Military Memoirs of Capt. George Carleton by Daniel Defoe

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But to proceed, tho' the Citizens, and all Sorts of People, were
redundant in their various Expressions of Joy, for an Entry so
surprizing, and utterly lost to their Expedition, whatever it was to
their Wishes, the Earl had a secret Concern for the Publick, which lay
gnawing at his Heart, and which yet he was forced to conceal. He knew
that he had not four thousand Soldiers in the Place, and not Powder or
Ammunition for those; nor any Provisions lay'd in for any thing like a
Siege. On the other Hand, the Enemy without were upwards of seven
Thousand, with a Body of four Thousand more, not fifteen Leagues off, on
their March to join them. Add to this, the Marechal de _Thesse_ was no
farther off than _Madrid_, a very few Days' March from _Valencia_; a
short Way indeed for the Earl (who, as was said before, was wholly
unprovided for a Siege, which was reported to be the sole End of the
Mareschal's moving that Way.) But the Earl's never-failing Genius
resolv'd again to attempt that by Art, which the Strength of his Forces
utterly disallow'd him. And in the first Place, his Intelligence telling
him that sixteen twenty-four Pounders, with Stores and Ammunition
answerable for a Siege, were ship'd off for the Enemy's Service at
_Alicant_, the Earl forthwith lays a Design, and with his usual Success
intercepts 'em all, supplying that way his own Necessities at the
Expence of the Enemy.

The four thousand Men ready to reinforce the Troops nearer _Valencia_,
were the next Point to be undertaken; but _hic labor, hoc opus;_ since
the greater Body under the Conde _de las Torres_ (who, with _Mahoni_,
was now reinstated in his Post) lay between the Earl and those Troops
intended to be dispers'd. And what inhaunc'd the Difficulty, the River
_Xucar_ must be passed in almost the Face of the Enemy. Great
Disadvantages as these were, they did not discourage the Earl. He
detach'd by Night four hundred Horse and eight hundred Foot, who march'd
with such hasty Silence, that they surpriz'd that great Body, routed
'em, and brought into _Valencia_ six hundred Prisoners very safely,
notwithstanding they were oblig'd, under the same Night-Covert, to pass
very near a Body of three Thousand of the Enemy's Horse. Such a
prodigious Victory would hardly have gain'd Credit in that City, if the
Prisoners brought in had not been living Witnesses of the Action as well
as the Triumph. The Conde _de las Torres_, upon these two military
Rebuffs, drew off to a more convenient Distance, and left the Earl a
little more at ease in his new Quarters.

Here the Earl of _Peterborow_ made his Residence for some time. He was
extreamly well belov'd, his affable Behaviour exacted as much from all;
and he preserv'd such a good Correspondence with the Priests and the
Ladies, that he never fail'd of the most early and best Intelligence, a
thing by no means to be slighted in the common Course of Life; but much
more commendable and necessary in a General, with so small an Army, at
open War, and in the Heart of his Enemy's Country.

The Earl, by this Means, some small time after, receiving early
Intelligence that King _Philip_ was actually on his March to
_Barcelona_, with an Army of upwards of twenty five thousand Men, under
the Command of a Mareschal of _France_, began his March towards
_Catalonia_, with all the Troops that he could gather together, leaving
in _Valencia_ a small Body of Foot, such as in that Exigence could best
be spar'd. The whole Body thus collected made very little more than two
thousand Foot and six hundred Horse; yet resolutely with these he sets
out for _Barcelona_: In the Neighbourhood of which, as soon as he
arriv'd, he took care to post himself and his diminutive Army in the
Mountains which inviron that City; where he not only secur'd 'em against
the Enemy; but found himself in a Capacity of putting him under
perpetual Alarms. Nor was the Mareschal, with his great Army, capable of
returning the Earl's Compliment of Disturbance; since he himself, every
six or eight Hours, put his Troops into such a varying Situation, that
always when most arduously fought, he was farthest off from being found.
In this Manner the General bitterly harrass'd the Troops of the Enemy;
and by these Means struck a perpetual Terror into the Besiegers. Nor did
he only this way annoy the Enemy; the Precautions he had us'd, and the
Measures he had taken in other Places, with a View to prevent their
Return to _Madrid_, though the Invidious endeavour'd to bury them in
Oblivion, having equally contributed to the driving of the Mareschal of
_France_, and his Catholick King, out of the _Spanish_ Dominions.

But to go on with the Siege: The Breaches in the Walls of that City,
during its Siege by the Earl, had been put into tolerable Repair; but
those of _Monjouick_, on the contrary, had been as much neglected.
However, the Garrison made shift to hold out a Battery of twenty-three
Days, with no less than fifty Pieces of Cannon; when, after a Loss of
the Enemy of upwards of three thousand Men (a Moiety of the Army
employ'd against it when the Earl took it) they were forc'd to surrender
at Discretion. And this cannot but merit our Observation, that a Place,
which the _English_ General took in little more than an Hour, and with
inconsiderable Loss, afforded the Mareschal of _France_ a Resistance of
twenty-three Days.

Upon the taking of Fort _Monjouick_, the Mareschal _de Thess_ gave
immediate Orders for Batteries to be rais'd against the Town. Those
Orders were put in Execution with all Expedition; and at the same time
his Army fortify'd themselves with such Entrenchments, as would have
ruin'd the Earl's former little Army to have rais'd, or his present much
lesser Army to have attempted the forcing them. However, they
sufficiently demonstrated their Apprehensions of that watchful General,
who lay hovering over their Heads upon the Mountains. Their main Effort
was to make a Breach between Port St. _Antonio_ and that Breach which
our Forces had made the Year before; to effect which they took care to
ply them very diligently both from Cannon and Mortars; and in some few
Days their Application was answer'd with a practicable Breach for a
Storm. Which however was prudently deferr'd for some time, and that
thro' fear of the Earl's falling on the Back of them whenever they
should attempt it; which, consequently, they were sensible might put
them into some dangerous Disorder.

And now it was that the Earl of _Peterborow_ resolv'd to put in practice
the Resolution he had some time before concerted within himself. About
nine or ten Days before the Raising of the Siege, he had receiv'd an
Express from Brigadier _Stanhope_ (who was aboard Sir _John Leake's_
Fleet appointed for the Relief of the Place, with the Reinforcements
from _England_) acquainting the Earl, that he had us'd all possible
Endeavours to prevail on the Admiral to make the best of his way to
_Barcelona_. But that the Admiral, however, persisted in a positive
Resolution not to attempt the _French_ Fleet before that Place under the
Count _de Thoulouse_, till the Ships were join'd him which were expected
from _Ireland_, under the Command of Sir _George Bing_. True it was, the
Fleet under Admiral _Leake_ was of equal Strength with that under the
_French_ Admiral; but jealous of the Informations he had receiv'd, and
too ready to conclude that People in Distress were apt to make
Representations too much in their own Favour; he held himself, in point
of Discretion, oblig'd not to hazard the Queen's Ships, when a
Reinforcement of both cleaner and larger were under daily Expectation.

This unhappy Circumstance (notwithstanding all former glorious
Deliverances) had almost brought the Earl to the Brink of Despair; and
to increase it, the Earl every Day receiv'd such Commands from the King
within the Place, as must have sacrificed his few Forces, without the
least Probability of succeeding. Those all tended to his forcing his Way
into the Town; when, in all human Appearance, not one Man of all that
should make the Attempt could have done it, with any Hope or Prospect of
surviving. The _French_ were strongly encamp'd at the Foot of the
Mountains, distant two Miles from _Barcelona_; towards the Bottom of
those Hills, the Avenues into the Plain were possess'd and fortify'd by
great Detachments from the Enemy's Army. From all which it will be
evident, that no Attempt could be made without giving the Enemy time to
draw together what Body of Foot they pleas'd. Or supposing it feasible,
under all these difficult Circumstances, for some of them to have forc'd
their Passage, the Remainder, that should have been so lucky to have
escap'd their Foot, would have found themselves expos'd in open Field to
a Pursuit of four thousand Horse and Dragoons; and that for two Miles
together; when in case of their inclosing them, the bravest Troops in
the World, under such a Situation, would have found it their best way to
have surrender'd themselves Prisoners of War.

Nevertheless, when Brigadier _Stanhope_ sent that Express to the Earl,
which I just now mention'd, he assur'd him in the same, that he would
use his utmost Diligence, both by Sea and Land, to let him have timely
Notice of the Conjunction of the Fleets, which was now all they had to
depend upon. Adding withal, that if the Earl should at any time receive
a Letter, or Paper, though directed to no Body, and with nothing in it,
but a half Sheet of Paper cut in the Middle, he, the Earl, might
certainly depend upon it, that the two Fleets were join'd, and making
the best of their Way for _Barcelona_. It will easily be imagin'd the
Express was to be well paid; and being made sensible that he ran little
or no Hazard in carrying a Piece of blank Paper, he undertook it, and as
fortunately arriv'd with it to the Earl, at a Moment when Chagrin and
Despair might have hurry'd him to some Resolution that might have prov'd
fatal. The Messenger himself, however, knew nothing of the Joining of
the Fleets, or the Meaning of his Message.

As soon as the Earl of _Peterborow_ receiv'd this welcome Message from
Brigadier _Stanhope_, he march'd the very same Night, with his whole
little Body of Forces, to a Town on the Sea-Shore, call'd _Sigeth_. No
Person guess'd the Reason of his March, or knew any thing of what the
Intent of it was. The Officers, as formerly, obey'd without Enquiry; for
they were led to it by so many unaccountable Varieties of Success, that
Affiance became a second Nature, both in Officer and Soldier.

The Town of _Sigeth_ was about seven Leagues to the Westward of
_Barcelona_; where, as soon as the Earl with his Forces arriv'd, he took
care to secure all the small Fishing-Boats, _Feluccas_, and _Sattees_;
nay, in a Word, every Machine in which he could transport any of his
Men: So that in two Days' time he had got together a Number sufficient
for the Conveyance of all his Foot.

But a Day or two before the Arrival of the _English_ Fleet off _Sigeth_,
The Officers of his Troops were under a strange Consternation at a
Resolution their General had taken. Impatient of Delay, and fearful of
the Fleets passing by without his Knowledge, the Earl summon'd them
together a little before Night, at which time he discover'd to the whole
Assembly, that he himself was oblig'd to endeavour to get aboard the
_English_ Fleet; and that, if possible, before the _French_ Scouts
should be able to make any Discovery of their Strength: That finding
himself of no further Use on Shore, having already taken the necessary
Precautions for their Transportation and Security, they had nothing to
do but to pursue his Orders, and make the best of their Way to
_Barcelona_, in the Vessels which he had provided for them: That they
might do this in perfect Security when they saw the _English_ Fleet pass
by; or if they should pass by in the Night, an Engagement with the
_French_, which would give them sufficient Notice what they had to do
further.

This Declaration, instead of satisfying, made the Officers ten times
more curious: But when they saw their General going with a Resolution to
lie out all Night at Sea, in an open Boat, attended with only one
Officer; and understood that he intended to row out in his _Felucca_
five or six Leagues distance from the Shore, it is hardly to be
express'd what Amazement and Concern surpriz'd them all. Mr. _Crow_, the
Queen's Minister, and others, express'd a particular Dislike and
Uneasiness; but all to no purpose, the Earl had resolv'd upon it.
Accordingly, at Night he put out to Sea in his open _Felucca_, all which
he spent five Leagues from Shore, with no other Company than one Captain
and his Rowers.

In the Morning, to the great Satisfaction of all, Officers and others,
the Earl came again to Land; and immediately began to put his Men into
the several Vessels which lay ready in Port for that Purpose. But at
Night their Amaze was renew'd, when they found their General ready to
put in execution his old Resolution, in the same Equipage, and with the
same Attendance. Accordingly, he again _felucca'd_ himself; and they saw
him no more till they were landed on the Mole in _Barcelona_.

When the Earl of _Peterborow_ first engag'd himself in the Expedition to
_Spain_, he propos'd to the Queen and her Ministry, that Admiral
_Shovel_ might be join'd in Commission with him in the Command of the
Fleet. But this Year, when the Fleet came through the Straites, under
Vice-Admiral _Leake_, the Queen had sent a Commission to the Earl of
_Peterborow_ for the full Command, whenever he thought fit to come
aboard in Person. This it was that made the General endeavour, at all
Hazards, to get aboard the Fleet by Night; for he was apprehensive, and
the Sequel prov'd his Apprehensions too well grounded, that _Admiral
Leake_ would make his Appearance with the whole Body of the Fleet, which
made near twice the Number of the Ships of the Enemy; in which Case it
was natural to suppose, that the Count _de Tholouse_, as soon as ever
the _French_ Scouts should give Notice of our Strength, would cut his
Cables and put out to Sea, to avoid an Engagement. On the other hand,
the Earl was very sensible, that if a Part of his Ships had kept
a-stern, that the Superiority might have appear'd on the _French_ Side,
or rather if they had bore away in the Night towards the Coast of
_Africa_, and fallen to the Eastward of _Barcelona_ the next Day, a
Battle had been inevitable, and a Victory equally certain; since the
Enemy by this Means had been tempted into an Engagement, and their
Retreat being cut off, and their whole Fleet surrounded with almost
double their Number, there had hardly been left for any of them a
Probability of Escaping.

Therefore, when the Earl of _Peterborow_ put to Sea again the second
Evening, fearful of loosing such a glorious Opportunity, and impatient
to be aboard to give the necessary Orders, he order'd his Rowers to
obtain the same Station, in order to discover the _English_ Fleet. And
according to his Wishes he did fall in with it; but unfortunately the
Night was so far advanc'd, that it was impossible for him then to put
his Project into practice. Captain _Price_, a Gentleman of _Wales_, who
commanded a Third Rate, was the Person he first came aboard of; but how
amaz'd was he to find, in an open Boat at open Sea, the Person who had
Commission to command the Fleet? So soon as he was enter'd the Ship,
the Earl sent the Ship's Pinnace with Letters to Admiral _Leake_, to
acquaint him with his Orders and Intentions; and to Brigadier _Stanhope_
with a Notification of his safe Arrival; but the Darkness of the Night
prov'd so great an Obstacle, that it was a long time before the Pinnace
could reach the Admiral. When Day appear'd, it was astonishing to the
whole Fleet to see the _Union_ Flag waving at the Main-top-mast Head. No
body could trust his own Eyes, or guess at the Meaning, till better
certify'd by the Account of an Event so singular and extraordinary.

When we were about six Leagues Distance from _Barcelona_, the Port we
aim'd at, one of the _French_ Scouts gave the Alarm, who making the
Signal to another, he communicated it to a Third, and so on, as we
afterward sorrowfully found, and as the Earl had before apprehended: The
_French_ Admiral being thus made acquainted with the Force of our Fleet,
hoisted sail, and made the best of his Way from us, either pursuant to
Orders, or under the plausible Excuse of a Retreat.

This favourable Opportunity thus lost, there remain'd nothing to do but
to land the Troops with all Expedition; which was executed accordingly:
The Regiments, which the Earl of _Peterborow_ embark'd the Night before,
being the first that got into the Town. Let the Reader imagine how
pleasing such a Sight must be to those in _Barcelona_, reduc'd as they
were to the last Extremity. In this Condition, to see an Enemy's Fleet
give way to another with Reinforcements from _England_, the Sea at the
same Instant cover'd with little Vessels crouded with greater Succours;
what was there wanting to compleat the glorious Scene, but what the
General had projected, a Fight at Sea, under the very Walls of the
invested City, and the Ships of the Enemy sinking, or tow'd in by the
victorious _English_? But Night, and a few Hours, defeated the latter
Part of that well intended Landskip.

King _Philip_, and the Mareschal of _France_, had not fail'd to push on
the Siege with all imaginable Vigour; but this Retreat of the Count _de
Tholouse_, and the News of those Reinforcements, soon chang'd the Scene.
Their Courage without was abated proportionably, as theirs within was
elated. In these Circumstances, a Council of War being call'd, it was
unanimously resolv'd to raise the Siege. Accordingly, next Morning, the
first of _May_, 1706, while the Sun was under a total Eclypse, in a
suitable Hurry and Confusion, they broke up, leaving behind them most of
their Cannon and Mortars, together with vast Quantities of all sorts of
Ammunition and Provisions, scarce stopping to look back till they had
left all but the very Verge of the disputed Dominion behind them.

King _Charles_ look'd with new Pleasure upon this lucky Effort of his
old Deliverers. Captivity is a State no way desirable to Persons however
brave, of the most private Station in Life; but for a King, within two
Days of falling into the Hands of his Rival, to receive so seasonable
and unexpected a Deliverance, must be supposed, as it really did, to
open a Scene to universal Rejoicing among us, too high for any Words to
express, or any Thoughts to imagine, to those that were not present and
Partakers of it. He forthwith gave Orders for a Medal to be struck
suitable to the Occasion; one of which, set round with Diamonds, he
presented to Sir _John Leake_, the _English_ Admiral. The next Orders
were for re-casting all the damag'd brass Cannon which the Enemy had
left; upon every one of which was, by order, a Sun eclyps'd, with this
Motto under it: _Magna parvis obscurantur_.

I have often wonder'd that I never heard any Body curious enough to
enquire what could be the Motives to the King of _Spain's_ quitting his
Dominions upon the raising of this Siege; very certain it is that he had
a fine Army, under the Command of a Mareschal of _France_, not very
considerably decreas'd, either by Action or Desertion: But all this
would rather increase the Curiosity than abate it. In my Opinion then,
though Men might have Curiosity enough, the Question was purposely
evaded, under an Apprehension that an honest Answer must inevitably give
a higher Idea of the General than their Inclinations led them to. At
first View this may carry the Face of a Paradox; yet if the Reader will
consider, that in every Age Virtue has had its Shaders or Maligners, he
will himself easily solve it, at the same time that he finds himself
compell'd to allow, that those, who found themselves unable to prevent
his great Services, were willing, in a more subtil Manner, to endeavour
at the annulling of them by Silence and Concealment.

This will appear more than bare Supposition, if we compare the present
Situation, as to Strength, of the two contending Powers: The _French_,
at the Birth of the Siege, consisted of five thousand Horse and
Dragoons, and twenty-five thousand Foot, effective Men. Now grant, that
their kill'd and wounded, together with their Sick in the Hospitals,
might amount to five Thousand; yet as their Body of Horse was entire,
and in the best Condition, the Remaining will appear to be an Army of
twenty-five Thousand at least. On the other Side, all the Forces in
_Barcelona_, even with their Reinforcements, amounted to no more than
seven thousand Foot and four hundred Horse. Why then, when they rais'd
their Siege, did not they march back into the Heart of _Spain_, with
their so much superior Army? or, at least, towards their Capital? The
Answer can be this, and this only; Because the Earl of _Peterborow_ had
taken such provident Care to render all secure, that it was thereby
render'd next to an Impossibility for them so to do. That General was
satisfy'd, that the Capital of _Catalonia_ must, in course, fall into
the Hands of the Enemy, unless a superior Fleet remov'd the Count _de
Tholouse_, and threw in timely Succours into the Town: And as that could
not depend upon him, but others, he made it his chief Care and assiduous
Employment to provide against those Strokes of Fortune to which he found
himself again likely to be expos'd, as he often had been; and therefore
had he Resource to that Vigilance and Precaution which had often
retriev'd him, when to others his Circumstances seem'd to be most
desperate.

The Generality of Mankind, and the _French_ in particular, were of
opinion that the taking _Barcelona_ would prove a decisive Stroke, and
put a Period to the War in _Spain_; and yet at that very Instant I was
inclin'd to believe, that the General flatter'd himself it would be in
his Power to give the Enemy sufficient Mortification, even though the
Town should be oblig'd to submit to King _Philip_. The wise Measures
taken induc'd me so to believe, and the Sequel approv'd it; for the Earl
had so well expended his Caution, that the Enemy, on the Disappointment,
found himself under a Necessity of quitting _Spain_; and the same would
have put him under equal Difficulties had he carry'd the Place. The
_French_ could never have undertaken that Siege without depending on
their Fleet, for their Artillery, Ammunition, and Provisions; since
they must be inevitably forc'd to leave behind them the strong Towns of
_Tortosa_, _Lerida_, and _Taragona_. The Earl, therefore, whose
perpetual Difficulties seem'd rather to render him more sprightly and
vigorous, took care himself to examine the whole Country between the
_Ebro_ and _Barcelona_; and, upon his doing so, was pleasingly, as well
as sensibly satisfy'd, that it was practicable to render their Return
into the Heart of _Spain_ impossible, whether they did or did not
succeed in the Siege they were so intent to undertake.

There were but three Ways they could attempt it: The first of which was
by the Sea-side, from _Taragona_ towards _Tortosa_; the most barren, and
consequently the most improper Country in the Universe to sustain an
Army; and yet to the natural, the Earl had added such artificial
Difficulties, as render'd it absolutely impossible for an Army to
subsist or march that Way.

The middle Way lay through a better Country indeed, yet only practicable
by the Care which had been taken to make the Road so. And even here
there was a Necessity of marching along the Side of a Mountain, where by
vast Labour and Industry, a high Way had been cut for two Miles at least
out of the main Rock. The Earl therefore, by somewhat of the same
Labour, soon made it impassable. He employ'd to that End many Thousands
of the Country People, under a few of his own Officers and Troops, who
cutting up twenty several Places, made so many Precipices, perpendicular
almost as a Wall, which render'd it neither safe, or even to be
attempted by any single Man in his Wits, much less by an Army. Besides,
a very few Men, from the higher Cliffs of the Mountain, might have
destroy'd an Army with the Arms of Nature only, by rolling down large
Stones and Pieces of the Rock upon the Enemy passing below.

The last and uppermost Way, lay thro' the hilly Part of _Catalonia_, and
led to _Lerida_, towards the Head of the _Ebro_, the strongest Place we
had in all _Spain_, and which was as well furnish'd with a very good
Garrison. Along this Road there lay many old Castles and little Towns in
the Mountains, naturally strong; all which would not only have afforded
Opposition, but at the same time had entertain'd an Enemy with variety
of Difficulties; and especially as the Earl had given Orders and taken
Care that all Cattle, and every Thing necessary to sustain an Army,
should be convey'd into Places of Security, either in the Mountains or
thereabouts. These three Ways thus precautiously secur'd, what had the
Earl to apprehend but the Safety of the Arch-Duke; which yet was through
no Default of his, if in any Danger from the Siege?

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