The National Register.
London, England, 1812-09-06 00:00:00

TUE NATIONAL TIECISTER.

4SEPT. 6.

about before they reached the enemy ; and they fled througlatlio behind
them
tg.tes
of Majalahonda, and back (loon tlh. German dragoons; ka‘ii
them unprotected and nusupperted, those guns of Capt. Nl'
troop, which had been moved forward to co-operate with the cavalry.
By tln: activity of :he officers and soldiers of Captain M'Don:lit'i
troop, the guns were, however; moved off; but owing to the mita-
vourable nature of the ground over which they were moved, the car ri.
age of 041 e was broken, and two others were overturned ; and
three guns fell into the ent my's !ands.
The Portuguese draw:wits having fled through Majalahonda, were
rallied and re-tormed upon the heavy dragoons of the Kin;;', Ger mai.)
!.• pion, which were hirnied between that village and Lastins;
I he German cavalry ch irgcd the cuemy, althoogh under many -)'‘.,!,t.
vaioages, and s,oppcd their tart her pi( gress; but I ant ..arty sie,
that they stille:ed consider:lWe :old that Cc lo.:c1 ow!iies, wl,O
commanded the brigade, was taken prisoner. The left of the army
was about 1%,i it,iks and a half distant, at the Puer to de Ratamar,
the Cuadat onar R iver, and Colonel Ponsnoo),,.. nrigade of cavalry,
and a brigade 0t iiitantry of the ith division, having moved fcrward to
the support of the tr'n in a:v twe, the enemy retired upon 7i.
honda as soon as they observed these troops, and 'light haver -lie
on, they retired u Lon A lcorcon, leaving our guns at Majalahch
I am happy to report that the officers of the Portio:tice cavalry
behaved rem oka' ly w ell, and shewed a good example to their n.en,
particularly the N' Ist on& de Barbacena, who was taken priLoeei
The ci tattier of the brave German cavalry, Nvas, I uaderstatid, excel-
lent, as was that of Captain Donald's two') of horse artillery.
ia.lots battalion was not engiqed. The army moved f:r-
ward ‘esierklay looming, and its left took possession of the cat) of
Madrid, Joseph Ituunaparte having retired-with army of the cen-
tre, by ti:e roads of Toledo anti A ranjuez, leaving a garrison in the
Retire. It is impossible to Ocscr.be the toy manifested by the inha.
bEtants of Math id upon our arrival ; and I hope that the prevalence
cf the same se:nom:ins of detestation of the French yoke, and of a
attong desire to secure the independeoce of their country, which first
induced them to :,et the example of resistance to the Usurper, will
induce them to make exertions in the cause of their country, which
will be mow efficacietra than these formerly made.
I have not yet heard that Astorga has fallen ; but the garrison
which the enemy left in Tordesillas, about 260 in number, surren-
dered to General Santocildes on the sth inst.
I have received no farther reports of the situation of General Bal-
i lasteros since the '?lst of July. I have letters from General
.Joseph
O'Donnell, and General Roche of the :26th of July ; and the arm) Of
Murcia, under the command of the former, was itetcated by General
D'Harispe, on the 216 t Of July. It appears that the Spanish troops
moved forward to attack General D'Hatispe's posts at Castalla and at
Ybi ; those which attacked the former were tcpulsed with the Iss
ot 00 men and two pieces of cannon ; those which aacked the
latter under the command ot General Roche, conductedtt themselves
rematkably well, and covered the retreat of the troops under Ccn: rat
O'Donnell, and at:erwards effected their own retreat, in goad Greer,
to Alicante.

Madrid, August 15, 1812.
1 have the pleasure to inform your Lordship, that.. the garrison of
the Retiro surrendered by Capitulation yesterday ; and 1 have now
the hen ur to enclose a translation of the Capitulation.
We invested the place completely on the evenir.g of the 13th ; aid
in the night detachments of the 7th division of infantry, under the
command of Major-General the Honourable E. Pakenhain, tirr.TA: in
the enemy 's post, from the Prado and the Botanical Garden; and the
worksl which they had constructed outside of the park wall ;'and
havnie broken through the wall in different places, they were es.
taqisned in the palace ot the Retiro, and close to the exteriot of the
enemy's wt,rks, enclosing the building called La China.
,1 be troops were preparing in the morning to attack those works,
rneparatory to the arrangements to be adopted for the attack of the
interior line and building, when the Governor sent out an Officer to
desire to capitulate, and I granted him the honours of %N al*, the bag.
gage of the officers and soldiers of the garrison, &c. as specified in
the enclosed agreement. I enclose a teturn of the strength ot the
garrison, which marched out yesterday at our o'clock, on their toad
to Ciudad Rodrigo. We have found in the place one hundred and
eighty-nine pieces of brass ordnance in excellent condition ; nine
hundred barrels of powder; twenty thousand stand ot arms ; and
considerable magazines of clothing, provisions, and ammunition.
We have likewise found the eagles of the 13th and 51st regiments.
which I forward to England, to be presented to his Royal Highness
the Prince Rei.ent, by my Aide de Camp, Major Burgh. 1 see, by
a letter from General lialliatClOS to Lieutenant General Sir Rowland
Hill, of the 29th July, that he had been in, Malaga on the 14th of
that month, after an engagement with General Laval, near Coin.
General Ballasieios was at Grazelena on the 29th. I have a letter
from Lieutenant General Sir Rowland Hill, of the Bth instant: and
although General Drouet had been in movement for three days, it
dots not appear that his movements are of any importance.
I enclose returns of the killed, wounded, and missing, in the
affair of Majalahonda, on the 11th instant, and of the loss in the
attack of the works of the Retiro.
A id.de-Camp Major Burgh,
This dispatch will be delivered by my
who will be able to explain any farther circumstances relating to our

I:Ii•