The Sun.
London, England, 1812-08-17 00:00:00

and the garrison niarchea ko ISTaclria, to forty r-trt
of the army of the centre. - They were Li
five days provisions:.
Linclosc 11 return of the killed and on
the 18th instant. •

lions de A$;11-154, , 1512..

. . .
71(iy Aide-de-Camp, Captain Lord ill
present to .your Lordship the account of avlctorY
which the alliedtroops under my cothmand gained.
in a general action` fought real; t`..:alanianea on .the
evening of the 22d inst. which' I hive been undkn'
the necessity of delaying tb Send titt no\k, having
been. engaged ever since the action in the parstilt
of the enemy's flying troops. .• . .
In my letter of the 21st I informcri your Lord-
ship that both ::reties were near-the 'Formes ; and
the city crossed that river With th greF. test pait
of his troops the afternoon .by i. &. fords be-
tween Alba de Tonnes and Mena, and moved.
by their lift tOward;. the rbads leading to Ciudad
Rodrigo.
The allied arnW,, with the• excepti?fl 'of, the 3d
diVision and General D'Orhan's cp.vahy, likoWse
crossed the TOrnie4 in the evening bythe -bridge,
of Salathanca, and the fordi -thenziktibourhood ;
and I placed the troops in .4.position.of wllich the
right was nport one of the two heights called Dos
Arapiles, and the-left on the Tonnes belovv the
ford of Santa Martha.
.
The 3d di,vision and Brigadier-General D'Ur-
ban's cavalry Were left .at Cabrerizas; tf174.0 right
of the Tornies, as the enemy had stilLaf.lrge...cOrps
on the heights above Babilafuente, on the sq-me
side of the river, and I considered it 11:;i:
probable, that, finding our army prerred for.,
them„in the morning, on the left of the .1 ormes,
th4.would alter their plan, anti manceuVre by the
Other bank. _

In the course of the night of the 21st 1 received
intelligence, of the truth of which I could not
doubt, that General Chauvet had arrived at Pollos
onthe,2oth, with the cavalry and horse artillery of
the army of the north, to join 'Marshal Marinont;
and I was quite certain that these troops Wbuld
join him on the 22d or 23d at the latest.
During the night of the 21st the, enemy had
taken possession of the village of Calvarasa de
Ariba, and of the height near it cal i 1 Nuestra.
Senora de ia.-Pena, our cavalry being ioossession
of Calvarosa de Ithaxo ; and shortly after daylight
detachments from both armies attempted: toobtain
possession of the. more distant from our right
.of
the two hills Called Dos Arapiles.
The enemy however 'succeeded, their detach-
ment being the strongest, and having been con-
ceeled in the woods nearer the hill than we were,
by which success they strengthened materially
their own position, and had in their power in-
creased means of annoying ours.
In the morning, thedight troops of the itla di-
vision, and the 4th Cacadores, belonging to Gene.!
ral Pack's brigade, were engaged with the enemy
on- the height called Nuestra -Senora de la Pena ;
on which height they maintained themselves with
the enemy throughout the day. The possession,
by the enemy, however, of the more distant of
the Arapiles, rendered it necessary for me to ex-
tend the right of the army in
,Potence to the
heights behind the village of Arapiles, anll to oc-
cupy that village with light infantry and here I
•placed the 4th division, under the command of
the Honourable Lieutenanteneral Cole ; and al-
though, from the variety of the enemy's move--
Inents', it was difficult to form a satisfactory judg-
ment ofhis -intentions, I considered that, upon.
the Whole, his objects were upon the left of the
Tormes. I therefore ordered the Honourable
.Iklajor-General Pakenhain, who commanded the-
3d'diviSion, in the absence of Lieutenant-Gene-
ral Picton, on account of ill health, to move
• across the Tormes with the troops under his corn.:
including Brigadier-General D'Urban's
cavalry, and to place himself behind Aldea' Tejada,
Brigadier:-General . Bradford's brigade of Portu-
guese infantry and Don Carlos D'Espana's in-
fantry; having b een moved up likewise to the neigh-
bourhood of Las Torres, between the 3d and 4th
division:. • •
.•

After -a variety of evolutions' and movements,
the the enemy appears.. - to.have determined upOti,his
plan about two in the afternoon; and under cover
of a very heavy catitionade,*hich however did us
but very little &linage, be extended bis left,'and
moved forward his troops, apparently with-<u?.
tendon to embrace; by the position of his troops,
and by his fire, our poSt .on that of the two
Aripiles which we possessed, and . from thence
to attack and break, our line ; or at all 'events.''
to render difficult any movement of ours our.
right.
The extension of his line to his left,however,.and
its advance upon our right,_notwithstanding.tbat
his troops stil occupied Very strong ground; and
his position was well defended by cannon, gave
me an opportunity of attacking him, for _which- I
had long 'been anxious. :1 reinfofced our right
with the sth division, under Lieuteilanti.General
Leith, which I placed behind the village of Ara,-
piles, on the light oL the.4th division; and with
the 6th and 7th divisions 'in reserve'; and as Soon
as these troops had taken their stations;:l ordered
the Hon. Major-General Packenh :to move for-
Ward with fee- 3d division, 'and:General D'lliban's
cavalry, and-two.sqnadrOns of the 14th light:dra-
goons, under Lieutenant-Colonel Hervey, 'in four
coltimns, to torn the enemy left on the:heights;
while Brigadier-General Bradford's -brigade, the.
sth division, under Lieutenant--GeneralLeith, the
4th division, under the Hon. Eientenarit-General
Cole; and the cavalry, under Lieutenant-Genera
Sir Stapleton Cotton, should attack them in front,
supported. in reserve 'by the 6th•diVision, under
Major-General Clinton, the 7th division, under
Major-General Hope, and 1)ou. Carlos D'Espana's
Spanish division, and Brigadier-General Pack
„should support-the left of the 4th division,. by at-:
tacking that of the Dos Arapiles, which the enemy
held. The Ist and light divisions occupied the
ground on the left, and were in reserve. •
The attack upon the enemy's left was made in
-the manner above described, and completely suc-
ceeded. Major-General the Hon. Edward Paken-
ham formed the, 3d division across the enemy's
-flank, and overthrew-every thing opposed to him.
These troops were supported-in the most gallant
style by the Portuguese davalry under Brigadier-
General D'Urban,.and Lieutenant-ColongLiier-
vey's squadrons of the 14th, who succedifully de-