The Sun.
London, England, 1809-04-06 00:00:00

castle neat it WitliOnCtiieVaih; and ttshi.ch aruitin/
more than n large square building; made use of as a
prison, aild surrounded by a .deep diteh/..! The sand-
bag battery, before the gate-of the Portillo, was gal-
lantly defended by the: Arentmese. :It was seVeral
times destroyed, and' as often re,construtted .under
the fire of the enemy. The carnage in this battery
throughout the day was truly terrible. It was here
that an ail of heroism was performed by a female,
to which history scarcely affords ,a parallel, Angus,
tins Zaragoza, about 22 years of age, a tynidsome
woman, of the lower class of people, whilst per-
forming her duty of carrying refreshments to the
gates, arrived at the battery of the Put tillo, at the
iery otoment. When the French fire, had abSolutely
destroyed every person that .was stationed in
The.citizens 'and soldiers.for the moment hesitated
to re-man the guns; Augustina rushed forward over
the wounded and slain,' snatched a match-from t
hand of a dead artilleryman, and-fired off a twenty-
six-pounder, then jumping upon the gun,' made a
solemn vow never to quit it alive during the siege c
acid having' stimulated her fellow citizens by this
daring intrepidity to fresh exertions, they instantly
rushed into the battery, , and again opened a tremen-
dous fire upon'theenetny. ' When the writer of this
narrative saw this ,heroine at -Saragossa, she had a
small shield of honour eAnnoideked on the sleeve of
her gown,. 'Willi "Saragessa" inscribed upon it, and
was receiving a pki.sion from the Government, and
the daily pay of an artilletymam ‘-
On . the., of July, as, soon as the morning
broke, a column of the enemy marched out of their
battery, almost within musket-shot of the Portillo,
and the remaioder of their force was seen-drawn up,
as though with an ionnt to second the attack
.01 the
advancing column, or.. to profit by its success.
should penetrate into Saragossa. With fixed
bayonets, .a,Pfl.witheut discharging a shot, the co-
lumn of the enemy marched towards, the battery
of the Portillo but, as soon as they reached the
castle, a destruotive fire of grape and musketry was
opened upon their flank; the consequence of which
Was, that th:., French column immediately
.dispersed,
notwithstanding the most gallant exertions of their
Officers. . . . . ,

Mother column of infantry was instantly :di-
,
rthed by the French General to advance against
the gate of the Carmen, on the left of the Portillb:
This gate was defended 4, a sand-bag battery and
musquetry, which, lining.the walls on each side,
commanded two, ont of three approaches to the gate;
this column was also also repulsed with
loss.

Defeated in. these two attacks, the enemy pro-
ceeded to invest the place still more.closely.
Above the
,city the Ebro was fordable, and below
it the French, in spite of tbe-efforts of ',the Arrago-
nese, had constructed a,bridge on the 14th of: .1,t)17.
Having by these means transported their cava:ry to
the opposite I.3auk of the, river, they .destroyed the
which supplied. the town with , flour, levied
centrib.utionain,.the different villages,. and thus cot
ow the, only corntnutncation,by which the besieged
could receive any supplies, either. of pro Visions or
ammunition. Every difficulty, however, which
they hourly, nay, momentarily experienced, served
only to heighten the resentment of the people, and
to,call forth the rosources ot ,their naive and intel-
ligent general.. In this critical situation he caused
Cern-tnills, .worked by horses,, to be established in
various parts of the city, and, nrdered the monks to
be employed under skilful diredors in manufaEtur,,
ing gunpowder. All the :sulphur ~which the place
atforded. was put into. immediate requisition, ,the
earth of the, streets was :carefully washed in order
to turnish.aaitpetre;,and charcoal.ivas made of the
stalks of hemp,. which in that part of Spain grows
to a very unusual-size ; . and on this simple founda-
tion there has been formed, since the siege, a regu-
lar 4nanufactoly of gunpowder, which yields 13
arobali of Castile per day, or 2!.!5 pounds of 12
ounces.

, .
At the close of the month of July, the Arno-
nese found their city cotniletely invested -by 'the
enerny. Their large population was .now but scan-
tily supplied, With food, and had little or no hope of
•succour. BY. the oureuntted'exections of forty-six,
days; their spirits were exhausted, and. their. toddy
strength necessarily impaired. Without -a single
place of security for their sick ,and their children,
they were iu hourly expeation of another general
attack, and a second more loriniciable bombard-
ment; while their streets were tilled with wound-
ed, in C'OaieqUelled of daily skirmishes with • the
enemy, entered into in order to open Cotnrounk
'cation with the country. At this moment one des?
perate effort was made, though in vain, ro recover.
the important. position of the Torrey° ; ,after which
the Arragonese, Convinced of „the inipos,ibility of
Making ii sprtie with dea„ resp)ve4l to conquer, or
to perish 4ithin the walls of,their city.
On the night of the ,td'of August, and go the.
&flowing day, the French bo.noarded Saragossa.
from their, batteries opposite, the Carmen. :A found-
whieh contained the sick and wound-.
eel, who from time to time, had been
.cenveyed
there 0 durino• the siege, unfortunately caught .fire,
,
and was rapidly consumed. During this dreadful:
calamity, the exertions ot every description of rp-
pie were almost Unparalleled all attention;
vate property was instantly abandoned, and -eyet-y„
body was seen hastening. to. the relief of the sick.
and helpless, children,who occupied this
On the 3d of August the French shad completed.
their batteries upon the right bank ,of the Guava,
rivulet that falls lute the Ebro, and 'is separated
'only from the walls of Saragossa by the breadth of
a common road. Nearly,
.opposite to the centre. of
these batteries, and within pistol-shot, was the gate
of the ,Santa Eogracia,
.so .called from a splendid
convent add chorch.situated at one side of it. On.
the 4th of August the French opened a tremendoiis
fire upon this quarter of the city, and in an nostaut
the mud walls opposite to. their batteries vanished,.
and the splendid convent of the Santa Eugracia was
on fire and tottering in ruins. •
The FrenCh columns immediately. availed them-
Selves of this entrance, to rush into the city, took in
reverse the batteries before the adjacent gates, and,
alter a seVertlaild sanguinary confii t penetrsting to ,
the Calle de Cozo,, nearly in the centre (tithe town,
Were in possession before the day closed of one half
of Saragossa. .
. One side of tbq 'street Cozo, the.breadth of which
is about equal to that of Pell Mall, was now occupied

ARD HARRIS, of No. 4, Martlett.cout.t. ; and Publishpi by:WILLIA,M ARMIC; ER SC South 111oltun.street, Gro*venor.squak.
NQ. 1 t 9, Strand ),Iblivre Adeertiseineks, Orders for the Paper, Lettav tai the Editor; zw.c. (post.paift), must be,adtkessed.