the place was fully invested, and on the 29th the besiegers made an assault on Fort Christoval, which, however, was repulsed by the garrison. Indeed, the fortune of war had decreed that Badajoz should not yet be delivered from the invader's grasp. Napoleon, a conscious as Wellington of the value of this fortress, had sent orders for extensive preparations to raise the siege; and, in fact, for the ulterior purpose of preventing Wellington's advance into Spain, he at this time reorganized his military establishment throughout that whole kingdom. The unserviceable and unimportant fortresses were dismantled and evacuated; those of conse quence were strengthened in their works and garrisons; magazines of provisions and military stores were accumulated at various points; and, for the first time during the war, a considerable sum of money, amounting in all to forty millions of francs, was forwarded from Paris for the use of the troops. At the same time, Marmont was ordered to collect his forces and cooperate with Soult for the relief of Badajoz; and as this combination, when completed, would place sixty-five thousand men at Soult's disposal, against whom Wellington could not array more than forty-five thousand including all the Spanish and Portuguese troops, it became indispensable to raise the siege of Badajoz, which event took place on the 10th and 11th of June. On the 28th of the same month, Soult and Marmont effected the junction of their corps at that place.

Soult, after remaining a few days at Badajoz, and putting it in a more perfect state of defence, withdrew again toward Seville, and Marmont fell back upon Talavera; while Wellington, who saw that any further attempt on Badajoz would be useless, while such powerful armies were at hand to relieve it, planned an attack on Ciudad Rodrigo and moved northwardly to accomplish that undertaking. His preparations were made with great skill and profound secrecy; and for a time seemed to promise success. But the delay that occurred in transporting his heavy artillery, eventually caused the discovery of his purpose, and Marmont, with sixty thousand men, hastened down the valley of the Tagus to oppose him. This movement prevented Wellington from prosecuting the siege, yet the approximation of two powerful armies led to the belief that a pitched battle would immediately take place. But Wellington's inferiority of numbers was a sufficient reason for his not assuming the offensive; and, as Marmont failed to attack, the crisis passed over without any momentous Occurrence. Some changes of position and some hostile demonstrations followed, but at length the armies both withdrew, and went into canton. ments toward the end of September.

This concluded the campaign of 1811, so far as the operations of the principal armies were concerned, though some affairs of relative import ance occurred between detached bodies of the contending powers.

CHAPTER XXXV.

WELLINGTON'S INVASION OF SPAIN, 1812.

IN the month of December, 1811, the French armies, in order to establish eligible winter-quarters and canton themselves in districts where provisions might more readily be obtained, were so scattered through the regions of the Upper Tagus and the Duoro, that Ciudad Rodrigo was for the time entirely abandoned to its own resources, and Wellington took advantage of this posture of affairs to renew his attempts on that fortress. To conceal his design, he ordered Hill to assume the offensive in Estremadura; and that enterprising officer discharged this duty so effectually that Soult, believing that the siege of Badajoz was about to be undertaken, directed all his forces throughout Andalusia to concentrate in that quar ter, at the very moment when Wellington was completing his final preparations against Ciudad Rodrigo.

On the 8th of January, 1812, the British light divisions crossed the Agueda and commenced the investment of the fortress; in the evening of that day, they carried by assault an advanced redoubt on the great Teson, and, on the day following, established the first parallel: on the 13th, the accumulation of forces enabled the besiegers to storm the Convent of Santa Cruz. The garrison, alarmed at this rapid progress, made a vigorous sortie on the 14th of January, but without seriously retarding the approaches; on the same afternoon the besieging batteries were opened, and at night the fortified Convent of San Francesco, which flanked the right of the trenches, was carried by a gallant escalade of the 46th regiment. For three days the breaching batteries played on the ramparts with the most destructive effect, while the cannon of the town replied with unabated spirit; and on the 18th, two breaches having been declared practicable, Wellington summoned the place. The governor refused to surrender, and preparations were immediately made for the assault.

The perilous honor of this attack fell on the divisions of Generals McKinnon and Vandeleur, whose turn of duty placed them on that day in the trenches. The storming parties received orders not to fire a shot, but push on with the bayonet; the bearers of the sand-bags, ladders, and other engines of assault were not even armed, lest any irregular skirmish should interfere with their particular duties in smoothing the way for the other troops. The preparations of the garrison, however, were very formida ble: bombs and hand-grenades, ready to be rolled down on the assailants, lined the top of the breaches; bags of powder were disposed among the ruins to explode when the besiegers began to ascend the slopes; two heavy guns, charged with grape, flanked the summit of the larger breach, and a mine was prepared under it, to be fired if the other defences failed. But all these obstacles failed to daunt the British troops, and the last words of Wellington's orders for the day breathed the spirit of the whole army: "Ciudad Rodrigo must be carried by assault this evening at seven o'clock." The evening was clear and tranquil; and the moon, in her first quarter, diffused a doubtful light which, without disclosing particular objects, rendered their rude outlines distinctly visible. The projecting bastions

stood forth like giants in the gloom, darkly, yet clearly defined on the adjoining shadows; while in their sides, yawning gulfs half filled with ruins, showed where the breaches had been made and the deadly strife was to take place. The trenches of the besiegers were crowded with armed men, among whom not a whisper could be heard nor a movement seen; so completely had discipline and the absorbing anxiety of the moment subdued every unruly feeling and stilled every dauntless heart. As the great clock of the cathedral tolled seven, the word passed softly along that all was ready; when the men leaped from their trenches and rushed forward to the storm, led by their respective forlorn hopes. The garrison bravely disputed every inch of ground, but the besiegers, with a steady progress, and in despite of a murderous fire from all points of the ramparts, carried everything before them, and, not long after midnight, the fortress was in the undisputed possession of the allies.

The disorder and outrage, which to a certain extent are inseparable from the successful storming of a town, followed the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo; but there was this essential difference between the excesses committed, on such occasions, by the British and the French troops. The latter, with deliberate purpose and express permission, added to their pillage and rapine, the horrors of an indiscriminate violation and massacre in cold blood; the former, yielding to their national vice, intemperance, broke open every receptacle of liquors and wines, in defiance of the strictest commands of their officers, and, under the excitement of intoxication, pillaged churches and set houses on fire: but this was done only in a limited degree; the more orderly troops exerted themselves successfully to arrest the progress of the flames, and not one unresisting citizen of whatever age or condition was slain.

When Wellington had repaired the defences of Ciudad Rodrigo, he, with great dispatch and secrecy, undertook a similar expedition against Badajoz, which place he completely invested by the 17th of March; and, in this case, as in the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, he so effectually concealed his intentions by threatening movements in other quarters, that the covering forces of Soult and Marmont were wholly withdrawn from that vicinity when he commenced the siege. The approaches were at first delayed by a storm of rain, which continued for some days, and so saturated the ground that it could not be cut into any regular form; but on the 25th, the breaching batteries were opened on an outwork called Fort Picurina, and the storming party, following up the devastation made by the heavy guns, carried this post the same evening. The cannon were now advanced to the fort, and commenced their fire directly on the ramparts of the town. After a cannonade of five days, three breaches were effected and declared practicable, and a strong force, divided into several columns, commenced the assault. The besiegers made their onset with desperate fury; but the governor, Philippon, was so well prepared for their reception, that, after a struggle unparalleled for its obstinacy and slaughter, Wellington was forced to recall the divisions, and prepare for a new attack. No less than two thousand men had fallen in and around the breaches.

While this tremendous conflict was in progress, Picton had led his division around to the foot of the rocks on which stood the castle, at an elevation of more than a hundred feet from the level of the Guadiana; and he proposed, while the attention of the garrison was drawn to the assault at the breaches, to scale the rocks and make himself master of

this stronghold in the rear. His advance, however, was discovered, and he had not only to scale a precipice, but also to contend against every description of missile, combined with a storm of musketry, in his ascent. His troops were at first so completely swept off by these various projectiles, that, at three several times, not one man remained on the ladders: but he still persevered, and at length, in defiance of every impediment, his grenadiers gained the summit of the rocks, forced the castle, and firmly established themselves within its walls. About the same time, Walker made a successful attempt to escalade the bastion of San Vincente; his whole brigade carried that post by storm, and Philippon, seeing that further resistance was unavailing, surrendered at discretion.

By the capture of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, Wellington gained possession of three hundred and twenty pieces of heavy artillery, five thousand prisoners, and an immense quantity of military stores; but, what was of far more importance, he had also gained the mastery over the French generals; their two border-fortresses, alike a barrier for defensive, and a base for offensive operations, were reduced, and a path into the heart of Spain lay open to the British army. The ungovernable wrath of Napoleon, which was poured on the heads of his marshals when he heard of these disasters, caused a mutual irritation and a disunion of purpose, that had a sinister influence on the French operations during the remainder of the war.

These two victories loosened the whole fabric of the French power in Spain, and Wellington now hesitated whether to deliver his next blow against Marmont in the north, or Jourdan in the centre of that kingdom. He finally decided that, as the vital point was on the line of communication between Bayonne and Madrid, his wiser course would be to move against Marmont; and he immediately commenced preparations for this expedition. His first care was to recruit and reorganize his army, which had suffered severely by fatigue, disease and the sword; his next, to put the newly captured fortresses into a complete state of defence, by repairing their fortifications, strengthening their garrisons, and supplying their magazines.

At length, all things being in readiness, he crossed the Agueda on the 13th of June; on the 17th, he reached Salamanca, and passed over the Tormes in four columns by the fords of Santa Martha and Los Cantos. Marmont retired as the British commander advanced, after throwing gar risons into the forts of Salamanca and the castle of Alba de Tormes. Then was seen the profound hatred which the Spaniards entertained toward their Gallic oppressors, and the vast amount of injury which they had sustained at their hands. Salamanca instantly became one scene of rejoicing. The houses were illuminated, the people alternately sang and wept for joy, and the British army, passing in triumph through the shouting crowd, took post on the hill of San Christoval, about three miles beyond the town. It is no wonder that the inhabitants evinced such joy at their deliverance from a bondage of four years. Independent of innumerable acts of extortion and oppression, the French had destroyed thirteen of twenty-five convents, and twenty-two of twenty-five colleges in that cele brated seat of learning; the stones of which edifices were built up into three forts, that now, in a military point of view, constituted the strength of the place.

Wellington presently directed his attention to the capture of these

forts, which were reduced on the 27th of June, after a brave defence by their several garrisons. When the forts surrendered, Marmont, who had advanced with his whole force to their relief, withdrew behind the Duoro, and occupied the fortified bridges of Zamora, Toro, and Tordesillas, which commanded the principal passages of that river. Wellington pursued the French army as far as the southern bank of the Duoro, and made preparations for crossing, but he found the French position so strong, that he abandoned his design; and as, in the meantime, Marmont had received large reënforcements, and was now evidently taking measures to cut off his communications with Salamanca, the British general deemed it advisable to fall back to his original position in front of that city. Marmont followed this retrograde movement on a line parallel to Wellington's route, and for two days the hostile columns marched not only in sight, but within half musket shot of each other; yet the respective forces were so perfectly disciplined, that, during this novel and exciting proximity, every evolution was performed with field-day precision; and they were, besides, so nearly matched in strength, that neither general was disposed to commence an attack, until some contingency should enable him to do so with advantage.

men.

As the two armies approached Salamanca, on the 20th of July, Wellington took post on his old ground, the heights of San Christoval; while Marmont extended his left wing toward the great road which leads to Ciudad Rodrigo. But the British general soon found good cause for retreat, as Jourdan was rapidly approaching to form a junction with Marmont, which would raise the French forces to nearly seventy thousand He therefore changed his position to the ground extending from two rocky heights, called the Arapeiles, to the Tormes below the fords of Santa Martha. At this juncture, Marmont took a step that arrested the allies' retreat. He considered that Jourdan, being the senior marshal, would on his arrival supersede him in the command, and bear off the glory of a victory moreover, he was induced by Wellington's apparent readiness to retreat, to underrate the qualities of that general, and he argued that it would be far better for him to reap the triumph which his own skilful manœuvres had already prepared, than yield the bright rewards of his toil to a rival. He therefore resolved to attack the allied forces without further delay; and, with this view, observing that Wellington had not yet taken possession of the two heights of the Arapeiles, he pushed forward a body of infantry through a wood, and gained one of them without opposition, which at once placed him on the flank of the allied lines. He then ordered a detachment to occupy the adjoining height; but the British, who were unprepared for the first movement, anticipated him in this, and covered the post with a force sufficient to maintain it.

Nevertheless, the acquisition by the French of the more distant Arapeiles, rendered another change of position necessary on the part of the allies; and, while this was in progress, Marmont, conceiving that Wellington had begun a retreat from the field, threw forward his left wing under Thomière with such imprudent haste as to separate it from the requisite support of the centre. The instant that Wellington saw this false movement, he turned to the Spanish general, Alava, saying, "Marmont is lost!" and immediately ordered his right, under Pakenham, to advance against Thomière. The British troops sprang forward at the word, and, by an impetuous charge, overthrew Thomière's entire column, killing its