Star. — London, England, 1815-02-04 00:00:00

' ' might have preyented him . from falling into them. need PoanoPitY or Thu Admiral hid said he was accused, .in the de- with the Ada fbrice or holding back his (Gen. Murray s) letter t o thought he had no r i ll Sir Eclitard %bow, of the 24 Of ipne. Of thi s h e Murray . first stated it, i 1 certainly /tad not accused him ;he regretted that it had a right. was not . sent off immediately; but he had suffered These questions we :11 tett'Ofeh from false imputations himself, to allow 1 Tb. JUDGII ADV°C4 P 1 hin, to accuse others hastily of thilt of wh ic h h e was let? of orders and co 4tiertain. A.'llmber of the Court bad put a qui. General Moreno 3 !ion, with fespest t o '' the possibility of a rear veld brought forwaid in t A v • remaining oa shore ; on the night of the 116. to defence. - 1 ' co s= ver the embarkatidn. It Was SO; stirprisieg t o W as _ Sir Jong 1101 MA X. :.' s h at this question should heel pet. Ha bedew had stated that he belt en!ptalhillthe' idea himself; hot !Mn lie rellac ta d froni him on the 12tb )'n the situation of this corps. that it would hale re. den through others. send imposed on an open hea th , iridunit politicos, This question we u . in the , trightpUrhOod of n WO* J, he did n ot dc asa JUDOS ADYOCATe r . 4 ,1 the nSeettirp ahitAble, ' The girriatiq of Tarragona 'Pea to the Period o 1 wo g * * c e rtft i n ii h oe l i tm u s ; i t , an d 1p g ale d e d riving f or emberkatio ;ii pirituitibg it irom emba• eke' gIN this advance of 'air OHS MURRAY :4 !,l, Ir eirially would hare etn*ptet:Vrefledo suc h a 6 dmiral HAI i LOWI ' firer*. He 'bad, dltefoffs tell . MO . of in the defence to she' ; 4 ifilf ill !Oink; iel# l o o o44l iprennution enabled them iitthe Men in less the . - tq skate an opinion** and to ilie practscibility of oroy(that General I oorpe behind: ' %h ' be bad dons much ,2009 men, were all el .i.... . to - the li e b ee o e ta e lle g j g bdi h a d hour : tie would po 1. 1 "": .. . ~,-_ . ~., .o i fig a a . a hie' • l u so down fee anbarkaties .. 4..t : '7llA, • . , j p ii , . i g '•• ig a . ell eitsbanted.. He *i sLii - • la#44 , ~, • . p l i gl iaCal," Aloe Moen the lar ' ;i 4 i l "O tisir r._. " 1." to . . f l ab the morning of dm . .. t—• . .. ""c. . : 4 41 61 ~. . yik..jusulibi ! ! • The reelenetti ub i . 0, . • . ...: _. . COURT-MARTIAL. TRIAL OF LIEUT. GENERAL SIR JOHN MURRAY. WINCHESTER—THIRTEENTH DAY, FRIDAY, Fee. S. Major-General SMITH'S examination continued.' Q. Do you not recollect that the head of the co-' lumn (Suchet's) turned off to the village of Cressels, and halted there for the night ? A. I do not know, for I was not then on the spot. Q. By what road did Suchet finally advance with his army, when he came forward, on the 15th of August, to Tarragona ? A. lam not able to tell. Q. By stationing an officer at Vendrils or Arbos, and detachments of cavalry there, might not hourly intelligence of the advance of the enemy have been received on the 12th of June, and his advance ascer tained to a certainty ? A. I think it might. Q. Do you conceive that a zealous and hearty co operation has been afforded by tl e navy, acting under my directions, to the army serving in Valencia and Catalonia ? A. Most certainly. Q. Do you not believe that General Copons had cavalry and staff-officers on the road between Villa franca and Tarragona on the 12th of June? A. I do. Q. Supposing the enemy to have marched from Villafranca to Tarragona, how much time could have been gained on them by any Staff Officer sta tioned near them, so as to give comet intelligence f)f his movements A. An Officer stationed at Arbos might have gained seven or eight hours upon the enemy as I think ; that is, supposing he got the information at the time they started from Vil /afranca. • Q. In how many hours do you think a column of 8000 men could march from Villafranca to Tarra gona ? A. I think in twelve bourn. Sir JOHN MUIMAY then stated that he now closed his evidence. Letters from Earl Bathurst, in the name of the Prince Regent, and from the Duke of York to Sir John Murray, thanking him fir his brilliant services on the 12th and 13th of April, 1813, in defeating a French force in Valencia, were put in and read over to the Court. General MURRAY then rose, and,, began to read some observations which he conserved it necessary to submit to the Court on closing his Defence. None of the documents which the Judge Advocate had brought forward went to prove that he was so con vinced of the decided superiority of the enemy on the 9Lh of June, that he could expect no benefit from continuing the siege any longer. Such a conclusion was disproved by every subsequent operation of the siege. But even supposing any expressions in his letter to the Duke of Wellington could be so wrested as to appear to bear such a meaning, still this would not avail, because if the Judge Advocate could not also prove that the continuing the siege after the 9th, did not further the general plan of operations chalk ed out by the Duke of Wellington, this charge fell to the ground. With respect to the other charge. of not proceeding immediately to Valencia, in so doing he had violated no written order. The moment the siege was raised, which was not till the re-embarka tion at Balaguer, the order of the Duke of Welling ton was carried into execution. With respect to the Third Charge, brought forward by Admiral Hallo 'well, lie had rested his defence on the strength, move ments, and position of the enemy. When the Court considered all these circumstances, and that after the morning of the 13th it was no longer in his power to send the cavalry to the Col de Balaguer, he had no doubt they would approve of the course he had fol lowed. So far from flying from an enemy insignifi cant in numbers, as had been stated. he had yielded only to an overwhelming superiority, which threaten ed his destruction, He had followed the course which, of all others, was the least destructive to the artny under his command. Sensible that in an doing, be raid himself open to the clamour of the ignorant and the malevolent. Upheld by a sense of duty, and by the conviction that be was 4.ting in the letter, as vecll at the instructions of * the Duke of Wellington, if would, perhaps, be unbecoming in him to remind the Court of all he had suffered, at the moment that those sufferings were at an end. His. however, was no common case. Every Commander was interested in the decision which would now be awarded. He had borne in silence the unmerited clamours raised against him—his military character had been aspersed —his Majesty's arms had been said to be degraded by him. If the Court was convinced that he me. eked these imputations, he asked for no lenity ; • but if the moment was at length come when those Charges should be pronounced without founda‘ tion, it was his last. request to the Court that it would take his wounded honour under its protection. If one word had escaped him in the course of the _prosecution which bore the appearance of personality, he deeply regretted it. He had been obliged to de fend himself against personalities, but in doing so, he was not aware that he bad indulged in them him self. He was willing to believe that the personali ties of Admiral Hallowell originated in his zeal for she service ; but a little more candour on his part might have - led hint from falling into them. , said he was accused, In the de _ling back his (Gen. Muriayeg f letter to ' Of 1 rarity &as bad been ebeireby,the pretestJadge Ad , vocate, hi might haste been &rived of the benefit of .that advice and assistants which, from his office, be was bound to afford to every prisoner. It was seldom, indeed,' that a men could be found to im partial as to divest ,himself 'of every leaning against the party whom he was accusing; for it is a feeling of our nature that we should make a common cause with those who have a common object with ourselves. These observations he humbly and respectfully sub mitted to the Court. _ _ Admiral HALtOWILL then rose and said, that as several.charges had been made against Lim by Sir John Murray, he begged to be allowed to pall wit nesses to disprove these charges, and that they would also examine himself, Ist. With regard to his conduct relative to the Bristol. 2dly, With regard to his having recommended the cavalry and artillery to proceed to Balaguer. Sdly, As to the letter of the 34 of June, stated by Sir John Murray to have been withheld. Aud 4thly, As to the hurry in which he obliged Sir John Murray to send off his dispatch on' the 14th June. These were heavy charges against, him ; and he wished to be examined on oath respect ing them. The JUDGE ADVOCATE observed, that those new points first stated in the defence which had not been proved, could only be noticed by the Admiral in his reply ; but with respect to those which had been proved in evidence, he was at liberty to oppose other evidence. The Admiral must however confine hint xelf entirely to such points as were first brought for ward in the evidence for the prisoner. General MoNTRESOR observed, that the matters al luded to by the Admiral were foreign to the charges before them ; and on this subject it was neither com petent to the Court to offer an opinion, nor to award any punishment. He did not see, therefore, how the Court could enter into the ostensible matter of the Admiral's present claim. The Jocon ADVOCATE observed, that with respect to the Bristol, Sir John Murray had been stopped by the Court from going into it. With respect to send ing the cavalry and artillery to Balaguer, that the Court had gone into. As to the sending away the letter which had been said to be stopped, it seemed to him that the Admiral was entitled to explain that circumstance. The PansznaNT said, he thought the Admiral en titled to clear up any thing which looked like new matter in the evidence for the prisoner. but then it must be quite new matter. The JUDGE ADVOCATE cited the case of Colonel Johnson and Admiral Bligh, where the one party was accused in the defence of having concealed him. self under a bed ; and he was allowed to call one witness to contradict this. Sir JOHN MURRAY wished Admiral Hallowell to state to the Court what the new matter was, with re spect to which he wished to call fresh evidence. Admiral HALLOWELL said; he meant to prove that there was no necessity for going away from Tar ragona in the manner which had been stated. and that he had the means of bringing down the guns before the enemy could arrive. The PRESIDENT said that woold be a new trial, and lit could not be gone into. The Admiral had already proved this not only to have been his own opinion, but the opinion of others. The JUDOS ADVOCATE stated to the . Admiral, that it was the pleasure of the Court this could not be gone into now. Admiral HALLOWELL said that Sir J. Murray had attempted to prove that he (the Admiral) could not have afforded such a naval co-operation as to pre vent the advance of an enemy from Villstfranca to Tarragona. Now he could prove that he had actu ally prevented Suchet from advancing, and that the grape-shot fired on the occasion had been afterwards picked up at the places where the enemy was so prevented. The PRESIDENT observed that this had been already stated in evidence. Some of the witnesses bad state.! that they saw the dead bodies of men and. horses strewed along the road. Admiral Hau.owri. wished the Judge Advocate to have the goodness to look at the questions which he had framed, to see if they were proper or im proper. • The Juno* ADVOCATE having looked over the ques- 1 tions said, he thought the Admiral entitled to con-, tradict the evidence for the defence, and to shew that' there was a possibility of reaching the road in ques tion .with grape shot, and stopping the enemy.. He had already gone into evidence on this subject, which it might be.presurned, he thought sufficient at the time ; but there might now be a necessity of offering further proof, in consequence of the statemelits of some of General Murray's evidence. The first seven questions to General Clinton related to General Sn.' chet's advance, and whether he was stopt by gun-boats. The nest question to General Clinton related to the possibility of having hourly intelligence of the vance of the enemy. Sir SAMUIL AUCLUOTY observed, that this of the possibility of hourly intelligence, had arigi. nated with the Adtiiiral hiiaielf, and therefbre lie thought he had no right to go iny4i it. Had Sir J. M-- first stated it, then the Admiral would have _ were accordingly rejected. .I:mm*7.2—The next relate to the vs and councer•orders on the 12th. - "REIM observed, that this bad been the prosecution, and also is the MoutAx observed, that Gomel D.. Mired be only received twAerders 1 2th, but he might have gives ot. understood to be rejected. 'n--The neat question was with go of general Clinton's division Ilion. * ' . • I objected to this. ,AIiLQWIILL said it had been et 2W that it was impossible to talhe than a day and a half I be wo Clinton's division, consisting embarked in three quart. 'nova the time when they came 4 emberhtlan, and dui' time whassibey einbaryed. He wishefalM'to bollovnis e p row 'time when the landing wig being its* • of the Sdof June. '• Ar ista'' , .1 Owned, that the laservirehhis • i 'was already in evidence. Thinigh the pliftlie *Me was not mentioned, it had beenstated that the troops, Ate. we'refanded in a reasonaley short time. This question was relied for consideration. The JUDGE AnvocaTitatid, 'the neat question re lated to the time it would haft taken to *Dove the. guns from the batteries to the beach. This was rejected, as Generals ' Clinton was not the proper Officer to state this. The JUDGE ADVOCATE—The other question to Ge neral Clinton related to the hearty co-operation of the navy: Admiral HALLOWELL said, Sir John Murray had stated that a hearty co-operation on the part of the navy was not afforded him. Sir JOHN Muanav said he was sorry he had been misunderstood. He had always admitted a hearty naval co-operation. Admiral HALLOWELL, said he alluded to that part of the defence, in which Sir John Murray congratu lated Lord Wellington on his good fortune in not having a naval co-operator to thwart or impede him in his measures. He stood forward thereto vindicate the profession to which he belonged against these charges. In his letter to the Duke of Wellington Sir John also spoke of the delays and irregularities on the part of the Navy, by which his measures had been impeded. Sir JOHN MURRAY said he had stated this ih conse quence of the observations thrown out by the Admi ral on his conduct. On all occasions he had been willing to acknowledge the hearty co-operation af forded by the Navy.' General MONTREicH said nothing of this was in the evidence. Sir Joust Muttaav was willing that it should in some way appear on the proceedings, that he admit ted the hearty co-operation afforded by Admiral Hallowell. Admiral HALLOWML•• , -I beg leave to decline ac cepting it in this manner. The Jut= ADVOCATI said, the next witness was Captain Inglis. The first question related to the number of men which could have been landed by the boats of the Malta in a given time. Another related to the possibility of embarking the guns before day bre'ak on the 13th. The next. whether if prevented from embarking on one side of Salun Bay, they might not have embarked on the other ? The next, whether the bulk heads of the ships of the line were not down, and the ships were not ready for action dining the period of the siege ? What was this meant to prove ? Admiral HALLOWELL—To prove a hearty co-ope ration on the part of the Navy. The moment of the Puerto Reale's being stormed, the skips would have fired of the town. The JUDGE Arivocame, aftergoing over some ques tions which were rejected on the same grounds as si milar questions proposed to be put to General Clin. ton, said, the next question was how near the Malta anchored to the road by Torre del Barra? Admiral HaLLowat.t. said, he meant to prove by this that the Malta anchored within half a musket shot of the enemy. The questions to the next witnesses, Captain Stod dart and Colonel Williamson, were similar to some of those already stated. Admiral Hau.owau. wished to produce the letter of Sir John Murray in answer to the one from himself quoted in the defence. Sir JOHN MURRAY objected to any new matter of accusation being brought forward against him. He had merely quoted the Admiral's own words, without drawing any inference from them. The June; Anvocarz thought the letter of Sir J. Murray, a; an explanation of that of the Admiral, admissible. Admiral HALLowELL—The answer to my letter of the 9th June, informing him of an advance of a co lumn of the enemy, would prove that the General did not credit his intelligence. The Admiral said he next wished to state his reasons for recommending the cavalry and artillery to em bark at Balaguer. General MURRAY objected to this. Admiral HALLowr.m. said he wished this in conse quence of the observation of Mr. Larpent in the two first charges. General Aucumurv.--This did not arise out of the defence. but the prosecution. Admiral HALLOWILL said he offered himself on. the subject of the hurry with which the General's letter was sent off. Reserved for consideration. The Admiral said he next offered himself on all the points on which the Court might wish to examine him. He should notice many things which had come from Sir John Murray in the course of his to. ply ; but he should wish also to state them on oath, that the Court might see that nothing was stated by him in his reply which wAs not also stated on oath. The President said the defence was not on oath, and this would give his reply more weight than the other could have. Admiral FlALLowazz expressed himself satisfied. The ,Ipuott ADVOcATZ summarily stated the ques tions rejected, and those reserved for consideration, after which the Court was ordered to be cleared. The Court remained closed for nearly two hours, and on being re-opened, ' The JUDGE ADVOCATL stated, that on the points tb which the evidence of Captains Bathurst and Ingle field was intended to hetiven, the Court was of opi. nion that the questions should not be put. These wit. news therefore could be recalled. • General Clinton, the Court was of opinion, should' be examined on one point, namely, as to the number of orders• he had received on the 19th of June. He, likewise desired by the Court to state that it was slot necessary to submit any evidence as to the co. operation of Admiral, Hallowell, the zeal and acti vity of Admiral Hallowell having been fully estate lisbed, and admitwd by Sir John Murr;y. 'The entire had also determined that Admiral Hal. lowed himself should be allowed to give evidence—. fira. as to, the recommendation be bad given foe maw the cavalry and artillery to Balaguer a next, as to the Wiwi sent to Sir Edward Pellew, dated the 2d and 4th OT Jtine ; and lastly, as to the harry With which Sir John Um:ray was constrained to opel ,Isis dispatch to Lord Wellington on the 14th General Ccrwrcet was thin ittcalled, rasho4r by Aditdril , Q. What orders did' you recerth ow the 124 nt 'line for that:Klement o f your diehinn, from whit% .and at what time I—A. The 'first drder I recelied iv's' at en vary period in the wink der that *ter &mod toe. to, reeled (she in* WA *nod by Go. ,aerid-)onkin) with three divisions if my divisions 'and three of General Whitthightm, towards the vet Cain, in the most favourable ground I could find—the object of this motion was stated to be to cover a movement of General Copons's. The next order I received, among the numerous orders recei. ved on that day, was also a written order, which I hold in my hand— [Order produced ; this was signed Murray," directing witness to march with hiF division to concentrate with the other part of the army.]—This order had scarcely been declared, when a verbal on.: was brought me, directing me to send the baggage of my division on the road to Bar. raguay, through which pass itlwas intended to march the army. While giving directions for carryir.g this order into effect, 1 remitted another order, which ; also held in my hand—f Order prodriced—ti n'• signed eg Donkin, half-past nine," and th'F.lred C-Pc.c -r4 Clinton to take the shortest route tr, heari-c i ert . ters, avoiding only the fire of an enemy.:—i. had nr! had time to give my directions upon this order, whet one reached me which directed the spiking cf the Runs in the batteries, and that I should proceed t,. the beach for embarkation with mv division. I hav,- already stated it; evidence what 1 did in consequence of that order, and only beg lea t. ro aild, in refarnce to the positivene! . .s of that order t Jt the skriling of the guns, th at I remember te have !Cit. it at the time to be so that altlumo.h. r the real..'n ,- , I have before given, I v.-ntur,:d fa delay to give the absolute era s• fee spittin!.. tie ziins, 1 i:v.tracted the officers in the batteries to :;re away al'. the case-shot, and to Je,troythe plwdcr. About twenty minutes after the receipt of the order to n Mai I have just re. fcrred, came the counter-order for spiking the guns, and that General WhittinLliam% - division should occu py the ground which mine was supposed to have left. but from which it had not stirred, it being intended that the Spaniards should have charge of the batte ries, out of which it was determined that every piece of ordnance should be taken that night. The last order I recollect to have received on the IVila of June was one brought to me by Lieutenant drew of the 27th regiment, which, after the many orders and counter-orders I had received on that Jay, I directed that officer to repeat, and in his presence, and that of Capt. Kesterman and my Aide-decamp, Lieutenant Floyd, I noted it down. —[A copy of this note was then produced—it was a memorandum of an order received by General Clinton at half-past one, to take off his divisiOn towards head-quarters, to withdraw all piquets, and destroy all guns in the lines.]—ln consequence of this order, I sent Brigadier-General Smith to march with the division as directed, follow. ing the movement of the Spanish troops, bet detach ing the grenadier company of the 58th regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel Beanclerc, to the Oliva, there to receive my orders. I then went to the mortar bat tery, where I found Captain Thompson, the artalery officer in command, busily employed in preparing for its evacuation, ana I delivered him the order for spiking the guns and destroying the carriages. Pro ceeding after this to the Oliva, I remained there till five o'clock; I then told Colonel Beauclere, that I should leave him in charge ofthe piquet: of the divi sion, atnouuting to nearly 500 men; and I directed him to keep a good lookout on all sides, for I knew not which way the enemy might not be expected. But that unless obliged to abandon his post, that he should leave piquets and sentries as they had been posted, until dusk, at which time, and when the enc.* , my in Tarragona could no longer perceive his move ments, then to withdraw, and bring in with him the whole of his piquets, to assemble them at the bridge of Francoll, where they should receive further orders. I then proceeded to the Cbmmander of the Forces, in order to report to him the deviation which I had thought proper to make from the orders I had re ceived from him, not only in not withdrawing the piquet:, but in reinforcing them, and my motive for having so done. Sir John Murray assented to what I had done, and wisely said,' I hope you have taken measures that your piquet: shall not be cut off; and upon my stating to him that I had left them in charge of an officer in whose conduct I had perfect confidence, Sir John seemed perfectly satisfied. Witness withdrew. • • Admiral HALLOWELL nqw proceeded to his state. meet, tfpon oath, as to recommending the cavalry and artillery being sent to Baraguay. It was as fol lows When 1 was with Sir John Murray, on the night of the I Ith, after he decided on raising the . siege of Tarragona, he told me that we must get as many guns down as p oss ibl e , b ut t h at t h e were out of the question. My reply was, 6 No, Sir e if you will send your artillery and cavalry to Bans: guay, with a column of infantry, we can embark them easily there; and it will facilitate our embarka. ton here.' This is all I have to say upon this subject." The next point to which the Admiral directed his statement, was the two letters of the 2d and 4th of June. Sir John Murray, in his statement, has acknow. !edged that he gave me that letter of the 24 on the Sd, before he went on shore. I had no Tease: l 2 which I could send it immediately. Th e G anr arrived in the afternoon of the 3d, and I sent her away, by ten o'clock the next morning. V* Sit John Murray's letter, dated the 4th, and he was well aware that they both went in the same ship, as will appear by his letter, which I bold in my hand.' [The Admiral then put in the letter : it wee signed " J. Murray," and dated Jose 4; and, after some observations upon the embarkation of the horses and mules, stated, that he enclosed a letter to Sir E. Pel. lew. and intimated the importance of the 66 letters" to Sir E. Perlew being sent to him with dispatch.), He now addressed himself to that part of air John Murray's statement, as to the hurry in which he lA' Obliged to tend off his dispatch. "At ten minute! after ten on the morning of the 14th," s a id t h e Ad miral. 4 . a general signal was made to the whOle fleet, that an opportunity would offer of sending letters to England. It appears front the evidence of Captaio Milner. that Sir John Murray': letter was ced shortly after that time ; and it appears by the, evi dence of Captain Sharp, that lee did not sail 'until halktaat four in the afternoon. This is all I bar to say upon this subject.** The gallant Admipl now prdaPed a leiter f mn) General thonght there was no occasion Tar going away fro, Tarraeons in the hArry kith which be did jo. B.r Amor MunnaT said, was actediaeT pro• kW. from the eirenntionees which caw to his knowledge afali be land atrandeaed the sier, that be