Star. — London, England, 1815-02-07 00:00:00

to cont act the prexin»ty of the high read to the I beach, when the morning ride of any of the Court. w „ u ;,, have given flat contradiction to t`te a isertim? 0 , 1 t he spot they would have known that the: b eac h is Alm ist always smooth in summer ; and that , w h e n it is n-t perfectly so, en one side of Cape Sd• l u p. it IS so oa the other. My object was to lay b e fore the Court every fact ; his to conceal. 'Wnen he js ks if at all times you could carry on embarka tio to the bay of Tarrapma x ry eve. man who ever' i I .w: the oast would ' say, certainly not; but if to; thow I; g lYt upon "the tittestionhe had asked, could an e au, kAtt•nt almost always take place in the Months: o f ja. se, July, and August,. and if not to the east war,' of Cape Salon, to the westward ? The answer would have men, certainly, go Ye-I,''—and if, to evade ti,e true statement of facts and things, he did not ( Till back such men as Williams" T hackary, . and c. ; iton—Euets men as Bathurst and Inglefield-11c vi sely. Sir J. Murray pays very litt'e compliment to the army ; for while he is treating escpy en; of m y 0 0. nions with the utmost contempt, he accuses the army of looking to them as the standard of military per fection. He can best settle this with his own pro. fessions. It the utmost attention to their wants ; if the most perfect respect to their rank and merits be s crime in a naval commander, I,plead guilty. My dente to do every thing for the army met a return I am proud to acknowledge. I would appeal for the truth o f this to every cne of the °diem It have called; and wzre it not for the very honourable testimony. bane to my character by the ..Court,.l should have brought ample proof, in allition to Sir John Mai ray's own letrers, to disprove this assertion. shall now prxeed to rent4rk on the Third Charge ; Sir J. Murray endeavoured to offer as an excuse for the precipitate manner in which he raised the siege ef Tarragona, dangers and difficulties . which never existed ; he has endeavoured to establish a Mkt; that he could not have got his guns and stores on board before an enemy arrived, but he has never yet been able to prove that the enemy was nearer on one side than Villa Franca, or that any force was ever as far as Perrillo on the other, when he decided on leaving the guns behind. It appears that Colonel Williamson pledged himself to Sir John Murray that the guns and all the stores should have been brou..lit down to-the beach ready for embarka tion on the night of the 12th, and I had pledged my scif that every thing should have been taken off. Tice means I possessed were more than ample for the 'l ese, ution of that service. That no enemy could have been near is evident from Sir J. Murray's conduct on our arrival at Balaguay on the 13th. Sir J. Murray decided immediately on sending for the whole army to land again. Surely if Sachet was not too power ful f,r him un the 146, when he had time to have collected his'reinforcements, he would not have been in sufficient force on the 12th to have created the alarm be did; and so little . did Sir John Murray think of an immediate advance of Sudan, that on the evening of the 14th or 15th he - proposed to me the re-embarking the troops at Bologna, landing them at Canahrels, and thence to push on 5000 men, to en. deovour to surprise 'Foregone. The proposal w.as made in the latter part of the afternoon, on the starboard side of the quarter deck.: Sir John informal me, that although we had differed' respecting the raising the siege, he had only °hero, his orders; but that every thing be -did nostr"svaatri" as of his own, and he wished to submit his 'ideas to me, and to have my opinion on them ; he then made t'T above proposal, stating that he knew the enemy I.ad leceieed no reinforcements, and supposing he going away they were off their guard. 1 gave Liar my opinion, tl.at as he did not feel himself equal to such an enterprise when he was there with his whole lcrce, and his batteries erected, that I did not tllinic him equal to it now with 5000 men. ILtie he asked - my advice ; I g.tve it, and he followed it. . .As a further p r oof that there was no occation to ram the siiige in the manner it was !one, I will state that Str John Murray diet, on the 15th, land all his troops again,except a part of General Whitting,ham's division, with an intention of taking the field to fight Bucket." His artillery and the remainder of the 20th dragoons were landed on this day. On the 16th I received an application from him to have 200 m 'rind I in readiness to put in the Fort of Baliguay, to enable him to sake the field with all his force, which he had proposed doing. The marines were paraded and kept in constant readiness to land the moment they should be called, and in the afternoon I landed two 12-pounder carronades, with fifty seamen, to serve with the army. And here I heg to call the attention of the Court to Colonel Willt.misosi's evidence, by which it appears on the mi;,iiks of the Court, that the letter from Co pnns only informed Sir J. Murray that the column of the enemy at VW.* Franca was in motion, and re quested the British General would give him orders respecting the line of conduct he was to pursue ; but it does not tell him what way the enemy were point ing. The vet front Colonel Lauder, which is b!.- fore the Court, statet, that on that evening the enemy returved to Barcelona. The statement of Colonel Villamil will he seen in Colonel Williamson's evi dence, wherein he relates the force of the enemy, dt that time, to be between .5 and 6000 men at Villa Franca. Colonel Williamson is not mistaken in the time of the Sp anish officer's arrival. 1 was on the beach with General Donkin at half-past twelve, where he was speaking to me of the movements of the enemy. This induced me to lot lt at my watch, and I informed him of the hour, which makes me po soive as to the time. We then went together to the General's headquarters, where we met the Spanish oficer. I ace •mpanied them front thence to look for, And after we met, Sir J. Murray decided, to embark the troops iin In diately, and leave the wins behind. I mention this circumstance to shew that I could not be mistaken in the time the officer arrived ; and that General Donkin has not been correct in the statement has made of its being between eight and nine ill the morning, when he met that officer. instead of oae P. M. As to the indecision of Sir John Murray, day Alid not psi without instances. He seemed to act from the spur of the moment—from the last ad vice or opinion he had received ;—one while, all gc , ur—neat, all doubt ;—one while to fight—one 'otile to withdraw;—and had he either made up hii mind to fight or re-embark, all might have been well i hut his constant vaccillations made every measure useless, and the odors and coatitkiordare follatrred so ta 3 upon ono another, that moneetwtheitWas peteahle,*-0 i 6 active and intelligent an of eer es Lieutenaot-General Clinton found it impossible to keep pace with their rapidity, was •it likely they could generally have been complied with ? If Sir John Murray meant to fight Decaen; did he take any proper measures to do so • and if he did not. when he had made up his mind to re-embark, whit not take proper measures to re-em!yark ? But waver.' jug between these two measures, he did neither as k ow* to have been done. If hfirshal Suchet was so momentarily expected, what but insanity could hive inclined Sir John Murray to send hit artillery and ca valry to Maguey separately, and each unaccompa nied by infantry What but the. most unwarrantable neglect could have given rise to such extreme igno• rance of the distance of the en •my, as to produce an assertion, at ten o'cl: , ck in the morning, that the enemy might be hourly expected tinder the wells of 'Tarragona ? But bad as the indecision was at Tar ragona, it was nothing to that at Balaguay. The debarkation and the re-einharkation, continually going on, was enough to confound any operatioes •in the world. Every mast-head was covered with his sig. , nals, and four fast-rowing gigs were hardly sufficient to convey his orders. As Sir John Murray has re peatedly, in his address, alluded to the contempt in which he held my opinion on military subjects, it may not be amiss before I conclude my reply, to adduce one more instance of his appal to that opinion, when he considered himself in a case of difficulty. Sir John Murray cannot have foigotten when the deserters arrived at Balaguay on the 16th, with the. account of the enemy's approach, that .he immedi ately came off to ask my opinion of the line of eon 'duct he should adopt. On our going on shore he di rected the Chief Engineer to point out the positions he should occupy; and having made his arrangements, he decided •on waiting for the enemy. On his ex- I pressing this determination, I took the liberty of telling him that I was sure he had an army that would do him credit—that they would do more than any army of the same number in the King's service, be cause there was not a single man tinder him uhe did ' not feel that he had something to recover, and the only thing he had to guard against was, being per.' suaded to change his determination again—his reply was, that he would not change. Colonel Thackery was preaent at this conversation, which circumstances now ca upon me to mention to state a new act of indecision, he decided the next morning toembark again. I must now beg leave to offer a remark on the evi dence of Captain Milner, of the 18th Hussars. Sir John Murray asks him if he has the means of knowing that his dispatch was written in a great harry ? Cap. tarn Milner in reply states, it was written in a greet), hurry, it only came on board as I . was going to send . , a vessel away, there was no time to copy the disc patch. Who could have believed that an officer, holding the high and honourable rank of a Lieutenant, General in the Army, possessing the fortune, and• moving in the high circles in which Sir John Mur. ray is in the habit of doing—who could have belie ved that he would have permitted his Military Secretary to have 'fallen into such a snare for the purpose of • criminating me ? who could have supposed that be could have allowed hint to give the' answer he has givers on oath, without attempting to set him right. when he knew that the original letter was in his Men band writing ? No one could have believed it, had not the transaction been recorded on' the minutes . of Ws Ocoee Mania* end k- - tit nefft beintottert.-- , Captain Milner was warned by me to'he on his guards it was, therefore, after mature deliberation that he :bas stated oa oath, 'that he had' not time to take a copy of the letter sent away, and it is afterwards proved by his own evidence, that the very dispatch. Which wits forwarded to Lord Wellington was a copy, , ' transcribed by himself from the original drawn up by. Sir John Murray. As to the expressions . imputed to me by Captain Milner, I do not .admit that I ever oade we of them ; but admitting thet Laid, what. hove they to do with the charges against Sir John array ? •If they were uttered, it was atter the troops had left Tarragona, and I could scarcely be ' here, that an officer who was sleeping in my cabin, and living as a guest at my table, as Captain Milner was, could, at the same tinie, be making remarks of my conversation, to bring forward as a charge against me at a future period. Ido not envy either Sir John Murray or his Military Secretary Captain Milner, the consolatidn they may derive from their reflections on this occasion. The attack made upon my military witnesses can. ttot have escaped the observation of the Court—of Colonel Williamson he says his evidence is but re petition ; I trust it will be noticed his was given be fore the evidence was canvassed in the newspapers. 'General MtKenzie's evidence, it is said, wati given with precipitation. With respect to General Clin ton's evidence, which Sir John Murray has thought fit to term an evidence delivered with asperity, and winch, by the concluding question on die Lieutenant- General's first examination, it was most unjustifiably endeavoured to stamp with the impression of having been uttered in a spirit of personal animosity against Sir John Murray. I feel qm yse 1 I warranted in saying that Sir John had no right to put such a construction on that evidence. Circumstanced as Sir John Murray found himself, such an evidence should have been met by a disproof, mot, by an attempt to delay it 'merely, which argues a bad cause. Nor is Sir John Murray more ccrrect when he observes that General Clinton was the last man from whom he had a right .to expect such evidence. In this instance ton, I have reason to know that I am warranted in saying, that at an early period after the termination of the unfor tunate expedition egeinst Tarragona, Sir John Murray was told at Alicant by Lieutenant General Clinton, that he did not think that the measure of abandoning his ordnance at Tarragona could tie Instified. Consistent with the feeling which 'dictated that opinion, has been the evidence given by Licetenant. General Clinton, and had lie been so questioned, I am confident that with the same consistency would Lieutenant-General Clinton have spoken to any fact, or even to any opinion he might recollect to helm held at that period, which might have been deemed advantageous to the defence of Sir JOhn Murray:. I must. therefore, beg again to repeat that Sir PAM Murray was not warranted In putting such a con.' struction as he had endeavoured to mikess on tke, minds of the. Court and public, with respect to Lieu tenant-General Clinton's evidence. must now beg the serious attention of the Court relative to the first order seat to Lieutenant-G Clinton on the morel% of the 14th of June,.• 6 titent that order Was with what hia appeared int evidence * namely, that on the night of the lltican prospect of getting hold of Tarragnaa had teased, and the embarkation'of the army lad been decided upon ; but sitting the inconsistency aside, what will be the astonishment of the Court when they lee Sir John Murray asserting, as he did in the statemenehe made on SAturclay last, in reference to this order of That his motive in giving this order had been to cover a retrograde movement of the division of Ge neral Corms army on the great road, but that the movement had been effected during the night : and the troops from Lieutenant•Caneral Clinton% division were not required to assist it, and the order became nnil from this circumstance." I ask Sir John Mut.. ray, whut movement had General Capons made dur ing the night to warrant such a statement on his part Why none. Is it not in clear evidence thewn that Captain Stoddsrt and Lieuten ►nt Bowie tvcre both in communication with General Capons at Al tafulla and at Torre del Barra, until sun-set on t:1e• evening of the 12th June, and that Sir John Murray himselt had been waited upon during the 12th by an officer, Colonel Villamill, with a letter from General Copons, dated from Torre del Barra, then requesting Sir John Murray's directions how to proceed ? 1) not this, I would ask the Court, disqualify the state ment Sir John Murray has made as to his motive in having given this most inconsistent order, and it having become null: from the circumstance of Gene ral Copons' pretended movement ? Sir John Murray states. in another part of his al dress, tha: the Duke of Wellington was fortunate in acting alone—that he had no naval coadjutor to im pede or thwart him, and fan the flame of discontent in the army ; and states also, that I was (compara tively speaking) little more than a spectator of events, in which my own honour was no way committed ; my own responsibility was in no way compromimd ; my own safety, by which, of course, I mean to un derstand, of those under my command, was no way' endangered or concerned. This is the first instance I ever heard of an officer, in the command of the naval part of a conjunct expedition, having no respon: sibility attached to his situation, or that his honour was no way committed in the expedition; I must confess that I felt differently. I felt my honour cm mined in the late transactions, and with those feel ings I considered it aurduty to write the letter I did. Sir J. Murray denies his having made any charge against me; let the world read this, and then judge of the truth of such an assertion. Every one has heard it, and is his ipse dixit to contradict the voice o f all ? He writes a public letter, ocknowledsing :the cordial en-operation of the fleet ; and a privacy letter to Lord Wellington, that the delay and irregu larity of the transports was the cause of the batteries not being opened 24 hours sooner than they would have been. This I deny in lobo. The transport so vice was carried on to my most perfect satisfaction, and the Commanding Officer of Artillery has ac knowledged that his wants were even anticipated. I was in hopes that Sir John Murray would have con fined his reienttnent to me alone. Seeing with how little candour he has directed all his attacks against me, I have learnt to bear them without emotion ; but when he ventures to attack the whole profession, I am called fat-ward to vindicate its character against so foul, so malignant a charge. What does Sir John Murray mean by saying that theme - seri - 4W tindir me Were not exposed to daiigei, when he knows there was scarcely a day passed that they were not employed in boats under fire of the enemy's batteries ? there was ao work on shore which required assistance from the ships that was not in stantly granted ; and in all working patties during the night, as well as day, they shared the same dan gers as the soldiers who were employed with them.— The conduct of the boats could not have escaped his lobservation ; and if Sir John Murray or any of his Staff had been present with the working parties at the battery, he and they - would have been convinced that their conduct merited adiff.rent representation ; and if Sir John Murray considered there was any danger from an enemy on the night of the 12. h, when he was abandoning every thing to its fate, the officers and seamen of both men of war and transports wet e left to share it, while the General who thus calumni ates them was enjoying his repose in bed. I trust it will appear by the evidence of those offi cers who have been examined, that many instances have occurred of Sir Nut Murray's indecision at times, and on occasions where prompt measures and a decisive conduct weie necessary, and consequently that I had pin reason for expressing my apprehen sions that the future movements of the army under his directions would add to its disasters. I presume it will also appear from the same evidence that no measures were adopted towards raising the siege of Tarragona previous to the order which was suddenly given on the night of the llth, to commence the em barkation, and that Sir J. Murray did precipitately or. der the embarkation of the troops under hi: command, and abandoned his guns and stores without necessity. This wi:l appear evident, from a letter from SirJ•li to me, dated on board the Malta, June 19, 1813, in which he says—" Upon the late business, however anxious I was fbr this cordial co-operation, the heavy responsibility which I had, and the dangers which I saw in delaying, prevented me from adopting your opinion, which, as events have proved, might have been safely followed." That there was no necessity, I trust will appear on the evidence buffire the Court. Ist. Because the enemy was not nearer than Villa franca, (a distance of more than SO miles) at the time he adopted this measure. %fly. Because at the time our troops were embark ing, and we were destroying our guns and carriages, and at the time such alarm was expressed on the beach of Tarragona for the safety of our army—the Spanish division under General Copons was nine miles in our front remaining at their post, without any apprehension for their safety. An lastly, Because the enemy was not in suffi sient force to oblige us to raise the siege in the man ner we did, even if he had advanced against us. Sir Joha Murray has attacked my character, not met my charge, and every thing I have heard in this Court, convinces me that your decision will be such as will vindicate the honour of the service, and satisfy the expectations of the Sovereign and the nation. On the Admiral concluding his Reply, the Court was immediately ordered to be cleared. The Sen. truce will not of course transpire till it receives the lopprobotion of the Palifft &NEM 114ZLigi). FATAL POU nem. DIAL, Muni, Fan 2.—Yesterday evening * 'Meeting took place at Bishop's Court, about twelve miles front town, between Counsellor O'C , ,nneli and J. N. Estetre, Esq. The former was Att.-nded by Nfij 11~.rcnamara, and the latter by Sir Edward 6Laniey. The cause of disagreement originated in s..tul obser vations made use of by Mr. O'Connell, at , me of the late Roman Catholic meetings, which reflected reifectfully on t:.e Corporation of Dtth'iff. Hr. D'Ectrrre, as one of the C,,mmou Cctuicilmen of the Id of Merchants, and therefore a manlier of that body, called on Mr. O'Cnnncll for an expl.snA!iolt re. specting the words attributed to hlm, which he de. cFneJ giving; and after some correspondence on ti e subject, a message from the former resulted. T;te p.lrties, as already stated, proceeded to Bishop's- Court, where every prelitninary matter bzing adjusted they took their griund. They fired, as we understand, almost at the same monv::;t, when Mr. O'C.)nuell's shot took effect, b y hitting Mr.D'Esterre immediately below the hip, an d passitig through, after inflicting A severe and p.zinf , ll, kn . we ate ill id to leap", not a dangerous wound. Mr. D'Esterre's fire missed his adversary. It wits low yesterday evening when t!-A• p::rtics returned. Mr. D'Esterre's wound mule. his journey to town a distressing and taiput proceeJina. —The fc,il.)wing correspondence, which passed pre viously to this unfortunate affair, will best explain its origin Sta—Carrick's Paper, of the 23d Init. (in Its re,f , rt of the debates of a meeting of Catholic Gentlenien, on iLe whin: es petition,) states, that you have anted the auenation of lseggarly to the Corporation of this city, caring it a liruarl7 Corporalnn ; and, therefore, as a member of that body, alk: 11.)w ful such is, I beg leave to Inquire, wheeler you r.:aily used or expressed yourself in any such language I feel the more jurified in calling on re on t!:% occlenn, as such language was no; warranted or provoktd by any thing on the part of the Ccrpotation; neither was it consistent wit . the subject of your debate, or the deportment of the ozher Catleihn Gentlemen who were present; and tho” - ;4 1 view it 1 3 Inc o nei... tent In every respect, l am in hopes the Editor is under error, and not yeu. I have further to request low reply in the course of the even la: ; and retuain, Sir, your obedient servant, • J. N. WEST ER it It. 11, Bachelor's Walk, uetit Jan. ISIS, To Counsellor O'Connell, Marion-sq :arc. Mr. O'Conneli's answer v; is as f Alms piss—lu reply to yo or letter of yesterday, and without Obit admitting or C:Fziaititiz the expression re.pecting the Carpet*. don of Dublin, in the pint to which you allude, 1 tieent it ti.4lst to inform you, tl.at, from the cAutunious manner in which the religion and character of the Catholics of Ireland are treated IO that body, no tel rtribute.l to me, however reproachfol, can exceed the contemotious feelings 1 entertain tor that body iu its corporate capacl,y —all !too l *, doubtle,s,it contains many valuable prtsons, whose condlet, as individuals (1 lament), must neces• sar:ly be confounded us the acts of a gc::ertd body. I have only to add, that this letter must close our eorrespon. deuce Oa this subjtet.--1 am, &c. DAHILL eCONIIIII.L. Mc: Hon-Fel:we, lot. 27, 1813. To J. N. D'Esterre, Esq. 11, Bachelors-want. Mr. D'Esterre was advised to persist in the corres pondence, and addressed another letter (but tlireetti in a different hand-writing) to Mr. O'Connell. It was returned to him-by Mr. James O'Connell, inclosed in a letter of the following tenour Sia —From the tenour of your letter of yesterday, my hroth,r did not expect that your next communication would been made in writing, He directed me to open b;. letters to his ab• senit; your last lacer, bearing a - dterent address front the for mer one, was opened by me; but upon pertelelng the name subscribed, I have declined to read it, and, by his directions, I re turn it to you inslosed, and unread.-1 am, Si:, your obedient servant, JAMES O . coNNT.T L. 111errion-square, Friday Evening. To J. N. D'Esterre, Esq. 11,113chelor's Walk. This letter was received by Mr. D'Esterre on rri day evening. On Wednesday corning, Sir E. Stan ley, as the friend of Mr. D'Esterre, waited upon Mr. O'Connell with the hostile message so long expected. The message was accepted ; the necessary measures were arranged between Sir Edward and Major Mac namara, of the county of Clare, son-in-law of Judge Finucane. The hour appointed was three o'clock on Wednesday ; the place Bishop's Court Demesne, Lord Ponsonby's seat, in the county of Kildare, IS miles distant from town. It was agreed by MA seconds, that the distance should be tea paces, and that each party should have a case of pistols, to fire according to his judgment. They fired nearly at the same instant. Mr. D'Esterre's bullet fell short; but he received that of Counsellor O'Connell in the thick part of the thigh, which occasioned his imme diate fall, and terminated the affair. Surgeons Mack lin and Peile were fortunately in attendance; and notwithstanding the universal opinion of Mr. D'Es terre's being killed, the skill of those eminent Gentle men so far restored their patient, as that hopes were entertained of his recovery. Time wound, however, terminated fatally, as may be seen from the follow. ing statements : Mr. D'EsTERRE.—( Latest Accnunt.)---This day at noon, the surgical report upon this Gentleman was of a doubtful nature. It seems that the ball has t:a versed tke hip, and, after penetrating the depth of an inch, passed mound to the rear, and has lodged in tile most fleshy part, from which it cannot be extracted without agony and serious danger. Duautz, FIX. S.—lt is said that Mr. D'Esterre's wound is very dangerous—we sincerely hope, how ever, it will not prove mortal Time bail passed through both thighs. There was a violent hemnri hage of the bladder last night, but it had ceased helots morning. P. S Mf. D'Esterre died this day at two o'clock. One of the Dublin Papers in giving an account of this affair, states the following particulars During the interval between the correspondence and the chal lenge, Mr. D'Esterre paraded the streets, accompaMed by sArne of his friends with the avowed intention of insulting Mr. U'Oni nal personally, and even of offering him personal violence. Mr. O'Connell, on being informed of this, walked about la th most public streets, accompanied by a couple of friends, in order to give Mr. D'Esterre the opportunity. Fortunately, hrtvreVrr, the parties did not fall In with each other. In this state of the transaction, Judge Day endeavoured to obtain a pledge from Mr. O'Connell not to break the peace. Mr. O'Connell assured the respectable Judge that he would not be the aggressor, but no power on earth should induce him to give any pledge beyond that. About this time, Mr. Richard O'Gorman , one of the principal Catholic Gentlemen, and a particular friend of Mr. O'Connell, met Mr. D'Esterre, and remonstrated with him upon the impropriety of his intenti on to assault Mr. O'Con. sell, stating, that the becoming course would be to tend a dial. lunge, which, he was infottned, Mr. D'Esterre had net done, al though it had been expected ever sines the close of the commit ideation, by letter. Mr. O'Gorman pledged himself, that if a challenge should be sent even then, he would have Mr. O'Goa sell en the pawl le half an ham *