els in the north cut off the
French despatches, thus forestalling his movements and delaying by
some weeks his execution of Napoleon's plans. Worst of all, the
Emperor withdrew the pith and marrow of his forces: 1,200 officers,
6,000 non-commissioned officers, and some 24,000 of the most seasoned
soldiers filed away towards France to put strength and firmness into
the new levies of the line, or to fill out again the skeleton
battalions and squadrons of the Imperial Guard.[311]

It is strange that Napoleon did not withdraw all his troops from
Spain. They still exceeded 150,000 men; and yet, after he had flung
away army after army, the Spaniards were everywhere in arms, except in
Valencia. The north defied all the efforts of Clausel for several
weeks, until he declared that it would take 50,000 men three months to
crush the mountaineers.[312] Above all, Wellington was known to be
mustering a formidable force on the Portuguese borders. In truth,
Napoleon seems long to have been afflicted with political colour
blindness in Spanish affairs. Even now he only dimly saw the
ridiculous falsity of his brother's position--a parvenu among the
proudest nobility in the world, a bankrupt King called upon to keep up
regal pomp before a ceremonious race, a benevolent ruler forced to
levy heavy loans and contributions on a sensitive populace whose
goodwill he earnestly strove to gain, an easy-going epicure spurred on
to impetuous action by orders from Paris which he dared not disregard
and could not execute, a peace-loving valetudinarian upon whom was
thrust the task of controlling testy French Marshals, and of holding a
nation in check and Wellington at bay.

The concentration on which Napoleon laid such stress would doubtless
have proved a most effective step had the French forces on the Douro
been marshalled by an able leader. But here, again, the situation had
been fatally compromised by the recall of the ablest of the French
commanders in Spain. Wellington afterwards said that Soult was second
only to Massena among the French Marshals pitted against him. He had
some defects. "He did not quite understand a field of battle: he was
an excellent tactician, knew very well how to bring his troops up to
the field, but not so well how to use them when he had brought them
up."[313] But the fact remains that, with the exception of his Oporto
failure, Soult came with credit, if not glory, out of every campaign
waged against Wellington. Yet h