Star. — London, England, 1808-09-14 00:00:00

`' a.•••••• ...a 5 .3 g‘..7 tilt principal burghers who had been thrown into prison, rnarcheekback to Vittoria. - " Gene rrere advanced towards Segovia, where some conimotions had also taken place. On the ^th June, having approached within a quarter of a mile, he sent a flag of truce to the Magistracy, that they might exert themselves to bring hack the insurgents to their duty ; but the insurgents, about 5000 in number, having thirty pieces of cannon, which they had taken from the palk at Segovia, prevented tl-e flag of truce from approaching, by a discharge of artillery. This induced the General to make an immediate attack ; and the place was taken by storm, after an action in which a great number of the instlrgews core siain, numbers made prisoners, and all their artillery takco. The city being cleared of the insurgents, and again its own mistress, submitted. _ _ General Lasalles advanced from Bur-;os upon Torquemada, where there were 6000 insurgents, whom he attacked on the 7th with five hundred foot chasseurs. They were driven out with the loss of 1200 killed, and the village of Torquemada was burnt. " General Lasalles advanced on the Bth to Palen cia. On his approach he mas met by a deputation, with the Bishop at their head, to inform him of the submission of the place, which immediately returned to its duty. The 9th and 10th were occupied by Ge neral I.asalles, in disarming the city and province of Palencia. " On the 12th, the General proceeded to Duennas, where he formed a junction with General Merle, and thence continued his march to Valladolid. The ban ners of insurrection had been unfolded in that city ; and General Cuesta, the Captain General, placed himself at the head of the disaffected, and took post at Cabecon, with seven thousand insurgents and six pieces of cannon. Having reconnoitred the position of the insur gents, General Lasalles ordered General Sabathier to attack them with the field artillery, while General Merle was to t:tke measures to cut off their retreat to Valladolid. After an action of half an hour, the in surgents were totally defeated, and put to the route on all sides, leaving behind them their cannon, 4000 muskets, and about a thousand killed. _ _ The Bishop of Valladolid, with the principal clergy, came out to meet General Lasalles, imploring forgiveness for the town and its inhabitants. The French division entered Valladolid in the midst of a multitude who deserved a severe chastisement, but who, with admiration, witnessed the mercy and gene rosity of the French. The city and province were disarmed ; and ten persons from the Councils of Va lentia, Segovia, and Valladolid, were deputed to wait upon his Catholic Majesty at Bayonne, in order to solicit his clemeney, and to offer the homage and fi delity of their fellow citizens. " The Bishop of St. Andero, having excited his flock to insurrection, and abandoned himself to ex cesses of every kind, General Merle directed his march towards the mountains of St. Andero, whether Gene ral Ducos also proceeded. On the 21st, at three o'clock in the morning, he attacked the insurgents in front of Lantuento, drove them from all their posi tions, and took from them two eighteen pounders, which they had barely time to fire twice' upon us, without wounding any one, though upon their side the loss was considerable. General Ducos, on the 20th, arrived at Soncille, where he attacked the insurgents, and drove them back a mile. On the 21st, he did the same, on the road to Venta de L'Escudo, which was defended by 3000 men, with four pieces of cannon. On the 22d he was within four miles of St. Andero. On the 23d, Generals Merle and Ducos entered St. Andero, the one from the side of Torre de la Vega, the other by the road of Escudo. The moment they entered the place, the peasantry dispersed on all sides to their homes, and the inhabitants returned to the city. , g The city of St. Andero having submitted, took a solemn oath of allegiance to his Catholic Majesty in the same manner as had been done by Segovia, Palencia, and Valladolid. " Thus did the troops under Marshal Bessieres, in the space of a few days, take 30 pieces of cannon and 50,000 muskets, and disarm Palencia, Valladolid, &c. which secured the peace of Navarre, Guiposcoa, Al.' lava, and Biscay. •• During the early operations of Marshal Bessieres, disturbances had also broken out in the southern ex- Iremities of Navarre and Arragon. • " General Lefebvre advanced from Pampeluna at thehead of 3000 men, principally consisting of light troops of the first regiment of the Vistula. He ad vanced towards Tudela, where a body of from three to four thousand men had arrived from Saragossa.— He attacked and routed them on the 9th of June, Liking from them six pieces of cannon. He punished the Chiefs of the insurgents ; he caused the bridge over the Ebro, that had been burned down, to be re established, and marched at the head of the Polish light troops to Mallen, where the insurgents, rein forced from Saragossa, had again taken post. He came up with them on the 1:Ali, and immediately began the attack. A single charge on the part of the Poles Was sufficient to throw them into confusion, and put them to flight, leaving five pieces of cannon on the field. similar success was obtained on the 14th at Ala. where the insurgents, from three to four thutt arong, were put to flight, with the loss of their i. They made an equally inetPetual resistance 16th, in the olive plantations in the suburbs of ossa. 'he actions of Epila and Monte Torrcra, on the id Q7th, ha 4 a similar result. ii these different expeditions, the insurgents had to 3000 men killed, and a great number led. A considerable number of them were prisoneis, and they lost all their caution, con.' of about SO pieces : the loss on our side in was only from 20 to 30, and from 60 to 80. Jed. General Verdier joined General Lefebvre before ;ossa, and they invested the town. On the 2d some howitzers began to play, and destroyed lonastei y of St. Joseph, which covered a part of cf the city. Between the '2d and ISth of all the necessary arrangements were made for in the insurgents more closely, and col. 7 materials for throwing a floating bridge Fbro. On the 11th, the passage of the was forted, and some troops posted themselves ie left balite, in order to defend the wotkmen' w formation of the bridge, which was cm, obstruct our communication; but they were beaten at Almunia, Calatayad, and Taresty, on the road to Tudela, with a loss, in the different actions, of a great number of men, and a considerable quantity of military stores. The troops that occupied the left bank of the river before Saragossa also sustained va rious attacks from the detachments sent out from the city; but the insurgents were in every encounter driven back with the bayonet, with the loss in all these affairs, and particularly at Jouslival, of a num ber of men, and several eight-pounders. The block ade of the place, into which several corps of insur gents had thrown themselves, after having in vain endeavoured to keep the field, was now completely established. _ _ " General Duhesme commanded in Catalonia, having his head-quarters at Barcelona. In several parts of his command, assemblies of the insurgents had taken place. The fist symptoms of insurrection broke out in the towns of Manresa and Tarragona. In consequence of the applications made to them, they promised to lay down their arms ; but not hav ing fulfilled this promise, General Swartz occupied Manresa, and General Chabran Tarragona. General Swartz had orders to proceed by the way of Lerida, and to visit Montserrrat, where it was reported there were some disturbances. On the 6th of June he fell in with the insurgents at Bruck, defeated and killed a number of them. He obtained similar advantages at Espaguera, Martoreil, and at Malinos del Rey. " Other parties of insurgent peasantry had fortified themselves with cannon, in a position on the river Lobrega. They had taken possession of some.artil lery which they found on the coast. General Du hesme attacked them. They were every where defeated and pursued, from eight to eleven o'clock, and all their artillery was taken. This expedition terminated with very little loss on our side, but with great on the part of the insurgents. " New bodies of insurgents having come down from the mountains, cut off the communication between Monte Gatte and Monte Cana, and occu pied the little Castle of Monte Gatte, where they entrenched themselves. They were suddenly at tacked on the 17th. The Castle of Monte Gatte was taken by storm, the insurgents lost a great number of their men, their colours, and twenty pieces of cannon. General Lecchi, in pursuing the fugitives, arrived at the city of Mattaro, which was put in a state of defence and barricadoed. He attack ed and carried the city with the same rapidity, and took 10 pieces of cannon. " General Duhesme directed his column to the passes of St. Paulus. On the 19th he attacked them, took them by surprise, and captured ten pieces of ar tillery. " After these various engagements, the object of which was to maintain the communications, General Duhesme returned to Barcelona. His loss scarcely amounted to 100 men in killed and wounded ; that of the insurgents was very considerable. "During these operations, a new line of insurgents had formed itself behind the Lobrega, which was con siderably swelled by the melting of the snow a few days before, in the mountains, and the rain that had fallen. At Molinos del Rey,* they had a battery of three pieces of artillery, which commanded the stone bridge, which was broken in different places. All the fords down to the very mouth of the river were de fencYd. The right wing of the insurgents extended down to the beach; and two pieces of flying artillery manccuvred in the rear of the line. Inthe morning of the 30th of June, the troops marched_ to attack the insurgents. General Goulesse and Brigadier-General Bessieres proceeded to the mouth of the river, and forced a passage to the right bank. They thus took in reverse all the positions of the insurgents, who of fered no resistance, and sustained a very heavy loss. In the mean time General Lecchi's division attacked and carried the bridge of Molinos del Rey, and took the three pieces of cannon by which it was defended. The remains of the body of insurgents, defeated at all points, fell back to Martoveille, which was their ge neral rendezvous. General Lecchi pursued, routed them, and made himself master of that position.— Their loss cannot be estimated. There were found on the field of battle 40,000 muskets ; and the insur gents lost all the artillery which they had carried off with them. " On the side of Figueras several bodies of the pea sants had united to cut off the communication with that city. General Rieble repaired thither on the sth of July from Bellegarde : he defeated and routed the insurgents, supplied the place with provisions, and reinforced the garrison. " During these events which took place in Biscay, Navarre, Arragon, and Catalonia, Marshal Moncey broke up with his army, in consequence of an insur rection in the Kingdom of Valencia. On the 21st June he came up with the insurgents, in the fine po sitions which surround the village of Pesquera, and who defended with four pieces of artillery the bridge over the river of Cabrielle, and the entrance of the passes. The brides and the passes were carried, the insurgents lost their artillery, and 500 Swiss and Spa— nish Guards came over to our ranks. The insurgents having formed a junction with their principal army, retreated to Las Cabreras and Siete Annas, in front of which they entrenched themselves in a position which they conceived to be impregnable. Marshal Moncey came in sight of thenfon the 24th, and found them, in fact, in possession of a very excellent posi tion, and extremely difficult of access. Having at tacked them with the greatest fury, they were driven from one hill to another, lost all their positions, and fled in disorder, leaving behind all their artillery, con sisting of 12 pieces, their ammunition, and almost all their baggage. The army continued its march to wards Valencia, where a Junta of Insurgents had been formed. They came up with the insurgents, about a mile and a-half from that city. They had entrenched themselves behind the canal, and having broken down the bridge by the village of Quarte, de fended the passage with artillery. Our artillery im mediately took its station ; the troops, marched in columns upon various points, and .in 'less than one hour their line was broken, the bridge re-established, the village of Quarte carried,. five pieces of cannon taken, and the whole of the insurgents routed. • " At day-break on the Ellowing day, (the 28th) Marshal I:ioncey advanced towards 14a1Cnc . u. The environs of that city are intersected by a great num ber of canals, and covered with ruins and houses.— The suburbs extend close to the gates. Marshal dity overcame every obrtacle. The suburbs were carried, and the streets strewed with dead bodies.— Twenty pieces of artillery were taken ; but the walls being surrounded with ditches filled with water, were secure against a surprise. The Marshal pitelietl his camp under them, waiting the arrival of some pieces of heavy artillery. " Some days after, he was informod that a division of insurgents, from five to six thousand men, were re solved to keep the field. He marched immediately, and proceeded to the right bank of the Xttcar ; the heights were instantly attacked and carried ; the in surgents were defeated ; they lost several pieces of cannon, and were pursued fighting all the way to the heights of Almanza. " On the 3d instant they were surprised in the de files : a great number of them were killed. Our troops took possession of Almanza, where Marshal Moncey received orders to take a position at St. Cement's.— He had collected heavy artillery necessary for the at tack of Valencia, and he was'upon the point of advan cing to that place, when the events in Andalusia or dered it otherwise. . In these different affairs in whicliMarlial Nfoncey had six different engagements, he killed a great many of the enemy, and took 50 pieces of cannon and three standards. His loss consisted of 200 killed and 500 wounded. 46 During these various operations, the people of Cuenca were guilty of the greatest extravagancies against a French Officer and several soldiers. Briga dier-General Caulincourt received orders to march for the purpose of chastising Ahem. He withdrew from Tarencon on the Ist of July, and arrived at Cuenca on the 3d, at four o'clock in the afternoon. The in surgents seemed determined to prevent the approach of the French troops ; the latter consisted of between 3 and 4000 men, and two pieces of cannon. General Caulincourt attacked them immediately ; they lost their artillery, and were put to the route : so that they thought no more of defending the place, and fled in all directions towards the hills, leaving their arms, and between 7 and 800 killed and wounded behind them. The town, which was deserted on the approach of the French, was given up to plunder. " General Dupont, who left Madrid about the end of Mav, had repaired to Andalusia. He passed the Sierra Morena in the beginning of June, and was on his march to Guadalquiver. When he arrived at Andujar, he learned that a rebellious Junta was esta blished at Seville, and that the cities of Cordova and Granada, and a part of Jaen, were in a state of in surrection, while a numerous body was formed in the environs of Cordova. He instantly put himself in motion, and, on the 6th, he was in possession of Montoro, Carpio, and Bugalenca, without meeting with any of the insurgents. He, however, received intelligence from . a messenger whom he sent to Al colea, a small distance from Cordova, that the insur gents were there in great force, and that it was their intention to dispute his passage ever the Gua dalquivir. " The bridge of Alcolea is very long, and difficult of access, and was defended by a tote-dupnt, by bat teries placed upon a neighbouring height, and by in fantry, which kept up a very brisk fire from both shores of the river. The first attack was made on the 7th, at the break of day. It was remarked that the bridge was not broken : and immediate attack was therefore ordered to be made on the entrenchments, which were defended by very deep ditches. The tete de-pent, the bridge, and the village of Alcolea, were carried in a few minutes. The insurgents fled in the greatest disorder, leaving their cannon and a number of killed and wounded behind. " Those who escaped from Alcolea, retreated to Cordova, without endeavouring to defend the camp which the insurgents had pitched before the place, .and where arms were found of the most wonderful and extraordinary make, besides pikes and English arms. " The light corps having arrived before Cordova, the General summon( d the Corregidor to attend him, and sent the Prior of a Cl .ister to admonish him to make no resistance, but to accept of the mercy offered them by the French. " These measures proved fruitless, as the insur gents were 15,000 in number, and about 2000 re gular troops began to fire on all sides. The French cannon then beginning to fire, a breach was made in the gates, and the place was entered by force. " The advantages of this day were complete : the enemy lost a number of men, and tranquillity was restored to Cordova. " On the 19th Capt. Base was sent with a column of 900 infantry, 100 cavalry, and artillery, to fetch provisions from Jaen. He was preceded by two flags of truce, upon whom the insurgents fired ; on the fol lowing morning he made an attack upon the en trenched camp, the strong castle, and the town. This attack was vigorous ; all positions were forced. The insurgents had 200 killed and 500 wounded. The column lost scarcely five men. " In the mean while, two divisions of smugglers, making about 3000 men, had approached Sierra Morena, and interrupted the communication with Madrid. The Duke of Rovigo, who had taken the command in the room of the Grand Duke of Berg, dispatched General Vedel with his division, and that of General Gobert. " General Vedel arrived in the defiles of Pens Pinnor, on the 26th. To see the enemy, to attack him, to overcome him, and put him to flight, was only the work of a moment. The insurgents lost 900 men, their artillery, together with their ammu nition and provisions. We had two killed and 10 wounded. Thus the junction of General Vedel with General Dupont was effected. General Dupont placed General Vedel at Baylen, and General Gobert at Carolina. " With his first division he took possession of An ' duilt- where he formed a tete-du-fiord on the Guadal quivirJ‘ : another tete-du-pont was loaned near the village of Menjibar, on the road from Jaen to Baylen. 64 To preserve the post of Jaen was an object of importance, because this was nearer to the line of communication than that of Andujar : of course the latter might. be maintained even when the enemy should be in possession of Jaen. Brigadier-General Cassagne was dispatched to Jaen : he had been with the advanced guard in several engagements, in which he had heeu constantly victorious. " The situation of General Dupont, which had at first occasioned some uneasiness, was no longer so after lie had thus been reinforced, and while there ..,ay 311141C11 between him—ailUtre enem the defiles of Sierra Morena. He had a greater fora under him than was necessary, if not for subjugating the whole province, at least quite sufficient for pre. serving it from surpri,e. " Such was the situation of affairs about the 20th of ; July, the period of the arrival of th e King of Sp a i n far and wide was the dispersion of the insurgent s checked, subdued, or disarmed, they had not been' able to can y any attempt of importance into effect. 66 The preparations for the siege of Saragossa were pursued with activity. The artillery necessary E nt that purpose had arrived from Bayonne and Pamp e . luna. The insurgents made a sortie on the 2.`:(1 from Saragossa, to attack the troops posted on the left bank of the Ebro. The 3d battalion of the Volunteeis of Arragon, forming thx flower of these insurgents, b e . gan their march on the 30th, in order to force th e i r way into Saragossa. The insurgents were defeated with great loss in all their sorties, and were generally closely pursued under the walls. " On the 16th of August, about day-brink, a breach being made, the storming of the place corn. menced. The gates of San.en-Gracio and Carrie s were surprised and carried. After obstinate fightin g which lasted several day s , 14. cloisters whi c h h a d b een fortified, three-fourths of the city, the arsenal, and all the magazines, were in our possession. The peace. able inhabitants, encouraged - by the advantages of the French, hoisted a white flag, and coming forward to offer terms of capitulation to the French, were mut. dered by the insurgents, at whose head monks were seen acting as Captains and Colonels : a great num. ber of .these wretches were killed ; the unfortunat e city of Saragossa is almost ruined through fire, the bombs, arid the explosion of the mines. r 64 In the meanwhile, almost all th e Sp an i s h troops ' of the line in Gallicia and Andalusia had taken part with the insurents. The troops of the line at Mad: id, St. Sebastian, Barcelona, &c. left those place., to join them. The French having come into Spain as friendr., and acting in concert with the Ministers, the Coun cils, and the principal burghers, were unwilling to dis arm the Spanish troops, and for a long time restrain. ed themselves from any kind of hostilities ; but the re. suit has made it appear how fatal this ge::erosity has proved to the French. " We were very soon informed that a corps of 35,000 men, with 40 pieces of cannon, were assem bled at Benevente, with whom there were some E:ng lish Commissioners and Officers, besides all the Spa. nish prisoners that had been sent to Spain by the Eng. lish Government : these were known by the red uni forms which they were supplied with from London. " This army began its march as tho ug k i t h a d been intended to proceed to Burgos. Marshal Bes sieres marched to meet them with General Monton's division of infantry, that of Merle, with General Las alles' division of cavalry, forming in the whole a corps of 12,000 men. " On the llth, at day-break, he discovered the enemy covering a great extent of ground, and being in possession of the heights of Medina del Rio Seco. As soon.as the position of the enemy was known, the Marshal formed the resolution of attacking their left. General Darmasnac was the first that was engaged at the head of his brigade. At this moment, the at. tack became general. Montan; General of Division, made himself master of the town of Medina del Rio Seco with the bayonet ; the Generals Lasalles, Dw cos, and Sabattier, led on their troops with the cry, of " Long live the Emperoi!"—All the 'positions were carried, the enemy, attacked with the bayonet, and . the whole of their artillery, coasisting.of 44) pieces of cannon, was taken, and the whole army of the insur gents thrown into the greatost.confusion.. Six thou sand men were made prisoners ; upwards of 10,000 were left on the field of battle ; the whole of their baggage and ammunition fell into our hands, a num ber of superior officers were killed. The 10th and the 22d Regiment of Chasseurs, and all the troops in general, were covered with glory. " Colonel Pieton, an officer of distinguished me rit, is killed ; General Darmagnac is slightly .woun ded, together with the Provisory Major Commm dant of the 13th Regiment. The Adjutant Com mandant, Guilleminot, Chef of Marshal Bessicres' Staff, displayed great address and activity. The Mar shal hal not more than 300 men killed and wounded in this affair. 44 The enemy fled to Benevente in disorder, where they scarcely remained a moment, but retreated from thence to Labeaara, Astorga, and Leon. At Villa Pardo he left behind him 5000 pounds of powder and 100,000 cartridges. The English Colonel who acted as Commissioner with the Spanish army, retreated to Lugo before the battle commenced. " Marshal Bessieres, pursuing the enemy, arrived at Benevente on the 19th, Where he found 10,000 muskets, 26,000 pounds of powder, and 200,000 cartridges, which the insurgents had left behind them in consequence of their precipitate flight. He recei ved a letter of submission from the inhabitants of Za mora - and on the 20th, the day following, he enter ed that city, from whence he proceeded to Majorga, where he was informed that General Cuesta, who had passed through Leon with scarcely .500 cavalry, had ordered the fugitives to tally. " Arriving at Majorga, a Deputation from Leon presented themselves to him. General Cuesta had left that city, where 12,000 new muskets, and a num ber of pistols and sabres, with five pieces of cannon, remained. " Marshall Bessieres entered Leon on the 26th. The Bishop came two miles out of that city to meet him, and the Members of the Government received the army on the outside of the gates, assuring the Marshal of the submission of the inhabitants, and praying for the generosity of the conqueror in behalf of the city and province of Leon. By means of this important conquest, the provinces of Leon, Palencia, Valladolid, Zamora, and Salamanca, were subjugated and disarmed, and the communication with Portugal opened and secured. " All these events, connected with the arrival of the -King at Madrid, seemed to portend a most favourable issue to the affairs of Spain, when General Dupont, after a succession of disasters, which we cannot ac count for, had the inexpressible misfortune of having his communication cut off with Madrid ; and what was still worse, to be himself separated from two-thirds of his-force, being at that time six miles distant from his usual point of communication ; and lasily, en the 19th of July, being coon:elk:I to give battle with only ore third of his army, into a disadvantageo:ls Fo ;:tion, "Sin i , bon, W sand stt 1 cannon, on the ] 6.trago: ,c 1:1 , . 23d ant " In from 2 1 1 r ri wound 1 , made r. li( sistinf_r killed' licc - ,ando I ~ G I Snrago c.i July • the Mc tie w.. ..11,1y, .. Z.,qnrni Ject;: , ?, c,v, r L. pi 7 r m 1,11 the j :he 11 li • , 4 I 1