History of the Peninsular War, Volume 4 (of 6)Southey, Robert
History
History of the Peninsular War, Volume 4 (of 6)
Southey, Robert
Peninsular War, 1807-1814
Of the besieged forty-four fell in this glorious day, and 197 were
wounded. Our brave countryman, Colonel Marshall, died of his wounds,
as did D. Ricardo Maccarty, another officer of the same regiment,
who was Irish either by birth or extraction. A glorious success had
been gained, one that filled the conquerors with the highest and most
ennobling pride; this joy it brought with it, but it brought no rest,
no respite, scarcely even a prolongation of hope. There was neither
wine to distribute to the soldiers after their exertions, nor even
bread; a scanty mess of pulse or corn, with a little oil, or a morsel
of bacon in its stead, was all that could be served out, ... and this
not from the public magazines, but given by the inhabitants, who, in
the general extremity, shared their stores with the soldiers, lamenting
that they had nothing better to bestow. “What matters it?” said these
brave Spaniards, “the joy of having saved Gerona to-day will give us
strength to go on!” A party went out to bring in any of the wounded
enemies who might have been left among the dead; one had been stript by
a miquelet, but upon perceiving what was the object of their search, he
discovered himself to be living. “Having been wounded,” he said, “he
feigned death as the only chance of escaping death, for he had been
led to believe that the miquelets and the peasants gave no quarter.”
The man who had stripped him happened to be present when he spoke; he
immediately re-clothed him, ran to bring him water, and took charge
of him till he could be removed to the hospital. While the Spaniards
were employed in this humane office, a fire was opened upon them from
the enemy’s works, occasioned, no doubt, by some error of the French
centinels: it drove them in, and the remainder of the wounded were
consequently left to perish. One wretched German, by the breach of St.
Lucia, lay groaning for twenty hours before death relieved him.
♦ST. CYR RESOLVES TO REDUCE THE CITY BY FAMINE.♦
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account