Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert PeelAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert Peel
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
The army of Joseph dispersed at full speed, and as our cavalry could
not pursue them across the hedges and ditches, they managed to escape,
and made their way to Pampeluna in one wild, chaotic herd. On the field
they profess to have left eight thousand men in killed and wounded, but
their loss was far greater. They left, also, one hundred and fifty-one
pieces of brass ordnance, four hundred and fifteen caissons, more than
forty thousand rounds of ammunition, nearly two million musketball
cartridges, forty thousand six hundred and sixty-eight pounds of
gunpowder, fifty-six forage waggons, and forty-four forge waggons.
The allied army had killed, British, five hundred and one; Portuguese,
one hundred and fifty; Spaniards, only eighty-nine: wounded, British,
two thousand eight hundred and seven; Portuguese, eight hundred and
ninety-nine; Spanish, four hundred and sixty-four. Lord Wellington
reported the conduct of almost every officer engaged as admirable. King
Joseph did not stop till he was safe, for a time, within the strong
walls of Pampeluna, but the garrison there would not admit the rabble
herd of fugitives, but sent them off like enemies; and they were forced
to continue their flight into the Pyrenees.
News of this most extraordinary defeat acted on the French, on all
sides, like the concussion of some violent explosion. They fell back
and fled in confusion before any enemy appeared. General Clausel,
who was advancing from Logroño with fifteen thousand men, fled back
to Saragossa with such precipitation, and thence through the central
Pyrenees into France, that he left all his artillery and most of his
baggage on the road. The same was the case with General Foy, who fled
from Bilbao to Bayonne in hot haste, with General Graham at his heels.
Except at San Sebastian and Pampeluna, where the garrisons were soon
besieged, the French were scarcely to be found in Spain, except those
with Suchet in the south-east.
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