The Sun.
London, England, 1808-10-08 00:00:00

LC.; kiECIT.AL OF TFSE CP.MPAIGN BUO-
NAI'ARTF IN ITAL.?, ;N TUE YEARS y if-3 AND 1797.

CO:,II3AT OF DE.G9.]
It is' under tins title that the historian of BeeNA-
FA .gives an account• of the third viaory of his
hero; but either by accident or design the whole of
his recital is given ia a visible state of confusion.— -
We will endeavour to reduce it to sense by recount-
ing the circumstances in the order in which they
passed.
We have seen above, that General BEAULIEU, had
advised D'ARGEgTEAU to march to Dego, in case
that he could not take possession of Montenotte ;
and he gave this advice because Dego was a post of
the utmost consequence to maintain. What now
should BuoNAPAlrr. have done after driving the
Austrians from Montenotte He should have
marched without delay to the attack of Dego;' and
he should have done it so much the more, as this post
was almost entirely without defence, the whole of
the troops there consisting only of two Sardinian
regiments, amounting to 1600 men. Add to this,
that the traitor D'ARGENTEAU appeared to open
the gates to him, since, in defiance of the express
orders of his General, be marched his army du the
other side of it. Who would believe it ? BUONA-
PARTE was extremely tardy in availing himself of
the opportunity ; and this was an important fault,
since it afforded time for supplying the place with
men and stores, ant cost him much more trouble
and loss of blood to obtain possession of it.
It was the 11th of April, at break of day, that the
cowardly flight of IYARGENTEAU had left the
French masters of Moutenotte, and it was not till
the afternoon of the next day that BUONAPARTE ap-
pealed before Dego. Would the Reader know the
cause of this delay ? It is not very honourable, but
it IS tale. • RUUNAPARTE knew that ROCCA VINA had
. retired toT.,eg? alter his wound !
NoW the rePiAiation of this General gave 'him a
considerable degree of uneasiness. lie .was appre-
hensive of a long and.vigOrous resistance from him ;
and was previously solicitous to know, with cer-
- unary, whether ROCCAVINA would defend Dego- in
person, or whether his wound was sudiciently
serious to compel hint to entrust the defence to

another*.
Delivervd from the fear of having to combat so
redoubtable an advt:rsary, BUONAPARTE, on the
morning of the 12th, ordered --ASSENA and LA
HARPE to march against Dego, and to attack. it at
the head of their division.

At ten o'clock, we began to perceive the enemy
at a distance. ROCC.aVit:itt ;Minediatolv avunted
his horse, gave the coLumand of the place t.o the
oldest of the two Sardinian Colonels, and quitted
Dego, leaving, to his great mortification, no more
than 3,650 men to protect it : this small force
was composed of the two Sardinian Regiments,
the Battalion of Pelegrini, that of Stein, which
only marched in the evening before, and one Com-
panyof Austrian Artillery.
Having established these preliminary fans, we
shall now proceed to what the historian calls the
Combat of Dego ; and, as there were two actions,
entirely distjio, to which the- name of combat way
be given, we shall speak of them in the order in
which they took place.
* It is not on heariay that I advance this, but on certain

and ocular testimony.
A peasant, whom I took for an inhabitant of Pego, came
to me, and, with an expression of sorrow in .IV3 Countenance,
inquired Of the state of Roc cAV NA. " is it really true,"
said he, " that the good General Kocc "Lyric (these were
his very words), " is confined to his bed by his wounds
There was nothing to surprisz me in this question, since I
knew that the• General was.beloved and respected by all the
country, no less on' account of his politeness and humanity,
than of the strict discipline winch, he made his truovs observe
wherever they marched. I ansi.wered, therefore, without any
reserve, that Rocc A v INA was coal-hied to his bed.

A few minutes afterwards word was: brought me that this
peasant had disappeared. The truth instantly rushed on my
mind, and I ordered him to be pursued ; but it was now too
late. He had tied as fast as possible to give an ace,iiiit of his
contrnissioii ; and we were afterwards intormedby some-A us-
trian Officers, who bad been made prisoners at Montenotte,
and dismissed on their parole, that the return of this spy had
occasioned a general joy la the French .carniti.,-and that it was
only in consequence of his intelligence that the attack. on
Dego had been ordered.
This joy of the enemy's is the most glorious eulogium
that.can possibly be made of Rocc.iv IN A ;. bat, at the same
time, the exultation of BuoNwca-re clearly shews, that
even at this early period he dreaded nothing so inus:h as being
oppOsed to a man of honour and integrity. Cowards and
traitors were the antagonists he sought, and against whom
he marched with confidence: the hiitOry of his warfare too
clearly proves, that he either found or Made them in every
country ; and. his success • is no longer astonishing.
ig.o be coil •

Lieutenant-General Lord PAGET arrived in town
yesterday morning, between five and six o'clock,
from Nttugal, and nad a long audience.of the Duke
of Yokitc.

Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY was- closeted a consi-
derable tittle with the Duke of, Yoitx. yesterday
morning.
Major-General TURNER, of the akl Guards, ar-
rived in town on Thursday night, from the Cape of
Good Hope.
Lord and Lady HOLLAND are, it is said, about to
set out for Spain ; and it is added, but we believe
without foundation, that his Lordship has applied to
the Admiralty for a Frigate to take him over.