William Francis Patrick Napier

“ At this period, also, the effects of that incredible folly and weakness which marked all the proceedings of the central junta, were felt throughout Spain. In any other country the conduct of the government would have been attributed to insanity. So apathetic with respect to the enemy as to be contemptible; so active in pursuit of self-interest as to become hateful. The junta was occupied in devising how to render itself at once despotic and popular; how to excite enthusiasm and check freedom of expression; how to enjoy the luxury of power without its labour ”

“ For what troops, what preparations, what courage, what capacity, was there in the south to have resisted, even for an instant, the progress of a man, who, in ten days, and in the depth of winter, crossing the snowy ridge of the Carpentinos, had traversed two hundred miles of hostile country, and transported fifty thousand men from Madrid to Astorga in a shorter time than a Spanish diligence would have taken to travel the same distance? ”

“ The privileged classes of every country hated Napoleon, because his genius had given stability to the institutions that grew out of the revolution, because his victories had baffled their calculations, and shaken their hold of power. As the chief of revolutionary France he was constrained to continue his career until the final accomplishment of her destiny, and this necessity, overlooked by the great bulk of mankind, afforded plausible ground for imputing insatiable ambition to the French government and to the French nation, of which ample use was made. ”

“ The march of this multitude was incessant, and as they passed the capital, Napoleon, neglectful of nothing which could excite their courage and swell their military pride, addressed to them one of those nervous orations that shoot like fire to the heart of a real soldier. In the tranquillity of peace it may seem inflated, but on the eve of battle it is thus a general should speak. ”

“ Padre Rico, a friar distinguished by his resolution, traversing the streets, with a cross in one hand and a sword in the other, aroused the sinking spirit and excited the fanaticism of the multitude; the fear of retaliation for the massacre of the French residents, and the certainty that Moncey’s troops were few, powerfully seconded his efforts; and as it is usual for undisciplined masses of people to pass suddenly from one extreme to another, fear was soon succeeded by enthusiasm. ”

“ Le général Dupont et le général Vedel sont suffisans pour se maintenir dans les positions qu’ils ont retranchés; et si le maréchal Bessières avait été renforcé, et l’armée de Galice écrasée, le général Dupont immédiatement après se trouverait dans la meilleure position, non seulement par des forces qu’on pourrait alors lui envoyer, mais encore par la situation morale des affaires. Il n’y a pas un habitant de Madrid, pas un paysan des vallées qui ne sente que toutes les affaires d’Espagne aujourd’hui sont dans l’affaire du maréchal Bessières. ”

“ C’est la première fois qu’il arrive à une armée de quitter toutes les positions offensives, pour se mettre dans de mauvaises positions défensives, d’avoir l’air de choisir des champs de bataille, lorsque l’éloignement de l’ennemi, les mille et une combinaisons différentes qui peuvent avoir lieu, ne laissent point la probabilité de prévoir si la bataille aura lieu à Tudela, entre Tudela et Pampelune, entre Soria et l’Ebre, ou entre Burgos et Miranda. ”

“ The first military events of the revolution, the disaffection of Toulon and Lyons, the civil war of La Vendee, the feeble, although successful resistance made to the duke of Brunswick’s invasion, and the frequent and violent change of rulers whose fall none regretted, were all proofs that the French revolution, intrinsically too feeble to sustain the physical and moral force pressing it down, was fast sinking when the wonderful genius of Buonaparte, baffling all reasonable calculation, raised and fixed it on the basis of victory, the only one capable of supporting the crude production. ”

“ The country suffered the evils, without enjoying the benefits, of a revolution! Tumults and assassinations terrified and disgusted the sensible part of the community; a corrupt administration of the resources extinguished patriotism, and neglect ruined the armies: the peasant-soldier, usually flying at the first onset, threw away his arms and returned to his home, or, attracted by the license of the partidas, joined the banners of men who, for the most part originally robbers, were as oppressive to the people as the enemy. ”

“ Ten thousand exiled to Sweden proved the truth of Oxenstern’s address to his son; as many more idly kept in Sicily were degraded into the guards of a vicious court; Gibraltar was unnecessarily filled with fighting men; and general Spencer, with five thousand excellent soldiers, being doomed to wander between Ceuta, Lisbon, and Cadiz, was seeking, like the knight of La Mancha, for a foe to combat. ”

“ The time which should have been passed in concerting measures for pushing the victory of Baylen was spent by them in devising schemes to ensure the permanency of their own power, and the money and resources, both of England and Spain, were applied to further this pernicious object. In every part of the country a spirit of interested violence prevailed; the ardour of patriotism was chilled, and the exertions of sensible men were rendered nugatory, or served as a signal for their own destruction. ”

“ Under the most favourable circumstances, the tail of a retreating force exhibits terrible scenes of distress; and on the road near Nogales, the followers of the army were dying fast from cold and hunger. The soldiers, barefooted, harassed, and weakened, by their excesses at Bembibre and Villa Franca, were dropping to the rear by hundreds. Broken carts, dead animals, and the piteous appearance of women with children, struggling or falling exhausted in the snow, completed a picture of war, which, like Janus, has a double face. ”

“ Such a fatal calamity could only be the result of bad government, and a consequent degradation of public feeling; and it matters but little to those who wish to derive a lesson from experience, whether it be a Godoy or a Savary that strikes the last bargain of corruption, the silly father or the rebellious son that signs the final act of degradation and infamy. Fortunately, it is easier to oppress the people of all countries, than to destroy their generous feelings; when all patriotism is lost among the upper classes, it may still be found among the lower. ”

“ Ce corps d’observation remplira alors son but, et aucune opération prompte sur Tolosa ni Estella n’est à craindre.
Au lieu qu’en occupant la position de Milagro, l’ennemi sera à Estella, le même jour qu’on l’apprendra au quartier général. Si on occupe Tudela, il faut s’y aider de redoutes, et s’y établir, n’y conserver aucune espèce d’embarras, et les tenir tous dans Pampelune. Si l’ennemi l’occupe, il faut l’en chasser, et s’y établir; car dans l’ordre défensif, ce serait une grande faute, qui entrainerait de fâcheuses consequences. ”

“ It is, however, not surprising that great expectations were at first formed of the heroism of the Spaniards, and those expectations were greatly augmented by their agreeable qualities. There is not upon the face of the earth a people so attractive in the friendly intercourse of society: their majestic language, fine persons, imposing dress and lively imaginations, the inexpressible beauty of the women, and the air of romance [44] which they throw over every action, and infuse into every feeling, all combine to delude the senses and to impose upon the judgment. ”

“ Ainsi les deux points importans, et où on fera une véritable guerre reglée, sont la Galice et l’Andalousie, parceque les troupes du camp de St. Roche, de Cadiz, des Algarves, sont près de 25 mille hommes, qu’elles ont pris parti pour la sedition de Seville en Andalousie, et que tout ce qui était à Porto a pris parti pour les rebelles de Galice.
Le point le plus important de tous est celui du mal Bessières, comme on l’a déjà vu dans la note qu’on a envoyé. On doit tout faire pour que ce corps n’éprouve aucun mouvement rétrograde, aucun échec; celui du général Dupont vient après. ”

“ The English general was prepared to confront any danger and to execute any enterprise which held out a chance of utility, but he also remembered that the best blood of England was committed to his charge, that not an English army, but the very heart, the pith of the military power of his country was in his keeping, it was entrusted to his prudence, and his patriotism spurned the idea of seeking personal renown by betraying that sacred trust. ”

“ The Spanish insurrection presented indeed a strange spectacle; patriotism was seen supporting a vile system of government; a popular assembly working for the restoration of a despotic monarch; the higher classes seeking a foreign master; the lower armed in the cause of bigotry and misrule. The upstart leaders secretly abhorring freedom, yet governing in her name, trembled at the democratic activity they had themselves excited. They called forth all the bad passions of the multitude, but repressed the patriotism that would regenerate as well as save. ”

“ I take this opportunity to declare that respect which I believe every British officer who has had the honour to serve against him feels for his military talents. By those talents the French cause in Spain was long upheld, and after the battle of Salamanca, if his counsel had been followed by the intrusive monarch, the fate of the war might have been changed.
Military operations are so dependent upon accidental circumstances, that to justify censure it should always be shown that an unsuccessful general has violated the received maxims and established principles of war. ”

“ Peut-être eût-on pu désirer qu’il eût pu se camper à une journée de la ville, comme a fait le général Dupont; mais, enfin, qu’il soit à une journée ou à cinq, comme à Saint Clément, la différence n’est pas très grande. En Arragon, on a battu sur tous les points, et dans toutes les circonstances, l’ennemi, et porté le découragement partout. Saragosse n’a pas été pris; il est aujourd’hui cerné; et une ville de 40 à 50 mille âmes, défendue par une mouvement populaire, ne se prend qu’avec du tems et de la patience. ”

“ S’il a fait son mouvement après une bataille, où il ait éprouvé de grandes pertes, il faudra faire de grandes dispositions: rappeller à marche forcée sur Madrid le gal Frère, le gal Caulaincourt, le gal Gobert, le gal Vedel, et laisser le gal Dupont sur les montagnes de la Sierra Morena, ou le rapprocher même de Madrid, en le tenant toujours, cependant, à sept ou huit marches, afin de pouvoir écraser le gal Cuesta et toute l’armée de Galice, pendant que le gal Dupont servira d’avant-garde pour tenir l’armée d’Andalousie en échec. ”

“ It was absurd, therefore, to contemplate a decisive movement, without having first matured a plan suitable to the whole mass that was to be engaged in the execution. In short, to permit an advanced guard to determine the operations of the main body, was to reverse the order of military affairs, and to trust to accident instead of design. It is curious, that while Joseph was proposing this irruption into Spain, the Spaniards and the military agents of Great Britain were trembling lest he should escape their power by a precipitate flight. “War is not a conjectural art!” ”

“ We shall find it confusing the spies and country people; overawing the flat country of Leon and Castile; protecting the right flank of the army; menacing Gallicia and Salamanca; keeping the heads of Moore’s and Baird’s columns from advancing, and rendering it dangerous for them to attempt a junction; threatening the line of Hope’s march from the Tagus to the Guadarama; dispersing Heredia’s corps, and finally turning the pass of Somosierra, without ever ceasing to belong to the concentric movement of the great army upon Madrid. ”

“ Ce que l’ont vient de dire prouve que les Espagnols ne sont pas à craindre; toutes les forces Espagnols ne sont pas capables de culbuter 25 mille Français, dans une position raisonnable.
Depuis le 12 jusqu’au 19, le général Dupont n’a fait que des bêtises, et malgré tout cela, s’il n’avait pas fait la faute de se séparer de Vedel, et qu’il eût marché avec lui, les Espagnols auraient été battus et culbutés. A la guerre les hommes ne sont rien, c’est un homme qui est tout. ”

“ The armies neglected even to nakedness, and the soldier’s constancy under privations cruelly abused; disunion, cupidity, incapacity, in the higher orders; the patriotic ardour visibly abating among the lower classes; the rulers grasping, improvident, and boasting; the enemy powerful; the people insubordinate, and the fighting men without arms or bread; as a whole, and in all its parts, the government unfitted for its task; cumbrous and ostentatious, its system, to use the comprehensive words of Mr. Stuart, “was neither calculated to inspire courage nor to increase enthusiasm.” ”

“ A long peace, a lasting prosperity, shall be the reward of your labours. A real Frenchman could not, ought not, to rest until the seas are free and open to all. Soldiers! all that you have done, all that you will do, for the happiness of the French people and for my glory, shall be eternal in my heart!”
Thus saying, he caused his troops to proceed towards the frontiers of Spain, and himself hastened to meet the emperor Alexander at Erfurth. ”