[Sidenote: 1704.]
Our attention is now claimed for a time by the Peninsula, where the
War of the Spanish Succession was to be carried forward on Spanish
soil. In January 1704 the Imperial claimant to the throne, the
Archduke Charles of Austria, otherwise King Charles the Third of
Spain, arrived in England, and was sent away with an English fleet
and an English army to possess himself of his kingdom. Portugal
had offered to help him with twenty-eight thousand men, to which
the Dutch had added two thousand under General Fagel, and the
British six thousand five hundred men,[313] under Mainhard, Duke
of Schomberg, a son of the old marshal. The campaign of 1704 need
not detain us. It was speedily found that the Portuguese army was
ill-equipped and inefficient, the magazines empty, the fortresses
in ruins, the transport not in existence. To add to these
shortcomings, Schomberg and Fagel quarrelled so bitterly that they
went off, each with his own troops, in two different directions.
The result might have been foreseen. King Philip, sometime Duke of
Anjou, and the Duke of Berwick with twelve thousand French, marched
down to the fortresses on the Portuguese frontier, and took them
one after another without difficulty. So ready and eager were the
Portuguese to surrender these strongholds that they made over not
only themselves as prisoners of war, but also to their extreme
indignation two British regiments, the Ninth and Eleventh Foot,
which had the misfortune to be in garrison with them. Marlborough,
in all the press of his work on the Danube, was called upon to
nominate a successor to the incompetent Schomberg and selected
the Huguenot Ruvigny, Earl of Galway, for the post. With this
appointment we may for the present take leave of the Peninsula.
[Sidenote:
July 26
--------
August 6.
]
Meanwhile, however, the fleet under Sir George Rooke, and a handful
of marines under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, brought a new
and unexpected possession to England by the surprise of Gibraltar,
which, though captured for King Charles the Third, was kept for
Queen Anne. The intrinsic value of the Rock in those days was
small, and its value as a military position was little understood
in England; but it was at any rate a capture and very soon it
became a centre of sentiment.
[Sidenote:
Sept. 23
---------
October 4.
]
After the surrender of Gibraltar the fleet sailed away, leaving
Prince George with a good store of provisions and about two
thousand men to hold it. These troops, though now numbered the
Fourth, Thirty-first, and Thirty-second of the Line, were at that
time Marines, a corps which, despite brilliant and incessant
service by sea and land in all parts of the world, still contents
itself with the outward record of a single name, Gibraltar. Prince
George lost no time in repairing the fortifications, and with good
reason, for at the end of August a Spanish force of eight thousand
men marched down to the isthmus, while a month later four thousand
Frenchmen were disembarked at the head of the bay. These joint
forces then began the siege of Gibraltar.
[Sidenote: December.]
The operations were pushed forward with great vigour, and the
besieged were soon hard beset. At the end of October Admiral
Leake contrived to throw stores and a couple of hundred men on
to the Rock, together with an officer of engineers, one Captain
Joseph Bennett, whose energy and ability were of priceless value.
The siege dragged on for another month, the British repulsing
an attack from the eastern side with heavy loss; but by the
end of November the garrison had dwindled to one thousand men,
exhausted by the fatigue of incessant duty. At last, in the middle
of December a stronger reinforcement of two thousand men,[314]
having first narrowly escaped capture by a French fleet, was
successfully landed on the Rock; and then Prince George turned upon
the besiegers, and by a succession of brilliant sorties almost
paralysed further progress on their side.
[Sidenote: 1705.]
[Sidenote:
Jan. 27
-------
Feb. 7.
]
In the middle of January, however, a reinforcement of four thousand
men reached the enemy's camp; their batteries renewed their fire,
and a great breach was made in the Round Tower, which formed one
of the principal defences on the western side. On the morning of
the 27th an assault was delivered, and thirteen hundred men swarmed
up to the attack of the Round Tower. They were met by a brave
resistance by one-fifth of their number of British, but after a
severe struggle they overpowered them, drove them out, and pressed
on to gain possession of a gate leading into the main fortress.
There, however, they were checked by a handful of Seymour's
Marines,[315] just seventeen men, under Captain Fisher. Few though
they were, this gallant little band held its own, until the arrival
of some of the Thirteenth and of the Coldstream Guards enabled them
to force the enemy back and drive them headlong out of the Round
Tower.
[Sidenote:
10
March --.
21
]
This brilliant little affair marked practically the close of
the siege. Further reinforcements arrived for the garrison, and
Marshal Tessé, who had taken command of the siege, fell back on
the bombardment of the town, which was speedily laid in ruins.
The advent of a French squadron seemed likely at one moment to
hearten the besiegers to renewed efforts, but Bennett, who ever
since his arrival had been the soul of the defence, had by that
time constructed fresh batteries and was fully prepared. Finally,
in March Admiral Leake's fleet appeared on the scene, destroyed a
third of the French squadron, and definitely relieved the fortress.
By the middle of April the last of the Frenchmen had disappeared
and Gibraltar was safe. Though the scale of the operations may seem
small the siege had cost the enemy no fewer than twelve thousand
men.
[Sidenote: 1704.]
[Sidenote: 1705.]
Meanwhile Parliament had met on the 29th of the previous October,
full of congratulations to the Queen on the triumphs of the
past campaign. There were not wanting, of course, men who, in
the madness of faction, doubted whether Blenheim were really a
victory, for the very remarkable reason that Marlborough had won
it, but they were soon silenced by the retort that the King of
France at any rate had no doubts on the point.[316] The plans for
the next campaign were designed on a large scale, and were likely
to strain the resources of the Army to the uttermost. The West
Indies demanded six battalions and Gibraltar three battalions for
garrison; Portugal claimed ten thousand men, Flanders from twenty
to twenty-five thousand; while besides this a design was on foot,
as shall presently be seen, for the further relief of Portugal by
a diversion in Catalonia. Five millions were cheerfully voted for
the support of the war, and six new battalions were raised, namely,
Wynne's, Bretton's, Lepell's, Soames's, Sir Charles Hotham's, and
Lillingston's, the last of which alone has survived to our day with
the rank of the Thirty-eighth of the Line.[317]
[Illustration: GIBRALTAR
1705
_From a contemporary Plan by Col. D'Harcourt_
_To face page 450_
]
[Sidenote:
15
May --.
26
]
[Sidenote:
6
June --.
17
]
Marlborough's plan of campaign had been sufficiently
foreshadowed at the close of the previous year, namely, to
advance on the line of the Moselle and carry the war into Lorraine.
The Emperor and all the German Princes promised to be in the field
early, the Dutch were with infinite difficulty persuaded to give
their consent, and after much vexatious delay Marlborough joined
his army at Treves on the 26th of May. Here he waited until the
17th of June for the arrival of the German and Imperial troops.
Not a man nor a horse appeared. In deep chagrin he broke up his
camp and returned to the Meuse, having lost, as he said, one of the
fairest opportunities in the world through the faithlessness of his
allies.[318]
[Sidenote: May 21.]
[Sidenote:
14
June --.
25
]
[Sidenote:
June 21
-------
July 2.
]
His presence was sorely needed on the Meuse. Villeroy, who
commanded the French in Flanders, finding no occasion for his
presence on the Moselle, had moved out of his lines, captured
Huy, and then marching on to Liège had invested the citadel. The
States-General in a panic of fright urged Marlborough to return
without delay, and Overkirk, who commanded the Dutch on the Meuse,
added his entreaties to theirs. Marlborough, when once he had made
up his mind to move, never moved slowly, and by the 25th of June
he was at Düren, to the eastward of Aix-la-Chapelle. Here he was
still the best part of forty miles from the Meuse, but that was too
near for Villeroy, who at once abandoned Liège and fell back on
Tongres. Marlborough, continuing his advance, crossed the Meuse at
Visé on the 2nd of July, and on the same day united his army with
Overkirk's at Haneff on the Upper Jaar. Villeroy thereupon retired
ignominiously within his fortified lines.
These lines, which had been making during the past three years,
were now complete. They started from the Meuse a little to the
east of Namur, passed from thence to the Mehaigne and the Little
Geete, followed the Little Geete along its left bank to Leuw and
thence along the Great Geete to the Demer; from thence they ran
up the Demer as far as Arschot, from which point a new line of
entrenchments carried the barrier through Lierre to Antwerp. Near
Antwerp Marlborough had already had to do with these lines in 1703,
but hitherto he had made no attempt to force them. Villeroy and the
Elector of Bavaria now lay before him with seventy thousand men, a
force superior to his own, but necessarily spread over a wide front
for the protection of the entrenchments. The marshal's headquarters
were at Meerdorp, in the space between the Geete and the Mehaigne,
which he probably regarded as a weak point. Marlborough posted
himself over against him at Lens-les-Beguines, detaching a small
force to re-capture Huy while Overkirk with the Dutch army covered
the siege from Vignamont. Thus, as if daring the French to take
advantage of the dispersion of his army, he quietly laid his plans
for forcing the lines.
The point that he selected was on the Little Geete between Elixheim
and Neerhespen, exactly in rear of the battlefield of Landen. The
abrupt and slippery banks of the river, which the English knew but
too well, together with the entrenchments beyond it, presented
extraordinary difficulties, but the lines were on that account
the less likely to be well guarded at that particular point.
Marlborough had already obtained the leave of the States-General
for the project, but he had now the far more difficult task of
gaining the consent of the Dutch generals at a Council of War.
Slangenberg and others opposed the scheme vehemently, but were
overruled; and the Duke was at length at liberty to fall to work.
[Sidenote:
June 30
--------
July 11.
]
[Sidenote: July.]
Huy fell on the 11th of July, but to the general surprise the
besieging force was not recalled. Six days later Overkirk and
the covering army crossed the Mehaigne from Vignamont and pushed
forward detachments to the very edge of the lines between Meffle
and Namur. Villeroy fell into the trap, withdrew troops from
all parts of the lines and concentrated forty thousand men at
Meerdorp. Marlborough then recalled the troops from Huy, and made
them up to a total of about eight thousand men, both cavalry and
infantry,[319] the whole being under the command of the Count of
Noyelles. The utmost secrecy was observed in every particular. The
corps composing the detachment knew nothing of each other, and
nothing of the work before them; and, lest the sight of fascines
should suggest an attack on entrenchments, these were dispensed
with, the troopers only at the last moment receiving orders to
carry each a truss of forage on the saddle before them.
[Sidenote:
6
July --.
17
]
[Sidenote:
6-7
July -----.
17-18
]
At tattoo the detachment fell in silently before the camp of the
right wing, and at nine o'clock moved off without a sound in two
columns, the one upon Neerhespen, the other upon the Castle of
Wange before Elixheim. An hour later the rest of the army followed,
while at the same time Overkirk, under cover of the darkness,
crossed the Mehaigne at Tourines and joined his van to the rear
of Marlborough's army. The distance to be traversed was from ten
to fifteen miles; the night though dry was dark; and the guides,
frequently at fault, were fain to direct themselves by the trusses
dropped on the way by the advanced detachment. Twelve years before
to the very day a French army had toiled along the same route,
wearied out and stifled by the sun, and only kept to its task by
an ugly little hunch-backed man whom it had reverenced as Marshal
Luxemburg. Now English and Dutch were blundering on to take revenge
for Luxemburg's victory at the close of that march. The hours
fled on, the light began to break, and the army found itself on
the field of Landen, William's entrenchment grass-grown before
it, Neerwinden and Laer lying silent to the left, and before the
villages the mound that hid the corpses of the dead. Then some at
least of the soldiers knew the work that lay before them.
[Sidenote:
7
July --.
18
]
At four o'clock the heads of the columns halted within a mile of
the Geete, wrapped in a thick mist and hidden from the eye of
the enemy. The advanced detachment quickly cleared the villages
by the river, seized the bridge before the Castle of Wanghe,
which had not been broken down, and drove out the garrison of
the Castle itself. Then the pontoniers came forward to lay their
bridges; but the infantry would not wait for them. They scrambled
impatiently through hedges and over bogs, down one steep bank of
the river and up the other, into the ditch beyond, and finally,
breathless and dripping, over the rampart into the lines. So
numerous were the hot-heads who thus broke in that they forced
three regiments of French dragoons to retire before them without
attempting resistance. Then the cavalry of the detachment began
to file rapidly over the pontoon-bridges; but meanwhile the alarm
had been given, and before the main army could cross, the French
came down in force from the north, some twenty battalions and forty
squadrons, in all close on fifteen thousand men, with a battery of
eight guns.
[Illustration: LINES OF THE GEETE.
7
July -- 1705.
18
_To face page 454_
]
The enemy advanced rapidly, their cavalry leading, until checked
by a hollow way which lay between them and the Allies, where
they halted to deploy. Marlborough took in the whole situation
at a glance. Forming his thirty-eight squadrons into two lines,
with the first line composed entirely of British, he led them
across the hollow way and charged the French sword in hand. They
answered by a feeble fire from the saddle and broke in confusion,
but presently rallying fell in counter-attack upon the British
and broke them in their turn. Marlborough, who was riding on the
flank, was cut off and left isolated with his trumpeter and groom.
A Frenchman galloped up and aimed at him so furious a blow that,
failing to strike him, he fell from his horse and was captured by
the trumpeter. Then the allied squadrons rallied, and charging the
French once more broke them past all reforming and captured the
guns. The French infantry now retired very steadily in square,
and the Duke sent urgent messages for his own foot. But by some
mistake the battalions had been halted after crossing the Geete, so
that the French were able to make good their retreat.
By this time Villeroy, who had spent the night in anxious
expectation of an attack at Meerdorp, had hurried up with his
cavalry, only to find that the Duke was master of the lines.
Hastily giving orders for his scattered troops to pass the Geete
at Judoigne he began his retreat upon Louvain. Presently up came
Marlborough's infantry at an extraordinary pace, the men as fresh
and lively after fifteen hours of fatigue as if they had just left
camp. The Duke was anxious to follow up his success forthwith, a
movement which the French had good reason to dread, but the Dutch
generals opposed him, and Marlborough was reluctantly constrained
to yield. The loss of the French seems to have been about two
thousand men, most of them prisoners, a score of standards and
colours, of which the Fifth Dragoon Guards claimed four as their
own, and eighteen guns, eight of which were triple-barrelled and
were sent across the Channel to be copied in England.[320]
[Sidenote:
8
July --.
19
]
The Allies halted for the night at Tirlemont, and advancing next
day upon Louvain struck against the rear of the French columns
and captured fifteen hundred prisoners. That night they encamped
within a mile to the east of Louvain, while the French, once again
distributing their force along a wider front, lined the left bank
of the Dyle from the Demer to the Yssche, with their centre at
Louvain. Marlborough had hoped to push in at once, but he was
stopped by heavy rains that rendered the Dyle impassable; and it
was not until ten days later that, after infinite trouble with the
Dutch, he was able to pursue his design.
[Sidenote:
18
July --.
29
]
The operations for the passage of the Dyle were conducted in much
the same way as in the forcing of the lines. An advanced detachment
was pushed forward from each wing of the army, that from the right
or English[321] flank being appointed to cross the river under
the Duke of Würtemberg at Corbeek Dyle, that from the left under
General Heukelom to pass it at Neeryssche. The detachments fell in
at five in the evening, reached their appointed destination at ten,
and effected their passage with perfect success. The main bodies
started at midnight, and went somewhat astray in the darkness,
though by three o'clock the Dutch army was within supporting
distance of its detachment and the British rapidly approaching
it. The river had been in fact forced, when suddenly the Dutch
generals halted their main body. Marlborough rode up to inquire
the cause, and was at once taken aside by Slangenberg. "For God's
sake, my Lord--" began the Dutchman vehemently, and continued to
protest with violent gesticulations. No sooner was Marlborough's
back turned than the Dutch generals, like a parcel of naughty
schoolboys, recalled Heukelom's detachment. Thus the passage won
with so much skill was for no cause whatever abandoned, without
loss indeed, but also not without mischievous encouragement to the
French, who boasted loudly that they had repulsed their redoubtable
adversary.
[Sidenote:
5
August --.
16
]
[Sidenote:
6
August --.
17
]
[Sidenote:
7
August --.
19
]
Deeply hurt and annoyed though he was, the Duke, with miraculous
patience, excused in his public despatches the treachery and
imbecility which had thwarted him, and prepared to effect his
purpose in another way. His movements were hastened by news that
French reinforcements, set free by the culpable inaction of Prince
Lewis of Baden, were on their way from Alsace. Unable to pass the
Dyle he turned its head-waters at Genappe, and wheeling north
towards the forest of Soignies encamped between La Hulpe and Braine
l'Alleud.[322] The French at once took the alarm and posted
themselves behind the river Yssche, with their left at Neeryssche,
and their right at Overyssche resting on the forest of Soignies.
Marlborough at once resolved to force the passage of the river. On
the evening of the 17th of August he detached his brother Churchill
with ten thousand foot and two thousand horse to advance through
the forest and turn the French right; while he himself marched
away at daybreak with the rest of the army and emerged into the
plain between the Yssche and the Lasne. The Duke quickly found two
assailable points, and choosing that of Overyssche, halted the
army pending the arrival of the artillery. The guns were long in
arriving, Slangenberg having insisted, despite the Duke's express
instructions, on forcing his own baggage into the column for the
express purpose of causing delay. At last about noon the artillery
appeared, and Marlborough asked formal permission of the Dutch
deputies to attack. To his surprise, although Overkirk had already
consented, they claimed to consult their generals. Slangenberg
with every mark of insolence condemned the project as murder and
massacre, the rest solemnly debated the matter for another two
hours, the auspicious moment passed away exactly as they intended,
and another great opportunity was lost. The French reinforcements
arrived, and having been the weaker became the stronger force.
Nothing more could be done for the rest of the campaign, but to
level the French lines from the Demer to the Mehaigne.
Thus for the third time a brilliant campaign was spoilt by the
Dutch generals and deputies. Fortunately the public indignation
both in England and in Holland was too strong for them, and
Slangenberg, though not indeed hanged as he deserved, was deprived
of all further command. Jealousy, timidity, ignorance, treachery,
and flat imbecility seem to have been the motives that inspired
these men, whose conduct has never been reprobated according to
its demerit. It was they who were responsible for the prolongation
of the war, for the burden that it laid on England, and for
the untold misery that it wrought in France. Left to himself
Marlborough would have forced the French to peace in three
campaigns, and the war would not have been ended in shame and
disgrace by the Treaty of Utrecht.[323]
Consolation for the disappointment in Flanders came from an
unexpected quarter. In Portugal, indeed, comparatively little was
done. An army was made up of about three thousand British[324]
under Lord Galway, two thousand Dutch under General Fagel, and
twelve thousand Portuguese under the Spanish General de Corsana;
and to avoid friction it was arranged that these three generals
should hold command alternately for a week at a time. In such
circumstances it was surprising that they should even have
accomplished the siege and capture of three weak fortresses,
Valenza, Albuquerque, and Badajoz, with which achievements the
campaign came to an end.[325]
[Sidenote:
9
June --.
20
]
[Sidenote:
12
August --.
23
]
But in Catalonia the operations were of a more brilliant kind.
The Catalans were known to favour the Austrian side; and it was
accordingly resolved in this year to send a fleet and an army to
back them under Admiral Leake and Lord Peterborough, the latter
to be joint admiral at sea as well as commander-in-chief ashore.
The character of Peterborough is one of the riddles of history. He
was now forty years of age, and had so far distinguished himself
chiefly by general eccentricity, not always of a harmless kind,
and, in common with most prominent men of his age, by remarkable
pliancy of principle. His experience of active service was slight
and had been gained afloat rather than ashore, and though he had
long held the colonelcy of a regiment, he had never commanded in
war nor in peace. His force consisted of six British[326] and four
Dutch battalions, or about six thousand five hundred men in all.
The expedition arrived at Lisbon early in June, when after some
delay it was decided that the fleet should proceed to Barcelona.
Galway lent his two regiments of dragoons, the Royals and the
Eighth; and with them Peterborough sailed to Gibraltar, where he
picked up the eight battalions[327] of the garrison, leaving two of
his own in their place, and proceeded to his destination. On the
way up the Spanish coast a detachment was landed to capture Denia,
and on the 23rd of August the main force was disembarked before
Barcelona and took up a position to the north-east of the town
with its left flank resting on the sea.
[Sidenote:
2
Sept. --.
13
]
The reports sent to England had represented Barcelona as
ill-fortified and ill-garrisoned. Ill-fortified it may have been
if compared with a creation of Vauban or Cohorn, but it was none
the less a formidable fortress, well stocked with supplies and
garrisoned by seven thousand troops under an energetic governor, by
name Velasco. Peterborough, who grasped the situation, wished to
abandon the project of a regular siege for operations of a livelier
kind, but was prevailed upon to give it a trial for eighteen days,
at the close of which he ordered the re-embarkation of the army. He
was, however, again induced to change his mind, and then suddenly,
on the evening of the 13th of September, he produced an original
scheme of his own.
About three-quarters of a mile to south-west of Barcelona stood the
small fort of Montjuich, crowning a hill seven hundred feet above
the fortress, strong by nature and strengthened still further by
outworks, which though incomplete were none the less formidable.
This Peterborough resolved to capture by escalade. Not a word was
said to the men of the work before them. No further orders were
issued than that twelve hundred English and two hundred Dutch
should be ready in the afternoon to march towards Tarragona,
while thirteen hundred men under Brigadier Stanhope were secretly
detailed to cover the rear of the assaulting columns from any
attack from Barcelona. At six o'clock the attacking force moved off
under Lord Charlemont towards the north-west, continuing the march
in this false direction for four hours, till Peterborough at last
gave the order to turn about to southward. The night was dark, and
much of the ground so rocky as to show no track, so that when the
columns at length came up before Montjuich one complete body of two
hundred was found to be missing, having evidently strayed away from
the path of the remainder.
[Sidenote:
3
Sept. --.
14
]
Half the force however was told off for simultaneous assault on
the eastern and western extremities of the fort, Peterborough and
Prince George of Hessen-Darmstadt accompanying the eastern column,
which, since it was expected to meet with the sternest of the work,
was made the stronger. The other moiety of the troops was held in
reserve between the two columns. A little after daybreak the signal
was given; the storming parties dashed up the glacis under a heavy
and destructive fire, and plunging in among the enemy drove them
headlong from the outworks. Following the fugitives in hot pursuit
Peterborough and Prince George captured the eastern bastion of the
fort itself, threw up a barricade of loose stones in the gorge and
entrenched themselves behind it. The western attack had met with
equal success, and had likewise entrenched itself in a demi-bastion
in that flank of the fort. Both parties being thus under cover the
fire ceased, and Peterborough sent orders to Stanhope to bring up
his reserve.
Meanwhile the Governor of Barcelona, being in communication
with Montjuich, had at the sound of the firing despatched four
hundred dragoons in all haste to reinforce the garrison. As they
entered the fort they were received with loud shouts of welcome
by the Spanish. Prince George, mistaking the sound for a cry
of surrender, at once started up and advanced with all his men
into the inner works. They were no sooner in the ditch than the
Spaniards swept round them to cut them off. Two hundred were taken
prisoners, Prince George fell mortally wounded, and the rest fell
back in confusion. This was a severe blow; but worse was to come.
Peterborough hearing that fresh reinforcements were on their way
to the enemy from Barcelona, rode out of the bastion to look for
himself, and no sooner was he gone than the troops were seized with
panic. Lord Charlemont was powerless to check it; and in a few
minutes the whole of the men, with Charlemont at their head, came
running with unseemly haste out of the captured position.
They had not run far when up galloped Peterborough in a frenzy
of rage. What he said no writer has dared to set down; but he
snatched Charlemont's half-pike from his hand and waved the men
back to the fort with a torrent of rebuke. Rallying instantly
they regained their post without the loss of a man before the
enemy had discovered their retreat; and the appearance of Stanhope
with the reserve presently banished all further idea of panic.
Meanwhile the Spanish reinforcements from Barcelona had met the
English prisoners, and learning from them that Peterborough and
Prince George were present in person before Montjuich, assumed
that the British were attacking in overwhelming force. They
therefore returned to Barcelona, leaving the fort to its fate.
Three days of bombardment sufficed to overcome the resistance of
the weakened garrison; and thus by a singular chapter of accidents
Peterborough's design proved to be a success, and Montjuich was
taken.
[Sidenote:
Sept. 28
---------
October 9.
]
The siege of Barcelona was then pushed forward in form, aided by
the guns of the fleet; and on the 9th of October the garrison
capitulated with the honours of war. A fortnight later King Charles
the Third made his public entry into the city; Peterborough
scattered dollars with a liberal hand, and all was merriment and
rejoicing. The picture would not be complete without the figure of
a drunken English grenadier, whose vagaries afforded inexhaustible
amusement to the populace;[328] but Peterborough was a
disciplinarian, and the troops as a whole behaved remarkably well.
Stanhope was at once sent home with the good news, and England
awoke to the fact that she possessed a second officer who, though
not to be named in the same breath with Marlborough, possessed a
natural, if eccentric, genius for war.
[Illustration: BARCELONA
1705.
_To face page 462_
]
The capture of Barcelona, and the subsequent reduction of Tarragona
by the fleet, brought practically the whole of Catalonia to the
side of King Charles. But now further operations were checked by
lack of money and supplies. Peterborough, who saw the difficulty
of supporting a large force in the field, was for dividing his
little army into flying columns, and making good the deficiency of
numbers by extreme mobility; but he could not gain acceptance for
his views. He wrote piteous letters of his state of destitution,
reviling, as his custom was, all his colleagues and subordinates
with astonishing freedom. Very soon the troops in Barcelona
became so sickly that he was compelled to distribute them in the
fortresses of Catalonia, leaving further operations to the Catalan
guerillas. By the exertions of these last the close of the year
saw not only Catalonia but Valencia gained over, though on no very
certain footing, to the side of King Charles. So ended the first
serious campaign of the first Peninsular war.