e, stopped a French army from occupying
Eastern Spain. The services by which this was effected were as
follows:--Preventing the reinforcement of the French garrison in
Barcelona, by harassing the newly-arrived troops in their march along
the coast, and organising and assisting the Spanish militia to oppose
their progress, Lord Cochrane himself capturing one of their forts on
shore, and taking the garrison prisoners.

On the approach of a powerful French _corps d'armee_ towards
Barcelona, Lord Cochrane blew up the roads along the coast, and taught
the Spanish peasantry how to do so inland. By blowing up the cliff
roads, near Mongat, Lord Cochrane interposed an insurmountable
obstacle between the army and its artillery, capturing and throwing
into the sea a considerable number of field-pieces, so that the
operations of the French were rendered nugatory. For these services,
Lord Cochrane, notwithstanding the strong representations of Lord
Collingwood to the Board of Admiralty, neither received thanks nor
reward of any kind; notwithstanding that whilst so engaged, and that
voluntarily, in successfully accomplishing the work of an army, he
patriotically gave up all chances of prize money, though easily to be
obtained by cruising after the enemy's vessels. In place of this, he
neither searched for nor captured a single prize, whilst engaged
in harassing the French army on shore, devoting his whole energies
towards the enterprise which he considered most conducive to the
interests of his country.

3. Having effected his object, Lord Cochrane sailed for the Gulf
of Lyons, with the intention of cutting off the enemy's shore
communications. This he accomplished by destroying their signal
stations, telegraphs, and shore batteries along nearly the whole
coast, navigating his frigate with perfect safety throughout this
proverbially perilous part of the Mediterranean. In order further
to paralyse the enemy's movements, Lord Cochrane made a practice
of burning paper near the demolished stations, so as to deceive the
French into the belief that he had burned their signal books; he
rightly judging that from this circumstance they might not deem it
necessary to alter their code of signals. The ruse succeeded, and,
transmitting the signal books to Lord Collingwood, then watching the
enemy's preparations in Toulon, the commander-in-chief was thus
fully apprised, by the enemy's signals, not only of all their naval
movements, but also of