Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1810-07-09

"a QiSpatCtl, OF WHtSii Ns.S sss,'sf6
COPY. was received on the 10Th inst. az
lord Liyerpoops Office, addressed g his
lordship By lieut.. general Graham, COM
handing his majesty's forces al Cadiz,I dat.
ed
1,ola, Aprif q, 1912. !
MY Losp,
From the information your lordsfip
! already. had of the miserable state q enc
Fort of Matagorda (never 70 be considered
free from the danger ofsassanlt) i vpl not >.
81 mater Of surprise. that after holding u
Two months il should snow be abandoned.
have The honor to enclose, capt. M aclalne 8
(of the e4th) report to me. Is would Ds 8
an Injustice 70 the service not to recommends
Kim in The warmest manner TO your lord
Shin. notice. as wei as the officers who
continued with him 10 the last of this ard1-
Gus duty, lieut.. Brcreton, OF the royal ar
t;llery. rusigns Cannon and Scott, OF the
e4th, and Mr.. sDobson, midshipman OF has
maiesty's ship Invincible. The defence OF
Matarorda has been Witnessed by every bo-
DIV with admiration, and should not haye
been justified in allowing it to be continued
SO long, but from the expectation OF the
possibility Of some diversion being made IN.
its favor, which. however, was found TO DC
impracticable. Il is impossible that lshou!d
NOT endeavor to express to your lordshlp
the feelings of universal and deep regret
excited by the 'untimely fall of that distin-
cuished officermalor Lesebure, Of the royal
engineers, whose zeal carried him from the
admiral's ship to be the bearer otmy orders
for the evacuation of the fort, that he might
be satiisd that it was no longer tenable.-
The chief direction Of that important de-
n,r,noent now devolves on captain BIRCH.
Your lo,dship is well acquainted with my
opinion OF his merit aad talents,so we'll cal
to inspire confidence under this misfortune
I have, &c.
THOMAS GRAHAM.
P. S. The original garrison of theAfort OF
Matagorda consisted of Captain Macsalne
and Ensigns Cannon and Scott, sath rss'-
ment; IS royal artillery, under Lieutenant
Brercton; IS royal marines; IS seamen'
under Mr.. Dobson and 67 non cofnm's-
stoned officers and priyates OF she;s4th re-
piment. Reinforcements were sent ~ the
evening of the 2lst, and relieis OF the whole
wsry offered but declined.
-CADIz, April2s, 1910. !
SER,
/ have The honor to inform you, that at
two O'Clock on the morning. OF tse 2lst, the
enemy opened upon tbs ~ gun snip o..
Psu!o. and gun boats stationed near FOR.
Mata gorda, with hot shot, and succeeded
in forcing them to abandon their position.
immediately after this, they opened upon
fort Matagorda very heavy cannonade OF
Guns and mortars, but as II would have been
impossible to direct our Ere with. a certain
*. i ordered lieutenant Brereton, OF the
royal artillery, to delay our fire Until day
break. The morning discovered three bat.
ter;es. opposed to US, in the Procodero, OF
twenty four guns, & from the flight Of their
shells We Judged they had eight mortars N
their other three batteries. From the time
they commenced firing at the Tort they kept
up a most tremendous cannonade OF shot
and shells with great effect until night, when
the enemy and the fort both discontinued. |
That days Ere made a very large breach IN
the escarp Of the rampant, on which wasthe
principal part Of our guns, and completely
laying open oar magazine. We were, frona
the manner the enemy placed his batterless
and which they had coutriyed to do under
mask OF. the houses IN the village of Truca.
4dero distant from the fort about 900 yards)
only able to bring guns to bear on them
yet with those we conriyed to silence, and,
as | conceive, dismount the guns ofone OF
their batteries, in which were six 80 pound.
ers. The whole OF the night of the 2lst,
and morning of the ed, employed ia en-.