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

desired city. The immediate work to be done yes-
terday was to fight ourselves into a position south of
the one -we previously occupied, with the sea for our
base of operations. In this we were successful. To
sum up the results of the day's work, before en-
tering into its details, we are now one league from
our last camping place in front of Ceuta ; the 3d
corps is in front of us ; the Moors have broken up
the camp, of which I shall presently speak, and were
seen, early this morning, moving off towards the
ridges that stretch away inland from Cape Negro.
Up to this hour (2 p.m.) there has been no fighting,
nor is there any appearance of there being any to-
day. In fact, the general opinion is that there are
no Moors left in our neighbourhood, and that they
have gone to wait for us at some other point. I
am thus enabled to resume my correspondence,
which the necessity of observing the operations,
two changes of camp, and various other circum-
stances, have compelled me to suspend, although
with much to write about, since my letter of the
31st of December.
Upon the very first advance yesterday of General
Prim's division, which was supported by General
Zabala's corps, it became evident that the Moors,
however active and audacious they had shown them-
selves when this army stood upon the defensive,
were unable to resist the superior resources of civi-
lised warfare when themselves seriously assailed.
At a very early hour of the day the position it was
intended to occupy was completely cleared of them.
They gave way on all sides before the Spanish in-
fantry and mountain guns (artillery on muleback)
and before two squadrons of hussars, in all about
150 or 180 horses, which acted against them in the
level. Although I have previously described the
ground between Ceuta and Cape Negro, as far as
we had been able to observe it on the spot and
through telescopes, it will be well to give you as
clear a sketch as I can of that which has been
gone over since yesterday morning. Our move-
ment was a little to the east of south, parallel to
the sea. Facing in that direction from the point
where head-quarters had been for nearly three
weeks, there come first a series of irregular ridges,
furrowed by ravines, and over which were
fought several of the skirmishes recorded in
former letters. The distance to which this kind
of ground extends, beyond the Alphonso redoubt
and the 3d division camp, is very short, and the last
ridge overlooks a kind of amphitheatre, which for
, convenience' sake I may call a semicircle, although
that is not its exact form, of which the sea is the
chord. The part of this amphitheatre nearest to our
, lines is sloping, rough, broken, and bushgrown, but
its further portion is perfectly level, of an apple-
green colour, from the grass, weeds, and yellow
flowers with which it is overgrown, and well suited
for the action of cavalry. The slopes down into the
flat are in some parts sprinkled sparingly with trees,
but are chiefly covered only with brushwood, com-
posed of laurustinus, holly, and a great variety of
shrubs and bushes by name to me unknown, inter-
spersed with heath, wild thyme, bluebells, narcissus,
and a host of other aromatic and flowering plants,
many of which are now in blossom, as they would
be in the month of May in England. These tracts of
brushwood, or chaparral, as they are called, the taller
bushes upon which are in many places six feet high,
are most dangerous to the legs and feet of horses,
especially in parts where it has been burnt and the
fire has left stumps and long stems, black and har-
dened, which often severely punish both horse and
hot s man. At a short distance within this plain, on
the highest part of the uneven ground, is one of the
eastinejos, a small white, square, ruined building,
which more resembles a limekiln than anything
else. Another of these buildings overlooks the sea
from the southern extremity of the high ground
which surrounds the valley. it is from within 100
yards of this latter castillejo that I now write. Near
the water's edge, towards the centre of the level line,
is a large brick building, or rather the ruinous re-
mains of one, which is said to have been a powder-
mill, and where I am assured that some machinery
of English manufacture was found, rather ancient, it
is true, but which I suppose the Anglophobs will
take as an additional proof of British sympathy
with the Moors. It is quite as good evidence as some
that they have brought forward.
As before stated, the enemy offered little resist-
ance, and were speedily driven from one position to
another with very small loss on our side. Here and
there they showed some daring, and even a dieposi-
tion to advance against the Spanish troops. Over-
looking a shallow wooded ravine, shortly before
reaching the level, a battery of the mountain artil-
lery had taken up its position. The Moors came
On, howling furiously, waving their arms and bran-
dishing their long guns, to the further side of the
holiow, which men on foot could easily pass. There
were a score of horsemen and a crowd of infantry.
They paused, however, to indulge in their custo-
mary fociferations and cries of "perro!perro!"and
this gave time to treat them with a round of grape,
which sent them scampering at once. In the mean-
time the two little squadrons of Princesa Hussars
(the regiment with white pelisses which the gallant
Diego Leon commanded in the civil war) had got
well into the valley, preceding most of the infantry,
and looking out for an opportunity for a dash.
Some Moorish cavalry were seen, but they kept
aloof. The hussars had made one little charge,
when an aide-de-camp of General Prim's rode up to
them, and gave them an order which appears not
to have been clearly understood. The story has
been variously related, but I believe the aide-de-
camp has cleared himself, and the whole thing has
been shown to have been an unfortunate mistake.
As he was leafing them he said something about
their charging freely when they saw a chance ; that
the Moors were cowards, and would not stand. The
commandant of the Hussars misunderstood the
words, and thought the term " cowards" applied to
his men. This, at least, was the impression made
on one captain whom I saw and heard, immediately
after the charge, as he returned reeking with sweat
and with bloody sabre, relating it, with marks of
furious indignation, to an officer of the Staff.
The immediate consequence of the misunder-
standing was that the commanding officer
ordered a charge, and away went his handful
of Hussars through the enemy's skirmish.
ers and up a narrow and slightly ascending
valley, or rather gorge, leading from the level to a
secluded plateau on the lower slopes of the moun-
tain, where the Moorish camp was pitched. Our
infantry was not well advanced in masses, a con-
siderable force of Moors were still in and around
the camp, and from the heights on either side of
the confined lists in which this desperate contest
was entered upon a severe fire was opened upon the
Hnssars, who continued their furious career until
they reached the camp itself. Of what passed there
are but confused accounts. The Moors, although
surprised by the sudden appearance of this very
forlorn hope, quickly recovered from their panic,
and the cavalry suffered severely. They brought off
some trophies, however, some arms and a bundle of
papers, the nature of which I have not yet been
able to learn, nor have I, as you will suppose, much
tune to go in quest of minor details. The loss
of the Hussars has been variously stated, but of the
officers two were killed and five wounded, which
is a large proportion out of two squadrons. One
wounded officer fell into the hands of the Moors,
who busied themselves with taking off his uniform,
which they doubtless thought worth preserving. lie
was brought away, half naked, by his comrades,
who charged to rescue him. Another officer was
brought back with his face and neck cut to pieces.
I am assured that he had at least a dozen cuts
from the Moorish ountias—straight short swords,
which they grind very sharp. Most of the wounds
received were from the flinle fire, as they rode to and
from the camp. The affair was a most unfortunate
one, but at the same time highly creditable to
the esallantry of the If ussars. On a small scale it
reminds one, by various circumstances, of the
famous Il Alaklava charge, and the coincidencein
eeveral respects sty
rest of the uck many here. Daring the
day the two squadrons remained drawn
up in the plain
near the sea, but no further oppor-
tunity occurred for them' to act. To-day they are
reinforced by a considerable body of Lancers and
other cavalry, or, I should
sa
of a cavalry division now in the theyplain fm part
or
below
us.
forcer,of artillery and
Had there been a strong
cavalry in :this plain yesterday, it appears to me
there would have been no difficulty in capturing