[33] Note, ibid., ii. p. 502.
[34] See St. Cyr to Alvarez and Verdier to the Minister of War at Paris, nos. 9 and 11 of Belmas’s Appendices in his second volume, pp. 677 and 678.
[35] Napier says (ii. 250) that ‘the breaching fire ceased for four days before the assault,’ and that this caused the failure. The statement is in direct contradiction of Vacani (iii. 277) who states that Verdier on the contrary ‘proseguì per tre giorni il vivo fuoco della sua artilleria,’ and of Belmas (ii. 530) who makes the same statement.
[36] See Alvarez’s letter in Belmas’s Appendix, no. 15, where he says that the breach had this breadth since July 3.
[37] This seems a low estimate of Belmas, as the compagnies d’élite formed a third of each battalion.
[38] St. Cyr, Vacani, and Belmas all say that Marshall escaped by hoisting the white flag, and taking to the hills while terms of capitulation were being arranged. Coupigny on the other hand (see his letter in Belmas’s Appendix no. 18) says that Marshall behaved admirably, but was not seconded by his men, who flinched and abandoned him. Rich, the officer who failed to guide the column aright, was not, as Napier supposed (ii. 236), an Englishman, but a Catalan, as is shown by his Christian name Narciso. Ric or Rich is a common name in Catalonia.
[39] This must have been an exaggeration, as 2,000 men under arms of the old garrison survived to surrender in December. See Alvarez’s letter, on p. 686 of Belmas’s Appendix.
[40] See Verdier’s letter of August 12, in Belmas’s Appendix no. 11, p. 700.
[41] Some call them bastions, but they are too small to deserve that name.
[42] Belmas, for convenience’ sake, distinguishes these two breaches by calling the northern one the breach in the Barracks, the southern the breach in the Latrines of the ‘German Redoubt.’