730 



BRITAIN. 



Britain. 



PRINCE 



RECENT. 



1811.' 



General Ruffin's division from the heights. In less 

 than an hour and a half after the commencement of 

 the action, the enemy were in full retreat ; but, hav- 

 ing afterwards halted, and evinced a disposition to 

 form, they were quickly dispersed by a new and ad- 

 vanced position of our artillery. During 1 the action, 

 an attempt was made by a corps of French infantry 

 and cavalry to turn the Barrosa height by the sea ; 

 but this force was kept in check by General Whit- 

 tingham with three squadrons of cavalry. 



From the exhausted state of the troops, General 

 Graham found it impossible to pursue the enemy ; 

 he therefore took a position on the eastern side of 

 the hill. 'During the whole of this brilliant engage- 

 ment, the Spanish troops under La Pena, though 

 vritMn a quarter of an hour's ride of the scene of ac- 

 tion, remained in a state of total inactivity, and the 

 Spanish general seemed to have been completely ig- 

 norant of what was going on in the field. The Bri- 

 tish dirision had to struggle alone in this unequal 

 Conflict, in which they lost one fourth of their num- 

 ber, and were rendered unable to follow up the vic- 

 tory which had been so dearly won. Had the Spa- 

 nish cavalry, with the horse artillery, been rapidly 

 sent by the sea beach to form on the plain, and to 

 envelope the enemy's left, and had the great body of 

 the infantry been marched through the pine wood, in 

 the rear, to turn the enemy's right, he must ei- 

 ther have retired instantly, without occasioning any 

 serious loss to the British, or have exposed himself to 

 inevitable destruction. 



The troops, under General Graham, amounted 

 only to about 5000, while the French had about 

 8000 men engaged j but, notwithstanding this dispa- 

 rity of numbers, the loss of the British amounted 

 only to about 200 killed, and 1000 wounded, and that 

 of the French to nearly 3000. An eagle, and six 

 pieces of cannon, and the General of Division Rtif- 

 iin, the General .of Brigade Rosseau, (who after- 

 wards died of his wounds,) and 420 prisoners, were 

 the trophies of this brilliant action. General Belle- 

 gard, aid-de-camp to Marshal Victor, was killed, and 

 the French Marshal himself is said to have escaped 

 only by the swiftness of his horse. 



The personal bravery and military skill of General 

 Graham, which had been so conspicuous in the bat- 

 tle of Barrosa, excited the universal admiration of his 

 countrymen. The thanks of both houses of parlia- 

 ment were unanimously voted for this gallant achieve- 

 ment, with a warmth of feeling which had never been 

 exhibited on any similar occasion ; and had not the 

 Prince Regent been fettered by the restrictions upon 

 his office, he would have instantly conferred upon 

 the general some signal mark of his gratitude. 



About the beginning of February, the French 

 broke ground before Badajos, on the left bank of the 

 Guadiana, and threw some shells into the town. On 

 the 6th of February, the troops under General Men- 

 dizabelentered Badajos, and the fort of St Christoval ; 

 and, on the 7th, they made a sortie upon the enemy, 

 by which they obtained possession of one of his bat- 

 teries ; but before they had time to spike the guns, 

 they were obliged to retire, after suffering a loss of 

 about 85 officers, and 500 men killed and wounded. 

 On the night of the llth, the French carried the re- 



PlXlNCE 



REGENT. 

 1811. 



I0th * 



doubt of Pardalleiroe, and afterwardg constructed a Britain. 

 work on the left bank of the Guadiana, to fire upon 

 the bridge of communication with the right bank. In 

 order to keep open the communication between Bada- 

 jos, and the country on the right bank of the Guadi- 

 ana, General Mendizabel took a position on the 

 heights of St Christoval, where he was attacked and 

 totally defeated by the French on the 19th February. 

 After crossing the Guadiana and the Evora, the ene- 

 my surprised the Spanish army in their camp, and 

 took all their baggage and artillery. On the 9th of 

 March, the enemy made a breach, 18 feet wide, B . 

 which was not practicable ; and, on the same day, surrender* 

 General Imaz, the governor, received a message to the 

 from Lord Wellington, assuring him of succour, and French, 

 enjoining him to defend the place to the last ; but 

 though the garrison amounted to 9000 men, well 

 supplied with ammunition and provisions, it basely 

 surrendered to the French on the 10th of March. 

 "Thus, in the course of two months," says Lord 

 Wellington, " the Spanish nation has lost the fortres- 

 ses of Tortosa, Olivenza, and Badajos, without any- 

 sufficient cause ; and, at the same time, Marshal Soult, 

 with a corps of troops which was never supposed to 

 exceed 20,000, besides the capture of the two last 

 places, has made prisoners or destroyed above 22,000 

 Spanish troops." 



On the very day on which the battle of Barrosa Retreat of 

 was fought, Massena retreated from his position at Massena. 

 Santarem ; and, on the morning of the 6th, the allied 

 army were in motion to follow him. The enemy 

 marched towards the Mondego, and, on the 1 2th, 

 their reserve, consisting of the 6th corps, and General 

 Montbrun's cavalry, took up a strong position at the 

 end of a defile, between Redinha and Pombal, with 

 their right in a wood upon the Souvre river, and their 

 left extending towards the high ground above the ri- 

 ver of Redinha, and the town in their rear. In this 

 position they were attacked by the 3d and 4th, and 

 light divisions of infantry, and by General Pack's 

 brigade and the cavalry. The post of the enemy in 

 the wood was gallantly forced by the light division, 

 under Sir William Erskine. The troops being now 

 able to form in the plain beyond the defile, Sir Brer.t 

 Spencer led the line against the enemy's position on 

 the heights, from which they were driven with great 

 loss. The French again took a position upon the 

 heights, on the other side of the Redinha; but the 

 3d division crossed over by the bridge and ford, which 

 were commanded by the enemy's cannon, and drove 

 them upon their main body at Condeixa. After be- 

 ing dislodged from Condeixa on the 13th, they formed 

 in a very strong position near Cazel Nova, from 

 which they could only be dislodged by movements 

 on their flank ; these movements, executed in a mas- 

 terly manner, obliged them to abandon all the posi- 

 tions which they successively took in the mountains, 

 with a considerable loss of killed, wounded, and pri- 

 soners. On the ]5th, the enemy again formed on 

 the river Ceira, but this position was also abandoned 

 after much hard fighting. Numbers of the enemy 

 were drowned in attempting to cross the Ceira, and a 

 great deal of baggage, and ammunition carriages, fell 

 into the hands of the allies. From the Surra de 

 Morta, where the French again made a stan d, they 



