The National Register. — London, England, 1811-08-25 00:00:00

s dated at' last been received from the British Commander. The time and place at which the dispatches were dated, are enough to show the nature of the move ments which the state of the campaign had rendered necessary. Castello Branco is North of the Tagus, about midway between that river and the Coa ; and from the change of the Head-quarters of the Army, it is clear that no apprehension is now entertained of any formidable attempt of the enemy on the side of the Guadiana. Any demonstration of activity in their operations against Portugal on the part of the enemy appears to be rooked for by Lord WEL I LINGTON in the North, and consequently he has moved the, main body of his army in that direc tion, leaving only the corps of General HILL in the Alentejo, to watch the movements of the enemy on that side of Lord WELLINGTON. Lisbon,Papers have also been received to the 4th inst. inclusive, by the Marlborough packet, arrived at Falmouth from the Tagus, from which it appears, that so early as the 17th ult. the cavalry of the army of MARMONT, which had been left -at Merida to keep open the communication with the Army of the South, had left Merida for Almaraz on the Tagus ;- and that the enemy continued his march thence to Placentia, and still further to Puerto de Banos, the celebrated pass in the moun tains of Estremadura, between Placentia and Ciudad Rodrigo. Whilst MARMONT was thus taking a Northern route, SOULT was marching back to Art r dibisia, * at the head of 8000 men, with a view tO proceed direct for Valencia, which he hoped to reduce. The detachments which he had left he. Lund to keep open his communications with B.ida joz and the army of MARMONT, had been succes site!), called in ; so that with the exception of the garrison of Badajon, no French force of any amount remained, at the date of the dispatches, in the vici tity of the Guadiana. This total alteration in the position and distribution of the French army, natu rally and necessarily led to a correspondent change in the position and destination of the Allied forces ; and hence Lord WELLINGTON, leaving General limes corps in the Alentejo, has marched with the great strength of his army towards the North, hay at the date of his dispatch, pushed on his light troops towards Pennamayor and Sabugal. 636 - THE NATIONAL DISPATCHES FROM LORD 'WELLINGTON. I tw; D;snatches, dated Castello Branco , A u g . 1, have suc MOST GALLANT NAVAL ACTION. The Little Belt,Capt. BINGIIA NI, which has arrived at Portsmouth, from Halifax, brings an account of a lost 'glorious and brilliant action; fought by the 'alenti* sloop of war, of 16 guns, Captain FREDE- IltiCK HICKRY, with the Entreprenante, a French frigate of 32 guns, on the 20th of July, off Cape. May, on the coast of America. After an action of R two houri and a half between these two vessels of • such unequal force, British skill. and itttrepixlity triuMphed over every obstacle, and the Frenchman was obliged to strike his colours. The Atalanta had hut one man kiVed and four wounded whilst the loss of the enemy amounted to thirty - killed and wounded. This glorious achievement derives additional lustre . from the circumstance that the Atalanta was not only so greatly inferior to her atlagonist, but actually short of her comple. merit of men, in so much that it appears that Cap e tain HICKEY was in • some doubt whither to send his prize. This action, as brilliant as any which grace the annals of the Brivibh navy, has happened most critically off the coast of America, to show the Americans how little reason they have to boast of the result of the affair between their ship President, and the English sloop of war the Little Belt ; and that had not the disparity of force been so disproportionate in that case, the event of the action would -have been far different: Captain HickE't, the gallant officer who cont. manded the Atalanta, was appointed to. that vessel when she was building. at .Berrnuda.— He had been long a Lieutenant, though a very young man, being still under. thirty, when,. after many fruitless applications for promotion, ,he WAS unexpectedly to him appointed to the vessel he now commands, by Mr. THOMAS GRENVILLE, a short time Rrevions to the removal of the Administration of which Mr. GRENVILLE was a member. Captain HICKEY has since been employed on the Halifax sta. tion, and may now, in reward for this most gallant hievement, very fairly look to a step of promo. tion and a rotation of duty. AMERICA. American Papers to . the ena of the last month have reached us. Their contents throw no light whatever on the state of the negotiations carried ori, by Mr. FOSTER with the Executive. The paper war continues betvc;een Messrs. MADISON and SMITH, and to prove the want of talents of the latter, a Mr. Co'Nix, who is stated to be the Editor of The - National litelligencer, has come forward and de. clared, that the official documents produced by Mr. SMITH, in his first attack on the PRESIDENT, were his own compositions. We here insert the most interesting part of Mr. CALVIN'S address upon the subject : After a short preface, in which he expresses his regret at hiving the duty of such an explanation imposed upon him, he adds—gi I declare, then, to the American people, that the letter inserted at page 17 of the pamphlet of Mr. Sut•rmm,. addressed to General JOHN ARMSTRONG, and the letter inserted• • at page 23 of the same pamphlet, addressed to Ge neral TURREAU, were written by myself, with the exception of One paragraph in the latter, which I have understood was written by Mr. MADISON that they are, without any particular dictation froin Mr. SMITH, the production of my pen ;—that the motives and the views connected with the letter to General TURItEAU, concomitantly declared by Mr. SMITH, were known to me ;r---that•those motives and those views involved considerations of a personal nature, hostile to Mr. MADISON and his Adminis. tration, more than they embraced . any via* V t)iie I