The National Register. — London, England, 1812-04-05 00:00:00

ii MOM N THE NATIONAL REG STE% 1r " Same time ago, a great proportion of thetarrison were Poles; hut they deserted in such numbers, that they were all taken out and re placed by a brigade of Germans ; these, however4belng found to desert in such number to the Poles, they were withdrawn, and some Swiss put in, in the proportion, however, of three Frenchmen to each Swisa, nod taking the precaution never to send them in any but Pole*. " The hiking of Badajoz-will he a veryarduous task. The town is now very . strong, and numerous outworks have lately been added. The sea son is most unfavourable; but, if the French army does not make its appearance, Badajoz will certainly fall. "The army is in high health, and in the greatest spirits; their confi dence in their illustrious Leader is unbounded, and there is absolutely' nothing that under Win they would not attempt.—Lately the sailors of the fleet at Lisbon made a request, that they might be marched to the army, and fight under the Earl of WELLINGTON. The tars are in dignant at being quiet, and every account that reaches Lisbon of a gallant achievement by the soldiers vexes them. " The poor Cameronians are quite Mors de combat, and Nave been sent to Lisbon to do garrison duty. The Royal Marines, who, a year ago, were sent out and have been doing the Lisbon duties, are embarked and sent .home. .This invaluable corps has been of the greatest service in Portugal • by taking the duties at Lisbon, they enab l e d General Pea. coot to send up all the regular corps to the army. Report is strong, that NTAR mu N Sone . t. and So en el., are coming on with their united force, hut this does not disturb the Earl of WELLINGTON. The French army have been extremely unhealthy, and have of late lost so many men from the flux, as well as desertion, that it is understood SouLT and :Mae moNT's, as well as BONNET'S corps, are quite crippled. . " Should the Earl or WELLINGTON carry Badajoz, it is said to be his intention to march to the South, and raise the siege of Cadiz." ANOTHER LETTER, FROM AN OFFICER. " Camp before Badajoz, March 21. " On the day before yesterday PeteeiroN sent out about 2000 of his garrison, hut they made not the least impression on our brave fellows, who would not remain in their trenches, but followed the enemy to the very gate. They left about 300 dead, and a few prisoners; our killed, I believe few ; we have sixty wounded, among them Lieutenant- Colonel FLETCHER, Engineer, Major of the 43d Light Infantry, General Pic run's Aide-de-Camp, and an Officer of the 74th and of the 88th. " General BowEs commanded in the trenches, when the enemy ' came out, and he gallant General KEMPT came to his assistance. Colo nel Wi Llama s, 00th, who has, on so many occasions distinguished him self, was the Field Officer on duty, and every one is loud in his praises for cool courage and his discipline of the troops. " The siege is commanded by that very able officer General PICTON, Sir JAMES GRAHAM (Of Barossa), and Sir ROWLAND HILL; each com mand an army of observation. In our front MARMONT will be cau tious of coming on—Sonefs army is ndt formidable; and SUCRET has enough on his hands to keep down the country where he is. " lam happy to tell you that all my friends are well. Earl Wee trecroN, who was ill for a few days, has, to the great joy of the army, got about again. " The Portuguese behaved most bravely in the sortie; they had some killed, and about 90 wounded. Cavalry are wanted—they arm coming up." APRIL 5. the disposal of BUONAPARTE) to be commanded by French Officers. . , The force with which France will commence the war is computed by some at 300,000, by others at 400,000 men, 60,000 of which have already passed Stettin, and after being joined by the Prussian troops, are on their march to Komgsbeig, where quarters have been ordered for them as allies and friends of his PRUSSIAN MAJ'ESTY. The French army was to be commanded provisionally by Marshal NEV. Notwithstanding these mighty preparations, Rus sia is represented as fixed in her determination, not to agree to the ruinous demands of NAPOLEON. Her army on the frontiers of Poland is rated at 200,000 men, and the last advices from St. Petersburgh state, that the Em peror ALEXANDER has resolved to take the field in person, while Generals BAncLAN De TOLLS', BENNIGSEN, Atm- FELDT, and others, were to have commands under him. In the expectation of large demands on the public trea sury, many new taxes have been imposed under the au. thorny of an Imperial 'Ukase, and others have been aug mented ; among these are an impost on land, excise on tea, a.stamp on merchant's books, and an increase of the capitation tax, to the extent of one-third. The Messenger who passed through Berlin on the 3d of March with the ultimatum of BUONAPARTE to the Court of Petersburgh, has returned with the ultimatum of the Russian Govern ment. BERTUEIR was hourly looked for in that city, and it was suppoled that the KING: of PRUSSIA and NA.POLEM were to have an interview at Dresden. NORTHERN POWERS. Whilst the prominent share which our army now takes in the Spanish campaign, attracts every eye towards the banks Of the Guadiana, the storm of war thickens in the North. There, according to the letters received yester day from Anholt, the roar of battle will soon be heard, and the armies of coalesced Powers engaged. Prussia, whose warlike preparations had so often elicited applause from some of our short-sighted - politicians, who fancied she was arming against the tyrant of Europe, has openly declared herself in favour of France, and has ordered hertroops to join those of the latter. It is true that the reduced monatchcould neither hope to resist Buos A P trra, nor to maintain a respected neutrality. But he seems to have been particularly - anxious to please his late conqueror, and to have displayed so much unexpected readiness to assist him in the execution of his ambitious plans, as to have induced NAPOLEON to order his Generals to declare to his Prussian Majesty, that in consequence of the line of conduct he had adopted, Prussia should never be called upon. for the contributions due from her to France at the conclusion of the last war. Not only has Prussia combined with France against the Russian Autocrat; but we are told in most of these Let ters, that Anstria has espoused the same cause, and that from 100,000 to 150,000 Austrians have been placed at FRENuH PAPERS, French Papers have been received. 'They contain some interesting information, but do not confirm the reports of the formation of a Regeney, the departure of the Em- PRESS and her Son for Vienna, and that of NApoLEog himself for his Northern army. They are chiefly filled with the correspondence of General BLAKE, which, it ap. pears, he has readily communicated to the French Go vernment, to answer some purposes of their own. This Officer, who lately commanded the' finest and most nu merous army of patriotic Spain, and who, as President of the Regency at Cadiz, stood, in fact, at the head of the nati,n, now fawns, at Paris, at the feet of the law less invader of his country, and supplies him with mate rials to show, 44 that the Chiefs of the insurrection are convinced of the inutility of their struggle—how much they dread the French infantry and cavalry-4nd to what a pitch their dissatisfaction and hatred of the English army are carried." Is it astonishing that the French people, and", indeed, the Continent, should credit the tale of Spanish subjuga tion, when they hear' it repeated in the capital of the Usurper by . the late head of the Spanish Government, and Commander in Chief of the Spanish armies !_There is no doubt but NAPOLEON would use every art of seduc tion to draw such a man over to his side, since he has had him within his power ; but we think it dotibtfLl whe ther his offers had not been listened to with complacency by the PRESIDENT of the Regency, even in the fulness of his authority, and- whether the surrender of Valencia, with the whole army, may not be attributed to, at least, an incipient spirit of treachery. We should not be sur prized in a short time to see this Commander, invested with fresh authority, return to the Peninsula as one of the Generals of King JOSEPH, and Grandees of his Court. The attention which BUONAPARTE pays to his navy is not confined to the building of ships. Finding, probably, that emulation is Rot a stimulus powarful enough to in-