LON 
flank, whilft another attack was directed again ft the 
river and bridge of Aibuera. The Spanifh troops, who 
were ported on the heights to the right of the line, after a 
gallant refiftance, were driven from their ground, which 
was occupied by the enemy ; and, as this fituation en¬ 
abled them to keep up a raking fire upon the whole 
pofition of the allies, it became necefiary to attempt its 
recovery. A vigorous effort for this purpofe was made 
by the divifion of general Stewart, headed by lrimfelf. At 
the beginning of the aCtion a heavy Itorm of rain had 
come on, which, with the fmoke from the firing, rendered 
it impoffible to difcern anything diftinCtly; which cir- 
cumftance, with the nature of the ground, had greatly fa¬ 
voured the enemy in forming his columns and making 
his attack. The right brigade of general Stewart’s divi¬ 
fion was bravely charging the enemy with the bayonet", 
when a body of Polifh horfe-lancers, coming unperceived, 
turned their flank, and charged them in the rear. A 
dreadful carnage enfued, by which fome regiments were 
nearl}'- annihilated ; for thefe ferocious affailants never 
fpare a wounded or fallen foe. One regiment alone ef- 
caped the fury of this attack, and kept its ground till the 
arrival of the third brigade under major-general Hough¬ 
ton, who fell pierced w ith wounds as he was cheering his 
men to advance. At length the enemy was forced to 
abandon the port he had gained, and was driven back 
with great daughter acrofs the Aibuera. After his main 
attack was defeated, he relaxed in that of the village, 
where he had never been able to make any imprefiion 5 
and, the battle having continued without ceffation from 
nine till two, the remainder of the day was fpent in can¬ 
nonading and lltirmifhing. Soult retired to the ground 
he had previoufly occupied; and on the night of the 17th 
he commenced his retreat towards Seville by the road he 
had come, leaving Badajos to its own defence, and relin- 
quifh'ing many of his wounded to the care of the victors. 
That the action of Aibuera was really a victory on the 
part of the allies, the refult rendered undeniable 5 for the 
French general was completely foiled in bis attempt, and 
was obiigecf to quit the purpofe he had in view. It was, 
however, fo dearly purchafed, that in a fober eftimate the 
day will perhaps rather be reckoned among the difartrous 
than the triumphant ones; for the lofs incurred feems to 
have exerted a ferious influence on fublequent tranfac- 
tions. That of the Britifli alone exceeded 4000 in killed, 
wounded, and miffing—of the latter, however, a great 
part afterwards found means to rejoin their regiments. 
The Portuguefe lofs amounted to about 350 ; that of the 
Spaniards is not afcertained, but muff have been heavy. 
It is computed by ntarfhal Beresford that the lofs of the 
French of every kind could fcarcely fall fliort of 9000. 
The bravery of the Britifli troops on this memorable 
occafion drew the warmeft encomiums from the com¬ 
mander, and furnithed ample matter for the eulogies of 
the parliamentary orators when thanks were moved in 
both houfes for their fervices. It was indeed fcarcely 
ever more confpicuous ; and the misfortune with which 
the day commenced only contributed to afford more 
rtriking though melancholy examples of firmnefs and dif- 
cipline. Thus, the 37th regiment, which particularly 
fuffered from the charge of the Polifli lancers, is repre- 
fented as lying in ranks as they were drawn up, with 
every wound in the front. The behaviour of the allies 
alfo obtained high commendation. 
Lord" Wellington, who, with his ch3raCteriftic zeal and 
a&ivity, had repaired to Elvas immediately after the final 
retreat of the French from the neighbourhood of Almeida, 
but was unable to arrive in time for the battle, directed 
that Badajos fiiould be cloiely inverted upon the right of 
the Guadiana on the 25th of May, and afterwards renewed 
the operations’ of the liege. It had been his lordlhip’s 
expectation that the reduction of Badajos could be effected 
before the fecond week in June, at which time he fup- 
fofed that the reinforcements for the enemy’s fouthern 
DON. 
army detached from Caftile would join marflial Soult. Oa 
the 10th, however, he received an intercepted difpatch 
from Soult to Marmont, announcing the intention of col¬ 
lecting the-whole French force in Eftremadura; and he 
had realon to believe that Drouet’s corps from Toledo 
wcuid have joined the fouthern army by the 10th. Ac¬ 
counts alfo reached him which left no doubt of the derti- 
nation of the army of Portugal (as it was called) for the 
fouthward. It became therefore abfolntely necefiary to 
raife the fiege of Badajos, which lord Wellington put in 
execution, ltill, however, maintaining a blockade. The 
advance of the enemy finally determined him to quit the 
blockade, and to withdraw the allied troops acrofs the 
Guadiana, which was effected on the 17th, without lofa 
of any kind. On the 20th the French began to appear in 
the neighbourhood of Badajos, with an army compol’ed 
of all their force from Caftile, except the garrifon of Ma¬ 
drid, and all that of Andalufia, with the exception of what 
was neceffary to maintain their pofition before Cadiz, and the 
body commanded by Sebaftiani in the eaftern part of that 
kingdom, They occupied both banks of the Guadiana, 
from Badajos to Merida, and made various movements to¬ 
wards the frontiers of Portugal with the intention of cut¬ 
ting oft' detachments of the allies, but with inconfiderable 
fuccefs. On the 14th of July, the army of Portugal broke 
up from its pofition on the Guadiana, and moved towards 
Truxillo, whence they afterwards marched further north¬ 
wards. Lord Wellington, who had been ftrcngly polled 
on the Portuguefe border in Alentejo, now moved his- 
army to cantonments in the Lower Beira. 
If we now turn our eyes toward Spain, we fliall find 
that Catalonia was the theatre of the molt active military 
operations at the commencement of the prefem year. 
The Spanifli caufe fullained an afflictive lofs by the death* 
of the marquis de la Romana, on Jan. 23d, at Cartaxo, 
whither he had gone with two divifions of his army to 
partake the glory and danger of lord Wellington. This 
illuftrious general had diltinguilhed himfelf on various 
occafions by the fpirited defence of his country againli 
its unprincipled invaders, and had been particularly fuc- 
cefsful in clearing Eftremadura of the enemy. A Ihort 
time before his death, on hearing of the new movements 
of the French in that province, he had ordered the troops,, 
with which he had joined the allied army, to march to the 
frontier. Lord Wellington, in communicating the me¬ 
lancholy intelligence, fays, that “ in him the Spanifli army 
has loft its brighteft ornament; his country their molt 
upright patriot; and the world, the molt ftrenuous defen¬ 
der of the caufe in which we are engaged.” His remains 
were temporarily depofited at Lilbon, with diltinguilhed 
funeral honours. General Caftanos fucceeded to his com¬ 
mand. 
On the 10th of March, Gen. Ballafteros furprifed Gen, 
Remon at Palma, difperfed his detachment, and made 500. 
prifoners. The ftrong fortrefs of Figueras in Catalonia 
was furprifed by the Spaniards on the night of April 10th ; 
and the following circumftances are related as attending 
its capture. Some Catalonian foldiers, whom the French 
had forced into their fervice, fent intelligence to colonel 
Roviras, who was at the head of a body of 1500 Catalonian 
patriots, that, if he would approach the place at night, 
they would open one of the fally-ports to his troops. Ac¬ 
cordingly, on the night above-mentioned, colonel Roviras 
with his party entered the citadel of Figueras; and, after 
putting to death the only fentry who difcovered them, fo- 
completely furprifed the whole garrifon in their beds, that 
not a Ihot was fired, or the fmalleft oppofition made; and 
the wdiole garrifon, confifting of 1000 men and 40 officers, 
were taken prifoners.—The active partilan, Efpoz de Mina,, 
obtained a diftinguifhed fuccefs on the 25th of May, by 
his attack, in the province of Alvala in Bifcay, upon a 
ftrong effort of French infantry and dragoons, who were 
conducting 1100 Spanifli prifoners. All of thefe were li¬ 
berated, and a great booty was made by the patriots, with 
