XII. September. CHAP. was, that, if possible, it should act with Romana on the left flank, and Castaños on its right. With 1808. both these officers it was justly thought the service might proceed in the true spirit of confidence and good will; the reputation of both stood deservedly high, and their disposition was even of more importance, when operations were to be carried on by concert between the generals, not by a paramount and controlling command. For, by a strange error, the Spanish Government had niards in resolved to make the commands independent of not appoint- each other. This error seems to have been commander-in-mitted less from want of judgement than in de Error of the Spa ing a Com chief. Difficulty of feeding their armies. ference to the provincial Juntas, and in fear of offending them; yet at that time public opinion would have supported them had they appointed Castaños commander-in-chief. It was not, however, the abilities of any single general, however pre-eminent, which could have saved the Spanish armies, constituted as they then were, from inevitable defeat, unless a strong British force had been ready to have acted with them. Preparations upon an adequate scale had been promised and intended by the Central Government; but when they had raised men and embodied them, the difficulty of maintaining them occurred, a difficulty which has at all times been greater in Spain than in any other civilized country. Our own commissariat was then far from effective; for great experience, as well as great activity and talents, are required in the business of providing an army: it is not then XII. 1808. September. to be wondered at that the Spaniards, under their CHAP. complicated embarrassments, should have been grievously defective in this main branch of the military art; but this was one cause why the number of their armies fell far short of their computed force, many young recruits returning to their homes, when they saw how miserably they fared in the camp. It would have been most desirable to have followed up the first successes with vigour, and have attacked the enemy while the impression made upon them by so many humiliating failures was fresh, and before farther reinforcements should enable them to resume the offensive. But this had not been possible. The French were strongly posted, and well provided with all the means of war; and their cavalry gave them complete command of the plains of Castille. They had ravaged the land from Burgos to Astorga, and driven in contributions from the very gates of the latter city. Blake could oppose no resistance to them in that open country without cavalry, and for want of that essential arm was obliged to alter his intended plan of operations, and pursue, at considerable risk, a different course. He resolved to take a position between Bilbao and Vitoria, and menace the right flank and rear of the French, while the army of Aragon should act on their left. taken and Bilbao had remained a month in possession of Bilbao the enemy; it was then retaken by the Marques retaken. de Portazgo, and if his advanced posts had not Sept. 20. XII. 1808. October. CHAP. begun to fire too soon, the garrison might have been surprised and made prisoners. After an action of three or four hours they effected their retreat, losing some 400 men. But considerable bodies of French had now passed the Pyrenees; and Marshal Ney, who came at this time to take the chief command till Buonaparte himself should arrive, feigning to retreat upon Vitoria for the purpose of deceiving Portazgo, suddenly marched with the centre of his army upon Bilbao. The Marquis drew off in time, without losing a man or a gun, and took up a position at Valmaseda. There he was joined by a detachment of the Galician army, and Blake immediately made preparations to recover the city; but General Merlin, whom Ney had left to command there, knew that the place was not tenable against a superior force, and evacuated it on the night of Oct. 11. Position of the armies The French force at that time amounted to in October. about 60,000; and the Spanish Generals knew, by an intercepted dispatch, that 72,000 more would enter Spain before the middle of November. The Spaniards were nominally 130,000, but the effective number was very far short of this. With the left or western army Blake occupied a line from Burgos to Bilbao. The eastern army, that of Aragon and Valencia, under Palafox, was stationed, part near Zaragoza, and part was as far advanced as Sanguessa, on the left of the enemy, outflanking them on that side, as Blake did on the west. The head-quarters of the central army, XII. 1808. under Castaños, were at Soria;..so that the whole CHAP. formed a crescent. The Spaniards now began to experience the ruinous effects of that false policy October. which had exaggerated their successes and their strength, and had represented the final deliverance of the country as an event soon and certainly to be looked for. This delusion made the people clamorous for the accomplishment of their expectations, and the government itself either partook or yielded to this impatience. The wise precautions with which the Junta of Seville began the war were disregarded, and the Central Junta called upon the Generals to hasten their operations. However strong, they said, might have been the reasons for delay, loss of time had already proved injurious, and must be more so if the enemy should receive their expected reinforcements. An end therefore must be put to this inactivity. And, as if dissatisfied with Commis their generals, they appointed D. Francisco to the SpaPalafox to go as their representative to the armies, with the Marques de Coupigni and the Conde de Montijo under him. He was to be received with the same honours as a CaptainGeneral of the army, to confer with the Commanders, concert operations with them, and himself decide upon the plan of attack. Another reason for this mission was, that Castaños and Palafox differed totally in opinion concerning the measures which ought to be pursued. The latter was eager for action, because he believed that every thing might be accomplished VOL. II. A A sioners sent nish armies. XII. 1808. October. CHAP. by zeal and courage; the former understood the art of war better, and knew how little these qualities alone were to be trusted in the open field against an enemy strong in cavalry, equal in numbers, and superior in discipline. The commissioners were sent to determine between them. Of all the measures of the Central Junta this was the worst. It was taken a few days before Romana arrived in Spain. Had he been present, his authority, coming in aid of the opinion of Castaños, which was decidedly but warily expressed, might have prevented so preposterous a mission, and averted the evils which were thus precipitated. |