Your answer as to the Corfu blockade is approved; and should the answer to it render the reply necessary, the President directs you to remonstrate against such a blockade; availing yourself, as far as they may be applicable, of the ideas in the letter to Mr. Charles Pinkney of October 1801, and particularly of the proof it affords of our early remonstrance against the principle of such blockades. No communication having yet been made by General Armstrong of a letter to him from the Duke of Cadore, declaring, that the Berlin and Milan decrees will cease to be in force from the 1st day of November next, I can at this time only inform you, that if the proceeding of the French government, when officially received, should correspond with the printed letter of the Duke of Cadore, inclosed in your despatch, you will let the British government understand, that on the 1st day of November, the President will issue his proclamation, conformably to the act of congress, and that the non-intercourse law will consequently be revived against Great Britain. And if the British government should not, with the early notice received of the repeal of the French decrees, have revoked all its orders which violate our neutral rights, it should not be overlooked, that congress, at their approaching session, may be induced not to wait for the expiration of the three months (which were allowed on the supposition that the first notice might pass through the United States) before they give effect to the renewal of the non-intercourse. This consideration ought to have its weight, in dissuading the British government from the policy in every respect misjudged, of procrastinating the repeal of its illegal edicts. If the British government be sincerely disposed to come to a good understanding, and to cultivate a friendly intercourse with the United States, it cannot but be sensible of the necessity, in addition to a compliance with the act of congress, of concluding at this time a general arrangement of the topics between the two countries; and, above all, such an one as will, upon equitable terms, effectually put a stop to the insufferable vexations to which our seamen have been and are yet exposed, from the British practice of impressment, a practice which has so strong a bearing on our neutrality, and to which no nation can submit consistently with its independency. To this very interesting subject you will therefore recall the attention of the British government, and you will accordingly consider yourself hereby authorized to discuss and adjust the same separately, conformably to the instructions in my letter to you of the 20th January last, on the condition, however, contained in that letter, namely, that the requisite atonement shall have been previously made in the case of the outrage on the Chesapeake, but as in this case every admissible advance has been exhausted on the part of the United States, it will be improper to renew the subject to the British government, with which it must lie to come forward with the requisite satisfaction to the United States. You will therefore merely evince a disposition to meet, in a conciliatory form, any overtures that may be made on the part of the British government. The British government, having so long omitted to fulfil the just expectations of the United States, in relation to a successor to Mr. Jackson, notwithstanding the reiterated assurances to you of such an intention, has no claims to further indulgence. On the receipt of this letter, therefore, should the appointment of a plenipotentiary successor not have been made and communicated to you, you will let your purpose be known of returning to the United States, unless indeed, the British government should have unequivocally manifested a disposition to revoke their orders in council, conformably to the act of congress of May last, and our affairs with them should have.. have accordingly taken so favourable a turn as to justify, in your judgment, a further suspension of it. (Signed) Wm. Pinkney, Esq. &c. &c. I have the honour, &c. &c. R. SMITH. Extract of a Letter from General Armstrong to-Mr. Smith, dated Mr. Champagny stated, that the order given in relation to our ships, &c. &c. in Spain was a regular consequence of the system declared in his letter of the god of August last, and which had been promulgated throughout the United States. It is obvious,' he added, that H. M cannot permit to his allies a commerce which he denies to himself. This would be at once to defeat his system, and oppress his subjects, by demanding from them great and useless sacrifices; for if the system be not strictly observed every where, it cannot any where produce the effects expected from it. Still, he said, the property is only sequestered, and becomes a subject of the present negociation. As our remonstrances have been sufficiently frequent and free; as this was a meeting merely of conciliation, and as the closing remark of the minister indicated rather the policy of looking forward to our rights, than backward on our wrongs, I thought it most prudent to suppress the obvious answers which might have been given to his observations, and which, under other circumstances, should not have been omitted. I accordingly contented myself with expressing a hope, that our future intercourse should be a competition only of good offices." In conformity to the suggestion contained in your letter of the 1st of December 1809, I demanded whether, if Great Britain revoked her blockades, of a date anterior to the decree commonly called the Berlin decrees, H. M. the emperor would consent to revoke the said decree? to which the minister answered, that "the only condition required for the revocation by H. M. of the decreee of Berlin, will be a previous revocation by the British government of her blockade of France, or part of France (such as that from the Elbe to Brest) of a date anterior to that of the aforesaid decree, and that if the British government would then recall the orders in counsel which had occasioned the decree of Milan, that decree should also be annulled. Our interview closed here, and we have had no meeting, either accidental or by rendezvous, since."-p. 38. EXTRACTS FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE. Downing Street, July 6, 1811. A DESPATCH, of which the following is an extract, has been re ceived at the office of the Earl of Liverpool, addressed to his Lordship by Lord Viscount Wellington. Quinta de Granicha, June 13. In consequence of a report from the chief engineer, Lieut.-Colonel Fletcher, that the fire from St. Christoval might occasion the loss of many lives on the left Guadiana, and the breach in that out-work having been apparently much improved by the fire throughout the 6th, I 1 I directed that an attempt might be made to carry St. Christoval by storm that night. Major-General Houstoun, who conducted the operations of the siege, on the right of the Guadiana, accordingly ordered a detachment under Major Mackintosh, of the 85th regiment, to make the attempt. The men advanced, under a very heavy fire of musketry and hand grenades from the out-work, and of shot and shells from the town, with the utmost intrepidity, and in the best order, to the bottom of the breach; the advanced guard being led by Ensign Dyas, of the 51st regiment, who volunteered to perform this duty; but they found that the enemy had cleared the rubbish at the bottom of the escarp, and notwithstanding that they were provided with ladders, it was impossible to mount it. They retired with some loss. The fire upon St. Christoval, as well as upon the place, continued on the 7th, 8th, and 9th, on which day the breach in the wall of St. Christoval appeared practicable; and I directed that a second attempt should be made on that night to obtain possession of that out-work. Major-General Houstoun ordered another detachment for this service, under the command of Major M'Geachy, of the 17th Portuguese regiment, who, with the officers destined to command the different parties composing the detachment, had been employed throughout the 8th and 9th in reconuoitring the breach, and the different approaches to it. They advanced at about nine at night, in the best order, though opposed by the same means and with the same determination as had been opposed to the detachment which had made the attempt on the 6th. Ensign Dyas again led the advance, and the storming party arrived at the foot of the breach; but they found it impossible to mount it, the enemy having again cleared the rubbish from the bottom of the escarp. The detachment suffered considerably, and Major M'Geachy, the commanding officer, was unfortunately killed, and others of the officers fell; but the troops continued to maintain their station till Major-General Houstoun ordered them to retire. When the reinforcements had arrived from the frontiers of Castile, after the battle of Albuera, I undertook the siege of Badajoz, entertaining a belief that the means of which I had the command would reduce the place before the end of the second week in June, at which time I expected that the reinforcements for the enemy's southern army detached from Castile would join Marshal Soult. I was unfortunately mistaken in my estimate of the quality of those means. We had failed in two attempts to obtain possession of fort St. Christoval; and it was obvious to me that we could not obtain possession of that out-work, without performing a work which would have required the labour of several days to complete. On the morning of the 10th instant I received the inclosed intercepted dispatch from the Duke of Dalmatia to the Duke of Ragusa, which pointed out clearly the enemy's design to collect in Estremadura their whole force; and I had reason to believe that Drouet's corps, which had marched from Toledo on the 28th and 29th of May, and was expected at Cordova on the 5th and 6th inst. would have joined the GEN. CHRON. VOL. III. NO. XV. 20 southern southern army by the 10th; and it was generally expected in the country, that the southern army would have moved by that time. The movement of this army alone would have created a necessity for raising the siege; but on the same morning I received accounts from the frontiers of Castile, which left no doubt of the destination of the army of Portugal to the southward, and gave ground for belief that they would arrive at Merida on the 15th inst. I therefore ordered that the siege might be raised. I have every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of all the officers and troops employed at the siege of Badajoz, whose labours and exertions deserved a very different result. Major-General Picton directed the operations on the left of the Guadiana, and Major-General Houstoun on the right; and I am much indebted to those officers, as well as to Major-General Hamilton, and the other general and staff-officers, and the officers and troops under their commands respectively. Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher of the Royal Engineers was the directing engineer, and immediately su perintended the operations on the left of the Guadiana, and Captain Squires those on the right of that river; and these officers, and the corps of engineers have, by their conduct on this occasion, augmented their claims to my approbation. Lieut.-Colonel Framingham commanded the artillery, having under his orders Major Dickson, attached to the Portuguese service, who, during the absence of Lieut.Colonel Framingham with the troops which were employed to cover the operations, conducted all the details of this most important department. I had every reason to be satisfied with these officers, and most particularly with Major Dickson, from whose activity, zeal, and intelligence, the public service has derived great advantages in the different operations against Badajoz. Captain Cleves of the Hanoverian Artillery conducted that department on the right of the Guadiana with great success. The service of the batteries was performed by detachments from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd regiments of Portuguese Artillery, who conducted themselves remarkably well. They were aided by Captain Rainsford's company of the Royal Artillery, who were indefatigable, some of them having never quitted the batteries. I am much indebted to General Laite, the governor of the province of Mentejo and of Elvas, for the assistance which he again afforded me in this operation. I inclose a return of the killed and wounded throughout the siege, from which your Lordship will observe that, excepting in the attempts to obtain possession of St. Christoval, our loss has not been severe. We will maintain the blockade of Badajoz. I have not heard that the enemy have moved from their position at Llerena, and I imagine that the arrival of the 9th corps has been delayed longer than was expected, and it is probable that Soult will be unwilling to move till he will hear of the movements of the army of Portugal. They broke up from the Tormes on the 3rd, and their advanced guard arrived at Ciudad Rodrigo on the evening of the 5th. They They moved forward again on the 6th, and Lieut.-General Sir Brent Spencer withdrew the advanced guard of the troops under his command, first to Nave d'Aver, and then to Alfaytes. The enemy patrolled on the 6th into Fuentes de Honor and into Nave d'Aver. I inclose Sir Brent Spencer's report of these operations, from which it appears that the Royal Dragoons, under Lieut.-Colonel Clifton, and a troop of the 14th, the whole directed by Major-General Slade, distinguished themselves.-I imagine that the enemy's march in this direction was intended as a reconnoissance, and to cover the march of a convoy to Ciudad Rodrigo; as on the following day, the 7th, the whole moved from thence to Moras Verdes, in the direction of the pass of Banos, near which pass General Regnier had been with two divisions of the army of Portugal, since the 5th. On the 8th, in the evening, one division of General Regnier's troops had come through Banos, and I expect that those divisions will have arrived at Placentia the 9th, and the whole army on the 10th. P. S. Since writing this dispatch, I have received accounts that General Drouet's troops joined on the enemy's right at Berlanza and Azuaga yesterday, and a report that their cavalry were in movement towards Los Santos this morning. The British cavalry, and the 2nd and 4th divisions, were about to march from Villa Franca and Almendralejo towards Albuera, and I have ordered there General Hamilton's division, and shall proceed there this night myself, if I should find that report confirmed. Total of killed, wounded, and missing, of the army under the command of Lieutenant-General Lord Viscount Wellington, K. B. at the siege of Badajoz, from the 30th May, to 5th June, 1811, both days inclusive. Total British loss-2 lieutenants, 13 rank and file, killed; 1 ensign, 3 serjeants, 48 rank and file, wounded; 2 rank and file, missing. Total Portuguese loss-1 lieutenant, 20 rank and file, killed: 1 lieutenantcolonel, 1 major, 1 lieutenant, 2 ensigns, 1 serjeant, 1 drummer, 63 rank and file, wounded; 2 rank and file, missing. (Signed) Total loss-3 lieutenants, 33 rank and file, killed; 1 lieutenant-colonel, 1 ma jor, 1 lieutenant, 3 ensigns, 4 serjeants, 1 drummer, 111 rank and file, wounded; 4 rank and file, missing. CHARLES STEWART, Major-General and Adjutant-General, Names of officers killed, wounded, and missing, at the siege of Badajoz, from the 30th May, to the 5th June, 1811, inclusive. 2nd Killed-Royal British Foot Artillery, Lieutenant Edmund Hawker. Batt. 5th Foot, Lieutenant Sedgwick. 2nd Portuguese Regiment of the line, Lieutenant Rodrigo de Mello. Wounded-1st Batt. 57th Foot, Ensign Leslie. Portuguese Artillery, Lieutenant Joze Baptista de Silva Lopez. 14th Portuguese Regiment, LieutenantColonel Oliver, severely. 21st ditto, Major Gomez, Joze Vincente. (Signed) CHARLES STEWART, Major-General and Adjutant-General, Total of killed, wounded, and missing, of the army under the command of LieutenantGeneral Lord Viscount Wellington, K. B. at the siege of Badajoz, from the 6th to the 11th June, 1811. Total British loss-3 lieutenants, 1 serjeant, 48 rank and file, killed; 2 cap |