2. One of the principal causes of the uninterrupted continuation of this retreat was the total failure of the Commissariat in the establishment of the Magazines which had been directed to be formed on the line of march now pursued by the army.
2. One of the principal causes of the uninterrupted continuation of this retreat was the total failure of the Commissariat in the establishment of the Magazines which had been directed to be formed on the line of march now pursued by the army.
During the period of Sir John Moore’s campaign in Spain, Sir John Craddock had been appointed to the command of the British troops in Portugal. Their number was small, and varied considerably during the winter; some detachments which had been sent to Sir JohnMoore returned without having effected their junction, and many stragglers and sick from that army found their way into Portugal, and were formed into battalions. The brigade under Major General R. Stewart was also incorporated with the army under the orders of Sir John Craddock.
Before the retreat of Sir John Moore was known in England, a corps, under the orders of Major General Mackenzie, had been sent to Cadiz, with the view of being admitted as the garrison of that place. The conduct of the Spaniards, in refusing to allow the British army to enter Ferrol, although pressed by a superior enemy, made it necessary for the Government of England to secure a point of safety for its fleet and armies, before it could consent to the further co-operation of any British force in Spain. It therefore required, as a condition to the employment of an army for the defence of the southern provinces of the Peninsula, that a British force should be admitted within the walls of Cadiz. Much negotiation took place upon this point, but theSpanish Government at last refused the permission, and thus put an end to the proposed assistance of a British army.
The corps under Major General Mackenzie sailed from Cadiz to Lisbon, and added to the force under Sir John Craddock.
After the evacuation of Corunna, by Lieutenant General Sir John Hope, the French had entered it with two corps, those of Marshals Ney and Soult; the latter was detached, about the beginning of February, to the attack of Portugal. He succeeded, with little opposition, in occupying the country to the north of the Douro. In Oporto, the Portuguese force was collected to a considerable amount; but having neither discipline nor regularity, it was unable to oppose more than a feeble resistance to the French. Marshal Soult, who was anxious to strike terror amongst the inhabitants of Portugal, permitted his soldiers, after storming the town, and destroying an immense number of people, to continue theircruelties during several days. The plunder of the place was accompanied with every description of outrage; but the measure only succeeded in increasing the detestation in which the enemy was held, without effecting the subjugation of the country.
After the success of Buonaparte in the centre of Spain, and the expulsion of the English army from Gallicia, General Victor had been detached against the Spanish corps of General Cuesta, which was quartered about Medellin. After some previous movements a general battle was fought, in which the Spanish army was completely routed; it retired to the mountains about Monasterio, where, with the assistance of the reinforcements which were sent to it, it made head against the French army. Victor at this time concerted with Marshal Soult, in Oporto, a combined attack upon the unconquered provinces of Portugal. Soult was to move through Coimbra, upon Lisbon; while Victor was to co-operate from the Spanish frontier, through Portalegre, or Alcantara, upon Abrantes, and fromthence to march upon the capital. Sir John Craddock had collected the British force, which had now become respectable from the different reinforcements which had arrived, in positions in front of Santarem, and upon the road to Coimbra, so as to be prepared to move upon either of the two French corps, which threatened to advance upon him. But on the 22nd of April, Sir Arthur Wellesley (who had been selected for the command in Portugal) arrived with some reinforcements, and assumed the direction of the army.
He decided to proceed instantly against the corps under Marshal Soult, in Oporto. He left a division under Major General Mackenzie, with the brigade of heavy cavalry under Major General Fane, at Abrantes, to watch the corps of Marshal Victor: some Portuguese were placed to observe the bridge of Alcantara, and with the rest of the army he proceeded to the Douro. By the rapidity of his movement, Sir Arthur Wellesley disconcerted the plans of the French; he drove theiradvance guard, in three days, from the Vouga to Oporto, and arrived on the Douro, opposite to that town, upon the 11th of May.
Sir Arthur Wellesley had detached Marshal Beresford, (who had lately been appointed to the command of the Portuguese army,) to pass the Douro, near Lamego, and to occupy Amaranthe; he had also directed General Silviera with the troops under his command, to retain possession of Chaves. By these movements he had hoped to enclose the French corps, in the north of Portugal. On the morning of the 12th he determined to cross the Douro, in face of the enemy, and to attack the town of Oporto, although the bridge had been destroyed, and the boats (with the exception of two that conveyed over the first soldiers) had been removed to the opposite side of the river.
No operation could be more difficult, or require greater bravery in the troops to execute, or talent in the general to combine; but complete success attended it. Marshal Soult wassurprised; the British army passed the river in spite of every obstacle, and of the superior numbers which were brought to overwhelm the first regiments that crossed; and the French army was driven, with the loss of its sick and wounded, of great part of its baggage, and of a considerable number of guns, from the town of Oporto. Sir Arthur Wellesley pursued the French on the following day; Marshal Beresford had driven them from Amaranthe; so that, being pressed on all sides, they were obliged to abandon the whole of their guns and baggage, and to fly the country by the mountain roads to Orense; their rear was several times attacked, but the main body could not be attained; and Sir Arthur Wellesley, unable any longer to pursue an enemy who had abandoned every thing which constitutes an army, and who fled without artillery, baggage, or equipment, halted on the 18th at Monte Alegre, and gave up the pursuit.
This short campaign, of only ten days, is perhaps the most brilliant that ever has been executed.Marshal Soult, represented as the best officer in the French army, had occupied the northern provinces of Portugal, for upwards of two months; he had contemplated the entire conquest of the country, and was employed in organizing the necessary means. To defend himself from any attack, he had the Vouga, and the Douro, both formidable rivers, and the advantage of the strongest country in the Peninsula; he had a force equal in amount to the British, or within very little of it, and in a state of superior military organization. He had a perfect knowledge of the country; he commanded its resources; and was in every way formidable from his talents and his means. Yet the genius of Sir Arthur Wellesley deprived him at once of the advantages of which he was possessed. In the space of four days he was driven from Coimbra to the Douro; and in six days after, not having had the time or opportunity of defending himself in a single position, he was chased from the frontiers of Portugal.
The movements of the Portuguese aboutChaves had disappointed the expectations of Sir Arthur Wellesley, or his triumph would have been more complete. He had entertained the hope of surrounding the French army; but by the non-execution of a part of his plan the individuals who composed it escaped; but there never was a more disgraceful escape; or a retreat (if it deserve that name, and not a flight) more humiliating to the officer who conducted it.
Lieutenant General Paget, who had displayed the greatest talent and bravery in the attacks he conducted, with the advanced guard under his command, before his arrival upon the Douro, passed that river with the first company of the Buffs; and having most gallantly sustained the desperate attack of the enemy upon the few troops under his orders, which had as yet arrived upon the Oporto side of the river, was unfortunately wounded in the arm, and suffered amputation. Major Hervey also lost his arm, in a most gallant charge of the 14th light dragoons, which he had led.
Whilst Sir Arthur Wellesley had been engaged in the pursuit of Marshal Soult, Marshal Victor had made a movement upon the bridge of Alcantara, and had threatened to enter Portugal in that direction; the bridge was destroyed, and Marshal Victor made no further advance; but Sir Arthur Wellesley, after making the necessary dispositions for the security of the northern frontiers of Portugal, brought back his army to the Tagus. The state of the French in the Peninsula, at this moment, was as follows. Marshal Ney was at Corunna, Soult was retreating from Portugal, and Mortier was at Valladolid; these corps together amounted to about 60,000 effective men, and kept the provinces of Gallicia, Asturias, Biscay, and Castile, in tolerable subjection. There were other corps employed in those provinces, but the amount of force of which we have spoken, was to a certain degree disposable. In the centre of Spain, Victor was at Merida; Sebastiani in La Mancha; and Joseph, with Jourdan, at Madrid; their force amounted to 50,000 men; Suchet was at Saragossa, in occupationof Arragon, with a corps of 20,000 men. The French force in Catalonia was considerable, but, from the state of that province, it could not be disposable for any offensive operations.
The distribution of the Spanish force was, General Cuesta at Monasterio, with 40,000 men, mostly recruits; Vanegas, with 25,000 in the Carolina; Romana, with 25,000 in different parts of Gallicia; and General Blake, with 20,000 in Valencia. There were several other corps in different quarters, of small amount, but which could not be considered as efficient for the duties of a campaign. In Portugal, the army of Sir Arthur Wellesley consisted of about 22,000 effective infantry, and 2,500 cavalry. The Portuguese, under Marshal Beresford, were as yet backward in organization, but amounted to about 15,000 men, collected and ready to take the field; besides the troops in garrisons, depôts, &c. According to this estimate, the French had a force of 130,000 effective men, while that opposed to them was about 150,000.
Sir Arthur Wellesley, upon his arrival on the Tagus, determined, if possible, to liberate Madrid. To effect this object, he proposed to bring the greater part of his own force, with that under General Cuesta, and the corps under General Vanegas, amounting in the whole to near 90,000 men, to operate upon the forces of Joseph, Victor, and Sebastiani, estimated at 50,000. He proposed to leave Marshal Beresford, in conjunction with the Duke del Parque, to watch Soult, from the neighbourhood of Ciudad Rodrigo; and he hoped that the troops under Romana would give sufficient employment to Marshal Ney, in Gallicia.
During the month of June, Victor, (in consequence of the successful operations of Sir Arthur Wellesley against Soult, and his return upon the Tagus) withdrew his corps from the neighbourhood of Monasterio, crossed the Tagus at the bridge of Almaraz, and took up a position at Talavera de la Reyna; General Cuesta followed him to that place, but finding him in position, retired to Almaraz, where he remained, withhis advance corps, under the Duke of Albuquerque, at Arzobispo. Towards the end of the same month, Marshal Soult arrived with the corps under his command, at Puebla di Senabria, from whence he marched to Zamora and Salamanca.
In this state of things, Sir Arthur Wellesley (after having received the most distinct declarations from the supreme Government of Spain that his army should be supplied with provisions) advanced on the 25th and 26th of June, from Abrantes, towards Placencia. Marshal Beresford moved at the same time to the neighbourhood of Ciudad Rodrigo. Sir Arthur Wellesley went on the 12th to the head-quarters of General Cuesta, at Casas del Puerta, near the bridge of Almaraz, to concert with him the operations of the campaign. He proposed as the first object, to occupy in strength the positions of Baños and Bejar, which commanded the only road from Upper Castile into Estremadura, and the country about Coria, and Placencia. Sir Arthur Wellesley, (aware that his own armywas the only one that was efficient for the operations of a campaign,) recommended that a corps of Spaniards should be destined for this service.
It has since been known, that amongst the numberless intriguers who at this moment sought to disunite the counsels of the allies, one of the most busy had awakened the jealousy of General Cuesta upon this point, and had represented to him, that the English general, with a view of weakening the Spanish force in the field, would recommend him to make a considerable detachment from his army. When the recommendation was given, therefore, General Cuesta was convinced that the information he had received was correct; and from the violence of his own nature, could not easily repress his resentment at a proposal, which he thought was intended to reduce his army, for the purpose of diminishing his share of glory in the expulsion of the French from Madrid; a result which he anticipated from the movements about to be carried into execution. General O’Donaju, the adjutant-generalof the Spanish army, prevailed upon him, however, to agree to the arrangement, but General Cuesta never carried it fairly into effect. The small force he afterwards sent to Bejar was incompetent to any resistance, and was totally unprovided, even with ammunition.
The remainder of Sir Arthur Wellesley’s plan was, that his army should join that of General Cuesta, and should advance in the first instance to the attack of Victor at Talavera. By a movement in co-operation, General Vanegas was ordered to break up from the position in La Mancha, about Madrilejos; to march upon Pembleque and Ocaña, and pass the Tagus at Fuente Dueñas; where he was to arrive on the same day, the 22d of July, that the armies under Sir Arthur Wellesley and General Cuesta, were to arrive at Talavera, and attack the corps of Victor. General Vanegas received this order, and agreed to its execution. Sir Arthur Wellesley removed his army from Placencia, according to the plan which had been arranged; passed the Tietar, and arrived atOropesa on the 20th of July; where he effected his junction with the army under the orders of General Cuesta, amounting to 35,000 effective men. The next day, the Spanish army advanced towards Talavera; and on the 22d the British corps moved forward to the same place. While upon his march, Sir Arthur Wellesley received several messages from General Cuesta, stating that the enemy was disposed to attack him. Sir Arthur Wellesley pushed forward, but upon reaching the ground, found only two squadrons of French, who had come from Talavera to reconnoitre the position of the Spaniards.
The light troops of both armies advanced upon the rear-guard of the French, the Spanish cavalry attempted to charge it, but without effect, and the whole French army took up a position upon the heights, to the eastward of the Alberche. The British and Spanish armies occupied the ground about Talavera with their advance upon the right of the same river. Sir Arthur Wellesley had expected to hear from GeneralVanegas: according to the orders which had been sent to him, he should have been at Fuente Dueñas upon the 22d; but from every information which could be obtained, no movement appeared to have been made by him. The history of the defection of his corps deserves to be recorded. When General Vanegas received the orders from General Cuesta to move upon Madrid, he returned for answer, that he would do so; he despatched, however, at the same time, a courier to the supreme Junta, communicating to it the orders he had received. That body replied, that he was not to execute the movement, but to await its further commands in the positions which he occupied. These directions, (which were neither announced to Sir Arthur Wellesley nor to General Cuesta), arrived in time to stop General Vanegas. It was difficult to explain the motive of this conduct; but it was afterwards discovered that the supreme Junta, amongst other reasons, was not anxious that General Cuesta should enter Madrid. He was supposed to entertain sentiments hostile to manyof those who composed it, and not friendly to the whole body; the Junta, therefore, feared, that if he reached Madrid, he would effect a counter-revolution, and place himself at the head of the government; or at least overturn the Junta’s power. This explanation of its motive gained considerable weight from the conduct of that body, when it received General Cuesta’s despatches, stating that he had formed his junction with Sir Arthur Wellesley at Oropesa, and was proceeding to Madrid. The Junta then, with as much alacrity as it had sent counter-orders before, directed General Vanegas to move forward, and constituted him Captain-General of the province of Madrid; so that, upon his arrival there, he would be superior to General Cuesta, under whose orders up to that moment he had been placed. Although by this conduct the general effect of the plan proposed by Sir Arthur Wellesley was destroyed, yet he resolved to attack the corps of Marshal Victor, and on the morning of the 23d moved his columns for that purpose into a wood close to the Alberche, and stretching along the right of the French army.
The plan of the movement which he determined upon, was to cross the river, attack the right of Marshal Victor with the whole of the British infantry, move the whole cavalry upon the centre of the enemy, and engage their left with the Spanish infantry.
The corps of Marshal Victor was 22,000 men; the allied army was 50,000. The troops of which it was composed were not all of equally good materials; but the number of English only would almost have secured success if the attack had taken place. General Cuesta, however, refused to march till the following morning; and Sir Arthur Wellesley with considerable reluctance was constrained to yield to his determination. Some alterations were made in the course of the night in the disposition of the troops. General Bassecour, with a Spanish division, was ordered to the left of the British, and was to have passed the Alberche in the rear of the enemy. Sir R. Wilson, who commanded a corps of light troops, Spanish and Portuguese, was also ordered stillfurther along the banks of the Alberche to Escalona.
Marshal Victor, however, got information of the intended attack, and retired from his position in the night. Nothing could have been more unfortunate for the allied army; infinitely superior in numbers, it was at the point of making a combined attack upon him, from which it would seem almost impossible he should have escaped without considerable loss; by his retreat unhurt, the nature of the campaign was changed, and the bright prospects of the allies destroyed.
Sir Arthur Wellesley, since his arrival at Talavera, had complained of the total failure on the part of the Spaniards in the supply of his army with provisions. The necessities of the British troops made it impossible to advance; and after the retreat of the French army, Sir Arthur Wellesley was compelled to remain at Talavera till supplies should arrive to him: but recommended the Spaniards, who hadnot the same deficiencies, to move upon Cavalla, upon the road to Toledo, and endeavour to communicate with General Vanegas, who was still supposed to have made some movement in La Mancha. General Cuesta, however, without communicating with Sir Arthur Wellesley, took the road to Sta. Olalla, where he arrived with the whole Spanish army on the morning of the 25th. From this place he gave notice of the defection of the corps of Vanegas.
On the morning of the 26th General Cuesta’s advance was attacked by the advanced guard of the French army. It appeared that Joseph had called General Sebastiani from La Mancha to Toledo; that with all the force he could withdraw from Madrid, he had marched himself to join him; and that he had formed a junction with these two corps and the corps of General Victor, at or near Torrijos; that he had immediately advanced upon General Cuesta; and was in hopes of beating him before he should be joined by the British. GeneralCuesta, however, upon learning the force of the enemy, retired to Talavera. Sir Arthur Wellesley had endeavoured to find a situation in which to fight a battle in front of the Alberche; but not having succeeded, determined to take up a position, the right upon the town of Talavera, the left upon some heights, about a mile to the northward of it. The Spanish army retired during the 26th and 27th, and took up the ground marked out for it about the town of Talavera. On the morning of the 27th Sir Arthur Wellesley sent a brigade of cavalry and two brigades of infantry; the whole under the orders of Major General Mackenzie, to watch the enemy upon the left of the Alberche, and to protect the retreat of the Spaniards.
Towards two o’clock in the afternoon the French advance of cavalry began to skirmish with the British. Major General Mackenzie soon after retired, and about four o’clock passed the Alberche with the whole of his corps. He took up a position in a wood upon the rightbank of it, from which he could observe the movements of the enemy.
Joseph had brought the whole of his army to the opposite side of the river; and believing (from the small number of troops that were to be seen upon the right bank,) that the allies were retreating, he determined to push in their advanced guard immediately, with the hope of falling upon their army on its march to the bridge of Almaraz; to which place alone, after abandoning the line of the Alberche, he thought it could be retiring. The French infantry passed the river; the brigade of Colonel Donkin, which was posted to defend it, was to a certain degree surprised. The river was fordable at all points, and the French advanced guard fell upon this brigade and caused it considerable loss. Sir Arthur Wellesley (who had just arrived upon the ground) ordered the whole of Major General Mackenzie’s division to retire from the wood, and to fall back upon the position in the rear, into which the army was at this time moving.The French, elated with their first, successes, pushed forward as rapidly as the passage of their troops would allow, and threw their right forward, with the view of turning the town of Talavera. The Duke of Albuquerque shewed, however, so good a front with the cavalry under his orders (which was in a plain upon the left of the British,) that this movement was considerably delayed. Sir Arthur Wellesley was tempted, (while a part only of the French army had passed the Alberche), to attack it with the whole of the allies; but upon considering the lateness of the hour, he continued his movement to the position he had fixed upon. The British advanced guard retired under cover of the cavalry, and took up the ground allotted to it. The French continued to press forward; and, at last, when it was nearly dark, brought a battery of six guns, supported by a considerable corps of infantry, to some high ground opposite the height upon which the left of the British was to rest. The troops destined for this point had not at that moment reached it. Colonel Donkin’s brigade, which was retiringnear it, was ordered to form at the foot of the hill upon the left of the Germans under General Sherbrooke. But the French, supported by their guns, attacked these corps, drove them from the ground they occupied, and carried the height. Lieutenant General Hill’s and Major General R. Stewart’s brigades were at that moment ascending it from the other side; their advance found the French upon the top. The battalion of detachments under Colonel Bunbury wheeled into line, charged, and retook the hill. The French, however, returned to the attack, but were finally driven to the foot of it. The action upon this point was severe; Major General Hill was at one moment mixed with the French soldiers; several men of both armies were killed or wounded with the bayonet, but the gallantry of British soldiers, and the intrepidity of their officers, prevailed.
During this attack, the Spanish troops were alarmed by the fire of the French, who were following the British cavalry in its retreat through the centre of the allies; they immediately begana fire which was taken up by the whole of the first line. Several of the officers of the Guards who were standing in front of their men, and many of the light troops of the Germans who were posted in advance, were killed or wounded by this fire. The French, however, were checked by it, and remained without making any further attack during the night. It appeared afterwards that the French officers discovered that the whole army was in front of Talavera, only from the firing which has just been described; they were ignorant of any position about that town, and, therefore, till then, had given out to their soldiers that the allied army was retiring.
At day-break on the 28th the French recommenced their attack with 14,000 men, by assaulting the hill from which they had been driven the night before. Their troops had been collected during dark, and were formed at the bottom of the height; they moved at a signal given, and succeeded in ascending to a considerable distance before they were checked bythe fire of the British. From the conical shape of this hill it was difficult to form any considerable number of men to defend it: but the regiments which were on it charged the French troops with an impetuosity they were unable to resist, and drove them, with considerable loss and in total confusion, beyond the ground from which they had moved to the attack.
The British cavalry had been ordered up to charge the French right as they were retiring, but unfortunately it was at too great a distance to effect this object.
After the failure of this attempt upon the hill, the French continued to cannonade the British line for a considerable time; but the fire ceased at length on both sides, and perfect tranquillity reigned throughout the opposing armies. During this interval, Sir Arthur Wellesley communicated with General Cuesta near a house in the centre of the lines, and afterwards slept, till some fresh movements in the enemy’s camp were reported to him.
Joseph, having been defeated in the several efforts he had made upon the British left, determined to try his fortune upon the centre of the allied army. The attack which followed was made under cover of a wood of olives, and fell principally upon the brigade commanded by Major General Alexander Campbell; this officer had taken advantage of some high banks which intersected the ground he occupied, and through the means of which he was enabled, with a very inferior force, to arrest the progress of the enemy’s principal column. Being at one time, however, driven from one of these banks, he rallied the regiment which was retiring, charged the column which was pursuing him, drove it from the ground of which it had taken possession, and took twelve pieces of artillery; at the same time some squadrons of the Spanish regiment of cavalry of the King, charged the head of a French column of infantry which was advancing through the wood (in pursuit of some Spanish infantry that had given way,) and cut up a considerable part of it. Thus terminated thesecond attack of the memorable 28th of July; the enemy was completely repulsed, with the loss of seventeen pieces of artillery upon different points, and a very considerable number of his best troops. His failures seemed decisive of the day; another pause ensued, considerable movements on the part of the enemy were observed, and for some time were construed by the allied army as indicative of a retreat; but the severest action was yet to come.
The whole état major of the French was observed to have collected in front of the left of the British; after some consultation amongst the officers who composed it, they appeared to have decided upon a new arrangement of their army. The aides-de-camp were despatched in different directions, and soon after the French divisions were observed to be moving to their new destinations. It now seemed to be the intention of the enemy to bring the great body of his force to act upon that part of the British line which was occupied by theGuards; and, at the same time, to move with three columns of infantry and a regiment of cavalry, along the valley which extended under the height which formed the left of the British line. These columns were supported by some light infantry, which the enemy had thrown upon the chain of hills which run westward beyond the valley, and which were destined to turn the British left and attack it upon the flank and rear.
To meet this movement Sir Arthur Wellesley directed the cavalry (which was concealed in the valley) to be prepared to charge the columns of infantry, as soon as they should have extended their formation, and exposed their flank. He also directed the guards to be prepared for the attack which was going to be made upon them, and upon no account to move from the ground they occupied.
The French columns of infantry which had moved into the valley, were more advanced than those destined for the attack upon theGuards; they had halted near a house within gun-shot of the British left, and appeared to be waiting for orders to advance. Major General Payne, who commanded the British cavalry, seized this opportunity to attack them; the enemy, observing the forward movement of the cavalry, formed himself against the side of this house in solid column; he had a deep ravine, or water-course, along his front, of which the British cavalry was not aware, and he was besides supported by sixteen guns. The charge of the cavalry was thrown into confusion by this ravine; many of the horses fell into it; and the portion which got over it was so divided and broken as a body, that the effect of the charge was completely done away. The bravery of the British soldier was not, however, to be daunted by this check. The Honourable Major Ponsonby led the men who were near him upon the bayonets of the enemy; but their valour could not compensate for the total confusion into which they had been thrown. The bravery of individuals could effect nothing against a solid body of infantry; the soldierswho were repulsed by the French columns galloped forward upon the regiment of cavalry which supported them, and in a short time the whole plain was covered with British dragoons dispersed in all directions, and totally without formation. In this state they were charged by some French regiments which were in reserve; many of them were taken, the remainder passed through the intervals in the French columns, and those that escaped their fire, (of whom Lord William Russel was one), retired within the British lines.
In this attack the 23d Light Dragoons lost two-thirds of its number; its charge was injudicious; the ground in front had not been reconnoitred, and the French infantry was too strongly posted to promise it success. The order for the cavalry was to charge when the French columns had extended and exposed their flank. They had done neither when the attack was made, but the bravery with which it was conducted, put an end to the movements which the enemy had intended on that side;and he never stirred afterwards from the ground upon which he was formed.
Sir Arthur Wellesley observed this hesitation, and profited by it, in detaching the 48th Regiment, (which he had called for the defence of the height when it was threatened with an attack), to support the movement which the guards had at this moment made upon the enemy. These troops, with a part of Major General Cameron’s brigade, had been attacked by the whole reserve of the French army; but they had received it with so tremendous a fire, that they forced it to give way; charged it with great impetuosity; and pursued it into a wood. They had not proceeded to any great distance, however, when the enemy brought so considerable a number of guns to bear upon their flank, that in a very few moments all their mounted officers were killed or wounded and near 500 of their men. In this situation the Guards were forced to fall back in considerable confusion: they passed through the intervals of the 48th Regiment, which had just arrived tosupport them, and which checked the advance of the enemy. The attack was most severe upon this regiment; it maintained its ground in the most gallant manner, till the guards had re-formed, and moved forward to its support. When the French perceived these troops advancing, they retired; the Guards instantly huzza’d; the cry was echoed along the whole line; the enemy continued their retreat; and thus ended the last achievement of the battle of Talavera. The enemy was soon perceived to be moving to the rear; he shewed a considerable force of cavalry, and maintained a heavy cannonade to cover the retreat; and at the close of the day he had already passed a portion of his troops across the Alberche.
There never was a more extraordinary battle than the one which has now been described: the French brought into the field a force of not less than 47,000 men, and the whole of their attacks, with the most trifling exception, were directed against the British army, not exceeding 18,000 infantry, and 1,500 cavalry. Yetthe British general had nerve to maintain the contest, and ability to baffle the efforts of the enemy. The army displayed a courage and perseverance, which did justice to the confidence with which its commander had relied upon it; and proved to Spain and to the world, what the dauntless spirit of the British soldier is capable of effecting, when under the direction of such an officer.
The enemy did justice to the talent of Sir Arthur Wellesley, and to the unrivalled bravery of his troops; Marshal Victor admitted to an English officer who was taken prisoner, that much as he had heard of the gallantry of English soldiers, still he could not have believed that any men could have been led to attacks so desperate as some that he had witnessed in the battle of Talavera. The glory of the British arms shone forth in brighter colours on this memorable day than it had ever done amidst its countless triumphs of years preceding. The soldiers struggled against privations of every description; as well as againsta force which seemed calculated to overwhelm them; their native valour spurred them on to conquest, and stifled every feeling which could arrest or make it doubtful.
On the morning of the 29th, the light division of 3,000 men, under Major General Crawford, joined the army from Oropesa; it was immediately ordered to form the advance, and take up a position in the front of the field of battle. The allies were employed in attending their wounded, and burying or burning the dead of both armies.
The British loss was 5,000 men in killed or wounded; the loss of the Spaniards was much inferior. The French loss was estimated by themselves at 14,000 men. Joseph retired in the course of the 29th with the greatest part of his army, to Sta. Olalla; a rear guard of 6,000 men was left at Casas Leguas, to cover his retreat, but it retired on the night of the 30th, and joined the corps to which it belonged, near Toledo.
The army of General Vanegas, which had advanced from Madrilejos, in obedience to the orders of the supreme Junta, had arrived upon the Tagus, near Aranjuez and Toledo on the 28th. The advance of his corps pushed on in the night to within a short distance of Madrid, and took some patroles which had been sent out from the garrison; but General Vanegas having heard that the French army was retreating towards the capital from the field of Talavera, recalled the parties that had crossed the Tagus, and abandoned any further offensive operations. Sir Arthur Wellesley (who was still unable to advance, from the total want of provisions in which the Spaniards kept him) recommended to General Cuesta to form a junction with General Vanegas; but while this movement was in contemplation, information was brought from Placencia, that the corps of Soult was moving upon that town, and that the troops at Bejar, hearing of its advance, had abandoned that position, and left the road open to its march. Sir Arthur Wellesley could hardly believe thatthe strong positions about Bejar had been so hastily given up; the corps of Marshal Beresford was ready to have assisted the troops in occupation of them, and a brigade of British, under the orders of Major General Catling Crawford, was within a few days’ march, and would have assisted in their defence. But the intelligence being soon after confirmed, Sir Arthur Wellesley decided to carry the British army to attack General Soult; and proposed to General Cuesta to remain in the position of Talavera, to cover the movement of the English upon Placencia. Sir Arthur Wellesley also proposed to leave his wounded in charge of General Cuesta, to whose kindness and generosity he intrusted them, with a solemn promise from him, that if any thing should oblige the Spanish army to retire, his first care should be, to move the British to a place of safety. General Cuesta was delighted with the plan which was proposed to him. He felt that his own army was unequal to any contest with the French in an open plain, and that it must be to the British only, that he could look for the expulsion of theenemy from his rear; he also expressed himself most particularly gratified by the confidence which Sir Arthur Wellesley reposed in him, intrusting the wounded to his care.
The necessary arrangements being made, and Major General Mackinnon placed in the command of the hospitals at Talavera, Sir Arthur Wellesley marched on the morning of the 3d of August for Oropesa. A short time after his arrival at that place, he learnt that the advanced guard of Soult’s army was arrived at Naval Moral, and that the Spaniards, who had retired from Bejar, had crossed the Tagus at Almaraz, and destroyed the bridge; he determined, however, to move upon the French, and was in hopes of finding them the following day. General Bassecour, with a Spanish division, was moving along the Tietar, and was destined to act upon the left and rear of the French. About four o’clock in the afternoon, however, a despatch arrived from General Cuesta, announcing to Sir Arthur Wellesley, that, from intelligence upon which he could rely, he waspersuaded that the corps of Marshal Ney had evacuated Gallicia, and formed a junction with the corps of Marshal Mortier, from Valladolid; that the two were united with Marshal Soult; and that the amount of the collected force upon the rear of the allied army, could not be less than 55,000 men; that Marshal Victor was at no great distance from Talavera, upon the other side; that he (General Cuesta) apprehended an attack from him; and had in consequence determined to break up immediately from that town, and join Sir Arthur Wellesley at Oropesa. This information was as disastrous as it was unexpected: the letter from General Cuesta further stated, that his movement was already begun, and that his army would form its junction with the British in the course of the night: there remained, therefore, no hope of preventing or delaying it, and the whole plan, upon which Sir Arthur Wellesley had undertaken his operation, was at once destroyed.
The bridge of Almaraz was no longer in existence; the bridge of Arzobispo was exposed,by the abandonment of Talavera, to the corps of Victor, and the whole allied army, if it advanced, might be cut off from any retreat across the Tagus, while its movement upon Portugal must depend upon the success of its attack upon the combined army of Ney, Soult, and Mortier. In this situation of affairs Sir Arthur Wellesley did not hesitate to give up offensive operations, and retire across the Tagus, by the bridge of Arzobispo.
Sir Arthur Wellesley had every reason to complain of the conduct of General Cuesta; he had abandoned the position intrusted to him, without any ground for so doing; for it afterwards appeared that Victor was at some distance from Talavera, and not occupied in a movement upon the corps of General Cuesta; but, at any rate, the Spaniards evacuated the post intrusted to them, and abandoned the British wounded, with a precipitancy that nothing but the actual presence of an enemy could justify. If General Cuesta was actuated by adesire of bringing his army to the assistance of Sir Arthur Wellesley, who was about to attack a force which he had reason to believe was superior to him, he ought to have waited a few hours, till he had communicated with him, and in the mean time, he should have given assistance to the removal of the British wounded. If he thought that the return of a messenger from Oropesa (a distance of only five leagues), would have exposed him by too much delay, he ought at least to have left a corps to check the enemy in his front, and to have protected the retreat of the hospitals. And, last of all, it was his duty, to which he had also pledged himself in the most solemn manner, to have given all the means in his power to facilitate the removal of the British wounded. He did, however, the direct reverse: he abandoned his position with his whole army, without communication with Sir Arthur Wellesley; (indeed, he precluded the possibility of any, by stating in his letter that his army was in march); and to the wounded, instead of every assistance he could command, he gave butfour carts, for the whole 4,000men. It is impossible to conceive, that the importance of the occupation of Talavera, to the movement of Sir Arthur Wellesley, should have escaped the observation of General Cuesta, the ground about that town afforded the only situation in which the advance of the French army upon the rear of the British, while moving upon Soult, could possibly be resisted; the rest of the country was plain, and offered no defensive position; so that in abandoning it, General Cuesta exposed the whole allied army to an attack, in front and rear. In short, it is very difficult to discover a sound or equitable reason for the precipitancy with which this movement was executed; but the total disregard which was shewn to the British wounded, the paltry number of four carts which was afforded them, by an army that was provided with them to excess, remains a stain upon the character of General Cuesta, that no time will ever efface.
Sir Arthur Wellesley moved his army, upon the morning of the 4th of August, to the bridgeof Arzobispo; the nature of the campaign was changed; Gallicia was delivered from the French; and the corps of Romana was now in peaceable possession of it, with the opportunity of augmenting its own numbers, and improving its discipline; the whole province was in a situation to dispose of its military means, and to create, in a short time, a powerful diversion, upon the rear of the enemy assembled upon the Tagus. The north of Spain was almost entirely in the same situation as Gallicia. The French had abandoned it, with very few exceptions, to concentrate their force against the British army; and Sir Arthur Wellesley conceived, that although he had been foiled in his attempt to rescue Madrid, yet he had restored independence to Gallicia, and in great part to the provinces adjoining it; which might, in the end, prove most advantageous to the cause of Spain. This opinion has since been proved to be correct; Gallicia retained its freedom, and the other northern provinces were never afterwards but in partial subjection to the enemy.
As soon as Sir Arthur Wellesley had crossed the Tagus at Arzobispo, he detached Major General Crawford, with the light division, to occupy, with as much rapidity as possible, the pass at Almaraz; where it was to be feared the enemy, whose advanced guard had seen the passage of the allies at Arzobispo, might push a force across the Tagus, and endeavour to intercept the British army on its march upon Deleytosa. Major General Crawford arrived, however, in time to prevent that operation; the movement of the army was undisturbed; General Cuesta remained at Arzobispo; and the British moved to Deleytosa. The Spaniards were, however, attacked a few days after by the French at Arzobispo; their advanced guard was driven from the bridge; and their whole army retired to Deleytosa, whilst Sir Arthur Wellesley moved to Jaraseco.
The force under General Vanegas had remained since the battle of Talavera, in the neighbourhood of Toledo, but to the southward of the Tagus. General Cuesta was in communicationwith it, and apprized Vanegas of his retreat from Arzobispo. He directed him in consequence to fall back to the positions about Madrilejos, from which he had originally moved, and upon no account to risk an action with the enemy, but to keep his corps ready to make any movement, in co-operation with the allied army, that might afterwards be determined upon. General Vanegas prepared to carry these orders into execution, and retired a considerable distance through La Mancha; but, from a fatality which has never been explained, he was induced to move forward again, over some of the ground which he had passed, and to engage his corps in a general action with the French under Sebastiani, at Almonacid. The Spaniards were completely routed in this battle; their best troops were engaged in it, and many of the corps behaved with great gallantry and good conduct; but they were defeated with considerable loss, and were driven to the Sierra Morena. This disaster was severely felt; the dispersion of the troops that could be most depended upon, and who wereintrusted with the defence of the great pass into Andalusia, was an event that could not easily be repaired; and, in addition, it destroyed all confidence in the movements of the Spaniards; they were no longer to be depended upon, for the most trifling operations: when they were required to act, they remained unmoved; when intrusted with a position, as at Talavera, they deserted it without reason; when directed to avoid an action, which, if successful, could be of no benefit to their cause, they seemed to court one; and when engaged, exposed themselves to the most disastrous defeats. With this battle terminated the campaign, which had been undertaken for the relief of Madrid, and the expulsion of the enemy from the central provinces of Spain. The corps under Sir Robert Wilson retired through the mountains from Escalona to Bejar, where it was attacked and routed by the advanced guard of Marshal Ney, who was returning from the Tagus to the neighbourhood of Salamanca.
Sir Arthur Wellesley remained at Jaraseco, till the French, who had collected upon the Tagus, had dispersed their corps; and till the total failure of supplies obliged him to retire to the frontiers of Portugal, from whence alone he could secure the provisioning of his army.
He placed his head-quarters at Badajos, his advance at Merida, and the rest of his army in cantonments, upon the frontiers of Spain and Portugal. The supreme government of Spain was thrown into considerable consternation by this movement, of which it had been the sole and entire cause. The individuals who composed it sought, notwithstanding, to throw the blame from themselves, upon those who had the most materially suffered by their misconduct.
The Marquis Wellesley, who was at this time the British representative in Spain, complained most bitterly of their inattention and neglect to an army, which had so valiantly fought in their defence; and whose blood had beenso profusely spilt, in supporting the great cause in which they were engaged; but these complaints were only too ably urged. The Spaniards (proud of their former glories) can but ill brook the interference of foreign powers; their pride and haughty independence prompt them to spurn the assistance or control of foreigners; and when their government was justly accused of neglect, and even treason to Spain herself, yet as that reproach was from a foreign hand, they rallied round that government, and repelled the accusations, by the most idle and unfounded attacks upon those who made them, and who had full reason to complain of their unjust and unfriendly conduct. A spirit of hostility was thus raised between the allied nations, and for some time there was much of that unpleasant feeling which is generated by mutual accusations. The magnanimous conduct of the British government, however, soon set those jealousies at rest, and by degrees acquired for itself the unbounded confidence of the Spanish nation.
The supreme government of Spain had displaced General Cuesta from the command of his army, during the time that Sir Arthur Wellesley, (now become Lord Wellington) remained at Jaraseco, and General Eguia was intrusted with that important situation. This officer was soon after directed to move the Spanish army, (leaving only the Duke of Albuquerque with a small corps in Estremadura) and to form a junction with General Vanegas, in the Sierra Morena, and in the neighbourhood of La Carolina. This operation was dictated, in no small degree, by a feeling of jealousy towards the English. The Spaniards wished to keep their army separate from the British, because they believed it could be rendered more subservient to their own views. While it remained in presence of so distinguished an officer as Lord Wellington, it was curbed, and restrained in the movements it might be directed to undertake; his advice must necessarily be listened to, and it is not too much to say, that some of the rulers of the country were not at that time unwilling to see theirarmies directed by weaker counsels than such as would be derived from him. There was another reason for the movement of that army. It was believed, by many persons in the direction of affairs in Spain, that Lord Wellington was determined to evacuate the country, and retire into Portugal; they thought, however, that by removing the Spanish army from Estremadura, they should shift the defence of that province upon the shoulders of Lord Wellington; by which means they flattered themselves, they should retain him against his will. Lord Wellington was not so easily to be overreached: he stated to the Spanish government, that he should remain at Badajos so long as he felt he could be serviceable to its cause, but without neglecting the first object which he was directed to attend to; namely, the defence of Portugal. He pressed the government to make such arrangements as would secure the provisioning of his army, if he was enabled again to take the field; but above all, he recommended it to preserve the Spanish armies from being harassed, or on any accountrisked with the French, excepting in such operations as should be agreed upon, according to a general combination of all the forces that could be brought against them. The army of the Marquis of Romana was moved from Gallicia to Ciudad Rodrigo; where it was placed under the orders of the Duke del Parque.
A state of tranquillity now succeeded to the active operations of the preceding months; the French armies had been in almost constant movement since the entrance of Buonaparte into Spain, in the month of November. When he quitted the country to prepare for the German war, he had left his armies in possession of all the north of Spain; Soult afterwards added the north of Portugal. Victor was advanced to the confines of Andalusia, near Monasterio; and Sebastiani occupied La Mancha; Suchet was in force in Arragon, and St. Cyr was employed in the siege of the fortresses in Catalonia. The situation of these corps was now considerably changed. The north of Spain and Portugal was almost entirely free from theincursions of the French; the province of Estremadura was relieved from them; and a great portion of La Mancha was in the occupation of the Spanish armies. The French had therefore lost considerably during the last months; and, notwithstanding their activity and military talents, they had been forced to retire from the provinces which they had subdued, and to concentrate for their own defence, in a country which they believed, after the capture of Madrid, they had totally subjected. When Buonaparte re-crossed the Pyrenees, he directed his imperial eagles to be placed upon the towers of Lisbon; he proclaimed his empire in the Peninsula, and boasted that there no longer existed any force that was capable of obstructing the accomplishment of his imperial mandate. But the strength of patriotism in a whole people was as yet unknown to him. The constant reduction of his forces, the ever succeeding evacuation of apparently conquered provinces by his troops, the never-ending conflicts in every corner of the Peninsula, have since convinced him that a great people with oneintent and one resolution, with patriotism as their guide, are too powerful to be subdued, though they have neither armies nor military science to oppose to the invaders.
The British troops had been also in constant activity since the arrival of Lord Wellington in Portugal, they therefore required rest. It became then the interest of both French and English to preserve that state of tranquillity which had succeeded since the passage of the Tagus.
The state of Spain about this time, was most extraordinary; the whole people were hostile to the French, yet their exertions at the commencement of their struggle had so far surpassed any former efforts they had been called upon to make, that they now reposed in security, confiding their cause to the means which they had already provided, and sheltering themselves from any further calls, by the loud and re-echoed declarations that they were invincible. It was invain to combat against this argument; if a doubt as to its validity was started, the instances of Moncey’s retreat from Valencia and of Ney’s from Gallicia, were thought sufficient to remove all apprehensions, and to silence for ever the discussion of the subject; the best informed amongst the Spaniards were carried away by feelings so congenial to their haughty spirits, and so well adapted to the indolence of their natures. The defence of Saragossa and of Gerona convinced them that the attempt to conquer Spain would be unavailing, and they sunk at once into a security for which they since have most dearly paid. If at Granada, you questioned the public authorities as to the preparations they were making to bring new armies into the field, they answered by an account of what had already been produced. If in Valencia, the defeat which the French had already sustained there was a guarantee of the destruction which would await a second corps, that should attempt the invasion of their country; Murcia could boast the terror with which it had inspired theenemy, since he had never ventured to attack it; and in this manner every part of Spain relied with confidence upon the levies which it had already produced, and looked upon its entire deliverance from a foreign yoke, as within little of being accomplished.
During the period of which we have been speaking, Marshal Ney commenced an operation against the corps of the Duke del Parque: that officer had collected his troops in a strong position at Tamanes; the French made a desperate assault upon him, but were repulsed with considerable loss. This action confirmed the Spaniards in the belief that they were invincible; and a general feeling was raised, that their armies should advance upon Madrid, and that the successes of Baylen would shrink before the glories that awaited them in the neighbourhood of the capital.
The disastrous termination of the German war seemed in no degree to shake the confidence of the Spanish nation; proud of its ownfeats, it disdained a feeling of dependence upon any other people for the success of its cause.
The government partook of the same sentiment; and, most singular to relate, during the period of this eventful repose from active operations, made not the slightest effort to prepare for the struggle which was to succeed.
The army of Lord Wellington which was cantoned upon the Guadiana became extremely sickly; and numbers of the officers and men fell victims to the disorders generated by the noxious exhalations of that river, and to the fatigues which, amidst the greatest privations, they had previously undergone. The Spaniards made no exertions to secure provisions for the army; so that it was incapable of active operations.
The Spanish government seized this opportunity to attempt a scheme, which will ever stand unrivalled in absurdity and folly. TheSpanish army which was assembled at the Carolina formed an effective force of 48,000 men; it had been placed under the orders of General Eguia, when he marched with the greatest proportion of his army from Estremadura; but it had afterwards been entrusted to the command of General Arisaga, a very young and inexperienced officer; he was only a brigadier when he was appointed to this important station, but was advanced to the rank of a major-general upon assuming it.
It appears that this officer was befriended by a strong party of the ministers at Seville, who had considerable influence with the supreme government, although their views were hostile to it. He was appointed for the purpose of carrying their objects into effect; and every officer senior to him was removed, to enable him to assume the command. The other Spanish corps which communicated with the central one, were commanded by the Dukes of Albuquerque and Del Parque, both of superior rank to General Arisaga; it was, therefore,the object of his employers to prevent their co-operation with him, lest by taking upon themselves the direction of the forces, to which they were entitled by their rank, they should prevent the execution of the project the ministers had in view.
These persons conceived that it was possible to enter Madrid; and they are supposed to have purposed, in so doing, to effect a revolution, to displace the government of the Junta Suprema, and to seize it for themselves.
The capital was believed to be the most advantageous place for the execution of these projects; first, because the triumph of its successful deliverance would secure popularity to those who had effected it; and next, because the existing government had ever been most unpopular in that city. With these views, therefore, General Arisaga was ordered to break up at once from his position at La Carolina, and to march directly upon Madrid. This order was neither communicated to LordWellington, nor to any of the Spanish generals in the command of other corps.
General Arisaga, in conformity with his instructions, moved with considerable rapidity through the whole of La Mancha, and arrived on the 8th of November upon the Tagus, in the neighbourhood of Ocaña. The French (who were surprised at the boldness of this operation), concentrated their troops behind the Tagus, and after a sharp rencontre with the Spanish advanced guard, upon the 12th, they passed that river, and attacked the Spanish army. General Arisaga had placed his whole force in two columns of battalions, separated by a ravine, and with a corps in advance of considerable strength, which was in possession of a village which covered his front. The French began the engagement by the attack of this village; but, under cover of some ground about it, they turned the right column of the Spanish army, charged it, and in a very short time totally dispersed it. The left column was as yet untouched, but GeneralArisaga was so confounded by the destruction of his right, that he does not appear to have made any disposition for its retreat, or for the support of the attack that was coming upon it. The Spanish cavalry, which was retiring with considerable precipitation, first threw this corps into confusion by galloping through a considerable portion of it; the French, who were fast coming up with the remainder of it, completed its dispersion; and thus destroyed in a few hours the whole army that had been marched against them. The Spaniards lost their guns, their baggage, their equipments, and out of 45,000 stand of arms, not more than 13,000 were brought back to the Carolina. The loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was immense; a great portion of the soldiers, who had dispersed during the action, never returned to the army; so that the greatest number that was ever collected, of individuals who had been present at Ocaña, did not amount to more than 25,000 men.
So decisive a defeat produced great consternationthroughout the country; the only considerable army that remained to fight for the cause of Spain had been totally destroyed; and to enlightened and unprejudiced minds, it was no longer doubtful that the French might at any time march, unresisted by any military force, to the walls of Cadiz. This opinion was far, however, from being general in Spain. All true Spaniards were yet bound to believe that the battle of Ocaña was unfortunate from some unforeseen accident; that such was never likely to happen again; and that the forces which were collected at the Carolina would yet form an impenetrable barrier to the advance of the French armies, and protect the Andalusias, till the necessary numbers should be collected to fall with certain destruction upon the forces of the invader. If a doubt was started upon any part of this position, one general answer was given, that a cat could not pass through the defile of Despeña Perros, much less a French army. Thus you were requested to be convinced, that no force the enemy could bring would ever succeed in penetratingto the southward of the Sierra Morena; or in subjugating the people of Andalusia.
Marshal Soult, who had been appointed Major-General of the French armies, a short time before the battle of Ocaña, seized the opportunity, which was offered by the destruction of the central army of Spain, to detach a considerable corps against the Duke del Parque, who had lately succeeded in occupying Salamanca. The French were fortunate enough to bring his army to action at Alba de Tormes, and, in spite of the good conduct of some of his troops, entirely to disperse it. The defeat of this corps laid the north of Portugal open to the incursions of the French; the whole of Castile fell into their possession; Salamanca became a depôt, from whence they could prepare the means of a powerful attack; and there no longer remained a force that could oppose or delay their operations.
Lord Wellington saw the absolute necessity of removing his army to the north of the Tagus,to oppose the invasion which was thus preparing. He had no longer any Spanish armies that he could co-operate with; the only two, of any considerable force, with which he was in communication, had brought destruction upon themselves, without either listening to his counsels, or communicating to him their movements; they were now no longer in a state to be of any assistance to him, nor could he protect them against the powerful reinforcements which were arriving from Germany to the French, and which bid fair to over-run the whole of the Peninsula. The system of war was now to be completely changed. When Lord Wellington entered Spain, the Spaniards had an army of considerable strength, with which he had hoped to co-operate with effect against a comparatively small and extended force of French. The tables were now reversed; the Spanish armies could scarcely be said to have any military existence; they had proved that, while in strength, they were not to be depended upon, much less were they to be looked to for any assistance in their presentstate. The French were marching an army of more than 100,000 men into the country; so that a defensive war was the only one which could be carried on against them. Lord Wellington was convinced that the hostility of the Spaniards to the French was not to be overcome: although their armies were beaten from the field, yet the determined opposition of the people repelled the yoke which was attempted to be forced upon them. The nature of the country was favourable to a protracted, desultory warfare; and its extent and poverty seemed to bid defiance to a subjection, which, to be made complete, would require a more considerable force than France seemed able to afford, or Spain could produce the means of supporting. As far as experience could lead to any conclusion as to the future, in the new warfare which the Spanish nation was waging against its invaders, there appeared no advantage to the enemy from the occupation of any part of the country, for any period of time. The moment a province was evacuated, it rose in more determined hostility, than it hadshewn before its invasion. No advantage accrued to the French from either violent or conciliating measures; they were always looked upon as enemies; and, after months of peaceable occupation, if they exposed themselves unprotected by numbers in the provinces which they had considered as subdued, they were sure of meeting with the same hostility they had from the first experienced.
With this state of things to direct Lord Wellington in the system of warfare upon which he was called upon to decide, he felt no hesitation in prescribing to himself, and to the allies, a conduct which should protract the war; should lead the enemy to extend his forces; should encourage the whole people of the Peninsula to intercept his communications; and should give the governments of the countries engaged in the contest, the opportunity of increasing and improving the more regular means of resistance or attack.
Lord Wellington moved his army in the beginningof December, from the neighbourhood of Badajos to the North of the Tagus. It arrived, in the first weeks of January, in the new cantonments which had been prepared for it; they extended from Coimbra to Pinhel, while a corps, under Lieutenant General Hill, was left at Abrantes. In this position the army went into winter-quarters: it was abundantly supplied, and was employed only in recruiting itself from the dreadful effects of the preceding campaign, and the sickness which had followed it. Head-quarters were placed at Viseu.
While Lord Wellington was employed in this movement, Marshal Soult concentrated the French armies in La Mancha; for the purpose of making an irruption into the southern provinces of Spain.
The British officers who had been at the Carolina were satisfied, that, notwithstanding the boasted impossibility of forcing the Spanish army at the pass of Des Peña Perros, there was in reality nothing easier. The pass itself wasstrong, but no fortifications, which deserved that name, had been thrown up to defend it. The old road from Madrid, by the Puerto del Rey, was almost unobserved; and the force which was employed to defend the position of the Sierra Morena, which was fifty leagues in extent, did not exceed 25,000 men, most of them the unfortunate fugitives from the battle of Ocaña. With such an army, it would have been impossible for the most able commander to have defended the entry into Andalusia; but even that chance was denied the Spaniards, for they still had General Arisaga at their head. The Junta Suprema was urged to make some exertion to recruit the Spanish forces, and to prepare for the struggle which was fast approaching; but that body could only prove its patriotism by echoing the national cry, that Spaniards were invincible. Several nuns, who believed themselves inspired prophetesses, were produced to the loyal inhabitants of Seville, to assure them, that if ever the French should see the walls of that town, the fire of heaven would fall upon them, before theyshould reach its gates. In many other towns the same prophetic inspiration descended upon the nuns; they foretold in every instance the destruction which awaited the invaders; but the misfortunes they were themselves to suffer, appear not to have been so correctly foreseen by them. The preparations of the French in La Mancha seemed, however, at last to have roused the Junta from its state of apathy; Seville and the world were called as witnesses of its new vigour, by a decree for the fabrication of 100,000knives, to be distributed amongst the voluntary defenders of the country. This piece of absurdity will hardly be credited by those who were not at Seville at the moment; yet it is a fact which stands recorded amongst the vigorous measures of the Junta, and will hereafter be a standard to judge of the hands to which the defence of Spain was at that time intrusted. The credit of the Junta, which had been fast declining, was completely destroyed by the promulgation of this decree; to raise itself again in the estimation of the public, it published an order for theassembling of the Cortes; but its race was nearly run, all confidence in it was gone, and a few days more completed the term of its existence.
Marshal Soult had terminated his preparations for the invasion of Andalusia, towards the end of December; he had collected a force of 50,000 men, and commenced his movements in two columns; the more considerable one, with the whole of his artillery, he destined to the attack of the principal pass by the Carolina; the other was directed to move by the mountain-road upon Cordova; neither of these corps experienced any resistance: the much-talked-of pass of Des Peña Perros was abandoned without a shot, and the Spanish army which was to defend it, retired toward Jaen. The corps which moved upon Cordova was equally successful. Marshal Soult directed a part of his army to pursue the Spaniards upon Jaen, which had been fortified at very great expense, but which surrendered a few hours after it was summoned. With the remainder of hisarmy he moved with great rapidity upon Seville.
When the Junta Suprema was made acquainted with the successful irruption of the French, its first object was to escape to a place of safety, and it made choice of Cadiz for this object; but its members had considerable apprehensions, lest the populace, who were enraged against them, should impede their flight. They fell, however, upon a most extraordinary expedient to save themselves:—A bulletin was published by authority, and distributed throughout Seville, stating, that a courier to the British Minister had arrived, bringing dispatches from Lord Wellington, who was moving with the British army upon Salamanca, and was left with his advance within a few leagues of that place; that the courier, had passed through the armies of the Dukes del Parque and Albuquerque, who were within a short distance of each other, and were about to fall upon the flank of Marshal Soult. Under cover of this communication (the whole of which was false,for no courier whatsoever had arrived at the British Minister’s, nor were any of the movements making by any of the corps which were mentioned), the individuals who composed the Junta, began to escape to Cadiz; the populace of Seville were not long, however, in discovering the imposition which had been practised upon them; and a pursuit of the Junta immediately commenced; many of its members were seized upon the road to Cadiz, and imprisoned in the convent of the Cartjuo, nearXeres; they were afterwards carried to the Isla de Leon, where they were required to abdicate their authority, and appoint a Regency. They concurred in these directions, and named General Castanos (who was but just released from the confinement in which they had placed him) the president of a board of Regents, who were to govern the country in the name of Ferdinand the Seventh.
While these changes were effecting, the people of Seville reinstated the former Junta of their province, and added the Marquis of Romana, the Duke of Albuquerque, and someEnglish to its number; but this body had not time to act; Marshal Soult was already within a few days’ march of the town: it constituted, however, the Marquis of Romana Captain-General of Estremadura; and directed the Duke of Albuquerque, who had brought his corps with him from Estremadura, to take up a position at Carmona, to defend the approach to Seville. The army which the duke commanded was, however, too weak to resist the French; he therefore fell back upon their approach; and, in spite of their efforts to prevent it, retired to the Isla de Leon. To this place Marshal Soult pursued him, and thus, in one movement, without a single action, reduced the whole of the southern provinces of Spain to the subjection of France. He extended his army to the walls of Gibraltar; he occupied Malaga, Granada, Jaen, Cordova, and Seville, and he prepared for the siege of Cadiz, which was the only bar to the complete reduction of Andalusia.