History of the Peninsular War, Volume 6 (of 6)Southey, Robert
History
History of the Peninsular War, Volume 6 (of 6)
Southey, Robert
Peninsular War, 1807-1814
fallen to their share to any who would purchase it. Even dollars became
an article of sale, for they were too heavy to be carried in any great
numbers; eight were offered for a guinea, ... guineas which had been
struck for the payment of the troops in Portugal, and made current
there by a decree of the Regency, being the gold currency. The people
of Vittoria had their share in the spoils, and some of them indemnified
themselves thus for what they had suffered in their property by the
enemy’s exactions.
The city sustained no injury, though the French were driven through
it, and though great part of the battle might be seen from every
window. Nothing could be more mournful than its appearance that night,
... a lantern at every door, and no one in the streets. It was the
first place where the allies had found that the inhabitants were
French in feeling. Two days of heavy rain impeded the pursuit; but
that rain saved many houses from the flames, for the French wreaked
their vengeance upon every thing which they could destroy in their
flight. Every house at which the pursuers arrived had been gutted by
the fugitives, every village set on fire, and the few inhabitants who
had not taken flight in time had met with no mercy; at every step the
allies found havoc, and flames, and misery, the dying and the dead.
Such was the panic among the fugitives, that, finding the gates of
Pamplona closed, they attempted to force their way over the walls, and
did not desist till they were opposed by a serious fire of cannon and
musketry. A council of war was held there, in which it was resolved
to blow up the works and abandon the place; with this intent they
destroyed ammunition and tore down palisades from the outworks. But
the Intruder knew that the possession of so strong a fortress would in
some degree cover his flight; and the last act of his usurped authority
was to order that every article of food and fuel should be taken from
the Spaniards who were within reach. By the rigorous execution of this
order, the quantity in the town was more than doubled; and having left
a garrison there, the flying force continued their way to the Pyrenees.
Their rear was still in sight of Pamplona, when the right and centre of
the allies were checked in their pursuit by a fire from the walls.
♦SIR T. GRAHAM PROCEEDS AGAINST G. FOY.♦
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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