Lord Wellington’s failure at Burgos, and his consequent retreat to the Agueda, gave the Whigs a last opportunity of repeating their predictions, that the war in the Peninsula must prove unsuccessful, and they availed themselves of it with unabated confidence. The more rancorous radicals insulted the nation for the hopes which had been entertained, exulted in the reverses which they magnified, and reviled the ministers and the General, ... the ministers both for having continued the war, and for “starving” it; Lord Wellington both for inactivity and for rashness, for doing too little and too much, for wasting time at Madrid, and for attempting a siege with such inadequate means, that nothing but the most profuse expenditure of blood could afford even a forlorn hope of its succeeding. Even when the events of the Russian campaign made it evident that the formidable tyranny against which we had so long contended must soon be overthrown, the opposition, as well as the revolutionists, turned away their eyes from the prospect.

Parliament met at the latter end of November. In the Prince Regent’s speech it was stated, that the southern provinces of Spain had been delivered in consequence of the battle of Salamanca; and that, though it had been necessary to withdraw from the siege of Burgos and to evacuate Madrid, the effort of the enemy for rendering it so had occasioned sacrifices on his part, which must materially contribute to extend the resources and facilitate the exertions of the ♦Nov. 30.♦ Spaniards. On this occasion, Marquis Wellesley called upon the Peers, to inquire whether the system which had hitherto been pursued was founded upon just and extended principles; whether an able and efficient exertion of our resources had been made; whether such means as the country possessed had been fully employed; and whether the result had been such as the nation had a right to expect from the possession of those means, and the right application of them. He wished it were possible to fix in the minds of their lordships something like a definite and precise object, as the issue of the contest in the Peninsula. In his mind, the only legitimate object was, the expulsion of the French armies from Spain; and the war had been carried on in a way totally inadequate to the production of that result. The plan which of all others all mankind must reprobate, was that of employing our resources with a view rather to what might be spared in expense, than to what might be effected by exertion: thus exposing the sinews of our strength to hourly danger, and bearing hard upon our finances, yet effecting neither economy nor success, but falling dead as it were between both. A vast expense of blood and treasure had been lavished, without accomplishing any one definite object. The best assistance we could afford to Russia was by carrying on the war in Spain upon a broad and extensive scale; it had not been so carried on, and he charged upon that system, therefore, a defection from the cause of Russia. He did not mean to dispute that the last campaign had been beneficial to Spain; but his objection was, that those benefits were imperfectly secured, and that they could not expect them to be permanent.

Lord Grenville repeated and persisted in his old opinion, that the deliverance of Spain was beyond the utmost means of this country to effect; and that it was cruel and base to embark the population of that country in so hopeless a cause, merely for the sake of a little temporary advantage. The ministers had not advanced one step in the accomplishment of this object; and this third advance into the interior of Spain had, by its failure, proved the correctness of the data on which his opinion was founded. Their boast of having delivered Andalusia was an empty boast: no one doubted that the deliverance was more than temporary, and that the French could not re-occupy the provinces whenever they pleased. It was the want of means, the failure of supplies and resources, which had led to the unproductive results of all their exertions. The blame did not lie with the Spaniards, but with those who encouraged the hopes which they had no right to entertain: the fault was with the English ministers, who in their ignorance overrated the condition of Spain, and anticipated more from her than she could by possibility perform. He asked also, why ministers, with a revenue of one hundred and five millions, or more, by estimate, extorted by means the most grinding and oppressive from a suffering people, were yet unable to supply Lord Wellington’s military chest? The difficulty arose from their incapacity, not from the deficient resources of the country, much as they had been drained. They might diminish by one half the income of every individual in this country, with as little effect or promise of ultimate success as had attended those plans which led them to circulate a vile and adulterated currency in paper coin throughout the nation. When such had been its effects, why not at this moment stop the contest in Spain?

In the House of Commons, Mr. Ponsonby said, it was useless to carry farther an unprofitable contest; it was useless to waste the blood and the treasures of England for an unattainable object; it had been proved that the power of England was not competent to drive the French out of the Peninsula.

Mr. Freemantle was decidedly of opinion, that by the battle of Salamanca we had gained nothing but glory; that the deliverance of Spain was no nearer its accomplishment than when Lord Wellington was posted at Torres Vedras, and that our prospects at the present moment were not nearly so bright as at the commencement of the last session, ... at which time his declared opinion had been, that we could entertain no rational prospect of making any impression upon ♦Mr. Whitbread.♦ the enemy in Spain. Mr. Whitbread’s tone upon that subject was somewhat modified; he admitted that the situation in which we now stood in Spain was glorious beyond example, in so far as related to the achievements of our armies, though with respect to the expulsion of the French, we were not so near our object as some people supposed. There was this difference between an offensive and a defensive war; that an offensive war ought always to be a war of spirit. When vigorous efforts therefore were to be made in Spain, there ought to be no limit to that vigour. Let an application therefore be made to the Prince Regent, to know from him whether the greatest possible use had been made by ministers of the means with which they were intrusted for carrying on the war, before coming to a decision on the merits of ministers, or the probability of the war being in future carried on with success. He was far from wishing to refuse them the means necessary for carrying it to a successful issue; but feeling for the people who were groaning under accumulated burdens and threatened with the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s financial abilities, he thought the last resources of the country ought not to be granted without security for their being properly applied. Under all these circumstances, he was desirous of imploring the Prince Regent to take into consideration, whether or not it was at present possible to bring about a pacification. Buonaparte was on his retreat to his resources, his force not annihilated, though certainly in great danger, and this was what the House were to congratulate themselves on, and for which they were to go to the Prince Regent with an address on the prosperous state of the country! If the situation of affairs on the continent was good for any thing, it was this, that the Emperor of France having failed in his object, an opportunity was now offered when it would not be inglorious, and when it would certainly be highly useful to propose to the enemy some arrangement for peace. Buonaparte was at present in a perilous situation, and every exertion ought to be made, by taking advantage of it to procure a peace. But a feeling seemed to pervade the minds of certain persons, that peace should not be concluded with that man, ... a feeling which he wished to eradicate from this country: for, in the probable course of events, we should be obliged to make peace with him. Let him therefore be sent to openly and manfully! The fate of the mission would be speedily known; and the issue would be a conviction on the mind of every one, whether a permanent and honourable peace could be procured or not.

When a motion for thanks to Lord Wellington and his army for the battle of Salamanca was brought forward, Sir Francis Burdett said, he was far from wishing; invidiously to detract from the merits of men who had devoted their exertions to the service of their country, or to withhold from them any recompense that it was in the power of Parliament to bestow: but when he heard the battle of Salamanca represented as having been equal in importance to the battle of Blenheim, and to other great battles which had completely changed the aspect of the whole affairs of Europe, he could not suffer such delusions to go forth uncontradicted, ... delusions which were calculated to plunge the country, under the direction of the same persons, still more deeply in a destructive and ruinous war: for after their boasted and over-praised victories, we were still as far from our object as ever. What! were we to suffer the French troops to recover from the effect of their discomfiture and exhaustion, and to wait until the tide of good fortune which had attended us flowed back on its source? Were we to be satisfied with a retreat? Yet, where now was the Marquis of Wellington? In what direction were we to look for the glorious results of the campaign? In what manner was the diminution of the French power in Spain evinced? Nothing seemed to have resulted from all our advantages but calamity and distress; and it followed, therefore, that either Lord Wellington was not entitled to the praise which the House was called upon to bestow, or that the fault of our failure was attributable to the gross negligence and imbecility of the ministers. Lord Castlereagh, Sir Francis pursued, in the plenitude of his satisfaction, had not confined himself to Spain, but had travelled out of his course, and taken the House to Russia, where in the destruction of from 200,000 to 300,000 human beings, in the burning of Moscow, and in the devastation of an immense tract of Russian territory, he found new causes of congratulation, new sources of national pride and gratitude! Would he be equally inclined to consider it a matter of triumph, if Buonaparte (which in his opinion was more than probable) should extricate himself from his perils, and after having found good winter-quarters, return to the contest with renovated ardour in the spring? Could he believe it possible that Russia could continue such a contest, and undergo a repetition of similar dreadful experiments and sacrifices? Supposing he marched to Petersburgh, which seemed to be his ultimate intention, would the same mode of defence as at Moscow be adopted? Would Russia burn Petersburgh too? He for one could not greatly admire the magnanimity of burning that, the preservation of which ought to have been fought for; nor could he see the shining character of the Emperor Alexander, who was not, like the Emperor of the French, personally sharing in the dangers of the war. He could not subdue the conviction which arose in his mind on viewing all these things, of the utter impossibility of the Emperor of Russia’s feeling any exultation whatever: on the contrary, he thought that unfortunate individual must be oppressed by a view of the irreparable calamities to which himself and his people had been, and were ♦Dec. 7.♦ likely still further to be, exposed. Farther than this, when a grant was moved to the Marquis of Wellington, Sir Francis said, he did not wish to divide the House upon it, but he wished to move, that the consideration of the grant should be deferred till some inquiries had been made into the late extraordinary campaign. Lord Wellington’s victories had none of the characteristics which distinguished those of Marlborough. It had been observed, and by military men too, that he had brought his army into difficulties, but that his men had fought him out of them again; and that in the capture of the fortresses which he had won, a waste of life was to be complained of. The cause of Spain appeared to him infinitely more hopeless than it was at the commencement of the campaign, ... the case of the Peninsula more deplorable than ever.

Marquis Wellesley moved for a committee to inquire into the conduct of the war in the Peninsula. “My Lords,” said he, “what secret cause amidst the splendid scene that has been exhibited in the Peninsula, ... what malign influence amidst the rejoicings and acclamations of triumph, has counteracted the brilliant successes of our arms, and has converted the glad feelings of a just exultation into the bitterness of regret and disappointment? With an army in discipline and spirit superior to any that had ever been assembled, uniting in itself qualities so various, as never to have entered into the composition of any other such assemblage of force; ... with a general, pronounced by the whole world to be unsurpassed in ancient or modern times; the pride of his country, the refuge and hope of Europe; ... with a cause in which justice vied with policy, combining all that was ardent in the one motive, with all that was sober in the other; ... with the eyes of Europe fixed on our movements; ... with the admiration of the world excited by our achievements: ... how is it that our hopes have been raised only to be frustrated? How is it that we have been allowed to indulge in expectation of an approaching completion of success, only to behold the utter disappointment of our wishes? Why has a system of advance suddenly and inevitably been converted into a system of retreat? When victory actually sprung from the bosom of retreat, why was the glorious victor compelled to relapse into his retrogression? Why has it happened that we have seen the great conqueror who chased the French armies from the plains of Salamanca, pursued in his turn, by those whom he had conquered, over those plains which had been the scene of his former triumphs? Why, in conclusion, has a system of offence shrunk into a system of defence, and what is the reason that our military operations in the Peninsula have ended where they began?

“I should be lost to every feeling of honour, and to every sense of duty to the country, if I did not state that the effect of this campaign altogether has been not to approximate you towards your object, but to remove you from it; and that this calamity has arisen from the insufficiency of those means which, by a small addition, might have been rendered effective. I maintain, that the object we had in view, (the only honest object ... the only great object ... which we could pursue, or hope to obtain by our operations in Spain,) was the expulsion of the French, or, at least, a considerable diminution of their power, with a view to the freedom of the people, and the independence of the Spanish monarchy. This was, certainly, the main object which we ought to have contemplated; the ultimate object of the British nation was, certainly, by the deliverance of the peninsula of Spain, to lay a solid foundation for the establishment of a permanent and honourable peace.

“What I have contended is, that the efforts we have made have not been equal to the resources of the country; that they have not been such as the magnitude, the infinite importance of the cause demanded, and as the favourableness of the opportunity particularly called for; that we have not made even a faint approximation to the object of the war, the expulsion of the French from the Peninsula; but that the French have been enabled, by our reverses, to consolidate their power in Spain, and to systematize the moral and military subjugation of the country. We ought to have called forth all our resources, ... and we have made no extraordinary sacrifices; we ought to have strained every nerve at this momentous crisis, ... and we have remained little better than idle spectators of the fate of Spain. We have been deterred by petty objections; by calculations of expense, which are but as dust in the balance.”

Earl Grey supported the motion for a committee, saying, that the great objects of the campaign had not been realized, but that, on the contrary, there had been a complete failure, ... a great and lamentable failure; and that it was one of the most important duties of that house, in cases of ill success, to vindicate the interests of the country, by visiting with its severest censure the causers of the misfortune. Aware as the ministers were, he said, of the state of Europe, and knowing, as they must have known, the effect that at such a crisis would have been produced by a vigorous and decisive effort in the Peninsula, it was their bounden duty to have provided Lord Wellington with ample means for carrying through his enterprising projects, and crowning them with brilliant and unqualified success. Nothing had happened which induced him to repent of his opinion, that the efforts of the Spanish people could alone enable them to withstand the overwhelming power of France. This sentiment he had uttered under the supposition that no other power would stand up against the French Emperor, and that that Emperor would not depart from the unity of council and of action, by which his greatest successes had been achieved. And, indeed, if with such a commander and such an army as ours, and at a time when the army of France in the north had met with disasters, greater than which never fell upon a host assembled for the purposes of injustice and ambition, ... if under these circumstances we had achieved so little in Spain, what would have been the issue, if one-tenth only of the forces employed against Russia had been turned against us? The time had called for exertion, and the exertions had failed, ... failed almost entirely as to their great object: the French were left in possession of the best parts of Spain; and we had not advanced in any degree, considering the effects of the last campaign upon the minds of the Spaniards, to the accomplishment of our object. Such was the case, and it called loudly for inquiry.

To these assertions the Earl of Liverpool replied, that the campaign which had been thus represented as a failure and a defeat, was, in fact, the most brilliant that had been achieved by British arms in any period of our history. They had been seeking as a great object, that the whole force of Spain should be placed under the command of Lord Wellington, and that object had at length been accomplished. Every exertion that could be made had been made, for sending out troops to the Peninsula and for supplying them there, and the success of the war was indisputable. Portugal had been rescued from the enemy, and placed in a state of security, and now one-third of Spain was relieved from their presence. Spain and Portugal had set the example which Russia had followed, with the great advantage of having a government in full activity to direct all its strength. The example thus set and thus followed would have an effect among the other nations of Europe, would rouse their spirit, animate their exertions, and teach them in what manner to resist oppression, ... teach them that an united nation, determined to resist an invader, could not ♦Earl Bathurst.♦ be conquered! ... Earl Bathurst argued to the same purpose, saying, that something had been effected, if the views of England were what Marquis Wellesley had powerfully described them to be at the beginning of the war in Spain, ... first, to create a diversion in favour of our allies; secondly, to encourage resistance in other countries, by showing its effects in Spain; and thirdly, to prevent the commercial and military means of that country from falling into the hands of our enemy. Those had been the views of England, those were the views of the present Government, and those views had been forwarded by the last campaign. And Lord Wellington was satisfied with the conduct of the administration during that campaign, ... a declaration which had not been sought for by the ministers, but which he had voluntarily made.

In these debates the Whigs manifested the same disposition to magnify our reverses and depreciate our success, and the same propensity for predicting discomfiture and disgrace which had characterized their conduct during the whole struggle. The feeling with which they continued to regard Buonaparte, notwithstanding his ♦April 2.Lord Holland.♦ inordinate ambition and his remorseless tyranny, was farther exhibited by Lord Holland, when, upon presenting some petitions for peace, he expressed his trust that ministers entertained no chimerical notions of wresting from France what she had acquired during the last twenty years, nor of humiliating the great prince who now ruled that country; and his willingness to believe that they had not neglected the opportunity which the successes of Russia afforded for opening a negotiation! But they better understood their duty to their allies, and to Europe, and to their country; and being instructed by experience as well as encouraged by sure hope, they spared no efforts now for enabling Lord Wellington to open the ensuing campaign with means which ♦Lord Wellington goes to Cadiz.♦ should render success certain. Lord Wellington went to Cadiz at the close of the year, to make arrangements with the Spanish ministers for the co-operation of the Spanish armies. A deputation from the Cortes was sent to compliment him on his arrival; he paid his respects, in consequence, to that assembly; expressed his thanks in a brief and modest speech, for the different marks of honour and confidence which he had received from it; and said, that not the Spaniards alone looked to it with hope, but the whole world was concerned in the happy issue of their vigorous endeavours to save Spain from general destruction, and to establish in that monarchy a system founded upon just principles, which should promote and secure the prosperity of all the citizens, and the greatness of the Spanish nation. In reply, the president complimented him upon his victories, which had been celebrated, he said, like those of the Genius of Good over the Genius of Evil. The Cortes did not now hope or trust for new triumphs from the Duque de Ciudad Rodrigo, they looked upon them as certain; and looked, not only that the Spanish and allied armies under such a leader would drive the French beyond the Pyrenees, but that, if it should be needful, they would pitch their victorious tents upon the banks of the Seine; it would not be the first time that the Spanish lions had trampled on its banks upon the old fleur-de-lys of France.

It was arranged that 50,000 Spanish troops should be placed at his disposal. The army under Castaños formed part of these; it consisted of what had formerly been called the 5th, 6th, and 7th armies, now comprehended under the name of the fourth: Castaños was to hold also the captaincies-general of the province of Extremadura, Old Castille and Leon, Galicia and Asturias. There was to be an army of reserve in Andalusia under the Conde de Abisbal, and an army of reserve in Galicia. The other armies were that of Catalonia, which was the first; of this Copons held the command: he was also captain-general of that province, and of that part of Aragon which was on the right of the Ebro; the second, which Elio, captain-general of Valencia, Murcia, and New Castille, commanded; and the third (formerly the fourth) under the Duque del Parque, who was also charged with the captaincies-general of Jaen and Granada.

From Cadiz, Lord Wellington repaired to Lisbon. Triumphal arches were erected in all the towns through which he passed, from Elvas to the Tagus. The ships, the troops, and the people of Lisbon, received him with such honours as he deserved; greater could be paid to no man; and there was a general and voluntary illumination during three successive nights. A drama was composed to celebrate his victories, and represented in his presence at the royal theatre of San Carlos, where all the boxes were decorated with angels bearing crowns and shields, on which the initials of Lord Wellington were inscribed; O Nome, “The Name,” was the title of the piece, and it was preluded by a hymn in honour of the Prince of Brazil, and the exhibition of his portrait under a canopy. The scene then represented the Elysian fields, where, in the pitiable style of operatic invention, Glory, and Posterity, and Camoens, and the Great Constable, Nuno Alvares Pereira, with sundry other Lusitanian worthies, recitatived in praise of Lord Wellington, Lord Beresford, and the Portugueze and British armies; and down came angels and genii presenting illuminated scrolls, inscribed with the names of his victories.

The Portugueze army was, at this time, reproved by Lord Beresford for its want of discipline during the late retreat, in terms not less severe than those of Lord Wellington’s letter. Certain officers were suspended for scandalous neglect and total disregard of their duties: and it was stated, that, in every instance, complaints had been made by the commandants of corps or brigades, of inactivity and want of zeal in the officers of all those corps which had suffered extraordinary loss during the retreat. That such losses were occasioned by the negligence of the officers was proved by the fact, that other corps in the same marches, and under the same circumstances, difficulties, and privations, had none of their men missing; the officers of those corps were named with due praise. Marshal Beresford added, he deemed it important to remind the army, that with all the reasons which he had (and he was happy to say that he had every reason) for praising the conduct of the Portugueze officers, when they were in presence of an enemy, and exposed to fire, valour, nevertheless, was not the only thing needful; firmness and constancy were equally so for supporting the reverses, and fatigues, and privations, to which a military life is subject; and if the officers did not yield under such circumstances, the soldiers certainly would not; for no soldier, and especially no Portugueze soldier, ever would be backward in any thing when his officer set him an example; nor would ever commit any fault or manifest any discontent, so long as he saw his officer doing his duty under the same circumstances, and setting him an example of courage, firmness, and constancy. One of the army surgeons had been brought before a court-martial for neglecting the sick and wounded under his care, while they were in the hospital at Madrid. He was sentenced to a month’s imprisonment, and the loss of a month’s pay. Marshal Beresford, in confirming the sentence, expressed his disapprobation of it; a punishment so little in proportion to the crime, he said, was not likely to impress persons who had neither the proper feelings of men or of Christians; for what could be more horrible, than to see men who had been wounded in the service of their Prince and of their country, or whose health had been broken in that service, neglected by one who had received rank, honour, and pay, for the express intent of making him more attentive in his treatment of them? What could be worse than that such a person should be found preferring his own ease, or interest, or temporary convenience, to his duty towards his God, and his Prince, and his fellow-creatures, and leaving them either to perish through his neglect, or to fall into the hands of the enemy?

The consequences of the retreat were severely felt; in January, more than a third of the British army were on the sick list, fever being the principal disease, which want of clothing had, with fatigue, contributed to produce, and want of cleanliness to propagate. In personal appearance and in clothing, the British troops were at this time much worse than the Portugueze. But supplies of every kind, as well as large reinforcements, were received during the winter, no time being lost, and no care neglected. The infantry had suffered so much from want of cover, that they were now provided with tents, three for each company, and these were borne by the animals which used before to carry the camp kettles, tin kettles being substituted for iron ones, ... one to six men, and light enough for the men to carry it by turns on their knapsacks. Tents were not thought necessary for the cavalry, because not being either heated or exhausted so much in their marches, they were better able to stand the cold at night.

While the British force in the Peninsula was increased, and the Spanish rendered more available than it had been in any former campaign, that of the French was weakened; the enormous loss which Buonaparte had suffered in Russia, and the obstinate ambition with which he kept large garrisons in the north of Germany, rendering it necessary for him to withdraw troops from Spain. From 10 to 20,000 repassed the Pyrenees; not fewer than 140,000 were still left, ... good troops, well-officered, and under commanders of high reputation and approved skill. But both officers and men had had their confidence abated; the generals felt that even the resources of the conscription were exhaustible; and as little hope, when they considered the present state of their Emperor’s fortunes, could be entertained of subjugating the Spaniards, the object upon which all seemed to be most intent was that of enriching themselves by plunder, while it was still in their power ♦Exactions of the French.♦ to do so. M. Suchet left scarcely one picture of any value in Valencia, either in the convents, churches, or private houses; and that city was thus deprived of the finest works of Juanes, ... works which, precious as they are, were there enhanced in value by the local and religious feeling with which his fellow-citizens regarded the productions of their saintly painter. There and everywhere contributions were imposed and exacted in a manner which made it apparent that the Intrusive government treated them now not as subjects who were to be taxed, but as enemies from whom all that could be extorted was to be taken. Their operations on the side of New Castille and Leon were at this time confined to periodical circuits for the purpose of enforcing the payment of contributions. On the side of the Tagus they fortified the right bank of the river, repaired the Puente del Arzobispo, and occupied Almaraz, though they did not restore the bridge there.

Meantime the Spaniards were not idle. Longa surprised General Fromant in the valley of Sedano, when returning to Burgos with the requisitions which he had collected, and with sixty respectable householders whom he was taking away as hostages for the contribution: the hostages were rescued, Fromant with about 700 of his men killed, and nearly 500 taken prisoners. A party of the enemy had entered Bilbao, these also he surprised, and they suffered the loss of 200 men; then making for Salinas de Anaña, which was the strongest hold of the French in that district, he besieged it with 2500 men and five pieces of artillery, and after three days, the remainder of the garrison, consisting of 250, surrendered at discretion. This so dismayed the enemy that they abandoned Nauclares and Armiñon, which he was proceeding to attack, and both fortresses were demolished by his orders. His next object was the Fuerte del Cubo de Pancorbo, a post of importance for its situation, and for the care with which it had been strengthened; here too the garrison were made prisoners and the fort demolished. Caffarelli meantime was vainly besieging Castro, where he suffered some loss, and found it necessary to give up the attempt, that he might check Longa in his career of success. That active partizan was now threatening Breviesca; he eluded Caffarelli and Palombini when they moved against him, and retreating to Zovalina, there to refresh his troops, ordered his retreat so well that they were uncertain what direction he had taken; Caffarelli therefore reinforced his garrisons, and repairing to Vittoria himself, left Palombini at Poza with 3000 foot and 300 horse to protect the high road, and be ready to act against Longa. ♦Feb. 13.♦ But while a third of that force was detached to levy contributions, Longa surprised the remainder at daybreak: their collected plunder and some 300 prisoners fell into his hands, and they suffered a further loss of between two and three hundred in killed and wounded. The approach of their detachment, and of a large body on its way from Burgos to Vittoria, then rendered it necessary for him to retire.

While Longa thus harassed the enemy in the north of ♦Mina’s movements.♦ Spain, Mina was assailing them with his wonted activity in Navarre and Aragon. The English landed two 12-pounders for him in the Deva, together with clothing, ammunition, and other things of which he was in need; 600 of his men were ready to receive and escort these. The French endeavoured to intercept them, and were repulsed in the attempt; and Mina was no sooner possessed of the guns than he attacked the enemy in Tafalla, where they had a garrison of 400 men. General ♦Feb. 11.♦ Abbé moved to relieve it with all the disposable force from Pamplona; but he was beaten back by a part of Mina’s force which had been left to observe that city, and on the fifth day of the siege the garrison surrendered as prisoners of war. The wounded he sent under an escort to Pamplona; destroyed the fort at Tafalla, and the works, ... also a Franciscan Convent, and an old palace in which the French might have established a garrison; and he demolished in like manner two other such edifices at Olite, that the road might be clear between Pamplona and Tudela. From Tafalla he proceeded to Sos in Upper Aragon, a fort which the enemy had occupied more than three years, and fortified sufficiently as long as the Spaniards could bring no guns against it. They were on the point of surrendering after a four days’ siege, when General Paris arrived from Zaragoza and carried off the garrison, leaving the fort half ruined: Mina completed its demolition, and by this enterprise laid open the road between Pamplona and Jaca. Shortly after, Fermin de Leguia, who was under ♦Feb. 20.♦ his orders, ventured, without instructions, upon an adventure which was executed as boldly as it ♦March 11.♦ was designed. With only fifteen men, being the whole of his party, he approached the castle of Fuenterrabia in the night, scaled the wall with one man by the help of spikes and ropes which supplied the place of a ladder, surprised the sentinel, got possession of the keys, opened the gates for his men, and took eight artillerymen prisoners, while the remainder of the garrison, who dreamt of no danger, were sleeping in the town. He then spiked the guns, threw into the sea all the ammunition which he could not carry away, set fire to the castle, and though pursued by the enemy retreated without loss. Mina was heard of next at Lodosa, where he attacked a detachment of 1000 French, few of whom ♦March 29.Caffarelli recalled from Spain.♦ escaped, 635 being made prisoners. Caffarelli had at this time been called to France, giving up the command in the north to Clausel; that able general hoped to signalize himself by destroying an indefatigable enemy who had baffled the efforts of all his predecessors; and this was the first proof which he made of that enemy’s ability. Mina next attempted to intercept a convoy which was going from Tolosa to Pamplona; the convoy was alarmed in time, but the attempt led to an affair with Abbé’s force, in which the French retired with the loss of full 300 men.

Clausel had left a considerable garrison in Puente la Reyna, well fortified for the sort of war which they might have to sustain; and an advanced post of 50 men at Mendigorria, in an old church of S. Maria, which they had fortified. While he was in pursuit of Mina from Estella, and Abbé from Pamplona, their skilful antagonist led them to suppose that he was in the valley of Berrueza, ... then making a rapid counter-march with one of his regiments, appeared in Mendigorria. The garrison at Puente outnumbered him both in horse and foot, but they did not ♦April 21.♦ venture to interrupt him in his operations; and he set fire to the church. The French had no other resource than to ascend the tower, and fire upon them from thence. He sent a trumpet to offer terms, but they would not allow him to approach, either in the confident expectation of being succoured from Puente, or because they were confounded by the situation in which they found themselves; for the smoke and the flames distressed them so dreadfully, that in the course of half an hour, they prepared to let themselves down by ropes; but Mina ordered ladders to the roof of the church, from whence they descended, and were made prisoners. The Guerrilla chief, now Camp-Marshal in the regular service, took credit to himself for sparing their lives when by the laws of war they had placed them at his mercy: by this time indeed both the invaders and the Spaniards in Navarre had found it their interest to revert to the humanities of civilized warfare. His own hospital was in the valley of Roncal, and from the combined movements of Clausel and Abbé he inferred that it was their intention to deprive him of that retreat, the only one which there was for his wounded and invalids. Not being strong enough to resist the force which was now brought against him, he removed all who were in a condition to bear removal, and left the others to the enemy’s mercy, calling to mind no doubt with satisfaction his own recent conduct at Tafalla and Mendigorria: as he had hoped, the men were humanely treated by General Abbé, though the hospital effects were destroyed, and Isaba, which had been deserted by its inhabitants, was set on fire, and 150 houses burnt. Clausel employed the months of April and May in endeavouring to hunt this formidable enemy down, of whom in an intercepted letter to the Intruder, he said, that he would be Lord of Navarre unless it were occupied by a corps of from 20 to 25,000 men; because when he was weak he always avoided an action, and fell upon detachments when he was sure of victory. In the course of this attempt the loss which his own men sustained from fatigue far exceeded any that he inflicted upon Mina’s hardy troops, who were intimately acquainted with the country, and accustomed to the hair-breadth scapes of such campaigns. At no time, however, was so much apprehension entertained for Mina’s safety, though he himself relied with his wonted confidence upon his resources and his fortune, now too not without certain knowledge that his pursuers would soon be called off to a contest which for them would be of a far more serious kind.

On the side of Biscay the enemy were more successful; they surprised and captured Renovales, with six of his officers, at Carvajalez de Zamora; and Castro, from which Caffarelli had been repulsed, was taken by General Foy, after a siege of eighteen days. The Governor Don Pedro Pablo Alvares ♦Castro de Urdiales taken by Gen. Foy.♦ discharged his duty to the utmost, and the Lyra, Royalist, and Sparrow sloops of war, and the Alphea schooner, under Captain Bloye, assisted in the defence. Foy brought all the force which he could collect against it, and proceeded as if he hoped to strike the province as well as the garrison with terror, ... for he offered no terms, and seemed determined to take the place by storm, let it cost what it would. When he had made a breach wide enough to admit twenty men abreast, he turned his guns on the town and castle, and threw shells incessantly at the bridge that connected the ♦May 11.♦ castle with the landing-place, hoping thus to cut off the retreat of the garrison, which at the commencement of the siege consisted of 1200 men. At noon the enemy entered in great numbers through the breach and by escalade in various parts; the garrison when they could no longer defend the town retreated into the castle, the ships’ boats were in readiness to receive them, and they were embarked by companies under a tremendous fire of musquetry, two companies remaining to defend the castle, till the last gun was thrown into the sea. Every soldier was brought off, and many of the inhabitants, and landed at Bermeo on the following day. The town was burnt. Foy indeed acted in the spirit of ♦Enormities committed there by the French.♦ his Portugueze campaign; as he had offered no terms he showed no mercy, but when the town was entered put the defenders to the bayonet without distinction. It had been well if the wickedness of the enemy had ended there; but in one of their unsuccessful attacks many of their men had been pushed down a ravine by their fellows while pressing forward to the charge, the bridge by which they expected to cross having been destroyed by the English; and because the inhabitants had not informed them of the destruction of this bridge, they butchered men and women, sparing none, and inflicting upon them cruelties which nothing but a devilish nature could devise.

Little attempt was made on the enemy’s part to annoy the allies during the winter and spring. Foy, with 1500 infantry and 100 horse, had endeavoured, in February, to surprise the post at Bejar, but was promptly repulsed; and the French in the same month advanced from Orbigo and Castro Gondoles as far as Astorga and Manzanal in one direction, and to the Puebla de Sanabria and Mombuey in another, the Gallician army retreating before them, and then resuming their former position when the enemy in their turn had retired. Much greater activity was shown in plundering the inhabitants; and this kind of war, wherein there could be no resistance, was carried on so shamelessly, that the Intruder, it was said, deemed it necessary to call one of the generals to account.

Clausel was of opinion that an error had been committed in not concentrating their forces more upon the Ebro, which might have been done, he said, without abandoning Castille, and this error, he feared, they should find cause to repent. But the Intruder’s council had determined upon taking the Douro for their line of defence; and with this view they threw up works on the right bank at every assailable point, relying, as Soult had formerly done at Porto, upon the security which that deep ♦M. Soult called from Spain.♦ and rapid river might afford them. Marshal Soult had been called away in March to take part in the campaign in Germany. The head-quarters of what had been his army were removed from Toledo to Madrid early in April, and Toledo was abandoned; but troops were kept at Illescas, and reconnoissances made by the cavalry towards Escalona, the Alberche, and Añobes del Tajo, apprehending some movement of Sir Rowland’s army in this direction. The ♦The Intruder goes to Valladolid.♦ Intruder, leaving that capital to which he was never to return, removed his court, or rather his head-quarters, to Valladolid, where the Palace Gardens were put in order for his recreation, and some defensive works constructed. On the 11th of April, General Hugo, who had been left with the command in Madrid, informed the Ayuntamiento that the troops were about to depart, and that they must take measures for preserving tranquillity and guarding the public buildings, civil and military. The most precious articles in the cabinet of natural history were sent off, with whatever else could be removed from the other public establishments, and all arrears of contribution were exacted with the utmost rigour. Beasts enough were not left in Madrid for the scavengers’ use, so that the inhabitants were ordered to collect the sweepings of the streets into the squares, and there burn what used to be carried into the country for manure. The people of that poor capital had always clung to the hope of deliverance with a strength of belief which characterizes the nation, and in the movements of their oppressors they now saw reasonable ground for expecting that it could not be long delayed.