The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-08-24 00:00:00

THK STATESMAN.

SPANISII 4pv.POR7'UGUESE PAPERS.

'moil Ins MIMIC GUMMI EZTIIItriIIIMARY OT
GOIIZINSZYT. AOSVST 11, ISM

General Venegas writes from his head-quarters
at Ucanha, under date of the sth inst. that on that
Jay the Ist, and J.l divisions of his army had
covered themselves with glory, on the banks of
of the Tagus, at Aranjeez, where, being three
times attacked by the enemy with the greatest
obstinacy, they repulsed them as often; the calm-
ness aaJ courage of our troops being abure all
praise. The force of the enemy consisted of from
to 13,000 matt, and the action lasted from five
to eight in the evening.

Ily another dispatch from Gen. Cucsta we learn,
that the Anglo. Spanish army is at Polite de A rm.
bispo, on the right and left banks of the Tagus,
watching the movements of Marshal Soult.
Extract of a letter from the army, dated Dc-
leitosa, Aug. 8:...

" At the moment when the courier is mounting
his horse to set ad; we learn, that the Supreme
Junta of Spain and the Indie.l has appointed Sir A.
Wellesley G..oseralissimo of Spaiti."--(Correio de
Lisboa.)

BADAJOZ, Atm 11.---It was at first estimated,
according to letters from the army, that the loss
of the French at the battle of Talavera de Reyna
was not less, in killed, woeaded, and prisoners,
than *2,000 men. It no* appears, that the dis.
patches or General Guests do taut make their lust
more . than half that Hum bur. Yet it is the
gamut opinion, that it cannot have been
leis than 15,000, faeluding the dispersed and the
woustlekirtrieh the French carried away with
~t4re i.,!
itheas,:auie liceurtung to some accounts, were so
auditors, that they filled 400 carts. The rout
:hale lk•en complete, had our armies been
able to fellow immediately to filsdri.l. But the
troops wpro estremely fatigued, and wanted provi-
sions, which we were not table to supply with
the ,; ruin p loess %tibial circumstances required.
WM, our tr.iiips were burning the dead on the
field of battle, informative was receive'' that Sault
had entered Abe Prortuce with an arm, and was
'marching stews Pontede Areebi4po an.t Almaraz,
as wog to intercept the previsions mid cut off tiii:
,reJest of uur army, as to place it betwero two
fires. Generals Wellesley and Carta peuetrating
the designs of Streit, prepared to fruitage them,
taking by retrograde mutewents new positions,
• the former at the Bridge of Al naraz, and the
fatter at Punte de A! ct• Imp°, on the left of. the
Tiles.. They did :tot till to take the precaution
of burning the bridge of boats which had been
ct;tls!rurted at Alesstraz. Victor immediately
curial soddenly upon Talavera de la Reyna—un-
fortunate town!

List night an express arrived, dispatched* from
Merida to the Junta here, oho asserts that a Cue..
rite, who passed through that town, brought au
account that Smolt had been repulsed. We imps.
tiently expect the arrival of the Courier, to learn
whether this accent be Maimed.

Su long as nor armies maintain themselves in
their present positions, we have n►► fear that they
should be in want of pkivisions, As innumerable
carriages, pith supplies of every kind, are conti-
nually passing along the high rusi of Seville and
Badajcrz,
Some wounded English have passed through this
place on their way to Lisbon.

The cursed Soult has been the cause that our
tkßty h not now at Soinosierrs, and of the evils
.004-Ikladrid and Talavera arc suffering.
Our isead-resarters are at Nisas. At Pinto tR
•tlitNlltispo the French lost 4000 men, mid they
l that Sault lost six pleats of artillery at Ma.
pip*, and that he offered to eapitolate.

The English arc in Ahtacurraa, and their head.
quatters are at Welton.-- (Correia de Lisboa,
.4a:utt 1.1,)
RIIIIAJOI,IO. 2.—The battle of TahllC el de i
la Rine was so obstinate and bloody, that during
the two first days scarcely any quarter was given
on either side. The enemy expected succours,
and it it probable that the division of Sault was
advancing by forced marches to their support.
Lisansr, Aro. 14—k appean, by the latest
accounts from Bedsits:, that the corps of Sault,
Nry, and Monier. having advanced to Placentia,
the rear of the combined army, the latter
passed to the left bank of the Tagus, leaving a
strong corps eu the tight, in front of Pante de
Areebispo, to marmot' the passage of the river,
when it sh:Juld think proper. The British army
has its head.q.larters at Deleitosa ; tho Portu-
guese, under the command of Marshal Beresford,
were at Fugate de GrenalJa, beyond Ciudad
Rodrigo, on the 7th instant. We know nothing
of the Spanish armies, but certainly the whule of the li
French having united, and left Armee and both
the Castilcs almost without a garrison, it is the
curt fat ourable moment for invading those pro-
vinces, and destroying the weak garrisons which
may be ft;untl there, re.taking many points, co•
sential to the subsistence and communication of
the enemy, %hose privations and went of neowe.
sews are excessive... 4 Li.bon Gazette.)

BA DAJO.2I, AVG. S.—The following Order of
the Day was published to our army on the 2d
'natant:—
" SIOLOTIERS or mu Axrr or EIVIZIOADVIIAI—Oo
the 27th and 221 th days of July, ynu !might bravely ; you re-
peatedly repelsed the enemy, who was eatnpdled to fly,
leaving the tieiti of battle coveted with his dead. This glo-
rious victory is due to your fiflntlrSl and union, to your in-
cessant and welkfupported fire, and to confidence in yoor
Officers and Chiefs s if you always observe the mate, you
will always be invincible. The French are no! men, error!
rhea they find no resistance: that which they met with in
the valiant English troops, oar Allies, rooted and pot them to
flight. We know that the French soldiers non refry: to
ester into action, after seeing their best troops destroyed.
" Soldiers 1 1 rim satisfied with your valour and firmness.
I congratulate you on your triuresph, and I rely on your unioo
sod dlscipliae. Ido not call ' Soldiers,' nor consider as a
part of rhe army, those base cowards. who abandoned their
regiments on the days of battle, fleeing in the moment of dan-
ger, and with the design of producing disorder. Such wret-
ches, besides the infamy which covers them, shall be decima-
ted as soca as they are spreheaded.

" Taitvets de la Re: nal, Irg.-2, 1809.
. (Signed) " CeEB rA."

lasso w, Avg. 14.—Yesterday a report was in
circulation, that the French division commanded
by Marshal Soult, which had made its appearance
in the environs of Placentia, had been defeated
by the Ina*. body of the English army and some
Spanish troops ; it was even asserted that Soult
himself had been killed, and that his loss con.
sisted of 9000 men in killed, wounded, and wt.
soners. We do not vouch fur the tauth of this
intelligence, but it is likely to be confirmed, as
Marshal Wellesley was clone by, watching the
said division of the enemy ; and we learnt, some
de) s ago, that he had ordered a sufficient number
of troops to march against it.--(Lisbon Diary,
Granada, Aug. 1.)
GUAM iDA, Ave. I.—We learn with satisfac.
faction, that the heroic Gerona still held out with
the greatist bravery on the 16th July, notwith.
milling 12,000 bombs, 32,000 cannon-shot, and
a prodigious number of grenades, had been poured
into it. The enemy, in the mean time, suffers in.
calculable losses. On the 17th and 18th they
made two assanlis, but were repulsed, and re.
tired in confu.iurs, It appears that they are pre. II
paring to change their batteries from their prestnst
position to that part of the fortress against which
they directod their attacks iu June last year, but
this part not his fortified. thin the rest, and we
;rest that the enemy will Mid themselves disap.
pointre in the same wanner as before. On the
i c,h, General Blake p lased through Oluf, and it
is believed That he sill soon be able to succour the
fortress. -7,.ch are the accounts we hive received
from pert of the Peninsula, and of
Lis h %re ‘r lit the particulars.

They write from Tirrieni, under date 27th
July, that the iumertal Cern° still continued to
&lead itself with obstitiAry.

All the accounts from our army in Walcheren
I concur in stating, that Fleshing might have been
in our pussession on the first day of the attack, if
it had not been thought too hasardous to follow
up the advantage which the impetuosity of our
gallant truops obtained. We understand that the
brigade under Brigadier. General Housrose, con.
sitting of the 14th and 81st regiments, pursued
the French, on the surrender of Middleburg, so
cl ely, and with such undaunted spirit, that they
actually passed, the draw-bridge at the gate of
Flushing with them ; so that they might have en.
tered the town along with the panic-struck garri-
son ; but they were called off after being for a
time in possession of the brid,go. They were only
1700 in number, and it was nut thought advisable
to hazard the assault. 'We wish, however, that a
r report hail been made of the very brilliant con.
duct of that brigade on the occasion.
A. Gentleman who left Paris the latter end of
July, states. that BONA PA RIR, in his late conduct
iuwards the POPE, was actuated by a spirit of re.
seritment against his Holiitess, fur his refusal to
sanction his usurpation in Spain. Upon Botta-
' ?ANTIC'S entrancik into Madrid, he wrote a letter
to the Pore, requesting his Holiness to repair im-
mediately to that thy, in order to crown his bre"-
' ther JOSEPH. This expedient the subtle Tyrant
had recourse to, from the effect which he knew the
-interference of the Holy Father *wild have upon
the minds of the Spanish people, devoted as they
arc to the Catholic faith. The Pore, however, sul
far from complying with the unprincipledwequest,l
or entering into the perfidious projects of the
Usurper, returned an immediate answer, that be
would sooner suffer death than prostitutehitteisered
office to so infamous a purpose. •
By a Gentleman who has just *aired from
France, we have received some particulars of the
state of that country. In Normandy, and the
adjacent province., corn of all sorts was abuts.
dant ; but, on account of the low price of pro-
duce, the proprietors of land had been under the
necessity of conceding to their tenants a reduction
of 15 per ccnt. on their annual rent. Generally
speaking, all the necessaries of life are cheap, and
all luxuries extravagantly dear. The superior
ines have advanced in price in the northern pro-
vinces 9.00 per cent. From the neighbourhood of
Bourdeaux, on account of the danger of capture
in passing the coast of Britanny and Normandy,
by Brest and Cherbourg, it is sent from the South.
ern ports to Care, Havre, Dieppe, &c. by land
,carriage, at an enormous erpence. On the same
authority we learn, that there is areat deficiency
of all naval stores throughout the ports of Prance.'
Manufactures In general in Prance were not only
suspended, but abandoned. Silk and woollen art
Wes continued In some activity (although the ex. j
port trade was destroyed), on lament of the great I
depend for bore consumption.
Cropley and Powell are matched Itto• fight for
100 prisms within a month, half torrett

BADTLE OF TALAF'ER.I.

PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. •
s---
" Talavera, July 29, 1109.
" My Dear Sir.—Trotead of receiving a I,!be, dated Ma-
drid, you flod one dated same as list, and now lisigse Ar-
thur will be content with dating hts from the Plains of Tala-
vera, become famous for the actions of the (27th and 28th
inst. at least fur some time time.
" My last was dated, and I believe forwarded, the 25th, at
which time it was every one's opinion, that the Orillary re-
treated; however, it appears oar advanced guard kept pace
with them till they received reioloiceseenb of merest time-
mods. Sir Arthur. in the minim of the !le. pet himself at
the bead of our advance (General Markenxies brigade), and
ask 4 said, ladoced them to tore shoat and attack him.
" The beast of this bailees' was sustained by the Spaniards
and this brigade, coalisting of about 6,000 men, till shoat one
o'clock, P.N. whelp the Spaniards, by a concerted plan, be-
gan to give way, which they did is excellcot order, sad eon-
nailed the greater part of their force behind the town. But
by the time the enemy came el; they had taken op a position
in kwaiwt, with their right to the Togas, two miles esksactil
from Talitvera, opposite the maera,'s kit. wbile oar whole
force turned oat ors wend they were balled in, and occupied
a most excellent position, with our left on a steep bill, but
easy of access. extending to the Spaelsh lines. covering n part
of the enemy from their right to their metre. The enemy,
from the rapidity of their movements, gut hold of some com-
manding hill, opposite our left.

- -
" With a moo:stain on their right, and the Tagus in their
I:ft, the occapatioa of this kill, whetstone loft win posted,
seemed to be the great object of the enemy, shrine the whole
basiness. The action commenced about ball-pot six o'clock,
-p. as. by a vtgoroos attack of the enemy on this poo, o bids
was defended by General Hill's division. They motioned
their exertions to get possession of this hill till 11 at eight,
when, after being repulsed and drove down every time they
attempted to ascend, they withdrew for the night. I could
not see their attack on our right, bat was happy to Gad they
did not succeed io that point, and could not boast of having
gained an isseh of ground either on sas or the Spaniards. We
lay on our arms the whole night, and were in great hopes
they had retired; however, at day-light we were much
disapprented at }biding them within half-gun shot of es,
determined to gain the hill, the attack on which commenced
at eve o'clock, a. m. aMt 'llse most dreadful cannnuade

of roved, grape. and shells, from a nueseroos
destructive tire was so well directed, that, notwith-
standing every means we could think of to conceal ourselves
on the side of the hill, and lying down no uur arum, the ranks
were thinned very much, without a shot in return, except
from three or four pieces of ill-directed43paoish artillery.
'the) now renewed their attempt to take it by storm : their
infautry advanced up the hill fur this purpose, and met w itb
no oppositioo, except from our field-pieces, till they arrived
near the top, whetstkey were charged by tbe 29th, '2d, 48th.
and, I believe, 66th regiments, who drove them much
quicker down than they MSC up. This division now retired
to the font of the mountain, and dispatched a column of
about 9000 to take posse—ion of a tower Oil top, whicih,
thought, ought to be occupied by us before, as, by 'means of
the easy descent on the other side, we could with ease be cut
off, in case of a reverse of fortune, front the road leading
from Orepesa to Talavera, which was the same we came to
the latter by. The 29d Light Dragoons, and Dragoon Guards
now came mood tit kill, on a valley between the hill and
onoontaio,whkh hept this Freud division from at tempting any
thing farther, UII reinforced by two other strong columns—
they now advanced, and elmomeamail beatings lute of sae of
those, white the other remained in column ready to to
oareavalr. The 9-JJ were them ordered to advance. and did
so very regularly, though ander a very heavy fire of mat-
hefty. Ou commencing the charge, the askew which bad
deployed succeeded by du, ole quick time in getting iatp
limo, before the Dragoons raw up. The 23d, natwithstaod-
ing, came up to the point of the bayonet, in hopes the enemy
would 'beer some oymptom of breakiag ; but quite tbe eon-
rary—they remained as steady as a wall, though 1 saw seve-
ral shells fall in tat centre of Ilies—nod kept up oath a brisk
fire,that they soon compelled the lid to retire disorder.—
Tile Gnat& mow came op, hot ver: prudently declined charg-
ing. Thelma of Ve rv7l noel (rave been very great; 1 went
over the field this 71.)r-ine, at/ saw more titan I could imagine
—horses sad . • ••npletely horned ashes !

Tbis certainly stag one of those views is action which
seldom occur, and indeed oivi of the firiebt I ever saw, or that
amid be imagined : the Yid advancitrz, under repeated sheets
and buzzes from the troops on the enemy's liae rtan-
n* to get into column. as a phree of security—the steadiness
of thew coluress, which now honked more Nke buildings than
teen—tad the persevering bravery of the 83d, in charging,
and actually going mead one of the columns. Idu n•d think
ai, painter ur pen capable of pictariag it, in half its bean;
ties.
" Before thecharge, 4 or 5000 elf the Spaniards gat up the
mountain, in rear of our cavalry. and in a short time co n-
-1 mewed a very spirited attack on the French, who had the top
fur pear a mile completely lined with infontry. They kept
up so quick a Are, and seemed so determined to tarry their
point, that in about two boars the enemy began to give way
In that quarter ; bet coati:Ned disputing it for several his,.
after—when. a ear sun-set, they left it in quiet possession of
Ifni% Mania of Spaniards, who certainly behaved nobly.
" A bout three o'clock, I was glad to God the enemy had ,
gninel no pound on the right or the centre, though I could
not, for the forest of trees, distinguish bow matters went an
is that tputrier.—About firer teelnek, oar hattaliou was called
*pan from its kirk* plate toe tap of the hill—whew we were
exposed to a heavy Ike of shells, by which we lost et least
100 nee, without a shot ia ..tarts and were ordered eis pro-
bed 'hasty &web* hill, to cheek a mime that was esab
.
advisee's to stores the ot►er side (towards the right yd eta-
be) of the kill. Mier liiceilng kw, oar Caessesmliag Meer
wounded. and steadies the Ise .1 this miaow sapearbd by
a heavy discharge of artillery, for about No issimates, we
bred a volley. sad iastenteneously came to the charge--billed,
fired once more, advanced, charged a woad time; whew
the enemy went to the right about, and ,relived. Although
they did net wait the p of nor bayonets, we succeeded
in the grand object of making them retire. On returning, we
reeeived the thanks KAI, Arthur no the spot, tad eadentand
we bate the sane repeated to us in this diWs Pablie Orders.
In fast eething codd be steadier nr more determined than oar
coesdatt. Aber this they retired to some distabee, and again
comaseeeed with their 'bens, which they continued till wheat
Seem is the evening--when they began to form their colas*
of infantry and cavalry, as If intending to Jeep it op dories
the sight. However, after remaining ander arms the whole
night, expecting, if possible, a more dreadful havoc this duy;
to woe great joy and satisfaction we famed they had retired—
Set a man was to be seen.
" Our Light Infantry Brigade, with some gun•, arrived
'kis "imam. and have pursued, in order to keep them in
view. Their number; cuold not be less than .30,000, haying
►ees joined by Joseph and the army from Toledo. Joseph
was present, it is said. during the whole time. Their Iwo is
vet) great—bat, I am afraid, not in prnportioa to ours,
which cannot be less in killed and wounded than 5,000 men,
nut of pot more than 2'2,000. We lost about 180 privates.
and si is Officers—fur w tech we had no more satisfaction than