The Sun.
London, England, 1810-01-11 00:00:00

SPANISH HUATIWNI7'Y.

The following interesting narrative contains some
excellent traits of the kindness and-gratitude of the
Spanish nation:—
" In the beginriing of this present year, I went
to Portugal with Sir Artlitar Wellesley; and- in the
battle of Talavera I received three-different wounds.
After the retreat of General Cnesta from that place,
I, and many other wounded British, fell into the
hands of the French. I was in the first escort of
prisoners sent off to Madrid, in number about 500.
On our arrival at the bridge at the entrance of the
city, the escort halted for some time ; and so

1----ae-e-e-eaersareesesTeaerarearaarlr.Ths
soots as aa the' Spaniards Were apprised thitt the escort
consisted of British prisoners, they came to us, and
sliewed the most unbounded tokens of
.kindness.---
Had the guard permitted, they would.haVe loaded
as with presents. Even, in despite of the guard,
many ran in, and shoved money into our hands.—
At Madrid, we were attended in a convent by Spa-
nisi) surgeons and nurses., whose treatment of us
was of the very kindest nature. The inhabitants
flocked round our hospital; and when they could
get at any of the windows, they gave ns money,
-bread, vegetables,• and indeed every thing that they
"bought could contribute to, our comfort: Even af-
ter several genteel people were taken into custody
by the sentries for such 'marked kindness to us, the
'sadism and Gentlemen used frequently. to send. Old
men and women with money, which they threw
to us in at the'windows. When our men recovered,
they were removed to a prison, and allowed by the
French only- brown bread and water. Here, e,en-
teel people brought them the ,best of every kind of.
eatables; and so abundant was the supply, that the.
men sold bread to the French soldiers at. a penny-
per loaf. The predile6tion in favour of the British
was of the most 'open and avowed nature, particu7
lady on the part of the females. Ladies have esen.
in the presence of the French, and with a view to
%ex them, taken British soldiers within their arms,
and embraced them, with appearance of the greats
est affe6tion. .1 was so!' mnly assured,. that Madrid
was ready for revolt, and only waited an opportunity
of rising with some ,probat:le prospect of .soccess.—
After being about ten da) s at Madrid, all who were
able to march were ordered forward to' Segovia,
where we arrived on the second evening, in coms
pany‘vithboo Spaniards, having marched 37 miles. I
have seen many things revolting to huMan fesbngs,
in the course of my service, as a soldier ; but . the
cold-blooded murder of thirteen Spaniards, in the
course of this march, atfetted me more than any
thing I had ever witnessed before. Their sole crime
was, inability to keep tip with the march ; they
were wantonly shot, as they lagged behind.
" At Segovia, we were received with, if possible,
even, greater kindness than at Madrid. In passing
through the town, the people kept giving us, and,
• when -arrived at the hospital, they brought us bread,
wine, • brandy,- and lint to dress our wounds; and a
sort of canvas shoes, to those who were barefooted.
While we were hereeKing Joseph came to the.town;
the tells indeed were rung, but no other sign of joy;
all was still and silent, and few people out of doors.
..:After remaining three weeks at SegoVis, and being
Joined by another party from Madrid, we were
marched for Fiance, by the way of, Valladolid. At
this place there was no want of inclination to chew
us kindness ; but the Spaniards were not allowed to
come near us, owing to their having aided the es-
cape of 13 men, belonging to Sir John Moore's
army, who had been' left there sick. The kindness
which the British experienced was not cootined to
towns; the villages, even those not immediately in
our route, •supplied us spontaneously with provi-
sions. On the 18th of September we left Vallado-
lid for BayOnne; we that evening reached Seveco ;
in the course of the night, John Smith, 3d Guards;
John Ccop, 32d regiment ; Hugh Martin, Csth
regiment, and I, contrised to make our esc.tpe from
our escort. We Ira% cited all night across the moun-
tains, and in the morning ventured into a house, to'
enquire atter the French in that quarter, and our.
way to Portugal, The gnidman at the house, svtiee,
he was convinced that we were. very En gi ishthen ,
raised his wife out of bed, who made us some soup
and after consulting together, they dissuaded us
from attempting Portugal, but referred.us to the
next town for the more correct information; the.
worthy man went about two miles with us, to put
us into the &red road. Arrived at the town in
question, we were treated with the greatest kind-
ness, and urged to accept of peasants' clohes for
our greater safety, we being in uniform ; these •
we declined, and asked a route for the nearest
Spanish army. This. they readily gave US, with
some very salutary directions, to prevent our falling
into the hauls of the French, Having now got
amongst friends, and, on our way to Astorga we
'experienced the greatest kindness from the pea-
sants of the villages through which we passed.
One of them whom we met with in the field, took
us to an Alcalde, who gave us rations of bread and
wine, and passports which enabled us to draw ra-
tions during the remainder of our journey tosAstor-
ga, which lasted ten days. These rations -were
most cheerfully given to us by the inhabitants. .A,t
Alinanza, a Surgeon dressed the wound in my left
arm, and gave me as much dressing as served me
until I got to Corunna. Though we were, during
the whole of this journey, surrounded by French-7
men, we never saw one of then), owing to their
keeping close in their quarters in large towns,
which we avoided, by means of guides furnished'
by the villages, which guideS led us over mountains
and through woods, with the greatest anxiety for
our safety. The French seldom go far from their
quarters, from apprehension of being murdecred by
the peasantry. I did myself see in Gallicia old grey-
headed men, who exultingly, gloried in the deed of
having killed a straggling Frenchman.
" We arrivt d at Astorga on the lst of Odlober,
and wereintroduced to the Governor, who received'
us very kindly ; Ise gave us in charge to the. Co-
mmander of the regiment of Buenos Ayres,' who, with
his Officers and men; paid us every possible atten--
lion. An Officer and a party belonging to that
regiment escorted us to Corunna. During this
journey the Officer- bespoke the kindness of the
people in our favour, and they were indeed kind 'to
us. In Gallicia, in ahnost eery village, We saw
young men at drill, and the greatest' appearance, of
patriotism. I can safely aver, that from Madrid to
Corunna, by our route, one universal sentiment of
detestation of the French prevailed. My compa-
nions and I returned to England in the Arethusa
frigate, and arrived on the loth of October at
Portsmouth.

I am, Sir,'your humble servant,
" W. MADAM, Serjeaut 3d Guards."
Glasgow, 29th Dec. 1809.

The dispatches by the outward bound Indiamen,
which were to have been closed on Saturday, are de-
layed, chiefly with a view to allow time for the ern-
, barkation of as many troops as the ships can acc,ona-
-1 modate.