Barcelona, the centre of his operations, was encircled by mountains, to be passed only at certain defiles; now Reus and Manresa, were beyond those defiles, and several days march from each other. Rovira and Milans being about San Culgat, cut the communication between Manresa and Barcelona; and O’Donnel, at Taragona, was nearer to the defiles of Cristina, than the French divisions at Reus. His communication with Campo Verde, was open by Valls, Pla, and Santa Coloma de Querault; and with Milans and Rovira, by Villa Franca, San Sadurni, and Igualada.
Augereau indeed, placed a battalion in Villa Franca, but this only rendered his situation worse; for what could six hundred men effect in a mountainous country against three considerable bodies of the enemy? The result was inevitable. The battalion, at Villa Franca, was put to the sword; Swartz only saved a remnant of his brigade by a timely flight; the divisions at Reus with difficulty made good their retreat; and O’Donnel, who, one month before, had retired from the battle of Vich, broken and discomfited by only five thousand French, now, with that very beaten army, baffled Augereau, and obliged him, although at the head of more than twenty thousand men, to abandon Lower Catalonia, and retire to Gerona with disgrace: a surprising change, yet one in which fortune had no share.
Napoleon’s Memoirs.
Augereau’s talents for handling small corps in a battle, have been recorded by a master hand. There is a vast difference between that and conducting a campaign; but the truth is, that Catalonia had, like Aragon, been declared a particular government, and Augereau, afflicted with gout, remained in the palace of Barcelona, affecting the state of a viceroy, when he should have been at the head of his troops in the field. On the other hand, his opponent, a hardy resolute man, excited by a sudden celebrity, was vigilant, indefatigable, and eager. He merited the success he obtained; and, with better and more experienced troops, that success would have been infinitely greater. Yet if the expedition to Valencia had not taken place, O’Donnel, distracted by a double attack, would have remained at Taragona; and neither the action of Vich, nor the disasters at Mollet, Villa Franca, and Esparaguera, would have taken place.
Napoleon, discontented, as he well might be, with these operations, appointed M’Donald, duke of Tarentum, to supersede Augereau; but, in the meantime, the latter, having reached Gerona, disposed his troops in the most commodious manner to cover the blockade of Hostalrich, giving Severoli the command.
FALL OF HOSTALRICH CASTLE.
This citadel was invested early in January. Situated on a high rock, armed with forty guns, well garrisoned, and commanded by a brave man, it was nearly impregnable; and the French at first endeavoured to reduce it by a simple blockade: but, towards the middle of February, commenced the erection of mortar-batteries. Severoli also pressed the place more vigorously than before, and although O’Donnel, collecting convoys on the side of Vich and Mattaro, caused the blockading troops to be attacked at several points by the Miguelettes, every attempt to introduce supplies failed. The garrison was reduced to extremity, and honourable terms were offered, but the governor, Julian Estrada, rejected them, and prepared to break through the Napoleon’s Memoirs.enemy’s line, an exploit always expected from a good garrison in Turenne’s days, and, as Napoleon has shewn by numerous examples, generally successful.
O’Donnel, who could always communicate with the garrison, being aware of their intention, sent some vessels to Arenys de Mar, and made demonstrations from thence, and from the side of St. Celoni, to favour the enterprise; and in the night of the 12th, Estrada, leaving his sick behind, came forth with about fourteen hundred men. He first made as if for St. Celoni, but afterwards turning to his right, broke through on the side of St. Felieu de Buxalieu and pushed for Vich; but the French closing rapidly from the right and left, pursued so closely, that Estrada himself was wounded, and taken, together with about three hundred men; many also were killed, the rest dispersed in the mountains, and eight hundred reached Vich in safety. This courageous action was therefore successful. Thus, on the 14th of May, after four months of blockade and ten weeks of bombardment, the castle fell, the line of communication with Barcelona was completed, and the errors committed by Duhesme were partly remedied, but at an expense of two years of field operations, many battles, and four sieges.
Two small islands, called Las Medas, situated at the mouth of the Ter, and affording a safe anchorage, were next seized, and this event which facilitated the passage of the French vessels, stealing from port to port with provisions, or despatches, finished Augereau’s career. It had been the very reverse of St. Cyr’s. The latter, victorious in the field, was humane afterwards; but Augereau endeavouring, to frighten those people into submission, Victoires et Conquêtes des Français.who he had failed to beat, erected gibbets along the high-roads, upon which every man taken in arms was hung up without remorse, producing precisely the effect that might be expected. The Catalans more animated by their successes, than daunted by this barbarous severity, became incredibly savage in their revenge, and thus all human feeling lost, both parties were alike steeped in blood and loaded with crimes.