1812] WELLINGTON IN MADRID 1317 Wellington saw the advantage thus offered. Holding the Arapiles with his left, he fell on the flank of the advancing column, while Pakenham faced it upon the ridge. The French left was thus entirely destroyed, their attacks upon the central hill were unsuccessful, their confusion was increased by the loss of their commander, who was wounded early in the day, and it was only because a Spanish garrison which should have cut off their retreat across the Tormes at Alba had been withdrawn without Wellington's knowledge that their army escaped destruction. As it was, Clausel, who had succeeded Marmont, was able to bring off the greater part of his troops in safety. Aug. 12, 1812. The arrival of reinforcements under Sir Home Popham on the north of Spain had drawn a certain portion of the French troops in that direction, and against a weakened and defeated Wellington army Wellington proceeded in his triumphant advance enters Madrid. toward Madrid. Joseph again left the city and retreated to Valencia, and with all the signs of wild rejoicing the conqueror was received in the capital of Spain. The effect of the late battle was exactly such as had been anticipated-King Joseph, acting as commander-in-chief, ordered Soult to evacuate Andalusia and the south. It was in vain that that general pointed out the possibility of holding his position there, and intreated the king to come with the other armies to his rescue: the orders were peremptory, and much against his will Soult withdrew and effected a junction with Joseph and Suchet in Valencia. The south and centre of Spain thus seemed clear of enemies, but the hold of the French was as yet shaken only, not broken; for in fact though Wellington's march had forced his enemies in two directions (Clausel, with the remainder of Marmont's army, having retired north, while the king withdrew south-east), such were their numbers that each division became the centre of an army as powerful as his own. Indeed, the very effect of his victory in drawing Soult from Andalusia had concentrated a vast power in Joseph's hands. Wellington was, however, aided by two circumstances. An expedition had been sent to Sicily under Sir William Bentinck; a portion of it under Maitland was landed at Alicante, and kept Suchet and the Catalonian army in play, while Sir Home Popham did the like for the army of the north. Of the two armies against which Wellington had to contend by far the largest was the southern army of Soult and the His great plans king. On the other hand, Clausel's forces were beaten thwarted. CUN, MON, [2K] and retreating, so that it appeared to the general better to leave a detachment in Madrid, while he himself repaired with the bulk of his army to strike a final blow at Clausel by the capture of Burgos, intending to return at once and with his whole combined forces fight a great battle with Soult and the king before Madrid. Again events occurred, upon which he could scarcely have calculated, which thwarted his purpose. The Spanish army, which had been intrusted with the duty of guarding his communications with Salamanca and of completing the capture of the fortresses of the Douro, and some English forces which had been left to assist it, were so badly handled that the retreating army was in fact left unmolested, while extreme want of money and political difficulties hampered Wellington's own march. Clausel, too, proved a general of great ability; his retreat up the valley of the Arlanzon towards Burgos was a masterpiece ; while, to crown all, the resistance offered by Burgos and the deficiency of proper artillery proved greater obstacles than had been expected. The delay thus caused allowed the French to recover; the crisis was met with energy, fresh troops were poured across the frontier; Souham, who took the chief command, found himself at the head of a force almost double that of Wellington; and as Soult upon the south began to draw towards Madrid, thus threatening the safety of Hill, there was no course left but to summon that general northward, and to make a combined retreat towards Salamanca and Portugal. It was not the most glorious passage of our arms. Want of pay and some other causes had somewhat slackened the discipline of the troops, and though no disaster occurred, and though the French were more than once checked, there were scenes of wild disorder and insubordination which called forth stern reprimands from the general. He retreats to Portugal. This was the last of Wellington's retreats. Events in Europe Improvement in lessened the power of his enemies; while fighting for his position. his very existence on the main continent of Europe, Napoleon could not but regard the war in Spain as a very secondary concern, and a great many old and valuable soldiers were withdrawn. The jealousy which existed between Joseph and the generals, and the dislike of the great generals to take upon themselves the Spanish war, threw it into inferior hands for some little while, and there is little more to chronicle than a succession of hard-won victories. Moreover, Wellington's position was in other ways much strengthened; he had received from the Brazils full power of action in Portugal, at Burgos he had been made commander-in-chief of the 1813] BATTLE OF VITTORIA 1319 Spanish army, while the changes in the ministry at home, though they had deprived him of his brother's assistance, had yet been on the whole favourable to him; his greatness and success had become the chief support of the ministry. He had, moreover, by his personal authority established discipline in the Portuguese army, had used his power and influence to supply the commissariat and other trains, and even the Spanish troops which had been placed at his disposal had been brought into something like order. The whole active force of the French had been reduced to 197,000 men, while Wellington had contrived to prepare 200,000 allied troops for the campaign, although it was chiefly upon the 70,000 Anglo-Portuguese that he relied. The English fleets covered the coast, and every port thus became a little centre of action. A vigorous insurrection had arisen all along the northern provinces; and it was this more than anything else which decided Wellington's course of action. While leaving troops to occupy the attention of the French in the valley of the Tagus, he intended to march by his own left (thus avoiding the difficulties offered by the Douro and the Carrion rivers), connect himself with the northern insurgents, and directly threaten the cominunications with France, either fighting for or turning every position in which the king might try to intercept him. Battle of June 21, 1813. His movements, which had to be effected with considerable secresy, were well carried out; the various divisions of his army met at Toro on the Douro. As he had expected, the French had to fall back before him; he compelled them to evacuate Burgos and attempt to defend the Ebro. Their position there was turned, and they had again to fall back into the basin of Vittoria. This is the plain of the river Zadora, which forms in its course almost a right angle at the south-west corner of the plain, which it vittoria. thus surrounds on two sides. Across the plain and through Vittoria runs the high road to France, the only one in the neighbourhood sufficiently large to allow of the retreat of the French army, encumbered with all its stores and baggage, and the accumulated wealth of some years of occupation of Spain. While Wellington forced the passage of the river in front south of the great bend, and drove the enemy back to the town of Vittoria, Graham beyond the town closed this road. The beaten enemy had to retreat as best he could towar is Salvatierra, leaving behind all the artillery, stores, baggage, and equipments. The offensive armies of France had now to assume the defensive and to guard their own frontier. Before advancing to attack them in the mountains, Wellington undertook the blockade of Pampeluna and the siege of St. Sebastian. It was impossible for the French Battles of any longer to regard diplomatic or dynastic niceties. Joseph was superseded, and the defence of France intrusted to Soult, with whom the king had hopelessly quarrelled. He proved himself worthy of the charge. A series of terrible battles was fought in the Pyrenees, but one by one his positions were forced. With fearful bloodshed, St. Sebastian was taken, the Bidasoa was crossed (Oct. 7), the battle of the Nivelle fought and won (Nov. 10), and at length, in January, Soult was driven even from the Adour and forced to surrender Bayonne. But by this time events on the other side of France had changed the appearance of the war. Napoleon's threatened invasion of Russia had taken place; the defensive plan adopted by the Russians proved successful. The Emperor had himself hastened back to Paris after the conflagration of Moscow, while his ruined and broken army struggled home through the terrible suffering of the Russian winter. As Alexander had foreseen, the reverse of the French had been followed by the defection at first of Prussia and shortly afterwards Austria. The powers of Europe were thus again formed in a 1813] BATTLE OF TOULOUSE 1321 coalition. With such troops as he could collect, Napoleon had hurried, in the summer of 1813, to the very furthest confines of Germany, and fought the great battles of Lutzen and Bautzen. But the flower of his troops had been lost in Russia, his armies were no longer what they had been. His enemies in vast numbers began to gather round him. Though victorious at the gigantic battle of Dresden (Aug. 24, 1813), he was unable to make a final stand against the vast armaments of the coalition. Several of his lieutenants were defeated, and at length, on the 19th of October, the battle of Leipsic was fought, which ended in his complete defeat. It is said that on the two sides the killed and wounded amounted to 110,000 men. The victorious allies swept onwards, and just at the close of the year 1813 entered France. The spring of the following year was occupied by the brilliant campaign in which Napoleon exerted all his genius in vain to check the huge masses of the invaders. While Wellington was making good his position in the south of France, in spite of the ability which he displayed, Napoleon was being constantly driven backward upon the east. The effect could not but be felt by the southern army, and Soult deserves great credit for the skill with which he still held at bay the victorious English. He was however defeated at Orthes (Feb. 27), lost Bordeaux (March 8), and was finally driven eastward towards Toulouse, intending to act in union with Suchet, whose army in Catalonia was as yet unbeaten. On the heights upon the east of Toulouse, for Wellington had brought his army across the Garonne, was fought, with somewhat doubtful result, the great battle of Toulouse. The victory has been claimed by both parties; the aim of Toulouse. the English general was however won, the Garonne April 10, 1814. was passed, the French position taken, Toulouse evacuated and occupied by the victors. The triumph such as it was had cost the victors 7000 or 8000 men, a loss of life which might have been spared, for Napoleon had already abdicated, and the battle was entirely useless. This was the last action of the Peninsula War, in which, after years of steadfast resistance, the English had at length triumphantly swept the French from the Peninsula, and done their full share in the great events which temporarily closed the career of Napoleon. Battle of The negotiations which had terminated in the abdication of Napoleon had, as far as England was concerned, been Long tenure carried on by the same ministry which had had the of power of duty of conducting the war. The Tory party which the Tory party. |