Norfolk gazette and publick ledger — Norfolk [Va.], 1807-04-13 00:00:00, page 2

- iHE PUBLICK LEDGER.
TO 81IF.W
THE YERf AGE AND BODY OF THE TIMES,
1118TORM AND PRESSURE.
MONDAY KVENiWG, APRIL 13, lSoT"
A ship has gone up the bay, which lias brough
London papers as late as the first of March. Pa
pers by her have, been received in this place to thi
26'th of February, which a gentleman has favours)
us with, and from which we extract the intelligent
published in this day’s paper. > > ,
The last authentick intelligence published fron
the armies, was that of the battle of the 25th of Dec
(according to the Russian style, the 14th Dec.) at
or near Posen, in which both sides claimed the vie
tory. Whatever might have been the fact, the re
suit proves that it has been productive of most o
the effects of a defeat to the French^ who appear t<
have been acting * since, on the defensive. To saj
nothing of the national character of the French
whose impetuosity so much better qualifies them fo
offenseusive than defensive war, we think that i
Offensive war cannot be supported long in the coun
try of an enemy. The rapidity of movements, aw
fortunate issue of battles, confound the people o
the country invaded, but the moment the invader;
art/compeTled to act on the defensive, they are de
spised, and no longer feared. The consequence wil
be, that the iuVaders will find thousands of timi<
friends converted into bitter and active enemies
The account which we publish of the battle o
Moihingen, under the head of Ivbuu, is the Frencl
Account of the battle, from which we must concludi
that they wire worsted. The rapid-retreat whicl
they made, Is, to us, positive proof of the fact, bu
if that should be disputed, their own account!
shew that they have ceased to be the assailants
The Russians are seen driving the first corp:
of the army from its cantonments, and projecting
nothing less than surprize of the French Grand Ar
my. Various articles of intelligence support thcs<
conclusions, and all go to prove that the impetuoui
qarecT of Buonaparte is at last checked. In si.>
Weeks from passing the French frontier, the battle o
Austerlitz Was won, and the war ended. BuonaparU
had been by the fast accounts at, and within thirty
miles of Warsaw, two months, and so far from be
ing able to advance, there is every reason to think
he has retreated. We can conceive nothing more
perilous than his situation ; if Austria should join
the Rasmus, his ruin appears inevitable.
The intellinence under the London date of the
23d of February, was neither confirmed nor con
tradicted on the 26'th. The shape in which it i
presented does not, we think, entitle it to entire he
lief; if true, the circuitous route by which intelli
gence from the scene of action is conveyed to En
( gland would take some time before it could be receiv
ed in London, so as to be called official.
It) gjancing over the papers, we perceive that
France is straining every -rve to recruit her grand
iyniy. Large bodies of men were marching from
every quarter towards Poland. Wc may anticipate
important intelligence by the next arrivals. The
empeiour Alexander had joined the army./
, A very violent gale of wind happened about the
16th of February on the coast of England, in which
« great a number pf vessels were lost; the account
of which is in a paper of the 19th February, but
which we did not receive. The ship Alexander,
capt. Foster, of this port, is among those that
were on chore.
On Saturday the French frigate Cybele left our
harbour, and yesterday anchored off Crany island.
We understand that she will proceed to Hampton
Hoads with the first lair wind.
When the British ship. Chichester entered this
port, in such distress as to induce an apprehension
of sinking, and with difficulty was kept afloat, pas
sed the fort without the usual salute, some person
here was at the pains to inform his correspondent
in Baltimore, of the insolence of the British com
mander. The same person may inform bis friends
that the French frigate also passed the fort without
. saluting. * >
PiUN'EHAS Dana, esqr. is elected a director of
the Office of Discount and Deposit of the Bank of
the United States at this place, vice William
Flume, deceased.
A commercial letter from Xew-Orteans, dated 2Sth
*tebruary last, states, that
“ The crop of cotton which will be this year ex
poted trout the Mississippi is 35,000 bales; Sugar
12,000 hhds.; Tobacco 3000 bhds.; Flour 250,000
bids.; the present price of Cotton 20j cents French
wt.”
IxTEitr.STiNo.—We have conversed with a gen
tleman that left Kingston, in J.Miiaica, 17th March,
who informs us that eight French privateers, fitted
out of St. Jago-de-Cubu, were cruizing off Jamaica,
with the avowed intention of capturing all neutral
Vessels bound to that island ; the British islands in
consequence of Buonaparte's decree being consider
ed in a state of blockade. Several American vessels,
whose cargoes were not very valuable, bud arrived
at Kingston, and had bees boarded by some of theSe
privateers, on board of which the American mas
ters learned'the above intelligence. These vessels
were plundered of provisions, spate cordage, sails,
and whatever was worth tailing.
* ** : ■ V 4
. . . y ' •
COMMUNICATION.
It is reported, and we are sorry to say that the
fact appears indisputable, that col. Aaron Burr and
the chief justice of the United States dined toge
ther at Wickham’s, since his examination, and
since his honour had himself solemnly decided that
there were probable grounds to believe him guilty of
' a high misdemeanor against the United States. We
acknowledge that the rites of hospitality ought not
• to be refused to this unfortunate gentleman by those
: who believe him innocent; but confess our astonish
| meht that men, whose intellects are so penetratHUg
, as these of Mr. Wickham and Mr. Marshall, did
not perceive the extreme indelicacy and impropriety
of gnch respect being paid him by the judge who
i is to sit hereafter on his tiial, and who, by his own
opinion officially pronounced, had affixed a stigma
on his charactei, which can only be wiped oil' by
his future acquittal.— (Argus.)
From a Jamaica paper of March iG.
The following is translated from the Periodical
American Kedacteur, of January iy, printed at
New-Grenada, in South-America.
Official letter from Don Santiago Liniers Y Bre
mont, commander in chief of the victorious troops
who re-captured Buenos Ayres, to major-gen. Win.
Carr Beresford.
JjUciios-Ayres, 30th August, 1806.
T lie name of capitulation that your excellency
I
has given in his letter of the 2/th instant, to the
private and personal indulgencies, which you re
r
peatedly requested of me to grant, several days af
ter your excellency had surrendered a prisoner of
war, in order, as you said, to avoid your total
ruin, and which I acceded to in a noble and gene
rous manner, is not only a breath of good faith,
but even insiduous* Sixty thousand witnesses have
perceived the white (lag hoisted on the fort of Bue
:
nos-Ayres, and immediately after the Spanish plac
ed in its stead ; they have likewise seen your ex
cellency retire from the fort with my aid-du-camp
Quintana, after you had hoisted the Spanish (lag,
and without any previous agreement or convention
having been entered into. Let all your officers, let
the innumerable witnesses in Buenos Ayres, who
were present, say whether there can be any doubt,
but that the surrender of your excellency under such
circumstances, was discretionary and unconditional.'
\ our excellency being then a prisoner of war/
how could you have capitulated several days aftejJ
Was it possible I could have granted to
lency a capitulation, which it was then out of ®(jr
power to offer, (us it has been intimated t*your
cellcncy by the governor of Monte Vi.'
answer to the letter your
him on that subject, and co
possession, and from who
authority I was iuvested
words are as follow :)
“ When I entrusted him (gen. I,im
command of the troops
Ayres, then in the pos
under the command o
authorise him to c’oncl
your excellency has
it is for that very reaso
far as it lays in my pow
the favors above mentio
dt n d at, that in i
your excellency sliou'
utterly false, passtn
private regard for yo
to grunt your repea
nancy of your ex
your grief ; but in
ccllency’s letter t
that far from beinc
aim, was to produ
consolation that I
tion, when you pr'
peril that would a
a tribunal of your
But being aware
celleucy, as much in
the publicity given to
1 condescended to
excellency of v.f
the nullity of brwurs
excellency from g^ iug a
kind of existence, to w
Our respective situa
soner of war at discr
that time lor bid us enter
ness which the vigorous e
so soon decided, and wl
lency to the necessity o
been witnessed in tour throw
vtiv qiuuum, uut uujvu was iiJMtimcuieuubiv reiunietr
yon, the Spanish nation thinking it unbecoming to
deprive a general of his arms, who had just dtecif
proofs of the most ttied courage and tli* dKtest
sangfroid, in the jnOsJ imminent dauger,
the fort the last, after having had your
rapt. George \V. Kenneth, of the engiueerf«tJ»
by your side.
•In regatd to our verba) agreement, when
excellency left the fort, it consisted only
forming you that 1 should grant you the
war due to the defence you had made, and
should he exchanged for the Viceroy of
whom I conceived had been made a prisoner, a cir
cumstance which, however, cannot now take place,
having been informed that lie was not taken.
finally, I proposed to my superiors, to the su
preme council, and the corporate body, to send to
hurope the British troops and their officers-, after
having taken the necessary surety for their exchange.
1 supported that proposition with all my power, but
the chapter, the great majority of the principal in
habitants of this city, the governor, the corpora
tion of all the inhabitants of Monte Viedo, were of
a contrary opinion. I did still more in favour of
the troops under the orders of your excellency, I cal
led a council of war, which was composed of all
the staff officers and captains, who on the 26‘th in
stant, approved of my generous proceedings ; hut,
copies of what your excellency called a capitulation,
having been spread abroad on the 2Sth and 2<Hh in
this city, and the same to my knowledge, having
also beeu forwarded by post to Monte Viedo, and
rendered publick there, both cities have positively
insisted, that they would not consent to the British
troops being sent to Europe, to which opinion, the
council of war assembled by me yesterday, have
themselves acquiesced in, and that general senti
ment 1 now accede to the more readily, as mauy
persons have done the most unheard of injustice to
my honour, character, and tried loyalty, by insi
nuating that I was base and mean enough, to suffer
myself by bribery, to be seduced to grant those fa
vours called b_v your excellency »Vapi tuition.—-.Al
though these insinuations excite in me butcontcmpt
lor their authors, and my publick character shields
me from them, 1 nevertheless cannot pass them over
in silence, and this was the reason why I found mv
seif obliged to inform your excellency by your aid
dc-cainp, capt. Arbuthnot, that in future, our com
munications should be by writing.
I<astly I have the honour to inform your excel
• lency, that it has been resolved upon, that the Bri
tish troops should be marched into the interior of
the province*, and quartered in different towns, and
the officers sent to Europe on their parole, not to
serve against Spain or her allies, till exchanged.
1 have the honour to be, &c.
SANTIAGO LINIEIIS.
To Maj. Gen. Wm. Carr Beresford.
IjOxdov, February 12.
GEN. CRAWFURD's EXPEDITION.
We have the pleasure of announcing the safe ar
rival at St. Jago, on the 14th ot December last,
of the expedition under general Crawfurd. The
following letter from1 a gentleman attached to the
expedition is the more gratifying, because we can
implicitly rely on the accuracy of our correspon
dent :
“ Island of St. Jago, Dec. 28, 1S0G.
“ If is a rhance if this ever reaches you, but 1
shall run the risk of writing, as the Argo man of
war, which accidentally came in here a tew days a
go, will sail to day on a cruize, and it is probably she
may have the good fortune of forwarding this letter
to England.”
“ The expedition under the command of brigadier
general Crawfurd, left Falmouth on the 12th Nov.
and arrived here on the 14th inst. The following
is a list of the ships of war which accompanied it,
Ships.
Commanders.
guns.
Spencer
Hon. Capt. Stopford
74
Commodore,
Theseus
Hon. Capt. Hope.
Captain
Capt. Cockburn.
Ganges
Capt. Halkett.
Nercide (frigate,
Capt. Corbet.
Paulina (sloop)
Capt. Lumley.
Haughty (brig)
Lieut. Mitchell; and
The Ant and Jackdaw sch’rs.
The following is the force under general Crawfurd,
viz.
guards, 4 troops, commanded by
Lt. Col. Kington.
1st batt. Davie.
A)' Burne.
Guard.
Duff.
rps. major M‘Leod.
s of artillery, a pro
al engineers, ai tifi
t dragoons accom
dace, and are still
le bon. col. Ma
er tbe orders of
will leave tis as
ftp ' •
ther in the early
e transports
ce of running
eather being
urable that the
e 5th-Dec.
, and tbe
s for the
, but these
the island,
onsiderablc
fga se
tbt fleet
he 7th.—
hic-h bad
age. Off
ken a Spa
the former of
is, was given
to depart—
in here; she is la
any part of the
e most prudent rarrangc
place, respecting
<*•, market,- and the
ning raiKrshpients for
loti|eq«enc^ of, wljjtb there
nliiul biipply.|)|*U8ortbof provi
de this isldnia though
e governor has been exces
irevent a sur
OopSj
geon, the ge
nemr^^^^pt p^Uit to
ttery of four
24 pounders, on the^est po
bay of Porto
j^raya, which is capfble of
essels coming
a the '
Wa^^Kifcctly ignorant where we are yet de
weaned with conjecture. The fleet
altered, and we are now only waiting
of admiral Murray, who is daily ex
this day received in town, stating
expedition sailed from St. Jago on
Luiry, supposed to be going round Cape
llorn. The ships bonnd to Buenos Ayres left them
on the 2d January.
February 14.
Consols, for money, 62{jJ—for February 62?j
Omnium 7^.—Exchequer iiills, par to is. dis.
Last night an express arrived at the admiralty,
with intelligence from Sir S. Hood, the particulars
of which were not made publick when our paper
went to press.
The Inveterate gun-brig has arrived at Deal,from
the coast ot France, with despatches from the ad
miral on that station. The French are collecting
their small craft on the whole line of their coast,
and availing themselves of every opportunity of
stealing along their shallows to their more -northern
depots. A change of system seems to have lately
taken place in the French marine. Whatever may
be their purpose, they are recovering from their
long inactivity. It appears from their several mo
tions, as if(a general order of some kind or other
had been issued by the French admiralty. Imme
diately upon the arrival of the Inveterate, all the
gun-brigs and sloops of war, at that time at Deal,
were dispatched to take their several stations on the
l'renchaioast.
February 23.
It is our duty to lay before our readers the fol
lowing articles of intelligence—we cannot say one
wo.nl for their accuracy, however devoutly we may
wish for their confirmation :
The Lord Keith cutter, which arrived on Friday
in the Downs, brings the following rumour from
Camperdown :
“ That the emperor of Austria had joined the
Russians with 70,000 men, and that with this ac
cession of strength, the Russians had given battle
to the French, and totally defeated them—that im
mediately after the action, Bonaparte left the re
mains of his army, and was proceeding in all haste
to Paris.” It was further stated, “ That the dif
ferences between Russia and the Porte had been ad
justed, and that in consequence, the former had
been enabled to march a considerable force to join
the grand army in Poland.”
“ Yarmouth, Feb. 21.
. “ Arrived this morning, the Lord Keith cutter
Irom the continent, and landed a messenger, who
is said to be charged with dispatches of great im
portance."
Another letter of the same date, says, “ Just
arrived the Lord Keith cutler, the commander of
which states, that while he was cruising, a Hag of
truce came out of the Texel, and informed him
that the Russian army was joined by 70.000 Prus
sian troops, and that the combined forces had dis
posed the French army, who were retreating in all
directions ; and he also further states, that Bona
parte had left his army, and was gone to Paris.”
Sir Home Popliam has received notice of trial, and.
the Court Martial for that purpose, will he held on
hoard a flag ship at Portsmouth on Monday next.
The court will consist of nine admirals & four post
captains ; the former ot whom namely admirals
Montague, Co/Jin, Young, Stanhope, Paula/, Iloi/u
uni/, Couer, Y<m/tan1aii(l Strac/inn, will hoist the r.
Hags at Portsmouth on Saturday next. The court
will be opened on Monday next pro forma, and the
following day the evidence will be heard in support
of the charges. The trial is expected to last three
days.
ORDER OF COUNCIL.
(reorge li.
(L. S.) Additional instruction to the commanders of
our ships of war and privateers; given at our
Court at St. James s, the 11th day of February,
1807, in the 4-7th year of our reign.
Our will and pleasure is, that all British vessels
which have cleared out from any of the ports of
the U nited Kingdom to Buenos Ayres and the river
Plata, may be permitted either to proceed without
interruption to any port of the island of St. Do
mingo, not in the immediate possession and under
the controul of France or Spain, there to dispose
of their cargoes, and to lade produce in return, and
to carry the same to any port of our United King
dom, or to tranship their cargoes on board neutral
vessels, and to send the same for sale to any hostile
colony, and to bring back returns on board such
neutral vessel to any port of our United Kingdom.
By his majesty’s command,
(Signed) SPENCER.
Eebruary 2(>.
AFr. Jackson, we undeistand, has brought over
the project of a treaty of Peace between his Prussi
an Majcst), and the court of London.
The dispatches brought by the same Gentleman,
from gen. lord Hutchinson conlirm the defeat of the
French on 'he 0.5th ult. with this addition, that ge
nerals Dupont and Lescure were made prisoners,
and that several pieces of cannon were taken. The
dispatches were dated on the 30ih ult. from Ko
ningsberg; and at the moment that Mr. Jackson
left that town, intelligence was received that the
french were falling back in every direction on the
Vistula.
i 'I he French were foiled in an attempt to take
possession ofj.the Island of llugen, which it is ne
cessary tfiey should occupy, before they can invest
Straulsund. About tlie beginning of this month,
thirty vessels filled with French troops sailed from
Pomerania, for the purpose of a debarkation on
that island. In their passage they were encountered
by a squadun of Swedish gun boats, by which 28 of
their vessels were taken or destroyed. *
Mr. Wyne, our late envoy to the court of Dres
den, and Mr. Wags tuff, the messenger, reached
town yesterday morning. The latter brought dis
patches from Mr. Adair, which are said to contain
some very favourable information respecting the
Court of Vienna.
Commodore sir Home Pophain, we understand,
feels justified in his late professional conduct, un
der a verbal order given to him immediately before
he sailed, by Mr. Pill, in the presence of a most
respectable nobleman, who filled a high office in
the administration of that day.
L>y nit- msi auvices irom iumuonano, li appears
that the British manufactures which had arrived in
the River Plate, were landed, and that as profitable
a market was opened for them there, as if they
bird been unshipped at Buenos Ayres.
Extract of a letter from St. Petersburg, of the
28th . December, O. S. (9th January) received in
Glasgow 011 '1 hursday:—“ Generals Kamenskoy
and Buxhoden are to he recalled from their
commands ; in consequence of which, Prince Ba
grathion, the deserved favourite of Suwarrow, has
been ordered to join the army. Benningsen, who
had the chief command, had gained great honour
by the display of those rare abilities which led to
the important victory of the 11th of December)
O. S. (25ih) in which it is now ascertained beyond
a doubt, that the loss of the Freiicb consisted of
from 7 to 8000 slaiu on the field of battle, besides
the wounded and prisoners, whereas that of the
Russians did not exceed 2000 in all. The Russian
army, on that day, was inferior in numbers. The
Cossacks have a singular way of conveying their
trench prisoners across the \ tslula, and in which
they have daily practice; they fix them by the hair
of the head to the sides of their horses, and thus
plunge into the river without further ceremony ;
this rude mode of treatment is not much relished by
the French.”
A Hamburgh paper of the 15 th inst. has arrived.
The intelligence contained in it is interesting. The
first article which appears in it is a long and circum
stantial narrative of the movement of Bernadotte’s
corps, from the 24th to the 27th of January. Know
ing as we do, that the Cor respondentr n (Hamburgh
paper) is completely under the controul of the
French government established in the city of Ham
burgh, we consider the article from I.obau ns an of
ficial report of the circumstances which "preceded
and followed the battle of Morlungen. The efforts
:>f the Russians were only partially successful. It
appears to have been their design to have cut off the
Jiviso* of Bernadette, but be became early ap