CHAPTER XLII. LORD WELLINGTON ENTERS MADRID. THE FRENCH RETIRE FROM ANDALUSIA. SIEGE OF BURGOS, AND RETREAT OF THE ALLIES.

♦July, 1812.♦

Buonaparte could keep the French people ignorant of the course which events had taken in Portugal and Spain; but even the vigilance of his military tyranny could not prevent the Spaniards from knowing that the allies, having driven out the French from the one kingdom, had entered the other, and had recovered the two strong places of Ciudad Rodrigo and ♦Appeal of the Intruder to the Spaniards.♦ Badajoz. Fresh appeals were made by the Intrusive Government to the fears and jealousies of a people whom they had now began to apprehend it would be found impossible to subdue. “What would it avail them,” it was asked, “if they were to set up Infantado, or the Empecinado, or Ballasteros, or any other of their countrymen for king? Wherefore should they persist in an obstinate and unavailing resistance after the Bourbon dynasty had been extinguished by that great man whom Providence had appointed to regenerate Spain, and who for their happiness had selected Joseph to reign over them? Why did they not rally round his throne?” The Spaniards only ridiculed such appeals; and the French themselves, in derision, called Joseph King of the Highways, as one whose authority extended no farther than his patrols and armies could enforce it. His was indeed a miserable condition; the brother, of whose wicked will he had, in despite of his own understanding and heart, consented to become the instrument, regarded him with displeasure, because he had met with a resistance which was not to be overcome; the nation upon which he had been insolently intruded, regarded him with deeper hatred than perhaps had ever before been co-existent with the feeling of sincere contempt; the army by which alone he was scarcely supported despised him, and the French generals kept up towards him a semblance of respect.

♦State of Madrid.♦

But odious as the usurpation was everywhere, it was rendered peculiarly so at Madrid, by the presence of the Intruder and of his ministers. Being the seat of the Intrusive Government, more of those traitors were collected there who had made the miseries of their country a means for their own advancement; and as the commanders in other parts cared little for the necessities of the court, heavier imposts were exacted from the inhabitants, at the very time when a remission of taxes was announced in edicts, which, if intended to be executed, were never carried into effect. The duties payable upon the entrance and exit of wheat, rice, and pulse of every kind, were repealed by a decree, but continued to be exacted as before, and at the same time, new duties were imposed upon wine, oil, meat and vegetables. A loan of 20 million reales was soon exhausted, a contribution of eight millions was then demanded from the trading part of the people; and an equivalent proportion was taken in kind from the occupiers of land. Eight per cent. upon the value of houses were first required, then ten, and then fifteen; the poorest artisan was compelled to take out an annual license for the exercise of his calling; even the water carriers were subjected to this tax. Having collected a great quantity of grain, the Government sold it at a price more suited to its own wants than to the condition of the people: the hospitals were crowded with sick and starving poor; and of the persons who died during the first six months of this year, two-thirds perished in consequence of misery and want. Patient endurance was all that the people of Madrid could oppose to their oppressors; but they lived in firm belief that the day of deliverance would come, believed every rumour of success on the part of their countrymen and their allies, and with the same determined will, discredited whatever was related of their reverses. They looked upon the account of Ballasteros’s defeat at Bornos as so much exaggerated that it was unworthy of belief; and with more reasonable incredulity when it was reported that Marmont had totally defeated the allies and taken 20,000 prisoners, while the French and their partisans congratulated each other upon the news, they required dates and details, and assured themselves that it was nothing more than one of the enemy’s customary falsehoods.

♦Measures of Joseph before the battle of Salamanca.♦

Indeed, before the battle of Salamanca, it was made sufficiently apparent by circumstances which the French were unable to conceal, that however confidently they might expect some great success, they had as yet obtained none. The garrison at the Puerto de Miravete, which had been relieved after the destruction of the bridge at Almaraz, was withdrawn now, the Puente del Arzobispo was abandoned, and they withdrew also from Talavera, which was immediately entered by the Medico. Most of their garrisons at the same time withdrew from La Mancha, and they were followed by those miserable people, who, having accepted offices, whether high or low, under the Intrusive Government, dared not remain without French protection in any place where they were known. Exertions were made for fortifying Toledo; and in the works which were carried on for the same purpose at the Retiro, the people of Madrid saw unequivocal proof, that the French apprehended at least the possibility of an advance of the allies upon the capital. To prevent that danger, they had thus collected their forces from all quarters, thinking then to attack Lord Wellington with such superior numbers as would render success certain: but Joseph and M. Jourdan were too slow in moving from Madrid, and meantime Marmont had been too confident of his strength and of his skill. If he had delayed his passage of the Tormes only for two days, till the army of the centre should have joined, the enemy persuaded themselves that Lord Wellington could not have escaped from utter defeat, and that that victory would have secured the entire conquest of Spain.

♦Advance of the allies.♦

The event could not be kept secret at Madrid; every one knew what no one dared publish; and while false intelligence was sedulously spread abroad by the Intrusive Government, and the police was more than ordinarily active in arresting suspected persons, every one congratulated his friends and neighbours upon a victory the extent of which was magnified in proportion to their hopes. They entertained no doubt but that Marmont had been killed, and his whole army destroyed. Lord Wellington moved from Cuellar on the 6th of August, leaving General Clinton’s division there, and General Anson’s brigade of cavalry to observe the line of the Douro. He arrived at Segovia on the 7th, and at S. Ildefonso on the 8th, the beautiful summer retreat of the kings of Spain: there he halted one day that the right of the army might have time to come up. The passage of the Guadarama mountains was effected without opposition. Brigadier-General d’Urban, with the Portugueze cavalry, the first light battalion of the German Legion, and Captain M’Donald’s troop of horse artillery, drove in on the morning of the 16th, about 2000 French cavalry; they moved toward Naval Carnero, and returned from thence in the evening with the Intruder himself, to make a reconnoissance. D’Urban formed the ♦August.Affair at Majalahonda.♦ Portugueze cavalry in front of Majalahonda, and ordered them to charge the enemy’s leading squadrons, which seemed too far advanced. The Portugueze pushed on, but unexpectedly disgraced themselves; their officers set them a brave example, but in vain, and the Visconde de Barbacena, who behaved remarkably well, was taken prisoner; the men turned about shamefully, fled through the village, and left the guns behind them which had been moved forward for their support. M’Donald’s troop exerted themselves to bring them off, but owing to the rough ground, one carriage was broken, two were overturned, and thus the three fell into the enemy’s hands. The German dragoons who had been formed behind the village rallied the fugitives, charged the enemy, and stopped their progress, but suffered considerable loss. In this affair, about 200 men were killed, wounded, or taken, and 120 horses. The left of the allied army being not three miles distant, two brigades of horse and foot moved forward to support the troops in advance; the French retired as soon as they saw them, and withdrew during the night, leaving the guns. The piquets of the allies took post that evening on the mountains, in sight of Madrid.

♦The enemy retire from Madrid.♦

The enemy, who from Madrid had been looking through telescopes toward the passes of the Guadarama, had seen D’Urban’s detachment on the evening of the 9th. Orders were then given and revoked by the resident members of the Government, with the precipitation of fear: it was determined to abandon the capital on the following morning, and the adherents of the Intruder prepared in all haste for their departure; some selling their goods for any price that could be obtained for them, others, intrusting them to the care of their friends, and not a few soliciting the compassion of those who had been found faithful to their country. The families of these unhappy men were objects of compassion even to the populace, notwithstanding the indignation which was felt at the men themselves, who bitterly repented now, not so much their guilt as their short-sightedness in supposing that they had taken the stronger side. The troops under whose protection they retired would have saved them from any outrage or insult if any had been intended; but they had not proceeded far from the gates before many of them were plundered by these protectors. Two of Joseph’s ministers entered Madrid with a strong escort the next day, for the supposed purpose of destroying papers, and securing effects which could not be carried away in the hurry of the removal. They retired in the evening, and on the morning of the 12th all the troops who remained shut themselves up in the Retiro. The shops which, during the two preceding days, had been closed were then opened, and Madrid became a scene of such joy as had never been witnessed ♦The allies enter.♦ in the days of its proudest prosperity. Soon after middle day the allies began to enter through streets so crowded with gratulating multitudes, that the officers who were on horseback at the head of their men, could scarcely make their way, and scarcely keep their seats, so eagerly did the Spaniards press to shake hands with them, as if nothing but an English mode of greeting could make their exultation and their hearty welcome sufficiently intelligible.

♦The new constitution proclaimed.♦

Madrid had lost more than two-thirds of its inhabitants since its occupation by the French, but an influx of people from all the surrounding country now filled it as if there had been no depopulation; and amid this multitude, on the following day, the new constitution was proclaimed by D. Carlos de España, who was appointed governor of the capital and province, ... a charge for which no one could be better qualified by clearness of judgment, and promptitude in executing what he saw to be right. Their acclamations were hushed as soon as they knew what they were called upon to hear; and the deep silence with which they listened to the constitutional act was interrupted only by the enemy’s cannon from the Retiro, which seemed rather like a salute in honour of the ceremony, than an enemy’s artillery employed in defence of their last hold in the capital. The act was received with exultant delight; young minds and generous ones, whose natural ardour enabled them to believe what they eagerly desired, persuaded themselves that the Spaniards had now established their freedom as well as achieved their independence; the happy days of Athens and of Sparta, they said, seemed to be restored; and the people of Madrid already appeared like a nation accustomed to liberty, and to deliberate concerning their own interests.

♦The Buen Retiro.♦

On that evening Lord Wellington invested the Retiro, where Marshal Jourdan, with little prudence, had left a garrison of 1700 men. At the eastern extremity of Madrid, Philip II. had a small palace, or rather house of retreat, pleasantly situated by the Prado or public walk, on a rising ground, and immediately adjoining the convent of S. Geronimo. Philip IV. took a fancy to the site; and Olivares, whose chief object seemed to be that of amusing his royal master at whatever cost, purchased adjacent land enough for a large palace, with its gardens and a park four miles in circuit; and such enormous sums were lavished upon the edifice and the grounds, that the additional imposts which were required for this expenditure, or artfully, perhaps, imputed to it, were one of the causes which provoked the revolt in Catalonia, and occasioned the separation of Portugal from the Spanish monarchy. The palace contained a theatre, spacious itself, and opening into the gardens, which might thus be made upon occasion a continuation of the scene; in this theatre the master-pieces of the Spanish drama were represented before a court who delighted in dramatic literature; and Ferdinand VI. gratified his dear Queen Barbara’s hereditary love of music, with Italian operas, performed under Farinelli’s direction. Formerly the Buen Retiro contained a large collection of pictures by the greatest masters of Italy, Spain, and the Low Countries; many of these were transferred to other palaces when this began to be neglected, and the French had now made spoil of the rest. But there were ceilings painted by Luca Jordano, which were not removable; and in a compartment of that in the great saloon, Spain was pictured, ruling the terrestrial globe, ... a dream of ambition which her kings of the Austrian line had entertained, which the craftiest as well as the wildest heads among the Romish clergy encouraged, and which many circumstances seemed to concur in favouring, when, under the blessing of Providence, the Dutch, by their patriotic and religious virtue, averted that evil from the world. Two other noted works of art were still to be seen in the Buen Retiro; one, remarkable for its design, was a bronze statue of Charles V. trampling upon the Spirit of Reformation which lay, personified as Heresy in chains, at his feet; the other, which for the surpassing skill of the sculptor was even more remarkable, was an equestrian statue of Philip IV. cast by Pietro Tacca of Florence, weighing, it is said, not less than nine tons, and yet supported only by the hind legs, the horse being in the act of galloping. Within the precincts of the palace were many pavilions which used to be assigned to the courtiers when the court resided there. The gardens were of that formal style in which art allows as little as possible of nature to be seen, ... where water is brought at great expense to spout from fountains and fill circular fish-ponds, the gardener exercises his topiary genius upon trees and shrubs, and humble evergreens are compelled to grow in fantastic patterns, like a vegetable carpet. The park was a thick wood, with broad avenues, a central pond having a pavilion in its centre, and a large piece of water at its termination, on which gilded gondolas awaited the king’s pleasure when he was disposed to take the diversion of fishing, his retinue beholding the sport from the little pavilions which decorated its sides. Like all the other palaces of the kings of Spain, the Buen Retiro was a place in which a meditative beholder was forcibly reminded of the vanity of human greatness. Those kings, above all other European sovereigns, had been loved and reverenced by their people; their palaces were among the wonders of the modern world, and no expenditure, no efforts of ingenuity and art had been spared in embellishing their summer retreats: but these things had been grievously compensated, not alone by the never-ending anxieties of state, and the gloom of disappointed ambition, but by a more than ordinary share of the afflictions incident to human nature, coming upon themselves or their families, ... maladies of body and of mind alike incurable and painful; ... madness, fatuity, weak intellects, ... conscious of their weakness, and of the awful responsibility in which their birth had placed them, ... morbid consciences, and broken hearts.

After the accession of Charles III. the Retiro ceased to be a royal residence, and part of its buildings were converted into a royal manufactory of porcelain. Its park, however, continued to be a fashionable promenade, the more agreeable, because carriages were not allowed to enter; but the French had now made it a depôt for their artillery stores, the victims whom they arrested for political offences were confined there, and they had fortified it as a military post, but with less judgment than their engineers had displayed on any other occasion. ♦Surrender of the Retiro.♦ The outer line was formed by the palace, the museum, and the park wall, with flèches thrown out in part to flank it; the second was a bastioned line of nine large fronts, but with no outworks except a ravelin and a lunette; the interior was an octagonal star fort, closely surrounding what had been the porcelain manufactory. The garrison was far too small for the outer enceintes, and Marshal Jourdan had therefore left written orders, that if they were seriously attacked, they should confine their defence to the star fort, which, however, itself would be rendered nearly indefensible if the manufactory were destroyed. A copy of this order was found, and on the night of the 13th, Major-General Pakenham drove in their posts from the Prado and the botanical garden, made them retire from the outer enceintes, broke through the wall in many places, ♦August 14.♦ and established his troops in the palace. In the morning arrangements were made for driving them from the bastioned lines, and for battering the manufactory; but the governor saw that resistance was useless, and he surrendered. The number of prisoners taken there and in the hospital amounted to 2500, and there fell into the hands of the allies 189 pieces of cannon, and above 20,000 stand of arms, with a great quantity of ammunition and stores of all kinds. The eagles also of the 13th and 51st regiments were found there, and sent to England.

♦The constitution sworn to.♦

The inhabitants of Madrid, who looked upon this strong hold of their oppressors as a Bastille, were desirous of thronging thither to see the place where so many of their countrymen had been sacrificed; but this was not permitted, both the British commander and the Spanish authorities seeking as much as possible to prevent any thing which might excite the vindictive feelings of the people. That same day, the churches in every parish were opened for administering the oath of fidelity to the new constitution; and multitudes crowding thither with an eagerness which might well have excited apprehension of its stability, swore to they knew not what. Napoleon, it was said, had promised to regenerate them, and they were regenerated; for through his means, who had intended nothing less, the Spaniard had been converted from a slave to a citizen; the superstitious had thrown off his prejudices, the coward his fears, the credulous his credulity; the idle had become industrious, the selfish man generous, and the reckless one had learned to think. While those who knew little of history and less of human nature exulted thus in the persuasion, that the habits of a whole people might be changed as lightly as an inconsiderate man changes his opinion, and that inveterate evils may suddenly be cured by legislation as if by miracle, and leave no scar behind; the general joy was kept up by fast following tidings from all parts of successes, which, though little more than the necessary consequences in most instances of the battle of Salamanca and the occupation of Madrid, were considered each by the multitude as an important achievement in itself. On the same day that the Retiro was surrendered, the French withdrew from Toledo to join the army of the centre, with which the Intruder was retreating towards Valencia: they destroyed their artillery, and all the ammunition which they could not carry; and hardly had they left the city before the Abuelo’s party entered, and the bells rung, and the squares and streets were illuminated. ♦August 16.♦ Guadalaxara was attacked by the Empecinado, and after a vain resistance, above 700 French were made prisoners there. The enemy retired from Logroño, and Duran hastened thither and destroyed its outer fortifications, its fort, and its inquisition. A detachment was sent from Zaragoza to bring away the garrisons from Tarrazona and Borja, and destroy the works there.

♦Gen. Foy’s movement.♦

General Foy, with 6000 infantry and 1200 horse, part of Marmont’s army, now under his command, moved from the neighbourhood of Valladolid with the intent of raising the blockade of Toro and Zamora, and the siege of Astorga. The garrison at Tordesillas, consisting of 250 men, had previously surrendered to ♦August 17.♦ Santocildes. The Spaniards retired from before Toro at their approach, in good order and with little loss; the enemy bringing off their garrison, were then joined by another body of equal force, and proceeded towards Astorga; 300 of their cavalry were sent forward to that city, but when they entered it they found that the Spaniards had withdrawn, and had marched the garrison, consisting of 1200 men, prisoners towards Coruña: for Castaños knowing that a force was advancing which his army was in no condition to meet, had successfully employed the easy artifice of representing to ♦August 18.♦ the commander that relief was impossible, and resistance hopeless, and thus he had induced him to ♦August 21.♦ surrender. Foy was at Baneza, half way between Benevente and Astorga, when he received this mortifying intelligence; he then turned back to the Ezla, and marched upon Carvajales, thinking to surprise the Conde de Amarante, who with the militia of Tras-os-Montes, then serving voluntarily beyond their own frontier, was blockading Zamora; the Conde retreated ♦August 29.♦ without loss, and the French general bringing off the garrison marched for Tordesillas.

Some of the traitors who had made themselves conspicuous in the Intruder’s service, fell into the hands of ♦Measures of police at Madrid.♦ their countrymen at Guadalaxara; others who were conscious that they had been weak rather than wicked, and that in submitting to him for their own good, they had not aggravated the crime by injuring those who had persisted in their duty, presented themselves voluntarily to the newly constituted authorities in Madrid, thinking it better to take the chance of mercy, than to fly they knew not whither, without resources, without friends, and without the consolation which those who act righteously find in their own hearts. There were writers on this occasion who cried for vengeance in a most ferocious spirit. They called upon the people of Madrid to prepare graves for their guilty countrymen who had thus presented themselves at the foot of the gallows! They advised them to go to the governor, and with one voice require justice upon these wretches, as what the nation was entitled to demand; ... the sword for some, chains for others, and strict confinement till the conclusion of the war for those who were suspected, and who, if they were left at large, might act as secret agents for the French. This atrocious language failed of its intended effect, for the presence of the allied troops maintained order; and a vigilant police had been established, not for the oppression of the people, but for their security.

No needless severity was used. D. Carlos d’España made known by an edict, that persons of both sexes in that capital carried on a correspondence with those unhappy Spaniards who had followed the French, and that in this manner they supplied the enemy with intelligence; all such communication, therefore, was prohibited to all persons, on pain of being brought before a council of war, and condemned irremissibly to suffer the punishment appointed for spies. The families of the fugitives, and of those who had enriched themselves by the purchase of what the Intrusive Government called national goods, were ordered to remain in their houses under the word of three respectable sureties, and not to leave them except for the purpose of attending their religious duties; but their wives and daughters were advised to retire into a convent, as the course which consisted best with their own honour, and with that of their husbands and fathers, for whom they might there offer up their prayers, supplicating Providence to bring them in its mercy back to the path of duty which they had forsaken.

How to deal with the juramentados, as those Spaniards were called who had entered into Joseph’s armies, was a question which now became of great importance. Hitherto it had been possible to execute the rigour of the law, and put to death those who were taken in arms against their country; but the tide having now turned, it might reasonably be expected that they would eagerly desert a cause in which they had never heartily engaged; and the policy of thus recruiting the Spanish army, instead of driving these men to despair, was so evident, that Alava, immediately on the occupation of Madrid, issued a proclamation, as commissary for the Government, inviting them to accept the free pardon which the Cortes had offered them on the publication of the new constitution. Great numbers in consequence came over. Another measure of the Intrusive Government, which was not less obvious and dangerous in its possible results, than the scheme of raising a Spanish force to be employed in the subjugation of Spain, was that of selling or otherwise disposing of confiscated houses and lands, and thus binding the new possessors to their allegiance by the only tie which they would not be likely under any circumstances to break. They had contrived thus to connect with the French interest many who would have been unwilling or unable to purchase property of this description; for under pretext of embellishing the capital, they pulled down about a fourth of it, and by way of compensating the owners of the demolished dwellings, assigned among them in exchange the houses of those who adhered to the national cause. This policy the Cortes met by a timely decree, declaring all purchases of confiscated estates null, and empowering the rightful owners to enter upon them whenever the fortune of war should permit, and authorising them to exact from the intrusive proprietors the mean profits, and the amount of any waste which they might have committed.

♦Lord Wellington’s situation.♦

Lord Wellington was now enjoying the highest reward which can fall to the lot of a successful commander. He was living in a palace, the most magnificent in Europe, from which he had driven an Usurper; and the blessings of the people accompanied him wherever he went. The municipal authorities gave a bull-fight in his honour, and when he appeared in the royal box, the air rung with the repeated shouts of not less than 12,000 spectators. He could not walk abroad by daylight because of the pressure of the multitudes who gathered round him; even in the dark when he went into the Prado, though he and his suite were dressed in blue great coats in hopes of escaping notice, they were generally recognized and followed by crowds, the women pressing to shake hands, and some even to embrace them. Welcomed as he was with overflowing joy by a grateful people as their deliverer, his satisfaction would have been complete, if the same difficulties with which he had struggled since the commencement of the war had not still impeded his plans; for he was still embarrassed by the want of adequate means, and disappointed in his hopes of co-operation. He was without money. The United States of America had declared war against Great Britain, with no just cause, nor even plausible pretext for hostilities. Lord Wellington received the news of this declaration immediately after the battle of Salamanca. The troops in Portugal depended in great measure for corn upon the importation from America to that country; and he deemed it necessary, without delay, to make large purchases at Lisbon, that the subsistence of the army might not be endangered. But this required a great expenditure, the effect of which was now severely felt, for no pecuniary resources were to be found in Madrid. The inhabitants fed the garrison, and the produce of the sequestered ♦Col. Jones’s account of the war, 2. 122.♦ and crown lands was readily given up to the allies, on promise of future payment; but when money was required for the military chest, a few thousand dollars were all that could be procured upon the most unquestionable security, and of this sum much was in base coin.

♦Anglo-Sicilian army.♦

Lord Wellington had counted with as much confidence as he ever allowed himself to place upon arrangements which were not wholly under his own control, on the promised co-operation of an expedition to the eastern coast. The most urgent solicitations from that part of Spain for aid had long been disregarded by the British Government; and the Catalans, who of all the Spaniards made the greatest and most persevering exertions in their own defence, had been left from the commencement of the struggle until this time with no other help than occasional supplies of money and arms, scantily apportioned, and the assistance of a few ships of war. And now, when the strong fortresses, one after another had fallen, and the British Government at length resolved to withdraw part of its troops from Sicily, where the intrigues of that poor kingdom, and the expectation of chances in Italy which were little likely to occur, and of little importance if they had occurred, had unduly detained them; only 6000 men were detached from Sicily, without cavalry, and a considerable number of them consisting of such foreigners as could be enlisted in the Mediterranean. Lieutenant-General Maitland was appointed to the command, and they sailed in company with a squadron from the Mediterranean fleet under Rear-Admiral Hallowell. The common opinion was that they were destined for Corfu, because heavy artillery was embarked with them.

♦Majorcan division.♦

The Majorcan division of Spanish troops which was to co-operate with them, was supposed to be in a more efficient state than any of the Spanish armies. This division had been raised upon the suggestion of General Whittingham, Majorca being a safe place, where they might be properly trained before they were brought into the field; but the materials were not so unexceptionable as the design. Some 250 Germans who had been made prisoners with Dupont’s army, were taken from the island of Cabrera as volunteers; though, if free-will had influenced them, they would, like the Swiss, have entered the Spanish service upon the first opportunity, instead of remaining two years in that miserable place of confinement. Majorca itself supplied so few willing soldiers, that criminals who had been transported thither from Catalonia and Valencia were enlisted, ... fellows of such a description, that those who were not deemed capable of service were kept in prison: discipline, however, and equitable treatment, of which even bad men are sensible, made them better than was expected. Cuesta sent to this division all who were discharged from the hospitals; and as runaways from the routs in Valencia and Murcia could be collected or caught, they were shipped for Majorca, and incorporated in this hopeful force. No officer however was appointed without secret and strict inquiry into his character. Other difficulties, which might not so probably have been anticipated, impeded the equipment of this division. The plan was unpopular in the island, the more so, perhaps, because it was set on foot by an Englishman who was also invested with the command. Upon Cuesta’s death, the situation of affairs was critical; the authorities withheld all supplies from the troops, who were also threatened as well as insulted in pasquinades: convents had been converted into barracks for their use, and this may possibly have been one cause of offence. An agreement had been concluded with the Dey of Algiers for a supply of horses, but it was broken off for want of money, the Superior Junta of Majorca disregarding all orders from the Regency. The institution of a military academy was another cause of dislike, owing to the habits of insubordination which prevailed in Majorca, as in every other part of the Spanish dominions. By prudent conduct, however, impediments were removed, and dislike softened or overcome; the troops were clothed and armed by Great Britain, and their hospital supplied: and when the expedition from Sicily called for them at Palma, 4500 men embarked, in a state of efficient discipline.

♦July 24.The expedition arrives on the coast of Catalonia.♦

The fleet made for the eastern coast of Spain, and on the first of August anchored in the bay of Blanes, at the mouth of the Tordera. The enemy occupied Tosa, and had a redoubt there which covered the town and protected the coast. On that and the following day demonstrations of landing were made; but upon an interview with Eroles, it was found that any such measure would be worse than useless, with so inadequate a force. That able Spaniard saw that it was better for the Catalans to be left as they had so long been to their own exertions, than to give the French an opportunity of bringing superior numbers against a British expedition: and it was agreed that the best service which such a force could then perform was to secure the city of Alicante, at that time endangered in consequence of a defeat which Joseph O’Donell ♦Defeat of the Spaniards at Castalla. June 21.♦ had suffered in its vicinity. He had endeavoured to drive the vanguard of Marshal Suchet’s army, under General Harispe, back upon the Xucar, from the line which it occupied at Castalla and Ibi, and other points of the mountainous country; but as usual, when the Spaniards were brought forward in regular war, against well-disciplined and well-commanded troops, some of the officers either misunderstood their orders or executed them ill, and some of the men losing courage as soon as they lost hope, threw into confusion those who were braver than themselves; their loss amounted to 4000 men, being little less than the whole number which they attacked, and they left more than 10,000 muskets in their flight. Suchet, who was the most enterprising and successful of all the French generals in Spain, would have taken advantage of this shameful defeat, and endeavoured to obtain possession of Alicante, if the force at his disposal ♦August.♦ had not been greatly diminished. Buonaparte had withdrawn all the Poles in his service from the peninsular, for the Russian campaign; and this deprived him of six thousand of his best troops, at a time when his army was otherwise greatly weakened by sending succours to Caffarelli in Navarre, and by the increased exertions which it was necessary to make against Duran and the Empecinado, Villacampa and Bassecourt. Before the battle of Salamanca the Intruder, in his dreams of triumph, informed Suchet that he must prepare for marching towards Madrid, and then accompanying him to the Tagus; and he ordered him to form a camp of 8000 men between Albaceyte and San Clemente; such a force it was impossible for him to spare; he could not venture to weaken himself further than by detaching 1500 men to Requeña and Cuenca, to relieve General Darmagnac, and he represented to Joseph that he could not move for Madrid with one of his divisions, unless he received orders to evacuate Valencia. The last orders from Paris were to direct all his efforts to the preservation of the countries under his command, and to keep his force concentrated. General Maitland knew less of Marshal Suchet’s actual strength than of his relative superiority to any force that could be brought against him; the best course, therefore, seemed to be that upon which he resolved; to secure the important fortress and port of Alicante, both as a place of arms from whence future operations might be undertaken, and as a rallying point for the wreck of Joseph O’Donell’s army. Thither ♦The expedition lands at Alicante.♦ accordingly the Anglo-Sicilian expedition sailed: contrary winds and bad weather retarded it some days upon the passage, but on the evening of August the 9th they anchored in the harbour, and on the following day the troops were landed.

The French who were in sight of the fortress retired upon this, and formed their line in Chichona, Ibi, Castalla, Biar, and Villena. But Suchet saw that this position would not be tenable against General Maitland’s corps; ♦The French fall back to the Xucar.♦ he concentred his divisions, therefore, about St. Philippe; fixed his head-quarters in that city; threw up field-works there, and upon the high road from Valencia to Madrid; and constructed a bridge of boats over the Xucar, near Alberique, which he secured with a tête-du-pont. His intention was not to fall back without fighting, provided the allies should attack him only in front, and were not too greatly superior in numbers. But the superiority was soon on his own side: the allies took the field on the 14th, and occupied the country from which the enemy retired; on the 18th they received intelligence that the Intruder with the force which he could bring together was about to join the army of Valencia, and then it became necessary for General Maitland to fall back to his position in front of Alicante.

The expedition which was to have effected a diversion in the east of Spain, was thus for the time rendered useless, not having been upon a sufficient scale to accomplish the purpose for which it was designed. Meantime the squadron on the north-east coast proceeded successfully, acting in concert with some of the ablest Guerrilla ♦The French withdraw from Santander. August 2.♦ leaders. Caffarelli found it prudent to withdraw his garrisons from Torrelavega and Santander, lest they should be made prisoners; the latter place was entered by Porlier; the constitution was proclaimed there while salutes of joy were fired by the Spanish troops and the British vessels; ♦They are driven from Bilbao.♦ and Renovales made good his word to General Rouget by driving him from Bilbao, and defeating him in an attempt at recovering it. There also the constitution was proclaimed. The Te Deum was performed in Santiagos church, and the Cid Campeador in the theatre; and all the unmarried men from the age of 17 to 45, were enrolled for Mendizabal’s army. On that side there had been no want of exertion, and no disappointment; but the Gallician army, from which more might have been looked for, considering the resources of the province, served for little more than to manifest the gross incapacity or negligence with which ♦State of the Gallician army.♦ affairs of the greatest moment were conducted: nominally it amounted to 30,000 men, and nearly that number were supposed to be mustered, paid and fed, and yet 11,000 infantry and 350 horse were all that Santocildes had under his command, and these were badly disciplined and miserably equipped.

♦The French break up the siege of Cadiz. August 20.♦

On the night of the eighth day after the entrance of the allies into Madrid, the news of that event reached Cadiz, where it excited among the inhabitants the joyful hope of being speedily delivered from the blockade: and deeper emotions in those exiles who had left their houses and families in the metropolis. On the 24th the French broke up the siege; they threw shells during the preceding night; those which were filled with lead and discharged from howitzers with a velocity of about 2000 feet per second, ♦Sir Howard Douglas’s Naval Gunnery, p. 61.♦ ranged to the astonishing distance of three miles. They burst their guns by overcharging them, placing their muzzles one against another and exploding them by means of portfires and trains; and thus almost the whole of their artillery between Chiclana and Rota, consisting of 600 pieces, were rendered unserviceable. Many, however, were left uninjured for the Spaniards to take possession of, as well as thirty gun-boats, and a great quantity of stores. The necessity of this retreat had been foreseen by Soult as soon as he was informed of the battle of Salamanca. Before that action he had been meditating another attack upon Tarifa, as a place from whence he could easily communicate with Tangiers and the Barbary coast, and thus secure supplies for feeding the army under his command. Sir Rowland Hill’s movements withdrew him from this project: and after Marmont’s defeat he prepared to abandon Seville, but to hold the Carthusian convent there, which he occupied as a citadel. Strong working parties were employed in adding to its defences, while at the same time the French packed up their public documents and their private plunder for removal. But on this occasion the Spaniards were on the alert.

♦Movement of La Cruz Mourgeon and Col. Skerrett upon Seville.♦

As early as the middle of August the enemy had blown up the Castle of Niebla, and retired from the whole county of that name; and on the very day that they broke up from before Cadiz, Camp Marshal D. Juan de la Cruz Mourgeon, in concert with Colonel Skerrett, judged it advisable to make a forward movement on Seville, and for this purpose to force the corps of observation at San Lucar la Mayor, consisting of 350 cavalry and 200 foot. Brigadier-General Downie was second in command of the Spanish force. This officer was born in Stirlingshire, and commenced his military career by accompanying Miranda in his first expedition to Venezuela, an adventure for which those foreigners who were taken in it paid the forfeit of their lives. He joined Sir J. Moore’s army as Assistant Commissary-General, was with Sir Arthur Wellesley in the campaign of 1809, and in the ensuing year, having entered the Spanish service, raised, with the approbation of his own government, the loyal legion of Extremadura and was appointed Colonel-Commandant thereof. The legion was armed and clothed by the British Government, and he revived in it the old Spanish costume, ... or something resembling it; and several of the young nobility are said to have entered it on that account. By this and by his character, which in some respects resembled their own, he made himself popular among the Spaniards; insomuch that the Marquesa de Conquista, the representative of the Pizarros, presented him with the sword of her ancestor, the famous, or infamous, conqueror of Peru.

They marched from Manzanilla with 800 men, consisting of the 1st regiment of guards, the 87th, and a Portugueze regiment, accompanied by 600 Spanish troops: the Spaniards attacked on the right, the British and Portugueze on the left: the enemy were driven through the streets, leaving some killed, wounded, and prisoners, and the allies took post at San Lucar without the loss of a man. Leaving his advance in that town, and the British and Portugueze on the right bank of the river San Lucar, the Spanish general returned to Castilleja del Campo, being the place whither the persons from whom he received intelligence directed their communications. Various and contradictory accounts were brought thither on the morning of the 26th concerning the intentions of the enemy in Seville; but in the afternoon he received positive information that Soult, with the greater part of his force, was about to move by way of Alcala upon Marchena. Arrangements were immediately made, that the troops should collect at San Lucar, and after two hours’ rest there, proceed towards Seville at three on the following morning, in the hope that by this movement they might accelerate the retreat of the French, and save Seville from being plundered. On arriving at Espartinas, they ascertained that Soult had left the city with 5000 foot and 500 horse. General Mourgeon, upon this, sending out some Guerrillas to cover his flanks, proceeded, and arrived on the heights ♦August 27.♦ of Castilleja de la Cuesta, immediately above Seville, at six in the morning. The French, occupied some olive grounds close to the village, and some forty infantry garrisoned the redoubt of Santa Brigida from which the guns had been withdrawn. They were driven from the olive grounds into the plain, where for awhile the cavalry, 100 in number, protected the retreat of the foot, some 150: but they were so pressed by the Spanish vanguard and annoyed by an English field-piece, that they took to flight, and many of the men were made prisoners. The redoubt was attacked at the same time, with more bravery than judgment, and the Spaniards sustained some loss; the columns then advanced into the plain, by which the redoubt was turned and its communication cut off: and Colonel Skerrett ordered it to be masked by a detachment of Portugueze.

♦The French driven from Seville.♦

The Spaniards then made a detour to the right, in order to reach the bridge of Triana by the road of S. Juan de Alfarache, and thus intercept the retreat of the enemy and prevent them from cutting or burning the bridge. Skerrett, meantime, advanced a field-piece to keep in check the enemy’s fire at one of the gates opposite; and after allowing time for the Spanish column to arrive, the British and Portugueze advanced to the attack in front, the cavalry and artillery at a gallop, supported by the grenadiers of the guards and the infantry following. The enemy abandoned the gate: the British and Portugueze entered the suburb, and advanced near to the bridge as rapidly as possible; they were checked at the turn of the street by a fire of grape-shot and musketry; the grenadiers advanced to their support; the Spanish cavalry under D. José Canterac, (whom Mourgeon, foreseeing the necessity, had ordered to leave the column and hasten straight through the suburb, arrived at this point of time,) and the allies, drove every thing before them. They advanced to the bridge under a heavy fire. The enemy had retired from the plain in three columns, with two pieces of artillery and 200 horse; and had taken a position with the river on their right, and their rear resting on the suburb: two guns were brought to bear on them by Captain Roberts of the artillery; they were driven from their position, and then made a stand upon the bridge, which they hoped to defend long enough to gain time for destroying it. Downie with his legion twice attempted to force a passage, and was twice repulsed, and each time wounded. In a third attempt he leaped over the chasm which the enemy had then made; and at the same moment a grape-shot shattered his cheek-bone and destroyed one of his eyes. He fell from his horse, stunned by the wound; when his recollection returned he found himself a prisoner, but in time to throw Pizarro’s sword among his own people. On their part the attack was kept up with so much spirit, aided as they now were by some guns well placed and well-worked, that the enemy could not extend the breach which they had made: and the inhabitants, even while their fire continued, set all the bells ringing, displayed hangings from their balconies as for a festival, hastened to the bridge and laid planks across the chasm, and enabled their deliverers to pass. The French then retired to the Triunfo and there again made a stand; but soon retreated through the city, and leaving it by the Puerta Nueva and the Puerta de Carmona, took the direction of Alcala. They left there two pieces of artillery, many horses, much baggage, and some two hundred prisoners. The deliverers could make no speed in pursuing them, for the streets were crowded with rejoicing multitudes, and their previous exertions as well as their want of cavalry would have made it imprudent to continue the pursuit. Downie was treated with great barbarity by his captors. Miserably wounded as he was, he was tied upon the carriage of a gun, and in that condition dragged along with them in their retreat; and this is said to have been done by General Villatte’s direction. Having taken him some forty miles, and not expecting him to survive, they left him in a hut, taking however, his parole not to serve again in case of recovery, till he should have been regularly exchanged.

By this well-timed enterprise, Seville was saved from the contribution which would have been exacted from it, and the devastation which was threatened. A division of French troops, about 7000 in number, from the blockade of Cadiz, passed by during the following night; they meant to have taken up their quarters there; but supposing that it was occupied by Sir Rowland Hill’s force, they had no inclination to encounter such an enemy, and moved hastily to their right, on Carmona. Ballasteros had hung upon their flank from Ronda, and continued to harass them till they reached Granada. From thence Soult concerted his movements with Suchet and the Intruder. Sir Rowland meantime was ordered to the Tagus with his corps, there to connect its operations with the main body of the allied army, and the British troops from Cadiz were embarked for Lisbon.

♦Rejoicings at Seville.♦

On the second day after the deliverance of Seville, the constitution was proclaimed there in the Plaza de S. Francisco with the same success as in other parts of Spain. A bull fight also was exhibited, for the twofold purpose of gratifying the people in what to the disgrace of the Spaniards was their favourite diversion, and of raising money for the troops. Among other rejoicings, the Inquisition prepared to celebrate a thanksgiving festival; but General Mourgeon intimated to them that he had no authority to re-establish them, and that they would not be suffered to appear as a corporate body. By the retreat of the French from Andalusia, a large and populous, and most productive province reverted to the legitimate government: but, though its resources were thus increased, there was little ground for hoping that they would be directed with more ability than in the early part of the struggle. There was the same generous and devoted sense of duty to their country in individuals; the same strong spirit of nationality in the great body of the people; but on the part of the government there were the same embarrassments to contend with; the same inexperience which the frequent changes in administration allowed no time for curing, and the same incapacity which no experience could cure. The ablest heads were more intent upon carrying into effect their own theories of political reformation, than of devising means to complete the deliverance of the country. The indiscretion with which they hurried on measures that the people were wholly unprepared for, provoked a strong resistance in the Cortes itself; and the obstinate bigotry of the one party was not more manifest than the presumptuous confidence, and the political intolerance of the other. A jealousy of the English prevailed even in persons whose hatred of the French could not be doubted; and in some it seemed to acquire ♦Honours rendered to Lord Wellington.♦ strength in proportion to the celebrity which Lord Wellington had obtained; the people however rendered justice to his merits, as in such cases they will always do when they are not artfully misled; the Great Lord was the appellation which they commonly gave him, and no indication was wanting of that national gratitude which he so well deserved. The Regency had conferred upon him the order of the Golden Fleece; and through their hands the Condessa de Chincon, D. Maria Teresa de Borbon, presented him with the collar of the order, which had belonged to her father the Infante D. Luiz; that it had been her father’s, she said, was the only thing which made it valuable to her; but for its intrinsic value it was a princely present.

♦St. Teresa appointed co-patroness of Spain.♦

A subject not less characteristic than curious had been brought before the Government. The barefooted Carmelites in Cadiz presented a memorial, stating that Philip III. and the Cortes of 1617, had chosen St. Teresa for patroness and advocate of Spain, under the Apostle Santiago, that the nation in all its emergencies might invoke her, and avail itself of her intercession. At that time the saint had only been beatified; but her canonization shortly afterwards took place, and then the Cortes of 1626 published the decree, which was confirmed by Pope Urban VIII., without prejudice to the rights of Santiago, St. Michael the Archangel, and the most Holy Virgin. Jealous, nevertheless, of the imprescriptible rights of their own saint, the chapter of Compostella exerted their influence at Rome with such success, that the decree was suspended against the wishes both of the King and Cortes. That wish, however, continued in the royal family; and Charles II., in a codicil to his will, declaring that he had always desired to establish the co-patronship of St. Teresa for the benefit of his kingdom, charged his successors to effect it. The Carmelites now urged that at no time could it more properly be effected than at the present, when her potent patronage was needed against invaders, who sowed the seeds of impiety wherever they carried their arms. This memorial was referred to a special ecclesiastical commission; and in conformity to the opinion of that commission the Cortes elected St. Teresa patroness and protectress, under Santiago, of those kingdoms; decreed that her patronship should forthwith take effect; enjoined all archbishops, bishops, and prelates, to see that the correspondent alterations should be made in the ritual for the saint’s day; and required the Regency to give orders for printing, publishing, and circulating this decree. The community of the barefooted Carmelites then returned thanks for this appointment of their Mother the Saint. “It was a decree,” they said, “which would fill all the natives of those kingdoms with consolation and hope, and they flattered themselves that from that moment Spain would experience the powerful intercession of its new protectress.” “My great Mother, S. Teresa de Jesus, Co-patroness of the Spains!” exclaimed the prior, in an address which was printed among the proceedings of the Cortes, “the very idea makes me eternally bless the law that sanctions it. This has been a business of much time, an affair of some ages, a work of many and mighty hands; but the glory of completing it has been reserved for the fathers of the country, for the congress of lights, for your majesty the Cortes, which has been the glorious instrument of this work of the Eternal. And it was fitting that the country of heroes should have the heroine of nations at its head, who like another mother of the Maccabees should encourage its sons to triumph and to glory. This Deborah is not less sage than she who judged Israel, not less valiant; and the Baraks who will come forward under her protection will not be intimidated by danger. She is not a Moabitess to pervert the armies of Israel. She is a Jael who will destroy the forces of Sennacherib; a Semiramis, who will overthrow the hosts of the sanguinary Cyrus. At the sight of this fortunate Esther, Spain would lift her head and conceive higher hopes. The unanimous consent of the whole nation, the vows of the Spaniards of both hemispheres, would rise to heaven, and uniting themselves at this moment with the intercessions of their great Co-patroness, form that imperious voice which commands the winds and the tempests, rules the seas, makes itself felt in the dark regions of the abyss, and ascending the eternal mountain of the Lord, puts aside the decree of extermination that threatens us, substitutes for it that of our aggrandizement and elevation, and brings a blessing upon those judicious, prudent, ♦Diario de las Cortes, t. 14. pp. 56, 94, 96, 103.♦ and sage Mordecais, whose wise resolution has been the cause of this portent.” In this language did the descendants of the Prophets who dwelt on Mount Carmel, the children of the great Teresa, offer upon the altar of gratitude the incense of their respect and veneration to the Cortes!

While one set of unbelievers promoted this act of superstition, and another condescended to it, a decree of more consequence was obtained from the Spanish Government, which had become sensible that the war must now be carried on upon one plan of operations, under the direction of a single mind, and that a mind equal to the ♦Lord Wellington appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish armies.♦ emergency had been manifested in Lord Wellington. The Cortes therefore conferred upon him the command in chief of the Spanish armies, during the co-operation of the allied forces in the defence of the peninsula; and the Marquis signified his acceptance of the charge, subject to the Prince Regent’s approbation, “the delay of obtaining which,” he said, “would not impede his operations, because, upon all occasions on which he had communicated with the Generals and Commandants of the Spanish troops, he had received from them the utmost attention, and all the assistance which they could afford him.” The Prince’s consent was not delayed; and in signifying it, his Royal Highness expressed his satisfaction in the measure, as considering it to be a just and signal proof that the Spanish nation rightly appreciated the military talents and reputation of Lord Wellington, and that the Cortes had taken a comprehensive view of the manner in which the war ought to be conducted.

♦His Situation at Madrid.♦

Lord Wellington meantime had more reason to be satisfied with the approbation of his own Government, than with the support that it afforded him. Successful as his campaign had thus far been, there had been a loss of time in it, for want of means, and that want had occasioned much to depend upon the chance of circumstances; whereas, had there been an adequate force under his command, the results would have depended as far as possible in war, upon his own sagacity, and the superiority of British troops. An additional force of 15,000 men, with which to have covered the northern frontier during the siege of Badajoz, would have enabled him to fulfil his first intention of marching upon Seville, after the fall of that fortress; the campaign might then have been commenced two months earlier, and time would have remained, after having freed the south of Spain, for operations in the centre and north. Having been compelled to abandon that intention, lest Marmont should recover Ciudad Rodrigo and overrun the north of Portugal, he had succeeded to his utmost hopes in the plan which he had of necessity adopted, not of choice. After that success, the want of adequate means left him as little choice as before. To have marched into Valencia against the collected armies of Soult, Suchet, and the Intruder, would have rendered it impossible to keep up his communications with Portugal; and except on that communication he could have no safe dependence for supplies. There was moreover the weighty consideration that the yellow fever had broken out in Murcia, and had approached so near to Alicante, that the most rigorous precautions were deemed necessary for preserving that part of the country from the contagion. But independent of all other considerations, he had neither sufficient troops to attack the united forces in the south, nor sufficient money to subsist his army beyond Madrid. Of the 70,000 dollars which he had borrowed there, he was obliged to make over half to the Portugueze, for the relief of their pressing necessities; and he had raised the loan on condition of repaying it at the expiration of a month. By acting in the north he should keep open his communication and his retreat; and in the north also the reinforcements, which after the tidings of his success he was sure would be expedited by all possible exertions, might join him before the enemy could move against him with their combined forces, from all quarters. The Intruder had with him 14,000 men, Suchet had 28,000 disposable in the field, and the army of the south, under Soult, consisted of 55,000; in all 97,000: in the north, there were the army of the north 10,000 strong, and the remains of Marmont’s army, now under Clausel, estimated at 25,000. Against this force, which had resumed its activity, it was resolved to act; and to this determination there was the farther motive, that if the Galician army were put in possession of Burgos, the castle there might enable it to make a stand upon that front, and with the assistance of a British and Portugueze corps to hold the army of Portugal in check while he should be engaged in active operations in the south. The castle would thus become a tête-de-cantonment to this corps of observation, and the French when deprived of it would not possess any strong post on the great line of communication between France and the interior of Spain, this castle commanding the only good road for artillery, and for the movement of convoys.

♦Lord Wellington moves toward Burgos.♦

Accordingly, on the 1st September, Lord Wellington departed from Madrid, leaving the two divisions which were most in need of rest in garrison there. Sir Rowland was ordered to the Xarama, so to cover the capital on that side; and Ballasteros was requested to join him, in case Soult, whose retreat from Andalusia was not yet known, should move on Madrid; otherwise to be in readiness for acting upon the Marshal’s line of march. The troops collected at Arevalo, moved from thence on the 4th, and on the 6th crossed the Douro at the fords of Herrera and ♦The French withdraw from Valladolid.♦ El Abrojo; the enemy withdrew from Valladolid at their approach, crossed the Pisuerga, blew up the centre arch of the bridge, and retired along the right bank of that river to Dueñas. Some skirmishing took place in front of that town, and the cavalry picket drove the enemy out, and established themselves there on the night of the 10th. On the following day, Lord Wellington entered Palencia, where the English as usual were received with joyful acclamations, and where the new Constitution was proclaimed. From thence he communicated with Santocildes, and there learned from him to how small a force the Galician army amounted, and how little that force could be relied on. With all Lord Wellington’s experience of Spanish co-operation, he had not expected this; knowing both the ability and good-will of Castaños, he hoped to have found the army in a state of such efficiency that he might have stationed it at Burgos in a few days, and then without loss of time have returned to Madrid, there to prepare for the contest which might be expected in that quarter. The Galician army joined at Pampaliega on the 16th; the 11,000 of whom it consisted were then separated into three divisions, and each was directed to march in rear of a British division, no doubt being entertained but that they would behave well if they were not exposed to heavy attacks of the enemy’s cavalry.

♦The allies advance to Burgos.♦

The allies now moved up the beautiful valley of the Pisuerga, from Valladolid, along the right bank of the river, to the place where it receives the Arlanzon; and then along both banks of the Arlanzon, up its valley towards Burgos. It is a tract of country in which nature seems to invite human industry, and man has not been negligent in profiting by the advantages of soil and climate and running waters. Every inch of the valley is cultivated, and the hills are on both sides covered with cornfields and vineyards. The country is as strong also in a military point of view as it is fertile; out of the high road in the valley the way is continually interrupted by rivulets and deep ditches: the hills on either side afford admirable flanks for the movements of an army, and there are heights from the river to the hills on either side for strong defensive positions. The French General was not a man to overlook this advantage, and the enemy were found on the 16th strongly posted with their left on the Arlanzon and their right on the mountains. Lord Wellington made arrangements to turn their position; but they decamped during the night, and in the morning their whole army was seen retiring in five columns along the valley, and the hills on either side. They were estimated at about 18,000 infantry and more than 2000 horse, and their line of baggage was longer and closer than men who had served in India had ever seen with an Indian army; for they had pressed all the cattle in the country, and left nothing transportable for any marauders who might follow them. Clausel entered Burgos on the evening of the 17th; Marmont and Bonnet, who were still incapacitated by their wounds, had left that city a few days before. Caffarelli came thither from Vittoria to confer with him: a council of war was held that night; at two in the morning the French commenced their retreat, and by ten o’clock they had left the city and the suburbs.

♦Burgos.♦

Fabling authors have ascribed the foundation of Burgos to an imaginary King Brygus, and mistaken antiquaries have endeavoured to identify its site with that of the one or other Augostobriga, both having been far distant. The earliest authentic accounts speak only of some scattered habitations in this well-watered part of the country, till, at the latter end of the ninth century, D. Diego Rodriguez, Count of Castile, better known in Spanish history as Diego Porcelos, erected a castle there by order of Alfonso III., and founded a frontier town under its protection, which, from the old Burgundian word for a fortress, obtained the name of Burgos. The castle was built upon a hill which commands the rich plain watered by the rivers Arlanzon, Vena, and Cardenuela: in former times it was of great strength and beauty, cresting the summit of the hill, and towering above the houses, which in those times covered the slope; but when the succession to the throne of Castile was disputed by Alfonso V. of Portugal, against Ferdinand and Isabella, in right of his wife Juana, the castle took part with that injured and most unfortunate princess, and firing upon the city, destroyed the best street, which was upon the descent: after this, the lower ground was built upon, and the castle was left standing alone upon the heights. During the sixteenth century, Burgos was the mart through which the whole interior trade with the ports in the Bay of Biscay was carried on, and from whence the Segovian cloth was sent to all parts of Europe. Its population was then from 35,000 to 40,000, exclusive of foreigners, who were many in number; it had been reduced to 8000 or 9000, the place having declined after the seat of government was fixed at Madrid. Most of the Spanish cities may be traced to much higher antiquity; many exceed it in size; but there are few which are connected with so many of those historical recollections in which the Spaniards seem above all other nations to delight. It was the birthplace of Count Ferran Gonzalez, and of the Cid Campeador; the former used to knight his warriors in St. Lorenzo’s church. A beautiful triumphal arch has been erected to his honour upon the site of the dwelling in which he was born; and his statue, with those of the two judges, Nuño Rasurez, and Layn Calvo, Diego Porcelos, the Cid, and the Emperor Charles V., adorns the gate of St. Maria, which opens upon one of the bridges.

Our Edward I. was knighted by his brother-in-law, Alfonso the Wise, in S. Maria de las Huelgas, a nunnery founded by Alfonso V. and his English Queen Leonor, within sight of the city. Its church was preferred by the Castilian kings for the performance of any remarkable ceremony, the place for which was not prescribed; three kings therefore in succession were crowned there, and it was long a place of interment for the royal family. Except that at Fulda, no other nunnery ever possessed such privileges, or was so largely endowed. The cathedral, than which there is no more elaborate or more magnificent specimen of what may be called monastic architecture, was founded in 1221, by King St. Ferdinand and the Bishop Maurice, (who is said to have been an Englishman, either by birth or blood,) about 150 years after the see of Oca had been removed thither: among the relics which were shown, there was a handkerchief of the prophet Elijah, and a lock of Abraham’s hair, and one of St. Apollonia’s innumerable teeth. Two short leagues from the city is the monastery of St. Pedro de Cardeña, a far older foundation than the cathedral; where, from the time that two hundred of its monks were massacred by the Moors the pavement used on the anniversary of their martyrdom to sweat blood, till that blood, which through so many centuries had cried for vengeance, was appeased by the final subjugation of the misbelievers. There the Cid lies and his wife Ximena: some of the French officers at the commencement of this treacherous invasion used to visit the church and spout passages from Corneille’s tragedy over their tomb. There too lie his daughters, D. Elvira and D. Sol; and his father Diego Laynez; and his kinsman Alvar Fañez Minaya, and his nephew Martin Antolinez, and Martin Pelaez, the Asturian, names which will be held in remembrance as long as chivalrous history shall be preserved. And before the gate of the monastery the Cid’s good horse Bavieca lies buried, and Gil Diaz his trusty servant, by the side of that good horse, which he had loved so well.

But of objects of antiquity or veneration, that on which the people of Burgos prided themselves most was a miraculous crucifix in the convent of St. Augustine, which a merchant of that city, on his homeward voyage from Flanders, found at sea, floating in a chest shaped like a coffin. The learned have concluded, upon a comparison of dates and circumstances, that it is the identical image which was carved by Nicodemus, and carried from Jerusalem to Berytus; where, being again nailed and pierced by unbelieving Jews in the 8th century, blood issued from its wounds, and miraculously healed both Jews and Christians of their diseases. When Berytus fell under the yoke of the Saracens, the Christians, to save it from farther profanation, coffined it thus carefully and committed it in faith to the waves. Strong, however, as the circumstantial evidence for this identity was admitted to be, many persons piously preferred believing that it was no work of human hands, but had been sent from heaven, in order that there should be on earth one perfect resemblance of our crucified Saviour. They supported this opinion by the alleged and admitted fact, that no one has ever been able to ascertain of what material the image is made: the flesh, they say, is so elastic that it yields like that of a living body to the touch, and resumes its natural rotundity when the pressure is removed; the head moves to whatever side it may be inclined, and the arms, if they are unfastened, fall like those of a corpse; and the hair, and beard, and nails, seem not as if they were carved, or fixed there, but as if they grew. Volumes have been published filled with authenticated accounts of the miracles which this crucifix has performed. Kings, nobles, and prelates, have vied with each other in enriching the chapel wherein it is placed. So many lamps have been presented, that they are said literally to have hid the vault of the chapel, covering its whole extent; and of these the meanest were of massive silver. On each side of the altar stood thirty silver candlesticks, each taller than the tallest man, and heavier than many men could lift. The candlesticks upon the altar were of massive gold; between them were gold and silver crosses, set with precious stones; and crowns rich with pearls and sparkling with diamonds were suspended over the altar. Above the altar the miraculous crucifix is placed, behind three curtains embroidered with jewellery and pearls. It was shown only to persons of great distinction, and not to them till after many ceremonies, and till they had heard two masses: bells were then rung to give notice that all who were present must fall upon their knees, while the sacred curtains were undrawn. The great captain Gonsalvo de Cordoba, when he would have ascended to inspect it closely, was overcome with sudden awe, and withdrew, saying he would not tempt the Lord. And Isabella, the Catholic Queen, for whom one of the nails which fastened the image to the cross was taken out, that she might enshrine it among her relics, fainted when she saw the arm drop; and when she came to herself, repenting of her intention, as though such piety had partaken of the sin of sacrilege, ordered the nail to be reverently replaced.... It is a relief for those whose thoughts have been long employed upon the wickedness and the sufferings of their fellow-creatures, if their attention can sometimes be drawn away by such examples of their weakness and their credulity.

♦The allies enter Burgos.♦

When the enemy withdrew from Burgos they were joined by 9000 infantry of the army of the north under General Souham, who took the command, and retiring to Briviesca halted there in a strong position. On the morning of the 18th the allies took possession of the heights to the north-west of the castle, and entered the city, where they were received with the usual acclamations. But this was no day of joy to the inhabitants: the garrison, who from their fort completely commanded both the city and the suburbs, opened a fire of musketry and grape into the principal streets, and burned the houses which were nearest them; and on the other hand the Guerrillas began to plunder, as if it were an enemy’s town of which they had taken forcible possession. Alava, by threats, by blows, and by unremitting exertions, restored order at last; and his efforts were not a little assisted by a rumour which he caused to be spread among them, that the French were returning in great force: these marauders then took to their heels, and a Spanish battalion was posted in the city, and a battalion of caçadores in the suburbs.

♦Castle of Burgos.♦

On the following day the castle was invested. One division remained on the left of the Arlanzon; part of the army forded it, and marched round the heights of St. Miguel; their advance drove the enemy from three detached flêches which they were constructing, to see into the hollows on the side of the hill, and took possession of such parts as were under cover. The remainder of the army was advanced on the high road in front of Monasterio to cover the attack. Upon reconnoitring the castle it was found much stronger than had been expected: it was a lofty building, built with the solidity of old times, flanked with small round towers, and its roof sufficiently strong to bear guns of large calibre which the French had placed upon it. The keep had been converted into a casemated battery; the lower part of the hill had been surrounded by an uncovered scarp wall of difficult access, and between these defences two lines of field-works had been constructed, thickly planted with cannon, and encircling the hill. The garrison under General Du Breton consisted of nearly 3000 men, well provided with stores of all kinds. It was apparent that approaches against them must be carried on regularly: the most sanguine entertained no hope of succeeding in less than seven or eight days; nor would that hope have been entertained if the deficiency of means had been considered, unless an undue reliance had been placed upon military courage in circumstances where skill and science are of far more avail. The siege establishments of the army had been deficient in all the former sieges, in all which, therefore, success had been dearly purchased; but here there was not even the skeleton of an establishment. There were five officers of engineers, but not a sapper or miner; and only eight men of the royal military artificers, to whom 81 artificers of the line were added. The artillery consisted of three 18-pounders, and five 24-pounder iron howitzers, with 300 rounds of ammunition for each, and 15 barrels of powder. The engineers’ stores were scanty in proportion; but in a store which the enemy had left in the town a considerable number of entrenching tools were found. Lord Wellington had no other means within his reach when he moved from Madrid. He had no means of transporting more guns and ammunition from Madrid, or from Ciudad Rodrigo, to Burgos. The Intruder and the French armies had swept Castille of all the mules and horses upon which they could lay hands; and if some might still have been purchased at high prices, there was no money to pay for them in the military chest.

♦The horn work on S. Miguel’s taken.♦

On the side toward the country the castle was commanded by the heights of S. Miguel, which are separated from it by a deep ravine. The summit is about the same level as the upper works of the castle, at a distance of 300 yards. On this height the enemy had nearly completed a large horn work: the branches were not perfect: the rear, on the advance of the allies, had been closed by an exceedingly strong palisade; and in front they had begun to throw up three flêches, from which they had now been driven. As a preliminary to any attack, it was necessary to win the horn work. The arrangements for this were, that two parties should march that night, one upon each salient angle of the demi-bastions, enter the ditch, the counterscarp being unfinished, and escalade them, under protection of 150 men, who were to march direct on the front of the work, halt at the edge of the ditch, and keep up a continued fire on those who defended the parapet.... A third storming party under the Honourable Major Cocks was to march round the rear of the work, and endeavour to force in at the gorge. This plan was better arranged than executed. The covering party began to fire as soon as they were put in motion, and continued firing as they advanced, till they reached the ditch where they ought to have begun their fire: by that time so many of their men had been killed and wounded that the rest dispersed. The attack on both semi-bastions was not more fortunately conducted: the ladders were not long enough for the face of the work; ... and the troops, remembering the murderous character of the former sieges which they had witnessed rather than their eventual success, hung back. Major Cocks lost in advancing nearly half his party by the fire of the castle, but he found that the garrison of the horn work neglected the gorge, being fully occupied with the attack in front. He therefore with little opposition got over the palisades and entered the body of the work with about 140 men: these he divided, posting one-half on the ramparts to ensure the entry of the co-operating force in front, and with the other he formed opposite the gateway, in the hope of making the garrison prisoners: they were about 500 in number, under a chef de bataillon, and had his support been brought up in time there was every probability of his capturing them; but the French running from their works, mere weight of numbers did for them as much as determined courage could have done; they literally ran over this little party and escaped into the ♦Col. Jones’s account of the sieges, p. 191.♦ castle. Their loss did not exceed 70 men, that of the assailants amounted to 420, including six officers killed and fifteen wounded.

Such a beginning, though successful, was not likely to give the troops confidence. And it was now found, ... which could not be understood by a ground-plan of the works, nor indeed be exactly ascertained till they were in possession of St. Miguel’s hill, ... that although this hill commanded from its narrow side that on which the enemy’s works were erected, it was itself commanded by the terrace of the castle. The breadth of St. Miguel’s is parallel to the length of the castle-hill, and consequently St. Miguel’s is outflanked by the castle-hill; and as the surrounding ground is so low as to be completely overlooked, and commanded by that hill, it was impossible to erect batteries on any spot except the narrow ridge, which was not only out-flanked by the opposite height, ♦Failure in assaulting the first line.♦ but commanded by it. Trenches however were now opened to secure a communication with the horn work, and afford cover for the men; batteries were erected; and in order to save the troops from unnecessary fatigue, Lord Wellington resolved to assault the outer line, on the night of the 22nd, without waiting to form a breach in it. A party of Portugueze were to advance from some houses in the suburb close to the wall, cut down the palisades, and take the line in flank and rear, while a British party were to advance under a ridge of ground, and escalade the wall in front. The houses afforded cover to the one party, the ridge to the other, until the moment of attack. But no serious attack was made; the Portugueze were checked by a fire from a guard-house on the line, and could not be induced to enter the ditch: the British planted their ladders, and the officers mounted, but very few men followed them. Major Lawrie of the 79th, who commanded this party, was killed. Captain Frazer Mackenzie was struck down by a blow on the head; he recovered himself, mounted a second time, and was shot through the knee. The enemy, whose attention was not diverted by any other attack, mounted the parapet, and fired down upon the assailants, who stood crowded in the ditch unable now to advance, and still unwilling to retire. Lord Wellington was watching the attack from the hill of St. Miguel, under a fire of musketry, grape-shot, and shells; and when he saw that the Portugueze did nothing, and that the party in front made no progress, he ordered the attempt to be relinquished, after the loss of about three hundred and thirty men. The wounded were brought in in the morning during an hour’s truce.

♦A second assault fails.♦

The original plan was now resumed of working up to the wall, and mining under it. The enemy placed two or three guns behind a projecting palisade, which was so close as perfectly to secure them, and from whence they did great execution. As there were neither sappers, miners, nor pioneers, the engineer officers were obliged not only to direct every operation, but to stand by and instruct the working parties; and while thus employed, Captain Williams was killed. It seemed miraculous that any of these valuable officers escaped. The enemy could not now but have discovered that the besiegers were miserably provided with artillery, and that they had no ammunition to spare; nevertheless they began to prepare their second line for an obstinate defence. On the evening of the 29th the miners hit upon the foundation of the wall, mined it, and charged the mine with twelve barrels of powder. At midnight it was sprung, and threw down the wall. Three hundred men were in readiness for storming: a serjeant and four men, the advance of a party of twenty who were to lead the way, mounted without opposition, for the enemy were panic-stricken: they remained some minutes on the top of the breach before the French, perceiving that they were not supported, took courage and drove them down. The officer in command of the first advance did not discover the breach, ... he returned into the parallel, reporting that the mine had failed, and the storming party, in consequence of this error, was withdrawn. After this, Lord Wellington determined to have no more night attacks.

♦A third by daylight proves successful. Oct. 4.♦

A supply of gunpowder having been obtained from Sir Home Popham’s squadron, a second mine was completed: the first breach was rendered practicable, and the explosion which made the second was the signal for assaulting both. Immediately before the explosion, and while in the act of communicating that all was ready, Lieutenant-Colonel Jones of the engineers was severely wounded, an officer whose Journals of the Sieges, and whose general Account of the War have been the most useful as well as the most trust-worthy of the printed authorities from which the present history has been composed. About an hundred feet of the wall were thrown down by the explosion: the storming party, instead of being composed of detachments from different regiments, consisted of the 24th regiment, supported by the working and covering parties in the trenches, a reserve of 500 men having also been formed in the parallel. This assault was made in the face of day. The officer who led the left party was at the foot of the old breach before the smoke had cleared away, and he was the first man on the top of it; and the dust had scarcely subsided before the troops had gained the summit of both breaches, and driven the enemy into their covered way, and behind their new palisades. During the night the besiegers established themselves in both breaches, and along the wall to the left of them, and began an approach towards the second line of works. But the rains now began to set in heavily; and on the following afternoon 300 of the garrison made a sortie from their covered way, gained possession of the first breach, and retained it long enough to ruin the lodgment and carry off the tools. They did not get possession of the second breach, nor of the parallel along the parapet: but the advantage which they had gained was sufficient to encourage them, and to lessen the confidence of the besiegers, who could not but perceive that they were struggling against all advantages of situation, and with means the most inadequate. The enemy could not depress their guns so as to bear upon the new works, but they kept up a constant fire of musketry upon them, and from time to time rolled large shells down the steep glacis, and these either carried away the gabion where the men were breaking ground in the night, or lodging against it and bursting, blew it to pieces. The rain was now so heavy that much time was daily expended in draining and keeping the communications up the steep banks and breaches practicable. The garrison meantime were never idle: they had now disabled two of the three 18-pounders; and making another sortie at two in the morning of the 8th, from the covered way with 400 men, they surprised the advanced covering party, drove the remainder from the parallel of the outer line, and once more levelled the work and ♦Major Cocks killed.♦ carried off the tools. Major Cocks was killed in a charge to regain it: he was shot through the body when ascending the breach, by a French infantry man close to him: the ball entered on the right side between the fourth and the fifth rib, passed through the great artery immediately above the heart, and so out at the left side, breaking the left arm. Major Cocks was a young officer of the highest promise. He was the eldest son of Lord Somers, and by the demise of his maternal grandfather, in possession of a large landed estate; but preferring the military profession to the peaceful enjoyment of good fortune, and to the pursuits whereto his station in society invited him, he devoted himself to the study of that profession with an ardour, of which an ordinary observer would not, from his mild manners and habitual composure, have supposed him capable. Entering early into the service, and leaving his regiment in England, he joined the army at Lisbon in the spring of 1809, for the purpose of acquiring the Portugueze and Spanish languages. He was in the south of Spain when the French attempted to surprise Cadiz, and he it was who gave Alburquerque the first information of their movements, by which timely advice that magnanimous Spaniard was enabled to prevent their design and throw himself into the place. He read much, and let no opportunity pass unimproved of perfecting by practice the knowledge which he acquired from books: and thus he had distinguished himself on so many occasions, that the promotion which his rank and fortune might have commanded was not more rapid than his conspicuous merit had deserved. When the dispatches relating the capture of the horn work on S. Michael’s reached home, his commission as Lieutenant-Colonel was immediately sent out; but before these dispatches arrived in Spain, his career was closed. On the day preceding his death he was field-officer of the trenches: the day was very wet, and he went round to every sentry to see that the orders were clearly understood, ... a duty generally left to the serjeant who posts them, and not often attended to by a subaltern having only a picket of twenty men; but Major Cocks never spared himself, and never left anything which depended upon him undone. The death of such a man (for such men are rare) was justly regarded in the army as a national loss. He was buried in the camp ground of his regiment near Bellema, Lord Wellington, Sir Stapleton Cotton, Generals Anson and Pack, with the whole of their staffs, attending his funeral, and the officers of the 79th (his own regiment) and of the 16th light dragoons.

After this second successful sortie, no further attempt was made to push the works between the outer and second line: a third breach was effected with the view of making a flank attack at the moment of assaulting the second line in front; but when it was made, it could not be stormed for want of musket ammunition. The enemy attempted to repair it during the night, but were several times driven in. A small supply of powder having now been received from Santander, the howitzers were put in battery; but the 24-pound shot were nearly expended, and for the 18-pounders the 16-pound shot fired by the enemy were collected and made to serve: when the embrazures were opened, the guns could not be run in on account of the weather, and one of the batteries was silenced in half an hour by the enemy’s fire. By the 18th, a sufficient opening had been made in an exposed part of the second line; and the church of St. Roman, which was near the second line, had been mined. The ♦The second line assaulted with ill success.♦ assault was made by daylight; the works were immediately carried with very little loss, and some of the German legion escaladed the third line; but they were few, and were presently driven back, for the course of the siege had taken confidence from the besiegers and given it to the besieged; and when the guards gained the parapet, the garrison rallied on the terre plein of the work, and assembled in force, then advanced, and drove the assailants back completely from the line. The mine under the church did little injury to it; but it so alarmed the enemy, that they exploded their own mines, which destroyed the greater part: the troops lodged themselves in the ruins, and a communication was carried to this point during the night. A convoy of heavy artillery and ammunition was now on its way from Santander, and the castle might then have been reduced in a few days, without further loss; but it was now too late, and after that failure all circumstances induced Lord Wellington to think only of retreat.

♦Movements of the French in the north.♦

On the day of that failure, the enemy were joined at Breviesca by the army of observation from Alava, and the remainder of the army of the north. This force considerably outnumbered that which Lord Wellington could bring against them, and in cavalry they were greatly superior. They made a show of coming on in front; and in consequence, the covering army moved up near Quintana-palla, and was joined by most of the besieging corps. On the 20th they advanced in force, drove in the pickets, and obtained possession of Quintana-palla; but Sir Edward Paget drove them back, and recovered the place, and they then desisted from their offensive movements. Intelligence which Lord Wellington had reason to expect arrived on the following day, that the united forces of the enemy in the south were in motion. Ballasteros, who had hitherto, if with little success and no great ♦Ballasteros refuses to act under the British commander.♦ skill, displayed the most indefatigable activity, had in a mood of sullen resentment at the appointment of Lord Wellington to the chief command, ceased to molest the enemy. He had hung upon the flanks of Soult’s army, and harassed it as far as Granada, with more effect than in any of his former enterprises, because the enemy were dispirited and on their retreat; but upon receiving instructions to obey Lord Wellington’s orders, he took no farther measures for annoying the French, refused to act in concert with Sir Rowland Hill, according to the plan which the British Commander had laid down, and remained obstinately inactive at the most critical time. At length he published a letter to the minister at war, saying, that from the time when the French treacherously seized the four fortresses, he had spared no efforts for raising the nation, and that no person had contributed more to the event of the second of May than himself, without which events, Spain would not have been in its present state. From that time he had never laid aside his arms, and had resisted all solicitations which the foreigners had made him to the prejudice of his country, ... inexorable in being a Spaniard and nothing but a Spaniard, and that his countrymen should be so, like him: this having been his principle, without any regard to his own fortune, he had always found the nation ready to support it in every sense. “And now he was surprised,” he said, “to see that the English General, Lord Wellington, was by a resolution of the Cortes appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish armies; those armies, thousands upon thousands of whose companions in arms were in the grave, having fallen in defending the reputation of their country, were observing what would be his conduct on this occasion; and he should not consider himself worthy of being an Aragonese, if he did not represent to the government, that he could not condescend to a determination which disparaged the Spanish name.” He spoke of the English as a nation to whom the Spaniards were bound by true friendship and fair dealing, but of whose fair promises and bad faith no one could give more information than the then president of the Regency, the Duque del Infantado. “Was Spain,” he asked, “like the petty kingdom of Portugal, that the command of its armies should be intrusted to a foreigner? Had its revolution begun like that of Portugal? Had it not still resources of its own? Had it not generals, officers, and soldiers, who still supported the honour which they had inherited from their forefathers; and who in the present war had made both English and French know that they were nothing inferior to them in discipline or in courage, and that they had chiefs of their own who knew how to lead them to victory? Finally, he required that the opinion of the soldiers and of the people should be taken upon this matter; if they condescended to the appointment, he should renounce his employments, and retire to his own house, thus manifesting, that he had only the honour and the welfare of his country in view, not any ambitious or interested end.”

♦He is exiled to Ceuta.♦

Ballasteros was a rude, intrepid, enterprising, and persevering soldier of fortune, handsome in person, strong in body, and of a hale constitution; very useful as a partizan at the head of 4000 or 5000 men, but incapable of conducting any extensive operations with a regular army. Before the appointment of Lord Wellington took place he was in no good humour with the Government, and the Government on its part as little pleased with him. With some better parts of the national character, he partook in no slight degree of its boastfulness, and entertaining a most exaggerated notion of his own merits, made no scruple of saying that Ballasteros had done more for Spain than all her other chiefs put together, and that in spite of the Government, Ballasteros, unassisted and discouraged, would continue to do more than the favourites of the Regency, whose pockets were filled with doubloons by the English. But though he had a large party among the lower orders in Cadiz, and some of his regiments were much attached to him, he overrated his own importance as greatly as his own deserts; he was unpopular in the provinces and disliked by his officers: and when the Government put him under arrest for thus defying its authority, marched him under an escort to Malaga, and sent him from thence to Ceuta as an exile, not a hand, and scarcely a voice was raised in his defence. Some seditious writings indeed were published in his favour at Cadiz, but they produced no effect. The loss of an active partizan was regretted, and the error of an honest, though obstinate and wrong-headed man; but the army and the nation concurred in condemning him, and in approving the promptitude and decision with which the Government had acted.

Meantime, in consequence of this inactivity, in dereliction of all duty, on Ballasteros’s part, and of the inefficiency of the Anglo-Sicilian army, Marshal Soult and Suchet were enabled, without any impediment, to concert their operations with the Intruder, and carry them ♦Gen. Maitland gives up the command of the Anglo-Sicilian army.♦ into effect. General Maitland’s health gave way under the anxieties of his situation, so that it became necessary for him to return to Sicily. Major-General William Clinton was sent from thence to take the command in his stead, and till his arrival, it devolved upon Major-General John Mackenzie. That general made an attempt to seize the castle of Denia by a coup-de-main: from its strength and its position on commanding ground close to the sea it might have easily been maintained against the enemy, and would have afforded great opportunity for annoying ♦Unsuccessful attempt upon Denia.♦ him. Major-General Donkin, Quarter-Master-General of this army, was intrusted with the enterprise; it failed, but the men and guns which had been landed were re-embarked with ♦The French prepare to march from the south against Lord Wellington.♦ little loss. Knowing that nothing was to be apprehended from this army in its present state, Marshals Jourdan, Soult, and Suchet, held a counsel in presence of the Intruder, at Fuente la Higuera. They had feared at one time that it might have been necessary to abandon Valencia: that apprehension was removed, and they now believed that, as the long and brave resistance which had been made by the garrison at Burgos had given the army of Portugal time to recover strength and to unite with the troops in the north, nothing more was required for restoring their affairs, than that the armies of the south and the centre should co-operate with it, for the double purpose of beating Lord Wellington, and re-establishing the Intrusive government at Madrid. It was not deemed necessary to take any part of Suchet’s forces for this service; the state of Aragon and Catalonia on the one hand, and the presence of the Anglo-Sicilian expedition on the other, made it dangerous to weaken him.

At the point where the roads from Alicante and Valencia ♦Castle of Chinchilla taken by the French.♦ to Madrid join, stands the little castle of Chinchilla; it was in possession of the Spaniards, and while the Intruder was reconnoitring it one day with a telescope, a shot from an eight-pounder passed close by him. This place the French besieged; it was ably defended by the Governor D. Juan Antonio Cearra, who was a lieutenant-colonel of engineers: but the enemy were not scrupulous as to any means which could accelerate their success; and during a night’s truce they erected a battery of eight guns, in the most advantageous situation; by this battery the works were much injured, and the garrison considerably reduced in number; and of twenty artillerymen, ♦Oct. 9.♦ there only remained eight to work the guns, when some of these men were struck dead by lightning, many more, and among them the governor, wounded by it, and the works so shaken, that it became necessary to surrender. The enemy’s preparations ♦They begin their march.♦ were complete soon after this obstacle was removed; and on the 16th of October, the Intruder set out from Valencia towards the Tagus, with Marshals Jourdan and Soult at the head of 70,000 troops, 10,000 being cavalry. Lord Wellington received intelligence of this from Sir Rowland Hill on the 21st, and the same advices informed him that the Tagus was already fordable by individuals in many places, and was likely soon to be so for an army. As long as the Tagus remained unfordable, Sir Rowland’s position was tolerably secure; but when the river fell, it became too hazardous for him to maintain an advanced position near Madrid in front of an enemy so greatly superior. It was necessary that Lord Wellington should move towards him, lest the corps under his own command should be insulated in consequence of the movements which Sir Rowland might find himself compelled to make. He determined therefore to fall back upon the Douro, so as to afford Sir Rowland a point upon which to return, and by uniting their forces, to secure a retreat into Portugal.

♦Lord Wellington raises the siege of Burgos.♦

This resolution was executed as promptly as it was formed. He instantly raised the siege, and filed his whole army in the night of the 21st under the walls of the castle and over the bridge, which was closely enfiladed by its artillery; a bold and unprecedented manœuvre, which military men adduce as a proof that the march of troops cannot be stopped by the fire of artillery in the night. The allies moved in silence and good order; but a party of Guerrillas, regardless of discipline, then, as at all times, put their horses to their speed, and the clatter which they made alarmed the garrison. A fire was consequently opened from the guns which were directed on the bridge, and the first discharge was most destructive; but the gunners then lost the range and direction, and their farther fire served only to quicken the speed of the carriages. Every thing was brought away in this retreat except the three disabled guns, and the eight pieces of the enemy which had been taken in the horn-work. The loss of the allies during the siege amounted to 24 officers and 485 men killed; 68 officers and 1487 men wounded ♦Retreat from Burgos.♦ and missing. The enemy did not begin to follow till late on the ensuing day; 10,000 of their troops encamped that day on the south of Burgos, and on the morrow at noon they came up in force with the retreating army. Sir Stapleton Cotton detained them for above three hours at the passage of the Hormaza, in front of Celada del Camino; they were twice charged there by Major-General Anson’s brigade with great success, and the rear-guard continued to fall back in the best order, till the Guerrillas on their left were driven in and came flying upon them, four or five of the enemy’s squadrons being mixed with them in pursuit. In the confusion which ensued, the French were mistaken for Spaniards, and, favoured by that mistake, they fell upon the flank and rear of the allies. Some loss was sustained, and Lieutenant-Colonel Pell, of the 16th dragoons, was taken prisoner, having had his horse shot. A very superior body of cavalry, in which the enemy were strong, now came up, and the allied cavalry fell back hastily, lest they should be surrounded; but having crossed a wide and deep ditch by a narrow bridge, the brigades of Major-Generals Bock and Anson charged their pursuers when only part had filed over: in this they were repulsed, hardly pressed, and forced upon the infantry rear-guard of German light troops under Colonel Halkett; that officer formed his troops in four squares, and the men behaving, as that legion ever did, admirably, repulsed the enemy in several charges, and checked the ♦The allies cross the Pisuerga.♦ pursuit. The right of the army crossed the Pisuerga that afternoon at Torquemada, and the left at Cordovilla, where head-quarters were established that night.

The army continued its march on the 24th towards ♦Disorders during the retreat.♦ the Carrion. Throughout the north of Castille, which is a great wine country, the wine is stowed either in caves dug in the hill sides, or excavated in the earth, the soil from the excavation being formed into a mound over them, and the entrance appearing like the chimney of a subterraneous dwelling. These cellars were now filled with new wine; the soldiers broke into them during the night, and it was not without the greatest exertions that the officers in the morning could put their battalions in march. The enemy, however, after their yesterday’s repulse were less pressing; and the whole army having that day marched twenty miles, took up its ground behind the Carrion with its right at Dueñas and its left at Villa Muriel; and here the brigade of guards which had disembarked at Coruña joined them. The retreating army did not exceed 20,000 men; the French displayed above thirty; they were confident also in the superiority of their cavalry, in that country the most efficient force; and as it is their national character to be easily elated, they might well be elated now at having baffled Lord Wellington before so poor a fortress as the castle at Burgos, and compelled him who had driven Massena out of Portugal, and routed Marmont at Salamanca, to retreat before them. English soldiers are neither lightly elated, nor soon cast down; they keep their courage on a retreat, for that never gives way; but they become disdainful of control when they have no opportunity of wreaking their wrathful feelings upon the enemy who is in pursuit, and insubordination is then the sin which most easily besets them. This was already felt, though as yet they had suffered little, and though the retreat was so deliberately made, and with so firm a face toward the enemy, that the men lost none of their confidence in their Commander.

The army halted on the 25th, and measures were taken for impeding the pursuit. A battalion of the royals was posted at Palencia, to cover the operations for destroying the bridges over the Carrion at that old city; but the French assembled there in such force that the commanding officer being attacked and overpowered, found it necessary to retire upon Villa Muriel, and the bridges were left uninjured for the pursuers to pass. Two other bridges over the same river at Villa Muriel and at Dueñas were mined, that they might be exploded on the enemy’s approach, and one in like manner over the Pisuerga at Tariago. The two former were successfully exploded, that at Villa Muriel under a fire of grape-shot from the enemy; but they discovered a ford there, and passed over a considerable body both of horse and foot. A false report that the enemy had already crossed at Tariago, delayed the commencement of the work there; the French came up before it was completed; it was exploded prematurely, and consequently to no effect; their cavalry galloped over and made the party prisoners. This enabled them to push a corps on the right into contact with the posts on the Carrion; their passing at Palencia made it necessary for Lord Wellington to change the front of his army, and this second success rendered his farther retreat difficult, and even precarious. Major-Generals Pringle and Barnes were therefore ordered to attack those who had crossed the Pisuerga; the Spanish troops co-operated in this, and the enemy were driven across the river with considerable loss. Neither could they maintain themselves upon the Carrion after having forded at Villa Muriel; the Spaniards who were employed to dislodge them, faltered in the charge, and Alava, while leading them on and in the act of encouraging them, fell badly wounded: the fall of this gallant leader did not inspire them with more courage, but the Brunswickers were then ordered to advance; those brave men ran into the village without firing a shot; the Spaniards took heart and followed them, and the French withdrew; and the fifth division under General Oswald advancing against their main body, compelled it to recross.

♦Oct. 26. The allies halt.♦

The next day the allies retreated sixteen miles without molestation, and crossed the Pisuerga at Cabezon del Campo; the bridge there was barricadoed and mined, and the army halted in its rear. The ruined bridges at Dueñas and Villa Muriel had impeded Souham’s movements, so that he did not approach till evening; he then halted his whole army ♦Oct. 27.♦ on the right bank of the Pisuerga. The morning of the 27th was foggy, but when the mist cleared, their whole force was seen encamped at about three miles’ distance. They brought up two brigades of artillery and cannonaded the town, with little other harm than that of severely wounding Lieutenant-Colonel Robe of the artillery. Being opposed to a superior fire, they made no farther attempt in front, but made considerable detachments to their right, through Cigales, with a view of getting possession of the bridge at Valladolid, and thus interposing in the rear of the retreating army. Lord Wellington had an opportunity of seeing their whole force from a high ground, and saw that they were in very great strength. On the 28th they extended their right still farther, and endeavoured in the morning to force the bridge over the Douro at Simancas, which was defended by Colonel Halkett, with his brigade of the 7th division, while the Earl of Dalhousie, with the remainder of the division, defended the bridge at Valladolid. Halkett being hard pressed blew up the bridge, and disappointed them of their passage there; at the same time he sent the Brunswick Oels regiment to Tordesillas, whither the enemy detached troops in the evening, and where also the bridge over the Douro was destroyed in time. Lord Wellington sent orders to the Brunswickers to take post on its ruins, in such manner as to prevent them from repairing it; and breaking up from the Pisuerga, he crossed the Douro on the 29th, by the bridges of Puente Douro, and Tudela, both which, and that at Quintanilla also, were blown up, and subsequently those at Toro and Zamora. The pursuers that evening displayed more enterprise than they had hitherto shown; they passed a body of men in the night of the 29th, by swimming the Douro near Tordesillas, and these gallant fellows falling upon the guard who had been left in a tower on the south end of the bridge, and looked for no attack on that side, surprised and overpowered them, and immediately fell to work to restore the communication. Lord Wellington was apprised of this in time, or it would have frustrated all his former precautions; he marched his army early on the morrow, and posted them on the heights, between Rueda and Tordesillas, immediately opposite and near the bridge: the bridge by this time had been nearly repaired, but the French had made no attempt to pass; and in that position, which he strengthened with batteries, Lord Wellington remained from the 30th till the 6th of November, the enemy meantime extending along the river from Toro to Valladolid. He thus obtained the double object of resting the troops, and gaining time for Sir Rowland Hill’s movements; for, ... though his first view had been in falling back upon the Douro to afford Sir Rowland a point upon which to retire when he should no longer be able to maintain an advanced position in front of Madrid, against the very superior force which would be brought against him, ... having seen the strength of Souham’s army, it had become necessary to order Sir Rowland to break up from the Xarama, for the purpose of securing his own retreat.

♦Sir Rowland Hill retreats from the Xarama.♦

Sir Rowland was an officer upon whom Lord Wellington might always rely with the most perfect confidence. He expected such orders, and receiving them on the 29th, intended to begin his march on the following morning; but the mine which should have destroyed the Puente Larga, on the Xarama, failed; and the enemy, who had collected a large body between that bridge and Aranjuez, immediately made an attack upon the allied post there. They were repulsed by Colonel Skerrett with considerable loss on their part, and that of some forty men on ours: this affair delayed the march of Sir Rowland’s right till the evening, the enemy however made no subsequent attempt to molest him, farther than by picking up such stragglers as fell behind for the sake of plundering and drinking; and these were numerous. The army marched all night and reached Madrid on the following morning. That capital presented ♦State of Madrid.♦ a melancholy scene: it was known that these allies could make no attempt to defend it, and that their retreat would be followed by the entrance of the enemy; and two days before, when the Military and Provisional Government were about to transfer their authority to the Ayuntamiento, that body dissolved itself, regardless of its duty. Upon this, the Regidor D. Pedro Baranda, who had been on the point of resigning his office, came bravely and honourably forward to take himself the charge from which they had shrunk, and summoning persons to his aid who had been in authority when the French withdrew, began to take measures for averting the evils which there was so much cause to apprehend. The letters in the post-office were sent off to Avila, lest they should be seized by the enemy, and many persons brought into danger by their contents. And to prevent the excesses which must be expected, if on the entrance of the enemy the prisons should be thrown open, the alcaydes were called upon to deliver in ♦November.♦ a list of those persons who were imprisoned for disloyalty to the national cause, and they were set at liberty while there yet existed an authority which could restrain them from acts of immediate vengeance.

♦The allies withdraw from Madrid.♦

There were large depôts of provisions in the Retiro and in the convent of Monserrate, which the allied army had no means of carrying with them in their retreat, and orders were therefore given that they should be burnt. The municipality requested that they might rather be disposed of either by sale, or as a loan, for the inhabitants and the hospitals; it was not at the commissary’s discretion to accede to this proposal; but instead of destroying the stores, the people in the immediate vicinity were invited to help themselves there. It seemed, indeed, in this retreat, that in the economy of an army the English had yet every thing to learn: the troops were at this time scantily provided with food, their line of supply had been along the valley of the Tagus, the arrangements for changing its direction failed, and before the men effected their junction with Lord Wellington’s army, the sweet acorns which they found in the wood formed no slight part of their subsistence. The works at the Retiro were destroyed before the troops withdrew from Madrid, and the artillery there was rendered useless: their departure resembled that of the French in this respect, that they were accompanied by a considerable number of Spaniards, for whom it would have been dangerous to place themselves at the mercy of the Intrusive Government; but such persons were objects of commiseration and respect to their countrymen, not of contempt and execration.

While the allies retired leisurely towards the pass of ♦The French enter.♦ the Guadarrama, a French officer presented himself on the afternoon of November 1, at the bridge of Toledo, announcing on the part of General Drouet, that King Joseph would enter on the morrow with his army, and requiring that a deputation should go out to meet and welcome him. On the morrow, accordingly, the Ayuntamiento went forth accompanied by some of the parish priests, of the titular nobility, and of those who held office under the Intruder. Baranda briefly represented the peaceable conduct of the inhabitants, and expressed to Joseph’s minister of the Interior, that his only wish was to retire to his own house, where he might consult his own health, and look after his own affairs. This permission was easily obtained, as the French presently re-established the former functionaries; but on the 6th, the municipality were informed that circumstances rendered it necessary for the troops to leave the capital for some days; and that, in the meantime, they must take upon themselves the charge of preserving tranquillity. Baranda was then summoned from his short retirement, and required again to act as President of the Ayuntamiento. At two on the afternoon of the 7th, the troops departed to reinforce Marshal Soult, who had followed Sir Rowland’s movements; and in less than two hours after their departure, Lieutenant-Colonel Mondedeu, the commandant of a Guerrilla party, entered; on the morrow, the Medico arrived with part of his band, the Empecinado’s division on the following day, and on the 11th, the Camp Marshal Bassecourt with some of his troops. Fewer disorders were committed than might have been expected under such circumstances, and those chiefly by peasants and deserters, who thought to take advantage of the sort of interregnum in which the capital was left; but the officers caused these offenders to be arrested, and exerted themselves to prevent excesses. But the inhabitants were told that, as the human means of effecting with God’s blessing their own deliverance, they must contribute towards the support of the soldiers as much as their necessities could spare; and it may be supposed that this contribution was exacted with less compunction on the one part, and submitted to with less unwillingness on the other, because both well knew that when the French returned, the locust would devour what the palmer-worm had left.

On the 6th Sir Rowland reached Arevalo, which is ♦Junction of the retreating armies.♦ about 80 miles from Madrid; the troops had suffered much from the weather, more from the gross ill management on the part of the commissariat and the staff, and not a little from their own irregularities, moral discipline having long been disregarded in modern armies. He was now in communication with Lord Wellington, and was instructed to continue his march by Fonteveros upon Alba de Tormes. By this time Lord Wellington’s army had been recruited by rest, and the enemy had rendered the bridges passable at Toro and at Tordesillas: he broke up therefore from his position in front of the latter city before daylight, leaving the fires burning: that day he fell back to Torrecilla de la Orden, continued his march the following day, and on the 8th took up the position which he had twice before occupied in front of Salamanca. Sir Rowland crossed the Tormes the same day at Alba, occupied that town and castle with Major-General Howard’s brigade, and stationed a Portugueze division on the left of the Tormes, under Major-General Hamilton, to support them. They were not followed during their retreat from the Douro; the enemy halted to collect provisions ♦Junction of the French armies.♦ and bring up their detachments, and the armies of Portugal and the north then formed their junction with those of the south, and of the centre under Soult and the Intruder: their united force amounted to not less than 80,000 foot and 12,000 horse, being the whole of their disposable force in Spain, and it was believed that they had with them not fewer than 200 pieces of cannon. The allies had 48,000 foot and 5000 horse. On the 9th the enemy drove in the piquets in front of Alba, and Major-General Long was obliged to withdraw his brigade through that town on the following morning. The enemy then, who were directing their main efforts against the right of the allies, approached their position on the Tormes, and prepared to force a passage. They attacked the troops in Alba with twenty pieces of cannon, and bringing up 15 squadrons and a considerable force of infantry threatened an assault, their light troops advancing close to the walls which had been hastily thrown up. They continued their fire from two o’clock till darkness had closed; but they made no impression on the brave troops who were opposed to them, and therefore they did not repeat the attempt. The intermediate time till the 14th they employed in reconnoitring the fords, and the position which Lord Wellington occupied in front of Salamanca; and on the 14th they commenced the passage at three fords, about two leagues above Alba, near Lucinas.

♦Lord Wellington retreats from Salamanca.♦

Lord Wellington immediately broke up from St. Christoval, ordered the troops to move towards Arapiles, and as soon as he had ascertained the direction of the enemy’s march from the fords, moved with a division of infantry and all the cavalry he could collect to attack them; but they had already crossed in too great force. The wind at this time blew strong, and a thick rain rendered all objects indistinct at little distance; Lord Wellington, nevertheless, under cover of a cannonade, reconnoitred their position, and saw that they were too strongly posted at Mozarbes to be attacked. In the evening therefore he withdrew the troops from the neighbourhood of Alba, having destroyed the bridges, and leaving only a Spanish garrison of 300 men in the castle, into which the remains of an old palace had been converted. During the night, and in the course of the ensuing morning, he moved the greater part of the troops through Salamanca, and placed Sir Edward Paget, with the first division of infantry on the right, at Aldea Tejada, to secure the passage there over the little river Zunguen, in case the movements of the French on his right flank should compel him to make choice either of giving up his communications with Ciudad Rodrigo or with Salamanca. The inhabitants of that city were some preparing for the worst, and others helplessly expecting it, yet with a lingering hope that another battle upon that ground which had proved so destructive to Marmont’s army might once more deliver them. Lord Wellington himself had this possibility in mind, and did not order the commissariat and hospital stores to be removed from Salamanca till the movements of the French rendered it certain that, notwithstanding their great superiority in numbers, they would not venture to bring on a general action. They fortified their position at Mozarbes, and sent out bodies of horse and foot towards their left, to act upon the communications of the allies with Ciudad Rodrigo. This was a sure game; they were too strong and too strongly posted for Lord Wellington to think of attacking them; nothing therefore remained for him but to retreat upon his resources; and this was the more necessary because the men were nearly exhausted with the fatigues of so long and arduous a campaign; there was little regard to discipline among them, except when in the immediate presence of an enemy, and the horses were dying of exhaustion and for want of forage.

♦Retreat to the Agueda.♦

On the 15th the army was put in motion to retire, in three columns, observing, as well as the country would allow, parallel distances. Sir Rowland commanded the first, Sir Edward Paget the centre, the third consisted of the Spanish army. They crossed the Zunguen, passed the left flank of the enemy’s position, and encamped that night in the olive-grounds, on the Vamusa, one of the smaller rivers which find their way into the Tormes. The weather was most unfavourable, and the way sometimes over stony and ploughed grounds, sometimes over swampy or inundated low lands. The ♦Sufferings of the army.♦ troops arrived at their halting places greatly fatigued. They were without shelter of any sort; it was impossible to kindle fires because of the heavy and incessant rain; and they were still farther dispirited by finding that the supplies had been forwarded to Ciudad Rodrigo. Bread for three days in advance had been issued to them as usual, but English soldiers are seldom provident, and when such demands were made upon their strength, the natural means of supporting and recruiting it could never be more needful. There was no provender for the horses, the bark of trees and sprigs of wild briar were the only and miserable substitutes that could be found. The French never displayed less vigour than at this time; the overweening contempt which they had once affected for the British troops had been so thoroughly corrected, that they made no attempt to overwhelm an enemy greatly inferior in number, and retreating under circumstances of great difficulty and distress. They only sent a body of cavalry with light artillery in pursuit; and these contented themselves with picking up stragglers and such baggage as fell behind. The army bivouacked on the 16th in a wood about two leagues from Tamames; the ground in many places was covered with water, but the rain ceased, and some biscuit was issued. The day’s march had been most painful, over such heavy ground that at every step the horses sunk to the fetlock, and the men to their ancles; but while the men were filling their havresacks with sweet acorns, which they rejoiced to meet with, in the want of other food, the horses now and then picked up a little grass.

The 17th was another wet and misty day; the army left its bivouack at six; an extensive wood lay before them: the enemy now followed close upon their rear, and the light companies were ordered to extend themselves through the wood for the purpose of protecting the flanks and the baggage. This service was not easily to be performed against so great a force of cavalry as was now harassing the movements of a disorderly army. Wherever the way was through the woods, the officers as well as men carried on a successful warfare against the herds of swine which at that season are turned there to feed upon the acorns; the Spaniards, it is said, began; the wretched state of their commissariat was their excuse, and the allies had the same excuse for following the example; and so eagerly was it followed, that the continued firing of musquetry on all sides, often occasioned an apprehension that the piquets were warmly engaged, and even that the army was surrounded. This occurred so often that it produced incaution at last, and the enemy’s fire was mistaken for pig-shooting. Owing to the badness of the roads, and the swollen state of the rivulets, there was an interval of about a mile between ♦Sir Edward Paget made prisoner.♦ two of the infantry divisions. Sir Edward Paget, who commanded the centre column, rode to the rear, alone, for the purpose of discovering the cause of this interval: a body of the enemy’s cavalry meantime had entered between these divisions; they had pursued a troop of Portugueze horse from the left flank: the firing had been ascribed to the pig-shooters, and Sir Edward falling in with the French was made prisoner, being without support: they might have done much hurt had they been more enterprising or more aware of their advantage. At this time the troops were descending upon the little village of S. Muñoz, in a valley between two hills; the Huebra which runs into the Douro has its course along this valley, a deep and rapid stream; both hills are covered with oaks, and the declivity on both sides is difficult and steep. The troops when they had forded were formed in open columns on the heights, and halted. A fog came on early in the afternoon, under cover of which the enemy got possession of a hill upon the right of the British line; they brought up some mountain guns, and commenced a fire upon the rear-guard, consisting of the light division, under Major-General Alten, while it was fording the river. Some loss was sustained by them. The guns of Major Macdonald’s troops of horse-artillery returned their fire successfully, but during the cannonade he was severely wounded. The enemy’s cavalry followed as soon as the division had crossed, and began to hem them in; and though the troops formed in squares, they succeeded in charging them in the low ground.

♦Lord Wellington reaches Ciudad Rodrigo.♦

There was now some appearance that an action might be brought on; the men were sufficiently eager for this, they longed to revenge themselves upon the French for the privations and sufferings of their retreat; they made no doubt of beating them, and they anticipated with hungry eagerness the pleasure of taking their supplies. As Lord Wellington came to pass the column in review, the word, “here he comes,” passed along, and carried with it sure confidence to every heart, ... that confidence which before the works at Burgos could not be felt, being given in the field as fully as it was deserved. But the French also knew that the British commander and his troops might justly rely upon each other, and they would not hazard a battle. The cannonade was continued on both sides till evening closed. The men bivouacked as usual on the wet ground, their cloaks and blankets soaked with rain; but the rain had ceased, it was a moonlight night, and they had the satisfaction of knowing that another day’s march would bring them to Ciudad Rodrigo, beyond which the enemy could not follow them, and where their privations would be at an end. Between three and four in the morning they moved from their bivouack; the enemy followed them that day only with their cavalry. Lord Wellington’s head-quarters were in Ciudad Rodrigo that night, and on the 19th and 20th the army entered the Portugueze frontier, crossing the Agueda. The loss during this retreat of about 240 miles amounted to 196 killed, 663 wounded, 421 missing, and 280 horses; many of the men who had been returned as missing afterwards came in; but others, among whom were some valuable officers, died in consequence of the fatigues and hardships which they had endured.

♦The French retire to the Tormes.♦

The enemy retired as soon as the allies had reached Ciudad Rodrigo, and they withdrew from the Tormes also as soon as the castle of Alba was surrendered. The Spanish Governor Don José de Miranda held out there with great gallantry, and made more than a hundred prisoners in some well-directed ♦Castle of Alba de Tormes evacuated.♦ sallies. Some characteristic correspondence passed between him and the French; they required him to surrender and rely upon their generosity, otherwise he must expect to be treated with the utmost rigour; he in reply spoke of his duties as a soldier, and boasted of his brilliant garrison. The French allowed him an hour for returning a second answer, and bade him tremble if it were a refusal; in his reply he bade them do their duty as he should perform his, and told them that if the fortune of war should be in their favour, his numerous prisoners, who had been treated in the best manner, would be the victims. In this strain, but in letters which increased in length, and became more and more courteous, the correspondence was continued from the 14th of November till the 24th, on the night of which Miranda left the fortress in the hands of Lieutenant D. Nicolas Soler, with 20 men, the prisoners and the sick; and informing the French commander, in his last communication, that this officer was instructed to deliver up the place, he with the remainder of the garrison effected their escape, making their way through many dangers, but with little loss, to the Puerto del Pico.

As soon as it was ascertained that the enemy had withdrawn from the Tormes, Lord Wellington distributed the troops in winter cantonments, the left being retired to Lamego, and the right thrown forward as ♦Lord Wellington’s circular letter to the commanding officers.♦ far as Baños and Bejar, to hold the passes. He then addressed a circular letter to the commanding officers of battalions, for the purpose of drawing their attention in a very particular manner to the state of discipline of the troops. “The discipline of every army,” he said, “after a long and active campaign, becomes in some degree relaxed, and requires the utmost attention on the part of the generals and other officers to bring it back to the state in which it ought to be for service; but I am concerned to have to observe, that the army under my command has fallen off in this respect in the last campaign in a greater degree than any army with which I have ever served, or of which I have ever read. Yet this army has met with no disaster; it has suffered no privations which but trifling attention on the part of the officers could have prevented, and for which there existed no reason whatever in the nature of the service; nor has it suffered any hardships excepting those resulting from the inclemencies of the weather at a time when they were most severe. It must be obvious, however, to every officer that from the time the troops commenced their retreat from the neighbourhood of Burgos on one hand, and from Madrid on the other, the officers lost all command over their men. Irregularities and outrages of all descriptions were committed with impunity, and losses have been sustained which ought never to have occurred. Yet, the necessity for retreat existing, none was ever made in which the troops made such short marches; none on which they made such long and repeated halts; and none on which the retreating armies were so little pressed in the rear by the enemy. We must look therefore to some cause besides those resulting from the operations in which we have been engaged. I have no hesitation in attributing these evils to the habitual inattention of the officers of the regiments to their duty as prescribed by the standing regulations of the service, and by the orders of this army.

“I am far from questioning the zeal, still less the gallantry and spirit of the officers; and I am quite certain that as their minds can be convinced of the necessity of minute and constant attention, to understand, recollect, and carry into execution the orders which have been issued for the performance of their duty, and that the strict performance of their duty is necessary to enable the army to serve the country as it ought to be served, they will in future fix their attention to these points. Unfortunately the inexperience of the officers has induced many to conceive that the period during which an army is on service is one of relaxation from all rule, instead of being, as it is, the period during which, of all others, every rule for the regulation and control of the conduct of the soldier, for the inspection and care of his arms, ammunition, accoutrements, necessaries and field equipments, and his horse and horse appointments, for the receipt and issue, and care of his provisions, and the regulation of all that belongs to his food and the forage for his horse, must be most strictly attended to by the officer of his company or troop, if it is intended that an army, a British army in particular, shall be brought into the field of battle in a state of efficiency to meet the enemy on the day of trial.

“These are the points then to which I most earnestly entreat you to turn your attention, and the attention of the officers under your command, Portugueze as well as English, during the period in which it may be in my power to leave the troops in their cantonments. The commanding officers of regiments must enforce the orders of the army regarding the constant inspection and superintendence of the officers over the conduct of the men of their companies in their cantonments; and they must endeavour to inspire the non-commissioned officers with a sense of their situation and authority; and the non-commissioned officers must be forced to do their duty, by being constantly under the view and superintendence of the officers. By these means the frequent and discreditable recourse to the authority of the provost, and to punishments by the sentence of courts-martial will be prevented, and the soldiers will not dare to commit the offences and outrages of which there are too many complaints, when they know that their officers, and their non-commissioned officers, have their eyes and attention turned towards them. The commanding officers of regiments must likewise enforce the orders of the army regarding the constant, real inspection of the soldiers’ arms, ammunition, accoutrements and necessaries, in order to prevent at all times the shameful waste of ammunition, and the sale of that article, and of the soldiers’ necessaries. With this view both should be inspected daily.”

He proceeded to say that he had frequently observed during the late campaign with how much more ease and celerity the French soldiers cooked their food than the British. This disadvantage on our part, he said, must be ascribed to the same cause as the other evils which he lamented, “the want of attention in the officers to the orders of the army and to the conduct of their men, and the consequent want of authority over their conduct. Certain men of each company should be appointed to cut and bring in wood, others to fetch water, and others to get the meat, &c. to be cooked: and it would soon be found if this practice were duly enforced, and a particular hour for serving the dinners, and for the men dining, named, as it ought to be, equally as for the parade, that cooking would no longer require the inconvenient length of time which it had lately been found to take, and that the soldiers would not be exposed to the privation of their food at the moment when the army may be engaged in operations with the enemy.” He concluded by repeating that the great object of the general and field officers must be to get the captains and subalterns of the regiments to understand, and to perform the duties required from them, as the only mode by which the discipline and efficiency of the army could be restored and maintained during the next campaign.

This letter excited no little surprise in the nation, mortifying and disgraceful as the faults were which were thus openly and manfully exposed. But it was not more severe than the occasion called for. No retreat had ever been conducted with greater military skill; and nothing but that skill, and the reputation which the British troops had established for themselves under its direction, could have saved the army from the consequences of the ignorance or neglect of duty in many of the officers, and the insubordination of the men, which was a consequence of such neglect or ignorance. The circumstances of that retreat justified the whole severity of Lord Wellington’s remarks, and would more evidently have done so, if the sufferings of the army had been more broadly stated; for though the marches had indeed been short, and the halts long and frequent, no army which was not flying from an enemy, but retreating before it, in strength, ever suffered so much from exposure, and hunger, and exhaustion. Nothing could be more judicious than his orders during the whole retreat, and nothing more irregular than the way in which they were carried into effect; and this, though in part owing to casual and unavoidable obstructions on the way, arose in a far greater degree from negligence and incapacity. Sometimes divisions were moved too soon, more frequently too late, and kept standing on wet ground, in the rain, for two hours, perishing with cold, waiting the order to move. Their clothes were seldom dry for six hours together, and during the latter part of the retreat continually wet; sometimes they were bivouacked in a swamp, when better ground was near: they lay down upon the wet ground, fell asleep from mere exhaustion, were roused to receive their meat, and had then no means of dressing it, ... the camp-kettles had been sent on, or by some error were some miles in the rear, or the mules which carried them had foundered on the way; and no fire could be kindled on wet ground, with wet materials, and under a heavy rain. The subalterns threw the blame upon their superiors, and these again upon theirs, all complaining of incompetence in some of the general officers, and carelessness or supercilious neglect in some of the staff. But the intended effect was produced. That something was deficient in the equipments of the army was perceived, and in part remedied. Alas! no one observed that there was an utter want of that discipline by virtue of which Cromwell conquered, which rendered the Swedes invincible under their great Gustavus, and to which the Prince of Parma owed little less than to his own military genius, admirable as that was.