London Gazette.-Dispatches from Lord Wellington.

DOWNING STREET, July 9, 1812.

A dispatch, of which the following is an extract, has been this day received at Lord Bathurst's office, addressed to the Earl of Liverpool, by General the Earl of Welling ton, dated Salamanca, June 18, 1812.

THE army crossed the Agueda on the 13th instant, and marched forward in three columns, the troops under Don Carlos d'Espana forming a fourth; and the whole arrived upon the Valmusa, a rivulet about six miles from hence, on the 16th. The enemy shewed some cavalry, and a 'small body of infantry, in front of the town on that day, and manifested a design to hold the heights on the south side of the Tormes, but their cavalry were immediately driven in by ours; and the enemy evacuated Salamanca on the night of the 16th, leaving a garrison of about eight hundred men in the fortifications which they had erected on the ruins of the colleges and convents which they have de molished. By the fire from these they protect the passage of the Tormes, by the bridge; and our troops crossed that river yesterday morning by two fords which are in this neighbourhood.

The 'forts were immediately invested by the 6th division, under the command of Major-general Clinton, and having been accurately reconnoitred, it was found necessary to break ground before them: this was done last night, and I hope that we shall com mence our fire to-morrow morning from eight pieces of cantion, at the distance of three hundred yards from the principal of the enemy's works, the possession of which will, I hope, give us the possession of the others. Major-general Clinton conducted these opcrations. It is impossible to describe the joy of the people of the town upon our entrance. They have now been suffering for more than three years, during which time the French, among other acts of oppression, have destroyed thirteen of twenty-five convents, and twenty-two of twenty-five colleges which existed in this celebrated seat of learning.

The enemy retired by the road to Toro, and their rear-guard was about fifteen miles from hence last night; they retired again this morning by the same road, and I understand that they intend to collect their army on the Douro, between Toro and Zamora.

I enclose a letter from lieutenant-general Sir Rowland Hill and its inclosures, being two from major-general Siade, giving an account of an affair which he had with the enemy on the 11th instant, in which, owing to the eagerness and impetuosity of the troops, considerable loss was sustained.

I have reports from the south, stating that general Ballasteros had had an action with the enemy near Bornos on the 1st instant, of which I have not received the details, or any regular confirmation, notwithstanding there is no doubt of the fact. The result bas been stated differently by the two parties, and it is reported by the enemy that Ballasteros is badly wounded; but they have reinforced their troops in that direction since the action, from which circumstance it is to be inferred, that the success, if on their side at all, was not very decisive.

Zafra, June 13, 1812.

MY LORD-I have the honour to transmit to your lordship, copies of reports which I have received from major-general Slade, relative to an affair between two regiments of the brigade of cavalry under his command, and the brigade of French cavalry under general L'Allemand, in the neighbourhood of Valencia de los Torres, on the 11th instant, in which I am sorry to observe, we have suffered severely, and have not gained the advantage which might have been expected.

Major-general Slade had advanced, and was to have proceeded the following day in the direction of La Granja, to cover a reconnoissance to be made by the count de Penne Villemur on that day, from Llerena towards Assuaga.

London Gazette.— Dispatches from Lord Wellington.

The 17th and 29th dragoons, under general L'Allemand, which had been stationed in the neighbourhood of Assuaga, had however moved at the same time towards Palencia de los Torres, and major-general Slade was induced to bring him to action. Whilst I forward these reports to your lordship, I shall feel it my duty to cause further inquiry to be made into the circumstances of this affair, and shall have the honour of communicating them to your lordship. I have the honour to be, &c. R. HILL.

Earl of Wellington, K, B. &c. &c. &c.

Llera, June 11, 1812, half past four, P. M.

SIR-I beg to have the honour of stating to you that the enemy, whom I reported this morning to have been in Valencia, advanced upon this place about nine o'clock, with the 17th and 29th regiments of dragoons, under general L'Allemand. I immediately advanced with the 3d dragoon guards and royals, attacked and pursued him nearly three leagues, to within a short distance of Maguilla, where I had an opportunity of charging him again, broke his first line, and killed a great many, among the number a captain of the 29th dragoons, and we took an aide-de-camp of general L'Allemand prisoner.

I am sorry to say our loss has been severe, as the enemy brought a support, and my troops being too eager in pursuit, we were obliged to relinquish a great number of prisoners which we had taken, and to fall back upon this place.

Nothing could exceed the gallantry displayed by the officers and men on the occasion, in which colonel Sir Granby Calcraft and lieutenant-colonel Clifton, commanding the two regiments, particularly distinguished themselves, as well as all the officers present. I beg particularly to report the conduct of brigade-major Radcliffe, to whom I feel particularly indebted for his assistance on this occasion. I have not yet been able to collect the returus, but I am concerned to say lieutenants Windsor of the royals, and Homewood of the 3d dragoon guards, have fallen into the enemy's hands, the former having his horse shot, and the latter being wounded. I have the honour to be, &c. Lieut.-gen. Sir R. Hill, &c. &c. &c., JOHN SLADE, Maj.-gen.

Camp near Llera, 12th June, 1812.

SIR-In forwarding the inclosed return of the casualties which occurred yesterday, F feel it my duty to state, in addition to what I had the honour of communicating to you before, that our misfortunes arose from too great eagerness and zeal in the pursuit, after having broke the enemy's first line; each regiment vying with each other, who should most distinguish itself, which gave him an opportunity of bringing up fresh troops, and of charging us at a time when we were in confusion.

I beg leave again to repeat, that the exertions of the officers to restore order was con.. spicuous; but the two regiments having got mixed in the charge, it took some time before this object could he accomplished, during which we lost most of the prisoners we had taken, and suffered, I am grieved to say, severely. It is a satisfaction to me to be able to add, that the enemy lost, in killed and wounded, full as much as ourselves, and considered himself competely routed. I have, &c. JOHN SLADE, Major-gen.

To Sir Rowland Hill, K.B. &c. &c. &c.

Return of casualties which occurred in major-general Slade's brigade of cavalry, in an affair with the enemy near Maguilla, on the 11th June 1812.

Sd dragoon guards-1 serjeant, 9 rank and file killed; 7 rank and file wounded; 1

London Gazette.-Dispatches from Admiral Lord Keith.

officer, 6 serjeants, 67 rank and file, missing; 1 officer's horse missing; 7 troop horses wounded; 82 missing. 1st dragoons-1 serjeant, 11 rank and file killed; 19 rank and file wounded; officer, 4 serjeants, 39 rank and file missing; 1 officer's horse wounded; 6 troop horses killed; 7 wounded; 45 missing. Total-2 serjeants, 20 rank and file killed; 26 rank and file wounded; 2 officers, 10 serjeants, 106 rank and file missing; 1 officer's horse wounded; 1 missing; 6 troop horses killed; 14 wounded; 127 missing. Names of officers: 3d dragoon guards-lieutenant Homewood missing. 1st dragoons— lieutenant Windsor missing. Taken from the enemy, 1 officer, 2 men, 8 horses. The officer is a captain, and aide-de-camp to general L'Allemand. JOHN SLADE, Maj.-gen.

FOREIGN OFFICE, DOWNING STREET, July 12, 1812.

A dispatch, of which the following is an extract, has been received by Lord Viscount Castlereagh, his majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, from Charles Stuart, esq. his Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Lisbon, dated June 23, 1812.

LETTERS from general Hill's head-quarters, dated at Zafra, the 17th, state that general Drouet, having been reinforced by three battalions, has moved forward to Llerena with seven thousand men; and that a column of thirteen thousand men, under the command of Marshal Soult, which is advancing from Seville towards Estremadura, was expected to arrive at St. Olalla on the evening of the same day. General Hill accordingly marched back by the road of Santa Martha to Albuera, in which latter position he was joined by the 5th, 17th, and 22d regiments of the line, and the 11th Portuguese Caçadores from Badajoz, and by the Spanish troops under the Conde de Penne Villemur. Lieutenant Strobitz, aide-de-camp to Sir William Erskine, took twenty-five French dragoons and an officer, in a skirmish near Llerena on the 13th.

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ADMIRALTY OFFICE, July 14, 1812.

ADMIRAL LORD KEITH has transmitted to John Wilson Croker, esq. a letter from captain Sir Home Papham, of his majesty's ship the Venerable, dated near the bar of Bilboa, the 25th of last month, giving an account of his proceedings subsequent to the surrender of the French troops at Lequitio, as stated in the Gazette of the 4th instant.

In the afternoon of the 20th the enemy had collected about eleven hundred men in the neighbourhood of the above place, but on hearing from the peasantry that two thousand men had been landed from the English squadron, they retired: and intercepted letters were transmitted to Sir Home Popham, by which the commandant of Gernico was instructed to prepare rations for a French general and two thousand six hundred of the imperial guards.

On the 23d, in the afternoon, the squadron being on its way to co-operate in an attack intended to be made by a Spanish general upon Bilboa, and the wind being unfavourable for getting round Machichaco, a part of the squadron fetched the anchorage of Bermeo, and parties were prepared to land by six in the evening. The enemy were found to have retired, leaving a small magazine of provisions in a fortified convent, which was taken possession of, and distributed to the poor, and the ships in want of water were completed. The battery on the hill of Bermeo, consisting of five eighteen pounders, was destroyed, and the guns rendered useless, and all the fortified places of which the enemy had had possession, were blown up.

On the 24th the Venerable arrived off Plencia, where parties from the Rhin and Medusa were destroying the works; and some of his Majesty's vessels were immediately

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London Gazette-Dispatches from Lord Wellington.

dispatched to commence the operations of dismantling the batteries, and destroying the guns on each side of the inlet below the bar of the Bilboa river.

In the afternoon of the same day, Sir Home Popham landed at Algorta, with the captains of the squadron, general Carrol and Sir Howard Douglas, and a detachment of the royal marine force under his orders? but as the country was particularly close, and calculated for a surprise, they re-embarked before night. The castle of Galea was destroyed by captain Bloye; it consisted of eight eighteen and twenty-four pounders: the guard house and gun carriages were burnt, and the trunnions knocked off the guns. The batteries of Algorta and Begona were destroyed by lieutenants Groves and O'Reilly, the former mounting five eighteen-pounders, and the latter four. On the opposite side of the inlet the batteries of El Campillo las Quersas and Xebiles, mounting eleven guns, eighteen and twenty-four-pounders, were destroyed by lieutenants Coleman and Ar buthnot.

were

On the 25th, at dawn, parties of the enemy were seen advancing, and at five, entered the destroyed batteries of Algorta, but soon retired from thence on the squadron's making a disposition to stand up the inlet. They afterwards formed on the plain, and we found to consist of two thousand men at Algorta, while four hundred were sent to Puerta Galetta. Three of his Majesty's sloops closed with the fort at the latter place, silenced it, and drove the enemy from it. Sir Home expresses his belief that the enemy's corps was the one for which rations had been ordered at Guernico, and which was therefore completely diverted from its original destination.

Sir Home Popham concludes by commending the zeal and exertions of the officers under his orders on these several occasions, in all which the squadron has not had a single man hurt.

DOWNING-STREET, July 20, 1812.

Dispatches, of which the following are extracts, and a copy, have been this day received at Lord Bathurst's office, addressed to the Earl of Liverpool, by General Ear! of Wellington, dated Salamanca, 25th and 30th of June, 1812.

MAPSUAL MARMONT collected his army on the Douro between the 16th and 19th instant, with the exception of General Bonnet's division, which I believe is still in the Asturias, and some small garrisons; and he moved forward from Fuente Sabuco on the 20th. I formed the allied army, with the exception of the troops engaged in the operations against the forts in Salamanca, on the heights extending from the neighbourhood of Villares to Morisco; and the advanced posts of the cavalry and infantry retired upon the army in good order, and without material loss. The enemy remained in our front on that night, and during the 21st, and during that night they established a post on our right flank, the possession of which by them deprived us of an advantage which might eventually be of importance.

I therefore requested Lieutenant-general Sir Thomas Graham to attack them in that post on the 224, with the troops on the right, which he did with those of the 7th division, which were the reserve of the right, under the command of Major-general Hope and Major-general de Bernewitz. The enemy were driven from the ground immediately with considerable loss; our troops conducted themselves remarkably well in this affair, which took place in the view of every man of both armies.

The enemy retired during that night; and on the following evening they posted them. selves with their right on the heights near Cabesa Vellosa, and their left on the Tormes at Huerta; their centre at Aldea Rubia. The object of the enemy in this movement being to endeavour to communicate with the garrisons in the forts of Salamanca by the left of the Tormes, I changed the front of the army, and placed the right at St. Martha,

London Gazette.-Dispatches from Lord Wellington.

where there is a ford over the Tormes, and the advanced posts at Aldea Lingua. I sent Major-general Bock's brigade of heavy dragoons across the Tormes, in order to observe the passages of the river.

The enemy crossed the Tormes at Huerta about two o'clock of the morning of the 24th, in considerable numbers of cavalry, infantry, and artillery; and there was every appearance of a general movement in that direction. The conduct of Major-general Bock's dragoons was conspicuously good upon this occasion; they did every thing in their power to make known the enemy's movement, and opposed their advance vigorGusly, under many disadvantages, in order to afford time for the dispositions necessary to be made on the occasion.

As soon as I was certain that the enemy had crossed the Tormes, I requested Lientenant-general Sir Thomas Graham to cross that river with the 1st and 7th divisions; and I sent over Major-general Le Marchant's brigade of cavalry; and I concentrated the remainder of the army between Morisco and Cabrerizas, keeping the advanced posts still at Aldea Lingua. At about noon the enemy advanced as far as Calvarissa do Abaxo; but, observing the disposition made for their reception, they retired again in the afternoon to cross the Tormes to Huertą; and they have since remained in the po‐ sition which they occupied on the 23d.

The siege of these forts has not advanced with the rapidity which I expected; although from the pains taken, and the expence incurred in their construction, I was prepared to meet with some difficulties, and provided an equipment accordingly; the dif ficulties are of a formidable nature, and the forts, three in number, each defending the other, are very strong, although not of a regular construction.

We have breaches open in the convent of St. Vincente, which is the principal work; but these cannot be attacked in security till we shall have possession of the Fort St. Cayetano. Major general Clinton made an attempt to carry that work by storm on the night of the 23d instant, the gorge having been considerably damaged by the fire of our artillery. This attempt unfortunately failed, and I am concerned to add, that Majorgeneral Bowes was killed. He was so eager for the success of the enterprise, that he had gone forward with the storming party, which consisted of a part of his brigade, and was wounded; and after his first wound was dressed he returned again to the attack. and received a second wound, which killed him. Our loss in officers and men was likewise considerable.

By a letter from Lieutenant-general Sir Rowland Hill, of the 22d, I learn that Ge feral Drouet had been considerably reinforced from Andalusia, since the defeat of General Ballasteros at Bornos in the beginning of the month, and had advanced as far as Almendralejo and Villa Franca; and Lieutenant-general Sir Rowland Hill had concentrated his troops. General Ballasteros had sustained a severe loss, in his action at Bornos on the 1st of June, and I understand that he retired to the neighbourhood of Gibraltar.

In the north, General Santocildes, under the direction of General Çastanos, has invested Astorga with the Gallician army, and is about to attack that place; in which operation I imagine that he cannot be interrupted. The guerillas are in unmolested possession of all parts of the country, and the enemy's weak and scattered garrisons are cut off from all communication with each other, or with the country.

P. S. I enclose a return of the killed, wounded, and missing, from the 16th to the 24th instant inclusive.

No. 1.-Return of killed, wounded, and missing, of the army under the command of his