Knight's store of knowledge for all readers: being a collection of treatises, in various departments of knowledge / by several authors.

  • Knight, Charles, 1791-1873
Date:
[1841]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Knight's store of knowledge for all readers: being a collection of treatises, in various departments of knowledge / by several authors. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    400/406 (page 422)
    KNIf.'IirS STOllK of Spain by Napoleon, who bad resorlcd to this new political stralajem in order to create discord among the Allies. Know- ing the character of Ferdinand, he had written to him on the ** 12th of November, 1813, saying, “ That the circumstances of the times made him wish to conclude at once the nll'uirs of Spain, where England was fomenting anarchy and jacobinism, and was depressing the nobility, in order to establish a re- jndilic. He (Napoleon) was much grieved to see the destruc- tion of a nation bordering upon his empire, and whose mari- time interests were closely connected with his own. He wished therefore to remove all pretence for the influence of England to interfere in the afl'nirs of Spain, and to re-establish the re- lations of friendship and good neighbourhood between the two nations.”—(Thibaudeau, ‘ Histoire de I'Empire,’ ch. 94.) A treaty was concluded at Valen^ay, where Ferdinand had been detained a prisoner for five years, in which Napoleon ackiiow- ledged him as King of Spain and of the Indies, and promised to withdraw the French troops from Spain, whilst Ferdinand engaged to cause the Englisli to evacuate Spain, to pay his lather King Charles an annual pension of 30,000,000 of reals, .and to confirm those of his subjects who had taken service under Joseph in their titles and honours. Ferdinand dis- patched the Duke of San Carlos to Madrid, with a copj' of the treaty, directing the Regency to ratify it. The Regeiicy replied with many expressions of satisfaction at the approach- ing liberation and restoration of their king, and enclosed at the same time a copy of the decree of the Cortes, passed a year or two before, declaring that no act of the king, while in a state of captivitj-, should be considered as valid. The treaty, therefore, remained without efl'ect, and Ferdinand did not re- enter Spain for three months after. “ Nothing can be more satisfactory than the whole conduct of the Spanish govern- ment regarding the negotiations for peiice I am certain that no government would act better than they have in this most important of all concerns; and I doubt that any Re- gency under the existing constitution would have power to act better in other matters more peculiarly of internal concern.” (Lord IVellington’s letter to Sir H. Wellesley, ‘ Dispatches,’ xi. p. 478.) At last, in the month of March, Napoleon, being hard [iressed for troops for the defence of France, and wishing to av.ail himself of the army of Suchet, which was uselessly cooped up in Catalonia, allowed Ferdinand to return to Spain. Meantime .Suchet, who had already detached early in March 10,000 men to join Soult, made an oiler to tlie Spanish Re- gency to withdraw all his garrisons from Catalonia, which were blockaded by Spanish troops, on condition of their being al- lowed to return to France with their arms. Tire Regency referred the proposal to Lord Wellington for his opinion, and he recommended to them not to allow any capitulation with any French troops, except on the condition of their being ]jri- soners of war. .Suchet’s garrisons amounted to about 18,000 men, mostly veteran soldiers, wlio, if they had been able to join Soult on the Garonne, wonld have made him too strong for ellington, part of whose army was stationed before Rayonne and at Dordeaux. He had only 15,000 Spanish ti^oojrs, of whom about 4000 were at Rayonne. The great difficulty that he found with Sjianish troops was the supplying them vyith provisions and other necessaries, es]recially when out of Spain. Ferdinand, on passing through Perpignan, on the 22nd of March, eiigaged himself to Suchet in writing to restore the I'rench garrisons ns soon as possible. Suchet, with his dis- posable force of about 11.000 men, had evacuated Catalonia and re-entered I'rancc. In the beginning of April he placed his head-quarters at Narbonne, but did not join Soult. On the loth of April Lord IVellington, having crossed the Garonne the day before, attacked Marshal Soult in his en- trenched camji on a ra..gc of heights between the river Ers and the canal of Ixingucdoc, on the eastern side of the city of Toulouse. Marshal Rcresford, with the Ith and (llh divisions, attacked and carried the heights on the French right, and the redoubt which covered and protected that flank ; the French, OF KNOWLEDGE. however, were still in possession of four redoubts and of tlie entrenchments and fortified houses, from which they could not he dislodged wiUiout artillery. At the tame lime the S)janish division of General Frcyre had attacked the French left with great spirit, but were at first rr.'pulsed; one regiment, however, the J iradorcs de Cantabria, maintaine<i jts jersitirtn under the enemy’s elitrenchments, but the Rrilith light division moving up, the whole rallied, and again advanceii to the attack. Marshal Reri-sford, having brought uji his artillery, which had been detained by the badness of the roads, continued his movement along the ridge on the right of the French, and (Je- ner.nl Pack's brigade of the sixth division carried the two jcin- cipal redoubts and fortified houses in the centre of the French position. Soult made a powerful attack on the sixth division, which received it with the Irayonet, when the French getitral laupin was killed. At last the French were driven eirtirely from the heights, and withdrew across the canal of I-anguc-doc into the town of Toulouse, which Soult prepared to defend. The loss of the ,-Mlies at the battle of Toulouse was alxml 000 killed and 4000 wounded. I’lie French acknowledgerl the loss of 3200 men. On the night of the I llh Marshal Soult evacuated Toulouse by the only road which was still open to him, and retired by Castelnaudary to Carcassomie. On the 12th Lord Wellington entered Toulouse, to 'the great joy of the iidiabitants, who were relieved from the f^rfiil ap- prehensions of a siege. The white flag was flying, everybodv had put on white cockades, and the jieople liad pulled down Napoleon’s statue and the eagles and other emblems of the imperial government. The municipality of Toulouse pre- sented an address to Lord Wellington, requesting him to re- ceive the keys of their city, in the liame of Ljuis XVIII. Lord Wellington told them what he had told tlie people of Bordeaux, that he believed that nego tiations for peace were still being carried on with the existing government of France, and that they must judge for themselves whether they mear.t to declare in favour of the Dourbons, in which case it would be his duty to treat them as allies as long as the war lasted: but if peace should be made with Napoleon, he could not give them any more assistance or protection afterwards. (‘ Dis- patches,’ xi. p. 630.) In the afternoon, however, of the same day the English Colonel Cooke and the French Colonel Si. Simon arrived from Paris, with news of Napoleon's first abdi- cation, and of the establishment of a provisional government, in the name of Louis XI'III. From Lord IVellingfon's head- quarters the two officers proceeded to those of Marshal Soult. who did not think himself justified in submitting to the pro- visional govennnent, having received no information from Napoleon concerning what had happened, but he proposed an armistice to Lord Wellington. The British commander wrote to him a very polite letter, excusing himself from accepting the armistice, uidess the marshal acknowledged the Provisional Government of France.—(Ib. xi. p. 644.) The object of Lord Wellington was to prevent Marshals Soult and Suchet's armies becoming the noyau of n civil war in France in favour of Na- poleon's pretetisions for his son. At the same lime he made prepamlion to pursue Soult, if required. At last, on tlie ISih of April, Soult, having received from Bcrihier an order to stop all hostilities, concluded a convention with Lord Wellington for the pur|M)se. --V line of liemarcation was drawn between the two armies. The head-quarters of I,ord Wellington re- mained at Toulouse. Marshal Suchet concluded a like con- vention with laml IVelliiigton on the 19lh, by which the final evacuation of Catalonia by the French garrisons was provided for. On the 21sl of April, I-ord Wellington, by general orders to his g.-illant army, congratulated them on the prospect of a speedy termination of their labours, and at the same lime “ thanked them for their uniform discipline and gallantry in the field, and for their conciliating conduct towards tire inha- bitants of the country.”—(lb. xi. p 668.) Before the news of the events of Paris reached Bayonne, the French made a sortie out of the entrenched camp in front of