not be acquainted; and was besides a question merely military, of which I should have thought myself the best judge! At that time the army was divided in three different corps, and could not possibly have united before the 13th or 14th of this month, before which period there was every reason to believe that it would be attacked by all the force of the enemy; and after Castanos's defeat I knew of no Spanish army from which it could receive the smallest assistance. The army I commanded was weak from separation, and when collected amounts only to 26,000 men fit for duty. I had been left without any communication with any of the Spanish armies. I expected no assistance from any, and it be hoved me to consider the safety of the British troops; I therefore directed Sir D. Baird, whose corps would not have been collected at Astorga until the 4th of this month, to fall back on Corrunna. I directed General Hope, by forced marches, to join me here, where I intended, if I was permitted, to wait his arrival; and I took measures for retiring with him into Portugal, with a view either to defend that frontier, and ultimately to retire on Lisbon, or to return to Spain, should any change of affairs there render it eligible. The resistance made by the people of Madrid has occupied the French, and has prevented any corps from being detached against me. This example of enthusiastic patriotism in the capital, if it holds, may be followed by the most happy effects, if the flame communipates, and the example is followed by the provinces. There has been no example of any such resistance in any other part of Spain; and though I hope this will produce it, I have neither seen nor heard of such enthusiasm or patriotism else where. Though I trust it will prove otherwise, I cannot but consider it as doubtful whether the people of Madrid will continue firm when they come to be pressed. If they yield, the whale is gone. I received yesterday a letter from the Junta at Madrid. I have ordered Sir David Baird to march back to Astorga, and I have stopped my preparations for retreat on Portugal. I bave put myself in communication with the Marquis of Romana at Leon, and without being able exactly to say in what manner, every thing shall be done for the assistance of Madrid and the Spanish cause, that can be expected from an army such as I command. I cannot make a direct movement on Madrid, because the passages of the Guadarrama and Somosierra are in the hands of the French, Besides, until joined by Sir David Bird, I am niuch too weak. I have thought it my duty thus calmly to explain to you the reasons which have and do actuate my conduct, and I wish anxiously, as the King's minister, to continue upon the most confidential footing with you; and I hope, as we have but one interest, the public welfare, though we may occasionally see it in different aspects, that this will uot disturb the harmony that should subsist between us. Fully impressed as I am with these sentiments, I shall abstain from any remark upon the two letters from you, delivered to me last night and this morning byor on the message which accompanied them. Copy of a Letter from Right Hon. J. H. Frere to Lieut.-Gen. Sir J. Moore, dated Truxillo, Dec. 9. SIR, After the representations which have been made to you from other quar ters, I can hardly hope that a further remonstrance on my part can produce any effect, where high military rank and authority, and the high influence of persons whoin, I am told, you honour with your private esteem, have been found unavailing. The advantages which Mr. Stuart possesses in this respect will, I hope enable him to urge you with the warmth of personal regard, what I may be al lowed to state at least with impartiality, and candour, towards a person with whom I am no otherwise acquainted than by the honour which he has done me by his correspondence; I mean the immense responsibility which you take upon yourself by adopting, upon a sup posed military necessity, a measure which must be followed by the immediate, if not the final ruin of our ally, and by the indelible disgrace to the country with whose resources you are entrusted. I am unwilling to enlarge upon a sub ject in which my feelings must either be stifled or expressed at the risk of offence, which, with such an interest at stake, I should feel unwilling to excite; but thus much I must say, that if the British army had been sent abroad for the express object of doing the utmost possible mischief to the cause of Spain (with the Exception of not firing a shot against the Spanish troops), they would, according to the measures now announced as about to be taken, have most completely fulfilled their purpose! That the defence of Gallicia should be abandoned, must appear incredi ble. I am, &c, J. H. FRERE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTES. ^. Admiralty Office, March 7. Copy of a Letter from Lord Cochrane to Lord Collingwood, sent by the latter to the Hon. W. W. Pole, dated on board the Ocean, at Malta, Jan. 26, 1809. Imperieuse, Bay of Rosas, MY LORD, Dec. 5. The fortress of Rosas being at tacked by an army of Italians in the service of France, in pursuance of discretionary orders that your lordship had given me, to assist the Spaniards wherever it could be done with the most effect, I hastened here. The citadel, on the 22d. ult. was already half invested, and the enemy making his approaches towards the south-west bastion, which your lordship knows was blown down last war by the explosion of a magazine, and tumbled into the ditch; all things were in the most deplorable state, both without and within, even measures for their powder, and saws for their fusees were not to be had hats and axes supplied their place. The castle of Trinidad, situated on an eminence, but commanded by heights, was also invested; three 24-pounders battered in breach, to which a fourth was afterwards added, and a passage through the wall to the lower bomb-proof being nearly effected, on the 23d. the marines of the Fame were withdrawn. I went to examine the state of the castle; and, as the senior officer in the bay had not officially altered the orders I received from your lordship, to give every possible assistance to the Spaniards, I thought this a good op portunity, by occupying a post on which the acknowledged safety of the citadel depended, to render them an effectual service. The garrison then consisted of 80 Spaniards, and were on the point of surrendering: accordingly, I threw myself into it, with 50 seamen and 30 marines of the Impericuse. The arrangement made I need not detail to your lordship; suffice it to say, that about 1000 bags, besides barrels and pallisadoes, supplied the place of walls and ditches; and that the enemy, who assaulted the castle on the 30th. with 1000 picked men, were repalsed, with the loss of their commanding officer, storming equipage, and all who had attempted to mount the breach. [Lord Cochrane continues to observe, that Rosas having surrendered, the further defence of the castle of Trinidad became useless and impracticable, and that he therefore exploded the magazines, and brought off the people. His lordship praises the conduct of Capts. Hall and Col. lins; two Spanish officers; and of Lieut. Johnson, of the navy; Hoare, of the marines; Messrs. Burney, Lodwisk, Stewart, Stovin,, and Maryat. Three marines were killed on this service; and 4 seamen and 3 marines, wounded.-The Spaniards had 2 killed, and 5 wounded.] The dispatches from Admiral Stop ford give an account of one of the French ships of the line, named Warsaw, newly built, having run aground and bilged. Downing Street, March 27. Dispatches have this day been received from Lieut. Gen. Beckaith, commander of his Majesty's forces in the Leeward Islands, addressed to Viscount Castlereagh, one of his Majesty's principal secretaries of state. [The first dispatch, dated Feb. 1. announces the landing of the troops on the 30th of January, in two divisions. The second dispatch contains accounts of the taking of the heights of Surirey, Pigeon Island, and other operations.] Camp, Heights of Surirey, Martinique, 10th. Feb. MY LORD, Having in my communications of the 1st, and 5th. inst. submitted to your lordship's consideration general reports of the operations of the army I have the honour to command, I now beg leave to inclose the special reports of the general officers commanding divisions, and of Brig.-Gen. Hughton, whose brigade was in action upon the 1st; with separate returns of our loss upon the 1st. and 2d. which, I am inclined to believe, will termpate our operations in the field. The lower fort, formerly Fort Edward, was taken possession of before day-break in the morning of the 8th by Major Henderson, commanding the Royal York Rangers, with that regiment, without resistance, and we now occupy that work. Saint Pierre surrendered to Lieut. Col. Barnes, of the 46th. regiment, the day before yesterday, and I have not yet received the details. In the course of all these services, where the co-operation of the navy was practicable, the greatest exersions have been made by the rear admiral; and the important advantages rendered on shore by that excellent officer Commodore Cockburn, in the reduction of Pigeon Island, and the landing cannon, mortars, and ammunition, at Point Negroe, and conveying them to the several batteries on that side, have been of the highest importance to the King's service. I am, &c. G. BECKWITH, Com. Forces. To Lord Castlereagh, &c. &c. [The special reports which fellow, by Generals Provost, Hughton, and Maitland, give an account of the different operations in which they were respectively engaged.] Return of the killed, wounded, and missing of the division under the command of Lieut. Gen, Sir George Precost, Bt. in the action of the 1st. February, 1809. Total-1 captain, 1 serjeant, 35 rank and file, killed; I captain, 2 subalterns, 5 serjeants, 4 drummers, 2 bugles, 183. rank and file, wounded; I subaltern, i serjeant, 12 rank and file, missing. Return of killed, wounded, and miss. ing, in the first division of the army, upon the height of Surrey, Feb. 2 Total-1 field officer, I captain, 3 serjeants, 42 rank and file, killed; 2 Geld officers, 2 captains, 2 subalterns, 1 staff, S serjeants, drummer, 126 rank and file, wounded; 1 serjeant, & rank and file, missing. Admiralty Office, March 28. Extract of a letter from Capt. M'Kins ley, of his Majesty's ship the Live ly, to the hon. W. W. Pole, dated Villa Garcia, March 15. I beg leave to state to you, for the information of my lords com missioners of the admiralty, that since my last letter of the 6th inst. (which, I had the honour of trans mitting by the Statira) on the 7th inst. a body of French troops en tered the towns of Carril and Villa Garcia, and having killed some old men and women whom they saw in the streets, and set fire to a few houses of the people whom they judged inimical to them, they re treated to Paden. On the 9th a party of 30 infantry and four cavalry, under the com mand of three officers from Ponte vedra, entered Marin; but a fire being opened on them from this ship and the Plover, and the carronade from the launch, they made a most precipitate retreat; the commanding officer on a good horse, and the four cavalry benefitting by their being mounted, left their companions, who out-running their officers, a captain and lieutenant fell into the hands of the Spaniards, who delivered them to me. It is with the most heartfelt satisfaction that I can, with confidence, assure their lordships that the spirit of the Gallicians is aroused to the most enthusiastic ardour, governed by a cool and determined courage, which the feelings of loyalty and patriotism naturally inspire, and they confidently look for aid to the generosity of the British government speedily to succour them with arms and ammunition, to enable them to succeed in the glorious and just cause which they have undertaken to expel the perfidious invaders of their country. The enemy is very much distres sed by a malignant fever; not less than two cart loads are buried daily from the head quarters at St. Iago; the military governor and commanding officer of artillery, with a number of other officers, have fallen victims to it. Skirmishes daily take place be. tween the peasants and the enemy, which render their procuring provisions both difficult and barrassing, and many fall victims to fatigue. In this perpetual warfare, the enemy invariably suffer, particularly on the 2d instant, when one hundred and five Frenchmen were pillaging the convent of St. Bernado de Claudio, where Don Bernardo Goncales, with thirty-two Spaniards, attacked them, took many horses laden with pillage, and only sixteen of the enemy escaped. On the 9th, 10th, and 11th instant, the French at tacked the peasants of Deza and The appearance of his Majesty's ship has very much gratified the Spaniards, who are incessant in their praise and gratitude to the British government. On my coming to this place on the 11th inst. I left the Plover at Marin, the French being at Ponte vedra; but have received information to day that a division of the Spanish army, under the command of the Marquis de Valladares, was attacked on the 11th by Marshal Soult, who has since retired to Tuy, and ordered all his detachments in the vicinity of Vigo to join him by forced marches; I would not therefore detain her longer. I have the honour to be, &c. GEO. M'KINLEY, [This Gazette contains accounts of the following captures: L'Amiral Martin French privateer, of 4 guns and 104 men, by the Plover sloop, Capt. Brown; and the Topaze French frigate of 48 guns 350 men, by the Cleopatra, Capt. Pechell, off Gua daloupe. The Topaze had on board 100 troops and 1100 barrels of flour, for Cayenne. She resisted the Cleupatra 40 minutes, when the Jason and Hazard coming up, she struck, having had 12 killed and 14 woun ded, while the Cleopatra had only 2 killed and 1 wounded.] GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY, Downing-Street, April 12. Captain Preedy, aid-de-camp to Lieut. Gen. Beckwith, commander of his Majesty's troops in the Leeward islands, arrived this day, with dis patches from the Lieut. Gen., to Lord Viscount Castlereagh, one of has Majesty's principal secretaries of state. [The following extract of Gen. Beckwith's letters contains a summary account of the proceedings.] Martinique, Feb 28. MY LORD, It is with the most heart felt satisfaction I have now the honour to report to your lordship, for his Majesty's information, that supported by the talents of the General officers, and in particular of Lieut. Gen. Sir George Prevost, and of Major-Gent Maitland, the experience and teal of all the other officers, and the valour and unremitting labour of this army, strengthened by the indefatigable exertions of rear-admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and the squadron, the campaign, notwithstanding incessant rains, has been brought to glorious conclusion in the short space of 27 days from our departure from Barbadoes. The command of such an army will constitute the pride of my future life. To these brave troops conducted by generals of experience, and not to me, their king and country owe the sovereignty of this important colony; and I trust that by a comparison of the force which defended it, and the time in which it has fallen, the present reduction of Martinique will not be eclipsed by any former expedition. I have the honour to inclose the articles of capitulation, as originally produced by the French commissioners, in consequence of Gen. Villaret's application to me for this purpose, during the forenoon of the 24th, and acceded to by Lieut. Gen. Sir George Prevost, Ma jor-General Maitland and Commodore Cockburn, appointed by the rear-admiral and myself to meet them. This capitulation, which was mutually ratified the same night, will, I trust, be honoured with his Majesty's approbation. After the embarkation of the French troops, I shall bave the honour to command the eagles taken from the enemy to be laid at the king's feet. G. BECKWITH, Lieut-Gen. By the articles of capitulation, the French forces are to be embar ked as prisoners of war, and are to proceed to Quiberon Bay under guard of some English ships of war; and there an exchange is to take place between the two nations rank for rank. The ordnance and stores found in the forts, amounted to 241 pieces of cannon, about 2000 muskets, and 1730 barrels of gnnpowder, besides a vast quantity of mortar shells; grape shot, howitzer shells, &c. The French garrison consisted of 2 general officers; 12 superior officers, 141 officers, 1827 rank and file. A letter from Admiral Cochrane, giving an account of the surrender of Fort Bourbon, says, the exertions, of the seamen were very great in deed, in getting the heavy cannon up Mount Surrey, owing to the rains and the deepness of the roads ; but all those obstacles were over come by British seamen. The The official account of the surren der of Vigo to the Spanish patriots and the Lively and Venus frigates, is also given in this gazette. French garrison consisted of 1500 men, and 50 officers, who laid down their arms before Capt. M'Kinley! they are since embarked and are on their way to England. The French military chest, and about 450 horses, were in Vigo when it surrendered, Capt. M'Kinley farther writes, that, in the act of embarking the French garrison, advice was received of a French force approaching, when Don Pablo Murillo immediately marched, attacked, totally routed them, and made many prisoners, who informed me they were a detachment of 300 men from Fuy, for the relief of Vigo. Admiralty-Office, April 21. Sir Harry Neale, Bart. first capfain to Admiral Lord Gambier, commander in chief of his Majesty's ships and vessels employed in the channel soundings, &c. arrived here this morning with a dispatch from his |