1809.] ” 
; 
whi ae them, and drove them from 
the village of Elvina. The 2d regiment of 
light infantry covered itself with glory. Ge- 
neral Ja:don, at the head of the voltigeurs, 
wrought a terrible carnage. The enemy, 
driven from his positions, retreated to the 
gardens which surround Corunna. 
The night growing very dark, it was neces- 
sary to suspend the attack. The enemy avail- 
ed himself of this to embark with precipation. 
Only 6000 of our men were engaged, and 
every arrangement was made for abandoning 
the positions of the night, and advancing 
next day to a general attack. The loss of 
the enemy has been immense © Two of our 
batteries played uponjthem during the whole 
of the engagement. We counted on the 
field of battle more than eight hundred of 
their dead bodies, among which was the body 
of General Hamilton, and those of two other 
general officers, whose names we are unac- 
guainted with. We have taken ZO officers, 
SOV. men, and four pieces of cannon. The 
English have left behind them more than 
1500 horses, which they had killed. Our 
loss amounts to 100 killed and 150 wounded. 
The Colonel of the 47th regiment distin- 
guished himself. An Ensign of the 31st infan- 
try killed with his own hand an English officer 
who had endeavoured to wrest from him his 
eagle. The General of Artillery, Bomgeat, 
and Colonel Fontenay, have signalised them- 
selves. 
At day-break on the 17th, we saw the 
English convoy under sail. On the 18th, 
the whole had disappeared. 
The Duke of Dalmatia had caused a car- 
ronade to be discharged upon the vessels from 
the fort of Santiago. Several transports ran 
aground, and all the men who where on 
board were taken. 
We found in the establishment of the 
Palloza (a large manufactory, &c, in the 
suburbs ef Corunna, where the English had 
previously been encamped), 3000 English 
muskets. Magazines also were seized, con- 
taining a great quantity of ammunition and 
other effects, belonging to the hostile army. 
A great number of wounded were picked up 
in the suburbs. The opinion of the inhabi- 
tants on the spot, and deserters, is, that the 
number of wounded in the battle exceeds 
2500 men. = 
Thus has terminated the English expedi- 
tion which was sent into Spain. After 
having fomented the war in this unhappy 
country, the English have abandoned it. 
They had disembarked 38,000 men and 6000 
horses. We have taken trom them, accord- 
inz to calculation, 6500 men, exclusive: of 
the sick, They have re-embarked very lit- 
tle baggage, very little ammunition, and 
very few horses. We have counted 5000 
killed and left behind. The men who have 
found an asylum on board their vessels are 
harassed and dejected. In any other season 
Progress of the French Armies in Spain. 187 
of the year not one of them would have es- 
caped. The facility of cutting the bridges, 
the rapidity of the torrents, which in winter 
swell to deep rivers, the shortness of the 
days, and the length of the nights, are very 
favourable to an army on their retreat. 
Of the 38,000 men whom the English had 
disembarked, we may be assured that scarcely 
24,000 will return to England. 
The army of Romana, which at the end 
of December, by the aid of reinforcements 
which it had received from Gallicia, con- 
sisted of 16,000. men, is reduced to less than 
5,000, who are wandering between Vigo 
and Santiago, and are closely pursued. The 
kingdom of Leon, the province of Zamora, 
and all Galicia, which the English had been 
desirous to cover, are conquered and subdued, 
The General of Division Lapisse has sent 
patroles into Portugal, who have been well 
received there. 
General Maupetit has entered Salamanca 3 
he met there some sick of the English troops. 
Thirty-jirst Bulletin, 
The English Regiments bearing the nume 
bers 42, 50, and 52, have been entirely des- 
troyed in the battle of the 16th, near Corun- 
na. Not 60 men of each of these corps em- 
barked. ‘The General in chief, Moore, has 
been killed in attempting to charge at the 
head of his brigade, with a view of restoring 
the fortune of the day. Fruitless efforts. 
This troop was dispersed, and its General 
slain in the midst of it. General Baird had 
been already wounded. 
Corunna to get on board his ship, and he did 
net get his wound dressed tijl he got on board ; 
it is reported that he died onthe 19th. After _ 
the battle of the 46th, a dreadful scene took 
place at Corunna. The English entered in 
confusion and consternation, The English 
army had landed more than eighty pieces of 
cannon: only twelve were re embarked; the 
remainder has been taken or lost; and by a 
return, we find ourselves in possession of 
sixty pieces of English:cannon. Independent 
of two millions of treasure which the army 
has taken from the English, it appears that a 
still more considerable sum has been cast 
away among the rocks and precipices which 
bordered the road from Asturga to Corunna. 
The peasants and the soldiers have collected a 
great quantity of silver among therocks. In 
the engagements which took place during the 
retreat, and prior to the battle of Corunna, 
two English Generals were killed, and three 
wounded. Gen Crawford is named among 
the last. The English have lost every thing 
that constitutes an army—Generals, artillery, 
horses, baggage, ammunition, magazines. 
On the 17th, at day-break we were masters 
‘of the heights that command the road to Cow 
runna, and the batteries were playing upon 
the English convoy. The result was, that 
many of the ships were unable to get out, 
_and were taken inthe capitulation of Corune 
MA 
He passed throughs 
