CATALONIA. BATTLE OF VALLS. DEATH OF REDING. BLAKE APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND. BATTLE OF ALCANIZ. FLIGHT OF THE SPANIARDS AT BELCHITE. COMMENCEMENT OF THE GUERILLAS.

Three circumstances had materially contributed to the success of the Galicians: the aid and confidence which they derived from the British ships, whereby they were assisted first in recovering Vigo, and afterwards at the bridge of S. Payo; the rare virtues of Romana, whose single thought was how to serve his country, and who for that object, shrinking neither from responsibility nor obloquy, acted always with promptitude and decision upon his own judgement; and, lastly, the very condition, or rather destitution of his army: its name and presence had a powerful effect in rousing and encouraging the people, while the troops themselves felt and understood their utter inability for any other mode of warfare than that which their leader was pursuing, and thus derived strength from the very knowledge of their weakness. In Catalonia the people were not less brave and patriotic; there was a stronger British squadron off the coast; and the army was respectable for numbers, sufficiently equipped, and in a state of discipline not to be despised. But the Generals in succession were deficient either in military skill or natural talent, or that vigour of mind without which all other qualifications in a commander are of no avail.

Neither in Aragon nor in Catalonia had the French been able to follow up their success. They had paid dearly for Zaragoza: even the army of observation had been so harassed during that ever-memorable siege, that it was necessary to allow them some repose. Having possessed themselves of Jaca by the treachery of the governor, and of Monzon, which was evacuated by the garrison because Lazan had taken no effectual measures for supplying it with provisions; they were repulsed in three attempts upon Mequinenza. They summoned Lerida, thinking to intimidate the inhabitants by the fate of the Zaragozans; but that example had produced an effect which neither Buonaparte nor his Generals were capable of anticipating; they estimated every thing by success, and with them to be unfortunate was to be despised and miserable. Marshal Lasnes was told in answer to his summons, that Zaragoza, unprotected as it was, had held out ten months against its besiegers, and that Lerida was a strong place. The Spaniards were also reminded that the Prince of Condé had been baffled before that fortress. It was expected by some of the Spanish officers that St. Cyr, in conjunction with the French from Aragon, would besiege the city without delay; that he would afterwards attack Tarragona, and then, marching from conquest to conquest, proceed against Valencia. Others ♦Cabañes, c. 14.♦ supposed, that for the more immediate object of securing the communication between France and Barcelona, his first measure would be to get possession of Hostalrich. Orders were indeed sent to St. Cyr to undertake with his corps the ♦St. Cyr, 130.♦ sieges of Gerona, Tarragona, and Tortosa, at the same time; enterprises so much beyond his means, that the order made him doubt whether it was an error in the ciphers of the dispatch, or an act of folly in those who dictated instructions which could not have been obeyed without exposing the army to some great and inevitable disaster. That General had as little reason to be satisfied with his situation, as with the cause in which he was employed. Having exhausted the resources within reach, he was obliged to quit his position at Martorell, S. Sadurni, Villa Franca, and Vendrell, and draw nearer to Tarragona, Reus, and Valls. His great object was to bring on another action, for the purpose of establishing the superiority of the French arms in the feelings of his own army, as well as of the Spaniards; for notwithstanding the splendid successes which he had achieved, that opinion ♦St. Cyr, 118.♦ was daily losing ground while the Catalans confined themselves to a system of desultory warfare.

Upon such a system Reding had resolved to act in conformity to the opinion of all his best officers. Hope, enterprise, and activity, were thus excited; and the spirit not of the irregular force alone, but of the troops, was raised, as every day brought tidings of some partial and animating success. Meantime he exerted himself in endeavouring to bring the army into a state of discipline, acting when that was in question with a decision which he wanted at other times. One regiment he broke for having refused to obey a Swiss officer in action. His character stood so high with the Catalans, that this vigorous measure did not injure his popularity; for he had the full support of public feeling and of the local authorities. The Junta of Tarragona coined not only the plate of individuals, but that of the churches also, for the pay of the troops; and for two months the hospitals received their whole supplies, and the army the whole of their pay, clothing, and food, from the inhabitants of that faithful city. It was at this ♦Cabañes, c. 14.♦ time that one of the best and ablest men whom these calamitous times forced into action, the Baron de Eroles, D. Joaquin Ybañez, resigned his place in the Superior Junta, and putting on the Miquelet uniform, took the command of a body of those troops, believing that he could serve his country more effectually in the field than in council. Throughout the whole subsequent course of the war no Spaniard made himself more conspicuous, nor has any one acquired a higher or more irreproachable name.

A conscription of every fifth man throughout the principality was called for, without distinction of ranks, in obedience to the decree of the Central Junta; the men were willing to serve, but an error was committed in embodying them with the regular troops, because the Catalans disliked that service, and were proud of the name as well as attached to the privileges of the Miquelets. Some attempt was made to bring this irregular but most useful force into a better state of order and uniformity, for which purpose the camp-marshal, D. Josef Joaquin Marti, was appointed their commander-in-chief; but this proved altogether abortive. Even the proper returns of the men who were to be under his command could not be obtained; and though he had ability as well as zeal to qualify him for the charge, nothing could be done, when means of every kind were wanting. The province, however, was in arms. The people, knowing their own physical strength, and impatient of seeing their country oppressed by a handful of invaders, began to murmur at the General’s inactivity: he was assailed by anonymous writings, accusing him of incapacity or treason; and this General was as sensitive to such attacks as he was sensible of the difficulties that surrounded ♦Cabañes, c. 14.♦ him. Brave, honourable, humane, and well acquainted with the art of war, he wanted the main qualifications for it when entrusted with command; having neither fortitude to persevere against vulgar clamour in the cautious system which he was sensible was best suited to the time, nor promptitude to act with vigour and decision when he departed from it.

The Central Junta had sent D. Tomas de Veri, one of its members, as its representative to Catalonia. A like measure had been adopted in the tumultuous times of the French Revolution; the circumstances in Spain were altogether different, and these missions appear neither to have produced good nor evil. On the present occasion Veri was in favour of active operations; and that opinion, which had necessarily much weight with Reding, was strengthened by assurances that an insurrection would be attempted in Barcelona as soon as any movements on his part should be made to favour it. The Camp-marshal Marti was called upon to form the plan of a general attack; his own judgement was decidedly opposed to it, but Reding had determined upon action in deference to the popular cry. He did not like to hear it remarked that the troops were more willing to eat their rations than to march against the enemy; and he wished also to ascertain in the field whether any reliance might be placed upon the Somatens, and upon that general enthusiasm which he did not participate, and in which he had no faith. If he entertained any hope, it was founded upon the promised effort in Barcelona, ... which of all hopes had the least foundation; ... for the fortresses having now been well victualled, the time was gone by when it might have been of advantage to have got possession of the city. But even after his resolution to act on the offensive was taken, the movements of the army were delayed by that ominous mood of mind which draws on ill fortune more surely than it foresees it. And in strange opposition to what happened in all other parts of the Peninsula, all Reding’s plans were perfectly well known to the French, while he obtained no information of their movements or of their numbers on which he could rely. On ♦Staff. Befreiungs Krieg der Katalonier, p. 148.♦ the other hand, by a singular perversion of principle, the Catalans whom the French had in their pay made it a point of honour and conscience to communicate full and true intelligence. The task was not difficult; for Reding, in the certainty that his intentions were betrayed as soon as they were formed, gave up all hope of secrecy; and every thing was talked of in public, with a desperate carelessness, as if it were useless to observe even the rules of common prudence.

The Spaniards occupied a line from Martorell to Tarragona, through Bruch, Capelladas, S. Magi, and Col de S. Cristina; the head-quarters, under Camp-marshal D. Juan Bautista de Castro, being at Igualada: this line covered the whole south of the principality, and touched upon the north at Valls, where the levy in mass was to be effected. St. Cyr waited till the Spaniards had weakened themselves to his desire by extending their line so far as to render it vulnerable in many points: then leaving Souham’s division at Vendrell to observe the troops at Col de S. Cristina and near Tarragona, he, with the divisions of Pino, Chabot, and Chabran, ♦Feb. 17.♦ attacked the Spaniards on their left at various points, and, though at one time Chabot’s division was in danger of being routed, succeeded in driving them back upon Igualada, where, with an imprudence which experience had not corrected, large magazines had been assembled. They had neglected to occupy the road from Llacuna in sufficient strength, though it was the key to all their positions on the way to Barcelona; by this road they found themselves attacked in the rear, when falling back already dispirited and in confusion; and it was only by flight that they escaped in the directions of ♦St. Cyr, 103–106.
Cabañes, c. 14.♦ Cervera, Cardona, and Manresa. Castro was removed from his command, for the want of skill or of zeal which he had manifested in these operations. His subsequent conduct confirmed the worst suspicions that could then have been entertained; for he entered the Intruder’s service, and holding a military command under him, became, as far as his power extended, the scourge of his countrymen.

It was part of St. Cyr’s plan that Souham, when he was apprised of the success of these operations, either by the ceasing of the fire, or by any other means, should beat the detachment at Col de S. Cristina, and join him at Villarradoña, when it was hoped that the Spaniards might be driven from all their positions, in utter rout, once more within the walls of Tarragona. To effect this the French commander proceeded with Pino’s division against a body of Spaniards under Brigadier D. Miguel de Iranzo, who occupied ♦Feb. 18.♦ the position of S. Magi. The distance had appeared trifling upon the map: it proved long and difficult, the road during great part of the way being so narrow that the troops, foot as well as horse, could only defile man by man: they did not reach the position till four in the afternoon; the attack lasted till night closed, and the Spaniards then, unable to maintain their ground, retreated under cover of the darkness. Here, however, an unexpected difficulty impeded the conquerors; they were not acquainted with the country, nor had they been able, with all their exertions upon the march, to find any person who could serve them as a guide. From this perplexity they were relieved by a circumstance which would not have occurred if St. Cyr had not deserved and obtained a reputation, most unusual among Buonaparte’s generals in Spain, for observing the humanities of war. A Spanish officer, who had been wounded and taken prisoner in this last affair, relying upon the French commander’s character, entreated that he would let him be carried to Tarragona: St. Cyr not only granted his request, but finding from him that he was able to direct those who bore him, added, that as there were no peasants to be found at S. Magi or in the adjoining parts, he would send him as far as the Convent of the Creus. By this act of compassion the French were extricated from the difficulty in which they had placed themselves. The wounded officer gratefully acknowledged this kindness, little thinking in what manner he was to serve the enemy. On the ♦Feb. 19.♦ morrow accordingly he was sent forward; two or three persons at convenient distances behind observed his way, and the French by their direction followed the unconscious guide. During the whole day they did not fall in with a single person; but in the evening when they drew near the monastery, instead of finding there, as they had expected, good quarters and comfortable stores for the troops, who stood in need of both after four days’ exertions, they discovered that Iranzo had fallen back to this very point, and occupied it in strength. The French immediately saw that the post could not be forced without artillery, and they had none with them; they made, however, a feint of attacking it, with the intention of attempting an escalade, if the Spaniards should betray any want of alacrity in the defence. But the walls of the enclosure, the windows of the buildings, the roof of the church, and the tower, were presently manned; and a fire was opened upon them from two violentos, ... pieces of small artillery, so named from the manner in which they are used; they are fired not less than twelve times in a minute, and the exertion which this requires is so great, that the strongest and most expert artillerymen ♦St. Cyr, 107–111.♦ cannot continue it more than a quarter of an hour.

The French had learnt at Zaragoza what it was to attack the Spaniards where there were walls and buildings to be defended; and St. Cyr was not a man who would throw away the lives of his soldiers. His men, instead of the good quarters and better fare which they had promised themselves, were fain to bivouac upon the heights; and in the morning when the General had determined to cross the Gaya for the purpose of getting into a more open country, and effecting his junction with Souham’s division, they were obliged to defile under a sharp and well-directed fire of musketry from the Convent. When they reached Villarrodoña, to their great disappointment Souham was not there; the dispatches which had been sent to him had been all intercepted, and a day and half were lost in waiting till he arrived from Vendrell. ♦Reding takes the field, and collects his scattered troops.♦ Reding meantime, as soon as he heard that his line had been broken, concluded that nothing now was to be done but to collect as many of the troops as he could, and withdraw them again under the protection of Tarragona; and feeling that this service was of too much importance to be entrusted to any one in whom he had not the most entire confidence, he set out himself on the morning in which St. Cyr marched from his unsuccessful attempt upon the Convent. He took with him only a battalion of Swiss, 300 horse, and six pieces of flying artillery; and as he marched from Pla saw the enemy on his right, where they were employed in sacking and burning Villarrodoña and La Puebla. Reding was not aware that the French Commander-in-chief was with this body of the invaders, nor did St. Cyr know that the Spanish General was passing within sight with such a handful of troops. His force, however, was soon increased with the detachment which had retired from Col de S. Cristina, and with the 1200 men under Iranzo, whom he now recalled. He then proceeded to S. Coloma de Queralt, and there effected his junction with Castro, with the detachment stationed at that place, and with the force which Castro had collected after his defeat. But here he was alarmed by learning that the enemy had entered Valls.

St. Cyr on his part was not without some anxiety concerning Reding’s intention. The movement which that General had made from his right upon his centre, led him to apprehend a purpose of re-establishing the line of communication with his left beyond the Noya, in which case the French detachment at Igualada would be in danger. That thought had passed across Reding’s mind. He had supposed that the object of the French, by occupying Valls, was to cut off his retreat to Tarragona, and intercept his communications with that fortress; and his first impulse was to move upon Igualada, and then upon Montbuy, to cut off the enemy at both places. But it was his fate never to decide resolutely and act with promptitude: a council of war was held; the Deputy Veri was for retreating, with the view of covering the plain of Tarragona. Accordingly they set out from S. Coloma, with the intent of leaving Valls on the right. That day they reached Montblanch. A party of French appeared in their rear, reconnoitred them, and then turned by the Col de Cabra toward Pla and Valls. As it was thus made certain that the enemy was observing them, a second council was held on the following morning, at which Marti was present, who had been summoned from Tarragona, where he had been left with the command. The force which Reding had with him consisted at this time of 10,000 men, who were in a better state than any body of troops which the Spaniards had yet brought into the field in that quarter. The question was asked, Where the French were posted, and in what numbers? The General could only answer that they were supposed to be in Valls, and that he estimated them at from 5000 to 6000, without artillery. Marti’s opinion was, that as the object was to save the army and protect the plain of Tarragona, where Reus and the other towns would otherwise be at the mercy of the enemy, it was not advisable to risk an action with a foe whom they knew to be superior in cavalry, and who, they had reason to conclude, had other troops near enough at hand to be brought together and overpower them if a battle should be ventured. He advised, therefore, that a few light troops and Miquelets should make a demonstration by the Col de Lilla against Valls in the morning, and make their way afterwards as they could, either to join the corps on the Llobregat, or to Lerida; ♦Cabañes, c. 15.♦ that their guns should be sent to that fortress, and that the troops should defile during the night by Prades and a mountain path impracticable for artillery to Constanti, where the whole army might be collected safely in a position that would cover the plain.

General Doyle, who, after the most anxious endeavours to effect something for the relief of Zaragoza, had joined the Catalan army that day on its march, was for hope and enterprise. The troops were in good condition and in good heart, and the opportunity favourable, when they were within reach of a force inferior in number. Reding, perplexed by these jarring opinions, and never venturing to decide at once upon his own responsibility, took a middle course. He thought it derogatory to steal as it were away through a mountain path like a guerilla chief; and moreover Marti was one of the persons on whom his suspicions had fixed. The course on which he determined had neither the prospect of advantage, nor the certainty of safety. It was to retreat with his artillery and baggage by the Col de Riba and the banks of the Francoli; to begin the march that evening; not to seek the enemy, but not to refuse battle if a favourable opportunity should be offered. Marti represented that to take this line was not only seeking the enemy, but putting it in their power to bring on an action upon ground advantageous to themselves. But Reding certainly had not come to this determination in the view of bringing on a battle, without incurring the responsibility of such a measure. He suffered some provision carts to be cut off by a reconnoitring party almost under his eyes, without permitting his troops to resent the insult; ... they were tired, he said, and he would not weaken the main body by sending ♦Cabañes, c. 15.♦ out any detachments. Nor could Doyle prevail upon him to make his retreat by day. It was commenced at seven in the evening, in good order and with all possible silence.

St. Cyr, who was at this time with Pino’s division at Pla, had ordered Souham never to lose sight of Reding’s movements. That General occupied Valls; he had entered it on a market day, and supplied his hungry troops with the corn brought thither from Aragon and the plain of Urgel, as if there had been no enemy to fear! His advanced guard was to the north of that town, having its left upon the Francoli; his right was in the direction of Pla, and he had a post at Picamoxons, the point at which Reding must debouche upon the plain of Valls, if he went either by the valley of Montblanch or the Col de Lilla. At this point Souham’s orders were to give him battle; though some apprehension was entertained that he might pass by the Col de Cabra, with the view of cutting off the French from Barcelona. No such thought had ever entered Reding’s mind20. The narrowness of the passes and the badness of the road made the night march slower than had been calculated; at five in the morning, however, the vanguard under Castro and half the centre had passed Valls, leaving the enemy’s camp-fires on the left. They were proceeding ♦Feb. 25.♦ silently and in the best order, and no advanced post of the enemy had yet been discovered, when, as the General was passing a little bridge, a volley of musketry opened upon him within pistol shot. This unexpected attack occasioned a momentary disorder: measures, however, were immediately taken to prevent the enemy from cutting off that half of the army which had not yet come up; the troops took their station with alacrity and precision; the artillery on both sides began to play: the French descended from the heights of Valls in several columns; they were met by the Spaniards, and attacked so vigorously, that notwithstanding the advantage of the ground, they were driven back.

All the information which Reding had previously obtained concerning the enemy agreed in affirming that they had no artillery. It was therefore not without surprise that he had found two batteries open upon him. They had been silenced, however; the Spaniards had behaved even to his wish, and a manifest advantage had been gained. But when the French had been driven to the heights, reinforcements arrived which enabled them to make a stand, and Reding perceived by their smoke-signals and their rockets, that they were communicating with a fresh body of troops. It was now noon; his own men had been marching all night, and having been several hours in action, they began to feel exhausted. He therefore concentrated them, sent off the whole of the baggage, and determined to continue his retreat, as soon as they should have taken food or rest. The position which he had chosen was a good one, behind the bridge of Goy, on the right bank of the Francoli, and covered by that river. But time for rest was not allowed them. Pino’s division had now come up, and St. Cyr himself had arrived. That General, who was desirous of gaining such a victory as should give the French the utmost confidence in what was called their moral superiority, forbade his artillery to fire; though the opportunity for firing with advantage was such, that the commandant feigned not to understand the order, and when after a third discharge it was repeated to him in the most formal manner, expressed the unwillingness with which he obeyed. That of the Spaniards was well served; and when, having crossed the river and ascended the height, the French proceeded with the bayonet to the attack, they advanced under a fire of musketry which could not have been more regular at a review. The ♦St. Cyr, 125.♦ right wing of the Spaniards was threatened, but the main attack was made upon the left, and this the enemy succeeded in breaking between four and five in the evening, about an hour after the action had been renewed. The Spaniards then began to retreat in good order for the next half hour, ... but then as usual fear and insubordination prevailed as soon as hope was lost. Reding himself, when it was no longer possible to perform the part of a general, was distinguished for his personal bravery. A body of French dragoons surrounded him and some of his staff: two of his aide-de-camps were killed, and he himself received five sabre wounds from a French Colonel, with whom he was personally engaged. The cavalry rendered little service in covering the retreat; but the infantry of the right and centre, and part of the left, retired ♦Cabañes, c. 15.
St. Cyr, 117, 126.♦ through the vineyards, where the horse could not pursue them. The other part of the broken wing took to the mountains, and made their way to Tortosa.

The French estimated their own loss in this action at about a thousand men, that of the Spaniards at four; ... the Spaniards supposed it to be about two thousand on either side. In fact the evening was so far advanced, that they suffered comparatively little in their flight. Reding reached Tarragona that night; ... that city was only three leagues from the scene of action, and thither the greater part of the dispersed troops found their way before morning, some corps in good order, others in small parties. Some made for Reus, and from thence to Cambrils and Col de Balaguer. The artillery and baggage fell into the enemy’s hands. On the following day Souham entered Reus, a rich commercial city, second only in size and importance to Barcelona. The inhabitants had not, as had every where till now been done, forsaken it; on the contrary the municipality went out to receive the conquerors, and agreed to raise a contribution for the use of the army. Their wealth may explain a conduct which, in the then state of public feeling, surprised the French21 themselves. This supply came at a time when the paymaster had not a single sous in the chest. Resources of every kind were also found here, and here were some thousand of sick or wounded Spaniards in the hospital, whom St. Cyr sent to ♦Arrangement concerning the wounded.♦ Tarragona. This measure led to a negotiation with Reding, by which it was agreed that in future whatever patients might be found in the hospitals should not be regarded as prisoners, ♦St. Cyr, 127–8.♦ but allowed to remain where they were, and to rejoin their respective armies upon their recovery.

The enemy now occupied Villaseca and the port of Salon, and thus cut off Tarragona from all communication by land with the rest of Spain. They profited by their success with their wonted alacrity; and yet they might have improved it farther, and gained a far more important advantage than the victory itself, had they been aware of the alarm which prevailed at Tortosa, and of the condition in which that fortress had been left. The Governor and the Junta sent for General Doyle, who, as far as personal influence and example could go, possessed in an extraordinary degree the talent of exciting activity and creating confidence. He found the fortifications in such a state that they could not have resisted a coup-de-main; and the city so ill provided, that if the works could have resisted an enemy, it must presently have been reduced by famine. Provisions were now collected by requisition from the neighbourhood, receipts being given for the amount (for the public money had been constantly ordered to Tarragona), and the citizens were called out to work upon the ramparts; so that the place was put in a state for resisting any sudden attack. There were but two roads by which artillery could be brought against it: one was defended by the fort at Col de Balaguer; but from that post the troops at this important crisis were deserting for want of provisions. By General Doyle’s exertions it was immediately stored, and the other road, through Falcat, which, there had been no attempt to guard, was occupied according to his directions by 600 Somatenes. This was a position which could well be maintained by a small force, and this timely occupation prevented the advance of a French detachment which had been ordered thither. The Tortosans were soon encouraged by the arrival of the Marques de Lazan, who brought his army there when they might better have kept the field. The want of cordiality between ♦Lazan separates his army from Reding’s command.♦ this General and Reding had been sufficiently manifested to be known even by the enemy; and Lazan now formally announced, that having previously been appointed second in the Aragonese army by the Cortes of that kingdom, he had upon the loss of his brother succeeded to the command in chief; and considering himself as independent of the commander in Catalonia, should thenceforth look upon the protection of Aragon as his proper business: but he would do whatever he could consistently with this object, for covering Catalonia on that side. Reding represented this to the war-minister as an act by which Lazan crippled the Catalan army, and exposed his own troops to certain destruction, without the possibility of effecting any service; and instructions were accordingly dispatched from Seville that he should obey Reding’s orders. The same spirit of provincialism was prevailing in Valencia; a corps of 6000 men ♦1809.
May.♦ from that kingdom was stationed at Morela, with orders to remain there, though neither this place not that part of the country were threatened, but because that position covers Valencia on the side of Aragon. There was neither unity in counsel nor in command; ... each of these three provinces had its own army, acting upon its own views, and of course all acting without effect.

And yet St. Cyr had mistaken the character of the Spaniards when he supposed that the battle of Valls would convince them of their moral inferiority to the conquerors. Far from it; it had even raised the spirit of the Catalans; and the Central Junta spake of it in their proclamations as one of those defeats in which ill fortune brought with it no dishonour, but rather hope and confidence. It proved to the Spanish army far more disastrous in its consequences than in itself; they were crowded into Tarragona, and the French commander, by sending thither several thousand sick and wounded from the hospitals at Reus, increased or perhaps occasioned an infectious disease which broke out among them, and was aggravated by the uncleanliness arising from want of linen, the neglect of those precautions, and the destitution of all those means without which armies cannot be kept in health. We reconcile ourselves to the slaughter of a battle or a siege, because such destruction is the business of war, and the men engaged in it take their chance bravely for the evils which they are inflicting upon others; ... ♦1809.
March.♦ but there is somewhat at which the heart revolts in making a league with pestilence or famine, however much the system of war may require and justify it. St. Cyr knew that disease was doing his work in Tarragona; officers as well as men were dying in such numbers, that if he could have kept them thus shut up within the seat of the contagion, more would perish in a month than he could have hoped to destroy in four pitched battles. He determined therefore ♦St. Cyr, 133.♦ to remain in the plain of Tarragona as long as his army could be supplied with a quarter of a ration.

But the Spaniards were not idle. The Somatenes were once more in force and in activity; and the left of the Catalan army, which had not been engaged in the defeat, harassed the enemy on their right and in the rear. When Reding had formed his unfortunate plan of operation, 10,000 Miquelets and Somatenes, under Wimpffen, had been sent beyond the Llobregat to take advantage of any insurrection that might be attempted in Barcelona. These irregular troops, when they had no longer to depend upon the combinations of the Commander-in-chief, but were left to themselves to carry on their own kind of warfare in their own way, began again to acquire that superiority which such warfare assured them; Chabran’s division, harassed by repeated assaults, fell back successively from Igualada upon Llacuna, S. Quinto, and Villa Franca; and the Spaniards in that quarter, full of hope as ever, resumed the blockade of Barcelona. For a time they cut off St. Cyr’s communication with that city, and their position excited no trifling uneasiness in Duhesme and Lechi, who well knew the disposition of the inhabitants. But the English squadron, the sight of which always afforded hope to the Barcelonans, was compelled by a heavy gale to stand out to sea: and Chabran’s division, recovering the ground and the reputation which it had lost, once more broke up the irregular blockade. St. Cyr meantime maintained his position as long as it was possible to feed his army there; he then determined upon moving it into the little plain of Vicq, where he expected to find corn, and to remain till the harvest should be ripe in the environs of Gerona, where he foresaw that in the course of the siege his army must be established. The battle of Valls had not given that army the confidence which their General was so desirous they should possess; there was in fact an impression upon them which they had never felt in any other service; they knew that they were not the objects of mere military hostility, in which there is neither enmity nor ill will between man and man, but that they had the hatred and the curses of the whole country. Their removal now they looked upon as a retreat, and they knew what were the dangers of a retrograde movement in Catalonia. St. Cyr better understood how little able Reding was to take advantage of such a movement at that time; and for the purpose of showing his men that he could defy the Spaniards, while at the same time he was careful not to wound the feelings of a General whom he respected, he sent an officer to Tarragona with a flag of truce, and a letter stating that, as circumstances rendered it necessary for him to draw nearer the French frontier, he should depart from Valls the following day at noon, and if General Reding would send a detachment thither at that time, the hospital which had been formed in that town, and which it was of such consequence for him to preserve, considering the number of his sick, should be consigned to him as it stood. It was well furnished from ♦St. Cyr, 134, 145–7.♦ the houses which the inhabitants of Valls had abandoned on the entrance of the enemy. The French commander left only a very few wounded men, who were not in a state to bear removal; because he doubted whether Reding would be able to make the Spaniards observe the agreement which had been concluded upon that subject. As far, however, as opportunity was given, it was properly performed.

This done, after having remained something more than three weeks in the plain of Tarragona, the French retreated toward the Llobregat. Chabot’s division occupied at this time Montblanch, for the double purpose of rendering it more difficult for Reding to communicate with Wimpffen, and of preventing the latter from holding any communication with Lerida. A brisk firing in a quarter where no alarm was looked for, occasioned this General to send out a reconnoissance. It was in time to save a detachment of 600 horse and foot, with two pieces of cannon, which Marshal Mortier had sent from Fraga to communicate with St. Cyr’s army, and bring him back intelligence of the state of things from Catalonia. A smaller party would have had no chance of succeeding in this service; and if this had been four-and-twenty hours later, it would have been cut off. They were fortunate enough to find a division of their countrymen here, but only half their object was accomplished; for though the army delayed its ♦St. Cyr, 138.♦ movements two days in the hope of facilitating their return, and escorted them to some distance, the attempt was found to be so hopeless, that they were fain to continue with St. Cyr.

The troops in Tarragona were not in a condition to harass the French on their retreat; but the retreat was most important to them. They obtained room to distribute their sick, and the progress of the contagion was stopped as soon as its main cause was thus removed. Some affairs took place beyond the Llobregat with Wimpffen’s division, which dispersed, as it became irregular troops to do, when they were not acting at advantage. When the enemy reached Vicq, they found that that city had not been infected by the ill example of Reus; the Bishop, five or six old men, and the sick who were unable to remove, were the only inhabitants of that populous city who remained. The others, with a spirit worthy of their country and their cause, upon the unexpected approach of the invaders abandoned all that they could not carry with them in their instant removal, and went to seek shelter where they could; many of them actually lived among the mountains during the whole three months that the French continued there, though at the time of their flight the weather was severe, and the snow daily falling. ♦St. Cyr, 156.♦ There had been no time to destroy the provisions, much less to remove them; if St. Cyr had not succeeded in effectually concealing his intention of quartering the troops there, this would have been done, and his army could then have derived no advantage from their change of position. As it was, they found corn enough to last till the harvest, lard for a month, and wine for a fortnight: but the change of diet, air, and climate (for they had moved into a higher region), and the want of wine as soon as the stock was exhausted, produced disease among the soldiers; and it was well for them that neither Reding nor his army was in a state to resume offensive operations; so that they were enabled to rest.

St. Cyr himself remained some three weeks in Barcelona. From the depôts of the Spaniards, which, in the course of this successful campaign had fallen into his hands, he had supplied the garrison of that city with grain, pulse, and salt for three months’ consumption: but there was not enough ammunition for a fortnight’s siege. Of being formally besieged indeed there was not now even the remotest danger; but from within there was sufficient cause for inquietude. The honourable feeling of nationality, for which the Catalans are eminently distinguished, was in no part of the principality stronger than in its capital. At this very time Barcelona had two tercios of Miquelets in the field, raised among its inhabitants, and paid and clothed by them. The individuals of those regiments, having no uniform by which they could be recognised, used to enter the city fearlessly whenever it suited them, for the purpose of visiting their friends, raising recruits, and receiving money or clothing: nor was it in Duhesme’s power, with all the vigilance, and it may be added, all the villany of his police, to detect a single person in this practice; so unanimous were the Barcelonans in their detestation of the intrusive government, and so well was the secret kept. That police was continually reporting to Duhesme and Lechi, and these again to the Commander-in-chief, the existence of conspiracies which they had discovered; but the members of the police were men of such character, that St. Cyr suspected these schemes to be suggested by their agents, if they were not mere fabrications, brought forward for the most nefarious motives. Now, however, that he was on the spot, he allowed Duhesme ♦1809.
April.♦ to exact an oath of allegiance to the Intruder from all the public functionaries, and from the Spanish soldiers who had been disarmed after ♦St. Cyr, 142–4.♦ the treacherous seizure of the place. Sunday was the day chosen for this act of oppression. They were summoned to the house of the Royal Audience, which was surrounded with horse and foot, and 3000 troops were drawn up on the esplanade and the sea-wall; the display and the actual force being necessary to keep down the indignation of a generous and most injured people. Every member of the Audience refused thus to disgrace himself and betray his country; only one of the Relatores took the oath, and only three of the numerous persons employed in the inferior departments. The French were not more successful in tempting the military. Persuasions and promises availed as little as the threat of immediate imprisonment. The Contador Asaguerre told Duhesme, that if all Spain were to acknowledge Joseph, he would expatriate himself. The French executed their threat. Nine-and-twenty of these honourable Spaniards were sent prisoners, some to Monjuic, others to the citadel. The people, undeterred by their strong escort, followed them as in procession, cheering them as they went, and promising that their families should be well provided ♦Prisoners sent to France.♦ for during their imprisonment. Many others were put under arrest in their own houses, and the whole of the military were, by St. Cyr’s orders, marched with the prisoners of war, under convoy of Lechi’s division, as far as the Fluvia, where Reille received and sent them into France: and by Lechi’s return the commander-in-chief ♦St. Cyr, 151, 158.♦ received the first intelligence from that country which had reached him since he crossed the Fluvia himself, ... five months before. His last remaining anxiety was for the provisionment of Barcelona; and that was removed soon afterward by the arrival of a squadron from Toulon, which had the rare good fortune to reach its destined port and return in safety. ♦Barcelona relieved by sea.♦ The place was thus amply supplied with military stores as well as provisions, and the siege of Gerona then became the only object of the French.