The National Register. — London, England, 1811-06-02 00:00:00

!\P' nu t~.- .~•: . I I a The picquets of the Ist division wider Lieutenant-Colonel Hill of the 3d regiment of Guards repulsed one of these : but asthey were falling back, thy did not see the direction of ano ther in sufficient time to form to oppose it, and Lieutenant-. Colonel Hill was taken prisoner, and many men were wounded and some taken, before a detachment of the British cavalry • could move up to their support. The .2d battalion, 42d regiment, under Lord Blantyre, also repulsed a charge of the cavalry directed agai4 st them. 'They likewise attempted to push a body of light infantry down the ravine of the 'Enron to the right of the Ist division, which were repulsed by the light infantry of the Guards, under Lieut.- Col. Grilse, aided by five comp-mes of the 9.5 th, under Captain O'Hara. Major-General Nightingall was wounded in the course of the cannonade, but I hope not St The enemy's principal etEsrt was throughout this day again '-directed against Fuentes de Honor ; and notwithstanding that the whole of the 6th corps was at different periods of the day employed to attack this village, they cou!d never gain more than a temporary possession of it. It was defended by the '243th, 71st. and 79th regiments, under the command of Col. Cameron ; and these troops were supported by the light infantry battalions in the 3d division, commanded by Major Woodgate; the light in fantry battalions in the Ist diviion, cnnunantjed by Major Dick, Major Macdonald, and Major Ally ; the 6th Portuguese Cacadores, commanded by Major Pinto ; by the light compa nies in Cul. Champlemunde'a i'ortuguese brigade under Cul. Sutton; and those iu Co'.'/Nshworth's Portuguese brigade under Lieutenant-Col. Pyrn ; and by the picT:ets of the :3d division, under the command of the Hon. Lieutenant-(:olonel Cameron, was severely wounded in the afternoon, and the command in the village devolved upon the Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Cadogan. The troops in Fuentes de Honor were besides supported, when pressed by the enemy, by the 74t1t regi•nent tinder Major Russel Manners, and tl.e 88th regiment under Lieutenant-Col. Wal lace, belonging to Col. Mackinnon's brigade; and on one of these occasions the 88th, with the 71st and !lith, wide~ the command of Col. Mackinnon, charged the e:ue.uy, and drove them through thewiUage; and Col..N;a:kinnon has reparted particularly the conduct of Lieutenant-Cul. WaiLice, Erigade•Major and Lieutenant and Aojut.nit Stewal - t of the 88th regiment. The contest again las-ed in this quarter till night, when our troops still held their ios ; and from that time the enemy have made no fresh attemp to my van of our position. The enemy manifested an intention to attack Major-General Sir W. Erskine's po,t, at Aldea del Bivo on the same morning, with a part of the 2d corps, but the Major-General sent the 2d battalion of the Lusaanian Legion across the Ford of the Duas Casas, which obligt d them to retire. In the course of last night the enthiy commenced to retire from their position on the I)uas CaSUS ; and this morning at daylight the whole were in im,Oon. I cannot yet deride whe ther this movement is preparatoiy ti sotne fresh attempt to raise the blockade of Almeida, or is one of decided retreat ; but I have every reason to hope that ttley tvill not succeed in the first, and that they IA id be obliged to Lae recourse to the last. Their superiority in cavalry is very great, owing to the weak state of our horses from recent tatitit: and scarcity of foraie mad the reduction of numbers in the Potsu,guese brigade of cavalry with this part of :he artily, in exchange for a British brigade sent into E3tremaduta with Nlarihal Sir William lie resford, owing to the failure of the measures reported to have been adopted to supply the hor.it s and mew with food on the service. The result of a gentral action brought on by an at tack upon the enemy by us, ii‘ight, under these circumstancta, have been doubtful ; and if the enemy had chosen to avoid it, or it they had met it, they wnuld have taken advantage of the coll,:c.tiun of our troops to this to ticrow relief into Almeida. • From the great superiority of forett to which we have been opposed upon this occas:nn your J.eirtlship will judge of the conduct of the Oincers and troops. The actions were partial, hot very severe ; and our los h.is been great. The enemy's loss has also been great; and they left four hundred killed in the village of Fuentes de Honor, and we have many prisoners. I particularly request your Lordship's attention to the con duct of Lieut.-Col. Williams, Lieut.-Col. Cameron, and the lion. Cadogan, and to ;hat of (Jul. itlackinnon, and Lieut.-Col. Kelly of the 24th regiment, and of the several Offi cers commanding battalions of the line and of light infantry, which supported the troops in Fuentes de Honor. Likewipe to that of Major A/Pinto:di of the 85th riL;iment; of Lieut.-Colonel - the - Ettstace of the Chas ,ord Blantyre. I have received the greatest as 3rent Spencer, and all the Gene %m the Adjutant and Quarter. Nixon of Me id Cacadores ; of 1 sears Brittanniques; and of 1,0 Throug! out these operations . sist . ! eel , , . • Atien. Sir i r i .'1 1:' • - ' i.._'. y; pyl in i'V" ". da ft_ 04. / ..•,_ ZAti t , e 4 .', . ~.. N . ,-. , , 4„, ,! ‘" . , .; i.... 1 t ~ \ # • • 4. 0. • '• ~. . it , 0 -i„,. • -,----.- le - • • ''-',-.., 3,) &Ll' ( 11 1 V . Tl!' NATIONAL - - REGISTER. Master-General, and the Officers of their several departments, and those of my personal Stall: From intelligence from Marshal Sir William Beresford, I learn that he has invested Badajoz, on the left of the Guadiana; anti is moving there stores for the attack of the place. I have the honour to inform you that the intelligence has been confirmed, that Joseph Buonaparte passed Valladolid, on his wmr to Paris, on the 27th of April. It is not den'ed by the French offi cers that he itf gone to Paris. . I have th , - honour to be, &c. W ELL I NG / TOP. My Lord, Villa Foratos, May 10, 1811. The enemy retired on the Bth to the woods between Espeja, Gallegos,and Fuentesde Hotior,in which position the whole army were collected on that day and yesterday, with the exception of that part of the second corps which continued opposite Alameda. Last night the whole broke up and retired across the Azara, covering their retreat by their limner-6W cavalry; and this day the whole have retired across the Agueda, leaving Almeida to its fate. The second corps retired by the brigade of Barba del Puerco, and the Ford of Val d'Espino on the Agueda. Our advanced fats are upon the Azava, and on the Loiker Agueda, and the army will be to-morrow in the cantonments on the Duas Casas: I have, &c. _ (Signed) . (Signed) WELLINGTON. General Total-1 Captain, 7 Lieutenant% 1 Ensign, 13 stir _francs, 3 drummers, 173 rank and file, and 45 horses, killed; 2 General Stzlf, 2 Lieut.-Cols.. Majors, 15 Captains, 23 Lieu tenants, 11 Cornets, or Ensigns, 2 Staff, 61 serjeants, 4 drum nes s 906 rank and file, and 95 horses, wounded ; 1 Lieute nant:C 01. 2 Captains, 3 Lieutetuats, 1 Ensign, 9 serjeants,, 9 drummer% 269 rank and file, and 5 horses, missing. (Signed) • CHARLES STEWART, Major-General add Adjutant-General. (1-ere follows the names of Officers killed and wounded which we gave last Sunday.] TUESDAY'S LONDON GAZLTTE. DOWNING-STItgET, MAY 28, 1811. A Dispatch, of which the following is an Extract, was this day received at the Earl of Liverpool's Office, addressed to his Lordship by Lieutenant-General Lord Viscount Wellington, K. 13, dated Villa Formosa, 15th May, 1811. No part of the enemy's army remained on the left of the Agueda on the evening of the loth instant, except cue brigade of cavalry close to the bridge of Ciudad Aodrio. The c2d corps had crossed at Barba del Puerco noel the Ford of Val d'Espino, and were cantoned in that neighbourhood, and our advanced posts were upon the Azava and the Lower Agueda. The tith Division reom..Al the duty of the blockade of Al meida on that evening, and major-General Sir Erskine was ordered to send a battalion to Barba del Puerco, to guard the b. idge there, which had been previously ordered, and had been posted to observe the passages of the Duas Casas, between Aldea del Bispo and the Barba del Puerco. The enemy blew up sonic mines which they had constructed in the works of Almeida, a little before one on the morning of the 11 th, and inmiediately attacked the picquets by which the place was observed, and forced their way through them. They fired but little, and they appeared to have marched between the bodies of troops posted to support the picquets ; and in Daniell. lar could not have passed far from the right of the Queun's regi ment. Upon the first alarm, Brigadier-General Pack, who was at Malpartida, joined the picquets, and ccintinued to follow and to fire upon the ent my, as a guide for the march ofthe other troops, employed in the blockade; and Alajor-Gent. ral Campbell marched from Malpartida with a part of the first battalion 36'th regiment. But the enemy ce.ntinued their march in a solid coin. pact body without firing, and were well guided between the sitions occupied by our troops. The 4th regiment, which was ordered to occupy Barba del Puerco, unfortunately missed the road, and'did not arrive there till the enemy had reached the place, and commenced to des cend the bridge : and at the same moment with the 3Gtb regi ment, with Major-General-Campbell, and the light battalions of the sth division, which Majors Gen. Sir William Erskine had detached from kldea del llispo to Bai ba del Puerco, as soon as he hvd heard that tfie enemy had come oat trout Almeida. The enemy suffered very considerable loss both in prisoners and killed and wounded, a 0 well as in the march front Altneida as in the passage. of • the Aguetha. It appears that part of the 2d corps, which wt re Da St. Felices, formed upon the river to Pro tect their passage as soon as they beard the firing ; and the lion. Lieutenaut-Colonel Cochrane of the 36th who had crossed With . •