once see, even if the enemy's force ! 1 been less numerous than represented, an the necessary detachments to observe the garrisons of Bergen-op-Zoom and Bre and securing our communications, ha very inadequate a force must have remain to me your lordship's dispatch of the 21st instant, signifying to me his majesty's commands that I should convey to lieut.gen. sir Eyre Coote, the general and other officers and troops employed before Flush ing, and particularly to those of the artillery and engineer departments, his majes-ed for operations against Lillo and Liefty's most gracious approbation of their con- kenshoeik, and ultimately against Antduct; and which I have obeyed with the werp, which town, so far from being in most entire satisfaction. I had the honour the state which had been reported, is, in my last dispatch of acquainting your from very correct accounts, represented lordship with my intention of proceeding to be in a complete state of defence to this place, and I should have been most the enemy's ships had been brought 19 happy to have been enabled to have an- and placed in security under the guns el nounced to your lordship the further pro- the citadel. Under these circums wi gress of this army. Unfortunately, how-however mortifying to me to see the picever, it becomes my duty to state to your gress arrested of an army, from whose lordship, that, from the concurrent testi- good conduct and valour I had every thing mony from so many quarters, as to leave to hope, I feel that my duty left men no doubt of the truth of the information, other course than to close my operaticas the enemy appears to have collected so here; and it will always be a satisfaction formidable a force, as to convince me that to me to think that I have not been inthe period was arrived, at which my in- duced lightly to commit the safety of the structions would have directed me to with- army confided to me, or the reputation of draw the army under my command, even his majesty's arms. It was an additional if engaged in actual operation. I had satisfaction to me to find that the unanicertainly early understood on my arrival mous opinion of the lieutenant generals of at Walcheren, that the enemy were as- this army, whom I thought it right to com sembling in considerable force at all points; sult, more out of respect to them, than but I was unwilling to give too much cre- that I thought a doubt could be entertaindit to these reports, and I was determined ed on the subject, concurred entirely in to persevere, until I was satisfied, upon the sentiments I have submitted to your the fullest information, that all further at- lordship. I am concerned to say, that tempts would be unavailable.-From all the cffct of the climate at this unhealthy our intelligence it appears, that the force period of the year is felt most seriously, of the enemy in this quarter, distributed and that the number of sick already is lit between the environs of Bergen-op-Zoom, tle short of 3,000 men. It is my intention Breda, Lillo, and Antwerp, and cantoned to withdraw gradually from the advanced on the opposite coast, is not less than position in this island, and sending into 35,000 men, and by some statements it is Walcheren such an additional force as may estimated higher. Though a landing on be necessary to secure that important posthe Continent might, I have no doubt, session, to embark the remainder of the have been forced, yet, as the siege of troops, and to hold them in readiness to Antwerp, the possession of which could avail myself of his majesty's further comalone have secured to us any of the ulte-mands, which I shall most anxiously exrior objects of the Expedition, was by this peet. I have the honour to be, &c. state of things rendered utterly impracticable, such a measure, if successful, could have led to no solid advantage; and the retreat of the army, which must at an (Signed) COBBETT'S CHATHAM. early period have been inevitable, would Parliamentary Debates: have been exposed to much hazard. The utmost force (and that daily decreasing) that I could have brought into the field, after providing for the occupation of Walcheren and South Beveland, would have amounted to about 23,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. Your lordship must at 'The Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Volumes of the above Work, comprising the Proceedings in both Houses of Parlia ment during the last Session, are in the Press, and will be published with all pos sible dispatch. LONDON :-Printed by T. C. HANSARD, Peterborough - Court, Fleet Street; Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent Garden :-Sold also by J. BUDD, Pall-Mall. VOL. XVI. No. 11.] LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1809. [Price 1s. ritas; and that the new discovery, relative to their humanity, and their tenderness of our sick and wounded, was not only valua a Wellesley, but was peculiarly valuable, as coming at a time when it was so very much wanted.- Since the writing of these remarks; that is to say, since Thursday, the 7th instant, fresh dispatches have been received from my Lord Talavera, which are given us, partly entire, it seems, and partly in extracts; that is to say, that, as in the case of the dispatches of the 1st of August, a part of them is kept from the eye of the people.We will, however, take what we can get. The parties concerned shall not slip through our fingers. They shall not get out of sight. We will have the whole history of this famous Wellesley Campaign in black and white, bear SUMMARY OF POLITICS. TALAVERA'S CAMPAIGN.The moment the Turtle Patriots had met, and given Mr.ble in itself, and especially as coming from Canning an opportunity of proclaiming the principles, upon which the war in Spain was to be undertaken by us, that homeat was it easy to foresee, that Spain would be finally subdued by the French. It was then, that Sir Francis Burdett uttered the prediction, contained in my motto, d which prediction is now in so fair a way of being speedily fu.filled.It is my intention here to pursue the history of the Welles'ey Campain, being satisfied, that, though fatal to our arms abroad, it any become, if properly exposed to the people, of some use to us at home.But, ast, i must beg the Reader's leave to refer him back to the Register, Vol. XIV., under the head of Spanish Revolution, where heing in mind always, that while we had in will find, that I was abused outrageously, our Army-List above three hundred generals, and even considered as a traitor, because I this same Sir Arthur Wellesley, this same insisted on the improbability of the people Lord Viscount Talavera, this same Baron of Spain fighting for Ferdinand VII. and of Douro, was taken from his office of the Inquisition. It is, however, surely un- Chief Secretary in Ireland, to be sent to necessary for me to make particular refer-take the command in Portugal; bearing ences; for, during several months, I ceased in mind, too, that, of the military part of not my weekly endeavours to convince the Expedition to Denmark, all the merit the people of this country, that to make was given to him; and, always bearing in war for Ferdinand was to do all that in us mind, that the hirelings of the London lay to insure the subjection of Spain to the and country press boldly asserted, that, if family of Buonaparté. In every shape he had been left the chief in command in PorI put this proposition, in the hope, tugul, the Convention of Cintra never would that, in some shape or other, it might at- have been made, and that Junot and his tract attention. Why I did it, I know army would have been brought prisoners Bot; for, there was something so absurd to England. Let us always bear these in the idea of making war for Ferdinand, things in mind; and, let us, as we probat I, or any one, might have been assured, ceed in the history of this campaign, be hat, with those who were for such a war, very particular in examining into the easoning was perfectly useless.Well, grounds of the blame, which the Wellesleys, we are now enjoying the natural effects of or their partizans, throw upon other perbis war; we are now in the height of the sons, whether generals, soldiers, or civil This fresh batch of dismoyment of a Wellesley campaign; and authorities.et us not suffer any part of it to escape our patches begin with a letter respecting our otice.I concluded my last remarks, unfortunate officers and men, who were I page 340. We were then speaking of left in the hospitais at Talavera. This he praises, which Viscount Talavera be-letter, signed by the new Viscount, and, towed upon the humanity of the French of course, addressed to Lord Castlereagh, Ve noticed, that, until then, the French is dated at Truxillo, 20th of August, 1509, rad been, by our hirelings, called barba- It is in the following words. M "My Lord-I wrote some days ago " a letter to the French Cominander in Chief, which I sent to him by lieut. "col. Walters, to request his care and "attention to the wounded officers and soldiers of the British army who had fallen into his hands, in return for the "care and attention which I had paid to "the French officers and soldiers, who had "fallen into my hands at 'different times; "and that he would allow money to be "sent to the officers; and that officers, "who should not be deemed prisoners "of war, might be sent to superintend "and take care of the soldiers, till they "should recover from their wounds, "when the officers should be sent to "join the British army.-I received a "very civil answer from Marshal Mor"tier, promising that every possible 66 care should be taken, and every at"tention paid to the British officers "and soldiers who were wounded; but "stating that he could not answer 66 upon the other demands contained in "my letter, having been obliged to re"fer them to the French Commander "in Chief-Since the receipt of this "letter, Mr. Dillon, the assistant commissary, has arrived from Talavera, having been taken prisoner near "Cevolia on the 27th of July, previous "to the action, and having been al"lowed to come away.-He reports "that the British officers and soldiers, "who are wounded, are doing remarkably “well, and are well fed and taken care of "—indeed he says preferably to the French troops.-I propose to send colonel "Walters with another flag of truce, to"morrow morning, and a letter to the "Commander in Chief of the French army, requesting that a sum of mo"" ney, which I shall send, may be given "to the officers; and I shall endeavour "to establish a cartel of exchange as "soon as possible." ་་ This is, as I said before, the tender point. We all feel it here, except the hircling writers, who would say what they now say, if their mothers and sisters had been left wounded at Talavera. The Baron knows enough of us to make him very anxious to satisfy us upon the score of the poor creatures left behind by him at his viscounty. Hence we have a letter upon this subject alone. But, what necessity was there for the Viscount to talk of "French officers and soldiers who had “fallen into his hands, at different times"? Ditouts. | us. 66 When, where, how, was this? How many of them? And where are they now? What occasion was there for talking of this? I do not remember to have heard of his ever having made any French Prisoners, a regular account of which was given He talked indeed of having made "some prisoners" in the battle of Talavera; but, he did not afford us any chance of judging of the number. There are “some"; but, such numbers as this are not worthy of notice; and, besides, why does he not say how many he has in his hands, now? He talks of prisoners who have fallen into his hands, at different times; but, not a word does he say about prisoners now in his hands; or, about prisoners, taken at Talavera. What can be the reason of this? Let the hirelings answer the question. Oh! the British officers and soldiers, who are wounded and whom he left behind," are doing REMARKABLY well"! Oh! "remarkably well," are they? Very lucky indeed! "Dead men tell no tales," or some of these poor fellows might enable us to contrast the facts with the account of this Mr. Dillon, the assistant commissary, who, I dare say, knew very well what sort of account would be most acceptable at head quarters. I do not wish to create & belief, that our poor countrymen are fering more than they are; but, really, when I find the Baron, in his letter of the 8th of August, saying, that, on the 3rd, the wounded at Talavera were in so bad a way, that, under any circumstances, it would not have been consistent with humanity to attempt to remove them, I cannot help fearing, that, in so very few days, and, perhaps, few hours, afterwards, when Mr. Dillon saw them, they could scarcely be said to be " doing remarkably well." "On the 8th, when the Baron of the Douro had to announce to us the fact, that he had leit his wounded behind at Talavera, he seemed to think it necessary to state every thing he could call to mind, in order to shew, that the step could not be avoided. Therefore, he told us of the circumstance, that the state of those wounded persons was such, that, under no circumstances, would it have been consistent with huma nity to attempt their removal. Now, it remains to assure this nation, that these unfortunate people have not suffered from the leaving of them behind; and, according ly Mr. Dillon (assistant commissary) is so good as to bring the intelligence, that they "are doing remarkably well!"But, the cause of this weil-doing is still more in suf HALD "been habituated, for these 15 vears "past, to glut and prey on the vials "of thousands."- -So then, there are, it would seem, from this, some English officers, who have been captured, that is to say, taken prisoners, in Spain; though this is the first time we ever heard of the fact? So, so!" Captured in Spain," and passing on their way to Verdan in France? These must, I presume, be part of the “ missing," of whom Viscount Talavera speaks in his letter of the 29th of July And, these English officers saw, we are told, by a most desperately government news-paper; they saw repeated instances of the French having " imputed women in a state of nuked"ness; of having crucified ecclesiastics and "monks, also in a state of nakedness; of butchering helpless children; and, that these "acts are committed with the approbation " and with the encouragement of the Im "and cadaverous soul has been habituated "to glut and prey upon human vitals." It was not, then, a casual thing; it was not of military execution; it was not of the putting of a town to the sword; it was of "repeated instances;" and those by the authority of the Emperor Napoleon; it was of a settled and general practice that these English officers had been the observers. teresting to us; namely, that "they are well fed and taken care of;" indeed, he says, "preferably to the French troops." Now, though a late Chief Secretary of Ireland, which place was kept vacant for him all the while he was at Copenhagen and at Cintra, might be asked where he found the grammatical principle or example for saying that people are preferably well fed and preferably well taken care of, we can understand his meaning, which, doubtless, is, that our wounded are better fed and taken care of, than the French wounded are; and, taking this for granted, we cannot enough admire the luck of this nation, in having made such a discovery, just at the critical moment when such a discovery was wanted. The fact, however, is this; that, as Viscount Talavera asserts, upon the authority of one of his Assistant Commissaries, our wounded are taken better care of by the French, than their own wounded are."perial sanguinary Tyger, whose callous This is excellent. Well, then, it is not true, that the French are " Vandals ;" and what the pensioned poetaster, Fitzgerald, has said of them, in this respect, is false. But, what say our hirelings upon this subject? I was sure, that they would be pinched by this report on French humanity, made by one of their own heroes. Do they corroborate his statement? No; by no means. They take occasion to utter fresh charges against the French, in this respect; and that, too, though not upon my Lord of Douro's authority, upon that of English officers, made prisoners in Spain.The Morning Post, of the very day when the above letter of the Baron was published, contained the following paragraph. Horrible Cruelties of the "French!The shocking excesses that "have been committed in Spain and Por-left our countrymen, the sick and wounded, "tugal appear in their recital incredible, "were they not sanctioned by the voice "of Truth. A party of ENGLISH OFFICERS, captured in Spain, passed through Tours few days ago, on the road to Verdun. They witnessed repeated instances of "the French troops having impaled women, "in a state of nudity; of crucifying reclesi"astics and monks, in a similar condition; "of inhumanly butchering helpless children; "and of various other instances of savage "barbarities. In Saragossa aloue, more "than 60,000 unfortunate objects were "victims of Lasnes's unrelenting and mer"ciless fury; and these inhuman and "dreadful acts were sanctioned and en"couraged by the Imperial Sanguinary "Tyger, whose callous, cadaverous soul has Well, be the fact so; but, how does it square with the impression conveyed to our minds by this dispatch of my Lord of Talavera and of the Douro? Be the fact so; but, remember, then, thou hireling, that it is to the care, the kindness, of those who impale women naked, and who, in cold blood, butcher innocent children; it is, remember, thou hireling, it is to the tender mercies of such people, that your hero has at Talavera.Such, then, are amongst the consequences of this war for Ferdinand. Let the Turtle Putriots (who, it appears, are about to conjure up a pretence for feasts and bonfires wherewith to amuse the rabble and dazzle the eyes of the people in general); let these Turtle Patriots, when they meet again, utter their curses upon the "ferocious French," and then sing the praises of him, who has left his sick and wounded to their humane care. Let them do this; but, I hope, that the nation in general will see the whole thing in its true light; and, if they do, it must finally lead to good.The next dispatch relates to SIR ROBERT WILSON's defeat, and is dated at Truxillo, on the 21st of August, 1809.After this letter, I shall insert that of Sir tr oppose the French corps which we had "heard had passed through the Puerto "de Banos, and had arrived at Pasen"cia, Sir Robert Wilson was detached, 66 upon the left of the army, towards Es"calona; and before I marched on that morning, I put him in communication "with the Spanish General Cuesta, who "it had been settled was to remain at "Talavera. I understood that General "Cuesta put Sir Robert in communica"tion with his advanced guard, which re"tired from Talavera on the night of the "4th. Sir R. Wilson, however, did not arrive at Valada till the night of the “4th, having made a long march through "the mountains; and as he was then "six leagues from the bridge of Arzo Bispo, and had to cross the high road "from Oropesa to Talavera, of which "the enemy was in possession, he con"ceived that he was too late to retire to "Arzo Bispo, and he determined to move "by Venta St. Julien and Centinello to"wards the Tietara, and across that "river towards the mountains which separate Castile from Estremadura."Some of Sir R. Wilson's dispatches having missed me, I am not aware by "which of the passes he went through "the mountains, but I believe by Torna"vacas. He arrived, however, at Banos "on the 11th, and on the 12th was attacked and defeated by the French corps of Marshal Ney, which, with that of Soult, returned to Plasencia on the "9th, 10th, and 11th, that of Ney hav " " ing since gone on to Salamanca.-I "inclose Sir R. Wilson's account of the "action.. He has been very active, in 66 telligent, and useful in the command of "the Portuguese and Spanish corps, with "which he was detached from this army "Before the battle of the 28th of "July, he had pushed his parties almost "to the gates of Madrid, with which city he was in communication; and he would have been in Madrid, if I had not thought it proper to call him in, in expectation of that general ac"tion which took place on the 28th of "July. He afterwards alarmed the ed; and although unsuccessful in the "action which he fought (which may "be well accounted for, by the supe"rior numbers and description of the enemy's troops), the action, in my opi“nion, does him great credit." 64 The manner and terms of this letter, as far as relates personally to sir Robert Wilson, are very remarkable." He arrived "at Banos on the 11th, and, on the 12th, "he was attacked and defeated, by the "French corps of Marshal Ney." Short and dry. Very little ceremony about poor Sir Robert and his troops. He has been "very active, intelligent, and useful, in the "command of Spanish and Portuguese corps; "he bas (lower down) shewed himself an "active and intelligent PARTIZAN well acquainted with the country in which he "was acting; and (lower down) although unsuccessful in the action which he fought, "the action, in my opinion, does him great "credit." This is the sort of praise; is the style of praise, given to a guide; or, at best, to the commander of an escort; or, at the very utmost, to some man of very inferior rank, who accidentally has been entrusted with a command. “A 66 it partizan," indeed! Let us read his letter, and see whether it discovers, either in its composition, or in the acts which it narrates, any inferiority of talent in its writer. Sir Robert Wilson's Letter to the now Lord Talavera, dated 13 August 1809."Sir-I have the honour to acquaint you, that I was on march yesterday morning on the road of Grenadelia "from Aldea Neuva, to restore my com"munication with the allied army, when a peasant assured us, that a consider"able quantity of dust, which we per"ceived in the road of Plasencia, pro"ceeded from the march of a body of "the enemy. I immediately returned, "and took post in front of Banos, with "my pickets in advance of Aldea Neuva, selecting such points for defence as "the exigency of the time permitted.— "The enemy's cavalry advanced on the high road, and drove back my small |