The Sun. — London, England, 1815-01-23 00:00:00

COURT MARTIAL ON Slit JOHN.MURRAY, Ditim AT NIINCiIESTER.) SATURDAY, SIXTH DAY. The A DVOCATE-GENEaAL stated, that the Court bad considered whether they should call back Captain lugleby to beexamined again on the ad- ditional questions which Admiral Hallowell wish ed to put to him, and they had determined, under all circumstances, that he should not, be again ex.►iuined. After thus communicating the deter m►nat.ion of the Court, he would observe to Ad- ruiral Hallowell, that those questions had in fact been answered by some of his other witnesses. General Sir W. CLINTON was then sworn and examined. Q. Was you not second in command at the siege of Tarragona 1--A, I was the next senior Otti:,•er to Sir John Murray, but was in the com mand of a division. Q. Did yon receive directions in the:morning of the 11th of June, for the, storming of Puerte Reale on that night Early on the morning of that day, I received orders to go to head-quar ters, and to have my division in readiness to march. On my arrival these, I found Sir John Murray, who was just going out. lie informed me that he was going to look for a position on the banks of the Guiara, to meet the enemy Wh.i: were advancing from the side of Barcelona. He . • left. me in the temporary command of the pass, and told me that if Major ,Thaciltery reported the breach practicable in the Putste Reale, it should be stormed that night. • Q. Did Major Thackery, report the breach prac-, ticable on that day?—A. Soon after 12 o'clock in . the day, he reported it to be practicable. Q. Had you any conversation with Sir J. Mur ray about eight o'clock in that evening Hay ing arrangements at bead-quarters, u lien was going to my post atOliva, I Met an 'Officer of the Staff, who told me that Sir J. Murray was on his way to head-quarters, and that he should pro bably meet him. I requested the Officer to tell Sir John that all arrangements had been made for the attack of Puerte Reale ; and that at ten o'clock the signal would be given for the attack, unless oiders should arrive to the contrary.: Ai I was going on to my pest, 1 met Captain Mills, of the -27th, and requested him to go to head-quarters, and inform the Commander of the forces that every thing was prepared for the attack. Captain Mils returned iu about half,an hour, and brought wot d that the attack would be made. Having then made every arrangement, and given diree tions that.the signal rockets should be fired pre cisely at 10, I rude to head-quarters, to report the wails of ,the arrangements made, and to receive t►uy further orders from the Commander of the forces. On my arrival at head-quarters, Sir J. Murray informed the that the attack must be given mp , and that, from the information he bad re, coved of the movements of the enemy, the siege of Tarragona most he abandoned. 1 then informed taint, that; s it was then half-past nine, I feared the a tt:o.,/, . lesS orders had been sent to the contrary. Ile ac quainted me that he had already countermanded the attack. I then informed hint, that if the signal was made, the false attack to be made by my divi sion and the Spaniards would still take place.— Ile obserVed that all the Officers attached' to him w.re'illsent on other duty. . 1 then informed him that Caps: Castemar, who attended me Leas ready to take his orders. Thgt Officer was then ordered to go with all speed to Oliva , 'to prevent the signal be ing given, and he arrived just in time to prevent the tiring of the rockets. . Q. Did you receive any information on the morning of the 12th, of the enemy's apprriaching, and in what direction,?L-A. By the first order 1 received on the 12th, I was led to iMagine that Sir J. Murray expected the .enemy on the Guiara. -I proceeded with my diviSion to head-quarters, by the shortest road 1 could takei-ont of the fire'of the town.. I then hardly knew on what side was not tdapprehend an attack. Q. Previous to that order, had you not received all order to go with - six battalions in support of General Copons-.?—A. I had. It was to enver • tt nimr.(nient about to be made by General Copons, who was then at. Alta Q. Did you receive orders to 'Spike the guns, and when I did receive orders to that cffect. I think it was about ten o'clock. I was alsb di rected to matTh with My division to the beach. Q.elms that order cOuntermaniled before there WAS time to carry it into execution ?----A. 'lt was countermanded, but not befote there had been tithe to carry it into execution. Q. Was it coeintermanded before it'was actually carraoi into execution %—A . . Certainly, it teas ; except with respect to the guns .on the six-gun battery, which were spiked in error. Q. Had the gulls been allowed to remain, would tlere have been any difficulty in bringing them down to the beach for embarkation, after it was Clark ''f.—.V.lapprehLtid that certainly there would not. I was at the mortar battery about twelve o'clock, when the Officer conananding there was a,•tively employed in preparing. to evacuate it. I tat him that 1 would 'furnish hint with A working piety of 50 men front my division to assist him. 'Lie Officer informed Me, that with that assist aocc, he tvould answer for it, that not one piece' of ordnance of time battery should he lost, ' but that they shou'd be all safe for embarkation by 10 ''cheer, that night. • . How long you yemain, at your post at Tilt near five iu the afternoon of the 12!'i. 0. Do. you knoll: of any ,enemy's force appear, i:llhet %%Ten Betlaver an.l Tarragona, betore the fith of June, or e ven .as late as that day ?—A. I tt,iil it was the 14th or 15th ; but as I Ilave . uot Joy notes in Court, which I took at that. time, I cannot:spea6 positively as to dates. The witness then, left the Court, and returned wit his notes. After ;ook;t1g" t theta, he iaid tl:at it tv.,7,s not till the 15th of )une th 4 the enemy s!;ewit‘ii thenisch'es in that direction. . h e m)s siAtirnß.d with his troops to defend the pass of the Co, de Balaguer, he saw nothing of the eaemy, • but understood that they bad turned the hill hy . 4 mountain road. Q. Do von know of any cause which obliged its to raise ttie-Siet:e of Tarragona precipit te, manner ;We 'did, leaving our, stores, 00 it provisiot S behind us •—A. Totally iminformatt as . I was of the instructions - that the CommanderOf the Forces night have fur his guidance, or what might be the information' which he might have received with respect to the situation or move ments of theenerny:,..l can only say, that I anew of no reason that could render necessary the end less change of measures which was' observed on that ill-fated day. I .could hardly imagine any situation of things which could have rendered necessary such proceedings as those of,,,the 12th of June • and circumstanced as the British force , in the plaio of Tarragona appeared to me to be — in the possession, on the' one side, of Fort St. Fe lippe and the Col de Balagtier ;. and on the other side, having at least 6000 troops under the com mand .of such. Of as Colonels Mansol and' Luther, in the direction of- Barcelona— I ant clearly of opinion, that the precipitate : retreat from before Tarragona on the I'2th of June,- was not necessary or warranted ; and that the measure of abandoning the_ siege of Tarragona in such a way, had all the appearances of a. disgraceful flight. • •• Admiral : Hallowell said, .that hebad'no.further• questions to put to him. Cos-gxcinzined by Sir J. INluratax. - Q. Was the order given at ten o'clock for spik ing the - guns unconditional and positive, or was it conditional and contingent ?—A. There was no condition or contingencl4 at all. It.. was, how ever, a verbal order. Q. Could the - guns be brought down to the beach in the day time, without being exposed to the fire from the town, and in some,places almost enfiladed by that fire .--77/.1. Certainlyuot. Q. Were the gnus on the six-gun battery ac tually spiked : at the time the counter-orders ar rived They were not. Q. Wikat was the error which occasioned their being spiked.?—A. The circumstance was this : Soon utter I had received the orders for spiking the 'guns, two Officers of the artillery came to time, and informed me that they had brought spikes for destroying the guns ; and that they had been directed by the commander of the artillery to re ceive my orders when the guns should be spiked. Having - received on that day a number of - orders and counter orders, I did hope that a counter order might he received with respect to spiking the guns. - I then directed one of the Officers to the mortar battery, and the other' to the six-gun battery. To the last, I said that I would go to Oliva, and front the right at that spot give the signal for spiking the guns. • Some short time after, r received counter-orders with respect to spiking the guns. As I was standlug about 100 yards to the right of Oliva, in conversation with an• Officer, the enemy, who were, always jealous Of that point, fired a shot at us, .which fell at no great distance. I observed to the Officer, I must thank them for their civility, and having movet4 forward four or five paces to an elevated spot, 1 saluted the point from. whence the shot-came.— Shortly after going to Oliva, and happening to _ Kittery_ I ohserepd u+ tl1t1?~n81 bitstle. there I. remarked to Colonel Duple, of tie German Legion,. that surely it was nut pos sible that the Officer in that battery could hitve mistaken what 1 did just now as a signal to spike the guns: From the hurry, however, which still continned at that battery,. I ran there with all speed, to endeavour prevent the destruction of the guns, but I did not arrive in time. Q,.Wts the salute you gave by pulling' your bat ofn—A. It was. Q. What was the signal you' had agreed to give guns The taking off my for the spiking the hat at the right, and at the rear of the old ruined work at Oliva, The witness-eras then asked by the Court', whe ther, at the time of his so taking off - his hat he was lathe situation agreed answer was, Certainly not. Q. Do you mean to say, that no enemy -ap peared from the side (rf Valencia before the 15th. Jane;.?--A. Not that I am aware of ; 1 did not ar rive at Balaguer till the evening of the 14th, and had no opportunity of observing any thing but what passed: in front of the old fort towards Perillo. • Q. Am I to understand you, that on the 12th of June you were not apprized of .my instruc tions., or of the strength, position, and move ments of the columns of the enemy I—A.tlearly. Q. Were . von entirely ignorant of my instruc tions on the 12th, and did I not communicate flint to you - on that day ?—A. The first time I knew your instructions, and then but partially, was when you produced them at a Council of War, at Balaguer, on the 17th of June. The witness . then withdrew, but in a short time Sir J. illurray expressed a wish that he should be called back, in order to put another question to him, which he had omitted. . „ • The ADVOCATE-GENERAL dbserveil, that this request was under circumstances different from that of Admiral Ilahlowehl, as no other evidence bad intervened'hetween the time of his examina.L tion and that when-the request was Made. Admiral .flallowell- had no objection to the witness heing•called back. General Clinton being called - bad:, Sir John Murray put the *following question to hiw Q. liave.you never expressed yourself as offend - - ed with me, for not having placed in you that confidence which you conceived yourself entitled to ar; the next senior officer in command ?-.-A. I certainly had great reason to feel, that during the time of being utidgr your command, no degree of confidence appeared to he placed in me. I do not recollect, however, my having expressed myself in the manner mentioned in your questitin. I cer tainly was not offended. Admiral Ilellowell stated, that be had no more witnesses . to call. offered to produce two letters, the one from Sir J. Murray to Ad miral fellow, requesting a co-operation. Sir J. Murray said, that he was ready to admit, that he had _requested co-operation from Sir E. and had expected it, and therefore those letters ritiglic be onneeessary. Admiral Hallowell then cKpressed himself satis flcaon- thi,i 'Mint by the admission of Sit' S. Mur • ray.: He should now propose to prove by the log htlol.-.ol' the Caledonia (Admiral Pellew's flag ship), that the co 7 oper3Oon whieh was expected was actually ant:7. that Admiia'l Sir B. Pd len', for that purpose, deft his station o Toulon, and arrived in the Bay 61 . Rosas . 6n the 9th, where he continued till the 15th . of June. Mr. John I.)orhy, filoin the Navy-office, proved the log-book of the Caleglonia, from which ex tracts were read by the Judge Advocate. It ap peared that. the Caledonia, with • several other ships of the fleet, had, entered" the Bay of ,Rosas on the 9th. of June, and that on the 10th several seamen and marines were landed, for the purpose Of driving the enemy from the. village of Escala. It' also appeared, that they remained there till the 15th. Admiral HallowelFalSo presented a return of the forces of every description which Sir J. Murray hadiapplied to him' to prepare for receiving on board at Alicant. Ile. should add to this, that he had taken on hoard above . a hunched horses more than' was stated'in this requisition. =The Court agreed to receive the return, but said that they expected to receive exact official returns.of the actual force. Sir J. Murray had no objection to the paper being received, or to acknowledging that lie did make out a requisition.. It did not follow, how ever, that this was an exact account of what was actually embarked. The Court said, certainly not. Sir BenjaMin Hallowell then tendered a paper, purporting to be a letter from Colonel Manuel Loder, a Spanish Officer, to be received as evi dence if the Court shotild decide, to receive as such the letters of other Spanish Officers; to be produced in his defence by Sir John Murray. On the suggestion of Sir Samuel Aclimuty, that unless the letter was now adthitted, - in . order that Sir J. Murray might be prepared to meet its con tents, it could not afterwards be brought forward on behalf of the prosecution ;,the 'Court deter mined that the letter;on being regularly authenti cated, should be read and received in evidence. Admiral Hallowell having 'then stated that he could prove the hand-writing by two Witnesses,. and testified on oath to his belief of that fact, and the translation having been submitted to and ap proved by Sir John Murray, the letter was. read, and wai in substance as follows :--11 bore date Rens,,June 14, 1813, and was addressed to Capt. Adam, representing that he had just ar rived with three battalions and one squadron, with which force he bad expected the enemy, who were posted at Villafranca with 5;500 men. That the enemy retired from Villafranca in the night of the at ten o'elo , ;k, towards Barcelona. That the transport having on hoard the clothing fur his troops, of which lie stood much in need, had gone round, and he should be much obliged to Capt. AdaM to send her back toSalonne, she had come there for that purpose, and to communicate what ever intelligence lie might have received of the 'enemy's movements, &c. Admiral Hallowell observed, that he had in troduced this document for the purpoie'of shelv ing that up to the 14th, the enemy hail not ap peared before Balaguer. The Court having now enquired Whether there LAIR .6 Hallowell stated, that he' had closed the prose cution of his case. Althoii - gh he had not had an opportunity of bringing forward his. Spanish witnesses, nor been allowed to strengthen his evi dence by any proof of transactions subsequent to the 12th, 'he had to thank the Court for the hand some manner in which his applications for that purpose had been refused. • Sir John Murray then observed, that as there had been two distinct openings, and two separate prosecutors had appeared against him,' he hoped that he might 'be indulged in making the several statements, 'and supporting each' separately, 'by the evidence on his defence. • - The DEPUTY JUDGE ADVOCATE. saw no objec tion to this, reserving to himself Otis own indivi dual right to reply on the two first charges, al r though lie did not at present see that it would be at all necessary, as the letters of Sir John Murray and the instructions of the Duke of Wellington were now before the Court. The President said, it certainly rested with Sir John Murray to urge his defence in such a man ner as he should deens , most advantageous to him self ; and it was now for him to say, what time he would require for its preparation. Sir J. Murray replied, that the Court must be aware . that he was not disposed to take up' their time 'unnecessarily, or for a longer period than should be indispensably necessary for his defence. The great variety of matter, however, WhiCh had been introduced, and the evidence, almost entirely false (he meant with respect to the inforniation on which it was founded), that had been adduced, compelled him to solicit frOm the Court the indul gence of five days, as he conceived that he could not be fully prepared in a shorter space of time. The President said, it was for the priSoner to name what period he should deem absolutely ne cessary, and it that should appear unreasonable, the Court must be cleared to take the question into consideration. The Court was accordingly clear ed, but in a short time assented to the request of Sir Murray, mid adjourned till Friday morning ne.xt. A Gentleman, who had been unsuccessful for several Lotteries, never having had a Prizc above 201. went into WE'BB'S Office, on Ludgate-bill, the other day, to try his luck once more and de clared at the slme time, if again unlucky, he would have flone with Y.iotteries. But Dame For tune, unwilling to lose a Suitor, rewarded his perseverance with an Eighth of the Ten Thousand Pound Prize. There are Two Prizes of 20,0001, in the remains of the present small Lottery, and the whole of the Capitals which the Scheme originally contain ed (except the 10,0001. drathn the First Day) and the First-drawn Prize above 251. next Friday (the Second Day of Drawing), will be entitled to one of the Two Twenty Thousands, and the Ticket it self may be the other 20,0001., so that the First drawn Prize Om 251:may actually be a"40,0001. Prize. MAILS. • AnuzvcD-3 France, I Holland, 1 Heligoland, 1 Guernsey'. and Jersey, 1 Waterford. Duc-1 Lisbon, 2 HaniOrghs 1 Holland, 2 Dublin, 1 Waterford. PRICE OF THIS DAY AT rss Bank Stock, a per Cent. Red. Gsii 3 per Cent. Cons. 650 4 per Cent. Cons. s'2i b per Cent.NaryAnn. 940 STO CKS ELVE O ' CLOCK. Bank L. Ann. I6i 7-16tlis India Bonds, e9s, 19s. pr. Exclieq. Bills, 3s. ss. pr. ()minim, l dis. Cons. for Febtuary 654 Su* average price of Brawn or Muscovado Suy,f, Iteb7, made iq the wevic January, 1815, is 745. 54d. per cwt. HIGIi WATER. AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW;' Morning, 57 minutes after 12.1 Evening, minutes after TO THE EDI ' T'OR Or THE SUN. Sra,,—ln the Morrtiv Chronicle of the 21st inst. a Correspondent, who signs himself ",MERCA• Ton," has, at the instance of an eminent Broker, contrasted two Leters from the Board of Treasury with a view of pointing out an inconsistency be tween the instructions given to the Commissioners of Customs and the Commissioners of F.kcise ne to the Seizure of . Goods erroneously marktd, Avhere the substance and contents correspond witb the Manifest ; the subject would certainly hare' :l been better understood by the Public if MERCATOR had condescended to favour them with a sketch of the original practice of the two Boards, and it is to supply .this intended omission that I am induced to trouble you doing this, however, it is necessary to observe, that the constitution . and duties of the Boards al luded to are distinctlyditferent, the Customs em bracing all articles imported, in every variety of package; the Excise only a limited number, highly -. taxed, the weight or dimensions of the packages of which are prescribed by law ; the restrictions', therefore, which are absolutely necessary to prevent fraud in the one case would, if rigidly acted upon •in the other, be infinitely vexatious and harassing, and would materially em barass, if not altogether annihilate that Commerce for which MERCATOR expresses himself so' anxious. PRACTICE OF THE CIATOSII4. PRACTICE OF TIIE EXCISE. ' When the Otlicers„ of the When the Officers of the Customs stopped Goods er-. Excise stopped Goods erro roncously marked, in sub- neonsly marked, in substanc• stance and content corres- and content corresponding imuding with the 'Manifest, with the Manifest, the Board, they were ordered for prosecu- on the Officer's Report of the tion, and it was not until after circumstances, directed t heir a Memorial and various re- delivery on payment of a small ferenees - that the Merchant Fine; certain in amount, cur obtained an Order for the Re- responding with the extent of lease of his Property ,! on sa- the irregularity, one moiety ti,fying the seizing °dicer. of W•bleh went to' the , Crown, This again led to endless dis- the other to the seizing Of putes : amount ultimately ker. • paid was seldom in proportion • , to the irregularity, "and the delay alone was frequently at tended with ruinous conse-. • queuces. From this statement, it is evident that the Trea.. sury were not, inconsistent in deprecating the practice of the one Board, and approving of the practice of the other ; and that they'have in this, as in other instances, consulted as much as practi cable, the convenience of the Merchant, and th 9 interests of the Revenue. EXPOSITOR. NEXT FRIDAY WILL BE THE SECOND DAY Or - DRAWING, WHEN THE FIRST - TICKET •DRAWS A PRIZE ABOVE 4.25, WILL RECEIVE L. 20,900: ONLY ONE DAY MORE TO DRAW. THE SUN.. SOLEI‘I QUIS OICERE FALSUM MIDEAT ? LONDON. • MO ND/ Y, JA N IZef R-Y 23, 18) 5: Lord CASTLEREAGH IS expected borne by the 4th of next month. It is confidently stated in -14 Morning Paper of this day that the Duke of WWI LINGTON IS gone to Vienna, to replace Lord CASTLEREAGH. From our enquiries we- have no reason to believe that this statement-is correct. The, same Paper says that, a fast-sailing %Ter' sal was sent off on Friday with Dispatche s to Mr—CANNING to invite him to take office, Oar Lord CASTLEREAGH will be moved to- the Lordsi, and that the SPEAKER is likely to take okee. have reason to believe that these- .statenleut*l are founded. on no better authority. At Vienna *! totaLehange of- NegociatOrs has taken :place. Count STaDION, .we rejoice to find, stipersetle 4 Prince Mr.TTF,,N.t.cll 3 Count CAPO D'ISTRIA the place of the Russian Plenipotentiary,. Count NESSELCODE, and the councillor of State; JoV DAN, is the Prussian Minister instead of Barol: HUMBOLDT. The cause of these alterations tg not iatistactorily.explained. , --We may, howevdi presume, from •the known political sentiments ,the new Ministers, that the arrangement of Europe! upon the bases which have been advocated in 0 0 , Paper, will he the speedy result of their appoin t ; . meat. • , ,‘ Brussels Papers will be found in our first pet They contain some interesting news from Vienn e ! French Papers to the 20th have also reacted this Morning, and their intelligence from the . '4 l- ` 1 quarter is alsoof considerable importance. Le i r sick, like Milan, has been the scene of .se/ r e veral arrests. The_ Partisans of the King °` 111 full of activity, And the Prussian' iarty • • peremptory. From the disclosures contaiiie, • 11; the Neapolitan and Roman Papers, it is - evi' e • that KingAt tra . AT's assurance is out rrart,--,-s • • rj- FS Svc trust, he will go, even in Mr. WHITBitO, sense of the word. ; 1 , 0 The ICING o FgANCE bas disavowed •the_g