The Sun.
London, England, 1812-12-01 00:00:00

or cil orations
would have been, to have pursued
:,rispaign in the. South, and to have cleared
the provinces of, Andalusia and Catalonia; but
id,ztuad cif being 'able to do this, the Commander
was again obliged to turn northward in order to
revel an incursion • of Marmont's 'army, which
was then but insignificant in nnmbers ; but Lord
Wellington‘had Such inferior forces that be could.
not leave any to protect the'northern provinces
while :he pursued his victory in the -south, but
was "obliged to abandon the southern country and
„ bend his force to the northward. In his advance
he felt equal difficulty from the great inferiority
.of his cavalry, inferior in numbers, not in.other.
xespects ; and glorious as the battle of Salamanca.
was, yet it was the result of chance,bY the pronipt
mind of that able Commander taking advantage
of
.an error of the French General. His retreat,
svhich succeeded the battle of Salamanca, was no
feigned retreat,- but one resulting:from necessity
by being opposed to superior physical-strength; he
isegan to retreat 'on the lith, and ;continued to do
• so until the middle of 'the :?2d—when perceiVing
an opening, lie instantly., With the promptitude of
lightning, availed himself of .an error of :the
French Commander, 'and snatched what was most
certainly a glorious victory. But. such a recur-
.renee Must not again be looked for : It was. not
in the errors of the French Generals We'hadmuch
chance of succeNs, and if we relied upon that, we
Should relay upoN a very sandy foundation. The
result, of tliis
.victory had in nially respects been
• io:portant. gave us 'for
.a time possession of
Madrid, and the depots of the•Anemy; bat again;
,for the want.Of sufficient force,, it was 'in the .end
'likely to. prove :of no, valne, as connected With the-
' ,ultimate success of the cause.
.I.mmtdiately after-
. ,the battle of Salamanca, the General -pursued his
- way to Burgos, and then, such was his'-limited
means- of transit,lie had only' three, 18-p9unders,
.to carry on the siege of that fortress. It Was al-
guost impossible that the place:could-be carried,
.except by a coup -denzdini which unfortunately did
-not Isuceeed ; and again from his limited means,.
-he was obliged to retreat.
.1f the victory and pus-_
session of Madrid had, caused snehsenSations of
-satisfaction, what would not be felt at reverse?
If the war in the Peninsula .to be Considered
in the light of a diversion in favour of Itussia,aught
•not -every nerve to
,have been strained to
,in4e it
- aseffectual as possible ? Marment was, soon rein-
forced, and the beaten soon:again aPnearedin the
melt}-with fxesh reinforcements. Dut I e'vber were
Lord Wellington's reinforcements. On the_24th.,
after he had abandoned:l3,urgoS,.he....was,jOined by
a battalion 91-theCinazds, , The. 9lst liegiment
-had .advanced „as -far .- as .B.enevente,-but were
obliged to turn :back, and he hoped- and trusted
•they had secured -a
.safe retreat. Two regiineuts
-more were disembarked -at Corunna, and, were
:again .embarked for lishon„ f'rOm ,whiCh
.place
. 'they wouldprobably,join,at the beginning of the
-next campaign. , ....11isl,ordship havingadverted la
.thecattipaign, contended we ought to have sent
greater reinforcements, both of. men. and Money,
.and stated as .an instance of neglect in the latter
case, that the military.chest at one time contained
• -but 20,000 dollars, and that Lord Wellington was
• obliged to use a sun of 37,000 doll.trs,
,whiCh
had been sent. for:the use of a Spaiiish army. lie
-complained likewi e, that the British Commander.
- -had been deceived by the expectationsof _ co-ope-
• rasion anti from thu Sieilian expedition,
which had been sent sotardily and injudiciously,
-that it was of no use, and had served Only to ex-
pose the Catalonians, without affording them pro- -
tection. His Lordship next adverted.to the trans-
actions .between this country and Sweden, and.'
Said it required explanation why the ex,pedith;ii -
which was arranged to :sail from Sweden was. so
Suddenly ablisidoned 'after the liegoeiation : with
'this country. He also- thought ,it singtilar, that
-with respect to,trelatid, the Catholic Chiiins were
'not at noticed in. the R.egent's speech. It
looked very much like what had been whispered,
namely, that Parliament had been digs,olVed. to get'
rid of the pledge of the last ,Sessions to take their"
chiiins into consideration. With :respect to
rica, he • was surprised. to .hear it said that the
Orders in Council were
,the
:ground of quakrel ; be'
- • -understood. there were other high,and important
questions affecting our. maritime rights, and lie
''vFas ready to say that.neverw4s,
,ciaarrel More just_
than ours with America. • . •
• The Eam, of LIVERPOOL rose to. reply'-;-,Tie
served the Noble Marquis:bad contented himself
by observing upon the Address, withouf: moving
any:amendment.. Ile had dwelt much- on the late'
reverses after our glorious successes,, but the, man
• who should look for a continued career -of victory
in war without any reverses, looked_ fo.r.that whiCh
scarce by any possibility could happen,. tie could
• agree with the Noble Lord only in a few topics ;
and with respect to the: camp. aign,-he Would ask
any man if the result as.it now. stood, bad -been
stated as an expectation ,at the beginning of it,'
• would not the hope have been treated as'
chimeri-
• cal The Noble Lord, had complained of the
Mired scale-on which the war on the -Peninsula
had been supplied. But sutely, in speaking of
• that supply, he ought to have taken into his con-
' lideration the ;mans of the country, and if he had
Aerie so, he would have: found that theY,had ex-;
ceeded not only what had been done in any for-
' mer war,hut beyond what a few yea'rShack would
have been thought impossible, for., the country to
• accomplish. He could tell the LlOnse,,that, 'on the
25thJuue last, the number oftroops in British pay
'in the Peninsula .amounted-to no less thanl27;ooo
• men; .of this t16,(10) Nycrer- ;: anal, in the
Coarse of last year 20,000 tuen,,and..-7,Q0 tmr:4•es
-had been:sent out, to. Spain. The Noble Lord. had
also made it matter.of,complaint that,there was,no
• battering traitvntdjurgos„, The faci the
'rapid advance of the army-preveritesl4,eir, being ae-
- companie-sthya heavy train, .and ik did not arise
from the .want of them, for there were, two batter-
' ing trains stationed on the frontiers of Spain, and
' there -orris a third afloat at Lisbon, ready to be car-
Tied to any part to which the COmmander should di,
rect•thenc. In short, he conhistssure the House that
there was no requisition made,hy,the'illustrious
Commander which had not been complied with
and, in justice to that 'Commander, he• must say,
•that he was not in the habit of requesting :irorn
- lids Government •any thing but what they could
-afford him.. The. same. obkeryation,applied
lie want of specie : the quantity given insist. be
suited by the means of procuring it, and if it