The day on which the battle of Alcañiz was fought was celebrated at

Valencia as the anniversary of their insurrection against the intrusive

government. The ceremonies were characteristic of the times and of the

people. The festivities, as usual in Catholic countries, began on the

eve of the holiday; the city was illuminated on the preceding night,

the portraits of Ferdinand and his ally the King of Great Britain were

exhibited under the flags of the allied kingdoms; and the Valencians

displayed their national humour in caricatures of Murat, Buonaparte,

and Joseph. In the morning, the civil authorities, the new-raised

levies, and the city volunteers, went in procession to the Plaza of the

Cathedral, where a statue of Ferdinand had been erected upon a Grecian

column. The statue was concealed behind a silk curtain, so disposed as

to fall in tent-hangings and disclose it, when the Captain General,

D. Joseph Caro, asked the people in their own dialect if they wished

to see their King? At the same moment the music struck up, the bells

were rung, the guns fired, and the shouts of the multitude were heard

prevailing over all. They then proceeded to the Cathedral, where the

banners of the volunteers were blessed by the Archbishop at the high

altar, and afterwards delivered to them at the feet of the statue. The

display was in French taste, but it was sanctified by Spanish feeling.

The Valencians were reminded of their defeats as well as of their

triumphs; they were told that many of their countrymen who had assisted

in driving Moncey from their gates had fallen in the field of Tudela,

or lay buried under the ruins of Zaragoza.

♦CELEBRATION OF KING ST. FERDINAND’S DAY.♦

A week after the ceremony Blake reviewed his army at Caspe, on St.

Ferdinand’s day, which of all festivals in the year the Spaniards

then regarded with most feeling. The Romanists, instead of birthdays,

keep the festival of the saint from whom they take their names; this

therefore was especially sacred to a people who, measuring the virtues

of their captive King by their own loyalty, believed him to be all that

they desired, and all that he ought to have been. They were told by

their government that King St. Ferdinand, who had united in himself all

the virtues of a man, all the talents of a hero, and all the qualities

of a monarch, looked down from the heights of Heaven with complacent

eyes upon the defenders and avengers of one who, as he inherited his

throne and name, so also did he imitate and adore his virtues. An

annual service on this day was appointed to be held in all cathedral

and collegiate churches for evermore in remembrance of the sacred

war against the usurper; and the day following was to be kept as a

perpetual anniversary for the souls of all who fell in it. Blake’s army

had now been increased to 14,000 men: their late conduct had filled him

with what might have seemed a well-founded hope; and their appearance

and discipline were now so satisfactory, that as they filed before him,

he said, a few more such days as that of Alcañiz would open for them

the way to France. There were indeed at that time evident marks that

the French were dispirited: they had been weakened by the withdrawal

of Mortier’s division; and having in this last action for the first

time been beaten by a Spanish force, ♦1809. JUNE.♦ not superior to them

in number, and when the advantage of cavalry was on their side, it was

believed that they were preparing to retire from Zaragoza. Blake was

informed that their papers and baggage were already without the city,

ready to be removed; and that they had actually begun their march

toward Navarre, but returned in consequence of receiving dispatches on

the way. The news of Buonaparte’s failure at Essling arrived at this

time; and when Blake communicated it to the troops in general orders,

he observed that it had taken place on the day when they had defeated

another of his armies at Alcañiz.

♦EXECUTIONS IN BARCELONA.♦

While the hopes of the Spaniards in this quarter had thus been raised

by their own success, by the events in Germany, and by the news from

Portugal, circumstances occurred at Barcelona to heighten their

indignation against the oppressors of their country, and exasperate

♦MAY. 16.♦ the desire of vengeance. In conformity to a scheme

concerted with the inhabitants of that city, Coupigny had sent a body

of troops, who were to be admitted in the night, while the attention

of the garrison should be called off by the cannonade of a Spanish

frigate upon one of the batteries. The ship performed its part, and

the troops approached the gates; but no movement was made to favour

them. The French had obtained sufficient intelligence to put them upon

their guard, and render it impracticable, and several persons were

in consequence arrested. One of these, by name Pou, a doctor of laws

in the university of Cervera, being asked upon his trial before the

military tribunal whether he had not distributed fifty muskets, replied

yes, and that he would do so again if he had an opportunity, as they

were for the defence of his religion, his King, and his country. They

told him this could not be, for religion forbade the shedding of blood,

the King desired no such proceedings, and the country abhorred them:

he replied, that as they neither professed the Catholic religion, nor

acknowledged Ferdinand for King of Spain, nor belonged to that country,

it was to be expected that he and they should differ in opinion. They

asked him to whom the muskets had been distributed: his answer was, to

good and loyal Spaniards, whose names he would never disclose. A young

tradesman, who was tried before the same tribunal for endeavouring to

purchase ammunition for the same purpose, threw back the appellation

of traitor upon Duhesme, saying, “Your Excellency is the traitor, who,

under the cloak of friendship, took possession of our fortresses: I

only bought part of what you plundered from us.” This person, with two

others, was hanged, at the same time that Pou and the Prefect of S.

Cayetano were strangled, the Prefect administering the last offices of

religion at the place of execution to his fellow-sufferers.

These executions occasioned a strong feeling among the Catalans, and

it was heightened by a decree of Duhesme’s against the clergy, who

were at the head, he said, of all the conspiracies for assassinating

the French, and who made their churches and convents so many places

of meeting ♦BLAKE ADVANCES TOWARD ZARAGOZA.♦ for the conspirators.

All such buildings therefore were ordered to be closed at six in the

evening, and not opened till half after five in the morning. If any

person were found in a church or belfry between those hours, or in a

convent if he did not belong to it, he was immediately to be delivered

over to a military commission as a conspirator; and a secret agent

of the police was to be appointed, who was to watch every church and

convent, and be paid at its expense. The indignation of the Spaniards

made them more eager in their hopes and expectations of deliverance;

and the Valencians more especially expressed their confidence of fresh

victories, because of the appearance and temper of the troops who

marched from their city to join the army under Blake. That general’s

head-quarters were at Samper de Calanda, part of his troops being

stationed at Hijar and Puebla de Hijar. Having received intelligence

that a French corps, which was estimated at a third part of the force

under Suchet, had been detached to Carineña, and was committing its

usual excesses in the surrounding country, he formed a plan for

cutting off this corps, and then advancing upon Zaragoza, in the hope

of effecting the deliverance of that city, an exploit which, if it

were achieved, would of all possible successes produce the greatest

impression upon the public mind, not in Spain alone, but throughout

Europe. With this view he directed Areizaga to take post with his

division at Botorrita, while he with the rest of the army proceeded to

Villanueva de la Huerva. The artillery was to move behind Longares,

where it was expected that the enemy would pass on their retreat to

Zaragoza as soon as they knew the Spaniards were in motion. When

Areizaga reached Botorrita, he learned that the greater part of the

French had retired to their main body, about 1500 only remaining at

Puebla de Muel, and these moved off so quickly towards the Xalon, that

it was not possible to cut them off, ... only a convoy which they would

have escorted to Zaragoza was taken by the Spanish advance.

♦SUCHET ATTACKS THE SPANIARDS.♦

As this corps had not fallen back upon the main body, which it might

easily have done, but had passed on toward Alagon, Blake was confirmed

in his opinion that the French did not mean to defend Zaragoza if

it should be attacked. Nevertheless, reflecting that the country in

his rear was entirely open, and considering the general situation of

the Spanish armies, the importance of preserving his own, which was

in so promising a state, and the complicated and hazardous movements

of a retreat, in which he knew how little it could be trusted, he

deemed it by no means advisable to bring on a general action, and

therefore did not alter Areizaga’s position, looking upon Botorrita

as a strong post, where, in case of any reserve, the ♦JUNE 14.♦ enemy

might be detained. When he joined Areizaga there, the troops had

begun to skirmish; this had been brought on by that general’s making

a reconnoissance in considerable strength; and Blake was so well

satisfied with the behaviour of his troops, that he endeavoured to

surround the enemy, but they retired in time. Early on the following

morning Suchet drew out his whole force from Zaragoza to attack him.

The firing began at the advanced posts by five in the morning, and went

on increasing till the same hour in the afternoon, when the French

resolved to break the Spanish line, supposing that the men were weary

and the ammunition spent.

♦BLAKE RETREATS TO BELCHITE.♦

Blake’s advanced guard was at Maria, where the road from Zaragoza to

Madrid crosses the cordillera: the ground between him and the city

consisted of hills and vales, ridge behind ridge. His cavalry was

stationed in the high road, the rest of the line was formed by the

infantry and artillery. The Spaniards, fighting and retreating in good

order, fell back successively from one of these heights to another, but

when they reached the fourth, their cavalry had been worsted. Blake

then thought it necessary to fall back on Botorrita, which he did with

as much order as the nature of the ground would permit. A few guns

were spiked and abandoned; not from necessity, but because it was

more advantageous to fire them to the last than bring them off. The

two armies were near, and in sight of each other, when night closed.

Blake ♦JUNE 16.♦ expected to be attacked the next day; but as the enemy

manifested no such intention, he rightly concluded that they were

manœuvring either with a view to surround him, or to threaten his rear.

Accordingly he ascertained that 3000 French were posted at Torrecilla.

About two hours before nightfall a brisk fire was opened upon his left,

with the intent of making him change his position, in which case his

rear would have been exposed to this detachment. But the attack was

repulsed, as was a second which the enemy made upon the centre a little

before midnight. The Spanish general then retreated to Belchite in

perfect order, which he did without being molested. The next day the

enemy came again in sight, and Blake, who had hitherto had no reason

to distrust his troops, took a position in full expectation of being

attacked on the morrow, and in good hope of repelling the enemy as

completely as he had done before Alcañiz.

♦FLIGHT OF THE SPANIARDS.♦

Belchite, once the capital of a petty Moorish sovereignty, stands upon

the slope of some bending hills, which almost surround it: toward

Zaragoza the country is level, covered with gardens and olive-yards.

The position which Blake had taken was singularly advantageous; his

right was completely safe from the enemy’s cavalry, and protected by

a chapel, with a number of outbuildings and two large sheep-folds,

which were all pierced for musketry: to attack the centre, the enemy’s

horse must be exposed to a tremendous cross fire, and the left had

their retreat upon the strong post which was occupied by the other

wing. Blake’s arrangement was so made, that if the enemy, as he

expected, should make a great effort on his left, three columns might

be brought to attack them on that side; and if unsuccessful, they could

have fallen back upon the centre and the right flank, being meantime

assailable only in front, and protected the while by their artillery,

which also had its retreat secure to the same strong ♦JUNE 18.♦ post.

He had harangued his troops, and they made a thousand protestations

that they would do their duty. The attack was made, as he had expected,

on the left; four or five shot were fired on both sides, and the French

threw a few shells, which wounded four or five men. But upon one shell

falling into the middle of a regiment, the men were seized with a

sudden panic and fled; the panic instantly spread, ... a second and a

third regiment ran away without firing a gun, and in a few minutes the

generals were left with none but a few officers in the midst of the

position. With all their efforts they could not rally more than two

hundred men, and nothing was left for them but to make for the nearest

strong place, leaving artillery, baggage, and every thing to the enemy.

The defeat was in all its circumstances so thoroughly disgraceful, ...

so disheartening and hopeless in its consequences, that Blake almost

♦BLAKE OFFERS HIS RESIGNATION, WHICH IS NOT ACCEPTED.♦ sunk under it.

He told the government that he was incapable of entering into details,

but considered it due to the nation that a judicial inquiry should be

instituted into the conduct of a general under whose command an army

of from 13,000 to 14,000 effective men had been utterly routed and

dispersed. “He knew that he had not been culpable,” he said, “but after

so many proofs of his unhappy fortune, he wished not to be employed any

longer in command. As a Spaniard and a soldier he was still ready to

serve his country in an inferior station, and he requested only that

some portion of his present pay might be continued for the support

of his family, or a part of the _Encomienda_ which had recently been

conferred upon him, but which it was not fitting that so useless a

person should retain. The government, however, neither accepted his

proffered resignation, nor instituted any inquiry. The former would

have been unjust towards a brave and honourable officer whose conduct

was unimpeachable, and his character above suspicion; the latter must

have been altogether nugatory. The panic had been instantaneous and

general, and it was impossible to punish a whole army. All that could

be done was to publish the whole details, in no degree attempting to

disguise or palliate the injury and disgrace which had been brought on

the nation: to declare that the commander-in-chief and the generals

had done their duty, and retained the full confidence of the country,

and to brand the fugitives in a body, as men who were the opprobrium of

the Spanish name, and had rendered themselves objects of execration to

their countrymen.

The men who in their panic had thus lost all use of reason, as well

as all sense of honour and of duty, were not likely, when they found

themselves in safety, and recovered their senses, to be affected

by this denunciation. A religion which is contented to accept the

slightest degree of attrition, and keeps short reckonings with

conscience, had taught them to be upon easy terms with themselves;

... moreover the moral disease was so endemic, that it had ceased to

be disgraceful: the greater part of these men had behaved well at

Alcañiz and in the subsequent operations; and no doubt expected to

be more fortunate on a better occasion, for a report was raised that

the French had received so great a reinforcement at the moment of

commencing the action as to render resistance hopeless; and though

this was indignantly contradicted by Blake, the men found an excuse

for themselves in believing it. The disgrace was deeply felt by the

government, and by the general whose hopes were blasted by it in the

blossom; but the Spaniards were in no degree disheartened, not even

those upon whom it brought immediate danger; and when the French, in

the course of a few days, attempted to carry Mequinenza by a _coup de

main_, they were beaten off with considerable loss.

♦COMMENCEMENT OF THE GUERILLAS.♦

At this time also that system of warfare began which soon extended

throughout Spain, and occasioned greater losses to the French than

they suffered in all their pitched battles. The first adventurers who

attracted notice by collecting stragglers from their own dispersed

armies, deserters from the enemy, and men who, made desperate by the

ruin of their private affairs in the general wreck, were ready for

any service in which they could at the same time gratify their just

vengeance and find subsistence, were ♦PORLIER.♦ Juan Diaz Porlier in

Asturias, and Juan Martin Diaz in Old Castille, the latter better

known ♦THE EMPECINADO.♦ by his appellation of the[23] Empecinado.

A lawyer, by name Gil, commenced the same course in the Pyrenean

valleys of Navarre and Aragon. After a short career of some two months

he disappeared, and Egoaguerra, who renewed the attempt, withdrew

from that wilder way of life to engage in Doyle’s battalion. The

third adventurer who at this time raised the spirits of the Pyrenean

provinces, and for a while gave employment to the French in Navarre,

was that D. Mariano de Renovales by whom the Convent of S. Joseph

had been so gallantly defended ♦1809. MAY.♦ at the last siege of

Zaragoza. Having been ♦RENOVALES IN THE VALLEY OF RONCAL.♦ made

prisoner when the city surrendered, he had effected his escape on the

way to France, and collected in the valleys of Roncal and Anso a body

of men and officers, who, like himself, believed that the scandalous

manner in which the terms of capitulation had been violated by the

French released them from any obligation of observing it. They had

probably agreed to rendezvous in these valleys as many of them as could

escape, and his intention was to form them into a body, and rejoin

the army. But when it was known that they were collecting there, and

that the mountaineers, confiding in their presence, refused obedience

to the intrusive government, 600 men were ordered from the garrison

of Pamplona to enter the valleys at six points, and reduce them to

subjection.

♦HE DEFEATS A FRENCH DETACHMENT.

MAY 21.♦

Men who, like Renovales and his officers, had served at Zaragoza,

were neither to be lightly surprised nor easily taken. They were upon

the alert, the mountaineers were ready for their assailants, and

of the column which advanced against the little town of Anso not a

man escaped. The four columns which entered by Navasques, Uztarroz,

Salvatierra, and Fago, effected their junction; but the movements of

the Spaniards were concerted and executed with as much precision; and

after two days’ fighting the French were driven to the foot of a high

rock called Undari, where all that survived, seventy-eight in number,

with their commander, the chef de bataillon, Puisalis, were taken

prisoners: ♦1809. JUNE.♦ the sixth column was not engaged, forty men

having deserted from it before they entered the valleys; the others

thought it imprudent to proceed, and thus they were preserved from

suffering a like fate with their companions. Puisalis, being severely

wounded, was lodged by Renovales in his own quarters, and treated with

the utmost care. The other prisoners were sent with a guard of forty

men to be delivered to General Blake, but the ruffian, Buruchuri by

name, who had charge of the escort, when he had advanced far enough to

be under no control, massacred them all; ... a crime which he appears

to have committed with impunity. Puisalis was more fortunate; as soon

as his wounds were healed, he was sent with five other prisoners to

Blake, and reaching him a little before the rout at Belchite, recovered

his liberty at that time.

♦A SECOND PARTY DEFEATED.♦

This intelligence cheered the Aragonese and the Catalans after that

most disgraceful dispersion, and both Lazan and Blake took measures

for assisting and encouraging the mountaineers. Ammunition was sent

from Lerida; Renovales himself was indefatigable in his exertions: he

collected arms from all the villages within reach, sent for armourers

from Eybar and Placencia, and set up an armoury in Roncal. A second

force was dispatched to crush the growing insurrection. The valley

of Roncal was the part which they attacked; the Spaniards were driven

♦JUNE 15.♦ from the point of Yso, where their advance was stationed;

but Renovales arrived in time with 200 men of the vale, and as many

more from that of Anso; he drove the enemy out, and pursued them as

far as Lumbier, with the loss of more than forty killed; and twice

that number of wounded were removed on the following day to Pamplona.

This second defeat had so weakened the garrison of that city, that the

Spaniards now cut off their communication both with Aragon and with

France; they scoured the roads in all directions; not a day passed in

which some party of the invaders, who hitherto had travelled in safety

in those parts, was not intercepted and cut off, and sometimes the

enemy were pursued to the very gates.

♦PROCLAMATION OF THE DUQUE DE MAHON.♦

The Duque de Mahon, one of those traitors to their country who had

sided with the Intruder, in full confidence that they were taking

the safe part, was at that time Viceroy of Navarre: and he addressed

a proclamation to the inhabitants of Roncal, affecting to believe

that they had taken no share in the insurrection; calling upon them

to unite with the French troops for the purpose of apprehending and

punishing the disturbers of the peace; and assuring them that the

present struggle was excited solely by the personal resentment of

certain individuals, whose interests were opposed to those of the

nation, of the clergy, and of the nobles. If they should be seduced

by these deceivers, the result could only be, the loss, if not of

their lives, yet certainly of their liberty, and of that happiness

which they had hitherto enjoyed. But, on the contrary, if they proved

themselves worthy of the King’s favour, by their obedience to his

government and their cordiality with the allied French troops, it was

his intention and that of the French commandant at Pamplona, General

D’Agoult, to represent their good behaviour to the throne; that when

the arms of the Emperor, now victorious at Vienna and throughout all

Italy, should expel the enemies of public order from Spain, they might

partake in the benefits which were to be expected from so wise and

humane a prince. This proclamation was answered by Renovales with

the bitterest ♦JUNE 28.♦ scorn. He addressed the viceroy as Ex-Duque

de Mahon, telling him, if he disliked that style, that the person

who used it was a Spaniard, and one who respected the orders of his

sovereign; which sovereign, acting through the Supreme Central Junta,

had proscribed him as a traitor, and therefore he had now no title.

He reproached him with ingratitude towards the house of Bourbon, with

disgracing his ancestors, with sacrificing his religion, his king,

his country, and his honour. He told him that the people of Roncal,

like those of Anso, were attached to their own institutions, and true

to their lawful king; that they had fought for him with a spirit

like that of their ancestors; that the magistracy had encouraged the

enthusiasm of the people; and that he, unworthy as he was, had enjoyed

the honour of leading them to victory. They despised his favour, and

they despised his threats; and if he would march out at the head of

a French division, and fix time and place where the question between

them might be put to the decision of the sword, he, Renovales, would

meet him there, a true Spaniard in the cause of a rightful though an

oppressed king, against a false one in the cause of a potentate whom

his followers impiously called almighty; and if the Ex-Duque would

appoint this meeting, that almightiness should be tried.

♦EXECUTIONS AND REPRISALS.♦

Five persons who were charged with having joined the insurgents of

Roncal were put to death at Pamplona upon the Intruder’s law of

extermination against all who should take arms against him. The gallows

was erected without the gate of S. Nicholas, and the sufferers were

executed with their faces toward Roncal, and left hanging there. The

proclamation which announced their punishment, declared, that for

every person, whether soldier or countryman, who should be murdered

by the banditti, a prisoner who had belonged to them should be put to

death. This was answered by an act of retaliation. Renovales seized

five persons who were acting under the intrusive government, beheaded

them, and exposed their bodies on the high road, with an inscription

on their shoulders, saying they were agents of the French robbers,

who had been thus punished by Spanish justice. He declared, that, for

every Spaniard whom the French should put to death, he would behead

two French prisoners; and that if the commandant of Jaca continued to

plunder the people and the churches, and burn the houses, as he had

begun, he would, for every house that should be burnt, set a village on

fire on the French side of the Pyrenees, instead of promoting peace and

friendly intercourse, as he had hitherto done, between the peasants on

the frontier.

♦ATTEMPTS TO WIN OVER RENOVALES.♦

General D’Agoult tried what might be done with Renovales by

conciliatory means. He thanked him for his treatment of Puisalis, and

of those prisoners whom Buruchuri had butchered; a crime of which he

entirely acquitted the Spanish officer. He applied to him now, he

said, by General Suchet’s orders; and joined his own entreaties to

that General’s offers. First he requested him to send back twenty-five

artillerymen who had been captured by his people on the road from

Tafalla, and who he understood were well treated. Renovales, he

observed, owed him this in consideration of the manner in which his

prisoners were used, though more than six and thirty officers had

broken their parole, beginning with the Camp-Marshal Villava. After

experiencing every kindness, he had found means to escape by a bribe

of 4000 livres, and was said to be now in ♦1809 AUGUST.♦ Roncal, having

thus dishonoured himself. If Renovales also had broken his word by

escaping when he was a prisoner of war, there had been something in

his conduct which justified it; and if he would now pacificate Roncal

and the valleys of Aragon, and restore order there, he would entitle

himself to esteem and to the King’s favour. “You are supporting a

chimera,” said the French commander; “your troops are routed on all

sides. You reckon upon the English. I know them better than you do;

and if you desire the good of your country, take the advice of an old

soldier, who went through the Revolution as a royalist, and joined the

present government when he saw that the only man capable of supporting

it had appeared. You are in a like position. The Bourbons exist no

longer upon the throne. The Emperor and his family have superseded

them. Let us be his faithful friends and allies, and render our country

happy, instead of contributing to its ruin.”

Renovales answered, the artillerymen were his prisoners, thought

themselves fortunate in being so, and would have entered among the

troops if he would have allowed them. Villava was not in Roncal, nor

in the district under his command; wherever he was, he would be able

to answer for his own conduct in making his escape. “If I did the

same,” said he, “on the way to Pamplona, it was because the French had

violated a solemn capitulation. I was the first person whom General

Morlot, in contempt both of his word and honour, and in breach of the

terms, plundered of horse and baggage; and if a French general may be

allowed thus to disregard so sacred a right, I know not why a Spanish

prisoner should be withheld from attempting to escape. Wonder not at

seeing me at the head of the Spaniards, since I have seen General Junot

in Zaragoza at the head of the French, after his[24] capitulation in

Portugal.” To all the offers which were held out to him, he replied,

that he was and would continue true to his legitimate King, whose

faithful subjects would freely shed their blood in his cause, and would

yet reverse the scene, and re-establish him upon his rightful throne.

“I know,” said he, “that your Excellency feels the injustice of the

cause which France is supporting; ... that you hear the voice of honour

in your heart, and that you know what is the right path.” General

Plique, commander of the citadel at Zaragoza, endeavoured also to bring

over Renovales to the Intruder’s service, representing to him that the

Austrian army was destroyed, that Russia had given the most public

proofs of its connexion with France, and that the French had obtained

a most decisive victory[25] in S. Domingo. No efforts, no combination

of events could now prevent the complete establishment of King Joseph.

The blow which had ruined Austria had destroyed all the hopes of the

Spaniards. “Insurrection,” said the Frenchman, imitating the style of

his Emperor, “insurrection passes away; madness rages and destroys, and

then becomes calm; the good alone is permanent. Secure for yourself

the glory and the delight of saving a country which ought to be dear

to you; join the cause of a good King, who desires not, by a terrible

and necessary execution, to reign over ruins and carcasses; and I am

authorized to offer you the rank in his armies which you hold among the

insurgents.”

♦TROOPS SENT FROM ZARAGOZA AGAINST THE VALLEYS.♦

The answer was such as became a man who had done his duty at Zaragoza.

“Till the moral strength of the Spaniards and of their government

were destroyed,” he said, “it was in vain to think of ruining their

armies. Neither the supposed victories upon the Danube and in S.

Domingo, nor the adhesion of the Emperor Alexander, nor the immense

forces which were said to be at Napoleon’s command, would break the

spirit of Spain or of England, actuated as those countries were by

principles of justice and high-minded rectitude.” The hope of seducing

Renovales being now no longer entertained, 5000 men were sent against

him from Zaragoza; 2000 of these, being reinforced with 500 more at

Jaca, proceeded against S. Juan de la Peña; and having, after a long

resistance, driven D. Miguel Sarasa from that post, advanced ♦AUG.

21.♦ upon the valley of Anso. Plique, with the other 3000, occupied

the positions of Salvatierra, Castella Nuevo, and Navascues: 800 from

Orbayceta and Pamplona united in the valley of Salazar, and 450 from

Lumbier at Zavalza. Their numbers enabled them to move upon more

points than the Spaniards could ♦AUG. 27.♦ guard; and having entered

Salvatierra, where the advanced parties were driven before them,

they proceeded next day in four columns, two on the right attacking

the heights of Sasi and Virgen de la Peña, the centre by the strait

called La Foz, and the left by the heights of Mayhia, which divide the

jurisdictions of Salvatierra, Navascues, and Burgui. These positions

were attacked by 3000 men, and defended only by 600; they were

maintained from six in the morning till two hours after mid-day; the

French then on the right gained the height at Sasi; and this success

would have enabled them to come upon the rear of the Spaniards at the

other point. Renovales therefore fell back to the bridge and town of

Burgui, from which he was compelled to withdraw as evening began to

close, and the enemy then entered and set fire to it. The town of Anso

was entered the same day by the first division of the French, after a

brave resistance.

♦AUG. 29. RENOVALES CAPITULATES FOR THE VALLEYS.♦

From Burgui, on the following morning, the French in three divisions

attacked the Spaniards, the right and left on the heights of Mendivelza

and Odieta, the centre upon Bochuela. At all these points they were

three times repulsed, some Russian deserters distinguishing themselves

greatly on the Spanish side. The mountaineers thought the day their

own, till, at noon, they were apprised that the French division from

Anso was coming by Garde upon their rear, and already occupied the

heights of Puyeta and Muga de Roncal. Renovales then fell back in good

order upon the town of Roncal, took up a position there, and maintained

it till evening closed. But as the ground there was open enough to give

the enemy room for manœuvring, he fell back to the strong ground about

Urzainqui, the position where he had before determined that in case

of necessity the last stand was to be made. During the night, he was

apprised that 4000 men were marching from Oloron upon those valleys,

and 800 by way of Salazar. Many of his people had dispersed; those who

remained were well nigh exhausted; ... but he was enabled to demand

terms, and capitulate for the valleys, as for a fortified town, in a

manner of which there had been no other example during the war, and to

withdraw with those who chose to follow him, for other opportunities of

serving their country; ... more fortunate their future services might

be; they could not be more honourable.

The French are said to have lost 500 killed and 800 wounded in these

latter actions, and this by their own account. Among the Spanish

officers who distinguished themselves were D. Miguel Sarasa, and D.

Gregorio Cruchaga, names soon connected with that of Mina, which now

first began to be known.

♦XAVIER MINA.♦

Xavier Mina[26], the son of a landholder who cultivated his own estate,

and was deputy for one of the valleys of Navarre, was a student at

Pamplona when the revolution began. He was then in the eighteenth year

of his age, and during the earlier part of the war had been confined

to his father’s house by a severe illness, from which he recovered

just after Renovales had been compelled to withdraw from Roncal. A

French commander, whose corps was encamped in the neighbourhood, sent

a serjeant requiring the father in his capacity as deputy to provide

rations for his[27] men. The serjeant disappeared on the road, and

in consequence the house was surrounded at midnight by a detachment

of infantry, who had orders to arrest the elder Mina, and bring

him to head quarters. The son, however, had time enough to secure

his father’s escape, and then in his name presented himself to the

officer. The French General before whom he was carried threatened him

with death, unless the serjeant were produced; but as every thing in

that quarter was to be arranged by means of money, Mina obtained his

liberty after being detained three days. The party who arrested him had

plundered his father’s house. This usage, the danger he had escaped,

and the injustice of the whole proceeding, roused into full action

those feelings which had only been suspended by disease and languor.

He provided himself with a musket and cartridge-box, and in that trim

presented himself in his own village, and offered to take the command

of as many Spaniards as would engage with him in the good work of

avenging their country upon its invaders. Twelve adventurers joined

him; they took to the near mountains, and there, while they waited an

opportunity of action, maintained themselves on his father’s sheep.

His first adventure was to surprise a party of seven artillerymen, who

were escorting two pieces of cannon and a quantity of ammunition from

Zaragoza to Pamplona. This success procured him twenty volunteers.

He sent off his prisoners to Lerida, retired again to the mountains,

and being informed that a general officer was on the road, travelling

with an escort of thirty-four foot and twelve horsemen, he laid an

ambuscade for them, in so favourable a spot, that a volley was fired

upon the French with sure effect before they had any apprehension

of danger. The general was shot in his carriage, some of the escort

were made prisoners, and some money fell into Mina’s hands. This he

immediately distributed among his men, recommending them to send part

of it to their families, and retain no more than would be necessary

to defray the expenses of their own interment, exposed as they must

now continually be to death. The men were thus raised in their own

esteem and in that of their countrymen where-ever this was told; and

volunteers now presented themselves in abundance, attracted by a

success which was reported every where, with such exaggerations as

such tales gather in their way. He received however none but those who

brought arms, or whom he could supply with the spoils already taken

from the enemy. His party amounted now to about threescore persons,

distinguished by a red riband in their hats, and a red collar to their

jackets.

He proceeded now toward the frontiers of Aragon, where a band of fifty

robbers were adding to the miseries of that afflicted country. These he

succeeded in surprising; the greater number were killed on the spot,

the rest he sent prisoners to Tarragona. Twelve horses were taken from

the party, on which he mounted some of his men, and armed them with

lances; ♦1809. SEPTEMBER.♦ and every day added now to his numbers

and his reputation. Rations were voluntarily provided for his people

wherever they were expected, and given as freely at one time, as they

were paid for at another from the spoils of the enemy. He levied a duty

on the passes, where a considerable trade in colonial produce was then

carried on; the clergy also assisted him from their funds, and with

these resources he paid and equipped his men, and kept in pay also a

sufficient number of intelligencers. It was in vain that the French

made repeated efforts to crush this enterprising enemy; if his troops

dispersed upon the appearance or the attack of a formidable detachment,

it was only to reunite, and by striking a blow in some weak point or

distant quarter, render themselves more formidable than before. General

D’Agoult was accused of secretly favouring this young adventurer, and

sending convoys under weak escort, with the intent that he should

intercept them. Perhaps this suspicion was entertained only because

♦TWO MINAS, P. 16.♦ he had been a royalist, and therefore may have

been supposed to abhor at heart the service wherein he was engaged. An

inquiry into his conduct was instituted, and before it was concluded he

put an end to his life by poison.

♦SIEGE OF GERONA COMMENCED.♦

St. Cyr meantime was informed that Marshal Augereau had been appointed

to supersede him in Catalonia, and that General Verdier, who had been

an old aide-de-camp of Augereau, had already arrived in the Ampurdan to

take the command in place of General Reille, and commence the siege

of Gerona. The rout at Belchite enabled the enemy to make all their

preliminary movements with little other molestation than what the

insufficient garrison of that city could give them; and when Verdier

encamped before the place, St. Cyr removed from Vich, and took up a

position to cover the siege.

END OF VOL. III.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFRIARS.

FOOTNOTES

[1] St. Cyr (p. 50) reproaches the English for this, and says,

‘_Nous n’avions jamais espéré prendre à la vue, et sous le canon de

l’escadre, une garnison forte encore d’environ 3000 hommes. Il aurait

été possible aux Anglais, en plein jour, et sur-tout facile durant

la nuit, d’embarquer la garnison, et de la transporter, en quelques

heures, sur la rive droite de la Fluvia, en laissant seulement un

faible detachement pour remettre la forteresse; comme cela s’était

pratiqué, en Février, 1795, quand une escadre Espagnole occupait la

baie._’ But in that siege the enemy were not masters of the town, and

they had now established a battery in it to cut off the communication

between the citadel and the ships, which was done so effectually, that

five days before the surrender Captain Bennett found it impossible to

land a single messenger there. M. St. Cyr adds, that when the prisoners

defiled along the shore the English ships opened a brisk fire upon

them, and that the Spaniards would never be persuaded that this was

done in mistake. The Marshal was not upon the spot himself; if he had,

this statement would not have appeared in his Journal.

[2] The officers were so aware of their danger, that Cabañes heard

one of the staff say they should certainly have believed it was their

General’s intention to betray them to the enemy, ... if they had

not had the most entire confidence in him. It seems indeed probable

that Buonaparte, not foreseeing what the consequences of a defeat in

Catalonia would be, would have thought the disgrace or destruction of a

general whom he disliked a compensation for the loss of this army.

General Duhesme perished in the flight from Waterloo: the stain of his

blood was pointed out to me on the threshold of the inn at Genap, where

he was cut down by a Brunswicker.

[3] M. Gouvion St. Cyr, who renders justice in other respects to

General Reding, represents him as full of confidence at this time, and

dreaming of a second affair of Baylen. It is upon the most indisputable

authority, confirmed too by his own dispatches, that I have delineated

his state of mind so differently.

[4] Baron Rogniat also in his relation of the siege says, _le Maréchal

exigea que la ville se rendît à discretion_ (p. 44), and omits to say

that terms of capitulation were required and granted. Baron Rogniat

declares that one of his motives for publishing this relation, which

he was not permitted to do during the reign of Buonaparte, was to

celebrate the glory of his comrades. For a man of honour and humanity

to have been in the course of military service involuntarily engaged in

effecting such a conquest, would be the greatest of all misfortunes;

but to look back upon it with complacency, and record it as glorious,

is a crime.

[5] The veracious historian of Marshal Soult asserts that Romana had

compelled the Bishop to withdraw, knowing how much the example of his

submission would influence the Galicians; as if he thought that to

make a man sacrifice any thing to a sense of patriotism and of duty

compulsion was necessary! and as if he were utterly ignorant of the

part which that excellent Prelate sustained throughout these troubles.

See vol. i. p. 409, for the character of the man who is thus traduced.

[6] Marshal Soult’s historian represents this affair as of great

importance, because it removed the impression which their failure

in crossing the Minho had made upon the army. What is more curious,

he finds in it a justification for their invasion of Portugal! _Les

Portugais avaient fait trois lieues sur les terres d’Espagne pour

venir attaquer l’armée Française engagée avec les Espagnols, mouvement

hostile concerté avec la Romana pour faciliter sa retraite, et qui

justifiait l’entrée que nous allions faire en Portugal._--P. 106.

If any thing can be more detestable than the avowed and exultant

profligacy of these men during their season of triumph, it is the

manner in which they have afterwards attempted to gloze over actions

which public opinion (and still more the event) has made them feel are

too nefarious to be openly defended.

[7] Marshal Soult’s historian expresses himself upon this subject in a

manner altogether worthy of such a writer: “_Le Français, si passionné

pour la beauté, sacrifia ses plaisirs à l’honneur de protéger les

femmes qui réclamèrent son appui._”

I believe that no other portion of history was ever so entirely and

audaciously falsified as that of the peninsular war has been by the

French. This writer asserts that few days have been so brilliant for

the French arms as that on which Porto was taken; that they were

astonished at their own success when they saw how many obstacles they

had overcome; for that _des officiers du genie Portugais et Anglais

s’étaient occupés à reunir à l’avantage de la position, tout ce que

l’art a inventé pour la defense d’un camp_; and that these formidable

works were manned by 70,000 men determined to defend them to the last

extremity. Pp. 159–60–77.

There is another statement of this writer’s which deserves notice.

He says that the former campaign in Portugal had been distinguished

by cruelties on the part of the inhabitants (p. 56); and that in the

present “_pour_ _animer le peuple contre les Français, on avait répandu

les bruits les plus absurdes. La haine les peignait aux yeux de la

superstition et de la crédulité, comme des hérétiques qui foulaient

aux pieds tous les principes religieux, commes des barbares qui au

mépris des lois divines et humaines, dévoraient les enfans, livraient

le sexe à tous les outrages, et envoyaient les hommes dans le nord pour

renforcer leurs armées._”--(P. 119.) The charges against which this

contemptuous indignation is affected are true to the very letter, with

the exception of that of eating the children, which, be it remembered,

was never made. They did not _eat_ children; ... they only butchered

them sometimes, and sometimes (as will be shown hereafter) let them die

of hunger before their eyes.

[8] The matter is of more importance than may be immediately perceived

by a protestant. For more than three of these nails are shown as relics

in different churches; and, therefore, if only three, according to the

prevailing opinion, were used, the fourth must be spurious, and thus,

as all cannot be genuine, a doubt would be cast upon the authenticity

of each.

[9] This is the substance of a declaration upon oath by one of the

eye-witnesses.

[10] It is said that there were some articles of very great value in

the baggage, particularly some jewels of which General Lahoussaye had

possessed himself at the Escurial, and which Chalot was supposed to

have secreted.--Campaign of 1809, p. 20.

[11] _Que la perdida de la batalla nada importaba._ The French used to

say that the best General in Spain was the General _no importa_.

[12] When Clarkson wanted evidence respecting the manner in which

slaves were obtained up the rivers Calabar and Bonny, he heard, by

accident, that there was one person who could give it, but he neither

could obtain his name, nor learn the place of his abode: ... all that

was known was, that he belonged to some ship of war in ordinary. That

indefatigable and admirable man immediately set out in search of him:

he went on board every ship in ordinary at Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham,

and Sheerness, ... above an hundred and sixty vessels, ... but in vain.

He boarded above an hundred more at Portsmouth, equally in vain, and

fifty-six at Plymouth, with as little success. In the fifty-seventh he

found his man, after a labour of three weeks; obtained the knowledge

which he wanted; and established by that evidence a point of main

importance to the abolition of the slave trade.

[13] While the Americans carried over ready-built houses for sale; and

the French sent a frigate, by which the _Grand Monarque_ expressed his

condolence for what had happened, and requested to know if he could be

of any use.

[14] M. de Naylies says (p. 120), _J’ai vu compromettre le salut d’une

troupe, pour sauver le fruit des concussions et du pillage_.

[15] It is curious to observe in how many points this secret society

resembled the system of the monastic orders. The person who was

admitted to the higher grades changed his name, and was bound to keep

a journal of all his actions, that the _Censeur_ might at any time

see what his moral conduct had been in all its details. _L’homme

qui y était admis cessait d’être autre chose, au moins quant à ceux

de ses devoirs particuliers qui auraient contrarié les devoirs

de l’institution. Il sortait de la société générale pour devenir

l’instrument aveugle de la société spéciale à laquelle il s’était

dévoué, et cet engagement étendait son obligation bien au-delà de

l’obligation de la vie. On ne crut pas pouvoir isoler le Philadelphe

de ce grade par trop de moyens divers; et le seul de ces moyens que je

puisse écrire fut l’abnégation de nom. Il fallait un nouveau baptême

pour un dévouement de sang. L’influence de ces noms était si puissante,

qu’elle s’étendait visiblement sur la vie privée. Caton, Themistocles,

et Cassius sont morts par le suicide comme leurs patrons._--Hist. des

Sociétés Secrètes de l’Armée, pp. 36–8.

The author of this singular history (who is no common writer) has a

very proper note upon this part of the statement. _Il y a quelque chose

d’effrayante dans cette idée, qui jette un homme hors de toute la

société, et qui le depouille, jusqu’à un certain point, non-seulement

de son existence civile, mais encore de son propre caractère, et de

son identité morale, pour le modeler sur la vie d’un autre. Il ne me

serait pas difficile de donner des exemples très-remarquables de la

singulière influence que cette métamorphose exerçait sur l’esprit

ardent de quelques adeptes, dans lesquels on voyait s’opérer une

véritable métempsycose historique. Mais il est naturel de conclure

aussi, de ces simples aperçus, qu’une institution pareille entraînerait

quelques inconvénients dans l’état ordinaire et naturel de la société.

Tout ce que tend à isoler les citoyens de l’ordre des choses dans

lequel le hasard de leur naissance les a placés, pour les transporter

dans un ordre factice et idéal, ne saurait être évité avec trop de

soin._--Hist. des Soc. Sec. &c., p. 180.

The founder and chief of the Philadelphes was Colonel Jacques Joseph

Oudet, a native of the Jura, ... _homme de vingt-cinq ans, ivre de

jeunesse, fou de plaisir, inconsequent dans ses manières,_ _frivole

dans ses goûts, créature légère, inconstante, mobile, qui paraissait ne

devoir exciter d’autres soupçons que ceux d’un père sage ou d’un mari

defiant, et qui tenait d’une main le fil des intrigues les plus vaines,

et de l’autre celui des conjurations les plus serieuses._--(P. 33.)

The description of this person is so characteristic, that no language

except its own could do justice to it. _La nature, en le formant,

le destinait à tout ce qu’il y a de bon et de beau. Il aurait été à

son choix poète, orateur, tacticien, magistrat: l’armée entière l’a

proclamé brave; personne ne l’a égalé en éloquence; il faudrait l’âme

d’une ange pour se faire une idée de sa bonté, si on ne l’avait pas

connu. Jamais on n’a rassemblé des qualités si contrastées et cependant

si naturelles; il avait la naïveté d’un enfant, et l’aisance d’un homme

du monde; de l’abandon comme une jeune fille sensible, de la fermeté

comme un vieux Romain: de la candeur et de l’héroïsme. C’était le

plus actif, et le plus insouciant des hommes; paresseux avec délices,

infatigable dans ses entreprises, immuable dans ses resolutions;

doux et sévère, folâtre et sérieux, tendre et terrible, Alcibiade et

Marcus_.--(P. 13.) _Oudet aimait les femmes avec fureur, les aimait

toutes, les trompait toutes, et n’en abandonnait aucune de pensée, de

souvenir, d’affection. Son cœur était devenu un abime de tendresse,

où se fondaient les sentimens les plus contradictoires. Il n’y avait

pas un moment de sa vie où l’on ne pût lui tirer des larmes pour la

première femme qu’il avait trahie; pas un où il ne méditât, peut-être

malgré lui, d’en séduire une autre. Il était né Werther, et le monde

l’avait fait Lovelace._--(P. 17.)

The writer more than insinuates that Oudet, who was killed on the

night after the battle of Wagram, fell, not by the Austrians, but by a

premeditated act of Buonaparte. The fact is likely, and the fate not

an unfitting one, ... where life was the stake, and the game Catch who

can. _Ses funerailles resemblerent à celles d’Othon_, for some of his

fellow-soldiers killed themselves.

But the most extraordinary part of the book is its brave assertion that

the army never was the passive instrument of Buonaparte (which indeed

in one sense is true, for it was always an active one); that it always

detested his tyranny, and was the only body which restrained it; that

the love of liberty and of legitimate rights always was cherished in

it; and that the restoration of the Bourbons was owing to it: _Je ne

sortirai pas de cette question sans rappeler que c’est encore à l’armée

que le bienfait de la restauration est dû, puisqu’elle l’a appelée par

ses vœux, secondée par ses efforts, par le concours des supérieurs,

par le bon esprit des soldats, et quelle l’aurait opérée d’elle-même

quelques jours plus tard. Il n’y à pas un officier Français qui en

doute._--(P. 43.)

[16] He was sent to England, and there with commendable humanity

provided for by the Government; but soon venturing over to France

for the purpose of bringing back his wife and children, he was

apprehended, and shot. Nothing could be drawn from him to criminate

any of his confederates, but he affirmed that Marshal Soult was

engaged in the design; and this he had determined to do in case he

should be discovered. It cannot be doubted that the intentions of

this unfortunate officer were good; and that he was a man of good and

generous feelings was proved both by his conduct at Porto, and by the

motive which induced him to venture into his own country, under the

certainty of being put to death if he should be recognized there. And

yet he made a false accusation, and persisted in it at his death. The

best and purest intentions will not preserve a man from guilt, if

he engages in one of those secret societies where he is required to

deliver his conscience out of his own keeping.

[17] The historian of Marshal Soult’s campaigns in 1809 describes

Romana’s _land journey_ from the Asturias (p. 276) with a precision

worthy of notice ... because it shows what credit is due to such a

writer. My statement is taken from Romana’s own letters.

[18] The writer of Marshal Soult’s campaigns loses no opportunity of

displaying this temper. According to him (p. 290) Marshal Ney concealed

the fact of his defeat at S. Payo, and assured Soult that he found the

position of the enemy too strong to think of attempting it. He has so

represented this as to conceal the fact himself, his book not giving

the slightest intimation of an action that effected the deliverance of

Galicia.

[19] What he saw erected was a wooden model of what was afterwards to

be executed in marble, with this inscription:

A LA GLORIA

DEL

EX^{MO}. S^{R}. D. JUAN MOORE, GEN^{L}. DEL EX^{TO}. INGLES,

Y A LA DE SUS VALIENTES COMPATRIOTAS

LA

ESPANA AGRADECIDA.

On the other side:

BATALLA DE CORUÑA A 18 DE ENERO,

ANO 1809.

Marshal Soult also ordered the following inscription to be engraved

upon a rock near the spot where Sir John Moore fell:

HIC CECIDIT JOHANNES MOORE, DUX EXERCITUS,

IN PUGNA JANUARII XVI. 1809,

CONTRA GALLOS A DUCE DALMATIÆ DUCTOS.

[20] M. St. Cyr (p. 118) represents Reding as seeking this action by

General Doyle’s advice; but it is certain that his intention was not

to risk one. The French Commander renders justice to this brave and

unfortunate General in all respects, except that he always imputes

to him a presumptuous confidence, which Reding never felt. The

constitution of his mind disposed him to the very opposite error. This

is not asserted speculatively, but upon his own statements and other

equally incontestable documents. M. St. Cyr says that Reding escaped in

the ensuing action from the hands of a young officer only because that

officer had the generosity not to kill him, as he might easily have

done, when a pistol shot put an end to his own life. The condition in

which Reding escaped does not seem to show that there was much desire

of sparing him.

[21] It is said by M. St. Cyr that they acted by Reding’s advice, and

that by so advising them he saved the city from inevitable destruction.

But this does not accord with Reding’s own language, for in a part of

his dispatch to the Central Junta which was not published, he mentions

this conduct of the Cabildo with indignation.

[22] Marshal St. Cyr speaks of this as _un petit événement heureux_.

(165.) Comparatively small as the numbers were on either side, and

uninfluential as it was upon the issue of the war, it was a well-fought

battle, in which the French, under one of their ablest generals, were

fairly defeated.

[23] Various explanations have been offered of this name. One account

says, that upon finding his family murdered by the French, he smeared

his face with pitch, and made a vow of vengeance. Another, that he was

so called because of his swarthy complexion. But in the account of his

life it is said that all the inhabitants of Castrillo de Duero, where

he was born, have this nickname indiscriminately given them by their

neighbours, in consequence of a black mud, called _pecina_, deposited

by a little stream which runs through the place; and the appellation

became peculiar to him from his celebrity.

[24] Renovales evidently did not know the terms of that capitulation.

[25] There could be no intention of deceiving Renovales, nor was a

victory in S. Domingo likely to have any effect in determining his

conduct. But this mention of one may show how little the French

officers knew of public events; nothing in fact but what their own

government chose to let them know, ... and that government gave them

always as much falsehood as truth.

[26] This account of Xavier Mina differs materially from that which

has been published under the title of The Two Minas and the Spanish

Guerillas, as extracted from the work of a German officer, Captain

H. Von Brandt. The German officer, who collected his information

in the country, acknowledges that the accounts given upon the spot

differ essentially from each other. My statement was derived from Mina

himself during his short abode in England. Certainly I have never

seen any person whom, from his countenance and manners, I should deem

less likely to be given to such company and such courses as in that

publication are imputed to him.

[27] They were to be a pound and a half of bread, ten ounces of meat,

and a bottle of wine per day for every man.

Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant

preference was found in this book. Simple typographical errors were

corrected and some unbalanced quotation marks were remedied. Other

errors of these types were not changed because the corrections were not

obvious to the Transcriber.

Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences

of inconsistent hyphenation have been changed only when there was a

predominant preference throughout the book.

The source book used many Sidenotes, printed in italics. Most match

entries in the Table of Contents, but some are either dates or

citations. To preserve proximity with the original text, if they were

printed mid-paragraph, that is where they appear here. Depending on

the format in which you are reading this eBook, Sidenotes may be

distinguished from regular text by being shown in some combination

of italics, boldface, UPPER-CASE, enclosed in ♦DIAMOND SYMBOLS♦,

being offset into the left-margin, or in a rectangular area within

the regular text. Due to limitations of some eReaders, some sidenotes

may appear next to or below each other, depending on the width of the

screen.

The original Table of Contents used “ib.” when the page number was the

same as the one in the previous entry. This eBook uses the actual page

numbers.

Pages 118 and 509: Missing closing quotation mark.

All six volumes of this work are available at no cost at Project

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references do not seem to match the text.

Volume I: Project Gutenberg eBook number 60386

Volume II: Project Gutenberg eBook number 60387

Volume III: Project Gutenberg eBook number 60388

Volume IV: Project Gutenberg eBook number 60389

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History of the Peninsular War, Volume 3 (of 6) · 第 9 / 9 章