NAPOLEON IN THE PYRENEES
Napoleon now advanced upon Madrid, and on the 30th reached and attacked the Somosierra. The pass was defended by General San Juan; his troops fled after firing one volley, and afterwards sought to excuse their panic by accusing their unfortunate commander of treachery, and murdering him. The French crossed the mountains almost unopposed, and appeared before Madrid. In the moment of danger the inefficiency of the central junta became apparent. On the approach of the French armies the whole body fled towards Badajoz.
Guenca
Napoleon appeared before Madrid on the 2nd of December, and summoned the city to surrender, with fearful threats in case of resistance. On the morning of the 5th Morla surrendered Madrid. The emperor took possession of the palace of the kings of Spain; and in his proclamations threatened the Spaniards that, unless by their conduct they earned Joseph’s pardon, he would find another kingdom for his brother, and make Spain a French province. Such threats were not adapted to conciliate the haughty Spaniards; and the really beneficial decrees he promulgated, diminishing the exorbitant power of the clergy and the number of monks and nuns, by exasperating the whole ecclesiastical body, confirmed the nation in its enmity to him and his dynasty. Regardless of this enmity, however, Napoleon prepared to overrun and subjugate Portugal and the south of Spain with his grand army, whilst a division of thirty-five thousand men again besieged Saragossa. The central junta continued its fight to Seville, and the troops, which the different generals had rallied in considerable numbers, prepared to defend the Sierra Morena and the Tagus.
MOORE’S FAMOUS RETREAT
Moore’s situation was unquestionably one of great difficulty. The French are stated to have had two hundred thousand men in Spain; he could not bring into the field above twenty-five thousand; Madrid had fallen; and of the Spanish armies nothing remained within his reach but the few thousands, half clothed and half armed, that La Romana was endeavouring to organise. Moore had lost all confidence in Spanish professions, and was convinced that Frere, who vehemently urged him to attempt something, was deceived by his zeal in the Spanish cause and his ignorance of the Spanish character. Nevertheless Moore resolved to make such a diversion as should recall Napoleon from the south and from Portugal, and, if possible, to destroy Soult, who was within his reach with inferior numbers, before he could be reinforced. But he undertook this bold and generous enterprise with a heavy heart, and, as appears from his own letters, as sacrificing his own judgment to what he knew were the expectations of the British public. Moore began his movement on the 11th, effected his junction with Baird, and reached Sahagun on the 21st of December. There he halted two days for his supplies, meaning to attack Soult on the 24th. But on the 23rd he received information that Napoleon, upon hearing of his advance, had suspended all his operations in the south and west, and was marching in full force against the English. The projected diversion was thus accomplished; and he began his retreat towards Galicia, where he proposed embarking, and carrying his army southwards to join the Spanish forces collecting in Andalusia. The retreat was most disastrous. Officers and men disliked it; the bonds of discipline were early relaxed, and the bulk of the army was a mere drunken mob, never resuming any semblance of order or propriety except when there appeared a prospect of a battle. Then all were again found British soldiers.[c]
Lisbon in 1800