226 LON 
took place. Thefe two companies took poffeflion of a 
height commanding that part of the water-fide, and, fup- 
ported by the fire of the line-of-battle (hip in which they 
had come, covered the re-embarkation of all fuch of the 
89th regiment as had not taken the route of Marabella, 
with the fugitive Spaniards. This affair of Fangarola 
was very difgraceful to the expedition ; for the French 
did not exceed half their number. 
The French, to the number of 12,000 men, having 
early in February made a fruitlefs attempt on Valencia, 
from whence they were driven back with confiderable 
lofs, proceeded to lay fiege to the cattle of Hoftalrieh in 
Catalonia, the reduction of which was necefl'ary to an at¬ 
tack on the important city of Tarragona. The town of 
Hofialrich was reduced in the month of January. The 
cattle, fituated on a (teep and rugged mountain, was not 
to be taken but by blockade. On the night between the 
2d and 3d of May, a bold attempt to throw both provi- 
fions and a reinforcement of troops into the caftle was 
fruitrated by the vigilance and military (kill and valour of 
the befiegers. On the night of the 12th, thegarrifon, un¬ 
der the advantage of an exceedingly thick milt, went out 
of the fort, in profound filence, and the advanced guard 
fell of courfe on the French fentinels. One of thefe was 
killed, but the other gave the alarm. The French troops 
were inltantly under arms, and purfued the Spaniards 
with fo much celerity, that the wdiole were either killed 
or taken. In the fortrefs of Hoitalrieh were found 42 
large pieces of brafs ordnance, and a very confiderable 
quantity of ammunition for war, but an extremely-fmall 
flock of provifions. 
The reduction of Hoitalrieh facilitated the carriage by 
land of provifions to Barcelona, and covered the commu¬ 
nication between that place and Gerona.—On the 14th of 
May, general Suchet became matter, after fifteen days of 
open trenches, and three days firing, of Lerida. There 
he found 100 pieces of cannon of various calibre, 1,500,000 
cartridges, 20o,ooo,ooolbs. of powder, and 10,000 firelocks. 
The garrifon, eight thoufand men, were made prifoners 
of war.—On the 8th of June, the fortrefs of Mequinenza 
in Catalonia, fituate near the confluence of the Segre and 
Ebro, in the midlt of a defert, and jultly called the Key 
of the Ebro, was taken by the fame general. The French 
found at Mequinenza forty-five pieces of ordnance, four 
hundred thoufand Englifh cartridges, fifty thoufand pounds 
of powder, a great quantity of caft-iron, and provifions 
for two thoufand men for three months. 
Agreeably to the orders received from Paris, the corps 
of Suchet, after the reduction of Lerida and Mequinenza, 
began to move towards Tortofa. From Mequinenza and 
Cafpe, (a town of Arragon, fituate at the conflux of the 
Ebro and Guadaloupe,) all the way to Tortofa, a road for 
carriages was cut, waving to the length of thirty leagues, 
through mountains fcarcely paflable for mules or travel¬ 
lers on foot. The park of artillery was moved down 
partly by water-carriage, and partly by land, as far as 
Xerta, which was within two leagues of Tortofa. While 
the French were employed in their preparations, or what, 
in the language of the French general who commanded, 
is called “ all the preliminary labours of the fiege,” the 
garrifon of Tortofa did not fail, in the months of July 
and Auguft, to make repeatedly the boldeft and molt vi¬ 
gorous (allies. On the 3d of Auguft they made a general 
fally: it advanced on all points at the iaine time, even 
tinder the enemy’s entrenchments. The French advanced 
pofts v:ere not able to fuftain their (hock ; but, the choice 
troops being brought into aftion, the Spaniards were 
driven back into the fortrefs with the lofs of l'ome hun¬ 
dreds of their men killed, and about as many prifoners. 
In this bold enterprife, count d’Abras, the governor of 
Tortofa, was dangeroufly wounded.— On the 22d, general 
Erere’s divifion of the army of Catalonia arrived to join 
the befieging army : he was ftationed on the Ebro, at the 
diftance of one league below Tortofa, to have an eye on 
the route towards Tarragona and the fea-coaft.~>=£!!i the 
DON. 
29th, by break of day, aj pieces cf cannon, from fefS 
batteries raifed on both fides of the river Ebro, com¬ 
menced a fire, which in the fpace of. two hours filenced 
all that was oppofed to them ; on the fame day the bridge 
was cut, and the day afterwards entirely broken down. 
In the night between the 29th and 30th, the Spaniards 
evacuated the tete de pont, which was taken poffeflion of 
by the French. On the 30th there was no firing but 
from the caftle, and on the 31ft noneat all. Thepara- 
pets were deftroyed 5 the embrafures were unfit for re¬ 
ceiving cannon 5 two breaches had begun to be made in 
the wall; parties had defeended and pafl'ed the ditch ; and 
the miners commenced their fubterraneous operations. 
In thefe circumftances, in the morning of the ift of Ja¬ 
nuary, 1811, a flag of truce was feen or- the fummit of 
tlie caftle. Two officers came to the French general with 
a letter from the governor, authorizing them to propofe 
terms of peace. They offered to quit Tortofa immediately, 
on the condition of being fent to Tarragona; or to fur- 
render on conditions within fifteen days, if the place 
fliould not be relieved. Thefe propofals were rejected in 
the moft peremptory manner. A fire of fliells from mor¬ 
tars and obufes was re-opened on both the town and caf¬ 
tle. The miners refumed their labours. On the morning 
of the 2d, a new battery, conftrufted with extraordinary 
quicknefs in the covert-way on the counterfcarp of the 
ditch, played at the diftance of fifteen fathoms from the 
wall, and effected a breach, which was enlarged every 
hour. Three white flags waved on the ramparts at the 
fame time; but the firing was every-where continued; 
and in two hours every thing was ready for the aflault. 
Heralds of peace prefented themfelves anew ; and at length 
the garrifon, reduced from 9 to 8000 men, laid down their 
ftandards and arms, defiled as prifoners of war, and under 
a fuitable efcort were led as prifoners of war to Saragoffa. 
Among the ftandards was one prefented by the king of 
Great Britain, whom Suchet calls “ le roi Georges,” to 
the city of Tortofa. The French were put into poffeflion 
of 177 pieces of ordnance, 9000 firelocks, and a great 
quantity of bullets, fliells, and gunpowder. 
A fmall body of French, three or four thoufand, to¬ 
wards the end of December, 1809, entered the capital of 
Leon, from whence, on their approach, the Spaniards re¬ 
treated. A corps, which was the 8th, under general Junot, 
laid fiege to Aftorga, and held other places in fubjeftion, 
by a proper diftribution of garrifons. A ftrong divifion 
under general Bonnet took poffeflion of Oviedo the capi¬ 
tal, extended itfelf over the whole province of Afturias, 
and threatened again to penetrate into Galicia. Aftorga 
was taken, after a fliort fiege, on the 12th of April. 
Three thoufand five hundred Spaniards, with Englifli fire¬ 
locks, and wearing Englifli clothes, laid down their arms, 
and were conduced to Barneza, whence they were fent to 
France. But the whole of the prifoners taken during the 
fiege of Aftorga, according to the difpatch of Junot to 
Berthier, amounted to about 5000. The number of the 
Spaniards killed at the fiege was 1500, and 500 wounded 
were left in the hofpitals. The French found at Aftorga 
twenty pieces of cannon and two mortars. The lofs of 
the French, as ftated by Junot, in all the different en¬ 
counters with the enemy, both in Aftorga and the terri¬ 
tory around it, was only about 160 killed and 400 wounded. 
The Spaniards ftated, probably with equal exaggeration, 
that the lofs of the French in killed and wounded was 
not lefs than 4000. After the fall of Aftorga, the 8th 
corps joined that of marfhal Ney, duke of Echlingen, be¬ 
fore Ciudad Rodrigo. In the mean time, field-marfhal 
Maffena, prince of Efsling, was on his way from Paris to 
take the command of the army appointed for the conqueft 
of Portugal, to confift of the 2d, 6th, and 8th, corps, 
forming all together a force of about 80,000 men. 
The fiege of Ciudad Rodrigo was obltruifled and re¬ 
tarded by heavy rains, bad roads, the difficult convey¬ 
ance of (lores and provifions, and lattly the near vi¬ 
cinity of the allied army of Englifli and Portuguefe, un- 
.3 do? 
