The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-04-17 00:00:00

OPERATIONS OF TILE FRENCH ARMY IN SeAll

A private letter from Paris, dated 15th instant, corn-
niunieates the following particulars :—The affair before
St. Sebastian was much more serious then the official
bulletin states. We cannot yet have the Spanish account-;
hut reports from the army make the loss of the French
troops 300, instead of about 20. The Duke ll'Angouleme
had a narrow escape. According' to the French account
of the affair, their voltigettrs displayed much ardour en-
der the glacis, and the 'Duke has-int, been to reconnoitre,
and having distributed crosses of honour to the soldiers
who had distinguished theanselvel in the first affair be-
fore the forress' his appearance was observed from the
fort: a 24-pounder was immediately ordered forward -
but the Spaniards were so slow in mounting it on the be-
rery, that the Prince had already set off on his return for
Ernani, when they tired it off ; it was must fortunate that
they were so slow; for t'ot ball passed right through a
house, and struck a platoon stationed behind the building's,
precisely on the spot where his Royal Iliehne,s
had been distributing the decorations. The fat r
Frenchmen who were taken prisoners in the affair
of the Pith, have been tried by a court-martial, an 1
shot. The Spanish Royalist Chiefs have, it is positively
asserted, broken off all connexion with the old regency.
Longa is resolved to enter Spain to fight on his own a- -
count. What he means by this determinatio.r is,
probable, that lie intends to plunder the French as writ
as the Constitutionalists. The Holy Alliance Mini-tees
are about to set out in a few days for the camp of t'te
Duke d'Angouleine. His Royal Highness will tkts
have both the Regency of Spain and the representatives
of the great continental powers at his mess. The ii w
Spanish Regency have published a proclamation addres-
sed, to the Spanish nation, which contains the follow irg
passage The Provisional Junta of the Government or
the Spanish nation recognisys only in the King the
origin and seat of the sovereign authority, and, as g
necessary consequence, does not admit in the political
systems any modification which is not mode directly
by the King, by the advice of those wise Wig irkgmg
he may be pleased to consalt:"—
The following is an extract of a French letter from
Tolosa, April 11.:—
His Royal Highness the Duke d'Angonleme arrived
this morning, and was very favourably received. He
will remain here for two days for the purpose of allowing
the 2d corps (that of General dlollitor) to come Irv,
which will take the prat road to Navarre, and form on
the Ebro near Logrouo. In the evening there were il-
luminations, and dances after the manner of the this pie
provinces. Some men of Qtresaila's division arrived bore
several days back; and one of them having committed
'some violence, was killed by the rasatits, which caused
a report that two of our soldiers had been assassinated.
It was feared when General Q•fesaila followed, that tt.is
affair would provoke his vengeance ; hot, on the contiati,
he cominended the action, and issued very severe regula-
tions to prevent similar excesses. The alarm, how-
ever, was such, that the inhabitants did not venture till
one arrival to open their shops. Our presence restor.il
them to confidence, and every thing now wears-the ap-
pearance of peace and security. There are many disaf-
fected individuals, Who are iscreasing in their endeavours
to de-troy the cordiality which subsists between the sol-
diery and thepeople, but the majority are for us, a-
.l
we have the clergy of all denominations to a man on our
side.
The subjoined is an extract of a Spanish letter from
Valencia, April 2.—On Wednesday evening, the 2titei
ult. a party, of insurgents, under the command of Sem-
pere, occupied the suburbs, and on the following day
commenced a heavy fire on the city, which they attacked
at four different points. They held it thin in a sort of
siege during three days, at the end of which they with-
drew to Murriedro, in consequence of having learnt that
succour was approaching. Their operations did v.ry
little damage; many of the grenades thrown by th
in
did not burst, and the injury caused by those which ,
ploded was trilling. A tem persans were wounded. The
troops in the city were very fer, barely sufficient to the
maintenance of 'order. The militia behaved rrinarkaLlv
well, and no interruption occurred to the public tranquil.
lily. The assailing party are estimated to hare.tost.
above 100 men. it appears that the peasantry in gees-
rel have sided wills the insurgents. • Dot preparations
are tusking against another attack, and some buildings
adjoining the walls have been pulled down.