The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1808-12-03 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. SPAN !SU PAPERS. VICII, OCT. 31. Our Junta tins received the following letter front that of Nlaureaut, dated the !ill/ Mat.:— " The French being apprided.tliat we were send nu; a convoy of ammunition to CM. Don Francisco 111thaps, made an attempt to intercept it, advoseing ' for that purpose to n 'thin three tuiles of S:dsidel but, thank Conti the escort being informed of Vic design of the enemy, disappointed it by fall ing back:: T0..1M09, OCT. 31. EXTRACT PROM ♦ POLVATE "The letters rreeivld by your house here, foam your votrepood..ots at Mahon, coutuiu the follow . 'viz advice. Viiii need not now expect the 5000 English who were coining from Sicily, river they veurived orders, on the voyage, to put back, in con •Jiinenee of the Neapolitaus having applied far their assistance to shake nIF the yoke of the ['match. All the troops that were in Sicily, both English nod Si cilians, have alrea ly landed on the Continent. We conceive, that at this moment that kingdom is in a state of general insurrection, sets expect that the French them• will be totally exterminated.' " Thi, afternoon arrived in this harbour, in six days, from St.. Padre, hi liardiusu, the S. Jim/ lace*, Marlin Mona, master. lie affirms, that at '.t. Pedro positive accounts had been received of the Landing of the English and Sicilian troops in the I . lo lo lo la or Naples, of their having been joined by the Ca:at:trims, and of their acting in the most vi gorous manner against the usurper, Murat, with au united force of $0.0041 men. He adds, that the Spanish consul at St. Pedro directed him to com tuunicate this nitalligctice on his arrival in Spain." ARANAJEZ, NOV. 14. The Secretary of State for the War Department has received the following dispatches from Lieut.- (len. Don Joaquim Blake, dated at Valtnaseila on ► the 7th and nth inst. : MOsT ENLELLENT SEIONON....In order. to se cure the means of re-concentrating my forces, a matter of importance upon all occasions, and more particularly under die Clfe tanues of my army being attacked by such supe►i►r numbers, and to •pproxhaate the: . fluty road by which 1 could pru;•• core the metes of stiliaistence, 1 deteri ss itt etlou the 4 3.1 iii,ttatit, to unite the different divisions, in.... Wi ling that of the North. which had just reached the eiriiiity of the little town of Nava. All effected a juurtiou, with the exception of the second division of (;sllicia, and a part of foe troops of Asturias, fortning a corps under the coinusiod of his Excel leiity U. Vincent Acevedo. This corps was a:- tacked by the enemy in superior force on the 3d int/tont, between Ll.sweno and Menegarai ; and the etieitsy, though vigorously repulsed, took a position between the corps under Seignur Acevedo, mod the army, apparently, and according to the informa too I received, with the expectation of u reinforce ment, in order to prevent Acevedo front effecting a junction with me. This information reached "tie ou the moruuttl of the 4th. 1 intently saw the ne cessity of a decisive movement against the enemy ; anal accordingly gave orders that, the same night, the ;c1 division, commended by firigadirr U. Francis c o Riptelme, with one of the corps of Asturias, under the orders of Fit:ld-Marshal D. Gregorio Quirt*, should proceed in quest of, and attack time corps of the enemy thst intercepted the passage of Acevedo ; that the 4th division and the advanced guard should march for Valmaseda, with the view of attacking whatever troops of the enemy they might fall its with ; that the tinit, and reserve, slionl.l proceed, under my immediate -mainland, to Govilejoela, to cut oft the communication between the different French divisions; and, finally, that the corps of the North should remain posted at 'Berm) IN a general reserve. " At the very instant of commencing our march, I received advice that the corps of Seignor Acevedo End been able to change its position, and had taken up a uew and very advantageous one between Gor- iirjuela, Velma-edit, and Orrantia, but that the 'twiny, in erin.i.lerahle nuitaber were still occu ...it'd in watching it. movement.. This new claim s. tine of Seigtior del Amaral" neersserily led to owe alteration its tnine. The troops under Seig ws Qairos and Rigacline were accordant:ly er red to attack the enemy., which, from the infla tions th e y had shewa, and the tuforsnatinis ofthe ootutry, were supposed to he at Arcinitga. Their amo lowly ass conceived to be at Orrantia, and I l i .k unoa the tusk of Ji,loalging them, the tint, the advaii,:ed guard, and the reserve. le fourth. under the rommand, cd i?tterint, of igailaer Don Esteban Perlier, owing to the indis- Atkin of 'Marquis Art Portazgo, paroled their loom! dertiamtuon to Valuta:wale, but under a cau -1 of not attacking should they fall in with a im am. form.. •4 I au* ut a loss to what I should ascribe the re ittiun taken by the French to draw off their :es from the corps of Acevedo ; but certain it is, .1 at Orrantia and Areiniega we met only with (mots of their retreat, which they had effected • same night; and thus the divisions, which it our object to disengage, happily joined as. e fourth division. however, ■as wore fortunate ,n the rest; for, reaching the environs of lial weda, where there were 7,uno of the enemy pu dic colutunio ot• the (.4.t: 'rid of Division %Alin, they attacked them with the greatest impetnosity, drove them oat of the ►owu, and pursued them more than a league, when they halted in COM!. (pence of night coming on. The enemy fled in the ntaiost disorder, having 'offered u very great loss in kilted awl a led ; we also took 40 of diens prisoners, among a 1101.0 was an officer ; and they left in our hands a 4-pounder, and two ammu nition waggons, iu a serviceable condition; live baggage or provision waggons, some of them be looging to their General's establishment ; papers also belonging to the latter, and an immense num.. her of other articles of boat). What muck con. trilanted to decide tl:is brilliant 'affair, was the rapidity and ardour with which some corps of the Asturiams, mid of the secoud division of Gallicia de scended upon Valinastila, the instant they observed the contest which the fourth division were commen cing. This, and the above-mentioned corps, have acquired an indisput.tble right to the esteem of their fellow-eninitrytnetia claim which indeed be longs indiscriminately to all our inimitable soldiers, who, cont illy its the open air since the 23d nit. during rainy nights, and the most inclement +weather, all without huts, and a great part of them without clothes, or eVell shoes or stockings, and, what is more, passim; whole days without food, un derweut with alacrity the greatest fatigue,, exhi biting not the smallest symptom of dissatisfaction tinder such extrannlin try privittioivs, and manili.st ing Ito other wish than that of destroystig the rilem) by the sactitice of their own lives. " The above I have transmitted to your Ewel lettey, that you way be pleased to tinnuniniea:e the same to His Majesty. May God preserve your E‘relleney many years. " Valmaserla, Nov 7, sdu9. JOAQI , I H BLAKE. Secretary of State for the War Deem talent." " ?Inn FICELI.F.NT •• Being without positive information of the force and situation of the enemy, which it was in dispensably necessary I should obtain, with a view to regulate my operations, I marched yesterday • with the first and second divisions, in the direction of Gueoes, and ordered the advanced guard to proceed by Garailiatela as far as Spatula.. The body of troops under my immediate command very soon fell iii with four French regianentt, forming on effective force of 8000 men, awl a firing took platee. which lasted the whole of the Jay, without any advantage mi either side. Towaicts dusk. the enemy fell back a little. anal we suspended the movements winds we bad begun to make from right to left ; aid' the view of attacking them iu a new direction. " We should have executed our meditated attack this morning, with every provect of success, had not the extreme inclemency of the night, and the exhausted condition of the troops, Irwin want of food and intolerable fatigue, compelled me to en deavour to procure for them some shelter, rest, amid refreshment. I, therefore, marched them back to head-quarters herr a little before day-break. •• The force of the enemy has been ascertained, be the declarations of some of the prisoners, and also that Marshal Lefebvre commanded in the action. I learn that the vanguard ass attacked .1000 wen, and that after maintaining their ground with their usual tirinuess, night also put au end to the conflict. " Its communicating the above to your Excel. lenoy. and requesting that you will have the good- MIS to submit the same to Ills Majesty's consider ation, I eausret ler r it mention, in terms ot the warm est conuoillption, the gallantry, clinstaney, pa tience u nder fatigue and privations, and distinguish ed patriotism, manifested by the Generals, Chiefs, Olifiers, and soldiers. %*. I ought not to omit to state, that in the num ber of the sounded is Seignor Birch, Captain in the serv:ec of His Britannic Majesty, an officer of dis tinguished and cool resolution, also could not ka'e the held mail he was carried off by the troops. I was also assisted by the Licetensut-Colonel Seig nor Carrot, wbe, for three months, has been with this army in that capacity, taking a part iu emery engagement, and iu all of them giving an example of valour. " May God preserve your Excellency many 4 . 1 JOAQ1:1011 BLAKE." " Ilca4-quarters at l'olesoods, Nov. o, !sof. " The Must Excellent &tenor, the Secretary of Slate fur the War Department' AAA A UEZ. NUT. 17. Lieutenant-General Don Joachim Blake has re pnited from Espiiiiria. under date of the 10th in stant, that finding it imposs►ble to maintain him self in Biscay, on account of the scarcity of provi sions. he resolved to move to the above place and its environs, in order to procure provisions, and al low his troops some moments of reprise. When l►e made the necessary preparations to carry that reso ution into direct, the enemy appeared before Val mused. 14 to 15,000 strong, which place was oc cupied by the first and second divisions, and the Avtiiiiau troops. Several detachments were sent to skirmish with the enemy, while the main body was falling back to Nova. The 3d division, posted at Orr:tuna, was at the tonne time attacked by a numerous French corps, which, no doubt, intenikil to occupy the road of Nova, and cut of' the retreat of our troops; but the enemy was defeated, mid the third division joined the army in Nova, the whole of which tiled ott for Evinolia des Loa Mouteros, covering the retreat of the North divi. vim'', commanded Lay Brigadier-General Count de la Humana. Toe said General Blake reports from Reynosa, ander date of the I ith, that at nine in the morning liis army was attacked by very superior forces ; but our troops, both officers and men, maintained their position with the utmost gallantry, until the Rill of night, and the enemy was repulsed on all sides ; bat laing considerably reinforced by Irish troops, and availing himself of his vast superiority in num ber, he attacked again, the following day, General Blake's army, still fatigued by the glorious exer tions of the preceding day, said, making some im prrrisiou on our left, the centre and right fell hack to Si. Ander°, and took post in Reynosa, where the whole Army rallied ; Marquis de la Romans as sumed the cuirvuatid. (Madrid Casette, .%or. 1./ TVDEI._4, NOV. 6. Ye4erilay, at three o'clock ill the afternoon, his Excellency Don Joseph de Palafox and Major- Ceneral Doyle, arrived iii thi4 place, and proceed ed to the house af the brother of the former, Don Eranci.ico ['Alarm, where, iii the evening. a uteeti lig of General• aus held. The next morning they re turned to Saragoio.a. Tao Physicians, who made ter escape from Panipelutia, state, that the French have there up wards of 50041 sick, and that f An to 4'4 die daily. All travellers alto come , fieIII avarre con- Arm the intelligence.—(lbid.) TARRAGONA. NOV. 7. The head-quarters of this army were, the 3d inst. removed from NlHafnium to Martnuk, a town sitiniteon the banks of the I.lidiregar. Seine of the troops occupied the heights on the left banks of the river. A column of Provincial Grenadiers, with from 4 to 6 pieces of caution, and 2 howitzers, the squadrons of horse volunteers of Catalonia, and about 5000 miquelets, under the orders of General Laguna, have marched to take up a position on the banks of the river Besos, one league west of Bureelo:ia, by which movement that town is closely beinined in. The coli,taut rare of our faithful allies, the English, to furtii-h us with arms, ammunition, and artillery, has procured us the pleasure of assisting the Arragonese with MO muskets and 300,000 cartridges. We entertain no doubt but that we shall soon be able to commence offeksive operations against the •ile rabble who defile our capital.— ( The Supreme Junta of Government has pub lished an edict, by which leave has been given for all Jesuits to returu to Spaiu.—(/bid.) COM:N MA, By letteri received in the course of ye _ !rims that Col. 1)on Enrique Canseco has %reserved . the artillery of the army of Extremadura. and in like manner that the Lieut. Col. Don Mipiel Val ledor hes conducted to Lem& the artillery and am inunitiou from Reynaita. Considering the, activity and adJrLis necessary for thrift particular services, we 111111 a hut highly praise those worthy officers, and in general all those of the Royal corps of ar tillery, who conducted themselves so gallantly ; without meaning by this eulogitim to deptiie the other officers and soldiers ci the array of the praise so justly due to them. .6. The retreat of our army to Leon has deranged all the plans of the enemy, who, the moment they shall know our junction with ti n Luglish ariny, and the reititiweements which we shall send with the utmost dispatch, must abolition all the cones tri lit occupies, unless he would be cut oft; and obliged to surrender. This point of reunion was the only one we ought to have chosen, in case the enemy penetrated by Burgos, as we have not ca valry to enable us to engage in the plains; but when the two armies bays joined, we shall have cavalry, and that very respectable. The organiza tion and reunion will be effected without loss of time ; and, clearing the plains, we will march imme diately to dislodge thesis from Burgos, and all the country they occupy from that to the Bidassoa. Let us then have courage H aid constancy, sail make every exertion, (list the reinforcements may not be de layed all itiatant.--IDiavi• sir la Coronas, Nose:. ter 20.) LISBON PATERS. mason, xor. 13. - _ On the 13th of this month the nierchuuts of this city, met, by appointiocut, at the Palace of Govern ment, when the Secretary of State, charged with the general inspection and direction of the Royal Treasury, delivered the &Hoeing speech, which seemed to perfectly meet the patriotic ideas and loyal sentiments of the gentlemen present : " The state of the nation, with reglad to the public revenue, is well known to all those whom I have the pleasure to address. The perfidy and tr ea son with *lnch this kingdom was invaded, op. pressed, and despotically usurped, are attested by facts, which stid strike horror to the mind of all good and loyal Portuguese. But let u. throw a veil over nti•fortuuea %bid' are past, and of! er up our thatiksg;vings be Divine Providence, who has you, healed to liberate us, as it were, by a miracle, from our ferocious enemies. “ Among all t lasses of the people which have cow. tributed to the exigencies of the state, the respect - utrit hooey 1104 before me ha. greatly diatingui,hrJ itself, under circumstances which threatened t• e destruction of the army; these ctiebitistsuces do no longer exist, a.lll the loyalty and.pounitism wh:ta have at all times formed a distingutshnig natioiel characteristic of the Portuguese. wit' not L e less auspicious at the present time, when the gees. tion is to defend the country, to preserve our reli gion and the throne, and to ataert our independ. once as a nation ; and who is there who would rii , t contribute. to, the utmost of frs means, to pro mote a cause so just, so inclitopeossidr i and so glorious? Life itself must he sacrificed to the preservation of our country ; we cannot ,Len refuse to devot e port of oar property and fortunes to assi►t the vessel of the state to weather the tremendous storm with which it is still threatened. The public Treasury is stAl in the exhausted state in which it was left by our voracious invaders, a nd the remotreett of many provinces are drained by the indite elate- they made to resist and annihilate tit despotism by which they were oppressed; mid la this state of the public treosnry and the conntry, an army most be formed and maintained, fot the pee. servutioa of the Portuguese Aloitarchy, the her*. sary and indispensable charge of which amounts to an enormous sum. " The Prince Regent our Lord COllllllBllll5 oar to have recourse to the donations which the Cu.oi Body generously wishes to contribute fur the preselvation of his royal throne, our religion, and our country•. The name of a loan, and pro mises of interest, would he illusory exiiressious, of which I never can make tee., -without caleulatiag the possibility, and indeed certainty, of reii giously fulfilling the conduit/1i off ere d. l it t h e present urgent circumstances, what I have the ho. nour to propose, is the Royal name of the Prince liegeut our Lord, is, that all shall contribute ac cording to the anilities of each, (since these csmoot atsvays equal the ardent patriotism which animater loyal and Portuguese hearts) ; that we shill, I say, contribute donations for the defense of the kingdom, for the formation and maintenance of an army, at the times and in the manlier which shall be most suitable to individual circumstances ; do nations, annual donations, donations by instalments, by notes tp become due ot certain times; dona tions during the war, in the manner that shall be judged convenient for the subsistence of the army, and the assistance of an exhausted treasury ; these donations being solely and directly destined for the use of the army, shall be exclusively applied to the military objects. They shall not be confounded with, nor enter into, the Royal treasury, but shall be received and registered in a separate chamber, and in a book appropriated for that purpose, in the presence of two Merchants (who *say assist is their turns), of tlreAccountants•Gencral of the same Treasury,and of s Secretary. who shall make up the, accounts. All payments and receipts shall be made in die' general treasury of the troops of the kingdom. and deposited is a coffer, scoured by three keys, and at the same time entered into a book expressly pro vided for that perpo.e. This treasury shall he re mused from Belem to a part of the Royal eilifiie of the commercial axchauge, for better conveuience and security. " l dedare. finally. that the Prince Regent ago! Lord has authorized me to• entme. and goleiunly to proir.i,e, that ever/ six nonths there shall he published aldithfal and exaet prii;ted acc.oont of all ou:ns received and expended for the use of the army. /by thy satisfaction of the whole nation, i 0 dl as of a!I oho way be either debtors cr (At:di:- ors to this mtl itur account; with that S exed alairh form, t h e °illy ipritaitnent and solid 1,.u.s of public credit, Alit' the prosperiti of nations." THE BRITISH PRESS. 1 .ON DON, SATCRDAY,•Dscsrasa 3. RETREAT OF BLAKE'S ARMY TO LEON-115 PROBABLE JUNCTION HMI THE BRITISH ARM UNDER GENERAL BAIRD. We ye.terilay .announced, LICLUSIVELY, upon the authority of an express from Portsmouth, the arrival at that port, ou Thursday afternoon, i.f La Bonne Citoyenne, with advises from Cormina of Saturday. the Stith last, coutiiiimig intelligence from BLAGICI army of the 24th. By this vesvl we have received Coronas papers of the from which it appears, that General BL•Klet artily has effected its retreat, with its artillery, from Reynosa to Leon, where it expected to form a junction with the British turves under General Rua.. It is also stated, that the artillery of the army of Extremadura has been preserved. From this we may presume that the army has been de feated. %%le did not undenitalid timid the main army had been engaged. It was merely stated, that its advanced corps amounting to J or 4000 men, had been driven back from Burgos. On the tid last, Gen. BAIRD was still at Asturga. Private letters from dint place, of the ei.t, state that the French had pushed their advanced posts as far as Beue recite. Should this be the fset, they must, if sup ported, have interposed ln.tivinai Gen. flairio's forces at Astorgs. aunt thus under Gen. Mortar. advancing by Salamanca. BAIRD hsd Dot, si the latest arcomits. tanned a jimetimi with the ten, mint of BLARL'S arise at POO ; d ot th•ng th.l cuaid prevrui it. Ala rref . lblti inter. ligra lOU .14 1 1, Ci!o) fe!l otti•i The sari' s 111 our posi eAb the mo• L. tb tL t:,