Star.
London, England, 1823-07-22 00:00:00

SPAIN:

DEFECTION OP A SPAI4ISIt CORPS.
REPORT OF GENERAL VILLACAMPA TO THE MINISTER

OF WAR, AT CADIZ.

" MOST EXCELLENT SIR—I have uniformly stated
to you, in all the Reports made by me since the de-
parture of the Government from Seville, that that
event had produced a very mischievous effect on the
country ; and the scandalous desertion which has
taken place from the small body of troops that pro:
ceeded to these head-quarters, evidently proved that
it shared the same spirit.
4, Nevertheless, I find, by your Excellency's answers;'
that Government pay no regard to so great an evil,
and that no measure is adopted likely to soothe this
anxiety, and arrest the terrible calamities with which
we are threatened. The evil increases, and hope* di-
minishes ; and as every honourable Man invested
with authority ought to express his sentiments with
frankness, so I deem it to be my duty never to cease
impressing on the Government the necessity of con-
vincing the Cortes, that events shew every day more
and more that the conduct they pursue is in direct
opposition to the manifest opinions of the country.
a I begin with this declaration, being solicitous ori
induce your Excellency to take into your most se-
rious consideration the circumstances which I ant
going to state to you, and which prove in the most
positive and evident manner possible the truth of the
assertions contained in my preceding dispatches.—
To-day, when we were about to begin our march for
Bombs, it being broad daylight, two and twenty pri-
Ates and a trumpeter of the regiment of horse of
Almanza, overthrew the sentinel posted at the door
of the inn where they liad• been quartered, and pro-
ceeded, sword in hand, towards the road of Corona.
—When clear of the town they halted, and got ready
their carabines, and thus assuming a hostile attitude,
they waited till their could be joined by those who
had not in the first instance been able to Iccompany
them. This sufficiently slimed that they entertained
_no apprehension of
.being attacked by the picquets of
Alcantara, Bourbon, and the remains of the coma
pany of Santiago, which form my escort, even thinigh
I, with my Staff, had placed myself at their head.
—Being aware of this circumstance, I was unwilling
to put to the test the suspicious fidelity of those who
as yet follow me. It was to no purpose that t;:e offi-
cers endeavoured to dissuade them from so great a
crime; for, so far from heeding the officers, tl:ey even
threatened to fire on them. This defection, Most Exa
cellent Sir, cannot be charged upon their being ill
provisioned, for they are supplied in advance with an
abundant day's ration; nor on excessive fatigue, for
they hive not had any; nor on too rigorous a discipline.
Neither could it proceed from a persuasion of their
going to be shut up in the Isla, for they had seen
that the column which was proceeding thither had
previously marched for Xeres.
Their motives then, Most Excellent Sir, could
be no other than this, that they saw at one and
the same time war waged against the foreigners
and against their own countrymen ; for several
towns treated them in a hostile -manner on their
march, and, doubtless, they will h?ar from the pea-
santry no other language than that of seduction,
as since the appointment of a Regency, and the re-
moval of the Government to Cadiz, the public opi-
nion can no longer be pronounced. A large portion
of the people are convinced that it is the cause of a
faction which we defend, rather than the cause of the
liberal principles on which the Constitution is ft. undeel,
so much the more,.as it is now openly observed, that
those who were most tenacious in their refusal of
coming to terms, and who, having been prevented
from forming a conspiracy, hastened the tempest
which is sinking the vessel of the State, have been the
:first to place themselves individually in security against
it. Considering all this, Most Excellent Sir, having
only such means, and being reduced to such critical cir-
cumstances, I am so far from being able to answer
for the success of the operations confided to me, that,
in my estimation, the moment is not very far distant,
when I and my whole Staff may become victims to
the resentment of troops who think they are about
to be engaged in an anti-national war.
I hope your Excellency will submit the above to
his Majesty,and favour me, by the bearer of this state-
ment, with his Royal resolution. GOD preserve your
Excellency many years.
(Signed) " PEDR6 VILLACA 31PN.
" Arcos, June 19."

REPLY
" TO DON PEDRO VILLACAMPA.

et Most Excellent Sir—The King,
.in.pursuance of
what your Excellency states in the letter dated the
19th instant, respecting the state of the army
under your orders, and of the country in which
it is operating, has thought proper to relieve your Ex-
cellency freo that command, directing it to be given
to Lieutenant-General Don Joseph de Zayas, named'
Commander of the Second Army of Operations. I
communicate this to your Excellency, by order, for
your government and compliance.
" Goo preserve your Eteelieney many years.
(Signed) " FRANCISCO OSORIO.
" Cadiz, June 2.1,1423."