BRITAIN. 



Britain. 



PniNCK 



KKOFNT. 

 181-'. 



Defeat of 

 the French 

 at Hu ilia. 



Ciudad 

 Rodrigo 

 taken by 

 storm by 

 the British 



a lodgment in the out-houses of the suburbs, and 

 placed mines under the two principal gates. In or- 

 der to avoid the dreadful consequences of an assault. 

 General Blake accepted a capitulation, by which tlic 

 Spanish troops were permitted to march out with 

 the honours of war, and lay down their arms be- 

 yond the bridge on the left bank of the Guadalaviar. 

 By the surrender of Valencia, 16,131 troops of tin- 

 line, 37i pieces of artillery, 180,000 pounds of pow- 

 der, 3,000,000 of cartridges, 1800 cavalry and ar- 

 tillery horses, 21 stand of colours, and 893 officers, 

 fell into the hands of the French. Marshal Suchet 

 has, in consequence of this important capture, been 

 honoured with the title of Duke of Albufera. 



The operations of the French army in Andalusia, 

 were not attended with the same success. The 

 army under General Laval laid siege to Tariffa on 

 the 20th of December 1811. On the 29th they be- 

 gan to batter in breach, and till the 31st they kept 

 up a heavy fire of cannon on the breach, and of shells 

 on the town causeway and island. On the morning 

 of the 3 1st, a strong column of French troops, amount- 

 ing to 2000, composed of all the grenadiers and vol- 

 tigeurs of the army, advanced rapidly to the breach ; 

 but the British and Spanish troops, under Colonel 

 Skerret, attacked them with such intrepidity, that 

 in less than an hour they were completely repulsed. 

 Numbers of the enemy fell near the foot of the breach, 

 and the rest of the column made a precipitate re- 

 treat. The situation of the enemy's wounded, with 

 which the ground was covered between his battery 

 and our fire, where they must inevitably have perished, 

 induced Colonel Skerret to hoist a flag of truce to car- 

 ry them off. Some of them were brought into the place - 

 over the breach ; but, from the extreme difficulty of 

 this operation, the enemy were permitted to carry the 

 rest away. The garrison of Tariffa consisted only 

 of 1000 British troops, and about 800 Spaniards. 

 The walls of the town had been built merely as a de- 

 fence against archery, and had the additional disad- 

 vantage of being commanded within half musket-shot, 

 and flanked, or taken in reverse in almost every part. 

 The French continued to keep up a partial fire upon 

 Tariffa ; and on the 1st of January, the breach was 

 completely open for the space of 25 or 30 yards. 

 The enemy durst not venture, however, upon a se- 

 cond assault ; but taking advantage of a dark and 

 stormy night, they made a precipitate retreat, and 

 left behind them all their artillery, ammunition, and 

 stores. 



Lord Wellington having removed his head-quar- 

 ters from Frenada to Gallegos, invested Ciudad Rod- 

 rigo on the 8th of January. By means of a pallisa- 

 doed redoubt on the hill of St Francisco, and by for- 

 tifying three convents in the suburb, the defences of 

 which are connected with the redoubt, the enemy had 

 so much increased the difficulty of approaching the 

 place, that Lord Wellington was obliged to obtain pos- 

 session of the work on the hill of St Francisco, before 

 any progress could be made in the attack. A de- 

 tachment of the light division under Colonel Colborne 

 was accordingly directed to attack the work soon af- 

 ter it was dark, and in a short time it was taken by 

 storm, with the loss only of a few men. By obtain- 

 ing possession of this work, he was enabled to break 





ground within f>00 yards of the place, though the 

 fortified convents were still in the poiwsiion < 

 French, and the redoubt on St 1'rancisco was turn 

 ed into a p ' h of 



January, t!i _,' pieces of ordnance was open- 



ed from tin- thi in the first parallel, and 



on the ,an:e day, the besirgi-i s were 



established in the second parallel, the enemy' de- 

 tachment having been previously di, lodged from the 

 convent of Santa Crux, by Lieut. General Graham. 

 The convent of San Francisco, and the other forti- 

 fied posts in the suburb, were likewise taken on the 

 same evening ; and by these operations the approach- 

 es were protected both on the right and left. From 

 the 15th to the 19th, Lord Wellington continued to 

 complete the second parallel and the communication 

 with the work, and had made some progress by sap 

 towards the crest of the glacis 5 and on the night of 

 the 15th, he had likewise advanced from the left of 

 the first parallel down the slope of the hill towards 

 the convent of St Francisco, to a situation from which 

 the walls of the Fausse Brayc and of the town were 

 seen. A battery of seven guns was here constructed, 

 and on the morning of the 18th its fire commenced. 

 On the evening of the 19th, the batteries of the first 

 parallel had not only considerably injured the defen- 

 ces of the place, but had made breaches in the Fausse 

 Braye wall, and in the body of the place, which were 

 considered practicable; while the battery on the slope 

 of the hill had been equally efficient still further to 

 the left, and opposite to the suburb of St Francisco. 

 Though the approaches were not brought to the 

 crest of the glacis, and though the counterscarp of 

 the ditch was still entire, Lord Wellington deter- 

 mined to storm the place. Five columns accordingly 

 marched to the attack, on the evening of the 19th. 

 The two right columns, led by Colonel O'Tooleand 

 Major Ridge, were destined to protect the advance 

 of Major-General Mackinnon's brigade, forming the 

 third column, to the top of the breach in the Fausse 

 Braye wall; and all these, being composed of troops 

 of the third division, were under the command of 

 Lieutenant-General Picton. The fourth column, 

 which belonged to the light division, under Major- 

 General Craufurd, attacked the breaches on the left, 

 in front of the suburb of St Francisco, and covered 

 the left of the attack upon the principal breach ; 

 while Brigadier- General Pack's brigade, forming the 

 fifth column, was directed to make a false attack up- 

 on the southern face of the fort. In addition to 

 these columns, the 91-th regiment descended into the 

 ditch in two columns, on the right of Major- G'neral 

 Mackinnon's brigade, in ordeKjo protect the descent 

 of the body into the ditch, and its attack of the breach 

 in the Fausse Braye, against any obstacles which the 

 enemy might construct to oppose its progress. 



All these attacks were attended with success. The 

 false attack of Brigadier-General Pack was even con- 

 verted into a real one, and his advanced guard fol- 

 lowed the enemy's troops from the advanced works 

 into the Fausse Braye, where they made prisoners of 

 all who were opposed to them. 



After escalading the Fausse Braye wall, Major 

 Ridge stormed the principal breach in the body of the 

 place, along with the 94th regiment under Lieutenant 



Briuiu. 



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lUcmT. 



