SPAIN. 



777 



(Jencral Loma was \v<>.;nd.-d, and also 



I'riiiu) do Kiv,-f:i; IJriu'adier I'rillo was killed. 



Tho troops lo-t :K the least l,")Mi| in till) tliivo 



tin- Carlists must have, lost about l.ono. 



iiio was in tlio thick of tlm li^'ht tin 



out the day, and Admiral Topeto had a bullet 



Soon after these indocisive engagements, 

 itio and Topote left for Madrid, where 

 dissensions had broken out among the minis- 

 ters, which Serrano succeeded in terminal in.:. 

 i>":i Carlos, on the other hand, organi/< ! a 

 complete government, appointing General Klio 

 Minister of War, Admiral Vinalet Minister of 

 Foreign Ail airs, and Count Pinal Minister of 

 A llairs and Finance. His army, in tin- 

 northern provinces, consisted of the six divis- 

 ions of Navarre, of Guipuzcoa, Biscay, Alava, 



Jo, and Santander. 



Having returned to the army, which had re- 

 ceived large reinforcements, Serrano again a<- 

 sutned the offensive, but, instead of assaulting 

 mpregnable heights of Somorrostro only 

 in front, decided simultaneously to develop 

 Hank and direct attacks. The plan of opera- 

 tions was that of Marshal Concha, who, with 

 the divisions of Echague, Martinez Campos, 

 and Reyes, constituting a corps of about 15,000 

 effective combatants, was to advance by Val- 

 maseda ; while Serrano himself, with about 

 20,000 men, was to engage the Carlists in front, 

 and to press them if he saw an opportunity of 

 doing so. On the 29th Serrano's right opened 

 communications with Concha's left, and the 

 cannonade was opened against San Pedro de 

 Abanto, and, as had been anticipated, was but 

 feebly answered. On the 30th Concha suc- 

 ceeded in taking the heights of Valmaseda, 

 and the cannonade of Pedro do Abanto by 

 Serrano, and the bombardment of Portugalete 

 by the fleet, were kept up with vigor. On the 

 1st of May, Concha continuing to gain ground 

 on the right, the Carlists abandoned their po- 

 sitions at Monte Abanto and Santo Juliano, 

 which were immediately occupied by Serrano's, 

 troops. Marshal Concha redeemed his pledge 

 to relieve Bilbao on the anniversary of Dos de 

 Mayo, the great national festival of Spain. He 

 made his triumphal entry, Marshal Serrano 

 having chivalrously waived his claim to enter 

 first. The entry of the troops was a very fine 

 spectacle. The inhabitants turned out in their 

 best attire to give an enthusiastic welcome to 

 their deliverers. Cannon fired salutes, the 

 church-bells rang, and flags of all hues and the 

 national colors were conspicuous. Serrano re- 

 turned to Madrid, where he met with an en- 

 thusiastic reception. In Madrid, in the mean 

 while, a new crisis had declared itself at the 

 Council of Ministers. Settor Martos maintained 

 the necessity of continuing the policy of con- 

 ciliation, while several other ministers wished 

 to place certain restrictions upon that policy. 

 On May 13th, after much discussion and ditti- 

 culty, another now Spanish cabinet was formed, 

 composed as follows: General Zabala, Presi- 



dent of tin- ( 'oun.-il and Minister of War; Beflor 

 Bagasta, Minister of tin: Interior; >>.-nr Ulloa, 

 Minister of Kon-i-n AH'iiru; Benor Oaruacho, 

 Minister of Finance; Bettor Alonso Mar 

 Minister of Justice ; SeQor Alonso Colmcnares, 

 Minister of Public Works; Bettor Orti/., Minis- 

 ter of Colonies; Bettor Rodriguez Arias, Min- 

 ister of Marine. Tho new ministers entered 

 office with the suspicion of anti-repul<licanumi 

 very freely cast upon them, and their advent 

 produced great alarm in the real Kepubli< -an 

 camp. Bettor Oastelar still refused to emerge 

 from his retirement, and his action in this 

 respect, in spite of the direct solicitation of 

 Serrado and other leading men, not a little 

 tended to produce the above solution. The 

 more excitable and timid of his followers pre- 

 dicted the speedy proclamation of the mon- 

 archy of Prince Alfonso or that of the Duchess 

 of Montpensier. The ultra-Reds began already 

 to talk of a rising. The Radicals did not know 

 how to find invectives bitter enough to hurl 

 at Serrano for his decision. The Alfonsists 

 were delighted, as they considered the ultimate 

 triumph of their cause only a question of time, 

 which was brought nearer by the presence of 

 Bagasta as the leading spirit in the new cabi- 

 net. The Sagastinos were in ecstasies of joy. 

 On May 15th the new ministry issued a mani- 

 festo to the nation expressing regret that it 

 was still unable to convoke the representatives 

 of the people, and calling on all the liberal 

 parties to support the Government. It also 

 appointed Marshal Concha coramander-in- 

 chief of the Northern Army. The available 

 strength of the entire Republican army was at 

 this time stated to be about 120,000 infantry 

 and 10,000 cavalry. Marshal Concha had with 

 him 38,000 men and 87 guns. The military 

 operations during May were of no special 

 importance. At the beginning of June the 

 brother of Don Carlos, Don Alfonso, crossed the 

 Ebro, at the head of about 12,000 troops, in order 

 to carry the war into Valencia and the heart 

 of Spain; but he was totally defeated in the 

 battle at'Alcora, in which also the Infante, 

 Don Enrique, was killed. General Concha used 

 nearly the whole of May and June to prepare for 

 a grand attack upon the fortified position of 

 the Carlists at Estella. The result of the move- 

 ment was very different from what the Gov- 

 ernment confidently expected. Not only did 

 the Carlists, when attacked on June 27th and 

 the two following days, make a desperate re- 

 sistance and maintain their position, but Mar- 

 shal Concha himself lost his life. The blood- 

 thirsty Carlist general, Antonio Dorregaray, 

 ordered every tenth man of the captives and all 

 the officers to be shot. Among those put to 

 death was the German Captain Schmidt, who 

 accompanied the army as correspondent of Ger- 

 man papers, and was shot under the pretext 

 that he was a spy. The Carlist commander- 

 in-chief of Biscay, Horaechea, ordered all the 

 Liberals of the district of Zoruaza to be im- 

 prisoned, and one Liberal to be shot for every 



