$2 
Battle of Corunna. 
. ae 
[Feb e ry 
send a return the moment Ican collect the This indication of his intention was imme= 
reports. I have the honour to be, &c. 
PaGeET, Lieut.-Gen,. 
To Litut-Gen. Sir J. Moores K.B. 
_Y have forwarded the prisoners to: Baniza. 
On the other side of the river the enemy 
formed again, and at this instant three guns 
of Capt. Donovan’s troop arrived, which did 
considerable execution. 
On the 24th of January, the Honourable 
Captain. Hope arrived in Downing-street 
with a dispatch from Lieutenant General 
Sir David Baird to Lord Viscount Castle. 
-reagh, one of his Majesty’s Principal Se- 
éretaries of State, of which the followin 
is a copy:— + 
His Majesty's Ship Ville de Paris, at Sea, 
January 18, 1809. 
My Lor>—By the much lamented death 
of Lieutenant General Sir John Moore, who 
fell in action with the enemy on the 16th in- 
stant, it has become my duty to acquaint your 
Lordship, that the French army attacked the 
Rritish troops in the position they occupied in 
front of Corunna, at about two o’clock in the 
afternoon of that day. 
A severe wound, which compelled me to 
- quit the field a short time previous to the fall 
of Sir John Moore, obliges me to refer your 
Lordship for the particulars of the action, 
which was’/long and obstinately contested, to 
the inclosed report of Lieutenant General Hope 
who succeeded to the Command of the army, 
and to whose ability and exertions in direction 
of the ardent zeal and unconquerable valour of 
his Majesty’s troops, is to be attributed, under 
Providence, the success of the day, which ter- 
minated in the complete and entire repulse 
and defeat of the enemy at every point of at- 
tack. 
The Hon. Captain Gordon, my aid-de camp, 
will have the honour of delivering this dis- 
patch, and will be able to give your Lordship 
any further information which may be re- 
quired. 
I have the honour to be, &c. 
. D. Bairp, Lieut. Gen. 
Riskt Hon. Lord Viscount Castlereagh. 
His Majesty's ship Audacious, off Corunna, 
Siz, Fanuary 18, 1609. 
In compliance with the desire contained in 
your communication of yesterday, 1 avail my- 
self ‘of the first moment I have been able to 
command, to detail te you the occurrences of 
the action which took place in front of Corun- 
na on the 16th instant. 
lt will be in your recollection, that about 
ene in the afternoon of that day the enemy, 
who had in the morning received reinforce- 
ments, and who had placed some guns in front 
of the right and left of the line, was observed 
~ 
fo be moving troops towards his left flank, and: 
forming various columns of attack at that ex- 
_ tremity of the strong and commanding position 
which on the morning of the 15th he had ta- 
ken in our immediate iront. , 
diately succeeded by the rapid and determined 
attack which he made upon your division 
which occupied the right of your position. 
The events which occurred during that period 
of the action you are fully acquainted with. 
The first effort of the enemy was met by the 
Commander of the forces, and by yourself, at 
the head of the 42d regiment, and the brigade 
under Major-General Lord William Bentinck, 
The village on your right became an object 
of obstinate contest. sid. 
I lament to say, that soon after the severe 
wound which deprived the army of your ser- 
vices, Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, who 
had just directed the most able disposition, 
fell by a cannon-shot. The troops, though 
not unacquainted with the irreparable loss they 
had sustained, were not dismayed; but by the 
mest determined bravery not only repelled 
every attempt of the enemy to gain ground, 
but actually forced him to retire, although 
he had brought up fresh troops in support of 
those originally engaged. 
The enemy, finding himself foiled in every 
attempt to force the right of the position, en- 
deavoured by numbers to turn it. A judicious 
and well-timed movement, which was made by 
Major-General Paget, with the reserve, which 
corps had moved out of its cantonments to sup- 
port the right of the army, by a vigorous at- 
tack, defeated this intention. The Major-- 
General, having pushed forward the 95th (ri+ 
fle corps) and 1st battalion 52d regiment, drove 
the enemy before him, andin his rapidand judi- 
cious advance, threatened the left of the ene- 
my’s position. This circumstance, with the 
position ‘of ,lieutenant-General Fraser’s divi- 
sion, (calculated to give still further security 
to the right of the line) induced the enemy to 
relax his efforts in that quarter. 
They were, however, more forcibly di- 
rected towards the centre, where they were 
again successfully resisted by the brizade un- 
der Major-general Manningham, forming the 
left of your division, and a part of that under 
Major-gencral Leith, forming the right of 
the division under my orders. Upon the left, 
the enemy at first contented himself with an 
attack upon our picquets, which, however, 
in general maintained their ground. Finding, 
however, his efforts unavailing on the right 
and centre, he seemed determined to render 
the attack upon the left more serious, and 
had succeeded in obtaining possession of the 
village through which the great road to Ma- 
drid passes, and which was situated in front 
of that part of the line. From this post, 
however, he was soon expelled, with conside- - 
rable loss, by a gallant attack of some com- 
panies of the second battalion, of the 14th 
regiment, under Licutenant-colonel Nicholls; 
betore five in the evening, we had not only 
successfully repelled every attack made upon. 
the position, but had gained ground in al- 
most all points, and occupied a more forward 
line than at the commencement of the action, 
whilsg | 
