XII. August. horses. or perhaps succeed in cutting off the rear-guard. CHAP. It was judged expedient, therefore, to spike the guns there, and remove the troops to a neck of 1808. land called Slipshavn, about a league distant; and from thence they were shipped with as much expedition as the unfavourable weather permitted. Two of the regiments which had been quar- Fate of the tered in Funen were cavalry, mounted on the fine, black, long-tailed Andalusian horses. It was impracticable to bring off these horses, about 1100 in number; and Romana was not a man who could order them to be destroyed lest they should fall into the hands of the French: he was fond of horses himself, and knew that every man was attached to the beast which had carried him so far, and so faithfully. Their bridles, therefore, were taken off, and they were turned loose upon the beach. As they moved off, they passed some of the country horses and mares, which were feeding at a little distance. A scene ensued such as probably never before was witnessed. The Spanish horses are not mutilated, and these were sensible that they were no longer under any restraint of human power. A general conflict ensued, in which, retaining the discipline that they had learnt, they charged each other in squadrons of ten or twenty together; then closely engaged, striking with their fore-feet, and biting and tearing each other with the most ferocious rage, and trampling over those which were beaten down, till the shore, in the course of a quarter of an hour, was strewn with the dead and dis XII. 1808. August. CHAP. abled. Part of them had been set free on a rising ground at some distance; and they no sooner heard the roar of the battle than they came thundering down over the intermediate hedges, and catching the contagious madness, plunged into the fight with equal fury. Sublime as the scene was, it was too horrible to be long contemplated, and Romana, in mercy, gave orders for destroying them; but it was found too dangerous to attempt this; and after the last boats quitted the beach, the few horses that remained were seen still engaged in the dreadful work of mutual* destruction. Aug. 11. On the second morning all were safely on niards are board, but the wind detained them in the harthe Isle of bour; and there, on the evening of that day, the Langeland. regiment from Aarhuus joined them, in four ves landed in Aug. 13. sels, which they had seized. The one at Randers did not succeed in making its escape. The south part of Langeland was in possession of the Spaniards. As soon as the wind permitted, their fellow-soldiers were landed there. The whole number was about 9000 men, with some 230 women and children. Stores and water were to be laid in for their voyage to Gottenburg. The Danish Governor, General Ahlefeldt, agreed not to molest them, and withdrew his troops to the northern part of the island, promising, that if French were known to arrive in Funen, he any • I give this remarkable story from that very meritorious journal, The Plain Englishman,' (vol. i. 294,) where it is related by the editor on the authority of Sir Richard Keats himself. XII. 1808. August. would then deliver up their arms. It was thought CHAP. necessary to demand them the ensuing day, upon a rumour that this had occurred; and also because a body of Danish cavalry had appeared as if observing the Spaniards for some military view; and because the escape of the French Commandant had been facilitated by the General. Some of the troops refused to obey, a detachment was therefore marched against them to enforce obedience, and this demonstration of force was sufficient. They took the horses also, having only about 200 of their own, which had been brought from Svendborg; but they voluntarily promised that these arms and horses, and whatever else belonged to the Danes, should be left upon the beach at their departure. Some robberies, which a few of the men committed, were instantly punished, and restitution made ; and a just price was fixed for the provisions which were demanded: they were supplied, therefore, without reluctance. Meat was in abundance, but there was a difficulty in obtaining bread; and the water lay at a distance from the shore, . . a thousand men, and all the carriages that could be procured, were employed in conveying it. Their situation was still an anxious one: an attack was to be apprehended from the opposite port of Svendborg; it was known that the Danes could collect as many as four-and-twenty gunboats there, and the channel would not admit of frigates to defend it: a flotilla, indeed, came out from thence one night, and kept up an idle can XII. 1808. August. CHAP. nonade upon the Spanish encampment. It was reported that French troops had arrived there, and of this no certain information could be obtained, for not a peasant in Langeland could be induced by the offer of any reward to go and ascertain the fact; an instance of national honour which may more than counterbalance the unworthy conduct of the Danish Government at this time. That the French were not inactive was certain. Proclamations from Bernadotte were introduced into the camp, endeavouring to deceive the Spaniards with regard to the state of affairs in their own country, to excite suspicion of the English, and to make them arrest their leaders; but these papers provoked only the contempt which they deserved. They sail for Gotten burg, and there em bark for Spain. Aug. 18. On the sixth day after their landing Admiral Saumarez arrived, and in three days more, every thing being ready, the troops were re-embarked. The arms and horses which they had taken from the Danes were left in the batteries. Before they departed a flag of truce was sent to Copenhagen, requiring, on the part of their Commander, that the regiments which were detained should be allowed to depart. The vessels from Aarhuus, being manned by Danes, were supplied by the British Admiral with stores for eight days, and released. Those from Nyborg were manned from the fleet, and an offer was made to send them back from Gottenburg with the crews of two Danish vessels which had been captured, provided the Danes would release an equal XII. 1808. September. number of British prisoners in exchange. But CHAP. these measures were not met with a corresponding temper by the Danish Government, and the convoy was fired at as it passed the battery of Slipshavn. They reached Gottenburg in safety; and the Spaniards there received the first intelligence of the successes which their countrymen had obtained. They were landed, for the sake of health and comfort, upon the islands in the harbour; transports from England arrived in a few days, and this little army then sailed for their own country, full of ardour,.. to lay down their lives in its defence. lands in While the convoy proceeded on its voyage Romana to Coruña, Romana landed in England, for the England. purpose of consulting with the British Government. It was there determined that his force should be disembarked at Santander, to be incorporated with the Galician army; and to avoid all immediate difficulty concerning its support, the existing armies in the present disorganized state of Spain being raised and subsisted by their respective provinces. Great Britain undertook to pay and feed it for two months, by which time it was supposed the Central Junta would be ready to perform this part of its duties. These were troops on whose discipline and courage entire reliance might be placed; and Romana's intention was to triple the infantry, by forming upon each battalion a regiment of three. And as it was designed that a British army should advance to bear its part in the first brunt of the great contest, the intention |