remained in arms, and giving time for the raising and embodying of new levies in the south. But he never ceased to contemplate the necessity of retreat, whenever the British army should become the chief object of the enemy's attention. It was not long till that happened; for, on the 14th of December, a dispatch from Berthier to Soult was intercepted, directing him to occupy Leon, Benevente, and Zamora, to drive the Spaniards into Gallicia, and maintain subjection in the flat country. It stated, that no annoyance need be apprehended from the English, who were already supposed to be in full retreat on Portugal. But should that not be the case, the movement of the fourth corps on Badajos would speedily realise the anticipation. It likewise appeared from this dispatch, that Soult was at Saldanha with two divisions; and that Mortier, with another, had orders to march on Zaragoza. The eighth corps, under Junot, (so much for the Convention of Cintra,) was stated to have passed the Pyrenees, and would probably be concentrated at Burgos. It had been Moore's intention to push onward to Valladolid; but he now thought it high time to alter his plans; so he removed his headquarters to Toro, and ordered Baird to concentrate his division at Benevente. At Toro he received letters from Mr Frere, and from the Supreme Junta, still assuring him of the unabated enthusiasm of the Spanish people, and that Romana was about to join him with 14,000 men ; and urging him to engage immediately in active operations against the enemy. The chief command of the Spanish armies was offered him; but against his better judgment, he had already engaged in operations from which he had anticipated little beneficial result; and now he was resolved to act for himself, and to turn a deaf ear to all requests or remonstrances. At this very moment of perplexity, though not of irresolution, he received intelligence that Romana, who, according to Mr Frere, was to join him with 14,000 men, had actually commenced his retreat from Leon on Gallicia! Romana, however, expressed his readiness to return, and join in any operation against the enemy. Moore therefore resolved, if possible, to attack Soult in his position at Saldanha, about 80 miles to the northward of Toro. He considered that even an unprofitable victory could scarcely fail to lend encouragement to the Patriots; and at all events, the forward movement would necessarily draw on him the whole French force in Spain, and thereby create a diversion which would give the Spanish armies in the south time to rally and recover from the effects of recent disasters. But at Sahagun, a letter arrived from Romana, stating that the French were in motion to the northward. From other quarters, Moore learnt that the corps of the enemy which was directing its march on Badajos, had halted at Talavera; and it was said, that Napoleon himself had set out from Madrid, with the avowed intention of proceeding to Benevente without a halt. Moore now felt convinced that nothing bnt immediate retreat could extricate him from the difficulties of his situation. He considered that the beneficial object of his movement had already been attained—for the progress of the enemy's armies had been arrested in the south, and they were now advancing on all hands to surround him. On the 26th of December, the situation of the British army is thus described: "At this moment, the British army had become almost girdled by the enemy. From the 22d to the 24th, Soult had received strong reinforcements, and his army alone was already superior in number to the British. 66 Napoleon, in person, had set out from Madrid with all the disposable force in that quarter; and on the same day that the van of the British quitted Sahagun, the advanced-guard of his army passed through Tordesillas, a town about fifty miles distant from Benevente. "The corps of Lefebvre had changed the direction of its march, and was now advancing on Salamanca. The retreat of the British army on Portugal was thus cut off. "The whole disposable force of the enemy, forming an irregular crescent, were thus advancing in radii on the British army as a common centre, To cut off its retreat was now the chief object of Napo leon. "On the 26th, an engagement took place between the British cavalry and that of the enemy. Detachments from the army of Napoleon had been pushed on to Villalpando and Mayorga; and in the neighbourhood of the latter place, a considerable force of the enemy was observed to be drawn up on the acclivity of a hill, with the view, apparently, of cutting off any stragglers who might wander from the line of march. Two squadrons of the tenth hussars were instantly ordered to dislodge them. These, under the command of Colonel Leigh, rode gallantly up the hill, and by a successful charge, drove back the French cavalry in confusion. In this affair, many of the enemy were killed, wounded, and above one hundred made prisoners. "On the same day, the cavalry, the horse-artillery, and a brigade of light infantry, halted at Castro Gonzalo; and the divisions under Generals Hope and Fraser marched to Benevente. On the twenty-seventh, the rear-guard crossed the Eslar, and followed the same route, having blown up the bridge. The hardships to which the army were now exposed, tended greatly to increase the general feeling of dissatisfaction at the measures of their leader. The route lay over miserable roads, and through an exhausted country. The weather was more than usually severe; heavy showers of rain and sleet drenched the soldiers to the skin, and it was not always that even at night they could procure shelter from the elements. Turbulence and insubordination broke forth in the ranks. The soldiers, indignant at the Spaniards, who generally locked their doors on their approach, and concealed their little stock of provisions, were guilty of violence and robbery. These criminal excesses increased the evil. Hatred and disgust sprang up on both sides; and frequent scenes of bloodshed were the consequence. "On the twenty-seventh of December, the column reached Benevente; and Sir John Moore issued a general order to the army, characterizing its excesses in strong language. He expressed his deep regret, that the army should have forfeited its former praise for exemplary conduct and discipline. The atrocities committed in Valderas, he declared to have exceeded any thing he could have believed of British soldiers. The situation of the army was such as to call for the display of qualities the most rare and valuable in a military body. These were not bravery alone, but patience and constancy under fatigue and hardship, obedience to com mand, sobriety, firmness, and resolution, in every situation in which they might be placed. It was only by the display of such qualities, that the army could deserve the name of soldiers,-that they could be able to withstand the forces opposed to them, or fulfil the expectations of their country." At Benevente, where the army halted for two days, intelligence was received that the army of Napoleon were endeavouring, by forced marches, to overtake the British. The stores of the army, for which no transports could be procured, were ordered to be destroyed, and the retreat continued by Astorga. "The march of the cavalry, however, had not yet commenced, when a body of the enemy's horse were observed to be attempting a ford near the ruins of the bridge which had been blown up; and presently between five and six hundred of the Imperial Guards plunged into the river and crossed over. They were instantly opposed by the piquets under Colonel Otway, which had been appointed to act as a rear-guard. Though this body mustered little more than two hundred men, they boldly advanced against the enemy, and continued bravely to dispute every inch of his advance. Repeated charges took place between the front squadrons; and upon the arrival of a small party of the third dragoons, the front squadron, by a furious charge, broke through that of the enemy, and were for a time surrounded. By another charge, however, they soon extricated themselves from this dilemma, and re-formed with the rest of the detachments. "Lord Paget soon reached the field, and Brigadier-General Stewart, assuming the command of the piquets, made repeated charges on the enemy, the squadrons being sometimes intermingled. In order to draw the enemy still further from the ford, General Stewart gave ground; when the tenth hussars, which had already formed, advanced to the charge, and the enemy's line was in an instant broken. They fled in great disorder to the river, closely pursued by the tenth, leaving fifty-five killed and wounded on the field, and seventy prisoners, among whom was General Lefebvre, the comImmemander of the Imperial Guard. diately on reaching the opposite side of the river, the enemy formed on the margin; but a few rounds from the horse artillery, which came up at that moment, was sufficient to disperse them. The loss of the British in this affair amounted to about fifty killed and wounded." At Astorga he found Romana, who he hoped had retired on the Asturias, with 5000 men in a state of utter destitution of clothing, accoutrements, arms, ammunition, or even food. "A malignant fever had broken out among them, and the number of sick was sustaining hourly augmentation. Never did any congregation of human beings exhibit less external semblance of a military body. The soldiers under arms little exceeded in number the sick borne on cars and mules; and as they passed slowly along, enfeebled and emaciated by disease, the procession had more the appearance of an ambulatory hospital, than of a force by which the country was to be defended. "Such was the condition of the army of Romana. Let it also be recorded, that this brave and suffering band bore their multiplied privations with unshrinking patience; that they uniformly displayed, even in the very depth of their misfortunes, a courage and devotion worthy of that cause, in behalf of which they were alike prepared to bleed or suffer." The head-quarters of Napoleon's army had, on the preceding evening, been at Villalpando, a village only sixteen miles distant. No defensive measures had been attempted, and the General determined to continue the retreat on Villa Franca. Of this measure Romana disapproved-declaring himself ready to join the English army in defending the strong ground around Astorga, from whence a secure retreat could, in any event, be open to them by the almost impregnable passes of Manganel and Fonceladon, which a small body might successfully maintain against any numbers. Moore, however, did not approve of this plan--the stores, of which Astorga had been made the depot, were destroyed, or distributed among the Spanish troops, and the sick were abandoned to the enemy. It "In the miserable condition of the Spanish army, it might have been supposed, that this half-naked, half-armed, half-famished, and diseased multitude, would have sought protection in their retreat from the English columns. was not so. With a spirit which death alone could extinguish, this suffering but high-minded band, still confided in their own exertions to keep the field; and when Sir John Moore proposed to Romana that he should retire by Orense, the proposal was instantly acceded to. Ro mana only requested that the British troops might be restrained from the further perpetration of those acts of disgraceful violence, which had hitherto marked their progress; a request which it must have imbittered the spirit of Sir John Moore to know that his power was inadequate to grant. "At Astorga, the light brigades under General Crawford separated from the army, and marched by way of Orense to Vigo, where Sir John Moore had directed transports to be sent for the embarkation of the army. This detachment preceded Romana's army in the line of march; and when the miserable band of patriots, after a halt of only one night, took their way to Orense, they found the country through which they passed already stripped of supplies. This completed the wreck of this gallant but unfortunate army. The infantry at length became completely disorganized, and Romana, with the cavalry and guns, retired to the valley of the Mincio." The plot was now fast thickening, and drawing towards a catastrophe. On the first of January, Napoleon entered Astorga, and formed a junction with Soult. Leaving Ney, with 18,000 men, to keep Leon in subjection, he directed Soult, by forced marches, to continue the pursuit, and counter-marching with the rest of his army, Napoleon in a few days returned to France. "It is melancholy to contemplate the condition to which the British had already been reduced. During the march to Villa Franca, the rain came down in torrents; men and horses, sinking through fatigue, covered the roads; and the soldiers, whose strength still enabled them to proceed, maddened by the continued suffering of cold and hunger, were no longer under any subordination. In such circumstances pillage could not be prevented. Wherever they came, the inhabitants fled from their dwellings, and sought shelter among the mountains. Enormities of all kinds were committed. Houses, and even villages, were burning in all directions. The ravages of the most ferocious enemy could not have exceeded in atrocity those perpetrated by a British army on their allies. "At Benevente, an order had been issued by the General, assuring the army, that the only object of the retiring movement was, not to evacuate the country, but to secure a more favourable position. It had, therefore, been confidently expected, that a stand would be made at the almost impregnable defiles through which the army passed after quitting Villa Franca. The country had been traversed by Sir David Baird on his advance; and it was generally held incredible that the retreat should be continued beyond that point. The sufferings which the army had already endured, and the lamentable want of discipline to which the rapidity of the retreat had given rise, tended to strengthen the conviction that the General would gladly avail himself of the great defensive advantages which the country afforded. This hope was disappointed. Sir John Moore saw no safety but in embarkation; and the retreat was continued with unrelenting speed. "At every step of their progress, however, the misfortunes of this devoted army seemed to accumulate. The mortality among the horses was excessive; and no sooner did these noble animals become unable to proceed than they were shot, in order to prevent their being serviceable to the enemy. The ammunition-waggons, which had hitherto kept up, were falling one by one to the rear, and the ammunition they contained was destroyed. In the towns, many of the soldiers, in the recklessness of despair, broke into the cellars, and giving way to the most desperate excess, were found dead by the enemy. During the marches, the number of stragglers was enormous. Under different pretexts, whole regiments strayed from their colours; and, as often as a store or winehouse was discovered, scenes of the most revolting character ensued. The enemy's cavalry was continually pressing on our rear; and, under such circumstances, no pause could be made to afford protection to those who, from intoxication or exhaustion of strength, were compelled to fall behind. A At Bembibre, in particular, the town, on the departure of the reserve, was filled with these unfortunate wretches. Every effort was made to save them from the miserable fate which they so madly courted; but in vain. The rear-guard was at length compelled to march. small detachment of cavalry still remained, in hopes that some, at least, of the victims might be rescued. But the enemy came on in force; and the French dragoons, charging onward through a crowd of men, women, and children, slashed to the right and left with their sabres, sparing neither age nor sex. Never did British troops gaze on a spectacle more appalling than those who, escaping death, came up bleeding and lacerated, and were, by order of the General, paraded through the ranks as a warning to their comrades. "It is well that these humiliating circumstances should be recorded. It is well that war should be gazed on in all its aspects; and not unprofitable, perhaps, that such episodes should be commemorated in the emblazoned yolume of our victories." From Villa Franca to Lugo, the retreat was even more horrible and disastrous, till, in front of that town, the General took up a position with the intention of offering battle to the enemy. Then, insubordination was instantly at an end; stragglers hastened to join their regiments; worn frames became reanimated with vigour, and the promiscuous assemblage of disorderly soldiers became again invested with all the attributes of a disciplined army! It was now ascertained by the General, that Corunna was a more eligible place for embarkation than Vigo, and also nearer, so orders were dispatched to recall the light brigades and the division of General Fraser, which had been previously directed to proceed to Vigo; but they did not rejoin the army at Lugo without the loss of about 400 men. About midday on the sixth, the French columns were observed to be advancing on the English position; preparation was immediately made for their reception; but no engagement took place; for several hours the lines continuing to gaze on each other, till the hope of battle gradually faded; and at last evening closed, and the troops returned to their quarters. "On the following morning the enemy advanced four guns, protected by a few squadrons of cavalry, towards the centre, and commenced a sharp cannonade. The fire was immediately returned by the English, with such effect, that one of their guns was dismounted, and the rest silenced. For above an hour no further hostilities took place. The enemy then made a feint on the British right, in order to cover the advance of five guns, and a strong column of infantry on the left. Sir John Moore immediately rode at full In the speed to that part of the line. meanwhile, a warm skirmish had taken place with the piquets, which were driven hastily back. The enemy's column were already ascending the height occupied by the seventy-sixth regiment, which gradually fell back, until joined by the fiftyfirst, when, after a few discharges of musketry, these regiments advanced to the charge, and drove back the French in confusion. The setting in of night again disappointed the hope of immediate engagement; and the British army retired to their quarters, with the fervent wish that the dawn of morning might light them to battle. "Sir John Moore was impressed with the conviction, that this wish would be realized. He considered the preceding attack as made only, by Marshal Soult, with the view of reconnoitring the strength of the force opposed to him, and expected that the day following would produce a more general engagement. In this he was disappointed. On the morning of the eighth the French were still observed in their position; yet hour after hour passed, and they made no movement. At length night fell, and with it fell all the fond hopes of battle which had been cherished by the army. In order to deceive the enemy, large fires were lighted along the line; and at ten o'clock the British army again commenced their retreat. "No sooner did Marshal Soult become aware of the evasion of his enemy, than the pursuit was immediately recommenced, and followed up with unabated vigour; but the British had already gained so much ground, that it was not till the evening that the enemy's advancedguard came up with the rear. The horrors of this march were of the most aggravated description. The night was dark and stormy, the cold intense, and the sleet fell heavily. The troops already jaded and half-famished, and many of them barefoot, marched along roads kneedeep in mud. Insubordination again spread among the ranks,—and the number of stragglers was enormous. "About ten in the morning the army arrived at Valmeda. Here positive exhaustion compelled a halt; and the men lay on the open ground for several hours, exposed to the continual action of a heavy rain. But even this brief interval was not granted to undisturbed repose. A cry arose, from time to time, that the enemy were advancing; and, at such alarm, the troops were ordered to fall in. Such an intermission was little calculated to refresh the worn strength of the soldiers; and towards evening, when they again resumed their march, little benefit was found to have resulted from the halt." At last the army reached their destined point of embarkation; but the transports had not yet arrived from Vigo. Only a few ships lay in the harbour, on board of which the sick, who preceded the army, were immediately embarked; and it became necessary that the army should assume a position, and once more shew front to the enemy. That this necessity was imposed on Sir John Moore, says our author, with great animation, never to any Englishman can be matter of regret. It saved the British army from the disgrace of having quitted Spain like downcast and disheartened fugitives; of having sought refuge in their ships from the hostility of an enemy, with whom they had never measured strength in combat. Such, however, were the disadvantages of the position which Sir John Moore had to take up, that some of the general officers recommended him to propose terms to Soult, in order to induce him to permit the army to embark unmolested. Thank Heaven! this proposal he treated with disdain; and "England was not destined to blush for her sons." Often and well as the battle of Corunna has been described, never better than by the author of these Annals. "The preparations for embarking were completed on the morning of the sixteenth, and Sir John Moore gave notice, that, in case the enemy should not move during the day, the embarkation of the reserve should commence at four o'clock. The tranquillity of the armies remained undisturbed till noon, when the General, mounting his horse, rode off to visit the outposts. He had not proceeded far, when he received a report from General Hope, stating that the enemy's line were getting under arms; and a deserter who came in at the same moment confirmed the intelligence. He spurred forward. The piquets had already opened fire on the enemy's light troops, which were pouring rapidly down on the right wing. A heavy fire was shortly opened from the French battery on the height; the piquets were driven rapidly back; and four strong columns of the enemy, supported by a reserve, were observed descending the hill. Two of these-one emerging from a wood, the other skirting its edgethreatened the right of the position; another directed its march on the centre ; and the fourth on the left. The two first of these columns advanced with rapidity, and, by a bold attack, at once carried the village of Elvina. Thus far successful, they endeavoured to turn the right of the position. It was defended by Lord William Bentinck's brigade, having the brigade of Guards in their rear. In order to prevent the success of this manœuvre, General Paget was ordered to advance with the reserve, and take post on the right of the line. "Lord William Bentinck's brigade re |