The Sun.
London, England, 1815-02-02 00:00:00

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CL:)UaT ON.Silt- JOIINaiIUR /LAY

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nu e.l2.2otint of"-the‘Stir;, ..,,.--iiie.l 1 nCe%cr,:ed tht:r
landing,- .
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Q. Did yotr give Or sehd Sir John Afurr,-y any
intelligence :on the •Ilth Of' .nine ? • Relate whiit
!.-..passed_ that day subseq-tiently.L-A..Sit J. Murray
,•was,.ubseut nearly.the•whole of that day. A Spa-
nish General came- to rnylfotise, and told ni,e he
'brought- intelligence for me.: He acquainted' me
~. that General De Caen. was on the tuareii with a
,considerable force from Barcelona, supensed.l o be
10.000 men, and that he would reach Villafranca
that evening. At Six' o'clOck in the evening of
the same day another Spanish Officer 'came to my
house, and told me that: lie brought intelligence
- for the General, and was anxious to see him. As
this Officer was more. circumstantial in his ac-
cotrit than the former, I desired he would allow
me to twice down in writing the amotint.Of what
he said, which I accordingl did, and this is the
original memorandum which I took then :•---
"lith June.—Bareelona le Altdines, to deLlley,3 hours—
Molines del Rey, to Tarragona, 15 to-I6 bonrs-10,000 men
marched -this day for Molines. del Rey—will not get tuirther
than Villa Franca to-day, the 11th, or a little farther—march-
ing all day—at 15.' to-night will reach Tarragona in about 7or
10 hours, that is, to-morrow, the 1,2 th."
The distance from Molines del Rey to Tarragnna
is, I believe, not so lunch. The above intelli-
gence was communicated to-me by the Spanish,
Officer, bringing a detailed statement for Sir J.
Murray. This Officer having kft me, I 'went to
Sir J. Murray's house—he was not at borne—he
returned about nine or, half past nine in the even-
iug—l met lam on the road between his house
and Tarragona walking, apparently just got off his
horse ; he then told me, that from the intelligence
he had that day received of the certain advance of
the enemy in fOrce.. he was determined to raise
the' siege hinnediately ; he told me that be had
countermanded the orlersfor storming the Puerto
Reale, giving as-a reason that it would:be a use-;
less waste of blood to-assault a place whichwould
not be followed by the immediate surrender of the
town. Previous to my leaving Sir John Mcirrity,
he told trie he should 'immediately give -directions
for bringing the battering‘, cannon down to the
beach. I soon after left -him, and on going to
.iny own quarters, I directed the Officers of my •
department to hold themselves in readiness for my '
orders all night. I acquainted them that the
siege was to be raised, and that the cannon would'
probably be brought down that night, and 1 di-
rected
one of them to goon board to the principal
agent for transports, and acquaint him with Si-,T.
Murray's intentions,: that 'he might be prepared;
I desired this Officer; at the same time, to pack
up the books and papers of my department, which,
being contaihed in two boxes, was soon done.
I understood afterwards that•six- boats were de-,
mantled for the conveyance 'of those papers and
hooks. I have no recollection of any such requi-
sition being made, nor can 1 well comprehend by
what calculation I could purpose to -put two boxes
into six boats. I remained in niy quarters all
night, expecting to hear the cannon come down
to the beach.
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Q. At what time did you first see me on the
12th, .and what paSsed before the embarkation .?
—A. 'Very soon after day-light I went to head- •
quarters to take Sir John Murray's orders; he
then told me he was sorry he had not been able '
to get the battery guns down during the night,
and that he 'should he unable to get them away.
He then acquainted me with the order in which
he meant to embark his troops,'which was, that
he should first withdraw General Whittingham's
corps : that General. Clinton should cover the
march of it with his division ; and that General '
Clinton should then retire with his division, with-
drawing hiS picquet, destroying the carriages, and
spiking the guns. This Sir John Murray tom-
mtmicated to me as his intention, but not as an.
order for execution. On leaving him soon after,.
I met the Commanding Officer of Artillery, and
told him what•was about to be done, asking, at the -
same time, if his Officers -in the - battalions had '
implements for the destruction of the carriages, •
and spiking the guns,aS I apprehend orders to that
effect would shortly he gi Yen. The Commanding Of-
ficer of Artillery expressed his regret at the loss of
his cannon, and said he would go and speak to the '
General about it : he left me 'on this. In about two
hours I rettirned,to head-quarters, and found a con- '
siderable number of Officers waiting for Sir John
Murray, who had gone out on horseback. .After
waiting there myself:for.. some .time, a Spanish
Officer rode up in 'great ihaste, and asked for the ,
General, saying, he had important intelligence for
him from General Copons, holding, in his hands,
at the same time, a letter. After some more time
had elapsed, this Officer came to me, and repre- -
tented the necessity there' was 'for 'a speedy an- •
swer to that letter, as General De Caen's corps' •
was in movement. Knowing as I did, that Gen, , '
De.-Caen's corps had arrived the day before at
Villafranca—and knowing also that if he conti-
nued to march, be might arrive before Tarragona
in the course of the morning of the 12th, 1 deter-
mined, after some hesitation, to-open that letter,
in order:to send Lieutenant-General Clinton word
that the enemy•were near him, that he might draw
his troops out of his biVonac, and 'put them into
line. On reading this letter, I found it con-
tained only a. confirmation of fornier intelli-
gence .that General De Caen's corps 'had arrived '
at Villafranca the day before, and requested Ge.
neral Murray's instructions. I immediately went
in search of Sir John Murray with this letter, and .
after, some time act him •on hOrseback coming
from Villa Secca. 1 then translated this letter to
Sir John Murray verbatim. 'After considering' it
-well, Sir John Murray repeated to me his inten-
tions for the raising of the siege, as he had done
in the morning, and said that they should be car— '
tied into executioh immediately: I requested the
General to give me those orders as he chose to
have them conveyed, and they were as follows :---
"You will send to Lieutenant-General Clinton", and desire"
him to call in General Whittingliam's corps from the left, anti
send theni down to the beach; General Clinton will then put
his divisi6n iii motion, and cover the march of General Whit-
tingham, previously calling in his picquets, destroying the gun
carriages, and spiking the guns."
As I felt the importance of the order, I repeat-
ed it word for word to Lieutenant Drew, of the
Quarter-Master's Department, in Sir John Mut.. .. •
ray's hearing. I then turned to Sir John Murray,
and asked him 'if I had delivered the orders cot-- • '
rectly, he told me I had, and I then directed Lieu-, •
tenant Drew to 'proceed with them immediately.
Q. Did you at any time that day send Lieute-
nant
Drew with orders to General Nichr.i.,;.. r„,.