ZAMA, BATTLE OF.—Between the two greatest Generals of the age, Hannibal and Scipio Africanus. The Romans lost 2000 in killed and wounded, whilst the Carthaginians lost, in killed and prisoners, more than 40,000. Fought B.C. 202. “These two generals, who were not only the most illustrious of their own age, but worthy of being ranked with the most renowned princes and warriors that had ever lived, meeting at the place appointed, continued for some time in a deep silence, as though they were astonished, and struck with a mutual admiration at the sight of each other. At last Hannibal spoke; and, after having praised Scipio in the most artful and delicate manner, he gave a very lively description of the ravages of the war, and the calamities in which it had involved both the victors and the vanquished. He conjured him not to suffer himself to be dazzled by the[428] splendor of his victories. He represented to him, that how successful soever he might have hitherto been, he ought, however, to tremble at the inconstancy of fortune: that without going far back for examples, he himself who was then speaking to him, was a glaring proof of this: that Scipio was at that time what himself, Hannibal, had been at Thrasymene and Cann?: that he ought to make a better use of opportunity than himself had done, and consent to peace, now it was in his power to propose the conditions of it. He concluded with declaring, that the Carthaginians would willingly resign Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, and all the islands between Africa and Italy to the Romans. That they must be forced, since such was the will of the gods, to confine themselves to Africa; whilst they should see the Romans extending their conquests to the most remote regions, and obliging all nations to pay obedience to their laws.
Scipio answered in few words, but not with less dignity. He reproached the Carthaginians for their perfidy, in plundering the Roman galleys before the truce was expired. He imputed to them only, and to their injustice, all the calamities with which the two wars had been attended. After thanking Hannibal for the admonition he gave him, with regard to the uncertainty of human events, he concluded with desiring him to prepare for battle, unless he chose rather to accept of the conditions that had been already proposed; to which he observed some others would be added, in order to punish the Carthaginians for their having violated the truce.
Hannibal could not prevail with himself to accept these conditions and the generals left one another, with the resolution to decide the fate of Carthage by a general battle. Each commander exhorted his troops to fight valiantly. Hannibal enumerated the victories he had gained over the Romans, the generals he had slain, the armies he had cut to pieces. Scipio represented to his soldiers, the conquests of both the Spains, his successes in Africa, and the tacit confession their enemies themselves made of their weakness, by thus coming to sue for peace. All this he spoke with the tone and air of a conqueror. Never were motives more prevalent to prompt troops to behave gallantly. This day was to complete the glory of the one or the other of the generals; and to decide whether Rome or Carthage was to prescribe laws to all other nations.
I shall not undertake to describe the order of the battle, nor the valour of the forces on both sides. The reader will naturally suppose, that two such experienced generals did not forget any circumstance which could contribute to the victory. The Carthaginians, after a very obstinate fight, were obliged to fly, leaving 20,000 men on the field of battle, and the like[429] number of prisoners were taken by the Romans. Hannibal escaped in the tumult, and, entering Carthage, owned that he was irrecoverably overthrown, and that the citizens had no other choice left, but to accept of peace on any conditions. Scipio bestowed great eulogiums on Hannibal, chiefly with regard to his capacity in taking advantages, his manner of drawing up his army, and giving out his orders in the engagement; and he affirmed that Hannibal had this day surpassed himself, although the success had not answered his valour and conduct.
With regard to himself, he well knew how to make a proper advantage of the victory, and the consternation with which he had filled the enemy. He commanded one of his lieutenants to march his land army to Carthage, whilst himself prepared to sail the fleet thither.
He was not far from the city, when he met a vessel covered with streamers and olive branches, bringing ten of the most considerable persons of the state, as ambassadors to implore his clemency. However, he dismissed them without making any answer, and bid them come to him at Tunis, where he should halt. The deputies of Carthage, being 30 in number, came to him at the place appointed, and sued for peace in the most submissive terms. He then called a council there, the majority of which were for razing Carthage, and treating the inhabitants with the utmost severity. But the consideration of the time which must necessarily be employed before so strongly fortified a city could be taken, and Scipio’s fear lest a successor might be appointed him whilst he should be employed in the siege, made him incline to clemency.”
ZARAGOZA, SECOND SIEGE OF.—“The sufferings of the gallant Zaragozans, during the former siege, had not subdued the spirit of heroic devotion by which they had been animated. Another trial awaited them, not less memorable and glorious, though less fortunate in its result.
After the defeat of Tudela, Palafox retired to Zaragoza, to make preparations for a second siege. He was not present in the action. The intelligence of its issue came upon him like a thunderbolt; and the refusal of Castanos to throw his troops into Zaragoza, instead of retreating on Madrid, put an end to those feelings of confidence and frankness which had hitherto existed between the generals.
The multiplied disasters of the Spanish armies, however, so far from shaking the resolution of Palafox or the Zaragozans, appear only to have stimulated them to redoubled exertions in the service of their country.[430] Proclamations were issued, commanding all women, old men, and children, to quit the city. Every inhabitant was imperatively called upon to make sacrifice, if necessary, of his life and property, in the common cause; and the whole population were required, by their personal exertions, to contribute to the completion of the fortifications of the city.
The approach of the enemy cut short the preparations for defence. Neither women nor children left the place. Even these refused to seek safety at a distance from their fathers and husbands, and preferred participating in the danger and the glory which awaited them in Zaragoza, to wandering unprotected through a troubled and a suffering country.
During the former siege, the defenders had been embarrassed by the presence of French residents in the city. These had been strictly guarded, with the double object of preventing any intercourse between them and the besiegers, and of protecting them against the fatal effects of popular suspicion, to which, without such precaution, it is more than probable they would have fallen victims. In order to prevent the repetition of such danger and inconvenience, Palafox determined that these unfortunate persons should be removed from the city to other places of confinement. This was done, notwithstanding the hostility of the populace, though not until Palafox had issued a proclamation appealing to Spanish honour and humanity, and imploring the gallant Zaragozans not to stain the sacred cause of liberty and justice by the foul murder of these defenceless victims.
The aid of superstition was not wanting to strengthen the confidence of the Zaragozans. They relied on the miraculous protection of Our Lady of the Pillar, who had made their favoured city the seat of her peculiar worship. The successful termination of the former siege had given strength to their belief in the beneficent regards of the patron saint. Omens, too, had been observed in the sky. Approaching victory had been prefigured by unwonted conformations of the clouds; and celestial voices were heard in the elements, offering divine promise of glory and protection.
Fortunately, the Zaragozans were not induced, by their belief in these flattering portents, to disregard any of the human means of safety in their power. A continued line of exterior defensive works had been planned and executed, as far as time and circumstances permitted. Yet this, imperfect as it was, added little to the real strength of the city; and, in forming a just estimate of the zeal and courage of the defenders, Zaragoza should almost be considered as an unfortified town. The walls,[431] originally built rather for the purpose of civic impost than defence, were surmounted by 150 pieces of cannon. Large stores of provisions had been formed. Arms and ammunition were in abundance; and the town contained upwards of 20,000 regular troops, besides 15,000 armed peasants.
All the houses within 700 toises of the place were demolished, and the materials employed to strengthen the fortifications. The trees around the city were cut down. The greatest activity reigned on all hands; the women were employed in making clothes for the soldiers; the monks made cartridges: and all those not employed in labouring at the works, practised the use of arms.
Measures were likewise taken for the defence of the city, in case the enemy, which was scarcely to be doubted, should effect an entrance. Traverses were cut across the streets. The doors and windows on the ground-floor were strongly barricaded. Communications were made between the houses; and parapets were constructed on the roofs. Every householder had in his dwelling an ample store of provisions, to enable him to continue his resistance when the enemy should gain possession of the streets. Thus prepared, the Zaragozans awaited the approach of the besiegers.
In the meanwhile, the corps of Marshal Moncey, which had been ordered to blockade the city, remained at Alagon, collecting materials, and awaiting the arrival of his heavy artillery from Pamplona. On the 19th of December it was joined by the corps of Mortier, and on the 20th the united army appeared before Zaragoza. It consisted of about 35,000 infantry, and was accompanied by a battering train of sixty pieces. A corps of cavalry was stationed at Fuentes, to keep the surrounding country in a state of subjection.
The city was approached on both sides of the Ebro. Gazan’s division, having passed the river at Tauste, marched, by the road of Castejon, to Cuera and Villa Nuevo. That of Suchet took post on the right of the Ebro, near a convent, about a league distant from Zaragoza, after driving in the Spanish outposts.
During the night, the enemy erected a battery, which commanded the Torrero, and, in the morning, opened fire on the fort. Unfortunately, a quantity of ammunition was blown up, by the bursting of a shell, which occasioned considerable disorder in the garrison. The French took advantage of this. A column crossed the canal by an aqueduct, of which on the evening before, they had become masters, and entering the fort by the gorge, succeeded in maintaining the place against the efforts of the[432] garrison. At the same time, a brigade of Morlot’s division advanced up the ravine of the Huerba, and, passing the canal under the aqueduct on which it crosses that river, gained possession of a work commanding the sluices of the canal. Two guns were taken in this work. Three guns and 100 prisoners in the fort. General St. Mark succeeded in withdrawing the rest of the garrison.
On the 22nd, General Gazan advanced against the suburb, on the left of the river. He was encountered by about 4000 of the garrison, posted in the woods and gardens, from which, after a warm contest, he succeeded in dislodging them. Gazan then attempted to carry the suburb by a coup-de-main. In this he failed. Repulsed in all his efforts, after a long and fruitless contention, he at length withdrew, pursued by the garrison, and with the loss of near 1000 men. The chief loss of the besieged consisted of a corps of Swiss, almost all of whom were killed or taken prisoners in a large building considerably in advance of the suburb.
For several days all was quiet. The enemy were now aware that it was necessary to make a regular investment of the place; and the works in all quarters, were pushed on with vigour. The besieged on their part endeavoured, by incessant labour, to complete the works of defence; batteries were constructed, to enfilade the principal approaches—the magazines were rendered bomb-proof—every outlet was palisaded and traversed; and, thus prepared, they waited with calm fortitude for the approaching struggle.
On the 30th, Marshal Moncey addressed a letter to Palafox, summoning him to surrender the city, now entirely invested, and to spare the effusion of blood which must necessarily follow any further attempt at hopeless resistance. Moncey likewise informed him that Madrid had fallen; and that Napoleon, at the head of a great army, was then in the act of chasing the English to their ships.
To this Palafox replied, that if Madrid had fallen, Madrid had been sold. The works of Zaragoza were yet entire; but, were they levelled with the ground, the people and the garrison would rather be buried in the ruins of their city, than disgraced by surrender.
In the meanwhile, General Gazan succeeded in effecting the blockade of the suburb.
On the 29th, the trenches were regularly opened against the Chateau of the Inquisition on the left, the bridge of the Huerba in the centre, and the convent of St. Joseph on the right. The last of these was the principal object of the enemy, because the works in rear were destitute[433] of a rampart, and it was intended to connect the attack with a simultaneous attempt to gain possession of the suburb.
The garrison, however, were not idle. The communication between the convent and the city could not be interrupted; and the garrison of the former, being daily relieved, made frequent sallies, by which the progress of the besiegers was materially retarded. On the 31st, a general sortie, supported by the whole guns of the place, was made against the enemy’s line. Though gallantly supported, it was unattended by any successful result. The repeated attacks of the garrison were repulsed; and, baffled in their efforts, they again entered the city. The loss on both sides was nearly equal.
On the 2nd of January, Moncey was superseded by Marshal Junot in the command of the besieging army. The latter was the bearer of an order to Mortier, to move on Calatayud with Suchet’s division, in order to keep open the communication with Madrid. This arrangement occasioned a material diminution of the besieging force, but no cessation of hostile operations. The works against the convent of St. Joseph still went on, and between the 3rd and 6th of January the second parallel was completed. Till the 10th no action took place; but on that day a tremendous fire from thirty guns was opened on the convent. It was soon rendered untenable. But, amid the ruins, the gunners covered by bags of wool, still continued to exercise their vocation, and fired on the enemy, till the walls were levelled with the ground. Even then the post was not relinquished without a gallant effort. At midnight a sortie was made against one of the batteries, in ignorance that two guns had been planted for its protection. The intention of the brave assailants was thus defeated; and, having suffered heavy loss from a murderous fire, both in front and flank, they again retreated to the city.
Even in the dilapidated condition of the convent, it was not till the evening of the next day that the enemy attempted to carry it by assault. At the same time a party, having turned the convent, succeeded, by means of a wooden bridge which the besieged had omitted to destroy, in effecting an entrance; and thus did the French at length become masters of a heap of ruins, and of about 100 gallant men by whom they were defended.
No sooner were the enemy in possession of St. Joseph, than they employed themselves in repairing the works, and completing the communication between the second and third parallels, the latter of which they established on the right and left of the convent. The garrison on that[434] side were now compelled to remain within their walls; for the besiegers were secured against their efforts by the double obstacle of a river and an escarpment eight feet high.
On the 15th a second parallel was opened against the town; and batteries were commenced in it, to enfilade the defences of the Augustine and Capuchin convents, and that of Sta. Engracia. Yet neither the loss of their outworks, nor a tremendous bombardment, which the French kept up for several days, had the effect of diminishing the ardour of the inhabitants. The Zaragozans were not only actuated by that active and living energy which stimulates to deeds of high enterprize, but they possessed, likewise, that calm and passive fortitude, that buoyant upbearing of the spirit, which suffering cannot depress, nor misfortune overthrow.
But their cup was not yet full. The inhabitants of the part of the city most injured by the bombardment, were driven into the other quarters, where many of them took up their abode in cellars, which afforded comparative security from the shells. The consequence was, that these dark and miserable receptacles became the focus of infectious fever. The disease spread rapidly among a crowded and redundant population. Thus did death, on all hands, present itself to the unshrinking Zaragozans; and the greater part preferred exposing themselves on the ramparts, to breathing the infected air which pervaded the dark and noisome retreats in which they had sought refuge from the shells.
From the 17th to the 21st, the besiegers were occupied in the construction of new batteries to overcome the defences of the garrison; and the third parallel was extended to command two sides of the convent of Sta. Engracia. In these circumstances, a sortie was made, in the hope of spiking the enemy’s artillery. The fire of a battery of four mortars was found peculiarly annoying: and eighty men, commanded by Don Mariano Galindo, volunteered to attack it. They boldly precipitated themselves on the guard of the third parallel, put them to the sword, and succeeded in entering the battery. At the same moment the enemy’s reserve came up. There was no retreat; all perished except the officers and a few wounded soldiers, who were made prisoners.
The movements of the numerous bodies of armed peasantry, in the surrounding country, occasioned great inconvenience to the besiegers. Bands were formed on all hands; which, though unable to resist the attack of disciplined troops, yet were sufficiently formidable to require perpetual vigilance, and numerous enough to narrow the supplies of the besieging army, in a very considerable degree.
[435]
About this time, Napoleon, dissatisfied with the slow progress of the siege, sent Marshal Lannes to assume the command. This officer directed Mortier, with his division, to leave Calatayud, and to act on the left of the Ebro. Mortier attacked the force of Francisco Palafox, and succeeded in dispersing it with very considerable loss. Lannes, in order to depress the hopes of the garrison of external assistance, addressed a letter to Palafox, communicating this circumstance, and all the other disasters which had befallen the Spanish armies. But the mortifying intelligence thus conveyed, did not shake the firmness of the undaunted leader. He rejected all compromise, and continued, with undiminished vigour, to oppose every possible obstacle to the progress of the enemy.
All the outworks of the place had now fallen, except the castle of the Inquisition, which had been subjected to no serious attack. The newly-raised works of the Enceinte had been battered by fifty-five guns, and, on the 27th January, three breaches were declared practicable. One was near an oil-mill, which stood without the walls of the place, though but little removed from them. The second was to the left of this, between the convent of St. Joseph and the town. The third was in the convent of Sta. Engracia. All these were attacked. At mid-day, a column issued from the oil-mill, which had been occupied over-night, and, rapidly clearing the short distance which divided it from the walls, entered the breach, unbroken by the heavy fire to which they were exposed, and the explosion of two fougasses. Having reached the summit, the assailants found an interior retrenchment armed with two guns, which the garrison had unexpectedly erected to obstruct their progress. They attempted, without success, to surmount this obstacle, under a shower of grape, musketry and grenades. Forced to retire, the besiegers took advantage of the cover afforded by the exploded fougasses to effect a lodgment on the breach.
The breach in face of St. Joseph presented fewer obstacles to be overcome. The column of attack having reached the summit, succeeded in occupying the opposite house, which the artillery, in firing on the wall, had laid open. The houses adjoining were then gained; and on the right of the breach they found a gate which afforded another entrance into the town. Here, however, their progress was arrested by a battery of the enemy, commanding a court which it was necessary to pass. On the left, a double caponnier, which the garrison had used to communicate with St. Joseph’s, was repaired and lengthened to the breach.
The attack on Sta. Engracia was yet more successful. After a severe[436] struggle, the assailants gained the breach of the convent, but in attempting to advance further, they met a spirited repulse. Another effort was made, which terminated in their gaining possession of the building. The curtain leading from Sta. Engracia to the bridge of the Huerba was then enfiladed, and, taking the tête-de-pont in reverse, the enemy at once became masters of that important post. Here they were joined by fresh troops, and, pushing on within the curtain of the convent of Mount Carmel, made an effort to gain possession of it, which met with a repulse.
From thence they advanced rapidly to the Capuchin convent, putting forty artillerymen, who constituted the whole of its garrison, to the sword, The assailants then established themselves along the rampart, in order to guard the posts they had been successful in acquiring.
A dreadful fire was soon opened on the besiegers from the houses commanding the rampart. From this they in vain sought shelter among the ruins of the half-demolished walls. Retreat became necessary, and the column was directed to retire on the Puerta del Carmen. The garrison, by a bold attack, regained possession of the Capuchin convent; but two battalions coming up to reinforce the assailants, it was again taken, and maintained, though at a dear price, by the enemy.
During the night, a strong but unsuccessful effort was made by the besieged to regain possession of the convents of Sta. Engracia and the Capuchins. The result of these operations were the loss to the besieged of fifteen guns and 200 prisoners, and that the enemy gained footing in the city at two different points. The loss in killed and wounded, by the French accounts, was nearly equal on both sides. It amounted to about 600.
The misfortunes of the Zaragozans were hourly accumulating. The fever demon stalked through the city like a destroying angel, conquering and to conquer. The number of dead per day amounted to 350, without including those who fell the more immediate victims of war. The hospitals were too small to contain the host of patients, and the medicines were exhausted. The burying grounds were choked with corpses; and large pits were dug in the streets, into which the dead were tossed indiscriminately. Heaps of bloated and putrescent bodies were piled before the churches, which were often struck by the shells; and the maimed and ghastly carcasses lay dispersed along the streets, a frightful spectacle of horror. Even under such evils the courage of the Zaragozans did not quail.
The city was now open to the invaders, and the war, as formerly, was[437] carried on in the streets and houses. Not one inch of ground was yielded by the besieged without a struggle; and when finally driven from a building, they frequently, by a desperate offensive effort, recovered it; and an equal resistance had again to be encountered by the assailants. Traverses were cut around the portions of the city occupied by the enemy; and at the sound of the tocsin, the garrison were ever ready to rush to any quarter where hostilities had commenced.
Palafox, however, did not limit his efforts to obstructing the progress of the enemy; he made vigorous efforts to recover the ground already lost, and drive the assailants from their stations. Two attempts were made to regain the convent of the Capuchins. Both failed. A third more powerful effort was made on the 31st. A breach was effected during the day, and at night the assault took place. The besieged advanced with signal resolution towards the breach, but owing to a ditch sunk by the enemy, it was found impossible to mount it. They then threw themselves on the floor of the church, and endeavoured to force it. In spite of the fire from the windows, and the grenades showered from the steeple, they maintained their ground, and forced the door; but an epaulement within obstructed their progress; and fresh troops being brought up by the enemy, the project was at length renounced.
Priests and women bore part in these operations. The former carried munitions, and gave ghostly succour to the dying, animating the soldiers at once by their words and their example. The latter bore refreshments to their sons, or husbands, or fathers; and sometimes, when one of those dear relatives fell by their side, they seized his arms, determined to revenge his death or perish in the same glorious cause. In truth, the contest lay between skill and enthusiasm—mingled, indeed, with superstition, yet active, firm, vigorous, and unshrinking; skill exerted in a struggle as unjust and degrading, as any by which the pages of history are contaminated and defaced.
Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the garrison, the French gained ground. The 1st of February was marked by the capture of the ............