Memoirs of the war in Spain, from 1808 to 1814

14 October 1806

Battles of Jena and Auerstedt

INTRODUCTION. XI

his character. To history will devolve the task of treasuring up the memory of our hero ; it will re- cord that he owed his elevation solely to his merit; that every mark of distinction which he acquired was strictly his due ; that having been unexpect- edly forced to adopt the career of arms, at the period when the youth of France were summoned to the defence of its territory, he brought to the profession that natural aptitude which is always a sure presage of distinguished talents; that having already reached the rank of chef de bataillon du- ring the campaign in Italy, he was a colonel at twenty-six years of age, chief of the staff at twenty-seven, and lieutenant-general at twenty- nine ; that his name was connected with the glo- rious achievements on the banks of the Var and the Mincio, in the fields of Austerlitz and Jena, under the walls of Lerida, Saguntum, and Tarra- gona, which achievements he sometimes ra- tified with his blood ; that, always skilful and fortunate, successful in fields of battle and in sieges, he attained by a series of brilliant deeds the very first rank in the army. History, however, whilst recording those deeds, will not fail to exalt their splendour, and to stamp a peculiar lustre upon them in the eyes of philosophy and humanity, by adding that, wherever he carried his arms, he successfully exerted his endeavours to mitigate the calamities of war. Without at any time losing sight of the principal object of a

XXXIV INTRODUCTION.

Three days afterwards, on the eve of the battle of Jena, that division was the first to secure a position at the entrance of the narrow plateau

INTRODUCTIOX. XXXV

that we were compelled to attack in presence of the Saxo-Prussian army, which had deployed in its rear. Napoleon, like a second Archimedes, only wanted a single point whereon to rest his lever ; thence it was that he shook Europe to its very foundations. At night, it became necessary to open a road for the artillery by torch-light. The emperor bivouacked in the midst of the 40th regiment ; he remained for two hours alone with general Suchet, going over the lines of the ad- vanced posts. Early on the 14th of October, he again made choice of the same division for attacking the plateau, which was defended by the whole of the enemy's advanced guard. General Suchet broke down the gates of the field of battle, if we may be allowed the expression, and the other corps d'arm^e followed and formed in order of battle preparatory to the general attack. On this occasion also he fought as second in command, and captured during the engagement twenty-eight pieces of cannon. Towards evening, whilst the firmness of marshal Davoust was triumphing at Auerstadt over the duke of Brunswick and the king of Prussia, who was present at the en- gagement, the cavalry under the grand duke of Berg came up to the emperor, and was ordered to complete the rout of the prince of Hohenlohe, who had been defeated and was in full retreat towards Weimar. The infantry under general Suchet followed this movement, and descended

INTRODUCTION. XXXVU

We were, therefore, unable to reach the corps under general Buxhovden ; had it not been for that circumstance, the campaign would perhaps have ended on the banks of the Narew by the destruction of a whole army. Less fortunate than marshal Davoust at Auerstadt, marshal Lannes had, however, like him the honor of the fight, and of retaining possession of the field of battle : but his isolated action formed no part of a general and decisive victory, and the glory won at Pultusk was in some respects incom- plete.

21–22 May 1809

Battle of Aspern-Essling

INTRODUCTION. XXXVU

The fifth corps was summoned to Spain at the close of 1808, and general Suchet again found himself under the orders of the duke de Monte- bello, on occasion of the siege of Saragossa ; it was this marshal who pointed him out to the emperor as most worthy to hold the chief com- mand in Arragon, on his departure for the campaign in Germany, where a glorious death awaited him on the field of Essling.

BATTLE OF MARIA. 15

of it. General Blake received the command of the troops and provinces of the eastern part of the kingdom. Having collected, within a short space of time, a corps d'arm^e on the frontiers of Valencia, he flattered himself with the hope of defeating the 3rd French corps, of driving it back to Navarre and the Pyrenees, and advancing upon the grand line of communication from Bayonne to Madrid, in order to separate from their basis of operations the French armies which had penetrated into the heart of the Peninsula. The same void which was occasioned in Arragon by the departure of the 5th corps, had been felt all over Spain when the emperor returned to France with his guard, on his way to Germany. Engaged in a remote war against Austria, he was struggling with fortune at Essling, during the month of May, the very period when Sir Arthur

BATTLES IN AKRAGON. 43

signal success in Arragon. The central junta of Seville attempted to revive the spirits of the nation by accounts of a more cheering- nature. The victory of Eckmiilh, the capture of Ratisbon and of Vienna had failed to make due impres- sion; but the battle of Essling, the breaking- down of the bridges on the Danube, and the ne- cessity in which the French army was placed of halting on the bank of that river, afforded, as they alleged, a sure presage of its proximate and unavoidable destruction. At the same period of time, and on a less distant scene of action, the successive evacuation of Portugal, Gallicia and Asturias, the hope of recovering possession of Madrid, and the combined march of the English and Spanish armies for the purpose of effecting a junction on the banks of the Tagus, excited the Spaniards to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and accelerated the organization of the nume- rous levies which were arming- against us in every part of the Spanish Peninsula.