290 



State of Public Affairs in September, 1806. [Oct. If, 



body of the army marc'icd the next morning 

 according to the following ciet.iil : 



Advanced (.'orps — Lieutenant Colonel 

 Kempt, witli two four pounders. 



Li^lit Infantry Battalion. 



DetacJiment Royal Cnrlican P..an;ers. 



Derachment J'voyal Sicilian Voluiltetrs. 

 lit" Fri;;.ide — Brigadier General Cole, with 

 three lour poar.ders. 



Grenadier Battalion. 



Srth Regiment. 



2d Eiigade — Brigadier General Ackhnd, 

 with t!irce four pounders. 



71!th Kciiinient. 



8lft Regiment. 



3d Brigade — Colonel OfwalJ, with two 

 four-pounJcrs. 



.^)iith Regiment. 



Watteville's Regiment, five companies. 



£Oth Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Rofe, 

 landed during the atlion. 



Referve of Artillery — Major Lemoine. 4 

 fix-pountlers and 'i hou-ilzcis. 



Total-!-Rank and file, including the Royal 

 Artillery, 479.>. 



General Regnier was encamped on the 

 /ide of a woody hill, below the village of 

 JVIaiiia, floping into the plain of St. Eu'emia ; 

 liis flanks were ftrengtiienedby a thick im- 

 pervious underwood. The Aiiiato, a river 

 perfe£lly fordable, hut of whicii the fides are 

 extremely mailhy, ran'alonjj liis front ; my 

 approach to him from the fea fide (along the 

 borders of which I dirtfttd my march, until 

 I had nearly turned his le't) was acrofs a fpa- 

 cious plain, which gave him every opportu- 

 nity of minutely ohferving my movements. 



After fome loofe firing from tae flankers to 

 cover the dep!oyments of the two ai.mics, by 

 nine o'clock in the morning the oppofin'; 

 fronts were warmly engaged, when the 

 prowefs ot the rival nations IcejDed now fairly 

 to be at a trial before the world, and the fu. 

 periority was greatly and glorioufly decided 

 to be our own. 



The corps which fcrm.cd the ri;',ht of the 

 advanced line, was t'.e battalion of light in- 

 fantry commanded by Lieutenant Colonel 

 Kempt, confil^ing of the light companies of 

 the JCth, V7th, 3.5th, ."iath, 61 U, Ulft, and 

 Waticville's, together with one hundred and 

 iifty choun battalion men of the 5.5th regi- 

 ment, under Major Rcbinfon. Dirctrlv Oj)- 

 poled to them, Was the favourite Frencii re- 

 gimrtit lit Leiiere. The two corps at the 

 di (ance o/ about one hundred yarjs fired re- 

 ciprocally a icw rounds, v.lien, as if by mu- 

 tual agreement, the firing «ai fufpcnd..'d, and 

 in clofe cornpiC^ crd:r and awful filence, 

 they adv:,nced tovV.'rJs each other u;itil their 

 bayonets bi-gan to crols. At ihis rr.onientous 

 crif-.s the enemy bccanic appalled. Thev 

 broke, and endeavoured to flv, but it was too 

 late ; they .were overtaken with the tnofc 

 dreadful flaughter. 



Brigadier Cicneral Ackland, whofe bri- 

 gade was Liitnediatelji on the left Oi the Ijghc 



infa.ntry, with great fpirit availed himfelf of 

 this favourable moment to prefs inllantly 

 forward upon thet'orps in his front; the brave 

 78t!i regiment, commanded by Lieutenant 

 Colonel Macleod, and the 8111 regiment, un- 

 der M.tjor nendcrlealli, both diitinguifhcd 

 themfelvcs on this cccafion. The enemy 

 fled witli.difmay and difordcr befoie them,, 

 leaving the plain covered witji their dead and 

 wo(.in(led. 



The enemy being thus completely difcomfit- 

 on their left, begaii tam:^l-.e a new effort witfi 

 their right, in the hopes of recovering the day. 

 'Tiiey were refilled mofc gallantly by the bri- 

 gade under Brigadier General Cede. No- 

 thing could fliake the undaunted firmnefs of 

 the Grenadiers under Lieutenant Cjlor.el 

 O'Callaghan, and of the 2~th regiment un- 

 der Lieutenant Colonel Smith. The cavalry^ 

 lucccliively repelled from before th ir fron* 

 made an effort to turn their left, when Lieu- 

 tenant Colonel Rcfs, who had that morning 

 landed from MclTina with the 20th regiment, 

 and was coming up with the army during 

 the aciion, hiving obfervcd t'le movement, 

 threw his regiment opportunely into a fmall 

 cover upon tiieir flank, and by a heavy and 

 well diredted file, entirely difdoncerted tliis 

 att-^mpt. 



This was the laft feeble ftrugglex)f the ene- 

 m^'j who now, aftonllhed and difmayed by 

 the intrepidity with which they were aflailed, 

 beiian precipitately to retire, leaving tlie 

 field covered with carnage. Above feven 

 hundred bodies of their dead have been buried 

 upon tiie ground. The wounded and pri- 

 foners already in our hands (among whom 

 are General Compere, and an Aid-de-C.'.mp, 

 the Lieutenant Col on'jl of the Swift regiment, 

 and a long lill of officers of ditferent ranks) 

 amount to above one thoufand. 'I here are 

 alfo above one tiioufand men, left in Montc- 

 leone and the different po.ls between this 

 and Re:^g;o, who have molUy notified their 

 re.idinefs to furrendcr, whenever a Britilh 

 force Ihail be fent to receive tiieir fubmiflion, 

 and to protect them from the fury of t/se peo- 

 ple. The peafantry are hourly bringing in 

 fugitives, who dil.ierfed in the woods and 

 mountai.is after the battle. In ihorc, n;ver 

 has the pride o\ our prefumptuous tnr-m^ 

 been more fevercly humbled, nor the lupe- 

 riority of the Eritifh troops more glorioufly 

 proved, than in the events of this ifiemorabis. 

 day. 



His ATaje.ly nviy, perhaps, Itill deign to 

 aopreciate more highly the achievementb of 

 this little array, when it is known that the 

 feco.od di'vifion whici) the e;iemy were fa'd to 

 be expelling had all joineJ them the night- 

 he ore the action ; lu ftatenient th.it I have 

 hea:d of their numb^'rs places them at a iefs 

 calculation llian feve,> thcufaiid men. 



Our victorious inf.intry continteJ the pur- 

 fuit of the routed enein> fo long as they were 

 alle ; — tut as 'he latter (Jifperffd in every 

 dacctio.), and we wen; uud^r t*ie ncceffity 



of 



