Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1809-03-28

with no great iaOos, .s"'0'o'''s0
lion. Of furious republicans into the most
ab;ec, svcophants Of monarchy that modern
time. have produced. To make the Paral-
lei ;. i respects the great military theatre
&c Fnrone (a.vass 6loody arena both in anci-
emf and modern time) complete, we must
annly TO Bonaparte theremark OF Cicero IN
re rE TO the campaigns of Pompey In
Soa;n. although we regret even the appear
ance 81 applicablsness in the case. I essas
EST H:sbania, qua sepisseme plurimos has-
te;s al hoe superatos prostratOsqae conspes,f.
Spain is a witness, which has often beneld
muititndes OF our enemies overthrown ana
cut to pieces by this hero.'f
1t appears that it was at first the unlver,
sal determination of the people to defend
Madrid. The French undoubtedly exag-
gerate the numbers of the troops and armed
peasantry, when they estimate both at sixty
thousand. Thus they represented the army
of Castanos, at the battle OF Iudeia, as
consisting of forty FIVE thousand men, when
it is probable that it didnot exceed ~ oo.
Castano. states the French force at from 50
to forty thousand infantry and six or seven
thousand cavalry. tits probable that the num-
bers on each side were nearly equal, but that
the French were greatly superior IN cavalry J,
in which most important "sinew OF war
the Spaniards are lamentably dehcsent'whlcf;
renders it indispensable that they should
hue. the mountains as much as possible
The patriots are deplorably unequal to their
enemies in discipline, in cavalry, and above
All IN able commanders. Castanos is ge-
neral of much less ability than Blake. All
accounts agree that his position at Iudela
was an iniudicious and unmilitary one. 1t
is. true that he had conquered Dupont, OF
whom Bonaparte speaks as an incapable
and base general but there is no doubt that
Dupont was completely Burgoyned. At
Tudela, the French, by vigorous charge
at the point of the bayonet, penetrated one
OF the weak points in the Spanish line, IN
consequence of which powerful force OF
cavalry rushed through the opening, tell up
on the rear of the Spahiards, and threw all
into confusion. The French, however,
claimed only $500 prisoners and 1000 kill
ed, and the Spanish loss, OF course, must
have been from 1900 to 1000 OF each. Cas-
tano. saws that he repulsed the enemy upon
the left, and while he was pursuing them,
division of the enemy penetrated through
Tutlela on the right, and took his pursuing
troops in the rear. Why did he not content
himself with repelling the enemy to his 60
ike grove on the left, whence he had des-
cended with tremendous fire, and instead
of weakening his line by partial pursuit,
which is always dangerous operation, why
did he not strengthen and guard his right,
and preserve, by restraining his left to the
rslsgper point, the line unbroken, SO as to
prevent the enemy from getting upon his
rear, and in the most fatal manner too, thro'
the centre of his whole army for tits hard
ly to be supposed that the column of the e.
nemy which is said to have penetrated the
right, marched at its leisure along the rear of
the centre, to attack the Spanish left which
was in the pursuit of the heroes of the so
live grove? Upon the whole, this must
have been one OF the strangest of all militia
ry operations. So far as we are able to
Judge, there must have been very great mis-
management on the Spanish side. 1t would
appear froa, Fairburn's map that there are
two places of the name Of ludela or ludel-
la, at no great distance from each other.-
Tudela on the Ebro has an ancient but dila-
pidated castle. The battle was fought near
the Ebro, for we are told that 1000 were
killed or driven into that river. Itappears
bv the English account that Tudela was the
right and the advanced part of the position,
and that the place is commanded by heights
and is indefensibIe. Since, writing the a
boye, we have turned to the eleventh bulle-
tin. of which we had but an indistinct re-
collection, and find that our idea that i,
must have been the centre of Castanos' line
which was pierced by the French, was a