The National Register. — London, England, 1812-05-10 00:00:00

MAY 10. sented to furnish France with 80,000 men, in furtherance of the views of BUONAPARTE in the North. The depar ture of the Austrian Minister was so sudden and unex pected, that he had not time to make any disposition of the house in which he resided. He is stated to have pro. ceeded to Copenhagen. DEFEAT OF A FRENCH SQUADRON. The Gazette of last night contains the official account of the capture of the Rivoli of 74 guns, and the defeat of a squadron of three brigs and two gun-boats, in the Adri• atic, by his Majesty's ship Victorious, 74, Capt. TALnoT, and the Weazle brig, Capt. ANDREW. This action, the most sanguinary that has been fought in the course of the present war, commenced at half past font- in the morning of the 29d February last, between the Victorious and the Rivoli, within half pistol shot distance ; and was continued without any interruption, except to suffer the smoke and the fog to dissipate, until nine o'clock, when the Rivoli struck her colours. The /Veade, after blow ing up one of the French brigs, the Mercure, of 18 guns, and chasing the rest, which escaped through superior sailing, was recalled and took her post on the bow of the Rivoli time enough to give her three b:oadsides be fore she struck. The loss on board the eLemy was 400 killed and wounded, that of the Victorious 49 killed and 99 wounded. The French had a complement of 862 men at the commencement of the action, whilst our crew consisted only of 506, sixty of which were on the sick list, but were able to assist in the engagement. The Weazle was so fortunate as not tol ose a single man. Capt. TALBOT expresses his approbation of the French com mander in the following terms, which show how glo riously earned are the laurels which our seamen have won in this long and desperate engagement : tc I feel great satisfaction in saying, that the conduct of Commodore Barre, during the whole of the action, convinced me I had to deal with a most gallant and brave man, and, in the mamzuvring his ship, a most experienced and skilful officer. He did not surrender his ship till nearly two hours after she was rendered unmanageable, and had four hundred men killed and wounded; his Captain and most of his officers either killed or wounded." DISPATCHES FROM LORD WELLINGTON. The prospects of the Peninsula continue to brighten.— The activity and bravery of our warriors, have not only deprived the enemy of two important fortresses, but have completely defeated their plans of union and relief. Ciu dad Rodrigo fell before MARMONT thought it necessary to move to its assistance ; and notwithstanding the exer tions and forced marches of SOULT, in collecting and leading into Estremadura a considerable force, Bada joz had been stormed and captured before the sound of his cannon was heard by our men. It appears that on hearing the fate of this place, and probably the advance of the Spaniatds towards Seville, he hastened to fall back, not without being closely pursued by our cavalry, who en gaged his rear and dislodged it from Llerena, killing many, and making about 150 prisoners. In order either to join or to relieve SOULT, by drawing our attention to ano ther quarter, MARMONT left a blockading corps before Ciudad Rodrigo, and entering Portugal with 15,000 men, occupied Castello Branco, which, however, he evacuated on the 16th ult. on the approach of General GnAttAm, followed by Lord WELLINGTON, and a large portion of our army. Meanwhile, General HILL, at •Almendralejo, and Generals SLADE and LONG, at Villa Franca, observ. ec SOULT in his retreat, who we learn by the latest ad- Vices had totally retired from Estremadura. It is re- +-...~ ~: 201 ported, that our Commander intends to follow MARMON? into Castile, and by active warfare in the vicinity of the capital, to compel SouLT or SUCIIET to march to its de fence, and to evacuate either the south or the east of Spain. The official account of these operations is contained in Lord WELLINGTON'S dispatches, given in a Supple ment to last night's Gazette, which will be found in ano ther part of our Paper. SCULT and MAR MONT, no doubt, shewed considerable skill in the plan they adopted, but the more skill they shewed, the greater must have been the skill of the Gene ral by whom their hopes and designs were thus counter acted. It is said that SOULT heard of the fall of Badajoz through a few dragoons who escaped from the place, and in his first burst of surprise and grief exclaimed that he was sure BUONAPARTE would never forgive him. Vie are told in letters from Lisbon that MARMONT ) in his ad vance, plundered Cavilhae, a wealthy town, with an ex tensive cloth manufactory. Being situated in the moun tains, and of difficult access, this place had escaped dur. ing the former invasion of the enemy. By the following letters it will appear, that the reported capture of Seville by the Spaniards was unfounded. Guilt AL rnR, AyaiLle.—The attack upon Seville, which is stated is Count Dc Penxe Villamur's dispatch to have been concerted between him and General Ballasteros, does not appear to have been carried into eflect. By a letter of the 14th from the General, we find he was on that day at Ardales, seven leagues from Malaga. and from a Gentleman who arrived last night from Algesiras, we learn that be has subsequently bea ten, on the same pia!, the French General 's division, and taken 300 men, and the whol:• of his artillery. General Bailasteros had only his first division with Lim ; the second and third are iu the environs of Ronda.—(Gibra:tre Chrmiele, Ap , it 18.) CADI s, 1 rKI7. 9.—Extract from Conde De Penne's dispatch of the gth :—" Conde 1)e Penn.! wa.. on the 6th, at San Lucar la Meyer, On the preceding day, he :::ade a reconnoitring upon Seville, when 1500 French or Spaniards, in Jo,:e;:h's serAce, came out to -!ect hirn, s.vi:h four pieces of cannon, and two howitzers. He enticed them to the spot, where Morilla was, and they were beat back and pursued to near Seville, where they encamped. The result was, the enemy's loosing a great number of men killed, and a few prisoners. Conde De Penne had one half of his forces at Casteilega de la Cuesta (one league from Seville), and in the afternoon of the 6th, was marching with the remains:l:r to the same point, to carry into xecution the plan connected With Gene ral lialiasteros for an attack upon Seville. '1 he out-posts and skirmi,h ers were within cannon shot of the Tejar battery, on the spot called La Vetilla.—(Same Puper.) ITHE NATIONAL REGISTER. SICILY. The mail from Malta has brought the copy of a Con vention fcrmed between Lord WILLIAM BENTINCIC, and the French Officer commanding the Neapolitan 31-my. The difficulty respecting the acknowledgment of Mutt r as King of Naples has, it will be seen, been skilfnlly evaded, by employing inferior Officers, so that the Con vention is signed by the Generals in Chief of the respec tive countries, instead of being an act of Government. MESSINA, MARCH 4.—lt is with great satisfaction that we are able to announce, that his Excellency the Commander in Chief of the Bri tish forces, has concluded a Convention with the French Government for the exchange of prisoners in the kingdom of Naples, of which the following is a copy : Art. 1. There shall be a general exchange of prisoners of war In the service of Great Britain and of the Sicilian Government, on the one shie s and those in the service of the kingdom of Naples, on the other. Art. 11. The cartel of Exchange shall be made rank fir rank, or by equivalents, according to the tarif adopted by both Governments. Art. 111. To effect tliii exchange, as soon as possible, there shall he given to the English a list of the British and Sicilians, who are prisoners in the kingdom of Naples, and in like manlier there shell be &live: ed to the Neapolitans a list of the prisoners of war appertaining to their service, and who are actually in the power of the Engliih. Art. IV. The port of Reggio shall he the point of debarkation of the Neapolitan prisoners who shall be exchanged, The English and pnsoliers shall, in like manner, be embarked at Reggio, and barked at the isthmus of Mes&ina. r -4 Vr!