The Statesman. — London, England, 1812-09-25 00:00:00

~. i .~ I ~ . ~ i~ TZTE STATESMAN. , . in the bottom of the valley, within half cannon shot Such were the dispositions made towards the huddle of the heights of which we were masters ; I there- of the day. fore, upon arriving, immediately ordered a battery " The enemy had his troops parallel to The, ex-, of 40 pieces of artillery to be placed, which inn tending his right by leaning towards the mountain of. moment forced the enemy to retire, after having left Tesares, which always appeared to be hia point of a great number of killed and wounded upon the I treat. . . - . • • -r , place. The army marched in two columns, and I. " There was in f ront of the p lain occu p ied b y the e, had given the command of the right column, distant artillery another vast plaid, ensy of defetice, and from that of the left three quarters of a league„ to I which had a more immediate etiect on the enemy's General Claussel. Arrived upon this ground, lie-' movements. The possession of this place gave out neral Claussel, having few people before him, he 1 the means, in case I should have manoeuvred towards thought he was able to seize upon the two rising' the evening, of carrying myself on the enemy's corn grounds upon. the left bank of the Guarena, and I munication on Tamaines. This post, which was preserve them; but this attack was made with few I otherwise well occupied, was impregnable, and in it troops ; his troops had not halted, and scarcely I self completed the position which I had taken. It formed; the enemy perceived it, marched upon the was besides indispensibly necessary to occupy it, troops which he had thus thrown in advance, and seeing that the enemy had reinforced his centre, from forced them to retreat. . whence he might push forward cn masse on this' " In this battle, which was of short duration, we plain, an& commence his attack by taking this im experienced some loss. The division of dragoons portaut point. which supported the infantry, vigorously charged all "In consequence, I gave orders to the sth diri the English cavalry ; but General Carree, a• little sion to take position on the right extremity of this toe far advanced from the 13th regiment, fell into plain, the fire from which exactly crossed that from the enemy's power. Aropiles, to the 7th division, to place itself in a se -14 The army remained, in its position all the night mid line to support this, to the second to hold itself of the ]9th; it even remained in it all the day of the in reserve to the latter, and to the 6th to occupy the; tOth. The extreme heat, and the fatigue experienced , plain at the head of the wood, where a large number on the 18th, rendered this necessary to assemble• the of pieces of artillery were yet remaining. stragglers. I " I gave the like orders to Gen. Bonnet to cause 44 At four in the evening the army resumed their the 124.ci to occupy a point situated between the; arms, and defiled by the left to proceed up the Gua- great plain and the point of Aropiles, which defend-i i rena, and take a position in front of Almo. My in-' ed the entrance of the village of Aropiles; ands tention was, at the same time, to threaten the enemy, i finally gave orders to Gen. Boyer, Commandant of and continue to proceed up the Gearena, in order to I the Dragoons, to leave a regiment to clear the right pass it with facility, or if the enemy marched in force iof the General, and to push the three other res4-' upon the higher Guarena, to return by a rapid , ments to the front of the wood, on the Rank of the movement upon the position they should have aban- I second division, in such manner as to be able, in Boned. The enemy folllowed my movement. Onicase the enemy should attack the plain, to at the 90th, before day, the army was in motion to i tack them by the right of this plea, in the mean ascend the Guarena. I while that the light cavalry should charge his left.— _ _ _ . " The advanced guard rapidly passed that river, et that part where it is but a river, and occupied the commencement of an immense piece of ground, which continues without any undulation nearly to Salamanca. The enemy endeavoured to occupy the same ground, but could not succeed : then he at tempted to follow a parallel rising ground t connected with the position they had just quitted, and which every where offered them a position, provided I should have marched towards them. The two ar mies thus marched parallel with all possible celerity, always keeping their masses connected, in order to he every moment prepared for battle. The enemy thinking to be beforehand with us at the village of Cantalpeno, directed a column upou that village, in the hope of being before us upon the rising ground which commands it, and towards which we marched; but their expectations were deceived. The light ca valry which I sent thither, and the Bth division, which was at the head of the column, marched so that the enemy were obliged to abandon it. Besides the road from the other plain approaching too close to ours, and that which we had having the ad 'vantage of commanding it, with some pieces of can non, judiciously placed, greatly annoyed the enemy, for a great part of the army was obliged to defile under this cannon, aid the remainder was obliged to repass the mountain to avoid it. At last I put the &seem's in the enemy's track. " The enormous number of stragglers which were lett bellied would have given us an opportunity of making 3(,00 prisoners, had there been a greater proportion between our cavalry and theirs, but the latter disposed so as to arrest our pursuit, to press the march of the infantry by blows from the flat sides of their sabres, and to convey those who could no longer march, prevented us. Nevertheless, there fell into our hands between 2 and 400 men and some baggage. In the evening the army encamped upon the heights of Aldea Rubia, having its posts upon the Tormes. The enemy re-occupied the position of San Christoval. 44 On the 21st, having been informed that the enemy did not occupy Alba de Tormes, I threw a garrison into it. The same day I passed the river in two columns, taking my direction by the skirts of the woods, and establishing my camp between Alba de Tormes and Salamanca. My object in taking this direction was to continue the movement by my left, iu order to drive the enemy from the neighbour hood of Salamanca and fight them with greater ad wantages. I depended upon taking a good defensive position, iu which the enemy could undertake no. thing against me, and in short come near enough to them to take advantage of the first faults they might Wake and vigorously attack them. " On the 22d, In the morning, I went upon the heights of Calbaraca de Azzeva to reconnoitre the enemy. I found a division villa had just arrived there, others were in march for the same place. Some firing took place for the purpose of occupying the posts of observation, of which we respectively re mained masters. Every thing announced that it was the enemy's inteution to eccopythe position of Tesares, which was a league in the rear of that in which he then was, distant a league and a half from Salamanca. They however, assembled considerable forces upon this point, and as their movement upon Tesares might be difficult, if all the French army was in sight, I thought it right to have it ready to act as circum . itaaces required. " There were between us and the English some isolated points, called the A.ropiles, I ordered Gen. Bonnet to occupy that which belonged to the position we ought to take; his troop did so with prompti tude and dexterity. The enemy ordered theirs to be occupied, but it was commanded by ours at 250 toises distance. I had destined this point, it* the event of there being a general movement by the left, and a bat tle taking place, to be the part and point of support pf the right to elf the army. " The first division had orders to occupy and de. fend the plain of Calbaraca, which is protected by a large and deep ravine. The third division was in the leconttline, destined to support it, and the 2d, 4th, 6th sad 6th, were at the head Of the wood en mqsvc, behind the position of Aroplles, end could march equally on all sides, whilst the 7th division occupied the left head of the wood; which formed a . point ex.. tremely eneyen, and or very difficult west, and which I fiftd lined with 20 pieces of artillery. The light cayelry wet' charged to clear the left, an 4 place' itself in advtince of the_7tll division. • Tlte viiasoes, Prifine4 th e-4IV°" 4+*l to tbs V! or!!!,. argil. The most part of these movements were performed with irregularity. The sth division, after having taken the post assigned to them, extended itself at its left without any cause or reason. The 7th divi sion, which had orders to support it, marched to its position, and, in short, the 2d division was still in the rear. I felt all the consequences which might result from all these irregularities, and I resolved on remedying them myself on the spot, which was a very easy matter, the enemy as yet not having made any movement at all. At the same time I received the report of the enemy having caused fresh troops to pass from his left to his right, I ordered the 3d and 4th divisions to march by the skirts of the wood, in order that I might dispose them as I found needful. It was half-past four o'clock, and I went to the place which was to be the object of some seaious dis pute, ,but at this moment a shell struck me, and broke my right arm, and made two large wounds in my right side. I thus became incapable of taking any kind of part in the command. - 64 The previous trine which I should have employ ed in rectifying the placing of the troops on the left, was.fruitlessly passed; the absence of the Comman der gives birth to anarchy, and from thence pro. ceeds disorder; meanwhile the time was running away, without the enemy undertaking any thing. At length, at five o'clock, the enemy judging that the situation was favourable, attacked this ill-formed left wing with impetuosity. The divisions engaged repulsed the enemy, and were themselves repulsed in their turn, but they acted without concert and without method. 'rime division which I had called to sustain the (list, found themselves in the situation of taking part its the combat without having fore. seen it. " Every General makes extraordinary efforts to supply by his own particular dispositions, thus which are in the whole requisite, but if he can at tain it in part, yet he cannot effect it completely.— The artillery covered itself with glory, performed prodigies of valour, and in the midst of our losses, caused the enemy to suffer enormously. lie di rected his attacks against Aropiles, whick was de fended by the brave 120th regiment, and was there repulsed, leaving more than 800 dead on the spot.... At length the army retires, evacuates the plains, and' retires to the skirts of the wood. There the enemy makes fresh efforts. The division of Foy, which, by the nature of the business, was charged with the covering of the retrogade movement, was attacked with rigour, and constantly repulsed the enemy.— This division merits the greatest eulogy, as does like wfse its General. From this moment the retreat was effected towards Alba de Tormes, without be ing disturbed by the enemy.—Our loss amounts to 6000 men hors de combat. 44 We have lost nine pieces of cannon, 'which being dismounted, could not be carried off. All the rest of the baggage, all the park of artillery, all the materials belonging to the army have beak brought away. " It is difficult, M. le Duc, to Express to you the different sentiments which agitated me at the fatal moment when the wound which I received caused my removal from the army. I would with delight have' exchanged this wound for the certainty of receiving a mortal stroke at time close of the day, to have pre ved the faculty of commamA, so well did I know the importance of the events which had just taken place, and how necessary the presence of the Com-. mander-in Chief was at the moment when the shock of the two armies appeared to be preparing, to give the whole direction to the troops and to appoint their movements. Thus one unfortunate moment has destroyed the result of six weeks of wise combina tions, of methodical movements, the issae of which had hitherto appeared certain, and of which every thing seemed to presage to us that we should reap the fruit. On the 23d, the army made its retreat from Altla dt Tormes, on Penarande, taking its direction towards the Doprp. The whole of. the enemy's ca-' yalr,y herasse4 oqr rear, composed of the cavalry of' the first division. This cavalry fell back, and left the division too much exposed, but it formed itself in squares to resist the enemy. One of them Wall broken ' • the others resisted; and especially that of the 69th, which killed 200 of the enemy's herse, by the push of the bayonet. After this time they made "RR attempt on us. General Clawed has the cessmaad of the army, I sad lakes such, mauves as oireurnstances retinue. goinOp bare myself transported to b qrg ps, .}horde !IMO, IT rePO l l4 ,111 1 4, fort WWI I to twofer Pc I‘PIP44 X. *lf F!'ffiTed? anti which --- • afflict me. more from the dire influence which they have bad on the success of the army, than from the sufferings which they have caused me to endure. • I cannot do sufficient justice to the bravery with which the Generals and Colonels have fought; to the good disposition which animated them in that difficult circumstance. I ought pdrticularly to wee. tirri General Bonnet, whose reputation has been to long established. I should likewise name General j.tatifin, Wbo commanded the sixth division; Gene. ral Clausiel, though wounded, did not quit the field j of battle, but to the .end gave an example of great personal bravery. The General of Artillery, Ter i let, intl. Colonel Digeow, commanding the 'reserVe j of artillery, particularly distinguished themselves. 46 In this day, unfortunate as it his been, there are a multitude of traits worthy of being noticed, and which honour the French name. I .will collect them, and solicit from his Majesty rewards for the brave men who hare deserved them. 46 I ought not to defer mentioning the gallant conduct of the brave Seb-Lieutenant GuHemet, of the 118th regiment, who sprung into the enemy's ranks to obtain a flag, which he seized, after having cut off the arm of the, person who. curried it; lie has brought this flag into our ranks, notwithstanding the several bayonet wounds he has received. 66 We have to regret the loss of the General Of Division Fuel, dead of his wounds; of General Thomieres, killed upon the geld of battle; and of General Desgravurs.—Generals Bonnet and Claus en!, and the General of Brigade Menne are wounded. " I beg your Exce}leney to receive the assurance of my high consideration. (Signed with the left bandy. " The Marshul Duke of RA,pUSA. " Alter the first movements of-the English army, his Catholic Majesty, under whose orders were placed all the French armies in Spain , was deter mined to unite all the disposable troops he had be longing to the army of the centre, to march at the same time with the Marshal Duke of Ragusa against the enemy. . " On the 20th July, 10.14ajesfy had in effect as sembled a considerable carps, at the head of which be had advanced between the 21st and 24th of July to Areva 10. " The retreat of the Army of Portugal having taken place before his Majesty could join it, he was obliged to confine himself to checking Lord Wel. lington's army, which he has successfully done by this diversion. The greater part of the enemy's forces having marched upon the Army of the Centre, his Catholic Majesty at first thought of covering Ma. drid, and sending from it the persons most attached to his service, and the most important objects. A considerable convoy, escorted by Darmagnac and Palombini's divisions, have been fortunately con ducted towards Valencia. " On the 18th August the King had his head quartersat Villa Robledo. The intention of his Ma jesty was to unite the troops of the Army s of the Centre, according to circumstances, either with the Army of the South or the Army of Arragon, to fight the English with advantage." [FURTHER EXTRACTS RECEIVED THIS MORNING.] Poses, Sm. B.—We read in our Gazette the fol lowing extract of a letter from the environs of Horodlo upon the Bug, dated the 21st August: " Since the Polish corps d'armee from Lublin and Sulde have advanced to our neighhourhood, we are sheltered from the excursions which the Cossacks made upon our territory. The Polish.corps is com manded by his Excellency the General of Division Kosinski, whose bravery and patriotism inspires the greatest confidence. After this General had left the small town of Horodlo, the Russians reduced it to ashes. This barbarous measure induced him to address the following letter to General Chruszezow l who seas at Wlodzemorz. " Read-quarters,Aag. 90. GENERAL,—I learn that the dragoons andconacks under your ordershaveburned some houses at Horod• lo and its neighbourhood; in arriving upon the banks of the Bug, I find nothing but the faun dary traces of assassins, who fly befodp the army, and who mark their passage by a barbarity similar to that of the ancient gcythians. lam convinced., Ge neral, that you are not acquainted of those outrages, in which the soldiers under your command indulge tbemselves against the peaceable and unarmed inha bitants ; consequently, lam certain, that after the information I give you, you will put a stop to the devastations of Vandals, who, far from accelerating the war, only envenom hatred and vengeance. In short, you have another motive for preventing these cruelties, since you know where the victorious ar mies of Napoleon the Great are, and what are the plans of General Tormazow. Fear, at least, Gen tlemen, for your families, if you are not ashamed of dishononring the most noble vocattun, that of mili tary men. (Signed) 4 ' KOSENSKI." {Journal do Paris, Sept. 20.) WARSAW ) SEPT. 2. —Wa have just Learned, that on the 29th, the Prince of Schwartzenberg was at Kowel. • On the 25th there was a serious engagement be tween 'f ormazoa's corps and the Prince's advanced guard, which had all the honour of that day, on which the Russians suffered greatly. If the Russians, say our Gazettes, had maintained themselves one day longer in Smolensko, they would not have failed of being surrounded and obliged to surrender at discretion.—(Journal de ('Empire, Sept. 20.) MUNICH, SEPT..IO.—Our official Gazette has jest published the reports upon the events which took place in the Bavarian corps d'armee on the glorious, days of the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 22d of August.— The loss of the Bavarian army consists of 144 killed,' 1,135 wounded, and 715 missing. Among the killed is the General of Infantry, Decoy, Major-General Sieben ; Colonels Count Prising and Wrede ; Lieu tenant-Colonel Qeddni, .Captains Lichteuburg, Pier ron, Meer and Burbhola, First Lieutenants Baron de llaake, Volt Kammer, and Roden Stein, the Sub- Lieutenants Baron de Bucher, Van de Mark Reider. In the number of wounded are Major-Generals Re- Alovish and Venzente• Om Aid di Camps of General Dewy ? LieeteneniTCOloael,Flatiiit i and) irst Lies tenant Debtesek ) tke Chiefs of the fleet of the two gQ Z "6 ara P e4 h CA4, 9 44: AIM de Corneae, and )4 or Dame do Orsytepoh, the d the Arta. lery, Baron de Collonge,, . y Capteht Prince Taxi:, Baron Voldrendo r f, the }Almer ; Captain Flarae, Colouol la Motto, &c. H . PUBLISHED laBl:_ll,trth7reettitaimaTeuxt3as, ORDER OF THE DAY , , POLOT P batteries, and detachments, which took part in the betties of yesterday, and the day before yesterday , fought with equal bravery and firmness, and hare is [such manner anew established the honour of the Bavarian arms, in repulsing the reiterated attacks of an enemy, superior in number; that it is a most agreeable duty for me to express my °Mire satisfac• tioti to the Generals, Officers of the Staff, superior and sub-officers, and soldiers in general; and princi; pally to Major ViriLento, Major-General Count Ba kers, Colonel Count S,Jour, Baron Ilabermana Deroy, Lieut-Colonel Count 13uttler de llame, Bach, and the commanders of batteries, Gotthard and Baron de Gravettreuth. " I shall have Niuch pleasure in rendering an ac. count to the King of the exploits of these brave men the regiments and battaliou,s will therefore runtish me with a statement of their total loss in killed and wounded, and point out the brave men who merit re. wards or particular eulogi um. " I likewise find myself bound to express my entire satisfaction to the Physicians and Surgeons, who not only shewed the utmost seal and activity in succouring the wounded, but also exposed themselvea to personal dangers. (Signed) " 'AREAL" %. ORDER Or THE DAY, ' PUGLISIIED AT POLOTSG, AUGUST 19. " Yesterday, which, in the annals of the his. tory of the war, will be honourably noted for the Bavarian army ; but in which, unfortunately, the Ist corps d'armie has lost, for a long time, its brave and worthy Chief, allows me to undertake ha conformity with the- intentions of the General* Chief, the command of the 19th and 20th divisjois. 46 Soldiers of the 19th division !—With the best will and greatest efforts, I should scarcely ever he what he was for you ;—your General of Infantry, who is grievously wounded; he was your General, your father; he lived with you as with his family; I will endeavour to be the same with you, which will be to follow his example; give me your tonfi• dente, you have mine, I will shkre with y ou th e fatigues and dangers of war, as with the troops who I have hitherto had the honour to command. (Signed) WREDE." In a third Order of the Day, published at the head-quarters, Polotsk, August 24, Gen. Wrede au. nounces to the troops, that the General of Infantry Deroy,-died on the 23d, and Major-Gen. Sieben ea the Morning of the 24th.-.-(Journal de Paris, Sep. tember 20). Smarr, San. I.—We learn that the Turkish commanders in Bulgaria and Bosnia sea, in - the be. ginning of August, Deputies to Czerni George, to summon him to muse the Servians to lay down their arms, so that the disarming might be sompletely of. fected before the Turks retook possession of that province. It was announced to himA the same time, that the Servian Chiefs who inteilled to retire into Russia must quit Servia before The arrival of the Turks. It is said that Czered , George' sent back, without answer, the Deputies of 4he Pacha-of Bo nia ; but that he replied to the Thigha of Bulgaria, that his intention, and that o f his nation,. was to submit to the Porte, under certain conditions which he proposed. He at the same time sent his secretary and two Servians of distinction, to Constantinople, to implore the clemency of the Grand Seignior in fa. your of the Servian people. Thus the unfortunate inhabitants who have sacrificed their blood, their treasure, and their children for . Russia, have been abandoned by her, notwithstanding the solemn pro anises she made never to separate their' fortunes from , hers. COPEWHAGZN, SEPT. 4.—rWe have just received authentic advice, from Petersburgh, according - to which General Kutusow, the same wbo.comaianded at Austerlitg, has been appointed Geoeralin Chief of the Russian army, after having been 'raised to the title of Prince, He has under him fikgration and Bennigsen. Bar - clay de Toni, appears to have-fallen into coca, plete diigrace. This intellence has produced cone siderable sensation at St. Petersburg; for since the opening of the campaign, the Russians have had no engagement which they have not attributed to them, selves the advantage. In fact, it has appeared sur prising that an army should retreat immediately after the victories it has gained ; but it was answer ed, that this made a part of the plan of the General in Chief. It is therefore evident, either that in. justice is dose to a General who has always been victorious, or that the people are deceived by repre eeetiog retreats at victories, and the loss of several provinces advantages.—(Journal de rEmpire, Sep. tember 3.) PAWS, SEPT. 19.—Letters from Valencia, dated the 16th August, state, that Marshal the Duke of Albnfera, after having concentrated his forces, had marched towards Alicant. The kingdom of Vales• cia continued t• enjoy the greatest tranquillity. It appears by recent letters from Nova Scotia, that two ships with emigrants from Scotland and [reified bound to the United States, had been carried into Halifax ; and that the passengers, who had dispersed themselves throughout the Province, were perfectly content with the situations they obtained. This cit.• cumstance shews how important it is to the publie interest, that some measures should be adopted to divert the current of these emigrants to those parts of the British North American colonies which may be thought most advisable at the present crisis. The importance of these colonies is now universally so knowledged, and from the encouragement which has • been given by Government to their trade and fisheries, it is natural to presume, that whenever the sobject of emigration from Scotland and Ireland is brought again under its consideration, every facility will be granted to induce persons disposed to emigrate, to give preference to his Majesty's settlements in North America. KENT ) of the Haymarket Theatre, is said to engag ed at Drury-lane. He is a bustling, spir es ited ac tor; and in rustic lovers, and s p ortin g 'squir, on is we ll entitled to a permanent sta tion on the Loud boards ; particularly as he Aso is a tolerable singer. \ i I ~~