n informal alliance with the
people of Spain.

Napoleon now began to see the magnitude of his error. Instead of
gaining control over Spain and the Indies, he had changed
long-suffering allies into irreconcilable foes. He prepared to conquer
Spain. While Joseph was escorted to his new capital by a small army,
Napoleon from Bayonne directed the operations of his generals. Holding
the northern road from Bayonne to Burgos and Madrid, they were to send
out cautious feelers against the bands of insurgents; for, as Napoleon
wrote to Savary (July 13th): "In civil wars it is the important posts
that must be held: one ought not to go everywhere." Weighty words,
which his lieutenants in Spain were often to disregard! Bessieres in
the north gained a success at Medina de Rio Seco; but a signal
disaster in the south ruined the whole campaign. Dupont, after beating
the levies of Andalusia, penetrated into the heart of that great
province, and, when cumbered with plunder, his divided forces were
surrounded, cut off from their supplies, and forced to surrender at
Baylen--in all about 20,000 men (July 19th). The news that a French
army had laid down its arms caused an immense sensation in an age when
Napoleon's troops were held to be invincible. Baylen was hailed
everywhere by despairing patriots as the dawn of a new era. And such
it was to be. If Valmy proclaimed the advent of militant democracy,
the victory of Spaniards over one of the bravest of Napoleon's
generals was felt to be an even greater portent. It ushered in the
epoch of national resistance to the overweening claims of the Emperor
of the West.

That truth he seems dimly to have surmised. His rage on hearing of the
capitulation was at first too deep for words. Then he burst out:
"Could I have expected that from Dupont, a man whom I loved, and was
rearing up to become a Marshal? They say he had no other way to save
the lives of his soldiers. Better, far better, to have died with arms
in their hands. Their death would have been glorious: we should have
avenged them. You can always supply the place of soldiers. Honour
alone, when once lost, can never be regained."

Moreover, the material consequences were considerable. The Spaniards
speedily threatened Madrid; and, on the advice of Savary, Joseph
withdrew from his capital after a week's sojourn, and fell back
hurriedly on the line of the Upper Ebro, where the French rallied for
a second advance.

Their misfortunes did not