666 
morning of the 10th, he made a sortie against 
the battery constructing, with about 1200 
men, being within 500 yards of the place. 
He soon reached the battery, and, it having 
of the covering party allotted to it, only one 
light infantry company in it, the enemy got 
possession of it, but had it not for two mi- 
mutes, as the whole of the covering party that 
‘was close to the battery on the slope of the 
hill, immediately seized their arms, and dreve 
the enemy back withconsiderable loss to him, 
but I regret to say ows on this occasion must 
have been considerably greater, from our 
troops having exposed themselves to the shot 
and shell of the town and Fort of Saint Cris- 
toval, and the musquetry from this latter. 
On the 12th I received information from 
General Blake, that Marshal Soult had left 
Seville on the 10th, and with the avowed in- 
tention of coming to Badajoz, his force stated to 
be 15900 men; and General Latour Maubourg 
had already again moved upon and occupied 
Guadalcanal and Llerena, from which places 
the Count de Penne Villamur had been obliged 
toretire. As General Blake had come down 
to Frejenal, and General Ballasteros from 
Monasterio had pushed his advances within a 
Jeague of Seville, L could not judge if this 
advance of Marshal Soult was merely to oblige 
these generals to retire, and leave him un- 
disturbed in Seville, or really as it was given 
out to be, againsc me, and with the object’ 
of raising the siege of Badajoz, and therefore 
continued my operations against the place, 
until the further advance of Soult should 
more clearly determine this point ; butin the 
middle of the nightI received information 
trom General Blake and other quarters, of the 
rapid advance of Marshal Soult, and which 
left_no doubt as to his intentions. I imme- 
diately sent to suspend operations against Ba- 
dajoz, and to commence to remove to Elvas 
eur guns and stores, which unfortunately had 
been nearly completed to what would have 
been wanted for the siege ; 
By great exertions of Lieutenant-colonel 
Fletcher, of the royal engineers, and Major 
Dixon of the artillery, every thing was re- 
moved onthe evening of the 15th. To Lieu- 
tenant-general Leité’s (the governor of the 
Province of Alemtejo) zeal and unwearied 
activity in whatever regards the service and 
welfare of his country, it is but just to say 
we are on all occasions much indebted; and 
particularly on this, in the getting together 
the transports necessary to us, and in furnish- 
ing and forwarding whatever else could be 
useful. I seize with pleasure this opportunity 
of giving to General Leité that praise which 
he has ever so fully merited. - 
I had been obliged, to cover the removal 
of the stores, &c. to leave the division of Ma- 
jor-general the Hon. G. L. Cole before Bada~ 
joz- Major-general Cole marched from before 
Badajoz to join the army here at two o'clock 
on the morning of the 16th, and arrived 
about half an hour before the enemy madg 
his attack, 
State of Public Affairs in June. 
[Joly I, 
I have, however, the satisfaction to inforne 
your lordship that the enemy cannot boast of 
having got a particle of our stores; they 
were all safely lodged in Elvas, and, with the 
exception of brigadier-general Kemmis’s 
brigade, which was on the north side of the 
Guadiana, our troops were all united on the 
morning of the 16th, to meet the attack ang 
oppose the march of Marshal Soult. 
My Lerp, Albuera, May 18, 1811. 
I have infinite satisfaction in communica- 
ting to your lordship, that the allied army 
united here under my orders, obtained on the 
16th instant, after a most sanguinary contest, 
a complete victory over that of the enemy, 
commanded by Marshal Soult; and I shalt 
proceed to relate to your lordship the circum- 
stances. 
In a former report I have informed your 
lordship of the advance of Marshal Souit from 
Seville, and I had in consequence judged it 
wise, entirely to raise the siege of Badajoz, 
and prepare to meet him with our united 
forces, rather than by looking to two objects 
at once, to risk the loss of both. Marshal 
Soult, it appears, had been long straining 
every nerve to collect a force which he 
thought fully sufficient to his object for the 
relief of Badajoz, and for this purpose he had 
drawn considerable numbers from the corps of 
Marshal Victor and General Sebaétiani, and 
also I believe from the French army of the 
centre. Having thus completed his prepa= 
rations, he marched from Seville on the 10th 
instant, with a corps then estimated at 15 or 
16,000 men, and was joined on descending 
into Estremadura by the corps under General 
Latour Maubourg, stated to be 5,000 men. 
His excellency General Blake, as soon as he 
learnt the advance of Marshal Soult, in strict 
conformity to the plan proposed by your lord- 
ship, proceeded to form his junction with the 
corps under my orders, and arrived at Val- 
verde in person on the 14th instant, where, 
having consulted with his excellency and Gey 
neral Castanos, it was determined to meet 
the enemy and give him battle. 
Qn finding the determination ef the enemy 
torclieve Badajow, I had broken up from before 
that place, and marched the infantry to the 
position in front of Valverde, except the di- 
vision of the Hon. Major-general G. L. Coley 
which, with 2,000 Spanish troops, i left to 
cover the removal of our stores. 
The cavalry which had, according to orders, 
fallen back as the enemy advanced, was joined 
at Santa Martha by the cavalry of General 
Blake; that of General Castanos under the 
Count de Penne Villamur, had been always 
with it. 
Asremaining at Valverde, though a stronger 
position, left Badajoz entirely open, I deter- 
mined to take up a position (such as could be 
get in this widely open country) at this place 5 
thus standing directly between the enemy 
and Badajoz. ee 
The army wag therefore asacmbled here 
8 
