3G0 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



showing them the order of that even- 

 ing, accordingtowhich the safety of 

 the whole army depended upon our 

 retrograde movement, and in short, 

 telling them that it was the result of 

 tlie express orders of your excellen- 

 cy, and must be obeyed. This re- 

 presentation, in some degree, tran- 

 quillized them, and I proceeded 

 with my troops to Tudela, where 

 your excellency the seignor repre- 

 sentative, andthecaptain-general of 

 the army of the center, were already 

 arrived. At nine in the morning of 

 the following day (23rd) colonel 

 Don F. Perena sent to inform me 

 that two columns of the enemy 

 were deploying in front of Ablitas. 

 In consequence of this intelli- 

 gence, and the captain-general of 

 the army of the center having, the 

 preceding evening, informed me, 

 that theenemy had entered Cintrin- 

 nego, I ordered the generale to be 

 beaten, apprising at the same time, 

 the captain-general, that as com- 

 mander-in-chief,hemight make the 

 necessary dispositions. He ordered 

 some reinforcements to advance, 

 and soon after caused general St. 

 March to do the same on the left, 

 sending various corps of my divi- 

 sion to the heights of Santa Bar- 

 bara, to reinforce that important 

 point, and to support the troops 

 already occupying it belonging to 

 the division of general Rova. As 

 he left me on the high road with 

 the remainder of my troops, I sent 

 to him my aid-de-camp, D. B. 

 Gelabert, to ascertain what I was 

 to do, as the engagement was al- 

 ready begun. His answer was, 

 that I should proceed to the center 

 of the line, where he was posted. 

 Soon after, he ordered the re- 

 mainder of tlie troops to join him, 

 and he assigned me the command 

 of the whole of the left wing. 



When I arrived, I found the heights 

 on the left already occupied by 

 the enemy, who threatened to 

 turn us ; but having received his 

 order to attack them, and an as- 

 surance that the division of gen. 

 la Pena would advance to my as- 

 sistance, I determined to execute 

 the attack by echellons of batta- 

 lions. The battahon of the royal 

 Spanish guards commenced it with 

 such unexampled gallantry, that 

 the enemy instantly abandoned 

 that important post, leaving the 

 field of battle covered with dead 

 bodies. The same success at- 

 tended the attack in front, by the 

 regiments of the volunteers of 

 Castile and Segorbia. While I was 

 indulging in the satisfaction pro- 

 duced by our success, and consi- 

 dering the battle gained, two or- 

 derly officers of cavalry came to 

 desire me, on the part of the cap- 

 tain-general, not to be alarmed by 

 the appearance of a column of in- 

 fantry, with a considerable body of 

 cavalry, who were advancing on the 

 left, as they were the troops of 

 general la Pena coming from Cas- 

 cante. Congratulating myself upon 

 this aid, which would have decided 

 the battle in our favour, I rode 

 along my left to direct general St. 

 March to continue the attack in the 

 same order, when that general sur- 

 prised me by telling me it was ne- 

 cessary we should retreat, as our 

 right had been forced, that the 

 enemy were in Tudela, and that all 

 the troops that occupied the center 

 of one position had retreated. This 

 intelligence astonished me themore, 

 as the captain-general had sent me 

 no information of this event, a cir- 

 cumstance which appeared to me 

 impossible; but a firing being heard 

 in the rear of the olive plantations, 

 I was convinced of the fact. In 



this 



