The National Register. — London, England, 1813-08-22 00:00:00

- fin THE were well calculated to ensure the fruits of y, .nd, beaten, to save him from the disasters of retreat. Yet from all these positions he was completely forced, and dreadfully cut . up in his retreat, which it required all his efforts to cover, in any way, so as to prevent its being converted into a disorderly flight, notwithstanding the mountainous nature of the ground, which in many places defied combined and extensive movements. Lord Wellington was struck by a spent musquet bullet, which lodged in his sash, hut, thank Heaven, did no harm to our beloved Commander. His Lordship says, he never met with so daring and powerful an enemy ; hut it seemed only to rouse the Btitish lions more to vanquish him. Indeed nothing can describe the de votedness and ardour of our forces. The Portuguese acted nobly. The Marquis of Worcester was struck by a ball, and fell from his horse , but this brave young nobleman was only stunned, and was soon ready again to partake in the glory of iris comradrs. The defiles and passes, which abound in this district, afforded much facility and security , to the foe. We have nevertheless taken great abundance of . stores, bag gage, Ere. Numerous prisoners are hourly bringing in, and I do not think their total loss can be less than twenty thousand men." Extract of another letter, dated August 4, 1813 :—" On the retreat of the enemy, we came up at Elizondo with General Gautier, and 1500 men, escorting the convoy of provisions, (too cars and 250 laden mules) intended for Pamplona. We had only 400 men of General Byng's brigade. The enemy was, however, attacked without hesi tation. and fled precipitately, leaving all the convoy and 500 prisoners in our bands : in fact, the spirit of the French army is broken, and I do not believe that the presence of Buonaparte himself would re-organise it. I consider this victory to be greater than that of Vittoria, and indeed the greatest ever gained by Lord Wellington. Soult had seven divisions of infantry, 3000 cavalry, and 40 pieces of artillery, all 4.5.0c0 men. 1 expect we shall move in a few days iiito France, and that we shall take up a position on the river Adour, which enters the sea at Bayonne. 44 In the late action the French charge was more impetuous than was ever known. They charged our troops, and were as often repulsed with immen , e loss, frequently with the bayonet. Their bayonets were actually crossed with our's, a circumstance Dever before known." Souls, befole he entered Spain, issued a Proclamation to Lis army, in which he says, '"That he has been sent by the Empeior to the command of his armies of Spain, and that hip Imrerial Majesty's instructions and his own intentions were to drive the British across the Ebro, and celebrate the Emperor's birth-day in the town of Vittoria." A copy of this Proclamation was found among part of his bag age which fell into our hands. Sunday was the anniversary of Buonaparte's birth-day. _ _ _ A letter from an Officer attached to the army besieging Sebastian, gives the following shocking particulars of the storming of that place :—" As fast as our men came up they were knocked down by the dreadful fire from the defences which bore upon the breaches ; and when a few got into them they were unable to effect any thing from their weakness. In short, the e'rnage Was so great, that the French themselves called out to our officers to draw the men off, and actually ceased firing upon them. Never was wit ines,ed such heroism as on the part of our soldiery on this occasion ; particularly the Royals, who, though almost cut to pieces, absolutely refused to retire till the third or fourth command was issued for them to do so." In die baggage of Joseph Buonaparte, which fell into eur hands, was found a letter from Buonaparte to him, in - AUGUST 22. , principal hope he has, with respect to Spain is, that the troops may be able to maintain a de fensive position ; that he had succeeded himself in gainin g a battle at Bautzen over the Allies—but that it was severely contested, and that the times were past when one battle de cided the fate of the war. That the Goverments on th e Continent had grown wiser by experience, but that he trusted this success would confirm the Confederation of the Rhine in their attachment to him. !le then breaks out into a violent strain" of invective against Murat, whom lie accuses of the greatest ingratitude in having abandoned him at so critical a period, and retired to Naples. Ile accom panies this invective with some menaces to be executed at a proper season, and concludes by professions of attachment to him (Joseph) for having been the only one of his brothers (Jerome excepted) that had retrained constantly faithful to him. The French have long been accustomed to proclaim their victories to this country by discharges of cannon at Bou logne and Calais. The dc%feat of Sot:LT by Nlarquis WEL LINGTON, was announced in a similar manner, on Wednes day, at Dover, when the artillery on the forts was discharg ed, the troops fired a feu-de-joir, and a number of CON.. G REVE'S and other rockets, were discharged from the beach. The barracks, at the heights, were also illuminated. The evening being very fine, no doubt the greatest part of .the above was very distinctly seen and beard on the opposite 1&. NATU)NAL RECaSTER. • • victory, and, if(' which he says, that the pri FRENCH PAPERS. Friday were received Paris Papers to the 16th instant; (Monday).—Respecting the Armistice, the I\toniteur states, under the head Dresden, August 7, that the troops were preparing to celebrate BUONAPARTE'S birth-day on the 10th of August, as it was uncertain whether hostilities would not be renewed before the 15th. From this announcement, we should be led to believe that no hopes remain of peace ; it is, however, stated in an article from Frankfort, on the reported authority of letters from Vienna, that the Armistice had been further prolonged to the Ist of September. It is sometimes the practice of the French Government, first, to announce facts of great importance in this obscure way; whether they have done so on the present occasion or not, it is impossible to conjecture. BUONAP A RTE arrived at Dresden on the 4th ; and on the sth and 6th did not go out, but was closely occupied with his chief Officers, in military details. With regard to the Congress, it is admitted, " that every thing is at present confined to the exchanging of notes." The Emperor of Austria again visited Prague on the 30th ult. Marie Louise returned to Paris on the 6th instant. These Papers give no intelligence from Soult, nor any notice whatever -of the battles of the Pyrenees. There are two dispatches from Gen. REY, the Governor of St. Sebastian's, dated the 26th and 27th ult. the former referring to the details of our unsuccessful assault, and the latter stating a sortie made by the garrison on the 27th, when it is stated that the trenches were surprised, and all who were in them destroyed, or taken prisoners, amounting to 1200 men. This sortie is believed to be the same affair, in which, according to private letters from Sebastian, 200 Portuguese only were captured. Gen. HEY states, that half the town of St. Sebastian, has been destroyed by our fire, and the flames were not extinguished on the 27th. " I con tinue (he says) to cause the streets of the town to be barri caded by traverses, which I reckon upon defending foot by foot, if at any time I shall be obliged to quit my first line." 'There is no mention in the French Papers of the army un der SUCH ET. Paris Papers arrived yesterday to the 17th. There arc shore.