Star. — London, England, 1809-01-12 00:00:00

FROM THE SPANISH PAPERS. GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY, Published at Saragossa', Saturday, Deeeruber S. u In consequence of the actual situation of this city, threatened with a siege by the enemy, it bait been until now found impossible to lay before public an official account of the details of the atiack' and obstinate battle fought at Tudela on the 23d ult. a battle equally fatal and glorious to this army, which, supported only by its own strength and its own valour, maintained the contest for eight hours in the midst cf the most dreadful fire. 44 It impossible to convey an adequate idea of the number of heroic achievements performed by the Officers and soldiers, whilst one half of the army was defending their posts with discharges of musketry, and the other were maintaining the contest with the' bayonet, until the number of the slain on both sides left scarcely room for action, and both the contending armies retired. The Captain-General of this excellent army of reserve has received the following detailed dispatch from Lieutenant-General Don Juan O'Neil, who commanded the troops in the engagement, from Illueca, whither he retired with Field-Marshal D. Fe lippe St. March. . Most Excellent Seignor—A few hours after my conference with your Excellency, at Caparoso, respec ting the good condition of the troops under my corn- mind, at that most important point, (full of ardour and enthusiasm, from the superiority which they con ceived themselves to possess over the enemy, who, for so long a period, had not dared to attack us, and from advantages of greater magnitude which they anticipated .in the direction of Pampeluna ; and when your Excellency, convinced of the necessity of not permitting a favourable opportunity to pass, for exe cuting designs in which I cordially concurred, pros seeded to consult with the Captain-General of the Army of the Centre) I received a dispatch from the Captain-General of the Army of the Centre, and the Representative of the Supreme Central Junta, Don Francisco Palafox, dated the 21st ult. informing me of the extreme utency that all my troops should im mediately put themselves in motion, and proceed by way of Tudela, to the right of the line, which was to be formed upon Cascante and Tarragona, as far as the heights of Moncayo ; and charging me not to lose a moment, since they had given orders for the march of the Army of the Centre, and were on the point of attacking and defeating the enemy, in order to save that army ; an object, the attainment of which would be of the greatest importance for Spain, and totally disconcert the plans of the enemy. 4 Surprised at the novelty of this dispatch, so com pletely at variance with the plan we had agreed upon at Caparoso the day before, I sent to inform your Ex cellency, and before I received your answer, your dispatch, dated at Tudela on the same day (the '2lst) reached me, directing, that in consequence of what the Captain-General of the Centre had stated to you, I should, the instant I received it, march with the whole of my army, and the troops belonging to the Centre attached to it, for Tudela, there to fix my head-quarters, it being understood that the troops that occupied the posts of Cintriunego, Calahorra, and the other parts of the Ebro, were already on their march for Borja and Tarrazona, and consequently that any delay might be very injurious, and expose the army to be turned in that quarter. On the same day, as my troops were just setting off, I received your Excellency's answer, confirming your previous order, in consequence of the army of the Centre hav ing already commenced its movement. I cannot describe to your Excellency the sensa tion felt by the troops under my command, in conse quence of this retrograde movement, as all of them, previously animated by the preceding fortunate move ments, found all their hopes frustrated, and saw them selves removed from the advanced situation that they always occupied in front of the enemy. An event so unexpected disheartened them; and in order to inspire them with the same degree of ardour which they had hitherto manifested, and to prevent the fatal conse quences of which i was apprehensive, I exerted my authority, accompanying it with the most energetic persuasion, and shewing them the crder of that even ing, according to which the safety of the whole army d •pended upon our retrograde movement, and in short telling them that it was die result of the express orders of your Excellency, and must be obeyed. This representation, in some degree, tranquillized them, and I proceeded with my troops to Tudela, where your Excellency, the Seignor Representative, and the Captain-General of the army of the Centre, were already arrived. At nine in the morning of the following day, (the 233), Colonel Don F. Ferena sent to inform me, that two columns of the enemy were deploying in front of Ablitas. In consequence of this intelligence and the Captain-General of the army of the centre, having, the preceding evening, informed me, that the enemy had entered Cintriunego, I ordered the generale to be beaten, apprising, at the same time, the Captain-General, that as Commander-in-Chief, he might make the necessary dispositions. He ordered some reinforcements to advance, and soon after caused General St. March to do the same on the left, sending various corps of my division to the heights of Santa Barbara, to reinforce that impor tant point, and 0 support the troops already oc. cupying it belonging to the division of General Roca. As he left me on the high road with the remain der of my troops, I sent to him my Aid.cle-Camp, D. B. Gelabert, to ascertain what I was to do, as the engagement was already begun. His answer was,. that I should proceed to the centre of the line where h e was posted. Soon after, he ordered the remain der of the troops to join him, and he assigned to me the command of the whole of the left wing. When I arrived, I found the heights on the left already occupied by the enemy, who threatened to turn .us ; bill having received his order to attack them, and an assurance that the division of General la Pena would advance to my assistance, I determined to execute the a tick by schellow of battalions. The battalion of the Royal Spanish Guards commenced it with such unexampled gallantry, that the enemy instantly aban doned that important post, leaving the field of battle covered with dead bodies. The same success attended the attack In front, by the regiments of the volunteers o f Castile and Segorbia, While I was indulging in the sat i s faction produced by our success, and con (eidering t he hat:le gained, two orderly Officers of LONDON. - THURSDAY, JANUARY 12. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. per Cent. Consols for money 65i—for ace. 6.4 Omniuns 14 dls.—Excheq. Bills 9s.pre. PRICE OF STOCKS YESTERDAY. Bank Stock 238 I India Steck lint 182! 3 per Cent. Red. 65i 66 India Bonds, 9s. 101. prem. 3 per Cent. Cons. 65 if Imperial 3 per Cent. 65 4 per Cent. 8114 Ex. Bills, Bs. a 10s. pre. 5 per Cent. Navy Nil Omnium lit dis. Long Ann. 18 1-16t1i • Cons. for open. 66/- We can add nothing certain to what we have al ready stated respecting the situation of our army in Spain. To repeat the idle, absurd, and contradic tory statements in which some of our contemporaries indulge, would be only to abuse the good sense of our Readers. We cannot, however, refrain from , noticing the hasty and unjust censure which some have presumed to throw upon Sir JOBN Moon & Ac cording to them he ought to have advanced, fought, and destroyed SouLT's army before he commenced his retreat ! This is all mighty fine, and it is possi ble that those who speak thus, might have acted in this manner ; but nothing could have justified Gene ral MoonE, had he been guilty of sttch We have already had occA,sital fa' titlark . that iv ..• r 1 might be presumed Sir Imo had intelligence of a different kind from any that has , appeared in the Spa nish Journals published under the imprimatur of the Juntas. Were we still without any other accounts but those to which we 'save just alluded, those who censure the retreat would have had at least a sem blance of reason for their bold opinions. But in spite of the attempts that have been made to disguisefacts, a number of truths have been established, which ren der it difficult to account for their conduct. Our troops have been for more than three months in Spain, and in ali that time have not been joined by more than six thousand Patriots ! The Spa niards were to defend- Madrid for months, and to bury themselves in its ruins, rather than surrender to NAPOLEON-It surrendered in three days ! The Patriots and their brave leaders were to advance and cut off the retreat of the French from Madrid.—ln stead of which NAPOLEON was left so much at his ease, that immediately after the surrender of Madria he was able to send off his cavalry to harass the un supported handful of British, till he could bring his whole army against them ! The Commanders of the Patriots, we were told, were unanimous, brave, and loyal. It now appears that they are divided by dissentions and jealousies--- or some of them actual traitors ! _ _ _ Advance tohla Some: army 1 ! Already the French cavalry, in numbers more than equal to the British, were upon the skirts of our army, and others coming up in succession, with upwards of 100,000 infantry in their rear, and other forces bending their course to the same centre paint. Had Sir JOHN MOORE advanced against SOULT with the utmost rapidity--had he met with no impediments whatever--had he even annihi lated Souvr's division in one hour's conflict, and then commenced his retreat, he would have lost three days before he coed have brought back his army to the point from which he set out. Could Sir JOHN have been justified in a measure which would thus have exposed his army to certain destruction even in the event of victory ? It would be a waste of time to enquire what would have been the result had he advanced, and Soma-, in place of fighting, continued to retreat before him. But we hesitate not to assert that it will be seen in the end, that the British, so far from having three days to throw away; had not three hours !—The enemy will be at the gates of Vigo as soon as our troops ; and it is much to be feared that the troops, which may cover, the embarkation of the rest, will not get away, but be obliged to capitulate or surrender. To talk of the necessity of hazarding certain sa crifices to attain great objects, is only to deal out truisms. Three and two will make five—but three apples and two pears will never make five plumbs. A General has no right to expose his armyto de struction, without any object but that of :hewing how dearly his men can sell their lives. Need we now ask what the Supreme Junta has done since it took all power from the people ? Need we ask what has become of the large supplies of money which have been sent from this country ? Need we ask whether they have b!en contending solely and exclusively for the same objects which first roused the people to resistance ? Have they kept pace with NAPOLEON in the boons held out to the people ? By letters from Lisbon to the 19th ult. it appears, that massy of the British merchants who re-visited Portugal in the month of October last, were making preparations to return again to England.--Measures of the same description were in contemplation at Oporto. PITILACT OP A LETTPII,, DATIL, IN Tit TAG $, WIC. IS, 1808 . " A brig arrived last night, in consequence otothich the Plan tagenet, Resolution, and Audacious, were ordoili: to my and will sail this day for Vigo. They ire to be said* to the Chan nel fleet. " Sir•Cnwacos COTTON goes home inrmedlately. 'the re ports from Spain are various ; but on the whole are rather favour. able. The Spanish Ambassador is in hourly expectation of news of high importance." Lieutenant CARRoLL, Aid•de-Camp to Sir SIDNEY SMITH, has arrived with Dispatches from Rio Janiero, which he left the beginning of November. It appears, by the account of Capt. SMITH, (whom Sir SIDNEY had sent to Buenos Ayres), that the French dispatches, sent out from BONAPARTE and JOSEPH, in May last, had been intercepted, and the French Officer put in confinement. Yesterday, about twelve o'clock, their MAMMA and the PRINCESSES arrived at the Queen's Palace, from Windsor, soon after which the Prince of WaLas, the Dukes of Yolut, CUMBERLAND, SUSSEX, and CAM BRIDSE, waited upon their Majesties and the Princesses to pay their respects. At two o'clock, his MAJESTY held a private Levee, at which the following had the honour of being pre sented : The Earl of PLY mown', on coming to his title. • Brigadier. General tiourrox, on his marriage. Brigadier-General Easzitir, on his promotion. Captain Gwaru, K. N. on his promotion. Captain Pan Li moss, R. N. on his, promotion. The Earl of Livittroot. on coming to his title. Sir Tnoacas TROWIIIIIDOI, on coming k q his title, and MITI from India. Colonel DitINKIVATER laid before his MAMMY . * Eihth Report of the Commissioners of Military qu t , • Family • • '• The Royal ale.rricoid tojemaja .11110W11 till aftqr the.ce.lobratimpf thi:,Qneen t s birth-day. Yesterday.the.Duke of PORTLAND =Tie plaiiited the tiling', Minister; with' k'stankttnato .414,A11, at his 't I • • ••• -; r •. 3 • • THE ARMY. The expedition,- which was first delayed at Poe month for one corps, then for another, then for hors, and baggage, and at last when all of them wet , ready, was delayed by a faeouralle wind shifting„ now likely to be disembarked, and return to quart er ., greatly to their harrassment, and with an expence the officers, which their pittance of pay little enabl t them to sustain. The first news from Spain will certainly be vel , disastrous. Yet our Commanders there are of tI 4 first rate, and the world cannot boast of better troop —but they are a handful. On Monday the bus frigate sailed for Spain, wip General MURRAY and Colonel WALICILL Gene l l MURRAY was brought up in the Guards. and in 179 Was Aide-de-Camp to the Duke of You ; while L brother, Sir JAstss PULTRNRY (then MURRAY), viz Adjutant-General to the army on the Continent. WEST INDIA ENtEDrTION. We have received letters from several officers it the different islands, which arrived by last fleet. Tip different islands are rather unhealthy, particularly St Vincent's and Grenada, and the mortality was great, especially of Medical Officers who died of the yells, fever. The Commander-in-chief, General 13xcawrrn, wa busied preparing for the Expedition from Barbadon. The Troops consisted of Royal Artificers, strong Dstachment. Royal Artillery, ditto. 63d Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Faractottou. Royal York Rangen, Major Hmumaasos. Ist West India Regiment, Lieutenant• sd Ditto 4th Ditto 7th Ditto. Totttr. • Dux BAIL SLACILWIELL Bth Ditto Sir GEORGE Pawn:tar. Bart. was didirlOoked for, . -r with The •tth, or Royal Furileara. - - Bth Regiment. 13th, £3d, or Welch Foslivers, and' ' 101st, Making in all a force of 11.000 men. Lieutenant-General Sir GaQEOE PREVOST is to hare the Chief Command of the Expedition. He has under him those gallant and distinguished Officers Briga. dier-Generals HOUGHTON and COL/SILL!, besides some other General Officers. The last accounts from North America 2111201IRC$ the sailing of Sir Gnome Passvost od the troops fa the rendezvous at Barindoes. ..1 So great is the popularity of the new Cprnedy of I Man and Wiji, that nearly.two thousand copies were sold on the day of its publication. Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at the East-India House, when the following Commanders took leave, previous to departing for their respective destinations, viz. I Captain E. C. BRADTORiII Lord Dan= ; Csptatn 1. CAM* cm, Baring—for Madge and Bengal. Captain W. ttaattiroa, Lady Castlereagh; Captain W. P. D'Erraant, United Kingdom foe k. Helena and BespL The under-mentioned Captains were sworn into the command of their respective ships, viz. Captain I. DaLavaarsr, Marian of Ely; Captain I. Hay, Coutta—for China direct. Captain C. Lc BLANC, Marquis Weßesler-for Ceylon awl Bengal. Monday night an order was sent from the Admi. ralty to Admiral COTTON, requiring his attendance in town. Tuesday arrived in the 'Melpomene frigate a Co. lonel of the Spanish army. One of the chief objects of his voyage to England is to purchase a quantity of saddles for cavalry. There are in Spain about 40,000 horses fit for military service. The Melpomene, on her passage from Cilia, cap tured the French corvette Amelia, which was trying to make any port in France, with dispatches from VICTOR HUGHES, which were preserved, and sent to Government. In consequence of the return of Capt. Sir THOMAS WILLIAMS to England, the following appointments had been made by Sir ALLICANDZR COCHRANE:— Capt. DILKES, of the HAZARD, posted to the Nu. *TUNE; Capt. CAMERON of the ACHATLS, to the HA. ZARD ; Capt. PINTO, of ! the DART, to the ACHATEi; Lieut. SLOAN, of the Nr.rruns, made Commanderof the DART. A battle was fought on Tuesday, at Hazele)' Hants, for 20 guineas, between a black, named Moss, and a rustic,. named Groves, the terror of his village. The battle was fought in a 15 feet ring ; but although there was abundance of resolute rallying, the rustic iras not able to plant a hit, and was completely beaten in 25 minutes. To add to the barbarous sport, a bull was baited, which destroyed four dogs. Surely Jus• tice is lame as well as blind I. Friday, Mary Bateman was - fully committed from the Town Clerk's office, Leeds, for the murder of Sarah, wife of WrFerigo, Of 'Brantley, in May 1807, by poison. Full particulate of this horrid transaction have been already laid before the pitblic. On Tuesday evening a tvoo , woman, named Lof. •tus l. carrylne alpundle of linen; *as hustled by a `number of 6Uys,..bi Pett l icOat-litte, and robbed of the same. • . A ciiribiletniiing to 'Mrs. Otto"? ofDover.street• was overulr:norion.Tuesday, at the end of St. James's • street; oecasionacik the coachma n putting the horses on at speed tq clear two drays, by which the hinder ,wheel of tile'th,ariot came in contact with that ofone :the drays. In th 4 inside were Mrs. WILKES and two young ladies, with knursery maid, all of whom were -tuns,,but.particuiarlY the servant, whose arm, which she was leaning out of the chariot window, was so rt, - 01 bruised that it is feared she must undergo am. putation. The cofchtnin was utdpirt., • s • -, • • t . • cavalry came to desire ate, on the part of the Captain General, not to be alarmed by the a ce of a column of infantry, with a considerah bod y of ca valry, who were ad'eancing on the left, as they were the troops of General la Pena coming from Cascante. Congratulating myself upon this aid, which would have decided the battle in our favour, I rode along my left to direct General St. March to continue the attack in the same order, when that General surprised nie'by telling me that it was necessary we should re treat, as our right had been forced, that the enemy were in Tudela, and that all the troops that occupied the centre of one position had retreated. 6 This intelligence astonished me the more, as the Cart an-General had sent me no information of this event, a circumstance which appeared to me impos sible ; but a firing being heard in the rear of the olive I iantations, I was convinced of the fact. In this me lancholy situation, the division of General Pena not having moved, and that which was announced as his division proving to be a corps of the enemy of about 8000 infantry and 2000 cavalry, I gave directions for retreating in the best possible order; placing the 2d regiment of Valentia in an oblique position, to cover the reti eat of our troops. The troops were surroun ded on all fides, but they gallantly cut their way with the bayonet. I put myself at their head, and left General St. March with the cavalry to protect this daring and only recourse that was left to us. The General discharged this trust with the same exactness that he did every other duty confided to him during_ the action. I can assure your Excellency, that I never witnessed an occasion in which all the officers and soldiers more completely performed their duty ; but of those who were under my orders, I ought to make particular mention of the 3d battalion of the Royal Spanish Guards, and the regiments of Castile, Sergobia, and Turia. D. M. Velasco, Commander of the Artillery of my division ; D. A. Ulloa, Com mander of General St. March's ; D. J. Monino ; D. R. del Pino, who, although surrounded by the enemy, spiked a part of the artillery which they could not bring off, are very much entitled to consideration fo r having entirely destroyed three columns of the enemy. 4 The enemy's loss cannot be less than 8000 men, as we may assure ourselves, when they admitted it exeeeded 4000. I have not yet received all the re. turns of the loss on our side ; but I doubt whether it amounts to 2000, in killed, wounded, and missing. I have the satisfaction of having saved half of the artillery, which was brought off by routes almost im practicable ; and of being a near spectator of every thing that passed, to the last moment. I can assure you, that in this unfortunate event all those under my command have done their duty to their King and country ; and that, had the Captain-General ordered the army of the centre to support us, it would, beyond all doubt, have been the most glorious day for his Majesty's arms, of any recorded in the history of this war.—May GOD preserve your Excellency many years. (Signed) JuAN O'NXILL. ' Mien, November 24, 1808. ' To his Excellency Ceignor Don Joseph Paige:: WEST INDIES. PARBADOES, NOV. 12. It appears by subsequent information to that in our last, stating the capture of a French brig of war, that it was his Majesty's ship JASON, and not the CIRCE, which was seen towing the prize iro Domi. nica. The enemy's vessel is said to mount 16 guns, and it would seem bad given some difficulty in the capture, as, when seen in tow, her main top-mast was gone, and she was under a jury fore-top ; her rigging and sails also much damaged. Besides this vessel, another of the enemy's brigs has been captured, which with several others had re cently sailed from the French Islands for France. Of these, the brigs l'Espoir and Imperatrice, and schooner Jeune Aden', were off St. Martin's on the 30th ult. on their homeward-bound passage from Guadaloupe ' when the schooner, John Burk , a small privateer of Antigua, fell in with them, and made a most gallant dash upon l'Espoir, and carried her by boarding in the face of her eompagnon: de voyage. The vessel mounted eight guns and 25 men, and the pri vateer only one gun, but had 35 men, with which she carried her prize safe to Antigua. The force of the enemy's other brig was 14 guns and 50 men, awl that of the schooner six guns and 20 men, all liden with colonial produce. Accounts to the 6th inst. from off Martinique, mention that Island to be then under the blockade of 18 sail of men of war, including five sail of the line. From ten to twelve sail of men of war were also employed in the blockade of Guadaloupe ; and both islands were again reduced to considerable distress for the want of salted provisions, flour, and tobacco, which bear a most exorbitant demand. The Pompee has sailed this clay from hence to join the blockading squadrons. THE EVENING SI'AR.