On the 19th of July, General Dumont, blockaded in Andalusia by the Spanish forces, was defeated at Baylen. On the 22nd he signed a disastrous capitulation, in the hope of saving his troops, who were to be sent back to France. The Spaniards, however, unscrupulously violated the conditions and retained the army as prisoners. The universal joy and the national hopes were excited, and alarmed Joseph Bonaparte, who hastened to leave Madrid. The siege of Saragossa was raised.
Notwithstanding the presence of Junot, a movement hostile to France manifested itself in Portugal. Sir Arthur Wellesley landed at Oporto, with ten thousand men. Junot advanced to meet him, but his forces were insufficient, and he was defeated at Vimeiro. The Convention of Cintra, on the 30th of August, 1808, decided the evacuation of Portugal by the French.
The unjust invasion of the peninsula already brought forth its fruits. King Joseph, in desperation, wrote to his brother, on the 9th of August: "I have an entire nation against me. The nobility themselves, at first uncertain, have ended by following the movement of the lower classes. I have not a single Spaniard left who is attached to my cause. As general, my part would be endurable, nay easy, for with a detachment of your veteran troops, I would conquer the Spaniards; but as king my part is insupportable, since I must slaughter one part of my subjects to make the other submit. I decline therefore to reign over a people who will not have me. If you wish it, I will restore Ferdinand VII. to them, in your name. I shall demand back from you the throne of Naples."
The will of Napoleon was more tenacious and his passions stronger than those of his brother. Joseph was obliged to remain King of Spain. The Convention of Cintra, definitively adjourned, after the surrender of Torres Vedras to the English, was not approved either by Sir Arthur Wellesley nor by the English Cabinet. The French armies had obtained in Spain numerous partial successes. Saragossa was again besieged. After a long campaign Sir John Moore was defeated and killed, at the battle of Corunna. His troops hastened to embark for England. They scarcely took time to bury him. "We left him alone with his glory," says Wolfe the poet. Marshal Soult took possession of the city. The negotiations between France and England, through the intervention of Russia, had failed. An interview between the two emperors, at Erfurt, had strengthened their alliance. Napoleon evacuated Prussia, and concentrated his efforts upon Spain. He reached there on the 29th of October, 1808. On the 4th of December he was at Madrid, ordering upon every side and in all directions, the movements of his lieutenants. When he returned to Paris, January 22nd, 1809, King Joseph was firmly established in his capital. Napoleon accorded to his troops a month of repose before completing the conquest of Spain. The threatening attitude of Europe, encouraged by the resistance of the Spaniards, compelled the emperor to leave to others the task of conquering enemies constantly defeated, but never subdued.
The heroic defence of Saragossa was the type and example of the war in Spain. General Palafox commanded there. To the demand to surrender, he replied with this laconic message: "War to the knife:" and this finally became the watchword. The ramparts were taken only after a desperate resistance, in which even the women took part. Then began, perhaps, the most heroic contest the world ever saw. Street by street was obstinately defended; every house became a fortress, and every church and convent a citadel. "Never," wrote Marshal Lannes to the emperor, "have I seen so much desperation as our enemies have shown in the defence of this place. I have seen women bravely confronting death in the breach. This siege resembles nothing that we have had in war heretofore. It is a position where great prudence and great vigor is necessary. We are obliged to take with the mine or by assault, every house. Finally, sire, it is a horrible war." After twenty-nine days of siege and twenty-one days passed in conquering the streets, one by one, Saragossa finally capitulated, on the 21st of February, 1809. Of the one hundred thousand inhabitants enclosed in the city, fifty-four thousand had perished. Henceforth the name of Saragossa is added on the roll of those cities which have been made forever famous and glorious by their heroic defences, to that of Numantia and Jerusalem, of Leyden and Londonderry.
Parliament opened on the 19th of January, 1809. The Whigs at once attacked the ministry on the conduct of the war and predicted its fatal termination. The campaign had added nothing to the glory of the arms of the great belligerant powers; only the patriotic perseverance of the Spaniards encouraged their defenders. Mr. Canning concluded with the Junta of Seville a close treaty of alliance. The military and financial preparations necessitated great efforts. The command of the troops was given to Sir Arthur Wellesley. Marshal Soult again invaded Portugal. It was against this country that the English General at first directed attacks. Landing at Lisbon, on the 22nd of April, 1809, he left the capital on the 28th, to proceed to Coimbra. All his forces concentrated there, and on the 11th of May, he found himself on the banks of the rapid Douro. The river was crossed at midday, in the face of the French army. On the 12th, Oporto was taken. While Marshal Soult was retreating towards Spain, the English general published a proclamation in favor of the French wounded and prisoners left in the city. The Spaniards had often treated their conquered enemies with great barbarity. "I appeal to the mercy of the people of Oporto, in regard to the wounded and prisoners," said Sir Arthur Wellesley. "By the laws of war they are under my protection, and I am resolved to give it to them."
On the 2nd of July the English entered Spain, at Placencia. On the 27th the victory of Talavera delivered to Wellesley a strong military position, but without the provisions or munitions of war that he much needed. "They have no magazines," wrote Sir Arthur. "We have none, and are unable to form any. It is a positive fact that during the last eight days the English troops have not received a third of their rations, although they fought during forty-eight hours, and defeated an army twice their number. There are at this moment in the hospitals of this city nearly four thousand wounded soldiers, who are dying for the want of the commonest necessaries of life, that any other European nation would provide for its enemies. Here I can obtain nothing, they will not even bury my dead." Without aid from the Spaniards, who were in fact secretly hostile to the English, the latter were compelled to fall back upon Portugal.