Gendarme Médard Bonnart in Spain (1812)

On 4 August [1812], Generals Charles Lameth and Labadie assembled all the troops, carriages, ammunition and baggage, and issued the order to proceed. On the 5th, at three o’clock in the morning, the escort was divided into various platoons of infantry and were positioned in echelon, who carried out reconnaissance and formed the rear of the march[ing column].

The gendarmerie, both on foot and on horseback, which enjoyed an excellent reputation for bravery, occupied the principal outposts. The baggage and carriages, the latter seized from the countryside, who were making a great deal of noise (the axle turning with the wheels which are only made out of planks, and which is said to be necessary to prevent others from halting in the narrow mountain paths), were ordered to take their place in the middle of the convoy. The postal carriages of our superiors, positioned according to rank, went first. During the journey, the greatest circumspection was observed. Our strength was estimated at three to four thousand men. We arrived at Fortin de la Venta, known for a blockhouse, which comprised a cannon. About forty gendarmes formed the garrison. They were often attacked and had constantly resisted the insurgents courageously.

We changed horses at Oyarzun (Oiartzun), as the postal service was established in the same fashion as in France. The troop was given half a ration of all kinds of victuals as refreshment.

At one league from this village, we distinguished, within cannon range, a hundred Spanish customs officers, part of Mina’s band. Whenever there were no troops around, they descended to collect duties and killed isolated Frenchmen, and subsequently gained the mountains when they noticed imposing forces, marching in order, as we always had observed. We often spotted similar outposts all along the road.

The convoy included a travel clerk employed by a company in Lyon. He was selling silks, and was travelling to Madrid; I had met him in Bayonne. This young man had goods with him which he would have preferred not to pay taxes on. As he passed through a hamlet, a man dressed as a peasant, on a donkey, accosted him, telling him quietly not to forget to count the money he owed in the first house he pointed out, and mentioned to keep silent. The Lyonnais complied with the stranger’s request, who disappeared. A moment later, the clerk having recounted this incident to me, pointing out to me the individual who was climbing a cliff with his mount, I told him that he had been wrong not to have told me about it, because I would have ordered the disguised customs officer to be arrested. He replied that for his trade, often travelling this road, if he had done so, he would have risked his life.

When we reached Hernani, the troop was given half a ration of all provisions. We left four hours later for Tolosa where we arrived, enjoying superb weather, at six o’clock in the evening.

A courier, who was travelling from Tolosa to Hernani, with an escort of sixty men, having been attacked a league behind us, had one of his horses wounded. The day before our entry at Tolosa, partisans had arrived, at eight o’clock in the evening, to fire upon men who were enjoying some fresh air on the promenade. This town, in the Pyrenees, is dominated by mountains whose peaks seem to uphold the clouds. People were often killed in the streets or squares, due to insurgents discharging their carbines, who were lurking on the heights; thus no one was safe, even in their own homes.

On the 6th, as we had already covered the journey, we took a break. All around us, we spotted Spanish outposts on the top of the mountains. On the 7th, we left at four o’clock in the morning, maintaining the same marching order.

A gendarme on foot was resting on his musket, the shot went off; the bullet went through his arm.

We headed for Villafranca, where the troop was given a half ration. We then proceeded to Villarreal. I visited, out of curiosity, the nuns of Pastor, a shepherd, mentioned in the order of 18 July, who was born in this town and became a renowned leader of the guerrillas. A league from this place, we perceived the traces of the massacre of 2 July, where 152 Frenchmen, including several gendarmes of my acquaintance, had had their throats slit.

On the evening of our arrival, three soldiers of the escort, standing perhaps a hundred paces from the spot where I was lodged, which was in a house outside the town, were kidnapped. All night long, the surroundings of the place resounded with the cries of ‘Hurrah, hurrah’, uttered by the enemy.

On the 8th, at four o’clock in the morning, we set off, being well informed on account of the reconnaissance oversaw by the garrison. At eight o’clock we had crossed the famous mountain known as Descarga (sic), which spiral path presents excellent vantage points for assaults and ambushes. At noon we were at Bergara, where a comrade received me. After refreshing ourselves, we spent the night at Mondragón.

On the 9th, at three o’clock in the morning, we continued our march. We halted in Salinas for an hour to assemble the convoy. During this time, we surveyed the treacherous surroundings. We then crossed the sinister mountain where so many Frenchmen have perished. Whitened bones were a sad reminder of this fact. There were still many human remains being eaten by vultures or other carnivorous animals. Outside the forest and on the plain, the fortress of Arlaban was built, which served as a safeguard for those who managed to escape the guerrilla raids. The outpost was manned by an officer of the gendarmerie, a friend of mine, who provided me lunch.

From there, free of all obstacles, we beheld Vitoria, which is the capital of the province of Alava, situated in the plain, three leagues from the Pyrenees. Count Caffarelli, commander-in-chief of the Army of the North, proceeded us. We entered the town towards midday, accompanied by a great deal of baggage, in a stifling heat, which was estimated to have risen to 32 degrees. At the same time, a convoy of wounded and all the women who had travelled from Burgos arrived there. The Army of Portugal had suffered a setback, which could have resulted in great events. To avoid misfortune, those who were not needed for military operations were sent to the rear. The town of Vitoria was so crowded with troops that it was impossible to accommodate us properly. The colonel and I were assigned to a house where even two soldiers would not have found any comfort.

Mr. Maurice, on setting foot on Spanish soil, was afflicted with diarrhoea and colic from which he suffered greatly. Although the pains were severe, they did not prevent him from fulfilling the customary duties.

We proceeded to pay our respects to the general-in-chief and several senior officers. Then we visited General Baron Buquet, the chief inspector of the gendarmerie. He invited us for dinner that same day; we had to decline the offer, given the colonel’s indisposition and our fatigue …

Source : Histoire de Médard Bonnart, Chevalier des Ordres Royaux et Militaires de Saint-Louis et de la Légion d’Honneur, Capitaine de Gendarmerie en retraite, volume II, Fiévet, 1828, pp. 201-206.