Page images
PDF
EPUB

P. S. Since writing the above,
I have received a report, that
Major-General Sir William Pon-
sonby is killed, and, in announc-
ing this intelligence to your lord- Earl Bathurst, &c.
ship, I have to add the expression
of my grief, for the fate of an
officer, who had already render-
ed very brilliant and important
services, and was an ornament to
his profession.

guards. I propose to send the
whole to England by Ostend.
I have the honour to be, &c.
WELLINGTON.

2d P. S. I have not yet got the returns of killed and wounded, but I enclose a list of officers killed and wounded on the two days, as far as the same can be made out without the returns; and I am very happy to add, that Col.. Delancey is not dead, and that strong hopes of his recovery are entertained.

DOWNING-STREET,

June 23, 1815. A dispatch, of which the following is a copy, was this day received from Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K. G. to Earl Bathurst, his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the War Department.

Brussels, June 19, 1815. My Lord, I have to inform your lordship, in addition to my dispatch of this morning, that we have already got here five thousand prisoners, taken in the action of yesterday, and that there are above two thousand more coming in to-morrow; there will probably be many more. Among the prisoners are the Count Lobau, who commanded the 6th corps, and General Cambrone, who commanded a division of the

WAR DEPARTMENT.

Downing-street, June 29, 1815. Dispatches, of which the following are extracts, have been this day received by Earl Bathurst from Field-Marshal his Grace the Duke of Wellington, dated Cateau, 22d, and Joncourt, 25th

instant.

Le Cateau, June 22, 1815. We have continued in march on the left of the Sambre since I wrote to you. Marshal Blucher crossed that river on the 19th, in pursuit of the enemy, and both armies entered the French territory yesterday; the Prussians by Beaumont, and the allied army, under my command, by Bavay.

The remains of the French army have retired upon Laon. All accounts agree in stating, that it is in a very wretched state; and that, in addition to its losses in battle and in prisoners, it is losing vast numbers of men by desertion.

The soldiers quit their regiments in parties, and return to their homes; those of the cavalry and artillery selling their horses to the people of the country.

The 3d corps, which in my dispatch of the 19th I informed your lordship had been detached to observe the Prussian army, remained in the neighbourhood of Wavre till the 20th; it then made good its retreat by Namur and Dinant. N 2

This

This corps is the only one remaining entire.

I am not yet able to transmit your lordship returns of the killed and wounded in the army in the late actions.

It gives me the greatost satisfaction to inform you, that Col. Delancy is not dead: he is badly wounded, but his recovery is not doubted, and I hope will be early.

was

Joncourt, June 25, 1815. Finding that the garrison of Cambray was not very strong, and that the place was not very well supplied with what wanting for its defence, I sent Lieutenant-general Sir Charles Colville there, on the day before yesterday, with one brigade of the 4th division, and Sir C. Grant's brigade of cavalry; and upon his report of the strength of the place, I sent the whole division yesterday morning.

I have now the satisfaction of reporting that Sir Charles Colville took the town by escalade yesterday evening, with trifling loss, and from the communications which he has since had with the governor of the citadel, I have every reason to hope that that post will have been surrendered to a governor sent there by the King of France, to take possession of it, in the course of this day.

St. Quentin has been abandoned by the enemy, and is in possession of Marshal Prince Blucher; and the castle of Guise surrendered last night.

All accounts concur in stating, that it is impossible for the enemy to collect an army to make head against us.

It appears that the French corps which was opposed to the Prussians on the 18th inst. and had been at Wavre, suffered considerably in its retreat, and lost some of its cannon.

WAR DEPARTMENT.

Downing-street, July 3. A dispatch, of which the following is an extract, was received last night by Earl Bathurst, addressed to his lordship by the Duke of Wellington, dated

Orville, June 28, 1815.

The citadel of Cambray surrendered on the evening of the 25th instant, and the King of France proceeded there with his Court and his troops on the 26th. I have given that fort over entirely to his Majesty.

I attacked Peronne, with the 1st brigade of guards, under Major-General Maitland, on the 26th in the afternoon. The troops took the hornwork, which covers the suburb on the left of the Somme, by storm, with but small loss; and the town immediately afterwards surrendered, on condition that the garrison should lay down their arms and be allowed to return to their homes.

The troops upon this occasion behaved remarkably well; and I have great pleasure in reporting the good conduct of a battery of artillery of the troops of the Netherlands.

I have placed in garrison there two battalions of the troops of the King of the Netherlands.

The armies under Marshal Blucher and myself have conti

nued

nued their operations since I last wrote to your lordship. The necessity which I was under of halting at Cateau, to allow the pontoons and certain stores to reach me, and to take Cambray and Peronne, had placed the marshal one march before me: but I conceive there is no danger in this separation between the two armies.

He has one corps this day at Crespy, with detachments at Villars Coterets and La Ferté Milon; another at Senlis; and the fourth corps, under General Bulow, towards Paris: he will have his advanced guard to-morrow at St. Denis and Gonasse. The army under my command has this day its right behind St. Just, and its left behind Taub, where the high road from Compiegne joins the high road from Roye to Paris.

The reserve is at Roye.
We shall be upon the Oise to-

morrow.

It appears by all accounts, that the enemy's corps collected at Soissons, and under Marshal Grouchy, have not yet retired upon Paris; and Marshal Blucher's troops are already between them and that city.

FOREIGN OFFICE, JULY 5. Dispatches, of which the following are extracts, have been

received at this office.

Extract of a dispatch from Wm. A'Court, Esq. his Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of the two Sicilies, to Viscount Castlereagh, dated

Naples, June 17.
I have the satisfaction to inform

your Lordship, that his Sicilian Majesty made this day his public entry into his capital, after an absence of nine years. The crowd that thronged the road all the way from Portici was immense, and nothing could exceed the enthusiasm of the people on the appearance of their legitimate Monarch. It was impossible to mistake the public feeling upon this occasion. The theatrical processions of Murat drew crowds, as I am told, of curious spectators, but curiosity was not the inducement here; in every countenance might be read the honest expression of heartfelt joy, at the return of a beloved and native sovereign.

His Majesty was received, on his arrival at the palace, by all the principal nobility of the country, the great majority of whom appeared to partake of the enthusiasm which had been previously demonstrated by the lower classes. In fact, never was national joy so unequivocally and so universally displayed.

Extract of a Dispatch from Lord Burghersh to Viscount Castlereagh, dated

Naples, June 17. Having received the commands of his Majesty King Ferdinand IV. to attend him from Portici, in his entry into his capital, I had the honour of being present with his Majesty, and of witnessing the enthusiasm with which he was received by his people. The King entered Naples at the head of his own troops, together with the Austrians and British, who defiled before him on his arrival at his palace.

The

The constant attachment the Neapolitan people are known to have ever borne their legitimate sovereign, makes it unnecessary to detail to your Lordship their joy at his return. His Majesty reassumes the government of his country, beloved and respected by all classes of his subjects.

WAR DEPARTMENT.

Downing-Street, July 7. Captain Lord Arthur Hill arrived last night with dispatches, of which the following are an extract and a copy, addressed to Earl Bathurst by his Grace the Duke of Wellington, dated Gonasse, 2d and 4th instant.

Gonasse, July 2, 1815. The enemy attacked the advanced guard of Marshal Prince Blucher's corps at Villars Coterets, on the 28th, but the main body coming up they were driven off, with the loss of 6 pieces of cannon, and about 1000 prisoners.

It appears that these troops were on the march from Soissons to Paris, and having been driven off that road by the Prussian troops at Villars Coterets, they got upon that of Meaux. They were attacked again upon this road by General Bulow, who took from them five hundred prisoners, and drove them across the Marne.

They have, however, got into Paris.

The advanced guard of the allied army under my command crossed the Oise on the 29th, and the whole on the 30th, and we yesterday took up a position with the right upon the height of Roche

bourg, and the left upon the Bois de Bondy.

Field Marshal Prince Blucher having taken the village of Aubervilliers, or Vertus, on the morning of the 30th June, moved to his right, and crossed the Seine at St. Germain as I advanced, and he will this day have his right at Plessis Pique, his left at St. Cloud, and the reserve at Versailles.

The enemy have fortified the heights of Montmartre and the town of St. Denis strongly ; and by means of the little rivers Rouillon and la Vielle Mar, they have inundated the ground on the north side of that town, and water having been introduced into the canal de l'Ourcq, and the bank formed into a parapet and batteries, they have a strong position on this side of Paris.

The heights of Belleville are likewise strongly fortified, but I am not aware that any defensive works have been thrown up on the left of the Seine.

Having collected in Paris all the troops remaining after the battle of the 18th, and all the depots of the whole army, it is supposed the enemy have there about 40 or 50,000 troops of the line and guards, besides the national guards, a new levy called Les Tiralleurs de la Garde, and the Federés..

I have great pleasure in informing your Lordship that Quesnoy surrendered to His Royal Highness Prince Frederick of the Netherlands on the 29th June.

I enclose the copy of His Royal Highness's report upon this subject, in which your Lordship will observe with satisfaction the intelligence and spirit with which

this young Prince conducted this town and I continued the fire un

affair.

I likewise understand that Bassaume has surrendered to the officer sent there by the King of France to take possession of that

town.

(TRANSLATION.)

Petit Wargnies, June 28, 1815. "On the day before yesterday I had the honour of receiving your Grace's letter, dated Joncourt, 26th inst. sent by your Aide-de-Camp, Capt. Cathcart, whom I have requested to inform your Excellency that Marshal Count Rothallier had arrived this morning to summon the place in the name of Louis XVIII. He entered into a negociation with Lieutenant-General Despreaux, Governor of Quesnoy. The only result, however, produced by this was a very singular reply from the Governor, from which it appeared to me that he might possibly be induced to capitulate, and I determined at once on firing some shells and shot into the town, and of advancing our tirailleurs to the very glacis, to annoy them in every quarter, with a view of making some impression on the Commandant, and of endeavouring by that means to excite to revolt the National Guards and inhabitants, who are said to be well disposed towards us.

From information collected as to the fortifications, there appeared to me no reasonable chance of taking it by escalade, the ditches being filled with water, in addition to the inundation which had been made. At eleven o'clock at night, I ordered five howitzers and six six-pounders to open on the

til three o'clock at day-break. The town was at one time on fire in three places, but the fire was shortly extinguished. Some men were killed in the town, and several wounded, which appears to have produced exactly the effect which I wished. Last night General Anthing, who commands the Indian Brigade, sent an officer with the proposals to the Commandant, according to the authority which I had given to him, and coupled with a threat of bombardment and assault.

Upon this a negotiation was entered into, which ended in the signing of the following capitulation this night: that is to say, that he would send an officer, with an Aid-de-Camp of General Anthing, to Cambray, to ascertain the fact of the residence of the King of France in that town, and the abdication of Buonaparte in favour of his son, and that, thereupon, he would give us this night, at six o'clock, possession of the Porte des Forets, to be occupied by a company of artillery, and that the next morning the garrison should march out of the town; the National Guards to lay down their arms and return to their homes; the Commander, and that part of the garrison who were not National Guards, were to go and receive the orders of Louis XVIII. in whose name we shall take possession of the town.

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »