Massacre at Tarragona* 
[Sept. I, 
17 ^ 
and he cleerned great sacrifices due to tlie 
conservation of so precious a charge; but 
ibis Robespiere of Robespieres, having 
overturned all liberty, destroys in no 
cause,—and has i\o assignable object, 
besides the gratification of destroying! 
. Wiiat.had the people ofTarragoini done 
to him that such unspeakable calamtties 
should be niade to fall on their devoted 
heads? Nothing, but defend their country 
against his ituasion, and their fire sides 
against his blood-hounds 1 — ^Did they at¬ 
tack him or. his subjects ? No ! — Had 
they been guilty of any great crimes to 
deserve to be destroyed in detail, their 
lio'tises burnt, and their city razed to the 
ground? No!— 
Unhappy Tarragoniansl Your cries 
have beeti heard by all nations.—They 
Jiave created in every breast the sensa¬ 
tion excited by cries of “ murder” in the 
liighway !—They have extinguished all 
differences of parties and opinions, and 
kindled a universal glow of resentment! — 
Your blood demands vengeanceon him who 
shed it!—-iMay your manes never be ap¬ 
peased til! he has been made an example 
to ^future tyrants, of the consequence 
of such enormous crimes! — May the 
spirit of'vengeance, seiz ng all nations, 
excite mvriads of heroes to unite against 
such a monster,and his willing satellites!— 
Let Tarragona'' be their watch-word, 
when those brave men meet the a&sas&im 
of the unhappy Tarragonians, and victory 
must always attend their steps !* 
Biaheyoff Tarragona, June'29i 1811. 
Sir.— Yesterday morning, at dawn of day, 
the French opened their fire upon the town ; 
about half-past five in the afternoon, a breach 
ivas made in the works, and the place carried 
hy assault immediately afterwards. From the 
jrapidity with which they entered, I fear they 
met with but little opposition; and upon the 
Barcelona side a general panic took place. 
Those already without the walls stripped and 
endeavoured to swim off to the shipping, while 
these within were seen sliding dowm the face 
of the batteries ; each party thus equally en¬ 
dangering their lives more than they would 
hav^e done by a firm resistance to the enemy, 
A large mass of people, some with muskets 
and sorrie without, then pressed forward along 
the road, suffering themselves to be fired upon, 
by about twenty French, who contir-ued 
running beside them at only a few yards dis- 
These just, because natuial, feelings, rela¬ 
tive to the butcheries in Spain, do not compro¬ 
mise questions relative to the justice of the 
war between France and Englana — to the pro¬ 
priety of our becoming principals, rather than 
auxiliaries, in the Spanish v/ar—to the pru¬ 
dence of our advocating the cause of huxua- 
iiity single-handed, dec. Sac. 
tance. At length they were stopped entirely 
bv a volley of fire from one small jiarty of the 
enemy, who had entrenched themselves at a 
turn of the road, supported by a second a little 
higher up, who opened a marked battery oF 
two field pieces. A horrible butchery then 
ensued j and shortly afterwards the remainder 
of these poor wretches, amounting to above 
three thousand, tamely submitted to be led 
away prisoners oy less than as many hundred 
French. 
The launches and gun-boats \vent from the 
ships the instant the enemy were observed by 
the Invincible (w’hich lay to the westward^ 
to be collecting in their trenches; and yet, so. 
rapid was their success, that the whole was 
over before we could open our fire with ef¬ 
fect. 
All the boats of the squadron and transports 
were sent to assist those who were swimming 
or concealed under the rocks; and, notwith¬ 
standing a heavy fire of musketry and field- 
piecesj which was warmly and successfully 
returned by the launches and gun boats, from 
five to six hundred were then brought oft to 
the shipping, many of them badly wounded. 
I can.not conclude my history of our ope¬ 
rations at Tarragona, without assuring yoii, 
that the zeal and exertion of those under my 
command, in every branch of the various 
services which have fallen to their lot, has 
been carried far beyond the mere dictates of 
duty.. 
The Invincible and Centaur have remained 
with me the whole time, immediately oft 
Tarragona, and Captains Adam, White, and 
myself, have passed moat nights in our gigs, 
carrying on such operations undercover of the 
dark as could not have successfully employed 
in the sight of the enemy ; I do not mean as 
to mere danger, for the boats have been as¬ 
sailed with shot and shells both night and 
day, even during the time of their taking 
the women and children, as w'eil as the 
wounded, without being in the smallest de¬ 
gree diverted from their purpose. 
It is impossible to detail, in a letter, all 
that has passed during this short but tragic 
period. But humanity has given increased 
excitement to our exertions ; and the bodily 
powers of Captain Adam have enabled him, 
perhaps, to push to greater extent that desire 
to relieve distress which we have^11 partaken 
in common. 
Our own sliips, as well as the transports, 
have been the receptacles of the miserable 
objects which saw no shelter but in the Eng¬ 
lish squadron , and you will see by the orders 
v\hich I have found it necessary to give, that 
we have been called upon to clothe the na¬ 
ked, and feed the starving, beyond the regu¬ 
lar rules of our service. 
Our boats have suffered occasionally from 
the shot ct the enemy, as well as from the 
rocks from which they have embarked the 
people j amongst others, the barge of the 
Blake;, which, howewer, I was so fortunate as 
to recover after being swamped and overset. 
