A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 3, Sep. 1809-Dec. 1810 : $b Ocaña, Cadiz, Bussaco, Torres VedrasOman, Charles
History
A history of the Peninsular War, Vol. 3, Sep. 1809-Dec. 1810 : $b Ocaña, Cadiz, Bussaco, Torres Vedras
Oman, Charles
Peninsular War, 1807-1814
Leaving matters at a deadlock in and about Cadiz, we must turn back
to the operations of the French in the outlying parts of Andalusia.
Sebastiani, it will be remembered, had taken Jaen on January 23rd.
He was directed to march from thence on Granada and Malaga, to
scatter the remains of Areizaga’s army, and to subdue the valleys
of the Sierra Nevada and the long sea-coast below them. All this
he accomplished with ease. On the 28th he routed at Alcala la Real
a force composed of some of Areizaga’s fugitives, which had been
joined by Freire and all the cavalry of the Andalusian army. These
regiments, which had been cantoned in the valley of the Guadalquivir,
since they were useless in the passes, had been collected by Freire
to the number of 2,000 sabres. They were routed and dispersed by
Milhaud’s and Perreymond’s dragoons and chasseurs, losing over 500
men and the whole of their artillery. The survivors dispersed, and
retired in small parties eastward, only rallying in the province of
Murcia. That same evening Sebastiani pushed on towards Granada, and
was met by a deputation of its magistrates, who brought the keys of
the city and a promise of submission. The French vanguard entered it
next day. Lacy, who had taken refuge there with the small remains
of his division, retired to Guadix. Sebastiani levied a military
contribution of 5,000,000 reals on the city, placed a garrison of
1,500 men in the Alhambra, and marched with a mixed force on Malaga,
the only place in this quarter where organized resistance showed
itself. Here the local magistrates had been deposed by a popular
rising, and several thousand irregulars had been collected by a
Colonel Abello, a Capuchin friar named Fernando Berrocal, and three
brothers, notaries, of the name of San Millan. They seized the passes
of the Sierra de Alhama, and called all the hill-country to arms.
Sebastiani, marching by Antequera, cleared the passes on February
5th, beat the half-armed insurgent bands outside the suburbs of
Malaga, and stormed the town. He exacted a contribution of 12,000,000
reals, and hung the three San Millans and several other leading
insurgents. After this he extended his troops along the coast, and
occupied Velez Malaga, Motril, and Almunecar. The roads and the
towns were his, but many of the insurgents took to the hills, and
maintained a guerrilla warfare, which never ceased throughout the
next three years. There were always bands on foot in the Alpujarras
and the Sierra de Ronda, though the 4th Corps expended much energy
in hunting them down.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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