During the latter months of the preceding year Lord Wellington had been secretly preparing the means of recapturing Ciudad Rodrigo, the possession of that place still serving the French as a basis of operations on one of the frontiers of Portugal. His situation, says a Peninsular historian, was simply that of a man who felt that all depended on himself; that he must by some rapid and unexpected stroke effect in the field what his brother could not effect in the cabinet. Marmont favoured his designs on this place; for, deceived by his apparent careless attitude, the French armies were spread over an immense tract of country, and Ciudad Rodrigo was left unprotected. Lord Wellington marched against it early in January; and in twelve days from its first investment Ciudad Rodrigo was recaptured. In the assault the British suffered severe loss, there being in the whole about 1000 killed and wounded, among whom were many officers. General Mackinnon, and many of his brigade, were blown up by the explosion of a powder-magazine on the ramparts, and General Craufurd was mortally wounded. The loss of the garrison was also about 1000, besides 1700 prisoners. For the capture of this piece the Spanish Cortes passed a vote of thanks to Lord Wellington, and conferred on him the title of Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo. In England also his lordship obtained a step in the peerage, being created Earl of Wellington, with an annuity of £2000 annexed to the title. Thanks were voted by parliament both to him and his brave army.
The recapture of Ciudad Rodrigo was attended with fearful scenes. Colonel Napier says:—“Throwing off the restraint of discipline the troops committed frightful excesses: the town was fired in three or four places; the soldiers menaced their officers, and shot each other; intoxication soon increased the tumult; and at last the fury rising to absolute madness, a fire was wilfully lighted in the middle of the great magazine, when the town, and all within it, would have been blown to atoms, but for the energetic courage of some officers and a few soldiers, who still preserved their senses.” After order had been restored, orders were given to repair the breaches and level the intrenchments, while means were taken to provision the place.
GEORGE III. 1812—1814
STORM AND CAPTURE OF BADAJOZ.
Having recovered Ciudad Rodrigo, Wellington resolved to attempt the recovery of Badajoz. In preparing for this enterprise great secrecy was maintained; and when all was ready, his lordship, leaving one division of his army on the Agueda, marched with the rest from the northern to the southern frontier of Portugal. His artillery had previously been conveyed from Lisbon by sea to the Setubal river, whence it was carried by land across the Alemtejo to the banks of the Guadiana; and on the 16th of March Lord Wellington crossed that river, and immediately invested Badajoz. The Picurina, an advanced work separated from the body of the place by the small river Ribillas, was taken on the 25th, and on the 26th two batteries opened on the town. Expedition was essential; for at this time Marshal Soult was preparing for its relief, and Marmont, in the hope of effecting a diversion had entered Portugal, and was ravaging the country east of the Estrella. Thus called upon to action on the 6th of April, after three breaches were reported to be practicable, Lord Wellington gave orders for storming the place at ten o’clock that night. Badajoz was captured, but it was with great loss, owing to the formidable obstacles encountered by the allies. General Philippon, the governor of Badajoz, had adopted such an ingenious defence that effectually stopped the way of the British, that had not General Picton succeeded in carrying and establishing himself in the castle, and General Walker in entering the town by escalade in an opposite direction, the attempt might have failed. These successes distracted the French; and Lord Wellington, who had ordered his divisions to retire from the attack, now directed them again to advance, and then every obstacle was overcome. General Philippon with a few hundred men escaped across the Guadiana, and threw himself into Fort St. Cristoval, where he surrendered on the following morning. On the side of the allies about 1000 were slain, and from 4000 to 5000 wounded. The French lost about 1500 men slain, and nearly 4000 were taken prisoners. In Baclajoz from 3000 to 4000 Spaniards, English, and Portuguese, who had been taken prisoners by the French, were found, and were consequently released. It was on the 7th of April that Lord Wellington captured Badajoz, and on the 8th Soult had collected his army at Villa-franca, between Llerena and Merida; but hearing of the fall of the place he commenced a retreat to Seville. He was warmly pursued by the British cavalry, who cut up his rear-guard at Villa Garcia.
OPERATIONS IN SPAIN.
As soon as Lord Wellington had captured Badajoz he endeavoured to put the place into a state of defence. His lordship, however, had but little time to attend to this important measure. Marmont was at this time making himself strong in the north, and was blockading both the Spanish fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo and the fortress of Almeida. Leaving General Hill in the south, therefore, his lordship, on the 13th of April moved the main body of his army back to the north. Marmont now retreated to Salamanca, hoping to effect a junction with Soult; but he was prevented from this step by the capture of the strong forts which the French had erected at Almaraz on the Tagus, and which were captured by General Hill. At length, on the 13th of June, Lord Wellington broke up from his cantonments between the Coa and the Agueda with about 40,000 men, leaving General Hill near Almaraz with 12,000 more. As his lordship advanced into Spain, he received reports that Marmont was about to be re-enforced by a division consisting of nearly seven thousand men. Marmont already counted 40,000 infantry, 3000 artillery, and 4000 cavalry, so that he already had a decided superiority in numbers. Still Wellington pursued his march, and the whole of his army arrived upon the Val Musa rivulet, about six miles from Salamanca, on the 16th of June. Some of the cavalry and infantry of the enemy lay in front of the town of Salamanca; but they were driven in by the British, and Marmont evacuated the town in the night, leaving a garrison of some eight hundred men, in forts constructed on the rains of colleges and convents, which commanded the bridge that crosses the river Tormes. The allies, however, forded the river in places above and below the bridge, and on the 17th entered the town. Marmont made some efforts to relieve the forts which were now invested; but they were all taken by the 27th, and he then took up a strong position on the northern bank of the Duero. He was followed by Wellington, who took up a line on the southern bank of that river directly opposite to his opponent. Early in July Marmont was re-enforced by the expected division, and on the 11th of that month he threw two divisions across the Duero at Toro, when Wellington moved his army to the left to concentrate it on the Guareha, an affluent of the Duero. Marmont now ascended the northern bank of the river with his whole army, and again crossed over to the southern bank of the Duero, and assembled at Nava del Bey. He succeeded in re-establishing his communications with King Joseph and the army of the centre, which was advancing from Madrid to join him. The two armies remained on the opposite banks of the Guarena till the 20th of July, on which day they moved towards the Tormes in parallel lines. They crossed the Tormes on the following day; the allied army passing by the bridge of Salamanca, and the French by the fords higher up the river. The hostile troops were still facing each other, and both armies were still near Salamanca. In the course of the night Lord Wellington was informed that Marmont was about to be joined by the cavalry and horse-artillery of the north. No time was to be lost, and his lordship determined, if circumstances should not permit him to attack Marmont on the morrow, he would then move towards Ciudad Rodrigo. The morning of the morrow was spent in anxious suspense by the allies, birt the enemy gave no indication of his design to commence battle till noon, when some confusion was observed in his ranks. After a great variety of skilful manouvres on both sides, Marmont, inspired with the hope of destroying at one blow the whole English army, extended his line in order to enclose his allies within the position which they had taken up. This was an error of which Wellington immediately took advantage. Nearly the whole of his army was brought opposite to the enemy’s left, and an attack was commenced upon that wing. Three divisions, under Generals Leith, Cole, and Cotton, charged in front, while General Pakenham formed another across the enemy’s flank. This movement decided the victory. The left wing first, then the centre, and finally the right wing were defeated, and as the evening closed the whole force of the enemy was in total rout. The first great blow was given to the power of the French in Spain. In this battle the French lost three generals slain, and Marmont, Bonnet, and Clausel were wounded. Their total loss in killed and wounded was very great, and they left 7000 prisoners, eleven guns, and two eagles in the hands of the conquerors. The loss of the allies was also great, nearly 5000 being slain and wounded: among the slain was General Le Marchant, and among the wounded Generals Beresford, Leith, Cole, Spry, and Cotton; The pursuit of the enemy was renewed next day beyond the Tormes, when the British troops succeeded in capturing three brigades. In the course of the day Marmont was joined by a corps of 1200 cavalry from the army of the north, which covered the retreat of the centre as it hastened toward Valladolid. The pursuit was continued on the 24th, and the enemy was driven from Valladolid towards Burgos. Lord Wellington reached Valladolid the eighth day after the battle, and here he gave over the pursuit in order to make another important movement. On the day after the battle of Salamanca King Joseph had marched from the Escurial with 20,000 men, for the purpose of joining Marmont. On arriving at Arevalo he heard of Marmont’s defeat, and he then marched off by the right to Segovia, to attempt a diversion in favour of Clausel, who was now leading the retreating army. Lord Wellington therefore quitted Valladolid, recrossed the Duero, and marched against King Joseph, leaving a force on the Duero under General Paget to watch Clausel. King Joseph now retreated towards Madrid, whither he was followed by Lord Wellington, and from whence he was driven by his lordship. The British forces entered Madrid on the 12th of August, and was received with enthusiastic acclamations. Joseph fled to the left bank of the Tagus to rally his army between Aranjuez and Toledo, leaving a garrison in the Retiro palace. The troops found in the Retiro, however, were made prisoners of war on the 14th of August, so that Lord Wellington had complete possession of the Spanish capital. He appointed Don Carlos de Espaha Governor of Madrid, and the new constitution which the Cortes had made at Cadiz was proclaimed with great exultation. The air resounded with the shouts of “Long live the Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo! long live Wellington!” Subsequently a deputation waited upon his lordship with a congratulatory address, to which he wisely replied: “The events of the war are in the hands of Providence.”
In consequence of the capture of Madrid Soult raised the blockade of Cadiz, abandoned the whole of Western Andalusia, and concentrated his forces in Grenada. His retreat to Grenada was very disastrous: his army suffered greatly from the attacks of the allied force of the English and Spanish, the occasional attacks of the armed peasantry, and from the excessive heat and famine. In the meantime General Hill advanced from the Guadiana to the Tagus, and connected his operations with those of Wellington. On his approach, Joseph Buonaparte abandoned the line of the Tagus, and fell back to Almanza in Murcia, that he might preserve the line of communication with Soult in Granada, and Suchet on the borders of Valencia and Catalonia. By the close of August General Hill occupied all the places on the south of Madrid, and which occupation enabled him to cover the right of the allied army. These successes, however, were far from completing the recovery of Spain, and the situation of Lord Wellington in the Spanish capital was yet very critical. So ineffective was the aid which the natives afforded, and so great the military power which yet remained to be subdued, that a triumphant result was still uncertain. In a little time, indeed, Lord Wellington saw himself menaced by the three armies of the south, the centre, and the north, and he was compelled to retreat from Madrid. Before he commenced his retreat he made an attempt to capture Burgos: an attempt which failed chiefly from want of the requisite means of success. Lord Wellington now moved towards the Duero, and marched upon Salamanca, where he hoped to establish himself; but Soult having united his forces with those of Souham, which had advanced from Burgos, obliged him to continue his retreat. He effected his retreat in a masterly manner, before an army of 90,000 men, against which he could only oppose about 50,000, and on the 24th of November, he fixed his head-quarters at Freynada, on the Portuguese frontier. King Joseph now returned once more to Madrid, while Soult, who took the chief command of the combined French armies, established his head-quarters at Toledo, with his right wing resting on Salamanca. A great outcry was raised against Lord Wellington in England, on account of this retreat; but, fortunately, ministers were satisfied with the explanation of his motives, and resolved to send him all the assistance in their power. His lordship employed the winter months in rendering his army more effective, that he might in the ensuing campaign enter on a more decisive and extended course of operations. For this purpose he proceeded to Cadiz, to make arrangements for the co-operation of the Spanish armies, when it was settled that 50,000 troops should be placed at his disposal. This was full proof that the Cortes still placed confidence in him. They augured, indeed, that under the direction of so great a leader, those troops would pitch their tents on the banks of the Seine. The president remarked, “It would not be the first time that the Spanish lions had there trampled on the old fleur-de-lys of France.”