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pear, which fortune had permitted them to attain. He looked again to his instructions, and saw that they were very vaguely expressed, more especially as related to the time in which certain services were to be performed: he proposed, therefore, to his colleagues that advantage should be taken of this happy ambiguity; and that the attempt upon Barcelona should be postponed, while another and a bolder, but, as he argued, a not less prudent enterprise, was carried into effect. Of the plan of that enterprise, as well as of the reasons which guided him in recommending it, Peterborough has left an ample account on record, of which we cannot do better than give, at this stage of our narrative, a brief but faithful abridgment.

Valencia, a populous and flourishing town, is situated in a country more than ordinarily fertile in corn, as well as abundantly supplied with horses, cattle, and other beasts of burden. It is distant from Madrid barely fifty leagues; and of its friendly disposition towards a prince of the house of Austria, the avidity with which the people received his proclamations, and the zeal which they manifested in furnishing provisions to the fleet, afforded the most satisfactory evidence. Destitute of regular troops, likewise, (of which, indeed, there were none nearer than the capital,) it appeared absolutely to invite the descent which Peterborough proposed; while its position on a navigable river rendered it extremely convenient as a base of operations to a force dependent for its chief supplies upon the shipping. But the views of Peterborough extended far beyond the mere occupation of one town, or even one province: he conceived it practicable to make from this point that "push upon Spain" which the orders of his government recommended; and he entertained sanguine expectations that the push, if made with spirit, would give a new turn to the entire course of events.

It was well known that the duke of Anjou occupied Madrid at this moment with a feeble corps of cavalry alone. The whole of his infantry, or rather, his entire disposable force, lay detached at the two extremities of the kingdom: one portion being at Barcelona, and in the districts near; the other, under marshal Berwick, spreading along the Portuguese frontier. Both Portugal and Catalonia were, however, so far removed from Madrid, that, if common diligence were used, an army advancing from Valencia must reach the capital long before it could be supported from either flank.Now, as the people of Valencia were friendly; as the means of transport were ample; and, above all, as neither fortified towns nor other impediments stood in the way, to arrest the English in their progress; it appeared to lord Peterborough not only possible, but in all respects judicious, to make a dash upon Madrid itself. It was true that the movement could not be effected without alarming the duke of Berwick, whose instant countermarch upon the threatened point might

fairly be expected. But then, as Peterborough justly argued, Berwick could not move alone: his retreat would be promptly followed by lord Galway, the king of Portugal, and their armies; so that Berwick, instead of acting to any purpose, must himself be exposed to a double danger. Let him march upon Madrid, and he would find it occupied by Charles and his allies, who could easily maintain themselves till relieved by lord Galway's troops. It was therefore a mere chance whether he would commit himself, as it were, between two fires, or provide for his own safety by abandoning the capital to its fate. As to Philip, again, his evacuation of the city was inevitable; and, provided the confederates played their cards well, his return to it might be rendered, if not impossible, at all events highly improbable. But this was not all: even supposing that lord Galway failed to follow up the duke of Berwick, a retreat to Gibraltar lay open; whilst Gibraltar could be used as a base even more convenient than Barcelona, inasmuch as its distance from England was not so great.

Deeply impressed with the importance of this plan, and full of confidence as to its practicability, Peterborough took the earliest opportunity of submitting it to the consideration of the archduke. To his equal surprise and mortification, it was very coldly received, while the wisdom of adhering to the original scheme,-the reduction of Barcelona, was strongly insisted upon. Peterborough urged his point with the ardour and impetuosity which formed prominent features in his character; but he found that his reasoning failed to produce the smallest effect. He then proposed to lay the project before a council of war, in order that the opinions of his colleagues might be ascertained; the proposal was agreed to, and again the decision was against him. Though Valencia might be well disposed (such were the arguments of the court), yet beyond the bounds of that narrow province all men were enemies; whereas, by commencing operations in Catalonia, you made war, as it were, in a friendly country, and blocked up one of the principal roads of communication be tween Philip and his supplies from France. It was to no purpose that Peterborough reminded the court both of the extent of the enemy's resources in these parts, and the strength of the place which they proposed to attack. The former, it was insisted, were in a great degree neutralised by the decided hostility of the people; while of the latter it was gravely urged, that no opinion could be formed from the inaccurate information of which they were as yet in possession. Thus thwarted by the sovereign whose cause he was sent to maintain, and over-ruled in his opinions by the prince of Hesse and others, nothing remained for lord Peterborough but to yield; and if he exhibited by his manner that he did so reluctantly, neither his zeal nor determination suffered the slightest abatement. After the delay of some

days, the fleet again hoisted sail, and on the 15th of August came to anchor in the bay of Barcelona.

The city against which it was now proposed to operate chanced to be one of the largest as well as best fortified in Spain. Surrounded by works constructed after the most approved model, protected by a citadel, and covered on one side by the sea, it was rendered safe from assault on the inland face by the proximity of Montjuick, a fortress of prodigious strength, which occupies a hill about a mile or a mile and a half from the town. The garrison which held it was known to fall very little short of the English army in point of numbers; and the enemy were too conscious of the importance of the city itself, not to have amply stored its magazines both with bread and ammunition. It was but a meagre source of satisfaction, under such circumstances, to be told that the inhabitants were, for the most part, friendly. Whatever the dispositions of unarmed civilians may be, they will scarcely venture to display them in the presence of a powerful garrison; more especially if, as was the case here, the strictest discipline be maintained, and the most vigilant watch kept over every lane and alley. Besides, what hope could be entertained of establishing even a blockade by 6000 or 7000 men; when, according to the most moderate computation, at least 30,000 were required to form the first line of circumvallation? These were the difficulties which occurred, not to Peterborough only, but to every other officer attached to the expedition, so soon as the condition of the town became known; and the effect was such as to induce even those who had been forward in counselling the movement, to recommend now an immediate abandonment of the project.

Aware that a conviction prevailed of the utter hopelessness of the undertaking, and disappointed in the expectations which he had been led to form as to the readiness of the Catalans to join his standard, Peterborough required a council of war to assemble on board the Britannia, for the purpose of determining how it behoved them to act. The council met on the 16th; when it came to the unanimous conclusion that the troops ought not to be landed; but that the expedition should either follow up its ulterior object by passing over to Italy, or direct its efforts against some other town on the sea coast. It does not appear that Peterborough dissented, on this occasion, from the views taken by his colleagues. He saw, indeed, not less clearly than they, that he had adventured upon an enterprise in which success was not to be obtained by the ordinary means of exertion; and he could not, upon any grounds of reason, oppose himself to a decision which rested upon premises too correct to be gainsayed. Nevertheless, when the archduke expressed his anxiety that the project should not be precipitately laid aside, and the prince of Hesse remonstrated against it as discreditable to the British arms, Pe

terborough overcame his own scruples, and again called the generals together. This occurred more than once, with no better result than at first; till Charles, in the end, entreated as a personal favour, that they would gratify him by conducting the siege for the limited space of eighteen days. With great difficulty Peterborough prevailed upon his officers to yield; and, on the 27th, the troops were landed. But scarcely was the disembarka tion completed, when the generals again met to record their decided opinion of the impropriety of the measure. Certain chiefs of the Catalans, had, it appeared, come in, on whom they made large demands for workmen, which had not been acceded to; and they now utterly despaired of being able so much as to throw up their batteries, in the face of such a garrison as held the town. Not less convinced than they, that the idea of laying formal siege to Barcelona was, with the means at his disposal, ridiculous, Peterborough found it difficult to evade compliance with a demand of which he acknowledged both the justice and the force. Not such were the dispositions of the archduke Charles or the prince of Hesse. The latter vehemently contended, that till the breaching guns were landed, the people would not believe that the allies were in concert; nor, as a necessary consequence, join them: while the former did not hesitate to declare that, whatever might be done with the troops under Peterborough's orders, he at least was resolved to live and die among his faithful Catalans. It was to no purpose that they were both reminded of the real state of the case, -that the absence of every thing like a disposition to arm, on the part of the inhabitants, was pointed out to them; and that they were request. ed to draw up the rudest outline of a plan by which the extensive city before them might be attacked to advantage. The prince of Hesse met these remonstrances by a somewhat unworthy attempt to magnify the number of the miquelets, who, to the amount of perhaps 1500, hovered near the camp; while Charles assumed the language of one whose prospects were about to be blighted, at the very moment when their realisation seemed inevitable.

Stung by the murmurs of the court faction on one hand, and harassed by the angry remonstrances of his own officers on the other, Peterborough's temper, neither the most patient nor the most placable, gave way; and he contented himself with holding his position before the place, in apparent indifference as to what might eventually befall. The consequence was, that serious misunderstandings began to arise in the camp. The general of the Dutch contingent went so far as to declare that he would not obey lord Peterborough, in case he went forward with an enterprise so hopeless; while the courtiers insisted that, at all events, an effort should be made to breach the town, even if an assault should be esteemed, ultimately, too hazardous. The prince of Hesse, in

particular, was loud in his demands to this effect; while the naval officers, in their turn, ceased not to reproach their comrades on shore, because they hesitated to embark in an undertaking which seamen esteemed feasible. Of all these occurrences Peterborough was made regularly aware; indeed, the prince himself scarcely disguised his opinion, that he accounted but lightly of the talents for command of one who could, in public, give his voice for active proceedings, yet permit that voice to be over-ruled by his inferiors. But neither the remonstrances of the one party nor the groundless recriminations of the other moved Peterborough to deviate from his own course. He reminded the former class, that of the difficulties which they now esteemed insuperable, he had sufficiently forewarned them ere they quitted Valencia; while, to the latter, he held one uniform tone of unanswerable argument :-" Draw out your plan in detail: convince me that, with 6000 men, I can furnish working parties and guards for the trenches; keeping up, at the same time, an efficient blockade, round the place; that, when a breach shall be effected, I can, with my little army, hazard an assault; and the siege shall be formally commenced to-morrow. But, in common fairness to yourselves and me, abstain from general exhortations which partake largely of the character of reproach."

Upwards of three months were expended amid these embarrassing and profitless disputes. Occasionally, indeed, the general was urged to penetrate into the interior; the very persons who hesitated to follow from Valencia declaring their willingness to leave Barcelona in their rear: but, for the most part, the demand of his colleagues was to be led back to their ships, that they might proceed at once into Italy. Peterborough was sorely distressed by this appeal. Brave even to a fault, and entertaining a sense of military honour which would have been esteemed sufficiently acute even in the chivalrous age, he could not brook the idea of abandoning, without a trial, any enterprise in which he had fairly embarked; and, in the present instance, his chagrin was not diminished by the reflection that he must either yield to this dire necessity, or risk the very existence of his army. He gradually withdrew from the society even of those to whom he had formerly been most attached; while towards the prince of Hesse and the archduke Charles he evinced a marked coldness. But, though he thus held aloof from communicating with those around him, he was not regardless of the position in which the cause of his country stood he bent, on the contrary, all the energies of his active mind to the discovery of some device by which the discredit attaching to a failure in the outset of his career might be avoided; and he finally worked out a scheme, the very boldness of which tended, in no slight degree, to secure its accomplishment.

We have spoken of Fort Monjuick as in a great

measure commanding the town, or, to express ourselves more accurately, as rendering it secure from all hostile approaches on the inland or western face. The fort in question is built upon an eminence, the loftiest of an irregular cluster of heights which branch out from the roots of the Montserrat chain, as these gradually decline to⚫ wards the sea. Numerous ravines and hollows girdle it round; one of which, running transversely between it and the city, would, if not overawed by the guns of the fort, furnish a sort of natural parallel to a besieging army. Upon the fortifications of this stronghold all the care had been bestowed which the state of military science, then scarcely less perfect than it is now, would permit. The ditches were riveted and scarped; the outworks presented a very model of exactitude; and the batteries which defended the interior circle were all constructed on the most approved principles. In a word, if there was one point in the chain which, to the most practised eye, would have appeared less assailable than another, that point was Monjuick. Yet against it Peterborough now meditated a blow, not after the tedious process of a siege had been gone through, but by surprise.

The romantic idea was no sooner conceived than Peterborough, attended by a single aide-decamp, went forth from the camp, in order to ascertain how far the degree of vigilance exhibited by the garrison would or would not authorise an attempt to realise it. The reconnoissance was effected without difficulty or hazard; for the miquelets, or armed peasants from the mountains, occupied all the gardens and inclosures near; and Monjuick possessing few conveniences for the lodgment of cavalry, no sudden attack was to be apprehended. It sufficed, moreover, to convince the English general that the hope which his imagination rather than his sober judgment had entertained, was not altogether visionary. He saw that the ordinary precautions of placing advanced sentries without the ditch were scarcely taken; that no patrols were ever pushed beyond the limits of their own works; and that, in all respects, both the governor and the garrison appeared buried in the most extravagant confidence. Such was precisely the posture of affairs on the existence of which the success of his scheme depended; so that he returned to his tent more than ever resolute on making the attempt at all hazards.

Peterborough felt that his enemies had deceived themselves; his own good sense told him that he must deceive his friends also. Every thing, indeed, depended upon concealment; and hence he took care not to drop so much as a hint that the possibility of surprising Monjuick had occurred to him. He continued, on the contrary, to give his assent to the renewed assembling of councils of war; in deference to the repeated determinations of which the troops were warned

for reimbarkation. Indeed, the artillery in front was withdrawn, and the heaviest pieces sent on board the fleet; not without a renewal of protestations on the part of the court, and a fresh outpouring of reproach from the naval officers. Yet Peterborough bore all with the utmost apparent indifference. He even affected to argue against the statements of those who condemned the proceeding, and appealed to his brigadiers to support him; insomuch that they all, whether friendly or otherwise to the measure of a retreat, regarded him as its serious supporter. But Peterborough had a different game to play. On the night preceding that morning when the army expected to quit its lines the troops were suddenly ordered under arms; and a column of 1800 men took its way, in profound silence, along the base of the hill, towards Monjuick.

From the day of the landing the troops had occupied a position on the south-western flank of the town, having their right extended towards the sea, and their left protected by the waters of the Llobregat. The better to secure themselves against sorties, they had thrown up several redoubts; while, by cutting sluices in the river's bank, they had it in their power, almost at any moment, to flood all the plain between the camp and Barcelona. They lay, however, at the distance of two leagues from the projected point of attack; and, the only secure road by which to gain it led round the base of a rugged hill, at a circuit of not less than a league in addition. In spite, however, of the difficulties attending so protracted a march, in a dark night, Peterborough set forward; and, as his line of route led him past the door of the prince of Hesse's quarters, he alighted, and sent in a message that he desired to speak with his highness. "Being brought into the prince's apartment," says an eye-witness,* "the earl acquainted him that he had at last resolved on an attempt against the enemy; adding, that now, if he pleased, he might be a judge of their behaviour, and see whether his officers and soldiers had deserved that character which he had so liberally given them. The prince made answer that he had always been ready to take his share; but could hardly believe that troops marching that way could make any attempt against the enemy to satisfaction. However, without further discourse, he called for his horse."

Thus accompanied by the man whose intemperate reproaches had been heaped upon him ever since they began to act together, Peterborough continued his march. It was a toilsome and an arduous one; nevertheless the soldiers accomplished it well; and, about two hours before dawn, the little column found itself under the hill of Monjuick, something less than a quarter of a mile from the enemy's outworks. As might be expected, there was a profound silence throughout

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the ranks. A vague suspicion of the general's design began now to be entertained; and men naturally supposed that the attempt at surprise, if made at all, would be made ere morning broke. But it was not so. Peterborough had well and closely examined the place. He had observed that there were neither palisades nor other barriers in any of the ditches; that the inner circle of works, though tolerably perfect in itself, scarcely commanded the outer entrenchments with ef fect; and that the whole were so arranged that, could the enemy be tempted into the outward ditch, beneath the bastions of the second enclosure, the best hopes might be entertained of effecting, at least, a lodgment. He determined, therefore, not to give the assault before day; partly because he felt that darkness always magnifies the obstacles to which assailants may find themselves opposed; partly because he conceived that a bold rush, in the sight of the sun, would occasion greater consternation among the enemy, than a stealthy approach under the curtain of night. Nevertheless, his arrangements were all made, and his orders issued, while yet the veil of darkness lay over them; and hence, when the moment of action did come, there was not an officer or man unacquainted with the duties which he was expected to perform.

Peterborough divided his little corps into three columns; of which one was appointed to attack a bastion that looked towards the town; another to assault a demi-bastion on the western face; and the third to act as a support to either when needed, or to cover their retreat in case of a reverse. Each of the assaulting bodies, again, was thus distributed :-First of all went a lieutenant, with thirty men, a sort of forlorn hope, as it is called, or advanced guard; then followed a captain, with fifty men; and last of all came the little battalion, which mustered in all not more than 200 firelocks. The orders issued to both were the same. The men were directed to push forward, to receive the enemy's fire, and then leap into the ditch; out of which it was not doubted that they would speedily drive their opponents. They were then to follow the fugitives close, so as to secure a hold upon the outward circle of works; where, after pressing the garrison within what was called the upper fort, they were to establish themselves.

Daylight had not long come in, when the troops proceeded to execute this plan with the utmost coolness and gallantry. The storming parties rushed forward, over a space of ground every where exposed to the fire of the garrison; yet such was the celerity of the movement, that they suffered comparatively little from the volley of grape and musketry, which immediately opened upon them. The western attack, indeed, accomplished the service intrusted to it, with the loss of but one man killed and three wounded; for the governor, not anticipating molestation there, had withdrawn almost all his people for the defence of

the eastern bastion. Immediately the soldiers sprang up the uneven face of the rampart, made themselves masters of the demi-bastion, as well as of three pieces of cannon which were planted there, and, hastily constructing a parapet with such materials as they could find, turned the guns upon the inner fort with prodigious effect. Meanwhile the column employed against the eastern bastion exhibited not less of gallantry or resolution in its operations. Having received the enemy's fire, the troops, without pausing to silence it, leaped into the ditch, and in five minutes the garrison was in full flight, leaving the sally-ports unbarred behind them in their confusion. Instantly one of these was seized. Peterborough and the prince of Hesse, followed by the main body, made good their entrance; and the bastion passed in an instant into their possession. Its gorge was promptly blocked up with a quantity of large loose stones, which happily lay in a heap, as if for the purpose; and hence, before the guns of the inner fort could open, a tolerable cover was secured.

So far every thing had fallen out even beyond the most sanguine expectations of those engaged. A secure lodgment was effected in the outworks, and the reserves coming up, placed the garrisons of these newly constructed redoubts beyond the hazard of discomfiture; but, as if to cloud the good fortune of the day, the prince of Hesse permitted his naturally sanguine temper to lead him into a situation which cost his own life, and the loss of nearly 200 of his followers. The firing at Monjuick having alarmed the governor of Barcelona, a body of dragoons were sent from the latter place, 200 of whom, entering the beleaguered fort, were welcomed with loud cheers by the garrison. The prince, mistaking the cause of these vivas, and imagining that the place had surrendered, pushed forward, with 300 men, to secure it, and himself perished, together with the greater number of those who had improvidently adopted his opinion. But the confusion which might have followed so untoward an event the coolness and decision of Peterborough prevented. He drew off the remains of the prince's party, in excellent order, and sending the body of that gallant officer to the rear, promptly replaced the men in the positions which they ought not to have quitted.

This was scarcely done when an alarm arose that a heavy column both of horse and foot was advancing from Barcelona upon Monjuick. It is to be observed, that there were lines of communication between these two places, which, leading over some very rugged ground, rendered it impossible to pass from the one point to the other free from observation. Peterborough saw that the report was not groundless; but being anxious to ascertain more accurately the precise amount of the approaching enemy, he mounted his horse, and rode beyond the glacis. He was scarcely gone when one of those groundless panics, for which it is extremely difficult to account, arose

among the men. The dangers to which they were really exposed became magnified in their eyes so soon as their general passed from before them; and the example spreading even to the officer left in command, he ventured, on his own responsibility, to issue orders for the abandonment of their conquests. It is a curious fact that these orders were in part obeyed; that the troops had actually withdrawn from the bastion which they had won, and were already in the ditch when Peterborough, recalled by captain Carlton, arrived, and put a stop to a movement so disastrous. He shouted aloud that the men were marching in the wrong direction. He threw himself from his horse, grasped a standard, and waved it over his head; upon which his people, as if inspired by some influence more powerful than nature, suddenly wheeled round. As good fortune would have it, their momentary retrogression had not been observed by the enemy; and they recovered, in consequence, their vantage ground without difficulty, while the cloud that seemed to menace them from Barcelona dispersed of its own accord. It so happened that the prisoners taken during the prince of Hesse's ill-judged advance, fell in with the column of relief while yet on its march. They were questioned, as usual, by the officer in command, as to the amount of force engaged; and reporting that Peterborough conducted the operation in person, a belief naturally arose that the whole of the British army had moved upon Monjuick. The consequence was, that, apprehensive lest their own retreat might be cut off, they fell back with the utmost precipitation, securing their own safety in the town, and leaving the castle to its fate.

Among other dispositions which Peterborough had considered it advisable to make, he had moved up 1000 men, under general Stanhope, whom he posted half-way between the camp on the western side of Barcelona and the point of attack. These were now ordered to seize the ground between Monjuick and the town, so as to close up the garrison of the former, and to cut of all communication with the open country. They executed the charge intrusted to them with effect; and the heavy guns being immediately relanded, batteries were raised, and a furious bombardment began. On the third day a shell struck the principal magazine, and blew it up. The governor's house was shaken to the ground, where himself with all his guests perished in the ruins; while a face of one of the smaller bastions was, by the same concussion, shivered into fragments. Instantly the miquelets rushed up the open space; while Peterborough, not less attentive then they, sent his regular troops to support them. In ten minutes this strong fortress was in possession of the English; the utmost regard being paid both to the persons and property of its recent occupants.

The effect of this success upon the minds both of the land and sea forces was the more encourag

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