Don

Gallicia, a cloud was gathering that threatened a perilous storm. Gregorio Cuesta was captain-general of the two former kingdoms. Inimical to popular movements, and of a haughty, resolute disposition, he at first checked the insurrection with a rough hand, and thus laid the foundation for quarrels and intrigues, which afterwards impeded the military operations, and split the northern provinces into factions; yet finally, he joined the side of the patriots. Behind him the kingdom of Gallicia under the direction of Filanghieri, had prepared a large and efficient force, chiefly composed of the strong and disciplined body of troops which, under the command of Taranco, had taken possession of Oporto, and after that general's death had returned with Belesta to Gallicia; the garrisons of Ferrol and Coruña, and a number of soldiers flying from the countries occupied by the French, swelled this army, the agents of Great Britain were active to blow the flame of insurrection, and money, arms, and clothing were poured into the province through their hands, because Coruña afforded an easy and direct intercourse with England. A strict connexion was also maintained between the Gallician and Portuguese patriots, and the facility of establishing the base of a regular systematic war in Gallicia was, therefore, as great as in Andalusia; the resources were perhaps, greater, on account of the proximity of Great Britain, and the advantage of position at this time was essentially in favour of Gallicia, because, while the sources of her strength were as well covered from the direct line of the French operations, the slightest offensive movement upon her part, by threatening the communications of the French army in Madrid, endangered the safety of any corps marching from the capital against the southern provinces. To be prepared against the Gallician forces was, therefore, a matter of pressing importance, a defeat from that quarter would have been felt in all parts of the army; and no considerable, or sustained operation, could be undertaken against the other insurgent forces until the strength of Gallicia had been first broken.

Biscay and the Asturias wanted regular troops and fortified towns, and the contracted shape of those provinces placed them completely within the power of the French, who had nothing to fear as long as they could maintain possession of the seaports.

From this sketch it results that Savary, in classing the dangers of his situation, should have rated Gallicia and Leon in the first, Zaragoza in the second, Andalusia in the third, and Valencia in the fourth rank, and by that scale he should have regulated his operations. It was thus Napoleon looked at the affair, but the Duke of Rovigo, wavering in his opinions, neglected or misunderstood the spirit of his instructions, lost the control of the operations, and sunk amidst the confusion which he had himself created.

Nearly fifty thousand French and eighty guns were disposable for offensive operations in the beginning of June; collected into one mass, such an army was more than sufficient to crush any or all of the insurgent armies combined, but it was necessary to divide it, and to assail several points at the same time. In doing this, the safety of each minor body depended upon the stability of the central point from whence it emanated, and again the security of that centre depended upon the strength of its communications with France; in other words, Bayonne was the base of operations against Madrid, and Madrid in turn became the base of operations against Valencia, Murcia, and Andalusia. To combine all the movements of a vast plan, which would embrace the operations against

Catalonia, Aragon, Biscay, the Asturias, Gallicia, Leon, Castile, Andalusia, Murcia, and Valencia, in such a simple manner, as that the corps of the army working upon one principle might mutually support and strengthen each other, and at the same time preserve their communication with France, was the great problem to be solved. Napoleon felt that it required a master mind, and from Bayonne he put all the different armed masses in motion himself, and with the greatest caution; for it is a mistaken notion, although one very generally entertained, that he plunged headlong into the contest, without foresight, as having to do with adversaries he despised.

In his instructions to the Duke of Rovigo he says, "In a war of this sort it is necessary to act with patience, coolness, and upon calculation." "In civil wars it is the important points only which should be guarded— we must not go to all places;" and he inculcates the doctrine, that to spread the troops over the country without the power of uniting upon emergency, would be a dangerous display of activity. The principle upon which he proceeded may be illustrated by the comparison of a closed hand thrust forward and the fingers afterwards extended: as long as the solid part of the member was securely fixed and guarded, the return of the smaller portions of it and their flexible movement was feasible and without great peril; whereas a wound given to the hand or arm, not only endangered that part, but paralysed the action of the whole limb. Hence all the care and attention with which his troops were arranged along the road to Burgos; hence all the measures of precaution already described, such as the seizure of the fortresses and the formation of the reserves at Bayonne.

The insurrection having commenced, Bessières was ordered to put Burgos into a state of defence, to detach a division of four or five thousand men, under General Lefebvre-Desnouettes, against Zaragoza,-to keep down the insurgents of Biscay, Asturias, and Old Castile,-and to observe the army assembling in Gallicia; he was likewise enjoined to occupy and watch with jealous care the port of St. Ander and the coast towns. A re-enforcement of nine thousand men was also prepared for Duhesme, which, it was supposed, would enable him to tranquillize Catalonia, and co-operate with a division marching from Madrid against Valencia. The reserve under General Drouet was nourished by drafts from the interior: it supplied Bessières with re-enforcements, and afforded a detachment of four thousand men to watch the openings of the valleys of the Pyrenees, especially towards the castle of Jaca, then in possession of the Spanish insurgents.* A smaller reserve was established at Perpignan, another body watched the openings of the eastern frontier; and all the generals commanding corps, or even detachments, were directed to cor respond daily with General Drouet.

The security of the rear being thus provided for, the main body at Madrid commenced offensive operations. Marshal Moncey was directed, with part of his corps upon Cuenca, to intercept the march of the Valencian army upon Zaragoza; General Dupont, with ten thousand men, marched towards Cadiz, and the remainder of his and Moncey's troops being kept in reserve, were distributed in various parts of La Mancha and the neighbourhood of Madrid.† Napoleon likewise directed, that Segovia should be occupied and put in a state of defence; that Gobert's

*

Napoleon's Notes; Appendix, No. II. †S.: Journal of Moncey's Operations, MSS

division of Moncey's' corps should co-operate with Bessières on the side of Valladolid, and that moveable columns should scour the country in rear of the acting bodies, uniting again at stated times, upon points of secondary interest. Thus linking his operations together, Napoleon hoped, by grasping as it were the ganglia of the insurrection, to paralyse its force, and reduce it to a few convulsive motions, which would soon subside; the execution of his plan failed in the feeble hands of his lieutenants, but it was well conceived, embraced every probable immediate chance of war, and even provided for the uncertain contingency of an English army landing, upon the flanks or rear of his corps, at either extremity of the Pyrenean frontier.

Military men would do well to reflect upon the prudence which the French emperor displayed upon this occasion. Not all his experience, his power, his fortune, nor the contempt which he felt for the prowess of his adversaries, could induce him to relax in his precautions; every chance was considered, and every measure calculated with as much care and circumspection as if the most redoubtable enemy was opposed to him. The conqueror of Europe was as fearful of making false movements before an army of peasants, as if Frederick the Great had been in his front, and yet he failed! Such is the uncertainty of war!

CHAPTER V.

First operations of Marshal Bessières-Spaniards defeated at Cabeçon, at Segovia, at Logroño, at Torquemada-French take St. Ander-Lefebvre-Desnouettes defeats the Spaniards on the Ebro, on the Huecha, on the Xalon-First siege of Zaragoza-Observations.

As all the insurrections of the Spanish provinces took place nearly at the same period, the operations of the French divisions were nearly simultaneous; I shall, therefore, narrate their proceedings separately, classing them by the effect each produced upon the stability of the intrusive government of Madrid.

OPERATIONS OF MARSHAL BESSIERES.

This officer had scarcely fixed his quarters at Burgos when a general movement of revolt took place. On his right, the Bishop of St. Ander excited the inhabitants of the diocese to take arms. In his rear, a me-. chanic assembled some thousand armed peasants at the town of Logroño. In front, five thousand men took possession of the Spanish artillery dépôt at Segovia, and an equal number assembling at Palencia, advanced to the town of Torquemada, while General Cuesta, with some regular troops and a body of organized peasantry, took post on the Pisuerga at Cabeçon.†

Bessières immediately divided his disposable force, which was not more than twelve thousand men, into several columns, and traversing the country in all directions, disarmed the towns and interrupted the combipations of the insurgents, while a division of Dupont's corps, under General

*Napoleon's Notes; Appendix, No. I.

+ Moniteur-Victoires et Conquêtes des Français.

PENINSULAR WAR.

Frère, marched from the side of Madrid to aid his efforts. General Verdier attacked Logroño on the 6th of June, dispersed the peasantry, and put the leaders to death after the action. General La Salle, departing from Burgos with a brigade of light cavalry, passed the Pisuerga, fell upon the Spaniards at Torquemada on the 7th, broke them, and pursuing with a merciless sword, burnt that town, and entered Palencia on the 8th. Meanwhile Frère defeated the Spanish force at Segovia, taking thirty pieces of artillery; and General Merle, marching through the country lying between the Pisuerga and the Duero with a division of infantry, joined La Salle at Dueñas on the 12th; from thence they proceeded to Cabeçon, where Cuesta accepting battle, was overthrown with much slaughter, the loss of his artillery, and several thousand muskets.

The flat country being thus subdued, La Salle's cavalry remained to keep it under, while Merle, marching northward, commenced operations, in concert with General Ducos, against the province of St. Ander. On the 20th, the latter general drove the Spaniards from the pass of Soncillo ; the 21st, he forced the pass of Venta de Escudo, and descending the valley of the river Pas, approached St. Ander; on the 22d, Merle, after some resistance, penetrating by Lantueño, followed the course of the Besaya to Torre La Vega, then turning to his right, entered St. Ander on the 23d; Ducos arrived at the same time, the town submitted, and the bishop fled with the greatest part of the clergy. The authorities of Segovia, Valladolid, Palencia, and St. Ander were then compelled to send deputies to take the oath of allegiance to Joseph. By these operations, the abovenamed provinces were completely disarmed, and so awed by the activity of Bessières that no further insurrections took place, his cavalry raised contributions and collected provisions without the least difficulty; Frère's division then returned to Toledo, and from thence marched to San Clemente, on the borders of Murcia.

*

While Bessières thus broke the northern insurrections, the march of General Lefebvre-Desnouettes against the province of Aragon brought on the first siege of Zaragoza. To that place had flocked from the most With distant parts, soldiers, flying from Madrid and Pampeluna, the engineers of the school of Alcala, and all the retired officers in Aragon.' their assistance Palafox's forces were rapidly organized, and numerous battalions were posted on the roads leading to Navarre. The Baron de Versage, an officer of the Walloon guards, occupied Calatayud with a regiment composed of students, and made a levy there to protect the powder-mills of Villa Felice, and to keep a communication with Soria and Siguenza. The arsenal of Zaragoza supplied the patriots with arms; the people of Tudela broke their bridge on the Ebro, and Palafox re-enforced them with five hundred fusiliers.

It was in this situation of affairs Lefebvre commenced his march from Pampeluna the 7th of June, at the head of three or four thousand infantry, some field batteries, and a regiment of Polish cavalry. On the 9th he forced the passage of the Ebro, put the leaders of the insurrection to death, after the action, and then continued his movement by the right bank to Mallen. On the Huecha, Palafox with ten thousand infantry, two hundred dragoons, and eight pieces of artillery, disputed the passage, but on the 13th, he was overthrown. The 14th, the French reached the Xalon, where another combat and another victory carried Lefebvre

* Cavallero.

across that river. The 15th he was on the Huerba, in front of the heroic city.*

FIRST SIEGE OF ZARAGOZA.

Zaragoza contained fifty thousand inhabitants. Situated on the right bank of the Ebro, it was connected with a suburb, on the opposite side, by a handsome stone bridge; its immediate vicinity was flat, and on the side of the suburb low and marshy. The small river Huerba, running through a deep cleft, cut the plain on the right bank, and taking its course close to the walls, fell into the Ebro nearly opposite to the mouth of the Gallego, which, descending from the mountains on the opposite side, also cut the plain on the left bank. The convent of St. Joseph, built on the right of the Huerba, covered a bridge over that torrent, and, at the distance of cannon-shot, a step of land commenced, which, gradually rising, terminated at eighteen hundred yards from the convent, in a hill called the Monte Torrero. On this hill, which commanded all the plain and overlooked the town, several storehouses, built for the use of the canal, were intrenched, and occupied by twelve hundred men, and the canal itself, a noble work, furnished water carriage without a single lock from Tudela to Zaragoza.†

The city, surrounded by a low brick wall, presented no regular defences, and possessed very few guns in a serviceable state; but the houses were strongly constructed, and for the most part of two stories, each story vaulted, so as to be nearly fire-proof. Every house had its garrison, and the massive convents, rising like castles, around the circuit and inside the place, were crowded with armed men. Such was Zaragoza when Lefebvre-Desnouttes appeared before it, his previous movements having cut the direct communication with Calatayud, and obliged the Baron Versage to retire to Belchite with his volunteers and fresh levies.

Palafox had occupied the olive groves and houses on the step of land between the convent of St. Joseph and Monte Torrero; but his men, cowed by their previous defeats, were easily driven from thence on the 16th.‡ The town was then closely invested on the right bank of the Ebro, and so great was the terror of the Spaniards, that some of the French, penetrating without difficulty into the street of St. Engracia, were like to have taken the city.§ Palafox, accompanied by his brother Francisco, an aide-de-camp, and one hundred dragoons, endeavoured, under pretence of seeking succour, to go forth on the side of the suburb at the moment when the French were entering on the side of Engracia; but the plebeian leaders, suspicious of his intentions, would not suffer him to depart without a guard of infantry, commanded by Tio, or Goodman Jorge. It was this person and Tio Marin, who by their energy contributed most to the defence of the city in the first siege; but for them Palafox who has gathered the honours, would have fled at one gate, while the enemy were pressing in at another, and Zaragoza was then on the verge of destruction, for the streets were filled with clamour, the troops making little resistance, and all things in confusion. But the French, either fearful of an ambuscade or ignorant of their advantages, suddenly retired, and then the people as if inspired, changed from the extreme of terror to that of

*S.: Journal of Lefebvre's Operations, MS. Moniteur-Victoires et Conquêtes des Français-Cavallero. † Cavallero; Siege of Zaragoza. + S.: Journal of Lefebvre's Operations, MSS. Cavallero.