was ably assisted by the lieutenant colonel of artillery, Don Jozé Jarabia, and the serjeant-major, Don Bartolomo Gutierrez, and other subaltern officers. Eight hours after the battery was commenced, the guns began to open upon the enemy, and besides causing him considerable loss, impressed him with sufficient respect for us. I cannot but call the attention of the general-in-chief of the national armies to the valour and activity displayed upon this occasion by brigadier-general Don Jozé Latorre, commanding the 1st brigade of infantry; by the chief of the staff of the army, colonel Don Miguel Desmaysieres, who scarcely took one moment's rest during the siege, which lasted three days, and to the good conduct of the officers of the staff who were placed under his orders, and that of the commander and officers of the infantry and cavalry which composed the besieging corps. I must also notice the meritorious conduct of my aides-de-camp lieut.-colonels Don Jozé de Ruiz, Don Jozé Maria Reyna, Don Victor Vinader, and lieutenant Don Benito Diaz, and of my military secretary Don Jozé Serfate and Salagar, who carried my orders, on several occasions, to the very walls of the enemy's fort, heedless of the latter's fire. The enemy kept up a brisk fire from his guns, &c. but the loss which he occasioned us has been very inconsiderable. The enemy's surrendering the place created great regret among the troops, who had consented to take. it by assault, and they only console, themselves with the hope of there being some more places to conquer. I have put a small garrison into the fort of Pancorbo, and shall supply it immediately with provisions and water; but I shall not make any addition to the works, without knowing first the intentions of the general-in-chief relative to the demolition or preservation of this place. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) EL CONDE DE ABISBAL, To Don Louis de Wimpffen, &c. [Here follows the capitulation of the Fort Santa Engracia de Pancorbo, by which the garrison are made prisoners of war, and are allowed the honours of war; the officers to retain their swords, horses, and baggage; and the ser jeants and soldiers their effects, and be furnished with means of transport, and to be exchanged by the first cartel that takes place, and they will for that purpose be removed to as small a distance as possible.] Extract of a letter from the marquis of Wellington, dated Ostiz, July 3. I have reported, in my dispatch of this day, that lieut,-general sir John Murray had raised the siege of Tarragona, and had embarked, leaving behind him a portion of his artillery. On this transaction, I do not think myself sufficiently informed to be able to write more. I enclose copies of the letters which I have received relating to Tarragona. Camp before Tarragona, June 9. My Lord;-In my letter of May the 28th, I had the honour to inform your lordship, that, in obedience to your lordship's instructions, the British army was then embarking. On the 31st we sailed, and anchored to the eastward of Salon point, on the evening of the 2nd inst. On the 3rd the army disembarked, and I invested Tarragona. Previous to coming to an anchor, I detached lieut.-colonel Prevost's brigade, under convoy of the Brune, to attack the fort of St. Philippe ; and in the night, general Copons, at my request, detached a brigade of infantry to co-operate. The brigade of col. Prevost consists of the 2nd, 67th, and the battalion of Roll Dillon; and to these was subsequently joined the brigade of Spanish troops commanded by col. Lander. The fort has been taken, and I have the honour to enclose colonel Prevost's report to me, with the returns which he has sent. This capture, in the present situation of our affairs, is of great importance, as it blocks up the nearest and most accessible road from Tortosa to Tarragona. Admiral Hallowell, with that alacrity and zeal for which he is much distinguished, sent captain Adam, in the Invincible, to conduct the naval part of the expedition, and added the Thames, capt. Peyton; Volcano, captain Carrol; Strombolo, captain Stoddart; Brune, captain Badcock. Lieut.col. Prevost speaks highly of the exertions of those officers and their men, and I know how valuable and important their services were found to be. The troops of both nations bore their fatigue and performed their duty with the greatest alacrity and spirit, and deserve every commendation. The lieutenant-colonel has, in a former dispatch, particularly noticed the gallantry and good conduct of ensign Nelson, of the 67th, and ensign John Dermot, of Roll Dillon's battalion. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) J. MURRAY, Lieut.-Gen. His Excellency the Marquis of Wellington. P. S. I have omitted to say, that captain Carrol's services were particularly meritorious; and lieut. Corbyn, of the Invincible, who commanded a battery manned by seamen, kept up a well-directed and heavy fire. The importance of this acquisition, and the rapidity with which the fort has been taken, make it quite unnecessary for me to say how much I approve of the conduct of lieutenantcolonel Prevost and of captain Adam. [Here follows a letter from colonel Prevost relative to the capture of Col de Balaguer.] Return of killed, wounded, and missing, of the allied troops, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Prevost, 67th regiment, at the taking of Fort St. Philippe, from the 3rd to the 7th of June. Camp under Fort St. Philippe, June 8. Total-1 lieutenant, 4 rank and file, killed; 1 serjeant, 1 drummer, 37 rank and file, wounded. His Majesty's Ship Malta, My Lord;-Admiral Hallowell has just decided on sending a ship to Alicant, and I have merely time to state to your lordship, and I do so with great regret, that I have been under the necessity of raising the siege of Tarragona, and embarking the army under my com mand. In my private letter of the 7th instant, I mentioned to your lordship the reports of the assemblage of the French forces at Barcelona, and that marshal Suchet was likewise in march from Valencia; and stated it as my opinion, that should these reports be confirmed, the object your lordship had in view could not be accomplished, Unfortunately these rumours proved true, and reluctantly I resolved upon raising the siege and embarking the army, as the only means of avoiding a general action, which must have been fought under every disadvantage. I cannot at this moment refer to dates, but it is sufficient for the present to state, that the French force at Barcelona was never rated to me at less than 8,000, and that previous to their march it would amount to 10,000, with 14 pieces of artillery. I have, however, no account that it ever exceeded eight, and that is the number on which my calcula tion was formed. This force, upon the evening of the 9th, or morning of the 10th, marched out from Barcelona, and entered Villa Franca, at four o'clock in the even ing of the 11th, from whence it was reported to me to march at 12 o'clock at night for Vendrells, distant only 18 or 20 miles from Tarragona by the great road, and a few miles further by another road, by which cannon can easily pass. On the 9th or 10th the arrival of marshal Suchet at Valencia was made known to me; his exact force was never perfectly ascertained, but from the intelligence received from Valencia, he marched from thence with 9,000 men, and certainly in the rear of that place had the power of draw ing great reinforcements to his army. To these corps must be added, a body of 1,000 men, which had previously arrived at Tortosa, and another corps, independent of the garrison of 2,500 men, who had arrived at Lerida. These corps, which I am sure I do not exaggerate, amount to 20,500 men, with which, in four or five days, marshal Suchet could attack the allied army, if he thought proper; or avoid an ac, tion, if he wished still more to reinforce his army. Your lordship, on the other hand, will observe, that I could scarcely bring into the field 12,000 men, and that the army of Catalonia was stated to me at 8,500, making 20,500, of which two British, and two Spanish divisions were at the Col de Balaguer, and could not be withdrawn; and I could not leave less than 2,500 to cover the artillery and stores, and to contain the garrison of Tarragona. The two corps, at the least, would amount to upwards of 4,500 men, leaving me 16,000 men to meet the best French troops in Spain, amounting to upwards of 20,000. I am sure there is nobody more willing to give full credit to the gallantry of the Spanish troops than I am, but your lordship well knows that they are unable to move, and I could not therefore depend upon the execution of any order which necessarily obliged them to make a movement; and of troops of this description I had about 13,000 men; unless, therefore, I could place them in position, which, as the French had the option of fighting when and where they pleased, it was impossible I could place any reliance upon them. My British and German troops amounted only to 4,500. Perhaps your lordship may be of opinion, that under these circumstances, I ought to have risked an action, had no other unfavourable objections existed; but when your lordship is informed, that I had no possibility of retreat if unsuccessful,-that there would have been no hopes of embarkation if followed,-and that the army must have been unavoidably lost, if beat,-I venture to hope that your lordship will think, however much it is to be regretted, that I have adopted the only means of maintaining entire, or indeed of saving, an army on which so much depends. I feel the greater confidence in this hope, on reverting to the 13th paragraph of your lordship's general instructions for the conduct of the campaign. I am fully aware there are many circumstances which may require further information, and upon all parts I shall be happy to give every explanation in my power. Your lordship perhaps may be of opinion that the place should have been taken; but as it was far too strong to storm, I believe it not only to have been impossible, but that we should not have taken it in eight or ten days: my only regret is, that I continued the siege so long. Induced by the hopes of the reinforcements I expected, I continued it to the last moment, and fortunately the weather proving favourable, the troops were embarked without molestation. On this favourable circumstance I could not depend for another day, and therefore, having taken my part, I immediately put it in execution, and I regret to say, that I was in consequence, obliged to leave the guns in the most advanced batteries. Had I remained another day, they might have been brought off; but this risk I would not run, when the existence of the army was at stake, not only from unfavourable weather, but from the appearance of an enemy, in whose presence I could not have embarked perhaps at all, certainly not without suffering a great loss, and without the possi bility of deriving any advantage. I have only further at this time to add, should blame be attached to the failure of the expedition, no share of it can fall on admiral Hallowell, who conducted the naval branch of it. From that distinguished officer I have met with every assistance and co-operation in his power; and I think it only justice to him to state, that it was his opinion that the cannon in the batteries might have been saved by remaining till the night, and that they then could have been brought off. This, however, was a risk I did not wish to run for so trifling an object, and preferred losing them to the chance of the embarkation being opposed, and of an eventual much more serious loss. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) J. MURRAY, Lieut.-General. To the Marquis of Wellington, K. G. &c. COLONIAL DEPARTMENT. Downing-street, July 29. A dispatch, of which the following is a copy, has been received from lieut.-general sir G. Prevost, by earl Bathurst, one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state: Kingston, Upper Canada, June 3, 1813. My Lord;-I have the honour of acquainting your lordship, that, on the 27th ult. the enemy succeeded in effecting a landing, about two miles from Fort George, under the cover of the fire of their flotilla and batteries, with a force so very far superior to any which we could bring against them, that notwithstanding the most determined and gallant opposition on the part of his Majesty's troops, under the command of colonel Vincent, he was unable to maintain his position on that frontier, and obliged, after falling back upon Queen's-town, to retire with the whole of his army, which he had collected from Chip pawa and Fort Erie, to the head of the lake. By the report of colonel Vincent, which I have the honour herewith to transmit, your lordship will find, that this part of the frontier was not abandoned until every possible exertion had been made to retain it, and until the forts and batteries had been rendered, at least for a time, an useless acquisition to the enemy, by their destruction, and that of the ammunition, which could not be carried away. I have great satisfaction in stating to your lordship, that, notwithstanding the unequal contest which was so long and so gallantly supported by a handful of his Majesty's troops against an overwhelming force, the army has not been very considerably weakened by the loss they have sustained; and that they were enabled to retire without molestation from the enemy, to a position at the head of Lake Ontario, where colonel Vincent will endeavour to make a stand until I shall have it in my power to rein force him, or until circumstances shall oblige him further to fall back. Conceiving that the appearance of the fleet under commodore sir James Yeo off the position occupied by colonel Vincent might give additional consequence to his troops, I have embarked the remainder of the 8th regiment, consisting of about 200 men, with which, and a supply of clothing, ammunition, and provisions, the fleet sailed this morning. The enemy's flotilla were seen yesterday returning to Sackett's harbour, to which place they had, without doubt, been recalled by the attack upon it. I last night received a confirmation of this fact from a flag of truce, which had been sent over with one of our wounded officers, from whom I learn, that their fleet is in port, and that the whole of the naval stores collected at Sackett's harbour were consumed by fire on the day of the attack. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) GEORGE PREVOST. Earl Bathurst, &c. Admiralty Office, July 10. Copy of a letter from the hon. captain Capel, of his Majesty's ship La Hogue, to John Wilson Croker, esq. dated at Halifax, June 11, 1813. Sir; It is with the greatest pleasure I transmit you a letter I have just received from captain Broke, of his Majesty's ship Shannon, detailing a most brilliant achievement, in the capture of the United States frigate Chesapeake, in 15 minutes. Capt. Broke relates so fully the particulars of this gallant affair, that I feel it unne |