Suspension of the operations of the siege of
Tortosa. — Espos Y Mina in Navarre. — Affairs at Alventosa and Fuenta
Santa. — Continuation of the blockade. — Meeting of a junta at Mora.
— Battle at Falset. — Battle at Ulldecona. — Arrival of the 7th
corps and marshal Macdonald.
THE removal of the army of Catalonia once more
postponed the opening of the siege of Tortosa, and in relation to the
subsistence of the army, very much augmented the difficulty of that operation.
The two months which subsequently passed away were not destitute of incidents,
in the province of Arragon, on the one side and on the other; in the army of
the lower Ebro there were a number of military events which, as they are
directly connected with our future narrative we shall briefly describe. If some
of those affairs in detail appear to have lost their interest, it must be
recollected that the commander-in-chief made it his study and bad succeeded in
persuading all the individuals under his command wherever they were or however
posted, that every one of them was of sufficient importance to be watched and
appreciated. Even now, though so long a time has since elapsed, it constitutes
a large portion of his enjoyment to let them know that he has never forgotten
them, and that their services are ever present to his recollection.
At
the period of the equinox some rains fell, which appeared to favour the
navigation of the Ebro. On the l7th September, we attempted to put in motion a
convoy of boats laden with artillery, with a view to their conveyance from
Mequinenza to Xerta. The Neapolitan battalion which was established at Flix,
was sent to the left bank, to protect the passage of the guns, where it was
attacked by a strong column of the enemy. The soldiers of the battalion did not
stand the attack, although the nature of the ground offered every facility of
resistance or retreat. They allowed themselves to be surrounded, and then threw
down their arms. Their commander, Labrano, made every effort in his power to
prevail on them to fight, but in vain; he himself, with all his officers, was
taken, after being wounded in the action ; fortunately the convoy, from want of
water, had not been able to leave the port. On the 21st it was detained by the
same cause, at the moment its safe transit was ensured by a new disposition.
The commander-in-chief was willing to afford to the remainder of Pignatelli's
brigade an opportunity of wiping out the affront that they had suffered in the
presence of an army accustomed to conquer, and where a generous spirit of
emulation animated the whole corps, both Frenchmen and foreigners. Eight
hundred Neapolitans, joined to 800 of the soldiers of the 116th, attacked the
enemy, who occupied in force the heights on the left bank ; the Neapolitans
took the lead in the attack, and showed the greatest courage ; the Spanish
positions were carried, and the enemy put to flight.
About this time,
30,000 men coming from France, entered Biscay and Navarre. General Reilly
intended at first to profit by their stay, for the purpose of destroying the
bands, and to clear the frontiers of Arragon of their visits, but he had no
time to effect his purpose, as these troops were almost all sent into Portugal.
A new partisan, Espoz y Mina, the uncle and successor of the younger Mina, who
has since become much more celebrated than his nephew, by the high talents
which practice rapidly developed, had just assumed the command of the whole of
the Guerillas of Navarre, and had taken up his station in the Cinco Villas.
From that moment none of our strong posts remained unthreatened, and frequent
attacks compromised the small garrisons who occupied them. Afterwards, however,
the chef d'escadron of the gendarmerie at Exea, and the Polish captain,
Venzesky, at Tarragona tried what a stand would effect, they resisted Mina
successfully. The 12th and 14th. squadrons of gendarmerie, which were attacked
at Graus and at Benavarre, defended themselves most bravely, and general Buget,
at Fuente-Montanana, routed and dispersed the chiefs of the party Cantarero and
Solana, who were perpetually making incursions into that part of the
frontiers.
A more serious movement than these petty attacks was,
however, in preparation on the right bank of the Ebro. General Suchet had
received information that the regency of Cadiz intended to assemble on the
frontiers of Castille, a junta, consisting of the count of Sastago, the marquis
of Aguelar, the bishop of Barcelona, and two canons of Saragossa, in order that
they might there do their utmost, by favour of the influence their vast estates
in Arragon gave them, to produce an insurrection in the province. General
Carabajal had also joined Villacampa, had assumed the chief comand, and rallied
under his colours all the troops and bands of the country. It was essential to
prevent this combination or to rout them before their numbers were formidable.
General Chloptski was taken from the blockading camp for that operation, which
was one that demanded as much activity as vigour. After a rapid march, he
reached Teruel on the 30th, at 5 o'clock in the evening, with seven battalions
and 400 horses, driving before him the corps of Villacampa ; general Carabajal
had hardly arrived at the place when he was compelled to retreat; he left
Teruel with his artillery at 2 o'clock. General Chlopiski, whose infantry
required a few hours of repose, made a halt for a short time in the town. He,
in the meantime, greatly to their satisfaction, sent away 1,000 peasants not
yet armed, who had been compulsorily levied for the purpose of serving in the
Spanish army. At midnight he re-commenced his march, and on the 31st, at 9
o'clock in the morning, he got up with the rear guard of the enemy beyond the
great ravine of Alventosa. The whole success of his expedition depended on its
rapidity, he therefore charged the enemy the moment be came up with them,
captured six field pieces, six caissons with their harness, and took prisoners
at the same time, a company of light artillery. One hundred chests of
cartridges were exploded, and eighty horses and mules taken with the cannon
which they drew, were sent to join our artillery. The dispersion of the enemy
was complete, notwithstanding, in a few days, Villacampa, who had retired upon
the mountain of Fuente Santa, rallied his troops afresh; Carabajal and the
other chiefs hastened to join him there, and brought reinforcements of every
kind. The prospect of raising an insurrection in Arragon was again entertained,
and general Chlopiski saw that if he was to clear the country, and obey the
instructions given to him, be must get up with Villacampa, and defeat
him.
On the 12th of November, he drove in the vanguard of the Spaniards
to Villastar, which is in advance of Villel, and established himself before the
Fuente Santa, which the enemy occupied in force, his position being intrenched
and his corps echeloned and leaning on the Guadalaviar, and upon a series of
inaccessible precipices. About one o'clock of the day, after having drawn up
his troops he gave the signal for attack. Two battalions of the 121st,
commanded by colonel Millet, with the voltigeurs and grenadiers of the Ist of
the Vistula, conducted by the chef de bataillon, Fondzelski, marched in array
under the orders of colonel Kliski, having for their second line colonel
Kozinowski, with the fusileers of the second of the Vistula; the rest of the
troops were kept in the rear, in order to be used as a reserve for the troops
that attacked, and to assist them if necessary. The fire of the enemy was
terrible; the Spaniards, indeed, always opposed us most obstinately from behind
intrenchments, or in positions where they could not be turned. Colonel Millet
had no sooner arrived at the bottom of the hill than his horse was shot under
him; he then led his troops on foot, and in so doing a ball carried away a
finger of his right band; his advance was Dot checked by that accident, but in
a minute or two after, a ball struck him and knocked him down; it was at first
thought he was killed, but he speedily scrambled tip again and put himself at
the head of his men, who despite of every obstacle, continued to clamber up the
steep under a most tremendous fire. The Poles, meanwhile on the right,
displayed a degree of courage not less exemplary. Neither the precipitous
ascent, nor the resistance of the enemy could keep back our intrepid fellows,
who, after a most sanguinary contest, took possession of all the positions of
the enemy, and reached the top of the mountain as conquerors. Terror and route
led to the immediate disappearance of the Spanish army; they threw down their
arms with precipitation and made for the bridge of Libras in great disorder.
The bridge which was encumbered with the fugitives, broke down under their
weight, and a large number of them were drowned. The loss of the vanquished was
very considerable, and ours was not less than 130 men disabled, and a Polish
officer and five men of the 121st were killed. Colonel Millet, who had just
obtained the command of this regiment, made, it will be perceived, a most
brilliant debut; and the regiment as well as its leader, were thenceforth to
the end of the war, well worthy of being ranked among the brave of the army of
Arragon.
After this rapid expedition, general Chlopiski returned with
his brigade to Tortosa, while colonel Kliski remained in charge of 1,200 men,
to defend the right bank of the stream against Villacampa. While these
engagements were taking place, on a sudden on the 1st of November, after having
been so long and anxiously waited for, the waters of the Ebro began to rise. We
were eager, of course, to take advantage of this circumstance, and to embark at
Mequinenza the remainder of the materials required for the siege. Seventeen
barks set out on the 3rd at six o'clock in the morning, escorted by a body of
troops on each bank of the stream. In a short time, however, the rapidity of
the current, in spite of every attempt that could be made to retard the advance
of the convoy, hurried it on, and when it came before Ribaroya it had drifted a
great way ahead of the escorts : it was, in consequence, attacked by 700
Spaniards in a narrow defile, before our troops had time to overtake it.
Compelled to give way to the fire of the enemy, the boats steered for the right
bank, but two of them were caught in the current, and drawn by its violence
within the powers of the enemy, and the gunners who were on board were, in
consequence, made prisoners. Lieutenant Janney, a distinguished pupil of the
polytechnic school, saved himself by swimming, and regained the right
bank..
The enemy meanwhile continued their attack on the convoy.
Colonel Raffron and captain d'Esclalbes, aid-de-camp to general Vallee,
displayed as much presence of mind as bravery; fifty artillery men, who were
ably posted for the purpose, returned for two hours the fire of the musketry on
the left bank until the arrival of the escorts, and also of general Abbe, who
marched up the stream from Garcia with a column of troops. The Spaniards burnt
the two boats and then retreated - the mortars that formed their lading were,
however, got out of -the river, in the course of the next and following day,
without damage. In this affair sixteen artillery men were killed or taken, and
one Neapolitan soldier was killed and ten wounded; some of the Arragonese
boatmen were wounded; during the contest they had displayed as much zeal as
courage. |
