unquâm,) to the command of the 3d division, which has been particularly selected upon every occasion of active service; not, (to use the expression of a distinguished officer,) because the troops of the 3d division are better, but because the General is so good."

On the Colonelcy of the 12th regiment becoming vacant by the death of the late General Picton, (14th Oct. 1811,) His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, with that Royal graciousness and recollection of public desert, for which he is so distinguished and beloved, recommended Major-General Picton to the Regent's . attention, and he was gazetted Colonel of the 77th foot, vice Sir Charles Hastings, appointed to the 12th regiment.

We learn with infinite regret that General Picton has been obliged to return home for the recovery of his health, but we earnestly hope that he will soon be restored to the heroes of the 3d division, who, animated by the example of their leader, and ever foremost in the ranks of fame, have taught the enemy the true characteristics of British Soldiers-equally proving their own. superiority, and the talents of their General.

We shall now close our account of this Officer by quoting the words of the Earl of Liverpool in the House of Lords, in moving the thanks of that House to the Army for their gallant conduct, as reported in the Courier, 28th of April last, immediately subsequent to the affair of Badajos, and in the justness of his Lordship's handsome eulogium we most implicitly coincide." The conduct of General Picton had inspired a confidence in the army, and exhibited an example of science and bravery which had been surpassed by no other officer: his exertions in the attack on the 6th could not fail to excite the most lively feelings of admiration."

LT-COL. JOHN ELLEY, ROYAL HORSE-GUARDS, BLUE.

WE derive an uncommon degree of gratification from the circumstance of having it in our power to introduce this gallant soldier, this consummate officer, this future British, General, to the readers of the Military Panorama: we have, however, to lament our inability to present them a portrait of this gentleman, as we think that the public have never been gratified with his likeness,

which, if a correct one, would not fail to impress their minds with becoming sentiments of respect for the excellence of his heart, and induce them to give him ample credit for his professional acquirements; the countenance being the mirror of the soul, and its most faithful criterion.

The subject and honor of this biographical sketch, is, we believe, a native of the British capital, where, in very early life, he was initiated into the arcana of the counting-house, a situation, however, which he soon surrendered for the more congenial one of serving his country" in the tented field:" his towering size, his symmetrical form, his military ensemble, and, more than all, his love of glory, pointed out the army to him as the most eligible theatre on which to exhibit his promising and aspiring faculties. His relatives, however, were of a different opinion; they would not believe that the path to the temple of fame was the same which led to the abode of Plutus." Quærenda pecunia primum, &c." was their device, as it is that of most people who are deeply immersed in mercantile pursuits, which tend so much to narrrow and contract the mind.

But our young hero was not to be diverted from his favourite scheme; an unerring presage, that he was a warrior by instinct; and, not being able otherwise to accomplish his object, he entered into the Royal Horse-Guards, Blue, in the humble, though honorable, capacity of a private trooper. This regiment is known to be one of the first in Europe; the extraordiuary size and comeliness of the men, their discipline as soldiers, their orderly conduct in quarters as citizens, constitute them a bright pattern for a regular army. It is not enough in such a distinguished corps, that the men comport themselves with the highest degree of propriety while they continue in the service; they must produce testimonials on joining the regiment, that prove their previous life to have been unimpeachable; and should any trooper so misconduct himself as to incur the disgrace of corporal punishment, he is dismissed the regiment with ignominy: what would be deemed a venial obliquity in any other corps, is considered in a very serious light in the Royal Horse-Guards, Blue.

To return to the gentleman whose military conduct is the theme of our present admiration, he remained only a few months in the ranks, when his general merit procured him the situation of Quarter

Master, which in the regiment, even at that time, was a commissioned officer. When the eventful explosion took place in France, Quarter-Master Elley accompanied the detachment of the Blues which was sent to reinforce the puny Cohorts of the Duke of York's invading army. Lieut.-Colonel, now Lieut.-General, Stavely, had the immediate command of the detachment, which joined a few days before the important fortress of Valenciennes surrendered to His Royal Highness as besieging General. On every occasion in which the Blues took part, Mr. Elley's conduct was exemplary; whatever personal gallantry, well-exerted activity, infinite and wonderful presence of mind could achieve, was effected by him: with an indefatigable hand he dealt out death through the Republican files, and, as much as the circumscribed influence of his rank would permit, he uniformly directed the energy of the men, and taught them where to evince their valour with the greatest effect. He was successively appointed Adjutant to the detachment, and BrigadeMajor to Brigadier-General Stavely; in both of which situations he exhibited unequivocal proofs of an intelligent and capacious mind, and never failed of being honorably mentioned in public orders after a battle, or a skirmish with the enemy. The plains of Tournay, Cisoign and Cateau-Cambresis, are mute witnesses of this officer's professional worth, while many gallant fellows, still alive, can bear oral testimony of his prowess and of his talents.

Lieutenant-Colonel Elley's sword is too well tempered to allow him to stay at home in ignoble ease, while a Wellington is chastening an unprincipled foe on the plains of Portugal and Spain, and teaching him to respect British valor as well as British talents, both of which, before the Campaigns in the Peninsula, he had the folly and presumption to impeach. The Colonel has been long with our gallant army under the noble Marquis of Wellington, in the capacity of First Assistant-Adjutant-General to that excellent and gallant cavalry officer Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton: he is peculiarly adapted for that department, being a most eminent cavalry tactician, and gifted with what the French call a coup d'œil extraordinaire.

Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton's division of the army has been very active on all occasions, in no one of which he fails to mention Colonel Elley with distinguished éclat; and recently,

when relating the operation of the allies in the plains of Salamanca, the illustrious Wellington bore unambiguous testimony to his personal valour and astonishing activity: on that glorious, most memorable day, the Colonel appears to have multiplied his existence, and established his claims to ubiquity, for, wherever the battle raged with the greatest fury, there he was to be found, which, in a great measure, may account for his having two chargers killed under him in action.

It is a cheering occupation to have thus to dwell on the merits of a gallant officer, who, piously devoting himself to the well-being of his native land, thinks no sacrifice great or enough important to offer up at his favourite shrine, and who laments that he has only one life to lay down, in order to secure to his countrymen the perpetuity of those blessings, which for ages they have enjoyed, which at once have rendered them the wonder of the creation, and the envy of a surrounding world! Such heroes are treading, even in their life time, the path to immortality.

"Sic itur ad astra.”

LIEUT.-GEN. ARTHUR, MARQUIS OF WELLINGTON. [Concluded from page 123.]

ON the 11th of June, 1810, the enemy invested the fortress of Cuidad Rodrigo with a force of 30,000 infantry, and 5000 cavalry. On the night of the 25th the French batteries were opened against the city, and, after a most gallant defence, during which about 700 of the inhabitants were killed by the bombardment, the Governor, Don Audré Herrasti, seeing no hopes of relief, and his provisions and ammunition being nearly exhausted, surrendered by capitulation on the 10th of July. The Marquis de la Romana came from Badajos to intreat Lord Wellington would advance to its relief, but departed perfectly satisfied with the propriety of the British leader's reasons for declining to make a forward movement; which, by endangering the safety of his army, might ultimately compromise the general cause of the Peninsular

The fall of Almeida, on the 27th of August, after a bombardment of only one day, but in reality occasioned by the explosion of the

grand magazine, removed the principal obstacle to the entrance of Massena's army into Portugal, but he proceeded with great caution in his movements, and was retarded by the necessity of bringing forward his supplies, as no dependence could be placed on the resources of a country so long occupied by British troops. The French were undoubtedly foiled in their plans by the prudent defensive system adopted by Lord Wellington, as it was a principal object of Massena, in undertaking the siege of Cuidad Rodrigo, and Almeida, to draw the British from their strong hilly positions to the plains on which these towns are situated, where, if at all, the superior number of his cavalry might be expected to give him the advantage. About the middle of September, Marshal Massena made a feint of coming down upon the left bank of the Mondego, and actually pushed his reconnoitring parties to Cortiço and Linhares, in that direction, but apprehensive of meeting a check at the strong pass of the Ponte de Murcella, he, on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of September, crossed that river with his whole army, at the bridge of Foruos, below Celerico, advancing upon Coimbra by the way of Vizen. This movement of the enemy was met by Lord Wellington with his usual foresight, and the intentions of the French leader being now clearly developed, the 2d division of the army, under the orders of Lieut.-Gen. Hill, made a parallel movement with Regnier's corps d'armée, by the route of Sobriera Formosa and Pedrogoa, when the whole of the combined army, with the exception of General Fane's division of cavalry, and General Le Cor's brigade of Portuguese infantry, was placed upon the right bank of the Mondego with a celerity which set all ordinary calculation at defiance.

Whilst the French continued their approach upon Coimbra, by the roads leading over the Sierra de Busaço, the main body of the allied army continued in the adjoining villages, Lord Wellington being particularly desirous not to expose his troops to the heavy dews at this season of the year: in which the wisdom and humanity of the British General were alike discernible, and it forms a remarkable contrast with the little attention paid by the French superior officers to the health and comforts of the men.

Before day-break, on the 26th of September, the several divisions of British and Portuguese troops began to ascend the heights of Busaco, from whence the whole of the enemy's force, amounting