COLONIAL DEPARTMENT. Downing-street, June 2. Sir George Prevost, in a dispatch, dated Niagara, February 27, 1813, acquaints lord Bathurst, that on the 21st of February, he arrived at Prescott, within a mile of the enemy, posted at Ogdensburgh, who had availed themselves of the frozen state of the St. Lawrence, in that neighbour hood, to carry on repeated nocturnal enterprises against posts of communication which were occupied by the militia, and to commit frequent depredations upon the persons and property of his majesty's subjects, carefully selecting objects beyond the immediate support and protection of a regular military force. In order to put a stop to these depredations, sir George deemed it necessary to dislodge the enemy from his position at Ogdensburgh, which was effected in a very spirited manner, by a detachment under the command of major Macdonnel, of the Glengarry light infantry fencibles, whose report gir G. encloses. Sir George praises the gallant conduct of captain Jenkins, of the Glengarry fencibles, and lieutenant Impey, of the Dundas militia, the former of whom lost an arm, and the latter a leg. Sir G. warmly re commends them both for promotion. The following is the report of the above affair transmitted to sir G. Prevost: Prescott, Feb. 22, 1813. Sir;-I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of his excellency the commander of the forces that, in consequence of the commands of his excellency to retaliate, under favourable circumstances, upon the enemy, for his late wanton aggressions on this frontier, I, this morning about seven o'clock, crossed the river St. Lawrence, upon the ice, and attacked and carried, after a little more than an hour's action, his position in and near the opposite town of Ogdensburgh, taking 11 pieces of cannon, and all his ordnance, marine, commissariat, and quarter-master-general's stores, 4 officers and 70 prisoners, and burning two armed schooners and two large gun-boats, and both his barracks. My force consisted of about 480 'regulars and militia, and was divided into two columns: the right commanded by captain Jenkins, of the Glengarry light infantry fencibles, was composed of his own flank company, and about 70 militia; and from the state of the ice, and the enemy's position in the Old French Fort, was directed to check his left, and interrupt his retreat, whilst I moved on with the left column, consisting of 120 of the king's regiment, 40 of the Royal Newfoundland Corps, and about 200 militia, towards his position in the town, where he had posted his heavy field artillery. The depth of the snow in some degree retarded the advance of both columns, and exposed them, particularly the right, to a heavy cross fire from the bat teries of the enemy, for a longer period than I had expected; but pushing on rapidly after the batteries began to open upon us, the left column soon gained the right bank of the river, under the direct fire of his artillery and line of musketry, posted on an eminence near the shore; moving on rapidly my advance, consisting of the detachment of the Royal Newfoundland and some select militia, I turned his right with the detachment of the king's regiment, and after a few discharges from his artillery, took them with the bayonet, and drove his infantry through the town, some escaping across the Black river into the fort, but the majority fled to the woods, or sought refuge in the houses, from whence they kept such a galling fire, that it was necessary to dislodge them with our field-pieces, which now came up from the bank of the river, where they had stuck on landing, in the deep snow. Having gained the high ground on the brink of the Black River opposite the fort, I prepared to carry it by storm; but the men being quite exhausted, I procured time for them to recover breath,by sending in a summons, requiring an unconditional surrender. During these transactions,captain Jenkins had gallantly led on his column, and had been exposed to a heavy fire of seven guns, which he bravely attempted to take with the bayonet, though covered with 200 of the enemy's best troops: advancing as rapidly as the deep snow, and the exhausted state (in consequence) of his men would admit, he ordered a charge, and had not proceeded many paces, when his left arm was broken to pieces by a grape-shot; but still undauntedly running on with his men, he almost immediately afterwards was deprived of the use of his right arm by a discharge of case shot; still heroically disregarding all personal consideration, he nobly ran on, cheering his men, to the assault, tili exhausted by pain and loss of blood, he became unable to move. His company gallantly continued the charge, under lieut. M'Auley; but the reserve of militia not being able to keep up with them, they were compelled, by the great superiority of the enemy, to give way, leaving a few on a commanding position, and a few of the most advanced in the enemy's possession, nearly about the time that I gained the height abovementioned. The enemy hesitating to surrender, I instantly carried his eastern battery, and by it silenced another which now opened again, and ordering on the advance, the detachment of the king's, and the Highland company of militia, under capt. Eustace, of the king's regiment, he gallantly rushed into the fort; but the enemy retreating by the opposite entrance, escaped into the woods, which I should effectually have prevented, if my Indian warriors had returned sooner from a detached service on which they had that morning been employed. I cannot close this statement without expressing my admiration of the gallantry and selfdevotion of capt. Jenkins, who has lost one arm, and is in danger of losing the other. I must also report the intrepidity of capt. Le lievre, of the Newfoundland regiment, who had the immediate charge of the militia under col. Fraser ; of capt. Eustace, and the other officers of the king's regiment, and particularly of lieut. Ridge, of that corps, who very gallantly led on the advance; and of lieut. M'Auley and ensign M'Donnell, of the Glengarry regiment; as also lieut. Gangueben, of the royal engineers; and of ensign M Kay, of the Glengarry light infantry; and of ensign Kerr, of the militia, each of whom had charge of a field-piece; and of lieut. Impey, of the militia, who has lost à leg. I was also well supported by capt. Fraser and the other officers and men of the militia, who emulated the conspicuous bravery of all the troops of the line. I enclose a list of the killed and wounded. The enemy had 500 men under arms, and must have sustained a considerable loss. I have the honour to be, &c. (Zigned) G. MACDONALD, Major Glengarry light infantry, Lieut.-col. commanding in the Eastern district of Upper Canada. [True copy.] (Signed) NOAH FREER, Mil. Sec. Return of the killed and wounded in the action of the 22nd February, My Lord, I have the satisfaction to inform your lordship, that the allied army under my command defeated the enemy on the 13th instant, commanded by marshal Suchet in person. It appears that the French general had, for the purpose of attacking this army, for some time been employed in collecting his whole disposable force. com His arrangements were pleted on the 10th, and in the morning of the 11th, he attacked and dislodged, with some loss, a Spanish corps, posted by general Elio, at Yecla, which threatened his right, whilst it supported our left flank. In the evening he advanced in considerable force to Villena, and I am sorry to say, that he captured, on the morning of the 12th, a Spanish garrison, which had been thrown into the Castle by the Spanish general, for its defence. On the 12th, about noon, marshal Suchet began his attack on the advance of this army, posted at Biar, under the command of col. Adam. Col. Adam's orders were to fall back upon Castalla, but to dispute the passage with the enemy, which he did with the utmost gallantry and skill, for five hours, though attacked by a force infinitely superior to that which he commanded. The enemy's advance occupied the pass that evening, and col. Adam took up the ground in our position which had been allotted to him. On the 13th, at noon, the ene my's columns of attack were formed, composed of three divisions of infantry, a corps of cavalry of about 1,600 men, and a formidable train of artillery. The position of the allied army was extensive. The left was posted on a strong range of hills, occupied by major general Whittingham's division of Spanish troops, and the advance of the allied army under col. Adam. This range of hills terminates at Castalla, which, and the ground to the right, was occupied by majorgeneral Mackenzie's division, and the 58th regiment, from that of lieut.-general Clinton. The remainder of the position was covered by a strong ravine, behind which lieut..general Clinton was stationed, supported by three battalions of general Roche's division, as a column of reserve. A few batteries had been constructed in this part of the line, and in front of the castle of Castalla. The enemy necessarily advanced on the left of the position. The first movement he made, was to pass a strong body of cavalry along the line, threatening our right, which was refused. Of this movement no notice was taken; the ground to which he was pointing is unfavourable to cavalry, and as this movement was foreseen, the necessary precautions had been taken when this body of cavalry had passed nearly the half of our line of infantry, marshal Suchet advanced his columns to the foot of the hills, and certainly his troops, with a degree of gallantry that enVOL. LV. : titles them to the highest praise, stormed the whole line, which is not less than two miles and a half in extent. But gallantly as the attack was made, the defence of the heights was no less brilliant ; at every point the enemy was repulsed, at many with the bayonet. He suffered a very severe loss; our gallant troops pursued him for some distance, and drove him, after a severe struggle, with precipitation on his battalions of reserve upon the plain. The cavalry, which had slowly advanced along our right, gradually fell back to the infantry. At present his superiority in that arm enabled him to venture this movement, which otherwise he should have severely repented. Having united his shattered battalions with those which he kept in reserve. Marshal Suchet took up his position in the valley; but which it would not have been creditable to allow him to retain. I therefore decided on quitting mine, still, however, retaining the heights, and formed the allied army in his front, covering my right flank with the cavalry, whilst the left rested on the hills. The army advanced in two lines to attack him a considerable distance, but unfortunately marshal Suchet did not choose to risk a second action, with the defile in his rear. The lines of the allies were scarcely formed when he began his retreat, and we could effect nothing more than driving the French into the pass with defeat, which they had exultingly passed in the morning. The action terminated at dusk, with a distant but heavy cannonade. I am sorry to say that I have no L trophies to boast of. The enemy took no guns to the heights, and he retired too expeditiously to enable me to reach him. Those which he used in the latter part of the day, were posted in the gorge of the defile, and it would have cost us the lives of many brave men to take them. In the dusk, the allied army returned to its position at Castalla, after the enemy had retired to Biar. From thence he continued his retreat at midnight to Villena, which he quitted again this morning in great haste, directing his march upon Fuente de la Higuera and Onteniente. But although I have taken no cannon from the enemy, in point of numbers his army is very considerably crippled; and the defeat of a French army, which boasted it never had a check, cannot fail, I should hope, in producing a most favourable effect in this part of the Peninsula. As I before mentioned to your lordship, marshal Suchet commanded in person. The generals Harispe, Habert, and Robert, commanded their respective divisions. I hear from all quarters that general Harispe is killed; and I believe, from every account that I can collect, that the loss of the enemy amounts fully to 3,000 men; and he admits 2,500. Upwards of 800 have already been buried in front of only one part of our line; and we know that he has carried off with him an immense number of wounded. We had no opportunity of making prisoners, except such as were wounded; the numbers of which have not yet reached me. I am sure your lordship will hear with much satisfaction, that this action has not cost us the lives of many of our comrades. Deeply must be felt the loss, however trifling, of such brave and gallant soldiers; but we know it is inevitable, and I can with truth affirm, that there was not an officer or soldier engaged, who did not court the glorious termination of an honourable life, in the discharge of his duty to his king and to his country. The gallant and judicious conduct of these that were engaged, deprived much more than half the army of sharing in the perils and glory of the day but the steady countenance with which the divisions of generals Clinton and Mackenzie remained for some hours under a cannonade, and the eagerness and alacrity with which the lines of attack were formed, sufficiently proved to me what I had to depend on from them, had marshal Suchet awaited the attack. I trust your lordship will now permit me to perform the most pleasing part of my duty, that of humbly submitting, for his royal highness the Prince Regent's approbation, the names of those officers and corps which have had the fortunate opportunity of distinguishing themselves, in as far, at least, as has yet come to my knowledge. Colonel Adam, who commands the advance, claims the first place in this honourable list. I cannot sufficiently praise the judicious arrangements he made, and the abi lity with which he executed his orders on the 12th instant. The advance consists only of the 2nd battalion 27th regiment, com, manded by lieut.-col. Reeves; |