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until exchanged; and General Carmichael, who engaged in the expedition as the ally of Spain, relinquished the city to the Spaniards, and returned with his force to Jamaica,

Downing-street, Sept. 7. Dispatches, of which the following are copies and extracts, were this day received at the office of Viscount Castlereagh, from Lieut. General Viscount Wellington, K. B.

Truxillo, Aug. 20,

MY LORD-I wrote some days ago a letter to the French commander in chief, which I sent to him by Lieut.-Colonel Walters, to request his care and attention to the wounded officers and soldiers of the British army who had fallen into his hands, in return for the care and attention I had paid to the French officers and soldiers, who had fallen into our hands at different times; and that he would allow money to be sent to the officers; and that officers, who should not be deemed prisoners of war, might be sent to superintend and take care of the soldiers, till they should recover from their wounds, when the officers should be sent to join the British army,

I received a very civil answer from Marshal Mortier, promising that every possible care should be taken, and every attention paid to the British officers and soldiers who were wounded; but stating that he could not answer upon the other demands contained in my letter, having been obliged to refer to the French the commander in chief,

Since the receipt of this letter, Mr. Dillon, the assistant commissary, has arrived from Talavera, having been taken prisoner near Cevolla on the 27th of July, previous to the action, and having been allowed to come away.

He reports that the British officers, and soldiers, who are wounded, are doing remarkably well, and are well

fed and taken care of indeed he says preferable to the French troops.

I propose to send Colonel Walters with another flag of truce, to-morrow morning, and a letter to the commander in chief of the French army, requesting that a sum of money, which I shall send, may be given to the officers; and I shall endeavour to establish a cartel of exchange as soon as possible.

I have the honour to be, &c.
ARTHUR WELLESLEY.
Trurillo, Aug. 21.

MY LORD-When I marched from Talavera on the 3d inst. with a view to oppose the French corps which we had heard had passed through the Puerto de Banos, and had arri ved at Plasencia, Sir R. Wilson was detached, upon the left of the army, towards Escalona; and before I marched on that morning, I put him in communication with the Spanish General Cuesta, who it had been settled was to remain at Talavera, I understood that General Cuesta put Sir Robert in communica tion with his advanced guard, which retired from Talavera on the night of the 4th.

Sir R. Wilson, however, did not arrive at Valada till the night of the 4th, having made a long march through the mountains; and as he was then six leagues from the bridge of Arzo Bispo, and had to cross the high road from Oropesa to Talavera, of which the enemy were in possession, he conceived that he was too late to retire to Arzo Bispo, and he determined to move by Venta St. Julien and Centinello towards the Tietara, and across that river to wards, the mountains which separate Castile from Estremadura,

Some of Sir Robert Wilson's dispatchés having missed me, I am not aware by which of the passes he went through the mountains, but I be lieve by Tornavacas. He arrived, however, at Banos on the 11th, and on the 12th was attacked and de

feated by the French corps of Marshal Ney, which, with that of Soult, returned to Plasencia on the 9th, 10th, and 11th, that of Ney having since gone on to Salamanca,

I inclose Sir R, Wilson's account of the action. He has been very active, intelligent, and useful in the command of the Portuguese and Spanish corps with which he was de tached from this army.

Before the battle of the 28th of July, he had pushed his parties almost to the gates of Madrid, with which city he was in communication; and he would have been in Madrid, if I had not thought it proper to call him in, in expectation of that general action which took place on the 28th of July. He afterwards alarmed the enemy on the right of his army; and throughout the service, shewed himself to be an active and intelligent partizan, well acquainted with the country in which he was acting, and possessing the confidence of the troops which he commanded,

Being persuaded that his retreat was not open by Arzo Bispo, he acted right in taking the road he did, with which he was well acquainted; and although unsuccessful in the action which he fought (which may be well accounted for, by the supe rior numbers and description of the enemy's troops), the action, in my opinion, does him great credit.

I have the honour to be, &c.

ARTHUR WELLESLEY, Miranda del Castenar, Aug. 13. SIR-I have the honour to acquaint you, that I was on march yesterday morning on the road of Grenadelia from Aldea Neuva, to restore my communication with the allied army, when a peasant assured us, that a considerable quantity of dust, which we perceived in the road of Plasencia, proceeded from the march of a body of the enemy, I immediately returned, and took post in front of Banos, with my

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pickets in advance of Aldea Neuva, selecting such points for defence as the exigency of the time permitted.

The enemy's cavalry advanced on the high road, and drove back my small cavalry posts; but a picket of Spanish infantry, which I had con cealed, poured in on the cavalry a steady and well-directed fire, that killed and wounded many of them, The 200 Spanish infantry in advance of Aldea Neuva, continued, under the direction of Col. Grant and their officers, to maintain their ground most gallantly, until the enemy's cavalry and chasseurs à cheval, in considerable bodies, appeared on both flanks, when they were obliged to retreat. The enemy's chasseurs à cheval and cavalry advanced in great numbers in every direction, and pushed to cut off the legion posted between Aldea Neuva and Banos; but, by the steady conduct of offi cers and men, the enemy could only advance gradually, and with a very severe loss, from the commanding fire thrown on them.

The Merida battalion, however, having given way on the right, a road was laid open, which cut be hind our position, and I was obliged to order a retreat on the heights above Banôs, when I was again necessitated to detach a corps, in order to scour the road of Monte Major, by which I saw the enemy directing a column, and which road turned altogether the Puerto de Banôs, a league in

our rear.

At this time, Don Carlos Marquis de Estragne came up with his battalion of light infantry, and, in the most gallant manner, took post along the heights commanding the road of Banôs, which enabled me to send some of the Merida battalion on the mountain on our left, commanding the main road, and which the enemy had tried to ascend.

The battalion of light infantry, and the detachment of the legion on its right, continued, notwithstan,

ding the enemy's fire of artillery and musketry, to maintain their ground; but, at six o'clock in the evening, three columns of the enemy mounted the beight on our left, gained it, and poured such a fire on the troops below, that longer defence was impracticable, and the whole was obliged to retire on the mountains on our left, leaving open the main road, along which a considerable coJumn of cavalry immediately poured. The battalion of Seville had been left at Bejar, with orders to follow me next day, but when I was obliged to return, and the action commenced I ordered it to Puerto Banôs, to watch the Monte Major road, and the heights in the rear of our left.

When the enemy's cavalry came near, an officer and some dragoons called out to the commanding offieer to surrender, but a volley killed him and his party, and then the battalion proceeded to mount the heights, in which movement it was attacked and surrounded by a column of cavalry and a column of infantry, but cut its way and cleared itself, killing a great many of the enemy, especially of his cavalry,

The enemy is now passing to Salamanca with great expedition; 1 lament that I could no longer arrest his progress; but, when the enormous superiority of the enemy's force is considered, and that we had no artillery, and that the Puerto de Banos, on the Estremaduran side, is not a pass of such strength as on the side Castile, especially without guns, hope that a resistance for nine hours, which must have cost the enemy a great many men, will not be deemed inadequate to our means.

I have to acknowledge the services rendered me on this occasion by Col. Grant, Major Reiman, Don Fermen Marquis, Adj.-Major of the Dragoons of Pavia, Captain Charles and Mr, Bolmon; and to express the greatest

approbation of two companies of the Merida battalions, advanced in front, and of the commanding officer and soldiery of the battalions of Seville, and the Portuguese brigade. I have already noticed the distinguished conduct of Don Carlos, and his bat talion merits the highest encomiums,

I have not been able to collect the returns of our loss. From the nature of mountain warfare, many men are missing, who cannot join for a day or two, but I believe the enemy will only have to boast that he has achieved his passage, and his killed and wounded will be a great diminution of his victory,I have the honour to be, &c.

ROBERT WILSON. Sir Arthur Wellesley, &c.

Truxillo, Aug 29.

General Cuesta moved his head, quarters from the neighbourhood of the bridge of Arcobispo on the night of the 7th inst, to Peraleca de Gar bin, leaving an advanced guard, consisting of two divisions of infan try, and the Duke D'Albuquerque's division of cavalry, for the defence of the passage of the Tagus at this point,

The French cavalry passed the Tagus at a ford immediately above the bridge, at half past one in the afternoon of the 8th, and surprised this advanced guard, which retired, leaving behind them all their cannon, as well as those in the batteries constructed for the defence of the bridge.

The general then moved his headquarters to the Mesa d'Ibor, on the evening of the 8th, having his advanced guard at Bahoral, He re signed the command of the army on the 12th (on account of the bad state of his health), which has de volved upon General Equia. The head-quarters of the Spanish army are now at Deleytosa.

It appears that a detachment of Vanegas's army had some success

against the enemy, in an attack made upon it in the neighbourhood of Aranjuez, on the 5th inst. General Venegas was then at Ocana, and he had determined to retire towards the Sierra Morena; and, after the 5th, he had moved in that direction. He returned, however, towards Toledo, with an intention of attacking the enemy on the 12th; but, on the 11th, the enemy attacked him, with Sebastiani's corps and two divisions of Victor's, in the neighbourhood of Almoracid. The action appears to have lasted some hours; but the French having at last gained an advantage on General Vanegas's left, he was obliged to retire, and was about to resume his position in the Sierra Morena.

On the 9th, 10th, and 11th, large detachments of the French troops, which had come from Plasencia, returned to that quarter; and on the 12th, they attacked and defeated Sir R. Willson in the Puerto de Banôs, on their return to Salamanca. It appears now, that the French force in this part of Spain is distributed as follows: Marshal Victor's corps is divided between Talavera and La Mancha; Sebastiani's is in La Mancha; Marshal Mortier's at Oropesa, Arzobispo, and Navalmora; Marshal Soult's at Plasencia; and Marshal Ney's at Salamanca.

Distress for want of provisions, and its effects have at last obliged me to move towards the frontiers of Portugal, in order to refresh the troops. In my former dispatches, I have informed your lordship of our distress for the want of provisions and the means of transports. Those wants, which were the first cause of the loss of many advantages, after the 22d of July, which were made known to the government, and were actually known to them on the 20th of last month, still exist in an aggravated degree; and, under these circumstances, I determined to break up,

on the 20th, from Jaräicejo, where I had made my head-quarters since the 11th, with the advanced posts on the Tagus, near the bridge of Al marez, and to fall back upon the frontiers of Portugal, where I hope I shall be supplied with every thing I want.

[This Gazette contains several letters from Lord Collingwood, detailing the operations of our squadrons in the Mediterranean, assisting Sir J. Stuart, whose dispatches were given in a preceding Gazette.]

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The following is the substance of the dispatches given in the Gazette, announcing the reduction of the French settlement of Senegal, on the coast of Africa. It appears that Major Maxwell, commandant of the island of Goree, having received intelligence that the garrison was extremely weak, attacked it on the 8th of July, with 166 men, accompanied by Captain Columbine, in the Solebay frigate, with the brig Tigress, and several other vessels; in passing over the bar they lost a sloop and a schooner, containing much of their provisions and ammunition. enemy having retired to a battery about 12 miles up the river, Major Maxwell made preparations to storm it; but it was evacuated in the night, and on the 13th the fort and island capitulated. The garrison are pri soners of war; they are to be sent to France, but are not to serve until exchanged. They consist of 160 Europeans, besides which there were 240 native militia in the island. We lost not a single man in the attack, and had only one slightly wounded; but Capt. F. Parker, of the Derwent sloop, Mr. F. A. Sealy, midshipman, and 6 seamen, were unfortunately drowned in crossing the bay, and the Solebay frigate ran aground in silencing a battery, and could not be got off; crew and stores saved.

FROM THE FOREIGN PRINTS.

Paris, August 18.-The reports which the minister of war, Count Huneburg, had received of the re treat of the English in Spain, have been fully confirmed. Letters of the 7th state, that General Wellesley had been compelled to make a precipitate retreat, leaving 4000 wound ed at Talavera. On this occasion, the English General sent a letter to the Duke of Belluno, recommending their wounded to his care.

Private letters from Santa Olalla of the 9th mention, that the Duke of Belluno had arrived with his vanguard at Talavera, and that nothing could be more precipitate than the retreat of the English. They leave behind them all their caissons and baggage, and many thousands of their wounded to the humanity of the French, whom, for want of wags gons, they cannot carry away.

On the 7th, intelligence arrived, that the artillery of the enemy which had bombarded Toledo, had ceased firing, and that the English and insurgents had crossed the Tagus.-(Moniteur.) Madrid, Aug. 10.

ORDER OF THE DAY.

The first and fifth corps overtook, beyond the bridge of Arzo Bispo, the rear-guard of the English army, entirely destroyed it, and took from it thirty pieces of cannon, their caissons, a great part of their equipage, many horses, and a great number of prisoners.

It is also in pursuit of the army of Vanegas, and has made a great number of prisoners; it is retired in to the mountains of Sierra Morena.

A. BELLIARD, Gov.-General

PROCLAMATION OF THE KING,

SOLDIERS! It is scarcely fifteen days since 120,000 enemies, consis ting of English, Portuguese, and Spaniards, who marched from different points, rendezvoused under the walls of my capital; but united, on the 26th of July, at the bridge of Guadarama, the 1st and 4th corps,

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and the reserve, defeated, on that day, the enemy. On the 27th, he repassed, in great haste, the Alberche. On the 28th, attacked in a position judged unattackable, 80,000 men have not been able to contend against 40,000 French.

From that time, renouncing their chimerical projects of conquest, they have thought but of safety, and have abandoned the field of battle. More than 6,000 English wounded are in our hospitals.

The least of our corps, the first, was judged sufficient to keep in check this army, still so numerous in spite of its losses. It remained upon the Alberche, while the 4th corps and the reserve set out on the 29th to succour Toledo, besieged by the army of La Mancha; and that of Madrid, menaced by the same army, has forced the enemy, already within four leagues of the capital, to relinquish its prey. It has repassed the Tagus in the greatest haste, and flies towards the Sierra Morena, after having abandoned some thousands of killed, wounded, and prisoners. The 2d, 5th, and 6th corps are follow ing the rear-guard of the enemy's army. These corps formed a junc tion with the 1st corps at Orchason, on the 7th of August.

The English fly in every way in disorder, and by roads hitherto judg ed impracticable to artillery. The 2d and 5th corps are pursuing them.

Soldiers! You have saved my capital: the King of Spain thanks you; you have done more; the bro ther of your Emperor sees flying be fore your eagles the eternal enemy of the French name. The Emperor will know all that you have done he will acknowledge the brave who have made themselves conspicuous among the brave; those who have received honourable wounds; and if he says to us, "I am content with you," we shall be sufficiently re compensed. JOSEPH. Head-quarters, Toledo, Aug. 9.

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