XII. 1823. sions. 82. CHAP. authorities should not be at liberty to arrest any person without the authority of the French officers; the commanders-in-chief of the corps under the orders of his Its provi- royal highness were instantly to set at liberty all persons who had been arbitrarily imprisoned from political causes, and especially those in the militia, who were hereby authorised to return to their homes, with the exception of such as after their enlargement might have given just cause of complaint. The commanders-in-chief of the corps were authorised to arrest every person who should contravene this decree; and the editors of periodical publications were put under the direction of the commanders of corps." Though this ordonnance was dictated by the highest wisdom as well as humanity, seeing it put a stop at once to the Royalist reaction which had become so violent, and threatened such dangerous consequences, yet as it took the government in a manner out of the hands of the Spanish authorities, and seemed to presage a prolonged military occupation of the country, it excited the most profound feelings of indignation at Madrid, and among the ardent Royalists over the whole Country. With them, loyalty to their sovereign was vi. 437; Or- identical with thirst for the blood of his enemies. 1 Cap. vii. 204, 205; Ann. Hist. donnance Aug. 8, niteur, Aug. 24; Ann. The d'Andujar, whole members of the Regency sent in their resignations, 1823; Mo- and were only prevailed on to withdraw them by explanations offered of the real object of the ordonnance; and the diplomatic body made remonstrances, which were only appeased in the same manner.1* Hist. vi. 724. The condition of Spain at this time was such as to "Jamais l'intention de S. A. R. ne fut d'arrêter le cours de la justice dans les poursuites pour des délits ordinaires sur lesquels le magistrat doit conserver toute la plénitude de son autorité; les mesures prescrites dans l'ordre du 8 Août n'ont d'autre objet que d'assurer les effets de la parole du prince, par laquelle il garantissait la tranquillité de ceux qui, en la foi des promesses de S. A. R., se séparent des rangs des ennemis. Mais en même temps, l'indulgence pour le passé garantit la sévérité avec laquelle les nouveaux délits seront punis, et conséquemment les commandants français devront non-seulement laisser agir les tribunaux ordinaires auxquels il appartient de punir suivant la rigueur des lois, ceux qui, à l'avenir, se rendront coupables de désordres et de dés XII. 1823. 83. Violent ir ritation of ists in call forth the utmost solicitude, and threatened the most CHAP. frightful consequences. The war still lingered in Galicia, where Sir R. Wilson had appeared, accompanied, not, as was expected, by ten thousand men, but by a single aide-de-camp; and a harassing guerilla warfare was yet the Royalkept up by Mina, and the forces under his command in Spain. Catalonia. The Royalists in Madrid had been in a state of the highest exultation, in consequence of a rumour which had obtained credit, that the king had been set at liberty, when the decree of Andujar fell upon them like a thunderbolt, and excited universal indignation. The same was the case in all the provinces. Such is the force of passion and the thirst for vengeance in the Spanish character, that nothing inflames it so violently as being precluded from the gratification of these malignant feelings. The army employed in the blockade of Pampeluna prepared and signed an address to the Regency, in which this wise decree was denounced as worse than any act of Napoleon's.* In such an excited state of the public mind, no central authority could be established. All recognised the Regency at Madrid; none obeyed it. Provincial juntas were rapidly formed, as in the commencement of the war in 1809, composed of the most violent Royalists, who soon acquired the entire direc- Aug. 13. tion of affairs within their respective provinces. The sur- 1 Ann. Hist. render of Corunna on 13th August, followed by the vi. 436,442; capitulation of all the Liberal corps in the province, 230, 231; and that of San Sebastian, Ferrol, and Pampeluna,1 204, 206. soon after terminated the war in the north and west of obéissance aux lois, mais encore ils devront agir d'accord, avec les autorités locales, pour toutes les mesures qui pourront intéresser la conservation de la paix publique.”—Lettre du Général Guilleminot à la Régence à Madrid, 26th August 1823; Annuaire Historique, vi. 724. * "Un attentat que n'osa pas commettre le tyran du monde, doit être réprimé à l'instant, quelles qu'en soient les conséquences, et dussions-nous être exposés aux plus grands dangers. Que l'Espagne soit couverte de cadavres plutôt que de vivre avilie par le déshonneur, et de subir le joug de l'étranger."-Adresse de l'armée de Navarre à la Régence, 20th August 1823; Annuaire Historique, vi. 441. Aug. 27. Lam. vii. Cap. vii. CHAP. Spain, and hostilities continued only in Catalonia and round the walls of Cadiz. XII. 1823. 84. the siege of Cadiz. July 16. July 14. In this distracted state of the country, it was plain Progress of that nothing could produce concord but the authority of the sovereign, and to effect his liberation the whole efforts of the Duke d'Angoulème were directed. The siege of Cadiz had been undertaken in good earnest, but it was no easy matter to prosecute it with effect. The distance of the nearest points on the bay from the city was so considerable that nothing but bombs of the largest calibre and the longest range could reach it, and the dykes which led across it into the fortress were defended by batteries of such strength that all attempts to force the passage were hopeless. Two thousand pieces of cannon, and ammunition in abundance, were arrayed in defence of the place. A grand sortie, undertaken to drive the French from their posts around the bay, led to a warm action, and was at length repulsed with the loss to the besieged of seven hundred men. About the same time the Minister at War, Don Sanchez Salvador, cut his throat after having burned all his papers. He left a writing on his table, in which he declared that he did so "because life was every day becoming more insupportable to him, but that he descended to the tomb without having to reproach himself with a single fault." The approach of the prince generalissimo soon led to more important operations. His first care was to send a letter to the President of the Cortes, expressing the anxious wish of the French government that "the king of Spain, restored to liberty and practising clemency, should accord a general amnesty, necessary after so many troubles, and give to his people, by the convocation of the ancient Cortes, a guarantee for the reign of justice, order, and good administration; an act of wisdom to which he pledged himself to obtain the concurrence of all Europe."1 But to this noble and touchvi. 449, 450. ing letter, the Cortes, with the mixture of pride and obstinacy which seems inherent in the Spanish character, Aug. 17. 1 Lettre du Duc d'Angoulême, Aug. 17, 1823, et Réponse Roume des Cortès, Aug. 18; Ann. Hist. returned an answer in such terms as rendered all hope of CHAP. pacific adjustment out of the question.* XII. 1823. 85. the Troca Aug. 31. Continued hostilities being thus resolved on, the French engineers directed all their efforts against the fort of the Assault of TROCADERO. This outwork of Cadiz, situated on the land dero. side of the bay, is placed at the extremity of a sandy peninsula running into it, and was of great importance as commanding the inner harbour, and enabling the mortar batteries of the besiegers to reach the city itself. It had been fortified, accordingly, with the utmost care-was mounted with fifty pieces of heavy cannon, garrisoned with seventeen hundred men; and as a ditch, into which the sea flowed at both ends, had been cut across the peninsula, the fort stood on an island, with a front of appalling strength towards the land. Against this front the whole efforts of the French were directed: the approaches were pushed with incredible activity, and on the 24th the first parallel had been drawn to within sixty yards of the ditch. A tremendous fire was kept up from the batteries of the assailants on the works of the place during the six following days, and on the 31st the cannonade was so violent as to induce the garrison to apprehend an immediate assault. The day, however, passed over without its taking place, and the Spaniards began to raise cries of victory. But their triumph was of short duration. Early on the morning of the 31st, while it was still dark, the assaulting column, consisting of fourteen companies, defiled in silence out of the trenches, and stood within forty paces of the enemy's batteries. With such order and regularity was the movement executed, that the besiegers were not aware of their having emerged from the trenches till just before * "Le roi est libre; les malheurs de l'Espagne viennent tous de l'invasion; l'établissement des anciennes Cortès est aussi incompatible avec la dignité de la couronne qu'avec l'état actuel du monde, la situation politique des choses, les droits, les usages, et le bien-être de la nation espagnole. Si S. A. R. abusait de la force, elle serait responsable des maux qu'elle pourrait attirer sur la personne du roi, sur la famille royale, et sur cette cité bien méritante."-Réponse des Cortés, 18th August 1823; Annuaire Historique, vi. 420. XII. 1823. CHAP. the rush commenced. They were seen, however, through the grey of the morning as they were beginning to move, and a violent fire of grape and musketry was immediately directed against the living mass. On they rushed, disregarding the fire, plunged into the ditch, with the water up to their arms, and ascending the opposite side under a shower of balls, broke through the chevaux-de-frise, and mounted the ramparts with the utmost resolution. The Spaniards stood their ground bravely, and for some minutes the struggle was very violent, but at length the impetuosity of the French prevailed. Great numbers of the besieged were bayoneted at their guns; the remainder fled to Fort St Louis, the last fortified post on the peninsula. There, however, they were speedily followed by the French, who scaled the ramparts and carried everything before them. By nine o'clock the conquest was complete the entire peninsula had fallen into the hands of the victors, with all its forts and artillery. The Duke d'Angoulême exposed himself, in this brilliant affair, to the enemy's fire, like a simple grenadier; and the Prince of Carignan, eldest son of the King of SarLam. vii. dinia, was one of the first of the forlorn hope who mounted Duke d'An- the breach. Strange destiny of the same prince to be goulême's Despatches, within two years the leader of a democratic revolt in his 1823. own country, and a gallant volunteer with the assaulting party of the Royalist army which combated it!1 1 Moniteur, Aug. 15; Ann. Hist. vi. 452, 453; 232, 233; Aug. 1, 86. Disaster also attended the operations of Riego, who Operations had left the Isle of Leon in order to collect the scatof Riego in the rear of tered bands of the Liberals in the mountains of Granada the French, and Andalusia, and operate in the rear of the French army. The Cortes, who were too glad to get quit of him, gave him the command of all the troops he could collect he eluded the vigilance of the French cruisers, and disembarked at Malaga on the 17th August with ample powers, but no money. He there took the command of two thousand men who remained to Zayas in that place, and soon made amends for his want of money by : |