14G] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



day, they might have been brought 

 ofi': but this risk I would Dot run 

 when the existence of the army 

 was at stake, not only from un- 

 favourable weather, but from the 

 appearance of an enemy in whose 

 presence I could not have embark- 

 ed perhaps at all, certainly not 

 without suffering a great loss, and 

 without the possibility of deriving 

 any advantage." He acquits the 

 naval commander, admiral Hallo- 

 well, of any blame in the failure 

 of the expedition, and acknow- 

 ledges that it was the admiral's 

 opinion that the cannon in the 

 batteries might have been saved 

 by remaining till the night, and 

 that then they could have been 

 brought off. Such is the substance 

 of sir J. Murray's dispatch, dated 

 on board ship, June 14. Marshal 

 Sachet's summary of this unfor- 

 tunate transaction is as follows : 

 " Thus, the first operation of the 

 English, upon a line of eighty 

 leagues, has been confined to the 

 taking of a fort, and a garrison of 

 eighty-three soldiers commanded 

 by a lieutenant, whilst they have 

 lost in killed, wounded, prisoners, 

 or deserters upon the Xucar, or at 

 Tarragona, above 1,600 men and 

 a flag ; whilst they have raised the 

 siege, and abandoned 27 pieces of 

 cannon, before a dismantled place 

 without fosses, but defended by a 

 small, but very valiant garrison." 

 The expedition, after this failure, 

 sailed back to Alicant. 



A dispatch froni lord Welling- 

 ton, dated July 10th, relates that 

 notwithstanding the enemy had 

 withdrawn their right and left 

 quite into France, their centre still 

 maintained itself in the valley of 

 Bastan, of which, on account of 

 its richness, and the strong positions 



it affords, they seemed determined 

 to keep possession, having as- 

 sembled in it three divisions of the 

 army of the South. Sir R. Hill, 

 therefore, being relieved from the 

 blockade of Pamplona, undertook 

 to dislodge them with a combined 

 force of British and Portuguese in- 

 fantry, which was effected, and 

 the enemy abandoned the strong- 

 est of their posts, and retired into 

 France. The loss of the allies in J 

 these operations was inconsiderable. "^ 

 The siege of St. Sebastian was 

 now proceeding under the direc- 

 tion of sir Thomas Graham, and 

 on July 17th the fortified con- 

 vent of San Bartholome, and an 

 adjoining work on a steep hill, 

 were carried by assault. General 

 Mina in a report to lord Welling- 

 ton, informed his lordship, that 

 being joined by general Duran in 

 the neighbourhood of Saragossa, 

 they had attacked, on the 8th, 

 general Paris who commanded a 

 French division in Arrogan, and 

 who retired in the night, leaving a j 

 garrison in a redoubt. Duran was ' ■ 

 left to reduce this work, while 

 Mina, with his own cavalry, and 

 that of Don Julian Sanchez, fol- 

 lowed Paris, and took from him 

 many prisoners and a quantity of 

 baggage, and also intercepted a 

 convoy. Paris arrived at Jaca on 

 the lith, bringing with him the 

 garrisons of several intermediate 

 places, and was about to withdraw 

 into France. From Valencia the [ 

 intelligence was, that Suchet had 

 evacuated that city on the 5th, 

 which was entered by general Elio 

 at the head of the second Spanish 

 army. Lord W. Bentinck, now 

 the British commander in that 

 part, was to proceed from Xativa 

 to Valentia. Suchet was retreat- 



