The Sun.
London, England, 1815-01-21 00:00:00

CrOss',examiiied.

Q. Yon have said that whilst General Copon's
army was posted a,t, Torre de Barra; -you did not
think it practicable for the- enemy to afford any
relief to Tarragona,—do not you know that a
French force from Barcelona did relieve the
blockade of Col de Balaguer in spite of Copon's
army some weeks before
.I—A. I am not ac--
(painted- with the circumstance. I alwao un-
derstood General Corms's army to consist of 7
or 8;000 men, and of the best troops in the
Spanish service.
Q. Did not the order for tbe-re-embarkatiOn,of..
your division reach you on the morning of the
12th; through the 'regillar channel I—A. Yel, Gut
I do not recollect the narne'of the person that de-
livered it..

Q. Did it not .march with regnlarity to the
beach ?—A.- Certainly, with the exception,of the
right wing. of the 27th, which accompanied and
protected the guns and cavalry that. were Moved
forward, to. Balaguer. The picquets of my divi-
sion nearest Tarragona were withdrawn, and re-
lieved by detachments tram Generil Clinton's,;
about one o'clock. •

Q. Did it not embark without theloss of a man
'or any part of the regimental baggage No
part d the regimental baggage was ever disem
barked. It was not probable that any men should
be lost.. -No hurry took place, nor did any acci.
.deni happen. The men went into the boats
without their shoes or gaiters on, and with every
.necesSary precaution. Of course all due celerity
was, used. . •

Q. You have said that an order was brought to
you:tospike the guns on the batteries ; can you
state itrwhat words the order was deliVered ?
A. It was merely a verbal ,order to spike the guns
in front of the line occupied by my division.
Q. Will you state the position occupied by the
division under your command On the 12th' of June,
18.13:?!—A. The division under my7eonimand -oc-
cupied the line parallel to the• Franettlajiver, and
distapt.about a mile from the.town.of Tarragona;
my picytets both of 'reserve and itipport were,
however, much. nearer. They were supported by
a bat :lotion on duty nighf and day; the advanced
piCquets were about 400 yards, and the support
aboui 600. yards, from the town. The sentries
werc'close •

Q., What steps. did you take nn receipt ofthe
order, for spiking the guns None immediate-
ly ; but in a,short time delivered the'order to the
proper Offieers, for the purpose of executing it.
Q.Atrere the guns spiked before -General.Clin--
ton'Olivision had passed the batteries-?--A. 1 do.
not know ; but as I vvas then on board with my
division, I take it for granted they must have
been. . .

Sir .1.91).,u Murray here observed, that it was of
great importance to him to aseeKtain this point,
as he intended to slew in his defence that the or-
der-for spiking the guns, as given by himself, was
made to rest upon a contingent circumstance ; and
if Gen. Mackenzie hail" not so received it, there
must have been an alteration in the delivery of it.
Q. Was not the order communicated to you by
Lienti Drewe a contingent order No, it was
,pointdd tam! direct.
Q. At what hour did yon order the message to
be carried into effect ?—A. I do not know exactly,
but some time previous to the time of embarka-
tion, which was one o'clock, when General Clin-
ton marched on the ground previously occupied
by my division.
Q. What number of the enemy was in your

wilen' yin, took:upon you the connmlnd Ui
the right piequet, on-the 13th or 14th of June,
1813 ?—A: I did not know till the next day what
number of the enemy were at Vandilos, when I
was informed by Sir John Murray that they were
.5 or.6;000 strong.
Q.' At what distance was the enemy in front of
Vandilos on the 14th ?—A. The enemy had strong
picquets it:Mar de Rehm, about three miles from
the town, with a line of picquets occupying .a
ridge of woody bills within a few. hundred yards
of our advanced poSts:, ,
Q. ViThere tvere your advanced posts on the
night of the 14th"?7-A. They occupied .a narrow
,pass somewhere nbimt halfway between Mar de
Reitia' and,' the. French posts.
. Admiral Hallowell objected to these questions,-
as relating to transactions subsequent to the mat,
ter Contained in *the charge.,
The DeputY Judge AdVocate and the President
of the ,Court were'of opinitm that the-qne'stionS.
'went to produce evidence that might be- material
in the ciinsideration of the charge.
JOhit 'Murray said his object was to spew
that:lto was right in the estimate he had made of
.the enemy's force in the vicinity of Tarragona,
when he directed the siege to, be raised.
Q. Do you recollect • Sir John Murray arriv-
ing at your quarters on the 15th, and accompany-
ing you. to a spot where you saw the enemy's
force ?—A. Yes, I do, •
Q. 'On our -advance through the pass, do you
recollect seeing the marks Of considerable bi-
vouacs ?—A. Yes, I recollect':: Our_ Infantry' bad.
passed over the ground which the enemy bad
abandoned, in consequence of a movement made
on their right flank by a detachment from my
picquets, as I think at a very early hour on the
14th.

Q., Of what numbers did you then calculate the
enemy's force to consist ?—A.. I could obtain 'HO
just information on that subject ; the greater part
of the valley in which Varhilos is situated is ex-
tremely woody, and surrounded with a ridge of
hills. The inhabitants had all fled from the
be.lsei, and I only found a.few Spaniards whom
the French had dismissed from their cantonments,
and whose accounts were 'very unsatisfactory.
Q. Do you suppose, from what you did see,
that they amounted to 3000 ?—A. They could not
have amounted to less... , .

Q. Vou have stated that, bad the French force
tit Villafranca, supposed to be 8000 men, attacked
the Allied Army, you should have expected the
most brilliant success on_ our part, and you found-
ed this opinion on the complete state of the Al-
lied Artily ; will you therefore now state, what was
the amount of that army ion the 12th of June,
1813 ?—A. 1 certainty do not know exactly the
numbers of the different corps of which the Allied
Ariny was eoMposCd.
Q. How 'was. it. generally. Composed ?—A. Of
British, Germans; Italians, and Spaniards.
Q. What was the proportion of British and
Germans'?—A. I cannot pretend to give a precise
answer ; I can state the strength of the different
corps forming-the division under my command.
Q: Cannot you state generally. I cannot
stare it satisfactorily ; 'but my own division con-
sisted of, the Ist battalion of the 10th, the Ist
battalion of the 27th, and lst. of the 81st, a regi-
ment of Italians 'and 'Rolle Dillon's. General
ClintOn's diVision consisted, I believe, •of the Ist
battalion of iliesBth, the Ist of the 4th German
Legion, and Gen. Whittingham's corps of Spa.:
niards. Colonel Adams, who commanded the
advance, had with him the 2d battalion of the
27th, a battalion-of Calabrese, a light corns; anti
a company of riflemen called Rolle's Company:
To these I add General Copon's army of between
7 and 8000 men, made up of the hest Spanish
troops. 1 have already stated that the ground on
which the, action would probably take place was
extremely strong, had Decaen advanced from
Villafranca for _the purpose Of relieving Tarra.
gona._ • •

Sir John Murray here observed; that the wit-
ness had omitted to enumerate the regiments of
Sicilians id forming part of General Clinton's di-
vision.

Q. What did you suppose might he the effective
strength of the allied army ?—A. I never hoard it
stated as less than 18 or 19,000 men.

Q. What proportion of these do you suppose
wasi British and Germans • apprehend I
cannot give such an answer as will satisfy the
Court ; but I should think they could not have
amounted to less than 5000 men, in the highest
state of discipline and equipment.
Q. Had the enemy advanced; what proportion
of this army would have been necessarily employed
in maintaining. the siege of Tarragona.?—A. I.
have not considered the subject, but syould ima-
gine. that.one British regiment anti two 'Spanish
battalions, or the .two Sicilian regiments, would -
have been sufficient for that purpose.
Q. What specific number of Men do you think •
would be. necessary ?—A. lam supposing the Bri-
tish regiment to consist of 750, and the Spanish
.battalions at.. 5 off• 600 rank and file.

Q. Po, you mean to say that this number could
contain a garrison of 1,600 men, and carry on the
siege of Tarragona ?—A. I think they would be
sufficient for that-purpose with the aid of the
works already erected.
Q. In what position would you have placed this
force, so as at once to maintain the works, anti
prevent a sortie of the garrison ?—A. Such a ques-
tion requires too much consideration, and com-
prehends too many points, for me to answer it at
present..
Q. What force would have been necessary to
defend the Col de Balaguer, supposing Marshal
Stichet to have been in full march. to compel the
British army to raise, the -siege of Tarragona
A. As I have not considered the question, I must
beg leave decline answering it.
Q. Would not a considerable force have beau
necessary ?—A. Considering the situation of Van-
dilos, and the roads which run throng)) it, I con-
ceive it must have required a considerable force.
Vandilos is situated in a valley, and the road is
,so bad as to Italie it impractiCable to carry cane
non, and in fact the French brought none.
Q Are. there not other roads from that part of
the country down to the plain of the Ebro, and
the plain 'of Tarragona ?—A. I know but of three
roads from Tortosa to the plain of the Ebro, on
which cannon can be brought, viz. that by Bata.

- 'th*t.'b'irVion4 A 'tiA Vandilds.
.
(.2 .11tlier are nu otike-r roads 101141 your knoxr.
Hedge; ivouhl it neA.Lave been necessary to se.
:T elr these by Ataciuntnts Certainly, if
'troop had, been inovinz fail theni, but of this-1
had
never 'heard.
ll7lntldMatshill hav z. required cannon,
coming xv,ith a force t.i.ont the westward, to enable
him to raise: a s.,,ege ina;ntaine,d by 1,900
If the torce alltitled to is the 12,000 men of
which his army has been suppmed to consist, cer-
tainly net, as' be would be then able to take the
beteries in reverse.

, .
Q. What torce would have been requisite to
',mar(' the pass from Mount Blanc to the- plains of
Tarragona There are two passes, but I do
not ldioW vh t.niintbcr of men might be necessary,
as I never visited them but through curiosity.
Alter deducting the 1940 men that he thought
stlicient to.continue the siege of Tarragona, and
the number that would be necessary to observe
the ditTereut roads by which Suchet might- have
advanced, `t:at proportion of the whole British
army could hate been sent forward against 8000
French advancing _from Villafranca ?—A. It was
impossible for him to say.
Sir J. Murray. then stated, that it was a very
important question for him to ascertain. As, Gen,
Mackenzie had before stated, chat there would
have been a probabifity of brilliant Success againstthe 'enemy, lie wished to know the grounds on
which this opinion was foundcd: It did appear
to him that 'be had expressed his opinion rather
unguardedly.
The witness said, that he had not considered
what number of men ought to have been left on
those roads to watch an enemy, as lie had nut
heard of the enemy having then a single man on
any of the roads alluded to.
Q. Would it not liave been in the power of Ge-
neral Decaen to have given or declined a battle as
he thought proper, if he had found the Allies in
position at Torre de Barra ?—A. Ile certainly
Might have returned either by the road he came,
or by another.
Q. Do you recollect being on the 12th at the
quarters of Sir John Murray, with ColOnel Adams,
Gen. Dunkin, and Col.Thackery, and can you state
what paiseu there He recollected being there
with the Officers- named. It was prOposed that
they. should jointly state to Sir T. Murray their
opinion, that a successful attack might be made
on General Decaen's- division. Colonel Adams
• stated this opinion to Sir J. Murray, and lie also
expressed his opinion to the same eirect. To the
best of his .recollection, Sir J. Murray gave no
other answer than "It will not do."
Q. Did not Sir J. Murray state ally reasons for
not approving' of I think not ; the 'con-
versation lasted for a very short time.
'Q. Do you recollect that_Sir J. Murray sheaved
you at thi_it timepassage in' his instruCtions
trout Lord Weilingtoti lie did not recollect
that he did so at the time., but he had done SO at
other. times.-
Q. Dial thewitness recollect his concluding the
conversation with an observation that this is on:;
itnisWeratik , He did - not recollect it, hut
should not be ssurprised :if be: had said, se,. upon
Sir John Murray's repeatedly saying, it will not
do, it will not do. -

Re-elanined by :•Admintl ITALLowRIA..
•
Ile Was :not artraainted sulliciently with the his-
tory of thecagipaigo in Catalouia before the arri-.
vat of the Alt itish,..to know whether the blockade
of.Balag-uei• had been raised or not by the arrival
of the French. from, Barcelona. He considered,.
however, .that the force of General Copons con-
siste4 'of 8,000 liken, who were, amooz.the best
troops. of Spain., If General Sir 3. Murray had
expected ,the artival of a:Trench division.on the
1 lth, or 15th, at Vandiios long day's march
front Tarragonr.), he did nOt couceive.that this
stoat(' justify the retreat .in the manner it was
was conducted.' On the 15th he was in the neigh-
bOuthood of Vandilos, when Sir J. Murray in-
formed hiin that the French had between. 5 and
6,000 men. It was on that day intended that he
should attack the French who were in the valley,
Stith a division of .1,600. Men, British troops; or
troops in British pay. This force not being con-
ceived sufficient, it was inten4ed thatra regiment
of
,Spanish Caeadores, 1,000 strong, iottl•the gre-
nadiers'of O'Reilly, Were to join hint in an attack
to be made on .the morning of the I 6th. He cer-
tainly. could not suppose that Sir J. Murray be-
hewed that the French -amounted to 5 or .6,000
men, when• upon the 15th, he conceived 1,600
British troops sufficient to drive them out of the
valley. Ile 0111 not conceive, that if it was per-
fectly knowh that 5 or 6,.000 French would be at
Var“-lilos on the 15th, that this would be a stOli-
vieni cause for raising die siege on the 12.111-,. in
the manner it was raised. As General Copons
[vas in a strong positron at Torre de Barra, lie
thought it not necessary. i 6 haVe sent the whole
of.,the Allied Army (with :he exception'of 1,900
Tien) against General Decaen. The more troops,
bokiever; ,ttfhich were sent, the greater would be
the 0461Yabaity -of; t.tee-ess. ,
' ti,swer to someluestions put by the CoUrt,
the Witness stated, that from Tottosa to Tarra-
gona, 'by Balaguer, .would be a march of two
clays inid a half, bi- More probably three days. The
march by Mont Blanc would have taken up four
days, The other road .might hare been three
days' .mareb, but was impracticable for canuon:
•• Admiral Hollowell then, prodUced a paper, be-
ing a return of the actual number of the troops,
as •given him by the Deputy Adjutant Genel-al of
Lord W. Bullfinch... •
This paper not received, as the Adjutant--
Cityneral himself was to be examined as a witness,
anti as the. Court expected an account of the ac-
tual nutither of the troops to be laid before them
in a more regular 'Way.
Colonel Lord F •BENTINCIC. was next examined
send sworn.

. He, 'Conimanded the' brigade of cavalry before
Tarragona, consistiog,of about four or six bun-
dredplen. About nine or ten lei, the morning Of
the I Ith, hejeceived.the orders of J. Mur-
ray to march to Altafnila. Sir John arrived at
bis quarters' the course of the. day, and he then
asked•the General' whether he had received any
in:ebigeuee' respecting the enemy*? He answered
init. lie had not. He then asked him tvhether it
was nceesary 10T hitu to: use any extraordniary

~ . .
• nights
iteinitions 6r •vigilabet.i.e.the tbtrrs'eeif lc
and \vat- answered that it was not necessary.—
Abont tar u or three o'clock in the morning of the
12th he received an order to return to the camp
before Ta'rt:agona.
.Abmit four the brigade began
its march, but he. himself staid behind till about
sevrtirto• endeavour to obtain inio'ilWation respect-
ing
the enemy. He could not, however, learn
that they-had advanced beyond Villafranea. Ile
returned to head-quarters between .11 and 12
o'clock. lie then found that about half off' his
brigade of cavalry had been embarked, and that
orders had been given for spiking the guns. No
question was asked him as to the information he
received respecting the enemy. kle heard Sir J.
Murray say that he had not given orders for
spiking the guns. General Donkin afterwards or-
dered him .to go with the -remainder of his bri-
gade to Balaguer,, and said that same infantry
should be sent with him. General Donkin, also
told him that it was probable that he would he
attacked on his match to Balaguer, and that the
army 'Would be attacked on the beach about five
o'clock in the evening. He marched to Balaguer,
but no infantry accompanied him, nor did he see
any follow him.. When he
.was at Altafulla, he
did not know where General. Copons was ; but.
about the time Sir J. Murray left the tottn, about
100 Spanish cavalry entered, that he cocceived
to he an
,escort either accompanying that Gaw-
', or sonic other Spanish
pGeneral of_high rank.

Cros3-examined by Sir J. AIuItHAY

- He did not coriceive 'thAt at the time Sin John
told him that he need not use any extraordinary
pre6autioos, th;it 11113 communication was made
in consequence of the situatiOn.of General Co.
puns army in his front, but he supposed it to have
rather heel' from no enemy haying been heard of
in that direction. The scommunication
General Dottkin made to him about the probabi-
lity his being' tittackc,l son' his march to linlagucr,
and the army being' attached on the beach at five
o'clock, he conceived to be Merely the opinion of
General Donkin, and never nalerstood it as offi-
cial infortuatiim coming from Sir John Murray.--
The examination of this witness being closest,
Admiral Hallowell "propsst ,to call Captain
Ingleby t-tgain, to put a few questiOni to bin,.

The JuDog-AnvocATE infolined him, that, as
he had already examined hint, he must -state to
the Court what questio'nS he ttOw wished to ask
him, as it was for the 'Court to say whether he
Should-he main examined,
Admiral Ilallowell"then staled his questions,
but as it Wanted but a few minute's to three, the
Court adjourned till to-mot row.