The 10th the spies in Barcelona gave notice that eight or ten thousand French with fourteen guns, would march from that city the next day. Copons immediately joined Manso, and Murray, as if he now disdained his enemy, continued to disembark stores, landed several mortars, armed the batteries at the Olivo, and on the 11th opened their fire, in concert with that from the ships of war.
This was the first serious attack, and the English general, professing a wish to fight the column coming from Barcelona, sent the cavalry under lord Frederick Bentinck to Altafalla, and in person sought a position of battle to the eastward. He left orders to storm the outworks that night, but returned, before the hour appointed, extremely disturbed by intelligence that Maurice Mathieu was at Villa Franca with eight thousand combatants, and Suchet closing upon the Col de Balaguer. The infirmity of his mind was now apparent to the whole army. At eight o’clock he repeated his order to assault the outworks; at ten o’clock the storming party was in the dry bed of the Francoli, awaiting the signal, when a countermand arrived; the siege was then to be raised and the guns removed immediately from the Olivo; the commander of the artillery remonstrated, and the general then promised to hold the batteries until the next night. Meanwhile the detachment at Valls and the cavalry at Altafalla were called in, without any notice to general Copons, though he depended on their support.
The parc and all the heavy guns of the batteries on the low grounds were removed to the beach for embarkation on the morning of the 12th, and at twelve o’clock lord Frederick Bentinck arrived from Altafalla with the cavalry. It is said he was ordered to shoot his horses, but refused to obey, and moved towards the Col de Balaguer. The detachment from Valls arrived next, and the infantry marched to Cape Salou to embark, but the horsemen followed lord Frederick, and were themselves followed by fourteen pieces of artillery; each body moved independently, and all was confused, incoherent, afflicting, and dishonorable to the British arms.
While the seamen were embarking the guns, the quarter-master-general came down to the beach, with orders to abandon that business and collect boats for the reception of troops, the enemy being supposed close at hand; and notwithstanding Murray’s promise to hold the Olivo until nightfall, fresh directions were given to spike the guns there, and burn the carriages. Then loud murmurs arose on every side, and from both services; army and navy were alike indignant, and so excited, that it is said personal insult was offered to the general. Three staff-officers repaired in a body to Murray’s quarters, to offer plans and opinions, and the admiral who it would appear did not object to raising the siege but to the manner of doing it, would not suffer the seamen to discontinue the embarkation of artillery. He even urged an attack upon the column coming from Barcelona, and opposed the order to spike the guns at the Olivo, offering to be responsible for carrying all clear off during the night.
Thus pressed, Murray again wavered. Denying that he had ordered the battering pieces to be spiked, he sent counter-orders, and directed a part of Clinton’s troops to advance towards the Gaya river. Yet a few hours afterwards he reverted to his former resolution, and peremptorily renewed the order for the artillery to spike the guns on the Olivo, and burn the carriages. Nor was even this unhappy action performed without confusion. The different orders received by Clinton in the course of the day had indicated the extraordinary vacillation of the commander-in-chief, and Clinton himself, forgetful of his own arrangements, with an obsolete courtesy took off his hat to salute an enemy’s battery which had fired upon him; but this waving of his hat from that particular spot was also the conventional signal for the artillery to spike the guns, and they were thus spiked prematurely. The troops were however all embarked in the night of the 12th, and many of the stores and horses were shipped on the 13th without the slightest interruption from the enemy; but eighteen or nineteen battering pieces, whose carriages had been burnt, were, with all the platforms, fascines, gabions, and small ammunition, in view of the fleet and army, triumphantly carried into the fortress. Sir J. Murray meanwhile seemingly unaffectedAdmiral Hallowel’s evidence on the trial. by this misfortune, shipped himself on the evening of the 12th and took his usual repose in bed.
While the English general was thus precipitately abandoning the siege, the French generals, unable to surmount the obstacles opposed to their junction, unable even to communicate by their emissaries, were despairing of the safety of Taragona. Suchet did not reach Tortoza before the 10th, but a detachment from the garrison, had on the 8th attempted to succour San Felipe, and nearly captured the naval captain Adam, colonel Prevot, and other officers, who were examining the country. On the other side Maurice Mathieu, having gathered troops from various places, reached Villa Franca early on the 10th, and deceiving even his own peopleLaffaille Campagne de Catalonia. as to his numbers, gave out that Decaen, who he really expected, was close behind with a powerful force. To give effect to this policy, he drove Copons from Arbos on the 11th, and his scouting parties entered Vendrills, as if he was resolved singly to attack Murray. Sir Edward Pellew had however landed his marines at Rosas, which arrested Decaen’s march; and Maurice Mathieu alarmed at the cessation of fire about Taragona, knowing nothing of Suchet’s movements, and too weak to fight the allies alone, fell back in the night of the 12th to the Llobregat, his main body never having passed Villa Franca.
Suchet’s operations to the westward were even less decisive. His advanced guard under Panettier, reached Perillo the 10th. The 11th not hearing from his spies, he caused Panettier to pass by his left over the mountains through Valdillos to some heights which terminate abruptly on the Campo, above Monroig. The 12th that officer reached the extreme verge of the hills, being then about twenty-five miles from Taragona. His patroles descending into the plains, met with lord Frederick Bentinck’s troopers reported that Murray’s whole army was at hand, wherefore he would not enter the Campo, but at night he kindled large fires to encourage the garrison of Taragona. These signals were however unobserved, the country people had disappeared, no intelligence could be procured, and Suchet could not follow him with a large force into those wild desert hills, where there was no water. Thus on both sides of Taragona the succouring armies were quite baffled at the moment chosen by Murray for flight.
Suchet now received alarming intelligence from Valencia, yet still anxious for Taragona, he pushed, on the 14th, along the coast-road towards San Felippe de Balaguer, thinking to find Prevôt’s division alone; but the head of his column was suddenly cannonaded by the Thames frigate, and he was wonderfully surprised to see the whole British fleet anchored off San Felippe, and disembarking troops. Murray’s operations were indeed as irregular as those of a partizan, yet without partizan vigour. He had heard in the night of the 12th, from colonel Prevôt, of Panettier’s march to Monroig, and to protect the cavalry and guns under lord Frederick Bentinck, sent Mackenzie’s division by sea to Balaguer on the 13th, following with the whole army on the 14th. Mackenzie drove back the French posts on both sides of the pass, the embarkation of the cavalry and artillery then commenced, and Suchet, still uncertain if Taragona had fallen, moved towards Valdillos to bring off Panettier.
At this precise period, Murray heard that Maurice Mathieu’s column, which he always erroneously supposed to be under Decaen, had retired to the Llobregat, that Copons was again at Reus, and that Taragona had not been reinforced. Elated by this information, he revolved various projects in his mind, at one time thinking to fall upon Suchet, at another to cut off Panettier, now resolving to march upon Cambrills, and even to menace Taragona again by land; then he was for sending a detachment by sea to surprise the latter, but finally he disembarked his whole force on the 15th, and being ignorant of Suchet’s last movement decided to strike at Panettier. In this view, he detached[See Plan, No. 1.] Mackenzie, by a rugged valley leading from the eastward to Valdillos, and that officer reached it on the 16th, but Suchet had already carried off Panettier’s brigade, and the next day the British detachment was recalled by Murray, who now only thought of re-embarking.
This determination was caused by a fresh alarm from the eastward, for Maurice Mathieu, whose whole proceedings evinced both skill and vigour, hearing that the siege of Taragona was raised, and the allies re-landed at the Col de Balaguer, retraced his steps and boldly entered Cambrills the 17th. On that day, however, Mackenzie returned, and Murray’s whole army was thus concentrated in the pass. Suchet was then behind Perillo, Copons at Reus, having come there at Murray’s desire to attack Maurice Mathieu, and the latter would have suffered, if the English general had been capable of a vigorous stroke. On the other hand it was fortunate for Mackenzie, that Suchet, too anxious for Valencia, disregarded his movement upon Valdillos; but, taught by the disembarkation of the whole English army that the fate of Taragona, whether for good or evil, was decided, he had sent an emissary to Maurice Mathieu on the 16th, and then retired to Perillo and Amposta. He reached the latter place the 17th, attentive only to the movement of the fleet, and meanwhile Maurice Mathieu endeavoured to surprize the Catalans at Reus.