LORD WELLINGTON ENTERS MADRID. THE FRENCH RETIRE FROM ANDALUSIA. SIEGE
OF BURGOS, AND RETREAT OF THE ALLIES.
♦JULY, 1812.♦
Buonaparte could keep the French people ignorant of the course which
events had taken in Portugal and Spain; but even the vigilance of his
military tyranny could not prevent the Spaniards from knowing that the
allies, having driven out the French from the one kingdom, had entered
the other, and had recovered the two strong places of Ciudad Rodrigo
and ♦APPEAL OF THE INTRUDER TO THE SPANIARDS.♦ Badajoz. Fresh appeals
were made by the Intrusive Government to the fears and jealousies
of a people whom they had now began to apprehend it would be found
impossible to subdue. “What would it avail them,” it was asked, “if
they were to set up Infantado, or the Empecinado, or Ballasteros, or
any other of their countrymen for king? Wherefore should they persist
in an obstinate and unavailing resistance after the Bourbon dynasty
had been extinguished by that great man whom Providence had appointed
to regenerate Spain, and who for their happiness had selected Joseph
to reign over them? Why did they not rally round his throne?” The
Spaniards only ridiculed such appeals; and the French themselves, in
derision, called Joseph King of the Highways, as one whose authority
extended no farther than his patrols and armies could enforce it. His
was indeed a miserable condition; the brother, of whose wicked will
he had, in despite of his own understanding and heart, consented to
become the instrument, regarded him with displeasure, because he had
met with a resistance which was not to be overcome; the nation upon
which he had been insolently intruded, regarded him with deeper hatred
than perhaps had ever before been co-existent with the feeling of
sincere contempt; the army by which alone he was scarcely supported
despised him, and the French generals kept up towards him a semblance
of respect.
♦STATE OF MADRID.♦
But odious as the usurpation was everywhere, it was rendered peculiarly
so at Madrid, by the presence of the Intruder and of his ministers.
Being the seat of the Intrusive Government, more of those traitors were
collected there who had made the miseries of their country a means
for their own advancement; and as the commanders in other parts cared
little for the necessities of the court, heavier imposts were exacted
from the inhabitants, at the very time when a remission of taxes was
announced in edicts, which, if intended to be executed, were never
carried into effect. The duties payable upon the entrance and exit of
wheat, rice, and pulse of every kind, were repealed by a decree, but
continued to be exacted as before, and at the same time, new duties
were imposed upon wine, oil, meat and vegetables. A loan of 20 million
reales was soon exhausted, a contribution of eight millions was then
demanded from the trading part of the people; and an equivalent
proportion was taken in kind from the occupiers of land. Eight per
cent. upon the value of houses were first required, then ten, and
then fifteen; the poorest artisan was compelled to take out an annual
license for the exercise of his calling; even the water carriers were
subjected to this tax. Having collected a great quantity of grain,
the Government sold it at a price more suited to its own wants than
to the condition of the people: the hospitals were crowded with sick
and starving poor; and of the persons who died during the first six
months of this year, two-thirds perished in consequence of misery and
want. Patient endurance was all that the people of Madrid could oppose
to their oppressors; but they lived in firm belief that the day of
deliverance would come, believed every rumour of success on the part of
their countrymen and their allies, and with the same determined will,
discredited whatever was related of their reverses. They looked upon
the account of Ballasteros’s defeat at Bornos as so much exaggerated
that it was unworthy of belief; and with more reasonable incredulity
when it was reported that Marmont had totally defeated the allies
and taken 20,000 prisoners, while the French and their partisans
congratulated each other upon the news, they required dates and
details, and assured themselves that it was nothing more than one of
the enemy’s customary falsehoods.
♦MEASURES OF JOSEPH BEFORE THE BATTLE OF SALAMANCA.♦
Indeed, before the battle of Salamanca, it was made sufficiently
apparent by circumstances which the French were unable to conceal, that
however confidently they might expect some great success, they had
as yet obtained none. The garrison at the Puerto de Miravete, which
had been relieved after the destruction of the bridge at Almaraz,
was withdrawn now, the Puente del Arzobispo was abandoned, and they
withdrew also from Talavera, which was immediately entered by the
Medico. Most of their garrisons at the same time withdrew from La
Mancha, and they were followed by those miserable people, who, having
accepted offices, whether high or low, under the Intrusive Government,
dared not remain without French protection in any place where they were
known. Exertions were made for fortifying Toledo; and in the works
which were carried on for the same purpose at the Retiro, the people of
Madrid saw unequivocal proof, that the French apprehended at least the
possibility of an advance of the allies upon the capital. To prevent
that danger, they had thus collected their forces from all quarters,
thinking then to attack Lord Wellington with such superior numbers as
would render success certain: but Joseph and M. Jourdan were too slow
in moving from Madrid, and meantime Marmont had been too confident
of his strength and of his skill. If he had delayed his passage of
the Tormes only for two days, till the army of the centre should have
joined, the enemy persuaded themselves that Lord Wellington could
not have escaped from utter defeat, and that that victory would have
secured the entire conquest of Spain.
♦ADVANCE OF THE ALLIES.♦
The event could not be kept secret at Madrid; every one knew what
no one dared publish; and while false intelligence was sedulously
spread abroad by the Intrusive Government, and the police was more
than ordinarily active in arresting suspected persons, every one
congratulated his friends and neighbours upon a victory the extent of
which was magnified in proportion to their hopes. They entertained no
doubt but that Marmont had been killed, and his whole army destroyed.
Lord Wellington moved from Cuellar on the 6th of August, leaving
General Clinton’s division there, and General Anson’s brigade of
cavalry to observe the line of the Douro. He arrived at Segovia on
the 7th, and at S. Ildefonso on the 8th, the beautiful summer retreat
of the kings of Spain: there he halted one day that the right of
the army might have time to come up. The passage of the Guadarama
mountains was effected without opposition. Brigadier-General d’Urban,
with the Portugueze cavalry, the first light battalion of the German
Legion, and Captain M’Donald’s troop of horse artillery, drove in on
the morning of the 16th, about 2000 French cavalry; they moved toward
Naval Carnero, and returned from thence in the evening with the
Intruder himself, to make a reconnoissance. D’Urban formed the ♦AUGUST.
AFFAIR AT MAJALAHONDA.♦ Portugueze cavalry in front of Majalahonda,
and ordered them to charge the enemy’s leading squadrons, which
seemed too far advanced. The Portugueze pushed on, but unexpectedly
disgraced themselves; their officers set them a brave example, but
in vain, and the Visconde de Barbacena, who behaved remarkably well,
was taken prisoner; the men turned about shamefully, fled through the
village, and left the guns behind them which had been moved forward
for their support. M’Donald’s troop exerted themselves to bring them
off, but owing to the rough ground, one carriage was broken, two
were overturned, and thus the three fell into the enemy’s hands. The
German dragoons who had been formed behind the village rallied the
fugitives, charged the enemy, and stopped their progress, but suffered
considerable loss. In this affair, about 200 men were killed, wounded,
or taken, and 120 horses. The left of the allied army being not three
miles distant, two brigades of horse and foot moved forward to support
the troops in advance; the French retired as soon as they saw them, and
withdrew during the night, leaving the guns. The piquets of the allies
took post that evening on the mountains, in sight of Madrid.
♦THE ENEMY RETIRE FROM MADRID.♦
The enemy, who from Madrid had been looking through telescopes toward
the passes of the Guadarama, had seen D’Urban’s detachment on the
evening of the 9th. Orders were then given and revoked by the resident
members of the Government, with the precipitation of fear: it was
determined to abandon the capital on the following morning, and the
adherents of the Intruder prepared in all haste for their departure;
some selling their goods for any price that could be obtained for them,
others, intrusting them to the care of their friends, and not a few
soliciting the compassion of those who had been found faithful to their
country. The families of these unhappy men were objects of compassion
even to the populace, notwithstanding the indignation which was felt
at the men themselves, who bitterly repented now, not so much their
guilt as their short-sightedness in supposing that they had taken the
stronger side. The troops under whose protection they retired would
have saved them from any outrage or insult if any had been intended;
but they had not proceeded far from the gates before many of them
were plundered by these protectors. Two of Joseph’s ministers entered
Madrid with a strong escort the next day, for the supposed purpose of
destroying papers, and securing effects which could not be carried away
in the hurry of the removal. They retired in the evening, and on the
morning of the 12th all the troops who remained shut themselves up in
the Retiro. The shops which, during the two preceding days, had been
closed were then opened, and Madrid became a scene of such joy as had
never been witnessed ♦THE ALLIES ENTER.♦ in the days of its proudest
prosperity. Soon after middle day the allies began to enter through
streets so crowded with gratulating multitudes, that the officers who
were on horseback at the head of their men, could scarcely make their
way, and scarcely keep their seats, so eagerly did the Spaniards press
to shake hands with them, as if nothing but an English mode of greeting
could make their exultation and their hearty welcome sufficiently
intelligible.
♦THE NEW CONSTITUTION PROCLAIMED.♦
Madrid had lost more than two-thirds of its inhabitants since its
occupation by the French, but an influx of people from all the
surrounding country now filled it as if there had been no depopulation;
and amid this multitude, on the following day, the new constitution was
proclaimed by D. Carlos de España, who was appointed governor of the
capital and province, ... a charge for which no one could be better
qualified by clearness of judgment, and promptitude in executing what
he saw to be right. Their acclamations were hushed as soon as they knew
what they were called upon to hear; and the deep silence with which
they listened to the constitutional act was interrupted only by the
enemy’s cannon from the Retiro, which seemed rather like a salute in
honour of the ceremony, than an enemy’s artillery employed in defence
of their last hold in the capital. The act was received with exultant
delight; young minds and generous ones, whose natural ardour enabled
them to believe what they eagerly desired, persuaded themselves that
the Spaniards had now established their freedom as well as achieved
their independence; the happy days of Athens and of Sparta, they said,
seemed to be restored; and the people of Madrid already appeared like
a nation accustomed to liberty, and to deliberate concerning their own
interests.
♦THE BUEN RETIRO.♦
On that evening Lord Wellington invested the Retiro, where Marshal
Jourdan, with little prudence, had left a garrison of 1700 men. At
the eastern extremity of Madrid, Philip II. had a small palace, or
rather house of retreat, pleasantly situated by the Prado or public
walk, on a rising ground, and immediately adjoining the convent of S.
Geronimo. Philip IV. took a fancy to the site; and Olivares, whose
chief object seemed to be that of amusing his royal master at whatever
cost, purchased adjacent land enough for a large palace, with its
gardens and a park four miles in circuit; and such enormous sums were
lavished upon the edifice and the grounds, that the additional imposts
which were required for this expenditure, or artfully, perhaps, imputed
to it, were one of the causes which provoked the revolt in Catalonia,
and occasioned the separation of Portugal from the Spanish monarchy.
The palace contained a theatre, spacious itself, and opening into the
gardens, which might thus be made upon occasion a continuation of the
scene; in this theatre the master-pieces of the Spanish drama were
represented before a court who delighted in dramatic literature; and
Ferdinand VI. gratified his dear Queen Barbara’s hereditary love of
music, with Italian operas, performed under Farinelli’s direction.
Formerly the Buen Retiro contained a large collection of pictures by
the greatest masters of Italy, Spain, and the Low Countries; many
of these were transferred to other palaces when this began to be
neglected, and the French had now made spoil of the rest. But there
were ceilings painted by Luca Jordano, which were not removable; and
in a compartment of that in the great saloon, Spain was pictured,
ruling the terrestrial globe, ... a dream of ambition which her kings
of the Austrian line had entertained, which the craftiest as well
as the wildest heads among the Romish clergy encouraged, and which
many circumstances seemed to concur in favouring, when, under the
blessing of Providence, the Dutch, by their patriotic and religious
virtue, averted that evil from the world. Two other noted works of
art were still to be seen in the Buen Retiro; one, remarkable for its
design, was a bronze statue of Charles V. trampling upon the Spirit of
Reformation which lay, personified as Heresy in chains, at his feet;
the other, which for the surpassing skill of the sculptor was even
more remarkable, was an equestrian statue of Philip IV. cast by Pietro
Tacca of Florence, weighing, it is said, not less than nine tons,
and yet supported only by the hind legs, the horse being in the act
of galloping. Within the precincts of the palace were many pavilions
which used to be assigned to the courtiers when the court resided
there. The gardens were of that formal style in which art allows as
little as possible of nature to be seen, ... where water is brought at
great expense to spout from fountains and fill circular fish-ponds,
the gardener exercises his topiary genius upon trees and shrubs, and
humble evergreens are compelled to grow in fantastic patterns, like
a vegetable carpet. The park was a thick wood, with broad avenues, a
central pond having a pavilion in its centre, and a large piece of
water at its termination, on which gilded gondolas awaited the king’s
pleasure when he was disposed to take the diversion of fishing, his
retinue beholding the sport from the little pavilions which decorated
its sides. Like all the other palaces of the kings of Spain, the Buen
Retiro was a place in which a meditative beholder was forcibly reminded
of the vanity of human greatness. Those kings, above all other European
sovereigns, had been loved and reverenced by their people; their
palaces were among the wonders of the modern world, and no expenditure,
no efforts of ingenuity and art had been spared in embellishing their
summer retreats: but these things had been grievously compensated,
not alone by the never-ending anxieties of state, and the gloom of
disappointed ambition, but by a more than ordinary share of the
afflictions incident to human nature, coming upon themselves or their
families, ... maladies of body and of mind alike incurable and painful;
... madness, fatuity, weak intellects, ... conscious of their weakness,
and of the awful responsibility in which their birth had placed them,
... morbid consciences, and broken hearts.
After the accession of Charles III. the Retiro ceased to be a royal
residence, and part of its buildings were converted into a royal
manufactory of porcelain. Its park, however, continued to be a
fashionable promenade, the more agreeable, because carriages were not
allowed to enter; but the French had now made it a depôt for their
artillery stores, the victims whom they arrested for political offences
were confined there, and they had fortified it as a military post, but
with less judgment than their engineers had displayed on any other
occasion. ♦SURRENDER OF THE RETIRO.♦ The outer line was formed by the
palace, the museum, and the park wall, with flèches thrown out in part
to flank it; the second was a bastioned line of nine large fronts, but
with no outworks except a ravelin and a lunette; the interior was an
octagonal star fort, closely surrounding what had been the porcelain
manufactory. The garrison was far too small for the outer enceintes,
and Marshal Jourdan had therefore left written orders, that if they
were seriously attacked, they should confine their defence to the star
fort, which, however, itself would be rendered nearly indefensible if
the manufactory were destroyed. A copy of this order was found, and on
the night of the 13th, Major-General Pakenham drove in their posts from
the Prado and the botanical garden, made them retire from the outer
enceintes, broke through the wall in many places, ♦AUGUST 14.♦ and
established his troops in the palace. In the morning arrangements were
made for driving them from the bastioned lines, and for battering the
manufactory; but the governor saw that resistance was useless, and he
surrendered. The number of prisoners taken there and in the hospital
amounted to 2500, and there fell into the hands of the allies 189
pieces of cannon, and above 20,000 stand of arms, with a great quantity
of ammunition and stores of all kinds. The eagles also of the 13th and
51st regiments were found there, and sent to England.
♦THE CONSTITUTION SWORN TO.♦
The inhabitants of Madrid, who looked upon this strong hold of their
oppressors as a Bastille, were desirous of thronging thither to see
the place where so many of their countrymen had been sacrificed; but
this was not permitted, both the British commander and the Spanish
authorities seeking as much as possible to prevent any thing which
might excite the vindictive feelings of the people. That same day,
the churches in every parish were opened for administering the oath
of fidelity to the new constitution; and multitudes crowding thither
with an eagerness which might well have excited apprehension of its
stability, swore to they knew not what. Napoleon, it was said, had
promised to regenerate them, and they were regenerated; for through
his means, who had intended nothing less, the Spaniard had been
converted from a slave to a citizen; the superstitious had thrown off
his prejudices, the coward his fears, the credulous his credulity; the
idle had become industrious, the selfish man generous, and the reckless
one had learned to think. While those who knew little of history and
less of human nature exulted thus in the persuasion, that the habits
of a whole people might be changed as lightly as an inconsiderate man
changes his opinion, and that inveterate evils may suddenly be cured
by legislation as if by miracle, and leave no scar behind; the general
joy was kept up by fast following tidings from all parts of successes,
which, though little more than the necessary consequences in most
instances of the battle of Salamanca and the occupation of Madrid, were
considered each by the multitude as an important achievement in itself.
On the same day that the Retiro was surrendered, the French withdrew
from Toledo to join the army of the centre, with which the Intruder
was retreating towards Valencia: they destroyed their artillery, and
all the ammunition which they could not carry; and hardly had they
left the city before the Abuelo’s party entered, and the bells rung,
and the squares and streets were illuminated. ♦AUGUST 16.♦ Guadalaxara
was attacked by the Empecinado, and after a vain resistance, above 700
French were made prisoners there. The enemy retired from Logroño, and
Duran hastened thither and destroyed its outer fortifications, its
fort, and its inquisition. A detachment was sent from Zaragoza to bring
away the garrisons from Tarrazona and Borja, and destroy the works
there.
♦GEN. FOY’S MOVEMENT.♦
General Foy, with 6000 infantry and 1200 horse, part of Marmont’s army,
now under his command, moved from the neighbourhood of Valladolid
with the intent of raising the blockade of Toro and Zamora, and the
siege of Astorga. The garrison at Tordesillas, consisting of 250 men,
had previously surrendered to ♦AUGUST 17.♦ Santocildes. The Spaniards
retired from before Toro at their approach, in good order and with
little loss; the enemy bringing off their garrison, were then joined
by another body of equal force, and proceeded towards Astorga; 300 of
their cavalry were sent forward to that city, but when they entered
it they found that the Spaniards had withdrawn, and had marched the
garrison, consisting of 1200 men, prisoners towards Coruña: for
Castaños knowing that a force was advancing which his army was in no
condition to meet, had successfully employed the easy artifice of
representing to ♦AUGUST 18.♦ the commander that relief was impossible,
and resistance hopeless, and thus he had induced him to ♦AUGUST 21.♦
surrender. Foy was at Baneza, half way between Benevente and Astorga,
when he received this mortifying intelligence; he then turned back to
the Ezla, and marched upon Carvajales, thinking to surprise the Conde
de Amarante, who with the militia of Tras-os-Montes, then serving
voluntarily beyond their own frontier, was blockading Zamora; the Conde
retreated ♦AUGUST 29.♦ without loss, and the French general bringing
off the garrison marched for Tordesillas.
Some of the traitors who had made themselves conspicuous in the
Intruder’s service, fell into the hands of ♦MEASURES OF POLICE AT
MADRID.♦ their countrymen at Guadalaxara; others who were conscious
that they had been weak rather than wicked, and that in submitting to
him for their own good, they had not aggravated the crime by injuring
those who had persisted in their duty, presented themselves voluntarily
to the newly constituted authorities in Madrid, thinking it better to
take the chance of mercy, than to fly they knew not whither, without
resources, without friends, and without the consolation which those
who act righteously find in their own hearts. There were writers on
this occasion who cried for vengeance in a most ferocious spirit.
They called upon the people of Madrid to prepare graves for their
guilty countrymen who had thus presented themselves at the foot of
the gallows! They advised them to go to the governor, and with one
voice require justice upon these wretches, as what the nation was
entitled to demand; ... the sword for some, chains for others, and
strict confinement till the conclusion of the war for those who were
suspected, and who, if they were left at large, might act as secret
agents for the French. This atrocious language failed of its intended
effect, for the presence of the allied troops maintained order; and a
vigilant police had been established, not for the oppression of the
people, but for their security.
No needless severity was used. D. Carlos d’España made known by
an edict, that persons of both sexes in that capital carried on
a correspondence with those unhappy Spaniards who had followed
the French, and that in this manner they supplied the enemy with
intelligence; all such communication, therefore, was prohibited
to all persons, on pain of being brought before a council of war,
and condemned irremissibly to suffer the punishment appointed for
spies. The families of the fugitives, and of those who had enriched
themselves by the purchase of what the Intrusive Government called
national goods, were ordered to remain in their houses under the
word of three respectable sureties, and not to leave them except for
the purpose of attending their religious duties; but their wives
and daughters were advised to retire into a convent, as the course
which consisted best with their own honour, and with that of their
husbands and fathers, for whom they might there offer up their prayers,
supplicating Providence to bring them in its mercy back to the path of
duty which they had forsaken.
How to deal with the _juramentados_, as those Spaniards were called who
had entered into Joseph’s armies, was a question which now became of
great importance. Hitherto it had been possible to execute the rigour
of the law, and put to death those who were taken in arms against
their country; but the tide having now turned, it might reasonably
be expected that they would eagerly desert a cause in which they had
never heartily engaged; and the policy of thus recruiting the Spanish
army, instead of driving these men to despair, was so evident, that
Alava, immediately on the occupation of Madrid, issued a proclamation,
as commissary for the Government, inviting them to accept the free
pardon which the Cortes had offered them on the publication of the new
constitution. Great numbers in consequence came over. Another measure
of the Intrusive Government, which was not less obvious and dangerous
in its possible results, than the scheme of raising a Spanish force
to be employed in the subjugation of Spain, was that of selling or
otherwise disposing of confiscated houses and lands, and thus binding
the new possessors to their allegiance by the only tie which they would
not be likely under any circumstances to break. They had contrived thus
to connect with the French interest many who would have been unwilling
or unable to purchase property of this description; for under pretext
of embellishing the capital, they pulled down about a fourth of it, and
by way of compensating the owners of the demolished dwellings, assigned
among them in exchange the houses of those who adhered to the national
cause. This policy the Cortes met by a timely decree, declaring all
purchases of confiscated estates null, and empowering the rightful
owners to enter upon them whenever the fortune of war should permit,
and authorising them to exact from the intrusive proprietors the mean
profits, and the amount of any waste which they might have committed.
♦LORD WELLINGTON’S SITUATION.♦
Lord Wellington was now enjoying the highest reward which can fall to
the lot of a successful commander. He was living in a palace, the most
magnificent in Europe, from which he had driven an Usurper; and the
blessings of the people accompanied him wherever he went. The municipal
authorities gave a bull-fight in his honour, and when he appeared in
the royal box, the air rung with the repeated shouts of not less than
12,000 spectators. He could not walk abroad by daylight because of
the pressure of the multitudes who gathered round him; even in the
dark when he went into the Prado, though he and his suite were dressed
in blue great coats in hopes of escaping notice, they were generally
recognized and followed by crowds, the women pressing to shake hands,
and some even to embrace them. Welcomed as he was with overflowing joy
by a grateful people as their deliverer, his satisfaction would have
been complete, if the same difficulties with which he had struggled
since the commencement of the war had not still impeded his plans;
for he was still embarrassed by the want of adequate means, and
disappointed in his hopes of co-operation. He was without money.
The United States of America had declared war against Great Britain,
with no just cause, nor even plausible pretext for hostilities. Lord
Wellington received the news of this declaration immediately after the
battle of Salamanca. The troops in Portugal depended in great measure
for corn upon the importation from America to that country; and he
deemed it necessary, without delay, to make large purchases at Lisbon,
that the subsistence of the army might not be endangered. But this
required a great expenditure, the effect of which was now severely
felt, for no pecuniary resources were to be found in Madrid. The
inhabitants fed the garrison, and the produce of the sequestered ♦COL.
JONES’S ACCOUNT OF THE WAR, 2. 122.♦ and crown lands was readily given
up to the allies, on promise of future payment; but when money was
required for the military chest, a few thousand dollars were all that
could be procured upon the most unquestionable security, and of this
sum much was in base coin.
♦ANGLO-SICILIAN ARMY.♦
Lord Wellington had counted with as much confidence as he ever allowed
himself to place upon arrangements which were not wholly under his own
control, on the promised co-operation of an expedition to the eastern
coast. The most urgent solicitations from that part of Spain for aid
had long been disregarded by the British Government; and the Catalans,
who of all the Spaniards made the greatest and most persevering
exertions in their own defence, had been left from the commencement
of the struggle until this time with no other help than occasional
supplies of money and arms, scantily apportioned, and the assistance
of a few ships of war. And now, when the strong fortresses, one after
another had fallen, and the British Government at length resolved
to withdraw part of its troops from Sicily, where the intrigues of
that poor kingdom, and the expectation of chances in Italy which
were little likely to occur, and of little importance if they had
occurred, had unduly detained them; only 6000 men were detached from
Sicily, without cavalry, and a considerable number of them consisting
of such foreigners as could be enlisted in the Mediterranean.
Lieutenant-General Maitland was appointed to the command, and they
sailed in company with a squadron from the Mediterranean fleet under
Rear-Admiral Hallowell. The common opinion was that they were destined
for Corfu, because heavy artillery was embarked with them.
♦MAJORCAN DIVISION.♦
The Majorcan division of Spanish troops which was to co-operate with
them, was supposed to be in a more efficient state than any of the
Spanish armies. This division had been raised upon the suggestion of
General Whittingham, Majorca being a safe place, where they might be
properly trained before they were brought into the field; but the
materials were not so unexceptionable as the design. Some 250 Germans
who had been made prisoners with Dupont’s army, were taken from the
island of Cabrera as volunteers; though, if free-will had influenced
them, they would, like the Swiss, have entered the Spanish service upon
the first opportunity, instead of remaining two years in that miserable
place of confinement. Majorca itself supplied so few willing soldiers,
that criminals who had been transported thither from Catalonia and
Valencia were enlisted, ... fellows of such a description, that those
who were not deemed capable of service were kept in prison: discipline,
however, and equitable treatment, of which even bad men are sensible,
made them better than was expected. Cuesta sent to this division all
who were discharged from the hospitals; and as runaways from the
routs in Valencia and Murcia could be collected or caught, they were
shipped for Majorca, and incorporated in this hopeful force. No
officer however was appointed without secret and strict inquiry into
his character. Other difficulties, which might not so probably have
been anticipated, impeded the equipment of this division. The plan
was unpopular in the island, the more so, perhaps, because it was set
on foot by an Englishman who was also invested with the command. Upon
Cuesta’s death, the situation of affairs was critical; the authorities
withheld all supplies from the troops, who were also threatened as well
as insulted in pasquinades: convents had been converted into barracks
for their use, and this may possibly have been one cause of offence. An
agreement had been concluded with the Dey of Algiers for a supply of
horses, but it was broken off for want of money, the Superior Junta of
Majorca disregarding all orders from the Regency. The institution of a
military academy was another cause of dislike, owing to the habits of
insubordination which prevailed in Majorca, as in every other part of
the Spanish dominions. By prudent conduct, however, impediments were
removed, and dislike softened or overcome; the troops were clothed
and armed by Great Britain, and their hospital supplied: and when the
expedition from Sicily called for them at Palma, 4500 men embarked, in
a state of efficient discipline.
♦JULY 24.
THE EXPEDITION ARRIVES ON THE COAST OF CATALONIA.♦
The fleet made for the eastern coast of Spain, and on the first of
August anchored in the bay of Blanes, at the mouth of the Tordera. The
enemy occupied Tosa, and had a redoubt there which covered the town
and protected the coast. On that and the following day demonstrations
of landing were made; but upon an interview with Eroles, it was found
that any such measure would be worse than useless, with so inadequate
a force. That able Spaniard saw that it was better for the Catalans
to be left as they had so long been to their own exertions, than to
give the French an opportunity of bringing superior numbers against
a British expedition: and it was agreed that the best service which
such a force could then perform was to secure the city of Alicante, at
that time endangered in consequence of a defeat which Joseph O’Donell
♦DEFEAT OF THE SPANIARDS AT CASTALLA. JUNE 21.♦ had suffered in its
vicinity. He had endeavoured to drive the vanguard of Marshal Suchet’s
army, under General Harispe, back upon the Xucar, from the line which
it occupied at Castalla and Ibi, and other points of the mountainous
country; but as usual, when the Spaniards were brought forward in
regular war, against well-disciplined and well-commanded troops, some
of the officers either misunderstood their orders or executed them
ill, and some of the men losing courage as soon as they lost hope,
threw into confusion those who were braver than themselves; their
loss amounted to 4000 men, being little less than the whole number
which they attacked, and they left more than 10,000 muskets in their
flight. Suchet, who was the most enterprising and successful of all
the French generals in Spain, would have taken advantage of this
shameful defeat, and endeavoured to obtain possession of Alicante, if
the force at his disposal ♦AUGUST.♦ had not been greatly diminished.
Buonaparte had withdrawn all the Poles in his service from the
peninsular, for the Russian campaign; and this deprived him of six
thousand of his best troops, at a time when his army was otherwise
greatly weakened by sending succours to Caffarelli in Navarre, and by
the increased exertions which it was necessary to make against Duran
and the Empecinado, Villacampa and Bassecourt. Before the battle of
Salamanca the Intruder, in his dreams of triumph, informed Suchet that
he must prepare for marching towards Madrid, and then accompanying him
to the Tagus; and he ordered him to form a camp of 8000 men between
Albaceyte and San Clemente; such a force it was impossible for him to
spare; he could not venture to weaken himself further than by detaching
1500 men to Requeña and Cuenca, to relieve General Darmagnac, and he
represented to Joseph that he could not move for Madrid with one of his
divisions, unless he received orders to evacuate Valencia. The last
orders from Paris were to direct all his efforts to the preservation of
the countries under his command, and to keep his force concentrated.
General Maitland knew less of Marshal Suchet’s actual strength than of
his relative superiority to any force that could be brought against
him; the best course, therefore, seemed to be that upon which he
resolved; to secure the important fortress and port of Alicante,
both as a place of arms from whence future operations might be
undertaken, and as a rallying point for the wreck of Joseph O’Donell’s
army. Thither ♦THE EXPEDITION LANDS AT ALICANTE.♦ accordingly the
Anglo-Sicilian expedition sailed: contrary winds and bad weather
retarded it some days upon the passage, but on the evening of August
the 9th they anchored in the harbour, and on the following day the
troops were landed.
The French who were in sight of the fortress retired upon this, and
formed their line in Chichona, Ibi, Castalla, Biar, and Villena. But
Suchet saw that this position would not be tenable against General
Maitland’s corps; ♦THE FRENCH FALL BACK TO THE XUCAR.♦ he concentred
his divisions, therefore, about St. Philippe; fixed his head-quarters
in that city; threw up field-works there, and upon the high road
from Valencia to Madrid; and constructed a bridge of boats over the
Xucar, near Alberique, which he secured with a _tête-du-pont_. His
intention was not to fall back without fighting, provided the allies
should attack him only in front, and were not too greatly superior in
numbers. But the superiority was soon on his own side: the allies took
the field on the 14th, and occupied the country from which the enemy
retired; on the 18th they received intelligence that the Intruder with
the force which he could bring together was about to join the army of
Valencia, and then it became necessary for General Maitland to fall
back to his position in front of Alicante.
The expedition which was to have effected a diversion in the east of
Spain, was thus for the time rendered useless, not having been upon a
sufficient scale to accomplish the purpose for which it was designed.
Meantime the squadron on the north-east coast proceeded successfully,
acting in concert with some of the ablest Guerrilla ♦THE FRENCH
WITHDRAW FROM SANTANDER. AUGUST 2.♦ leaders. Caffarelli found it
prudent to withdraw his garrisons from Torrelavega and Santander, lest
they should be made prisoners; the latter place was entered by Porlier;
the constitution was proclaimed there while salutes of joy were fired
by the Spanish troops and the British vessels; ♦THEY ARE DRIVEN
FROM BILBAO.♦ and Renovales made good his word to General Rouget by
driving him from Bilbao, and defeating him in an attempt at recovering
it. There also the constitution was proclaimed. The _Te Deum_ was
performed in Santiagos church, and the Cid Campeador in the theatre;
and all the unmarried men from the age of 17 to 45, were enrolled for
Mendizabal’s army. On that side there had been no want of exertion, and
no disappointment; but the Gallician army, from which more might have
been looked for, considering the resources of the province, served for
little more than to manifest the gross incapacity or negligence with
which ♦STATE OF THE GALLICIAN ARMY.♦ affairs of the greatest moment
were conducted: nominally it amounted to 30,000 men, and nearly that
number were supposed to be mustered, paid and fed, and yet 11,000
infantry and 350 horse were all that Santocildes had under his command,
and these were badly disciplined and miserably equipped.
♦THE FRENCH BREAK UP THE SIEGE OF CADIZ.
AUGUST 20.♦
On the night of the eighth day after the entrance of the allies into
Madrid, the news of that event reached Cadiz, where it excited among
the inhabitants the joyful hope of being speedily delivered from the
blockade: and deeper emotions in those exiles who had left their houses
and families in the metropolis. On the 24th the French broke up the
siege; they threw shells during the preceding night; those which were
filled with lead and discharged from howitzers with a velocity of about
2000 feet per second, ♦SIR HOWARD DOUGLAS’S NAVAL GUNNERY, P. 61.♦
ranged to the astonishing distance of three miles. They burst their
guns by overcharging them, placing their muzzles one against another
and exploding them by means of portfires and trains; and thus almost
the whole of their artillery between Chiclana and Rota, consisting
of 600 pieces, were rendered unserviceable. Many, however, were left
uninjured for the Spaniards to take possession of, as well as thirty
gun-boats, and a great quantity of stores. The necessity of this
retreat had been foreseen by Soult as soon as he was informed of the
battle of Salamanca. Before that action he had been meditating another
attack upon Tarifa, as a place from whence he could easily communicate
with Tangiers and the Barbary coast, and thus secure supplies for
feeding the army under his command. Sir Rowland Hill’s movements
withdrew him from this project: and after Marmont’s defeat he prepared
to abandon Seville, but to hold the Carthusian convent there, which he
occupied as a citadel. Strong working parties were employed in adding
to its defences, while at the same time the French packed up their
public documents and their private plunder for removal. But on this
occasion the Spaniards were on the alert.
♦MOVEMENT OF LA CRUZ MOURGEON AND COL. SKERRETT UPON SEVILLE.♦
As early as the middle of August the enemy had blown up the Castle of
Niebla, and retired from the whole county of that name; and on the very
day that they broke up from before Cadiz, Camp Marshal D. Juan de la
Cruz Mourgeon, in concert with Colonel Skerrett, judged it advisable to
make a forward movement on Seville, and for this purpose to force the
corps of observation at San Lucar la Mayor, consisting of 350 cavalry
and 200 foot. Brigadier-General Downie was second in command of the
Spanish force. This officer was born in Stirlingshire, and commenced
his military career by accompanying Miranda in his first expedition
to Venezuela, an adventure for which those foreigners who were taken
in it paid the forfeit of their lives. He joined Sir J. Moore’s army
as Assistant Commissary-General, was with Sir Arthur Wellesley in the
campaign of 1809, and in the ensuing year, having entered the Spanish
service, raised, with the approbation of his own government, the loyal
legion of Extremadura and was appointed Colonel-Commandant thereof.
The legion was armed and clothed by the British Government, and he
revived in it the old Spanish costume, ... or something resembling it;
and several of the young nobility are said to have entered it on that
account. By this and by his character, which in some respects resembled
their own, he made himself popular among the Spaniards; insomuch
that the Marquesa de Conquista, the representative of the Pizarros,
presented him with the sword of her ancestor, the famous, or infamous,
conqueror of Peru.
They marched from Manzanilla with 800 men, consisting of the 1st
regiment of guards, the 87th, and a Portugueze regiment, accompanied
by 600 Spanish troops: the Spaniards attacked on the right, the British
and Portugueze on the left: the enemy were driven through the streets,
leaving some killed, wounded, and prisoners, and the allies took post
at San Lucar without the loss of a man. Leaving his advance in that
town, and the British and Portugueze on the right bank of the river San
Lucar, the Spanish general returned to Castilleja del Campo, being the
place whither the persons from whom he received intelligence directed
their communications. Various and contradictory accounts were brought
thither on the morning of the 26th concerning the intentions of the
enemy in Seville; but in the afternoon he received positive information
that Soult, with the greater part of his force, was about to move by
way of Alcala upon Marchena. Arrangements were immediately made, that
the troops should collect at San Lucar, and after two hours’ rest
there, proceed towards Seville at three on the following morning, in
the hope that by this movement they might accelerate the retreat of
the French, and save Seville from being plundered. On arriving at
Espartinas, they ascertained that Soult had left the city with 5000
foot and 500 horse. General Mourgeon, upon this, sending out some
Guerrillas to cover his flanks, proceeded, and arrived on the heights
♦AUGUST 27.♦ of Castilleja de la Cuesta, immediately above Seville, at
six in the morning. The French, occupied some olive grounds close to
the village, and some forty infantry garrisoned the redoubt of Santa
Brigida from which the guns had been withdrawn. They were driven from
the olive grounds into the plain, where for awhile the cavalry, 100 in
number, protected the retreat of the foot, some 150: but they were so
pressed by the Spanish vanguard and annoyed by an English field-piece,
that they took to flight, and many of the men were made prisoners. The
redoubt was attacked at the same time, with more bravery than judgment,
and the Spaniards sustained some loss; the columns then advanced into
the plain, by which the redoubt was turned and its communication cut
off: and Colonel Skerrett ordered it to be masked by a detachment of
Portugueze.
♦THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM SEVILLE.♦
The Spaniards then made a detour to the right, in order to reach
the bridge of Triana by the road of S. Juan de Alfarache, and thus
intercept the retreat of the enemy and prevent them from cutting or
burning the bridge. Skerrett, meantime, advanced a field-piece to
keep in check the enemy’s fire at one of the gates opposite; and
after allowing time for the Spanish column to arrive, the British and
Portugueze advanced to the attack in front, the cavalry and artillery
at a gallop, supported by the grenadiers of the guards and the infantry
following. The enemy abandoned the gate: the British and Portugueze
entered the suburb, and advanced near to the bridge as rapidly as
possible; they were checked at the turn of the street by a fire of
grape-shot and musketry; the grenadiers advanced to their support; the
Spanish cavalry under D. José Canterac, (whom Mourgeon, foreseeing the
necessity, had ordered to leave the column and hasten straight through
the suburb, arrived at this point of time,) and the allies, drove every
thing before them. They advanced to the bridge under a heavy fire. The
enemy had retired from the plain in three columns, with two pieces
of artillery and 200 horse; and had taken a position with the river
on their right, and their rear resting on the suburb: two guns were
brought to bear on them by Captain Roberts of the artillery; they were
driven from their position, and then made a stand upon the bridge,
which they hoped to defend long enough to gain time for destroying
it. Downie with his legion twice attempted to force a passage, and was
twice repulsed, and each time wounded. In a third attempt he leaped
over the chasm which the enemy had then made; and at the same moment
a grape-shot shattered his cheek-bone and destroyed one of his eyes.
He fell from his horse, stunned by the wound; when his recollection
returned he found himself a prisoner, but in time to throw Pizarro’s
sword among his own people. On their part the attack was kept up with
so much spirit, aided as they now were by some guns well placed and
well-worked, that the enemy could not extend the breach which they
had made: and the inhabitants, even while their fire continued, set
all the bells ringing, displayed hangings from their balconies as for
a festival, hastened to the bridge and laid planks across the chasm,
and enabled their deliverers to pass. The French then retired to the
Triunfo and there again made a stand; but soon retreated through the
city, and leaving it by the Puerta Nueva and the Puerta de Carmona,
took the direction of Alcala. They left there two pieces of artillery,
many horses, much baggage, and some two hundred prisoners. The
deliverers could make no speed in pursuing them, for the streets were
crowded with rejoicing multitudes, and their previous exertions as
well as their want of cavalry would have made it imprudent to continue
the pursuit. Downie was treated with great barbarity by his captors.
Miserably wounded as he was, he was tied upon the carriage of a gun,
and in that condition dragged along with them in their retreat; and
this is said to have been done by General Villatte’s direction. Having
taken him some forty miles, and not expecting him to survive, they left
him in a hut, taking however, his parole not to serve again in case of
recovery, till he should have been regularly exchanged.
By this well-timed enterprise, Seville was saved from the contribution
which would have been exacted from it, and the devastation which was
threatened. A division of French troops, about 7000 in number, from the
blockade of Cadiz, passed by during the following night; they meant to
have taken up their quarters there; but supposing that it was occupied
by Sir Rowland Hill’s force, they had no inclination to encounter such
an enemy, and moved hastily to their right, on Carmona. Ballasteros had
hung upon their flank from Ronda, and continued to harass them till
they reached Granada. From thence Soult concerted his movements with
Suchet and the Intruder. Sir Rowland meantime was ordered to the Tagus
with his corps, there to connect its operations with the main body of
the allied army, and the British troops from Cadiz were embarked for
Lisbon.
♦REJOICINGS AT SEVILLE.♦
On the second day after the deliverance of Seville, the constitution
was proclaimed there in the Plaza de S. Francisco with the same success
as in other parts of Spain. A bull fight also was exhibited, for the
twofold purpose of gratifying the people in what to the disgrace of the
Spaniards was their favourite diversion, and of raising money for the
troops. Among other rejoicings, the Inquisition prepared to celebrate
a thanksgiving festival; but General Mourgeon intimated to them that
he had no authority to re-establish them, and that they would not be
suffered to appear as a corporate body. By the retreat of the French
from Andalusia, a large and populous, and most productive province
reverted to the legitimate government: but, though its resources were
thus increased, there was little ground for hoping that they would be
directed with more ability than in the early part of the struggle.
There was the same generous and devoted sense of duty to their country
in individuals; the same strong spirit of nationality in the great
body of the people; but on the part of the government there were the
same embarrassments to contend with; the same inexperience which the
frequent changes in administration allowed no time for curing, and the
same incapacity which no experience could cure. The ablest heads were
more intent upon carrying into effect their own theories of political
reformation, than of devising means to complete the deliverance of the
country. The indiscretion with which they hurried on measures that
the people were wholly unprepared for, provoked a strong resistance
in the Cortes itself; and the obstinate bigotry of the one party was
not more manifest than the presumptuous confidence, and the political
intolerance of the other. A jealousy of the English prevailed even in
persons whose hatred of the French could not be doubted; and in some
it seemed to acquire ♦HONOURS RENDERED TO LORD WELLINGTON.♦ strength
in proportion to the celebrity which Lord Wellington had obtained;
the people however rendered justice to his merits, as in such cases
they will always do when they are not artfully misled; the Great Lord
was the appellation which they commonly gave him, and no indication
was wanting of that national gratitude which he so well deserved. The
Regency had conferred upon him the order of the Golden Fleece; and
through their hands the Condessa de Chincon, D. Maria Teresa de Borbon,
presented him with the collar of the order, which had belonged to her
father the Infante D. Luiz; that it had been her father’s, she said,
was the only thing which made it valuable to her; but for its intrinsic
value it was a princely present.
♦ST. TERESA APPOINTED CO-PATRONESS OF SPAIN.♦
A subject not less characteristic than curious had been brought
before the Government. The barefooted Carmelites in Cadiz presented a
memorial, stating that Philip III. and the Cortes of 1617, had chosen
St. Teresa for patroness and advocate of Spain, under the Apostle
Santiago, that the nation in all its emergencies might invoke her,
and avail itself of her intercession. At that time the saint had only
been beatified; but her canonization shortly afterwards took place,
and then the Cortes of 1626 published the decree, which was confirmed
by Pope Urban VIII., without prejudice to the rights of Santiago, St.
Michael the Archangel, and the most Holy Virgin. Jealous, nevertheless,
of the imprescriptible rights of their own saint, the chapter of
Compostella exerted their influence at Rome with such success, that
the decree was suspended against the wishes both of the King and
Cortes. That wish, however, continued in the royal family; and Charles
II., in a codicil to his will, declaring that he had always desired
to establish the co-patronship of St. Teresa for the benefit of his
kingdom, charged his successors to effect it. The Carmelites now
urged that at no time could it more properly be effected than at the
present, when her potent patronage was needed against invaders, who
sowed the seeds of impiety wherever they carried their arms. This
memorial was referred to a special ecclesiastical commission; and in
conformity to the opinion of that commission the Cortes elected St.
Teresa patroness and protectress, under Santiago, of those kingdoms;
decreed that her patronship should forthwith take effect; enjoined
all archbishops, bishops, and prelates, to see that the correspondent
alterations should be made in the ritual for the saint’s day; and
required the Regency to give orders for printing, publishing, and
circulating this decree. The community of the barefooted Carmelites
then returned thanks for this appointment of their Mother the Saint.
“It was a decree,” they said, “which would fill all the natives
of those kingdoms with consolation and hope, and they flattered
themselves that from that moment Spain would experience the powerful
intercession of its new protectress.” “My great Mother, S. Teresa
de Jesus, Co-patroness of the Spains!” exclaimed the prior, in an
address which was printed among the proceedings of the Cortes, “the
very idea makes me eternally bless the law that sanctions it. This has
been a business of much time, an affair of some ages, a work of many
and mighty hands; but the glory of completing it has been reserved
for the fathers of the country, for the congress of lights, for your
majesty the Cortes, which has been the glorious instrument of this work
of the Eternal. And it was fitting that the country of heroes should
have the heroine of nations at its head, who like another mother of
the Maccabees should encourage its sons to triumph and to glory. This
Deborah is not less sage than she who judged Israel, not less valiant;
and the Baraks who will come forward under her protection will not be
intimidated by danger. She is not a Moabitess to pervert the armies of
Israel. She is a Jael who will destroy the forces of _Sennacherib_;
a Semiramis, who will overthrow the hosts of the sanguinary Cyrus.
At the sight of this fortunate Esther, Spain would lift her head and
conceive higher hopes. The unanimous consent of the whole nation, the
vows of the Spaniards of both hemispheres, would rise to heaven, and
uniting themselves at this moment with the intercessions of their great
Co-patroness, form that imperious voice which commands the winds and
the tempests, rules the seas, makes itself felt in the dark regions of
the abyss, and ascending the eternal mountain of the Lord, puts aside
the decree of extermination that threatens us, substitutes for it that
of our aggrandizement and elevation, and brings a blessing upon those
judicious, prudent, ♦DIARIO DE LAS CORTES, T. 14. PP. 56, 94, 96, 103.♦
and sage Mordecais, whose wise resolution has been the cause of this
portent.” In this language did the descendants of the Prophets who
dwelt on Mount Carmel, the children of the great Teresa, offer upon
the altar of gratitude the incense of their respect and veneration to
the Cortes!
While one set of unbelievers promoted this act of superstition, and
another condescended to it, a decree of more consequence was obtained
from the Spanish Government, which had become sensible that the war
must now be carried on upon one plan of operations, under the direction
of a single mind, and that a mind equal to the ♦LORD WELLINGTON
APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE SPANISH ARMIES.♦ emergency had been
manifested in Lord Wellington. The Cortes therefore conferred upon him
the command in chief of the Spanish armies, during the co-operation
of the allied forces in the defence of the peninsula; and the Marquis
signified his acceptance of the charge, subject to the Prince Regent’s
approbation, “the delay of obtaining which,” he said, “would not
impede his operations, because, upon all occasions on which he had
communicated with the Generals and Commandants of the Spanish troops,
he had received from them the utmost attention, and all the assistance
which they could afford him.” The Prince’s consent was not delayed;
and in signifying it, his Royal Highness expressed his satisfaction in
the measure, as considering it to be a just and signal proof that the
Spanish nation rightly appreciated the military talents and reputation
of Lord Wellington, and that the Cortes had taken a comprehensive view
of the manner in which the war ought to be conducted.
♦HIS SITUATION AT MADRID.♦
Lord Wellington meantime had more reason to be satisfied with the
approbation of his own Government, than with the support that it
afforded him. Successful as his campaign had thus far been, there
had been a loss of time in it, for want of means, and that want had
occasioned much to depend upon the chance of circumstances; whereas,
had there been an adequate force under his command, the results would
have depended as far as possible in war, upon his own sagacity, and
the superiority of British troops. An additional force of 15,000 men,
with which to have covered the northern frontier during the siege
of Badajoz, would have enabled him to fulfil his first intention of
marching upon Seville, after the fall of that fortress; the campaign
might then have been commenced two months earlier, and time would have
remained, after having freed the south of Spain, for operations in the
centre and north. Having been compelled to abandon that intention,
lest Marmont should recover Ciudad Rodrigo and overrun the north of
Portugal, he had succeeded to his utmost hopes in the plan which he
had of necessity adopted, not of choice. After that success, the
want of adequate means left him as little choice as before. To have
marched into Valencia against the collected armies of Soult, Suchet,
and the Intruder, would have rendered it impossible to keep up his
communications with Portugal; and except on that communication he could
have no safe dependence for supplies. There was moreover the weighty
consideration that the yellow fever had broken out in Murcia, and had
approached so near to Alicante, that the most rigorous precautions
were deemed necessary for preserving that part of the country from
the contagion. But independent of all other considerations, he had
neither sufficient troops to attack the united forces in the south,
nor sufficient money to subsist his army beyond Madrid. Of the 70,000
dollars which he had borrowed there, he was obliged to make over half
to the Portugueze, for the relief of their pressing necessities; and he
had raised the loan on condition of repaying it at the expiration of a
month. By acting in the north he should keep open his communication and
his retreat; and in the north also the reinforcements, which after the
tidings of his success he was sure would be expedited by all possible
exertions, might join him before the enemy could move against him with
their combined forces, from all quarters. The Intruder had with him
14,000 men, Suchet had 28,000 disposable in the field, and the army
of the south, under Soult, consisted of 55,000; in all 97,000: in the
north, there were the army of the north 10,000 strong, and the remains
of Marmont’s army, now under Clausel, estimated at 25,000. Against this
force, which had resumed its activity, it was resolved to act; and to
this determination there was the farther motive, that if the Galician
army were put in possession of Burgos, the castle there might enable it
to make a stand upon that front, and with the assistance of a British
and Portugueze corps to hold the army of Portugal in check while he
should be engaged in active operations in the south. The castle would
thus become a _tête-de-cantonment_ to this corps of observation, and
the French when deprived of it would not possess any strong post on the
great line of communication between France and the interior of Spain,
this castle commanding the only good road for artillery, and for the
movement of convoys.
♦LORD WELLINGTON MOVES TOWARD BURGOS.♦
Accordingly, on the 1st September, Lord Wellington departed from
Madrid, leaving the two divisions which were most in need of rest in
garrison there. Sir Rowland was ordered to the Xarama, so to cover the
capital on that side; and Ballasteros was requested to join him, in
case Soult, whose retreat from Andalusia was not yet known, should move
on Madrid; otherwise to be in readiness for acting upon the Marshal’s
line of march. The troops collected at Arevalo, moved from thence on
the 4th, and on the 6th crossed the Douro at the fords of Herrera and
♦THE FRENCH WITHDRAW FROM VALLADOLID.♦ El Abrojo; the enemy withdrew
from Valladolid at their approach, crossed the Pisuerga, blew up the
centre arch of the bridge, and retired along the right bank of that
river to Dueñas. Some skirmishing took place in front of that town,
and the cavalry picket drove the enemy out, and established themselves
there on the night of the 10th. On the following day, Lord Wellington
entered Palencia, where the English as usual were received with joyful
acclamations, and where the new Constitution was proclaimed. From
thence he communicated with Santocildes, and there learned from him to
how small a force the Galician army amounted, and how little that force
could be relied on. With all Lord Wellington’s experience of Spanish
co-operation, he had not expected this; knowing both the ability and
good-will of Castaños, he hoped to have found the army in a state of
such efficiency that he might have stationed it at Burgos in a few
days, and then without loss of time have returned to Madrid, there
to prepare for the contest which might be expected in that quarter.
The Galician army joined at Pampaliega on the 16th; the 11,000 of
whom it consisted were then separated into three divisions, and each
was directed to march in rear of a British division, no doubt being
entertained but that they would behave well if they were not exposed to
heavy attacks of the enemy’s cavalry.
♦THE ALLIES ADVANCE TO BURGOS.♦
The allies now moved up the beautiful valley of the Pisuerga, from
Valladolid, along the right bank of the river, to the place where it
receives the Arlanzon; and then along both banks of the Arlanzon, up
its valley towards Burgos. It is a tract of country in which nature
seems to invite human industry, and man has not been negligent in
profiting by the advantages of soil and climate and running waters.
Every inch of the valley is cultivated, and the hills are on both sides
covered with cornfields and vineyards. The country is as strong also
in a military point of view as it is fertile; out of the high road in
the valley the way is continually interrupted by rivulets and deep
ditches: the hills on either side afford admirable flanks for the
movements of an army, and there are heights from the river to the hills
on either side for strong defensive positions. The French General was
not a man to overlook this advantage, and the enemy were found on the
16th strongly posted with their left on the Arlanzon and their right
on the mountains. Lord Wellington made arrangements to turn their
position; but they decamped during the night, and in the morning their
whole army was seen retiring in five columns along the valley, and the
hills on either side. They were estimated at about 18,000 infantry and
more than 2000 horse, and their line of baggage was longer and closer
than men who had served in India had ever seen with an Indian army;
for they had pressed all the cattle in the country, and left nothing
transportable for any marauders who might follow them. Clausel entered
Burgos on the evening of the 17th; Marmont and Bonnet, who were still
incapacitated by their wounds, had left that city a few days before.
Caffarelli came thither from Vittoria to confer with him: a council of
war was held that night; at two in the morning the French commenced
their retreat, and by ten o’clock they had left the city and the
suburbs.
♦BURGOS.♦
Fabling authors have ascribed the foundation of Burgos to an imaginary
King Brygus, and mistaken antiquaries have endeavoured to identify
its site with that of the one or other Augostobriga, both having
been far distant. The earliest authentic accounts speak only of some
scattered habitations in this well-watered part of the country, till,
at the latter end of the ninth century, D. Diego Rodriguez, Count of
Castile, better known in Spanish history as Diego Porcelos, erected
a castle there by order of Alfonso III., and founded a frontier town
under its protection, which, from the old Burgundian word for a
fortress, obtained the name of Burgos. The castle was built upon a hill
which commands the rich plain watered by the rivers Arlanzon, Vena,
and Cardenuela: in former times it was of great strength and beauty,
cresting the summit of the hill, and towering above the houses, which
in those times covered the slope; but when the succession to the throne
of Castile was disputed by Alfonso V. of Portugal, against Ferdinand
and Isabella, in right of his wife Juana, the castle took part with
that injured and most unfortunate princess, and firing upon the city,
destroyed the best street, which was upon the descent: after this, the
lower ground was built upon, and the castle was left standing alone
upon the heights. During the sixteenth century, Burgos was the mart
through which the whole interior trade with the ports in the Bay of
Biscay was carried on, and from whence the Segovian cloth was sent to
all parts of Europe. Its population was then from 35,000 to 40,000,
exclusive of foreigners, who were many in number; it had been reduced
to 8000 or 9000, the place having declined after the seat of government
was fixed at Madrid. Most of the Spanish cities may be traced to much
higher antiquity; many exceed it in size; but there are few which are
connected with so many of those historical recollections in which
the Spaniards seem above all other nations to delight. It was the
birthplace of Count Ferran Gonzalez, and of the Cid Campeador; the
former used to knight his warriors in St. Lorenzo’s church. A beautiful
triumphal arch has been erected to his honour upon the site of the
dwelling in which he was born; and his statue, with those of the two
judges, Nuño Rasurez, and Layn Calvo, Diego Porcelos, the Cid, and the
Emperor Charles V., adorns the gate of St. Maria, which opens upon one
of the bridges.