The Sun.
London, England, 1812-07-06 00:00:00

FROM +HE LONDON GAZETTE, SULY 4.

WAR DEPARTMENT:
• D6i6Aing-street, irtdil 1, 1812.
A dispatch, of AVhich the folloNi,ing• is a copy,
has been' this .day received at L6rl RathurSt's
Office, addressed, to ihe. Earl of Livei•pool by
Majdr:Genei:ai ltos;S, conitnanding-at Carthagena,
dated May '22, 1812.
MY LORD; Carthagena, May 22, 1812.
haVe the
~itorionr to transmit herewith, for
our Lordship's. informaticm, the copy of my dis-.
patch of this, date, addressed to Major-Ceneral
Cooke, giving an account of the capture Of the
city of Alineria by a small Spanish force, which I
lately informed your Lordship had I;een embarked.
at
.this port,' in •British transports., under the
orders of Captain Adam, of his
_Majesty's ship

I have the bOnonr to be, &c. :
ANDREW ROSS, Majoi-Genei•at

Extract of a Letter from Major-General Ross to Major-Gene-
Cooke, dated Carthagena, May 22,' 1812.

My letter, No. 17, of the lfith instant,
_would
advise you of the progresS of a combined expedi-
tiou the westward of this; according to the in-
fOrmation Athieh Ii had received up to that date.-,-
The result hag now justified the sanguine hopes
that every one entertaiped of the success of opera-
tions,, carried on under the direction of an offi-
cer of the zeal and ability possessed by Captain
Adam, of his Majesty's ship Invincible.: Nothing
could be better tithed than the movements of
General Freire, who, in consequence of the in-
formation I sent to General O'Donnell, made as
attack upon the enemy and drove him from Baza
on the 13th, the same (lay on which the force
under the command .of Captain Adam appeared
off Almeria ; that officer having judiciously taken ,
time to Send on shore, at some distance from the
place, to . ascertain the strength, position, and
'movements of the_ enemy, learned that they were
in the, place to the number of four or five hun-
dred, including cavalry, andhad not 23 yet made
any detachments to assist in opposing General
Freire, but early' on the 14th instant it appears -
that the French General tad sent three couriers
to Al2neria (no doubt ignorant of this expedition)
to order the garrison to join him immediately,
which it proceeded to do accordingly,, and as it
marched out 'Captain Admit landed the three hun-
dred Spanish troops he ,had with him, under the
command of Colonel Alveor, and took possession
of the place.

The consequence of this has been' that Captain
Adam has been enabled to take or destroy .a priva-
teer and her two prizes ;. to blow up the castle of
San Elmo, which is situateenpOn an almost inac-
cessible rock, and all'the sea defences and bat-
teries which protected the anchorage of this place,
and formed a secure resort for the 'numerous pri-
vateers which have been long an annoyance to the
British and Spanish trade on this coast.
Capt. Adam haS also embarked all the service-
able guns, carriages, and ordnance stores he found
in the place, totallydestroying the remainder, and
was busily employed on these services, and inlor-
warding the embarkation of a quantity of sul-
phur and lead from the King's mines, at six
leagues from that place, under the direction of a>
Spanish Intendente, who had joined him with one
hundred cavalry from N ijar, when he. wrote to
me on the-18th instant, in answer to the express
I sent to him by a gun-boat, to acquaint him of
General Freire's retreat before a superior force of
the enemy at Baza. General O'Donnell was with
me here two days, When he received dispatches
from General Freire and Colonel Alveor, inform-
ing him, that the inhabitants of Almeria had re-
ceived the, Spanish troops with the most enthusi-
astic demonstration of patriotism on their enter--
ing that place on the 14th instant, and as by the
destruction of the 'fortifications that port' can no
longer be useful to the enemy, either as a safe
rendezvous for privateers, and their prizes, or as a
point d'appui to the right flank of their advanced,
position from whence they have hitherto annoyed
General O'Donnell's army, it is to be hoped that
loyal inhabitants will be relieved from any
future visits of their tyrannical oppressors, when
the Spanish troops are withdrawn.

WAR DEPAR'I ME NT,
Downing2g.treet; July 1, 'lBl2.

A dispatch, of which the following is a copy,
ha-0 been this day received at Lord Bathurst's
addressed to the Earl of Liverpool by.
Joientenant.-General • Campbell, commanding at
Gibraltar, dated June 8, 1812.

MY LORD;

Gibraltar, June 8, 1812.

I have the honour to inform your Lordship,
that a seN',eie action took place on the iseinstant,
between General Ballasterus's force and division
of -the enemy under -the command. of General
Coursoux, in the vicinity of nornos.
-The General has not sent me a detailed account,
but his letter i -herewith incloseu. This affair has
been attended with considerable loss on both sides,
that of the Spaniards not less th.llt one thousand
in killed, wounded; and missing, including abbot
eighty 'officers. General Ballasteros retired to
his original ground in the- vicinity of the field of
battle, in which operatil)n the enemy did not yen-
turesto interrupt ; his wounded have arrived
at Algeziras; tie enemy withdrew to his en.
trenchments. •

I have the honour to be, .s3z.c.
COLIN CAMPBELL, Lieut.-Gen.

Head-Quarters, Camp before Hija Ruiry

Jutle 2, 1312.

MOST EXCELLENT SIR,
1 hasten' to communicate' to,your'Excellency the
intelligence of the severe action which I fought
yesterday, with the greater part of the troops un.
der Inv command in the plains of Bornos. This
i action s perhaps the most serious that has been
fought since the beginning of our revolution; and
an unexpected occurrence \has alone denrived me
of the glory of a complete victory. I am sur,
rounded by wounded, none of ivhoni, however,
received their Wounds With the bayonet or sword,
although all arms were used. The loss of the
French I believe to have been not less consider-
able, for they did not venture to throw a single
party across the Guadalete to Inolest my retreat.
1 remain in my positions,, determined to perish
with my troopsratlawr than abandon one wounded
wan; T aal at a great loco how to provide to;

ranlort:ng them, as there are none in this pare
of the .1_ otintrv.'
Got" preserve•your Ex'eellency many years.
- FRANCISCO VALLEBTEROS.
To the Most Excellent Senor the
Govervor of Gibraltar.-

• Admiralty qllice, July 4, 1812.
Admiral Lord Keith has transmitted to John
Wilson Croker, Esq: a letter from. Captain Sir
Home Popham, dated nn hoard his Majesty's ship
Venerable, off Lequitio, the 21st of last month,
giving an account of an attack made upoti the
French troops in possession of that place,. by the=
Spanish -Gtierillas, aided by Sir Borne, and the'
officers and men of his Majesty's ships under his
orders.

The
.enemy had possession of a hill fort' com-
manding the town, calculated to resist any body of
infantry and.also two hundred men posted in a
fortified convent "within the town, the walls of
which were impervious to any thing less than an
eighteen pounder.
The convent might have.been destroyed by-the
ships; hnt as the toVern would lawere materially
sutlerea, and as the guns of. the Venerable made
no visible impression on-the fort, it-was _determin-
ed to erect a battery on a hill opposite to the
latter, which the enemy considered as-quite inac-
cessible to cannon., and in that confidence rested
his security.
Asint,was accordingly landed in the forenoon
of the 20th, (ehielly by the,exertions of Liettte,,
,nant Groves, .of "the Venerable), notwithstanding
tie sea was breaking with such
.violenee against
t ,c rocks at the fOot of the hill, that it was doubt-
fal whe her a boat could get near enough for that
'purpo.3e. It was then hove up a short distance by
a nnlvable caprcun; lint this was found so tedious,
that men 'and bullocks were sent' for to draw it -;
and it,was at length dr-agged,to the summit of the
11,111. by thirty-sixpair of btfilocks, four hundred
Cuerillas, and one hundred seamen, headed by the
Honourable Captain Jiouverie. It was immedi-
ately mounted, and fired its first shot at four iri
the afternoon. ' ,

The gun was so admirably served, that at sun-
set a practicable breach was made in the wall of
the fort, and the Guerillas volunteered to storm-
it. The first party was -repulsed, Tiut the second
gained possession without. aux considerable loss .:
several of the enemy escaped on the opposite side;
and get into the -convent.
In the ,course of the evening the sea abated a
little; and a landing upon the island of St. Nicho-
lls was effected, though with-some. difficulty, by-
Lieutenant O'Reilly, of the Surxeillante ; ma-
rines were ago landed from that ship, the Me-
dua. and Rhin, with a carronade from each ship.;
and Captain Malcolm took the command Of. the
Island during the night,_ whilst Capt. Sir George
Collier• was in the Venerable's battery on the hill.
At dawn of the 21st, "a twenty-four pounder was
brought to the east side of the town, within two
hundred yards of the convent, and another was in
the act of being landed upon St. Nichiilas to born-
bat d it, when the Frenck Commandant Gillort,
Chat -tie Bataillon, beat a parley, and surrender-
ed with the remainder of: his. party; consisting
of two hundred and ninety men of the 119th
regiment. _ _

The enemy's loss has not been -ascertained, but
it was.supposed to be considerable, as the Guerillas,
echo were better posted and fired with more cele-
rity, had fifty-six men killed or wounded. Not a
man was hurt in his Majesty's squadrim either by
the surf or the enemy. . .
There Were 'two eighteen-pounders mounted
on the-fort, and three small guns in the bar-
racks the latter, with-the muskets, were given
to the Guerillas, who were nlso- supplied with
every description of military stores of which they
stood in need. The,: guns in the fort were ren-
dered_ useless, the fort destioyed, and the convent
blown-up.
' Sir fiorne Popham commends it high terms the

co►:duct of all', the officers and men enillloyed on
this occasion and expresses his sense of the as-
sistance rendered by Sir Howard Douglas and. Gen.
Carrol, who had embarked in the Venerable, and

volunteered their services wherever they could lie
employed. -

Adnarglty. Office, July 4, 1812.

Vice-Admiral Sir 'Edward PeHew has trans-
mitted to John WiLion Croker, 14-;sq.. two letters
/addressed to him by Captains Campbell and
ThOuis; of his Majesty's ships. Leviathan and
Undaunted ; the farmer giving an account of an
attack made ou the 39th of ,April last by the
boats" of the Leviathan, under. the directions of
Lieut. Dobbs, on a French privateer and several
merchant vessels at Agay ; four of the latter
were brought ont, and the privateer, a' brig of
fourteen guns and eighty-men, was taken posses-
sion of ; but having been hauled on shore, she
could not be got off, an'd being set on fire, it was
afterwards extinguished hy the enemy : the vessel
was carried without any loss' on our part, but
during the endearzurs made to bring her off, two
tneit were killed and four' wounded by the enemy's
fire from the shore.

The latter reporting an attack made on the
same day on a French 'convoy near the mouth of
the Rhone, by the boats of the Undaraited, Vo-
lOntaire, and illossonr under the directions of
Lieutenant Eagar, of . the first ship ;- of twenty-
ve3sels composing the convoy; seven were.
brought out, twelve burnt, and two left, stranded
to the beach : a national .sehooner of four
eighteen-pounders and seventy- four mect , Was
aniong3t the vessels burnt. 'service was
yerfornied without any' the • boats being
ably protected• by Captain Stewart in the Bka-
soma sloop. •