Star.
London, England, 1809-01-02 00:00:00

'I

rf '
iitrVATE LITTER.
64 Murillo, Dtiftabet 14.

_

eentsiderifig 'the occupation -of Castile by the
-1 their invAsion:of Gatticia, which I think
I am led to apprehend that my letters
May . you by-sway • of- Cortinna ; but being
convinced of the great in,teseet you will take in 'tiara-
ing the military and
_political, state of this kingdom,
I feel it a duty Incumbent oh me to transmit to you
an authentic narratire'bf the events that have taken
place, and of our actual 'situation, that'you may re-
gulate your proceedings with that care and prudence
which circumstances may respite,
64 General Blake's army, as felt are already ap-
prised, via! attacked by the enemy at Biscay and La
Montana with a very considerable force, and com-
pelled, after repeated actions, iri Which he acquired
great glory, to retreat to Leon, where the Marquis
de la Romans took the command ; and having united
all the dispersed fragments of this army, -to the
amount of about 20,000 men, who were subsequently
joined by the reserves of the Asturias and Gallicia,
the whole, according to a dispatch from the Marquis
to the Supreme Junta, dated on the Ist inst. formed
a body of 35,000 men under his command, of which
1200 were cavalry, the Marquis having mounted
dtose-wisoiis he brought from Den Mark with the re-
quisition horses of Leon and the Asturias.
Id The army of Estremadura, after its partial de-
feat at Burgos, fell back upon Somosierra, and covered
that point. The troops that were in Madrid were or-
dered to proceed to Guadarans, to defend that pass;
and the reserve of Andalusia, who were marching to-
wards Madrid, were ordered to advance by forced
marches. The English were in Salamanca and As-
torga, except the division that had come by way of
Badajos, which arrived at Madrid.
N In this state of things, and considering that Na-
poleon was not disposed to advance upon the capital
until he had beaten the army of Castanos, for which
we entertained much anxiety, on account of the very
great-force of the French, and the facility of attack-
ing him in flank, by marching from Burgos in the
direction of Osma, General Moore was solicited to
march with his troops from Salamanca towards Ma-
drid, in order that by uniting with the division of
Hope, and the Spanish army which was speedily ex-
pected to be assembled in the capital, a respectable
army might be formed to cover it. At the same time
it was requested that the division of Baird, in conjunc-
tion with that of the Marquis de la Romana, should
make a movement upon Burgos, and threaten to in-
tercept the communication of the French line, if their
army should, after beating Castanos, or compelling
him to retreat, direct its march in a body towards
Madrid. Unfortunately, General Moore did not ap.
prove of this plan, and refused to divide his forces.
" In the mean time, we received intelligence of the
battle of TudelA, and that Napoleon was marching
to Madrid with his whole army, without concerning
himself about Castanos or Saragossa. On the 26th,
it was resolved to fortify the Capital, and to organize
its inhabitants, as well as circumstances would admitv
trusting that the posts of Samosierra and Guadarama
Would be able to maintain themselves until time was
given for the ..rrival of Castanos, who was coming by
way of Siguenza.
" On the 28th, 29th, and 30th, of November, the
enemy attacked Semosierra with the utmost vigour and
with a succession of fresh troops. The garrison, ;tfter
maintaining its ground, and repe:lug the enemy with
great loss, on the 28th and 29th, was, on the 30th,
unable to support the fatigue of farther resistance I.
[ and after gallantly defending itself to the last mo-
ment, retreated in good order to Segovia. In con-
! sequence of this, the road to Madrid was open to the
enemy ; and accordingly advanced parties of their
'•horse made-their appearance on the first instant, in
,the environs of the city, which not having seriously
thought of constructing fortifications until the 26th
of tike preceding month, was in a condition which you-
may-easily imagine ; and every one being employed
in erecting bulwarks, palisades, and other works,
there was no time to organize the inhabitants : in ad-
dition to which, it is to be considered that the troops
of Somosierra, who were advancing from Segovia.
by Guadarama, and those also of the latter pnsa,
could _not arrive until the 3d. Castanos likewise
found his march towards the capital cut off, and
there were in Madrid only 7 or 8,000 veteran soldiers.,
Nevertheless the people, undismayed, expressed their
determination to prefer total ruin to capitulation.—
The enemy, in considerable force, attacked the gates
of Fuencarral, limos, and S. Bernardino, in the
morning of the 2d, but they were gallantly repulsed,
with considerable loss.
" In the evening, and during the whole night ofl
the 2d, the enemy attacked with a considerable quan-
tity of artillery, the gate of Alcala, and the Retiro.
They were unable to make themselves masters of the
former ' • but the Retiro, in consequence of continued
attaelcs from the preceding evening, fell into their
hands at 11 o'clock in the morning of the 3d, with a
most dreadful loss on the part of the enemy. The
Junta of Armament, taking thesecircurnstances into
consideration, and having received the unexpected in-
telligence that the English troops were retreating
upon Portugal, considered all attempts at defence
useless-:—as on account of the reinforcements which
were daily joining the French army, resistance could
have no other result than that of the total destruction
of the capital, and the loss of twenty thousand troops
composing the army alreatly in the city, and those
who were that day expected to arrive from Segovia
and Guadarama. From these motives, the white
flag was hoisted, and the troops evacuated the City,
in the course of the evening and night,' by the gates
of Segovia and Toledo. The people, notwithstanding
the determination of the Junta, caused the white flag
to be lowered, and persisted in the intention of de-
fending themselves.
" On the 4th, there were various attacks by the
enemy at different gates, but in all of them they were
repulsed. Meanwhile the enemy fortified themselves
at Retiro ; and the people, being without leaders
or regular troops, retreated gradually to their own
houses. _ _

44 The state of affairs since 44 the most surprising
and unaccountable ever hear 4 of in the world. Up,
to the 9th, the Freach had notAisarmed the inhgbi.
tants, but during the dvy sent strong detachments to
occupy the gates, and 4n the evening all of them
withdrew to the Ratiro. 'The authority of the new
King is nosiecognised by the city, which is entirely
governed by its was Magistrates, without any inter-

ArirA ,
vu +rF
"N.
OVraOs UM 4.
of Resolve writn fronjolsons,
the 9th, to dos Provisional Omni 4
that he had jest wised tl,ne,- his " evilsiderit
pectin the posts which should cover 'Otietny, and tb
e army waderhis command y p
that be verrobable,
niftiora to eetuav that 4 uny sot reach