4.2.0 SWABEY DIARY. 
south of Spain, Cadiz must be left, and Madrid abandoned and all 
the French forces must be concentrated to secure Aragon, Catalonia, 
and Valencia, and thus the wisdom of Lord Wellington’s movement 
was exemplified. ‘Those unaccustomed to reason on military under- 
takings and their results were not wanting in their censures for the 
investment of Burgos. An Engineer officer of deserved reputation! 
and celebrity has written a book in vindication of the distinguished 
service to which he belongs, throwing the blame of the failure of the 
siege on the inadequacy of the material at the command of his and the 
artillery corps. But I venture to believe that the object of the 
Commander-in-Chief was not so much the possession of the place as the 
drawing the enemy from the south, and setting free that large portion 
of the Spanish Peninsula. 
So far from the Salamanca campaign being a failure as some short- 
sighted officers venture to call it, it was in its results an undoubted 
success. It is probable, had the city of Burgos fallen to our arms, that 
we should have blown up its defences as the French did the following 
year. We could hardly have hoped to maintain ourselves in advance 
of Ciudad Rodrigo in the winter of 1812-13, and I have always asserted 
that the objects of the campaign of 1812, were entirely carried out]. 
9th October.—In the evening we received the intelligence that the 
garrison of Burgos having made a successful sortie, retook their out- 
posts and destroyed about 24 hours of our work, but were soon driven 
in with the loss of all they had regained. It appears they knew of a 
mine we had ready to spring, and so they destroyed it. 
10th October.—Soult seems to have arrested his further advance, if 
he ever means to act an offensive part it will be now. Much rain. 
11th October.-—Dined with Sir William Hrskine who is certainly a 
more gentlemanly man at his table than I had formed an idea of. 
Rain all day. 
12th October.—The French again making movements on our front, 
some Spaniards seem to think they are inclined to pass the Ebro. 
13th October.—I rode to Aranjuez. It is certainly a beautiful spot; 
the palace, gardens, parks, and shady boulevards are close to the city, 
which like Versailles was designed entirely for ornament and pleasure. 
It is the favourite resort of the King and the Spanish Court, and differs 
so completely from any other Spanish town I have seen, that I must 
fly to my beloved Hngland to steal a comparison. The houses, of two 
stories only, are laid out in regular streets, but are constructed in so 
slight a manner as to look like temporary barracks. They are faced 
with a kind of plaster or stucco now fast decaying, the window frames 
and door posts are painted on the outside, and at a distance have a 
very pleasing effect, but there are so few fine houses that the town 
could only have contained the dependents of the royal family and its 
instability reminds me forcibly of an English watering place. 
The King’s palace is well worth seeing; it is a handsome brick 
1 Colonel Six John Jones, R.E. 
