The National Register.
London, England, 1812-08-23 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

the action, which was expected on the plain of Vallesa,
of the 20th.
But shortly after thy-light the enemy made another
several columns, to his lett, along the heights of the G
river he crossed below Canta la Pi.llra and encampe(
Babilafuente and V illamela ; and the :Hied army mai
dent movement to its right by Cantalpino, and encarin
Cabesa Vellosa, the 6th division, and Major General _
of cavalry being upon the Tormes at A Idea Lengua.
During these movemtnts there have been occasional cannonades,
but without loss on our side.
1 have this morning moved the left of the army to the 'Formes,
where the whole are now concentrated; and I observe that the enemy
have also moved towards the same river, near Htterta.
The enemy's object hitherto has been, to cut oll'iny communication
with Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo.
The eneibly abandoned and destroyed the fort of Mirabete, on the
Tagus, on the 11th instant ; aril the garrison marched to MAirid, to
form part of the army of the centre. They were reduced to five days
provisions.
1 inclose a return of killed and wounded on the 18th instant.
lores de Avila, jiCy 21, In 2.
My Aide-de-Camp, Captain Lord Clinton, will present to your
Lordship this account of a victory which the allied troops under my
command gained in a general action, fought near Salamanca, on the
evening of the 22d instant, which 1 have been under the necessity of
delaying to send till now, having been engaged ever since the action,
in the pursuit of the enemy's flying troops.
In my letter of the 21st, 1 informed your Lordship that both
armies were near the Tormes; and the enemy crossed that river with
the greatest part of his troops, in the afternoon, by the fords between

Alba de Tormes and Huerta, and moved by the lefi towards the roads
leading to Ciudad Rodrigo.
The Allied Army, with the exception of the third division and
General D'Urban's cavalry, likewise crossed the 'formes in the even.
ing, by the bridge of Salamanca, and the fords in the neighbourhood;
and I placed the troops in a position, of which the right was upon
one of the two heights called DosArapiles, and the left on the Tormes,
below the ford of Santa Martha.
The third division, and Brigadier-General D'Urban's cavalry, were
left at Cabrerizos, on the right of the -formes, as the enemy had still a
large corps on the heights above Babilafuente, on the same site of
the river; and I considered it not improbable, that, finding our army
prepared for them in the morning on the left of the Tormes, they
would alter their plan, and manoeuvre by the other bank.
In the course of the night of the 21st, I received intelligence, of
the truth of which I could not doubt, that General Chauvel had
arrived at Pollos on the 20th, with the cavalry and horse artillery of
the army of the north, to join Marshal Marmont ' • and I was quite
certain that these troops would join him on the 2`2d or 23d at the
latest.
During the night of the 21st the enemy had taken possession of the
village of Calvarasa de Ariba, and of the height near it called Nuestra
Senora de la Pena, our cavalry being in possession of Calvarosa de
•Abaxo ; and shortly after day-light, detachments from both armies
attempted to obtain possession of the more distant from our right of
the two hills called Dos Arapiles.
The enemy however succeeded, their detachment being the strongest,
and having been concealed in the woods nearer the hill than we were,
by which success they strengthened materially their own position, and
had in their power increased means of annoying ours.
In the morning, the light troops of the 7th division, and the 4th
Cacadores belonging to General Piick's brigade, were engaged with
the enemy on the height called Nuestra Senora de la Pena ; on which
height they maintained themselves with the enemy throughout the
day. The possession, by the enemy, however, of the more distant of
the Arapiles, rendered it necessary for me to extend the right of the
army in Potence to the heights behind the village of Arapiles, and to
occupy that village with light infantry ; and here I placed the 4th
division, under the command of the Honourable Lieutenant-General
'Cole; and although, from the variety of the enemy's movements, it
was difficult to form a satisfactory judgment of his intentions, I con-
sidered that, upon the whole, his objects were upon the left of the
Tormes. I therefore ordered the Honourable Major-General Paken-
ham, who commanded the 3d division, in the absence of Lieutenant-
General Picton, on account of ill health, to move across the 'formes
with the troops under his command, including Brigadier-General
D'Urban's cavalry, and to place himself behind A Idea Tejada, Briga-
dier-General Bradford's brigade of Portuguese infantry and Don
Carlos D'Espana's infantry, having been moved up likewise to the
neighbourhood of Las Torres, between the 3d and 4th division.
After a variety of evolutions and movements, the enemy appeared
to have determiner!
under cover of a which however did us but very
,on his plan about two in the afternoon ; and
very heavy cannonade, .
brae by the position of his troops,
little damage, he extended his left and moved forward his troops,

------1.1.
AUG. 23,
„or& the mornin g
T'movement, in
Guarena, which
ccl last night at
ade a ccarespoil-
wed last night at
1 Alteu's bligade