A Narration of Circumstances attending the Retreat of the British Army under the Command of the late Lieutenant General Sir John Moore, K. B. with a concise Account of the memorable Battle of Corunna, and subsequent Embarkation of His Majesty's Troops; and a few Remarks connected with these Subjects; in a Letter to Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, &c. By H. Milburne, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, and late Surgeon in the Spanish Service. pp. 133. 8vo. 4s. Egerton. 1809.

WHEN we expressed our sentiments freely on the conduct of the late General Moore, in noticing Mrs. Cockle's spirited Ode to his memory, we did not then expect that the majority of the thinking class would have so soon adopted our opinions. There is something apparently ungeneraus in reflecting on a brave man who has recently fallen in the cause of his country, and of injured humanity. The multitude yield to this emotion, and the prudent submit even to the semblance of virtue. Those champions of imaginary generosity, however, must consider whether truth and justice should be sacrificed to useless respect, and whether a deceased man's errors should be venerated as virtues, to delude his successors. The real use of all past events is to make them subservient to the future. Perhaps General Moore acted as judiciously as many other generals would have done under the same circumstances; yet this is no proof that his conduct was faultless or exemplary. On the contrary, the more we learn of his views and modes of acting, the more convinced we are that his whole system was founded on misconception and error. That he had formed his opinion of the French character from their own gasconade, must be evident to every person who duly examines his letters; that he considered the French not only invincible, but irresistible, is also too apparent. He was, indeed, more their admirer than their enemy, and well may they raise a monument to his memory. His plan of landing at the utmost extremity of Spain, and marching over nine hundred miles, before he could come in contact with the enemy, was only a prudent mode of saying, "We have no business in such a country, or in such a cause.' Mr. Frere appears to have perfectly understood his meaning, and acted accordingly. As to the idea of running away from the French, he certainly realised it, although not quite so disgracefully as he designed. Of the nature, manner, and

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difficulties of his retreat, Mr. Milburne has furnished some particulars, which we shall briefly notice.

The author spent only about a month in Spain, having landed at Corunna on the 10th of December, and on the 27th arrived at Astorga (one hundred and seventy English miles), where he fell in with the English army on its precipitate retreat before the enemy. His intention was to join Colonel Murphy's Legion, in his professional capacity; but its capture rendering this impossible, he tendered his medical services to the wounded Spaniards, whom he found in Astorga On this head, he furnishes his readers with carelessly transcribed copies of his credentials, with translations, which, as he has prefixed his name to the work, were not necessary to prove its authenticity. An excursion from Astorga to Manzanal and Bembibre (about twenty-six miles) cost him a "valuable assortment of instruments," which he deplores as seriously as Fray Gerundio did his Florelegium, or his MS. sermons. So much has been said about the supineness and brutality of the Spaniards, their want of patriotism, &c. that we are happy to extract the following characteristic anecdotes, which challenge implicit belief.

"A poor soldier's wife, who had been taken in labour, was, with the infant of which she had delivered herself, lying by the side of the road; but I had the satisfaction of seeing the poor woman and her child placed on a car, by the humanity of a Spanish officer, who was escorting a party of his sick and wounded compatriots."

It was expected that the army would have received considerable supplies of provisions, and other necessaries, at Villa Francas Sebut [they] were unfortunately disappointed; great numbers of the inhabitants quitted their houses, taking with them every thing portable; and those that remained, were in such a state of terror and confusion, as to render them apparently incapable of discriminating between friends and foes, it being impossible for the British soldiers to obtain from them, even by purchase, articles which their French visitors would not have scrupled to extort by force."

The following facts will convey a tolerable just idea of the hurry, confusion, and fatigues experienced by the retreat, which was so precipitate and so thoughtlessly incautious, that neither the bridge of Lugo, nor that of Burgo near Corunna, were sufficiently destroyed to obstruct the passage of the enemy's cavalry. Under the influence of such a panic, he was the best soldier who could run the fastest and longest.

"The fatigues endured by the troops" (says Mr. M.) were incredible, labouring under every species of privation; they had, also, to encounter with extreme inclement weather, and roads intolerably bad. The dragoons performed a march of seventy-two miles in twenty-six hours, twenty-four of which they were actually on horseback. At this period the stragglers constantly augmented; and as the enemy's cavalry kept close on our rear, numbers of them were either killed or taken prisoners. Several of the English were seen dead on the road, having perished from excessive fatigue, privations, and extreme cold; as well as many of the Spanish mule teers. A report having got into circulation, that the French inhumanely massacred all the prisoners that fell into their hands during the march, occasioned additional terror and confusion amongst the sick: the women and children, for many of whom there was no conveyance, and being unable to keep pace with the troops, were unavoidably abandoned to their fate. The lamentations and cries of these unfortunate people, imploring assistance which it was impossible to render them, were truly distressing; and perhaps a scene more calculated to excite sympathy and compassion never occurred, than in the following instance: a poor woman, the wife of a soldier belonging to a Highland regiment, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, sunk lifeless on the road, with two children in her arms, where she remained; and when I passed the corpse, one of the little innocents was still endeavouring to extract that nourishment from its parent's bosom, which nature no longer supplied."

"On several parts of the road, walls of loose stones were thrown across, for the purpose of obstructing the progress of the cavalry, which also afforded excellent cover for the riflemen to conceal themselves behind. The houses and villages on both sides of the road were completely abandoned by the Spaniards, and of course taken temporary possession of by the armies. As I was returning to Corunna, I overtook a Spaniard who had just made his escape from the enemy, and who related an anecdote of two young women, who having remained in a village disguised in male attire, were discovered and seized by a party, consisting of upwards of twenty French soldiers, and treated in a manner too brutal and inhuman for me to describe."

We are sorry to say, that there were not a few English soldiers, also, who treated the Spanish women in a manner "too brutal and inhuman to be described," Yet these very ruffians, in order to conceal their own turpitude, are now the loudest in their exclamations against the Spaniards. It was this infamous conduct which obliged General Moore to doom them to public execration; and if it is designed ever to send another army into Spain, or any other ally's country, if it is wished to make British soldiers men of honour, or improve their discipline, or if Generals Baird and Hope do

justice, they will yet bring some of the most guilty to a court martial, and punish them as an example. Neither should an epaulette, nor even a title, shield those from punishment, who have committed crimes in Spain for which they would be hanged in England. By acting in this manner, we would give a correct idea of English justice to our allies, and prejudice them still more in our favour. But if such offences are suffered to pass unpunished, it will betray a culpable disregard to the moral character of the nation, as well as evince much legislative weakness; and, although it may never be revenged, will most assuredly not be speedily forgotten. After such disgraceful conduct, aiter the wantou insults offered to the images in the streets, need we be surprised, if the Juntas should manifest great reluctance to accept the assistance of an English army in future? Few cases could occur which call for more prudence and energy in ministers; and if they do not evince a due respect to impartial justice, whatever may be the rank of the offenders, the best calculator among them cannot estimate the consequences.

Mr. Milburne teils us, that when the troops arrived at Corunna, they were supplied with necessaries," which the rapidity of the retreat" prevented them from receiving during their march. "Those soldiers who required them, were furnished with shoes, stockings, and other articles of clothing, and new arms were delivered out to replace those that had been lost or rendered unfit for service." Notwithstanding this refitting, the destruction of the clothing was severely felt; and a great part of the troops, after arriving in an English port, were obliged to remain on board their ships several weeks, till new clothes were sent to them; and others were so naked, that the transports were brought up the Channei before they could be clothed. If this was designed as a punishment for their treatment to the Spaniards, it was just; but if it was the inevitable consequence of the dastardly destruction of their clothing, it reflects little honour on the skill and address of their commanding officers. The conduct of the governor and people of Corunna deserves to be recorded with grateful respect.

On the morning of the 14th" (observes Mr. M.)" an unusual degree of bustle and animation appeared to prevail amongst the Spanish troops and inhabitants: his Excellency the Commandant, Don Joaquin Garcia Morena, having by proclamation and other methods exhorted them to exert their utmost efforts in co-operating

with their brave allies to repel the assaults of the enemy, and to afford them every possible facility towards effecting their embarkation, declaring at the same time it was his determination to defend the place to the last extremity. This venerable and patriotic officer, though apparently upwards of seventy years of age, evinced the utmost activity and zeal in the performance of his duties, being the greatest part of every day on horseback, personally inspecting the progress of the works, and the organization of the volunteers. The confidence of the inhabitants, also, appeared to be considerably increased by the events [skirmishes] of the preceding day. At the house wherein I had apartments, the females of the family, who were in high spirits, amused themselves by dancing to their castanets, at the same time expressing their admiration of the English, and contempt for the French, who [whom] they stigmatised with the appellation of piccaroon.” [picaron, i. e. great villain.]

We must pass over the author's account of the battle of Corunna, to extract his observations on the character and disposition of the Spaniards, whose patriotism and country have been so basely libelled by certain "review-day soldiers,' and French emissaries, in this country. We regret this the less, that it is neither very copious in facts, nor interesting in incidents. After bearing honourable testimony to the fidelity and gallantry of the German Legion, great numbers of whom have been falsely accused of deserting, and stating that Major General Anstruther died of an inflammation in his lungs, produced by continuing at his duty in wet clothes, he proceeds;

"The Spaniards, too, have been accused not only of apathy and indifference towards the cause of their rightful sovereign, but of absolute hostility towards our troops, particularly the inhabitants of Beneventè, Toro, Astorga, and Villa Franca. I have before adverted to petty disputes which occasionally took place between the British soldiers and the inhabitants of some of the towns through which, I passed; but they were by no means of a serious nature, or deserving of the appellation with which they have been branded. It is undeniable, that on many occasions, where provisions and other necessaries were expected to have been cheerfully and abundantly supplied by the inhabitants of towns through which the British troops marched, that little or none could be obtained on any terms whatever. This, however, did not originate, as has been erroneously asserted, in any dislike of the Spaniards to the English, but merely from the extreme distress in which they were themselves involved. Great numbers of the cattle had been driven to the mountains for security against the rapacity of the French; and their stores of other provisions were almost exhausted by supplies for their countrymen in arms; and as the operations in agriculture were in a great measure suspended, they had a dismal prospect to look forward to for future exigencies: these circumstances, of course,