While occupied in preparing for his advance, the general sent letter
after letter to Valencia, bidding the citizens to keep up their courage,
and promising to hasten to the relief of that city. Ordering Jack to
continue the correspondence in his name, so as to delude both friends
and foes that he was still at Castillon, he took post secretly and
hurried away back to Tortosa to see after reinforcements. He still
doubted whether the Spanish troops, which the king had promised should
be at his disposal for the campaign in Valencia, had got into motion,
and in case they had not done so he determined to post to Colonel Wills
and bring up that officer with his brigade.
At Vinaroz he found that the Spanish troops had already entered
Valencia, and that some of the militia of that province and of Catalonia
were also in motion to join him. He therefore concentrated his little
force at Castillon, to which place he returned as rapidly as he had
left it. When it was assembled it consisted of a thousand horse and two
thousand infantry, being one English and three Spanish battalions of
regulars. Besides these were about three hundred armed peasants, whom
the earl thought it better not to join with his army, and therefore
quartered them at Almenara.
Although he had accomplished marvels, there was yet much to do. The Duke
of Arcos had succeeded the Conde de las Torres in the chief command, the
latter having been superseded after his signal failures. The duke had
ten thousand men placed under his orders, of whom some thirty-five
hundred were in possession of the strong town of Murviedro, which
covered the approach to Valencia, while with the main body he marched
upon Valencia and commenced the siege of that city. The magistrates,
knowing that they could expect but little mercy should the town be
taken, made vigorous preparations for defense, and dispatched some
messengers to Peterborough imploring him to come to their assistance. He
was now in readiness to do so, and on the 1st of February marched from
Castillon with his army.
Having unlimited powers, the earl, before starting, presented to his two
aides de camp commissions as captains, as a reward for the services they
had rendered.
Although so inferior in numbers the little army advanced toward Valencia
with an absolute confidence of victory. The successes gained by their
leader with a handful of cavalry over an army of seven thousand men had
been so astounding that his troops believed him capable of effecting
anything that he undertook. They had seen him ride off from San Matteo
with his little body of horse upon what seemed an impossible enterprise;
they had met him again after having conquered half a province; and if he
had accomplished this with such scanty means, what was not possible now
when he had three thousand men at his disposal?
But the earl trusted fully as much to his talents in the way of
deceiving the enemy as to his power of defeating them by open force
in the field. His eccentric genius appeared to revel in the mendacious
statements by which he deceived and puzzled both friend and foe; and
although the spreading of a certain amount of false news for the purpose
of deceiving an enemy has always been considered as a legitimate means
of warfare, Peterborough altogether exceeded the usual limits, and
appeared to delight in inventing the most complicated falsehoods from
the mere love of mischief. At times Jack was completely bewildered
by his general, so rapid were the changes of plans, so changeable his
purposes, so fantastic and eccentric his bearing and utterances. That
his military genius was astonishing no one can for a moment question,
but it was the genius rather of a knight errant than of the commander of
great armies.
As a partisan leader Peterborough is without a rival in history. Whether
he would have succeeded equally well as the commander of great armies he
had never an opportunity of proving, but it is more than doubtful. Rapid
changes of plan, shifting and uncertain movements, may lead to wonderful
successes when but a small body of troops have to be set in motion, but
would cause endless confusion and embarrassment with a large army, which
can only move in accordance with settled plans and deliberate purpose.
It must be said, however, that this most eccentric of generals proved
upon many occasions, as at the siege of Barcelona, that he was capable
of adapting himself to circumstances, and it is possible that had he
ever been placed in command of a great army he would have laid aside his
flightiness and eccentricity, his love for theatrical strokes and hair
breadth adventures, and would have exhibited a steadfast military genius
which would have placed his name in the annals of British history on a
par with those of Wellington and Marlborough. Never did he exhibit
his faculty for ingenious falsehood more remarkably than at Murviedro,
where, indeed, a great proportion of his inventions appear to have been
prompted rather by a spirit of malice than by any military necessity.
Murviedro was the Saguntum of the Romans, one of the strongest cities
in Spain. The force there was commanded by Brigadier General Mahony, an
officer of Irish descent. He had under him five hundred regular cavalry
and a battalion of eight hundred trained infantry; the rest of his force
consisted of Spanish militia. The town itself was fairly strong and
contained a large population. It was separated from a wide plain by a
river, on the banks of which redoubts mounted with artillery had been
thrown up.
Here the Valencian road wound through a pass, above which, on the
crest of a lofty overhanging hill, were the ruins of ancient Saguntum.
Peterborough had no artillery save a few Spanish field guns; the enemy's
position was formidable both by formation and art, and his force was
altogether inadequate for an attack upon it. So hopeless did the attempt
appear to be that Peterborough's officers were unanimous in the opinion
that it would be better to make a wide circuit and avoid the place, and
to march directly upon Valencia and give battle to the Duke of Arcos
under its walls. Peterborough, however, simply told them to wait and see
what would come of it, and in the mean time he continued to bewilder his
foes by the most surprising romances.
His agents were for the most part a few sharp witted dragoons, and some
peasants whose fidelity was secured by their families being held as
hostages. He had already contrived to bewilder the division of Las
Torres before it reached the main body under the Duke of Arcos. A spy
in his pay had informed the Spanish general that the British were close
upon him, and he had accordingly at once broken up his camp and marched
all night.
In the morning the spy again presented himself and stated that the
British were pushing on over the mountains to his left to occupy an
important point and to cut off his retreat to the Valencian plains. As
it seemed absolutely impossible that they could have pressed forward
so quickly, Las Torres refused to credit the story. The spy, as if
indignant at his truth being doubted, pledged himself at the hazard of
his life to give proof of the assertion to any officer who might be sent
to ascertain it.
Two officers in plain clothes were accordingly sent with him in the
direction where he stated the English to be; but when they stopped for
refreshment at a village on the way they were suddenly pounced upon by
a picket of English dragoons, who had been sent there for the purpose.
After a time the spy pretended to the two officers that he had made the
guard drunk and that they could now make their escape, and leading them
stealthily to the stable showed them two of the dragoons lying in an
apparently drunken sleep. Three horses were quietly led out of the
stable, and the three men rode off, some of the dragoons making a show
of pursuit.
This incident, of course, established the credit of the spy. Las Torres
was convinced that his retreat was really threatened, and hurried on
again with all speed, while all this time the English army was really
many miles away near Murviedro. Other dragoons were induced to feign
desertion, while some permitted themselves to be taken prisoners, and as
each vied with the others in the extravagance of his false information,
the Spanish generals were utterly bewildered by the contradictory nature
of the lies that reached them.
While Las Torres was hastening away at full speed to join the Duke of
Arcos, Peterborough was occupied in fooling Mahony. That officer was a
distant relation of Lady Peterborough, and the earl sent to demand an
interview with him, naming a small hill near the town for the purpose.
When the time for the interview approached the earl disposed his army
so as to magnify their numbers as much as possible. Some were posted
as near the town as they could venture along the pass; others were kept
marching on the lower slopes of the hills, their numbers increased in
appearance by masses of the armed peasantry being mingled with them.
Mahony having received the earl's word for his safety rode out to the
appointed place to meet him, accompanied by several of the principal
Spanish officers. Peterborough first used every persuasion to induce
Mahony to enter the service of King Charles, but the Irish officer
refused to entertain the tempting offers which he made. Peterborough
then changed his tone, and said with an air of kindly frankness:
“The Spaniards have used such severities and cruelties at Villa Real as
to oblige me to retaliate. I am willing to spare a town if under your
protection. I know that you cannot pretend to defend it with the horse
you have, which will be so much more useful in another place if joined
with the troops of Arcos to obstruct my passing the plains of Valencia.
I am confident that you will soon quit Murviedro, which I can as little
prevent as you can hinder me from taking the town. The inhabitants
there must be exposed to the most abject miseries, and I can in no way
preserve it but by being bound in a capitulation, which I am willing to
give you if I have the assurance of the immediate surrender of the place
this very night. Some cases are so apparent that I need not dissemble.
I know you will immediately send to the Duke of Arcos to march to the
Carthusian convent and meet him there with the body of horse under your
command.”
The earl further offered, in the same apparent spirit of frankness, to
show Mahony all his troops and artillery, as well as the large resources
he had upon the sea, which was only six miles off. Mahony was entirely
deceived by the manner of the man he regarded as a relative, and
laughingly acknowledged that he had, in case of necessity, intended to
fall back with his cavalry upon the Duke of Arcos. The interview ended
by Mahony retiring to the town, agreeing to send back an answer in half
an hour. At the end of that time he sent out a capitulation by a Spanish
officer.
Had Peterborough's scheme ended here he would not have exceeded the
bounds of what is regarded as a fair method of deceiving an enemy,
but his subsequent proceedings were absolutely indefensible, and are,
indeed, almost incredible on the part of the man who in some respects
carried the point of honor almost to an extreme. His notion, no doubt,
was to paralyze the action of the enemy by exciting suspicions of
treachery among their leaders, but the means which he took to do so were
base and unworthy in the extreme.
He began with the Spanish officer who had brought the capitulation,
giving him a garbled account of his interview with Mahony, and then
endeavoring to bribe him to desert to the Austrian cause, insinuating
that he had succeeded by this means with Mahony. As the earl expected,
he failed to induce the Spaniard to desert, but he succeeded in his
purpose of filling his mind with suspicions of treachery on the part of
Mahony.
Mahony had conducted the negotiations in a manner worthy of a loyal
and skillful officer; he had stipulated not to leave the town till one
o'clock in the morning, and that Peterborough should not pass the river
until that hour.
This he had arranged in order to allow the Duke of Arcos time to reach
the plains, where he was to be joined by the horse from Murviedro. But
Peterborough's machinations had been effectual; the Spanish officer, on
his return, informed his countrymen that Mahony had betrayed them, and
the troops and populace became enraged against the unfortunate Irishman
and threatened his life. Peterborough, who, in spite of his perverted
notions of honor, would not on any account have passed the river before
the time stipulated, heard the neighing of horses in the town and
supposed that some of the troops were leaving it. In order, therefore,
to create suspicion and confusion among the enemy, he ordered a body
of men near the river to fire straggling shots as if small parties were
engaged at the outposts.
Mahony hearing these sounds sent word that whatever collision might have
occurred it was the result of no breach of the terms of capitulation
on his part, and that, depending implicitly on the honor of an English
general, he could not believe that any foul play could take place.
Peterborough sent back his compliments by the officer who brought the
message, with expressions of gratification at the good understanding
which prevailed between them, and at the same time he proposed that
Mahony, for the security of the inhabitants of Murviedro, and to prevent
his troops being molested as they retired from the town, should permit
a regiment of English dragoons to cross the river and to form a guard
at the gates, offering at the same time to deliver up a number of his
officers as hostages to the Spanish for the loyal fulfillment of the
terms.
In an evil hour for himself Mahony consented to the proposal. When
the Spaniards saw Peterborough's dragoons advancing without opposition
through the difficult pass, and up to the very gates of the town, their
suspicions of the treachery of their leader became a certainty. The
Spanish officers each got his company or troop together as quickly as
possible and hurried across the plain to the camp of the duke, where
they spread a vague but general panic. The officers accused Mahony
of treachery to the Spanish general, and the national jealousy of
foreigners made their tale easily believed; but Peterborough had taken
another step to secure the success of his diabolical plan against the
honor of his wife's relative.
He made choice of two Irish dragoons, and persuaded them by bribes
and promises of promotion to undertake the dangerous part of false
deserters, and to tell the tale with which he furnished them. They
accordingly set out and rode straight to the camp of the Duke of Arcos
and gave themselves up to the outposts, by whom they were led before
the Spanish general. Questioned by him, they repeated the story they had
been taught.
The statement was that they had been sitting drinking wine together
under some rocks on the hillside, close to where the conference was
held, and that Peterborough and Mahony, walking apart from the others,
came near to where they were sitting, but did not notice them, and that
they saw the earl deliver five thousand pistoles to Mahony, and heard
him promise to make him a major general in the English army, and to give
him the command of ten thousand Irish Catholics which were being raised
for the service of King Charles. They said that they were content to
receive no reward, but to be shot as spies if Mahony himself did not
give proof of treachery by carrying out his arrangements with the earl,
by sending a messenger requesting the duke to march that night across
the plain toward Murviedro to the Carthusian convent, where everything
would be arranged for their destruction by a strong ambush of British
troops.
Scarcely had the men finished their story when an aide de camp galloped
in from Mahony with the very proposition which they had reported that
he would make. Arcos had now no doubt whatever of Mahony's treason,
and instead of complying with his request, which was obviously the best
course to have been pursued, as the junction of the two armies would
thereby have been completed, the duke broke up his camp without delay
and fell back in exactly the opposite direction.
This was exactly what Peterborough had been scheming to bring about.
Mahony, with his cavalry, having delivered over the town, marched to the
Carthusian convent, and there, finding themselves unsupported, rode on
to the spot where the duke had been encamped, and finding that his army
was gone, followed it. On overtaking it Mahony was instantly arrested
and sent a prisoner to Madrid.
It is satisfactory to know that he succeeded in clearing himself from
the charge of treachery, was promoted to the rank of major general, and
was sent back with Las Torres, who was ordered to supersede the Duke of
Arcos.
The success of the earl's stratagem had been complete. Without the loss
of a single man he had obtained possession of Murviedro, and had spread
such confusion and doubt into the enemy's army that, although more than
three times his own force, it was marching away in all haste, having
abandoned the siege of Valencia, which city he could now enter with his
troops. The success was a wonderful one; but it is sad to think that
it was gained by such a treacherous and dastardly maneuver, which might
have cost a gallant officer--who was, moreover, a countryman and distant
connection of the earl--his honor and his life.
The next day the earl entered the city of Valencia in triumph. The whole
population crowded into the streets. The houses were decorated with
flags and hangings. The church bells pealed out their welcome, and amid
the shouts of the people below and the waving of handkerchiefs from the
ladies at the balconies, he rode through the streets to the town hall,
where all the principal personages were assembled, followed by the
little army with which he had performed what appeared to have been an
impossible undertaking.
After their incessant labors during the past two months, the rest at
Valencia was most grateful to the troops. The city is celebrated as
being one of the gayest and most delightful in all Spain. Its situation
is lovely, standing within a mile and a half of the sea, in a rich plain
covered with vines, olives, and other fruit trees, while beyond the
plains rise the mountains, range after range, with the higher summits
covered with snow. The people, at all times pleasure loving, gave
themselves up to fetes and rejoicings for some time after the entrance
of the army that had saved them from such imminent danger, and all vied
in hospitality to the earl and his officers.
King Charles, astonished and delighted at Peterborough's success,
appointed him captain general of all his forces, and gave him the power
of appointing and removing all governors and other public servants, as
he might consider necessary for the good of the cause, while from London
the earl received a dispatch appointing him plenipotentiary at the court
of King Charles.
Here as at Barcelona the earl entered with almost boyish animation into
the gayety of which he was the center. With the priests and ladies he
was an especial favorite, having won the former by the outward respect
which he paid to their religion, and by the deference he exhibited
toward themselves.
Valencia prided itself on being one of the holiest cities in Spain, and
no other town could boast of the connection of so many saints or
the possession of so many relics. The priesthood were numerous and
influential. Religious processions were constantly passing through
the streets, and in the churches the services were conducted with the
greatest pomp and magnificence.
Peterborough, knowing the value of the alliance and assistance of
the priests, spared no pains to stand well with the Church, revenging
himself for the outward deference he paid to it by the bitterest sarcasm
and jeers in his letters to his friends at home. Believing nothing
himself, the gross superstition which he saw prevailing round him was
an argument in favor of his own disbelief in holy things, and he did not
fail to turn it to advantage.
With the ladies his romantic adventures, his extraordinary bravery,
his energy and endurance, his brilliant wit, his polished manner, his
courtesy and devotion, rendered him an almost mythical hero; and the
fair Valencians were to a woman his devoted admirers and adherents.
But, while apparently absorbed in pleasure, Peterborough's energy never
slumbered for a moment. His position was still one of extreme danger.
The force of Las Torres, seven thousand strong, recovering from their
panic, had, a day or two after he entered the town, returned and taken
post on some hills near it, preparatory to recommencing the siege. Four
thousand Castilians were marching to their support by the road leading
through Fuente de la Higuera, while at Madrid, within an easy distance,
lay the overwhelming forces of the main army under Marshal Tesse.. To
cope with these forces he had but his little army in the town, amounting
to but three thousand men, deficient in artillery, ammunition, and
stores of all kinds.
Had Marshal Tesse marched at once to join Las Torres Peterborough's
little force must have been crushed; but the court of King Philip
decided to dispatch the marshal against Barcelona. Fortunately
Peterborough was well informed by the country people of everything that
was passing, for in every town and village there were men or women who
sent him news of all that was going on in their neighborhood.
It was but a week after they entered Valencia that the earl, happening
to pass close by Jack Stilwell at a brilliant ball, paused for a moment
and said:
“Get away from this in half an hour, find Graham, and bring him with you
to my quarters. Before you go find Colonel Zinzendorf and tell him
to have two hundred men ready to mount at half past one. He is here
somewhere. If you find he has left you must go round to the barracks.
Tell him the matter is to be kept an absolute secret. I know,” the earl
said gallantly to the lady on his arm and to Jack's partner, “we can
trust you two ladies to say nothing of what you have heard. It is indeed
grief and pain to myself and Captain Stilwell to tear ourselves away
from such society, and you may be sure that none but the most pressing
necessity could induce me to do it.”
Jack at once led his partner to a seat and set out on the search for
Graham and the colonel of dragoons. He was some time finding them both,
and it was already past one when the three issued together from the
palace where the fete was held, and hurried off, the two young officers
to Peterborough's quarters, the colonel to his barracks.
The earl was already in his chamber. He had slipped away unobserved from
the ball, and had climbed the wall of the garden, to avoid being noticed
passing out of the entrance. His great wig and court uniform were thrown
aside, and he was putting on the plain uniform which he used on service
when his aides de camp entered.
“Get rid of that finery and gold lace,” he said as they entered. “You
have to do a forty mile ride before morning. I have received glorious
news. One of my partners told me that she had, just as she was starting
for the ball, received a message from a cousin saying that a vessel had
come into port from Genoa with sixteen brass twenty-four pounder
guns, and a quantity of ammunition and stores, to enable Las Torres to
commence the siege. The stores were landed yesterday, and carts were
collected from the country round in readiness for a start at daybreak
this morning. As these things will be even more useful to us than to
the Spaniards, I mean to have them now. Be as quick as you can. I have
already ordered your horses to be brought round with mine.”
In five minutes they were in the saddle and rode quickly to the cavalry
barracks. The streets were still full of people; but the earl in his
simple uniform passed unnoticed through them. The dragoons were already
mounted when they reached the barracks.
“We will go out at the back gate, colonel,” the earl said. “Take the
most quiet streets by the way, and make for the west gate. Break your
troop up into four parties, and let them go by different routes, so that
any they meet will suppose they are merely small bodies going out to
relieve the outposts. If it was suspected that I was with you, and that
an expedition was on foot, the Spaniards would hear it in an hour. Loyal
as the population are here, there must be many adherents of Philip among
them, and Las Torres no doubt has his spies as well as we have.”
The earl's orders were carried out, and half an hour later the four
parties again assembled at a short distance outside the city gates.
Peterborough placed himself at their head and rode directly for the sea.
“The Spaniards are sure to have outposts placed on all the roads leading
inland,” he said to Colonel Zinzendorf, “and the Spanish irregulars will
be scattered all over the country; but I do not suppose they will have
any down as far as the seashore.”
When they reached the coast they followed a small road running along its
margin. Two or three miles further they turned off and rode inland till
they struck a main road, so as to avoid following all the windings of
the coast. They now pushed on at a sharp trot, and just at four o'clock
came down upon the little port.
Its streets were cumbered with country carts, and as the dragoons dashed
into the place a few shots were fired by some Spanish soldiers belonging
to a small detachment which had been sent by Las Torres to act as a
convoy for the guns and stores, and who were sleeping on the pavement
or scattered among the houses in readiness for a start at daybreak.
The resistance soon ceased. Before entering the place Peterborough had
placed a cordon of dragoons in a semicircle round it to prevent any one
passing out.
No time was lost; the carts were already loaded, and a troop of cavalry
horses stood picketed by the guns. These were soon harnessed up, and the
few other horses in the place were seized to prevent any one riding off
with the news. The order was given to the peasants to start their carts,
and in ten minutes after their entering the place the convoy was on its
way with its long row of carts laden with ammunition and its sixteen
guns.
The cordon of dragoons was still left round the town, the officer in
command being ordered to allow no one to pass for an hour and a half,
after which time he was to gallop on with his men to overtake the
convoy, as by that time it would be no longer possible for any one to
carry the news to Las Torres in time for him to put his troops into
motion to cut off the convoy from Valencia. The journey back took much
longer than the advance, for the carts, drawn for the most part by
bullocks, made but slow progress. Three hours after the convoy started
the dragoons left behind overtook them. When within three miles of the
town, they were met by a small party of the enemy's Spanish militia; but
these were at once scattered by a charge of the dragoons, and the convoy
proceeded without further molestation until just at noon it entered the
gates of Valencia, where the astonishment and delight of the inhabitants
at its appearance were unbounded.
In a few hours the cannon were all mounted in position on the ramparts,
adding very much to the defensive power of the town, which was now safe
for a time from any attempt at a siege by Las Torres, whose plans would
be entirely frustrated by the capture of the artillery intended for the
siege.
But Peterborough was not yet contented. The junction of the four
thousand Castilians, of whose approach he had heard, with Las Torres
would raise the force under that general to a point which would enable
him to blockade the town pending the arrival of artillery for siege
works; and no sooner had the earl returned to his quarters, after seeing
the cannon placed upon the walls, than he began his preparations for
another expedition. He ordered Colonel Zinzendorf to march quietly out
of the city at eight o'clock with four hundred of his dragoons, and four
hundred British and as many Spanish infantry were to join him outside
the walls. The colonels of these three bodies were ordered to say
nothing of their intended movement, and to issue no orders until within
half an hour of the time named. At the same hour the rest of the troops
were to march to the walls and form a close cordon round them, so as to
prevent any one from letting himself down by a rope and taking the news
that an expedition was afoot to Las Torres.
At a few minutes past eight, eight hundred foot and four hundred horse
assembled outside the gates, and Peterborough took the command. His
object was to crush the Castilians before they could effect a junction
with Las Torres. In order to do this it would be necessary to pass close
by the Spanish camp, which covered the road by which the reinforcements
were advancing to join them.
In perfect silence the party moved forward and marched to a ford
across the river Xucar, a short distance only below the Spanish camp.
Peterborough rode at their head, having by his side a Spanish gentleman
acquainted with every foot of the country. They forded the river without
being observed, and then, making as wide a circuit as possible round the
camp, came down upon the road without the alarm being given; then they
pushed forward, and after three hours' march came upon the Castilians at
Fuente de la Higuera. The surprise was complete. The Spaniards, knowing
that the Spanish army lay between them and the town, had taken no
precautions, and the British were in possession of the place before they
were aware of their danger.
There was no attempt at resistance beyond a few hasty shots. The
Castilians were sleeping wrapped up in their cloaks around the place,
and on the alarm they leaped up and fled wildly in all directions.
In the darkness great numbers got away, but six hundred were taken
prisoners. An hour was spent in collecting and breaking the arms left
behind by the fugitives, and the force, with their prisoners in their
midst, then started back on their return march. The circuit of the
Spanish camp was made, and the ford passed as successfully as before,
and just as daylight was breaking the little army marched into Valencia.
The news rapidly spread, and the inhabitants hurried into the streets,
unable at first to credit the news that the Castilian army, whose
approach menaced the safety of the town, was destroyed. The movement of
the troops on the previous night to the ramparts and the absence of the
greater part of the officers from the festivities had occasioned
some comment; but as none knew that an expedition had set out, it was
supposed that the earl had received news from his spies that Las Torres
intended to attempt a sudden night attack, and the people would have
doubted the astonishing news they now received had it not been for the
presence of the six hundred Castilian prisoners.
These two serious misadventures caused Las Torres to despair of success
against a town defended by so energetic and enterprising a commander as
Peterborough, and he now turned his thoughts toward the small towns of
Sueca and Alcira. Below these towns and commanded by their guns was the
important bridge of Cullera, by which by far the greater portion of
the supplies for the town was brought in from the country. Las Torres
therefore determined to seize these places, which were distant about
fifteen miles from his camp, and so to straiten the town for provisions.
As usual, Peterborough's spies brought him early intelligence of the
intended movement, and the orders issued by Las Torres were known to the
earl a few hours later. It needed all his activity to be in time. Five
hundred English and six hundred Spanish infantry, and four hundred
horse, were ordered to march with all speed to the threatened towns;
and, pushing on without a halt, the troops reached them half an hour
before the Spanish force appeared on the spot. On finding the two towns
strongly occupied by the British, Las Torres abandoned his intention and
drew off his troops.
A portion of the Spanish army were cantoned in a village only some
two miles from Alcira, and a few days later Peterborough determined to
surprise it, and for that purpose marched out at night from Valencia
with an English force of a thousand men, and reached the spot intended
at daybreak as he had arranged. The Spanish garrison of Alcira, also
about a thousand strong, had orders to sally out and attack the village
at the same hour. The Spaniards also arrived punctually, but just as
they were preparing to burst upon the unconscious enemy, who were four
thousand strong, they happened to come upon a picket of twenty horse. An
unaccountable panic seized them; they broke their ranks and fled in such
utter confusion that many of the terror stricken soldiers killed each
other. The picket aroused the enemy, who quickly fell into their ranks,
and Peterborough, seeing that it would be madness to attack them with
his wearied and unsupported force, reluctantly ordered a retreat, which
he conducted in perfect order and without the loss of a man.
This was Peterborough's only failure; with this exception every one of
his plans had proved successful, and he only failed here from trusting
for once to the cooperation of his wholly unreliable Spanish allies.
After this nothing was done on either side for several weeks.
The campaign had been one of the most extraordinary ever accomplished,
and its success was due in no degree to chance, but solely to the
ability of Peterborough himself. Wild as many of his schemes appeared,
they were always planned with the greatest care. He calculated upon
almost every possible contingency, and prepared for it. He never
intrusted to others that which he could do himself, and he personally
commanded every expedition even of the most petty kind.
His extraordinary physical powers of endurance enabled him to support
fatigue and to carry out adventure, which would have prostrated most
other men. The highest praise, too, is due to the troops, who proved
themselves worthy of such a leader. Their confidence in their chief
inspired them with a valor equal to his own. They bore uncomplainingly
the greatest hardships and fatigues, and engaged unquestioningly
in adventures and exploits against odds which made success appear
absolutely hopeless. The hundred and fifty dragoons who followed the
Earl of Peterborough to the conquest of Valencia deserve a place side by
side with the greatest heroes of antiquity.