CHAP. LV. 1808. tors were suddenly met and broken by a solid mass of infantry which diverged from the victorious centre of the enemy. The other divisions of the army of Andalusia, three in number, and embracing twelve thousand soldiers, took no part in the action. They commenced their retreat, however, in good order, when it was evident the battle was lost; but some of the advanced troops of Ney's corps having appeared in the rear, from the side of Soria, and a powder-waggon exploded by accident, the retreat became disorderly, and it was with some difficulty the guns were brought off. As it was, the separation of the Spanish armies was complete; fifteen thousand men, Arragonese, Valencians, and Castilians, had taken refuge in Saragossa, without either guns or ammunition-waggons. Twenty thousand, under Castanos, with all their artillery, fell back, comparatively in good order, to Calatayud, and were immediately ordered up by the Central Junta to Madrid to defend the capital. Five thousand were killed and wounded, or made prisoners on the field; the remainder, with twenty guns, dispersed in the pursuit, and were never more heard of. But if Napoleon's directions had been implicitly followed by Ney, who arrived at Soria on the 22d, and if, instead of remaining in that town, as he did, inactive for two days, he had advanced in the direction of Calatayud, he would have fallen perpendicularly on the retreating columns of Castanos, and 1 Jom. ii. 99, totally destroyed them. This failure on the part of Ney, 138, 142. excited great displeasure in Napoleon, (who had with Nap. i. 401, reason calculated upon much greater results from the ii. 399, 401. battle,) and was attended with important consequences on the future fortunes of the war. 1* The battles of Espinosa, Burgos, and Tudela, were not only totally destructive of the Spanish armies in the north, but they rendered, by the dispersion of their forces * Colonel Napier says, "Palafox, with the right wing and centre, fled to Saragossa with such speed, that some of the fugitives are said to have arrived there the same evening." It would be desirable that the authority on which this serious charge is made against Palafox should be given, as no foundation appears for it in the military authorities with which I am acquainted. Jomini says merely, that after the battle "Palafox took the road to Saragossa; Toreno, "that Don Joseph Palafox in the morning (des le matin) resumed the route to Saragossa." Neither say any thing about any of the Arragonese or Palafox himself having either fled to Saragossa, or arrived there at night.-See NAPIER, i. 403, 1st Ed.; TORENO, ii. 141; JOMINI, iii. 100. 100. Tor. ii. 406. South. CHAP. 1808. 29. with which they were attended, the approach to the capital a matter of ease to the French Emperor. Blake's troops, of which Romana had now assumed the command, had almost all dispersed, some into Asturias, others into Disorderly and eccentric Leon: and it was with the utmost difficulty that that Spanish gallant commander had rallied ten thousand of the starvarmies from ing fugitives, without either artillery, ammunition, or retreat of the the Ebro. stores, in the rugged mountains from which the Ebro takes its rise; the remnant of the army of Estremadura, routed at Burgos, had fallen back, in the utmost confusion, towards the Guadarrama mountains; while Castanos, with the army of Andalusia, was driven off in a south-easterly direction to Calatayud, in the road to Valencia; and Palafox, with the levies of Arragon and Castile, had sought refuge behind the walls of Saragossa. Thus, the Spanish armies were not only individually and grievously weakened by the losses they had sustained, but so disjointed and severed, as to be incapable of acting in concert, or affording any support to each other ▲ Nap. i. 405, while Napoleon, at the head of a hundred thousand 406. Jom. ii. men, occupied a central position in the heart of them all, and was master of the great road leading direct to the capital.1 102. Tor. ii. 141. 30. Rapid and concentrated advance of armies to Madrid. It was in such circumstances that the genius of that great general, which never shone with such lustre as in the vigour and ability with which he followed up a beaten enemy, appeared most conspicuous. Abandonthe French ing the remains of Blake's army to Soult, and the care of watching the English troops to Lefebvre's corps, and directing Lannes to observe Saragossa and the discomfited but warlike multitude which it contained, while Ney was to press incessantly on Castanos, and drive him off, as far as possible, in an easterly direction, the Emperor himself, with the Imperial Guards, Victor's corps, and the reserve, at least sixty thousand strong, advanced towards Madrid. So skilfully were these various movements combined, that while each corps had the following 2 Nap. i. 407. up and destroying of its own peculiar antagonist in an 102. Tor. i. especial manner intrusted to its care, the whole combined to protect and support the advance of the main body to the capital;2 Lefebvre covering its right flank, Jom. i. 101, 143, 144. Ney its left, while Lannes and Soult secured and protected the rear, at the same time that they disposed of the remains of the Arragonese and Galician armies. CHAP. 1808. 31. the Somosierra pass. Departing from Aranda de Douro on the 28th, the Emperor arrived at the foot of the Somo-sierra on the morning of the 30th. Some field-works, hastily constructed at the Forcing of summit of the pass, were garrisoned by a disorderly crowd, composed of the reserve of the divisions of Andalusia which had been sent forward from Madrid, with which were united the remains of the army of Estremadura, in all about twelve thousand men, with sixteen pieces of cannon, under the command of General St Juan. The guns swept the road along the whole ascent, which was long and very steep; and as it was inevitable that a very considerable time must be occupied by the troops in surmounting the toilsome ascent, a very serious loss was anticipated by the assailants. Preceded, however, by a cloud of sharpshooters, who covered the mountains on either side, a column of three regiments ascended the causeway, while as many assailed the position on its right, and a like number on its left. The fire, however, of the artillery on the summit was very violent, to which it was difficult to reply, as a thick fog, intermingled with smoke, hung over their line on the higher part of the ridge, on entering into which the French found themselves torn by a descending shower of balls from an enemy whom they could not discern. The head of the column on the causeway was already arrested, and hesitation, as always ensues in such an event, was beginning to spread in the rear, when Napoleon, having rode to the bottom of the pass, at once ordered the Polish lancers and chasseurs of the Guard, under General Montbrun, to charge. Advancing up the steep ascent at a rapid pace, these brave men opened a way for themselves through the columns of infantry with which it was encumbered, and attacked the battery: the first squadrons, shattered by a terrible discharge, reeled and fell back; but the next, galloping forward before the guns could be reloaded, dashed among the artillerymen, and carried the pieces. 1 Tor. ii. 145, Meanwhile the Spanish infantry, stationed on either 146. Nap. i. flank, retired, after discharging their muskets at the 103. swarms of tirailleurs by whom they were assailed,1 and VOL. XII. 409. Jom. ii, CHAP. 1808. 32. Prodigious agitation at Madrid. the whole body, falling into confusion, soon fled in disorder to Segovia, where a small number only could be rallied by the efforts of their gallant leader, San Juan, who cut his way, sword in hand, through a body of Polish lancers by whom he was enveloped. Great was the dismay in the Spanish capital when the alarming intelligence arrived, early on the morning of the 1st December, that the Somo-sierra pass had been forced, and that Napoleon with his terrible legions was advancing with rapid strides against its defenceless walls. The Central Junta at Aranjuez, at the same time, heard of the disaster, and instantly fixing on Badajos as their point of union, they set out with all imaginable haste for Talavera de la Reyna in different parties and by different roads, and were fortunate enough to arrive at their place of destination without accident. Meanwhile, the general government of Madrid was intrusted to a Provisional Junta, of which the Duke del Infantado was the head; while the direction of its military defence was in the hands of Don Thomas de Morla, who had early taken a lead in the Cadiz insurrection, but whose subsequent violation of faith to the prisoners taken at Baylen augured ill for the integrity with which he would discharge the arduous duties now intrusted to his care. The troops in the city consisted only of three hundred regular soldiers, with two battalions and a single squadron newly levied. Nevertheless, vigorous preparations were made for defence. Eight thousand muskets, and a still greater number of pikes, were hastily distributed from the arsenal to the people; heavy cannon were planted on the Retiro and principal streets; the pavement was torn up, barricades were constructed, and the most enthusiastic spirit pervaded the multitude. Ammunition was served out in abundance: but some of the cartridges were discovered to be filled with black sand instead of gunpowder-a discovery which, in the excited state of the inhabitants, proved fatal to the Marquis Perales, who was at the head of that department. He had formerly been the idol of Nap. i. 411, the people; but, with their usual inconstancy, upon the first discovery of this fraud, originating probably in the cupidity of some inferior agent, a furious mob assailed his 1 South. ii. 409, 412. 414. Tor. ii. 149, 150. CHAP. house, dragged him into the street, and there murdered him. LV. 1808. the Retiro. Dec. 2. On the morning of the 2d, the advanced guards of the French arrived on the heights to the north of Madrid; 33. and the Emperor, who was extremely desirous of gaining Capture of possession of the capital on the anniversary of his coronation, and of the battle of Austerlitz, immediately summoned it to surrender; but the proposal was indignantly rejected. On the same day the Duke del Infantado was fortunate enough to make his escape, under cover of a thick fog, and directed his steps to Guadalaxara, to join the army of Castanos, which had retreated in that direction. During the night the French infantry arrived in great strength around the capital, and on the following morning a thick fog overspread both the agitated multi- Dec. 3. tude within, and the host without by which it was menaced. By degrees, however, the mist was dispelled by the rays of the ascending sun, and the Emperor directed his columns of attack against the RETIRO, the heights of which completely commanded the city. A battery of thirty guns speedily made a practicable breach in its weak defences, and a French division advancing to the assault, soon after rushed in and made themselves masters of that important post. The agitation in Madrid now became excessive; twenty thousand armed men were within its walls, agitated by furious passions, burning with individual ardour, but destitute of the organisation and discipline necessary for success against the formidable enemy by whom they were now assailed. The city presented the most frightful scene of disorder. Exasperated crowds filled the streets; strong barricades were erected in various quarters; the bells of two hundred churches rang together; a confused murmur, like the sound of a mighty cataract, was heard incessantly, even during the night, which was audible at the distance of miles from the capital. In the French lines, on the other hand, all was silent and orderly, and 1 Tor. ii. 149, 152. Nap. i. the step only of the passing sentinel broke the stillness; 411, 415. -a striking image of the difference between the disor- South. ii. 410, derly passions which agitate the populace, without being 103. directed by superior intelligence to any useful end,1 and 414. Jom. ii. |