The Sun.
London, England, 1814-02-14 00:00:00

PRE AT THE CUSTOM-HOUSE:

. . .
- The shock of, the explosion of about two bar-
•rels and an half of -gunpowder at the Custom-
house, was distinctly felt on the 11oyal Ex-
-change,
and by persians.who_came to London by
the Whitechapel-road;• it was felt four miles in
that direction. Many of the buckets were
.car-,
tied as far as Billingsgate ; and one man was hurt
or killed by
_two be icks falling on his head. The •
concussion spread devastation around the neigh-
bourhood, -breaking many windows in Cannon-
street, Eastcheap, and the adjoining streets, and
exciting in the breasts of the inhabitants appre-
hensions of the complete destruction of that
quarter of the city: Merchants
.were seen in all
directions giving orders for the removal of stores
from the different warehouses,, and •every
• dual who happened to possess property, however
trifling, near the scene of destruction, was most
anxious in his endeavours to remove it to a pace
of comparative safety. ,
At one o'clock the whole,of the Custom-house
and the adjoining warehouses were completely re-
duced to ashes ;
,and the food of the.flaines. having
been at that side exhausted, the attention of she
firemen and their assistants was directed to other
quarters,.*here they were -enabled to render the
most effectual, assistance,. and before three, all
fear of the further extension of the flames had
subsided. ,
.Ten houses opposite the Customsbousewere
burnt down by two o'clock. Among them were
Holland's) tdoffeezhouse, the Rose and Crown,
and Yorkshiye,Grey public-house, and the King's
Arms public-house much damaged.
The gunposYder, which exploded is
.said, to .have
been deposited: in the Armoury of the Custom,
house Volonteers 5. there were, deposited, there like-
wise 500 stand of arms, 500 suits of clothing, &c.
female servant of Miss KELLY jumped out of
a two-pair of stairs window : she was much hurt,
and carried to,SteThonnts'.s4ospital ilea lifeless
state. Among the,. more miraculous :escapes,
were those of the Storekeeper a'nd his family,
who, but for,the assistance Of a fire-ladders and
the proMpee:tertions of a fireman, must have' pe-
rished in the flames.
• The East Judie and Custom-house corps of Vol.
lunteers were on the spot,soon after the„ bursting
out of. the flames, and. by their unceasing atten-
tion prevented much of that. plunder and confu-
sion which would have otherwise preVailed. They
formed lines across the :liifere.a. avenues ich
led to the flames, and would on no pretence what-
ever suffer the, crowd to. approach..
The .hooks. and papers of the Searcher's Office,
on the quay, were saved---..they were conveyed out
'of the windows, and put on board a lighter, lyitsg
alongside. lo the Surveyor's. Office some 40,4 _Ol
were preserved ; but in the Secretary's Office,
from being so close to the Storekeeper's apart-
ments, few, if any, domiatents were 'saved, and
consequently the bonds in the Coast Bond Office
were lost. In the Long Room, the objects so
ini-
portant in a national: point of view, tl:se. books
and some of the documents of the Collector, out-
wards,, were saved ; butsit is feared that those be-
longing to the Collector inwards are lost:. These
documents were many of them of great age.. A
Gentleman,
,however, informs us, that be saw
yesterday upwards of a thousand valuntes which
had t3een saved
.from the tire, though ,what pro-
portion these bore
.to the volumes destroyed, it
was impossible tosestimate. Report says, that
not one-fourth of the documents were preserved.
The actual loss to Government cannot ,be cal-
culated-: books, bonds, :debentures, 'pearls, co-
ral, valuable property of every description, and
'securities of all kinds, have been consumed. Bu-
siness is and must remain quite at a•staotl for
sonic time.; numerous vessels ready to sail cannot-
clear out, and consequently the injury to the titer- ;
'cantileavorld will be most severe and distressing.!
The private property lost within the buildings is
`very. considerable.. , We have hesud of...several
Gentlemen who had, left large sums of money its,
their desks, ready to make payments on, the 'fol-
lowing day. One individual has lost upwards of:
six thousand pounds in bank-notes, which will bov
irrecoverable, as the memorandum of -the nuns-,
bers was in the desk with the notes, and met the
same fate.
A very artcollection of pictures was also lost,'
which the Commissioners had permitte:la Gentle-,
. roan to leave in deposit till it would he convenient
for him tospay the statics, atnountiug to 1,5001.
:A genteel young man, its appearance, was stopped.
by some police-officers, in Thames-street, and on.
searching him his pockets and breeches were found
to be stuffed with coral beads, silk handkerchiefs,.
and other valuables of small 'bulk.. it appearei,
that his boldness in venturing nearer than even
the firemen dared to do, had enabled him to o.b-.
tam this booty. .
' A bundle of singed debentures is said to have
been'picked up by a gentleman at as great a.dis-
tance frotn the scene, of destruction as Spital-
•

square.
Lord LZVEUPOOL had a long conference with
the Commissioners at the house of Ir. DELAVALTD.
• ,At a late hour on Saturday night the fire was
completely subdued. We are happy to say that
it has_ not extended to any of the large Nvare-.
houses which lie towards Tower-hill, or. to the
wharfs or cranes on the Custom-house Quay. The
engines and firemen,remein on duty.:,.
The first Custom-house built in London, was
in 1559.-455 years ago ; it was burnt down in.
1713, and rebuilt the same year ; and it was oil,
the 12th February again totally consumed by fire.

-- SunAtt.;—the average price of Brown or 111u,-covado Sti7nr,
coninutterl lion' the lieturn..i made in the wel.k. ending

SUPPLEINIENT TO sr/IE LONDON GAZETTE

OF SATURDAY; FEB. 12.

Foreign Office, Feb. 12; 1814.

The 'Messenger, Sylvester, has arrived at this
Office with dispatches, of wi:ich the following
are copies and extracts, from Lieut.-General the
Hon. Sir C. Ww. Stewart, K, B. and the Right
Hon. Lord Burghersb.

xtraQt of, a Dipttch from, the Hon. sir C. W. 'STEWART,
dated Chateau de Briewie, Feb! 2, 1814.
I am gratified in being enabled to send your
Lordship. a far better report of the details of the
battle of, La kothiere, than if I had been so-for
tunate as to havg...been myself in the field. Cpl.
lio`we's detail is' so satisfactory; fled so at:ctirate,
from his having had the adyantage of being with
Marshal Bincher in the advance- during the
xvtiole day, that there is little 'in the offi OM re-'
ports that have come in, which Col. Lowe has
not already noticed. _ . .

If Marshal .Blucher was not laig since immor-
talized, this day would have crOwn•cd him in the
annals of fame, for whatever were theapyreben.l
sions entertained by Many for the result of the
Prince Royal of WirteMburg's attack On the right,
your Lordship will see by Colonel Le4e's report,
the Marshal sleadilyptirsned the combination upon
which the result of the day depended this fore-
sight, judgment-,'and 'decision, is done justice to
by all the allied army: The Russian artillery are
spoken of in the hi'ghest terms Of praise; the
grOund was s'o covered with snow, and so deep;
that they were Obliged to leave halt their guns in
the rear, and by harnessing double teams to the
other half, they cOntriVed to bring then' forward
and get a sufficient number into action.' 'The allies
had about 70 or 80,000 Men in the battle-3' the
other corpi of the army which are not enumerated
in the report-, were not up. The enemy are sup-
posed to have- had the sane Strength. •
The enemy's last attack on the village of La
Rbthiere, was at two. o'cl6ek this morning ; im-
mediately after they seemed to haVe eofflmeneed
their retreat, passing the Aube river; they took
up a very strong renr-gtiard 'position at- Lesmont
with their right, and extending behincrtlfe'Loire.
Dispositions were Made to attack' it wits the 'corps
of the. Prince Royal ofWirtemberg, and- Generals
Wrede and Giillay, and there Was a Sharp fire all
this morning on the spot; hilt the day was so very
unfavourable, hnd the fall of.SnoW so excessive;
the troops could make no progresS.
In the Mean time Field-Marshal PrineeSth wart-
zenberg has made his arrangements for the parr-
suit of the enemy, who have retired on Vitry,
Troyes, and Areis.

Military Report from Colonel Lows to ,tbe Honourable Sir
C. %V. STEWART, dated Hcad-quuters Army of Silesia,
Trannes, Feb. 1, 1814.
Six,—My report of last night will have inform-
ed you of the state of preparation in which both
armies stood for a general battle on this day. 'lie
confidenCe of the Allied
,sovereigns, and of the

Commanders of their armies, having placed at
Field-Marshal Blucher's dispoSal, the 'Austrian
corn:; of General Cotint•Guilay, and of the Prince
Royai of Wirtemburgh, in addition to the forties
under his own immediate command, he, after a
reconnoissance this morning, 'made the following
disposition for an attack :
The corpS;OtGeneral Baron S'acheti kvas order-
td to move forward in tA,o columns fromTrannes,
one directing itsetfupon ,Brienne, by the road of
Denville, awl the -second on the village of La RO7
thiere. The corps of General CountGuilay form-.
ing the reserve- of the Ist column, and that of
Gen. Alsnfref, of 'the second.
The Russian guard's and cuirassiers, it was an-
noanced, would arrive and form a reserve for the
whale on the heights between Trannes and
Eclatice. •
The Prince •ROyal of Wirtemburgh was di-
re'efed'tb inarch frnin Eclance Upon Chautnenil,
lda,V 'tvond in front 'of the right 'of our
pbSitiron, 'iiiccupied by the enemy, to his left, and
thus Itiirriingit, and opening' his communication
with General 'Count. Wrede,
,who, it was an-
nounced, was advanceing -alio upon. Chainnenil
&Om Doulcrent.
-The attack commenced preciSely at 12 O'clock:-
The enemy 'NV:Ii itt position' at Dienville arid La
Rothiere, and having his left at the Sinall village
of La Gihrie. His cavidiY,. as well as that of 'the
Ailicid forces, was drawn out in the plain be-
tween the two) positions ; infantry disposed in
large masses on the flanks of, -and within the vil-
lages, which were lined With artillery:,
Skirmishing and c'antionaeing in the plain 'were
the prelude's to the attack, but the attention was
soon 'directed froth tltis to a very heavy cannon'-,
ading and musketry ft urn the'sMall wood on the
right,, and the village of La 'Gibrie. The,Prince
Royal of Wirteinburg.hdr-OV'e the enemy from tie
iillage-; bilf3they-returned in force, sand again CX-
pelled him. A brigade of grenadiers was ordered
to his support, but Ms oWn zeal and 'aCtivityren-
dered this aid unnecessary. He attacked again,
and remained master of both the wood arid vil-
lage. The movements in this quarter occupied
nearly three hnurs. The enemy's demOnstration
menaced the flank of the 'position of the Allies ;
but Field-Marshal. Blucher was not to be di-ferted
from 'his object bV them. The elect of the Corn;
bination'of General Wreck's movement was fore-
iecn with tire most.aCentrate judgment ; and be-
, Aire the •village •of La Gibrie was in the Prince
.Royal of Wirtemburgh's possession, eCcry-reqni-
site ortfer was given foiibe execntion of thenioVe-.
ments just directed. •
The enemy having inoVed a carps to his left,
General Baron Sachen drew' all his force to the
attack of La Rothiere„ 'which 'formed the key of
the enemy's position.
Ce.netal Count Guilay attacked the town of
DienVilie, but met with very-considerable oppo-
sition. The contest was protracted tb a'Very late
hour, and it was not until 'after 1111(.41.14U, that
it was announced to the-Marshal that the enemy
was expelled, leaving two hundred and eighty
- prisoners in Count •Guilily's posiession. The most
obstinate resistance, hoi‘iever,- was made at La
Rothiert. 'Baron Sachen expelled the enemy, but
be returned with heaq columns infantry and
batteries of artillery, and renewed the attack with
.great vigour, gaining possession of -the church
and some of the'houses, whilst the Russians oc-
cupied the others, liteotOpiiteia

reported by the pr:soners, led on the ratOtk
self, at the heard of young guard, and had a
horse shot under- him. The fire with which they
were received, rendereil the attempt' of no avail,
and about .ten o'clock at night, the whole village
was ceded,to the more obstinate valour et the
Russian troops,.
On the right the village penei4Al Sachen took
,
upwards of twenty pieces of cannon ;. near a thou-
.. sand prisoners were alse taken'; the kiss in killed
and wounded was very great. The Prince Royal
of Wirteniburgh adymiecd UpodChannietill, and
formed his junction with trio Gen-. Count Wrede.
The-forifier took six pieces of cannon, and; the
4.itter 17. Thus was the victory codylete in every
quarter.
Immediately after the battle commenced, the
Ti'Mperor of Russia, the King of
_Piussia, and. Field
.51a-esl►zil Prince of Schwartzenburgh came on the
ground. Field-Marshal Blucher immediately. af-
terwards proceeded to the front, to carry into e&,
feet the dispositions he bad made. lie was. 'among
the foremost-in the attack oftheyillage of La Ito;
thiere, and in supporting the troops who were at-
taCkoin it. A Cossack orderly, of Gen. Guiese-
nau, was sliot.by his side. -Theserves.were moved
forward by the order of, his Imperial Majesty and ,
Prince Sehwartzenliurgh, but only three battalions
wme-employed. There are prisoners taken of the
3d, 4tb., and 7th corps, and of the guards-. Bitona-
parte is supposed to have had the great body of
his army. Collected. There arelliany details which
time does not: admit my at present giving, but ini
proportion as,they become known, ,the battle of
La Rothiere, in the members engaged, in they losses
on.:the part of the enemy, and in its consequences,
will perhaps bei:found -one of the roost important
of the war.,-- I have, &c.
(Signed) H. LOWE, Colonel.
P. S. The reports state sixty, pieces of cannon

Ts-lititary Report trom;Coronel to the HonOT,trable Sir
C. W. SrEw.lnT, dated St. (loco, Feb. 1814, Nine A.lll.

Srß—Tae rcpo,us of this idorning are that a
ciaimphading was heard on yesterday afternoon at
the road hctWrieki Vir,ry and Chalons',
which it is siippOsed in'ust have been in conse7,
quence Of a rencontre hetween the corps of
D'York and Marshal Macdonald, A reconnois-
sance, puslied on yesterday as far A.Sogny, on the
road trom hence to.Chalous, ascertained the..etve-
my to be there posted With a force of about 2000,
infantry and two squadrons of cavalry. The ene-
my had a force at Vitry which will probably endea-
vour to etiect a junction with Marshal Macdo'nalcl
or With Marshal Marmout, who, there is every
reason to suppose, proceeded, after the retreat,
to Arcis.

I have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed) H. LOIVEi Colonel.

Dispatch from Loid ilononsasn,. dated Bar Sur Aube;
Feb. •
•
my LORD.—I have the satisfaction of announc-
ing to your. Lordship, that the enemy, command-
ed by Baoliaparte, have this day been defeated.
Thirty-six pieces of cannon, and 3000 prisoners,
are already in the hands of the Allies.---Buona-
parte had placed his army in two lines, extending
across the plain from the front of Dienville, on
,the right, by.the village .of La Rothiere, towards
Tremilly, on' the left.-7lnfront olthe-left, he oc-
cupied the-- village of La Gibrie,, and the woods
by whjch it was surrounded.—ln reserve, General
Marmont,was placed in the village of Morvilliers.
The heights also about the town of Brienue were
occupied.
Your Lordship has been, informed that, the
corps of-Marshal Blucher, 'consisting only of -Ge.
neral Sachen's-divisicin, and, part of Gen. Lan-
geron's division, had, yeSterday taken up a posi-
tion- near Trannes. . The Prince Royal of Wir-
teinberg 'was in communication with the right of
Gen. Bla(ther, and in position at Maison. Gen.
.Guilay removed from Bar-sur-Aube to suppoet
aen-Blitcher : his corps was formed on the great
road between Trannes and Dienrille. I reported
to your Lordship that Get]. Wrede was to co-ope--
rate :with fliken, Wittgenstein in his attack on
Vassy. The enemy having, hoWever; abandoned
that position, General Wreck marched upon Doti-
'event, from, whence be was .diracted. 'to advance
upon the road by Tremilly to Chaumenil.
Two divisions-of Russian grenadi'ers,- and a di-
,vision of cuirassiers, a mounting ;to
.about 6000
men,
.and forming a part of the reserve under the
orders of Gen, Barclay de 'folly, formed the sup-,
port of the different corps,' and were engaged in
the action of this day.
. General Blucher began his attack about twelve •
o'clock, by advancing the corps of General Guilay
towards Dieuville, and by forming the division of
his own corps front of La Rothiere.
The Prince 'Royal of Wirtemberg advanced
about the same time from Maison upon La Gibrie;
he was strongly opposed in the woods about that
place, but at.last succeeded in forcing the eiierny
to retire, and In carrying the village. The enemy
made awattempt to retake this position, but was
received Most gallantly by the troops of the Prince '
Royal, and totally repulsed. During the latter
part of this attack, the corps of General Wrede
arived upon the right of the Prince Royal, and
immediately advanced upon Tremilly.
I.ll,lans of Prince.Schivartzenburgh made a
most 'successful charge in front of that village,'
and took -six pieces of cannon. General \Vrede
possessed liintsetf of the place.
General Sachen finding that -his right was se-
cured by the -success which had attended the at-
tack of the •Pritice*yal of Wirteniburgh and Ge-
neral Wrede, determined to attack the centre of
the..;enernv's. position at La Rothiere.: _While his
infantry were engaged in the attack of the village,
general Blucher directed a charge of cavalry upon •
the right of it, which was attended with complete
success ; twenty pieces of cannon were captured;
and a considerable number of cavalry of Bona-
parte's guard were killed or taken.
The enemy was 'driven from.La Rothiere, and
notwi.thstay.ding several attempts to retake it, ,was
finally baffled in his object. Gen. Guilay, late in
the evening, advanced upon Dien ville. I left the.
ground with Prince Sehwartietiburgh before this
movement had heen-coMpleted, hilt the report has
since arrived, that be. succeeded in taking the
part of the village on the right of the Aube, the
enemy- basing 'retired to the other side of that
river and having destroyed the,bridg'e. So end,

ed, my Lord, the affair of this day ; enemy
still held- the ground beyond La ltothicre. and
was still in possession at dark of the height of
Brie talc;;:.
The-It&Sian and Prussian guards have already
arrivek'near Trannes, and to-morrow will be in
position to support the attack-of the'eneiny'sye-
Maining.,positions. The corps of Goileral
redo arrived this day at Vandr2uvres, and will ar-
rive to,rworrow.morning at Dienville. The corps
of -Generals Wittgenstein and D'York are march-
ing upon Vitry.
It appears that the three corps of Marshals
Marmont, Mottier, and Victor, wore. present in
the action of 'this day. Generals Colbert and
Grouchy were also present. I have not been able
to :Acertain
.the remaining; corps which forme:l,
part of the enemy's force.—l beg to,congratulate
your Lordship upon this- first success in a general
Ofair on the territory of France.—l have tlie ho-
hour to be, &c.