Starved, nor did their soldiers die for want of medicines. Bonaparte had an immense army beyond the Pyrennees, and not one man in the army was hungry. Yet after all these facts, Ministers would not give up their orders in council. The speech was equally silent respecting another country which was in a state of great commotion. It did not say one word as to what our relations were with furkey. It was fit that the House should know whether it was likely that that country should fall into the jaws of France, and therefore he regretted no mention had been made of it in the Speech.

Mr Secretary Canning said he felt that a responsibility rested upon him as well as upon the other Ministers of his Majesty; but he did not consider himself in the situation of a person accused.-- His object was to shew, that if any failure had occurred, such failure was not to be imputed as a fault to Ministers, but that they, on the contrary, had done their best for the interest of the nation at large. The principle on which the Government had acted was this :-The whole of the Spaniards had risen with a spontaneous enthusiasm, to resist an invader and a tyrant. The consequence of this was, the creation of local authorities in the provinces, as it were by mere chance. These authorities had been watching each other by a kind of suspicion, lest one should gain the ascendancy. The deputations to this country had only come from two or three provinces at first. Looking therefore at the state those provinces were in, he asked, if it would be wise for government to have given an exclusive confidence to one in preference to another. It was impossible to have subsidised each province, nor could this country stir, in a military point of view, until a general government was established. All, therefore, which the British Government could do, was to present pecuniary aid to each, but a British army could not have been hazarded, till a central government was formed.

As to

our troops having arrived at Corunna ten days before the order for their landing had come from the Central Junta, he asked if it was proper to lose a fair wind when it offered? Every thing that could be done, was done by Government, and if the cause nltimately failed, it was imputable only to the dispensations of the Great Disposer of events. It could not, however, be said that the Spanish Government had shut their eyes against ideas of improvement; but they must have disliked those laws that should be dictated at the point of the sword. (Hear! Hear!) As to the proper place of landing troops, he was convinced that the best mode, as a first operation, was by mo

sto

ving the French out of Portugal, which only formed a part of the whole peninsula. In Portugal we were received without jea lousy, and still lived in harmony. America not being mentioned in the speech, he did not conceive it usual to make mention of any country, unless some individual act was done. But ministers had no objection to give every information on the subject of America that might be required. America was wrong, in always so far siding with France as to hold out the blockade as the aggression of England; whereas it was the aggression of France, and the retaliation of England. Independent of any idea of advantage, the honour of the country was concerned; and he would put it to the House, if this country could, consistently with its honour, submit to have her ships of war excluded from neutral ports, into which our enemy's ships were admitted. With respect to Turkey, he had just to state, that last autumn overtures of a friendly nature were received by our government from the Ottoman Porte; that Mr Adair was sent out to enter into amicable arrangements, and no accounts were yet received from him; and until such were received no mention could be made of the country. He assured the House that no engagement with the King of Sweden would ever preclude the adoption of any measure which might tend to the advantage of that Sovereign.

Mr Tierney deprecated the idea of any intention in his friends, to address ministers as if they were on their trial; if they were so, it must be a jury of their own packing; for nothing else could lead the Right Hon. Secretary into the vein of pleasantry which fun through his speech. Whenever the Right Hon. Gentleman opened his mouth, the muscles of the House relaxed. He thought this country had a right to expect from the Spanish government an account of the application of the aids granted to them. He lamented the cold reception of our troops by the Spaniards, which appeared, he thought clearly, in General Baird's not being permitted to land at Corunna with his ten thousand men, till an order was sent for that purpose from the Supreme Junta. He asked how Lisbon was to be considered as a cautionary place, when it was well ascertained that our army, now on their retreat, could not reach it? he condemned in severe terms the liberty Ministers had taken, in sending so much money out of the country, without the consent of Parliament.

After some observations from Lord Henry Petty, Mr Rose, juu. and some other Members, the address was agreed to without a division.

THE

SPAIN.

HE campaign of the British army in Spain has terminated, not without honour to themselves, but without affording those advantages to the cause of the Spaniards, that were reasonably looked for at its commencement. The successsive defeats unfortunately sustained by the Spanish armies, while the British were marching to their assistance, left the latter entirely to their own resources, and gave the enemy an opportunity of directing his whole force against them. It became therefore necessary for the British General to lose no time in securing his retreat;-the more especially as the army stores were greatly exhausted, and the country destitute of all kinds of subsistence for man or beast. On the 30th of December, the army began to move in divisions from Astor ga, and on the 11th of Jan. the whole reached Corunna, after a very rapid but masterly retreat; but unfortunately the transports were detained by cross winds, and did not get round till the evening of the 13th, and every thing was prepared to begin the embarkation next day. A hundred more transports arrived on the 14th, and the rest on the 15th. Meanwhile the enemy, who, in consequence of this delay, had time to come up in force, were seen upon the heights making preparations to attack us, and on Sunday the 15th they sent forward their advanced guard to harrass us with skirmishes under the walls, and the whole of Sunday was one continued skirmish. Sir John Moore, aware of the intentions of the enemy, and convinced that the embarkation could not

be completed without an action, prepared for it, and drew up his force under the walls fronting the enemy's po. sition. On Monday the 16th, the enemy having received very considerable reinforcements, descended from the heights to attack us. Their number is supposed to have been 30,000, while the British forces opposed to them did not exceed 13,000, or 14,000. The first at tack was upon the British right wing,

consisting of the brigade of guards, the 4th, 43d, and 50th regiments, under Lord William Bentinck. Here Sir John Moore and Sir David Baird were both in person. The enemy were repulsed, and disappointed likewise in their at tempt to turn that wing. Sir David Baird was wounded, early in the action, in the left arm, and obliged to quit the field. Immediate amputation was necessary, but he is doing well. Some time after, Sir John Moore was struck on the shoulder by an almost spent cannon-ball.. He was immediately removed into the town, where he died about 12 o'clock at night. The command then devolved upon General Hope. The enemy, disappointed in their attempts upon the right wing, attacked the centre, but were equally repulsed in that quarter; their last attempt was upon the left, in which they also failed. Our troops then prepared to charge with their bayonets. But the French would not stand the charge, but instantly fled, and did not attempt to molest our army for 14 hours after. The embarkation then commenced, and all the troops were got on board the transports and the ships of war without any further loss. The artillery was also shipped, but most of the horses were slaughtered, and great part of the baggage left behind.

The following official dispatches on this subject were published in a London Gazette extraordinary of January 25.

Downing Street, Jan. 24.

The Hon. Capt, Gordon arrived late last night with a dispatch from Lieut.Gen. Sir David Baird to Lord Viscount

Castlereagh, one of his Majesty's Prin-
cipal Secretaries of State, of which the
following is a copy :-

His Majesty's ship Ville de Paris, at sea,
January 18.

MY LORD,

attacked the British troops in the position they occupied in front of Corunna, at about two o'clock in the afternoon of that day.

A severe wound, which compelled me to quit the field a short time pre. vious to the fall of Sir John Moore, obliges me to refer your Lordship for the particulars of the action, which was long and obstinately contested, to the enclosed report of Lieut.-Gen. Hope, who succeeded to the command of the army, and to whose ability and exertions, in direction of the ardent zeal and unconquerable valour of his Majesty's troops, is to be attributed, under Providence, the success of the day, which termina. ted in the complete and entire repulse and defeat of the enemy at every point of attack.

The Hon. Capt. Gordon, my Aid-decamp, will have the honour of delivering this dispatch, and will be able to give your Lordship any further information which may be required.

I have the honour to be, &c.
D. BAIRD, Lieut.-Gen.

LETTER GEN. HOPE TO SIR D. BAIRD
His Majesty's ship Audacious, off Corunna,
Jan. 18.

SIR,

In compliance with the desire contained in your communication of yester. day, I avail myself of the first moment I have been able to command, to detail to you the occurrences of the action which took place in front of Corunna on the 16th inst.

It will be in your recollection, that, about one in the afternoon of that day, the enemy, who had in the morning received reinforcements, and who had placed some guns in front of the right and left of his line, was observed to be moving troops towards his left flank, and forming various columns of attack at that extremity of the strong and commanding position which, on the morning of the 15th, he had taken in our immediate front.

This indication of his intention was immediately succeeded by the rapid and determined attack which he made upon your division, which occupied the right of our position. The events which occurred during that period of the action you are fully acquainted with. The first effort of the enemy was met by the

Fev. 1809.

Commander of the forces, and by yourself, at the head of the 42d regiment, and the brigade under Major-Gen. Lord William Bentinck.-The village on your right became an object of obstinate con

test.

I lament to say, that soon after the severe wound which deprived the army of your services, Lieut.-Gen. Sir John Moore, who had just directed the most able dispositions, fell by a cannon-shot. The troops, though not unacquainted with the irreparable loss they had sustained, were not dismayed, but, by the most determined bravery, not only repelled every attempt of the enemy to gain ground, but actually forced him to retire, although he had brought up fresh troops in support of those originally engaged.

The enemy, finding himself foiled in every attempt to force the right of the position, endeavoured by numbers to turn it. A judicious and well-timed movement, which was made by MajorGeneral Paget with the reserve, which corps had moved out of its cantonments to support the right of the army, by a vigorous attack defeated this intention. The Major-General having pushed forward the 95th (rifle corps) and 1st battalion 52d regiment, drove the enemy before him, and in his rapid and judicious advance threatened the left of the enemy's position. This circumstance, with the position of Lieut. Gen. Fraser's division (calculated to give still further security to the right of the line), induced the enemy to relax his efforts in that quarter.

They were, however, more forcibly directed towards the centre, where they were again successfully resisted by the brigade under Major-General Manningham, forming the left of your division, and a part of that under Major-General Leith, forming the right of the division under my orders.-Upon the left, the enemy at first contented himself with an attack upon our piquets, which, however, in general maintained their ground. Finding, however, his efforts unavailing on the right and centre, he seemed determined to render the attack upon the left more serious, and had succeeded in obtaining possession of the village thro' which the great road to Madrid passes, and which was situated in front of that part of the line. From this post how

ever,

ever, he was soon expelled with considerable loss, by a gallant attack of some companies of the 2d battalion 14th regiment, under Lieut.-Col. Nicholls; before five in the evening, we had not only successfully repelled every attack made upon the position, but gained ground in almost all points, and occupied a more forward line than at the commencement of the action, whilst the enemy confined his operations to a cannonade, and the fire of the light troops, with a view to draw off his other corps. At six the firing entirely ceased. The different brigades were reassembled on the ground they occupied in the morning, and the piquets and advanced posts resumed their original stations.

Notwithstanding the decided superiority which at this moment the gal. lantry of the troops had given them o ver an enemy, who, from his number, and the commanding advantages of his position, no doubt expected an easy vic tory, I did not, on reviewing all cir. cumstances, conceive that I should be warranted in departing from what I knew was the fixed and previous deternination of the late Conmander of the forces, to withdraw the army on the evening of the 16th, for the purpose of embarkation, the previous arrangements for which had already been made by his order, and were in fact far advanced at the commencement of the action. The troops quitted their position about ten at night, with a degree of order that did them credit. The whole of the artillery that remained unembarked having been withdrawn, the troops followed in the order prescribed, and marched to their respective points of embarkation in the town and heighbourhood of Corunna, The piquets remained at their posts until five on the morning of the 17th, when they were also withdrawn with similar orders, and without the enemy having discovered the movement.

By the unremitted exertions of Captaius the Hon. H. Curzon, Gosselin, Boys, Rainier, Serret, Hawkins, Digby, Carden, and Mackenzie, of the Royal navy, who, in pursuance of the orders of Rear Admiral de Courcy, were intrusted with the service of embarking the army; and in consequence of the arrangements made by Commissioner Bowen, Captains Bowen and Shepherd, and the other agents for transports, the

whole of the army were embarked with an expedition which has seldom been equalled. With the exception of the brigades under Major-Generals Hill and Beresford, which were destined to remain on shore, until the movements of the enemy should become manifest, the whole was afloat before day-light.

The brigade of Major-General Beresford, which was alternately to form our rear-guard, occupied the land front of the town of Corunna; that under Ma jor-Gen. Hill was stationed in reserve on the promontory in the rear of the

town.

The enemy pushed his light troops towards the town soon after three o'clock in the morning of the 17th, and shortly after occupied the heights of St Lucia, which command the harbour. But notwithstanding this circumstance, and the manifold defects of the place, there being no apprehension that the rear-guard could be forced, and the disposition of the Spaniards appearing to be good, the embarkation of Major-General Hill's brigade was commenced and completed by three in the afternoon. Major Gen. Beresford, with that zeal and ability which is so well known to yourself and the whole army, having fully explained, to the satisfaction of the Spanish Governor, the nature of our movement, and having made every previous arrangement, withdrew his corps from the land front of the town soon after dark, and was, with all the wounded that had not been previously moved, embarked before one this morning,

Circumstances forbid us to indulge the hope, that the victory with which it has pleased Providence to crown the efforts of the army, can be attended with any very brilliant consequences to Great Britain. It is clouded by the loss of one of her best soldiers. It has been atchieved at the termination of a long and harrassing service. The superior numbers and advantageous position of the enemy, not less than the actual situation of this army, did not admit of any advantage being reaped from suc. cess. It must be, however, to you, to the army, and to our country, the sweetest reflection that the lustre of the Rritish arms has been maintained, amidst many disadvantageous circumstances. The army which had entered Spain, amidst the fairest prospects, had no soon

er

er completed its junction, than, owing to the multiplied disasters that dispersed the native armies around us, it was left to its own resources. The advance of the British corps from the Duero afford ed the best hope that the south of Spain might be relieved, but this generous ef. fort to save the unfortunate people, al. so afforded the enemy the opportunity of directing every effort of his nume. rous troops, and concentrating all his principal resources, for the destruction of the only regular force in the north of Spain.

You are well aware with what diligence this system has been pursued.

These circumstances produced the necessity of rapid and harrassing marches, which had diminished the numbers, exhausted the strength, and impaired the equipment of the army. Notwith standing all these disadvantages, and those more immediately attached to a defensive position, which the imperious necessity of covering the harbour of Corunna for a time had rendered impossible to assume, the native and undaunted valour of British troops was never more conspicuous, and must have exceeded what even your own experience of that invaluable quality, so inherent in them, might have taught you to expect. When every one that had an opportunity seemed to vie in improving it, it is difficult for me, in making this report, to select particular instances for your approbation. The corps chiefly engaged were the brigades under Major-Generals Lord William Bentinck, Manningham, and Leith; and the brigade of Guards, under Major-General Warde.

To these officers, and the troops under their immediate orders, the greatest praise is due. Major-Generals Hill and Catlin Crawfurd, with their brigades on the left of the position, ably supported their advanced posts. The brunt of the action fell upon the 4th, 42d, and goth, and Sist regiments, with parts of the brigade of Guards, and the 26th regiment. From Lieutenant-Col. Murray, Quarter-Master-General, and the offi cers of the General Staff, I received the most marked assistance. I had reason to regret, that the illness of Brigadier General Clinton, Adjutant-General, deprived me of his aid. I was indebted to Brigadier-General Slade, during the

action, for a zealous offer of his personal services, although the cavalry were embarked.

The greater part of the fleet having gone to sea yesterday evening, the whole being under weigh, and the corps in the embarkation necessarily much mixed on board, it is impossible at present to lay before you a return of our casualties. I hope the loss in numbers is not so considerable as might have been expected. If I was obliged to form an estimate, I should say, that I believe it did not exceed in killed and wounded from 700 to 800; that of the enemy must remain unknown, but many circumstances induce me to rate it at nearly double the above number. We have some prisoners, but I have not been able to obtain an account of the number; it is not, however, corsiderable. Several officers of rank have fallen, or been wounded, among whom I am only at present enabled to state the names of Lieut. Col. Napier, 92d regiment, Majors Napier, and Stanhope, 50th regiment, kiiled; Lieut.-Col. Winch, 4th regiment, Lieut. Col. Maxwell, 26th regiment, Lieut.-Col. Fane, 50th regiment, Lieut.Colonel Griffith, Guards, Majors Miller and Williams, 81st regiment, wounded.

To you, who are well acquainted with the excellent qualities of Lieut.Gen. Sir John Moore, I need not expatiate on the loss the army and his country have sustained by his death. His fall has deprived me of a valuable friend, to whom long experience of his worth had sincerely attached me. But it is chiefly on public grounds that I must lament the blow. It will be the conversation of every one who loved or respected his maly character, that, after conducting the army through an arduous retreat with consummate firmness, he has terminated a career of distinguished honour by a death that has given the enemy additional reason to respect the name of a British soldier. Like the immortal Wolfe, he is snatched from his country at an early period of a life spent in her service; like Wolfe, his last moments were gilded by the prospect of success, and cheered by the acclamations of victory; like Wolfe also, his memory will for ever remain sacred in that country which he sincerely loved, and which he had so faithfully served.

It remains for me only to express my

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