wish to turn them out and get into their places. TALAVERA'S BATTLE.- -I have, upon a former occasion, given my opinion as to the utility of watching narrowly the occurrences in Spain, and of putting upon record, as they come out, all the material facts, relative to the campaign of the Baron of the Douro and the " Viscount "of Talavera and of Wellington in the said "county." This campaign will be a thing to be remembered, especially when considered in conjunction with the titles that have arisen out of it. This campaign involves the character of the army of Spain and that of England; it puts much to the test; it makes an English General and an English army witnesses, and makes them give evidence, as to the humanity of the French generals and the French army. It exhibits a great and mighty Indian conqueror pitted against European soldiers. My last article, upon this subject, will be found at page 385 of the present Volume, and the others.in the Numbers immediately preceding. Cuesta's account of the Battle of Talavera has long been a thing much wished-for. At last it is come, and has been published in some of the London prints, but, which is well worthy of remark, not in the hired prints, a thing very scandalous indeed, especially when it is recollected, that this general Cuesta has had some very severe censure bestowed upon him in the dispatches from the Baron of the Douro, published by our government. In this Number, if possible, and, if not in this, in my next, I will insert the whole of this dispatch of General Cuesta; but, I shall here introduce some part of it, that the reader may have the most material points at once under his eye.There were with respect to the battle of Talavera, two points of great interest, which, after all, remained unsettled; namely, 1st, Whether our army was attacked by superior numbers, and, 2nd, Whether the Spanish army took a part in the battle. Now, it has never been pretended, that the army of the Duke of Belluno was superior, or even equal in numbers to the Spanish and English army united. Indeed, the fact has clearly been proved to the contrary. The army of Cuesta alone was equal in numbers to that of the French, unless the accounts given us of that army, previous to the battle, were totally false. -Besides, the Duke of Belluno had been, and was to the very day before the battle, pursued by the combined armies ; and it does no where appear, that he was joined by any reinforcements of more than about 10,000 men.-No: our general has, all along, taken special care not to give us any account of his own numbers, or of those of the Spanish army. He drily tells us, that he was attacked by double his numbers; but supports this statement by no statement of actual numbers.-The French told us, that their army amounted to about 40,000, and that the combined armies amounted to more than 80,000. Here is, I dare say, some exaggeration; but, on the other hand, I think, that no man who is desirous of being regarded as having any love for truth; that no man, who does not belong to that set amongst us, who wish to be deceived, or to deceive others; with the exception of persons like these, I think, that there is no man, who will pretend to doubt of the combined army having been greatly superior in numbers to that of the French. If the reader thinks with me upon this point, the next thing we have to inquire into, is, whether the Spaniards took any, and if any, what, part in the battle.- -The Baron of the Douro gave us, in his account of the battle, a very laconic and remarkably dry description of the feats performed by the Spanish part of the army in that battle. I have since contrasted that account with the letter of Cuesta to the Junta and his Orders to his army, which documents will be found in pages 293 and 291 of the present volume. From these, it would seem, that the Spanish army had their full share of the battle. I do not mean, that they had, in proportion to their numbers, as much to do in the battle as our army had; but, it would appear, that they were engaged, a fact by no means to be inferred from the dispatch of the Baron of the Douro and the Viscount of Talavera and of Wellington in the said county, the said dispatch speaking of the Spaniards in these words "Your lordship will observe, "that the attacks of the enemy were prin cipally, if not ENTIRELY, directed 66 against the British troops. The Spanish "Commander in Chief, his officers, and 66 troops, manifested every disposition to "render us assistance, and those of them, "that were engaged, did their duty; but, "the ground which they occupied was "so important, and its front, at the same "time, so difficult, that I did not think "it proper to urge them to make any "movement to the left of the enemy, "while he was engaged with us."—İR one place he says, speaking of a particular | an account of the operations of his army " He for some time previous to the battle. attack: "this attack was most successfully repulsed by Brigadier General Campbell, supported by the King's regi"ment of Spanish cavalry and two battalions of Spanish infantry; and Brigadier Gene"ral Campbell took the enemy's cannon. "The brigadier mentions particularly the "conduct of the 97th, 7th, and 53rd regi"ments." But, here is not a word said in praise of either the cavalry, or infantry, of the Spaniards. In another place, he just observes, that an attack of the enemy's cavalry upon the Spanish infantry failed. Now, reader, these, must recollect, are all the passages, wherein mention is made of the Spaniards having had any hand at all in the battle; and, 30, keeping our own numbers studiously out of sight, we say, that, as the Spaniards" merely looked on, we had all the fighting to do, and that we fought with double our numbers. Let us now hear Cuesta, then.. -No one will attempt to deny, that, when this dispatch arrived in England, every man looked upon it as conveying the meaning, that the Spaniards had no share in gaining the "victory.' as you 66 - sustained, both of cannon and musketry, "which disconcerted the purpose of the ene"my, and put him to flight at a quarter past eight. During this time, a strong divi"sion of the French advanced by the valley to the left of the height, occupied by the English general Hill, of which, "with very great loss, they obtained a "momentary possession, but Hill returned "to the charge presently with the bayo"net, drove off the enemy, and recovered "his ground. In the night the French repeated their attack, but without suc"ceeding, and with great loss. At break of day on the 28th they returned with -Let us, then, hear Cuesta!--Nay, two divisions of infantry, but they were the General Orders to our army, issued in repulsed by the brave Hill, who could the king's name, asserted, "that the ene- "not be intimidated by their repeated at"my directed his whole efforts" [meaning, "tempts, or by the progressive accumudoubtless, the whole of his efforts] "against "lation of the forces of the assailants. "the troops of his Majesty that the "General Wellesley, in consequence of "British army sustained nearly the whole "these renewed exertions of the enemy' weight of this great contest; and has ac- by the valley, on the left side of the quired the glory of having vanquished" height, ordered thither two brigades of "a French army nearly double their num- "his cavalry, supported by lieutenant "bers." This is, in more ways than one, "general the duke of Alburquerque, with making pretty free with the king's English; "the whole of his division of cavalry. but, here is the old story again repeated. "The French, seeing this movement, sent Let us, then, hear Cuesta! -Why need I dwell upon it, however, when it is notorious, that there was not a public print in London, which did not crack its jokes upon the immobility of the Spanish part of the army, and which, in short, did not -The general attack commenced by embody into direct charges all that could "the advance of different columns of the be inferred from the official dispatches. enemy's infantry, with the intention of -Let us now hear Cuesta, then !-----I "attacking the height occupied by geneam sure, that the reader, be he who he "ral Hill. These columns were charged may, must remember the self-complacent" by two parties of English dragoons, observations that passed, in all companies," under the command of general Anson, upon the receipt of Douro's dispatch, and "led by lieutenant general Payne, and how many and many "good things" were "supported by the brigade of cavalry of said, over the tea as well as over the "the line of general Tanne. One of these bottle, upon the conduct of the poor regiments of English dragoons suffered Spaniards. Come, then, let us now hear "very much; but this spirited charge. Cuesta!His dispatch is published by had the effect of disconcerting the deorder of the Spanish Junta. It contains signs of the enemy, who sustained a very sharp-shooters into the chain of moun"tains to the left of the valley, who were "attacked by the 5th division of my infantry "under Marshal de Camp Don Luis Basse"court, who dislodged them with much loss. "5,000 men, and the number of their "wounded is computed at 5,000 more. Two or three generals were killed and several "wounded, and at least 400 other officers. "We have taken 19 pieces of artillery, and many waggons of ammunition, and the rout was one of the most complete, considering that we were acting on the de"fensive. The English have lost gene"ral Mackenzie, brigadier-general Langworth, and other officers of distinguished "rank and merit. The total of their officers, killed and wounded, is 260, "and that of their rank and file 5,000, our diminution is much less. Don Ra 16 66 fael Manglano was wounded, and 50 more "of our officers were killed and wounded, and "1,150 rank and file. Our artillery was served with ability and fortitude, and "the names of such officers, whose talents "were most conspicuously displayed, are mentioned in the dispatches from the "respective generals.- -I should be negligent of my own duty, if I did not com "municate to your excellency, for the in"formation of his majesty, that the con"duct of the British general in chief, sir "Arthur Wellesley, and that of the gene"rals, subordinate officers, and soldiers "under his command, is above all praise. "great loss. At the same time, the " 66 I have seen the enthusiasm with which "these faithful allies have in copious "streams poured forth their blood in the "defence of our liberty, and no language "can adequately express the sentiments of gratitude with which our breasts are "animated. With the highest satisfaction I have noticed my army hailing our "companions for the victory obtained, and mingling with exclamations indica tive of the warmest affection, the appel "latives of our country, and Ferdinand, "with those of our powerful and generous "allies.". -It is quite unnecessary to point out the wide difference between the language of this Spanish general towards our general and his army, and the lan guage of our general towards the Spanish general and the Spanish army; for, it must strike every one, though, with all who reflect upon the character of the parties, this difference will be less a subject of surprize than of shame. Let the readers of the hireling prints, when they have read this dispatch of Cuesta, look back, if they can without shame, at the endless strings of paragraphs, published respecting that general after the receipt of Douro's dispatch. But, it is the facts that we ought now to look after. The Spanish Com | mander in Chief has now written, and the Spanish government have published to the world that the Spaniards had a share, and a very considerable share, in what was done at Talavera; that they fought, that they fought much and hard; that they had many officers, who greatly distinguished themselves; and, finally, that they had considerable numbers killed and wounded, though they do not speak of any "missing."Let us look at this dispatch a little more in detail, bearing in mind, as we proceed, that Baron Douro and Lord Viscount of Talavera and of Welington in the said county, explicitly states, that the attacks of the French were principally, "if not "ENTIRELY," directed against the British troops, which statement was repeated in our king's General Order to the army, as above quoted.—Now, then, let us hear Cuesta! He says, and his government has puolished to be world, FIRST; that the French made a furious attack by a cannonade and a charge by the whole of their cavalry, on the right, occupied by the Spanish infantry, and that this attack was gail .ntly and sucessfully resisted by the Spaniards, who put the assailants to flight. -SECONDLY; that the French sharp-shooters were attacked by the 5th division of Spanish infantry, under Don Louis Bassecourt, who dislodged the sharp-shooters with much loss.-THIRD; that the French, having attacked the English under General Campbell, who had the Spanish under Don Eguia on his right, were driven back by both these generals; that this body of infantry was supported by a regiment of Spanish cavalry, under Don Henestrosa, which Spanish regiment covered itself with glory; that it got in the rear of the French column by which it was attacked; and that it was owing to the advantage thus given to the English infantry under Campbell and the Spanish infantry under Eguia, that they were enabled to take the French cannon. Now, upon this part of the statement, we must look back a little at Baron Douro's dispatch. He says: "This "attack was most successfully repulsed by Brig. Gen. Campbell, supported by the King's regiment of Spanish cavalry, and by two battalions of Spanish infantry; "and Brig. Gen. Campbell took the enemy's "cannon. Mind how pointed the expression. This General Campbell was merely supported; and it is he who takes the cannon. Cuesta says, on the contrary, that the Spanish infantry were in line with the English; and, as to the cavalry, he " " says that they doubled round the enemy, got in the rear of their flank, and enabled the English and Spanish infantry to take the cannon. Baron-Douro-of-Wellesley in-the-county-of-Somerset,-and-ViscountTalavera-and-of- Wellington-in-the-saidcounty, did not, as the reader will perceive, even mention the names of the Spanish officers, who were thus engaged, though, on the score of length of name, he certainly does not yield to any Spaniard living. Poor gentlemen; he might, one would think, have just done them the immortal honour to write their names. What must Don Eguia and Don Henestrosa think of this?FOURTH; the Spanish general asserts, and the Spanish government pubiishes to the world, that, in this battle, in which our public prints have stedfastly asserted, that the Spaniards had no share whatever; that, in this battle, the Spanish army had, in KILLED AND WOUNDED, fiftyone officers and one thousand one hundred and fifty rank and file.--Now, we must either give this assertion the lie direct, or, we must acknowledge, that the Spanish army had a share in the battle, and that the" whole ef "forts of the enemy" were not directed against the British troops.-Reader, if you are not one of the millions of wretches, who dare not say what they think; if you are not one of the last-ditch and life-and-fortune men; if you are not one of those, who have disgusted all Europe with English bragging; if you have mind yet undebased by the corruptions of the day, tell me frankly, do you believe Cuesta? I will tell you my mind freely: I do believe him; because I think it next to impossible, that a lie so impudent should have been hatched by him, and, if hatched by him, published by the government.But, if what he says be true, where are we to look for that disparity of numbers, of which the Baron of the Dours told us?-Reader, how came it that my Lord Douro said not a word, in his dispatches, in any of his dispatches, from the first to the last, about the killed and wounded of the Spaniards? You see, that General Cuesta informs his government of our killed and wounded, mentions the principal officers by name, and, which merited a better return, he says not a word about our missing; while my Lord Douro takes no more notice of the Spanish killed and wounded, than he does of the fact, stated by Cuesta, of the Spanish cavalry having been the cause of taking the French cannon that were taken. Are we to believe, then, that there were no Spa- an injury to the French. In short, it is nish killed and wounded. Ob, no! We perfect madness to believe, that the French cannot believe it; and if the hirelings pre- general would send his whole force against tend to believe it, what will they say more one part of the army, and leave himself to induce us to make war along with such exposed to be surrounded by the other an army and for such a government part. Cuesta says, that the Frenchman as those of Spain? Let the hire- did no such thing; but, on the contrary, lings choose; let the Ferdinand VII.- that he commenced the action with a furimen; let the holy-altar-men and life-and- ous attack upon the Spaniards, with the fortune-men choose; let them say, that whole of his cavalry, as well as with a the Spanish account of the battle is true, part of his cannon. This was rational. or let them say it is false. Just which This was what is likely to have been; and they please; for, upon one horn or the yet we, here, in England, have the impu other we have them. Will they say, that dence to crow over the poor Spaniards, the Spanish Commander in Chief and the and to represent them as mere stones or Spanish government are such impudent posts, stuck up on the field of battle.— liars as to pretend that they had 51 officers This way of estimating the relative force and 1,150 rank and file, killed and wounded of an army is perfectly original, unless, in the battle of Talavera, while the at- indeed, it be borrowed from the wars in tacks of the enemy were principally, if Hindostan. Why, then, suppose we should, "not ENTIRELY, directed against the hereafter, meet a French army with an "British troops?" Will they say this; army altogether English. Suppose each or will they say, that Baron-Douro-of- side to have forty thousand men; but, Wellesley-in-the-county-of-Somerset-and- that, owing to some circumstance or other, Viscount-of-Talavera-and-of-Wellington- only one half of our army were engaged. in-the-said-county had not to fight the French army single handed; and that "the whole efforts of the enemy," in the language of the General Order, were not directed against the English.In short, nothing can be more clear than this, that Cuesta's statement, and especially his return of killed and wounded, must be contradicted, and not only contradicted, but disproved, before any man of common sense. will agree to consider the Spanish army as not making part of the force, attacked by the Duke of Belluno,under the eye of Joseph Napoleon. There is no man in his senses that can possibly so consider it, unless this statement of Cuesta be completely done away; unless Cuesta be convicted of being a liar and a braggart, and his government convicted of giving currency to his lies, under their authority and name. For, are there fifty officers killed and wounded, and upwards of a thousand rank and file killed and wounded, and is the army suffering that loss not engaged? Never was there any proposition so void of all reason and decency.Lord of the Douro seems to have considered the whole of the French as engaged with his army; but, supposing, that not a man of the Spaniards had been either killed or wounded; supposing every word that Cuesta has uttered, upon the subject, to be false; what then? It proves that the Spaniards had no fighting to do; but, it by no means proves, that their presence was not -Our Should we have the impudence to say, that we had to fight against double our numbers? We might. I'll not answer for it that we should not. But, would not the world laugh at us? Would they not call us empty braggarts? This letter of Cuesta appears to me to settle the point respecting the relative numbers engaged in the battle, unless what he asserts be dis proved. If his dispatch contains falshoods, those falshoods should be contradicted, and officially too, without loss of time. I must repeat, that I believe him, because he speaks so much in detail, gives us names and other particulars, and grudges not his good word either to our general or our army; and, in short, until I see it clearly disproved, I shall continue to believe, and so will the public, every word of it, let the conclusion, to which it leads, be what it will. AUSTRIA. The hirelings are actually pricking up their ears again upon the sight of a Proclamation of the Emperor Francis, purporting that he is prepared for war again. I should suppose this document to be a fabrication from the mill of some of the French emigrants now in London. But, for once, my wishes accord with those of the hirelings. I wish, with all my heart, that Mr. Gentz, or some of that set, may prevail upon the Emperor Francis to go to war again. I want to see him at war once more, and, I was very sorry indeed to hear of the |