came down from the mountains and entered the town; I have now to acquaint you, that I went on shore with Captain Hamilton, and waited upon the guerilla leader, who informed me that the French had retreated to Almuñecar, 7 miles to the eastward; that they had 300 men there; and considering himself strong enough to attack them, he proposed marching upon it without loss of time. As I was desirous to render the guerillas every assistance in my power, I promised him to anchor the ships in a position to place the enemy between our fire, which gave him great satisfaction, and his men much confidence. I accordingly bore up at 4 o’clock the following morning, with the Termagant and Basilisk, and anchored at point-blank range before the castle, which we silenced in less than an hour. Ad the guerillas were to have arrived at 7 o’clock, and there was no appearance of them at 8, Captain Hamilton volunteered to return to Nersa in his gig, to learn if any thing had occurred to prevent their moving forward. At four in the morning he returned, and informed me that a reinforcement which they expected had not arrived, and that they waited for them before they could advance. At seven o’clock the enemy again opened their fire, having mounted a howitzer in a breach made in the covered way to the castle; but by ten o’clock they were again silenced, and driven, with great loss, into the town, where they fortified themselves in the church and houses. Desirous of sparing the unfortunate inhabitants, whom the French had thus cruelly exposed, I ceased firing; and having destroyed a privateer which lay at anchor under the castle, I weighed and ran down to Nersa, for the purpose of concerting plans with the guerillas. On my arrival, I bad the satisfaction to meet a division commanded by Colonel Febrien, an officer of the truest patriotism, who immediately put himself and troops at my disposal. The roads through the mountains being very tedious, and as no time was to be lost, I resolved to take the infantry, consisting of about 200, on board; and I ordered the cavalry to move forward immediately, and take a position in the rear of the enemy, whilst the infantry, with all the small-arm men and marines, were to land on his flanks. I am sorry that the delay of a calm gave the enemy time to learn our combined movement, as he instantly fled with great precipitation, and joining a corps of 200 at Motril, within four miles of Almuñecar, he retreated from thence upon Grenada.
“As soon as I arrived at my anchorage, I sent Lieutenant Spilsbury and a guerilla officer to hoist the British and Spanish flags on the castle; and immediately began to demolish the works, which are exceedingly strong, as it is built on a peninsula of high rock, scarped all round the sea-face, with a wall 30 feet high. At the land-side the rock is excavated nearly 30 feet deep and 60 wide, with a narrow draw-bridge, which is the only entrance into the castle. I intend to fill up us much of the ditch as possible, by springing mines under each bastion. I found in the castle 2 brass 24-pounders, 6 iron 18-pounders, one 6-pounder, and a howitzer, the whole of