The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1807-01-16 00:00:00

r ~:. VOGRAPHY OF M.4RSNAL SIORTIER. Three years ago, the North of Germany behelt% Marshal Mortier in the charafter of Commander of a French army, which took possession of the left bank of the Elbe. At the conclusion of the year 1806, lie likewise appeared on the right bank of that river, his troops having occupied not only Hesse and Hanover, but also the Haase towns, find the provinces of northern Germany. Edward Adolph Casimir Joseph Moitier was bon at Cambray, in the department of the North. In the year 1791, he was placed as Lieutenant in a regiment of Carabineers, which corps he quitted for a company in the first battalion of Volunteers of the department of the North, formed in September, 1791. In this situation, he was present at the first a&ion of the war of the French Revolution, which took place at Quivrain, on t'se 30th of April, 179.1, and in which be had a horse killed under him. At the battles of Jetnappe, Nerwinden, Pellemberg, and Louvain, at the siege and taking of the citadel of Namur, as well as at the siege of Maestricht, he displayed courage and talents which attrated the notice of his Commanders. During the blockade of 'Valenciennes, being de tached with 150 men to the river Persiau, he there maintained himself for six hours after the evacua tioa of the camp of Famars. At four the next morning, he rejoined the army at Bouchain. On the memorable day of Hondschooten, he obtained the rank of Adjutant-General. The first battalion of the North, to which he belonged, covered itse:f with glory at Eskelbeck, and took that important post, which the English and Hanlverians had forti fied with strong works. At the relief of Maubeuge, on the 16th of OCteber, 1793. Mortier was wounded by a mu ket ball, during the storming et the vil lage, which was thrice taken and retaken on the same day. Morter was also present at the battle of Fleurus. and the allions which preceded it ; at the taking of Mons, Brussels, Louvain, and at the passage of the Roer. He followed General Kleber from the Rhine to Maestticbt, and took an aftive part in the siege of that place, attacking in particular the Fort of St. Pierre, which was obliged to capitulate. He after wards served again on the Rhine under Marceau, when that General crossed the river at Neuwied. The tollow:ng year, Adjutant-General Mortier commanded the advanced posts of the vanguard of the army of the Sambre and Meuse, under General Lefebvre. He turned the position of the Austrians at Altenkirchen, while I.efebvre attacked them with great success in front, and took from the Prince of Wurtemberg 6000 prisoners and I 1 pieces of cannon. At the head of the advanced posts Monier effeeted the passage of the Niada, defended by the Austrians ; with the centre column of the •anguard be stormed the heights of Wilasdorf, and still acing as commander of the advanced posts of General Lefebvre, took Giessen. frankfort was surrounded. After a bombardment of some hours, :lortier was sent to the head-quarters of the Austrian Com mander-in-Chief, General Wartensleben, to submit to him General Kleber's proposals relative to the surrender of that city. The capitulation was signed the same day. After this, Alorticr took Schweinfurt, after an attion of two hours, drove the Austrians across the Maine, and, by-the orders of his Commander, took a position in the rear of General Wartenslcben, who was thus compelled to abandon that which he occupied behind Wurzburg, and to retreat to Bam berg. A fortnight afterwards, in the midst of an aelion, he took the place of the wounded Adjistant- General Rickepaase, and displayed in the conflidl such extraordinary coolness and intrepidity, that General Kleber, in his official account, thus ex pressed himself:—" With such leaders, we have no occasion to count the number of the enemy." When that General had formed the design of at tacking the Austrians, on both shores of the Red nitx, between Ebermannstadt and Hochstett, Le- febvre's division pushed forward beyond Trugen dorlL Ebermsnustadt was occupied by an Austrian corps of 1,200 infantry and 600 cavalry. It was compelled in an hoar to retreat, when Adjutant- General Moi tier was advancing with one battalion, four squadrons. and two field-pieces. to attack this post. At the end of the same year. Mortier made two journies to Aschaffenburg, and mociated direftly with the Eledor, for the surrender of Mentz. In consequence of this negociation, that inestimahly important fortress was quietly delivered into the hands of the French. After the peace of Campo Forraio, Adjutant. Geaeral Mortier refused the rank of a General of Brigade, for the command of the 23d regiment of cavalry. On the rcrewal of the war, he was again appointed General of Brigade ; at the opening of the campaign of 179), he accepted that rank, and quitted his regiment to command the advanced posts of the van of the army of the Danube. This arms• wa. obliged to retteat. With a asall tached corps of only !! or 5,000 men, General Mc,r tier remained before Offenbarg. Here he maintained himself a considerable time, till he received orders to join the army of Helvetia. The division under his command distinguished itself in the engagement of Wollisbofen, and in the various actions previous and subsequent to the taking of Zurich. It was he who, in conjunction with General Klein, conduced the attack of that city, undertaken on the left bank of the Rhine. General Mortier, with his division, afterwards with stood, at Mutten, the efforts of half the Ruuian army, under General Rosenberg. This contest gained him extraordinary honour. After the defeat of Korsakow, and the fall of the Austrian General Hotze, Massena, the Com mander-in-Chief himself, marched with the 4th di vision under General ?stonier, with the intention of meeting Suwarrow in the valley of Mutten. This march led him to the whole corps of Ge neral Rosenberg, composed of one half of the Russian army. He resolved to attack it on the following day, though he had with him only the division of General Mortier, and a demi-brigade of the division of Lecourbe. His obje& was not so much to obtain any decisive advantage, as to check Suwarrow's progress, and to give time to the reinforcements, advancing against him from all quarters, to :each their different destinations. On the right and left of this narrow valley, corps were posted on the heights, to support the general movements, and to observe the enemy. Natwith standing their obstinate resistance, their positions were successively taken, and the Russians were driven back to Mut.en, where their matt b•.ody Moruer's division, which had advanced to their oat, made such havoc with the fire of their musketry and artillery among Ote Russians, that the latter, unable to enduie it auy longer, loomed into several strong columns, and made a farioua attack on Mortier's division, which was interior ut nurnuer. The 108th demo-hrigade long sustained the saiock of several of these columns, with unparalleled obstinacy. It was drawn up in order of battle; the Rus-taus, in close Co lumn, charged with fixed bay onets. Phis mode of at tack, served only to increase their energy. During this conflict, the General observed a Jub-Lieu te nan t bearing away from the midst of the Russian column the colours which were leading it to battle. He promoted him to a Lieutenantcy on tile field of battle. Meanwhile, the Russians were continually receiv ing reinforcements ; redoubling their efforts, they obtained some essential advantages, and had nearly made themselves masters of the Fr.rich position, when the van of the tiith deint-brigade, which should have arrived four hours before, but had been delayed by a mistake, appeared on the field of bat tle. With this assistance, the Russians were again attacked at all points, and repulsed wi li loss. The French recovered the position they had last, as well as the artillery and the wounded that had fallen into the hands of the Russians, whom they compelled to remain in the pass behind Mutten. In this atlion fell the General of Cossacks, an officer highly es teemed, and deeply regretted. General Monier, who had been courageously supported by the Generals Brunet -and Drouet, was now direded to pursue the Russians, with two brigades given him by Mamma. His operations tended to one common object with those of General Loison's division. At Feldsberg, a jun&ion was effeded between Generals Mortier and Loisen. The result of their movements, when united, was the total expulsion of the Russian troops from the left bank of the Rhine and the Grisons. These two Generals, afterwards drove the Austrians out of the Grisons, Vorarlberg, and various di►tri.ls of the Tyrol. After so active a participation in the successes of the Helvetian army, General Mortis was removed to the command of the second army of the Danube, which he .quitted in a few months, to enterer the command of the lsth and kith divisions at Paris, to which he was appointed by a Consular Decree of the 25th Germinal, year 8. General Mortier proved himself worthy of his station, is die discharge of the new funtions in trusted to bias. The glory acquired in the geld. receives additional lustre when combined with civil virtues. When the people and the army were con sulted on the propriety of conferring on Bonaparte the Cesulship for life, he ailed as the organ of the corps, composed of the divisions which lie corn mended, and communicated to the Minister at War their votes and their wishes. When the renewal of hostilities, in 1803, again called the French to arms, General Mortier was s:c lefled by Bonaparte to command the French army, destined, by the seizure of &leftover, to wound Eng land in a very tender part. General Mortier took every possible precaution to insure the success of this expedition, and, in case of resistance, t•a secure vi Tory to the arms of France. The army, after very fatiguing marches over heaths mid sandy LONDON, FRIDAY, JuivARY 16. Sir Joust NEWPORT, last night, in the House of Commons, obtained leave to bring in a Bill for abolishing certain offices in the Department of the Customs in Ireland; and for abolishing and regu lating others. The number of offices within the scope of the Bill, is stated at 62 ; consisting of places become superfluous, or which, from being originally places of aaual duty, had been converted into sine cures. The spirit which difiated this measure in the Customs, will no doubt extend the same retrench ment as far as the principle may apply. Looking then to the pains which the worthy Baronet has taken to ameliorate the condition of the lower classes in Ireland, by exempting the cottage of the poor from the oppressive burthen of the hearth tax ; looking to the real which he has shown to c,,r reel the many flagrant misapplications of royal munificence and public grants, and the many other instances which his administration has afforded, of a determination to correft abuses, we may presume, that he will not stop until the country be purged of the very last dreg of public corruption. This is a mode of reform, founded in virtue and justice, and must be desirable at all times, and in all countries. It is, however, rendered not only peculiarly desirable but necessary at the present moment, when the people, already loaded heavily with taxes, are told that they must prepare for fresh sacrifices and privations. That a system of economy, thus recommended to Ireland, :hould be brought into praElice in England, the public had a right to expert ; and, indeed, the present Minkters, in the means adnpted to check public accounts and regulate the public expenditure, have already in part redeemed the pledge which they gave, that such was their intention, aid the principle that should Aka their conduet- Under these circum stances, we find, that Mr. BIDOULPH, last night, in the House of Commons, gave notice of a Motion, on Tuesday next, to the following tenor : That it is the opinion and Resolution of the House, that Or karma at We Was Willi east-A such a roe el the bur. _ ._ ~.~...~. _. ~~_..r y,. _.~ ... , expedient that all SUIre.PiUGUS ()lire+, tivitecurtty. and , fary reniOne, be ab , sl,lle4 An' discontinued.' dens of the people, that It itc:mmti A motion more ed, apt/edam cannot ceived. It will, of cours, receis e port of the Opfosition, affil is well calcnlated play them to the greatest advantage, greatest strength. If it be right to al ous offices and sinecures in Ireland, it . that they should exist in England. The bears fifteen-seventeenths of the public surely a right to complain of its prow, reli , f that can be fairly afforded held. In the abstrad proposition, heartily concur. The whole argument side. Any objedons which we entertain manner. If the Minister ha; hen of taro luny, or tardy :n their ezccut that the task should be transierrej to if, on the contrary, he has evinci..l not sition fti , .ndly to usconomy, but used it is net seemly to trrest him in his tempt to take the business out of hi ilt in this manner is to embarrass, nor cannot s the country, nor gratify ambition in an individual. It can childish vanity that would strut about plumes. The estimate of the public exf means of meeting them,for the ensuing , called the budget, will be produced witi a month, wheel the anent of site will b.: known, and any measure of pi will probably be unfolded. We c; to say, whether thc Motion of Mr. have the support of Govern:aeat coming in such a way, it has the appear; opposition measure, an dwe think • been deferrec', until he saw that no , was in their immediate contetnplatasti. It is a curious coincidence, that a . invasion should have recently prevailed North of Scotland and the South at the same mom nt. On Christmas-dal collier, which was stranded, and &wield crew, in the harbour of Baltimore, the county of Cork. was metamorphosed. moor, into a French frigate, with arms. Of the French ♦essel which about the same time on one of the Orkney the Scotch Papers, received yestere some further particulars. but nothing fate of the ship an! crew. They are last page. We have received some Dutch Papers of date. The following is the only contents of any interest. 1t furrushec cf BoN %PARTS% Alnitininatinn to system of proccrirkm against British Imperial Band-Quartet at Pocen. NAPOLEON, EMPEROR OP ENE PAL. OF ItALY— We have decreed ant 4Lta decree as Article I. AU the English merchandise, the English CliOrtirf, which have been placed tion at Ilambulh, Cubec. and Bremen, shall removed to France. 2. The Glover toe General of the Flange towns, at liarnburgh, and our Intends t fir the sailto. , a Council for the accouivahility and reanne il r dice. They shall correspond w;th our Mini with revel to the magazines to he estahlished. the frontiers of France where the Eingl.sh merchandise deposited. S. Our Minister of War and Finances are execution of this Decree. L. B. MARET, Minister, S •cretaty M. BERTHIER, Minis's , of A true C..•py, DARE. Intendant•G•aeral. Government have, within these orders far the remittance of about half specie to our Allies, being the baler sidy due to them by OUT last Treat , frigate is ordered to convey the . tenburg, and a policy was on Wednesday at Ltovik's to insure the money, winch at the rate of two guineas per cent. A number of the new-invented rockets, improved principle, have been sent on board a ship in the Downs, to ' Gibraltar. Some weeks have elapsed, since Government orders les the fittirg out of an additional • ut light veisels, for the proteCtion in t!ie Channel against the numerous vatocers that infest it. The Eagle, Bsoorte, from Pillan reported to be captuted, and carried ._ Public Papers, says a German Journal. the King of EMIL •mrs had the first " Grand French Army repeatedly read his Physicians are careful to prevent from being engaged with subjeifts biro, on account of tab disorder in the first readings, it has bee* keep all the other French Bulletins . ledge of the Monarch. He often asks new ones have arrived? hut the ans..- the nckuive. G rota a 111. got no seventh Bulletin. An improvement to the metropolis, milizy, will occupy the attention cf ' Session ; as applicwions wi:l bQ to build a bridge over the Thames artt to form a new road direa from Myatt to tbe Obelisk, St. Genrge•' Cent !.4 solooloat ! or looormo,, lot be eergy arm. the entire sto. Alcalrted to sr and is ;Clair al.:o1)41) =pests. it must be serze lt Phe curtnery th at aiie border,, k in presets, s, if any to it is with. an, then, meat i nr•se its ertain Aft: I i :he averse to plan ' ition, it is rig!', o another; by tat only a J4;p a . •d Jae dilipeur.e, caTeer, and at. his hands. To 'or to assist. It . ev en a manly only Ratter the rut in borrowed tpences, and the ig year, vulgarly within ter, (Hari pu';lic burtits public cam:way :annot pre-ours Btanui re will t or not ; Our, rpearance ol as c it might line ) such messris :n. a false alarm of evailed in the nth of Ireland tristmas-dty. a I , setted by her nn the coast of •photed, by ra- -17,000 stand of Leh went as`.: ere Orkney Islands, terday, con:rin of the ultimate re girls is 11. e Papers of slue article of their ies a teeth roof persevere in ;is sh commerce. mc. tr , 1,46. .bIC a AND EVie ,s follows: or prudiattioso af aced under malaria- hall Int ito.uedialtit Await, our Mioroloe t., ens, shalt for* r al otitis owners.). riaiker of Faaarea MA at the terists , 4 terclioadtao shall ), e chaired with rate N %MAC IN. , eretatr of State. of war. real. two days, ewe half a Mink* is ince of the Sate. ry. The Qlittile y e :r i t l: i r :::b ite en fet i rc W e g :ma l uv to e ep ° o li yag 7 G : a d n, •: ll o3. ;uvernnnent ditional slum ion of the tr. • rous French, for London. . 4 into Ostend. 'gruel, state. that t Bulletins of we id to him. tholig . " roc his atteatios s that may *Eta i ISIS ejr. After thought fir ; from the teor- asks wliccher ac! 'swar is always it o farther than the lin e of the greats , : it Parliament t. i• made for an ft:.= from the Strand. m Covent-garde 'e-fial.ls, Sane, plalas, fell in with the advanced guard of the enemy, consisting of two regiments of infantry, two of cavalry, and a division ex artillery, tra der General Hammerstein, who was already known, on account of his bravery, to the French, and who occupied Diephola. At the moment when he was about to be attacked, he withdrew in the night, finding himself menaced on the right flank by the movement directed by General Monier. The following day a warm skirmish took place between the Hanoverian rear and the French van. Cenes.al Dronet, who headed the latter, was engaged two days afterwards in another anian, in which the se cond regiment of hussars of the line broke throogh the Hanoverian regiment of light dragoons. General Mortier being informed by his spies, that all the Hanoverian artillery was colle'led on the right bank of the Weser, was convinced of the im portance of a rapid movement to cut off their com munication with the capital. He direEted his re serve artillery to advance, and the French troops were already on the point of marching for the above mentioned river, when a deputation, sent to meet them, delivered the country, together with the Mouths of the Elbe and Weser, into their hands, by a convention, concluded on the 9d of June, at Suhliagen. But when the King of Great Britain refused to ratify this capitulation, by which the Hanoverian troops bad been permitted to withdraw to the right bank of the l.lbe, into Lauenburg, General Monier received commands born Napoleon Bonaparte, to march into Lauenburg, and disarm the Hanoverians. These direElions he executed with such ability, that, on the 3d of July, a new capitulation was entered into, in consequence of which, the Hanoverian army laid down its arms and dispersed. After General Mortier had commanded about a year in Hanover, he was appointed by Napoleon, on the discovery of the last conspiricy, one of the four Colonel• Generals of the Guards, of which he commands the artillery and the seamen. On his arrival at Paris, the First Consul bestowed on him public commendation for the conquest of Hanover, and the good order he had kept in the country and among the troops. Not long afterwards. on the foundation of the French Empire, General Monier was elevated to the rank of Marshal. In ISO.;, he 1.,1 one of the seven corps of the army against the combined Aus trian and Russian forces. This corps pushed for ward with such boldness, on the left bank of the Danube, that the well-known bloody aflion at Krems was the result. In the present war, Marshal Monier commands the eighth corps of the Grand Army, which followed the victorions Fren , h troops, and took possession of the North of Germany. THE BRITISH PRESS.