190 



TAKING OF TARRAGONA. 



of us." When the smoke cleared away, we osberved him almost 

 alone close to the enemy's lines, for his followers had all turned tail, 

 and it was with great difficulty he got back again to his gallant 

 countryman, Sarsfield, who defended the entrance, which the French 

 were very near forcing along with the fugitives. This was a bad 

 beginning, aud something much worse soon followed ; I mean the 

 taking of Fort Olivo a strong outwork inland of the town, which 

 one would have thought almost impregnable. Taken, however, it 

 was, and Suchet thus supplied himself with mortars, howitzers, and 

 battering cannon, turning the Spaniards' own arms against them- 

 selves. There was much talk of treachery at the time; something 

 wrong there must have been, for the French knew the countersign. 



After the fall of Fort Olivo, the siege proceeded more vigorously, 

 and the enthusiasm of the garrison proportionably abated. The 

 French advanced their lines nearer to the Puerto, and pointed the 

 heavy cannon they had just taken against the walls of the lower 

 town. Shells and rockets poured into the city night and day, and 

 there was but one part of the town out of their reach, called the 

 " Milagro," a small space within the walls to the eastward of the 

 citadel. Here the inhabitants used to assemble every night ; and I 

 have seen whole families of the highest rank crowded together under 

 a sort of tent made of skins, watching the destruction of their homes, 

 and listening with dread and apprehension to the doleful sound of 

 the cathedral bell, which tolled every time a shell was thrown into 

 the town, as a signal for the people to get out of the way. I have 

 frequently walked through the desolate streets of a moonlight night, 

 without meeting any one but the patrole, and parties of soldiers 

 carrying their dead or wounded comrades to the hospital. Every house 

 was deserted for the crowded " Milagro," which offered comparative 

 safety. A great many of the inhabitants found a refuge on board 

 our ships : still all we could do was little to alleviate the general 

 misery, which no one can conceive who has not been in a similar 

 situation. 



The Marquis Campo Verde still kept aloof; and notwithstanding 

 the governor-general, Contreras, bravely declared he would defend 

 the place to the last, it was easy to foresee that Tarragona must fall. 

 About ten days subsequently to the capture of Fort Olivo, the 

 French stormed the lines of the Puerto. General Sarsfield defended 

 his post with the utmost bravery, and was to be seen running from 

 battery to battery encouraging the men, and cheering them on to 

 the breach. But the French, although several times repulsed, were 

 at last victorious, and the gallant Sarsfield, after doing all that man 

 could do, was obliged to escape to our ships, from whence he was 

 relanded on the other side of the town, and joined the governor in 

 defending the citadel. 



There was nothing now to prevent the French from erecting their 

 breaching batteries close to the walls, and turning all the cannon of 

 the lower town against the citadel, which was most furiously bom- 

 barded. A practicable breach being soon effected, Marshal Suchet 

 summoned the place to surrender, which General Contreras declared 

 lie would never do, as long as one stone remained above another, 



