in-chief of H.M. squadron in the Tagus wrote to Commander Glascock as follows:–
“Sir,– I have this morning received l»y the Leveret your several letters of the 10th, 15th, and 17th instant, the two former detailing the late important events between the contending parties on the banks of the Douro; and I have to express my entire approbation of the zeal and judgment manifested throughout by your correspondence during an anxious and delicate service. I am, &c.
On the 23d Nov., two British brigs, having on board horses and forage for the constitutional army, forced the blockade in opposition to a heavy fire that was opened on them from a battery on the heights of the southern bank of the river. Both the brigs were struck by four or five shot – one was not in the least damaged, the other was hulled between wind and water, and had one horse killed. They attempted to take shelter under cover of his Majesty’s ships, a step which was not sanctioned by Commander Glascock, who consequently insisted upon their being warped a-head of the squadron. The Miguelites continued firing upon them, pointing their gims between the masts of the Orestes and AEtna, but without doing either ship any damage. On the 27th, the Pedroite schooner Gracioso, with colours flying, forced the blockade in excellent style, and ran up the river, returning with her pop-guns the fire of the Sampaio battery. On the following day, Don Pedro’s troops made some sixty or seventy prisoners, and massacred as many more when in the act of laying down their arms. The number of killed and wounded on the Miguelite side could not be ascertained. About seventy of the constitutionalists were seriously wounded. On the 30th, Oporto was bombarded for several hours; several hundred shells had previously been thrown into the town, but not more than five or six persons had perished. On the 1st Dec, Commander Glascock reported to the Admiralty as follows:–
