The Sun. — London, England, 1812-12-05 00:00:00

FRENCH PAPERS. ,OURTHER EXTRACTS.) SPORT OF. MONS.. THE MARSHAL GOUVION ST. CYR TO HIS HIGHNESS TER PRINCE MAJOR-GE- NERAL , OCT. A.—By my last, of the 17th inst. fin formed your Highness that the 2d corps would probably be, attacked on .'the .foll Owing day by all the forces united,' under , the ,orders of Count DE WITTGENTEIN, have :spoke' to you of the reinforcements, which .he had . receivedfrom St: Petersburgh, -and which .in all amounted to• 17,400 men, including in that num ber 6 r 8,000 men which had been .scraped to gaber in St. Petersburgh and its• environs. — Ile has. further received the 21st division, which wa's , fresh arrived from Finland ; a "part of this division -only has had an engagement in an affair against the Prussians. They - have formed a. junction with the troops under-WITTGENSTEI N, at • Disna, 8n thel6th, at the moment when he had destroyed the post which I had placed there. — On the I.Bth inst. at 6 o'clock in the morning, M. DE WITTGENSTEIN debouched before •Polotsk, in four Columns, and extending his troops past my position, and profiting by the enormous superiori, ty of which he was posses - sed to take the reverse, End without any danger, make himself roaster of the position which I had occupied on the left bank of the Polota, in the face of that which be be had before occupied -on 'the Driss7. His first serious attack was made against a battery a bar bette, which . I had caused to be established in an advantageous position, and which it was neces sary, at any rate, to occupy, in order not to ex pose to the enemy the weakest part of my posi .tion, that,is to say, the front ofthe town, which ckered no other difficulty than a palanka, the front of which I had covered, but which, not being• yet finished, Was every whera open, and principally at the two little bastions whiCh were to support it, but were as yet scarcely marked o ut. , nevertheless brought some pieces of cannon there, which did us service. The battery de la - Thuilleries was taken and retaken three or four times: It was defended by the troops of the Bth division, commanded by the General of Division Maison. The defence of this front of the attack does him infinite honour, as like Wise to the corps charged with its defence, that is to say; the 2d and 37th of the line, and the Ilth of light infan ;Try, as likewise two squadrons of the 14th regiment of cuirasiers, commanded by. M. Remberg, two 'squadrons of the light troops' of the Bth lancers, and twenty chasseurs commanded. by the Chef d'Escadron Curel, who led the right of the , Bth division, and whose conduct in all the charges which he received or made against forces so dis proportionate as theirS, merits the greatest cult)- , giums. Theenemy deployed 'another of his co before the - frontof the 6th division COM.. mantled by XL the General Legrand. prin eipallydirected his attack against a.battery which was not completed on the left bank of the Polota," and which thus became the centre of the • „division Legrand.' Three or four times he endea .:vetred to obtain possession of it, and'was always -Tepulse4 with. that loss which is ever experienced -ken'taich enterprises do not succeed. Up" to the afteratithithe enerny had not darerl to attack the fr4nt -of the •right bank of the Polota, some points of which were tolerably well entrenched and fiuished - ,• but about 4 o'clock they debouched troin the road of Seibit and Riga, and furiously ? and in a 'crowd, marched - upbn the left flank of the town,•supported by, the column which de-' boached from the Neval road. I wished to have allowed all that fine ardour to have been. spent .izpontwo redoubts,:constructed and occupied by the Bavarian artillery anti troops, and necessary to their defenle, commanded by General Vicente ;' but the Swiss of the . 2d division,. commanded by General Merle, as well as the 3cl regiment of Croates; in opposition to the settled dispositions, precipitated.theiuselvcs before .the Russians, and fought with.• fury, remarkable bravery, order, I and sang froid. We at last brought the Russians who made this attack, under the wall.of the town, --where the carnage we caused them, from the Morn ing, upon all points of their whole army; only ter minated with night. The Rassians, notwithstand ..ing their superiority; left the ground heaped with corpses, and did not succeed' in any of their attacks. Notwithstanding the success ob tained on this day, 1 was -uneasy in - the even ing respecting the, success my cavalry might have met with upon the - left bank of - the Dwina, l .On fiis day 'had deprived myself of the greater part of my cavalry, to..be easy respecting my,rear. On this evening General -Carbineau, whose' bri gade of horse, extremely fatigued, had not pe, netrated beyond the. Otischatz, bad met, ac cordiag' to his account, but some cavalry and a few infantry. As he was perfectly satisfied in this respect, having at his.disposition three bat talions of : Bavarian infantry, I waited the fol lowing day with much tranquility. ()lithe 19th, at break of day; we saw the - ene- • my in'movement upon the line, occnpied in lying their position, and forming a half circle 'Totuitl ours. -About 'ten in the . morningan Aid d Of. General Carbincau arrived, and in- Brined me he had before ,his briga:ie 6000 men, ;and 12 squadrons of cavalry, I lost not a mo- Anent in' taking a regiment. out of each Of the lcl corps; taking in preference those which might most easily withdmiwn from before the enemy, - who would not then have failed to renew. his at tacks, 'and only waited to : do it, the appearance of this corps, the arrival of which he invatiently expected. Towards noon these troops defiled upon the heights behind Polotsk : the enemy . clearly pel•ceived the object of this movement, but thought it was a kind of : reserve behind PolotSk, I tsseihbled these troops; tinder the command of , .cr'eneralAiney, and joined to them the 7th regiment ,of cuirassiers, and Ponmer's division, who had . • vot hitherto met the enemy in proceedin . g up, the -Dw.ina. At the same time, 1 ordered, - that as soon *as it was, dusk, the whole of, the army shoidd,cross to the left of the Dwina. , Towards the fall of day, at the moment in ~h ich we began to withdraw, the artillery feom the advanced works, .some 'imprudent persons set e to General Legraud's barricits, which in a - moment commenced through the whole line, and gave the enemy certain ,proof that we were re- tcries, and threw 'into . the town a quantity of 'she'll and other incendiary projectiles to set it on fire, part succeeded, hoping ley this to prevent our artillery movements, and blow up our caissons.. . . Thii cannonade and bombardment were sup ported by a general attack. We saw each other as if 41101 daylight, by the light 'of the burning town; and this attack (lid not cease mail the mo ment when the last man bad repassed to the left bank of the 13wina, but in the raids` - .of. these, attacks, anel . of the confusion caus ed by firing the .town., the troops conducted themselves-with the most eitraOrdipary bravery, and the retreat was performed in the best order. At Midnight all the artillery was retired, and the whole body of the troops had passed over at half past two o'clock in the morning. I immediately reinforced with two regiments which were 'the first that passed, the troops which I had put Un det the orders of General Amev, and who had suc ceeded in the evening in . confining - the enemy in the defiles near to Solonk, Ina were not yet in sight of M. de Wittgenstein's army.. With these troops tilde was a column of Bavarians, abont six or seven hundred men strong, I re-united the „whole under the command of M. - Merle, to whom I gave 'orders to march immediately against the front of General Steingel, and to, repulse him with vigour, and to throw hint past the - Ouschatz, as I could then support this attack.with another part of the army, if it should become necessary.. At' the moment that these troops put theatel.vcs in motion, they fell in. with tliOse of the enemy.. • The CorpS of M. de'Steintel was broken; and after a great loss in killed„ driven to the other side of the Polota, leaing in our hands twelve . or fifteen hundred prisOners, among whom were eighteen officers of different ranks, and among other, a Captain of an English vessel, employed in the Etat Major of M. Steingel, and who said. lie had been three weeks in the Russian service: This affair gives great honour to M. Count Wrengel who directed it, and to Gene.ral Antsy who se conded him well. I owe the greatest eulogiums to thesood :con duct Of the troops, to the zeal and intelligence Of the, officers of all ranks, and of. the Whole army who have seconded me well, among whom I shall mention Messrs. the Generals 1,4:44u1, - Merle, Baron Laurencez, my chief of the General Staff; Aubry, &Muria nder of the Artillery ofthe 241 corps. Bede commander of the Engineers ; and M. the Adjutant Commandant Dalbighac, who have on this day acquired new rightS on his Mkjesty's fa vour. I shall have file honour to address to your Highness in a few days—from this place, a list of the officers who by their good conduct have merited prefermenL Our loss is not very considerable in comparison with that of the enemy which is enormous ; Ge neral Legrand has had n horse killed, under him, and received two contusions ; Colonel Guieb eneue, aid-de-camp to his Majesty, is amonohe number of the wounded. I have the honour to inform your Excellency, that a ball which ,I have received in my left foot, and which.hinders me from marching or' mount ing upon horseback, 'will oblige me to quit the active command of the corps d'armee for ten or twelve days. I have given it up to Count La /GRAND, and'reckon upon moving only one march from the corps d'armee, to be ready to resume my functions : hoping to be still useful to the corps d'armee by my counsels, if General LEGRAND ap plies for them. But I expect in the ,course of a few days the, Duke of REGeaO, and the corps under tile command of the Duke of BE.C.LUNO‘ is 'in march. Oar junction effected, we will briskly push the Russian army. (Signed) The Marshal Gen. ST. CYA. • (Moniteur.) Report froth Lieutenant-Genera Count Wrede, Cynorosha, near Babinettielly, Oct. 28d. " Being ignorant whether NI. the Marshal Count Gouvion St. Cyr has been able, for the last two day§, to give your Excellency any intelligence concerning the position which I o b ccapy, with the 6th corps 'of Bavarians, the 'lst brigade of French light cavalry, and the brigade of cuirassiers of Gen. L'kleritier, I now make it my duty to in form your Excellency of the movements which I have 'made : since the day before yesterday. Per . haps, my Lord Dake, you,have bee:i apprised, that .ou - the 19th, the enemy who, on the 15th, (Bth) had been so bravely and completely beaten before POlotsk,- has, by his superior force, gained much ground on Gen. Carbiueau, who was charg ed to prevent the enemy's passage of the Ouschatz, and came by the rear on Polotsk. f"rhe enemy having been at the moment de bouching front the. town of Pulotsk, the Marshal Gonvion St. Cyr caused me to be called; to en gage me to take the command of the troops which he had reunited on the left bank to prevent the enemy from debquching, I took the eommand just as his tirailleurs were coining out of the wood. It was, a battalion cif the brave 19th French regi . merit of the line that I found had the inOstto support, and to whom I gave orders to charge with bayonet, as it was.necessary to have the ene my driven back half -a league through the defile• before the night came on._. This expedition per .formed; Marshal. Count Gouyion St. Cyr put un der my orders the 19th, 37th, and 12 .4th regiments at infantry, the 2d Swiss regiment, the 7th cui rassiers, and the brigade of Gen. Carbineau, to endeavour, taking with me a Bavarian brigade, eery few in number, to repulse the enemy from the other side of the Ouschatz, on the morning of the 22d. I divided this corps into three columnS, myself leading that of the centre, the left wing being commanded by Gen. Baron. Amey, and the right by the Bavarian General de Strath. At half-past four in the morning, the enemy attacked me in the defile,,at the moment when- I was preparing tc , make my attack. As I had given orders not. to fire, nor to punish the inso lence of the enemy, excepting with , the bayonet , only, - he was, in the course Of an hour and half, -driven through the defile, which is three leagues in length. The brave 19th and 37th regiments of the line, commanded by the worthy Brigade Ge neral Grundler, • covered .themselves with .glory. Two Colonel, one Major; and a 'great number of officers, and 1800 men were made prisoners.— • After having debouched from the wood, I attacked • left bank of the Ouschatz, having with him a nu n-It:tons cavalry and artillery. In the p;ice of an hour;-the Bavarian artillery, which I had with me, Silenced that of the enemy, and I passed the Ouschatz by wading. If General Baron Aniey, to vc - hotn I had given orders to march dowii from It r,dnia, by the left` of the Ons6hatz, to take the enemy on his right flank, had .been able to arrive at this juncture,' it is most likely that the whole of the enemy's corps would have been destroyed. I was in pursuit of- the enemy on the road to Dis na, whtu I received orders from Marshal Count St'..Cyr to return towards liolOtsk, his Excel lency having resolved to wait the arrival of the 9th corps, which is under the command of the Marshal the Duke of Belluno (Signed) MAILS. " DE VIRLDE." AußtvEn--I.Tersey, I Waterford.. *lv n-1 Cadiz, 4 Gotten burgh, 1 Guernsey, 1 Jersey, 1 Brazils, '1 Dublin, 1 Wa terford. , I • PRICE OF STOCKS ruts PAY AT TwYLvt: Consoisifor Opening -7. 5,:a Ited.Ann. 5; 3k TT - NT -a_ SOLEM Qt.IS DI!:ERE FA LS UM AU DEAT L' 0 .11", D a N, AT D .DECEMBER 5, 1012. We hays been favoured with the perusal of the following Letter, from an Officer on board . the Beagle sloop of war, which Arrived at' SPitbead yesterday evening, from the north coast of Spain : " SPITHEAD, DEC. 4. " We have just returned from St. Andero, and the bearers of from Lard WELLINGTON, We sailed early Saturday morning; I was on shore Friday night', when a messenger arrived from a persQn who is in the habit of sending Sir HOME POPHAM all the news relating to the armies, which confirms a report that was prevalent the clay before, that an action had taken place, and the French had been defeated with a loss of at least 7000 men, that further particulars would be sent as soon as ascertained." " Thu following letter from a confidential person was received at St. Andero, on Cue night of Fri- day, the 27th, and was forwarded, we under- stand, to a Noble Lord in this country. It is dated from Anguela del Campo, Nov. 25 :---- " The French at Tiedra have been reinforced by 300 men froth IBurgos, and all the Alcaldes of that district put, under an arrest until, they-pay the last contribution. The towns of Basconcellas and Panezares hs.ve been burnt by the French because the inhabitants left them. ‘i An action has taken plate near Salamanca, in which the French lost upw4r43,- of SAO amen, and are retiring to the Valley of Eguela, and have ordered 70,000 rations at Palencia," We bad neither time nor room yesterday to offset any comments upon the important mass of intel ligence which we. bad the satisfaction _of laying before our Readers. It happened, rather sin gularly, that. we- received, on the same day, the official accounts ,both from. France and Russia, and both of them ; furnish the most substantial ground for exultation to every real , friend. to humanity. The TWenty-eighth Bulletin (tor ; we ; will begin with the French acl count) contains admissions of distress, such as are not to be found in any other• French official document since the commencement of the French ' Revolution. For a long time, indeed, BUONA - PARTE has thought proper to lay aside that vaunting tone which he had assumed when he entered the Rus- Hssiaw-Aerrituries. There can .be no doubt, that after the battle of Borodino, and the burning of Moscow, BLiONAPAgTE was fully aware. of the danger of his situation. He began by mak- - ing an attempt to negociate, and the mo ment he failed, he set about his retreat, and a most disastrous one it has been. It is un-. necessary to travel through the details given in the Russian and r'rench Bulletins, but it appears that. two very severe and sanguinary battles have been fought, One at Maloyaroslaydy ,and One at Viasma ; in each of these actions .both sides claim the' victory ; but the result was that the French continued to retreat, , and the Russians to pursue.• Besides those two battles, the Russians mention a successful attack which was' made on the ist of November by the gallant PLATOW, 'at Kolotzk, where the French lost two colours, and 24 pieces of cannon ; of this affair the, French Bulletin takes no notice whatever. But though BUONAPAATE has not acknowledged the defeat at Kolotzki be found it impossible to was reduced. "On the 7th November," says the winter began ; the ground is covtre.! flusow ; the ground is becante very slippery, a" 1 very diflituU for carriage hones. We have many men by cold;and fatigue ; night biaouhckings are very injurious to them." It maybe necessary to inform such of our readers as are not acquainted with the French militaty tetras, that to kychicic is to lay under p_rms all night without any cover; an 4 if we consider the severity of a Russian winter and the length of the nights at this season, W May safely conclude," that the unfeeling tyrant does not very much exaggerate, when he says that " ticoziackings are very injurious to his troops• - But this is not all ;—he says, that " in a very few days be lost 3,000 carriage horses." When he admits so great a number; we may safely esti mate his loss much higher. This then is the situa tion in which BUONAPARTE'S account leaves army, wandering through an inhospitable waste covered with snow, without tents, without bagg,ige, and 'almost without provisions' , and i;icessantly exposed to the attacks of .an ac tive and persevering enemy. But it apptrals that. BUONAPAWTE, having reduced his army to this dreadful state, determined to leave them in. it, and to consult . his own safety ; he therefore. took all his cavalry, (which were essentially necessary to protect the infantry from the attacks of the Cossacas), and made the best of his way to Smolensko. So much for the FrCiteSl Grand Army, as it was called. The fate of the other French Armies in Russia has beep equally disastrous; if the letter of Count 1{051:5, may be depended upon, they have been actually annihilated.. Thus, then, in the course of a few months, has this destroyer of the human race lost the greatest army that ever was as-. senibled ; for he; entered Russia with s6ove 270,000 men, and, we are convinced, that one tenth of that number will never quit the Russian territories. That the Tyrant himself may escape is not impossible, but the chances are against him_ One of the effects of the dreadful reverses which the French have experienced in Russia will, we have no doubt, be the evacuatitn of Spain,— We think we do not hazard much when we predict that, within three months from the pre scut day, there will not be a French soldier in tie BIJONA PARTE (if he should escape) will have no other army but that which is ia Spain; and we are very much mistaken if he wit not want it for very difierent purposes from that of subjugating the Peninsula. We this morning received French Papers tcrt'Le 2d instant, from which the following are txtrael.% : ; FROM THE LOWER RHINE, NOV. 23.—Accord ing to private intelligence from the theatre of war in Russia, the Grand Army has again gained a glorious victory over the Russians ; the lattet are reported to have lost l Generals. We -ex— pect ulterior intelligence respecting this event.— (Jou-nal de Paris, Nov. 30.) ARMY OF PORTUGAL. Extract of a Letter, written to his ExtelLency the - Minister atiWar, by General Count SOI.THAN " TbRDESILLAS, NOV. 12. "Monseigneur—When I arrived at the Army of Portugal to take the command of it, it occu pied cantonments between the right bank of the Ebro and Briviesca. Wishing to force the enemy to raise the siege of Burgos, which the English Army covered, I ordered the Army to unite pre paratory to advancing. " On the 18th of Octoberit put itself in mo • tion, and was followed by a corps of infantry and - cavalry belonging to the Army of the North, un der the orders of Gen. CAF,FARiLtLI. The head quarters . were •established at BrivieSea.- The ad . - vanced-gus,rd of the Army occupied the villages of Queutanovedes •and Santa Ololla, which the enemy had been forced to evacuate, and we to'lk a good number of prisoners froul _ . " In the night between the 18th and .11th Oct. .tile enemy abandoned Quonasero, and Indieate.d by his retreating movement that he renounced the hope of being able to: defend the fine position which commands that village; and which 4-as immediately occupied - by our troops. I then wished to- reconnoitre . the position which the English army had chosen, and, in conse quence, on the morning of the 20th, I ordered Gen. MAccuNE, commanding the 'advanced guard bf the army, to March with the sth and Bth divi sions, and part of the light cavalry, to Quintana palla, and drive the enemy from it, which was immediately successfully executed. - -This . movement shewed the English army, which was encamped upon the heights behind Olmos and Quintanapalla. After having observed the uneasy manoeuvres - of his divisions, I made the army take a' position - upon the heights before Monastero;the right at Temino, and the left 91 Fresno di Ae buro. The enemy then being convir_ced of the