The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-03-17
Vol. 8--------No. 1O1.
LISBON Jap,arv On

4 ~ AolZ.
Agreeably to the intention which lately
informed your excellency that I had,
| Yesterday invested Ciudad Rodrigo. AZ
ter the enemy obtained possession of this
piace, they constructed some. field works.
WIN palisades, on the height of San Fran
CISCO and fortified three converts, whose
Inc OF defence was: connected with the
works on that height, and with the old lines
by which the suburbs were surrounded.
which rendered the approach to the place
more difficult, and Consequently it became
necessary to obtain possession of the works
OH the said height, before we could make
any progress III the attack. With this view
major general CraQfurd ordered detach,
ment of the, light division under the COM
mand of lieut.. col. Cockburn of the sod re-.
giment, to make a brisk attack upon those
works, little after dark. This attack
was ably conducted by the lieutenant colo
mel. and the Notifications taken by assault.
our troops took 8 pieces of artillery, and
made prisoners of 2 captains and AZ SOL
diers, the rest of the garrison being put to
| the sword. 49,;
| ! cannot sufficiently applaud the conduct
OF lieutenant colonel Cockburn, and of the
detachment under his command and / am
very happy in being able to state that our
loss III this affair was not great we had
men killed, captain Mayne of the SD re-
giment, the ,lieutenants Hansely of the 95th
regiment, and Woodgate of the SD. regi-
| ment, and Ia soldiers wounded.
, ne success of this operation enabled us
| immediately to open the trenches at the
| distance of 500 toises from the place, and
notwithstanding that the enemy still re-
| tanned the possession of the fortified con-
vents, the captured works were CONVEX
ted into part of our first parallel and we
| have formed a good communication with
( them.
l have arranged our present operation
in such manner that l hope that our
troops will not suffer from the inclemcncy
Of the season.
Lieut.. general Hill arrived at Merida on
the 3Oth OF December he had hopes Of
surprising there general Dunbrouski, who
| from appearances l supposed had been
killed In the former battle that the enemy
! had with general Hill but his van having
ON the 29th been discovered by small pa
trole OF the enemy, belonging to detach-
ment which happened to be at La Naya,
and which which. eff. effected its retreat TO Merida
tachment of general HIPS cavalry to pre-
vent it, general Dunbrouski in consequence
retreated from Merida that night, leaving
there deposit Of wood and 1854 900
pounds OF wheat, and many incomplete
works of fertilization, that the enemy had
| constructed.
On the first OF the present month gen.
Hill advanced with intention to attack gen.
Drouct who was commanding the5th corps
Almendrulejo: that general, however, re-
tired to Zotra, leaving in the town u deposi>
which contained 100000 pounds of wheat &c
some bailey.
| On the Sd, general Hill ordered detach-
ment Consisting Of the regiment of Infantry
NO. 70, two squadrons of the regiment of
hussars No. Q, and one of the regiments OF
Portuguese cavalry, No. 10, to Fuente del
| Maestro, under the command OF the heno-
rable lieutenant colonel Abercomb. Our
cavalry routed an enemy's corps that was
there, and took prisoners officers and 80
soldiers. General Hill having learned that
| general Drouet had retreated to Lerona, &c
finding it impossible to follow him any far
Their, returned OF, the 5th, toMerida, in; or
der to place his troops in better Cantonments,
during the bad weather ~
BY dispatches which I have received
from Cadiz, dated as late as the 9th De-
cember, l learn that the enemy invested
arifta on the goth month, with a force of
near 900 men, covering their operations a.
galnst that place with another body of troops
tdetached to Vegor under the command of
marshal Victor, The enemy's artillery for
tpe attack of Iarifa, had not yet arrived on
the 24th of December ;--colonel Skerret
with the piquets of British and Spanish in
PANTRY, those of the garrison, and detach-
tncnt OF the 95th regiment had battle with
the enemy on the goth. On the 21st capt.
Ween with his company belonging to the
It'll regiment destroyed one of the enemy's
tpiquets. On the 22d colonel Skerret made
a sortie from Tarifa, in cooperation with,
the Spanish troops commanded by general
Coppons, in order to oblige the enemy to
lexhibit their force. On this occasion the =
lnemy suffered considerable loss.
January 81.
BY the Cadiz post of yesterday, we have
received the following extraordinary mes
sage from the general staff.
,.i38 . January II.
The commandment general of the I'd army.
don Nicholas Mahy, acquants the chief cf
the general staff, on the 9th of December
asst, that the enemy reinforced by the army
4 OF Marmont, attacked on the 26tlt the line.
which our troops occupied in, front of We,
lencia and that by reason of the sum III
rity OF force with which the enemy eli $3.50
our lett, where he commanded, the, $3.50 -
the posts which he had tie cha ct,o &c os !.
spite OF the valor of his troops ,JSou,' ~ :.
was obliged to concentrate nea =, 49,. ~
In executing this movement he ,vo. co.,.
rated from the body Of bis ;rfsnt,.y s',;ssp
} part of which, and the c9,vaIrv e., TiNt
tnre OF the ground. he As under The ' Ina ma
sity OF retreating to Aleica. which ,.a ne. 1s
point assigned for re- orion Tn tbs 80 .'s