HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



15 



dannali, and 5,000 at the town of 

 CanionbelovvSaldannah. The Bri- 

 tish were collected between Saha- 

 gun, Grahal, and Villado. It was 

 the intention of the British gene- 

 ral to inarch from Sahagun upon 

 Carrion, and thence to Saldannah 

 by night, while llomana proceed- 

 ed to the same point by Mansilla. 

 The marquis prepared, in the best 

 manner the defective state of his 

 troops would permit, to co-operate 

 in the design : for whicii purpose 

 he arrived at Mansilla on the 23rd, 

 at three o'clock in the afternoon, 

 and from thence announced his ar- 

 rival to Sir John, who was to march 

 from Sahagun the same evening. 



The expectations of the army 

 were wound up to the highest pitch. 

 The dispositions were already 

 made for combat, and the gene- 

 rals had received their instruc- 

 tions, when Sir John Moore receiv- 

 ed information that considerable 

 re-inforcements had arrived to the 

 French from Placentia. A courier 

 from Los Santos told of the halt 

 of the French at Talavera, and se- 

 veral messengers reported their ad- 

 vance from Madrid. The latter 

 part of this intelligence was con- 

 firmed by an express from the 

 Marquis of llomana. — The pur- 

 port of these movements was easi- 

 ly frustrated by the British com- 

 mander. He countermanded the 

 advance of his troops, and deter- 

 mined on a retreat. 



From this time to the end of the 

 campaign, Spanish armies no more 

 appear upon the stage ; they had 

 every where vanished from the sight 

 of friends and foes. 



It could not, nor we presume 

 did it, excite any degree of sur- 

 prise in any human breast, that 

 such armies, and such a govern- 



ment, as those of Spain, were 

 found altogether unequally oppos- 

 ed to the strength and genius of 

 Buonaparte. 



If 45, or 50,000 were able, 

 without annoyance, to maintain 

 their positions for several months 

 against the whole strength of the 

 kingdom, the same strength must 

 be utterly insufficient to resist the 

 offensive operations of nearly 

 200,000. It is not easy to calcu- 

 late the exact amount of the forces 

 brought by the French emperor, 

 after his return from the confer- 

 ences at Erfurth, against the Spa- 

 niards. According to an inter- 

 cepted letter from the governor of 

 Bayonne, 78,000 were to enter 

 Spain between the 16th of Octo- 

 ber and the IGth of November. 

 About the same period, 15,000, 

 chiefly from Italy, entered Cata- 

 lonia : and 30,000 under Junot en- 

 tered Spain in the beginning of 

 December. The forces stationed 

 behind the Ebro, together with the 

 force in Barcelona and the other 

 garrisons, amounted to 65,000, 

 making a total of 182,000. This at 

 least. But the French prisoners 

 agreed in making the total of the 

 French army in Spain, at the end 

 of 1808, and beginning of 1809, 

 200,000. The right wing of this 

 army, it will be recollected by the 

 readers of our annual labours, un- 

 der the command of Marshal Soult, 

 penetrating by Bilboa, scattered the 

 army of Blake in successive com- 

 bats from Valma-Seda to Regnosa. 

 The French light troops decided 

 this contest. Marshal Bessieres, 

 descending by the Ebro, defeated 

 and dispersed the army of Casta- 

 nos, drawn up between Tudela and 

 Tarragona. In neither armies, re- 

 spectively under the command of 



the 



