CHAPTER V.
The emperor overruled the offensive projects of the king, and the latter was forced to distribute the centre and right wing in a manner more consonant to the spirit of Napoleon’s instructions; but he still neglected to occupy Tudela, and covered his left wing by the Aragon river.
Journal of the king’s operations, MS.
The 18th of September the French army was posted in the following manner:
| Right wing. Marshal Bessieres. under arms. | 15,595 | } | Three divisions of infantry in front of Pancorbo, at Briviesca, Santa Maria, and Cuba; light cavalry behind Burgos. |
| Centre. Marshal Ney. under arms. | 13,756 | } | Logroña, Nalda, and Najera. |
| Left wing. Marshal Moncey. under arms. | 16,636 | } | Milagro, Lodosa, Caparosa, and Alfaro. The garrison of Pampeluna was also under Moncey’s command. |
| Reserve of the king. Gen. Saligny. | 5,413. | ┐ | |
| Imperial guard. Gen. Dorsenne. | 2,423. | │ | Miranda, Haro, and Puente Lara. |
| Total | ——— 7,833. | ┘ | |
| Garrisons. | 6,004. | Pampeluna. | |
| Gen. Monthion. | 1,500. | Bilbao. | |
| Gen. La Grange. | 6,979. | { | Composed of small garrisons and moveable columns, guarding the communications of Biscay, Alava, and Guipuscoa. |
| Grand reserve. Moveable cols. | 1,984. | ┐ | |
| Stationary. | 20,005. ——— | │ | Bayonne, and watching the valleys of the Pyrenees opening into Navarre. |
| Total, comm. by Gen. Drouet, | 21,989. | ┘ |
Total 90,289 present under arms, exclusive of the troops in Catalonia. Hence the communication being secured, the fortresses garrisoned, and the fort of Pancorbo armed, there remained above fifty thousand sabres and bayonets disposable on a line of battle extending from Bilbao to Alfaro.
To oppose this formidable force the Spanish troops were divided into three principal masses, denominated the armies of the right, centre, and left.
| Infantry. | Cavalry. | Guns. | 1st Line. | ||||
| The first, composed of the divisions of St. Marc and O’Neil, numbered about | 17,500 | 500 | 24 | ┐ | Men. | Guns. | |
| The second, composed of the divisions of La Pena, Llamas, and Caro | 26,000 | 1,300 | 36 | │ | 75,400 | 86 | |
| The third, consisting entirely of Gallicians, about | 30,000 | 100 | 26 | ┘ | |||
| 2d Line. | |||
| In the second line the Castillians were at Segovia | 12,000 | ┐ | |
| The Estremadurans at Talavera | 13,000 | │ | |
| Two Andalusian divisions were in La Mancha | 14,000 | │ | 57,000 |
| And the Asturians (posted at Llanes) were called | 18,000 | ┘ |
This estimate, founded upon a number of contemporary returns and other documents, proves the monstrous exaggerations put forth at this time to deceive the Spanish people and the English government. The Spaniards pretended that above one hundred and forty thousand men in arms were threatening the French positions on the Ebro, whereas less than seventy-six thousand were in line of battle, and those exceedingly ill-armed and provided. The right, under Palafox, held the country between Zaragoza and Sanguessa, on the Aragon river; the centre, under Castaños, occupied Borja, Taranzona, and Agreda; the left, under Blake, was posted at Reynosa, near the sources of the Ebro.
The relative position of the French and Spanish armies was very disadvantageous for the latter. From the right to the left of their line, that is, from Reynosa to Zaragoza, was twice the distance between Bayonne and Vittoria, and the roads more difficult; the reserve under Drouet was consequently in closer military communication with king Joseph’s army, than the Spanish wings were with another. The patriots were acting without concert upon double external lines of operation, and against an enemy far superior in quickness, knowledge, and organization, and even in numbers. The French were superior in cavalry, and the base of their operations rested on three great fortresses, Bayonne, St. Sebastian, and Pampeluna; and they could in three days carry the centre and the reserve to either flank, and unite thirty thousand combatants without drawing a man from their garrisons. The Spaniards held but one fortress (Zaragoza), and being disseminated in corps under different generals of equal authority, they could execute no combined movement with rapidity or precision, nor under any circumstances could they unite more than 40,000 men at any given point.
Correspce. of Captain Carrol.
Ibid. General Broderick.
In this situation of affairs, general Blake, his army organized in six divisions (each five thousand strong), of which four were numbered, and the other two called the advanced guard, and the reserve, broke up from Reynosa on the 17th of September. One division advanced on the side of Burgos, to cover the march of the main body, which, threading the valley of Villarcayo, turned the right of marshal Bessieres, and reached the Ebro. Two divisions occupied Traspaderna and Frias, and established a post at Oña, on the right bank of that river; a third division took a position at Medina, and a fourth held the town of Erran and the Sierra of that name. A fifth halted in the town of Villarcayo, to preserve the communication with Reynosa, and at the same time, 8,000 Asturians under general Acevedo, quitted the camp at Llanes, and advanced to St. Ander. General Broderick now arrived in the Spanish camp; Blake importuned him for money, and obtained it, but treated him otherwise with great coldness, and withheld all information relative to the movements of the army.
English vessels hovering on the coast were prepared to supply the Biscayans with arms and ammunition, and general Blake thought himself in a situation to revive the insurrection in that province, and to extend it to Guipuscoa. With this view he detached his 4th division, and five guns, under the command of the Correspce. of general Leith. marquis of Portazgo, to attack general Monthion at Bilbao. The king getting knowledge of the march of this division, ordered a brigade from his right wing to fall on its flank by the valley of Orduña, and caused general Merlin to reinforce Monthion by the valley of Durango. Bessieres aided these dispositions by a demonstration on the side of Frias, but the combination was made too late. Portazgo was already Journal of the king’s operations, MS. master of Bilbao. Monthion retired on the 20th to Durango, and Bessieres fell back with his corps to Miranda, Haro, and Puente Lara, having first injured the defences of Burgos.
The king took post with the reserve at Vittoria. Marshal Ney immediately abandoned his position on the Ebro, and carried his whole force by a rapid march to Bilbao, where he arrived on the evening of the 26th. At the same time, general Merle’s division executed a combined movement from Miranda upon Osma and Barbaceña. Portazgo being overmatched, occupied the heights above Bilbao, until nightfall, and then retreated to Valmaceda, where he found the third division, for Blake had changed his position, and now occupied Frias with his right, Quincoes with his centre, and Valmaceda with his left. In this Correspondence of gen. Leith. situation, holding the passes of the mountain, he awaited the arrival of the Asturians, who were marching by the valley of Villarcayo. All the Spanish artillery remained in the town of that name, being guarded by a division of infantry. Thus the second effort to raise Biscay failed of success.
In the mean time, O’Neil, following colonel Doyle’s plan before mentioned, entered Sanguessa, and was beaten out of it again, with the loss of two guns. However, the Castillian army approached the Ebro Journal of the king’s operations. MS. by the road of Soria. General La-Peña occupied Logroña, Nalda, and Najera. Llamas and Caro occupied Corella, Cascante, and Calahorra, and O’Neil took post in the mountains, on the left bank of the Aragon facing Sanguessa. The peasantry of the valleys assembled in considerable numbers, and the country between Zaragoza and the Aragon river appeared to be filled with troops. Marshal Moncey withdrew from the Ebro, and took a position, with his left flank at the pass of Sanguessa, his centre at Falces, and his right at Estella. Ney, leaving Merlin with three thousand men at Bilbao, returned to the Ebro; Ibid. but finding that Logroña was occupied in force by the Spaniards, halted at Guardia on the 5th of October, and remained in observation.
On the 4th the king and Bessieres, at the head of Mouton’s and Merle’s divisions, quitted Miranda, and advanced along the road of Osma, with the intention of feeling for Blake on the side of Frias and Medina, but the Spaniards were in force at Valmaceda. Joseph, deceived by false information, imagined that they were again in march towards Bilbao, and pushed on to Lodio, with the intention of attacking Blake during his movement. At Lodio the king ascertained the truth and halted. He was uneasy about Moncey, and therefore returned to Murquia on the 7th. In that town he left Merle to protect the rear of the troops at Bilbao, and proceeded to Miranda with the division Journal of the king’s operations. MS. of Mouton. On the 12th, Blake, still intent upon the insurrection of Biscay, placed a division at Orduña, and attacked Bilbao with fifteen thousand men. Merlin retired fighting up the valley of Durango as far as Zornosa, but being joined there by general Verdier, at the head of six battalions, he turned and checked the pursuit. At this time the leading columns of the great French army were passing the Spanish frontier, and Laval’s division advanced to Durango. Sebastiani, with six thousand men, relieved Merle at Murquia; the latter repaired to Miranda, and Verdier returned to Vittoria. Marshal Lefebre, duke of Dantzic, assumed the command of the three divisions posted at Durango.
On the Spanish side, the marquis of Romana’s division disembarked on the 9th at St. Ander, and being completely equipped and provided from the English stores, the infantry, eight thousand in number, proceeded by slow marches to join Blake. The Asturians halted at Villarcayo; but the Estremaduran army, under the conde de Belvedere, was put in motion, and the Castillian forces arrived upon the Ebro. The first and third divisions of the Andalusian army were on the march from La Mancha, and Castaños, quitting Madrid, proceeded towards Tudela. All things announced the approach of a great crisis. Yet such was the apathy of the supreme junta, that the best friends of Spain hoped for a defeat, as the only mode of exciting sufficient energy in the government to save the state, and by some it was thought, that even that sharp remedy would be insufficient. A momentary excitement was, however, caused by the intercepted letter to Jourdan before spoken of. The troops in the second line were ordered to proceed to the Ebro by forced marches, letters were written pressing for the advance of the British army, and Castaños was enjoined to drive the enemy, without delay, beyond the frontier; but this sudden fury of action ended with those orders. Sir David Baird’s corps was detained in the transports at Coruña, waiting for permission to Parliamentary Papers. land; no assistance was afforded to sir John Moore, and although the subsidies already paid by England amounted to ten millions of dollars, and that Madrid was rich, and willing to contribute to the exigencies of the moment, the central junta, although complaining Vindication of Castaños. of the want of money, would not be at the trouble of collecting patriotic gifts, and left the armies “to all the horrors of famine, nakedness, and misery.” The natural consequence of such folly and wickedness ensued; the people ceased to be enthusiastic, and the soldiers deserted in crowds.
The conduct of the generals was scarcely less extraordinary. Blake had voluntarily commenced the campaign without magazines, and without any plan, except that of raising the provinces of Biscay and Guipuscoa. With the usual blind confidence of a Spaniard, he pressed forward, ignorant of the force or situation of his adversaries, never dreaming of a defeat, and so little experienced in the detail of command, that he calculated upon the ordinary quantity General Broderick’s Letter.
Pary. Paps. of provision contained in an English frigate, which cruised off the coast, as a resource for his army, if the country should fail to supply him with subsistence. Birch’s Letters to Leith. MS. His artillery had only seventy rounds for each gun, his men were without great coats, many without shoes, and the snow was beginning to fall in the mountains. That he was able to make any impression is a proof that king Joseph possessed little military talent: the French marshals, from the habitude of war, were able to baffle Blake without difficulty, but the stratagetical importance of the valley of Orduña they did not appreciate, or he would have been destroyed. The lesson given by Napoleon, when he defeated Wurmser in the valley of the Brenta, might have been repeated, under more favourable circumstances, at Orduña and Durango; but if genius was asleep with the French, it was dead with the Spaniards.
As long as Blake remained between Frias and Valmaceda his position was tolerably secure from an attack, because the Montagna St. Ander is exceedingly rugged, and the line of retreat by Villacayo was open; but he was cooped up in a corner, and ill-placed for offensive movements, which were the only operations he thought of. Instead of occupying Burgos, and repairing the citadel, he descended on Bilbao with the bulk of his army, thereby discovering his total ignorance of war; for several great valleys, the upper parts of which were possessed by the French, met near that town, and it was untenable. The flank of his army was exposed to an attack from the side of Orduña, and his line of retreat was always in the power of Bessieres. To protect his flank and rear, Blake detached largely, but that weakened the main body without obviating the danger, nor did he make amends for his bad dispositions by diligence, for his movements were slow, his attacks without vigour, and his whole conduct displayed temerity without decision, and rashness without enterprise.
The armies of the centre and right were not better conducted. Castaños, having quitted Madrid on the 8th of October, arrived at Tudela on the 17th, and on the 20th held a conference with Palafox at Zaragoza. [Appendix, No. 27.] The aggregate of their forces did not much exceed forty-five thousand men, of which from two to three thousand were cavalry. Sixty pieces of artillery followed the divisions, and the whole was posted in the following manner:
ARMY OF THE CENTRE,
27,000.
General Pignatelli, with ten thousand Castillian infantry, one thousand five hundred cavalry, and fourteen guns, at Logroña.
General Grimarest, with the second division of Andalusia, five thousand men, at Lodosa.
General La-Peña, with the fourth division, five thousand infantry, at Calahorra.
The parc of artillery, and a division of infantry, four thousand, at Centruenigo.
The remainder at Tudela and the neighbouring villages.
ARMY OF ARAGON,
18,000.
O’Neil, with seven thousand five hundred men, held Sos, Lumbar, and Sanguessa.
Thirty miles in the rear, St. Marc occupied Exca, with five thousand five hundred men.
Palafox, with five thousand men, remained in Zaragoza.
The Ebro rolled between these two corps. Taken as one army, their front lines occupied two sides of an irregular triangle, of which Tudela was the apex, and Sanguessa and Logroña the extremities of the base. Those points being taken as the chord, the rivers Ebro and Aragon meeting at Milagro, describe, in their double course, an arc, the convex of which was opposed to the Spaniards. The streams of the Ega, the Arga, and the Zidasco rivers, descending from the Pyrenees in parallel courses, cut the chord of this arc at nearly equal distances, and fall, the two first into the Ebro, and the last into the Aragon. All the roads leading from Pampeluna to the Ebro follow the course of those torrents.
Marshal Moncey’s right was at Estella on the Ega, his centre held Falces and Tafalla on the Arga and the Zidasco, his left was in front of Sanguessa on the Aragon. The bridges of Olite and Peralta were secured by advanced parties, and Caparosa, where there was another bridge, he occupied in force. In this situation he could operate freely between the torrents, which intersected his line; he commanded all the roads leading to the Ebro, and he could, from Caparosa, at any moment, issue forth against the centre of the Spanish armies. Now from Tudela to Sanguessa is fifty miles, from Tudela to Logroña is sixty miles, but from Tudela to Caparosa is only twelve miles of good road; wherefore, the extremities of the Spanish line were above one hundred miles, or six days’ march from each other, while a single day would have sufficed to unite the French within two hours’ march of the centre.
The weakness of the Spaniards’ position is apparent. If Palafox, crossing the Aragon at Sanguessa, advanced towards Pampeluna, Moncey would be on his left flank and rear; if he turned against Moncey, the garrison of Pampeluna would fall upon his right. If Castaños, to favour the attack of Palafox, crossed the Ebro at Logroña, Ney, being posted at Guardia, was ready to take him in flank; if the two wings endeavoured to unite, their line of march was liable to be intercepted at Tudela by Moncey, and the rear of Castaños attacked by Ney, who could pass the Ebro at Logroña or Lodosa. If they remained stationary, they might easily be beaten in detail. Any other than Spanish generals would have been filled with apprehension Sir John Moore’s Papers.
Colonel Graham’s Correspondence. on such an occasion. But Palafox and Castaños, heedless of their own danger, tranquilly proceeded to arrange a plan of offensive operations singularly absurd. They agreed that the army of the centre, leaving a division at Lodosa and another at Calahorra, should make a flank march to the right, and take a position along the Aragon, the left to be at Tudela, the right at Sanguessa; that is, with less than twenty thousand men to occupy fifty miles of Ibid.
Col. Doyle’s Correspondence. country close to a powerful enemy. In the meantime, Palafox, with the Aragonese, crossing the river at Sanguessa, was to extend in an oblique line to Roncesvalles, covering the valleys of Talay, Escay, and Roncal, with his centre, and reinforcing his army by the armed inhabitants, who were ready to flock to his standard. Blake was invited to operate, in combination with them, by Guipuscoa, and to pass in the rear of the whole French army, so as to unite with Palafox, and thus cut off the enemy’s retreat into France, and intercept his reinforcements at the same time.
Castaños returned to Tudela on the 23d, and proceeded to Logroña on the 25th; the grand movement being to commence on the 27th. But on the 21st, Grimarest had pushed forward strong detachments across the Ebro to Mendavia, Andosilla, Sesma, and Carcur, and one over the Ega to Lerim. The Castillian outposts also occupied Viana on the left bank of the Ebro. The Aragonese divisions were already closing upon Sanguessa, and a multitude of peasants crowded to the same place in the hope of obtaining arms and ammunition. Moncey, deceived by this concourse of persons, estimated the force in Sanguessa at twenty thousand, when, in fact, it was only S.
Journal of the king’s operations, MS. eight thousand regular troops. His report, and the simultaneous movements of the Spaniards on both extremities, made the king to apprehend a triple attack from Logroña, Lodosa, and Sanguessa. He immediately reinforced Ney with a division (Merlin’s) of Bessieres’ corps, and directed him to clear the left bank of the Ebro, while a second division (Bonnet’s) of Bessieres descended the right bank from Haro to Briones. A division of Moncey’s corps, stationed at Estella, received orders to follow the course of the Ega, and second Ney’s operations; and a part of the garrison of Pampeluna, posted at Montreal and Salinas, was commanded to advance upon Nardues, and make a demonstration against Sanguessa.
click here for larger image.
Explanatory Sketch
of the
FRENCH & SPANISH POSITIONS
the 26th Octr. 1808.
London. Published March 1828, by John Murray, Albermarle Street.
When Castaños arrived at Logroña these operations were in full activity. Ney had advanced on the 24th, driven back the Castillian outposts, crowned the height opposite that town on the 25th, and was cannonading the Spaniards’ position. On the 26th, he renewed his fire briskly until twelve o’clock, at which time Castaños, after giving Pignatelli strict orders to defend Whittingham’s Correspondence. MS. his post unless he was turned by a force descending the right bank of the Ebro, proceeded himself to Lodosa and Calahorra. As the road winded by the river, the Spanish general was exposed to the fire of light troops posted in a wood on the opposite side, but escaped without injury. Meanwhile the French from Estella falling down the Ega, drove the Spanish parties Colonel Graham’s Correspondence. MS. out of Mendavia, Andosilla, Carcur, and Sesma; and Grimarest retired from Lodosa to La Torre with such precipitation, that he left colonel Cruz, a valuable officer, with a light battalion, and some volunteers, at Lerim. A squadron of cavalry escaped, but Cruz, with the infantry, being surrounded in a convent, was, after a creditable resistance, taken. Pignatelli, regardless of Castaños’ orders, retired from Logroña, and abandoned all his guns at the foot of the Sierra Ibid. de Nalda, only a few miles from the enemy, then crossing the mountains gained Centruenigo in such disorder, that his men continued to arrive for twenty-four hours consecutively. On the right, O’Neil skirmished with the garrison of Pampeluna, and lost six men killed, and eight wounded; but, in the Spanish fashion, announced, that, after a hard action of many hours, the enemy was completely overthrown. On the 27th, Merlin’s division rejoined Bessieres at Miranda, and Bonnet, retiring from Briones, took post in front of Pancorbo. Castaños, incensed at the ill conduct of the Castillians, dismissed Pignatelli, and incorporated his troops with the Andalusian divisions. Fifteen hundred men of the latter, commanded by the Conde de Cartoajal, being sent back to Nalda, recovered the lost guns, and brought them safe to Centruenigo.
Internal dissensions succeeded to external troubles. Palafox arrogantly censured Castaños, and a cabal, of which general Coupigny appears to have been the principal mover, was formed against the latter. The junta, exasperated that Castaños had not already driven the enemy beyond the frontier, encouraged his traducers, and circulated slanderous accusations themselves, as if his inaction alone enabled the French to remain in Spain. Don Francisco Palafox, brother of the captain-general, and a member of the supreme junta, was sent to head-quarters avowedly to facilitate, but really to interfere with, and control the military operations. He arrived at Alfaro on the 29th, accompanied by Coupigny and the conde de Montijo, a turbulent, factious man, shallow and vain, but designing and unprincipled. Castaños waited Castaños’ Vindication. upon the representative of the government, and laid before him the denuded state of the army, and the captain-general, Palafox, coming up from Zaragoza, a council of war was held at Tudela on the 5th of November. The rough manner in which the troops were driven from the left bank of the Ebro was not sufficient to divert the attention of the Spanish generals from the grand project of gaining the rear of the French army. The council agreed to persevere, although certain advice was received that the enemy were strengthened by thirty thousand fresh men. Colonel Graham’s Correspondence. MS. Deeming it, however, fitting, that Blake should act the first, it was resolved to await his time, but, as an intermediate operation, it was agreed that the army of the centre, leaving six thousand men at Calahorra, and a garrison at Tudela, should cross the Ebro and Whittingham’s Correspondence. MS. attack Caparosa. French parties were, however, pushed as far as Voltierra, and in the skirmishes which ensued, the conduct of the Castillian battalions was discreditable.
Joseph Palafox returned to Zaragoza, and the deputy separated himself from Castaños. The loss sustained by desertion and the previous combats was considerable, but some Murcian levies, and a part of the first and third Andalusian divisions joined the army of the centre, which now mustered twenty-six thousand infantry, and nearly three thousand cavalry under arms, with fifty or sixty pieces of artillery. The positions of the army extended from Calahorra, by Ibid. Haro, to Tudela. La-Peña held the first town with five thousand men; Grimarest and Caro commanded eight thousand at the second; and head-quarters, with thirteen thousand five hundred men, were fixed in the last. Cartoajal remained with eleven hundred in the Sierra de Nalda, and eight hundred were posted at Ansejo.
In pursuance of the plan arranged, the troops were in movement to cross the Ebro, when despatches from Blake announced that he had met with some disaster on the 31st, the extent of which he did not communicate. This news arrested the attack; and the preposterous transactions that ensued, resembled the freaks of Caligula rather than the operations of real war. First, it was arranged that the army should abandon Tudela, and take a position in two lines, the extremities of the one to rest on Calahorra and Amedo, the second to extend from Alfaro to Fitero. Graham’s Correspondence. MS. The deputy ordered O’Neil, with the army of Aragon, to occupy the latter of these lines forthwith, but O’Neil refused to stir without instructions from the captain-general. This was on the 9th, on the 10th the plan was changed. Castaños fixed his head-quarters at Centruenigo, and the deputy proposed that O’Neil should descend the right bank of the Aragon river, and attack Caparosa in the rear; that the troops in Tudela should attack it in front; and that a division should make a demonstration of passing the Ebro in boats, opposite to Milagro, in order to favour this attack. Castaños assented. On the 12th a division assembled opposite Milagro, and La-Peña with two divisions marched against Caparosa. Suddenly, the whimsical deputy sent them orders to repair to Lodosa, forty miles higher up the Ebro, and attack the bridge at that place, while Grimarest crossing in the boats at Calahorra, should ascend the left bank of the Ebro, and take it in rear. La-Peña and Villarcayo, confounded Castaños’ Vindication by this change, wrote to Castaños for an explanation. This was the first intimation that the latter, who was lying sick at Centruenigo, received of the altered dispositions. He directed his lieutenants to obey; but being provoked beyond endurance, wrote sharply to the junta, demanding to know who was to command the army; and after all this insolence Graham’s Correspondence. MS. and vapouring on the part of Francisco Palafox, no operation took place at all. He declared, that his intention was merely to make a demonstration, ordered the troops to their quarters, and then, without assigning any reason, deprived La-Peña of his command, and appointed Cartoajal in his place.
It was at this time that sir John Moore’s letter arrived; but Castaños, no longer master of his own operations, could ill concert a plan of campaign with the general of another army. He could not even tell what troops were to be at his nominal disposal; for the Estremaduran force, originally destined for his command, was now directed by the junta upon Burgos, and the remainder of his own first and third division was detained in Madrid. His enemies, especially Montijo, were active in spreading reports to Vindication of Castaños. his disadvantage; the deserters scattered over the country declared that all the generals were traitors, and the people of the towns and villages, deceived by the central junta, and excited by false rumours, respected neither justice nor government, and committed the most scandalous excesses.
Blake’s situation was not more prosperous.
The road from Bayonne to Vittoria was encumbered with the advancing columns of the great French army. An imperial decree, issued early in September, commanded that the troops already in Spain should be incorporated with the grand army then marching from Germany. The united forces were to compose eight divisions, called “Corps d’Armée,” an institution analogous to the Roman legion, because each “Corps d’Armée,” although adapted to act with facility as a component part of a large army, was also provided with light cavalry, a parc, and train of artillery, engineers, sappers, and miners, and a complete civil administration, to enable it to take the field as an independent force. The imperial guards and the heavy cavalry of the army were not included in this arrangement; the first had a constitution of their own, and at this time all the heavy cavalry, and all the artillery, not attached to the “Corps d’Armée,” were formed into a large reserve. As the columns arrived in Spain, they were united to the troops already there, and the whole was disposed conformably to the new organization.
| Marshal Victor, duke of Belluno, commanded the | first corps. |
| Marshal Bessieres, duke of Istria | second corps. |
| Marshal Moncey, duke of Cornegliano | third corps. |
| Marshal Lefebre, duke of Dantzic | fourth corps. |
| Marshal Mortier, duke of Treviso | fifth corps. |
| Marshal Ney, duke of Elchingen | sixth corps. |
| General St. Cyr | seventh corps. |
| General Junot, duke of Abrantes | eighth corps. |
The seventh corps was appropriated to Catalonia; the remainder were in the latter end of October assembled or assembling in Navarre and Biscay. General Merlin, with a division, held Zornosa, and observed Blake, who remained tranquilly at Bilbao. S.
Journal of the king’s operations, MS. Two divisions of the fourth corps occupied Durango and the neighbouring villages. One division and the light cavalry of the first corps was at Vittoria, a second division of the same corps guarded the bridge of Murguia on the river Bayas, and commanded the entrance to the valley of Orduña. Haro, Puente Lara, Miranda, and Pancorbo were maintained by the infantry of the king’s body guard and the second corps, and the light cavalry of the latter covered the plains close up to Briviesca.
The reinforcements were daily crowding up to Vittoria, and the king, restrained by the emperor’s orders to a rigorous system of defence, occupied himself with the arrangements attendant on such an immense accumulation of force, and left Blake in quiet possession of Bilbao. The latter mistook this apparent inactivity for timidity; he was aware that reinforcements, in number equal to his whole army, had joined the enemy; but, with wonderful rashness, he resolved to press forward, and readily agreed to attempt a junction with Palafox, in the rear of the French position. At this time Romana’s infantry were approaching Bilbao, and the Estremadurans were in march for Burgos; but the country was nearly exhausted of provisions; both armies felt the scarcity, and desertion prevailed among the Spaniards. The Biscayans, twice abandoned, were fearful of a third insurrection. Prudence dictated a retreat towards Burgos. Blake resolved to advance.
Carrol’s Correspondence.
Having posted general Acevedo with the Asturians and the second division at Orduña, he left a battalion at Miravelles, to preserve the communication with Bilbao, and the 24th of October marched himself at the head of seventeen thousand fighting men, divided in three columns, to attack Zornosa. The right ascended the valley of Durango by Galdacano, the centre by Larabezua, the left by Rigoytia; at the same time general Acevedo penetrated through the mountains of Gorbea by Ozoco and Villaro, with a view to seize Manares and St. Antonia d’Urquitiola. Brodrick’s Correspondence. It was intended by this operation to cut the communication between Miranda on the Ebro, and the town of Durango, and thus to intercept the retreat of marshal Ney, and oblige him to surrender with sixteen thousand men; for Blake was utterly ignorant of his adversary’s position, and imagined that he had only two corps to deal with. He believed that the king, with one, was in his front at Durango and Mont Dragon, and that Ney, with the other, was at Miranda, when in fact, the latter was at that moment attacking Pignatelli at Logroña. As the Spanish army approached Zornosa, Merlin abandoned the town, and drew up on some heights in the rear. Bad weather, and the want of provisions, checked further operations until the 25th. On the evening of that day, the Spanish division at Rigoytia attempted to turn the right flank of the French. At the same time Blake marched against the centre and left, and Merlin fell back to Durango.
S.
Journal of the king’s operations, MS.
The duke of Dantzic, alarmed by these movements, concentrated his whole force, consisting of two divisions of infantry (Sebastiani’s and Laval’s), and a Dutch brigade at Durango; his third division (Valence’s) being yet in France. The king reinforced him with a division of the first corps (Villatte’s), and ordered Merlin’s troops, which were composed of detachments, to join their respective regiments. From the 25th to the 30th the armies remained quiet; but at day-break on the 31st, the Spaniards were formed in order of battle, five miles beyond Zornosa, and close to the enemy’s position. The vanguard drew up across the road to Durango; the reserve at some distance in the rear. The third and fourth divisions occupied the intermediate space, so disposed as to outflank the others, in a chequer shape. The first division occupied a height on the left of the road, and behind the reserve.
Ibid.
The duke of Dantzic, apprised by the previous movements, that he was going to be attacked, became impatient; the state of the atmosphere prevented him from discovering the order of march, or the real force of the Spaniards; he knew that Blake had the power of uniting nearly fifty thousand men, and concluding that such a force was in his front, he resolved to anticipate his adversaries by a sudden and vigorous assault. In fact, the Spanish generals were so little guided by the rules of war, that before their incapacity was understood, their very errors being too gross for belief contributed to their safety. Blake had commenced a great offensive movement, intending to beat the troops in his front, and to cut off and capture Ney’s corps of sixteen thousand men. In six days, although unopposed, he advanced less than fifteen miles, and so disposed his forces, that out Carrol’s Correspondence. of thirty-six thousand men, he concentrated only seventeen thousand infantry, without artillery, upon the field of battle!
The duke of Dantzic, at the head of twenty-five thousand men, formed in three columns of attack, descended the heights of Durango. A thick fog covering the mountain sides, filled all the valleys; and a few random shots alone indicated the presence of the hostile armies. Suddenly Villatte’s division appeared close to the Spanish vanguard; and with a brisk onset forced it back upon the third division. Sebastiani’s and Leval’s followed in succession; a fire of artillery, to which Blake could make no reply, opened along the road: the day cleared, and the Spanish army, heaped in confused masses, was, notwithstanding the example of personal courage given by Blake, and the natural strength of the country, driven from one position to another. At mid-day it was beyond Zornosa, and at three o’clock in full flight for Bilbao, which place S.
Journal of Operations, MS. it gained in a state of great confusion during the night. The next day Blake crossed the Salcedon, and took a position at Nava. The duke of Dantzic pursued as far as Guenes, and then leaving general Leith’s Correspondence. MS. Villatte, with seven thousand men, to observe the enemy, returned to Bilboa. Twelve vessels, laden with English stores, were in the river, but contrived to escape.
The king was displeased with the precipitancy of marshal Lefebre, but endeavoured to profit from the S.
Journal of Operations, MS. result. The division of the first corps, stationed at Murguia, was ordered to descend the valley of Orduña, as far as Amurio, to aid the operations of the fourth corps. At the same time, Mouton’s division was detached from the second corps towards Barbareña, from whence it was, according to circumstances, either to join the troops in the valley of Orduña, or to watch Medina and Quincoes, and press Blake in his retreat, if he retired by Villarcayo. The French were ignorant of the situation of general Acevedo. On the day of the action at Zornosa, that general was at Villaro, from whence he endeavoured to rejoin Blake, by marching to Valmaceda. He reached Miravalles, in the valley of Orduña, on the 3d, at the moment when the head of the French troops coming from Murguia appeared in sight. After a slight skirmish, the latter thinking they had to deal with the whole of Blake’s army, retired to Orduña, and Acevedo immediately pushed for the Salcedon river. Villatte first got notice of his march, and dividing his own troops, posted one half at Orantia, on the road leading from Miravalles to Nava, the other on the road to Valmaceda, thus intercepting the line of retreat.
Captain Carrol.
Blake, who was informed of Acevedo’s danger, in the night of the 4th, with great decision and promptitude, instantly passed the bridge of Nava, and at daybreak crowned the heights of Orantia with three divisions, meaning to fall suddenly upon the French; but they were aware of his intention, and sending a detachment to occupy Gordujuela, a pass in the mountains, leading to Bilbao, rejoined Villatte on the Valmaceda road. Five Spanish divisions and some of Romania’s troops were now assembled at Orantia: Blake left two in reserve, detached one against Gordujuela, and marched with the other two against the French position. Villatte was overpowered and driven across the Salcedon; but rallied on the left bank and renewed the action. At this moment Acevedo appeared in sight; he sent two battalions by a circuit to gain the rear of the French, and with the remainder joined in the combat. Villatte retired fighting, and encountering the two battalions in his retreat, broke through them, and reached Guenes, but not without considerable loss of men, and he also left one gun and part of his baggage in the hands of the Spaniards. Thus ended a series of operations and combats, which had lasted for eleven days.
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Explanatory Sketch
of
BLAKE’S POSITION
at the
Battle of Zornoza.
London. Published March 1828, by John Murray, Albermarle Street.
OBSERVATIONS.
1º. The duke of Dantzic’s attack at Zornosa was founded upon false data; it was inconsistent with the general plan of the campaign, hasty, ill-combined, and feebly followed up. It was an unpardonable fault to leave Villatte without support, close to an army that had met with no signal defeat, and that was five times his strength. The march of Victor’s division was too easily checked at Miravalles. For five days, general Acevedo, with at least eight thousand men, was wandering unmolested in the midst of the French columns, and finally escaped without any extraordinary effort.
2º. General Blake’s dispositions, with the exception of his night-march from Nava to Orantia, will, if studied, afford useful lessons in an inverse sense. From the 24th of October to the 4th of November, he omitted no error that the circumstances rendered it possible to commit; and then, as if ashamed of the single judicious movement that occurred, he would not profit by it. Romana’s infantry being partly arrived, and the remainder in the vicinity of Nava, the whole Spanish army was, contrary to all reasonable expectation, concentrated; Blake had then above thirty thousand fighting men united in one mass, harassed, but not much discouraged, and the conde de Belvedere, with twelve thousand infantry, twelve hundred cavalry, and thirty pieces of artillery, was close to Burgos.
If Blake had been at all acquainted with the principles of his art, he would have taken advantage of Villatte’s retreat, to march by Espinosa, and Villarcayo, to the upper Ebro; from thence have gained Burgos; brought up the artillery from Reynosa; united Belvedere’s troops to his own; opened a communication with the English army; and in that position, with a plentiful country behind him, his retreat open, and his army provided with cavalry, he might have commenced a regular system of operations; but with incredible obstinacy and want of judgment, he determined to attack Bilbao again, and to renew the ridiculous attempt to surround the French army and unite with Palafox at the foot of the Pyrenees.
Such were the commanders, the armies, the rulers, upon whose exertions the British cabinet relied for the security of sir John Moore’s troops, during their double march from Lisbon and Coruña. It was in such a state of affairs that the English ministers, anticipating the speedy and complete destruction of the French forces in Spain, were sounding the trumpet for an immediate invasion of France! Of France, defended Lord W. Bentinck’s Correspondence. by a million of veteran soldiers, and governed by the mightiest genius of two thousand years! As if the vast military power of that warlike nation had suddenly become extinct; as if Baylen were a second [Appendix, No. 13], Sect. 8. Zama, and Hannibal flying to Adrumetum instead of passing the Iberus! But Napoleon, with an execution more rapid than other men’s thoughts, was already at Vittoria, and his hovering eagles cast a gloomy shadow over Spain.