be incorporated in your guard. For instance, there are some of the 1st and 2nd chasseurs, and of the 9th, 7th, and 8th hussars; you may take all these detachments. General Belliard ought to have a list of them. I am going to order five mounted conscripts to be taken from each of the different depôts in France, and forwarded to Spain. This will make 400 or 500. However numerous the Spaniards may be, you must march right on them and resolutely. They cannot stand. You should use no manoeuvres or strategy, but go straight at them. Print immediately the speeches made to you by the deputations, and the record of the oaths taken, and, directly afterwards, make your entry into Madrid. I believe that I told you to keep for me the little villa of Chamartin and the house opposite, just as I have left them, in order that I may know where to go, if on some fine morning I find myself again in Madrid. I think that the best way of governing Spain is to appoint a junta for each province, to be called a royal junta, and to put a governor at its head. Captain generals must not be thought of; they would have neither influence nor authority. I am only speaking now of the first three months.. I beg of you to write to me often and at length. Everything that is printed, reports, returns of the army, everything that you send me, I shall be glad to receive. P.S. The Chief of the Staff has this instant shown me Marshal Jourdan's letters of the 14th.* The enemy must not be suffered to establish himself at Madridejos. Marshal Victor may move towards the right, as it is probable that the enemy will retire upon Valencia. Besides, the division of General Valence would be sufficient. The siege of Saragossa seems to advance. The Polish battery which was at Segovia must have reached Madrid; send it to join its division at Toledo. General Valence ought to receive instructions to push forward strong parties beyond Madridejos, and to clear the whole country. *These letters do not appear.-TR. [500.] NAPOLEON TO BERTHIER. Valladolid, Jan. 16, 1809. My Cousin,-Give orders to confiscate all prohibited goods in Gallicia, especially those which came from England during the rebellion. [501.] NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. Valladolid, Jan. 17, 1809, 6 P.M. My Brother, I received the deputation yesterday evening at 9 o'clock. Put their addresses to me into the newspapers, and make your entry into Madrid. I desired the deputies to report to you all that I said to them. The fog last night was so damp and thick that I deferred my departure till this morning. It is nearly 6 o'clock, and I am going to mount my horse. I leave here my guard, my baggage, and my household. The news from Gallicia is still that my troops continue to advance and pick up remains of the British army. If the enemy appears in any direction within six or seven days' march from Madrid, do not suffer it, fall upon him immediately. I reprimanded the alcades for not condemning to death the wretches who were arrested. They justified themselves not very intelligibly, by saying that they required some sort of permission from the king. Everything must be done to ensure a proper termination of these trials and to make striking examples. Great robberies are committed towards Las Rosas: you cannot allow this so near Madrid. You must send in pursuit of the criminals 2 or 3 columns of 50 men each, and a detachment of cavalry. As the towns of Toro and Saragossa were in arms when captured, I have levied a contribution of 500,000 francs upon one province, and 1,000,000 on the other; this will help to pay the army. All colonial and British goods have been confiscated in Gallicia. It is a general measure, and has taken place at Leipzic, at Hamburgh, in short, everywhere. I have directed the regiment of Aremberg to rest for five or six days at Rio Seco; it comes from the farther end of Denmark; but my orders allow it to proceed to Madrid, if you think that you will want it. I have left in my house plate to the value of 1,000,000 francs, and in the Dominican convent about 150,000 francs' worth; I have ordered it to be converted into specie, and it may be employed in paying the army, but it had better receive your stamp; order a die to be prepared immediately, and 1,000,000 francs' worth of your coinage to be struck. To save time, you may leave the piastre unchanged both in weight and fineness, reserving to yourself the power of altering the . . at another time. If you thus circulate a coinage of your own, I will send to Spain the pay of the troops in ingots. Your coinage will be increased,† and that always has a good political effect. [502.] NAPOLEON TO BERTHIER. Jan. 19, 1809. My Cousin, I have desired the 10th marching battalion, composed of conscripts whom I found at Irun, to proceed to St. Sebastian, and to wait there for further orders. I have ordered the battalions of the 28th, 58th, and 32nd, 3000 men strong, to proceed to Madrid by way of Aranda. When they reach Madrid, the battalions are to be equalised, and a few old soldiers put into the 4th. The companies have marched 180 strong, in order that some part of them may be spared. I have ordered a detachment of 400 men of the 32nd, and an equal number of the 12th, to proceed to Madrid to be incorporated in the 4th battalion of the latter regiment. If the cadres of the 5th battalions are there, send them back. An equal detachment of the 2nd and 4th light infantry is to join the Duke of Dalmatia. Let them remain for a week at Valladolid, and then send them by the shortest road whithersoever the Duke may be. These are the changes to be made in the route. Arrange these things so as to allow another day between Bourdeaux and Bayonne; let them rest for two days at Bayonne; take two days to go from Bayonne to Irun. Let the troops rest at Tolosa, Vittoria, and Burgos. Whenever a detachment is intended for Madrid, it should go thither straight by way of Aranda, * Illegible.-ED. † By coining them.—TR. where it should halt; these detachments should consist of at least 400 men, and take three days between Burgos and Aranda. It is essential to spare the detachments going to Madrid the great détour by Valladolid. For this purpose, a staff-officer should be established at Burgos, where he will be better placed than at Valladolid. The route from Vittoria to Irun seemed to me to be well arranged: not so that from Burgos to Vittoria. I remarked that there were many both horse and foot soldiers in all the towns. It would be well to send an adjutant to oblige every man to join his regiment. Let General Thouvenot know that I have sent to him another battalion, and that he should occupy in force the post of Passage, and let his conscripts be exercised twice a-day. This battalion, added to the one he had before, will enable him to send back to their regiments all the men who do not belong to him, but he must be particularly careful that they want neither clothing nor He must apply to Kellermann for whatever is required. You will order Kellermann to supply him. arms. CHAPTER XIII. THE letters in this chapter extend from the 24th of January 1809 to the 12th of April. During this time Napoleon was in or near Paris, engaged first in the negotiations, and afterwards in the preparations, which preceded the war with Austria of 1809. [503.] NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. Paris, Jan. 24, 1809. My Brother, I send you a letter from M. Champagny, containing some details concerning the affairs of Spain. I arrived here on the 23rd at 8 o'clock in the morning in excellent health. All is going on well here. [504.] NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. Paris, Jan. 25, 1809. My Brother, You mentioned having sent me a large cargo of quinine. All that has arrived does not amount to more than 468 arrobas or 2450 lbs., gross weight. This is not the tenth part of what you announced to me. Let me know if you have sent some in other ways. [505.] NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. Paris, Jan. 27, 1809. My Brother, I received your letter of the 15th at 11 o'clock at night, and also one from Marshal Victor. I am waiting to hear the consequences of the battle of Alcazar, and that he has overtaken and dispersed the rest of the Duke of Infantado's |