retiring along a hillside and completely ridden down by -the French cavalry. Three standards and 400 prisoners were captured, -300 men more were killed, the rest dispersed. But La Romana’s main -body, meanwhile, had got away in safety, and Soult had failed to strike -the blow which he intended<a id="FNanchor_218" href="#Footnote_218" -class="fnanchor">[218]</a>. He was soon to<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_195">[p. 195]</span> hear of the Marquis again, in quarters -where he little expected and still less desired to find him<a -id="FNanchor_219" href="#Footnote_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a>.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the Portuguese were left alone to bear the brunt of -the attack of the 2nd Corps. It is time to relate and explain their -position, their resources, and their designs.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap13_2"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[p. 196]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER II">SECTION XIII: CHAPTER II</h3> - <p class="subh3">PORTUGAL AT THE MOMENT OF SOULT’S INVASION: - THE NATION, THE REGENCY, AND SIR JOHN CRADOCK</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Soult’s</span> vanguard crossed the Portuguese -frontier between Monterey and Chaves on March 9, 1809: it was exactly -five months since the last of Junot’s troops had evacuated the realm -on October 9, 1808. In the period which had elapsed between those -two dates much might have been done to develop—or rather to -create—a scheme of national defence and a competent army. -Unhappily for Portugal the Regency had not risen to the opportunity, -and when the second French invasion came upon them the military -organization of the realm was still in a state of chaos.</p> - -<p>During the autumn months of 1808 the Portuguese Government had been -almost as sanguine and as careless as the Spanish Supreme Junta. They -had seen Junot beaten and expelled: they still beheld a large British -army in their midst; and they did not comprehend the full extent of -the impending danger, when the news came that Bonaparte was nearing -the Pyrenees, and that the columns of the ‘Grand Army’ were debouching -into the Peninsula. It was not till Moore had departed that they began -to conceive certain doubts as to the situation: nor was it till Madrid -had fallen that they at last realized that the invader was once more at -their gates, and that they must prepare to defend themselves.</p> - -<p>There were still two months of respite granted to them. -Portugal—like Andalusia—was saved for a moment by Moore’s -march to Sahagun. The great field army which Napoleon had collected -for the advance on Lisbon was turned off northwards to pursue the -British, and on the New Year’s day of 1809 the only French force in -proximity to the frontier of the realm was the division of Lapisse, -which Bonaparte had dropped at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[p. -197]</span> Salamanca to form the connecting link between Soult and Ney -in Galicia, and the troops under Victor and King Joseph in the vicinity -of Madrid.</p> - -<p>But the danger was only postponed, not averted, by Moore’s daring -irruption into Old Castile. This the Portuguese Regency understood; -and during the first two months of 1809 they displayed a considerable -amount of energy, though it was in great part energy misdirected. -Their chief blunder was that instead of straining every nerve to -complete their regular army, on which the main stress of the invasion -was bound to fall, they diverted much of their zeal to the task of -raising a vast <i>levée en masse</i> of the whole able-bodied population -of the realm. This error had its roots in old historical memories. -The deliverance of Portugal from the Spanish yoke in the long war of -independence in the seventeenth century, had been achieved mainly by -the <i>Ordenanza</i>, the old constitutional force of the realm, which -resembled the English <i>Fyrd</i> of the Middle Ages. It had done good -service again in the wars of 1703-12, and even in the shorter struggle -of 1762. But in the nineteenth century it was no longer possible to -reckon upon it as a serious line of defence, especially when the enemy -to be held back was not the disorderly Spanish army but the legions -of Bonaparte. When there were not even arms enough in Portugal to -supply the line-battalions with a musket for every man, it was insane -to summon together huge masses of peasantry, and to make over to -them some of the precious firearms which should have been reserved -for the regulars. The majority, however, of the <i>Ordenanza</i> were not -even supplied with muskets, they were given pikes—weapons with -which their ancestors had done good service in 1650, but which it was -useless to serve out in 1809. The Regency had procured some 17,000<a -id="FNanchor_220" href="#Footnote_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a> -from the British Government, and had caused many thousands more to -be manufactured. Both on the northern and the eastern frontier great -hordes of country-folk, equipped with these useless and antiquated -arms, were gathered together. Destitute of discipline and of officers, -insufficiently supplied with food, the prey of every rumour, true or -false, that ran along the border, they were a source of danger<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[p. 198]</span> rather than of strength -to the realm. The cry of ‘treachery,’ which inevitably arises among -armed mobs, was always being raised in their encampments. Hence -came tumults and murders, for the peasantry had a strong suspicion -of the loyalty of the governing classes—the result of the -subservience to the French invader which had been displayed by many -of the authorities, both civil and military, in 1808. Orders which -they did not understand, or into which a sinister meaning could be -read by a suspicious mind, generally caused a riot, and sometimes the -assassination of the unfortunate commander whom the Regency had placed -over the horde. In Oporto the state of affairs was particularly bad: -the bishop, though a sincere patriot and a man of energy, had drunk too -deeply of the delights of power during his rule in the summer months. -After being made a member of the Regency by Dalrymple, he should have -remained at Lisbon and worked with his colleagues. But returning to -his own flock, he reassumed the authority which he had possessed -during the early days of the insurrection, and pursued a policy of -his own, which often differed from that of his Regency at large, and -was sometimes in flagrant opposition to it. His position, in fact, -was similar to that of Palafox at Saragossa, and like the Aragonese -general he often practised the arts of demagogy in order to keep firm -his influence over the populace. He was all for the system of the -<i>levée en masse</i>; and summoned together unmanageable bands which he -was able neither to equip nor to control. He praised their zeal, was -wilfully blind to their frequent excesses, and seldom tried to turn -their energies into profitable channels. Indeed, he was so ignorant -of military matters himself, that he had no useful orders to give. He -ignored the advice of the Portuguese generals in his district, and -got little profit from that of two foreign officers whom the British -Government sent him—the Hanoverian General Von der Decken and -the Prussian Baron Eben. These gentlemen he seems to have conciliated, -and to have played off against the native military authorities. But -if they gave him good counsel, there are no signs in his actions that -he turned it to account. All the British witnesses who passed through -Oporto in January and February 1809, describe the place as being in -a state of patriotic frenzy, and under mob law<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_199">[p. 199]</span> rather than administered by any regular -and legal government<a id="FNanchor_221" href="#Footnote_221" -class="fnanchor">[221]</a>. The only fruitful military effort made in -this part of Portugal was that of the gallant Sir Robert Wilson, who -raised there in November and December his celebrated ‘Loyal Lusitanian -Legion.’ This was intended to be the core of a subsidiary Portuguese -division in British pay, distinct from the national army. When Wilson -arrived in Oporto the bishop welcomed him, and forwarded in every way -the formation of the corps. In a few days the Legion had 3,000 recruits -of excellent quality, of whom Wilson could arm and clothe only some -1,300, for the equipment which he had brought with him was limited. -He soon discovered, however, that the bishop’s zeal in his behalf was -mainly due to the desire to have a solid force at hand which should -be independent of the Portuguese generals. He wished the Legion to -be, as it were, his own body-guard. Sir Robert was ill pleased, and -being unwilling to mix himself in the domestic feuds of the bishop -and the Regency, or to become the tool of a faction, quitted Oporto -as soon as his men could march. With one strong battalion, a couple -of squadrons of cavalry, and an incomplete battery—under 1,500 -men in all—he moved first to Villa Real (Dec. 14), and then to -the frontier, where he posted himself near Almeida and took over the -task of observing Lapisse’s division, which from its base at Salamanca -was threatening the Portuguese border. Of his splendid services in -this direction we shall have much to tell. The unequipped portion of -the Legion, left behind at Oporto, was handed over to Baron Eben, and -became involved in the tumultuous and unhappy career of the bishop<a -id="FNanchor_222" href="#Footnote_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a>.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Lisbon was almost as disturbed as Oporto, and might have -lapsed into the same state of anarchy, if a British garrison had not -been on the spot. The mistaken policy of the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_200">[p. 200]</span> Regency had led to the formation of -sixteen so-called ‘legions<a id="FNanchor_223" href="#Footnote_223" -class="fnanchor">[223]</a>’ in the capital and suburbs. These -tumultuary levies had few officers and hardly any arms but pikes. -They were under no sort of discipline, and devoted themselves to -the self-imposed duty of hunting for spies and ‘<i>Afrancesados</i>.’ -Led by demagogues of the streets, they paraded up and down Lisbon -to beat of drum, arresting persons whom they considered suspicious, -especially foreign residents of all nationalities. The Regency having -issued a decree prohibiting this practice [January 29], the armed -levies only assembled in greater numbers next night, and engaged -in a general chase after unpopular citizens, policemen, and aliens -of all kinds. Many fugitives were only saved from death by taking -refuge in the guard-houses and the barracks where the garrison was -quartered. Isolated British soldiers were assaulted, some were -wounded, and parties of ‘legionaries’ actually stopped aides-de-camp -and orderlies carrying dispatches, and stripped them of the documents -they were bearing. The mob was inclined, indeed, to be ill-disposed -towards their allies, from the suspicion that they were intending to -evacuate Lisbon and to retire from the Peninsula. They had seen the -baggage and non-combatants left behind by Moore put on ship-board; -early in February they beheld the troops told off for the occupation -of Cadiz embark and disappear. When they also noticed that the -forts at the Tagus mouth were being dismantled<a id="FNanchor_224" -href="#Footnote_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> they made up their -minds that the British were about to desert them, without making any -attempt to defend Portugal. Hence came the malevolent spirit which they -displayed. It died down when their suspicions were proved unfounded by -the arrival of Beresford and other British officers, at the beginning -of March, with resources for the reorganization of the Portuguese army, -and still more when a little later heavy reinforcements from England -began to pour into the city. But in the last days of January and the -first of February matters at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[p. -201]</span> Lisbon had been in a most dangerous and critical condition: -the Regency, utterly unable to keep order, had hinted to Sir John -Cradock that he must take his own measures against the mob, and for -several days the British general had kept the garrison under arms, and -planted artillery in the squares and broader streets—exactly as -Junot had done seven months before. The ‘legions’ were cowed, and most -fortunately no collision occurred: if a single shot had been fired in -anger, there would have been an end of the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, -and it is more than likely that Cradock—a man of desponding -temperament—would have abandoned the country.</p> - -<p>His force at this moment was by no means large: when Moore -marched for Salamanca in October he had left behind in Portugal six -battalions of British and four of German infantry<a id="FNanchor_225" -href="#Footnote_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a>, three squadrons of -the 20th Light Dragoons (the regiment that had been so much cut up at -Vimiero), one of the 3rd Light Dragoons of the King’s German Legion, -and five batteries, only one of which was horsed. From Salamanca, -when on the eve of starting on the march to Sahagun, Sir John had -sent back two regiments to Portugal, in charge of his great convoys -of sick and heavy baggage<a id="FNanchor_226" href="#Footnote_226" -class="fnanchor">[226]</a>. To compensate for this deduction from his -army he had called up a brigade of the troops left in Portugal; but -only one battalion of it—the 82nd—reached him in time to -join in his Castilian campaign<a id="FNanchor_227" href="#Footnote_227" -class="fnanchor">[227]</a>. The net result was that seven British -infantry regiments from Moore’s army were left behind, in addition to -the four German corps. Two more had arrived from England in November<a -id="FNanchor_228" href="#Footnote_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a>, -and a fresh regiment of dragoons in December<a id="FNanchor_229" -href="#Footnote_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a>.</p> - -<p>Thus when Sir John Cradock took over the command at<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[p. 202]</span> Lisbon on December -14, 1808, he had at his disposal in all thirteen battalions of -infantry, seven squadrons of cavalry, and five batteries, a force -of about 12,000 men<a id="FNanchor_230" href="#Footnote_230" -class="fnanchor">[230]</a>. But not more than 10,000 were effective, -for Sir John Moore had left behind precisely those of his regiments -which were most sickly, when he marched for Spain. He had moreover -discharged more than 2,000 additional sick upon Portugal ere he -began field operations: they were encumbering the hospitals of -Almeida and Lamego when Cradock appeared. The 10,000 men fit for -service were scattered all over Portugal: the two battalions, which -had just come back from Spain, and the two others which had been -too late to join Moore, were in the north, at Almeida and Lamego<a -id="FNanchor_231" href="#Footnote_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a>. -One battalion was in garrison at Elvas<a id="FNanchor_232" -href="#Footnote_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a>. Six lay in Lisbon, -as also did the whole of the cavalry and guns<a id="FNanchor_233" -href="#Footnote_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a>: two were on the march -from Abrantes to Almeida<a id="FNanchor_234" href="#Footnote_234" -class="fnanchor">[234]</a>.</p> - -<p>Such a dispersion of forces would have appalled the most -enterprising of generals, and this was a title to which Cradock had -certainly no claims. The two obvious courses between which he had to -choose, were either to concentrate his little army on the frontier -and make as much display of it in the face of the French as might be -possible, or to abandon all idea of protecting exterior Portugal, and -collect the scattered regiments in or about Lisbon. Cradock chose -the second alternative. He argued that he was too weak to be of any -effectual service on the frontier, and moreover found that there would -be a vast difficulty in moving forward even the Lisbon garrison, for -nearly all the available transport had been requisitioned for the use -of Moore’s army, and had been carried off into Spain. Neither of these -pleas is convincing: with regard to the first, it is merely necessary -to point out that Sir Robert Wilson, with 1,500 men of the Lusitanian -Legion, not yet three months old, made his<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_203">[p. 203]</span> presence felt on the frontier, checked -Lapisse, and kept the whole province of Salamanca in a state of -unrest. Ten thousand British bayonets and sabres could have done much -more. As to the food and supplies, Cradock was arguing in the old -eighteenth-century style, as if a British army was bound to move with -all its baggage and impedimenta, its women and children. If he had -chosen to ‘march light,’ and to take the route through the fertile and -well-peopled Estremadura, he could have reached Abrantes or Almeida or -any other goal that he chose.</p> - -<p>The fact was that the reasons for refusing to adopt a ‘forward -policy’ were moral and not physical. Cradock, in common with Sir John -Moore and many other British officers, believed that Portugal could -not be defended, and was thinking more of securing himself a safe -embarkation than of exercising any influence on the main current of the -war.</p> - -<p>When Moore’s army had passed out of sight, and was known to be -retiring in the direction of Galicia, it seemed to Cradock that his -own position was hopeless. Even if granted time to concentrate his -scattered battalions, he would be forced to fly to the sea and take -shipping the moment that any serious French force crossed the frontier. -He had not sufficiently accurate information to enable him to see -that both Lapisse at Salamanca, and the weak divisions of the 4th -Corps which lay in the valley of the Tagus, could not possibly move -forward against him. It would have been insane for either of these -forces to have attacked Portugal—the one was at this moment less -than 10,000, the other about 12,000 strong—they were without -communications, and separated by 100 miles of pathless sierras. -Moreover the troops in the valley of the Tagus were fully occupied in -observing the Spanish army of Estremadura. At the opening of the New -Year, therefore, Cradock was in absolutely no danger, and might have -gone forward either to Abrantes or to Almeida in perfect security. In -the first position he would have menaced the flank of the 4th Corps: -in the second he would have exercised a useful pressure on Lapisse. -In either case he would have encouraged the Portuguese and lent moral -support to the Spaniards.</p> - -<p>But Cradock was possessed by that miserable theory which was -so frequently expounded by the men of desponding mind<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[p. 204]</span> during the early years -of the Peninsular War, to the effect that Portugal was indefensible, -and would have to be evacuated whenever a strong French force -approached its frontier<a id="FNanchor_235" href="#Footnote_235" -class="fnanchor">[235]</a>. It was fortunate for England and for Europe -that Wellesley had other views. The history of the next three years was -to show that a British general could find something better to do than -to pack up his baggage and prepare to embark, whenever the enemy came -down in superior strength to the Portuguese border.</p> - -<p>No doubt Cradock would have had to take to his transports if -the French had possessed on January 1, 1809, an army of 40,000 men -available for the invasion of Portugal, and ready to advance. They -did not happen to own any such force; and till he was certain that -such a force existed, Cradock was gravely to blame for ordering every -British soldier to fall back on Lisbon, and for openly commencing to -destroy the sea-forts of the capital. It is true that the dispatches -which he received from home gave him many directions as to what he -was to do if the enemy appeared in overpowering strength: he was to -blow up the shore batteries, destroy all military and naval stores, -and embark with the British troops and as many Portuguese as could be -induced to follow. But this was only to take place ‘upon the actual -approach of the enemy towards Lisbon in such strength as may render all -further resistance ineffectual<a id="FNanchor_236" href="#Footnote_236" -class="fnanchor">[236]</a>.’ To commence these preparations when the -nearest troops of the enemy were at Salamanca and Almaraz was premature -and precipitate in the highest degree. Till the French began to move, -every endeavour should have been made to encourage the Portuguese and -to maintain a show—even if it were but a vain show—of an -intention to defend the frontier. If Lapisse<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_205">[p. 205]</span> had heard that Cradock was at Almeida he -would have been nailed down to Salamanca: if Victor had heard that he -was at Alcantara, or even at Abrantes, he would never have dared to -pursue Cuesta into southern Estremadura.</p> - -<p>Cradock, however, drew into Lisbon every available man: Brigadier -Cameron, with the troops from Almeida and Oporto, started back on a -weary march from the north, via Coimbra, bringing not only his own -four battalions, but 1,500 convalescents and returned stragglers from -Moore’s army. Richard Stewart, with the two battalions that had been -at Abrantes, also came in to the capital, and all the British troops -were concentrated by the beginning of February, save the 40th regiment, -which still lay at Elvas. Having thus got together about 10,000 men, -Cradock, with almost incredible timidity, began to draw them back to -Passo d’Arcos, a place behind Lisbon near the mouth of the Tagus, from -which embarkation was easy. When Villiers, the British minister at -Lisbon, remonstrated with him on the deplorable political consequences -of assuming this ignoble position on the water’s edge, Cradock replied, -“I must object to take up a ‘false position,’ say Alcantara, or to -occupy the heights in front of Lisbon, which would only defend a -certain position, and leave the remainder [of Portugal?] to the power -of the enemy, one which we must leave upon his approach, and seek -another, bearing the appearance of flight, and yet not securing our -retreat. The whole having announced the intention of defending Lisbon, -but giving up that idea upon the approach of the enemy, for positions -liable to be turned on every side cannot be persevered in by an -inferior force.”</p> - -<p>On the day [February 15] upon which Cradock wrote this extraordinary -piece of English prose composition, whose grammar is as astounding -as its argument, the nearest French troops were at Tuy in Galicia, -Salamanca in Leon, and the bridge of Arzobispo on the central Tagus, -points respectively 230, 250, and 240 miles distant from Lisbon as the -crow flies, and infinitely more by road. Further comment is hardly -necessary.</p> - -<p>At this moment Cradock might have had at his disposal 2,000 -more British troops, but he had chosen to fall in with Sir George -Smith’s hasty and unauthorized scheme for the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_206">[p. 206]</span> occupation of Cadiz<a id="FNanchor_237" -href="#Footnote_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a>, and had sent off to -that port a whole brigade<a id="FNanchor_238" href="#Footnote_238" -class="fnanchor">[238]</a>, under General Mackenzie. He also dispatched -orders to Colonel Kemmis of the 40th to hand over Elvas to the -Portuguese, and march to Seville. The battalion moved into Andalusia, -and placed itself at the disposition of Mr. Frere, who found it as -useless as the force which Smith had drawn off to Cadiz. It was several -months before the 40th rejoined the army of Portugal.</p> - -<p>Influenced by the remonstrances of Mr. Villiers, and somewhat -comforted by the fact that the French armies had nowhere crossed the -Portuguese frontier, Cradock was at last persuaded to give up his -position at Passo d’Arcos; he fixed his head quarters at Lumiar, left -2,000 men in garrison at Lisbon, and cantoned the remainder of his -army at Saccavem and other places a few miles in front of the city. -This was better than leaving them on the sea-shore; but the move was -no more than a miserable half measure. It was almost as indicative -of an intention to depart without fighting as the retreat to Passo -d’Arcos had been. In short, from January to the end of April the -British army exercised no influence whatever on the military affairs -of the Peninsula. Yet by March it was beginning to grow formidable -in numbers: early in that month all the troops which had been drawn -off to Cadiz were sent to Lisbon, and by the addition of seven good -battalions to his corps<a id="FNanchor_239" href="#Footnote_239" -class="fnanchor">[239]</a> Cradock found himself at the head of over -16,000 men. There were but 800 effective cavalry, and of the six -batteries only two, incredible as it may seem, were properly horsed, -though three months had passed by since the general had begun his first -complaints on this point<a id="FNanchor_240" href="#Footnote_240" -class="fnanchor">[240]</a>. But 16,000 British troops were a force -not to be despised, and if Wellesley or some other competent officer -had been in command, we cannot doubt that they would have been<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[p. 207]</span> turned to some -profitable use. Under Cradock they remained cantoned in the suburbs -of Lisbon for the whole time during which Soult was completing his -conquest of Oporto and northern Portugal, and Victor executing his -invasion of Estremadura. It was not till Soult’s advanced guard was -on the Vouga [April 6] that Hill and Beresford<a id="FNanchor_241" -href="#Footnote_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a> succeeded in -inducing the general to carry forward his head quarters to Leiria -and his outposts to Thomar<a id="FNanchor_242" href="#Footnote_242" -class="fnanchor">[242]</a>. Fortunately his tenure of command was at -last drawing to an end. On April 22 Sir Arthur Wellesley arrived in -Lisbon and took over charge of the troops in Portugal. How startling -were the consequences of this change of generals we shall soon see: ere -May was out the whole Peninsula realized once more that there was a -British Army within its limits—a fact that might well have passed -unnoticed during the last four months.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap13_3"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[p. 208]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER III">SECTION XIII: CHAPTER III</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE PORTUGUESE ARMY: ITS HISTORY AND ITS - REORGANIZATION</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">While</span> the Regency was wasting much of its -energy on the arming of the undisciplined masses of the <i>Ordenanza</i>, -and while Cradock sat supine at Passo d’Arcos and at Saccavem, one -useful piece of work at least was being taken in hand. This was the -reorganization of the Portuguese regular army, a task which the Regency -determined, though only so late as February, 1809, to hand over to a -British general officer.</p> - -<p>To explain the chaotic condition of the force at the moment when -Soult was just about to enter Portugal, a short account of its previous -history is necessary. It had received its existing shape from a foreign -hand, that of the well-known ‘Conde de La Lippe,’ i.e. the German -Marshal, Frederick Count of Lippe-Bückeburg, who had been entrusted -with its command during the short war with Spain in 1762. He it was -who first gave Portugal an army of the modern type, modelled on the -ordinary system of the eighteenth century, and showing many traces of -adaptations from a Prussian original. The Marshal was a great organizer -and a man of mark: his name is perhaps best remembered in connexion -with the citadel of Elvas, which he rebuilt, and christened La Lippe -after himself: under that designation we shall repeatedly have to -mention it while describing the early years of the Peninsular War.</p> - -<p>As he left it, the Portuguese army consisted of twenty-four -regiments of the line, each forming a single battalion of seven -companies and 806 men. There were twelve regiments of cavalry, each -originally composed of no more than 240 sabres, and three regiments of -artillery of eight batteries each, besides a few garrison companies of -that arm. After La Lippe’s departure the army had shared in the general -decay of strength and organization in the kingdom, which prevailed -during the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[p. 209]</span> reign -of the mad queen Maria, and her son the feeble Prince-Regent John. But -the lack of mere numerical strength was not nearly so fatal to its -efficiency as the rustiness and rottenness of its internal machinery. -Under an octogenarian commander-in-chief, the Duke of Alafoens, every -department of the army had been decaying in the latter years of the -eighteenth century. All the typical faults of an army of the <i>ancien -régime</i> after a long period of peace were developed to the highest -possible pitch. Commissions were sold, or given away by intrigue -and corruption, often to persons of unsuitable rank and education<a -id="FNanchor_243" href="#Footnote_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a>: -promotion was slow and perfectly arbitrary: the pay of the officers -was very low, while every incentive to petty jobbing and embezzlement -was afforded by the vicious system under which the colonel contracted -with the government for his regiment, and the captain with the colonel -for his company. In the Portuguese army, as in all others where this -antiquated practice prevailed, the temptation to fill the muster-rolls -with ‘dead-heads’ and absentees, so that the contractor might save -their food and pocket their pay, had been too strong for the ordinary -officer to resist. Hence came the empty ranks of the battalions, the -ludicrous disproportion of horses to men in<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_210">[p. 210]</span> the cavalry, the depleted condition of -the regimental stores and equipment.</p> - -<p>The short Spanish war of 1801-2 had revealed the complete -disorganization of the army. Hasty measures were taken to strengthen -it: in the moment of panic every infantry regiment was ordered to raise -a second battalion, and though the number of companies per battalion -was lowered from seven to five, yet as each of them was now to consist -of 150 instead of 116 men, the total strength of each infantry corps -was raised to 1,500 officers and men. At the same time the cavalry -regiments were supposed to have been increased to 470 sabres<a -id="FNanchor_244" href="#Footnote_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a>, -and a fourth regiment of artillery was created. Nor was this all: an -‘Experimental Legion’ for light infantry service, eight companies -strong, with a couple of squadrons and a horse-artillery battery -attached to it, was soon afterwards raised by the Marquis D’Alorna.</p> - -<p>But after the peace of Badajoz had been signed the army was allowed -to sink back into its old sloth and inefficiency. When Junot entered -Portugal in December, 1807, it is doubtful if there were as many as -20,000 troops really embodied, though the nominal total of the national -army reached nearly 50,000 men<a id="FNanchor_245" href="#Footnote_245" -class="fnanchor">[245]</a>.</p> - -<p>Portugal had a few keen soldiers (such as Gomez Freire de Andrade, -and the renegade D’Alorna), who had received abroad a good military -education, and had even written military books. But the majority of -the officers were slack, ignorant, and incompetent; while the men were -half-drilled, badly disciplined, and ill-equipped. The only attempt -which had been made to introduce any of the modern military discoveries -which had been worked out in the wars of the French Revolution,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[p. 211]</span> consisted in the creation -of the already-mentioned ‘Experimental Legion’ which D’Alorna had been -allowed to raise and to train with a new light-infantry drill, adapted -by himself from French models. The main body of the army looked with -some jealousy and suspicion on this corps, and had made no effort to -copy it.</p> - -<p>The French invasion of Portugal had dashed to pieces the old regular -army. Junot, it will be remembered, had disbanded the greater part of -the men, and formed with the remainder a few battalions, which he had -begun to send off to France ere the insurrection of June, 1808, broke -out. Some of them took an involuntary share in the first siege of -Saragossa: others were hurled into the red holocaust of Wagram.</p> - -<p>When Portugal rose against the invader, the local juntas endeavoured -to call back to arms all the dispersed officers and men, to serve as -a nucleus for the insurrectionary hosts. The system of recruiting -which La Lippe had introduced made this comparatively easy: he had -instituted regimental districts in a very complete form. Each corps -was named after a particular town or region<a id="FNanchor_246" -href="#Footnote_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a>, drew its conscripts -from that locality, and was usually quartered in it. When Junot -disbanded the old army, the men naturally returned to their homes. -It resulted that when, for example, the Oporto Junta summoned out to -service the late members of the 6th and 18th regiments of the line, -the two units belonging to the Oporto district, it could be certain of -finding the greater part of the rank and file without much difficulty. -To reconstitute in a hurry the corps of officers was a much harder -matter: a disproportionate number of the more competent holders of -commissions had been drafted into the contingent sent to France: -comparatively few resided in their proper regimental districts, many in -Lisbon, which was still in Junot’s hands. Hence the battalions which -fought under Leite at Evora, or accompanied Wellesley to Vimiero, -bore their old names indeed, but were not merely ill-equipped and -low in numbers, but lacked a due supply of officers. Considering the -inefficiency of the regiments even before they were destroyed by -Junot,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[p. 212]</span> they might -now be described as no more than ‘the shadow of a shade.’</p> - -<p>When the French had been driven out of Portugal, and the Junta -of Regency took in hand the reconstruction and enlargement of the -army, the problem of organization seemed almost insoluble. The -government decreed that the regiments of infantry of the line should -be raised to their full establishment of 1,500, a figure which they -had never really attained in the old days. It was also decided -to create six new battalions of riflemen (Cazadores), a class of -infantry of which D’Alorna’s ‘Experimental Legion’ had hitherto -been the sole representatives in Portugal. As to the cavalry and -artillery, it was an obvious fact that the dearth of horses in the -kingdom made it impossible to enlarge the number of units. The twelve -old regiments of horse<a id="FNanchor_247" href="#Footnote_247" -class="fnanchor">[247]</a>, the thirty-two old batteries of artillery -were to be reconstructed, but no new ones were to be created.</p> - -<p>Considering that the old corps of officers in Portugal was -notoriously incompetent, it was hard to see how the expanded army was -to be drilled and disciplined. About 25,000 recruits were suddenly -shot into the old <i>cadres</i>; they could be readily procured, for not -only were volunteers forthcoming in great numbers, but if they ran -short a stringent conscription law was in existence. But how were the -regiments to be officered? It was true that a considerable amount of -the raw material for officers was obtainable, for patriotic enthusiasm -was driving the young men of the upper classes into the army, in a way -that had never before been seen—the service had not hitherto been -popular, owing to its poor pay and prospects. But one cannot officer -raw recruits with equally raw ensigns, and call the result a regular -army. Moreover, arms and equipment were lamentably deficient: Junot had -confiscated and destroyed almost all the store of arms belonging to the -old army: it is said that the insurgents had not 10,000 serviceable -muskets among them when Wellesley landed. The British had distributed -some 42,000 more between August and December<a id="FNanchor_248" -href="#Footnote_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a>; but what were these -among so many? There were to be over 50,000 regulars, <span -class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[p. 213]</span>when the establishment was -completed, and the Regency hoped to call out some 40,000 militia when -the first line of defence had been equipped, and after that to arm the -vast masses of the <i>Ordenanza</i>.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapI_2"> - <img class="thick" - src="images/dragoon.jpg" - alt="A Portuguese Cavalry Soldier" /> - <p class="caption"> - <big><i>Portuguese Dragoon of the 1<sup>st</sup> (Alcantara) Regiment</i></big><br /> - <i>From a drawing of 1809.</i><br /> - <small><i>Walker & Cockerell Ph. Sc.</i></small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">The natural results followed. In obedience to the decree -issued by the Regency, a considerable number of men were collected -at each regimental dépôt. Of these about one-third, on an average, -were old soldiers: but the proportion varied, for some corps had -suffered more than others from the drafts of trained men which Junot -had sent off to France. A good many of the regiments succeeded, so -far as numbers went, in constituting their two battalions without -much difficulty. Others were less fortunate, and could only raise -one: two were so hopelessly incomplete that Beresford distributed -the few hundred men whom they could produce among other corps, and -temporarily disbanded them<a id="FNanchor_249" href="#Footnote_249" -class="fnanchor">[249]</a>. It was the same with the cavalry, -of which two regiments were wholly without horses, and several -were so absurdly short of mounts that they could not be used<a -id="FNanchor_250" href="#Footnote_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a>. -Even of the corps which were not dissolved, several were so weak -that they had not recruited themselves up to half their nominal -strength even by September<a id="FNanchor_251" href="#Footnote_251" -class="fnanchor">[251]</a>. This was more especially the case in the -Alemtejo, where the population displayed an apathy that contrasted -strongly with the turbulent enthusiasm prevalent in Lisbon and in the -North.</p> - -<p>Two invaluable sets of Returns, in the Record Office, show us that, -as far as mere numbers went, the Regency had not done so much as it -should, in the way of increasing the total of men under arms, during -the two months that followed the Convention of Cintra. On September -13, according to a report from Baron Decken, who had gone round the -insurrectionary armies of Freire, Leite, and the Monteiro Mor, there -were under arms 13,272 line infantry, 3,384 light infantry (Cazadores), -1,812 cavalry, and 19,000 militia: the force of artillery is not<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[p. 214]</span> given. But of these -37,000 men only 13,600 had serviceable weapons and equipment, and -were fit to take the field<a id="FNanchor_252" href="#Footnote_252" -class="fnanchor">[252]</a>.</p> - -<p>On November 26 these figures had risen to 22,361 infantry, 3,422 -cavalry, 4,031 artillery, and 20,880 militia. But, owing to the -importation of English muskets during the last two months, there were -now 31,833 men properly equipped, of whom 2,052 were mounted men. The -remaining 19,000 had still nothing more than pikes, or non-military -firearms, such as fowling-pieces and blunderbusses: 1,400 cavalry -were still without horses<a id="FNanchor_253" href="#Footnote_253" -class="fnanchor">[253]</a>.</p> - -<p>The figures are very moderate, but the worst part of the situation -was that a collection of 1,000 or 1,500 men does not constitute a -regiment, even if 300 or 400 of them chance to have been old soldiers. -There were not, it is clear, muskets enough to arm more than two-thirds -of the rank and file: belts, pouches, knapsacks, and other equipment -were still more deficient. Yet the really fatal point was that there -was a wholly inadequate number of officers, and that of those who were -forthcoming the elder men were mostly incompetent, and the younger -entirely untrained. In the official correspondence of the early months -of 1809 the most prominent fact that emerges is the difficulty that -was found in discovering colonels and majors capable of licking into -shape the incoherent mass of men at the regimental head quarters, and -of teaching the newly-appointed junior officers their duty. It seemed -that their long peace-service in small garrison towns had taken all -energy and initiative out of the seniors of the army of the <i>ancien -régime</i>. They gazed with despair on the task before them, and seemed -quite incapable of coping with it. When a British general took over -the command of the Portuguese army, he complained that ‘Long habits of -disregard to duty, and consequent laziness, make it not only difficult -but almost impossible to induce the senior officers of this service to -enter into any regular and continued attention to the duties of their -situations, and neither reward nor punishment will induce them to -bear up against the fatigue<a id="FNanchor_254" href="#Footnote_254" -class="fnanchor">[254]</a>.’ It was only when a whole generation of -colonels had been cleared away<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[p. -215]</span> that the army grew efficient, and the reorganized regiments -began to distinguish themselves in the field.</p> - -<p>For the purpose of mobilization every regiment had been sent in -the autumn of 1808 to its proper head quarters, in the centre of its -recruiting district. There they still lay in the end of February, -when Soult was drawing near the frontier. There was absolutely no -Portuguese army in the field, only a number of battalions, squadrons, -and batteries, in a more or less imperfect state of organization, -scattered broadcast over the country. They were, as we have already -seen, still insufficiently supplied with arms and equipment. Of -transport and train, to enable them to move, there was hardly a trace. -The only thing approaching a concentration of force was that in Lisbon -and its immediate vicinity there were seven regiments of foot and three -of horse, which were there assembled simply because their head quarters -and their recruiting ground lay in this quarter<a id="FNanchor_255" -href="#Footnote_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a>. Of the remainder of -the infantry two regiments were in Algarve, in the far south; five in -the Alemtejo; four in Beira; two in the Tras-os-Montes, four in Oporto -and the adjoining province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho. It was with the last -six alone that Soult had to deal when he invaded northern Portugal<a -id="FNanchor_256" href="#Footnote_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a>: not -one of the others was moved up to aid the northern regiments in holding -him back.</p> - -<p>Impressed with the state of hopeless disarray in which their army -lay, and conscious that for stores and weapons to equip it, and money -to pay it, they could look only to Great Britain, the Regency asked -in February for the appointment of a British commander-in-chief. This -was the best pledge that they could give of their honest intention to -place all their military resources at the disposition of their allies. -It had another obvious advantage: Bernardino Freire, Leite, Silveira, -the Monteiro Mor, and the other Portuguese generals commanding -military<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[p. 216]</span> districts -were at feud with each other. It would be very difficult to place one -above the rest, and to secure for him loyal co-operation from his -subordinates. It was probable that an Englishman, a stranger to their -quarrels and intrigues, would be better obeyed.</p> - -<p>The Regency, it would seem, suggested that they would be glad to see -the post of commander-in-chief given to Sir Arthur Wellesley. But the -victor of Vimiero refused to accept it, probably because he had already -secured from Lord Castlereagh the promise that he should be sent out -again to Portugal to supersede Cradock. When he had declined the offer -it was, to the surprise of most men, passed on to General Beresford. -This officer had the advantage of knowing Portuguese; he had commanded -one of Moore’s brigades during the Corunna retreat, and had seen much -service on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a comparatively young -man, being only in his forty-first year, and was very junior in his -rank, having only become a major-general in 1807. Many officers who -were his elders had coveted the post, and some friction was caused by -the fact that with his new Portuguese commission he outranked several -of his seniors in Cradock’s army. Beresford was a good fighting-man, -and a hard worker; but he was neither a tactician nor a strategist, -and did not shine when placed in independent command—as witness -Albuera. When Wellington had learnt his limitations, he never gave -him a task of any great difficulty, and in the later years of the -war either kept him under his own eye or sent him on errands where -it was not easy to go wrong. For really responsible work in 1812-14 -he always used Hill, Hope, or Graham. But in 1809 Beresford was, -but for his undoubted courage, more or less of an unknown quantity -to his colleagues and his subordinates. Fortunately he turned out a -good organizer, if a mediocre general. For what he did in the way of -reforming, and almost recreating, the Portuguese army he deserves -considerable credit. Every one will remember the quaint story of how he -was received by his army after a short absence, with the ingenuous cry -of ‘Long live Marshal Beresford—who takes care of our stomachs<a -id="FNanchor_257" href="#Footnote_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a>.’ -This in one way was a high compliment—it was not every general, -English, French,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[p. 217]</span> -or Spanish, who succeeded in filling his soldiers’ bellies during -the Peninsular War. The power to do so was not the least among the -qualities necessary for a commander-in-chief.</p> - -<p>Why the British cabinet chose Beresford, from among many possible -candidates, for the very responsible post now put in his charge, it -is hard to see. Castlereagh knew him, as being (like himself) one of -a powerful Anglo-Irish family connexion, with strong parliamentary -influence. This may have told in his favour: it was perhaps also -remembered that he was a personal friend of Wellesley, whom Castlereagh -was intending to send out to command the British army in Portugal, -and moreover his junior. This would facilitate matters when the two -generalissimos had to act together; Beresford would probably prove -a more tractable colleague and subordinate to the self-confident, -autocratic, and frigid Wellesley, than any officer who was a stranger -to him or his senior in years and service. It is by no means impossible -that Castlereagh nominated him at Sir Arthur’s private suggestion. But -into the secrets of ministerial patronage it is useless to pry.</p> - -<p>Appointed to his new post in February, only a month after he had -returned from the Corunna expedition, Beresford at once set sail for -Lisbon, and took up the command ere three weeks had expired since -his appointment. He arrived at the very moment at which Soult was -about to pass the northern frontier, and was at once gazetted as a -Portuguese field marshal. After a short survey of those parts of his -command which lay in and about Lisbon, he reported to the Regency -that the dearth of officers, and especially of competent superior -officers, was so great, that he could not hope to reorganize the army -unless he were allowed to give commissions in the Portuguese service -to many foreigners. As a preliminary measure he asked for volunteers -from Sir John Cradock’s army, and obtained about enough English -officers to give three to each regiment. The main inducement which -attracted candidates was Beresford’s pledge that every one accepted -for the Portuguese service should gain a step—a lieutenant would -become a captain, a captain a major. The Marshal at once placed all -the battalions with notoriously inefficient commanders in charge of -British officers, and drafted into them a larger proportion of his -volunteers than was given<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[p. -218]</span> to those which were in better state. He also got leave -from the British cabinet to offer Portuguese commissions to officers -serving in corps on the home station. This gave him by the end of the -year some scores of men of the sort required, and it was by them that -the new army was mainly formed and disciplined<a id="FNanchor_258" -href="#Footnote_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a>. The British drill -was introduced, and to teach it Beresford was allowed to borrow many -non-commissioned officers from Cradock’s regiments<a id="FNanchor_259" -href="#Footnote_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a>. As was but natural, -there arose considerable friction between the new comers and the native -Portuguese officers, over whose heads they were often placed. This was -inevitable, but led to less harm than might have been expected, because -the rank and file, quick to recognize soldierly qualities, took kindly -to their new commanders, and served them loyally and well.</p> - -<p>In the beginning Beresford’s reorganization only extended to the -regiments in Lisbon and the south. Those stationed beyond the Douro -were already in the field, and actively engaged with Soult. They had -hardly received any assistance, either of officers or of arms and -equipment, before they became involved in the campaign of March, 1809<a -id="FNanchor_260" href="#Footnote_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a>. In -fairness to them this must be borne in mind, when their conduct in -battle is compared with that of the reorganized army in the following -year. The Portuguese Regency, in their report on the Oporto campaign -sent to their Prince on May 31, 1809, pleaded with truth ‘that the -armies formed in the northern provinces were motley assemblies, whose -numbers and good will bore witness to the zeal of the people, and -their determination not to accept the French yoke, but which could not -with any propriety be called regular troops. They were composed of -incomplete and fractional regiments, and the larger proportion of the -rank and file consisted of recruits, many of whom had not been a month -under<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[p. 219]</span> arms. Some -of the corps were short of muskets: those which had them were armed -with weapons of bad quality<a id="FNanchor_261" href="#Footnote_261" -class="fnanchor">[261]</a>, and various calibre. All were deficient -in the most essential articles of equipment. It was not fair to -expect that such troops could oppose with any prospect of success a -well-armed and well-disciplined veteran army like that of France<a -id="FNanchor_262" href="#Footnote_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The regular troops, and the totally undisciplined <i>Ordenanza</i> -levies, did not form the whole military force of Portugal. There also -existed, mainly on paper, another line of defence for the kingdom. This -was the militia: according to the old military system of the realm -each regimental district had to supply not only its line battalion, -but also two (or sometimes one) battalions of militia. There should -have been forty-three such regiments in existence in 1808, and early -in 1809 the Regency ordered that they should be raised to forty-eight, -and that each should consist of two battalions of 500 men each<a -id="FNanchor_263" href="#Footnote_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a>. -This force, however, was purely a paper army: the militia had not been -called out since the war of 1802; there were a few officers bearing -militia commissions, but no rank and file. When the Regency decreed its -mobilization, all that could be done was that the local authorities -should tell off such eligible young men as had not been embodied in -the regular army, for militia recruits. But as there were neither -officers to drill them, nor muskets to arm them, the conscription -was but a farce. The men were not even called out in many districts, -since it was useless to do so till arms could be procured for them. -But in the two northern provinces, when Soult crossed the frontier, -the militia-men took the field alongside with the <i>Ordenanza</i>, from -whom they were distinguished by name alone, for they were almost as -destitute of uniform, weapons, and officers as the <i>levée en masse</i> -itself. It would seem that most of the other border regiments<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[p. 220]</span> of militia were also -mobilized in the spring of 1809, in the neighbourhood of Almeida, -Castello Branco, and Elvas. That they were perfectly useless was -shown in Mayne’s fight with Victor at the bridge of Alcantara (May -14), when their conduct contrasted shamefully with the steady and -obstinate fighting of the Lusitanian Legion<a id="FNanchor_264" -href="#Footnote_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a>. In June, Wellesley -ordered that all men for whom there were no arms should be sent home -on furlough, and that the regiments should endeavour to drill and -exercise their men by relays of 200 at a time, each batch being kept -two months under arms. This was apparently because there were not arms, -officers, or drill-sergeants enough to provide for more than a small -proportion of the available number of militia-men<a id="FNanchor_265" -href="#Footnote_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a>. In this way between -8,000 and 10,000 militia were to be out during the times of the year -when the country-side could best spare them from the labour of the -fields. The rest were to be left at home, unless an actual invasion -of Portugal should occur. From the modest scope of this plan, it may -easily be guessed what the state of the militia had been four months -earlier, when Soult was in the Tras-os-Montes, and Beresford had barely -begun his work of reorganization.</p> - -<p>The militia-men were supposed to provide their own uniforms, the -result of which was that few save the officers ever owned uniforms at -all. In 1810 Wellesley had to make formal representation to Masséna -that they were part of the armed force of the Portuguese kingdom, and -not banditti, as the Marshal threatened to deny the rights of regular -combatants to any prisoners not wearing a military dress. The officers, -however, had a blue uniform similar to that of the line, save that -they had silver instead of gold lace on their collars and wrists. The -militia were not entitled to any pay when mobilized within the limits -of their own province. When taken over its border officers and men were -supposed to draw half the pay of the regulars of corresponding rank, -but did not find it easy to obtain the modest stipend to which they -were entitled.</p> - -<p>Throughout the war the Portuguese militia were only intermittently -in the field: the longest continuous piece of service<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[p. 221]</span> which they performed -was that during Masséna’s invasion, when they were all mobilized for -more than a year on end, from June 1810 to July 1811. At other times, -the whole or parts of various regiments were under arms for periods -of varying length, either to relieve the regulars from garrison duty, -or to watch the less-exposed frontier points in times when the French -were active in the neighbouring districts of Spain. They were very -seldom exposed to the ordeal of battle, as their presence in the line -would have been a source of danger rather than a help. But they were -useful for secondary work, such as guarding convoys, maintaining lines -of communication, and (most of all) restraining minor raids by small -bodies of the enemy. During Masséna’s invasion the greater part of them -were not drawn within the lines of Torres Vedras, like the Portuguese -regulars, but left out in the country-side, to shift for themselves. -Here they did invaluable service in cutting the Marshal’s line of -communication with Spain, and harassing all his detachments. It was -they who surprised and captured his wounded and his dépôt at Coimbra, -who worried Drouet, and who turned back Gardanne, when he tried to push -forward from Almeida in order to join the main French army.</p> - -<p>But all this was in the far future when the spring campaign of 1809 -began. At that date, as we have already seen, the militia were as -undisciplined, as ill-armed, and as useless as the mass of <i>Ordenanza</i> -levies, with which they were confused.</p> - -<p>A word must be added as to the theoretical organization of this -last force. It dated back to the Middle Ages, and had been regularly -used during the days of the enfranchisement of Portugal from the yoke -of the Spanish Hapsburgs, in the seventeenth century. The ‘ordinance’ -was a Royal decree summoning to arms all males between sixteen and -sixty with the exception of ecclesiastics. In districts owning a feudal -lord, that person was ex-officio declared chief-captain (<i>capitão -mor</i>) of his fief, and charged with the summoning of his vassals -to the field. Where manorial customs had disappeared, the senior -magistrate of the town, village, or district had to take up the post -of <i>capitão mor</i>, unless a substitute was named by the crown. It was -the duty of this commander to call out all the able-bodied men of his -region, to divide them into companies of 250 men,<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_222">[p. 222]</span> and to name a captain, ensign, sergeant, -clerk (<i>meirinho</i>), and ten corporals for each of these bodies. Persons -able to provide a horse were to serve apart, as cavalry, under separate -commanders; but no one ever saw or heard of mounted <i>Ordenanza</i> -troops during the Peninsular War; all the horses of the country did -not suffice to provide chargers even for the twelve regiments of the -regular army. The whole levy was supposed to be called out twice a year -by the <i>capitão mor</i>, in order that it might be seen that every man was -properly enrolled in a company. But as a matter of fact the <i>Ordenanza</i> -had not been summoned out, save in 1762 and 1802, since the end of the -War of the Spanish Succession. Nor had any care been taken to see that -every householder possessed a weapon of some sort, as the law directed. -When they mustered in 1809, the men with pikes outnumbered those with -fowling-pieces or blunderbusses, and the men furnished with no more -than scythes on poles, or goads, or such-like rustic weapons, were far -more numerous than the pikemen.</p> - -<p>The whole mass was perfectly useless; it was cruel to place -it in the field and send it against regular troops. Tumultuous, -undisciplined, unofficered, it was doomed to massacre whenever it -allowed the enemy to approach. It would have been well to refrain from -calling it out altogether, and to turn over the few serviceable arms -which it possessed to the militia.</p> - - -<p class="nb mt2"><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—By far the -best account of the Portuguese army and military system is to be found -in Halliday’s <cite>Present state of Portugal and the Portuguese -Army</cite>, an invaluable book of 1812. Something can be gleaned from -Dumouriez’s <cite>Essay on the military topography of Portugal</cite> -[1766]. A little information comes from Foy, but many of his statements -in his vol. ii. are inaccurate. The Wellington and Beresford dispatches -in the Record Office are, of course, full of information, but would -be very unintelligible but for Halliday’s explanatory memoir, as -they presuppose knowledge of the details of organization, but do -not generally describe them. For the Lusitanian Legion, see Mayne’s -monograph on that corps, and the dispatches of Sir Robert Wilson. I -have inserted in <a href="#ChapA_5">an appendix</a> a table of the -reorganized army as it stood in the autumn of 1809.</p> - - -<div class="figcenter mt2" id="ChapI_3"> - <img class="thick" - src="images/infantry.jpg" - alt="A Portuguese Infantry Soldier, and a Man of the Ordenanza" /> - <p class="caption"> - <big><i>Portuguese Infantry</i></big><br /> - <i>a Private of the Lisbon Regiment and a man of the Algarve Ordenanza.</i><br /> - <i>From a drawing of 1809.</i><br /> - <small><i>Walker & Cockerell Ph. Sc.</i></small> - </p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap13_4"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[p. 223]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER IV">SECTION XIII: CHAPTER IV</h3> - <p class="subh3">COMBATS ABOUT CHAVES AND BRAGA: CAPTURE OF - OPORTO (MARCH 10-29, 1809)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> La Romana marched off to the -east, and abandoned his Portuguese allies to their own resources, -the duty of defending the frontier fell upon General Francisco -Silveira, the military governor of the Tras-os-Montes. He had -mobilized his forces at Chaves the moment that Soult’s departure -from Orense became known, and had there gathered the whole levy of -his province. The total amounted to two incomplete line regiments<a -id="FNanchor_266" href="#Footnote_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a> four -battalions of disorderly and ill-equipped militia<a id="FNanchor_267" -href="#Footnote_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a>, the skeletons -of two cavalry regiments, with hardly 200 horses between them<a -id="FNanchor_268" href="#Footnote_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a>, and -a mass of the local <i>Ordenanza</i>, armed with pikes, goads, scythes, -and fowling-pieces. The whole mass may have numbered some 12,000 men, -of whom not 6,000 possessed firearms of any kind<a id="FNanchor_269" -href="#Footnote_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a>. Against them the -French marshal was marching at the head of 22,000 veterans, who had -already gained experience in the art of mountain-warfare from their -recent campaign in Galicia. The result was not difficult to foresee. -If the Portuguese dared to offer battle they would be scattered to the -winds.</p> - -<p>Silveira’s levies were not the only force in arms on the frontier. -The populous province of the Entre-Douro-e-Minho<a id="FNanchor_270" -href="#Footnote_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a>, roused to tumultuous -enthusiasm by the bishop of Oporto, had sent every available man, -armed or unarmed, to the front. A screen of militia and regulars under -General Botilho was watching the line of the lower Minho: a vast -mass of <i>Ordenanza</i>, backed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[p. -224]</span> by a very small body of line troops lay in and about Braga, -under General Bernardino Freire; another multitude was still thronging -the streets of Oporto and listening to the windy harangues of the -bishop. But none of these masses of armed men were sent to the aid of -Silveira. He was not one of the bishop’s faction, nor was he on good -terms with his colleague Freire. Neither of them showed any inclination -to combine with him, and their followers, in the true spirit of -provincial particularism, thought of nothing but defending their own -hearths and homes, and left the Tras-os-Montes to take care of itself. -Yet they had for the moment no enemy in front of them but the small -French garrison of Tuy, and could have marched without any risk to join -their compatriots.</p> - -<p>Relying on the aid of La Romana, General Silveira had taken post -at Villarelho on the right bank of the Tamega, leaving the defence of -the left bank to the Spaniards, whom he supposed to be still stationed -about Monterey and Verin. On the very day upon which the Army of -Galicia absconded, the Portuguese general sent forward a detachment, -consisting of a line regiment and a mass of peasants, to menace the -flank of the French advance. This force, having crossed the Spanish -frontier, got into collision with the enemy near Villaza. Since -Franceschi’s horsemen and Heudelet’s infantry had turned off to the -east in pursuit of La Romana, the Portuguese fell in with the leading -column of Soult’s main body—a brigade of Lahoussaye’s dragoons -supported by Delaborde’s division. This force they ventured to attack, -but were promptly beaten off by Foy, the brigadier of the advanced -guard, who routed them and captured their sole piece of artillery. The -shattered column fell back on the main body at Villarelho, and then -Silveira, hearing of the departure of the Spaniards, resolved to retire -and to look for a defensive position which he might be able to hold by -his own unaided efforts. There was none such to be found in front of -Chaves, for the valley of the Tamega widens out between Monterey and -the Portuguese frontier fortress, and offers no ground suitable for -defence. Accordingly Silveira very prudently decided to withdraw his -tumultuary army to the heights of San Pedro, a league to the south of -the town, where the space between the river and the mountains narrows -down<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[p. 225]</span> and offers a -short and compact line of resistance. But he waited to be driven in, -and meanwhile left rear-guards in observation at Feces de Abaxo on the -left, and Outeiro on the right bank, of the Tamega.</p> - -<p>Soult halted three days at Monterey in order to allow his rearguard -and his convoy of sick to close up with the main body. But on March -10 he resumed his advance, using the two parallel roads on the two -banks of the Tamega. Franceschi’s light horse and Heudelet’s division -pushed down the eastern side, Caulaincourt’s brigade of dragoons<a -id="FNanchor_271" href="#Footnote_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a> -and Delaborde’s infantry down the western side of the river. Merle -and Mermet were still near Verin. As the Tamega was unfordable in -most places, the army seemed dangerously divided, but Soult knew well -that he was running little or no risk. Both at Feces and Outeiro the -Portuguese detachments, which covered Silveira’s main body, tried to -offer serious resistance. They were of course routed, with the loss of -a gun and many prisoners.</p> - -<p>On hearing that his enemy was drawing near, Silveira ordered his -whole army to retreat behind Chaves to the position of San Pedro<a -id="FNanchor_272" href="#Footnote_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a>. -This command nearly cost him his life; the ignorant masses of militia -and <i>Ordenanza</i> could only see treason in the proposed move, which -abandoned the town to the French. The local troops refused to march, -and threatened to shoot their general: he withdrew with such of his -men as would still obey orders, but a mixed multitude consisting -of part of the 12th regiment of the line (the Chaves regiment), -and a mass of <i>Ordenanza</i> and militia, remained behind to defend -the dilapidated town. Its walls had never been repaired since the -Spaniards had breached them in 1762; of the fifty guns which armed -them the greater part were destitute of carriages, and rusting away -in extreme old age; the supply of powder and cannon-balls was wholly -insufficient for even a short siege. But encouraged by the advice of an -incompetent engineer officer<a id="FNanchor_273" href="#Footnote_273" -class="fnanchor">[273]</a>, who said that a few barricades would -make<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[p. 226]</span> the place -impregnable, 3,000 men shut themselves up in it, and aided by 1,200 -armed citizens, defied Soult, and opened a furious fire upon the -vedettes which he pushed up to the foot of the walls. The Marshal -sent in a fruitless summons to surrender, and then invested the -place on the evening of the tenth; all night the garrison kept up a -haphazard cannonade, and shouted defiance to the French. Next morning -Soult resolved to drive away Silveira from the neighbouring heights, -convinced that the spirits of the defenders of Chaves would fail the -moment that they saw the field army defeated and forced to abscond. -The divisions of Delaborde and Lahoussaye soon compelled Silveira to -give ground: he displayed indeed a laudable prudence in refusing to -let himself be caught and surrounded, and made off south-eastward -towards Villa Real with 6,000 or 7,000 men. The Marshal then summoned -Chaves to surrender for the second time; the garrison seem to have -tired themselves out with twelve hours of patriotic shouting, and to -have used up great part of their munitions in their silly nocturnal -fireworks. When they saw Silveira driven away, their spirits sank, and -they allowed their leader, Magelhaes Pizarro, to capitulate, without -remonstrance. In short, they displayed even more cowardice on the -eleventh than indiscipline upon the tenth of March. On the twelfth the -French entered the city in triumph.</p> - -<p>Soult was much embarrassed by the multitude of captives whom he -had taken: he could not spare an escort strong enough to guard 4,000 -prisoners to a place of safety. Accordingly he made a virtue of -necessity, permitted the armed citizens of Chaves to retire to their -homes, and dismissed the mass of 2,500 <i>Ordenanza</i> and militia-men, -after extracting from them an oath not to serve against France during -the rest of the war. The 500 regulars of the 12th regiment were not -treated in the same way. The Marshal offered them the choice between -captivity and enlisting in a Franco-Portuguese legion, which he -proposed to raise. To their great discredit the majority, both officers -and men, took the latter alternative—though it was with the sole -idea of deserting as soon as possible. At the same moment Soult made an -identical offer to the Spanish prisoners captured from Mahy’s division -at the combats of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[p. 227]</span> -Osoño and La Trepa on March 6: they behaved no better than the -Portuguese: several hundred of them took the oath to King Joseph, and -consented to enter his service<a id="FNanchor_274" href="#Footnote_274" -class="fnanchor">[274]</a>.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Dalmatia had resolved to make Chaves his base for -further operations in Portugal. He brought up to it from Monterey -all his sick and wounded, including those who had been transported -from Orense; the total now amounted to 1,325, of whom many were -convalescents already fit for sedentary duty. To guard them a single -company of a French regiment, and the inchoate ‘Portuguese Legion,’ -were detailed, while the command was placed in the hands of the <i>chef -de bataillon</i> Messager. The flour and unground wheat found in the place -fed the army for several days, and the small stock of powder captured -was utilized to replenish its depleted supply of cartridges.</p> - -<p>From Chaves Soult had the choice of two roads for marching on -Oporto. The more obvious route on the map is that which descends the -Tamega almost to its junction with the Douro, and then strikes across -to Oporto by Amarante and Penafiel. But here, as is so often the case -in the Peninsula, the map is the worst of guides. The road along -the river, frequently pinched in between the water and overhanging -mountains, presents a series of defiles and strong positions, is -considerably longer than the alternative route, and passes through -difficult country wellnigh from start to finish.</p> - -<p>The second path from Chaves to Oporto is that which strikes -westward, crosses the Serra da Cabrera, and descends into the valley -of the Cavado by Ruivaens and Salamonde. From thence it leads to -Braga, on the great coast-road from Valenza to Oporto. The first -two or three stages of this route are rough and difficult, and pass -through ground even more defensible than that on the way to Amarante -and Penafiel. But when the rugged defiles of the watershed between the -Tamega and the Cavado have been passed, and the invader has reached -Braga, the country becomes flat and open, and the coast plain, crossed -by two excellent roads, leads him easily to his goal. It has also -to be remembered that, by adopting this alternative, Soult<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[p. 228]</span> took in the rear the -Portuguese fortresses of the lower Minho, and made it easy to reopen -communications with Tuy and the French forces still remaining in -Galicia.</p> - -<p>If any other persuasion were needed to induce the Marshal to take -the western, and not the eastern, road to Oporto, it was the knowledge -of the position of the enemy which he had attained by diligent cavalry -reconnaissances. It was ascertained that Silveira with the remains of -his division had fallen back to Villa Pouca, more than thirty miles -away, in the direction of Villa Real. He could not be caught, and could -retreat whithersoever he pleased. Freire, on the other hand, was lying -at Braga with his unwieldy masses, and had made no attempt to march -forward and fortify the passes of the Serra da Cabrera. By all accounts -that the horsemen of Franceschi could gather, the defiles were blocked -only by the <i>Ordenanza</i> of the mountain villages.</p> - -<p>This astounding news was absolutely correct. Freire’s obvious course -was to defend the rugged watershed, where positions abounded. But he -contented himself with placing mere observation posts—bodies of -thirty or 100 men—in the passes, while keeping his main army -concentrated. The truth was that he was in a state of deep depression -of mind, and prepared for a disaster. Judging from the line which he -adopted in the previous year, while co-operating with Wellesley in the -campaign against Junot, we may set him down as a timid rather than a -cautious general. He had no confidence in himself or in his troops: -the indiscipline and mutinous spirit of the motley levies which he -commanded had reduced him to despair, and he received no support from -the Bishop of Oporto and his faction, who were omnipotent in the -province. Repeated demands for reinforcements of regular troops had -brought him nothing but the 2nd battalion of the Lusitanian Legion, -under Baron Eben. The Bishop kept back the greater part of the -resources of which he could dispose, for the defence of his own city, -in front of which he was erecting a great entrenched camp. Freire had -also called on the Regency for aid, but they had done no more than -order two line battalions under General Vittoria to join him, and these -troops had not yet crossed the Douro. When he heard that the French -were on the march, and that he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[p. -229]</span> himself would be the next to receive their visit, he so far -lost heart that he contemplated retiring on Oporto without attempting -to fight. Instead of defending the defiles of Ruivaens and Salamonde, -he began to send to the rear his heavy stores, his military chest, and -his artillery of position. This timid resolve was to be his ruin, for -the excitable and suspicious multitude which surrounded him had every -intention of defending their homes, and could only see treason and -cowardice in the preparations for retreat. In a few days their fury was -to burst forth into open mutiny, to the destruction of their general -and their own ultimate ruin.</p> - -<p>Soult meanwhile had set out from Chaves on March 14, with Franceschi -and Delaborde at the head of his column, as they had been in all the -operations since their departure from Orense. Mermet and Lahoussaye’s -dragoons followed on the fifteenth: Heudelet, with whom were the -head quarters’ staff and the baggage, marched on the sixteenth: -Merle, covering the rear of the army, came in from Monterey on that -day, and started from Chaves on the seventeenth. Only Vialannes’ -brigade of dragoons<a id="FNanchor_275" href="#Footnote_275" -class="fnanchor">[275]</a> was detached: these two regiments were -directed to make a feint upon Villa Real, with the object of -frightening and distracting Silveira, lest he should return to his -old post when he heard that the French army had departed, and fall -upon the rear of the marching columns. They beat up his outposts at -Villa Pouca, announced everywhere the Marshal’s approach with his main -body, and retired under cover of the night, after having deceived the -Tras-os-Montes troops for a couple of days.</p> - -<p>The divisions of Delaborde and Franceschi, while clearing the passes -above Chaves, met with a desperate but futile resistance from the -<i>Ordenanza</i> of the upper Cavado valley. Practically unaided by Freire, -who had only sent to the defile of Salamonde 300 regular troops—a -miserable mockery of assistance—the gallant peasantry did their -best. ‘Even the smallest villages,’ wrote an aide-de-camp of Soult, -‘tried to defend themselves. It was not rare to see a peasant barricade -himself all alone in his house, and fire from the windows on our men, -till his door was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[p. 230]</span> -battered in, and he met his death on our bayonets. The Portuguese -defended themselves with desperation, and never asked for quarter: if -only these brave and devoted fellows had possessed competent leaders, -we should have been forced to give up the expedition, or else we should -never have got out of the country. But their resistance was individual: -each man died defending his hamlet or his home, and a single battalion -of our advanced guard easily cleared the way for us. I saw during -these days young girls in the fighting-line, firing on us, and meeting -their death without recoiling a step. The priests had told them that -they were martyrs, and that all who died defending their country went -straight to paradise. In these petty combats, which lasted day after -day, we frequently found, among the enemy’s dead, monks in their robes, -their crucifixes still clasped in their hands. Indeed, while advancing -we could see from afar these ecclesiastics passing about among the -peasants, and animating them to the combat<a id="FNanchor_276" -href="#Footnote_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a>.... While the columns -were on the march isolated peasants kept up a continual dropping -fire on us from inaccessible crags above the road: at night they -attacked our sentries, or crept down close to our bivouacs to shoot -at the men who sat round the blaze. This sort of war was not very -deadly, but infinitely fatiguing: there was not a moment of the day -or night when we had not to be upon the <i>qui vive</i>. Moreover, every -man who strayed from the ranks, whether he was sick, drunk, tired, -or merely a marauder, was cut off and massacred. The peasants not -only murdered them, but tortured them in the most horrid fashion -before putting them to death<a id="FNanchor_277" href="#Footnote_277" -class="fnanchor">[277]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Among scenes of this description Franceschi and Delaborde forced -their way down the valley of the Cavado, till they arrived at the -village of Carvalho d’Este, six miles from Braga, where<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[p. 231]</span> they found a range -of hills on both sides of the road, occupied by the whole horde of -25,000 men who had been collected by Freire. The division which -followed the French advanced guard had also to sustain several petty -combats, for the survivors of the <i>Ordenanza</i> whom Delaborde had -swept out of the way, closed in again to molest each column, as it -passed by the defiles of Venda-Nova, Ruivaens, and Salamonde. Mermet’s -division, which brought up the rear, had to beat off a serious -attack from Silveira’s army<a id="FNanchor_278" href="#Footnote_278" -class="fnanchor">[278]</a>. For that general, as soon as he discovered -that he had been fooled by Lorges’ demonstration, sent across the -Tamega a detachment of 3,000 men, who fell upon Soult’s rear. But a -single regiment drove them off without much difficulty: they drew back -to their own side of the mountains, and did not quit the valley of the -Tamega.</p> - -<p>It was on March 17 that Franceschi and Delaborde pushed forward to -the foot of the Portuguese position, which swept round in a semicircle -on each side of the high-road. Its western half was composed of the -plateau of Monte Adaufé, whose left overhangs the river Cavado, while -its right slopes upward to join the wooded Monte Vallongo. This latter -hill is considerably more lofty than the Monte Adaufé and less easy of -access. In front of the position, and bisected by the high-road, is -the village of Carvalho d’Este: at the foot of the Monte Vallongo is -another village, Lanhozo, whose name the French have chosen to bestow -on the combat which followed. To the left-rear of the Monte Adaufé, -pressed in between its slopes and the river, is a third village, -Ponte do Prado, with a bridge across the Cavado, which is the only -one by which the position can be turned. The town of Braga lies three -miles further to the rear. The invaders halted on seeing the whole -range of hills, some six miles long, crowned with masses of men in -position. Franceschi would not take it upon himself to attack such a -multitude, even though they were but peasantry and militia, of the same -quality as the horde that had been defeated near Chaves a few days -before. He sent back word to the Marshal, and drew up in front of the -position to await the arrival of the main body.<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_232">[p. 232]</span> But noting that a long rocky spur of the -Monte Adaufé projected from the main block of high ground which the -enemy was holding, he caused it to be attacked by Foy’s brigade of -infantry, and drove back without much difficulty the advanced guard of -the Portuguese. The possession of this hill gave the French a foothold -on the heights, and an advantageous <i>emplacement</i> for artillery such as -could not be found in the plain below.</p> - -<p>It was three days before the rest of Soult’s army joined the leading -division—not until the twentieth was his entire force, with -the exception of Merle’s infantry, concentrated at the foot of the -enemy’s position, and ready to attack. This long period of waiting, -when every mind was screwed up to the highest pitch of excitement, -had completely broken down the nerve of the Portuguese, who spent the -hours of respite in hysterical tumult and rioting. Freire, as we have -already seen, had been planning a retreat on Oporto, but he found the -spirit of his army so exalted that he thought it better to conceal his -project. He pretended to have abandoned the idea of retiring, and gave -orders for the construction of entrenchments and batteries on the Monte -Adaufé, to enfilade the main approach by the high-road. But he could -not disguise his down-heartedness, nor persuade his followers to trust -him. Presently the wrecks of the <i>Ordenanza</i> levies, who had fought -at Salamonde, fell back upon Braga, loudly accusing him of cowardice, -for not supporting them in their advanced position. The whole camp -was full of shouting, objectless firing in the air, confused cries of -treason, and mutinous assemblies. On the day when the French appeared -in front of the position Freire grew so alarmed at the threats against -his life, which resounded on every side, that he secretly quitted Braga -to fly to Oporto. But he was recognized and seized by the <i>Ordenanza</i> -of Tobossa, a few miles to the rear. They brought him back to the -camp as a prisoner, and handed him over to Baron Eben, the colonel of -the 2nd battalion of the Lusitanian Legion, who had been acting as -Freire’s second-in-command. This officer, an ambitious and presumptuous -man, and a great ally of the Bishop of Oporto, played the demagogue, -harangued the assembled multitude, and readily took over the charge -of the army. He consigned his unfortunate predecessor to the gaol of -Braga, and led on the mutineers to reinforce the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_233">[p. 233]</span> array on Monte Adaufé. When Eben had -departed, a party of <i>Ordenanza</i> returned to the city, dragged out the -wretched Freire, and killed him in the street with their pikes. The -same afternoon they murdered Major Villasboas, the chief of Freire’s -engineers, and one or more of his aides-de-camp. They also seized and -threw into prison the <i>corregidor</i> of Braga, and several other persons -accused of sympathy with the French. Eben appears to have winked at -these atrocities—much as his friend the Bishop of Oporto ignored -the murders which were taking place in that city. By assuming command -in the irregular fashion that we have seen, he had made himself the -slave of the hysterical horde that surrounded him, and had to let them -do what they pleased, lest he should fall under suspicion himself<a -id="FNanchor_279" href="#Footnote_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a>.</p> - -<p>It would seem, however, that Eben did the little that was possible -with such material in preparing to oppose Soult. He threw up more -entrenchments on the Monte Adaufé, mounted the few guns that he -possessed in commanding situations, and did his best to add to the -lamentably depleted store of munitions on hand. Even the church roofs -were stripped for lead, when it was found that there was absolutely -no reserve of cartridges, and that the <i>Ordenanza</i> had wasted half -of their stock in demonstrations and profitless firing at the French -vedettes. On the morning of the nineteenth he extended his right wing -to some hills below the Monte Vallongo, beyond the village of Lanhozo, -a movement which threatened to outflank and surround that part of the -French army which was in front of him, and to cut it off from the -divisions still in the rear. This could not be tolerated, and Mermet’s -infantry were dispatched to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[p. -234]</span> dislodge the 2,000 men who had taken up this advanced -position. They were easily beaten out of the village and off the hill, -and retired to their former station on the Monte Vallongo. The French -here captured two guns and some prisoners. Soult gave these men copies -of a proclamation which he had printed at Chaves, offering pardon to -all Portuguese who should lay down their arms, and sent them back into -Eben’s lines under a flag of truce. When the <i>Ordenanza</i> discovered -what the papers were, they promptly put to death the twenty unfortunate -men as traitors, without listening to their attempts to explain the -situation.</p> - -<p>On the morning of March 20, Soult had been joined by Lorges’ -dragoons and his other belated detachments, and prepared to -attack the enemy’s position. To defend it Eben had now, beside -700 of his own Legion<a id="FNanchor_280" href="#Footnote_280" -class="fnanchor">[280]</a>, one incomplete line regiment (Viana, no. -9), the militia of Braga and the neighbouring places, and some 23,000 -<i>Ordenanza</i> levies, of whom 5,000 had firearms, 11,000 pikes, and the -remaining 7,000 nothing better than scythes, goads, and instruments -of husbandry. There were about fifteen or twenty pieces of artillery -distributed along the front of the six-mile position, the majority of -them in the entrenchments on the Monte Adaufé, placed so as to command -the high-road.</p> - -<p>Knowing the sort of rabble that was in front of him, Soult made no -attempt to turn or outflank the Portuguese, but resolved to deliver a -frontal attack all along the line, in the full belief that the enemy -would give way the moment that the charge was pushed home. He had now -about 3,000 cavalry and 13,000 infantry with him—Merle being -still absent. He told off Delaborde’s division with Lahoussaye’s -dragoons to assail the enemy’s centre, on both sides of the high-road, -where it crosses the Monte Adaufé. Mermet’s infantry and Franceschi’s -light horse attacked, on the left, the wooded slopes of the Monte -Vallongo. Heudelet’s division, on the right, sent one brigade to -storm the heights above the river, and left the other brigade as a -general reserve for the army. Lorges’ dragoons were also held back in -support.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[p. 235]</span></p> - -<p>As might have been expected, Soult’s dispositions were completely -successful. When the columns of Delaborde and Heudelet reached the -foot of the enemy’s position, the motley horde which occupied it broke -out into wild cheers and curses, and opened a heavy but ineffective -fire. They stood as long as the French were climbing up the slopes, -but when the infantry debouched on to the plateau of Monte Adaufé they -began to waver and disperse<a id="FNanchor_281" href="#Footnote_281" -class="fnanchor">[281]</a>. Then Soult let loose the cavalry of -Lahoussaye, which had trotted up the high-road close in the rear of -Delaborde’s battalions, the 17th Dragoons leading. There was no time -for the reeling mass of peasants to escape. ‘We dashed into them,’ -wrote one officer who took part in the charge<a id="FNanchor_282" -href="#Footnote_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a>; ‘we made a great -butchery of them; we drove on among them pell-mell right into the -streets of Braga, and we pushed them two leagues further, so that -we covered in all four leagues at full gallop without giving them a -moment to rally. Their guns, their baggage, their military chest, many -standards fell into our power<a id="FNanchor_283" href="#Footnote_283" -class="fnanchor">[283]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Such was the fate of the Portuguese centre, on each side of the -high-road. Further to the right, above the Cavado, Heudelet was equally -successful in forcing his way up the northern slopes of the Monte -Adaufé; the enemy broke when he reached the plateau, but as he had no -heavy force of cavalry with him, their flight was not so disastrous -or their loss so heavy as in the centre. Indeed, when they had been -swept down into the valley behind the ridge, some of the Portuguese -turned to bay at the Ponte do Prado, and inflicted a sharp check on -the Hanoverian legion, the leading battalion in Heudelet’s advance. It -was not till the 26th of the line came up to aid the Germans that the -rallied peasantry again broke and fled. They only lost 300 men in this -part of the field.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[p. 236]</span></p> - -<p>Far to the left, in the woods on the slope of the Monte Vallongo, -Mermet and Franceschi had found it much harder to win their way to -the edge of the plateau than had the troops in the centre. But it -was only the physical obstacles that detained them: the resistance -of the enemy was even feebler than in the centre. By the time that -the infantry of Mermet emerged on the crest of the hill, the battle -had already been won elsewhere. The Portuguese right wing crumpled up -the moment that it was attacked, and fled devious over the hillsides, -followed by Franceschi’s cavalry, who made a dreadful slaughter among -the fugitives. Five miles behind their original position a body of -militia with four guns rallied under the cliffs on which stands the -village of Falperra. The cavalry held them in check till Mermet’s -leading regiment, the 31st Léger, came up, and then, attacked by both -arms at once, the whole body was ridden down and almost exterminated. -‘The commencement was a fight, the end a butchery,’ wrote an officer of -the 31st; ‘if our enemies had been better armed and less ignorant of -the art of war, they might have made us pay dearly for our victory. But -for lack of muskets they were half of them armed with pikes only: they -could not manœuvre in the least. How was such a mob to resist us? they -could only have held their ground if they had been behind stone walls<a -id="FNanchor_284" href="#Footnote_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The rout and pursuit died away in the southern valleys beyond -Braga, and Soult could take stock of his victory. He had captured -seventeen guns, five flags, and the whole of the stores of Eben’s -army: he had killed, according to his own estimate, some 4,000 men<a -id="FNanchor_285" href="#Footnote_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a>, -and taken only 400 prisoners. This shocking disproportion between -the dead and the captives was caused by the fact that the French -in most parts of the field had given no quarter. Some of their -historians explain that their cruelty resulted from the discovery -that the Portuguese had been murdering and mutilating the stragglers -who fell into their hands<a id="FNanchor_286" href="#Footnote_286" -class="fnanchor">[286]</a>. But it was really due to the exasperation -of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[p. 237]</span> spirit that -always accompanies guerrilla warfare. Constantly worried by petty -ambushes, ‘sniped’ in their bivouacs, never allowed a moment of rest, -the soldiers were in a state of nervous irritation which found vent in -needless and unjustifiable cruelty. In the fight they had lost only -forty killed and 160 wounded, figures which afford no excuse for the -wholesale slaughter in the pursuit to which they gave themselves up.</p> - -<p>In the first flush of victory the French supposed that they -had made an end of the <i>Ordenanza</i>, and that northern Portugal -was at their feet. ‘Cette journée a été fatale à l’insurrection -portugaise,’ wrote one of the victors in his diary<a id="FNanchor_287" -href="#Footnote_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a>. But no greater mistake -could have been made: though many of the routed horde dispersed to -their homes, the majority rallied again behind the Avé, only ten or -twelve miles from the battle-field. Nor did the battle of Braga even -open the way to Galicia: General Botilho, with the levies of the -Valenza and Viana district, closed in behind Soult and blocked the way -to Tuy, the nearest French garrison. The Marshal had only conquered the -ground on which he stood, and already his communication with Chaves, -his last base, had been intercepted by detachments sent into the passes -by Silveira.</p> - -<p>Soult halted three days at Braga, a time which he utilized for the -repair of his artillery, and the replenishing of the cartridge boxes -of his infantry from the not too copious supply of munitions captured -from the Portuguese. His cavalry scoured the country down the Cavado -as far as Barcelos, and southward to the line of the Avé, only to find -insurgents everywhere, the bridges broken, and the fords dredged up and -staked.</p> - -<p>The Marshal, however, undaunted by the gloomy outlook, resolved to -march straight for his destined goal, without paying any attention to -his communications. He now made Braga a temporary base, left there -Heudelet’s division in charge of 600 sick and wounded, and moved on -Oporto at the head of his three remaining infantry divisions and all -his cavalry.</p> - -<p>Two good <i>chaussées</i>, and one additional mountain road of inferior -character, lead from Braga to Oporto, crossing the Avé,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[p. 238]</span> the one four, the next -six, the third twenty-four miles from the sea. The first and most -westerly passes it at Ponte de Avé, the second at Barca de Trofa, where -there is both a bridge and a wide ford, the third and least obvious -at Guimaraens not far from its source in the Serra de Santa Catalina. -Soult resolved to use all three for his advance, wisely taking the -difficult road by Guimaraens into his scheme, since he guessed that it -would probably be unwatched by the Portuguese, precisely because it -was far less eligible than the other two. He was perfectly right: the -Bishop of Oporto, the moment that he heard of the fall of Braga, pushed -up some artillery and militia to aid the <i>Ordenanza</i> in defending -both the Ponte de Avé and the Barca de Trofa bridges. Each was cut: -batteries were hastily thrown up commanding their approaches, and -entrenchments were constructed in their rear. At Barca de Trofa the -ford was dredged up and completely blocked with <i>chevaux de frise</i>. -But the remote and secondary passage at Guimaraens was comparatively -neglected, and left in charge of such of the local <i>Ordenanza</i> as had -returned home after the rout of Braga.</p> - -<p>Soult directed Lorges’ dragoons against the western road: he himself -with Delaborde’s and Merle’s infantry and Lahoussaye’s cavalry took -the central <i>chaussée</i> by Barca de Trofa. On the difficult flanking -path by Guimaraens he sent Franceschi’s light horse and Mermet’s -infantry. On both the main roads the Portuguese positions were so -strong that the advancing columns were held back: Soult would not waste -men—he was beginning to find that he had none to spare—in -attempting to force the entrenched positions opposite him. After -feeling them with caution, he pushed a column up-stream to a small -bridge at San Justo, which had been barricaded but not broken. Here -he established by night a heavy battery commanding the opposite bank. -On the morning of the twenty-sixth he opened fire on the Portuguese -positions across the water, and, when the enemy had been well battered, -hurled the brigade of General Foy at the fortified bridge. It was -carried, and Delaborde’s division was beginning to pass, when it met -another French force debouching on the same point. This was composed -of Mermet and Franceschi’s men: they had beaten the local <i>Ordenanza</i> -at Guimaraens, crossed the Avé high up, and were<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_239">[p. 239]</span> now pushing along the southern bank to -take the Barca de Trofa position in the flank. Thus Soult found that, -even if his frontal assault at San Justo had failed, his left-hand -column would have cleared the way for him a few hours later, being -already across the river and in the enemy’s rear. Indeed his lateral -detachment had done all that he had expected from it, and at no great -cost. For though the <i>Ordenanza</i> had opposed it bravely enough, they -had never been able to hold it back. The only notable loss that had -been sustained was that of General Jardon, one of Mermet’s brigadiers, -who had met his death by his own recklessness. Finding his men checked -for a moment, he had seized a musket and charged on foot at the head of -his skirmishing line. This was not the place for a brigadier-general, -and Jardon died unnecessarily, doing the work of a sub-lieutenant.</p> - -<p>Finding the French across the river at San Justo, the Portuguese, -who were defending the lower bridges, had to give way, or they would -have been surrounded and cut off. They yielded unwillingly, and at -Ponte de Avé actually beat off the first attempt to evict them. But -in the end they had to fly, abandoning the artillery in the redoubts -that covered the two bridges<a id="FNanchor_288" href="#Footnote_288" -class="fnanchor">[288]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the twenty-seventh, therefore, Soult was able to press close in -to Oporto, for the line of the Avé is but fifteen miles north of the -city. On approaching the heights which overhang the Douro the French -found them covered with entrenchments and batteries ranged on a long -front of six or seven miles, from San João de Foz on the sea-shore -to the chapel of Bom Fin overlooking the river above the town. Ever -since the departure of the French from Orense and their crossing of -the frontier had become known, the whole of the populace had been at -work on the fortifications, under the direction of Portuguese and -British engineer officers. In three weeks an enormous amount of work -had been done. The rounded summits of the line of hills, which<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[p. 240]</span> rise immediately north -of the city, and only half a mile in advance of its outermost houses, -had been crowned with twelve redoubts armed with artillery of position. -The depressions between the redoubts had been closed by palisades and -abattis. Further west, below the city, where the line of hills is less -marked, the front was continued by a deep ditch, fortified buildings, -and four strong redoubts placed in the more exposed positions. It ended -at the walls of San João da Foz, the old citadel which commands the -mouth of the Douro, and had in this direction an outwork in another -ancient fort, the castle of Quejo, on the sea-shore a mile north of -the estuary. There were no less than 197 guns of various calibres -distributed along the front of the lines. Nor was this all: the main -streets of the place had been barricaded to serve as a second line of -defence, and even south of the river a battery had been constructed on -the height crowned by the Serra Convent, which overlooks the bridge and -the whole city.</p> - -<p>To hold this enormous fortified camp the Bishop of Oporto had -collected an army formidable in numbers if not in quality. There -was a strong nucleus of troops of the regular army: it included the -two local Oporto regiments (6th and 18th of the line), two more -battalions brought in by Brigadier-General Vittoria, who had been too -late to join in the defence of Braga, a battalion of the regiment -of Valenza (no. 21), a fraction of that of Viana (no. 9), with the -wrecks of the 2nd battalion of the Lusitanian Legion, which had -escaped from Eben’s rout of the twentieth, and the skeleton of an -incomplete cavalry regiment (no. 12, Miranda). In all there cannot -have been less than 5,000 regular troops in the town, though many -of the men were recruits with only a few weeks of service. To these -may be added three or four militia regiments in the same condition -as were the rest of the corps of that force, i.e. half-armed and -less than half-disciplined<a id="FNanchor_289" href="#Footnote_289" -class="fnanchor">[289]</a>. But the large majority of the garrison -was composed of the same sort of levies that had already fought with -such small success at Chaves and Braga—there were 9,000 armed -citizens of Oporto and a somewhat greater number of the <i>Ordenanza</i> -of the open country, who had retired into the city before Soult’s -advancing columns. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[p. -241]</span> whole mass—regulars and irregulars—may have -made up a force of 30,000 men—nothing like the 40,000 or 60,000 -of the French reports<a id="FNanchor_290" href="#Footnote_290" -class="fnanchor">[290]</a>. Under the Bishop the military commanders -were three native brigadier-generals, Lima-Barreto, Parreiras, and -Vittoria. Eben had been offered the charge of a section of the -defences, but—depressed with the results of his experiment in -generalship at Braga—he refused any other responsibility than -that of leading his battalion of the Lusitanian Legion. The Bishop had -allotted to Parreiras the redoubts and entrenchments on the north of -the town, to Vittoria those on the north-east and east, to Lima-Barreto -those below the town as far as St. João da Foz. The regulars had been -divided up, so as to give two or three battalions to each general; -they were to form the reserve, while the defences were manned by -the militia and <i>Ordenanza</i>. There was a lamentable want of trained -gunners—less than 1,000 artillerymen were available for the -200 pieces in the lines and on the heights beyond the river. To make -up the deficiency many hundreds of raw militia-men had been turned -over to the commanders of the batteries. The natural result was seen -in the inferior gunnery displayed all along the line upon the fatal -twenty-ninth of March.</p> - -<p>To complete the picture of the defenders of Oporto it must be added -that the anarchy tempered by assassination, which had been prevailing -in the city ever since the Bishop assumed charge of the government, -had grown to a head during the last few days. On the receipt of the -news of the disaster at Braga it had culminated in a riot, during -which the populace constituted a sort of Revolutionary Tribunal at the -Porto do Olival.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[p. 242]</span> -They haled out of the prisons all persons who had been consigned to -them on a charge of sympathizing with the French, hung fourteen of -these unfortunates, including the brigadier-general Luiz da Oliveira, -massacred many more in the streets, and dragged the bodies round the -town on hurdles. The Bishop, though he had 5,000 regular troops at -hand, made no attempt to intervene—‘he could not stand in the -way of the righteous vengeance of the people upon traitors.’ On the -night of the twenty-eighth he retired to a place of safety, the Serra -Convent across the river, after bestowing his solemn benediction upon -the garrison, and handing over the further conduct of the defence to -the three generals whose names we have already cited.</p> - -<p>The town of Oporto was hidden from Soult’s eyes by the range of -heights, crowned by fortifications, which lay before him. For the place -was built entirely upon the downslope of the hill towards the Douro, -and was invisible till those approaching it were within half a mile -of its outer buildings. It is a town of steep streets running down to -the water, and meeting at the foot of the great pontoon-bridge, more -than 200 yards long, which links it to the transpontine suburb of Villa -Nova, and the adjacent height of the Serra do Pilar. The river front -forms a broad quay, along which were lying at the time nearly thirty -merchant ships, mostly English vessels laden with port wine, which were -wind-bound by a persistent North-Wester, and could not cross the bar -and get out to sea.</p> - -<p>Although his previous attempts to negotiate with the Portuguese -had not been very fortunate, the Marshal thought it worth while to -send proposals for an accommodation to the Bishop. He warned him not -to expose his city to the horrors of a sack, pointed out that the -raw levies of the garrison must inevitably be beaten, and assured -him that ‘the French came not as enemies, but as the deliverers of -Portugal from the yoke of the English. It was for the benefit of these -aliens alone that the Bishop would expose Oporto to the incalculable -calamities attending a storm<a id="FNanchor_291" href="#Footnote_291" -class="fnanchor">[291]</a>.’ The bearer of the Marshal’s letter was -a Portuguese major taken prisoner at Braga, who would have been -massacred at the outposts if he had not taken the precaution<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[p. 243]</span> of explaining to his -countrymen that Soult had sent him in to propose the surrender of the -French army, which was appalled at the formidable series of defences -to which it found itself opposed! The reply sent by the Bishop and -his council of war was, of course, defiant, and bickering along the -front of the lines immediately began. While the white flag was still -flying General Foy, the most distinguished of Soult’s brigadiers, -trespassed by some misconception within the Portuguese picquets and -was made prisoner. While being conducted into the town he was nearly -murdered, being mistaken for Loison, for whom the inhabitants of Oporto -nourished a deep hatred<a id="FNanchor_292" href="#Footnote_292" -class="fnanchor">[292]</a>.</p> - -<p>On finding that the Portuguese were determined to fight, Soult -began his preparations for a general assault upon the following day. -He drove in the enemy’s outposts outside the town, and captured one -or two small redoubts in front of the main line. Having reconnoitred -the whole position, he told off Delaborde and Franceschi to attack the -north-eastern front, Mermet and one brigade of Lahoussaye’s dragoons -to storm the central parts of the lines, due north of the city, where -the fortifications were most formidable, Merle and the other brigade of -Lahoussaye to press in upon the western entrenchments below the city. -There was no general reserve save Lorges’ two regiments of cavalry, -and these had the additional task imposed upon them of fending off any -attack on the rear of the army which might be made by scattered bodies -of <i>Ordenanza</i>, who<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[p. 244]</span> -were creeping out into the woods along the sea-coast, and threatening -to turn the Marshal’s right flank.</p> - -<p>Soult had but 16,000 men available,—of whom 3,000 were -cavalry, and therefore could not be employed till the infantry should -have broken through the line of fortifications which completely covered -the Portuguese front. Nevertheless he had no doubts of the result, -though he had to storm works defended by 30,000 men and lined with 197 -cannon. He now knew the exact fighting value of the Portuguese levies, -and looked upon Oporto as his own.</p> - -<p>The Marshal’s plan was not to repeat the simple and simultaneous -frontal attack all along the line by which he had carried the day at -Braga. There was a good deal of strategy in his design: the two flank -divisions were ordered to attack, while the centre was for a time held -back. Merle, in especial, was directed to do all that he could against -the weakest point of the Portuguese line, in the comparatively level -ground to the west of the city. Soult hoped that a heavy attack in this -direction would lead the enemy to reinforce his left from the reserves -of his centre, and gradually to disgarnish the formidable positions -north of the city, when no attack was made on them. If they committed -this fault, he intended to hurl Mermet’s division, which he carefully -placed under cover till the critical moment, at the central redoubts. -A successful assault at this point would finish the game, as it would -cut the Portuguese line in two, and allow the troops to enter the upper -quarters of the city in their first rush.</p> - -<p>The French were under arms long ere dawn, waiting for the signal to -attack. The Portuguese also were awake and stirring in the darkness, -when at three o’clock a thunderstorm, accompanied by a terrific -hurricane from the north-west, swept over the city. In the midst of -the elemental din some of the Portuguese sentinels thought that they -had seen the French columns advancing to the assault: they fired, the -artillery followed their example, and for half an hour the noise of the -thunderstorm was rivalled by that of 200 guns of position firing at -nothing. Just as the gunners had discovered their mistake, the tempest -passed away, and soon after the day broke. So drenched and weary were -the French, who had been lying down under the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_245">[p. 245]</span> torrential rain, that Soult put off the -assault for an hour, in order to allow them to dry themselves and -take some refreshment; the pause also allowed the sodden ground to -harden.</p> - -<p>At seven all was again ready, and Merle’s and Delaborde’s regiments -hurled themselves at the entrenchments above and below the city. Both -made good progress, especially the former, who lodged themselves in the -houses and gardens immediately under the main line of the Portuguese -left wing, and captured several of its outlying defences. Seeing the -position almost forced, Parreiras, the commander of the central part of -the lines, acted just as Soult had hoped, and sent most of his reserve -to reinforce the left. The Marshal then bade Merle halt for a moment, -but ordered Delaborde, on his eastern flank, to push on as hard as -he could. The general obeyed, and charged right into the Portuguese -entrenchments, capturing several redoubts and actually breaking the -line and getting a lodgement in the north-east corner of the city. -Parreiras, to aid his colleague in this quarter, drew off many of his -remaining troops, and sent them away to the right, thereby leaving his -own section of the line only half manned. Thereupon Soult launched -against the central redoubts his main assaulting column, Mermet’s -division and the two regiments of dragoons. The central battalion -went straight for the main position above the high-road, where the -great Portuguese flag was flying on the strongest redoubt. The others -attacked on each side. This assault was decisive: the Portuguese -gunners had only time to deliver two ineffective salvos when the French -were upon them. They charged into the redoubts through the embrasures, -pulled down the connecting abattis, and swept away the depleted -garrison in their first rush. The line of the defenders was hopelessly -broken, and Mermet’s division hunted them down the streets leading to -the river at full speed.</p> - -<p>The centre being thus driven in, the Portuguese wings saw that all -was lost, and gave way in disorder, looking only for a line of retreat. -Vittoria, with the right wing, abandoned his section of the city and -retreated east along the Vallongo road, towards the interior: he got -away without much loss, and even turned to bay and skirmished with the -pursuing battalions of Delaborde when once he was clear of the suburbs. -Far other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[p. 246]</span> was the -lot of the Portuguese left wing, which had the sea behind it instead of -the open country. General Lima-Barreto, its commander, was killed by -his own men: he had given orders to spike the guns and double to the -rear the moment that he saw the central redoubts carried. Unfortunately -for himself, he was among a mass of men who wished to hold on to -their entrenchments in spite of the disaster on their right. When he -reiterated his order to retreat, he was shot down for a traitor. But -Merle’s division soon evicted his slayers, and sent them flying towards -St. João da Foz and the sea. There was a dreadful slaughter of the -Portuguese in this direction: some escaped across the river in boats, a -large body slipped round Merle’s flank and got away to the north along -the coast (though Lorges’ dragoons pursued them among the woods above -the water and sabred many): others threw themselves into the citadel -of St. João and capitulated on terms. But several thousands, pressed -into the angle between the Douro and the ocean, were slaughtered almost -without resistance, or rolled <i>en masse</i> into the water.</p> - -<p>The fate of the Portuguese centre was no less horrible. Their -commander, Parreiras, fled early, and got over the bridge to report to -the Bishop the ruin of his army. The main horde followed him, though -many lingered behind, endeavouring to defend the barricades in the -streets. When several thousands had passed the river, some unknown -officer directed the drawbridge between the central pontoons to be -raised, in order to prevent the French from following. This was done -while the larger part of the armed multitude was still on the further -bank, hurrying down towards the sole way of escape. Nor was it only -the fighting-men whose retreat was cut off: when the news ran round -the city that the lines were forced, the civil population had rushed -down to the quays to escape before the sack began. It was fortunate -that half the people had left Oporto during the last two days and -taken refuge in Beira. But tens of thousands had lingered behind, full -of confidence in their entrenchments and their army of defenders. A -terrified mass of men, women, and children now came pouring down to -the bridge, and mingled with the remnants of the routed garrison. The -pontoons were still swinging safely on their cables, and no one, save -those in the front of the rush, discovered that there was a fatal -gap<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[p. 247]</span> in the middle -of the passage, where the drawbridge had been raised. There was no -turning back for those already embarked on the bridge, for the crowds -behind continued to push them on, and it was impossible to make them -understand what had happened. The French had now begun to appear on -the quays, and to attack the rear of the unhappy multitude: their -musketry drowned the cries of those who tried to turn back. At the -same time the battery on the Serra hill, beyond the river, opened upon -the French, and the noise of its twenty heavy guns made it still more -impossible to convey the news to the back of the crowd. For more than -half an hour, it is said, the rush of fugitives kept thrusting its own -front ranks into the death-trap, forty feet broad, in the midst of -the bridge. If anything more was needed to add to the horror of the -scene, it was supplied by the sudden rush of a squadron of Portuguese -cavalry, which—cut off from retreat to the east—galloped -down from a side street and ploughed its way into the thickest of the -crowd at the bridge-head, trampling down hundreds of victims, till it -was brought to a standstill by the mere density of the mass into which -it had penetrated. So many persons, at last, were thrust into the water -that not only was the whole surface of the Douro covered with drowning -wretches, but the gap in the bridge was filled up by a solid mass of -the living and the dead. Over this horrid gangway, as it is said, some -few of the fugitives scrambled to the opposite bank<a id="FNanchor_293" -href="#Footnote_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a>.</p> - -<p>At first the French, who had fought their way down to the quay, had -begun to fire upon the rear of the multitude which was struggling to -escape. But they soon found that no resistance was being offered, and -saw that the greater part of the flying crowd was composed of women, -children, and non-combatants. The sight was so sickening that their -musketry died<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[p. 248]</span> down, -and when they saw the unfortunate Portuguese thrust by thousands into -the water, numbers of them turned to the charitable work of helping -the strugglers ashore, and saved many lives. The others cleared the -bridge-head by forcing the fugitives back with the butt ends of their -muskets, and edging them along the quays and into the side streets, -till the way was open. In the late afternoon some of Mermet’s troops -mended the gap in the bridge with planks and rafters, and crossed it, -despite of the irregular fire of the Portuguese battery on the heights -above. They then pushed into the transpontine suburb, expelled its -defenders, and finally climbed the Serra hill and captured the guns -which had striven to prevent their passage.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the parts of Oporto remote from the pontoon-bridge had -been the scene of a certain amount of desultory fighting. Many small -bodies of the garrison had barricaded themselves in houses, and made -a desperate but ineffectual attempt to defend them. In the Bishop’s -palace at the south end of the town 400 militia held out for some -hours, and were all bayonetted when the gates were at last burst -open. Street-fighting always ends in rapine, rape and arson, and as -the resistance died down the victors turned their hands to the usual -atrocities that follow a storm. It was only a small proportion of them -who had been sobered and sickened by witnessing the catastrophe on the -bridge. The rest dealt with the houses and with the inhabitants after -the fashion usual in the sieges of that day, and Oporto was thoroughly -sacked. It is to the credit of Soult that he used every exertion to -beat the soldiers off from their prey, and restored order long ere the -following morning. It is to be wished that Wellington had been so lucky -at Badajoz and San Sebastian.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_5"> - <img src="images/braga.jpg" - alt="Map of the combat of Braga or Lanhozo" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/braga-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">COMBAT of BRAGA</span> (OR LANHOZO)<br /> - <small>MARCH 20<sup>TH</sup> 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter mt1"> - <img src="images/oporto.jpg" - alt="Oporto showing the Portuguese lines" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/oporto-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - OPORTO<br /> - <small>MARCH-MAY 1809</small><br /> - <small>SHOWING THE PORTUGUESE LINES</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">The French army had lost, so the Marshal reported, no -more than eighty killed and 350 wounded, an extraordinary testimony to -the badness of the Portuguese gunnery. How many of the garrison and -the populace perished it will never be possible to ascertain—the -figures given by various contemporary authorities run up from -4,000 to 20,000. The smaller number is probably nearer the truth, -but no satisfactory estimate can be made. It is certain that some -of the regiments which took part in the <span class="pagenum" -id="Page_249">[p. 249]</span>defence were almost annihilated<a -id="FNanchor_294" href="#Footnote_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a>, and -that thousands of the inhabitants were drowned in the river. Yet the -town was not depopulated, and of its defenders the greater proportion -turned up sooner or later in the ranks of Silveira, Botilho, and Trant. -The slain and the drowned together may perhaps be roughly estimated -at 7,000 or 8,000, about equally divided between combatants and -non-combatants.</p> - -<p>Soult meanwhile could report to his master that the first half of -his orders had been duly carried out. He had captured 200 cannon, a -great store of English ammunition and military equipment, and more -than thirty merchant vessels, laden with wine. He had delivered Foy -and some dozens of other French captives—for it would be doing -the Portuguese injustice to let it be supposed that they had killed or -tortured all their prisoners. In short, the victory and the trophies -were splendid: yet the Marshal was in reality almost as far from having -completed the conquest of northern Portugal as on the day when he first -crossed its frontier. He had only secured for himself a new base of -operation, to supersede Chaves and Braga. For the next month he could -do no more than endeavour ineffectually to complete the subjugation of -one single province. The main task which his master had set before him, -the capture of Lisbon, he was never able to contemplate, much less to -take in hand. Like so many other French generals in the Peninsula, he -was soon to find that victory is not the same thing as conquest.</p> - - -<p>N.B.—The sources for this part of the Portuguese campaign -are very full. On the French side we have, besides the Marshal’s -dispatches, the following eye-witnesses: Le Noble, Soult’s official -chronicler; St. Chamans (one of the Marshal’s aides-de-camp); General -Bigarré, King Joseph’s representative at the head quarters of the 2nd -Corps; Naylies of Lahoussaye’s dragoons; and Fantin des Odoards of the -31st Léger. On the Portuguese side we have the lengthy dispatches of -Eben, the narrative of Hennegan (who had brought the British ammunition -to Oporto), some letters from Brotherton, who was first with La Romana -and then with Silveira, and a quantity of official correspondence in -the Record Office, between Beresford and the Portuguese.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap13_5"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[p. 250]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER V">SECTION XIII: CHAPTER V</h3> - <p class="subh3">SOULT’S HALT AT OPORTO: OPERATIONS OF WILSON AND LAPISSE - ON THE PORTUGUESE FRONTIER: SILVEIRA’S DEFENCE OF AMARANTE</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Oporto</span> had been conquered: the unhappy -levies of the Bishop had been scattered to the winds: by the captures -which it had made the French army was now, for the first time since -its departure from Orense, in possession of a considerable store of -provisions and an adequate supply of ammunition. Soult was no longer -driven forward by the imperative necessity for finding new resources to -feed his troops, nor forced to hurry on the fighting by the fear that -if he delayed his cartridges would run short. He had at last leisure -to halt and take stock of his position. The most striking point in the -situation was that he was absolutely ignorant of the general course -of the war in the other regions of the Peninsula. When he had been -directed to march on Oporto, he had been assured that he might count -on the co-operation of Lapisse, who was to advance from Salamanca with -his 9,000 men, and of Victor, who was to stretch out to him a helping -hand from the valley of the Tagus. It was all-important to know how -far the promised aid was being given: yet the Marshal could learn -nothing. More than two months had now elapsed since he had received -any dispatches from the Emperor. It was a month since he had obtained -his last news of the doings of his nearest colleague, Ney, which had -been brought to him, as it will be remembered, just as he was about -to leave Orense. At that moment the Duke of Elchingen had been able -to tell him nothing save that the communications between Galicia and -Leon had been broken, and that the insurrection was daily growing more -formidable. After this his only glimpse of the outer world had been -afforded by Portuguese letters, seized in the post-offices of Braga and -Oporto, from which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[p. 251]</span> -he had learnt that his garrisons left behind at Vigo and Tuy were -being beleaguered by a vast horde of Galician irregular levies. ‘The -march of the 2nd Corps,’ wrote one of Soult’s officers, ‘may be -compared to the progress of a ship on the high seas: she cleaves the -waves, but they close behind her, and in a few moments all trace of -her passage has disappeared<a id="FNanchor_295" href="#Footnote_295" -class="fnanchor">[295]</a>.’ To make the simile complete, Fantin des -Odoards should have compared Soult to the captain of a vessel in a -dense fog, forging ahead through shoals and sandbanks without any -possibility of obtaining a general view of the coast till the mists may -lift. To all intents and purposes, we may add, the fog never dispersed -till May had arrived, and Wellesley hurtled down in a dreadful -collision on the groping commander, ere he had fully ascertained his -own whereabouts.</p> - -<p>When the whole country-side is up in arms, as it was in Galicia and -northern Portugal in the spring of 1809, it is useless to dispatch -small bodies of men in search of news. They are annihilated in a -few hours: but to make large detachments and send them out on long -expeditions, so weakens the main army that it loses its power of -further advance. This was the fate of the 2nd Corps after the fall of -Oporto. Soult, compelled to seek for information at all costs, had -to send one of his four infantry divisions back towards Galicia, to -succour Tuy and Vigo and obtain news of Ney, while another marched -eastward to the Tras-os-Montes, to look for signs of the advance of -Lapisse from Salamanca. When these detachments had been made, the -remainder of the army was too weak to resume the march on Lisbon which -the Emperor had commanded, and was forced to remain cantoned in the -neighbourhood of Oporto.</p> - -<p>The details of Soult’s disposition of his troops after the fall of -Oporto were as follows: Franceschi’s cavalry, supported by Mermet’s -division of infantry, were pushed forward across the Douro on the -road to Coimbra, to watch the movements of the wrecks of the Bishop’s -army, which had retired to the line of the Vouga. Merle’s division -and half Delaborde’s remained in garrison at Oporto, while Lorges’ -and one brigade of Lahoussaye’s dragoons were kept not far from them, -in the open country north of the city, about Villa de Conde and<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[p. 252]</span> Vallongo. The other -brigade of Lahoussaye’s division, supported by Foy’s infantry, was sent -out on an expedition towards the Tras-os-Montes, with orders to brush -away Silveira and seek for news of the expected approach of Lapisse. -Loison was placed in command of this detachment. Finally, Heudelet’s -division, which had been guarding the sick and the stores of the army -at Braga, was ordered to send on all the <i>impedimenta</i> to Oporto, and -then to prepare to march northward in order to relieve Tuy and Vigo, -and to get into touch with Ney and the 6th Corps.</p> - -<p>It was clear that the further movements of the Duke of Dalmatia -would depend on the intelligence which Loison and Heudelet might -obtain. If Ney should have crushed the Galician insurgents, if Lapisse -should be met with somewhere on the borders of Spain, matters would -look well for the resumption of the advance on Lisbon. It was also to -be hoped that Lapisse would be able to give some information as to the -doings of Victor and the 1st Corps. For it was necessary to find out -how the Duke of Belluno had been faring in Estremadura, and to know -whether he was prepared to co-operate in that general movement against -the Portuguese capital which the Emperor had prescribed in his parting -instructions from Valladolid.</p> - -<p>As a matter of fact, Victor, having beaten Cuesta at Medellin on the -day before Soult captured Oporto (March 28), had reached the end of his -initiative, and was now lying at Merida, incapable, according to his -own conception, of any further offensive movement till he should have -received heavy reinforcements. Ney in Galicia was fighting hard against -the insurgents, and beginning to discover that though he might rout -them a dozen times he could not make an end of them. He had not a man -to spare for Soult’s assistance.</p> - -<p>There remained Lapisse, who in his central position at Salamanca -should have been, according to Napoleon’s design, the link between Ney, -Victor, and Soult. He had been directed, as it will be remembered<a -id="FNanchor_296" href="#Footnote_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a>, to -move on Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, to capture both these fortresses, -and then to advance into Portugal and to strike at Abrantes: when he -arrived there it was hoped that he would find Soult on his right and -Victor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[p. 253]</span> on his -left, and would join them in the general assault on Lisbon. There can -be no doubt that Napoleon was giving too heavy a task to Lapisse: he -had but a single division of infantry—though it was a strong one -of twelve battalions—and one provisional brigade of cavalry<a -id="FNanchor_297" href="#Footnote_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a>, -in all about 9,000 men. This was ample for the holding down of the -southern parts of the kingdom of Leon, or even for the attack on -Almeida and Rodrigo: but it was a small force with which to advance -into the mountains of central Portugal or to seize Abrantes. If he -had carried out his instructions, Lapisse would have had to march for -nearly 200 miles through difficult mountain country, beset every day -by the <i>Ordenanza</i>, as Soult had been in his shorter route from Orense -to Oporto. And if he had ever cut his way to Abrantes, he ought to -have found himself faced by Cradock’s 9,000 British troops and by the -reorganized Portuguese regular army, which lay in and about Lisbon, -with a strength which even in February was not less than 12,000 men.</p> - -<p>Napoleon had given Lapisse too much to do: but on the other hand -that general performed far too little. Though he could never have -reached Abrantes, he ought to have reached Almeida, where his presence -would have been of material assistance to Soult, more especially if -he had from thence pushed exploring columns towards Lamego and Vizeu, -before plunging into the mountains on the road to the south. As a -matter of fact, Lapisse in February and March never advanced so much -as fifty miles from Salamanca, and allowed himself to be ‘contained’ -and baffled, for two whole months, by an insignificant opposing force, -commanded by a general possessing that enterprise and initiative which -he himself entirely lacked.</p> - -<p>The officer who wrecked this part of Napoleon’s plan for the -invasion of Portugal was Sir Robert Wilson, one of the most active -and capable men in the English army, and one who might have made a -great name for himself, had fortune been propitious. But though he -served with distinction throughout the Napoleonic war, and won golden -opinions in Belgium and Egypt, in Prussia and Poland, no less than in -Spain, he never obtained that command on a large scale which would -have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[p. 254]</span> enabled him -to show his full powers. It may seem singular that a man who won love -and admiration wherever he went, who was decorated by two emperors for -brilliant feats of arms done under their eyes, who was equally popular -in the Russian, the Austrian, or the Portuguese camp, who had displayed -on a hundred fields his chivalrous daring, his ready ingenuity, and -his keen military insight, should fail to achieve greatness. But -Wilson, unhappily for himself, had the defects of his qualities. When -acting as a subordinate his independent and self-reliant character -was always getting him into trouble with his hierarchical superiors. -He was not the man to obey orders which he believed to be dangerous -or mistaken: he so frequently ‘thought for himself’ and carried out -plans quite different from those which had been imposed upon him, that -no commander-in-chief could tolerate him for long. His moves were -always clever and generally fortunate, but mere success did not atone -for his disobedience in the eyes of his various chiefs, and he never -remained for long in the same post. All generals, good and bad, agree -in disliking lieutenants who disregard their orders and carry out -other schemes—even if they be ingenious and successful ones<a -id="FNanchor_298" href="#Footnote_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a>. It -must be added that Wilson dabbled in politics on the Whig side, and was -not a favourite with Lord Castlereagh, a drawback when preferments were -being distributed.</p> - -<p>But when trusted with any independent command, and allowed a free -hand, Wilson always did well. Not only had he all the talents of an -excellent partisan chief, but he was one of those genial leaders -who have the power to inspire confidence and enthusiasm in their -followers, and are able to get out of them double the work that an -ordinary commander can extort. He was in short one of those men who -if left to themselves achieve great things, but who when placed in a -subordinate position quarrel with their superiors and get sent home -in disgrace. From the moment when Beresford assumed command of the -Portuguese army his relations with Wilson were one long story of -friction and controversy, and Wellesley (though<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_255">[p. 255]</span> acknowledging his brilliant services) -made no attempt to keep him in the Peninsula. He wanted officers who -would obey orders, even when they did not understand or approve them, -and would not tolerate lieutenants who wished to argue with him<a -id="FNanchor_299" href="#Footnote_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a>.</p> - -<p>It was Wilson who first showed that the new levies of Portugal could -do good service in the field. While Silveira and Eben were meeting with -nothing but disaster in the Tras-os-Montes and the Entre-Douro-e-Minho, -he was conducting a thoroughly successful campaign on the borders of -Leon. From January to April, 1809, he, and he alone, protected the -eastern frontier of Portugal, and with a mere handful of men kept the -enemy at a distance, and finally induced him to draw off and leave -Salamanca, just at the moment when Soult’s operations on the Douro were -becoming most dangerous.</p> - -<p>The force at his disposal in January, 1809, consisted of nothing -more than his own celebrated ‘Loyal Lusitanian Legion.’ We have -already had occasion to mention this corps while speaking of the -reorganization of the Portuguese army (see <a href="#Page_199">page -199</a>). On December 14, as we have seen, he had led out his little -brigade of Green-coats towards the frontier<a id="FNanchor_300" -href="#Footnote_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a>.</p> - -<p>Wilson’s reasons for moving forward were partly political, partly -military: on the one hand he wished to get away from the neighbourhood -of the Bishop of Oporto, whose intrigues disgusted him; on the other he -saw that it was necessary to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[p. -256]</span> bring up a force to cover the frontier of Portugal, when -Moore marched forward into Spain. As long as Moore had remained at -Salamanca, there was a strong barrier in front of Portugal: but when -he departed it was clear that the kingdom must defend itself. Wilson -therefore advanced to Pinhel, near Almeida, and there established his -little force in cantonments.</p> - -<p>He was at this place when the startling developments of the campaign -in the last ten days of December, 1808, took place. Moore retired on -Galicia, Napoleon’s army swept on into Leon, and Wilson found himself -left alone with the whole defence of the north-eastern frontier of -Portugal thrown on his hands. He soon heard of the storming of Zamora -and Toro, and learnt that Lapisse’s division had arrived at Salamanca. -Three marches might bring that general to the border.</p> - -<p>A few days later Wilson received from Sir John Cradock the news -that he had ordered the British garrison to evacuate Almeida<a -id="FNanchor_301" href="#Footnote_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a>, and -to retire on Lisbon, as the whole remaining force in Portugal would -probably have to embark in a few days. The new commander-in-chief added -that he should advise Wilson to bring off his British officers and -depart with the rest, as the Portuguese would be unable to make any -head against Bonaparte, and it would be a useless sacrifice to linger -in their company and be overwhelmed. This pusillanimous counsel shocked -and disgusted Wilson: he called together his subordinates, and found -that they agreed with him in considering Cradock’s advice disgraceful. -They resolved that they could not desert their Portuguese comrades, and -were in honour bound to see the campaign to an end, however black the -present outlook might appear<a id="FNanchor_302" href="#Footnote_302" -class="fnanchor">[302]</a>.</p> - -<p>When therefore the British garrison of Almeida was withdrawn, -Wilson entered that fortress with the Legion and took charge of it. -He obtained from the Regency leave to appoint his lieutenant-colonel, -William Mayne, as the governor, and also received permission to assume -command of the local levies<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[p. -257]</span> in the neighbourhood. These consisted of the skeletons of -two line regiments (nos. 11 and 23) whose reorganization had but just -begun. There were also two militia regiments (Guarda and Trancoso) to -be raised in the district, but at this moment they existed only in -name, and possessed neither officers nor arms. For immediate action -Wilson could count upon nothing but the 1,300 men of the Lusitanian -Legion.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless he resolved to advance at once, and to endeavour -to impose on Lapisse by a show of activity. Leaving the Portuguese -regulars and 700 men of the Legion to garrison Almeida, he crossed -the frontier with his handful of cavalry (not 200 sabres), two guns, -and 300 men of his light companies. Passing the Spanish fortress of -Ciudad Rodrigo he advanced some distance on the Salamanca road, and -took up his position behind the Yeltes river, with his right resting -on the inaccessible Sierra de Francia, and his left at San Felices, -half way to the Douro. His whole force constituted no more than a -thin line of pickets, but he acted with such confidence and decision, -beating up the French outposts with his dragoons, raiding well forward -in the direction of Ledesma and Tamames, and stirring up the peasants -of the mountain country to insurrection, that Lapisse gave him credit -for having a considerable force at his back. The French general had -expected to meet with no opposition on his way to Almeida, believing -that Cradock was about to embark, and that the Portuguese would not -fight. He was accordingly much surprised to find a long line in -his front, occupied by troops dressed like British riflemen, and -commanded by British officers—whose strength he was unable to -ascertain. He halted, in order to take stock of his opponent, when a -bold push would have shown him that only a skeleton army was before -him. In an intercepted dispatch of February<a id="FNanchor_303" -href="#Footnote_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a> he reported that the -peasantry informed him that Wilson had 12,000 men, and that as many -more were in garrison at Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida.</p> - -<p>As the weeks wore on, and the winter drew to an end, Wilson obtained -some slight reinforcements. When he first advanced the Spaniards -could give him no help, for the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo itself -consisted of nothing but its six companies of<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_258">[p. 258]</span> urban militia, and a new battalion -of 500 men, which had been on the point of setting out to join La -Romana when its way to Leon was intercepted by the French. There were -1,400 men to man a fortress which required a garrison of 4,000<a -id="FNanchor_304" href="#Footnote_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a>! But -before January was out, Pignatelli, the captain-general of Castile, had -sent into the place a regiment which he had raised in the mountains of -Avila, and Carlos d’España<a id="FNanchor_305" href="#Footnote_305" -class="fnanchor">[305]</a> had begun to form some new battalions from -the peasantry of the Ciudad Rodrigo district, stiffened by stragglers -from La Romana’s army<a id="FNanchor_306" href="#Footnote_306" -class="fnanchor">[306]</a>. In February the Central Junta gave Wilson -a provisional command over the Spanish forces in Leon, and he used -his authority to draw upon the garrison of Rodrigo for detachments to -strengthen his outposts. He also requisitioned men from Almeida, when -the Portuguese regiments there placed had begun to fill up their ranks -to a respectable strength. A few cavalry of the re-formed 11th of the -line were especially useful to him for scouting work.</p> - -<p>With this small assistance, Wilson, whose total force never exceeded -400 horse and 3,000 infantry, kept Lapisse employed throughout February -and March. He beat up the French quarters on several occasions, and -twice captured large convoys of provisions which were being directed on -Salamanca; to fall upon one of these, a great requisition of foodstuffs -from Ledesma, he dashed far within Lapisse’s lines, but brought out -all the wagons in safety and delivered them to the governor of Ciudad -Rodrigo. At last, emboldened by his adversary’s timidity, he extended -his right beyond the Sierra de Francia, and established part of the -Legion under Colonel Mayne in the Puerto de Baños, the main pass -between Salamanca and Estremadura. Thus Lapisse was completely cut -off from all communication<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[p. -259]</span> with Victor and the French army on the Tagus, save by the -circuitous route through Madrid.</p> - -<p>Jourdan, writing in the name of King Joseph, had duly transmitted -to Lapisse the Emperor’s orders to march on Abrantes, the moment that -it should be known that Soult had arrived at Oporto. He had even -reiterated these directions in February, though both he and the King -doubted their wisdom. Victor had written to Madrid to suggest that -Alcantara would be a much better and safer objective for the division -to aim at than Abrantes<a id="FNanchor_307" href="#Footnote_307" -class="fnanchor">[307]</a>. He wished to draw Lapisse’s troops (which -properly belonged to the 1st Corps) into his own sphere of operations, -and repeatedly declared that without them he had no hope of bringing -his Estremaduran campaign to a happy end, much less of executing -any effective diversion against Portugal. Jourdan agreed with him, -opining that Lapisse would miscarry, if he invaded central Portugal -on an independent line of operations. But no one was so convinced -of this as Lapisse himself, who, with his exaggerated ideas of the -strength of Wilson, was most reluctant to move forward. As late as the -end of March the Emperor’s orders were still ostensibly in vigour<a -id="FNanchor_308" href="#Footnote_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a>, and -the general only excused himself for not marching, by pretending that -he could not venture to advance till he had certain news of Soult’s -movements. This the Galician insurgents were obliging enough to keep -from him.</p> - -<p>At last, however, Jourdan yielded to Victor’s wishes, and authorized -Lapisse to drop down on to Alcantara, keeping outside the limits of -Portugal, instead of making the attack on Rodrigo and the subsequent -dash at Abrantes which the Emperor had prescribed<a id="FNanchor_309" -href="#Footnote_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a>. Overjoyed at escaping -from the responsibility which he dreaded, Lapisse first prepared to -march<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[p. 260]</span> southward by -the Puerto de Baños. But when he found it held by Mayne and the troops -of Wilson’s right wing, he made no attempt to force the passage, but -resolved to carry out his design by stratagem. Massing his division, -he marched on Ciudad Rodrigo upon April 6. He pierced with ease the -feeble screen of Wilson’s outposts and appeared in front of the -Spanish fortress, which he duly summoned to surrender. But though the -place might easily have been carried by a <i>coup de main</i> in January, -it was now safe against anything but a formal siege, and Lapisse had -neither a battering-train nor any real intention of attacking. When the -governor returned a defiant answer, the French division made a show -of sitting down in front of the walls. This was done in order to draw -Wilson to the aid of the place, and the move was successful. Calling -in all his outlying detachments from the nearer passes and collecting -some of Carlos d’España’s levies, Sir Robert took post close to the -walls of Ciudad Rodrigo, with a battalion of the Legion under Colonel -Grant, some other Portuguese troops and four guns<a id="FNanchor_310" -href="#Footnote_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a>.</p> - -<p>Having thus lured Wilson away from the passes, the French general -suddenly broke up by night, and made a forced march for the Puerto -de Perales, the nearest mountain-road to Alcantara. He thus obtained -a full day’s start, and got off unmolested. Sir Robert and Carlos -d’España followed on his track as soon as they discovered his -departure, and Mayne also pursued, from the Puerto de Baños, but none -of them could do more than harass his rearguard, with which they -skirmished for three days in the passes. It would not have been wise -of them to attempt more, even if they could have got into touch with -the main body, for the French division was double their strength. -Meanwhile the peasantry of the Sierra de Gata endeavoured to stop -Lapisse’s progress, by blocking the defiles; but he swept them away -with ease, and they never succeeded in delaying him for more than a -few hours. Their incessant ‘sniping’ and night attacks exasperated -the French, who dealt most ruthlessly with the country-side as they -passed. When<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[p. 261]</span> they -arrived at Alcantara, and found the little town barricaded, they -not only refused all quarter to the fighting-men when they stormed -the place, but committed dreadful atrocities on the non-combatants. -Not only murder and rape but mutilation and torture are reported -by credible witnesses<a id="FNanchor_311" href="#Footnote_311" -class="fnanchor">[311]</a>. After the houses had been sacked, the -very tombs in the churches were broken open in search of plunder. -Leaving Alcantara full of corpses and ruins [April 12], the division -marched on by Caceres and joined Victor in his camp near Merida<a -id="FNanchor_312" href="#Footnote_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a> -[April 19].</p> - -<p>Since Lapisse, then, had moved off far to the south, and thrown -in his lot with his old comrades of the 1st Corps, it was in vain -that Soult sought for news of him on the Douro after the fall of -Oporto. When Loison set out to cross the Tamega and to enter the -Tras-os-Montes, in order that he might obtain information of the -movements of the division at Salamanca, that division was making ready -for its march to Alcantara; a fortnight later it had disappeared -from the northern theatre of operations altogether, and Soult’s last -chance of obtaining external help for his invasion of Portugal was -gone. This section, in short, of Napoleon’s great plan for the march -on Lisbon had been foiled, and foiled almost entirely by Sir Robert -Wilson’s happy audacity and resourceful generalship. But for<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[p. 262]</span> him, the timidity of -Cradock, the impotence of the Spaniards, and the disorganization of the -Portuguese army might have brought about the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo and -Almeida, at the same moment that Soult was entering Portugal on its -northern frontier. His services have never received their proper meed -of praise, either from the government which he served so well, or from -the historians who have told the annals of the Peninsular War.</p> - -<p>We must now return to the details of the Duke of Dalmatia’s -operations. His movements were clearly dependent on the results of the -two expeditions under Heudelet and Loison, which he had sent out to the -north and the east after his victory of March 29.</p> - -<p>Heudelet, after discharging on to Oporto the sick and wounded and -the stores which he had been guarding at Braga, started out northward -on April 6, with the 4,000 infantry of his own division and Lorges’ -dragoons, whom the Marshal had ordered up to his aid from Villa de -Conde. Heudelet was ordered to disperse the insurgents in the valleys -of the Lima and Minho, and to relieve Tuy and Vigo, where the French -garrisons were known to be in a state of siege. To reach them it was -necessary to pierce through the screen of militia and <i>Ordenanza</i> under -General Botilho, which had cut off all communication between Galicia -and the army of Portugal since the month of February.</p> - -<p>On April 7 the French general neared the line of the Lima, only -to find the bridges barricaded and Botilho’s horde entrenched behind -them. After some preliminary skirmishing, fords were discovered, which -Heudelet’s infantry passed upon the following morning, sending the -unfortunate Portuguese flying in every direction and capturing the -three guns which formed their sole artillery. On the tenth the frontier -fortress of Valenza was reached: it was found to be in a dilapidated -condition, and garrisoned by only 200 men, who surrendered at the first -summons. Tuy, where General Lamartinière had been shut up for the last -seven weeks, faces Valenza across the broad estuary of the Minho, so -that Heudelet was now in full communication with it.</p> - -<p>Lamartinière, as it will be remembered<a id="FNanchor_313" -href="#Footnote_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a>, had been left -behind,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[p. 263]</span> with -Soult’s heavy artillery, wheeled transport, and sick, when the 2nd -Corps marched for Orense on February 16. He had gathered in several -belated detachments which had started from Santiago in the hope -of joining the rear of the marching column, so that he had the -respectable force of 3,300 men, though 1,200 of them were invalids or -convalescents. The walls of Tuy were in a bad state of repair, but -the governor had found no great difficulty in maintaining himself -against the Galician insurgents on his own side of the Minho, and the -Portuguese levies from the other bank which Botilho sent to the aid -of the Spaniards. But he had been completely shut in since Soult’s -departure, and could give no information concerning Ney’s operations in -northern Galicia, or the general progress of the war in the other parts -of Spain. The only news which he could supply was that Vigo, the next -French garrison, had fallen into the hands of the enemy. On his way to -Portugal Soult had dropped a force of 700 men at that fortress, lest -its excellent harbour should be utilized by the British for throwing in -supplies to the Galician insurgents. The paymaster-general of the 2nd -Corps, with his treasure and its escort, had lagged behind during the -Marshal’s advance, and, being beset by the peasantry, had entered Vigo -instead of pushing on to Tuy.</p> - -<p>When Soult had passed out of sight on the way to Orense, the -Galicians of the coast-land, headed by Pablo Morillo, a lieutenant of -the regular army whom La Romana had sent down from the interior, and -by Manuel Garcia Del Barrio<a id="FNanchor_314" href="#Footnote_314" -class="fnanchor">[314]</a>, a colonel dispatched by the Central Junta -from Seville, had taken arms in great numbers, and blockaded Vigo. The -French commander, Colonel Chalot, found himself unable to defend the -whole extent of the fortifications for sheer want of men, and could not -prevent the insurgents from establishing themselves close under the -walls and keeping up a continual fire upon the garrison. He believed -that a serious assault would infallibly succeed, and only refused to -surrender because he was ashamed to yield to peasants. On March 23 two -English frigates, the <i>Lively</i> and <i>Venus</i>, appeared off the harbour -mouth, and began to supply the insurgents with ammunition, and to land -heavy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[p. 264]</span> naval guns -for their use. On the twenty-seventh one of the gates was battered -in, and the Galicians were preparing to storm the place, when Chalot -surrendered at discretion, only stipulating that he and his men should -be handed over to the British, and not to the Spaniards. This request -was granted, and Captain Mackinley received twenty-three officers and -nearly 800 men as prisoners, besides a number of sick and several -hundred non-combatants belonging to the train, and camp-followers. The -plunder taken consisted of sixty wagons, 339 horses, and more than -£6,000 in hard cash, composing the military chest of the 2nd Corps -[March 28].</p> - -<p>The Galicians had somewhat relaxed the blockade of Tuy in order -to press that of Vigo, and on the very day when Chalot surrendered, -General Lamartinière had sent out a flying column to endeavour to -communicate with his colleague. It returned pursued by the Spaniards, -to report to the governor that Vigo had fallen<a id="FNanchor_315" -href="#Footnote_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a>. On its way back to -Tuy it suffered a loss of seventy prisoners and nearly 200 killed and -wounded.</p> - -<p>Heudelet and Lamartinière had now some 7,000 men collected at Tuy, -a force with which they could easily have routed the whole of the -insurgents of the Minho, and forced them to retire into the mountains. -But Soult’s orders to his lieutenants were to avoid operations in -Galicia, and to concentrate towards Portugal. Tuy was evacuated, and -its garrison transferred across the frontier-river to the Portuguese -fortress of Valenza. Before the transference was completed, the French -generals received an unexpected visit from some troops of the 6th -Corps. Ney, disquieted as to the condition of Tuy and Vigo, had sent a -brigade under Maucune to seek for news of their garrisons. This force, -cutting its way through the insurgents, came into<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_265">[p. 265]</span> Tuy on April 12. Thus Heudelet was -at last able to get news of the operations of Ney. The information -received was not encouraging: the Duke of Elchingen was beset by the -Galicians on every side: La Romana had cut off one of his outlying -garrisons, that of Villafranca, and his communications with Leon were -so completely cut off that he had no reports to give as to the progress -of affairs in the rest of Spain. Finding that Vigo was lost, and the -garrison of Tuy relieved, Maucune retraced his steps and returned to -Santiago, harassed for the whole of his march by the insurgents of the -coast-land.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Heudelet’s communication with Oporto had been interrupted, -for the Portuguese, routed on the Lima a week before, had come back -to their old haunts, seized Braga, and blocked the high-road and -the bridges. Soult only got into touch with his expeditionary force -by sending out Lahoussaye with 3,000 men to reopen the road to the -North. When this was done, he bade Heudelet evacuate Valenza (whose -fortifications turned out to be in too bad order to be repaired in any -reasonable space of time), and to disperse his division in garrisons -for Braga, Viana, and Barcelos. The whole of the convoy and the sick -from Tuy were sent up to Oporto.</p> - -<p>The net result of Heudelet’s operations was that the Marshal, at the -cost of immobilizing one of his four infantry divisions, obtained a -somewhat precarious hold upon the flat country of Entre-Douro-e-Minho. -The towns were in his hands, but the <i>Ordenanza</i> had only retired to -the hills, and perpetually descended to worry Heudelet’s detachments, -and to murder couriers and foraging parties. Meanwhile 4,000 men were -wasted for all purposes of offensive action. Vigo, Tuy, and Valenza -had all been abandoned, and touch with the army of Galicia had been -completely lost.</p> - -<p>Even this modest amount of success had been denied to Soult’s -second expedition, that which he had sent under Loison towards the -Tras-os-Montes. The enemy with whom the French had to deal in this -region was Silveira, the same officer who had been defeated between -Monterey and Chaves in the early days of March, when the 2nd Corps -crossed the Portuguese frontier. He had fled with the wrecks of his -force towards Villa Real, at the moment when Soult marched on Braga, -and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[p. 266]</span> the Marshal had -fondly hoped that he was now a negligible quantity in the campaign. -This was far from being the case: the moment that Silveira heard that -the French had crossed the mountains and marched on Braga, he had -rallied his two regular regiments and his masses of <i>Ordenanza</i>, and -pounced down on the detachment under Commandant Messager, which Soult -had left in garrison at Chaves. This, it will be remembered, consisted -of no more than a company of infantry, a quantity of convalescents and -stragglers, and the untrustworthy Spanish-Portuguese ‘legion,’ which -had been formed out of the prisoners captured on March 6 and 12<a -id="FNanchor_316" href="#Footnote_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a>. -On the very day upon which Soult was routing Eben in front of Braga, -Silveira appeared before the walls of Chaves with 6,000 men. Messager -retired into the citadel, abandoning on the outer walls of the town -a few guns, which the Portuguese were thus enabled to turn against -the inner defences. After a siege of five days and much ineffective -cannonading, the governor surrendered, mainly because the native -‘legion’ was preparing to open the gates to Silveira. Twelve hundred -men were captured, of whom only one-third were Frenchmen capable of -bearing arms, the rest being sick or ‘legionaries.’</p> - -<p>Having made this successful stroke, Silveira marched down the Tamega -to Amarante, making a movement parallel to Soult’s advance on Oporto. -His recapture of Chaves brought several thousands more of <i>Ordenanza</i> -to his standard, and at Amarante he was joined on the thirtieth by -many of the fugitives who had escaped from the sack of Oporto on the -previous day. He spread his army, now amounting to 9,000 or 10,000 men, -along the left bank of the Tamega, whose bridges and fords he protected -with entrenchments. Advanced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[p. -267]</span> guards were pushed out on the further side of the river on -the three roads which lead to Oporto.</p> - -<p>When, therefore, the troops under Loison, which Soult had sent -out towards the Tras-os-Montes, drew near the Tamega, they found -the Portuguese in force. The cavalry could get no further forward -than Penafiel; when Foy’s infantry came up (April 7) Loison tried to -force the enemy back, both on the Amarante and on the Canavezes road. -He failed at each point, and sent back to the Marshal to ask for -reinforcements. Seeing him halt, Silveira, whose fault was not a want -of initiative, actually crossed the river with his whole army, and fell -upon the two French brigades. He was checked, but not badly beaten, and -Loison remained on the defensive (April 12).</p> - -<p>At this moment Soult heard of the fall of Chaves, full seventeen -days after it had happened. Realizing that Silveira was now growing -formidable, he sent to Loison’s aid General Delaborde with the second -of his infantry brigades, and Lorges’ dragoons. These reinforcements -brought the troops facing Silveira up to a total of some 6,500 -men—nearly a third of Soult’s whole disposable force. As Heudelet -was still absent on the Minho with 4,000 men more, the Marshal had less -than 10,000 left in and about Oporto. It was clear that the grand march -on Lisbon was not likely to begin for many a long day.</p> - -<p>On April 18 Loison advanced against Silveira, who boldly but -unwisely offered him battle on the heights of Villamea in front of -Amarante. Considering that he had but 2,000 regulars and 7,000 or 8,000 -half-armed militia and <i>Ordenanza</i>, his conduct can only be described -as rash in the extreme. He was, of course, beaten with great loss, and -hustled back into the town of Amarante. He would have lost both it -and its bridge, but for the gallantry of Colonel Patrick, an English -officer commanding a battalion of the 12th of the line, who rallied -his regiment in the streets, seized a group of houses and a convent -at the bridge-head and beat off the pursuers<a id="FNanchor_317" -href="#Footnote_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a>. Patrick was mortally -wounded, but the passage of the river was prevented. This saved the -situation: Silveira got his men together, planted<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_268">[p. 268]</span> his artillery so as to command the -bridge, and took post in entrenchments already constructed on the -commanding heights on the left bank. Next day Loison stormed the -buildings at the bridge-head, but found that he could get no further -forward. The town was his, but he could not debouch from it, as the -bridge was palisaded, built up with a barricade of masonry and raked by -the Portuguese artillery. Soult now sent up to aid Loison still further -reinforcements, Sarrut’s brigade of infantry from Merle’s division and -the second brigade of Lahoussaye’s dragoons. Thus no less than 9,000 -French troops, nearly half the army of Portugal, were concentrated at -Amarante.</p> - -<p>The fact that twelve whole days elapsed between the arrival of these -last succours and the forcing of the passage of the Tamega had no small -influence on the fate of Soult’s campaign. Hitherto the initiative had -lain with him, and he had faced adversaries who could only take the -defensive. This period was nearly at an end, for on April 22 Wellesley -had landed at Lisbon, the English reinforcements had begun to arrive, -and an army, differing in every quality from the hordes which the -Marshal had encountered north of the Douro, was about to assume the -offensive against him. By the time that Loison at last forced the -bridge of Amarante, the British were already on the march for Coimbra -and Oporto.</p> - -<p>Silveira and his motley host, therefore, were doing admirable -service to the cause of their country when they occupied 9,000 out of -Soult’s 21,000 men from April 20 to May 2 on the banks of the Tamega. -The ground was in their favour, but far stronger positions had been -forced ere now, and it was fortunate that this one was maintained for -so many days. The town of Amarante, it must be remembered, lies on -comparatively low ground: its bridge is completely commanded by the -heights on which Silveira had planted his camp and his batteries. The -river flows in a deep-sunk ravine, and was at this moment swollen into -an impassable torrent by the melting of the mountain snows. Loison -more than once sent swimmers by night, in search of places where the -strength of the current might be sufficiently moderate to allow of an -attempt to pass on rafts or boats. Not one of these explorers could get -near the further<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[p. 269]</span> -bank: they were swept off by the rushing water and cast ashore far down -stream, on the same side from which they had started. There had been -bridges above Amarante at Mondim and Aroza, and below it at Canavezes, -but reconnaissances showed that they had all three been blown up, and -that Portuguese detachments were watching their ruins, to prevent any -attempt to reconstruct them. Loison found, therefore, that he could -not turn Silveira’s position by a flanking movement: there was nothing -to do save to wait till the river should fall, or to attempt to force -the bridge of Amarante at all costs. Continual rains made it hopeless -to expect the subsidence of the Tamega for many days, wherefore Loison -devoted all his energies to the task of capturing the bridge. Even -here there was one difficulty to be faced which might prove fatal: -the French engineers had discovered that the structure was mined. It -was necessary, therefore, not only to drive back the Portuguese, but -to prevent them from blowing up the bridge at the moment of their -retreat.</p> - -<p>Loison had entrusted the details of the attack on the bridge to -Delaborde, whose infantry held the advanced posts. That officer first -tried to approach the head of the bridge by means of a flying sap; but -when it had advanced a certain distance the fire of the Portuguese from -across the river became so deadly, that after many men had been killed -in the endeavour to work up to the palisades on the bridge, the attempt -had to be abandoned. The next device recommended by the engineers was -that an attempt should be made to lay a trestle bridge at a spot some -way below the town, where a mill-dam contracted the width of the angry -river. This was found to be impossible, the stream proving to be far -deeper than had been supposed, while the Portuguese from the left bank -picked off many of the workmen [April 25].</p> - -<p>Soult was now growing vexed at the delay, and sent two guns of -position from Oporto to Loison, to enable him to subdue the fire of the -enemy’s batteries. He also offered to call up Heudelet’s division from -Braga, even at the cost of abandoning his hold on the northern part of -the province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho. But a mere increase of his already -considerable force would have been of no service to Loison; it was a -device for passing the Tamega that he needed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[p. 270]</span></p> - -<p>Such a scheme was at last laid before him by Captain Bouchard, -one of his engineers<a id="FNanchor_318" href="#Footnote_318" -class="fnanchor">[318]</a>. The French officers had discovered, by -a careful use of their glasses, that the Portuguese mine, which -was to destroy the bridge, was situated in its left-hand arch, and -that the mechanism by which it was to be worked was not a ‘sausage’ -or a train of powder<a id="FNanchor_319" href="#Footnote_319" -class="fnanchor">[319]</a>, but a loaded musket, whose muzzle was -placed in the mine, while to its trigger was attached a cord which ran -to the nearest trenches beyond the river. The musket was concealed in a -box, but its cord was visible to those provided with a good telescope. -Bouchard argued that if the cord could be cut or broken, the enemy -would not be able to touch off the mine, and he had thought out a plan -for securing his end. He maintained that an explosion at the French -side of the bridge would probably sever the cord without firing the -mine, and that a sudden assault, made immediately after the explosion, -and before the Portuguese could recover themselves, might carry the -barricades. In spite of the strongly-expressed doubts of Foy and -several other generals, Bouchard was finally permitted to carry out his -scheme.</p> - -<p>He executed it on the night of May 2, when a dense fog chanced to -favour his daring and hazardous proceedings. Having first told off -some <i>tirailleurs</i> to keep up a smart fire on the enemy’s trenches and -distract his attention, he sent four sappers, each provided with a -small powder-barrel, on to the bridge. The men, dressed in their grey -<i>capotes</i>, crawled on hands and knees, each rolling his barrel (which -was wrapped in cloth to deaden the sound) before him. They kept in -the shadow, and getting close under the parapet of the bridge crept -on till they reached the outermost Portuguese palisade. One after -another, at long intervals, each got forward unobserved, left his -barrel behind, and crawled back. The fourth sapper, starting to his -feet on his return journey, was observed by the Portuguese and shot -down, but Silveira’s men did not realize what he had been doing, and -merely took him for some daring explorer who was<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_271">[p. 271]</span> endeavouring to spy out the state of the -defences. After waiting for an hour, Bouchard sent out a fifth sapper, -who dragged behind him a ‘sausage’ of powder thirty yards long, which -he successfully connected with the four barrels. All was now ready, -and a battalion of picked grenadiers from Delaborde’s division, filed -silently down into the street near the bridge-head: a whole brigade -came behind them.</p> - -<p>At two o’clock Bouchard fired his sausage, and the explosion -followed. There were two chances of failure—one that the -apparatus for firing the mine might not be disturbed by the concussion, -the other that the shock might prove too strong, reach the mine, -and destroy the bridge. Neither of these fatalities took place: the -explosion duly broke the cord, shattered the nearest palisades, but -did not affect the mine. Before the smoke had cleared away Delaborde’s -grenadiers had dashed out on to the bridge, scrambled over the -barricades, and driven off the guard on the further side. Regiment -after regiment followed them, and charged up the mountain-side towards -Silveira’s batteries and entrenchments. None of the Portuguese were -under arms, save the few companies guarding the debouches from the -bridge. These were swept away, and the French columns came storming -into the bivouacs of the enemy before he was well awake. Hardly half -a dozen cannon shots were fired on them from the batteries, and the -greater part of the army of the Tras-os-Montes fled without firing a -shot. Silveira escaped almost naked by the back window of the house -above the bridge in which he had been sleeping.</p> - -<p>All the ten guns in the Portuguese batteries, five standards, and -several hundred prisoners fell into the hands of the victorious French, -who lost (it is said) no more than two killed and seven wounded. Their -good fortune had been extraordinary: without the opportune fog which -hid their advance, their preliminary operations would probably have -been discovered. If their explosion had done a little more or a little -less than was hoped, the bridge might have been totally destroyed, -or its barricades left practically uninjured—either of which -chances would have foiled Bouchard’s plan. But the luck of the army of -Portugal was still in the ascendant, and all went exactly as had been -intended.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[p. 272]</span></p> - -<p>Thus the Tamega was passed, and Silveira decisively beaten: his -levies had fled in all directions, and Soult opined that it would take -a long time to rally them. The day after the fight Loison was joined at -Amarante by Heudelet’s division from Braga, which, in obedience to the -Marshal’s orders, had marched to join the expeditionary force, leaving -only a single battalion behind to hold Viana. This was an unfortunate -move, as on Heudelet’s departure the <i>Ordenanza</i> came down from the -Serra de Santa Catalina, and overran the district which had been -evacuated, in spite of Lorges’ dragoons, who had been directed to keep -the roads clear after the infantry had been withdrawn.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile there were far more troops at Amarante than were needed -for the pursuit of Silveira, so Soult called back to Oporto the -division of Delaborde, leaving to Loison the infantry of Heudelet -and Sarrut, with Lahoussaye’s two brigades of dragoons, a force of -about 7,000 men. He ordered his lieutenant to scour the country as -far as Villa Real, and to send reconnaissances on the roads toward -Chaves and Braganza, with the object of frightening the insurgents -to retreat as far as possible. But Loison was not to advance for -more than two days’ march into the Tras-os-Montes, for rumours were -beginning to arrive concerning the appearance of British troops in -the direction of Coimbra, and the Marshal wished to keep his various -divisions close enough to each other to enable them to concentrate with -ease. If there were any truth in the news from the south, it would be -dangerous to allow a force which formed a third of the whole army of -Portugal to go astray in the heart of the mountains beyond the Tamega. -Loison accordingly marched off on May 8 towards Villa Real, which he -occupied without meeting with resistance. He learnt that Silveira and -his regulars had crossed the Douro, and gone off in the direction of -Lamego; but Botilho had fled up the Tamega towards Chaves, and the -<i>Ordenanza</i> were lurking in the hills. He then returned to Amarante, -where we may leave him, at the end of his tether, while we describe the -state of affairs in Oporto.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap13_6"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[p. 273]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER VI">SECTION XIII: CHAPTER VI</h3> - <p class="subh3">INTRIGUES AT OPORTO: THE CONSPIRACY OF ARGENTON</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">It will</span> have occurred to every student of -the operations of the army of Portugal during the month of April, that -it was strange that Marshal Soult should have remained quiescent at -Oporto, while the fate of his entire campaign was at stake during the -fighting on the Tamega. His head quarters were only thirty miles from -Amarante—but one day’s ride for himself and his staff—yet -he never paid a single flying visit to the scene of operations, even -after he had come to the conclusion that Loison was mismanaging the -whole business. He sent his lieutenant many letters of reproach, -forwarded to him guns of position, and ample reinforcements, but never -came himself to the spot to urge on the advance, even when ten and -twelve days had elapsed since the first unsuccessful attempts to force -the passage of the Tamega.</p> - -<p>The explanation of this persistent refusal of the Marshal to quit -Oporto is to be found in the political not the military state of -affairs. At Chaves he had proclaimed himself Viceroy of Portugal: -his viceroyalty at that moment embraced only just so much soil as -was covered by the encampments of his battalions. But after the -capture of Oporto and the occupation of the neighbouring towns of -the Entre-Douro-e-Minho, his position assumed an air of reality, and -he himself allowed the duties of the viceroy to trespass on those of -the commander of the Second Corps d’Armée. Nay more, there is good -reason to believe that he was not merely dreaming of setting up a -stable government in northern Portugal, but of something else. The -evidence as to his intentions is hard to weigh, for most of it comes -from the letters and diaries of men who disliked him, but there are -certain facts which cannot be disguised, and the inference from them is -irresistible.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[p. 274]</span></p> - -<p>With the example of Murat’s exaltation before them, the more -ambitious and capable of Napoleon’s marshals could not refrain from -dreaming of crowns and sceptres. Nothing seemed impossible in those -astounding days, when the Emperor was creating sovereigns and realms by -a stroke of the pen, whenever the notion seized him. The line between -an appanaged duke and a vassal prince was a very thin one—as the -case of Berthier shows. Junot had dreamed of royalty at Lisbon in 1808, -and there seems little doubt that the same mirage of a crown floated -before Soult’s eyes at Oporto in 1809. The city itself suggested the -idea: in the Treaty of Fontainebleau Napoleon had put on paper the -project for creating a ‘king of Northern Lusitania,’ with Oporto as his -capital and the Entre-Douro-e-Minho as his realm. Soult was cautious -and wary, but he was also greedy and ambitious. If, on the one hand, he -had a wholesome fear of his master, he had on the other good reasons -for believing that it might be possible to force his hand by presenting -him with a <i>fait accompli</i>.</p> - -<p>There was in the city the nucleus of a party which was not wholly -indisposed to submit to the French domination. It was mainly composed -of those enemies of the Bishop of Oporto who had been suffering from -his anarchical rule of the last two months. They were the friends and -relatives of those who had perished by the dagger or the rope, during -the mob-law which had prevailed ever since Dom Antonio returned from -Lisbon. To these may be added some men of purely material interests, -who saw that the insurrection was ruining them, and a remnant of -the old corrupt bureaucracy which had submitted once before to -Junot—whose only thought was to keep or gain profitable posts -under the government of the day, whatever that government might be. The -whole body of dissidents from the cause of patriotism and independence -was so small and weak, that it is impossible to believe that they would -have taken any overt action if they had not received encouragement from -Soult.</p> - -<p>This much is certain—that when the disorders which accompanied -the capture of Oporto were ended, Soult showed himself most anxious -to conciliate the Portuguese, not only by introducing a regular and -orderly government, but by going out of his way to soothe and flatter -any notable who lingered in the city. In<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_275">[p. 275]</span> his anxiety to win over the clergy he -caused new silver vessels and candelabra to be made to replace those -which had been stolen from the churches in the sack<a id="FNanchor_320" -href="#Footnote_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a>. He filled up all -civil appointments, whose holders had fled, from the small number of -persons who were ready to adhere to the French. He again, as already -at Chaves, endeavoured to enlist a native military force, by putting -tempting offers before those officers of the regular army who had been -made prisoners. All this might have had no other cause than the wish to -build up a party of <i>Afrancesados</i>, such as already existed in Spain, -and Soult openly declared that such was his object<a id="FNanchor_321" -href="#Footnote_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a>. This was the only -purpose that he avowed in his dispatches to the Emperor, and in his -communications with his colleagues.</p> - -<p>But if the Marshal had no ulterior object in view, it is singular -that all his native partisans concurred in setting on foot a movement -for getting him saluted as king of northern Portugal. The new -municipal authorities, whom he had established in the half-deserted -towns occupied by his troops, sent in petitions begging him to assume -the position of sovereign. Documents of this kind came in from -Braga, Barcelos, Guimaraens, Feira, Oliveira and Villa de Conde. -In Oporto proclamations were posted on the walls declaring that -‘the Prince Regent by his departure to Brazil had formally resigned -his crown, and that the only salvation for Portugal would be that -the Duke of Dalmatia, the most distinguished of the pupils of the -great Napoleon, should ascend the vacant throne<a id="FNanchor_322" -href="#Footnote_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a>.’ A priest named -Veloso and other persons went about in the street delivering harangues -in favour of the creation of the ‘kingdom of Northern Lusitania.’ A -register was opened in the municipal buildings<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_276">[p. 276]</span> to be signed by all persons who wished -to join in the petition to the Marshal to assume the regal title, and -a certain number of signatures were collected. A newspaper, called -the <cite>Diario do Porto</cite>, was started, to support the movement, and ran -for about a month. It is said that Soult’s partisans even succeeded -in gathering small crowds together, before the mansion where his -head quarters were established, to shout <i>Viva o Rei Nicolao!</i> and -that the acclamations were acknowledged by showers of copper coins -thrown from the windows<a id="FNanchor_323" href="#Footnote_323" -class="fnanchor">[323]</a>. The latter part of this story is no doubt -an invention of Soult’s enemies, but it was believed at the time by -the majority of the French officers, and ‘<i>Le Roi Nicolas</i>’ was for -the future his nickname in the army of Portugal<a id="FNanchor_324" -href="#Footnote_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a>. On April 19 the -Marshal ordered his chief of the staff, General Ricard, to issue -a circular letter to the generals of divisions and brigades<a -id="FNanchor_325" href="#Footnote_325" class="fnanchor">[325]</a>, -inviting their co-operation in the movement, and assuring them that -no disloyalty to the Emperor would be involved even if the Marshal -assumed regal powers<a id="FNanchor_326" href="#Footnote_326" -class="fnanchor">[326]</a>. This document is the most convincing -piece of evidence that exists as to Soult’s intentions. In it there -is no attempt made to conceal the movement that had been set on foot: -the writer’s only preoccupation is to show that it was not directed -against Napoleon. When, five months later, Ricard’s circular came -under the Emperor’s eye, it roused his wrath to such a pitch that -he wrote in the most stinging and sarcastic terms to Soult. ‘He is -astounded,’ he says, ‘to find the chief of the staff suggesting to the -generals that the Marshal should be requested to take up the reins -of government, and assume the attributes of supreme authority. If -he had assumed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[p. 277]</span> -sovereign power on his own responsibility, it would have been a crime, -clear <i>lèse-majesté</i>, an attack on the imperial authority. How could -a man of sense, like Soult, suppose that his master would permit him -to exercise any power that had not been delegated to him? No wonder -that the army grew discontented, and that rumours got about that the -Marshal was working for himself, not for the Emperor or France. After -receiving this circular, it is doubtful whether any French officer -would not have been fully justified in refusing to obey any further -orders issued from Oporto<a id="FNanchor_327" href="#Footnote_327" -class="fnanchor">[327]</a>.’</p> - -<p>This was written from Vienna, before the Emperor had received -any full and exact account of the details of Soult’s intrigues. Had -he but known them all, it is doubtful if he would have granted his -lieutenant the complete pardon and restoration to favour with which -his dispatch concludes<a id="FNanchor_328" href="#Footnote_328" -class="fnanchor">[328]</a>.</p> - -<p>There can be no doubt that the Duke of Dalmatia might have put a -stop to all the activity of his Portuguese friends by merely raising -his hand. It would have sufficed for him to assure the deputations -which visited him that his duty as the lieutenant of the Emperor -forbade him to listen to their proposals. He<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_278">[p. 278]</span> could have caused the proclamations to be -torn down, and have silenced the street orators. ‘They could not have -made him king against his own will,’ as one of his officers remarked<a -id="FNanchor_329" href="#Footnote_329" class="fnanchor">[329]</a>. -But no action of the kind was taken; and the movement was openly -encouraged. The Marshal’s explanation, that he was only taking the -best means in his power to build up a French party in Oporto, will not -stand examination. Why should the scheme involve his own promotion to -the throne, if his views were disinterested, and his actions merely -intended to serve his master’s ends? Is it conceivable that the -Portuguese should, of their own accord, and without any suggestion from -without, have hit upon the idea of crowning a conqueror whose very name -was strange to them three weeks before, and whose hands were red with -the blood of thousands of their fellow countrymen? Clever and cautious -though the Marshal was, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that -he had for once allowed his ambition to take the bit between its teeth, -and to whirl him off into an enterprise that was worthy of the most -hair-brained of adventurers.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the consequences of his intrigue were strange and various. -The army received the news of what was going on at Oporto with puzzled -surprise. Of those who were not present at the centre of affairs, -some refused to believe the stories that reached them, and merely -observed that the Marshal was not such a fool as to take in hand a plan -that was both treasonable to his master and preposterous in itself<a -id="FNanchor_330" href="#Footnote_330" class="fnanchor">[330]</a>. -Others, particularly his personal enemies, not only credited the -information but began to concert measures for resisting him if he -should try to carry out his scheme. This party was very strong among -the officers of Junot’s old army of Portugal, who had been transferred -in large numbers to the 2nd Corps. They disliked the expedition, had -been prophesying disaster from the first, and had criticized every move -of the Marshal. Now they found in the news of his intrigue another -excuse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[p. 279]</span> for running -counter to his orders. There is good reason for believing that Loison -and Delaborde had actually conferred on the necessity for seizing and -imprisoning the Marshal if he should take the final step and allow -himself to be proclaimed king. Both these generals were faithful -adherents of Napoleon, and had no thought save that of serving their -master. But there were other officers who watched the progress of -affairs with very different eyes.</p> - -<p>There had existed in the French army from the day when the empire -was first proclaimed, a party of malcontents who still regarded -Bonaparte as a usurper, and were only biding their time till it -might be safe to deal a blow at him. Hitherto his career had been -so uniformly successful that no opportunity had arisen. But secret -societies, of which the <i>Philadelphes</i> was the best known, were at -work all through the years of the Emperor’s reign: their one object -was to be ready for a <i>coup d’état</i> when the favourable moment should -arrive. The history of these associations is so obscure that it is -impossible to estimate their strength at any given time—no -trustworthy historian ever arose from their ranks to tell the story -of their schemes, when lips were unsealed by the fall of Napoleon<a -id="FNanchor_331" href="#Footnote_331" class="fnanchor">[331]</a>. It -is only by the sudden appearance of phenomena like Malet’s conspiracy -of 1812, and the plot which we are now about to describe, that the -reality of the existence of these secret societies is proved.</p> - -<p>In the army of Portugal there was a group of officers who belonged -to the band of the discontented, and were perfectly prepared to execute -a <i>pronunciamiento</i> against the empire if the times and circumstances -proved propitious. We know the names of four<a id="FNanchor_332" -href="#Footnote_332" class="fnanchor">[332]</a>: Donadieu, colonel -of the 47th of the line; Lafitte, colonel of the 18th Dragoons; his -brother, a captain in the same regiment, who was serving on Soult’s -staff; and Argenton, another captain, who was adjutant of Lafitte’s -regiment; two other plotters are hidden under the assumed names of -‘Dupont’ and ‘Garis,’ by which they were introduced to Wellesley.<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[p. 280]</span> There were <i>certainly</i> -other officers implicated, for it is inconceivable that six men could -have planned an insurrection unless they were sure of a certain -measure of support. At this moment they were carrying on an active -propaganda of discontent, especially among the officers of Delaborde’s -division and of Lahoussaye’s dragoons. There were many men who saw -the full iniquity of the Spanish War, and were disgusted at finding -themselves involved in it<a id="FNanchor_333" href="#Footnote_333" -class="fnanchor">[333]</a>. Others loathed the hanging and burning, -the shooting of priests and women, the riding down of half-armed -peasants, which had been their lot for the last two months. Still more -were simply discontented at being lost in a remote corner of Europe, -where glory and profit were both absent, and where ignominious death -at the hands of the lurking ‘sniper’ or the midnight assassin came -all too frequently—sometimes death accompanied by torture. It -was three months since the army had received a mail from France; they -might as well have been in Egypt or America, and they felt themselves -forgotten by their master. In many a mind the question arose whether -the game was worth playing: must they for ever persist in this wretched -interminable campaign, in order that the Duke of Dalmatia might become -a king, or even in order that the Emperor might be able to apply the -Continental System in its full rigour to this land of brutish peasants -and fanatical monks? A speedy return to France seemed the one thing -desirable.</p> - -<p>It is easy to understand that the conspirators found many -sympathizers, so long as they confined themselves to setting forth -the miseries of the campaign, and to criticizing the Marshal and the -Emperor. But they erred when they took a general readiness to grumble -for a sign that the army was ripe for revolt. However discontented the -officers might be, there were very few of them who were prepared to -engage in the game of high treason. The vast majority were still unable -to dissociate the idea of the Emperor from the idea of France.<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[p. 281]</span> It was only a few who -could rise (or sink) to the conception of turning their arms against -Bonaparte in order to free France from autocracy. This bore too close -a resemblance to treachery to be palatable to men of honour. None save -exalted Jacobins, or men of overweening ambition and few scruples, -could contemplate the idea with patience. When we find that the plans -of the conspirators included not merely a <i>pronunciamiento</i>, but the -conclusion of a secret pact with the enemies in arms against them, we -are driven to conclude that they belonged to the last-named of these -classes—that their heads were turned with the grandiose notion of -getting an army into their power and changing the fate of Europe.</p> - -<p>The conspirators, observing the course of affairs at Oporto, were -fully convinced that Soult would within a few days declare himself -‘King of Northern Lusitania.’ This act would produce an outburst of -wrath in the army, and they hoped to turn the inevitable mutiny to -their own profit. They intended to seize the Marshal, and then to make -an appeal to the soldiery, not in the name of Napoleon but in that of -France. They were also prepared to lay hands on any general who might -attempt to assume command of the troops in the Emperor’s interest<a -id="FNanchor_334" href="#Footnote_334" class="fnanchor">[334]</a>. -Donadieu and Lafitte had secured some of the officers of their own -regiments, and believed that the men would follow them. The other -corps, as they hoped, would be drawn away after them, and the cry of -liberty and the promise of an instant return to France would lure -the whole army into rebellion. So far the plot, though rash and -hazardous, might conceivably have been carried out. But their next -step was to be the issue of an appeal to Ney’s divisions and the -other French troops in northern Spain to join them, and march upon -the Pyrenees. Even though there were members of the secret societies -scattered all through the army, it seems absolutely impossible to -believe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[p. 282]</span> that -they could have carried away with them into open revolt the whole -of their companions. The movement of protest against Napoleon would -have begun and ended with the 2nd Corps, if even it got so far as the -initial <i>pronunciamiento</i><a id="FNanchor_335" href="#Footnote_335" -class="fnanchor">[335]</a>. To be effective it would have required a -strong backing in France, and the list of the leaders in that country, -on whom the conspirators said that they relied for aid, does not -give us a high opinion of the strength and organization of the plot. -The persons named were the old Jacobin general Lecourbe, Macdonald -who—though they did not know it—had just been taken back -into favour by the Emperor, and Dupont, who was in prison and incapable -for the moment of helping himself or any one else<a id="FNanchor_336" -href="#Footnote_336" class="fnanchor">[336]</a>. They also spoke -of sending for Moreau from America, and placing him at the head of -the whole movement. But it is clear that they were not in actual -communication with the generals in France, much less with the exiled -victor of Hohenlinden. The whole plan was ill-considered; it was the -result of the intense irritation against Soult and Bonaparte felt -by the officers of the army of Portugal, acting upon the disordered -ambition of a knot of intriguers. Anger and vain self-confidence -blinded them to the inadequacy of their resources.</p> - -<p>It was a main condition of the projected outbreak that Soult’s -position should be made impossible: the most favourable course of -events, so the conspirators held, would be that he should persist -in his monarchical ambitions and proclaim himself king. When he -did so, the party loyal to Bonaparte among his officers would make -an attempt—successful or unsuccessful—to seize his -person. Chaos and civil strife within the army would result, and -it was then that the conspirators intended to show their hand. It -would seem that their Machiavellian foresight<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_283">[p. 283]</span> went so far that they proposed to wait -till the Marshal should be imprisoned, or should find himself involved -in hostilities with the Bonapartists, and then offer him the aid of -their regiments, on condition that he should put himself at the head of -the anti-imperialist movement. All this was too ingenious for practical -work. But the next development of the plot was even more astonishing in -its futile cunning.</p> - -<p>The conspirators wished to draw the English commander at Lisbon -into their scheme—it was Cradock whom they had in view, for -Wellesley was in England when the plot began, and when it developed -he had landed indeed, but his arrival was not known. The part which -they had allotted to Cradock was twofold—he was to be asked to -send secret advice to the Portuguese notables of the north, ordering -them to feign an enthusiastic approval of Soult’s designs on the -crown, and to join with all possible clamour in the demonstrations at -Oporto. When this unexpected outburst of devotion to his person should -be forthcoming, they supposed that the Marshal would not hesitate any -longer to assume the crown. Then would follow civil strife and the -desired opportunity for intervention by the conspirators. The second -request which they intended to make was that Cradock should bring up -the British army to the front, and place it so as to make it dangerous -or impossible for Soult to force his way out of Portugal in the -direction of the middle Douro and Salamanca. They suggested Villa Real -in the Tras-os-Montes as a suitable position for him. Their idea in -making this proposal was that the army would be filled with despair at -seeing its best line of retreat cut off (that by Galicia was growing -to be considered impossible), and would therefore be more incensed -against Soult, and at the same time more inclined to secure safety -by coming to a pact and agreement with the enemy<a id="FNanchor_337" -href="#Footnote_337" class="fnanchor">[337]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[p. 284]</span></p> - -<p>The officer who volunteered for the dangerous task of going within -the English lines was Captain Argenton, the adjutant of Lafitte’s -regiment of dragoons. He was a vain, ready, plausible man, full of -resources but destitute of firmness: his character is sufficiently -shown by the fact that he ultimately wrecked the plot by his -indiscretion in tampering with loyal Bonapartists, who delated him, -and that when seized he betrayed the whole scheme to Soult in the hope -of saving his life. Clearly he was deficient both in the caution and -in the stoic courage required for a conspirator—successful or -unsuccessful.</p> - -<p>We must note that he started from the camp of Lahoussaye’s dragoons, -near Amarante, on April 19, that he reached the French outposts on the -Vouga and got into communication with Major Douglas, one of Beresford’s -officers in the Portuguese service, on the twenty-first, finally, -that at the invitation of Douglas and Beresford he came into Lisbon -and reached that city on the twenty-fifth, just in time to meet the -newly-landed Wellesley. The plot meanwhile stood still in his absence, -for the Duke of Dalmatia did not take the overt step which would -have given the plotters their opportunity—he refrained from -accepting the crown which his Portuguese partisans were so continually -pressing him to assume. Nothing decisive had occurred, when the -situation was suddenly changed by the appearance of the British army -upon the offensive on May 7<a id="FNanchor_338" href="#Footnote_338" -class="fnanchor">[338]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[p. 285]</span></p> - -<p class="nb mt2">N.B.—For some documents bearing on Argenton’s -conspiracy see <a href="#ChapA_6">Appendix</a> at the end of this -volume.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap14_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[p. 286]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">SECTION XIV</h2> - <p class="subh2">WELLESLEY’S CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN PORTUGAL<br /> - <small>(MAY 1809)</small></p> - <h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - <p class="subh3">SIR ARTHUR WELLESLEY</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">On Nov.</span> 25, 1808, Sir John Moore, in -answer to a question from Lord Castlereagh, wrote the following -conclusions as to the practicability of defending Portugal<a -id="FNanchor_339" href="#Footnote_339" class="fnanchor">[339]</a>:</p> - -<p>‘I can say generally that the frontier of Portugal is not defensible -against a superior force. It is an open frontier, all equally rugged, -but all equally to be penetrated. If the French succeed in Spain it -will be vain to attempt to resist them in Portugal. The Portuguese -are without a military force ... no dependence can be placed on any -aid that they can give. The British must in that event, I conceive, -immediately take steps to evacuate the country. Lisbon is the only -port, and therefore the only place from whence the army, with its -stores, can embark.... We might check the progress of the enemy while -the stores are embarking, and arrangements are being made for taking -off the army. Beyond this the defence of Lisbon or of Portugal should -not be thought of.’</p> - -<p>Four months later, on March 7, 1809, Sir Arthur Wellesley answered -the same question, put to him by the same minister, in very different -terms.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[p. 287]</span></p> - -<p>‘I have always been of opinion that Portugal might be defended, -whatever might be the result of the contest in Spain, and that in the -meantime measures adopted for the defence of Portugal would be highly -useful to the Spaniards in their contest with the French. My notion -was that the Portuguese military establishment ought to be revived, -and that in addition to those troops His Majesty ought to employ about -20,000 British troops, including about 4,000 cavalry. My opinion was -that, even if Spain should have been conquered, the French would not be -able to overrun Portugal with a smaller force than 100,000 men. As long -as the contest may continue in Spain, this force [the 20,000 British -troops], if it could be placed in a state of activity, would be highly -useful to the Spaniards, and might eventually decide the contest.’</p> - -<p>Between these two divergent views as to the practicability of -defending Portugal, Lord Castlereagh had to make his decision. On -it—though he could not be aware of the fact—depended -the future of Britain and of Bonaparte. He carefully considered the -situation; after the disasters of the Corunna retreat it required some -moral courage for a minister to advise the sending of another British -army to the Peninsula. Moore’s gloomy prognostications were echoed by -many military experts, and there were leading men—soldiers and -politicians—who declared that the only thing that now remained -to be done was to withdraw Cradock’s 10,000 sabres and bayonets from -Lisbon, before the French came near enough to that city to make their -embarkation difficult.</p> - -<p>Castlereagh resolved to stake his faith on the correctness of -Wellesley’s conclusions: all through these years of contest he had -made him his most trusted adviser on things military, and now he -did not swerve from his confidence. He announced to him, privately -in the end of March, and officially on April 2<a id="FNanchor_340" -href="#Footnote_340" class="fnanchor">[340]</a>, that the experiment -of a second expedition to Portugal should<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_288">[p. 288]</span> be tried, and that he himself should -have the conduct of it. Reinforcements should at once be sent out to -bring the British army at Lisbon up to a total of 30,000 men—the -number to which Wellesley, on consideration, raised the original 20,000 -of which he had spoken. Beresford had already sailed, with orders to -do all that he could for the reorganization of the disorderly native -forces of Portugal. The few regiments in England that were ready for -instant embarkation were sent off ere March ended, and began to arrive -at Lisbon early in April<a id="FNanchor_341" href="#Footnote_341" -class="fnanchor">[341]</a>. Others were rapidly prepared for foreign -service; but it was a misfortune that the Corunna battalions were -still too sickly and depleted to be able to sail, so that troops -who had seen nothing of the first campaign had to be sent out. The -majority of them were ‘second battalions’ from the home establishment<a -id="FNanchor_342" href="#Footnote_342" class="fnanchor">[342]</a>, -many of them very weak in numbers and full of young soldiers, as they -had been drained in the previous year to fill their first battalions -up to full strength. Finally, just behind the first convoys of -reinforcements, Wellesley himself set sail from Portsmouth, after -resigning his position as Under Secretary for Ireland, which, by a -curious anomaly, he had continued to hold all through the campaign of -Vimiero, and the proceedings of inquiry concerning the Convention of -Cintra. He sailed upon April 14, in the <i>Surveillante</i> frigate, had -the narrowest of escapes from shipwreck on the Isle of Wight during -the first night of his voyage, but soon obtained favourable winds and -reached Lisbon on the twenty-second, after a rapid passage of less -than eight days. Just before he started there had been received from -Portugal not only the correct intelligence that Soult had stormed -Oporto upon March 29, but a false rumour that Victor had been joined -by the corps of Sebastiani<a id="FNanchor_343" href="#Footnote_343" -class="fnanchor">[343]</a> and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[p. -289]</span> had after his victory at Medellin laid siege to Badajoz<a -id="FNanchor_344" href="#Footnote_344" class="fnanchor">[344]</a>. If -this had been true, the Duke of Belluno would have been strong enough -to move against Portugal with 25,000 men, after detaching a competent -force to watch the wrecks of Cuesta’s army. Fortunately the whole -story was an invention: but it kept Wellesley in a state of feverish -anxiety till he reached Lisbon. His fears are shown by the fact that he -drew up a memorandum for Lord Castlereagh, setting forth the supposed -situation, and asking what he was to do on arriving, if he should find -that Cradock had already embarked his troops and quitted Portugal<a -id="FNanchor_345" href="#Footnote_345" class="fnanchor">[345]</a>. -The Secretary of State, equally harrassed by the false intelligence, -replied that he was to make an effort to induce the Spaniards to -let him land the army at Cadiz, and, if they should refuse, might -reinforce the garrison of Gibraltar to 8,000 men, and bring the -rest of the expeditionary force back to England<a id="FNanchor_346" -href="#Footnote_346" class="fnanchor">[346]</a>.</p> - -<p>It was therefore an immense relief to Wellesley to find, when he -landed, that the news from Estremadura was false, that Victor had not -been reinforced, and that the 1st Corps was lying quiescent at Merida. -Soult was still at Oporto, Cradock had not been molested, and the -French invasion was at a standstill.</p> - -<p>It is comparatively seldom that the historian is able to compare in -detail a general’s original conception of a plan of campaign with the -actual scheme which he carried out. Still less common is it to find -that the commander has placed on record his ideas as to the general -policy to be pursued during a war, before he has assumed charge of -his army or issued his first orders. It is therefore most fortunate -that we have three documents from Wellesley’s hand, written early in -1809, which enable us to understand the principles on which<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[p. 290]</span> he believed that the -Peninsular War should be fought out. These are his <i>Memorandum on the -Defence of Portugal</i>, which we have already had occasion to quote, -and the two dispatches to Lord Castlereagh and to Mr. Frere which he -wrote immediately after his arrival in Lisbon. The first gives us his -general view of the war. He believed that an English army of 20,000 or -30,000 men, backed by the levies of Portugal, would be able to maintain -itself on the flank of the French army in Spain. Its presence there -would paralyse all the offensive actions of the enemy, and enable -the Spaniards to make head against the invaders as long as Portugal -remained unsubdued. The news that a British army had once more taken -the field would, he considered, induce the French to turn their main -efforts against Portugal<a id="FNanchor_347" href="#Footnote_347" -class="fnanchor">[347]</a>, but he believed that considering the -geography of the country, the character of its people, and the quality -of the British troops, they would fail in their attempt to overrun it. -They could not succeed, as he supposed, unless they could set aside -100,000 men for the task, and he did not see how they would ever be -able to spare such a large detachment out of the total force which -they then possessed in the Peninsula—a force whose numerical -strength (in common with all British statesmen and soldiers of the day) -he somewhat underrated. Being in the secrets of the Ministry, he was -already aware in March that a new war in Germany was about to break out -within the next few months. When Austria took the field, Napoleon would -not be able to spare a single battalion of reinforcements for Spain. -If the Spaniards pursued a reasonable military policy, and occupied -the attention of the main armies of the French, the enemy would never -be able to detach a force of 100,000 for the invasion of Portugal. -He would underrate the numbers required, make his attempt with -insufficient resources, and be beaten. When Wellesley landed at Lisbon, -and found that Soult had halted at Oporto, that Victor lay quiescent -at Merida, and that Lapisse with the troops from Salamanca <span -class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[p. 291]</span>had gone southward to join -the 1st Corps, and so severed the only link which bound together the -army in Northern Portugal and the army in Estremadura, he was reassured -as to the whole situation. Soult and Victor, isolated as they now were, -would each be too weak to beat the Anglo-Portuguese army. They were -too far apart to make co-operation between them possible, considering -the geography of Central Portugal, and the fact that the whole country -behind each was in a state of insurrection<a id="FNanchor_348" -href="#Footnote_348" class="fnanchor">[348]</a>.</p> - -<p>But ‘the best defensive is a vigorous local offensive,’ and -Wellesley saw the advantage of the central position of the British army -upon the Tagus. A few marches would place it at a point from which it -could fall either upon Victor to the right or Soult to the left, before -either marshal could be in a position to lend help to his colleague, -probably long before he would even be aware that his colleague was in -danger. Wellesley could strike at the one or the other, with almost -perfect certainty of catching him unreinforced. Ney, it was true, lay -behind Soult, but he was known to be entangled in the trammels of the -vigorous Galician insurrection. Victor had Sebastiani in his rear, but -the 4th Corps was having occupation found for it by the Spanish army of -La Mancha. It was improbable that either Soult or Victor, if suddenly -attacked, could call up any appreciable reinforcements. Victor, -moreover, had Cuesta to observe, and could not move off leaving 20,000 -Spaniards behind him. Soult was known to be distracted by Silveira’s -operations on the Tamega. Wellesley, therefore, saw that it was well -within his power to strike at either of the marshals. He would, of -course, be obliged to place a ‘containing force’ in front of the one -whom he resolved to leave alone for the present. But this detachment -need not be very large, and might be composed for the most part of -Portuguese<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[p. 292]</span> troops: -its duty would be to distract, but not to fight the enemy.</p> - -<p>On the whole Wellesley thought it would be best to make the first -onslaught on Soult. ‘I should prefer an attack on Victor,’ he wrote, -two days after landing, ‘in concert with Cuesta, if Soult were not in -possession of a fertile province of this kingdom, and of the favourite -town of Oporto, of which it is most desirable to deprive him. Any -operation upon Victor, connected with Cuesta’s movements, would -require time to concert, which may as well be employed in dislodging -Soult from the north of Portugal, before bringing the British army -to the eastern frontier<a id="FNanchor_349" href="#Footnote_349" -class="fnanchor">[349]</a>.... I intend to move upon Soult, as soon as -I can make some arrangement, on which I can depend, for the defence of -the Tagus, to impede or delay Victor’s progress, in case he should come -on while I am absent.’ ‘I think it probable,’ he wrote on the same day -but in another letter, ‘that Soult will not remain in Portugal when I -pass the Mondego: if he does, I shall attack him. If he should retire, -I am convinced that it would be most advantageous for the common cause -that we should remain on the defensive in the North of Portugal, -and act vigorously in co-operation with Cuesta against Victor<a -id="FNanchor_350" href="#Footnote_350" class="fnanchor">[350]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Further forward it was impossible to look: a blow at Soult, followed -by another at Victor, was all that could at present be contemplated. -Wellesley was directed, by the formal instructions which he had -received from Castlereagh, to do all that was possible to clear -Portugal and the frontier provinces of Spain from the enemy, but not to -strike deep into the Peninsula till he should have received permission -from home to do so. Nevertheless he had devoted some thought to the -remoter possibilities of the situation. If Portugal were preserved, and -Soult and Victor beaten off, more ambitious combinations might become -possible. He expressed his conviction that the French occupa<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[p. 293]</span>tion of Spain would only -be endangered when a very large force, acting in unison under the -guidance of a single mind, should be brought together. The co-operation -of the English army and that of Cuesta ‘might be the groundwork -of further measures of the same and a more extended description<a -id="FNanchor_351" href="#Footnote_351" class="fnanchor">[351]</a>.’ He -was under no delusions as to the easiness of the task before him: he -did not hurry on in thought, to dream of the expulsion of the French -from the Peninsula as a goal already in sight. But he believed that -he and his army ‘might be highly useful to the Spaniards and might -eventually decide the contest<a id="FNanchor_352" href="#Footnote_352" -class="fnanchor">[352]</a>.’</p> - -<p>It is the survey of documents such as these that enables us to -appreciate Wellesley at his best. He had gauged perfectly well the -situation and difficulties of the French. He saw exactly how much -was in his own power. The whole history of the Peninsular War for -the next two years is foreseen in his prophetic statement, that with -30,000 British troops and the Portuguese levies he would guarantee -to hold his own against any force of less than 100,000 French, and -that he did not think that the enemy would find it easy to collect -an army of that size to send against him. This is precisely what he -accomplished: for the first fifteen months after his arrival he held -with ease that frontier which Moore had described as ‘indefensible -against a superior force.’ When at last Napoleon, free from all other -continental troubles, launched against him an army under Masséna, which -almost reached the figure<a id="FNanchor_353" href="#Footnote_353" -class="fnanchor">[353]</a> that he had described as irresistible in -1809, he showed in 1810-11 that he had built up resources for himself -which enabled him to beat off even that number of enemies. Though -four-fifths of Spain had been subdued, he held his own, because -he had grasped the fundamental truth that (to use his own words) -‘the more ground the French hold down, the weaker will they be at -any given point.’ In short, he had fathomed the great secret, that -Napoleon’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[p. 294]</span> military -power—vast as it was—had its limits: that the Emperor could -not send to Spain a force sufficient to hold down every province of a -thoroughly disaffected country, and also to provide (over and above -the garrisons) a field army large enough to beat the Anglo-Portuguese -and capture Lisbon. If the French dispersed their divisions, and kept -down the vast tracts of conquered territory, they had no force left -with which to take the offensive against Portugal: if they massed -their armies, they had to give up broad regions, which immediately -relapsed into insurrection and required to be subdued again. This was -as true in the beginning of the war as in the end. In 1809 the army -that forced Wellesley to retreat after Talavera was only produced by -evacuating the whole province of Galicia, which passed back into the -hands of the insurgents. In 1812, in a similar way, the overpowering -force which beat him back from Burgos, had been gathered only by -surrendering to the Spanish Government the whole of the four kingdoms -of Andalusia. On the other hand, during the long periods when the enemy -had dispersed himself, and was garrisoning the whole south and centre -of Spain, e.g. for the first six months of 1810, and for the last six -months of 1811, Wellesley held his own on the Portuguese frontier in -complete confidence, assured that no sufficient force could be brought -up against him, till the enemy either procured new troops from France -or gave up some great section of the regions which he was holding -down. A detailed insight into the future is impossible to any general, -however great, but already in April 1809 Wellesley had grasped the main -outlines of the war that was to be.</p> - -<p>Before passing on to the details of the campaign on the Douro, with -which Wellesley’s long series of victories began, it is well to take a -glance at the man himself, as he sat at his desk in Lisbon dictating -the orders that were to change the face of the war.</p> - -<p>Arthur Wellesley was now within a few days of completing his -fortieth year. He was a slight but wiry man of middle stature, with -a long face, an aquiline nose, and a keen but cold grey eye. Owning -an iron constitution on which no climate or season seemed to make -the least impression, he was physically fit for all the work that -lay before him—work more fatiguing<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_295">[p. 295]</span> than that which falls to most generals. -For in the Peninsula he was required, as it soon appeared, to be almost -as much of a statesman as of a general; while at the same time, owing -to the inexperience of the British officers of that day in warfare on -a large scale, he was obliged for some time to discharge for himself -many of the duties which properly fall to the lot of the chief of -the staff, the commissary-general, the paymaster-general, and the -quartermaster-general in a well organized army. No amount of toil, -bodily or mental, appeared too much for that active and alert mind, -or for the body which seven years of service in India seemed to have -tanned and hardened rather than to have relaxed. During the whole of -his Peninsular campaigns, from 1808 to 1814, he was never prostrated -by any serious ailment. Autumn rains, summer heat, the cold of winter, -had no power over him. He could put up with a very small allowance of -sleep, and when necessary could snatch useful moments of repose, at -any moment of the twenty-four hours when no pressing duty chanced to -be on hand. His manner of life was simple and austere in the extreme; -no commander-in-chief ever travelled with less baggage, or could be -content with more Spartan fare. Long after his wars were over the habit -of bleak frugality clung to him, and in his old age men wondered at the -bare and comfortless surroundings that he chose for himself, and at the -scanty meals that sustained his spare but active frame. Officers who -had long served in India were generally supposed to contract habits -of luxury and display, but Wellesley was the exception that proved -the rule. He hated show of any kind; after the first few days of the -campaign of 1809 he discarded the escort which was wont to accompany -the commander-in-chief. It was on very rare occasions that he was seen -in his full uniform: the army knew him best in the plain blue frock -coat, the small featherless cocked hat, and the short cape, which have -been handed down to us in a hundred drawings. Not unfrequently he -would ride about among his cantonments dressed like a civilian in a -round hat and grey trousers<a id="FNanchor_354" href="#Footnote_354" -class="fnanchor">[354]</a>. He was as careless about the dress of his -subordinates as about his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[p. -296]</span> own, and there probably never existed an army in which -so little fuss was made about unessential trappings as that which -served in the Peninsula from 1809 to 1814<a id="FNanchor_355" -href="#Footnote_355" class="fnanchor">[355]</a>. Nothing could be less -showy than its head-quarters’ staff—a small group of blue-coated -officers, with an orderly dragoon or two, riding in the wake of the -dark cape and low glazed cocked hat of the most unpretentious of -chiefs. It contrasted in the strangest way with the plumes and gold -lace of the French marshals and their elaborately ornate staffs<a -id="FNanchor_356" href="#Footnote_356" class="fnanchor">[356]</a>.</p> - -<p>Considered as a man Wellesley had his defects and his limitations; -we shall have ere long to draw attention to some of them. But from -the intellectual point of view he commands our undivided admiration -as a practical soldier<a id="FNanchor_357" href="#Footnote_357" -class="fnanchor">[357]</a>. A careful study of his dispatches -leaves us in a state of wonder at the imbecility of the school -of writers—mostly continental—who have continued to -assert for the last eighty years that he was no more than a man of -ordinary abilities, who had an unfair share of good luck, and was -presented with a series of victories by the mistakes and jealousies -of the generals opposed to him. Such assertions are the results of -blind ignorance and prejudice. When found in English writers they -merely reflect the bitter hatred that was felt toward Wellesley by -his political opponents during the second and third decades of the -nineteenth century. In French military authors they only represent -the resentful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[p. 297]</span> -carpings of the vanquished army, which preferred to think that it was -beaten by anything rather than by the ability of the conqueror. In -1820 every retired colonel across the Channel was ready to demonstrate -that Toulouse was an English defeat, that Talavera was a drawn -battle, and that Wellesley was over-rash or over-cautious, a fool -or a coward, according as their thesis of the moment might demand<a -id="FNanchor_358" href="#Footnote_358" class="fnanchor">[358]</a>. -They were but echoing their Emperor’s rancorous remark to Soult, on -the hillside of La Belle Alliance, when after telling the Marshal -that he only thought his old adversary a good general because he had -been beaten by him, he added, ‘Et moi, je vous dis que Wellington est -un mauvais général, et que les Anglais sont de mauvaises troupes<a -id="FNanchor_359" href="#Footnote_359" class="fnanchor">[359]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Bonaparte consistently refused to do justice to the abilities -of the Duke. He regarded him as a bitter personal enemy, and his -whole attitude towards Wellesley was expressed in the scandalous -legacy to Cantillon<a id="FNanchor_360" href="#Footnote_360" -class="fnanchor">[360]</a> which disgraces his last will and testament. -In strict conformity with their master’s pose, his followers, literary -and military, have refused to see anything great in the victor of June -18, 1815. Even to the present day too many historians from the other -side of the straits continue to follow in the steps of Thiers, and to -express wonder at the inexplicable triumphs of the mediocre general who -routed in succession all the best marshals of France.</p> - -<p>To clear away any lingering doubts as to Wellesley’s extraordinary -ability, the student of history has only to read a few of his more -notable dispatches. The man who could write the two Memoranda -to Castlereagh dated September 5, 1808, and March 7, 1809<a -id="FNanchor_361" href="#Footnote_361" class="fnanchor">[361]</a>, -foresaw the whole future of the Peninsular War. To know, at that -early stage of the struggle, that the Spaniards would be beaten -when—and wherever they offered battle, that the French, in spite -of their victories, would never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[p. -298]</span> be able to conquer and hold down the entire country, that -30,000 British troops would be able to defend Portugal against any -force that could be collected against them, required the mind of a -soldier of the first class. When the earliest of those memoranda was -written, most Englishmen believed that the Spaniards were about to -deliver their country by their own arms: Wellesley saw that the notion -was vain and absurd. When, on the other hand, he wrote the second, -the idea was abroad that all was lost, that after Corunna no second -British army would be sent to the Peninsula, and that Portugal was -indefensible. Far from sharing these gloomy views he asks for 30,000 -men, and states that though Spain may be overrun, though the Portuguese -army may be in a state of hopeless disarray, he yet hopes with this -handful of men to maintain the struggle, and eventually to decide the -contest. How many generals has the world seen who could have framed -such a prophecy, and have verified it?</p> - -<p>To talk of the good fortune of Wellesley, of his ‘lucky star,’ -is absurd. He had, like other generals, his occasional uncovenanted -mercies and happy chances: but few commanders had more strokes of -undeserved disappointment, or saw more of their plans frustrated by a -stupid subordinate, an unexpected turn of the weather, an incalculable -accident, or a piece of false news. He had his fair proportion of the -chances of war, good and bad, and no more. If fortune was with him at -Oporto in 1809, or at El Bodon in 1811, how many were the occasions on -which she played him scurvy tricks? A few examples may suffice. In May -1809 he might have captured the whole of Soult’s army, if Silveira had -but obeyed orders and occupied the impregnable defile of Salamonde. -On the night of Salamanca he might have dealt in a similar fashion -with Marmont’s routed host, if Carlos d’España had not withdrawn the -garrison of Alba de Tormes, in flat disobedience to his instructions, -and so left the fords open to the flying French. It is needless to -multiply instances of such incalculable misfortune; any serious student -of the Peninsular War can cite them by the dozen. Masséna’s invasion of -Portugal in 1810 would have been checked by the autumn rains, and never -have penetrated far within the frontier, but for the unlucky bomb which -blew up the grand magazine at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[p. -299]</span> Almeida, and reduced in a day a fortress which ought to -have held out for a month. In the autumn of 1812 the retreat beyond the -Douro need never have been made, if Ballasteros had obeyed orders, and -moved up from Granada to threaten Soult’s flank, instead of remaining -torpid in his cantonments 200 miles from the theatre of war.</p> - -<p>Wellington was not the child of fortune; he was a great strategist -and tactician, placed in a situation in which the military dangers -furnished but half his difficulties. He had to cherish his single -precious British army corps, and to keep it from any unnecessary loss, -because if destroyed it could not be replaced. With those 30,000 men -he had promised to keep up the war; the home government was reluctant -to risk the whole of its available field army in one quarter, and for -years refused to raise his numbers far above that total. It was not -till the middle of 1810 that his original five divisions of infantry -were increased to six, nor till 1811 that his seventh and eighth -divisions were completed<a id="FNanchor_362" href="#Footnote_362" -class="fnanchor">[362]</a>. Right down to 1812 it was certain that -if he had lost any considerable fraction of his modest army, the -ministry might have recalled him and abandoned Portugal. He had to -fight with a full consciousness that a single disaster would have been -irreparable, because it would have been followed not by the sending -off of reinforcements to replace the divisions that might be lost, but -by an order to evacuate the Peninsula. His French opponents fought -under no such disabilities; when beaten they had other armies at hand -on which to fall back, and behind all the inexhaustible reserve of -Napoleon’s conscription. Considering the campaigns of 1809-10-11 it is -not Wellington’s oft-censured prudence that we find astonishing, but -his boldness. Instead of wondering that he did not attempt to relieve -Rodrigo or Almeida in July-August 1810, or to fall upon Masséna at -Santarem in January 1811, we are filled with surprise at the daring -which inspired the storming of Oporto, and the offering of battle -at Busaco and Fuentes d’Oñoro. When a defeat spelt ruin and recall, -it required no small courage to take any risks: but Wellesley had -the sanest of minds; he could draw the line with absolute accuracy -between enterprise and rashness, between<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_300">[p. 300]</span> the possible and the impossible. He -had learned to gauge with wonderful insight the difficulties and -disabilities of his enemies, and to see exactly how far they might be -reckoned upon in discounting the military situation. After some time he -arrived at an accurate estimate of the individual marshals opposed to -him, and was ready to take the personal equation into consideration, -according as he had to deal with Soult or Masséna, Marmont or Jourdan. -In short, he was a safe general, not a cautious one. When once the -hopeless disparity between his own resources and those of the enemy -had ceased to exist, in the year 1812, he soon showed the worth of the -silly taunts which imputed timidity to him, by the smashing blows which -reduced Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, and the lightning-stroke which -dashed to pieces Marmont’s army at Salamanca. In the next year, when -for the first time he could count on an actual superiority of force<a -id="FNanchor_363" href="#Footnote_363" class="fnanchor">[363]</a>, his -irresistible march to Vittoria displayed his mastery of the art of -using an advantage to the uttermost. Napoleon himself never punished a -strategic fault on the part of the enemy with such majestic ease and -confidence.</p> - -<p>Of Wellington as a tactician we have already had occasion -to speak in the first volume of this work<a id="FNanchor_364" -href="#Footnote_364" class="fnanchor">[364]</a>. It is only necessary -to repeat here that the groundwork of his tactics was his knowledge of -the fact that the line could beat the column, whether on the offensive -or the defensive. The <i>data</i> for forming the conclusions had been in -possession of any one who chose to utilize them, but it was Wellesley -who put his knowledge to full account. Even before he left India, it -is said, he had grasped the great secret, and had remarked to his -confidants that ‘the French were sweeping everything before them in -Europe by the use of the formation in column, but that he was fully -convinced that the column could and would be beaten by the line<a -id="FNanchor_365" href="#Footnote_365" class="fnanchor">[365]</a>.’ Yet -even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[p. 301]</span> though the -epoch-making, yet half-forgotten, fight of Maida had occurred since -then, the first Peninsular battles came as a revelation to the world. -After Vimiero and Talavera it became known that the line was certainly -superior for the defensive, but it was only the triumphant line-advance -of Salamanca that finally divulged the fact that the British method -was equally sure and certain for the attack. If Wellesley’s reputation -rested on the single fact that he had made this discovery known to -the world, he would have won by this alone a grand place in military -history. But his reputation depends even more on his strategical than -on his tactical triumphs. He was a battle-general of the first rank, -but his talents on the day of decisive action would not have sufficed -to clear the French out of Spain. His true greatness is best shown -by his all-embracing grasp of the political, geographical, and moral -factors of the situation in the Peninsula, and by the way in which -he utilized them all when drawing up the plans for his triumphant -campaigns.</p> - -<p>As to tactics indeed, there are points on which it would be easy -to point out defects in Wellesley’s method—in especial it -would be possible to develop the two old, but none the less true, -criticisms that he was ‘pre-eminently an infantry general,’ and that -‘when he had won a battle he did not always utilize his success to -the full legitimate end.’ The two charges hang closely together, -for the one defect was but the consequence of the other; a tendency -to refrain from making the greatest possible use of his cavalry for -breaking up an enemy who had already begun to give ground, and for -pursuing him <i>à outrance</i> when he was well on the run, was the natural -concomitant of a predilection for the use of infantry in the winning -of battles. If Napoleon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[p. -302]</span> had commanded the British army at Salamanca, Marmont’s -troops would have been annihilated by a rapid cavalry pursuit, -instead of merely scattered. If Wellington had commanded the French -army in the Jena-Auerstadt campaign, it is reasonably certain that -Hohenlöhe’s broken divisions would have escaped into the interior, -instead of being garnered in piecemeal by the inexorable and untiring -chase kept up by the French horse. The very distrust which Wellington -expressed for the capacities of the British cavalry<a id="FNanchor_366" -href="#Footnote_366" class="fnanchor">[366]</a>, who after all were -admirable troops when well handled, is but an illustration of the fact -that he was no true lover of the mounted arm. But of this we have -already spoken, and it is unnecessary to dwell at greater length on -his minor deficiencies than on his numerous excellencies on the day of -battle.</p> - -<p>A far more serious charge against Wellesley than any which can be -grounded on his tactical faults, is that, though he won the confidence -of his army, he could never win their affection. ‘The sight of his -long nose among us on a battle morning,’ wrote one of his veterans, -‘was worth ten thousand men, any day of the week<a id="FNanchor_367" -href="#Footnote_367" class="fnanchor">[367]</a>.’ But it was not -personal attachment to him which nerved his soldiers to make their -best effort: he was feared, respected, and followed, but never loved. -He was obeyed with alacrity, but not with enthusiasm. His officers and -his men believed, and believed rightly, that he looked upon them as -admirable tools for the task that had been set him, and did his best -to keep those tools unbroken and in good repair, but that he felt no -deep personal interest in their welfare. It is seldom that the veterans -who have served under a great commander have failed to idolize as -well as to respect him. But Wellesley’s men, while acknowledging all -his greatness, complained that he systematically neglected both their -feelings and their interests<a id="FNanchor_368" href="#Footnote_368" -class="fnanchor">[368]</a>.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[p. -303]</span> It was but too true: he showed for his army, the officers -no less than the rank and file, a certain coldness that was partly -bred of intellectual contempt, partly of aristocratic hauteur. There -are words of his on record concerning his men which can never be -forgiven, and words, too, not spoken in the heat of action or the -moment of disappointment, but in the leisure of his later years. -Take, for example, the passage in Lord Stanhope’s <cite>Conversations -with the Duke of Wellington</cite>, where he is speaking of the rank and -file: ‘they are the scum of the earth; English soldiers are fellows -who have enlisted for drink. That is the plain fact—they have -<i>all</i> enlisted for drink<a id="FNanchor_369" href="#Footnote_369" -class="fnanchor">[369]</a>.’ He described the men who won Talavera -as ‘a rabble who could not bear success,’ and the Waterloo troops as -‘an infamous army’—the terms are unpardonable. His notions of -discipline were worthy of one of the drill sergeants of Frederic the -Great. ‘I have no idea of any great effect being produced on British -soldiers,’ he once said before a Royal Commission, ‘by anything but the -fear of immediate corporal punishment.’ Flogging was the one remedy for -all evils, and he declared that it was absolutely impossible to manage -the army without it. For any idea of appealing to the men’s better -feeling, or moving them by sentiment, he had the greatest contempt.</p> - -<p>The most distressing feature in Wellington’s condemnation of the -character of his soldiery is that he was sinning against the light: -officers, of less note but of greater heart, were appealing to the -self-respect, patriotism, and good feeling of their men, with the best -results, at the very moment that Wellesley was denouncing them as -soulless clods and irreclaimable drunkards. It was not by the lash that -regiments like Donnellan’s 48th or Colborne’s 52nd, or many other corps -of the Peninsular army were kept together. The reminiscences of the -Napiers, and many other regimental officers of the better class, are -full of anecdotes illustrating the virtues of the rank and file. There -are dozens of diaries and autobiographies of sergeants and privates of -Wellesley’s old divisions, which prove that there were plenty of<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[p. 304]</span> well-conditioned, -intelligent, sober and religious men in the ranks—it is -only necessary to cite as examples the books of Surtees, Anton, -Morris, and Donaldson<a id="FNanchor_370" href="#Footnote_370" -class="fnanchor">[370]</a>. If there were also thousands of drunkards -and reckless brutes in the service, the blame for their misdoings must -fall to a great extent on the system under which they were trained. The -ruthless mediaeval cruelty of the code of punishment alone will account -for half the ruffianism of the army.</p> - -<p>The same indiscriminate censure which Wellesley poured on his men he -often vented on his officers, denouncing them <i>en masse</i> in the most -reckless fashion. There were careless colonels and stupid subalterns -enough under him, but what can excuse such sweeping statements as -that ‘When I give an order to an officer of the line it is, I venture -to say, a hundred to one against its being done at all,’ or for his -Circular of November, 1812, declaring that all the evils of the Burgos -retreat were due ‘to the habitual inattention of the officers of -regiments to their duty.’ It was a bitter blow to the officers of the -many battalions which had kept their order and discipline, to find -themselves confused with the offending corps in the same general blast -of censure. But by 1812 they were well accustomed to such slashing -criticism on the part of their commander.</p> - -<p>Such a chief could not win the sympathy of his army, though he -might command their intellectual respect. Equally unfortunate were -his autocratic temper and his unwillingness to concede any latitude -of instructions to his subordinates, features in his character which -effectually prevented him from forming a school of good officers -capable of carrying out large independent operations. He trained -admirable generals of division, but not commanders of armies, for -he always insisted on keeping the details of operations, even in -distant parts of the theatre of war, entirely under his own hand. His -preference for Hill as a com<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[p. -305]</span>mander of detached corps came entirely from the fact that -he could trust that worthy and gallant officer to make no movements -on his own initiative, and to play a safe waiting game which gave -his chief no anxiety. In his younger days, while serving under other -generals, Wellesley had been by no means an exponent of blind obedience -or unquestioning deference to the orders of his superiors. But when -placed in command himself he was autocratic to a fault. He was prone to -regard any criticism of his directions as insubordination. He preferred -a lieutenant on whom he could rely for a literal obedience to orders, -to another of more active brain who possessed initiative and would -‘think for himself.’ There was hardly an officer in the Peninsular -army to whom he would grant a free hand even in the carrying out of -comparatively small tasks<a id="FNanchor_371" href="#Footnote_371" -class="fnanchor">[371]</a>. His most trusted subordinates were liable -to find themselves overwhelmed with rebukes delivered in the most -tempestuous fashion if they took upon themselves to issue a command on -their own responsibility, even when the great chief was many leagues -away. Sometimes when their inspirations had been obviously useful and -successful, he would wind up his harangue, not with an expression of -approval, but with a recommendation to the effect that ‘matters had -turned out all right, but they must never again act without orders<a -id="FNanchor_372" href="#Footnote_372" class="fnanchor">[372]</a>.’ -This was not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[p. 306]</span> -the way to develop their strategical abilities, or to secure that -intelligent co-operation which is more valuable than blind obedience. -It may be pleaded in Wellesley’s defence that at the commencement of -the war he had many stupid and discontented officers under him, and -that their carpings at his orders were often as absurd as they were -malevolent. But it was not only for them that he reserved his thunders. -They fell not unfrequently on able and willing men, who had done -no more than think for themselves, when an urgent problem had been -presented to them. He was, it must be confessed, a thankless master to -serve: he was almost as pitiless as Frederic the Great in resenting -a mistake or an apparent disobedience to orders. The case of Norman -Ramsay may serve as an example. Ramsay was perhaps the most brilliant -artillery officer in the Peninsular army: the famous charge of his guns -through a French cavalry regiment at Fuentes d’Oñoro is one of the -best-known exploits of the whole war. But at Vittoria he made an error -in comprehending orders, and moved forward from a village where the -commander-in-chief had intended to keep him stationed. He was placed -under arrest for three weeks, cut out of his mention in dispatches, -and deprived of the brevet-majority which had been promised him. His -career was broken, and two years later he fell, still a captain, at -Waterloo.</p> - -<p>It would almost seem that Wellesley had worked out for himself -some sort of general rule, to the effect that incompetent being more -common than competent subordinates, it would be safer in the long -run to prohibit all use of personal initiative, as the occasions on -which it would be wisely and usefully employed would be less numerous -than those on which it would result in blunders and perils. He had a -fine intellectual contempt for many of the officers whom he had to -employ, and never shrank from showing it. When once he had made up -his mind, he could not listen with patience to advice or criticism. -It was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[p. 307]</span> this that -made him such a political failure in his latter days: he carried into -the cabinet the methods of the camp, and could not understand why -they were resented. His colleagues ‘started up with crotchets,’ he -complained: ‘I have not been used to that in the early part of my life. -I was accustomed to carry on things in quite a different manner. I -assembled my officers and laid down my plan, and it was carried into -effect without any more words<a id="FNanchor_373" href="#Footnote_373" -class="fnanchor">[373]</a>.’ For councils of war, or other devices -by which a weak commander-in-chief endeavours to discharge some of -the burden of responsibility upon the shoulders of his lieutenants, -Wellesley had the greatest dislike. He never allowed discussion as -long as he held supreme authority in the field: he would have liked to -enforce the same rule in the cabinet when he became prime minister of -England. Sometimes he had glimpses of the fact that it is unwise to -show open scorn for the opinion of others, especially when they are -men of influence or capacity<a id="FNanchor_374" href="#Footnote_374" -class="fnanchor">[374]</a>. But it was not often that the idea occurred -to him. His reception of an officer who came with a petition or a -piece of advice was often such that the visitor went away boiling with -rage, or prostrated with nervous exhaustion. Charles Stewart is said -to have wept after one stormy interview with his chief, and Picton, -whose attempts at familiarity were particularly offensive to the Duke, -would go away muttering words that could not be consigned to print<a -id="FNanchor_375" href="#Footnote_375" class="fnanchor">[375]</a>. A -passage from the memoir of the chief of one of his departments may -suffice to paint the sort of scene which used to occur:—</p> - -<p>‘One morning I was in his Lordship’s small apartment, when two -officers were there, to request leave to go to England. A general -officer, of a noble family, commanding a brigade, advanced, saying, -“My Lord, I have of late been suffering much from rheumatism—.” -Without allowing him time to proceed further, Lord Wellington rapidly -said—“and you must go to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[p. -308]</span> England to get cured of it. By all means. Go there -immediately.” The general, surprised at his Lordship’s tone and -manner, looked abashed, while he made a profound bow. To prevent his -saying anything more, his Lordship turned to address me, inquiring -about the casualties of the preceding night<a id="FNanchor_376" -href="#Footnote_376" class="fnanchor">[376]</a>,’ &c.</p> - -<p>Hardly less humiliating to many of Wellesley’s subordinates than -personal interviews of this kind, were the letters which they received -from him, when he chanced to be at a distance. He had not the art, -probably he had not the wish, to conceal the fact that he despised -as well as disliked many of those whom the fortune of war, or the -exigencies of home patronage, placed under his command. The same -icy intellectual contempt which he showed for the needy peers, the -grovelling place-hunters, and the hungry lawyers of Dublin, when he -was under-secretary for Ireland, pierces through many of his letters -to the officers of the army of Portugal. Very frequently his mean -opinion of their abilities was justifiable—but there was no need -to let it appear. In this part of the management of men Wellesley -was deficient: he failed to see that it is better in the end to rule -subordinates by appealing to their zeal and loyalty than to their -fears, and that a little commendation for work well performed goes -further in its effect on an army than much censure for what has been -done amiss. When he has to praise his officers in a dispatch, the -terms used are always formal and official in the extreme—it -is the rarest thing to find a phrase which seems to come from the -heart. The careful reader will know what importance to attach to these -expressions of approval, when he notes that the names of subordinates -whom Wellesley despised and distrusted are inserted, all in due order -of seniority, between those of the men who had really done the work<a -id="FNanchor_377" href="#Footnote_377" class="fnanchor">[377]</a>. -All commanders-in-chief have to give vent to a certain amount of -these empty and meaningless commendations, but few have shown more -neglect in discriminating between the really deserving men and the -rest than did the victor of Salamanca and Waterloo. Occasionally -this carelessness as to the merits and the feelings of others took -the form of gross injustice, more frequently it led to nothing -worse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[p. 309]</span> than a -complete mystification of the readers of the dispatch as to the -relative merits of the persons mentioned therein<a id="FNanchor_378" -href="#Footnote_378" class="fnanchor">[378]</a>.</p> - -<p>The explanation of this feature in Wellesley’s correspondence is -a fundamental want of broad sympathy in his character. He had a few -intimates to whom he spoke freely, and it is clear that he often showed -consideration and even kindness to his aides-de-camp and other personal -retainers; there were one or two of his relatives to whom he showed an -unswerving affection, and whose interests were always near his heart<a -id="FNanchor_379" href="#Footnote_379" class="fnanchor">[379]</a>. -Among these neither his wife nor his elder brother Richard, the -great Governor-General of India, were to be numbered. He quarrelled -so bitterly with the latter that for many years they never met. No -doubt there were faults on both sides, yet Wellington might have -borne much from the brother who started him on his career. But for -him the position of Resident in Mysore would not have been given to -so junior an officer, nor would the command of the army that won -Assaye and Argaum have been placed in his hands. It is small wonder -that the grievances and petty ambitions of the average line officer -never touched the heart of the man who could be estranged from his own -brother by a secondary political question.</p> - -<p>It has often been noted that when the wars were over he showed -little predilection for the company of his old Peninsular officers. -Some of his most trusted subordinates hardly looked upon his face -after 1815: he clearly preferred the company of politicians and men of -fashion to that of the majority of his old generals. They only met him -at the formal festivity of the annual Waterloo Banquet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[p. 310]</span></p> - -<p>The remembrance of the countless panegyrics upon Wellington, not -only as a general but as a man, which have appeared during the last -sixty years, has made it necessary, if painful, to speak of his -limitations. For two whole generations it seemed almost treasonable -to breathe a word against his personal character—so great was -the debt that Britain owed him for Salamanca and Waterloo. His frigid -formalism was regarded with respect and even admiration: his lack of -geniality and his utter inability to understand the sentimental side -of life were even praised as signs of Spartan virtue. Certain episodes -which did not fit in too happily with the ‘Spartan hero’ theory -were deliberately ignored<a id="FNanchor_380" href="#Footnote_380" -class="fnanchor">[380]</a>. The popular conception of Arthur Wellesley -has been largely built up on laudatory sketches written by those who -knew him in his old age alone. He lives in our memories as a kind -of Nestor, replete with useful and interesting information, as Lord -Stanhope drew him in his <cite>Conversations with the Duke of Wellington</cite>. -This was not the man known to his contemporaries in the years of the -Peninsular War.</p> - -<p>Yet there was much to admire in Wellesley’s personal character. -England has never had a more faithful servant. Though intensely -ambitious, he never allowed ambition to draw him aside from the most -tedious and thankless daily tasks. When once convinced that it was -his duty to undertake a piece of work, he carried it through with -unswerving industry and perseverance, if not always with much tact -or consideration for the feelings of others<a id="FNanchor_381" -href="#Footnote_381" class="fnanchor">[381]</a>. He was unsparing of -himself, careless of praise or blame, honest in every word and deed. -He was equally ready to offend his king or to sacrifice his popularity -with the multitude, when he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[p. -311]</span> thought that he had to face a question in which right and -wrong were involved. He was essentially, what he once called himself, -using a familiar Hindustani phrase, ‘a man of his salt.’ In spite of -all his faults he stands out a majestic figure in the history of his -time. It is the misfortune of the historian that when he sees so much -to admire and to respect, he finds so little that commands either -sympathy or affection.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap14_2"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[p. 312]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER II">SECTION XIV: CHAPTER II</h3> - <p class="subh3">WELLESLEY RETAKES OPORTO</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">On arriving</span> at Lisbon, Wellesley, as -we have already seen, was overjoyed to find that the situation in -Portugal remained just as it had been when he set sail from Portsmouth: -Victor was still quiescent in his cantonments round Merida: Soult had -not moved forward on the road toward Coimbra, and was in the midst -of his unfruitful bickerings with the army of Silveira. Lapisse had -disappeared from his threatening position in front of Ciudad Rodrigo, -and had passed away to Estremadura. All the rumours as to an immediate -French advance on Badajoz and Abrantes, which had arrived just as the -new commander-in-chief was quitting England, had turned out to be -baseless inventions. There were reassuring dispatches awaiting him -from the English attachés with the armies of Cuesta and La Romana<a -id="FNanchor_382" href="#Footnote_382" class="fnanchor">[382]</a>, -which showed that Galicia was in full insurrection, and that a -respectable force was once more threatening Victor’s flank. Accordingly -it was possible to take into consideration plans for assuming the -offensive against the isolated French armies, and the defensive -campaign for the protection of Lisbon, which Wellesley had feared to -find forced upon him, was not necessary.</p> - -<p>Within thirty-six hours of his arrival the British -commander-in-chief had made up his mind as to the strategy that was -incumbent on him. He resolved, as we have already seen, to leave a -containing force to watch Victor, while he hastened with the main body -of his army to strike a blow at Soult, whose corps was clearly in a -state of dispersion, which invited attack. The Duke of Dalmatia was -operating at once upon the Minho, the Tamega, and the Vouga, and it -seemed likely that a prompt stroke might surprise him, in the midst of -the movement for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[p. 313]</span> -concentration which he would be compelled to make, when he should learn -that the British were in the field.</p> - -<p>The forces available for Wellesley’s use consisted of -some 25,000 British<a id="FNanchor_383" href="#Footnote_383" -class="fnanchor">[383]</a> and 16,000 Portuguese troops. Cradock, -urged on by Hill and Beresford, had advanced with the main body of -his army to Leiria and lay there upon the twenty-fourth, the day -upon which he received Wellesley’s notification that he had been -superseded and was to sail to take up the governorship of Gibraltar. -But four or five newly arrived corps still lay at Lisbon, and more -were expected. The army was very weak in cavalry, there were but four -regiments and fractions of two others available<a id="FNanchor_384" -href="#Footnote_384" class="fnanchor">[384]</a>. Of the infantry -there were only present five of the battalions<a id="FNanchor_385" -href="#Footnote_385" class="fnanchor">[385]</a> which had served at -Vimiero and knew the French and their manner of fighting. The rest -were all inexperienced and new to the field, and the majority indeed -were weak second battalions, which had not originally been intended -for foreign service, and had been made up to their present numbers -by large and recent drafts from the militia<a id="FNanchor_386" -href="#Footnote_386" class="fnanchor">[386]</a>. Even at Talavera, -six months after the campaign had begun, it is on record that many of -the men were still showing the names and numbers of their old militia -regiments on their knapsacks. The battalions which had joined in -Moore’s march into Spain only began to reappear in June, when Robert -Craufurd brought back to Lisbon the 1/43rd, 1/52nd and 1/95th, which -were to form the nucleus of the famous Light Division. The remainder -of the Corunna troops, when they had been rested and recruited, were -drawn aside to take part in the miserable expedition to Walcheren. -When Wellesley first took the field therefore, these veterans of -the campaign of 1808 were only represented<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_314">[p. 314]</span> by the two ‘battalions of detachments’ -which General Cameron had organized from the stragglers and -convalescents of Moore’s army.</p> - -<p>The Portuguese troops which Wellesley found available for the -campaign against Soult consisted entirely of the line regiments from -Lisbon and the central parts of the realm, which Beresford had been -reorganizing during the last two months. The troops of the north had -been destroyed at Oporto, or were in arms under Silveira on the Tamega. -Those of the south were garrisoning Elvas, or still endeavouring to -recruit their enfeebled <i>cadres</i> at their regimental head quarters. But -Beresford had massed at Thomar and Abrantes ten<a id="FNanchor_387" -href="#Footnote_387" class="fnanchor">[387]</a> line regiments, some -with one, some with their statutory two battalions, three newly raised -battalions of Cazadores, and three incomplete cavalry regiments, a -force amounting in all to nearly 15,000 sabres and bayonets. Though -Wellesley considered that they ‘cut a bad figure,’ and that the rank -and file were poor and the native officers ‘worse than anything he -had ever seen,’ he was yet resolved to give them a chance in the -field. Beresford assured him that they had improved so much during the -last few weeks, and were showing such zeal and good spirit, that it -was only fair that they should be given a trial<a id="FNanchor_388" -href="#Footnote_388" class="fnanchor">[388]</a>.</p> - -<p>Accordingly Wellesley resolved to brigade certain picked battalions -among his English troops, and to take them straight to the front, while -he told off others to form part of the ‘containing force’ which was to -be sent off to watch Victor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[p. -315]</span> and the French army of Estremadura. The remainder, under -Beresford himself, were to act as an independent division during the -march on Oporto.</p> - -<p>Five days of unceasing work had to be spent in Lisbon before -Wellesley could go forward, but while he was making his arrangements -with the Portuguese regency, drawing out a new organization for -Beresford’s commissariat, and striving to get into communication with -Cuesta, the British troops were already being pushed forward from -Leiria towards Coimbra, and the Portuguese were converging from Thomar -on the same point, so that no time was being lost. It was during -this short and busy stay at Lisbon that Wellesley was confronted -with the conspirator Argenton, who had come up to the capital in -company with Major Douglas. He did not make a good impression on the -commander-in-chief, who wrote home that he had no doubt as to the -reality of the plot against Soult, and the discontent of the French -army, but thought it unlikely that any good would come from the plot<a -id="FNanchor_389" href="#Footnote_389" class="fnanchor">[389]</a>. He -refused to promise compliance with Argenton’s two requests, that he -would direct the Portuguese to fall in with Soult’s plans for assuming -royal power, and that he would bring the British army forward to a -position in which it would threaten the retreat of the 2nd Corps on -Leon. The former savoured too much of Machiavellian treachery: as to -the latter, he thought so little of the profit likely to result from -the plot, that he would not alter his plans to oblige the conspirators. -The only information of certain value that he had obtained from the -emissary was that Soult had no idea of Victor’s position or projects. -All that he granted to Argenton was passports to take him and his two -friends, ‘Captains Dupont and Garis,’ to England, from whence they -intended to cross into France, in order to set their friends in the -interior on the move. Great care was taken that Argenton on his return -journey to Oporto should see as little as possible of the British -army, lest he should be able to tell too much about its numbers<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[p. 316]</span> and dispositions. He -was conducted back by Douglas to the Vouga, by a circuitous route, -and safely repassed Franceschi’s outposts<a id="FNanchor_390" -href="#Footnote_390" class="fnanchor">[390]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the twenty-ninth Wellesley at last got clear of Lisbon, where -the formal festivities and reception arranged in his honour had tried -him even more than the incessant desk-work which had to be got through -before the organization of his base for supplies was completed. On -April 30 he pushed forward to Leiria, on May 1 to Pombal, on the second -he reached Coimbra and found himself in the midst of his army, which -had only concentrated itself at that city during the last five days.</p> - -<p>All was quiet in the front: Trant, who was holding the line of the -Vouga with 3,000 disorderly militia and some small fragments rallied -from the line regiments which had been dispersed at Oporto, reported -that Franceschi and the French light cavalry had remained quiescent -for many days. The same news came in from Wilson, who, after pursuing -Lapisse to Alcantara, had come back with part of his troops to the -neighbourhood of Almeida, and had a detachment at Vizeu watching the -flank of the French advance. Silveira reported from Amarante that he -was still holding the line of the Tamega, and had at least 10,000 -enemies in front of him. All therefore seemed propitious for the great -stroke.</p> - -<p>Wellesley’s plan, as finally worked out in detail, was to push -forward his main body upon Oporto with all possible speed, while -sending a flanking column under Beresford to cross the Douro near -Lamego, join Silveira, and intercept Soult’s line of retreat upon -the plains of Leon by way of the Tras-os-Montes. If he could move -fast enough, he hoped to catch the Marshal with his army still -unconcentrated. His design, as he wrote to Castlereagh, was ‘to beat -or cripple Soult,’ to thrust him back into Galicia; he doubted whether -it would be possible to accomplish more with the force that was at his -disposal, but if any chance should occur for destroying or surrounding -the enemy he would do his best. Rumours that the Marshal was preparing -to evacuate Oporto were in the air: if they were true, and the French -were already making ready to retreat, it was unlikely that they would -stand long enough to run into danger.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[p. 317]</span></p> - -<p>The detailed arrangements for the distribution of the troops were as -follows:—</p> - -<p>It was first necessary to provide a ‘containing force’ to hold -back Victor, in case he should make an unexpected move down the Tagus -or the Guadiana. For this purpose Wellesley told off one of his -brigades, that of Mackenzie, together with two regiments of heavy -cavalry and one of infantry which had lately arrived at Lisbon, and -were now on their march to Santarem. With these four battalions, -one field battery, and eight squadrons, Mackenzie was to take post -at Abrantes, and behind the line of the Zezere<a id="FNanchor_391" -href="#Footnote_391" class="fnanchor">[391]</a>. There he was to -be joined by the larger half of Beresford’s reorganized Portuguese -army—seven battalions of line troops, three of Cazadores, -five squadrons of cavalry, and three batteries<a id="FNanchor_392" -href="#Footnote_392" class="fnanchor">[392]</a>. He would also have -three regiments of militia at his disposal, to garrison the fortress -of Abrantes. His whole force, excluding the militia, would amount -to 1,400 British and 700 Portuguese cavalry, nearly 3,000 British -infantry, 6,000 Portuguese infantry, and four batteries. These 12,000 -men ought to be able to hold back any force that Victor could detach -for a raid along the Tagus: for, having Cuesta’s army in his front, it -was absolutely impossible that he could march with his whole corps into -Portugal. If the Marshal moved forward south of the Tagus, that river -should be held against him, and since it was in full flood it would be -easy to keep him back, as all the boats and ferries could be destroyed, -and it would be useless for him to present himself opposite Vella -Velha, Abrantes,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[p. 318]</span> -or Santarem. If he advanced north of the Tagus, the line of the Zezere -was to be maintained against him as long as possible, then those of the -Nabao and Rio Mayor. But the main army would be back from the north, to -reinforce the ‘containing force,’ long ere the Marshal could push so -far. As an outlying post on this front Wellesley ordered Colonel Mayne, -with the part of Wilson’s Lusitanian Legion that had not returned to -the north and a militia regiment, to occupy Alcantara. He was to break -its bridge if forced out of the position.</p> - -<p>Victor being thus provided for, Wellesley could turn the rest of his -army against Soult at Oporto. For the main operation he could dispose -of 17,000 British and 7,000 Portuguese troops present with the colours, -after deducting the sick, the men on detached duty, and one single -battalion left in garrison at Lisbon. He divided them, as we have -already stated, into a larger force destined to execute the frontal -attack upon Soult, and a smaller one which was to cut off his retreat -into central Spain.</p> - -<p>The flanking column, 5,800 men in all, was entrusted to Beresford: -it was composed of one British brigade (that of Tilson) consisting -of 1,500 bayonets<a id="FNanchor_393" href="#Footnote_393" -class="fnanchor">[393]</a>, a single British squadron (the 4th of -the 14th Light Dragoons) with five battalions<a id="FNanchor_394" -href="#Footnote_394" class="fnanchor">[394]</a>, three squadrons<a -id="FNanchor_395" href="#Footnote_395" class="fnanchor">[395]</a>, -and two field-batteries of Portuguese. These troops were originally -directed to join Silveira at Amarante, and co-operate with him in -defending the line of the Tamega. But on May 3 there arrived at Coimbra -the unwelcome news that Loison had forced the bridge of Amarante, and -that Silveira in consequence had retired south of the Douro and was -lying at Lamego with the wrecks of his army, some 4,000 men at most. -This untoward event did not cause Wellesley to change the direction -of Beresford’s column, but rendered him more cautious as to pushing -it beyond the Douro. He ordered his lieutenant to pick up Sir Robert -Wilson’s small force at Vizeu<a id="FNanchor_396" href="#Footnote_396" -class="fnanchor">[396]</a>, to join<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_319">[p. 319]</span> Silveira at Lamego, and then to guide -his further operations by the attitude of the French. If they tried -to pass the Douro he was to oppose them strenuously; if they still -clung to the northern bank and had not advanced far beyond Amarante, -he might cross, and occupy Villa Real, if he thought the move safe and -the position behind that town defensible. But he was to risk nothing; -if the whole of Soult’s corps should retreat eastward he was not to -attempt to stop them, ‘for,’ wrote Wellesley, ‘I should not like to -see a single British brigade, supported by 6,000 or 8,000 Portuguese, -exposed to be attacked by the French army in any but a very good post<a -id="FNanchor_397" href="#Footnote_397" class="fnanchor">[397]</a>.’ -If Loison alone were left on the Tamega, Beresford might take post -at Villa Real and fight: if, however, Soult should appear at the -head of his entire force, it would be madness to await him: the -column must fall back and allow him to pass. ‘Remember,’ added -Wellesley in another letter<a id="FNanchor_398" href="#Footnote_398" -class="fnanchor">[398]</a>, ‘that you are a commander-in-chief <i>and -must not be beaten</i>: therefore do not undertake anything with your -troops if you have not some strong hope of success.’ Beresford’s column -was sent off a day before the rest of the army, in order to allow the -flanking movement time to develop before the frontal attack was pushed -home. He left Coimbra on May 6, was at Vizeu on the eighth, and joined -Silveira at Lamego on the tenth; all his movements passed completely -unobserved by the enemy, owing to the wide sweep to the right which he -had been ordered to make.</p> - -<p>The infantry of Wellesley’s main force, with which the frontal -attack on Oporto was to be made, consisted of six brigades of -British, one of the King’s German Legion, and four picked battalions -of Portuguese who were attached respectively to the brigades of A. -Campbell, Sontag, Stewart, and Cameron. Of cavalry, in which he was -comparatively weak, he had the whole of the 16th, three squadrons of -the 14th, and two of the 20th Light Dragoons, with one squadron more -from the 3rd Light Dragoons of the King’s German Legion. The artillery, -twenty-four guns in all, was composed of two British and two German -field-batteries.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[p. 320]</span> No -horse artillery had yet been received from England, though Wellesley -had been urging his need for it on the home authorities, at the -same time that he made a similar demand for good light infantry, -such as that which had formed the light brigade of Moore’s army<a -id="FNanchor_399" href="#Footnote_399" class="fnanchor">[399]</a>, and -for remounts to keep his cavalry up to full fighting strength. The army -was not yet distributed into regular divisions, but the beginnings of -the later divisional arrangement were indicated by the telling off -the brigades of Richard Stewart and Murray to serve together under -Edward Paget (who had commanded Moore’s reserve division with such -splendid credit to himself during the Corunna retreat), while those of -H. Campbell, A. Campbell, and Sontag were to take their orders from -Sherbrooke, and those of Hill and Cameron to move under the charge of -the former brigadier. The cavalry was under General Cotton, with Payne -as brigadier; the senior officer of artillery was General E. Howorth<a -id="FNanchor_400" href="#Footnote_400" class="fnanchor">[400]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[p. 321]</span></p> - -<p>It will be noted that of the total force with which Wellesley was -about to assail the 2nd Corps, about 16,400 were British troops and -11,400 Portuguese. Considering that Soult had at least 23,000 sabres -and bayonets, of whom not more than 2,200 were in his hospitals, and -that over three-eighths of the allies were untried and newly-organized -levies, it cannot be denied that the march on Oporto showed -considerable self-confidence, and a very nice and accurate calculation -of the chances of war on the part of the British Commander-in-chief.</p> - -<p>On the very day on which the vanguard marched out from Coimbra -upon the northern road, Wellesley received a second visit from the -conspirator Argenton, who had returned from consulting his friends at -Oporto and Amarante. He brought little news of importance: Soult had -not yet proclaimed himself king, and therefore the plotters had taken -no open steps against him. The French army had not begun to move, but -it appeared that the Marshal was pondering over the relative advantages -of the lines of retreat available to him, for Argenton brought a -memorandum given him by (or purloined from) some staff-officer, which -contained a long exposition of the various roads from Oporto, and -stated a preference for that by Villa Real and the Tras-os-Montes<a -id="FNanchor_401" href="#Footnote_401" class="fnanchor">[401]</a>. -He had a number of futile propositions to lay before Wellesley, and -especially urged him to make sure of Villa Real and to cut off the -Marshal’s retreat on Spain. The traitor was sent back, with no promises -of compliance; and every endeavour was made to keep from him the fact -that the allied army was already upon the move. Unfortunately he had -passed many troops upon the road from Coimbra to the Vouga, and had -guessed at what he had not seen. On the following day he passed through -the French lines on his return journey, and by the way endeavoured to -spread the propaganda of treason. One of the infantry brigades which -lay in support of Franceschi’s cavalry was commanded by a general -Lefebvre, with whom Argenton had long served as aide-de-camp. Knowing -that his old chief was weak and discontented<a id="FNanchor_402" -href="#Footnote_402" class="fnanchor">[402]</a>, the emissary of<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[p. 322]</span> the malcontents paid a -midnight visit to him, revealed to him the outlines of the conspiracy, -and endeavoured to enroll him as a fellow plotter. He had misjudged -his man: Lefebvre listened to everything without showing any signs of -surprise or anger, but hastened to bear the tale to Soult, and arranged -for Argenton’s arrest on his return to Oporto upon the following -morning. Confronted with the Marshal, the traitor held his head high, -and boasted that he was the agent of a powerful body of conspirators. -He invited Soult to declare against the Emperor, and deliver France -from servitude. He also warned him that Wellesley had arrived at -Coimbra, and told him that 30,000 British troops of whom 3,000 at least -were cavalry, would fall upon Franceschi that day. Thus, owing to his -conference with Argenton, Wellesley lost the chance of surprising -Soult, who was warned of the oncoming storm exactly at the moment when -it was most important that he should still be kept in the dark as to -the force that was marching against him [May 8].</p> - -<p>Soult sent back Argenton to his prison, after threatening him -with death: but uncertain as to the number of the conspirators, -he was thrown for a moment into a state of doubt and alarm. He -probably suspected Loison and Lahoussaye of being in the plot against -him, as well as the real traitors—possibly Mermet also<a -id="FNanchor_403" href="#Footnote_403" class="fnanchor">[403]</a>. -Feeling the ground, as it were, trembling beneath his feet, he began to -make instant preparations for retreat: orders were sent to Franceschi -to fall back on Oporto, and not to risk anything by an attempt to hold -off Wellesley longer than was prudent. Loison was informed that he must -clear the road beyond Amarante, as the army was about to retire by -the Tras-os-Montes, and he would now form its advanced guard. Lorges -at Braga was directed to gather in the small fractions of Heudelet’s -division which had been left at Viana and other places in<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[p. 323]</span> the north, and to march -in their company upon Amarante by the way of Guimaraens. The Marshal -saw, with some dismay, that these isolated detachments would not be -able to join the main body till the fourteenth or fifteenth of May; it -was necessary to hold Oporto as long as possible in order to give them -time to come up.</p> - -<p>Next day Soult contrived to extort some more information from the -unstable Argenton. Receiving a promise of life for himself and pardon -for his fellow conspirators (which the Marshal apparently granted -because he thought that accurate information concerning the plot would -be worth more to him than the right to shoot the plotters), the captain -gave up the names of all the leaders. Much relieved to find that none -of his generals were implicated, Soult did no more than arrest the two -colonels, Lafitte and Donadieu, leaving the smaller fry untouched<a -id="FNanchor_404" href="#Footnote_404" class="fnanchor">[404]</a>. -He kept his promise to Argenton by hushing up the whole matter. The -colonels suffered no harm beyond their arrest: Argenton escaped -from custody (probably by collusion with the officer placed in -charge of his person)<a id="FNanchor_405" href="#Footnote_405" -class="fnanchor">[405]</a>, and got back to the English lines the day -after the capture of Oporto<a id="FNanchor_406" href="#Footnote_406" -class="fnanchor">[406]</a>. Some months later he secretly revisited -France, was recognized, captured, and shot on the Plain of Grenelle<a -id="FNanchor_407" href="#Footnote_407" class="fnanchor">[407]</a>.</p> - -<p>At the very moment when Soult was cross-examining Argenton, issuing -hurried orders for the concentration of his troops, and preparing -for a retreat upon Amarante, Wellesley’s advanced guard was drawing -near the Vouga and making ready to pounce<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_324">[p. 324]</span> upon Franceschi. Two roads lead northward -from Coimbra, the main <i>chaussée</i> to Oporto which runs inland via Ponte -de Vouga and Feira, and a minor route near the coast, which passes by -Aveiro and Ovar. Five of Wellesley’s brigades and the whole of his -cavalry marched by the former route. Moving forward under the screen -of Trant’s militia, which still held the line of the Vouga, they were -to fall on the enemy’s front at dawn on May 10. The five squadrons of -the 14th and 16th Light Dragoons under Cotton led the advance: then -followed the infantry of Edward Paget—the two brigades of Murray -and Richard Stewart. Sherbrooke’s column marched in support, ten miles -to the rear. It was intended that the whole mass should rush in upon -Franceschi’s pickets, and roll them in upon his main body before the -advance from Coimbra was suspected. Unhappily Soult had already warned -his cavalry commander of the coming storm upon the ninth, and he was -not caught unprepared.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the remaining two infantry brigades of Wellesley’s army, -those of Hill and Cameron, were to execute a turning movement against -Franceschi’s flank. Orders had been sent to the magistrates of the town -of Aveiro, bidding them collect all the fishing-boats which were to be -found in the great lagoon at the mouth of the Vouga—a broad sheet -of shallow water and sandbanks which extends for fifteen miles parallel -to the sea, only separated from it by a narrow spit of dry ground. At -the northern end of this system of inland waterways is the town of -Ovar, which lay far behind Franceschi’s rear. Hill was directed to ship -his men upon the boats, and to throw them ashore at Ovar, where they -were to fall upon the flank of the French, when they should be driven -past them by the frontal advance of the main body.</p> - -<p>If all had gone well, the French detachment might have been -annihilated. Franceschi had with him no more than the four weak cavalry -regiments of his own division<a id="FNanchor_408" href="#Footnote_408" -class="fnanchor">[408]</a>, not more than 1,200 sabres, with one light -battery, and a single regiment of infantry. But not far behind him was -the rest of Mermet’s division, eleven battalions of infantry with a -strength of some 3,500 men. One regiment, the 31st Léger, lay at Feira, -near<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[p. 325]</span> Ovar, while -Ferrey’s brigade was five miles further back, at Grijon.</p> - -<p>On the night of the ninth the British advanced guard reached the -Vouga: after only a few hours’ repose the cavalry mounted again at 1 -<small>A.M.</small>, and pushed forward in order to fall upon the enemy -at daybreak. The night march turned out a failure, as such enterprises -often do in an unexplored country-side seamed with rocks and ravines. -The rear of the cavalry column got astray and fell far behind the -leading squadrons: much time was lost in marching and countermarching, -and at dawn the brigade found itself still some way from Albergaria -Nova, the village where Franceschi’s head quarters were established<a -id="FNanchor_409" href="#Footnote_409" class="fnanchor">[409]</a>. -It was already five o’clock when they fell in with and drove back -the French outlying pickets: shortly after they came upon the whole -of Franceschi’s division, drawn out in battle array on a rough -moor behind the village, with a few companies of infantry placed -in a wood on their flank and their battery in front of their line. -General Cotton saw that there was no chance of a surprise, and very -wisely declined to attack a slightly superior force of all arms with -the 1,000 sabres of his two regiments. He resolved to wait for the -arrival of Richard Stewart’s infantry brigade, the leading part of -the main column. When Franceschi advanced against him he refused to -fight and drew back a little<a id="FNanchor_410" href="#Footnote_410" -class="fnanchor">[410]</a>. Thus some hours of the morning were wasted, -till at last there arrived on the field Lane’s battery and a battalion -of the 16th Portuguese, followed by the 29th and the 1st Battalion -of Detachments. Like the cavalry, the infantry had been much delayed -during<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[p. 326]</span> the hours -of darkness, mainly by the impossibility of getting the guns up the -rocky defile beyond the Vouga, where several caissons had broken down -in the roadway. It was only after daylight had come that they were -extricated and got forward on to the upland where lies the village of -Albergaria.</p> - -<p>Wellesley himself came up along with Stewart’s brigade, and had -the mortification of seeing all his scheme miscarry, owing to the -tardiness of the arrival of his infantry. For at the very moment when -Franceschi caught sight of the distant bayonets winding up the road, -he hastily went to the rear, leaving the 1st Hussars alone in position -as a rearguard. This regiment was charged by the 16th Light Dragoons, -and driven in with some small loss. Under cover of this skirmish the -French division got away in safety through the town of Oliveira de -Azemis, which lay behind them, and after making two more ineffectual -demonstrations of a desire to stand, fell back on the heights of -Grijon, where Mermet’s infantry division was awaiting them.</p> - -<p>The whole day’s fighting had been futile but spectacular. ‘I must -note,’ says an eye-witness, ‘the beautiful effect of our engagement. It -commenced about sunrise on one of the finest spring mornings possible, -on an immense tract of heath, with a pine wood in rear of the enemy. -So little was the slaughter, and so regular the manœuvring, that -it all appeared more like a sham-fight on Wimbledon Common than an -action in a foreign country<a id="FNanchor_411" href="#Footnote_411" -class="fnanchor">[411]</a>.’ The picturesque side of the day’s work -must have been small consolation to Wellesley, who thus saw the first -stroke of his campaign foiled by the chances of a night march in a -rugged country—a lesson which he took to heart, for he rarely, if -ever again, attempted a surprise at dawn in an unexplored region.</p> - -<p>An equal disappointment had taken place on the flank near the sea. -Hill’s brigade had marched down to Aveiro, where the local authorities -had worked with excellent zeal and collected a considerable number -of boats, enough to carry 1,500 men at a<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_327">[p. 327]</span> trip. During the night of the ninth-tenth -the flotilla was engaged in sailing up the long lagoon which leads to -Ovar. It was quite early in the morning when the brigade came to land, -and if Franceschi had been driven in at an early hour he would have -found Hill in a most threatening position on his flank. But the French -cavalry was still ten or twelve miles away, engaged in its bloodless -demonstration against Cotton’s brigade. Finding from the peasants that -there were French infantry encamped quite close to him, at Feira, and -that the English main column was still at a distance, Hill kept his -men within the walls of Ovar, instead of engaging in an attempt to -intercept Franceschi’s retreat. He was probably quite right, as it -would have been dangerous to thrust three battalions, without cavalry -or guns, between Mermet’s troops at Feira and the retiring columns of -the French horsemen. Hill therefore sent back his boats to bring up -Cameron’s brigade from Aveiro, and remained quiet all the morning. -At noon his pickets were driven in by French infantry: Mermet had at -last heard of his arrival, and had sent out the three battalions of -the 31st Léger from Feira to contain him and protect Franceschi’s -flank. The <i>voltigeur</i> companies of this force pressed in upon Hill, -but would not adventure themselves too far. The afternoon was spent in -futile skirmishing, but at last the retreating French cavalry went by -at a great pace, and the English Light Dragoons, following them in hot -pursuit, came up with the 31st Léger. Hill, seeing himself once more in -touch with his friends, now pushed out of Ovar in force, and pressed on -the French <i>voltigeur</i> companies, which hastily retired, fell back on -their regiment, and ultimately retired with it and rejoined Mermet’s -main body on the heights above Grijon. The skirmishing had been almost -bloodless—Hill lost not a single man, and the French infantry -only half-a-dozen wounded<a id="FNanchor_412" href="#Footnote_412" -class="fnanchor">[412]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the morning of May 11, therefore, Hill’s troops on the left -and Cotton’s and Paget’s on the right lay opposite the posi<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[p. 328]</span>tion which Mermet and -Franceschi had taken up. Sherbrooke was still more than ten miles to -the rear, having barely crossed the Vouga, while Cameron had not yet -sailed up from Aveiro. Wellesley had therefore some 1,500 cavalry and -7,000 infantry under his hand, with which to assail the 1,200 horse -and 4,200 foot of the two French divisions. The enemy were strongly -posted: Grijon lies in a valley, with woods and orchards around it and -a steep hillside at its back. The French <i>tirailleurs</i> held the village -and the thickly-wooded slopes on each side of it: behind them the -fifteen battalions of Mermet were partly visible among the trees on the -sky-line of the heights.</p> - -<p>Wellesley was anxious to see whether the enemy intended to hold his -ground, or would retire before a demonstration: he therefore threw the -light companies of Richard Stewart’s brigade into the woods on each -side of Grijon. A furious fire at once broke out, and the advancing -line of skirmishers could make no headway. Realizing that the French -intended to fight a serious rearguard action, Wellesley refused to -indulge them with a frontal attack and determined to turn both their -flanks. While Cotton’s cavalry and the two English battalions of -Stewart’s brigade drew up opposite their centre, Murray’s Germans -marched off to the left, to get beyond Mermet’s flank, while Colonel -Doyle, with the battalion of the 16th Portuguese which belonged to -Stewart’s brigade, entered the woods on the extreme right. Hill’s -brigade, a mile or two to the left of Murray, pushed forward on the -Ovar-Oporto road, at a rate which would soon have brought them far -beyond the enemy’s rear.</p> - -<p>The meaning of these movements was not long hidden from the French: -the 1st and 2nd battalions of the King’s German Legion, led by -Brigadier Langwerth, were soon pressing upon their right flank, while -the Portuguese battalion plunged into the woods on the other wing with -great resolution. Wellesley himself was watching this part of the -advance with much interest: it was the first time that he had sent his -native allies into the firing line, and he was anxious to see how they -would behave. They surpassed his expectations: the 16th was a good -regiment, with a number of students of the University of Coimbra in its -ranks. They plunged into the thickets without a moment’s hesitation, -and in a few minutes the retiring sound of the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_329">[p. 329]</span> musketry showed that they were making -headway in the most promising style. This sight was an enormous -relief to the Commander-in-chief: if the Portuguese could be trusted -in line of battle, his task became immeasurably more easy. ‘You are -in error in supposing that these troops will not fight,’ he wrote to -a down-hearted correspondent: ‘one battalion has behaved remarkably -well under my own eyes<a id="FNanchor_413" href="#Footnote_413" -class="fnanchor">[413]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Mermet and Franceschi did not hesitate for long, when they saw -their flank guard beaten in upon either side, and heard that Hill -was marching upon their rear. They gave orders for their whole line -to retire without delay: the plateau behind them was so cut up with -stone walls enclosing fields, that the cavalry could be of no use -in covering the retreat, so Franceschi went to the rear first at a -round trot. Mermet followed, leaving the three battalions of the 31st -Léger to act as a rearguard<a id="FNanchor_414" href="#Footnote_414" -class="fnanchor">[414]</a>.</p> - -<p>The whole British line now pressed in as fast as was possible in the -woods and lanes: the infantry could never overtake the enemy, but two -squadrons of the 16th and 20th Light Dragoons, galloping along the high -road, came up with Mermet’s rear a mile beyond the brow of the hill. -Charles Stewart, who was leading them on, was one of those cavalry -officers who thoroughly believe in their arm, and think that it can go -anywhere and do anything. He at once ordered Major Blake of the 20th -to charge the enemy, though the French were retiring along a narrow -<i>chaussée</i> bordered with stone walls. Fortunately for the dragoons -their opponents were already shaken in <i>morale</i>: the three battalions -were not well together, isolated companies were still coming in from -the flanks, and the colonel of the 31st had completely lost his head. -On being charged, the rearguard fired a volley, which brought down -the front files of the pursuing cavalry, but then wavered, broke, and -began scrambling over the walls to escape out of the high road into the -fields. There followed a confused <i>mêlée</i>, for the English dragoons -also leaped the walls, and tried to follow the broken enemy among -thickets and ploughland. Of those of the French<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_330">[p. 330]</span> who fled down the high road many were -sabred, and a considerable number captured: indeed the eagle of the -regiment was in considerable danger for some time. But the British had -no supports at hand; they scattered in reckless pursuit of the men -who had taken to the fields, and many were shot down when they had -got entangled among trees and walls. However, the charge, if somewhat -reckless, was on the whole successful: the dragoons lost no more than -ten killed, one officer and thirty troopers wounded, with eight or -ten missing, while the French regiment into which they had burst left -behind it over 100 prisoners and nearly as many killed and wounded<a -id="FNanchor_415" href="#Footnote_415" class="fnanchor">[415]</a>.</p> - -<p>For the rest of the day Mermet and Franceschi continued to fall -back before the advancing British, without making more than a -momentary stand. At dusk they reached Villa Nova, the transpontine -suburb of Oporto, which they evacuated during<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_331">[p. 331]</span> the night. The moment that they had -crossed the bridge of boats Soult caused it to be blown up, and vainly -believed himself secure, now that the broad and rapid Douro was rolling -between him and his enemy. The total loss of the French in the day’s -fighting had been about 250 men, of whom 100 were prisoners. That of -the British was two officers and nineteen men killed, six officers -and sixty-three men wounded, and sixteen men missing. Nearly half the -casualties were in the ranks of the two squadrons of dragoons, the -rest were divided between the light companies of the 1st Battalion -of Detachments, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the German Legion, -and the 16th Portuguese<a id="FNanchor_416" href="#Footnote_416" -class="fnanchor">[416]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the night of the eleventh-twelfth, when Mermet and Franceschi had -joined him, Soult had collected in Oporto the main body of his army: -he had in hand of cavalry Franceschi’s four regiments, and of infantry -fifteen battalions of Mermet’s division, seven battalions of Merle’s -(forming Reynaud’s brigade), and seven of Delaborde’s, a force in all -of about 10,000 bayonets and 1,200 sabres. Only a few miles away, at -Baltar, on the road to Amarante, were Caulaincourt’s dragoons and -the remaining regiment of Delaborde’s division, an additional force -of somewhat over 2,000 men. With 13,000 men at his disposal and a -splendid position behind the Douro, he imagined that he might retreat -at leisure, maintaining the line of the impassable river for some days -more. He intended to hold Oporto long enough to enable Loison to clear -the road to Villa Real, and to allow Lorges and the belated troops from -the north time to march in to Amarante. He was somewhat vexed to have -received no news from Loison for four days, but, when last heard of -[on May 7], that general was moving forward into the Tras-os-Montes, -with orders to push on and open a way for<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_332">[p. 332]</span> the army as far as the Spanish border. -Silveira having retired to the south bank of the Douro, the Marshal had -no doubt that Loison would easily brush away the <i>Ordenanza</i>, and open -for the whole <i>corps d’armée</i> the passage to Zamora and the plains of -Leon.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the only danger which the Marshal feared was that -Wellesley might send forward the fleet of fishing-boats which had -carried Hill to Ovar, bring them to the estuary of the Douro, and -use them to pass troops across its lowest reach, just within the bar -at its mouth. Accordingly he told Franceschi to patrol carefully the -five miles of the river that lie between Oporto and the sea. The -infantry was comfortably housed in the city, with pickets watching -the quays: every boat on the river, as it was supposed, had either -been destroyed or brought over to the north bank. Wellesley would, as -Soult calculated, be compelled to spend several days in making his -preparations for passing the Douro, since he had no means of pushing -his army across the broad stream, save the fishing-smacks which he -might bring round from the lagoon of Ovar.</p> - -<p>The Marshal therefore was quite at his ease, even though he knew -that Wellesley’s vanguard was at Villa Nova in force. He imagined -that he could count on ample time for the evacuation of Oporto, and -began to make arrangements for a leisurely retreat. His first care was -to send off eastward all his convalescents, his reserve ammunition, -and his wheeled vehicles, of which he had collected a fair supply -during his seven weeks’ halt at Oporto. These were to march, under the -convoy of Mermet’s division, during the course of the morning. The -other troops from Merle’s and Delaborde’s divisions, together with -Franceschi’s horse, were to watch the lower Douro and check any attempt -of the British to cross. The Marshal was himself lodged at a villa -on the high ground west of the city, from which he commanded a fine -view of the whole valley from Oporto to the sea: the view up-stream -was blocked by the hill crowned by the Serra Convent, where the river -makes a slight bend in order to get round the projecting heights on the -southern bank. So thoroughly were both Soult and his staff impressed -with the idea that Wellesley would endeavour to operate below, and not -above, the city, that while the lower reaches of the Douro were<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[p. 333]</span> watched with the greatest -care, a very inefficient look-out was kept on the banks above Oporto: -there would seem to have been but a single battalion placed in that -direction, and this small force was lying far back from the river, with -no proper system of pickets thrown forward to the water’s edge. Yet the -opposite bank was full of cover, of thickets, gardens and olive groves, -screening several lanes and by-paths that had led down to ferries. -Such of the boats as had not been scuttled had been brought over to -the north bank, but they were not all protected by proper guards. All -this was inexcusably careless—the main blame must fall on the -Marshal for his <i>parti pris</i> in refusing to look up-stream: though some -must also be reserved for General Quesnel, the governor of Oporto, and -for Foy, the brigadier whose battalions were in charge of the eastern -suburb of the city. But the fact was that none of the French officers -dreamed of the possibility that Wellesley might make an attempt, on -the very morning of his arrival, to cross the tremendous obstacle -interposed in his way by the rolling stream of the Douro. That he would -deliver a frontal attack on them in full daylight was beyond the limits -of the probable. They had no conception of the enterprise of the man -with whom they had to deal.</p> - -<p>There was this amount of truth in their view, that the British -General would not have made his daring stroke at Oporto, unless he had -ascertained that the carelessness of his adversaries had placed an -unexpected chance in his hands. By ten o’clock in the morning Wellesley -had concentrated behind Villa Nova the whole of his force—the -three columns of Paget, Hill, and Sherbrooke were now up in line. They -were kept out of sight of the enemy, some in the lateral lanes of the -suburb, but the majority hidden behind the back slope of the hills, -where orchards and vineyards gave them complete cover from observers on -the northern bank.</p> - -<p>While the troops were coming up, Sir Arthur mounted the Serra -height, and reconnoitred the whole country-side from the garden -of the convent. He had with him Portuguese notables who were well -acquainted with Oporto and its suburbs, including several persons who -had come over the river on the preceding day, and could give him some -notion of the general disposition and emplacement of the French army. -Sweeping the valley with his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[p. -334]</span> glasses he could see Franceschi’s vedettes moving about -on the heights down-stream, and heavy columns of infantry forming up -outside the north-eastern gates of the city. At eleven o’clock this -body moved off, escorting a long train of wagons—it was Mermet’s -division starting for Amarante in charge of Soult’s convoy of sick and -reserve artillery. On the quays, below the broken bridge, many French -pickets were visible, ensconced at the openings of the streets which -lead down to the water. But turning his glass to the right, Wellesley -could note that up-stream matters looked very quiet, the rocky banks -above the deep-sunk river were deserted, and nothing was visible among -the gardens and scattered houses of the south-eastern suburb. It was -possible that French troops might be ensconced there, but no sign of -them was to be seen.</p> - -<p>Many intelligence-officers had already been sent off, to scour the -southern bank of the river, and to ascertain whether by any chance -the enemy had overlooked some of the boats belonging to the riverside -villages. In a short time two valuable pieces of news were brought up -to the Commander-in-chief. The large ferry-boat at Barca d’Avintas, -four miles above the city, had been scuttled, but not injured beyond -the possibility of hasty repairs. It was already being baled out -and mended by the villagers. Nearer at hand a still more important -discovery was made. Colonel Waters, one of the best scouts in the -army, had met, not far south of the suburban village of Cobranloes, -an Oporto refugee, a barber by trade, who had crossed over from the -north bank in a small skiff, which he had hidden in a thicket. The man -reported that the opposite bank was for the moment unguarded by the -French, and pointed to four large wine-barges lying stranded below -the brink of the northern shore, with no signs of an enemy in charge. -Yet the position was one which should have been well watched: here a -massive building, the bishop’s Seminary, surrounded by a high garden -wall, lies with its back to the water. It was an isolated structure, -standing well outside the eastern suburb, in fairly open ground, which -could be easily swept by artillery fire from the dominating position of -the Serra heights. Waters had with him as guide the prior of Amarante, -and by his aid collected three or four peasants from the neighbouring -cottages. After<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[p. 335]</span> -some persuasion from the ecclesiastic, these men and the barber -consented to join the British officer in a raid on the stranded barges -on the further bank. It was a hazardous undertaking, for one French -picket had lately been seen to pass by, and another might appear at -any moment. But the necessary half-hour was obtained; Waters and his -fellows entered the barber’s skiff, crossed the river unseen, got the -four barges afloat, and returned with them to the southern bank. They -turned out to be big clumsy vessels, capable of holding some thirty men -apiece. The explorer had noted that the Seminary buildings above were -perfectly empty.</p> - -<p>On receiving this intelligence, Wellesley resolved to take the -chance which the fates offered him. If the French had shown themselves -alert and vigilant, he could not have dared to throw troops across -the river into their midst. But they seemed asleep at high noon, and -their manifest negligence encouraged him. His mind was soon made up: he -ordered Murray with two battalions of his brigade<a id="FNanchor_417" -href="#Footnote_417" class="fnanchor">[417]</a>, two guns, and -two squadrons of the 14th Light Dragoons, to march hard for Barca -d’Avintas, cross on the ferry, and seize a position on the opposite -bank capable of being defended against superior numbers. But this (as -the small force employed sufficiently demonstrates) was only intended -as a diversion. The main blow was to be delivered nearer at hand. -Wellesley had resolved to endeavour to seize the abandoned Seminary, -and to throw his main body across the river at this point if possible. -The local conditions made the scheme less rash in fact than it appears -on the map. The east end of the Serra hill completely commands all -the ground about the Seminary: three batteries<a id="FNanchor_418" -href="#Footnote_418" class="fnanchor">[418]</a> were quietly pushed -into the convent garden and trained upon the roads leading to that -isolated building—one along the shore, the other further -inland. If the place could once be seized, it would be possible to -protect its garrison by fire across the water. There were only two -artillery positions on the French bank, from which the Seminary could -be battered: one, close to the water’s edge, was completely under the -guns of the Serra convent. The other, on the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_336">[p. 336]</span> heights by the chapel of Bom Fin, was -rather distant, and could not be used against boats crossing the river, -as they would be invisible to gunners working on this emplacement. -Cannon placed there might do some damage to the Seminary buildings, -but could not prevent the garrison from being reinforced. Realizing -all this at a glance, Wellesley hurried down Hill’s brigade to the -water’s edge, and the moment that the leading company of the Buffs had -got on board the barges, bade them push off. In a quarter of an hour -the first vessel was over, and a subaltern and twenty-five men rushed -up into the empty enclosure of the Seminary, and closed the big iron -gate opening into the Vallongo road, which formed its only land-exit. -The men from the other barges were just behind: they set themselves to -lining the garden wall and to piling up wood and earth against it, in -order to give themselves a standing-place from which they could fire -over the coping. The barges went back with all speed, and were again -loaded and sent off. Meanwhile Wellesley and his staff were looking -down in breathless anxiety on the quiet bend of the river, the silent -suburb, and the toiling vessels. At any moment the alarm might be -given, and masses of the enemy might debouch from the city and dash in -upon the Seminary before enough men were across to hold it. For the -best part of an hour the Commander-in-chief must have been fully aware -that his daring move might end only in the annihilation of two or three -companies of a good old regiment, and a check that would appear as the -righteous retribution for recklessness.</p> - -<p>But no stir was seen in Oporto: the barges crossed for a second -time unmolested: on their third trip they carried over General Edward -Paget, whom Wellesley had placed in command of the whole movement. -More than half the Buffs had passed, and the Seminary was beginning -to be adequately manned, when at last some shots were heard outside -the gates, and a few minutes later a line of French <i>tirailleurs</i>, -supported by three battalions in column, came rushing down upon the -enclosures. A full hour had passed between the moment when the first -boatload of British soldiers had been thrown across the river, and the -time when the French discovered them!</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapI_4"> - <img class="thick" - src="images/douro.jpg" - alt="The Douro above Oporto" /> - <p class="caption"> - WELLESLEY’S PASSAGE OF THE DOURO.<br /> - <small>N.B. The trees on the cliff to the right are close outside - the enclosure of the Serra Convent: the roof of the Seminary is just - visible over the crest of the hill on the other bank. In the background - are the low slopes above Avintas.</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">The fact was that the enemy’s commander was in bed, -and his staff breakfasting! The Duke of Dalmatia had sat up all -night <span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[p. 337]</span>dictating -dispatches, and making his arrangements for a leisurely flitting, for -he intended to stay two days longer in Oporto, so as to cover the march -of his other divisions towards Amarante and Villa Real. His desk-work -finished, he went to bed at about nine o’clock<a id="FNanchor_419" -href="#Footnote_419" class="fnanchor">[419]</a>, in full confidence -that he was well protected by the river, and that Wellesley was -probably engaged in the laborious task of bringing up boats to the -mouth of the Douro, which would occupy him for at least twenty-four -hours. The staff were taking their coffee, after a late <i>déjeuner</i>, -when the hoof-beats of a furious rider startled them, and a moment -later Brossard, the aide-de-camp of General Foy, burst into the Villa -shouting that the English had got into the town. Led to the Marshal’s -bedside, he hurriedly explained that Foy had just discovered the enemy -passing by boats into the Seminary, and was massing his brigade for -an attack upon them. The Marshal started up, sent his staff flying in -all directions to warn the outlying troops, ordered all the remaining -<i>impedimenta</i> to be sent off on the Vallongo road, and dispatched -Brossard back to Foy to tell him to ‘push the English into the river.’ -He was hardly dressed and on horseback, when the noise of a distant -fusillade, followed by heavy artillery fire, gave the news that the -attack on the Seminary had already begun.</p> - -<p>It had been only at half-past ten that Foy, riding along the heights -by the Chapel of Bom Fin, had been informed that there were boats -on the river, filled with red-coated soldiery. It took him wellnigh -three-quarters of an hour to bring up his nearest regiment, the 17th -Léger, and only at 11.30 did the attack on the Seminary begin. The -three battalions beset the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[p. -338]</span> northern and western sides of the Seminary, and made a -vigorous attempt to break in, while some guns were hurried down to the -river bank, just below the building, to fire upon the barges that were -bringing up reinforcements.</p> - -<p>Wellesley, from his eyrie on the Serra heights, had been watching -for the long-expected outburst of the French. The moment that they -came pressing forward, he gave orders for the eighteen guns in the -convent garden to open upon them. The first shot fired, a round of -shrapnel from the 5½-inch howitzer of Lane’s battery, burst just -over the leading French gun on the further bank, as it was in the -act of unlimbering, dismounted the piece, and by an extraordinary -chance, killed or wounded every man and horse attached to it<a -id="FNanchor_420" href="#Footnote_420" class="fnanchor">[420]</a>. A -moment later came the blast of the other seventeen guns, which swept -the level ground to the west of the Seminary with awful effect. The -French attack reeled back, and the survivors fled from the open ground -into the houses of the suburb, leaving the disabled cannon behind them. -Again and again they tried to creep forward, to flank the English -stronghold, and to fire at the barges as they went and came, but on -every occasion they were swept away by the hail of shrapnel. They -could, therefore, only attack the Seminary on its northern front, where -the buildings lay between them and the Serra height, and so screened -them from the artillery. But in half an hour the 17th Léger was beaten -off and terribly mauled; they had to cross an open space, the Prado do -Bispo, in order to get near their adversaries, and the fire from the -garden wall, the windows, and the flat roof of the edifice, swept them -away before they could close.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the English suffered little: the only serious loss -sustained was that of General Edward Paget, whose arm was shattered -by a bullet. He was replaced in command by Hill, who (like him) had -crossed in one of the earlier barges. The number of troops in the -building was always growing larger, the Buffs were all across, and the -66th and 48th were beginning to follow.</p> - -<p>After a short slackening in the engagement, General Delaborde -came up, with the three battalions of the 70th of the line, to<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[p. 339]</span> support his brigadier. -This new force executed a far more sustained and desperate attack on -the Seminary than had their predecessors. Hill in his letters home -called it ‘the <i>serious</i> attack.’ But it had no better fortune than -the last: a thousand English infantry, comfortably ensconced behind -stone walls, and protected on their flanks by the storm of shot and -shell from the opposite bank of the river, could not easily be moved. -So well, indeed, were they covered, that in three hours’ fighting they -only lost seventy-seven men<a id="FNanchor_421" href="#Footnote_421" -class="fnanchor">[421]</a>, while the open ground outside was thickly -strewn with the dead and wounded Frenchmen.</p> - -<p>Soult was now growing desperate: he ordered up from the city -Reynaud’s brigade, which had hitherto guarded the quays in the -neighbourhood of the broken bridge. His intention was to make one more -attack on the Seminary, and if that failed to draw off in the direction -of Vallongo and Amarante. This move made an end of his chances; he had -forgotten to reckon with the Portuguese. The moment that the quays -were left unguarded, hundreds of citizens poured out of their houses -and ran down to the water’s edge, where they launched all the boats -that had been drawn ashore, and took them over to the English bank. -Richard Stewart’s brigade and the Guards who had been waiting under -cover of the houses of Villa Nova, immediately began to embark, and -in a few moments the passage had begun. The 29th was first formed up -on the northern bank, and dashed up the main street into the city, -meeting little or no opposition; the 1st Battalion of Detachments and -the Guards’ brigade soon followed. In half an hour they had come upon -the flank of the French force which was attacking the Seminary, and -had taken in the rear and captured one of Soult’s reserve batteries, -whose horses were shot down before they could escape along a narrow -lane. As the British went pouring through Oporto the whole population, -half mad with joy, stood cheering at the windows and on the roofs, -waving their handkerchiefs and shouting <i>Viva</i>. The rabble poured down -into the streets, and began to attack the French wounded, so that -Sherbrooke had to detach a company to protect them from assassination<a -id="FNanchor_422" href="#Footnote_422" class="fnanchor">[422]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[p. 340]</span></p> - -<p>When Soult found himself thus attacked in the flank, he saw that -there was no more to be done, and bade the whole army retreat at -full speed along the road to Vallongo and Baltar. They went off in a -confused mass, the regiments all mingled together, and the artillery -jammed in the midst of the column. Hill came out of the Seminary and -joined in the pursuit, which was urged for three miles. ‘They made -no fight,’ writes an eye-witness, ‘every man seemed running for his -life, throwing away their knapsacks and arms, so that we had only -the trouble of making many prisoners every instant, all begging for -quarter and surrendering with great good humour<a id="FNanchor_423" -href="#Footnote_423" class="fnanchor">[423]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The French army might have been still further mauled, and indeed -almost destroyed, if Wellesley’s detached force under Murray had -been well handled by its commander. The two battalions of the German -Legion, with their attendant squadrons of the 14th Light Dragoons, had -crossed the Douro at the ferry of Barca d’ Avintas wholly unopposed. -It was a slow business, but the detachment was over long ere Soult had -abandoned his attack on the Seminary. Advancing cautiously along the -river bank, Murray suddenly saw the whole French army come pouring -past him in total disorder on the line of the Vallongo road. He -might have made an attempt to throw himself across their path, or at -least have fallen upon their flank and endeavoured to cut the column -in two; but thinking them far too strong for his small force, and -forgetting their demoralization, he halted and allowed them to go by. -When all had passed, General Charles Stewart, who had been sent in -search of Murray by the Commander-in-chief, came galloping up to the -force, and took from it a squadron of the 14th<a id="FNanchor_424" -href="#Footnote_424" class="fnanchor">[424]</a>, with which he made -a dash at the enemy’s last troops. The French had now formed a sort -of rearguard, but the dragoons rode into it without hesitation. The -French generals were bringing up the rear, and trying to keep their men -steady. Delaborde was unhorsed and for a moment<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_341">[p. 341]</span> was a prisoner, but escaped owing to -his captor being killed. Foy received a sabre cut on the shoulder. -The infantry broke, and nearly 300 of them were cut off and captured. -But the dragoons also suffered heavily; of about 110 men who took -part in the charge no less than thirty-five men were killed and -wounded. Murray, who watched the whole skirmish from his position on -a neighbouring hillside, gave no assistance to his cavalry, though -the intervention of his two battalions would have led to the capture -of the whole of Soult’s rearguard. It was to infantry of Sherbrooke’s -division that the dragoons turned over their prisoners before rejoining -their other squadron<a id="FNanchor_425" href="#Footnote_425" -class="fnanchor">[425]</a>.</p> - -<p>So ended the battle of Oporto, daring in its conception, splendidly -successful in its execution, yet not so decisive as it might have been, -had Murray but done his duty during the pursuit. The British loss -was astoundingly small—only twenty-three killed, ninety-eight -wounded, and two missing: among the dead there was not a single -officer: the wounded included a general (Paget) and three majors. -The casualties of the French were, as was natural, much greater: the -attacks on the Seminary had cost them dear. They lost about 300 killed -and wounded and nearly as many prisoners in the field, while more<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[p. 342]</span> than 1,500 sick and -wounded were captured in the hospitals of Oporto<a id="FNanchor_426" -href="#Footnote_426" class="fnanchor">[426]</a>. The trophies consisted -of the six field-pieces taken during the fighting, a great number of -baggage wagons, and fifty-two Portuguese guns, dismounted but fit for -further service, which were found in the arsenal. Soult had destroyed, -before retreating, the rest of the cannon which he had captured in the -Portuguese lines on March 29.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap14_3"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[p. 343]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER III">SECTION XIV: CHAPTER III</h3> - <p class="subh3">SOULT’S RETREAT FROM OPORTO</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> headlong charge of Hervey’s squadron -of the 14th Light Dragoons was the last molestation which fell to the -lot of Soult’s retreating column on the afternoon of May 12. Marching -till dark, the disordered infantry encamped at Baltar, ten miles from -Oporto, where they fell in with the detached regiment of Delaborde’s -division and with Caulaincourt’s dragoons, who had been guarding this -half-way stage between Amarante and Oporto, ever since Loison had -marched on into the Tras-os-Montes ten days before. Of the rest of the -French army, Franceschi (always in the post of danger) covered the -rear at Vallongo, just west of Baltar. Mermet, with the division that -had marched from Oporto before Wellesley’s attack was developed, had -encamped on the Souza river, four miles ahead of the main column. The -Marshal had thus nearly 13,000 men concentrated, and proposed next day -to push on for Amarante, in the wake of Loison, who (as he supposed) -must now be well ahead in the Tras-os-Montes, clearing for him the way -into Spain. It was disquieting, however, to find that no news from that -general had yet come to hand—indeed he had not been heard of -since May 7, when he was just starting out on his expedition. Wherever -Loison might be, the Marshal was bound to follow him in haste, since -it was certain that Wellesley would be close at his heels, and that no -time was to be lost in lingering.</p> - -<p>At half-past one in the morning Soult was roused from sleep, -and informed that the long-expected messenger from Loison -had at last arrived<a id="FNanchor_427" href="#Footnote_427" -class="fnanchor">[427]</a>. The news which he brought was nothing less -than appalling: the French detached corps had been not only checked but -beaten, the bridge of Amarante had been lost,<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_344">[p. 344]</span> and Loison was hastily retreating to the -north-west at the moment that his chief was moving eastward to join -him.</p> - -<p>Beresford’s turning movement, in fact, had been completely -successful—far more so than Wellesley had thought likely; he had -not only succeeded in placing himself across the French line of retreat -into Spain, but had beaten Loison and thrown him back into Soult’s -arms.</p> - -<p>What had happened was shortly this. On May 8 Beresford had picked -up Wilson’s detachment at Vizeu: on the tenth he had met Silveira -at Lamego. He had thus concentrated some 10,500 or 11,000 men, all -Portuguese save Tilson’s brigade and the single squadron of the 14th -Light Dragoons. Learning at Lamego that, as late as the ninth, Loison -was still in the neighbourhood of Amarante, and had not yet penetrated -far into the Tras-os-Montes, Beresford resolved to take the risk of -passing the Douro and to throw his army directly across the path of -the advancing French. On the tenth, the same day on which the force -from Coimbra reached Lamego, he sent Silveira over the river by the -bridge of Peso da Regoa, which had never passed out of the hands of -the Portuguese and had a strong <i>tête-de-pont</i> on its northern side. -Silveira had barely crossed when Loison, who had spent the previous day -at Mezamfrio, ten miles away on the Amarante road, came up against him -with Heudelet’s and Sarrut’s infantry and Marisy’s dragoons—about -6,500 sabres and bayonets. Emboldened by having entrenchments to help -him, and by knowing that Beresford was close behind, Silveira stood -firm at the <i>tête-de-pont</i> and accepted battle.</p> - -<p>Loison was somewhat discouraged by his adversary’s confidence, and -did not fail to note the masses of troops on the southern bank of the -Douro, which were moving up to the bridge to support Silveira. However, -late in the afternoon he attacked the Portuguese, but was steadily met -and beaten off with some loss<a id="FNanchor_428" href="#Footnote_428" -class="fnanchor">[428]</a>. Thereupon he drew back and retired to -Mezamfrio. On the following day (May 11) he continued his<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[p. 345]</span> retreat to Amarante, -closely pursued by Silveira, who kept driving in his rearguard wherever -it attempted to make a stand.</p> - -<p>Beresford meanwhile brought his own troops across the Douro on -May 11, in the wake of Silveira’s division. On the twelfth he pushed -forward to Amarante, intending to fight Loison if the latter should try -to hold his ground beyond the bridge. But on his approach he found that -the French rearguard (Sarrut’s brigade) had already been driven across -the water by the Portuguese<a id="FNanchor_429" href="#Footnote_429" -class="fnanchor">[429]</a>. The bridge, however, still remained in -Loison’s hands, and as it was no less defensible from the eastern than -from the western bank, the army could get no further forward.</p> - -<p>Matters were now at a deadlock, for if Beresford could not cross -the Tamega, it was clear that Loison, even if heavily reinforced -from Oporto, would not be able to force the imposing position on the -heights commanding the bridge, which was now held by 11,000 men, -including a British brigade. But he might, and should, have continued -to hold the town and the bridge-head, till further orders reached him -from Soult. Instead of doing so, he made up his mind to retreat at -once, and marched off early on the evening of May 12 along the road -to Guimaraens and Braga. Thus at the moment when Soult was retiring -on Amarante, Loison abandoned the position which covered his chief’s -chosen line of retreat. Moreover, he was so tardy in sending news of -his intentions to head quarters, that the aide-de-camp who bore his -dispatch only reached Baltar after midnight on the twelfth-thirteenth: -this was the first report that Soult had received from him since May 8. -It was a military crime of the highest magnitude that he had neither -informed his chief of the check at Peso da Regoa on the tenth, nor -of his retreat to Amarante on the eleventh. Knowledge of these facts -would have been invaluable to the Marshal, since it would have shown -him that the route through the Tras-os-Montes was<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_346">[p. 346]</span> blocked, and that he must not count upon -an undisturbed retreat into Spain. If he had known of this, he would -not have evacuated Oporto by the Baltar road, but would have been -forced to march northward on Braga or Guimaraens, instead of due east. -So strange, in fact, was Loison’s slackness, that Soult’s advocates -have not hesitated to accuse him of deliberate treachery, and have -hinted that he was engaged in Argenton’s plot—a hypothesis which -would have explained his conduct clearly enough. But, as a matter -of fact, Argenton’s revelations to Wellesley show that this was not -the case, and that the conspirators looked upon Loison and Delaborde -as the two officers who were most likely to give them trouble. It -must therefore have been sheer military incapacity, and disgust at -the whole Portuguese expedition, which lay at the bottom of Loison’s -misbehaviour. Disbelieving in Soult’s plan of campaign, he was -probably bent on compelling his chief to retire to Braga, and was (of -course) quite ignorant of the fact that Wellesley’s capture of Oporto -had changed the whole face of affairs, and that the retreat in that -direction was no longer open.</p> - -<p>Despondent, tired out by the work of the preceding day, and -suffering physically from a heavy fall from his horse during the -retreat, Soult was roused from his slumbers to read Loison’s disastrous -dispatch. When he had made out its full meaning he was appalled. All -his plans were shattered, and he was clearly in imminent danger, for -Wellesley from Oporto and Beresford from Amarante might converge upon -him in the morning, with nearly 30,000 men, if it should chance that -they had made out his position. No help could come from Loison, who, -having now reached Guimaraens, was separated from the main body by the -roadless expanse of the rugged Serra de Santa Catalina. Eastward lay -one hostile force, westward another, to the south was the impassable -Douro, to the north the inhospitable mountains. It was useless to think -of making a desperate dash at Beresford’s army: in open ground an -attack on the Portuguese might have been practicable, but the bridge -of Amarante was a post impossible to force in a hurry, and while the -attack on it was in progress, it was certain that Wellesley would -come up from the rear. The situation and the results of Baylen would -inevitably be reproduced.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[p. 347]</span></p> - -<p>Realizing this, the Duke of Dalmatia came to the conclusion that the -only course open to him was to abandon everything that could not be -carried on his men’s backs, and to make a desperate attempt to cross -the Serra de Santa Catalina before the news of his straits had reached -the enemy. He imagined that there must be some sort of a footpath from -Baltar or Penafiel to Guimaraens: in a thickly peopled country like -Northern Portugal, the hill-folk have short cuts of their own—the -only difficulty for the stranger is to discover them. Hasty inquiries -in the bivouac of the army produced a Navarese camp-follower, who said -that he knew the localities and could point out a bad mule-track, which -climbed the hillside above the Souza torrent, and came down into the -valley of the Avé, not far south of Guimaraens<a id="FNanchor_430" -href="#Footnote_430" class="fnanchor">[430]</a>. It was the kind -of path in which the army would meet every sort of difficulty, and -where the head of the column might be stopped by a couple of hundred -<i>Ordenanza</i>, if it should chance that the Portuguese peasantry were on -the alert. But it seemed the only practicable way out of the situation, -and the Marshal resolved to try it.</p> - -<p>At daybreak the army was warned of its danger; and wasting no time -on councils of war or elaborate orders, Soult sent round word that the -troops were to abandon everything that could not be carried on the -backs of men or horses, and to take to the hills. An immense mass of -baggage and plunder had to be left on the banks of the Souza, including -the whole of the heavy convoy which Mermet had escorted out of Oporto -on the previous day. The Marshal even decided that the infantry should -turn out of their knapsacks everything except food and cartridges, an -order which those who had in their possession gold plate and other -valuable plunder of small bulk took care to disobey. The cannon were -destroyed by being placed mouth to mouth and discharged simultaneously -in pairs. As much of the reserve ammunition for infantry as could be -packed in convenient bundles was laden on the backs of the artillery -horses. The rest, with all the powder wagons, was collected in<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[p. 348]</span> a mass, ready to be -fired when the army should have absconded. One curious circumstance, -which displays better than anything else the hurry of the retreat, -is worth mentioning. The military chest of the 2nd Corps was well -filled—it is said to have contained nearly £50,000 in Portuguese -silver. The Marshal ordered the paymaster-in-chief to serve out all -that he could to the regimental paymasters. Only two of these officials -could be found, and they were unable to carry off more than a fraction -of the money. Soult then ordered the treasure-chests to be broken open, -and sent word that the men, as they passed, might help themselves. But -hardly a soldier took advantage of the offer: they looked at the bulky -bags of <i>cruzados novos</i>, shook their heads, and hurried on. Those -who were tempted at first were seen, later in the day, tossing the -weighty pieces into the ravine of the Souza. Perceiving that there was -no way of getting rid of the mass of silver, Soult at last ordered the -<i>fourgons</i> containing it to be dragged alongside of the powder wagons. -When the train was exploded, after the rearguard had passed, the money -was scattered to the winds. For years after the peasants of Penafiel -were picking up stray coins on the hillside<a id="FNanchor_431" -href="#Footnote_431" class="fnanchor">[431]</a>.</p> - -<p>As the French army was beginning its weary climb over the Serra de -Santa Catalina a heavy drenching rain commenced to fall. It lasted -for three days, and added much to the miseries<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_349">[p. 349]</span> of the retreat; but it was not without -its advantages to the fugitive host, for it kept the Portuguese -peasantry indoors, and it would seem that no one in the mountain -villages got wind of the movement for many hours. It was not till -the French had crossed the ridge and descended, late in the dusk, on -to the village of Pombeiro in the valley of the Avé that they began -to be molested by the <i>Ordenanza</i>. After a few shots had been fired -the peasants were driven off. Next morning [May 14] Soult got into -communication with Loison, who was still lying at Guimaraens with all -his troops. On the same day Lorges’ dragoons and the garrison of Viana -came in from the north, and the whole army, still over 20,000 strong, -was reconcentrated. The first danger, that of destruction piecemeal, -had been avoided. But Soult’s desperate move had only warded off the -peril for the moment: he had still to fear that Wellesley and Beresford -might close in upon him before he could get clear of the mountains.</p> - -<p>It remains to be seen how the two British generals had employed -the day during which the French were scaling the heights of the Serra -de Santa Catalina. Wellesley had crossed in person to Oporto long -ere the fighting was over, and had established his head quarters in -Soult’s villa on the heights, where he and his staff thought themselves -fortunate in finding ready for their consumption the excellent dinner -which had been prepared for the Marshal. As long as daylight lasted -the British infantry continued to be ferried over to the city, but -they were not all across when night fell. The artillery, the train, -and all the regimental baggage were still on the wrong side of the -river, and as the great bridge was destroyed beyond hope of repair, all -the <i>impedimenta</i> had to be brought over in boats and barges. It was -mainly this fact that delayed Wellesley from making an early move on -the thirteenth. He could not advance without his guns and his reserve -ammunition, and did not receive them till the day was far spent and -the natural hour for marching was past. There were other circumstances -which hindered him from pressing on as he would have liked to do. The -infantry were tired out: they had marched more than eighty miles during -the last four days, and had fought hard at Grijon and Oporto. Human -nature could do no<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[p. 350]</span> -more without a halt, and Wellesley was forced to grant it. Moreover, -there was the question of food to be taken into consideration. The -troops had outrun their supplies, and the provision wagons were still -trailing up from Coimbra. In Oporto no stores of any importance were -discovered, for Soult had stopped collecting more than he could -carry, the moment that he made up his mind to retreat, and had been -living from hand to mouth during the last few days of his sojourn -in the city. The only thing that abounded was port wine, and from -that the soldiers had to be kept away, or results disastrous to -discipline would have followed<a id="FNanchor_432" href="#Footnote_432" -class="fnanchor">[432]</a>.</p> - -<p>With great reluctance, therefore, Wellesley resolved to halt for a -day, only sending forward Murray and the German Legion, with a couple -of squadrons, along the Baltar road. This brigade did not come up with -Soult’s rearguard, though they found ample traces of his passage in -the shape of murdered stragglers and abandoned plunder. No doubt the -Commander-in-chief would have directed them to push on further, and -have supported them with every battalion that could still march ten -miles, if only he had been aware of the fact that Beresford had got -possession of the bridge of Amarante, and that the enemy was therefore -in a trap. But he was only in communication with his lieutenant by the -circuitous route of Lamego and Mezamfrio, and the last news that he had -received of the turning column led him to believe that it was still in -the neighbourhood of Villa Real, and that Loison continued to hold the -passage of the Tamega. Writing to Beresford on the night of the capture -of Oporto, he desired him to make every effort to hold on to Villa -Real, and to keep Soult in check till he himself could overtake him<a -id="FNanchor_433" href="#Footnote_433" class="fnanchor">[433]</a>.</p> - -<p>It was not till the afternoon of the thirteenth that Wellesley -obtained information that put him on the right track. The intelligence -officer with Murray’s column<a id="FNanchor_434" href="#Footnote_434" -class="fnanchor">[434]</a> sent him back word<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_351">[p. 351]</span> that heavy explosions had been heard -at Penafiel, and that the smoke of large fires was visible along the -hillside above it. This gave a strong hint of what was probably taking -place in that direction, but it was not till five in the afternoon -that full information came to hand. This was brought by the Portuguese -secretary of General Quesnel, who had deserted his employer and ridden -back to Oporto, to give the valuable news which would save him from -being tried for treason for serving the enemy. He gave an accurate and -detailed account of all that had happened to Soult’s column, and had -seen it start off on the break-neck path to Guimaraens. Only about -Loison was he uncertain—that officer, he said, was probably still -at Amarante, holding back Silveira and Beresford<a id="FNanchor_435" -href="#Footnote_435" class="fnanchor">[435]</a>.</p> - -<p>On receipt of this important intelligence Wellesley sent orders to -Murray to press on his small force of cavalry, and some mounted rifles -(if he could secure horses or mules) as far as Penafiel, to verify -the secretary’s information<a id="FNanchor_436" href="#Footnote_436" -class="fnanchor">[436]</a>. A later dispatch bade him press on to -Amarante, if Loison was still there, in order to take that officer in -the rear; but if he were gone, the Legionary brigade was to follow -Soult over the hills towards Guimaraens and Braga, and endeavour -to catch up his rearguard<a id="FNanchor_437" href="#Footnote_437" -class="fnanchor">[437]</a>. The orders arrived too late: Murray, on the -morning of the fourteenth, learnt that Loison had long ago departed, -and that Soult was far on his way. He followed the Marshal across the -Serra de Santa Catalina, but never got near him, though he picked up -many French stragglers, and saw the bodies of many more, who had been -assassinated by the peasantry<a id="FNanchor_438" href="#Footnote_438" -class="fnanchor">[438]</a>.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Beresford had acted with great decision, and with an -intelligence which he did not always display. When, on the morning of -the thirteenth, he found that the French had disappeared, and that -Amarante (after having been thoroughly sacked)<a id="FNanchor_439" -href="#Footnote_439" class="fnanchor">[439]</a> had been abandoned to -him, he did not waste time in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[p. -352]</span> a fruitless pursuit of Loison in the direction of -Guimaraens, but resolved to endeavour to cut off the retreat of the -whole French army towards the north. If they had absconded by way of -Braga, the chase would fall to Wellesley’s share, but if they had -taken the other road by Chaves, all would depend on his own movements. -Accordingly he resolved to march at once on the last named town, -without waiting for orders from the Commander-in-chief. Having hastily -collected three days’ provisions, he moved off himself by the high-road -up the valley of the Tamega, detaching Silveira and his division to -strike across country, and occupy the defiles of Ruivaens and Salamonde -on the Braga-Chaves road, where it would be possible to detain, if not -to stop, the retreating columns of Soult if they should take this way -[May 14]. While on his march Beresford received Wellesley’s letters, -which prescribed to him exactly the line of conduct that he had -already determined to pursue<a id="FNanchor_440" href="#Footnote_440" -class="fnanchor">[440]</a>. After three difficult marches in drenching -rain, which turned every rivulet into an almost impassable torrent, and -spoilt the inadequate provision of bread which had been served out to -the men, the division reached Chaves about 12 p.m. on the night of the -sixteenth-seventeenth. The men were absolutely exhausted; though the -distance covered had not exceeded some fourteen or fifteen miles per -day, yet the rain, the starvation, and the bad road had much thinned -the ranks, and those who had kept up with the colours were dropping -with fatigue. The slowness of the column’s advance was certainly not -Beresford’s fault; he had allowed only a six hours’ halt each day on -the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth, and had been pushing on as -hard as was, humanly speaking, possible. Nevertheless he was too late: -on the seventeenth, the all-important day of the campaign, he held -Chaves, but his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[p. 353]</span> -troops were too tired to start early or to march far. The bad weather -which made the French retreat so miserable, had at least saved the -flying army from its pursuers<a id="FNanchor_441" href="#Footnote_441" -class="fnanchor">[441]</a>.</p> - -<p>Soult meanwhile had gathered in Loison and Lorges, and his whole -army was concentrated at Guimaraens on the morning of the fourteenth. -From the point where he now lay, in the upper valley of the Avé, there -are only two carriage roads, that to Amarante by which Loison had -arrived, and that to Braga. There was a bare chance that if Wellesley -had received his information late, and moved slowly, it might be -possible to escape from him by the road to Braga. If, however, he -had marched promptly from Oporto, he would be able to intercept the -retreating army at that place. Soult refused to take this risk, and -resolved instead to plunge once more into the mountains, and to cross -the watershed between the Avé and the Cavado by a rugged hill-path, no -better than that which had served him between Penafiel and Guimaraens. -It was accordingly necessary to sacrifice all the guns, munitions, and -baggage belonging to Loison and Lorges, just as those of Mermet and -Delaborde had been destroyed on the banks of the Souza. The guns were -burst, the ammunition exploded, the baggage piled<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_354">[p. 354]</span> in heaps and burned. After this second -holocaust the army struck up a track by the Salto torrent, which -ultimately brought them over the crest, and down upon the village of -Lanhozo, eight miles from Braga, and just at the foot of the position -which Eben had occupied during his unhappy battle on March 20. The -weather had been abominable, and the rearguard had been forced to -bivouac in misery on the hills, the darkness having come down upon them -before the descent into the valley of the Cavado was completed.</p> - -<p>Next morning Soult sent out Lahoussaye’s dragoons down the valley -of the Cavado towards Braga, to see if that city was already in -Wellesley’s hands or whether it was still possible to escape across -his front and gain the high road to Galicia. As the Marshal had feared -would be the case, they met British light cavalry pushing briskly up -the road towards them; it was clear that the pursuers were already in -Braga, and Soult at once ordered his columns to turn their faces to the -north-east, and follow the road up the Cavado towards Salamonde and -Ruivaens. The British were ere long visible in close pursuit.</p> - -<p>Sir Arthur had quitted Oporto on the fourteenth with his whole force -except the brigade of Murray, which had already gone forth on the -eastern line of pursuit, and the 20th Light Dragoons, which he had been -ordered to send back to Lisbon. On that day his army covered twenty-two -miles of road in vile weather, and slept at Villa Nova de Famelicção. -On the fifteenth the British started early, and their vanguard had -already marched twelve miles and reached Braga when the French dragoons -were descried. The latter, seeing themselves forestalled, retired on -their main body, and when Wellesley’s men mounted the crest of the -Monte Adaufé (Eben’s old position in the battle of March 20), they -caught a glimpse of the whole French army retiring up the valley. -Soult, immediately on hearing that the pursuers were in Braga, had -commenced a new retreat. He had rearranged his order of march. Loison -now led the column, with Heudelet’s division and Lorges’ dragoons: then -came the droves of artillery horses and pack-mules, with the reserve -ammunition and the little baggage that had been saved, followed by -Delaborde and Mermet. Merle’s infantry and Franceschi’s horse were in -the rear, under the Marshal’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[p. -355]</span> own command. In this order the French remounted the stream -of the Cavado as far as Salamonde, where the broad valley narrows down -to a defile. They were followed by the British light dragoons, but the -infantry of the pursuing column had not got far beyond Braga, where -Wellesley’s head quarters were established that night. Murray’s German -brigade, which had crossed the mountains from Guimaraens in Soult’s -wake, joined the main body on this evening.</p> - -<p>On reaching Salamonde Soult was informed by the cavalry in his -front that they had been brought to stand at the bridge of Ponte Nova, -a few miles up the defile, by a body of <i>Ordenanza</i>, who had taken -up the wooden flooring of the bridge, torn down its balustrades, -and barricaded themselves upon the further side. Unless they could -be dislodged ruin stared the Marshal in the face: for the British -were close in his rear, and there was no lateral line of escape from -the precipitous defile. Surrender next morning must follow. In this -crisis Soult saw no chance of safety before him save a dash at the -half-demolished bridge. When darkness had fallen he sent for Major -Dulong, an officer of the 31st Léger, who enjoyed the reputation of -being the most daring man in the whole army, and told him that he must -surprise the Portuguese by a sudden rush at midnight, and win the -passage at all costs. He was allowed to pick 100 volunteers from his -own regiment for the enterprise.</p> - -<p>The safety of a whole army has seldom depended upon a more desperate -venture than that which Dulong took in hand. Nothing remained of the -bridge save the two large cross-beams, no more than three or four feet -broad; they were slippery with continuous rain, and had to be passed -in complete darkness under the driving sleet of a bitter north wind. -Fortunately for the assailants the same cold and wet which made their -enterprise so dangerous had driven the <i>Ordenanza</i> under cover: they -had retired to some huts a little way beyond the bridge. If they left -any one on guard, the sentinel had followed his friends, for when -Dulong and his party crept up to the passage they found it absolutely -deserted. They crossed in single file, and reached the further side -unobserved, losing one man who slipped and fell into the fierce river -below. A moment later they came on the Portuguese, who were surprised -in their sleep: many were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[p. -356]</span> bayonetted, the rest fled in dismay—they were but a -few score of peasants, and were helpless when once the passage had been -won.</p> - -<p>For six hours Soult’s sappers were working hard to replace the -flooring of the ruined bridge with tree trunks, and boards torn from -the houses of the neighbouring village. At eight it was practicable, -and the troops began to cross. It was a long business: for 20,000 -men with 4,000 cavalry horses and a great drove of pack-animals had -to be passed over the narrow, rickety, and uneven structure, whose -balustrades had not been replaced. All the day was spent in hurrying -the troops across, but they got forward so slowly that Soult saw -himself forced to place a strong rearguard in position, to hold back -the pursuers till the main body was safe. He left behind a brigade of -Merle’s division, and two of Franceschi’s cavalry regiments, ranged -behind a lateral ravine which crosses the road some distance below the -bridge. They were placed with their right on the rough river bank and -their left on the cliffs which overhang the road; orders were given -to the effect that they must hold on at all costs till the army had -completed the passage of the Ponte Nova. At half-past one the British -light dragoons arrived in front of the position, saw that they could -not force it, and started a bickering fire with the French pickets, -while they waited for the main body to come up.</p> - -<p>Owing to the long distance which Wellesley’s infantry had to -cover, the day wore on without any serious collision on this point. -But meanwhile Soult found that another and more serious danger lay -ahead of him. After crossing the Cavado at the Ponte Nova there were -two paths available for the army—the main road leads eastward -to Chaves by way of Ruivaens, a branch, however, turns off north to -Montalegre and the sources of the Misarella, the main affluent of the -Cavado. The former was the easier, but there was a grave doubt whether -Chaves might not already be in the hands of Beresford and his turning -column—as a matter of fact it only arrived there a few hours -after Soult stood uncertain at the parting of the ways. Bearing this in -mind, the Marshal resolved to take the more rugged and difficult path; -but when Loison and the vanguard were engaged in it they found that the -bridge over the Misarella, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[p. -357]</span> <i>Saltador</i> as it was called from the bold leap which its -single arch makes across the torrent, was held against them. Again it -was only with <i>Ordenanza</i> that the army had to deal: Beresford had -just reached Chaves, but his troops were some miles further back; -Silveira, who ought to have been at Ruivaens that morning, had not -appeared at all. But Major Warre, an officer of Beresford’s staff, had -ridden ahead to rouse the peasantry, and had collected several hundred -half-armed levies at the <i>Saltador</i> bridge, which he encouraged them to -hold, promising that the regulars would be up to support them before -nightfall. Unfortunately he could not persuade them to destroy the -bridge, on which all the cross-communications of the Misarella valley -depend. But they had thrown down its parapets, built an <i>abattis</i> -across its head, and thrown up earthworks on each side of it so as to -command the opposite bank. This, unhappily, was not enough to hold -back 20,000 desperate men, who saw their only way of salvation on the -opposite bank.</p> - -<p>When Loison found his advance barred, he made an appeal to that -same Major Dulong who had forced the Ponte Nova on the preceding -night. Again that daring soldier volunteered to conduct the forlorn -hope: he was given a company of <i>voltigeurs</i> to lead the column, -and two battalions of Heudelet’s division to back them. Forming the -whole in one continuous mass—there was only room for four men -abreast—he dashed down towards the bridge amid a spluttering and -ineffective fire from the Portuguese entrenchments on the opposite -bank. The column reached the arch, passed it, was checked but a moment -while tearing down the <i>abattis</i>, and then plunged in among the scared -<i>Ordenanza</i>, who fled in every direction, leaving the passage free. -Dulong was wounded, but no more than eighteen of his companions were -hit, and at this small sacrifice the army was saved. Late in the -afternoon the whole mass began to stream up the Montalegre road; they -had no longer anything more to fear than stray shots from the scattered -<i>Ordenanza</i>, who hung about on the hillsides, firing into the column -from inaccessible rocks, but doing little damage.</p> - -<p>If Dulong had failed at the Saltador Soult would have been lost, -for just as the passage was forced the rumbling of cannon began to be -heard from the rear. Merle was attacked by the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_358">[p. 358]</span> British, and was being driven in. At -five o’clock the Guards’ brigade, forming the head of Wellesley’s -infantry, had come up with the French rearguard. It was formidably -posted, but Sir Arthur thought that it might be dislodged. Accordingly -he placed the two three-pounders, which accompanied the column, on -the high road, and began to batter the French centre, while he sent -off the three light companies of the brigade<a id="FNanchor_442" -href="#Footnote_442" class="fnanchor">[442]</a> to turn the French left -flank on the cliffs to the south. When the crackling of their musketry -was heard among the rocks, he silenced his guns and flung the Guards -upon the enemy’s main body. They broke, turned, and fled in confusion, -though the regiment on the road, the 4th Léger, was considered one of -the best in the French army<a id="FNanchor_443" href="#Footnote_443" -class="fnanchor">[443]</a>.</p> - -<p>The chase continued as far as the Ponte Nova, which the broken -troops crossed in a struggling mass, thrusting each other over the -edge (where the balustrades were wanting) till the torrent below was -choked with dead men and horses. The British guns were brought up and -played upon the weltering crowd with dreadful effect. But the night -was already coming on, and the darkness hid from the pursuers the -full effect of their own fire. They halted and encamped, having slain -many and taken about fifty prisoners, of whom one was an officer. It -was only at daybreak that they realized the terrors through which the -French had passed. ‘The rocky bed of the Cavado,’ says an eye-witness, -‘presented an extraordinary spectacle. Men and horses, sumpter animals -and baggage, had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[p. 359]</span> -been precipitated into the river, and literally choked its course. -Here, with these fatal accompaniments of death and dismay, was -disgorged the last of the plunder of Oporto. All kinds of valuable -goods were left on the road, while above 300 horses, sunk in the water, -and mules laden with baggage, fell into the hands of the grenadier -and light companies of the Guards. These active-fingered gentry found -that fishing for boxes and bodies out of the stream produced pieces -of plate, and purses and belts full of gold money. Amid the scenes of -death and desolation arose their shouts of the most noisy merriment<a -id="FNanchor_444" href="#Footnote_444" class="fnanchor">[444]</a>.’</p> - -<p>On the night of the 17th Soult’s army poured into Montalegre, a -dilapidated old town on the edge of the frontier, from which all the -inhabitants had fled. Little or no food could be procured, and the -houses did not suffice to shelter more than a part of the troops. -Next morning the 2nd Corps took to its heels once more, and climbed -the Serra de Gerez, which lies just above the town. On descending its -northern slope they had at last entered Spain, and had reached safety. -But the country was absolutely desolate: for twenty miles beyond -Montalegre there was hardly a single village on this rugged by-path. -Still dreading pursuit, the Marshal urged on his men as fast as they -could be driven forward, and in two long marches at last reached -Orense.</p> - -<p>Wellesley, however, had given up any hope of catching the 2nd Corps, -when once it had passed the Saltador and reached the Spanish frontier. -He had halted the British infantry at Ruivaens, and only sent on in -chase of the flying host the 14th Light Dragoons and the division of -Silveira, which had at last appeared on the scene late in the evening -of the seventeenth. What this corps had been doing during the last -forty-eight hours it is impossible to discover. It had started from -Amarante on the same day that Beresford marched for Chaves, and ought -to have been at Ruivaens on the sixteenth, when it would have found -itself just in time to intercept Soult’s vanguard after it had passed -the Ponte Nova. Apparently the same wild weather and constant rain -which had delayed Beresford’s column had checked his subordinate. At -any rate it is certain that Silveira, though he had a shorter route -than his chief, only got to Ruivaens late<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_360">[p. 360]</span> on the seventeenth, while the other -column had reached Chaves more than twelve hours earlier.</p> - -<p>The French had disappeared, and it was only next morning that -Silveira followed them up on the Montalegre road. He captured a few -laggards by the way, but on reaching the little town found that -Soult’s rearguard had quitted it two hours before his arrival<a -id="FNanchor_445" href="#Footnote_445" class="fnanchor">[445]</a>. -By Wellesley’s orders he pushed on for one day more in pursuit, but -found that the enemy was now so far ahead that he could do no more -than pick up moribund stragglers. On the nineteenth, therefore, he -turned back and retraced his steps to Montalegre<a id="FNanchor_446" -href="#Footnote_446" class="fnanchor">[446]</a>.</p> - -<p>Much the same fortune had befallen Beresford’s column. By -Wellesley’s orders Tilson’s brigade and their Portuguese companions -marched from Chaves by Monterey on the eighteenth, on the chance -that Soult, after passing the Serra de Gerez, might drop into the -Monterey-Orense road. But the Marshal had not taken this route: he had -kept to by-paths, and marched by Porquera and Allariz, to the left -of the line on which Beresford’s pursuit was directed. At Ginzo the -cavalry of the pursuing column picked up fifty stragglers, and came -into contact with a small party of Franceschi’s <i>chasseurs</i>, which -Soult had thrown out to cover his flank. Learning from the peasantry -that the French had gone off by a different route, Beresford halted -and returned to Chaves. His men were so thoroughly worn out, and the -strength of the column was so much reduced, that he could have done -little more even if he had come upon the main body of the enemy<a -id="FNanchor_447" href="#Footnote_447" class="fnanchor">[447]</a>.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_6"> - <img src="images/northern.jpg" - alt="Map of Northern Portugal" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/northern-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - NORTHERN PORTUGAL<br /> - <small>TO ILLUSTRATE MARSHAL SOULT’S CAMPAIGN<br /> - <span class="smcap">of MARCH to MAY</span> 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">On May 19 Soult’s dilapidated and starving host poured -into Orense, where they could at last take a day’s rest and obtain -a decent meal. The Marshal caused the troops to be numbered, and -found that he had brought back 19,713 men. As he had started from -the Spanish frontier with 22,000 sabres and <span class="pagenum" -id="Page_361">[p. 361]</span>bayonets, and had received 3,500 more -from Tuy, when Lamartinière’s column joined him, it would appear that -he had left in all some 5,700 men behind him. Of these, according -to the French accounts<a id="FNanchor_448" href="#Footnote_448" -class="fnanchor">[448]</a>, about 1,000 had fallen in the early -fighting, or died of sickness, before Wellesley’s appearance on -the Vouga. About 700, mostly convalescents, had been captured -at Chaves by Silveira<a id="FNanchor_449" href="#Footnote_449" -class="fnanchor">[449]</a>. After the storm of Oporto the British army -found 1,500 sick in the hospitals of that city, of Braga and of Viana<a -id="FNanchor_450" href="#Footnote_450" class="fnanchor">[450]</a>. -They also took some 400 unwounded prisoners at Oporto and at Grijon<a -id="FNanchor_451" href="#Footnote_451" class="fnanchor">[451]</a>. It -results therefore that the losses of the actual retreat from Baltar to -Orense, between the thirteenth and the nineteenth of May, must have -been rather more than 2,000 men. But all these had been able-bodied -fighting-men—the sick, as we have seen, were abandoned before -the break-neck march over the mountains began: adding them and the -prisoners of the eleventh-twelfth, to the actual casualties of the -retreat, on the same principle which we used when calculating the -losses of Moore’s army in the Corunna campaign, we should get a total -of 4,000 for the deficiency in the French ranks during the nine days -which elapsed between Wellesley’s passage of the Vouga and Soult’s -arrival at Orense. Thus it would seem that about one-sixth of the 2nd -Corps had been destroyed in that short time—a proportion almost -exactly corresponding to that which Moore’s force left behind it in the -retreat from Sahagun to Corunna, wherein 6,000 men out of 33,000 were -lost.</p> - -<p>In other respects these two famous retreats afford some interesting -points of comparison. Moore had an infinitely longer distance to cover: -in mere mileage his men marched more than twice as far as Soult’s<a -id="FNanchor_452" href="#Footnote_452" class="fnanchor">[452]</a>: -their journey occupied twenty days as against nine. On the other hand -the French had to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[p. 362]</span> -use far worse roads. From Benavente to Corunna there is a good -<i>chaussée</i> for the whole distance: from Baltar to Orense the 2nd Corps -had to follow impracticable mule-tracks for more than half the way. -As to the weather, there was perhaps little to choose between the two -retreats: the nine days of perpetual rain, during which Soult effected -his passage of four successive mountain chains, was almost as trying -as the cold and snow through which the British had to trudge. Moore’s -men were not so hardly pressed by starvation as the 2nd Corps, and they -were moving through a country-side which was not actively hostile, if -it could scarcely be described as friendly. On the other hand they -were pursued with far greater vigour than the French: their rearguard -was beset every day, and had constantly to be fighting, while Soult’s -troops were hard pressed only on two days—the sixteenth and -seventeenth of May. This advantage the Marshal gained by choosing an -unexpected line of retreat over obscure by-paths: if he had taken -either of the high-roads by Braga and Chaves his fate would have been -very different. On this same choice of roads depends another contrast -between the two retreats: to gain speed and safety Soult sacrificed the -whole of his artillery and his transport. When he arrived at Orense, as -one of his officers wrote, ‘the infantry had brought off their bayonets -and their eagles, the cavalry their horses and saddles—everything -else had been left behind—the guns, the stores, the treasure, -the sick.’ Moore, in spite of all the miseries of his march, carried -down to Corunna the whole of his artillery, part of his transport, and -the greater number of his sick and wounded. If he lost his military -chest, it was not from necessity but from the mismanagement of the -subordinates who had charge of it. His army was in condition to fight a -successful battle at the end of its retreat, and so to win for itself a -safe and honourable departure.</p> - -<p>Both generals, it will be observed, were driven into danger by -causes for which they did not regard themselves as responsible. -Soult was placed in peril by attempting to carry out his master’s -impracticable orders. Moore thought himself bound to run the risk, -because he had realized that there was a political necessity that the -English army should do something for the cause of Spain, for it could -not with honour retire to Portugal before it<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_363">[p. 363]</span> had struck a blow. In their management -of their respective campaigns both made mistakes. Moore hurried his -men too much, and did not take full advantage of the many positions -in which he could have held off the pursuer by judicious rearguard -actions. Soult’s faults were even greater: nothing can excuse his -stay at Oporto during the days when he should have been directing -Loison’s movements at Amarante. That stay was undoubtedly due to -his vain intrigues with the Portuguese malcontents; it was personal -ambition, not any military necessity, which detained him from his -proper place. Still more worthy of blame was his disposition of his -forces at the moment when the British troops crossed the Vouga: they -were scattered in a dangerous fashion, which made concentration -difficult and uncertain. But the weakest feature of his whole conduct -was that he allowed himself to be surprised in Oporto by Wellesley on -May 12. When an army in close touch with the enemy is taken unawares -at broad midday, by an irruption of its opponents into the middle of -the cantonments, the general-in-chief cannot shift the blame on to the -shoulders of subordinates. It was Soult’s duty to see that his officers -were taking all reasonable precautions to watch the British, and he -most certainly did not do so. Indeed, we have seen that he turned all -his attention to the point of least danger—the lower reaches of -the Douro—and neglected that on which the British attack was -really delivered. It was only when he found himself on the verge of -utter ruin, on May 13, that he rose to the occasion, and saved his -army, by the daring march upon Guimaraens which foiled Wellesley’s -plans for intercepting his retreat. To state that ‘his reputation as -a general was nowise diminished by his Portuguese campaign’ is to -do him more than justice<a id="FNanchor_453" href="#Footnote_453" -class="fnanchor">[453]</a>. It would be more true to assert that he -showed that if he could commit faults, he could also do much towards -repairing their consequences.</p> - -<p>As to Wellesley, it is not too much to say that the Oporto -campaign is one of his strongest titles to fame. He had, as we have -already seen, only 16,400 British and 11,400 Portuguese troops<a -id="FNanchor_454" href="#Footnote_454" class="fnanchor">[454]</a>, -of whom the latter were either untried in the field or demoralized -by their previous experiences beyond the Douro. His superiority in -mere numbers to Soult’s corps of 23,000 men<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_364">[p. 364]</span> was therefore small, and he was -lamentably destitute of cavalry and artillery. It was no small feat to -expel the enemy from Northern Portugal in nine days, and to cast him -into Galicia, stripped of his guns and baggage, and with a gap of more -than 4,000 men in his ranks. This had been accomplished at the expense -of no more than 500 casualties, even when the soldiers who fell by the -way from sickness and fatigue are added to the 300 killed and wounded -of the engagements of May 11, 12, and 17. There is hardly a campaign in -history in which so much was accomplished at so small a cost. Wellesley -had exactly carried out the programme which he had set before himself -when he left Lisbon—the defeat of the enemy and the deliverance -of the two provinces beyond the Douro. He had expressly disclaimed any -intention or expectation of destroying or capturing the 2nd Corps<a -id="FNanchor_455" href="#Footnote_455" class="fnanchor">[455]</a>, -which some foreign critics have ascribed to him in their anxiety to -make out that he failed to execute the whole project that he had taken -in hand.</p> - -<p>There was, it is true, one short moment at which he had it in his -power to deal Soult a heavier blow than he had contemplated. On the -night of May 12-13, when the Marshal in his bivouac at Baltar learnt -of Loison’s evacuation of Amarante, the main body of the 2nd Corps -was in a deplorable situation, and must have been destroyed, had the -British been close at hand. If Wellesley had pursued the flying foe, on -the afternoon of the victory of Oporto, with all his cavalry and the -less fatigued regiments of his infantry, nothing could have saved the -French. But the opportunity was one which could not have been foreseen: -no rational officer could have guessed that Loison would evacuate -Amarante, and so surrender his chief’s best line of retreat. It was -impossible that Wellesley should dream of such a chance being thrown -into his hands. He constructed his plans on the natural hypothesis -that Soult had still open to him the route across the Tamega; and he -was therefore more concerned with the idea that Beresford might be in -danger from the approach of Soult, than with that of taking measures -to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[p. 365]</span> capture the -Marshal. His men were fatigued with the long march of eighty miles in -four days which had taken them from the Mondego to Oporto: his guns -and stores had not yet passed the bridgeless Douro. It was natural, -therefore, that he should allow himself and his army a night’s rest -before pressing on in pursuit of Soult. It will be remembered that -he did push Murray’s brigade along the Baltar road in the tracks -of the Marshal, but that officer never came up with the French. If -blame has to be allotted to any one for the failure to discover the -unhappy situation of the 2nd Corps upon the morning of the thirteenth, -it would seem that Murray must bear the burden rather than the -Commander-in-chief. He should have kept touch, at all costs, with the -retreating French, and if he had done so would have been able to give -Wellesley news of their desperate plight.</p> - -<p>As to the pursuit of Soult, between the fourteenth and the -eighteenth, it is hard to see that more could have been done than -was actually accomplished. ‘It is obvious,’ as Wellesley wrote to -Castlereagh, ‘that if an army throws away all its cannon, equipment, -and baggage, and everything that can strengthen it and enable it to -act together as a body; and if it abandons all those who are entitled -to its protection, but add to its weight and impede its progress<a -id="FNanchor_456" href="#Footnote_456" class="fnanchor">[456]</a>, -it must be able to march by roads on which it can not be followed, -with any prospect of being overtaken, by an army which has not -made the same sacrifices<a id="FNanchor_457" href="#Footnote_457" -class="fnanchor">[457]</a>.’ This puts the case in a nutshell: Soult, -after he had abandoned his sick and destroyed his guns and wagons, -could go much faster than his pursuers. The only chance of catching -him was that Beresford or Silveira might be able to intercept him at -the Misarella on the seventeenth. But the troops of the former were -so exhausted by their long march in the rain from Amarante, that -although they reached Chaves on the night of the sixteenth-seventeenth, -they were not in a condition to march eighteen miles further on the -following morning. Whether Silveira, who had taken a shorter but a -more rugged route than Beresford, might not have reached Ruivaens -ten or twelve hours earlier than he did is another matter. Had -he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[p. 366]</span> done so, he -might have held the cross-roads and blocked the way to Montalegre. -We have no details of his march, though we know that he had a bad -mountain-path to traverse in abominable weather. All military critics -have joined in condemning him<a id="FNanchor_458" href="#Footnote_458" -class="fnanchor">[458]</a>, but without a more accurate knowledge of -the obstacles that he had to cross, and of the state of his troops, -we can not be sure of the exact amount of blame that should fall upon -him. It is at any rate clear that Wellesley was not responsible for the -late arrival of the Portuguese division at Ruivaens and the consequent -escape of the enemy.</p> - -<p>[<a href="#Err_3">Erratum from p. xii</a>: A dispatch of Beresford -at Lisbon clears up my doubts as to Silveira’s culpability. Beresford -complains that the latter lost a whole day by marching from Amarante -to Villa Pouca without orders; the dispatch directing him to take the -path by Mondim thus reached him only when he had gone many miles on the -wrong road. The time lost could never be made up.]</p> - -<p>Beyond Montalegre it would have been useless to follow the flying -French. An advance into Galicia would have taken the British army too -far from Lisbon, and have rendered it impossible to return in time to -the Tagus if Victor should be on the move. That marshal, as we shall -see, was showing signs of stirring from his long spell of torpidity, -and it was a dispatch from Mackenzie, containing the news that the 1st -Corps was on the move, that made Wellesley specially anxious to check -the pursuit, and to draw back to Central Portugal before matters should -come to a head in Estremadura. He could safely calculate that it would -be months rather than weeks before Soult would be in a condition to -cause any trouble on the northern frontier.</p> - - -<p class="nb mt2">N.B.—There are admirable accounts of the -horrors of Soult’s retreat in the works of Le Noble, St. Chamans, -Fantin des Odoards, and Naylies. The pursuit of the main body of -the English army is well described by four eye-witnesses—Lord -Londonderry, Stothert, Hawker, and Lord Munster. For the march of -Beresford’s corps I have only the details given by Lord Gough’s letter, -cited heretofore.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap15_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[p. 367]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">SECTION XV</h2> - <p class="subh2">OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN SPAIN<br /> - <small>(MARCH-JUNE 1809)</small></p> - <h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - <p class="subh3">NEY AND LA ROMANA IN GALICIA AND THE ASTURIAS</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">While</span> following the fortunes of Soult -and the 2nd Corps in Northern Portugal, we have been constrained to -withdraw our attention from Galicia, where we left Marshal Ney busied -in a vain attempt to beat down the insurrections which had sprung up -in every corner of the kingdom, at the moment when the melting of -the snows gave notice that spring was at hand. It was with no good -will that the Duke of Elchingen had seen his colleague depart from -Orense and plunge into the Portuguese mountains. Indeed he had done -his best to induce Soult to disregard the Emperor’s orders, and to -join him in a strenuous effort to pacify Galicia before embarking -on the march to Oporto<a id="FNanchor_459" href="#Footnote_459" -class="fnanchor">[459]</a>. When he found that his appeal had failed -to influence the Duke of Dalmatia, and that the 2nd Corps had passed -out of sight and left the whole of Galicia upon his hands, he was -constrained to take stock of his position and to think out a plan of -campaign.</p> - -<p>Ney had at his disposal some 17,000 men, consisting of the -twenty-four infantry battalions of his own corps, which formed the two -divisions of Marchand and Maurice Mathieu, of the two regiments of his -corps-cavalry, and of Fournier’s brigade of Lorges’ dragoons, which -Soult, by the Emperor’s orders, had transferred to him before crossing -the Minho. Among his resources it would not be fair to count the two -garrisons at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[p. 368]</span> Vigo -and Tuy which the 2nd Corps had left behind it. They numbered more than -4,000 men, but were so placed as to be more of a charge than a help to -Ney. They failed to keep him in touch with Soult, and their necessities -distracted some of his troops to their aid when he was requiring every -man for other purposes.</p> - -<p>On March 10, when he was left to his own resources, Ney had -concentrated the greater part of his corps in the north-western corner -of Galicia. He had placed one brigade at Lugo, a second with Fournier’s -dragoons at Mondonedo, in observation of the Asturias, a third at -Santiago, the remainder at Corunna and Ferrol. The outlying posts had -been called in, save a garrison at Villafranca, the important half-way -stage between Lugo and Astorga, where the Marshal had left a battalion -of the 26th regiment, to keep open his communication with the plains -of Leon. The insurgents were already so active that touch with this -detachment was soon lost, the peasants having cut the road both east -and west of Villafranca.</p> - -<p>The whole month of March was spent in a ceaseless endeavour to keep -down the rising in Northern Galicia: the southern parts of the kingdom -had been practically abandoned, and the French had no hold there save -through the garrisons of Tuy and Vigo, both of which (as we have seen -in an earlier chapter) were blockaded by the local levies the moment -that Soult had passed on into Portugal.</p> - -<p>Ney’s object was to crush and cow the insurgents of Northern Galicia -by the constant movement of flying columns, which marched out from the -towns when his brigades were established, and made descents on every -district where the peasantry had assembled in strength. This policy -had little success: it was easy to rout the Galicians and to burn -their villages, but the moment that the column had passed on the enemy -returned to occupy his old positions. The campaign was endless and -inconclusive: it was of little use to kill so many scores or hundreds -of peasants, if no attempt was made to hold down the districts through -which the expedition had passed. This could not be done for sheer want -of numbers: 16,000 men were not sufficient to garrison the whole of the -mountain valleys and coast villages of this rugged land. The French -columns went far afield, even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[p. -369]</span> as far as Corcubion on the headland of Cape Finisterre, -and Ribadeo on the borders of Asturias: but though they scathed the -whole region with fire and sword, they made no impression. Moreover, -they suffered serious losses: every expedition lost a certain number of -stragglers cut off by the peasantry, and of foragers who had wandered -too far from the main body in search of food. All were murdered: for -the populace, mad at the burning of their homes and the lifting of -their cattle—their only wealth—never gave quarter to the -unfortunate soldiers who fell into their hands.</p> - -<p>It is curious and interesting to compare Ney’s actual operations -with the orders which the Emperor had sent to him<a id="FNanchor_460" -href="#Footnote_460" class="fnanchor">[460]</a>. In these he was -directed to establish his head quarters at Lugo, and to leave no -more than a regiment at Ferrol and another regiment at Betanzos and -Corunna. He was to keep a movable column of three battalions at work -between Santiago and Tuy, to ‘make examples’ and prevent the English -from landing munitions for the insurgents. With the rest of his -corps, five regiments of infantry and a brigade of cavalry, he was -to establish himself at Lugo, and from thence to send out punitive -expeditions against rebellious villages, to seize hostages, to lend -aid if necessary to Soult’s operations in Portugal, and finally ‘to -utilize the months of March and April, when there is nothing to fear -on the Galician coasts, for an expedition to conquer the Asturias.’ -Here we have all Napoleon’s illusions concerning the character of the -Peninsular War very clearly displayed. He supposes that a movable -column of one regiment can hold down a rugged coast region one -hundred miles long, where 20,000 insurgents are in arms. He thinks -that punitive expeditions, and the taking of hostages, will keep a -province quiet without there being any need to establish garrisons in -it. ‘Organize Galicia,’ he writes, ‘make examples, for severe examples -well applied are much more effective than garrisons.... Leave the -policing of the country to the Spanish authorities. If you cannot -occupy every place, you can watch every place: if you cannot hold every -shore-battery to prevent communication with the English, you can charge -the natives with this duty. Your movable columns will punish any of the -people of the coast who behave badly.’</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[p. 370]</span></p> - -<p>To Ney, when he received this dispatch, many weeks after it had been -written, all this elaborate advice must have appeared very futile. -Considering the present attitude of the whole population of Galicia, -he must have been much amused at the proposal that he should entrust -them with the task of keeping off the British, should ‘organize’ them, -and ‘make them police themselves.’ As to ‘severe examples’ he had now -been burning villages and shooting monks and alcaldes for two months -and more: but the only result was that the insurrection flared up -more fiercely, and that his own stragglers and foragers were being -hung and tortured every day. As to the idea of movable columns, he -had (on his own inspiration) sent Maucune to carry out precisely the -operations that the Emperor desired in the country between Santiago and -Tuy. The column had to fight every day, and held down not one foot of -territory beyond the outskirts of its own camp. And now, in the midst -of all his troubles, he was ordered to attempt the conquest of the -Asturias, no small undertaking in itself. The Emperor’s letter ended -with the disquieting note that ‘no further reinforcements can be sent -to Galicia. It is much more likely that it may be necessary to transfer -to some other point one of the two divisions of the Sixth Corps<a -id="FNanchor_461" href="#Footnote_461" class="fnanchor">[461]</a>.’</p> - -<p>We have hitherto had little occasion to mention the two Spanish -regular armies on which Ney, in addition to all his troubles with the -insurgents, had to keep a watchful eye. The first was the force in the -principality of Asturias, which had been lost to sight since the day -on which it fled homeward after the battle of Espinosa. The second -consisted of the much-tried troops of La Romana, who since their escape -from Monterey had enjoyed some weeks of comparative rest, and were once -more ready to move.</p> - -<p>The Asturian force was far the larger in point of numbers, and -ought to have made its influence felt long ere now. But even more than -the other Spaniards, the Asturians were given over to particularism -and provincial selfishness. In 1808 they had done nothing for -the common cause save that they had lent the single division of -Acevedo—comprising about half their<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_371">[p. 371]</span> provincial levy<a id="FNanchor_462" -href="#Footnote_462" class="fnanchor">[462]</a>—to the army -which Blake led to defeat in Biscay. After Espinosa this corps had -not retired with La Romana to Leon, but had fallen back within the -frontier of its native principality, and had joined the large reserve -which had never gone forward from Oviedo. During the three winter -months, the Asturians had contented themselves with reorganizing and -increasing the numbers of their battalions, and with guarding the -passes of the Cantabrian chain. They had refused to send either men -or money to La Romana, thereby provoking his righteous indignation, -and furnishing him with a grudge which he repaid in due season. When -he was driven away from their neighbourhood, and forced to retire -towards Portugal, they still kept quiet behind their hills, and made -but the weakest of attempts to distract the attention of the enemy. -There were at first no French forces near them save Bonnet’s single -division at Santander, which was fully occupied in holding down -the Montaña, and a provisional brigade at Leon consisting of some -stray battalions of the dissolved Eighth Corps<a id="FNanchor_463" -href="#Footnote_463" class="fnanchor">[463]</a>. As neither of these -forces had any considerable reserves behind them<a id="FNanchor_464" -href="#Footnote_464" class="fnanchor">[464]</a>, when once Ney and -Soult had passed on into Galicia, it is clear that a demonstration in -force against Santander or Leon would have thrown dismay along the -whole line of the French communications, and have disarranged all the -Emperor’s plans for further advance.</p> - -<p>The only operation, however, which the Asturians undertook -was a petty raid into Galicia with 3,000 or 4,000 men, who<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[p. 372]</span> went to beat up Ney’s -detachment at Mondonedo on April 10, and were driven off with ease<a -id="FNanchor_465" href="#Footnote_465" class="fnanchor">[465]</a>. -The Junta had fully 20,000 men under arms, but they contrived to be -weak at every point by trying to guard every point. They had sent, to -observe Bonnet, the largest body of their troops, nearly 10,000 men, -under General Ballasteros: he had taken up the line of the Deba, and -lay with his head quarters at Colombres, skirmishing occasionally with -the French outposts. At the pass of Pajares, watching the main road -that descends into the plain of Leon, were 3,000 men, and 2,000 more -at La Mesa guarded a minor defile. Another division of 4,000 bayonets -was at Castropol, facing Ney’s detachment which had occupied Mondonedo: -this was the column which had made the feeble advance in April to -which we have already alluded. Finally, a Swiss Lieutenant-General -named Worster lay at Oviedo, the capital of the principality, with a -small reserve of 2,000 men<a id="FNanchor_466" href="#Footnote_466" -class="fnanchor">[466]</a>. It does not seem that Cienfuegos, the -Captain-General of Asturias, exercised any real authority, as the Junta -took upon itself the settling of every detail of military affairs<a -id="FNanchor_467" href="#Footnote_467" class="fnanchor">[467]</a>. -Thus a whole army was wasted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[p. -373]</span> by being distributed all along the narrow province, -awaiting an attack from an enemy who was far too weak to dream of -advancing, and who, as a matter of fact, did not move till May. La -Romana might well be indignant that the Asturians had done practically -nothing for the cause of Spain from December to March, especially since -they had obtained more than their share of the British arms and money<a -id="FNanchor_468" href="#Footnote_468" class="fnanchor">[468]</a> which -had been distributed in the autumn of 1808.</p> - -<p>Ney’s new troubles in April did not spring from the activity of the -Asturian troops, but from that of the much-battered army of Galicia, -which was destined in this month to achieve the first success that had -cheered its depleted ranks since the combat of Guenes. When La Romana, -on March 8, had found himself free from the pursuit of Franceschi’s -cavalry, he had marched by leisurely stages to Puebla de Senabria on -the borders of Leon. He doubted for a moment whether he should not -turn southward and drop down, along the edge of Portugal, to Ciudad -Rodrigo, the nearest place of strength in Spanish hands. But, after -much consideration, he resolved to leave behind him the weakest of his -battalions and his numerous sick, together with his small provision of -artillery, and to strike back into Galicia with the best of his men. -It would seem that he was inspired partly by the desire of cutting -Ney’s communications, partly by the wish to get into touch with the -Asturians, whose torpidity he was determined to stir up into action. -Accordingly he left at Puebla de Senabria his guns and about 2,000 -men, the skeletons of many ruined regiments, under General Martin La -Carrera, while with the 6,000 infantry that remained he resolved to -cross the Sierra Negra and throw himself into the upper valley of the -Sil. The road by Corporales and the sources of the Cabrera torrent -proved to be abominable; if the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[p. -374]</span> army had possessed cannon or baggage it could not have -reached its goal. But after several hard marches La Romana descended to -Ponferrada on March 16. He learnt that the insurrection had compelled -the French to concentrate all their small posts, and that there was no -enemy nearer than Villafranca on the one hand and Astorga on the other. -Thus he found himself able to take possession of the high-road from -Astorga to Lugo, and to make use of all the resources of the Vierzo, -and of Eastern Galicia. He might have passed on undisturbed, if he had -chosen, to join the Asturians. But learning that the French garrison -at Villafranca was completely isolated, he resolved to risk a blow at -it, in the hopes that he might reduce it before Ney could learn of his -arrival and come down from Lugo to its aid. He was ill prepared for -a siege, for he had but one gun with him—a 12-pounder which he -had abandoned in January when retreating from Ponferrada to Orense, -and which he now picked up intact, with its store of ammunition, at a -mountain hermitage, where it had been safely hidden for two months.</p> - -<p>Marching on Villafranca next day he fell upon the French before -they had any conception that there was a hostile force in their -neighbourhood. He beat them out of the town into the citadel after a -sharp skirmish, and then surrounded them in their refuge, and began to -batter its gates with his single gun. If the garrison could have held -out for a few days they would probably have been relieved, for Ney was -but three marches distant. But the governor, regarding the old castle -as untenable against artillery, surrendered at the first summons. Thus -La Romana captured a whole battalion of the 6th Léger, 600 strong<a -id="FNanchor_469" href="#Footnote_469" class="fnanchor">[469]</a>, -together with several hundreds more of convalescents and stragglers -who had been halted at Villafranca, owing to the impossibility of -sending small detachments through the mountains<a id="FNanchor_470" -href="#Footnote_470" class="fnanchor">[470]</a> when the -insurgents were abroad<a id="FNanchor_471" href="#Footnote_471" -class="fnanchor">[471]</a>.</p> - -<p>Having accomplished this successful stroke La Romana was<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[p. 375]</span> desirous of pursuing his -way to the Asturias, where he was determined to make his power felt<a -id="FNanchor_472" href="#Footnote_472" class="fnanchor">[472]</a>. He -took with him only one regiment (that of La Princesa, one of his old -corps from the Baltic), and handed over the temporary command of the -army to General Mahy, with orders to hold on to the Vierzo as long as -possible, but to retire on the Asturias if Ney came up against him in -force. The Marshal, however, did not move from Lugo; when he heard -of the fall of the garrison of Villafranca, he was already so much -entangled with the insurrection that he could spare no troops for an -expedition to the Vierzo. In order to reopen the communication with -Astorga he would have had to call in his outlying brigades, and at the -present moment he was more concerned about the fate of Tuy and Vigo -than about the operations of La Romana. Accordingly, Mahy was left -unmolested for the greater part of a month in his cantonments along the -banks of the Sil; it was a welcome respite for the much-wandering army -of Galicia.</p> - -<p>Romana meanwhile betook himself to Oviedo with his escort, and on -arriving there on April 4 entered into a furious controversy with -the Junta. Finding them obstinate, and not disposed to carry out his -plans without discussion, he finally executed a petty <i>coup d’état</i><a -id="FNanchor_473" href="#Footnote_473" class="fnanchor">[473]</a>. -It bears an absurd resemblance to Crom<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_376">[p. 376]</span>well’s famous dissolution of the -Long Parliament. Coming into their council-room, with Colonel -Joseph O’Donnell and fifty grenadiers of the Princesa regiment, he -delivered an harangue to the members, accusing them of all manner -of maladministration and provincial selfishness. Then he signed -to his soldiers and bade them clear the room<a id="FNanchor_474" -href="#Footnote_474" class="fnanchor">[474]</a>.</p> - -<p>La Romana then, on his own authority, nominated a new Junta; but -many of its members refused to act, doubting the legality of his -action, while the dispossessed delegates kept up a paper controversy, -and sent reams of objurgatory letters to the Government at Seville. -Ballasteros and his army, at the other side of the Principality, -seem to have paid little attention to La Romana, but the Marquis so -far got his way that he began to send much-needed stores, medicines, -munitions, and clothing to his troops in the Vierzo. He even succeeded -in procuring a few field-pieces for them<a id="FNanchor_475" -href="#Footnote_475" class="fnanchor">[475]</a>, which were dragged -with difficulty over the passes viâ Cangas de Tineo.</p> - -<p>Thus strengthened Mahy, much to his chief’s displeasure, advanced -from the Vierzo towards Lugo, with the intention of beating up the -French brigade there stationed. He took post at Navia de Suarna, just -outside the borders of the Asturias, and called to his standards -all the peasantry of the surrounding region. La Romana wrote him -urgent letters, directing him to avoid a battle and to await his own -return. ‘He should remember that it was the policy of Fabius Maximus -that saved Rome, and curb his warlike zeal<a id="FNanchor_476" -href="#Footnote_476" class="fnanchor">[476]</a>.’ It is satisfactory to -find that one Spanish general at least was free from that wild desire -for pitched battles that possessed most of his contemporaries.</p> - -<p>Mahy, thus warned, halted in his march towards Lugo, and remained -in his cantonments in the valley of the Navia. His chief should have -returned to him, but lingered at Oviedo till April was over, busy -in the work of reorganization and in the <span class="pagenum" -id="Page_377">[p. 377]</span>forwarding of supplies. Meanwhile the -French hold on Southern Galicia had completely disappeared: Vigo had -fallen in March, Tuy had been evacuated. Maucune’s column had cut its -way back to Santiago with some difficulty, bringing to Ney the news of -Soult’s capture of Oporto, but also the assurance that the whole valley -of the Minho and the western coast-land had passed into the hands of -the insurgents.</p> - -<p>What the Duke of Elchingen’s next move would have been, if he had -not received further intelligence from without, we cannot say. But in -the first week in May the long-lost communication with Madrid was at -last reopened, and he was ordered to take his part in a new and broad -plan of operations against La Romana’s army and the Asturias.</p> - -<p>Ever since La Romana had stormed Villafranca, and all news from -Galicia had been completely cut off, King Joseph and his adviser -Jourdan had been in a state of great fear and perplexity as to the -condition of affairs in the north-west. Soult had long passed out of -their ken, and now Ney also was lost to sight. In default of accurate -information they received all manner of lugubrious rumours from -Leon and Astorga, and imagined that the Sixth Corps was in far more -desperate straits than was actually the case. Fearing the worst, they -resolved to find out, at all costs, what was going on in Galicia. To -do so it was necessary to fit out an expedition sufficiently strong to -brush aside the insurgents and communicate with Ney. Troops, however, -were hard to find. Lapisse had already marched from Salamanca to join -Victor. In Old Castile and Leon there were but Kellermann’s dragoons -and a few garrisons, none of which could leave their posts. Marshal -Bessières, to whom the general charge of the northern provinces had -been given by the Emperor, could show conclusively that he was not able -to equip a column of even 5,000 men for service in Galicia.</p> - -<p>The only quarter whence troops could be procured was Aragon, where -everything had remained quiet since the fall of Saragossa. The Emperor -had issued orders that of the two corps which had taken part in the -siege, the Third only should remain to hold down the conquered kingdom: -hence Mortier and the Fifth should have been disposable to reinforce -the troops in Old Castile. But, with the Austrian war upon his hands, -Napoleon<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[p. 378]</span> was -thinking of withdrawing Mortier and his 15,000 men from Spain. In a -dispatch dated April 10, he announced that the Marshal was to retire -from Aragon to Logroño in Navarre, from whence he might possibly be -recalled to France if circumstances demanded it<a id="FNanchor_477" -href="#Footnote_477" class="fnanchor">[477]</a>. At the same moment -King Joseph was writing to Mortier to summon him into Old Castile, and -pointing out to him that the safety of the whole of Northern Spain -depended upon his presence. Much perplexed by these contradictory -orders, the Duke of Treviso took a half-measure, and marched to Burgos, -which was actually in Old Castile, but lay only three marches from -Logroño and upon the direct route to France. A few days later the -Emperor, moved by his brother’s incessant appeals, and seeing that it -was all-important to reopen the communication between Ney and Soult, -permitted Mortier to march to Valladolid, where he was in a good -position for holding down the entire province of Old Castile. He also -gave leave to the King to employ for an expedition to Galicia the two -regiments of the Third Corps, which had escorted the prisoners of -Saragossa to Bayonne, and which were now on their homeward way to join -their division in Aragon.</p> - -<p>It was thus possible to get together enough troops to open the way -to Galicia. The charge of the expedition was handed over to Kellermann, -who was given his own dragoons, the two regiments from Bayonne, a -stray battalion of Leval’s Germans from Segovia, a Polish battalion -from Buitrago, and a provisional regiment organized from belated -details of the Second and Sixth Corps, which had been lying in various -garrisons of Castile and Leon<a id="FNanchor_478" href="#Footnote_478" -class="fnanchor">[478]</a>. He had altogether some 7,000 or 8,000 men, -whom he concentrated at Astorga on April 27. Marching on Villafranca -he met no regular opposition, but was harassed by the way by the -peasantry, who had abandoned their villages and retired into the hills. -Mahy had moved off the main road by making his advance to Navia de -Suarna, and was not sighted by Kellermann, nor did the Spaniard think -fit to meddle with such a powerful force as that which was now passing -him.</p> - -<p>On May 2 the column reached Lugo, where it fell in with<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[p. 379]</span> Maurice Mathieu’s -division of the Sixth Corps, and obtained full information as to Ney’s -position. The Marshal was absent at Corunna, but sent his chief of -the staff to meet Kellermann and concert with him a common plan of -operations. It was settled that they should concentrate their attention -on La Romana and the Asturians, leaving southern Galicia alone for the -present, and taking no heed of Soult, of whom they had received no news -for a full month.</p> - -<p>For the destruction of the Spanish armies of the north a concentric -movement was planned. Ney undertook to concentrate the main body of his -corps at Lugo, and to fall on the Asturians from the west, crushing -Mahy on the way. He stipulated, however, that he should be allowed to -return to Galicia as quickly as possible, lest the insurgents should -make havoc of his garrisons during his absence. Kellermann was to -retrace his steps to Astorga and Leon, and from thence to march on the -Asturias by the pass of Pajares, its great southern outlet. At the same -moment Bonnet at Santander was to be requested to fall on from the -east, and to attack Ballasteros and the division that lay behind the -Deba.</p> - -<p>When it was reported to Mahy and La Romana that Kellermann had -turned back from Lugo, and was retreating upon Astorga, they failed to -grasp the meaning of his movement, and came to the conclusion that his -expedition had been sent out with no purpose save that of communicating -with Ney. Unconscious that a simultaneous attack from all sides was -being prepared against them, they failed to concentrate. By leaving -small ‘containing’ detachments at the outlying posts, they could have -massed 20,000 men against any one of the French columns: but they -failed to see their opportunity and were caught in a state of complete -dispersion. Ballasteros with 9,000 men still lay opposite Bonnet; -Worster at Castropol did not unite with Mahy’s army at Navia de Suarna; -and La Romana remained at Oviedo with two regiments only.</p> - -<p>Hence came hopeless disaster when the French attack was at last let -loose upon the Asturias. On May 13 the Duke of Elchingen drew together -at Lugo four of the eight infantry regiments which formed the Sixth -Corps, with two of his four cavalry regiments, and eight mountain-guns -carried by mules.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[p. 380]</span> -This formed a compact force of 6,500 bayonets and 900 sabres<a -id="FNanchor_479" href="#Footnote_479" class="fnanchor">[479]</a>. He -left behind him four battalions and a cavalry regiment under Maucune at -Santiago, the same force under the cavalry brigadier Fournier at Lugo, -two battalions at Corunna, one at Betanzos, and one at Ferrol.</p> - -<p>The obvious route by which the Marshal might have advanced on -Oviedo was the coast-road by Mondonedo and Castropol, which Worster -was guarding. But in order to save time and to fall upon the enemy on -an unexpected line, he took a shorter but more rugged mountain road -by Meyra and Ibias, which led him into the valley of the Navia. This -brought him straight upon Mahy’s army: but that general, when he learnt -of the strength that was directed against him, retreated in haste after -a skirmish at Pequin, and fled, not to the Asturias, but westward into -the upper valley of the Minho. [May 14.] This move was vexatious to -Ney, who would have preferred to drive him on to Oviedo, to share in -the general rout that was being prepared for the Asturians. The Marshal -refused to follow him, and pushed on to Cangas de Tineo in the valley -of the Narcea, capturing there a large convoy of food and ammunition -which was on its way from La Romana to Mahy. On May 17 he hurried on -to Salas, on the 18th he was at the bridge of Gallegos on the Nora -river, only ten miles from Oviedo. Here for the first time he met with -serious opposition: hitherto he had suffered from nothing but casual -‘sniping’ on the part of the peasantry. His march had been so rapid -that La Romana had only heard of his approach on the seventeenth<a -id="FNanchor_480" href="#Footnote_480" class="fnanchor">[480]</a>, -and had not been able to call in any of his out<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_381">[p. 381]</span>lying detachments. The Marquis was forced -to attempt to defend the passage of the Nora with nothing more than his -small central reserve—the one Galician regiment (La Princesa, -only 600 bayonets) that he had brought with him from Villafranca, -and one Asturian battalion—not more than 1,500 men. Naturally -he was routed with great loss, though Ney allows that the Princesa -regiment made a creditable defence at the bridge<a id="FNanchor_481" -href="#Footnote_481" class="fnanchor">[481]</a>. The Spanish troops -therefore dispersed and fled eastward, while Romana rode down to -the seaport of Gijon and took ship on a Spanish sloop of war along -with the members of his Junta. The Marshal seized Oviedo on the -nineteenth: the place was pillaged in the most thorough fashion by his -troops. In his dispatch he makes the excuse that a few peasants had -attempted to defend some barricades in the suburbs, and that they, -not the soldiery, had begun the sack. <i>Credat Judaeus Apella!</i> The -ways of the bands of Napoleon are too well known, and we shall not -believe that it was Spaniards who stole the cathedral plate, or tore -the bones of the early kings of Asturias from their resting-places -in search of treasure<a id="FNanchor_482" href="#Footnote_482" -class="fnanchor">[482]</a>. On May 20 Ney marched with one regiment -down to Gijon, where he found 250,000 lbs. of powder newly landed from -England, and a quantity of military stores. An English merchantman was -captured and another burnt<a id="FNanchor_483" href="#Footnote_483" -class="fnanchor">[483]</a>. A detached column occupied Aviles, the -second seaport of the Asturias.</p> - -<p>On the following day, May 21, a detachment sent inland from Oviedo -up the valley of the Lena, with orders to search for the column -coming from the south, got into touch with that<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_382">[p. 382]</span> force. Kellermann had duly reached -Leon, where he found orders directing him to send back to Aragon -the two regiments of the Third Corps which had been lent him<a -id="FNanchor_484" href="#Footnote_484" class="fnanchor">[484]</a>, and -to take instead a division of Mortier’s corps, which was now disposable -for service in the north. Accordingly he picked up Girard’s (late -Suchet’s) division, and leaving one of its brigades at Leon, marched -with the other and the remainder of his original force, to storm the -defiles of Pajares. He had with him between 6,000 and 7,000 troops, a -force with which he easily routed the Asturian brigade of 3,000 men -under Colonel Quixano, which had been set to guard the pass. At the -end of two days of irregular fighting, Kellermann descended into the -valley of the Lena and met Ney’s outposts on May 21. The routed enemy -dispersed among the hills.</p> - -<p>It remains to speak of the third French column which started -to invade the Asturias, that of Bonnet. This general marched from -Santander on May 17 with 5,000 men, intending to attack Ballasteros, -and force his way to Oviedo by the coast-road that passes by San -Vincente de la Barquera and Villaviciosa. But he found no one to fight, -for Ballasteros had been summoned by La Romana to defend Oviedo, and -had started off by the inland road viâ Cangas de Oñis and Infiesto. The -two armies therefore were marching parallel to each other, with rough -mountains between them. On reaching Infiesto on May 21, Ballasteros -heard of the fall of Oviedo and of the forcing of the pass of Pajares: -seeing that it would be useless to run into the lion’s mouth by -proceeding any further, he fell back into the mountains, and took -refuge in the upland valley of Covadonga, the site of King Pelayo’s -famous victory over the Moors in the year 718. Here he remained -undiscovered, and was gradually joined by the wrecks of the force -which Ney had routed at Oviedo, including O’Donnell and the Princesa -regiment. Bonnet passed him without discovering his whereabouts, -advanced as far as Infiesto and Villaviciosa, and got into touch with -Kellermann.</p> - -<p>Thus the three French columns had all won their way into the heart -of the Asturias, but though they had seized its capital and its -seaports, they had failed to catch its army, and only half their task -had been performed. Of all the Asturian troops<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_383">[p. 383]</span> only the two small forces at Oviedo -and Pajares had been met and routed. Worster had not been molested, -Mahy had doubled back into Galicia, Ballasteros had gone up into the -mountains. If the invasion was to have any definite results, it was -necessary to hunt down all these three divisions. But there was no -time to do so: Ney was anxious about his Galician garrisons; Bonnet -remembered that he had left Santander in charge of a weak detachment -of no more than 1,200 men. Both refused to remain in the Asturias, or -to engage in a long stern chase after the elusive Spaniards, among the -peaks of the Peñas de Europa and the Sierras Albas. They decided that -Kellermann with his 7,000 men must finish the business. Accordingly -they departed each to his own province—and it was high time, -for their worst expectations had been fulfilled. Mahy in the west and -Ballasteros in the east had each played the correct game, and had -fallen upon the small garrisons left exposed in their rear. Moreover, -the insurgents of Southern Galicia had crossed the Ulla and marched -on Santiago. If Ney had remained ten days longer in the Asturias, it -is probable that he would have returned to find the half of the Sixth -Corps which he had left in Galicia absolutely exterminated.</p> - -<p>The Marshal, however, was just in time to prevent this disaster. -Handing over the charge of the principality to Kellermann, he marched -off on May 22 by the coast-road which leads to Galicia by the route of -Navia, Castropol, and Ribadeo. He hoped to deal with Worster by the -way, having learnt that the Swiss general had advanced from Castropol -by La Romana’s orders, and was moving cautiously in the direction of -Oviedo. But Worster was fortunate enough to escape: he went up into the -mountains when he heard that Ney was near, and had the satisfaction -of learning that the Marshal had passed him by. The rivers being in -flood, and the bridges broken, the French had a slow and tiresome -march to Ribadeo, which they only reached on May 26. Next day the -Duke of Elchingen was at Castropol, where he received the news that -Lugo had been in the gravest peril, and had only been relieved by the -unexpected appearance of Soult and the Second Corps from the direction -of Orense.</p> - -<p>The sequence of events during the Marshal’s absence had<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[p. 384]</span> been as follows. When -Mahy found that he had escaped pursuit, he had immediately made up his -mind to strike at the French garrisons. He tried to persuade Worster -to join him, or to attack Ferrol, but could not induce him to quit -the Asturias. So with his own 6,000 men Mahy marched on Lugo, beat -General Fournier (who came out to meet him) in a skirmish outside the -walls, and drove him into the town. Lugo had no fortification save a -mediaeval wall, and the Spaniards were in great hopes of storming it, -as they had stormed Villafranca. But when they had lain two days before -the place, they were surprised to hear that a large French force was -marching against them; it was not Ney returning from the Asturias, but -the dilapidated corps of Soult retreating from Orense. Wisely refusing -to face an army of 19,000 men, Mahy raised the siege and retired to -Villalba in the folds of the Sierra de Loba. On May 22 Soult entered -Lugo, where he was at last able to give his men nine days’ rest, and -could begin to cast about him for means to refit them with the proper -equipment of an army, for, as we have seen, they were in a condition of -absolute destitution and wholly unable to take the field.</p> - -<p>At Castropol Ney heard at one and the same moment that Lugo had -been in danger and that it had been relieved. But he also received -news of even greater importance from another quarter. Maucune and the -detachment which he had left at Santiago had been defeated in the open -field by the insurgents of Southern Galicia, and had been compelled to -fall back on Corunna. This was now the point of danger, wherefore the -Marshal neither moved to join Soult at Lugo, nor set himself to hunt -Mahy in the mountains, but marched straight for Corunna to succour -Maucune.</p> - -<p>The force which had defeated that general consisted in the main of -the insurgents who had beleaguered Tuy and Vigo in March and April. -They were now under Morillo and Garcia del Barrio, who were beginning -to reduce them to some sort of discipline, and were organizing them -into battalions and companies. But the core of the ‘Division of the -Minho,’ as this force was now called, was composed of the small body -of regulars which La Romana had left at Puebla de Senabria, under -Martin La Carrera. That officer, after giving his feeble detachment -some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[p. 385]</span> weeks of rest, -had marched via Monterey and Orense to join the insurrectionary army. -He brought with him nine guns and 2,000 men. On May 22 Carrera and -Morillo crossed the Ulla and advanced on Santiago with 10,000 men, of -whom only 7,000 possessed firearms. Maucune came forth to meet them -in the Campo de Estrella<a id="FNanchor_485" href="#Footnote_485" -class="fnanchor">[485]</a>, outside the city, with his four battalions -and a regiment of chasseurs, thinking to gain an easy success when the -enemy offered him battle in the open. But he was outnumbered by three -to one, and as the Galicians showed much spirit and stood steadily to -their guns, he was repulsed with loss. Carrera then attacked in his -turn, drove the French into Santiago, chased them through the town, -and pursued them for a league beyond it. Maucune was wounded, and lost -600 men—a fifth of his whole force—and two guns. He fell -back in disorder on Corunna. He had the audacity to write to Ney that -he had retired after an indecisive combat: but the Marshal, reading -between the lines of his dispatch, hastened to Corunna with all the -troops which had returned from the Asturias, and did not consider the -situation secure till he learnt that Carrera had not advanced from -Santiago.</p> - -<p>Leaving his main body opposite the ‘Division of the Minho,’ the -Duke of Elchingen now betook himself to Lugo, to concert a joint plan -of operation with Soult [May 30]. The results of their somewhat stormy -conference must be told in another chapter.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the situation behind them was rapidly changing. On May -24 La Romana, who had landed at Ribadeo, rejoined Mahy and his army -at Villalba. The Marquis, on surveying the situation, came to the -conclusion that it was too dangerous to remain in the northern angle of -Galicia, between the French army at Lugo and the sea. He resolved to -return to the southern region of the province, and to get into touch -with Carrera and the troops on the Minho. He therefore bade his army -prepare for another forced march across the mountains. They murmured -but obeyed, and, cautiously slipping past Soult’s corps by a flank -movement, crossed the high-road to Villafranca and reached Monforte de -Lemos. From thence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[p. 386]</span> -they safely descended to Orense, where La Romana established his head -quarters [June 6]. Thus the Spaniards were once more in line, and -prepared to defend the whole of Southern Galicia.</p> - -<p>We have still to deal with the state of affairs in the Asturias. -After Ney’s departure on May 22, Kellermann lay at Oviedo and Bonnet -at Infiesto. But a few days later the latter general received the -disquieting news that Ballasteros, whose movements had hitherto escaped -him, was on the move towards the east, and might be intending either to -make a raid into the plains of Castile, or to descend on Santander and -its weak garrison.</p> - -<p>Ballasteros, as a matter of fact, had resolved to stir up trouble in -Bonnet’s rear, with the object of drawing him off from the Asturias. -Leaving his refuge at Covadonga on May 24 he marched by mule-tracks, -unmarked on any map, to Potes in the upper valley of the Deba. There -he remained a few days, and finding that he was unpursued, and that -his exact situation was unknown to the French, resolved to make a -dash for Santander. Starting on June 6 and keeping to the mountains, -he successfully achieved his end, and arrived at his goal before the -garrison of that place had any knowledge of his approach. On the -morning of June 10 he stormed the city, driving out General Noirot, -who escaped with 1,000 men, but capturing 200 of the garrison and 400 -sick in hospital, as well as the whole of the stores and munitions of -Bonnet’s regiments. Among his other prizes was the sum of £10,000 in -cash, in the military chest of the division. Some of the French tried -to escape by sea, in three corvettes and two luggers which lay in the -harbour, but the British frigates <i>Amelia</i> and <i>Statira</i>, which lay -off the coast, captured them all. This was a splendid stroke, and if -Ballasteros had been prudent he might have got away unharmed with all -his plunder. But he lingered in Santander, though he knew that Bonnet -must be in pursuit of him, and resolved to defend the town. The French -general had started to protect his base and his dépôts, the moment -that he ascertained the real direction of Ballasteros’ march. On the -night of June 10 he met the fugitive garrison and learnt that Santander -had fallen. Late on the ensuing day he reached its suburbs, and sent -in two battalions to make a dash at the place. They were beaten off; -but next<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[p. 387]</span> morning -Bonnet attacked with his whole force, the Asturians were defeated, and -Ballasteros’ raid ended in a disaster. He himself escaped by sea, but -3,000 of his men were captured, and the rest dispersed. The French -recovered their sick and prisoners, and such of their stores as the -Spaniards had not consumed<a id="FNanchor_486" href="#Footnote_486" -class="fnanchor">[486]</a>. The wrecks of Ballasteros’ division -drifted back over the hills to their native principality, save one -detachment, the regulars of La Romana’s old regiment of La Princesa. -This small body of 300 men turned south, and by an astounding march -across Old Castile and Aragon reached Molina on the borders of -Valencia, where they joined the army of Blake. They had gone 250 miles -through territory of which the French were supposed to be in military -possession, but threaded their way between the garrisons in perfect -safety, because the peasantry never betrayed their position to the -enemy.</p> - -<p>Disastrous as was its end, Ballasteros’ expedition had yet served -its purpose. Not only had it thrown the whole of the French garrisons -in Biscay and Guipuzcoa into confusion, but even the Governor of -Bayonne had been frightened and had sent alarming dispatches to -the Emperor. This was comparatively unimportant, but it was a very -different matter that Bonnet had been forced to evacuate the Asturias, -all of whose eastern region was now free from the invaders.</p> - -<p>More was to follow: Kellermann still lay at Oviedo, worried but not -seriously incommoded by Worster and the Asturians of the west. But a -few days after Bonnet’s departure he received a request from Mortier -(backed by orders from King Joseph), that the division of the 5th Corps -which had been lent him should instantly return to Castile. This was -one of the results of Wellesley’s campaign on the Douro, for Mortier, -hearing of Soult’s expulsion from Northern Portugal, imagined that -the British army, being now free for further action, would debouch by -Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo and fall upon Salamanca. He needed the aid -of his second division, which Kellermann was forced to send back. But -it would have been not only useless but extremely dangerous to linger -at Oviedo with the small remnant of the expeditionary force, when -Girard’s regiments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[p. 388]</span> -had been withdrawn. Therefore Kellermann wisely resolved to evacuate -the whole principality, and returned to Leon by the pass of Pajares in -the third week of June.</p> - -<p>Thus ended in complete failure the great concentric attack on the -Asturias. The causes of the fiasco were two. (1) The French generals -chose as their objective, not the enemy’s armies, but his capital and -base of operations. Both Ney and Bonnet while marching on Oviedo left -what (adapting a naval phrase) we may call an ‘army-in-being’ behind -them, and in each case that army fell upon the detachments left in -the rear, and pressed them so hard that the invading forces could not -stay in the Asturias, but were forced to turn back to protect their -communications. (2) In Spain conquest was useless unless a garrison -could be left behind to hold down the territory that was overrun. But -neither Ney, Kellermann, nor Bonnet had any troops to devote to such a -purpose: they invaded the Asturias with regiments borrowed from other -regions, from which they could not long be spared. As later experience -in 1811 and 1812 showed, it required some 8,000 men merely to maintain -a hold upon Oviedo and the central parts of the principality. The -invaders had no such force at their disposition—the troops -from the 6th Corps were wanted in Galicia, those of the 5th Corps in -Castile, those of Bonnet in the Montaña. If it were impossible to -garrison the Asturias, the invasion dwindled down into a raid, and a -raid which left untouched the larger part of the enemy’s field army -was useless. It would have been better policy to hunt Mahy, Worster, -and Ballasteros rather than to secure for a bare three weeks military -possession of Oviedo and Gijon. If Soult had not dropped from the -clouds, as it were, to save Lugo: if Ballasteros had been a little -more prudent at Santander, the Asturian expedition would have ended -not merely in a failure, but in an ignominious defeat. It should never -have been undertaken while the Galician insurrection was still raging, -and while no troops were available for the permanent garrisoning of the -principality.</p> - -<p>Searching a little deeper, may we not say that the ultimate cause -of the fiasco was Napoleon’s misconception of the character of the -Spanish war? It was he who ordered the invasion of the Asturias, and he -issued his orders under the hypothesis that it<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_389">[p. 389]</span> could be not only conquered but retained. -But with the numbers then at the disposal of his generals this was -impossible, because the insurrection absorbed so many of their troops, -that no more could be detached without risking the loss of all that had -been already gained. By grasping at the Asturias Napoleon nearly lost -Galicia. Only Soult’s appearance prevented that province from falling -completely into the hands of Mahy and La Carrera: and that appearance -was as involuntary as it was unexpected. If the Duke of Dalmatia had -been able to carry out his original design he would have retreated from -Oporto to Zamora and not to Orense. If Beresford had not foiled him at -Amarante, he would have been resting on the Douro when Fournier was in -such desperate straits at Lugo. In that case Ney might have returned -from Oviedo to find that his detachments had been destroyed, and that -Galicia was lost. It was not the Emperor’s fault that this disaster -failed to occur.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap15_2"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[p. 390]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER II">SECTION XV: CHAPTER II</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE FRENCH ABANDON GALICIA</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">When,</span> upon May 30, 1809, Ney arrived -at Lugo, and met Soult in conference, it seemed that, now or never, -the time had come when a serious endeavour might be made to subdue -the Galician insurgents. The whole force of the 2nd and 6th Corps -was concentrated in the narrow triangle between Ferrol, Corunna, and -Lugo. The two marshals had still 33,000 men fit for service, after -deducting the sick. If they set aside competent garrisons for the three -towns that we have just named, they could still show some 25,000 men -available for field operations, and with such a force Ney was of the -opinion that the insurrection might be beaten down. It was true that -the 2nd Corps was in a deplorable condition as regards equipment, but -on the other hand Corunna and Ferrol were still full of the stores -of arms and ammunition that had been captured when they surrendered. -Clothing, no doubt, was lamentably deficient, and Ney could only supply -hundreds where Soult asked for thousands of boots and <i>capotes</i>; but -he refitted his colleague’s troops with muskets and ammunition, and -furnished him with eight mountain-guns—field-pieces the Duke of -Dalmatia would not take, though a certain number were offered him; -for after his experience of the way that his artillery had delayed -him in February and March he refused to accept them. Horses and mules -were unattainable—nearly half Soult’s cavalry was dismounted, -and he had lost most of his sumpter-beasts between Guimaraens and -Montalegre. Nevertheless, the corps, after a week’s rest at Lugo, -was once more capable of service. Its weakly men had been left in -hospital at Oporto, or had fallen by the way in the dreadful defiles -of Ruivaens and Salamonde. All that remained were war-hardened -veterans, and Soult, out of his 19,000 men, had no more than 800 sick -and wounded.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[p. 391]</span> He -resolved to disembarrass himself of another hindrance, his dismounted -cavalry, and in each regiment made the 3rd and 4th squadrons hand -over their chargers to the 1st and 2nd. The 1,100 troopers thus left -without mounts were armed with muskets, and formed into a column, to -which were added the <i>cadres</i> of certain infantry battalions belonging -to the regiments which had suffered most. In these the 3rd, or the -3rd and 4th, battalions turned over their effective rank and file to -the others, while the officers and non-commissioned officers were to -be sent home to their dépôts to organize new units. The whole body -was placed under General Quesnel, who was directed to cut his way to -Astorga by the great high-road: it was hoped that he would come safely -through, now that La Romana had withdrawn his army to Southern Galicia. -The expedient was a hazardous one; but the column was fortunate: it was -forced to fight with a large assembly of peasants at Doncos, half-way -between Lugo and Villafranca, but reached its goal with no great loss, -though for every mile of the march it was being ‘sniped’ and harassed -by the guerrillas.</p> - -<p>Soult’s available force, after he had sent his sick into the -hospitals of Lugo, and had dismissed Quesnel’s detachment, was about -16,500 or 17,000 sabres and bayonets. Ney had about 15,000 men left. -The two marshals were bound, both by the Emperor’s orders and by the -mere necessities of the situation, to co-operate with each other. But -there was a fundamental divergence between their aims and intentions. -Ney had been given charge of Galicia, and he regarded it as his duty -to conquer and hold down the province. He refused to look beyond his -orders, or to take into consideration the progress of operations in -other parts of the Peninsula. Soult, on the other hand, always loved -to play his own game, and had no desire to stay in Galicia in order -to lighten his colleague’s task. He was disgusted with the land, its -mountains, and its insurgents, and was eager to find some excuse for -quitting it. He had no difficulty in discovering many excellent reasons -for retiring into the plains of Leon. The first was the dilapidated -state of his troops: in spite of the resources which Ney had lent, the -2nd Corps still lacked clothing, pay, and transport. Soult had written -to King Joseph on May 30 to ask that all these necessaries might be -sent forward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[p. 392]</span> to -Zamora, where he intended to pick them up. A still more plausible plea -might be found in the general state of affairs in Northern Spain. The -Emperor’s main object was the expulsion of the British army from the -Peninsula. But if the 2nd Corps joined the 6th in a long, and probably -fruitless, hunt after the evasive La Romana, Wellesley would be left -free to march whithersoever he might please. He might base himself on -Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, and make a sudden inroad into Leon and -Old Castile, where the small corps of Mortier would certainly prove -inadequate to hold him back. Or he might go off to the south, and fall -upon Victor in Estremadura, a move which might very probably lead to -the loss of Madrid. Soult therefore was of opinion that his duty was -to drop down into Leon, and there join with Mortier in making such a -demonstration against Portugal as would compel the British army to -stand upon the defensive, and to abandon any idea of invading Spain -either by the valley of the Douro or that of the Tagus. ‘He could -not keep his eye off Portugal,’ as Jourdan and King Joseph, no less -than Ney, kept complaining<a id="FNanchor_487" href="#Footnote_487" -class="fnanchor">[487]</a>. There cannot be the least doubt that Soult -was quite right in turning his main attention in this direction. It -was the English army that was the most dangerous enemy; and it was the -flanking position of Portugal that rendered the French movements toward -the south of Spain hazardous or impracticable.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless all the Duke of Dalmatia’s arguments seemed to his -colleague mere excuses destined to cover a selfish determination to -abandon the 6th Corps, and to shirk the duty of co-operating in the -conquest of Galicia. He insisted that Soult must aid him in crushing -La Romana before taking any other task in hand. And he had a strong -moral claim for pressing his request, because it was from the resources -which he had furnished that the 2nd Corps had been re-equipped and -rendered capable of renewed service in the field. The marshals -wrangled, and their followers copied them, for a fierce feud, leading -to a copious exchange of recrimination and many duels, sprang up during -the few days that the staffs of the two corps lay together at Lugo<a -id="FNanchor_488" href="#Footnote_488" class="fnanchor">[488]</a>. At -last Soult yielded, or feigned to yield, to Ney’s<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_393">[p. 393]</span> instances: he promised to lend his -aid for the suppression of the Galician insurrection under certain -conditions. A plan for combined action was accordingly drawn up.</p> - -<p>According to this scheme Ney was to advance from Corunna to Santiago -with the 6th Corps, and was to drive the main body of the insurgents -southward in the direction of Vigo and Tuy, following the line of the -great coast-road. Soult meanwhile was to operate in the inland, against -the enemy’s exposed flank. He was to march from Lugo down the valley -of the upper Minho, pushing before him all that stood in his way, with -the object of thrusting the enemy on to Orense, and then towards the -sea. If all went right, La Romana’s army as well as the insurgents of -the coast, would finally be enclosed between the two marshals and the -Atlantic cliffs, and, as it was hoped, would be exterminated or forced -to surrender. The obviously weak point of the plan was that it did not -allow sufficiently for the power which the enemy possessed of escaping, -by dispersion, or by taking to the mountains. Even if the details of -the two movements had been carried out with perfect accuracy, it is -probable that the Galicians would have crept out of some gap,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[p. 394]</span> or slipped away between -the converging corps, or saved themselves by a headlong retreat into -Portugal. The Marshals might have captured Vigo and Orense: it is -extremely unlikely that they could have done more, especially as they -had to deal with a general like La Romana, who had made up his mind -that his duty was to avoid pitched battles, and to preserve his army at -all costs. If Cuesta or Blake had been in command the scheme would have -been much more feasible; but La Romana was the only Spanish commander -then in the field who had resolved never to fight if he could help -it.</p> - -<p>On June 1 Ney and Soult parted, starting the one upon the road to -Corunna, the other upon that which makes for Orense by the valley of -the upper Minho. It would seem that neither of them had any great -confidence in the success of the plan adopted, and that each was -possessed by the strongest doubts as to the loyalty with which his -colleague would support him. Soult was on the watch for any good excuse -for throwing up the scheme and retiring to Zamora. Ney was determined -not to risk himself and his corps overmuch, lest he should find himself -left in the lurch by Soult at the critical moment<a id="FNanchor_489" -href="#Footnote_489" class="fnanchor">[489]</a>.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the Spaniards had been straining every nerve to reorganize -the army of Galicia, employing the short time of respite that they had -gained in drafting back into the old corps the numerous stragglers who -began to return to their colours as the summer drew on, and in raising -new battalions of volunteers. La Romana lay in person at Orense with -the main body of the original army, which had now risen to a force of -about 7,000 properly equipped men, and nearly 3,000 unarmed recruits: -he had still only four guns<a id="FNanchor_490" href="#Footnote_490" -class="fnanchor">[490]</a>. The ‘Division of the Minho’ was no longer -under Carrera and Morillo: they had been superseded by the arrival -of the Conde de Noroña to whom the Central Junta had given over the -command. This officer found himself at the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_395">[p. 395]</span> head of about 10,000 men, of whom -only about 2,500 were regulars, the rest were peasantry new to the -career of arms, but so much exhilarated by their late successes at -Vigo and the Campo de Estrella, that it was hard to hold them back -from taking the offensive<a id="FNanchor_491" href="#Footnote_491" -class="fnanchor">[491]</a>. Fortunately Noroña was gifted not only -with tact but with caution: he knew how to keep the horde together -without allowing them to get out of hand, and utterly refused to -risk them in the open field<a id="FNanchor_492" href="#Footnote_492" -class="fnanchor">[492]</a>.</p> - -<p>On June 5 Ney arrived before Santiago with the main body of the -6th Corps—eighteen battalions, three cavalry regiments and two -batteries: he had again left Corunna, Ferrol, and Lugo in the charge -of very small garrisons, and was by no means without misgivings as -to their fate during his absence. But he thought that his first duty -was to concentrate a field force sufficiently large to face and beat -the whole army of Galicia, in case La Romana should join Noroña for a -combined attack on the 6th Corps.</p> - -<p>On the news of the Marshal’s approach the Spanish general drew back -all his forces behind the estuary known as the Octavem (or Oitaben), -a broad tidal stretch of water where several small mountain torrents -meet at the head of a long bay. Noroña might have disputed the lines -of the Ulla and the Vedra, but neither of these rivers affords such a -good defensive position as the Oitaben. Here the hills of the interior -come down much nearer to the sea than they do at the mouths of the -Ulla and the Vedra, so that there is a much shorter line to defend, -between low-water mark and the foot of the inaccessible Sierra de -Suido. There was no road inland by which the position could be turned, -so that the Galicians had only to guard the six miles of river-bank -between the sea and the mountain. There were two bridges to be watched: -the more important was that of Sampayo, where the main <i>chaussée</i> to -Vigo passes the Oitaben just where it narrows down and ceases to be -tidal. The second was that of Caldelas, four miles further inland, -where a side-road to the village of Sotomayor crosses the Verdugo, the -most northern of the three torrents which unite to form the Oitaben. -Noroña had broken down four arches of the great Sampayo bridge.<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_396">[p. 396]</span> That of Caldelas he -had not destroyed, but had barricaded: he had drawn a double line -of trenches on the hillside that dominates it, and placed there a -battery containing some of his small provision of artillery—he -had but nine field-guns and two mortars taken from the walls of Vigo. -Morillo was given charge of this part of the position, Noroña took -post himself at Sampayo. He had neglected no minor precaution that -was possible—some gunboats, one of which was manned by English -sailors drawn from the two frigates in the bay, patrolled the tidal -part of the Oitaben, and flanked the broken bridge. Winter, the senior -naval officer present, put his marines on shore: along with sixty -stragglers from Moore’s army, who had been liberated by the peasants -from French captivity, they garrisoned Vigo, which lies a few miles -beyond the Oitaben.</p> - -<p>On June 7 Ney reached the front of the position and ascertained -that the bridge of Sampayo was broken. His artillery exchanged some -objectless salvos with that of Noroña, while his cavalry rode inland -to look for possible points of passage. They could find none save the -fortified bridge of Caldelas, and a very difficult ford just above it, -commanded, like the bridge, by the Spanish trenches on the hillside. -The Marshal was also informed that at the Sampayo itself there was -another ford, passable only at low tide for three hours at a time.</p> - -<p>These reports were by no means encouraging: the Spanish position -was almost impregnable, and there was no way of turning it. Indeed the -only road by which the enemy could be taken in flank or rear was that -from Orense to Vigo, along the Minho. This Ney could not reach: but -supposing that Soult had carried out the plan of operations to which -he had assented on June 1, it was just possible that he might appear, -sooner or later, on that line, and so dislodge the enemy. However it -was equally possible that he might be still far distant, and so Ney -resolved to make an attempt to force the passage of the Oitaben. On -the morning of June 8 therefore, after a long but fruitless cannonade, -one body of infantry endeavoured to pass at the ford opposite -the village of Sampayo<a id="FNanchor_493" href="#Footnote_493" -class="fnanchor">[493]</a>, while another, with some cavalry,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_397">[p. 397]</span> attempted to cross -the other ford at Caldelas, and to storm its bridge. At both places -the Galicians stood their ground, and the heads of the column were -exposed to such a furious fire that they suffered heavily and failed -to reach the further bank. The Marshal therefore drew them back, and -refused to persist in an attack which would only have had a chance of -success if the enemy had misbehaved and given way to panic. The French -lost several hundred men<a id="FNanchor_494" href="#Footnote_494" -class="fnanchor">[494]</a>, the Galicians, safe in their trenches, -suffered far less.</p> - -<p>That evening Ney received news which convinced him that Soult had -left him in the lurch, and had no intention of prosecuting his march -on Orense, to turn the enemy’s flank. It was reported that the 2nd -Corps, after making only two days’ march from Lugo, had stopped short -at Monforte de Lemos, and showed no signs of moving forward. Indeed -the Duke of Dalmatia had put the regiments into cantonments and was -evidently about to make a lengthy halt.</p> - -<p>Since the Duke of Elchingen was now convinced that the enemy could -not be dislodged from behind the Oitaben without his colleague’s aid, -and since that colleague showed no signs of appearing within any -reasonable time, the game was up. On the morning of the ninth Ney -gave orders for his troops to draw off, and to retire by the road to -Santiago and Corunna. He made no secret of his belief that Soult had -deliberately betrayed him, and had never intended to keep his promise<a -id="FNanchor_495" href="#Footnote_495" class="fnanchor">[495]</a>. -Without the aid of the 2nd Corps he had no hopes of being able to -suppress the Galician insurrection. But till he should learn precisely -what his colleague was doing, he could not make up his mind to abandon -the province. He therefore sent off on June 10 an aide-de-camp with a -large escort, by the circuitous route via Lugo. This officer bore a -dispatch, which explained the situation, reported the check at Sampayo, -and demanded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">[p. 398]</span> that -the 2nd Corps should not move any further away, but should return to -lend aid to the 6th in its time of need. It was more than ten days -before an answer was received. But on the twenty-first Soult’s reply -came to hand: he had been found marching, not towards Orense, but -eastward, in the direction of the frontiers of Leon. He refused to turn -back, alleging that this was not in the bond signed at Lugo, and that -his troops were in such a state of exhaustion that he was forced to -lead them into the plains, to rest them and refit them. Such a reply -seemed to justify Ney’s worst suspicions; abandoned by his colleague, -and with the care of the whole of Galicia thrown upon his hands, he -refused to risk the safety of the 6th Corps in the unequal struggle. He -evacuated Corunna and Ferrol on the twenty-second and concentrated his -whole force at Lugo. There he picked up the sick and wounded of Soult’s -corps as well as his own, and in six forced marches retired along the -high-road by Villafranca to Astorga, which place he reached on June 30. -Every day he had been worried and molested by the local guerrillas, -but neither Noroña nor La Romana had dared to meddle with him. In his -anger at the constant attacks of the insurgents, he sacked every place -that he passed, from Villafranca and Ponferrada down to the smallest -hamlets. Twenty-seven Galician towns and villages are said to have been -burned by the 6th Corps during its retreat. Such conduct was unworthy -of a soldier of Ney’s calibre: it can only be explained by the fact -that he was almost beside himself with wrath at being foiled by Soult’s -breach of his plighted word, and vented his fury on the only victims -that he could reach.</p> - -<p>We must now turn back to trace the steps of the 2nd Corps in its -devious march from Lugo to the plains of Leon. Soult had sent out -Loison with one division by the road down the left bank of the Minho -on June 1. He himself followed with the rest of the army on the next -day. On the third the Marshal reached the little town of Monforte de -Lemos, between the Minho and the Sil, which he found deserted by its -inhabitants. In obedience to La Romana’s orders they had all gone up -into the mountains.</p> - -<p>If Soult had been honestly desirous of carrying out his compact -with Ney, his next step would have been to make<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_399">[p. 399]</span> a rapid march on Orense. He must have -been able to calculate that his colleague would now be in touch with -Noroña’s forces somewhere to the south of Corunna, and it was his -duty to co-operate by descending the Minho in the enemy’s rear. The -mere fact that he remained for the unconscionable space of eight days -at Monforte, is a sufficient proof that he never intended to carry -out his part of the compact. During this time [June 3-11], while Ney -was fighting out to an unsuccessful end his campaign against Noroña, -Soult was absolutely quiescent, at a place only thirty miles from -his starting-point at Lugo. He was unmolested save by small bands of -local guerrillas, who fled to the hills whenever they were faced. -His official chronicler Le Noble pleads that there were no fords to -be found either over the Minho or over the Sil<a id="FNanchor_496" -href="#Footnote_496" class="fnanchor">[496]</a>. But in eight days, -unopposed by any serious enemy, the engineers of the 2nd Corps could -certainly have built bridges if the Marshal had ordered them to do so. -Meanwhile the troops rested, and rejoiced in the abundant supplies -of food and wine which they gathered in from the neighbourhood, for -Monforte lies in the centre of a fertile upland and its neighbourhood -had never before suffered from the ills of war<a id="FNanchor_497" -href="#Footnote_497" class="fnanchor">[497]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the eleventh Soult at last moved on. But it was not in the -direction of Orense. He had no news of Ney, and professed to be -concerned that the 6th Corps had not yet been heard of on the Orense -road. Finally he announced that he was compelled to believe that the -Duke of Elchingen had not executed his part of the joint campaign<a -id="FNanchor_498" href="#Footnote_498" class="fnanchor">[498]</a>, -and that there was no longer any reason that the 2nd Corps should -carry out its share of the plan. Accordingly he marched, not toward -Ney, but in the opposite direction, up the valley of the Sil, with -his face set towards the east. He pretended that he hoped to catch -and disperse the corps of La Romana, to whom he attributed a design -of marching on Puebla de Senabria—the same movement that the -Marquis had executed once before in the first days of March. But -as a matter of fact La Romana was at Orense, and far from<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_400">[p. 400]</span> having any intention -of retreating eastward, if he were attacked by the 2nd Corps, he -was looking on Portugal as his line of retreat<a id="FNanchor_499" -href="#Footnote_499" class="fnanchor">[499]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the thirteenth Soult reached Montefurado, where the Sil is -bridged by masses of rocks which have fallen into its bed: the river -forces its way beneath them by a tunnel sixty feet broad, which is -supposed to have been cut by the Romans. Crossing on this natural -bridge, he turned southward to follow the valley of the Bibey, -which leads to Puebla de Senabria and the plains of Leon. He met no -resistance save from the local insurgents, headed by the Abbot of -Casoyo and a partisan called El Salamanquino, who received little -or no aid from the regular army. Indeed the only Spanish troops in -this remote corner of Galicia were 200 men under an officer called -Echevarria, a dépôt left behind at Puebla de Senabria by La Carrera, -when he had marched to Vigo in May. This handful of men joined the -local guerrillas, and the appearance of their uniforms among the -enemy’s ranks served Soult as an excuse for stating that he was -contending with the army of La Romana. Any reader of his dispatches -would conclude that during the last days of June he was opposed by -a considerable body of that force. As a matter of fact he was never -anywhere near the Galician army, which lay first at Orense, then at -Celanova, finally at Monterey on the Portuguese frontier, always moving -to the right, parallel with the Marshal’s advance, so as to avoid -being outflanked on its southern wing. It was with the peasants of -the valley of the Bibey alone that Soult had to do. Thrusting them to -right and left, and cruelly ravaging the country-side on both banks -of the river, he reached Viana on June 16. From thence Franceschi -sent a flying expedition over the hills to La Gudina, on the road -from Monterey to Puebla de Senabria. It brought back news that La -Romana had come down to Monterey when the 2nd Corps moved to Viana, -but that he was evidently not marching eastward. It had met and<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_401">[p. 401]</span> routed a party of Spanish -cavalry sent out from Monterey<a id="FNanchor_500" href="#Footnote_500" -class="fnanchor">[500]</a>; the prisoners taken from them said that -the Marquis was returning to Orense now that he had seen the 2nd Corps -committing itself to an advance up the valley of the Bibey, and passing -away in the direction of the plains of Leon.</p> - -<p>It was while halting at Larouco, during this march, that Soult -received the dispatch which Ney had written to him from Santiago on -June 10. His reply, as we have already seen, was a peremptory refusal -to turn back to the aid of the 6th Corps. He asserted that he had -fulfilled his part of the bargain made at Lugo (which he assuredly -had not), and refused to undertake any further offensive operations -with troops in a state of utter destitution and fatigue. He declared -to his staff, and wrote to King Joseph, that he believed that Ney had -deliberately mismanaged his expedition against Vigo, and had suffered -himself to be checked, in order to have an excuse for detaining -the 2nd Corps in Galicia<a id="FNanchor_501" href="#Footnote_501" -class="fnanchor">[501]</a>. Why, he asked, had not the Duke of -Elchingen sent a turning column against Orense, instead of making a -frontal attack against the line of the Oitaben? The plain answer to -this query—viz. that Ney with a field-force of only 10,000 men, -and having three weak garrisons behind him, could not afford either -to divide his army or to go too far from Corunna and Lugo—he -naturally did not give.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, on June 23, Soult abandoned the valley of the Bibey, -and crossed the watershed of the Sierra Segundera in two columns, one -descending on to La Gudina, the other on to<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_402">[p. 402]</span> Lobian. On the twenty-fourth and -twenty-fifth the whole army was united at Puebla de Senabria. The -town was taken without a shot being fired; and the French found there -several cannon which La Carrera had not carried off when he marched to -Vigo, and which Echevarria had spiked but neglected to destroy. The -corps rested for five days in Puebla de Senabria, where it obtained -abundance of food and comfortable lodging. But Franceschi and his -light-horse, now reduced to not more than 700 sabres, were pushed on -at once to Zamora, to bear news to King Joseph of the approach of the -2nd Corps, and to beg that the stores, money, artillery, and clothing, -which Soult had demanded in his letter from Lugo, might be forwarded -to him as soon as possible<a id="FNanchor_502" href="#Footnote_502" -class="fnanchor">[502]</a>. Although the authorities at Madrid had -heard nothing of the doings of the Marshal since June 1, they had -already prepared much of the material required, and sent it to -Salamanca. From thence it was now transferred to Zamora and Benavente, -where it was handed over to the war-worn 2nd Corps. Other stores were -procured from Valladolid and even from Bayonne. But the artillery, the -most important of all the necessaries, was long in coming.</p> - -<p>Soult’s main body had broken up from Puebla de Senabria on June -29: from thence Mermet’s, Delaborde’s, and Lorges’ troops marched to -Benavente, and those of Merle and Heudelet to Zamora. In these places -they enjoyed a few days of rest and began to refit themselves. But it -was not long before they were called upon to take part in another great -campaign, and once more to face their old enemies the English.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">[p. 403]</span></p> - -<p>The first care of the Duke of Dalmatia, after he had emerged from -the Galician Sierras, had been to write long justificatory dispatches -to the Emperor and King Joseph. They are most interesting documents, -and explain with perfect clearness his reasons for abandoning Ney and -returning to the valley of the Douro. His main thesis is that it was -his duty to keep the English in check, since they were the one really -dangerous enemy in the Peninsula. Since it was notorious that Wellesley -had quitted Northern Portugal, it was practically certain that he must -be intending to march southward, to fall upon Victor, and strike a -blow at Madrid. It was necessary, therefore, that the 2nd Corps should -follow him, and be ready to aid in the defence of the capital. The -safety of Madrid was far more important than the subjection of Galicia, -and the Marshal had no hesitation in sacrificing the lesser object in -order to secure the greater. Ney, he thought, would be strong enough -to make head against Noroña and La Romana united: but he could not -hope to hold down the whole of Galicia, and he would have either to be -reinforced, or to be permitted to evacuate the province.</p> - -<p>As to the conquest of Galicia, it would take many men and many -months. At present it would be impossible to find the forces necessary -for its complete subjection. This could only be done by fortifying not -merely Corunna, Ferrol, and Lugo, but also Tuy, Monterey, Viana, and -Puebla de Senabria. Each of these places should be given a garrison -of 5,000 or 6,000 men, and furnished with stores calculated to last -for four months. In addition there would have to be blockhouses built -along the high-road from Lugo to Villafranca, and on several other -lines. Columns operating from each of the seven great garrisons should -be continually moving about, keeping open the communication between -stronghold and stronghold, and chastising the insurgents.</p> - -<p>Thus Soult calculated that the subjection of Galicia would require -from 35,000 to 42,000 men, continually on the move, and never liable -to be called upon for any service outside the province. It was absurd, -therefore, for him to suggest in a later paragraph that Ney might be -left to hold his own. What was the use of setting 15,000 men to work -on a task that would strain the energies of 35,000? And where was -King Joseph<span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">[p. 404]</span> to -find the additional 20,000 men, if the 2nd Corps were withdrawn into -Leon to watch the British army? No such force could be drawn from any -other part of Spain, and it would be useless to ask for reinforcements -from France while the Austrian War was calling every available man to -the Danube. Soult’s view, clearly, was that Galicia would have to be -abandoned for the present, though he did not choose to say so. Till -the English had been destroyed, or driven into the sea, King Joseph -would never be able to find 35,000 men to lock up in the remote and -mountainous north-western corner of the Peninsula<a id="FNanchor_503" -href="#Footnote_503" class="fnanchor">[503]</a>.</p> - -<p>There is not the slightest doubt that Soult’s views were perfectly -correct. Looking at the war in the Peninsula as a whole, it was a -strategical blunder to endeavour to hold Galicia before Portugal had -been conquered. And while the force of the French armies in Spain -remained at its present figure, it was impossible to spare two whole -army corps for this secondary theatre of operations. The attempt to -subdue the province had only been made because Moore had drawn after -him to Corunna the armies of Soult and Ney: and, since they were on the -spot, the temptation to use them there was too great to be withstood. -This is but one more instance of the way in which the famous march -to Sahagun had disarranged all the Emperor’s original plans for the -conquest of the Peninsula.</p> - -<p>It has often been debated whether it would be truer to say that -Galicia was delivered by Wellesley’s operations or by the valour and -obstinacy of its own inhabitants. After giving all due credit to the -gallant peasantry who checked Ney and harassed Soult, to the prudence -of the untiring La Romana, and to Noroña’s cautious courage, it is -yet necessary to decide that the real cause of the evacuation of the -province by the invaders was the presence of the victorious British -army in Portugal. The two Marshals might have maintained themselves -there for an indefinite time, if they could have shut their eyes -to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">[p. 405]</span> what was going -on elsewhere. But Soult was quite right in believing that it would be -mad to persist in the attempt to subdue Galicia, while Wellesley was in -the field, and nothing lay between him and Madrid but the 22,000 men -of the 1st Corps. If he and Ney had lingered on in the north, engaged -in fruitless hunting after La Romana, while July and August wore on, -Madrid would have fallen into the hands of Wellesley and Cuesta, and -King Joseph would once more have been forced to go upon his travels, -to Burgos or elsewhere. The Talavera campaign only failed of success -because the 2nd and the 6th Corps were withdrawn from the Galician -hills just in time to concentrate at Salamanca and fall upon the rear -of the victors. If they had been wandering around Monterey or Mondonedo -at the end of July, instead of being cantoned in the plains of Leon, -the capital of Spain would undoubtedly have been recovered by Wellesley -and Cuesta—though whether those ill-assorted colleagues could -have held it for long is another question. Into such possibilities it -is useless to make inquiry.</p> - - -<p class="nb mt2">N.B.—My best authority for this campaign is the -set of dispatches by Carrol in the Record Office. He was at Vigo from -June 3 to June 14; with La Romana from June 16 to July 11. Thus he was -on the spot for the fight on the Oitaben, and also for the operations -against Soult. Napier’s narrative is more than usually faulty in -dealing with the end of the Galician campaign. He writes as a partisan -of Soult, and his whole tale is drawn from the Marshal’s dispatches and -from the book of the panegyrist, Le Noble. His whole picture of the -desperate condition of La Romana is untrue: the Marquis had always open -to him a safe retreat into Portugal, and his army was never engaged -with Soult at all. Carrol’s dispatches make this quite clear. The map -(facing p. 125 of vol. ii.) is so hopelessly inaccurate both as to -distances, and as to the relative positions of places to each other, -that I can only compare it to those ingenious diagrams which a railway -produces, in order to show that it possesses the shortest route from -London to Edinburgh, or from Brussels to Berlin.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap15_3"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">[p. 406]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER III">SECTION XV: CHAPTER III</h3> - <p class="subh3">OPERATIONS IN ARAGON: ALCAÑIZ AND BELCHITE<br /> - (MARCH-JUNE 1809)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">When,</span> upon February 20, the -plague-stricken remnant of the much-enduring garrison of Saragossa laid -down their arms at the feet of Lannes, it seemed probable that the -whole of North-Eastern Spain must fall a helpless prey to the invader. -The time had come when the 3rd and the 5th Corps, freed from the long -strain of the siege, were once more available for field-operations. -For the last two months almost every dispatch that the Emperor or King -Joseph wrote, had been filled with plans and projects that began with -the words ‘When Saragossa shall have fallen.’ If only Palafox and his -desperate bands were removed, it would be easy to trample down Aragon, -to take Catalonia in the rear, and finally to march to the gates of -Valencia, and end the struggle on the eastern coast.</p> - -<p>Now at last the 30,000 men of Mortier and Junot could be turned -to other tasks, and there seemed to be every reason to expect that -they would suffice to carry out the Emperor’s designs. There was no -army which could be opposed to them, for, only a few days after the -capitulation of Saragossa, Reding had risked and lost the battle of -Valls, and the wrecks of his host had taken refuge within the walls of -Tarragona.</p> - -<p>The only surviving Spanish force which was under arms in the valley -of the Ebro consisted of the single division, not more than 4,000 -strong, under the Marquis of Lazan. After his vain attempt to come to -the rescue of Saragossa in the early days of February, Lazan had drawn -back to Fraga and Monzon, forced to look on from afar at the last stage -of his brother’s desperate resistance. In the rest of the kingdom of -Aragon there were but two or three scattered battalions of new levies<a -id="FNanchor_504" href="#Footnote_504" class="fnanchor">[504]</a>, -and some guerrilla bands under Perena and other chiefs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">[p. 407]</span></p> - -<p>The mistaken policy which had led Joseph Palafox to shut up in -Saragossa not only his own army but also the succours which he had -procured from Valencia and Murcia, now bore its fruit. There was no -force left which could take the field against the victorious army of -Lannes. It seemed therefore that the war in Aragon must come to a -speedy end: the French had but to advance and the whole kingdom must -fall into their hands. The national cause, however, was not quite -so desperate as might have been supposed. Here, as in other regions -of Spain, it was ere long to be discovered that it was one thing to -destroy a Spanish army, and another to hold down a Spanish province. A -French corps that was irresistible when concentrated on the field of -battle, became vulnerable when forced to divide itself into the number -of small garrisons that were needed for the permanent retention of the -territory that it had won. Though the capital of Aragon and its chief -towns were to remain in the hands of the enemy for the next five years, -yet there were always rugged corners of the land where the struggle was -kept up and the invader baffled and held in check.</p> - -<p>Yet immediately after the fall of Saragossa it seemed for a space -that Aragon might settle down beneath the invader’s heel. Lannes, whose -health was still bad, returned to France, but Mortier and Junot, who -now once more resumed that joint responsibility that they had shared in -December, went forth conquering and to conquer. They so divided their -efforts that the 5th Corps operated for the most part to the north, and -the 3rd Corps to the south of the Ebro, though occasionally their lines -of operations crossed each other.</p> - -<p>The kingdom of Aragon consists of three well-marked divisions. On -each side of the Ebro there is a wide and fertile plain, generally -some thirty miles broad. But to the north and the south of this rich -valley lie range on range of rugged hills. Those on the north are the -lower spurs of the Pyrenees: those to the south form part of the great -central ganglion of the Sierras of Central Spain, which lies just where -Aragon, Valencia, and New Castile meet.</p> - -<p>The valley of the Ebro gave the French little trouble: it was not -a region that could easily offer resistance, for it was destitute -of all natural defences. Moreover, the flower of its manhood<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_408">[p. 408]</span> had been enrolled in -the battalions which had perished at Saragossa, and few were left in -the country-side who were capable of bearing arms—still fewer -who possessed them. The plain of Central Aragon lay exhausted at the -victor’s feet. It was otherwise with the mountains of the north and the -south, which contain some of the most difficult ground in the whole of -Spain. There the rough and sturdy hill-folk found every opportunity for -resistance, and when once they had learnt by experience the limitations -of the invader’s power, were able to keep up a petty warfare without an -end. Partisans like Villacampa in the southern hills, and Mina in the -Pyrenean valleys along the edge of Navarre, succeeded in maintaining -themselves against every expedition that was sent against them. -Always hunted, often brought to bay, they yet were never crushed or -destroyed.</p> - -<p>But in March 1809 the Aragonese had not yet recognized their own -opportunities: the disaster of Saragossa had struck such a deep blow -that apathy and despair seemed to have spread over the greater part of -the kingdom. When Mortier and Junot, after giving their corps a short -rest, began to spread movable columns abroad, there was at first no -resistance. The inaccessible fortress of Jaca in the foot-hills of -the Pyrenees surrendered at the first summons; its garrison was only -500 strong, yet it should have made some sort of defence against a -force consisting of no more than a single regiment of Mortier’s corps, -without artillery. [March 21<a id="FNanchor_505" href="#Footnote_505" -class="fnanchor">[505]</a>.] The fall of this place was important, as -it commands the only pass in the Central Pyrenees which is anything -better than mule-track. Though barely practicable for artillery or -light vehicles, it was useful for communication between Saragossa and -France, and gave the French army of Aragon a line of communication -of its own, independent of the long and circuitous route by Tudela -and Pampeluna.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">[p. 409]</span></p> - -<p>Other columns of Mortier’s corps marched against Monzon and Fraga, -the chief towns in the valley of the Cinca. On their approach the -Marquis of Lazan retired down the Ebro to Tortosa, and both towns were -occupied without offering resistance. Another column marched against -Mequinenza, the fortress at the junction of the Ebro and Segre: here, -however, they met with opposition; the place was only protected by -antiquated sixteenth-century fortifications, but it twice refused to -surrender, though on the second occasion Mortier himself appeared -before its walls with a whole brigade. The Marshal did not besiege it, -deferring this task till he should have got all of Eastern Aragon well -in hand. At this same time he made an attempt to open communications -with St. Cyr in Catalonia, sending a regiment of cavalry under Colonel -Briche to strike across the mountains beyond the Segre in search of -the 7th Corps. Briche executed half his mission, for by great good -fortune combined with very rapid movement, he slipped between Lerida -and Mequinenza, got down into the coast-plain and met Chabot’s division -of St. Cyr’s army at Montblanch. When, however, he tried to return to -Aragon, in order to convey to the Duke of Treviso the information as to -the distribution of the 7th Corps, he was beset by the <i>somatenes</i>, who -were now on the alert. So vigorously was he assailed that he was forced -to turn back and seek refuge with Chabot. Thus Mortier gained none of -the news that he sought, and very naturally came to the conclusion that -his flying column had been captured or cut to pieces.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Junot and the 3rd Corps were operating south of the -Ebro. The Duke of Abrantes sent one of his three divisions (that of -Grandjean) against Caspe, Alcañiz, and the valleys of the Guadalope and -Martin, while another (that of Musnier) moved out against the highlands -of the south, and the mountain-towns of Daroca and Molina. Most of the -battalions of his third division, that of Morlot, were still engaged in -guarding on their way to France the prisoners of Saragossa.</p> - -<p>Of the two expeditions which Junot sent out, that which entered the -mountains effected little. It lost several small detachments, cut off -by the local insurgents, and though it ultimately penetrated as far as -Molina, it was unable to hold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">[p. -410]</span> the place. The whole population had fled, and after -remaining there only six days, the French were forced to return to the -plains by want of food. [March 22—April 10.] The Aragonese at -once came back to their former position.</p> - -<p>Grandjean, who had moved against Alcañiz, had at first more -favourable fortune. He overran with great ease all the low-lying -country south of the Ebro, and met with so little opposition that he -resolved to push his advance even beyond the borders of Valencia. -Accordingly he ascended the valley of the Bercantes, and appeared -before Morella, the frontier town of that kingdom, on March 18. The -place was strong, but there was only a very small garrison in charge of -it<a id="FNanchor_506" href="#Footnote_506" class="fnanchor">[506]</a>, -which retired after a slight skirmish, abandoning the fortress and -a large store of food and equipment. If Grandjean could have held -Morella, he would have secured for the French army a splendid base for -further operations. But he had left many men behind him at Caspe and -Alcañiz, and had but a few battalions in hand. He had gone too far -forward to be safe, and when the Junta of Valencia sent against him the -whole of the forces that they could collect—some 5,000 men under -General Roca—he was compelled to evacuate Morella and to fall -back on Alcañiz. [March 25.]</p> - -<p>Mortier and Junot were concerting a joint movement for the -completion of the conquest of Eastern Aragon, and an advance against -Tortosa, when orders from Paris suddenly changed the whole face of -affairs. The Emperor saw that war with Austria was inevitable and -imminent: disquieted as to the strength of the new enemy, he resolved -to draw troops from Spain to reinforce the army of the Danube. The -only corps which seemed to him available was that of Mortier, and on -April 5 he ordered that the Duke of Treviso should concentrate his -troops and draw back to Tudela and Logroño. It might still prove to be -unnecessary to remove the 5th Corps from the Peninsula; but at Logroño -it would be within four marches of France if the Emperor discovered -that he had need of its services in the north. On the same day Napoleon -removed Junot from his command, probably<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_411">[p. 411]</span> on account of the numerous complaints -as to his conduct sent in by King Joseph. To replace him General -Suchet, the commander of one of Mortier’s divisions, was directed to -take charge of the 3rd Corps<a id="FNanchor_507" href="#Footnote_507" -class="fnanchor">[507]</a>.</p> - -<p>Ten days later the imperial mandate reached Saragossa, and on -receiving it Mortier massed his troops and marched away to Tudela. -We have already seen<a id="FNanchor_508" href="#Footnote_508" -class="fnanchor">[508]</a> that his corps was never withdrawn from -Spain, but merely moved from Aragon to Old Castile. But its departure -completely changed the balance of fortune on the Lower Ebro. The -number of French troops in that direction was suddenly reduced by -one half, and the 3rd Corps had to spread itself out to the north, -in order to take over all the positions evacuated by Mortier. It -was far too weak for the duty committed to its charge, and at this -moment it had not even received back the brigade sent to guard the -Saragossa prisoners, which (it will be remembered) had been called -off and lent to Kellermann<a id="FNanchor_509" href="#Footnote_509" -class="fnanchor">[509]</a>. There were hardly 15,000 troops left in -the whole kingdom of Aragon, and these were dispersed in small bodies, -with the design of holding down as much ground as possible. The single -division of Grandjean had to cover the whole line from Barbastro to -Alcañiz—places seventy miles apart—with less than 5,000 -bayonets. The second division, Musnier’s, with its head quarters at -Saragossa, had to watch the mountains of Upper Aragon. Of the 3rd -division, that of Morlot, the few battalions that were available were -garrisoning Jaca and Tudela, on the borders of Navarre. No sooner had -Mortier’s corps departed, than a series of small reverses occurred, the -inevitable results of the attempt to hold down large districts with an -inadequate force. Junot, who was still retained in command till his -successor should arrive, seemed to lack the courage to draw in his -exposed detachments: probably his heart was no longer in the business, -since he was under sentence of recall. Yet he had six weeks of work -before him, for by some mischance the dispatch nominating Suchet to -take his place reached Saragossa after that general had marched off at -the head of his old division of Mortier’s corps. Cross-communi<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_412">[p. 412]</span>cation being tardy and -difficult, it failed to catch him up till he had reached Valladolid. -Returning from thence with a slow-moving escort of infantry, Suchet -did not succeed in joining his corps till May 19. He found it in -a desperate situation, for the last four weeks had seen an almost -unbroken series of petty reverses, and it looked as if the whole -of Aragon was about to slip out of the hands of the French. It was -fortunate for the 3rd Corps that its new commander, though hitherto -he had never been placed in a position of independent responsibility, -proved to be a man of courage and resource—perhaps indeed the -most capable of all the French generals who took part in the Peninsular -War. A timid or unskilful leader might have lost Aragon, and imperilled -the hold of King Joseph on Madrid. It is hardly an exaggeration to -say that the entire French position in Spain would have been gravely -compromised if during the last weeks of May the 3rd Corps had been -under the charge of a less skilful and self-reliant commander.</p> - -<p>In the month that elapsed before Suchet’s arrival the consequences -of the withdrawal of the 5th Corps from the Lower Ebro were making -themselves felt. The Aragonese were not slow to discover the decrease -in the numbers of the invaders, and to note the long distances that -now intervened between post and post. The partisans who had retired -into Catalonia, or had taken refuge in the mountains of the south -and the north, began to descend into the plains and to fall upon the -outlying French detachments. On May 6 Colonel Perena came out of -Lerida, and beset the detachment of Grandjean’s division which held -the town and fortress of Monzon, with a horde of peasants and some -Catalan <i>miqueletes</i>. The governor, Solnicki, thereupon fell back -to Barbastro, the head quarters of Habert’s brigade. That general -considered that he was in duty bound to retake Monzon, and marched -against it with six battalions and a regiment of cuirassiers. He tried -to cross the Cinca, not opposite the town, but much lower down the -stream, at the ferry of Pomar. [May 16.] But just as his vanguard<a -id="FNanchor_510" href="#Footnote_510" class="fnanchor">[510]</a> -had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">[p. 413]</span> established -itself on the other bank, a sudden storm caused such a rising of the -waters that its communication with the main body was completely cut -off. Thereupon Habert marched northward, and tried to force a passage -at Monzon, so as to secure a line of retreat for his lost detachment. -The bridge of that town however had been barricaded, and the castle -garrisoned: Habert was held at bay, and the 1,000 men who had crossed -at the ferry of Pomar were all cut off and forced to surrender. After -marching for three days among the insurgents, and vainly endeavouring -to force their way through the horde, they had to lay down their arms -when their cartridges had all been exhausted. [May 19.] Only the -cuirassiers escaped, by swimming the river when the flood had begun to -abate, and found their way back to Barbastro.</p> - -<p>In consequence of this disaster the French lost their grip on the -valley of the Cinca, for the insurgents, under Perena and the Catalan -chief Baget, moved forward into the Sierra de Alcubierre and raised the -whole country-side in their aid. Habert, fearing to be cut off from -Saragossa, thereupon retired to Villafranca on the Ebro, and abandoned -all North-Eastern Aragon<a id="FNanchor_511" href="#Footnote_511" -class="fnanchor">[511]</a>.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the other brigade of Grandjean’s division, which still lay -at Alcañiz, south of the Ebro, was also driven in by the Spaniards. -Its commander Laval was attacked by a large force coming from Tortosa, -and was forced to draw back to San Per and Hijar [May 18-19]. At the -news of his retreat all the hill-country of Southern Aragon took arms, -and the bands from Molina and the other mountain-cities extended -their raids down the valley of the Huerta and almost to the gates of -Saragossa.</p> - -<p>The Spanish force which had seized Alcañiz was no mere body of armed -peasants, but a small regular army. General<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_414">[p. 414]</span> Blake had just been given the post of -commander-in-chief of all the forces of the <i>Coronilla</i>—the old -kingdom of Aragon and its dependencies, Valencia and Catalonia. Burning -to atone for his defeats at Zornoza and Espinosa by some brilliant feat -of arms, he was doing his best to collect a new ‘Army of the Right.’ -From Catalonia he could draw little or nothing: the troops which had -fought under Reding at Valls were still cooped up in Tarragona, and -unfit for field-service. But Blake had concentrated at Tortosa the -division of the Marquis of Lazan—the sole surviving fraction of -the old Army of Aragon—and the troops which he could draw from -Valencia. These last consisted at this moment of no more than the -reorganized division of Roca from the old ‘Army of the Centre.’ Its -depleted <i>cadres</i> had been sent back by Infantado from Cuenca, and -the Junta had shot into them a mass of recruits, who in a few weeks -had raised the strength of the division from 1,500 to 5,000 bayonets. -Other regiments were being raised in Valencia, but in the early weeks -of May they were not yet ready for the field, though by June they -gave Blake a reinforcement of nearly 12,000 men<a id="FNanchor_512" -href="#Footnote_512" class="fnanchor">[512]</a>.<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_415">[p. 415]</span> Murcia could provide in May only one -single battalion for Blake’s assistance: all its field army had -perished at Saragossa. The total force of the new ‘Army of the Right’ -when it advanced against Alcañiz was less than 10,000 men—the -Valencians in its ranks outnumbered the Aragonese by four to three.</p> - -<p>When Suchet therefore arrived at Saragossa on May 19, and took over -the command of the 3rd Corps from the hands of Junot, the prospect -seemed a gloomy one for the French. Their outlying detachments had been -forced back to the neighbourhood of Saragossa: the central reserve -(Musnier’s two brigades) was small: the third division (with the -exception of one regiment) was still absent—one of its brigades -was with Kellermann in Leon<a id="FNanchor_513" href="#Footnote_513" -class="fnanchor">[513]</a>, and some detachments were scattered among -the garrisons of Navarre. After the sick and the absent had been -deducted, Suchet found that he had not much more than 10,000 men -under arms, though the nominal force of the 3rd Corps was still about -20,000 sabres and bayonets. Nor was it only in numbers that the Army -of Aragon was weak: its <i>morale</i> also left much to be desired. The -newly-formed regiments which composed more than half of the infantry<a -id="FNanchor_514" href="#Footnote_514" class="fnanchor">[514]</a> -were in a deplorable condition, a natural consequence of the haste -with which they had been organized and sent into the field. Having -been originally composed of companies drawn from many quarters, they -still showed a mixture of uniforms of different cut and colour, which -gave them a motley appearance and, according to their commander, -degraded them in their own eyes and lowered their self-respect<a -id="FNanchor_515" href="#Footnote_515" class="fnanchor">[515]</a>. -They had not yet fully recovered from the physical and moral strain -of the siege of Saragossa. Their pay was in arrear, the military -chest empty, the food procured from day to day by marauding. There -was much grumbling among the officers, who complained that the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_416">[p. 416]</span> promotions and rewards -due for the capture of Saragossa had almost all been reserved for the -5th Corps. The guerrilla warfare of the last few weeks had disgusted -the rank and file, who thought that Junot had been mismanaging them, -and knew absolutely nothing of the successor who had just replaced -him. The whole corps, says Suchet, was dejected and discontented<a -id="FNanchor_516" href="#Footnote_516" class="fnanchor">[516]</a>.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless there was no time to rest or reorganize these sullen -battalions: the Spaniards were pressing in so close that it was -necessary to attack them at all costs: the only other alternative -would have been to abandon Saragossa. Such a step, though perhaps -theoretically justifiable under the circumstances, would have ruined -Suchet’s military career, and was far from his thoughts. Only two -days after he had assumed the command of the corps, he marched out -with Musnier’s division to join Laval’s troops at Hijar. [May 21.] -He had sent orders to Habert to cross the Ebro and follow him as -fast as he was able: but that general, who was still on the march -from Barbastro to Villafranca, did not receive the dispatch in -time, and failed to join his chief before the oncoming battle<a -id="FNanchor_517" href="#Footnote_517" class="fnanchor">[517]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">[p. 417]</span></p> - -<p>On May 23, however, Suchet, with Musnier’s and Laval’s men, -presented himself in front of Blake’s position at Alcañiz. He had -fourteen battalions and five squadrons with him—a force in -all of about 8,000 men, with eighteen guns<a id="FNanchor_518" -href="#Footnote_518" class="fnanchor">[518]</a>. He found the -Spaniards ready and willing to fight. They were drawn up on a line -of hills to the east of Alcañiz, covering that town and its bridge. -Their position was good from a tactical point of view, but extremely -dangerous when considered strategically: for Blake had been tempted -by the strong ground into fighting with the river Guadalope at his -back, and had no way of crossing it save by the single bridge of -Alcañiz and a bad ford. It was an exact reproduction of the deplorable -order of battle that the Russians had adopted at Friedland in 1807, -though not destined to lead to any such disaster. The northern and -highest of the three hills occupied by the Spaniards, that called -the Cerro de los Pueyos, was held by the Aragonese troops. On the -central height, called the hill of Las Horcas, was placed the whole -of the Spanish artillery—nineteen guns—guarded by three -Valencian battalions: this part of the line was immediately in front -of the bridge of Alcañiz, the sole line of retreat. The southern and -lowest hill, that of La Perdiguera, was held by Roca and the rest of -the Valencians, and flanked by the small body of cavalry—only -400 sabres—which Blake possessed<a id="FNanchor_519" -href="#Footnote_519" class="fnanchor">[519]</a>.<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_418">[p. 418]</span> The whole army, not quite 9,000 -strong, outnumbered the enemy by less than 800 bayonets, though -in French narratives it is often stated at 12,000 or 15,000 men<a -id="FNanchor_520" href="#Footnote_520" class="fnanchor">[520]</a>.</p> - -<p>Suchet seems to have found some difficulty at first in making out -the Spanish position—the hills hid from him the bridge and town -of Alcañiz, whose position in rear of Blake’s centre was the dominant -military fact of the situation. At any rate, he spent the whole morning -in tentative movements, and only delivered his main stroke in the -afternoon. He began by sending Laval’s brigade against the dominating -hill on the right flank of the Spanish position. Two assaults were -made upon the Cerro de los Pueyos, which Suchet in his autobiography -calls feints, but which Blake considered so serious that he sent off -to this flank two battalions from his left wing and the whole of his -cavalry. Whether intended as mere demonstrations or as a real attack, -these movements had no success, and were repelled by General Areizaga, -the commander of the Aragonese, without much difficulty. The Spanish -cavalry, however, was badly mauled by Suchet’s hussars when it tried to -deliver a flank charge upon the enemy at the moment that he retired.</p> - -<p>When all the fighting on the northern extremity of the line had -died down, Suchet launched his main attack against Blake’s centre, -hoping (as he says) to break the line, seize the bridge of Alcañiz, -which lay just behind the hill of Las Horcas, and thus to capture -the greater part of the Spanish wings, which would have no line of -retreat. The attack was delivered by two of<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_419">[p. 419]</span> Musnier’s regiments<a id="FNanchor_521" -href="#Footnote_521" class="fnanchor">[521]</a> formed in columns of -battalions, and acting in a single mass—a force of over 2,600 -men. A column of this strength often succeeded in bursting through a -Spanish line during the Peninsular War. But on this day Suchet was -unlucky, or his troops did not display the usual <i>élan</i> of French -infantry. They advanced steadily enough across the flat ground, and -began to climb the hill, in spite of the rapid and accurate fire of -the artillery which crowned its summit. But when the fire of musketry -from the Spanish left began to beat upon their flank, and the guns -opened with grape, the attacking columns came to a standstill at the -line of a ditch cut in the slope. Their officers made every effort -to carry them forward for the few hundred yards that separated them -from the Spanish guns, but the mass wavered, surged helplessly for -a few minutes under the heavy fire, and then dispersed and fled in -disorder. Suchet rallied them behind the five intact battalions which -he still possessed, but refused to renew the attack, and drew off ere -night. He himself had been wounded in the foot at the close of the -action, and his troops had suffered heavily—their loss must have -been at least 700 or 800 men<a id="FNanchor_522" href="#Footnote_522" -class="fnanchor">[522]</a>. Blake, who had lost no more than 300, did -not attempt to pursue, fearing to expose his troops in the plain to the -assaults of the French cavalry.</p> - -<p>The morale of the 3rd Corps had been so much shaken by its -unsuccessful début under its new commander, that a panic broke out -after dark among Laval’s troops, who fled in all directions, on -a false alarm that the Spanish cavalry had attacked and captured -the rearguard. Next morning the army poured into San Per and Hijar -in complete disorder, and some hours had to be spent in restoring -discipline. Suchet discovered the man who had started the cry of <i>sauve -qui peut</i>, and had him shot before the day was over<a id="FNanchor_523" -href="#Footnote_523" class="fnanchor">[523]</a>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">[p. 420]</span></p> - -<p>The French had expected to be pursued, and many critics have blamed -Blake for not making the most of his victory and following the defeated -enemy at full speed. The Spanish general, however, had good reasons -for his quiescence: he saw that Suchet’s force was almost as large as -his own; he could not match the French in cavalry; and having noted -the orderly fashion in which they had left the battle-field, he could -not have guessed that during the night they would disband in panic. -Moreover—and this was the most important point—he was -expecting to receive in a few days reinforcements from Valencia which -would more than double his numbers. Till they had come up he would -not move, but contented himself with sending the news of Alcañiz all -over Aragon and stimulating the activity of the insurgents. As he had -hoped, the results of his victory were important—the French had -to evacuate every outlying post that they possessed, and the whole of -the open country passed into the hands of the patriots. Perena and the -insurgents of the north bank of the Ebro pressed close in to Saragossa: -other bands threatened the high-road to Tudela: thousands of recruits -flocked into Blake’s camp, but he was unfortunately unable to arm or -utilize them.</p> - -<p>Within a few days, however, he began to receive the promised -reinforcements from Valencia—a number of fresh regiments from -the rear, and drafts for the corps that were already with him<a -id="FNanchor_524" href="#Footnote_524" class="fnanchor">[524]</a>. -He also used his authority as supreme commander in Catalonia to draw -some reinforcements from that principality—three battalions of -Reding’s Granadan troops and one of <i>miqueletes</i>: no more could be -spared from in front of the active St. Cyr. Within three weeks after -his victory of Alcañiz he had collected an army of 25,000 men, and -considered himself strong enough to commence the march upon Saragossa. -It was in his power to advance directly upon the city by the high-road -along the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">[p. 421]</span> Ebro, -and to challenge Suchet to a battle outside its southern gates. He did -not, however, make this move, but with a caution that he did not often -display, kept to the mountains and marched by a side-road to Belchite -[June 12]. Here he received news of Napoleon’s check at Essling, -which had happened on the twenty-second of the preceding month; it -was announced as a complete and crushing defeat of the Emperor, and -encouraged the Spaniards in no small degree.</p> - -<p>From Belchite Blake, still keeping to the mountains, pursued his -march eastward to Villanueva in the valley of the Huerba. This move -revealed his design; he was about to place himself in a position from -which he could threaten Suchet’s lines of communication with Tudela -and Logroño, and so compel him either to abandon Saragossa without -fighting, or to come out and attack the Spanish army among the hills. -Blake, in short, was trying to manœuvre his enemy out of Saragossa, or -to induce him to fight another offensive action such as that of Alcañiz -had been. After the experience of May 25 he thought that he could trust -his army to hold its ground, though he was not willing to risk an -advance in the open, across the level plain in front of Saragossa.</p> - -<p>Suchet meanwhile had concentrated his whole available force in that -city and its immediate neighbourhood; he had drawn in every man save -a single column of two battalions, which was lying at La Muela under -General Fabre, with orders to keep back the insurgents of the southern -mountains from making a dash at Alagon and cutting the high-road to -Tudela. He had been writing letters to Madrid, couched in the most -urgent terms, to beg for reinforcements. But just at this moment the -Asturian expedition had drawn away to the north all the troops in -Old Castile. King Joseph could do no more than promise that the two -regiments from the 3rd Corps which had been lent to Kellermann should -be summoned back, and directed to make forced marches on Saragossa. He -could spare nothing save these six battalions, believing it impossible -to deplete the garrison of Madrid, or to draw from Valladolid the -single division of Mortier’s corps, which was at this moment the only -solid force remaining in the valley of the Douro.</p> - -<p>Suchet was inclined to believe that he might be attacked<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_422">[p. 422]</span> before this small -reinforcement of 3,000 men could arrive, and feared that, with little -more than 10,000 sabres and bayonets, he would risk defeat if he -attacked Blake in the mountains. The conduct of his troops in and -after the battle of Alcañiz had not tended to make him hopeful of -the result of another action of the same kind. Nevertheless, when -Blake came down into the valley of the Huerba, and began to threaten -his communications, he resolved that he must fight once again; the -alternative course, the evacuation of Saragossa and a retreat up the -Ebro, would have been too humiliating. Suchet devoted the three weeks -of respite which the slow advance of the enemy allowed him to the -reorganization of his corps. He made strenuous exertions to clothe it, -and to provide it with its arrears of pay. He inspected every regiment -in person, sought out and remedied grievances, displaced a number of -unsatisfactory officers, and promoted many deserving individuals. -He claims that the improvement in the morale of the troops during -the three weeks when they lay encamped at Saragossa was enormous<a -id="FNanchor_525" href="#Footnote_525" class="fnanchor">[525]</a>, -and his statements may be verified in the narrative of one of his -subordinates, who remarks that neither Moncey nor Junot had ever -shown that keen personal interest in the corps which Suchet always -displayed, and that the troops considered their new chief both more -genial and more business-like than any general they had hitherto -seen, and so resolved to do their best for him<a id="FNanchor_526" -href="#Footnote_526" class="fnanchor">[526]</a>.</p> - -<p>Forced to fight, but not by any means confident of victory, the -French commander discharged on to Tudela and Pampeluna his sick, his -heavy baggage, and his parks, before marching out to meet Blake upon -June 14. The enemy, though still clinging to the skirts of the hills, -had now moved so close to Saragossa that it was clear that he must be -attacked at once, though Suchet would have preferred to wait a few -days longer, till he should have rallied the brigade from Old Castile. -These two regiments, under Colonel Robert, had now passed Tudela, and -were expected to arrive on the fifteenth or sixteenth. But Blake had -now descended the valley of the Huerba, and had pushed his outposts -to within ten or twelve miles of Saragossa. He had reorganized his -army<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">[p. 423]</span> into three -divisions, one of which (mainly composed of Aragonese troops) was -placed under General Areizaga, while Roca and the Marquis of Lazan -headed the two others, in which the Valencian levies predominated. Of -the total of 25,000 men which the muster-rolls showed, 20,000 were in -line: the rest were detached or in hospital. There were about 1,000 -untrustworthy cavalry and twenty-five guns.</p> - -<p>In his final advance down the Huerba, Blake moved in two columns. -Areizaga’s division kept to the right bank and halted at Botorrita, -some sixteen miles from Saragossa. The Commander-in-chief, with the -other two divisions, marched on the left bank, and pushing further -forward than his lieutenant, reached the village of Maria, twelve miles -from the south-western front of the city. A distance of six or seven -miles separated the two corps. Thus Blake had taken the strategical -offensive, but was endeavouring to retain the tactical defensive, by -placing himself in a position where the enemy must attack him. But -he seems to have made a grave mistake in keeping his columns so far -apart, on different roads and with a river between them. It should have -been his object to make sure that every man was on the field when the -critical moment should arrive.</p> - -<p>Already on the morning of the fourteenth the two armies came into -contact. Musnier’s division met the Spanish vanguard, thrust it -back some way, but then came upon Blake and the main body, and had -to give ground. Suchet, on the same evening, established his head -quarters at the Abbey of Santa Fé, and there dictated his orders for -the battle of the following day. Having ascertained that Areizaga’s -division was the weaker of the two Spanish columns, he left opposite -it, on the Monte Torrero, a mile and a half outside Saragossa, only -a single brigade—five battalions—under General Laval, -who had now become the commander of the 1st Division, for Grandjean -had been sent back to France. Protected by the line of the canal of -Aragon, these 2,000 men<a id="FNanchor_527" href="#Footnote_527" -class="fnanchor">[527]</a> were to do their best to beat off any attack -which Areizaga might make against the city, while the main bodies of -both armies were engaged elsewhere. The charge<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_424">[p. 424]</span> of Saragossa itself was given over -to Colonel Haxo, who had but a single battalion of infantry<a -id="FNanchor_528" href="#Footnote_528" class="fnanchor">[528]</a> and -the sapper-companies of the army.</p> - -<p>Having set aside these 3,000 men to guard his flank and rear, Suchet -could only bring forward Musnier’s division, and the remaining brigade -of Laval’s division (that of Habert), with two other battalions, for -the main attack. But he retained with himself the whole of his cavalry -and all his artillery, save one single battery left with the troops -on Monte Torrero. This gave him fourteen battalions—about 7,500 -infantry—800 horse, and twelve guns—less than 9,000 men -in all—to commence the battle. But he was encouraged to risk an -attack by the news that the brigade from Tudela was now close at hand, -and could reach the field by noon with 3,000 bayonets more. It would -seem that Suchet (though he does not say so in his <cite>Mémoires</cite>) held -back during the morning hours, in order to allow this heavy reserve -time to reach the fighting-ground.</p> - -<p>Blake was in order of battle along the line of a rolling hill -separated from the French lines by less than a mile. Behind his front -were two other similar spurs of the Sierra de la Muela, each separated -from the other by a steep ravine. On his right flank was the river -Huerba, with level fields half a mile broad between the water’s edge -and the commencement of the rising ground. The village of Maria lay -to his right rear, some way up the stream. The Spaniards were drawn -out in two lines, Roca’s division on the northernmost ridge, Lazan’s -in its rear on the second, while the cavalry filled the space between -the hills and the river. Two battalions and half a battery were in -reserve, in front of Maria. The rest of the artillery was placed in the -intervals of the first line.</p> - -<p>The French occupied a minor line of heights facing Blake’s front: -Habert’s brigade held the left, near the river, having the two cavalry -regiments of Wathier in support. Musnier’s division formed the centre -and right: a squadron of Polish lancers was placed far out upon its -flank. The only reserve consisted of the two stray battalions which -did not belong<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">[p. 425]</span> -either to Musnier or Habert—one of the 5th Léger, another -of the 64th of the Line<a id="FNanchor_529" href="#Footnote_529" -class="fnanchor">[529]</a>.</p> - -<p>Blake’s army was slow in taking up its ground, while Suchet did not -wish to move till the brigade from Tudela had got within supporting -distance. Hence in the morning hours there was no serious collision. -But at last the Spaniards took the initiative, and pushed a cautious -advance against Suchet’s left, apparently with the object of worrying -him into assuming the offensive rather than of delivering a serious -attack. But the cloud of skirmishers sent against Habert’s front grew -so thick and pushed so far forward, that at last the whole brigade was -seriously engaged, and the artillery was obliged to open upon the swarm -of Spanish <i>tirailleurs</i>. They fell back when the shells began to drop -among them, and sought refuge by retiring nearer to their main body<a -id="FNanchor_530" href="#Footnote_530" class="fnanchor">[530]</a>.</p> - -<p>About midday the bickering died down on the French left, but shortly -after the fire broke out with redoubled energy in another direction. -Disappointed that he could not induce Suchet to attack him, Blake had -at last resolved to take the offensive himself, and columns were seen -descending from his extreme left wing, evidently with the intention of -turning the French right. Having thus made up his mind to strike, the -Spanish general should have sent prompt orders to his detached division -under Areizaga, to bid it cross the Huerba with all possible<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_426">[p. 426]</span> speed, and hasten to join -the main body before the engagement had grown hot. It could certainly -have arrived in two hours, since it was but six or seven miles away. -But Blake made no attempt to call in this body of 6,000 men (the best -troops in his army) or to utilize it in any way. He only employed the -two divisions that were under his hand on the hillsides above Maria.</p> - -<p>The attack on the French right, made between one and two o’clock, -precipitated matters. When Suchet saw the Spanish battalions beginning -to descend from the ridge, he ordered his Polish lancers to charge them -in flank, and attacked them in front with part of the 114th regiment -and some <i>voltigeur</i> companies. The enemy was thrown back, and retired -to rejoin his main body. Then, before they were fully rearranged in -line of battle, the French general bade the whole of Musnier’s division -advance, and storm the Spanish position. He was emboldened to press -matters to an issue by the joyful news that the long-expected brigade -from Tudela had passed Saragossa, and would be on the field in a couple -of hours.</p> - -<p>The eight battalions of the 114th, 115th, and the 1st of the Vistula -crossed the valley and fell upon the Spanish line between two and three -o’clock in the afternoon. Roca’s men met them with resolution, and the -fighting was for some time indecisive. Along part of the front the -French gained ground, but at other points they were beaten back, and to -repair a severe check suffered by the 115th, Suchet had to engage half -his reserve, the battalion of the 64th, and to draw into the fight the -2nd of the Vistula from Habert’s brigade upon the left. This movement -restored the line, but nothing appreciable had been gained, when a -violent hailstorm from the north suddenly swept down upon both armies, -and hid them for half an hour from each other’s sight.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_7"> - <img src="images/alcaniz.jpg" - alt="Map of the battle of Alcañiz" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/alcaniz-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">BATTLE of ALCAÑIZ</span><br /> - <small>MAY 23<sup>RD</sup> 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter mt1"> - <img src="images/maria.jpg" - alt="Map of the battle of Maria" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/maria-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">BATTLE of MARIA</span><br /> - <small>JUNE 15<sup>TH</sup> 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">Before it was over, Suchet learnt that Robert and his -brigade had arrived at the Abbey of Santa Fé, on his right rear. He -therefore resolved to throw into the battle the wing of his army -which he had hitherto held back,—Habert’s battalions and the -cavalry. When the storm had passed over, they advanced against the -Spanish right, in the low ground near the river. The three battalions<a -id="FNanchor_531" href="#Footnote_531" class="fnanchor">[531]</a> -of infantry led the way, but when their <span class="pagenum" -id="Page_427">[p. 427]</span>fire had begun to take effect, Suchet bade -his hussars and cuirassiers charge through the intervals of the front -line. The troops here opposed to them consisted of 600 cavalry under -General O’Donoju—the whole of the horsemen that Blake possessed, -for the rest of his squadrons were with Areizaga, far away from the -field.</p> - -<p>The charge of Wathier’s two regiments proved decisive: the Spanish -horse did not wait to cross sabres, but broke and fled from the field, -exposing the flank of the battalions which lay next them in the line. -The cuirassiers and hussars rolled up these unfortunate troops, and -hunted them along the high-road as far as the outskirts of Maria; here -they came upon and rode down the two battalions which Blake had left -there as a last reserve, and captured the half-battery that accompanied -them.</p> - -<p>The Spanish right was annihilated, and—what was -worse—Blake had lost possession of the only road by which he -could withdraw and join Areizaga. Meanwhile Habert’s battalions had not -followed the cavalry in their charge, but had turned upon the exposed -flank of the Spanish centre, and were attacking it in side and rear. -It is greatly to Blake’s credit that his firmness did not give way in -this distressing moment. He threw back his right, and sent up into line -such of Lazan’s battalions from his rear line as had not yet been drawn -into the fight. Thus he saved himself from utter disaster, and though -losing ground all through the evening hours, kept his men together, -and finally left the field in a solid mass, retiring over the hills -and ravines to the southward. ‘The Spaniards,’ wrote an eye-witness, -‘went off the field in perfect order and with a good military bearing<a -id="FNanchor_532" href="#Footnote_532" class="fnanchor">[532]</a>.’ -But they had been forced to leave behind them all their guns save -two, for they had no road, and could not drag the artillery up the -rugged slopes by which they saved themselves. Blake also lost 1,000 -killed, three or four times that number of wounded, and some hundreds -of prisoners.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">[p. 428]</span> The -steadiness of the retreat is vouched for by the small number of flags -captured by the French—only three out of the thirty-four that had -been upon the field. Suchet, according to his own account, had lost no -more than between 700 and 800 men.</p> - -<p>When safe from pursuit the beaten army crossed the Huerba far above -Maria, and rejoined Areizaga’s division at Botorrita on the right bank -of that stream.</p> - -<p>Next morning, to his surprise, Suchet learnt that the enemy was -still in position at Botorrita and was showing a steady front. The -victor did not march directly against Blake, as might have been -expected, but ordered Laval, with the troops that had been guarding -Saragossa, to turn the Spaniards’ right, while he himself manœuvred to -get round their left. These cautious proceedings would seem to indicate -that the French army had been more exhausted by the battle of the -previous day than Suchet concedes. The turning movements failed, and -Blake drew off undisturbed at nightfall, and retired on that same road -to Belchite by which he had marched on Saragossa, in such high hopes, -only four days back.</p> - -<p>The battle of Maria had been on the whole very creditable to the -Valencian troops. But the subsequent course of events was lamentable. -On the way to Belchite many of the raw levies began to disband -themselves: the weather was bad, the road worse, and the consciousness -of defeat had had time enough to sink into the minds of the soldiery. -When Blake halted at Belchite, he found that he had only 12,000 men -with him: deducting the losses of the fifteenth, there should have been -at least 15,000 in line. Of artillery he possessed no more than nine -guns, seven that had been with Areizaga, and two saved from Maria<a -id="FNanchor_533" href="#Footnote_533" class="fnanchor">[533]</a>.</p> - -<p>It can only be considered therefore a piece of mad presumption on -the part of the Spanish general that he halted at Belchite and again -offered battle to his pursuers. The position in front of that town was -strong—far stronger than the ground at Maria. But the men were -not the same; on June 15 they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">[p. -429]</span> had fought with confidence, proud of their victory at -Alcañiz and intending to enter Saragossa in triumph next day. On -June 18 they were cowed and disheartened—they had already done -their best and had failed: it seemed to them hopeless to try the -fortunes of war again, and they were half beaten before a shot had -been fired. The mere numerical odds, too, were no longer in their -favour: at Maria, Blake had 13,000 men to Suchet’s 9,000—if we -count only the troops that fought, and neglect the 3,000 French who -came up late in the day, and were never engaged. At Belchite, Blake -had about 12,000 men, and Suchet rather more, for he had gathered -in Laval’s and Robert’s brigades—full 5,000 bayonets, and -could put into line 13,000 men, even if allowance be made for his -losses in the late battle<a id="FNanchor_534" href="#Footnote_534" -class="fnanchor">[534]</a>. It is impossible to understand the temerity -with which the Spanish general courted a disaster, by resolving to -fight a second battle only three days after he had lost the first.</p> - -<p>Blake’s centre was in front of Belchite, in comparatively low-lying -ground, much cut up by olive groves and enclosures. His wings were -drawn up on two gentle hills, called the Calvary and El Pueyo: the -left was the weaker flank, the ridge there being open and exposed. -It was on this wing therefore that Suchet directed his main effort; -he sent against it the whole of Musnier’s division and a regiment -of cavalry, while Habert’s brigade marched to turn the right: the -centre was left unattacked. The moment that Musnier’s attack was well -pronounced, the whole of the Spanish left wing gave way, and fell back -on Belchite, to cover itself behind the walls and olive-groves. Before -the French division could be re-formed for a second attack, an even -more disgraceful rout occurred on the right wing. Habert’s brigade had -just commenced to close in upon the Spaniards, when a chance shell -exploded a caisson in rear of the battery in Blake’s right-centre. The -fire communicated itself to the other powder-wagons which were standing -near, and the whole group blew up with a terrific report. ‘This piece -of luck threw the whole line into panic,’ writes an eye-witness, -‘the enemy thought that he was attacked in the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_430">[p. 430]</span> rear. Every man shouted Treason! whole -battalions threw down their arms and bolted. The disorder spread along -the entire line, and we only had to run in upon them and seize what -we could. If they had not closed the town-gates, which we found it -difficult to batter in, I fancy that the whole Spanish army would have -been captured or cut to pieces. But it took some time to break down the -narrow grated door, and then a battalion stood at bay in the Market -Place, and had to be ridden down by our Polish lancers before we could -get on. Lastly, we had to pass through another gate to make our exit, -and to cross the bridge over the Aguas in a narrow formation. This gave -the Spaniards time to show a clean pair of heels, and they utilized -the chance with their constitutional agility. We took few prisoners, -but got their nine guns, some twenty munition wagons, and the whole of -their very considerable magazines. General Suchet wrote up a splendid -account of the elaborate manœuvres that he made. But I believe that -my tale is nearer to the facts, and that the order of battle which he -published was composed <i>après coup</i>. The whole affair did not last long -enough for him to carry out the various dispositions which he details<a -id="FNanchor_535" href="#Footnote_535" class="fnanchor">[535]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The whole Spanish army was scattered to the winds. It was some -days before the Aragonese and Catalans began to rally at Tortosa, and -the Valencians at Morella. The total loss in the battle had not been -large—Suchet says that only one regiment was actually surrounded -and cut to pieces, and only one flag taken<a id="FNanchor_536" -href="#Footnote_536" class="fnanchor">[536]</a>. But of the 25,000 -men who had formed the ‘Army of the Right’ on June 1, not 10,000 were -available a month later, and these were in a state of demoralization -which would have made it impossible to take them into action.</p> - -<p>Suchet was therefore able to set himself at leisure to the task -of reducing the plains of Aragon, whose control had passed out of -his hands in May. He left Musnier’s division at Alcañiz to watch all -that was left of Blake’s army, while he marched with the other two -to overrun the central valley of the Ebro. On<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_431">[p. 431]</span> June 23 he seized Caspe and its long -wooden bridge, and crossed the river. Next he occupied Fraga and -Monzon, and left Habert<a id="FNanchor_537" href="#Footnote_537" -class="fnanchor">[537]</a> and the 3rd division to watch the valley of -the Cinca. With the remaining division, that of Laval, he marched back -to Saragossa [July 1], sweeping the open country clear of guerrilla -bands. Then he sat down for a space in the Aragonese capital, to busy -himself in administrative schemes for the governance of the kingdom, -and in preparation for a systematic campaign against the numerous -insurgents of the northern and southern mountains, who still remained -under arms and seemed to have been little affected by the disasters of -Maria and Belchite.</p> - -<p>Thus ended Blake’s invasion of Aragon, an undertaking which promised -well from the day of Alcañiz down to the battle of June 15. It -miscarried mainly through the gross tactical error which the general -made in dividing his army, and fighting at Maria with only two-thirds -of his available force. His strategy down to the actual moment of -battle seems to have been well-considered and prudent. If he had put -the Aragonese division of Areizaga in line between the river and the -hill, instead of his handful of untrustworthy cavalry, it seems likely -that a second Alcañiz might have been fought on the fatal fifteenth -of June. For Suchet’s infantry attack had miscarried, and it was only -the onslaught of his cavalry that won the day. Had that charge failed, -Saragossa must have been evacuated that night, and the 3rd Corps would -have been forced back on Navarre—to the entire dislocation of -all other French operations in Spain. If King Joseph had received the -news of the loss of Aragon in the same week in which he learnt that -Soult and Ney had evacuated Galicia, and Kellermann the Asturias, he -would probably have called back Victor and Sebastiani and abandoned -Madrid. For a disaster in the valley of the Douro or the Ebro, as -Napoleon once observed, is the most fatal blow of all to an invader -based on the north, and makes central Spain untenable. While wondering -at Blake’s errors, we must not forget to lay part of the blame at the -door of his lieutenant Areizaga—the incapable man who afterwards -lost the fatal fight of Ocaña.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">[p. -432]</span> An officer of sound views, when left without orders, would -have ‘marched to the cannon’ and appeared on the field of Maria in the -afternoon. Areizaga sat quiescent, six miles from the battle-field, -while the cannon were thundering in his ears from eleven in the morning -till six in the afternoon!</p> - -<p>As for Suchet, we see that he took a terrible risk, and came safely -through the ordeal. There were many reasons for evacuating Saragossa, -when Blake came down the valley of the Huerba to cut the communications -of the 3rd Corps. But an enterprising general just making his début in -independent command, could not well take the responsibility of retreat -without first trying the luck of battle. Fortune favoured the brave, -and a splendid victory saved Saragossa and led to the reconquest of the -lost plains of Aragon. Yet, with another cast of the dice, Maria might -have proved a defeat, and Suchet have gone down to history as a rash -officer who imperilled the whole fate of the French army in Spain by -trying to face over-great odds.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">[p. 433]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">SECTION XVI</h2> - <p class="subh2">THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN<br /> - <small>(JULY-AUGUST 1809)</small></p> - <h3>CHAPTER I</h3> - <p class="subh3">WELLESLEY AT ABRANTES: VICTOR EVACUATES ESTREMADURA</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> Wellesley’s columns, faint but -pursuing, received the orders which bade them halt at Ruivaens and -Montalegre, their commander was already planning out the details of -their return-march to the Tagus. From the first moment of his setting -forth from Lisbon, he had looked upon the expedition against Soult as -no more than a necessary preliminary to the more important expedition -against Victor. He would have preferred, as we have already seen<a -id="FNanchor_538" href="#Footnote_538" class="fnanchor">[538]</a>, to -have directed his first blow against the French army in Estremadura, -and had only been induced to begin his campaign by the attack upon -Soult because he saw the political necessity for delivering Oporto. -His original intention had been no more than to manœuvre the 2nd -Corps out of Portugal. But, owing to the faulty dispositions of the -Duke of Dalmatia, he had been able to accomplish much more than -this—he had beaten the Marshal, stripped him of his artillery -and equipment, destroyed a sixth of his army, and flung him back -into Galicia by a rugged and impracticable road, which took him far -from his natural base of operations. He had done much more than he -had hoped or promised to do when he set out from Lisbon. Yet these -‘uncovenanted mercies’ did not distract him from his original plan: his -main object was not the destruction of Soult, but the clearing of the -whole frontier of Portugal from the danger of invasion, and this could -not be accomplished till Victor had been dealt with. The necessity -for a prompt movement against the 1st Corps was emphasized<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_434">[p. 434]</span> by the news, received -on May 19 at Montalegre, that its commander was already astir, and -apparently about to assume the offensive. Mackenzie reported from -Abrantes, with some signs of dismay, that a strong French column had -just fallen upon Alcantara, and driven from it the small Portuguese -detachment which was covering his front.</p> - -<p>Accordingly Wellesley turned the march of his whole army southward, -the very moment that he discovered that the 2nd Corps had not fallen -into the trap set for it at Chaves and Ruivaens. He had resolved to -leave nothing but the local levies of Silveira and Botilho to watch -Galicia, and to protect the provinces north of the Douro. ‘Soult,’ he -wrote, ‘will be very little formidable to any body of troops for some -time to come.’ He imagined—and quite correctly—that the -Galician guerrillas and the army of La Romana would suffice to find him -occupation. He did not, however, realize that it was possible that not -only Soult but Ney also would be so much harassed by the insurgents, -and would fall into such bitter strife with each other, that they might -ere long evacuate Galicia altogether. This, indeed, could not have -been foreseen at the moment when the British turned southwards from -Montalegre. If Wellesley could have guessed that by July 1 the three -French Corps in Northern Spain—the 2nd, 5th, and 6th—would -all be clear of the mountains and concentrated in the triangle -Astorga-Zamora-Valladolid, he would have had to recast his plan of -operations. But on May 19 such a conjunction appeared most improbable, -and the British general could not have deemed it likely that a French -army of 55,000 men, available for field-operations, would be collected -on the central Douro, at the moment when he had committed himself to -operations on the Tagus. Indeed, for some weeks after he had departed -from Oporto the information from the north made any such concentration -appear improbable. While he was on his march to the south he began to -hear of the details of Ney’s and Kellermann’s expedition against the -Asturias, news which he received with complacency<a id="FNanchor_539" -href="#Footnote_539" class="fnanchor">[539]</a>, as it showed that the -French were entangling themselves in new and hazardous enterprises -which would make it more difficult than ever for them to collect a -force opposite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">[p. 435]</span> the -frontier of Northern Portugal. Down to the very end of June Wellesley -had no reason to dread any concentration of French troops upon his -flank in the valley of the Douro. It was only in the following month -that Soult was heard of at Puebla de Senabria and Ney at Astorga. By -that time the British army had already crossed the frontier of Spain -and commenced its operations against Victor.</p> - -<p>At the moment when Wellesley turned back from Montalegre and set -his face southward, he had not yet settled the details of his plan -of campaign. There appeared to be two courses open to him. The first -was to base himself upon Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, and advance upon -Salamanca. This movement, which he could have begun in the second week -of June, would undoubtedly have thrown into disorder all the French -arrangements in Northern Spain. There would have been no force ready -to oppose him save a single division of Mortier’s corps—the rest -of that marshal’s troops were absent with Kellermann in the Asturias. -This could not have held the British army back, and a bold march in -advance would have placed Wellesley in a position where he could have -intercepted all communications between the French troops in Galicia -and those in and about Madrid. The movement might appear tempting, but -it would have been too hazardous. The only force that could have been -used for it was the 20,000 troops of Wellesley’s own army, backed by -the 12,000 or 15,000 Portuguese regulars whom Beresford could collect -between the Douro and the Tagus. The Spaniards had no troops in this -direction save the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo, and a battalion or two -which Carlos d’España had raised on the borders of Leon and Portugal. -On the other hand, the news that the British were at Salamanca or Toro -would certainly have forced Ney, Soult, and Kellermann to evacuate -Galicia and the Asturias and hasten to the aid of Mortier. They would -have been far too strong, when united, for the 30,000 or 35,000 men of -Wellesley and Beresford. La Romana and the Asturians could have brought -no corresponding reinforcements to assist the British army, and must -necessarily have arrived too late—long after the French corps -would have reached the Douro<a id="FNanchor_540" href="#Footnote_540" -class="fnanchor">[540]</a>. The idea of a movement on<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_436">[p. 436]</span> Salamanca, therefore, did -not even for a moment enter into Wellesley’s mind.</p> - -<p>The other alternative open to the British general, and that which -he had from the first determined to take in hand, was (as we have -already seen) a march against Victor. Such a movement might be carried -out in one of two ways. (1) It would be possible to advance against -his flank and rear by keeping north of the Tagus, and striking, by -Coria and Plasencia, at Almaraz and its great bridge of boats, across -which ran the communication between the 1st Corps and Madrid. This -operation would have to be carried out by the British army alone, while -the Spanish army of Estremadura, acting from a separate base, kept in -touch with Victor but avoided compromising itself by any rash attack -upon him. The Marshal, placed in a central position between Wellesley’s -and Cuesta’s forces, would certainly try to beat one of them before -they got the chance of drawing together. (2) It was equally possible -to operate against Victor not on separate lines, but by crossing the -Tagus, joining the Spaniards somewhere in the neighbourhood of Badajoz, -and falling upon the Marshal with the united strength of both armies. -This movement would be less hazardous than the other, since it would -secure the concentration of an army of a strength sufficient to crush -the 25,000 men at which the 1st Corps might reasonably be rated. But -it would only drive Victor back upon Madrid and King Joseph’s reserves -by a frontal attack, while the other plan—that of the march on -Almaraz—would imperil his flank and rear, and threaten to cut him -off from the King and the capital.</p> - -<p>Before making any decision between the two plans, Wellesley wrote -to Cuesta, from Oporto on May 22, a letter requesting him to state -his views as to the way in which the operations of the British and -Spanish armies could best be combined. He<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_437">[p. 437]</span> informed him that the troops which had -defeated Soult were already on their way to the south, that the head -of the column would reach the Mondego on the twenty-sixth, and that -the whole would be concentrated near Abrantes early in June. It was -at that place that the choice would have to be made between the two -possible lines of attack on Victor—that which led to Almaraz, -and that which went on to Southern Estremadura. A few days later -Wellesley dispatched a confidential officer of his staff—Colonel -Bourke—to bear to the Spanish general a definite request for -his decision on the point whether the allied armies should prepare -for an actual junction, or should manœuvre from separate bases, or -should ‘co-operate with communication,’ i.e. combine their movements -without adopting a single base or a joint line of advance. Bourke was -also directed to obtain all the information that he could concerning -the strength, morale, and discipline of Cuesta’s army, and to discover -what chance there was of securing the active assistance of the second -Spanish army in the south—that which, under General Venegas, -was defending the defiles in front of La Carolina<a id="FNanchor_541" -href="#Footnote_541" class="fnanchor">[541]</a>.</p> - -<p>It was clear that some days must elapse before an answer could -arrive from the camp of the Estremaduran army, and meanwhile Wellesley -continued to urge the counter-march of his troops from the various -points at which they had halted between Oporto and Montalegre. All -the scattered British brigades were directed on Abrantes by different -routes: those which had the least distance to march began to arrive -there on the eleventh and the twelve of June.</p> - -<p>The Commander-in-chief had resolved not to take on with him the -Portuguese regulars whom he had employed in the campaign against Soult. -Both the brigades which had marched on Amarante under Beresford, and -the four battalions which had fought along with Wellesley in the -main column, were now dropped behind. They were destined to form an -army of observation, lest Mortier and his 5th Corps, or any other -French force, might chance to assail the front between the Douro -and the Tagus during the absence of the British in the south.<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_438">[p. 438]</span> Beresford, who was left -in command, was directed to arrange his troops so as to be able to -support Almeida, and resist any raid from the direction of Salamanca -or Zamora. The main body of the army lay at Guarda, its reserves at -Coimbra. The Portuguese division which had been lying on the Zezere -in company with Mackenzie’s troops, was also placed at Beresford’s -disposition, so that he had about eighteen battalions, four regiments -of cavalry, and five or six batteries—a force of between 12,000 -and 15,000 men. It was his duty to connect Wellesley’s left wing with -Silveira’s right, and to reinforce either of them if necessary. The -Commander-in-chief was inclined to believe, from his knowledge of the -disposition of the French corps at the moment, that no very serious -attack was likely to be directed against Northern Portugal during his -absence—at the most Soult might threaten Braganza or Mortier -Almeida. But it was necessary to make some provision against even -unlikely contingencies.</p> - -<p>The only Portuguese force which Wellesley had resolved to utilize -for the campaign in Estremadura was the battalion of the Loyal -Lusitanian Legion, under Colonel Mayne, which had been stationed at -Alcantara watching the movements of Victor. Sir Robert Wilson, now -recalled from Beresford’s column and placed once more with his own men, -was to take up the command of his old force, and to add to it the 5th -Cazadores, a regiment which had hitherto been lying with Mackenzie’s -division at Abrantes. With these 1,500 men he was to serve as the -northern flank-guard of the British army when it should enter Spain.</p> - -<p>When Wellesley first started upon his march, he was under the -impression that his plan of campaign might be settled for him by the -movements of Victor rather than by the devices of Cuesta. The rapidity -of his progress was partly caused by the news of the Marshal’s attack -on Alcantara, an operation which might, as it seemed, turn out to -be the prelude of a raid in force upon Central Portugal. That it -portended an actual invasion with serious designs Wellesley could -not believe, being convinced that Victor would have to leave so -large a proportion of his army to observe Cuesta, that he would not -be able to set aside more than 10,000 or 12,000 men for operations -in the valley of the Tagus<a id="FNanchor_542" href="#Footnote_542" -class="fnanchor">[542]</a>. But such a force would be enough to<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_439">[p. 439]</span> sweep the country about -Castello Branco and Villa Velha, and to beat up Mackenzie’s line of -defence on the Zezere.</p> - -<p>The actual course of events on the Tagus had been as follows. -Victor, even after having received the division of Lapisse, considered -himself too weak either to march on Cuesta and drive him over the -mountains into Andalusia, or to fall upon Central Portugal by an -advance along the Tagus<a id="FNanchor_543" href="#Footnote_543" -class="fnanchor">[543]</a>. He had received vague information of the -formation of Mackenzie’s corps of observation on the Zezere, though -apparently he had not discovered that there was a strong British -contingent in its ranks. But he was under the impression that if he -crossed the Guadiana in force, to attack Cuesta, the Portuguese would -advance into Estremadura and cut his communications; while if he -marched against the Portuguese, Cuesta would move northward to attack -his rear. Accordingly he maintained for some time a purely defensive -attitude, keeping his three French infantry divisions concentrated -in a central position, at Torremocha, Montanches, and Salvatierra -(near Caceres), while he remained himself with Leval’s Germans and -Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons in the neighbourhood of Merida, observing -Cuesta and sending flying columns up and down the Guadiana to watch -the garrison of Badajoz and the guerrillas of the Sierra de Guadalupe. -He had not forgotten the Emperor’s orders that he was to be prepared -to execute a diversion in favour of Marshal Soult, when he should hear -that the 2nd Corps was on its way to Lisbon. But, like all the other -French generals, he was profoundly ignorant of the position and the -fortunes of the Duke of Dalmatia. On April 22 the head-quarters staff -at Madrid had received no more than a vague rumour that the 2nd Corps -had entered Oporto a month before! They got no trustworthy information -concerning its doings till May was far advanced<a id="FNanchor_544" -href="#Footnote_544" class="fnanchor">[544]</a>. Victor, therefore, -depending on King Joseph for his news from Northern Portugal, was -completely in the dark as to the moment when he might be called upon -to execute his diversion on the Tagus. The Portuguese and Galician -insur<span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">[p. 440]</span>gents had -succeeded in maintaining a complete blockade of Soult, and thus had -foiled all Napoleon’s plans for combining the operations of the 1st and -the 2nd Corps.</p> - -<p>Victor was only stirred up into a spasmodic activity in the second -week in May, by the news that a Portuguese force had crossed the -frontier and occupied Alcantara, where the great Roman bridge across -the Tagus provided a line of communication between North-Western -and Central Estremadura. This detachment—as we have already -seen—consisted of no more than Colonel Mayne’s 1st battalion of -the Loyal Lusitanian Legion, brought down from the passes of the Sierra -de Gata, and of a single regiment of newly-raised militia—that of -the frontier district of Idanha. They had with them the six guns of the -battery of the Legion and a solitary squadron of cavalry, Wellesley had -thrown forward this little force of 2,000 men to serve as an outpost -for Mackenzie’s corps on the Zezere. But rumour magnified its strength, -and Victor jumped to the conclusion that it formed the vanguard of a -Portuguese army which was intending to concert a combined operation -with Cuesta, by threatening the communication of the 1st Corps while -the Spaniards attacked its front.</p> - -<p>Labouring under this delusion, Victor took the division of Lapisse -and a brigade of dragoons, and marched against Alcantara upon the -eleventh of May. As he approached the river he was met at Brozas by -Mayne’s vedettes, whom he soon drove in to the gates of the little -town. Alcantara being situated on the south side of the Tagus, it -was impossible to defend it: but Mayne had barricaded and mined the -bridge, planted his guns so as to command the passage, and constructed -trenches for his infantry along the northern bank. After seizing the -town, Victor opened a heavy fire of artillery and musketry against the -Portuguese detachment. It was met by a vigorous return from the further -bank, which lasted for more than three hours before the defence began -to flag. The Marshal very properly refused to send forward his infantry -to attempt the storm of the bridge till his artillery should have -silenced that of the defenders. At about midday the Idanha militia, who -had already suffered not inconsiderable losses, deserted their trenches -and fled. Thereupon Mayne fired his mine in the bridge, but unhappily -for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">[p. 441]</span> him the tough -Roman cement defied even the power of gunpowder; only one side of the -arch was shattered; the crown of the vault held firm, and the passage -was still possible. The Legion still kept its ground, though it had -lost many men, and had seen one of his guns dismounted, and the rest -silenced by the French artillery. But when Victor hurled the leading -brigade of Lapisse’s division at the bridge he succeeded in forcing -it<a id="FNanchor_545" href="#Footnote_545" class="fnanchor">[545]</a>. -Mayne drew off his legionaries in good order and retreated to -the pass of Salvatierra, leaving behind him a gun and more than -250 killed and wounded<a id="FNanchor_546" href="#Footnote_546" -class="fnanchor">[546]</a> [May 14]—a heavy loss from the -1,000 men of the single battalion which bore the whole brunt of the -fighting.</p> - -<p>Victor went no further than Alcantara, having satisfied himself -that the Portuguese force which had made such a creditable resistance -consisted of a single weak brigade, and did not form the vanguard of -an army bent on invading Estremadura. After remaining for no more than -three days at Alcantara, and trying in vain to obtain news of the -whereabouts of Soult—who was at that moment being hunted past -Guimaraens and Braga in the far north—the Marshal drew back his -troops to Torremocha near Caceres.</p> - -<p>His advance, though it had only lasted for six days, and had not -been pushed more than a few miles beyond Alcantara, had much disturbed -General Mackenzie, who dreaded to find himself the next object of -attack and to see the whole of the 1st Corps debouching against him -by the road through Castello Branco. Wellesley wrote to him that he -need not be alarmed, that Victor could not spare more than 10,000 -or 12,000 men for his demonstration, and that the 8,000 British and -Portuguese troops behind the Zezere were amply sufficient to maintain -defensive operations till the main army from the north should come up. -He expressed his opinion that the French force at Alcantara was ‘a mere -reconnoitring party, sent out for the purpose of<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_442">[p. 442]</span> ascertaining what has become of -Soult,’ a conclusion in which he was perfectly right. Mackenzie<a -id="FNanchor_547" href="#Footnote_547" class="fnanchor">[547]</a>, who -betrayed an exaggerated want of confidence in his Portuguese troops, -was profoundly relieved to see the enemy retire upon the seventeenth. -He had advanced from Abrantes and taken up a defensive position along -the Sobreira Formosa to resist the Marshal, but he had done so with -many searchings of heart, and was glad to see the danger pass away. -When Victor had retired into Central Estremadura, Mayne came back with -all due caution, and reoccupied the bridge of Alcantara.</p> - -<p>Wellesley, therefore, had been perfectly well justified in his -confidence that nothing was to be feared in this direction. The French -could not possibly have dared to undertake more than a demonstration -in the direction of Castello Branco. King Joseph’s orders to Victor -had prescribed no more<a id="FNanchor_548" href="#Footnote_548" -class="fnanchor">[548]</a>, and the Marshal had accomplished even -less. In his letter of excuse to Jourdan he explained that he would -gladly have left Lapisse’s division at Alcantara, or even have moved -it forward for some distance into Portugal<a id="FNanchor_549" -href="#Footnote_549" class="fnanchor">[549]</a>, if he had not found it -absolutely impossible to feed it in the bare and stony district north -of the Tagus, where Junot’s army had been wellnigh starved in November -1807. The peasantry of the villages for fifteen leagues round Alcantara -had, as he declared, gone off into the mountains with their cattle, -after burying their corn, and he had found it impossible to discover -food for even three days’ consumption of a single division.</p> - -<p>During Victor’s absence at Alcantara, Cuesta had sent down a part -of his troops to make a raid on Merida, the Marshal’s advanced post -on the Guadiana. It failed entirely; the garrison, two battalions of -Leval’s German division, maintained themselves with ease in a large -convent outside that town, which Victor had patched up and turned into -a place of some little strength. On hearing that the Spaniards were -descending<span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">[p. 443]</span> from -the mountains, King Joseph ordered the Duke of Belluno to attack them -at once. But on the mere news of the Marshal’s approach Cuesta called -back his detachment into the passes, sweeping off at the same time the -inhabitants of all the villages along the Guadiana, together with their -cattle and their stores of provisions.</p> - -<p>At the beginning of June Victor began to press the King and Jourdan -for leave to abandon his hold on Southern Estremadura, and to fall back -towards the Tagus. He urged that his position was very dangerous, now -that Cuesta’s army had been recruited up to a force of 22,000 infantry -and 6,000 horse, especially since the Portuguese had once more got -possession of Alcantara. His main contention was that he must either be -reinforced up to a strength which would permit him to attack Andalusia, -or else be permitted to withdraw from the exhausted district between -the Guadiana and the Tagus, in order to seek a region where his men -would be able to live. The only district in this neighbourhood where -the country-side was still intact was that north of the Tagus, around -the towns of Plasencia and Coria—the valleys of the Alagon and -Tietar. To move the army in this direction would involve the evacuation -of Central Estremadura—it would be necessary to abandon Merida, -Truxillo, and Caceres, with the sacrifice of a certain amount of -prestige. But unless the 1st Corps could be reinforced—and -this, as Victor must have known, was impossible<a id="FNanchor_550" -href="#Footnote_550" class="fnanchor">[550]</a>—there was no -other alternative. The internal condition of the army was growing -worse day by day. ‘The troops are on half rations of bread: they can -get little meat—often none at all. The results of starvation -are making themselves felt in the most deplorable way. The men -are going into hospital at the rate of several hundreds a day<a -id="FNanchor_551" href="#Footnote_551" class="fnanchor">[551]</a>.’ -A few days later Victor adds, ‘If I could even get together enough -biscuit to feed the army for merely seven or eight days I should not -feel so uncomfortable. But we have no flour to issue for a bread -ration, so cannot bake biscuit<a id="FNanchor_552" href="#Footnote_552" -class="fnanchor">[552]</a>.’ And again he adds, ‘The whole population -of this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">[p. 444]</span> region -has retired within Cuesta’s lines, after destroying the ovens and -the mills, and removing every scrap of food. It seems that the enemy -is resolved to starve us out, and to leave a desert in front of us -if we advance.... Carefully estimating all my stores I find that I -have barely enough to last for five days in hand. We are menaced with -absolute famine, which we can only avoid by moving off, and there is no -suitable cantonment to be found in the whole space between Tagus and -Guadiana: the entire country is ruined.’</p> - -<p>Joseph and Jourdan replied to the first of these dismal letters by -promising to send the 1st Corps 300,000 rations of biscuit, and by -urging its commander to renew his attack on Alcantara, in order to -threaten Portugal and ‘disengage the Duke of Dalmatia’—who, on -the day when their dispatch was written, was at Lugo, in the north of -Galicia, some 300 miles as the crow flies from Victor’s head quarters<a -id="FNanchor_553" href="#Footnote_553" class="fnanchor">[553]</a>. -They received the answer that such a move was impossible, as Mayne -had just blown up the bridge of Alcantara, and it was now impossible -to cross the Tagus<a id="FNanchor_554" href="#Footnote_554" -class="fnanchor">[554]</a>.</p> - -<p>A few days later the news arrived at Madrid that Soult had -been defeated and flung out of Portugal<a id="FNanchor_555" -href="#Footnote_555" class="fnanchor">[555]</a>. It had taken three -weeks for information of this transcendent importance to reach the -king! Seriously alarmed, Joseph and Jourdan sent Victor his long-denied -permission to retire from Estremadura and place himself behind the -Tagus. They do not seem to have guessed that the victorious Wellesley -would make his next move against the 1st Corps, but imagined that -he would debouch into Old Castile by way of Rodrigo and Salamanca, -wherefore their main idea was to strengthen Mortier and the army in -the valley of the Douro<a id="FNanchor_556" href="#Footnote_556" -class="fnanchor">[556]</a>. Thus it fell in with their views -that Victor should draw back to the line of the Tagus, a general -concentration of all the French troops in the Peninsula seeming -advisable, in face of the necessity for resisting the sup<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_445">[p. 445]</span>posed attack on Old -Castile. Another reason for assuming a defensive attitude was the -gloomy news from Aragon, where Suchet, after his defeat at Alcañiz, -had retired on Saragossa and was sending despairing appeals for -reinforcements to Madrid.</p> - -<p>Accordingly, the 1st Corps evacuated Estremadura between the -fourteenth and the nineteenth of June, and, crossing the Tagus, -disposed itself in a position on the northern bank, with its right wing -at Almaraz and its left at Talavera. Here Victor intended to make his -stand, being confident that with the broad river in front of him he -could easily beat off any attack on the part of the Spanish army.</p> - -<p>But when Wellesley and Cuesta first began to correspond concerning -their joint movement against the French in Estremadura, Victor was -still in his old cantonments, and their scheme of operations had been -sketched out on the hypothesis that he lay at Merida, Torremocha, and -Caceres. It was with the design of assailing him while he still held -this advanced position, that Cuesta drew up his paper of answers to -Wellesley’s queries and dispatched it to Abrantes to meet the British -general on his arrival<a id="FNanchor_557" href="#Footnote_557" -class="fnanchor">[557]</a>.</p> - -<p>If the old Captain-General’s suggestions were by no means marked -with the stamp of genius, they had at least the merit of variety. -He offered Wellesley the choice between no less than three plans of -campaign. (1) His first proposal was that the British army should -descend into Southern Estremadura, and join him in the neighbourhood -of Badajoz. From thence the united host was to advance against Victor -and assail him in front. But meanwhile Cuesta proposed to send out two -subsidiary columns, to turn the Marshal’s flanks and surround him. One -was to base itself on Alcantara and march along the northern bank of -the Tagus to seize Almaraz: the other was to push by La Serena through -the Guadalupe mountains to threaten Talavera. By these operations, if -Victor would be good enough to remain quiet in his present cantonments, -he would be completely surrounded, his retreat would be cut<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_446">[p. 446]</span> off, and he would finally -be compelled to surrender. The scheme was of course preposterous. What -rational man could have supposed it likely that the Marshal would -remain quiescent while his flanks were being turned? He would certainly -have hastened to retire and to throw himself upon the detached columns, -one or both of which he could have annihilated before the main armies -of the allies could get within touch of him<a id="FNanchor_558" -href="#Footnote_558" class="fnanchor">[558]</a>. Wellesley refused to -listen for a moment to this plan of campaign. (2) The second proposal -of Cuesta was that the British army should pass the Tagus at Alcantara -and operate against Victor’s flank, while the Spanish army attacked him -in front. To this the same objection could be urged: it presupposed -that the Frenchman would remain fixed in his present cantonments: but -he certainly would not do so when he heard that he was to be assailed -on both flanks; he would retire behind the Tagus at once, and the -British army would have wasted its march, and be obliged to return to -the north bank of that river: moreover, it would involve a very long -movement to the south to get in touch with Victor’s flank. Probably it -would be necessary to descend as far into Estremadura as Caceres, and, -when that point was reached, the Marshal could make the whole manœuvre -futile by retiring at once behind the Tagus at Almaraz. To follow him -to the north bank the British would have to retrace their steps to -Alcantara.</p> - -<p>The third proposal of Cuesta—the only one in which Wellesley -could find any prospect of success, was that the British army, keeping -north of the Tagus, should march by Castello Branco on Plasencia. -There it would be in the rear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_447">[p. -447]</span> of Victor’s best line of retreat by the bridge of Almaraz. -If the manœuvre could be kept very secret, and executed with great -speed, Almaraz, perhaps also the subsidiary passage at Arzobispo, might -be seized. Should the Marshal get early news of the movement, and hurry -back across the Tagus to fend off this stab in the rear, Wellesley was -prepared to fight him in the open with equal forces, conceiving that -he was ‘sufficiently strong to defend himself against any attack which -Victor might make.’ He hoped that Cuesta was able to guarantee that -he also was competent to hold his own, supposing that the Marshal, -neglecting the British diversion, should concentrate his corps and -strike at the Spanish army.</p> - -<p>On the whole, therefore, Wellesley was not disinclined to fall in -with this plan, which had the extra merit of remaining feasible even -if Victor withdrew north of the Tagus before either of the allied -armies had completed its march. He made one countersuggestion, viz. -that Cuesta might move eastward, with the whole or part of his army, -join the army of Venegas in La Mancha, and attack Sebastiani, leaving -the British alone to deal with Victor. But he did not wish to press -this plan, thinking that an attack on the enemy’s left was on first -principles less advisable than one on his right, because it did not -offer any chance of cutting him off from Madrid<a id="FNanchor_559" -href="#Footnote_559" class="fnanchor">[559]</a>.</p> - -<p>The answer to Cuesta’s proposals was sent off from Abrantes, which -Wellesley, preceding his army by three or four days’ march, reached -upon June 8. He had now under his hand Mackenzie’s Anglo-Portuguese -force, but the leading brigades of the troops who had fought at -Oporto could not arrive before the eleventh or twelfth. There -was thus ample time to concert the joint plan of campaign before -the whole army would be concentrated and ready to move. But when -Cuesta’s reply to the dispatch of June 8 came to hand upon June 13, -Wellesley was much vexed to find that the old Captain-General had -expressed a great dislike for the idea that the British army should -march upon Plasencia and Almaraz—though it had been one of -his own three suggestions. He now pleaded urgently in favour of -the first of his original alternatives—that Wellesley<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_448">[p. 448]</span> should come down to -Badajoz and join him in a frontal attack upon Victor. With much -reluctance the British general resolved to comply, apparently moved -by his ally’s openly expressed dislike to being left to face Victor -alone. ‘I must acknowledge,’ he wrote to Colonel Bourke, ‘that <i>I</i> -entertain no apprehension that the French will attack General Cuesta: -I am much more afraid that they are going away, and strengthening -themselves upon the Tagus<a id="FNanchor_560" href="#Footnote_560" -class="fnanchor">[560]</a>.’ To the Spanish General he sent a -dispatch to the same effect, in which he pledged himself to march to -join the army of Estremadura, though he frankly stated that all his -information led him to believe that Victor had no intention of taking -the offensive, and that the junction was therefore unnecessary. He -expressed his hope that Cuesta would avoid all fighting till they had -met, the only possible danger to the allied cause being that one of -the two armies should suffer a defeat before the other had started on -the combined movement to which they were committed<a id="FNanchor_561" -href="#Footnote_561" class="fnanchor">[561]</a>.</p> - -<p>Fortunately for all parties concerned, the march on Badajoz which -Wellesley so much disliked never had to be begun, for on the day after -he had sent off his dispatch to Cuesta he received reliable information -from several sources, to the effect that Victor had evacuated and -blown up the fortified convent of Merida, and had sent off all his -baggage and heavy artillery towards Almaraz. During the next four days -the whole of the 1st Corps marched for that all-important bridge, and -crossed it. On the nineteenth Victor had established his entire army -north of the Tagus, at Almaraz, Arzobispo, and Talavera. Thus the whole -face of affairs was changed, and the advance of the British army into -Southern Estremadura was rendered unnecessary. It was fortunate that -the news of the retreat of the 1st Corps was received at Abrantes just -in time to allow of the countermanding of the march of Wellesley’s army -on Badajoz, for that fruitless movement would have begun if the Duke of -Belluno had been able to retain his starving army in its positions for -a few days longer.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_2"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">[p. 449]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER II">SECTION XVI: CHAPTER II</h3> - <p class="subh3">WELLESLEY ENTERS SPAIN</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> retreat of Victor beyond the Tagus -forced Wellesley to concert yet another plan of operation with Cuesta, -since the position of the French army, on which the whole of the -recently adopted scheme depended, had just suffered a radical change. -It was clear that every consideration now pointed to the necessity for -adopting the combination which Wellesley had urged upon his colleague -in his letter of June 8, viz. that the British army should move on -Plasencia and Almaraz. It would now be striking at the flank instead -of the rear of Victor’s corps, but it was clear that under the new -conditions it would still be in a position to roll up his whole army, -if he should endeavour to defend the passages of the Tagus against the -Spaniards, who were now approaching them from the front. For Cuesta had -descended from the mountains when he heard of Victor’s retreat, and was -now approaching Almaraz.</p> - -<p>It took some time, however, to induce the Captain-General to -consent to this move. To the extreme vexation of his colleague he -produced other plans, so gratuitously impracticable that Wellesley -wrote to Castlereagh to say that he could conceive no explanation -for the old man’s conduct save a desire to refuse any scheme urged -on him by others, and a resolve to invent and advocate alternative -plans of his own out of mere pride and wrongheadedness. ‘The best of -the whole story,’ he added<a id="FNanchor_562" href="#Footnote_562" -class="fnanchor">[562]</a>, was that Cuesta was now refusing to accept -a plan which he himself had suggested in one of his earlier letters, -merely because that plan had been taken up and advocated by his -ally. ‘The obstinacy of this old gentleman,’ he concluded, ‘is<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_450">[p. 450]</span> throwing out of our -hands the finest game that any armies ever had<a id="FNanchor_563" -href="#Footnote_563" class="fnanchor">[563]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The necessity for working out a new scheme for the combined -operations of the British and Spanish armies, in view of Victor’s -retreat to Almaraz, entailed the loss of a few days. It would have -been impossible to start on the advance to Plasencia till Cuesta had -promised to accept that movement as part of the joint campaign. There -was also some time to be allowed for concluding an agreement with -Venegas, the General of the La Carolina army, whose connexion with the -campaign must become much more intimate, now that the fighting was to -take place not in Estremadura, but further north, in the valley of the -Tagus. For while Victor lay at Merida and Sebastiani at Manzanares and -Ciudad Real, the Spanish forces which faced them were very far apart. -But when Victor retired to Talavera, and Sebastiani to Madridejos, in -the end of June, Cuesta and Venegas—each following the corps -opposed to him—could draw closer together. It was evident that -the Andalusian army ought to be made to play an important part in the -combined operations of July.</p> - -<p>It would be unfair to the Spanish generals to let it be supposed -that the necessity for settling on a common scheme of operations with -them was the sole cause which detained Wellesley at Abrantes from the -eighth to the twenty-seventh of June. The leading brigades of the -British troops from Oporto had begun to reach Abrantes on the eleventh, -and the more belated columns came up on the fourteenth and fifteenth. -But it would have been impossible to have moved forward without some -further delay, even if Wellesley had been in possession of a complete -and satisfactory plan of operations on the day upon which his whole -force was concentrated on the line of the Zezere. At the least he would -have required another week for preparations.</p> - -<p>His hindrances at this moment were manifold. The first was the -distressed condition of those of his brigades which had seen most -service during the Oporto campaign. Many regiments had been constantly -on the march from May 9 to June 14, without obtaining more than two -days’ rest in the whole time. Their shoes were worn out, their jaded -baggage-animals had dropped to the rear, and they were leaving so -many stragglers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">[p. 451]</span> -on the way that it was absolutely necessary to give them a moderate -rest at Abrantes, in order to allow the ranks to grow full and -the belated baggage to come up. The regiments which had followed -Beresford in the forced march from Amarante to Chaves were worst -off—they had never completely recovered from the fatigues -of those three days of constant rain and storm spent on the stony -roads of the Tras-os-Montes<a id="FNanchor_564" href="#Footnote_564" -class="fnanchor">[564]</a>. In any case some delay must have occurred -before all the troops were ready to march. But many circumstances -conspired to detain the army at Abrantes for several days after the -moment at which Wellesley had determined to start for Plasencia. The -first was the non-arrival of convoys of shoes and clothing which he had -ordered up from Lisbon. The transport of the army was not yet fully -organized, its officers were lacking in experience, if not in zeal, -and orders were slowly executed. Many corps had, in the end, to start -for Spain without receiving the much-needed stores, which were still -trailing up from Santarem to Abrantes when Wellesley gave the signal -to advance. Another hindrance was the lack of money: the army was -obliged to pay for its wants in coin, but hard cash was so difficult -to procure both in London and in Lisbon that arrears were already -beginning to grow up. At first they vexed the soul of Wellesley almost -beyond endurance, but as the war dragged on they only grew worse, and -the Commander-in-chief had to endure with resignation the fact that -both the pay of the men and the wages of the Portuguese muleteers and -followers were overdue for many months. In June 1809 he had not yet -reached this state of comparative callousness, and was endeavouring -to scrape together money by every possible device. He had borrowed -£3,000 in Portuguese silver from the merchants of the impoverished -city of Oporto: he was trying to exchange bills on England for dollars -at Cadiz, where the arrival of the American contribution had produced -a comparative plenty of the circulating medium. Yet after all<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_452">[p. 452]</span> he had to start from -Abrantes with only a comparatively moderate sum in his military chest<a -id="FNanchor_565" href="#Footnote_565" class="fnanchor">[565]</a>, -the rest had not reached him on June 28, the treasure convoy having -taken the unconscionable time of eleven days to crawl forward from -Lisbon to Abrantes—a distance of no more than ninety miles<a -id="FNanchor_566" href="#Footnote_566" class="fnanchor">[566]</a>.</p> - -<p>A third cause of delay was the time spent in waiting for -reinforcements from Lisbon. Eight or nine regiments had landed, or -were expected to arrive within the next few days. It was in every -way desirable to unite them to the army before the campaign should -begin. This was all the more necessary because several corps had to be -deducted from the force which had been used in the Oporto campaign. -Under stringent orders from home, Wellesley had sent back two infantry -battalions and part of two cavalry regiments to Lisbon, to be embarked -for Gibraltar and Sicily<a id="FNanchor_567" href="#Footnote_567" -class="fnanchor">[567]</a>. In return he was to receive a much larger -body of troops. But while the deduction was immediate, the addition -took time. Of all the troops which were expected to reinforce the army, -only one battalion caught him up at Abrantes, while a second and one -regiment of Light Dragoons<a id="FNanchor_568" href="#Footnote_568" -class="fnanchor">[568]</a> joined later, but yet in time for Talavera. -Thus at the commencement of the actual campaign the force in the field -was, if anything, slightly less in numbers than that which had been -available in May. It was particularly vexatious that the brigade of -veteran light infantry, for which Wellesley had made a special demand -on Castlereagh as early as April, did not reach Abrantes till long -after the army had moved forward. These three battalions, the nucleus -of the famous Light Division<a id="FNanchor_569" href="#Footnote_569" -class="fnanchor">[569]</a>,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">[p. -453]</span> had all gone through the experiences of Moore’s campaign, -and were once more under their old leader Robert Craufurd. Detained by -baffling winds in the Downs, the transports that bore them only reached -Lisbon at various dates between June 28 and July 2, though they had -sailed on May 25. Their indefatigable brigadier hurried them forward -with all speed to the front, but in spite of his exertions, they only -came up with the main army after the day of battle was over. The same -was the fate of two batteries of horse artillery<a id="FNanchor_570" -href="#Footnote_570" class="fnanchor">[570]</a>—an arm in which -Wellesley was wholly deficient when he marched into Spain. They arrived -late, and were still far to the rear when the march from Abrantes -began.</p> - -<p>It thus resulted that although there were over 33,000 British troops -in the Peninsula at the commencement of July 1809, less than 21,000 -could be collected for the advance on Plasencia which was now about -to begin. More than 8,000 men lay at Lisbon, or were just starting -from that city, while 4,500 were in hospital<a id="FNanchor_571" -href="#Footnote_571" class="fnanchor">[571]</a>. The sick seemed more -numerous than might have been expected at the season of the year: -though the fatigues of the Oporto campaign accounted for the majority -of the invalids, yet Wellesley was of opinion that a contributory cause -might be found in the slack discipline of certain regiments, where -inefficient commanding officers had neglected sanitary precautions, -and allowed their men to neglect personal cleanliness, or to indulge -to excess in wine and unripe fruit and vegetables. It was his opinion -that the number of men in hospital should never exceed ten per cent. of -the total force. But all through the war he found that this proportion -was exceeded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">[p. 454]</span></p> - -<p>With the internal condition of many of his regiments Wellesley -was far from satisfied. His tendency to use the plainest, indeed -the harshest, terms concerning the rank and file, is so well known -that we are not surprised to find him writing that ‘the army behave -terribly ill: they are a rabble who cannot bear success any more -than Sir John Moore’s army could bear failure<a id="FNanchor_572" -href="#Footnote_572" class="fnanchor">[572]</a>.’ He complained most of -all of the recruits sent him from the Irish militia, who were, he said, -capable of every sin, moral or military. Though he was ‘endeavouring to -tame the troops,’ yet there were several regiments in such bad order -that he would gladly have sent them home in disgrace if he could have -spared a man. The main offence, of course, was robbery of food from the -Portuguese peasantry, often accompanied by violence, and now and then -by murder. The number of assistant-provost-marshals was multiplied, -some offenders were caught and hanged, but marauding could not be -suppressed, even while the troops were receiving full rations in their -cantonments at Abrantes. When they were enduring real privation, in the -wilds of Estremadura, matters grew much worse. Though many regiments -were distinguished for their good behaviour, yet there were always some -whose excesses were a disgrace to the British army. Their Commander -never shrank from telling them so in the most incisive language; he was -always complaining that he could not get a sufficient number of the -criminals flogged or hanged, and that regimental court-martials were -far too lenient in their dealings with offenders<a id="FNanchor_573" -href="#Footnote_573" class="fnanchor">[573]</a>.</p> - -<p>It was at Abrantes that Wellesley first arranged his army -in divisions, and gave it the organization which, with certain -modifications, it was to maintain during the rest of the war. His -six regiments of cavalry were to form a single division consisting -of one heavy and two light brigades, commanded respectively by -Fane, Cotton, and Anson. The twenty-five<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_455">[p. 455]</span> battalions of infantry were distributed -into four divisions of unequal strength under Generals Sherbrooke, -Hill, Mackenzie, and A. Campbell. Of these the first was by far the -largest, counting four brigades of two battalions each: the first -(Henry Campbell’s) was formed of the two battalions of Guards, the -second (Cameron’s) of two line regiments, the third and fourth, -under Low and Langwerth, comprised the infantry of the King’s German -Legion. The second and third divisions each consisted of two brigades -of three battalions each<a id="FNanchor_574" href="#Footnote_574" -class="fnanchor">[574]</a>. The fourth, and weakest, showed only -five battalions in line. Of artillery there were only thirty guns, -eighteen English and twelve German: all were field-batteries, as -none of the much-desired horse artillery had yet reached the front<a -id="FNanchor_575" href="#Footnote_575" class="fnanchor">[575]</a>. They -were all of very light calibre, the heaviest being a brigade of heavy -six-pounders belonging to the German Legion.</p> - -<p>On June 28 the army at last moved forward: that day the head -quarters were at Cortiçada, on the Sobreira Formosa. On the thirtieth -Castello Branco, the last Portuguese town, was reached. On July 3 the -leading brigades passed the Elga, the frontier river, and bivouacked -on the same night around Zarza la Mayor, the first place in Spanish -Estremadura. At the same time Sir Robert Wilson’s small column of 1,500 -Portuguese crossed the border a little further north, and advanced in a -direction parallel to that of the main army, so as to serve as a flank -guard for it in the direction of the mountains.</p> - -<p>King Joseph meanwhile was in a state of the most profound ignorance -concerning the impending storm. As late as July 9 he wrote to his -brother that the British had not as yet made any pronounced movement, -and that it was quite uncertain whether they would invade Galicia, -or strike at Castile, or remain in the neighbourhood of Lisbon<a -id="FNanchor_576" href="#Footnote_576" class="fnanchor">[576]</a>! -On that day the head of the British army had entered Plasencia, and -was only 125 miles from Madrid. It is impossible to give any better -testimonial than this simple fact to the way in which the insurgents -and the guerrillas served the cause of the allies. Wellesley<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_456">[p. 456]</span> had been able to march -from Oporto to Abrantes, and from Abrantes to Plasencia, without even -a rumour of his advance reaching Madrid. All that Joseph had learnt -was that there was now an allied force of some sort behind Alcantara, -in the direction of Castello Branco. He took it for granted that they -were Portuguese, but in one dispatch he broaches the theory that there -might be a few English with them—perhaps from having heard a -vague report of the composition of Mackenzie’s division on the Zezere -in May. He therefore wrote in a cheerful tone to the Emperor that ‘if -we have only got to deal with Cuesta and the Portuguese they will be -beaten by the 1st Corps. If they have some English with them, they -can be beaten equally well by the 1st Corps, aided by troops which I -can send across the Tagus via Toledo’ (i.e. the 5,000 or 6,000 men -of the Central Reserve which could be spared from Madrid). ‘I am -not in the least disquieted,’ he continued, ‘concerning the present -condition of military affairs in this part of Spain<a id="FNanchor_577" -href="#Footnote_577" class="fnanchor">[577]</a>.’ In another epistle -to his brother he added that ‘if the English should be at the back -of Cuesta, it would be the happiest chance in the world for the -concluding of the whole war<a id="FNanchor_578" href="#Footnote_578" -class="fnanchor">[578]</a>.’</p> - -<p>It was lucky for the King that he was not induced to try the -experiment of falling upon Wellesley and Cuesta with the 28,000 men -of Victor and the Central Reserve. If he had done so, he would have -suffered a frightful disaster and have lost Madrid.</p> - -<p>In the end of June and the first days of July Joseph’s main -attention had been drawn off to that part of his front where there was -least danger, so that he was paying comparatively little heed to the -movements of the allies on the lower Tagus. He had been distracted by a -rash and inexplicable movement of the Spanish army of La Mancha. When -General Venegas had heard of the retreat of Victor from Estremadura, -and had been informed that Cuesta was about to move forward in -pursuit of the 1st Corps, he had concluded that his own troops might -also advance. He argued that Sebastiani and the 4th Corps must<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_457">[p. 457]</span> beat a retreat, when -their right flank was uncovered by Victor’s evacuation of the valley -of the Guadiana. He was partly justified in his idea, for Joseph had -drawn back Sebastiani’s main body to Madridejos when Victor abandoned -Merida. It was safe therefore to advance from the Despeña Perros into -the southern skirts of La Mancha, as far as Manzanares and the line of -the Guadiana. But to go further forward was dangerous, unless Venegas -was prepared to risk a collision with Sebastiani. This he was certainly -not in a condition to do: his troops had not yet recovered from the -moral effects of the rout of Ciudad Real, and his brigades were full -of new battalions of untried Andalusian reserves. He should have been -cautious, and have refused to move without concerting his operations -with Cuesta: to have had his corps put <i>hors de combat</i> at the very -beginning of the joint campaign of the allied armies would have been -most disastrous.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless Venegas came down from the passes of the Sierra -Morena with 18,000 infantry, 3,000 horse, and twenty-six guns, and -proceeded to thrust back Sebastiani’s cavalry screen and to push in -his outposts in front of Madridejos. The French general had in hand at -this moment only two infantry divisions and Milhaud’s dragoons; his -third division and his light cavalry were still absent with Victor, to -whom they had been lent in March for the campaign of Medellin. But with -13,000 foot and 2,000 horse<a id="FNanchor_579" href="#Footnote_579" -class="fnanchor">[579]</a> he ought not to have feared Venegas, and -could have given a good account of him had he chosen to attack. But -having received exaggerated reports of the strength of the Spanish -army, he wrote to the King that he was beset by nearly 40,000 men and -must be reinforced at once, or he would have to fall back on Madrid<a -id="FNanchor_580" href="#Footnote_580" class="fnanchor">[580]</a>. -Joseph, fully believing the news, sent orders to Victor to restore -to the 4th Corps the divisions of Leval and Merlin, and then, -doubting whether these troops could arrive in time, sallied out<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_458">[p. 458]</span> of Madrid on June 22 with -his Guards and half the division of Dessolles—about 5,500 men.</p> - -<p>It was lucky for Venegas that Sebastiani had refused to fight him, -but still more lucky that the news of the King’s approach reached him -promptly. On hearing that Joseph had joined the 4th Corps on June -25 he was wise enough to turn on his heel and retreat in all haste -towards his lair in the passes of the Sierra Morena. If he had lingered -any longer in the plains he would have been destroyed, for the King, -on the arrival of Leval’s and Merlin’s divisions, would have fallen -upon him at the head of 27,000 men. As it was, Venegas retired with -such promptitude to Santa Cruz de Mudela, at the foot of the passes, -that the French could never catch him. Joseph pursued him as far as -Almagro and El Moral, on the southern edge of La Mancha, and there -stopped short. He had received, on July 2, a dispatch from Victor to -the effect that Cuesta had repaired the bridge of Almaraz and begun -to cross the Tagus, while a body of 10,000 allied troops, presumably -Portuguese, had been heard of in the direction of Plasencia<a -id="FNanchor_581" href="#Footnote_581" class="fnanchor">[581]</a>. -(This was in reality the whole army of Wellesley!) Rightly concluding -that he had pushed the pursuit of Venegas too far, the King turned -back in haste, left Sebastiani and the 4th Corps behind the Guadiana, -and returned with his reserve to Toledo, in order to be in a position -to support Victor. His excursion to Almagro had been almost as -reckless and wrongheaded as Venegas’s advance to Madridejos, for he -had separated himself from Victor by a gap of 200 miles, at the moment -when the British army was just appearing on the Marshal’s flank, while -Cuesta was in his front. If the allied generals had concentrated -their forces ten days earlier—a thing that might well have -happened but for the vexatious delays at Abrantes caused by Cuesta’s -impracticability—the 1st Corps might have been attacked at the -moment when Joseph lay at the foot of the Sierra Morena, in a position -too remote from Talavera to allow him to come up in time to succour -Victor.</p> - -<p>While the King was absent on his expedition in pursuit of -Venegas the most important change in the situation of affairs<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_459">[p. 459]</span> on the Tagus was that -the Duke of Belluno had drawn back his troops from the line of the -Tagus, where they had been lying since June 19, and had retired behind -the Alberche. His retreat was not caused by any apprehension as to the -appearance of Wellesley on his flank—a fact which was completely -concealed from him—but by sheer want of provisions. On June 25 -he sent to the King to say that his army was again starved out of its -cantonments, and that he had eaten up in a week the small remnant of -food that could be squeezed out of the country-side between the Tagus -and the Tietar, and was forced to transfer himself to another region. -‘The position,’ he wrote, ‘is desperate. The 1st Corps is on the eve -of dissolution: the men are dropping down from mere starvation. I have -nothing, absolutely nothing, to give them. They are in a state of -despair.... I am forced to fall back on Talavera, where there are no -more resources than here. We must have prompt succour, but where can it -be found? If your Majesty abandons me in my present wretched situation, -I lose my honour, my military record—everything. I shall not -be to blame for the disaster which menaces my troops, but I shall -have to bear the blame. Tomorrow I shall be at Talavera, waiting your -Majesty’s orders. The enemy [Cuesta] has a pontoon-train: if he wishes -to cross the Tagus he can do so, for the 1st Corps can no longer remain -opposite him. Never was there a more distressing situation than ours<a -id="FNanchor_582" href="#Footnote_582" class="fnanchor">[582]</a>.’</p> - -<p>On June 26, therefore, Victor transferred himself to Talavera, and -adopted a position behind the Alberche, after burning the materials of -the late pontoon bridge at Almaraz, which he had taken up and stored -in case they might again be needed. His movement was a lucky one for -himself, as it took him further away from Wellesley’s army, which -was just about to start from Abrantes with the object of turning his -flank. It puzzled Cuesta, who sought for some other explanation of -his departure than mere starvation, and was very cautious in taking -advantage of it. However, on the day after the French had withdrawn, -he pushed troops across the Tagus, and prepared to construct<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_460">[p. 460]</span> another bridge at Almaraz -to replace that which the French had destroyed. His cavalry pushed -out to Navalmoral and Oropesa, and further to the east he passed -some detachments of infantry across the bridge of Arzobispo, which -Victor—most unaccountably—had left intact. Fortunately he -did no more, and refrained from advancing against Talavera, a step -which from his earlier record we should judge that he might well have -taken into consideration.</p> - -<p>On the part of the allies things were now in a state of suspense -from which they were not to stir for a fortnight. Cuesta was waiting -for Wellesley, Wellesley was pushing forward from Zarza la Mayor to -join Cuesta. Venegas was recovering at Santa Cruz de Mudela from the -fatigues of his fruitless expedition into La Mancha.</p> - -<p>But on the French side matters suffered a sudden change in the -last days of July—the hand of the Emperor was stretched out -from the banks of the Danube to alter the general dispositions of the -army of Spain. On June 12 he had dictated at Schönbrunn a new plan of -campaign, based on information which was already many weeks old when -it reached him. At this date the Emperor was barely aware that Soult -was being pressed by Wellesley in Northern Portugal. He had no detailed -knowledge of what was taking place in Galicia or the Asturias, and was -profoundly ignorant of the intrigues at Oporto which afterwards roused -his indignation. But he was convinced that the English army was the -one hostile force in Spain which ought to engage the attention of his -lieutenants. Acting on this belief he issued an order that the 2nd, -5th, and 6th Corps—those of Soult, Mortier, and Ney—were -to be united into a single army, and to be told off to the task of -evicting Wellesley from Portugal. They were to put aside for the -present all such subsidiary enterprises as the subjection of Galicia -and the Asturias, and to devote themselves solely to ‘beating, hunting -down, and casting into the sea the British army. If the three Corps -join in good time the enemy ought to be crushed, and then the Spanish -war will come to an end. But the troops must be moved in masses -and not march in small detachments.... Putting aside all personal -considerations, I give the command of the united army to the Duke -of Dalmatia, as the senior marshal. His three<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_461">[p. 461]</span> Corps ought to amount to something -between 50,000 and 60,000 men<a id="FNanchor_583" href="#Footnote_583" -class="fnanchor">[583]</a>.’</p> - -<p>This dispatch reached King Joseph at El Moral in La Mancha on -July 1, and Soult at Zamora on July 2. It had been drawn up in view -of events that were taking place about May 15. It presupposed that -the British army was still in Northern Portugal, in close touch -with Soult, and that Victor was in Estremadura<a id="FNanchor_584" -href="#Footnote_584" class="fnanchor">[584]</a>. As a matter of fact -Soult was on this day leading his dilapidated corps down the Esla, at -the end of his retreat from Galicia. Ney, furious at the way in which -his colleague had deserted him, had descended to Astorga three days -before. Mortier was at Valladolid, just about to march for Villacastin -and Madrid, for the King had determined to draw him down to aid in the -defence of the capital. Finally, Cuesta, instead of lying in the Sierra -Morena, as he was when Napoleon drew up his orders, was now on the -Tagus, while Wellesley was no longer in touch with Soult on the Douro, -but preparing to fall upon Victor in New Castile. The whole situation -was so changed that the commentary which the Emperor appended to his -orders was hopelessly out of date—as was always bound to be the -case so long as he persisted in endeavouring to direct the course of -affairs in Spain from the suburbs of Vienna.</p> - -<p>Soult was overjoyed at receiving the splendid charge which the -Emperor’s decree put into his hands, though he must have felt secret -qualms at the idea that ere long some account of his doings at Oporto -must reach the imperial head quarters and provoke his master’s wrath. -There was a bad quarter of an hour to come<a id="FNanchor_585" -href="#Footnote_585" class="fnanchor">[585]</a>. But meanwhile he -was given a formidable army, and might hope to retrieve the laurels -that he had lost in Portugal, being now in a position to attack the -British with an overwhelming superiority of numbers. It must have -been specially<span class="pagenum" id="Page_462">[p. 462]</span> -delightful to him to find that Ney had been put under his orders, so -that he would be able to meet his angry colleague in the character of a -superior officer dealing with an insubordinate lieutenant.</p> - -<p>Soult’s first action, on finding himself placed in command of the -whole of the French forces in North-western Spain, was to issue orders -to Mortier to march on Salamanca, and to Ney to bring the 6th Corps -down to Benavente. These dispositions clearly indicate an intention -of falling upon Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, and assailing Northern -Portugal—the plan which the Duke of Dalmatia had broached to the -King in his letter from Puebla de Senabria on June 25, before he had -received the news that the 5th and 6th Corps had been added to his -command.</p> - -<p>It is clear that on July 2 Soult had no knowledge of Wellesley’s -movements, and thought that the British army was quite as likely to be -aiming at Salamanca as at Madrid. It is also evident that he was aware -that he would be unable to move for some weeks. Till the 2nd Corps -should have received the clothing, munitions, and artillery which had -been promised it, it could not possibly take the field for the invasion -of Portugal.</p> - -<p>Soult, therefore, was obliged to wait till his stores should be -replenished, and till the two corps from Astorga and Valladolid should -concentrate on his flanks. It was while he was remaining perforce in -this posture of expectation that the news of the real condition of -affairs in New Castile was at last brought to him.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_3"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_463">[p. 463]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER III">SECTION XVI: CHAPTER III</h3> - <p class="subh3">WELLESLEY AND CUESTA: THE INTERVIEW AT MIRABETE</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">It was</span> not till the third day of July -that Wellesley had been able to cross the Spanish border. Since Victor -had assumed his new position to the north of the Tagus as early as -the nineteenth of the preceding month, there was a perilous fortnight -during which Cuesta and his army were left alone to face the French. -All through this time of waiting, the British Commander-in-chief -was haunted by the dread that the old Captain-General might -repeat his earlier errors, and once more—as at Rio Seco and -Medellin—court a pitched battle. Wellesley had done his best -to urge caution, by letters written not only to Cuesta himself, but -to his Chief-of-the-staff O’Donoju and to Colonel Roche, who had now -replaced Bourke as British representative at the head quarters of the -Army of Estremadura. Fortunately they were not needed: the Spanish -General was for once cautious: he followed Victor at a respectful -distance, and when he had reached the Tagus and repaired the bridge of -Almaraz, held back his army to the southern bank and only pushed a few -small detachments beyond the stream to search for the enemy. Since the -French had withdrawn to Talavera on June 26 there was no collision. The -cavalry of the 1st Corps were discovered upon the upper Tietar and the -Alberche, but they preserved a defensive attitude, and the Spaniards -did not provoke them by any rash attempt to drive them back upon their -main body. All remained quiet, as Wellesley had rather desired than -expected.</p> - -<p>Cuesta’s strategical position, therefore, was perfectly secure, -since he kept his main body to the south of the river, and showed no -desire to meddle with Victor before the arrival of the British. At this -moment military affairs were not the only things that were engaging -the attention of the old Captain-General. He<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_464">[p. 464]</span> was watching with considerable anxiety -the course of events at Seville, where he was aware that he had many -enemies. Ever since his high-handed action against the deputies of -Leon in the preceding autumn, he knew that the Central Junta, and -especially its Liberal wing, viewed him with suspicion and dislike. It -was with great reluctance that they had placed him in command of the -Estremaduran army, and if he had not been popular with the Conservative -and clerical party and with some of the military cliques, he would -not have retained his post for long. At this moment there were many -intrigues stirring in Andalusia, and if some of them were directed -against the Junta, others had no other end than the changing of the -commanders of the various armies. While the Junta were debating about -forms of government, and especially about the summoning of a national -Cortes in the autumn, there were a number of officers of damaged -reputation whose main object was to recover the military rank of which -they had been deprived after misfortunes in the field. Infantado, -who thought that it was absurd that he should have been disgraced -after Ucles, while Cuesta had been rewarded after Medellin, was at -the head of one party of intriguers, which included Francisco Palafox -and the Conde de Montijo, and had secured the aid of Colonel Doyle, -late British agent in Aragon and Catalonia, an officer who showed a -lamentable readiness to throw himself into the intestine quarrels -of the Spanish factions<a id="FNanchor_586" href="#Footnote_586" -class="fnanchor">[586]</a>. Their actions went to the very edge of high -treason, for Montijo stirred up a riot at Granada on April 16, attacked -the provincial authorities, and almost succeeded in carrying out a -<i>pronunciamiento</i> which must have led to civil war. The Junta did no -more than banish him to San Lucar, from which place he continued his -plots with Infantado, in spite of the warning that he had received.</p> - -<p>In Seville, faction if not so openly displayed was equally violent. -There was, as we have already said, a large section of the Junta -whose dearest wish would have been to displace Cuesta: it was they -who had obtained the nomination of Venegas<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_465">[p. 465]</span> to take charge of the troops in La -Mancha, merely because he was known to be an enemy of the elder -general. Yet since the two armies would have to co-operate in any -attempt to recover Madrid, it was clearly inexpedient that their -commanders should be at enmity. Some of the politicians at Seville were -set on giving high command to the Duke of Albuquerque, an energetic and -ambitious officer, but one gifted with the talent of quarrelling with -every superior under whom he served: he was now bickering with Cuesta -just as in March he had bickered with Cartaojal. The Duke was a great -admirer of all things English, and a personal friend of Frere, the -British minister. The latter did his best to support his pretensions, -often expressing in official correspondence with the Junta a desire -that Albuquerque might be given an independent corps, and entrusted -with the charge of the movement that was to be concerted in conjunction -with Wellesley’s army.</p> - -<p>But it was not so much Albuquerque as Wellesley himself that Cuesta -dreaded as a possible successor. For Frere was possessed with the -notion that the time had now arrived at which it would be possible to -press for the appointment of a single Commander-in-chief of all the -Spanish armies. The obvious person to fill this post was the victor -of Vimiero and Oporto, if only Spanish pride would consent to the -appointment of a foreigner. Frere had sufficient sense to refrain -from openly publishing his idea. But he was continually ventilating -it to his private friends in the Junta, in season and out of season. -There can be no doubt that both from the military and the political -point of view the results of Wellesley’s exaltation to the position of -Generalissimo would have been excellent. If he had controlled the whole -of the Spanish armies in the summer of 1809, the course of affairs -in the Peninsula would have taken a very different turn, and the -campaign of Talavera would not have been wrecked by the hopeless want -of co-operation between the allied armies. But it was not yet the time -to press for the appointment: great as Wellesley’s reputation already -was, when compared with that of any Spanish general, it was still not -so splendid or so commanding as to compel assent to his promotion<a -id="FNanchor_587" href="#Footnote_587" class="fnanchor">[587]</a>. -Legitimate national pride stood in the way, and<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_466">[p. 466]</span> even after Espinosa, and Tudela, and -Medellin the Spaniards could not believe that it was necessary for them -to entrust the whole responsibility for the defence of their country -to the foreigner. Only a few of the politicians of Seville showed any -liking for the project. Wellesley himself would have desired nothing so -much as this appointment, but being wiser and less hopeful than Frere, -he thought it useless to press the point. When the sanguine diplomat -wrote to him, early in June, to detail his attempts to bring home the -advisability of the project to his Spanish friends, the general’s reply -was cautious in the extreme. ‘I am much flattered,’ he said, ‘by the -notion entertained by some of the persons in authority at Seville, of -appointing me to the command of the Spanish armies. I have received -no instruction from Government upon that subject: but I believe that -it was considered an object of great importance in England that the -Commander-in-chief of the British troops should have that situation. -But it is one more likely to be attained by refraining from pressing -it, and leaving it to the Spanish themselves to discover the expediency -of the arrangement, than by any suggestion on our parts.’ He concluded -by informing Frere that he could not conceive that his insinuation was -likely to have any effect, and that the opinion of the British Ministry -was probably correct—viz. that at present national jealousy -made the project hopeless<a id="FNanchor_588" href="#Footnote_588" -class="fnanchor">[588]</a>.</p> - -<p>Now it was impossible that Frere’s well-meaning but mistaken -endeavours should escape the notice of Cuesta’s friends in Seville. -The British Minister had spoken to so many politicians on the subject, -that we cannot doubt that his colloquies were promptly reported to the -Captain-General of Estremadura. This fact goes far to explain Cuesta’s -surly and impracticable behaviour towards Wellesley during the Talavera -campaign. He disliked his destined colleague not only because he was a -foreigner, and because he showed himself strong-willed and outspoken -during<span class="pagenum" id="Page_467">[p. 467]</span> their -intercourse, but because he believed that the Englishman was intriguing -behind his back to obtain the post of Generalissimo. This belief made -him determined to assert his independence on the most trifling matters, -loth to fall in with even the most reasonable plans, and suspicious -that every proposal made to him concealed some trap. He attributed -to Wellesley the design of getting rid of him, and was naturally -determined to do nothing to forward it.</p> - -<p>The English officers who studied Cuesta’s conduct from the outside, -during the Talavera campaign, attributed his irrational movements and -his hopeless impracticability to a mere mixture of pride, stupidity, -and obstinacy. They were wrong; the dominant impulse was resentment, -jealousy, and suspicion—a combination far more deadly in its -results than the other. He awaited the approach of Wellesley with a -predisposition to quarrel and a well-developed personal enmity, whose -existence the British general had not yet realized.</p> - -<p>We have dealt in the last chapter with the strength and organization -of the British army at the moment when Wellesley crossed the frontier -on July 3. It remains to speak of the two Spanish armies which were -to take part in the campaign. We have already seen that Cuesta’s host -had been reinforced after Medellin with a new brigade of Granadan -levies, and a whole division taken from the army of La Mancha<a -id="FNanchor_589" href="#Footnote_589" class="fnanchor">[589]</a>. -Since that date he had received large drafts both of infantry and -cavalry from Andalusia. Six more regiments of horse had reached -him, besides reinforcements for his old corps. All were now strong -in numbers, and averaged between 400 and 500 sabres, so that by the -middle of June he had fully 7,000 mounted men under his orders. -Eight or nine additional regiments of infantry had also come to -hand since April—some of them new Andalusian levies, others -old corps whose <i>cadres</i> had been filled up since the disaster of -Ucles. His infantry counted about 35,000 bayonets, divided into<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_468">[p. 468]</span> five divisions and -a ‘vanguard’: the latter under Zayas was about 4,000 strong, each -of the others exceeded 5,000. The cavalry formed two divisions, -under Henestrosa and Albuquerque, one composed of seven, one of six -regiments. There were thirty guns—some of heavy calibre, nine-and -twelve-pounders—with about 800 artillerymen. The whole army, -inclusive of sick and detached, amounted to 42,000 men, of whom perhaps -36,000 were efficients present with the colours<a id="FNanchor_590" -href="#Footnote_590" class="fnanchor">[590]</a>.</p> - -<p>The second Spanish army, that of La Mancha under Venegas, was -much weaker, having furnished heavy detachments to reinforce Cuesta -before it took the field in June. Its base was the old ‘Army of the -Centre,’ which had been commanded by Castaños and Infantado. Some -twenty battalions that had seen service in the campaign of Tudela were -still in its ranks: they had been recruited up to an average of 500 -or 600 bayonets. The rest of the force was composed of new Andalusian -regiments, raised in the winter and spring, some of which had taken -part in the rout of Ciudad Real under Cartaojal, while others had never -before entered the field. The gross total of the army on June 16 was -26,298 men, of whom 3,383 were cavalry. Deducting the sick in hospital, -Venegas could dispose of some 23,000 sabres and bayonets, distributed -into five divisions. The horsemen in this army were not formed into -separate brigades, but allotted as divisional cavalry to the infantry -units. There was little to choose, in point of efficiency, between -the Estremaduran army and that of La Mancha; both contained too many -raw troops, and in both, as was soon to be proved, the bulk of the -cavalry was still as untrustworthy as it had shown itself in previous -engagements.</p> - -<p>The Spaniards therefore could put into the field for the campaign -of July on the Tagus some 60,000 men. But the fatal want of unity -in command was to prevent them from co-ordinating their movements -and acting as integral parts of a single army guided by a single -will. Venegas was to a certain degree supposed to be under Cuesta’s -authority, but as he was continually receiving orders directly from -the Junta, and was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_469">[p. 469]</span> -treated by them as an independent commander, he practically was enabled -to do much as he pleased. Being a personal enemy of Cuesta, he had -every inducement to play his own game, and did not scruple to do so at -the most important crisis of the campaign,—covering his disregard -of the directions of his senior by the easy pretext of a desire to -execute those of the central government.</p> - -<p>On July 15, the day when his share in the campaign commenced, the -head quarters of Venegas were at Santa Cruz de Mudela, just outside -the northern exit of the Despeña Perros. His outposts lay in front, at -El Moral, Valdepeñas, and Villanueva de los Infantes. He was divided -by a considerable distance—some twenty-five miles—from the -advanced cavalry of Sebastiani’s corps, whose nearest detachment was -placed at Villaharta, where the high-road to Madrid crosses the river -Giguela.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile we must return to Wellesley, who having crossed the -frontier on July 3, was now moving forward by short marches to -Plasencia. On the fourth the head quarters were at Zarza la Mayor, -on the sixth at Coria, on the seventh at Galisteo; on the eighth -Plasencia was reached, and the general halted the army, while he -should ride over to Almaraz and confer in person with Cuesta on the -details of their plan of campaign. In the valley of the Alagon, where -the country was almost untouched by the hand of war, provisions were -obtainable in some quantity, but every Spanish informant agreed -that when the troops dropped down to the Tagus they would find the -land completely devastated. Wellesley was therefore most anxious to -organize a great dépôt of food before moving on: the local authorities -professed great readiness to supply him, and he contracted with the -Alcaldes of the fertile Vera de Plasencia for 250,000 rations of -flour to be delivered during the next ten days<a id="FNanchor_591" -href="#Footnote_591" class="fnanchor">[591]</a>. Lozano de Torres, -the Spanish commissary-general sent by the Junta to the British head -quarters, promised his aid in collecting the food, but even before -Wellesley departed to visit Cuesta, he had begun to conceive doubts -whether supplies would be easily procurable. The difficulty was want -of transport—the army had marched from Portugal with a light -equipment, and had no carts to spare for scouring the country<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_470">[p. 470]</span>-side in search of flour. -The General had relied on the assurances sent him from Seville to the -effect that he would easily be able to find local transport in the -intact regions about Coria and Plasencia: but he was disappointed: very -few carts could be secured, and the store of food in the possession -of the army seemed to shrink rather than to increase during every -day that the army remained in the valley of the Alagon, though the -region was fruitful and undevastated. It is certain that the British -commissaries had not yet mastered the art of gathering in provisions -from the country-side, and that the Spanish local authorities could not -be made to understand the necessity for punctuality and dispatch in the -delivery of the promised supplies.</p> - -<p>On July 10 Wellesley started off with the head-quarters staff to -visit Cuesta, at his camp beyond the bridge of Almaraz, there to -concert the details of their joint advance. Owing to an error made by -his guides he arrived after dusk at the hamlet below the Puerto de -Mirabete, around which the main body of the Army of Estremadura was -encamped. The Captain-General had drawn out his troops in the afternoon -for the inspection of the British commander. When at last he appeared -they had been four hours under arms in momentary expectation of the -arrival of their distinguished visitor, and Cuesta himself, though -still lame from the effect of his bruises at Medellin, had sat on -horseback at their head during the greater part of that time.</p> - -<p>Two admirable accounts of the review of the Estremaduran host in the -darkness were written by members of Wellesley’s staff. It is well worth -while to quote one of them<a id="FNanchor_592" href="#Footnote_592" -class="fnanchor">[592]</a>, for the narrative expresses with perfect -clearness the effect which the sight of the Spanish troops made upon -their allies:—</p> - -<p>‘Our arrival at the camp was announced by a general discharge of -artillery, upon which an immense number of torches were made to blaze -up, and we passed the entire Spanish line in review by their light. The -effect produced by these arrangements was one of no ordinary character. -The torches, held aloft at moderate intervals, threw a red and wavering -light over the whole scene, permitting at the same time its minuter -parts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_471">[p. 471]</span> to be here -and there cast into the shade, while the grim and swarthy visages of -the soldiers, their bright arms and dark uniforms, appeared peculiarly -picturesque as often as the flashes fell upon them. Nor was Cuesta -himself an object to be passed by without notice: the old man preceded -us, not so much sitting upon his horse as held upon it by two pages, at -the imminent risk of being overthrown whenever a cannon was discharged, -or a torch flamed out with peculiar brightness. His physical debility -was so observable as clearly to mark his unfitness for the situation -which he held. As to his mental powers, he gave us little opportunity -of judging, inasmuch as he scarcely uttered five words during the -continuance of our visit: but his corporal infirmities were ever at -absolute variance with all a general’s duties.</p> - -<p>‘In this way we passed by about 6,000 cavalry drawn up in -rank entire, and not less than twenty battalions of infantry, -each of 700 to 800 bayonets. They were all, without exception, -remarkably fine men. Some indeed were very young—too young for -service—particularly among the recruits who had lately joined. -But to take them all in all, it would not have been easy to find a -stouter or more hardy looking body of soldiers in any European service. -Of their appointments it was not possible to speak in the same terms -of commendation. There were battalions whose arms, accoutrements, and -even clothing might be pronounced respectable<a id="FNanchor_593" -href="#Footnote_593" class="fnanchor">[593]</a>: but in general<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_472">[p. 472]</span> they were deficient, -particularly in shoes. It was easy to perceive, from the attitude in -which they stood, and the manner in which they handled their arms, -that little or no discipline prevailed among them: they could not but -be regarded as raw levies. Speaking of them in the aggregate they were -little better than bold peasantry, armed partially like soldiers, but -completely unacquainted with a soldier’s duty. This remark applied to -the cavalry as much as to the infantry. Many of the horses were good, -but the riders manifestly knew nothing of movement or of discipline: -and they were on this account, as also on that of miserable equipment, -quite unfit for service. The generals appeared to have been selected -by one rule alone—that of seniority. They were almost all old -men, and, except O’Donoju and Zayas, evidently incapable of bearing -the fatigues or surmounting the difficulties of a campaign. It was -not so with the colonels and battalion commanders, who appeared to be -young and active, and some of whom were, we had reason to believe, -learning to become skilful officers.... Cuesta seemed particularly -unwilling that any of his generals should hold any serious conversation -with us. It is true that he presented them one by one to Sir Arthur, -but no words were exchanged on the occasion, and each retired after -he had made his bow.’ Albuquerque, of whom the Captain-General -was particularly jealous, had been relegated with his division to -Arzobispo, and did not appear on the scene.</p> - -<p>The all-important plan of campaign was settled at a long -conference—it lasted for four hours—on the morning of the -following day. According to all accounts the scene at the interview -must have been curious. Cuesta could not, or would not, speak -French: Wellesley was not yet able to express himself fluently in -Spanish. Accordingly, O’Donoju, the chief of the staff of the Army of -Estremadura, acted as interpreter between them, rendering Wellesley’s -views into Spanish and Cuesta’s into English. The greater part of the -discussion consisted in the bringing forward of plans by the British -commander and their rejection by the Captain-General. Cuesta was full -of suspicion,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_473">[p. 473]</span> and -saw a trap in every proposal that was made to him: he imagined that -Wellesley’s main object was to edge him out of the supreme command. He -was almost silent throughout the interview, only opening his lips to -give emphatic negatives, for which O’Donoju proceeded to find ingenious -and elaborate explanations.</p> - -<p>It was not the principles on which the campaign was to be conducted, -but the details of the distribution of the troops on which the trouble -arose. The enemy’s position and force was fairly well known to both -generals, except in one all-important particular. They were aware that -Victor lay behind the Alberche with not much more than 22,000 men, -that Sebastiani was at Madridejos with a somewhat smaller force<a -id="FNanchor_594" href="#Footnote_594" class="fnanchor">[594]</a>, and -that King Joseph with his central reserve, which they over-estimated at -12,000 men, was able at any moment to join the 1st Corps. Hence they -expected to find some 34,000 French troops at Talavera, and rightly -considered that with the 55,000 men of their two armies they ought to -give a good account of them. Sebastiani, as they supposed, might be -left out of the game, for occupation for him would be found by the army -of La Mancha, which was to be told off for this purpose and directed to -cling to the skirts of the 4th Corps and never to lose sight of it. As -Venegas would have, according to their calculations, nearly double the -numbers of Sebastiani, he would have no difficulty in keeping him in -check.</p> - -<p>But it was not only on the French troops in New Castile that watch -had to be kept. It was necessary to take into account the enemy beyond -the mountains, in the valley of the Douro. The allied generals were -aware that Mortier and Soult must both be considered. The former -they knew to be at Valladolid, and they had learnt that King Joseph -was proposing to bring him down towards Madrid—as was indeed -the fact. Accordingly they expected that he might turn up in a few -days somewhere in the direction of Avila. Soult they knew to be at -Zamora, and from the dispatches captured with General Franceschi ten -days before, they had a good knowledge of his force and intentions. A -study of these documents led them to conclude<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_474">[p. 474]</span> that he could not move for many weeks, -owing to the dilapidated state of his corps—which he had -painted in the most moving terms in his letters to King Joseph<a -id="FNanchor_595" href="#Footnote_595" class="fnanchor">[595]</a>. They -also gathered that if he moved at all, he would be inclined to threaten -Northern Portugal or Ciudad Rodrigo: in the dispatches captured with -Franceschi he had named Braganza as a point at which he might strike. -Accordingly they opined that he need not be taken very seriously into -consideration, especially as he was wholly destitute of artillery<a -id="FNanchor_596" href="#Footnote_596" class="fnanchor">[596]</a>. -Yet he might be drawn into the field by the news that Madrid was in -danger. If he were induced to bring help to the King, he would almost -certainly work by making a diversion against the communications of -the British army, and not by directly joining himself to Joseph’s -army by the long and circuitous march from Zamora to Madrid. To carry -out such a diversion he would be obliged to cross the lofty Sierra de -Francia by one of the passes which lead from the Salamanca region into -the valley of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_475">[p. 475]</span> -Alagon—perhaps by the defile of Perales, but much more probably -by the better known and more practicable pass of Baños. Wellesley -took the possibility of this movement into serious consideration, -but did not think that it would be likely to cause him much danger -if it should occur, for he believed that Soult would bring with him -no more than the 15,000 or 18,000 men of his own 2nd Corps. That he -would appear not with such a small force, but with Ney and Mortier in -his wake, leading an army of 50,000 bayonets, did not enter into the -mind of the British commander. Mortier was thought to be moving in the -direction of Avila: Ney was believed to be contending with the Galician -insurgents in the remote regions about Lugo and Corunna. The news of -his arrival at Astorga had not yet reached the allied camps, and he was -neglected as a factor in the situation. Wellesley and Cuesta had no -conception that any force save that of Soult was likely to menace their -northern flank and their line of communications when they committed -themselves to their advance on Madrid. To provide against a possible -movement of the 2nd Corps into the valley of the Tagus, therefore, -all that was necessary was to hold the defiles of Perales and Baños. -The former had already been seen to, for even before the meeting of -Wellesley and Cuesta, Carlos d’España had blocked it with two or three -battalions drawn from the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo. For the latter -Wellesley hoped that Cuesta would provide a sufficient garrison<a -id="FNanchor_597" href="#Footnote_597" class="fnanchor">[597]</a>. The -old Captain-General promised to do so, but only sent 600 men under the -Marquis Del Reino, a wholly inadequate detachment<a id="FNanchor_598" -href="#Footnote_598" class="fnanchor">[598]</a>.</p> - -<p>Wellesley’s first proposal to his Spanish colleague was that the -main bodies of both armies should advance against Victor, while a -detachment of 10,000 men should move out to the left, in the direction -of Avila, to look for Mortier, if he were to be<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_476">[p. 476]</span> found in that direction, and if not to -turn the enemy’s right and threaten Madrid. He hoped that Venegas and -the army of La Mancha might at the same time move forward against -Sebastiani, and keep him so fully employed that he would not be able to -spare a man to aid Victor and King Joseph.</p> - -<p>Cuesta at once refused to make any detachment in the direction of -Avila from his own army, and suggested that Wellesley should find the -10,000 men required for this diversion. The English general objected -that it would take exactly half his force, and that he could not split -up such a small unit, while the Spaniards could easily spare such a -number of troops from their total of 36,000 men. This argument failed -to move Cuesta, and the project was dropped, Wellesley thinking that it -was not strictly necessary, though very advisable<a id="FNanchor_599" -href="#Footnote_599" class="fnanchor">[599]</a>.</p> - -<p>The only flanking force which was finally set aside for operations -on the left wing, for the observation of the French about Avila -and the feint at Madrid, consisted of Sir Robert Wilson’s 1,500 -Portuguese, and a corresponding body of two battalions and one squadron -from the Spanish army<a id="FNanchor_600" href="#Footnote_600" -class="fnanchor">[600]</a>—about 3,500 men in all. It played -a part of some little importance in the campaign, but it is hard to -see that it would have exercised any dominant influence even if it -had been raised to the full strength that Wellesley had desired. -Mortier, as a matter of fact, was not near Avila, and so the 10,000 -men sent in this direction would not have served the end that the -British general expected. The 5th Corps had been called off by Soult, -contrary to the wishes of the King, and no body of troops was needed -to contain it, on this part of the theatre of war. It was ultimately -to appear at a very different point, where no provision had been made -for its reception.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_477">[p. 477]</span></p> - -<p>Far more important were the arrangements which Wellesley and -Cuesta made for the diversion on their other flank. It was from the -miscarriage of this operation, owing to the wilful disobedience of the -officer charged with it, that the failure of the whole campaign was to -come about. They agreed that Venegas with the 23,000 men of the army -of La Mancha, was to move up the high-road from his position at Santa -Cruz de Mudela, and drive Sebastiani before him. Having pushed back -the 4th Corps to the Tagus, Venegas was then to endeavour to force the -passage of that river either at Aranjuez or at Fuentedueñas, and to -threaten Madrid. It was calculated that Sebastiani would be forced to -keep between him and the capital, and would be unable to spare a man to -reinforce Victor and King Joseph. Thus Wellesley and Cuesta with 56,000 -men would close on the King and the Marshal, who could not have more -than 35,000, and (as it was hoped) defeat them or at least manœuvre -them out of Madrid. A glance at the map will show one peculiarity of -this plan: it would have been more natural to bid Venegas march by the -bridge of Toledo rather than by those of Aranjuez and Fuentedueñas; -to use the latter he would have to move towards his right, and to -separate himself by a long gap from the main army of the allies. At -Toledo he would be within thirty-five miles of them—at Aranjuez -seventy, at Fuentedueñas 100 miles would lie between him and the -troops of Wellesley and Cuesta. It would appear that the two generals -at their colloquy came to the conclusion that by ordering Venegas to -use the eastern passages of the Tagus they would compel Sebastiani to -remove eastward also, so that he would be out of supporting distance -of Victor. They recognized the bare possibility that Sebastiani might -refuse to devote himself to the task of holding back the army of La -Mancha, might leave Madrid to its fate, and then hurry off to join the -King and the 1st Corps in an assault on the main Anglo-Spanish army. -In this case they settled that Venegas should march on the capital and -seize it, a move which (as they supposed) would force Joseph to turn -back or to re-divide his army<a id="FNanchor_601" href="#Footnote_601" -class="fnanchor">[601]</a>. But it is clear that<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_478">[p. 478]</span> they did not expect to have to fight -Victor, the King, and Sebastiani combined, as they were ultimately -forced to do at Talavera on July 28. They supposed that Venegas would -find occupation for the 4th Corps, and that they might count on finding -only the 1st Corps and Joseph’s Madrid reserves in front of them.</p> - -<p>When armies are working in a joint operation from separate bases -it is all-important that they should time their movements with the -nicest exactitude. This Wellesley and Cuesta attempted to secure, by -sending to Venegas an elaborate time-table. He was ordered to be at -Madridejos on July 19, at Tembleque on the twentieth, at Santa Cruz de -la Zarza on the twenty-first, and at the bridge of Fuentedueñas on the -twenty-second or twenty-third. All this was on the supposition that -Sebastiani would have about 12,000 men and would give ground whenever -pressed. If he turned out by some unlikely chance—presumably -by having rallied the King’s reserves—to be much stronger, -Venegas was to manœuvre in the direction of Tarancon, to avoid a -general action, and if necessary to retreat towards the Passes from -which he had started. It would be rather an advantage than otherwise -if (contrary to all probability) the French had concentrated their -main force against the army of La Mancha, for this would leave Victor -helpless in front of the united hosts of Wellesley and Cuesta, which -would outnumber him by two to one.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapI_5"> - <img class="thick" - src="images/coins.jpg" - alt="A Portuguese Cavalry Soldier" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/coins-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - SPANISH COINS OF THE PERIOD OF THE PENINSULAR WAR - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">What the allied generals never expected was that Venegas -would let Sebastiani slip away from his front, without any attempt to -hold him, and would then (instead of marching on Madrid) waste the -critical days of the campaign (July 24-29) in miserable delays between -Toledo and Aranjuez, when there was absolutely no French field-force -between him and Madrid, nor any hostile troops whatever in his -neighbourhood save a weak division of 3,000 men in garrison at Toledo. -The failure of the Talavera campaign is due even more to this wretched -indecision and disobedience to orders on the part of Venegas than to -the eccentricities and errors of Cuesta. If the army of La Mancha had -kept Sebastiani in check, and refused to allow him to abscond, there -would have been no battles on the Alberche on July 27-28, for the -French would never have dared to face the <span class="pagenum" -id="Page_479">[p. 479]</span>Anglo-Spaniards of the main host without -the assistance of the 4th Corps.</p> - -<p>But to return to the joint plan of Wellesley and Cuesta: on July -23, the day on which Venegas was to reach Fuentedueñas (or Aranjuez) -the 56,000 men of the grand army were to be assailing Victor behind -the Alberche. The British were to cross the Tietar at Bazagona on -the eighteenth and follow the high-road Navalmoral-Oropesa. The -Estremadurans, passing the Tagus at Almaraz and Arzobispo, were to move -by the parallel route along the river bank by La Calzada and Calera, -which is only five or six miles distant from the great <i>chaussée</i>. -Thus the two armies would be in close touch with each other, and -would not be caught apart by the enemy. On reaching Talavera they -were to force the fords of the Alberche and fall upon Victor in his -cantonments behind that stream. Sir Robert Wilson and the 3,500 men -of his mixed Spanish and Portuguese detachment were to move up as the -flank-guard of the allied host, and to push by the head waters of the -Tietar for Escalona on the side-road to Madrid<a id="FNanchor_602" -href="#Footnote_602" class="fnanchor">[602]</a>.</p> - -<p>Criticisms of the most acrimonious kind have been brought to -bear on this plan by English, French, and Spanish writers. Many of -them are undeserved; in particular the tritest objection of all, -made <i>ex post facto</i> by those who only look at the actual course of -the campaign, that Wellesley was exposing his communications to the -united forces of Soult, Ney, and Mortier. There was on July 10, when -Cuesta and Wellesley met, no reason whatever for apprehending the -contingency of the march of the three marshals upon Plasencia. Soult, -as his own letters of June 25 bore witness, was not in a condition -to move—he had not a single piece of artillery, and his troops -were in dire need of rest and re-equipment. Ney was believed to be -at Corunna or Lugo—Soult’s intercepted dispatches spoke of -the 6th Corps as being destined to remain behind in Galicia, and -he (as the allied generals supposed) ought best to have known what -his colleague was about to do. How could they have guessed that, in -wrath at his desertion by the Duke of Dalmatia, Ney would evacuate -the whole kingdom, abandon fortresses like<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_480">[p. 480]</span> Ferrol and Corunna, and march for -Astorga? Without Ney’s corps to aid him, Soult could not possibly have -marched on Plasencia—to have done so with the 2nd Corps alone -would have exposed him to being beset by Wellesley on one side and by -Beresford on the other. As to Mortier and the 5th Corps, Cuesta and -Wellesley undervalued their strength, being unaware that Kellermann -had sent back from the Asturias the division that had been lent him -for his expedition to Oviedo. They thought that the Duke of Treviso’s -force was more like 7,000 than 17,000 bayonets, and—such as it -was—they had the best of reasons for believing that it was more -likely to march on Madrid by Avila than to join Soult, for they had -before them an intercepted dispatch from the King, bidding Mortier to -move down to Villacastin in order to be in supporting distance of the -capital and the 1st Corps.</p> - -<p>On the whole, therefore, the two generals must be excused for -not foreseeing the descent of 50,000 men upon their communications, -which took place three weeks after their meeting at the bridge of -Almaraz: the data in their possession on July 10 made it appear most -improbable.</p> - -<p>A much more valid criticism is that which blames the method of -co-operation with Venegas which was employed. ‘Double external lines -of operations’ against an enemy placed in a central position are -notoriously perilous, and the particular movement on Fuentedueñas, -which the army of La Mancha was ordered to execute, was one which took -it as far as possible from Wellesley’s and Cuesta’s main body. Yet it -may be urged in their defence that, if they had drawn in Venegas to -join them, they would have got little profit out of having 23,000 more -Spaniards on the Alberche. Sebastiani on the other hand, who could -join Victor at the same moment that the corps from La Mancha joined -the allies, would bring some 17,000 excellent troops to Talavera. The -benefit of drawing in Venegas would be much less than the disadvantage -of drawing in Sebastiani to the main theatre of war. Hence came -the idea that the army from the Passes must be devoted to the sole -purpose of keeping the 4th Corps as far as possible from the Alberche. -Even knowing that Venegas was hostile to Cuesta, and that he was a -man of no mark or capacity, Wellesley could not have expected<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_481">[p. 481]</span> that he would disobey -orders, waste time, and fail utterly in keeping touch with Sebastiani -or threatening Madrid.</p> - -<p>The one irreparable fault in the drawing up of the whole plan -of campaign was the fundamental one that Wellesley had undertaken -to co-operate with Spanish armies before he had gauged the weak -points of the generals and their men. If he had held the post of -commander-in-chief of the allied forces, and could have issued -orders that were obeyed without discussion, the case would have been -different. But he had to act in conjunction with two colleagues, one of -whom was suspicious of his intentions and jealous of his preponderant -capacity, while the other deliberately neglected to carry out clear -and cogent orders from his superior officer. Cuesta’s impracticability -and Venegas’s disobedience could not have been foreseen by one who had -no previous experience of Spanish armies. Still less had Wellesley -realized all the defects of the Spanish rank and file when placed in -line of battle. That he did not hold an exaggerated opinion of their -merits when he started on the campaign is shown by letters which he -wrote nine months before<a id="FNanchor_603" href="#Footnote_603" -class="fnanchor">[603]</a>. But he was still under the impression that, -if cautiously handled, and not exposed to unnecessary dangers, they -would do good service. He had yet to witness the gratuitous panic of -Portago’s division on the eve of Talavera, and the helplessness of -the Spanish cavalry at the combats of Gamonal and Arzobispo. After a -month’s experience of Cuesta and his men, Wellesley vowed never again -to take part in grand operations with a Spanish general as his equal -and colleague. This was the teaching of experience—and on July 10 -the experience was yet to come.</p> - -<p>The interview at the bridge of Almaraz had not been very -satisfactory to Wellesley, but it was far from having undeceived -him as to the full extent of the difficulties that lay before him. -He wrote to Frere at Seville that he had been on the whole well -received, and that Cuesta had not displayed any jealousy of him. As -that sentiment was at this moment the predominant feeling in the -old man’s breast, it is clear that he had succeeded in hiding it. -But the obstinate silence of Wellesley’s colleague had worried him. -O’Donoju had done all the talking, and ‘it was impossible to say what -plans the general entertains.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_482">[p. -482]</span>’ He was moreover somewhat perturbed by the rumours which -his staff had picked up from the Estremaduran officers, to the effect -that Cuesta was so much the enemy of the Central Junta that he was -plotting a <i>pronunciamiento</i> for its deposition<a id="FNanchor_604" -href="#Footnote_604" class="fnanchor">[604]</a>. As to the fighting -powers of the Spanish army, Wellesley wrote to Castlereagh that ‘the -troops were ill clothed but well armed, and the officers appeared -to take pains with their discipline. Some of the corps of infantry -were certainly good, and the horses of the cavalry were in good -condition.’ Only ten days later he was to utter the very different -opinion that ‘owing to their miserable state of discipline and their -want of officers properly qualified, these troops are entirely -incapable of performing any manœuvre however simple<a id="FNanchor_605" -href="#Footnote_605" class="fnanchor">[605]</a>,’ and that ‘whole -corps, officers and men, run off on the first appearance of danger<a -id="FNanchor_606" href="#Footnote_606" class="fnanchor">[606]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The British Commander-in-chief had indeed many moral and mental -experiences to go through between the interview at Mirabete on July 10, -and the retreat from Talavera on August 2!</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_4"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_483">[p. 483]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER IV">SECTION XVI: CHAPTER IV</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE MARCH TO TALAVERA: QUARREL OF WELLESLEY - AND CUESTA</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">Having</span> returned to his army -on July 12, Wellesley gave orders for the whole force to get ready for -a general advance on the morning of the eighteenth, the day which had -been chosen for the commencement of operations at the conference of -Almaraz. It would have been in every way desirable to have moved out at -once, and not to have waited for these six days. If the march against -Victor had been fixed for the thirteenth or fourteenth, the French -would have been caught unprepared, for as late as the seventeenth King -Joseph and his adviser Jourdan were under the impression that the force -at Plasencia consisted of nothing more than a Portuguese division of -10,000 men, and it was only on the twenty-second that they received the -definite information that the whole British army was upon the Tietar<a -id="FNanchor_607" href="#Footnote_607" class="fnanchor">[607]</a>. -It is clear that, by advancing five days earlier than he actually -did, Wellesley might have caught the enemy in a state of complete -dispersion—the 4th Corps being on July 20 still at Madridejos in -La Mancha, and the King with his reserves at Madrid. If attacked on the -seventeenth or the eighteenth, as he might well have been, Victor would -have found it impossible to call up Sebastiani in time, and must have -fallen back in haste to the capital. The allies could then have cut -him off from the 4th Corps, which must have retreated by a circuitous -route, and could not have rejoined the main body of the French army in -time for a battle in front of Madrid.</p> - -<p>It would appear that Wellesley had fixed the date of his<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_484">[p. 484]</span> advance so late as the -eighteenth mainly because of the difficulty as to the collection of -provisions, which was now looming before him in larger proportions -than ever. But it is possible that the necessity for allowing some -days for the transmission of the plan of campaign to Venegas also -counted for something in the drawing up of the time-table. It would -have been rash to start before the army of La Mancha was prepared to -take its part in the joint plan of operations. So much depended upon -the diversion which Venegas was to execute, that it would have been a -mistake to move before he could break up from his distant cantonments -at Santa Cruz de Mudela. No word, however, concerning this appears in -Wellesley’s correspondence. From July 13 to July 18 his dispatches -show anxiety about nothing save his food and his transport. Every -day that he stayed at Plasencia made him feel more uncomfortable -concerning the all-important question of supplies. The corn which -the Alcaldes of the Vera had promised to secure for him had begun to -come in, though in driblets and small consignments, but there was no -means of getting it forward: transport was absolutely unprocurable<a -id="FNanchor_608" href="#Footnote_608" class="fnanchor">[608]</a>. -Wellesley sent officers to scour the country-side as far as Bejar and -Ciudad Rodrigo, but they could procure him neither mules nor carts. He -also pressed the Spanish commissary-general, Lozano de Torres, to hunt -up every animal that could be procured, but to small effect. The fact -was that Estremadura was not at any time rich in beasts or vehicles, -and that the peasantry had sent away most of those they owned while the -French lay at Almaraz, lest they should be carried off by the enemy. -Wellesley, who did not understand the limited resources of this part -of Spain, was inclined to believe that the authorities were hostile or -even treacherous.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_485">[p. 485]</span> -The Central Junta had promised him transport in order to make sure of -his starting on the campaign along the Tagus, and when transport failed -to appear, he attributed it to ill-will rather than to poverty. No -doubt he was fully justified in his view that an army operating in a -friendly country may rationally expect to draw both food and the means -to carry it from the regions through which it is passing. But sometimes -the provisions or the transport are not forthcoming merely because -the one or the other is not to be found. It is certain that both -Estremadura and the valley of the central Tagus were at this moment -harried absolutely bare: Victor’s despairing letters from Caceres in -May and from La Calzada in June are sufficient proof of the fact. In a -district where the Marshal said that ‘he could not collect five days’ -provisions by any manner of exertion,’ and that ‘his men were dropping -down dead from actual starvation, so that he must retire or see his -whole corps crumble away<a id="FNanchor_609" href="#Footnote_609" -class="fnanchor">[609]</a>,’ it is clear that the Central Junta could -not have created food for the British army. Cuesta’s troops were living -from hand to mouth on supplies sent forward from Andalusia, or they -could not have continued to exist in the land. The only district which -was intact was that between Coria and Plasencia, and this was actually -at the moment feeding the British army, and had done so now for ten -days or more. But unfortunately the Vera could give corn but no draught -animals. If Wellesley had known this, he must either have exerted -himself to procure more transport before leaving Abrantes—a -difficult task, for he had already drained Portugal of carts and -mules—or have refused to march till the Spaniards sent him wagon -trains from Andalusia. It would have taken months for the Junta to -collect and send forward such trains: they had dispatched all that they -could procure to Cuesta. The campaign on the Tagus, in short, would -never have been fought if Wellesley had understood the state of affairs -that he was to encounter.</p> - -<p>The causes, therefore, of the deadlock that was about to occur -were partly the light-hearted incompetence of the Central Junta in -promising the British army the use of resources which did not exist, -partly Wellesley’s natural ignorance of the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_486">[p. 486]</span> miserable state of Central Spain. He had -never entered the country before, and could not know of its poverty. He -had trusted to the usual military theory that the country-side ought -to provide for a friendly army on the march: but in Spain all military -theories failed to act. Napoleon committed precisely similar errors, -when he directed his army corps to move about in Castile as if they -were in Germany or Lombardy, and found exactly the same hindrances as -did the British general. In later years Wellesley never moved without a -heavy train, and a vast provision of sumpter-beasts and camp-followers. -In July 1809 he had still to learn the art of conducting a Spanish -campaign.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile he was beginning to feel most uncomfortable about -the question of provisions. His anxiety is shown by his letters -to Frere and Beresford; ‘it is impossible,’ he wrote, ‘to express -the inconvenience and risk that we incur from the want of means of -conveyance, which I cannot believe the country could not furnish, -<i>if there existed any inclination to furnish them</i>. The officers -complain, and I believe not without reason, that the country gives -unwillingly the supplies of provisions that we have required ... and -we have not procured a cart or a mule for the service of the army<a -id="FNanchor_610" href="#Footnote_610" class="fnanchor">[610]</a>.’ -But to O’Donoju, the chief of the staff of the Estremaduran army, he -wrote in even more drastic terms, employing phrases that were certain -to provoke resentment. He had, he said, scoured the whole region as -far as Ciudad Rodrigo for transport, and to no effect. ‘If the people -of Spain are unable or unwilling to supply what the army requires, I -am afraid that they must do without its services.’ He had been forced -to come to a painful decision, and ‘in order to be fair and candid to -General Cuesta’ he must proceed to inform him that he would execute -the plan for falling upon Victor behind the Alberche, but that when -this had been done he would stir no step further, and ‘begin no new -operation till he had been supplied with the means of transport -which the army requires<a id="FNanchor_611" href="#Footnote_611" -class="fnanchor">[611]</a>.’</p> - -<p>After dispatching this ultimatum, whose terms and tone leave -something to be desired—for surely Cuesta was the last<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_487">[p. 487]</span> person to be saddled -with the responsibility for the pledges made by his enemies of the -Central Junta—Wellesley issued orders for the army to march. -He had been joined at Plasencia by the last of the regiments from -Lisbon, which reached him in time for Talavera<a id="FNanchor_612" -href="#Footnote_612" class="fnanchor">[612]</a>, but had been forced to -leave 400 sick behind him, for the army was still in a bad condition -as regards health. It was therefore with little over 21,000 men that -he began his advance to the Alberche. It was executed with punctual -observance of the dates that had been settled at the interview at -Almaraz. On July 18 the army crossed the Tietar on a flying bridge -built at Bazagona, and lay at Miajadas. On the next night the head -quarters were at Centinello; on the twentieth the British entered -Oropesa. Here Cuesta joined them with his whole army, save the two -battalions lent to Wilson, and the two others under the Marquis Del -Reino which had been sent to the Puerto de Baños. Deducting these 2,600 -bayonets and his sick, he brought over 6,000 horse and 27,000 foot to -the rendezvous. The junction having taken place on the twenty-first, -the advance to Talavera was to begin next morning. Oropesa lies only -nineteen miles from that town, and as Victor’s cavalry vedettes were in -sight, it was clear that contact with the enemy would be established -during the course of the day. Accordingly the allied armies marched -with caution, the Spaniards along the high-road, the British following -a parallel path on the left, across the slopes of the hills which -divide the valley of the Tietar from that of the Tagus.</p> - -<p>About midday the Spaniards fell in with the whole of the cavalry -division of Latour-Maubourg, which Victor had thrown out as a screen in -front of Talavera. He had ascertained on the evening of the preceding -day that Cuesta was about to move forward, and was anxious to compel -him to display his entire force. Above all he desired to ascertain -whether the rumours concerning the presence of British troops in -his front were correct. Accordingly he had left two battalions of -infantry in the town of Talavera, and thrown out the six regiments of -dragoons in front of it, near the village of Gamonal. The Spaniards -were advancing with Albuquerque’s cavalry division as an advanced -guard. But seeing Latour-Maubourg in his<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_488">[p. 488]</span> front the Duke refused to attack, and -sent back for infantry and guns. Cuesta pushed forward the division of -Zayas to support him, but even when it arrived the Spaniards made no -headway. They continued skirmishing for four hours<a id="FNanchor_613" -href="#Footnote_613" class="fnanchor">[613]</a> till the British light -cavalry began to appear on their left. ‘Though much more numerous -than the enemy,’ wrote an eye-witness, ‘they made no attempt to -drive him in, but contented themselves with deploying into several -long lines, making a very formidable appearance. We had expected to -see them closely and successfully engaged, having heard that they -were peculiarly adapted for petty warfare, but we found them utterly -incapable of coping with the enemy’s <i>tirailleurs</i>, who were driving -them almost into a circle.’</p> - -<p>On the appearance, however, of Anson’s cavalry upon their flank -the French went hastily to the rear, skirted the suburbs of Talavera, -and rode off along the great Madrid <i>chaussée</i> to the east, followed -by the British light dragoons. As they passed the town two small -columns of infantry came out of it and followed in their rear. -Albuquerque sent one of his regiments against them, but could not get -his men to charge home. On three separate occasions they came on, -but, after receiving the fire of the French, pulled up and fell into -confusion. The impression made by the Spanish cavalry on the numerous -British observers was very bad. ‘No men could have more carefully -avoided coming to close quarters than did the Spaniards this day<a -id="FNanchor_614" href="#Footnote_614" class="fnanchor">[614]</a>,’ -wrote one eye-witness. ‘They showed a total lack not only of -discipline but of resolution<a id="FNanchor_615" href="#Footnote_615" -class="fnanchor">[615]</a>,’ observes another.</p> - -<p>After crossing the plain to the north of Talavera the French, both -cavalry and infantry, forded the Alberche and halted on the further -bank. On arriving at the line of underwood which masks the river the -pursuers found the whole of Victor’s corps in position. The thickets on -the further side were swarming with <i>tirailleurs</i>, and two batteries -opened on Anson’s brigade as it drew near to the water, and sent balls -whizzing among Wellesley’s staff when he pushed forward to reconnoitre -the position.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_489">[p. 489]</span></p> - -<p>It was soon seen that Victor had selected very favourable -fighting-ground: indeed he had been staying at Talavera long enough to -enable him to get a perfect knowledge of the military features of the -neighbourhood. The 1st Corps was drawn up on a range of heights, about -800 yards behind the Alberche, with its left resting on the impassable -Tagus, and its right on a wooded hill, behind which the smaller river -makes a sharp turn to the east, so as to cover that flank. The position -was formidable, but rather too long for the 22,000 men who formed the -French army. Having learnt from the people of Talavera that the enemy -had received no reinforcements up to that morning, from Madrid or any -other quarter, Wellesley was anxious to close with them at once. The -afternoon was too far spent for any attempt to force the passage on the -twenty-second, but on the next day (July 23) the British general hoped -to fight. The Alberche was crossed by a wooden bridge which the enemy -had not destroyed, and was fordable in many places: there seemed to be -no reason why the lines behind it might not be forced by a resolute -attack delivered with numbers which were as two to one to those of the -French.</p> - -<p>Accordingly Wellesley left the 3rd division and Anson’s light horse -in front of the right wing of Victor’s position, and encamped the rest -of his army some miles to the rear, in the plain between Talavera and -the Alberche. In the same way Albuquerque and Zayas halted for the -night opposite the bridge on the French left, while the main body of -the Spaniards occupied the town in their rear. In the evening hours -Wellesley endeavoured to urge upon Cuesta the necessity for delivering -an attack at dawn: he undertook to force the northern fords and to turn -the enemy’s right, if his colleague would attack the southern fords -and the bridge. The Captain-General ‘received the suggestion with dry -civility,’ and asked for time to think it over. After a conference with -his subordinates, he at last sent word at midnight that he would accept -the proposed plan of operations.</p> - -<p>At 3 o’clock therefore on the morning of the twenty-third, -Wellesley brought down Sherbrooke’s and Mackenzie’s divisions to the -ground opposite the fords, and waited for the arrival of the Spanish -columns on his right. They did not appear, and<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_490">[p. 490]</span> after long waiting the British general -rode to seek his colleague. He found him opposite the bridge of the -Alberche, ‘seated on the cushions taken out of his carriage, for he had -driven to the outposts in a coach drawn by nine mules, the picture of -mental and physical inability.’ The old man murmured that the enemy’s -position had not been sufficiently reconnoitred, that it would take -time to get his army drawn out opposite the points which it was to -attack, that he was not sure of the fords, that the bridge over which -his right-hand column would have to advance looked too weak to bear -artillery, and many other things to the same effect—finally -urging that the forcing of the Alberche must be put off to the next -day. As he had not got his troops into battle order, it was clear that -the morning would be wasted, but Wellesley tried to bargain for an -attack in the afternoon. The Captain-General asked for more time, and -would listen to no arguments in favour of fighting on that day. After -a heated discussion Wellesley had to yield: he could not venture to -assail the French with his own army alone, and without any assistance -from the Spaniards. Accordingly it was agreed that the advance should -not be made till the dawn of the twenty-fourth.</p> - -<p>In the afternoon the pickets sent back information that Victor -seemed to be on the move, and that his line was growing thin. Cuesta -was then persuaded to go forward to the outposts; he was hoisted on -to his horse by two grenadiers, while an aide-de-camp stood on the -other side to conduct his right leg over the croup and place it in the -stirrup. Then, hunched up on his saddle, he rode down to the river, -observed that the greater part of the enemy were still in position, and -refused to attack till next morning.</p> - -<p>At dawn, therefore, on the twenty-fourth the allied army moved -forward to the Alberche in three columns, and found, as might have been -expected, that the French had disappeared. On seeing the masses of -redcoats opposite his right upon the previous day, Victor had realized -at last that he had before him the whole British army. He had sent his -train to the rear in the afternoon, and drawn off his entire force -after dusk. By dawn he was more than ten miles away, on the road to -Santa Ollala and Madrid. It was useless to pursue him with any<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_491">[p. 491]</span> hope of forcing him to a -battle. The chance of crushing him before he should receive any further -reinforcements had disappeared. It is not at all to his credit as a -general that he had held his ground so long; if he had been attacked -on the twenty-third, as Wellesley had desired, he must certainly have -suffered a disaster. He had but 22,000 men; and it is clear that, -while the Spaniards were attacking his left and centre, he could not -have set aside men enough to hold back the assault of the solid mass -of 20,000 British troops upon his right. He should have vanished on -the twenty-second, the moment that Latour-Maubourg reported that -Wellesley’s army was in the field. By staying for another day on the -Alberche he risked the direst disaster.</p> - -<p>The British general would have been more than human if he had not -manifested his anger and disgust at the way in which his colleague had -flinched from the agreement to attack, and sacrificed the certainty -of victory. He showed his resentment by acting up to the terms of his -letter written from Plasencia five days before, i.e. by announcing to -Cuesta that, having carried out his pledge to drive the French from -behind the Alberche, he should now refuse to move forward, unless -he were furnished with transport sufficient to make it certain that -the army could reach Madrid without any privations. He was able to -state with perfect truth that he had already been forced to place -his troops on half-rations that very morning: to the 10,000 men of -Sherbrooke’s and Mackenzie’s divisions and of Anson’s light cavalry, he -had only been able to issue 5,000 rations of bread<a id="FNanchor_616" -href="#Footnote_616" class="fnanchor">[616]</a>. Nothing, of course, -could be found at Talavera, where the French had been quartered for -many days. Victor had only been maintaining his troops by the aid of -biscuit sent down from Madrid, and by seizing and threshing for himself -the small amount of corn which had been sown in the neighbourhood that -spring. Wellesley was wrong in supposing that the 1st Corps had been -supporting itself with ease from the country-side<a id="FNanchor_617" -href="#Footnote_617" class="fnanchor">[617]</a>. He was equally at -fault when he asserted that the ‘Spanish army has plenty to eat.’ -Cuesta was at this moment complaining to the Junta that he was short -of provisions, and that the food which he had brought forward<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_492">[p. 492]</span> from the Guadiana was -almost exhausted. Meanwhile every exertion was being made to collect -flour and transport from the rear: Wellesley wrote to O’Donoju that he -had at last hopes of securing some wagons from the Plasencia district -within three days, and that ‘in the meantime he might get something to -eat.’ He had some days before sent orders back even so far as Abrantes, -to order up 200 Portuguese carts which had been collected there, and -the Central Junta had informed him that a train for his use had already -started from Andalusia. But ‘there was no very early prospect of -relieving the present distress<a id="FNanchor_618" href="#Footnote_618" -class="fnanchor">[618]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Cuesta was, as might have been expected, as angry with Wellesley -for refusing to move forward from Talavera, as Wellesley was with -Cuesta for missing the great opportunity of July 23. When informed -that the British army was not about to advance any further, he -announced that he for his part should go on, that Victor was in full -flight, and that he would pursue him to Madrid. ‘In that case’ dryly -observed Wellesley, ‘Cuesta will get himself into a scrape; but any -movement by me to his assistance is quite out of the question. If the -enemy discover that we are not with him, he will be beaten, or must -return. The enemy will make this discovery to-day, if he should risk -any attempt upon their rearguard at Santa Ollala<a id="FNanchor_619" -href="#Footnote_619" class="fnanchor">[619]</a>.’ In reply to the -Captain-General’s declaration that he should press Victor hard, his -colleague only warned him that he would be wiser ‘to secure the course -of the Tagus and open communication with Venegas, while the measures -should be taken to supply the British army with means of transport<a -id="FNanchor_620" href="#Footnote_620" class="fnanchor">[620]</a>.’ -The Spaniard would not listen to any such advice, and hurried forward; -though he had been for many weeks refusing to fight the 1st Corps when -it lay in Estremadura, he was now determined to risk a second Medellin. -Apparently he was obsessed by the idea that Victor was in full retreat -for Madrid, and would not make a serious stand. Underlying his sudden -energy there was also some idea that he would disconcert his masters -of the Central Junta by recovering the capital: he had discovered, it -would seem, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_493">[p. 493]</span> the -Junta had sent secret orders to Venegas, directing him to take charge -of the city on its reconquest, and giving him authority to nominate -the civil and military officers for its administration. If the Army -of Estremadura seized Madrid, while the Army of La Mancha was still -lingering on the way thither, all these plans would be frustrated<a -id="FNanchor_621" href="#Footnote_621" class="fnanchor">[621]</a>.</p> - -<p>Accordingly Cuesta pushed on very boldly on the afternoon of the -twenty-fourth, dividing his army into two columns, of which one marched -on Santa Ollala by the high-road to the capital, while the other moved -by Cevolla and Torrijos on the side-road to Toledo. He was uncertain -whether Victor had retired by one or by both of these routes: if all -his corps had taken the former path, the natural deduction was that he -was thinking only of Madrid: if the Toledo road had also been used, -there was reason for concluding that the Marshal must be intending to -join Sebastiani and the 4th Corps, who might be looked for in that -direction. Late in the day the Spanish general ascertained that the -main body of Victor’s army had taken the latter route: he proceeded -to follow it, placing his head quarters that night at Torrijos, only -fifteen miles from Toledo. Next morning he learnt to his surprise -and dismay that he had in front of him not only the 1st Corps, but -also Sebastiani and the King’s reserves from Madrid: for just at this -moment the whole French force in New Castile had been successfully -concentrated, and nearly 50,000 men were gathered in front of the -33,000 troops of the Army of Estremadura. Venegas’s diversion had -utterly failed to draw off the 4th Corps to the East; the King had come -down in haste from Madrid, and thus the whole plan of campaign which -the allied generals had drawn up had been foiled—partly by the -sloth of Venegas, partly by Cuesta’s inexplicable and perverse refusal -to fight on July 23 upon the line of the Alberche.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_5"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_494">[p. 494]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER V">SECTION XVI: CHAPTER V</h3> - <p class="subh3">CONCENTRATION OF THE FRENCH ARMIES: THE KING -TAKES THE OFFENSIVE: COMBATS OF TORRIJOS AND CASA DE SALINAS</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">It is</span> now necessary to turn to the French -camp, in order to realize the course of events which had led to the -concentration of such a formidable force in the environs of Toledo. -Down to the twenty-second of July Joseph and his adviser Jourdan -had remained in complete ignorance of the advance of Wellesley upon -Plasencia, and seem to have been perfectly free from any apprehension -that Madrid was in danger. Since their return from their fruitless -pursuit of the army of La Mancha, they had been spending most of their -energy in a controversy with Soult. The Duke of Dalmatia, not content -with the command of the three army corps which Napoleon had put at his -disposal, had been penning elaborate dispatches to the King to demand -that the greater part of the remaining French troops in Spain should -be used to co-operate in his projected campaign against the English -in Portugal. He wrote on July 13 to urge on Joseph the necessity (1) -of drawing large detachments from the armies of Aragon and Catalonia, -in order to form a corps of observation in the kingdom of Leon to -support his own rear; (2) of placing another strong detachment at -Plasencia to cover his flank; (3) of transferring every regiment that -could be spared from Madrid and New Castile to Salvatierra on the -Tormes, just south of Salamanca, in order to form a reserve close in -his rear, which he might call up, if necessary, to strengthen the -60,000 men whom he already had in hand. He also demanded that Joseph -should send him at once 200,000 francs to spend on the fortification -of Zamora, Toro, and other places on the Douro, as also 500,000 francs -more for the present expenses of the 2nd,<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_495">[p. 495]</span> 5th, and 6th Corps. If this were granted -him, together with 2,000,000 rations of flour, and a battering-train -of at least forty-eight heavy guns for the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo -and Almeida, he thought that he should be in a position to deliver -a serious attack on Northern Portugal, and ultimately to drive the -British army into the sea<a id="FNanchor_622" href="#Footnote_622" -class="fnanchor">[622]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the day upon which the Duke of Dalmatia made these comprehensive -demands upon King Joseph, the British army had been for ten days in -Spain, and was preparing to advance from Plasencia on Madrid. It was -therefore an exquisitely inappropriate moment at which to demand that -the greater part of the King’s central reserve should be sent off from -the capital to the neighbourhood of Salamanca. There were other parts -of Soult’s lists of requisitions which were equally impracticable. -It is clear that Suchet could not have spared a man from Aragon, and -that St. Cyr, with the siege of Gerona on his hands, would have found -it absolutely impossible to make large detachments from Catalonia. -Even if he and Suchet had been able to send off troops to Leon, they -would have taken months to reach the Galician frontier. The demand for -700,000 francs in hard cash was also most unpalatable: King Joseph was -at this moment in the direst straits for money: his brother could send -him nothing while the Austrian war was in progress, and as he was not -in proper military possession of any large district of Spain, he was -at this moment in a condition of hopeless bankruptcy. He confessed to -Soult that he was living from hand to mouth, by the pitiful expedient -of melting down and coining the silver plate in the royal palace at -Madrid.</p> - -<p>Jourdan therefore replied, in the King’s behalf, to Soult that -he must do his best with the 60,000 men already at his disposition, -that no troops from Catalonia, Aragon, or Madrid could be spared, -and that money could not be found. All that could be given was the -battering-train that had been demanded, 600,000 rations of biscuit, -and an authorization to raise forced contributions in Old Castile. -For the protection of his flanks and his communications the Marshal -must utilize Kellermann’s dragoons and the other unattached troops in -the valley of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_496">[p. 496]</span> -Douro, a force which if raised to 12,000 men by detachments from the -5th or 6th Corps could keep La Romana and the Galicians in check<a -id="FNanchor_623" href="#Footnote_623" class="fnanchor">[623]</a>.</p> - -<p>It is curious to note how entirely ignorant both Soult and the -King were as to the real dangers of the moment. Soult had drawn -up, and Joseph acceded to<a id="FNanchor_624" href="#Footnote_624" -class="fnanchor">[624]</a>, a plan for the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, -and an invasion of Northern Portugal—operations which would take -long weeks of preparation—at the time when Madrid was in imminent -danger from the combined armies of Wellesley, Cuesta, and Venegas. The -Marshal’s plan was perfectly correct from the point of view of the -higher strategy—the main objective of the French was certainly -the British army, and it would have been highly advisable to invade -Northern Portugal with 60,000 men in the front line, and 40,000 in -support, if the circumstances of the moment had permitted it. But these -circumstances were hidden alike from Soult and the King, owing to the -impossibility of obtaining accurate information of the movements of -the allies. The fundamental difficulty of all French operations in the -Peninsula was that the commanders could never discover the whereabouts -of the enemy till he actually came in contact with their outposts. -Hence it chanced that Soult was planning, and Joseph approving, a -campaign on the borders of Northern Portugal, at the precise moment -when the British were on the march for Talavera.</p> - -<p>It was actually not until July 22 that the King’s eyes were at -last unsealed. Victor having come into collision with the cavalry -of Wellesley’s advanced guard, sent news to Madrid that the British -army had joined Cuesta, and had reached the Alberche. On the same -day, by a fortunate chance, there also arrived in the capital -another emissary of Soult, with a message much less impracticable -than that which had last been sent. This was General Foy, whom the -Duke of Dalmatia had dispatched on July 19, after receiving very -definite rumours that the British were moving in the valley of the -Tagus, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_497">[p. 497]</span> not -approaching Old Castile<a id="FNanchor_625" href="#Footnote_625" -class="fnanchor">[625]</a>. The Marshal sent word that in this case he -must of course concert a common plan of operations with the King, and -abandon any immediate action against Portugal. He suggested that his -best plan would be to concentrate his three corps at Salamanca, and to -march against the flank and rear of the English by way of Bejar and -the Puerto de Baños. If the King could cover Madrid for a time with -the 1st and 4th Corps, he would undertake to present himself in force -upon Wellesley’s line of communications, a move which must infallibly -stop the advance of the allies towards the capital. If they hesitated a -moment after his arrival at Plasencia, they would be caught between two -fires, and might be not merely checked but surrounded and destroyed. -Soult added, however, that he could not move till the 2nd Corps had -received the long-promised provision of artillery which was on its way -from Madrid, and till he had rallied Ney’s troops, who were still at -Astorga, close to the foot of the Galician mountains.</p> - -<p>Napoleon, at a later date, criticized this plan severely, declaring -that Soult ought to have marched on Madrid to join the King, and -not on Plasencia. He grounded his objections to the scheme on the -strategical principle that combined operations on external lines -should be avoided. ‘The march of Marshal Soult,’ he wrote, ‘was both -dangerous and useless—dangerous, because the other army might be -beaten (as happened at Talavera) before he could succour it, so that -the safety of all my armies in Spain was compromised: useless, because -the English had nothing to fear; they could get behind the Tagus in -three hours; and whether they crossed at Talavera or at Almaraz, or -anywhere else, they could secure a safe line of retreat on Badajoz.’ -Against this criticism the defence made by both Soult and King Joseph -was that it would have required a much longer time to bring the three -corps from the Douro to Madrid than to Plasencia; that it would have -taken them at least ten days to reach Madrid, and that during those -days the King and his army might have been beaten and driven out of -the capital by the united forces of Wellesley, Cuesta, and Venegas. -It was, of course, impossible to foresee on<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_498">[p. 498]</span> July 22 that Wellesley would refuse to -pursue Victor beyond Talavera, or that Venegas would let Sebastiani -slip away from him. Accordingly King Joseph and Jourdan fell in with -Soult’s suggestion, because they thought that he would come sooner into -the field if he marched on Plasencia, and would remove the pressure -of the British army from them at a comparatively early date. As a -matter of fact, he took a much longer time to reach Plasencia than -they had expected: they had hoped that he might be there on July 27, -while his vanguard only reached the place on August 1, and his main -body on the second and third<a id="FNanchor_626" href="#Footnote_626" -class="fnanchor">[626]</a>. But it seems clear that the expectation -that he would intervene on the earlier date was far too sanguine. Soult -dared not move till his three corps were well closed up, and since Ney -had to come all the way from Astorga, it would have been impossible in -any case to mass the army at Plasencia much earlier than was actually -done. Napoleon’s remark that Soult could not hope to catch or surround -the British army seems more convincing than his criticism of the march -on Plasencia. If the passes of the Sierra de Gata had been properly -held, and prompt news had been transmitted to Talavera that the French -were on the move from the valley of the Douro, Wellesley would have had -ample time to cover himself, by crossing the Tagus and transferring his -army to the line of operations, Truxillo-Badajoz. The British general -always defended himself by this plea: and complained that those who -spoke of him as being ‘cut off from Portugal,’ by the arrival of Soult -at Plasencia, forgot that he had as good a base at Elvas and Badajoz as -at Abrantes.</p> - -<p>But we must not look too far forward into the later stages of the -campaign. It is enough to say that Jourdan and Joseph sent back Foy -to rejoin Soult, on the same day that he had reached Madrid, bearing -the orders that the Marshal was to collect his three corps with the -greatest possible haste, and to march by Salamanca on Plasencia, where -they trusted that he might present himself on the twenty-seventh or -twenty-eighth of the current month. Meanwhile it was necessary to -hold<span class="pagenum" id="Page_499">[p. 499]</span> back Cuesta -and Wellesley till the Duke of Dalmatia’s operations in their rear -began to produce their effect. The only possible way of doing this -was to concentrate in all haste every available man in New Castile, -and to cover Madrid as long as possible. This massing of the French -forces turned out to be perfectly feasible, since Venegas had neglected -to press in upon Sebastiani, so that it was possible to withdraw the -whole 4th Corps from in front of him, and to send it to reinforce -Victor, without any immediate danger. Accordingly, the 1st Corps was -directed to fall back from its perilous advanced position on the -Alberche, and to draw near to Toledo: Sebastiani was told to abandon -Madridejos and La Mancha, and to hasten by forced marches toward the -same point: while the King himself resolved to leave Madrid with the -slenderest of garrisons, and to carry the rest of the central reserve -to the general rendezvous. Accordingly, he left only one brigade of -Dessolles’ division, with a few of his untrustworthy Spanish levies, -to hold the capital: the total did not amount to much over 4,000 men, -and General Belliard, the governor of the city, was warned that he -must be prepared to retreat into the Retiro forts, with his troops and -the whole body of the <i>Afrancesados</i> and their families, if anything -untoward should occur. For it was possible that an insurrection might -break out, or that Venegas might succeed in slipping into Madrid by -the roads from the east, or again, that Wilson (whose column had been -heard of at Escalona and was believed to be much larger than was -actually the case), might attempt a <i>coup de main</i> from the west. -Leaving Belliard in this dangerous and responsible position, the -King marched out upon the twenty-third with the remaining brigade of -Dessolles’s division, the infantry and cavalry of his French Guard, two -squadrons of chasseurs and fourteen guns, a force of some 5,800 men<a -id="FNanchor_627" href="#Footnote_627" class="fnanchor">[627]</a>. -He had reached Navalcarnero, with the intention of joining Victor on -the Alberche, when he received the news that<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_500">[p. 500]</span> the Marshal had retired towards Toledo, -and was lying at Bargas behind the Guadarrama river. Here Joseph joined -him on the morning of July 25.</p> - -<p>On their concentration a force of 46,000 men was collected, Victor -having brought up 23,000, the King 5,800, and Sebastiani 17,500. The -latter had placed four of the six Polish battalions of Valence’s -division in Toledo, and was therefore short by 3,000 bayonets of the -total force of his corps. With such a mass of good troops at their -disposition, Joseph, Jourdan, and Victor were all agreed that it was -right to fall upon the Spaniards without delay. They were astonished to -find that the British army was not in their front, but only Cuesta’s -troops. They had expected to see the whole allied host before them, -and were overjoyed to discover that the Estremadurans alone had pushed -forward to Torrijos and Santa Ollala. Instead, therefore, of being -obliged to fight a defensive battle behind the river Guadarrama, it was -in their power to take the offensive.</p> - -<p>This was done without delay: on the morning of July 26 the French -army advanced on Torrijos, with the 1st Corps at the head of the -column. But Cuesta, when once he had discovered the strength of the -force in his front, had resolved to retreat. Victor found opposed -to him only the division of Zayas and two cavalry regiments, which -had been told off to cover the withdrawal of the Estremaduran army. -The Marshal sent out against this rearguard the chasseurs of Merlin -and the dragoons of Latour-Maubourg, who drove in the Spanish horse, -almost exterminating the unfortunate regiment of Villaviciosa, which, -in retiring, chanced to blunder against the high stone walls of -some enclosures from which exit was difficult<a id="FNanchor_628" -href="#Footnote_628" class="fnanchor">[628]</a>. Zayas then went to -the rear, and retired towards the cavalry division of Albuquerque, -which Cuesta hastily sent to his assistance. The French cavalry took -some time to re-form for a second attack, and their infantry was still -far off. The Spanish rear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_501">[p. -501]</span>guard therefore, covered by Albuquerque’s horse, had time -enough to fall back on the main body, which was already in full -retreat. Their cavalry then followed, and being not very strenuously -pursued by Merlin and Latour-Maubourg, got off in safety. The whole -army, marching at the best of its speed, and in considerable disorder, -finally reached the Alberche without being caught up by the enemy. -Cuesta found the British divisions of Sherbrooke and Mackenzie guarding -the river: Wellesley had sent them forward when he heard of the -approach of the French, and had placed the former on the hills above -the further side of the bridge, to cover the passage, and the latter in -reserve. He rode out himself to meet the Spanish general, and begged -him to carry his army beyond the Alberche, as it would be extremely -dangerous to be caught with such an obstacle behind him, and no means -of retreat save a long bridge and three fords. But Cuesta tempted -providence by declaring that he should encamp on the further bank, as -his troops were too exhausted to risk the long defile across the bridge -after dark. His sullen anger against Wellesley for refusing to follow -him on the twenty-fourth was still smouldering in his breast, and the -English were convinced that he remained on the wrong side of the river -out of pure perversity, merely because his colleague pressed him to put -himself in safety. He consented, however, to retreat next morning to -the position which Wellesley had selected in front of Talavera.</p> - -<p>The French made no appearance that night, though they might well -have done so, and the Spanish army, bivouacing confusedly in the narrow -slip of flat ground between the heights and the Alberche, enjoyed -undisturbed rest during the hours of darkness. It is impossible not to -marvel at the slackness with which Victor conducted the pursuit: he had -twelve regiments of splendid cavalry to the front<a id="FNanchor_629" -href="#Footnote_629" class="fnanchor">[629]</a>, and could undoubtedly -have pressed the Estremadurans hard if he had chosen to do so. Cuesta’s -retreating columns were in such a state of confusion and disorder -that a vigorous assault on their rear might have caused a general -<i>débandade</i>. But after driving in Zayas in the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_502">[p. 502]</span> early morning, Victor moved very slowly, -and did not even attempt to roll up Albuquerque’s cavalry rearguard, -though he could have assailed it with very superior numbers. When taxed -with sloth by Marshal Jourdan, he merely defended himself by saying -that the horses were tired, and that the infantry was still too far -to the rear to make it right for him to begin a combat which might -develop into a general engagement. But it is hard to see that he would -have risked anything by pressing in upon Albuquerque, for if Cuesta -had halted his whole army in order to support his rearguard, there was -nothing to prevent the French cavalry from drawing off, and refusing to -close till the main body of the 1st Corps should come up.</p> - -<p>Thanks to Victor’s slackness the Spaniards secured an unmolested -retreat across the Alberche on the following morning. It is said that -Cuesta, in sheer perversity and reluctance to listen to any advice -proffered him by Wellesley, delayed for some hours before he would -retreat, and that when at last he yielded to the pressing solicitations -of his colleague he remarked to his staff ‘that he had made the -Englishman go down on his knees’ before consenting.</p> - -<p>All through the morning hours of the twenty-seventh the Army of -Estremadura was pouring across the bridge and the fords, not in the -best order. They had almost all passed, when about noon the French -cavalry began to appear in their front. When the enemy at last began -to press forward in strength, Wellesley directed Sherbrooke’s and -Mackenzie’s divisions to prepare to evacuate their positions on the -eastern bank, which they did as soon as the last of the Spaniards had -got into safety. The first division passed at the bridge, the third at -the fords near the village of Cazalegas: then Sherbrooke marched by the -high-road towards Talavera, while Mackenzie, who had been told off as -the rearguard, remained with Anson’s light horse near the ruined Casa -de Salinas, a mile to the west of the Alberche.</p> - -<p>It may seem strange that Wellesley made no attempt to dispute the -passage of the river, but the ground was hopelessly indefensible. The -left bank (Victor’s old position of July 22) completely commands the -right, the one being high, the other both low and entirely destitute -of artillery positions. More<span class="pagenum" id="Page_503">[p. -503]</span>over, a great part of the <i>terrain</i> was thickly strewn -with woods and olive plantations, which made it impossible to obtain -any general view of the country-side. They would have given splendid -cover for an army advancing to storm the heights on the French bank, -but were anything but an advantage to an army on the defensive. For, -unable to hold the actual river bank because of the commanding hills -on the further side, such an army would have been forced to form its -line some way from the water, and the tangled cover down by the brink -of the stream would have given the enemy every facility for pushing -troops across, and for pressing them into the midst of the defender’s -position without exposing them to his fire. Wellington had examined -the line of the Alberche upon the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth, -and had pronounced it absolutely untenable; ‘no position could be -worse,’ he wrote to O’Donoju<a id="FNanchor_630" href="#Footnote_630" -class="fnanchor">[630]</a>, but he had discovered one of a very -different kind a little to the rear, and had already settled the way in -which it was to be occupied. It presented so many advantages that even -Cuesta had consented to accept it as a good fighting-ground, and the -Estremaduran army was at this very moment occupied in arraying itself -along that part of the line which had been allotted to it. Sherbrooke’s -division was retiring across the plain to fall into the section which -Wellesley had chosen for it, and Hill’s and Campbell’s troops were -moving to their designated ground. Only Mackenzie and the light cavalry -had yet to be established in their post.</p> - -<p>In the act of withdrawing, this division became involved in an -unfortunate combat, which bid fair for a moment to develop into a -disaster. Its two brigades had been halted close to the ruined house -called the Casa de Salinas, in ground covered partly with underwood -and partly with olive groves. The cavalry had been withdrawn to the -rear, as it was impossible to use it for vedettes in such a locality. -The infantry was supposed to have a chain of pickets thrown out in its -front, but it would appear that they must have been badly placed: as -one eye-witness confesses, ‘we were by no means such good soldiers in -those days as succeeding campaigns made us, and sufficient precautions -had not been taken to ascertain what was passing in the wood<a -id="FNanchor_631" href="#Footnote_631" class="fnanchor">[631]</a>,’ -and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_504">[p. 504]</span> between it and -the ford below Cazalegas. French cavalry alone had hitherto been seen, -and from cavalry Mackenzie’s troops were certainly safe in the tangled -ground where they were now lying.</p> - -<p>But already Victor’s infantry had reached the front, and its -leading division, that of Lapisse, had forded the Alberche far to -the north, and had entered the woods without being observed by the -outlying pickets of Mackenzie’s left brigade<a id="FNanchor_632" -href="#Footnote_632" class="fnanchor">[632]</a>. It had even escaped -the notice of Wellesley himself, who had just mounted the roof of the -ruined Casa de Salinas, the only point in the neighbourhood from which -anything like a general view of the country-side could be secured. -While he was intent on watching the heights above the Alberche in his -front, and the cavalry vedettes descending from them, the enemy’s -infantry was stealing in upon his left.</p> - -<p>Lapisse had promptly discovered the line of British outposts, and -had succeeded in drawing out his division in battle order before it -was observed. He had deployed one regiment, the 16th Léger, as a -front line, while the rest of his twelve battalions were coming on in -support.</p> - -<p>While, therefore, Wellesley was still unconscious that the enemy -was close upon him, a brisk fire of musketry broke out upon his left -front. It was the French advance driving in the pickets of Donkin’s -brigade. The division had barely time to stand to its arms—some -men are said to have been killed before they had risen from the -ground—and the Commander-in-chief had hardly descended from the -roof and mounted his charger, when the enemy was upon them. The assault -fell upon the whole front of Donkin’s brigade, and on the left regiment -(the 2/31st) of that of Mackenzie himself. So furious and unexpected -was it, that the 87th, 88th, and 31st were all broken, and driven -some way to the rear, losing about eighty prisoners. It was<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_505">[p. 505]</span> fortunate that the French -advance did not strike the whole line, but only its left and centre. -The 1/45th, which was just outside the limit of Lapisse’s attack, stood -firm, and on it Wellesley re-formed the 31st, while, a little further -to the north, the half-battalion of the 5/60th also held its ground and -served as a rallying-point for the 87th and 88th. The steadiness of the -1/45th and 5/60th saved the situation; covered by them the division -retired from the woods and formed up in the plain, where Anson’s light -horsemen came to their aid and guarded their flanks. The French still -pressed furiously forward, sending out two batteries of horse artillery -to gall the retreating columns, but they had done their worst, and -during the hours of the late afternoon Mackenzie’s infantry fell back -slowly and in order to the points of the position which had been -assigned to them. Donkin’s brigade took post in the second line behind -the German Legion, while Mackenzie’s own three regiments passed through -the Guards and formed up in their rear. Their total loss in the combat -of Casa de Salinas had been 440 men—the French casualties must -have been comparatively insignificant—probably not 100 in all<a -id="FNanchor_633" href="#Footnote_633" class="fnanchor">[633]</a>.</p> - -<p>From the moment when the fray had begun in the woods till dusk, -the noise of battle never stopped, for on arriving in front of the -allied position, the French artillery drew up and commenced a hot, -but not very effective, fire against those of the troops who held the -most advanced stations. As the cannonade continued, the different -regiments were seen hurrying to their battle-posts, for, although the -arrangements had all been made, some brigades, not expecting a fight -till the morrow, had still to take up their allotted ground.</p> - -<p>‘The men, as they formed and faced the enemy, looked pale, but the -officers riding along their line, only two deep, on which all our -hopes depended, observed that they appeared not less tranquil than -determined. In the meanwhile the departing sun showed by his rays -the immense masses moving towards us, and the last glimmering of the -light proved their direction to be across our front, toward the left. -The darkness, only broken<span class="pagenum" id="Page_506">[p. -506]</span> in upon by the bursting shells and the flashes of the -French guns, closed quickly upon us, and it was the opinion of many -that the enemy would rest till the morning<a id="FNanchor_634" -href="#Footnote_634" class="fnanchor">[634]</a>.’</p> - -<p>Such, however, was not to be the case: there was to be hard fighting -in front of Talavera before the hour of midnight had arrived.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_6"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_507">[p. 507]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER VI">SECTION XVI: CHAPTER VI</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE BATTLE OF TALAVERA: THE PRELIMINARY COMBATS<br /> - (JULY 27-28)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> position which Wellesley had selected -as offering far better ground for a defensive battle than any which -could be found on the banks of the Alberche, extends for nearly three -miles to the north of the town of Talavera. It was not a very obvious -line to take up, since only at its northern end does it present any -well marked features. Two-thirds of the position lie in the plain, and -are only marked out by the stony bed of the Portiña, a brook almost -dried up in the summer, which runs from north to south and falls into -the Tagus at Talavera. In the northern part of its course this stream -flows at the bottom of a well-marked ravine, but as it descends towards -the town its bed grows broad and shallow, and ceases to be of any -tactical or topographical importance. Indeed, in this part of the field -the fighting-line of the allies lay across it, and their extreme right -wing was posted upon its further bank.</p> - -<p>The town of Talavera, a place of 10,000 souls, which had been a -flourishing industrial centre in the sixteenth century, but had long -sunk into decay, lies in a compact situation on the north bank of -the Tagus. It possesses a dilapidated bridge of forty-five arches, -the only passage across the river between Arzobispo and Toledo. Its -site is perfectly flat, save for a low knoll crowned by the chapel of -Nuestra Señora del Prado, just outside the eastern, or Madrid, gate, -and overlooking the <i>Alameda</i> (public promenade) and the neighbouring -gardens. The place had no suburbs, but was surrounded by a broad -belt of olive groves and enclosures, which extend for a full mile to -the north and east, and hide the houses and walls from the traveller -approaching from either of those directions. When the allies entered -Talavera they found it deserted by most of its inhabitants,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_508">[p. 508]</span> who had fled up into the -villages of the Sierra de Toledo during the French occupation. Many, -however, descended to reoccupy their homes when the enemy departed. -Victor’s men had plundered most of the houses, and turned many of -the churches into barracks or stables: hence the town presented a -picture of abject desolation<a id="FNanchor_635" href="#Footnote_635" -class="fnanchor">[635]</a>.</p> - -<p>For a mile and a half beyond the northern wall of Talavera the -ground covered by gardens and olive groves is perfectly flat; it -then commences to rise, and swells up into a long hill, the Cerro de -Medellin. This height runs from east to west, so that its front, and -not the full length of its side, overhangs the Portiña ravine. Its -loftiest point and its steepest face are presented to that declivity, -while to the west and south it has gentle and easily accessible slopes, -sinking gradually down into the plain. This hill, the most commanding -ground in the neighbourhood of Talavera, had been chosen by Wellesley -as the position of his left wing. It formed, including its lower -slopes, about one-third of the line which he had determined to occupy, -the rest of the front lying in the low ground among the olives and -gardens. North of the Cerro de Medellin is a narrow lateral valley, -only half a mile broad, separating this hill from the main chain of the -Sierra de Segurilla, the mountains which form the watershed between -the basin of the Tagus and that of the Tietar. The British general had -intended at first that his position should extend no further north than -the hill, but in the course of the action he was compelled to lengthen -his front, and to post troops both in the valley and on the mountain -spurs beyond it.</p> - -<p>By the agreement made with Cuesta, at the conference near the bridge -of the Alberche on the evening of the twenty-sixth, it was settled -that the Spanish army should hold the town of<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_509">[p. 509]</span> Talavera and the wooded and enclosed -ground for a mile beyond it. The British had their right among the -olive groves, but their centre and left on the open slopes of the -Cerro de Medellin. This order of battle was the only one which it was -possible to adopt. Wellesley had already discovered that the army of -Estremadura could not manœuvre, and would be much safer behind walls -and enclosures than in the open, and Cuesta had gladly accepted the -proposal that he should occupy this part of the position. Having only -a little more than a mile of front to defend, he was able to provide -a double and triple line with his 32,000 men<a id="FNanchor_636" -href="#Footnote_636" class="fnanchor">[636]</a>. His Vanguard and 1st -division, under Zayas, occupied the eastern outskirts of the town, -with a battery placed upon the knoll crowned by the chapel of Nuestra -Señora del Prado. A brigade of cavalry (four regiments) was deployed -in the open ground of the Prado, close to the bank of the Tagus. The -2nd division, that of Iglesias, held Talavera, whose ancient walls, -though imperfect in many places, were still quite defensible. The 3rd -and 4th divisions (Manglano and Portago) were ranged in a double line -among the gardens and enclosures to the north of the town, as far as a -low hillock called the Pajar de Vergara, where they touched Wellesley’s -left. Behind them were the rest of Cuesta’s cavalry (ten regiments) and -the 5th division (Bassecourt) forming the reserves.</p> - -<p>The Spanish position was immensely strong. The front was completely -screened by groves and enclosures occupied by skirmishers: the -first line was drawn up along the slightly sunken road leading from -Talavera to the north, which provided the men with an excellent -parapet and good cover<a id="FNanchor_637" href="#Footnote_637" -class="fnanchor">[637]</a>. The second line was equally well placed -behind the Portiña rivulet, which was bordered by trees along its whole -front. The only good artillery position was that outside the Madrid -gate, in front of Zayas’ division, but three other batteries were -planted in the least defective emplacements that could be found in the -front line. The rest of the Spanish guns were in reserve, in line with -Bassecourt and the cavalry.</p> - -<p>The northern half of the position had its strong points, but<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_510">[p. 510]</span> also its defects. For -the first half mile beyond the Spanish left it was still covered by -groves and gardens, and had on its right front the little eminence of -the Pajar de Vergara. On this knoll a redoubt had been commenced, but -no more had been done than to level a space, eighty yards long and -twenty feet broad, on its summit, and to throw up the excavated earth -in front, thus forming a bank three or four feet high. In this work, -indifferently well protected, lay Lawson’s battery of 3-pounders, the -lightest guns of Wellesley’s artillery. Beside and behind them were the -five battalions of the 4th division, Campbell’s brigade in the front -line, Kemmis’s in the second, to the rear of the Portiña.</p> - -<p>On the left of the 4th division the enclosed ground ended, and -cover ceased. Here, forming the British centre, were drawn up the -eight battalions of Sherbrooke’s division, in a single line. The -Guards’ brigade, under Henry Campbell, was in perfectly flat level -ground, without shade or cover. Next to them, where there is a gentle -ascent towards the foot of the Cerro de Medellin, were Cameron’s two -battalions; while the two weak brigades of the King’s German Legion, -under Langwerth and Low, continued the front on to the actual hill, -with the Portiña, now flowing in a well-marked ravine, at their feet<a -id="FNanchor_638" href="#Footnote_638" class="fnanchor">[638]</a>. The -whole of this part of the British line was bare rolling ground covered -with long dry grass and scattered shrubs of thyme. There was no cover, -and before the Guards’ and Cameron’s brigades the front was not defined -by any strong natural feature. On the other hand, the <i>terrain</i> on the -opposite side of the Portiña was equally bare, and gave no advantage to -an enemy about to attack.</p> - -<p>It was otherwise in the portion of the front where the four -German battalions of Langwerth and Low were placed. They had a steep -ravine in front of them, but on the opposite side, as a compensating -disadvantage, the rolling upland swells into a hill called the Cerro de -Cascajal, which, though much less lofty than the Cerro de Medellin, yet -afforded good artillery positions from which the English slopes could -be battered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_511">[p. 511]</span></p> - -<p>Behind Sherbrooke’s troops, as the second line of his centre, -Wellesley had drawn up his 3rd division and all his cavalry. Cotton’s -light dragoons were in the rear of Kemmis’s brigade of the 4th -division. Mackenzie’s three battalions supported the Guards: then came -Anson’s light and Fane’s heavy cavalry, massed on the rising slope -in the rear of Cameron. Lastly Donkin’s brigade, which had suffered -so severely in the combat of Casa de Salinas, lay high up the hill, -directly in the rear of Low’s brigade of the King’s German Legion.</p> - -<p>It only remains to speak of the British left, on the highest part -of the Cerro de Medellin. This section of the front was entrusted to -Hill’s division, which was already encamped upon its reverse slope. -Here lay the strongest point of the position, for the hill is steep, -and well covered in its front by the Portiña, which now flows in a deep -stony ravine. But it was also the part of the British fighting-ground -which was most likely to be assailed, since a quick-eyed enemy could -not help noting that it was the key of the whole—that if the -upper levels of the Cerro de Medellin were lost, the rest of the -allied line could not possibly be maintained. It was therefore the -part of the position which would require the most careful watching, -and Wellesley had told off to it his most capable and experienced -divisional general. But by some miscalculation, on the evening of the -twenty-seventh Hill’s two brigades were not lying on their destined -battle-line, but had halted half a mile behind it—Richard -Stewart’s battalions on the left, Tilson’s on the right flank of the -reverse slope. It is difficult to see with whom the responsibility lay, -for Wellesley was far to the right, engaged in planting Mackenzie’s -troops in their new position behind the centre, while Hill had ridden -over towards Talavera to search for his Commander-in-chief and question -him about details, and returned rather late to give his brigadiers the -exact instruction as to the line they were to take up at nightfall<a -id="FNanchor_639" href="#Footnote_639" class="fnanchor">[639]</a>. -There<span class="pagenum" id="Page_512">[p. 512]</span> were piquets -on the crest, and the greater part of the front slopes were covered by -Low’s two battalions of the King’s German Legion, but the actual summit -of the Cerro was not occupied by any solid force, though the brigades -that were intended to hold it lay only 800 yards to the rear. It was -supposed that they would have ample time to take up their ground in the -morning, and no one dreamt of the possibility of a night attack.</p> - -<p>Of the very small force of artillery which accompanied the British -army, we have already seen that Lawson’s light 3-pounder battery had -been placed in the Pajar de Vergara entrenchment. Elliott’s and Heyse’s -were in the centre of the line; the former placed in front of the -Guards, the latter before Langwerth’s brigade of the German Legion. -Rettberg’s heavy 6-pounders were on the Cerro de Medellin, with Hill’s -division: at dusk they had been brought back to its rear slope and were -parked near Richard Stewart’s brigade. Finally Sillery’s battery was in -reserve, between the two lines, somewhere behind Cameron’s brigade of -Sherbrooke’s division. This single unit was the only artillery reserve -of which Wellesley could dispose.</p> - -<p>The precise number of British troops in line was 20,194, after -deducting the losses at Casa de Salinas; that of the Spaniards was -within a few hundreds of 32,000. The French, as we have already seen, -had brought a little more than 46,000 men to the field, so that the -allies had a superiority of some 6,000 in mere numbers. If Wellesley -could have exchanged the Army of Estremadura for half their strength of -British bayonets, he might have felt quite comfortable in his strong -position. But his confidence in the value of his allies, even when -firmly planted among walls and groves, was just about to receive a rude -shock.</p> - -<p>It was about seven o’clock when the heads of Victor’s columns,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_513">[p. 513]</span> following in the wake -of the horse artillery which had been galling Mackenzie’s retreat, -emerged from the woods on to the rolling plateau facing the allied -position. Ruffin appeared on the right, and occupied the Cascajal -hill, opposite the Cerro de Medellin. Villatte followed, and halted -in its rear. More to the left Lapisse, adopting the same line that -had been taken by Mackenzie, halted in front of the British centre: -the corps-cavalry, under Beaumont, was drawn up in support of him. -Latour-Maubourg’s six regiments of dragoons, further to the south, took -ground in front of the Spaniards. The King and Sebastiani were still -far to the rear: their infantry was only just passing the Alberche, -though their advanced cavalry under Merlin was already pushing -forward in the direction of Talavera down the high-road from Madrid<a -id="FNanchor_640" href="#Footnote_640" class="fnanchor">[640]</a>.</p> - -<p>If Napoleon, or any other general who knew how to make himself -obeyed, had been present with the French army, there would have been no -fighting on the evening of July 27. But King Joseph counted for little -in the eyes of his nominal subordinates, and hence it came to pass that -the impetuous Victor took upon himself the responsibility of attacking -the allies when only half the King’s army had come upon the field. With -no more object, as it would seem, than that of harassing the enemy, -he sent to the front the batteries belonging to Ruffin, Lapisse, and -Latour-Maubourg, to join in the cannonade which his horse artillery had -already begun. At the same time Merlin’s light horse pressed forward -in the direction of Talavera, to feel for the front of the Spaniards, -whose exact position was hidden by the olive groves. The British -artillery replied, but no great harm was done to either side. Yet in -the Spanish part of the line a dreadful disaster was on the point of -occurring. When the artillery fire began, and the French light horse -were seen advancing, the Estremaduran troops between Talavera and the -Pajar de Vergara delivered a tremendous salvo of infantry fire along -the whole line, though the enemy was too far off to take any damage. -But, immediately after, four battalions of Portago’s division, which -formed part of the left of Cuesta’s line and touched Campbell’s right, -suddenly shouted ‘treason!<span class="pagenum" id="Page_514">[p. -514]</span>’ broke, and went off to the rear in complete disorder. -Wellesley, who, as it chanced, was behind Campbell’s troops, and -witnessed the whole rout, declared that he could conceive no reason for -their behaviour except that they must have been frightened by the crash -of their own tremendous volley<a id="FNanchor_641" href="#Footnote_641" -class="fnanchor">[641]</a>. Two of these four battalions were troops -who had never been in action before: the other two had been badly -cut up at Medellin, and brought up to strength by the incorporation -of a great mass of recruits<a id="FNanchor_642" href="#Footnote_642" -class="fnanchor">[642]</a>. This might have excused a momentary -misconduct, but not a prolonged rush to the rear when the enemy was -still half a mile off, still less the casting away of their arms and -the plundering of the British camp, through which the multitude fled. -Cuesta sent cavalry to hunt them up, and succeeded in hounding back the -majority to their ranks, but many hundreds were still missing on the -following morning. They fled in small bands all down the valley of the -Tagus, dispersing dismal information on all sides. It is sad to have to -acknowledge that in their rush through the British camp they carried -away with them some commissaries and a few of the baggage guard, who -did not halt till they got to Oropesa, twenty miles from the field<a -id="FNanchor_643" href="#Footnote_643" class="fnanchor">[643]</a>. -Strange to say, this panic had no appreciable ill effects: the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_515">[p. 515]</span> French were not in a -position to take advantage of it, having no troops, save a few light -horse, in front of the spot where it occurred. The Spaniards to the -right and rear of the absconding regiments did not flinch, and as -the second line held firm, there was no actual gap produced in the -allied position. But Wellesley noted the scene, and never forgot it: -of all that he had witnessed during the campaign, this was the sight -that struck him most, and most influenced his future conduct. Cuesta -also took account of it in his own fashion, and at the end of the -battle of the next day proposed to decimate in the old Roman fashion, -the battalions that had fled! He actually chose by lot some 200 men -from the fugitives, and after trying them by court-martial prepared -to shoot them. His British colleague begged off the majority, but -the old Captain-General insisted on executing some twenty-five or -thirty who were duly put to death on the morning of the twenty-ninth<a -id="FNanchor_644" href="#Footnote_644" class="fnanchor">[644]</a>.</p> - -<p>After the panic had died down, Victor gradually withdrew -his batteries<a id="FNanchor_645" href="#Footnote_645" -class="fnanchor">[645]</a>, but it was with no intention of bringing -the combat to a real termination. He had resolved to deliver a night -attack on the key of the British position, when the whole of his corps -should have reached the front. Having reconnoitred the allied lines, -and noted the distribution of their defenders, he had determined to -storm the Cerro de Medellin in the dark. During his long stay at -Talavera he had acquired a very thorough knowledge of its environs, -and understood the dominating importance of that height. If he could -seize and hold it during the night, he saw that the battle of the next -day would be already half won. Accordingly, still without obtaining -King<span class="pagenum" id="Page_516">[p. 516]</span> Joseph’s -leave, he determined to assail the Cerro. He told off for the storm his -choicest division, that of Ruffin, whose nine battalions were already -ranged on the front of the Cascajal heights. At the same time Lapisse’s -division was to distract the attention of the British centre by a noisy -demonstration against its front.</p> - -<p>Night attacks are proverbially hazardous and hard to conduct, and -it cannot be disputed that Victor showed an excessive temerity in -endeavouring to deliver such a blow at the steady British troops, at an -hour when it was impossible to guarantee proper co-operation among the -attacking columns. But for an initial stroke of luck he ought not to -have secured even the small measure of success that fell to his lot.</p> - -<p>At about nine o’clock, however, Ruffin moved down to the attack. -Each of his three regiments was formed in battalion columns, the 9th -Léger in the centre, the 96th on its left, the 24th on its right. The -first-named regiment was to deliver a frontal attack, the other two to -turn the flanks of the hill and attack over its side-slopes. At the -appointed moment the three regiments descended simultaneously into the -ravine of the Portiña, and endeavoured to carry out their respective -sections of the programme. The 9th, chancing on the place where the -ravine was most easily negotiable, crossed it without much difficulty, -and began to climb the opposite slope. On mounting half way to the -crest, it suddenly came on Low’s brigade of the German Legion, lying -down in line, with its pickets only a very small distance in advance of -the main body. It is said that the brigadier was labouring under the -delusion that some of Hill’s outposts were in his front, and that he -was screened by them. It is at any rate clear that he was taken wholly -unprepared by the midnight attack of the French. His sentries were -trampled down in a moment, and the 9th Léger ran in upon the Germans, -firing into them point blank and seizing many of them as prisoners -almost ere they were awake. The 7th K. G. L. was completely broken, and -lost 150 men—half of them prisoners—in five minutes. The -5th, the right-hand battalion of Low’s brigade, came off better, as it -was not in the direct path of the French; but it was flung sideways -along the southern slope of the hill, and could not be re-formed -for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_517">[p. 517]</span> some time. -Meanwhile the three French columns, somewhat separated from each other -in this first clash of arms, went straight on up the Cerro, and in a -few minutes were nearing its crest. The two leading battalions actually -reached and crowned it, without meeting with any opposition save from -the outlying picket of Richard Stewart’s brigade. The third was not far -behind, and it seemed almost certain that the position might be won. At -this moment General Hill, who was occupied in drawing out his division -on the rear slope, but had not yet conducted it to its fighting-ground, -interfered in the fight. He had seen and heard the sudden outbreak -of musketry on the frontal slopes, as the French broke through Low’s -brigade. But when it died down, he was far from imagining that the -cause was the complete success of the enemy. Nevertheless, he directed -his nearest brigade, that of Richard Stewart, to prepare to support -the Germans if necessary. He was issuing his orders to the colonel of -the 48th, when he observed some men on the hill top fire a few shots -in his direction. ‘Not having an idea,’ he writes, ‘that the enemy -were so near, I said to myself that I was sure it was the old Buffs, -as usual, making some blunder.’ Accordingly he galloped up the hill, -with his brigade-major Fordyce, shouting to the men to cease firing. -He rode right in among the French before he realized his mistake, and -a voltigeur seized him by the arm and bade him surrender. Hill spurred -his horse, which sprang forward and got clear of the Frenchman, who -lost his hold but immediately raised his musket and fired at three -paces’ distance, missing the General but hitting his charger. Hill -escaped in the midst of a scattering volley, which killed his companion -Fordyce, and got back as fast as he could to Richard Stewart’s brigade. -Without delaying for a moment, even to change his wounded horse, he -led on the nearest regiments to recover the hill top. So great was the -confusion, owing to the sudden attack in the dark, that Stewart’s men -moved forward, not in their proper order, but with the 1st Battalion of -Detachments on the right, the 29th in the centre, and the 1/48 on the -left. This arrangement brought the first-named unit first into touch -with the enemy. The Detachments came into immediate collision with the -leading battalions of the French, who were now somewhat in disorder, -and trying to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_518">[p. 518]</span> -re-form on the ground they had won. The two forces opened a furious -fire upon each other, and both came to a standstill<a id="FNanchor_646" -href="#Footnote_646" class="fnanchor">[646]</a>. But Hill, coming up -a moment later at the head of his centre regiment, cleared the hill -top by a desperate charge: passing through the Detachments, the 29th -delivered a volley at point-blank range and closed. The enemy broke -and fled down the slope that they had ascended. The 29th wheeled into -line and followed them, pouring in regular volleys at short intervals. -But before they had gone far, they became dimly conscious of another -column to their left, pushing up the hill in the darkness. This was the -rear battalion of the 9th Léger, which had fallen somewhat behind its -fellows. It was moving up diagonally across the front of the British -regiment, with drums beating and loud shouts of <i>vive l’Empereur</i>. -Taken in flank by the fire of the right companies of the 29th, it could -make no effective resistance, and ere long broke and rolled back in -disorder into the bed of the Portiña, where it met with the wrecks -of the rest of the regiment, and retired in company with them up the -slopes of the Cerro de Cascajal.</p> - -<p>The remainder of Ruffin’s division took little or no part in the -fighting. The three battalions of the 24th, which ought to have -mounted the hill on the right, lost their way in the darkness and -wandered up the valley between the Cerro de Medellin and the northern -mountains: they never came into action. The 96th, on the left of the -attack, chanced upon a part of the Portiña ravine which was very -precipitous: they found it difficult to descend, were very late in -reaching the other side, and then fell into a futile bickering fight -with the 5th and 2nd battalions of the King’s German Legion, which -terminated—with small damage to either party—when the main -attack in the centre was seen to have failed.</p> - -<p>The loss of the French in this night battle was about 300 men, -almost all in the 9th Léger. It included sixty-five prisoners, among -whom was the colonel of the regiment, who<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_519">[p. 519]</span> was left on the ground desperately -wounded. The British casualties were somewhat heavier, entirely owing -to the disaster to the 5th and 7th battalions of the K. G. L., which -suffered when surprised, a loss of 188 men, eighty-seven of whom were -made captives. Richard Stewart’s brigade, which bore the brunt of the -fighting and decided the affair, had only 125 killed and wounded<a -id="FNanchor_647" href="#Footnote_647" class="fnanchor">[647]</a>.</p> - -<p>Thus ended, in well-deserved failure, Victor’s night attack, of -which it may suffice to say that even its initial success was only due -to the gross carelessness of Low’s brigade in failing to cover their -front with a proper screen of outlying pickets. To attack in the dark -across rugged and difficult ground was to court disaster. The wonder -is not that two-thirds of the division went astray, but that the other -third almost succeeded in the hazardous enterprise to which it was -committed. Great credit is due to the 9th Léger for all that it did, -and no blame whatever rests upon the regiment for its ultimate failure. -The Marshal must take all the responsibility.</p> - -<p>The wrecks of the French attacking columns having rolled back beyond -the ravine, and the flanking regiments having abandoned their futile -demonstrations, the Cerro de Medellin was once more safe. The troops -occupying it were rearranged, as far as was possible, in the dark. -The front line on its left and highest part was now formed by Richard -Stewart’s brigade, ranged, not in its proper order of seniority, but -with the 29th on the left, the 1st Battalion of Detachments in the -centre, and the 1/48 on the right. Tilson’s brigade, the other half of -Hill’s division, was to the south of Stewart, continuing his line along -the crest. Low’s battalions of the King’s German Legion were drawn -off somewhat to the right, closing in towards Langwerth’s brigade, -so as to leave the central slopes of the Cerro de Medellin entirely -to Hill’s men. Donkin’s brigade of Mackenzie’s division lay close -behind them. After the warning that had been given by Victor’s first -assault, the greatest care was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_520">[p. -520]</span> taken to make a second surprise impossible. Stewart’s and -Low’s brigades threw forward their pickets to the brink of the Portiña -ravine, so close to the enemy that all night they could hear the <i>Qui -vive</i> of the sentries challenging the visiting rounds, only two or -three hundred yards above them. On several occasions the outposts -opened fire on each other, and the word ‘stand to your arms,’ ran along -the whole line. In front of Sherbrooke’s division, about midnight, -there was a false alarm, which led to a whole brigade delivering a -volley at an imaginary column of assault, while their own pickets were -still out in front, with the result that two officers and several -men were killed or wounded<a id="FNanchor_648" href="#Footnote_648" -class="fnanchor">[648]</a>. A similar outbreak of fire, lasting for -several minutes, ran along the front of the Spanish lines an hour -later. It seems to have been caused by French foragers, in search of -fuel, blundering against the Estremaduran pickets on the edge of the -olive groves.</p> - -<p>Altogether the night was not a peaceful one, and the troops were -much harassed by the perpetual and unnecessary calls to stand to their -arms. Many of them got little sleep, and several British diarists have -left interesting impressions on record of their long vigil. There was -much to keep them awake: not only the repeated blaze of fire running -along parts of the allied line, but the constant signs of movement on -the French side of the Portiña. Some time after midnight long lines -of torches were seen advancing across and to the right of the Cerro -de Cascajal; these were markers with flambeaux, sent out to fix the -points on which Victor’s artillery were to take up their positions, as -was soon shown by the rattling of gun-carriages, the noise of wheels, -and the cracking of whips, which were plainly heard in the intervals -of stillness, when the hostile pickets ceased their bickering musketry -fire. The French were pushing up their guns into the very front of -their line, and when the dawn began to break they were visible only -600 or 800 yards away from the British lines. A few deserters came -over during the night, mainly from Leval’s German division; all agreed -that the enemy was about to deliver a second attack in the early -morning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_521">[p. 521]</span></p> - -<p>The dawn was an anxious moment: with the growing light it was -possible to make out broad black patches dotting the whole of the -rolling ground in front of the British army. Every instant rendered -them more visible, and soon they took shape as French regiments in -battalion columns, ranged on a front of nearly two miles, from the -right end of the Cerro de Cascajal to the edge of the woods facing the -Pajar de Vergara. The object which drew most attention was an immense -solid column at the extreme right of the hostile line, on the lower -slopes above the Portiña, with a thick screen of <i>tirailleurs</i> already -thrown out in its front, and evidently ready to advance at the word -of command. The other divisions lay further back: in front of them -artillery was everywhere visible: there were four batteries on the -midslope of the Cascajal hill, and six more on the rolling ground to -the south. In the far distance, behind the infantry, were long lines -of cavalry dressed in all the colours of the rainbow—fifteen or -sixteen regiments could be counted—and far to the rear of them -more black masses were slowly rolling into view. It was easily to be -seen that little or nothing lay in front of the Spaniards, and that at -least five-sixths of the French army was disposed for an attack on the -British front. There were 40,000 men visible, ready for the advance -against the 20,000 sabres and bayonets of Wellesley’s long red line<a -id="FNanchor_649" href="#Footnote_649" class="fnanchor">[649]</a>.</p> - -<p>An attack was imminent, yet there were many things which might have -induced the French generals to hold back. Was it worth while to assail -the allies in the admirable position which they now held, when it was -possible to drive them out of it without risking a battle? Orders had -been sent to Soult, six days before, to bid him fall on Wellesley’s -communications by way of Plasencia. It was believed that he must have -started ere now, and that the news of his approach would reach the -enemy within the next forty-eight hours. This intelligence would compel -them to go behind the Tagus, and to abandon the Talavera position. -Both Jourdan and King Joseph were doubtful of the policy of risking -a general action. But the initiative was taken out of their hands -by Victor. He had already placed his corps so close to the British -lines that it would have been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_522">[p. -522]</span> hard to withdraw it without an engagement. He had also, -during the night, sent a dispatch to the King, stating that he should -storm the Cerro de Medellin at dawn unless he received counter-orders. -He appeared so confident of success that Joseph and his adviser Jourdan -did not venture to bid him desist. They were, as the latter confessed, -largely influenced by the knowledge that if they refused, Victor -would delate them to the Emperor for culpable timidity in letting -the British army escape<a id="FNanchor_650" href="#Footnote_650" -class="fnanchor">[650]</a>.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Belluno was still persisting in his idea that it might -be possible to seize the key of Wellesley’s position by a partial -attack, without engaging the rest of his corps till it had already -been won. Accordingly he gave orders to his subordinates Lapisse -and Villatte that they were not to move till Ruffin, with the first -division, should have gained the Cerro de Medellin. In a similar -way the King made the advance of the 4th Corps conditional on the -preliminary success of Victor’s right. This seems to have been bad -policy, as it left Wellesley free to devote the whole of his attention -to the point where the first attack was to be delivered. It was -clear that the threatening column on the lower slopes of the Cerro -de Cascajal would start the game. Victor had drawn up his troops in -the following order. Ruffin on the extreme left, and considerably -in advance, was to attack the Cerro on its north-eastern and -eastern fronts. Behind him on the summit of the Cascajal hill, were -Villatte’s twelve battalions, and in rear of all the two regiments -of Beaumont, the Marshal’s corps-cavalry. To Villatte’s left, but on -lower ground opposite Sherbrooke’s line, lay Lapisse’s division, with -Latour-Maubourg’s six regiments of dragoons in support. This completed -the array of the 1st Corps: on their left stood Sebastiani and his 4th -Corps, facing the Guards, Campbell, and the northernmost battalions -of the Spanish army, opposite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_523">[p. -523]</span> the Pajar de Vergara. Sebastiani’s French division was on -his right, his German division on his left, while the stray Polish -brigade (the only part of Valence’s division that was on the field) -supported the Germans. In second line was Merlin’s light horse, while -Milhaud’s six regiments of dragoons lay out on the extreme left, -observing the town of Talavera. King Joseph and his reserve—the -Guards and the brigade of Dessolles—were far to the rear, just -outside the woods round the Casa de Salinas.</p> - -<p>At about five in the morning the watchers on the Cerro de Medellin -saw the smoke of a gun curl up into the air from the central battery -in front of Villatte’s division. The ensuing report was the signal -for the whole of Victor’s artillery to open, and twenty-four guns -spoke at once from the Cascajal heights, and thirty more from the -lower ground to their right. The cannonade was tremendous, and the -reply wholly inadequate, as Wellesley could only put four batteries -in line, Rettberg’s on the summit of the Cerro, Sillery’s from the -lower slope near Donkin’s position, and those of Heyse and Elliott -from the front of Sherbrooke’s division. The French fire was both -accurate and effective, ‘they served their guns in an infinitely better -style than at Vimiero: their shells were thrown with precision, and -did considerable execution<a id="FNanchor_651" href="#Footnote_651" -class="fnanchor">[651]</a>.’ Wellesley, who stood in rear of Hill’s -line on the commanding height, at once ordered Richard Stewart’s and -Tilson’s brigades to go back from the sky-line, and to lie down. But -no such device was practicable in Sherbrooke’s division, where the -formation of the ground presented no possibility of cover, and here -much damage was done. After a few minutes the English position was -obscured, for the damp of the morning air prevented the smoke from -rising, and a strong east wind blew it across the Portiña, and drove it -along the slopes of the Cerro<a id="FNanchor_652" href="#Footnote_652" -class="fnanchor">[652]</a>. So thick was the atmosphere that the -defenders heard rather than saw the start of Ruffin’s division on its -advance, and only realized its near approach when they saw their own -skirmishers retiring up the slope towards the main line. The light -companies of Hill’s division came in so slowly and unwillingly, turning -back often<span class="pagenum" id="Page_524">[p. 524]</span> to -fire, and keeping their order with the regularity of a field-day. The -general, wishing to get his front clear, bade the bugles sound to bring -them in more quickly, and as they filed to the rear in a leisurely way -was heard to shout (it was one of the only two occasions on which he -was known to swear), ‘D—n their filing, let them come in anyhow<a -id="FNanchor_653" href="#Footnote_653" class="fnanchor">[653]</a>.’</p> - -<p>When the light companies had fallen back, the French were at last -visible through the smoke. They had mounted the lower slopes of the -Cerro without any loss, covered by their artillery, which only ceased -firing at this moment. They showed nine battalions, in three solid -columns: Victor had arranged the divisions with the 24th in the -centre, the 96th on the left, and the 9th Léger, which had suffered so -severely in the night-battle, upon the right. This arrangement brought -the last-named regiment opposite their old enemies of the 29th, and -the Battalion of Detachments, while the 1/48th and 2/48th had to deal -with the French centre, and the Buffs and 66th with their left. When -Ruffin’s columns had got within a hundred yards of the sky-line, Hill -bade his six battalions stand to their feet and advance. As they lined -the crest they delivered a splendid volley, whose report was as sharp -and precise as that of a field-day. The effect was of course murderous, -as was always the case when line met column. The French had a marked -superiority in numbers; they were nearly 5,000 strong, Hill’s two -brigades had less than 4,000<a id="FNanchor_654" href="#Footnote_654" -class="fnanchor">[654]</a>. But there was the usual advantage that -every British soldier could use his weapon, while the French, in -column of divisions, had the normal mass of useless muskets in the -rear ranks. The first volley brought them to a standstill—their -whole front had gone down at the discharge—they lost the impetus -of advance, halted, and kept up a furious fire for some minutes. But -when it came to a standing fight of musketry, there was never a doubt -in any Peninsular battle how the game would end. The French fire -began ere long to slacken, the front of the columns shook and<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_525">[p. 525]</span> wavered. Just at this -moment Sherbrooke, who had noted that the divisions in his own front -showed no signs of closing, took the 5th battalion of the King’s German -Legion out of his left brigade<a id="FNanchor_655" href="#Footnote_655" -class="fnanchor">[655]</a>, and sent it against the flank and rear of -Ruffin’s nearest regiment—the 96th of the line. When the noise -of battle broke out in this new quarter, the French lost heart and -began to give ground. Richard Stewart, at the northern end of the -British line, gave the signal to his brigade to charge, and—as a -participator in this fray writes, ‘on we went, a wall of stout hearts -and bristling steel. The enemy did not fancy such close quarters, and -the moment our rush began they went to the right-about. The principal -portion broke and fled, though some brave fellows occasionally faced -about and gave us an irregular fire.’ Nothing, however, could stop -Hill’s division, and the whole six battalions rushed like a torrent -down the slope, bayonetting and sweeping back the enemy to the line -of black and muddy pools that marked the course of the Portiña. Many -of the pursuers even crossed the ravine and chased the flying French -divisions right into the arms of Villatte’s troops, on the Cascajal -hill. When these reserves opened fire, Hill’s men re-formed on the -lower slope of the Cerro, and retired to their old position without -being seriously molested, for Victor made no counter-attack.</p> - -<p>Ruffin’s three regiments had been terribly punished: they had lost, -in forty minutes’ fighting, 1,300 killed and wounded, much more than a -fourth of their strength. Hill’s brigades had about 750 casualties<a -id="FNanchor_656" href="#Footnote_656" class="fnanchor">[656]</a>, -including their gallant leader, who received a wound in the head, and -had to go to the rear, leaving the command of his division to Tilson. -The loss of the German battalion which had struck in upon the French -rear was insignificant, as the enemy never stood to meet it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_526">[p. 526]</span></p> - -<p>Thus was Victor’s second attempt to storm the Cerro de Medellin -rebuked. It was a rash and unscientific operation, and received a -merited chastisement. The Marshal should have sent in all his corps, -and attacked the whole British line, if he wished to give his men a -fair chance. He obviously underrated the troops with which he had to -deal—he had never seen them before the combat of Casa de Salinas -on the previous day—and had no conception of the power of the -line against the column. Even now baffled rage seems to have been his -main feeling, and his only desire was to make the attempt again with -larger forces.</p> - -<p>The whole engagement had taken about an hour and a half, and the -morning was still young when the Marshal re-formed his line, and -reported his ill-success to the King. After the cannonade died down -he bade his men take their morning meal, and the British on the Cerro -could see the whole 1st Corps turn to cooking, behind their strong line -of pickets. A sort of informal armistice was established in a short -time; both parties wished to use the stagnant water of the Portiña, and -after a little signalling hundreds of men came down with their canteens -from either side, and filled them with the muddy fluid. In spite of -the heavy fighting which had just ended, all parties agree that a very -friendly spirit was shown. The men conversed as best they could, and -were even seen to shake hands across the pools. Many of the officers -came down a little later, and after a short colloquy agreed that either -party might take off its wounded without molestation. As there were -hundreds of French lying on the west bank of the Portiña, and a good -many English on its further side, there was a complete confusion of -uniforms as the bearers passed and repassed each other at the bottom -of the ravine. But no difficulties of any sort arose, and for more -than two hours the two parties were completely mixed. This was the -first example of that amicable spirit which reigned between the hostile -armies all through the war, and which in its later years developed -into that curious code of signals (often described by contemporaries), -by which French and English gave each other notice whenever serious -work was intended, refraining on all other occasions from unnecessary -outpost bickering or sentry-shooting.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_7"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_527">[p. 527]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER VII">SECTION XVI: CHAPTER VII</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE BATTLE OF TALAVERA: THE MAIN ENGAGEMENT<br /> - (JULY 28)</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> informal armistice which had followed -the combat of the early morning had drawn to an end, when at about 10 -o’clock the British observers on the Cerro de Medellin saw a large -and brilliant staff riding along the French line from right to left. -It finally halted, and took post on the most commanding point of the -Cascajal heights. This was the entourage of King Joseph and Marshal -Jourdan, who had determined to make a careful examination of the allied -lines before committing themselves to any further action. When they -halted on the summit of the hill, from which the best general view was -obtainable, Victor came to meet them, and a council of war was held.</p> - -<p>It soon developed into a lengthy and animated dispute; lasting -for more than an hour. Jourdan was of opinion that, considering the -strength of the hostile position, and the decisive way in which the 1st -Corps had been repulsed, it would be unwise to proceed with another -attack. He pointed out that Wellesley would now be perfectly aware -that his left was the point which must be assailed, and that movements -visible behind the British line showed that it was already being -reinforced. The only good move now available was to endeavour to turn -the Cerro by the little valley to its north-east, which separates it -from the Sierra de Segurilla: but it was clear that the enemy realized -this as well as themselves. A considerable body of cavalry was already -appearing at its southern end. If the Duke of Belluno, instead of -delivering two frontal assaults, had been prudent enough to push men -down this valley under cover of the darkness, so as to have a lateral -attack ready at dawn, something might have been done. But now the -imperial troops would have to win the valley by hard fighting, before -they could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_528">[p. 528]</span> use it -as a starting-point for the assault on the hill. If a general attack -were delivered, and the army were once more repulsed, it risked its -line of communication and its retreat on Madrid. For the whole Spanish -host might come out of the woods and fall upon its flank, while it -was engaged with the British, and in that case the Madrid road would -be cut, and the King would have to retreat on Avila, sacrificing his -capital and his arsenals. On the whole Jourdan held that it would be -wise and prudent to assume a defensive posture, and either to hold the -present position or to retire to the more favourable ground behind the -Alberche, four miles to the rear. In a few days the enemy would hear -of Soult’s operations upon their line of communication, and would be -forced to break up and retire.</p> - -<p>Very different, as might have been expected, were Victor’s views. -He declared that the British position was far from impregnable, and -that the prestige of the French army would be destroyed if it retired, -after two partial checks, from in front of an enemy who had not been -seriously attacked. The only fault in the preceding operations had been -that the whole army had not joined in, at the moment when the Cerro had -been stormed. If the King would undertake to use the 4th Corps against -the allied centre, he pledged himself to break their right with his own -three divisions of infantry. He would not only assail the Cerro from -in front, but would turn it from both flanks. If such an attack did -not succeed <i>il faudrait renoncer à faire la guerre</i>. This phrase he -dinned into Joseph’s and Jourdan’s ears so repeatedly that they both -saved it up for future use, and taunted him with it in the acrimonious -correspondence which followed the battle.</p> - -<p>King Joseph would have preferred to follow Jourdan’s cautious plan, -and to hold back. Sebastiani, whose opinion he asked, agreed with him. -But both seem to have been terrorized by the Marshal’s stormy tirades, -and still more by the thought of what the Emperor would say, if he -heard that battle had been refused, contrary to Victor’s advice. The -ultimate decision was still in the balance, when two pieces of news -were received: the first was a dispatch from General Valence, the -Governor of Toledo, to effect that the army of Venegas, whose position -had hitherto been unknown—for nothing had been heard of him<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_529">[p. 529]</span> since Sebastiani had -escaped from his front—had at last come on the scene. His -advanced guard had presented itself before the bridges of Toledo, and -was already skirmishing there. The second item of intelligence was a -dispatch from Soult, acknowledging the receipt of the orders which had -been sent to him upon the twenty-second, and stating his intention of -carrying them out at the earliest possible moment. But he complained -that the promised train of artillery had not yet reached the 2nd Corps, -and declared that he could not move till it had come to hand, and -till he had brought down the 6th Corps from Astorga. He was therefore -of opinion that he could not possibly reach Plasencia till August 3, -perhaps not till two days later.</p> - -<p>This news was decisive: it was now clear that the Duke of Dalmatia -would not be able to bring pressure to bear upon the rear of the allies -for some six or seven days. Meanwhile Venegas was within two marches of -Madrid, and had nothing in front of him save the four Polish battalions -at Toledo. If the King refused to fight, and took up a defensive -position on the Alberche, he would have to detach 15,000 men to hold -back the army of La Mancha from the capital. This would leave him with -only 30,000 men to resist Wellesley and Cuesta, and it was clear that -such a force would be overmatched by the allies. If he kept a larger -number in their front, Venegas would be able to capture Madrid, the -thing of all others which Joseph was resolved to prevent. Accordingly -the King and Jourdan reluctantly fell in with Victor’s plans, and -consented to fight in the afternoon. If they defeated the British and -the Estremadurans on the twenty-eighth, the army of La Mancha could -easily be disposed of upon the twenty-ninth or thirtieth.</p> - -<p>This decision once made, it only remained to settle the details of -the attack. The King determined to assail the British centre and right -with the infantry of Sebastiani’s corps—twenty-three battalions -in all, or some 14,000 men. Victor with the three infantry divisions -of the 1st Corps—thirty-three battalions, still over 16,000 -strong in spite of their losses—undertook to fall upon the -English left, to storm the Cerro de Medellin and also to turn it on its -northern side, so as to envelop Wellesley’s flank. The Spaniards were -to be left alone behind their walls and orchards—only Milhaud’s -dragoons were told off to watch<span class="pagenum" id="Page_530">[p. -530]</span> the exits from Talavera. Of the rest of the cavalry a few -could be utilized in Victor’s turning movement in the valley below -the Sierra de Segurilla: but the main body—all Beaumont’s and -Latour-Maubourg’s eight regiments—were ranged in a second line, -to act as a reserve for the frontal attack of the infantry, and to aid -it if it were checked. The King’s Guards and the brigade of Dessolles -were to be kept back, and only utilized to clinch the victory or to -retrieve a repulse.</p> - -<p>The 30,000 men who were to deliver the grand assault on the allied -position were drawn up as follows. Leval’s Germans advanced on the -left, taking as their objective the battery on the Pajar de Vergara. -They faced Campbell’s British division, and slightly overlapped it, so -as to cover the three or four battalions on the extreme northern wing -of Cuesta’s line. In their rear as supports followed the two Polish -battalions from Valence’s division. On Leval’s right, Sebastiani’s four -French regiments continued the line: this was the strongest division -on the field and counted over 8,000 bayonets. It faced the Guards and -the right battalion of Cameron’s brigade. Here ended the troops of the -4th Corps: beyond them Victor’s 2nd division, that of Lapisse, was -about to assail the German Legion and Cameron’s left-hand regiment, -the 83rd. Still further north Villatte’s division lay opposite the -steepest slopes of the Cerro de Medellin. This position looked more -formidable in the eyes of the Duke of Belluno since he had seen his -first two assaults upon it fail. It was now heavily manned: Tilson’s, -Richard Stewart’s, and Donkin’s brigades were all visible upon its -crest. After some hesitation the Marshal resolved to leave it alone -for the present, and not to attack it till some impression should have -been made upon other parts of Wellesley’s line. Accordingly he left in -front of it only Villatte’s second brigade—the six battalions -of the 94th and 95th regiments. The other brigade—the 27th and -63rd—was directed to join in the flanking movement to the north -of the Cerro, which was to encompass Wellesley’s extreme left. But -the main force told off for this advance consisted of the much-tried -remnants of Ruffin’s division, now not more than 3,700 strong. The -employment of these troops for such a critical operation seems to have -been a mistake—they had already received two bloody checks, and -had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_531">[p. 531]</span> lost more -than a third of their officers and 1,500 men in the late fighting. -Though good regiments, they could now be considered as little more -than ‘a spent force.’ This fact sufficiently explains the feebleness -of the French advance upon this part of the field during the afternoon -hours.</p> - -<p>Behind the French infantry of the 4th and 1st Corps were deployed no -less than twelve regiments of horse: Latour-Maubourg’s three brigades -of dragoons were drawn up in the rear of Lapisse and Sebastiani: -Beaumont supported Villatte, and lastly the four regiments of Merlin’s -(late Lasalle’s) division followed Ruffin in his turning movement. Far -to the rear Dessolles and Joseph’s Guards took up a position facing the -British centre, from which they could support the right or the left of -their own front line as might be necessary.</p> - -<p>The drawing up of this line of battle took time, and while the -French were shifting their positions and establishing their new front, -Wellesley had ample leisure to provide against the oncoming storm. He -had established himself upon the crest of the Cerro, and from thence -could overlook every movement of the enemy. Of the new dispositions -the only one which struck him as likely to cause trouble was the -extension of Ruffin and Villatte to the northward. It was clear that -they were intending to advance up the valley that separates the -Sierra de Segurilla from the Cerro de Medellin, in order to take the -hill in the flank, and assail the 2nd Division from the side. It was -therefore necessary to make arrangements for checking this manœuvre. -Wellesley’s first order was that Fane’s and Anson’s cavalry should -move round the back of the Cerro, and take up new ground at the head -of the valley. From this position they would be able to charge in -the flank any force that might push up the trough of the depression, -in order to get behind Hill’s line. He also withdrew half Rettberg’s -battery from the front of the height, and placed it on a projecting -lateral spur from which it could enfilade the valley. Nor were these -his only precautions; he sent a hasty message to Cuesta, pointing -out that the greater part of the Spanish line was not threatened, -and asking if he could spare reinforcements for the left wing. The -Spanish general behaved in a more liberal fashion than might have -been expected from his previous conduct. He con<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_532">[p. 532]</span>sented to lend Wellesley his reserve -division, that of Bassecourt, about 5,000 strong, and also put at his -disposition a battery of twelve-pounders, heavier guns than any which -the British army possessed. The French were so slow in moving that -there was ample time, before the battle grew hot, to send Bassecourt’s -division round the rear of the British line, and to place it on the -lower slopes of the Sierra de Segurilla, so as to continue to the -northward the front formed by the British cavalry. Of the Spanish -guns placed at Wellesley’s disposition, four were put into the Pajar -de Vergara redoubt, by the side of Lawson’s battery: the other two -accompanied Bassecourt’s infantry, and were placed on the northern -spur of the Cerro de Medellin, near Rettberg’s six-pounders. Somewhat -later the Duke of Albuquerque brought round the whole of his cavalry -division—six regiments and a horse-artillery battery—to the -same quarter, and drew them up in two lines to the rear of Anson’s and -Fane’s brigades. But before he arrived the battle had already begun.</p> - -<p>When the whole of the French infantry was ready, at about two -o’clock in the afternoon, the King gave orders for the artillery to -open, and eighty guns of the 1st and 4th Corps began to play upon -the British line. In some places the troops were only some 600 yards -from the enemy’s batteries, and the loss in many regiments was very -appreciable before a single musket had been fired. Only thirty British -and six Spanish pieces could reply: they were overwhelmed from the -first by the superior number of the French guns. It was therefore with -joy that Wellesley’s infantry saw that the artillery engagement was -not to last for long. All along the hostile line the battalion-columns -of Ruffin, Lapisse, Sebastiani, and Leval were moving up to the -attack, and when they reached the front, and threw out their screen of -tirailleurs, the guns grew silent. Only from the Cerro de Cascajal, -where Villatte was hanging back in obedience to Victor’s orders, did -the cannonade against Hill’s brigades continue.</p> - -<p>The first troops to come into collision with the allies were -Leval’s Germans, upon the extreme left of the French line. This, -it is said, was contrary to the King’s orders; he had intended to -hold this division somewhat back, as it was in<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_533">[p. 533]</span> danger of being outflanked by the -Spaniards if it made a premature advance<a id="FNanchor_657" -href="#Footnote_657" class="fnanchor">[657]</a>. But Leval had a -tangled terrain of vines and olive groves in his front: when once he -had entered it he lost sight of the troops on his right, and fearing -to be late on account of the obstacles in his front, committed the -opposite fault. He came rushing in upon Campbell’s outpost line half an -hour before the other divisions had closed with the British centre, the -time being then 2.30 in the afternoon.</p> - -<p>The nine battalions of the German division were arrayed in a single -line of battalion columns<a id="FNanchor_658" href="#Footnote_658" -class="fnanchor">[658]</a>, with a thick screen of tirailleurs in -their front. But their order had been so much broken up by the walls -and thickets that the 4,500 bayonets appeared to the British like -one confused mass of skirmishers. They came on fast and furiously, -chasing the pickets of the 7th and 53rd before them, till they emerged -into the comparatively open ground in front of the Pajar de Vergara<a -id="FNanchor_659" href="#Footnote_659" class="fnanchor">[659]</a>. Here -the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_534">[p. 534]</span> defence was -standing ready for them: Campbell had brought up one battalion of his -rear brigade into his front line, so that the 40th, as well as the 53rd -and 7th, were facing the attack. On his right lay the redoubt with its -ten guns: further to the south the two left-hand units of the French -division were opposed to troops of Cuesta’s army. Hence it came that -while the Nassau and Dutch regiments faced the British infantry, the -Baden regiment was in front of the guns, while the Hessians and the -Frankfort battalion had to do with the Spaniards.</p> - -<p>When the Germans surged out from among the olive groves into the -comparatively open ground in front of the Pajar de Vergara, the -musketry opened along both lines at a distance of about 200 yards, -the assailants delivering a rolling fire, while the defenders of -the position answered with regular battalion volleys. Several times -Leval’s men advanced a few score paces, and the distance between -the two divisions was growing gradually less. But the attacking -force was evidently suffering more than the allies: in the centre -especially, where the ten guns of the redoubt were firing canister -into the disordered mass, the casualties of the Baden battalions were -terrible: they could not bear up against the blasts of <i>mitraille</i>, -and after their colonel, von Porbeck, had fallen, they broke and began -to recoil. Seeing part of the enemy’s line falling into disorder, -General Campbell ordered his front line to charge. Then Colonel Myers -of the 7th, seizing the King’s colour of his regiment, ran out in -front of the line and calling ‘Come on, Fusiliers,’ led the advance<a -id="FNanchor_660" href="#Footnote_660" class="fnanchor">[660]</a>. His -own battalion, the 40th and the 53rd, at once closed with the Nassau -and Dutch regiments, who shrank back into the thickets and melted away -from the front. The victors pursued them for some distance, capturing -in their onward career a whole battery of six guns, which was being -brought forward to reply to the artillery of the redoubt, but had -failed to reach the clearing before the line in front of them gave way. -The three battalions on Leval’s extreme left, which had the Spaniards -in front of them, had been exchanging volleys with their opponents -without notable advantage on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_535">[p. -535]</span> either side, when the rest of the division broke. When -their companions retired they also were forced to draw back, in order -to prevent themselves from being turned on both flanks. Campbell was -cautious enough to stop his men before they had gone far forward among -the thickets, and brought them back to their old position: he spiked -the guns that he had taken, and left them in the clearing in front of -the redoubt. His losses had been very small, owing to his admirable -self-restraint in calling back his charging regiments before they got -out of hand.</p> - -<p>Leval therefore was able to rally his division at leisure, upon -the two Polish battalions which formed its supports. He had lost in -the three-quarters of an hour during which he was engaged some six or -seven hundred men. The battle was raging by now all down the line, and -when the Germans were re-formed, they received orders to advance for -a second time, to cover the flank of Sebastiani’s division, now hotly -engaged with Sherbrooke’s right brigades. Neglecting chronological -considerations, in order to finish the narrative of the action in this -quarter, it may suffice to say that Leval’s second attack was made -at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon: it was not delivered with so -much energy as had been shown in his first. It encountered the same -obstacles, and could not surmount them. Once more the advance rolled -up through the olive groves, and reached the clearing in front of the -battery. Again the head of the attacking masses withered away under the -musketry fire and the salvos from the English and Spanish guns, and -the whole finally went to the rear in disorder. Campbell, in repelling -this attack, used his second brigade as well as his first, and pushed -the enemy further back than he had done during the earlier fighting: -the Spaniards also came out of their line and continued to flank the -retreating enemy with two or three battalions and a half-battery<a -id="FNanchor_661" href="#Footnote_661" class="fnanchor">[661]</a>. As -the Hessians and Frankforters in their front began to give way, they -were assailed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_536">[p. 536]</span> by -one of Henestrosa’s cavalry regiments, the <i>Regimiento del Rey</i>, which -charged with great spirit, and cut up many men before they could form -square. The bulk of the two battalions, however, clubbed together in -a mass and retired into the woods, defending themselves as best they -could. The victorious Spanish horsemen while following them, came -upon a second French battery which (like that captured by the British -brigade on their left) was being brought forward by a narrow lane -between two olive groves. They cut down the gunners and took four -pieces, which were dragged back into the redoubt. This was by far the -best piece of work done by Spanish cavalry during the whole of the -first years of the war, and did much to atone for the panic of the -previous night in the eyes of the British observers upon the right -wing.</p> - -<p>The repulse of Leval’s division was complete, and its wrecks, once -more rallied upon the two Polish battalions in their rear, drew back -into the plain, and were completely put out of action. In this attack -they lost not only the four guns taken by the Spaniards, but seven more -pieces of artillery. Convinced that he could not carry the Pajar de -Vergara position unless he could bring guns to bear upon the redoubt, -and check the ravages of its salvos of canister, Leval had tried to -push his remaining two batteries into the firing line. Again, as in -the first attack, they were left helpless when the infantry broke, and -became the prey of the pursuers. It would seem that he lost on this -day seventeen guns in all<a id="FNanchor_662" href="#Footnote_662" -class="fnanchor">[662]</a>. The total of the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_537">[p. 537]</span> casualties in his division were 1,007, -nearly a quarter of its force: the colonels of the Baden and Frankfort -regiments and the major commanding the Dutch battery had been left -on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_538">[p. 538]</span> field<a -id="FNanchor_663" href="#Footnote_663" class="fnanchor">[663]</a>. -Campbell had suffered on a very different scale—he had only -lost 236 men, and it is improbable that the Spaniards on his right -had more than 150 or 180 casualties, since they only fought with one -wing of the attacking force. Wellesley, not without reason, gave the -highest praise in his dispatch to Campbell, for the admirable and -cautious defence which he had made. The management of the 4th Division, -indeed, contrasted strongly with that of the troops to its left, where -Sherbrooke’s brigades—as we shall see—risked the loss of -the battle by their rash pursuit of the enemy, far beyond the limits of -the position which had been given them to defend.</p> - -<p>We must now turn to their doings—the most desperate fighting -that occurred during the day. Sherbrooke’s eight battalions had to -endure the preliminary cannonade for more than half an hour after -Campbell’s men were closely engaged with the enemy. It was not till -three o’clock that the two French divisions opposed to them began -to descend towards the Portiña, in an orderly and imposing array. -Each of the French generals had drawn up his twelve battalions in -two lines—the front line deployed in column of divisions, the -supporting line in solid column of battalions. But there was this -difference in their arrangements, that Lapisse had placed his brigades -one behind the other, while Sebastiani had preferred to work his -brigades side by side, each with one regiment in first and one in -second line. The former therefore had Laplannes’ brigade (16th Léger -and 45th Line) opposed to Low’s and Langwerth’s regiments of<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_539">[p. 539]</span> the German Legion and -Cameron’s 2/83rd. The latter had the 28th of Rey’s and the 58th of -Liger-Bellair’s brigades ranged over against the 1/61st and the British -Foot-Guards. When the cannonade of the French batteries ceased, the -twelve battalions of their first line, preceded by the usual swarm of -<i>tirailleurs</i>, moved down toward the Portiña. They crossed the brook -and pressed on towards the red line that stood awaiting their approach, -driving before them with ease the comparatively insignificant screen of -light troops that lay in front of the British centre. Sherbrooke, who -was responsible for the whole line of the defence, since his division -exactly covered the ground on which the French attack was delivered, -had issued orders that the troops were not to fire till the enemy came -within fifty yards of them, and that they were then to deliver a single -volley and charge. This programme was executed with precise obedience: -though suffering severely from the enemy’s musketry, the division held -in its fire till the hostile columns were close upon them, and then -opened with one tremendous discharge which crashed out simultaneously -along the whole eight battalions. The leading ranks of Lapisse’s and -Sebastiani’s front line went down in swathes,—one French witness -says that the infantry of the regiments of the 4th Corps lost a third -of their numbers in less than ten minutes. When the charge which -Sherbrooke had ordered followed close upon the blasting musketry fire, -the enemy retired in disorder and fell back beyond the Portiña.</p> - -<p>The divisional general had apparently forgotten to caution his -colonels against the danger of carrying their advance too far. Instead -of contenting themselves with chasing the broken enemy as far as the -brook, and then returning to their positions, the four brigades of the -1st division all crossed the water and pursued the French into their -own ground; the German Legion on the left actually began to push them -up the lower slopes of the Cerro de Cascajal, while the Guards on the -right went forward far into the rolling plain in front of them. Cameron -halted his two battalions not far beyond the Portiña; but on each side -of him the pursuit was pressed with reckless energy, and without any -remembrance of the fact that the enemy had strong reserves.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_540">[p. 540]</span></p> - -<p>Thus it came to pass that a disaster followed the first success of -Sherbrooke’s division. Both the Germans on the left and the Guards on -the right found themselves in face of intact troops, behind whom the -broken front line of the enemy took refuge. They were in no condition -to begin a new combat, for they were in complete disorder, and there -was a broad gap on the inner flank of each brigade, owing to the fact -that Cameron had halted and refused to push forward into danger. Hence -came a perilous crisis: the French reserves moved forward, the guns on -the Cascajal height enfiladed the German Legion, while two regiments -of Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons moved in upon the right flank of the -Guards. The whole of the six battalions that had joined in the reckless -advance were forced to recoil, fighting desperately but losing ground -every moment, and pressed into clumps and masses that presented no -trace of their former line of battle. When they fell back to the point -where Cameron had stopped, the 61st and 83rd became involved in their -retreat, and were forced to repass the Portiña in their company. The -French followed with shouts of victory, pushing their advantage to the -utmost and slaughtering the disordered battalions by hundreds. The -disaster was worst on the left, where half the strength of the 2nd -Line Battalion of the German Legion—387 men—was destroyed -in twenty minutes, and the 5th battalion of that same corps lost over -100 prisoners. The Guards suffered almost as heavily: out of their -2,000 men 611 went down killed or wounded: but they left no prisoners -behind.</p> - -<p>It seemed that the day might well be lost, for Wellesley’s reserves -were small. Such as they were, however, they were at once put into -action. Mackenzie brought forward his brigade to the ground which the -Guards had originally covered, and drew them up to withstand the rush -of Sebastiani’s division—the 2/24th on the right, the 2/31st -on the left, with the 1/45th between them. The disordered household -troops passed through their intervals, and rallied behind them with -splendid promptness: ‘their good humour and determination after such -dreadful losses’ says an eye-witness, ‘was shown by their giving a -loud hurrah as they took up their new ground<a id="FNanchor_664" -href="#Footnote_664" class="fnanchor">[664]</a>.’ At the same time -Cotton brought up the single brigade of light cavalry which<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_541">[p. 541]</span> was in reserve, and drew -them up on Mackenzie’s right, so as to cover his flank. Sebastiani -came up with great boldness against the fresh front thus presented -to him, and for twenty minutes there was a furious musketry battle -in the British right centre. Mackenzie himself fell, and his three -battalions lost 632 men out of about 2,000: but they held their own, -and finally the enemy recoiled. They were helped somewhat in their -inclination to retreat by a charge of the Light Dragoons upon the flank -of their left-hand regiment, the 75th, which had about 150 men sabred<a -id="FNanchor_665" href="#Footnote_665" class="fnanchor">[665]</a>. -Thus on this point the battle was saved: the main credit must -go to Mackenzie’s brigade, which has never received the praise -that was its due, for its general was killed, and thus no report -from the 3rd division was sent in to Wellesley, who omitted all -mention of its doings in his Talavera dispatch<a id="FNanchor_666" -href="#Footnote_666" class="fnanchor">[666]</a>. It is never too -late to do homage to forgotten valour, and to call attention to a -neglected feat of arms. The services of the 24th, 31st, and 45th -saved the day for Britain<a id="FNanchor_667" href="#Footnote_667" -class="fnanchor">[667]</a>.</p> - -<p>Sebastiani therefore drew back terribly mauled: his division had -lost <i>all</i> its four colonels, seven of its twelve battalion-chiefs, -seventy other officers and 2,100 rank and file—including some -sixty prisoners. There was no more fight left in them. They recoiled -into the plain, and drew up at last not far from the wrecks of Leval’s -division, a full mile beyond the Portiña.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, however great may have been the danger in the British -right-centre, that in the left-centre was even greater. Cameron’s, -Low’s, and Langwerth’s brigades were all in the most desperate -position: the former, not having pushed so far to the front as the -four German battalions, had suffered least of the three—though -it had lost 500 men out of 1,400.<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_542">[p. 542]</span> But the Legionary troops were in far -worse case—Langwerth had been killed, and his brigade was reduced -from 1,300 to 650 bayonets—just fifty per cent. of the men had -been lost. Low had gone into action with only 950 rank and file, owing -to the heavy casualty-list of the preceding night. Of these he now -lost 350, including 150 made prisoners in the disorderly retreat down -the slope of the Cerro de Cascajal. That these troops ever rallied and -made head at all, when they had recrossed the Portiña, is much to their -credit.</p> - -<p>The situation was saved by Wellesley’s own prescience. The moment -that he saw the rash attack on the French line to which Sherbrooke had -committed himself, he looked round for supports which might be utilized -to stay the inevitable reaction that must follow. Mackenzie’s brigade -was available on the right-centre, and was used as we have seen. -But there were no infantry reserves behind the left-centre: it was -necessary to send down troops from the Cerro de Medellin. Villatte was -then threatening its front, Ruffin was marching to turn its northern -flank, and Wellesley did not dare to detach a whole brigade from the -key of the position. He took, however, Richard Stewart’s strongest -battalion, the 1/48th under Colonel Donnellan (which had still over 700 -bayonets in line even after its losses in the morning) and sent it at -full speed down the southern slope of the Cerro. It arrived in time to -take position on the old ground of the British line, at the moment that -the retreating masses came rolling back across the Portiña. If the 48th -had been carried away in the general backward movement, the day would -have been lost: but the regiment stood firm, and allowed Cameron’s -and Langwerth’s troops to pass by its flanks and form up in its rear. -While it was holding back Lapisse’s central advance, the defeated -brigades rallied and re-formed with admirable celerity, and the battle -was restored. Here, as further to the right, the fighting now resolved -itself into a furious musketry-combat between enemies both of whom were -now spent and weakened by their previous exertions<a id="FNanchor_668" -href="#Footnote_668" class="fnanchor">[668]</a>. In such<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_543">[p. 543]</span> a duel the line had -always the advantage over the column in the end. The French, when once -brought to a standstill by the 1/48th, lost their <i>élan</i>, and stood -heaped together in disorderly masses, keeping up a rolling fire but -gaining no ground. Howorth turned upon them the batteries on the Cerro -de Medellin, which enfiladed their flank and added to their confusion. -General Lapisse himself was killed at this moment, as he was trying to -urge on his men to a final advance. It was probably, however, not his -death—on which all the French accounts lay great stress—but -rather the defeat of Sebastiani’s division on their immediate right -which finally shook the <i>morale</i> of the French regiments, and induced -them to move back, first at a slow pace, then in undisguised retreat. -The shattered remnants of the German Legion and of the 1/48th, 1/61st, -and 2/83rd were in no condition to follow. Seldom have two combatants -so thoroughly mauled each other as had the twelve French and the seven -allied battalions which fought in this part of the field. Of the 6,800 -men of Lapisse’s division, the general, sixty-nine other officers, -and 1,700 men were <i>hors de combat</i>. Of 4,300<a id="FNanchor_669" -href="#Footnote_669" class="fnanchor">[669]</a> British and German -troops opposed to them almost exactly the same number had been -lost—a general (Langwerth), seventy-seven officers, and 1,616 -men. That the smaller force should ever have held its ground after -losing more than a third of its number is almost miraculous. There was -no such a victory as this during the whole war, save Albuera.</p> - -<p>While the main stress of the battle had been rolling across the -lower slopes, above the middle course of the Portiña, matters<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_544">[p. 544]</span> had been comparatively -quiet on the Cerro de Medellin. Victor, it will be remembered, had -ordered that Villatte was to make no serious attack on the height -until the divisions to his left had made some impression upon the -British centre. But Lapisse and Sebastiani, in spite of their temporary -successes, had never broken into Wellesley’s position. The assault on -the Cerro therefore was never made, though a furious artillery fire -was kept up against its garrison throughout the afternoon. The handful -of British guns upon the crest could make no adequate reply: hence the -three brigades of Tilson, Richard Stewart, and Donkin were suffering -very serious losses from the long cannonade. Wellesley had made them -shelter themselves, as far as was possible, behind the sky-line. -Nevertheless the storm of shot and shell that beat upon the position -was not without effect. In Donkin’s brigade no one, save the light -companies skirmishing along the lower slopes, discharged a musket that -afternoon, yet the casualties in its ranks were no less than 195<a -id="FNanchor_670" href="#Footnote_670" class="fnanchor">[670]</a>. -Hill’s two brigades, though better covered, had still many killed and -wounded. That the return-fire of the British artillery and skirmishers -was not altogether ineffective is shown by the fact that the two -regiments of Villatte’s second brigade, which held the opposite -slope, lost 185 men, and even the squadrons of Beaumont in its rear -had a few troopers disabled<a id="FNanchor_671" href="#Footnote_671" -class="fnanchor">[671]</a>. Nevertheless the fighting in this part of -the field was not only indecisive but comparatively innocuous to both -sides, when compared with the awful slaughter that was going on to -their right.</p> - -<p>It only remains to tell of the combat to the north of the Cerro, in -the narrow valley that separated the British position from the Sierra -de Segurilla. Here the engagement began at a much later hour than in -the centre. All the observers on the hill speak of the first contest of -Campbell and Leval as being concluded, and of that of Sherbrooke and -Sebastiani as being at its height, before the French right wing began -to move.</p> - -<p>The French troops in this direction, it will be remembered,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_545">[p. 545]</span> were the three regiments -of Ruffin, now mere wrecks of their former selves, and the first -brigade of Villatte’s division, that of Cassagne. The six battalions of -the latter force were near the Cerro de Medellin, while Ruffin’s men -stood further to the north, under the Sierra de Segurilla. In support -of them both lay Merlin’s division of light cavalry.</p> - -<p>At the moment when Victor had received permission to turn the flank -of the Cerro, it had appeared that he would meet little opposition. -But long ere the French were ready to advance, they had seen allied -troops arriving in haste and taking up their position at the southern -end of the valley. First Fane’s and Anson’s cavalry had drawn up on the -level ground, then Bassecourt’s Spanish infantry had appeared on the -rocky slopes of the Sierra, and had thrown out a long skirmishing line -opposite Ruffin’s right. Lastly Albuquerque’s whole cavalry division -had ridden round from the rear of the centre, and taken post behind -Anson and Fane. There were now over 5,000 bayonets and 5,000 sabres in -face of the French brigades.</p> - -<p>It was clear that any attempt to storm the northern face of the -Cerro would expose the troops that attempted it to a flank attack from -the allied troops in the valley. It was this that made Ruffin and -Villatte (who was present in person with Cassagne’s brigade) very chary -of molesting Hill’s position. On the other hand if the French advanced -up the valley to attack the cavalry at its southern end, they would -expose themselves to a flanking fire from the guns on the Cerro and -from Hill’s right-hand infantry brigade.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, when the roar of the invisible battle on the other -side of the Cascajal height was at its loudest, the two French -generals began a cautious advance towards the front. They at once -came under a tiresome flanking artillery fire from the Cerro: half -Rettberg’s battery of the German Legion had been placed on a spur -from which it enfiladed Villatte’s nearest regiment. Two heavy -Spanish twelve-pounders opened from another part of the slope<a -id="FNanchor_672" href="#Footnote_672" class="fnanchor">[672]</a>, and -Albuquerque had also placed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_546">[p. -546]</span> his horse-artillery guns in a position from which they bore -up the valley. The pieces that accompanied the French advance, being in -the trough of the depression, could do little harm in return.</p> - -<p>After advancing as far as the path which leads from Talavera to -Segurilla, Ruffin deployed his right regiment, the much depleted 9th -Léger, and sent it up the Sierra to form a screen opposite Bassecourt’s -infantry. The other six battalions, the 24th and 96th, advanced in -column along the valley, with the 27th from Cassagne’s brigade on their -left; presently the whole came level with the northern slope of the -Cerro, just reaching the farm of Valdefuentes at its foot.</p> - -<p>At this moment Lapisse’s attack had already been beaten off, -and Wellesley was able to turn his attention from the centre to -the flank of his line<a id="FNanchor_673" href="#Footnote_673" -class="fnanchor">[673]</a>. Crossing the crest of the Cerro, he studied -for a moment the situation of the French regiments, and then sent down -orders for Anson’s brigade of light dragoons to charge them, with -Fane’s heavy cavalry in support. The moment that the British horsemen -were seen to be advancing the enemy hastily formed squares—the -24th and 96th slightly to the west of the Segurilla road, the 27th -in a more advanced position just under the walls of the farm of -Valdefuentes. A battalion of <i>grenadiers réunis</i>, and the 63rd of the -Line, which formed Villatte’s supports, also fell into square far to -the rear. The concentration of the French regiments in vast masses -of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_547">[p. 547]</span> three battalions -each gave a great opportunity to the allied artillery, which found easy -targets in the square blocks of men at their feet.</p> - -<p>As Anson’s brigade advanced, the right regiment, the 23rd Light -Dragoons, found itself opposite the large square of the 27th Léger, -while the 1st Light Dragoons of the German Legion faced the smaller -masses of the 24th and 96th. The ground seemed favourable for a charge, -and though an attack on unbroken infantry is always hazardous, the -squadrons came on with great confidence and were soon closing in at -headlong speed upon the hostile line.</p> - -<p>An unforeseen chance of war, however, wrecked the whole plan. The -long dry waving grass of the valley seemed to show a level surface, but -the appearance was deceitful. About a hundred and fifty yards in front -of the French squares was a narrow but deep ravine, the bed of a small -winter-torrent which discharges its waters into the Portiña during -the rainy season. It was about fifteen feet broad and ten feet deep -in the northern part of the field, a little narrower in its southern -course. There were many places at which it could be crossed with ease -by a horseman moving alone and at a moderate pace. But for squadrons -riding knee to knee at headlong speed it was a dangerous obstacle, and -indeed a trap of the most deadly sort. It was wholly invisible to the -horsemen till they came upon it. Colonel Elley, the second in command -of the 23rd, who rode two lengths ahead of the front line of his -regiment, mounted on a grey horse, and conspicuous to every observer -on the Cerro de Medellin, was the first man to discover the peril<a -id="FNanchor_674" href="#Footnote_674" class="fnanchor">[674]</a>. His -charger cleared it at a bound; but knowing that the inferior mounts -of the rank and file would certainly come to grief, he wheeled round -on the further bank, threw up his hand and tried to wave back his -followers. It was too late: the two squadrons of the front line were -on the brink of the ravine before they could understand his action. -Some of the troopers cleared the obstacle in their stride; some swerved -in time and refused to take the leap; others scrambled into and over -the less difficult points of the ditch: but many fell horse and man -into the trap, and were then crushed by the rear rank falling in on -top of them. There<span class="pagenum" id="Page_548">[p. 548]</span> -were several broken necks, and scores of broken arms and legs in the -leading squadrons. The second line got warning of the obstacle by -seeing the inexplicable disorder into which their fellows had fallen. -They slackened their pace, but were borne into the confused mass at -the ravine before they could entirely bring themselves to a stand. -Meanwhile the front face of the square formed by the 27th Léger opened -fire on the unhappy regiment.</p> - -<p>The German light dragoons, on the northern side of the valley, came -upon the fatal cutting at a point where it was somewhat shallower -and broader than in front of the 23rd—one of their officers -estimates it in his narrative at eighteen feet in width and six or -eight in depth. Their disaster therefore was not so complete as that -of their British comrades. But many troopers of the first line were -unhorsed, and others, though keeping their saddles, could not manage -to scramble up the further side of the ravine. The rear squadrons -came up in time to add to the confusion, and reined up among the -survivors of the front<a id="FNanchor_675" href="#Footnote_675" -class="fnanchor">[675]</a>.</p> - -<p>The two regiments were now in utter confusion, and had already -suffered severe loss both by the fall into the ravine and by the French -musketry which had opened upon them. Their colonels would have been -wise to give up the attempt to advance and to fall back in their old -position. How could squadrons in such a disordered state hope to break -into French squares? But both Seymour of the 23rd and Arentschildt -were officers of high mettle, and throwing prudence to the winds they -collected such of their men as had leaped or scrambled over the ravine, -and led them against the hostile infantry. Probably little more than -half of either corps took part in the final charge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_549">[p. 549]</span></p> - -<p>Be this as it may, both the 23rd and the Legionary dragoons made an -attempt to gallop in upon the squares in their front. The Germans rode -at that of the 24th regiment, received its fire, and were repulsed, -though a few men fell close in upon the bayonets. They then galloped -off and fell back up the valley. Far more disastrous was the fate -of the English regiment. The survivors of the two left squadrons -charged the square of the 27th Léger, were repulsed with heavy loss, -recrossed the ravine, and struggled back to the British lines. But -Colonel Elley and the right squadrons, having no enemy immediately in -their front, rode furiously between the French square and the farm of -Valdefuentes, and charged a line of cavalry which was visible a few -hundred yards to the rear<a id="FNanchor_676" href="#Footnote_676" -class="fnanchor">[676]</a>. This was the leading brigade [10th and -26th Chasseurs] of Merlin’s division, which was acting in support -of Villatte and Ruffin. The squadrons in front of the 23rd swerved -to the side when charged<a id="FNanchor_677" href="#Footnote_677" -class="fnanchor">[677]</a>, but on passing them the British dragoons -found another regiment of Merlin’s second line opposed to them<a -id="FNanchor_678" href="#Footnote_678" class="fnanchor">[678]</a>. They -dashed at it, whereupon the regiment that had evaded them swung round -and fell upon their rear. Encircled by fivefold numbers the remnant -of Drake’s and Allen’s squadrons of the 23rd were annihilated. Only -a few well-mounted officers<a id="FNanchor_679" href="#Footnote_679" -class="fnanchor">[679]</a>, including their leader Elley,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_550">[p. 550]</span> and two or three -troopers cut their way through the enemy, rode off to the northward, -and ultimately escaped to Bassecourt’s Spanish line on the Sierra de -Segurilla. The total loss of the regiment was 207 killed, wounded -and missing out of 450 sabres who took the field in the morning. Of -these, three officers and 105 men were prisoners—most of them -wounded.</p> - -<p>It was late in the afternoon when the survivors of the 23rd found -their way back to the western end of the valley, and the battle in -the centre had long died down to a cannonade. Ruffin and Villatte -now had it in their power to advance again, but did not do so. If -they had gone further forward they would have lent their flank still -more to Hill’s troops upon the Cerro, and would have had to deploy, a -movement which would have exposed them, when no longer protected by -formation in square, to charges from the mass of allied cavalry still -visible in their front—Fane’s brigade and Albuquerque’s strong -division. Bassecourt’s Spaniards were holding their ground against the -flank-guard which had been sent up on to the Sierra de Segurilla, and -to drive them back Ruffin would have had to detach more battalions -from his main column. News had been received that the central attack -had completely failed. It was natural, therefore, that after some -hesitation the French right wing retired, and fell back up the valley -of the Portiña. Villatte’s two regiments had lost about 200 men while -standing in square under the fire of the guns on the Cerro. They could -no longer be regarded as fresh troops fit for a prolonged advance, -while the wrecks of Ruffin’s battalions, having now been under fire -three separate times in eighteen hours, were utterly exhausted. It is -clear that Victor could not have dared to risk a serious attack upon -the British left with these forces.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_8"> - <img src="images/talavera.jpg" - alt="Map of the battle of Talavera" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/talavera-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - <span class="smcap">BATTLE of TALAVERA</span><br /> - <small>THE MAIN ENGAGEMENT</small><br /> - <small><span class="smcap">3 to 5 p.m. JULY</span> 28<sup>TH</sup> 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">The battle had now come to a standstill: of the five -French infantry divisions in the front line those of Leval, Sebastiani, -and Lapisse were reforming their diminished ranks in the plain, far to -the east of the Portiña, while Villatte and Ruffin had fallen back on -to the slopes of the Cerro de Cascajal. The only intact infantry still -remaining at the disposition of the King were his own 1,800 Guards, -and the 3,300 bayonets of Dessolles. With these and with Villatte’s -two brigades, which had only lost 400 men, it would have been possible -to prepare one more <span class="pagenum" id="Page_551">[p. -551]</span>assault upon the British position. Victor, raging with anger -at his third repulse, was anxious to continue the action, though he had -lost nearly one man in four of his infantry, and had not won an inch of -ground. The King was less hopeful: the frightful slaughter had subdued -his spirits, and he asked himself whether the 5,000 men of his reserve -would suffice to break the thin red line against which the whole of the -1st and 4th Corps had hurled themselves in vain. For a moment he seemed -inclined to risk his last stake, and the Guards and Dessolles were -ordered to move forward. But they had not gone far when a counter-order -was sent to check them: Milhaud, whose dragoons had spent the whole day -in observing the Spanish lines, had sent in a message to the effect -that Cuesta was at last showing signs of life, and that he could see -numerous troops pushing to the front among the olive groves in front -of the town. The news was not true, for nothing more than vedettes -and small exploring parties had been sent out by the Spanish general. -But the very suspicion that the Army of Estremadura might at last be -preparing to take the initiative was enough to damp the very moderate -ardour of King Joseph. If he committed himself to one final dash at the -English, and engaged both his reserve and the rallied divisions of his -front line, in an attack upon their allied centre and left, what could -he do in the event of the sudden appearance of the whole Spanish army -in the act of turning his southern flank? Twenty-five thousand men, or -more, might suddenly sally out from the screen of groves, and fling -themselves upon the left flank of Sebastiani’s corps. To hold them -back nothing would be available but the 5,000 sabres of Milhaud and -Latour-Maubourg; of infantry not one man would be left to parry such a -stroke. The King could not flatter himself that anything but a disaster -could ensue. Even if it were not true that the Spaniards were already -in motion, there was every reason to believe that they might deliver -an attack when they saw the last French reserves put into action -against the British. Few generals would have resisted such a tempting -opportunity. It was to be remembered also that some of the Spaniards -had actually come out of their lines, and fallen upon Leval’s flank, -when the last assault had been pressed against the Pajar de Vergara. A -third advance in this quarter<span class="pagenum" id="Page_552">[p. -552]</span> might yet rouse the whole Estremaduran army out of its -apathy, and induce it to charge home upon Sebastiani’s left wing.</p> - -<p>Jourdan and most of the members of Joseph’s staff were convinced -that it would be mad to deliver a last attack on the British line, -in face of the possible consequences of an advance by the Spaniards. -The Marshal declared that<a id="FNanchor_680" href="#Footnote_680" -class="fnanchor">[680]</a> it was impossible to proceed with any -further scheme of advance, and that the only safe course was to draw -back the whole army towards the Alberche. His master was relieved to -find a good reason for ending a battle which had been begun without -his permission, and continued under his very reluctant sanction. -Orders were sent along the whole line, directing both the 1st and the -4th Corps to abandon their fighting-ground and fall back to their -old position of the twenty-seventh. The cavalry divisions of Merlin, -Latour-Maubourg, and Milhaud were to cover the retreat.</p> - -<p>Victor was furious at receiving these directions. He averred to the -officer who bore the King’s dispatch that from his point of vantage on -the Cascajal he could command a view of the whole Spanish army, and -that he was positive that not a Spaniard had moved. He even pretended -to observe signs of a retreat in Wellesley’s lines, and persisted that -the mere demonstration of a fourth attack would induce the allies to -abandon their position. How he came to form any such conclusion it is -hard to see, for the whole British army was still preserving its old -ground, and no one from the Commander-in-chief down to the youngest -private was dreaming of a movement to the rear. It would indeed have -been insane to desert a strong position, in order to retreat across the -open in face of an army possessing 7,000 excellent cavalry! But Victor, -still loth to withdraw and to own himself beaten, sent word to the King -that he took it upon himself to remain on the slopes of the Cascajal -till he should receive further orders, and that he yet hoped that the -reserve might be sent forward and the battle renewed.</p> - -<p>When Victor’s message reached the King, it had already been -discovered that all the rumours concerning the advance of the Spaniards -were false. But the hour was now late, and (as<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_553">[p. 553]</span> Jourdan observed) if the army were to -gain a final success—a most problematical occurrence—there -would be no daylight left in which to push it to its legitimate end. -He thought it better to take the prudent course, to refuse to risk the -reserve, whose defeat would have the most fatal consequences, and to -prepare for a retreat. The orders were accordingly issued that the army -should fall back to its old camping-ground of the morning, deferring -the passage of the Alberche till the next day<a id="FNanchor_681" -href="#Footnote_681" class="fnanchor">[681]</a>.</p> - -<p>While the French commanders were in controversy concerning their -movements, the battle had died down into a cannonade, kept up with -great vehemence by the batteries on the Cerro de Cascajal. The British -and German guns never ceased their reply, but—as had been the -case during the whole day—they were far too few to subdue the -enemy’s fire: considering how they were overmatched, it is wonderful -that there was but one piece disabled, and that only sixty-six gunners -were put <i>hors de combat</i>. The opposing batteries were hit almost as -hard, for the artillery of the 1st Corps had sixty-four casualties.</p> - -<p>A distressing accident took place during this final strife between -the hostile batteries: a large area of dry grass on the lower slopes -of the Cerro de Medellin took fire, from smouldering wadding fanned by -the wind. Many of the severely wounded of both sides were scorched, -and some burnt to death, by the short but devouring conflagration -that ran along the hillside<a id="FNanchor_682" href="#Footnote_682" -class="fnanchor">[682]</a>.</p> - -<p>By dusk the whole of the 4th Corps was rolling to the rear, and the -last rays of daylight showed Wellesley the welcome view of a general -retreat opposite his right and centre. Victor clung obstinately to -the Cerro de Cascajal till far into the hours of darkness. But at -last the cold fit supervened, his spirits sank, and he withdrew at -3 <small>A.M.</small> full of resentment, and well stocked with -grievances for the acrimonious correspondence with Joseph and Jourdan -in which he indulged for the next six weeks.</p> - -<p>There can be little doubt that Jourdan was right in refusing<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_554">[p. 554]</span> to fall in with the -younger marshal’s plans for a fourth assault on the British. Wellesley -was well settled into his fighting-ground: at the southern end of his -line Campbell was perfectly safe at the Pajar de Vergara redoubt. -He had lost no more than 236 men, so that his whole division was -practically intact. Hill’s brigades on the Cerro were also in perfectly -good order—they had not been attacked since the morning, and -would have been quite competent to defend themselves at five o’clock -in the afternoon. The cannonade which they had been enduring had done -some harm, but there were still 3,000 men in line, to hold a most -formidable position. The only point of the British front on which -the French could have hoped to make any impression was the centre. -Here the Guards and Cameron’s brigade had suffered heavily, and the -four battalions of the German Legion even worse—they had lost -a full fifty per cent. of their numbers. But Mackenzie’s division -was now in line with Sherbrooke’s, its first brigade supporting the -Guards, its second (Donkin’s) linked to the Germans. Considering the -way in which the British centre had dealt with the 15,000 bayonets -of Sebastiani and Lapisse during the main engagement, the French -critics who hold that they would have given way before the 5,000 men -of Dessolles and the Royal Guard, even when backed by the rallied -divisions, show a very optimistic spirit. Moreover when the battle had -waxed hot in this quarter, the French would have had no certainty that -Campbell and the Spaniards might not have fallen upon their flank. For -Leval’s much depleted division was no longer in front of the British -right—it had been withdrawn behind Sebastiani<a id="FNanchor_683" -href="#Footnote_683" class="fnanchor">[683]</a>, and there was nothing -to prevent the reserve-brigade of the 4th division from going to the -aid of Sherbrooke’s men. The chances of war are incalculable, but -there seems no reason to believe that Victor’s judgement as to the -probability of success was any better at five o’clock in the afternoon -than it had been at five o’clock in the morning. Jourdan was the wiser -man.</p> - -<p>Thus ended the battle of Talavera, in which 16,000 British supported -and repulsed the attack of 26,000 French infantry—omitting -from the total of the assailants the division of Villatte,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_555">[p. 555]</span> which was only slightly -engaged. The Cerro de Medellin was strong ground, but not so strong -as to counterbalance a superiority of 10,000 men. The real fighting -power of Wellesley’s foot-soldiery was shown in the lower parts of -the field, where Sherbrooke’s and Mackenzie’s 8,000 bayonets achieved -their marvellous success over the 15,000 men of Lapisse and Sebastiani. -Doomed to apparent ruin by their own rash valour in pursuing the enemy -across the Portiña, they yet recovered their line, re-established -the battle, and finally won an almost incredible victory. The ‘First -Division’ of the Peninsular army,—the Guards and the German -Legion who fought side by side throughout the whole war,—had -many proud days between 1809 and 1814, but surely Talavera was the -most honourable of them all. Yet probably Mackenzie’s brigade and -Donnellan’s 48th must claim an even higher merit—it was their -prompt and steady help which gave their comrades time to re-form, and -warded off the possibility of disaster at the critical moment.</p> - -<p>The Spaniards had little to do upon July 28, but what little they -had to do was well done. The charge of the cavalry regiment Rey was -well timed and gallantly delivered. The few battalions engaged near -the Pajar de Vergara and in Bassecourt’s division behaved steadily. -The artillery sent to aid the British was manfully worked and did -good service. But if only the Spanish army had been able to manœuvre, -what a difference there must have been in the battle! When Leval, -Sebastiani, and Lapisse fell back in disorder at 4 <small>P.M.</small>, -what would have been the fate of the French if Cuesta could have led -out 25,000 men upon their flank and rear? He did not attempt to do so, -and probably he was right. Yet it was hard for a British army to have -to fight in line with allies who were perfectly useless for any large -offensive movement.</p> - -<p>The losses of Talavera, as we have already shown, were tremendous -on both sides. Adding together the casualties of the twenty-seventh -and the twenty-eighth, the British lost 5,365 men, 801 killed, 3915 -wounded, and 649 missing. Of the last-named 108 belonged to the -unfortunate 23rd Dragoons, and nearly 300 to the German Legion. Two -generals, Mackenzie and Langwerth, had been killed, and three colonels, -Ross of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_556">[p. 556]</span> the -Coldstream Guards, Donnellan of the 48th, and Gordon of the 83rd.</p> - -<p>The French losses were decidedly heavier, though the percentage in -the regiments was in most cases far lower than that in the victorious -British force. The total was 7,268, of whom 761 were killed, 6,301 -wounded, and 206 missing<a id="FNanchor_684" href="#Footnote_684" -class="fnanchor">[684]</a>. General Lapisse and von Porbeck of the -Baden regiment, one of Leval’s brigadiers, were the only officers -of distinction slain. But the number of field-officers wounded was -enormous—in Sebastiani’s division <i>all</i> the colonels, and seven -out of twelve of the battalion commanders were disabled.</p> - -<p>Cuesta never issued any proper return of his casualties. He stated -in one of his dispatches that they amounted to 1,201 men. This figure -cannot possibly represent killed and wounded alone. Only one cavalry -regiment, five or six battalions, and three batteries were engaged, -none of them heavily. The British troops which fought in their -neighbourhood had very modest losses, which made it incredible that the -comrades in line with them should have suffered to the extent of more -than 400 or 500 men. The balance must represent the missing from the -stampede of Portago’s division upon the night of the twenty-seventh. -Major-General Manglano, who commanded one of the divisions near the -Pajar de Vergara, and de Lastra, the gallant colonel of the <i>regimiento -del Rey</i>, were wounded.</p> - -<p>The only trophies taken on either side were the seventeen guns of -Leval’s division captured by Campbell and the Spanish cavalry.</p> - - -<p class="nb mt2">N.B.—I have used of British sources mainly Lord -Londonderry, Lord Munster, Leslie and Leith-Hay of the 29th, Stothert -of the Guards, Cooper of the 2/7th, Hawker of the 14th Light Dragoons, -and letters of Elley and Ponsonby of the 23rd Light Dragoons. Of -French sources I have found Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, Victor’s dispatches -and controversial letters with King Joseph, Sémélé’s journal of the -1st Corps, and Desprez’s narrative the most useful. From Colonel -Whinyates I have received an unpublished map, drawn on the spot by -Unger of the K.G.L., which fixes all the artillery position with -admirable accuracy.</p> - - -<p class="centra mt3"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_557">[p. -557]</span>NOTES ON THE TOPOGRAPHY OF TALAVERA</p> - - -<p class="nb mt1">I looked over the proofs of the last three chapters, -seated on the small square stone that marks the highest point of -the Cerro de Medellin, after having carefully walked over the whole -field from end to end, on April 9, 1903. The ground is little changed -in aspect, but the lower slopes of the Cerro, and the whole of its -opposite neighbour the Cascajal hill, are now under cultivation. -The former was covered with barley nine inches high, and the rough -vegetation of thyme and dry grass, which the narratives of 1809 -describe, was only to be seen upon the higher and steeper parts of the -hill, and on the sides of the ravine below. The latter is steep but -neither very broad nor particularly difficult to negotiate. Even in -April the Portiña had shrunk to a chain of pools of uninviting black -water. The ditch fatal to the 23rd Light Dragoons, in the northern -valley, is still visible. In its upper part, where the German regiment -met it, the obstacle is practically unchanged. But nearer to the farm -of Valdefuentes it has almost disappeared, owing to the extension of -cultivation. There is only a four-foot drop from a field into a piece -of rough ground full of reeds and bent-grass, where the soil is a -little marshy in April. I presume that when the field was made, the -hollow was partly filled up, and the watercourse, instead of flowing in -a well-defined narrow ditch, has diffused itself over the whole trough -of the ground.</p> - -<p class="nb">In the central parts of the field the Portiña forms a -boundary, but not an obstacle. Where Cameron and the Guards fought -Sebastiani’s 8,000 men, the ground is almost an exact level on both -sides of the little stream. There is no ‘position’ whatever on the -English bank, which is, if anything, a little lower than the French. -The Pajar de Vergara is a low knoll twenty feet high, now crowned by a -large farmhouse, which occupies the site of the old battery. The ground -in front of it is still covered with olive groves, and troops placed -here could see nothing of an advancing enemy till he emerges from the -trees a hundred yards or so to the front. On the other hand an observer -on the summit of the Cerro de Medellin gets a perfect bird’s-eye -view of this part of the ground, and could make out the enemy all -through his progress among the olives. Wellesley must have been able -to mark exactly every movement of Leval’s division, though Campbell -could certainly not have done so. In the Spanish part of the line the -groves have evidently been thinned, as there are now many houses, -forming a straggling suburb, pushed up to and along the railway, which -now crosses this section of the line. In 1809 Talavera was still -self-contained within its walls, which it has now overstepped. The -Cascajal is practically of the same height as the main eastern level -of the Cerro de Medellin: but the triple summit of the latter is much -loftier ground; and standing on it one commands the whole of the -Cascajal—every one of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_558">[p. -558]</span> Villatte’s battalions must have been counted by Wellesley, -who could also mark every man along the whole French front, even into -and among the olive groves occupied by Leval’s Germans. Victor on the -Cascajal could get no such a general view of the British position, but -could see very well into Sherbrooke’s line. Hill’s troops, behind the -first crest of the Cerro de Medellin, and Campbell’s in the groves must -have been much less visible to him. There is a ruined house, apparently -a mill, in the ravine between the two Cerros. As it is not mentioned in -any report of the battle, I conclude that it was not in existence in -1809. The Pajar de Vergara farm is also modern, and the only building -on the actual fighting-ground which existed on the battle-day was -evidently the farm of Valdefuentes, which is alluded to by several -narrators, French and English.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_8"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_559">[p. 559]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER VIII">SECTION XVI: CHAPTER VIII</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE RETREAT FROM TALAVERA</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> the dawn of July 29 had arrived, the -plain and the rolling hills in front of the allied position were seen -to be absolutely deserted. No trace of the French army was visible save -the heaps of dead upon the further side of the Portiña: the wounded had -been carried off, with the exception of those who had fallen within the -British lines, and so become prisoners of war. It was soon discovered -that the enemy had left a screen of cavalry along the western bank of -the Alberche: but whether his main body lay close behind the stream, -or had retired towards Madrid, could not be ascertained without making -a reconnaissance in force. Such an operation was beyond Wellesley’s -power on the morning after the battle. He was neither able nor willing -to send out a large detachment to beat up the enemy’s camps, with the -object of ascertaining his situation and intentions. The British army -was utterly exhausted: on the preceding day the men had fought upon -half-rations: when the contest was over they had found that only a -third of a ration had been issued: this scanty pittance was sent up -to the regiments in the evening, as they still lay in battle-order on -the ground that they had held during the day. Water was almost equally -deficient: it was difficult to procure: nothing but the wells of the -few houses in the rear of the position being available. Only on the -morning of the twenty-ninth, when the departure of the enemy had become -certain, were the troops allowed to return to their old bivouacs in -the rear, and there to seek repose. Even then it was only a minority -of the men who could be spared from duty. The gathering in of the vast -numbers wounded—French as well as English—and their removal -into Talavera demanded such enormous fatigue-parties that the larger -number of the survivors had to be told off to<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_560">[p. 560]</span> this work and were denied the rest that -they had so well earned.</p> - -<p>It is certain that the British army could have done nothing upon -the twenty-ninth even if their commander had desired to push forward -against the enemy. The men were not only tired out by two days of -battle, but half-starved in addition. But Wellesley was far from -feeling any wish to pursue the French. His infantry had suffered so -dreadfully that he could not dream of exposing them to the ordeal -of another engagement till they had been granted a respite for the -refreshment of body and spirit. Of his divisions only that of A. -Campbell—the smallest of the four—was practically intact. -The others had suffered paralysing losses—in Hill’s ranks one -man out of every four had been stricken down, in Mackenzie’s one man -in every three, while Sherbrooke’s frightful casualty-list showed -that nearly two men out of five were missing from the ranks. Never, -save at Albuera, was such slaughter on the side of the victors seen -again during the whole course of the Peninsular War. ‘The extreme -fatigue of the troops,’ wrote Wellesley, ‘the want of provisions, and -the number of wounded to be taken care of, have prevented me from -moving from my position<a id="FNanchor_685" href="#Footnote_685" -class="fnanchor">[685]</a>.’</p> - -<p>On the morning of the twenty-ninth the depleted strength of the -army was partly compensated by the arrival of the first of those -reinforcements from Lisbon which Wellesley had been anxiously -expecting. At about six o’clock Robert Craufurd came upon the scene -with the three regiments of his Light Brigade—all old battalions -who had shared in Moore’s Corunna campaign. He was accompanied by a -battery of horse artillery (A troop), the first unit of that arm which -came under Wellesley’s command. But the Light Brigade were almost as -weary as their comrades who had fought in the battle: they had only -reached Talavera by a forced march of unexampled severity. Hearing at -Navalmoral that the two armies were in presence, Robert Craufurd had -hurried forward with almost incredible swiftness. Dropping his baggage -and a few weakly men at Oropesa he had marched forty-three miles in -twenty-two hours, though the day was hot and every soldier carried -some fifty pounds’ weight upon his back. All day long the cannon was -heard growling in the distance,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_561">[p. -561]</span> and at short intervals the brigade kept meeting parties of -Spanish fugitives, interspersed with British sutlers and commissaries, -who gave the most dismal accounts of the progress of the fight. In -spite of his desperate efforts to get up in time Craufurd reached -the field thirteen hours too late, and heard to his intense chagrin -that the battle had been won without his aid<a id="FNanchor_686" -href="#Footnote_686" class="fnanchor">[686]</a>. Weary though his men -were, they were at once hurried to the front, to relieve A. Campbell’s -division on the line of advanced posts. There they found plenty -of employment in burying the dead, and in gathering up the French -wounded, whom it was necessary to protect from the fury of the Spanish -peasantry.</p> - -<p>The arrival of Craufurd’s brigade did something towards filling up -the terrible gap in the ranks of the British infantry, but was far -from enabling Wellesley to assume the offensive. Indeed the advent of -fresh troops only accentuated the difficulty of feeding the army. Corn -was still almost unobtainable; the supplies from the Vera de Plasencia -showed no signs of appearing, and even oxen for the meat-ration, which -had hitherto been obtainable in fair quantities, were beginning to -run short. Nothing was to be had from Talavera itself, where Victor -had exhausted all the available food many weeks before, nor could any -assistance be got from the Spanish army, who were themselves commencing -to feel the pinch of starvation.</p> - -<p>All Wellesley’s hopes at this juncture were founded on the idea -that the diversion of Venegas upon the Upper Tagus would force the -French host in his front to break up, in order to save Madrid from -an attack in the rear. The army of La Mancha had failed to keep -Sebastiani in check, and to prevent him from appearing on the field -of Talavera. But since the enemy had concentrated every available man -for the battle, it was certain that Venegas had now no hostile force -in his front, and that the way to the capital was open to him. If he -had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_562">[p. 562]</span> pushed on -either by Aranjuez or by Toledo, he must now be close to the capital, -and King Joseph would be obliged to detach a large force against -him. That detachment once made, the army behind the Alberche would -be so much weakened that it would be unable to face the British and -Cuesta. If it offered fight, it must be beaten: if it retired, the -allies would follow it up and drive it away in a direction which -would prevent it from rejoining the troops that had been sent against -Venegas. On the twenty-ninth Wellesley was under the impression that -the army of La Mancha had already brought pressure to bear upon the -French, for a false report had reached him that on the previous day -it had captured Toledo. His dispatches written after the arrival of -this rumour indicate an intention of moving forward on the thirtieth -or thirty-first. The King, he says, must now detach troops against -Venegas. This being so, it will be necessary to induce Cuesta to -advance, supporting him with the British army ‘as soon as it shall be a -little rested and refreshed after two days of the hardest fighting that -I have ever been a party to. We shall certainly move towards Madrid, -if not interrupted by some accident on our flank<a id="FNanchor_687" -href="#Footnote_687" class="fnanchor">[687]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The last words of this sentence are of great importance, since they -show that already upon the day after Talavera Wellesley was beginning -to be uneasy about his left flank. Some time before the battle he -had received news from the north, to the effect that both Ney and -Kellermann had returned to the valley of the Douro, after evacuating -Galicia and the Asturias<a id="FNanchor_688" href="#Footnote_688" -class="fnanchor">[688]</a>. He had therefore to take into consideration -the chance that the enemy might move southward, and fall upon his line -of communication with Portugal, not only with the corps of Soult, -but with a large additional force. Unfortunately the information -that had reached him from the plains of Leon had been to the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_563">[p. 563]</span> effect that Ney’s and -Kellermann’s troops were much reduced in numbers and efficiency, so -that even when they had joined Soult the total of the French field army -upon the Douro would not much exceed 20,000 men<a id="FNanchor_689" -href="#Footnote_689" class="fnanchor">[689]</a>. This misconception -affected all his plans: for if the hostile force about Salamanca, -Zamora, and Benavente was no greater than was reported, it followed -that any expedition sent against his own communications could not be -more than 12,000 or 15,000 strong, since Soult would be forced to leave -a containing force in front of Beresford and Del Parque, who now lay -in the direction of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo. Any French advance -against Bejar and Plasencia, therefore, would, as Wellesley supposed, -be a mere raid, executed by a comparatively small force. He doubted -whether Soult dared undertake such an operation: ‘the enemy,’ he wrote, -‘would not like to venture through the passes into Estremadura, having -me on one side of him, and you [Beresford] and Romana upon the other<a -id="FNanchor_690" href="#Footnote_690" class="fnanchor">[690]</a>.’ He -was therefore not much disturbed in mind about the movements of the -French in the valley of the Douro. If he had but known that not 20,000 -men but 50,000 men were now concentrating at Salamanca, his feelings -would have been far different. But it was not till some days later -that it began to dawn upon him that Soult was far stronger than he had -supposed, and that there might be serious danger to be feared from this -quarter. Meanwhile he hoped to prevent any advance of the French in the -direction of Plasencia, by causing a strong demonstration to be made in -the valley of the Douro. He wrote to Beresford that he must contrive -to arrange for joint action with La Romana and the Army of Galicia. -If they appeared in strength in the direction of Ciudad Rodrigo, the -Duke of Dalmatia might be deterred from making any movement to the -south. If, however, the Spaniards proved helpless or impracticable, the -Portuguese army would have to confine itself to the defence of its own -frontier.</p> - -<p>On the morning of July 30 Wellesley received the first<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_564">[p. 564]</span> definite information -which led him to conclude that the French forces from the north were -actually contemplating the raid upon his communications which on the -preceding day he had regarded as doubtful. The Marquis Del Reino, -whom, as it will be remembered, Cuesta had sent to the Puerto de -Baños with two weak battalions, reported that troops from the Douro -valley were threatening his front. At the same time messages were -received from the Alcaldes of Fuente Roble and Los Santos, places -on the road between Salamanca and Bejar, to the effect that they -had received orders from Soult to prepare 12,000 and 24,000 rations -respectively, for troops due to arrive on July 28. The numbers -given counted for little in Wellesley’s estimation, since it is the -commonest thing in the world for generals to requisition food for a -far larger force than they actually bring with them. But at least -it seemed clear that some considerable detachment from Salamanca -was on its way towards the Puerto de Baños. In consequence of this -fact Wellesley wrote to the Spanish government, and also informed -Cuesta, that in the event of a serious attempt of the enemy to cut his -communications, he should ‘move so as to take care of himself,’ and do -his best to preserve Portugal<a id="FNanchor_691" href="#Footnote_691" -class="fnanchor">[691]</a>—in other words, that he should abandon -the projected march on Madrid which had been his main purpose on the -preceding day. He was still, however, under the impression that Soult -had no very large force with him, as is sufficiently shown by the -fact that on the thirty-first he suggested to Cuesta that it would -be well to detach one of his divisions—say 5,000 men—to -strengthen the insignificant force which was already in position at -the Puerto de Baños. ‘I still think,’ he wrote, ‘that the movements of -General Beresford with the Portuguese army on the frontier, and that -of the Duque del Parque from Ciudad Rodrigo, combined with the natural -difficulties of the country, and the defence by the Marquis Del Reino, -may delay the enemy’s advance till the arrival of your division<a -id="FNanchor_692" href="#Footnote_692" class="fnanchor">[692]</a>.’ -It is clear that when he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_565">[p. -565]</span> wrote in these terms Wellesley was still labouring under -the delusion that Soult’s advance was a mere raid executed by one or -two divisions, and not a serious operation carried out by a large -army.</p> - -<p>While Wellesley was spending the three days which followed the -battle of the twenty-eighth in resting his men and pondering over his -next move, the enemies whom he had defeated at Talavera were in a state -of even greater uncertainty and indecision. By daylight on July 29, -as we have already seen, the whole French army had retired behind the -Alberche, leaving only a screen of cavalry upon its western bank. The -King was under the impression that Wellesley and Cuesta would probably -follow him up ere the day had passed, and drew up his whole force -along that same line of heights which Victor had occupied upon the -twenty-second and twenty-third of the month. But when nothing appeared -in his front during the morning hours save a few vedettes, he realized -that he might count upon a short respite, and took new measures. -After sending off to his brother the Emperor a most flagrantly -mendacious account of the battle of Talavera<a id="FNanchor_693" -href="#Footnote_693" class="fnanchor">[693]</a>, he proceeded to divide -up his army. As Wellington had foreseen, he detached a large force to -hold back Venegas and the army of La Mancha, who were at last coming -into the field upon his flank. He was bound to do so, under pain of -imperilling the safety of Madrid.</p> - -<p>It is time to cast a glance at the operations of the incompetent -general whose sloth and disobedience had wrecked the plan that -Wellesley and Cuesta had drawn out at their con<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_566">[p. 566]</span>ference near Almaraz. On July 16 Venegas -had begun to move forward from El Moral, Valdepeñas, and Santa Cruz -de Mudela, in accordance with the directions that had been sent him. -He occupied Manzanares and Daimiel, and then came into collision with -Sebastiani’s cavalry at Villaharta and Herencia, for the 4th Corps -had not yet begun to withdraw towards Madrid. Owing to the profound -ignorance in which the enemy still lay as to the advance of Wellesley -and Cuesta, Sebastiani had not, on the nineteenth, received any order -to fall back or to join Victor and the King. Thus, when pressed by the -advanced troops of Venegas, he did not retire, but held his ground, and -showed every intention of accepting battle. Learning from the peasantry -that he had the whole of the 4th Corps in front of him, and might -have to deal with nearly 20,000 men, the Spanish general halted, and -refused to advance further. In so doing he was fulfilling the spirit of -the instructions that had been sent him, for Cuesta and Wellesley had -wished him to detain Sebastiani and keep in touch with him—not to -attack him or to fight a pitched battle. They had taken it for granted -that the Frenchman would receive early news of their own advance, and -would already be in retreat before Venegas came up with him. But it was -not till July 22, as we have already seen, that Victor and King Joseph -obtained certain intelligence of the march of the allies upon Talavera. -Until the orders for a retreat arrived from Madrid, the 4th Corps -was kept in its old position at Madridejos, and courted rather than -avoided an engagement with the army of La Mancha<a id="FNanchor_694" -href="#Footnote_694" class="fnanchor">[694]</a>.</p> - -<p>Venegas, after summoning his divisional generals to a council of -war, refused to attack Sebastiani, and wisely, for his 23,000 men would -certainly have been beaten by the 20,000 Frenchmen who still lay in -front of him. From the nineteenth to the twenty-second the two armies -faced each other across the upper Guadiana, each waiting for the other -to move. Late on the twenty-third, however, Sebastiani received his -orders to evacuate La Mancha, and to hasten to Toledo in order to join -Victor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_567">[p. 567]</span> and the -King, in a combined assault upon Wellesley and Cuesta.</p> - -<p>It was on the next day that Venegas committed the ruinous error -which was to wreck the fate of the whole campaign. On the morning of -the twenty-fourth the 4th Corps had disappeared from his front: instead -of following closely in the rear of Sebastiani with all speed, and -molesting his retreat, as his orders prescribed, he made no attempt to -prevent the 4th Corps from moving off, nor did he execute that rapid -flanking march on Aranjuez or Fuentedueñas which his instructions -prescribed. He moved forward at a snail’s pace, having first sent off -to Cuesta an argumentative letter, in which he begged for leave to -direct his advance on Toledo instead of on the points which had been -named in his orders. On the twenty-sixth he received an answer, in -which his Commander-in-chief authorized him to make his own choice -between the route by Aranjuez and that by Toledo.</p> - -<p>Venegas had already committed the fatal error of letting Sebastiani -slip away unmolested: he now hesitated between the idea of carrying -out his own plan, and that of obeying Cuesta’s original orders, and -after much hesitation sent his first division under General Lacy -towards Toledo, while he himself, with the other four, marched by -Tembleque upon Aranjuez. So slow and cautious was their advance that -Lacy only arrived in front of Toledo on July 28—the day that the -battle of Talavera was fought, while Venegas himself occupied Aranjuez -twenty-four hours later, on the morning of the twenty-ninth. He had -taken six days to cross the sixty miles of open rolling plain which -lie between the Guadiana and the Tagus, though he had been absolutely -unopposed by the enemy whom he had allowed to slip away from his -front. Sebastiani had marched at the rate of twenty miles a day when -he retired from Madridejos to Toledo, Venegas and Lacy followed at the -rate of ten and twelve miles a day respectively. Yet the special duty -imposed on the army of La Mancha had been to keep in touch with the 4th -Corps. Further comment is hardly necessary.</p> - -<p>On the morning of the day when Wellesley was assailed by the forces -of Victor and King Joseph, General Lacy appeared<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_568">[p. 568]</span> in front of Toledo. The town was held by -3,000 men of Valence’s Polish division: it is practically impregnable -against any attack from the south, presenting to that side a front -of sheer cliff, overhanging the river, and accessible only by two -fortified bridges. To make any impression on the place Lacy would -have had to cross the Tagus at some other point, and then might have -beset the comparatively weak northern front with considerable chances -of success. But he contented himself with demonstrating against the -bridges, and discharging some fruitless cannon-shot across the river. -General Valence, the Governor of Toledo, reported to Jourdan that he -was attacked, and his message, reaching the battle-field of Talavera -after Victor’s second repulse, had a certain amount of influence on -the action of King Joseph. The place was never for a moment in danger, -as Lacy made no attempt to pass the Tagus in order to press his attack -home.</p> - -<p>On the following morning (July 29) Venegas reached the other great -passage of the Tagus, at Aranjuez, with two of his divisions, and -occupied the place after driving out a few French vedettes. He pressed -his cavalry forward to the line of the Tajuna, and ere nightfall some -of them had penetrated almost as far as Valdemoro, the village half -way between Aranjuez and Madrid. No signs of any serious hostile force -could be discovered, and secret friends in the capital sent notice -that they were being held down by a very weak garrison, consisting -of no more than a single French brigade and a handful of the King’s -Spanish levies. There was everything to tempt Venegas to execute that -rapid march upon the capital which had been prescribed in his original -orders, but instead of doing so this wretched officer halted for eight -whole days at Aranjuez [July 29 to August 5].</p> - -<p>On the day after Talavera Jourdan and Joseph had not yet discovered -the whereabouts of the main body of the army of La Mancha: but Lacy -had made such a noisy demonstration in front of Toledo that they -were inclined to believe that his chief must be close behind him. -Accordingly the garrison of Toledo was reinforced by the missing -brigade of Valence’s Polish division, and raised to the strength of -4,700 men. The King, with the rest of Sebastiani’s corps and his -own Guards and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_569">[p. 569]</span> -reserves, marched to Santa Ollala, and on the next day [July 30] placed -himself at Bargas, a few miles in rear of Toledo. In this position he -would have been wholly unable to protect Madrid, if Venegas had pressed -forward on that same morning from Aranjuez, for that place is actually -nearer to the capital than the village at which Joseph had fixed his -head quarters. The sloth displayed by the Spanish general was the only -thing which preserved Madrid from capture. On August 1, apprised of the -fact that the main body of the army of La Mancha was at Aranjuez and -not before Toledo, Joseph transferred his army to Illescas, a point -from which he would be able to attack Venegas in flank, if the latter -should move forward. Only Milhaud’s division of dragoons was thrown -forward to Valdemoro, on the direct road from Aranjuez to Madrid: it -drove out of the village a regiment of Spanish horse, which reported -to Venegas that there was now a heavy force in his front. For the next -four days the King’s troops and the army of Venegas retained their -respective positions, each waiting for the other to move. The Spaniard -had realized that his chance of capturing Madrid had gone by, and -remained in a state of indecision at Aranjuez. Joseph was waiting for -definite news of the movements of Wellesley and Cuesta, before risking -an attack on the army of La Mancha. He saw that it had abandoned the -offensive, and did not wish to move off from his central position at -Illescas till he was sure that Victor was not in need of any help. Yet -he was so disturbed as to the general state of affairs that he sent -orders to General Belliard at Madrid to evacuate all non-combatants and -civilians on to Valladolid, and to prepare to shut himself up in the -Retiro.</p> - -<p>The doings of Victor, during the five days after he had separated -from the King, require a more lengthy consideration. Left behind -upon the Alberche with the 1st Corps, which the casualties of the -battle had reduced to no more than 18,000 men, he felt himself in a -perilous position: if the allies should advance, he could do no more -than endeavour to retard their march on Madrid. Whether he could -count on any further aid from the King and Sebastiani would depend -on the wholly problematical movements of Venegas. Somewhat to his -surprise Wellesley and Cuesta remained quiescent not only on the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_570">[p. 570]</span> twenty-ninth but on the -thirtieth of July. But an alarm now came from another quarter: it will -be remembered that the enterprising Sir Robert Wilson with 4,000 men, -partly Spaniards, partly Portuguese of the Lusitanian Legion, had -moved parallel with Wellesley’s northern flank during the advance to -Talavera. On the day of the battle he had ‘marched to the cannon’ as -a good officer should, and had actually approached Cazalegas, at the -back of the French army, in the course of the afternoon. Learning of -the results of the fight, he had turned back to his old path upon the -twenty-ninth, and had entered Escalona on the upper Alberche. At this -place he was behind Victor’s flank, and lay only thirty-eight miles -from Madrid. There was no French force between him and the capital, -and if only his division had been a little stronger he would have been -justified in making a raid upon the city, relying for aid upon the -insurrection that would indubitably have broken out the moment that he -presented himself before its gates.</p> - -<p>It was reported to Victor on the thirtieth not only that Wilson was -at Escalona, but also that he was at the head of a strong Portuguese -division, estimated at 8,000 or 10,000 men. The Marshal determined -that he could not venture to leave such a force upon his rear while -the armies of Wellesley and Cuesta were in his front, and fell back -ten miles to Maqueda on the high road to Madrid. On the following day, -still uneasy as to his position, he retired still further, to Santa -Cruz, and wrote to King Joseph that he might be forced to continue -his retreat as far as Mostoles, almost in the suburbs of Madrid [Aug. -2]. He was so badly informed as to the movements of the allies, that -he not only warned the King that Wilson was threatening Madrid, but -assured him that the British army from Talavera had broken up from its -cantonments and was advancing along the Alberche towards the capital<a -id="FNanchor_695" href="#Footnote_695" class="fnanchor">[695]</a>. -Joseph, better instructed as to the actual situation of affairs, -replied by assuring him that Wellesley and Cuesta were far more likely -to be retreating on Almaraz than marching on Madrid, as they must have -heard ere now of Soult’s advance on Plasencia. He ordered the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_571">[p. 571]</span> Marshal to fall back no -further, and to send a division to feel for Wilson at Escalona. On -detaching Villatte to execute this reconnaissance [Aug. 5] Victor was -surprised to find that Sir Robert’s little force had already evacuated -its advanced position, and had retreated into the mountains. For the -last four days indeed Victor had been fighting with shadows—for -the British and Estremaduran armies had never passed the Alberche, -while Wilson had absconded from Escalona on receiving from Wellesley -the news that Soult had been heard of at the Puerto de Baños. In -consequence of the needless march of the 1st Corps to Maqueda and Santa -Cruz, the allied generals were able to withdraw unmolested, and even -unobserved, from Talavera, and were far upon their way down the Tagus -before their absence was suspected. The erratic movements of Victor -may be excused in part by the uniform difficulty in obtaining accurate -information which the French always experienced in Spain. But even when -this allowance is made, it must be confessed that his operations do not -tend to give us any very high idea of his strategical ability. He was -clearly one of those generals, of the class denounced by Napoleon, <i>qui -se font des tableaux</i>, who argue on insufficient data, and take a long -time to be convinced of the error of their original hypothesis.</p> - -<p>Neither Victor nor King Joseph, therefore, exercised any influence -over the doings of Wellesley and Cuesta at Talavera between the 29th -of July and the 3rd of August. The allies worked out their plans -undisturbed by any interference on the part of the old enemies whom -they had beaten on the battle day. Down to August 1 the British general -had been unconvinced by the rumours of Soult’s approach, at the head of -a large army, which were persistently arriving from the secret agents -in the direction of Salamanca<a id="FNanchor_696" href="#Footnote_696" -class="fnanchor">[696]</a>. It was only on the evening of that day that -he received news so precise, and so threatening, that he found himself -forced to abandon for the moment any intention of pushing on towards -Madrid, in consequence of the impending attack on the line of his -communications<span class="pagenum" id="Page_572">[p. 572]</span> with -Portugal. It was announced to him that the vanguard of the French army -from the north had actually entered Bejar on the twenty-ninth and was -driving in the trifling force under the Marquis Del Reino, which Cuesta -had sent to the Puerto de Baños.</p> - -<p>Whatever might be the force at Soult’s disposal—and Wellesley -was still under the delusion that it amounted at most to a single corps -of 12,000 or 15,000 men—it was impossible to allow the French to -establish themselves between the British army and Portugal. If they -were at Bejar on the twenty-ninth they might easily reach Plasencia on -the thirty-first. On receiving the news Cuesta, who had hitherto shown -the greatest reluctance to divide his army, detached his 5th division -under Bassecourt, with orders to set out at the greatest possible -speed, and join the Marquis Del Reino. This move was tardy and useless, -for it is four long marches from Talavera to Plasencia, so that -Bassecourt must arrive too late to hold the defiles. If he found the -French already established on the river Alagon, his 5,000 men would be -utterly inadequate to ‘contain’ double or triple that number of Soult’s -troops. As a matter of fact the enemy had entered Plasencia on the -afternoon of August 1, before the Spanish division had even commenced -its movement to the west<a id="FNanchor_697" href="#Footnote_697" -class="fnanchor">[697]</a>.</p> - -<p>On the morning of August 2 Wellesley and Cuesta held a long and -stormy conference. The Captain-General proposed that Wellesley should -detach half his force to assist Bassecourt, and stay with the remainder -at Talavera, in order to support the Army of Estremadura against -any renewed attack by Victor and King Joseph<a id="FNanchor_698" -href="#Footnote_698" class="fnanchor">[698]</a>. The English commander -refused to divide<span class="pagenum" id="Page_573">[p. 573]</span> -his force—he had only 18,000 effectives even after Craufurd -had joined him, and such a small body would not bear division. But -he offered either to march against Soult with his entire host, or to -remain at Talavera if his colleague preferred to set out for Plasencia -with his main body. Cuesta chose the former alternative, and on the -morning of the third Wellesley moved out with every available man, -intending to attack the enemy at the earliest opportunity. He was -still under the impression that he would have to deal with no more -than a single French corps, and was confident of the result. His only -fear was that Victor might descend upon Talavera in his absence, -and that Cuesta might evacuate the place on being attacked. If this -should happen, the English hospitals, in which there lay nearly -5,000 wounded, might fall into the hands of the enemy. On halting at -Oropesa he sent back a note to O’Donoju, the chief of the staff of the -Estremaduran army, begging him to send off westward all the British -wounded who were in a condition to travel. He asked that country carts -might be requisitioned for their assistance, if no transport could be -spared by the Spanish troops<a id="FNanchor_699" href="#Footnote_699" -class="fnanchor">[699]</a>.</p> - -<p>Wellesley was setting out with 18,000 men to attack not the mere -15,000 men that he believed to be in his front, but three whole <i>corps -d’armée</i>, with a strength of 50,000 sabres and bayonets. In his long -career there were many dangerous crises, but this was perhaps the most -perilous of all. If he had remained for a little longer in ignorance of -the real situation, he might have found himself involved in a contest -in which defeat was certain and destruction highly probable.</p> - -<p>The real situation in his front was as follows. On receiving the -dispatch from Madrid which permitted him to execute his projected -march upon Plasencia, Soult had begun to concentrate his army [July -24]. Mortier and the 5th Corps were already in march for Salamanca in -pursuance of earlier orders: they arrived in its neighbourhood the -same day on which Foy brought the King’s orders to his chief. The -2nd Corps was already massed upon the Tormes, and ready to move the -moment that it should receive the supply of artillery which had been -so long upon its way from Madrid. Ney and the<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_574">[p. 574]</span> 6th Corps from Benavente and Astorga had -far to come: they only reached Salamanca on July 31; if we remember -that the distance from Astorga to the concentration point was no less -than ninety miles we cease to wonder at their tardy arrival.</p> - -<p>Soult had strict orders from the Emperor to march with his troops -well closed up, and not to risk the danger of being caught with his -corps strung out at distances which would permit of their being met -and defeated in detail<a id="FNanchor_700" href="#Footnote_700" -class="fnanchor">[700]</a>. He was therefore entirely justified in -refusing to move until the 6th Corps should be in supporting distance -of the rest of his army, and the 2nd Corps should have received the -cannon which were needed to replace the pieces that they had lost in -Portugal. For this reason we must regard as unfounded all the vehement -reproaches heaped upon him by Joseph and Jourdan during the acrimonious -correspondence that followed upon the end of the campaign. It would -have been wrong to start the 5th Corps upon its way to Plasencia till -the 2nd Corps was ready to follow, and the much needed guns only came -into Salamanca on the twenty-ninth, though their approach had been -reported on the preceding day.</p> - -<p>We cannot therefore blame Soult for sloth or slackness when we find -that he started Mortier upon his way on July 27, and followed him with -his own corps upon July 30, the day after the guns arrived, and the -day before Ney and his troops were due to reach Salamanca from the -north.</p> - -<p>The order of march was as follows: the vanguard was composed of -the whole corps of Mortier, nearly 17,000 strong<a id="FNanchor_701" -href="#Footnote_701" class="fnanchor">[701]</a>, reinforced by three -brigades of dragoons under Lahoussaye and Lorges with a strength of -2,000 sabres. The 2nd Corps followed; though it started three days -later than the 5th it was gradually gaining ground on the vanguard all -through the march, as it had no fighting to do or reconnaissances to -execute.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_575">[p. 575]</span> Hence it -was only twenty-four hours behind Mortier in arriving at Plasencia. Its -strength was 18,000 men, even after it had detached the brigades of -dragoons to strengthen the vanguard, and placed five battalions at the -disposal of General Kellermann<a id="FNanchor_702" href="#Footnote_702" -class="fnanchor">[702]</a>. During its stay at Zamora and Toro it had -picked up a mass of convalescents and details, who had not taken part -in its Galician campaign. The rear was formed by Ney’s troops, which -started from Salamanca only one day behind the 2nd Corps. The infantry -was not complete, as a brigade of 3,000 men was left behind on the -Douro, to assist Kellermann in holding down the kingdom of Leon. Hence, -even including a brigade of Lorges’ dragoons, the 6th Corps had only -some 12,500 men on the march. The whole army, therefore, as it will be -seen, was about 50,000 strong.</p> - -<p>Just before he marched from Salamanca Soult had heard that -Beresford’s Portuguese were commencing to show themselves in force in -the direction of Almeida, while Del Parque’s small division at Ciudad -Rodrigo was beginning to be reinforced by troops descending from the -mountains of Galicia. Trusting that the danger from this quarter might -not prove imminent, the Marshal left in observation of the allies only -the remains of the force that Kellermann had brought back from the -Asturias—the 5th division of dragoons and a few battalions of -infantry, strengthened by the five battalions from the 2nd Corps and -the one brigade detached from Ney. The whole did not amount to more -than 9,000 or 10,000 men, scattered along the whole front from Astorga -to Salamanca. It was clear that much was risked in this direction, for -Beresford and Del Parque could concentrate over 20,000 troops for an -attack on any point that they might select. But Soult was prepared to -accept the chances of war in the Douro valley, rightly thinking that -if he could crush Wellesley’s army on the Tagus any losses in the -north could easily be repaired. It would matter little if the<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_576">[p. 576]</span> Spaniards and Portuguese -occupied Salamanca, or even Valladolid, after the British had been -destroyed.</p> - -<p>Mortier, starting on July 27, on the road by Fuente Roble and Los -Santos, made two marches without coming in touch with any enemy. It -was only on the third day that he met at La Calzada the vedettes of -the trifling force under the Marquis Del Reino which Cuesta had sent -to hold the Puerto de Baños. After chasing them through Bejar, the -Marshal came upon their supports drawn up in the pass [July 30]. -Del Reino thought himself obliged to fight, though he had but four -battalions with a total of 2,500 or 3,000 bayonets<a id="FNanchor_703" -href="#Footnote_703" class="fnanchor">[703]</a>. He was of course -dislodged with ease by the overwhelming numbers which Mortier turned -against him—the first division of the 5th Corps alone sufficed to -drive him through the pass. Thereupon he retired down the Alagon, and -after sending news of his defeat to Cuesta fell back to Almaraz, where -he took up the bridge of boats and removed it to the southern bank of -the Tagus.</p> - -<p>Having cleared the passes upon the thirtieth, the 5th Corps -advanced to Candelaria and Baños de Bejar upon the thirty-first, and -entered Plasencia on the first of August. Here Mortier captured 334 -of Wellesley’s sick, who had been left behind as being incapable -of removal. On the preceding day the town had been full of British -detachments: the place was the half-way house between Portugal and -Talavera, and many commissaries, isolated officers going to or from the -front, and details marching to join their corps, had been collected -there. Captain Pattison, the senior officer present, withdrew to Zarza, -with every man that could march, when he heard of Mortier’s<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_577">[p. 577]</span> approach, taking with him -a convoy which had recently arrived from Abrantes. But he was obliged -to leave behind him a considerable amount of corn, just collected from -the Vera, which had been destined for Wellesley’s army. The whole civil -population of Plasencia fled to the hills, in obedience to an order of -the local Junta, and the British soldiers in the hospital were the only -living beings whom the French vanguard found in the city. The men of -the 5th Corps plundered the deserted houses, as was but natural, but -behaved with much humanity to the captured invalids<a id="FNanchor_704" -href="#Footnote_704" class="fnanchor">[704]</a>.</p> - -<p>After seizing Plasencia Mortier halted for a day, in obedience to -Soult’s orders, that he might allow the 2nd Corps to close up before -he pressed in any further towards Wellesley. The Duke of Dalmatia -was determined to run no risks, when dealing with an adversary so -enterprising as his old enemy of Oporto. On August 2 he himself and the -leading divisions of his corps reached Plasencia: the rest were close -behind. On the same afternoon, therefore, the advance could be resumed, -and Mortier set out on the high road towards Almaraz and Talavera, -having eight regiments of horse—3,000 men—in his front. He -slept that night at Malpartida, seven miles in advance of Plasencia, -and moved on next morning to the line of the Tietar and the village -of Toril. One of his reconnoitring parties approached the bridge of -Almaraz and found it broken: another reached Navalmoral. He was now -drawing very close to Wellesley, who had encamped that day at Oropesa, -and was only thirty miles away: indeed the British and the French -cavalry came in contact that evening in front of Navalmoral.</p> - -<p>On August 3, by a curious coincidence, each Commander-in-chief -was at last informed of his adversary’s strength and intentions by -a captured dispatch. A Spanish messenger was arrested by Soult’s -cavalry, while bearing a letter from Wellesley to General Erskine -dated August 1. In this document there was an account of the battle -of Talavera, which had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_578">[p. -578]</span> hitherto been unknown to Soult. But the most important -clause of it was a request to Erskine to find out whether the rumours -reporting the advance of 12,000 French towards the Puerto de Baños -were correct. The Duke of Dalmatia thus discovered that his adversary, -only two days before, was grossly underrating the numbers of the -army that was marching against his rear. He was led on to hope that -Wellesley would presently advance against him with inferior numbers, -and court destruction by attacking the united 2nd and 5th Corps<a -id="FNanchor_705" href="#Footnote_705" class="fnanchor">[705]</a>.</p> - -<p>This indeed might have come to pass had not the allies on the same -day become possessed of a French dispatch which revealed to them the -real situation of affairs. Some guerrillas in the neighbourhood of -Avila intercepted a friar, who was an agent of King Joseph, and was -bearing a letter from him to Soult. They brought the paper to Cuesta -on August 3: it contained not only an account of the King’s plans and -projects, but orders for the Marshal, which mentioned Ney and the 6th -Corps, and showed that the force marching on Plasencia was at least -double the strength that Wellesley had expected<a id="FNanchor_706" -href="#Footnote_706" class="fnanchor">[706]</a>. This letter Cuesta -sent on to his colleague with laudable promptness; it reached the -British commander in time to save him from taking the irreparable -step of marching from Oropesa to Navalmoral, where the vanguard of -Mortier’s cavalry had just been met by the vedettes of Cotton’s light -horse. Wellesley had actually written to Bassecourt to bid him halt -at Centinello till he himself should arrive, and then to join him -in an attack on the French<a id="FNanchor_707" href="#Footnote_707" -class="fnanchor">[707]</a>, when he was handed the intercepted letter -which showed that Soult had at least 30,000 men in hand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_579">[p. 579]</span></p> - -<p>This unpalatable news changed the whole prospect of affairs: it -would be mad to assail such an enemy with a force consisting of no more -than 18,000 British troops and Bassecourt’s 5,000 Spaniards. Wellesley -had therefore to reconsider the whole situation, and to dictate a new -plan of campaign at very short notice, since his cavalry were actually -in touch with the enemy at the distance of a single day’s march from -Oropesa. On the morrow he must either fight or fly. The situation was -made more complicated by the fact that Cuesta, when forwarding the -French dispatch, had sent information to the effect that he considered -his own situation at Talavera so much compromised that he was about -to retreat at once, with the design of crossing the Tagus at Almaraz, -and of taking up once more his old line of communications, which ran -by Truxillo to Badajoz. It may be asked why the Captain-General did -not adopt the simpler course of crossing the Tagus at Talavera, and -moving under cover of the river, instead of executing the long flank -march by Oropesa to Almaraz on the exposed bank, where the French were -known to be in movement. The answer, however, is simple and conclusive: -the paths which lead southward from Talavera are impracticable for -artillery and wheeled vehicles. Infantry alone could have retreated by -the route which climbs up to the Puerto de San Vincente, the main pass -of this section of the Sierra de Guadalupe: nor was the track along -the edge of the river from Talavera to Arzobispo any better fitted -for the transport of a large army. It is this want of any adequate -communication with the south which makes Talavera such a dangerous -position: no retreat from it is possible save that by the road to -Oropesa, unless the retiring army is prepared to sacrifice all its -impedimenta.</p> - -<p>Cuesta has been criticized in the most savage style by many English -writers, from Lord Londonderry and Napier downwards, for his hasty -departure from Talavera. It is fair to state in his defence the fact -that if he had tarried any longer in his present position he might have -been cut off not merely from Almaraz—that passage was already -impracticable—but also from the bridge of Arzobispo, the only -other crossing of the Tagus by which artillery and heavy wagons can -pass southward. If he had started on the fourth instead of the third -he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_580">[p. 580]</span> might have found -Mortier and Soult interposed between him and this last line of retreat. -He would then have been forced to abandon all his <i>matériel</i>, and to -hurry back to Talavera, in order to take the break-neck track to the -Puerto de San Vincente. But there was every reason to believe that -Victor might arrive in front of Talavera on the evening of the fourth -or the morning of the fifth, so that this last road to safety might -have been already blocked. Thus the Spanish army, if it had started on -the fourth for Oropesa, might have found itself caught between the two -French corps, and vowed to inevitable destruction. As a matter of fact -Victor moved slowly and cautiously, and only reached Talavera on the -sixth—but this could not possibly have been foreseen. We cannot -therefore blame Cuesta’s precipitate departure upon the night of August -3.</p> - -<p>His main body marched under cover of the darkness to Oropesa, where -they arrived, much wearied and in some disorder, on the following -morning. He left Zayas’s division and Albuquerque’s horse as a -rearguard, to hold Talavera till midday on the fourth, with orders to -make a semblance of resistance and to detain Victor for a few hours if -he should appear. But no hostile force showed itself: by his unwise -retreat to Santa Cruz the Marshal had drawn back so far from the enemy -that he could not take advantage of their retrograde movement when it -became known to him. Villatte’s division and Beaumont’s cavalry only -reached Talavera on the morning of the sixth.</p> - -<p>The departure of the Estremaduran army had one deplorable result. It -exposed the English hospitals at Talavera, with their 4,000 wounded, -to capture by the enemy. Wellesley, before he had marched off, had -given orders that all the men capable of being moved should be sent -off towards Plasencia and Portugal as soon as possible. But he had -no transport that could cope with the task of transferring such a -mass of invalids towards his base. He wrote from Oropesa begging -Cuesta to requisition carts from the country-side for this purpose<a -id="FNanchor_708" href="#Footnote_708" class="fnanchor">[708]</a>. But -it was notorious that carts were not to be had—all Wellesley’s -letters for the last three weeks were full of complaints to the -effect that he could not procure them by money<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_581">[p. 581]</span> or by force. When the Spaniards were -themselves departing, bag and baggage, it was an inopportune moment -at which to ask them to provide transport: yet since the British -wounded had been left to their care they were bound in honour to do all -that could be done to save them. It is said that Cuesta made over<a -id="FNanchor_709" href="#Footnote_709" class="fnanchor">[709]</a> -no more than seven ox-carts and a few mules to Colonel Mackinnon, -the officer charged with the task of evacuating the hospitals. These -and about forty vehicles of various kinds belonging to the British -themselves were all that could be procured for the use of the wounded. -They could only accommodate a tithe of the serious cases: the men with -hurts of less consequence were forced to set out upon their feet. ‘The -road to Oropesa,’ writes one of their fellow sufferers, ‘was covered -with our poor limping bloodless soldiers. On crutches or sticks, -with blankets thrown over them, they hobbled woefully along. For the -moment panic terror lent them a force inconsistent with their debility -and their fresh wounds. Some died by the road, others, unable to get -further than Oropesa, afterwards fell into the hands of the enemy<a -id="FNanchor_710" href="#Footnote_710" class="fnanchor">[710]</a>.’ -The rest trailed onward to the bridge of Arzobispo, where Wellesley -provided transport for many of them by unloading baggage-wagons, and -ultimately reached Truxillo, at which place the new hospitals were -established. Of the whole 4,000 about 1,500 had been left at Talavera -as hopeless or dangerous cases, and these became the captives of the -French: 2,000 drifted in, at various times, to Truxillo: the remaining -500 expired by the wayside or were taken by the French in the villages -where they had dropped down<a id="FNanchor_711" href="#Footnote_711" -class="fnanchor">[711]</a>.</p> - -<p>Long before Cuesta and his host had arrived at Oropesa,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_582">[p. 582]</span> Wellesley had made up -his mind that the only course open to him was to abandon the march -towards Navalmoral and Almaraz, and to turn aside to the bridge of -Arzobispo. As the French were known to be at Navalmoral, it would have -been impossible to force a passage to Almaraz without a battle. If -the enemy were to be estimated at two corps, or 30,000 men, according -to the indications of the intercepted letter, they would probably -be able to detain the Anglo-Spanish army till Victor should arrive -from the rear. For, without accepting a pitched battle, they would be -strong enough to harass and check the allies, and to prevent them from -reaching Almaraz till the 1st Corps should come upon the scene. ‘I -was not certain,’ wrote Wellesley to Beresford two days later, ‘that -Ney was not with Soult: and I <i>was</i> certain that, if not with him, -he was at no great distance. We should therefore have had a battle -to fight in order to gain the road to Almaraz—Plasencia was -then out of the question—and if Victor had followed Cuesta, as -he ought to have done, another battle, probably, before the bridge -could be re-established<a id="FNanchor_712" href="#Footnote_712" -class="fnanchor">[712]</a>. Then it was to be considered that, Cuesta -having left Talavera, the bridge of Arzobispo would have been open to -the enemy’s enterprise: if they had destroyed it, while we had failed -in forcing Soult at Navalmoral, we were gone.’</p> - -<p>It is impossible not to bow before Wellesley’s reasoning. The -French critics object that only Mortier was at Navalmoral on August -4, Soult being twenty miles behind him at Bazagona on the Tietar, -so that it would have been possible for the British army to have -driven back the 19,000 men of the Duke of Treviso, and to have -forced its way to Almaraz<a id="FNanchor_713" href="#Footnote_713" -class="fnanchor">[713]</a>. But even if Wellesley had fought a -successful action with Mortier on August 4, Soult would certainly -have joined his colleague on the fifth, before the bridge could have -been repaired, or at any rate before the whole Anglo-Spanish army and -all its impedimenta could have crossed the Tagus. If attacked during -their passage by the 37,000 men of the 2nd and 5th Corps they<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_583">[p. 583]</span> would have fared badly. -Wellesley was perfectly correct in his decision; indeed the only point -in which he was deceived was that he believed the enemy in his front to -be Soult’s and Ney’s Corps, whereas they were in reality those of Soult -and Mortier. Ney only reached Plasencia on August 4, and did not join -the main body of the army till two days later.</p> - -<p>When Wellesley and Cuesta met at Oropesa, early on the morning -of August 4, they found themselves as usual engaged in a heated -controversy. The British general had directed his divisions to hold -themselves ready to march on the bridge of Arzobispo without further -delay. Cuesta on the other hand had been attacked by a recrudescence -of his old disease, the mania for fighting pitched battles<a -id="FNanchor_714" href="#Footnote_714" class="fnanchor">[714]</a>. He -proposed that the allied armies should remain on the north bank of the -Tagus, adopt a good defensive position, and defy Soult to attack them. -Wellesley would not listen for a moment to this project, and finally -declared that in spite of all arguments to the contrary, he should -cross the Tagus that day at the head of his army. The two generals -parted in wrath, and at six o’clock the British commenced their march -to Arzobispo, only nine miles distant; the whole force crossed its -bridge before evening, and established itself in bivouac on the south -side of the river.</p> - -<p>Cuesta remained at Oropesa for the whole day of August 4, and was -there joined both by Bassecourt, who had fallen back from Centinello, -and by Zayas and Albuquerque, who had evacuated Talavera at noon -and made a forced march to join their chief. He appeared disposed -to fight even though his ally had abandoned him. In the afternoon -Mortier’s cavalry pressed in against him. He turned fiercely upon -them, deployed a whole division of infantry and 1,200 horse in their -front, and drove them back towards their supports. This vigorous -action had a result that could not have been foreseen: Mortier jumped -to the conclusion that he was himself about to be attacked by the -whole Spanish army—perhaps by Wellesley also<a id="FNanchor_715" -href="#Footnote_715" class="fnanchor">[715]</a>. He<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_584">[p. 584]</span> halted the 5th Corps in -advance of Navalmoral, and wrote to implore Soult to come up to his -aid without delay. The Duke of Dalmatia hurried up with all speed, and -on August 5 brought the 2nd Corps to Casatejada, only six miles in the -rear of his colleague. Ney, following with a like promptness, advanced -that day to Malpartida, a march behind the position of Soult.</p> - -<p>On the sixth, therefore, the whole army from the Douro was -practically concentrated, and Soult and Mortier advanced against Cuesta -with Ney close in their rear. They found that they were too late: after -remaining in battle order in front of the bridge of Arzobispo during -the whole of the fifth, courting the attack which Mortier had been too -cautious to deliver, the Captain-General had crossed the Tagus that -night, and had occupied its further bank. He had left in front of the -bridge only a small rearguard, which retired after a skirmish with -the advanced cavalry of the 5th Corps. For once Cuesta had found luck -upon his side; if Mortier had ventured to assail him on the fifth, and -had forced him to an engagement, in a position from which retreat was -difficult, and with the Tagus at his back, his situation would have -been most perilous. For even if he had kept the 5th Corps at bay, he -could not easily have withdrawn in face of it, and Soult would have -been upon him on the next morning. In escaping across the narrow bridge -of Arzobispo his losses must have been terrible: indeed the greater -part of his army might have been destroyed.</p> - -<p>Finding, on the evening of August 6, that both the British and -the Estremaduran armies were now covered by the Tagus, whose line -they appeared determined to defend, Soult was forced to think out -a new plan of campaign. His original design of taking the allies -in the rear and cutting off their retreat had miscarried: he must -now either halt and recognize that his march had failed in its main -purpose, or else deliver a frontal attack upon the line of the Tagus. -The bridge of Almaraz was broken, and troops (the detachment of the -Marquis Del Reino) were visible behind it. The bridge of Arzobispo -was not destroyed, but the Spaniards were obviously ready to defend -it. It was barricaded, the mediaeval towers in its midst were manned -by a detachment of infantry, and a battery for twelve guns had been -placed in an earthwork erected on a knoll thirty yards in<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_585">[p. 585]</span> its rear, so as to sweep -all the approaches. Considerable forces both of cavalry and of infantry -were visible on the hillsides and in the villages of the southern bank. -Cuesta, in fact, while proposing to fall back with his main body to -Meza de Ibor and Deleytosa, in order to recover his communication with -his base at Badajoz, had left behind a strong rearguard, consisting -of Bassecourt’s infantry division and Albuquerque’s six regiments of -cavalry, a force of 5,000 bayonets and nearly 3,000 sabres. They were -ordered to defend the bridge and the neighbouring ford of Azutan till -further orders should reach them. The ground was very strong; indeed -the ford was the one perilous point, and as that passage was narrow and -hard to find, Cuesta trusted that it might be maintained even against -very superior numbers. So formidable did the defence appear that Soult -halted during the whole day of August 7, while he took stock of the -Spanish positions, and sought up-stream and down-stream for means -of passage other than the bridge. He was not at first aware of the -existence of the ford: it was only revealed to him by the imprudence -of the Spanish cavalry, who rode their horses far into the stream when -watering them, thus showing that there were long shallows projecting -from the southern bank. By a careful search at night the French -intelligence-officers discovered that the river was only deep for a few -yards under their own bank<a id="FNanchor_716" href="#Footnote_716" -class="fnanchor">[716]</a>: for the rest of its breadth there were -only two or three feet of water. Having found the point, not far from -the bridge, where the more dangerous part of the channel was fordable, -they advised the Marshal that the passage of the river would present -no insurmountable difficulties. Soult resolved to deliver an assault -both on the bridge and on the ford upon the morning of August 8. Nor -was it only at Arzobispo that he determined to force the line of the -Tagus. He directed Ney, who was bringing up his rear at the head of the -6th Corps, to turn aside to the broken bridge of<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_586">[p. 586]</span> Almaraz, and to endeavour to cross the -river by aid of a ford which was said to exist in that neighbourhood. -Sketch-maps were sent to the Marshal in order to enable him to locate -the exact point of passage—it would seem that they must have been -very faulty.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Wellesley had passed the Tagus four days and Cuesta three -days before the Marshal’s attack was ready, and both had been granted -time to proceed far upon their way. It was fortunate that they were -not hurried, for the road from Arzobispo to Meza de Ibor and thence -to Deleytosa and Jaraicejo, though passable for guns and wheeled -vehicles, was steep and in a deplorable condition of disrepair. It -took Wellesley two days to march from the bridge to Meza de Ibor, a -distance of only seventeen miles, because of the endless trouble caused -by his artillery. There were places where he had practically to remake -the roadway, and others where whole companies of infantry had to be -turned on to haul the cannon up slopes where the half-starved horses -could make no headway. These exertions were all the more exhausting -because the men were falling into a state of great bodily weakness -from insufficient supplies. Even at Talavera they had on many days -received no more than half rations: but after passing Oropesa regular -distributions of food ceased altogether for some time: there were -still a few slaughter-oxen with the army, but bread or biscuit was -unobtainable, and the troops had to maintain themselves on what they -could scrape up from the thinly peopled and rugged country-side. A diet -of overripe <i>garbanzos</i>, parched to the hardness of bullets, was all -that many could obtain. Better foragers eked them out with honeycomb -stolen from the peasants’ hives, and pork got by shooting the half-wild -pigs which roam in troops among the woods on the mountain side. Many, -in the ravenous eagerness of hunger, ate the meat warm and raw, and -contracted choleraic complaints from their unwholesome feeding<a -id="FNanchor_717" href="#Footnote_717" class="fnanchor">[717]</a>.</p> - -<p>Divining that Soult would probably make a dash at Almaraz as well as -at Arzobispo, Wellesley sent on ahead of his main body the brigade of -Robert Craufurd, to which he attached Donkin’s<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_587">[p. 587]</span> much depleted regiments, in order to make -up a small division. As they were unhampered by guns or baggage this -detachment reached Almaraz on the sixth, after a fifteen hours’ forced -march on the preceding day. They took over charge of the broken bridge -and the ford from the Spanish troops of the Marquis Del Reino, and -proceeded to entrench themselves in the excellent positions overlooking -the point where the river was passable. Thus Ney, when he reached -Almaraz on the following day, found the enemy already established -opposite him, and ready to dispute the crossing. About 4,000 British -troops and 1,500 Spanish troops were holding the river bank: -immediately at their backs was the narrow and eminently defensible -defile of Mirabete, which completely commands the road to Truxillo: it -was an even stronger position than that which covered the ford and the -ruined bridge.</p> - -<p>On August 7 therefore Wellesley considered himself in a -comparatively satisfactory situation. The passage at Almaraz was held -by a vanguard consisting of the best troops in the army. Two divisions, -the cavalry, and all the guns had traversed the worst part of the -road, and had reached Deleytosa, only nine miles behind Craufurd’s -position. If the French should attack on the following day, the main -body could reinforce the light brigade in a few hours. One division, -in the rear, was holding the position of Meza de Ibor, which Wellesley -did not wish to evacuate until the Spanish army was ready to occupy -it. He had discovered that there were points between Arzobispo and -Almaraz where the passage of the Tagus was not wholly impracticable -for small bodies of infantry<a id="FNanchor_718" href="#Footnote_718" -class="fnanchor">[718]</a>, and dreaded that the enemy might throw -a detachment across the stream to make a dash for the Meza. If this -position had been lost the communication between the two armies would -have been broken.</p> - -<p>Cuesta, meanwhile, was engaged in the steep and stony mountain road -over which Wellesley had toiled on the 5th and the 6th of August. His -vanguard was now close to Meza de Ibor: the rest of the army was strung -out between that point and Val de la Casa: the Captain-General himself -had his head quarters on the night of the seventh at Peraleda de -Garbin, ten miles<span class="pagenum" id="Page_588">[p. 588]</span> -west of Arzobispo. Bassecourt and Albuquerque were still covering the -rear, with Mortier’s corps now plainly visible in their front. On -their steadiness depended the safety of the whole army, for Cuesta had -more baggage and more guns<a id="FNanchor_719" href="#Footnote_719" -class="fnanchor">[719]</a> than Wellesley, and therefore the road over -the hills was even more trying to him than to his colleague. There was -a congestion of wheeled transport at certain spots on the road which -created hopeless confusion, and barred the march of the cavalry and -even of the infantry divisions. It was only removed by setting whole -battalions to work to drag the wagons out of the way. Cuesta’s ultimate -destination was the Meza de Ibor, a position of unparalleled strength, -which could be held even after the enemy had crossed the Tagus. That -they would ultimately win their way over the river was certain, for -already news had arrived that Victor, after reaching Talavera on Aug. -6, had pushed infantry over its bridge on the road to Herencia and -Aldea Nueva. Troops coming from this direction would outflank the -Arzobispo position, and compel Albuquerque to abandon it. Even without -cavalry or guns this detachment of the 1st Corps would be strong enough -to dislodge the guard of the bridge, by falling upon its rear, while -Mortier was attacking it in front. As the cavalry of Victor and Soult -had met, half way between Oropesa and Talavera, upon the afternoon of -the seventh, the two marshals were now in full communication, and able -to concert any plans that they might please for joint operations.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Dalmatia, however, preferred to win all the credit for -himself, and attacked without allowing his colleague’s troops time to -approach the Spanish position. It was fortunate for Albuquerque that -the rivalry of the two hostile commanders saved him from the joint -assault, which would have been far more ruinous to him than the actual -combat of Aug. 8 was destined to prove.</p> - -<p>Having full knowledge of the existence and the locality of the ford -of Azutan, Soult had resolved to launch his main attack upon this -point, while directing only a subsidiary attack upon the fortified -bridge. This last was only to be pushed<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_589">[p. 589]</span> home in case the troops sent against -the ford should succeed in making good their footing upon the further -bank. A careful observation of the Spanish lines showed that both -Albuquerque and Bassecourt were holding back the main body of their -divisions at some distance from the water’s edge, in the groves around -the three villages of Pedrosa, Burgillo, and Azutan. There was only a -single regiment of cavalry watching the river bank, and two or three -battalions of infantry manning the towers of the bridge of Arzobispo -and the redoubt in its rear. The Spaniards showed every sign of a blind -confidence in the strength of their position behind the broad but -shallow Tagus.</p> - -<p>Knowing their habits, Soult selected for the moment of his attack -the hour of the <i>siesta</i>. It was between one and two o’clock in the -afternoon when he bade his columns, which had been drawn up under -cover, and at some distance from the water’s edge, to advance to force -the passage. For the assault upon the ford he had collected the whole -of his cavalry, no less than twelve regiments. Lahoussaye’s dragoons -formed the van, then came Lorges’ brigade, then the division of light -horse belonging to the 2nd Corps, in the rear the corps-cavalry of -Mortier. This mass of 4,000 horsemen was to be followed by the first -brigade of Girard’s infantry division of the 5th Corps, while its -second brigade was to assault the bridge, when Lahoussaye and Lorges -should have won the passage of the ford and have established themselves -on the flank of the Spanish defences. Gazan’s division, the second of -the 5th Corps, was to support Girard, while the masses of the infantry -of the 2nd Corps remained in reserve. All the light artillery of the -army was to gallop down to the water’s edge at various selected points, -when the attacking columns were first put in movement, and to distract -the attention of the enemy’s guns so far as lay in their power.</p> - -<p>At about 1.30 <small>P.M.</small> Caulaincourt’s brigade of -Lahoussaye’s dragoons, a force of about 600 sabres, sallied out from -its cover behind the village of Arzobispo, and moved down to the ford -at a sharp trot. It plunged into the water, had passed the deeper part -of the channel almost before the Spaniards had guessed its intention, -and soon reached the shallows on the opposite bank. The only hostile -force ready to meet it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_590">[p. -590]</span> was a single regiment (the 1st Estremaduran Hussars) which -was watching the ford, and a battalion of infantry which Bassecourt -sent down in haste from the redoubt behind the bridge. A fierce charge -of Caulaincourt’s dragoons dispersed and routed the Spanish horse; -after they had been driven off the victors turned upon the battalion, -which tried to form square on their approach, but was late in finishing -its manœuvre. It was assailed before the rear side had been formed, -broken up, and cut to pieces.</p> - -<p>Soult had thus gained a precious half-hour, during which the -remainder of his cavalry, squadron after squadron, came pouring over -the ford, and began to form up on the southern bank. When several -regiments had passed he also let loose the infantry brigade which was -to attack the bridge. So narrow was the approach that only a single -battalion (the 1st of the 40th of the line) could deliver the assault. -But the <i>tirailleur</i> companies of several other battalions, and two -batteries of horse artillery, opened a lateral fire from various points -of the northern bank, to distract the Spaniards from the frontal -attack. The fraction of Bassecourt’s division which was in position at -the bridge and the redoubt had already been completely cowed by seeing -Lahoussaye’s cavalry forming up in their flank and rear. If they waited -to resist the infantry attack, it was clear that they would be cut -off from their sole line of retreat by the dragoons. They abandoned -their positions after firing a couple of scattering volleys, and fled -eastward along the river bank towards the village of Azutan. The heavy -guns in the redoubt were left behind, and fell into the hands of -Caulaincourt. Girard’s infantry was therefore able to cross the river -almost without loss, two regiments at the bridge, two at the ford which -the cavalry had already utilized. A few men were drowned in the second -column, having strayed into deep water by swerving to the right or left -of the proper route.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Albuquerque’s horse and Bassecourt’s second brigade, -roused from their ill-timed siesta, were pouring out of the -villages which had sheltered them from the noontide heat. The -infantry—four battalions apparently—drew up beside a -wood, on the slope a mile above the bridge, and waited to be<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_591">[p. 591]</span> attacked. The cavalry, -however, came on in one great mass, and charged down upon Lahoussaye’s -division, which was covering the deployment of the rest of the French -horse. Albuquerque’s only thought was to engage the enemy before he had -succeeded in passing the whole of his squadrons over the ford. Vainly -hoping to atone for his previous slackness by haste that came too late, -he had hurried his five regiments forward as soon as the men could -saddle and bridle their horses. Fractions of the different corps were -mixed together, and no proper first or second line had been formed. The -whole mass—some 2,500 sabres—in great disorder, galloped -down upon the two brigades of Lahoussaye, and engaged them for a short -time. But Lorges’ dragoons and part of Soult’s light horse were now at -hand to aid the leading division; the Spaniards were beset in flank -as well as in front, and broke after the first shock. Albuquerque, -who showed plenty of useless personal courage, tried in vain to rally -them on the 2nd Estremaduran Hussars, the only regiment which remained -intact. It was borne away by the backrush of the rest, and scattering -over the hillsides the whole body fled westward and northward, some -towards Peraleda de Garbin, others towards Pedrosa. Bassecourt’s -infantry went off to the rear as soon as they saw their comrades -routed, and took to the hills. By keeping to rocky ground they suffered -comparatively little loss.</p> - -<p>The French urged the pursuit of Albuquerque’s fugitive horsemen for -many miles, chasing them as far as the defile of La Estrella in the -Sierra de Guadalupe in one direction, and beyond Val de la Casa in -the other. On the latter road the chase only ceased when the dragoons -came upon the divisions of Henestrosa and Zayas, from Cuesta’s main -army, drawn up across their path. The losses of the Spaniards were very -considerable—600 men and 400 horses were captured, and over 800 -killed and wounded. One flag was taken, that of the regiment cut to -pieces by Lahoussaye’s dragoons at the commencement of the fighting. -The pieces in the redoubt, and the divisional battery of Albuquerque, -16 guns in all, were lost. By an additional mischance the French also -recovered fourteen of their own seventeen guns that had been taken -at Talavera. Cuesta had not been able to utilize these pieces for -want of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_592">[p. 592]</span> gunners: -they were trailing along in the rear of his army, very indifferently -horsed, when the French dragoons swept along the road to Peraleda. On -the approach of the pursuers they were abandoned by the wayside. This -capture enabled Soult to assert that he had taken in all 30 cannon, and -emboldened Sebastiani, a few weeks later, to declare that he had never -lost his guns at Talavera<a id="FNanchor_720" href="#Footnote_720" -class="fnanchor">[720]</a>. Having recovered them he could exhibit -them—all save two or three—in evidence of his mendacious -statement.</p> - -<p>Soult declared in his official report that his cavalry had lost only -28 killed and 83 wounded, his artillery 4 wounded, his infantry hardly -a man, save some few drowned at the ford.</p> - -<p>The rout of the Spanish rearguard and the capture of the bridge -of Arzobispo gave Soult a foothold on the southern bank of the -Tagus, but little more. The road by which he could now advance -against the allies was detestable—we have already seen how -its cliffs and ravines had tried the British and the Estremaduran -armies. To reach Cuesta’s new position on the Meza de Ibor the Duke -of Dalmatia would have had to make a two days’ march through these -defiles, dragging his guns with him. His cavalry he would have been -forced to leave behind him, as there would have been no means of -employing it in the mountains. Meanwhile Wellesley had established -himself in the ground which he had selected behind the broken bridge -of Almaraz, and Cuesta had got the whole of his infantry and half -his artillery over the Ibor stream and arrayed them on the Meza, -where the rocky slopes are impregnable against a frontal attack, if -the defending army shows ordinary determination<a id="FNanchor_721" -href="#Footnote_721" class="fnanchor">[721]</a>.<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_593">[p. 593]</span> All through the ninth and the morning -of the tenth the Spaniards were dragging the rest of their guns and -their baggage up the steep zigzag path between the river and the -summit of the plateau, and it was not till the end of the latter day -that everything was in position. It is probable therefore that if -Soult had pressed his pursuit with all possible speed, he might have -captured some of the Spanish <i>impedimenta</i> on the morning of the tenth. -But there were defiles between Peraleda and the Ibor river where -Cuesta’s rearguard might possibly have detained him till the guns -and baggage were in safety<a id="FNanchor_722" href="#Footnote_722" -class="fnanchor">[722]</a>.</p> - -<p>The Duke of Dalmatia, however, paused at the bridge of Arzobispo -before committing himself to a second advance against the allies. He -was averse to making an isolated attack upon the admirable position -now occupied by the Estremaduran army, and wished to combine it with -a simultaneous assault upon the British. It will be remembered that -he had detached Ney’s corps from the rear of his line of march, and -ordered it to attempt the passage of the Tagus at Almaraz, by the ford -which he knew to exist close to the ruined bridge. He also wrote to -Victor to desire him to push forward the two infantry divisions which -had crossed the river at Talavera, and to direct them on Mohedas and -Alia, so as to turn Cuesta’s flank by a long circuitous march among the -rugged summits of the Sierra de Guadalupe.</p> - -<p>Neither of these subsidiary movements was carried out. One division -of Ney’s corps, and Fournier’s brigade of dragoons reached Almaraz -on Aug. 8: the other division and the light cavalry had followed -the 2nd Corps so closely that it had passed Navalmoral on its way -eastward, and had to make a long counter-march. It was not till the -ninth or tenth therefore that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_594">[p. -594]</span> the Duke of Elchingen would have been in a position to -attempt the passage of the Tagus. Craufurd’s detachment had been -established at Mirabete, behind the broken bridge, since Aug. 6, and -two days later the main body of the British army had reached Deleytosa, -where it was within a few hours’ march of the vanguard, and perfectly -ready to support it. If Ney had endeavoured to pass the Tagus on the -ninth or tenth with his 12,500 men, it is clear that the head of his -column must have been destroyed, for the ford was narrow and difficult, -and indeed barely passable for infantry even in the middle of August<a -id="FNanchor_723" href="#Footnote_723" class="fnanchor">[723]</a>. -But the Marshal did not even attempt the passage, for the simple -reason that his intelligence officers failed to discover the ford, -and reported to him that none existed. He sent word to Soult that -the scheme was impracticable, and drawing back from the water’s edge -concentrated his whole corps at Navalmoral [Aug. 9].</p> - -<p>Victor, at the other end of the French line, showed no desire to -adventure his infantry among the defiles of the Sierra de Guadalupe, -without guns or cavalry, and refused to move up into the mountains in -order to turn Cuesta’s right flank. Thus the whole plan concerted by -the Duke of Dalmatia for a general attack on the allies came to an -ignominious conclusion.</p> - -<p>It would appear, indeed, that his chance of inflicting a serious -blow on the enemy had passed away long ere he brought the 2nd and -5th Corps down to the bridge of Arzobispo. It was on the fifth, when -Mortier refused to close with Cuesta and allowed him to withdraw across -the Tagus, that Soult had lost his best opportunity. On that day the -Spaniards were still on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_595">[p. -595]</span> wrong side of the river, and the British vanguard had not -yet reached the broken bridge of Almaraz. If Mortier had engaged the -army of Cuesta, and Ney had found and attacked the ford at Almaraz -before Craufurd’s arrival, the position of the allies would have been -forlorn indeed. But on the fifth Soult had not yet discovered the -real position of affairs; and the head of Ney’s corps was only just -debouching from Plasencia, two long marches from Almaraz. In short ‘the -fog of war,’ as a modern writer has happily called it, was still lying -thick about the combatants, and Soult’s best chance was gone before he -was even aware of it.</p> - -<p>On August 9, matters looked far less promising, even though the -bridge of Arzobispo had been won. Since Ney sent word that he could -not cross at Almaraz, while Victor declined to commit himself to any -schemes for an advance into the eastern mountains, Soult saw that he -must construct another scheme of operations. His own preference was -for a march into Portugal by way of Coria and Castello Branco. Such an -attack upon Wellesley’s base, made by the 50,000 men of the 2nd, 5th, -and 6th Corps, would compel the British to abandon Almaraz, to give -up their connexion with Cuesta, and to march in haste by Truxillo, -Caceres, and Portalegre on Abrantes, in order to cover Lisbon. It -was even possible that, if the invading army made great haste, it -might reach Abrantes before the British: in that case Wellesley would -be forced to keep to the southern bank of the Tagus and cross it at -Santarem, comparatively close to the capital. Thus all Central Portugal -might be won without a battle, and Lisbon itself might fall ere the -campaign ended, since the 20,000 men of the British general, even when -aided by the local levies, could not (as Soult supposed) hold back -three French <i>corps d’armée</i><a id="FNanchor_724" href="#Footnote_724" -class="fnanchor">[724]</a>. There was another alternative<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_596">[p. 596]</span> possible—to march -not on Lisbon but on Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, and to invade Portugal -by the northern road. But this plan would take a longer time to -execute, and promised less decisive results.</p> - -<p>But even before the combat of Arzobispo had taken place, Joseph -and Jourdan had determined that they would not permit Soult to carry -out any schemes of advance against Portugal. They could show very -good grounds for their decision. If the Duke of Dalmatia marched -off to attack Lisbon, he would leave the 1st and 4th Corps and -the King’s reserve,—less than 50,000 men in all, after the -losses of Talavera,—opposed to Cuesta, Wellesley, and Venegas, -who between them would have at least 75,000<a id="FNanchor_725" -href="#Footnote_725" class="fnanchor">[725]</a>. If the British army -should refuse to be drawn away towards Portugal, and should recross -the Tagus at Almaraz with Cuesta in its wake, the situation would be -deplorable. Victor would be exposed, just as he had been on July 22 -and 23, to a joint attack from the two armies. And on this occasion -Sebastiani and the King would not be able to bring him help, for they -were now closely engaged with Venegas near Aranjuez. If they moved away -from the front of the army of La Mancha, Madrid would be lost in two -days. If they did not so move, Wellesley and Cuesta might crush Victor, -or drive him away on some eccentric line of retreat which would uncover -the capital. Jourdan therefore, writing in the name of Joseph, had -informed Soult in a dispatch dated Aug. 8, that it was impossible to -permit him to march on Portugal, as his departure would uncover Madrid -and probably bring about a fatal disaster. He also urged that the -exhaustion of the troops rendered a halt necessary, and that it would -be impossible to feed them, if they advanced into the stony wilderness -on the borders of Portugal before they had collected magazines. For -the present the King would be contented to keep the allies in check, -without seeking to attack or disperse them, until the weather began to -grow cooler and the troops had rested from their fatigues.</p> - -<div class="figcenter mt1" id="ChapM_9"> - <img src="images/campaign.jpg" - alt="Map of the campaign of Talavera" /> - <p class="caption"> - <span class="x_link"><a href="images/campaign-g.jpg"><img - src="images/xpnd.jpg" - alt="Enlarge" - title="Enlarge" /></a> </span> - THE CAMPAIGN OF TALAVERA<br /> - <small>JULY-AUGUST 1809</small> - </p> -</div> - -<p class="mt1">As if intending to put it out of Soult’s power to -undertake his projected expedition into Portugal, Jourdan and Joseph -<span class="pagenum" id="Page_597">[p. 597]</span>now proceeded -to deprive him of the control of one of his three army corps. They -authorized Ney to recross the mountains and to return to Salamanca, -in order to protect the plains of Leon from the incursions of the -Spaniards of Galicia. Deprived of such a large section of his army, -Soult would be unable to march against Abrantes, as he so much desired -to do. There were good military reasons, too, for sending off Ney in -this direction: Kellermann kept reporting that La Romana was on the -move, and that unless promptly succoured he should find himself obliged -to abandon Benavente and Zamora and to fall back on Valladolid. The -Spaniards from Ciudad Rodrigo had already taken the offensive, and Del -Parque’s advanced guard had even seized Salamanca.</p> - -<p>Ney accepted with alacrity the chance of withdrawing himself -from the immediate control of his old enemy Soult; he received his -permission to return to Leon on Aug. 9: on the tenth his whole corps -was on the move, and on the eleventh he had retired to Plasencia. On -the following day he plunged into the passes and made for Salamanca -with all possible speed<a id="FNanchor_726" href="#Footnote_726" -class="fnanchor">[726]</a>.</p> - -<p>While the 6th Corps was dispatched to the north, the King directed -Soult to take up, with the rest of his troops, a defensive position -opposite the allied armies on the central Tagus. The 2nd Corps was -to occupy Plasencia, the 5th to watch the passages at Almaraz and -Arzobispo, while keeping a detachment at Talavera. Thus all Soult’s -plans for an active campaign were shattered, and he was told off to -act as a ‘containing force.’ Meanwhile Joseph drew Victor and the -1st Corps away from Talavera, towards Toledo and La Mancha, with the -intention of bringing them into play against Venegas. For just as<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_598">[p. 598]</span> Soult had always ‘an eye -on Portugal,’ so Joseph had always ‘an eye on Madrid.’ He could not -feel secure so long as a Spanish army lay near Toledo or Aranjuez, -only two marches from the gates of his capital, and was determined to -dislodge it from this threatening position before taking any other -operation in hand. He had accepted as true rumours to the effect -that part of Cuesta’s troops had retired in the direction of Ocaña<a -id="FNanchor_727" href="#Footnote_727" class="fnanchor">[727]</a> -to join the army of La Mancha, and even that 6,000 British<a -id="FNanchor_728" href="#Footnote_728" class="fnanchor">[728]</a> had -been detached in this same direction. Thus he had persuaded himself -that Venegas had 40,000 men, and was desirous of drawing in Victor -to his head quarters before delivering his attack, thinking that -Sebastiani and the central reserve would be too weak for the task.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Chap16_9"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_599">[p. 599]</span></p> - <h3 title="CHAPTER IX">SECTION XVI: CHAPTER IX</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE END OF THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN: ALMONACID</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="smcap">While</span> King Joseph’s orders were being -carried out, Wellesley and Cuesta found themselves, to their great -surprise, unmolested by any hostile force. The army which had been in -their front at Almaraz and Arzobispo disappeared on August 10, leaving -only small detachments to watch the northern bank of the Tagus. It -was soon reported to Wellesley that Victor had passed away towards -Toledo, and that another corps—or perhaps two<a id="FNanchor_729" -href="#Footnote_729" class="fnanchor">[729]</a>—had retired -to Plasencia. The object of this move however had to be determined, -before the British general could take corresponding measures. Was -Soult about to invade Portugal by way of Coria and Castello Branco, -or was he merely taking up cantonments, from which he could observe -the British and Estremaduran armies, while the King and Victor -moved off against Venegas? On the whole Wellesley was inclined to -believe that the latter hypothesis was the correct one, and that the -enemy was about to ‘refuse’ his right wing, and to use his left for -offensive action against the army of La Mancha. As was generally the -case, his prescience was not at fault, and he had exactly divined -the King’s intentions<a id="FNanchor_730" href="#Footnote_730" -class="fnanchor">[730]</a>. He had nevertheless to guard against the -possibility that the other alternative might<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_600">[p. 600]</span> prove to be correct, and that Central -Portugal was in danger—as indeed it would have been if Joseph had -allowed Soult to carry out his original plan.</p> - -<p>Wellesley resolved therefore to maintain his present position at -Jaraicejo and Mirabete till he should be certain as to the intentions -of the French. If they were really about to invade Portugal, he would -march at once for Abrantes. If not, he would keep his ground, for by -holding the passage at Almaraz he was threatening the French centre, -and detaining in his front troops who would otherwise be free to attack -the Spaniards either in La Mancha or in Leon.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile measures had to be taken to provide a detaining force -in front of Soult, lest an attack on Portugal should turn out to be -in progress. This force was provided by bringing down Beresford and -the Portuguese field army to Zarza and Alcantara, and sending up -to their aid the British reinforcements which had landed at Lisbon -during the month of July. Beresford, it will be remembered, had -received orders at the commencement of the campaign directing him -to concentrate his army behind Almeida, to link his operations with -those of Del Parque and the Spanish force at Ciudad Rodrigo, but at -the same time to be ready to transfer himself either northward or -southward if his presence should be required on the Douro or the -Tagus. In accordance with these instructions Beresford had collected -thirty-two battalions of regular infantry, with one more from the -Lusitanian Legion, and the University Volunteers of Coimbra, as also -five squadrons from various cavalry regiments, and four batteries -of artillery—a force of 18,000 men in all<a id="FNanchor_731" -href="#Footnote_731" class="fnanchor">[731]</a>. On July 31 he had -crossed the Spanish frontier, and lay at San Felices and Villa de -Cervo, near Ciudad Rodrigo. There he heard of Soult’s march from -Salamanca towards Plasencia, and very properly made up his mind to -bring his army down to Estremadura by a line parallel to that which the -French had taken. He crossed the Sierra de Gata by the rough pass of -Perales, and on August 12 fixed his head quarters at Moraleja,<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_601">[p. 601]</span> near Coria, on the -southern slope of the mountains. His cavalry held Coria, while his -right wing was in touch with the English brigades from Lisbon, which -had just reached Zarza la Mayor. These were the seven battalions of -Lightburne and Catlin Craufurd<a id="FNanchor_732" href="#Footnote_732" -class="fnanchor">[732]</a>, which Wellesley had vainly hoped to receive -in time for Talavera. They numbered 4,500 bayonets, and had with them -one battery of British artillery.</p> - -<p>Thus even before Soult reached Plasencia, there was an army of -18,000 Portuguese and 4,500 British on the lower Tietar, ready to -act as a detaining force and to retard the Marshal’s advance, if -he should make a serious attempt to invade Portugal. On Aug. 15, -by Wellesley’s orders, Beresford left Moraleja and transferred his -whole army to Zarza, in order to be able to fall back with perfect -security on Castello Branco should circumstances so require. If he had -remained at Moraleja he might have been cut off from the high-road to -Abrantes by a sudden movement of the enemy on Coria<a id="FNanchor_733" -href="#Footnote_733" class="fnanchor">[733]</a>.</p> - -<p>Wellesley now felt comparatively safe, so far as matters strategical -were concerned. If the enemy, contrary to his expectation, should -march into Portugal, he could join Beresford at Abrantes, and stand -at bay with some 24,000 British and 18,000 Portuguese regulars, a -force sufficient to check the 30,000 men who was the utmost force that -Soult could bring against him after Ney’s departure. Meanwhile, till -the Marshal should move, he retained his old position at Mirabete and -Jaraicejo. Though the French showed no signs of activity in his front, -the weary fortnight during which the British army lay in position -behind the Tagus were perhaps the most trying time that Wellesley -spent during his first campaign in Spain. It was a period of absolute -starvation for man and beast, and the army was going to pieces under -his eyes. Ever since the British had arrived in front of Talavera on -July 22, rations as we have already seen had been scanty and irregular. -But the fourteen days spent at Deleytosa and Jaraicejo were even worse -than those which had preceded them. The stores collected at Plasencia -had been captured by the French: those gathered at Abrantes were so far -distant that they could not be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_602">[p. -602]</span> drawn upon, now that the high-road north of the Tagus -had been cut by the enemy. The army had to live miserably on what it -could wring out of the country-side, which Victor two months before -had stripped to the very bones. Wellesley had hoped to be fed by the -Spanish Government, when he threw up his line of communication with -Abrantes, and took up that with Badajoz. But the Spanish Government -was a broken reed on which to lean: if it fed its own armies most -imperfectly, it was hardly to be expected that it would deal more -liberally with its allies. The trifling stores brought from Talavera -had long been exhausted: the country-side had been eaten bare: from the -South very little could be procured. The Spanish Commissary-General -Lozano de Torres<a id="FNanchor_734" href="#Footnote_734" -class="fnanchor">[734]</a> occasionally sent up a small consignment -of flour from Caceres and Truxillo, but it did not suffice to give -the army even half-rations. It was to no purpose that at Abrantes -provisions abounded at this moment, for there was no means of getting -them forward from Portugal<a id="FNanchor_735" href="#Footnote_735" -class="fnanchor">[735]</a>. The enemy lay between the army and its base -dépôt, and there was no transport available to bring up the food by the -circuitous route of Villa Velha and Portalegre. Even so early as August -8 Wellesley began to write that ‘a starving army is actually worse than -none. The soldiers lose their discipline and their spirit. They plunder -in the very presence of their officers. The officers are discontented, -and almost as bad as the men. With the army that a fortnight ago -beat double their numbers, I should now hesitate to meet a French -corps of half that strength.’ On the eleventh he wrote to warn Cuesta -that unless he was provided with food of some sort he should remain -no longer in his advanced position, but fall back towards Badajoz, -whatever might be the consequences. ‘It is impossible,’ he<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_603">[p. 603]</span> stated, ‘for me to remain -any longer in a country in which no arrangement has been made for the -supply of provisions to the troops, and in which all the provisions -that are either found in the country or are sent from Seville (as I -have been informed for the use of the British army) are applied solely -and exclusively to the use of the Spanish troops<a id="FNanchor_736" -href="#Footnote_736" class="fnanchor">[736]</a>.’</p> - -<p>The Junta sent Wellesley a letter of high-flown praise for -his doings at Talavera, a present of horses, and a commission as -Captain-General in their army. But food they did not send in any -sufficient quantities. All the convoys that came up from Andalusia were -made over to Cuesta’s army, and the Estremaduran districts which were -supposed to be allotted for the sustenance of the British had little -or nothing to give. When we remember that in June Victor had described -this same region as absolutely exhausted and incapable of furnishing -the 1st Corps with even five days’ supplies, we shall not wonder that -Wellesley’s troops starved there in August. It was impossible however -to convince the British general that the suffering of his men were -the result of Spanish penury rather than of Spanish negligence and -bad faith. There was much just foundation for his complaints, for the -Junta, after so many promises, had sent him no train from Andalusia. -Moreover detachments and marauding bands from Cuesta’s army frequently -intercepted the small supplies of food which British foraging parties -were able to procure<a id="FNanchor_737" href="#Footnote_737" -class="fnanchor">[737]</a>. When taxed with their misdoings, Cuesta -replied that Wellesley’s men had not unfrequently seized and plundered -his own convoys, which was undoubtedly true<a id="FNanchor_738" -href="#Footnote_738" class="fnanchor">[738]</a>, and that the British -soldiers were enjoying such abundance that he had been told that some -of them were actually selling their bread-ration to the Spaniards -because they had no need of it—which was most certainly false<a -id="FNanchor_739" href="#Footnote_739" class="fnanchor">[739]</a>.</p> - -<p>That Wellesley was using no exaggerated terms, when he<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_604">[p. 604]</span> declared that his -army was literally perishing for want of food, is proved by the -narratives of a score of British officers who were present in -the Talavera campaign<a id="FNanchor_740" href="#Footnote_740" -class="fnanchor">[740]</a>. That his ultimate retreat was caused by -nothing but the necessity of saving his men is perfectly clear. The -strategical advantage of maintaining the position behind the Almaraz -passage was so evident, and the political disadvantages of withdrawing -were so obvious, that a man of Wellesley’s keen insight into the -facts of war must have desired to hold on as long as was possible. -Unless Soult were actually attacking Portugal, Mirabete and Jaraicejo -afforded the best ground that could be selected for ‘containing’ and -imposing upon the enemy. So long as the British army lay there it was -practically unassailable from the front, while it was admirably placed -for the purpose of making an irruption into the midst of the enemy’s -lines, if he should disperse his corps in search of food, or detach -large forces towards La Mancha or Leon. ‘If I could only have fed,’ -wrote Wellesley, ‘I could, after some time, have struck a brilliant -blow either upon Soult at Plasencia, or upon Mortier in the centre<a -id="FNanchor_741" href="#Footnote_741" class="fnanchor">[741]</a>. It -is clear that by a dash across the Almaraz passage he could have fallen -upon either of these forces, and assailed it with good hope of success -before it could be succoured by the other. But such a venture was -impossible to an army which had lost one-third of its cavalry horses -from starvation within three weeks, and whose battalions were brought -so low by physical exhaustion that few of them could be relied upon to -march ten miles in a day.</p> - -<p>Wellesley declared that, having once linked his fortunes to those -of the Spanish army of Estremadura, he had considered himself bound -to co-operate with it as long as was humanly speaking possible, and -implicit credit may be given to his assertion<a id="FNanchor_742" -href="#Footnote_742" class="fnanchor">[742]</a>. The limit of physical -endurance, however, was reached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_605">[p. -605]</span> on August 20, the day on which he was finally compelled to -commence his retreat in the direction of Truxillo and Badajoz.</p> - -<p>Before that day arrived one event occurred which seemed to make -useful co-operation between the two allied armies more feasible than it -had been at any date since the campaign began. On the night of August -12-13 Cuesta, whose health had been steadily growing worse since the -injuries that he had received at Medellin, was disabled by a paralytic -stroke which deprived him of the use of one of his legs. He resigned -on the following day, and was succeeded by his second-in-command -Eguia, an officer whose conciliatory manners and mild disposition -promised to make communication between the head quarters of the two -allied armies comparatively friendly. Cuesta, after receiving from -the Central Junta a letter of recall couched in the most flattering -terms, retired to the baths of Alhama. When he had somewhat recovered -his strength, he turned his energies to writing a long vindication of -his whole conduct in 1809, and then engaged in a furious controversy -with Venegas, concerning the latter’s disobedience of orders in July. -Engaged in these harmless pursuits he ceased to be a source of danger -to his country. Unfortunately his removal from the theatre of war was -not of such benefit to the common cause as might have been hoped. The -Junta found ere long a general just as rash and incapable, if not -quite so old, to whom to entrust the command of its largest army. Juan -Carlos Areizaga, the vanquished of Ocaña, was entirely worthy to be the -spiritual heir of Cuesta’s policy.</p> - -<p>But for the present General Eguia was for some weeks in charge of -the Army of Estremadura. His first idea was to persuade Wellesley -to postpone his departure, and to retain his advanced position. He -urged this request upon his colleague with more zeal than tact, and -to no good effect. By using in one of his dispatches the phrase that -other considerations besides the want of food must be determining the -movements of the British army<a id="FNanchor_743" href="#Footnote_743" -class="fnanchor">[743]</a>, he roused Wellesley’s wrath. The famine -was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_606">[p. 606]</span> so real -that any insinuation that it was a mere pretext for retreat was -certainly calculated to wound the general whose troops were perishing -before his eyes. Expressing deep indignation<a id="FNanchor_744" -href="#Footnote_744" class="fnanchor">[744]</a> Wellesley refused to -listen to a proposal that he should divide with the Estremadurans -the stores of food at Truxillo—which indeed were hopelessly -inadequate for the sustenance of two armies. Nor would he even accept -an offer made him on August 20 by Lorenzo Calvo de Rozas, who came in -haste from the Central Junta, to the effect that he might appropriate -the whole of the magazine at Truxillo, leaving the Spanish army to -provide for itself from other resources. The proposal was probably -honest and genuine, but Wellesley knew the dilatory habits of the -Junta so well that he was convinced that the dépôt made over to -him would never be properly replenished, and would soon run dry<a -id="FNanchor_745" href="#Footnote_745" class="fnanchor">[745]</a>.</p> - -<p>Marching therefore by short stages, for the exhaustion of his troops -made rapid progress impossible<a id="FNanchor_746" href="#Footnote_746" -class="fnanchor">[746]</a>, he started from Jaraicejo on August 20, and -moved by Truxillo and Miajadas to the valley of the Guadiana, where -he cantoned the army about<span class="pagenum" id="Page_607">[p. -607]</span> Merida, Montijo, and Badajoz. The British head quarters -were fixed at the last-named place from September 3 till December -27, 1809, and, excepting for some small changes in detail, the army -retained the position which it had now taken up for nearly four months. -In the fertile region along the Guadiana the troops were fed without -much trouble: but they did not recover the health that they had lost -in the time of starvation among the barren hills behind Arzobispo and -Mirabete. In spite of the junction of reinforcements and the return -of convalescents to the ranks, the army could never show more than -from 23,000 to 25,000 men under arms during the autumn months. When -the rainy season began, the intermittent ague which was known to the -British as ‘Guadiana fever’ was never absent: it did not often kill, -but it disabled men by the thousand, and it was not till Wellesley -moved back into Portugal at midwinter that the regiments recovered -their normal health.</p> - -<p>If he had been free to follow his personal inclination, it is -probable that Wellesley would have moved back into Portugal in -September. But strategical and political reasons made this impossible. -While based on Badajoz he still threatened the French hold on the -valley of the Tagus, and compelled the King to keep two army corps -at least in his front. Since it was always possible that he might -return to Almaraz and threaten Madrid, a containing force had to be -told off against him. He was also in a position from which he could -easily sally out to check raids upon Portugal: from Badajoz he could -either join Beresford in a few marches, or fall by Alcantara upon -the flank of any detachment that Soult might lead forward in the -direction of Castello Branco and Abrantes. He was convinced that no -such raids would be made, but their possibility had to be taken into -consideration, and while lying in his present cantonments he was well -placed for frustrating them. But political considerations were even -more powerful than military considerations in chaining him to Badajoz. -The Junta at Seville were most anxious to keep the British army in -their front: they were convinced that, if it retired on Portugal, -Joseph and Soult would at once organize an invasion of Andalusia, -and they were well aware that Eguia and Venegas would not suffice to -hold back the 70,000 men who might then be directed against<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_608">[p. 608]</span> them. In the dispatches -which the Marquis Wellesley (who had superseded Frere at Seville on -August 11) kept sending to his brother, the main fact conveyed was -the absolute despair with which the Spanish Government viewed the -prospect of the removal of their allies towards Portugal. ‘Don Martin -de Garay [the secretary to the Junta] declared to me with expressions -of the deepest sorrow and terror’—wrote the Marquis on August -22—‘that if your army should quit Spain, at this critical moment, -inevitable and immediate ruin must ensue to his government, to whatever -provinces remain under its authority, to the cause of Spain itself, and -to every interest connected with the alliance so happily established -between Great Britain and the Spanish nation.... No argument produced -the effect of diminishing the urgency of his entreaties, and I have -ascertained that his sensations are in no degree more powerful than -those of the Government and of every description of people within this -city and its vicinity.... Viewing the painful consequences that would -follow your retreat into Portugal, I feel it my duty to submit to your -consideration the possibility of adopting some intermediate plan, which -may have some of the advantages of retreat into Portugal, without -occasioning alarm in Spain, and so endangering the foundations of the -alliance between that country and Great Britain<a id="FNanchor_747" -href="#Footnote_747" class="fnanchor">[747]</a>.’</p> - -<p>A stay at Badajoz was obviously the only ‘intermediate plan’ that -was worth taking into consideration; and considering the urgency of his -brother’s representations Wellesley could not refuse to halt within the -Spanish border. The military advantages of the position that he had -now taken up were not inconsiderable, and no profit that could have -been got by returning into Portugal could have counterbalanced the -loss of the Spanish alliance. In the valley of the Central Guadiana, -therefore, the British army remained cantoned. But no arguments that -the Junta could produce availed to persuade Wellesley to engage in -another campaign with a Spanish colleague at his side. Not even when -the tempting offer was made that Albuquerque should be given command of -half of the Estremaduran army, and placed under his orders, would he -consent to pledge himself to offensive operations.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_609">[p. 609]</span></p> - -<p>Meanwhile, dispatches had arrived from England, containing the -official news that the Austrian War was at an end: rumours to that -effect had already reached the British camps from French sources -before Wellesley left Oropesa<a id="FNanchor_748" href="#Footnote_748" -class="fnanchor">[748]</a>. The whole character of the continental -struggle was changed by the fact that the Emperor had once more the -power to send reinforcements to Spain, or even to go there himself. The -situation required further consideration, and the British Government -resolved to place upon Wellesley’s shoulders the all-important task -of deciding whether the struggle in the Peninsula could still be -maintained, and how (in the event of his giving an affirmative answer) -it could best be carried on<a id="FNanchor_749" href="#Footnote_749" -class="fnanchor">[749]</a>. He replied that in the existing state of -affairs, and considering the bad state of the Spanish armies, neither -30,000 nor even 40,000 British troops would suffice to maintain -Andalusia against the unlimited numbers of French whom the Emperor -could now send across the Pyrenees. But he held that Portugal might -be defended with success, if the Portuguese army and militia could be -com<span class="pagenum" id="Page_610">[p. 610]</span>pleted to their -full strength, and the country well organized for resistance. It was -probable that the borders of Portugal could not be maintained; ‘the -whole country is frontier, and it would be difficult to prevent the -enemy from penetrating by some point or other.’ He would have therefore -‘to confine himself to preserving what is most important,—the -capital.’ But this he was prepared to undertake, and strongly -advised the ministry to make no attempt to defend both Andalusia -and Portugal, but to leave the Junta to their own vain devices, and -to make sure of Lisbon<a id="FNanchor_750" href="#Footnote_750" -class="fnanchor">[750]</a>.</p> - -<p>Thus, in September 1809 Wellesley enunciated with great clearness -the policy that he was about to employ in the next year. The lines -of Torres Vedras are already hovering before his imagination, and -after a flying visit to Lisbon in October they took definite shape -in his ‘Memorandum for Colonel Fletcher’ of the twentieth of that -month. In that document the whole project for defending the Portuguese -capital by a series of concentric fortifications is set forth, and the -modifications which it afterwards suffered were only in matters of -detail. In short the Lines which were to check Masséna had been thought -out in the British general’s provident mind exactly twelve months -before the French army appeared in front of them.</p> - -<p>In following the fortunes of Wellesley we have now got far beyond -the point to which we have conducted the general history of the -Talavera campaign. It is time to turn back to the movements of Soult -and King Joseph, and to explain the reasons which made it possible for -the British army to remain unmolested at Jaraicejo and Mirabete till -August 20, and then to retire to Merida and Badajoz without imperilling -the safety of their Estremaduran allies.</p> - -<p>The King, as we have already seen, had made up his mind that the -all-important point, at this stage of the campaign, was to make an end -of the army of Venegas, and to relieve Madrid<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_611">[p. 611]</span> from danger. He had therefore called -Victor towards Toledo, and directed Mortier to relieve the divisions -of the 1st Corps which lay at Talavera with troops from the 5th Corps. -The result of this movement was to leave Soult too weak to undertake -any important operations against Portugal. For Mortier’s men, being -strung out on the long line from Talavera to Navalmoral, with both -Wellesley’s and Cuesta’s armies in their front, could not be relied -upon to lend aid for an advance on Castello Branco or Abrantes. The -Duke of Dalmatia therefore, when he had reached Plasencia, could -dispose of nothing but his own 2nd Corps and Lahoussaye’s four -regiments of dragoons. He dared not march on Portugal with no more -than 20,000 men, when the allies had it in their power to fall upon -Mortier the moment that his back was turned. Accordingly he waited -at Plasencia, sending out cavalry to Coria and Torejoncillo, but did -nothing more. Meanwhile Beresford and the two British brigades from -Lisbon were drawing near him, and on August 16 the Portuguese cavalry, -advancing from the pass of Perales and Moraleja, drove out the two -French squadrons which were occupying Coria, and thus warned Soult that -a new army was coming into play against him. Two days later Beresford -had transferred himself to the Castello Branco road, and a force of -23,000 men had been thrown between the 2nd Corps and the Portuguese -frontier.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the King had met with unexpected good fortune in his -attack on Venegas. On August 5 he had set out from Valdemoro with -the intention of attacking the army of La Mancha in its position -at Aranjuez. It seemed unlikely that he would find it there, for -Venegas had displayed such excessive caution in his advance from the -Sierra Morena to the Tagus, and had so tamely refused to take his -opportunity of pouncing upon Madrid, that it seemed probable that he -would retreat at the first sign of the King’s approach. But rushing -to the opposite extreme of conduct, the Spanish general was now ready -to court destruction. He had received on the preceding night, that of -August 4, Cuesta’s dispatch of the third, informing him that Soult had -crossed the mountains and that both the British and the Estremaduran -armies were quitting Talavera. The Captain-General warned him that he -might expect an attack from the King’s army, and ordered him to avoid -an action, and to fall back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_612">[p. -612]</span> towards the Despeña Perros if he were pressed. Serenely -putting aside the orders of Cuesta, Venegas refused to retreat, and -announced that he should not copy the conduct of a superior who had -fled even before the enemy was in sight. He announced his intention of -fighting, and directed his army to concentrate in the neighbourhood of -Aranjuez. Of his five divisions, three were holding that town when the -French came in sight; the other two were écheloned between Aranjuez -and Tembleque, apparently in order to watch the roads from Toledo -and Añover. The enemy might, as Venegas saw, turn his flank either -by crossing the bridges of the former place, or by passing the easy -ford at the latter. A detachment of 800 men had been left to watch the -debouches from Toledo, and a couple of battalions observed the ford of -Añover.</p> - -<p>King Joseph meanwhile, marching with a force composed of -Sebastiani’s corps, the Central Reserve, and Milhaud’s division of -dragoons, arrived in front of Aranjuez on August 5. Sebastiani, whose -troops led the advance, drove in the Spanish outposts, who retired -across the Tagus and broke the town bridge behind them. But beyond -the river the greater part of the army of La Mancha was visible in -battle order, prepared to receive the attack: Venegas himself, however, -chanced to be absent at the moment, as he had ridden over that morning -to visit his left wing, and General Giron was in temporary charge of -the defence. Sebastiani risked an attack on the Spanish position, -which was accessible by means of two fords. But finding that the enemy -was in great force and stood firm, he drew off his men after a sharp -skirmish.</p> - -<p>King Joseph now determined not to press the attack on Aranjuez and -its fords, but to cross the Tagus at points where he could secure a -less difficult passage. He countermarched Sebastiani’s corps to the -bridge of Toledo, and gave Milhaud orders to force the ford of Añover. -This manœuvre cost him three days; it was only on the evening of August -8 that he succeeded in concentrating his main body at Toledo. On the -following morning Sebastiani passed the bridges and drove off the -Spanish detachment that was observing them: it fell back on a larger -force, and the 4th Corps pressing its advance, came into contact with a -whole hostile division.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_613">[p. 613]</span></p> - -<p>Venegas had not failed to guess the plan which the King would adopt, -and had moved off from Aranjuez towards Toledo, by roads parallel to -those which the French had employed. His 5th division, 4,000 bayonets, -under Major-General Zerain, was in front, and thus was the first to -meet Sebastiani’s attack. It was driven in after a sharp skirmish, and -retired a few miles to the small town of Almonacid, on the high-road to -Mora and Madridejos. On the same evening Milhaud’s dragoons assailed -the ford of Añover, drove off the small force that was guarding it, -and fell into line on Sebastiani’s left flank. On the next morning -Venegas came up with his remaining four divisions, those of Lacy, -Vigodet, Giron, and Castejon, and joined Zerain at Almonacid. Thus -both sides were concentrated for battle, save that Joseph and his -reserves, owing to the delay caused by a defile over the narrow bridge -of Toledo, were some ten miles to the rear of Sebastiani. The Spanish -army, after the deduction of men in hospital or detached, amounted to -about 23,000 men, of whom nearly 3,000 were horse: it had forty guns. -The King and Sebastiani had some 21,000 sabres and bayonets, but of -these nearly 4,000 were cavalry, so that the French army enjoyed its -usual preponderance in that arm, in numbers no less than in efficiency. -Two of its infantry divisions, those of Leval and Sebastiani, had -suffered heavily at Talavera: the rest of the infantry—Valence’s -Poles and the King’s guards and reserves—had not been engaged in -that battle; all the cavalry was equally intact<a id="FNanchor_751" -href="#Footnote_751" class="fnanchor">[751]</a>.</p> - -<p>Both armies were prepared to fight: King Joseph had resolved that -Madrid would never be safe till the army of La Mancha had been beaten. -Venegas was eager to meet him: he had persuaded himself that the -French troops which had passed the bridge of Toledo did not amount -to more than 14,000 men, and hoped for an easy victory. He held a -council of war on the night of the tenth, and found his subordinates -as ready to fight as himself. They determined to attack Sebastiani -on the dawn<span class="pagenum" id="Page_614">[p. 614]</span> of -August 12, and the Commander-in-chief exclaimed with exultation that, -whatever other Spanish officers might do, he at least would never -earn the nickname of <i>El General Retiradas</i><a id="FNanchor_752" -href="#Footnote_752" class="fnanchor">[752]</a>.</p> - -<p>The French, however, anticipated Venegas, for on the morning of -August 11, at half-past five o’clock, Sebastiani presented himself in -front of the Spanish position and opened a furious attack, without -waiting for the arrival of King Joseph and the reserve. The army of La -Mancha had therefore to fight a defensive engagement, and never got the -chance of carrying out the ambitious designs of its chief.</p> - -<p>The battle-field of Almonacid bears a strong resemblance to that of -Ucles, where Venegas six months before had made such a deplorable début -in the character of a ‘fighting general.’ As at Ucles, the Spanish army -was arrayed on a series of eminences on each side of a small town, with -a long array of infantry and guns in its centre, and the cavalry on -the wings. As if to emphasize the resemblance, Venegas committed his -old fault of keeping no adequate reserve in hand, and distributed his -whole force in one thin line, with no more than four battalions and -two cavalry regiments drawn up in support to the rear of the centre! -The only points in which there was a marked difference between Ucles -and Almonacid was that on the latter field the eminence on the Spanish -left—a hill called Los Cerrojones—was so much higher than -the rest of the ground that it formed the key of the position, just as -the Cerro de Medellin had done at Talavera. Moreover, there was a long -hill behind Almonacid—the Cerro del Castillo—which gave an -admirable rallying-point for the army if it should be forced out of its -first fighting-ground.</p> - -<p>The main line of the Spanish order of battle was formed, counting -from right to left, by the divisions of Vigodet (no. 2), Castejon -(no. 4), Zerain (no. 5), and Lacy (no. 1), with a brigade of the -division of Giron (no. 3) continuing the array on to the Cerrojones. -The second brigade of Giron formed the sole<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_615">[p. 615]</span> reserve; it was drawn up on the Cerro -del Castillo, where the ruins of the mediaeval fort that gave the hill -its name were turned to account as a place of strength. It had two -cavalry regiments in its rear: the rest of the troops of that arm were -distributed between the two flanks.</p> - -<p>When Sebastiani came upon the field he fell upon the Spanish line -without a moment’s hesitation. Apparently he thought that delay would -only give the enemy time to rearrange his troops and strengthen his -weak points. At any rate he did not wait for the arrival of the King -and the reserve, but attacked at once. It was the same fault that -Victor had committed at Talavera, but Sebastiani was not destined to -receive the condign punishment that befell the Duke of Belluno. Noting -that the steep hill on the Spanish left was the key of the position, -he resolved to storm it before attacking the rest of the hostile line. -Accordingly he threw out Milhaud’s dragoons and his own French division -to ‘contain’ the Spanish centre and right, while Leval’s Germans and -Valence’s Poles were directed to assail the Cerrojones. The former -division turned the flank of the hill, while the latter attacked it in -front.</p> - -<p>The Spanish brigade on the hill made a stubborn resistance, and even -held back the Poles till its flank was turned by the Germans. Venegas -sent to its aid his miserably inadequate reserve under Giron, and some -battalions drawn from the first division. But these troops came too -late, the Cerrojones were lost, and the reinforcements only succeeded -in checking the French advance behind the hill, on the slopes between -it and Almonacid. The key of the position was thus in Sebastiani’s -hands, and, seeing the Spanish centre outflanked, he let loose upon it -his French division, which drove in Lacy and Zerain, and captured the -town of Almonacid and three guns. Venegas was thus forced to draw back -his whole line, and re-formed it on the Cerro del Castillo, which lay -behind his original position. The troops were much disordered by this -retrograde movement, yet made a very creditable effort to maintain -their new ground. But King Joseph and the reserve had now come on the -field, and Dessolles’ troops were thrown into the front line to aid -the infantry of the 4th Corps. After a stubborn fight the Spanish -left and centre again broke, and Venegas was only able to save<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_616">[p. 616]</span> them from complete -destruction by bringing up Vigodet’s division, which was almost intact, -and throwing it in the way of the advancing enemy. It held out long -enough to allow the main body to escape, and then followed its comrades -in retreat down the high-road to Mora and Madridejos. The French -cavalry was let loose in pursuit, but does not seem to have been so -successful in its work as had been the case at Ucles and Medellin. At -any rate the bulk of the Spaniards escaped in more or less order, and -only the stragglers were cut up.</p> - -<p>The losses of Venegas’s army would appear to have been about 800 -killed and 2,500 wounded<a id="FNanchor_753" href="#Footnote_753" -class="fnanchor">[753]</a>, besides a considerable number of -prisoners—perhaps 2,000 in all, for Sebastiani’s dispatch giving -the figure of 4,000 cannot be trusted. The army of La Mancha had -also lost twenty-one of its forty guns, all its baggage and several -standards. Still the defeat was far less crushing than Medellin had -been, and the whole army was rallied at the passes with no great -difficulty. It had fought very creditably, as is sufficiently vouched -for by the fact that Sebastiani acknowledged a loss of 319 killed -and 2,075 wounded. The Polish division in especial had suffered very -severely while storming the Cerrojones at the opening of the combat.</p> - -<p>Thus ended the part taken by the Army of La Mancha in the Talavera -campaign. No words are too strong to use in condemnation of Venegas’s -conduct. After wrecking the plan of campaign drawn up by Wellesley -and Cuesta by his criminal slackness and timidity in July, he then -proceeded to the extreme of culpable rashness. He had ample time to -retire to the South, when his position was compromised by the departure -of the British and Estremaduran armies from Talavera. Instead of doing -so he remained behind, and courted an unnecessary battle, in which his -unskilful dispositions secured the defeat of an army which tried to do -its duty and defended itself far better than could have been expected. -He should have been court-martialled and shot for his repeated and -impudent disobedience of Cuesta’s orders. But the Junta, conscious -that they were themselves to blame for giving him secret directions -which clashed with those of the Commander-in-chief, spared him, and -only removed him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_617">[p. 617]</span> -from command some weeks later, in order to replace him by Areizaga, an -officer of exactly the same level of merit and intelligence.</p> - -<p>After his—or rather Sebastiani’s—victory at Almonacid -King Joseph established the 4th Corps in cantonments around Toledo -and Aranjuez, and sent Victor and the 1st Corps into La Mancha to -observe the passes and to contain the wrecks of Venegas’s army. He -returned himself with his guards and the reserve to Madrid on August -15, celebrated a <i>Te Deum</i>, and published an extravagant account of his -own achievements, in which he claimed to have discomfited the attempt -of 120,000 enemies (there were but 80,000 at the most liberal estimate) -with the aid of 40,000 invincible French troops. The co-operation of -Soult’s 50,000 men was consigned to oblivion in this extraordinary -document.</p> - -<p>The moment that he heard of the defeat of Venegas, Soult wrote to -the King, renewing the demand which he had made ten days before for -permission to invade Portugal. Now that the army of La Mancha had been -disposed of, he considered that Victor might come back to Talavera and -Almaraz, so as to set free Mortier and the 5th Corps for the attack -on Portugal. He also suggested that Ney, having put things right at -Salamanca, might now be recalled to the valley of the Tagus, and -rejoin the 2nd and 5th Corps. He supported his demands by an unfounded -assertion that Wellesley was on his march to unite with Beresford by -way of Alcantara, and asked for leave to attack the latter before -the main British army should have joined him. In a few days more, -he said, it would be too late to move, for Beresford and Wellesley -would have concentrated their forces, so that he would have 45,000 -Anglo-Portuguese in his front<a id="FNanchor_754" href="#Footnote_754" -class="fnanchor">[754]</a>.</p> - -<p>Joseph refused to listen to these arguments, and had fair reasons to -show for his negative reply to the Marshal’s requests. Wellesley, as -he truly remarked, was not marching for Alcantara to join Beresford: -he was still at Jaraicejo in close touch with the Estremaduran army. -If Mortier were removed to the Portuguese border, Wellesley and Eguia -might descend upon Victor and crush him. It was impossible to leave -less than two corps to defend the Middle Tagus. As for Ney, he could -not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_618">[p. 618]</span> quit Leon, for -Del Parque and the Galicians were concentrating in great force upon -his front. Indeed, he had just written to request that the 2nd Corps -might be moved up to Salamanca to support him<a id="FNanchor_755" -href="#Footnote_755" class="fnanchor">[755]</a>. It was not now the -time to engage in further offensive operations either against Portugal -or against Andalusia. The troops were exhausted; the hospital of -Madrid contained at the moment 12,000 sick and wounded, the cavalry -was so distressed by incessant work that few regiments could put 250 -men in line. The transport was worn out, and new horses and mules -were impossible to procure, for the King had no money with which to -purchase them. Finally, and this was the most conclusive point of all, -orders had been received from the Emperor countermanding all active -operations till the hot season should be over<a id="FNanchor_756" -href="#Footnote_756" class="fnanchor">[756]</a>. It was impossible -to say what his intentions might be, now that he was freed from the -Austrian War. He might come himself to Spain, or he might send large -reinforcements to the King. In any case it would be impossible to -move till his will was known and his mind made up<a id="FNanchor_757" -href="#Footnote_757" class="fnanchor">[757]</a>.</p> - -<p>These arguments were conclusive, and Soult was forced to remain -quiescent: all that he could do was to push small parties to Zarza and -Coria when Beresford had evacuated those places.</p> - -<p>Thus the Talavera campaign came to an end. There was now a long -pause in the movements both of the allies and of the French. The -subsequent fighting in October belongs to a totally independent series -of operations. The combatants who had been engaged in July and August -rested in September: Soult was left at Plasencia, Mortier at Talavera -and Navalmoral, Ney at Salamanca; Victor’s head quarters were at -Daymiel in La Mancha, Sebastiani lay along the Tagus from Aranjuez -to Toledo. Of the allied troops Wellesley’s army was cantoned about -Badajoz and Merida. The Estremadurans under Eguia covered the passages -of the Tagus from Deleytosa, Jaraicejo, and Truxillo: Venegas was -reorganizing his depleted corps at his old quarters in the passes -by La Carolina. Beresford was observing Soult from Castello Branco, -and lastly, the Galicians were moving down by divisions to join Del -Parque’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_619">[p. 619]</span> forces -at Ciudad Rodrigo, where a formidable army was now beginning to be -collected.</p> - -<p>The Talavera campaign, in short, had settled nothing. The attempt of -the allies to capture Madrid had failed, but the attempt of the French -to surround Wellesley and Cuesta by Soult’s flank march had failed -also. Looking to the net results of all the fighting since May, it -could be said that the balance of loss stood against the French. They -had abandoned Galicia and the Asturias, as well as their precarious -hold on Northern Portugal. They had gained nothing, save that their -forces were concentrated in a good central position, instead of being -scattered from Corunna and Oporto as far as Merida and Manzanares. The -next move was in the hands of the Emperor: it remained to be seen how -he would deal with the situation in the Peninsula, now that he, at -last, had time to study it in detail.</p> - -<p>Before passing on to the new series of operations which took place -in the late autumn, one minor side-issue of the Talavera campaign -remains to be narrated—the fate of the small roving column of -4,000 Spaniards and Portuguese under Sir Robert Wilson, which had been -threatening Madrid in the King’s absence, and which had caused so many -misgivings in the mind of Marshal Victor. Wilson’s doings were to give -one more proof of his extraordinary resourcefulness and vigour, if any -further evidence were needed after his masterly handling of Lapisse -in the spring. It will be remembered that on August 4 he had slipped -away from Escalona, on hearing from Wellesley that Soult had descended -upon Plasencia. He intended to join the main army at Talavera, but -on nearing that place discovered that it had already been evacuated, -and that both the British and the Estremaduran armies had disappeared -in the direction of Oropesa. Accordingly he directed his steps to -the westward, hoping to overtake Wellesley on his march. On his way, -however, he was caught up by Villatte’s division of Victor’s corps, -which had been vainly hunting for him at Nombella and Escalona since -the fifth. Thrown out of his path by this force, Wilson turned up into -the mountains, intending to escape by the northern bank of the Tietar. -He soon learnt, however, from the peasantry that Soult had sent a -brigade under Foy to look for him in the Vera of Plasencia, and that -Hugo, the governor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_620">[p. 620]</span> -of Avila, had come down to hold against him the passes of Arenas and -Monbeltran. Thus ringed around with foes, he did not lose his nerve, -but turning up into the Sierra de Gredos, by a mule-path that leads -from Aldea Nueva to the upper valley of the Alagon, escaped in the -direction of Bejar. From thence he intended to strike across towards -Portugal. But a new enemy now came upon him: he had evaded Villatte -and Foy only to run into the arms of Ney, who on this day [August 12] -was preparing to cross the Puerto de Baños on his way to Salamanca. -There was still time to escape from the Marshal’s front and to retire -to Ciudad Rodrigo unmolested. But Wilson saw the rocky defile of the -Puerto in front of him, and could not resist the temptation of holding -it against the enemy, though he was well aware that with a force of -less than 4,000 men, destitute of artillery, he could not seriously -hope to repulse a whole army corps. Nevertheless he offered battle -in the pass, and fought a running fight for nine hours against Ney’s -vanguard, defending three successive positions, from each of which he -had to be expelled. In his last stand he held on too long, and allowed -the enemy to close. His four battalions were all broken, and fled over -the hills to Miranda de Castañar, where they rallied on the next day. -The Marshal acknowledged in his dispatch to King Joseph a loss of five -officers and thirty men killed, and ten officers and 140 men wounded, -which shows that he had been forced to fight hard to clear the pass. -He claimed to have ‘destroyed’ Wilson’s detachment, and declared that -1,200 Spaniards and Portuguese had fallen. But Wilson’s returns show -that his total loss, killed, wounded, and missing, was under 400, among -whom there was not a single field officer or captain. Having assuaged -his thirst for a fight by this gallant, if unnecessary, engagement, -Wilson escaped to the Pass of Perales, and finally reached Castello -Branco on August 24, where he fell in with Beresford, and was at last -in safety, after his many wanderings among the summits of the Sierra -de Gredos and the Sierra de Gata. This hazardous march was his last -achievement in the Peninsula; after a bitter quarrel with Beresford -concerning the status of his Lusitanian Legion in the Portuguese army, -he sailed for England in October, and never returned to Portugal.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_1"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_621">[p. 621]</span></p> - <h2 class="nobreak g1">APPENDICES</h2> - <h3>I</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE ‘ARMY OF THE CENTRE,’ JAN. 11, 1809</p> -</div> - -<p class="centra nb mt1">[N.B.—From the Tables in Arteche, vol. v.]</p> -<p class="centra nb mt1">The Battalions which fought at Ucles are indicated by a star *.</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Spanish Army of the Centre"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Vanguard Division, Major-General Duke of Albuquerque:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Corona (1st and 3rd batts.) 415, *Murcia 652, *Cantabria (1st - batt.) 315, *Provincial of Jaen 342, *Provincial of Chinchilla 354, *Voluntarios - Catalanes 499, *Cazadores de Barbastro 221, *Campomayor 465, Tiradores de - Castilla 666</td> - <td class="tdr">= 3,929</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt1">1st Division, Lieut.-General Marquis de Coupigny:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Reyna (1st and 3rd batts.) 494, *Africa (1st and 3rd batts.) 771, - *Burgos (1st and 3rd batts.) 519, 1st of Seville 193, *3rd of - Seville 106, Provincial of Granada 176, Provincial of Bujalance - 101, *Provincial of Cuenca 626, Provincial of Ciudad Real 268, - Provincial of Plasencia 180, Voluntarios de Valencia 327, - *Navas de Tolosa 542, *Tiradores de Cadiz 818</td> - <td class="tdr">= 5,121</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt1">2nd Division, Major-General Conde de Orgaz:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">*Ordenes Militares (1st, 2nd, and 3rd batts.) 848, *4th of Seville - 224, 5th of Seville 304, 1st Voluntarios de Madrid 688, Provincial - de Leon 484, Provincial de Logroño 265, *Provincial de - Toro 265, Provincial de Valladolid 378, *Baylen 472, Tiradores - de España 407, *Voluntarios de Carmona 456, Voluntarios de - Ledesma 497</td> - <td class="tdr">= 5,288</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt1">Reserve, Lieut.-General La Peña:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Spanish Guards (1st and 2nd batts.) 1,217, *Walloon Guards (1st - batt.) 425, *Granaderos Provinciales de Andalucia 522, *Irlanda - (1st batt.) 377, Granaderos del General 324, Provincial de - Cordova 622, Provincial de Guadix 391, Provincial de - Lorca 417</td> - <td class="tdr">= 4,295</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc pt1">CAVALRY.</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">*Reyna 276, *Principe 141, *Borbon 119, *España 342, *Santiago - 74, *Tejas 131, *Pavia 428, *Lusitania 158, *Dragones de<span class="pagenum" id="Page_622">[p. 622]</span> - Castilla 125, Farnesio ?, Montesa ?, Calatrava ?, Sagunto ?, - Alcantara ?</td> - <td class="tdr">= 1,814</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="nb mt1">Estimating the 5 regiments without returns at 1,000 -sabres, we get 2,814 in all.</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Rest of the Spanish Army of the Centre"> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">ARTILLERY 386.</td> - <td class="tvoid"> </td> - <td class="tdc">*SAPPERS 383.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc">Total of the Army, 21,216.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="mt1">Of these the following, with a strength of 11,500 men, -were present at Ucles,</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Spanish Army of the Centre present at Ucles"> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">Of the</td> - <td class="tdl">Vanguard</td> - <td class="tdr">2,848</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdl">1st Division</td> - <td class="tdr">2,804</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdl">2nd ”</td> - <td class="tdr">1,917</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdl">Reserve</td> - <td class="tdr">1,634</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdl">Cavalry</td> - <td class="tdr">1,814</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdl">Sappers</td> - <td class="tdr">383</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">”</td> - <td class="tdl">Artillery</td> - <td class="tdr bb">100</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdr pt05">Total </td> - <td class="tdr pt05">11,500</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="nb mt1">There is a discrepancy between this total and the -numbers borne in the battalions above. It is caused by the fact that -Irlanda, Ordenes Militares, and Tiradores de Cadiz were not complete on -the battle-morning, but had companies detached.</p> - - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_2"> - <h3>II</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE GARRISON OF SARAGOSSA</p> -</div> - -<p class="centra nb">[From the return of Jan. 1, 1809, given by Ibieca, -corrected by reference to Arteche iv. 550-1, and the Conde de Clonard, -ii. 284-93.]</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Spanish Army of the Centre present at Ucles"> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc">INFANTRY.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdl pt1">1st <span class="smcap">Division</span>, - Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">F. Butron</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Gross<br />Total.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Present<br />under<br />arms.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Walloon Guards</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">530</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">450</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Estremadura</td> - <td class="tdr">610</td> - <td class="tdr">390</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Granaderos de Palafox</td> - <td class="tdr">1,005</td> - <td class="tdr">752</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Fusileros del Reyno</td> - <td class="tdr">1,571</td> - <td class="tdr">1,291</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Don Carlos</td> - <td class="tdr">1,014</td> - <td class="tdr">534</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Batallon del Carmen</td> - <td class="tdr">771</td> - <td class="tdr">661</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Batallon del Portillo</td> - <td class="tdr">834</td> - <td class="tdr">594</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Batallon de Torrero</td> - <td class="tdr">720</td> - <td class="tdr">485</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Batallon de Calatayud</td> - <td class="tdr">967</td> - <td class="tdr">881</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Ligero de Zaragoza</td> - <td class="tdr">680</td> - <td class="tdr">566</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd Ligero de Zaragoza</td> - <td class="tdr">666</td> - <td class="tdr">546</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Cazadores Catalanes</td> - <td class="tdr">625</td> - <td class="tdr">465</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd Voluntarios de Aragon</td> - <td class="tdr bb">1,200</td> - <td class="tdr bb">1,060</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05"> Divisional Total </td> - <td class="tdr pt05">11,193</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">8,675</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdl pt1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_623">[p. 623]</span>2nd - <span class="smcap">Division</span>, Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">D. - Fiballer</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Spanish Guards</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">898</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">676</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd of Valencia</td> - <td class="tdr">954</td> - <td class="tdr">726</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Volunteers of Aragon</td> - <td class="tdr">1,183</td> - <td class="tdr">970</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cazadores de Fernando VII (Aragonese)</td> - <td class="tdr bb">545</td> - <td class="tdr bb">345</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Divisional Total </td> - <td class="tdr pt05">3,580</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">2,717</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdl pt1">3rd <span class="smcap">Division</span>, - Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">José Manso</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Peñas de San Pedro</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">594</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">241</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st of Huesca</td> - <td class="tdr">1,274</td> - <td class="tdr">973</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Florida Blanca</td> - <td class="tdr">352</td> - <td class="tdr">229</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Tiradores de Murcia</td> - <td class="tdr">750</td> - <td class="tdr">343</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st of Murcia</td> - <td class="tdr">1,272</td> - <td class="tdr">631</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd of Murcia</td> - <td class="tdr">1,159</td> - <td class="tdr">477</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3rd of Murcia</td> - <td class="tdr">1,098</td> - <td class="tdr">438</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Suizos de Aragon</td> - <td class="tdr bb">496</td> - <td class="tdr bb">361</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Divisional Total </td> - <td class="tdr pt05">6,995</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">3,693</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdl pt1">4th <span class="smcap">Division</span>, - Major-General <span class="smcap">F. St. March</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Voluntarios de Borbon</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">436</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">317</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Voluntarios de Castilla</td> - <td class="tdr">542</td> - <td class="tdr">292</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Voluntarios de Chelva</td> - <td class="tdr">789</td> - <td class="tdr">529</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Voluntarios de Turia</td> - <td class="tdr">903</td> - <td class="tdr">483</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cazadores de Fernando VII (Valencians)</td> - <td class="tdr">304</td> - <td class="tdr">190</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Segorbe</td> - <td class="tdr">412</td> - <td class="tdr">313</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Soria [Militia]</td> - <td class="tdr">172</td> - <td class="tdr">130</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st of Alicante</td> - <td class="tdr">730</td> - <td class="tdr">309</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">5th of Murcia</td> - <td class="tdr">1,040</td> - <td class="tdr">423</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd Tiradores de Murcia</td> - <td class="tdr bb">131</td> - <td class="tdr bb">91</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Divisional Total </td> - <td class="tdr pt05">5,459</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">3,077</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdl pt1"><span class="smcap">Roca’s Division</span> - of the ‘Army of the Centre’:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">1st of Savoia</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">347</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">105</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Orihuela</td> - <td class="tdr">731</td> - <td class="tdr">315</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Cazadores de Valencia</td> - <td class="tdr">505</td> - <td class="tdr">275</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Murcia [Militia]</td> - <td class="tdr">633</td> - <td class="tdr">426</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">America</td> - <td class="tdr">?</td> - <td class="tdr">148</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Avila [Militia]</td> - <td class="tdr bb">?</td> - <td class="tdr bb">277</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Orihuela</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">2,216</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">1,546</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Spanish Army of the Centre"> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdlh">Details from Regiments of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and - 4th Divisions of the ‘Army of the Centre’: viz.:—</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdhh">Carmona, Guadix [Militia], Voluntarios de Madrid, Ordenes - Militares, Toro (Militia) Africa, Burgos [Militia] Navas de - Tolosa, Baylen, 5th of Seville, Campomayor, Cadiz, Cuenca, - Tiradores de Cartagena, 1st of Valencia—all small fragments - of regiments which had fought at Tudela in the left wing, but - had taken refuge in Saragossa: the numbers vary from 200 - to ten men</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdr">Total, perhaps</td> - <td class="tdr">1,200</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc pt05"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_624">[p. - 624]</span>CAVALRY.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">Rey, Numancia, Fuensanta, Husares de Palafox, Cazadores de - Fernando VII, Husares de Aragon. With fragments of the - following regiments of the ‘Army of the Centre’: Borbon, - Lusitania, Olivenza, Pavia, Reyna, Santiago, Tejas</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdr">Gross Total sabres, about</td> - <td class="tdr">2,000</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">ARTILLERY</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">about</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">1,800</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc pt05">ENGINEERS.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">Zapadores de Aragon, ditto de Valencia, - ditto de Calatayud</td> - <td class="tdr">800</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table class="tsm" summary="Totals of the Spanish Army of the Centre"> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc pt1">TOTALS.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Gross.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Effectives<br />Present.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Infantry of the four Aragonese Divisions</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">27,227</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">18,162</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cavalry</td> - <td class="tdr">2,000</td> - <td class="tdr">1,600</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Artillery</td> - <td class="tdr">1,800</td> - <td class="tdr">1,600</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Engineers</td> - <td class="tdr">800</td> - <td class="tdr">700</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Details of the Army of the Centre</td> - <td class="tdr bb">4,191</td> - <td class="tdr bb">2,746</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"> </td> - <td class="tdr">36,018</td> - <td class="tdr">24,808</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="nb mt1">All these are regularly organized corps. It is impossible to state the -figures of the irregulars with any certainty.</p> - -<p class="nb">N.B.—Ibieca errs in including Doyle, La Reunion, Fieles Zaragozanos -and 3rd of Valencia in the Garrison, they were detached in Aragon, the -first at Jaca, the two next with the Marquis of Lazan. See the tables on -pp. 284-293 of vol. vi. of the Conde de Clonard’s great work.</p> - - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_3"> - <h3>III</h3> - <p class="subh3">STATE OF THE FRENCH ARMY IN SPAIN,<br /> - <small>FEBRUARY 1, 1809</small></p> -</div> - -<p class="nb">N.B.—This return includes effective men, <i>présents -sous les armes</i>, only, not sick or detached.</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="The French Army in Spain"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">1st Corps, Marshal <span class="smcap">Victor</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division, Ruffin [9th Léger, 24th and 96th Line (three batts. - each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">5,429</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division, Lapisse [16th Léger, 8th, 45th, and 54th Line (three - batts. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">7,692</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Division, Villatte [27th Léger, 63rd, 94th, and 95th Line (three - batts. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">6,376</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Corps-Cavalry, Beaumont [2nd Hussars, 5th Chasseurs]</td> - <td class="tdr">1,386</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Westphalian Chevaux-Légers</td> - <td class="tdr">487</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery [with 48 guns]</td> - <td class="tdr">1,523</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">État Major</td> - <td class="tdr bb">33</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">22,926</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_625">[p. 625]</span>2nd - Corps, Marshal <span class="smcap">Soult</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division, Merle [2nd and 4th Léger, 15th (four batts. each) - and 36th Line (three batts.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">6,498</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division, Mermet [31st Léger (four batts.), 47th Line (four - batts.), 122nd (four batts.), 2nd, 3rd, 4th Swiss (one batt. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">5,459</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Division, Delaborde [17th, 70th, 86th Line (three batts. - each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">4,954</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">4th Division, Heudelet [26th Line (two batts.), 66th Line (two - batts.), 15th Léger (one batt.), 32nd Léger (one batt.), 82nd - Line (one batt.), <i>Légion du Midi</i> (one batt.), Hanoverian - Legion (one batt.), <i>Garde de Paris</i> (one batt.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">3,158</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Corps-Cavalry, Franceschi [1st Hussars, 8th Dragoons, 22nd - Chasseurs, Hanoverian Chevaux-Légers]</td> - <td class="tdr">1,340</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery (the men included under divisional totals), 54 guns</td> - <td class="tdr"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">État Major</td> - <td class="tdr bb">43</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">21,452</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp">N.B.—Lahoussaye’s Dragoons, and one brigade of - Lorges’ Dragoons, were also present with the corps, with a strength of 2,000 - sabres.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1">3rd Corps, General <span class="smcap">Junot</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division, Grandjean [14th Line (three batts.), 44th Line - (three batts.), 2nd and 3rd of the Vistula (two batts. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">5,866</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division, Musnier [114th and 115th Line (three batts. each), - 1st of the Vistula (two batts.), 2nd Legion of Reserve]</td> - <td class="tdr">3,544</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Division, Morlot [5th Léger (one batt.), 116th and 117th - Line (four batts. each), 121st Line (four batts.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">2,637</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Corps-Cavalry, Wathier [13th Cuirassiers, 4th Hussars, Polish - Lancers, Provisional regiments]</td> - <td class="tdr">1,652</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Engineers and Sappers (for siege of Saragossa)</td> - <td class="tdr">2,336</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery (the men included under divisional totals), 40 guns</td> - <td class="tdr"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">État Major</td> - <td class="tdr bb">36</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">16,071</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1">4th Corps, General <span class="smcap">Sebastiani</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division, Sebastiani [28th, 32nd, 58th, 75th Line (three - batts. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">5,660</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division, Leval [Holland, Nassau, Baden, Hesse (two batts. - each), Frankfort (one batt.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">3,127</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Division, Valence [4th, 7th, 9th Polish (two batts. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">3,915</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery (with 30 guns)</td> - <td class="tdr">894</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">État Major</td> - <td class="tdr bb">22</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">15,399</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_626">[p. 626]</span>5th - Corps, Marshal <span class="smcap">Mortier</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division, Suchet [17th Léger, 40th, 64th, 88th Line (three - batts. each), 34th Line (four batts.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">8,477</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division, Gazan [21st, 28th, 100th, 103rd Line (three batts. - each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">7,110</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Corps-Cavalry, Delaage [10th Hussars, 21st Chasseurs]</td> - <td class="tdr">926</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery (with 30 guns)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,420</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">État Major</td> - <td class="tdr bb">26</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">17,959</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1">6th Corps, Marshal <span class="smcap">Ney</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division, Marchand [6th, 39th, 69th, 76th Line (three - batts. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">6,853</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division, Maurice Mathieu [25th Léger, 27th, 50th, 59th - (three batts. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">6,917</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Corps-Cavalry, Lorcet [3rd Hussars, 15th Chasseurs]</td> - <td class="tdr">840</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery (with 30 guns)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,534</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">État Major</td> - <td class="tdr bb">32</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">16,176</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp">N.B.—One brigade of Lorges’ Dragoons was also - present with the corps.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1">7th Corps, General <span class="smcap">Gouvion - St. Cyr</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division, Souham [1st Léger (three batts.), 3rd Léger (one - batt.), 7th Line (two batts.), 42nd Line (three batts.), 67th - Line (one batt.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">6,220</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division, Chabran [2nd, 10th, 37th, 56th, 93rd Line, and - 2nd Swiss (one batt. each)]</td> - <td class="tdr">4,037</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Division, Chabot [Chasseurs des Montagnes (one batt.), - 2nd Neapolitans (two batts.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">1,633</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">4th Division, Reille [2nd Line (one batt.), 32nd Léger (one - batt.), 113th Line (two batts.), 16th and 56th Line (one batt. - each), Valais (one batt.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">3,980</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">5th Division, Pino [Italian 1st and 2nd Léger, 4th and 6th Line - (three batts. each), 7th Line (one batt.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">8,008</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">6th Division, Lecchi [Italian 2nd, 4th, 5th Line, Velites (one - batt. each), 1st Neapolitans (two batts.)]</td> - <td class="tdr">3,941</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">German Division, Morio [2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 1st Light of - Westphalia]</td> - <td class="tdr">5,321</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Cavalry, French [24th Dragoons, 3rd Provisional Cuirassiers, - 3rd ditto Chasseurs]</td> - <td class="tdr">1,730</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Cavalry, Italian [Dragoons of Napoleon, Royal Chasseurs, - Chasseurs of the Prince Royal, Neapolitan Chasseurs]</td> - <td class="tdr">1,862</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery, French</td> - <td class="tdr">2,050</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery, Italian</td> - <td class="tdr">585</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery, German</td> - <td class="tdr bb">48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">39,415</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_627">[p. - 627]</span><span class="smcap">Reserve Cavalry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division of Dragoons, Latour-Maubourg:<br /> - 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, 14th, 26th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">2,527</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division of Dragoons, Milhaud:<br /> - 12th, 16th, 20th, 21st Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">2,125</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Division of Dragoons, Lahoussaye:<br /> - 17th, 18th, 19th, 27th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">1,335</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">4th Division of Dragoons, Lorges:<br /> - 13th, 15th, 22nd, 25th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">1,228</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">5th Division of Dragoons, Millet:<br /> - 3rd, 6th, 10th, 11th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">1,470</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Light-Cavalry Division of Lasalle:<br /> - 10th, 26th Chasseurs, 8th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">1,495</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery, batteries attached to the Cavalry Divisions:</td> - <td class="tdr bb">712</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">10,892</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1"><span class="smcap">Reserve at Madrid</span>:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Division Dessolles [12th Léger, 43rd, 51st, 55th Line (each - three batts.), 8,507; Royal Guards, 2,200; 27th Chasseurs, 500]</td> - <td class="tdr">11,207</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1"><span class="smcap">Garrisons of the North</span> - (Marshal <span class="smcap">Bessières</span>):</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">In Biscay, Alava, Guipuzcoa, Santander, Old Castile, and Leon</td> - <td class="tdr">19,902</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt1"><span class="smcap">Grand Park of Artillery</span></td> - <td class="tdr pt1">2,579</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt1"><span class="smcap">Grand Total of</span> - ‘<i>Présents sous les armes</i>,’ 193,978.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt1">At the same time there were Sick 56,404, Detached - 36,326, Prisoners 1,843.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt1"><span class="smcap">Gross Total</span> of the whole - army in Spain, 288,551.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_4"> - <h3>IV</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE SPANISH ARMY AT MEDELLIN</p> -</div> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="The Spanish Army"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp">Cuesta’s army at Medellin was composed of the following regiments. It - is, unfortunately, impossible to say how they were brigaded at the moment, - as the only return available is that of April 4, when the original distribution - of the army had been broken up, and the Andalusian division distributed - among the other four. The Estremaduran battalions were very strong, - some few of them ranging up to 1,100 and even 1,400 bayonets, though - others had but 500 or 700.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1">(1) Troops of Belvedere’s old army of Estremadura:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">*Spanish Guards (4th batt.); *Walloon Guards (4th batt.); *2nd - of Majorca; *2nd Light of Catalonia; †Provincial of Badajoz;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_628">[p. 628]</span> - †Provincial Grenadiers; ‡Badajoz (two batts.); ‡Zafra; - ‡Truxillo; ‡Merida; ‡Plasencia; ‡La Serena; ‡Leales de - Ferdinando VII (two batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total.</td> - <td class="tdr">Fifteen batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1">(2) Troops of San Juan’s old ‘Army of Reserve of Madrid’:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Walloon Guards (2nd batt.); *Jaen (two batts.); *Irlanda (two - batts.); †Provincial of Toledo; †Provincial of Burgos; ‡2nd - Volunteers of Madrid; ‡3rd of Seville</td> - <td class="tdr"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total.</td> - <td class="tdr">Nine batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt1">(3) Troops under Albuquerque, from the Army of the Centre:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">*Campomayor; †Provincial of Guadix; †Provincial of Cordova; - ‡Osuna (two batts.); ‡Granaderos del General; ‡Tiradores de Cadiz</td> - <td class="tdr"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total.</td> - <td class="tdr">Seven batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt05">N.B.—Of these troops, Plasencia, Zafra, - Truxillo, and the ‘Leales de Ferdinando VII’ (two batts.) were in garrison at - Badajoz and not present in the field.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt05">The probable strength of the infantry engaged - at Medellin was about 20,000 bayonets.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt1">CAVALRY.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt05">(1) Old troops of the Army of Estremadura:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp">*4th Hussars (‘Volunteers of Spain’); *1st Hussars of Estremadura - [late Maria Luisa].</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt05">(2) Old troops of La Romana’s army, from Denmark:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp">*Rey; *Infante; *Almanza.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt05">(3) New Levies:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp">‡Cazadores de Llerena; ‡Imperial de Toledo.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt05">There was also present one regiment from Andalusia, - which had joined with Albuquerque, apparently *Reyna.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt05">Eight regiments in all, with an odd squadron of - Carabineros Reales in addition. Effectives very low. Total about 3,000 or 3,200 - sabres. Several regiments had a squadron detached in Andalusia, in search of - remounts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt1">ARTILLERY.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt05">Thirty guns, about 650 men; Sappers, two companies, - about 200 men. Total, about 24,000 men.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_5"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_629">[p. 629]</span></p> - <h3>V</h3> - <p class="subh3">ORGANIZATION OF THE PORTUGUESE ARMY IN 1809</p> -</div> - -<p class="centra nb">The numbers are from the first complete return -available, that of Sept. 15 in the Record Office.</p> - - -<p class="centra mt2">INFANTRY OF THE LINE.</p> - -<p class="nb mt1">N.B.—Each regiment consisted of two battalions -of seven companies each, which should have numbered 770 officers and -men, the regiment totalling 1,550, with staff.</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Portuguese Infantry of the Line"> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Strength.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Regt. (1st of Lisbon or La Lippe)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,330</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd Regt. (Lagos or Algarve)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,301</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3rd Regt. (1st of Olivenza<a id="FNanchor_758" href="#Footnote_758" - class="fnanchor">[758]</a>)</td> - <td class="tdr">679</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">4th Regt. (Freire)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,477</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">5th Regt. (1st of Elvas)</td> - <td class="tdr">759</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">6th Regt. (1st of Oporto)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,082</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">7th Regt. (Setubal)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,312</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">8th Regt. (Evora)</td> - <td class="tdr">369</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">9th Regt. (Viana)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,511</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">10th Regt. (2nd of Lisbon)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,370</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">11th Regt. (1st of Almeida)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,498</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">12th Regt. (Chaves)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,491</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">13th Regt. (Peniche)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,361</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">14th Regt. (Tavira)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,239</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">15th Regt. (2nd of Olivenza<a href="#Footnote_758" - class="fnanchor">[758]</a>)</td> - <td class="tdr">577</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">16th Regt. (Viera Telles)</td> - <td class="tdr">696</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">17th Regt. (2nd of Elvas)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,218</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">18th Regt. (2nd of Oporto)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,371</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">19th Regt. (Cascaes)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,519</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">20th Regt. (Campomayor)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,218</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">21st Regt. (Valenza)</td> - <td class="tdr">193</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">22nd Regt. (Serpa)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,479</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">23rd Regt. (2nd of Almeida)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,521</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">24th Regt. (Braganza)</td> - <td class="tdr bb">505</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">27,076</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="centra mt2">CAZADORES.</p> - -<p class="nb mt1">N.B.—These were single-battalion corps with a -proper effective of 770 men.</p> - -<p class="nb mt1">The 7th, 8th, and 9th Cazadores were formed later, -out of the three<span class="pagenum" id="Page_630">[p. 630]</span> -battalions of the Lusitanian Legion. The 10th, 11th, and 12th were -raised in the year 1811.</p> - -<p class="nb">The brigading of the Portuguese regular infantry was -practically permanent, very few changes having been made after 1810, -when the greater part of the regiments were attached in pairs to the -British divisions. The arrangement was as follows, 1811-14:—</p> - -<ul class="brig"> - -<li>1st Brigade 1st (Lisbon) and 16th (Viera Telles) -[attached to 1st Division].</li> - -<li>2nd Brigade 2nd (Lagos) and 14th (Tavira).</li> - -<li>3rd Brigade 3rd (1st of Olivenza) and 15th (2nd of -Olivenza) [attached to 5th Division].</li> - -<li>4th Brigade 4th (Freire) and 10th (2nd of Lisbon) -[attached to 2nd Division].</li> - -<li>5th Brigade 5th (1st of Elvas) and 17th (2nd of -Elvas).</li> - -<li>6th Brigade 6th (Oporto) and 18th (2nd of Oporto).</li> - -<li>7th Brigade 7th (Setubal) and 19th (Cascaes) [attached to -7th Division].</li> - -<li>8th Brigade 8th (Evora) and 12th (Chaves) [attached to -6th Division].</li> - -<li>9th Brigade 9th (Viana) and 21st (Valenza) [attached to -3rd Division].</li> - -<li>10th Brigade 11th (1st of Almeida) and 23rd (2nd of -Almeida) [attached to 4th Division].</li> - -<li>11th Brigade 13th (Peniche) and 24th (Braganza).</li> - -<li>The 20th (Campomayor) and 22nd (Serpa) were never -brigaded.</li> - -<li>The 1st and 3rd Cazadores were attached to the Light -Division.</li> - -<li>The 2nd was attached to the 7th Portuguese Brigade, in -the 7th Division.</li> - -<li>The 4th was attached to the 1st Portuguese Brigade, in -the 1st Division.</li> - -<li>The 6th was attached to the 6th Portuguese Brigade.</li> - -</ul> - -<p class="centra mt2">CAVALRY.</p> - -<p class="nb mt1">N.B.—Each regiment should have had 594 men, in -four strong squadrons.</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Portuguese Cavalry"> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Strength.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st (Alcantara Dragoons)</td> - <td class="tdr">559</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd (Moura)</td> - <td class="tdr">400</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3rd (Olivenza)</td> - <td class="tdr">394</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">4th (Duke of Mecklenburg, Lisbon)</td> - <td class="tdr">559</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">5th (Evora)</td> - <td class="tdr">581</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">6th (Braganza)</td> - <td class="tdr">578</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">7th (Lisbon)</td> - <td class="tdr">564</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">8th (Elvas)</td> - <td class="tdr">287</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">9th (Chaves)</td> - <td class="tdr">572</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">10th (Santarem)</td> - <td class="tdr">475</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">11th (Almeida)</td> - <td class="tdr">482</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">12th (Miranda)</td> - <td class="tdr bb">589</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">6,040</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="centra mt2">ARTILLERY.</p> - -<p class="mt1">Four regiments with head quarters respectively at (1) -Lisbon, (2) Faro in Algarve, (3) Estremoz in Alemtejo, (4) Oporto. The -total strength was 4,472 officers and men.</p> - -<p>There were also a few garrison companies, largely composed of -invalids, which were mainly stationed in the forts round Lisbon. Their -force is not given in Beresford’s <i>General State</i> of the Regular -Army.</p> - -<p class="centra mt2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_631">[p. -631]</span>THE LUSITANIAN LEGION.</p> - -<p class="mt1">This abnormal force, under Sir Robert Wilson, -comprehended in 1809-10 three battalions of infantry, with an -establishment of ten companies and 1,000 men each, one regiment of -cavalry of three squadrons, which never seems to have been complete, -and one battery of field artillery. Its total force was about 3,500 -men. In 1811 the three battalions were taken into the regular army as -the 7th, 8th, and 9th Cazadores.</p> - -<p class="centra mt2">ENGINEERS.</p> - -<p class="mt1">There were a few officers of the old army, who were -engaged in raising new companies of sappers, which were not yet ready -when Beresford’s report was drawn up. No figures are there given.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It would appear then that the total Regular force of Portugal -in 1809 amounted to about 33,000 foot, 6,300 horse, and 5,000 -artillery.</p> - - -<p class="centra mt3">MILITIA.</p> - -<p class="mt1">The Portuguese Militia was raised by conscription, on -a local basis, the kingdom being divided into forty-eight regions, -each of which was to supply a regiment. These districts were combined -into three divisions, called the North, South, and Centre, each of -which gave sixteen regiments. The unit was a two-battalion corps, -with nominally 1,500 men in twelve companies: this number was in -practice seldom reached. It was usual to keep the battalions under -arms alternately, for periods of two, three, or six months: it was -seldom that the whole regiment was embodied at once. In 1809 the whole -force was but in process of organization, many corps had not even been -officered or armed, and the majority had not commenced to raise their -second battalion. The local distribution was as follows:—</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="The Portuguese Militia"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">1st Division</span>: ‘<span class="smcap">The - South</span>.’ Comprising Algarve, Alemtejo, and Beira Alta.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Regiments of Lagos, Tavira, Beja, Evora, Villaviciosa, Portalegre, - Castello Branco, Idanha, Vizeu, Guarda, Trancoso, Arouca, Tondella, - Arganil, Covilhão, Lamego.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05"><span class="smcap">2nd Division</span>: ‘<span class="smcap">The - Centre</span>.’ Comprising Estremadura and Beira Baixa.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Four Lisbon regiments, and one each from Torres Vedras, Santarem, - Thomar, Leyria, Soure, Lousão, Alcazar do Sul, Setubal, Coimbra, - Figueira, Aveiro, and Oliveira de Azemis.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05"><span class="smcap">3rd Division</span>: ‘<span class="smcap">The - North</span>.’ Comprising Tras-os-Montes and Entre-Douro-e-Minho.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Regiments of Oporto, Villa de Conde, Braga, Viana, Barcelos, - Guimaraens, Penafiel, Arcos, Feira, Barca, Baltar, Mayo, Chaves, - Villa Real, Miranda and Braganza.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_6"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_632">[p. 632]</span></p> - <h3>VI</h3> - <p class="subh3">PAPERS RELATING TO THE INTRIGUES AT OPORTO, APRIL-MAY 1809</p> -</div> - -<p class="centra">I. GENERAL RICARD’S CIRCULAR.</p> - -<p class="centra mt1"><i>Le général Ricard, chef d’état-major du 2<sup>e</sup> -corps d’armée en Espagne, à M. le général de division Quesnel.</i></p> - -<p class="firmap mt1">Oporto, le 19 avril 1809.</p> - -<p class="ti0">Mon général,</p> - -<p>Son Excellence M. le maréchal duc de Dalmatie m’a chargé de vous -écrire pour vous faire connaître les dispositions que la grande -majorité des habitants de la province du Minho manifestent.</p> - -<p>La ville de Braga, qui une des premières s’était portée à -l’insurrection, a été aussi la première a se prononcer pour un -changement de système, qui assurât à l’avenir le repos et la -tranquillité des familles, et l’indépendance du Portugal. Le corrégidor -que son Excellence avait nommé s’était retiré à Oporto lors du départ -des troupes françaises, dans la crainte que les nombreux émissaires que -Sylveira envoyait n’excitassent de nouveaux troubles, et n’attentassent -à sa vie. Les habitants ont alors manifesté le vœu que ce digne -magistrat leur fût renvoyé, et une députation de douze membres a été -à cet effet envoyée près de Son Excellence. Pendant ce temps les -émissaires de Sylveira étaient arrêtés et emprisonnés.</p> - -<p>A Oporto, et à Barcelos, les habitants ont aussi manifesté les -mêmes sentiments, et tous sentent la nécessité d’avoir un appui auquel -les citoyens bien intentionnés puissent se rallier pour la défense et -le salut de la patrie, et pour la conservation des propriétés. A ce -sujet de nouvelles députations se sont présentées à Son Excellence, -pour la supplier d’approuver que le peuple de la province du Minho -manifestât authentiquement le vœu de déchéance du trône de la maison -de Bragance, et qu’en même temps S. M. l’Empereur et roi fût suppliée -de désigner un prince de sa maison, ou de son choix, pour régner en -Portugal, mais qu’en attendant que l’Empereur ait pu faire connaître -à ce sujet ses intentions, Son Excellence le duc de Dalmatie serait -prié de prendre les rênes du gouvernement, de représenter le souverain, -et de se revêtir de toutes les attributions de l’autorité suprême: le -peuple promettant et jurant de lui être fidèle, de le soutenir et de le -défendre aux dépens de la vie et de la fortune contre tout opposant, -et envers même les insurgés des autres provinces, jusqu’à l’entière -soumission du royaume.</p> - -<p>Le maréchal a accueilli ces propositions, et il a autorisé les -corrégidors des Comarques à faire assembler les Chambres, à y appeler -des députés de tous les ordres, des corporations, et du peuple dans -les campagnes, pour dresser l’acte qui doit être fait, et y apposer -les signatures de l’universalité des citoyens. Il m’a ordonné de vous -faire part de ces dispositions, pour que, dans l’arrondissement où -vous commandez, vous en favorisiez l’exécution, et qu’ensuite vous en -propagiez l’effet sur tous les points du royaume, où vous pourrez en -faire parvenir la nouvelle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_633">[p. 633]</span></p> - -<p>M. le Maréchal ne s’est pas dissimulé qu’un évènement d’aussi grande -importance étonnera beaucoup de monde et doit produire des impressions -diverses; mais il n’a pas cru devoir s’arrêter à ces considérations: -son âme est trop pure pour qu’il puisse penser qu’on lui attribue aucun -projet ambitieux. Dans tout ce qu’il fait il ne voit que la gloire des -armes de Sa Majesté, le succès de l’expédition qui lui est confiée, et -le bien-être d’une nation intéressante, qui, malgré ses égarements, -est toujours digne de notre estime. Il se sent fort de l’affection de -l’armée, et il brûle du désir de la présenter à l’Empereur, glorieuse -et triomphante, ayant rempli l’engagement que Sa Majesté a elle-même -pris, de planter l’aigle impériale sur les forts de Lisbonne, après une -expédition aussi difficile que périlleuse, où tous les jours nous avons -été dans la nécessité de vaincre.</p> - -<p>Son Excellence ne s’est pas dissimulé non plus que depuis Burgos -l’armée a eu des combats continuels à soutenir; elle a réfléchi -sur les moyens d’éviter à l’avenir les maux que cet état de guerre -occasionne, et elle n’en a pas trouvé de plus propre que celui qui lui -est offert par la grande majorité des habitants des principales villes -du Minho, d’autant plus qu’elle a l’espoir de voir propager dans les -autres provinces cet exemple, et qu’ainsi ce beau pays sera préservé -de nouvelles calamités. Les intentions de Sa Majesté seront plus tôt -et plus glorieusement remplies, et notre présence en Portugal, qui -d’abord avait été un sujet d’effroi pour les habitants, y sera vue avec -plaisir, en même temps qu’elle contribuera à neutraliser les efforts -des ennemis de l’Empereur sur cette partie du continent.</p> - -<p>La tâche que M. le Maréchal s’impose dans cette circonstance est -immense, mais il a le courage de l’embrasser, et il croit la remplir -même avec succès, si vous voulez bien l’aider dans son exécution. Il -désire que vous propagiez les idées que je viens de vous communiquer, -que vous fassiez protéger d’une manière particulière les autorités ou -citoyens quelconques qui embrasseront le nouveau système, en mettant -les uns et les autres dans le cas de se prononcer et d’agir à l’avenir -en conséquence. Vous veillerez plus soigneusement que jamais à la -conduite de votre troupe, l’empêcherez de commettre aucun dégât ou -insulte qui pourrait irriter les habitants, et vous aurez la bonté, -monsieur le général, d’instruire fréquemment Son Excellence de l’esprit -des habitants et du résultat que vous aurez obtenu.</p> - -<p>J’ai l’honneur de vous prier d’agréer l’hommage de mon respect et de -mon sincère attachement.</p> - -<p class="firmap"><i>Le général chef de l’état-major général</i>  <br /> -<i>Signé</i>: <span class="smcap">Ricard</span>.</p> - -<p>Pour copie conforme à l’original resté dans les mains du général de -division Quesnel.</p> - -<p>Paris, le 11 juillet 1809.</p> - -<p class="firmap"><i>Le ministre de la guerre</i>  <br /> -Comte d’Hunebourg.</p> - - -<p class="centra mt3"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_634">[p. -634]</span>II. WELLESLEY’S ACCOUNT OF ARGENTON’S PLOT.</p> - -<p class="centra mt2">‘To Viscount Castlereagh, Secretary of State.</p> - -<p class="firmap">‘Villa Nova, 15th May, 1809.</p> - -<p class="ti0">‘My Lord,</p> - -<p>‘In my secret dispatch, of the 27th ultimo, I apprised your Lordship -that I had had certain communications with an Officer of the French -army, in respect to the discontent which prevailed against Marshal -Soult. I have since had further communications with the same Officer, -with the details of which I proceed to acquaint your Lordship.</p> - -<p>‘Captain Argenton met me within the posts of the British army, -between Coimbra and Aveiro on the night of the 6th instant, accompanied -by Mons. Viana, in the presence of Lieut.-Colonel Bathurst. He informed -me that the discontent had increased, and that there were a larger -number of Officers who were determined to seize their General than when -he had last seen me. He said, however, that they were divided into -two parties, one discontented with Buonaparte himself, and determined -to carry matters to extremities against him: the other, consisting of -Loison, Laborde, and others (whom he had before mentioned as attached -to the cause of the Emperor,) were dissatisfied with Soult’s conduct, -particularly with an intention which he was supposed to entertain to -declare himself King of Portugal; and that they were determined, if -he should take that step, to seize him and to lead the army back into -France, where it was understood the Emperor wished to see it.</p> - -<p>‘Captain Argenton then urged me again to lose no time in pressing -upon Soult, as the mode most likely to induce the more violent of the -two parties to endeavour to accomplish their purpose. But he said -that if my attack was likely to be delayed, it was desirable that I -should endeavour to prevail upon some of the towns over which I was -supposed to have influence, such as Coimbra, Aveiro, &c., to follow -the example of Oporto, and petition Soult to take upon himself the -government of the kingdom, as King; and that I even should write to him -to urge the adoption of this measure.</p> - -<p>‘In answer to this, I told him, that I certainly should make my -attack as soon as it was in my power, but that I could not fix any -day, nor state to him the plan of my operations; and that in respect -to his propositions, regarding the measures to be adopted by me to -induce Soult to declare himself King of Portugal, they were quite out -of the question; that I could not risk the loss of the confidence of -the people of Portugal by doing what he desired in respect to the -people of Coimbra, Aveiro, &c., nor my own character by writing the -letter which he proposed I should. I told him at the same time that -I considered that, notwithstanding all that had passed between him -and me, I had a full right to take what steps I pleased, even if the -Officers of the French army should seize their General.</p> - -<p>‘He then went away, and Mons. Viana returned with me to -Coimbra,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_635">[p. 635]</span> and -confirmed all the statements which Captain Argenton had made of the -discontent of the Officers of the army.</p> - -<p>‘I heard no more of Captain Argenton till the 13th, the day after -the capture of Oporto, on which day the original orders for the arrest -and secret detention of Captain Argenton, Colonel Lafitte of the 18th -dragoons, and Colonel Donadieu of the 47th regiment of infantry, were -found among some papers sent to me by the police of the town; the order -for the arrest of the first bearing date the 9th, and of the last two -the 10th instant.</p> - -<p>‘In a few hours afterwards, on the same day, Captain Argenton came -into Oporto, and informed me that, on the night of the day he had -returned from his last interview with me, he had been arrested, and his -papers had been seized, among which had been found the three passports -which I had given him. He said that he attributed his arrest to the -General of Division Lefevre, a man of weak intellect, to whom he had -formerly been aide de camp, and on whom he had endeavored to prevail, -as he thought successfully, to join the party. General Lefevre had, -however, informed Soult of all the circumstances, requiring only his -promise that Argenton should not be injured, and should retain his -commission and his military pretensions.</p> - -<p>‘Soult examined him in presence of General Lefevre respecting his -accomplices, but he declined to name any, and he was sent back to -prison in charge of a Captain of Gendarmerie. This person prevailed -upon him, with promises of pardon and indemnity to all concerned, to -consent to tell Soult the names of his accomplices, which he did on the -following night, notwithstanding, as he says himself, similar promises -in his own favor, made to General Lefevre, had not been performed, and -that as soon as he had named Colonels Lafitte and Donadieu, immediate -orders were sent for their arrest and secret detention. They marched, -in confinement, with the army from Oporto on the 12th, and on the 13th, -at five o’clock in the morning, Captain Argenton made his escape, at -the desire of Colonel Lafitte, from the party of Gendarmes in whose -charge he was detained. He now declares that the conspiracy still -exists, and that sooner or later it must burst forth and fall heavily -upon the head of the usurper; and he talked of the war in Spain as -being odious to the army and to the whole nation.</p> - -<p>‘Captain Argenton expressed a desire to return secretly to France, -and to bring to England his wife and family, she having, as he says, -some property, to enable him to live in England till the arrival of -better times in France.</p> - -<p>‘I told him that I would send him to England when an opportunity -should offer to apply for permission to go to France; and I shall have -the honor of addressing him to your Lordship when the opportunity shall -occur of sending him.</p> - -<p class="firmap">‘I have the honor to be, &c.,  <br /> -‘<span class="smcap">Arthur Wellesley</span>.</p> - -<p>‘<span class="smcap">Viscount Castlereagh.</span>’</p> - - -<p class="centra mt3"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_636">[p. -636]</span>III. RÉSUMÉ DE L’AFFAIRE ARGENTON.</p> - -<p class="mt1">(This analysis of the documents in the French archives -relating to the Oporto conspiracy has been placed at my disposal by the -great kindness of Commandant Balagny.)</p> - -<p class="mt2">Le 8 mai 1809, dans la nuit, le capitaine Argenton était -arrêté à Oporto par ordre du maréchal Soult. Son arrestation avait -été provoquée par les déclarations que, dans cette même nuit du 8, -le général Lefebvre et son aide de camp Favre étaient venus faire au -maréchal. Argenton leur avait, disent-ils, fait à l’un et à l’autre, -dans la journée du 8, des confidences sur l’objet de deux voyages -successifs à Lisbonne et à Coïmbre, près des généraux anglais, et leur -avait développé le plan d’une vaste conspiration militaire, dont les -ramifications s’étendaient dans toutes les armées impériales et dans -plusieurs départements de la France. Malgré la promesse formelle qu’ils -avaient faite à Argenton de garder un secret absolu, après s’être -concertés à Richuza, ils vinrent, dans la nuit, à Oporto, et, après -avoir obtenu du maréchal une audience secrète (à 10 heures et demie du -soir), lui dévoilèrent ce que leur avait confié Argenton. Aux termes -de leurs déclarations, il aurait dit, à l’un et à l’autre séparément, -qu’il était l’agent d’un comité, composé des généraux Laborde, Loison, -Merle, Lorges, Lahoussaye, Debelle, et des colonels Donadieu, Mejean, -Lafitte, Girardin, Corsin, et dont le but était de renverser l’Empereur -pour mettre fin au régime de guerres continuelles et de perpétuelles -conscriptions, que la France était lasse de supporter pour servir -l’ambition de Napoléon. Pour réaliser ce projet, le comité devait -par son intermédiaire passer une convention avec l’armée anglaise en -Portugal. Aux termes de cette convention, l’armée française évacuerait -le Portugal, suivie de l’armée anglaise, qui l’escorterait jusqu’aux -Pyrénées, où cette dernière resterait en observation pour l’appuyer -et pour déterminer les départements du Midi à se déclarer pour le -nouvel état de choses. A la faveur de trois passe-ports, délivrés par -les généraux anglais, trois officiers français<a id="FNanchor_759" -href="#Footnote_759" class="fnanchor">[759]</a>, dont lui, Argenton, -devaient se rendre, l’un aux armées d’Espagne, l’autre à l’armée -d’Autriche, un troisième en France, pour rallier à la cause de -l’entreprise les mécontents de l’intérieur et des armées. L’Angleterre -promettait d’appuyer de son argent le succès de l’entreprise, et -Wellesley aurait promis à Argenton 60,000 fr. pour les débuts. Le -général Moreau devait être ramené d’Amérique par un navire anglais, et -prendre, sous un titre non encore désigné, la place de Napoléon déchu. -Le maréchal Soult serait invité à se mettre à la tête du mouvement. Si -le maréchal refusait, on devait s’emparer de sa personne, de façon à ce -que son opposition ne nuisît en rien à la réussite de l’entreprise.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_637">[p. 637]</span></p> - -<p>En présence de pareilles révélations, le maréchal Soult fit -arrêter sur-le-champ et conduire chez lui le capitaine Argenton, qui, -devant le général Lefebvre et Favre, refit, dans les mêmes termes, la -narration du plan du Comité, insistant, paraît-il, à diverses reprises, -pour tenter de décider le maréchal à entrer dans ses vues, en lui -dépeignant, sous des couleurs séduisantes, la grandeur et la noblesse -de l’entreprise, dont le but principal était de rendre à la France et -à l’Europe entière une paix que tout le monde souhaitait ardemment, -et que la folle ambition de l’Empereur rendait seule impossible. Mais -ne pouvant obtenir du maréchal la promesse formelle qu’aucun des -officiers dont il citerait les noms ne serait inquiété, il se refusa -à désigner les membres du Comité qui l’avait fait agir. Plus tard, -dans ses interrogatoires en France, il déclara que devant ce refus -de sa part le maréchal s’emporta violemment, le menaça de le faire -fusiller sur-le-champ, et qu’il ne dut son salut qu’à l’intervention -généreuse du général Lefebvre, qui rappela durement au Duc de Dalmatie -la promesse solennelle qu’il lui avait faite (à lui, Lefebvre), sur -l’honneur, qu’Argenton ne serait point inquiété. Il fut réintégré -dans sa prison, à son grand étonnement, dit-il. Furieux de se voir -sous les verrous, malgré la promesse formelle que lui aurait faite le -maréchal, prétend-il, il s’obstina d’abord dans un mutisme absolu, -refusant, pendant toute la matinée du 9, de se prêter à aucun nouvel -interrogatoire. Cependant, sur les instances réitérées et pressantes du -lieutenant de gendarmerie Bernon, que le maréchal envoya, à plusieurs -reprises, le voir dans sa prison, et sous la foi de la promesse -solennelle que lui apporta ce dernier, de la part du Duc, que lui et -tous les officiers compromis auraient l’honneur et la vie saufs, et -qu’un voile épais serait jeté à jamais sur cette affaire, il se décida -dans la soirée à écrire au maréchal qu’il consentait à lui faire des -aveux complets. Mais se ravisant, il lui écrivit une deuxième lettre -où il mettait comme condition à ses aveux qu’il n’y aurait <i>qu’un seul -témoin</i> présent à ses déclarations, et qu’il désirait que ce témoin fût -le général Lefebvre. Pour des raisons qui sont demeurées inconnues, -le maréchal substitua, comme témoin, au général Lefebvre, le général -Ricard et le lieutenant Bernon. Argenton accepta cependant de faire ses -aveux et fut introduit à 10 heures du soir dans le salon du maréchal. -Le lieutenant Bernon et le général Ricard firent, dès le 10 mai, une -déclaration écrite des révélations faites devant eux au maréchal par -Argenton dans l’entrevue du 9 mai. Leurs déclarations concordent -entièrement avec celles du général Lefebvre et du capitaine Favre, -et ce serait toujours le fameux projet de renversement de l’Empire -qu’Argenton aurait indiqué comme but du Comité.</p> - -<p>A la suite de ces aveux, Argenton est reconduit dans sa prison et le -maréchal, faussant sa promesse, fait arrêter le colonel Lafitte, qui -commandait le régiment ou servait Argenton.</p> - -<p>Mais cependant l’armée anglaise se portait en avant et, à la suite -de circonstances demeurées bien obscures, le maréchal Soult était -surpris dans Oporto et sur le point de ne pouvoir s’en échapper. -Argenton, confié à la garde du lieutenant Bernon et d’un détachement -d’infanterie, est emmené dans la retraite. Le second jour il s’évade -subitement, dans des<span class="pagenum" id="Page_638">[p. -638]</span> circonstances tellement romanesques que, malgré le rapport -du lieutenant Bernon au Duc de Conégliano, on est quelque peu porté à -croire que sa fuite fut facilitée par le commandement.</p> - -<p>Le 14 mai, au soir, Argenton fugitif gagnait Oporto, et de là se -rendait à Lisbonne d’où l’amiral anglais le faisait conduire à Londres -sur un vaisseau anglais, avec des lettres de recommandation pour le -ministre de la marine. Bien accueilli par ce dernier, qui lui proposa -même, dit-il, de le pensionner, il séjourna quelque temps à Londres. -Mais pris bientôt de la nostalgie du pays natal et dévoré du désir de -venir rejoindre sa femme pour vivre en France ‘ignoré dans quelque coin -perdu,’ il avise aux moyens de passer la Manche. Il fabrique un faux -cartel d’échange au nom de ‘Dessort,’ sous la signature du général -Ricard, chef d’état-major du maréchal Soult, et sur les recommandations -de l’Amirauté anglaise il s’embarque à Deal et atterrit à Sangatte le -28 juin 1809. Malgré son faux nom, Argenton ne tarde pas en effet à -être arrêté.</p> - -<p>Dès son premier interrogatoire, il s’était décidé à reconnaître -son identité et, avouant son faux de cartel d’échange, il abandonne -le pseudonyme de ‘Dessort’ et redevient Argenton. Mais ici la scène -change: se prêtant volontiers aux interrogatoires, il ne fait aucune -difficulté pour expliquer ses voyages près des généraux anglais; -mais il leur donne un but tout autre et il assigne au Comité, dont -il se dit toujours avoir été l’agent, des intentions totalement -différentes de celles que, selon Lefebvre, Ricard, Favre, et Bernon, -il aurait indiquées à Oporto. Il n’est plus question de conspiration -contre l’Empereur, de projets de renversement dynastique. Bien au -contraire, le Comité, entièrement dévoué à Napoléon et à sa cause, -voulait lui ramener une armée dont le sort était gravement compromis -par la maladresse du maréchal Soult, qui ne rêvait rien moins que -de faire de cette armée la sienne propre, et de s’en servir pour la -réalisation de ses projets ambitieux. Devant ses projets ouvertement -affichés de se faire décerner la couronne de Portugal, un parti de -mécontents s’était formé pour déjouer ses vues et le mettre dans -l’impossibilité de commettre le crime de lèse-majesté qu’il méditait. -A la tête de ce parti, se trouvait, dit Argenton, un comité composé -des généraux Laborde et Loison, des colonels Lafitte et St. Géniéz -et d’un colonel aide-de-camp du général Loison. Le Comité devait, -dès que le maréchal aurait mis en exécution son projet, nullement -déguisé, de s’emparer de la couronne, se saisir de sa personne, et, à -la suite d’une convention passée avec les généraux anglais, ramener -en France l’armée restée fidèle à Napoléon, et sauvée par cette -intervention d’une perte infaillible. Mais pour mener à bonne fin -l’exécution de ce projet, il fallait obtenir des généraux anglais -qu’ils consentissent à retarder leur attaque, qui était imminente, -et se faire délivrer par eux des passe-ports pour les officiers qui -devaient aller rendre compte à l’Empereur de ce qui se passait en -Portugal. Argenton accepta la mission d’aller à l’armée anglaise -soumettre les propositions du Comité. On l’adressa, dit-il, au nommé -Viana, à qui il fut présenté par le colonel Donadieu qui logeait -chez lui, et ce fut ce Viana qui lui servit de guide et d’escorte -jusqu’à l’armée anglaise. Il se rendit à Lis<span class="pagenum" -id="Page_639">[p. 639]</span>bonne, où il obtint du général Wellesley -trois passe-ports et la promesse d’une suspension d’armes de quelques -jours. Revenu à Oporto, il y resta quatre jours chez Viana, qui lui -remit, à destination du Comité, un dialogue intitulé ‘Le Moineau et -le Perroquet,’ qui n’était, paraît-il, que le sommaire d’une longue -conversation entre Viana et le maréchal, où ce dernier aurait développé -ses projets ambitieux et exposé en détail la ligne de conduite qu’il -comptait suivre. Porteur de ce document, il va rendre compte de sa -mission au Comité. Le général Laborde étant malade, il rendit compte -au colonel Lafitte et, le général Loison survenant à ce moment, il y -eut chez Laborde une conférence entre ces deux généraux et Lafitte. -Lui, Argenton, n’y assista pas; mais à l’issue de cette conférence son -colonel lui déclara qu’il fallait retourner près des Anglais, et lui -fit tenir une lettre écrite par le général Loison au général Wellesley. -Toujours accompagné de Viana, il partit d’Oporto le 1<sup>er</sup> -mai, et se rendit à Coïmbre, où il eut, en présence de Viana, une -conférence avec Wellesley et finit, après quelques difficultés, par -obtenir une nouvelle suspension d’hostilités pendant quatre jours, à -la condition que le Comité tiendrait le général anglais au courant des -faits et gestes du Duc de Dalmatie. De retour à Oporto, le 8 mai, il -était arrêté au moment où il s’apprêtait à partir pour se rendre près -du Comité.—Telle est la thèse qu’Argenton ne cesse de soutenir -avec la dernière énergie, depuis son retour en France jusque devant le -peloton d’exécution qui va le fusiller. Il subit trois interrogatoires -à Boulogne, trois autres au Ministère de la Police, quatre devant la -Commission militaire chargée d’instruire sa cause. Toujours avec la -même impassibilité et le calme le plus absolu, il répète la même chose, -ne variant que sur quelques questions de détails. Quand on lui donne -lecture des dépositions accablantes des généraux Lefebvre et Ricard, -du capitaine Favre et du lieutenant Bernon, il leur oppose froidement -les dénégations les plus formelles. Il est confronté avec les colonels -Donadieu et Lafitte, qui, arrêtés par ordre du Ministre de la Guerre, -prétendent n’avoir jamais eu connaissance de l’existence d’un comité -dans l’armée, et n’avoir jamais servi d’intermédiaire entre Argenton -et ce comité. Vis-à-vis d’eux, le capitaine garde toujours la même -attitude. Lui seul dit la vérité, assure-t-il, et il s’étonne du peu de -mémoire des colonels.</p> - -<p>Traduit devant un conseil de guerre le 21 décembre 1809, le -capitaine Argenton se retranche toujours derrière les mêmes moyens de -défense et produit les mêmes arguments. Il a agi par ordre (verbal, il -est vrai), et il a cru servir à la fois les intérêts de l’armée qu’il -a sauvée et ceux de l’Empereur. Malgré une plaidoirie très éloquente -et très habile de son défenseur Falconnet, qui, pour défendre son -client, n’épargne pas le duc de Dalmatie, Argenton est condamné à mort. -Jusqu’à la dernière heure, il proteste de la pureté de ses intentions, -et maintient qu’il a toujours dit la vérité et qu’il est victime de -l’égoïsme de ceux qui l’ont fait agir. Avec une calme résignation, il -commande lui-même son peloton d’exécution et tombe sous les balles avec -ce courage romanesque qui caractérisait en lui l’homme extraordinaire -qui, à Tarvis, fit <i>seul</i> toute une compagnie prisonnière.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_7"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_640">[p. 640]</span></p> - <h3>VII</h3> - <p class="subh3">MORNING STATE OF THE BRITISH FORCES IN PORTUGAL, UNDER - SIR ARTHUR WELLESLEY, K.B.</p> -</div> - -<p class="centra mt1">HEAD QUARTERS, COIMBRA, MAY 6, 1809.</p> - - -<p class="nb ti0 mt1">TABLE LEGEND:</p> -<ul class="brig"> -<li>A = <i>Officers.</i></li> -<li>B = <i>Present.</i></li> -<li>C = <i>Sick.</i></li> -<li>D = <i>On Command.</i></li> -<li>E = <i>Total.</i></li> -<li>F = <i>Total Efficients Present, Officers and Men.</i></li> -</ul> - -<table class="tsxx" summary="British forces in Portugal"> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td colspan="3" class="tdc bb"><i>Sergeants, Drummers,<br />Rank and File, &c.</i></td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - <td class="tdc bb">C</td> - <td class="tdc bb">D</td> - <td class="tdc bb">E</td> - <td class="tdc bb">F</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc">CAVALRY.</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Brigade [Stapleton Cotton]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 14th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">628</td> - <td class="tdr">21</td> - <td class="tdr">73</td> - <td class="tdr">749</td> - <td class="tdr">655</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 16th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">37</td> - <td class="tdr">673</td> - <td class="tdr">20</td> - <td class="tdr">35</td> - <td class="tdr">765</td> - <td class="tdr">710</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 20th Light Dragoons [two squadrons]</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">237</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">63</td> - <td class="tdr">312</td> - <td class="tdr">243</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 3rd Light Dragoons K.G.L. [one squadron]</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">57</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">77</td> - <td class="tdr">139</td> - <td class="tdr bb">60</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,668</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd Brigade [Fane]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 3rd Dragoon Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">25</td> - <td class="tdr">698</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">733</td> - <td class="tdr">723</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 4th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">716</td> - <td class="tdr">13</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">756</td> - <td class="tdr bb">743</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="tdr bb">1,466</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total Cavalry</td> - <td class="tdr">125</td> - <td class="tdr">3,009</td> - <td class="tdr">72</td> - <td class="tdr">248</td> - <td class="tdr">3,454</td> - <td class="tdr">3,134</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc pt05">INFANTRY.</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Brigade of Guards [H. Campbell]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Coldstream Guards, 1st batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">33</td> - <td class="tdr">1,194</td> - <td class="tdr">75</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">1,305</td> - <td class="tdr">1,227</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 3rd Foot Guards, 1st batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">1,228</td> - <td class="tdr">79</td> - <td class="tdr">8</td> - <td class="tdr">1,349</td> - <td class="tdr">1,262</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1 company 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">67</td> - <td class="tdr bb">63</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">2,552</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Brigade [Hill]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 3rd Foot, 1st batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">28</td> - <td class="tdr">719</td> - <td class="tdr">104</td> - <td class="tdr">50</td> - <td class="tdr">901</td> - <td class="tdr">747</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 48th Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">32</td> - <td class="tdr">721</td> - <td class="tdr">52</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">805</td> - <td class="tdr">753</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 66th Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">667</td> - <td class="tdr">38</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">749</td> - <td class="tdr">701</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1 company 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">67</td> - <td class="tdr bb">63</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">2,264</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd Brigade [Mackenzie]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 27th Foot, 3rd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">28</td> - <td class="tdr">726</td> - <td class="tdr">134</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">890</td> - <td class="tdr">754</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 31st Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">765</td> - <td class="tdr">99</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">897</td> - <td class="tdr">792</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 45th Foot, 1st batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">22</td> - <td class="tdr">671</td> - <td class="tdr">125</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">845</td> - <td class="tdr bb">693</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">2,239</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_641">[p. 641]</span>3rd Brigade - [Tilson]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 5/60th Foot [5 companies]</td> - <td class="tdr">14</td> - <td class="tdr">306</td> - <td class="tdr">32</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">354</td> - <td class="tdr">320</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 87th Foot 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">32</td> - <td class="tdr">669</td> - <td class="tdr">88</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">790</td> - <td class="tdr">701</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 88th Foot 1st batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">30</td> - <td class="tdr">608</td> - <td class="tdr">143</td> - <td class="tdr">28</td> - <td class="tdr">809</td> - <td class="tdr">638</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st Portuguese, 1st batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,659</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">4th Brigade [Sontag]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 97th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">22</td> - <td class="tdr">572</td> - <td class="tdr">74</td> - <td class="tdr">20</td> - <td class="tdr">688</td> - <td class="tdr">594</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2nd batt. of Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr">35</td> - <td class="tdr">787</td> - <td class="tdr">221</td> - <td class="tdr">16</td> - <td class="tdr">1,059</td> - <td class="tdr">822</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1 company 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">69</td> - <td class="tdr">63</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 16th Portuguese, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,479</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">5th Brigade [A. Campbell]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 7th Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">559</td> - <td class="tdr">50</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">638</td> - <td class="tdr">585</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 53rd Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">23</td> - <td class="tdr">691</td> - <td class="tdr">59</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">776</td> - <td class="tdr">714</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1 company 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">64</td> - <td class="tdr">11</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">80</td> - <td class="tdr">68</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 10th Portuguese, 1st batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,367</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">6th Brigade [R. Stewart]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 29th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">596</td> - <td class="tdr">85</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - <td class="tdr">714</td> - <td class="tdr">622</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st batt. of Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">803</td> - <td class="tdr">169</td> - <td class="tdr">24</td> - <td class="tdr">1,023</td> - <td class="tdr">830</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 16th Portuguese, 1st batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,452</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">7th Brigade [Cameron]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 9th Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">545</td> - <td class="tdr">227</td> - <td class="tdr">22</td> - <td class="tdr">821</td> - <td class="tdr">572</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 83rd Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">39</td> - <td class="tdr">833</td> - <td class="tdr">73</td> - <td class="tdr">23</td> - <td class="tdr">968</td> - <td class="tdr">872</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1 company 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">60</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">66</td> - <td class="tdr">62</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 10th Portuguese, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,506</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">King’s German Legion Brigade [Murray]</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">767</td> - <td class="tdr">125</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">935</td> - <td class="tdr">801</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2nd Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">32</td> - <td class="tdr">804</td> - <td class="tdr">52</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">897</td> - <td class="tdr">836</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 5th Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">28</td> - <td class="tdr">720</td> - <td class="tdr">101</td> - <td class="tdr">12</td> - <td class="tdr">861</td> - <td class="tdr">748</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 7th Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">22</td> - <td class="tdr">688</td> - <td class="tdr">83</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">803</td> - <td class="tdr bb">710</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">3,095</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Unattached Troops (Lisbon)</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 24th Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">18</td> - <td class="tdr">750</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">797</td> - <td class="tdr">768</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 30th Foot, 2nd batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">15</td> - <td class="tdr">447</td> - <td class="tdr">49</td> - <td class="tdr">197</td> - <td class="tdr">708</td> - <td class="tdr">462</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Independent Light Co. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">35</td> - <td class="tdr">14</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">56</td> - <td class="tdr bb">38</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="bb"> </td> - <td class="tdr bb">1,268</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total Infantry</td> - <td class="tdr">703</td> - <td class="tdr">18,178</td> - <td class="tdr">2,405</td> - <td class="tdr">501</td> - <td class="tdr">21,787</td> - <td class="tdr">18,881</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc pt05"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_642">[p. 642]</span>ARTILLERY.</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> British</td> - <td class="tdr">31</td> - <td class="tdr">550</td> - <td class="tdr">83</td> - <td class="tdr">499</td> - <td class="tdr">1,163</td> - <td class="tdr">581</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> King’s German Legion</td> - <td class="tdr">18</td> - <td class="tdr">331</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">134</td> - <td class="tdr">517</td> - <td class="tdr">349</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Wagon Train attached</td> - <td class="tdr bb">3</td> - <td class="tdr bb">61</td> - <td class="tdr bb">18</td> - <td class="tdr bb">83</td> - <td class="tdr bb">165</td> - <td class="tdr bb">64</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total Artillery</td> - <td class="tdr">52</td> - <td class="tdr">942</td> - <td class="tdr">135</td> - <td class="tdr">716</td> - <td class="tdr">1,845</td> - <td class="tdr">994</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">ENGINEERS.</td> - <td class="tdr">12</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">40</td> - <td class="tdr">39</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">WAGON TRAIN.</td> - <td class="tdr bb">2</td> - <td class="tdr bb">65</td> - <td class="tdr bb">21</td> - <td class="tdr bb">17</td> - <td class="tdr bb">105</td> - <td class="tdr bb">67</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">General Total</td> - <td class="tdr">894</td> - <td class="tdr">22,221</td> - <td class="tdr">2,634</td> - <td class="tdr">1,482</td> - <td class="tdr">27,231</td> - <td class="tdr">23,115</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_8"> - <h3>VIII</h3> - <p class="subh3">SOULT’S REPORT ON GALICIA,<br /> - <small>JUNE 25, 1809.</small></p> -</div> - -<p class="nb">N.B.—The first half of this report, a lengthy -narrative of the Marshal’s march from Lugo to Puebla de Senabria, is -omitted.</p> - - -<p class="mt2">Je me permettrai, avant de terminer ce rapport, de -présenter à Votre Majesté quelques observations sur la situation -actuelle de Galice. Cette province est toujours en état de -fermentation. Les menaces de mort et d’incendie qu’employe La Romana; -les nombreux agents qui agissent en son nom; les exécutions qu’il -fait; les dévastations qui ont inévitablement lieu par les fréquents -mouvements des troupes; la ruine de la plupart des habitants; l’absence -de toute autorité qui représente Votre Majesté; l’influence des -prêtres, qui sont très-nombreux, et la grande majorité opposante; -l’argent que les Anglais répandent; la détresse des généraux français, -qui, faute des moyens, ne peuvent souvent payer les émissaires qu’ils -employent: toutes ces causes contribuent à augmenter de jour en jour -le nombre des ennemis, et à rendre la guerre qu’on fait dans ce -pays très-meurtrière, infiniment désagréable, et d’un résultat fort -éloigné. On s’y battra encore longtemps avant que Votre Majesté en -retire quelque avantage, à moins qu’elle n’adopte le système de faire -fortifier sept à huit postes importants, susceptibles de contenir -chacun 5,000 à 6,000 hommes de garnison, un hôpital, et des vivres -pour quatre mois, pour maintenir la population, fermer et garder les -principaux débouchés dont l’ennemi ne pourrait plus profiter, et -aussi pour offrir aux colonnes qui agiraient dans la province des -appuis, quelque direction qu’elles suivissent. Ainsi elles pourraient -recevoir des secours et déposer leurs malades. Cette dernière<span -class="pagenum" id="Page_643">[p. 643]</span> considération est -très-puissante, et je ne dois pas dissimuler à Votre Majesté qu’elle -fait beaucoup sur le moral des soldats, qui, dans l’état actuel des -choses, sont exposés à périr de misère, ou sous les coups des paysans, -s’ils ont le malheur d’être blessés, ou atteints de la fièvre, et de se -trouver éloignés d’un lieu sûr pour y chercher des secours.</p> - -<p>Je crois qu’avec une dépense d’un million on parviendrait à mettre -en état de défense la Galice, et certes jamais argent n’aurait été -mieux employé, d’autant plus que par la suite on pourrait diminuer -le nombre des troupes qui pour le moment y sont nécessaires; dans -cette persuasion j’ai engagé M. le Maréchal Ney à faire fortifier -Lugo, et à ordonner la construction de trois blocus sur la ligne de -Villa Franca; les places de Tuy, de Monterey, de Viana et de Puebla -de Sanabria, qui toutes peuvent contenir des canons, ont une enceinte -et un reste de fortification, pourraient aisément être rétablies et -rempliraient parfaitement cet objet; et, s’il le fallait, il est encore -d’autres postes qui par leur situation seraient à même de concourir à -la défense, sans que les frais fussent considérablement augmentés. Si -cette mesure, que je considère comme urgente et d’un résultat assuré, -n’est point adoptée, il deviendra nécessaire que des renforts soient -envoyés à M. le Maréchal Ney, ne fusse que pour remplacer ses pertes et -maintenir libres les communications, quoique aujourd’hui il puisse être -assez fort pour tenir tête au corps de La Romana et de Carrera réunis, -s’ils se présentaient en ligne. Mais leur système étant d’harceler sans -cesse et d’éviter une affaire générale, avec le temps ils auraient -l’avance la plus forte, et ils finiraient, même sans combattre, par -le détruire s’il n’était soutenu, et on ferait une perte d’hommes -incalculable sans obtenir le résultat qu’on se propose.</p> - -<p>Il est probable que je ne serai plus dans le cas d’entretenir Votre -Majesté au sujet de la Galice; ainsi, pour cette dernière fois, j’ai -cru de mon devoir de lui rendre compte des observations que mon séjour -dans cette partie de ses états et la connaissance que j’ai acquise -du caractère de ses habitants m’ont mis à même de faire. J’ai donc -l’honneur de supplier Votre Majesté de daigner excuser cette digression -en faveur et en considération des motifs qui l’ont dictée.</p> - -<p class="centra mt1">J’ai l’honneur d’être, &c.,  </p> -<p class="firmap"><span class="smcap">Maréchal Duc de Dalmatie</span>.</p> - -<p class="mt1">Puebla de Senabria, 25 juin 1809.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_9"> - <h3>IX</h3> -</div> - -<p class="subh2">A</p> - -<p class="subh3">SUCHET’S ARMY OF ARAGON [3rd CORPS],<br /> -<small>MAY 15, 1809.</small></p> - -<p class="centra mt1">Total <i>présents sous les armes.</i></p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Suchet’s Army of Aragon"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Division, General <span class="smcap">Laval</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">14th Line (two batts.), 1,080; 44th Line (two batts.), 1,069; - 2nd of the Vistula (two batts.), 880; 3rd ditto, 964</td> - <td class="tdr">3,993</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_644">[p. 644]</span>2nd - Division, General Musnier:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">114th Line (three batts.), 1,627; 115th Line (three batts.), 1,732; - 1st of the Vistula (two batts.), 1,039</td> - <td class="tdr">4,398</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3rd Division, General <span class="smcap">Morlot</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">116th and 117th Line (each three batts.), <i>absent in Castile</i>; 121st - Line, <i>three batts. absent in Navarre</i>, one present in Aragon, 400; - 5th Léger (one batt.), 490</td> - <td class="tdr">890</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Troops detached from 5th Corps:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">64th Line (one batt.), one voltigeur company of 40th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">450</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Cavalry Brigade</span>, General <span - class="smcap">Wathier</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">4th Hussars, 326; 13th Cuirassiers, 390; Polish Lancers (one - squadron), 80</td> - <td class="tdr">796</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Artillery</span></td> - <td class="tdr bb">450</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">General Total</td> - <td class="tdr">10,977</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="nb">N.B.—Of the nine absent battalions the 116th and -117th with a strength of somewhat over 3,000 men rejoined Suchet on -the day of Maria (June 15), thus raising this available force to about -13,000 men. The 121st never came up from Navarre.</p> - - -<p class="subh2 mt2">B</p> - -<p class="subh3">BLAKE’S ARMY OF ARAGON,<br /> -<small>JUNE 15, 1809.</small></p> - -<p class="centra mt1">Total present under arms at Maria.</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Blake’s Army of Aragon"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Vanguard Brigade, Colonel J. <span class="smcap">Creagh</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Almeria (two batts.), Cazadores de Valencia (one batt.)</td> - <td class="tdr">2,298</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Division, Major-General P. <span class="smcap">Roca</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st of Savoia (three batts.), Granada (one batt.), Avila Militia, - Tiradores de Cariñena (one batt.), Tercio of Tortosa</td> - <td class="tdr">4,888</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd Division, Lieut.-General Marquis of <span class="smcap">Lazan</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Volunteers of Saragossa (one batt.), 3rd Cazadores de - Valencia (one batt.), 1st of Valencia (three batts.), America (two batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr">5,837</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cavalry Brigade, Colonel <span class="smcap">J. O’Donnell</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Olivenza (four squadrons), Santiago (one squadron)</td> - <td class="tdr">698</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Artillery (seventeen guns)</td> - <td class="tdr">200</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Sappers (three companies)</td> - <td class="tdr bb">309</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total present</td> - <td class="tdr">14,230</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">3rd Division, Lieut.-General C. <span class="smcap">Areizaga</span> - (absent at Botorrita):</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Fernando 7th (one batt.), Grenadiers (four companies), - 1st Volunteers of Aragon (one batt.), 2nd ditto (one batt.), - Volunteers of Valencia (one batt.), Cazadores de Palafox - (one batt.), Daroca (one batt.), Tiradores de Doyle (one batt.), - Tiradores de Murcia (one batt.)</td> - <td class="tdr">5,842</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cavalry: Husares Españoles, Santiago (one squadron each)</td> - <td class="tdr">368</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Artillery (eight guns)</td> - <td class="tdr">120</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Sappers</td> - <td class="tdr bb">103</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total absent at Botorrita</td> - <td class="tdr">6,433</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_10"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_645">[p. 645]</span></p> - <h3>X</h3> - <p class="subh3">APPENDICES RELATING TO THE TALAVERA CAMPAIGN</p> -</div> - -<p class="subh2 mt2">1</p> - -<p class="subh3">THE BRITISH FORCE AT TALAVERA<br /> -<small>FROM THE MORNING STATE OF JULY 25, 1809</small></p> - -<p class="centra mt1">Present and fit for Duty.</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="British Force at Talavera"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc">CAVALRY DIVISION (Lieut.-Gen. <span class="smcap">Payne</span>).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Fane’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Dragoon Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">525</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">4th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">545</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cotton’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">14th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">464</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">16th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">525</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Anson’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">23rd Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">459</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Light Dragoons K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr bb">451</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total Cavalry</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">2,969</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt2">INFANTRY.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt05">1st (<span class="smcap">Sherbrooke’s</span>) - <span class="smcap">Division</span>.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">H. Campbell’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st batt. Coldstream Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">970</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st batt. 3rd Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">1,019</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr bb">56</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">2,045</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cameron’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/61st Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">778</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/83rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">535</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr bb">51</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,364</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Langwerth’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">604</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">678</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Light Companies K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr bb">106</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,388</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Low’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">5th Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">610</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">7th Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr bb">557</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,167</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total of the 1st Division</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">5,964</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt1">2nd (<span class="smcap">Hill’s</span>) - <span class="smcap">Division</span>.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Tilson’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/3rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">746</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/48th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">567</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/66th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">526</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60th</td> - <td class="tdr bb">52</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,891</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">R. Stewart’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">29th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">598</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/48th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">807</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st batt. of Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr bb">609</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">2,014</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total of the 2nd Division</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">3,905</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_646">[p. 646]</span>3rd - (<span class="smcap">Mackenzie’s</span>) <span class="smcap">Division</span>.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Mackenzie’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/24th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">787</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/31st Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">733</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/45th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr bb">756</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">2,276</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Donkin’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/87th</td> - <td class="tdr">599</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/88th</td> - <td class="tdr">599</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Five companies 5/60th</td> - <td class="tdr bb">273</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,471</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total of the 3rd Division</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">3,747</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp pt1">4th (<span class="smcap">Campbell’s</span>) - <span class="smcap">Division</span>.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">A. Campbell’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/7th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">431</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/53rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">537</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60th</td> - <td class="tdr bb">64</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,032</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Kemmis’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/40th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">745</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">97th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">502</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd batt. of Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr">625</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr bb">56</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,928</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total of the 4th Division</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">2,960</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt2">ARTILLERY.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">British:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Three batteries, Lawson, Sillery, Elliot</td> - <td class="tdr">681</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">German:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Two batteries, Rettberg and Heyse</td> - <td class="tdr bb">330</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total of Artillery</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">1,011</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">ENGINEERS,</td> - <td class="tdr">22</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">STAFF CORPS,</td> - <td class="tdr">63</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total Present</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">20,641</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="nb mt1">The Army had also sick left in Portugal, about 3,246: -sick at Plasencia and Talavera about 1,149: on detachment in Portugal -about 1,396: on detachment in Spain about 107. Total absent or -non-effective 5,898. The newly arrived regiments at Lisbon, and the -troops on their way to the front under R. Craufurd are, of course, left -out of this return.</p> - - -<p class="subh2 mt2" id="ChapA_10_2">2</p> - -<p class="subh3">THE ARMY OF ESTREMADURA AT TALAVERA</p> - -<p class="centra mt1">[From an unpublished document in the Deposito de -la Guerra, Madrid.]</p> - -<table class="tsm mt2" summary="The Army of Estremadura"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">General-in-Chief, Lieut.-Gen. Gregorio de la Cuesta.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">Second in Command, Lieut.-Gen. Francisco de Eguia.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">Major-General of Infantry, Major-Gen. J. M. de Alos.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">Major-General of Cavalry, Major-Gen. R. de Villalba, - Marques de Malaspina.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">Officer Commanding Artillery, Brigadier-Gen. G. - Rodriguez.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh">Officer Commanding Engineers, Brigadier-Gen. M. Zappino.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_647">[p. 647]</span>INFANTRY.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Vanguard—Brigadier-Gen. José Zayas:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Voluntarios of Catalonia, Cazadores de Barbastro (2nd batt.), - Cazadores de Campomayor, Cazadores de Valencia y - Albuquerque, Cazadores Voluntarios de Valencia (2nd batt.)</td> - <td class="tdr">five batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">1st Division—Major-General Marques de Zayas:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Cantabria (three batts.), Granaderos Provinciales, Canarias, - Tiradores de Merida, Provincial de Truxillo</td> - <td class="tdr">seven batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">2nd Division—Major-General Vincente Iglesias:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd of Majorca, Velez-Malaga (three batts.), Osuna (two batts.), - Voluntarios Estrangeros, Provincial de Burgos</td> - <td class="tdr">eight batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">3rd Division—Major-General Marques de Portago:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Badajoz (two batts.), 2nd of Antequera, Imperial de Toledo, - Provincial de Badajoz, Provincial de Guadix</td> - <td class="tdr">six batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">4th Division—Major-General R. Manglano:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Irlanda (two batts.), Jaen (two batts.), 3rd of Seville, - Leales de Fernando VII (1st batt.), 2nd Voluntarios - de Madrid, Voluntarios de la Corona</td> - <td class="tdr">eight batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">5th Division—Major-General L. A. Bassecourt:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Real Marina, 1st Regiment (two batts.), Africa (3rd batt.), Murcia - (two batts.), Reyna (1st batt.), Provincial de Sigüenza</td> - <td class="tdr">seven batts.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt1">CAVALRY.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt05">1st Division, Lieut.-General J. de Henestrosa:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdhh">Rey, Calatrava, Voluntarios de España, Imperial de Toledo, - Cazadores de Sevilla, Reyna, Villaviciosa, Cazadores de Madrid.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdlh pt05">2nd Division, Lieut.-Gen. Duque de Albuquerque:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdhh">Carabineros Reales (one squadron), Infante, Alcantara, Pavia, - Almanza, 1st and 2nd Hussars of Estremadura.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc pt1">Totals, inclusive of sick, and troops on detachment:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc">35,000 Infantry, 7,000 Cavalry, 30 guns.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="nb mt1">It is most unfortunate that no regimental or -divisional totals are given, but only the gross total of the whole -army.</p> - -<p class="nb">N.B.—There were <i>at least</i> four battalions -detached, viz. Merida and 3rd of Seville, with Sir R. Wilson, and two -others (names not to be ascertained, Cuesta does not give them) under -Del Reino at the Puerto de Baños. Another was apparently dropped at -Almaraz to guard the bridge. Allowing 3,000 for these troops, and -5,000 for sick and men ‘on command,’ the Army of Estremadura marched -to Talavera with about 28,000 foot, more than 6,000 horse, and 800 -artillery.</p> - -<p class="nb">The following troops which had all been with the Army -of Estremadura in April are not named in the above return. Most of -them were in garrison at Badajoz, but some were in the Northern -Passes—Spanish Guards (one batt.), Walloon Guards (one batt.), -Zafra, Plasencia, La Serena, Leales de Fernando VII (2nd batt.), -Provincial de Cordova, Tiradores de Cadiz.</p> - - -<p class="subh2 mt2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_648">[p. 648]</span>3</p> - -<p class="subh3">STRENGTH OF THE FRENCH ARMY AT TALAVERA</p> - -<p class="centra mt1">(Figures of July 15, excluding sick and men detached.)</p> - -<table class="tsm mt2" summary="The French Army at Talavera"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Corps, Marshal Victor:</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Strength.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">État-Major</td> - <td class="tdr">47</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division (Ruffin), 9th Léger, 24th and 96th of the Line, - three batts. each</td> - <td class="tdr">5,286</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division (Lapisse), 16th Léger, 8th, 45th, 54th of the Line, - three batts. each</td> - <td class="tdr">6,862</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Division (Villatte), 27th Léger, 63rd, 94th, 95th of the Line, - three batts. each</td> - <td class="tdr">6,135</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Corps-Cavalry (Beaumont), 2nd Hussars, 5th Chasseurs</td> - <td class="tdr bb">980</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">19,310</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">4th Corps, General <span class="smcap">Sebastiani</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">État-Major</td> - <td class="tdr">13</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Division (Sebastiani), 28th, 32nd, 58th, 75th of the Line, - three batts. each</td> - <td class="tdr">8,118</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Division (Valence), one regiment only, 4th Polish, - two batts.</td> - <td class="tdr">1,600</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Division (Leval), Nassau, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, - Holland, two batts. each: Frankfort, one batt.</td> - <td class="tdr">4,537</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Merlin’s Light Cavalry, 10th and 26th Chasseurs, Polish - Lancers, Westphalian <i>Chevaux-Légers</i></td> - <td class="tdr bb">1,188</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">15,456</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Reserve Cavalry:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Dragoon Division (Latour-Maubourg), 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, - 14th, 26th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">3,279</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Dragoon Division (Milhaud), 5th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 21st - Dragoons, and 3rd Dutch Hussars</td> - <td class="tdr bb">2,356</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">5,635</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">From Madrid:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One Brigade of Dessolles’ Division, 12th Léger, 51st Line, - three batts. each</td> - <td class="tdr">3,337</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">King’s Guards, infantry</td> - <td class="tdr">1,800</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">King’s Guards, cavalry</td> - <td class="tdr">350</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">27th Chasseurs (two squadrons)</td> - <td class="tdr bb">250</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">5,737</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">The artillerymen are included in the divisional totals.</td> - <td class="tdr bb"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">46,138</td> - </tr> -</table> - - -<p class="subh2 mt2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_649">[p. 649]</span>4</p> - -<p class="subh3">TALAVERA.—BRITISH LOSSES ON JULY 27</p> - - -<p class="nb ti0 mt2">TABLE LEGEND:</p> -<ul class="brig"> -<li>A = <i>Officers.</i></li> -<li>B = <i>Men.</i></li> -</ul> - -<table class="tsxx" summary="British Losses on July 27"> - <tr> - <td rowspan="2" class="tdc bb"><i>Regiments.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Killed.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Wounded.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Missing.</i></td> - <td rowspan="2" class="tdc bb"><i>Total.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="8" class="tdc pt1">(1) <span class="smcap">In the Combat of Casa de Salinas.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Cavalry:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 14th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st Light Dragoons K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">3rd <span class="smcap">Division</span></td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Mackenzie’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/24th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/31st Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">23</td> - <td class="tdr">5</td> - <td class="tdr">88</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">119</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/45th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">13</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - <td class="tdr">25</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Donkin’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">19</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/87th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">127</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">198</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/88th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr bb">2</td> - <td class="tdr bb">7</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">25</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">30</td> - <td class="tdr bb">64</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">66</td> - <td class="tdr">19</td> - <td class="tdr">265</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">93</td> - <td class="tdr">447</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="8" class="tdc pt1">(2) <span class="smcap">In the Combat in front of Talavera at 9 p.m.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh pt05"> Staff</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">1st <span class="smcap">Division</span></td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> H. Campbell’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st Coldstream Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Cameron’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/61st Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Langwerth’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2nd Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Light Companies, K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">25</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">5</td> - <td class="tdr">36</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Low’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 5th Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">11</td> - <td class="tdr">41</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 7th Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">19</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">49</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">77</td> - <td class="tdr">146</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">2nd <span class="smcap">Division</span></td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Tilson’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/48th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> R. Stewart’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 29th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">43</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">55</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/48th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">8</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">8</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st batt. Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">14</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">40</td> - <td class="tdr">2<a id="FNanchor_760" href="#Footnote_760" class="fnanchor">[760]</a></td> - <td class="tdr">13</td> - <td class="tdr">70</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05"><span class="smcap">Artillery</span></td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05"><span class="smcap">Engineers</span></td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">1</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">58</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">219</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">107</td> - <td class="tdr">385</td> - </tr> -</table> - - -<p class="subh2 mt2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_650">[p. 650]</span>5</p> - -<p class="subh3">BRITISH LOSSES AT TALAVERA<br /> - <small>SECOND DAY. JULY 28, 1809.</small></p> - -<p class="nb ti0 mt2">TABLE LEGEND:</p> -<ul class="brig"> -<li>A = <i>Officers.</i></li> -<li>B = <i>Men.</i></li> -</ul> - -<table class="tsxx" summary="British Losses on July 27"> - <tr> - <td rowspan="2" class="tdc bb"><i>Regiments.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Killed.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Wounded.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Missing.</i></td> - <td rowspan="2" class="tdc bb"><i>Total.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Staff</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">13</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc pt05">CAVALRY.</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Fane’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 3rd Dragoon Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 4th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">12</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">15</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cotton’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 14th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">15</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 16th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">5</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr bb">14</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">29</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Anson’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st Light Dragoons K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">32</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">37</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 23rd Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">47</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">46</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">105</td> - <td class="tdr bb">207</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">244</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc pt1">INFANTRY.</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">1st <span class="smcap">Division</span><br />(General - <span class="smcap">Sherbrooke</span>):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">H. Campbell’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st Coldstream Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">33</td> - <td class="tdr">8</td> - <td class="tdr">251</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">293</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st 3rd Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">5</td> - <td class="tdr">49</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">261</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr bb">322</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">615</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cameron’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/61st Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">43</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">193</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">16</td> - <td class="tdr">265</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/83rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">38</td> - <td class="tdr">11</td> - <td class="tdr">202</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">28</td> - <td class="tdr bb">283</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">548</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Langwerth’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">37</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">241</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">291</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2nd Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - <td class="tdr">14</td> - <td class="tdr">288</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">24</td> - <td class="tdr">387</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Light Companies, K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">37</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">43</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">721</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Low’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 5th Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">118</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">101</td> - <td class="tdr">255</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 7th Line batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">17</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">35</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">54</td> - <td class="tdr bb">110</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">365</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd <span class="smcap">Division</span> - (General <span class="smcap">Hill</span>):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Tilson’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/3rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">107</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - <td class="tdr">142</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/48th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">12</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">53</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">68</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/66th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">16</td> - <td class="tdr">11</td> - <td class="tdr">88</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">11</td> - <td class="tdr bb">126</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">336</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_651">[p. 651]</span>R. Stewart’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 29th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">98</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">132</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st batt. Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">166</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">203</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/48th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">22</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">135</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr bb">168</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">503</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3rd <span class="smcap">Division</span><br /> - (General <span class="smcap">Mackenzie</span>):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Mackenzie’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/24th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">44</td> - <td class="tdr">10</td> - <td class="tdr">268</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">21</td> - <td class="tdr">343</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/31st Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">21</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">102</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">5</td> - <td class="tdr">131</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/45th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">134</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">12</td> - <td class="tdr bb">158</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">632</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Donkin’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 5/60th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">25</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">12</td> - <td class="tdr">50<a id="FNanchor_761" href="#Footnote_761" class="fnanchor">[761]</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/87th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">43</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">5</td> - <td class="tdr">60</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/88th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">12</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">69</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">85</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">195</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">4th <span class="smcap">Division</span><br /> - (General <span class="smcap">A. Campbell</span>):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Campbell’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/7th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">54</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">65</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2/53rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">30</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr bb">39</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">104</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Kemmis’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1/40th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">49</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">58</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 97th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">25</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">21</td> - <td class="tdr">53</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2nd batt. Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">13</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr bb">21</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">132</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc pt1">ARTILLERY.</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh pt05"> British</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">7</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">21</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">32</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> German</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">30</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">ENGINEERS</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">STAFF CORPS</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">2</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">2</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">643</td> - <td class="tdr">171</td> - <td class="tdr">3,235</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">439</td> - <td class="tdr">4,521</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="nb mt1">Total of the two days:—killed: 34 officers, -767 men; wounded: 196 officers, 3,719 men; missing: 8 officers, 639 -men. Grand Total, 5,363.</p> - - -<p class="subh2 mt2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_652">[p. 652]</span>6</p> - -<p class="subh3">TALAVERA.—THE FRENCH LOSSES</p> - -<p class="nb mt1">N.B.—I owe these figures to the kindness of -Commandant Balagny, who has caused them to be copied in detail from the -French Archives.</p> - - -<p class="nb ti0 mt2">TABLE LEGEND:</p> -<ul class="brig"> -<li>A = <i>Officers.</i></li> -<li>B = <i>Men.</i></li> -</ul> - -<table class="tsxx" summary="British Losses on July 27"> - <tr> - <td rowspan="2" class="tdc bb"><i>Regiments.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Killed.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Wounded.</i></td> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><i>Missing.</i></td> - <td rowspan="2" class="tdc bb"><i>Total.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - <td class="tdc bb">A</td> - <td class="tdc bb">B</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">1st Corps<br /> - (<span class="smcap">Marshal Victor</span>):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> État-Major Général</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">1st <span class="smcap">Division</span> (Ruffin):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 9th Léger</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">35</td> - <td class="tdr">14</td> - <td class="tdr">340</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">65</td> - <td class="tdr">457</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 24th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">92</td> - <td class="tdr">17</td> - <td class="tdr">456</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">567</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 96th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">36</td> - <td class="tdr">19</td> - <td class="tdr">548</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">606</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> État-Major</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">2</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,632</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2nd <span class="smcap">Division</span> (Lapisse):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 16th Léger</td> - <td class="tdr">8</td> - <td class="tdr">49</td> - <td class="tdr">8</td> - <td class="tdr">342</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">407</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 8th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">41</td> - <td class="tdr">17</td> - <td class="tdr">376</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">437</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 45th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">43</td> - <td class="tdr">12</td> - <td class="tdr">328</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">388</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 54th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">54</td> - <td class="tdr">14</td> - <td class="tdr">462</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">532</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> État-Major</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,767</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3rd <span class="smcap">Division</span> (Villatte):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 27th Léger</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">25</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">159</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">189</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 63rd Line</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">36</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">40</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 94th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">20</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">123</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">145</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 95th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">27</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">401</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Corps-Cavalry</span><br /> - (Beaumont):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 2nd Hussars</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">11</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">16</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 5th Chasseurs</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">19</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">23</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">39</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Artillery<br /> - and Engineers</span></td> - <td class="tdr bb">1</td> - <td class="tdr bb">9</td> - <td class="tdr bb">1</td> - <td class="tdr bb">53</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">64</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total of 1st Corps</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">410</td> - <td class="tdr">120</td> - <td class="tdr">3,280</td> - <td class="tdr">1</td> - <td class="tdr">67</td> - <td class="tdr">3,904</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt1">4th <span class="smcap">Corps</span><br /> - (<span class="smcap">General Sebastiani</span>):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">1st <span class="smcap">Division</span> (Sebastiani):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 28th, 32nd, 58th,<br />75th Line</td> - <td class="tdr">13</td> - <td class="tdr">187</td> - <td class="tdr">67</td> - <td class="tdr">1,852</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - <td class="tdr">2,180</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">2nd <span class="smcap">Division</span> (Leval):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Baden, Hesse, Nassau,<br />Holland, Frankfort</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">97</td> - <td class="tdr">24</td> - <td class="tdr">803</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">77</td> - <td class="tdr">1,007</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">3rd <span class="smcap">Division</span> (Valence):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 4th Polish Regiment</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">3</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">37</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">40</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total of 4th Corps</td> - <td class="tdr">19</td> - <td class="tdr">287</td> - <td class="tdr">91</td> - <td class="tdr">2,692</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">138</td> - <td class="tdr">3,227</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_653">[p. 653]</span><span - class="smcap">Cavalry Divisions</span>—</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">1st <span class="smcap">Division</span><br />of Dragoons<br /> - (Latour-Maubourg):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th, 14th,<br />26th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">13</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">83</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">2nd <span class="smcap">Division</span><br />of Dragoons - (Milhaud):</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 5th, 12th, 16th, 20th,<br />21st Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> Milhaud’s Artillery</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">Merlin’s Light<br /> - Cavalry <span class="smcap">Division</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh"> 10th, 26th Chasseurs, Polish<br /> - Lancers, Westphalian<br /> - Chevaux-Légers</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">6</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">42</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">–</td> - <td class="tdr bb">48</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total of Cavalry Divisions</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">19</td> - <td class="tdr">9</td> - <td class="tdr">109</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">137</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="8" class="tdlh pt2"><span class="smcap">General Totals</span>:—</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="8" class="tdhh"> 45 officers, 716 rank and file <i>killed</i>;</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="8" class="tdhh"> 220 officers, 6,081 rank and file <i>wounded</i>;</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="8" class="tdhh"> 1 officer, 205 rank and file <i>missing</i> = 7,268.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="nb mt1"><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—No -distinction is made in the French returns between losses on July 27 and -July 28, which cannot therefore be ascertained separately.</p> - -<p class="nb">These ‘Missing’ do not include the French wounded who -were left within the British lines on the night of July 28, and became -prisoners, but were freed again on Aug. 6 when Victor reoccupied -Talavera and captured the British hospitals. They must have been -numerous in the divisions of Ruffin, Lapisse, and Sebastiani. The -French returns are those made up for the Emperor’s use, some weeks -after the battle—those of the 4th Corps as late as Sept. -19. The men in question therefore appear as ‘wounded,’ but not as -‘prisoners.’</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_11"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_654">[p. 654]</span></p> - <h3>XI</h3> - <p class="subh3">THE BRITISH ROYAL ARTILLERY IN THE PENINSULA IN 1809</p> -</div> - -<p class="nb">N.B.—I owe this Appendix to Colonel F. A. -Whinyates, R.A., who has been good enough to compile it for the -volume.</p> - - -<p class="centra mt2">STAFF.</p> - -<p>Brigadier-General E. Howorth arrived at Lisbon in April 1809, and -took over the command of the R.A. from Lieut.-Colonel W. Robe.</p> - -<p>Brigade-Major R.A., Captain A. Dickson until appointed to the -Portuguese Artillery in June, when Captain J. May took over that -position.</p> - - -<p class="centra mt1">FIELD-OFFICERS IN PORTUGAL.</p> - -<p>Lieut.-Col. H. Framingham, Lieut.-Col. W. Robe, Lieut.-Col. G. B. -Fisher, Major Julius von Hartmann, K.G.L.</p> - -<table class="w100 mt1" summary="Field-officers in Portugal."> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdp">Troops R.H.A. and Companies R.A. in Portugal in 1809:—</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdp">(<i>a</i>) Horse Artillery:</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Strength.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">1. Captain H. Ross’s ‘A’ Troop, landed at Lisbon, July 2, or 3, 1809</td> - <td class="tdr">162</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">2. Captain R. Bull’s ‘I’ Troop, landed at Lisbon, August 21, 1809</td> - <td class="tdr">162</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdp pt05">(<i>b</i>) Foot Artillery:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">3. Captain C. D. Sillery’s<a id="FNanchor_762" href="#Footnote_762" - class="fnanchor">[762]</a> No. 6 company, 7th batt., landed at Lisbon, March 7, 1809</td> - <td class="tdr">120</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">4. Captain A. Bredin’s No. 1 company, 8th batt., landed at Lisbon, - August 1808</td> - <td class="tdr">125</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">5. Captain J. May’s No. 2 company, 1st batt., landed at Lisbon, - March 1809</td> - <td class="tdr">127</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">6. Captain F. Glubb’s No. 10 company, 5th batt., landed at Lisbon, - March 1809</td> - <td class="tdr">93</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">7. Captain R. Lawson’s No. 7 company, 8th batt., landed at Lisbon, - August 1808</td> - <td class="tdr">66</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="3" class="tdp pt05">(<i>c</i>) K.G.L. Artillery:</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">1. Captain Tieling’s Company (No. 2).</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdlh">2. Captain Heise’s Company (No. 4).</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="mt1">On taking up the command, General Howorth, with Colonel -Robe’s assistance, equipped five brigades of guns to take the field -with the army,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_655">[p. 655]</span> -viz. one brigade of heavy six-pounders, three brigades of light -six-pounders, and one brigade of three-pounders. Captain Glubb’s -company was stationed in Fort St. Julian, Lisbon, and Captain Bredin’s -in the Forts at Cascaes. The other companies were with the field -army.</p> - - -<p class="centra mt1">BRIGADES R.A. AT OPORTO.</p> - -<p>Captain C. D. Sillery’s No. 6 company, 7th batt., under 2nd Captain -H. B. Lane. Light six-pounder guns.</p> - -<p>Captain R. Lawson’s No. 7 company, 8th batt. Three-pounder guns.</p> - -<p>Captain Tieling’s No. 2 company, K.G.L., under 2nd Captain de -Rettberg. Heavy six-pounder guns.</p> - -<p>Captain Heise’s No. 4 company, K.G.L. Light six-pounder guns.</p> - -<p>[Captain May’s brigade was detached with Mackenzie’s force at -Abrantes.]</p> - - -<p class="centra mt1">BRIGADES R.A. AT TALAVERA.</p> - -<p>Captain C. D. Sillery’s No. 6 company, 7th batt. Light six-pounder -guns.</p> - -<p>Captain J. May’s No. 2 company, 1st batt., under 2nd Captain W. G. -Elliott. Light six-pounder guns.</p> - -<p>Captain R. Lawson’s No. 7 company, 8th batt. Three-pounder guns.</p> - -<p>Captain Tieling’s No. 2 company, K.G.L., under 2nd Captain de -Rettberg. Heavy six-pounder guns.</p> - -<p>Captain Heise’s No. 4 company, K.G.L. Light six-pounder guns.</p> - - -<p class="centra mt1">CASUALTIES AT TALAVERA.</p> - -<p>Killed: Lieut. H. Wyatt and seven men; wounded: Lieut.-Colonel H. -Framingham, 2nd Captain H. Baynes and J. Taylor and twenty-one men, -R.A.</p> - -<p>K.G.L., killed: three men; wounded: thirty men.</p> - -<p class="mt1">In December 1809 the strength of the Royal Artillery -under General Howorth was as follows, viz.:</p> - -<p>R.H.A., 187 of all ranks, with 106 drivers attached.</p> - -<p>Foot Artillery, 627 of all ranks, with 545 drivers attached.</p> - -<p>K.G.L. 332 of all ranks with 160 drivers.</p> - -<p>There were 951 horses, and 132 mules with the Artillery.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="ChapA_12"> - <h3>XII</h3> - <p class="subh3">VENEGAS’S ARMY OF LA MANCHA<br /> - <small>FROM A RETURN OF JUNE 16, 1809.</small></p> -</div> - -<table class="mt1" summary="Venegas’s Army of La Mancha"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Division, Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">Pedro - Giron</span> [afterwards Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">T. Lacy</span>]:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Burgos (two batts.), 1,085, Cuenca, 869, 1st of Loxa, 703, Alcala, - 629, 1st of España, 548, 1st of Seville, 593</td> - <td class="tdr">Total 4,427</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_656">[p. 656]</span>2nd Division, - Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">Gaspar Vigodet</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Corona (two batts.), 1,130, Ronda, 1,096, Ordenes Militares (two - batts.), 836, Alcazar, 825, 1st of Guadix, 522, Ciudad Real, 258</td> - <td class="tdr">Total 4,667</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3rd Division, Major-General <span class="smcap">Pedro Grimarest</span> - [afterwards Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">P. Giron</span>]:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd of Jaen, 985, Ecija, 902, 2nd of Cordova, 849, Baylen (two - batts.), 1,121, 1st Walloon Guards, 663, Alpujarras, 579, Velez-Malaga, 445</td> - <td class="tdr">Total 5,544</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">4th Division, Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">Francisco - Castejon</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">5th of Seville, 535, 1st of Malaga, 743, 2nd Spanish Guards, 953, - Jerez, 650, 2nd of Loxa, 510, Bujalance, 469, 3rd of Cordova, 422</td> - <td class="tdr">Total 4,282</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">5th Division, Major-General <span class="smcap">T. Zerain</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd of España (two batts.), 1,064, 1st of Cordova (three batts.), - 2,044, Provincial of Seville, 887</td> - <td class="tdr">Total 3,995</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Cavalry</span>:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Montesa, 349, Reina, 183, Granada, 322, España, 287, Farnesio, - 404, Santiago, 295, Alcantara, 343, Principe, 324, Granaderos de - Fernando VII, 527, Dragones de la Reina, 180, Cazadores de - Cordova, 169</td> - <td class="tdr">Total 3,384</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Artillery</span>: 35 guns; sappers, five - companies, about 1,100 in all.</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="mt1">Total, 27,399, including sick and men on detachment.</p> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3" id="Index"> - <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_657">[p. 657]</span></p> - <h2>INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Albergaria Nova, combat of, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> -<li>Albuquerque, Duke of, attacks Digeon at Mora, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his quarrel with Cartaojal, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> - <li>sent to join Cuesta’s army, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> - <li>at the battle of Medellin, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>-<a href="#Page_163">63</a>;</li> - <li>his intrigues against Cuesta, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>;</li> - <li>at Talavera, <a href="#Page_532">532</a>, <a href="#Page_545">545</a>;</li> - <li>at Oropesa, <a href="#Page_583">583</a>;</li> - <li>routed by Soult at Arzobispo, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>-<a href="#Page_591">91</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Alcañiz, battle of, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>-<a href="#Page_420">20</a>.</li> -<li>Alcantara, sacked by Lapisse, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>combat of, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Almonacid, battle of, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>-<a href="#Page_616">6</a>.</li> -<li>Alorna, Marquis of, raises an ‘experimental legion’ in the Portuguese army, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> -<li>Alvarez, Julian, Governor of Gerona, his attempt to relieve Rosas, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.</li> -<li>Amarante, defended by Silveira, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>-<a href="#Page_271">71</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>captured by Loison, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> - <li>Loison defeated at, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Aranjuez, Venegas at, <a href="#Page_568">568</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>combat of, <a href="#Page_612">612</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Areizaga, Juan Carlos, general, at Alcañiz, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his error at Maria, <a href="#Page_431">431</a>;</li> - <li>commands army of Andalusia, <a href="#Page_605">605</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Argenton, captain, his conspiracy against Soult, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>makes overtures to the English, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</li> - <li>his first interview with Wellesley, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</li> - <li>his second visit to Wellesley, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>;</li> - <li>his arrest and confession, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>-<a href="#Page_323">3</a>;</li> - <li>his escape and death, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Arzobispo, combat of, <a href="#Page_591">591</a>.</li> -<li>Astorga, Marquis of, elected President of the Central Junta, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> -<li>Asturias, Junta and army of, their selfish policy, <a href="#Page_370">370</a>-<a href="#Page_371">1</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>dissolution of the Junta by La Romana, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>;</li> - <li>invaded by Ney and Kellermann, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>;</li> - <li>evacuated by the French, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Avé, passage of, by Soult, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Badajoz, summoned to surrender by Victor, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>Wellington retires to, <a href="#Page_607">607</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Ballasteros, Francisco, general, in command at Colombres, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>escapes from the advancing French, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>;</li> - <li>his descent on Santander, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>;</li> - <li>driven out by Bonnet, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Barcelona, held by Duhesme against Vives, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> -<li>Barrio, Manuel Garcia, Del, colonel sent by the Central Junta to lead Galician insurgents against Vigo, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> -<li>Bennett, captain, R. N. at the siege of Rosas, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> -<li>Beresford, William Carr, general, appointed Commander-in-chief of the Portuguese army, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his reorganization of the army, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> - <li>joins Wellesley with ten line regiments, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>;</li> - <li>commands flanking column at the advance on Oporto, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</li> - <li>at Amarante, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;</li> - <li>pursues Soult, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>;</li> - <li>his march to Perales and Coria, <a href="#Page_599">599</a>;</li> - <li>retires to Castello Branco, <a href="#Page_611">611</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Blake, Joaquin, general, commands in Aragon, <a href="#Page_414">414</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>wins battle of Alcañiz, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>-<a href="#Page_420">20</a>;</li> - <li>defeated at Maria, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>-<a href="#Page_427">7</a>;</li> - <li>at Belchite, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>, <a href="#Page_430">430</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Blanca, Florida, Marquis, President of the Junta, death of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> -<li>Bogiero, Padre Basilio, chaplain of Palafox, shot by the French, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li> -<li>Bonnet, general, his advance into Asturias, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his pursuit of Ballasteros, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>-<a href="#Page_387">7</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Botilho, general, commands Portuguese force on the Minho, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>opposes Soult’s advance, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Bouchard, captain, French engineer officer, his ingenious scheme for crossing the Tamega at Amarante, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>-<a href="#Page_271">1</a>.</li> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_658">[p. 658]</span>Bourke, colonel, sent by Wellesley to Cuesta, <a href="#Page_437">437</a>.</li> -<li>Braga, battle of, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Cadiz, British proposal to garrison, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>negatived by the Junta, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> - <li>refusal of Villel to allow the British troops to land at, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>;</li> - <li>tumults in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Caldagues, Conde de, commands the Catalonian troops round Barcelona, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>repulses sortie of Duhesme, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> - <li>retreats on Molins de Rey, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> - <li>taken prisoner by St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Canning, George, proposes to garrison Cadiz, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his correspondence with Wellesley, <a href="#Page_609">609</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Cardadeu, battle of, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>-<a href="#Page_67">7</a>.</li> -<li>Carrera, Martin La, checks Maucune at Santiago, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>.</li> -<li>Carrol, W. P., captain, his adventures in Asturias, <a href="#Page_373">373</a>, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>in Galicia, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>, <a href="#Page_401">401</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Cartaojal, general, takes command of the Army of the Centre, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his quarrel with Albuquerque, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> - <li>attacks Lasalle’s division at Yébenes, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> - <li>routed by Sebastiani at Ciudad Real, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> - <li>deprived of his command by the Junta, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Casa de Salinas, combat of, <a href="#Page_503">503</a>.</li> -<li>Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Viscount, his confidence in Wellesley, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> -<li>Castro, general, routed at Igualada, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> -<li>Catalonia, army of, its composition, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>campaigns of St. Cyr, Vives, and Reding in, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Cavallero, colonel, his account of feeling in Saragossa, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> -<li>Cazadores (riflemen), new battalions of, raised in the Portuguese army, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> -<li>Chalot, colonel, surrenders Vigo, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> -<li>Chaves, surrender of, to Soult, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>reoccupied by Silveira, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Chinchon, revolt of, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>massacre in, by the French, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Cienfuegos, Captain-General of Asturias, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>.</li> -<li>Ciudad Real, the rout of, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_147">7</a>.</li> -<li>Ciudad Rodrigo, resists Lapisse, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> -<li>Cochrane, Lord, his raids on the coast of Languedoc, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his defence of Rosas, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>-<a href="#Page_55">5</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Colmenar, insurrection of, against the French, is put down by Victor, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li> -<li>Corunna, surrenders to Soult, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>evacuated by Ney, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Cotton, Stapleton, general, commands brigade at Albergaria Nova, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>.</li> -<li>Cradock, Sir John, general, dispatches British troops to Cadiz and Seville, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>condition of his force in Portugal, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> - <li>his timid policy, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> - <li>retires to Passo d’Arcos, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> - <li>at Lumiar, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> - <li>advises Sir R. Wilson to retreat, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</li> - <li>superseded by Wellesley, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>;</li> - <li>Governor of Gibraltar, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Craufurd, Robert, arrives with light brigade at Talavera, after the battle, <a href="#Page_560">560</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>holds Almaraz against Ney, <a href="#Page_586">586</a>, <a href="#Page_587">587</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Cuesta, Gregorio, general, commands Estremaduran army, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his operations against Victor, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>-<a href="#Page_158">8</a>;</li> - <li>defeated at Medellin, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>-<a href="#Page_166">66</a>;</li> - <li>appointed Captain-General of the Estremaduran army, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> - <li>his correspondence with Wellesley about the advance into Spain, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>-<a href="#Page_448">8</a>;</li> - <li>his jealousy of Wellesley, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>-<a href="#Page_467">7</a>;</li> - <li>receives Wellesley at Almaraz, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>-<a href="#Page_472">2</a>;</li> - <li>quarrel with Wellesley at Talavera, <a href="#Page_489">489</a>-<a href="#Page_492">92</a>;</li> - <li>pursues Victor, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>, <a href="#Page_493">493</a>;</li> - <li>retreats on Talavera, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>;</li> - <li>at the battle of Talavera, <a href="#Page_509">509</a>-<a href="#Page_556">56</a>;</li> - <li>retreats on Oropesa, <a href="#Page_579">579</a>, <a href="#Page_580">580</a>;</li> - <li>withstands Mortier, <a href="#Page_583">583</a>;</li> - <li>his final disputes with Wellesley, <a href="#Page_603">603</a>;</li> - <li>retires from command, <a href="#Page_605">605</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Dalmatia, Duke of: <i>see</i> <a href="#Soult">Soult</a>.</li> -<li>Dantzig, Duke of: <i>see</i> <a href="#Lef">Lefebvre</a>.</li> -<li>Decken, von der, Hanoverian general sent to Oporto by the British Government, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his report on the Portuguese army, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Delaborde, general, opposed to Soult’s ambitions in Portugal, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li> -<li>Del Reino, Marquis, defends the Pass of Baños, <a href="#Page_572">572</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>breaks the bridge of Almaraz, <a href="#Page_576">576</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>D’España, Carlos, raises troops at Ciudad Rodrigo, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>follows Lapisse, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Digeon, general, captures artillery of the Spanish Army of the Centre - <ul class="IX"> - <li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_659">[p. 659]</span>at Tortola, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> - <li>surprised at Mora, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Donadieu, colonel, one of Argenton’s conspirators, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his arrest, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Douglas, major, receives Argenton, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>brings him to meet Wellesley at Lisbon, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Doyle, Charles, colonel, British agent at Tarragona, sends muskets to Saragossa, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his intrigues in favour of Infantado, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Duhesme, general, at Barcelona, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>relieved by St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Dulong, major, his exploit at the Ponte Nova, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>and at the Saltador, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Eben, Baron, Prussian colonel, sent to Oporto by the British Government, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>sent to Freire’s army with the 2nd batt. of the Lusitanian Legion, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> - <li>takes command of the army on Freire’s flight, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> - <li>defeated at Braga, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</li> - <li>at the siege of Oporto, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Eguia, Francisco, general, succeeds Cuesta, <a href="#Page_605">605</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his quarrel with Wellesley, <a href="#Page_606">606</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li><i>Excellent</i>, the, at Rosas, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>-<a href="#Page_49">9</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Ferrol, surrenders to Soult, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> -<li>Fleury, de, colonel, holds the tower of San Francisco at Saragossa, and is killed, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.</li> -<li>Foy, general, routs a detachment of Silveira’s force, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>taken prisoner at Oporto, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> - <li>delivered by Soult, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>;</li> - <li>surprised by the English at Oporto, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>;</li> - <li>sent by Soult to Joseph, <a href="#Page_496">496</a>;</li> - <li>pursues Robert Wilson, <a href="#Page_619">619</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Franceschi, general, receives the surrender of Vigo and Tuy, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>routs La Romana’s rearguard, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li> - <li>at Lanhozo, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> - <li>at Albergaria Nova, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</li> - <li>at Grijon, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;</li> - <li>at Zamora, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>;</li> - <li>his captivity and death, <a href="#Page_402">402</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Freire, Bernardino, general, at Braga, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his timidity, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> - <li>his flight, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> - <li>and death, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Frere, John H., British ambassador, his negotiations regarding the British garrison for Cadiz, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>correspondence with Wellesley, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> - <li>supports Albuquerque against Cuesta, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>;</li> - <li>urges Wellesley’s claims to be Commander-in-chief, <a href="#Page_465">465</a>, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Galicia, Soult’s operations in, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>-<a href="#Page_195">95</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>its insurrection, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>-<a href="#Page_401">401</a>;</li> - <li>evacuated by Soult and Ney, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>-<a href="#Page_402">402</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Galindo, Mariano, leads a sortie from Saragossa, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.</li> -<li>Galluzzo, general, defeated by Lefebvre at Almaraz, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</li> -<li>Garay, Don Martin de, Secretary to the Central Junta, declines the British proposal to garrison Cadiz, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his dealings with Lord Wellesley, <a href="#Page_608">608</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Gazan, general, takes part in the siege of Saragossa, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>present at Arzobispo, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>German Legion, the King’s, losses of, at Talavera, <a href="#Page_510">510</a>.</li> -<li>Girard, general, storms the bridge of Arzobispo, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>.</li> -<li>Giron, Pedro, general, commands at Aranjuez, <a href="#Page_612">612</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Almonacid, <a href="#Page_615">615</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Grijon, combat of, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>-<a href="#Page_330">30</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Henestrosa, Juan, general, commands cavalry of Cuesta’s army, checks Lasalle at Berrocal and at Miajadas, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Medellin, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Heudelet, general, sent out by Soult to relieve Tuy and Vigo, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>relieves Tuy, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> - <li>evacuates Tuy and Valenza, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Hill, Sir Rowland, general, Wellesley’s appreciation of, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>in the advance on Oporto, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>-<a href="#Page_328">8</a>;</li> - <li>defends the Seminary, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>-<a href="#Page_339">9</a>;</li> - <li>at Talavera, <a href="#Page_503">503</a>, <a href="#Page_517">517</a>, <a href="#Page_524">524</a>;</li> - <li>wounded, <a href="#Page_525">525</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Igualada, combat of, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> -<li><i>Impérieuse</i>, the, frigate, commanded by Lord Cochrane at Rosas, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> -<li>Infantado, Duke of, commands Army of the Centre, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Cuenca, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> - <li>his hesitation and delay, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> - <li>starts to join Venegas, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> - <li>his march to Chinchilla, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> - <li>joins Del Palacio on the Despeña Perros, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> - <li>removed from command by the Junta, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> - <li>his intrigues against the Junta, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li><span class="pagenum" id="Page_660">[p. 660]</span>Jaca, surrender of, <a href="#Page_408">408</a>.</li> -<li>Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, his position at Madrid, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>-<a href="#Page_8">8</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>makes formal entry into the capital, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> - <li>his anxiety about Soult and Ney’s expedition, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>;</li> - <li>dispatches an expedition to Galicia, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>;</li> - <li>correspondence with Victor, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>, <a href="#Page_444">444</a>;</li> - <li>leads his Guards from Madrid to pursue Venegas, <a href="#Page_458">458</a>;</li> - <li>joins Victor, <a href="#Page_499">499</a>, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>;</li> - <li>at the battle of Talavera, <a href="#Page_527">527</a>-<a href="#Page_554">54</a>;</li> - <li>his mendacious report to Napoleon, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>;</li> - <li>retreats toward Madrid, <a href="#Page_568">568</a>;</li> - <li>marches against Venegas, <a href="#Page_569">569</a>;</li> - <li>his orders to Soult, <a href="#Page_596">596</a>;</li> - <li>wins battle of Almonacid, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Jourdan, Jean-Baptiste, marshal, military adviser to King Joseph, his controversy with Victor, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his comments on the Spanish resistance, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> - <li>sends orders to Lapisse to go to Alcantara, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> - <li>at Talavera, <a href="#Page_527">527</a>-<a href="#Page_554">54</a>;</li> - <li>his orders to Soult, <a href="#Page_596">596</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Junot, general, Duke of Abrantes, besieges Saragossa, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>-<a href="#Page_119">19</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>superseded by Lannes, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li> - <li>removed from his command, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Junta, the Central, flies from Aranjuez to Seville, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>its refusal to allow a British garrison in Cadiz, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> - <li>refuses to appoint a single Commander-in-chief for Spanish troops, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> - <li>rejects the offers of negotiation of Sotelo, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> - <li>the plots against, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>;</li> - <li>its negotiations with Wellesley, <a href="#Page_466">466</a>;</li> - <li>its fears of Cuesta and intrigues with Venegas, <a href="#Page_468">468</a>-<a href="#Page_469">9</a>;</li> - <li>endeavours to prevent Wellesley’s return to Portugal, <a href="#Page_608">608</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Kellermann, François Christophe, general, commands expedition to Galicia, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>forces the pass of Pajares, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>;</li> - <li>evacuates the Asturias, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>;</li> - <li>commands in Leon, <a href="#Page_575">575</a>, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Lacoste, general, commands engineers at the siege of Saragossa, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>killed, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Lafitte, colonel, one of Argenton’s conspiracy, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his arrest, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Lamartinière, general, left by Soult at Tuy, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>relieved by Heudelet, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Lanhozo, combat of, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.</li> -<li>Lannes, Jean, marshal, besieges and takes Saragossa, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>-<a href="#Page_136">36</a>.</li> -<li>Lapisse, general, his instructions from Napoleon for the invasion of Portugal, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>held in check by Wilson, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> - <li>escapes from Wilson and sacks Alcantara, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> - <li>joins Victor at Merida, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> - <li>at Talavera, <a href="#Page_504">504</a>, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>;</li> - <li>killed, <a href="#Page_543">543</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Lasalle, general, commands cavalry in Victor’s army, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Berrocal, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li> - <li>at Medellin, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Lazan, Marquis of, brings the Aragonese division to Gerona, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>pursues St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> - <li>fails to appear at the battle of Cardadeu, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> - <li>his success in the Ampurdam, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> - <li>promises to succour Saragossa, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> - <li>unites with Francisco Palafox, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> - <li>retreats before Lannes, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> - <li>at Alcañiz, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>;</li> - <li>at Maria, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Lefebvre, general, delates Argenton to Soult, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>-<a href="#Page_322">2</a>.</li> -<li id="Lef">Lefebvre, marshal, Duke of Dantzig, defeats Galluzzo at Almaraz, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>disobeys Napoleon’s orders, sent back to France, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Leval, general, at Talavera, <a href="#Page_530">530</a>.</li> -<li>Lima-Barreto, general, at the defence of Oporto, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>killed, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Lippe, Conde de La (Frederick of Lippe-Bückeburg), his reorganization of the Portuguese regular army, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> -<li>Lisbon, disturbed condition of, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_201">1</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>Wellesley’s plans for defence of, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Loison, general, his disinclination to advance into Portugal, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>hatred of the people of Oporto for, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> - <li>sent out by Soult to the Tras-os-Montes, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> - <li>resisted by Silveira, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> - <li>attacks Amarante, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> - <li>his difficulties, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>-<a href="#Page_271">71</a>;</li> - <li>occupies Amarante, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> - <li>and Villa Real, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</li> - <li>disapproves of Soult’s ambitious views, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> - <li>checked by the Portuguese and abandons Amarante, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>;</li> - <li>retreat of, to Guimaraens, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Lusitanian Legion, the, raised by Sir R. Wilson, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>on the Portuguese frontier, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> - <li>2nd batt. of, sent under Eben to Braga, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> - <li>at battle of Braga, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>;</li> - <li>1st batt. defends Alcantara, <a href="#Page_441">441</a>;</li> - <li>engaged <span class="pagenum" id="Page_661">[p. 661]</span> in Wilson’s march to Escalona, <a href="#Page_479">479</a>-<a href="#Page_570">570</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Mackenzie, general, commands brigade sent to garrison Cadiz, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>returns to Lisbon, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> - <li>commands ‘containing force’ left by Wellesley on his advance to Oporto, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;</li> - <li>killed at Talavera, <a href="#Page_541">541</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Mackinley, captain, R.N., receives the surrender of French garrison of Vigo, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> -<li>Madrid, formal entry of Joseph into, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> -<li>Mahy, Nicolas, general, is defeated by Franceschi at La Trepa, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>left in command of La Romana’s army, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>;</li> - <li>retreats before Ney, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>;</li> - <li>his descent on Lugo, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>.</li> - <li>Maria, battle of, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>-<a href="#Page_428">8</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Maucune, general, defeated by Carrera near Santiago, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>.</li> -<li>Mayne, William, lieut.-col. of the Lusitanian Legion, governor of Almeida, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>-<a href="#Page_258">8</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>occupies Alcantara, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</li> - <li>driven out by Victor, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>-<a href="#Page_441">1</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Medellin, battle of, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>-<a href="#Page_166">66</a>.</li> -<li>Melgarejo, governor of Ferrol, surrenders to Soult, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> -<li>Mequinenza, refuses to surrender to Mortier, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>.</li> -<li>Meza de Ibor, combat of, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>Cuesta at, <a href="#Page_586">586</a>, <a href="#Page_592">592</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Miajadas, combat of, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> -<li>Milans, Francisco, leader of <i>miqueletes</i>, driven back by St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>fails to come up at battle of Cardadeu, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Minho, Soult repulsed at the, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</li> -<li><i>Miqueletes</i>, the Catalonian, surround Barcelona, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li> -<li>Misarella, passage of the, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> -<li>Molins de Rey, battle of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.</li> -<li>Moncey, Bon Adrien de, marshal, in charge of the siege of Saragossa, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_110">10</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>recalled to Madrid, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Moore, Sir John, his views on the defence of Portugal, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> -<li>Morella, taken and abandoned by Grandjean, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>.</li> -<li>Morillo, Pablo, leads Galicians against Vigo, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at combat of Santiago, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Mortier, Edouard, marshal, Duke of Treviso, leads the 5th Corps to take part in the siege of Saragossa, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>-<a href="#Page_112">12</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>operations of, in Eastern Aragon, <a href="#Page_409">409</a>;</li> - <li>recalled to Castile by Napoleon, <a href="#Page_410">410</a>, <a href="#Page_411">411</a>;</li> - <li>leads the vanguard of Soult’s force to Plasencia, <a href="#Page_574">574</a>;</li> - <li>meets Cuesta’s force at Oropesa, <a href="#Page_583">583</a>;</li> - <li>movements of, in the Tagus valley, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Murray, George, general, fails to stop the retreating French at Oporto, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his pursuit of Soult, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>-<a href="#Page_351">1</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Napoleon, Emperor, his parting orders to Jourdan, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Valladolid, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>-<a href="#Page_16">6</a>;</li> - <li>quits Spain, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> - <li>his plan for the next campaign, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>;</li> - <li>its impracticability, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>-<a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> - <li>his dispatch to Soult on the invasion of Portugal, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> - <li>receives news of Soult’s ambitious views, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> - <li>his estimate of Wellesley, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> - <li>his orders to Ney for the subjection of Galicia, <a href="#Page_369">369</a>;</li> - <li>of the Asturias, <a href="#Page_388">388</a>;</li> - <li>his criticism of Soult’s advance on Plasencia, <a href="#Page_497">497</a>;</li> - <li>his rebukes to Joseph and Jourdan, <a href="#Page_537">537</a>, <a href="#Page_565">565</a>;</li> - <li>orders the cessation of active operations, <a href="#Page_618">618</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Ney, Michel, marshal, Duke of Elchingen, leaves Saragossa, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>joins Soult, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> - <li>his difficulties in Galicia, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_367">367</a>-<a href="#Page_370">70</a>;</li> - <li>captures Oviedo, <a href="#Page_379">379</a>-<a href="#Page_381">81</a>;</li> - <li>his meeting with Soult at Lugo, <a href="#Page_391">391</a>;</li> - <li>repulsed by Noroña at the Oitaben, <a href="#Page_396">396</a>-<a href="#Page_397">7</a>;</li> - <li>abandons Galicia, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>;</li> - <li>joins Soult in pursuit of Wellesley, <a href="#Page_583">583</a>;</li> - <li>fails at Almaraz, <a href="#Page_594">594</a>;</li> - <li>returns towards Salamanca, <a href="#Page_597">597</a>;</li> - <li>defeats Wilson at Baños, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Noroña, Conde de, commands the ‘Division of the Minho,’ repulses Ney at the Oitaben, <a href="#Page_394">394</a>-<a href="#Page_397">7</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>O’Daly, Pedro, colonel, commands garrison of Rosas, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>-<a href="#Page_56">6</a>.</li> -<li>O’Donoju, general, chief of Cuesta’s staff, <a href="#Page_472">472</a>.</li> -<li>Oitaben, the, Ney repulsed by Noroña at, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>-<a href="#Page_397">7</a>.</li> -<li>Oporto, fortifications of, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>stormed by Soult, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>-<a href="#Page_248">8</a>;</li> - <li>surprise and capture of, by Wellesley, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>-<a href="#Page_342">42</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Oporto, the bishop of (Antonio de Castro), unwise zeal in rousing the <span class="pagenum" id="Page_662">[p. 662]</span>populace of Oporto, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>gathers an army for the defence of Oporto, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</li> - <li>abandons the city, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li><i>Ordenanza</i>, the Portuguese <i>levée en masse</i>, called out by the Regency, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>its organization, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li> - <li>opposes Soult’s advance, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>-<a href="#Page_238">38</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Orense, occupied by Soult, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.</li> -<li>Oviedo, captured and sacked by Ney, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Paget, Edward, general, crosses the Douro at Oporto, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> -<li>Palacio, Del, Marquis, escapes from Victor, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>commands Andalusian force, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> - <li>Captain-General of Catalonia, his slowness, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> - <li>recalled by the Central Junta, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Palafox, Francisco, escapes from Saragossa to seek help for the garrison, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>arms the local levies, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li> - <li>joins Lazan’s force, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> - <li>retreats before Lannes, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> - <li>intrigues against the Junta, <a href="#Page_464">464</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Palafox, Joseph, defends Saragossa, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>-<a href="#Page_136">136</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>capitulates, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>-<a href="#Page_138">8</a>;</li> - <li>taken prisoner to Vincennes, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> - <li>criticism of his defence, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>-<a href="#Page_142">2</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Parque, Duke del, commands division of the Army of Estremadura at Meza de Ibor, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Medellin, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> - <li>commands at Ciudad Rodrigo, <a href="#Page_574">574</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Parreiras, general, takes part in the defence of Oporto, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>-<a href="#Page_246">6</a>.</li> -<li>Patrick, colonel, his gallant defence of the bridge of Amarante, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> -<li>Peso de Regoa, combat of, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>.</li> -<li><i>Philadelphes</i>, the, secret society in France opposed to Napoleon, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li> -<li>Pino, general, at Cardadeu, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Valls, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Pizarro, Magelhaes, his futile attempt to defend Chaves, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.</li> -<li>Ponte Nova, passage of the, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>-<a href="#Page_358">8</a>.</li> -<li>Portugal, condition of, in the spring of 1809, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>-<a href="#Page_208">208</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>Soult’s and Wellesley’s campaign in March-May, 1809, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>-<a href="#Page_366">366</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Portuguese army, its history and reorganization, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>-<a href="#Page_222">22</a>.</li> -<li>Puerto de Baños, combat of, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Quiroga, Abbot of Casoyo, raises Galicians against Soult, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Reding, Teodoro, general, sent by Vives against St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Cardadeu, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> - <li>joins Caldagues, at Molins de Rey, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> - <li>defeated by St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> - <li>supersedes Vives as Captain-General of Catalonia, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> - <li>in Tarragona, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> - <li>drives back Souham at Valls, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> - <li>defeated by St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> - <li>wounded and dies, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Regency, the Portuguese, fails in organizing national defence after Junot’s departure, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>calls out the <i>Ordenanza</i>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</li> - <li>asks for a British Commander-in-chief for the Portuguese army, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> - <li>its report on the Oporto campaign, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> - <li>attempts to mobilize the militia, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Reille, general, withdraws to Figueras, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>sufferings of his troops, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</li> - <li>besieges and takes Rosas, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Ricard, general, his circular letter on the subject of Soult’s election as King of Portugal, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</li> -<li>Roca, general, at Alcañiz, <a href="#Page_417">417</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Maria, <a href="#Page_424">424</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Rogniat, colonel, takes command of the French engineers at siege of Saragossa, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> -<li>Romana, La, Marquis of, condition of his army, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his wanderings, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>; retreats to Monterey, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> - <li>escapes from. Franceschi, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>-<a href="#Page_195">5</a>;</li> - <li>captures Villafranca, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>-<a href="#Page_375">5</a>;</li> - <li>his <i>coup d’état</i> at Oviedo, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>;</li> - <li>routed by Ney at the passage of the Nova, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</li> - <li>marches to Orense, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>;</li> - <li>his operations against Soult, <a href="#Page_399">399</a>-<a href="#Page_400">400</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Rosas, siege of, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> -<li>Ruffin, general, commands division guarding Madrid, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at battle of Ucles, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> - <li>leads night-attack at Talavera, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>-<a href="#Page_518">8</a>;</li> - <li>leads the second attack, <a href="#Page_523">523</a>, <a href="#Page_525">525</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>St. Cyr, Laurent Gouvion, general, commands French army in Catalonia, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his character, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> - <li>sends Reille to besiege Rosas, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> - <li>proceeds against Barcelona, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>-<a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> - <li>wins battle of Cardadeu, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>-<a href="#Page_67">7</a>;</li> - <li>of Molins de Rey, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> - <li>routs Castro’s troops at Igualada, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> - <li>wins battle of Valls, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>St. March, general, takes part in <span class="pagenum" id="Page_663">[p. 663]</span>the defence of Saragossa, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>receives military command of the city from Palafox, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Salamonde, combat of, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>-<a href="#Page_358">8</a>.</li> -<li>San Genis, colonel, fortifies Saragossa, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>killed on the ramparts, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Santander, Ballasteros’ descent on, <a href="#Page_386">386</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>retaken by Bonnet, <a href="#Page_387">387</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Santiago, combat near, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>.</li> -<li>Saragossa, second siege of, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>-<a href="#Page_136">136</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>its outworks stormed, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>-<a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> - <li>street-fighting in, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_135">35</a>;</li> - <li>capitulation of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> - <li>condition of, after the siege, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Sass, Santiago, parish priest of Saragossa, shot by the French, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</li> -<li>Sebastiani, Horace, general, succeeds to command of the 4th Corps, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>routs Cartaojal at Ciudad Real, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> - <li>at Talavera, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, <a href="#Page_527">527</a>, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>;</li> - <li>eludes Venegas, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a>;</li> - <li>wins battle of Almonacid, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Senra, general, joins Venegas before the battle of Ucles, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>.</li> -<li>Silveira, Francisco, general, military governor of the Tras-os-Montes, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>assembles his forces at Chaves, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</li> - <li>returns to San Pedro, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>;</li> - <li>to Villa Pouca, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> - <li>recaptures Chaves, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> - <li>attacks Loison, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> - <li>defends Amarante, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>-<a href="#Page_271">71</a>;</li> - <li>escapes across the Douro, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</li> - <li>checks Loison at Peso de Regoa, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;</li> - <li>pursues Soult, <a href="#Page_352">352</a>, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Smith, Sir George, his endeavour to force a British garrison on Cadiz, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_29">9</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his death, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li><i>Somatenes</i>, their good work in Catalonia, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>.</li> -<li>Sotelo, agent for Victor, tries to negotiate with the Governor of Badajoz and Central Junta, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> -<li>Souham, general, repulsed by Reding at Valls, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> -<li id="Soult">Soult, Nicolas, marshal, Duke of Dalmatia, receives instructions from Napoleon for the invasion of Portugal, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>their impracticability, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>-<a href="#Page_172">2</a>;</li> - <li>difficulties of his task, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</li> - <li>captures Ferrol, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> - <li>his final orders from Napoleon, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> - <li>starts his troops for Portugal, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> - <li>fails to cross the Minho, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</li> - <li>difficulties of his progress in Galicia, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_189">9</a>;</li> - <li>occupies Orense, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, and Chaves, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li> - <li>wins battle of Braga, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</li> - <li>storms Oporto, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>-<a href="#Page_248">8</a>;</li> - <li>his ambitious views, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>-<a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> - <li>his dealings with the Argenton conspiracy, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</li> - <li>surprised by Wellesley in Oporto, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>-<a href="#Page_341">41</a>;</li> - <li>his retreat, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>-<a href="#Page_360">60</a>;</li> - <li>meets Ney at Lugo, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>;</li> - <li>abandons Galicia, <a href="#Page_398">398</a>-<a href="#Page_402">402</a>;</li> - <li>his justificatory letters, <a href="#Page_403">403</a>-<a href="#Page_405">5</a>;</li> - <li>appointed commander of the united army, <a href="#Page_460">460</a>, <a href="#Page_461">461</a>;</li> - <li>advances on Plasencia to support Joseph, <a href="#Page_497">497</a>, <a href="#Page_573">573</a>;</li> - <li>pursues Wellesley, <a href="#Page_577">577</a>-<a href="#Page_580">580</a>;</li> - <li>routs Albuquerque at Arzobispo, <a href="#Page_589">589</a>-<a href="#Page_591">91</a>;</li> - <li>his desire to invade Portugal, <a href="#Page_595">595</a>, <a href="#Page_617">617</a>;</li> - <li>checked by King Joseph, <a href="#Page_618">618</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Stewart, Charles, general, - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at combat of Grijon, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;</li> - <li>at battle of Oporto, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</li> - <li>at conference of Mirabete, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>-<a href="#Page_471">1</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Suchet, general, takes command of the 3rd Corps, <a href="#Page_412">412</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>defeated at Alcañiz, <a href="#Page_418">418</a>-<a href="#Page_420">20</a>;</li> - <li>wins battle of Maria, <a href="#Page_423">423</a>-<a href="#Page_427">7</a>;</li> - <li>and of Belchite, <a href="#Page_429">429</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Tactics, the, of Wellesley, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li> -<li>Talavera, Victor retires to, <a href="#Page_490">490</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>the allied armies at, <a href="#Page_491">491</a>-<a href="#Page_492">2</a>;</li> - <li>battle of, <a href="#Page_502">502</a>-<a href="#Page_556">56</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Tarragona, blockaded by St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> -<li>Troncoso, Mauricio, Abbot of Couto, raises the Galician peasantry against Soult, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> -<li>Tuy, surrendered to Franceschi, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>occupied by Lamartinière, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</li> - <li>relieved by Heudelet, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> - <li>evacuated by the French, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Ucles, battle of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>town of, sacked by the French, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Valls, battle of, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_89">9</a>.</li> -<li>Vaughan, Sir Charles, his testimony to Palafox’s character, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.</li> -<li>Venegas, Francisco, general, attempts to surprise Tarancon, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>defeated by Victor at Ucles, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>;</li> - <li>supersedes Cartaojal in command of the Army of the Centre, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> - <li>advances to <span class="pagenum" id="Page_664">[p. 664]</span>meet Sebastiani, <a href="#Page_457">457</a>;</li> - <li>fails to carry out Wellesley’s and Cuesta’s orders, <a href="#Page_478">478</a>;</li> - <li>at Toledo, <a href="#Page_529">529</a>;</li> - <li>allows the army of Sebastiani to escape him, <a href="#Page_566">566</a>, <a href="#Page_567">567</a>;</li> - <li>loses the opportunity of occupying Madrid, <a href="#Page_568">568</a>;</li> - <li>his blunders, <a href="#Page_612">612</a>;</li> - <li>defeated at Almonacid, <a href="#Page_614">614</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Victor, Claude Perrin, marshal, Duke of Belluno, defeats Spaniards at Ucles, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_12">12</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>marches to Almaraz, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> - <li>his controversy with Jourdan, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</li> - <li>drives back the Duke del Parque at Meza de Ibor, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</li> - <li>wins battle of Medellin, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>-<a href="#Page_166">66</a>;</li> - <li>remains stationary at Merida, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> - <li>joined by Lapisse, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> - <li>seizes Alcantara, <a href="#Page_440">440</a>-<a href="#Page_441">41</a>;</li> - <li>misery of his army, <a href="#Page_443">443</a>-<a href="#Page_444">4</a>;</li> - <li>retires from Talavera, <a href="#Page_490">490</a>;</li> - <li>joined by Joseph and Jourdan, <a href="#Page_500">500</a>;</li> - <li>at Talavera, <a href="#Page_504">504</a>-<a href="#Page_555">55</a>;</li> - <li>his night-attack, <a href="#Page_516">516</a>-<a href="#Page_518">8</a>;</li> - <li>his second attack, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>;</li> - <li>his great attack, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>-<a href="#Page_554">54</a>;</li> - <li>retreats on Madrid, <a href="#Page_570">570</a>;</li> - <li>reoccupies Talavera, <a href="#Page_580">580</a>;</li> - <li>in La Mancha, <a href="#Page_618">618</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Vigo, surrenders to Franceschi, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>blockaded by Galicians, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> - <li>surrenders to Capt. Mackinley, R.N., <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Villafranca, captured by La Romana, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>, <a href="#Page_375">375</a>.</li> -<li>Villatte, general, at the battle of Ucles, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>at Talavera, <a href="#Page_522">522</a>, <a href="#Page_531">531</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Villel, Marquis of, special commissioner at Cadiz, opposes landing of British troops, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his eccentric legislation, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> - <li>recalled by the Junta, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Villiers, Hon. John, British minister at Lisbon, opposes Cradock’s timid policy, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</li> -<li>Vittoria, general, at the defence of Oporto, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>.</li> -<li>Vives, appointed Captain-General of Catalonia, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>invests Barcelona, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> - <li>fails to send help to Rosas, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;</li> - <li>sends <i>miqueletes</i> against St. Cyr, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> - <li>defeated at Cardadeu, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> - <li>at Molins de Rey, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;</li> - <li>superseded by Reding, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - -<ul class="IX"> -<li>Waters, colonel, seizes barges for the crossing of the Douro, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li> -<li>Wellesley, Sir Arthur, takes command of British troops in Portugal, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>declines the post of commander-in-chief of the Portuguese army, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</li> - <li>arrives in Lisbon, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</li> - <li>his opinions on the defence of Portugal, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li> - <li>his character and abilities, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>-<a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> - <li>his limitations, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>-<a href="#Page_311">11</a>;</li> - <li>his tactics, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> - <li>his interviews with Argenton, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>;</li> - <li>advance on Oporto, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>-<a href="#Page_335">35</a>;</li> - <li>attacks and takes Oporto, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>-<a href="#Page_342">42</a>;</li> - <li>his pursuit of Soult, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>-<a href="#Page_366">66</a>;</li> - <li>correspondence with Cuesta, <a href="#Page_445">445</a>-<a href="#Page_448">8</a>;</li> - <li>reviews Cuesta’s troops at Almaraz, <a href="#Page_470">470</a>-<a href="#Page_472">2</a>;</li> - <li>quarrel with Cuesta at Talavera, <a href="#Page_491">491</a>, <a href="#Page_492">492</a>;</li> - <li>his choice of the positions at Talavera, <a href="#Page_503">503</a>, <a href="#Page_507">507</a>;</li> - <li>wins battle of Talavera, <a href="#Page_513">513</a>-<a href="#Page_554">54</a>;</li> - <li>marches on Plasencia, <a href="#Page_573">573</a>;</li> - <li>on Oropesa, <a href="#Page_583">583</a>;</li> - <li>holds the line of the Tagus, <a href="#Page_600">600</a>-<a href="#Page_601">1</a>;</li> - <li>retires to Badajoz, <a href="#Page_606">606</a>;</li> - <li>his plans for the Defence of Portugal, <a href="#Page_610">610</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Wellesley, Richard, Marquis, his diplomacy at Seville, <a href="#Page_608">608</a>.</li> -<li>West, captain, R. N., of the <i>Excellent</i>, at Rosas, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> -<li>Wilson, Sir Robert, commands the Loyal Lusitanian Legion, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>his differences with the bishop of Oporto, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> - <li>his character and record, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>;</li> - <li>refuses to retreat as advised by Sir John Cradock, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</li> - <li>holds Lapisse in check, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> - <li>joins Wellesley’s advance into Spain, <a href="#Page_438">438</a>;</li> - <li>threatens Victor’s flank after Talavera, <a href="#Page_570">570</a>;</li> - <li>his escape from Escalona, <a href="#Page_619">619</a>;</li> - <li>defeated by Ney at Baños, <a href="#Page_620">620</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -<li>Worster, lieut.-general, commands Asturian force, <a href="#Page_372">372</a>; - <ul class="IX"> - <li>escapes from Ney, <a href="#Page_383">383</a>.</li> - </ul></li> -</ul> - - -<p class="small centra mt6">END OF VOL. II</p> - - -<p class="centra mt3">Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, by <span class="smcap">Horace Hart</span>, M.A.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<div class="chapter pt3"> -<div class="footnotes"> - -<p class="large centra mt1">FOOTNOTES</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_1"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_1">[1]</a></span> Save two Dutch and one German -regiment of Leval’s division, which had been left behind on garrison -duty in Biscay and Old Castile.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_2"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_2">[2]</a></span> This was done by the Emperor’s -orders. The <i>cadres</i> of these regiments, called <i>Royal-Étranger</i> and -<i>Royal-Napoléon</i>, were formed partly of Frenchmen, partly of Spanish -<i>Afrancesados</i>. The rank and file of the first regiment were to be -raised from the Swiss and Germans who had served in the old Spanish -army: some of them had adhered to the French, others, when taken -prisoners in the late campaign, had offered to serve King Joseph. -The second regiment was to be composed of native Spaniards. See -<cite>Correspondance de Napoléon</cite>, 14,531.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_3"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_3">[3]</a></span> The 55th, a stray remnant left behind -by Dessolles.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_4"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_4">[4]</a></span> Division of Villatte. It had one -battalion detached, along with the 26th Chasseurs, at Toledo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_5"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_5">[5]</a></span> Division of Valence and -Sebastiani.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_6"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_6">[6]</a></span> Lasalle’s division (often altered in -composition) now consisted of the 10th and 26th Chasseurs, 9th Dragoons -and Polish Lancers.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_7"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_7">[7]</a></span> See for all these details <cite>Nap. -Corresp.</cite>, 14,609.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_8"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_8">[8]</a></span> Napier misrepresents this move in -the strangest way, saying (i. 364) merely that ‘the Duke of Dantzig -recrossed the Tagus and took post between Talavera and Plasencia.’ -Avila is fifty miles north of these places, and on the other side of -the Guadarrama.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_9"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_9">[9]</a></span> Napoleon to Joseph from Valladolid, -Jan. 9, <cite>Nap. Corresp.</cite>, 14,671.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_10"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_10">[10]</a></span> See the figures furnished by the -Valencian Junta in Argüelles, ii. 74. It must he remembered that -4,800 of the division had escaped to Saragossa, and took part in its -defence.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_11"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_11">[11]</a></span> The 1st division had only four -battalions present, the others having been at Madrid, in the army of -San Juan.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_12"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_12">[12]</a></span> The officer, a Lieutenant Santiago, -had refused to march on Cuenca, and when the order was repeated, -unlimbered his battery across the road and threatened to fire on the -troops who were marching in that direction. See Arteche, iii. 12.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_13"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_13">[13]</a></span> It had only 311 inhabitants to the -square league in 1803, as compared with 926 in Andalusia, and 2,009 in -Guipuzcoa.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_14"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_14">[14]</a></span> See vol. i. p. 437.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_15"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_15">[15]</a></span> For these changes see <a -href="#ChapA_1">Appendix I</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_16"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_16">[16]</a></span> Perreimond’s brigade of -Latour-Maubourg’s division.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_17"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_17">[17]</a></span> Jourdan confesses to this massacre -in the most open way. ‘Le 27<sup>e</sup> Léger s’étant présenté aux -portes de Chinchon, fut reçu à coups de fusil. Cette provocation -occasionna la perte des habitants: ils furent <i>tous</i> tués, et la ville -incendiée.’ <cite>Mémoires du Maréchal Jourdan</cite>, 139.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_18"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_18">[18]</a></span> All these movements are most -clearly set forth in Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, by far the best authority -for the campaign of Ucles.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_19"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_19">[19]</a></span> <cite>Nap. Corresp.</cite>, 14,637 and -14,684.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_20"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_20">[20]</a></span> Beside the twenty battalions given -in the Appendix to Arteche, iv, Venegas’s narrative shows that at least -two more (Baylen and Navas de Tolosa) were present.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_21"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_21">[21]</a></span> These numbers are probably exact: -Jourdan quotes them from his own official report to Berthier of Jan. -20. See his <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 144.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_22"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_22">[22]</a></span> As the wrecks of fifteen or -sixteen battalions had surrendered, there seems no reason to doubt the -number of standards. But the Spaniards asserted that Victor eked out -his trophies, by taking down the old battle-flags of the knights of -Santiago from their church in Ucles.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_23"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_23">[23]</a></span> Cf. the <cite>Mémoires</cite> of Rocca (of the -2nd Hussars, Victor’s corps-cavalry), p. 68, and Schepeler.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_24"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_24">[24]</a></span> Notably the ever-inaccurate -<cite>Victoires et Conquêtes</cite>, and Thiers. The usually-sensible Belmas makes -the Spanish prisoners amount to 13,000 men, two thousand more than -Venegas ever put in line.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_25"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_25">[25]</a></span> <cite>Nap. Corresp.</cite>, 14,729, from -Valladolid, Jan. 16.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_26"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_26">[26]</a></span> ‘Faites donc pendre une douzaine -d’individus à Madrid: il n’y manque point de mauvais sujets, et sans -cela il n’y aura rien de fait.’ <cite>Nap. Corresp.</cite>, 14,684. Compare -Lecestre, <cite>Lettres inédites de Napoléon</cite>, i. 275, where orders are -given that thirty persons, who had already been acquitted by the civil -tribunals, should he rearrested, tried again before a court martial, -and promptly shot! Napoleon to Joseph, Jan. 16, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_27"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_27">[27]</a></span> ‘Je préfèrerais que vous prissiez -tous les tableaux qui se trouvent dans les maisons confisquées et -dans les couvents supprimés, et que vous me fissiez présent d’une -cinquantaine de chefs-d’œuvre. Vous sentez qu’il ne faut que de bonnes -choses.’ <cite>Nap. Corresp.</cite>, 14,717.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_28"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_28">[28]</a></span> Napoleon to Joseph, Jan. 11, 1809, -<cite>Nap. Corresp.</cite>, 14,684.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_29"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_29">[29]</a></span> Almost the same words are found in -a dispatch to Mollien of Jan. 24, ‘Aujourd’hui les affaires d’Espagne -sont à peu près terminées.’ This was written <i>after</i> the Emperor had -returned to Paris.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_30"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_30">[30]</a></span> Cf., for example, <cite>Nap. Corresp.</cite>, -14,741 and 14,749, where Austria is said to have changed her tone and -stopped her preparation, with 14,721 and 14,779, which show a most -hostile spirit against her.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_31"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_31">[31]</a></span> For the details, see <cite>Nap. -Corresp.</cite>, 14,780, written to Bessières from Paris on Feb. 15.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_32"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_32">[32]</a></span> As a matter of fact, as has been -stated elsewhere, Soult though working his hardest did not leave -Corunna till Feb. 20, 1809, nor take Oporto till March 29.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_33"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_33">[33]</a></span> It will be remembered (see vol. i. -p. 529), that they went via Talavera, Merida, and Llerena.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_34"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_34">[34]</a></span> Canning to Frere, Jan. 14, 1809 -(Record Office).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_35"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_35">[35]</a></span> The 29th, 3/27th, and 2/9th -regiments.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_36"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_36">[36]</a></span> As Canning wrote to Frere, after -receiving the news of the abortive expedition, ‘The enclosed copy of -the instructions under which Sir G. Smith was sent out, will show you -that the step taken by that officer was not to have been taken <i>except -at the direct solicitation of the Spanish authorities</i>.... He has been -directed to leave Cadiz at once, and you may assure the Junta that no -separate or secret commission was, has been, or ever will be entrusted -to any officer or other person,’ Feb. 26 (Record Office).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_37"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_37">[37]</a></span> Frere, by his own showing, exceeded -the bounds of diplomatic evasion. He writes to Canning (Feb. 9) to say -that the dispatch of the Lisbon troops had been a complete surprise -to him, as he had not received any information on the subject. ‘It -occurred to me, however, that it was best to take it upon myself, and -to affect to consider it a thing of course, and to say that I had sent -orders in conformity with the note which I had received from Mr. de -Garay. In order to give this some semblance of truth, I did afterwards -write a letter to Lisbon to this effect, and sent it off before I -dispatched my note to Mr. de Garay. This did not prevent me from being -assailed by remonstrances.’ Finally he proceeded to tell the Junta -‘that he only wished to see Cadiz occupied in the extreme case of an -immediate attack by the French’ (Record Office).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_38"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_38">[38]</a></span> For Villel’s eccentricities in -detail see Toreno, i. pp. 375-6, and Arteche, v. p. 107.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_39"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_39">[39]</a></span> See Col. Leslie (of the 29th), -<cite>Memoirs</cite>, p. 94.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_40"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_40">[40]</a></span> Mackenzie wrote that ‘it was -evident that the people were favourable to our landing and occupying -the town, for it was frequently called for during the tumult.’ But ‘the -utmost care was taken to prevent our officers or soldiers from taking -any part whatever on this occasion, and except when I was applied -to by the Governor for the interference of some British officers as -mediators, we stood perfectly clear.’ Dispatch to Castlereagh in the -Record Office, dated Lisbon, March 13, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_41"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_41">[41]</a></span> Martin de Garay to Frere, March 4 -(Record Office).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_42"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_42">[42]</a></span> Napier enlarges on this incident -at great length in pages 14-19 of his second volume. In his persistent -dislike for Canning, Castlereagh and Mr. Frere, as well as for the -Spaniards, he concludes that the business ‘indicated an unsettled -policy, shallow combination, and had agents on the part of the British -Cabinet, and an unwise and unworthy disposition in the Supreme Junta,’ -while Smith was ‘zealous and acute’ and Cradock ‘full of zeal and -moral courage.’ It is hard to give an unqualified assent to any one of -these views. Smith was wrong in acting without giving any notice of -his intentions to the Junta: Cradock’s zeal was equally untempered by -discretion. The British Cabinet, acting on the information available in -the end of December, was right to be anxious about Cadiz, and equally -right to abandon its attempt to occupy the place in March, when the -conditions of the war had changed, and the Junta had shown its dislike -to the proposal. As to the Spaniards, the matter was only broached to -them in February, when the danger of an immediate French advance had -passed away, and they were entirely justified in their answer, which -was framed as politely as could be contrived. We must not blame them -overmuch for their suspicion: England, though now a friend, had long -been an enemy—and the fate of Gibraltar was always before their -eyes.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_43"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_43">[43]</a></span> See the table in Argüelles on p. 74 -of his Appendix-volume.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_44"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_44">[44]</a></span> 288,000 on Feb. 15. See Napier’s -extracts from the Imperial muster rolls, i. 514. These numbers include -the sick and detached.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_45"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_45">[45]</a></span> See Arteche, iv. 115-51: the -advocate of the guerrilla game was a certain Faustino Fernandez.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_46"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_46">[46]</a></span> So Vacani. Laffaille gives the -incredible figure of 48!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_47"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_47">[47]</a></span> See Cochrane’s <cite>Autobiography</cite>, pp. -269-85.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_48"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_48">[48]</a></span> Two battalions of the 2nd of -Savoia: the old regiment of the name had been completed to four -battalions, two were with Castaños and called 1st of Savoia, the other -two came to Catalonia.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_49"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_49">[49]</a></span> Four battalions of Provincial -Grenadiers of Old and New Castile had already come up.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_50"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_50">[50]</a></span> Vol. i. p. 333.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_51"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_51">[51]</a></span> For several curious and interesting -stories concerning St. Cyr, the reader may search the third volume of -Marbot’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>. Marbot is not an authority to be followed with -much confidence, but the picture drawn of the marshal is borne out by -other and better writers.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_52"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_52">[52]</a></span> ‘On ne pourra pas échapper à la -pensée que Napoléon, avec sa force immense, a été assez faible pour -ne vouloir que des succès obtenus par lui-même, ou du moins sous ses -yeux. Autrement on eût dit que la victoire était pour lui une offense: -il en voulait surtout à la fortune quand elle favorisait les armes -d’officiers qui ne lui devaient pas leur élévation.’ <cite>Journal de -l’Armée de Catalogne</cite>, p. 26.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_53"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_53">[53]</a></span> St. Cyr, p. 23.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_54"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_54">[54]</a></span> Ibid., p. 19.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_55"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_55">[55]</a></span> For composition see the table of -the 7th Corps in Appendix of vol. i. The figures given by St. Cyr are -Pino 8,368, Souham 7,712, Chabot 1,988, Reille 4,000. The last is an -understatement, as shown by the morning state of Reille’s division in -Relmas, ii. 456, which shows 4,612 excluding the garrison of Figueras, -more than 1,000 strong.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_56"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_56">[56]</a></span> Lord Cochrane’s <cite>Autobiography</cite>, -i. 303. He adds ‘A pretty correct idea of our relative positions -may be formed if the unnautical reader will imagine our small force -placed in the nave of Westminster Abbey, with the enemy attacking the -great western tower from the summit of a cliff 100 feet higher than -the tower, so that the breach in course of formation corresponds to -the great west window of the Abbey. It was no easy matter to them -to scale the external wall of the tower up to the great window, and -more difficult still to get down from the window into the body of the -church. These were the points I had to provide against, for we could -not prevent the French either from breaching or from storming.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_57"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_57">[57]</a></span> James’s <cite>Naval History</cite>, v. p. -90.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_58"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_58">[58]</a></span> Compare the narrative of Lord -Cochrane, i. 299-300, with those of Belmas, ii. 441, and St. Cyr. -The latter is, of course, wrong in saying that the whole sortie was -composed of British seamen and marines. It is curious that Cochrane -states his own loss at more than the French claimed to have killed or -taken.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_59"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_59">[59]</a></span> Cochrane, <cite>Autobiography</cite>, i. -307.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_60"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_60">[60]</a></span> These were the two bomb-vessels -<i>Meteor</i> and <i>Lucifer</i>. The <i>Magnificent</i> 74 came up the same day, but -after the evacuation of the Trinity.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_61"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_61">[61]</a></span> St. Cyr does not say so (p. 50), -but only that the Spaniards imagined that it was done deliberately. -Belmas (p. ii. 453) asks if it was not irritation on the part of -the British. Arteche does not repulse the silly suggestion, as he -reasonably might (iv. 270).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_62"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_62">[62]</a></span> Belmas, ii. 454, and Vacani, ii. -315, agree in these figures.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_63"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_63">[63]</a></span> Berthier to St. Cyr, Burgos, Nov. -13. ‘Si Roses tarde à être pris, il faut marcher sur Barcelone sans -s’inquiéter de cette place, &c.,’ and much to same effect from -Coubo, Nov. 16 [wrongly printed in St. Cyr, Nov. 10].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_64"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_64">[64]</a></span> St. Cyr to the Emperor, Nov. 17, -from Figueras.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_65"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_65">[65]</a></span> May 30 to Dec. 10, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_66"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_66">[66]</a></span> See vol. i. p. 331.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_67"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_67">[67]</a></span> St. Cyr, <cite>Journal de l’Armée de -Catalogne</cite>, p. 58.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_68"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_68">[68]</a></span> St. Cyr says that Napoleon -falsified his report, when reprinting it in the <cite>Moniteur</cite>, and put 150 -instead of 50 rounds per man, to disguise the risk that had been run -(p. 58).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_69"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_69">[69]</a></span> Cf. Cabanes, with Arteche, iv. -276.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_70"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_70">[70]</a></span> St. Cyr, <cite>Journal de l’Armée de -Catalogne</cite>, p. 64.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_71"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_71">[71]</a></span> ‘Il faut passer sur le ventre au -corps de troupes en face, quel que soit son nombre.’ St. Cyr, p. 66.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_72"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_72">[72]</a></span> Three battalions of the 4th of the -line, and two of the 2nd Light Infantry.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_73"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_73">[73]</a></span> One battalion of the 2nd Light -Infantry and one of the 7th of the line.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_74"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_74">[74]</a></span> Three battalions each of the 1st -and 6th of the line.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_75"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_75">[75]</a></span> See the account of Cabanes, who was -with Milans this day, in his <cite>History of the War in Catalonia</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_76"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_76">[76]</a></span> See the narrative of an officer in -the division of Lazan, printed by Cabanes as an appendix.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_77"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_77">[77]</a></span> St. Cyr, as any reader of his -<cite>Mémoires</cite> can see, was malicious and sarcastic. But Duhesme has a bad -reputation for carelessness and selfishness, and his writings make an -even worse impression than those of St. Cyr. Probably the latter’s -narrative is fairly correct.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_78"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_78">[78]</a></span> Some of his <i>miqueletes</i> had -absconded during the withdrawal from the eastern half of the river.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_79"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_79">[79]</a></span> St. Cyr says twenty-five in -his report to Napoleon, but increases the number to fifty in his -<cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 87.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_80"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_80">[80]</a></span> This was the 4th battalion of the -2nd of the line, which had joined Reille in the late autumn, and did -not form part of his original division as detailed in the Appendix to -vol. i. St. Cyr says that it only lost sixty prisoners besides some -casualties. Lazan wrote that he took ninety prisoners, and killed or -wounded over 200 more Frenchmen.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_81"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_81">[81]</a></span> St. Cyr, <cite>Campagne de Catalogne</cite>, -p. 98.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_82"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_82">[82]</a></span> Regiments of Santa Fé, and 1st of -Antequera, three battalions with 3,600 men in November, and probably -3,000 in February.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_83"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_83">[83]</a></span> Swiss Regiment of Beschard, about -2,000 strong, and Majorca Militia [sometimes called ‘Palma’], 600 -strong.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_84"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_84">[84]</a></span> Troops from Barcelona under Lecchi -came out to replace Pino at Villafranca.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_85"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_85">[85]</a></span> Chabot lost a Neapolitan colonel -(Carascosa) and many other prisoners.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_86"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_86">[86]</a></span> St. Cyr says nothing of his own -danger, but the incident is given at length by Vacani, iii. 93, who -mentions that one of Pino’s aides-de-camp was wounded.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_87"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_87">[87]</a></span> ‘Si nous ne fîmes pas dans cette -affaire le nombre de prisonniers que nous eussions dû y faire,’ says -St. Cyr, ‘c’est que dans cette journée l’ennemi fit plus usage de ses -jambes que de ses armes. Quelques centaines seulement, la plupart -blessés, tombèrent entre nos mains’ [<cite>Campagne de Catalogne</cite>, p. -107].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_88"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_88">[88]</a></span> The details of this cross-march in -a badly-surveyed country, where the maps are very deficient, are more -easily to be made out from Vacani’s narrative (pp. 95-8) than from St. -Cyr’s own account.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_89"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_89">[89]</a></span> St. Cyr (p. 109) has a curious -story to the effect that he had failed entirely to find the road, but -ultimately discovered it by giving leave to a wounded Spanish officer -to return to Tarragona. He was followed at a discreet distance by -scouts, who noted the way that he took, and he thus served as a guide -of Pino’s division as far as the convent of Santas Cruces.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_90"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_90">[90]</a></span> Souham had anticipated St. Cyr’s -orders, and started to advance from Vendrell before his chief’s -dispatch from Igualada came to hand.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_91"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_91">[91]</a></span> Two battalions of <i>miqueletes</i> -(Lerida and 1st of Tarragona), 300 cavalry, a field-battery, and a -battalion of Reding’s own regiment of Swiss, about 2,100 men in all.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_92"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_92">[92]</a></span> Col. Doyle was present at this -council: his account of it is in the Record Office. He declares that -he himself was all for fighting, that Reding wavered, and the majority -refused to take risks.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_93"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_93">[93]</a></span> There is a detailed estimate of -Reding’s army given by St. Cyr in his Appendix no. 11. He says that -the figures were given him by ‘a Spanish general taken prisoner at -Valls,’ which must mean the Marquis of Casteldosrius, the only officer -of that rank captured. The names of nearly all the battalions cited in -this list are to be verified, either in Reding’s dispatch or in the -narrative of Cabanes—all indeed except the regiment of Baza, and -the three Miquelet Tercios, 1st and 2nd of Tarragona and Lerida. But -it is probable that Casteldosrius gave St. Cyr a morning state of the -whole army collected at Santa Coloma on the twenty-fourth, and that -these corps (with a total force of 3,000 men) formed part of the force -left with Wimpffen at Santa Coloma. I am driven to this conclusion by -the statement of Doyle in his letter written from Santa Coloma, on the -day before the battle, that Reding was marching “with 500 horse and a -little over 10,000 foot,” for Tarragona. Doyle is arguing in favour of -fighting, and has no object in understating the numbers. His figures -are borne out by all the Spanish narratives. The force must have stood -as follows:—</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Reding’s Army"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Infantry.</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Granadan Division:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Reding’s Swiss (one batt.)</td> - <td class="tdr">500</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Iliberia (or 1st of Granada)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,860</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Santa Fé (two batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr">2,300</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st of Antequera</td> - <td class="tdr bb">1,100</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">5,760</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">From the Old Catalan Army:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Guards [150 Spanish, 280 Walloons]</td> - <td class="tdr">430</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Soria</td> - <td class="tdr">1,000</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd of Savoia</td> - <td class="tdr">800</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Provincial Grenadiers of Old and New Castile</td> - <td class="tdr">1,300</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Wimpffen’s Swiss (two batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,140</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Palma Militia</td> - <td class="tdr bb">350</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">5,020</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Cavalry.</span></td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Husares of Granada</td> - <td class="tdr">450</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Husares Españoles</td> - <td class="tdr bb">250</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">700</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Artillery.</span></td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2 batteries, 8 guns</td> - <td class="tdr">200</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdc"><span class="smcap">Sappers.</span></td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1 Company</td> - <td class="tdr bb">100</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">11,800</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="ti1 mt1">[<a href="#Err_1">Erratum from p. xii</a>: I have -found from a Madrid document that part, though not the whole, of the -Regiment of Baza was present at Valls. One battalion was left behind -with Wimpffen: one marched with Reding: about 800 men therefore must be -added to my estimate of the Spanish infantry.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_94"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_94">[94]</a></span> These details are from Doyle’s -letter of Feb. 24, in the Record Office.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_95"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_95">[95]</a></span> The French forces engaged at Valls -were:—</p> - -<ul class="forces"> - <li class="pt05">Souham’s Division:</li> - <li class="hang">1st Léger (three batts.).</li> - <li class="hang">42nd of the Line (three batts.).</li> - <li>Provisional regiment:</li> - <li class="hang">[One batt. each of 3rd Léger and 67th Line, two batts. 7th Line.]</li> - <li>10 battalions, about 5,500 men.</li> - <li class="hang">24th Dragoons, about 500 men, two batteries.</li> - <li class="pt05">Pino’s Division:</li> - <li class="hang">1st Italian Light Regiment (three batts.).</li> - <li class="hang">2nd Italian Light Regiment (three batts.).</li> - <li class="hang">4th Line (three batts.).</li> - <li class="hang">6th Line (three batts.).</li> - <li class="hang">7th Line (one batt.).</li> - <li>13 battalions, about 6,500 men.</li> - <li class="hang">7th Italian Dragoons (‘Dragoons of Napoleon’) and Italian Royal - Chasseurs, together about 800 men.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="ti1 mt1">Total about 13,800 men, a force somewhat superior to -that of the Spaniards, if the latter had only the corps given in the -last table.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_96"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_96">[96]</a></span> Vacani, iii. 105-6. This fact is -mentioned by no other author.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_97"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_97">[97]</a></span> Arteche, v. 207-9, makes Reding -deliver a second attack on Souham in the early afternoon. This is, I -think, an error, caused by a misreading of Cabanes’ somewhat confused -account of the fight, from which it might be possible (if no other -sources existed) to deduce a second Spanish advance. But Cabanes is -really dealing with the later phases of the first combat only. It is -conclusive that neither Reding himself, in his official dispatch, -St. Cyr, Doyle, nor Vacani mention any engagement in the early -afternoon.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_98"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_98">[98]</a></span> St. Cyr in his Memoirs (p. 123) -makes the curious statement that he silenced his artillery after it -had fired only three rounds, lest he should frighten off the Spaniards -before he could reach them with his infantry, and so prevent the latter -from closing and winning as decisive a victory as possible. One is -almost prone to doubt the story, and to suppose that the cessation of -fire was due to the fear of killing his own men when they were getting -close to the Spanish line. Arteche puts this incident too early in the -fight, during Reding’s supposed second attack.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_99"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_99">[99]</a></span> Among them was an English officer -named Reid.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_100"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_100">[100]</a></span> Including Colonels Dumont and -Antunez commanding respectively the Walloon and Spanish guards, the -Marquis of Casteldosrius commanding the cavalry brigade, three of -Reding’s aides-de-camp, and eighty other officers. Two colonels were -killed, a brigadier-general (Saint Ellier) and many other superior -officers wounded.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_101"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_101">[101]</a></span> ‘Votre Altesse me dit qu’il n’y a -rien autour de nous qui puisse résister à 6,000 hommes. Je lui demande -pardon. La division Souham a été quelque temps seule le 25, et nous -avons vu qu’il était temps que l’autre division arrivât.... On ne peut -nier que les troupes espagnoles gagnent tous les jours, et nous sommes -forcés de leur rendre justice; à la bataille de Valls elles se sont -très-bien battues.’ St. Cyr to Berthier, Valls, March 6, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_102"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_102">[102]</a></span> See vol. i. p. 436.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_103"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_103">[103]</a></span> See vol. i. pp. 446-7.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_104"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_104">[104]</a></span> Few of the French historians -mention these changes, but they are quite certain. On Nov. 23 ‘the -division Maurice Mathieu’ means the 1st of the 3rd Corps; on Dec. 1, it -means the 2nd of the 6th Corps.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_105"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_105">[105]</a></span> See vol. i. pp. 446-7.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_106"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_106">[106]</a></span> By far the larger part of Roca’s -division reached Saragossa; the Spanish returns show that 4,500 men -joined Palafox, and only 1,500 escaped to Cuenca with the rest of the -‘Army of the Centre.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_107"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_107">[107]</a></span> Among these were the 1st and 2nd -Tiradores de Murcia, the regiment of Florida Blanca, the 3rd and 5th -Volunteers of Murcia, and the 3rd Volunteers of Valencia, all of which -had arrived too late for Tudela.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_108"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_108">[108]</a></span> To be exact, 756 was the number -of <i>paisanos</i> as opposed to <i>tropa</i> in the return of the garrison on -Feb. 20. See Arteche, Appendix to vol. iv.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_109"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_109">[109]</a></span> See Cavallero’s criticism of this -statement of Rogniat on p. 17 of his interesting little work.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_110"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_110">[110]</a></span> Cavallero, pp. 68-9. Belmas -translates the paragraph almost word for word in ii. 144-5 of his work, -without acknowledgement.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_111"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_111">[111]</a></span> Cavallero, pp. 81 and 148.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_112"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_112">[112]</a></span> The battalions of Alcañiz, -Tauste, and <i>Tiradores de Doyle</i>; the last were at Jaca, and afterwards -served with Blake’s army at Maria and Belchite. They are wrongly put in -Saragossa, in Arteche, iv. Appendix.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_113"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_113">[113]</a></span> See the remarks in defence of -Palafox in Arteche, iv. 332-4.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_114"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_114">[114]</a></span> The 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, -121st, and 2nd Legion of Reserve were all formed in this way.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_115"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_115">[115]</a></span> These were the 1st, 2nd and 3rd -of the Vistula, 44th and 14th of the line, and one battalion each of -the 70th and 5th Léger.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_116"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_116">[116]</a></span> See the table in Belmas, ii. -381.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_117"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_117">[117]</a></span> These were all detached from -Moncey. The Alagon garrison consisted of four battalions of the 2nd -Legion of Reserve, 2,500 strong. At Tudela were three battalions of the -121st regiment, 1,800 bayonets.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_118"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_118">[118]</a></span> Morlot’s division was short of -the 121st and the 2nd Legion of Reserve, left behind at Alagon and -Tudela, and had only nine battalions present.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_119"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_119">[119]</a></span> Moncey to Berthier, Dec. 23.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_120"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_120">[120]</a></span> Cavallero, pp. 89-90.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_121"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_121">[121]</a></span> See vol. i. p. 153.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_122"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_122">[122]</a></span> Belmas calls it a factory (ii. -151), but Palafox in his dispatch gives the name above.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_123"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_123">[123]</a></span> ‘Suizos de Aragon.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_124"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_124">[124]</a></span> An officer of sappers named -Henri, and one of his privates, tried to reopen communication by -swimming the river on an ice-cold night. They reached the further bank, -but died of exhaustion among the reeds, where their corpses were found -next morning: thus the message was never delivered. Belmas, ii. 153.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_125"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_125">[125]</a></span> The two letters may be found in -full in the appendices to Belmas, vol. ii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_126"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_126">[126]</a></span> Junot to Berthier, Jan. 1, -1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_127"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_127">[127]</a></span> Belmas, ii. 175.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_128"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_128">[128]</a></span> Lacoste to Junot, Jan. 16, in -Belmas, ii. 378.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_129"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_129">[129]</a></span> Was this a distorted rumour -of the combat of Cacabellos, and the death of General Colbert, the -commander of Ney’s corps-cavalry, on Jan. 3?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_130"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_130">[130]</a></span> For the description of these -miserable and most insalubrious refuges, see Cavallero, pp. 90-100.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_131"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_131">[131]</a></span> I give the date of San Genis’ -death from Arteche, iv. Belmas, on the other hand, puts it on Jan. 26, -and Cavallero apparently on Jan. 28, for he says that it was three days -before that of Lacoste, who was shot on Feb. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_132"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_132">[132]</a></span> Belmas, ii. 198.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_133"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_133">[133]</a></span> Oddly enough, Belmas places this -sortie on Jan. 21, on which day, as Arteche shows, none of the Spanish -accounts speak of a sortie, while the latter give at great length -details of the fighting on the twenty-third. Probably the Spanish date -is the correct one.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_134"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_134">[134]</a></span> Belmas, ii. 203.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_135"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_135">[135]</a></span> Napier (i. 376) calls them -‘Catalonians’: but they were all Aragonese, sent to aid Catalonia in -October.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_136"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_136">[136]</a></span> Report of General Laval -(commanding-in the trenches this day) to Lannes, in Appendix xxvi, of -Belmas, vol. ii. Cf. von Brandt, p. 34.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_137"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_137">[137]</a></span> There is a full account of his -death in Legendre, i. 149; that officer was in the room with him, when -he and his aide-de-camp, Lalobe, were simultaneously shot through the -head as they peered out of a side window where they thought themselves -unobserved.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_138"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_138">[138]</a></span> The ceilings in all the better -sort of houses were made of vaulted arches, not of beams and boards.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_139"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_139">[139]</a></span> See Cavallero, p. 120, and -compare Belmas, ii. 253.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_140"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_140">[140]</a></span> Belmas, ii. 294. Cf. Rogniat and -Legendre.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_141"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_141">[141]</a></span> Berthier to Lannes, Paris, Feb. -10.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_142"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_142">[142]</a></span> Belmas, ii. 314, and before.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_143"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_143">[143]</a></span> In Lejeune, i. 169, the reader -will find some horrible anecdotes of this explosion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_144"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_144">[144]</a></span> Lejeune, i. 177.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_145"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_145">[145]</a></span> The ‘Suizos de Aragon,’ of which -the unfortunate Fleury had been colonel, had not all perished on Dec. -21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_146"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_146">[146]</a></span> Arteche, iv. 472, and Lejeune, i. -179.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_147"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_147">[147]</a></span> Their names can be found on p. -494 of Arteche, vol. iv.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_148"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_148">[148]</a></span> In Lejeune, i. 194-5, will be -found a most picturesque account of the interview of the French envoy -with the fever-ridden and despairing Junta, almost hysterical with rage -and shame, but accepting the inevitable.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_149"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_149">[149]</a></span> It is notable that there was -not a single churchman among them, though there were eight among the -thirty-three members of the Junta. The clergy represented to the last -the fighting section.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_150"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_150">[150]</a></span> Lejeune, in his interesting -narrative of this interview, says that he saw one of the deputies pore -over the map and recognize his own house among the mined buildings; he -crossed himself five or six times, and cried in accents of bitter grief -‘<i>Ah la Casa Ciscala</i>.’ The name of Don Joachim Ciscala does occur -among the eleven signatures, so the story is probably true. Lejeune, i. -198.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_151"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_151">[151]</a></span> Lejeune, i. 202.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_152"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_152">[152]</a></span> Von Brandt, <i>Aus meinem Leben</i>, -pp. 43-4.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_153"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_153">[153]</a></span> For details, see Arteche, iv. -512-3.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_154"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_154">[154]</a></span> Lannes to Berthier, March 19, -1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_155"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_155">[155]</a></span> It seems quite clear that the -‘1,500 men in hospital’ which Belmas mentions on ii. 327 is a misprint -for 15,000. For his own figures show that (p. 381) there were 13,000 -invalids six weeks earlier, and before the deadly street-fighting -had begun. How many died we cannot say, but Suchet in April had only -10,527 men present in nineteen battalions (<cite>Mémoires</cite>, i. 331), with -eight more battalions ‘on command,’ which would give another 4,000. Von -Brandt (p. 50) carefully says that the total of 3,000 dead does not -include ‘the thousands who perished in hospital.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_156"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_156">[156]</a></span> The foundation for most of the -stories against Palafox seems to be Lannes’ letter to Napoleon of 19 -mars: ‘Ce pauvre misérable prêtait seulement son nom aux moines et aux -intrigants.’ I cannot find anywhere the source from which Napier draws -his statement that Palafox hid himself in a bomb-proof, and lived ‘in a -disgusting state of sensuality,’ shirking all the dangers of the siege -(i. 389).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_157"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_157">[157]</a></span> Arteche, iv. 507-8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_158"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_158">[158]</a></span> There are details in the diary of -a citizen of Badajoz in the <cite>Vaughan Papers</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_159"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_159">[159]</a></span> For these operations compare -Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, pp. 178-9, and Arteche, v. 228-31.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_160"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_160">[160]</a></span> The cavalry regiment had only 264 -sabres: the infantry battalions were Campomayor, Tiradores de Cadiz, -Granaderos del General, militia of Cordova, Guadix and Osuna. Only the -first-named was an old regular corps.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_161"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_161">[161]</a></span> He had his own original division -of the 4th Corps (twelve batts.), Valence’s Poles (six batts.), the -3rd Dutch Hussars (part of his corps-cavalry), the regiment of Polish -lancers, and Milhaud’s three regiments, the 12th, 16th and 21st -Dragoons: apparently in all 12,744 men.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_162"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_162">[162]</a></span> It seems clear that the 2,000 -killed and wounded, given by Jourdan (p. 186) and <cite>Victoires et -Conquêtes</cite>, is merely a rough estimate. Belmas’ figures (i. 69) are -still more absurd: he makes the Spaniards lose 9,000 men from an army -which did not exceed 16,500 all told, including the rear division of La -Peña.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_163"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_163">[163]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_4">pp. 4-5</a> -of this volume.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_164"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_164">[164]</a></span> This is the estimate of Jourdan -(<cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 181), and exactly agrees with the figures which I give -on p. 152.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_165"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_165">[165]</a></span> 26th and 10th Chasseurs and 9th -Dragoons; the fourth regiment, the Polish lancers, was with Sebastiani -(see <a href="#Page_146">pp. 146-7</a>).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_166"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_166">[166]</a></span> The February figures for Victor’s -men <i>présents sous les armes</i> are:—</p> - -<table class="tnormal mt1" summary="Victor's forces"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1st Division, Ruffin</td> - <td class="tdr">5,429</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3rd Division, Villatte</td> - <td class="tdr">6,376</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">German Division [deducting one battalion]</td> - <td class="tdr">3,127</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Corps-cavalry [two regiments]</td> - <td class="tdr">1,386</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">2,527</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Lasalle’s three regiments</td> - <td class="tdr">1,121</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Westphalian <i>Chevaux-Légers</i></td> - <td class="tdr">487</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Artillery of 1st Corps</td> - <td class="tdr">1,523</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Leval’s artillery (two batteries)</td> - <td class="tdr bb">184</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total </td> - <td class="tdr">22,160</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_167"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_167">[167]</a></span> One Hessian battalion was still -absent, in garrison at Segovia, so the total of the division was not -much over 3,000.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_168"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_168">[168]</a></span> Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 182.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_169"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_169">[169]</a></span> Apparently the Westphalian -<i>Chevaux Légers</i>, which had hitherto been attached to Leval’s German -division.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_170"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_170">[170]</a></span> Four more had to be left behind -in the fortress.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_171"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_171">[171]</a></span> Jourdan, p. 182.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_172"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_172">[172]</a></span> Rocca, p. 268.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_173"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_173">[173]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_162">pp. 162-3</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_174"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_174">[174]</a></span> The Spanish statements that -Cuesta had only 2,200 horse seem disproved by a letter from Cuesta’s -camp, Col. D’Urban to Cradock (April 7), to the effect that Cuesta had -already rallied, after Medellin, fully 3,000 horse, but only 6,000 or -7,000 foot [Record Office].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_175"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_175">[175]</a></span> Frankfort and the 1st of Hesse. -See Sausez’s <i>Régiment de Francfort</i>, p. 30.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_176"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_176">[176]</a></span> The sixth regiment (1st Dragoons) -was still absent at Miajadas.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_177"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_177">[177]</a></span> The division had started with -nine battalions, but two (as will be remembered) were left behind at -Truxillo, and two more at Merida. Those with Lasalle were the two Baden -battalions, those with Latour-Maubourg a Nassau battalion, and one -formed of the united light companies of the division. The second Nassau -battalion was to the rear, with Villatte. See Sémélé’s narrative, p. -463.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_178"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_178">[178]</a></span> 5th Chasseurs, of the -corps-cavalry of the 1st Corps.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_179"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_179">[179]</a></span> These were the regiments Infante -and Almanza (from Denmark) and the new cavalry regiment of Toledo. -Letter of Sir Benjamin D’Urban to Cradock, April 8, 1809 (Record -Office).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_180"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_180">[180]</a></span> Its remainder was garrisoning -Badajoz. Those on the field were Badajoz (two batts.), and 3rd of -Seville (one batt.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_181"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_181">[181]</a></span> Apparently these regiments were -Albuquerque’s regiment from the Andalusian army, with the Cazadores -de Llerena (a new Estremaduran corps) and Del Rey (one of the Baltic -regiments).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_182"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_182">[182]</a></span> These were the two hussar -regiments, Voluntarios de España, and Maria Luisa, the latter of which -had been re-named ‘Hussars of Estremadura’.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_183"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_183">[183]</a></span> Rocca (of the 2nd Hussars), -<cite>Mémoires de la Guerre d’Espagne</cite>, 80.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_184"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_184">[184]</a></span> Cuesta in his dispatch mentions -that General Henestrosa, Captain Yturrigarey, and the English -Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin D’Urban were the first three into the -battery.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_185"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_185">[185]</a></span> In a dispatch in the Record -Office, Cuesta says that the particular corps which rode down himself -and his staff was the raw ‘Toledo’ regiment.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_186"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_186">[186]</a></span> Half-a-dozen French authorities -speak of the wrath of the chasseurs as justifiable, because their -comrades at Miajadas had been murdered (<i>égorgés</i>, or <i>lâchement -assassinés</i>). But the Spaniards had killed them in fair fight.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_187"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_187">[187]</a></span> Rocca, <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 82.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_188"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_188">[188]</a></span> Ibid., p. 84.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_189"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_189">[189]</a></span> See the Table in Arteche, vi. -476.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_190"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_190">[190]</a></span> These were the hussar regiments -‘Volunteers of Spain’ and ‘Estremadura’ (late Maria Luisa). Cuesta -says in his dispatch that they saved the battalions of Merida, and -Provincial of Badajoz, which had been surrounded and nearly cut off.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_191"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_191">[191]</a></span> This is the figure given by -Jourdan, and General Sémélé, who ought to have known the facts. It is, -of course, reproduced by Thiers, and the other historians. But I agree -with Napier (ii. 71) in considering the figure ‘scarcely credible.’ -Rocca says that the French lost 4,000 men, but from the context, -I suspect this to be a misprint for 400. Schepeler, always a very -well-informed and impartial writer, guesses at 2,000, and he may not be -far wrong.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_192"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_192">[192]</a></span> By April 8 he had collected there -3,000 horse and 6,000 or 7,000 foot. Letter of D’Urban to Cradock, -April 8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_193"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_193">[193]</a></span> Rocca, <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 86.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_194"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_194">[194]</a></span> Regiment of Velez-Malaga (three -batts.), and 2nd battalion of Antequera, 3,600 bayonets in all.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_195"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_195">[195]</a></span> Also some stray squadrons of -cavalry which had gone to the rear to get horses in Andalusia (Letter -of Frere to Castlereagh in Record Office).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_196"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_196">[196]</a></span> Jourdan, <cite>Mémoires</cite>, pp. -187-8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_197"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_197">[197]</a></span> It was composed of the few -battalions of the 8th Corps which had not been drafted into the 2nd.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_198"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_198">[198]</a></span> When the Emperor looked at the -half-monthly returns of the army, which were forwarded to him as -regularly as possible, and which pursued him wheresoever he might go, -he must have seen the following statistics—those of Jan. 15 -in the French War Office—for the 2nd Corps, taking the gross -totals:—</p> - -<p class="ti1">Infantry: Merle 12,119; Mermet 11,810; Delaborde 5,038; -Heudelet 6,592: Total 35,559.</p> - -<p class="ti1">Cavalry: Lorges 1,769; Lahoussaye 3,087; Franceschi -2,512: Total 7,368. Artillery and Train 1,468.</p> - -<p class="ti1">Total of the whole corps 44,395. By Jan. 30, it had -risen to 45,820.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_199"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_199">[199]</a></span> The state of the cavalry of the -2nd Corps on Jan. 30 gives the following astounding result:—</p> - -<table class="mt1" summary="State of the cavalry of the 2nd Corps"> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Present<br />under Arms.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Absent.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Sick.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Lorges</td> - <td class="tdr">809</td> - <td class="tdr">617</td> - <td class="tdr">108</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Lahoussaye</td> - <td class="tdr">1,130</td> - <td class="tdr">1,400</td> - <td class="tdr">256</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl">Franceschi</td> - <td class="tdr bb">1,120</td> - <td class="tdr bb">991</td> - <td class="tdr bb">208</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">3,059</td> - <td class="tdr">3,008</td> - <td class="tdr">572</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="ti1 mt1">The drain under the second column represents mainly -the men who had dropped to the rear, from losing their horses or being -unable to take them on.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_200"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_200">[200]</a></span> For the state of this squadron -see the report by Admiral De Courcy in the <cite>Parliamentary Papers</cite> for -1809, Spain, March 29, 1809, p. 4.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_201"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_201">[201]</a></span> The marines had been taken away -in July, 1808, and formed half a brigade in the division of the Army of -Galicia. But the seamen were available.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_202"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_202">[202]</a></span> The Supreme Junta very properly -condemned him and Alcedo, the governor of Corunna, to the penalties of -high treason.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_203"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_203">[203]</a></span> Compare <cite>Instructions de -l’Empereur</cite> of Jan. 17, with Berthier to Soult of Jan. 21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_204"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_204">[204]</a></span> ‘Il faut croire,’ says St. -Chamans, Soult’s senior aide-de-camp, ‘que Napoléon, au moment où il -ordonna une pareille opération, était possédé d’un esprit de vertige. -Comment pouvait-il risquer, au milieu d’un royaume insurgé, un si -faible corps d’armée, sans communication avec ses autres troupes -d’Espagne?’ [<cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 117]. ‘Tout était en erreur,’ says Le -Noble, another 2nd Corps writer, ‘dans le projet de soumettre le -Portugal en 1809 avec une armée si faible et dépourvue de moyens. -L’Empereur a montré une confiance aveugle’ (p. 65).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_205"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_205">[205]</a></span> The authors, English and French, -who express a humanitarian horror at the shooting of 3,000 horses and -mules before the embarkation of Moore’s army, forget what a godsend -these would have been to Soult, if the English had left them to fall -intact into his hands. The slaughter was dreadful, but perfectly -necessary and justifiable.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_206"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_206">[206]</a></span> All these details come from -Le Noble, who as <i>Ordonnateur-en-Chef</i> of the 2nd Corps, had full -experience of the difficulty of equipping it for the Portuguese -expedition.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_207"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_207">[207]</a></span> Most of these details are from -two interesting dispatches of La Romana in the Foreign Office papers at -the Record Office. They are dated from Chaves on Jan. 28 and Feb. 13. -They are unpublished and seem to be unknown even to General Arteche, -who has made such a splendid collection of the materials in the Spanish -archives which bear on this obscure corner of the war. There was an -English officer, Captain Brotherton, with the army of La Romana: but -his reports, which Napier had evidently seen, are now no longer to be -found. No doubt they were bound up in the January-March 1809 book of -Portuguese dispatches, which since Napier’s day has disappeared from -the Record Office, leaving no trace behind.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_208"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_208">[208]</a></span> These boats were brought to Campo -Saucos overland, for a full mile and more. They came from La Guardia -and other fishing-villages on the coast; but finding it impossible to -get them over the bar of the Minho in such furious weather, and against -the swollen stream, Soult dragged them from the beach north of the -mouth to the crossing-point on rollers, much as Mohammed II did with -his galleys at the famous siege of Constantinople in 1453. But Soult’s -vessels were, of course, much smaller.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_209"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_209">[209]</a></span> Soult had got together a few -dozen seamen, French prisoners of war, found at Corunna and Ferrol, who -had been captured at sea by Spanish cruisers. They were not ‘marines’ -as Napier calls them (ii. 38), but <i>marins</i> (see Le Noble, p. 75, and -again p. 78).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_210"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_210">[210]</a></span> Letter of Captain Brotherton [now -lost] quoted in Napier, ii. 438, and dated from Oimbra on Feb. 21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_211"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_211">[211]</a></span> All the details of the Galician -insurrection may be found in the very interesting <cite>Los Guerrilleros -Gallegos de 1809</cite>, of Pardo de Andrade, reprinted at Corunna in 1892. -It is absolutely contemporary and mainly composed of original documents -written by men who shared in the rising. But naturally it contains -errors and exaggerations.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_212"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_212">[212]</a></span> Long details of all this fighting -may he found in the narrative of the Alcalde of Rivadavia, on pp. -130-44 of vol. ii. of <cite>Los Guerrilleros Gallegos</cite>. The details are -probably exaggerated, but the reader can hardly refuse to believe -that there is a solid substratum of truth. The Alcalde notes that the -infantry were far better behaved than Lahoussaye’s dragoons, of whom he -tells tales of quite incredible ferocity, even alleging that they burnt -the wounded.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_213"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_213">[213]</a></span> Le Noble says (p. 96) that at -Ginzo the peasants had with them General Mahy and La Romana’s vanguard -division. But General Arteche gives documentary evidence (p. 347) to -prove that on that day Mahy and his troops were at Baltar, twenty miles -away behind the mountains. If there were regulars present they were -only detachments or stragglers.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_214"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_214">[214]</a></span> For the bishop of Orense’s -sarcastic reply see Arteche, v. 351. For the general effect of the -proclamation see St. Chamans: of the atrocities of the French, <cite>Los -Guerrilleros Gallegos</cite> give ample and sometimes incredible accounts.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_215"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_215">[215]</a></span> See Le Noble (p. 98) for this -dispatch and its effect on the <i>morale</i> of the army.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_216"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_216">[216]</a></span> For the malcontents and their -views see Le Noble, pp. 98-9. St. Chamans, on the other hand (p. 119), -says that the army started in good spirits and with a great contempt -for all insurgents, Spanish or Portuguese. As a trusted staff officer -of the Marshal, he no doubt represents the optimistic view at head -quarters.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_217"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_217">[217]</a></span> There was also a third road, -that by Montalegre and Ruivaens, by which Soult ultimately evacuated -Portugal; but as it was not available for wheeled traffic, it could not -be used by an army with artillery.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_218"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_218">[218]</a></span> Compare the narrative of the -colonel of the Barcelona Light Infantry, printed by Arteche in v. -359-61 of his <cite>Guerra de la Independencia</cite>, with the highly-coloured -account in Le Noble, 104-5. The seven Spanish Corps engaged were -Segovia, Zamora, Barcelona, Majorca, Orense, Betanzos, Aragon. None of -them had more than 200 bayonets in line: the Galician regiments far -less. The three last-named corps lost a flag each. [Betanzos should be -substituted for Tuy in the list in Le Noble, p. 105, line 10.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_219"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_219">[219]</a></span> Napier (ii. 47) is wrong -in saying that La Romana escaped via Braganza; he did not enter -Portugal, but kept on his own side of the frontier, on the Monterey-La -Gudina-Puebla de Senabria road.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_220"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_220">[220]</a></span> List of Arms sent to Portugal on -p. 9 of <cite>Parliamentary Papers</cite> for 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_221"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_221">[221]</a></span> The Portuguese volume for -December 1808 and January-February 1809 in the Record Office being -mysteriously lost, Cradock’s correspondence and that of the other -British officers in Portugal is no longer available. But Napier took -copious notes from it, while it was still forthcoming; they will be -found on pp. 425-31 of his vol. ii, and bear witness to a complete -state of anarchy in Oporto.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_222"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_222">[222]</a></span> The first battalion used to -call the second ‘Baron Eben’s runaways’ when they met again, as Mayne -assures us in his <cite>History of the Loyal Lusitanian Legion</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_223"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_223">[223]</a></span> They were raised by a decree of -Dec. 23, 1808.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_224"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_224">[224]</a></span> This was a proper precaution, -as the sea-forts could be of no use for defending Lisbon from a land -attack, while, if Lisbon got into French hands again, they would have -been invaluable for resisting an attack from the side of the sea. -But Cradock was far too precipitate in commencing an operation which -betrayed such want of confidence.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_225"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_225">[225]</a></span> These were the 2/9th, 29th, -1/40th, 1/45th, 82nd, 97th, and 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 7th line battalions -of the King’s German Legion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_226"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_226">[226]</a></span> The 1/3rd and 5/60th. The last -battalion was mainly composed of foreigners, and had received more -than 200 recruits from the deserters of Junot’s army. Moore would not -trust it, and sent it back. It afterwards did splendid service under -Wellesley.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_227"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_227">[227]</a></span> The battalions that did not get -up in time were the 1/45th and 97th.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_228"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_228">[228]</a></span> These were the 3/27th and -2/31st, which had sailed with Baird from Portsmouth, but were sent on -from Corunna to Lisbon when the rest of Baird’s expedition landed in -Galicia.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_229"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_229">[229]</a></span> The 14th Light Dragoons.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_230"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_230">[230]</a></span> Napier (ii. 5) much -under-estimates when he calls the whole ‘10,000 including sick.’ -Cradock’s regiments add up to about 12,133 men including those in -hospital. In addition there were all Moore’s sick, who, though many had -died in the interim, presented on Feb. 18 in Portugal convalescents to -the number of 2,000 men.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_231"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_231">[231]</a></span> The 1/3rd, 1/45th, 5/60th, and -97th.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_232"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_232">[232]</a></span> The 1/40th.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_233"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_233">[233]</a></span> The four German battalions, the -3/27th and 2/31st.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_234"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_234">[234]</a></span> The 2/9th and 29th.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_235"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_235">[235]</a></span> Sir John Moore himself ventilated -this view in a letter to Lord Castlereagh from Salamanca, Nov. 25, -1808. It is this fact that explains Napier’s very tender treatment of -Cradock, who quoted Moore as his justifying authority. Moreover Cradock -had been very obliging in placing all his papers at Napier’s disposal, -a fact which prepossessed the historian in his favour.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_236"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_236">[236]</a></span> Castlereagh to Cradock, Dec. -24, 1808. Napier makes on this the curious remark that the ministry -gave contradictory orders when they told Cradock to make a show of -preparation for resistance, yet to get ready for embarkation if it -should prove necessary.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_237"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_237">[237]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_27">p. 27</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_238"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_238">[238]</a></span> The 3/27th, 2/9th, 29th, and some -small details of artillery, &c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_239"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_239">[239]</a></span> Not only Mackenzie’s brigade, -but also Tilson’s brigade, the 2/87th and 1/88th, and the stronger -battalions of H. Campbell, which had gone to Cadiz directly from -England—the first battalions of the 2nd (Coldstream) and 3rd -(Scots Fusilier) Guards.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_240"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_240">[240]</a></span> In a letter of March 20 to Mr. -Villiers, Cradock makes the astounding statement that after scouring -all Portugal for horses for three months, he was still unable to -provide them for four out of his six batteries.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_241"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_241">[241]</a></span> Cradock’s controversial letters -to Lord Londonderry, printed in the latter’s history (ii. 286-7), do no -more than bear out Londonderry’s accusations of torpidity against Sir -John.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_242"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_242">[242]</a></span> Cradock contended that before -the arrival of Hill and Sherbrooke and the return of Mackenzie from -Cadiz, he had only 10,225 men, and, deducting sick and garrisons for -the Lisbon forts, could only have marched out with 5,221. [Letter -to Londonderry on p. 302, vol. ii. of the latter’s work.] He had -sent 3,500 men to Cadiz and Seville, on Sir George Smith’s unhappy -inspiration, or his force would have been much larger. As to the -resolution to march against Soult, which he afterwards claimed to have -made, it is sufficient to say that Wellesley on his arrival wrote to -Castlereagh that ‘Sir John Cradock does not appear to have entertained -any decided intention of moving forward: on the contrary he appears (by -his letters to Mr. Villiers) to have intended to go no further till he -should hear of Victor’s movements.’ [<cite>Well. Corresp.</cite>, Lisbon, April -24.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_243"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_243">[243]</a></span> All authorities agree as to -the inferior character and status of a great part of the Portuguese -officers. Dumouriez remarks [1766] that ‘their pay does not enable them -to live better than the common soldiers, whose comrades and relatives -they often are. The subaltern ranks are filled from the inferior -classes, and their hatred of foreigners prevents their association -with, or receiving any improvement from, them: hence it is that they -remain in such ignorance and wretchedness’ (p. 17). Halliday remarks -(p. 106) that ‘even captains had not the rank of gentlemen.’ Compare -with this Patterson’s curious note (vol. i. p. 250), ‘The familiarity -that subsists between the native officers and their men renders -ineffective all the authority of the former, at the same time defeating -the object to be attained by discipline. They eat, gamble, and drink -together. I have even seen them waltzing and figuring off in the -<i>contra-danza</i>, captains with corporals, majors with drumboys—all -Jack-fellows well met, and excellent boon companions. They will not -of themselves do anything, their good qualities must be elicited -by strangers. I know of nothing that stamps the character of Lord -Beresford as a man of energy and perseverance, more than the way in -which he has organized them, and from a miserable undisciplined rabble -produced, in course of time, a fair body of fighting troops, who -performed (encouraged by their English officers) some spirited service -during the war.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_244"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_244">[244]</a></span> Of these, twelve squadrons were -originally cuirassiers (Dumouriez, p. 18), but their armament had been -discarded before 1800, and one regiment only was light horse.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_245"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_245">[245]</a></span></p> - -<table class="tnormal" summary="Nominal total of the army of Portugal"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Twenty-four regiments of infantry of two battalions each</td> - <td class="tdr">36,000</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">twelve regiments of cavalry at 470</td> - <td class="tdr">5,640</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">four regiments of artillery at 989</td> - <td class="tdr">3,956</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">ten garrison companies of artillery (veterans)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,300</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">‘Experimental Legion,’ engineers, &c.</td> - <td class="tdr bb">1,500</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total </td> - <td class="tdr">48,396</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="ti1 mt1">Halliday gives an even larger figure, 52,204.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_246"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_246">[246]</a></span> Except two Lisbon regiments, -named Viera Tellez and Freire, from former colonels of distinction -[Nos. 4 and 16].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_247"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_247">[247]</a></span> It was intended, however, to give -each cavalry regiment an extra squadron.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_248"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_248">[248]</a></span> <cite>Parliamentary Papers</cite>, 1309. -Return No. 5, p. 9.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_249"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_249">[249]</a></span> The 8th and 22nd, both Alemtejo -regiments, were entirely drafted off, and were raised again afresh with -recruits in the autumn.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_250"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_250">[250]</a></span> The 2nd and 3rd, both Alemtejo -regiments, were never horsed during the whole war, and did foot-service -in garrisons of the interior.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_251"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_251">[251]</a></span> In September the 3rd, 5th, 15th, -21st, and 24th had not raised their second battalions. Of these the 5th -and 15th were Alemtejo regiments.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_252"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_252">[252]</a></span> Report of Baron Decken, Sept. 13, -1808 (Record Office).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_253"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_253">[253]</a></span> Return of the Portuguese army, -Nov. 26 (Record Office).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_254"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_254">[254]</a></span> Beresford to Wellesley, -<cite>Wellington Supplementary Dispatches</cite>, vi. p. 774.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_255"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_255">[255]</a></span> These were the 1st, 4th, 7th, -10th, 13th, 16th, 19th of the line, and the 1st, 4th, and 7th cavalry. -Of the foot the 1st, 4th, 10th, and 16th were Lisbon regiments, the 7th -was named from and belonged to Setubal, the 13th to Peniche, the 19th -to Cascaes.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_256"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_256">[256]</a></span> These were the 6th, 9th, 12th, -18th, 21st, and 24th. The 6th and 18th belonged to Oporto, the 9th -to Viana, the 12th to Chaves, the 21st to Valenza, the 24th to -Braganza.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_257"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_257">[257]</a></span> The same story is told of General -Robert Craufurd and his cazadores, in Costello’s <cite>Memoirs</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_258"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_258">[258]</a></span> For notes on the difficulties -and friction caused by clashing pretensions of British and Portuguese -seniority in rank, see <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, vol. iv. pp. 368-81, -394-5, and several other letters to Castlereagh and Beresford.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_259"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_259">[259]</a></span> Largely from the 1/3rd foot. -See <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, vol. iv. p. 463. Other regiments also -contributed.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_260"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_260">[260]</a></span> A few British officers had -arrived, such as Col. Patrick who commanded the 12th of the line in -Silveira’s army.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_261"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_261">[261]</a></span> Some of the muskets sent by the -British were in the hands of the Oporto troops, but none had reached -the Tras-os-Montes regiments of Silveira’s army.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_262"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_262">[262]</a></span> All this is analysed from the -Portuguese historian Da Luz Soriano.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_263"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_263">[263]</a></span> For the local organization and -nomenclature of the militia regiments, the reader is referred to the -table of the Portuguese army in Appendix II. It will be seen that there -were theoretically sixteen regiments in the provinces invaded by Soult, -beyond the Douro.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_264"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_264">[264]</a></span> See Mayne, <cite>History of the Loyal -Lusitanian Legion</cite>, p. 231, and <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, vol. iv. p. -350.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_265"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_265">[265]</a></span> <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, vol. iv. -pp. 389-90 and 478 [June, 1809].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_266"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_266">[266]</a></span> The 12th and 24th -regiments—Chaves and Braganza.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_267"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_267">[267]</a></span> Militia of Chaves, Villa Real, -Miranda, and Braganza.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_268"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_268">[268]</a></span> The 6th and 9th cavalry.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_269"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_269">[269]</a></span> Brotherton to Castlereagh, March -13.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_270"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_270">[270]</a></span> Entre-Douro-e-Minho had a -population of 500,000 souls, Tras-os-Montes only 180,000.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_271"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_271">[271]</a></span> Of Lahoussaye’s division.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_272"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_272">[272]</a></span> Brotherton to Cradock, from Povoa -de Aguiar, March 13.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_273"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_273">[273]</a></span> He was called Magelhaes Pizarro, -but cannot be said to have shown either the endurance of the Portuguese -seaman, or the reckless courage of the Spanish <i>conquistador</i>, whose -historic names he bore.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_274"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_274">[274]</a></span> See Naylies, p. 81; St. Chamans, -p. 120; Le Noble, p. 120; and Des Odoards, p. 213.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_275"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_275">[275]</a></span> Lorges’ other brigade, that of -Fournier, had been (as it will be remembered) left behind in Galicia -with Marshal Ney.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_276"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_276">[276]</a></span> Every French diarist of Soult’s -army has tales of the stoic courage displayed by the Portuguese clergy. -A story from Naylies of Lahoussaye’s dragoons may serve as an example. -Near Braga he came on a cart escorted by a single priest with a gun on -his shoulder. He was the chaplain of a convent, who was taking out of -harm’s way a party of nuns. When he saw himself overtaken, he quietly -waited in the middle of the road, shot the first dragoon dead, and was -killed by the second as he was trying to reload his musket.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_277"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_277">[277]</a></span> St. Chamans, <cite>Mémoires</cite>, pp. -119-21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_278"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_278">[278]</a></span> For combats waged by Lahoussaye’s -dragoons, who were in the middle of the long column, see the journal -of Naylies (pp. 83-4). For attacks on Mermet, in the rear column, see -Fantin des Odoards (p. 214).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_279"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_279">[279]</a></span> I agree with General Arteche in -thinking that Eben’s dispatch to Cradock, from which this narrative -is mainly drawn, does him no credit. Indeed, it is easy to adopt the -sinister view that Eben was aiming at getting the command, did nothing -to discourage the mob, and was indirectly responsible for Freire’s -murder. As Arteche remarks ‘with a little more resolution and a little -less personal ambition, the Baron could probably have prevented the -catastrophe’ (vol. v. p. 393). But Freire’s conduct had been so -cowardly and incapable that the peasants were reasonably incensed with -him. Why had he not defended the rugged defiles of Venda Nova and -Salamonde, and what could excuse his absconding and abandoning his -army?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_280"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_280">[280]</a></span> Eben’s dispatch is in the Record -Office, in the miscellaneous volume at the end of the Portugal 1809 -series.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_281"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_281">[281]</a></span> Eben, in his report, says that -at the moment of the French assault one of his guns in the battery -commanding the high-road burst, and killed many of those standing -about, and that the rout commenced with the stampede caused by this -explosion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_282"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_282">[282]</a></span> Naylies [of the 19th Dragoons], -p. 87.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_283"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_283">[283]</a></span> Even while flying through the -streets of Braga, some of the routed horde found time to pay a visit to -the town gaol, and to murder the <i>corregidor</i> and the other prisoners -who had been placed there on the eighteenth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_284"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_284">[284]</a></span> Fantin des Odoards, p. 216.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_285"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_285">[285]</a></span> Eben, in his report to Cradock at -the Record Office, says 1,000 only, of whom more than 200 belonged to -the Lusitanian Legion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_286"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_286">[286]</a></span> Le Noble, p. 142. St. Chamans, -p. 121. Naylies and Fantin des Odoards, though both mentioning the -slaughter in which they took part, do not give this justification for -it. The latter says that the French gave no quarter save to men in -uniform.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_287"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_287">[287]</a></span> Fantin des Odoards, p. 216.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_288"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_288">[288]</a></span> Le Noble (pp. 157-8), and Napier -following him, say that the Portuguese murdered their commander, -Brigadier-General Vallongo, when the bridges were forced, tore him in -pieces, and buried his scattered members in a dunghill. It is a relief -to know from Da Luz Soriano, the Portuguese historian, that nothing -of the kind occurred, and that there was no officer of the name of -Vallongo in the Portuguese army.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_289"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_289">[289]</a></span> Apparently the regiments of -Oporto, Baltar, Feira, and Villa de Conde.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_290"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_290">[290]</a></span> I draw these deductions from -Beresford’s and Eben’s reports in the Record Office. Beresford (writing -to Castlereagh on March 29, the day of the storm) complains that he can -get no proper ‘morning states’ out of the officers at Oporto, but says -that the Bishop has there nos. 6 and 18 of the line, Vittoria’s two -battalions and the wrecks of the 2nd Lusitanian Legion. He speaks of -two or three militia regiments, 9,000 armed citizens, and an indefinite -number of <i>Ordenanza</i>. Eben gives some details concerning his own -doings. Da Luz Soriano mentions Champlemond and his battalion of the -21st of the line. As to the <i>Ordenanza</i>, 9,000 seems a high estimate -for the local Oporto horde, for that town with 70,000 souls had already -supplied two regiments of the line, two battalions of the Lusitanian -Legion, and a militia regiment, 6,500 men in all.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_291"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_291">[291]</a></span> Le Noble, p. 161.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_292"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_292">[292]</a></span> Some of the French writers say -that Foy was taken prisoner while carrying a flag of truce and a second -letter for the Bishop’s eye. But what really seems to have happened -was that he conceived a notion that one of the Portuguese outposts -wished to surrender, rode in amongst them, and began to urge them to -lay down their arms. But they seized him and sent him to the rear; his -companion, the <i>chef de bataillon</i> Roger, drew his sword and tried to -cut his way back to his men, whereupon he was bayonetted. One cannot -blame the Portuguese, for officers, in time of truce, have no right -to come within the enemy’s lines, still less to urge his troops to -desertion. Foy proved that he was not Loison by holding up his two -hands. Loison being one-handed (as his nickname <i>Maneta</i> shows), -the populace at once saw that they had made a mistake. I follow the -narrative in Girod de l’Ain’s new life of Foy (p. 78), corroborated -by Le Noble (p. 162). Napier (ii. p. 57), of course, gives a version -unfavourable to the Portuguese.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_293"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_293">[293]</a></span> Le Noble, and Napier following -him, state that the breach in the bridge was caused merely by some of -the central pontoons sinking under the weight of the passing multitude. -Hennegan, who was present in Oporto that day, says the same. But it -seems safer to follow Da Luz Soriano and other Portuguese witnesses, -who state that no such accident occurred, but that the early fugitives -pulled up the drawbridge in order to stay the pursuit, reckless as to -the fate of those who were behind them. Historians telling a story to -the discredit of their own party may generally be trusted.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_294"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_294">[294]</a></span> E.g. the 21st of the line had -even in September, nearly six months after the storm, only 193 men -under arms.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_295"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_295">[295]</a></span> Fantin des Odoards, <cite>Journal</cite>, -April 28, p. 226.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_296"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_296">[296]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_175">p. 175</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_297"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_297">[297]</a></span> On Feb. 1 the force was, -<i>présents sous les armes</i>, 7,692 infantry, about 1,000 cavalry, and 200 -gunners.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_298"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_298">[298]</a></span> Wellington, e.g., writes to him -on August 5, 1809, ‘It is difficult for me to instruct you, when every -letter that I receive from you informs me that you have gone further -off, and are executing some plan of your own.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_299"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_299">[299]</a></span> It is most unfortunate that -while Wilson wrote and published admirable narratives of his doings in -Prussia and Poland in 1806-7, and of his Russian and German campaign of -1812-3, he has left nothing on record concerning Portugal in 1808-9. -Moreover the life, by his son-in-law, breaks off in 1807, and was never -finished. My narrative is constructed from his dispatches in the Record -Office, the correspondence of Wellesley and Beresford, and Mayne and -Lillie’s <cite>Loyal Lusitanian Legion</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_300"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_300">[300]</a></span> It will he remembered that it -was only the first division of the Legion that marched. The second, -which could not go forward for want of uniforms and arms, was left -behind in charge of Baron Eben. That officer had strict orders to move -out to Almeida the moment that he should receive the muskets, &c. -that were on their way from England. Eben, however, disregarded his -instructions, became one of the Bishop’s clique, and involved his men -in the campaign against Soult, thereby marring Wilson’s plans and -depriving him of half his proper force.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_301"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_301">[301]</a></span> It consisted of the 45th and 97th -regiments.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_302"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_302">[302]</a></span> Napier, who is very friendly -to Cradock, makes no mention of this extraordinary dispatch. But it -is fully substantiated by Mayne and Lillie, who were both present at -Wilson’s council of war, and heard the matter discussed. See their -<cite>History of the Lusitanian Legion</cite>, p. 43.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_303"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_303">[303]</a></span> See the <cite>Lusitanian Legion</cite>, p. -47.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_304"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_304">[304]</a></span> This fact comes from a letter -of Ramon Blanco, governor of Ciudad Rodrigo, dated Jan. 13, which -Frere sent home to Castlereagh, and which is therefore now in the -Record Office. Blanco complains that he is absolutely without trained -artillerymen of any sort.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_305"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_305">[305]</a></span> Carlos d’España, whose name we -shall so frequently meet during the succeeding years, was no Spaniard, -but a French <i>émigré</i> officer of the name of D’Espagne. Englishmen, on -account of his name, sometimes took him for a prince of the Spanish -royal family.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_306"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_306">[306]</a></span> Sir Robert Wilson to Frere, dated -Jan. 29, in the Record Office. The regiment sent by Pignatelli was -called ‘Volunteers of Avila.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_307"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_307">[307]</a></span> Victor to King Joseph, from -Toledo, Feb. 3, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_308"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_308">[308]</a></span> This is shown by a letter -of March 23 from Solignac, one of Lapisse’s brigadiers, which was -intercepted by guerrillas. The general writes to his friend Raguerie -that the march on Abrantes is certain, and that letters for him had -better be readdressed to Lisbon [Record Office].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_309"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_309">[309]</a></span> Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 189, -show that he and Joseph authorized the move, at Victor’s instance, and -prove that it was not made on Lapisse’s own responsibility, as Napier -supposes [ii. 72], but in obedience to superior orders.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_310"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_310">[310]</a></span> This narrative is from Mayne -and Lillie, supplemented by Jourdan and other French sources. Wilson -thought that he had foiled a real attack on Rodrigo, but was mistaken: -Lapisse was only feinting.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_311"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_311">[311]</a></span> It is impossible to make out -why Alcantara was treated so much worse than other places taken by -storm, but the facts are well vouched for. The report of the local -authorities to Cuesta says that not only all peasants taken with arms -in their hands, but more than forty non-combatants were butchered, and -that not a woman who had remained in the place escaped rape. Lillie, -the historian of the Lusitanian Legion, who was with the force that -pursued Lapisse from Rodrigo, says that he saw the traces of ‘acts -of barbarity that would disgrace the most savage and uncivilized of -mankind’—corpses deliberately mutilated and laid out to roast -on piles of burning furniture, with the bodies of domestic animals, -such as pigs and dogs, placed on the top of the pile as if in jest -[<cite>Lusitanian Legion</cite>, pp. 66-7]. The German historian Schepeler gives -very similar details, adding the note about the dragging up of bones -and coffins from the churches.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_312"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_312">[312]</a></span> All Napier’s criticism (ii. 85-6) -on Lapisse’s movement to Alcantara is vitiated by his ignorance of the -fact that Jourdan and the King, at Victor’s instance, had sent him -orders to go there. But nothing can excuse his previous inaction in -February and March. He ought to have attacked Rodrigo before the end of -January, when it was still almost without a garrison, and in a state of -great disrepair.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_313"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_313">[313]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_188">p. 188</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_314"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_314">[314]</a></span> Napier’s ‘Colonel Barrois.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_315"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_315">[315]</a></span> Most of these details as to -the fall of Vigo come from a contemporary account in Andrade’s -collection, printed in <cite>Los Guerrilleros Gallegos</cite>, pp. 129-37. Le -Noble asserts that only 794 men were captured, but Captain Mackinley -says that he received nearly 1,300 prisoners, including 300 sick and -many non-combatants. He had the best opportunities of knowing, and -must be followed. Le Noble and the Spaniards do not give the French -commander’s name, but I find that of Chalot as the senior officer among -the prisoners in the list in the Record Office. Next to him is the -paymaster-general Conscience. Toreno and Schepeler agree with Captain -Mackinley in giving the number of the prisoners at over 1,200.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_316"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_316">[316]</a></span> Le Noble, though he mentions the -formation of the legion (p. 120), omits to state that it was left at -Chaves. But St. Chamans establishes this fact (p. 120); he calls the -corps ‘les Espagnols et Portugais qui se disaient de notre parti.’ Des -Odoards (p. 212) also speaks of the ‘legion,’ as does Naylies (p. 81). -Its existence explains both the feebleness of Messager’s defence, and -the large number of prisoners whom Silveira captured. The fighting -force of the garrison was only the one company, plus some hundreds of -convalescents, who in the fortnight since Soult’s departure had been -able to resume their arms.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_317"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_317">[317]</a></span> Silveira to Beresford (Record -Office). Cf. Foy’s dispatch to Loison (April 19), in which he owns that -he failed to hold the convent, and retired with a loss of ninety-one -men of the 17th regiment.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_318"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_318">[318]</a></span> Napier, ii. pp. 80-1, -consistently mis-calls him Brochard.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_319"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_319">[319]</a></span> Either of these might easily have -been fired by a casual shot, during the long cannonading which had been -in progress. The Portuguese, therefore, avoided them.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_320"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_320">[320]</a></span> See Le Noble (Soult’s partisan -and official vindicator), p. 207, and Fantin des Odoards, p. 227.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_321"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_321">[321]</a></span> See his conversation with his -aide-de-camp, St. Chamans, in the latter’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 139. The -Marshal said that he was in a hazardous military position and that ‘je -ne puis m’en tirer qu’en divisant les Portugais entre eux, et j’emploie -pour cela le meilleur moyen politique qui soit en mon pouvoir.’ Compare -Fantin des Odoards, p. 227.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_322"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_322">[322]</a></span> Fantin des Odoards, writing -at Oporto under the date May 5, says that he had just read this -proclamation on the walls, and was astounded at it, for the great bulk -of the population was so hostile that the project seemed absolutely -insane.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_323"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_323">[323]</a></span> St. Chamans, aide-de-camp to -Soult, speaks of the crowds assembled by Veloso and others (p. 134): -Bigarré says that General Ricard threw money to the crowd for seven -days running from the Marshal’s balcony, and then stopped because the -harvest of <i>vivas</i> was not large enough (p. 245).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_324"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_324">[324]</a></span> See Fantin des Odoards, p. 229, -and Jourdan, p. 218.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_325"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_325">[325]</a></span> This strange document will be -found printed in the Appendix.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_326"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_326">[326]</a></span> See Chamans, pp. 134 and 140. He -ends with observing that Soult ‘aurait voulu se faire demander pour roi -de Portugal par les habitants, qu’alors, le premier pas fait, il aurait -sollicité les suffrages de l’armée, ils auraient été consignés sur des -registres pour chaque corps, et il aurait mis toutes ces pièces sous -les yeux de l’Empereur, en lui demandant son approbation.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_327"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_327">[327]</a></span> Napoleon to Soult from -Schönbrunn, Sept. 26, <cite>Nap. Corresp.</cite>, 15,871.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_328"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_328">[328]</a></span> Napier’s conclusions as to -Soult’s conduct are wholly warped by his strong predilection for the -Marshal—which dated back to the time when the latter dealt kindly -with his wounded brother on the day after Corunna. He understates -Soult’s encouragement of the movement, and will have us believe that -it was purely the work of the Portuguese. He omits all mention of -Ricard’s circular, and finally suppresses all mention of Napoleon’s -angry upbraidings except the following (ii. p. 75): ‘The Emperor wrote -to Soult that the rumour had reached him, adding, with a delicate -allusion to the Marshal’s previous services, “I remember nothing but -Austerlitz.”’ Now it was not a <i>rumour</i> which had reached Schönbrunn, -but a copy of Ricard’s circular, which the Emperor quotes <i>verbatim</i>. -Therefore Napoleon was writing with tangible evidence, not with camp -reports, to guide him. How far Napier’s sentence above gives a fair -impression of the tone of the dispatch which I have reproduced, I leave -the reader to judge. It was a surprise to myself when I put the two -together. Once and for all, it must be remembered that Napier can never -be trusted when Soult is in question—the Marshal’s intrigues, -his greed, his shameful plundering of Andalusian churches, are all -concealed.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_329"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_329">[329]</a></span> Fantin des Odoards, p. 220.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_330"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_330">[330]</a></span> So writes Naylies, of -Lahoussaye’s dragoons, who, being absent at Amarante and elsewhere, -never saw the doings in Oporto: ‘Il s’est répandu dans l’armée qu’il -aspirait à la souveraineté du pays: on en conçut d’abord quelques -inquiétudes, qui furent bientôt dissipées’ (p. 119).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_331"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_331">[331]</a></span> Charles Nodier’s <cite>Histoire -des conspirations militaires sous l’Empire</cite> is unfortunately quite -untrustworthy. He was never among the <i>Philadelphes</i>, and writes as a -credulous and ill-informed outsider. Nevertheless there is a basis of -fact underlying his work.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_332"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_332">[332]</a></span> The names of Argenton, Lafitte, -and Donadieu are public property. Napier gives them, as does Bigarré. -The names of ‘Dupont’ and ‘Garis’ are in suppressed paragraphs of the -<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite> which Gurwood chose to omit, and are also found -in the minutes of Argenton’s trial at Paris.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_333"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_333">[333]</a></span> The reader may trace this feeling -in Foy’s diaries, and Naylies (p. 67).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_334"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_334">[334]</a></span> Napier and Le Noble both hint -that Loison was in the plot, and perhaps Delaborde, though they do -not actually name these officers. But I think that their innocence -is proved by Argenton’s declaration to Wellesley (Wellesley to -Castlereagh, May 7, Record Office), that Loison was attached to -Bonaparte, and would certainly seize Soult if he proclaimed himself -king for ‘ambitious abuse of his authority and disobedience to his -master.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_335"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_335">[335]</a></span> This, at the time, was -Wellesley’s eminently sensible conclusion. He wrote to Castlereagh -on April 27, ‘I doubt whether it will be quite so easy as their -emissary thinks to carry their intentions into execution: I also doubt -whether it follows that the successful revolt of this one corps would -be followed by that of others, and I am convinced that the method -proposed by M. D’Argenton would not answer that purpose.’ <cite>Wellington -Dispatches</cite>, iv. 276.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_336"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_336">[336]</a></span> These are the names omitted in -the printed version of the <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>: that of Moreau does -not occur there, but is to be found in the confession which Argenton -made to Soult: see Le Noble, p. 236.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_337"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_337">[337]</a></span> It must be remembered that the -whole plot was far advanced, and that Argenton had placed himself in -treasonable communication with the British, before Wellesley landed. -Sir Arthur came ashore on the night of April 22. On the morning of the -twenty-fifth, he received a visit from Beresford, who came down from -Coimbra to tell him that a French officer, bearing the message of the -conspirators, had come within the Portuguese lines on the Vouga on -the twenty-first. Argenton arrived at Lisbon the same night, and had -his first interview with the new commander-in-chief, whom he found -in charge of the British army, and not (as he had expected) Sir John -Cradock. The three requests made were (1) that Wellesley would ‘press -upon Soult’s Corps’—the seizure of Villa Real being suggested, -(2) that he would give passports to Argenton and two others to go to -France, (3) that he would stir up the Portuguese to flatter and deceive -Soult into taking overt steps of treason. Cf. <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, -iv. 274 [Lisbon, April 27] and 308 [Coimbra, May 7].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_338"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_338">[338]</a></span> It is to these days, and probably -to some date about May 4-7, that belongs General Bigarré’s curious -story about the conspirators (see his <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 235, and Le -Noble, p. 238; the latter printed the story in 1821 without names, the -former’s version was only given to the light a few years ago; they -agree in every point). The story is too good to be omitted. Bigarré -says that, walking the quay of Oporto on a moonlight night, he came on -Lafitte and Donadieu, muffled in their cloaks and vehemently discussing -something in a dark corner. He stole up to them unnoticed, slapped his -friend Donadieu on the back, and suddenly shouted in their ears ‘<i>Ah! -je vous y prends, Messieurs les conspirateurs</i>.’ Lafitte whipped out a -pistol, and had nearly shot the practical joker, before Donadieu could -reassure him that this was only a boisterous piece of fun and that -Bigarré knew nothing. It was not till much later that the latter found -out what had been brewing.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_339"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_339">[339]</a></span> In common fairness to Moore, -it is necessary to quote Wellesley’s own words on their fundamental -difference of opinion as to the possibility of defending Portugal. ‘I -have as much respect as any man can have for the opinion and judgement -of Sir J. Moore, and I should mistrust my own (if opposed to his) in -a case where he had an opportunity of knowing and considering. But he -positively knew nothing of Portugal, and <i>could</i> know nothing of its -existing state.’ Yet he says that ‘The greatest disadvantage under -which I labour is that Sir John Moore gave an opinion that the country -could not be defended by the army under his command.’ Wellington to -Lord Liverpool, from Vizeu, April 2, 1810.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_340"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_340">[340]</a></span> The official notice is dated -April 2 (<cite>Wellington Supplementary Dispatches</cite>, vi. p. 210), but -several letters dated late in March show that the matter had been -already settled.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_341"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_341">[341]</a></span> The troops from the abortive -expedition to Cadiz, under Mackenzie, Sherbrooke and Tilson, turned up -about the middle of March at Lisbon. But Hill, with the first body of -the second batch of reinforcements, only appeared upon April 5.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_342"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_342">[342]</a></span> Of the first ten battalions to -appear, seven were 2nd battalions—those of the 7th, 30th, 48th, -53rd, 66th, 83rd, 87th regiments. Some were very weak, with less -than 750 bayonets, e.g. the 7th (628 men), 30th (698 men), 66th (740 -men).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_343"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_343">[343]</a></span> This came from Beresford at -Lisbon (see <cite>Wellington Supplementary Dispatches</cite>, vi. p. 219).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_344"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_344">[344]</a></span> Wellesley to the Duke of -Richmond, April 14 (<cite>Supplementary Dispatches</cite>, vi. 227).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_345"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_345">[345]</a></span> <cite>Wellington Supplementary -Dispatches</cite>, vi. 221-2. It is very creditable to Sir Arthur that, -adverting to another possibility, viz. that Cradock may have plucked up -courage to go out against the French, and have successfully beaten them -off, he declares that ‘he could not reconcile it with his feelings’ to -supersede a successful general. He remembered his own state of mind -when supplanted by Burrard on the day of Vimiero.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_346"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_346">[346]</a></span> Castlereagh to Wellesley, -<cite>Supplementary Dispatches</cite>, vi. 222 and 228.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_347"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_347">[347]</a></span> Memorandum of March 7, ‘As soon -as the newspapers shall have announced the departure of officers for -Portugal, the French armies in Spain will receive orders to make their -movements towards Portugal, so as to anticipate our measures for its -defence,’ &c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_348"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_348">[348]</a></span> It is noteworthy that Wellesley, -when he was placed in communication with Argenton three days later, -considered that one of the few useful facts which he had got from -the plotter was that Soult and his army had no knowledge of where -Victor might be, or of what he was doing. This was a far more precious -piece of information than any details as to the conspiracy, which -Wellesley regarded from the first as doomed to failure: see <cite>Wellington -Dispatches</cite>, iv. 274.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_349"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_349">[349]</a></span> Wellesley to Castlereagh, from -Lisbon, April 24. I have ventured to substitute ‘before bringing’ in -the last sentence for the unmeaning ‘and to bring’ which is clearly a -<i>lapsus calami</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_350"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_350">[350]</a></span> Wellesley (to Mr. Frere, at -Seville) from Lisbon, April 24. In many sentences this dispatch is only -a repetition of that to Castlereagh. But in others Sir Arthur makes his -meaning more clear, by a more detailed explanation.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_351"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_351">[351]</a></span> Wellesley to Frere, Lisbon, April -24, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_352"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_352">[352]</a></span> <cite>Memorandum on the Defence of -Portugal</cite>, of March 7.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_353"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_353">[353]</a></span> If to Masséna’s field army of -60,000 men we add the troops on his communications (viz. the 9th -Corps and the garrisons of Rodrigo and Almeida) and also the force -which Soult and Mortier brought up against Badajoz and Elvas—a -force against which Wellesley had to provide, by making large -detachments—the full number of 100,000 is reached.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_354"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_354">[354]</a></span> See, for example, the anecdote in -Sir G. L’Estrange’s <cite>Reminiscences</cite>, p. 194. Picton was equally given -to the use (or abuse) of <i>mufti</i>, and fought Quatre Bras in a tall -hat!</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_355"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_355">[355]</a></span> ‘Provided we brought our men into -the field well appointed, and with sixty good rounds in their pouches, -he never looked to see whether our trousers were black or blue or grey. -Scarcely any two officers dressed alike. Some wore grey braided coats, -others brown, some liked blue: many from choice or necessity stuck -to the “old red rag.” We were never tormented with that greatest of -<i>bores</i> on active service, uniformity of dress.’ <cite>Grattan’s With the -88th</cite>, p. 50.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_356"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_356">[356]</a></span> To find a humorous contrast to -Wellington’s staff, the reader might consult Lejeune’s account of that -of Berthier, who had allowed him to design a special and gorgeous -uniform, all fur feathers and braid, for his aides-de-camp. Lejeune -dwells with the enthusiasm of a tailor on his efforts and their -glorious effect on parade [Lejeune, i. p. 95].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_357"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_357">[357]</a></span> Lord Roberts, in his <cite>Rise of -Wellington</cite>, only slightly overstates his case when he observes that -the more we study Wellesley’s life in detail, the more we respect him -as a general and the less we like him as a man. If we come upon much -that is hard and unsympathetic, there are too many redeeming traits to -justify the statement in its entirety.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_358"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_358">[358]</a></span> The reader curious in such things -may find as much as he desires of this sort of stuff in Thiébault, -Marbot, Le Noble and Lemonnier Delafosse.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_359"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_359">[359]</a></span> These phrases are preserved in -the notes of Soult’s aide-de-camp Baudus.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_360"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_360">[360]</a></span> Cantillon was the assassin who -fired on Wellington in Paris on Sept. 10, 1818.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_361"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_361">[361]</a></span> Wellington to Castlereagh, -Zambujal, Sept. 5, 1808, and London, March 7, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_362"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_362">[362]</a></span> The Fifth Division was not -completed till Oct. 8, 1810, the Sixth and Seventh on March 8, 1811.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_363"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_363">[363]</a></span> Though even then the superiority, -such as it was, consisted entirely of Spanish troops of doubtful -quality.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_364"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_364">[364]</a></span> See pp. 114-22 of vol. i.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_365"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_365">[365]</a></span> The same idea is well marked in a -conversation reported by Croker, which took place in London, on the eve -of Wellesley’s departure to assume command of the troops at Cork with -whom he was about to sail for the Peninsula. After a long reverie, he -was asked the subject of his thoughts. ‘To say the truth,’ he replied, -‘I am thinking of the French I am going to fight. I have not seen -them since the campaign in Flanders [1794-5] when they were capital -soldiers, and a dozen years of victory under Buonaparte must have -made them better still. They have besides a new system of strategy, -which has outmanœuvred and overwhelmed all the armies of Europe. ’Tis -enough to make one thoughtful; but no matter, the die is cast: they -may overwhelm me, but I don’t think they will outmanœuvre me. First, -because I am not afraid of them, as everybody else seems to be; and -secondly, because, if all I hear of their system be true, I think it a -false one against steady troops. I suspect all the continental armies -are half beaten before the battle begins. I, at least, will not be -frightened beforehand.’ Croker’s <cite>Diary and Correspondence</cite>, vol. i. p. -13, under the date June 14, 1808.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_366"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_366">[366]</a></span> See vol. i. p. 119.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_367"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_367">[367]</a></span> See Kincaid, chap. v, May 3, -1811.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_368"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_368">[368]</a></span> The feelings, expressed more or -less clearly in a hundred memoirs, may be summed up in a paragraph -by Wm. Grattan of the 88th. ‘In his parting General Order to the -Peninsular army he told us that he would never cease to feel the -warmest interest for our welfare and honour. How this promise was -kept every one knows. That the Duke of Wellington is one of the -most remarkable (perhaps the greatest) man of the present age, few -will deny. But that he neglected the interests and feelings of his -Peninsular army, as a body, is beyond all question. And were he in his -grave to-morrow, hundreds of voices that now are silent would echo what -I write’ (p. 332).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_369"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_369">[369]</a></span> <cite>Conversations with the Duke of -Wellington</cite>, p. 14. [Nov. 4, 1831.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_370"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_370">[370]</a></span> It is often forgotten that there -was a strong religious element in the rank and file of the Peninsular -army. In a letter from Cartaxo [Feb. 3, 1811], Wellington mentions, -with no great pleasure, the fact that there were three separate -Methodist meetings in the Guards’ brigade alone, and that in many other -regiments there were officers who were accustomed to preach and pray -with their men. For the spiritual experiences of a sergeant in the -agonies of conversion, the reader may consult the diary of Surtees of -the 95th during the year 1812.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_371"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_371">[371]</a></span> Robert Craufurd and Hill were -perhaps the only exceptions.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_372"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_372">[372]</a></span> Take, for example, his behaviour -to Sir James MacGrigor, perhaps the most successful of his chiefs of -departments. MacGrigor, being at Salamanca, while Wellesley was at -Madrid [Aug. 1812], ordered on his own authority the bringing up of -stores for the mass of wounded left behind there after the battle. He -then came to bring his report to Madrid. ‘Lord Wellington was sitting -to a Spanish painter [Goya] for his portrait when I arrived, and asked -me to sit down and give him a detail as to the state of the wounded -at Salamanca. When I came to inform him that for their relief I had -ordered up purveying and commissariat officers, he started up, and -in a violent manner reprobated what I had done. His Lordship was in -a passion, and the Spanish artist, ignorant of the English language, -looked aghast, and at a loss to know what I had done to enrage him -so much. “I shall be glad to know,” he asked, “who is to command the -army, I or you? I establish one route, one line of communications for -the army; you establish another, and order up supplies by it. As long -as you live, sir, never do that again; never do <i>anything</i> without my -orders.” I pleaded that there was no time to consult him, and that -I had to save lives. He peremptorily desired me “never again to act -without his orders.” ... A month later I was able to say to him, “My -Lord, recollect how you blamed me at Madrid for the steps which I took -on coming up to the army, when I could not consult your Lordship, -and acted for myself. Now, if I had not, what would the consequences -have been?” He answered, “It is all right as has turned out; but I -recommend you still <i>to have my orders for what you do</i>.” This was a -singular feature in the character of Lord Wellington.’ MacGrigor’s -<cite>Autobiography</cite>, pp. 302-3 and 311.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_373"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_373">[373]</a></span> Salisbury MSS., 1835. Quoted in -Sir Herbert Maxwell’s <cite>Wellington</cite>, ii. 194.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_374"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_374">[374]</a></span> Take, as a rare instance of -recognition of this fact, his remark in 1828 that ‘When the Duke -of Newcastle addressed to me a letter on the subject of forming an -Administration, I treated him with contempt. No man <i>likes</i> to be -treated with contempt. I was wrong.’ Ibid. ii. 213.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_375"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_375">[375]</a></span> For a record of such an interview -by an eye-witness see Gronow’s <cite>Reminiscences</cite>, p. 66.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_376"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_376">[376]</a></span> Sir James MacGrigor’s <cite>Memoirs</cite>, -pp. 304-5.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_377"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_377">[377]</a></span> He honourably mentioned Murray -in his Oporto dispatch, and Tripp in his Waterloo dispatch! Both had -behaved abominably.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_378"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_378">[378]</a></span> Take, for example, the case -of Baring of the K. G. L. at Waterloo. In a dispatch, not written -immediately after the battle (when accurate information might have been -difficult to procure), but <i>two months</i> later, Wellesley says that La -Haye Sainte was taken at two o’clock, ‘through the negligence of the -officer who commanded the post.’ Yet if anything is certain, it is that -Baring held out till six o’clock, that his nine companies of the K. G. -L. kept back two whole French divisions, and that when he was driven -out, the sole cause was that his ammunition was exhausted, and that no -more could be sent him because the enemy had completely surrounded the -post. If Wellington had taken any trouble about the ascertaining of the -facts, he could not have failed to learn the truth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_379"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_379">[379]</a></span> See especially his charming -letters to his niece, Lady Burghersh, lately published.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_380"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_380">[380]</a></span> His relations with the other sex -were numerous and unedifying. From his loveless and unwise marriage, -made on a point of duty where affection had long vanished, down to his -tedious ‘correspondence with Miss J.,’ there is nothing profitable to -be discovered. See Greville’s <cite>Diaries</cite> [2nd Series], iii. 476.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_381"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_381">[381]</a></span> When we read Wellington’s -interminable controversies with the Portuguese Regency and the -Spanish Junta, we soon come to understand not merely the way in which -they provoked him by their tortuous shuffling and their helpless -procrastination, but still more the way in which he irritated them by -his unveiled scorn, and his outspoken exposure of all their meannesses. -A little more diplomatic language would have secured less friction, and -probably better service.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_382"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_382">[382]</a></span> Monro to Beresford, April 15, and -MacKinley’s inclosure from Vigo of April 16, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_383"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_383">[383]</a></span> Excluding troops that arrived at -Lisbon just after Wellesley’s arrival.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_384"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_384">[384]</a></span> The 3rd Dragoon Guards, 4th -Dragoons, 14th and 16th Light Dragoons, with one squadron of the 3rd -Light Dragoons of the K. G. L., and two of the 20th Light Dragoons.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_385"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_385">[385]</a></span> The 2/9th, 1/45th, 29th, 5/60th -and 97th.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_386"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_386">[386]</a></span> Of Wellesley’s twenty-one -British battalions, ten were 2nd battalions, [of the 7th, 9th, 24th, -30th, 31st, 48th, 53rd, 66th, 83rd, 87th], two were single-battalion -regiments [the 29th and 97th], three first battalions [of the 3rd, -45th and 88th], two Guards’ battalions [1st Coldstreams and 1st Scots -Fusiliers], two ‘battalions of detachments,’ one a 3rd battalion -(27th), one a 5th battalion [60th].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_387"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_387">[387]</a></span> These regiments were the 1st, -3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 19th, raised respectively at -Lisbon (1st, 4th, 10th, 16th), Estremoz (3rd), Setubal (7th), Peniche -(13th), Villa Viciosa (15th), Cascaes (19th), Campomayor (20th), the -1st, 4th and 5th Cazadores, and 1st, 4th and 7th Cavalry.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_388"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_388">[388]</a></span> It is fair to the Portuguese to -note that other witnesses of May 1809 speak much more favourably of -them. Londonderry (i. p. 305) writes that ‘they had applied of late so -much ardour to their military education that some were already fit to -take the field, and it only required a little experience to put them -on a level with the best troops in Europe. There was one brigade under -General Campbell (the 4th and 10th regiments), which struck me as being -in the finest possible order: it went through a variety of evolutions -with a precision and correctness which would have done no discredit to -our own army.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_389"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_389">[389]</a></span> <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. -273-5, 276. To Castlereagh. Wellesley says that the plot will probably -fail, and that even if the 2nd Corps mutinied, they would not carry -away the other French armies, as Argenton hoped. He had therefore -refused to commit himself to anything.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_390"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_390">[390]</a></span> <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, ii. -306.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_391"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_391">[391]</a></span> The regiments were, giving their -force present with the colours from the return of May 5:—</p> - -<table class="tsm" summary="Nominal total of the army of Portugal"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">3/27th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">726</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2/31st Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">765</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">1/45th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">671</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">2/24th Foot [From Lisbon]</td> - <td class="tdr bb">750</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">2,912</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05">3rd Dragoon Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">698</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">4th Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">716</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">One battery Field Artillery [Captain<br />Baynes’s], six-pounders</td> - <td class="tdr bb">120</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">1,534</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total </td> - <td class="tdr">4,446</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_392"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_392">[392]</a></span> The Portuguese regiments -were:—1st Foot [La Lippe] one batt., 3rd and 15th Foot [1st -and 2nd of Olivenza] each one batt., 4th Foot [Freire] and 13th Foot -[Peniche] two batts. each. 1st, 4th and 5th Cazadores, one batt. each. -Five squadrons of the 4th and 7th cavalry. Total, 6,000 foot, 700 -horse, and three field-batteries, about 7,100 men.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_393"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_393">[393]</a></span> Viz. 2/87th, 669 bayonets, -1/88th, 608 bayonets, five companies of the 5/60th, 306 bayonets.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_394"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_394">[394]</a></span> Two battalions each of the -regiments nos. 7 (Setubal), 19 (Cascaes), and one of no. 1 (La Lippe), -as far as I can ascertain, composed this force.</p> - -<p class="ti1">[<a href="#Err_2">Erratum from p. xii</a>: I found in -Lisbon that the regiments which marched with Beresford to Lamego were -not (as I had supposed) nos. 7 and 19, but nos. 2 and 14, with the 4th -cazadores. Those which joined from the direction of Almeida were two -battalions of no. 11 (1st of Almeida) and one of no. 9.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_395"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_395">[395]</a></span> Regiment, no. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_396"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_396">[396]</a></span> Wilson had been removed by -Beresford from his own Lusitanian Legion, and told to take up the -command of the Brigade at Almeida: it was, apparently, with two -battalions drawn from the garrison of that fortress that he now joined -Beresford.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_397"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_397">[397]</a></span> Wellesley to Beresford, Coimbra, -May 7. <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 309.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_398"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_398">[398]</a></span> Ibid. iv. 320.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_399"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_399">[399]</a></span> <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. pp. -270, 281, 305.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_400"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_400">[400]</a></span> The whole force consisted of the -following, present with the colours:—</p> - -<table class="tsm mt1" summary="Nominal total of the army of Portugal"> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><span class="smcap">Cavalry</span>:</td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Officers.</i></td> - <td class="tdr"><i>Men.</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">14th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">20</td> - <td class="tdr">471</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">16th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">37</td> - <td class="tdr">673</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">20th Light Dragoons</td> - <td class="tdr">6</td> - <td class="tdr">237</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Light Dragoons K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">3</td> - <td class="tdr">57</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh pt05"><span class="smcap">Infantry</span>:</td> - <td class="tdr pt05"> </td> - <td class="tdr pt05"> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">H. Campbell’s brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Coldstream Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">33</td> - <td class="tdr">1,194</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd Foot Guards</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">1,228</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60th</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">A. Campbell’s brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/7th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">559</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/53rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">35</td> - <td class="tdr">787</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60th</td> - <td class="tdr">4</td> - <td class="tdr">64</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/10th Portuguese</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Sontag’s brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">97th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">22</td> - <td class="tdr">572</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Batt. Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr">35</td> - <td class="tdr">787</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60th</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/16th Portuguese</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">R. Stewart’s brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">29th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">26</td> - <td class="tdr">596</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Batt. Detachments</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">803</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/16th Portuguese</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Murray’s brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st Line Batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">767</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2nd Line Batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">32</td> - <td class="tdr">804</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">5th Line Batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">28</td> - <td class="tdr">720</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">7th Line Batt. K.G.L.</td> - <td class="tdr">22</td> - <td class="tdr">688</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Hill’s brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1/3rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">28</td> - <td class="tdr">719</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/48th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">32</td> - <td class="tdr">721</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/66th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">34</td> - <td class="tdr">667</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60 Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">61</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cameron’s brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/9th Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">27</td> - <td class="tdr">545</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/83rd Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">29</td> - <td class="tdr">833</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">One company 5/60 Foot</td> - <td class="tdr">2</td> - <td class="tdr">60</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">2/10th Portuguese</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - <td class="tdr">–</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="ti1 mt1">With Lawson’s battery of 3-pounders, and Lane’s, -Heyse’s, and Rettberg’s of 6-pounders. Allowing 600 each for the -Portuguese battalions, the total comes to 16,213 infantry, 1,504 -cavalry, and 550 gunners, also sixty-four men of the wagon train, and -thirty-nine engineers. Total, 18,370.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_401"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_401">[401]</a></span> Wellington to Beresford, from -Coimbra, May 7, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_402"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_402">[402]</a></span> He told Wellesley that the -general was ‘a man of weak intellect,’ and that he thought that he had -won him over to the plot from the way in which he received the news of -it. Wellesley to Castlereagh, May 15, from Oporto.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_403"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_403">[403]</a></span> This may be perhaps inferred from -Soult’s letter to King Joseph, written after the retreat, in which he -says that he had intended to pack off Lahoussaye and Mermet from the -front: ‘À cette époque j’ai voulu faire partir ces généraux, qui n’ont -pas toujours fait ce qui était de leur pouvoir pour le succès des -opérations; mais j’ai preféré attendre d’être arrivé à Zamora, afin de -ne pas accréditer les bruits d’intrigues et de conspirations qui eurent -lieu à Oporto, auxquels ils n’ont pas certainement pris aucune part.’ -[Intercepted letter in Record Office.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_404"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_404">[404]</a></span> Soult so far managed to forget -the whole business that he, two years later, sent the younger Lafitte -to present to the Emperor the English flags captured at Albuera! [See -St. Chamans, p. 133.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_405"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_405">[405]</a></span> Most of this comes from -Argenton’s confession to Wellesley on May 13. See <cite>Wellington -Dispatches</cite>, iv. p. 339. He said that he slipped away from the -gendarmes at the advice of Lafitte, who told him that his friends would -come to no harm if the chief witness against them vanished.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_406"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_406">[406]</a></span> The extraordinary clemency shown -to the conspirators by Soult, the providential escape of Argenton, -the favours which the Marshal afterwards lavished on Lafitte, and -the trouble which he took to hush up the whole matter, led many of -his enemies to suspect that he himself had been in the plot, and had -intended to combine his scheme for Portuguese kingship with a rising -against Bonaparte at the head of his <i>corps d’armée</i>: Argenton’s -confession made this impossible.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_407"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_407">[407]</a></span> For further details on Argenton’s -fate, see the <a href="#ChapA_6">Appendix</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_408"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_408">[408]</a></span> 1st Hussars, 8th Dragoons, 22nd -Chasseurs and Hanoverian Chevaux-légers.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_409"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_409">[409]</a></span> For details of this fatiguing -night march and its gropings in the dark see Tomkinson’s (16th -Dragoons) <cite>Diary</cite>, pp. 4-5, and Hawker’s (14th Light Dragoons) -<cite>Journal</cite>, p. 47.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_410"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_410">[410]</a></span> The Light Dragoons, says Hawker -(<cite>Journal</cite>, p. 48), ‘finding ourselves opposed by a heavy column of -cavalry, retired a little.’ Their total loss was one officer and two -men wounded, and one man missing. On this slender foundation Le Noble -founds the following romance (p. 240). ‘Le général Franceschi charge -à la tête de sa division ceux qui l’attaquent en front, renverse la -première ligne, et tandis qu’elle se rétablit, se retire, et fond -avec 6 pièces et deux régiments sur la colonne qui le tournait par -sa droite. L’ennemi est culbuté, la colonne recule, et le général se -retire sur Oliveira avec quelques prisonniers.’ All this fuss produced -<i>four</i> casualties in the two English regiments. See official report of -casualties for May 10, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_411"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_411">[411]</a></span> Hawker, pp. 49-50. Tomkinson -has words to much the same effect, ‘it was more like a field-day than -an affair with the enemy: all the shots went over our heads, and no -accident appeared to happen to any one’ (p. 6).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_412"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_412">[412]</a></span> The best account of this little -skirmish is in the <cite>Journal</cite> of Fantin des Odoards of the 31st Léger -(p. 230). Napier does not mention that the reason why Hill did not -move in the afternoon was simply that he was already ‘contained,’ and -engaged with a force of French infantry of nearly his own strength.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_413"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_413">[413]</a></span> Wellesley to Mackenzie [the -latter had written that he dared not trust his Portuguese battalions], -<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. p. 350.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_414"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_414">[414]</a></span> See Fantin des Odoards. Le Noble -(incorrect as always) says that the 47th brought up the rear.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_415"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_415">[415]</a></span> There are two excellent accounts -of this charge in the diaries of Tomkinson of the 16th Light Dragoons -and Fantin des Odoards of the 31st Léger. The former (pp. 9-11) -holds that the charge was indefensible, and blames Charles Stewart -for ordering it, and Major Blake for carrying it out. A different -impression is received from the French diarist, who speaks of it as a -complete rout of his regiment and very disastrous. ‘Assaillis en détail -nous avons été facilement mis en désordre, attendu notre morcellement -et la confusion que des charges audacieuses de cavalerie mettaient dans -nos rangs. Les trois bataillons ont lâché pied et se sont enfuis à vau -de route. Si le pays n’avait pas offert des murs, des fossés et des -haies, ils auraient été entièrement sabrés.... Peu à peu les débris du -régiment se sont ralliés a la division, qui était en position à une -lieue de Porto. Notre perte a été considérable, mais notre aigle, qui -a couru de grands dangers dans cette bagarre, a fort heureusement été -sauvée.... Les dragons étaient acharnés a nous poursuivre, et mal a -pris ceux qui au lieu de gagner les collines out suivi le vallon et -la grande route’ (p. 231). It seems probable (a thing extremely rare -in military history) that Tomkinson and Des Odoards, the two best -narrators of the fight, actually met each other. The former mentions -that he chased an isolated French infantry man, fired his pistol at -his head, but missed, and that he was at once shot in the shoulder by -another Frenchman and disabled. Then turning back, he was again fired -at by several men and brought down. Des Odoards says that he was chased -by a single English dragoon, who got up to him, fired at him point -blank and missed, whereupon a corporal of his company, who had turned -back to help him, shot the dragoon, who dropped his smoking pistol at -Des Odoards’ feet, and rolled off his horse. The narratives seem to -tally perfectly.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_416"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_416">[416]</a></span> The officers killed were Captain -Detmering of the 1st K. G. L., and a Portuguese ensign of the I/16th. -Those wounded were Captain Ovens and Lieutenant Woodgate of the 1st -Battalion of Detachments, Lieutenants Lodders and Lahngren of the K. -G. L., Cornet Tomkinson of the 16th Light Dragoons, and a Portuguese -lieutenant of the 1/16th. It would seem that some of the fourteen -‘missing’ were infantry killed in the woods, whose bodies were never -found, but several belonged to the maltreated dragoon squadrons, and -were taken from having pursued too fast and far.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_417"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_417">[417]</a></span> 1st and 2nd Line battalions of -the K.G.L., also a detached company of rifles of the K.G.L.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_418"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_418">[418]</a></span> Lane’s and Lawson’s British guns, -and one K.G.L., battery.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_419"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_419">[419]</a></span> Soult’s doings on this day are -best told by his aide-de-camp St. Chamans, who was with him all the -morning. No attention need be paid to the narrative of his panegyrist -Le Noble, who tells a foolish story to the effect that a commandant -Salel came at six o’clock (more than four hours before the Buffs -began to pass), and assured some of Soult’s staff that the English -were already crossing the river. ‘On hearing this,’ says Le Noble, -‘the Marshal sent for Quesnel, the governor of Oporto, and asked if -there was any truth in the rumour. The latter denied it and Soult -was reassured. If only Salel had been believed, all the English who -had then passed might have been killed or captured,’ and a disaster -avoided. As a matter of fact Quesnel was right, and not a British -soldier had yet crossed [<cite>Campagne de Galice</cite>, p. 247].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_420"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_420">[420]</a></span> This interesting fact I owe to -the diary of Captain Lane, still in manuscript, of which a copy has -been sent me by Col. Whinyates, R. A., a specialist on the history of -the British artillery in the Peninsula.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_421"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_421">[421]</a></span> Viz. 1/3rd, fifty men, 2/48th, -seventeen men, 2/66th, ten men, killed and wounded. The French 17th -alone lost 177 [Foy’s Dispatch].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_422"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_422">[422]</a></span> All this is well described by -Leslie of the 29th (p. 113), Stothert of the Scots Fusilier Guards (p. -41), and Cooper of the 2/7th, who crossed later.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_423"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_423">[423]</a></span> Leslie, ibid.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_424"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_424">[424]</a></span> So Hawker of that regiment, -who took part in the charge, and describes it well. In Wellesley’s -dispatch, <i>two</i> squadrons are wrongly named.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_425"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_425">[425]</a></span> The best account of this charge -is the diary of Hawker; it runs as follows: ‘After going at full speed, -enveloped in a cloud of dust for nearly two miles, we cleared our -infantry, and that of the French appeared. A strong body was drawn up -in close column, with bayonets ready to receive us on their front. On -each side of the road was a stone wall, bordered outwardly with trees. -On our left, in particular, numbers of the French were posted with -their pieces resting on the wall, which flanked the road, ready to give -us a running fire as we passed. This could not but be effectual, as our -men (in threes) were close to the muzzles of their muskets, and barely -out of the reach of a <i>coup de sabre</i>. In a few seconds the ground was -covered with our men and horses. Notwithstanding this we penetrated the -battalion in the road, the men of which, relying on their bayonets, -did not give way till we were close upon them, when they fled in -confusion. For some time the contest was kept up hand to hand. After -many efforts we succeeded in cutting off 300, of whom most were secured -as prisoners. But our loss was very considerable. Of fifty-two men in -the leading troop ten were killed, and eleven severely wounded (besides -others slightly), and six taken prisoners.’ (Of the last all save one -succeeded in slipping off and got back.) Out of four officers engaged -three were wounded: Hervey, the major in command, lost an arm. Foy -called the attack ‘une charge incroyable.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_426"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_426">[426]</a></span> Fantin des Odoards (p. 233) says -that the French left 1,800 men in the hospitals. This is probably a -little too high an estimate: there were only 2,150 French sick in -Braga, Viana, and Oporto on May 10—five-sixths of them at Oporto. -But many convalescents had marched with Mermet early on the eleventh. -Wellington in his first dispatch merely says that he had taken 700 -sick in the hospitals. But three days later, in a letter to Admiral -Berkeley, he writes that he has 2,000 sick, wounded and captured French -in his hands, and must send them to England at once (<cite>Wellington -Dispatches</cite>, iv. 337). He therefore asks for shipping for them at the -rate of two tons per man. Allowing for 300 unwounded prisoners at -Oporto, and 100 at Grijon, there remain 1,500, or somewhat more, for -the men in hospital.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_427"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_427">[427]</a></span> See Le Noble, <cite>Campagne de -Galice</cite>, pp. 250-2.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_428"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_428">[428]</a></span> Loison reported to Soult that he -lost only a <i>chef de bataillon</i> and eighty men, but that the horses of -himself and Generals Heudelet and Maransin were killed under them. The -figures given are probably an understatement.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_429"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_429">[429]</a></span> The British brigade of Tilson -was to have led the attack. They were burning for a fight. ‘I never -witnessed so much enthusiasm,’ writes an eye-witness, ‘as was shown by -the men. The advance was a perfect trot, but on our arrival we found -the enemy had fled.’ (From an unpublished letter of Lord Gough, then -colonel of the 87th regiment, which has been placed at my disposal by -the kindness of Mr. R. Rait of New College, who is preparing a life of -that officer.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_430"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_430">[430]</a></span> ‘Un de ces Navarrins, qui vont -tous les ans en Portugal parcourir les villages pour y couper les -cochons qu’on veut engraisser,’ says Le Noble [p. 254]. ‘Une espèce de -contrebandier que le général Dulauloi avait trouvé,’ says St. Chamans, -Soult’s aide-de-camp (p. 147).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_431"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_431">[431]</a></span> Several of the French diarists -relate this curious incident. ‘L’argent blanc ne tentait personne,’ -says Fantin des Odoards, p. 234, ‘à cause de sa pesanteur et de son -inutilité momentaire. On permit le pillage des fourgons du payeur, et -chose inouïe, il n’y fut presque pas touché. Les soldats regardaient -en passant les sacs, secouaient la tête et s’éloignaient sans y -mettre la main. Pour moi, je m’emparai d’un sac de 2,400 francs; -cette lourde somme m’embarassait: elle aurait blessé mon cheval, et -après l’avoir portée pendant une lieue je l’abandonnai’ [p. 234]. -‘Les grenadiers du 70<sup>e</sup> servaient d’escorte au trésor,’ -says Le Noble, ‘l’intendant-général les invita de prendre des fonds. -Ayant rencontré leur officier, le lieutenant Langlois, à Toro, il lui -demanda ce qu’avaient pu emporter ses soldats. “<i>Rien</i>,” répliqua-t-il, -“ils portaient la caisse à tour de rôle pour quelque distance, et -la jetèrent ensuite.”’ Naylies also mentions the dispersion of the -treasure. The reader will compare this incident with the rolling of -Moore’s treasure down the cliffs of Herrerias during the Corunna -retreat. Soult certainly scattered his cash more widely.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_432"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_432">[432]</a></span> When the troops got at the wine -they drank only too well: Hartmann in his <cite>Journal</cite> records that twenty -of his German Legion gunners drank forty-one bottles of port at a -sitting (p. 71).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_433"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_433">[433]</a></span> <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 327. -To Marshal Beresford, from Oporto, night of the twelfth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_434"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_434">[434]</a></span> A Captain Mellish, <cite>Wellington -Dispatches</cite>, iv. 330 [to Murray] and 332 [to Beresford].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_435"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_435">[435]</a></span> Deposition of the Secretary to -the late Governor of Oporto. <cite>Wellington Supplementary Dispatches</cite>, vi. -262 [May 13, afternoon].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_436"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_436">[436]</a></span> <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 330, -afternoon of May 13.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_437"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_437">[437]</a></span> Ibid. iv. 332, morning of May -14.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_438"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_438">[438]</a></span> It is astonishing to find that -Murray succeeded in taking two light three-pounder guns over this -difficult path. The fact reflects great credit on his gunners.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_439"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_439">[439]</a></span> The state of Amarante was -dreadful. ‘I was never witness to such a scene of misery and horror as -here presented itself,’ says Lord Gough in an unpublished letter to his -father. ‘Every house and public building of every description, with the -exception of a monastery which covered the passage of the bridge, a -chapel, and about five detached houses, was burnt to the ground, with -many of the late inhabitants lying dead in the streets.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_440"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_440">[440]</a></span> The best testimony to Beresford’s -good conduct is that Wellesley (<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 343) says -that he had exactly anticipated the instructions sent him, and carried -them out on his own initiative. Napier’s criticism (ii. 116-7) is -unfair and misleading.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_441"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_441">[441]</a></span> The best account of Beresford’s -forced march is to be found in the unpublished letter of Lord Gough -(then major of the 87th) which, as I have already mentioned, has been -shown me by Mr. R. Rait of New College. He says: ‘The business of -crossing the river took the Brigade (Tilson’s) four hours: the evening -set in with a most dreadful fall of rain, which continued all night, -and the next three days and nights. Our road lay over almost impassable -mountains, made more so by the rain that swelled the mountain rivulets -into rivers. In the dark many men lost the column, several fell into -pits excavated by the falling water: many lay down in the road from -fatigue and hunger, and the greater part lost their shoes.... Next -day we pursued our melancholy march at five o’clock, the men nearly -fainting with hunger: about twelve we fell in with some cars of bread -belonging to a Portuguese division, which Gen. Tilson pressed for the -men; this (with some wine) enabled us to proceed, and that night at -twelve we reached Chaves, after a forced march of three days, with -only twelve hours’ halt. The men were without a shoe to their feet, -and hundreds fallen out from fatigue and hunger.... The 88th had, of -700 with which they joined us, only 150 in the ranks.... Part of the -officers and nearly all the men had their feet cut to the bone for want -of shoes.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_442"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_442">[442]</a></span> The brigade had a company of the -5/60th attached, so had three instead of two light companies.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_443"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_443">[443]</a></span> ‘Il y avait à l’arrière-garde un -excellent régiment d’infanterie légère, qui (vu la nature du terrain) -pouvait facilement braver une armée entière: et bien, à l’apparition -de l’ennemi, il s’est débandé sans qu’on ait pu lui faire entendre -raison. La confusion qui a été le résultat de cette terreur panique a -été épouvantable. Fantassins et cavaliers se précipitaient les uns sur -les autres, jetaient leurs armes, et luttaient à qui courrait le plus -vite. Le pont étroit et sans parapet ne pouvait suffire à l’impatience -des fuyards, ils se pressaient tellement que nombre d’hommes furent -précipités et noyés dans le torrent ou écrasés sous les pieds des -chevaux. Si les Anglais avaient été en mesure de profiter de cette -épouvante, je ne sais pas en vérité ce que nous serions devenus, tant -la peur est contagieuse, même chez les plus braves soldats.’ Fantin des -Odoards, p. 236.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_444"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_444">[444]</a></span> Lord Munster’s <cite>Campaign of -1809</cite>, pp. 177-8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_445"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_445">[445]</a></span> The French rearguard actually saw -Silveira arriving. Naylies, p. 90.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_446"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_446">[446]</a></span> For this part of the pursuit -see the diary of Hawker [of the 14th Light Dragoons], who returned to -Montalegre with Silveira’s men.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_447"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_447">[447]</a></span> These details are mainly from -the letter of Gough of the 87th, which I have already had occasion -to quote, when dealing with Beresford’s movements. I cannot find any -corroboration for Napier’s account of Beresford’s and Silveira’s -pursuit in ii. pp. 112-3 of his history.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_448"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_448">[448]</a></span> See mainly Le Noble’s calculation -on pp. 353-4 of his <cite>Campagne de 1809</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_449"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_449">[449]</a></span> The rest of Silveira’s prisoners -were Hispano-Portuguese ‘legionaries,’ see <a href="#Page_266">p. 266</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_450"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_450">[450]</a></span> Napier (ii. 113) says, ‘1,800 -at Viana and Braga, 700 at Oporto,’ figures that should be reversed, -for at the two last places only the sick of Heudelet’s and Lorges’ -divisions were captured, while at Oporto the main central hospital fell -into the hands of the British. Le Noble says that there were 2,150 men -in hospital altogether on May 10.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_451"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_451">[451]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_341">p. 341</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_452"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_452">[452]</a></span> The respective distances seem to -be about 255 and 120 miles.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_453"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_453">[453]</a></span> Napier, ii. 113.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_454"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_454">[454]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_321">p. 321</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_455"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_455">[455]</a></span> ‘In respect to Soult, I shall -omit nothing that I can do to destroy him—but I am afraid that -with the force I have at my disposal, it is not in my power to prevent -him retreating into Spain.’ Wellesley to Frere, May 9, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_456"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_456">[456]</a></span> From Montalegre, May 18, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_457"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_457">[457]</a></span> i.e. its sick and wounded.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_458"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_458">[458]</a></span> Napier, Arteche, and Schepeler -all agree in this, the former only making the excuse that Silveira may -not have fully understood Beresford’s orders, owing to the difficulty -of language. But Beresford spoke and wrote Portuguese fluently.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_459"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_459">[459]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_192">p. 192</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_460"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_460">[460]</a></span> Napoleon to Ney, from Paris, Feb. -18, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_461"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_461">[461]</a></span> ‘Ne comptez sur aucun renfort: -croyez plutôt qu’on pourrait être dans le cas de porter ailleurs une de -vos divisions.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_462"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_462">[462]</a></span> Acevedo’s division, deducting the -regular troops [Hibernia (two batts.), and Provincial of Oviedo], had -some 6,000 men: while 5,200 remained behind in Asturias. See pp. 632 -and 637 of vol. i.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_463"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_463">[463]</a></span> Apparently consisting in February -of three battalions and a Spanish Legion which Napoleon had organized -out of the prisoners of Blake’s and La Romana’s armies: 2,998 men in -all. The Legion waited till it had received arms and clothing, and -then deserted <i>en masse</i> and went to join the insurgents. For angry -correspondence on this incident see Napoleon to King Joseph, Feb. 20, -and King Joseph to Napoleon, March 7, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_464"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_464">[464]</a></span> The total of French troops in Old -Castile, garrisoning Valladolid, Soria, Palencia, and Burgos, &c., -was only 5,342 men. Nothing was disposable for field operations save -Kellermann’s division of dragoons. In Biscay, behind Bonnet, there were -only 1,762 men, and in Alava 876. Practically nothing could have been -sent to reinforce Leon or Santander, till Mortier’s corps came up.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_465"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_465">[465]</a></span> For this fiasco see Toreno, i. -pp. 400-1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_466"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_466">[466]</a></span> These dispositions of the -Asturian army, which have never before been published, are taken from -a dispatch from the Junta at Oviedo, which Mr. Frere sent to Lord -Castlereagh on March 24 [Record Office]. The regiments were:—</p> - -<ul class="forces"> - -<li class="hang">At Colombres, under Maj.-General F. Ballasteros:</li> -<li class="hang2">Luanco, Castropol, Navia, Luarca, Villaviciosa, Llanes, Cangas de Oñis, - Cangas de Tineo, Don Carlos.</li> - -<li class="hang">At Pajares and Farna, under Brigadier Don Christoval Lili:</li> -<li class="hang2">Siero, Provincial of Oviedo, Covadonga.</li> - -<li class="hang">At La Mesa, under Brigadier Don F. Manglano:</li> -<li class="hang2">Riva de Sella, Pravia.</li> - -<li class="hang">At Castropol, under Colonel T. Valdez:</li> -<li class="hang2">Lena, Grado, Salas, Ferdinando VII.</li> - -<li class="hang">At Oviedo, under Lieut.-General Worster:</li> -<li class="hang2">Gijon, Infiesto.</li> - -</ul> - -<p class="ti1">The Junta report that they have over 20,000 men, the -regiments being very strong, some of them reaching 1,200 bayonets, or -even more.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_467"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_467">[467]</a></span> Carrol to La Romana, March 28, -‘The Junta, in fact, command the armies in every respect. They have -absolute power, and have rendered themselves highly obnoxious to the -people of the province, and are at present entirely guided by the will -and caprice of three or four individuals...’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_468"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_468">[468]</a></span> Such also was the opinion of -Captain Carrol, the British representative at Oviedo. He writes to -Castlereagh on Feb. 10 in the following terms: ‘I am sorry to have to -represent that the supplies hitherto granted to this province have not -been applied (to use the mildest expressions) with that judgment and -economy that might have been expected, and that the benefits resulting -to this province and the common cause are by no means proportionate to -the liberality with which those supplies were granted by the British -Government’ [Record Office]. Toreno, as a patriotic Asturian, hushes up -all these scandals.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_469"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_469">[469]</a></span> The number of unwounded prisoners -was 574, that of killed and wounded nearly 700.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_470"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_470">[470]</a></span> The captives were sent off -immediately into the Asturias. Carrol saw them arrive at Oviedo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_471"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_471">[471]</a></span> There is a long dispatch of -Mendizabal to La Romana in the Record Office, giving details of the -storm of Villafranca, which was all over in four hours.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_472"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_472">[472]</a></span> Captain Carrol had written to him -a few days before to beg him to hasten to Oviedo: ‘I strongly advise -your Excellency’s repairing to this city (Oviedo), and adopting such -plans and measures for the better government of the province and the -active operations of the army as your Excellency shall think meet.’ -There were similar appeals from Spanish officers discontented with the -Junta.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_473"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_473">[473]</a></span> It may be worth while to quote -the opening clauses of La Romana’s proclamation explaining his -<i>coup d’état</i>; it is dated the day after his ‘purge’ of the Junta: -a copy exists in the Record Office, forwarded to Castlereagh by -Carrol:—‘Me es forzoso manifestar con mucho sentimiento que -la actual Junta de Asturias, aunque de las mas favorecidas por la -generosidad britannica en toda classe de subsidios, es la que menos -ha coadyuvado a la grande y heroyca empresa de arrojar a los enemigos -de nuestro patrio suelo. Formada esta Junta por intriga, y por la -prepotencia de algunos sugetos y familias conexionadas, se propuse -arrogarse un poder absoluto e indefinido: serven los individuos -mutuamente en sus proyectos y despiques, desechan con pretextos -infundidos y aun calumniosos al que no subscribiese a ellos, y -contentan a los menesterosos con comisiones o encargos de interes,’ -&c.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_474"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_474">[474]</a></span> Carrol, who was an eye-witness -of the scene, thought that the Marquis ‘had re-formed the Junta in the -most quiet, peaceable and masterly manner.’ The last epithet seems the -most appropriate of the three. Carrol to Castlereagh, April 10, 1809 -[in Record Office].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_475"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_475">[475]</a></span> Letters of La Romana to Mahy in -Appendix to Arteche, vol. vi. p. 145.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_476"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_476">[476]</a></span> Ibid., p. 146.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_477"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_477">[477]</a></span> Napoleon to Joseph, from Paris, -April 10, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_478"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_478">[478]</a></span> For details concerning the -composition of this expedition see Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 196.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_479"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_479">[479]</a></span> The force that marched on the -Asturias was composed of the 25th Léger, 27th and 59th of Maurice -Mathieu’s division, the 39th from Marchand’s, the 3rd Hussars, and 25th -Dragoons.</p> - -<p class="ti1">Maucune’s detachment consisted of two battalions each of -the 6th Léger and the 76th, with the 15th Chasseurs and one battery.</p> - -<p class="ti1">Fournier’s detachment was composed of the 15th Dragoons, -two battalions of the 69th, and one of the 76th.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_480"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_480">[480]</a></span> Carrol gives an excellent account -of the French invasion in a long dispatch written from Vigo on June 3. -He says that the Marquis only heard of Ney’s approach by the peasants -flying from Cangas de Tineo on the morning of May 17. He himself was -sent out to verify the incredible information, and came on the French -as they were crossing the Navia, only thirty miles from Oviedo. He rode -back in haste, and met one Asturian battalion coming up, and afterwards -the regiment of La Princesa. Romana had no other troops, and only a few -hundred half-armed peasantry joined in the defence of the bridge of -Gallegos.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_481"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_481">[481]</a></span> ‘Ce dernier pont de Gallegos fut -assez bien défendu par le régiment de la Princesse, mais néanmoins il -fut enlevé, ainsi qu’une pièce de douze.’ Ney to King Joseph, Oviedo, -May 21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_482"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_482">[482]</a></span> ‘Les magasins et les plus riches -maisons de la ville furent pillés par les paysans et la populace. Ces -malheureux, ivres d’eau-de-vie, entreprirent de défendre la ville et -firent feu dans toutes les rues.’ Ney to King Joseph, Oviedo, May -21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_483"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_483">[483]</a></span> They were called the Pique and -the Plutus. Carrol was nearly captured while burning the latter, and -escaped in an open boat.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_484"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_484">[484]</a></span> The 116th and 117th of Morlot’s -division.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_485"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_485">[485]</a></span> The plain from which Santiago -gets its name of Santiago de Compostella.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_486"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_486">[486]</a></span> All this may be studied in two -dispatches of Bonnet to King Joseph, dated Santander, June 12 and June -20.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_487"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_487">[487]</a></span> The phrase occurs in a dispatch -of Jourdan’s written in August.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_488"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_488">[488]</a></span> There is clear evidence of this -quarrel in the diaries and memoirs of the officers of both corps. ‘Nous -fûmes d’abord bien reçus à Lugo’—writes Soult’s aide-de-camp St. -Chamans—‘mais le Maréchal Ney étant arrivé, les choses changèrent -de face, et on eût dit que nous n’étions plus un corps français: -tout nous était refusé: même nos malades mouraient en foule dans les -hôpitaux, faute d’aliments: car tout était réservé, par les ordres de -Ney, pour son corps d’armée, et on peut bien dire qu’on nous traita de -Turc en Maure’ (p. 150). Des Odoards is equally precise: ‘Une fâcheuse -mésintelligence a éclaté entre les troupes de Ney et les nôtres: les -duels sont survenus, et peu s’en est fallu qu’oubliant que nous sommes, -les uns et les autres, enfants de la France, il n’y ait eu engagement -général. Le non-succès de notre entreprise, l’état de délabrement -de notre tenue, out servi de texte aux mauvaises plaisanteries, aux -propos outrageants, dont des scènes sanguinaires ont été la suite. Les -soldats seuls ont d’abord pris part à ces rixes, puis elles ont gagné -les officiers, et s’il faut croire certain bruits, les maréchaux ont eu -eux-mêmes une entrevue fort orageuse’ (p. 240). According to the common -report this ‘stormy interview’ actually ended in Ney’s drawing his -sword upon Soult, and being only prevented by General Maurice Mathieu -from assailing him. This tale was told to Captain Boothby (see his -<cite>Memoirs</cite>, ii. p. 31) by a French officer who said that he had been an -eye-witness of the scene.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_489"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_489">[489]</a></span> ‘Il se sépara de Ney, avec lequel -il eût l’air d’arrêter, pour la conservation de la Galice, un plan de -campagne auquel tous les deux étaient, je crois, résolus d’avance de -ne pas se conformer, car ils voulaient le moins possible se trouver -ensemble.’ St. Chamans (p. 151). This represents the view of Soult’s -staff.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_490"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_490">[490]</a></span> La Romana (June 1, in the Record -Office) gives present at Orense 9,633 men—of whom 7,094 were old -soldiers, including 381 cavalry and 379 artillery.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_491"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_491">[491]</a></span> Carrol to Castlereagh, from Vigo, -June 11.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_492"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_492">[492]</a></span> For some notes concerning -Noroña’s character see Arteche, vi. 188.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_493"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_493">[493]</a></span> Carrol, writing from Vigo two -days later, says that the French infantry ‘seemed determined <i>at any -risk</i> to cross the water at low tide,’ that they came on very boldly, -but could not face the fire, and finally gave back.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_494"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_494">[494]</a></span> Carrol, in the letter just -quoted, says that thirty-nine dead bodies were left before the -bridge-head of Caldelas, which the French could not carry off because -of the hot fire that played upon the spot. He estimates the French -total loss at 300, while that of Noroña was only 111.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_495"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_495">[495]</a></span> ‘I have been assured,’ says -Napier (ii. 127), ‘by an officer of Ney’s personal staff [Col. -D’Esménard] that he rashly concluded that personal feelings had swayed -Soult to betray the 6th Corps. In this error he returned in wrath to -Corunna.’ But was his conclusion rash, or wrong?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_496"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_496">[496]</a></span> Le Noble, p. 280.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_497"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_497">[497]</a></span> Fantin des Odoards, p. 242.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_498"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_498">[498]</a></span> ‘Le Maréchal crut, <i>ou feignit -de croire</i>, que Ney avait changé d’idée,’ says his aide-de-camp St. -Chamans, p. 151.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_499"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_499">[499]</a></span> La Romana writes to Carrol from -Orense, on June 9, to say that he had been intending to march by -cross-roads to fall on Ney’s flank, and so aid the division of Noroña. -But Soult’s appearance at Monforte with 12,000 men [an under-estimate] -compels him to remain behind to observe that marshal [Record -Office].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_500"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_500">[500]</a></span> Carrol was with this party. He -had come out from Vigo to join La Romana, was at La Gudina on June -16, and retreated to Monterey when Franceschi attacked that point. -The Marquis turned back when he saw Franceschi move off eastward, -and retired to his old head quarters at Orense. If Soult had pushed -westward, the Spaniards had the choice between the road to Chaves and -that back to Orense, and were in no danger.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_501"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_501">[501]</a></span> ‘Il (Ney) m’engageait à rester -en Galice, et me représentait qu’il pourrait résulter pour lui de -fâcheuses conséquences si j’en sortais. Cette proposition m’étonna: il -me parut que M. le Maréchal Ney se conduisait à m’obliger à rester en -Galice: car certainement rien ne l’empêchait de manœuvrer sur Orense, -tandis que moi-même j’agissais contre La Romana.... Je me crus encore -plus obligé qu’auparavant de suivre mon premier projet.’ Soult to -Joseph, June 25.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_502"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_502">[502]</a></span> On reaching Zamora, Franceschi -handed over the charge of his division to General Pierre Soult, the -Marshal’s brother, and rode on towards Madrid with no escort but -two aides-de-camp. They were captured near Toro by the celebrated -guerrilla chief El Capuchino (Fray Juan Delica), who sent the -important dispatches which they were bearing to Seville: Frere -instantly forwarded a copy to Wellesley (July 9), who thus got -invaluable information as to Soult’s situation and future intentions. -In the Record Office there is a letter requesting that the news of -Franceschi’s captivity may be sent to his wife in Paris, which was -duly done. The unfortunate general was imprisoned first at Granada -and then at Cartagena: in both places, it is said, he was treated -with unjustifiable rigour, and kept in close confinement within four -walls—it was the same usage that Napoleon meted out to Palafox. -He died of a fever in 1811, after two years’ captivity.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_503"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_503">[503]</a></span> There is so much valuable -information in these dispatches of Soult, dated June 25, from Puebla -de Senabria, that I have printed the most important paragraphs <a -href="#ChapA_8">as an Appendix</a>—omitting the lengthy narrative -of the operations on the Sil and the Bibey in which the Marshal vainly -flattered himself that he had dispersed the armies of La Romana and -‘Chavarria’ (i.e. Echevarria).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_504"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_504">[504]</a></span> See <a href="#Chap11_1">sect. xi. -chap. i</a>. <a href="#Page_101">pp. 101-2</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_505"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_505">[505]</a></span> Toreno gives some curious -details about the surrender of Jaca, which he says was largely due -to the intrigues of a friar named José de Consolation, who preached -resignation and submission to God’s will in such moving terms that -the greater part of the garrison deserted! He was afterwards found to -have been an agent of the French. The Central Junta sent the Governor -Campos, the Corregidor Arcón, and the officers commanding the artillery -and engineers before a court-martial, which condemned them all to -death. Only the engineer was caught (he had openly joined the French) -and shot. [Arteche, vi. p. 10.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_506"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_506">[506]</a></span> Only the single regiment, -America, whose cadre, sent back by Infantado from Cuenca, was being -filled up with recruits from the Morella district. [Junot to King -Joseph, from Saragossa, March 25.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_507"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_507">[507]</a></span> See Joseph’s letter of April 6, -and the Emperor’s orders, from Paris, of April 5 and April 10.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_508"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_508">[508]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_378">p. -378</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_509"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_509">[509]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_378">p. -378</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_510"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_510">[510]</a></span> It consisted of eight <i>compagnies -d’élite</i>, viz. the <i>voltigeur</i> companies of the 14th Line, and the 2nd -of the Vistula, and the grenadier and voltigeur companies of the 116th -of the Line, with half a squadron of the 13th Cuirassiers. [Von Brandt, -p. 62.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_511"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_511">[511]</a></span> This little campaign can be -studied in detail in Von Brandt, pp. 60-8. He was serving as lieutenant -in the 2nd of the Vistula, and gives many details which are not to be -found in Suchet or Arteche. Toreno would seem (ii. 10) to be wrong in -saying that Habert tried to storm Monzon, and got over the river there, -but was beaten back by Baget. Von Brandt says that there was nothing -but a hot fire across the water, and that the attack could not be -pushed home.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_512"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_512">[512]</a></span> It is necessary to enter a -protest against Napier’s statement (vol. ii. p. 252), that Valencia -did not do its fair share in defending the general cause of -Spain—that ‘from the very commencement of the insurrection its -policy was characterized by a singular indifference to the calamities -that overwhelmed the other parts of the country.’ The contribution of -Valencia to the national armies raised in 1808-9, compares well with -that of the other provinces. These troops, too, were not used for -local defence, but employed in other parts of Spain. Argüelles’ answer -to Napier on this point seems conclusive: (see the Appendix-volume -of his <cite>Observaciones</cite>, &c.). The troops sent out by Valencia -were:—</p> - -<table class="tnormal w100" summary=""> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">Men.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">(1) To join the division of Llamas in the ‘Army of - the Centre’ [Roca’s later division], thirteen battalions, about</td> - <td class="tdr">6,000</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">(2) To join the division of O’Neille in Aragon, one - regiment</td> - <td class="tdr">800</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">(3) To join the division of St. March in Aragon, nine - battalions</td> - <td class="tdr">6,000</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">(4) Joined Palafox at Saragossa between the date of - Tudela and the commencement of the siege, one battalion</td> - <td class="tdr">500</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">(5) Sent to Catalonia in December, two battalions</td> - <td class="tdr">800</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">(6) Raised to recruit Roca’s division in January</td> - <td class="tdr">4,000</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">(7) Raised to join Blake between April and June 1809</td> - <td class="tdr bb">11,881</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">Total</td> - <td class="tdr">29,981</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="ti1">These figures are exclusive of cavalry and -artillery, and in some cases are under-estimated, as no morning-states -of the troops survive for the earlier months of the campaign of -1808, and these totals are taken from returns made late in the year, -when the regiments had begun to run low in numbers. For the enormous -monetary contribution made by Valencia in 1808-9, see the tables in -Argüelles.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_513"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_513">[513]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_378">p. -378</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_514"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_514">[514]</a></span> The 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, -and 121st of the line were all formed from the ‘Provisional Regiments’ -of 1808.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_515"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_515">[515]</a></span> Suchet’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>. i. p. 11.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_516"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_516">[516]</a></span> ‘Le 3<sup>me</sup> corps -avait beaucoup souffert au siège de Saragosse. L’infanterie était -considérablement affaiblie: les régiments de nouvelle formation surtout -se trouvaient dans un état déplorable, par les vices inséparables -d’une organisation récente et précipitée.... Des habits blancs bleus -et de formes différentes, restes choquants de divers changements -dans l’habillement, occasionnaient dans les rangs une bigarrure qui -achevait d’enlever à des soldats déjà faibles et abattus toute idée de -considération militaire. L’apparence de la misère les dégradait à leurs -propres yeux ... Dans un état voisin du découragement, cette armée -était loin de compenser par sa force morale le danger de sa faiblesse -numérique.’ Suchet, p. 16.</p> - -<p class="ti1">Von Brandt speaks to much the same effect, and says that -some of the troops gave a bad impression, and that he saw battalions -which looked as if they would not stand firm against a sudden and -fierce attack, such as that which Mina and his guerrillas used to -deliver [p. 61].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_517"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_517">[517]</a></span> From a casual reading of Suchet, -i. 17-21, it might be thought that the general had been joined by -Habert before the battle. But he certainly was not, as the Memoirs -of Von Brandt, who was with Habert, show that this brigade was at -Villafranca, forty miles from Alcañiz, on the twenty-third, and only -started (too late) to join its chief on the twenty-fourth. The mention -of the 2nd of the Vistula on p. 21 of Suchet is a misprint for the 3rd -of the Vistula of Musnier’s division. Half the 13th Cuirassiers was -also absent with Habert.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_518"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_518">[518]</a></span> According to Suchet’s own figures -from his May 15 return, the forces engaged must have been:—</p> - -<table class="tnormal" summary=""> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Musnier’s Division:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">114th Line (three batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,627</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">115th Line (three batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,732</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">1st of the Vistula (two batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,039</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">121st Line (one batt. only)</td> - <td class="tdr">400</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Detachment of the 64th and 40th<br /> - of the Line [General’s escort]</td> - <td class="tdr bb">450</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">5,248</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Laval’s Brigade:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">14th Line (two batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr">1,080</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd of the Vistula (two batts.)</td> - <td class="tdr">964</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Cavalry, 4th Hussars</td> - <td class="tdr">326</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Half 13th Cuirassiers</td> - <td class="tdr">200</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Artillery</td> - <td class="tdr bb">320</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">2,890</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr pt05">Total</td> - <td class="tdr pt05">8,138</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_519"><span class="label"><a href="#FNanchor_519">[519]</a></span> -The Spanish line-of-battle was as follows:—</p> - -<table class="tnormal" summary=""> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Left wing, General Areizaga:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Daroca, Volunteers of Aragon, Tiradores de Doyle, Reserve - of Aragon, 1st Tiradores de Murcia, Company of Tiradores - de Cartagena—five and one-sixth batts.</td> - <td class="tdr">2,669</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Centre, Marquis of Lazan:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">Volunteers of Valencia, Ferdinando VII, 3rd batt. of America, - detachment of Traxler’s Swiss—three and a half batts.</td> - <td class="tdr">1,605</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Right wing, General Roca:</td> - <td> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdhh">3rd batt. of Savoia, 2nd batt. of America, 1st of Valencia - (three batts.), 2nd Cazadores of Valencia, 1st Volunteers - of Saragossa—seven batts.</td> - <td class="tdr">3,742</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Cavalry (detachments of Santiago, Olivenza, and Husares - Españoles)</td> - <td class="tdr">445</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Artillery</td> - <td class="tdr">245</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_520"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_520">[520]</a></span> Napier, for example, following -French sources, gives Blake 12,000 men.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_521"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_521">[521]</a></span> Three battalions of the 114th of -the Line, and two of the 1st of the Vistula.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_522"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_522">[522]</a></span> Suchet gives a very poor account -of Alcañiz in his <cite>Mémoires</cite>. In spite of his many merits, he did not -take a beating well, and slurs over this action, just as in 1812 he -slurs over his defeat at Castalla. He does not even give an estimate of -his killed and wounded, and has the assurance to say that he left the -enemy only ‘l’opinion de la victoire’ (i. 20). Blake clearly makes too -much of the French attack on his right in his dispatch.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_523"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_523">[523]</a></span> Suchet, <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 20.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_524"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_524">[524]</a></span> The drafts were so large that -the troops of Lazan’s division, which had numbered 3,979 in May, -were 5,679 in June, those of Roca rose similarly from 3,449 to -5,525. The Valencian Junta claimed to have sent in all 11,881 men to -reinforce Blake, and the returns bear them out. They also gave him -2,000,000 reals in cash—about £22,000—raised by a special -contribution in fifteen days. Their report says that they had sent on -every armed man in the province, and that the city was only guarded by -peasants armed with pikes. (Argüelles.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_525"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_525">[525]</a></span> Suchet, <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 23.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_526"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_526">[526]</a></span> Von Brandt, <cite>Aus meinem Leben</cite>, -i. 67.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_527"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_527">[527]</a></span> 44th of the Line, 1,069 bayonets, -and 3rd of the Vistula, 964 bayonets, according to Suchet’s figures.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_528"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_528">[528]</a></span> Apparently a battalion of the -121st of the Line, the rest of which regiment was still in Navarre.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_529"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_529">[529]</a></span> The battalion of the 5th Léger -belonged to Morlot’s division, the rest of which was dispersed in -Navarre or absent: that of the 64th was one which Suchet had brought -from Valladolid as his personal escort, and which properly belonged to -the 5th Corps.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_530"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_530">[530]</a></span> Suchet says the morning was -occupied in mere ‘tiraillement’ of the Spanish skirmishers and the -2nd of the Vistula. This is not borne out by the narrative of Von -Brandt, of that corps. He says that the enemy came on ‘sehr lebhaft,’ -that both battalions of his regiment were deeply engaged, that a -regiment of Spanish dragoons in yellow [he calls it Numancia, but it -was really Olivenza] charged into the skirmishing-line and nearly -broke it. The 2nd of the Vistula used up all its cartridges, and lost -ground. ‘Die Kavalleriezüge wurden jedoch jedesmal zurückgewiesen, -aber nichtsdestoweniger verloren wir allmählich Terrain.’ The -Spaniards were only driven off by a battery being drawn forward into -the fighting-line. Then the fight stood still, but the regiment had -suffered very heavily, and was finally drawn back and put into the -reserve. (<cite>Aus meinem Leben</cite>, pp. 71-2.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_531"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_531">[531]</a></span> The 2nd of the Vistula having -been distracted to the centre, Habert had only the two battalions of -the 14th of the Line, and one of the 5th Léger from the reserve.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_532"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_532">[532]</a></span> ‘Ihr Rückzug geschah in aller -Ordnung und militärischer Haltung. Sie lagerten in der Nacht uns -gegenüber, und hielten am anderen Morgen die Höhen von Botorrita ganz -in der Nähe des Schlachtfeldes.’ [Von Brandt, i. 73.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_533"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_533">[533]</a></span> Suchet (i. 24) says that Blake -had been reinforced by 4,000 Valencians, when he fought at Belchite. -This seems to have been an error, his reinforcement being Areizaga’s -6,000 men picked up at Botorrita, who were all Aragonese.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_534"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_534">[534]</a></span> He had twenty-two battalions and -eight squadrons at Belchite (as he says himself, <cite>Mémoires</cite>, i. p. 34), -while at Maria he had only fourteen battalions and seven squadrons.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_535"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_535">[535]</a></span> Certainly on reading Suchet’s -report one would not be inclined to think that the whole matter was -such a disgraceful rout as Von Brandt (i. 74-5) describes in the above -paragraphs.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_536"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_536">[536]</a></span> <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. 36.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_537"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_537">[537]</a></span> Morlot’s division had been handed -over to Habert, who resigned his brigade of Laval’s division to the -Polish colonel Chlopicki.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_538"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_538">[538]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_292">p. 292</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_539"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_539">[539]</a></span> See the letter to Colonel Bourke, -<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 390-400.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_540"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_540">[540]</a></span> Napier (ii. 149) calls this -alternative plan of campaign ‘a movement in conjunction with Beresford, -del Parque, and Romana by Salamanca.’ This is a most inappropriate -description of it: about June 10, when operations might have commenced, -Del Parque’s army did not yet exist. There were only three or four of -Carlos d’España’s battalions at or near Rodrigo. La Romana, on the -other hand, was at Orense facing Soult, and could not have reached -Almeida or Rodrigo for weeks after the campaign would have begun.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_541"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_541">[541]</a></span> See the ‘Memorandum for -Lieut.-Col. Bourke’ in <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 372-3.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_542"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_542">[542]</a></span> Wellesley to Mackenzie, from San -Tyrso, May 21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_543"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_543">[543]</a></span> Compare the two dispatches of -Victor to Jourdan of April 25 (acknowledging the receipt of Lapisse’s -division) and of May 21.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_544"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_544">[544]</a></span> See King Joseph to Napoleon, of -the dates April 22 and May 24, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_545"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_545">[545]</a></span> Compare Victor to Jourdan of May -21, with the account of the combat in Appendix I of Mayne and Lillie’s -<cite>Lusitanian Legion</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_546"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_546">[546]</a></span> The exact losses of the L. L. L. -were—killed, three officers and 103 rank and file; wounded, five -officers and 143 rank and file; missing, fifteen rank and file. Of the -Idanha militia, Mayne returned the whole as missing next morning.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_547"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_547">[547]</a></span> See Wellesley to Mackenzie, -May 21, and also Wellesley to Frere on the same day. <cite>Wellington -Dispatches</cite>, iv. 350-1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_548"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_548">[548]</a></span> See Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. -190.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_549"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_549">[549]</a></span> A move by which he flattered -himself that he would not only ‘inquiéter les Anglais,’ but also -‘dégager le duc de Dalmatie,’ an end which no raid with 8,000 or 10,000 -men to Castello Branco could possibly have accomplished. Victor to -Jourdan, May 29.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_550"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_550">[550]</a></span> He suggests in a letter of June -8, that Mortier’s corps should be brought up to Plasencia to help him. -But this was wholly impracticable.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_551"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_551">[551]</a></span> Victor to Jourdan, from -Torremocha, May 24.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_552"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_552">[552]</a></span> Victor to Jourdan, May 29.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_553"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_553">[553]</a></span> Jourdan to Victor, June 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_554"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_554">[554]</a></span> Victor to Jourdan, June 8. Oddly -enough he was wrong in his statement by two days, for Mayne blew up the -bridge on the tenth only.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_555"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_555">[555]</a></span> June 10, Joseph to Napoleon.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_556"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_556">[556]</a></span> Cf. Joseph’s letters of June 10 -and June 16 to Napoleon: but there seems to be much vacillation in his -decisions.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_557"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_557">[557]</a></span> Cuesta’s replies, sent on -by Bourke, are dated June 4 and June 6, i.e. ten and eight days -respectively before Victor began his retreat beyond the Tagus on June -14.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_558"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_558">[558]</a></span> Wellesley writes in commenting -on this plan [<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 402]: ‘At all events these -two detachments on the two flanks appear to me to be too weak to -produce any great effect upon the movements of Victor.... I think it -would be nearly certain that the Marshal would be able to defend the -passage [of the Tagus] with a part only of his force, while with the -other part he would beat one or both of the detachments sent round his -flank. Indeed the detachment which should have been sent from La Serena -toward Talavera, being between the corps of Victor and Sebastiani, -could hardly escape.’ Wellesley also points out that it is useless to -expect that Victor would wait in his present cantonments: at the first -news of the approach of the British army he will retire to Almaraz and -Arzobispo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_559"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_559">[559]</a></span> I print as an Appendix this -all-important letter to Bourke, regarding Cuesta’s three plans of -campaign.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_560"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_560">[560]</a></span> Wellesley to Bourke, from -Abrantes, June 14.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_561"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_561">[561]</a></span> Wellesley to Cuesta, from -Abrantes, June 14.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_562"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_562">[562]</a></span> Wellesley to Castlereagh, -Abrantes, June 17. The real cause of Cuesta’s angry and impracticable -attitude will be shown in the next chapter.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_563"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_563">[563]</a></span> Wellesley to Frere from the same -place, June 14.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_564"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_564">[564]</a></span> With regard to these regiments -[5/60th, 2/87th, 1/88th], Wellesley writes in very bitter terms to -Donkin on June 16, saying that the number of their stragglers was -scandalous, and that the laggards were committing all manner of -disorders in the rear of the army. It is fair to remember that the -battalions had suffered exceptional hardships, as may be seen from the -narratives of Gough of the 87th, and Grattan of the 88th.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_565"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_565">[565]</a></span> The main convoy only reached -Abrantes when Wellesley had advanced to Plasencia, in Spain. See letter -to the officer commanding Artillery at Castello Branco, dated July 8, -from Plasencia.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_566"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_566">[566]</a></span> Cf. Wellesley to Frere, June -14, to Commissary-General Murray, June 16, both from Abrantes, and to -Castlereagh, June 27.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_567"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_567">[567]</a></span> The 2/9th and 2/30th were sent to -Gibraltar in May. The two squadrons of the 20th Light Dragoons and the -one squadron of the 3rd Hussars of the K. G. L. were sent to Sicily at -the same time.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_568"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_568">[568]</a></span> The 1/48th, 1/61st, and 23rd -Light Dragoons.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_569"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_569">[569]</a></span> 1/43rd, 1/52nd, 1/95th. Of these -three units only 1/43rd had been in Robert Craufurd’s old brigade, -during the march to Sahagun. The other two had been in Anstruther’s -brigade of Paget’s reserve; they had therefore fought at Corunna, while -Craufurd and the ‘flank brigade’ which includes the 1/43rd, had been -detached from the main army and had embarked at Vigo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_570"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_570">[570]</a></span> A and I troops. The first joined -in company with Craufurd. The second only appeared much later.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_571"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_571">[571]</a></span> Writing to Castlereagh on June -30, Wellesley remarks that ‘according to your account I have 35,000 -men—according to my own I have only 18,000,’ but this was before -he had been joined by the 1/61st, the 23rd Dragoons, and certain -details. It is certain, from the careful table of troops engaged at -Talavera which is to be found in the Record Office, that somewhat -over 22,000 men entered Spain, and that after deducting sick left at -Plasencia and elsewhere, just 20,600 fought at Talavera.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_572"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_572">[572]</a></span> These topics occur in many -dispatches to Castlereagh. Perhaps the most notable is that of May 31, -1809, written at Coimbra.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_573"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_573">[573]</a></span> Wellesley’s anxiety to make -examples may be traced in the series of letters concerning a private of -the 29th which occur in his July dispatches. The man had been acquitted -by a court-martial on the ground of insanity, but this did not satisfy -the Commander-in-chief, who sends repeated orders that the award must -be revised, and the man, if possible, executed.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_574"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_574">[574]</a></span> Viz. 2nd, Tilson and Richard -Stewart; 3rd, Mackenzie and Donkin; 4th, A. Campbell and Kemmis.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_575"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_575">[575]</a></span> A and I batteries R. H. A. were -both late for Talavera.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_576"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_576">[576]</a></span> Joseph to Napoleon, from -Talavera, July 9, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_577"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_577">[577]</a></span> Joseph to Napoleon, from Almagro, -July 2, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_578"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_578">[578]</a></span> Joseph to Napoleon, from -Madridejos, July 3, 1809. It is fair to the King to say that in this -letter he concludes that he had better call Mortier down into New -Castile if the English are really on the move.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_579"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_579">[579]</a></span> The July strength of Sebastiani’s -corps, <i>présents sous les armes</i>, was 1st division (French) 8,118, 2nd -division (Valence’s Poles) 4,784, Milhaud’s dragoons 2,249—total -15,151.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_580"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_580">[580]</a></span> Joseph to Napoleon, from -Illescas, June 23: ‘Le général Sebastiani a devant lui des forces -triples des siennes.’ Joseph to Napoleon, from Moral, July 1: ‘L’armée -de 36,000 à 40,000 hommes qui menaçait le 4<sup>me</sup> Corps s’est -enfuie et a repassé la Sierre Morena.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_581"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_581">[581]</a></span> For all this see Joseph to -Napoleon, from Moral [July 1], and from Almagro [July 2].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_582"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_582">[582]</a></span> Victor to King Joseph, from -the head quarters of the 1st Corps, Calzada, near Oropesa, June 25. -Intercepted dispatch in the Record Office.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_583"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_583">[583]</a></span> Napoleon to Clarke [Minister of -War], from Schönbrunn, June 12, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_584"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_584">[584]</a></span> The Emperor’s dispatch contained -many rebukes to Victor for not pushing towards the North, to join -hands with Soult. Jourdan very truly remarks that if the 1st Corps had -been sent in that direction, King Joseph must infallibly have lost -Madrid.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_585"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_585">[585]</a></span> The Emperor’s stormy dispatch -came in due course, but only in September, see <a href="#Page_276">pp. -276-7</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_586"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_586">[586]</a></span> Doyle, as his numerous letters in -the Record Office show, was such a furious partisan of the family of -Palafox, that he believed that all the Spanish authorities were in a -conspiracy to keep them down. He especially hated Blake.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_587"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_587">[587]</a></span> On June 9, Frere writes to tell -Wellesley that if he could only have destroyed Soult at Oporto, instead -of merely chasing him across the frontier, it would have been possible -to secure him the post of Generalissimo at once. This chance had gone -by, but ‘your friends here (among whom you may count Mr. de Garay) -are doing their best for you.’ [Record Office, from Seville, June 9, -1809.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_588"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_588">[588]</a></span> Wellington to Frere, from -Abrantes, June 16, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_589"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_589">[589]</a></span> I can nowhere find the date of -the transference, but it took place before July: the old regiments of -Calatrava, Sagunto, Alcantara, and Pavia, which were with Venegas’s -army in March, had been transferred to Cuesta’s by June, as also the -new regiments of Sevilla, and Cazadores de Madrid. My most valuable -source of information is an unpublished dispatch of Cuesta’s in the -Madrid War Office, which gives all the names of regiments, but not -their numbers.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_590"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_590">[590]</a></span> These totals may be regarded as -certain, being drawn from the dispatch of Cuesta’s alluded to above, -which I was fortunate enough to find at Madrid. Unfortunately no -regimental figures are given, only the gross total.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_591"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_591">[591]</a></span> Wellesley to Frere, <cite>Wellington -Dispatches</cite>, iv. 524.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_592"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_592">[592]</a></span> That of Charles Stewart (Lord -Londonderry) on pp. 382-3 of the first volume of his <cite>History of the -Peninsular War</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_593"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_593">[593]</a></span> As to the equipment of the -Spaniards, the following quotation from Leslie (p. 135) may be worth -giving: ‘Their uniforms were of every variety of colour, the equipment -and appointments of the most inferior description. One could not but -lament these defects, for the men were remarkably fine, possessing all -the essential qualities to make good soldiers—courage, patience, -and soberness. Their officers, in general, were the very reverse! The -line infantry were in blue uniforms with red facings. The Provincial -Corps, called “Volunteers,” were mostly dressed in the brown Spanish -cloth of the country, with green or yellow facings. Some had chakoes, -others broad-brimmed hats with the rim turned up at one side: all had -cap-plates of tin announcing their designation. Some had belts, others -none. They had no pouches, but a broad belt of soft leather, in which -were placed a row of tin tubes, each holding a cartridge, with a fold -of leather to cover them, fastened round the waist. The cavalry were -heavy and light dragoons, with some regiments of Hussars. Some were -tolerably well dressed, in blue or yellow uniforms with red facings. -Some had boots, but more long leather leggings, coming up above the -knee. The horses were small, active, and hardy, of the Spanish Barbary -breed.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_594"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_594">[594]</a></span> They estimated him at only 10,000 -men, but he had really 20,000, Wellesley to Castlereagh, July 15, from -Plasencia.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_595"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_595">[595]</a></span> Soult had written [from Puebla -de Senabria, June 25]: ‘Je me propose de reposer les troupes trois ou -quatre jours: pendant ce temps elles se prépareront des subsistances, -on raccommodera la chaussure, les chevaux seront ferrés, et je -menacerai de nouveau le Portugal: peut-être même je ferai faire une -incursion vers Bragance, afin d’opérer une diversion qui ne peut pas -manquer de produire quelque effet.... Je me fais précéder à Zamora (où -je compte être rendu le 2 juillet) par l’ordonnateur Le Noble, qui doit -réclamer près l’intendant-général de l’armée des moyens en tout genre -qui me manquent—tel que l’habillement, chaussure, ambulance, -officiers de santé, administration, transport militaire, payeurs, -argent pour solde et dépenses extraordinaires, postes etc. J’ai -l’honneur de supplier Votre Majesté de daigner donner des ordres pour -qu’il soit fait droit a ses demandes: mes besoins sont très grands.... -Il y a plus de cinq mois que je n’ai reçu ni ordre, ni nouvelle, ni -secours, par conséquent je dois manquer de beaucoup de choses.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_596"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_596">[596]</a></span> Wellesley’s views at this moment -appear in his correspondence, e.g. to Mr. Villiers, July 8: ‘I defy -Soult to do Beresford or Portugal any injury as long as his army is -in its present situation—or any amelioration of that situation -which can be produced in a short period of time.’ To Beresford, July -9: ‘I have no apprehension that Soult will be able to do anything with -his corps for some time, but I think that column ought to be watched.’ -To Beresford, July 14: ‘I do not believe that Ney has quitted Galicia, -at least we have not heard that he has. Soult can do nothing against -Portugal, for he is in a most miserable state, without arms, artillery -or ammunition, stores, &c.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_597"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_597">[597]</a></span> Wellesley to Beresford, July -9: ‘I have not forgotten either the Puerto de Baños or the Puerto de -Perales, and have called upon Cuesta to occupy both. The former is -already held, and the latter will be so in a day or two.’ [This was -unfortunately not to be the case.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_598"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_598">[598]</a></span> I cannot discover the names of -the two very weak battalions, the smallest in Cuesta’s army, which were -detached for this purpose under Del Reino. They are <i>not</i> the same as -the two battalions which joined Wilson (Merida and 3rd of Seville).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_599"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_599">[599]</a></span> Wellesley to Frere, July 13: ‘You -will see, in the accompanying letter, an account of my endeavour to -prevail on General Cuesta to make a detachment upon Avila. I agree with -you that it would be a great advantage from a military point of view -... but I must at the same time inform you that I do not consider the -movement to be <i>necessary</i> as a military measure.’ Frere and Wellesley -had hoped that Albuquerque might be placed in command of this large -detachment, and might distinguish himself at its head.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_600"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_600">[600]</a></span> Battalions of Merida (1,170 -bayonets) and 3rd of Seville (810 bayonets).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_601"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_601">[601]</a></span> All these details as to the joint -plan are better expressed in Cuesta’s Apologetic <cite>Manifesto</cite>, published -after his resignation, than in Wellesley’s <cite>Dispatches</cite> to Castlereagh -and Frere.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_602"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_602">[602]</a></span> Cuesta’s and Wellesley’s accounts -of their joint plan on the whole agree wonderfully well.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_603"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_603">[603]</a></span> See Wellington to Castlereagh, -from Ramalhal, Sept. 1808.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_604"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_604">[604]</a></span> ‘The general sentiment of -the army appears to be contempt for the Junta and the present form -of government, great confidence in Cuesta, and a belief that he is -too powerful for the Junta, and will overturn that government. This -sentiment appears to be so general that I conceive that the Duke of -Albuquerque must entertain it equally with others: but I have not seen -him.’ Wellesley to Frere from Plasencia, July 13.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_605"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_605">[605]</a></span> Wellesley to Castlereagh, -Talavera, Aug. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_606"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_606">[606]</a></span> Wellesley to his brother the -Marquis Wellesley, Deleytosa, Aug. 8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_607"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_607">[607]</a></span> See Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, and his -letter to Soult of July 17, in which no sign whatever appears of the -knowledge of the advance of the British from Portugal.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_608"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_608">[608]</a></span> That food was coming in, but no -transport, is clearly proved by Wellesley’s letter to the Junta of -Plasencia on July 18: ‘Upon entering Spain I expected to derive that -assistance in provisions and other means [i.e. transport] which an army -invariably receives from the country in which it is stationed, more -particularly when it has been sent to aid the people of that country. -<i>I have not been disappointed in the expectation that I had formed of -receiving supplies of provisions, and I am much obliged to the Junta -for the pains they have taken.</i> I am convinced that they did everything -in their power to procure us the other means we required [transport], -although I am sorry to say that we have not received them.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_609"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_609">[609]</a></span> See <a href="#Page_443">pp. -443</a> and <a href="#Page_459">459</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_610"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_610">[610]</a></span> Wellesley to Frere, Plasencia, -July 16.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_611"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_611">[611]</a></span> Wellesley to O’Donoju, Plasencia, -July 16.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_612"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_612">[612]</a></span> The 1/61st Foot and 23rd Light -Dragoons.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_613"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_613">[613]</a></span> ‘And,’ adds Lord Munster, from -whom this quotation is taken (p. 199), ‘it is my belief that they would -have continued <i>till now</i> if we had not aided them.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_614"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_614">[614]</a></span> Londonderry, i. 392.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_615"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_615">[615]</a></span> Lord Munster, p. 200.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_616"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_616">[616]</a></span> Wellesley to Sherbrooke, -Talavera, July 24.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_617"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_617">[617]</a></span> Wellesley to Castlereagh, July -24.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_618"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_618">[618]</a></span> Wellesley to Beresford, from -Plasencia, July 14.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_619"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_619">[619]</a></span> Wellesley to Frere, Talavera, -July 25.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_620"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_620">[620]</a></span> Ibid.; and also Wellesley to -O’Donoju, July 25.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_621"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_621">[621]</a></span> Cf. Arteche, vi. 358, with -Wellesley’s remarks on the inexplicable eagerness of Cuesta to be in -Madrid on an early day.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_622"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_622">[622]</a></span> Soult to Joseph, July 13. Compare -with this Jourdan to Soult of July 17, the reply to these modest -demands.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_623"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_623">[623]</a></span> Jourdan to Soult, July 17, 1809, -from Madrid.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_624"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_624">[624]</a></span> ‘Le roi pense, comme vous, qu’il -est important de s’emparer de Ciudad Rodrigo; cette place servira -de place d’armes aux troupes qui seront dans le cas d’entrer en -Portugal.’—Ibid.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_625"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_625">[625]</a></span> Compare Le Noble’s account of -Soult’s proposals (pp. 312-3) with Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, and with the -<cite>Vie Militaire du Général Foy</cite>, p. 83.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_626"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_626">[626]</a></span> For the controversy about the -expected date of Soult’s arrival at Plasencia, see Joseph’s and -Jourdan’s letter to Napoleon, in Ducasse’s <cite>Mémoires du Roi Joseph</cite>, -and on the other side Le Noble’s <cite>Campagne de 1809</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_627"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_627">[627]</a></span> The whole consisted of:</p> - -<table class="tnormal mt1" summary=""> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Infantry of the Guard</td> - <td class="tdr">1,800</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh"><i>Chevaux-Légers</i> of the Guard</td> - <td class="tdr">250</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Godinot’s Brigade of Dessolles’s Division</td> - <td class="tdr">3,350</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">27th Chasseurs (two squadrons)</td> - <td class="tdr">250</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdlh">Artillery (two batteries)</td> - <td class="tdr bb">200</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr">5,850</td> - </tr> -</table> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_628"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_628">[628]</a></span> ‘The cavalry regiment of -Villaviciosa, drawn up in an enclosure with but one exit, was penned -in by the enemy and cut to pieces without a possibility of escape. A -British officer of engineers, present with them, saved himself by his -English horse taking at a leap the barrier which the Spanish horses -were incapable of clearing.’ Lord Munster, p. 208.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_629"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_629">[629]</a></span> He had six regiments of -Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons, 3,200 sabres, four regiments of Merlin’s -Division, 1,007 sabres, two regiments of Beaumont’s (corps-cavalry of -1st Corps) 980—a total of over 5,000 men.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_630"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_630">[630]</a></span> Wellesley to O’Donoju, from -Cazalegas, July 25.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_631"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_631">[631]</a></span> Lord Munster, p. 210.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_632"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_632">[632]</a></span> Several eye-witnesses declare -that Lapisse’s division escaped notice owing to a curious chance. -Before abandoning the further bank of the Alberche, Mackenzie’s troops -had set fire to the huts which Victor’s corps had constructed on the -Cazalegas heights, during their long stay in that position. The smoke -from the burning was driven along the slopes and the river bottom by -the wind, and screened one of the fords from the British observers in -the woods; over this ford came Lapisse’s unsuspected advance.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_633"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_633">[633]</a></span> Unfortunately the French returns -do not separate the losses of the twenty-seventh from those of the -twenty-eighth of July. Only the 16th Léger can have suffered any -appreciable damage.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_634"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_634">[634]</a></span> Lord Munster, p. 212.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_635"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_635">[635]</a></span> ‘The French troops during their -stay had been guilty of great excesses: a number of houses were -completely destroyed, and the furniture burnt for fuel. In every -quarter were to be seen marks of the devastation they had committed. -The Cathedral, a handsome modern building, was uninjured, the enemy -having contented himself with carrying off all the splendid ornaments -used in the ceremonies of religion. But in the church of San Antonio -the French had destroyed everything, and converted it into a barrack,’ -&c. Stothert’s <cite>Narrative of the Campaigns of 1809-11</cite>, pp. -81-2.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_636"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_636">[636]</a></span> The Spaniards had lost 1,000 -men, mainly by dispersion, in the retreat from Torrijos on the -twenty-sixth.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_637"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_637">[637]</a></span> Cf. Londonderry, i. 403; and -Arteche, vi. 293.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_638"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_638">[638]</a></span> Thus, counting from right to -left, the front of Sherbrooke’s brigade was composed as follows: 1st -Coldstream Guards, 1st Scots Fusilier Guards, 61st, 83rd, 1st Line K. -G. L., 2nd ditto, 5th ditto, 7th ditto.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_639"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_639">[639]</a></span> It would seem, on the whole, that -the responsibility for the absence of the division from its destined -fighting-ground lay with Hill, generally the most cautious and reliable -of subordinates. He says, in a memorandum drawn up in 1827, in answer -to an inquiry about Talavera, that he had gone to dine in Talavera, -and then saw Mackenzie’s division come back into the line. Returning -to his own troops, he found them moving out of their bivouac, but not -on their fighting-ground. He was getting them into line, when the -firing suddenly began in his front.</p> - -<p class="ti1">These details I give from the valuable (unpublished) map -by Lieut. Unger of the K. G. L. artillery, which Colonel Whinyates has -been good enough to place at my disposition. It carefully marks the -emplacement of every British battery. Elliott was at this moment in -command of the battery which had been under Baynes during the Oporto -campaign, while Sillery had that which had been under Lane.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_640"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_640">[640]</a></span> All these details are from the -report drawn up by Sémélé, the chief of the staff of the 1st Corps, at -Talavera on Aug. 10.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_641"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_641">[641]</a></span> Wellesley to Castlereagh, Aug. -25: ‘Two thousand of them ran off on the evening of the twenty-seventh, -not 100 yards from where I was standing, who were neither attacked, nor -threatened with an attack, and who were only frightened by the noise of -their own fire. They left their arms and accoutrements on the ground, -their officers went with them, and they plundered the baggage of the -British army, which had been sent to the rear. Many others went, whom I -did not see.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_642"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_642">[642]</a></span> The panic-stricken regiments -were Leales de Fernando VII, which had been garrisoning Badajoz when -Medellin was fought, Badajoz (two batts.) which had been in the battle, -and Toledo.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_643"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_643">[643]</a></span> ‘I wish I could assert with -truth that this retrogression was confined to our Spanish allies. -But the truth must be told, and I regret to say that stragglers from -the British army were among them, taking a similar direction to the -rear. As they passed, they circulated reports of a most disheartening -nature.’ Col. Leach’s <cite>Rough Sketches</cite>, p. 81. He was with Craufurd’s -brigade, then coming up by forced marches from Plasencia, which met -the fugitives near Oropesa on the morning of the twenty-eighth. ‘The -road was crowded with fugitives, Spaniards innumerable, and lots of -English commissary clerks, paymasters and sutlers, to say nothing of a -few soldiers who said they were <i>sick</i>.’ <cite>Autobiography</cite> of Sir George -Napier, p. 108.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_644"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_644">[644]</a></span> ‘Early in the morning some -twenty-five Spanish soldiers, dressed in white, attended by several -Popish priests, were marched up to the front of our regiment and -shot. One, a young lad of nineteen or twenty years, dropped before -the party fired, but to no use. For after the volley at ten paces, -the firing party ran forward and shooting them in the head or breast -completed their horrid work. These unfortunates belonged to regiments -that had given way in the late battle.’ <cite>Diary</cite> of Cooper (of the 7th -Fusiliers), pp. 25-6.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_645"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_645">[645]</a></span> That the panic took place -at dusk, and not during the night attack, is completely proved by -the <cite>Journal</cite> of General Sémélé, where it is noted as occurring in -consequence of Victor’s earliest demonstration; as also by Wellesley’s -note.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_646"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_646">[646]</a></span> The Battalion of Detachments was -decidedly checked. They got somewhat into confusion, and halted. ‘The -soldiers seemed much vexed,’ writes Leslie of the 29th, ‘we could hear -them bravely calling out “There is nobody to command us! Only tell -us what to do, and we are ready to dare anything.” There was a fault -somewhere.’ Leslie, p. 144.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_647"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_647">[647]</a></span> Though the French official -reports of casualties do not give any officers of the 9th Léger as -prisoners, it is certain that Colonel Meunier was taken. See Leslie, -p. 143. Being recovered, along with the other wounded prisoners, when -Talavera was evacuated, his name did not get down among the list of -missing, which was only drawn up on Aug. 10.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_648"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_648">[648]</a></span> See the Diary of Boothby of the -R. E., one of the victims of this unhappy fusilade, p. 5.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_649"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_649">[649]</a></span> There are admirable narratives of -the night-vigil and the dawn of Talavera, in the narratives of Leslie, -Leith-Hay, and Lord Munster.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_650"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_650">[650]</a></span> ‘Le duc de Bellune rendit compte -au roi du résultat de sa première attaque, et le prévint qu’il la -renouvellerait au point du jour. Peut-être aurait on dû lui donner -l’ordre d’attendre.... Mais ce maréchal, étant resté longtemps aux -environs de Talavera, devait connaître parfaitement son terrain, et il -paraissait si sûr du succès, que le roi le laissait libre d’agir comme -il le désirait.... Il sentait que s’il adopterait l’avis du Maréchal -Jourdan le duc de Bellune ne manquerait pas d’écrire à l’empereur -“qu’on lui avait fait perdre l’occasion d’une brillante victoire sur -les Anglais”.’ Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, pp. 256 and 259.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_651"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_651">[651]</a></span> Eliott’s Narrative, in his -<cite>Defence of Portugal</cite>, p. 238.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_652"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_652">[652]</a></span> Lord Munster, p. 226.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_653"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_653">[653]</a></span> Leslie, p. 147. The other -occasion on which Hill used strong language was at the battle of St. -Pierre in 1814, when Wellington remarked: ‘If Hill is beginning to -swear we had better get out of the way.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_654"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_654">[654]</a></span> Ruffin had 5,200 men, minus about -300 lost on the previous night, while Hill had 3,853, minus 138 lost in -that same battle in the dark.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_655"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_655">[655]</a></span> This operation is described in -the narrative of the K. G. L. officer, printed by Beamish (p. 212). -The narrator, however, mistakes the French regiment’s number, and says -twenty-six for ninety-six.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_656"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_656">[656]</a></span> These losses can be accurately -ascertained. Ruffin’s whole loss in the two days of fighting was 1,632, -of whom 300 of the 9th Léger had fallen on the night of July 27. He -was not seriously engaged during the rest of the day, so must have -lost 1,300 in this fight. Hill’s total loss on July 28 was 835, but -much of it was suffered in the afternoon, when (though not attacked by -infantry) his division was under a heavy shell fire.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_657"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_657">[657]</a></span> See Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. -260.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_658"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_658">[658]</a></span> Their order from left to right -was as follows: Frankfort-Hesse (two batts.), Baden (two batts.), -Holland (two batts.), Nassau (two batts.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_659"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_659">[659]</a></span> There is a legend which occurs in -all French narratives of Talavera—starting with the contemporary -accounts, and including Desprez’s and Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>. It is to -the effect that Leval’s division, in its first advance, came upon an -English battalion, which several writers call the 45th, lying in front -of the rest of the allied line. It is alleged that the Nassau regiment -surrounded and almost captured it—that they would have taken it -prisoner indeed <i>en masse</i>, if the troops on their left (Holland and -Baden) had held firm. But at least ‘on lui prit une centaine d’hommes, -le major, le lieutenant-colonel, et le colonel—ce dernier mourut -de ses blessures’ (Jourdan). No such incident can have occurred, for -(1) no English regiment lost more than twenty-one ‘missing’ on this -side of the field. (2) No English officer of higher rank than a captain -was taken prisoner in the battle. (3) Only one officer was killed in -the whole of Campbell’s division, and he was a lieutenant of the 7th -Fusiliers. (4) The 45th was not engaged with Leval’s men, but lay to -the left and supported the Guards in resisting Sebastiani: it lost one -officer (a captain) and twelve men missing, but this was in the great -<i>mêlée</i> in the centre, at the end of the day’s fighting: it had no -officer killed. I am driven to conclude that the whole is some gross -exaggeration of the surprise of Campbell’s pickets in the vineyards, -and that instead of a ‘battalion’ we should read the light companies of -the division. Cooper of the 7th Fusiliers, who was in the skirmishing -line, says that the Germans got close among them by calling out -‘Españoles’ and pretending to be Spaniards. A few prisoners (twenty-six -in all) were lost in this way.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_660"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_660">[660]</a></span> This was the Myers who fell in -storming the famous hill of Albuera in 1811. See Cooper (of the 7th), -p. 22.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_661"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_661">[661]</a></span> ‘Another lull in the storm, and -fresh formation. “Here they come again” said many voices: so they -did, but we were ready and gave them such a warm reception that they -speedily went to the right-about. As in their first attack they now -left behind several pieces of cannon, which we secured as before. After -these two attacks and sharp repulses we were not troubled with their -company any more.’ Cooper, p. 23.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_662"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_662">[662]</a></span> There can be no rational doubt -that the total number of guns taken was seventeen, as set forth in -Charles Stewart’s report to Wellesley, as Adjutant-general, viz. ‘four -eight-pounders, four six-pounders, one four-pounder, one six-inch -howitzer, taken by Brigadier-general A. Campbell’s brigade, with one -six-inch howitzer and six other guns left by the enemy and found in the -woods’ of which four were in the hands of the Spaniards. Wellesley, -in his dispatch, made the error of stating that twenty guns had been -taken, being under the impression that the Spaniards had captured -seven pieces, while they themselves only claim four—a Captain -Piñero was mentioned in Eguia’s dispatch for causing them to be brought -back to the Spanish line. The British took thirteen guns: three days -after the battle Wellesley made them over to his allies. He writes to -O’Donoju [Talavera, Aug. 1]: ‘We have got thirteen pieces of French -artillery, which I wish to give over to the Spanish army—the -other seven [four] you have already got. I shall be obliged if you will -urge General Cuesta to desire the commanding officer of his artillery -to receive charge of them from the officer commanding the British -artillery.’ This is surely conclusive as to the numbers.</p> - -<p class="ti1">Jourdan in his <cite>Mémoires</cite> acknowledges the loss of -apparently <i>all</i> Leval’s guns—three batteries. ‘L’artillerie du -général Leval, qu’on avait imprudemment engagée au milieu des bois, des -vignes et des fosses, ayant eu la plupart de ses chevaux tués, ne put -pas être retirée; événement fâcheux qu’on eut le tort impardonnable de -cacher au roi’ [p. 261]. Desprez says that <i>six</i> pieces only were lost: -Thiers allows <i>eight</i>.</p> - -<p class="ti1">But the most interesting point of the controversy comes -out in Napoleon’s correspondence with his brother Joseph. On Aug. 25, -the Emperor writes in hot anger to say that he sees from the English -newspapers that Joseph had lost twenty guns, a fact concealed in -the King’s dispatch. He desires to be told at once the names of the -batteries that were captured and the divisions to which they belonged. -Jourdan replies in the King’s behalf on Sept. 15, that <i>no</i> guns have -been lost—four pieces of Leval’s artillery had been for a moment -in the hands of the British, but they were recaptured. Joseph himself -writes to the same effect next day: ‘Wellesley n’a pris aucune aigle, -il n’en montrera pas plus que de canons.’ On the nineteenth, Jourdan -writes to Clarke, the Minister of War, to say that he has just found -out that <i>two</i> guns had been lost by Leval. Sénarmont, the artillery -chief of the 4th Corps, explains to Jourdan, in a letter of September -27, that <i>ten</i> pieces had been lost in the olive groves, but that -all were recovered save <i>two</i>, one Dutch six-pounder, and one French -eight-pounder. The truth comes out in Desprez’s narrative. He says -that the King, hearing that Leval had left guns abandoned in front -of the Pajar de Vergara, ordered Sebastiani to have them brought -in: ‘Le général assura que déjà elles avaient été reprises. Cette -assertion était inexacte. Le général Sebastiani était-il lui-même en -erreur? Ou les ordres donnés lui paraissaient-ils inexécutables? Je -n’ai jamais eu le mot de l’énigme: quoi qu’il en soit, les pièces -tombèrent le lendemain au pouvoir de l’ennemi. Le Général Sénarmont, -qui commandait l’artillerie, ne rendit pas compte de cette perte. Le -général Sebastiani l’avait prié avec instance de la cacher. Aussi dans -son rapport sur la bataille Joseph déclara-t-il positivement qu’on -n’avait pas perdu un canon. Plus tard les journaux anglais firent -connaître la vérité. L’Empereur, qui savait apprécier leur exactitude, -reprocha à son frère de l’avoir trompé. Joseph eut assez de délicatesse -pour accepter ces reproches et ne point déclarer de quelle manière les -choses s’étaient passées’ [p. 491].</p> - -<p class="ti1">In short, Sebastiani and Sénarmont conspired to hide the -truth, and Joseph, who liked them both (see his letters in Ducasse, -especially vi. 456, where on Sept. 30 he sends Sénarmont a gold box -as a sort of ‘consolation prize’), hushed the matter up in their -interests. The most curious part of the matter is that on Sept. 27, -Sénarmont was able to say with literal exactness that only two pieces -were missing, for fifteen of the lost guns had been retaken on August -5, behind the bridge of Arzobispo, during the retreat of Cuesta’s army. -They had been given back to their owners long before September, so were -no longer missing. But this can hardly be called ‘the whole truth and -nothing but the truth.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_663"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_663">[663]</a></span> The losses were killed: officers -six, men ninety-seven: wounded, officers twenty-four, men 803: -prisoners, seventy-seven men. Campbell lost killed: officers one, men -thirty-two: wounded, officers six, men 171: missing, officers one, -men twenty-five—a total of 236. The Spaniards may have had 150 -casualties—it is difficult to see that they can have suffered -much more, as they had only two hostile regiments in front of them.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_664"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_664">[664]</a></span> Lord Munster, p. 231.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_665"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_665">[665]</a></span> General Desprez, relating the -doings of Sebastiani’s division, says that the 75th were cut up by -<i>Spanish</i> light horse: but there were no cavalry of that nation in this -part of the field, and it would seem that the French were misled by the -blue uniforms of the Light Dragoons.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_666"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_666">[666]</a></span> Except that he mentioned the -colonels of the 31st and 45th among the officers who had done well in -the battle.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_667"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_667">[667]</a></span> The only place where a good -account of the doings of Mackenzie’s brigade is to be found is in the -excellent regimental history of the 24th. I fully share the indignation -expressed by its author at the unmerited oblivion in which its splendid -doings have been lying for so many years. [See Paton’s <cite>Annals of the -24th Regiment</cite>.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_668"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_668">[668]</a></span> In most modern English -narratives of Talavera it is stated that the 1/48th supported the -Guards. This must be a mistake, caused by a misreading of Wellesley’s -dispatch. It is certain that the Guards fell back on Mackenzie’s -brigade. Contemporary accounts by officers of the 2/24th speak of -the Coldstreams passing through them to re-form: the Scots Fusiliers -therefore must have had the 2/31st and 1/45th behind them. Donnellan -and the 1/48th really supported Langwerth’s German battalions, as Lord -Londonderry (the only historian who has got the facts right) clearly -shows (i. p. 410). It is curious that the historians of the battle -have not seen that the Germans, in their dreadfully mauled condition, -could not have been rallied without external aid: this aid was given by -Donnellan, while Mackenzie was saving the Guards.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_669"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_669">[669]</a></span> The figures are (after -deducting the losses of the earlier combats): Low’s brigade 964, -Langwerth’s 1,315, Cameron’s 1,306, 1/48th 700, a total of 4,285. -The losses were: Low 326, Langwerth 721, Cameron 547, 1/48th <i>about</i> -100, a total of 1,694, including officers. (See tables in <a -href="#ChapA_10">Appendix</a>.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_670"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_670">[670]</a></span> For a description of the -sufferings of the 88th, whose battalion companies did not fire a single -shot, during the cannonade of the afternoon, see Grattan’s <cite>Connaught -Rangers</cite>, vol. iii. p. 91.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_671"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_671">[671]</a></span> For these losses, see the -<a href="#ChapA_10">Talavera Appendix</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_672"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_672">[672]</a></span> Hartmann of the K.G.L. artillery -has a note on these pieces: they were useful because of their heavy -calibre, none of the British guns being heavier than six-pounders. -They were bright new brass cannon from the arsenal at Seville: -their machinery for sighting and elevation was of a most primitive -type—a century out of date. The lieutenant in command seemed -unable to hit anything with them, whereupon Hartmann got off his horse, -himself laid a gun, and had the luck to dismount a French piece in -the valley. After this the Spaniards fired better and did very good -service.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_673"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_673">[673]</a></span> That the charge of Anson’s light -dragoons came after victory had been secured in the centre is clear -from several eye-witnesses, e.g. Leith-Hay of the 29th, who was on -top of the Cerro, and close to Wellesley, writes: ‘The favourable -termination of the battle in the centre created great excitement: the -cheer, which had been re-echoed from the height had hardly died away, -when a scene of another character was in preparation. The movements -of the divisions Ruffin and Villatte had during the late contest been -vacillating and uncertain. Formed to all appearance to attack the -height, they had even advanced some distance towards its base. Sir -Arthur crossed with rapid steps from the right of the 29th to the part -of the hill looking down on Anson’s brigade. It was immediately known -that a charge would take place’ (i. p. 158).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_674"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_674">[674]</a></span> Leith-Hay, p. 159.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_675"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_675">[675]</a></span> Napier, ii. 176, has a story -that Col. Arentschildt of the German dragoons discovered the ravine -in time, and checked his line, crying, ‘I will not kill my young -mans’—thereby saving his regiment and taking no part in the -charge. This is entirely disproved by the narratives of the officers -of the 1st K.G.L. Dragoons, quoted in Beamish’s <cite>History of the King’s -German Legion</cite>. The evidence of Colonel von der Decken alone suffices -to show that the regiment fell into the trap, suffered severe losses -therein, and then executed a disorderly and ineffective charge on -Ruffin’s squares, after which it returned to its old position, with -a loss of nearly forty men. Napier seems to have been misled by the -statement of Major Ponsonby of the 23rd, to the effect that the Germans -turned back at the ravine. He also says that Seymour, Colonel of the -23rd, was wounded, but that officer’s name does not appear in the -casualty list.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_676"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_676">[676]</a></span> In this charge they carried away -with them, and almost captured, Generals Villatte and Cassagne, who -had failed to take refuge in the square of the 27th, and were caught -outside it. [Sémélé’s Report.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_677"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_677">[677]</a></span> In the French official reports -it is said that General Strolz, the brigadier, drew aside the 10th -Chasseurs, in order to fall upon the British dragoons from the flank. -Rocca (p. 104) says that the regiment was charged and broke, but -rallied again. <cite>Victoires et Conquêtes</cite> has: ‘le 10<sup>me</sup> de -chasseurs ne pouvait soutenir cette charge, ouvrit ses rangs, mais -bientôt rallié il chargea ses adversaires en queue.’ As the regiment -only lost five killed it does not seem likely that it was broken. The -French records do not give the number of its wounded.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_678"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_678">[678]</a></span> This was the Westphalian -<i>Chevaux-légers</i> regiment.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_679"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_679">[679]</a></span> Among the other officers who cut -their way through was Lord George William Russell, desperately wounded -by a cut on the shoulder. Only three officers (two wounded) were taken -prisoners from these two squadrons: two others were killed: it would -seem therefore that out of twelve present with the two right squadrons, -several succeeded in getting out of the trap. Elley says that the whole -body that followed him did not exceed 170 sabres, and that seven or -eight only cut their way through the enemy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_680"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_680">[680]</a></span> The best account of all this -comes from the <cite>Mémoire</cite> of General Desprez, who was riding with the -head-quarters staff at this moment.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_681"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_681">[681]</a></span> All this is again derived from -Desprez, who both carried the King’s orders to Victor, and bore back -Victor’s remonstrances to the King.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_682"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_682">[682]</a></span> Lord Munster, p. 235; Leith-Hay, -p. 162.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_683"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_683">[683]</a></span> See Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>, p. -262.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_684"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_684">[684]</a></span> These ‘missing’ do not include -the French wounded taken on the field, and recovered when Victor came -back to Talavera on Aug. 6 and captured the British hospitals. The -French return was drawn up only after Aug. 18, when these men had been -released.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_685"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_685">[685]</a></span> Wellesley to Castlereagh, Aug. 1, -<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. p. 553.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_686"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_686">[686]</a></span> For excellent accounts of this -forced march see Col. Leach (95th), <cite>Rough Sketches of the Life of an -Old Soldier</cite> (pp. 81-2), and Sir George Napier’s <cite>Autobiography</cite>, pp. -108-10. The distance was forty-three miles, not as W. Napier states -sixty-two. That all the stragglers met on the way were not Spaniards is -unfortunately evident from both narratives. Nor were all the British -stragglers non-combatants.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_687"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_687">[687]</a></span> Wellington to Beresford, -Talavera, July 29, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_688"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_688">[688]</a></span> On July 14 Wellesley writes -to Beresford that he does not believe that Ney has quitted Galicia -[<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 510], because of the tenour of the -captured dispatches of Soult to King Joseph. These, of course, had -been written under the idea that the 6th Corps was still holding on to -Corunna and Lugo: it was not till some days later that Soult learned -of his colleagues’ unexpected move. But Wellesley knew of Ney’s move -before the battle of Talavera, as is shown by <cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, -iv. 545.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_689"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_689">[689]</a></span> ‘The enemy have on the Douro and -in the neighbourhood not less than 20,000 men, being the remains of the -Corps of Soult, Ney, and Kellermann.’ To Frere, July 30.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_690"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_690">[690]</a></span> To Beresford, from Talavera, July -29, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_691"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_691">[691]</a></span> Wellesley to Frere, July 30. ‘My -first duty is to attend to the safety of Portugal: at all events if my -flank and communication with Portugal are not secured for me, while I -am operating in the general cause, I must move to take care of myself, -and then the general cause will suffer.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_692"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_692">[692]</a></span> Wellesley to O’Donoju, July 31, -1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_693"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_693">[693]</a></span> A few lines of this astounding -document may be worth quoting—‘Sire, hier l’armée anglaise a -été forcée dans ses positions. Outre les 25 à 30 mille Anglais de -Wellesley, nous avons eu affaire à l’armée de Cuesta, qui s’élevait -de 35 à 40 mille hommes. Le champ de bataille <i>sur lequel nous sommes -établis</i> (!) est jonché de leurs morts.... Je me mets en marche pour -secourir Madrid, qui est menacé par un corps de Portugais arrivés à -Navalcarnero, et par l’armée de Venegas, qui tente de pénétrer par -Aranjuez.... J’ai un regret, sire, c’est celui de n’avoir pas fait -prisonnière toute l’armée anglaise.’ <cite>Mémoires de Joseph</cite>, vi. 284. -Napoleon, not deceived for a moment by this rhodomontade, sent back a -scathing rebuke to his brother for endeavouring to hide the truth from -him. (Napoleon to Jourdan, Aug. 21.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_694"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_694">[694]</a></span> For these operations I am relying -on General Arteche’s excerpts from the <cite>Vindicacion de los Agravios</cite>, -published by Venegas in his own defence.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_695"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_695">[695]</a></span> Jourdan to Belliard, Aug. 3, from -Illescas: ‘Le duc de Belluno dit que toute l’armée anglaise marche -sur la rive droite de l’Alberche, et qu’hier elle était à une lieue -d’Escalona.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_696"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_696">[696]</a></span> There are two letters of -Wellington to Castlereagh, written on Aug. 1; both indicate that -Wellesley was still unconvinced as to Soult’s intention, and the second -states that he does not believe that the French will pass the Puerto de -Baños. The definite news came at night.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_697"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_697">[697]</a></span> Napier seems to have the dates -wrong here: he says that the 5th Corps seized Plasencia on July 31 -[vol. ii. p. 184], But Soult’s official report to the Minister of War, -dated Aug. 13, says that his vanguard forced the Puerto de Baños on the -twenty-ninth, but only captured Plasencia on Aug. 1. If Plasencia had -fallen on the thirty-first, Wellesley and Cuesta would have known the -fact on the second: but as it was captured on the first only, they were -still in ignorance when their conference took place.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_698"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_698">[698]</a></span> Wellesley’s letters in -these critical days are full of complaints as to his colleague’s -impracticability: ‘I certainly should get the better of everything,’ -he writes to Castlereagh, ‘if I could manage General Cuesta: but his -temper and disposition are so bad that this is impossible.’ <cite>Wellington -Dispatches</cite>, iv. p. 553.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_699"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_699">[699]</a></span> Wellesley to O’Donoju, from -Oropesa, afternoon of Aug. 3.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_700"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_700">[700]</a></span> Orders of Napoleon from -Schönbrunn, June 12: ‘Les trois corps doivent fournir 50 à 60 mille -hommes. Si cette réunion a lieu promptement les Anglais doivent être -détruits; mais il faut se réunir, <i>et ne pas marcher par petits -paquets</i>. Cela est le principe général pour tous les guerres, mais -surtout pour un pays où l’on ne peut pas avoir de communication.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_701"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_701">[701]</a></span> By the return of July 15, the -5th Corps had 16,916 men, the attached brigades of dragoons, 1,853: -the 2nd Corps had 18,740 (deducting Lorges and Lahoussaye): the 6th -Corps 15,700, of whom one brigade of infantry (3,200 bayonets) was left -behind. The total then was 50,009.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_702"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_702">[702]</a></span> The Marshal had dissolved one -of his four divisions, that of Mermet, making over the 122nd of the -line, reduced to two battalions, and the Swiss units to Kellermann, -and distributing the other regiments between Merle, Delaborde, and -Heudelet.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_703"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_703">[703]</a></span> Cuesta, in a dispatch in the -<i>Deposito de la Guerra</i>, which seems unpublished, says that Del Reino -fought with four battalions. He had started with no more than two, so -must have rallied two others. I can find no trace of what they were, -but conclude that they must have been some of those battalions of the -Army of Estremadura which are not named in the <i>Ordre de Bataille</i> -of the divisions present at Talavera. As I have shown in my <a -href="#ChapA_10_2">Talavera Appendix</a>, there were eight regiments -which had belonged to Cuesta’s army in March but do not appear in the -divisional return of July. Most of these were in garrison at Badajoz: -but two or three may well have been sent to guard the passes when the -army advanced from the Guadiana in the end of June.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_704"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_704">[704]</a></span> For details of Mortier’s march -see the memoir of Naylies, of Lahoussaye’s Dragoons, who was with the -vanguard. According to the <cite>Diary</cite> of Fantin des Odoards, Soult pushed -his kindness to the British invalids so far as to leave with them -a small supply of muskets, with which to defend themselves against -guerrillas.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_705"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_705">[705]</a></span> See Le Noble, p. 320.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_706"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_706">[706]</a></span> See Arteche, vi. 342, and -<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, iv. 561; the letter itself is not published -by Gurwood, but Lord Londonderry, then on Wellesley’s staff, gives an -analysis of it. It contained, according to him, orders to Soult to -hasten his march, and to bring up Ney’s corps with all speed, while the -king himself undertook to threaten Talavera again with Victor’s forces -[Londonderry, i. p. 416].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_707"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_707">[707]</a></span> Wellesley to Bassecourt, from -Oropesa, August 3. So confident was the British commander at this -moment, that he wrote to Beresford on the same morning, telling him -that Soult when assailed would probably retire at once, either by the -pass of Perales or that of Baños. He wished his lieutenant to send -Portuguese troops to the outlets of those defiles, to intercept the -retreating enemy.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_708"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_708">[708]</a></span> Wellesley to O’Donoju, Aug. 3, -1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_709"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_709">[709]</a></span> I am bound to say that after -reading the Spanish narratives, I doubt whether Cuesta had at his -disposal the large amount of spare vehicles of which Londonderry and -Napier speak.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_710"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_710">[710]</a></span> Boothby, <cite>A Prisoner of France</cite>, -p. 40. For the adventures of two wounded officers on their weary way -to Truxillo see the <cite>Diary</cite> of Hawker, and the narrative of Colonel -Leslie. The latter made a personal appeal to Cuesta, whose carriage -he had met by the roadside. The old general sent for the Alcalde, and -made him provide a mule—though it turned out to be a very bad -one—for the wounded officer. This small fact to his credit needs -recording, after the copious abuse heaped on him.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_711"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_711">[711]</a></span> The invalids were admirably cared -for by the enemy. See Boothby.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_712"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_712">[712]</a></span> The Marquis del Reino (it will be -remembered) had broken the boat-bridge of Almaraz on August 2, after -abandoning the Puerto de Baños.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_713"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_713">[713]</a></span> See for example, Le Noble, pp. -339-40.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_714"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_714">[714]</a></span> ‘As usual, General Cuesta -wanted to fight general actions,’ writes Wellesley to Beresford, from -Arzobispo, on the afternoon of this same day.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_715"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_715">[715]</a></span> ‘M. le Maréchal duc de Trévise -crut qu’il serait attaqué,’ says Soult in his report of August 13. He -therefore held back, and sent for the 2nd Corps. Hence came Cuesta’s -salvation.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_716"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_716">[716]</a></span> General Arteche, who has examined -the ford, notes that the main channel, narrow but with a rocky bottom, -is close under the northern, i.e. the French, bank. The remaining -two-thirds of the breadth of the river has a hard sandy bottom and is -in August extremely shallow. If once, therefore, the deep water under -the nearer bank was crossed, the French had no difficulties before -them.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_717"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_717">[717]</a></span> For details of these privations -see the diary of Leach of the 95th, p. 92.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_718"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_718">[718]</a></span> Wellesley to O’Donoju, from -Deleytosa, Aug. 7.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_719"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_719">[719]</a></span> Beside his own thirty guns he had -the seventeen captured French pieces which had been won at Talavera. -Wellesley, it will be remembered (p. 543), had handed them over to -him.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_720"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_720">[720]</a></span> The fact that these guns were -actually French explains Le Noble’s statement that the captured pieces -were largely ‘de modèle français.’ Napier has a strange statement, -whose source I cannot discover, to the effect that ‘Cuesta on his march -to Meza d’Ibor left fifteen guns upon the road, which Albuquerque’s -flight uncovered. A trumpeter attending an English flag of truce -treacherously or foolishly made known the fact to the French, who -immediately sent cavalry to fetch them off.’ Napier, ii. 189.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_721"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_721">[721]</a></span> It will he remembered that on -March 17, Victor turned Del Parque’s division out of the Meza de Ibor -position. But the latter had only 5,000 men, not enough to man the -whole line, while the Duke of Belluno had two divisions for the frontal -attack, and turned the Meza with another, that of Villatte. Cuesta had -30,000 men and more, quite sufficient to hold the entire position.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_722"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_722">[722]</a></span> Wellesley went to visit his -allies on the Meza upon the morning of Aug. 10, and found that half the -guns and baggage had been dragged up on the ninth, but that there was -still a great accumulation at the foot of the steep slope, between the -Ibor river and the lower edge of the plateau. He was in great distress -at the notion that the French might come up at any moment, drive in -the rearguard, and capture the rear sections of the Spanish train; see -<cite>Wellington Dispatches</cite>, v. 22, to Lord Wellesley, from Deleytosa, Aug. -10.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_723"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_723">[723]</a></span> From Soult’s dispatch of Aug. -13, it appears that a Colonel Ornano, with a regiment of dragoons, -was detailed to examine the banks of the Tagus in search of the ford, -but failed to find it. The cause is not hard to seek, for it crosses -the river diagonally on a narrow shelf of rock with deep water on -either side. It is not less than four feet deep, and Leach of the -95th, who was on guard at its southern end, describes it as ‘not -exactly practicable for infantry even at the driest season of the year’ -(p. 94). The English, knowing its exact course, were established in -positions from which they could concentrate upon it in a few minutes. -We may rationally suppose, therefore, that Ney would have found the -Tagus not less difficult to pass on Aug. 9, than the Oitaben had been -on June 8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_724"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_724">[724]</a></span> Soult to Joseph, Aug. 9, from -Arzobispo: ‘Je serai disposé soit à marcher sur Lisbonne pour détruire -les établissements anglais avant que leur armée ne puisse y arriver, -et à lui rendre son embarquement difficile, soit à marcher sur Ciudad -Rodrigo pour en faire le siège.... Dans le cas du premier mouvement -(qui produira infailliblement de grands résultats) j’aurai l’honneur -de prier V. M. d’avoir la bonté de faire connaître à MM. les maréchaux -ducs de Trévise et d’Elchingen que telle est son intention, afin que -toute observation soit ainsi prévenue, et qu’on ne puisse m’attribuer -aucun sentiment d’amour-propre.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_725"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_725">[725]</a></span> Joseph, exaggerating the enemy’s -force, was under the impression that they had fully 100,000 men: see -his letter to Napoleon of July 31.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_726"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_726">[726]</a></span> Ney has been accused of -deserting Soult, and retiring from Almaraz and Navalmoral on his own -responsibility, and contrary to the orders of his immediate superior. -But Jourdan’s dispatch of Aug. 9 to the Minister of War shows that the -Duke of Elchingen was obeying directions sent to him from the royal -head quarters. ‘Le roi a pensé,’ he writes, ‘qu’on ne devait pas, quant -à présent, chercher à pénétrer ni en Andalousie ni en Portugal.... -Le duc de Dalmatie renverra promptement le 6<sup>me</sup> corps sur -Salamanque pour en chasser les ennemis, et couvrir la Vieille Castille -conjointement avec le Général Kellermann.’ Ney then was strictly -correct in stating in his dispatch of Aug. 18, that he had acted in -obedience to his orders.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_727"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_727">[727]</a></span> Joseph to Napoleon, from -Valdemoro, August 7.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_728"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_728">[728]</a></span> Jourdan to Belliard, from Bargas, -August 8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_729"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_729">[729]</a></span> See Wellesley’s letter of Aug. 14 -to Beresford, concerning the departure of the French. Robert Craufurd -estimated the force that had marched on Plasencia at 15,000 men, Donkin -at 25,000. If the latter had judged the numbers correctly, Wellesley -supposed that both Ney and Soult must have gone by this road: this was -actually the case.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_730"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_730">[730]</a></span> Wellesley to Villiers, Aug. 12: -‘The French having been moving since the ninth towards Plasencia.... -I can form no decided opinion respecting their intentions. I think, -however, that if they meditated a serious attack on Portugal they would -not have moved off in daylight, in full sight of our troops. I suspect -these movements are intended only as a feint, to induce us to separate -ourselves from the Spaniards, in order to cover Portugal.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_731"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_731">[731]</a></span> These regiments were, Line -infantry, nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 23, all -(save no. 15) two battalions strong, and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th -Cazadores, with no. 2 of the Lusitanian Legion, and the ‘Voluntarios -Académicos’ of Coimbra.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_732"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_732">[732]</a></span> Viz. 2/5th, 2/11th, 2/28th, -2/34th, 2/42nd, 2/39th, 2/88th.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_733"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_733">[733]</a></span> See Wellesley to Beresford, Aug. -14.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_734"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_734">[734]</a></span> That this official did something, -if not so much as Wellesley required, is shown by the letter to Cuesta -of Aug. 11, in which it is said that ‘the British army has received no -provisions since it was at Deleytosa, excepting some sent from Truxillo -by Señor Lozano de Torres,’ while again on Aug. 8, Wellesley says that -‘we have had nothing since the third, save 4,000 lbs. of biscuit, and -that was divided among 30,000 [say 23,000] mouths.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_735"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_735">[735]</a></span> On Aug. 12, Wellesley writes from -Jaraicejo to say that the dépôt at Abrantes is much too large, and that -some of the flour ought to be sent back to Santarem, or even to Lisbon, -till only 300,000 rations should be left.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_736"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_736">[736]</a></span> Wellesley to his brother Lord -Wellesley, at Seville, Aug. 8.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_737"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_737">[737]</a></span> See Wellesley to Cuesta from -Jaraicejo, Aug. 11.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_738"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_738">[738]</a></span> Lord Munster (p. 251) confesses -that ‘so pressing were our wants that one of our commissaries took from -them (the Spaniards) by force a hundred bullocks and a hundred mule -loads of bread.’ Cuesta needs no further justification. But it is clear -that his own men were doing things precisely similar.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_739"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_739">[739]</a></span> See the <a -href="#Page_602">above-quoted dispatch</a> to Cuesta of Aug. 11.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_740"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_740">[740]</a></span> See especially the remarks of -Leach, George Napier, Leith-Hay, Stothert, and Cooper.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_741"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_741">[741]</a></span> Wellesley to Castlereagh, from -Truxillo, Aug. 21, 1809.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_742"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_742">[742]</a></span> In his dispatch to the Marquis -Wellesley, from Merida, Aug. 24, he observes that he had considered -himself in honour bound to continue his co-operation unless (1) Soult -should invade Portugal, or (2) the Spaniards should move off towards -another theatre of war, i.e. La Mancha, or (3) he should himself be -starved out, as actually happened.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_743"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_743">[743]</a></span> Eguia’s unhappy phrase was ‘If -notwithstanding this answer [to the effect that the Truxillo magazines -should be placed in charge of a British commissary] your Excellency -should persist in marching your troops into Portugal, I shall be -convinced that other causes, and not only the want of subsistence, -have induced your Excellency to decide on taking such a step.’ [From -Deleytosa, Aug. 19.]</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_744"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_744">[744]</a></span> ‘I have had the honour of -receiving your Excellency’s letter of this day’s date, and I feel -much concerned that anything should have occurred to induce your -Excellency to express a doubt of the truth of what I have written to -you. As however your Excellency entertains that doubt, any further -correspondence between us appears unnecessary, and accordingly this is -the last letter which I shall have the honour of addressing to you.’ -Wellesley to Eguia, Aug. 19.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_745"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_745">[745]</a></span> ‘It is said that Don L. de Calvo -promised and engaged to supply the British army, upon which I have -only to observe that I had already trusted too long to the promises of -Spanish agents, and I had particular reason for want of confidence in -Don L. de Calvo. At the moment when he was assuring me that the British -army should have all the food the country could afford, I had in my -possession an order from him directing the magistrates of Guadalupe to -send to the Spanish head quarters provisions which a British commissary -had prepared for the magazine at Truxillo.’ Oct. 30, to Marquis -Wellesley.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_746"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_746">[746]</a></span> ‘I have no provisions, no horses, -no means of transport, I am overloaded with sick; the horses of the -cavalry are scarcely able to march, or those of the artillery to draw -their guns. The officers and soldiers alike are worn down by want -of food and privations of every description.’ Wellesley to Marquis -Wellesley, Miajadas, Aug. 22.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_747"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_747">[747]</a></span> Lord Wellesley to Sir Arthur -Wellesley, Seville, Aug. 22.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_748"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_748">[748]</a></span> The Armistice of Znaim was signed -July 12. The Falmouth packet with the news reached Lisbon only on Aug. -9. Yet Wellesley had heard rumours of peace as early as Aug. 4 [<cite>Well. -Disp.</cite> iv. 560].</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_749"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_749">[749]</a></span> Canning to Lord Wellesley, -London, Aug. 12: ‘The question which first arises is whether the state -of things in Spain be such as that a British army of 30,000 men, acting -in co-operation with the Spanish armies, could be reasonably expected -either to effect the deliverance of the whole Peninsula, or to make -head against the augmented force which Bonaparte may now be enabled -to direct against that country. Upon this question your Excellency -will receive the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley, to whom a copy of this -dispatch is transmitted. If the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley shall be -that, with so limited a force as 30,000 men, offensive operations -in Spain could not prudently be attempted, and if he shall conceive -that the utmost object to which such an army would be adequate is the -defence of Portugal, your Excellency will then only have to state to -the Spanish Government the nature of the instructions under which -Sir A. Wellesley now acts.... If on the other hand Sir A. Wellesley -shall entertain the opinion that with an effective British army of -30,000, combined with the Spanish and Portuguese armies, it might be -possible either to expel the French from Spain, or to resist even -their augmented force with a reasonable prospect of success ... your -Excellency will then also receive the opinion of Sir A. Wellesley as to -the conditions necessary to be obtained from the Spanish Government, -as a preliminary to entering on any concerted system of joint military -operations.’</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_750"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_750">[750]</a></span> For Wellesley’s answer to Canning -see his reply to his brother on Sept. 5, containing his ‘Observation -on Mr. Secretary Canning’s Dispatch of Aug. 12,’ combined with the -reference to his own dispatch of Aug. 24, which (as he writes to -Castlereagh on Sept. 4) ‘gives the government my opinion upon all the -points referred to in Mr. Canning’s dispatches.’ The quotation above -comes from this last-named document of Aug. 24.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_751"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_751">[751]</a></span> The French force at Almonacid -stood as follows:—4th Corps; Sebastiani’s division 6,000 men, -Valence’s 4,000, Leval’s 3,000, and corps-cavalry (Merlin) 1,000. -Milhaud’s dragoons had 2,200 men present; the King had brought up 600 -horse and about 4,800 foot of his guards and of Dessolles’ division. -The total therefore was about 3,800 cavalry and 17,800 foot.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_752"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_752">[752]</a></span> This remark I find in the -narrative of General Bouligni, the commanding officer of engineers in -the Army of La Mancha [Arteche, vi. 370]. Venegas was aiming his sneer -at Castaños and at La Romana, who had got the nickname of ‘Marquis de -la Romeria’ from his perpetual strategical movements to the rear.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_753"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_753">[753]</a></span> But see General Arteche’s -calculation in vi. 392 of his <cite>Guerra de la Independencia</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_754"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_754">[754]</a></span> Soult to Joseph, Aug. 18, from -Plasencia.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_755"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_755">[755]</a></span> Ney to Jourdan, from Salamanca, -Aug. 22.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_756"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_756">[756]</a></span> See Joseph to Clarke, Aug. 22, -and Napoleon to Clarke, Sept. 7.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_757"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_757">[757]</a></span> For a presentment of Joseph’s -case see Chapter xii. of Jourdan’s <cite>Mémoires</cite>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_758"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_758">[758]</a></span> Though named from Olivenza these -regiments were actually raised in Northern Beira, with head quarters at -Lamego, Olivenza having been ceded to Spain in 1801 at the treaty of -Badajoz.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_759"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_759">[759]</a></span> Ces passe-ports devaient -être délivrés aux noms supposés de <i>Dupont</i> et <i>Garis</i>, d’après -les déclarations d’Argenton lui-même, du m<sup>al</sup> Soult, du -g<sup>al</sup> Ricard, &c. L’un de ces passe-ports devait être -utilisé par le cap<sup>e</sup> Favre, aide de camp du g<sup>al</sup> -Lefebvre, qui voulait rentrer en France pour démissionner. L’autre -devait servir à un officier supérieur <i>qu’Argenton ne nomme pas</i>, qui -devait aller rendre compte de la situation à l’Empereur.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_760"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_760">[760]</a></span> The official report gives <i>three</i> -missing officers here. But one of them was not a prisoner but turned up -at Oropesa next morning, nominally sick. For this distressing story, -see Leslie, pp. 155-6.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_761"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_761">[761]</a></span> Many of the casualties of the -5/60th were in the companies detached from the head quarters of the -regiment, and not serving in Donkin’s brigade. It is unfortunately -impossible to distinguish them, as all the regimental losses are given -<i>en bloc</i> in the return.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p id="Footnote_762"><span class="label"><a -href="#FNanchor_762">[762]</a></span> On arrival in Portugal, No. 6 -company, 7th batt., was under 2nd Captain H. B. Lane; Captain C. D. -Sillery joined shortly after the occupation of Oporto.</p> - -</div> - -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="aftit" id="backcover"> - <hr class="chap0" /> - <div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/backcover.jpg" - alt="Book back cover" /> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap0" /> - - -<div class="transnote" id="tnote"> - <p class="tnotetit">Transcriber’s note</p> - <ul> - <li>Obvious printer errors have been silently corrected.</li> - <li>Original spelling was kept, but variant spellings were made consistent when a predominant - usage was found.</li> - <li>To aid referencing places and names in present-day maps and - documents, outdated and current spellings of some proper names - follow: - <table class="tsx mt1" summary="Outdated and current spellings"> - <tr><td class="tdr">Alariz,</td><td><i>now</i> Allariz,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Albuquerque,</td><td><i>now</i> Alburquerque,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Alemtejo,</td><td><i>now</i> Alentejo,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Aljafferia,</td><td><i>now</i> Aljafería,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Almanza,</td><td><i>now</i> Almansa,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Arens de Mar,</td><td><i>now</i> Arenys de Mar,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Arzobispo,</td><td><i>now</i> El Puente del Arzobispo,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Ballasteros,</td><td><i>now</i> Ballesteros,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Baylen,</td><td><i>now</i> Bailén,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Busaco,</td><td><i>now</i> Buçaco,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Cacabellos,</td><td><i>now</i> Cacabelos,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Cangas de Oñis,</td><td><i>now</i> Cangas de Onís,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Campo Saucos,</td><td><i>now</i> Camposancos</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Cardadeu,</td><td><i>now</i> Cardedeu,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Cascaes,</td><td><i>now</i> Cascais,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Cette,</td><td><i>now</i> Sète,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Cevolla,</td><td><i>now</i> Cebolla,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Compostella,</td><td><i>now</i> Compostela,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Cordova,</td><td><i>now</i> Córdoba,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Corunna,</td><td><i>now</i> La Coruña,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Deleytosa,</td><td><i>now</i> Deleitosa,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Despeña Perros,</td><td><i>now</i> Despeñaperros,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">El Moral,</td><td><i>now</i> Moral de Calatrava,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdrm">Estremadura,</td><td><i>now</i> Extremadura (for Spain),<br /> - <i>and</i> Estremadura (for Portugal),</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Florida Blanca,</td><td><i>now</i> Floridablanca,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Fuentedueñas,</td><td><i>now</i> Fuentidueña de Tajo,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Giguela (river),</td><td><i>now</i> Gigüela,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Grijon,</td><td><i>now</i> Grijó,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Guimaraens,</td><td><i>now</i> Guimarães,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Huerba (river),</td><td><i>now</i> Huerva,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">La Bispal,</td><td><i>now</i> La Bisbal,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">La Gudina,</td><td><i>now</i> La Gudiña,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Lanhozo,</td><td><i>now</i> Lanhoso,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Loxa,</td><td><i>now</i> Loja,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Majorca,</td><td><i>now</i> Mallorca,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Meza de Ibor,</td><td><i>now</i> Mesas de Ibor,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Mondonedo,</td><td><i>now</i> Mondoñedo,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Monmalo,</td><td><i>now</i> Montmeló,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Monterey,</td><td><i>now</i> Monterrey,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Osoño,</td><td><i>now</i> Villardevós (Osoño),</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Pampeluna,</td><td><i>now</i> Pamplona,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Passo d’Arcos,</td><td><i>now</i> Paço de Arcos</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Pillar,</td><td><i>now</i> Pilar,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Riva de Sella,</td><td><i>now</i> Ribadesella,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">San Boy,</td><td><i>now</i> Sant Boi de Llobregat,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">San Culgat,</td><td><i>now</i> Sant Cugat del Vallés,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">San Per,</td><td><i>now</i> Samper de Calanda,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Saragossa,</td><td><i>now</i> Zaragoza,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Sarreal,</td><td><i>now</i> Sarral,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Senabria,</td><td><i>now</i> Sanabria,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Tajuna,</td><td><i>now</i> Tajuña,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Tortola,</td><td><i>now</i> Valdetórtola,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Truxillo,</td><td><i>now</i> Trujillo,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Vierzo,</td><td><i>now</i> El Bierzo,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Villa de Cervo,</td><td><i>now</i> Villar de Ciervo,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Villaharta,</td><td><i>now</i> Villarta de San Juan,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Villa Nova de Famelicção,</td><td><i>now</i> Vila Nova de Famalicão,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Villanueva de Sitjas,</td><td><i>now</i> Sitges,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Villarodoña,</td><td><i>now</i> Villarrodona,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Vincente,</td><td><i>now</i> Vicente,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Vittoria,</td><td><i>now</i> Vitoria,</td></tr> - <tr><td class="tdr">Zornoza,</td><td><i>now</i> Amorebieta-Echano.</td></tr> - </table> - </li> - <li>Chapter headers and Table of contents have been made consistent.</li> - <li>Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the book.</li> - <li>In some devices page display may need to be rotated in order to see tables - in their full width.</li> - <li>In the following pages, the anchor placement for the mentioned - footnote is conjectured; no anchor was found in the printed original: - <a href="#Page_27">p. 27</a>, <a href="#Footnote_35">n. 35</a>; - <a href="#Page_49">p. 49</a>, <a href="#Footnote_57">n. 57</a>; - <a href="#Page_293">p. 293</a>, <a href="#Footnote_353">n. 353</a>; - <a href="#Page_316">p. 316</a>, <a href="#Footnote_390">n. 390</a>; - <a href="#Page_343">p. 343</a>, <a href="#Footnote_427">n. 427</a>; - <a href="#Page_372">p. 372</a>, <a href="#Footnote_466">n. 466</a>; - <a href="#Page_420">p. 420</a>, <a href="#Footnote_524">n. 524</a>.</li> - <li>In <a href="#ChapA_4">Appendix IV</a>, the meaning of the marks preceding - regiment names seems to be those used in Volume I, App. VIII: - “* marks an old regiment of the regular army; † a militia regiment; - ‡ a regiment of new levies.”</li> - </ul> -</div> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A History of the Peninsula War, by Charles Oman - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF THE PENINSULA WAR *** - -***** This file should be named 54279-h.htm or 54279-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/2/7/54279/ - -Produced by Brian Coe, Ramon Pajares Box and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - 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