It was of great importance that Romana’s determination should be kept secret as long as possible, lest the French and the Danes, who were but too ready to have acted with them, should overpower his dispersed forces. A young Spanish officer crossing from Zeeland to Langeland was taken by this squadron; the letters were intrusted to him, he was secretly put on shore in Langeland, and from thence crossed to Funen. Such a messenger, it was thought, would not excite suspicion. Admiral Keats proposed that the troops in Funen should secure themselves in a peninsula on the north side of that island, from whence, if necessary, they might be removed to the small island of Romsoe. The Danish gun-boats would be rendered inactive if Romana was able, and should think proper, to seize on the town and port of Nyborg; but this the Admiral thought would endanger the troops in Zeeland ♦1808.
August.♦ and Jutland, by provoking the Danes to act as enemies, when otherwise it might be hoped they would be disposed secretly to favour the quiet removal of the Spaniards, or at least to make no serious efforts for impeding it. There was little probability that any negotiation for their peaceable departure would be successful, subservient as the court of Denmark was to the policy of France; but after the movement should have commenced, a declaration of the honourable and unoffending object in view might be advantageous. The two regiments in Zeeland, it was proposed, should attempt to force their way to the peninsula near Corsoer; if they succeeded in this, they might probably defend the isthmus there, till they could be removed to the little island of Sproe, half way between Corsoer and Nyborg. There were four regiments in Jutland, distributed at Aarhuus, Ebeltoft, Greenaae, Randers, Hobroe, Mariager, and some as high as Aalborg on the Gulf of Limefiord. Orders were sent to these that they should take possession of such vessels as they could find at Randers, Aarhuus, Fredericia, and Snogoe, and make their way to Funen.

It was scarcely possible that these movements could be concerted without exciting suspicion, prepared as the French officers and the Danish Government were to expect some such attempt, and especially after the manner in which the regiments in Zeeland had expressed their national feeling. The French Commandant in Langeland discovered that the officer who had passed from thence to Funen had communicated with the English ships. When Romana understood this, he doubted not but that the French in Holstein and Sleswic would be brought up by forced marches; and as there were more than 3000 Danish troops in Funen, he thought it necessary to take possession of Nyborg without delay. The garrison were too weak to resist, and no violence ♦Aug. 9.♦ or incivility was offered: the concerted signal was then made to Admiral Keats, who had hoisted his flag the preceding day in the Superb off that town; and he dispatched a letter to the Governor, assuring him, that notwithstanding the state of war between England and Denmark, it was his wish to abstain from every hostile and offensive act, provided no opposition were made to the embarkation of the Spaniards. While this was going on, he must co-operate with those troops, and consequently often communicate with the town of Nyborg; but the strictest orders had been given that all under his command should observe the utmost civility toward the inhabitants. If, however, the Spaniards were opposed, he must, however reluctantly, take measures which might occasion the destruction of the town.

The Danish garrison had yielded to circumstances; but an armed brig and cutter, which were moored across the harbour, rejected all the pacific offers both of the Spaniards and English, and even the remonstrances of their own countrymen; such small vessels and boats as could be collected were sent against them, and they were captured after half an hour’s resistance and some waste of lives. Romana had been careful that no act of hostility should be committed by his people, except what was absolutely necessary for securing their embarkation; but some of them, now irritated at the obstinacy with which their friends and deliverers were opposed, fired a few shots at the Danish ships from the batteries before they struck. Admiral Keats then wrote a second time to the Governor, saying, that as his entrance into the harbour had been resisted, he was bound by no law or usage to respect the property of the inhabitants. The Spaniards had occasion for some of the vessels in that port, and unless the masters and crews would assist in equipping and navigating them, he could not secure them from injury; if they would, he pledged himself to do so, and to grant them passports to return in safety, after the short service for which they were required should be ended.

On the same day that Nyborg was thus taken possession of, the Spaniards, who were at Svendborg, which is at the southern extremity of Funen, got possession of some gun-boats, that might otherwise have prevented their passage, and crossed to Langeland. The regiment of Zamora on the same day also arrived from Ebeltoft and Greenaae at Middlefahrt; and starting from that place at ten on the same night, performed the march to Nyborg in twenty-one hours, a distance of more than fifty English miles. The regiment which made this prodigious exertion for the sake of returning to assist in the deliverance of Spain, was one of those which the French papers described as having displayed the greatest satisfaction at the accession of the Intruder! The troops which were at Hobroe and Mariager, and those at Aarhuus, succeeded also in embarking, and arrived safely in the port of Nyborg. The two regiments in Zeeland were unable to escape; three of the battalions had previously been disarmed for their conduct when the oath was proposed to them, and the others were now surrounded by Danish troops: and there still remained three cavalry regiments and one of infantry, in Jutland, of which, and of the officers sent to them, no account had been received. While the troops were embarking on board such vessels as were in the port of Nyborg, one of these regiments arrived.

The British Admiral had been at first of opinion, that if the troops in Langeland felt themselves safe, it would be better to land all the others there, from whence they might be removed at leisure. The possession of Langeland had now been secured, but Nyborg was an insecure position; it was reported that some thousand French had collected upon the shores of the Little Belt; and these, with the Danes in Funen, and the garrison of Nyborg, might seriously impede the embarkation from that town, or perhaps succeed in cutting off the rear-guard. It was judged expedient, therefore, to spike the guns there, and remove the troops to a neck of land called Slipshavn, about a league distant; and from thence they were shipped with as much expedition as the unfavourable weather permitted.

Two of the regiments which had been quartered in Funen were cavalry, mounted on the fine, black, long-tailed Andalusian horses. It was impracticable to bring off these horses, about 1100 in number; and Romana was not a man who could order them to be destroyed lest they should fall into the hands of the French: he was fond of horses himself, and knew that every man was attached to the beast which had carried him so far, and so faithfully. Their bridles, therefore, were taken off, and they were turned loose upon the beach. As they moved off, they passed some of the country horses and mares, which were feeding at a little distance. A scene ensued such as probably never before was witnessed. The Spanish horses are not mutilated, and these were sensible that they were no longer under any restraint of human power. A general conflict ensued, in which, retaining the discipline that they had learnt, they charged each other in squadrons of ten or twenty together; then closely engaged, striking with their fore-feet, and biting and tearing each other with the most ferocious rage, and trampling over those which were beaten down, till the shore, in the course of a quarter of an hour, was strewn with the dead and disabled. Part of them had been set free on a rising ground at some distance; and they no sooner heard the roar of the battle than they came thundering down over the intermediate hedges, and catching the contagious madness, plunged into the fight with equal fury. Sublime as the scene was, it was too horrible to be long contemplated, and Romana, in mercy, gave orders for destroying them; but it was found too dangerous to attempt this; and after the last boats quitted the beach, the few horses that remained were seen still engaged in the dreadful work of mutual36 destruction.

On the second morning all were safely on board, but the wind detained them in the harbour; and there, on the evening of that day, the regiment from Aarhuus joined them, in four vessels, which they had seized. The one at Randers did not succeed in making its escape. The south part of Langeland was in possession of the Spaniards. As soon as the wind permitted, their fellow-soldiers were landed there. The whole number was about 9000 men, with some 230 ♦Aug. 13.♦ women and children. Stores and water were to be laid in for their voyage to Gottenburg. The Danish Governor, General Ahlefeldt, agreed not to molest them, and withdrew his troops to the northern part of the island, promising, that if any French were known to arrive in Funen, he would then deliver up their arms. It was thought necessary to demand them the ensuing day, upon a rumour that this had occurred; and also because a body of Danish cavalry had appeared as if observing the Spaniards for some military view; and because the escape of the French Commandant had been facilitated by the General. Some of the troops refused to obey, a detachment was therefore marched against them to enforce obedience, and this demonstration of force was sufficient. They took the horses also, having only about 200 of their own, which had been brought from Svendborg; but they voluntarily promised that these arms and horses, and whatever else belonged to the Danes, should be left upon the beach at their departure. Some robberies, which a few of the men committed, were instantly punished, and restitution made; and a just price was fixed for the provisions which were demanded: they were supplied, therefore, without reluctance. Meat was in abundance, but there was a difficulty in obtaining bread; and the water lay at a distance from the shore, ... a thousand men, and all the carriages that could be procured, were employed in conveying it. Their situation was still an anxious one: an attack was to be apprehended from the opposite port of Svendborg; it was known that the Danes could collect as many as four-and-twenty gun-boats there, and the channel would not admit of frigates to defend it: a flotilla, indeed, came out from thence one night, and kept up an idle cannonade upon the Spanish encampment. It was reported that French troops had arrived there, and of this no certain information could be obtained, for not a peasant in Langeland could be induced by the offer of any reward to go and ascertain the fact; an instance of national honour which may more than counterbalance the unworthy conduct of the Danish Government at this time. That the French were not inactive was certain. Proclamations from Bernadotte were introduced into the camp, endeavouring to deceive the Spaniards with regard to the state of affairs in their own country, to excite suspicion of the English, and to make them arrest their leaders; but these papers provoked only the contempt which they deserved.

On the sixth day after their landing Admiral Saumarez arrived, and in three days more, every thing being ready, the troops were re-embarked. The arms and horses which they had taken from the Danes were left in the batteries. Before they departed a flag of truce was sent to Copenhagen, requiring, on the part of their Commander, that the regiments which were detained should be allowed to depart. The vessels from Aarhuus, being manned by Danes, were supplied by the British Admiral with stores for eight days, and released. Those from Nyborg were manned from the fleet, and an offer was made to send them back from Gottenburg with the crews of two Danish vessels which had been captured, provided the Danes would release an equal number of British prisoners in exchange. But these measures were not met with a corresponding temper by the Danish Government, and the convoy was fired at as it passed the battery of Slipshavn. They reached Gottenburg in safety; and the Spaniards there received the first intelligence of the successes which their countrymen had obtained. They were landed, for the sake of health and comfort, upon the islands in the harbour; transports from England arrived in a few days, and this little army then sailed for their own country, full of ardour, ... to lay down their lives in its defence.

While the convoy proceeded on its voyage to Coruña, Romana landed in England, for the purpose of consulting with the British Government. It was there determined that his force should be disembarked at Santander, to be incorporated with the Galician army; and to avoid all immediate difficulty concerning its support, the existing armies in the present disorganized state of Spain being raised and subsisted by their respective provinces. Great Britain undertook to pay and feed it for two months, by which time it was supposed the Central Junta would be ready to perform this part of its duties. These were troops on whose discipline and courage entire reliance might be placed; and Romana’s intention was to triple the infantry, by forming upon each battalion a regiment of three. And as it was designed that a British army should advance to bear its part in the first brunt of the great contest, the intention was, that, if possible, it should act with Romana on the left flank, and Castaños on its right. With both these officers it was justly thought the service might proceed in the true spirit of confidence and good will; the reputation of both stood deservedly high, and their disposition was even of more importance, when operations were to be carried on by concert between the generals, not by a paramount and controlling command. For, ♦Error of the Spaniards in not appointing a Commander-in-chief.♦ by a strange error, the Spanish Government had resolved to make the commands independent of each other. This error seems to have been committed less from want of judgement than in deference to the provincial Juntas, and in fear of offending them; yet at that time public opinion would have supported them had they appointed Castaños commander-in-chief.

It was not, however, the abilities of any single general, however pre-eminent, which could have saved the Spanish armies, constituted as they then were, from inevitable defeat, unless a strong British force had been ready to have acted with them. Preparations upon an adequate scale had been promised and intended by the Central Government; but when they had raised men and embodied them, the difficulty of maintaining them occurred, a difficulty which has at all times been greater in Spain than in any other civilized country. Our own commissariat was then far from effective; for great experience, as well as great activity and talents, are required in the business of providing an army: it is not then to be wondered at that the Spaniards, under their complicated embarrassments, should have been grievously defective in this main branch of the military art; but this was one cause why the number of their armies fell far short of their computed force, many young recruits returning to their homes, when they saw how miserably they fared in the camp. It would have been most desirable to have followed up the first successes with vigour, and have attacked the enemy while the impression made upon them by so many humiliating failures was fresh, and before farther reinforcements should enable them to resume the offensive. But this had not been possible. The French were strongly posted, and well provided with all the means of war; and their cavalry gave them complete command of the plains of Castille. They had ravaged the land from Burgos to Astorga, and driven in contributions from the very gates of the latter city. Blake could oppose no resistance to them in that open country without cavalry, and for want of that essential arm was obliged to alter his intended plan of operations, and pursue, at considerable risk, a different course. He resolved to take a position between Bilbao and Vitoria, and menace the right flank and rear of the French, while the army of Aragon should act on their left.

Bilbao had remained a month in possession of the enemy; it was then retaken by the Marques de Portazgo, and if his advanced posts had not ♦1808.
October.♦ begun to fire too soon, the garrison might have been surprised and made prisoners. After an action of three or four hours they effected their retreat, losing some 400 men. But considerable bodies of French had now passed the Pyrenees; and Marshal Ney, who came at this time to take the chief command till Buonaparte himself should arrive, feigning to retreat upon Vitoria for the purpose of deceiving Portazgo, suddenly marched with the centre of his army upon Bilbao. The Marquis drew off in time, without losing a man or a gun, and took up a position at Valmaseda. There he was joined by a detachment of the Galician army, and Blake immediately made preparations to recover the city; but General Merlin, whom Ney had left to command there, knew that the place was not tenable against a superior force, and evacuated it on the night of Oct. 11.

The French force at that time amounted to about 60,000; and the Spanish Generals knew, by an intercepted dispatch, that 72,000 more would enter Spain before the middle of November. The Spaniards were nominally 130,000, but the effective number was very far short of this. With the left or western army Blake occupied a line from Burgos to Bilbao. The eastern army, that of Aragon and Valencia, under Palafox, was stationed, part near Zaragoza, and part was as far advanced as Sanguessa, on the left of the enemy, outflanking them on that side, as Blake did on the west. The head-quarters of the central army, under Castaños, were at Soria; ... so that the whole formed a crescent. The Spaniards now began to experience the ruinous effects of that false policy which had exaggerated their successes and their strength, and had represented the final deliverance of the country as an event soon and certainly to be looked for. This delusion made the people clamorous for the accomplishment of their expectations, and the government itself either partook or yielded to this impatience. The wise precautions with which the Junta of Seville began the war were disregarded, and the Central Junta called upon the Generals to hasten their operations. However strong, they said, might have been the reasons for delay, loss of time had already proved injurious, and must be more so if the enemy should receive their expected reinforcements. An end therefore must be put ♦Commissioners sent to the Spanish armies.♦ to this inactivity. And, as if dissatisfied with their generals, they appointed D. Francisco Palafox to go as their representative to the armies, with the Marques de Coupigni and the Conde de Montijo under him. He was to be received with the same honours as a Captain-General of the army, to confer with the Commanders, concert operations with them, and himself decide upon the plan of attack. Another reason for this mission was, that Castaños and Palafox differed totally in opinion concerning the measures which ought to be pursued. The latter was eager for action, because he believed that every thing might be accomplished by zeal and courage; the former understood the art of war better, and knew how little these qualities alone were to be trusted in the open field against an enemy strong in cavalry, equal in numbers, and superior in discipline. The commissioners were sent to determine between them. Of all the measures of the Central Junta this was the worst. It was taken a few days before Romana arrived in Spain. Had he been present, his authority, coming in aid of the opinion of Castaños, which was decidedly but warily expressed, might have prevented so preposterous a mission, and averted the evils which were thus precipitated.