But the marshal kindly gave me a place in his carriage, together with his friends Generals Pouzet and Frère. They were fond of chatting, and at times of joking at the expense of their friends, and as they had only known me a short time my presence embarrassed them. But the marshal said, 'He is a good lad; you can talk before him,' and they took advantage freely of his opinion. Although we rested at night, I found the journey very fatiguing. We passed Logrono, Miranda, and Burgos, and went on foot up the celebrated gorge of Somo Sierra, which had been carried a few days before, under the Emperor's eyes, by the Polish lancers of his guard. It was in this fight that General Montbrun, who afterwards became famous, distinguished himself. He was with the head-quarter staff, when the Emperor, who had got some hours in advance of his infantry, reached the foot of Somo Sierra, having only his Polish lancers with him. The high road, at that point very steep, and closed in by mountains was found to be barred by a small earthwork defended by several thousand Spaniards. Napoleon wished to reach Buitrago that day, so, finding his march arrested, and judging that the infantry could not come in for some time, he ordered the Poles to force the passage.
The Poles have only one good quality, but that they possess in the fullest measure葉hey are very brave. Their commanders, having seen no service, did not know that in passing a defile it is necessary to leave a squadron's distance between every two squadrons, so that if the leaders are repulsed they may find in rear of them an open space in which to re-form and not be driven back upon the squadrons following. The Polish officers therefore launched their regiment into the defile without getting them into a proper formation. Received with a hail of bullets on both flanks, and finding the road barred at the highest point, they suffered considerable loss, increased by the way in which the first squadron fell back in disorder upon the second, the second on the third, and so on, until the regiment, now only a disorganised crowd on an enclosed road, could not wheel about, and was being shot down at almost point-blank range by the Spaniards posted on the rocks. It was difficult to disentangle this mass; when it was at last managed the Poles re-formed in the plain, under the Emperor's eyes. He praised their courage, but blamed their lack of method in attacking. The officers admitted it, and expressed their regret that they had not been led by an experienced general. Then Berthier, wishing to do a good turn to Montbrun, who was out of favour at the moment, but whom he knew to be an excellent cavalry officer, drew Napoleon's attention to his presence. The Emperor called him, and put him in command of the lancers, with orders to renew the attack.
Montbrun was a splendid man, in the same style as Murat; lofty stature, a scarred face, a black beard, of soldierly bearing, and an admirable horseman. The Poles took to him, and promised to follow his instructions; and Montblun having made the squadrons take their intervals, and seeing that everything was in proper order, placed himself boldly at their head and dashed into the gorge. Some squadrons were at first shaken by the fire, but as the different parts of the column were at sufficient distance to prevent any serious disorder, they recovered, and presently the top of the ascent was reached. General Montbrun dismounted, and was the first to run up to the entrenchments to tear out the palisades under a hail of bullets. The Poles followed his example; the entrenchments were carried and the regiment, remounting, charged the Spaniards, with great slaughter, for the ground, opening out and sloping down, allowed the lancers to reach the enemy's infantry as they fled in disorder. By the time the Emperor reached the top, not only was the French flag to be seen floating over Buitrago, but Montbrun's cavalry was pursuing the routed Spaniards a league beyond the town. That evening Napoleon complimented the Poles, and appointed Montbrun general of division. He commanded a division soon after in Austria, and in 1810 was put in chief command of all the cavalry of the Army of Portugal. He was killed at the battle of the Moskwa.
When Lannes had examined the position we descended to Buitrago, and the next day reached Madrid, which had been occupied by Napoleon only after serious fighting. Lannes presented me to him, and he received me kindly, promising to reward me ere long for my conduct at Agreda. We found M. Guéhéneuc at Madrid in the uniform of a colonel, having been promoted by the Emperor on delivering the despatch stained with my blood. Guéhéneuc was a good fellow; he came to me and said, 'You had the danger, and got the sword-cut, and I have got the step; but I hope that your promotion will not be slow in coming.' I hoped so too; but I will frankly admit that I was a little annoyed with the marshal for the obstinacy with which he had insisted on making me go by Agreda. However, one must submit to one's destiny. Marshal Lannes lodged at Madrid in the same house as Murat had occupied. I found that the kind Senor Hernandez, hearing of my arrival, had come to ask me to stay with him. I was the more glad to accept, since my wound had got poisoned, and good nursing was necessary. This my host gave me in plenty, and I was on the way to get well, when new events compelled me to return to the field.
We had been barely a week at Madrid, when the Emperor learnt, on December 21, that the Portuguese army was daring to march against the Spanish capital, and was only at a few days' distance. Orders were instantly given to march and he left the town at the head of several army corps, going towards Valladolid, from which direction the English, under Sir John Moore, were expected. Marshal Lannes, being quite recovered, was to accompany the Emperor on horse-back. He suggested to me that I should stay at Madrid till my wound was completely healed; but there were two reasons against this. In the first place, I wished to be present at the battle with the English; and secondly, I knew that the Emperor scarcely ever promoted people in their absencey and I was anxious to obtain the promised step to major, so I got ready to start. The only thing that troubled me was that by reason of my wound I could wear neither cocked hat nor busby. The handkerchief bound round my head was not quite a sufficiently military head-gear to appear among a staff closely attached to that of the Emperor. The sight of a mameluke of the guard with his turban and red fez gave me an idea. I had a cap of the same colour; round this I wound a smart silk handkerchief, and placed the whole over my bandages. We marched the first night to the foot of the Guadarrama. There was a sharp frost, and the ice on the roads caused the troops葉he cavalry especially葉o march with difficulty. The marshal constantly sent officers to see that the column was in good order, but kindly exempted me from this duty. While our colleagues were carrying orders N覧 and I were often alone with the marshal. N覧beckoned to me and held out a bottle of kirsch. I declined, with thanks; my friend put the neck of the bottle into his mouth, and in less than a quarter of an hour had emptied it. Suddenly, like a Colossus overthrown, he rolled to the ground. The marshal broke out angrily, but N覧replied, 'It is not my fault; there is ice between my saddle and my seat!' At this novel and quaint excuse, in spite of his wrath, the marshal could not help laughing. Then he said to me, 'Put him into one of the provision wagons.' I obeyed, and our comrade went to sleep on the sacks of rice, all among the hams and sauce-pans.
Next day a furious snowstorm, with a fierce wind, made the passage of the mountains almost impracticable. Men and horses were hurled over precipices. The leading battalions had actually begun to retreat; but Napoleon was resolved to overtake the English at all costs. He spoke to the men, and ordered that the members of each section should hold one another by the arm. The cavalry, dismounting, did the same. The staff was formed in similar fashion, the Emperor between Lannes and Duroc, we following with locked arms; and so in spite of wind, snow, and ice, we proceeded, though it took us four hours to reach the top. Half-way up, the marshals and generals, who wore jackboots, could go no farther. Napoleon, therefore, got hoisted on to a gun, and bestrode it; the marshals and generals did the same; and in this grotesque order they reached the convent at the summit. There the troops were rested and wine served out. The descent, though awkward, was better. At nightfall we reached the market town of San Rafael, and obtained food and quarters there and in the villages round. My wound had re-opened, the snow had got down my neck, and I was wet through; so I passed a wretched night enough.
As we continued our march on the following days we came into milder weather. Rain took the place of frost, and the roads became quagmires. At Tordetsillas we came up with some stragglers of the English army, which at our approach was retreating towards the port of Corunna. Anxious to catch it before it could embark, the Emperor forced on the troops, making them do ten or twelve leagues a day. This haste was the cause of a check which Napoleon felt all the more from the fact that it was inflicted on a division of his guard.
When the army was at Villapanda, where it passed the night, the Emperor謡ho by this time was furious at the protracted pursuit of the English揺eard that their rear-guard was only a few leagues from us, at the town of Benavente, beyond the little stream of the Esla. At daybreak he sent forward a column of infantry with cavalry of the guard, under the command of General Lefebvre-Desnouettes, a brave but somewhat imprudent officer. On reaching with his cavalry the banks of the Esla, the general could see no enemy, and proposed to reconnoitre the town of Benavente, half a league beyond the stream. This was all right; but a picket would have sufficed, for twenty-five men can see as far as two thousand, and if they fall into an ambush the loss is less serious. General Desnouettes should, therefore, have awaited his infantry before plunging recklessly into the Esla. But, without listening to any suggestion, he made the whole regiment of chasseurs ford the river, and advanced towards the town, which he ordered the Mamelukes to search. They found not a soul in the place, a pretty certain sign that the enemy was preparing an ambush. The French general ought in prudence to have drawn back, since he was not in sufficient force to fight a strong rear-guard. Instead of this, Desnouettes pushed steadily forward; but as he was going through the town, four thousand or five thousand English cavalry 1turned it, covered by the houses in the suburbs, and suddenly charged down upon the chasseurs. These, hastening from the town, made so valiant a defence that they cut a great gap through the English, regained the stream, and recrossed without much loss. But when, on reaching the left bank, the regiment reformed, it was seen that General Desnouettes was no longer present. A messenger came with a flag of truce announcing that the general's horse had been killed in the fight, and he himself was a prisoner of war. 2
At this moment the Emperor came up. Imagine his wrath at hearing that, not only had his favourite regiment undergone a repulse, but that the commander had remained in the hands of the English! Though much displeased with Desnouettes' imprudence, he proposed to the commander on the other side to exchange him against an officer of the same rank among those detained in France; but General Moore was too proud of being able to show to the English people one of the commanders of the imperial guard of France to agree to this; exchange, and, consequently, declined it. General Desnouettes was treated with much kindness, but was sent to London as a trophy, which made Napoleon all the more angry.
In spite of this little victory, the English continued their retreat. We crossed the Esla, and occupied Benavente from this town to Astorga the distance is not less than fifteen or sixteen leagues, with several streams to be crossed; but the Emperor was in such a hurry to overtake the enemy that he required his army to march this distance in one day, though it was the 31st of December and the days were very short. Seldom have I made such a fatiguing march. An icy rain wetted us to the skin; men and horses sank into the marshy ground. We only advanced with the utmost effort; and as all the bridges had been broken by the English, our men were five or six times compelled to strip, place their arms and clothes on their heads, and go naked through the icy water of the streams.
It is painful to relate that I saw three veteran grenadiers of the guard, unable to march any further, and, unwilling to fall to the rear at the risk of being tortured and massacred by the peasants, blow out their brains with their own muskets. A dark and rainy night added to the fatigue of the troops; the exhausted soldiers lay down in the mud. A great number halted at the village of Bañeza; only the leading companies arrived at Astorga, the rest remaining on the road. It was late at night when the Emperor and Lannes, escorted only by their staffs and some hundred cavalry, entered Astorga. So tired and anxious for shelter and warmth was everyone that the place was scarcely searched. If the enemy had had warning of this and returned on their tracks, they might perhaps have carried off the Emperor; fortunately they were in too great a hurry, and we did not find one of them in the town. Every minute fresh bodies of French troops were coming up; and the safety of the imperial head- quarters was soon secured.
Astorga is a largish town. We quartered ourselves quickly, placing Marshal Lannes in a handsome house near the Emperor. We were wet through, and near enough to the Asturian mountains to be cold. Our baggage had not yet come up, and the fires which we lighted could not keep the marshal from shivering. I got him to take off all his clothes, roll himself in a woollen rug, and put himself between two mattresses. The houses being well furnished with beds, we all did the like; and in this fashion we saw the year 1808 out.
