plain of St. Eufemia; his flanks were strengthened by a thick impervious underwood. The Amato, a river perfectly fordable, but of which the sides are extremely marshy, run along his front; my approach to him from the sea side (along the borders of which I directed my march, until I had nearly turned his left) was across a spacious plain, which gave him every opportunity of minutely observing my movements. Had general Regnier thought proper to remain upon his ground, the difficulties of access to him were such, that I could not possibly have made an impression upon him. But quitting this advantage, and crossing the river with his entire force, he came down to meet us upon the open plain-a measure to which he was no doubt encouraged by a consideration of his cavalry, an arm with which, unfortunately, I was altogether unprovided. After some close firing of the flankers to cover the deployments of the two armies, by nine o'clock in the morning the opposing fronts were warm. ly engaged, when the prowess of the rival nations seemed now fairly to be at trial before the world, and the superiority was greatly and gloriously decided to be our own. The corps which formed the right of the advanced line, was the battalion of light infantry commanded by lieut. col. Kempt, consisting of the light companies of the 20th, 27th, 35th, 58th, 61st, 81st, and Watteville's, together with 150 chosen battalionmen of the 35th regiment, under major Robinson. Directly opposed to them was the favourite French regiment the 1st Legere. The two corps at the distance of about 100 yards fired reciprocally a few rounds, when, as if by mutual agreement,

the firing was suspended, and in close compact order and awful silence, they advanced towards each other, until their bayonets began to cross At this momentous crisis the enemy became appalled. They broke, and endeavoured to fly, but it was too late; they were overtaken with the most dreadful slaughter.Brig.-general Auckland, whose brigade was immediately on the left of the light infantry, with great spirit availed himself of this favourable moment to press instantly forward upon the corps in his front; the brave 78th regiment, commanded by lieut.-col. Macleod, and the 81st regiment, under major Plenderleath, both distinguished themselves on this occasion. The enemy fled with dismay and disorder before them, leav ing the plain covered with their dead and wounded. The enemy being thus completely discomfited on their left, began to make a new effort with their right, in the hopes of recovering the day. They were resisted most gallantly by the brigade under brig.-gen. Cole. Nothing could shake the undaunted firmness of the grenadiers under lieut.col. O'Callaghan, and of the 27th regiment under lieut.-col. Smith. The cavalry, successively repelled from before their tront, made an effort to turn their left, when lieut.col. Ross, who had that morning landed from Messina with the 20th regiment, and was coming up to the army during the action, having ob served the movement, threw his regiment opportunely into a small cover upon their flank, and by a heavy and well-directed fire entirely disconcerted this attempt. This was the last feeble struggle of the enemy, who now, astonished and dismayed by the intrepidity with

which they were assailed, began precipitately to retire, leaving the field covered with carnage. Above 700 bodies of their dead have been buried upon the ground. The wounded and prisoners already in our hands (among which are general Compere, and an aid-de-camp, the lieutenant-colonel of the Swiss regiment, and a long list of officers of different ranks) amount to above 1000. There are also above 1000 men left in Monteleone and the different posts between this and Reggio, who have mostly notified their readiness to surrender whenever a British force shall be sent to receive their submission, and to protect them from the fury of the people.-The peasantry are hourly bringing in fugitives, who dispersed in the woods and mountains after the battle. In short, never has the pride of our presumptuous enemy been more severely humbled, nor the superiority of the British troops more gloriously proved, than in the events of this memorable day. His majesty may, perhaps, still deign to appreciate more highly the achievements of this little army, when it is known that the second division, which the enemy were said to be expecting, had all joined them the night before the action; no statement that I have heard of their numbers places them at a less calculation than 7000 men.Our victorious infantry continued the pursuit of the routed enemy as long as they were able; but, as the latter dispersed in every direction, and we were under the necessity of preserving our order, the trial of speed became unequal.-The total loss occasioned to the enemy by this conflict cannot be less than 4000 men. When I oppose to the above our own small comparative loss, as VOL. XLVIII.

underneath detailed, his majesty will, I hope, discern in the fact the happy effects of that established dis cipline to which we owe the triumphs by which our army has been latterly so highly distinguished.-[ am now beginning my march southward, preparatory to my return to Sicily, for which station I shall reembark with the army, as soon as his Sicilian majesty shall have arranged a disposition of his own forces to secure those advantages which have been gained by the present expedition.-There seldom has happened an action in which the zeal and personal exertions of indi viduals were so imperiously called for as in the present; seldom an occasion where a general had a fairer opportunity of observing them. The general officers, and those who com. manded regiments, will feel a stronger test of their merits in the circum. stances which have been detailed of their conduct, than in any eulbgium I could presume to pass upon them. The 58th and Watteville's regiment, commanded by licut.-cols. Johnstone and Watteville, which formed the reserve, under col. Oswald, were ably directed in their application to that essential duty.-The judgment and effect with which our artillery. was directed by major Lemoine was, in our dearth of cavalry, of most essential use; and I have a pleasure in reporting the effective services of that valuable and distinguished corps.-To the several departments of the army, every acknowledge. ment is due; but to no officer am I' bound to express them so fully, on my part, as to lieut.-col. Bunbury, the deputy-quarter-master-general, to whose zeal, activity, and able arrangements in the important

branch of service which he directs,

the army as well as myself are under every marked obligation. From captain Tomlin, the acting head of the adjutant general's department, and from the officers of my own family, I have received much active assistance. Among the latter I am to mention lieut.-colonel Moore, of the 23d light dragoons, who being in Sicily for his health at the time of our departure, solicited permission to accompany me on this expedition; he was wounded in the execution of my orders. From the medical department, under the direction of Mr. Grieves, the deputy inspector, I am to acknowledge much professional attention; the more so as their labours have been greatly accumulated by the number of wounded prisoners who have become, equally with our own, the subject of their care. The scene of action was too far from the sea to enable us to derive any co-operation from the navy; but admiral sir Sidney Smith, who had arrived in the bay the evening before the action, had directed such a disposition of ships and gun-boats as would have greatly favoured us had events obliged us to retire. The solicitude, however, of every part of the navy to be of use to us, the promptitude with which the seamen hastened on shore with our supplies, their anxiety to assist our wounded, and the tenderness with which they treated them, would have been an affecting circumstance to observers even the most indifferent. To me it was parti. cularly so. Captain Fellows, of the Apollo, has been specially attached to this expedition by the rear-admiral; and, in every circumstance of professional service, I beg leave to mention our grateful obligations to this off eer, as well as to captains

Cocket and Watson, agents of trans. ports, who acted under his orders.

Captain Bulkeley, my aid-decamp, who will have the honour of presenting this letter to you, has attended me throughout the whole of the services in the Mediterranean, and will therefore be able to give you every additional information on the subject of my present communi. cation.

J. STUART, Maj. Gen.

Total Killed and Wounded of the British Troops, July 4.

One officer, 3 serjeants, 41 rank and file, killed; 11 officers, 8 serjeants, 2 drummers, 261 rank and file, wounded.

Names of Officers killed and wounded.

Killed, light infantry battalion, captain M'Leane, 20th foot. Wounded, grenadier battalion, major Hammill, of royal regiment of Malta. Light infantry battalion, major Paulett, 44th foot, severely. 78th foot, 2d battalion, lieutenantcolonel M'Leod; major D. Stuart ; captains D. M'Pherson and D. M'Gregor; lieutenant J. McKay; ensigns C. M'Kenzie and P. M'Gre gor.-81st foot, 1st battalion, capt. Waterhouse; lieutenant and adjutant Ginger.-Staff, lieutenant col. Moore, 23d light dragoons, acting aid-de-camp to sir J. Stuart.

R. TOMLIN, Assist. Adj. Gen.

Sept. 7. A dispatch from H. Elliot, esq. to Mr. Fox, dated Palermo, Aug. 5, incloses the following from sir John Stuart. Mr. Elliot observes, "That every fort along the coasts, all the depôts of stores, ammunition, and artillery, prepared for the attack of Sicily, are become the prey of the victors; and what, perhaps, may be considered as even

of still more consequence than those advantages, an indelible impression is established of the superior bravery and discipline of the British troops."

Extract of a Dispatch from Sir John Stuart, to Hugh Elliot, esq. dated Messina, August 3.

"Having occasion to send an express to my aid-de-camp, captain Bulkeley, at Palermo, I avail myself of the opportunity to acquaint you with another fortunate result of our auspicious day at Maida. Cotrone, with all its stores, magazines, &c. and 600 troops (now prisoners) capitulated on Wednesday evening last, to the land and naval forces of his Britannic majesty, under lieut.-col. M'Leod, of the 78th regiment, and capt. Hoste, of the Amphion, who were assisted in their operations against that place, and upon the adjacent coasts, by the gun-boats of his Sicilian Majesty. 300 prisoners, who prove to be survivors of the wounded after the action of the 4th ult. are already arrived in this fort. General Regnier, who had endeavoured to hold his position, under much embarrassment for some time past, between Cotrone and Catanzaro, has retreated precipitately towards Tarento; and it was reported, when the transport left Cotrone, that he had been attacked by the masse, and had lost 6 or 700 of his flying people. I am now to congratulate you on the total evacuation of Calabria Ultra, in which single province, previous to the action of the 4th, we have every certainty that the enemy had a distributed force of at least 9000 men; of these, when general Regnier quitted his position near Cotrone, certainly not 3000 remained.

The losses of the French in Upper Calabria have also borne a proportion. A great deal of heavy ordnance, lately transported by the French to Cotrone, besides what was found mounted on the castle, amounting in the whole to about 40 picces, have fallen into our hands."

A dispatch from general Fox to Mr. Windham, dated Messina, Aug. 3, incloses extracts from two letters received from lieutenant-colonel M'Cleod, of the 78th regiment, which give a detail of the operations that led to the surrender of Cotrone. Much praise is bestowed on captain、 Hoste, for the judicious manner in which he brought his frigate and the gun-boats to the annoyance of the enemy. In the second letter, speaking of the enemy's retreat from be fore Cotrone, in which a garrison was left of 1000 men, it appears that they retired precipitately amongst the mountains, endeavouring to pass by Cozenza. He adds-" The ene my's route from this city has been marked by circumstances of the most cruel devastation. The village of Strongoli, with several others within our view, which he conceived hostile to his cause, have been ransacked, and burnt to the ground. Our information of yesterday stated, that 1000 men had been left to garrison the town and city of Cotrone; but several deserters, who joined us this morning, having mentioned that the greatest part of this force had marched to join their army in the course of the night, captain Hoste agreed with myself in the propriety of summoning the town and citadel to surrender to the force under our orders, conceiving that the immediate possession of what we understood to be the enemy's sole depôt, Qq2

and