The National Register. — London, England, 1812-09-13 00:00:00

Lontion, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13. CAPTURE OF ASTORC A A\ I) 1111.110. N. List night's Gazette contains the following account of the capture of Actorga by the Spaniards, and the defeat of the French on the coast of Biscay, with the occupation of the town of Bilboa by the patriots : • Letters, of which the billowing are extrcts, have been received by Earl Bathurst, (tow Colonel Sir Howard 1;ou 6 lio, nated Ca3troron ir go, 22d, and ii,tofga, ::9th urost. Castrorontrigo, August 22. 1812 When the Earl of Wellington transftrred his head-quarters from Mojados to Cuellar, the Gallic:tan divisions, then occi.pying La Nava and PoiJos, cr stied the Douro again, and General Santociides vsta Wished hie head-quarters in Vallad , lid. On the 701 inst. Toidesidas capitulated, and the siege of Tory was undertaken, bat with means Nery in‘uffic err. On the 12tii the enemy advanced, with about seven thousand in fantry and one thunwAnd five hundred cavalry, from Palencia towards Vallado:id, which was only occupied by one battalion. Gen. Saito elides retired, taking the road by Torrelobaton towards Villalpando. The enemy now advanced towards Toro . and tt was ascettaided that their of j.lcts were to relieve lora and Zatneia, rind then to mach to Astorga, to raise the siege, and having withdrawn the garrison, to de r the .oinks. the Spanish troops were withdrawn from before Ti , ro, which the inertly innreduuely abititdoned ; and General Santocddes, having to lected all :Os f irce at Belver, on the Ili° Seco, coiutuencvit his re treat on Benevente. near *ilia place the enemy's cavalry came up with that of .he 5 h army (about four huLdte3), and in the affair which tolitA!'d we sustained some loss. On the 19th instant A•torga surrendered, w!ten the enemy had al ready reached La Ban. z,, from which place they have since retired, on heining of the loss of that garrison, which was of such importance as to lead them into 4,ese operations. I have no doubt, from the ch rec,ion tin y have taken, that they will now withdraw the garrison of knora, and entireiy abandon the line of the Diurro. Astorga was commanded by a General of Brigade, was defended by a Li-. utewint-Coionel of engineers, and the garrison was cur., posed of two battalions of the Vid and one of the Ist i,,talitry of the lute—in all one thuusimd two hundred effectives at the time of the surrender. Astorga, Aug. 'l9, 1312. The enemy retired from La Baum on hearing of the fall of Astorga, and took the direction of- Zamora ; they evacuated the latter place on the mo nunz of the 27th. retirin, by Turo towards Valladolid. The GdiilC :11) army has again moved forward, and now occupies c#l4unment.s on the E.tlA, in be towns ai.d villages near Villamanan. DOW4ING•STREET, SEPTEMZER 12, 1812. Vtters, of which the following ate extracts, have been received by Earl Bathurst from Lieutenaot-C luncl Wiliam Parker Carrol, (Wed Zornoza, 2-Ith August, and oil Portugalette, 26tn August. ZJruoza, August 24, 1812. I have the honour to acquaint you that, on the 13:h instant, General Rouges, with a tOrce of nearly 3,010 men, advanced from Durango to attack Bilb .a. General Renovales took up a position on the left bank of the river, having tos ridit on the heights of Bolueta anu 011arg.0.., defending the new bridge of Bolueta ; h.s reserve at Castrejana. As soon as the enemy's force was ascertained, General Renovales formed his plan ut atiaLk: paa of the banguard and Campillo's regiment were to pass use river at Portugalette, and proceed to tttQ heignis of Santo Domingo, to attack the enemy's right at daybrealrotnikp whilst General Pprl.er, with the vanguard, attacked 44.1spetby who *ere in 107b3C,.151011 of the two bridges In the town, WO*, tToopa at • ~ L_ _ THE NATIONAL TlFffisTrn. - • r d astonisaing manner, without the help of exteinal heat, and bat t yneNtie.s of the operation is tt sure prognostic of a plentiful intr-..st toe the year. The late Sir William Hamilton has given us de--rintion Of thi• annual prodigy, and the reader find it in Lie a Voyage de N et de tide, par L'Abbe de St. Nun. Fie :Inn rises al 5 h. 48 min sets at 6 h. 12 thin. This being Enther week the Roman church abstain from flesh. and 111 , t WedoesdaN, Frid.iy, and Saturday ; this last being generally de-• voted to the err: mony of ordaining the priests, deacons, and other mem bers .111 the cli rl!s. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. STPT. 13. lie bridge o, li :I. eta tt .t in were to ,•t", k t hem% 's lett, which 'was posteu on th • lit.igh.o t t litgolta and El Morro. At three o'clock on the morning or thr 1401, the arta, k c, 1, with great vigour, and, aim altedv ) tire or or s, .e was driven fro►n the bridges of the town, and .1 and Morro; and at nine o'clock, us y tate retreat towards Zornoza, pursued by 6en. Row va.L • the vanguard, headed by Pottier : had the troops which -x. attacked the enemy's right, arrived at the appointee! time, • %vould have been most complete, and probably . Gencralltoote: ► the greater part of his troops, would have been cot cif iron, their loss on this occasion, far exceeded our:, which killed and fifty wounded, It was highly gratity:ng to see lip !less of the newly raised troops of General Rencvaie's t much praise cannot be liestewed on their Chief. in vt horn t`ity the greatest confidence, and who is indefatigable in his exelticno iu complete and organiv; his division. Since the 13th we occupied Galdacano and Zornoza, our advance cloc to Do rhngo, which point the eoeuny have strengthened, hnving , wo guns on the bridge of Yisrreta, and occupying several houses ru 'he town ; they have also an encampment on the lelt of the town, un the heights of Santa Lucia and Benno. On the night of the 2t;th, we received intelligence that the enemy were moving to attack us, and that a column had ed to Orduiet, he high road from which to Bilboa j , ,ins the road stotu Zornuza to suhia, about a mile from the latter town. General S , lentizabal k-,c -t-rnnotd to fall back and wait the enemy on the left bark of the river, in nearly the same position as that occupied by General ittnovales ou the 11th instant. On the night of the 21st the enemy advanced from Durango in three columns, two by Zornoz3, the other by Villaro, with a view of ,essing themselves of the heights that led from Arrigorriaga, and flanked those of Bolueta, v..hich was the right and the key of our poll. Lion. enovales's division occupied from the heights of Bower.* to those of Olaviaga, «rich supported our left, covering the bridges of St. Anton, the wooden bridge, and the bridge of boats. At daybreak on the morning of the 224, General Mendiz3b it, with part of the vanguard, proceeded to attack this column, three ing t hat the division of Iberia should meet us at Ai igorriaga. were made, which see'ned to ensure the destruction of hi, • ( - Awn?). The enemy, on finding t hat we were in possession of the bridge of A rri got iaga anti roads leading to Bilboa, changed tneir direction, and a most rapid march, favoured by the thickness of the woods, rif.-cied tiieir junction with the second column, which was destined to make simultaneous attack upon the bridge of Bolueta. General Mendi zahal, with the vanguard and Longa's division, arrived in time to resist the enemy's attack. ; their principal efforts were to force tire bridge of Bolueta, which was defended in the most gallant manner ; the en-my suffering considerable loss without being able to gain a foot of gruund ; their efforts on the left of our line proved equally unsuccess tu I. General Renovales at the head of his brave peasant soidie's met their atta,c?:, at every point : tire enemy attempted in vain to toicc the two bridges of the town, and that of boats ; m:giit coming on the elle my retired to his position on the heights of St. Domingo el M.aro and Begona. Arrangements were made fur a combined attack upon the enemy's position, but finding that he had, upon being attacked by isenovales, whoscrossert the river in front of the heights of Banderas, early in the night, commenced his retreat, no time was lost in pun. ming him, and notwithstanding the great advantage he had in point of time, from the rapidity with which ,the division of Iberia marched, we came up with him near the town of Zurnoza, and attacked his rear with such vigour, that his. retreat became a confused and disor derly flight; insomuch, that they did not avail themselves, as they might have done, of several strong positions which the road from Zor, za to Durango presents. At one of the strongest of these posi. lions they made an effort to stand, but the gallantry of the Com mandant-general Longa, who at the head of his troops led the attack, animating them by his example, who charged the enemy .with a few cavalry, and a small body of infantry, obliged .him to ab andon .this position, anal by for safety to the town of Durango. The enemy's loss has been very considerable ; we have taken some horses and prisoners. As yet lam unable to give you a detail of this victory, as my attention was occupied on our right, and iu the pursuit of the enemy with the division of Iberia. . "W