The National Register. — London, England, 1811-04-21 00:00:00

a r, to ud of 11y by oit r d rjdi the and 'I7IE - NATIONI FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. ' l l • - • • • _ FRENCH ACCOUNT OF THE RETREAT Of 144A=N4t., PARIS E APRIL S. v .e An Aide-de-camp of IVlarshahthe Prince of Essling has ar rived at Paris. He set out on the 23d of March from Celerico, Which was the head-quarters. All the magazines which the army had formed, were entirely exhausted on the 213th of Fe bruary. The foragers, who were sent twenty leegues . front headequarters e no longer brought in any thing. On the Ist of Viarch they were reduced to subsist on the re serve of bischit, which only furnish fifteen days fond,. and' it was impossible to wait for the harvest, as no resource could be expected from it befdre June. There remained, therefore, to the Prince of Essling, only three measures to afiopt-e-ohe was' to attack the English in their lines before Lisbon, lint the prince-• pies of military tactics forbade this, inasmuch as his heavy artil lery could not be brought up. Another was to pass the Tagus to form a junction with the army of Andalusia, and by that means opening a communica tion by the great road with Seville and Madrid, finding his ar tillery in Badajoz, drawing his provsions front Alentejo, chang ing his line of operation, and maintaining the double trie-de pont, which the army had constructed on the right and left banks of the Zezere, at Punhete. Gen. Eble, with an activity and a true knowledge of all the resources of his aft, which did him the greatest honour, as well as the artillery, was preparing to construet 200 bleats, We Might then, by throwing at once two bridges over the Tagus, menacing a passage in front of Punhete, effecting onelower down opposite Santarem, bearing then upon the rear of the division of - General Hill, which the English kept before Puniette, or heaving the English army at Lisbon ' and by a movemnefit upon I.yria, obliging them to recall the division of General Hill in order to succour Lisbon ; profitine by this movement to throw over a bridge in the environs of Punhete. The Tagus being pas sed by one or other of these operations, a communication would have bee' opened with Seville and Madrid, and we might have been reinforced 'with all the resources of the army of Andalusia. The third measure which presented itself was to repass the Mandegn, hearing upon Gearda, anti opening ><communication with,Cuided Rod igo, where there were ihoes,cliething, ammu vition, artillery, enagazinec and money for the army, which had pot beennaid for six months. On the Sd of March the Prince of t ssline - decided on. the last Mea.Sittro On the 4th, all the bag gage-and the sick were placed on - a treat nuhibor of mules and asses which were with the army . ; they were sent forward on the road, arid gained two marches. The rear-guard was confided tote puke of Efchiogen, who advanced from Leiria, to Me lilla, threatening to turn the position of cartaXte On the 10th the-reathgnard was at Pombal. Our eharp-shooters, who remained in front of the town, and the English advanced guard, were engaged, which gave rive to the combat of Ponthal. Our advanced posts retire4i, and the Fnglish advanced guard entered the t mu. The first brigade of the first division of the Duke of Elchingen charged the army with the bayonet, ant :killed and wounded 4or 500 men. Our loss in this combat amounted to 5 killed aed 18 wounded. The En eiisleadvar zed guard had no artillery; the artillery of our rear euard was in battery, and played constantly upon theist.' On the 11th the French rent'-guard was on the heights of Re dinha. The English General advanced with his whole army.— At two in the afternoon . he deployed about 26,000 men under the Ere of forty of our pieces of artillery, which played with great activity. All the shot bore upon the mass of the enemy, they being unmasked _by arty battery. Disorder • manifested itself. several times i# .theit columne. Aboet five their artillery at . rived, and they mdnined' Some bat terieti. ':We law with pie: eare that one of theirdivizionshriantehtered otithhir right to torn our left, by the vajlipeof ,Retlinha. We let Oath:De:it. Al Rom as they were sufficiently engaged the ,nth and the 2 7th a the lihe • charged them With the bayonet and :inn flight completily to the root. The Estglishoficer. who conatuanded was killed: The rid Hussars made a fine charge. Thedbsi:oflhe English, who were Several hours tinder the tire of our artiUriny, wa# . 06iletss tinionnte&to 80 killed and wbunded. On the lith, the advanced guard was at chez de Aronce. Our artillery was in hpoeitioll on the riktat bank of the Cara, which commanded much of the e lert batik. . We engaged the euemy very adroitly ittetri affaireiridvaticed posts, which 'embarrassed hire We drew . hive tinder the fire. of the i on the right bank, whilatthe 3htlehad tiiith charged . hin t le village was taken and re-taken several times. The English were exposed to ill the fire of'our bitterieC`dliorder prevailed in their ranks, and anon communicated heed to the wifole of the enemy's line, fa tigued with the inconveniencies of such a position, some tugitive English arrived at I.onza and Pinherios. The village of Foz de Anence rervitted with the Freucliteargliard. Our ktia -r *Maw rezo' ~: S REG .._. ~...+a~.~. -~ oll; • •L. 244 •- . . t04K 4 0. • Men ; drat , tolthe enemy to 1,200. An English General Officer fora killed, This was the moment to march insAinst the English artily, and to ruin it. This resolution was for an.instant agitated in the Ifteneh army,-but it was thelstb, and thetetreat bad cntunic l lteeti on.the .sth. We bad only marehedeurand a half or two leagues per day, andttere oiLy remained provisions for too or three days at' a half ration. It was, therefire, im possible to stop ; there was not a day to lo s e, and the army con tinued its movement. • On the 17th, the rear-guard had wholly. passed. the Instructed by the comb4ts ut l'onib-41, of Redinha, and tf Foz de Aronee, the Lusimy no' longer shoe ed himself. These three combats were adVautageous to the French arniy. .Not a sin i le caisson, nor a carriage with baggage, nor gate sick man was lett behind. It took twelve days to march from' Santarem to the banks. of the Alva. All the movements of the retreat were cal culated, tint upon the nievements of English, but upon tha necessity of subsistence.—At length, on the f2l.d, the army was in the best position, and the soldiers in the best spirits. C , 1,- voys had set out from Salamanca and Culdad Ro:Irlgo, and everyday the army received clothing, shoes, and every thing that was necessary. for their refreshment. "Thus the army of Portugal has lived six months upon the re. sources of the country; it has changed its place When ull those resources were exhausted, and when the difficulties of tranrporx and of roads left t no lope of drawing any thing from the depots. The months - which precede the harvest are in general the most difficult for subsistence, because then the granaries 31 empty ; their difficulties have of coarse existed in a much stronger degree in an enemy's country already laid waste. SPAIN. BATTLE OF DARiIbSA. From the Conciso it appears, that very warm disctisclons have taken place in Cadiz, with respect to the conduct of the Spanish General Lapena in the battle of B irrosa, and It does not stem to have given inure satisfaction there than it has done in this country. The Fliglish officer begins thusi—" Having helm' nothing but false accounts touching the battle of Barron, and being persuaded that the public cannot obtain a proper knowledge of it front the dispatch of General Lantnet alone, I shrink' be wanting to my duty as an English oaieer, if I failed to lay be fore the Spanish 'public cerretn beta whieltfiled my attention. " I shall not detail any of the circumstances which occurred before our arrival at Viler: eitilice it to say, that the allied troops 11114 i -went mil tk labour end fatigue ; but as the utmost harmony prevailed, it.spias cheerfully hone by the soldiers of both nations. " On the night of the Sd we halted in a woo I near Vellr,„; and at six in the evening of :he 4th we all marched, witli the understanding that we were to halt and tuke refreehMiut at Conil, for the purpose of being pre ' pared to figlet the enemy next day. The Spanish General. however, changed the clan, and on the morning of the Silt, titter a inarell of sixteen hours, we found ourselves OD the heights of Parrosa. " Ile van-guard under the command of Brigadier Lerdize• bal, received enters to enter the pinewood, and mike cat ry amt. to keep open tilts coannunivation with Senti Petri ; and this operation wee vete respectably exeeut..:d by his dirie'un. " At this moment General Lapena ordered General Urshain to march teettrde the wood with the leritleh troops, lb the die rectian of Santi Petri, which he did; Inn he had trot advanced far into the woad, when 1 u re , ..:eived advices, that the enemy was marching rapidly by the plain towards the position which we occupied three quarter, of an hour before. " Ele•tmmedlately Countermarched his division ; mid upon Issuing from the wood, obstrved o strong colkiinu. of the enemy adeencing upon our left; and we were 'uprise(' to see . anoeher considerable cote in posseesien of the Ittieiltte• where we had left Fare of the Spanish Army.., •r, I' s'? ' • • . " I know nut what happetccefati• 'the heights Aft our troops left them. I have heard thst tlui Spaptilt and CeirOktbavalry charged the enemy ; I have hearei t4tat two e)raeleil telitt eite of % t the division - Of )3reines 'opened - a brisk flee on 'the en ; I hive hoard, in short, than tattyy -ali -;receivill . ptifftive era t - , om the General in l. ',id to ,retire; hut as I. was vecie 'with them, I do /Mt take upon me to'decide tipotc ittly 4 iNeiec.r -' curtlAances : what I 014 say is, that 14eU Mte cimpl,diatirine wiiod, no Spanish troops were in siz7lt. • . t‘ it e eseat would have begin molt iscuirdous 1_ and tb Want a 'height occupied by fresh and superior, toecm4,wauteel li t* of being an enterprise of • equal ("Meek - v. ••'- • • • . " I understand that Lieratral Graham was aviarG of the im portance of the po,ition of Barrosa ; and confident of the va lour of his troops, determined on risking an attack. The heiehts on our right were taken atter an ousrinate resistazco, auul th , : euttay's column vu our Sift wall put to We rout. W 4 • f eIAIII I I-. VI 1