History of the Peninsular War, Volume 2 (of 6)Southey, Robert
History
History of the Peninsular War, Volume 2 (of 6)
Southey, Robert
Peninsular War, 1807-1814
The contest which was now carried on is unexampled in history. One side
of the Cozo, a street about as wide as Pall-mall, was possessed by the
French; and, in the centre of it, their general, Verdier, gave his
orders from the Franciscan convent. The opposite side was maintained
by the Aragonese, who threw up batteries at the openings of the cross
streets, within a few paces of those which the French erected against
them. The intervening space was presently heaped with dead, either
slain upon the spot, or ♦AUGUST 5.♦ thrown out from the windows. Next
day the ammunition of the citizens began to fail; ... the French
were expected every moment to renew their efforts for completing the
conquest, and even this circumstance occasioned no dismay, nor did any
one think of capitulation. One cry was heard from the people, wherever
Palafox rode among them, that, if powder failed, they were ready to
attack the enemy with their knives, ... formidable weapons in the hands
of desperate ♦THE CITY RECEIVES A REINFORCEMENT.♦ men. Just before the
day closed, Don Francisco Palafox, the general’s brother, entered the
city with a convoy of arms, and ammunition, and a reinforcement of
three thousand men, composed of Spanish guards, Swiss, and volunteers
of Aragon, ... a succour as little expected by the Zaragozans, as it
had been provided against by the enemy.
♦P. SANTIAGO SASS.♦
The war was now continued from street to street, from house to house,
and from room to room; pride and indignation having wrought up the
French to a pitch of obstinate fury, little inferior to the devoted
courage of the patriots. During the whole siege, no man distinguished
himself more remarkably than the curate of one of the parishes,
within the walls, by name P. Santiago Sass. He was always to be seen
in the streets, sometimes fighting with the most determined bravery
against the enemies, not of his country alone, but of freedom, and
of all virtuous principles, wherever they were to be found; at other
times, administering the sacrament to the dying, and confirming, with
the authority of faith, that hope, which gives to death, under such
circumstances, the joy, the exultation, the triumph, and the spirit of
martyrdom. Palafox reposed the utmost confidence in this brave priest,
and selected him whenever any thing peculiarly difficult or hazardous
was to be done. At the head of forty chosen men, he succeeded in
introducing a supply of powder into the town, so essentially necessary
for its defence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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