Star. — London, England, 1811-04-16 00:00:00

position, and the soldier's ! the Sea spirits. evasys * hal every r o y ut da fr y om S the alam an ca rece ca iv and sa ci Ciudad d d l i t o o e dn s : a r d , , an every thing that was necessary for their refreshment. Thus the army of Portugal has lived six months , epon the resources of the country — it has changed its March 1 place when all those resources were exhausted, and when the difficulties of transport and of roads left no formed, hope of drawing any thing from the depots. Th e 1,...... i months which precede the harvest are in general the' h, a d. most difficult for subsistence, because then the gra -1 naries are empty, their difficulties have of course ex , isted in a much stronger degree in an enemy's country already laid waste. iar- Fore of know- pre ,byum mena one upon the ceria, General Hill move - Pun other of been have army of was to S.ORD WELLINGTON'S LETTER, ALLUDED TO BY EM I rptcEvAL 1N TUE DOUSE , OF COSIMONS. So far back as October List, his Lordship, contem plating the evacuation of Portugal by the enemy, re commended the inhabitants of the districts, through which they pass, to the benevolent attention of his country. It will be seen by the following letter that he paid, on that occasion, the highest compliment to the loyalty of the Portuguese nation ;—m I declare (says his Lordship) that I have scarcely known an instance in which any person in Portugal, eyen of the lowest order, has had communication with the enemy, inconsistent with his duty to his Sovereign, or with the orders he had received."—Such a people are well wor- I thy of that benevolent attention to which his Lordship so impressively recommends them. iCo )), of a Dispatch from Viscount WaLLINCITOth to Earl of LiveaPOUL, dated, soon 27th of them who made a were was !d and . bank the left • in an PORTUG4L. THE SUffERING PORTUGUESE. lim -- on the liarged him. o ' times.— ' our ba ld soon Iy's line, posit ion, ''oheriot. ith the Pero Negro, 47th ef October. MY 1.01111-••• Your Lordship has been apprised of the measures which had been adopted, to induce the inhabitants of Portugal to quit that part of the coun-' try through which the enemy was likely to pass, or which it was probable would become the seat of his operations; carrying off with them their valuable pro perty, and every thing which could tend to the ene , my's subsistence, or to facilitate their progress. There is no doubt that these inhabitants ad suffici ent knowledge, from former experience, of the treat ment they would receive from the enemy: and there is no instance oft hose of any town or village having re mained, or of their having failed to remove what might be useful to the enemy, when they had sufficiently early intimation of the wishes of government or of my self, that they should abandon their houses, and catty away their property. All those who :.re acquainted with the nature of military operationf, with their dependence upon the assistance of the country to supply the wants of the army, and particularly with the degree to which the French armies depend upon this assistance, must be aware of the distress which this system has occasioned to the enemy; and the official and private letters which have been intercepted are filled with complaints of its effects, which have been repeated in the official papers published in the Moniteur at Paris. It happened, unfortunately, that the Indian corn harvest, which it the principal support of the inhabi tants of a large part of Portugal, was on the ground at the moment of the enemy's invasion. This of course could not bz. carried off; and where the enemy's troops Ihave been, they have, as usual, deStroyed what they could not consume, and nothing remains. If, therefore, the result of the campaign should be to oblige the enemy to withdraw from Portugal, it is much to be apprehended that the greatest distress will be felt in those districts tlkfough which the enemy's troops have passed; which there are no means what ever in the country of relieving. Upon former occasions the wealthy inhabitants of Great Britain, and of London in particular, have step ped forward to assist and relieve the distresses of fo reign nations, whether suffering under the calamities inflicted by PHOVILIZSCS, or by a cruel and powerful enemy. This nation has received the benefit of the charitable disposition of his Majesty's subjects ; and there never was a case in which their assistance was required in a greater degree, whether the sufferings of the people, or their fidelity to the cause they have espoused, and their attachment to ids Majesty's sub jects, be considered. I declare, that.l have scarcely known an instance in which any person in Portugal, even of the lowest order, has had communication with the enemy, incon sistent with his duty to his own Sovereign, or with the orders he had received. I would, therefore, beg leave to recommend the un• fortunate portion of the inhabitants, who have suffered from the enemy's invasion, to your Lordship's pro. tection ; and I request you to consider of the mode of recommending them to the benevolent disposition ,of his Majesty's subjects, at the moment, which I hope may be not far distant, that the enemy may be wader the necessity of evacoating thc,country. I have the honour to be t etc. (Signed) •. . . . , •'.. FWICH PAPERS. --.:-.. ' PARIS, APRIL 9. wrrnt.uoceez ritom rile ARMY OP PORTUGAL. Aa Aid-de-Camp of Marshal the Prince of Essling kat ai''ved at Paris. He set oet , on the 23cl March, frafterWorico, Which was the head-quarters. . All the' megaiines which the army had formed, Were enthely ealtausted.'on the 28th of FebroarY,-e ' - The foragers, Who Were sent 20 leagues from he-ad• eprarters, no ledge! brattiest in any thing. On the Ist of Match they were reduces' to subs's' on the`yeserve of biscuit, which could only furnish 1! days food, and, it was impossible to wait for the har vest, as no resource courd be expected from it before . , ' June. There remained, therefore, to the Prince o - gsslin g only three measures to adopt. One was toiittack the English. in ,their lines befor Lisbon, bUt thiprinciples of tnilitary tactics forbad this, ieasmuch as his heavy artillery could not brought up. .. , 'Another was to pass the Tagus to form a kinetic with the army of Andalusia, and by that means open lug a communication by the great road with Sevil and Madrid, finding his artillery in Badajos, drawir his provisions from the Alentejo, changing his line operation, and maintaining the double tete-ele-por i which the army had constructed on the right and It 1 ~ banks of the Zezere, at Punhete. • General Bile, with an activity and a tnte kao , ledge of all the resources of his art, which ala hi , . the greatest honour, as well as the artillery i was pi . i paring to construct 200 boats. We m i g h t then, 1 throwing at once two bridges over the Tagus, mer sing a pa:sage in front of Punhete, effecting o lower down opposite Santarem, bearing then up the rear of the division of General Hill, which t English kept before Punhete, or leaving the Engl army at Lisbott, and by a movement upon 4..,e: obliging them to recal the division of General V. in order to succour Lisbon ; profiting by this mo• rnent to throw over a bridge in the environs of Pi liete. The Tagus being passed by one or other these operations, a communication would have hi opened with Seville and Madrid, and we might h; been reinforced-with all the resources of the army Andalusia. The third measure which presented itself war repass the Mondego, bearing upon Guarda, and op ing a communication with Ciudad Rodrigo, wh there were shoes, clothing, ammunition, artillery, 1 gazines and money for the army, which had not b paid for six months. • On the 3d of March the Prince of Essling deer on the last measure. On the 4th, all the baggrze and the sick v placed on a great number of mules and asses wl were with the army; they were sent forward on road, and gained two marches. The rearguard confided to the Duke of Elchingen, who advaii &one Leyria to Malian°, threatening to turn the - eition of Cartazo. On the 10th the rear-guard ` lat Pombal. Our sharpshooters, who remained in front of town, and the English :.wanted guard were eng aj lehich gave rise to the combat of Pombal. O ur ivanced posts retired, and the Englidi advanced gt entered the town. The first - brigade of the ' division of the Duke of Elchingen charged the en( ° with the bayonet, and killed and wounded 4or ' men. Our loss in this combat amounted to .5 killed 18 wounded. The English advanced guard ha( artillery ; the artil:cry of our rear-guard t waz in -,e tpry. and played constantly upon them. On the 11th the French erear-guard was on heights of Redinha. The English General advai with his whole !irmy. At two in the aileinoo , . deployed about 23,000 men under the tire of 4 our pieces of artillery, which played with great .-.. Pity. All the shot b..-re upon the mass of the em they beingaininasked by any battery. Disarder nifested itself several times in their columns. A five their artillery arrived, and they mounted i batteries. We saw with pleasure that one of . •, divisions manoeuvred on the right to turn our lef . i the valley of Redinha. We let them do it. - As ! as they were sufficiently eagaged the :oth and 27 li the line charged them with the bayonet, and put 1 completely to the rout. The English Officer l' commanded was killed. The third Hussars ma fine dia . rge. The loss of the English, who several hours under the fire of our artillery, ,li considerable. Our loss amounted to $0 killed l ' ll wounded- :l 1 On the 15th the advanced guard was at Fo 1 1' Arome. ' l l • Our artillery was in a position on the right of the Ceira, which cometanded much of the bank. We engaged the enemy very adroitly 1 affair of advanced posts, which embarrassed hi r tf 1 We drew him tinder the fire of the artillery o right bank, whilst the 39 th and 69 th charged 'rite village was taken and retaken several elm 1 - ThelEngrish were exposed to all the fire of ow . ; teries, disorder prevailed in their ranks, and communicated itself to the whole of the enemy' , r fatigued with the incon7eniencies of such a pre some fugitive Englisk ari ived at Liniza and Pia The village cat Foz de Arorne remained nil Trench ne ar guard. Our loss amounted to 200 men ; that of the r , ' 11 to 1200.. An English General Officer was kill ; 0 This vas the 'moment to march against the • i Es% army, and to ruin it. This resolution was instant'agitated in the. French army, but it w I: i ;; 15th, -and the retreat had commenced on the , 1l; I ; ' We had Only marched one and a half or two li , , $ der day, am" there only remained provisions f or t hree days, at a half ration. It was, therefa possible to step—there was not a day to lose, a i • army continued its movement. • , 1 j, On the 17th the rear-guard had wholly pass I' Alva. ' Instructed by the combats of Pombal, diiiha, and of Fuz de Arome, the enemy no 'hewed himself. These three combats were advantageous I L . French army'. Net a single caisson ; not a c , with baggage, me one sick man was left behii c . took twelve days to march from Santarem banks of the Alva. . i ' ' All the movements of the retreat were talc ~, t, 1 ; pet upon the movements of the Inglisb, but a necessity of subsistence.' , .. l ;At I,9the on the 224 the army WaS In I . . ..,... . . '. i • or '-•.•: WELLINGTOIII. Os. LISBON, MARCH 27. EITIACT Or A LETTER PROM M iRSIIAL LORD wrung; TON TO DON M. PEREIRA FORJAZ, DATED OLIVEIRA DE I. 2 IIOrITAL, MARCIA 21. Vas first part of this dispatzh appeared in the Gazette of last Turaslay, but the following additional information is contained in the diseatch to the Portuguese Regency.] " Since my last dispatch to your Excellency, I have received letters from General Mendizabal and other persons relative to the fall of Badajoz. The Governor of that place had written on the Bth to the Spanish Minister at war, and had manifested no fear of the place being in danger—he said that the fire of the for tress was v..e1l supported, and that, of the six batter ing cannon which the enemy MA, one had been dis mounted that very' day. *-On the 9th, he signified to' General Leite that ha bad been made acquainted with I, my message.' On that . day there was no tiring till the evening, and on the IQth, instead of the 11th, as I had supposed, the place capitulated. • I " By the Bth article of the capitulation it was de _ clared, that the fort of San Chrictoval, and the tote-de to the prdir, which is on the right bank of the Guadiana,l carriage should be delivered up to the enemy, as soon as he ind., It could occupy. the said works. From this article may Santarem to the i be collected the spirit in which the capitulation was drawn up. calculated, « After the fall of Ba z the enemy made a 't ;Too cite movement oft the 14th, and iched against Campo ' Mayor, which he.signmoned to surrender—this being the best refused ) he proce&ded to open the trenches befoit it. • •. . enemy rifled. the Eng for AA WAS the sth. leagues for MP fare, inl and the e .tssed the ibal, of Re no longer (ore ide ii* action opgn T "ille .pant, 1 lef t Jish open. There ma• Wen :hled wetie ;hick on the A was 'anted le pc). was of the Ted, ad ;u4rd first •*remy • 500 and td no bat- the anced loon he 10 of acti. iemy, •r nut- About some their !ft, by oz de Pitt ___ Prise* tad boas koreimel lato I ‘7or i and though the AM is bite small have hopes it will Saend itself p' 11 by Marshal Bamford. " Your Excellency has probably eeest the Imperial Decree, appointing Marshal Dessieres Governor of the 6th Government of Spain, which comprehends, besides Castile, all the provinces of the North. The troops destined for this General do not form a very cient corps, or in any respect disposable, with the exception of the Imperial Guards, of which there has been a detachment in Spain for more than a year, pro bably in order to be ready to attend the Emperor, should he find it convenient to visit the Peninsula. 44 I have also been informed that Marshal Bessieres has assembled at Zamora about 7000 men, princi pally of the Imperial Guards, and troops from all the garrisons of Castile." PRIVATE LETTERS. The following is an Extract of a Letter from en 10ffieet of the 25d Regiment : " Tbomar, March 17, 1111. About the Ist instant the French began to move their sick and baggage, and continued to Ilk off until the sth at night, when our light division entered San tarem and found it vacant, but nearly demolished, it being set on fire. At day-light on the Stla we march ed from Aveyras de Luna to Cartaxo ; but, from the strength of Santarem, and not having exact informa tion whether the enemy had abandoned the place or not, his Lordship was cautious, and we returned to our old quarters for the night. We again marched at day-bre ak on the 6th, and entered Santarem in the evening, where we found the division above men tioned had found their way the night before. Our 1 1 second day's march was to Golegan, where we found ' boiled beans left by the enemy, who had quitted early in the morning. The third day we reached 'Mornay., in the evening, and found that Ney had only left it in the morning, so close did we follow them up, by hard and long marches over the worst roads 1n the world. The next night we took up our abode in the open air, in constant rain, and had nothing to cover us but our great-coats and blankets. Hard times!— From this ground iv; had a forced march of 30 miles, and found nearly the whole of the British army as iernbled on a large plain near Pombal. Our division, with the light division, became the advanced guard of the arm - y. ds At Pembal we came up with the enemy, and drove' them out that evening, but not till they had set it on fire and destroyed it completely. From this town they posted themselves very judiciously An a range of heights, with a broad river and marsh it'k their front. Notwithstanding these obstacles, it was determined to attack them ; and, although we had marched 30 ' miles, its being dark alone prevented us from doing it immediately. Every disposition was. made'to do it at day-break, but they decamped in the night,leay ing large fires burning, in order to deceive us. We' came up with them on a plain close upon Rediriba, ) where they made a stand, and a very smart skirmish ' ensued : Ney commanded. His line and artillery were posted on the ridge of a hill, from whence he threw a vast deal of round-shot. Our cavalry made several desperate charges, to little or no effect. Our division filed into the plain, consisting of the follow. I ing Regiments : lot Line, 2tl Battalion It7tb, 4Cch, sod 97th, and Iltb and 93d Portuguese Regiments. _ _ . " 2d Lite, - 16t1s Pc;loguese Ref,imeot on the right, 2341 Welsh Purities, and 7th Regiments utl Battalions. .. The light companies of the right brigade (the first line) were thrown out in front, and skirmished. I The enemy's artillery played on us in high stile, and Many shot passed very close to me. Our first line lost about 20 men, killed and wounded. To have seen us deploy and march in line as we did, yOu would have been highly pleased : I never saw better. The troops were in the highest spirits, and, to dojos. iice to the Portuguese, they equalled ns. When ouf first line approached within about 400 yards withou' faring, but marching steadily, in ordinary time, the ene my's infantry began to retire in double quick time, ' lind the artillery and cavalry followed their example. They again formed on a very advantageous round, in rear of the town, which was in flames. His Lord ship detached three divisions to outflank them, who cut off three officers and 140 men, and killed and i wounded about 250. Our loss was about 40. Lord I Wellington has shewn himself a skilful General, and Ney has manoeuvred with great judgment. It was a beautiful sight, and every thing as regular as at a re. view in St. James's Park. 46 The next day we bad another skirmish at Con- I-deixa, which was very warns. Our division did we fire, but was detached over the mountains to the left of the enemy, and bad as hard a march as ever we experienced. We had to clidth the most difficult places, and what with the heat of the weather, and being without provisions, I was nearly exhausted.— About four, we entered a lovely little place, Panella, I and marched on for Espinhel, where we arrived about 6P. M and found that General Nightingale's bri. Bade had passed close to the place where Regnier was posted with 3000 men, to prevent our outflank. lug Ney. Every oven in the place was fullbf Indian corn bread, which was very acceptable to General Nightingale's brigade. The enemy had even cut wood for tires, and brushwood to hut themselves, which fell to our lot. Reguier hurried over the moun tains as quick as he could. 46 On the 15th, at three P. M. we received a dis patch from the Commander-in-Chief, ordering us to march to the relief of Dadajos ; but that place has fallen, it is said, by treachery. I with we bad bean in time to have saved it. On receiving the order we marched until dark, when we slept on the ground, and a rainy night we bad of it. Yesterday we march. i ed intOthis town, about 7 P. M. having performed a t much of 95 miles. We halt here to-day, and to.' Imorrow move on to Portalegre. Marshal Beresfo. d goes with ns.—lt is supposed that Massen,a is retiring I on the Ponte de Marcella, not being able to pass by Coimbra, as the bridge is destroyed, and Colonel W=ant Is there with 15,000 irregulars. An orderly book was found, containing an order to burn every 1 town through which the rear-guard passed. Our be. ing without provisions was not owing to any neglect; the rapid 'marching was the sole cause. A ship.bis. Wit lasted me for four days, when I was necessitated to eat boiled Indian corn—it was the same with the men. To-day, however, I shall make up for it,hay. ing silt fish and fresh beef-soup for dinner, with two bottles or wine between four of us. 'How I have , stood the fatigue and continually sleeping 'out, I am • • itorieriti Waft ask Ow as my well 1 On the Nod /MI I art a great many deid Frenchmen, and a vast aumber of bottles, mules, and asses. This retreat is elual to -a victory." Estrus of * Letter from a Gentleman vase seemitpmdrd Lard Wellington's Army in Fungi: of the French, this their retreat from Santarem 3 " It is impossible to describe the scenes of horror of which I have been an eye.witnen, sod which will for ever brand the name of Macsena with execration. It is htrti for any one to believe that human nature could be guilty of such ebormus and wanton wicked ness. The city of Leyria had been eleven days ca ire when I was there, and was burning still. Every Wag that could be taken away was removed, and the test destroyed. The images in the churches were is pieces, the graves were actually opened for the sake of plunder. The nuns and friars. at all the town where we came, had fled to the mountains ; their convents were destroyed, and we found none bat a few Pertugneseperishing withhunger andillareatmeat, 4 , At every place where we halted, if we saw any thing like a house with a door standing, we made it our - head-quarters, and took possession of any table or chair that might have escaped the general devastation, as the mansions had no tenants to dispute our rights— All was dreadful silence and desolation. The floors of almost every-house had been pulled up wherever we passed, particularly at Leyria, where there were about 12 miserable wretches, who had been unable to move from wounds and famine, some of whom expired be. fore us. This city four years ago contained 80,000 in habitants. Libraries were burned and scattered, and it seemed to be the intention of the enemy to leave a dreadful memorial of their fury, that never should be effaced from the recollection (4 the country." A letter from an Officer gives the following pare,. culars of the 'victory obtained by Marshal Buts. FORD :—The French were di iven, it appears, f rom Portalegre on the 25th, and closely pursued by our troops until they came to Campo Maier, where they formed on a hill to the right of that town. The 13th Light Dragoons, the 3d Dragoon Guards, and tbe4th Dragoons, immediately charged, and with the assist tance of some pieces of artillery, which cattle up at the moment, drove the French two miles towards Badajos, Here four regiments of French cavalry, viz. the VOtla and 25th Dragoons, and the 4th and 10th Hussars, wheeled round, and prepared to receivE the charge of our brave cavalry. The 13th Dragoons, which wets in advance, hesitated not an instant, but charged the four French regiments, in the usual style of British troops. 'They quickly succeeded in forcing a passage through the enemy'sline,wkich was immediately closed, at their rein At this critical time, the 19th wheeled, charged, and cut their way through a second time. The French Infantry then commenced a heavy fire on these gallant (al l ows, who continued to pursue tbt enemy until he took shelter under the walls of Dada. jos. From the account of the French. Quarter.master t a ken prisoner, we learn that the French cavalry amounted to 880 men, the 13th did not exceed 200. —A great number of prisoners were taken, and the road was covered with the slain of the enemy. The letter speaks io terms of high commendation of Cala nel HIAD, Who commands the 13th, and of the gels lant manner in which General Lona led them to the charge. We had 40 men killed, and $9 wounded. Lieutenant SMITH, of the 13:11, a fine young Officer, is wounded, rather dangerously ; Lieutenant Gm.% and the Adjutant, were likewise wounded, The 15th were at one time in possession of 16 pieces of artillery and a quantity of baggage ; but were reluctantly obliged to abandon them to a large body of the enemy, who unexpectedly made its appearance. 'l`iiF. 0' E iCgit STA a. LONDON. TUESDAY. APRIL 16. EAsTti-TvDAT—Haliday at tie Public.olllces. We stated yesterday that accounts had ,been re. ceived from Oporto, via Guernsey, of the &lett of Manful Nay's Division. The account came, at wt before stated, from the Prince de BOUILLON, but the victory is said to have been effected by Lord Wet tworox--not by Marshal BILNILSFORD, as at first ported.—A letter from Guernsey gives the following particulars : a GUERNSEY; APRIL 11. " The ship Eliza, from Oporto, which she left on the 4th inst. brings intelligence that, just before bee departure the Captain had seen the Consul and ano ther person, who told him that accounts had been ob tained from Lord Weizatacrron's army, that Marshal NKr, and 7000 men, had been surprised and takes prisoners." It is known that the allied army was to be collected in the neighbourhood of Celerico on the 28th ult. anti that the enemy had withdrawn from Pilau: across the Coa. The Coa is distant not more than two mart from Almeida ; ,Almeida is between six and seven leagues from Guarda ; and Celerico is nearly opposite to the centre, or rather to the kft of the centre, of the extended line occupied by the enemy ; for it is stated that the French were in strength at Guarda. Nothing therefore can be more probable than that the troops occupying this position at Guarda ( if these were NO'S division, but of this we know nothing) may, by a spirited movemrsa on the part of Lord WoczitroroN, have been cut off from the main body. It is known that Net commanded the rear-guard of MAsscria's army on the retreat ; but in the absence of any far ther official accounts from the allied army we mot wait with patience their arrival, expressing in the mean time our strong conviction that the present re port is not altogether without foundation. In the mean time we have to announce the arrival of the Monitnie of the 9th inst. containing the French account of the retreat of MASSENTA up to the 23d ult. when his head-quarters were at Celerico, and on which day one of his Aid de-Camps was dispatched to PA:.i with the intelligence of the retrograde movenicats of the French arm' The immediate cause of the retreat is stated, sui ~' ‘4