Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article627768

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EXTRACTS from the          

Rio De Janeiro Gazette Extraordinary.

Rio de Janeiro, April 6, 1809          

An article dated Lisbon, Feb. 14, 1809, states  

the following account of the operations of the       French army in Spain, as communicated by a pr-         ivate Correspondence.      

Bonaparte presented himself before Madrid on                              

the 1st of December last, at the head of 80,000   infantry and 8000 cavalry, and from the night of       the 1st to the morning of the 5d kept up a conti-             nual attack on the posts of Fuencand, Fezzos,   St. Bernardo, and Alcala, and was repulsed with       considerable loss; -- but on the morning of the 8d         renewed vigorously the attack, and succeeded in    

carrying the battery of the Casa da Chold. On         the 4th he in consequence entered Madrid, keeping             as secret as he could the severe losses he had sus-             tained. We leard, however, that among the slain     is the cruel General Graehy.  

After the action 6000 infantry arrived from the    

division of Hey, with several regiments of cavalry         from Suingdha by way of Somaherea, and the was            

follow of 4000 cavalry, with a body of artillery, marched towards Taiapazia, but soon returned           and soon directed their march towards Toreco and             Arcijzes, to join 19,000 infantry, and 1200 cavalry,     who were on their march to Anastasia.      

Bonaparte in the meantime suppressed the In-       quisition, deposed the Cardinals who had declared                 the nuility of the decrees of Bayonne, reduced       the religious orders to a third part, and declared as traitors the Duke of Infaniado, Count of Ade-      

puira, the Dukes of Ossuno and Cirales; after which he plundered the public funds, the convents, and the houses of the grandees ; and banished to France Signor Mos, with 800 calleers and other             Spanish subjects ; many others being sent to pri-     son amid the reproaches of thei insulting ene-   mies. On the 18th Bonaparte preposed in coun-             cil a new enterprise against Saragassa; which     being opposed by his Generals, he marched for   Gualdarama on the 20th, with 18,000 chosen men, accompanied by a largeuala of artillery, 800 wag-       gons, and a prodigious quantity of cattle pillaged   from among the various provinces. We have to regret that the British forces were nearly surroun-     ded ; but shortly after, however, a number of waggons with wounded returned to Madrid ; the actual number that were brought in in the course of that day amounting to 4700 men. Among the    

killed were the Prince de Neufehatel, two Generals                               in chief, and two Generals of division. The French themselves acknowledge that they lost     nearly 1000 men in the snow on the Guardaramo;

that their whole artillery was blocked up ; and     that their troops refused to proceed until compelled         by Bonaparte in person, who was obliged to me-   nace them sword in hand.  

The whole force at Pardo, Caravanchel, and     several lesser posts on the 5th of January did not exceed 8000 men, the division that had marched         to Tuinvenu having that day returned almost to-  

     

tally disarmed, & then consisting of 3000 cavalry & as many infantry, who had fled from their colours.  

Bonaparte's design in this sudden enterprise up-     on Madrid is conjectured to have been for the purpose of giving a decisive stroke, and entering Portugal at the same time, as Sault was then at- tacking Oviedo, Junot at Bargos, and Victor at Arragon.          

The combined force of Spain and England in

the northern Spanish provinces has induced Bo-   naparte to direct his whole force thither, leaving the southern provinces without reinforcement, so   that the English in Catalonia who could before only act upon the defensive, being no longer un- der that necessity, have attacked and very much annoyed the French in that quarter.  

Rio de Janeiro, April 7,

Arrived the 4th instant a vessel from Pernam- buka, after a passage of 45 days, with intelligence of a vessel arriving there in 60 days from Lisbon,   from whence she sailed the 21st of February, and bringing accounts that the Spanish still continued successful against the French ; against whom Aus-        

tria as well as Turkey, had also taken arms ; in consequence of which those powers had opened their ports to all British vessels. The Austrians are said to have already gained some advantages   over the French, the accounts of which had been

received at Lisbon with the most lively satisfac-

tion.            

On the 8th of December last arrived at Falmouth the Queen Charlotte parquet, from Port Royal in   Jamaica, which left in company with His Majesty's     ship Argo, and on the 27th of October fell in with      

the Bacchante, from which vessel information was   received that the Spanish inhabitants of the town         of St. Domingo had rised against the French   troops, and massacred the whole, Gen. Ferraada   being kept close prisoner in the town.    

A number of American patriots are arrived at

Cadiz to join in the expulsion of the French from  

the Spanish Territory.

 

The last Gazette also contains an article from Copenhagen, which states that such was the dread-   ful scarcity of provisions throughout Denmark,

that a merchant who had purchased several thou- sand horses, with a view of furnishing them on contract to Government for the use of the cavalry had been ordered to have them all hilled for the   sussistence of the inhabitants, to whom the horse-

flesh was sold at 40reis (which is about five-     pence ) per pound.    

-------------------      

From the above, which are the only interesting   passages contained in the Gazettes received, we cannot anticipate any great degree of satisfaction

to our readers, as the events related make only part   of a series, which is restered visibly obscure by

the want of a connexity. --- So far as bears related to the affairs of Spain, in whose fortunes a love of justice and humanity have interested and engaged the British Empire, we lament the obvious inade- quacy of the foregoing passages to the object of  

dispelling those anxieties in which we all partici- pate most sensibly ; but we may nevertheless in-   dulge in the gratifying suggestion, that no hope   can be too sanguine of the eventual success of    

the combined army of Spain and Britain against       an enemy whose chief inducement to the depopu-   lation of empires is the elevation of his own single

family, who has cruelly converted the imperial sceptre into the scourge for millions ; and whom posterity must regard as the most atrocious of

usurpers, because he has never once demonstrated   an inclinanon to repay with happiness or even with   security the compliance or rather the servility of a   people who submitted to his self-election.        

The above accounts inform us that he attacked       Madrid with a force too powerful to be long resis-  

ted, it being an unfortified city ; and yet his losses on the occasion are at the same time stated to       have been very considerable. At Saragossa he has been uniformly unsuccessful. This city, which  

is the capital of Arragon, had been long besieged

with great loss to his army ; and is an equally for-    

midable and valuable strong-hold, lying on the  

borders of Catalonia. The prompt direction of a large division of his forces against L'alaveira,     which lies between 50 and 60 miles south-west of    

Madrid, and afterwards against Felado and Aram-  

jaez is a demonstration that he hoped more from a coup-de-main than any regular plan of siege, and  

had his attempts been successful he would have se-  

cured a line of posts which would have given him

the command of most of the places in the neigh-

bourhood of Madrid. But the disappointment of

his projects upon these towns, and the necessity of persevering in his plan of rapid operation were

sufficient reasons for his forming a sudden deter-

mination to detach about 20,000 of his horse and foot for Andalusia, which is the south-westernmost

province of Spain, and contains several strongly fortified places. It immediately joins Algarva, the

southernmost province in Portugal, and is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the straits of of Gibralter. Upon its coast is the City of Cadis, about midway between which and Gibraltar is the town of Trafalgar, whose name has been rescued from obscurity by the immortal NELSON. The

movement of so large a force towards Andalusia no doubt gave the impression of his having a design to overun Portugal and Spain together, as Souit was then at Oviedo, which is the capital

of Asturia, bounded by the Cantabrian mountains on the South, and by the Bay of Biscay on the North ; while Dunot was at Burgos, in Old Castile, and Victor at Arragon, the capital of which is Saragolia.

The notion of his endeavoring to extend his chain of posts as far as Andalusia seems, however

to be contradicted in the article following that to which our last observations have a reference which states, that Bonaparte had resolved to confine his operations to the Northern provinces of Spain. in consequence of the combined force of Spain and England being employed there.

From Bonaparte's immediate interference with the civil authorities upon his getting possession

of Madrid, he appears to have been stimulated by motives of resentment against private individuals

as well as public bodies ; his denunciation of the noble personages ; the banishment into France

and imprisonment of many other persons are afresh proof of the narrowness of his mind, as well

as the impolicy of some of his measures ; for surely no other politician would hope to derive from increasing the general destestation against himself. The pilage of public and private property

requires no comment at all,as it has uniformly been a leading feature in his system of offensive operation. The Gazettes inform us that the British forces were nearly surrounded ; but that shortly after an immense number of wounded were returned to Madrid, amounting to 4700 in one day from which we have to infer, that the British army were victorious, for if otherwise no doubt the account would have reported it. The personal appearance of Bonaparte in Spain is in some measure accounted for

by the reluctance of his troops to prosecute a contest from which they must derive eternal execration,

and the consequent necessity to awe them into obedience by his presence, which strikes terror into           the hearts even of his greatest favorites. So far, upon the whole, as we may at present judge, any

chabges that may have taken place in the affairs of Spain and the rest of Europe militate strongly against the ambition of the Corsican Emperor. As a maritime power France may be literally said to be in state of perfect non-existence : --the wealth and position of Spain which before enabled him to facilitate his projects, he now feels the want

of, and by pillage would be fain atone for the in- jury he has done himself.

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