This chapter embraces a connected series of
administrative operations, comprising a period of thirty months, that is to
say, a part of 1909, and the years 1810 and 1811 - Nevertheless it has found a
place between the siege of Tortosa and that of Tarragona, though subsequent to
the latter in chronological order. The order of matters has, however, appeared
to claim the preference on this occasion, over that of dates. Whilst the army
of Arragon was concentrated at a distance, and in front of a city on the point
of being besieged, it stood more particularly in need of being supplied with
provisions, since it could no longer proceed in quest of them. The
administration of Arragon was, therefore, from that moment, the basis on which
it relied for its successes, and for its very existence. We have no doubt that
the sieges undertaken by that army will be better understood, if attention be
first bestowed upon this chapter.
IT has been asserted, that the art of
conquering is of no avail, unless combined with the art of procuring means of
subsistence for the troops. This is a truth which cannot be denied, when we
consider of what those mighty assemblages of men denominated armies consist;
what consumptions of all kinds are called for by a state of war; how
advantageous it is for the inhabitants of a country, that the soldiers should
be furnished with what they might otherwise forcibly seize upon, and how it
behoves a general to preserve them in health, strength, and courage, on which,
in the day of battle, may possibly depend the success of an engagement which
might decide the fate of a campaign. We trust that we shall be able to furnish
a fresh proof of this, and to establish the fact, that the regular
administration of an army, and the proper application of the resources of the
country which it retains under its sway, should be considered as its most
powerful auxiliaries.
The administration of the English armies during
the war in the Peninsula, has been quoted as a model worthy of imitation. It
is, indeed, an undoubted truth, that they penetrated into Portugal and Spain
without being burdensome to the inhabitants : they distributed a profusion of
money on their way : provisions, means of transport, every thing was paid for.
But their position did not bear the slightest analogy to ours; they acted in
the character of allies, and had the advantage over us of possessing a fleet
which held undisputed possession of the ocean and of the coasts. By this means,
they received from England every kind of assistance which a wealthy and
powerful government could supply ; or else they felt no difficulty in
procuring, at an exorbitant rate, whatever they stood in need of. At the same
time, their administration, whilst it paid for every thing that was consumed by
the troops, had the power of introducing, through every harbour of the
Peninsula, the produce of English industry or commerce - the supply of arms,
clothing, and equipments for the Portuguese and Spanish armies, enabled it to
receive and export more money than it had occasion to expend, or at least to
make its allies debtors for very considerable sums. As France possessed no such
means of drawing from the Peninsula the treasures which it laid out in the
country for the maintenance of its armies, French coins were seen every where
in circulation, whereas English money was seldom to be met with. The British
government, by this wise mode of proceeding, has obtained an important result;
its land forces, after many signal defeats, have succeeded of late years in
almost rivalling the glory acquired by its fleets, and claim a distinguished
rank among European armies.
Our situation in Arragon was materially
different; we were, from the very outset, surrounded by a hostile population,
and could not venture to send a boat down the Ebro without an escort of
soldiers. At that very period, however, the French government, instead of
upholding our administrative measures, left them to their fate and to the
resources which the country itself might afford. Notwithstanding these
difficulties, if general Suchet, without failing in the mission assigned to him
of defeating and conquering his opponents., succeeded on the one hand in
pacifying an oppressed and exasperated country, and on the other in providing
for the pay and subsistence of the army, laying siege to several fortified
places, and lodging a sum little short of 8,000,000 of francs in the public
treasury at Madrid, we are warranted in maintaining that the system of
administration, to which these successes were mainly to be attributed, need not
shrink from a comparison with that pursued by the English armies. The various
circumstances which tended to promote their successes in Spain, so far from
proving of any advantage to general Suchet, actually proved serious obstacles
to his progress. The following details will show what persevering efforts were
required to overcome them. In the spring of 1809, the calamities of the war
pressed heavily upon Arragon, which had been groaning under them for nearly a
twelve month ; the destructive siege of Saragossa had diminished the
population, ruined commerce and industry, deprived agriculture of its crops and
of its cattle. To fill the measure of distress, a numerous Spanish army
debouched towards Alcaniz, drove back one of our divisions, and threatened
Saragossa. Such was the state of affairs on the 19th of May, when general
Suchet came to assume the command of the 3rd corps. His attention was at first
limited to the object of rallying the troops, reviving their drooping spirits,
infusing into them a proper discipline, and afterwards leading them against the
enemy whom they succeeded in defeating and expelling from the province of
Arragon.
After having happily terminated this first expedition, he
endeavoured to calm the public mind, to restore order in every branch of the
administration, and to repair, to the best of his power, the evils attendant
upon the war. Ever since our entrance into Spain, France had sent the funds
requisite for the payment of the troops and the general exigencies of the
service ; it had supplied every article of clothing and field equipment the
country which we occupied had only provided us with the bare means of
subsistence; and if we interfered in the civil administration, we confined
ourselves to the promoting the collection of the contributions imposed on
account of the Spanish government.
On a sudden, an order directing that
war should feed the war, effected a change in the state of our relations with a
province which was just struggling to repair its ruins. On the 9th of February,
1810, the commander-in-chief received from the prince major-general the
following letter: -
" General Suchet,
The emperor desires me to make
known to you his intention that you should employ the revenues of the country,
and even impose extraordinary contributions, if necessary, with a view to
provide for the pay and subsistence of your corps d'arme'e, it being no longer
in the power of France to defray these expenses. France is Impoverished by the
removal of the enormous sums of money which the public treasury is constantly
sending to Spain - the country which you occupy, and which is possessed of
abundant resources, must henceforth supply the wants of your troops."
This letter was accompanied with another of the same date and of the following
tenor:
" General, I transmit to you an extract of the emperor's decree
relative to the formation of the government of Arragon, of which his majesty
confides the command to you, with the title of governor. You will lose no time
in officially communicating the clauses of this decree to the several local
authorities, and from that moment you will conform to the emperor's orders
therein contained. You will make known to me the period at which you shall have
entered upon the exercise of your new functions. His majesty relies upon your
wonted energy which will enable you to derive from the national resources all
the advantages that may fairly be expected from them, and especially to prevent
their becoming, in the smallest degree, available to the insurgents.
"
Agreeably to the emperor's intentions, you are to continue addressing to the
staff of the army your reports respecting military operations, and the
situation of the provinces belonging to your government; but with regard to the
systems of local administration, justice, police, and finances, you can only
receive orders from the emperor, which it will be my duty to transmit direct to
you. Consequently, &c. &c."
It was easy to foresee the numerous
obstacles that would necessarily oppose the execution of such a system; but
there was no course left but to obey. The commander-in-chief thenceforth used
all his endeavours to acquire a correct knowledge of the resources he could
apply to the pay, subsistence, and other wants of the army.
Previously
to the invasion, Arragon derived from its soil a sufficient quantity of corn,
wine, and oil, to meet its demands; it even exported to Catalonia and Navarre a
considerable portion of those articles. Oppressed, however, for nearly two
years by the requisitions of several national and foreign armies, that province
was impoverished; agriculture was considerably impaired; a great number of
vines and olive trees had been destroyed - the enormous consumption of sheep,
the only species of cattle which offers a means of subsistence in that country,
had nearly exhausted all the breed. Albarracin was the only place in the whole
province where a manufactory of coarse cloths was to be seen; not a single loom
was at work; there still existed a tan-pit; but a pair of shoes could not be
had under nine francs, nor a pair of boots under fifty.
The financial
condition of the province was still more deplorable, as money was considered
the sinew of war, the Spanish government had not neglected measures that were
calculated to remove it from general circulation. The exintendant of the
province had carried away to Seville 3,000,000 of francs, the proceeds of
patriotic donations and contributions collected previously to the siege of
Saragossa. The wealthiest families had emigrated, and removed all the ready
money they could obtain. A million of reales, and 3,000 marks of plate, derived
from the suppressed convents, had just been transmitted to count Cabarrus, the
minister of finances at Madrid. The royal treasury of Spain was indebted
500,000 reales for expenses, and did not possess a single real wherewith to
face its engagements. All taxable objects were fast disappearing; the local
administrations were partly dissolved; several sources of public wealth were
dried up; and the annual pay of the army alone required 8,000,000 of francs,
for which we had to call upon a country which, in its most prosperous days,
never paid more than 4,000,000 to the Spanish government.
The above is
a faithful picture of the state of affairs. The decree respecting the formation
of the military governments was scarcely made known, when every one began to
comment upon it ; and the most intelligent Spaniards fancied they could
discover through the clauses upon which the official object of that act
principally relied a motive of far greater importance. It was supposed that a
misunderstanding existed between the cabinets of Madrid and of the Tuileries,
and that the emperor contemplated the extension of the boundaries of France to
the banks of the Ebro. Those fears could only add to the embarrassment of our
position; had the commander-in-chief considered it of a transient nature, he
might easily have provided for the wants of the moment by the most expeditious
course, a compulsory one, and instantly seize upon the main resources of the
country. Nevertheless, having been appointed governor of Arragon, he felt the
necessity of acting upon a different principle. It behoved him not only to
avoid exhausting the province, but even to retrieve its resources by his
fostering care ; his first object was, accordingly, to restore public
confidence. He acted in this respect with more prudence than the Spanish
government. In consequence of the repeated orders of M. Cabarrus, the minister
of finance the plate of Nuestra-Senora del Pilar was to be sent off to Madrid.
This church which was held in veneration by the Spaniards, and enriched with
the gifts of many sovereigns, possessed a great number of vases, candlesticks,
and statues, in massive gold or silver. The people of Saragossa set a great
value on their being preserved; and the commander-in-chief took upon himself
not to allow of their removal. This first feature of an administration which
indicated a respect for property, was duly appreciated by the Arragonese. The
commander in-chief's conduct, on this occasion was not thrown away upon them;
it greatly contributed to calm the excitement of a province agitated by
political convulsions, and by the wants which were inseparable from a state of
warfare, at a time when the very laws of war had been trampled upon.
With a view the more correctly to illustrate the following statement, it has
appeared to us that some historical and statistical details respecting the
province of Arragon would not be superfluous in this place.
Arragon is
the ancient Celtiberia of the Romans. The Goths converted it into a province of
Spain. When that part of the kingdom submitted to the Moorish yoke, the
inhabitants retreated to the Pyrenees, and established amongst those mountains
a petty state, known under the name of Sobrarve, which was afterwards
incorporated with the kingdom of Arragon.
At a later period, the
provinces of Catalonia and Valencia were under the dominion of that kingdom;
the former was annexed to it in 1137, by the marriage of Raymond de Berenger,
count of Barcelona, with Petronilla, the daughter of king Don Ramiro, and
heiress of the crown of Arragon. The latter was taken from the Moors by, king
Don Jaime, in 1238. Those three provinces formed, with the Balearic islands,
what was called La Coionilla, or the sinall crown. On the occasion of the
marriage of Ferdinand of Arragon with Isabella of Castille, they were annexed
to the crown of Spain.
Arragon Proper was divided into thirteen
corregimientos, or districts, named as follows:
Tarrazona, Borja,
Calatayud, Daroca, Albarracin, Teruel, Alcaniz, Benavarre, Barbastro, Huesca,
Jaca, Cincovillas. and Saragossa. Each corregimiento was under the
superintendence of a magistrate, called corregidor, whose various functions
afford too clear a proof of the confusion which existed in Spain at that
period, with respect to the distribution of powers. We shall convey a
sufficient idea of this fact by observing, that the duties devolving upon that
functionary comprised the several branches of justice, police, finances, and
war, and that the titulary magistrate was dependent upon the governor of the
province as well as upon the real audiencia, or court of appeal.
Saragossa was an archbishoprick, which had for suffragans the bishops of
Albarracin, Barbastro, Huesca, Jaca, Tarrazona, and Teruel.
The court
of appeal, called the real audiencia, held its sittings in Saragossa. It
consisted of two civil courts and a criminal one. Justice was administered in
the first instance under the presidency of the corregidors, by the alcaldes of
towns and villages, who were in many instances appointed by the lords of the
manor.
In former times, the provinces of Arragon, Catalonia, and
Valencia were subjected to a system of contribution known by the name of
provincial revenues. Philip V substituted the land tax for it, better described
by the name which it bears of unica contribucion. Those three provinces are
indebted for their subsequent prosperity to an alteration imposed upon them by
way of punishment. This contribution is founded upon the basis of an estimate
of the produce of lands and of property in general. It might, in most respects,
have been compared with our rental book, had it not included in its provisions
the income derived from commerce, from manufacturing industry, and even the
amount of the profits, or the wages of the manufacturer and daily labourer. The
administration of the customs and the general revenue comprised the collection
of import and export duties upon certain merchandise, and the exclusive sale of
such things of which the government had reserved to itself a monopoly; such as
tobacco, lead, sealing wax, sulphur, gunpowder, playing cards, stamped paper,
salt, and even papal bulls. The revenues derived from the post office and from
couriers were established on the same footing as in France. The government
received one and a half per cent upon the revenues of corporations, consisting
of the privilege of farming out the right to grind corn, to make oil, to
establish tolls upon rivers, and to retail bread, wine, meat, and other
articles of primary necessity; lastly, by a pontifical decree of the month of
October, 1801, Pius VII had granted to Charles IV the ninth part of the church
tithes. The total amount of these taxes in the province of Arragon was
estimated, in 1787, at fifteen millions nine hundred thousand reales de vellon,
or about four millions of francs. The real is the fourth part of a peceta, the
current coin of the kingdom, which is worth rather more than the livre of
twenty sols. |
