Star. — London, England, 1806-05-26 00:00:00

t t FREAchr mmirimr REPORT. RIPON? UPON THI 10111•F TN! THIRD CORPS OF THI ARMY IN The command of this corps being given by Prince prep!' to the General of Divifion, Regnier, it was colleted at Salerno, about the end of February, while the mountain artillery and provifions were pre paring for the expedition at Naples : this it was ne celary for the mules to carry. This corps of the army then received the following organizati ro : the advanced guard, under Brigadier General Compere, was computed of four battalions, a detachment of fappers, and three pieces of mountain artillery ; Ge neral Verdict's Divifion confined of liven battalions, one detachment of tappers, and three pieces of moun tain artillery ; the referve, under Brigadier General Tranceichi, was compofed of one battalion and fix lquadrons of cavalry. Four pieces of light artillery were lent to Matera, to follow the movements of the corps in Calabria; they were ordered to take the route of la Puglia, to arrive at Caffano, it being the only one pratlicable for carriages. The Neapolitan army was compofed of twenty. eight battalions and twentyleven fquottrons, making a total of , 8,000 men, and was to be joined by the 1 levy en male of the Calabrians and peafants of the province of Batilicata, the ancient he of former levies en male, and who owed their formes and the favours they had received to the parts they had aged in the fpecies of crufade under Cardinal Ruffo. —This levy promifed from So to too,oco men, but though much money was expended to engage the peafants, and every means ufed to cajole the Cala brians, they refufed to arm, and told the Prince that the war did not concern them, that he ought not to have engaged in it, that the enemy did not arm againft them ; fn that only a few hundreds of rob bers could be obtained, and thole they were obliged to pay very regularly, merely to retain them in the fervice. The Prince of Naples releafed all the perfons con fined in the prifons awaiting their fentences, and granted an amnelle to others who were purfued by the hands of plaice, as he wilted to engage them to ferve in the retinue of his troops. Ile alto lowered the new imports laid upon fah a thou time before a Tacafure which had increafed the dif g uft of the C,:la brtans againft the meafures of the Court. Rumours the molt abfurd in their kind, were circulated to the prejudice of the French, but they failed in their oh. jeB. At length they were determined to give the males a fuddcn impulfe, with the hopes of pillage ; and they ordered the army to advance, as if it was intended to march againft Naples, where they gave out there were hut few troops ; this movement was allually carried into effeft, when the French army put itfelf in a marching order ; and this was the only objet which the enemy could be fuppofed to have had in view. On the tit of March the advanced guard elle- Wilfred itfelf at Eboli. On the 3d, the army cotn• menced its march ; the advanced guard Pufhei on to Supine. On the 4th, it was at Polla, and the rc ferve and Verdict's divifion, were at Auletta. The bridge of Campefirino was conftrufted over a ravine, in a place where the way was cut through a rock, upon the declivity of a mountair., and which other wife it was impoffible to pats, on account of its flatly. fities ; this bridge was to have been defended by two pieces of cannon, a howitzer, and a numberof pea fonts, that the Chiefs had reprefented to the Court of Naples as 6000, though they were but 3co in re• ality ; but there peafants difperfed as lon as ever they were affured of the march of the French troops. On the sth, the advanced guard was at San Lo renzo di Padua, and the reR at Sala: and an Aid de Camp from hlarfhal Minutoli brought a letter to General Regnier, from the Neapolitan Commandant in Chief, to inform him, that if the French army Mould treat the map, which lie filed auxiliaries, as vagabonds, he fhould make ufe of reprifals againft the French prifonets. General Regnier anfwered, that the regular Neapolitan .romps might rely, with confidence, on his generofity ; but that the armed pe..fants could only be treated as thieves and rebels. Towards San Lorenzo, the advanced guard difco vered fume N.apnlitan cavalry, who Red upon its approach. The f o rmer then took poll at Cartel Num), where they were to be reinforced its a few days; they however left the pofitinn before the time, and the army faw no more of them that day. On the 6.h, the army valved at Calle! Notion, and continued its route after having paled the defiles of Gararo and the fummits of the miuutains, the ad vanced guard perceived the Neapolitan troops in• trenched behind the bridge Dellenicit, to which they had let fire. They were two thoufand in number, with tome armed peafants, and a fquasiron of ca valry, with nese piece of twelve, one howitzer, and two 4 -pounders. The light troops of the n R regi meat of Light Infantry loon gained the heights, which' tom manded the right of Use enemy's eon ends ments, and where the Neapolitans never thought of !hewing their Infantry, till it was too late; they were forced to abandon the a.pounder and howitzer, in a moment, and endeavoured to rally under their 4• pounders but thefe were likewife loon taken by the light tro-ips, who purfued the !mall number of the enemy that elcaped, towards Rofen, where they d:f pelted among the mountains. At Lagonegru, they found a gre • part of the enemy's equipage, and 20 waggons. :n the evening, it appeared, that 300 of the enemy were made prifaners, including a Colonel, aid twenty Officers ; they took alto three pair of co lours. The detachments left at Lagonegro, collated a gieat number of Neapolitans on the following day, who had concealed themfelves in the mountains. On the h, we were obliged to wait for a convoy of bircuit following tie army, as it was abfolutely ne ed:try to (ripply the (fathers oath provifions, before they entered the mountains, where mules only could pas. The advanced guard moved to Lauria, end found fixteen waggons abandoned at Rofeo,and three pieces c-f cann-n at Lauria, where they took three Officers and fifty privates. On the Bth the army ar• rived at Caßelluccio, which the enemy had left but a few hours before; and during their halt there, they f .und feveral firaggling privates, and fume Officers, as well as at Rotunda. On the 9th they entered the defiles of the valley of St Martin, keeping a watchful eye upon the moon. I tains on each fide. According to reports, the enemy, I then a brad of them, wa: waiting their approach in an CU:IcIaCIICd camp at Campo Tante. The enemy's II advanced poll, at the m )uth of one of the defiles, was very Coon reptilfed by our Ikarp (hooters, while free ral companies of light troops were detached to the mountains od the right and left of the elevated plain of Campo Tenefe. The enemy's camp was in the center of this plain —its right and, left fupported by the mountains that skirted them, and which wcre covered by feveral battalions. Three redoubts, fortified with heavy ar tillery, were erected in the front of their cavalry and their artillery ; but as loan as the army had entered the defile of Se. Martin, the fnow began to fall very fait, which, together with a thick milt, prevented then from dillinguifhing any object, and even from feting their enemies, reconnoitring their politions ' or taking meafures for attacking them. However, t h e firlt battalion of the 4.ad regiment was ordered to af. ft-end the heights on the left, to fupport the light troops, who were in puefuit of the enemy. At the entry of the plain, the firft regiment of light infantry and the ad battalion of the 4.2 d, were ordered to form under General Compete: this movement was very flow, becaufe the foldiers could only pals the defile one by one. General Verdict's divilion afterwards formed the fecond line. A part of the troops having formed under the cannon of the Neapolitan camp, the light troops of the s It regiment of light infantry, and a battalion of the 4.2 d regiment, arrived upcn the heights that commanded the right of the enemy. They had chafed two regiments charged with the defence rf thofe heights, and by this fuccefs out flanked the Neapolitan's right. At this inftant, Ge. neral Regnier ordered the Generals Compere and Verdier to beat the charge. The enemy was routed, and abandoned his redoubts, and his cannon, being able to take but a (mall party with him, by the way of Mnrano. where the light troops of the left had arrived ; the enemy's infantry and cavalry took re fnge in the mountains covered with fnow, where they were followed by our (harp (hooters, and a great number taken. Night came on ; the milt and the fnow had prevented us from furrounding and taking the whole army upon the field of battle. Thus dif. peeled, a great number of them pet jibed with hun ger and cold. Others were compelled to come and lurrender themfelves. The cavalry, which was (till in the defile in our rear, was not able to arrive time enough to take a part in the attion, and charge the enemy at the moment of their flight. General Da- MA, laved himklf pith about woo men and too horfes. In the evening the army entered Metann, with the Neapolitan fug'tives ; and afterwards paffed the night in the open air beyond that city, as did Verdict's divilion alfo, upon the declivity of themoun lain which leads to it. The cavalry and the Swils battalion palled the night in the fnow upon Campo Tenefe, with the prifoners and the wounded Neapo litans. On the loth in the morning they collated 1800 prifoners and too officers, including the Brigadier- Generals Tfchudt and Ricci. The whole of the ar tillery 1.1,4% taken, with five pair of colours and feve ral horfes. On the fame day the advanced guard marched to Cairene., where they made too privates and 3o officers prifoners. Maritsa' Rofenheim had : withdrawn on the preceding evening, having recalled , all the troops that had advanced towards Rofetta, , and naffed the Cofcile. The main body of the army • paired this night again without tents near Cattrovil • lari. On the t tth, the advanced guard and the main body palled the Cofcile towards San Antonio della Fiera, and marched to Tarfia, where the chaffeurs charged, and took fome Neapolitan cavalry. The weather was dreadful: the rain fell in torrents; and the overflowing of' the Cofcile prevented the referve from palling it till the day following. On the t zth the army arrived at St. Antnniello, • when a fquadron of the 6th regiment of chaffeurs en tered Colenza, almoß upon the heels of the Neapo litans, feveral of whom were made prifoners. At Cofenza fix pieces of cannon were found, with feveral waggon•, and force officers were made prifoners. The Hereditary Prince Francis de Bourbon had left Cofenza three days before for Reggio, with his young brother, the Miniflers, and the perfons that follawed in his fuite. He was alfo followed by a part of Marlhal Rofenheim's corps, by different routes, nn the s tth and 12th. Our army was re ceived at Cofenza, and in all the villages, with marks of the greaten fatisfaftion. On the 13th, the army encamped about C. ferias : on the oath, the advanced guard was at Segliano, with the 9th regiment of chaffcurs and a fquadron of the 6th. General Verdier's divifion remained at Co fenza, to obtain provilions. On the 15th, the ad vanced guard was at Nicallro, and Verdier's divi finn at Segliann : the 6th regiment of chaffeurs and a detachment of infantry remained at Cofenza, under Colonel Lafon. Oil the 16th,• the advanced guard was at Lac , nia, and Verdict's divifion at Nicattro On'the grit, the advanct.d guard was at Monrileone, and Vcrdier's divifion upon the banks of the river Augitola, and at Pizzn. On the 18th, the former was at San Pietro and Calimera, the latter at Meleto. On the t9th, the main body encamped near Semi. ntra, after a very fatiguing march, and experiencing witch difficulty in palling the rivers Metonia and Petran, much (swollen by the continual rains. On the :oth, the army marched before day, but its progrefs was much retarded by the badnefs of the roads, and the almoll impalrable defiles of Solann an.l Melca. Arriving upon the heights of Finmaro di Maro and de Scilla, which command a view of the Straits of Matra, about fifty tranfport !reliefs were difeovered lying before Gallic° and Pentimele. TheSe tranf ports let fail very loon after. General Replier was in hopes that the whole of the Neapolitans would not have had time to embark ; and ender this idea he matched to the eosin with the whole of the cavalry, and left the infantry in the defiles very far behind him. No more Neapolitan troops were, however, to be teen npon the coall ; the tranfports got under weigh, and were protelled by a number of gun boats, which fired upon our advanced guard as it pallid along the beach of Bentimelle, on the way to Reggio. Verdict's divifion marched to the Punta del Pezzo, where no more Neapolitans were to be found; other detachments were fent to Bagnara and Scilla. The inhabitants of Reggio were eager to welcome the army. The Archbifhop came to meet the General with his Clergy, requelling leave to perform Te Denny in the Cathedrals he alto gave his benedidion to the troops. Prince Francis had embarked two days be fore the arrival of the French at Reggio. Out of an army c•mfttling of 18,000 meo, :coo o n ly embarked, ant thole aithout aims, and diforganized The , whole of the field pieces belonging to this army were taken I feveral pieces of cannon were found at Cot fon, Amantea, and other points of the coati, which the Englifh had not time to render ufelcfs. A LETTER FROVI ADMIRAL VILLEVEUYE 70 BONAPARTE. La IV.ivalet a la Maim, No I. of May r,contains the fol'owing let ter, written to Bonaparte by Admiral Villeneuve, on the morn ing of his (sickle. It Is datectftenoes, April a 6, 'BO6. o Sir ! (Monfieur !) " You mutt remember, that when Latoucbe died at Toulon, commanded at Rochefort, and declined to fueceed him. I was then well convinced, that whoever headed or directed the adveittorous and badly planned expedition of the combined Frenah and Spaniel Beet, would be &graced al well as defeated. If misfortune fpared Ms Ilk, in an engagement, aimoft unavoidable with a foe actor tooted to vidtnry, and covering the feu of the world with his cruisers. 'then were my very words to the Minifter of Marine. When I afterwards, fo much againft my inclination, bad failed for Barcelona and Cadiz, and witneffed the manning and inaraeuvres of the Spaniel fleet, my flrft difpatch contained my refignation, again fent in from Martinico, from Ferrol. and from Cadiz. To the order of the 24th left September," of returning to To aloft with the combined fleet, we were even to fight our way thro' the Eng ficet,'—f replied,' that it Gould be obeyed; but I mounded alto the Minifter of my former refignations, of my former awe. benfions, of the uncertainty of naval combats, and of ray determi nation, whether fuccefsful or repulfed, to renounce for ever a pert loos poll, which my principles, and above all, your violent and I crud cbaradter, made me unfit to occupy. . Neither fault, nor want of valour, brouzbt on the misfor tunes of Trafalgu. This net has fully beam proved in my official account of this battle. Why refute it a place in the Maeltafir I while the calumnies and afperGons of my rivals sad foes have al ways been admitted In Its outrageous columns ? When In the misfit of your profperous and ambitious career in Germany, my report reached you, did you not, with your ulna' petulance and cruelty, fay— , I fee that the example of a French Byng is ablvlntely ne miner° make vidtory the order of the day in toy Navy ?' Thou- Land voices have repeated this your unfeclino exprefiloo—this (en tente of death pronounced againft a patriot' g "roach Admiral, by a ferocious foreign Ufurper, while my Mipatca was left unnoticed, unheard of, and perhaps unread. It contained neverthelef', tome revere truths, which would nut have added any Nitre to your naval talents, but proved, that he whole incapacity and ambition alone muted the lots of one French fleet near Aboukir, alto occaGoned the deft:vs:Um of another ncar. Trafalgar. " In my left convet Cation with you, you owned to me yourfilf, that even were France the unoppond solitude of all the Conti nent. as long as me cannot compel Great. Britain to fubmit to her didtates. her external power mull be precarious, her internal Bate unfettled, her commerce Itagnated, her mauuladtories deprefied and her inhabitants 'offering and poor. But what have you done to remedy theft certain evils, and to preierve then uceeffary ad vantages ? Under your tyranny, of Come years only, my country and her allies have a'ready loft a greater number of men of war, than millpond the whole Royal navy daring a great part of the Nog reigns of Louie XIV. and of Louis XV.; and Gould me tome time longer be curled with the Tway of your iron feeptre her military navy will be on a level with her commercial navy, and in her lea ports ken nothing but fhamelek pirate" and beg- gated traders. . But has even hitherto my country derived any gain or honour from all your fortunate campaigns, or I. the more free under your unlimited authority ? Overburthened with taxes, and cruelly op preffed by an aaive.relentlefs, military defpotifin, my gavial coun trymen mourn, without daring to utter a Ggh, the gradual ap proach of inevitable ruin. whillt you, your relatives, and your creature' alone, profit from conquelt, effected by the puree blood and molt valuable treafurce of France. But to confider even in a political point of view, your uturpations, your devaftations, your indemnities, your changes. and your pacificationa, what glory, what advantage can Frenchmen, and what lately can other people derive from them, or from beholding a fanguinuy adventurer an Emperor; his vkious harlot an Emmet's; his obkure and wicked brothers and brothers-in.low Kings and Princes; his profligate nieces Que no and Princefies ; and hi. criminal accomplices, Dukes, Field Mullah, and Knights ? Though you have enchained the perfons, you have been unable to bewilder or to feise the fem . , a of Frenchmen. Can therefore the pretence in France of ao,coo Au • ltrian and Ruffian prifoners remind them of any thing elle, but or the captivity (caufed by your provocation and ambition) of more than that number of their countrymen In England? While they fee the former returning to their homes, mutt not Frenchmen la ment the abfence of thofe fo juftly dear to them. but whom they malt never expert to embrace again, before delivered from your tyranny ? They are well aware that Great Britain 311 too wile and too powerful, to fign another peace with a man more confpiring againil her independence as a pretended friend, than dangerous as an avowed enemy, whole olive branches have always been the fel phurous faggots of a political and focial incendiary. who offers con tinually peace during war, and plots mid meditates nothing but de ftrudlion during a peace. o From the language of this letter, you will redly perceive, that Its writer is out of the mach of your ferocious vengeance, and fears no longer either your racks or duneeons, your poifoners or your tormentors. Your Minifter's orders to me, not to approach the capital without farther go rmilflon from you," has again put off the period of your pcmidincent, and the delivery of mankind from Its noorpe. Without it. refolved not to furvive the ruin of the French navy, I meditated on difpatching you before I put:lilted myfelf for having been your tool, to the dlfgrace of my honour, of my ditty, of my birtO, and of my protelLon. That you arc Bill among the living is therefore another evidence of a blind and int)uft fortune, that from infer utable motives, Rill permits the continuance of your barbarous tyranny. Depend how- vet upon It, (end the vaft enor mity of your numerous crimes mutt convince you of its truth), that as you have lived °smolt's', grandeft criminals, your end molt be untimely and terrible. An attain or ma executioner mall to ill) a career of atrocities, which to the acme of humanity and act our age,bas already been too lung endured. " That a virtuous poflerity,which might blame a part of icy public life, may not be ignorant of the fincere re entatice and pa triotic fentknents that accompanied my death , copies of tliis later have been expedited to funeral °flatters in all French naval Rations. Notwitliftanding what your vile flatterers fay to the contrary, had your murder preceded my fuieide, not only the prtfent generation but ages to come, would have hailed me as a deliverer, and revered me as a faviour. Altars, as well as Rattle", would then have been eredled to my memory.—Tremble, tyrant ! You live abhorred, and will expire with the curia of the uuiverfe, following you even on the other fide of the grave. (SIPS J) • as vu.s.smarrs." • LONDON. MONDAY, MAY 26. WurrsoN Mownay..—No bulinefs done at the Stock Exchange. PRICE OF STOCKS ON SATURDAY. 3 p. Ot. Red Ann. sof Imperial Ann. 84 9 16 3 per Cent.-Conf. Ann. met Fach. Bills 31. ts. dif. 4 per Cent. i•;ii Ornnium ai prem. Long Ann. IP. 3-164 I Conf. for opg. 61i India Bonds, at. a 31. dif. This gaming one Hamburgh and two Gotten• burgh Mails arrived at the Polt Office. There feasts no truth in the reports of the difgrace of Haunts Erz. The Berlin letters, of the ,7th, I.sy nothing on the fubjca. An article in the liesshnharrc/isendent Rates, that the Emperor of Russia has offered his mediation to fettle the differences between Pruffia and England, and PrufGa and Sweden, and from the way in which it is given it has force appearance of being official.— If fuch a mediation is offered it muft be accepted; but whether it will have any effc& at kelt between England and PrufGa, we (hall not venture to pro nounce. The Prufflans take no hoftile raceme againft the Swedes. and wait for the latter to begin. The fame paper Rates, that Engli(h veffels are allowed to enter Lubeck and Embden, as Wool.— This if conce, is a further proof that Pruffka withes . . to thtain an amicable fettlement with this country, i BONAPAITE will allow her to make the neceffaty %once:lions. When the news was received a few days ago, that de port. of Pruflia were again to be opened, it canted forae ailivity among the merchants engaged in that trade. The buflle is, hpwever, much la; than might have bees expo led, an idea having gone abroad that France, is permitting this meafure, (and without fuch permiffios Priam durft not adopt it), aims only at entrappirg a number of our Gips in the pvrts of Proffitt, when the whole will be embargoed, on the pretence that the meafures adopted by this country againft Truflia jullifies filch a proceeding—ln the fame waT as NAPOLEON ordered the arreft of the Bri tifh fobjefts who were in France when the prefent war commenced. In truth, we commend our mer chants for their caution. Letters from Trien, Vienna, and Peterfburgh, all agree in nating, that the Emperor ALF LINDER has liflened to the folicitations of the Court of Vienna, and agreed to withdraw his troops from the mouths of the Cattaro. It is poflible that the Emperor of Russo may have been prevailed upon to reverie a mea'ure that threatened Atintia with a new war; bat it will not follow from this, that France is to be allowed, unmolefled, and without refinance, to ex ecute the monarous pretenfions fhe has formed of &Airing from the Pours, to every thing the Vene tians at any period poffefied either in Greece or other parts of the Continent, or in the Archipelago, including the Seven Hands. Our Private Correfpondent at Hamburgh, dated the aoth, mentions a report current when he wrote, that Marfbal Ma a, at the head of his army had declared himfelf independent of France; but that the fource of the rumour was not known, nor any other particulars (laced. Sr. PITIMBUROH, Maw 7.—The Emperor has at length determined to accede to the urgent and frequently rtiterated reprefentations of Auflria.— His Imperial Majelly affured General Merveldti ira full parade, that he has fent orders to his troops to evacuate, without delay, all the places they occupied in Albania, and particularly the Mouths of the Cat taro. VIENNA, May G.—The differences refpeßing the mouths of the Cattaro are fettled. The remonflrau crs made at St. Petertburgh have had the wilbed for effeets, and the Ruffian troops have received orders to evacuate the Mouths of the Cattaro. VICNIA, MAY 10.—Letters from Triefle, the cre dit of which is undoubted, bring the agreeable intel ligence from Dalmatia, that the occafian of a .new war between France and Auftria ss happi'y removed. as the Emperor of Ruaia, in order to refcue our Government from that diftreffing Gtuation, had or dered his troops, who occupied the fonreffes at the Mouth of Ole Cattaro, again to give them up to the Audrian Commiflary, that they may be ceded to the French, agreeably to the terms of the Treaty of Freiburg. The delivery by our Commiffiry has al- ready taken place. May this prove the forerunner of a complete and general peace ! The French Ambaffador at Conflantinople has de manded from the Turks the eefGon of Larta, Prevefe, and Bultrinto, formerly belonging to Venetian Dal matia, but furrendered long firm to the Porte. The demand was accompanied by a notification, that the Commander of the French army in 'aria had orders to take poffeffii.n of thole places, in anticipation of the friendly compliance of :he Grand Seignior. The reports of peace which have been confidently circulated yelt.rday and today have already pro domed an advantageous effea on our fate paper, which has rifcn 3 per cent. It his been remarked, that the Imperial Agent bought a confiderable quan tity ot it this miiinify,. AUSTII.II.4 Zrarss, MAY to.—The French troops have received permiffion to pals through the Auttrian States, in order to make good naiad the Porte, the pretentions which the Emperor Napoleon, as Sove reign of Venice, advances to all the poffclllons which that Republic had in the mod ancient times in Greece, and ou the Continent, as well is is the Archipelago. In this are included the Seven Wands. }IA M BURG H. M I' 20.....[115 Imperial MdiCay, the Emperor of Ruffis, is underflood to have offered his mediation for the adjuftment of the differenc $ between P , ufGa and England, and between PraLa and Sweden. On the frontiers of PruiTian Pomerania, little at tention feems to be paid to the Swedi(h military pre• parations. Some of the battering cannon have been ordered to be kept in readinefs, hut nothing farther has been done. The Pruffians teem to wait for the firfl hoflilities to proceed from the fide of Swcden. The ports of Embden and Lubec, are excepted from the orders for (hutting the other P. utlian P +its, and the entrance and departure of Englifh seffels is permitted. This number of the Corrdoadese contains three articles, inferted by diredlionot the King of Sweden, refpeaing the late proceedings in Laueuburgh. The fiat is the Proclamation of Count Louenhielm, dated Rat:burgh, April 13. announcing his orders to de• fend the territories occupied by the Sandia troops, and under their rotation. The fecond is a letter. dated April r 7, to the above, from Colonel Von &ellen, commanding a Prudian corps. communicating bis orders to occupy the country of Latteuburg.