Chapter VIII

Feelings of the English people concerning the transactions in
Spain 443

Proceedings in Parliament 445

Mr. Whitbread proposes to negotiate with France 447

Mr. Whitbread speaks in favour of the Spaniards 447

Mr. Whitbread’s letter to Lord Holland 448

Measures of the British Government 451

Movements of the French in Navarre and Old Castille 452

Torquemada burnt 453

General Cuesta attempts at first to quiet the people 453

He takes the national side 454

Evil of his hesitation 454

He is defeated at Cabezon 455

The French enter Valladolid 456

They enter Santander 456

General Lefebvre Desnouettes defeats the Aragonese 456

He marches against Zaragoza 457

Troops sent from Barcelona towards Zaragoza and Valencia 458

General Schwartz marches towards Manresa 459

He is defeated at Bruch, and retreats to Barcelona 460

General Chabran recalled in consequence of Schwartz’s defeat 462

Arbos burnt by the French 462

Chabran defeated at Bruch 463

Duhesme endeavours to secure Gerona 463

Mataro sacked by the French 465

Failure of the attempt on Gerona 465

Figueras relieved by the French 466

Movements of Moncey against Valencia 467

Defeat of the Valencians 468

He approaches the city 468

Preparations for defence 469

The Valencians defeated at Quarte 471

The French repulsed from Valencia 472

Moncey retreats into Castille 473

Movements of the French in Andalusia 473

Dupont defeats the Spaniards at the Bridge of Alcolea 475

Cordoba entered and pillaged by the French 476

Dupont unable to advance 476

He is disappointed of succours from Portugal 477

Reinforcements from Madrid join him 478

Cuesta and Blake advance against the French 479

M. Bessieres defeats them at Rio Seco 480

The way to Madrid opened by this victory 481

Joseph enters Madrid 482

Fears of the Intrusive Government 483

The Council of Castille demur at the oath of allegiance 484

General Cassagne enters Jaen 487

He is compelled to evacuate it, and returns to Baylen 488

Preparations of General Castaños 490

Dupont’s dispatches intercepted 491

Plan for attacking the French 493

Battle of Baylen 494

Surrender of the French army 496

Terms of the surrender 497

Difficulty of executing the terms 500

Correspondence between Dupont and Morla 504

Treatment of the prisoners 508

Rejoicings for the victory 510

Movements of Bessieres after the battle of Rio Seco 511

Correspondence between Bessieres and Blake 512

The French leave Madrid, and retire to Vitoria 514

HISTORY

OF THE

PENINSULAR WAR.

The late war in the Peninsula will be memorable above all of modern times. It stands alone for the perfidiousness with which the French commenced it, and the atrocious system upon which they carried it on. The circumstances of the resistance are not less extraordinary than those of the aggression, whether we consider the total disorganization to which the kingdom of Spain was reduced; the inveterate abuses which had been entailed upon it by the imbecility, misrule, and dotage, of its old despotism; the inexperience, the weakness, and the errors, of the successive governments which grew out of the necessities of the times; or the unexampled patriotism and endurance of the people, which bore them through these complicated disadvantages. There are few portions of history from which lessons of such political importance are to be deduced; none which can more powerfully and permanently excite the sympathy of mankind, because of the mighty interests at stake. For this was no common war, of which a breach of treaty, an extension of frontier, a distant colony, or a disputed succession, serves as the cause or pretext: it was as direct a contest between the principles of good and evil as the elder Persians, or the Manicheans, imagined in their fables: it was for the life or death of national independence, national spirit, and of all those holy feelings which are comprehended in the love of our native land. Nor was it for the Peninsula alone that the war was waged: it was for England and for Europe; for literature and for liberty; for domestic morals and domestic happiness; for the vital welfare of the human race. Therefore I have thought that I could not better fulfil my duties to mankind, and especially to my own country, nor more fitly employ the leisure wherewith God has blessed me, nor endeavour in any worthier manner to transmit my name to future ages, than by composing, with all diligence, the faithful history of this momentous struggle. To this resolution I have been incited, as an Englishman, by the noble part which England has borne in these events; and as an individual, by the previous course of my studies, which, during the greater part of my life, have been so directed, that the annals and the literature of Spain and Portugal have become to me almost as familiar as our own. It is not strange, then, that having thus, as it were, intellectually naturalized myself in those countries, I should have watched them with the liveliest interest through their dreadful trial: and being thus prepared for the task, having some local knowledge of the scene of action, rich in accumulated materials, and possessing access to the best and highest sources of information, I undertake it cheerfully; fully assured that the principles herein to be inculcated and exemplified are established upon the best and surest foundation, and that nations can be secure and happy only in proportion as they adhere to them.