Joseph Bonaparte Part 11

The Emperor then issued a proclamation to the Spanish nation, in which he said,

"I have declared, in a proclamation of the 2d of June, that I wished to be the regenerator of Spain. To the rights which the princes of the ancient dynasties have ceded to me, you have wished that I should add the rights of conquest. That, however, shall not change my inclination to serve you. I wish to encourage every thing that is n.o.ble in your exertions. All that is opposed to your prosperity and your grandeur I wish to destroy. The shackles which have enslaved the people I have broken. I have given you a liberal const.i.tution, and, in the place of an absolute monarchy, a monarchy mild and limited. It depends upon yourselves whether that const.i.tution shall still be your law."

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SPANISH CAMPAIGN OF NAPOLEON.

1808-1809

Retreat of Sir John Moore and Sir David Baird.--The Spanish Deputation.

--Anecdote of Napoleon.--Atrocities of the English.--Testimony of Alison.--Napoleon at Astorga.--A new Coalition.--Anxiety of the Emperor.--New Year's Wishes.--Napoleon's Response.--Magnanimity of Napoleon.--Reforms introduced.--Escape of Sir John Moore.--Efforts of the British Government.--Testimony of Alison.--Fury of the Populace.

--The Siege of Saragossa.--Savagery of Armies.--Discouragement of the Spaniards.--Victory of General St. Cyr.--French Victories.--Desolations of War.--Testimony of Alison.--Joseph's mistaken Views.--The Hostility of the Allies to Napoleon personally.--Joseph's Want of Appreciation.

--Character of Joseph.--Remarks of the Duke of Wellington.--Siege of Oporto.--Awful Slaughter.--Oporto Taken by Storm.--Continued Scenes of Carnage.--Napoleon's Remarks to O'Meara.--Joseph at Malaga.

--Embarra.s.sments of Joseph's Position.

In less than five weeks from the time when Napoleon first placed his foot upon the soil of Spain he was master of more than half the kingdom.

Sir John Moore, with an army of about 30,000 Englishmen, was marching rapidly from Portugal, to form a junction with another English army of about 10,000 men under Sir David Baird, who were advancing from Corunna. It was supposed in England that the co-operation of these highly-disciplined troops with the ma.s.ses of the Spaniards who had already fought so valiantly, would speedily secure the overthrow of the French.

But when Sir John Moore and Sir David Baird learned that Napoleon himself was in Spain, that he had scattered the Spanish armies before him as the tornado drives the withered leaves of the forest, that he was already in possession of Madrid, and would soon be ready to direct all his energies against them, they were both greatly alarmed, and, turning about, fled precipitately back to their ships. A deputation of about twelve hundred of the notables of Spain called upon Napoleon, to confer with him respecting the affairs of the kingdom. He informed them very fully of the benefits he wished to confer upon Spain by rescuing the people from the dominion of the old feudal lords, and bringing them into harmony with the more enlightened views of modern times. He closed his remarks to them by saying,

"The present generation will differ in opinion respecting me. Too many pa.s.sions have been called into exercise. But your posterity will be grateful to me as their regenerator. They will place in the number of memorable days those in which I have appeared among you. From those days will be dated the prosperity of Spain. These are my sentiments. Go consult your fellow-citizens. Choose your part, but do it frankly, and exhibit only true colors."

General Moore was retreating toward Corunna. An English fleet had repaired to that port to receive the troops on board. On the 22d of December Napoleon left Madrid, with 40,000 men, to pursue the flying foe. The Spaniards, instead of rallying to the support of the English, whom they never loved, dispersed in all directions, leaving them to their fate. "The Spanish insurgents," says Napier, "were conscious that they were fighting the battles of England. To restore Spain to Ferdinand, England expended one hundred millions sterling ($500,000,000) on her own operations. She subsidized Spain and Portugal besides, and with her supply of clothing, arms, and ammunition, maintained the armies of both, even to the guerrillas."[T]

[Footnote T: Napier, vol. iii. p. 78, vol iv. p. 438.]

By forced marches the Imperial troops rushed along, threading the defiles of the mountains of Gaudarrama in mid-winter, through drifts and storms of snow. Napoleon climbed the mountains on foot, sharing all the toil and peril of his troops. Such a leader any army would follow with enthusiasm. In one of the wildest pa.s.ses of the mountains he pa.s.sed a night in a miserable hut. Savary, who was with him, writes:

"The single mule which carried his baggage was brought to this wretched house. He was provided with a good fire, a tolerable supper, and a bed.

On those occasions the Emperor was not selfish. He was quite unmindful of the next day's wants when he alone was concerned. He shared his supper and his fire with all who had been able to keep up with him, and even compelled those to eat whose reserve kept them back."

General Moore was straining every nerve to escape. The weather was frightful, and the miry roads almost impa.s.sable. The advance-guard of Napoleon was soon within a day's march of the foe. General Moore, as he fled, blew up the bridges behind him, and recklessly plundered the wretched inhabitants. His troops became exceedingly exasperated against the Spaniards for their cowardly desertion, and reproached them with ingrat.i.tude.

"We ungrateful!" the Spaniards replied; "you came here to serve your own interests, and now you are running away without defending us."

So bitter was the hostility which thus arose between the English and the Spaniards, and the brutality of the drunken English soldiers was so insupportable, that the Spaniards often welcomed the French troops, who were under far better discipline, as their deliverers. Sir Archibald Alison, in his account of these scenes, says:

"The native and uneradicable vice of northern climates, drunkenness, here appeared in frightful colors. The great wine-vaults of Bembibre proved more fatal than the sword of the enemy. And when the gallant rear-guard, which preserved its ranks unbroken, closed up the array, they had to force their way through a motley crowd of English and Spanish soldiers, stragglers and marauders, who reeled out of the houses in disgusting crowds, or lay stretched upon the roadside, an easy prey to the enemy's cavalry, which thundered in close pursuit.

"The condition of the army became daily more deplorable; the frost had been succeeded by the thaw; rain and sleet fell in torrents; the roads were almost broken up; the horses foundered at every step; the few artillery-wagons which had kept up fell, one by one, to the rear; and being immediately blown up to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy, gave melancholy tokens, by the sound of their explosions, of the work of destruction which was going on."

On the 2d of January Napoleon's advance-guard had reached Astorga.

Notwithstanding the condition of the roads, and all the efforts of the retreating foe, an army of forty thousand men had marched two hundred miles in ten days. It was a cold and stormy winter morning when Napoleon left Astorga, in continuance of the pursuit. He had proceeded but a few miles on horseback, when he was overtaken by a courier from France, bearing important dispatches. The Emperor alighted by the roadside, and, standing by a fire which his attendants kindled, read the doc.u.ments. His officers gathered anxiously around him, watching the expression of his countenance as he read.

The dispatches informed Napoleon that Austria had entered into a new alliance with England to attack him on the north, and that the probability was, that Turkey, exasperated by Napoleon's alliance with Russia, would also be drawn into the coalition. It was also stated that, though Alexander personally was strong in his friendship for Napoleon, the Russian n.o.bles, hostile to the principle of equal rights, inscribed upon the French banners, were raising an opposition of such daily increasing strength, that it was feared the Czar also might be compelled to join in the new crusade against France.

To conduct the war in Spain, Napoleon had withdrawn one hundred thousand of his best troops from the Rhine. His frontiers were thus greatly exposed. For a moment it was said that Napoleon was staggered by the blow. The vision of another European war, France struggling single-handed against all the combined powers of the Continent, appalled him. Slowly, sadly he rode back to Astorga, deeply pondering the awful question. There was clearly but one of two courses before him. He must either ign.o.bly abandon the conflict in favor of equality of rights, and allow the chains of the old feudal despotism to be again riveted upon France, and all the new governments in sympathy with France, or he must struggle manfully to the end. All around him were impressed with the utter absorption of his mind in these thoughts. As he rode back with his retinue, not a word was spoken. Napoleon seldom asked advice.

Soon his decision was formed, and all dejection and hesitation disappeared. It was necessary for him immediately to direct all his energies toward the Rhine. He consequently relinquished the personal pursuit of the English; and commissioning Marshal Soult to press them with all vigor, he prepared to return to France. Rapidly retracing his steps to Valladolid, he spent five days in giving the most minute directions for the movements of the army, and for the administration of affairs in Spain. In those few days he performed an amount of labor which seems incredible. He had armies in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, and he guided all their movements, even to the minute details.

On the first day of the year Joseph had written to Napoleon, and, in the expression of those kindly sympathies which the advent of a new year awakens, had said, "I pray your Majesty to accept my wishes that, in the course of this year, Europe, pacified by your efforts, may render justice to your intentions."

Napoleon replied, "I thank you for what you say relative to the new year. I do not hope that Europe can this year be pacified. So little do I hope it, that I have just issued a decree for levying one hundred thousand men. The rancor of England, the events of Constantinople, every thing, in short, indicates that the hour of rest and quiet is not arrived."

The Emperor, having finished his dispatches at Valladolid, mounted his horse, and set out for Paris. Mr. J. T. Headley thus describes this marvellous ride:

"In the first five hours he rode the astonishing distance of eighty-five miles, or seventeen miles the hour. This wild gallop was long remembered by the inhabitants of the towns through which the smoking cavalcade of the Emperor pa.s.sed. Relays of horses had been provided on the road; and no sooner did he arrive at one post, than he flung himself on a fresh horse, and, sinking his spurs in his flanks, dashed away in headlong speed. Few who saw that short figure, surmounted with a plain chapeau, sweep by on that day, ever forgot it. His pale face was calm as marble, but his lips were compressed, and his brow knit like iron; while his flashing eye, as he leaned forward, still jerking impatiently at the bridle as if to accelerate his speed, seemed to devour the distance. No one spoke, but the whole suite strained forward in the breathless race. The gallant cha.s.seurs had never had so long and so wild a ride before."

Napoleon had acted a very n.o.ble part toward his brother. The ma.s.ses of the Spanish people were very ignorant and fanatical. The priests, wielding over them supernatural terrors, controlled them at will. There were certain reforms which were essential to the regeneration of Spain.

But these reforms would exasperate the priests, and, through them, the people. Napoleon, anxious to save his brother from the odium of these necessary measures, took the responsibility of them upon himself. He issued a series of decrees when he entered Madrid as a conqueror, and by virtue of the acknowledged rights of conquest, in which, after proclaiming pardon for all political offenses, he introduced the following reforms.

The execrable inst.i.tution of the Inquisition was abolished. The number of convents, which had been thronged with indolent monks, was reduced one-half. One-half of the property of these abolished convents was appropriated to the payment of the salary of the laboring clergy.

The other half was set apart to the payment of the public debt. The custom-houses between the several provinces of the kingdom, which had been a great source of national embarra.s.sment, were removed, and imposts were collected only on the frontiers. All feudal privileges were annulled.

These measures, of course, exasperated the priests and the n.o.bles.

Unfortunately the people were too ignorant to appreciate their full value. As Joseph returned to Madrid, under the protection of the arms of his imperial brother, though the bells rang merrily, and pealing cannon uttered their voices of welcome, and though the most respectable portion of the middle cla.s.s received him with satisfaction, there was no enthusiasm among the populace, and the clergy and the n.o.bility received him with suspicion and dislike. The Emperor, upon his departure, had confided to Joseph the command of the army in Spain. But the great generals of Napoleon, ever ready to bow to the will of the Emperor, whose superiority they all recognized, yielded a reluctant obedience to Joseph, whom they did not consider their superior in the art of war.

Sir John Moore continued his precipitate flight, vigorously pursued by Marshal Soult. "There was never," says Napier, "so complete an example of a disastrous retreat. Abandoning their wagons, blowing up their ammunition, and strewing their path with the debris of an utterly routed army, they finally, with torn, bleeding, and greatly-diminished columns, escaped to their ships."

The new coalition in Germany against Napoleon rendering it necessary for him to withdraw a large part of his troops from Spain, greatly encouraged the foes of the new regime. The British Government, animated by its success in inducing Austria again to co-operate in an attack upon France, and sanguine in the hope of drawing Russia and Turkey into the coalition, which would surely bring the armies of Prussia into the same line of battle, redoubled its efforts in Spain and Portugal. Emissaries were sent everywhere to rouse the populace. Gold was lavished, and arms and ammunition were transmitted by the British fleet to important points.

A central junta was a.s.sembled at Seville. It issued a proclamation, calling upon the people everywhere to rise in guerrilla bands. The whole male population was summoned to the field. Death was the penalty denounced upon all those who, by word or deed, favored the French.

Twenty thousand troops in Portugal were taken under British pay, and placed under British officers, so that, while nominally it was a Portuguese army, it was in reality but a British force of mercenaries.

Numerous transports conveyed a large body of troops from England under Sir Arthur Wellesley, which was landed in Lisbon.

Where the French army had control, there seemed to be a disposition, especially among the most intelligent and opulent portion of the people, to accept the new regime of Joseph. The bitterest foe of Joseph will not deny that the reforms which he was endeavoring to introduce were admirable, and absolutely essential to the regeneration of Spain.

The British Government wished to restore the old regime under Ferdinand; for that Government was in sympathy with the British rule of aristocratic privilege. The French Government wished to maintain the new regime under Joseph, because that Government would bring Spain into sympathy with France, in her defensive struggle against the combined despotisms of Europe. Popular opinion in Spain seemed now to be upon one side, and again upon the other, according to the presence of the different armies.

"At Madrid," says Alison, "Joseph reigned with the apparent consent of the nation. Registers having been open for the inscription of those who were favorable to his government, no less than twenty-eight thousand heads of families in a few days enrolled themselves. And deputations from the Munic.i.p.al Council, the Council of the Indies, and all the incorporations, waited upon him at Valladolid, to entreat that he would return to the capital and rea.s.sume the royal functions, to which he at length complied."

At Saragossa, on the other hand, Joseph was opposed with persistence and bravery, which has rendered the siege of Saragossa one of the most memorable events in the annals of war. A very determined leader, Parafox, with about thirty thousand men, threw himself into that city. A proclamation was issued, declaring that no mercy would be shown to those who manifested any sympathy for the reign of Joseph. Suspicion was sufficient to doom one to mob violence and a cruel death.

"Terror," says Alison, "was summoned to the aid of loyalty. And the fearful engines of popular power, the scaffold and the gallows, were erected on the public square, where some unhappy wretches, suspected of a leaning to the enemy, were indignantly executed.

"The pa.s.sions of the people were roused to the very highest pitch by the dread of treason, or any accommodation with the enemy. And popular vehemence, overwhelming all restraints of law or order, sacrificed almost every night persons to the blind suspicions of the mult.i.tude, who were found hanging in the morning on the gallows erected in the Corso and market-place."

The priests summoned the peasants from all the region around, so that soon there were fifty thousand armed men within the walls, inspired by as determined a spirit of resistance as ever possessed the human heart.

The siege was commenced about the middle of December with thirty-five thousand men, according to the statement of Napier. It is generally understood in warfare that one man, acting upon the defensive within a fortress, is equal to at least five men making the a.s.sault from the outside. But in the memorable siege of Saragossa, the besieged had a third more men than the besiegers. Alison thinks Napier incorrect, and makes the besieging force forty-three thousand. This gives the besieged a superiority of seven thousand men. It surely speaks volumes for the courage and skill of the French army, that under such circ.u.mstances the siege could have been conducted to a successful issue, especially when the determination and bravery of the people of Saragossa are represented as almost without a parallel.

The scenes of woe which ensued within the walls of Saragossa no pen can describe, no imagination can conceive. In addition to the garrison of fifty thousand men, the city was crowded with women and children, the aged and the infirm. For fifty days the storm of war raged, with scarcely a moment's intermission. Thirty-three thousand cannon shots and sixteen thousand bombs were thrown into the thronged streets. Fifty-four thousand human beings perished in the city during these fifty days--more than a thousand a day. Many perished of famine and of pestilence. When the French marched into the town, there were six thousand dead still unburied. There were sixteen thousand helplessly sick, and many of them dying. Only twelve thousand of the garrison remained, pale, emaciate, skeleton men, who, as captives of war, were conveyed to France. When we reflect that all this heroism and bravery were displayed, and all these unspeakable woes endured, to re-introduce the reign of as despicable a monarch as ever sat upon a throne, and to rivet the chains of despotism upon an ignorant, debased, and enslaved people, one can not but mourn over the sad lot of humanity.

The rank and file of armies is never composed of men of affectionate, humane, and angelic natures. It is the tiger in the man which makes the reckless soldier. Familiarity with crime, outrage, misery, renders the soul callous. There is no rigor of army discipline which can prevent atrocities that should cause even fiends to blush. The story of the sweep of armies never can be truly told.

As all the physical strength of the region for leagues around Saragossa had been gathered in that city, its fall secured the submission of the surrounding country. Lannes was called to join the grand army in Germany. Junot, who was left in command of the troops at Saragossa, prepared for an expedition against Valencia. City after city pa.s.sed, with scarcely any resistance, into the hands of the French. The campaign in Germany rendered it necessary for Napoleon to withdraw all his best troops, leaving Joseph to maintain his position in Spain, with a motley group of Italians, Swiss, and Germans, who were by no means inspired either with the political intelligence or the martial enthusiasm of the French.