The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1809-01-24 00:00:00

MOUSE OF COMMONS. This day there being only members, beia4lo4 the speaker, present, at four o'clock, the coul.l not be hirtueil. PLOPI,c: hitsineits of n similar nature with that which took place iii the Howie of Lords, and also a motion rel dive to the inereaNe of the army, icre expected to have hero di.cossetl ; they are, in cousequeuee, post:mord to a future da y . THE BRITISH PRESS. THE BRITISH ARMY. The folios ing is a narrative of the proceedings' :if our army in Spain, anal, to the l4th, as given by an Orderly Serjeant of I;rigadier-Geueral !qessart, who accompanied that ( taker, and Major iltrkeley Puget, of the 7th MEtgOOttil, brother of Lord Paget, from Cortimin Fie says, they honied io the Mount's-bay on I .rellneeday 'netting, from the Ala armed brig. -.:lith left Coronas on Saturday se'imight. When. the) left Comma, the British army had rel. lied that place; and the 7th light dragoons were em barking. Sir John Moore bad conducted his re treat with ruck skill, that, though closely pursued I,y the Fienala all the way, they had not been able to toter Mtn to action ; hut the fatigue to which the cavalry lied been exposed was so weal, that though few men hail been lost, the horses had suffered se verely. That fine regiment, the 7th, had scarcely too liorset reinnining fit for servire. The trans ports and nitsi of war from Vigo, hail not reached Corumia when the Ann sailed ; hut, a few hours after, they ware 14;•en front the mart-head approach ,"g Cot General Stewart was of opinion that tihe wlole of the srmy would be brought off; though, probably, is ii ri the loss or a part of their cannon and stor'.a. It was understood that the in fantry wt•rr to emlook in divisions, and that the %bole wire to sail for Enchant They may ha ex el to arrive in the course of this week. Ile says, that lie marched from 1.1%13011 with Ge neral •, Lpe's bri4nde to Madrid, thence to Sala tutoteu, where lee lea ame orderly to General Stew art, and liaiinately to COllllllll3. In all this march, of thirte hundred miles, they had never seen a Spa.: : regiment ! That the fatigues and privations »inch the British army sustained were extreme; and dist, although amo n g the Spanish gentry the olTwers sotnetones met with civility, the peasantry (indifferent to !motifs., aml alarmed at the appearance of snldiez...) would shut their doors against them. In the mean time, the strictest dis cipline was obsened, and every attempt at plunder leverely punished. The couatry, in general, ex hibited nothing but poverty and wretchedness ; the reads were hart; frequently flooded with rain, and sometimes covered with mow. Our leave so tiers rate frequently a whole day without sustenance, and slept, at nights, nn the hare ground—happy if they could approach a and creep under trio neck for warmth and shelte-. !hider this ar t umulatinn of evens, many men died ; the horses. when knocked up, were shot, and left, with all their accoutremeats, upon the road. Our inform:sat *Headed Gen. Stewart, when he led his regionein, the lath dragoons, against tie Imperial Gnarl, trader la.f.ht ..e. It seems the English in tiled' retreat over a river, bad blown up a budge ; hot the French horse dis coveted a ford shove it, where they ciossed. They then formed, and were nearly double the number that we could bring against theta. Our brave coustrynsen. rejoiced at the sight, forgot the disparity of cambers. They advanced ainartly upnu the enemy, who stood to receive them, and, at a short distance, fired upon tho British. General Stewart then advanced beyond his line and gave the words" Draw !"—" Charge!" The British 'noshed ott—vthe French received them firini) —and fur a quarter of au hoar the clash of halms kip our infteinant) rang like a peal of bells. (;moral Stewart was opposed to General Lefebvre, whom he made prisoner. Se veral other Freaeli offi-ers were test) taken, and a great man) 1111,11 on Isetlo aides. But here, as CM 014 pluius of Maida, Brit' courage proved tu.rre firm aunt determined than that of the French. The proud Imperial Guard (the officers of whom declared the y hart never before been beaten) gave way before as inferior ituailwr of British Dragoons, and retreated - across the ford. At this moment, three Cilll l / 4 111 weie brought to bear upon them, and tau bread river was discoloured with their blood. Genrrat Moore, while he exacted the severest Aiseinline, gave such an example in his own eon. • t, won the heart of every one. lie was per not the tarn ; present every v here ; soul forgot his osu fati 1114 and privations, n Iris anxiety to nalteve them. of his beau.. tom:ades. 111,4.1:a -im ter as a t ..ateral has been consummatial by tias waited) ratriatt. Whio, the den kit Corantau, the wl.als of our army had arrived on that place, except the briga.ie of General flopo, which was statinivii without the town ; and, front the post they 0c..-.pird, tlfey could plainly see tin French troop« about three tuiles dorrent. The British ships of war in the harbour, how, ver, were au $l-flossed to zee eons Llenee to the troops that they would all be Larked in safety ; but it is expected that thvir can non and heavy baggage st 1w left behind. As to horses, few of our cavalry regiments have ahnee one hilliJrcil rem...an:e x ; sad sever I pie:ars ot ar tillery Lad bee., eoianduned to the retreat, for want of huises to draa them. _ _ It wuu iThr;)i,.,er4lnorlerg4talicling army tiLit ,t was to trturt, dirtct to LON DON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 24. Re yesterday announced the arrival of general Lord PAGIET, with an account of the re-embarka tion of our army at Commit', with the loss of its gallant Commander, Sir JOIN MOORE, killed, Sir D. BAIRD, second in eornsumd, mortally wounded, and SOO men, killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. Lord PAGET lek Corunue on the 17th, with three Aid►-de-Camp, in the Cossack. of 22 guns, Capt. Dtosg, and lauded at Fahnototh on Friday, from whence he set oat in the carriage of Mr. VIVIAN, father of Lieut Col. VIVIAN, and arrived in town on Sunday night. The melancholy news, of which he was the beater, having spread through the town at an early hour, excited great anxiety and des pondency. Alarm and dismay were depicted in almost every countenance. The Duke of YORK'S Office was crowded daring the whole morning, and his Royal Highness was there in person. He more than once Caine out to endeavour to satisfy the anxious and clamorous inquiries of various gentlemen, relatives or friends of the Officers now or lately in Spain. His Royal - scarcely assured them dust he was in possessio n of scarcely any fact of moment, beyond those which were already known to the public ; the dispatches addressed to Government here mot being as yet ar rived, though hourly expected. The fact is this—The Cossach frigate was order ed to take home Lord Psis r. who has suffered in his sight from the effect of time ophthalmia. While the Cossack was working out of Commie harbour, a very he:ivy was heard from the laud. Oil this Lord PAuar mrislied the Captain of the ship to go on shore, in order to ascertain the reason and nature of the action then taking place. Ile did so, returned on hoard, and proceeded on his voyage.— The vessel, winch was charged with the dis patches, in endeavouring to get out of the harbour, at the same time a ith the Cossack, ran foul of another chip. The damage which Ale sustained was tri fling, hut it necessitated some ,Isla}. Instead of putting her dispatches into the Cossack, she, ex pecting to repair the injury which s:ie hail sustain ed, in a few !intim and ueing, it W. 4, thou4lit, a faster sailer th frigate, retained the dispatches. She is not yet The only pion liars, therefore, known, are those picked up by Capt. Dikaiv while on shore, thase no ticed by Lord Psorr, and the intelligence brought by the Sir Charles Comm schooner, and two trans ports, which arrived on Saturday forenoon, at Ply mouth, from Corunna, with an Aid-de-Camp, several British cavalry, officers and soldiers, and some baggage. For the sake of order, however, we shall begin with the commencement of the re treat of the Bntish army on the 29d last. It ap pears from all accounts, that on the first notifica tion Ly Mooax to his troops of his listen tion to retreat, a general spirit of dissatisfaction and impatieneemauifested itself among the private men. They exclaimed, that .4 they were come to fight, and not to retreat ;" nor could their Officers effec tually succeed in pacifying their irritated minds. This ill-humour did not subside during the whole of their retreat from Benevente and Astorga, to Common but betrayed itself in all their words and actions. Some of them even proceeded so far as to precipitate down the hills, over which their route lay, the caissons containing the chests of dol lars for the payment of the army. They said, they wanted no pay, they only wanted permission to thee the enemy. Never, indeed, did exist a more brave and gallant army, or one more solicitous to meet the foe. Severe privations, and hope long deferred, but now disappointed, prialaced this feeling in the breasts of these gallant men. Most of the cavalry were dismounte4, and many of the horses di e d from titigue, or, being knocked up, were killed.— In many instances the saddles became a mass of corruption, from the sore condition of the horses' backs; and even the for caps of the Dragoons were full of maggots. In :his condition the army , arnved in the vicinity of Corunna, oa the 11th inst. The transports from Vigo did not make their ap pearance until the 13th. On the 14th, about 100 sail arrived, and thy remainder entered the port on the following day. Such was the state of our army, and our trans ports, on the 13th, on which day our cavalry hail embarked, mid the infantry, to the number of about 35,000 men, remained on shore. Let in. mos look to the situation of the French army : The puulic are apprized of the various shirtnishew which its van had .with oar rear, up to its arrival at Lugs. BONAPAIITE. accorthog to the latest accounts, did not proceed in pursuit farther than Sulatnanca. On his arrival at that place, he ordered Sotit:z to advance to Ferrol, while Jt; NOT received from him the commission to regain the htmour that he relight be thought to Nate lost at Viiiseirs, and to drive us into) the ice. In order to execute this injunction, Jt;:vot drew out his foi res on Monday g, the Ihth. and sit tseked our arras. The Frenrk came on with in ct,,teriviab:r impetuosity, and were perpetually •01,- plied with flesh troops, frosts but face were as constuatly repulsed by the hilliness of onr soldiers. Tbe brunt of 6c-battle stasprinci pally sustained by `,OOO of our troops, brithwAl ss a covering corps to protect the embarkation. These brave fellows, who fought like turas, (or rather like Britons,) suffered greatly. Tnef, how ever, sold'their lives dearly, dealing death around them in every direction in the enemy's ranks—Our C;taterals were all on shore, and set a noble exam ample. About two, the Guards advanced with fixed bayonets tonne onset, and the enemy, without waiting fur them, turned their backs, and fled. Tiwir whole line was soon thrown into complete disorder, and they ne..er made any further resist ance. Our troops pursued, and made a prodigious slaughter, till dusk, when they retreated back toCo mune. During the uight, all our infantry embarked, withont any molestation front the French. At 9, on Tuesday, the 17th iust. all the army, except 3,100, wereon board the transports, and 110 doubt remained of their-being re-embarked before two o'clock on that day. As long as Lord PAGET could discern with a telescope, he could only perceive two small parties of the enemy, who very cautionnly appeared of the heights, over Ferrol arid Comma, with two small field-pieces belongiug to each. The magni tude of our victory is, indeed, demonstrated suffi ciently, by the very act of our re-embarkation, without attack or impediment from the enemy. As far its the brilliant event of the engagement of the 16th inst. can, therefore, balance the culit mitoss termination of our expedition to Spain, we have that consolation ; and it is certainly no con temptible source Of satisfaction. But of what solid national avail is such a victory ? Ferrol and CO -111111181 are not less in the hands of BONAPARTE. Lisbon must be so. Even Cadiz, it is to be feared, must be surrendered, with the French and Spanish Beets. Our army, though we lust wily about 450 men in. the late action, is diminished by 6,000, since it landed.— AU the camp equipage, baggage, ammunition, and many of the horses, are sacrificed. The whole army must, in fact, be newly equipped, before they cart enter again upon any efficient service. The whole of the infantry were engaged, but the 4:2d, 50th, ad Royals, 4th Foot, and 2tith, suffered most severely. Of the killed and wounded few are known. Sir JOHN Moine, whose death we announced yesterday, was killed by a cannon ball, which struck him in the breast. It was early in the ac tion. The French had only brought one cannon to bear upon our array, when the hero fell. Sir DAVID BAIRD, oho wasfoortully wounded, is since dead. Lieut.-Col. NADIR!, of the 92d, and Lieut.-Col. M.Kettzte, of the sth Foot, are among the killed. Lieut.-Col. %VyKcw, of the 4th, is wounded. Among the Officers reported by Lord PAGET to have been safe on board the transports, when he sailed from Corunua, ace Lords CDARLES and ROURT MANNERS, brothers of the Duke of RUTLAND, Lords CRIARLES and WILLIAM BEN TINCK, sons of the Duke of PORTLAND. and.thc Hon.— CAVT.NDISH, son of Lord G. Carcx It is a melancholy fact, which we relate not without pain and regret, that the far greater num ber of our soldiers who fell or dropped, or were left wounded, on the retreat, were massacred. ' The following particulars are extracted from our Falmouth Letter of the toth inst. received yester day: This day arrived the Cossack, Captain DIGIT, with dispatches from Corium% Lord PAGET, and three Aides-de-Cainp. The Cassaek sailed on Tues. day last, at which time the British army, about 15,000 men, had embarked, previous to which, on the whole of Monday, they had been engaged. The loss on each side was considerable. Sir JOHN nolitt was At led early in the action. Sir Della BAIRD bad lost an arm. Some part of the troops had retreated towards Vigo. The urmies engaged with the British, were those under Generals SOULT and Ju NOT, which had formed a junction, compris ing a force of 65,000 men. Prior to the battle 3,000 men had embarked. We lost in the action about 500 killed and wounded. When the Cossack left Corunna, the French had entered it, and was can nonading the transports, all of which were under weigh, convoyed by the squadron under Admiral D.. Coußcy. Lord PAGET has been attacked with the oph thalmia only in one eye. He was last morning et Lord CASTLEREAGH'S Office, apparently in good health, acd cheerful. It is calculated, that nearly two miilions sterling, 185,000 stand of arms, and 930,000 yards of broad cloth', have been sent to the Spaniards, from the Ist of July last up to the Ist of the present month an.l that 20 mlilions sterling will wit pay the expense of every kind, in curred by England, since the commencement the S i nthisli Insurrection. e are not yet iu pos session of all the facts that have lest to the torts termination of our CRIllp11;11 in Spain, b ut to ose the lawn ige of an intelligent Provincial Print, •• there i. one obvious and leading one, and it is thi.; that all the exertions which the Supreme Junta has used t.• enure the eneigies of the Spanish nation, l in , p r o v e ,' also tive. Their Proclamatiodu, indeed., breathed entliu•in.m, but it emitted only upon pa • Pe' • they decreed armies which were never enitio died ; and (as I.o...tilting inanntiovres, it would ap. peal their Gizettes reported •victories which were never cridta;ued. The) exatigitrated tips ammo' or . • .. •-• their forditietti excite the confidence o #titethre and to incline the doubtful and wavering to de clare for them. But all this has failed of effect.— What intasurei our Gevernment will now adopt to reduce nOlf•rAnTE remain to be 0101V11. it here bad repeated hints uf late, that the Spanish Ciders, CAsTANns, ;MURIA, and others, despairing of suc cess, had made their peace with the Conqueror. It was this, perhaps, that enabled him to follow JOHN Moore to Commie, secure in the mean time that the diversion Sir ions hoped for in the South, could not be inade.—i•PLORIDA BLANCA is • death-11as Moet.A given up the fleet et Cistlizos a peace offering?—Shall we attempt to destroy it or bring it away by force ?--is the floating 'lraq,' which mi. have been lately told Government in tended to send to the Spanish coast, designed for this service . s —But last week only, an expedition sailed from Portsmouth for Spain.—Wili our troops at Gibraltar destroy the Spanish lines of St. Roche ?—Shall we take possession of Ceuta:, - to flank the Rock, or simp:y its place if taken?-- What will be done in vanish America ?--Will it, or rather, will it not, exhibit an iitimense scene of ciril carfare ?--xXliat will be the fate of Sicily ? of Austria ?—acd of Turkey ( L ae . the revolutionary leaven ferment and capand to the East aud West, the North and South !---Heaven shield these islands from it, baleful influence!" The Thanks of the liotise of Lords were voted, Just night, to Sir A aTtluit WELLsostr, and the Officers and men who tehieved the Victory of Vi ineira. The Earl of 11OIR.► moved an amendment, inclioding Sir H. MLA I), but it did not meet the sense of the Hilly!, and biz Lord,hip eo a-rited to withdraw it. 'r I .1 . A Mail from Jamaica arrived yesterday. It Wall brought to Falmouth by the Carteret packet, which sailed on the nth December. Yesterday, at half-past two o'clock, a Cabinet Council was held at the Foreign Office. His MAJESTY is expected in tasvn, to-morrow, to hold a Court at the Queen's Palace. Mr. CHARLES ELLIS is flow mentioned as likely to be the new State Secretary for Ireland. Dr. LAWRENCE is so much recovered from his fate iadispnsitioo, that it is expected he will be able to attend Ins Parliamentary duty in a very few days. Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY returned yesterday to town from Ireland, cud attended the House of Commons ; but it will be seen in our Parliament ary Report, that a lumber of Members were not present sufficient to transact business. General BAIED was second in command of our army in Spina. By his death, and that of the la mented General Morsae, the chief command baa devolved upon Lieutenant-General HOPE. Owing to the badneso•of the roads, and the SIO. • verity ofthe weather, the made bad sot arrived at the Poet-Office yesterday, in time• for the geueral delivery of letters and paper. beabretwo o'clock. Sir Wit. %lynx€, hot. Dean of the Arches' Court of Canterbury, has resigned ; and the lets KIN G's Advocate, :tsir J. Ntcoost., took his seat ou Friday, as Dean of the Arches. The Ktera's Ad vorate is not yet appointed. We are happy in being able to state, that the Pariltien, of la gut... which was „reported to have been lost on time coast of France, was safe is Grua, vas Lake, Cornu all, on Wednesday. The Earl of FIFE was so extremely iil, yester day, that he was not expected to survive long. Earl SreNcea has been confined for some tone to his room, through indisposition. Admiral Sir Hocks CVETIS, Bart. is appointed Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, rice Admiral MONTAGU. The selection of this gallant Officer, far this situation, has given universal satisfaction to the people of Portsmouth, where he is deservedly a distinguished favourite. . The Superb, of 74 guns, bearing the flag of Admiral It EMS, a frigate, two brigs of war, and the Gorgon storeship, are frozen up about nine miles from the Wing°, near Gottenburgh. The Leonidas, FLACTON, Of Newcastle, with tin.. Ler from Prince Edward Island, bowel to London, having lost her anchor and cable, was picked up near the French coast by one of our cruisers, and carried, on Seturdey, into Dover. By the death of Sir Faasets "INCEST, Bart. the Noble Families of llowaap, Praxtuisx, BENNET, BOUVERIE, and Sr. CLAIR EiIbILINE, will go into mourning. He is succeeded in his title aud estates by his eldest son, now Sir F RANO!. VINCENT. The Right Hon. the Earl of ST. Vier:axe gave a grand dinner, on Saturday last ; to Commas CAI, LIS WLSTERN. Esti. M.P. aud a large party of his political friends. The Carteret ar.d Duke of Kent pockets, from Jamaica, with mails, are arrived at Falmouth. The former slides! on the each November; and the later on the I 2th December. Tice Ocean, Captain Peactiase, and several other Transports, are on shore at Corn:.•.r. The EUza, of Jamaica, is cut out of the Bay of Hilda, by.a French privateer. The Peter, J AIMS, from Dublin. for Bristol, was wrecked on the 16th inst. near NVexford. The Fraiseis, Pour, from Liverpr.oi for Caracas, has been driven ou shore near Dublas, and deserted by the crew. Yesterday, beisig the first day of term. the Judges went in state to Westminster Hall, dressed iu their state robes. The Court of King's Bench sat at half-past one o'clock. The re maiuder el . the day was occupied in justif inehail. Lord E'ien. borough was not present. The Court of Fa chtcpser was oetiupied the whele of the day with persons jristifying. Th.. hail rf a debtor was opposed on the gmuud that one or View ass ru— se khed es a Kcal. man, alien lie was rawly delis to a illitoufacturer, h,d a wife and eight children. and was eat used from paying the poor rates as ace count of his prwerte ; end that the other versos proposed hs,! been entrusted With a :sound note, to ascertain its Tabelity, and that he had never mottl ed it. 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