Star.
London, England, 1813-11-27 00:00:00

Ord Atgame trbombard ft; is the most ca. 1
min mean of forsmg the envy to abandon it. I
oonstaitly fated, for the sane reasons T did-at Ciu-
dad Rodrigo aid Birdajosi and if I had entertained
the inferno** &l ire of destroying Ss. Sebastian from '
mercantile yengetnee,pr any other similar motive, I
certainly could not have taken a more effectual me-
thod than to have peemitted it to be bombarded. It
is not certain that the city was set fire to by either
the-English or—Portuguese-troops ; but to have dOr.e
so was a part of the defence of the enemy. They set'
it on fire on the 224 of July, before the first attack
for the assault; and it is certain that the fire was .<.a
violeit On the 24th, that it was necessareto suspenti
-the. maple intended for that day, and that it afier•
wards faded. I was et-the siege of St. Sebattihn
on the seCtth of 'August. and r assert, that the city
was then aitire, and it was certain that it had been
set on`fire by the enemy ; for,. I repeat, that our 1)2.!
Wino by express orders, Lad throwonl htin,;)s ii,l4
the place, which saw burning on the morning !..,1
Ist, before the assault. It was likewise knowl.
that the enmity had"prepared for a serioes resistance,
not only on the ramparts, brit in the streets ,),- the city,
filling them in varlonspaces with combustibles ready
to be set fire to and explode. It is also known, that
the fighting.in the streets between the besiegers :trd
the enemy was terrible 1 and that the combustible
collected in them being set fire tn., killed a great nun).
lser on both sides when they exploded, and set many '
buildings•in flames.".. He adds, 4t that the fire we.,
.theireatest misfortune that could happen- to the *?
milants, and that they did every thing in their pasver
to-extinguish it; and that from the difficulty and
„danger of the communication through the fire with
the advanced posts in the city, it was found necessary
to call them all in." With respect to die sacking of
the city by the soldiers, he says, 4. I am the first to
confess it, because I know that it i. true ; and I most
add, that it has fatien to my lot to take many cities
by assault, and I never saw nor heard of any taken
in that manner by any troops whatever.. without
being sacked ; it is one of the pernicicas 'consequences
which attends the necessity of en asseelt=a necessity
which every officer laments, not only from the mis-
chiefs which it occasions to -the unfortunate inhabi-
tants, but from.ffie relaxations of discipline, inn the
risk *Vat is run of losing all the advantages of vie•
tory in the very morneotle which it is gained!' tfe
then proceeds to complain, that it irberd that be aad
his officers should be treated in .thetianner they have
been by the author of this groondlesalibel, only bet
cause an unavoidable evil had happened jr; the dis-
charge of a great service, and the acquiskitm of e
great advantage; since, notwit he is con-
vinced that it was impossible to hinder thesacking of
a city in such circumstances, he can proie that the ut-
most care was taken to prevent it, had it been possible,
The most positive orders were given to that effect, and
had it not been for the fire, which certainly increased
the confusion, and theaundfer of officers Who fell. or
were wounded in the assault on the breach, ;Inanit-
ies to 170 out of 250, 4 would have been io a gra)
measure, though not entirely, prevented. One of the
grounds of the complaint, which is, that sentinel'
were placed in all the-houses, :hews the wish of the.
officers so maintain arderr-for these sentinels most;
have been placed the by Order of the. officers ,• and
• unlessit is supposed 'that• the officers intended that
the city should be sacked and burnt, and placed the
sentinels there for that purpose, the propriety of plat,
ing them. sem* nacesserily be admitted. Unfortu-
nately, it happened that the troops which made the
assault oath* city could not be relieved till the fd,
instead of its being done immediately after they had
obtained possession of the place. It is talinobservect,
that the authors of the complaints forget .that on the
31st of August, when the. assault was made, the
whole left of the army teas attacked ;kud they would
have received no thanks for having successfully per-
formed their duty on this occasicin, if they had risked
the blockade of Pamplona, and the lock of the tattle
of the 31st, as would have been requisite, had troops
been kept in readiness to relieve those. that assaulted
St. Sebastian's in order that its inhabitants might
have suffered less from their disorders/
" With respect to the injuries done to the inhabi-
tants, by the soldiers with their 46 firms and bayo-
nets, in .return for their plaudits and view:, it asp-
pears v extraordinary that it should not occur CQ
these com lainants, that these injuries, if they were
real, liappe rather from accident, during the con-
test in the streets, than deliberately." As to the
charge of [thy to the enemy's garrison, he adelite,
that it is we I founded; but observes' " that notwith-
standing the' French decree, that all the troops of an -
enemy found in a town taken by assault should be put
to the sword,'it would be difficult to prevent British
officers and sakdiers from treaties with lenity an, •
enemy who had)nuvendered." '
The Duke of Ciudaill(iidrigo adds, that 44 he could
have wished that a person so respectable, and of so
high a character as Sir Thomas qraham, should not. . .
have been charged with not having applied for assis•
tance to extinguish the flames till the city-was en,
tirely consumed, giving occasion to infer, that he de..
tared its destruction. Every thing was certainly done .
by the British troops to extinguish the tire ; and the
ke *Ciudad Rodrigo himself applied for every
isssistance,, not only to extinguish the flames, but to .
the dead around the city, and on the ramps*.
.._which had not been done before, because the necessity'
'of it had not been so well known."
" I, says he, " certainly lament the evils suffered
by the inhabitants of this unfortunate city, who with
reason complain of their fate, and deserve to be
assisted by the Government." He concludes by
saying, that many of the offending soldiers have bets
;punished, but he cannot say at present how many.
In a postscript, he adds. that he had forgotten to
say, that in the relation to the French Crovernme3t
of the assault of St. Sebastian. General Rey states,
~
that when the assault began. the city was on Ere in,
1 six different places ; 441 therefore believe, that as it ie
known that many houses took fire by the different ex-
losiorys, and during that contest in the city, it will
, be admitted, That it was not set oa the by the British
soldiers."
The Regency of the Kingdom hasten to publish
this explanation of the Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, to
remove the unfavourable impressions which may have
been made by the false or exaggerated relations pub.
fished by the indiscreet Seal, the ignorance, or the
malignity of some periodical writers, who unjustly
endeavour to degrade the noble and generous conduct
of the distinguished Chiefs of the Allied Army.