The activity of the Oporto correspondents of the Times and
Herald furnished us yesterday with some interesting intelligence respecting the movements of the Liberal and Miguelite forces, military and naval. It appears that no renewal of the attack of the 29th September, nor any serious attempt at disturbing the re- pose of Oporto, was made by the besiegers, until the evening of Thursday the I 1 th instant. On that evening, two newly- . constructed batteries on the heights of Villa Nova commenced playing on Oporto, and Continued for the greater part of the night to throw in shot and shells; without, 6however,' effecting any damage to life or property, worth recording. This firing continued during Friday. On the evening of .Friday, it became apparent that the firing on Oporto was but a preliminary exercise of their guns, and that the real object of annoyance was the convent of the Serra. The batteries directed against the convent consisted of fifty-four guns and three mortars, distributed in three batteries; and from the commencement of the bombardment on Friday, until' Sunday afternoon about three o'clock, their fire was continuous, . rapid, and precise. It was at first imagined, from the length of the firing, that the only object of the assailants was to try how : far it was possible to damage the walls of the Serra, and that no closer attack Was -meditated: 'About Three o'clock on Sunday, however, the garrison were surprised by the sudden apparitiOn of ! three hundred men ofa forlorn hope, close under the long wall of the - Cerea, against which the balls of the enemy had been so long and so incessantly playing. There doe's not seem on this occasion to , have been any. of that disinclination- on the part of the ITguelite officers tobeacl their-men, whieliwas perceptible On the 29th Septem- ter. They seem, On the contrary; to have acted with a courage and devotedness that Would' have done honour to any cause. But, frOm a very capital mistake in those who had the direction of the as- sault, not less than from the excellent conduct of General TORRES, Colonel Baa.vd, and the 'soldiers of the garrison, the bravery of MiaueL's leaders and their men only hastened their own destruc- tion, without affording even a chance of success to the cause they fought for. Although; by the, effect Of the shot and shells dis- charged against the convent during the previous thirty hours, a great portion of one of the walls was severely. shaken and part of it tumbled down, the ignoranze of the besiegers had left wholly untmiched"the'external defences: so that, when the forlorn hope . rushed forward tO the breach, they were Surprised and dismayed to find between thein and it h forinidable stockade and ditch, from behind which the garrison could pick them off, Officers and men, with as much precision and not much greater risk than if they had been firing at a Mark for exercise merely. The only resource. of the assailants, when they found advance impossible, was to • cover themselves in the best manner they could, and open a vain ' fire of musketry on the breach. Here also their endeavours were only injurious to themselves. The Serra is within easy range Of the batteries on the left bank of the stream; and a party of Miguel- • ites being observed . by these batteries sheltering themselves in some cottages, from which they -sought to annoy the garrison, an. instant fire was opened upon them; the walls under which they were crowded were beaten to the ground; and. before they could - well retire, the cottages were in a blaze from the rockets and shells. The fire of the attack upon the Serra began to slack about four o'clock, though again and again it was renewed upon that part where the breach in the outer wall had been effected. About half-past five; these vain and bloody efforts were inter- mitted, and by six the last dropping shots. of the retreating band were heard in the distance. The precise amount of the as killed and wounded,- in this attack, cannot be ascertain ton' it,'`,„ could hardly be less than 600 or 700, of whom on beIf:Were killed: 120 dead, according to the official account 11W- Pedro- ites, were found in the trenches of the Serra, and the fate of more had been ascertained : forty waggon-loads of warided, itwas also known had been carried to the rear during an Subseqnent to the ..assault It is said that the forces emplgegt by .Don, MIGUEL on this occasion amounted to 5,000 men. 4,1(e). damage
to the garrison was small; and notwithstanding it Wed ,
that at least 3,000 shot and shells were fired against it, the con- -went is considereddo all intents and purposes as tenable as before -the first gun was fired. There has been an engagement at sea between the Miguelite .and the Liberating forces, the results of which are not without importance, though they are not quite so decisive. It appears that the Miguelite Admiral had taken advantage of SAgrontus's return to the Douro, to put once more to sea,—with a view, it is said, to land some heavy guns for the service of the besieging army. His fleet having chased the Briton, under the notion that it formed one of SARTORIUS'S squadron, the news of their having left the Tagus was made known to SA.RTORIUS very speedily, and he immediately sailed to meet them. In the interim, however, the-Miguelites had put into the Spanish port of Vigo, to procure fresh provisions; and thither without scruple SARTORIUS followed them. He took up a position about four miles off the town, while Admiral FELIX dropped anchor close to it. A hope was very generally entertained and expressed, when these facts were made known, that the Miguelite squadron had at length reached their destined haven, and that they would not venture out till SARTORIITS was joined by the Wellington, which junction would enable him to give an effectual account of them. In this hope, however, the friends of PEDRO have been disappointed. On Wednesday the 10th, Admiral FELIX contrived to slip out of Vigo, unperceived by his antagonist; and though the latter speedily followed, and succeeded in bringing him to an action, the smaller force of the Liberals rendered the capture or destruction of the Miguelites a matter of impossibility. Two of SARTORIUS'S ves- sels, the Donna Maria and Rainha, were severely handled. The former had about ninety shot through her hull, and her main- Mast was badly wounded ; and during an attempt to continue the action by wearing the Donna Maria, the Miguelite Admiral con- trived to bear up, and by crowding sail, get clear away. He ar- rived in the Tagus on the 14th; where it was ascertained that he also had suffered severely from the Pedroites' shot. SARTORIUS, on the 19th, was anchored off the Douro; where he was busily engaged in the necessary repairs of his fleet. His loss was 12 kaled, 14 dangerously, and 13 slightly wounded. Among the slightly wounded, was the gallant Admiral himself. Thus far he has succeeded: the enemy, which has now for the second time put to sea with a view to his destruction, has twice been com- pelled to return whence he came, the second time dishonourably, and with no iaconsiderable loss of men. They acknowledge 20 killed and 49 wounded.
The anticipation at Oporto on the 19th was, that a second grand attack on the town would be made on the 26th, MIGUEL'S birth- day : the last, it may be recollected, was made on his saint's clay, the 29th September : if the second fail, he must make the next on his devil's day, if he can find it out. Since the 29th, the defences -of the town—more especially those where the English and French were stationed on that day—have been greatly strength- ened, by the judicious advice of an old German officer. The houses and orange-groves which served to cover the Portuguese attack, have been swept away ; and if they come upon that point again, they must be content to do so openly. Nothing could be more disgracefully unmilitary than the position occupied by the English on the 29th: bad they not been as brave as they were blundering, not a man of them would have escaped.
The accounts from Lisbon speak of the state of the English in that city as exceedingly disagreeable and dangerous. A Spanish servant belonging to Lord WILLIA31 RUSSELL'S establishment was deliberately murdered by a policeman, on the 14th, while sitting on the sill of his master's door. We know not whether it was in con- sequence of this outrage, or of other outrages anticipated, that when the latest accounts left Lisbon, the Caledonia and Revenge were working up from Cascaes Bay towards the town. MIGUEL left Lisbon for Coimbra on the 17th; he says, to review his brave army, but in reality, it was supposed, to direct the attack of the 26th, or to consult upon it with Sir J. CAMPBELL. The crew of the steam-boat, which was lost on the occasion of Admiral FELIX sailing from the Tagus, did not, it-is now ascertained, perish : the whole of them were saved by the boats of the squadron. There was a report at Lisbon, that her sinking was not accidental, but planned.
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