The National Register. — London, England, 1811-09-29 00:00:00

, • after his repulse, retired some leilgues, and the Spanish army advanced upon him. The French have no magazines in Salamanca. The parties intercept every thing which cotnes, nnii the city is in want of Many necessaries.—(Lisbon Gdzette, Sept. 12 FRENCH OPPRA rioNl IN SPAIN. ~, By the arrival of Afont'lcurs and other French Papers to the 16th it , sant„ we have received die French accounts of the late operations in the Pe. ninsula. Though fraught with . .the .inual boasting of the French Inilitary commun:cations, these official dispatches aft' , rd a much more mode rate report of tL , ' transactions they, relate to, than we might have expected. The dispatch from Marshal Socur detailing his operations against the united forces, of FRIERE and BLAKE in Valencia, taken in its fullest sense, does not re present the result as in any degree so disastrous as we had been previously led to suppose. It does not appear that thrre was any general action, though during five or six days the French were advancing, and the Spaniards constantly retreating. The Manner in which the retreat was conducted may be judged of, from the circumstance, that the enemy cannot boast . of having made more than 6or 700 prisoners, amongst whom were thirty Officers. What appears most remarkable in this French account is, that General QUADRA, who was before . reported to have been, by his absence from a particular position, the cause of the loss of an action, not only was p• esent at the differ ent operations, but actually saved a whole di vision of the army from being destroyed on the 9th at the Rio Barbata, by his having again in part United that corps. Souur represents the great Mass of his whole force as having been broken up completely, only 7000 of that great body having retired into Murcia. The remainder is said .to have been destroyed or to have dis persed to their respective homes. This account of Marshal SOULT, we must confess, affords ns Much gratification. With all the exaggeration of ivhich vice know him to be capable, it is some satis faction to find, that he allows even7ooo of the Valen clan army to be still on foot, and that he cannot swell the amount of his prisoners higher than six • or seven hundred. Upon every ground, therefore, we may safely conclude, that, as he has boasted of no splendid victory, the Spaniards have sustained no disastrous defeat—that though he has advanced without meeting any decisive resistance, the Spanish Generals have retreated without hazarding any ruinous engagement—and that whilst SOULT has only to boast of a little acquisition of geographical limits, the Spaniards have not to complain of any great numerical losses. The Valencian army is gin, then, in existence, and in sufficient force to keep the corps of SOULT, strong as it is and flushed as it may be with its previous success, at a respectful distance. , The French Papers contain also a dispatch from the corps einployed in the Galician army under SANTOCILDLS. ' The similarity of circum . stances between the management of the operations on the part of tie sithwils Generals in Leon and Valencials so strikink, and the result in' both *cases s o nearly the same, that we cannot help considering ,- ••.. . • n 4 • { • ... _ ~ . this spirit of caution manifested by both General 4 as a favourable sign of the Spanish cause. It is not by general actions and military evolutions that the French armies are to be overthrown but by desultory warfare and constant and harassing operations. SANTOCILDES very prudently fell back as the enemy advanced, until, at length, he took a position on the frontiers of Galicia, from which the enemy did not think proper to attempt to dislodge him. The intelligence which we had previously received led us to suppose, that though General SANTOCILDES fell back in the first instance, he afterwards advanced, and hung upon the rear of the. French as they re treated, causing them much loss, until he took pest in his former quarters at Astorga. The French, ac. counts, on the contrary, state that they had entered Villa Franca on the 28th ultimo.— If this statement be correct, either they must have pushed forward a second time, or the intelligence of their retreat and of the movement of the Galician army in pursuit of them, must be unfounded. At all events, it is a satisfaction to know, that in the North :ind in the South the Spanish Generals know how to husband their means for a more favourable . orportunity of action. FIRING OFF THE FRENCH COAST. The firing off the French coast heard during the latter part of last week, which caused so much inte. rest and curiosity, has, at length, been most fully and satisfactorily accounted for. It - from proceeded seine British cruisers, the Naiad frigate, three sloops of war, and a cutter, having been engaged with a division of the French flotilla, in all 27 sail, on Friday se'nnight, in sight of Boulogne, and under the immediate observation of the FRENCH EMPEROR himself. The actinn commenced at noon (the par ticulars of which will be found detailed in Tues day's Gazette), when the British vessels, having dashed in amongst the enemy, were soon surround ed, but their fire quickly made a serious impression upon their adversaries, when the Admiral struck, though another French vessel having run be. tween him and the Naiad, he most disho. , nourably re-hoisted his colours, renewed his fire, and ultimately escaped into port. The vessel that interposed was captured, and proved a praam of lt long brass 24-pounders and 112 men. The view of this partial action, the knot?. ledge of its result, but above all the style in which the whole was conducted, and the irresistible intre pidity and coolness displayed by the British tar's, cannot fail to make a.due impression upon the mind of BL'ONAPARTE, both as to the inutility of all his naval efforts and the unchangeablesupeTiority of British skill and discipline. So sure were the French of suc cess, that they brought out a pilot to take the Naiad into Havre de Grace.- We are happy to find that this brilliant achievement-was attended with, so little loss on our side, the Naiad having only tw9.killed and fifteen slightly wounded, and•the Castilian one Lieutenant and two or three men killed or wounded. - The Naiad and her prize have arrived at Dover. AMERICA. Some more American Papers have been received, but not of so late a date as those which had 'previously arrived. They do not bring any Intel. es , ! 4