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It is however to be lamented that our cavalry did not find themselves in a situation to enable them to take advantage of the enemy's disorderly flight across the plain between these heights and the village of Carrascalejo, a league in extent; for had 5 or 600 horse charged the fugitives, the victory would have been most decisive.

The vanguard of General Ballasteros's division is in sight; we only wait his arrival to pursue and annihilate the discomfited enemy.

From prisoners we learn that General Marchand proclaimed at Salamanca his intention of annihilating, by two o'clock on the 18th, 30,000 peasant insurgents; his orders to his army were, on pain of death, to possess itself of the heights by twelve o'clock, as he proposed proceeding to destroy Ballasteros's division, after having dispersed and annihilated this army. The French General certainly appears to have held this army very cheap, judging from his plan of attack, which was far from judicious, but executed to a certain point with the greatest bravery, and with that intrepidity which the confidence of success inspires.

Our light troops pursued, and hung on the enemy's rear; several parties of which, among whom were 200 of the regiment of Ballastro, have not yet returned, having expressed a determination of hanging on the enemy's flanks as long as the cover of the woods afford. ed a facility of so doing.

The number of the enemy's dead already found and buried amounts to upwards of 1100.

A letter from San Felices de los Gallegos, in recounting the events of the new system of warfare in Spain, gives the following interesting anecdotes:

Julian, a native of this neighbourhood, was five months ago a herdsman; under the direction of the general in chief, he, with six other youths, on horseback, and with no other arms but pikes, formed a little party to molest the patroles of the enemy, which, in different parts of Castile, were plundering the inhabitants. He was so far successful, that in a short time he made 100 cavalry prisoners, who were conducted under escorts to Ciudad Rodrigo. Subsequent to this extraordinary success,

Julian was made an ensign, and he received orders to augment his party tỏ the number of 50 men, of which it now consists. They give quarter to none, excepting to such as give information for the destruction of the enemy. He daily comes to the camp, with an account of 16, 20, 50, and 80, that have fallen beneath his hands; and if two days should pass over without his be ing seen among us, we fear some accident has happened him, by his undaunted courage. On the evening, when it was supposed we should engage Ney, Julian proceeded to the vanguard with his 5 pikemen, and rushed upon seventy French dragoons, who had separated themselves from the main army, three leagues, on a foraging party. Of these he killed 60, took 4 prisoners, and 6 only escaped, He is now hovering round the rear-guard of the enemy. The day before yesterday he killed 26, and took prisoners two physicians, and a member of the commissariat. Among the dead was a commissioner, in whose suit of clothes I saw one of the pikemen last night. In a village he surprized and destroyed 21 of the enemy, not one of them being left to tell the tidings to their friends. At this moment we have an account of his having entrapped 50 others. My friend, these traits of personal valour ought to be made known. This herdsman has just been appointed to the rank of Captain, and it is expecpected he will be nominated Lieut..col. It is remarkable, that of his 50 men he has not lost one; the only misfortune that has occurred, was the lodgment of a pistol ball in one of his party, which is extracted, and the man cured.

Lisbon, October 1. Lord Wellington is recovered from his illness, and is to be one of the regency. The army has now all the necessary pro

visions and stores from Lisbon and Abrantes.

But the hospitals at Elvas and Badajoz are full of sick and wounded; the sick alone are said to amount to more than 4000, a calculation which, it is hoped, is much over-rated. A great many of the wound

ed at Talavera have arrived here within these few days; some with only a leg or sabre wounds. Such is unfortunately the one arm, others with dreadful shot and deficiency of conveyance, that these poor fellows, supported by their comrades, who were little better than themselves, were led from the place where they landed to the general hospital, a distance of more

than

than two miles, in the middle of the day, under a burning sun. The 27th foot marched hence a few days ago to join the army. The 1st dragoons, who are now at Bellera, are also under orders to march, Marshal Beresford is still here, and by his exertions has augmented the Portuguese army, which is now commanded by General Blount. The skeleton regiments of the 83d and 87th are doing duty here; they both do not amount to 500 men. Lord Wellington's army, that is the English part of it, is about 20,000 at most. The Spanish army about the Tagus, as far as the bridge of Almaraz, is said to be 20,000 effective men; and there are 25,000, which were part of the Estremaduran army, and 15,000 under a Spanish commander, whose name I forget. The Portuguese under General Beresford are estimated at 32,000. These statements are according to the returns: but, excepting Lord Wellington's army, none of the statements can be relied on with confidence. According to most accounts, however, there are 80 or 90,000 effective men on the frontiers of Portugal, ready to take the field. Two men were yesterday strangled and burnt in the public place of Caes de Sodre, for uttering base coin; and the government paper money is scarcely passable, from the immense quantity of forged notes. It is difficult to distinguish the bad notes, but the number in circulation is dreadful. There are four or five men more to undergo the same punishment, for circulating base coin, next week: but the authors of the paper forgery are not yet discovered.

By letters received from Vigo, of the 26th October, it appears that the peasantry of all the adjacent country is provided with pikes or fire arms, and that the inhabitants are in the best disposition to support the public cause. A gentleman, who has had the good fortune to escape from the French, has just arrived from Spain. He informs us, that all the convents and public buildings at the Spanish capital are full of sick and wounded Frenchmen, who are crowd ed into them to the number of 18,000. An endeavour was made by Joseph to raise a native regiment, under his own banners, from the prisoners and others in the vicinity of Madrid; and to facilitate this purpose, two or three thousand of them were kept without food for upwards of two days, when they were invited to partake of the royal bounty, and to enlist under the new king. In this feeble condition, from the want of natural sustenance during so long an interval, the Spaniards rejected the proposal, with the exception of two hundred, who entered the ranks. It is said, that the attempt to raise Spanish battalions in France has been yet more unproductive.

From 20,000 prisoners, only about 50 Spaniards have been seduced by ultimate threats and promises to enrol themselves in the French service.

Subsequent to the memorable battle of the 17th October, in which the invincible Gerona was attacked, all the letters agree in representing that the French had burnt their encampments and part of the village of Biscol, where they had their head-quarters. No clearer proof can be given of the defeat they have sustained, and of their deplorable condition, and we may also with reason expect that they will retire to Figueras; since we are assured they have had some indication of the attack which is about to be made upon them, for which purpose our distinguished Capt.-general Blake has ordered every man from 16 to 50 years of age, capable of bearing arms, to rendezvous at Olot and Bezels, under the command of Don Juan Claros. In consequence of this order, all the shops and manufactories of this town are shut, their owners having flown to the defence of the country.

General Blake was, on the 23d October, at Tosa, near Gerona; his object is to throw fresh succours into the invincible city. By an authentic statement of the French army in Catalonia, it appears that 56,000 French have entered that principality, of whom, according to the most moderate computation, not more than from 23 to 25,000 remain.-Two Swiss regiments belonging to Soult's division, which is at Placentia, have mutinied; this proves that the ferment which first manifested itself at Oporto, and of which there are many indications in the intercepted letters from Soult to Joseph, notwithstanding the marshal's care to conceal it, still continues. Ney has left Salamanca, taking with him his baggage and an escort.

Letters from Cadiz of the 29th and 30th October state, that the French were concentrating their forces round Madrid; and that the Marquis de la Romana had gone to the army of La Mancha, and it is supposed that he is employed to exert his influence with his brother in Valencia, to restore subordination in that province. The project of the appointment of the Cardinal of Toledo as regent, has been negatived. After which the principle of an executive committee was agreed upon; and a specific plan for the conduct of the government proposed, but this was also negatived. A second plan was then digested, and was to be taken into consideration. Don Pedro de Ribero, one of the deputies from Toledo, was elected successor to Garay. Equia is removed. Having fallen back with his army to the Sierra Morena, the Junta were alarmed, and removed him.

COURT

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Sir J. T. Duckworth E. S. Dickson
Sir W. E. Stanhope R. D. Dunn

After the Court was sworn, several documents were read; among them was a more copious detail, than that originally inserted in the Gazette, of the proceedings in Basque Roads, in a letter from Lord Gambier to the Hon. W. Pole, dated London, May 10, 1809; also the letter from Mr Pole to Lord Cochrane, requiring the grounds of his Lordship's objection to the vote of thanks to Lord Gambier, and Lord Cochrane's answer to Mr Pole, referring the Lords Commissioners to the log and signal books. Lord Gambier's application for a Court-martial was also read; after which the various orders which Lord Gambier received from the Admiralty, while Commander of the Channel fleer, were read.

The whole evidence (which was very long, upwards of 40 officers of the fleet having been examined) related entirely to the situation of the French fleet at different times in Basque Roads,-to the nature and extent of the anchorage off Isle d'Aix,-to the dangerous navigation for large ships through certain channels,-and to the time and place which Lord Gambier chose for stationing the ships for the destruction of the enemy's fleet;-the whole neither intelligible nor interesting to any but professional men. Lord Cochrane, who was properly the accuser of his Lordship, was the first and principal witness. His evidence, which was of great length, went into a detail of the whole movements of the fleet on the day of attack, and subsequently, all as given in Lord Gambier's dispatches at the time. But his Lordship added an opinion, that the position chosen by the Admiral was only a good one for observing the enemy, but not a position for attack :that there was room for six sail of the line to anchor clear of the Buoyart shoal, and clear of shot and shells from Isle d'Aix, and also close to the enemy's line :-that had the attack been made in the morning of the 12th of April, at day-light, seven sail November 1809.

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of the enemy's ships might have been de stroyed, as they were aground, and incapable of resistance ;-and that by delaying the attack till noon of that day, when the tide had flowed, and the enemy had cut their cables, and run up the Charente, only two were taken, and one destroyed.

This was the sum and substance of Lord Cochrane's evidence :-But it was not corrobated by any of the other officers who were examined, all of whom agreed, that considering the hazardous nature of the service in which the feet was engaged, Lord Gambier displayed great judgment, skill and bravery in its management and disposition, and shewed the utmost zeal for the advantageous attainment of the object

in view.

Fifth Day, Monday, July 31.

Upon the President's desiring the witnesses to withdraw, as usual, Lord Cochrane submitted to the Court, that it was. not the custom of Courts Martial to exclude the witnesses from the Court during the defence, and referred to the case of Admiral Harvey.

The President" My Lord, the Court has discussed the measure in the present instance, and it is its wish that you should withdraw."

Lord Cochrane bowed and withdrew.

Lord Gambier was then called upon for his defence, which the Judge Advocate was permitted to read for him:

Mr President-I thank you, Sir, and the rest of the Members of the Honourable Court, for having complied with my res quest, that a short interval might be allowed me before I entered on my defence. L have also to express my satisfaction, that the whole of my conduct and proceedings in Basque Roads is now under your consideration, in consequence of my having applied for this Court Martial. The neces sity of this must be evident; either I had to adopt this measure, or, by a tacit acquiescence in the insinuations thrown out against me by Lord Cochrane, have compromised not only my own honour, but also that of the brave officers and men under my command. The proceedings of the Court will shew whether any misconduct had existed in the execution of the service under consideration; if any has existed, of which I am perfectly unconscious, it is right that the nation should know it; not as resting on the unsupported opinion of an individual, but on the unprejudiced judgment of this tribunal. I was prepared, when I first came before you, with what appeared to me a complete justification of my conduct and proceedings as Commander in Chief of the Channel fleet, employed in Basque Roads, between the 17th of

March

March and the 29th of April last, to which your inquiry is directed; but I could not be aware of the oral testimony that was to be brought forward in support of the charge which their Lordships have, at the instance, of Lord Cochrane, been induced to make against me, namely, that on the 12th April, 'the enemy's ships being then on shore, and the signal having been made that they could be destroyed, I did for a considerable time neglect or delay taking effectual measures for destroying them. I was ready to admit, that, from the time of my observing, on the morning of the 12th, the situation of the enemy, communicated to me also by signal from the Imperieuse, *some time did elapse before the enemy's ships were attacked; but I was prepared to prove most incontrovertibly, that no neg*lect or unnecessary delay took place in effecting the destruction of those ships; and I have now the satisfaction to find, that out of all the officers of the fleet who are summoned on this trial, the charge rests on the unsupported, and I may say, already refuted, testimony of the Captain of the Imperieuse. I believe there is not a precedent to be found in the naval annals of *Great Britain, of an officer of the rank 1 have the honour to hold, commanding a fleet which has performed so important a service as that accomplished under my direction-approved as that service has been by the Board of Admiralty, and consider ed by his Majesty's Government as even deserving the thanks of both Houses of Parliament,-being obliged, from a sense of what is due to his own character and honour, as well as to the profession to which he belongs, to appeal to a naval tribunal, against the loose and indirect accusations of an officer, so much his inferior in rank. I am warranted in saying, that the execution of this service was approved by the Board of Admiralty; because, in a letter from their Lordships' Secretary, dated April 22, acknowledging the receipt of my public dispatches on the occasion, he says, he is commanded by their Lordships to congratulate me on the brilliant success of the force under my command, in the attack of the enemy's ships in the Isle d'Aix Roads, by four vessels, and subsequently by detachments from my fleet, which terminated in the capture and destruction of four of the enemy's ships; and to signify their Lordships directions to me, to express their approbation of the great exertions of RearAdmiral Stopford, Sir Harry Neale, and the several other officers mentioned by me, as having been most actively employed, and having particularly distinguished themselves upon this important service. Lord Cochrane, however, warned the noble Lord

at the head of the Admiralty, that if this measure was attempted, he should, if standing alone, oppose it as far as regarded the Commander in Chief; thus, without specially objecting to the thanks being given for the service performed, directing his hostility personally at me, and making his attack as publicly, though not so fairly, as if he had at once exhibited formal charges.

Lord Cochrane, as a member of Parliament, may most assuredly support or oppose public measures, as he shall think proper. In the present proceedings, however, he stands in the situation only of an officer serving under my command.

Whether Lord Cochrane supposed he might, with impunity, endeavour to lower me in the opinion of my country and my Sovereign, signal marks of whose favour had at this instant been exclusively conferred upon himself-whether his Lordship thought he could exalt his own reputation at the expence of mine-and whether he expected that his threat would intimidate me to silence, I know not. But if these were his ideas, I assure myself the result will prove to him that they were founded in error; for I will never permit any man to proceed as Lord Cochrane has done, without availing myself of the means which 'the laws of my country afford, to shew the futility and injustice of such an attack. By the letter of the Secretary of the Admiralty to Lord Cochrane, after making his undefined accusation against his Admiral, he excuses himself from explanation by a general reference to the log and signal books of the fleet, without knowing, if I may judge from the imperfect state of his own log, what that general reference might produce. Therefore, because he does not accord with me in opinion, Lord Cochrane, whose extent of responsibility has perhaps never exceeded the charge of a single ship, and to whom in judgment I will not reduce my experience to a comparison, becomes my accuser; whilst, from my situation, I am responsible for every act of my fleet, and for the fate of every ship composing it.

I am so confident, and I hope it is already evident to the Court, that Lord Cochrane has no cause whatever for accusing me of any dereliction of duty, that it might almost be supposed something had occurred in my personal conduct towards his Lordship which had afforded him grounds of dissatisfaction. The contrary, however, is the fact. More liberality could not have been shewn than Lord Cochrane received at my hands; and, although a considerable degree of disappointment was manifested throughout the fleet on his arrival to conduct the service to be performed by fire

vessels,

1

vessels, yet every officer in the fleet rendered him the most steady assistance, not only in valuable suggestions, the entire credit of which seems to have been assumed by his Lordship, but by every other means that zeal and courage could afford. Lord Cochrane, on presenting himself to me after the action, was general in complaint of the officers who commanded the other ships engaged at the same time with himself in the attack of the enemy; but having equal means with his Lordship of judging of the conduct of those officers, I do aver, that it was highly meritorious. At the time Lord Cochrane made this general complaint, I had not the smallest suspicion that there existed in his mind those sentiments of disapprobation of my conduct, which, by his proceedings since his return home, I am to suppose he then entertained. It would, in such case, have been liberal, and I think, also his duty, to have made a communication to that effect. I should then have been enabled to have guarded, in some measure, against his attack upon my character on his arrival in England.

I scarcely need observe, in this Court, that, however highly courage is to be va lued in an officer, it is always incomplete in its consequences, without the equal exercise of judgment; and discretion, it being the duty of a Commander, not only to destroy his enemy, but to accomplish that destruction with the least possible loss on his part; and I submit to the Court, whether there ever was a service, which, under all circumstances, more required the exercise of those qualities than the one in question. The effect produced exceeded my most sanguine expectations; and, I be lieve, the expectations of the whole fleet, The points, under the consideration of the Court, appear to be the following: Whether the lapse of time between the discovery, in the morning, of the enemy's ships being on shore, and the attack, was not, under all circumstances, absolutely necessary for the advantageous accomplishment of the intended service;-whether it was not my duty, as Commander in Chief, to be governed by a general view of the whole of those circumstances, rather than yield to the suggestions of one, and a very junior officer;-and whether an earlier attack would have been attended with greater advantages;-in short, was there not accomplished, at the time the attack was made, all that could, at any time, have been effected?

It is in support of these propositions I undertake to shew, as indeed is already in evidence before you, that, had I not delayed sending in the ships to the attack until the time I did, the loss of ships, and the

lives of valuable seamen, would, in the op nion of all the officers of the fleet, have amounted to a large proportion of the forc so employed. And yet it seems that I am now represented as deserving of censure for having prevented that wanton destruc tion; but I am satisfied the Court will, by the result of their investigation, find, that not a single additional ship of the enemy would have been destroyed by a more early adoption of those measures, which, it is imputed to me, I delayed or neglected. I shall now proceed to the direct matter of inquiry and charge, to which my letter to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, of the 10th of May, partly applies. (His Lordship then went over a long detail of all the operations of his fleet, the corres pondence between him and the Admiralty, his general orders, &c.-a wide field, too extensive for us to enter.)

After a minute examination of the charge in all its details, and a review of the evidence against his Lordship, as well as of the whole of his conduct in Basque Roads, he drew the following deductions:

"First-That during the whole of this service, the most unwearied attention was applied by me to its main object, the destruction of the enemy's fleet.

"Secondly-That in no part of the service was more zeal and exertion shewn, than during the whole of the 12th of April, when I had necessarily in view two objects -the destruction of the enemy's fleet, and also the preservation of that under my command: For the extreme difficulties in approaching an enemy, closely surrounded by shoals, and strongly defended by batteries, rendered caution in my proceedings peculiarly necessary.

"Thirdly-That three out of the seven of the enemy's ships aground on the Palais, were, from their first being on shore, totally out of the reach of the guns of any ships of the fleet that might have been sent in, and that at no time whatever, either sooner or later, could they have been attacked.

"Fourthly-That the other four of the eleven ships of which the enemy's fleet consisted, were never in a situation to be assailed after the fire-ships had failed in their main object,"

His Lordship concluded in the following terms:-"These are the points on which I rest my justification, trusting that it will appear to the Court, upon their review of my whole case, that I did take the most effectual measures for destroying the enemy's fleet; that neither neglect nor unne cessary delay did take place in the execution of this service; and, on the contrary, that it was owing to the time chosen by

me

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