A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 2, Jan.-Sep. 1809 : $b From the battle of Corunna to the end of the Talavera campaignOman, Charles
History
A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 2, Jan.-Sep. 1809 : $b From the battle of Corunna to the end of the Talavera campaign
Oman, Charles
Peninsular War, 1807-1814
Reding, during this period of waiting, had been keeping quiet in
Tarragona, where he was reorganizing and drilling the harassed
troops which had been beaten at Cardadeu and Molins de Rey. He had,
as we have already seen, received heavy reinforcements from the
South[82] and the Balearic Isles[83]; but it was not in numbers only
that his army had improved. St. Cyr’s inaction had restored their
_morale_. They were too, as regards food and munitions, in a much
better condition than their adversaries, as they could freely draw
provisions from the plain of the Lower Ebro and the northern parts
of Valencia, and were besides helped by corn brought in by British
and Spanish vessels from the whole eastern Mediterranean. Reding had
also got a good supply of arms and ammunition from England. As he
found himself unmolested, he was finally able to rearrange his whole
force, so as not only to cover Tarragona, but to extend a screen of
troops all round the French position. He now divided his army into
two wings: he himself, on the right, kept in hand at Tarragona the
1st Division, consisting mainly of the Granadan troops: while General
Castro was sent to establish the head quarters of the 2nd Division,
which contained most of the old battalions of the army of Catalonia,
at Igualada. Their line of communication was by Santa Coloma,
Sarreal, and Montblanch. This disposition was probably a mistake:
while the French lay concentrated in the middle of the semicircle,
the Spanish army was forced to operate on outer lines sixty miles
long, and could not mass itself in less than three or four days. By
a sudden movement of the enemy, either Reding or Castro might be
assailed by superior numbers, and forced to fall back on an eccentric
line of retreat before he could be succoured by his colleague.
[82] Regiments of Santa Fé, and 1st of Antequera, three
battalions with 3,600 men in November, and probably 3,000 in
February.
[83] Swiss Regiment of Beschard, about 2,000 strong, and Majorca
Militia [sometimes called ‘Palma’], 600 strong.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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