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
At dawn on April 22, Santocildes surrendered. He might have held out
some hours longer behind his inner defences, if he had not exhausted
nearly all his musket ammunition in resisting the storm. There
were less than thirty cartridges a head left for the infantry of
the garrison, and only 500 pounds of powder for the artillery. The
defence had been admirable, and, it may be added, very scientific,
a fact proved by the low figures of the dead and wounded, which did
not amount to 200 men[251]. The French, in the assault alone, lost
five officers and 107 men killed, and eight officers and 286 men
wounded[252]. Junot was thought to have been precipitate in ordering
the storm: his excuse was that there were less than two hours of
daylight left, and that, if he had deferred the attack till next
morning, the Spaniards would have retrenched the breach under cover
of the dark, and made it impracticable. The siege cost the 8th Corps
in all 160 killed and some 400 wounded, a heavy butcher’s bill for
the capture of a mediaeval fortress armed with only fourteen light
guns. Two thousand five hundred prisoners were taken, as shown by
Santocildes’ lists, but Junot claimed to have ‘captured 3,500 fine
troops, all with good English muskets, and well clothed in English
great coats,’ as well as 500 sick and wounded--impossible figures.
[251] Two officers and forty-nine men killed, ten officers and
ninety-nine men wounded, according to his official report to the
Junta, in which all details are duly given.
[252] See the figures in Junot’s dispatch, given on pages 66-7 of
Belmas, vol. iii.
On the morning of the surrender Mahy made a feeble demonstration
against the covering troops, on both the passes of Manzanal and
Foncebadon, while Echevarria beat up the force at Penilla which lay
facing him. All three attacks were checked with ease, the Galician
army not being able to put more than 6,000 men in the field on the
three fronts taken together. Its loss was heavy, especially at
Penilla.
After detaching the 22nd Regiment, which was ordered to endeavour
to communicate with Bonnet in the Asturias, and garrisoning Astorga
with two battalions, Junot drew back the greater part of his corps
to Valladolid and Toro. He had been ordered to place himself near
Ney, in order to aid and cover the 6th Corps in the oncoming siege of
Ciudad Rodrigo. At the same time he received the unwelcome news that
Masséna had been named Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Portugal,
and that the 8th Corps was placed under his orders.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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