Star. — London, England, 1808-01-28 00:00:00

olace N brigade in that direction. Colonel Mahon's brigade was malered to 4:e right ; but as the enemy did not come out in the way General Gower feemed to expect. tl,e advanced palls were ordered to be re. fumed. I went to the right of Colonel Mahon's bii. gide in order to fee how they were placed, and re corning ft , m thence about five o'clock I called at General Gower's quarters, and he (hewed ,me a plan for to attack upon the town, which he appeared to have ju!l finifhed, and which was completely detailed in all its parts, and was the fame which was given •ut next day in faders, vii h fome trifling alteration.. I proceeded to look at the advanced polls of the cen tre and 14'o - while General Gower went, as I under . , raid, to head quarters with his plan. I ; l eached head quarters after dark, and, in the coutfe of the evening. General Whiielocke silted my opinion of the plan of attack, which was to take place next day. at t a o'clock. I Hated ohjellions 'to one claufe. which laid that no prifoners were to be made, as r conceived, that in an attack of that fort upon an open town, it w std he impoffible to prevent a great deal of butchering. I laid 1 thought the plan would rue cred, but it appeared completely a new cafe, as I never heard of a limilar order of attack before. The General laid he would leave out the objeEtionable clante, an l that be would common the town next morning before he attacked. He admitted that the plan was novel, but Hated that hi was compelled by cir cumilances to adopt it. I underßood that an order was fent to Reduelion to Col. Mahon this evening, to order him to move next morning tjwards the bridge over the Chuello, and there to wait for orders ; but as that order was not written by me, I cannot fiwear to it politively ; but he Teemed determined to corn mence the attack on the town, whether his arrival on his ground limpi3 be reported or not. On the morning of the 4th, the Brigadier Generals and fome commauding Officers of regiments attauded at head crafters, where Major General Gower read and explained to them' the order of attack, and {hewed the plan of tbe town. Shortly afterwards, the Adjutant Generals, and all but the Brigadier Generals, wete fent out of the room ; I fuppofed their opinions were going to be taken on the plan of attack ; Otis crufereace loon broke up, and the at tack was ordered to take place at half pall fix the next /not:l4.g. I received no orders, either from General Whitelocke or General Gower onohe Tub jetl of this attack, but I went out on hrefeback for the pat pole cf endeavuuring to reeonnoitre Come part of the groond over which the different columns were to move forward to the attack. I found that the advanced polls were engaged, and .that the fame plan was adopting for the put pole of driving the enemy out of the town that had been praftifed with. out fuccefs the day before. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon that the advanced perils were refurned, and I had but jolt time before dark, to fhew die Btigadier Generals the roads through which the wings of the regiments comp. flog their brigades, were to match into the town. Is this I was affilled by one of the guides, who fhe wed toe the llreets that led ta the North Ean baltion of the fart, and the point of departure. I found confiderable variance between the plan and the ground, and I reported to Ge;:eral Gower, that I believed the columns would u.t all be placed in the way he teemed to with. I thought it alio my duty to (late, that if the attacking columns proceeded in the way he had truckled, the enemy would probably retire into the ftreets, run n'ng at right angles ; and by afterwards doling upon our columns, would probably cut off all com munication between thole within the town and thofe without. General Gower made light of thefe oh jeflione. ID the con' fe of the day, the Commander of the Engineer; brought me a return of all the in. liniments he had been able to colic& for breaking open the doors, and I cleared him to give thole which appeared to be the mull effative to the light battalion and the rifle . corps, whom I underflood were to enter two of the principal churches. Late in • the evening I met General Gower returning from b e ad quartets, who afked me where I thought Gene ral Wai,e!ocke had better place Itimfelf in the mor ning ? I (tete I, I thought it better to proceed to the left of the 38ilt regiment, as there were two brigades to" attack , he town upon that fide, and that he, Ge nes al Goe-er, (ho'ild be Rationed upon the tight, as the centre %Las intended to be but a talfe attack. He' io 4 ormeri me that General W. had ordered him to with him, and therefore he had named .the eas the proper Ration, and that it had been ted upon accordingly. Ido not remember any ,ter thing cf confeqttence this day. I believe one ar two ordets were fent to Colonel Mahon ; but I cannot fay to what effect. Examined by the Court. Whea yod v.tent to Colonia, were you dire/led th enquire what rreaftues had been taken to provide finites fur the cavalry ? A. Ido not remember that I was ;.1 elieve at that time the Colonia horfes were in very had condition. Was y, uat Colonia after this ? A. Yes; I was tent with Major Gen. Gower on the e4thof June. Q._ What number of holies did you find provided theie at that time for the ufe of the expedition I A. I do not believe that any horfes were provided there for the expedition ; thete had been a fquadrun of dragoons Rationed there a confiderable time before. Q._ What number cf honks were there at that time ? A. I cannot exactly nate, becatife I had no seturns ; tor I believe there were about 1 5 0. Q Do you know whether they had been properly trained for army let vices ? A. I cannot lay. How many tranfports were then provided for the conveyaoce of the honks ? A. I think there were four for at tiilet y horfes and Mules, three for cavalry, and two for the Taff, betides the (hp allotted for the Service of the Commiffary General. Q s _ Were any, and what meafures, taken for cal. lecttog (mall craft in the River Plata ? A. Idu not think there was any titian craft in the River, except in the hat baors of Monte Video and Buenos Ayres. O. In the fury ey which ou have defctibed to. isave been made of the bank of the River, with a view to afcertain the moll proper place to land, did • thete appear to he any tatter objection to the point of Oailmes, than that the troops could not land there under cover of the (hips of war ? A. I came as thole. to the point, in the Encounter gonbi ig; as the (hal lownels of the water would permit. I believe I waa about a mile and a half from the as re. I was infor med that a battery had been ereeled at the village of Redualon, fo as to command the pali - ge thlutio SIXTH DAY. the marfh, in which ntatfil General Beresford hid neatly 101 l all his artillet y : I know of no other ob. Ili stet ion. • What number of flatbottomed beats accomra Hied the army, to enable it to land, when ire (hallow/nes r f the water did not• admit sf tranf ports ? A. Previous to leaving Monte ' Video, I received a return from the tranfport Agent, cf the' number of ,flat boats—there were but (even or eight in the River ; they were given to the Commanding Officer of the Artillery. Q : _lf the ohjellions you have Rated were removed, is it your opinion that the landing above the town was the proper place! A. As far as I underfland, the ule of flatbottomed boats is to convey the troops from the tranfports to the 'bore : the difficulties here were the getting up of the tranfports. QHow high up the River did it appear tranfpnrts could reach ? A: I cannot exailly fay : I believe they could not proceed with fafety even fo high as the town. What di Rance is Colonia from the opponte fide of the River ? A. Seven or eight leagues. What number of Spattifh guns were there which you was ordered to (pike? A. Four or five fix pounders, and they were (piked accordingly. Q._ What quantity of provllions were Intl in croff ing the morafs.? A. I cannot (peak with certainty: I believe only a few bags of bifcutt, which the bodes threw off. Q z _Do you know if all the pros,' as were ; taken from the bark of the River to the TO? A. I cannot exactly tell. QWhat number of guides were taken from Monte Video on board the tranfp tits, and how were they difiributed ? A. There were two perfons appoir..ed exprefsly for the purport of guides, and they were of rest (ervice ; there was one of them with each divilion. Colonel BURKS'S Examination was returned. On his crofs examination by feveral Members of tl,e Court Martial, the following was the ptincipal facts detailed in his evidence :—There was no local impediment whatever to the army marching in one column, from the heights above Enfenada to the village of Reduction. The terms upon which the _town was to be fummoned were communicated verbally by General Whitelocke to the witnefr, and by him conveyed to General Gower in the fame manner. The witnefs never gave General Gower pofitive reafon to believe that General Whitelocke would comfort him with the whole army : although he may have fuggefted that it was likely he might do fo. There was no attempt whatever made by General Whitelocke to communicate with the ad vanced guard under General Gower, by patroles, or otherwife ; and the witnefs knew of no impediment whatever to fuch an arrangement. The only intel ligence received refpecting the bridge over the Chuello, was from General Gr.wer. When the main divilion halted on the ad, two hours and a half of day light remained. The order fent to Colonel Ma hi,n to halt at Reduction with the rcferse, was trans mittel through means of a mounted countryman, who had no efcort. He repeated that no orders whatever were iffued for reconnoitering the town of Buenos Ayres, or the bridge over the Chuello. Crofs.examined by General WrisTELocxv. The witnefs admitted that every poffible exertion was made by the General while at Monte Video to obtain intormatjon as to the roads, &c. and that all means were tried to procnre horfes for mounting the cavalry. A 1114 load t.f males defined for the Cape of God Hope was purchafed at Monte Video by order rf General Whitelocke thefe animals were defined for the tranfport of the Pores and artillery. The difficulties in procuring horfes were very great, and what they did procure were loon unfit for any work; fome even were knocked up the fir ft day they were tried. It was under flood and expeaed that a fufficient fupply of fheep and bullock* would be ' procured in crown; the country, and they accord ingly found a fuffictentfupply of both. He thought, from his own obfervationt, that the Enfenada was the moil proper place at which to land. With re gard to obtaining fupplies from the fleet, he thought this was praaicable, if proper arrangements had been made by the Navy. He did not think that it was poffible to have formed any plan of attack while at Monte Video, fo fcanty was the infotmatton there received ; and, in his opinion, the meafures pus fued relative rw the attack, were the only ones that could be adopted in loch circumliances. From the infix "nation obtained at Monte Video, could not have taken upon him, as Q2arter Matter General, to have arranged the marches and places of halting dining the fervice.. Meafures :night have been ar ranged for the paffage of the Chuello ; but nothing more, except making Reduction a fecond point of halting, and where fUither meafures might have been concerted—namely, by actually reconnoitring the country. On the march, there was very little intelligence of any importance received from the people of the country. He did not think that any places could have been more convenient for cooking, &c. than the three farm houfes at which they halted on the sd of July; and upon the pofition of there farm hoofer, the moverhents of the army certainly in a great meafure depended. General Whitelocke repeatedly expelled his anxiety, while on the match, to get the men un der cover in cafe of bad weather letting in, and to keep up a communication with the Navy. It rained very hard at two o'clock in the morning of the ad, when General Whitelocke fent for the witnefs, and an old inhabitant of the country had informed Ge neral Whitelocke that heavy rains generally Pet in about the if of J•rly, and rendered the marches im paifable. General Whitelocke, upon his return to Reduction, expreffed great anxiety to march forwar d, and even to leave behind fomecattle which were cut ting up for Sir Samuel Auchmuty's brigade. There were no other farm ironies in fight on the sd, except the three at which the army halted there was a fourth at the ditlance of fix miles, but it mutt have been dark before they came up with it. It occupied three r - r tour flows in the crotling of the Chuello on the 3d ; the drfficul; y and delay arofe (rim theiwollen Rate of the river, and not from the ignorance of the guide. The horfes of the country were unfervicea ble from having been acctritorred to eat graft only ; the mules he hart heard were a hardier race. He dries not know any thing cf the road between Point Qttilimm and lit:audios, tut he has beard that while I Colonel Mahan was at the latter Haire be received fupplies from the navy, with which a communication had been opened. He thought that on the 29th of June, when the army reached the heights of Enfena da, a plan mighOrave been formed for the future march of the army With tolerable precifion, etnd he AIN thought there was no obstacle to the whole army moving in one column, which was the fimpleft way. • SEVENTH DAY. Examination of Colonel Buses continue/ IZ (By the Court.) Were any, and what mea lures taken on the evening of the ad to fecure the pafFage of the Chirac, next day, by reconnoitering or othet wife ? None that I know of. Q (By General Dundas.) Was there any rep t' made on the evening of the 2d by the officers comman ding the rear divitione, which made it meeffary to halt that evening ? A. I never heard of any, ex cept the convesfation with Sic Samuel Auchmuty, already Rated.'. , • On his further' examination by the Court, the wit nefs Crated that he thought there were no difficulties on the march which could have prevented the whole army from marching four or five miles beyond Re dation, on the fecond day after leaving the heights above Enfenatia ; that General Whitelocke, in the orders lie iffued, was guided by the information he received from the guides ; and that after they left Redation there was no communication between the two divitions t)1 the army which could have enabled General Whitelocke to inform General G rwer that he had altered his line of march. That the witnefs never mentioned to General Whitelocke that he thought by fo doing he would tender it impoffible for lint to fupport General Gower, bccaufe he (the witnef,) did not think General Gower needed any fupport. That there was no attempt what ever by General Whitelocke to reconnoitre, whe ther the bridge over the Chuello was standing or not,.or to afeert.tin what force the enemy had on its banks ; that he did not think the information recliv? ed could warrant the conclufion that General Gower would require no fupport in difputing his way acrofs the Chuello, and that if the enemy bad bees fo firong as to make the paffage dangerous, General Whitt locke would not have fupportect his advanced guard ; that no officers of the (toff were fent out to reconnoitre the apptoaches to Buenas Ayres on the 4'h of Joly previous r.-) the attack, and that although the witnefs himfelf did reconnoitre them, it was not in confequence of any ordets whatever, but from a &rue to benefit the fervice ; that fix pontoons and their carriages there embarked at Monte Video to make a bridge over the Chuello, but they werenever landed at Eufenada, and the reafon of this he cannot tell. QTellions by Lord CATHCART. Q. When the main body halted on the zd, did you fte the -regimects come up to the ground, and w a s there a long rear ? A. I law them c , me up to their ground, arid the troops appeared quite frelh. Q._ What precautions wete taken for the fecurity of the army by piques on the 3d, when you halted ? A. I du not know ; but about four o'clock, when going round, I law the left wing not fo well covered as it ought to be, and reinforcements were fent to it when the piqucts teemed to be what the cafe re quired. Q_Were innruelions given to the piquets to attend to any firing, and to report all extraordinari - s ? A. I do not remember any fuch initiations ; nor were .any extraordinat ie s reported. Q_What diaance did the main body march on the ? A. About nine miles. Q „ , When the firing was heard en the ad, were any meatures taken by General Whitelocke to afcertain the famition of his advanced corps at that time ! I A. I do not recollat any. • the term honfes which, if boiled, would b an excellent fubeitote for bread, of which ,: *1 regniar fupplY, we had no means o f , nik . ' ll 4 chicle. refource, : another circurntlance, ee m .:,° tont, but rather, I think, from the Want ilf I .' 4 l arrangements then from an otigio a t d e ,: ft '''',9l equipment, was, that although the troep,l 4 ,"i, bread only for three days, viz. 28:h,2,•1;,‘ June, n t e k , e t h3edr,e whenw as no e fa ro r t u l n t m e d r e, i a tf r u ,c) e i r t,i ) c f :e ie bread iriigiia !'"l 4 one of the houfes behind our poll i to ;,,,'; 43 11 ,if the ed. I think this might have heen a,„l'' i l halting at Reclalion long enough 13 m elee .""1 Arrangements with the fleet at Q2i!rn c ,. ' t P k il It alto appeared to derable part of the army, I mean ;h e det4 Let v he had been under my comman,l, h,d L"'" 4 many months embarked, it was very ellen:jai-1' !calk in the firth period of their operations:ll-2 fhould have been allowed their ration 4 1.,,,„: 1 which they had been acctivomei. My b r i g 4 e :4 filled of two (quadrats of 6th Dragnets Guard s :: 36th, 45th, and 881 Regiments, Ev e C amai ,...:s the 95th, and two Cerps of Artilie7y ; ‘ , e iZi at Enfenada on the Mot ning of the 28th witho n 7„, appearance cf an enemy, in a rtnatien whi c h: peared to me in many iefpects well dam eil l believe it was the heft that could hav : b een f e 4 - 4 After eroding a broad rw imp which ext..tels a „, derable diliance along the banks of the ii,,e,`" brigade took a portion upon the heigh s• r ' I I . .nm e 4 * tegiments tormed upon our right, I breire. : ,,,,, and 38. h. ' Oil the 29th we marched o il bey., '' upon the read or track leading lowAttls 1, 4 , 4 H" 11 Ayres, by the way of ReduCtion. Ab eo a rna ti o half betweea it and Buenos Ayres, we to o k cat fitien on the evening of the IR. From th e i a l i l at Enfenade on the zBth of June, to our arriviii, fore Buenos Ayres 3d July, my brigade, with then aption of the four Companies I have menti..nel i be detached from it and General Lumley's br;erd confilling of the 36th and 88th regiment', fra r 4 corps under the immediate command of Major c o neral Gower. General Lumley's brigad e („ o , Barragon heights to the poti.ion at ladafta A was always at the dillance of four or its s k i is the rear of mine. I nndertlood from Cg teri i Gower that this arrangement was adopted to th e purpofe of facilitating the procuring fu e l, ~Licht extremely fcarce in that country, and only ink found in the neighbourhood rf the few 4, fararhoufes. I think the dillance at which wee camped was extremely imr rodent, if then 14 been any danger. The whole of the march (14 brigade was attended by 'Mall parties of irregeh honk, who occaflonally exchanged a few fir oyil the tine corps—they were armed wi:h vay 14 mut.:ets. Until our arrival at IteduClion nothistre curt ed either of oppofition from the enemy, orat ficulties of any other fort. The c emtry wasp Wily open, and, although the route was soya quently interrupted by (mall dreams tuning the R. , ggy bottom!, yet, until we had p-efled Ilcdonie there were or ne of them fedi as to form any eel derable impediment--the only embarrafTnieef slid the advanced guard experienced proceeded limit want of a good guide, the inhabiteres Willi their dwellings, except one, a Mr. Dural!. Aos approached it eduCtion, we law truc'l mere Coel derable bodies of h')rfemen than we bad befaeol fetved ; but they appeared to have no otherlep than of reconnoitring our march. On the evening of the in of July, my briga took a poplin on the extremity of the big ground at about a mile and a half nearer tante Ayres than the village of ReduCien, at the en mencement oldie valley thorough u Lich ran the tie Monett and Chuello, from this we law plaid/ d appearance of an army behind the Chtnllo; wed ()Nerved a fire, which Lieutenant Colonel Mr who at this time commanded the light hattia informed me was, as he believed, in the direeisf the bridge. Early in the morning of the ad, l' ceivcd an order from General Gove:r, who I Veiled the night with General Lumley', brigai be in readinefs to march at nine o'clock. A before this General Griever came to me, and I good deal of cenverfation with him refpeat., objeCt and direflions of the march. I owlet , from him, that in confequence of the Matadi received, that the enemy had cenflrreted Intlt!il for tha, defence on the lower ground in (Ilea bouthnod of the bridge, it was determined to I that portion, by palling the liver higher op,lal think it material to Hate, that Major Gen. G at this time, certainly had not fettled with the mender in Chief, or in his own mind, where to . tempt the paffige, whether at the pars called pats-, or at one laid to be about a league high the river. We law the enemy's army on the rite fide of the river : and after we had me about two or three hours, we dillinnly f ay G Whirelocke's divition in march ; erd, irons cnnfideration, both of general real. nine- and cular citcumflances, I was certainly during. the, of that day, implefred nit]) the belief that they following us. Some time after this General (hewed me a letter from General Whitelerla, which letter, to the bell cf my tee IleCtion, Gower was folly authorifed to crcfs the t iter; erablilli 'timid' in the firburbs of the tows, 04 was clear to me from the pofnion of the two would not be effeeled without an aCti :n. .. It was Irmetime after this before I underflo t ql General Gower that he meant to pals at the PI ford. The direetions in which we marched IFT is we fupPored, have ferved equally well fort , e l l After we had paffol 'he river Manfeil, we '1 he diflance of about-a calm( n Ihot, in our he" body of about OD hole. They attcmptedne _., and, from the dire lion in which they afielf went o ff , I fhotild foppofe they eroded tits —We at length arrived at the road to de Chico, General Gower then determined to l!k! direetron, and ordered me to proceed al IS si cotild to the Paffo Chico, aid either to fo r a ell:41)14h mylJf on the banks. We had conbor;ip difficulty in finding the paffage , but when"! 1 there was no appearance of an enemy neat / 1 1. 1 the time my btigade.had palled, General Cia.w.ll.i rived at tke head of General Lunaley's .tli Q .:. if the main body had marched early on the morning of the ad, might they not have reached the fuburbs of Buenas Ayres on the fame day ? A. There could have been no difficulty, becaufe the dillance Was only t 6 miles altogether. Were the guides ever brought together and confronted refpeaing the roads they defcribed, in ' order to render the line of march mere fccure I A. They never were. (Here Colonel Burke was informed that his evi dence en this branch of the trial was concluded, and he withdrew accordingly.) Brigadier General Crawford called in and exa mined. Q._ What Ratko had you, Brigadier General Crawford, in the expediticm under General White locke, at Buenos Ayres? A. I commanded the Light Brigade, which formed the advanced guard of the army. ' MT t•_ _ ...Q .: Relate every particular which came under your obfervation. from the moment you put yourfelf under General Whi.elocke's command. A. The day afier I arrived at Monte Video, Ge• neral Whitelocke propofed to me to walk round the works with him ; and in returning through the town, he defired me to notice the peculiar construction of the houfes, their flat roofs, furrounded by parapet• walls, and other circumstances which, as he obferved, rendered them peculiatly favourable for defence ; and added, that he certainly would not cap fe his troops to fo unequal a contefi as that in which they would be engaged if led into a lirgitown like Buenos Ayres, all the inhabitants of which were prepared for its defence, and the-houfes of which were Similarly contiructed to thefe he then pointed out. In the obvious propriety of the General's remarks I molt heartily concurred. The brigade which General Whitelocke placed under my command confined, according to the original arrangement, of eight companies of Light infantry, a detachment of 7o recruits of the 7id Regiment, and eight companies of the Rifle Corps ; but fit m the day ot cur landing until the junetion of the two divitiuns I f the army before Buenos Ayres, four companies of the 95th were taken away from my b.igaile and attached to that division of the army led by the Commander in Chief in pelf :n. With telpeC't to the equipment of the brigade, it certainly was deficient in fume very material articles : in the firfl place, we had no Lai foemen lot catching bullocks attached to each 'bd. gade, the confequcrice of which was, we had no means of catching the cattle by which we were fur. rounded. Another very material deficiency in the equipment of the troops, and for which there did not I appear to Me to be any Sufficient rearm, was, that I behind, in confe mp ft quence which, although we kund abundance of wheat in LONDON: Printed and published by LEVEL K E n. the ca kettles were le o_ terbury-place. Lambeth; At the STARA)? FICS , !NO. ii sues% Published at the STAR-Orrice, TelnPle. • .• : r t . is I • W i g . . 4 ~~"' Igh tl we li d upo ) the ere th ater fa pks : r7lea pgfue , f p 1 ; 3 th 4 w da Iron kr tR t 1 tb a m: do ei