The National Register.
London, England, 1811-06-09 00:00:00

ceding evening, not being _
down this day, being perbonally
spect to a difference of opinion , Queen's
to the period when his Majesty would be aisle to exercise
his official duties : never having heard of that rumour, he
was- not aware that it would be introduced in the speech
of the Honourable Gentleman ; if he had been apprised of that
circumstance he would have felt it his duty to give it his un-
qualified contradiction; there was no foundation for such a
report; no difference of opinion, either on that subject or any
other ever existed.
The Army Prize 1170pney Bill, the Irish Commissioners Fees
Bill, the Devonshire Coals Bill, and :he Exchequer Bills Bill,
were severally read a third time, lind pa s

LONDON GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY,
MONDAY, JUNE 3.

DOWNING-STREET, JUNE 2.

Dispatches, of which the following are Extracts, have been
this day received by the Earl of Liverpool, addressed to his
Lordship by Lieutenant-General
:Viscount Wellington, dated
Elvas, 22c1 May. 1811.
The first letter from Lord Wellington refers to a letter re-
ceßed by his Lordship from Marshal Berestord. dated Albuera,
May IG. 1811., in which the Mrrshai gives the military details
of the movements of the enemy from the 3d of Nlay to the day
of the. grand battle.
The folloWing letter from Marshal Beresford to Lord Wel-
lington, contains the particulars of that gallant action
• Albuera, .18th May, 1811.
My Lord—l have infinite satisfaction in communicating to
your Lordship, that the Allied army -united here under my QV'
tiers, obtained on the 16th instant, after a most sanguinary con-
test, a complete victory over that of the enemy, commanded
by Marshal Soult; and I shall proceed to relate to your Lord-
saip the circumstances.
In a former report I have informed your Lordship of the ad-
vance i,f Marshal Soult from Seville, and I had in consequence
judged it wise, entirely to raise the siege et. Badajoz, and pre-
paire to meet him with our united forces', rather than by looking
to two objects at once,- to risk the• loss of both. Marshal
Soult, it 'appears, had been long straining every nerve to collect
a forte which he thought fully sufficient to his object for the
relief of 13adajoz and for this purpose he had drawn'consider-
able numbers from the corps of Marshal. Victor and General
:b:tstiani, and also I 'believe, from the French army of the
centre. Having thus completed his preparations, he Touched
from Seville on the 10th instato, with a corps then estimated.
at fifteen or sixteen thousond men, and was joined on descetith
•ing into Estremadura by the corps under General Latour 'Mau-
botirg, stated to be five thousand. men. His Ex -elleney Gene,
ral Blake, av soon as he learnt the advance of Marshal Soult,
in strict conformity to the plan proposed by your Lordship,
proceeded to form his junction with the corps motor my orders,
and arrived at Valverde in person on the I.lth instant,. Where
having consulted wait his Excellency and, General Castanos, it
was determined to meet the enemy, and to give him battle.
On finding the deo rinittation of the enemy to I3adajos, I had
broken up from before thar phee, and marched the infantry
to ti.e position in front of Valverde, except the division of the
Honourable Mai,r-General G. L. Cole, which, with two thou-
said Spani ih troops, I left to cover the removal of our store*.
The cavalry which had, according to orders, fallen back as the
enemy advanced, was joined at Santa Martha by the cavalry of
Central Blake : •that, of General CaStintos under the Count de
Penne Villan air had been always with it. •
As remaining at Valverde, though a monger position, left lia-
dajoz entirely open, 1 determined to tale tip a position (such as
c muid be got, in this widely open country) at this place ; thuv
standiro directly between the entail and liadajoz,-
The 41Mly was therefore assenibied here on the 15th instant;
Ttie corps of General Btoke, though making a forced march to
effect it, only joined In the night, and could not be placed in its
position till the morning of Cie 16th inst:mt, when Gen. Cole's
Division, with the Spamsh Brigade under Don Carlos d'Espagns,
also joined, and a lode before the commoocenieut of the action.
.--Our cavalry had been forced on the mornaig of the 150 inst.
to retire from Santa Martha and joined here. in the afternoon
of that day the enemy appeared it; crone of us. The next morn-
ing our disposition for receiving the enemy was made, being
formed in two lines, nearly para gel to the river Albuera, on the
ridge of the gradual ascent rising from that river, and covering
she roads to Badajoz and V,lvei ti.ouals your Lordship is
"ware, that the whole face of this country is every whara-pas-
sable for all arms. Ceneril Illake's corps was on the tight, in
vu ; :ea on she V.aver,'e road, joined the righ.L.of Ma,
ippit-Glecao4 ilwtionotaable Wittiam SteurAtes tliv Wort t cleft

.1 •.

the Badajoz road ; where commenced the
~ieral Hamilton's division, which closed the
General Cole's division, with one brigade of
General Hamilton's, formed the second line of the British and
Portuguese army.
The enemy, on the morning of the 16th, did not long delay
his attack ; at eight o'clock he was observed to be in movement.
and his cavalry was seen passing the rivulet of Albuera, consi.
derably above our right, and shortly after he marched out of the
wood opposite to us, a strong force of cavalry, and two heavy
columns of infantry, pointing them to our front, as if to attack
the village and bridge of Albuera ; during this time, under cover
of his vastly superior, cavalry, he was filing the principal body of
h;s infantry over the river beyond our right, and it was not long
before his intention appeared' to be to turn us by that flank, and
cut us off from Valverde. Major-General Cole's division was
therefore ordered to form an oblique line to the rear of our
ight, with his own right thrown back. And the intention of the
enemy to attack our right becoming evident, I requested Gen.
Blake to form part of his first line and all his second to that
front, which was done.
The enemy commenced his attack at nine o'clock, not ceasing
at the same time to menace our left; and after a strong and gal-
lant resistance of the Spanish troops, he 4ained the heights upon
which they had been formed: meanwhile the division of the
Honourable Major-General William Stewart had been brought
up to, support them; and that of Major-General Hamilton
brought to the left of the Spanish line, and formed in contiguous
close columns of battalions, to be moveable in any direction
The Portuguese brigade of cavalry, under Brigadier General
Otway, remained at some distance on the left of this, to check
any attempt of the enemy below the village.
As the heights the enealy had gained raked and entirely corn.
minded cur whole position, it became necessary to make every
effort to retake and maintain them; and a noble one was made
by the division of General Stewart, headed by that gallant offi-
cer. Nearly at the beginning of the enemy s attack, a heavy •
storm of rain came on, which, with the smoke fro the firing
rendered it impos,ible to discern any thing distinctly. 'This,
with the nature of the ground, had been extremely favourable
to the enemy in formin3 his columns, and in his subsequent
attack.

't'he right brigade of General Stewart's division, under Lieute-
nant-Colonel Colborne, first came into action, and behaved in
the most gallant manner, and finding that the enemy's column
could not be shaken by lire, proceeded to attack it with the bayo-
net ; and, while in the act of charging, a body of Polish lancers
(cavalry), which the thickness of the atmosphere and the nature
of the ground had concealed (and which was, besides, xi-Ik,-;
taken by those of the brigade when discovered for Spanish
cavalry, and therefore not fired upon), turned it; and
being thus attacked unexpectedly in the rear was unfor-
tunately broken and suftl‘red immensely. The 31st Regiment
being the left one of the brigade, alone escaped this charge, an
under the command of Major L'Estratige kept its ground, until
the arrival of the Sd Brigade, under Major-General Houghton.
The conduct of thiS brigade was most conspicuously gallant, and
that of the 2d Brigade., under the command of the Honourable
Lieutenant-Colonel Abercrombie, was not less so: Major-Ge-
neral Houghton, cheering on his brigade to the charge, fell
pierced by.wounds. Though the enemy's principal attack was
on this point of the right, he also made a continual attempt upon
that part of our original front at the village and bridge, which
were defended • in die must gallant manner by Major-General
Baron Ake') and the light infantry brigade of the German Le-
gion, whbie conduct was, in every point of view, conspicuously
good. This point now formed our left, and Alajor-General
Hamilton's division had been brought up there; and he wag
left to direct the defence of that point, whilst the etterny's at.;
tack continued on our right, a considerable proportion of the
SpattiOa troops supporting the defence of this place. The ene-
my's cavalry, on his infantry attempting to force our right, had
endeavoured to turn it; but by the able manoeuvres of Major-
General the Honourable William Lumley, commanding the
Allied cavalry, though vastly inferior to that of the enemy
in number, his endeavours were foiled, Major-General Cole;
seeing the .track of the enemy very judiciously bringing up his
left a little, marched inline to attack the enemy's left, and ar-
rived most opportunely tO Crmtriloute, with the charges of the
brigades of General Stewart's division, to force the • enemy
to abadnon his situation, and retire precipitately, and to take
refuge under ids reserve; here the Fuzileer brigade particularly
distinguished itself. He was pursued by the Allies to a consi-
derable distance, and as far as I thought it prudent with his
immense superiority of cagalry; and I contented myself with.
seeing him driven across the Albuera.
I have reason to speakfavourably of the manner In which our-
artillery was served, and fought ; and ILLjor Hartman cortrp.
nianding the and Major Dixon commanding the'
rwtoguese, and tite.offictrs add AO ar esititlzd to my thanks;

THE NATIONAL REGISTE
•••••••,-
present on that occasion, he nine of which reached t
,ovally concerned. It was with re right of Major-Gen'
minion in the Queen's Council, as left of the line. Ge
• V

The four guns of "the horse 'Artillery commanded 1
L'Estrange, did great execution on the eneiny't cavalry, ale-
'brigade of Spanish artillery (the only -one In the ile.d) I. saw
equally gallantly and well served: we lost in the misfortune
which occured to.the brigade commanded by Lteutenant•Colos
nel Colborne, (whom General Stewart reports to have acted,
and was then acting in a must noble manner, leading on the bri-
gade in admirable order) one Howitzer, which the enemy, be-
fore the arrival of the gallant General Houghton's brigade, had
time to carry off, with Avo hundred or three hundred prisoners,
of that Brigade. After he had been beaten from this, his prin-
cipal attack, he still continued that near the village, on which
he never could make any impression or cross the rivulet, though
I had been obliged to bripg a very great proportion of the troops
from it, to support the principal point of attack; but the ene-
my, seeing his main attack defeated, relaxed in his attempt there
also. The Portuguese dvision of Major-General Hamilton, in
every instance evinced the utmost steadiness and courage, and
suanceuvred equally well with the British:
Briga ter-General Harvey's Portuguese brigade, belonging to
Grn.ral Cole's division, had an opportunity of distinguishing
itself when Marching in line across. the plain, by. repulsing
with the utmost steadiness a charge of the enemy's cavalry.
it is impossible to enumerate every instance of discipline and
valour shown on this severely contested day. But never were
srpope th t more valiantly or gloriously maintained the honour
ortheir respectis e countries. I have not been able to particu-
larize the S, anish divisions, brigade.; or reaiments, that were
particularly engaged, because I am not acquainted with their
denominations or names; but I have great pleasure in saying
that their behaviour was most gallant and honourable; and
though, from the superior number and weight of the enemy's
force, that part of them that were in the position attacked were
obliged to cede the ground, it was after a gallant resistance, and
the; ,continued. in. good order to support their allies; and I
doubt dot, rriS Eict Ileitcy General Blake will do ample justice
on this heal, by inakinglionourable mention of the deserving.
The battle commenced at nide o'clock, and continued with-
nut interruption till two is the Afternooon,, when the enemy
having-been driven over the Albetera. for the remainder of the
day there was but cannonading and skirmishing.
It is impossible, by any description, t 6 do justice to the dis-
tinguished gallantry of the troops, buf every individual most
nobly did his duty, and which will be Well proved by the great
low we -have suffered, though repulsing the enemy; and it was
observed, that our dead. particularly the 57th regiment, were
lying, as they had fought, in ranks, and every wountnwas in the
front.
The Honourable Major-General Williant Stewart most par-
ticularly distinguished himself, and conduced much to the ho-
nour of the day; he received two contusions, but would no
quit the field. Major-General the Honourable G. L." Cole is
air entitled to every praise; and I have to regret being de-
prived, for some time, of his services, by the wound he has re-
ceived. -The Honourable Lieutenant-General Abercrombie,
commanding the 2d brigade, 2d division, and Major L'Estrange,
31st regiMent, deserve to be particularly mentioned; and. no-
thing could exceed the conduct and.gailarittr-of Colonel Inglis,
at the head of his regiment. To the Honourable Major-Gene-
ral William Lumley, for the very able manner in winch he op-
posed the nun: erous cavalry of the enemy, and toiled him in
his object, I am particularly indebted. To Nlajor-General
Hamilton, who commanded on the left, during the severe attack
upon our right, I am also much indebted; and the Pbrtueuese,
brigade of Brig.-Generals Fonseca and Archibald Campbell,'
deserve to be mewl-wed. To Major-General Altos. and to the
excellent brigade under his orders, I haye much praise to give;
and it is with great pleasure L assure yotir Lordship that the
good and gallant conduct of every Corps, and of every person
WAS in proportion to the opportunity that offered. fur distin-
guishing themselves. I know not an individual who did not
do his duty. I have, I fear, to regret the loss to the service of
Colonel Collins, commanding a Portuguese brigade, his leg
haying been carried- off by a cannon shot. He is an officer of
great merit; and I deeply lament the death of Major-General
Houghton and of those two promising officers, Lieutenant-Win
Del Sir William Myers and Lieutenant-Colonel Duckworth.
. It is most pleasing to me to inform your Lordship, not only of
the steady and gallant conduct of our allies, the Spanish troops,
under hi.; Excellency General Blake, but alsd to assure you that
the most perfect harmony has subsisted between us, and that
General Blake not only confcrmed in all things to the general
line proposed by your Lordship, but in the details and whatever
I suggested co his Excellency, I received time most immediate and
*orchid assent and CO-1 peration ; and nothing was omitted no
his part to ensure the success of our united efforts; and during
the battle, he most essentially, by his experience, knowledge,
anti zeal, contributed to its fortunate result..
His Excelt ncy the Captain-General Castanos, who had united
the few troops he had in a state to be brought into the field, to

placed them-under his orders, as.
person in and not only on this, but on all oc-
casions, I am much indebted to General Castanoi, who is ever
beibret.and in giving whatever can be beneficial to the success of
the common cause.
Though I unfortunately cannot point out the corps, or many
of the individuals of the Spanish troops, that distinguished
themselves, yet I will not omit to mention •he names 'of Gene-
Ballasteros, whose gallantry was most conspicuous, as of the
corps he hid under his command ; ar:d the same of Generals
Ziyas and of -Don Carlos D'Espagne. The Spanish cavalry have
behaved extremely well, and the Count de Penne Villaniur Is
particularly desei ving to be mentioned.
I annex the return of our loss in this hard contested day : it Is
verysevere, and in addition to it is that of Gen. Blake's troops, who
are Wed, missing, and wounded, but of which I have not the
return. The loss of the enemy,: though I cannot know what it
is, must be still more severe. H has left on the Reid of battle
about two thousand dead, and we have taken from nine hun-
dred to one thousand prisoners. He has had five Generals killed
and wounded ; cf the former Generals of Division Werle and
Pesim ; and Gazan and two others amongst the I...tter. His
force was much more considerable than we had been inform,:d
of, as I do not think he displayed , less than . from twenty to
wenty-two thousand infantry, and he certainly had four thou•
sand cavalry, with a numerous and heavy artillery. His over-
bearinng cavalry cramped and confined all our operations, and
wi h his artilery saved hi • infantry, after its rout.
He retired after the battle to the ground he had been previ-
ously on, but occupying it in position ; and on this motting or
rather during the night, commenced his retreat on the road he
came, towards Seville, and has abandoned Badajoz to .ts fate
He let a 'masher of his wound,.d on the ground he had re-
tired to. and to which we arc adm•nistering what assistance-we.
cart. I haVe sent our cavalry to follow the enemy, hut in that
arm he is ton powerful for us to attempt any thing against hint
in the plains h,. is traversing.
Thus we have reaped :lie advantage we proposed from our
opposition to the attempts of the enemy; and whilst he has
been forced to abandon the object for avhleli he has almost
stripped Andalusia of troops, instead of having - accomplished
the haughty boasts with which Mat•shal Souk harangued his
troops on leaving Seville, be returns there with a curtailed army,
and what perhaps may be still inure hurtful to Imp, with a di•
mini sed reputation.
In enumerating thetserrices received from the offfi-ers of my
own' staff, I must particularly call your Lordship's attend- at to
those of Brigadier-General trikbaii, garter-master. General to
the Portuguese army ;.and which I cannot sufficiently praise,
though I can appreciat4. On all occasions I have telt.the bene.
fits of his talents and- services, and more particularly on 'this,
where they very essentially contributed to the success of the
day; and. I cannot here omit the name of Lieutenant-Colonel
Hardinge, Deputy Quarter-masser General to the Portuguese
troops, whose talent ;lad exertions deserve my tnai:ks. l'o
gadier-General Mozinho, Adjutant- Ge!ieral of the,Portuguese
army, and to Lieutenant-Colonel Rot,ke, Assistant Adjutant-
General to the united British and Portuguese force, and to Bri..
gadier General Lemos, as 1 to the Officers of my own personal
staff, I alri indebted fur their asbiitatlce.
To the services of Lietitenan. t-Ctilonel Arbuthnot (Major in
his Majesty's service) I an) also much indebted, and 1.4: is the
bearer of this to your Lordship, and is fully enabled to give you
any further information you may e.esire, and is ;mist deserving
of any favour your Lordship may he pleased to recommend
him for, to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent.
I have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed) W. L. BbkASFORD,
alarshit anti Lieut. Gen.
P. S. Major General Hamilton's division, and Brigadier Gene-
ral -Madden brigade of Portuguese cavalry march to-morrow
I morning to re-invest lsadajoa on the south side of the Guadiana.
W. C. Bs

THE NATIONAIRgGISTER.
esninanded by ,Ca taco 11 excise or General Blake, and
meiny's coalry, and one Aged in person in the fie:d ;
—at.lr-• - - • • • •