164 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



government of the country. ^ The 

 political and military government 

 of the town and fortress of Cadiz 

 was entrusted, ad interim, to a 

 Junta, consisting chiefly, not 

 wholly, of merchants. It was pre- 

 sumed that this body would not 

 fail to adopt the most proper mea- 

 sures for the public security of the 

 place. All the ships in the port 

 of Cadiz were put in requisition to 

 convey to the opposite coast and 

 elsewhere a considerable portion 

 of the inhabitants. On the alarm 

 of the approach of the French, the 

 population was increased to the 

 double of its usual number, com- 

 puted to be 60,000, by fugitives 

 from the valley of the Guadalqui- 

 ver, in the short interval of twenty- 

 four hours, until at last it became 

 necessary to close the gates on the 

 crowd of supplicants. A great 

 part of these visitors were com- 

 pelled by the public authorities to 

 depart from Cadiz and the Isle of 

 Leon by sea ; and of these a large 

 portion proceeded towards Gib- 

 raltar. 



By the 6th of February, the 

 French army, for the purpose of 

 blockading Cadiz on the land side, 

 occupied St. Lucar de Barramido, 

 Rota, Puerto de Santa Maria, 

 Puerto Real, Chiclana, and Medi- 

 na Sidonia. And thus they were 

 in possession of the whole country 

 around. King Joseph, who com- 

 manded in chief in person, had 

 his head quarters at St. Mary's, a 

 smalltown opposite to Cadiz, from 

 whence this city was supplied with 

 water. A spring was afterwards 

 discovered in or near Cadiz, which 

 supplied its place. The French 

 forces were esti.nated at about 

 .50,000, either before, or in com- 

 munication with those who were 



before Cadiz. There were at this 

 time about 15 or 18,000 men, 

 Spaniards and English, to oppose 

 them ; and in a short time after, 

 above 21,000, whereof 16,500 

 were Spaniards, 4',000 English, and 

 1,700 Portuguese. The first attack 

 on Cadiz was to be made on the 

 land side by the Isle of Leon, 

 which is separated from the con- 

 tinent by a very narrow isthmus, 

 from a quarter to half a mile broad. 

 The form of the isle is irregular ; 

 the length about ten miles ; the 

 breadth scarcely in any part three. 

 The city of Cadiz is situated at its 

 north-west extremity. The island 

 of Leon is infringed by marshy 

 ground, intersected with salt- 

 ponds. The entrance to the isle 

 is by a high road, or causeway, 

 that will scarcely admit four men 

 abreast ; and it was defended on 

 both sides by batteries, mounting 

 each eight twelve-pounders. The 

 road was intersected by trenches, 

 filled with water from the small 

 rivulets ; and on the borders of 

 the causeway were dykes or 

 fosses. Further onward was a 

 trench 200 feet in breadth, over 

 which there had been a bridge, 

 which was now destroyed. The 

 pass, still more inward by the 

 bridge called Puente de Suaza,was 

 likewise now destroyed. This pass 

 was defended by a series of batte- 

 ries, each of them mounting about 

 twenty thirty-two pounders. Such 

 were the obstructions which the 

 French had to overcome before 

 they could approach Cadiz. The 

 English, the Portuguese, and the 

 army under the duke of Albu- 

 querque, were all quartered in the 

 Isle of Leon. Cadiz was garri- 

 soned by the new levies and vo- 

 lunteers. The English auxiliaries 



