valencia, battle of.—taken by the earl of peterborough in 1705, and soon again lost. resisted the attempts of many, but was taken from the spaniards by the french, under suchet, january 9th, 1812; all the garrison, 16,000 men, and immense stores, surrendered.
valenciennes, siege of.—besieged from may 23rd to july 14th, when the french garrison surrendered to the duke of york, 1793. retaken by the french, on capitulation; the garrison and 1100 emigrants made prisoners, with immense stores, viz. 200 cannon, 1,000,000 pounds of gunpowder, 8,000,000 florins in specie, 6,000,000 of livres, 1000 head of cattle, &c., on august 30th, 1794.
value of princes.—￡400,000 was the price paid to the scots for delivering up to the english charles i.
margaret of anjou was ransomed for ￡12,500.
￡1,000 offered by parliament for the head of charles ii.
￡30,000 for that of the pretender.
richard i was ransomed for the large sum of ￡100,000 or 150,000 marks; he had before been sold by the duke leopold of austria, to the emperor henry iv, for ￡60,000.
king john, of france, was to be redeemed by his subjects for the enormous sum of 3,000,000 crowns, but they could not raise the amount.
varna, battle of.—the emperor nicholas of russia arrived before varna, the head-quarters of his army, then besieging the place, august 5th, 1828. the turks made a vigorous attack on the besiegers august 7th; another on the 21st, but they were repulsed; surrendered to[366] the russians, october 1st, 1828. famous as the point of rendezvous of the allied army, preparatory to the crimean war. the cholera made dreadful devastation in both the english and french armies; then a great fire nearly destroyed the town, but purified the air; and the news of the crimean invasion expedition dispelled the gloom and melancholy which pervaded, to a very great degree, our troops.
vienna.—besieged by the turks, under solyman the magnificent, with an army of 300,000 men, but forced to raise the siege having lost 70,000 soldiers. again besieged in 1683, and the siege raised by the celebrated john sobieski, king of poland, who totally routed the turkish army of 100,000 men. taken by the french, november 14th, 1805, and afterwards retaken and taken for some time.
villa franca, battle of.—engagement here between the british cavalry, under cotton, and the french cavalry, under soult. the french were defeated, april 10th, 1812. when napoleon heard of the result he reproached soult the first time in his life.
vimeira, battle of.—between the british, under wellington, and the whole of the french and spanish forces, in portugal, under marshal guinot, whom the british signally defeated, august 21st, 1808. the enemy’s force were 14,000 men, of whom 1600 were cavalry. they attacked the english at vimeira early in the morning. the principal assault was on the english centre and left, with the view, according to a favourite french expression of “driving the english into the sea,” which was close in their rear. the attack was made with great bravery but as bravely repulsed. it was repeated by kellerman, at the head of the french reserve, which was also signally repulsed, and the french being charged with the british bayonet, withdrew on all sides in confusion, leaving many prisoners, a general officer, and 14 cannon, with ammunition, in the hands of the british. french loss, killed and wounded, 1800. english 720; only one-half of the british force was actually engaged.
vinegar hill, battle of.—between the british troops and the irish insurgents, in 1798. the rebels suffered a severe defeat, and much blood shed on both sides. june 12th, 1798.
vittoria, battle of.—fought, june 21st, 1813, between[367] the french and english. the following is a graphic account of this great victory:
“the splendid achievements of the campaign of 1812 produced their natural results. even the torpid obstinacy of castilian pride was at last overcome, and by a decree of the cortes of september 22nd, 1812, the great english general was invested with the supreme command of the spanish armies. he repaired to cadiz on the 24th of december, and on the 30th he was received by the cortes in full assembly. the news of napoleon’s overthrow in russia had just arrived, and all hearts seemed to expand with hope of the speedy expulsion of his troops from spain.
england herself also now began to put forth efforts commensurate with the crisis. at the opening of the year 1813 her land forces consisted of 228,000 men, besides 28,000 in india, 95,000 militia at home, and 32,000 foreign troops in the british service. and, besides these, she had 200,000 native troops in india, a local militia of 300,000, and a yeomanry cavalry of 68,000, forming a grand total of 949,000 men in arms; and her expenditure in the year amounted to ￡118,000,000 sterling.
thus supported, her great commander, of whom it may be questioned if his equal in all respects ever stood upon a field of battle, looked forward with reasonable expectation to a coming harvest; to a campaign in which, after four years’ toils and sufferings, the grand object of the final expulsion of the french from spain might be anticipated. and assuredly the means he took to gain this end in the simplest and completest manner, were marked by the most consummate skill and wisdom.
to be nearer to his supplies, and to relieve the wasted provinces of spain, wellington had withdrawn his army into cantonments on the coa and the agueda, that is, in leon and in beira, or northern portugal. all the lusitanian kingdom had long been free from the french, and the campaign of 1812 had compelled them to abandon all andalusia murcia, granada, asturias and estramadura. the french army now occupied only central and eastern spain, the bulk of the troops being quartered in new and old castile.
wellington’s chief attention was naturally devoted, during the winter, to the task of reorganizing his forces for the final struggle of the opening year. his own english army was the only force he had which was at all in a condition to march against the enemy. of the spanish troops he found it necessary to give the spanish minister of war, in march 1813, the following description:—“there is not a single battalion or[368] squadron in the spanish armies in a condition to take the field; there is not in the whole kingdom of spain a dep?t of provisions for the support of a single battalion for one day; there is not a shilling of money in any military chest. to move them forward at any point now, against even inconsiderable bodies of the enemy, would be to insure their certain destruction.”
but by unceasing exertions these evils were, in a measure, overcome: and wellington found himself, in the month of may, 1813, for the first time in a state approaching to an equality with the french. their force, which in former years had often amounted to nearly 400,000 men, was now reduced to 239,000 of which about 197,000 were present with the eagles. meanwhile wellington’s nominal force now amounted to 200,000, and although only about one-half of this number were fit to take the field, the remainder was still of use in maintaining the communications, guarding convoys, and cutting off the foraging parties of the enemy. his principal army of english and portuguese mustered about 75,000 men, of whom about 44,000 were english. the efficiency of the portuguese troops was advanced in a surprising manner; reinforcements, especially of cavalry, had arrived from england; and the anglo-portuguese troops, conscious of an improved organization, were more confident than ever; while the french, hearing of the calamities of their brethren in russia, were proportionably depressed. even the spaniards had, in some numbers, been brought into better condition:—wellington had kept them fed and clothed during the winter, and had now several efficient corps of native troops, ready to act in conjunction with his own army. hence, on the 22nd of may the great english general began his march, and when he crossed the stream which divides portugal from spain, he rose in his stirrups, and waving his hand, exclaimed, “good bye to portugal!”
the military skill and talent of a commander is never more conspicuously seen than in those man?uvres by which an enemy is defeated without a battle. such man?uvres often resemble the skill and power with which an able and fearless horseman, even while on the ground, will control a powerful courser, forcing him backwards by a small leverage upon his mouth. in the present instance the french still had a considerable army and able generals, and they occupied the centre of spain, defending the capital, and ready to fight, if needful, a succession of battles before they would relinquish their prey. but their more able antagonist forced them to retreat, step by step, without fighting, until their last and only stand was made at vittoria, almost in sight of france;[369] and then delivering his attack, he utterly routed them, and chased them over the pyrenees. on the 22nd of may, as we have said, the english army marched out of portugal; on the 21st of june it fought and gained the battle of vittoria; and before the 1st of july the shattered remains of the french army, with their king joseph at their head, had fled over the pyrenees. little more than a single month had sufficed to destroy, uproot, and utterly abolish the french dominion in spain, and that at a time, too, when there were still 197,000 french soldiers in the field, under many able commanders.
a brave general of the ordinary kind would have marched in quest of the french, lying in front of madrid; would have defeated them, and taken the capital. all the smaller bodies of french in spain would then have been called round the king; and in july a second battle would have been fought in arragon, or in front of burgos. one more victory,—a third, supposing the english to have been always victorious, might have sent the french out of spain; but any mistake or mishap might have prevented this. but wellington, by masterly tactics, always threatening to turn the enemy’s right wing and to get upon his communications, backed his foe as a man backs a horse, till he could bring the opposing army into a position fit for his purpose; and then, delivering at once a knock-down blow, he drove the whole mass, king and army, in four-and-twenty hours, out of spain.
king joseph had reckoned, in the spring, upon a direct attack by the great road of madrid; but when it would come, or where it would fall, he could not divine, for wellington kept him constantly in doubt, by a variety of feigned movements.
at last, towards the end of may, he found that wellington, sending 40,000 men under graham through the difficult passes of the tras-os-montes, and moving himself a week after on the esla, had carried his whole army, by the 4th of june, over the douro, and was now in full march for valladolid. if he should gain that place, joseph well knew that his communications would be cut off, and his whole army taken, to use napoleon’s phrase, “flagrante delicto.” hastily, therefore, madrid was abandoned, the whole army put in retreat; and now joseph would make his stand at burgos.
thus 100 miles of spanish ground had been cleared of the french without firing a shot. and now, joseph would fight for his kingdom in this, his second position. but his generals examined the country, and disliked the prospect. meanwhile wellington pushed on,[370] conducting his operations continually on the same principle,—pushing forwards his left wing, and out-flanking and turning the french right. again perplexed, joseph now abandoned his second purpose, as he had abandoned his first. burgos must be given up, and the retreat must be continued on vittoria. into vittoria there was poured, therefore, the artillery dep?ts of madrid, of valladolid, and of burgos, and the baggage and stores of several armies; with the king’s valuables, the archives, and papers of the state and of the army, and a large amount of treasure.
vittoria is only 26 miles from irun, on the french frontier. here, therefore, had been driven together, like a flock of sheep, the intruders and plunderers of spain, and one vigorous assault only was needed to rid the land of them altogether. it was not long delayed.
it was about the 15th of june when king joseph found his army assembled round vittoria, reckoning, napier tells us, from 60,000 to 70,000 men. wellington had left his sixth division at medina de pomar, and therefore had 60,000 english and portuguese, besides some spanish troops. in the number and calibre of their guns the french had the advantage.
from the mountain-region through which the british army was marching, the way to vittoria lay over many a rugged steep, and through many dangerous defiles; but no difficulty was allowed to stop their march. “six days they toiled unceasingly; but on the seventh, swelled by a spanish reinforcement, they burst like raging streams from every defile, and went foaming into the basin of vittoria.”
the french army was drawn up round this basin, which is a small plain about 10 miles in length, by 8 in breadth, through which runs the river zadora. as this battle-field was approached by various mountain-passes, wellington resolved to enter it from three sides at once, forming three distinct combats. general graham, with a corps of about 20,000 men, was to attack from the british left, and to pass the zadora at ariaga, near the city of vittoria. hill was to attack from the right with an equal force. wellington stationed himself in the centre, with a rather larger force, which was to descend from the mountain ridges, to cross the zadora by various roads, and to march straight upon vittoria. in fact, the whole battle was merely an attack on a strong army hemmed in, by an army equally strong, and marching to the attack on three sides at the same moment.
at daybreak the english began to move; but the distance to vittoria was several miles, and every step was to be contended for. hill reached[371] the village of puebla about ten in the morning; pushed on, fighting hard, till he gained the village of subijana de alava, and so placed himself in communication with the english centre. graham had to make a march of several miles to reach ariaga, near vittoria; but about one o’clock his attack began to tell. this was a serious one for the french; for, if successful, it would cut them off from the great road to bayonne. king joseph, finding both his flanks thus threatened, sent an order to the centre to retire. but the troops were fiercely engaged, and retreat was difficult. meanwhile, however, three attacks of the english, right, left, and centre, were all succeeding; and step by step, the french were being pushed back upon vittoria.
“at six o’clock,” says napier, “the french reached the last defensible height in front of vittoria. behind them was the plain in which the city stood, and beyond the city were thousands of carriages and animals, and of men, women, and children, crowded together in all the madness of terror; and as the english shot went booming overhead, the vast crowd started and swerved with a convulsive movement, while a dull and horrid cry of distress arose; but there was no hope, no stay for army or multitude, it was the wreck of a nation!” still the courage of the french soldiers was unquelled. their artillery for a time kept the allies in check, but suddenly the fourth english division, rushing forward, carried a hill on the left, and the heights were at once abandoned. joseph finding the main road so completely blocked up by carriages that the artillery could not pass, indicated the road of salvatierra as the line of retreat, and the army went off in a confused and yet compact body on that side, leaving vittoria on its left. the british infantry followed hard, and the light cavalry galloped through the town to intercept the new line of retreat. all became disorder and confusion, the guns were left, while the artillerymen fled with the horses. vehemently and closely did the british pursue, and nothing could stop their victorious career until night and the disappearance of the flying masses had ended the struggle. the french lost all their artillery, all their baggage, all their equipages, all their stores, treasures, and papers, “so that no man,” says a french writer, “could prove even how much pay was due to him. generals and subordinate officers were alike reduced to the clothes on their backs, and many of them were barefooted.”
“never was victory more complete. the trophies were innumerable. marshal jourdan’s baton of command was brought to lord wellington, who sent it to the prince regent, from whom he quickly received one of[372] an english marshal in return. the loss of the french was never ascertained; that of the allies was 3,567 english, 1,059 portuguese, and 550 spanish. the spoil taken was enormous. “the soldiers of the army,” wrote lord wellington, “have got among them about 1,000,000 sterling in money, with the exception of about 100,000 dollars found in the military chest. rich vestures of all sorts, gold and silver plate, pictures, jewels, parrots, monkeys, and children, lay scattered about the field amidst weeping mothers and wailing children. joseph himself narrowly escaped; a squadron of dragoons pursued his carriage and fired into it.”
all the remaining bodies of the french in spain fell in the fall of vittoria. they escaped out of the kingdom by various roads as quickly as possible. “joseph’s reign was over, the crown had fallen from his head, and after years of toil and combats, which had rather been admired than understood, the great english leader, emerging from the chaos of the peninsular struggle, stood on the summit of the pyrenees a recognized conqueror. from those lofty pinnacles the clangour of his trumpets pealed clear and loud, and the splendour of his genius appeared as a flaming beacon to warring nations.”[15]
thus, in some five or six weeks, had a great kingdom been cleared of its invaders and oppressors—not by the power of superior numbers, but by the natural ascendency of a consummate military genius. “here,” remarks napier, “was a noble army driven like sheep before prowling wolves, although in every action the officers had been prompt and skilful, and the soldiers brave, firm, and obedient. the french troops were excellent and numerous, and the country strong and favourable for defence; but the soul of a great commander was wanting; and hence, the esla, the tormes, the douro, the pisuerga, seemed to be all dried up, the mountains to be levelled; and 60,000 veteran soldiers, willing to fight at every step, were hurried with all the tumult and confusion of defeat across the ebro.”
the deliverance of the peninsula, by a force so far inferior to that of the french, must always remain one of wellington’s greatest glories. the same french writer, whom we have already quoted, jules maurel, remarks this surprising fact. he says: “the truth is, that from 1808 to 1813, wellington never had 30,000 english under his orders, even at a period when the imperial armies deluged the peninsula with no fewer than 370,000 men.”
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nor were the results of this great day confined to the spanish peninsula. like its predecessor, the victory of salamanca, the battle of vittoria shook the whole continent of europe. napoleon himself, holding his ground at dresden, had, up to this moment, succeeded in withholding austria from any actual participation in the confederacy against him. he had even succeeded, on the 30th of june, in obtaining a convention for the restoration of peace between himself, russia and prussia. but the very next day the news of the expulsion of the french from spain reached dresden, filling napoleon and his ministers with consternation, and giving new life and vigour to the russian and prussian councils. the allies regretted that any cessation of arms had been agreed to, and they began to long for its termination. the very moment it expired by lapse of time, austria joined the allies; war was actively resumed, and the autumn had not ended before napoleon had been driven across the rhine, and germany freed from the presence of the french armies.
the french writer from whom we have just quoted, jules maurel, thus notices this remarkable passage in modern history:
“scarcely had the armistice been signed when intelligence arrived that the french had lost everything in spain. in 40 days wellington had turned, one after another, all the positions occupied by the french armies of the centre, of the south and of the north, and had crossed the tormes, the douro, the esla, the carrion, and the ebro. he had reached vittoria; he had gained a decisive battle; he had expelled king joseph from the peninsula, and had planted his army on the pyrenees. in the beginning of may he was in portugal; on the 23rd of june he was on the frontiers of france. the defeat of vittoria entirely neutralized the victories of lutzen and bautzen, and at once restored the coalition.”
vougle, battle of.—fought between alaric ii and clovis of france. alaric was entirely overthrown, and the whole country subdued. clovis afterwards made paris the capital, and became the founder of the french monarchy.
