World's Best Histories — Volume 7: France

by François Guizot; Madame de Witt

Nevertheless, all the forces of the French army were on their march to crush the insurrection. General Verdier and General Frère quickly took satisfaction for the insurrection of Logrono and Segovia. General Lasalle, before Valladolid, defeated Don Gregorio de la Cuesta, who had been forced to leave the town, afraid of having his throat cut there. "You have only had what you deserve," said the old Spanish general, as he retreated upon Leon; "we are only a handful of undisciplined peasants, yet you imagine you can conquer those who have conquered all Europe." General Lefebvre- Desnouettes met more resistance at Tudela, where the insurgents had broken down the bridge over the Ebro. On the 15th June he was before Saragossa, where Don Joseph Palafox had shut himself up; the whole population covered the roofs of the houses, where there was a constant hail-storm of musket balls. The French general at once concluded it was a question of regular siege, and sent to Barcelona for reinforcements and artillery. Marshal Moncey had not succeeded in taking Valencia. General Duhesme was shut up in Barcelona by the insurrection, which daily gained ground in Catalonia. Yet he was compelled to send away General Chabran, that he might join Marshal Moncey; and the insurgents took advantage of this division of our forces to throw themselves on General Schwartz's column, which had been ordered to search the convent of Montserrat. The tocsin was heard everywhere in the mountain villages; the bridges over the streams were broken down, and every little town had to be carried with the bayonet. By a sudden sally, General Duhesme dislodged the enemy from their post on the River Llobregat, took possession of their cannons, and brought them back to Barcelona. "Let the whole town of Barcelona be disarmed," wrote the emperor on 10th June to Marshal Berthier, "so that not a single musket is left, and let the castle of Montjouy be supplied with provisions taken from the inhabitants. They must be treated in thorough military fashion. War justifies anything. On the slightest occasion, you should take hostages and send them into the fortress."

General Dupont had been entrusted with the most difficult as well as most important undertaking. With from 12,000 to 13,000 men under his orders, he advanced into Andalusia, with the object of reducing that great province to submission, and protecting the French fleet in Cadiz. The emperor had ordered General Junot to support Dupont's advance by sending him Kellermann's division, but Portugal was imitating the example of Spain, and had all risen in insurrection. On his first entrance into Andalusia, Dupont recognized the importance of the movement, and immediately asked for a reinforcement. "I shall then have nothing to do but a military promenade," he wrote to General Savary.

On the 7th June, after a pretty keen fight, the French troops took the bridge of Alcolea, on the Guadalquivir, and arrived the same evening before Cordova. After the gates were burst open with cannon-shot, the barricades and houses had to be carried with the bayonet; and the soldiers, losing their temper, cruelly abused the victory they gained. The hatred against the invaders increased; and in the van of our army, on this side of the Sierra Morena, on the road from Cordova to Andujar, the men who had not kept up in marching, the sick and wounded who were obliged to stay in the villages, were put to death with refinements of barbarity. General Dupont still waited for the divisions of Vedel and Frère, which he had sent to Madrid for; and at Cadiz, in the French fleet, they were counting the days, and soon the hours.

The leader in the insurrection, Thomas de Morla, at first seemed faithful to the alliance of the Spanish and French navy, recalling the memories of the battle of Trafalgar, the glorious ruins of which composed the French squadron in the Cadiz roads. Gradually, however, he took care to separate the two fleets, persuading Admiral Rosily to take his position within the roads, and placing the Spanish vessels at the entrance, in order, he said, to defend Cadiz against the English, who had been trying in vain to land 5,000 men. The admiral soon found himself cantoned in the midst of the lagoons which form and protect the Cadiz roads; while a contrary wind prevented the attack which, from desperation, he wished to make upon the Spanish, their gun-boats and sloops were already gathering round him, and on the 9th June the firing began, but it was weak and unavailing on the part of our ships, in spite of the heroic resolution of the crews. The fighting lasted two days, and on the Junta of Seville demanding a surrender pure and simple, Admiral Rosily, who knew that General Dupont had entered Cordova, asked for a delay, hoping to receive help. On the 14th June, after four days had elapsed, the French fleet, being deprived of every resource, and with certain ruin before them, surrendered at discretion. The officers were distributed in the fortresses, and the vessels disarmed. The mob, crowding round the harbor, shouted fiercely and cheered as the French prisoners passed before them and the English, who had just succeeded in effecting their landing.

General Dupont had not been reinforced. He did not know whether his couriers had arrived, many having been already intercepted by the robbers of the Sierra Morena; he knew of the rising of the St. Roque troops, and of the treachery of the Swiss regiments recently engaged in the insurrection; and finding himself threatened on the right by the insurgent army of Andalusia, and on the left by the army of Granada, he resolved to fall back upon the Guadalquivir, and on the 18th June took up his position in the small town of Andujar, to wait for the divisions which he had sent for. That of Vedel was already on its march.

Marshal Moncey had failed before Valencia, and could not commence the investment for want of siege guns; he had brought back his division in good condition, and effected his junction with General Frère at San Clemente. Marshal Bessières advanced at the same time against Don Gregorio de la Cuesta, and against General Blake, a descendant of English Catholic refugees. Their forces were considerable, and composed of old soldiers; they had, however, asked for time to prepare their troops and had been forced by the Junta of the Corogne to march to battle. On the evening of the 13th July, the Spaniards, badly informed as to the march of the French, were formed in two lines on the plateau of Medino de Rio-Seco, not far from Valladolid. Attacked one after the other by Marshal Bessières, the two lines were completely beaten and put to flight, not without some resistance at certain points. The slaughter was terrible. General Mouton, at the head of two regiments with fixed bayonets, entered the town of Medina, which was sacked. Marshal Bessières again took the road towards Leon, sweeping before him the disbanded remains of the Spanish army. King Joseph had just entered Madrid.

He took possession of his capital in the midst of the melancholy silence of the inhabitants, more irritated than cowed by the news of the victory of Rio-Seco, which reached them a few hours before the entry of their new monarch. Since his entrance into Spain the eyes of Joseph had been opened. "Up to this time no one has told the whole truth," he wrote to the Emperor Napoleon on the 12th July. "The fact is that not a single Spaniard is on my side, except the small number who were present at the Junta, and travel with me. The others, on arriving here, hid themselves, terrified by the unanimous opinion of their countrymen." And some days later: "Fear does not make me see double; since I have been in Spain I say to myself every day that my life is of small account, and that I give it up to you. I am not alarmed at my position, but it is unique in history; I have not a single partisan here." Every day he repeated the same demand; "I still want 50,000 men of old troops, and 50,000,000 of money; in a month I must have a 100,000 men, and a 100,000,000." The French army in Spain numbered already 110,000 men, young, it is true, and for the most part without experience, but Europe almost entirely was occupied by our troops; Napoleon was irritated at the sensible remarks of Savary, still more gloomy than those of King Joseph. "The emperor finds that you are wrong to say that nothing has been done for six weeks," wrote Marshal Berthier. "All sensible men in Spain have changed their opinion, and are very sorry to see the insurrection. Affairs are in the most prosperous position since the battle of Rio-Seco." On the 19th July, when making his preparations to quit Bayonne to visit the towns of the south, Napoleon wrote to King Joseph:

"My brother, I received your letter of the 18th, at three o'clock in the morning. I see, with sorrow, that you trouble yourself. It is the only misfortune I fear. Troops are entering on all sides, and constantly. You have a great many partisans in Spain, but they are intimidated; they are all the respectable people. However, I acknowledge none the less that your task is great and glorious.

"The victory of Marshal Bessières, who has wholly beaten Cuesta and the army of Galicia, has greatly improved the position of affairs. It is worth more than a reinforcement of 30,000 men. The divisions of Gobert and Vedel having joined General Dupont, offensive measures must be vigorously pushed on that side. It is the only point menaced, and there must soon be a success there; with 25,000 men, comprising infantry, cavalry, and artillery, there are more than necessary to obtain a great result. At the worst, with 21,000 men present on the field of battle, he can boldly take the offensive; he will not be beaten, and will have more than four-and- twenty chances in his favor.

"You ought not to find it so extraordinary to conquer your kingdom. Philip V. and Henry IV. were obliged to conquer theirs. Keep your spirits up, and never doubt for an instant that everything will finish better and more quickly than you now imagine.