6th. Simultaneous attacks of different parts of the works were planned; of which, that of the castle of Badajos by escalade, conducted by Lieutenant-General Picton, was the first that succeeded, and the third division was established in it at about half past eleven. In the mean time the breaches in the bastions were vigorously as saulted by the 4th and the light divisions; but such were the obstacles raised by the enemy upon and behind the breaches, and so obstinate their resistance, that the assailants, after a long contest, and considerable loss, were ordered to retreat. The possession of the castle, however, which was secured by the success of the other divisions, decided the fate of the town, for it commanded all the works both of and in the place; and at day-light General Philippon, the Commandant, who had retired to Fort St. Christoval, surrendered, with all the staff, and the whole garrison These, at the beginning of the siege, bad consisted of 5000 men; but about 1200 had been killed and wounded during the operations of the siege, besides those who perished in the assault. The total loss of the besiegers in killed, wounded, and missing, from the investment to the capture, amounted to upwards of 4850, British and Portuguese. This might perhaps be thought a dear purchase; but besides the glory to the allied arms in gaining this second strong place by storm, the possession of two important fortresses on the frontiers of Portugal was of so much consequence to the security of that kingdom, and to the success of future operations in the peninsula, that, in a military consideration, it jus

tified the payment of a high price.

In order to make a diversion in favour of the garrison of Badajos, Marshal Marmont advanced to Ciudad Rodrigo, and kept it blockaded: at the same tine, a French party made a reconoissance upon Almeida, but were so received that they had no inclination to make an attempt upon the place. On April the 7th, Marmont broke up from the neighbourhod of Ciudad Rodrigo, and proceeded to Sabugal. His advanced guard followed Gen. Alten through the lower beira as far as Castello Branco, which it entered on the 12th, but whence it retired on the 14th, and the place was repossessed by Alten and Gen. le Cor.

Soult, who had advanced from Seville into Estremadura, as far as Villa-Franca, on hearing of the fall of Badajos, retreated on the 9th towards the borders of Andalusia. General Graham directed Sir Stapleton Cotton to follow his rear with the cavalry; and coming up with the French cavalry at Villa Garcia, with the brigades of Generals le Marchant and Anson, he defeated them on the 11th, with a considerable loss in killed and prisoners. The French retired on that day from Llerena, and afterwards entirely quitted Estremadura. Lord Wellington, as soon as he was apprized of Soult's retreat, put his army in motion towards Castille.

During this period the Spanish parties were extremely active in different quarters. That distinguished guerilla chief, Espos y Mina, was successful in various encounters in Navarre, and the neighbouring districts, and when apparently surrounded by different deL2

tach.

fachments of the enemy, contrived to escape through the midst of them, and became as formidable as before. General Ballasteros, who had been declared CaptainGeneral of Andalusia, on the 14th of April surprised and destroyed a column under General Rey. Merino, an enterprising chief, suddenly attacked a considerable body of the enemy near Aranda, on April the 16th, and made upwards of 500 prisoners, with several officers. This success gave him an opportunity of making a just, though severe, retaliation for the execution of three members of the Junta of Burgos by the enemy, and of some of Merino's soldiers who had fallen into their hands: twenty prisoners were put to death for each of the former, and ten for each of the latter. On the other hand, the French, collecting in 'force on the borders of Gallicia, made a feint of attacking that province, to favour their design of reentering that of Asturias, which they effected on May the 17th, ander General Bonnet, and took p their former quarters in Oviedo, "Grado, and Gijon.

On April the 24th, Lord Wellington was at Alfayates, on the Portuguese border, the enemy having retired upon his advance. They had crossed the Agueda on "the 23d, and were then in full retreat towards the Tormes. General Drouet was at that time at Fuente Ovejuna, in Cordova, and Marshal Soult at Seville. His Lordship, on the day of the above date, dis patched Sir Rowland Hill to carry into execution the plan of an attack upon the enemy's posts and establishments at the passage of the Tagus, at Almaraz, in Estre

madura, near the border of New Castile. This post afforded the only good military communica tion below Toledo across the Tagus, and from that river to the Guadiana, all the permanent bridges below that of Arzobispo having been destroyed in the operations of the war, and left unrepaired. The bridge at Almaraz was protected by strong works thrown up by the French on both sides of the river, and was further covered on the southern side by the castle and redoubts of Mirabete, about a league distant, commanding the pass of that name, through which runs the only carriage road to the bridge, which is that to Madrid.

The necessary preparations for this expedition would not permit General Hill to begin his march from Almendralejo till the 12th of May. On the 16th, he formed his. force into three columns, the left directed against the Castle of Mirabete; the right, against the forts of the bridge; and the center, to the high road leading to the pass of Mirabete. The approach was so difficult, that it was day-break on the 19th, before the attack 'could be made. The right column, provided with scaling ladders, moved to the assault of Fort Napoleon, a strong fortress on the left bank of the river. The ardour of the troops broke through all obstacles, and in the midst of a destructive fire they rushed on with fixed bayonets, and drove the garrison through the several intrenchments across the bridge, which, having been cut on the other side, obliged many of the fugitives to leap into the river, where they perished. The panic communicated itself to the garri

son

son of Fort Ragusa, on the right bank, who abandoned their works, and fled in great confusion. The victors then effected the destruction of all the material parts of the forts and works for the defence of the bridge, and made prize of the magazines and 18 pieces of cannon, with 259 prisoners. The attack upon Mirabete served only as a diversion, inducing the enemy to believe that the attack upon the, forts near the bridge would not commence till that was decided. In this spirited exploit the British loss in killed and wounded fell short of 200. For further particulars we refer to the Gazette account. General Hill then returned to Almendralejo.

The southern point of Andalusia continued to be the scene of actions between the French aud Spaniards. General Ballasteros on the 1st of June, sustained a very severe engagement against a French division, under Gen. Coursoux, in the plains of Bornos, which finally terminated in the defeat of the Spaniards, who lost from 1000 to 1500 men in killed and wounded. Ballasteros, however, retired no farther than to his ground before the battle, and was not molested in his retreat.

A combined attack upon the French troops in possession of the post of Lequitio in Biscay, by the guerillas, assisted by Sir Home Popham's squadron, took place on the 21st of June, and succeeded, with the capture of the garrison of the fort commanding the place.

Attention was now chiefly fixed upon the allied army of Lord Wellington, which had been for some time advancing upon the French under Marmont. It crossed the

Agueda on June 13th, and arrived in front of Salamanca on the 16th. The enemy on its approach retreated across the Tormes, leaving about 800 men in some forts constructed upon the ruins of colleges and convents in Salamanca. The allied army entered the city, but Lord Wellington found it necessary to break ground against the forts. Marmont at this time was retiring upon the Douro. In Estremadura, Major-general Slade's brigade of cavalry had fallen in with two French regiments of dragoons, which they broke; but pursuing incautiously they were attacked by the enemy's reserve, and driven back with considerable loss. The forces under Marshal Soult and General Drouet had made a junction, and moved forward to Llerena and St. Olalla; upon which, General Hill had called in his detachments, and concentrated his forces at Albuera.

The batteries against the forts of Salamanca began to fire on the 17th. Marmont, on the 20th, made a forward movement in order to communicate with the forts, and on the night of the 21st his troops established a post on the right flank of the allied army. Lord Wellington having directed General Graham to attack this position on the 22d, the enemy were driven from the ground with considerable loss. They then made a fresh movement, the object of which was to communicate with their garrisons by the left bank of the Tormes, which river they crossed in force on the 24th; but the approach of General Graham on that side the river caused them to retire to their former position. Meantime the siege of the forts

did not proceed with the rapidity that Lord Wellington had expected. An attempt to storm the principal work on the night of the 23d failed of success, with considerable loss: Major-general Bowes was among the slain. On the 27th, the buildings in the largest fort, St. Vincente, being set on fire by the guns of the besiegers, and a breach being made in another fort, the commander of St. Vincente, in order to gain time, expressed a desire to capitulate after a certain number of hours. Lord Wellington, however, perceiving his object, ordered an immediate storm of the two other forts, which succeeded; and the commander of St. Vincente then sent a flag to notify the surrender of that fort, on the terms of the garrison being prisoners of war, which was accepted, though the storm of the place had commenced. These forts were found to be so strongly constructed, that they could not possibly be taken without a regular attack. They cost the allies above 450 in killed and wounded. Upon the intelligence of this event, the French army retired. Lord Wellington on July 1st broke up his camp, and advanced towards the French, who were marching upon Tordesillas. Sir Stapleton Cotton attacked their rearguard on the 2d, and drove it in to their main body, but the rest of the allied army were too far distant to impede them in their passage of the Douro, after which they took a position on that river, with their center at Tordesillas. Lord Wellington took post at Rueda. On the 7th the French were reinforced by the junction of General Bonnet, who had advanced from Asturias. They

afterwards extended to their right as far as Toro, where they employed themselves in repairing the bridge which they had before demolished. General Hill at this time had left Albuera, and moved towards the enemy, who retired before him towards Cordova. He had reached Llerena on the 9th.

Marmont now turned upon the allies, and assumed the part of an assailant. He sent a considerable body over the Douro at Toro on the 16th, while Lord Wellington on that night moved the allied army to their left, with the intention of concentrating on the Guarena, a river that runs into the Douro. The French on the same night recrossed at Toro, and Marmont moved his whole army to Tordesillas, where, on the 17th, he again crossed the Douro, and on the same day assembled his troops at Nava del Rey. Various movements then succeeded between the two armies; and the French, on the 18th, made an attack on a body stationed at Castrejon under the command of Sir Stapleton Cotton, who resisted till the cavalry joined him, and then retreated in excellent order to the main army on the Guarena. The enemy then crossed that river, and indicated an intention of pressing upon the left of the allied army, but it was defeated by a tim ly attack made by General Alten's brigade of cavalry, supported by a body of infantry. In this affair a French general was taken, with other prisoners. A variety of other movements were made, in which it was the object of Marmont to cut off the allies from their communication with Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo, and

of Lord Wellington to frustrate this purpose. On the 21st the allied army was concentrated on the Tormes, and the enemy had moved towards the same river.

Two armies moving in such a confined space of ground could not be long without coming to a general engagement; and this result was hastened by the intelligence Lord Wellington received on the night of the 21st, that General Chauvel had arrived at Pollos on the 20th with the cavalry and horse artillery of the northern army, to join Marmont, which he would effect within a day or two. Of the subsequent manœuvres no exact idea can be formed without plans, and we refer to the gazette account for the particulars. It was evidently the English commander's object to find a favourable opportunity for an attack; and this he obtained in the afternoon of the 22d, by an extension of the enemy's line to the left in order to embrace a post on a hill occupied by the right of the allies. Lord Wellington then, strengthening his right, ordered an attack on the enemy's left, which completely succeeded; as did likewise an attack on the front, in which they were driven successively from :height to height. The fate of the battle was for a time suspended by the stand made by a French division, which drove back a division of the allied army, but some troops being brought up in time, success was restored in this quarter. The enemy's right, reinforced by the fugitives from their left, continued to resist, till it was dark, when they at length broke and fled, and the discomfiture of the French army was now complete.

They were pursued as long as any of them were to be seen together, but the darkness of the night favoured the escape of many. At break of day the pursuit was renewed; and the cavalry crossing the Tormes, the enemy's rearguard was overtaken, when their cavalry fled, leaving the infantry to its fate. The pursuit was afterwards continued to Penaranda that night; and on the 24th the victors were still pursuing the flying enemy.

Such was the battle of Salamanca, the most considerable and glorious fought under English.command during the present war in Spain. No estimate could be made of the enemy's loss in the field, which was undoubtedly great. The trophies of victory were returned at eleven pieces of cannon, several ammunition waggons, two eagles, and six colours; prisoners, one general, three colonels, three lieutenant-colonels, 130 officers of inferior rank, and between 6 and 7000 soldiers; and many more prisoners continued to be brought in on the following days. Marshal Marmont was severely wounded, and four French general officers were said to have been killed. The loss on the part of the allies was also considerable, amounting in killed, wounded, and missing, British and Portuguese, to about 5,200. One general officer, Major-general le Marchant, was killed, and five others were wounded. Of the small share the Spaniards had in this action, fought on their ground, and for their cause, judgment may be formed from their return of loss, consisting of two killed and four wounded.

The victorious army continued