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behind in Madrid, to evacuate that city, and to fall back and unite

with him on the Tormes.

It was only by some masterly maneuvering and some stiff fighting at

Venta de Pozo, on the Carrion, and on the Huebra, that Wellington drew

off his army to Ciudad Rodrigo.

During the retreat the British suffered very severely, and the

discipline of the army became greatly impaired, so much so that Lord

Wellington issued a general order rebuking the army, saying that

"discipline had deteriorated during the campaign in a greater degree

than he had ever witnessed or read of in any army, and this without

any unusual privation or hardship, or any long marches."

The number of stragglers may be imagined by the fact that the loss of

the allied army was upwards of nine thousand, of whom not more than

two thousand were killed and wounded at Burgos, and in the combats

during the retreat. This number includes the Spanish as well as the

Anglo-Portuguese loss.

It was the beginning of December when the allied army reached their

winter quarters around Ciudad Rodrigo. It was fortunate that the

season of the year, and the necessity which the French had to refill

their magazines, and collect food, gave breathing time and rest to

the British. Although strengthened by his junction with Hill, and by

the arrival of reinforcements from the coast, Wellington was not in a

position to have made a stand against such a force as the French could

have brought against him.

Tom and Peter Scudamore had rejoined the army at the hottest part

of the siege of Burgos, and had taken up their work at once. Lord

Wellington heard from Tom a brief account of what had taken place,

and said a few kind words expressive of his pleasure at their both

having escaped from so great a peril, and, grave and preoccupied as

he was with the position of his army, he yet laughed at the account

of the scare Sam had given the guerillas. Among their friends nothing

was talked of for a day or two but their adventure. The times were

stirring, however, and one event rapidly drove out another. Sam

became a greater favorite than ever among the officers of the staff,

while the orderlies were never tired of hearing how he pretty nearly

frightened a band of guerillas to death by pretending to be the evil

one in person.

The next four months were passed in preparations for the grand attack

with which Wellington confidently hoped to drive the French out of

Spain. The news of the defeat of Napoleon in Russia had cheered the

hearts of the enemies of France, and excited them to make a great

effort to strike a decisive blow. The French army was weakened by the

withdrawal of several corps to strengthen the armies which Napoleon

was raising for his campaign in Germany, and British gold had been so

freely spent, that the Portuguese army was now in a really efficient

state; a portion of the Spanish army had been handed over to

Wellington, and were now in a far more trustworthy condition than

they had been heretofore, while the whole of the north of Spain was

in a state of insurrection, which the French, in spite of all their

efforts, were unable to repress.

The invasion was delayed until the end of May, in order that the crops

might be in a fit state for the subsistence of the cavalry and baggage

animals; but in the last week in that month all was ready, and, in

several columns, the allied army poured into Spain nearly a hundred

thousand strong. The French, ignorant alike of Wellington's intentions

and preparations, were in no position to stem effectually this mighty

wave of war, and were driven headlong before it, with many fierce

skirmishes, until their scattered forces were, for the most part,

united on the Ebro.

Here Joseph occupied a strong position, which he thought to hold until

the whole of his troops could come up; but Wellington made a detour,

swept round his right, and the French fell back in haste, and took

up their position in the basin of Vittoria, where all the stores and

baggage which had been carried off as the army retreated from Madrid,

Valladolid, Burgos, and other towns, were collected. At Vittoria were

gathered the Court, and an enormous mass of fugitives, as all the

Spaniards who had adhered to the cause of Joseph had, with their

wives and families, accompanied the French in their retreat. Hence

the accumulation of baggage animals, and carts, of stores of all

descriptions, of magazines, of food and artillery, of helpless,

frightened people, was enormous, and, for the retreat of the army in

case of defeat, there was but one good road, already encumbered with

baggage and fugitives!

This terrible accumulation arose partly from the fault of Joseph, who

was wholly unequal to the supreme command in an emergency like the

present. Confused and bewildered by the urgency of the danger, he had

hesitated, wavered, and lost precious time. By resistance at any of

the rivers, which Wellington had passed unopposed, he might easily

have gained a few days, and thus have allowed time for the great mass

of fugitives to reach the French frontier, and for Foy and Clausel,

each of whom were within a day's march upon the day of the battle, to

have arrived with a reinforcement of 20,000 good fighting men. Instead

of this, he had suffered himself to be outflanked day after day, and

his army forced into retreat, without an effort at resistance--a

course of action irritating and disheartening to all troops, but

especially to the French, who, admirable in attack, are easily

dispirited, and are ill suited to defensive warfare.

The position which he had now chosen for the battle, on which his

kingdom was to be staked, was badly selected for the action. The front

was, indeed, covered by the river Zadora, but this was crossed by

seven available bridges, none of which had been broken down, while

there was but the one good line of retreat, and this, besides being

already encumbered with baggage-wagons, could be easily turned by the

allies. The French army, weakened by 5000 men, who had marched upon

the preceding days, in charge of convoys for France, were still about

70,000 strong, the allies--British, Portuguese, and Spanish--about

80,000. The French were the strongest in artillery.

Wellington, seeing that Joseph had determined to stand at bay, made

his arrangements for the battle. On the left, Graham, with 20,000 men,

was to attempt to cross the Zadora at Gamara Mayor, when he would

find himself on the main road, behind Vittoria, and so cut the French

line of retreat. Hill, with a like force, was to attack on the right,

through the defile of Puebla, and so, entering the basin of Vittoria,

to threaten the French right, and obtain possession of the bridge of

Nanclares. In the center, Wellington himself, with 30,000 troops,

would force the four bridges in front of the French center, and attack

their main position.

At daybreak on the 21st of June, 1813, the weather being rainy with

some mist, the troops moved from their quarters on the Bayas, passed

in columns over the bridges in front, and slowly approached the

Zadora. About ten o'clock, Hill seized the village of Puebla, and

commenced the passage of the defile, while one of the Portuguese

battalions scaled the heights above. Here the French met them, and a

fierce fight ensued; the French were reinforced on their side, while

the 71st Regiment and a battalion of light infantry joined the

Portuguese.

Villette's division was sent from the French center to join the fray,

while Hill sent up reinforcements. While the fight on the heights

still raged, the troops in the defile made their way through, and,

driving the French back, won the village of Subijano de Alava, in

front of the French main position.

Meanwhile, far to the left, Graham came into action with Reille's

division at Gamara Mayor. The French here, knowing the vital

importance of the position, fought desperately, and the village of

Gamara was taken and retaken several times, but no effort upon the

part of the allies sufficed to carry either the bridge at this place

or that by which the main road crossed the river higher up. A force,

however, was pushed still farther to the left, and there took up a

position on the road at Durana, drove back a Franco-Spanish force

which occupied it, and thus effectively cut the main line of retreat

to France for Joseph's army. The main force under Wellington himself

was later in coming into action, the various columns being delayed by

the difficulties of making their way through the defiles.

While waiting, however, for the third and seventh divisions, which

were the last to arrive, a peasant informed Wellington that the bridge

of Tres Puentes was unbroken and unguarded. Kempt's brigade of the

light division were immediately ordered to cross, and, being concealed

by the inequalities of the ground, they reached it and passed over

unobserved, taking their place under shelter of a crest within a few

hundred yards of the French main line of battle, and actually in rear

of his advanced posts.

Some French cavalry now advanced, but no attack was made upon this

isolated body of British troops, for the French were virtually without

a commander.

Joseph, finding his flank menaced by the movements of Graham and Hill,

now ordered the army to fall back to a crest two miles in the rear,

but at this moment the third and seventh divisions advanced at a run

towards the bridge of Mendoza, the French artillery opened upon them,

the British guns replied, a heavy musketry fire broke out on both

sides, and the battle commenced in earnest. Now the advantage gained

by the passage of Kempt's brigade became manifest, for the riflemen

of his division advanced and took the French advanced cavalry and

artillery in flank. These, thus unexpectedly attacked, fell back

hastily, and a brigade of the third division took advantage of the

moment and crossed the bridge of Mendoza. The other brigade forded the

river a little higher up, the seventh division and Vandeleur's brigade

of the light division followed, Hill pushed the enemy farther back,

and the fourth division crossed by the bridge of Nanclares; other

troops forded the river, and the battle became general all along the

line.

Seeing that the hill in front of Arinez was nearly denuded of troops

by the withdrawal of Villette's division earlier in the day to oppose

Hill, Wellington launched Picton with the third division and Kempt's

brigade against it, and the French, thus attacked with great strength

and fury, and dispirited by the order to retreat, began to fall back.

Fifty pieces of artillery and a cloud of skirmishers covered the

movement, and the British guns answering, the whole basin became

filled with a heavy smoke, under cover of which the French retired

to the heights in front of Gomecha, upon which their reserves were

posted. Picton and Kempt carried the village of Arinez with the

bayonet, Vandeleur captured the village of Margarita, and the 87th

Regiment won that of Hermandad.

This advance turned the flank of the French troops near Subijana de

Alava, and of those on the Puebla mountain, and both fell back in

disorder for two miles, until they made a junction with the main body

of their army. Still the British troops pressed forward, the French

again fell back, and for six miles a running fight of musketry and

artillery was kept up, the ground being very broken, and preventing

the concerted action of large bodies of troops. At six o'clock in the

afternoon the French stood at bay on the last heights before Vittoria,

upon which stood the villages of Ali and Armentia. Behind them was

the plain upon which the city stood, and beyond the city thousands

of carriages, animals, and non-combatants, women, and children, were

crowded together in the extremity of terror as the British shots rang

menacingly over their heads.

The French here defended themselves desperately, and for a while the

allied advance was checked by the terrible fire of shot and shell.

Then the fourth division with a rush carried a hill on the left, and

the French again commenced their retreat. Joseph, finding the great

road absolutely blocked up, gave orders for a retreat by the road to

Salvatierra, and the army, leaving the town of Vittoria on its left,

moved off in a compact mass towards the indicated road. This, however,

like the other, was choked with carriages. It led through a swamp,

and had deep ditches on each side; the artillery, therefore, had to

cut their traces and leave their guns behind them, the infantry and

cavalry thrust aside the encumbrances and continued their march.

Reille, who had defended the upper bridges nobly until the last

moment, now came up, and his division acting as a rear guard, covered

the retreat, and the French retired with little further loss.

They had lost the battle solely and entirely from the utter incapacity

of their general, for their loss had been but little greater than

that of the allies, and they fell back in perfect order and full of

fighting. The French loss, including prisoners, was not more than

6000, and that of the allies exceeded 5000. The French loss, however,

in material was enormous. They carried off two guns only, and 143

fell into the hands of the British. They lost all their parks of

ammunition, all their baggage, all their stores, all their treasures,

all their booty. Last of all, they lost Spain.

The British pursued the French army for some days, and then invested

the two fortresses of San Sebastian and Pampeluna.

Ten days after the battle of Vittoria, Napoleon despatched Soult, one

of the best of his generals, to displace Joseph and assume the supreme

command of the French troops. Traveling with great speed, he reached

the frontier upon the 11th of July and took command. He soon collected

together the divisions which had retired beaten but not routed from

Vittoria, drew together the troops from Bayonne and the surrounding

towns, and in a few days found himself at the head of an army,

including the garrisons, of 114,000 men. Besides these there were the