Tortoza, situated on the left of the Ebro, communicatedVacani. with the right bank by a bridge of boats, which was the only Spanish bridge on that river,Rogniat. from Zaragoza to the sea; and below and above the place there was a plain, but so narrowed bySuchet. the juttings of the mountains at the point where the town was built, that while part of the houses stood close to the water on flat ground, the other part stood on the bluff rocky points shot from the hills above; and thus appeared to tie the mountains, the river, and the plains together.
Five of these shoots were taken into the defence, either by the ramparts or by outworks. That on the south of the town was crowned by the fort of Orleans, and on the north another was occupied by a fort called the Tenaxas. To the east a horn-work was raised on a third shoot, which being prolonged, and rising suddenly again between the suburbs and the city, furnished the site of a castle or citadel: the other two, and the deep ravines between them were defended by the ramparts of the place, which were extremely irregular, and strong from their situation, rather than their construction.
There were four fronts.
1º. The northern defending the suburb. Although this front was built on the plain, it was so imbedded between the Ebro, the horn-work, the citadel, and the Tenaxas, that it could not even be approached without first taking the latter fort.
2º. The eastern. Extending from the horn-work to the bastion of San Pico. Here the deep ravines and the rocky nature of the ground, which was also overlooked by the citadel and flanked by the horn-work, rendered any attack very difficult.
3º. The south eastern. From the bastion of San Pico to the bastion of Santa Cruz. This front, protected by a deep narrow ravine, was again covered by the fort of Orleans, which was itself covered by a second ravine.
4º. The southern. From the Santa Cruz to the Ebro. The ground of approach here was flat, the soil easy to work in, and the fort of Orleans not sufficiently advanced to flank it with any dangerous effect; wherefore against this front Suchet resolved to conduct his attack.
The Rocquetta, a rising ground opposite the bridge-head on the right bank of the Ebro, was fortified and occupied by three regiments, but the other troops were collected at Xerta; and the 15th, before day-break, Suchet crossed the Ebro by his own bridge at that point, with eight battalions, the sappers, and two squadrons of hussars. He marched between the mountains and the river upon the fort of Tenaxas, while general Habert, with two regiments and three hundred hussars, moved from the side of Perillo, and attacked a detachment of the garrison which was encamped on the Col d’Alba eastward of the city. When Suchet’s column arrived in sight of the works, the head took ground, but the rear, under general Harispe, filed off to the left, across the rugged shoots from the hills, and swept round the place, leaving in every ravine and on every ridge a detachment, until the half circle ended on the Ebro, below Tortoza. The investment was then perfected on the left bankSuchet. by the troops from Rocquetta; and during this movement Habert, having seized the Col d’Alba, entered the line of investment, driving before himOfficial extract of Mr. Wellesley’s despatches MSS. six hundred men, who hardly escaped being cut off from the place by the march of Harispe. The communication across the water was then established by three, and afterwards by four flying bridges, placed above and below the town; a matter of some difficulty and importance, because all the artillery and stores had to come from Rocquetta, across the water, which was there two hundred yards wide, and in certain winds very rough.