streamers and olive branches, bringing ten of the most considerable
persons of the state, as ambassadors to implore his clemency.
However, he dismissed them without making any answer, and bid
them come to him at Tunis, where he should halt. The deputies of
Carthage, being 30 in number, came to him at the place appointed,
and sued for peace in the most submissive terms. He then called
a council there, the majority of which were for razing Carthage,
and treating the inhabitants with the utmost severity. But the
consideration of the time which must necessarily be employed before
so strongly fortified a city could be taken, and Scipio’s fear lest
a successor might be appointed him whilst he should be employed in
the siege, made him incline to clemency.”
ZARAGOZA, SECOND SIEGE OF.--“The sufferings of the gallant
Zaragozans, during the former siege, had not subdued the spirit
of heroic devotion by which they had been animated. Another
trial awaited them, not less memorable and glorious, though less
fortunate in its result.
After the defeat of Tudela, Palafox retired to Zaragoza, to make
preparations for a second siege. He was not present in the action.
The intelligence of its issue came upon him like a thunderbolt; and
the refusal of Castanos to throw his troops into Zaragoza, instead
of retreating on Madrid, put an end to those feelings of confidence
and frankness which had hitherto existed between the generals.
The multiplied disasters of the Spanish armies, however, so far
from shaking the resolution of Palafox or the Zaragozans, appear
only to have stimulated them to redoubled exertions in the service
of their country. Proclamations were issued, commanding all women,
old men, and children, to quit the city. Every inhabitant was
imperatively called upon to make sacrifice, if necessary, of his
life and property, in the common cause; and the whole population
were required, by their personal exertions, to contribute to the
completion of the fortifications of the city.
The approach of the enemy cut short the preparations for defence.
Neither women nor children left the place. Even these refused to
seek safety at a distance from their fathers and husbands, and
preferred participating in the danger and the glory which awaited
them in Zaragoza, to wandering unprotected through a troubled and
a suffering country.
During the former siege, the defenders had been embarrassed by the
presence of French residents in the city. These had been strictly
guarded, with the double object of preventing any intercourse
between them and the besiegers, and of protecting them against
the fatal effects of popular suspicion, to which, without such
precaution, it is more than probable they would have fallen
victims. In order to prevent the repetition of such danger and
inconvenience, Palafox determined that these unfortunate persons
should be removed from the city to other places of confinement.
This was done, notwithstanding the hostility of the populace,
though not until Palafox had issued a proclamation appealing to
Spanish honour and humanity, and imploring the gallant Zaragozans
not to stain the sacred cause of liberty and justice by the foul
murder of these defenceless victims.
The aid of superstition was not wanting to strengthen the
confidence of the Zaragozans. They relied on the miraculous
protection of Our Lady of the Pillar, who had made their favoured
city the seat of her peculiar worship. The successful termination
of the former siege had given strength to their belief in the
beneficent regards of the patron saint. Omens, too, had been
observed in the sky. Approaching victory had been prefigured
by unwonted conformations of the clouds; and celestial voices
were heard in the elements, offering divine promise of glory and
protection.
Fortunately, the Zaragozans were not induced, by their belief in
these flattering portents, to disregard any of the human means of
safety in their power. A continued line of exterior defensive works
had been planned and executed, as far as time and circumstances
permitted. Yet this, imperfect as it was, added little to the real
strength of the city; and, in forming a just estimate of the zeal
and courage of the defenders, Zaragoza should almost be considered
as an unfortified town. The walls, originally built rather for
the purpose of civic impost than defence, were surmounted by 150
pieces of cannon. Large stores of provisions had been formed. Arms
and ammunition were in abundance; and the town contained upwards of
20,000 regular troops, besides 15,000 armed peasants.
All the houses within 700 toises of the place were demolished, and
the materials employed to strengthen the fortifications. The trees
around the city were cut down. The greatest activity reigned on all
hands; the women were employed in making clothes for the soldiers;
the monks made cartridges: and all those not employed in labouring
at the works, practised the use of arms.
Measures were likewise taken for the defence of the city, in
case the enemy, which was scarcely to be doubted, should effect
an entrance. Traverses were cut across the streets. The doors
and windows on the ground-floor were strongly barricaded.
Communications were made between the houses; and parapets were
constructed on the roofs. Every householder had in his dwelling an
ample store of provisions, to enable him to continue his resistance
when the enemy should gain possession of the streets. Thus
prepared, the Zaragozans awaited the approach of the besiegers.
In the meanwhile, the corps of Marshal Moncey, which had been
ordered to blockade the city, remained at Alagon, collecting
materials, and awaiting the arrival of his heavy artillery from
Pamplona. On the 19th of December it was joined by the corps of
Mortier, and on the 20th the united army appeared before Zaragoza.
It consisted of about 35,000 infantry, and was accompanied by a
battering train of sixty pieces. A corps of cavalry was stationed
at Fuentes, to keep the surrounding country in a state of
subjection.
The city was approached on both sides of the Ebro. Gazan’s
division, having passed the river at Tauste, marched, by the road
of Castejon, to Cuera and Villa Nuevo. That of Suchet took post on
the right of the Ebro, near a convent, about a league distant from
Zaragoza, after driving in the Spanish outposts.
During the night, the enemy erected a battery, which commanded
the Torrero, and, in the morning, opened fire on the fort.
Unfortunately, a quantity of ammunition was blown up, by the
bursting of a shell, which occasioned considerable disorder in the
garrison. The French took advantage of this. A column crossed the
canal by an aqueduct, of which on the evening before, they had
become masters, and entering the fort by the gorge, succeeded in
maintaining the place against the efforts of the garrison. At the
same time, a brigade of Morlot’s division advanced up the ravine
of the Huerba, and, passing the canal under the aqueduct on which
it crosses that river, gained possession of a work commanding the
sluices of the canal. Two guns were taken in this work. Three
guns and 100 prisoners in the fort. General St. Mark succeeded in
withdrawing the rest of the garrison.
On the 22nd, General Gazan advanced against the suburb, on the left
of the river. He was encountered by about 4000 of the garrison,
posted in the woods and gardens, from which, after a warm contest,
he succeeded in dislodging them. Gazan then attempted to carry the
suburb by a _coup-de-main_. In this he failed. Repulsed in all
his efforts, after a long and fruitless contention, he at length
withdrew, pursued by the garrison, and with the loss of near 1000
men. The chief loss of the besieged consisted of a corps of Swiss,
almost all of whom were killed or taken prisoners in a large
building considerably in advance of the suburb.
For several days all was quiet. The enemy were now aware that it
was necessary to make a regular investment of the place; and the
works in all quarters, were pushed on with vigour. The besieged on
their part endeavoured, by incessant labour, to complete the works
of defence; batteries were constructed, to enfilade the principal
approaches--the magazines were rendered bomb-proof--every outlet
was palisaded and traversed; and, thus prepared, they waited with
calm fortitude for the approaching struggle.
On the 30th, Marshal Moncey addressed a letter to Palafox,
summoning him to surrender the city, now entirely invested, and
to spare the effusion of blood which must necessarily follow any
further attempt at hopeless resistance. Moncey likewise informed
him that Madrid had fallen; and that Napoleon, at the head of a
great army, was then in the act of chasing the English to their
ships.
To this Palafox replied, that if Madrid had fallen, Madrid had
been _sold_. The works of Zaragoza were yet entire; but, were they
levelled with the ground, the people and the garrison would rather
be buried in the ruins of their city, than disgraced by surrender.
In the meanwhile, General Gazan succeeded in effecting the blockade
of the suburb.
On the 29th, the trenches were regularly opened against the Chateau
of the Inquisition on the left, the bridge of the Huerba in the
centre, and the convent of St. Joseph on the right. The last of
these was the principal object of the enemy, because the works in
rear were destitute of a rampart, and it was intended to connect
the attack with a simultaneous attempt to gain possession of the
suburb.
The garrison, however, were not idle. The communication between the
convent and the city could not be interrupted; and the garrison of
the former, being daily relieved, made frequent sallies, by which
the progress of the besiegers was materially retarded. On the 31st,
a general sortie, supported by the whole guns of the place, was
made against the enemy’s line. Though gallantly supported, it was
unattended by any successful result. The repeated attacks of the
garrison were repulsed; and, baffled in their efforts, they again
entered the city. The loss on both sides was nearly equal.
On the 2nd of January, Moncey was superseded by Marshal Junot in
the command of the besieging army. The latter was the bearer of an
order to Mortier, to move on Calatayud with Suchet’s division, in
order to keep open the communication with Madrid. This arrangement
occasioned a material diminution of the besieging force, but no
cessation of hostile operations. The works against the convent of
St. Joseph still went on, and between the 3rd and 6th of January
the second parallel was completed. Till the 10th no action took
place; but on that day a tremendous fire from thirty guns was
opened on the convent. It was soon rendered untenable. But, amid
the ruins, the gunners covered by bags of wool, still continued
to exercise their vocation, and fired on the enemy, till the
walls were levelled with the ground. Even then the post was not
relinquished without a gallant effort. At midnight a sortie was
made against one of the batteries, in ignorance that two guns
had been planted for its protection. The intention of the brave
assailants was thus defeated; and, having suffered heavy loss from
a murderous fire, both in front and flank, they again retreated to
the city.
Even in the dilapidated condition of the convent, it was not till
the evening of the next day that the enemy attempted to carry it
by assault. At the same time a party, having turned the convent,
succeeded, by means of a wooden bridge which the besieged had
omitted to destroy, in effecting an entrance; and thus did the
French at length become masters of a heap of ruins, and of about
100 gallant men by whom they were defended.
No sooner were the enemy in possession of St. Joseph, than they
employed themselves in repairing the works, and completing the
communication between the second and third parallels, the latter of
which they established on the right and left of the convent. The
garrison on that side were now compelled to remain within their
walls; for the besiegers were secured against their efforts by the
double obstacle of a river and an escarpment eight feet high.
On the 15th a second parallel was opened against the town; and
batteries were commenced in it, to enfilade the defences of the
Augustine and Capuchin convents, and that of Sta. Engracia. Yet
neither the loss of their outworks, nor a tremendous bombardment,
which the French kept up for several days, had the effect of
diminishing the ardour of the inhabitants. The Zaragozans were not
only actuated by that active and living energy which stimulates to
deeds of high enterprize, but they possessed, likewise, that calm
and passive fortitude, that buoyant upbearing of the spirit, which
suffering cannot depress, nor misfortune overthrow.
But their cup was not yet full. The inhabitants of the part of the
city most injured by the bombardment, were driven into the other
quarters, where many of them took up their abode in cellars, which
afforded comparative security from the shells. The consequence
was, that these dark and miserable receptacles became the focus of
infectious fever. The disease spread rapidly among a crowded and
redundant population. Thus did death, on all hands, present itself
to the unshrinking Zaragozans; and the greater part preferred
exposing themselves on the ramparts, to breathing the infected air
which pervaded the dark and noisome retreats in which they had
sought refuge from the shells.
From the 17th to the 21st, the besiegers were occupied in the
construction of new batteries to overcome the defences of the
garrison; and the third parallel was extended to command two sides
of the convent of Sta. Engracia. In these circumstances, a sortie
was made, in the hope of spiking the enemy’s artillery. The fire
of a battery of four mortars was found peculiarly annoying: and
eighty men, commanded by Don Mariano Galindo, volunteered to attack
it. They boldly precipitated themselves on the guard of the third
parallel, put them to the sword, and succeeded in entering the
battery. At the same moment the enemy’s reserve came up. There was
no retreat; all perished except the officers and a few wounded
soldiers, who were made prisoners.
The movements of the numerous bodies of armed peasantry, in
the surrounding country, occasioned great inconvenience to the
besiegers. Bands were formed on all hands; which, though unable
to resist the attack of disciplined troops, yet were sufficiently
formidable to require perpetual vigilance, and numerous enough to
narrow the supplies of the besieging army, in a very considerable
degree.
About this time, Napoleon, dissatisfied with the slow progress of
the siege, sent Marshal Lannes to assume the command. This officer
directed Mortier, with his division, to leave Calatayud, and to act
on the left of the Ebro. Mortier attacked the force of Francisco
Palafox, and succeeded in dispersing it with very considerable
loss. Lannes, in order to depress the hopes of the garrison of
external assistance, addressed a letter to Palafox, communicating
this circumstance, and all the other disasters which had befallen
the Spanish armies. But the mortifying intelligence thus conveyed,
did not shake the firmness of the undaunted leader. He rejected
all compromise, and continued, with undiminished vigour, to oppose
every possible obstacle to the progress of the enemy.
All the outworks of the place had now fallen, except the castle of
the Inquisition, which had been subjected to no serious attack.
The newly-raised works of the _Enceinte_ had been battered by
fifty-five guns, and, on the 27th January, three breaches were
declared practicable. One was near an oil-mill, which stood
without the walls of the place, though but little removed from
them. The second was to the left of this, between the convent of
St. Joseph and the town. The third was in the convent of Sta.
Engracia. All these were attacked. At mid-day, a column issued from
the oil-mill, which had been occupied over-night, and, rapidly
clearing the short distance which divided it from the walls,
entered the breach, unbroken by the heavy fire to which they were
exposed, and the explosion of two _fougasses_. Having reached the
summit, the assailants found an interior retrenchment armed with
two guns, which the garrison had unexpectedly erected to obstruct
their progress. They attempted, without success, to surmount this
obstacle, under a shower of grape, musketry and grenades. Forced to
retire, the besiegers took advantage of the cover afforded by the
exploded _fougasses_ to effect a lodgment on the breach.
The breach in face of St. Joseph presented fewer obstacles to be
overcome. The column of attack having reached the summit, succeeded
in occupying the opposite house, which the artillery, in firing on
the wall, had laid open. The houses adjoining were then gained;
and on the right of the breach they found a gate which afforded
another entrance into the town. Here, however, their progress was
arrested by a battery of the enemy, commanding a court which it was
necessary to pass. On the left, a double _caponnier_, which the
garrison had used to communicate with St. Joseph’s, was repaired
and lengthened to the breach.
The attack on Sta. Engracia was yet more successful. After a
severe struggle, the assailants gained the breach of the convent,
but in attempting to advance further, they met a spirited repulse.
Another effort was made, which terminated in their gaining
possession of the building. The curtain leading from Sta. Engracia
to the bridge of the Huerba was then enfiladed, and, taking the
_tête-de-pont_ in reverse, the enemy at once became masters of
that important post. Here they were joined by fresh troops, and,
pushing on within the curtain of the convent of Mount Carmel, made
an effort to gain possession of it, which met with a repulse.
From thence they advanced rapidly to the Capuchin convent, putting
forty artillerymen, who constituted the whole of its garrison, to
the sword, The assailants then established themselves along the
rampart, in order to guard the posts they had been successful in
acquiring.
A dreadful fire was soon opened on the besiegers from the houses
commanding the rampart. From this they in vain sought shelter among
the ruins of the half-demolished walls. Retreat became necessary,
and the column was directed to retire on the Puerta del Carmen. The
garrison, by a bold attack, regained possession of the Capuchin
convent; but two battalions coming up to reinforce the assailants,
it was again taken, and maintained, though at a dear price, by the
enemy.
During the night, a strong but unsuccessful effort was made by the
besieged to regain possession of the convents of Sta. Engracia and
the Capuchins. The result of these operations were the loss to the
besieged of fifteen guns and 200 prisoners, and that the enemy
gained footing in the city at two different points. The loss in
killed and wounded, by the French accounts, was nearly equal on
both sides. It amounted to about 600.
The misfortunes of the Zaragozans were hourly accumulating. The
fever demon stalked through the city like a destroying angel,
conquering and to conquer. The number of dead per day amounted to
350, without including those who fell the more immediate victims of
war. The hospitals were too small to contain the host of patients,
and the medicines were exhausted. The burying grounds were choked
with corpses; and large pits were dug in the streets, into which
the dead were tossed indiscriminately. Heaps of bloated and
putrescent bodies were piled before the churches, which were often
struck by the shells; and the maimed and ghastly carcasses lay
dispersed along the streets, a frightful spectacle of horror. Even
under such evils the courage of the Zaragozans did not quail.
The city was now open to the invaders, and the war, as formerly,
was carried on in the streets and houses. Not one inch of ground
was yielded by the besieged without a struggle; and when finally
driven from a building, they frequently, by a desperate offensive
effort, recovered it; and an equal resistance had again to be
encountered by the assailants. Traverses were cut around the
portions of the city occupied by the enemy; and at the sound of the
tocsin, the garrison were ever ready to rush to any quarter where
hostilities had commenced.
Palafox, however, did not limit his efforts to obstructing the
progress of the enemy; he made vigorous efforts to recover the
ground already lost, and drive the assailants from their stations.
Two attempts were made to regain the convent of the Capuchins. Both
failed. A third more powerful effort was made on the 31st. A breach
was effected during the day, and at night the assault took place.
The besieged advanced with signal resolution towards the breach,
but owing to a ditch sunk by the enemy, it was found impossible to
mount it. They then threw themselves on the floor of the church,
and endeavoured to force it. In spite of the fire from the windows,
and the grenades showered from the steeple, they maintained their
ground, and forced the door; but an epaulement within obstructed
their progress; and fresh troops being brought up by the enemy, the
project was at length renounced.
Priests and women bore part in these operations. The former carried
munitions, and gave ghostly succour to the dying, animating the
soldiers at once by their words and their example. The latter
bore refreshments to their sons, or husbands, or fathers; and
sometimes, when one of those dear relatives fell by their side,
they seized his arms, determined to revenge his death or perish in
the same glorious cause. In truth, the contest lay between skill
and enthusiasm--mingled, indeed, with superstition, yet active,
firm, vigorous, and unshrinking; skill exerted in a struggle as
unjust and degrading, as any by which the pages of history are
contaminated and defaced.
Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the garrison, the French
gained ground. The 1st of February was marked by the capture of
the convents of St. Augustin and St. Monica. Having been repelled
in assaulting the breaches, the assailants sprung a mine, and by
that means effected an entrance, and took in reverse the works
erected for their defence. A deadly struggle took place in the
church. Every chapel, every column, every altar, became a point
of defence--the pavement was strewed with blood, and the aisles
and nave of the church were covered with the dead. During this
terrific conflict, the roof, shattered by bombs, fell in. Those
who escaped, renewed the contest on the bodies of the dead and
dying. The French were at last successful, and advancing on the Rua
Quemada, gained possession of several houses. From these, however,
they were eventually compelled to retreat, with a loss of above 100
men.
At the same time, an attack was made on the houses near Sta.
Engracia. Two mines, one on the left, the other on the right,
of the convent, were sprung by the besiegers; after which two
columns of Polish infantry succeeded in gaining possession of
the ruins caused by the explosion. The loss of the besiegers was
very considerable, and General Lacoste, commandant of engineers,
was killed. He was an officer of great professional eminence, and
untarnished character.