Star. — London, England, 1809-01-24 00:00:00

TUT'. EVENIN-G STAR. LONDON. 1 4 0f$DAY, JANUARY 24% ol - sTocKs THIS Luy AT ONE O'CLOCK : Cent. Cunsolk, money, 654.-4.: Feb. Omniuni li—Ex‘:h. Bills 10s. to 14s. pre. 3.te hour last'night the Honourable Captain arrived with dispatches from Sir DAVID Their contents were communicated at an lur this morning in a Letter to . the LORD a:A in the course of the day a Gazette Ex. tary was published, both of which we subjoin : TTER TO THt LORD MAYOR. 4 DOWNING-STREET ) JANUARY 24. MY LORD, le Honourable Captain Goano!:, Aid-de-Camp tenant-General Sir DAVID BAIRD, is just ar ith Dispatches from the Lieutenant General, iunicating the ~intelligence, that, after a hard and bravely contested action of three hours, Ided in the complete repulse of the enemy, the Army embarked unmolested, and without any :ept that which took place in the action. The ;e re left at sea by Captain GORDON, proceeding tsmouth with a fair wind. The Commander • recei‘ed a cannon-shot, which shattered his early in the action, but he lived long enough ;that his meritorious exertions had secured the and disappointed the hopes of the enemy. :utenant-General Sir DAvID BAIRD being se wounded in the arm, had been obliged to suffer aion, but there is every reason to hope that he :over. I have thr honour to be, &c. (Signed) .46 CASTLEREAGH." )0N GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY. DOWNING-STREET, JAN. 24, 1209. • Honourable Captain Hope arrived late last with a dispatch from Lieutenant-General Sir Baird to Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of jesty's Principal Secretaries of State, of which Alowing is a copy. Majesty's Ship 'Ville de Paris, at Sea, Jan. 18, 1809. Loan—By the much-lamented death of Lieu. ..(3reiteral Sir John Moore, who fell in action le enemy on the 16th inst. it has become my to acquaint your Lordship, that the French nuked the British troops in the position they .ed in front of Corunna, at about two o'clock in afternoon of that day. -vere wound, which compelled me to quit the short time previous to the fall of Sir John obliges me to refer your Lordship for the •ulars of the action, which was long and ob. - ly contested, to the inclosed report of Lieu :-General Hope, who succeeded to the Corn. of the army, and to whose ability and exertions section of the ardent zeal and unconquerable va "his Majesty's troops, is to be attributed, under >EWE, the success of the day, which terminat e complete and entire repulse and defeat of the at every point of attack. Honourable Captain Gordon, my Aide-de will have the honour of delivering this dispatch, ill be able to give your Lordship any further cation which may be required.—l have the ho be, &c. D. BAIRD, Lieut. Gen. ion. Lord Viscount Castlereagh. His Majesty's ship Audacious, off Cerunna, Jan. 18. I—ln compliance with the desire contained in :ommunication of yesterday, I avail myself of st moment I have been able to command, to to you the occurrences of the action which took a front of Corunna on the 16th inst. , ill be yovr recollection, that about one in ternoon of thnt.day the enemy, who had in the ig received reinforcements, and who had placed guns in front of the right and left of his line, )served to be moving troops towards his left and forming various columns of attack at that 14 of the strong and commanding position, on the morning of the 15th he had taken in our liat front. General, having pushed forvrttrd the 9.5 th (rigle corps) and Ist battalion 52d regiments, drove Cite enemy before him, and in his rapid and judicious advance, threatened the left of the enemy's position. This cir cumstance, with the position of Lieutenat ft-General Fraser's division, (calculated to give still irurther se curity to the tight of the line) induced the enemy to relax his efforts in that quarter. They were however more forcibly directed towards the centre, where they were again successfully re sisted by the brigade under Major. General Manning ham, forming the left of your division, awd a part of that division under Major-General Leith, forming the right of the division under my orders. Upon the left, the enemy at first contented himseY with an attack upon our piquets, which however in generainaintained their ground. Finding, kowever, his efforts unavailing on the right and centre, he seemed determined to in der the attack upon the left more serious, and had succeeded in obtaining possession of the village through which the great road to Madrid passes, and which was situated in front of that part of the 1 ine. From this post, however, he was soon expelled, with con siderable loss, by a gallant attack of some companies of the 2d battalion 14th regiment, under Lieutenant- 1 Colonel Nicholls ; before five in the evening, we had not only successfully repelled every attack made upon the position, but had gained ground in almost all points, and occupied a more forward line, than at the commencement of the action, whilst the enemy con fined his operations to a cannonade, and the fire of his light troops, with a view to draw off his other corps. At six the firing entirely ceased. The dif ferent brigades were re-assembled on the ground they occupied in the morning, and the picquets and ad vanced posts, resumed their original stations. Notwithstanding the decided and marked superiority which at this moment the gallantry of the troops had I given them over an enemy, who from his number's and the commanding advantages of his position, no doubt expected an easy victory, I did not, on review. ling all Circumstances conceive that I should be war- I ranted in departing from what I knewwas the fixed and previous determination of the late Commander of the forces to withdraw the armyon the evening of the 16th, for the purpose of embarkation, the previous arrange- merits for which had already been made by his order, and were in fact far advanced at the commencement of the action. The troops quitted their position about ten at night, with a degree of order that did them credit.— The whole of the artillery that remained unembarked having been withdrawn, the troops followed in the order prescribed, and marched to their respective points of embarkation in the town and neighbourhood of Corunna. The piquets remained at their posts until five on the morning of the 17th, when they were also withdrawn with similar orders, and without the enemy having discovered the movement. By the unremitted exertions of Captains the Ho nourable H. Curzon, Gosselin, Boys, Rainier, Serret, Hawkins,Digby, Carden, and Mackenzie of the Royal navy, who, in pursuance of the orders of Rear Ad miral de Courcy, were entrusted with the service of embarking the army ; and in consequence of the ar rangements made by Commissioner Bowen, Captains Bowen and Shepherd, and the other Agents for trans ports, the whole of the army was embarked with an expedition which has seldom been equalled. With / the exception of the brigades under Major Generals Ilill and Beresford, which were destined to remain • on shore, until the movements of the enemy should become manifest, the whole was afloat before day- indication of his intention was immediately ded by the rapid and determined attack which (de upon your division which occupied the right position. The events which occurred during rind of the action you are fully acquainted with. -st effort of the enemy was met by the Corn. 7 Of the I.4.rces, and by yourself, at the head 1.2 d regiment, and the brigade under Major al Lora William &mind:. land front of the town soon after dark, and was with anent to say, th at soon a f ter t h e sever e wound all the wounded that had not been previously moved, deprived t h e army o f your services, Lieute- embarked before one this morning. 7. ah!e dispositio n , f e ll by a c a nnon-shot. The Circumstances forbid us to indulge the hope, that kneral Sir J o h n M oore , w h o h a d j us t directed the victory with which it has pleased Providence to crown the efforts of the army, can be attended 1:Iough not unacciitaktted with the irreparable with any very brilliant consequences to Great Bri ,cy had susta i ne d, were not di smaye d, b u t by tain. It is clouded by the loss of one of her best is: eetefmined bra-..c: y not only repelled every tv, the enemy t o ga i n ' grou nd, but actually soldiers. It has been atchieved at the termination )- Lin) to retire, altho'igh lie had brought up fresh of a long and harassing service. The superior :n suppo rt o f t h ose or i g i na ll y engage d. i numbers, and advantageous position of the enemy, enmiy, finding himself foiled in every attempt not less than the actual situation of this army, did . e t' le right of the posit on, endeavoured by : not admit of any advantage being reaped from 2rs to turn it. A judicious and well timed success. It must be, however to, you, to the !melts whi c h was ma d e -b y M a j or -G enera l Paget, army, and to our country, the sweetest reflection to reserve, which corps had moved out of its that th e lustr e of .the British arms has been main intents to supp or t t he . r i g h t o f t h e army, by a tamed, amidst many disadvantageous circumstances. lis attack, (it:fulled this intention. The m„irir . The any which had altered Spain, amidst the fair. iffie light. The brigade of Major-General Beresford, which was alternately to form Our rear-guard, occupied the land front of the town of Corunna ; that under Major General Hill was stationed in reserve on the promon. tory in rear of the town. The enemy pushed his light troops towards the town soon after eight o'clock in the morning of the 17th, and shortly after occupied the heights of St. Lucia, which command the harbour. But notwith standing this circumstance, and the manifold defects of the place, there being no apprehension that the rear-guard could be forced, and the disposition of the Spaniards appearing to be good, the embarkation of Major-General Hill's brigade was commenced and completed by three in the afternoon—Major=General Beresford, with that zeal and ability which is so well known to yourself and the whole army, havitg fully ex plained, to the satisfaction of the Spanish Governor, the nature of our movement, and having made every village on your right became an object of ob centest. previous arrangement, withdrew his corps from the FR!CF. rcr Cent. omoi At a late h • Cows arr i ' B Ai sp. The arly hour tl m a nor, t:aordinary w LETT! , My Lc 4 , The Hon t ,, Licutcuan: t i r ed with Di communicatin fought and I which ended i British Army loss, except th v-holewere let for Portsmout in-Chicf recei shoulder earl] to know that I defeat, and di 4 , Lieutenf vcrely wound , amputation, 1 Hill recover. LONDON The Flom night with a David Baird his Majesty's the following His Maje My Loan- tenant-Gene: with the enei duty to acq army attacks occupied in 1 the afternoot A severe field a short Moore, oblil particulars stinately col tenant-Gene mand of the in direction ( lour of his N . PROVIDENCE ; ed in the con enemy at eve • The Hon< Camp, will h and will be information nour to be, Right Hon. Lo His 11 SIR—In c your commu the first mar detail to you place in fron It will be the afternooi morning rec, some guns it was observe( and fc extremity of which on the inamediat This indic succeeded b he made up( of our positi( .that period a 'file first cif, mane:cr of ri Central Lol The villas etin , ite mitt I lament which depri nant-Gcner;• !oss they ha rrx s -. ZIr.RITIpt ci . I Lirn 7ps st.t The errn: • n.ntfacrs to r:th the re , r;lntonrnent! vigor,Al 4 stu est prospects, had no sooner completed its junction than owing to the multiplied disasters that dispersed the native armies around us, it was left to its own re sources. The advance of the British corps from the Duero, afforded the best hope that the South ofSpain might be relieved, but this generous-effort to save the unfortunate people, also afforded the enemy the op portunity of directing every effort of his numerous troops, and concentrating all his principal resources for the destruction of the only regular force in the North of Spain. You are well aware with what diligence this system has been pursued. These circumstances produced the necessity of rapid and harassing marches, which had diminished the numbers, exhausted the strength, and impaired the equipment of the army. Notwithstanding all those disadvantages, and those more immediately at tached to a defensive position, which the imperious neetssity of covering the harbour of Corunna for a time rendered indispensible to assume, the native and undanined valour of British troops was never more conspicuot's, and must have exceeded what even your own experience Of that invaluable quality so in herent ,in them, may have taught you to expect.— When every one that had an opportunity seemed to vie in improving it, it is difficult for me, in making this repert, to select particular instances for your ap probation. The corps chiefly engaged were the bri gades under Major Generals Lord William Bentinck, and Manningham and Leith ; and the brigade of Guards under . Major- General Warde. To these officers, and the troops under their imme. diate orders, the greatest praise is due. Major•Gene.l ral Hill and Colonel Catlin Crauford, with their bri gades on the left of the position, ably supported their advanced posts. The brunt of the action fell upon, the 4th, 42d, 50th, and 81st regiments, with parts of the brigade of Guards, and the 26th regiment. From Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, Quarter-Master General, and the Officers of the General Staff, I received the most marked assistance. I had reason to regret, that , the illness of Brigadier-General Clinton, Adjutant- General, deprived me of his aid. I was indebted to Brigadier-General Slade during the action, for a zea lous offer of his personal services, although the ca. i valry were embarked. The greater part of the fleet having gone to sea yesterday evening, the whole being under weigh, and the corps in the embarkation necessarily much mixed on board, it is impossible at present to lay before you a return of our casualties. I hope the loss in num bers is not so considerable as might have been ex pected. If I was 'bilged to form an estimate I should say, that I believe it did not exceed in killed and wounded from seven to eight hundred ; that of the enemy must remain unknown, but -many circum stances induce me to rate it at nearly double the above number. We have some prisoners, but I have not been able to obtain an account of the number; it is not, however, considerable. Several Officers of rank have fallen or been wounded, among whom I am only at present enabled to state the names of Lieutenant-Colonel Napier, 92d regiment, Majors Napier and Stanhope, 50th regiment, killed ; Lieute nant-Colonel Winch, 4th regiment, Lieutenant-Colo nel Maxwell, 26th regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Fane, 59th regiment, Lieutenant• Colonel Griffith, Guards, Majors Miller and Williams, 81st regiment, wounded. To you, who are well acquainted with the excellent qualities of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, I need not expatiate on the loss the arMy and his coun try have sustained by his death. His fall has deprived me of a valuable friend, to whom long experience of his worth had sincerely attached me. But it is chiefly on public grounds that I must lament the blow. It will be the conversation of every one who loved or respected his manly character, that, after conducting the army through an arduous retreat with consum mate firmness, he has terminated a career of distin guished honour by a death that has given the enemy additional reason to respect the name of a British soldier. Like the immortal Wolfe, he is snatched from his country at an early period of a life spent in her service ; like Wolfe, his last moments were gilded by the prospect of success, and cheared by the accla mations of victory ; like Wolfe also, his memory will for ever remain sacred in that country which he sin cerely loved, and which he had so faithfully served. It remains for me only to express my hope, that you will speedily be restored to the service of your country, and to lament the unfortunate circumstance that removed you from your station ►n the field, and threw the momentary command into far less able hands. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) JOHN HOPE, Lieut. Gen. To Lieutenant-General Sir DAVID BAIRD, - • kc. &c. &c. PRIVATE ACCOUNTS. The following Extract of a lett* from Captain E. P. TREGARTIIA*, of the OCEAN transport (No. 400), gives so;ne interesing details *X the late event at and in the vicinity of Corunna. ii PLYMOUTH DOCK, JANUARY 22. " Sir—The events which have been the cause of my sudden departure from Corunna, will, I trust, be a sufficient excuse for my returning to England with. out convoy. The intelligence of which it falls to my • Captain TRIGAITI3A. was with the army on Monday, and the other particulars he derived from the officers he brought over• bo wen engagui tidal g e whole of the salon. . • - K . - ; ,- • , - lot to be the bearer, is mist truly disastrous and Olicting, 1 ' ig I shall pass over every preceding transaction, till two o'clock in the afternoon of Monday last, the 16th iast. on which day the enemy advanced in three columns towards our line (which was posted on an eminence about three miles from Corunna) with a determined resolution to force our troops within the gates of the city. A fu r io us attac k commence d from van to rear, which was most obstinately main tained on both sides, till night cltsed the scene. , " Sir DAVID BALRD and Sir JOHN MOORE fell early in the action, the former dangerously and the latter mortally Wounded : many other Officers, and great numbers of our brave men, also fell in this unequal contest. Night having put an end to the action, our army retreated within the walls of Ccrunna, and a general embarkation began to take place, and eonti nued the whole of the night. This movement caused the enemy to advance and take a position for the dis persion and destruction of the tr.in•ports, which could not be moored at any great distance from the shore, owing to a severe gale. C 4 At two o'clock in the afternoon of the 17th (Tuesday last) the enemy opened a tremendous fire on the transports from a battery they had erected during the night, which caused several of the masters to quit their,vessels, and others to slip their cables ; — Such a scene of horror and confusion I never before witnessed ; several transports ran on shore, being foul of each other ; others I( st their masts, bowsprits, &c. " At this time, about five thousand cf our troops remained in the city, and about two-thirds of the re maining horses. The men of war anchored at a dis tance from the shore ; and as the weather moderated in the evening, I am of opinion the remaining part of the army would be embarked. The transports stood into the offing in all directions, without a ship of war to protect them. " Under these circumstances, and having near 203 of the army, sick and wounded on board, besides wo men and children, and a putrid fever raging among them, I deemed it adviseable to make the passage as short as possible, and accordingly bore up under a press of sail for England ; and, after a good passage, arrived here yesterday." NAUTICAL INTELLIGENIFE. PLYMOUTH, JAN. 22. The VILLE DE Pants has not arrived, as stated in my last by mistake—she is hourly expected. Sinc© my last six more of the transports are now (half past SP. M.) beating in. More particulars to-morrow. FALMOUTH, JAN. 26. Arrived yesterday, the Duke of Marlborough packet, BULL, with Mails from Lisbon, nine days passage. It was reported at Liobon, previous to ncr sailing, that a French force of 14,000 men had ar rived at Badajos, on the frontiers of Portugal. PORTSMOUTH, JANUARY go . Arrived his Majesty's ships BLAKE, SATURN, VE. NERABLE, and WILDBOAR, (part of Sir RICHARD STRACHAN'S squadron) from the Downs; HARDY, from a eruize ; and the ENDYMION, with a fleet of transports with troops, mostly cavalry, from Spain. Sailed the MINSTREL on a cruize. Wind S. E. DEAL, JANUARY 23. Sailed his Majety's s.lip ZENOBIA, on a eruize.— Came down from the River .the CARNATIC, ADMIRAL GARDNER ; and BRITANNIA East-IndiAmen ; and remain in the Downs with the rest of the chips, &c. as per last.—Wind W. DOVER, JANUARY N. Came in the ship Leonidas, of Newcastle, Captain BLACKESTON, from Prince Edward's Island, with spars, bound to London, having lost an finchor and cable, and received considerable damage in the late gales. Sailed yesterday evening his Majesty's hired armed cutter QUEEN CHARLOTTE, with the schooner Mary Ann, laden with wine, under convoy► for Guernsey. Came in the roads, the Royalist, Crocus, and Rolla sloops, and three gun-brigs, from a cruize. Wind North and moderate, with snow. JAN. 22.—Sailed this day the Royalist, Rolla, and Ovens sloops, and several gun-brigs, Oa a cruize.— Wind S.S.E. and moderate, with rain. YARMOUTH, JAN. 23. Sailed the I.vNx to the Nore, and the RosAmoND sloop of war on a cruize, Arrived the BOLD gun brig, mad remains in the roads, with the following : RQBUCK, Vice-Admiral DOUGLAS ; PRINCTSS CARO LINE, Commodore PATER ; BELLEROPHON, STATELY. ABOUKIR, and CENSOR gun-brig. Wind S. E. blows strong with now. HULL, JANUARY 20. The Syren, RYE, and Thornton, SACKER, arrived in the Humber on Saturday from the Baltic ; left Gottenburgh en the 3d, in company with several of our ships of war. The Cattegat was nearly frozen across, and all navigation thither suspended for some time. FROM LLOYD'S LIST. The Cartaret and Duke of Kent packets, from Ja maica with mails, are arrived at Falmouth ; the for mer sailed on the 24th of November, and the latter on the 12th of December. The Eliza, of Jamaica, is cut out of the Bay of Hindo, by a French privateer. The Peter, JAMES, from Dublin, for Bristol, was wrecked near Wexford, on the li6thlinstant. The Francis, Pram, from Liverpool, for Curacoa, has been drives on shore near Dublin, and deserted by the crew.