History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 6

by William Francis Patrick Napier

CHAPTER VI.

CONTINUATION OF THE WAR IN THE EASTERN PARTS OF SPAIN.

When general Clinton succeeded lord William1813. September. Bentinck, his whole force, composed of the Anglo-Sicilians, Whittingham’s and Sarzfield’s Spaniards, and two battalions of Roche’s division, did not furnish quite nineteen thousand men under arms. Copons, blockading Mequinenza Lerida and Monzon[Appendix 6.] and having garrisons in Cardona and the Seo d’Urgel, the only places in his possession, could not bring more than nine thousand men into the field. Elio had nominally twenty-five thousand, but this included Sarzfield’s and Roche’s troops the greater part of which were with Clinton. It included likewise the bands of Villa Campa Duran and the Empecinado, all scattered in Castile Aragon and Valencia, and acting according to the caprices of their chiefs. His force, daily diminishing also from the extreme unhealthiness of the country about Tortoza, was scarcely sufficient to maintain the blockades of the French fortresses beyond the Ebro.

Copons’ army having no base but the mountains about Vich and Monserrat, having no magazines or depôts or place of arms, having very little artillery and scarcely any cavalry, lived as it could from day to day; in like manner lived Sarzfield’s and Whittingham’s troops, and Clinton’s army was chiefly fed on salt provisions from the ships. The two former having no means of transport were unable to make even one day’s march with ease, they were continually upon the point of starvation and could never be reckoned as a moveable force. Nor indeed could the Anglo-Sicilians, owing to their scanty means of transport, make above two or three marches from the sea; and they were at this time more than usually hampered, being without pay and shut out from their principal depôts at Gibraltar and Malta, by plague at the first and yellow fever at the second place. In fine, the courage and discipline of the British and Germans set aside, it would be difficult to find armies less efficient for an offensive campaign than those of the allies in Catalonia. Moreover lord William Bentinck had been invested with the command of all the Spanish armies, but Clinton had only Whittingham’s and Sarzfield’s troops under him, and notwithstanding his constant endeavours to conciliate Copons, the indolence and incapacity of that general impeded or baffled all useful operations: and to these disqualifications he added an extreme jealousy of Eroles and Manso, men designated by the public voice as the most worthy of command.

This analysis shows that Elio being entirely engaged in Valencia, and Sarzfield and Whittingham unprovided with the means of movement, the army of Copons and the Anglo-Sicilians, together furnishing, when the posts and escorts and the labourers employed on the fortifications of Taragona were deducted, not more than eighteen thousand men in line of battle, were the only troops to be counted on to oppose Suchet, who having sixty-five thousand men, of which fifty-six thousand were present under arms, could without drawing a man from his garrisons attack them with thirty thousand. But Copons and Clinton could not act together above a few days because their bases and lines of retreat were on different sides. The Spaniard depended upon the mountains and plains of the interior for security and subsistence, the Englishman’s base was Taragona and the fleet. Hence the only mode of combining on a single line was to make Valencia a common base, and throwing bridges over the Ebro construct works on both sides to defend them. This was strongly recommended by lord Wellington to lord William and to Clinton; but the former had several times lost his bridges partly from the rapidity of the stream, partly from the activity of the garrison of Tortoza. And for general Clinton the difficulty was enhanced by distance, because Taragona, where all his materials were deposited was sixty miles from Amposta, and all his artificers were required to restore the defences of the former place. The blockade of Tortoza was therefore always liable to be raised, and the troops employed there exposed to a sudden and fatal attack, since Suchet, sure to separate the Anglo-Sicilians from Copons when he advanced, could penetrate between them; and while the former rallied at Taragona and the latter at Igualada his march would be direct upon Tortoza. He could thus either carry off his strong garrison, or passing the Ebro by the bridge of the fortress, move without let or hindrance upon Peniscola, Saguntum, and Valencia, and driving Elio back upon Alicant collect his garrisons and return too powerful to be meddled with.

In these circumstances lord Wellington’s opinion was, that the blockade of Tortoza should be given up and the two armies acting on their own peculiar lines, the one from Taragona the other from the mountains, harass in concert the enemy’s flanks and rear, alternately if he attacked either, but together if he moved upon Tortoza. To besiege or blockade that place with safety it was necessary to throw two bridges over the Ebro below, to enable the armies to avoid Suchet, by either bank when he should succour the place, as he was sure to do. But it was essential that Copons should not abandon Catalonia and difficult for him to do so, wherefore it would be advisable to make Taragona the point of retreat for both armies in the first instance, after which they could separate and infest the French rear.

The difficulties of besieging Tortoza he thought insuperable, and he especially recommended that they should be well considered before-hand, and if it was invested, that the troops should be entrenched around it. In fine all his instructions tended towards defence and were founded upon his conviction of the weak and dangerous position of the allies, yet he believed them to have more resources than they really had, and to be superior in number to the French, a great error as I have already shewn. Nothing therefore could be more preposterous than Suchet’s alarm for the frontier of France at this time, and it is unquestionable that his personal reluctance was the only bar to aiding Soult either indirectly by marching on Tortoza and Valencia, or directly by adopting that marshal’s great project of uniting the two armies in Aragon. So certain indeed is this that general Clinton, seeing the difficulties of his own situation, only retained the command from a strong sense of duty, and lord Wellington despairing of any advantage in Catalonia recommended that the Anglo-Sicilian army should be broken up and employed in other places. The French general’s inactivity was the more injurious to the interests of his sovereign, because any reverse or appearance of reverse to the allies would at this time have gone nigh to destroy the alliance between Spain and England; but personal jealousy, the preference given to local and momentary interests before general considerations, hurt the French cause at all periods in the Peninsula and enabled the allies to conquer.

General Clinton had no thoughts of besieging Tortoza, his efforts were directed to the obtaining a secure place of arms, yet, despite of his intrinsic weakness, he resolved to show a confident front, hoping thus to keep Suchet at arm’s length. In this view he endeavoured to render Taragona once more defensible notwithstanding the nineteen breaches which had been broken in its walls; the progress of the work was however tedious and vexatious because he depended for his materials upon the Spanish authorities. Thus immersed in difficulties of all kinds he could make little change in his positions which were generally about the Campo, Sarzfield’s division only being pushed to Villafranca. Suchet meanwhile held the line of the Llobregat, and apparently to colour his refusal to join Soult, grounded on the great strength of the allies in Catalonia, he suffered general Clinton to remain in tranquillity.

Towards the end of October reports that theOctober. French were concentrating, for what purpose was not known, caused the English general, although Taragona was still indefensible to make a forward movement. He dared not indeed provoke a battle, but unwilling to yield the resources which Villafranca and other districts occupied by the allies still offered, he adopted the resolution of pushing an advanced guard to the former place. He even fixed his head-quarters there, appearing ready to fight, yet his troops were so disposed in succession at Arbos, Vendrills and Torredembarra that he could retreat without dishonour if the French advanced in force, or could concentrate at Villafranca in time to harass their flank and rear if they attempted to carry off their garrisons on the Segre. In this state of affairs Suchet made several demonstrations, sometimes against Copons sometimes against Clinton, but the latter maintained his offensive attitude with firmness, and even in opposition to lord Wellington’s implied opinion that the line of the Ebro was the most suitable to his weakness; for he liked not to abandon Taragona the repairs of which were now advancing though slowly to completion. His perseverance was crowned with success; he preserved the few resources left for the support of the Spanish troops, and furnished Suchet with that semblance of excuse which he desired for keeping aloof from Soult.

In this manner October and November were passed, but on the 1st of December the FrenchDecember. general attempted to surprise the allies’ cantonments at Villafranca, as he had before surprised them at Ordal. He moved in the same order. One column marched by San Sadurni on his right, another by Bejer and Avionet on his left, and the main body kept the great road. But he did not find colonel Adam there. Clinton had blocked the Ordal so as to render a night surprise impossible, and the natural difficulties of the other roads delayed the flanking columns. Hence when the French reached Villafranca, Sarzfield was in full march for Igualada, and the Anglo-Sicilians, who had only three men wounded at one of the advanced posts, were on the strong ground about Arbos, where being joined by the supporting divisions they offered battle; but Suchet retired to the Llobregat apparently so mortified by his failure that he has not even mentioned it in his Memoirs.

Clinton now resumed his former ground, yet his embarrassments increased, and though he transferred two of Whittingham’s regiments to Copons and sent Roche’s battalions back to Valencia, the country was so exhausted that the enduring constancy of the Spanish soldiers under privations alone enabled Sarzfield to remain in the field: more than once, that general, a man of undoubted firmness and courage, was upon the point of re-crossing the Ebro to save his soldiers from perishing of famine. Here as in other parts, the Spanish government not only starved their troops but would not even provide a piece of ordnance or any stores for the defence of Taragona, now, by the exertions of the English general, rendered defensible. Nay! when admiral Hallowell in conjunction with Quesada the Spanish commodore at Port Mahon, brought some ship-guns from that place to the fortress, the minister of war, O’Donoju, expressed his disapprobation, observing with a sneer that the English might provide the guns wanting from the Spanish ordnance moved into Gibraltar by general Campbell when he destroyed the lines of San Roque!

The 9th Suchet pushed a small corps by Bejer between the Ordal and Sitjes, and on the 10th surprised at the Ostel of Ordal an officer and thirty men of the Anglo-Sicilian cavalry. This disaster was the result of negligence. The detachment after patroling to the front had dismounted without examining the buildings of the inn, and some French troopers who were concealed within immediately seized the horses and captured the whole party.

On the 17th, French troops appeared at Martorel, the Ordal, and Bejer, with a view to mask the march of a large convoy coming from Upper Catalonia to Barcelona; they then resumed their former positions, and at the same time Soult’s and lord Wellington’s respective letters announcing the defection of the Nassau battalions in front of Bayonne arrived. Lord Wellington’s came first, and enclosed a communication from colonel Kruse to his countryman, colonel Meder, who was serving in Barcelona and as Kruse supposed willing to abandon the French. But when Clinton by the aid of Manso transmitted the letter to Meder, that officer handed it to general Habert who had succeeded Maurice Mathieu in the command of the city. All the German regiments, principally cavalry, were immediately disarmed and sent to France. Severoli’s Italians were at the same time recalled to Italy and a number of French soldiers, selected to fill the wasted ranks of the imperial guards, marched with them; two thousand officers and soldiers were likewise detached to the depôts of the interior to organize the conscripts of the new levy destined to reinforce the army of Catalonia. Besides these drafts a thousand gensd’armes hitherto employed on the Spanish frontier in aid of the regular troops were withdrawn; Suchet thus lost seven thousand veterans, yet he had still an overwhelming power compared to the allies.

It was in this state of affairs that the duke of San Carlos, bearing the treaty of Valençay, arrived secretly at the French head-quarters on his way to Madrid. Copons knew this, and it seems certain was only deterred from openly acceding to the views of the French emperor and concluding a military convention, by the decided conduct of the Cortez, and the ascendancy which lord Wellington had obtained over him in common with the other Spanish officers: an ascendancy which had not escaped Soult’s sagacity, for he early warned the French minister that nothing could be expected from them while under the powerful spell of the English general. Meanwhile Clinton, getting information that the French troops were diminished in numbers, especially in front of Barcelona and on the Llobregat, proposed to pass that river and invest Barcelona if Copons, who was in the mountains, would undertake to provision Sarzfield’s division and keep the French troops between Barcelona and Gerona in check. For this purpose he offered him the aid of a Spanish regiment of cavalry which Elio had lent for the operations in Catalonia; but Copons, whether influenced by San Carlos’ mission and his secret wishes for its success, or knowing that the enemy were really stronger than Clinton imagined, declared that he was unable to hold the French troops between Gerona and Barcelona in check, and that he could not provision either Sarzfield’s division or the regiment of cavalry. He suggested instead of Clinton’s plan, a combined attack upon some of Suchet’s posts on the Llobregat, promising to send Manso to Villafranca to confer upon the execution. Clinton’s proposal was made early in January yet it was the middle of that month before Copons replied, and then he only sent Manso to offer the aid of his brigade in a combined attack upon two thousand French who were at Molino del Rey. It was however at last arranged that Manso should at day-break on the 16th seize the high ground above Molino, on the left of the Llobregat, to intercept the enemy’s retreat upon Barcelona, while the Anglo-Sicilians fell upon them from the right bank.

Success depended upon Clinton’s remaining quiet1814. January. until the moment of execution, wherefore he could only use the troops immediately in hand about Villafranca, in all six thousand men with three pieces of artillery; but with these he made a night march of eighteen miles, and was close to the ford of San Vicente about two miles below the fortified bridge of Molino del Rey before daylight. The French were tranquil and unsuspicious, and he anxiously but vainly awaited the signal of Manso’s arrival. When the day broke, the French piquets at San Vicente descrying his troops commenced a skirmish, and at the same time a column with a piece of artillery, coming from Molino, advanced to attack him thinking there was only a patroling detachment to deal with, for he had concealed his main body. Thus pressed he opened his guns per force and crippled the French piece, whereupon the reinforcements retired hastily to the entrenchments at Molino; he could then easily have forced the passage at the ford and attacked the enemy’s works in the rear, but this would not have ensured the capture of their troops, wherefore he still awaited Manso’s arrival relying on that partizan’s zeal and knowledge of the country. He appeared at last, not, as agreed upon, at St. Filieu, between Molino and Barcelona, but at Papiol above Molino, and the French immediately retreated by San Filieu. Sarzfield, and the cavalry, which Clinton now detached across the Llobregat, followed them hard, but the country was difficult, the distance short, and they soon gained a second entrenched camp above San Filieu. A small garrison remained in the masonry-works at Molino, general Clinton endeavoured to reduce them but his guns were not of a calibre to break the walls and the enemy was strongly reinforced towards evening from Barcelona; whereupon Manso went off to the mountains, and Clinton returned to Villafranca having killed and wounded about one hundred and eighty French, and lost only sixty-four men, all Spaniards.

Manso’s failure surprized the English general, because that officer, unlike the generality of his countrymen, was zealous, skilful, vigilant, modest, and humane, and a sincere co-operator with the British officers. He however soon cleared himself of blame, assuring Clinton that Copons, contrary to his previous declarations, had joined him with four thousand men, and taking the controul of his troops not only commenced the march two hours too late, but without any reason halted for three hours on the way. Nor did that general offer any excuse or explanation of his conduct, merely observing, that the plan having failed nothing more could be done and he must return to his mountainous asylum about Vich. A man of any other nation would have been accused of treachery, but with the Spaniards there is no limit to absurdity, and from their actions no conclusion can be drawn as to their motives.

The great events of the general war were now beginning to affect the struggle in Catalonia. Suchet finding that Copons dared not agree to the military convention dependent upon the treaty of Valençay, resigned all thoughts of carrying off his garrisons beyond the Ebro, and secretly instructed the governor of Tortoza, that when his provisions, calculated to last until April, were exhausted, he should march upon Mequinenza and Lerida, unite the garrisons there to his own, and make way by Venasque into France. Meanwhile he increased the garrison of Barcelona to eight thousand men and prepared to take the line of the Fluvia; for the allied sovereigns were in France and Napoleon had recalled more of his cavalry and infantry, in all ten thousand men with eighty pieces of artillery, from Catalonia, desiring that they should march as soon as the results expected from the mission of San Carlos were felt by the allies. Suchet prepared the troops but proposed that instead of waiting for the uncertain result of San Carlos’ mission, Ferdinand should himself be sent to Spain through Catalonia and be trusted on his faith to restore the garrisons in Valencia. Then he said he could march with his whole army to Lyons which would be more efficacious than sending detachments. The restoration of Ferdinand was the Emperor’s great object, but this plausible proposition can only be viewed as a colourable counter-project to Soult’s plan for a junction of the two armies in Bearn, since the Emperor was undoubtedly the best judge of what was required for the warfare immediately under his own direction.

It was in the midst of these operations that Clinton attacked Molino del Rey and as we have seen would but for the interference of Copons have stricken a great blow, which was however soon inflicted in another manner.

There was at this time in the French service a Spaniard of Flemish descent called Van Halen. This man, of fair complexion, handsome person, and a natural genius for desperate treasons, appearsMemoir by Sir Wm. Clinton, MSS. to have been at first attached to Joseph’s court. After that monarch’s retreat from Spain he was placed by the duke de Feltre on Suchet’s staff; but the French party was now a failing one and Van Halen only sought by some notable treachery to make his peace with his country. Through the medium of a young widow, who followed him without suffering their connection to appear, he informed Eroles of his object. He transmitted through the same channel regular returns of Suchet’s force and other matters of interest, and at last having secretly opened Suchet’s portfolio he copied the key of his cypher, and transmitted that also, with an intimation that he would now soon pass over and endeavour to perform some other service at the same time. The opportunity soon offered. Suchet went to Gerona to meet the duke of San Carlos, leaving Van Halen at Barcelona, and the latter immediately taking an escort of three hussars went to Granollers where the cuirassiers were quartered. Using the marshal’s name he ordered them to escort him to the Spanish outposts, which being in the mountains could only be approached by a long and narrow pass where cavalry would be helpless. In this pass he ordered the troops to bivouac for the night, and when their colonel expressed his uneasiness, Van Halen quieted him and made a solitary mill their common quarters. He had before this, however, sent the widow to give Eroles information of the situation into which he would bring the troops and now with anxiety awaited his attack; but the Spanish general failed to come and at daybreak Van Halen, still pretending he carried a flag of truce from Suchet, rode off with his first escort of hussars and a trumpeter to the Spanish lines. There he ascertained that the widow had been detained by the outposts and immediately delivered over his escort to their enemies, giving notice also of the situation of the cuirassiers with a view to their destruction, but they escaped the danger.

Van Halen and Eroles now forged Suchet’s signature, and the former addressed letters in cypher to the governors of Tortoza, Lerida, Mequinenza, and Monzon, telling them that the emperor in consequence of his reverses required large drafts of men from Catalonia, and had given Suchet orders to negotiate a convention by which the garrisons south of the Llobregat were to join the army with arms and baggage and followers. The result was uncertain, but if the treaty could not be effected the governors were to join the army by force, and they were therefore immediately to mine their principal bastions and be prepared to sally forth at an appointed time. The marches and points of junction were all given in detail, yet they were told that if the convention took place the marshal would immediately send an officer of his staff to them, with such verbal instructions as might be necessary. The document finished with deploring the necessity which called for the sacrifice of conquests achieved by the valour of the troops.

Spies and emissaries who act for both sides are common in all wars, but in the Peninsula so many pretended to serve the French and were yet true to the Spaniards, that to avoid the danger of betrayal Suchet had recourse to the ingenious artifice of placing a very small piece of light-coloured hair in the cyphered paper, the latter was then enclosed in a quill sealed and wrapped in lead. When received, the small parcel was carefully opened on a sheet of white paper and if the hair was discovered the communication was good, if not, the treachery was apparent because the hair would escape the vigilance of uninitiated persons and be lost by any intermediate examination. Van Halen knew this secret also, and when his emissaries had returned after delivering the preparatory communication, he proceeded in person with a forged convention, first to Tortoza, for Suchet has erroneously stated in his Memoirs that the primary attempts were made at Lerida and Mequinenza. He was accompanied by several Spanish officers and by some French deserters dressed in the uniforms of the hussars he had betrayed to the Spanish outposts. The governor Robert though a vigilant officer was deceived and prepared to evacuate the place. During the night however a true emissary arrived with a letter from Suchet of later date than the forged convention. Robert then endeavoured to entice Van Halen into the fortress, but the other was too wary and proceeded at once to Mequinenza and Lerida where he completely overreached the governors and then went to Monzon.

This small fortress had now been besieged since the 28th of September 1813, by detachments from the Catalan army and the bands from Aragon. Its means of defence were slight, but there was within a man of resolution and genius called St. Jacques. He was a Piedmontese by birth and only a private soldier of engineers, but the commandant appreciating his worth was so modest and prudent as to yield the direction of the defence entirely to him. Abounding in resources, he met, and at every point baffled the besiegers who worked principally by mines, and being as brave as he was ingenious always led the numerous counter-attacks which he contrived to check the approaches above and below ground. The siege continued until the 18th of February when the subtle Van Halen arrived, and by his Spanish wiles obtained in a few hours what Spanish courage and perseverance had vainly strived to gain for one hundred and forty days. The commandant was suspicious at first, but when Van Halen suffered him to send an officer to ascertain that Lerida and Mequinenza were evacuated, he was beguiled like the others and marched to join the garrisons of those places.

Sir William Clinton had been informed of this project by Eroles as early as the 22d of January and though he did not expect any French general would be so egregiously misled, readily promised the assistance of his army to capture the garrisons on their march. But Suchet was now falling back upon the Fluvia, and Clinton, seeing the fortified line of the Llobregat weakened and being uncertain of Suchet’s real strength and designs, renewed his former proposal to Copons for a combined attack which should force the French general to discover his real situation and projects. Ere he could obtain an answer, the want of forage obliged him to refuse the assistance of the Spanish cavalry lent to him by Elio, and Sarzfield’s division was reduced to its last ration. The French thus made their retreat unmolested, for Clinton’s project necessarily involved the investment of Barcelona after passing the Llobregat, and the Anglo-Sicilian cavalry, being mounted on small Egyptian animals the greatest part of which were foundered or unserviceable from sand-cracks, a disease very common amongst the horses of that country, were too weak to act without the aid of Elio’s horsemen. Moreover as a division of infantry was left at Taragona awaiting the effect of Van Halen’s wiles against Tortoza the aid of Sarzfield’s troops was indispensable.

Copons accepted the proposition towards the end of the month, the Spanish cavalry was then gone to the rear, but Sarzfield having with great difficulty obtained some provisions the army wasFebruary. put in movement on the 3d of February, and as Suchet was now near Gerona, it passed the Llobregat at the bridge of Molino del Rey without resistance. On the 5th Sarzfield’s picquets were vigorously attacked at San Filieu by the garrison of Barcelona, he however supported them with his whole division and being reinforced with some cavalry repulsed the French and pursued them to the walls. On the 7th the city was invested on the land side by Copons who was soon aided by Manso; on the sea-board by admiral Hallowell, who following the movements of the army with the fleet blockaded the harbour with the Castor frigate, and anchored the Fame a seventy-four off Mataro. On the 8th intelligence arrived of Van Halen’s failure at Tortoza, but the blockade of Barcelona continued uninterrupted until the 16th when Clinton was informed by Copons of the success at Lerida, Mequinenza, and Monzon. The garrisons, he said, would march upon Igualada, and Eroles who, under pretence of causing the convention to be observed by the Somatenes, was to follow in their rear, proposed to undeceive and disarm them at that place. On the 17th however he sent notice that Martorel had been fixed upon in preference to Igualada for undeceiving and disarming the French, and as they would be at the former place that evening general Clinton was desired to send some of his troops there to ensure the success of the project.

This change of plan and the short warning, for Martorel was a long march from Barcelona, together with the doubts and embarrassments which Copons’ conduct always caused, inclined the English general to avoid meddling with the matter at all; yet fearing that it would fail in the Spaniard’s hands he finally drafted a strong division of troops and marched in person to Martorel. There he met Copons who now told him that the French would not pass Esparaguera that night, that Eroles was close in their rear, and another division of the Catalan army at Bispal blocking the bridge of Martorel. Clinton immediately undertook to pass the Llobregat, meet the French column, and block the road of San Sadurni; and he arranged with Copons the necessary precautions and signals.

About nine o’clock general Isidore La Marque arrived with the garrisons at Martorel, followed at a short distance by Eroles. No other troops were to be seen and after a short halt the French continued their march on the right bank of the Llobregat, where the Barcelona road enters a narrow pass between the river and a precipitous hill. When they were completely entangled Clinton sent an officer to forbid their further progress and referred them to Copons who was at Martorel for an explanation, then giving the signal all the heights around were instantly covered with armed men. It was in vain to offer resistance, and two generals, having two thousand six hundred men, four guns, and a rich military chest, capitulated, but upon conditions, which were granted and immediately violated with circumstances of great harshness and insult to the prisoners. The odium of this baseness which was quite gratuitous, since the French helpless in the defile must have submitted to any terms, attaches entirely to the Spaniards. Clinton refused to meddle in any manner with the convention, he had not been a party to Van Halen’s deceit, he appeared only to ensure the surrender of an armed force in the field which the Spaniards could not have subdued without his aid, he refused even to be present at any consultation previous to the capitulation, and notwithstanding an assertion to the contrary in Suchet’s Memoirs no appeal on the subject from that marshal ever reached him.

During the whole of these transactions the infatuation of the French leaders was extreme. The chief of one of the battalions more sagacious than his general told Lamarque in the night of the 16th at Igualada that he was betrayed, at the same time urging him vainly to abandon his artillery and baggage and march in the direction of Vich, to which place they could force their way in despite of the Spaniards. It is remarkable also that Robert when he had detected the imposture and failed to entice Van Halen into Tortoza did not make a sudden sally upon him and the Spanish officers who were with him, all close to the works. And still more notable is it that the other governors, the more especially as Van Halen was a foreigner, did not insist upon the bearer of such a convention remaining to accompany their march. It has been well observed by Suchet that Van Halen’s refusal to enter the gates was alone sufficient to prove his treachery.

The detachment recalled by Napoleon now moved into France, and in March was followed by a second column of equal force which was at first directed upon Lyons, but the arrival of lord Wellington’s troops on the Garonne caused, as we shall hereafter find, a change in its destination. Meanwhile by order of the minister at war Suchet entered into a fresh negociation with Copons, to deliver up all the fortresses held by his troops except Figueras and Rosas, provided the garrisons were allowed to rejoin the army. The Spanish commander assented and the authorities generally were anxious to adopt the proposal, but the regency referred the matter to lord Wellington who rejected it without hesitation, as tending to increase the force immediately opposed to him. Thus baffled and overreached at all points, Suchet destroyed the works of Olot, Besalu, Bascara and Palamos, dismantled Gerona and Rosas, and concentrated his forces at Figueras. He was followed by Copons, but though he still had twelve thousand veterans besides the national guards and depôts of the French departments, he continued most obstinately to refuse any aid to Soult, and yet remained inactive himself. The blockade of Barcelona was therefore maintained by the allies without difficulty or danger save what arose from their commissariat embarrassments and the efforts of the garrison.

On the 23d of February Habert made a sally with six battalions, thinking to surprize Sarzfield, he was however beaten, and colonel Meder the Nassau officer who had before shewn his attachment to the French cause was killed. The blockadeMarch. was thus continued until the 12th of March when Clinton received orders from lord Wellington to break up his army, send the foreign troops to lord William Bentinck in Sicily, and march with the British battalions by Tudela to join the great army in France. Clinton at first prepared to obey but Suchet was still in strength, Copons appeared to be provoking a collision though he was quite unable to oppose the French in the field; and to maintain the blockade of Barcelona in addition, after the Anglo-Sicilians should depart, was quite impossible. The latter therefore remained and on the 19th of March king Ferdinand reached the French frontier.

This event, which happening five or even three months before would probably have changed the fate of the war, was now of little consequence. Suchet first proposed to Copons to escort Ferdinand with the French army to Barcelona and put him in possession of that place, but this the Spanish general dared not assent to, for he feared lord Wellington and his own regency, and was closely watched by colonel Coffin who had been placed near him by sir William Clinton. The French general then proposed to the king a convention for the recovery of his garrisons, to which Ferdinand agreed with the facility of a false heart. His great anxiety was to reach Valencia, because the determination of the Cortez to bind him to conditions before he recovered his throne was evident, the Spanish generals were apparently faithful to the Cortez, and the British influence was sure to be opposed to him while he was burthened with French engagements.

Suchet had been ordered to demand securities for the restoration of his garrisons previous to Ferdinand’s entry into Spain, but time was precious and he determined to escort him at once with the whole French army to the Fluvia, having first received a promise to restore the garrisons. He also retained his brother Don Carlos as a hostage forSuchet’s Memoirs. their return, but even this security he relinquished when the king in a second letter written from Gerona solemnly confirmed his first promise. On the 24th therefore in presence of the Catalan and French armies, ranged in order of battle on either bank of the Fluvia, Ferdinand passed that river and became once more king of Spain. He had been a rebellious son in the palace, a plotting traitor at Aranjuez, a dastard at Bayonne, an effeminate superstitious fawning slave at Valençay, and now after six years’ captivity he returned to his own country an ungrateful and cruel tyrant. He would have been the most odious and contemptible of princes if his favourite brother Don Carlos had not existed. Reaching the camp at Barcelona on the 30th he dined with sir William Clinton, reviewed the allied troops and then proceeded first to Zaragoza and finally to Valencia. Marshal Suchet says the honours of war were paidMemoirs by sir Wm. Clinton, MSS. to him by all the French garrisons but this was not the case at Barcelona: no man appeared, even on the walls. After this event the French marshal repassed the Pyrenees leaving only one division at Figueras and Clinton proceeded to break up his army, but was again stopped by the vexatious conduct of Copons who would not relieve the Anglo-Sicilians at the blockade, nor indeed take any notice of the English general’s communications on the subject before the 11th of April. On the 14th however the troops marched, part to embark at Taragona, part to join lord Wellington. Copons then became terrified lest general Robert, abandoning Tortoza, should join Habert at Barcelona, and enclose him between them and the division at Figueras, wherefore Clinton once more halted to protect the Spaniards.

Copons had indeed some reason to fear, forApril. Habert about this time received, and transmitted to Robert, the emperor’s orders to break out of Tortoza and gain Barcelona instead of passing by the valley of Venasque as Suchet had before prescribed: the twelve thousand men thus united were then to push into France. This letter was intercepted, copied, and sent on to Robert, whose answer being likewise intercepted shewed that he was not prepared and had no inclination for the enterprise. This seen Clinton continued his embarkation and thus completed his honourable but difficult task. With a force weak in numbers, and nearly destitute of every thing that constitutes strength in the field, he had maintained a forward and dangerous position for eight months; and though Copons’ incapacity and ill-will, and other circumstances beyond control, did not permit him to perform any brilliant actions, he occupied the attention of a very superior army, suffered no disaster and gained some advantages.

While his troops were embarking, Habert, in furtherance of the emperor’s project, made a vigorous sally on the 18th, and though repulsed with loss he killed or wounded eight hundred Spaniards. This was a lamentable combat. The war had terminated long before, yet intelligence of the cessation of hostilities only arrived four days later. Habert was now repeatedly ordered by Suchet and the duke of Feltre to give up Barcelona, but warned by the breach of former conventions he held it until he was assured that all the French garrisonsLafaille. in Valencia had returned safely to France, which did not happen until the 28th of May, when he yielded up the town and marched to his own country. This event, the last operation of the whole war, released the duchess of Bourbon. She and the old prince of Conti had been retained prisoners in the city during the Spanish struggle, the prince died early in 1814, the duchess survived, and now returned to France.

How strong Napoleon’s hold of the Peninsula had been, how little the Spaniards were able of their own strength to shake him off, was now apparent to all the world. For notwithstanding lord Wellington’s great victories, notwithstanding the invasion of France, six fortresses, Figueras, Barcelona, Tortoza, Morella, Peniscola, Saguntum and Denia were recovered, not by arms but by the general peace. And but for the deceits of Van Halen there would have been three others similarly situated in the eastern parts alone, while in the north Santona was recovered in the same manner; for neither the long blockade nor the active operations against that place, of which some account shall now be given, caused it to surrender.

The site of Santona is one of those promontories frequent on the coast of Spain which connected by low sandy necks with the main land offer good harbours. Its waters deep and capacious furnished two bays. The outer one or roadstead was commanded by the works of Santona itself, and by those of Laredo, a considerable town lying at the foot of a mountain on the opposite point of the harbour. A narrow entrance to the inner port was between a spit of land, called the Puntal, and the low isthmus on which the town of Santona is built. The natural strength of the ground was very great, but the importance of Santona arose from its peculiar situation as a harbour and fort of support in the Montaña de Santander. By holding it the French shut out the British shipping from the only place which being defensible on the land side furnished a good harbour between San Sebastian and Coruña; they thus protected the sea-flank of their long line of invasion, obtained a port of refuge for their own coasting vessels, and a post of support for the moveable columns sent to chase the partidas which abounded in that rough district. And when the battle of Vittoria placed the allies on the Bidassoa, from Santona issued forth a number of privateers who, as we have seen, intercepted lord Wellington’s supplies and interrupted his communication with Coruña, Oporto, Lisbon, and even with England.

The advantages of possessing Santona were feltVol. 3. Book XI. Chapter V. early by both parties; the French seized it at once and although the Spaniards recovered possession of it in 1810 they were driven out again immediately. The English ministers then commenced deliberating and concocting extensive and for that reason injudicious and impracticable plans of offensive operations,Ibid. Book XII. Chapter I. to be based upon the possession of Santona; meanwhile Napoleon fortified it and kept it to the end of the war. In August 1812 its importance was better understood by the Spaniards, and it was continually menaced by the numerous bands of Biscay, the Asturias and the Montaña. Fourteen hundred men, including the crew of a corvette, then formed its garrison, the works were not very strong and only forty pieces of artillery were mounted. Napoleon however, foreseeing the disasters which Marmont was provoking, sent general Lameth, a chosen officer, to take charge of the defence. He immediately augmented the works and constructed advanced redoubts on two hills, called the Gromo and the Brusco, which like San Bartolomeo at San Sebastian closed the isthmus inland. He also erected a strong redoubt and blockhouse on the Puntal to command the straits, and to sweep the roadstead in conjunction with the fort of Laredo which he repaired. This done he formed several minor batteries and cast a chain to secure the narrow entrance to the inner harbour, and then covered the rocky promontory of Santona itself with defensive works.

Some dismounted guns remained in the arsenal, others which had been thrown into the sea by the Spaniards when they took the place in 1810 were fished up, and the garrison felling trees in the vicinity made carriages for them; by these means a hundred and twenty guns were finally placed in battery and there was abundance of ammunition. The corvette was not sea-worthy, but the governor established a flotilla of gun-boats, and other small craft, which sallied forth whenever the signal-posts on the head-land gave notice of the approach of vessels liable to attack, or of French coasters bringing provisions and stores. The garrison had previously lost many men, killed in a barbarous manner by the partidas, and in revenge they never gave quarter to their enemies. Lameth shocked at their inhumanity resolutely forbad under pain of death any farther reprisals, rewarded those men who brought in prisoners and treated the latter with gentleness: the Spaniards discovering this also changed their system and civilization resumed its rights. From this time military operations were incessant, the garrison sometimes made sallies, sometimes sustained partial attacks, sometimes aided the moveable columns employed by the different generals of the army of the north to put down the partizan warfare, which was seldom even lulled in the Montaña.

After the battle of Vittoria Santona being left to its own resources was invested on the land side by a part of the troops composing the Gallician or fourth Spanish army. It was blockaded on the sea-board by the English ships of war, but only nominally, for the garrison received supplies, and the flotilla vexed lord Wellington’s communications, took many of his store-ships and other vessels, delayed his convoys, and added greatly to the difficulties of his situation. The land blockade thus also became a nullity and the Spanish officers complained with reason that they suffered privations and endured hardships without an object. These complaints and his own embarassments, caused by lord Melville’s neglect, induced lord Wellington in October, 1813, when he could ill spare troops, to employ a British brigade under lord Aylmer in the attack of Santona; the project for reasons already mentioned was not executed, but an English engineer, captain Wells, was sent with some sappers and miners to quicken the operations of the Spanish officers, and his small detachment hasVictoires et Conquêtes. been by a French writer magnified into a whole battalion.

Captain Wells remained six months, for the Spanish generals though brave and willing were tainted with the national defect of procrastination. The siege made no progress until the 13th of1814. February. February 1814 when general Barco the Spanish commander carried the fort of Puntal in the night by escalade, killing thirty men and taking twenty-three prisoners, yet the fort being under the heavy fire of the Santona works was necessarily dismantled and abandoned the next morning. A picquet was however left there and the French opened their batteries, but as this did not dislodge the Spaniards Lameth embarked a detachment and recovered his fort. However in the night of the 21st general Barco ordered an attack to be made with a part of his force upon the outposts of El Grumo and Brusco, on the Santona side of the harbour, and led the remainder of his troops in person to storm the fort and town of Laredo. He carried the latter and also some outer defences of the fort, which being on a rock was only to be approached by an isthmus so narrow as to be closed by a single fortified house. In the assault of the body of this fort Barco was killed and the attack ceased, but the troops retained what they had won and established themselves at the foot of the rock where they were covered from fire. The attack on the other side, conducted by colonel Llorente, was successful; he carried the smallest of the two outworks on the Brusco, and closely invested the largest after an ineffectual attempt by mine and assault to take it. A large breach was however made and the commandant seeing he could no longer defend his post, valiantly broke through the investment and gained the work of the Grumo. He was however aided by the appearance on the isthmus of a strong column which sallied at the same time from the works on the Santona promontory, and the next day the Grumo itself was abandoned by the French.

Captain Wells, who had been wounded at the Puntal escalade, now strenuously urged the Spaniards to crown the counter-scarp of the fort at Laredo and attack vigorously, but they preferred establishing four field-pieces to batter it in form at the distance of six hundred yards. These guns as might be expected were dismounted the moment they began to fire, and thus corrected, the Spanish generals committed the direction of the attack to Wells. He immediately opened a heavy musquetryProfessional papers by the royal engineers. fire on the fort to stifle the noise of his workmen, then pushing trenches up the hill close to the counterscarp in the night, he was proceeding to burst open the gate with a few field-pieces and to cut down the pallisades, when the Italian garrison, whose musquets from constant use had become so foul that few would go off, mutinied against their commander and making him a prisoner surrendered the place. This event gave the allies the command of the entranceApril. to the harbour, and Lameth offered to capitulate in April upon condition of returning to France with his garrison. Lord Wellington refused the condition, Santona therefore remained a few days longer in possession of the enemy, and was finally evacuated at the general cessation of hostilities.

Having now terminated the narrative of all military and political events which happened in the Peninsula, the reader will henceforth be enabled to follow without interruption the events of the war in the south of France which shall be continued in the next book.