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Sidenotes are shown in UPPER-CASE and enclosed in ♦DIAMOND SYMBOLS♦;
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HISTORY
OF THE
PENINSULAR WAR.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFRIARS.
HISTORY
OF THE
PENINSULAR WAR.
“Unto thee
“Let thine own times as an old story be.”
DONNE.
BY ROBERT SOUTHEY, ESQ. LL.D.
POET LAUREATE,
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SPANISH ACADEMY, OF THE
ROYAL SPANISH ACADEMY OF HISTORY, OF THE ROYAL
INSTITUTE OF THE NETHERLANDS, OF THE
CYMMRODORION, OF THE MASSACHUSETTS
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, ETC.
A NEW EDITION.
_IN SIX VOLUMES._
VOL. II.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
MDCCCXXVIII.
Ἱστορίας γὰρ ἐὰν ἀφέλῃ τις τὸ διὰ τί, καὶ πῶς, καὶ τίνος χάριν ἐπράχθη,
καὶ τὸ πραχθὲν πότερα εὔλογον ἔσχε τὸ τέλος, τὸ καταλειπόμενον αὐτῆς
ἀγώνισμα μὲν, μάθημα δὲ οὐ γίγνεται· καὶ παραυτίκα μὲν τέρπει, πρὸς δὲ
τὸ μέλλον οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖ τὸ παράπαν.
POLYBIUS, lib. iii. sect. 31.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX.
PAGE
Preparations at Zaragoza 1
Description of that city 3
Legend of our Lady of the Pillar 5
Contempt of the French for the Zaragozans 7
The French attempt to storm the city 8
Palafox goes out to collect reinforcements 9
General Verdier joins Lefebvre with reinforcements 11
The Torrero taken 11
The French bombard the city 11
Exertions of the women 13
Countess Burita 13
Augustina Zaragoza 14
The French again repulsed in an attempt to take the city by
storm 15
They invest the city 16
They form a bridge over the Ebro 17
Distress of the inhabitants 17
Foundling Hospital burnt 18
Convent of St. Engracia 19
The Hospital set on fire 24
War in the streets 25
Santiago Sass 26
Number of the dead 28
Retreat of the enemy 29
CHAPTER X.
Moretti sent from Badajoz to the Spaniards at Lisbon 35
Difficulties of Junot’s situation 35
Kellermann takes the command in Alem-Tejo 37
He attempts to conciliate the Spaniards at Badajoz 38
Distribution of the French troops in Portugal 41
The Spaniards at Porto declare against the Intruder, and march
into Spain 41
The lawful government restored at Porto 42
The Governor adheres to the French, and suppresses the
insurrection 43
Junot disarms and seizes the Spaniards at Lisbon 45
Junot’s proclamation to the Portugueze 47
Festival of the Corpo de Deos at Lisbon 49
The procession interrupted by a panic fear 52
Junot fortifies the Castle 54
Edict for disarming the people 54
Movements at Braga 56
Insurrection at Melgaço 56
The Prince Regent proclaimed at Braganza 59
The Braganzans intimidated by the news from Porto 60
Second insurrection at Porto 62
Formation of a Junta in that city 63
Measures of the Junta 66
Arrest of Cardoso 67
Disturbed state of the people 70
The Junta conclude an alliance with the Junta of Galicia 72
Its authority acknowledged throughout the north of Portugal 73
The insurrection extends toward Coimbra 74
Scheme for surprising the enemy in Coimbra 75
The French in that city are made prisoners 76
The Juiz do Povo takes the command 78
Order restored there 79
Preparations for defence 80
Successful expedition against Figueira 81
Loison ordered to march from Almeida to Porto 83
He turns back from Mezam Frio 84
The peasantry harass his retreat 85
He goes to Viseu 86
Alarm at Coimbra in consequence of his movements 86
He returns to Almeida 87
Insurrection at Olham in Algarve 88
Success of the insurgents 90
The Chamber of Faro issue an edict against them 91
Insurrection at Faro 91
The French excluded from that city 93
A Junta formed at Faro 94
The insurrection spreads through Algarve 94
The French retreat to Mertola 95
The people of Algarve form a treaty with Seville 96
Insurrection at Villa-Viçosa 96
The French enter the town 98
Lobo gets possession of Jurumenha 99
A French detachment sent from Mertola to Beja 101
The people rise against them 102
Beja sacked by the French and set on fire 104
Kellermann’s proclamation to the people of Alem-Tejo 105
Junot’s proclamation to the Portugueze 106
National feeling of the Portugueze 108
The Juiz de Fora at Marvam 110
His flight 112
He returns, and seizes the town 114
Insurrection at Campo-Mayor and throughout the
north of the province 115
Measures of the French 116
They endeavour to avail themselves of the Clergy’s influence 118
Insurrection at Thomar 120
Insurrection at Leiria 121
Success of the insurgents at Nazareth 121
Margaron approaches Leiria 122
Preparations for defence 123
The French enter the city 124
Massacre of the prisoners 126
Loison’s march from Almeida to Abrantes 127
Language of the French Bulletins 129
Loison ordered towards Coimbra 132
Nazareth sacked and burnt by the French 133
A Junta established at Beja 135
Junta of Estremoz 136
A supreme Junta formed at Evora 138
Loison sent into Alem-Tejo 139
He advances against Evora 140
Action before that city 143
The city taken 145
Inhumanity of the conquerors 146
Alarm at Estremoz 147
Loison proceeds to Elvas 149
He enters Portalegre 150
He is recalled towards Lisbon 151
Insubordination of the people at Porto 151
Design of a military usurpation in that city 153
The conspirators are seized 154
Disturbances at Braganza 156
The New-Christians plundered at Villa Nova da Foz-Coa 157
Troubles at Viseu 159
Riotous proceedings at Arcos de Val de Vez 160
The rabble enact laws 161
Communication between Alem-Tejo and the northern provinces 163
CHAPTER XI.
State of public feeling in England 166
An expedition ordered to the court of Portugal 168
Former services of Sir Arthur Wellesley 169
Sir Arthur lands at Coruña 171
He proceeds to Porto 172
He goes to the Tagus to confer with Sir C. Cotton 173
Troops landed in the Mondego 174
They advance to Leiria 176
Joy of the Portugueze in Lisbon 177
Measures of the French 179
Movements of Laborde and Loison 180
General Freire separates from the English 181
Motives for this separation 183
Skirmish near Caldas 185
Laborde takes a position at Roliça 185
Battle of Roliça 188
Abrantes occupied by the Portugueze 190
Movements in Alem-Tejo and Algarve 193
Alcacere and Setubal abandoned by the French 194
Measures at Lisbon 195
Proclamation to the people of Lisbon 196
Preparations on board the Russian squadron 199
Junction of Loison, Laborde, and Junot 200
The British advance to Vimeiro 200
General Anstruther’s brigade lands 201
Arrival of Sir Harry Burrard in the roads 202
He alters the plan of the campaign 203
Battle of Vimeiro 205
The French resolve to propose terms 216
Arrival of Sir Hew Dalrymple 218
He orders the army to advance 219
Kellermann comes to negotiate for the evacuation of Portugal 221
Terms of the armistice 222
Junot returns to Lisbon 224
General Freire dissatisfied with the armistice 226
Difficulty concerning the Russian squadron 227
Convention of Cintra 228
Remonstrances of the Portugueze Commander 233
Reply of Sir Hew Dalrymple 236
The British flag hoisted in the forts 238
Anarchy in Lisbon 239
The French continue to plunder 240
Question concerning baggage 241
The French endeavour to carry off articles from the Museum 243
They embark horses, carriages, and pictures, which are
recovered 243
They carry off large sums in money 244
Question concerning the silver in bars 245
Farther instances of dishonour in the French 246
Protests of the Monteiro Mor, and of the Juiz do Povo 247
Danger of tumults in Lisbon 249
Temper of the French 251
Their embarkation 252
Final report of the commissioners 253
Addresses of thanks to the British Commander 254
Galluzo besieges Elvas 255
Difficulties concerning the surrender of Elvas 257
Elvas and Almeida given up 259
Tumults at Porto 260
The Spanish troops at Lisbon embarked for Catalonia 262
Intrigues of the Junta of Porto 263
Council of Regency re-established 265
Outcry in England against the Convention 267
Board of Inquiry appointed 273
Its decision 274
CHAPTER XII.
Necessity of a provisional Government 277
Castaños prevents a contest between Granada and Seville 279
Plans for a Government 279
Arrival of a Sicilian Prince at Gibraltar 280
Ambition of the Junta of Seville 282
The Council of Castille advise a Central Junta 283
Project of the Junta of Seville 284
The Provincial Juntas assent to it 289
Unworthy choice of the Junta of Seville 290
The other members unexceptionable 292
Jovellanos refuses all offers from the Intrusive Government 295
Aranjuez chosen for the place of meeting 296
Installation of the Central Junta 298
Conduct of the Council of Castille 299
The Leonese Deputies arrested by Cuesta 300
Cuesta’s vindication of his conduct 301
The Council of Castille interfere 303
Cuesta is summoned before the Junta 303
Declaration of the New Government 306
Jovellanos proposes a Regency, and that a Cortes be summoned 311
Expectations from a Cortes 313
State of the war in Catalonia 315
Duhesme resolves to besiege Gerona 316
Difficulties on the march 317
Troops from Minorca land at Tarragona 318
Barcelona blockaded 319
The Junta of Catalonia remove to the head-quarters 320
Caldagues sent to interrupt the siege of Gerona 321
He attacks the enemy’s batteries with success 321
Duhesme raises the siege 323
Unpopularity of the Commander in Catalonia 324
Difficulties of the service 325
The Marques approaches Barcelona 327
British troops ordered from Sicily to Catalonia, but detained
by the Commander 328
Bilbao occupied by the French 329
Difficulties in bringing the Spanish armies into the field 330
The Marques de la Romana 333
Distribution of his troops in the Baltic 334
Their conduct when the oath of allegiance to Joseph was
proposed 336
An agent sent to communicate with him 337
He asks for a force to cover his retreat 338
Sir Richard Keats goes upon this service 339
Plan for collecting the Spanish troops 340
Romana takes possession of Nyborg 341
The entrance of the British squadron is resisted 342
Arrival of some of the regiments from Jutland 343
They leave the Isle of Funen 344
Fate of the horses 345
The Spaniards are landed in the Isle of Langeland 346
They sail for Gottenburg, and there embark for Spain 348
Romana lands in England 349
Error of the Spaniards in not appointing a commander-in-chief 350
Difficulty of feeding their armies 350
Bilbao taken by the French, and retaken 351
Position of the armies in October 352
Commissioners sent to the Spanish armies 353
CHAPTER XIII.
Buonaparte deeply affected by the reverses in Spain 355
He conceals them from the French people 356
Statement of the French Government 358
Report of M. Champagny 360
Second Report 363
Report of the War-minister 365
Suspicion of the views of Austria 367
Message from Buonaparte to the Senate 368
The Senate approves his measures 369
March of the troops toward Spain 371
Speech of Buonaparte to the troops 373
Conferences at Erfurth 374
Overtures of peace 374
Reply of the British Government 376
Reply of the Russian and French Ministers 378
Final answer of the British Government 380
British Declaration 381
Buonaparte departs for Spain 384
CHAPTER XIV.
Movements against Blake’s army 387
Blake falls back to Espinosa 388
Battle of Espinosa 390
Dispersion of Blake’s army at Reynosa 393
Buonaparte arrives in Spain 394
Defeat of the Extremaduran army at Burgos 395
Proclamation excluding certain Spaniards from pardon 396
Movements against Castaños 398
Battle of Tudela 398
Retreat of the defeated army 400
Their deplorable condition at Calatayud 401
They are ordered to approach Madrid 402
Measures of the Central Junta 403
Pass of the Somosierra forced 407
The Junta retire from Aranjuez 408
State of Madrid 409
Marques de Perales murdered by the populace 411
Duque del Infantado sent to the central army 411
Madrid summoned 412
Morla treats for a capitulation 414
Speech of Buonaparte to the Deputies 415
Surrender of Madrid 417
Decrees issued by Buonaparte 419
Proclamation to the Spaniards 420
Change in Buonaparte’s views concerning Spain 422
Retreat of the central army 423
Lapeña succeeds to the command 424
They reach Guadalaxara 425
The Duque del Infantado joins them 427
Condition of the troops 427
They retire toward the Tagus 429
Passage of the Tagus 430
Some of the troops mutiny 431
Infantado chosen Commander 432
They retire to Cuenca 432
Arrival of the Conde de Alache’s corps 434
Retreat of the Central Junta from Aranjuez 439
Their address to the people of Madrid 440
The French enter Toledo 442
Defence of Villacañas 444
Preparations for defending the Sierra Morena 446
Murder of S. Juan at Talavera 447
Edict against deserters 450
English stragglers butchered by the French cavalry 451
The French take possession of the Escurial 452
Excesses of the French 454
Galluzo collects the fugitives in Extremadura 456
He prepares for the defence of the Tagus 457
The French cross the river 459
Galluzo retreats to Jaraicejo 460
Dispersion of his army 461
Galluzo is superseded by Cuesta 463
CHAPTER XV.
Buonaparte reproaches and insults the English 465
The British army from Portugal enters Spain 466
Former services of Sir John Moore 468
His care to maintain discipline 468
Ill prospect of affairs when he arrives at Salamanca 469
Sir David Baird arrives at Astorga 470
Sir John Moore resolves to retreat upon Portugal, and embark
from Lisbon 471
He asks the opinion of the British Ambassador 473
Mr. Frere’s reply 475
He wishes the army to advance for the defence of Madrid 475
Two Spanish Generals sent to confer with Sir John Moore 477
Morla and the military Junta urge him to advance 477
Colonel Charmilly sent to Sir John Moore by the Duque del
Infantado and Mr. Frere 479
Sir John Moore resolves to advance 481
News of the surrender of Madrid 483
Correspondence with Romana 485
First skirmish at Rueda 486
The command of the Spanish armies offered to Sir John Moore,
and refused 488
Junction formed with Sir David Baird 490
They advance against Marshal Soult 491
The French endeavour to surround the British army 493
Sir John Moore begins his retreat 493
Ill conduct of the troops 496
Passage of the Ezla 496
General orders issued at Benevente 497
Affair of cavalry on the Ezla 499
Sir John Moore reaches Astorga 501
Honourable conduct of Romana and his army 502
Sir John Moore pursues his retreat 503
The Bierzo 505
Disorders committed by the troops 506
Buonaparte stops at Astorga 507
Skirmish at Cacabelos 509
Retreat continued from Villa Franca 510
Treasure abandoned 513
The army collects at Lugo 514
Sir John offers battle 516
Retreat to Coruña 517
Sir John is advised to propose terms 519
Preparations for battle 520
The artillery embarked 521
Battle of Coruña 522
Repulse of the French 527
Death of Sir John Moore 529
Embarkation of the army 530
HISTORY
OF THE
PENINSULAR WAR.
CHAPTER IX.
SIEGE OF ZARAGOZA.
♦1808. JUNE.♦
Important as the battle of Baylen was in its direct and immediate
consequences to the Spaniards, their cause derived greater celebrity
and more permanent strength from the defence of Zaragoza.
♦PREPARATIONS AT ZARAGOZA.♦
Order had been restored in that city from the hour when Palafox assumed
the command. Implicit confidence in the commander produced implicit
and alert obedience, and preparations were made with zeal and activity
proportioned to the danger. When the new Captain-General declared war
against the French, the troops which he mustered amounted only to 220
men, and the public treasury could furnish him with no more than an
hundred dollars; sixteen ill-mounted guns were all the artillery in
the place, and the arsenal contained but few muskets. Fowling-pieces
were put in requisition, pikes were forged, powder was supplied from
the mills at Villafeliche, which were some of the most considerable
in Spain, ... for every thing else Palafox trusted to his country and
his cause. And his trust was not in vain; the Zaragozans were ready to
endure any suffering and make any sacrifice in the discharge of their
duty; the same spirit possessed the whole country, and from all those
parts of Spain which were under the yoke of the enemy officers and
soldiers repaired to Zaragoza as soon as it was seen that an army was
collecting there; many came from Madrid and from Pampluna, and some
officers of engineers from the military academy at Alcala. And the
spirits of the people were encouraged by the discovery of a depôt of
fire-arms walled up in the Aljafaria; they had probably been secreted
there in the succession war, when one party resigned that city to its
enemies, and their discovery in this time of need was regarded by the
Zaragozans as a manifestation of divine Providence in their favour. The
defeats which their undisciplined levies sustained at Tudela, Mallen,
and Alagon abated not their resolution; and in the last of these
actions a handful of regular troops protected their retreat with great
steadiness. The French general, Lefebvre Desnouettes, pursuing his
hitherto uninterrupted success, advanced, and took up a position very
near the city, and covered by a rising ground planted with olive trees.
♦DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY.♦
Zaragoza was not a [1]fortified town; the brick wall which surrounded
it was from ten to twelve feet high, and three feet thick, and in
many places it was interrupted by houses, which formed part of the
inclosure. The city had no advantages of situation for its defence,
and would not have been considered capable of resistance by any men
but those whose courage was sustained by a virtuous and holy principle
of duty. It stands in an open plain, which was then covered with olive
grounds, and is bounded on either hand by high and distant mountains;
but it is commanded by some high ground called the Torrero, about a
mile to the south-west, upon which there was a convent, with some
smaller buildings. The canal of Aragon divides this elevation from
another rising ground, where the Spaniards had erected a battery. The
Ebro bathes the walls of the city, and separates it from the suburbs;
it has two bridges, within musket-shot of each other; one of wood,
said to be more beautiful than any other of the like materials in
Europe; the other of freestone, consisting of seven arches, the largest
of which is 122 feet in diameter; the river is fordable above the
city. Two smaller rivers, the Galego and the Guerva, flow at a little
distance from the city, the one on the east, the other on the west;
the latter being separated from the walls only by the breadth of the
common road: both are received into the Ebro. Unlike most other places
of the peninsula, Zaragoza has neither aqueduct nor fountains, but
derives its water wholly from the river. The people of Tortosa, (and
probably of the other towns upon its course,) drink also of the Ebro,
preferring it to the finest spring; the water is of a dirty red colour,
but, having stood a few hours, it becomes perfectly clear, and has a
softness and pleasantness of taste, which soon induces strangers to
agree with the natives in their preference of it. The population was
stated in the census of 1787 at 42,600; that of 1797, excellent as it
is in all other respects, has the fault of not specifying the places
in each district; later accounts computed its inhabitants at 60,000,
and it was certainly one of the largest cities in the peninsula. It had
twelve gates, four of them in the old wall of Augustus, by whom the
older town of Salduba upon the same site was enlarged, beautified, and
called Cæsarea-Augusta, or Cæsaraugusta; a word easily corrupted into
its [2]present name.
The whole city is built of brick; even the convents and churches were
of this coarse material, which was bad of its kind, so that there
were cracks in most of these edifices from top to bottom. The houses
are not so high as they usually are in old Spanish towns, their
general height being only three stories; the streets are, as usual,
very narrow and crooked; there are, however, open market-places; and
one very wide, long, and regularly built street, formerly called the
Calle Santa, having been the scene of many martyrdoms, but now more
commonly known by the name of the Cozo. The people, like the rest of
the Aragonese, and their neighbours, the Catalans, have been always
honourably distinguished in Spanish history for their love of liberty;
and the many unavailing struggles which they have made during the
last four centuries, had not abated their attachment to the good
principles of their forefathers. Within the peninsula, (and once
indeed throughout the whole of Catholic Europe,) Zaragoza was famous
as the city of our Lady of the Pillar, whose legend is still so firmly
believed by the people, and most of the clergy in Spain, that it was
frequently appealed to in the proclamations of the different generals
and Juntas, as one of the most popular articles of the national faith.
The legend is this: when ♦OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR.♦ the apostles, after
the resurrection, separated and went to preach the gospel in different
parts of the world, St. James the elder, (or Santiago, as he may more
properly be called in his mythological history,) departed for Spain,
which province Christ himself had previously commended to his care.
When he went to kiss the hand of the Virgin, and request her leave
to set off, and her blessing, she commanded him, in the name of her
Son, to build a church to her honour in that city of Spain wherein he
should make the greatest number of converts, adding, that she would
give him farther instructions concerning the edifice upon the spot.
Santiago set sail, landed in Galicia, and, having preached with little
success through the northern provinces, reached Cæsarea-Augusta, where
he made eight disciples. One night, after he had been conversing
and praying with them as usual on the banks of the river, they fell
asleep, and just at midnight the apostle heard heavenly voices sing,
_Ave Maria gratia plena!_ He fell on his knees, and instantly beheld
the Virgin upon a marble pillar in the midst of a choir of angels,
who went through the whole of her matin service. When this was ended,
she bade him build her church around that pillar, which his Lord,
her blessed Son, had sent him by the hands of his angels; there, she
told him, that pillar was to remain till the end of the world, and
great mercies would be vouchsafed there to those who supplicated for
them in her name. Having said this, the angels transported her back
to her house at Jerusalem, (for this was before the Assumption) and
Santiago, in obedience, erected upon that spot the first church which
was ever dedicated to the Virgin[3]. Cathedral service was performed
both in this church and in the see, and the meetings of the chapter
were held alternately in each. The interior of each was of the most
imposing[4] kind. When the elder of these joint cathedrals was erected,
Pope Gelasius granted indulgencies to all persons who would contribute
toward the work, and thus introduced a practice which contributed as
much to the grandeur and magnificence of ecclesiastical architecture,
as to laxity of morals and the prevalence of superstition.
♦CONTEMPT OF THE FRENCH FOR THE ZARAGOZANS.♦
Many mournful scenes of bigotry and superstition have been exhibited
in Zaragoza; but, in these fiery trials which Buonaparte’s tyranny was
preparing for the inhabitants, the dross and tinsel of their faith
disappeared, and its pure gold remained. The French, accustomed as
they were to undervalue the Spanish character, had spoken with peculiar
contempt of the Zaragozans. “Few persons,” they said, “are to be seen
among them who distinguish themselves by their dress; there is little
of that elegant attire so observable in large cities. All is serious
and regular, ... dull and monotonous. The place seems without any kind
of resource, because the inhabitants use no effort to obtain any; ...
accustomed to a state of apathy and languor, they have not an idea
of the possibility of shaking it off[5].” With this feeling, equally
despising the strength of the place, and the character of the people,
the French proceeded to besiege the capital of Aragon. A party of
their cavalry entered the town on the 14th, perhaps in pursuit of the
retreating patriots; they thought to scour the streets, but they were
soon made to feel, that the superiority of disciplined soldiers to
citizens exists only in the field.
♦JUNE 15.
THE FRENCH ATTEMPT TO STORM THE CITY.♦
On the following morning, the French, with part of their force,
attacked the outposts upon the canal, and, with their main body,
attempted to storm the city by the gate called Portillo. A desperate
conflict ensued. The Aragonese fought with a spirit worthy of their
cause. They had neither time, nor room, nor necessity for order.
Their cannon, which they had hastily planted before the gates, and
in the best situations without the town, were served by any persons
who happened to be near them; any one gave orders who felt himself
competent to take the command. A party of the enemy entered the city,
and were all slain. Lefebvre perceived that it was hopeless to persist
in the attack with his present force, and drew off his troops, having
suffered great loss. The patriots lost about 2000 men killed, and as
many wounded. In such a conflict the circumstances are so materially
in favour of the defendants, that the carnage made among the French
must have been much greater. Some part of their baggage and plunder
was abandoned in their retreat. The conquerors would have exposed
themselves by a rash pursuit, but Palafox exhorted them not to be
impatient, telling them, that the enemy would give them frequent
opportunities to display their courage. While he thus restrained their
impetuosity, he continued to excite their zeal. This victory, he said,
was but the commencement of the triumphs which they were to expect
under the powerful assistance of their divine patrons. The precious
blood of their brethren had been shed in the field of glory, ... on
their own soil. Those blessed martyrs required new victims; let us, he
added, prepare for the sacrifice!
♦PALAFOX GOES OUT TO COLLECT REINFORCEMENTS.♦
The Zaragozans had obtained only a respite; defeated as he was,
Lefebvre had only removed beyond the reach of their guns; his troops
were far superior to any which they could bring against him; and it was
not to be doubted that he would soon return in greater force, to take
vengeance for the repulse and the disgrace which he had suffered. A
regular siege was to be expected; how were the citizens to sustain it
with their brick walls, without heavy artillery, and without troops
who could sally to interrupt the besiegers in their works? In spite of
all these discouraging circumstances, confiding in God and their own
courage, they determined to defend the streets to the last extremity.
Palafox, immediately after the repulse of the enemy, set out to
muster reinforcements, to provide such resources for the siege as he
could, and to place the rest of Aragon in a state of defence, if the
capital should fall. He was accompanied by Colonel Butron, his friend
and aide-de-camp; Lieut.-Colonel Beillan, of the engineers; Padre
Basilio, and Tio Jorge. With these companions and a small escort he
left the city by the suburbs, crossed the Ebro at Pina, and collecting
on the way about 1400 soldiers who had escaped from Madrid, formed a
junction at Belchite with Baron Versage and some newly raised troops
from Calatayud. Their united numbers amounted to some 7000 men, with
100 horse and four pieces of artillery. Small as this force was,
and still more inefficient for want of discipline than of numerical
strength, Palafox resolved upon making an attempt with it to succour
the city. The prudence of this determination was justly questioned by
some; others proposed the strange measure of marching to Valencia:
this probably originated with some of the stray soldiers who were at
liberty to seek their fortune where they pleased, and the proposal
was so well received that a considerable party prepared to set off
in that direction, without orders. But Palafox called them together,
exhorted them to do their duty, and offered passports to as many as
chose to leave him in the moment of danger. The consequence of this
offer was that not a man departed. From Almunia, where he had rested a
day, he then marched towards Epila, thinking to advance to the village
of La Muela, and thus place the invaders between his little army and
the city, in the hope of cutting them off from their reinforcements.
Lefebvre prevented this, by suddenly attacking him at Epila, on the
night of the 23d: after a most obstinate resistance, the superior arms
and discipline of the French were successful. The wreck of this gallant
band retreated to Calatayud, and afterwards, with great difficulty,
threw themselves into Zaragoza.
♦G. VERDIER JOINS LEFEBVRE WITH REINFORCEMENT.♦
The besiegers’ army was soon reinforced by General Verdier, with 2500
men, besides some battalions of Portugueze, who, according to the
devilish system of Buonaparte’s tyranny, had been forced out of their
own country, to be pushed on in the foremost ranks, wherever the first
fire of a battery was to be received, a line of bayonets clogged,
or a ditch filled, with bodies. They occupied the best positions in
the surrounding plain, and, on the 27th, attacked the city and the
Torrero; but they were repulsed with the loss of 800 men, six pieces
of artillery, and five carts of ammunition. By this time, they had
invested nearly half the town. The next morning they renewed the attack
at both places; from the city they were again repulsed, losing almost
all the cavalry who were engaged. But the Torrero ♦THE TORRERO TAKEN.♦
was lost through the alleged misconduct of an artillery officer, who
was charged with having made his men abandon the batteries at the most
critical moment. For this he was condemned to run the gauntlet six
times, the soldiers beating him with their ramrods, and after this
cruelty he was shot.
♦THE FRENCH BOMBARD THE CITY.♦
The French, having now received a train of mortars, howitzers, and
twelve-pounders, which were of sufficient calibre against mud walls,
kept up a constant fire, and showered down shells and grenades from the
Torrero. About twelve hundred were thrown into the town, and there was
not one building that was bomb proof within the walls. After a time,
the inhabitants placed beams of timber together, endways, against the
houses, in a sloping direction, behind which those who were near when
a shell fell, might shelter themselves. The enemy continued also to
invest the city more closely, while the Aragonese made every effort
to strengthen their means of defence. They tore down the awnings from
their windows, and formed them into sacks, which they filled with
sand, and piled up before the gates, in the form of a battery, digging
round it a deep trench. They broke holes for musketry in the walls and
intermediate buildings, and stationed cannon where the position was
favourable for it. The houses in the environs were destroyed. “Gardens
and olive grounds,” says an eye-witness, “that in better times had been
the recreation and support of their owners, were cheerfully rooted up
by the proprietors themselves, wherever they impeded the defence of the
city, or covered the approach of the enemy.” ♦EXERTIONS OF THE WOMEN.♦
Women of all ranks assisted; they formed themselves into companies,
some to relieve the wounded, some to carry water, wine, and provisions,
to those who defended the gates. The ♦COUNTESS BURITA.♦ Countess Burita
instituted a corps for this service; she was young, delicate, and
beautiful. In the midst of the most tremendous fire of shot and shells,
she was seen coolly attending to those occupations which were now
become her duty; nor throughout the whole of a two months’ siege did
the imminent danger, to which she incessantly exposed herself, produce
the slightest apparent effect upon her, or in the slightest degree
bend her from her heroic purpose. Some of the monks bore arms; others
exercised their spiritual offices to the dying: others, with the nuns,
were busied in making cartridges which the children distributed.
Among threescore thousand persons there will always be found some
wicked enough for any employment, and the art of corrupting has
constituted great part of the French system of war. During the night
of the 28th the powder magazine, in the area where the bull-fights
were performed, which was in the very heart of the city, was blown
up, by which fourteen houses were destroyed, and about 200 persons
killed. This was the signal for the enemy to appear before three gates
which had been sold to them. And while the inhabitants were digging
out their fellow-citizens from the ruins, a fire was opened upon them
with mortars, howitzers, and cannons, which had now been received for
battering the town. Their attack seemed chiefly to be directed against
the gate called Portillo, and a large square building near it, without
the walls, and surrounded by a deep ditch; though called a castle,
it served only for a prison. The sand-bag battery before this gate
was frequently destroyed, and as often reconstructed under the fire
of the enemy. The carnage here throughout ♦AUGUSTINA ZARAGOZA.♦ the
day was dreadful. Augustina Zaragoza, a handsome woman of the lower
class, about twenty-two years of age, arrived at this battery with
refreshments, at the time when not a man who defended it was left
alive, so tremendous was the fire which the French kept up against
it. For a moment the citizens hesitated to re-man the guns. Augustina
sprung forward over the dead and dying, snatched a match from the hand
of a dead artilleryman, and fired off a six-and-twenty pounder; then,
jumping upon the gun, made a solemn vow never to quit it alive during
the siege. Such a sight could not but animate with fresh courage all
who beheld it. The Zaragozans rushed into the battery, and renewed
their fire with greater vigour than ever, and the French were repulsed
here, and at all other points, with great slaughter. On the morning
of this day a fellow was detected going out of the city with letters
to Murat. It was not till after these repeated proofs of treasonable
practices, that the French residents in Zaragoza, with other suspected
persons, were taken into custody.
♦THE FRENCH AGAIN REPULSED IN AN ATTEMPT TO TAKE THE CITY BY STORM.♦
Lefebvre now supposing that his destructive bombardment must have
dismayed the people, and convinced them how impossible it was for so
defenceless a city to persist in withstanding him, again attempted to
force his way into the town, thinking that, as soon as his troops could
effect a lodgement within the gates, the Zaragozans would submit. On
the 2d of July, a column of his army marched out of their battery,
which was almost within musket-shot of the Portillo, and advanced
towards it with fixed bayonets, and without firing a shot. But when
they reached the castle, such a discharge of grape and musketry was
opened upon their flank, that, notwithstanding the most spirited
exertions of their officers, the column immediately dispersed. The
remainder of their force had been drawn up to support their attack,
and follow them into the city; but it was impossible to bring them a
second time to the charge. The general, however, ordered another column
instantly to advance against the gate of the Carmen, on the left of
the Portillo. This entrance was defended by a sand-bag battery, and by
musketeers, who lined the walls on each side, and commanded two out of
three approaches to it; and here also the French suffered great loss,
and were repulsed.
♦THEY INVEST THE CITY.♦
The military men in Zaragoza considered these attacks as extremely
injudicious. Lefebvre probably was so indignant at meeting with any
opposition from a people whom he despised, and a place which, according
to the rules and pedantry of war, was not tenable, that he lost his
temper, and thought to subdue them the shortest way, by mere violence
and superior force. Having found his mistake, he proceeded to invest
the city still more closely. In the beginning of the siege, the
besieged received some scanty succours; yet, however scanty, they were
of importance. Four hundred soldiers from the regiment of Estremadura,
small parties from other corps, and a few artillerymen got in. Two
hundred of the militia of Logrono were added to these artillerymen, and
soon learnt their new service, being in the presence of an enemy whom
they had such righteous reason to abhor. Two four-and-twenty-pounders
and a few shells, which were much wanted, were procured from Lerida.
The enemy, meantime, were amply supplied with stores from the magazine
in the citadel of Pamplona, which they had so perfidiously seized on
their first entrance, as allies, into Spain. Hitherto they had remained
on the right[6] bank of the Ebro. On the 11th of July they forced the
passage of the ford, and posted troops enough on the opposite side to
protect their workmen while forming a floating bridge. In spite of
all the ♦1808. JULY. THEY FORM A BRIDGE OVER THE EBRO.♦ efforts of
the Aragonese, this bridge was completed on the 14th; a way was thus
made for their cavalry, to their superiority in which the French were
mostly indebted for all their victories in Spain. This gave them the
command of the surrounding country; they destroyed the mills, levied
contributions on the villages, and cut off every communication by which
the besieged had hitherto received supplies. These new difficulties
called out new resources in this admirable people and their general,
... a man worthy of commanding such a people in such times. Corn mills,
worked by horses, were erected in various parts of the city; the
monks were employed in manufacturing gunpowder, materials for which
were obtained by immediately collecting all the sulphur in the place,
by washing the soil of the streets to extract its nitre, and making
charcoal from the stalks of hemp, which in that part of Spain grows to
a magnitude that would elsewhere be thought very unusual[7].
♦DISTRESS OF THE INHABITANTS.♦
By the end of July the city was completely invested, the supply of food
was scanty, and the inhabitants had no reason to expect succour. Their
exertions had now been unremitted for forty-six days, and nothing but
the sense of duty could have supported their bodily strength and their
spirit under such trials. They were in hourly expectation of another
general attack, or another bombardment. They had not a single place of
security for the sick and the children, and the number of wounded was
daily increased by repeated skirmishes, in which they engaged for the
purpose of opening a communication with the country. At this juncture
they made one desperate effort to recover the Torrero. It was in vain;
and convinced by repeated losses, and especially by this last repulse,
that it was hopeless to make any effectual sally, they resolved to
abide the issue of the contest within the walls, and conquer or perish
there.
♦FOUNDLING HOSPITAL BURNT.♦
♦1808. AUGUST.♦
On the night of the second of August, and on the following day, the
French bombarded the city from their batteries opposite the gate of
the Carmen. A foundling hospital, which was now filled with the sick
and wounded, took fire, and was rapidly consumed. During this scene of
horror, the most intrepid exertions were made to rescue these helpless
sufferers from the flames. No person thought of his own property or
individual concerns, ... every one hastened thither. The women were
eminently conspicuous in their exertions, regardless of the shot and
shells which fell about them, and braving the flames of the building.
It has often been remarked, that the wickedness of women exceeds
that of the other sex; ... for the same reason, when circumstances,
forcing them out of the sphere of their ordinary nature, compel them to
exercise manly virtues, they display them in the highest degree, and,
when they are once awakened to a sense of patriotism, they carry the
principle to its most heroic pitch. The loss of women and boys, during
this siege, was very great, fully proportionate to that of men; they
were always the most forward, and the difficulty was to teach them a
prudent and proper sense of their danger.
♦CONVENT OF ST. ENGRACIA.
AUGUST 3.♦
On the following day, the French completed their batteries upon the
right bank of the Guerva, within pistol-shot of the gate of St.
Engracia, so called from a splendid church and convent of Jeronimites,
situated on one side of it. This convent was, on many accounts, a
remarkable place. Men of letters beheld it with reverence, because the
excellent historian Zurita spent the last years of his life there,
observing the rules of the community, though he had not entered into
the order; and because he was buried there, and his countryman and
fellow-labourer, Geronymo de Blancas, after him. Devotees revered it,
even in the neighbourhood of our Lady of the Pillar, for its relics
and the saint to whom it was dedicated. According to the legend, she
was the daughter of Ont Comerus, a barbarian chief, in the pay of the
Romans, by whom the city of Norba Cæsarea, (situated near the Tagus,
between the present towns of Portalegre and Alcantara) was given
him, together with its district, for his service in recovering it
from Cathelius, a chief of the Alemanni. His daughter, Encratis, or
Encratide, (for from one of these names Engracia has been formed) was
brought up a Christian, and espoused to a governor on the Gallic side
of the Pyrenees, to whom she was sent with a suitable escort. Their way
lay through Cæsarea-Augusta, where the Præses, or Governor of Spain,
Publius Dacianus, the bloodiest minister of the tenth persecution,
was at that time endeavouring to extirpate Christianity. Engracia,
either preferring martyrdom to her unknown spouse, or imagining that
her rank would be her safeguard, visited the governor for the purpose
of interceding in behalf of the Christians, and remonstrating against
his cruelty. Thus much of the legend is probably fabulous; but certain
it is, that a virgin of that name was tortured under that persecution;
and, though she survived, was venerated as a [8]martyr in that city,
before the close of the century in which she suffered. Just, however,
as her claim is to pious remembrance, her church, and the divine
honours which have been paid to her, were procured by fraud. Angels
are said to have descended at her death, and to have officiated at her
funeral, bearing tapers and thuribules, and singing hymns of triumph.
During the Moorish captivity, her relics disappeared; they were
discovered towards the close of the fourteenth century, which was the
great age for inventions of this kind. There stood at that time, upon
the site of this memorable convent, an old church, dedicated to the
Zaragozan martyrs, of the tenth persecution, and called the _Iglesia
de las Masas_, in memory of an early specimen of Catholic ingenuity.
Dacianus, holding relic-worship in as much contempt as the Christians
did his idolatry, in order to prevent them from indulging in it, burnt
the bodies of the martyrs, together with those of some malefactors,
thinking that their ashes would be undistinguishable; nevertheless, the
Christians found their own, which had collected together in white balls
or masses, separate from the rest. In 1389, the regular canons, to whom
the church belonged, resolved to rebuild a part of it: in digging the
foundation, two marble chests were discovered. The lid of the smaller
was fastened down very firmly with a sort of pitch; when this was taken
off, two sets of human bones were found in different compartments;
over the one were the words _Lupercii Martyris_, sculptured in the
marble; over the other, _Engratiæ Virginis_: these latter were of
rose-colour, which was admitted as proof of their authenticity. The
larger chest contained a great assortment of anonymous bones, ashes,
and the white masses, which had disappeared for so many centuries.
The mine was very rich; the workmen went on till they had invented
thirteen chests, and at last, a whole pit full of relics, not the
less efficacious because it could not be ascertained to whom they had
belonged. Seventy years afterwards, Juan II. of Aragon, one of the
wickedest and most perfidious of men, fancied or feigned, that by St.
Engracia’s intercession, he was cured of a complaint in his eyes; in
consequence of which, he resolved to enlarge this church, and build a
monastery adjoining it for the Jeronimites, ... an order which, during
that and the succeeding age, was in great favour at the three courts
of the Peninsula. He began his work, but died without completing it,
leaving that charge by will to his son, Ferdinand, the Catholic king.
He continued the building, but it was not finished till the reign of
Charles the Fifth.
Both the church and convent were splendidly adorned, but the most
remarkable part of the whole edifice was a subterranean church, formed
in the place where the relics were discovered, and having the pit, or
well, as it was called, in the middle. It was divided by a beautiful
iron grating, which excluded laymen from the interior of the sanctuary.
There were three descents; the widest flight of steps was that which
was for public use, the two others were for the religioners, and met
in one behind the three chief altars, within the grating. Over the
midst of these altars were two tombs, placed one upon the other in a
niche; the under one containing the relics of Engracia’s companions
and fellows in martyrdom; the upper, those of the saint herself, her
head excepted, which was kept in a silver shrine, having a collar of
precious stones, and enclosed in crystal. The altars on either side
had their respective relics; and several others, equally rich in such
treasures, were ranged along the walls, without the grating. The roof
was of an azure colour, studded with stars to represent the sky. The
breadth of the vault considerably exceeded its length; it was sixty
feet wide, and only forty long. Thirty little columns, of different
marbles, supported the roof. On the stone brink of the well, the
history of the Zaragozan martyrs was represented in bas-relief; and an
iron grating, reaching to the roof, secured it from being profaned by
idle curiosity, and from the pious larcenies which it might otherwise
have tempted. Within this cage-work, a silver lamp was suspended.
Thirty such lamps were burning there day and night; and, though
the roof was little more than twelve feet high, it was never in the
slightest degree sullied with smoke. The fact is certain[9]; but the
useful and important secret, by which oil was made to burn without
producing smoke, was carefully concealed; and the Jeronimites continued
till this time to exhibit a miracle, which puzzled all who did not
believe it to be miraculous.
♦THE HOSPITAL SET ON FIRE.♦
On the 4th of August, the French opened batteries within pistol-shot
of this church and convent. The mud walls were levelled at the first
discharge; and the besiegers rushing through the opening, took the
batteries before the adjacent gates in reverse. Here General Mori, who
had distinguished himself on many former occasions, was made prisoner.
The street of St. Engracia, which they had thus entered, leads into
the Cozo, and the corner buildings where it thus terminated, were
on the one hand the convent of St. Francisco, and on the other the
General Hospital. Both were stormed and set on fire; the sick and the
wounded threw themselves from the windows to escape the flames, and
the horror of the scene was aggravated by the maniacs, whose voices
raving or singing in paroxysms of wilder madness, or crying in vain
to be set free, were heard amid the confusion of dreadful sounds.
Many fell victims to the fire, and some to the indiscriminating fury
of the assailants. Those who escaped were conducted as prisoners to
the Torrero; but when their condition had been discovered, they were
sent back on the morrow, to take their chance in the siege. After a
severe contest and dreadful carnage, the French forced their way into
the Cozo, in the very centre of the city, and, before the day closed,
were in possession of one half of Zaragoza. Lefebvre now believed
that he had effected his purpose, and required Palafox to surrender,
in a note containing only these words: “Head-quarters, St. Engracia.
Capitulation[10]!” The heroic Spaniard immediately returned this reply:
“Head-quarters, Zaragoza. War at the knife’s point[11]!”
♦WAR IN THE STREETS.♦
The contest which was now carried on is unexampled in history. One side
of the Cozo, a street about as wide as Pall-mall, was possessed by the
French; and, in the centre of it, their general, Verdier, gave his
orders from the Franciscan convent. The opposite side was maintained
by the Aragonese, who threw up batteries at the openings of the cross
streets, within a few paces of those which the French erected against
them. The intervening space was presently heaped with dead, either
slain upon the spot, or ♦AUGUST 5.♦ thrown out from the windows. Next
day the ammunition of the citizens began to fail; ... the French
were expected every moment to renew their efforts for completing the
conquest, and even this circumstance occasioned no dismay, nor did any
one think of capitulation. One cry was heard from the people, wherever
Palafox rode among them, that, if powder failed, they were ready to
attack the enemy with their knives, ... formidable weapons in the hands
of desperate ♦THE CITY RECEIVES A REINFORCEMENT.♦ men. Just before the
day closed, Don Francisco Palafox, the general’s brother, entered the
city with a convoy of arms, and ammunition, and a reinforcement of
three thousand men, composed of Spanish guards, Swiss, and volunteers
of Aragon, ... a succour as little expected by the Zaragozans, as it
had been provided against by the enemy.
♦P. SANTIAGO SASS.♦
The war was now continued from street to street, from house to house,
and from room to room; pride and indignation having wrought up the
French to a pitch of obstinate fury, little inferior to the devoted
courage of the patriots. During the whole siege, no man distinguished
himself more remarkably than the curate of one of the parishes,
within the walls, by name P. Santiago Sass. He was always to be seen
in the streets, sometimes fighting with the most determined bravery
against the enemies, not of his country alone, but of freedom, and
of all virtuous principles, wherever they were to be found; at other
times, administering the sacrament to the dying, and confirming, with
the authority of faith, that hope, which gives to death, under such
circumstances, the joy, the exultation, the triumph, and the spirit of
martyrdom. Palafox reposed the utmost confidence in this brave priest,
and selected him whenever any thing peculiarly difficult or hazardous
was to be done. At the head of forty chosen men, he succeeded in
introducing a supply of powder into the town, so essentially necessary
for its defence.
This most obstinate and murderous contest was continued for eleven
successive days and nights, more indeed by night than by day; for it
was almost certain death to appear by daylight within reach of those
houses which were occupied by the other party. But under cover of the
darkness, the combatants frequently dashed across the street to attack
each other’s batteries; and the battles which began there, were often
carried on into the houses beyond, where they fought from room to room,
and floor to floor. The hostile batteries were so near each other, that
a Spaniard in one place made way under cover of the dead bodies, which
completely filled the space between them, and fastened a rope to one of
the French cannons; in the struggle which ensued, the rope broke, and
the Zaragozans lost their prize at the very moment when they thought
themselves sure of it[12].
♦NUMBER OF THE DEAD.♦
A new horror was added to the dreadful circumstances of war in this
ever memorable siege. In general engagements the dead are left upon
the field of battle, and the survivors remove to clear ground and
an untainted atmosphere; but here ... in Spain, and in the month of
August, there where the dead lay the struggle was still carried on, and
pestilence was dreaded from the enormous accumulation of putrifying
bodies. Nothing in the whole course of the siege so much embarrassed
Palafox as this evil. The only remedy was to tie ropes to the French
prisoners, and push them forward amid the dead and dying, to remove
the bodies, and bring them away for interment. Even for this necessary
office there was no truce, and it would have been certain death to the
Aragonese who should have attempted to perform it; but the prisoners
were in general secured by the pity of their own soldiers, and in this
manner the evil was, in some degree, diminished.
♦RETREAT OF THE ENEMY.♦
A council of war was held by the Spaniards on the 8th, not for the
purpose which is too usual in such councils, but that their heroic
resolution might be communicated with authority to the people. It was,
that in those quarters of the city where the Aragonese still maintained
their ground, they should continue to defend themselves with the same
firmness: should the enemy at last prevail, they were then to retire
over the Ebro into the suburbs, break down the bridge, and defend the
suburbs till they perished. When this resolution was made public, it
was received with the loudest acclamations. But in every conflict
the citizens now gained ground upon the soldiers, winning it inch by
inch, till the space occupied by the enemy, which on the day of their
entrance was nearly half the city, was gradually reduced to about an
eighth part. Meantime, intelligence of the events in other parts of
Spain was received by the French, ... all tending to dishearten them;
the surrender of Dupont, the failure of Moncey before Valencia, and
the news that the Junta of that province had dispatched six thousand
men to join the levies in Aragon, which were destined to relieve
Zaragoza. During the night of the 13th, their fire was particularly
fierce and destructive; after their batteries had ceased, flames burst
out in many parts of the buildings which they had won; their last
act was to blow up the church of St. Engracia; the powder was placed
in the subterranean church, ... and this remarkable place, ... this
monument of fraud and of credulity, ... the splendid theatre wherein
so many feelings of deep devotion had been excited, ... which so many
thousands had visited in faith, and from which unquestionably many had
departed with their imaginations elevated, their principles ennobled,
and their hearts strengthened, was laid in ruins. In the morning the
French columns, to the great surprise of the Spaniards, were seen at a
distance, retreating over the plain, on the road to Pamplona.
The history of a battle, however skilfully narrated, is necessarily
uninteresting to all except military men; but in the detail of a siege,
when time has destroyed those considerations, which prejudice or
pervert our natural sense of right and wrong, every reader sympathizes
with the besieged, and nothing, even in fictitious narratives,
excites so deep and animating an interest. There is not, either in
the annals of ancient or of modern times, a single event recorded
more worthy to be held in admiration, now and for evermore, than the
siege of Zaragoza. Will it be said that this devoted people obtained
for themselves, by all this heroism and all these sacrifices, nothing
more than a short respite from their fate? Woe be to the slavish heart
that conceives the thought, and shame to the base tongue that gives it
utterance! They purchased for themselves an everlasting remembrance
upon earth, ... a place in the memory and love of all good men in all
ages that are yet to come. They performed their duty; they redeemed
their souls from the yoke; they left an example to their country, never
to be forgotten, never to be out of mind, and sure to contribute to and
hasten its deliverance.
One of the first cares of Palafox, after the delivery of the city,
was, to establish a board of health to provide against the effects
of putrefaction, ... such was the number of French who were left
dead in the houses and in the streets. Pamplona, whither the wreck
of their army retreated, was for many days filled with carts full
and horse-loads of wounded, who arrived faster and in greater number
than they could be lodged in the hospitals and convents. It was
equally shocking to humanity to behold their sufferings, and the cruel
regardlessness of their comrades, who, while these wretches were
fainting for want of assistance and of food, and literally dying in the
streets, were exposing their booty to sale, and courting purchasers
for church plate, watches, jewels, linen, and apparel, the plunder
which they had collected in Navarre and Aragon; and which, in their
eagerness to convert into money, they were offering at a small part of
their value. There were, however, scarcely any purchasers except for
the church plate, which was bought for the purpose of restoring it, at
the same cost, to the churches and monasteries from whence it had been
stolen.
The temper of the Zaragozans after their victory was not less heroic
than their conduct during the struggle. It might have been expected
that some degree of exhaustion would have succeeded the state of
excitement to which they had been wrought; and that the widowed, the
childless, and they who were left destitute, would now have lamented
what they had lost, or, at least, that they themselves had not perished
also. This, however, was not so. Mr. Vaughan visited Zaragoza a little
while after the siege, and remained there during several weeks: he saw
(they are his own impressive words) “many a parent who had lost his
children, and many a man reduced from competence to poverty, but he
literally did not meet with one human being who uttered the slightest
complaint: every feeling seemed to be swallowed up in the memory of
what they had recently done, and in a just hatred of the French.” These
are the effects of patriotism, aided and strengthened by religion: its
influence, thus elevated and confirmed, made women and boys efficient
in the time of action, and the streets of a city not less formidable
to an invader than the best constructed works of defence. Let not the
faith which animated the Aragonese be called superstition, because our
Lady of the Pillar, Santiago, and St. Engracia, were its symbols. It
was virtually and essentially religion in its inward life and spirit;
it was the sense of what they owed equally to their forefathers and
their children; the knowledge that their cause was as righteous as
any for which an injured and insulted people ever rose in arms; the
hope that by the blessing of God upon that cause they might succeed;
the certain faith that if they fell, it was with the feeling, the
motive, and the merit of martyrdom. Life or death therefore became to
the Zaragozans only not indifferent, because life was useful to the
cause for which they held it in trust, and were ready to lay it down:
they who fell expired in triumph, and the survivors rather envied
than regretted them. The living had no fears for themselves, and for
the same reason they could have no sorrows for the dead. The whole
greatness of our nature was called forth, ... a power which had lain
dormant, and of which the possessors themselves had not suspected the
existence, till it manifested itself in the hour of trial.
When the dead were removed, and the ruins sufficiently cleared,
Ferdinand was proclaimed ♦AUGUST 20.♦ with all the usual solemnities;
a ceremony, at other times attended with no other feeling than such as
sports and festivity occasion, now made affecting by the situation of
Ferdinand himself, and the scene which surrounded the spectators; walls
blackened with fire, shattered with artillery, and stained with ♦AUGUST
25.♦ blood. The obsequies of the Spaniards who had fallen were next
performed with military honours, and their funeral oration pronounced
from the pulpit. The brave priest Santiago Sass was made chaplain to
the commander in chief, and Palafox gave him a captain’s commission.
These were times when the religion of Mattathias and the Maccabees was
required; and the priest of the altar was in the exercise of his duty,
when defending it, sword in hand, in the field. A pension was settled
upon Augustina, and the daily pay of an artilleryman. She was also to
wear a small shield of honour embroidered upon the sleeve of her gown,
with Zaragoza inscribed upon it. Tio Jorge was killed during the siege.
Other persons, who had distinguished themselves, were rewarded; and
the general reward which Palafox conferred upon the Zaragozan people,
is strongly characteristic of Spanish ♦SEPT. 20.♦ feeling. By his own
authority, and in the name of Ferdinand, he conferred upon all the
inhabitants of the city and its districts, of both sexes and of all
ranks, the perpetual and irrevocable privilege of never being adjudged
to any disgraceful punishment by any tribunal for any offence, except
for treason or blasphemy.