[150] “Marmont contented himself with making an exhibition of his force, and causing it to execute a variety of manœuvres in our presence; and it must be confessed, that a spectacle more striking has rarely been seen. The large body of cavalry which followed us to our position, and had bivouacked during the night in the woods adjoining, were first drawn up in compact array, as if waiting for the signal to push on. By and by, nine battalions of infantry, attended by a proportionate quantity of artillery, made their appearance, and formed into columns, lines, echelons, and squares. Towards noon, twelve battalions of the Imperial Guard came upon the ground in one solid mass; and as each soldier was decked out with feathers and shoulder-knots of a bloody hue, their appearance was certainly imposing in no ordinary degree. The solid column, however, soon deployed into columns of battalions—a movement which was executed with a degree of quickness and accuracy quite admirable; and then, after having performed several other evolutions with equal precision, the Guards piled their arms, and prepared to bivouac. Next came another division of infantry in rear of the Guards, and then a fresh column of cavalry, till it was computed that the enemy had collected on this single point a force of not less than twenty-five thousand men. Nor did the muster cease to go on as long as daylight lasted. To the very latest moment we could observe men, horses, guns, carriages, tumbrils, and ammunition-waggons, flocking into the encampment; as if it were the design of the French general to bring his whole disposable force to bear against the position of Fuente Guinaldo.”—Lord Londonderry.

[151] “The French batteries opened at daylight on the 28th June, and by ten o’clock a practicable breach was formed: the besiegers then appeared perfectly quiet, firing only an occasional round or two; but when the heat of the day was a little past, they suddenly rushed to the assault. The defenders made but a slight resistance, and in a few minutes the French columns were in the streets, and immediately gave loose to every species of licentiousness. Some thousands of the citizens perished by individual atrocity; whilst a continued fire from the batteries swept away crowds of trembling fugitives, who fled to the sea-side and sought refuge in the boats of the squadron. The British seamen gallantly rescued many within reach of the very sabres of the enemy’s dragoons, who charged amongst the defenceless mass, cutting and slashing in every direction. In a word it was a French army licensed to pursue its own inclinations; and scenes such as are read with distrust in the ancient historians, are attested by some thousand witnesses yet alive to have been acted here.”—Jones’s Account of the War.

General Suchet’s own statement is as follows: “The rage of the soldiers was increased by the obstinacy of the garrison, who expected to be relieved, and who were prepared to sally out. The fiftieth assault made yesterday in the middle of the day to the inner works was followed by a frightful massacre, with little loss on our side. The terrible example, which I foresaw with regret in my last report to your Highness, has taken place, and will be long remembered in Spain. Four thousand men were killed in the streets; ten or twelve thousand attempted to save themselves by getting over the walls, a thousand of whom were sabred or drowned; we have made 10,000 prisoners, including 500 officers, and in the hospitals remain 1,500 wounded, whose lives have been spared.”

[152] The duration of the siege was seventeen days, and for seven the breach had been perfectly open.

[153] Lord Londonderry.

[154] The probability of hitting the same object at different ranges, with the same gun, may be considered to be in the inverse ratio of the distances respectively; the advantage, however, being always in favour of guns at or under the line of metal.

The probabilities of hitting objects of various size, the gun and range being the same, are somewhat in the ratio of the square roots of the surfaces fired at.

Of any given number of rounds, with 24-pounders of nine feet six inches, under favourable circumstances, the range being accurately ascertained, the object on, or nearly on, a level with the gun—the traverse or trunnion—axis of the gun—being horizontal, the following proportion of shot may be expected to hit without grazing:

Range in yards600900120015001800
A six feet target, 36 square ft.5/84/91/32/91/7
A nine feet target, 81 square ft.7/82/31/21/33/14

Ranges of a 32-pounder long gun, 9½ feet, charge 10 lbs. 11 oz. powder, single shot, initial velocity 1600 feet.