172 ANNUAL R E G I S T E R, 1810. 



men. Being informed of the un- 

 expected arrival of the Spaniards, 

 whose numbers report had greatly 

 exaggerated, and that they were 

 to be attacked by surprise, in the 

 night, they suddenly evacuated 

 Ronda, and fled in great disorder, 

 leaving behind them their arms, 

 provisions, and ammunition : the 

 whole of which fell into the hands 

 of the Spaniards. Though the 

 number of the Spanish regulars 

 was exaggerated, the whole of 

 Lacey's troops, regulars and vo- 

 lunteers, in a few days after his 

 landing at Algesiras, is said to 

 have amounted to 12,000. All 

 the arms found at Ronda, were 

 distributed among the inhabitants 

 ofthe mountains. Parties of French 

 were again marched against the 

 insurgents, as the French called 

 them, by general Sebastiani. A 

 murderous warfare was carried 

 on on both sides. The Spaniards 

 were obliged to retreat. The 

 mountaineers were defeated in 

 various actions, but not pacified. 

 All the British officers and men 

 who have had occasion to see 

 any of the Spanish mountaineers, 

 agree in their descriptions of the 

 ferocious and savage appearance 

 and air of the Alpujarrese, and 

 other Spanish mountaineers. They 

 every daj' were bringing prisoners 

 to Gibraltar, with spoils taken 

 from the Frenchmen they had 

 killed, such as horses, helmets, 

 uniforms, &c. The rustics, who 

 were wont to be clothed like the 

 Russian boors, in sheep-skins, 

 were many of them completely 

 accoutred in French uniforms. 



Whilst general Blake was mak- 

 ing demonstrations in the Alpu- 

 jarras, and on the sea-coast, where 

 he was supported by two ships 

 of the line, he also raised the 



inhabitants of the mountains 

 which separate Murcia, Grenada, 

 and Jaen. General Sebastiani 

 being ordered to penetrate into 

 Murcia, to drive away the troops 

 that scoured the frontiers of these 

 provinces, set out April 18th, and 

 hisadvanced guard entered Murcia 

 on the 23rd. The Spanish force, 

 computed at 15 or 17,000 men, 

 retired, with a good deal of fight- 

 ing between the French and the 

 rear-guard of the Spaniards to 

 Alicant, from whence they de- 

 tached 4,000 men to Carthagena. 

 On the 22nd of August a com- 

 bined expedition set sail from the 

 port of Cadiz against Moguer, a 

 town in the province of Seville, on 

 the river Huelva, below its junc- 

 tion with the Tinto, where a 

 French division was posted under 

 the command of the duke of 

 Aremberg. The land force con- 

 sisted chiefly of Spaniards, to 

 the number, it would appear, of 

 from 1,200 to 1,500 ; but there was 

 also an English division, under 

 the orders of captain George 

 Cockburn. The land force was 

 commanded by the Spanish ge- 

 neral Lacey. Captain Cockburn 

 had charge of the naval part of 

 the expedition. In the evening 

 of the 23rd, when the squadron 

 was about four leagues from the 

 entrance of the Huelva, the ge- 

 neral intimated to captain Cock- 

 burn his desire to disembark on 

 the coast along which they were 

 sailing, by which means the troops 

 could reach Moguer a good deal 

 sooner than by water. About ten 

 o'clock the troops began to dis- 

 embark ; and the whole, with the 

 horses, ammunition, and other 

 things, being safely landed be- 

 tween one and two o'clock, the 

 general began his march along 



