The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 13, 18604

the Moorish camp. But there had not been time
to cut roads for the passage of the guns, and the
brunt of the day was borne by the infantry, aided
by the mountain guns, and occasionally by those
of give gunboats .and several war steamers, which
lay all day close in to shore.
The positions it was proposed to take and occupy
having been•successfully gained, with fewsasualties
on our side, it would, perhaps, have been wise to
remain contented; to have held them, and resisted
any attempts to retake them, but not to have ad-
vanced further in a direction where it was not in-
tended to retain the ground that might be cap-
tured. Here, however, it appears there was a se-
c )nd mistake. General Prim commanded the fight-
ing division yesterday, and, it is said, he mis-
understood the directions of the chief, and advanced
further than it was intended he should do. It was
still very early in the day when his troops were
seen, he foremost among them, crowning height
after height on our right (that is to say, receding
from the sea), until they had occupied an extensive
line, to he abandoned at nightfall, general Prim's
fighting qualities are well known, and some may be
disposed to suspect that, if he advanced further than
was intended—as he certainly did further than was
necessary or useful—he was not sorry to take the
benefit of any doubt there may have been upon his
mind. Certain it is that he was in his element yes-
terday. With two glittering stars upon his breast,
and his gold-headed General's cane in his hand, he
was forward among the balls, generally on foot, and,
to everybody's wonder, remained, as hitherto in this
war, without a scratch. Unfortunately, many of his
men were less fortunate, and the afternoon's fight
was far more costly than that of the morning. The
Moors, who had the advantage of the high ground
and of a very good position, defended it with great
tenacity. Probably they thought that an attack on
their camp was intended, and they fought for their
penates, and fought extremely well. For three or
four hours there was a heavy fire kept up on both
sides. A battalion of artillerymen distinguished
itself greatly and suffered severely. It was em-
ployed in throwing up a parapet, and appears not
to have been sufficiently supported; it had to lay
down pick and spade, and to take to its muskets. A
large number of the officers of this battalion were
killed and wounded. On one occasion General
Prim seized the colours of a battalion, and, placing
himself at its head, made a dashing charge, driving
back the enemy. I think it was about 1 p.m., and
the General-in-Chief and his Staff and escort were
down in the plain, close to the first of the white
buildings I have mentioned, when, on a massage
being brought to him—l believe asking reinforce-
ments for the troops on the heights —Plarshal
O'Donnell ordered a battalion of General Zabala's
reserve to advance, and himself, drawing his sword
and putting spurs to his horse, rode forward up the
mountain, loudly cheered by some troops he passed
on the way, and closely followed by his aides-de-
camp and the rest of his habitual retinue. I believe
the reason of this sudden move was that he desired
to animate by his presence the troops who were
enduring and returning a very severe fire, until
such time as the more slowly advancing support
could reach them. It appears to me, however, that
there was no such urgency as to warrant him in
exposing himself to such a fire as he presently got
into. The loss of the present General-in-Chief
would be almost an irreparable one to Spain and
this army at the present moment. Ido not mean
by saying this to exalt his military talents above
those of other Spanish Generals who might per-
haps be named, but it is obviously a great
advantage that the commander of this army
should unite in his own person the three im-
portant posts of Commander-in-Chief, Minister of
War, and Prime Minister. This union must have a
most beneficial effect upon the operations in Africa.
There can be no demur to or appeal from his orders
and decisions ; whatever he directs must be done,
whether in Madrid or here, and whatever he de-
mands must be forthcoming within the shortest
possible time, without requiring the sanction of any
other authority. Moreover O'Donnell is undenia-
bly popular with this army, which seems to have
much confidence in him, and it certainly would be
difficult to supply his place. And for the above
reasons I cannot but agree with the observations I
hear fall, especially since yesterday, from officers
here, who sal that his life is too valuable, especi-
ally at the present conjuncture, and with his plans
all in his own keeping, for him to be justified in
exposing himself to be knocked over, like any pri-
vate soldier, by a ball from a Moorish espinyarcla.
To have seen him and his Staff riding forward yes-
terday, sword in hand, to where the balls were fly-
ing on all sides of them one might have taken them
for a troop of cavalry seeking risk and distinction.
It is to be supposed he considered it proper to be
done, but I know a good many who take a different
view of it. He afterwards retired a little to the brow
of a hill, where the Sappers were thowing up a para-
pet which was to serve as a defence for our troops
during the night, and there he was less exposed, but
still under fire. The horses were sent a short dis-
tance down the hill for prOtection, but the Generals
and Staff remained there till dark. Two or three
officers were hit, to my knowledge, while up there ;
one of them, Major Modet, of the Engineers at-
tached to O'Donnell's Staff, was severely wounded
very near the General-in• Chief, and will have to
return to Spain. Another was slightly wounded ;
another received a bullet which made a furrow com-
pletely across the top of his low-crowned shako,
narrowly missing his head, owing to its being fired
from higher ground than that on which he was
standing. I cite only those cases which came to
my knowledge, and say nothing of grazes and con-
tusions from spent balls. The road down-hill from
the front was not a cheerful one during the after-
noon. One saw many a poor fellow going down
bleeding on a stretcher—dead bodies, half enveloped
in a blanket, being toilsomely carried away on men's
shoulders; while here and there in a corner some
unlucky wretch was groaning and shrieking under
the hands of the surgeons. Firing went on till it
was quite dark, when the Moors retired as usual,
and our troops did the same, while the positions
we retained were occupied by fresh battalions.
'I he return of the Spanish loss in the action I
have briefly and imperfectly described (writing in
haste and with endless interruptions), is not yet com-
plete, but I believe it will prove to be between 500
and 600 killed and wounded—by far the larger
number of these casualties having occurred in the
afternoon. I never attempt to guess the enemy's
loss, nor do I give much heed to the conjectures I
hear or read on that head, even when they pro-
ceed from high authority ; for I believe it to be
exceedingly difficult to estimate the loss of one's
opponents even appraximatively in a war of this
kind, where they fight so much under cover, and
make such efforts to carry off their dead. It seems
probable, however, that in the early part of
yesterday's affair the Moors suffered much more
than the Spaniards, and especially owing to the
artillery. The shells and grape from Lopez-
Dominguez's mountain battery can hardly have
failed to tell severely upon them. On the other
hand, in the afternoon, I suspect the Moors lost less
than the Spaniards. They were better covered,
they had higher ground, and an excellent position.
If the day's work had been limited to the morning
fight I should have said it was not only a short, but
an extremely good and cheap one. That of the
afternoon, which might in great measure have been
avoided, added nothing to our gains but a great
deal to our losses.

The action of the Ist of January, which will he
known as that of Castillejos, is the only one as yet
fought in this war which may claim the name of a
battle, by reason of the movements made, the
ground covered, and the amount of loss. In one or
two of the fights upon the lines around Ceuta the
fire was, perhaps hotter for a short time than it was
yesterday ; but, as a whole, yesterday's atl'air was
the most considerable this army has yet had. The
Moors are apparently 710 great strategists ; never-
theless, yesterday, when they saw the Spaniards
decidedly assuming the offensive and determined
to advance, they seem to have had some idea of
strategical combinations and diversions. They mus-
tered in front of our right redoubt (Isabella II.),
and opened fire, in hopes, doubtless, of diverting
attention from the direction in which General
Prim was moving ; and they also made a move-
ment as if they would, have passed between the

Alfonso and Espana redoubts (the two on the left),
and cut us off from Ceuta, occupying the groun d
we hid just left. The last manoeuvre, however,
would have required a much larger force than they
appear to have had, and it is not to bo supposed
that they seriously- contemplated it, but rather that
their movement, had it been made by a civilised
General, would have induced his opponents to attri-
bute to him the intention referred to.

From various points of the high ground we yes-
terday rode over we obtained a most distinct view
of the Moorish camp, established in a pleasant shel-
tered recess, amid grass and foliage, and consist-
ing, as it seemed to me, of some 200 or 300 tents,
arranged with much regularity, and looking from
the distance very white and neat, although it is
more than probable that they would be found nasty
enough on a near approach, if we may judge from
the filthy condition of the few prisoners hitherto
made. I forgot to mention, by the by, that five
Moors were taken yesterday, three of them badly
wounded. A considerable number of arms were
also captured. I saw a mule-load of escinuardas in
camp to-day.

List night, Tread-quarters encamped close to the
sea, on a slight elevation covered with brushwood,
which afforded excellent material for fires. These
were very welcome on account of the damp, but
the cold was trifling. Yesterday, New Year's Day,
was as warm as Midsummer in England. The
weather was glorious, the sun not oppressively hot,
a lcountry, and particularly wel-
come n any
here after allthe rain we have lately had ;
but as soon as the sun set such a dew fell upon
everything that in half an hour the canvas of
the tents was wet through. To-day has again been
fine—hotter even than yesterday, but the after-
noon was rather cloudy. It is now night ; the sky
is perfectly clear, with the exception of a few thin
streaks of clouds above the sea horizon ; the moon
is high and bright, and the camp fires flame and
sparkle all around and up away on the 'mountain
slope, where Prim's battalions, in two in-
trenched camps, form our advance in that
direction. General O'Donnell was out towards the
front very early this morning with only two or three
Aides-de-Camp, and soon afterwards orders were
given to Head-quarters to strike tents and move to
where they now are, close to the little old white
house overlooking the water, and from which may,
now be seen 20 steamers, some of them men-
of-war and some storeships, floating black
and still upon the calm sea at a very short distance
from shore. In front of the said white house, by-
the-bye, was observed a small mound, which some
soldiers had the curiosity to break open. It was a
Moorish tomb, and contained human bones and
skulls, which seemingly had lain there long, for
they were dry and mouldering. In one of the
skulls a rat had made its nest and deposited its
young.

The Moors, no doubt, apprehended an attack
upon their camp, for they raised it in the night, and
early this morning they were descried far in the
distance moving away in the direction of the moun-
tain, a little to the west of Cape Negro. Some few,
doubtless, still lurk in this neighbourhood, for a
soldier who straggled a short way from camp has
had his arm broken by a shot. Otherwise the
neighbourhood is to all appearance quite clear of
them. Brigadier Macquena, second chief of the
staff; went out this afternoon with a couple of squad •
roes to reconnoitre. He saw a few cavalry who
issued from a sort of country house, and executed a
distant fantasia in his honour, but that was all. It
is not to be supposed that the enemy intends to let
us reach Tetuan without further opposition, but we
suppose that he bas betaken himself to some advan-
tageous position, whence to assail us on our passage.
The general impression is that we shall have a fight
towards Cape Negro. Meanwhile we have been
spared the one which everybody expected for to-
day, and have thus been enabled to encamp com-
fortably, and bring up the cavalry and some artil-
lery, including a rocket troop, which it is expected
will astonish the Moors. It was hoped we should
push onwards to-morrow, but I believe that to be
impossible, as the roads are still to be made by
which the artillery must pass.

JAN. 3, 8 A.M.

Another lovely morning, giving good promise of a
fine hot day. As yet there are no signs of a march,
and there can be little doubt we shall pass the day
where we are. If we can only have a few days of
this weather, _the task of the Spanish army and
Generals will be greatly lightened and shortened.
The Spaniards are in good spirits, and the manner
in which the Moors were driven from their position
on Sunday, arid have since hastily abandoned their
camp, has increased the confidence of all here.
People now begin to talk of a march to Tangiers, to
follow quickly upon the capture of Tetuan.

The post from head-quarters did not go out yes-
terday. As its hour of departure to day is uncertain,
and will probably be early, I close this despatch.
Although I date it Camp of Castillejos, which is
the most natural name of our present encampment,
the official designation of this is, I am just informed,
Campamento de la Condesa, and it is thus, I believe,
that the official despatches will be dated.

2 P.M.

Marshal O'Donnell has just returned from a
short reconnaisance in the direction of Monte Negro,
the mountain near the seashore before reaching
(;'ape Negro. The object was to examine the ground.
Some 50 Moorish tents were discovered inland from
the mountain, and a few cavalry were seen, but no
large force. There is no probability of fighting to-
day, as far as present appearances go. I fear the
fine weather is about to leave us. There is a fitful
menacing breeze from the west, which experience
tells us is the usual precursor of high wind and
heavy rains. Fortunately we have now better
ground to go over than that we have left behind
us. At the same time, if such a tempest as the last
should come, a move will.be scarcely possible.
General Zabal, who commands the 2d corps, and
was present in the action of the Ist inst., has gone
into Ceuta sick. General Orozco, who commands
one of the divisions of that corps, has temporarily
replaced him.

From the high ground on which head-quarters
camp stands, the whole of the army of operations
may now be discerned. On the heights in our rear,
beyond the valley, is the 2d division, a little in front
and to the left of the redoubts Alfonso and Espana
In the plain, nearer to us, is the cavalry division—
about 1,200 sabres and lances, and near it the artil-
lery, of which nearly all has come up, and the rest
is each moment expected. It includes a siege train
of rifled 12 pounders. On the rising ground to the
left is General Prim's division, of eight battalions,
and in front of head-quarters camp is the third divi-
sion. I estimate the whole strength of the army
(exclusive, of course, of the first division,' about
10,000 strong, which remains to keep the lines of
Ceu‘a) at 21,000 or 22,000 men ; five divisions of
infantry, the cavalry division, the artillery, and two
battalions of engineers. The Ist corps, which was
the weakest, is now the strongest of the three. It
suffered much early in the campaign from the enemy's
fire and from cholera, but has since been reinforced.
The 3d corps, on the other hand, arrived here very
strong, and has been greatly thinned by disease,
which attacked it much more severely than either
of the other two corps. The number of cases on some
days were as many as they had ever been in the
other two taken tcgether. The engineers, who have
been worked extremely hard, have also been great
sufferers, not from bullets, but from cholera and other
maladies. Their companies were 135 men strong on
arrival ; they aro now 90. It is to be hoped, however,
that the army is getting acclimatised and accustomed
to exposure and hardship, and that few weakly sub
jects remain. The doctors say, too, that the ground
we have got upon is far healthier than that we have
left. It is dry enough under foot, and apparently
of a more sandy quality, but the climate is as
damp as ever from dusk until two or three hours
?fter dawn. Such heavy dews I scarcely ever saw
as those which fall on this North African coast.
They soak through every thing us effectually as rain,
than which, however, they are, of course, much less
annoying, as they do not make mud. An hour or
two of the scorching sun of these regions dries them
up most effectually. Taken altogether, however,
it is clear that this climate is uncongenial to Euro-
pean—or at least to Spanish--constitutions. Among
the officers I hear many complaints of headaches,
disordered stomachs, and general malaise—not auk

cient to induce them to put themselves on the sick
list, but which inspire apprehensions lest they
should be the precursors of more decided illness.
The heat of the sun during the long day of the Ist,
when everybody was abroad from daylight till after
dark, produced unfavourable symptoms in not a
few. Movement and action, however, are at any
time better than the stationary monotony of a camp,
and if we can but have a little more fine weather,
and march on towards Tetuan, there are good hopes
that the cases of sickness in this army will descend
to the ordinary average in a campaign.
We are expecting reinforcements, but, unless
they arrive quickly, we are likely to march with-
out them.

lire have received, by the arrival of the mail
steamer Pera at Southampton, files of the Gibraltar
Chronicle to the 6th inst., containing interesting
intelligence from the seat of war in Morocco. The
following are the latest items in the Chronicle of
the 6th :

"We have news from the Spanish camp up to yesterday.
Nothing of importance had occurred since the advance to
Castillejos on the let. Cholera was much on the decline,
and the army greatly improving in health. On the 4th the
Moor; showed themselves in some force, and there was some
skirmishing, in which the Spanish loss in killed and
wounded was under 20. Tho Spanish army was stationary
yesterday, but an advance along the sea shore was to be
made to-day. It was not known how far the army was to
move in the day's march, nor whether the assault and oc-
cupation of the Cape Negro pass was contemplated.
" The Moors had given little trouble to the Spanish army
in its forward movement up to the sth, and it was expected
that severe fighting would take place between Castillejos
and Tetuan."

The Gibraltar Chronicle of the 31st ult. publishes
the following account of a visit to Ceuta by a party
of English officers. These gentlemen speak of the
courtesy and kindness shown to them by the Spanish
authorities, all of whom, from the General to the
private soldier, seemed to vie with each other in
showing them personal kindness :

" Thursday, Dec. 29.
" It may be interesting to most of your readers to know
the result of a trip to Ceuta. A party of officers and civi-
lians landed at mid-day, and after calling on the Governor,
proceeded on foot to the camp, where the party was intro-
duced to General O'Donnell, who most readily gave a free
pass to any put of the camp. Proceeding by the new road
in a short time heavy firing was heard in the front, and on
ascending a steep hill the scene of action was immediately
apparent. Entering a battery of three 0 •pounders where a
large party of officers and the staff of General was as-
sembled, the position of the Spanish strongholds were
pointed out to the strangers. The General and his staff
displayed the greatest civility. From this position we wore
enabled to gain a good insight into the mode of warfare, the
Moorsadvancing with wild cries kept up a brisk fire on the
Spanish skirmishers who as briskly replied ; a brilliant
charge on the part of the Spanish drove their foes from a
ridge that alight have proved troublesome.
" The intrepidity of the Spanish officers was most con-
spicuous—an officer in particular was noticed. Three Moors
secreted behind a mass of rocks, kept up a harassing fire on
the Spanish skirmishers. The advance was sounded, and
the officer, many yards ahead of his troops advanced alone
against the Moors, who, after discharging their weapons at
him to no effect, retreated hastily.
"About 5 p.m. the Moors advanced in great force, and
the firing became general along the whole front. As even-
ing closed, the Spanish skirmishers fell back on the bat-
tery, and the Moors retreated also at nightfall.
" On the 30th the party started for the Serrallo, and were
most courteously received by the officer in command, who
at once ordered horses, nine in all, an escort of cavalry die •
mounting for the purpose, and, accompanied by several
officers of high rank, proceeded to visit the several redoubts,
two of which formed the scene of the contest of the 25th of
November.

"The difficulties that the Spanish troops met with on first
landing were strongly apparent, no roads of course existed,
the let division had to fight their way step by step to the
summit of the ridge on which the redoubt Isabel 11. is now
situated. The slopes of the ravines were then thickly
planted with cork trees. Now, a good road leads to the
summit, and the trees were cleared away for a considerable
distance. From this redoubt tke Spaniards have never been
driven, as some ill-informed journals have reported, and the
formidable nature of the work itself, in its present state,
shows what Spanish perseverance can effect in a short
time. There were Spanish outposts visible in the valley
beneath, and several Moorish tents could be seen on a
mountain side, about a mile and a half in front. There are
five redoubts, that of Isabel 11. being on the extreme right,
and that of Francisco do Asis on the extreme left.

" From the redoubt Isabel 11. the whole camp and scene
of operations are visible. Between the outposts of the
Spanish army and the mountains above Tetuan lies a plain
watered by a river, and the Moorish camp is situated in
this plain, where they are said to await the Spanish ap-
proach. General O'Donnell and his Staff visited the redoubt
while our party was there. On the return of the party to
the Serallo, General Echague, who commands the gallant
let division that won the heights and sustained the brunt
of the struggle of Nov. 25, accompanied them, and in the
Serrano, an impromptu luncheon was set before them, the
General himself viciag with the Staff in showing ever
civility. On leaving the General's quarters, the Spanish
officers said that they only regretted it was not in their
power to do more than they had done to make the visit
pleasant.
" The English party left the camp with but one feeling—
namely, that of conviction that the Spanish army has met
with difficulties in this inhospitable country that have been
overcome with unexampled rapidity and success, and that
the Spaniiii officers aro distinguished, from the general to
the subaltern, by courage in the field and true csurtesy to
the stranger, uninfluenced by any political questions."
The same paper, in its succeeding number, gives
a further communication by one of the party who
visited Ceuta iu the yacht Isis :--
"It appears that the Spaniards are advancing towards
Tetuan, constructing roads in the first instance to enable
them to advance their artillery to the left, near the sea. The
Moors do not appear in great numbers, but during Thurs-
day and Friday last, when our informants were there,
some smart skirmishing was going on commenced by the
Moors, but they kept at great distances, though in many
cases their shots told with great precision. The Spaniards
had some rifled cannon in front, the firing from which did
execution among the enemy. The late heavy rains and bad
weather had produced some cholera and other maladies,
but the spirit and temper of the troops were excellent. To
the right, in the direction of Serail° and the redoubts,
excellent roads had been constructed and considerable por-
tions of the wood cut down. As far as our informants
could judge, the intention of the Spaniards is to advance
on Tetuan, but it is said that a large Moorish force
lies encamped between the present Spanish front and that
town en some level ground, where it is probable an action
will be fought. The party express the greatest satis-
faction at their reception by the Spanish authorities of
every rank. They were presented to Generals O'Donnell,
Ros de Olano, Echague, Gassett, and many of the staff,
from all of whom they received the most polite and marked
attention. Everything was shown to them in the camp and
the redoubts. Horses were lent to them to visit the various
important points, and everything done to facilitate their
obtaining the best information. The troops are abundantly
supplied with the best provisions of every kind, and are in
the best possible spirits ; but they express an anxiety to
advance more rapidly, and to meet an enemy more prepared
to come to close quarters."