the French camp. After that Ishall grant you terms of capitulation, which in giving you the honours of war, will secure to you the right of filing off through the breach, and of laying down your arms outside the fortress; and further, I shall consent that the Officers should retain their arms and baggage. I require `an answer in the course of an hour.-SUCHET, Commander in Chief of the Army of Arragon, and Marshal of the Empire.

fort.-The Officers shall retain their arms, equipage and horses, and the soldiers their havresacks. Persons not bearing arms shall be free, and may immediately return to their homes.

that the Governor had come to a resolution to accept the terms I had offered. I consented to the terms of capitulation subjoined, and at nine o'clock the Brigadier Adriani, eight officers of high rank, and 2,572 soldiers, filed off through the breach, laid down their arms, and six stand of colours, and were conducted as prisoners of war to Murviedro.-We found in the place 17 guns, 800,000 cartridges, 2,000 pounds of English powder, 6,000 balls, and 2,500 English muskets, &c. &c. I The substance of the capitulation is, that have the honour to transmit to your High- the garrison shall march out, through the ness the detailed account thereof, as well breach, prisoners; but with the honours of as well as that of the provisions.-Diffi- war, shall file off with their arms and bagculties vanquished by the science of forti-gage, and lay down their arms outside the fication; the hollowing a passage in the rock for the artillery, and making approaches upon the single accessable point of the forts of Saguntum; the labours of the artillery, in the erection of their batteries, all raised upon points of rocks brought to a level by means of earth brought from a distance; all this effected under a heavy fire, do honour to the Colonel of the Engineers, Henry, who displayed a great constancy and activity, as well as the Chiefs of the Battalion Capelle and Charu, who particularly distinguished themselves by their exertions.-I have the honour to transmit you the views and plans of the forts, and a detailed report of the extraordinary labours by which a passage to them was effected. The task was very severe, and would have been much inore so if the enemy had had time to place 24 pounders in the forts.-Thus uniting the prisoners taken at the battle of the 25th, and the garrison of Saguntum, I am about to send to France, in three columns, 7,211 prisoners, of whom more than 369 are officers,I am with respect, &c. SUCHET, Marshal of the Empire.-Camp of Murviedro, Oct. 27.

P. S. I have the honour of transmitting likewise to your Highness, the report of the Generals of Artillery and Engineers, Vallie and Regnat.

Report with Respect to the Works erected by the Engineers during the Siege of Sagun

tum.

The army arrived on the 23d of September before the fortress of Saguntum. The same day the town of Murviedro was taken possession of, and all the enemy's posts were driven in, and the fortress completely invested. For some nights following communications were formed in Murviedro, where we were screened from the enemy's fire. The streets were barricaded, and embrazures were opened in the houses on the side next the fortress. These works, which were executed under a heavy fire, cost the lives of several miners, and that of Raffard, Lieutenant of Engineers, a brave and zealous young officer.-The rock of Saguntum is situated on the right bank of the Murviedro; it is insulated from all the heights, and rises in a peak on the half of its periphery. The other half falls in very abrupt declivities, and is accessible but on a very few points, on account of the jetting of the rock. The ancient theatre of Saguntum is about half

Copy of the Letter of his Excellency Marshal
Count Suchet to Brigadier Andriani,
Governor of the Forts of Saguntum.-river of the same name.
Camp before Murviedro, Oct. 25.

way up, partly cut out of the rock, and, at

You have witnessed the battle of to-day. Three stand of colours, twenty pieces of cannon, 4,500 prisoners, among whom are Generals Mahi and Caro, have fallen into the hands of the French army. I offer you permission to obtain what information you may want, by sending some Officer to

the foot of the rock is the town of Murviedro, the walls of which are washed by the On the long and

narrow ridges of the rock are the remains of ancient works, attributed to the Moors; the Spaniards have repaired them-have added new ones, erecting flanking works, and have formed tenures for the batteries and parapets. The entire mass of these works forms a very irregular fort of 400 toises in length; and in breadth from 30

to 60 toises. It is divided into four parts | witzers, and five mortars. They attempted or places, so that a part of the fortress the tower of the outwork of St. Fernando. being taken the remainder may be still It was constructed of hard and thick madefended. The redoubt of St. Fernando son work, and the battery was at too great is on the highest point, and commands all a distance, so that the breach was but the rest. The great roads from Valencia slowly effected, which induced a determito Barcelona meet and pass under the guns nation to batter the angle formed by the of the place. We were obliged to have tower and the flank, which proved a matthe artillery for the siege brought from ter of greater facility.-On the 18th the Tortosa; but the little fort of Oropesa, fire was kept up, and at four o'clock in the which the enemy occupied in our rear, in- evening the breach was practicable for terrupted the way in a defile. A battery five or six men abreast; but it was still of of three 24-pounders, and a mortar, was rather difficult access. It was formed raised against this fort, which surrendered only of the rubbish of the walls, without on the 11th of October, after a cannonade any admixture of earth. It was 30 feet of eight hours. All that was necessary high, and its base being on an inclined for the siege of Saguntum was then free to rock, it was, of necessity, very steep. The pass, and the tools and sacks of earth enemy appeared above with much resoluwanted by the engineers were forthwith tion, and neither our artillery or musconveyed thither. All the counter-forts ketry could repel them, nor prevent them of the rock were too low to permit of our from constantly repairing the parapet erecting in them works to batter in breach, with sacks of earth, as they were levelled except a ridge of rocks which stretches by the guns. Orders were given for the for 200 toises in front of St. Fernando, so assault at five o'clock in the evening.— that the attack was necessarily made on The column of attack assembled in the that side. place, which had been formed within 35 On the 5th of October, the officers of toises of the work, pushed on to the breach, engineers commenced the approaches, and some gallant fellows actually reached formed covered ways through the rock, the top; but they were driven down by a and lodged picquets of infantry within 70 shower of grenades and hobits, and their toises of St. Fernando; profiting by the failure determined the retreat of the occasional protection which they derive columns.-In this unfortunate affair we from the irregular form of the rock. The lost 120 men. Lameran, Captain of Enartillery began to batter in breach on the gineers, was killed in the breach, together extremety of the platform at the distance with some miners.-The assault had failed of 160 toises. Colonel Henry and Major because the breach was in a recess covered Chulliot had a road formed with great dili- by the fire of the enemy, because it was gence, in order to bring up 24-pounders to too narrow-because the troops debouched the battery. They were constantly obliged from too great a distance, and finally, beto level the rock by mining.-On the 12th, cause the battering train of three pieces of they claimed the first point, behind which cannon was insufficient to level the parapets they had stationed themselves, in order to and drive the enemy from the breach. A. reach the covert of the rock, which runs resolution was adopted to erect a new batout from that on which St. Fernando is si- tery nearer, to increase the number of tuate; they got through the rocks on the guns, and to push the covert ways to the right, taking advantage of such veins of foot of the breach.-On the 19th, Colonel earth as were in their way, and making Henry caused the troops to advance in an use of sacks of earth and gabions. On the indented form. Steps were cut in the rock night of the 15th they reached a place behind which they were stationed, to faciwithin 35 toises of the fortress, covered by litate the ascent, and when they had reacha bend of the rock, which afforded a place ed the summit of this rock, they approachof rendezvous for the troops who were to ed the breach by the aid of an indented be engaged in the assault. Major Chulliot, covert formed of sacks of earth; on the who had directed a part of these works with night of the 24th they were within three great bravery, was severely wounded.toises of the fort of the breach, when they On the 17th the artillery began to bom formed a small parallel. bard with three 24-pounders, two ho(To be continued.)

Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent Garden,
LONDON:-Printed by T: C. Hansard, Peterborough-Court, Fleet-Street.

COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER,

VOL. XX. No. 25.] LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1811.

769]

[Price Is.

[770

"General Jansens made his escape with

66

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SUMMARY OF POLITICS. difficulty, during the action, and reachCONQUEST OF THE EMPIRE OF Java.- "ed Buitinzorg, a distance of 30 miles, On Monday, the 16th instant, intelligence "with a few cavalry, the sole remains of was received by our Government, that "an army of 10,000 men. This place the ships and troops, sent against the" he has since evacuated, and fled to the Empire of Java, under Rear Adm. Sir Ro- "Eastward.". -Lord MINTO himself, the bert Stopford and Sir Samuel Auchmuty, Governor General of India, repaired to had succeeded in taking the city of Ba- Batavia, the capital of the Empire, and tavia and also the greater part of the thence he writes his dispatches, dated on Dutch and French European forces in the the 1st of September. Directly after his Empire of Java. The troops landed, it arrival there he took formal possession of seems, on the 4th of August, Batavia sur- the sovereignty of the country and of rendered at discretion on the 8th, and, on sovereign sway over all its inhabitants, by the 26th, the intrenched and fortified the following proclamation: "PROworks of Cornelis were forced. The ene. "CLAMATION. In the name of his Mamy are stated to have lost two thousand in "jesty George the Third, King of the killed and five thousand in prisoners, includ-" United Kingdoms of Great Britain and ing amongst the latter two generals. Our "Ireland.-In consequence of the glorious loss is stated to have been considerable. "and decisive victory obtained by the The Governor of the island, whose name "British Army under the Command of his was JANSENS, was a Dutchman, and his Excellency Lieutenant General Sir Satroops, about 10,000 in number, were "muel Auchmuty, Commander in Chief, Dutch. The amount of our force, which "on the 26th of August, by which the went from our East India possessions, is "French troops were driven out of the not stated in gross; but, from the detail "strong position at Meester Cornelis, of the several corps engaged, it would upon which their Generals placed their seem to have amounted to between 15 and" sole reliance, and by which their whole 20 thousand land troops, exclusive of the army, with hardly any exception, either sailors and marines belonging to the" fell in the field, or were made prisoners squadron employed on the expedition," of war; Lieut. Gen. Jansens fled in which, to have conveyed such an army, "great disorder to Buitenzorg; but, knowmust have been considerable, though its " ing that the victorious troops would soon force is not particularly stated, an omnis-" pursue him, he has precipitately quitted sion so common to all our dispatches of "that' post also, and has directed his this nature, that it cannot fairly be attri- flight, in despair, to some other quarter, buted to accident. The contest seems to "after having refused a second time the have been very sanguinary; for Sir Sa-" invitation of the English, to enter into muel Auchmuty states, in his dispatch, arrangements for the benefit of the that" in the action of the 26th, the num- country, which he left without defence "bers killed were immense, but it has at their disposal.-Lieutenant General "been impossible to form any accurate "Jansens, who represented the French "statement of the amount. About one" Sovereign in Java, having thus abandoned "thousand have been buried in the "his charge, and avowed by his actions "works, multitudes were cut down in the" his incapacity to afford any further pro"retreat, the rivers are choaked up with "tection to the country; the French Go"dead, and the huts and woods were “vernment is hereby declared to be dis"filled with the wounded, who have solved, and the British authority to be "since expired. We have taken near" fully and finally established in the island of " 5,000 prisoners, among whom are 2" Java, and all the possessions of the "General Officers, 34 Field Officers, 70" French in the Eastern Seas. This Pro"Captains, and 150 Subaltern Officers;" clamation is issued for the information

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Flanders. From that time, Holland has been at the disposal of France; it has been under the sway of France; and now it has become a part of the French empire, as much as Ireland is become a part of the United Kingdom, sending, in the same manner, deputies, or members, to the Legislative Assembly at Paris.The right of conquest is a right that has never been disputed until of late. It is the way, and the only way, that the sway over countries is acquired; but, the folly of our complaints against Napoleon, on this score, is, that every word we say, is a word said against ourselves; for, by what other right than that of conquest, do we hold so great a part of India, and by what other right have we divested so many sovereigns of their authority? Talk of putting down sovereigns, indeed! Why, here, in this single conquest, of which we boast, do we not assume absolute sway over an Emperor and several Kings, as well as over the 30 millions of people of whom they formerly claimed allegiance?How will this new conquest operate in the mind of the American government? Does the reader think, that it will tend to remove any apprehensions there felt, with regard to the power and the views of England? Will it tend to give the President a more favourable opinion of those views? I should think not. I should think, that it would make him doubly fearful of doing any thing tending to throw weight into our scale. He must naturally wish to see neither France nor England have the power to domineer over the world; and, of course, when he sees, that "France " has not a flag flying in any part of three "quarters out of the four," he will feel less apprehensions at her strides than at those of England. Therefore, every conquest that we make tends to give America a stronger and stronger bias towards France. And is it not perfectly ridiculous to hear our writers reproaching the American President for not making our cause his own; for not declaring himself on our side; at the very moment, when these same writers are boasting of our having swept three quarters of the world clean of the French? They say, that England has staked her existence upon the event of this contest, and they tell America, that if we fall, she must fall too. They are, here, downright alarmists; but, what must she think of their alarms, when the next packet brings her an account of England having, at one single dash, con

war; fine matter for a paragraph or a speech; but, let us not be dazzled by them; let us examine the thing with closer eyes. In the first place, as to our relationships with Europe and North America: does the reader suppose, that the having made this conquest will tend to convince the nations of Europe, that Napoleon alone has the rage of conquest and ambition in his breast; that it will tend to convince them, that they ought to hate hima and make other efforts against him, because he is not content with a sway over the original territories of France; that it will tend to convince then, that we are not actuated by any motives of ambition, and that we are at war purely for our own defence, and for the restoration of the liberties and independence of the nations of Europe; will this conquest, in short, tend to make the nations of Europe regard us solely in the light of deliverers? We have here added 30 millions of people to our conquered subjects, a number far surpassing all those whom Napoleon has added to the empire of France; and, if our conquests in India, in Africa and in the Islands of America, since the commencement of the French revolution, be taken into the account, all that he has done in the way of conquest is, as to the number of subjects, a mere trifle; and, as the vulgar saying is, he, as a conqueror, is a fool to us. And, as to the Dutch nation, what impression must this conquest produce upon their minds? Will they like us the better for it? And will they like him the worse? Will it not rather make them zealous in his cause, and reconcile them to his sway, as the only means of protection against our power? They have often been reproached by our writers for submitting quietly to that sway; but, those writers have never pointed out the means by which the Dutch were in any other way to preserve themselves from submission to us and to Prussia. The States of Holland were compelled to seek protection from the old Government of France, upon whom they actually depended for their safety; and, that which has taken place now is very little, if any, more humiliating than their then situation.As to the part that Napoleon is acting towards Holiand, it is that of a conqueror, to be sure. The country, whose government was then at war against France, was conquered by France in the year 1795, just after the retreat of our army, under the Duke of York, out of