The Sun.
London, England, 1812-07-15 00:00:00

NAVAL NtWS

kaom TIIE LONDON GAZETtE, JULY 14.

. , . Admiralty-Office, July 14, 1812.
Admiral-T-..Jord Keith has transmitted to John
Wilson Croker, Esq. a letter from Captain Sir
Koine P ophatn, of his Majesty's ship the Venera-
ble, dated near the Bar of Gilboa; the lsth of last

month, giving an account of his proceedings sub 7
Srequent to the, surrender of. the French troops at,
-L equitio, as stated in the Gazette of the 4th in-
stant.
In the afternoon of the 20th the enemy had
collected about eleven hundred men in the neigh-
bourhood of the above place, but on hearing from
'tile peasantry that two thousand men had been.
landed from the English squadron, they retired ;
• and intercepted letters were-transmitted to Sir H.
Popham, by which the Commandant of Gernico
WaS instructed to prepare rations for a French Ge-
:l3eral, and two thousand six hundred of the 'tripe-
. lin' Guards.
an the 23d, in the afternoon, the squadron be-
ing on its way to co-operate iu an attack, intended
• to be made by a Spanish General upon, Bilboa,
and the wind being unfavourable for gettin7round
'-‘illehichacho, a part of the squadron fetched the.
anchorage of Bermeo, and parties were. prepared
to land by six in the evening. The enemy were found
to have retired, leaving a small magazine of provi-
sions in a fortified convent, which was taken pos-•
session of, and distributed to the poor, and the
ships in want of water were completed. • The bat-,
tern on• the hill of Bertneo, consisting of five
eighteen pounders, *as destroyed, and the guns
rendered 'useless, and all the fortified places of
Which the enemy had had possession, wereblown

On the 24th the Venerable arrived off' Plencia,
Where parties from the Rhin and MedUsa were de-
°Toying-the works; and some of -.bis Majesty's
/tessels were immediately dispatched to commence
the oPerations of dismantling the batteries, and
destroying the guns on each side of the inlet below
the bar of the Bilboa river.
In the afternoon of the same day, Sir Home
Popham rancied at Algorta with the Captains of
~,,`ue squadrn, General Carrol, and Sir Howard
• -u. onglas, aond a detachment of the royal marine
force, under his orders ; but, as the country was
• . particularly close, and calculated for a surprise,
they re-embarked before night. The castle of
Galea was destroyed by Captain Bloye.; it con-
!listed of eight eighteen and twenty-four ppunders :
the guard-house, and gun-carriages were burnt,
and the trunnions knocked off the guns. The hat-
vteries of Algorta and Begona were destroyed by
Lieutenants' Groves and O'Reilly, the iormer
r?ounting five eighteen pounders and the latter
our. On-the opposite side of the inlet the. batte-
..
."" of El Campillo las Quersas and Xebiles,
Mounting eleven guns, eighteen and twenty-four
• Pounders, were destroyed by Lieutenants Coleman
and Arbuthnot.
On the 25th, at dawn, parties of the enemy
Were seen advancing, and, at fire-, entered the de-
stroyed batteries of Algorta, but soon retired from
on the squadron's making a disposition to
atand up the inlet. They afterwards formed on
the plain, and were found to-consist of two thou-
°lll men at Algorta, while four hundred .were
lent t? Puerta Galetta. Three of his _Majesty's
:Loops closed with the fort at the latter place, si-
Aeneed it, and drove the enemy from it. Sir Home
expresses his belief that' the enemy's corps was
the one for which rations had been ordered at Gu-
'trnleo, and which was therefore completely divert-
ed from its original deitination.
Sir Home Popham concludes by commending
the zeal and exertions of the 'Officers Under his
"lers, on these several occasions, in all which
the squadron has not had a single man hurt.