ground as our troops, yet, from being the pursuing army, and from the superior state of their commissariat, had not suffered nearly so much during the march. This army, excceding ours so much in point of numbers, occupied a much more favourable position, above our troops, from which they could direct their attacks, and point their artillery, greatly to our annoyance. Notwithstanding these circumstances, so decidedly in favour of the enemy, they were completely repulsed by the courage of our troops, and the skilful dispositions and manœuvres of our generals. The British army lost, in killed and wounded, between seven and eight hundred men: the French are supposed to have lost nearly two thousand. This great disparity was probably owing to the quicker firing and steady aim of the British soldiers: so galling and destructive was it, that the oldest French officers declared they had never been exposed to so hot a fire. The darkness of the night would have rendered it impossible to have followed up the victory, by pursuing the enemy, even had it been deemed prudent. But general Hope, on whom the command devolved, when sir John Moore was killed and sir David Baird wound ed, considering the approaching succours of the French, and the circumstances of the British army, thought it advisable to proceed in the embarkation of his troops, for which, indeed, the preparatory measures had been taken by sir John Moore. Accordingly about 10 o'clock at night the troops quitted their position, and marched into Corunna, strong piquets being left to guard the ground, and to give notice of the approach of the enemy. The embarkation immedi ately commenced, and was covered. by the rear-guard, under general Beresford, consisting of about 2000 men, who occupied the lines in front of the town, while a corps de reserve under general Hill was stationed on a promontory immediately behind it. So well arranged and concerted were the means of embarkation, that before daylight the whole army, with the exception of the rear-guard, were on board the ships. The enemy seemed by no means disposed to renew the engagement, or even to take advantage of the confusion necessarily attendant upon the rapid embarkation of such a large body of men during the night-time. In the course of the next forenoon, however, they occupied the rising ground near the harbour with some cannon, and fired at the transports : their fire was not destructive, nor would it have been attended with any serious consequences, had not the masters of some of the transports, panic-struck, cut their cables, and suffered their vessels to run aground. In the course of the day after the battle general Hill's corps de reserve, the sick and wounded, and the rear-guard, were safely embarked, in the view of the enemy, who offered no molestation or hindrance. The brigade under general Craufurd, which, separating from the main army, had proceeded towards Vigo, arrived after a most fatiguing and harassing march at that port, where fortunately they found ready a sufficient number of transports to take them on board and convey them to England. As every thing relating to the last moments of a man of whom Britain has so much reason to be proud cannot fail to be highly interesting, we shall make no apology for lay ing before our readers the follow ing particulars respecting sir John Moore, as they have been given by colonel Anderson, for one-andtwenty years his friend and compa nion in arms. "I met the general in the evening of the 16th conveyed in a blanket and sashes. He knew me immediately, though it was almost dark, squeezed me by the hand, and said, Anderson, don't leave me.' He spoke to the surgeons on their examining his wound, but was in such pain he could say little. "After some time he seemed very anxious to speak to me, and at intervals got out as follows: Ander. son, you know that I have always wished to die this way.' He then asked, 'Are the French beaten? which he repeated to every one he knew as they came in. I hope the people of England will be satisfied! I hope my country will do me justice!Anderson, you will see my friends as soon as you can; tell them every thing-say to my mother Here his voice quite failed, and he was excessively agitated.-Hope,-Hope,-I have much to say to him,-but-cannot get it out. Are colonel Graham and all my aides-de-camp well?--I have made my will, and remember ed my servants-Colborne has my will, and all my papers.' "Major Colborne then came into the room. He spoke most kindly to him; and then said to me, Anderson, remember you go to and tell him it is my request, and that I expect he will give major Colborne a lieutenant-colonelcy he has been long with me and I know him most worthy of it.' He then asked major Colborne if the French were beaten; and on being told they were on every point, he said, It is a great satisfaction for me to know we have beaten the French.-Is Paget in the room? On my telling him No, he said, Remember me to him-it's general Paget I mean he is a fine fellow. -I feel myself so strong, I fear I shall be long in dying-It is great uneasiness-It is great pain-Every thing François says is right--I have the greatest confidence in him.' "He thanked the surgeons for their trouble. Captains Percy and Stanhope, two of his aides-decamp, then came into the room; he spoke kindly to both, and asked Percy if all his aides-de-camp were well? "After some interval he said, Stanhope-remember me to your sister. He pressed my hand close to his body, and in a few minutes died without a struggle." We know not how we can so well do justice to the character of this most respected man and consummate general, as by adopting the language of an eloquent author: "The battle which he fought at the end of his memorable retreat, and which closed the sufferings of his followers and his own career of glory, will live for ever in the recollection of his grateful country. But it is not this last scene of his triumph alone that will claim the lasting regards of England. She' will proudly remember that his judgement and skill were only surpassed by his unconquerable va lour: she will fondly dwell upon that matchless self-denial which subjected all his interests to her. weal, as it devoted all his faculties to her service: she will hold him up to her most famous warriors in after-times,--when the envious clamours of the hour are hushed, and the minions of present power are forgotten,-as a bright example of that entire forbearance, that utter extinction Y 2 pas. extinction of every selfish feeling, As sir John Moore had repeatedly declared his wish to colonel Anderson to be buried where he had fallen, if it should be his lot to be killed in battle, it was determined to bury his body on the rampart of the citadel of Corunna.Accordingly at eight o'clock in the morning it was deposited, uncoffin. ed and undressed, in a grave has tily dug by some soldiers. Some months afterwards, when the Spaniards again got possession of Corunia, the marquis de Romana ordered the body to be taken up, and properly interied in the citadel; and over the tomb a short and simple inscription was engraven. Of the causes which led to the misfortunes of sir John Moore's army, some must be fixed on the British ministry, and some on the Spanish junta and armies. The British ministry, when they sent him into Spain, were culpably ignorant of the force and resources of the Spaniards, of the ability and disposition of the junta to meet the great and imminent difficulties in which their country was placed, and of the reinforcements which the French had actually sent, or were preparing to send, into the Peninsula. Sir John Moore found the Spanish armies very different from what they were represented not nearly so numerous; possessed of little skill, almost without discipline, and badly a med and equipped. Their officers were ill qualified to lead on a well organized army; with the troops therefore which they actually commanded they were totally unfit to cope with the enemy. Their generals were not only ignorant of each others plans, but even of their positions and movements: they attempted what neither their skill nor their force enabled them to execute, and neglected those measures and operations to which they were equal. The supreme junta issued proclamations breathing vengeance against the French, while they utterly neglected the means of inflicting it: they called upon the Spaniards to fight for their country, while they neglected to supply them with arms. In short, there was no appearance of common foresight or activity: every thing was neglected or forgotten till it was too late; and the ample stores and arms which Britain supplied, were only thought of and brought forward when they were almost sure to fall into the hands of the French. But the gross exaggerations with respect to their own force ought principally to be noticed and condemned. From every general officer, except the duke del Infantado, and from the supreme junta without exception, sir John Moore received accounts, respecting the numerical force and the equipment of the armies, which the uniformly found erroneous. At the same time the force and the successful advance of the French were concealed. If these things be taken into account, and to them be added the unwillingness manifested by the Spanish generals to cooperate with sir John Moore, and the indifference of the people both towards the British who were come to assist them, and the French who were invading and ravaging their country, we shall be at no loss to account for the misfortunes of sir John John Moore's army, nor to anticipate what, unless these things are speedily and radically changed, must be the ultimate fate of the Spanish nation. CHAPTER XII. Affairs of Spain continued-Movements and Operations of the French after the Embarkation of the British-take Ferrol-Treachery of its Governor -Second Siege of Saragossa-Its valiant Defence and Fall-Bonaparte leaves Spain to make war against Austria-French Armies inactive after his Departure-Capture of Oporto-The Patriots take Vigo, Tuy, and Viana-Situation of the Armies in the Beginning of April-Battle of Medellin-Cevallos sent Ambassador to London-Treaty of Alliance between Britain and Spain-Sir A. Wellesley sent again to the Peninsula-marches against Soult-attacks and defeats Part of his Army on the Douro-returns to the South of Portugal-Battle of St. Payo-Operations of Blake's Army-Battle of Belchite-Disgraceful Behaviour of the Spanish Troops-Joseph Bonaparte attempts to cross the Sierra Morena-fails, and advances to oppose the March of the united British and Spanish Armies to Madrid-Battle of Talavera-Defeat of the FrenchSir A. Wellesley obliged to retreat-Cuesta leaves the wounded in the Hunds of the Enen.y-Remarks. FTER the British army had the attention and movements of the French were principally directed to the pursuit and discomfiture of the Spanish corps which still occupied the centre of the kingdom, and to the occupation of such of the sea-ports as kept open the communication with England or contained the Spanish navy. Accordingly in the centre of Spain the duke of Belluno attacked and defeated one of the divisions of the duke del Infantado's army, under the command of Venegas: the loss of the Spanish in this affair was not great, as they offered no obstinate nor continued resistance to the persed after a short and ineffectual combat. After the engagement, the duke del Infantado crossed the province of Valencia, and took the route to Grenada, It was matter of surprise and regret to many that sir John Moore, instead of directing his retreat upon Corunna, did not rather march to Ferrol, and secure that part of the Spanish navy which lay there.This, at one time, appears to have been his intention and object; but upon inquiry he found that the people in power in that town would not admit his troops, and were still Y 3 less 1 less disposed to allow the English to secure the fleet, by taking it out of the harbour. The most candid and natural mode of accounting for this disposition on the part of the naval and military authorities at Ferrol, was to attribute it either to blind confidence in their own strength, joined to their ignorance, common to them with the rest of their countrymen, of the advance and victories of the French, or to their jealousy of the British. By some people, however, even at the time of the refusal to admit sir John Moore's army, treachery was suspected to exist among the constituted authorities of Ferrol; and the truth of this suspicion was confirmed, when, eleven days after the battle of Corunna, the duke of Dalmatia appeared before the town. The people only manifested a firm and patriotic disposition to resist the entrance of the French: the civil, naval, and military authorities, on the contrary, acceded to the proposals of the enemy so speedily and readily, that they cannot easily be freed from the charge of treachery. Had they been disposed to have availed themselves of the means of defence and resistance enthusiastically offered to them by the people, they might have gained time to have put the fleet beyond the reach of the French but the governors of the town not only refused to listen to the wishes or to avail themselves of the disposition and power of the people, but they even went so far as to anticipate the summons of the French general, and afterwards to surrender the place by a perfidious capitulation. There were two objects on which the pride as well as the policy of Bonaparte were decidedly bent, from the moment he first crossed the Pyrenees. The first was the reestablishment of his brother on his usurped throne at Madrid ;—the other the conquest of Saragossa. The public entry of Joseph Bonaparte into Madrid took place on the 22d of January: the sullen gloom and discontent which were legible in the features of the inhabitants of the capital, formed a striking and decided contrast with the parade and show of the French troops, and the fawning and disloyal adulations of such of the Spanish grandees as received and acknowledged him as their legitimate sovereign. The obstinate and persevering heroism with which Saragossa was defended, were well calculated to inspire the rest of the kingdom with a similar spirit, and to hold out to the Spanish nation the beneficial consequences which would unavoidably result to their cause, if they followed the example of that city. While Madrid opened its gates after a feeble and inadequate resistance to the French, Saragossa had the honour once of having compelled the enemy to fly from before its walls with great slaughter and disgrace; and when again besieged by a more numerous and better provided army, it did not yield, till the ravages of an epidemical distemper had broken the spirit and thinned the number of its inhabitants, to a greater degree than the French had it in their power to do. The second siege commenced early in the month of January; on the 21 st of the following month it was compelled to capitulate. The resistance which it made the numbers of the enemy who fell before its walls or in the midst of its streets-and the privations and distresses which its inhabitants cheerfully endured, give it a just claim to rank in the page of |