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London Gazette.-Dispatches from Marquis Wellington.

OBITUARY.

Died, at Truxillo, ia Spain, on the 19th of May, in the 33d year of his age, lieutenant-" colonel Squire, of the corps of royal engineers, eldest son of Dr. Squire, Ely-place, London. Further particulars of this interesting character will be given next month. August 8, died, James Cooke, esq. of Salford, solicitor, colonel of the Trafford and Hulme local militia. His military discipline gained him the respect and love of the whole corps. In his professional pursuits no gentleman ever discharged his duty with more uprightness and attention; to his sovereign, his loyalty was ever unshaken; and, to his family, he was the best of husbands and fathers. His friends will long deplore the loss of so worthy a member of society.

[The subscribers to the Military Chronicle are respectfully informed that an Obituary upon an improved plan, and a copious list of births and marriages, will be re-commenced ja our next, and continued in our succeeding numbers.]

MILITARY CHRONICLE.
SEPTEMBER, 1812.

CONTAINING THE GAZETTES, PROMOTIONS, &C. TO AUGUST, 25.

WAR DEPARTMENT.

Downing-street, August 23, 1812.-A dispatch, of which the following is an extract, has been this day received at the Earl Bathurst's office, from General the Marquess of Wellington, K. B. dated Cuellar, 4th August, 1812.-THE French arnry of the centre, . after having passed through the Guadarrama pass, and after its head had arrived at the Venta de San Raphael, returned to Segovia, where Joseph Buonaparte arrived on the 27th July, at night. The object of this movement was apparently to divert the allied troops from the pursuit of the army of Portugal, and to enable the latter to maintain themselves upon the Douro; in which, however, the enemy did not succeed. Their rearguard remained in some strength on the left of the Douro, during the 28th and 29th; but the light and 1st divisions, and the cavalry, having crossed the Eresma and Cega rivers on the latter day, the enemy's rear-guard retired during the night across the Douro, and thence followed the movements of the main body towards Villa Vanez, abandoning Valladolid, and leaving there seventeen pieces of cannon, a large quantity of shot and shells, and other stores, and their hospital, with about eight hundred sick and wounded. The General-in-chief Macquinez took three hundred prisoners in the neighbourhood of Valladolid, on the 30th; our advanced-guard crossed the Douro, and our partics entered Valladolid on the same day; and I had the satisfaction of being received by the people in that city with the same enthusiastic joy, as I had been in all other parts of the country. The army of Portugal having thus crossed and quitted the Douro, it was necessary to attend to the movements of the army of the centre, and to prevent a junction between the two on the Upper Douro, which, it was reported, was intended. While, therefore, the advanced-guard and left continued the pursuit of the army of Portugal, I moved the right along the Cega to Cuellar, where I arrived on the 1st instant. Joseph Buonaparte retired from Segovia on the morning of the 1st, and marched through the Guadarrama; and he left at Segovia an advanced guard, principally of cavalry, under General Espert; having destroyed the cannon and ammunition which were in the castle, having carried off the church plate and other valuable property, and having levied a considerable con tribution on the inhabitants of the town. I have not yet heard whether a detachmen which I sent to Segovia yesterday, under Brigadier-general D'Urban, had entered th town. The army of Portugal have continued their retreat towards Burgos. The enem NO. 23.

VOL. IV.

#3 C

London Gazette.-Dispatches from Marquis Wellington.

have continued to increase their force in Estremadura. I enclose Lieutenant-general Sir Rowland Hill's report of a very handsome affair with the enemy's cavalry, on the 24th July, by the division under the command of Lieutenant-general Sir William Erskine. I have received no further accounts of the operations under Sir Home Popham.

P. S. I have just heard that the French troops under General Espert, have withdrawn 'from Segovia by San Ildefonso.

Zafra, July 27, 1812.-MY LORD-I HAVE the honour to transmit to your lordship, a copy of a letter from Lieutenant-general Sir William Erskine, and one from Majorgeneral Long, reporting an affair between some of our cavalry and three regiments of the enemy's cavalry, in the neighbourhood of Riberà, on the 24th instant.

R. HILL.

Los Santos, July 25, 1812.—SIR-I HAVE the honour to report to you, that a body of the enemy's cavalry, consisting of two regiments of dragoons and one of chasseurs, under the command of General of Brigade Almand, attacked yesterday morning the Portuguese piquet at Hinojosa, which they drove in as far as Ribera, where four squadrons of Portuguese cavalry were stationed, under the command of Colonel Campbell. The force under Colonel Campbell being greatly inferior to that of the enemy, he was under the necessity of retiring upon Villa Franca, which he did in the best order. Majorgeneral Long advancing at the same time from Villa Franca with the brigade of British cavalry under his command, and Captain Lefebure's troop of horse artillery to support him. The enemy, on perceiving the adyance of General Long's brigade, halted on the high ground betwixt Ribera and Villa Franca. General Long also halting until joined by a part of his brigade that had been detached in the morning to observe the enemy on the side of Usagre. During this interval, I directed Major-general Slade, with two regiments of his brigade, to move from Los Santos, and direct his march on the left flank and rear of the enemy. As soon as General Long had collected the whole of his brigade, he moved forward against the enemy, who immediately withdrew beyond the defile at Ribera. General Long passed through the defile to the right and left of the town, and attacked the enemy with much spirit, whilst the artillery fired with great effect from the high ground on the Villa Franca side of the defile. The enemy retired rapidly upon Hinojosa, closely followed; from Hinojosa the enemy retired to Leira, and from thence to Valencia de Torres. They were followed as far as Leira. At Hinojosa the two regiments under Major-general Slade joined Major-general Long's brigade, having made a very rapid march at a trot from Los Santos, but from the great distance could not ar rive in sufficient time to cut off the enemy's retreat upon Leira. Major-general Long speaks in the highest terms of all the troops under his comminand, particularly the horse artillery, who displayed great activity in their movements and precision in their fire, by which the enemy suffered very considerably. The enemy had thirty men and a great many horses killed, and eleven men and thirty horses taken. We have lost only one man killed and seven wounded. I have the honour, &c. W. ERSKINE, Lt. Gen.

Villa Franca, July 25, 1812.—SIR-I HAVE the honour to enclose Colonel Camp bell's report upon tlie proceedings of yesterday, [not sent], at the point where he was more immediately engaged; and his report is sufficiently circumstantial, and, as far as I can judge, correct, to render it unnecessary for me to expatiate on the subject. I received the report of the enemy's advance upon Ribera too late to admit of my prevent ing his occupying that town, and the commanding heights on this side. The accounts of his force were so differently represented, that, having three troops of the brigade absent, I thought it not advisable to act against him until they could be recalled; and as the attempt to dislodge him might bring on a serious affair, on ground of which all the advantages were on the enemy's side, I was anxious to secure the support of the 3d dra

London Gazette.-Dispatches from Marquis Wellington.

goon guards stationed at Fuente del Maestre, and to wait for the report of what might be passing on the side of Usagre, before I commenced any offensive movement. Finding, upon the arrival of the patrol from Usagre, that no enemy was in that neighbourhood, I directed the troops under my command (without waiting longer for the 3d dragoon guards) to proceed against the enemy. They retired across the river, which enabled me to bring up the artillery upon the heights they had relinquished, and to employ it with evident and very great effect; and I continued my advance upon and pursuit of the enemy, as rapidly as I thought consistent with the preservation of order and regu larity, beyond the defile of Hinojosa; where, from the lateness of the hour, the fatigue sustained by the Portuguese troops, the artillery, and one squadron of hussars, I judged it proper to halt. Nothing could exceed the steadiness of the 9th and 13th dragoons, the activity of the artillery, and the precision of their fire, or the good countenance and gallantry displayed by those portions of the Portuguese troops, and of my own brigade, that had the opportunity of closing with and engaging the enemy. And I consider myself justified in estimating the loss of the latter, at the very lowest, at forty-five men killed and prisoners. With respect to the horses, so many were left mutilated and killed on the field, and others caught and carried away by the peasants, that I have no criterion by which to judge of the enemy's loss in this respect, but we have only brought away twenty. I feel myself particularly indebted to Colonel Campbell for his assistance and co-operation; and I should be wanting in justice, if I omitted to express my admiration of the conduct of the artillery under the immediate orders of Captains Lefebure and Whingates, and my approbation of the spirit displayed by a squadron of the 2d hussars, under Major Wissel, supported by two divisions of the 9th and 13th dragoons, under Lieutenant Handley of the former, and Lieutenant Edwards of the latter regiment. It is equally my duty to acknowledge the services I received from Captain We-myss and Lieutenant Strenowitz, two of your personal staff, whose zeal, spirit, and exer. tions were, as usual, conspicuous; nor are the officers of my own staff (Brigade-major Dunbar and Captain Dean) less deserving my notice. Enclosed is a return of casualties sustained upon this occasion. I have the honour, &c. ROBERT LONG, Maj. Gen.

Return of killed, wounded, and missing, of Major-general Long's brigade, in an affair with the enemy near Ribera, on the 24th July 1812,-9th light dragoons, 2 rank and file wounded; 13th ditto, I rank and file, two horses, wounded, 1 troop horse missing; 2d hussars, 3 rank and file, 5 troop horses, wounded. Portuguese cavalry, 1 rank and file killed; 1 serjeant, 3 troop horses, wounded; 3 rank and file, 3 troop horses, missing. Total British and Portuguese loss, 1 rank and file, killed; 1 serjeant, 6 rank and file, 10 horses, wounded; 3 rank and file, 4 horses, missing.

Whitehall, August 25, 1812.-HIS Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, hath been graciously pleased, by an especial warrant, to grant unto Arthur Marquess of Wellington, Knight Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, and Commander-in-chief of his Majesty's forces in Spain and Portugal, his Majesty's royal licence and permission, that he and his descendants may bear, as a royal augmentation, in the dexter quarter of the arms of Wellesley, an escutcheon charged with the crosses of St. George, St. Andrew, and St. Patrick, being the Union Badge of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as a lasting memorial of the glorious and transcendant achievements of the said Arthur Marquess of Wellington on various important occasions, but more particularly in the recent brilliant and de cisive victory obtained over the French army, by the troops under his command, near Salamanca, on the 22d day of July last; such royal augmentation being first duly exen plified according to the laws of arms, and recorded in the Herald's office: And also te

London Gazette.-Dispatches from Sir J. Saumarez.

command, that this especial mark of his Majesty's royal favour be registered in his College of Arms.

WAR OFFICE, August 25, 1812.

Brevet-Major Robert Cotton St. John Lord Clinton, of the 41st foot, to be liestenant-colonel in the army.

Commissions signed by the lord-lieutenant of the county of Essex-5th regiment of Essex local militia, William Martin Houghton, gent, to be ensign, vice Wright, resigned, dated May 18, 1812. Major Tufnell's dismounted volunteer legion, Johu Mansfield, Esq. to be captain, vice Tufnell, resigned, dated May 22, 1812. Barking volunteer infantry, captain John Pittman to be captain-commandant, vice Glenny, resigned, dated June 18, 1912. Eastern regiment of Essex militia, lieutenant Jeremiah Sach to be captain, vice Russell, deceased, dated June 30. 1812; ensign John Bell to be lieutenant, vice Sach, promoted, dated as above; ensign James Crossgrove to be ditto, vice Hurring, volunteered to the 16th foot, dated as above; John Lawrence Kirby, gent. to be ditto, vice Harrison, promoted to the 7th fusileers, dated as above; ensign Samuel Hall to be ditto, vice M'Question, appointed to the 103d foot, dated July 23, 1812. Western regiment of Essex militia, ensign Samuel Trigge to be lieutenant, vice Russell, promoted, dated July 8, 1812; George Stebbing Sadler, gent, to be ensign, vice Robert Kingsbury, promoted in the line, dated as above; Charles Dennis, gent to be ensign, vice John Kingsbury, promoted in the line, dated as above; Thomas Trigge, gent. to be ensign, vice Fox, appointed to the line, dated August 2, 1812. 1st Essex squadron of yeomanry cavalry, William Lockwood, Esq. to be captain, dated July 12, 1812.

Admiraly-office, August 22, 1812.-Copy of a letter from Vice-admiral Sir James Saumarez, Bart. and K..B. to John Wilson Croker, Esq. dated on board the Victory, in Hawke Road, 12th August, 1812.—SIR-YOU will please to lay before my lords commissioners of the Admiralty, the enclosed letters, which I have received from Rear-admiral Martin, dated the 4th and 5th instant, stating the arrival of the Russian flotilla of gun-boats at Riga, also detailing his proceedings, and stating intelligence of the opera tions of the armies, and an account of a severe action between Count Wittgenstein's corps and Marshal Oudinot, in which the latter was defeated, with the loss of three thousand prisoners and some cannon. I have the honour to be, &c. J. SAUMAREZ.

Riga, 4th August, 1812.-THE Russian gun-boats, so long expected, and at one time so anxiously desired, arrived here on the 31st ultimo, and now form a most important acquisition to the defence of the place. The way Captain Stewart has conducted himself in the command of the Russian and English gun-boats, is highly praiseworthy, and his unremitting activity, so creditable to the country, has been willingly imitated by the officers and men of the Aboukir and Ranger, who are placed under his orders; they have unquestionably kept the enemy from crossing the river, at the falls above the town, where a body of infantry and horse still remain intrenched; the only time they ever advanced towards the boats they were dispersed in a very few minutes, after losing five men and two horses killed. General Cravart, who commands the troops of the enemy in this neighbourhood, during the absence of marshal Macdonald, sent, on the 27th ultimo, to sammons general Essen to surrender, assigning as a reason for doing so, that his battering train would arrive in the course of a fortnight. There has been a sharp affair in the neighbourhood of Witepsk, where it seems a strong divison of the enemy crossed the Duna, and attacked part of the corps of Prince Bagration; but they were repulsed, and pursued across the river to the distance of several miles. The enemy sustained a considerable loss in killed and prisoners, most of them Wirtemberg troops; the Russian loss is not mentioned, except that a General Okuloft was killed. T. B. MARTIN.

Military Promotions.

Riga, August 5, 1812.-Sır-I HAVE infinite satisfaction in acquainting you, that a messenger is arrived from General Count Wittgenstein, stating that a severe action was, fought between his corps and that under Marshal Oudinot, on the 30th and 31st ult, in the neighbourhood of Polosgh, or Poloch. It appears that Oudinot had crossed the Duna, and was marching with a view, it is supposed, of coming round upon Riga, and cutting off the communication with St. Petersburg, when Count Wittgenstein commenced a most spirited attack, and obliged him to re-cross the river, with the loss of three thousand prisoners and some cannon. The fighting had been very sharp, and the Count was pursuing the enemy when the courier came away. The loss of the killed and wounded is not mentioned on either side, except that General Kulnieu of the Russian hussars is killed, and Count Wittgenstein slightly wounded. An official report of this action will probably be published in the course of this evening, and I shall forward it. to you to-morrow by a vessel going to Hano. We have no accounts from the main army since that of the 29th ultimo, which mentioned Prince Bagration having driven the ene my across the river. I have the honour to be, &c. T. B. MARTIN, Rear-admiral.

P. S. I have this instant received the enclosed from General Essen, confirming what I have stated respecting this affair.

T. B. M.

Translation.-Riga, July 24, (Aug. 5,) 1812.-Sın-I HASTEN to communicate to your Excellency the intelligence I have just received from General Count Wittgenstein. He informs me, that on the 18th and 19th instant, (30th and 31st July), he gained 'a complete victory over Marshal Oudinot. The battle took place between Schebesch and Polotzk. Three thousand prisoners, two cannons, and a quantity of baggage and ammunition, are unequivocal proofs of his victory. The Count writes, that he is in pursuit of the enemy, and that his advanced-posts are hourly sending in fresh prisoners. Being desirous of transmitting as soon as possible this agreeable intelligence to General Suchtelen, I venture to request your excellency will forward the enclosed to him by the earliest conveyance. In case you should not at this moment have any vessel disposable, Colonel Ballabin will move Admiral Schesihenkaff to supply one. I have the honour to be, with high consideration, your Excellency's &c. &c. ESSEN, Gov. of Riga.

Whitehall, August 21, 1812.-HIS Royal Highness the Prince Regent has been pleas ed, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, to nominate and appoint Lieutenantgeneral Sir Stapleton Cotton, Bart. to be an Extra Knight of the Most Honourable Mili tary Order of the Bath.

OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, August 17, 1812.

Corps of royal engineers-to be second lieutenants, gentleman cadet Charles Wright, vice Kitson, promoted, dated July 1, 1812; gentleman cadet Charles Rivers, vice H. N. Smith, promoted, dated as above; gentleman cadet Robert Hunt, vice Elliot, promoted, dated as above; gentleman cadet Francis R. Thomson, vice Matson, promoted, dated as above; gentleman cadet Hale Young Wortham, vice Victor, promoted, dated as above; gentleman cadet James P. Catty, vice Grierson, promoted, dated as above; gentleman cadet James W. Worsley, vice Baron, promoted, dated as above; gentlemanı cadet George V. Tinling, vice De Salaberry, promoted, dated as above; gentleman ca. det Andrew D. White, vice Machell, promoted, dated as above; gentleman cadet James W. Eyre, vice Fenwick, promoted, dated as above; gentleman cadet Joshua Jebb, vice Hall, promoted, dated as above; gentleman cadet John Smyth, vice Scot, promoted, dated as above.

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