“Leaving Taragona on the 16th (May), we reached Peniscola in the forenoon of the 17th.”——“From thence general Doyle wrote to general O’Donnel an account of the situation of Taragona and of my detaining captain Adam at Peniscola, in readiness to receive any reinforcement which he might be pleased to send to that garrison. Upon our arrival off Murviedro, we found general O’Donnel had already ordered the embarkation of two thousand three hundred infantry and two hundred and eleven artillery-men.”——“Delivering to general O’Donnel two thousand stand of arms, accoutrements, and clothing to enable him to bring into the field as many recruits already trained as would supply the place of the regular soldiers; thus detached from his army, we proceeded to Valencia and landed the remainder of our cargo, by which means the troops of general Villa Campa, then dispersed as peasantry for want of arms, were enabled again to take the field, and the corps of Mina and the Empecinado completed in all the requisites of active warfare.”
“At Alicant we proceeded to take in as many necessary materials for Taragona as the ship would actually stow, besides eighty artillery men and a considerable quantity of powder, ball-cartridge, &c. sent in the Paloma Spanish corvette from Carthagena in company with a Spanish transport from Cadiz deeply laden with similar supplies.”
“After returning to Valencia, where we landed the additional arms, &c. for the Aragonese army, we moved on to Murviedro, where the conde of Bispal proceeded from Valencia to join us in a consultation with his brother, although, on account of his wound, he was very unfit for such a journey. The result of this conference was a determination on the part of general O’Donnel to commit to my protection, for the succour of Taragona, another division of his best troops under general Miranda, consisting of four thousand men, whilst he himself would move forward with the remainder of his army to the banks of the Ebro.”
“The frequent disappointments which the brave Catalonian army had heretofore met with from Valencian promises, made the sight of so extensive and disinterested a reinforcement the more truly welcome, because the less expected, and the admiration which was thus created in the besieged appeared to produce proportionate anxiety on the part of the enemy.”
“I shall direct the whole of my attention to the neighbourhood of Taragona, in readiness for harassing the retreat of the French, if general Suchet should unfortunately be obliged to raise the siege, and for re-embarking and restoring to general O’Donnel whatever may remain of the Valencian troops, according to the solemn pledge he exacted from me before he would consent thus to part with the flower and strength of his army. He even went so far as to declare, in the presence of general Miranda, the principal officer of his staff, general Doyle, captain Adam, captain White, and myself, that he considered me as entirely answerable for the safety of the kingdom of Valencia, and that if I failed in redeeming my pledge he would resign his command for that particular account.”
“It is but justice to myself, however, that I should tell you that I did most distinctly warn general O’Donnel, that I would in no case answer for his army if placed under the immediate command of Campo Verde, for any distant inland operation, more particularly as I knew that, in addition to his own deficiency in ability, he was surrounded by people whose advice and whose conduct was in no case to be relied on.”
Ditto to ditto.
“Blake, Taragona, June 22, 1811.
“I found upon my last return here an arrangement made, that in case of the enemy gaining the Puerto, general Sarsfield should retire to the Mole with part of his division, from whence I had only to assist, but was much astonished to find, by a message, through colonel Green, from general Contreras, that although he had heard of such a disposition being made by general Sarsfield, and assented to by the English squadron, it had not his official knowledge or approbation.”——“I understand that an order had arrived in the morning from the marquis of Campo Verde for general Velasco to take the command of the Puerto, and for general Sarsfield to join his army, that the latter had given up his command to some colonel at about three o’clock, who was, by his own confession, totally unfit for it, and that general Velasco only arrived in time to find the Spanish troops flying in confusion from the want of being properly commanded and the French assaulting the place.”
Captain Codrington to sir E. Pellew.