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EFFECTS OF THE BATTLE OF SALAMANCA.

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were often more inconvenient in their results, than failures arising from more ignoble causes. The defeat and consequent dispersion of the corps of Ballasteros now enabled Soult to strengthen Drouet, and imposed upon Sir Rowland Hill the necessity of retiring to Albuera, where, reinforced by some Spanish and Portuguese troops, he found his army increased to 23,000. Drouet, who had 21,000, did not pass Almendralejos, but both generals having received discre tionary orders, a battle was considered probable. Hill was, however, uncertain at the moment, if Lord Wellington's affairs on the Tormes were such as would justify him in forcing a battle, and resisted the temptation. The French retired, and Sir Rowland again advanced to Zafra, occupying Menda with a strong division. Drouet menaced; but a demonstration from Hill sent him back again to La Serena.

Meanwhile, the important effects of the battle of Salamanca had begun to be felt throughout Spain, and Lord Wellington considered that he might now act with vigour in the south. Accordingly, he directed Sir Rowland Hill to force Drouet out of Estremadura, and menace Andalusia, while General Cook, who commanded the British at Cadiz, should attack the enemy's works before that city. Soult had, however, already anticipated the necessity of withdrawing from the south; and having destroyed a great quantity of guns and stores, broke up the blockade of the island of St. Leon on the 24th of August; and sending Drouet orders to quit Estremadura, and join him in Granada, proceeded to Seville, which he quitted on the 26th, leaving it occupied by a rear-guard. This force was on the following morning surprized by Colonel Skerrett and General Cruz Murgeon, who had been dispatched hitherward, to divert the enemy's attention to that side, and who, deeming this an eligible opportunity for striking a blow, appeared suddenly before Triana, a suburb of Seville on the right bank of the Guadalquivir, and connected with the city by a bridge of boats. The French attempted to destroy the bridge, and get away unmolested. The Allies, however, aided by the inhabitants, prevented this movement, and crossed the bridge in time to make 200 prisoners. A division of the enemy's corps, 7000 strong, arrived the same evening before Cadiz; but finding it occupied by the Allies,

imagined Hill's force to be there, and made a hasty move to the right on Carmona, followed by Ballasteros, who hung on its flank during the march to Granada. When Drouet retired from Estremadura, Hill moved towards the Tagus, and thence gained Toledo.

CHAPTER XVI.

Position of the French Armies in Spain-Lord Wellington assumes the offensive-The Siege of Burgos-Failure of the Attack, and Retreat of the Allied Army to the Agueda-Disorganizations of the Troops, and misconduct of some of their Officers-Elevation of Lord Wellesley to a Marquesate with a Parliamentary Grant-Opinions of Lord Wellington's services expressed in the House of Commons.

Ar the end of August the following were the situations of the French armies in Spain. Marshal Soult, who had been joined by Drouet, was in Granada, on his way to Valencia, in which province a junction had taken place between Joseph Bonaparte and Suchet on the 29th. Upwards of 60,000 Frenchmen would therefore ere long be assembled in that quarter. The army of Portugal under Clausel was on the Douro, about 23,000 strong, but expecting reinforcements from the north and from France; and Massena had recently been placed at the head of a French corps in the province of Alava. At this period, Lord Wellington had 40,000 British and Portuguese at or near to Madrid, and Sir Rowland Hill, with about half that number, was on his way from Estremadura to Toledo, by way of Almaraz. Of Spaniards, there was a rabble rout in Leon, styled the army of Gallicia; and Ballasteros, with another ill-disciplined body, was in Granada; whilst in Catalonia and other parts of the kingdom, there were also various bodies of troops, such as they were. It would have been idle to have reckoned the effectiveness of Spanish armies by their numbers. Astorga had, however, capitulated to the "Gallician army," after ten weeks' siege; 1200 men laying down their arms, on condition of being exchanged. About the same time

a Guerilla force had captured 700 more in Guadalajara. Another Guerilla band had recovered Bilbao, aided by a British squadron, now on the coast of Guipuscoa, under Sir Home Popham.

Lord Wellington had been promised a co-operation on the coast of Catalonia from the British force in Sicily; but the anticipated aid dwindled to some 6000 men, chiefly foreigners, who arrived too late to be of much service in Catalonia; and hearing that O'Donnel had retired into Murcia, after suffering defeat at Castala on the 21st July, thereby leaving Alicante exposed, took possession of that place.

Aware that Joseph had effected a junction with Suchet, and that if Soult and Drouet, who were moving in the direction of Valencia, could unite their forces with those of the King, more than 60,000 men could be collected in that quarter and be immediately disposable, Lord Wellington determined to anticipate their operations, by attacking Clausel upon the Douro. Leaving the 3rd and light divisions at Madrid, and the 4th at the Escurial, Lord Wellington quitted the capital on the 1st, and joining the troops assembled at Arrevalo, crossed the Douro, and driving Clausel from Valladolid, pursued his march towards Burgos, but refrained from pressing the enemy, being desirous to form a junction with the Gallician army previous to bringing on an engagement. This junction, owing to the dilatoriness of the Spanish Commander, was not effected until the 16th at Pampaliego. Strengthened by about 11,000 Spanish troops, Lord Wellington would have given Clausel battle the next morning, but that the French general withdrew, covering Burgos; and leaving a garrison 2500 strong under General Dubreton in that place, quitted it on the 18th, and retired eastward.

The castle of Burgos stands upon an oblong conical rocky hill; and the defences, as improved very materially by the French, consisted of three lines. The outer line was an old escarp wall, of difficult access, running round the lower part of the hill. This wall they had modernized with a shotproof parapet, and had contrived flanks at the salient and re-entering points. The second line was a strong fieldretrenchment, armed with cannon. The third resembled

the second; and upon the very summit, an ancient keep had been converted into a heavy casemated battery, and crowned these formidable defences. The castle of Burgos was the chief depôt of the enemy; its capture, therefore, was of the utmost importance to the Allied troops. On the 19th September, the castle was regularly invested, and the duties of the siege entrusted to the first and sixth divisions, with the brigades of Pack and Bradford. At 300 yards' distance from the upper works of the castle, and upon a level with them, but separated by a deep ravine, is a hill called San Miguel. Here the enemy had a large hornwork. Upon this hill it was resolved to make a lodgment, and hence to batter the lines, and to attempt each by assault successively when the line preceding was safely secured. This plan was in some degree dictated by the very small park of artillery at the disposal of the besiegers, which consisted only of three 18-pounders and five 24-pound iron howitzers. On the evening of the 19th September, the hornwork was assaulted and carried with a loss of 400 men in killed and wounded to the besiegers; that of the defenders not exceeding 143.

Until the night of the 22nd, the operations of the siege were vigorously continued; the garrison maintaining a heavy fire of shot and shells upon the working-parties. Anxious, therefore, to abridge the attack, Lord Wellington decided on carrying the exterior defences of the castle by escalade, and then forming a lodgment on the wall; and that night the assault was given. Major Laurie, of the 79th, with detachments from the different regiments before the place, formed the storming party. The Portuguese, who led the attack, were quickly repulsed; and though the British entered the ditch, they never could mount a ladder. Those who attempted it were bayoneted from above, while shells, combustibles, and cold shot were hurled on the assailants, who, after a most determined effort for a quarter of an hour. were driven from the ditch, leaving their leader, and half the number who composed the storming party, killed and wounded.

After this discouraging failure, an attempt was made to breach the walls; but the more commanding fire of the castle disabled the few guns placed by the engineers in

battery; and nothing remained but to resort to the more tedious but certain method by sap and mine.

The former was, however, of necessity abandoned. The sap, when pushed close to the walls, was open to a plunging fire, while shells were rolled down the bank, and heavy discharges of musketry kept up from the parapet. In carrying the approaches down the hill, the workmen were exposed to the whole artillery of the place; and the only wonder was, that men could be induced to labour steadily under this terrible cannonade. "Showers of grape-shot fell without intermission round the spot, causing an incessant whizzing and rattling amongst the stones, and appeared at the moment to be carrying destruction through the ranks; but, except the necessity of instantly carrying off the wounded, on account of their sufferings, it caused little interruption to the workmen. It was remarked here, as it had been on former occasions, that a wound from a grape-shot is less quietly borne than a wound from a round-shot or musketry. The latter is seldom known in the night, except from the falling of the individual; whereas the former, not unfrequently, draws forth loud lamentations." Up to the 26th of September, the besiegers had lost, in killed or wounded, 248.

A gallery was now driven to the base of the escarp—the parapet of the communication between the and lower upper trenches being completed; and a chamber of five feet charged with 1100 pounds of gunpowder, and the gallery tamped with sand-bags. At midnight, 300 men were paraded in the lower trenches-the hose was fired-the wall came down, and a sergeant and four privates, who formed the forlorn hope, rushed through the smoke, mounted the ruins, and bravely gained the breach. But in the darkness, which was intense, the storming party and their supporting companies missed their way-and the French, recovering from their surprise, rushed to the breach, and drove the few brave men who held it back to the trenches. The attack, consequently, failed; and from a scarcity of shot no fire could be turned on the ruins. Dubreton availed himself of this accidental advantage; and by daylight, the breach was rendered impracticable again.

This last failure produced a general despondency among the troops, and more especially among the Portuguese.

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