Star. — London, England, 1811-12-06 00:00:00

" : 7 1 7. • • - , TO NEWSMEN. V I . A • 1 1 4.4 • s, ' THE Ist Battalion 31st Regiment have been irre gularly furnishers, by persons uoluiown, with Npwspipers (the STAR) for a number of years past. As the Officers are de sirous to pay what Is due on that account, it is requested that the Bill may be immediately lent to the CothosaM*.ing Officer in Sicily. After this notice any future ruin{ will not be noticed. . • a Decetnber 5,1811. . , • "•,.; '• • - ) .J tZ • l•' 1 ti ' k . ij • •,1 • FRENCH PAPS ! S. VIENNA, NOVEMBizit Many of th'e Hungarian nobles tie with each other in zeal and patriotism. On the Emperor's birth-day Count Zichy gave a splendid dinner ? at which his plate was much admired; When taken from the table Count Zichy sent it to the mint. Count Sezechni has also sent thither 2800 mares of silver plate. 'Ve have leatned from Presbnrg, that M the late Sittings of the States the Members of the Diet had s'hewn a greater disposition to accede to the demands f the Court. j 4 E,IIIRSBURGH, NOVEMBER S. Op the 15th ult. :he Neva began to freeze. To. wards evening the river v as so covered with flakes of ice, that by way of precaution the two bridges of th;s capital were immediately removed. In the night of the 18th• the liver was completely frozen over, after having been open since the 11th of April for 190 days. 4 great deal or snow has lately fallen, and winter has set in with all its rigour. • RIGA, OCTOBER 3.0. A great &al of snow has lately fallen, and winter bas now set in. The river is almost completely fro- Len over, and a great number of ships are stopped. houid the frost continue, navigation will be corn- I vletely interrupted. VALLADOLID, OCTOBER 2e. Things go on very well in Andalusia; tranquil. ' bty anLizood order prevail there. The inhabitants fiava co&tantly resisted the efforts of the agents of the Junti and the English. • Nothing new has lately taken place before Cadiz. The corps (f MarshA Victor has received many rein forcements from the Southern coasts. It k believed that a division of the 4th army corps will penetrate into Murcia, and attempt the siege 01 the fortified port (4 . Carthagena. It is alsq believed that site left wing of :the army of the South will place itself in communi cation with the corps commanded by Marshal Suchet. PARIS, NOyEMEER S 6. A.EMET MADE TO lIIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR. BY TIIE lIINISTER OF FIANCE. SIRE—The Sieur Magnen, Receiver of the Dis trict t);* Ainhert, Del:arm:cut of Puy de Dome, has absconded'. He has left only an inconsiderable ~kbt, for which the Imperial Treasury will be more than indemnified by his sureties ; but this acci.untant has jafringed the law by delivering out provisional but, instead of definitive receipts. He is, besides, very con t ideribly in debt to private individuals. He can there fore no longer deserve the confidence of Government, isncl T have the honour to propose'his dismission. j Signed) 66 The Duke of GAETA." [Then follows an Imperial Decree, by which the said gagnen is dismissed from his office.] Two persons, of the names of Pollen and Lefevre, employed in the War Office, have been lately *Ves ted, and are under trial, for having, by mean.. of for ted docuMents, and under the names of several ab sent officers, got into their hands considerable sums lion% th&War Paymaster. They flattered themselves 'pat in the course of a single month they would thus procure a sum of 101,000 francs. SP4NISH PAPERS. VALENCIA, OCTOBER 26. The following information has been officially com : . municated to the public : STAFF OF THE SMOND ARMY. 1 , His Excellency Don Joaquin Blake having hid it in view to relieve the garrison of the Castle of St. Fernando de Sagunto, and to cotnrnence operations for driving the enemy from the kingdom 6f Valencia, ycs•ertlay put his army in motion ; but the fortune of RUM was not conformable to his plans and to his hopes. The inhabitants ei this Cttpit4l have b.•.en .wimesses of the valottr with Vaich our troops f0n12,10, and of the good order in wit'ch they effected their retreat, for the purpose-of occupying their former positiOns. But the enemy, proud of his succ . ns, and bvlieving our army complteli routed or dispervd, and making sure of the conqttest to which he all:red, this day sent in a flag of truce to our advanced posts, of which infoiTnation was given to the Senor General, T.tho immediately sent an oilicer of h's staff to learn ne-cbject of its arrival, an not ptrrnit the bearer to advance any farther. The bear:r therefore delivered the subjoined letter, and returned. It is addressed to the Governor of Valencia, and its contents are literally as follows : • ARMY OF ARRAOON. • " Camp at Va:eri:iA, Oct. LT, 1811. " Senor Governor—You must already know the result of the battle of yesterday. Eight thousand prisoners, many Generals, and the greater part of the 4rtiliery of the army commanded by Senor Bl::ke, are in our power. lam commissit , ned on the part ' of his Excellency the Marshal of the Empire Count Suchet, to make proposals to you, that tile city of Valencia may avoid all the calamities and outrages which a vain resistance must inevitably draw down upon it, and of which all thifortresses besieged and taken by our troops present to you a terrible example. I am authorised to offer you conditions the: most ho.. pourable and advantageous for the security and titan . quillity of the citizens of Valencia. Flom the mo. meta that city surrenders to the arms of his Majesty the Emperor and King, the past shall be forgotten, and no resentment shah exist on the part of the French against the Valencians : wLile we, on our part, by Our generous proceedings, and the special protection which his Excellency the Martial promises the Va lencians, shall exert ourselves to make them forget the evils of war, and the horrible anarchy in which they have been so long plunged. • • - t. " Receives Senor Governor, the assurance of my perfect consideration. (Signed) • • 4! BARON HARISrk, GetkalciDivislon." 4 ! His Excellency the General in Chief has not reply to this 'riditulous paper, ~ t • • • P erriven With the malicious I,lltentkil Of elleitleg the I public believe that the army has been destroyed, and the General remaining wfthout the city'; Sid his Es= cellenCy has thought proper Wet' the above should be communicated to all, for their information. (Signed) . 44 SUWON mum." VALENCIA, OCT. Cs. BATTLE OF THE TWISTY-I , IFM OF OCTOBER. On the 25th, in the morning, we attacked the ene my ; the fate of arils decided in their fixour. On the night of the same day our troops again occupied their positions, upon the right of the 1 una ; and on the '26lh, in the afteruoon, Murviedro capitulated, which, at break of day the following morning, had the trt-coloured flag flying upon it. We will enter a little into particulars; . The Castle of Murviedro, placed at the junction of the two avenues by which the enemy at present di rected their invasion, WAS the bastion of this kingdom. Every endeavour was therefore requisite to prevent their obtaining possession of it, since without it they coeld not carry their projects into execution. Our army, in consequence of the past, avoi4ed a battle the puccess of which appeared dubious, and retired to this position to hettei its disposiii.m, and wait re inforcements, and t emain till the enemy hid weaken ed themselves in the siege of this castle. The French commenced the siege with that Impetuosity which marks their character, and the for-etcr glorious re sistance of the fortress was equally deteVrtined, as well as the measures adopted by their Governor. The army was organised with activity, and rein forced by the large expeditionary divisions of At the same time, the divisions of the Empecinado, Diann and Mina, attacked the garrisons of Arragon, distracted the enemy's forces in that kingdom, retard ed the arrival of the reinforcements which came and threatened the capital, and disquieted SuChet above measure. The people of the Serrania and Onda likewise in tett opted greatly his communication with Tortosa. Scarcity began to be felt in the enemy's camp : it arrived to a considerable height, and through neces sity a corps of 1,000 men were obliged to be detach ed to protect a convoy coming from Saragossa. In this state were things on the 23d; but although two of the military means used to save fortresses, vw.. to ince cept the enemy's subsistence, or threaten some point which it was very important for them to iave, were put in practice, they were not on this occasion sufficient. The breach in the Castle had been accessi ble for eight days, it possessed little provisions, and had resisted three assaults. Some differences between Duran and the Empeci nado, according to that spirit of provincialism which we have not yet been able to root out from among paralyzed the operations, and the state of the fortifi cations of Saragossa left no doubt that it would hold out longer than the castle of Murviedro. The en trance of a Strong Italian division from Navarre con tributed also to secure the enemy in Arragon. Time pressed; the army wished for battle, for that alone could save the castle of Murviedro, which by letters and signals had made known the extremity to which it was reduced. It was resolved to give battle, and place ourselves, as we had done so many times before,' in the hands of that fortune which has so much fluence in such events.. The troops began to defile on ow left towards the bridges of Ribaroja, and our first movements repulsed, drove back precipitately the 4.,Q00 men wl the enemy had detached, end the convoy they expected retired in the same ni.4nner to Saragossa: The ground from hence to Murvie dro is a kind of closely-planted orchard, which ter minutes on the right at the sea, and on the left at some distance from the foot of the mountains which separate Valencia from La Mancha, Cuenq, and Arragon. Three principal carriage-roads cross this orchard, and lead from Turia to Placentia ; one on the right called De Alboruyo, through the centre of the high roid ; and on the left that which leads from Ribaroja by 13etcra. The enemy were encamped a league beyond Mt:rviedro, at the place where the mountains approach nearest the sea. By these three roads it was indispensably necessary to make our attack ; and though the nature of the ground render ed it impossible to unite well those of the right and centre with that of the left, that was much less in convenient than to leave open any one of the three roads. The security with which the enemy (in case they should endeavour to anticipate our attack, as was to be expected), might send their main body on the right by the road of Betera, the mountains cover ing their attack, and the ground there being free for their cavalry to act in, and open for the display of their manccuvres, determined the General likewise to make his principal attack at the same point; and to this rea'ion was added, that of being surrounded or driven upon the sea in case of defeat. To this attack was therefore destined the Valencian division under the command of Miranda, that of the Arrago nese 'under Villacamp, both under command of O'Donnell, and the division of Mahi. In the centre WAS the division of Lardizabal, with the expeditionary cavalry ; on the right the division of Zayas. The division of O'Donnell as best experienced, siipported by that of Mahi, as a reserve, were appointed to commence the attack--the two divisions of the cen tre'and right were to accompany the movement, and cover the right of the principal -attack, Two sections of the division of reserve, one under :he command of Liori, the other under Velaseo—and both, in fact, under the latter, were to serve as a reserve to the centre and right. The whole disposition was ex, tremely well concerted. It was to be expected that the Valencian and Arragonese troops would fight well, seeing they were supported by good troops ; and in case of a want of firmness, there was a re, source, which would not have been the case had the disposition been contrary, tnd the impbrtance of se, curing the high road (since the retreat of the troops of the left would never be to Valencia) justified the employment of the troops for this purpose, it; whom most confidence could be, placed . . • • The line chosen for the base of this double attack was that formed by the heights of the Pitch, on the Tight.—the Cartaja in the centre; 'and on the left, the two hills called Germane% in front of which runs the deep read of Pizador. On the 24th at'ricion, began the general morment which was adeoMpanied by' the light trnOpk, In 4 an r.nglicb corvette of war. •; • • . • • ' At midnight the moors occupied their position in .~ I. post, retbouvbeing admitted to lidvance farther. Yes. terday they approached towards Tab- rnes = we I are passed the night under arms. and !enact that if the enemy attack us, in the entrenchments they will he re. pulsed. • ' the Ana, the Gnerillas meting the high road.... Ott 'Chi 25thi in the morning, ete discovered the ettuet . • in their camp, formed In order,ol battle, with ,large bodies on their flanks and centre, and the greater part of ir.eavalry pn the right—and a few, moments horse and guerillas appeared CADIZ, NOVEMBER 20. T.o.day disembarked is this port. Lieutenant-Gt. the Hostalets, or Minns ofPuchol, situated in front • on the deep mad. The firing began on both si Je4 near dour line ; and the General being well informed of .t he 4... i twral Henry O'Donnell, General.in Chief ofi • , the situation of the enemy, gave orders to advancr. Army . The movement was immediately made in the most Nov. 22.—The following are the positions of our , gallant manner, and almost at the smote moment the troops in the territory of Ronda :— On the 16 11 G.:- enemy began theirs—part of their forces took t he nerd Copmis was in Meals, the Eng:-11 at Vegtr, high road, and the main body, wish the cavalry; the and Gene r al Ballaii. stt.ros com manded the plains o r , road of Eetera. Both armies then advaaced to the os, rc?s, an. evn as i 1 far as , Xeres. Ti.cr e i • encounter with equal ardour, and all rem:tined in reason to believe , however , that Souk has succeeLle,t ense, . susp ' waiting the moment of the terrible &Lock. in collectingdowards Moron about 40(e) Men, al troon About half Nay betacen the enemy's right and our' are to co- opera te with left was a ridge of ground, which offered some ad- Coal!, and tp be joined by other detachments ; t h t • s whom he has IV 5000 . whole of which, when collected, may occaeion the n . vantage ; and both parties made exertions to avail themselves of it. treat of our troops. It appears certain that Sem e : • was charged with this expe .jeoia, and that it was te n . e Our sheep - shooters , with singular velour, ritunieg , co: ine:ice its operations on the 20 th. We vts-, through the plain towards that part of the enemy's ! . . c' . '. teat General Ballasteros is well informel cavalry which covered the movement, put them to "" te - flight, got possession of the ridge, and were sup- ; its eieects, and confidently hope he will gain the ; satete advantages over it as he did over the precedi ng . ported by titre. battelions and some field-pieces, bet The lee st letters frem Valencia reach down to t h e this ardour, was inconsiderate—they separated tee 1 much fro the column;. Those of the enemy, is Li c h eth, and add nothing farther to what we hav e already:n were more united, dieledged them. with a charge , ' seated, but that the enemy continued his tecoceee. assisted by the movement which their cavalry made , ay.. es on their right, against the left flank of our columns. eajev. 24.—The last accounts Irons Valencia are The battle lasted no longer on the left., The ra,hncss ' from Alicent, of the 12th instant. They stete, that of the soldiers, And the want of military discipline, Suchet wee. erecting his batterhs close to V a l enc i a , Lad th;s effect—and one battalion alter Another, after and that his whole force did not exceed 15,000 men. making a feeble resistance, were put in dist.rJer, The Spenier,is have 26,(Y00 men, exclusive of Cue. and abandoned the field of battle. The order m hick rifles ; so that there were still he ixs they might be the General sent, iliac Mahi should attack, did not successful. nor could arrive in time; and this General, seeing 1 There are accounts that ,Empecioado and 11 . .. ran had surrpunded a body of 4000 French in Arregon, that the principal attack of the enemy would be against' him, and being without cavalry, in rouse- possibly the division lately detached by Suchet t o th at qoence of the little firmness ehewn by his, who aban- province, to check their progress. doned him on the approach of the enemy, and well The British troops under Colonel Skerrett had re. persuaded that his disordered troops could not unite, ' turned to Tarifa. They had some ts iffing skirmishe s immediately commence d . his retreat, which was ob. i with the enemy, and part of the 67th lett their knelt.. stineeely covered to Las Stomas, by Creagit's division, . sacks at Vigor ; their loss very taifling. which had superior forces US - contend with. The bat- i General Ballasteros was manoeuvring before two the was now lost, at the very time this event hap- : The divisions of Lardizabal and Z tyas' petted. divisions of the French, commendedby General Se opened their fire, the first in Los Hostolets, an e the— mele. We have ever y confidence in his not only second in Puchol—and the expeditionary horse, frustrating th eir designs, but of giving a good ac placed on the lett of the road, made one, of tie most i count cf them as he did before. brilliant charges ever recoeded ; since, notwidistand..l There is no novelty in this neighbourhood. ing the enemy's horse were suppo r t ed by artillery,l CORTES, and defended by a mud wall, the:, despising the firs : SITTING OF Tlll 22D OF IZOFFAIDIR. of the former, and leaping the latter, attacked, over- Various , letters were read, transmitted from the threw, and sabred the French hussars, though vet y i .., Staff of the army of Valencia. Senor An. superior in numbers, took the artillery, and continued . G ene ral _, mini, .taovernor of the Castlearf Sagunto, acs, the action. Ric, Colonel of the Grenadiers, was the a . that tir ing . convinced of the impossibility 'of the first who leaped over the wall; Coral, he who took , siege being raised, he bad consented to an honour[. the artillery. • ble. capitulation. In the summons of surrende r e d. The fruits of this charge were lost—our cavalry .dressed to the said Governor, Suchet sets, that ail disordered, as might be expected, after this move- resistance was vain after the actiia of the 25th, in men!, were attacked by the reserve of cuirassiers, which he calculates that lie took- 3 celours, 20 pieces and driven back for a considerable distance, with the of artillery, and 4000 prismers. loss of General Caro and Brigadier Loy, prisoners, the Valencia Gazette of November the the :led support of the 23 line, some wonnded ; and i which had a short tin consequence of wantm ei be- _PO' B. In est Andrianii s much blamed for having surrendere,h fore been sent to reinforce the van-guard, they could and also his otleers, none of them having thought i proper to as 1:I11.• the commend of the castle, in vir not rally for a length of time. ' • tue of a,! -..::..i.. of his hia' e aty to 'het effect, in which Almansa and Alcautara likewise retired to Fehla • the Gore; nor and gartieen of every place axe cee. de Farnell, netere they rallied ; and the van-guard et- tioned "to he u p on t!e:e guard again t eivingtrei':i tacked in front, and turned on its lett, followed the to the treacherous and artful details of the Fience.") same movement.--Thus was our centre routed. A I..tter of General Burriel. chef ef the staff ( f In the mean time, Zayas's division, which' efore in General Blake's army, says, with regard to the a, t: , n Albuera and Zug.ir so nobly supported the national of the 25th, that it was impossible yet to fix tee honour, most heroically fought, even outdoing its for- ameunt of the li ss, as the details Lad nor came in • t mer deeds. Without any support from its left, it but that some pieces of artillery had been LA. completely cleared the high road, commenced a brisk , action against very superior forces, and three or four Letters from General Lacy detailed - the cap.ure of , times obliged the enemy's battalions to retrocede. a convoy of 150 nudes laden with corn, and 7(10 head of cattle, after routing the escort; also the COM ' It was in vain the enemy marched towards it, by plow rout of the enemy in Igualada, Cervera, and the high road, a strong column of cavalry ; that the Belpnig ; and that after the surrender of the latter reserve, situated in Puchol, fired upon, and made de- po i nf, the Berm de Erodes advanced into some of the monstrations of turning it ; it would not retire a step, villages of France, and drove back the enemy who but covering its left as well as lii cumstances -would attacked him. admit, with a battalion en maize, continued the action. At the capture of Cervera, a ten . egatlo Spaniard There now scarcely remained the two battallnns oft was taken, who had acted as Corregidor of the pl ice, Spanish guards, that of La Petrie came to their as- greatea and who had been guilty of th e atrocities sistance ; and whilst in El l'uig, the General was towards his unfortunate countrymen. This mocreent making the requisite d;sposition for restraining the ene had nyente . d . a cage, into which he eut tilo , e who did my, the 4th division of the 4th army continued their i Their not pay their contributions, or who.were not saki fire, as at the commencement of the action. ently submissive to his caprices, and in wiiielt trey ammunition being at last consumed, Zayas sent to were exposed to all manner cf insults. This c to was request the General would send him cartridges. The i General sent him orders to cemmeoce his retreat ; this so constructed, that only the heads of the wretc::ed 1 movement he executed most admirably and leisurely. prisoners were free, and in this s t a te he of t en be- All the wounded retired, and the four divisions hay- smeared their faces with honey, in order that they ing arrived upon the heights Del Pitch, took a position might be devoured by the flie s . , fltis Senor Corte up in them. They had the m;sfortune to have taken F ‘ i C ervera , in tdost has been i his own cage , in order that be might nue battalion of guards, in consequence of an equivocal since paraded through the streets of prisoners in the streets of Puchol, the remains of the e &tate at his leisure on the unfo r tunate being s whom movement made by the Imperials of Toledo, on ac- he subjected to this cruel puni s hm ent . count of witch Zayas has suspended their Com. ' The following letter, addressed to General Blake mandant. The heroic hattalinn of guards, now with. front Espoz y Mina, was then read : out cartridges, twice demanded to be led to thech mete. ' et I hare the honour to inform your Excellency. The bold demonstrations of the reserve the efforts of that for the purpose of incessantly harassing the ene- Vella and Burriel, of Lardizabal and Chacon, and my, I marched to the town of Exea, in the kingdotu others, who collected some cavalry in the high road, qf Ammon, where having routed the enemy's gun checked the enemy, who, by another route, had de- son, I advanced to the town of 4yerbe, distant abc.lit cached the greater part of their force against Mahi. twelve leagues, for the purpose of attacking du -.: At one in the afternoon, and our troops halted at who remained there. While employed in preparing four, the wounded were withdrawn t and being now a mine for blowing up the fortifications, I learnvd persuaded that the whole of the fugitives were by this that the enemy, to the number of 1300 men, were time on this tide of Tuna, the retreat of :the reserve advancing from Saragossa far the purpose of attach: - was directed. Zayas was charged with the execution ing me. In consequence of this inf ormation, I order of this, which he accozpplished in the teeth of the edmy infantry to pass to the Opposite side of the town, enemy. . - a nd to occu py t h e - heights which commanded it, while the cavalry remained on t h e a d vance , f or t h e , At night, as we have already st a t e d, t h e army was in its former positions, and the most active cares have p urpose of reconnoi tr i ng . already been taken for the reunion of the troops, as ! "On the morning of the following day the enemy well as the tranquillity and order of the place. Our arrived, and thou hmy force was inf e ri or i n numbers, loss has not been very c o ns id e f a bl e , because the good yet, confiding i n iie valour of my troops, conduct of Mahi, and the expeditionary division, him. . The El e ve 4th tllMl d k ivi C si t Cilhasspersisgatlolyarrerivveenagedt.T.uria, Generalu•hich o ti f re th d rce tow;: a rd s s ue tte .. enemy, alter a considerable resistance. i%- I attacked plain of they P y la h cen rec tia tin t s th v e er d!st o s b n i c i ! Blake visited all the hospitals ; and at least experien- ged to form a, square ; an d the fourth time, with my of rece iving in ti g mi pro t s of of h tb is e m s i o si d o ie rt n une , s, love, th e.tretigsParecattieuttn wulthanttrhyeabandrca.c.valryanduniubtTeed,,wlitbhrosokeminutcohthi:eitruspq:i.::ti; consolation to which avomrnander can aspire. . that I succeeded - in completely routing them. About On the day folknring the battle, the enemy's troops. 7.00 were taken prisoners., many of them .wounded, who advanced td* pursue Mahi, and cover the move- and the relit, with the exception of a few who esea mem of Harispe's division to San Miguel de la Reyes, pad, remained dead on the held. (Signed) hi order to pass the line, senta flag of crime, which, b y . a 11ULICMICO all'OS v MOIL. order of the General, was received at the advanced ! * _ P 1.14 of Maar, Oct. 11." • • • thought proper to r donlimm PRI a r sr Plav Ezc eve lett its' me the 3111 wit bay p 1 we di w t) cl ~.