The National Register. — London, England, 1808-12-11 00:00:00

DEC. 11. means of impeding the progress of the French. who were hourly cspec:cd to arrive and take possession of the town. We are .till in a state of suspense respecting the situation of General Male and his army. It is, however, ascertained that he has suffered severely, in consequence of the baseness r►nd rowardice of 111:1.14y (*( his Officers. General in parti cular. is a:•e•used of having betrayed the trust and confidence re nosed him. Ile was unfortunately entrusted w ith the Corn. ;oantl in the centre of the army, anti shortly after the brittle :anmenccd, he treacherously made an openiwt for the French troops to march through, w bids they did, to the astonishment of General Make, and the confusion of men. The discom uture of the whole army is attrihnted to this net of treachery. To guird against such condact, General Blake has superseded several fteneral Officers and others of inferior rank, who have been succeeded by Serjeants and Corporals of military ca►pacitc, tried merit, and exl►erielce. The appointment of these men to rank in the a►rmv appears to meet with general approbation. I am afraid the fate of Spain is decided, and that the French xili be in possession of Madrid before Christmas. If Bona parteshould ►gain another b;ltile, the consterration which will be produced, 1 ant afraid, w ill be attended witl► very serious elects. lam persuaded there never were so many of Ilona parte'e spies in any place since the commencement of his career, :►s there are in this town at present. It is titled by foreigners. Many Italians have ar►•ised here before and since Sir David Haird's expedition, who are suspected by many, and a number of those persons came from England. There are no vigilant police officers here for the detection of such characters, and it is plain any man may practise the part of a spy with perfect im punity. This is a very tine I►opulous country ; the men are active, robust, and strong, not with,tanding which the recruit ing goes on very slowly. There is no stimuliol; the !ten want encouragement to join the armies of their country. The recent accounts are sufficient to dishearten them, for however deplor able their present condition may he, they are unwilling to ex change it fur danger, nakedness, and starvation. THE NATIONAL REWSTER. ANOTHER LETTER. CORUNN A, Nov. 2S.—A division of the French army has gone in quest of the forces under Sir D. U. lan, who, inconse quence, has thought tit to fall back upon Lugo. The British troops were joine,l by 4 or 5000 Gallicians, and, L am sorry to ►ay, that many of these have conducted themselves improperly, and others have ►ieserted. It is -opposed that the British troops will soon re-embark at this port. The post front Malt id has been stopped, and we are very ap prehensive. of bad news from that quarter. Sir John Moore's arm'. is '15,000 strong, and is falling hack in expectation of a visit front the enemy in considerable force.— General Moore has with hi in about 10,000 Portuguese, In whom however, he can place little conlidetice. ANOTHER LEI ILK. Connlv NA i D •—A dvices are this instant received of the defeat of Castanos by the French, and of the total dispersion of array. He wai completely surprized, for he wa, induced to :bailee across the Ebro front false informatioa of the weakness of the corps under Marshal Motives , and drawn into a trap, for Ney fell upon his rear, as soon as the army of Waite had been disoosed of, and the result was fatally dreadful. No ac count is arrived of the day or place, w hen and where the battle was fought, hut the fact is too true. And the cousequence is, that Sir John Moore was instructed to begin his retreat oa the 2',:th ult. from Salamanca back on Portugal. And Sir D. Baird on tiallicia. !fere we are iu the utmost consternation. The stores are now eialrarking here, and we are told that the vesAek are to he sent round to 1;40. as it is not thought advi,ahlt• to trust the re-embarkation at this port. There is the utmost re - soli to apprehend that General (lope, w ho is arrived at Madrid with the cavalry and ;miller) belonging to General Moore s army, will he cut nit'. Ile must he so, if it be trite as We hear, that both Moore and Baird are retreating. In short it is ab lolittc despair. Another letter says—" The effects of that wonderful machine inch Bonaparte w ields with 1;1.16 dexterity, are now beg inning to display th et wiehrF. lie did not begin to act till be had Ist - ought 70,bn° men nutter hii most accomplished (leiter:ids, to the reinforeet.tent of his army, hut had before been able to keep the Patriots at hay. In a fortnight he has done his work. he beau by the ilipersion of Blake, and we this day learn that he Las with equal facility destroyed Citqanos. We have now nutting left for it. Sir John Moore is at Salamanca, without h3r , e ui r. , .rtillery. Ceueral Hop:: is at Madrid With hisrie, hut . • . •,,0* FROM TI!L GO TTE .V BURGH MAIL. Srocknot.m, Nov. Royal 111ie•ty has receivett the followy4; report from the General iu Chief of the Vinot,h Army : " My last report was dispatched from hence on the' :314 of Or tuber, by Licutenant.Coloncl and Adjutant-General Martineau. " On the '27th of October, an :Minn took place 11,..tucen the fourth brig:ale of your Nlajesty's nrry, and a I; ti►.iaie corps greatly superior in number, in whit-h the 10 , .s tVitS very con i. derable GU both sides, without any signal advanlu;;.' having l)'e obtained. " Colonel Sandell, Chief of Brigade, ha• found it advkable with the main body of hi!, division, to fall back to th miles on thi4 side of Idemahni, leaving, however, hi- ad% a post% iu \ ietima, by wiiieh eimitioa he would hat.• hero •z, - 789 - • 'aithc►nt foot ; and General Baird is at Aveiro. with his horse, in a condition total!, unfit for service. The/ are king daily in numbers, and the hignways are strewed with their earcns-r4.— Nothing can equal the disu►a! which prevails here. Cuti knows how out armies Klli get Certainly oar nrtillery must be left behind. for the poor beasts of horses that retnaitt alive are untit to drag the gum ihrough the 'sat-m.l4e roads." A oTIiT.R lI:TTTR. Conte A, nrc. I.—The neglect and inattention among persons of irilluence in this province hw been highly criminal One hundred thousand men might have been found with eunve• Menet! in Gallic-la alone, but the efficacious means fur such an important purpose have been disregarded. A decree of the Central Junta has passed,_ by which 550,000 men are to be raised, under w hick dignitaries of the Church, Religious Order:, Bachelors, Doctors, and I'rofe►sor• of Divinity, are ant to be excused. The nobility are alio included, and by such resolute means, the end will ultimately be attained. Some pecuniary contributions will nisi) be necessary until mailers are ar ranged, and until the precious metal canbe received from Ame- rice. " There a variety of opinions as to the ptility of the Provin cial Juntas, and as to the policy of dissolving them. it is thought that the gentleness and sae►; pub! of 111aLv's di- p osit ion has been in some degree prejudicial to us. The general opinion is, that as soon as he had led his troops to the mountains, and had obtained some advantages over the French, he should not have admitted the latter to rally and obtain re-inforcements, but should have complied mith the wishes of his army, to follow them up to the point of the bayonet. Ile also too': many spies, and, contrary to the practice in mar, he did not hang any of them. Besides this it is thought he kept Ilk line too much ev.. tended, by which means., the division, could not operate., aod •they were to:► weak to act alone. In (lee affair of ileyousa, it is not true that we lost a great number ; fur those that are put to flight, have generally notch ninthl...r het+ than their pat,uers. Neutral Romano, vv ho on that occa-ion four league- nearer to Leon, succeeded to the command ot . the array; and is now eneleavourieg to rostore it, From this Officer much is expected. They say that he has de. priced several of commissions they did not know how to employ, which he ha• conferred on sc.rjeants and others much inferior in rank, but much superior in merit." After touching on the expedients which had been adopted to obtain reinforcements in Corunna, Ferrol, and the letter proceeds : The 10,000 English infantry, and 1700 cavalry, which dis embarked here, are already at Astorga, and no doubt it ill unite with the army of ltomana. Those m hich are come to Sala :nano', it is said, have obtained an advantage over a hotly of French, composed of 8000 men, which were endeavouring to penetrate into Portugal ; but this wants conliiinatiOn. In Yon► fugal there is much roguery; but my friend %%rites me, undea date of the Ifah ult. that matters were likely to be placed on - a better footing, and that con.ider:►tile reinfort moat- %%ere pre pared. They write from Madrid, that in Catalonia we go on well ; and that brave Province, no doubt, will give afficient, employment to the French rascal• who infest it. Report. says, that we have taken itna►s; I wi,h me had got posses-ion of the capital of Catalonia, and they prodiii,ies would be performed in that neighbourhood No &subt the French will tilake a pompous ilisplay of their successes, and will tell the world that their victorious troops are next to crush Castanos and Palati►x, is bon► may God pro:est from their perfidy and violence. -~