However, some three
thousand have rejoined, and I expect in a short time to be at the head of
20,000. I ought to have more, but these Galician peasants are stubborn
fellows. They know nothing of the affairs of Spain, and although they will
fight in defence of their own villages, they have no interest in anything
beyond, and hang back from joining an army that might operate outside
their province. You see, until now it has been untouched by war. They have
suffered in no way from French extortions and outrages. As soon as they
feel the smart themselves, I doubt not they will be as full of hatred of
the invaders as people are elsewhere, and as ready to take up arms against
them."
Romana's troops were but a motley gathering. The force that he had brought
with him from Holland had been landed at Santander, marched to Bilbao, and
joined Blake's army, and had shared in the crushing defeat suffered by
that general at Espinosa, where most of them were taken prisoners. They
were again incorporated in the French army, and afterwards took part in
the Russian campaign, and in the retreat no less than four thousand of
them were taken prisoners by the Russians and handed over by them to
British transports sent to Cronstadt to fetch them. Romana himself had
escaped from the battle-field, and afterward raised a fresh force.
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