The Sun.
London, England, 1809-07-31 00:00:00

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The following 'report from Gen. Blake was pub-
lished by the Junta, in an Extraordinary Gaiette of
the 3d, accompanied by a very eloquent and ener-
getic appeal to the Spanish armies.
Most Excellent Sir,—On the t Bth of last
month, I addressed to his Majesty, from Calunda, a
memorial, in which I gave you an account of the
disgracetk.l action of. Belchite : and stated, at the
same time, that front the distraeted state of my mind,
it was not possible for me to enter into' the-particu-
lars of that calamitous'event. Although it is no easy
task to discard from my mind the.anarchy and other
unfortw4te results which, may arise from the above
defeat, which neither the nation .nor I and the good.
Officers of the army could expeCt, yet it appears to
me indispensable to state this to your Excellency, in
order that you may be able to communicate them to
his Majesty.
In the report I made to your Excellency on the
of this current month, I stated to you our si-
tuation, .and my confident hope that in case of being
attacked by the enemy opposed ad us, I should be
able to beat him. Fortuna might have been'so.a&
verse to us, as to be defeated by the enemy ; but I.
ccittld not expect that the troops under my command
could take to flight. without, fighting, and that in
consequence of a few cannon-shot being fired, they
would abandon a position in which they had nothing
to fear from the enemy's horse, nor from those ad-
vantages which at times strike armies with a panic
terror which inducet them to fly without knowing
why. •

- -
Belchite is situated on the declivity of somt
heights which nearly surround it, and begin from
the road of Zela, so that ithe. entrance of the place-
lies on a declining ground, beginning at a point
called Calvario. The above heights stretch along-
the road which. leads to Fuenterodos,- and pass the'
foot of a hill 'more advanced than the rest, on Which.
stands the hermitage of Pueja. -front of. Sara-
gossa the country is a plain, covered witbgardens and
olive plantations, without any other broken ground
than a few ravines,Through'which pasSes the road
to Alboston, which is one league distant from Bel-
cline. The heights over which lies the road up Fu-
enterodos begin at the, hermitage of Santa Barbara,
near Belchite, on the environs of which are exten-
sive pasture-grounds, and two large buildings for
the reception of cattle. These buildings and her-
mitage supported the right•flank and our position. 7—
Our front and lett stretched along the aforesaid•hills,
where there is but little broken ground, and 'in the
rear of our position was garden-ground,
.passing be-
tween the heights of Calvario and that place. •
"•The troops posted at the, hermitage of Santa
Barbara and in the pasture-ground could not by any.
means be attacked by cavalry, nor could the centre
be charged by the enemy's horse without being ex-
posed to a destrudive cross fire ; and the troops
forming the left wing bad a retreat open to the said
point of the hermitage of Santa Barbara.
" The hermitage of Pueja was accordingly occu- •
pied by our troops; two regiments were-ordered to
take post on the height of Calvario, and thepark of
artillery was placed in the rear. The olive planta-
tions were also occupied by our troops.
" The cavalry was posted in the environs of the
place, and in the road to Saragossa, to cover the
same, supported by another regiment of foot. The
rest of the:troops occupied the heights froth Santa
Barbara to the road' of Fuenterodos, drawn up ac-
cording to the nature of the ground, so that in some
places they formed three ranks. •
Besides these,' columns of attack were formed
in order to fall upon the enemy in case he should
make at y 'obstinate attack on our left, and ata offen-
sively against firm. Should these columns even have
been routed, they might have retreated to The cen-
tre and right wing, Where they had nothing to fear.
but in front, and where it would have *proved alto-,
gether impossible for the enemy to continue the at-
tack. Lastly, the artillery
,Vv3s posted in such a
manner as to cover the attack to be made by the said
coluMns, 'and in case Of any unfortunate event it
could tall back '0 the same Point as the troops.
" In this manner were the troops drawn up, and
they made repeated promises to do their duty. The
roes y after having first made his appearance on the
heights of Atbostan, marched in the mean time
against our lett, and one column advanced with two
pieces of cannon, preceded by a strong advanced
party. Whileours was falling back, the head of his
column appeared on the heights, and his artillery
tired four or five
.shot; at the same tithe be threw
two or three grenades, which disabled four or five
men. Our artillery began to combat his, or rather
returned his tire,, when ,one regiment was thrown
into confusion by one of toie enemy's grenades, as,
they say, and fled in the utmost disorder, without
firing a shot.
.!" -It was followed by another, and a third, all -
flying, without having discharged a gun, and in a
few moments the Who-le position was abandoned,
some corps taking probably to flight for' no (Atter,
reason than that they were' not' able to maintain
their position amidst the contusion caused by-others,
which fell upon them and. obstructed their tire.
" Thus we the detterals, and some Officers, were
left alone, ivithout being able to rally a body which
could make no opposition, and
.1 had the, mortifica-
tion to see an army dispersed, auandoning all its
baggage, and throwing away its arms and even its
cloaths before a single
,corps of the enemy. Nor
were we able to avail ourselves of the defence of

any strong pine, as it was impossible to collect two
hunched men to make head against the enemy. It is
well knoWn they were.not in .want,ot -ammunition

or provisions, and that on my part I neglected no-
thing that might enable them, if not to obtain a
victory, ac least to maintain the reputation of our
arms. If his Majesty should accede to the roiliest
I made in, my representation of the 18th, I hope I
shall be able to prove still more satisfaCtorily what I
affirm.

" These dispersions are, to our disgrace, too fre-
quent in the armies. I do- not think this td be the
place to point out their causes, but I cannot avoid
saying that a few individuals, who spew a bad ex-
ample, may contribute to discourage an army, with-
out the knowledge of the General, whore ears tiie
conversation of these timid and ignorant men, who
are on • that account mote cautious and reserved,
with difficulty reach. If the love of my country

not 'supeliede in 'the every otiier considerations,
I should be perfedly easy iu.the recolie&ion, that
this same army -confesses I omitted nothing, as a Ge-
neral or a Soldier, to lead theft* in the 'path Of hot..
nour. " The fakchoods they 'have circulated, to ex-
cuse their unexampled-cowardice, that The French
had received a reirdorcerrierit of i&,006 men, shewt;
that they cannot but acknowledge that they fled
without knowing on whom to throw the blame.—
Gud preserve your Excellency many year;.
' (Signed) " Joke.uiN BLAKE."
" Xuta, June 22."

SPORTING INrELLIGEIVCE.