Transcription
Madrid Wednesday Sept 6th _ 1843
My dear Papa
Mr. Irving sets off at 6 tomorrow morning / with an English courier for Bayonne and Paris : I intended / to have written you a long account of the late interesting events / and the many anecdotes which I have heard since my return; / but my time has been completely occupied in preparing for / Mr. I’s departure and answering a number of official letters / which had been collecting in my absence _ Two days ago I / was presented to the Minister of Foreign Affairs as the tempora: / :ry successor, so that I am now [^ regularly in] charge of the Legation.
After making proper allowances for the / sympathies of friends it seems to me clear that Espartero’s / fall is to be attributed to the grossest treachery in the quarters / in which he had most right to place reliance _ before I / left he had marched toward, Valencia with 5 or 6.000 / men, and at a place called albacete he remained a long / time, in what appeared a most extraordinary + dangerous / [m-??-its?] : this is now accounted for by the dependance which / he placed in Gen’l Sevane, who was in the north (at Saragossa) / with a strong force, and was ordered by the Regent to unite / with Gen’l Zurbano, also at the head of a strong corps, and / form a junction [^ march to join] with before Valencia : Sevane instead of / obeying these orders retreated again (after advancing a short /
[END OF PAGE 1]
distance) upon Saragossa and having been joined by Zurbano / was in that city in command of nearly 15.000 men : In the mean / time Christina’s friend Gen’l Narvez who had landed at Valencia / was soon at the head of too strong an army to be opposed simply / by the Regent, and he could therefore march between the two / armies, without interruption to Madrid . before he arrived however / Gen’l [Aspiroz?] with four 4 or 5000 men from another quarter was ob: / :serving the town at 3 miles distance and altho he summoned it / to surrender, did not take any active measures to enforce it _ Within / the City great exertions were made for defence _ Mendizabal the / finance minister contrived (heaven knows how), to procure money in / abundance to pay the National Guards who to the number of / 13.000 men exhibited very good spirit and much enthusiasm _ The / Gates were barricaded _ ditches dug + batteries placed _ the pavement / torn up in the streets and a succession of batteries planted at / different points; the Houses on both sides of the street, most [emposed?] / were taken possession of. And two men posted at each window : in / short every arrangement made to dispute the city step by step / and at last stand it was said, would be made at the palace + / round the persons of the young princesses: _ here the diplomatic / corps thought proper to interfere and various protests were drawn / up which failed; at one time from the opposition of the English / Minister; at another of the French Chargé _ a final meeting was held / here, and a note drafted by Mr. Irving who felt great anxiety for / the safety of the two little girls which met the approbation of all / and was signed by all the diplomatic corps in a body - the Gov’t returned a polite answer declining their services :
As soon as Narvaez joined [Aspiroz?] matters /
[END OF PAGE 2]
Became more serious _ Narvaez who has the reputation of a / “brutal” is certainly not deficient in energy _ he threatened the city in / good round phrase if it did not surrender, that it would be exposed / to all the horrors of war, and added that he considered himself the / instrument of providence to shed the treacherous + traitorous blood of / Madrid : the key to this is, that hte insurrection which expelled Chris: / :tina began with the national guard here _ a sharp fire of musketry / the assailants had very few cannon + those light pieces) was kept / up for several days; and it is hardly possible, if the defence had / been serious, that the force then before it could have captured the / City : In the interval after lingering at Saragossa [^ Sevane] began to march / with Zurbano’s division upon Madrid and the hopes of a relief / and the defeat of Narvaez were very high among the Regents friends. / Narvaez allowed Sevane to approach within 30 miles of Madrid / without giving himself any concern as to his movements, and wrote / at the time to a friend in the town “Estoy seguro, segurisimo del / golpe” _ (I am perfectly certain of the blow) _ and subsequent events / justified his security_ that there was an understanding between the two / generals [^ leaders] appears probable from the conduct of Espartero’s General : / he had a fine train of artillery and cavalry and was urged by / Zurbano, who was faithful to the last, when the two armies were / in presence of each other to allow him to destroy [^ batter] the enemy with / his cannon from a distance, and then finish the work with the cavalry / + Infantry _ instead of this the attack was made with INfantry in / close column, the cavalry following and the artillery last of all / after a few shots were exchanged by which a few [^ men] were wounded, the / officers + soldiers left their Ranks, embraced + “patronized” as the french / would say, + the contest was at ended _ Zurbano fled with his / aid de camps [^ into Madrid] + Sevane made prisoner, set out in a few days for /
[END OF PAGE 3]
France _
Narvaez now at the head of 30.000 men repeated his men: / aces and Madrid surrendered : a stipulation had been made with / Aspiroz that the national Guard should retain their arms, but the day / after the troops entered they were rigorously disarmed _ Prim; the self / appointed minister of War Serrano; and other generals continued to pour / in until 50.000 mean were collected within the walls of the Capital _ / Every corner was filled and the troops bivouacked in the Squares and / public gardens _ the Catalans a wild robber like set, with their red caps / long guns and want of discipline, terrified and disgusted the Madrilenos / who considered themselves invaded and trampled upon.
Espartero had before the fall of this city marched / towards Andalusia, relying upon [Seane’s?] army to protect Madrid as / he knew it to be superior in numbers + every other respect to the / force which could be opposed to him _ Having joined Van Halen, and / Cordova and other towns returning to obedience, he advanced to Seville / in the expectation that if the principal town were reduced, the rest of / Andalusia would yield _ he met with a very determined resistance, / bombarded the city without effect for several days, and as his despatches / from Madrid were either wickedly or stupidly intercepted, he continued / his fire two days longer th after the capite news of the surrender of / the Capital might have reached him _ as soon as he was informed / of this event, he raided the siege of Seville and marched towards / Cadiz pursued by his connection Gen’l Concha _ at Utrera a / town [^ on his route] he arrived with about 10.000 [^ in the Evening] and the next morning / found himself abandoned by all but his escort of cavalry, and / one or two companies of infantry of his favorite regiment of / Luchana : he now hurried on by forced marches and was / obliged to get over 18 Spanish leagues or about 70 miles on his last / day into Port St Mary; a little town on the opp side of / the bay, opposite to Cadiz _ he had a narrow escape on this
[END OF PAGE 4]
Last ??? [^ ride] when his life was saved by the merest chance _ about / midday as they were riding on at a round trot under one of the / hottest of July suns, they discovered a heavy [^ cloud of ] dust about a mile ahead / on the direct road _ all felt at once that this was Concha with his / cavalry in pursuit and Espartero [altho] faint and worn out with / illness and fatigue drew his sword and expressed his determination / to cut his way through the enemy, if possible : as they advanced / the other party changed their due course and drawing off to one / side allowed a free passage to the little troop of the Regent / It appeared afterwards that Concha seeing their dust and not / knowing how complete had been the defection of the Regent’s / followers, retreated as fast as possible: _ during the night having / learnt how had had escaped Concha’s advanced guard came / into Port St. Mary’s by twos + threes and Espartero was roused / from his bed to go on board a Spanish steamer, from which he / passed to the Malabar _ his subsequent arrival and reception / in England you have no doubt seen : _ it is certain that orders / were given to shoot him wherever he should be found; and as was / fitting the execution of these [^ orders] was entrusted to Gen’l Concha; his / connection + friend, whom he had loaded with favors which had / been repaid by [^ Concha’s] engaging in 1841 in the plot to carry off the little / Queen _ and of which one of the leading features was the assassi: / :nation of Espartero _ in their hurried flight, the fugitives were una: / :ble to take with them their clothes +c and every thing was pillaged / + plundered, the Regent’s shirts being sold among the troops for a / “peseta” (20 cents) a piece
The Gov’t has since published decrees depriving /
[END OF PAGE 5]
Espartero and his followers of their rank, titles, and honors / of every kind, and have shown itself so bitter and severe against / him that it has aided much in producing the reaction / which already exists :
As I anticipated from reading the accounts / while in the Pyrennees, the struggle between the opposite parties / who banded together to pull down the constitutional Gov’t of / Espartero has already commenced, but had reached a point of hatred / and open rivalry quite beyond my expectation. _ Narvaez / at the head of the military force, has gained over the Minister of / War, Serrano, and other member of the Cabinet, and with the / Moderado party; friends of Christina and generally nobles, wishes / a strong government; marriage with of the Queen with the Duc / D’aumale, and if possible, under pretence of plots and insurrections / to establish a military Gov’t and declare Madrid in a state of siege : / they do not affect to consider the constitution and but for the / Constitutional members of the ministry would have declared the / Queen of age without waiting for or consulting the Cortes : These / last ministers are supported by the various fractions of “progrsis: / tas”, liberals; who began the opposition to Espartero on the ground / that he turned our the presnet gov’t, when they formed his Cabinet / notwithstanding [^ that] they had the confidence of the Cortes _ there is besides / the party of the Infante Don Francisco de Paula (The Queen’s uncle) / or rather of his wife Dona Carlota, who wishes to marry her son / to Duke of Cadiz, to the Queen, and who has ruined the [^ her] family to / raise money during the late contest; selling jewels carriages, every: / :thing, to make partisans and curry her points according to the / universal system of bribery _ she is a most unprincipled woman /
[END OF PAGE 6]
And was sent away from Mardrid last year [^ by Espartero], for attempting to / compromise the Queen personally, then 12 years old with her son / rather older : - she had access to the Palace without that supervision / which was subsequently exercised.
Don Francisco’s party have joined the “Ayacuchos” / friends of Espartero; and the people now in power already talk of perse: / :cution, factions + plots : there is little question that their position is / extremely precarious + unsafe : they are illegal from the very outset / and have postponed two much the meeting of the Cortes, which can / also [^ alone] give them a lawful existence, and determine the great question / of the Queens majority _ Even the troops when they have taught / sedition, revolt + mutiny and all the worst vices [^ faults] of soldiers cannot / be depended on _ two days before my arrival on insurrection broke / out in the Principe regiment in barracks in the City, and the revol: / :ters 600 in number held out for sometime, demanding the full / discharge which had been promised them in Barcelona; where / they were the first to declare against the Regent : Narvaez behaved / with great energy + determination, went himself into the midst of / the insurgents and quelled the mutiny : he then deciamted them / and was on the point of shooting the whole 60, when Serrano, / War minister, interfered and required a [drum?] head Court Martial : / It was held at once, and 8 men found guilty _ at 10 in the morn’g / the troops were drawn up outside the gate of Toledo; formed in / hollow square; artillery and such was the uncertainty as to the / temper of the? The men during the execution that cannon were placed / at the angles of the squares; the artillerymen with matched lit ready / to fire upon the troops at the least sign of insubordination : the / poor devils died with the greatest coolness and the Chaplain who / confessed them, has I understand, stated that the promise they claimed /
[END OF PAGE 7]
Was really made to them by Serrano _ Narvaez afterwards / made a speech in which he told the troops, as if in mocquery / mockery, that sedition + revolt were the worst faults of a / soldier and that tho’ the blood of the army had now been shed; he / should take that the trait’rous blood of those who had urged them / to revolt should flow in turn _ this speech has made the Madrid / people furious and Narvaez’ party have even hinted that this affair / of the soldiers was the result of plots in which even some of the / ministry were concerned :
It is deplorable to see a Country in such / a condition and bad as it is there is a just fear of an outbreak / before long, to which this last revolution will be tranquility in / comparison _ parties are becoming so bitter that the next struggle / must be a bloody one; the conquerors will not be satisfied with / overcoming their antagonists : they will attempt to annihilate them _ / we live as it were in the midst of an [invested?] town; troops are / quartered every wehre; are marched about continually; and at all / hours of the night, you meet squadrons of cavalry patrolling.
I am writing in great hurry to make up my / package for the Courier which as the bags close at 10, tho he only starts / tomorrow morning _ Mr. Aston follows Mr. Irving on Saturday and is a / terrible : he dines the diplomatic corps this ev’g with the exception / of this legation who Uncle Geoffrey is recovering himself for his journey + / I am too busy and also a little tired with the farewell dinners.
I send you [^ to read] for mama’s benefit two notes from Mr. Irving / while I was in France; the first written the day after my departure _ the / second is too flattering for anything but the partiality of one’s Mama; and / I intend it for her exclusively _ she will be pleased I know.
I have received Molly’s letter to the [?]th Aug’t and an amusing / account of your trip to the Hook, your cookery and so on : it is tan: / :talizing to hear of these things and all my especial favorites collected / together : I begin to turn my eyes wistfully to the westward. _
[END OF PAGE 8]
[CROSSED ON PAGE 5]
During the Ministers’ absence I shall not be able / to contract my expenditure as much as formerly : / I remain here with a part of the household (one / or two servants [^ are gone]) and the carriage horses _ Mr. I / wished to take the whole upon himself to which / of course I would not consent _ I shall have / to be present at the Court ceremonies, which / people say will be very numerous.
Kiss Mama for me and look out / for on opening for me as the Country prospers, / that I may return to you soon as possible.
Your son, A HamiltonTranscriber
Kathryn AlexanderLanguage
English
