396 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



the artillery, who displayed the 

 most extraordinaryproofs of valour, 

 and with his dying breath recom- 

 mended his widow to the paternal 

 care of his majesty. 



From the Lisbon Gazette Extraor- 

 dinary, June 1 . — Letter from D. 

 Manuel De Uria Y Llano, to his 

 Excellency Senor Francisco De 

 Stlveira. 



Most Excellent Sir— I have re- 

 ceived a dispatch from general de- 

 Valdeorras D. Jose Ranaonde Qui- 

 roga e Vtia, dated in Cosoyo, the 

 23d current, which is as follows : — 

 " I just received from the Secre- 

 tary of the Junta of Montforte, a 

 letter of the 21st instant, of which 

 the annexed is a copy : — ' Irmao, 

 governor of Quiroga, informs me, 

 that the French have been engaged 

 with our army during three succes- 

 sive days. The principal action was 

 atPonte-vicevo, between Meira and 

 Lugo, inwhich the enemylost 3,000 

 men in killed and prisoners, and 

 2,000 Germans who abandoned his 

 standard. The firing ceased on the 

 20th, at ten in the morning, when a 

 capitulation was proposed. I could 

 not prevail upon myself to delay 

 communicating to your excellency 

 intelligence so agreeable. You will 

 have the goodness to inform their 

 excellencies the English and Portu- 

 guese generals of these events.' To 

 which I have to add the following : 

 " The array of the marquis de la 

 Romana attacked theFrench on the 

 side of Meira, and pursued them to 

 Paraday. From thence the enemy 

 retreated to Clemente, wherehewas 

 surrounded.and a terrible fire of ar- 

 tillery and musketry was opened 

 upon him. Not until many were 

 killed, he fled towards Lugo, leav- 



ing in our hands three pieces of 

 cannon among the other spoils of 

 our victory. Our troops followed 

 up to the gates of the city, in the 

 full expectation that the place 

 would be taken either by capitula- 

 tion or force. By good fortune 

 the Apostle Mazarredo who so 

 often has sworn on the Evangelists, 

 fealty to his king in Astorga, hap- 

 pened to be in Lugo, in company 

 with Lot. Ney has escaped, and 

 we are assured that he entered As- 

 turias with 2,000 men, and for our 

 consolation he will probably there 

 remain. The English are in sight 

 of Corunna and Ferrol, with a great 

 number of vessels, and have deter- 

 mined to disembark at those places. 

 — Farriera, 21st of May, 1809." 



The same general writes me also 

 as follows: — " At seven o'clock this 

 evening, I received an official dis- 

 patch of the capture of Lugo, by 

 marshal Don Nicholas Mahi, gene- 

 ral second in command of the army 

 of the left, in the absence of his 

 excellency marquis de la Romana, 

 commander in chief. This action 

 was glorious, not only from its im- 

 portant effects, but on account of 

 the obstinate resistance of the ene- 

 my, who, in the sequel, was con- 

 quered with the loss of 4',000 men 

 in prisoners wounded and killed. I 

 cannot express too strongly my 

 praises of the determined valour of 

 the Spaniards, fromwhose exertions 

 I expect the best results, and which 

 have already acquired for us in this 

 affair six pieces of artillery, and a 

 quantity of ammunition. I hope 

 you willcoramunicate these accept- 

 able articles of information, with ihe 

 applause due to the brave, to gene- 

 rals Beresford, Silveira, and whom- 

 soever else they may concern, ac- 

 companied also by my best acknow- 

 ledgments. 



