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cavalry, and bent his course towards La Baneza ;* the same day Franceschi carried the bridge of Mansilla de las Mulas by a single charge of his light horsemen, and captured the artillery and one half of the Spanish division left to protect it. Romana immediately abandoned Leon and many stores, and the 31st the Duke of Dalmatia entered that town without firing a shot, while the Duke of Istria, with his cavalry, took possession of La Baneza; the advanced posts were then pushed forward to the Puente d'Orvigo on one side, and the Puente de Valembre on the other. The rear of the English army was still in Astorga, the head-quarters having arrived there only the day before.

In the preceding month large stores had been gradually brought up to this town by Sir David Baird, and as there were no means of transport to remove them, orders were given, after supplying the immediate wants of the army, to destroy them; but Romana, who would neither defend Leon nor Mansilla, had, contrary to his promises, pre-occupied Astorga with his fugitive army, and when the English divisions marched in, such a tumult and confusion arose, that no orders could be executed with regularity, no distribution made, nor the destruction of the stores be effected. The disorder thus unexpectedly produced was very detrimental to the discipline of the troops, which the unwearied efforts of the General had partly restored; the resources which he had depended on for the support of his soldiers became mischievous, and contributed to disorganize instead of nourishing them. And he had the further vexation to hear Romana, the principal cause of this misfortune, proposing, with troops unable to resist a thousand light infantry, to recommence offensive operations on a plan, in comparison with which the visions of Don Quixote were wisdom.

On the 31st, the flank brigades separated from the army at Bonillas, and bent their course by cross-roads towards Orense and Vigo, being detached to lessen the pressure on the commissariat, and to cover the flanks of the army; Fraser's and Hope's divisions entered Villa Franca, and Baird's division was at Bembibre; the reserve, with the head-quarters, halted at Cambarros, a village six miles from Astorga, until the cavalry fell back in the night to the same place, and then the reserve marched to Bembibre. The Marquis of Romana, after doing so much mischief by crossing the line. of march, left his infantry to wander as they pleased, and retired with his cavalry and some guns to the valley of the Minho, and the rest of his artillery mixed with the British army, but most of it was captured before reaching Lugo.

* Bulletin.

+ S. Journal of Operations, MS.

Upon the 1st of January the Emperor took possession of Astorga, where seventy thousand French infantry, ten thousand cavalry, and two hundred pieces of artillery, after many days of incessant marching, were now united. The congregation of this mighty force, while it evinced the power and energy of the French monarch, attested also the genius of the English General, who, with a handful of men, had found the means to arrest the course of the conqueror, and to draw him, with the flower of his army, to this remote and unimportant part of the Peninsula, at the moment when Portugal, and the fairest provinces of Spain, were prostrate beneath the strength of his hand. That Spain, being in her extremity, Sir John Moore succored her, and in the hour of weakness intercepted the blow which was descending to crush her, no man of candor and honesty can deny. For what troops, what preparations, what courage, what capacity was there in the south to have resisted, even for an instant, the progress of a man who, in ten days, and in the depth of winter, crossing the snowy ridge of the Carpentinos, had traversed two hundred miles of hostile country, and transported fifty thousand men from Madrid to Astorga, in a shorter time than a Spanish courier would have taken to travel the same distance?

This stupendous march was rendered fruitless by the quickness of his adversary; but Napoleon, though he had failed to destroy the English army, resolved, nevertheless, to cast it forth of the Peninsula, and being himself recalled to France by tidings that the Austrian storm was ready to burst, had fixed upon the Duke of Dalmatia to continue the pursuit. For this purpose three divisions of cavalry and three of infantry were added to his former command; but of these last, the two commanded by Generals Loison and Heudelet were several marches in the rear, and General Bonnet's remained always in the Montaña de Santander. Hence the whole number bearing arms which the Duke led immediately to the pursuit, was about twenty-five thousand men, of which four thousand two hundred were cavalry, composing the divisions of Lorges, La Houssaye, and Franceschi.* Fifty-four guns were with the columns, Loison's and Heudelet's divisions followed by forced marches, and Soult was supported by Ney with the sixth corps, wanting its third division, but mustering above sixteen thousand men under arms, the flower of the French army, together with thirty-seven pieces of artillery. Thus, including Laborde, Heudelet, and Loison's division, nearly sixty thousand men and ninetyone guns were put on the track of the English army. Meanwhile the Emperor returned to Valladolid, where he received the addresses of the notables and deputies from Madrid and other great towns, *S. Journal of Operations, MS.

and strove, by promises and other means, to win the good opinion of the public. Appointing Joseph to be his lieutenant-general, he allotted separate provinces for each "corps d'armée," and directing the imperial guard to return to France, after three days' delay he departed himself with scarcely an escort, but with an astonishing speed that frustrated the designs which the Spaniards had, as some say, formed against his person.

CHAPTER V.

Sir John Moore retreats towards Vigo; is closely pursued-Miserable scene at Bembibre-Excesses at Villa Franca-Combat at Calcabellos-Death of General Colbert-March to Nogales-Line of retreat changed from Vigo to Coruña -Skilful passage of the bridge of Constantino; skirmish there-The army halts at Lugo-Sir John Moore offers battle; it is not accepted; he makes a forced march to Betenzos; loses many stragglers; rallies the army; reaches Coruña-The army takes a position-Two large stores of powder explodedFleet arrives in the harbor; army commences embarking-Battle of CoruñaDeath of Sir John Moore-His character.

THE Duke of Dalmatia, a general who, if the Emperor be excepted, was no wise inferior to any of his nation, commenced his pursuit of the English army with a vigor that marked his eager desire to finish the campaign in a manner suitable to the brilliant opening at Gamonal. The main body of his troops followed the route of Foncevadon and Ponteferrada; a second column took the road of Cambarros and Bembibre; Franceschi entered the valley of Syl, and moving up that river, turned the position of Villa Franca del Bierzo.*

Thus Sir John Moore, after having twice baffled the Emperor's combinations, was still pressed in his retreat with a fury that seemed to increase every moment. The separation of his light brigades, a measure which he reluctantly adopted by the advice of his quartermaster-general, had weakened the army by three thousand men, yet he still possessed nineteen thousand of all arms, good soldiers to fight, and strong to march, although shaken in discipline by the disorders at Valderas and Astorga; for the General's exertions to restore order and regularity were by many officers slightly seconded, and by some with scandalous levity disregarded. There was no choice but to retreat. The astonishing rapidity with which the Emperor had brought up his overbearing numbers, and thrust the English army into Gallicia, had rendered the natural strength of * S. Journal of Operations, MS.

that country unavailing; the resources were few, even for an army in winter quarters, and for a campaign in that season, there were none at all. All the draught cattle that could be procured would scarcely have supplied the means to transport ammunition for two battles, whereas the French, sweeping the rich plains of Castile with their powerful cavalry, might have formed magazines at Astorga and Leon, and from thence have been supplied in abundance, while the English were starving.

Before he advanced from Salamanca, Moore, foreseeing that his movement must sooner or later end in a retreat, had sent officers to examine the roads of Gallicia and the harbors which offered the greatest advantages for embarkation; by the reports of those officers, which arrived from day to day, and by the state of the magazines which he had directed to be formed, his measures were constantly regulated. The magazines of Astorga, Benevente, and Labaneza, were, by untoward circumstances, and the deficiency of transport, rendered, as we have seen, of no avail beyond the momentary supply they afforded, and part of their contents falling into the enemy's hands, gave him some cause of triumph; but those at Villa Franca and Lugo contained about fourteen days' consumption, and there were other small magazines formed on the line of Orense and Vigo.

More than this could not have been accomplished. It was now only the fifteenth day since Sir John Moore had left Salamanca, and already the torrent of war, diverted from the south, was foaming among the rocks of Gallicia. Nineteen thousand British troops, posted in strong ground, might have offered battle to very superior numbers, but where was the use of merely fighting an enemy who had three hundred thousand men in Spain? Nothing could be gained by such a display of courage, and the English General, by a quick retreat, might reach his ships unmolested, embark, and carrying his army from the narrow corner in which it was cooped to the southern provinces, establish there a good base of operations, and renew the war under favorable circumstances. It was by this combination of a fleet and army that the greatest assistance could be given to Spain, and the strength of England become most formidable. A few days' sailing would carry the troops to Cadiz, but six weeks' constant marching would not bring the French army from Gallicia to that neighborhood. The northern provinces were broken, subdued in spirit, and possessed few resources; the southern provinces had scarcely seen an enemy, were rich and fertile, and there also was the seat of government. Sir John Moore, reasoning thus, resolved to fall down to the coast and embark, with as little Sir John Moore's Papers, MS.

loss or delay as might be; but Vigo, Coruña, and Ferrol were the principal harbors, and their relative advantages could not be determined except by the reports of the engineers, none of which, so rapidly had the crisis of affairs come on, were yet received; and as those reports could only be obtained from day to day, the line of retreat became of necessity subject to daily change.

*

When the Duke of Dalmatia took the command of the pursuing army, Hope's and Fraser's divisions were, as I have said, at Villa Franca, Baird's at Bembibre, the reserve and cavalry at Cambarros, six miles from Astorga. Behind Cambarros, the mountains of Gallicia rose abruptly, but there was no position, because, after the first rise at the village of Rodrigatos, the ground continually descended to Calcabellos, a small town, only four miles from Villa Franca, and the old road of Foncevadon and Ponteferrada, which turned the whole line, was choked with the advancing columns of the enemy. The reserve and the cavalry therefore marched, during the night to Bembibre, and on their arrival Baird's division proceeded to Calcabellos; but in the immense wine vaults of Bembibre many hundred of his men remained behind inebriated, the followers of the army crowded the houses, and a number of Romana's disbanded men were mixed with this heterogeneous mass of marauders, drunkards, muleteers, women, and children; the weather was dreadful, and, notwithstanding the utmost exertions of the General-in-chief, when the reserve marched the next morning, the number of those unfortunate wretches was not diminished. Leaving a small guard to protect them, Sir John Moore proceeded to Calcabellos, yet scarcely had the reserve marched out of the village, when some French cavalry appeared, and in a moment the road was filled with the miserable stragglers, who came crowding after the troops, some with shrieks of distress and wild gestures, others with brutal exclamations, while many, overcome with fear, threw away their arms, while those who preserved them were too stupidly intoxicated to fire, and kept reeling to and fro, alike insensible to their danger and to their disgrace. The enemy's horsemen, perceiving this, bore at a gallop through the disorderly mob, cutting to the right and left as they passed, and riding so close to the columns, that the infantry were forced to halt in order to check their audacity.

At Calcabellos the reserve took up a position. Baird then marched to Herrerias, and the General-in-chief went on to Villa Franca. But in that town great excesses had been committed by the preceding divisions; the magazines were plundered, the bakers driven away from the ovens, the wine stores forced, and the com* See Colonel Carmichael Smith's report.

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