The Statesman. — London, England, 1812-09-01 00:00:00

\ i~►j t Pr't GOTTEN BURGH MAIL. SUPPERMEVT TO THE sT. PETCRSHUROII Zr rTl'. OF FRIO %Y, JULY 26 (AUGUST 7). 1812. Wide! news from the Army, of the I lth July (July tath), received by a Courier, who set out, with the Dispatches to his Imperial Majesty at Mos cow:— The first army hai taken up an importaht tint, at Wite p lit ; and during its march, even from rolotsk, the enemy did not venture to attack one of the corps of which it is composed. The small skir mishes of the rear-guard along the Owina, which river our cavalry often crossed by swimming, to cut Off the enemy's piquet., constantly terminated to the advantage of our troops. After the arrival at Witcpsk, strong reconnoissances must eilble us to decide on &Ober movements, in relation to the junc tion of the second army with the first. In the night of the 13th (25th), the Commander in Chief having been informed that the enemy's patroles s'.ewed themselves on the roads to Beschenkoritschi, ordered Count Ostermann Tolstoi, with his corps, to i take a direction to that place. Scarcely had Count Tolst. i marched three *erste, when he fell in with the enemy's videttes. Two videttes were cut off, but the third succeeded in giving the alarm to the French ad -sauced guard; who immediately sent forward to op pose us, a regiment of two squadrons of hussar guards, who happened to beat the heed of their co lumn. Our troops sprung upon the foe, and imme diately overthrew him; but engaging too eagerly in pursuit, they fell in with the whole of the ene my's cavalry, by which they were, in their turn, driven back upon our infantry. Count Oetermannl theu continued his movement, and found the enemy drawn up in order of battle, at a short distance from Ostrom). The action began by a cannonade which lasted some hours. Both sides fought with the greatest °Winery. The superiority in numbers was en the side of the French, but the valour of our troops bore down all before it. We not only re taisied the kid of battle, but drove back the enemy four wersts from his position. So hot a fight could not be without loss; according to the report of the prisoners, that of the enemy was considerable. They assure us, that on this day the King of Naples corn. mended in person, and that the Viceroy of Italy was ' wounded. SUPPLEMENT TO THE ST. PETERSNURGII GA ZETTE, OF FRIDAY, 26TH JULY (AUG. 7), ISM OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS OF THE WAR. need quarters, Juli o , 18 (Aug. 90),.1814. The corps of General Doctorow, which had been charged to watch the movements of the enemy in the neighbourhood of Beschenkovitschi, when it saw a! part of their troops marching off, began, on its side, , to cuter upon movements which delayed its march. I It thence became necessary to enable General Doc- I torow to cross the Dwina, for the purpose of form.. ing a junction with the army at Witepsk, on the left bank of that river. In order to accomplish this, r, the Commander in Chief considered it as highly ne-1 cessary that the enemy should be more kept in check! at that place, whither Count Ostermann, en the 13th (25th), with a force inferior to that of the enemy, bed repelled him ; and Lieut.-General Konowniayn received orders for thin purpose. He reinforced the corps of Ostermann, and his division was engaged in /tittle the whole of the 14th (26th). Our troops dis played as much valour as steadiness. The enemy I did not gain upon them a single foot of ground.— Lieut.-General Kritiownizyn repelled all their at.; tacks, end did not retire from the place till night, when he received orders to take up the position chosen by the General in Chief for a general battle. Genteel Dodorow, in the mean time, crossed the Dwine, and arrived et the same spot. The whole' rear guard arrived, wilder the command of Major- I General Count Von Pahlen. They were drawn up 10 wersts in advance of the principal position, and the enemy must have been compelled to retreat. During this, however,. the Commander in Chief received ac- ! counts, by a courier, from Prince Bagration, who informed him, that while advancing to approximate the first army, he had found Mohilow already in the possession of the enemy ; and that for the safety of bia troops, be had changed the direction of his march upon Orschs, ani had taken the route to Mstislaw and Smolensk. The day before, his advanced guard bad had a battle, in which Lieutenant-General Ra jewskji defeated the advanced troops of Marshal Da ceust, and pompelled them to retreat 12 wersts. These accounts changed the original plan of the Commander in Chief ; and instead of giving battle in the vicinity of Witepsk, he determined to march ' upon Smolensk, and the rather because Marshal I IDavoust, with his whole force, could now take that direction. He commenced this bold movement while Cie rear-guerd was still engaged in the hottesifight.! manoeuvred in the face of the enemy, and march.' ed ca . in three columns. The Commander in Chief particularly ascribes the success of this undertaking to the able arrangements of Count Von Pahleu, who, while he covered the whole of the army, dis played on this occasion, as on every other, the most brilliant talents and military knowledge. Our troops displayed aoonishing valour ; they made the most of eriiy position ; the bank of the little river Lute. c6ssa was defended with so much ohstinacy, that the enemy lost there an immense number of men. Count )n Pahlen fieit royed, during the march on the 16th, seven French squadrons, which had advanced unt some small defiles, and fell into an ambush in HS neighbourhood of Taponowschisna. This day the Second and third columns have joined at l'oretschie; the hist column, which marches upon ILosna and lit.dna, rovers their march. - Geueral oho is not more than two days' march non) us, has received orders to place hinsseit in advance of Smoleosit, to cover the inevements of the that aripy. Prince liag r a t i ost an his side, pi n rapid march to Smelettsk. At:welding to the accounts reeeiersi from LINO, sant-Genteel Ceettt Wittgegsgein, he watiueed je remain et Drime, He reports that Major-General 11E11111,w, who bed been dispatched to the Milo aiJo of tke Doha, had 4544 , 4 'hi Fro*, PAIR* 100 4 thews prieunere. The Gonsmaader of the int separsfs twos, Roos lienaptzPoPens! going Wittgengets, states, in • re pose or !Ist July (Id 4 Uses% se felteerst— fo colleFtrie.“ of Imperial Orders, do sage en. .71 1 000 !If PO wiN 41 00 4 ,4 t 0 afd StSfitelp Ire, . . : 1. THE STATESMAN. mained, therefore, on the bank of the Divine, near the outworks of Pokajewse, to observe the enemy, who was opposite to me on the other side of the river ; and, haring destroyed a bridge in the night, sent forward my cavalry to scour the country, which, in the course of eight days,made prisoners Brigadier-H General St. Jenies, eight officers, and a thousand I men ; and nearly destroyed four regiments of the enemy's• cavalry; viz. the 7th and 11th French Chasseurs, the Bth Miens, and the 10th Chasseurs, both Polish regiments. At length, on the-17th (20th) of July, I was informed by my detachments from Disna, that Marshal Oudinot (the Duke of Reggio), who had there passed the 0%0(11 with his corps, was marching on Sebesch ; from Dunaberg, I received advices that Macdonald had crossed the liver at Ja cobstadt, and taken a direction towards Luzyn; and according to the intelligence afforded by a French officer of the Staff, who was a prisoner, both corps were directed to cut me off from the road to Pskuwa. Under these circumstances, I resolved to attack the nearest enemy at the village of Klastiza, on the road to Sehesch. I, therefore, moved on the before mentioned village of Klastiza, and discovered about five wersts from the village of Jakobofi, the corps of Oudinot, which was masehing against me directly from that village. I immediately took my resole tion. Thanks be to all-bountiful God, and praised be the victorious Russian troops, after one of the most obstinate and bloody battles, which contismed without intermission for three days, from mortsing till night, I succeeded in defeating the artful and powerful enemy of our native country. The corps of Marshal Oudinot, which consisted of three of the best divisions of French infantry, is completely beater?, brought into a situation of great danger, and has retired in confusion. It only saved itself by means of woody situations, and by the passage of small rivulets, the bridges of which were burned, and destroyed; and . by those means threw impedi. mints in the way of every step we made, and op' posed the celerity with which we toll them. The Generals of Divisiou Le Grand eedeir are both wounded. I shall follow them on the Dwitsai toward Polotsk. This engagement of three days has crowned the Russian army with new laurels, and the corps entrusted to me has by its spirit aad valour performed prodigies that I have not at present lei- I sure to describe. Undismayed by the active and de termined opposition of the enemy, it overthrew and annihilated with the bayonet, and by the operation of the artillery, everything that was brought against it, consisting of batteries and cannon of large ca libre. All the villages and fields through which we have marched are covered with dead bodies. We have taken three thousand prisoners, of whom five and-twenty are officers; two field-pieces, several am munition-chests, the royal and private baggage, in cluding the camp equipage of the General. As soon as I have driven him over the Dwina, I am deter mined, while I leave him on the other side, to move against and attack the corps of Marshal Macdonald ; and, as I hope, with God's help, and the spirits of our troops raised by the late success, to accomplish something equally firtunate. I shall also endeavour to disengage our preconcerted line of operations from the enemy; by which means he must retreat to. war& Riga. The loss on our side is not small, par ticularly as we have to lament that of the brave Ma jor-General Kulnew, whose legs were carried of by a cannon-ball. He is since dead. I myself received a spent ball in my cheek, but the wound is not dan gerous. SPANISH CONSTITUTION. On Saturday, all the Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Spanish Nation in London, attended divine ser vice in the Spanish Chapel, to consecrate, by the holy rites of Religion, and sanctify, by the fervour ' of a pure and pious devotion, their sqlemn accept.. ante of the new Constitution of Spain. It will be in the recollection of ouridaders, that some weeks since the ceremony of swearing to this Constitution partially took place at the house of his Excellency the Spanish Ambassador, withosit deriving effect 'from the sacred solemnity of religions rites, or in terest from the imposing and animating splendour of a general and public act of recognition of this great charter of Spanish rights and liberty. Many of the most eminent Spaniards now resident in this country, felt that this was an insufficient mode of doing ho mage to this noble monument of their political re generation, and consequently suggested the expedi ency of making the ceremony public, and promis cuous uniting before the sitar of God every Spaniard in this metropolis, and calling upon them, by prayer and thanksgiving, to prepare for the sacred duty of swearing to the Constitution. The wish for this so lemn proceeding was general and lively ; and in com pliance with it, his Excellency the Ambassador sp. pointed Saturday last for the purpose. About elevesio'clock the celebration of the Vass commenced, which was followed by a Ti Deum, by Senor Le Dame, a fine composition, and the whole ended with a greed palsied( smirch which had been composed for the occasion, and sting by Senor Ros goalies, whose voice, soft, flexible, rich, and mel low, and whose style of singing, science, taste, and skill, has never been surpassed in this country. The Chapel was most numenualy attended, and the cere mony of swearing to the Coustittelen was most so lemn and inspressive. The Dischesses of Yjer and talented* were in the gallery, and Ms Excellency the Spanish Ambassador, the Marquis Apatite*, the Spanish Consul-Geueral, and Senor Nth, President of the celebration, were in the tower part of the Chapel. The principal singe= were, Miss Hughes, ( Senors Rosquellas, and La Omuta. Is order to give the ceremony of the celebration i all the eekt with which each English coestitational commemorations are attended, a sumptmees dinner was provided at the City of London Tavern, of which above ode hundred pdrsons partook. The (company was .almost exclusively composed of Spa niards, and his Excellency Count Fernando Nunes was requested to take the Chair by the President and Committee, from their wish to pay every re spect and attention to that distinguished Nobleman, which he filled with dignity, urbanity, and ease, participating in the glow of enthusiasm and flow of spirits with which every individual around him was animated. • The distinguished personages whom we have be. fore mentioned, sat at the President's table, together with General Massaredo, and a number of Spanish and Portuguese Gentlemen. Nothing could exceed the rapturous elevation of mind and feelings which pervaded the whole of the company, without a single exception. Never have we witnessed a more interesting and gratifying sight than was presented by this patriotic assemblage, reciprocally animating • and animated by the consciousness of the value of that Constitution, the establishment of which they had met to commemorate. Even an Englishman _ _ _ _ _ _ might learn how to enjoy the festival of his dearest rights, by witnessing the spontaneous gaiety and ardent enthusiasm with which these interesting strangers conducted themselves upon this occasion. The toasts were drank with the most sincere and unaffected demonstrations of approbation and sp- plause ; the following , weenatnongst the principal : Ferdinand the Vllth, ' which was followed by Rompsellas's admirable eked march. universally encored—" The Cooed tatioa"--,. George l ll." (long continued applawars)--“ The Cartes" appi osse)-0 , the Regency and its President" —" The t of England" (applauses loud and long re. pmited)-46 Emperor of Ressits"—“ The Wog of Sicily"— The Rfteat of Portugal"—" The Allies of lipain"— , "l'be liberty e/ Spain" The e (m i t:hzdzring os and raptnro applause). Mad Rodrigo." [The applause in drinking this toast continued Many minutes, ind the greater part of the compan stood upon their chairs, wowing their handkerchiefs.] neenectitattea with the Americans"—" The Guerillas"— (Loud sp lease.) The Antnaseador having retired for a short time, his health was given by Senor Tutor, and drank with every mark of respect, veneration, and attachment; Ind, on his return, he thanked the company in a short speech. " Cestatios, the Congarror of Bayles': (lend and repeated applause)—" The Ladies of England and Portugal'—•• The health of the Composers of the Music"—" The Stewards." These toasts were all drank with the most lively enthusiasm, and the intervals between them were fdled up most agreeably by songs, by Senors Ros. wallas and L Deems, and by patriotic airs played by the Prince Regent's band, which attended on the saxdon. About eleven o'clock his Excellency retired, and snob was the extent to which the spirits of the com. parry bad been raised by the animating object of their festivity, that the whole concluded with the indul gence of an involuntary impulse in a country dance. By order of the Lords of the Admiralty, a distri. bution of the Scriptures is immediately to take place, in the Royal Navy, as follows: one copy of the Prow Testament, two Common Prayers, with two Psalters, for every eight/ men, and one Bible to every two messes.. ' An immense supply orgrelu for tha Glasgow mar ket has arrived at Port Dandae, sad a considerable quantity is coming up the eider, prepared for kit chen ser vice from the mill .. UM:linty bait heen the supply ( I,f oatmeal, that. agistratoe tare re quested the discoatinuankiotiks ea in gentlemen's families, desiring them- tot apply *sr of wheat, Which Is more abondant. • q, - The One-shilling Galli‘tat rden Thea tre has been considerably altered tat e rged once the close of last season , the partition e been re moved, and the divisioas to the friai L which *m* termed pigeon.holesoppir opegi - = A respectable yoaks iiim. abet a wltolewle house io Oafeni-stamet; whilst al.' break fest yesteselay IMMO "stoelbiar f iewe **Sl lame be- is likely to • Wiaillat 0 11 : 1 1: 4 6 : mwiu 9".. 16 1 4 ,:itt , 1 4 .ge alt 1 . 11014 , aotutAvoeila.isiubig:l6,, PLYMOUTH BREAKWATER. ['EOM THE EXAMINER.] Stu,—This day has been marked by one of the most important events connected with the history o r Plymouth, or perhaps any other town in his M t . jetty's dominions, that of laying the first stone of the famous Breakwater. The pomp and parade et. hibited on this awful occasion l —for I can call it by ,no other name,—Aid not however serve in any ma n . ner to diminish the regret of those who bare lon g considered the commencement of such a gigt,ntie undertaking, as involving consequences which m ay be most fatal to the interests of this flue port and the nation at large,—while the proposed advantages are thought as by no means calculated to compensate far the immense proportion of labour and treasure re. quisite for its completion. The vain hope,—f or fear it will avail but little,--of inducing Government to reconsider the policy of persevering in this great work, has led me to offer you the following brief remarks on the subject, in the hope that through the medium of your paper they may be communi. sated, not costly to men in power, but the public in general. - It is now, Sir, more than fifteen years since the Breakwater Plan was first agitated and proposed to the Ministry of thet time, by whom it was rejncted. This example was followed by every succeeding Ad. ministration until the present, in consequence of the numerous objections started against its probable uti. Ilty isy professional characters of th e fi rs t em i nence, and the most experienced pilots, who still contin uo to assert, that those who are advocates for the scheme will ultimately he deceived In the sanguine caper's. Lions they entertain of its utility to the Nov,. If these objections were the result of superficial o'iscre. ation, idle caprice, or a desire to oppose . tbe meg. sures of Government, I should never bare troubled you with this address, but I know them to originate with persons of the first distinction, filling impo r t ers ; situations under the /resent Ministry ; and a hat still more, to be the effect of local ohlervation, Com. biped with a degree of scientific kuowledge, which deserves the utmost attention. Matter of fact and experience hare in every so been found superior to the most refined speculative theories, whit* but too often -lead nations as well as individuals into error. It is by this cliterioa alone I am desirous of examining the merits of the Breakwater Plan : and should the arguments I ad duce be not thought sufficient to convince the public of its inutility, they will at least serve to express the sentiments of several who bare most maturely con. sidered the subject, and marked it with their decided disapprobation. Those acquainted with the localities of Plymouth Sound and Cawsand Bay, will recollect what a tre, mendous sea prevails in both the.. roadsteads during the continuance of•strong southerly and south-west winds; which circumstance, aided by a rapid tide, must render the establishment of a good foundation extremely difficult, particularly in.those places where the depth of water is considerable. The latter is, however, a trifling consideration , when compared. to the apprehension so generally entertained of filling up the Sound, and even the entrance of %moats and Catwater, supposed to be the inevitable conse quences of raising such a large bank outside of them, and thereby obstructing the natural course of the sea. To illustrate this remark, we have only to observe how very apt all made harbour, and moles are to sc. cumulate mud and sandbanks. If there was the most distant probability of creating a mischief of this sort, it would, I presume, be more thin sufficient to prevent our going on with the work. Yet there are other reasons against it of nearly equal importance: people tell as, that when the Breakwater is finished, our fleet will have a safe plat" of rendezvous. This is all very well ; but then they should consider the extreme difficulty of getting out a number of large ships, when the channel, already not very lame, is made much smaller. This difficulty will be amazing. ly increased, should the wind happen to be a little strong from the southward, the only one with which the enemy's fleet will attempt to sail, knowing the position of ours, shut up by their Breakwater. Here I ought to ebeerve,_ that with either a Routh or a Roattt-west wind, the French fleet may always sail front Brest. The consequences of their taking an advantage of this kind would doubtless be most fatal to us, particularly if Ireland was their object. It cannot surely be the danger of anchoring in the Sound or Cawsand Bay which could have sugoted the necessity of the plan; for it is well known that the holding ground in either places is not exceeded by any in the United Kingdom ; as a proof of which, no ship was ever driven on shore in Cawsand Bay; and we have only lost two or three frigates is the Sound, two of which asses were occestioned by mere accidents. We ought also, i think, enquire whether our com merce or finances are in a state of inch prosperity as to justify the entering into an incalculable expence, and that, toe, at a period of be war which requires not only all our resources, but our utmost energies to bring it to any thing like a favourable issue. — Would it not also be infinitely better to begin a de sign of this sort on the conclusion of peace, when so many thousands of his Majesty's subjects are sure of being without employment, or the means of living, than turn the laboun of a great cl amber of people, now more importantly occupied, to the execution of a work , the result of which Is so extremely uncer• rain, not to consider the species of fatigue as exceed 'ugly unhealthy, it being necessary for the greatest part of the workmen to expose themselves continually to the alternate effects of wet and dry. "With respect to the calculations hitherto made at to the probable ',Tenets of the Breakwater, they imilt.tio be considered as highly ridiculous : for it is absolutely impossible to estimate the same of money 'necessary to complete a work, depending, as this will, MI a precarious and treacherous climate: bat if ever finished, which will require many years, the 'necessity of keeping It in constant repair will require a continued ovate,. Some people will, in answer to the foregoing objections, bring forward Cher' burgh es as instals& of the great practicability of mseceesfelly executing the plan. Admitting, how• news this in its &gest exteat I beg them to retnem• her, that neither at that place, - nor any other in the BONA Channel, bad Mecum/ a single port fit to reaelve line-of-battle shlpeoestbe iseretllble etpeoc! *hl* oftmisik it s mid MAIO, Ye siaguesiame REPORT TO HIE IMPERIAL MAJESTY OP GENZRAL TORMASOV. Kobryn, Judy (16) 28, 1812. I have the honour most humbly to congratulate yoar Imperial Majesty on the entire defeat of the while corps of Saxon troops on the 15th inst. which occupied this place, which was effected after an ob stinate battle, which lasted nine hours. The trophies of this battle are tour stand of colours, eight pieces of cannon, and a great quantity of various kinds of arms. We have taken prisoners the Commander of the Corps, Major-General Klingel, three Colonels, six Staff-Officers, 57 Officers, and MI non-com missioned Officers and soldiers. We left upwards of 1000 dead on the field of battle. The loss on our side is not considerable. The Saxon corps under the consmastd of the French Field-Marshal Regnier, Is coming up from %aim to replace the Austrian corps which was here, Prince Schwartzenberg is gone through Slatek to Minsk.-- My Aid-de-Camp, Lieut . ; Bibikoff, of the Guards, will lay at the feet of your Imperial Majesty, four of the enemy's stand et colours. I shall have the happiness to transmit the part'. culars of this affair asp sees as possible, as well as the further movemeeits of the troops which year Majesty has been pleased to entrust to my cos: mend. Gorrevsuactu, AUG. 2S.—The French are march. ing for Smolensk, where it is understood the Rut- 1 sians have determined to make a stand, and a general ' battle may therefore be daily expected. The Rus sian army that opposed the Turks have joined the main army. Since the commencement of the campaign, the Ras. siens have been 'access'sl in every engagement. A smart action has taken place near Kobryn, between General 'formasow, Ind a pert of Ge nera l Regnieris corps. According to ltegnier's account, three Salon regiments of infantry and cavalry fought for ten hours, agaiest eight times their number, and. were at last compelled to surrender, the Russians haring de. strayed a bridge to prevent Their retreat. Regnier" has retired to within fifteen miles of Warsaw.; he writes, that be hopes very lose to be able to act on the oiensive. Letters from Ramis lily, that the war Is so very popular, that item Is Menet, a person of •any pro. petty throughout the Empire, who has not voluntarily contributed very largely to the *risky.; a Lady hats imbed a corps el IWO cavalry, and c o mpletely arippee it. ps Royal Illghseu the Crown Prince of Swede* has left Stockholm, for the purpose of an Interview' with the Simperer of Russia at Obo, where it is ea pew his £gcslleacy Lord Cathcart will meet-thein. Yodel*, was the dal appointed for the whole of the Swedish army to rayster la their several &tracts for taspectiea, sad they hews received orders is diesesim isrodlimi ma. 4001114.. . , •.; r s, :~ i ,L 1.,.