entered Madrid as commander-in-chief of the French troops
in that city, secretly favoured the ex-King Charles. In the end, both he
and Ferdinand were enticed into seeking the protection of Napoleon at
Bayonne. Instead of mediating or deciding between them, Napoleon soon
found means to get rid of both. They were induced or rather compelled to
resign their rights, and retire into private life on large pensions; and
Napoleon conferred the crown of Spain on his brother Joseph, whose
former kingdom of Naples was bestowed on Murat.

In the meantime, sanguinary riots broke out afresh at Madrid, hundreds
of French were massacred, and the insurrection, as it was called, though
sternly put down by Murat, spread like wildfire into all parts of Spain.
A violent explosion of patriotism, resulting in anarchy, followed
throughout the whole country. Napoleon was taken by surprise, but the
combinations which he matured at Bayonne for the conquest of Spain were
as masterly as those by which he had well-nigh subdued the whole
continent, except Russia. He established a base of operations in the
centre of the country, and organised four campaigns in the north-west,
north-east, south-east, and south. Savary, who had succeeded Murat at
Madrid, was supposed to act as commander-in-chief, but was really little
more than a medium for transmitting orders received from Napoleon at
Bayonne. The campaign of Duhesme in Catalonia was facilitated by the
treacherous seizure of the citadel of Barcelona in the previous
February. It was not long, however, before effective aid was rendered on
the coast by the British fleet under Collingwood, and especially by Lord
Cochrane in the _Imperieuse_ frigate; the undisciplined bands of
Catalonian volunteers were reinforced by regular troops from Majorca and
Minorca; the fortress of Gerona made an obstinate resistance; the siege
of it was twice raised, and Barcelona, almost isolated, was now held
with difficulty.

[Pageheading: _FRANCE OCCUPIES THE PENINSULA._]

Marshal Moncey vainly besieged Valencia, while Generals
Lefebvre-Desnoettes and Verdier were equally unsuccessful before
Zaragoza. In the plains of Leon, Marshal Bessieres gained a decisive
victory over a superior force of Spaniards under Cuesta and Blake, at
Medina de Rio Seco, on July 14. Having thus secured the province of
Leon, and the great route from Bayonne to Madrid, he was advancing on
Galicia when his progress was arrested by disaster in another