Star.
London, England, 1809-07-29 00:00:00

STOCKHOLM, JULY is.

By a declaration, dated Stockholm Castle, the 146
of this month, his Royal Majesty has proposed to the
Diet, with and by the advice of the Secret Committee,
prince Christian Augustus, of Schleswic Holstein,
Sandisbuigh, Auf:entenburgh, as Prince Royal of
Sweden, and his successor on the Swedish Throne ;
and the States of the Peasantry hive already acceded
t' the King's prorosal, and elected the said Prince
their future Suiten ign.
Letters from Dantzie state, that the following ships
—Fortuna, Captain 'reedman ' • Diedrey Gebruder,
C., plain Kunst ; and Catharine Maria, Capt. Schron-
betk, all dirge tvparred by the French privateers Til-
me Vsntlgenr, were sold there witi, thtir.nargoes,
its tLe coarse of lust month.

•
SATURDAY, JULY 29.
PRIMO!' STOCKS THIS bAY A'l' ONE O'CLOCK.
Cons. for money 673—for August
Omnium 1 preen.—Esch. BD, 6s. 101. pm.

iri

LONDON.

This morning an order was sent to the Custod►.
house, and from thence conveyed to the Out-Ports,
permitting all vessels to sail which were bound either
for the Southward or Westward. Vessels for the
Mediterranean, fcc. and for the West Indies, will of
course proceed on their voyage. The Embargo still
continues in force with respect to such vessels as are
bound for ports in a Northern or Eastern direction.

A mail has arrived fiorn Jamaica, brought to Fal-
mouth in SS days from Crooked Island, by the Di-
ana packet. She has brought home, as remittances
to the merchants, about 200,000 dollars. The Ja-
maica fleet was to sail in about eight days after the
Diana. The exredition against St. Domingo sailed
from Jamaica on the 6th June. The ships Comet
and Hawkins, fcr London, sailed on the same day
with the packet.

The Express, Captain But.Loctc, with Mails from
Cadiz, in 19 days, has also arrived at Falmouth.—
By this conveyance, dispatches have been received,
announcing that the French troops had retreated to-
wards the Northern frontiers of Spain, where they
had concentrated their force, amounting to about
5,000 men. King JosErn, of whose departure from
Madrid we were some time ago informed, is along
with them.

The acconus received by this vessel repeat the
statement of Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY and General
CurerA having joined their forces, amounting to about
65,000 men. The French under NEY and ,SOULT re-
treated with all the alacrity in their power, burning
the towns and wasting the country. About 40( of
them who had ot into the Val de Pena, were, during
the night, surrounded by a body of Spaniards, and
entirely cut to pieces excepting one man.
Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY, in one letter, is stated to
have reached Placentia, on his way to Madrid, and
we may therefore soon expect to receive some impor-
tant intelligence from that quartor.
Rumour, with her hundred tongues, has given cur-
rency to various reports :—Sir ARTHUR WELLESLEY
is said to have overtaken the French, fought them,
defeated them, and taken three Generals ! We wish
we could confirm this statement, but we believe it to
be entirely unfounded.
The Spanish Journals received by thii conveyance
are to the 4th instant.—The following are extrags :
EXTRAORDINARY GAZETTE OF GOVERNMENT, JULY 3.

1809:
ILEFORT OF GENERAL BLAKE.
ig Most Excellent Sir—on the LSO of last month,
I addressed to his Majesty, from Canada, a Mense-•
in which I gave you an account of the disgrace-
fal action of Belchite ; and stated, at the same time,
that, from the disgusted state of my mind, it was not
possible for me to enter into the particulars of that
calamitous event. Although it is no easy task to dis-,
card from my mind the anarchy and other unforte•

nate results v,l.hich may arise from the above defeat,
which neither the nation nor I and the good officers at
the army could expect, yet it appears to me indispen.
sible to state this to your Excellency, in order that
you may be able, to communicate them to his Ma
jesty.

" In the report I made to your Excellency on tbe"
17th of this current month, I stated to you our situa-
tion, and my confident hope that in case of being
attacked by the enemy opposed to us, I should be
able to beat him. Fortune might have been so ad-
verse to us, as to be defeated by the enemy ; but I
could not expect that the troops under my command
could take to flight without fighting, and that in con-
sequence of a few cannon shot being fired they would
abandon a position, in which they had nothing to fear'
from the eramy's horse, not from those advantages
which at times strike armies with a panic terror which
induces them to fly without knowing why.

" Belchite is situated on the declivity of BOOM
heights which nearly surround it, and begin from the
road of Zela, so that the entrance of the place lies on
a declining ground, beginning at a point called
Calvario. The above heights stretch along the road
which leads to Fuente Rodos, and passes the foot of
a lull more advanced than the rest, on which stands
the hermitage of Pueja. In front of Saragossa,
the country is a plain covered with gardens and
olive plantations, without any other broken ground
than a few ravines, through which passes the road
to Albostan, which is one league distant from Bel.
chite. The heights over which lies the road up
Fuente Rodos, begin at the hermitage of Santa Bar-
bara, near Belchite, on the environs of which are
tztensive pasture-grounds, and two large buildings
for the reception of cattle. These buildings and her-
mitage supported the right flank, and our vosition.—
Our front and left stretched along the aforesaid hills,
where there is but 'little broken ground, and in the
rear of our position was garden-ground, passing be.
tween the height of Calvario asid that place.
" The troops posted at the hermitage of Santa
Barbara and in the pasture ground, could not by any (
means be attacked by cavalry, nor could the centre
be charged by the enemy's horse without being ex.
posed to a destructive cross-fire, and the troops who'

'MOW the left wing had a retreat open to the said
point of the hermitage of Sante Barbara..
is The hermitage of Pueyo was accordingly occu-
pied by our troops; two regiments were ordered to
take post on the height of Calvario, and the park of
artillery was placed in the rear. The olive planta-
tions were also occupied by our troops.
" The cavalry was posted in -the environs of the
place, and in the road to Saragossa, to cover the
same, supported by another regiment of foot. The
rest of the troops occupied the heights from Santa
Barbara,•to the road of Puente Rados, drawn up ac-
cording to the nature of the ground, so that in some
places they formed three ranks.
" Besides these, columns of attack lecre formed
in order to fall upon the enemy in case he should
make any obstinate attack on our left, and act offen.
sively against him. Should these columns even have,
been routed, they might have retreated td the,
centre and right wing, where they had nothing to fear
but in front, and where it would have proved alto-
gether impossible for the enemy to continue the
attack. Lastly the artillery was posted in such a'
manner as to cover the attack to be made by the said
columns, and in case of any unfortunate event it
could fall back to the same point as the troops.
" In this manner were the troops drawn up,
and they made repeated promises to do their duty.
—The enemy after having first made his appear.
ante on the heights of Alhostan, marched in the
mean time against oar left, and one column advanced
with two pieces of cannon, preceded by a strong ad-
vanced party. -Which our's was falling back, the
head of his column appeared on the heights, and his
artillery fired four or five shot ; at the same time he
threw two or three grenades, which disabled four or
five men. Our artillery began to combat his, or ra-
ther returned his fire, when one regiment was thrown
into confusion by one of the enemy's grenades, as
they say, and fled in the utmost disorder, without
firing a shot.
" It was followed by another, and a third, all flying
without having discharged a gun, and in a few mo-
ments the whole position was abandoned, some corps
taking probably to flight for no other reason than that
they were not able to maintain their position amidst
the confusion caused by others, which fell upon them
and obstructed their fire.
" Thus we the Generals, and some Officers, were

left alone without being able to rally a body which

could make opposition, and I had the mortification to
see an army dispersed, abandoning all its baggage,
and throwing away its arms and even its clothes be-
fore a single corps of the enemy. Nor were we able
to avail ourselves of the defence of any strong place,
as it was impossible to collect two hundred men to

make head against the enemy. It is well known they
were not in want of ammunition or provisions, and
that on my part I neglected nothing that might ena-
ble them, if not to obtain victory, at least to maintain
the reputation of our arms. If his Majesty should
accede to the request T made in any representation of
the 18th, 1 hope I shall be able to rove still more
satisfactorily what I affirm.
Thesedi spersions are, to our disgrace, too frequent

in our armies. Ido not think this to be the place to'
point out their causes, but I cannot avoid saying that
a few individuals, who shew a bad example, tnat
contribute to discourage an army, without the know-
ledge of the General, whose ears the conversation of
these timid find ignorant men, who are on that ac.'
count mote C2WlOll$ and rfserved, with difficult),
reach. If the love of my country did not supercede
in me ever/ other coeskleration, I should be perfectly
easy in the recollection, that this same army con-
fesses I omitted nothing as a General or a Soldier,
to lead them. in the path of honour. The false-
hoods they have circulated, to excwe their unex-
ampled cowardice, that the French had received a
reinforcement of 15,000 men, shews that they cannot
but acknbwledge that they fled without knowing on
whom to throw thC blame.—Goo preserve your Ex-
cellency many years. (Signed) " JOAQUIN BLAKV.."
" 'Una, June .22.