The Sun.
London, England, 1810-05-14 00:00:00

ROM Cie LOADO.A...cidZEtTE, Maj 12, 1610.

Downing-street, May 12, 1810. )
A Dispatch, of whiCh tne following 'is Copy,
wai received oti the loth inst. at Lord .Liverpool's
office, addressed to his Lordship, by Lieutenant,
General Graham, commanding his Majesty's Forces
at Cadiz, dated Isola, 22d April, 1810.

11IY LORD, lsdla, April zz, tSio*
From the information your Lordship already had
of the Miserable state of the Fort of. Matagorda,
(never to be Considered tree from the danger of as-
saulc) it will not be matter of surpris,e, that alter
holding it two months it should now be aban-
doned.'

I have the honour to inclose Captain, MaClaine's
(of the 94. th) 'report to me. It ,would be an injus-
tice to the service not .to recommend him .in the
warmest manner to your Lordships notice,' as .well
.as the officers who continued with him to the last
of this arduous duty; Lieutenant Brereton, of the
Royal Artillery, Ensigns Cannon and Scott; of the
9441, and Mr. Dobson, Midshipman of his Ma-
jesty's ship Invincible. The defence, of Matagorda-
has been witnessed by every body with admiration,
and I should not have been justified in allowingit to
be. continued so long, but from the expetiation of
the possibility of some diversion being made in its
favour, which, however, was found to be impraeti.=
Cable.

It
.is impo§sible that I should not endeavour to
express to your Lordship the feelings of universal
and deep regret excited by filo untimely fall of that
distinguished officer Major Lefebure, of the Royal
Engineers, whose zeal carried him from the Admi-
ral's ship to be the bearer of my•otders for the eva-
cuation of the fort, that he might be satisfied that
it was no longer tenable. The chi .f direction of
that important dep rtment now devdves on Cap-
tain Birch. Your Loh's, ip is well acquainted
with my opinion of his merle and talents; so well
calculated to Inspire confidence under this Inisfur-.
tune.

I lieveLlzc.
THOMAS GRAHAM.

P. S. The original gArrison of the Fort of Mata-
gorda consisted of Ciptain Maclaine and Ensigns
Cannon and Scott, 94th ; twenty-five
,110yal Artillery, under Lieutenant Brereton ; twen-
ty-five Royal Marines; twenty-five stanien, under
Mr. Dobson ; and sixty-seven non-commissioned
Officers and privates of the 94 h Regiment. Rein-
forcements were sent in the evening of the 21st.and
reliefs of the whole were offered, but declined.
SIR,

Cidi2, April 23, 18 TO.
I have the honour to inform you, that at two
o'clock on the morning of the 21st, the enemy
opened upon the seventy-four gun ship St. Paulo, and
gun-boats stationed near Fort Matagorda, with hot
shot and succeeded in forcing them to abandon their
posi in;
- Immediately after this, they opened upon Fort
Matagorda a very- heavy cannonade of guns .and mor-
tars, but as it would have been impossible to dneEt
our fire with a certainty, I ordered Lieutenant
Brereton, of the Royal Artillery, to delay our fire
until day-break.
The morning discovered three batteries opposed
to us, in the Trocadero, of twenty-one guns, and
from the flight of •their, shells we judged they had
eight mortars in other three batteries. From the time
they commenced firing at the Fort they kept up a
most, tremendous cannonade 91 shot and.shells with
great effed until night, when the enemy and the
• Fort both discontinued.
That day's fire Made a very large breach in the
escarp of the rampart, on which was the principal
part of our guns, and completely laying open our
magazine.
We were, from the manner the enemy placed his
batteries, and which they contrived to d under mask
of the bon-es in the village of Trocadero, (distant
from the Fort about nine hundred yards) only able
to.bring seven gulls to bear upon them; yet with
these we contrived' to silence, and, as I conceive,
dismi,unt the guns of one of their batteries, in which
were six thirty-two pounders. •
The whole of the night of the 21st, and morning
of the 22d, I empl,,yed endeavouring-torepair.the
parapet of the south-east face, composed of sand-
bags, ;rid which, from the very heavy fire of twen-
ty-on: p eces of cannon. (most of them Thirty-two
pounueiij the enemy had totally demolished, so
the t the men at the guns were perfectly ex-
p . _

We continued to replice- the sand-bags and fill
up the breach so as to, put ourselves in a tolerable
state of defend, and at, day-break in the mornibg
the enemy opened with a salvo from all his batte-
ries. We returned the fire with the same spirit and
success as- yesterday, but the Fort soon became a
complete ruin, and no where afforded any shelterifor
the reliefs. The evacuation , however, only took
place in consequence of your order ; we left the tort
at ten. A. M. Captain Stackpole, of the Royal Navy,
having been sent by the Admiral to complete its des-
truction.

I cannot sufficiently express to you the gallantry
and coolness with which
revery individ* Officer,
seaman, marine, and.suldier conducted himself dur-
ing the two months we maintained this post, par-
ticularly during the two I st days.
I beg,. in a. particular' siiinner, to mention the
services of that most excellent Officer Lieutenant
Brereton, of the Royal Artilleiy, for his unremitted
attention to his. duty, and . the masterly stile in
' which he kept up his fire on the enemy ;as like-
_ wtse,Ensigns Cannon and Scott,‘of the 94th Grena-
diers : and I request, Sir, you will state to the
• Admiral, how highly sensible I am of the handsome
manner in which Lieutenants Chapman and -Mac-
pherson,.of the Royal Navy, and one or two others,
whose names I cannot now recollect,. volunteered
their services during the heaviest of the fire.
Mr. George Dobson, Midshipman of the Invin-;
Cible, had charge of the seamen under My coin-
' mani during the whole time, and I beg you, Sir,
to recommend him to the Admiral, as a very excel-
lent and brave Officer. •
Herewith I send a list of killed and wounded ;
and among the former I ant sorry to return 'Major
Lefebure of the Royal Engineers ; he was killed

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