History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 3

by William Francis Patrick Napier

CHAPTER II.

The greatness of the French reinforcements having dispelled the idea of offensive operations, lord Wellington turned his whole attention to Portugal, and notwithstanding the unfavourable change of circumstances, the ministers consented that he should undertake its defence; yet, the majority yielding to the influence of his brother, rather than to their own conviction of its practicability, and throwing the responsibility entirely on the shoulders of the general. The deep designs, the vast combinations, and the mighty efforts, by which he worked out the deliverance of that country, were beyond the compass of their policy; and even now, it is easier to admire than to comprehend, the moral intrepidity which sustained him under so many difficulties, and the sagacity which enabled him to overcome them; for he had an enemy with a sharp sword to fight, the follies and fears of several weak cabinets to correct, the snares of unprincipled politicians to guard against, and finally to oppose public opinion. Failure was every where anticipated, and there were but few who even thought him serious in his undertaking. But having now brought the story of the war down to the period, when not Spain nor Portugal, but England was to contend with France; before I enter upon the narrative of this memorable contest, it will be well to take a survey of the respective conditions and plans of the belligerents, and to shew how great the preparations, how prodigious the forces on both sides, and with what a power each was impelled forward to the shock.

State of the French.—France victorious, and in a state of the highest prosperity, could with ease, furnish double the number of men, required to maintain the struggle in the Peninsula for many years. But the utmost strength of the Spaniards having been proved, it was evident that if the French could crush the British armies, disorder and confusion might indeed be prolonged for a few years, yet no effectual resistance made, and as in the war of succession, the people would gradually accommodate themselves to the change of dynasty, especially as the little worth of Ferdinand was now fully demonstrated, by an effort to effect his release. The agent, a baron Kolli being detected, and his place supplied by one of the French police to ascertain the intentions of the captive king, the latter, influenced by personal fears alone, not only refused to make the attempt, but dishonourably denounced Kolli to the French government. The only real obstacles then to the entire conquest of the Peninsula were Cadiz and Portugal. The strength of the former was precarious, and the enormous forces assembled to subdue the latter appeared to be equal to the task. Yet in war, there are always circumstances, which, though extraneous to the military movements, influence them as much as the wind influences the sailing of a ship, and amongst the most important of these, must be reckoned the conduct of the intrusive king.

Joseph was a man of so amiable a nature, that even the Spaniards never accused him of any thing worse than being too convivial; but it is evident that he was unequal to his task and mistook his true situation, when, resisting Napoleon’s policy, he claimed the treatment of an independent king. He should have known that he was a tool, and in Spain, could only be a tool of the emperor’s. To have refused a crown, like his brother Lucien, would have been heroic firmness, but like his brother Louis, first to accept, and then to resist the hand that conferred it, was a folly that, without ameliorating the condition of the Spaniards, threw fatal obstacles in Napoleon’s path. Joseph’s object was to create a Spanish party for himself by gentle and just means, but the scales fell from the hands of justice when the French first entered the Peninsula, and while the English supported Spain, it was absurd to expect even a sullen submission, much less attachment from a nation so abused, neither was it possible to recast public feeling, until the people had passed through the furnace of war. The French soldiers were in Spain for conquest, and without them the intrusive monarch could not keep his throne.

Now Joseph’s Spanish ministers, were men who joined him upon principle, and who, far from shewing a renegado zeal in favour of the French, were as ardently attached to their own country, as any of those who shouted for Ferdinand VII.; and whenever Spanish interests clashed (and that was constantly) with those of the French armies, they as well as the king invariably supported the former; Appendix, [No. IV.] Section 1.and so strenuously, that in Paris it was even supposed that they intended to fall on the emperor’s troops. Thus civil contention weakened the military operations, and obliged Napoleon either to take the command in person, or to adopt a policy which however defective, will upon inspection prove perhaps, to have been the best adapted to the actual state of affairs.

He suffered, or as some eager to lower a great man’s genius to their own level, have asserted, he fomented disputes between the marshals and the king, but the true question is, could he prevent those disputes? A wise policy, does not consist in pushing any one point to the utmost perfection of which it may be susceptible, but in regulating and balancing opposing interests, in such a manner, that the greatest benefit shall arise from the working of the whole.

To arrive at a sound judgement of Napoleon’s measures, it would be necessary to weigh all the various interests of his political position, but there are not sufficient materials yet before the world, to do this correctly, and we may be certain, that his situation with respect both to foreign and domestic policy, required extraordinary management. It must always be remembered, that, he was not merely a conqueror, but the founder, of a political structure too much exposed to storms from without, to bear any tampering with its internal support. If money be the sinew of war, it is the vital stream of peace, and there is nothing more remarkable in Napoleon’s policy, than the care with which he handled financial matters; avoiding as he would the plague, that fictitious system of public credit, so fatuitously cherished in England. He could not without hurting France, transmit large quantities of gold to Spain, and the only resource left was to make “the war maintain the war.”

But Joseph’s desire of popularity, and the feelings of his ministers, were much opposed to this system; nor were the proceeds always applied for the benefit of the troops. This demanded a remedy; yet openly to declare the king of no consideration would have been impolitic in the highest degree. The emperor adopted an intermediate course, and formed what were called “particular military governments,” such as Navarre, Aragon, Catalonia, and Andalusia; in which the marshal, or general, named governor possessed both the civil and military power: in short, he created viceroys as he had threatened to do when at See Vol. I. p. 420.Madrid; and, though many disadvantages attended this arrangement, it appears to have been wise and consistent with the long reach which distinguishes all Napoleon’s measures. The principal disadvantages were, that it mortally offended the king, by thwarting his plans for establishing a national party; that many of the governors were Appendix, [No. IV.] Sections 2 and 3.wantonly oppressive, and attentive only to their own situation, without regarding the general objects of the war; that both the Spanish ministers and the people regarded it as a step towards dismembering Spain, and especially with respect to the provinces beyond the Ebro; and, indeed, the annexing those parts to France, if not resolved upon, was at one time contemplated by the emperor.

On the other hand, experience proved, that Joseph was not a general equal to the times. Napoleon himself admits, that, at this period, the marauding Memoires de St. Helene.system necessary to obtain supplies, joined to the Guerilla warfare, had relaxed the discipline of the French armies, and introduced a horrible license, while the military movements were feebly pushed. Hence, perhaps, the only effectual means to obtain the resources of Spain for the troops, with least devastation, was to make the success of each “corps d’armée,” and the reputation of its commander, dependent upon the welfare of the province in which it was fighting. And, although some of the governors, had neither the sense nor the justice to fulfil this expectation; others, such as Soult and Suchet, did tranquillize the people, and yet provided all necessary things for their own troops; results which would certainly not have been attained under the supreme government of the king, because he knew nothing of war, loved pleasure, was of an easy, obliging disposition, and had a court to form and maintain.