by G. A. Henty
Chapter 2: Talavera.
On leaving the Adjutant General, Terence--knowing that Mackenzie'sbrigade was some two miles in advance on the Alberche river, andthat the enemy was not in sight--sent off one of the orderlies whoaccompanied him, with a message to Herrara to fall back and take uphis station on the lower slopes of the Sierra, facing the roundedhill; and then went to a restaurant and had breakfast. It wascrowded with Spanish officers, with a few British scattered amongthem.
As he ate his food, he was greatly amused at the boasting of theSpaniards as to what they would accomplish, if the French venturedto attack them; knowing as he did how shamefully they had behaved,two days before, when the whole of Cuesta's army had been throwninto utter disorder by two or three thousand French cavalry, andhad only been saved from utter rout by the interposition of aBritish brigade. When he had finished breakfast, he mounted hishorse and rode to the camp of his old regiment.
"Hooroo, Terence!" Captain O'Grady shouted, as he rode up, "Ithought you would be turning up, when there was going to besomething to do. It's yourself that has the knack of always gettinginto the thick of it.
"Orderly, take Colonel O'Connor's horse, and lead him up and down.
"Come on, Terence, most of the boys are in that tent over there. Wehave just been dismissed from parade."
A shout of welcome rose as they entered the tent, where a dozenofficers were sitting on the ground, or on empty boxes.
"Sit down if you can find room, Terence," Colonel Corcoran said."Wouldn't you like to be back with us again, for the shindy that weare likely to have, tomorrow?"
"That I should, but I hope to have my share in it, in my own way."
"Where are your men, O'Connor?"
"They will be, in another hour, at the foot of the mountains overthere to the left. Our business will be to prevent any of theFrench moving along there, and coming down on your rear."
"I am pleased to hear it. I believe that there is a Spanishdivision there, but I am glad to know that the business is not tobe left entirely to them. Now, what have you been doing since youleft us, a month ago?"
"I have been doing nothing, Colonel, but watching the defiles and,as no one has come up them, we have not fired a shot."
"No doubt they got news that you were there, Terence," O'Gradysaid, "and not likely would they be to come up to be destroyed byyou."
"Perhaps that was it," Terence said, when the laughter hadsubsided; "at any rate they didn't show up, and I was very pleasedwhen orders came, at ten o'clock yesterday, for us to leave Banosand march to join the army. We did the forty miles in fourteenhours."
"Good marching," Colonel Corcoran said. "Then where did you halt?"
"About three miles farther off, at the foot of the hills. We saw alot of campfires to our right, and thought that we were in a linewith the army, but of course they were only those of Mackenzie'sdivision; but I sent off an orderly, an hour ago, to tell them tofall back to the slopes facing those hills, where our left is to beposted."
"You are a lucky fellow to have been away from us, Terence, for itis downright starving we have been. The soldiers have only had amouthful of meat served out to them as rations, most days; and theyhave got so thin that their clothes are hanging loose about them.If it hadn't been for my man Doolan and two or three others, whoalways manage, by hook or by crook, to get hold of anything thereis within two or three miles round, we should have been as badlyoff as they are. Be jabers, I have had to take in my sword belt agood two inches; and to think that, while our fellows are well-nighstarving, these Spaniards we came to help, and who will do nofighting themselves, had more food than they could eat, is enoughto enrage a saint.
"I wonder Sir Arthur puts up with it. I would have seized thatstuck-up old fool Cuesta, and popped him into the guard tent, andkept him there until provisions were handed over for us."
"His whole army might come to rescue him, O'Grady."
"What if they had? I would have turned out a corporal's guard, andsent the whole of them trotting off in no time. Did you hear whattook place two days ago?"
"Yes, I heard that they behaved shamefully, O'Grady; still, I thinka corporal's guard would hardly be sufficient to turn them, but Ido believe that a regiment might answer the purpose."
"I can tell you that there is nothing would please the troops morethan to attack the Spaniards. If this goes on many more days, ourmen will be too weak to march; but I believe that, before they liedown and give it up altogether, they will pitch into the Spaniards,in spite of what we may try to do to prevent them," the Colonelsaid. "Here we are in a country abounding with food, and we arestarving, while the Spaniards are feasting in plenty; and by SaintPatrick's beard, Terence, it is mighty little we should do toprevent our men from pitching into them. There is one thing, youmay be sure. We shall never cooperate with them in the future and,as to relying upon their promises, faith, they are not worth thebreath it takes to make them."
As everything was profoundly quiet, Terence had no hesitation instopping to lunch with his old friends and, as there was nodifficulty in buying whatever was required in Talavera, the tablewas well supplied, and the officers made up for their enforcedprivation during the past three weeks.
At three o'clock Terence left them and rode across to his command,which he found posted exactly where he had directed it.
"It is lucky that we filled up with flour at Banos, beforestarting, Colonel," Bull said, "for from what we hear, the soldiersare getting next to nothing to eat; and those cattle you bought atthe village halfway, yesterday, will come in very handy. At anyrate, with them and the flour we can hold out for a week, if needbe."
"Still, you had better begin at once to be economical, Bull. Thereis no saying what may happen after this battle has been fought."
While they were talking, a sudden burst of firing, at a distance,was heard.
"Mackenzie's brigade is engaged!" Terence exclaimed. "You hadbetter get the men under arms, at once. If the whole of Victor'scommand is upon them, they will have to fall back.
"When the men are ready, you may as well come a few hundred feethigher up the hill, with me. Then you will see all over thecountry, and be in readiness to do anything that is wanted. But itis not likely the French will attempt anything serious, today. Theywill probably content themselves with driving Mackenzie in."
Terence went at once up the hill, to a point whence he could lookwell over the round hills on the other side of the valley, and makeout the British and Spanish lines, stretching to Talavera. Thetroops were already formed up, in readiness for action. Away to hisleft came the roll of heavy firing from the cork woods near theAlberche and, just as his three officers joined him, the Britishtroops issued pell mell from the woods. They had, in fact, beentaken entirely by surprise; and had been attacked so suddenly andvigorously that, for a time, the young soldiers of some of theregiments fell into confusion; and Sir Arthur himself, who was at alarge house named the Casa, narrowly escaped capture. The 45th,however, a regiment that had seen much service, and some companiesof the 60th Rifles presented a stout front to the enemy.
Sir Arthur speedily restored order among the rest of the troops,and the enemy's advance was checked. The division then fell back ingood order, each of its flanks being covered by a brigade ofcavalry. From the height at which Terence and his officers stood,they could plainly make out the retiring division, and could seeheavy masses of French troops descending from the high groundbeyond the Alberche.
"The whole French army is on us!" Macwitty said. "If their advanceguard had not been in such a hurry to attack, and had waited untilthe others came up, not many of Mackenzie's division would have gotback to our lines."
It was not long before the French debouched from the woods and, assoon as they did so, a division rapidly crossed the plain towardsthe allies' left, seized an isolated hill facing the spur on towhich Donkin had just hurried up his brigade, and at once opened aheavy cannonade. At the same time another division moved towardsthe right, and some squadrons of ligh
t cavalry could be seen,riding along the road from Madrid towards the Spanish division.
"They won't do much good there," Terence said, "for the country isso swampy that they cannot leave the road. Still, I suppose theywant to reconnoitre our position, and draw the fire of theSpaniards to ascertain their whereabouts. They are getting veryclose to them and, when the Spaniards begin, they ought to wipethem out completely."
At this moment a heavy rattle of distant musketry was heard, and alight wreath of smoke rose from the Spanish lines. The Frenchcavalry had, in fact, ridden up so close to the Spaniards that theydischarged their pistols in bravado at them. To this the Spaniardshad replied by a general wild discharge of their muskets. A momentlater the party on the hill saw the right of the Spanish line breakup as if by magic and, to their astonishment and rage, they madeout that the whole plain behind was thickly dotted by fugitives.
"Why, the whole lot have bolted, sir!" Bull exclaimed. "Horse andfoot are making off. Did anyone ever hear of such a thing!"
That portion of the Spanish line nearest to Talavera had indeedbroken and fled in the wildest panic, 10,000 infantry having takento their heels the instant they discharged their muskets; while theartillery cut their traces and, leaving their guns behind them,followed their example. The French cavalry charged along the road,but Sir Arthur opposed them with some British squadrons. TheSpanish who still held their ground opened fire, and the Frenchdrew back. The fugitives continued their flight to Oropesa,spreading panic and alarm everywhere with the news that the allieswere totally defeated, Sir Arthur Wellesley killed, and all lost.
Cuesta himself had for some time accompanied them, but he soonrecovered from his panic, and sent several cavalry regiments tobring back the fugitives. Part of the artillery and some thousandsof the infantry were collected before morning, but 6000 men werestill absent at the battle, and the great redoubt on their left wassilent, from want of guns.
In point of numbers there had been but little difference betweenthe two armies. Prior to the loss of these 6000 men, Cuesta's armyhad been 34,000 strong, with seventy guns. The British, with theGerman Legion, numbered 19,000, with thirty guns. The French were50,000 strong, with eighty guns. These were all veteran troops,while on the side of the allies there were but 19,000 who could becalled fighting men.
"That is what comes of putting faith in the Spaniards!" Bull saidsavagely. "If I had been Sir Arthur, I would have turned my guns onthem and given them something to run for. We should do a thousandtimes better, by ourselves; then we should know what we had toexpect."
"It is evident that there won't be any fighting until tomorrow,Macwitty. You will place half your battalion on the hillside, fromthis point to the bottom of the slope. I don't think that they willcome so high up the hill as this; but you will, of course, throwsome pickets out above. The other wing of your battalion you willhold in reserve, a couple of hundred yards behind the centre of theline; but choose a sheltered spot for them, for those guns Victoris placing on his heights will sweep the face of this hill.
"This little watercourse will give capital cover to your advancedline, and they cannot do better than occupy it. Lying down, theywould be completely sheltered from the French artillery and, ifattacked, they could line the bank and fire without showing morethan their heads. Of course, you will throw out pickets along theface of the slope in front of you.
"Do you, Bull, march your battalion down to the foot of the hilland take up your post there. The ground is very uneven and broken,and you should be able to find some spot where the men would be inshelter; move a couple of hundred yards back, then Macwitty wouldflank any force advancing against you. The sun will set in a fewminutes, so you had better lose no time in taking up your ground.
"As soon as you have chosen a place go on, with the captains ofyour companies, across the valley. Make yourselves thoroughlyacquainted with the ground, and mark the best spots at which topost the men to resist any force that may come along the valley. Itis quite possible that Victor may make an attempt to turn thegeneral's flank tonight. I will reconnoitre all the ground in frontof you, and will then, with the colonel, join you."
The position Terence had chosen was a quarter of a mile west of thespur held by Donkin's brigade. He had selected it in order that, ifattacked in force, he might have the assistance of the guns there;which would thus be able to play on the advancing French, withoutrisk of his own men being injured by their fire.
Bull marched his battalion down the hill and, as Terence andHerrara were about to mount, a sudden burst of musketry fire, fromthe crest of the opposite hill, showed that the French wereattempting to carry that position. Victor, indeed, seeing the forcestationed there to be a small one; and that, from the confusionamong the Spaniards on the British right, the moment was veryfavourable; had ordered one division to attack, another to move toits support, while a third was to engage the German division postedon the plain to the right of the hill, and thus prevent succourbeing sent to Donkin.
From the position where Terence was standing, the front of thesteep slope that the French were climbing could not be seen but,almost at the same moment, a dense mass of men began to swarm upthe hill on Donkin's flank; having, unperceived, made their way inat the mouth of the valley.
"Form up your battalion, Macwitty," he shouted, "and double downthe hill."
Then he rode after Bull, whose battalion had now reached the valleyand halted there.
"We must go to the assistance of the brigade on the hill, Bull, orthey will be overpowered before reinforcements can reach them.
"Herrara, bring on Macwitty after us, as soon as he gets down.
"Take the battalion forward at the double, Bull."
The order was given and, with a cheer, the battalion set out acrossthe valley and, on reaching the other side, began to climb thesteep ascent; bearing towards their left, so as to reach the summitnear the spot where the French were ascending. Twilight was alreadyclosing in, and the approach of the Portuguese was unobserved bythe French, whose leading battalions had reached the top of thehill, and were pressing heavily on Donkin's weak brigade; whichhad, however, checked the advance of the French on their front.Macwitty's battalion was but a short distance behind when, marchingstraight along on the face of the hill, Bull arrived within ahundred yards of the French. Here Terence halted them for a minute,while they hastily formed up in line, and Macwitty came up.
The din on the top of the hill, just above Bull's right company,was prodigious, the rattle of musketry incessant, the exultingshouts of the French could be plainly heard; and their comradesbehind were pressing hotly up the hill to join in the strife. Therewas plainly not a moment to be lost and, advancing to within fiftyyards of the French battalions, struggling up the hill in confusedmasses, a tremendous volley was poured in.
The French, astonished at this sudden attack upon their flank,paused and endeavoured to form up, and wheel round to oppose afront to it; but the heavy fire of the Portuguese, and the brokennature of the ground, prevented their doing this and, ignorant ofthe strength of the force that had thus suddenly attacked them,they recoiled, keeping up an irregular fire; while the Portuguese,pouring in steady volleys, pressed upon them. In five minutes theygave way, and retired rapidly down the hill.
The leading battalions had gained the crest where, joining thosewho had ascended by the other face of the hill, they fell upon thealready outnumbered defenders. Donkin's men, though fightingfiercely, were pressed back, and would have been driven from theirposition had not General Hill brought up the 29th and 48th, with abattalion of detachments composed of Sir John Moore's stragglers.These charged the French so furiously that they were unable towithstand the assault, although aided by fresh battalions ascendingthe front of the hill.
In their retreat the French, instead of going straight down thehill, bore away to their right and, although some fell to the fireof the Portuguese, the greater portion passed unseen in thedarkness.
The firing now ceased, and Terence ordered Bull and Macwitty tot
ake their troops back to the ground originally selected, while hehimself ascended to the crest. With some difficulty he discoveredthe whereabouts of General Hill, to whom he was well known. Hefound him in the act of having a wound temporarily dressed, by thelight of a fire which had just been replenished; he having ridden,in the dark, into the midst of a French battalion, believing it tobe one of his own regiments. Colonel Donkin was in conversationwith him.
"It has been a very close affair, sir," he said; "and I certainlythought that we should be rolled down the hill. I believe that weowe our safety, in no small degree, to a couple of battalions ofSpaniards, I fancy, who took up their post on the opposite hillthis morning. Just before you brought up your reinforcement, andwhile things were at their worst, I heard heavy volley firingsomewhere just over the crest. I don't know who it could have been,if it was not them; for there were certainly no other troops on myleft."
"They were Portuguese battalions, sir," Terence said quietly.
"Oh, is it you, O'Connor?" General Hill exclaimed. "If they werethose two battalions of yours, I can quite understand it.
"This is Colonel O'Connor, Donkin, who checked Soult's passage atthe mouth of the Minho, and has performed other admirableservices."
'You may as well make your report to me, O'Connor.']
"You may as well make your report to me, O'Connor, and I willinclude it in my own to Sir Arthur."
Terence related how, just as he was taking up his position for thenight along the slopes of the Sierra, he heard the outbreak offiring on the front of the hill and, seeing a large force mountingits northern slope, and knowing that only one brigade was postedthere, he thought it his duty to move to its assistance. Crossingthe valley at the double, he had taken them in flank and, beingunperceived in the gathering darkness, had checked their advance,and compelled them to retire down the hill.
"At what strength do you estimate the force which so retired,Colonel?"
"I fancy there were eight battalions of them, but three had gainedthe crest before we arrived. The others were necessarily broken up,and followed so close upon each other that it was difficult toseparate them; but I fancy there were eight of them. Being in suchconfusion and, of course, unaware of my strength, they were unableto form or to offer any effectual resistance; and our volleys, froma distance of fifty yards, must have done heavy execution uponthem."
"Then there is no doubt, Donkin, Colonel O'Connor's force did saveyou; for if those five battalions had gained the crest, you wouldhave been driven off it before the brigade I brought up arrivedand, indeed, even with that aid we should have been so outnumberedthat we could scarcely have held our ground. It was hot work as itwas, but certainly five more battalions would have turned the scaleagainst us.
"Of course, O'Connor, you will send in a written report of yourreasons for quitting your position to headquarters; and I shall,myself, do full justice to the service that you have rendered sopromptly and efficaciously. Where is your command now?"
"They will by this time have taken up their former position on theopposite slope. One battalion is extended there. The other is atthe foot of the hill, prepared to check any force that may attemptto make its way up the valley. Our line is about a quarter of amile in rear of this spur. I selected the position in order that,should the French make an attempt in any force, the guns here mighttake them in flank, while I held them in check in front."
The general nodded. "Well thought of," he said.
"And now, Donkin, you had better muster your brigade and ascertainwhat are your losses. I am afraid they are very heavy."
Terence now returned across the valley and, on joining his command,told Herrara and the two majors how warmly General Hill hadcommended their action.
"What has been our loss?" he asked.
"Fifteen killed, and five-and-forty wounded, but of these a greatproportion are not serious."
Brushwood was now collected and in a short time a number of fireswere blazing. The men were in high spirits. They were proud ofhaving overthrown a far superior force of the enemy, and weregratified at the expression of great satisfaction, conveyed to themby their captains by Terence's order, at the steadiness with whichthey had fought.
Plan of the Battle of Talavera.]
At daybreak next morning the enemy was seen to be again in motion,Victor having obtained the king's consent to again try to carry thehills occupied by the British. This time Terence did not leave hisposition, being able to see that the whole of Hill's division nowoccupied the heights and, moreover, being himself threatened by tworegiments of light troops, which crossed the mouth of the valley,ascended the slopes on his side, and proceeded to work their wayalong them. The whole of Macwitty's battalion was now placed inline, while Bull's was held in reserve, behind its centre.
It was not long before Macwitty was hotly engaged; and the French,who were coming along in skirmishing order, among the rocks andbroken ground, were soon brought to a standstill. For some time aheavy fire was exchanged. Three times the French gathered for arush; but each time the steady volleys, from their almost invisiblefoes, drove them back again, with loss, to the shelter they hadleft.
In the intervals Terence could see how the fight was going onacross the valley. The whole hillside was dotted with fire, as theFrench worked their way up, and the British troops on the crestfired down upon them. Several times parties of the French gainedthe brow, but only to be hurled back again by the troops held inreserve, in readiness to move to any point where the enemy mightgain a footing. For forty minutes the battle continued; and then,having lost 1500 men, the French retreated down the hill again,covered by the fire of their batteries, which opened with fury onthe crest, as soon as they were seen to be descending the slope.
At the same time the light troops opposed to Terence also drew off.Seeing the pertinacity with which the French had tried to turn hisleft, Sir Arthur Wellesley moved his cavalry round to the head ofthe valley and, obtaining Bassecour's division of Spanish fromCuesta, sent them to take post on the hillside a short distance inrear of Terence's Portuguese.
The previous evening's fighting had cost Victor 1000 men, while 800British had been killed or wounded; and the want of success then,and the attack on the following morning, tended to depress thespirits of the French and to raise those of the British. It wasthought that after these two repulses Victor would not again givebattle, and indeed the French generals Jourdan and Sebastiani wereopposed to a renewal of hostilities; but Victor was in favour of ageneral attack. So his opinion was finally adopted by the king, inspite of the fact that he knew that Soult was in full march towardsthe British rear, and had implored him not to fight a battle tillhe had cut the British line of retreat; when, in any case, theywould be forced to retire at once.
The king was influenced more by his fear for the safety of Madridthan by Victor's arguments. Wilson's force had been greatlyexaggerated by rumour. Venegas was known to be at last approachingToledo, and the king feared that one or both of these forces mightfall upon Madrid in his absence, and that all his military storeswould fall into their hands. He therefore earnestly desired toforce the British to retreat, in order that he might hurry back toprotect Madrid.
Doubtless the gross cowardice exhibited by the Spaniards, on theprevious day, had shown Victor that he had really only the 19,000British troops to contend against; and as his force exceeded theirsby two to one, he might well regard victory as certain, and believehe could not fail to beat them.
Up to midday, a perfect quiet reigned along both lines. The Britishand French soldiers went down alike to the rivulet that separatedthe two armies, and exchanged jokes as they drank and filled theircanteens. Albuquerque, being altogether dissatisfied with Cuesta'sarrangements, moved across the plain with his own cavalry and tookhis post behind the British and German horse; so that no less than6000 cavalry were now ready to pour down upon any French forceattempting to turn the British position by the valley. The day wasintensely hot and the soldiers, after eating their scanty rations,for the mo
st part stretched themselves down to sleep; for the nighthad been a broken one, owing to the fact that the Spaniards,whenever they heard, or thought they heard, anyone moving in theirfront, poured in a tremendous fire that roused the whole camp; andwas so wild and ill directed that several British officers and men,on their left, were killed by it.
Soon after midday the drums were heard to beat along the wholelength of the French line, and the troops were seen to be fallingin. Then the British were also called to arms, and the soldierscheerfully took their places in the ranks; glad that the matter wasto be brought to an issue at once, as they thought that a victorywould, at least, put an end to the state of starvation in whichthey had for some time been kept. The French had, by this time,learned how impossible it was to surmount the obstacles in front ofthat portion of the allies' line occupied by the Spaniards. Theytherefore neglected these altogether, and Sebastiani advancedagainst the British division in the plains; while Victor, asbefore, prepared to assail the British left, supported this time bya great mass of cavalry.
The French were soon in readiness for the attack. Ruffin's divisionwere to cross the valley, move along the foot of the mountain, andturn the British left. Villatte was to guard the mouth of thevalley with one brigade, to threaten Hill with the other, and tomake another attempt to carry it. He was to be aided by half thedivision of Lapisse, while the other half assisted Sebastiani inhis attack on the British centre. Milhaud's dragoons were placed onthe main road to Talavera, so as to keep the Spaniards from movingto the assistance of the British.
The battle began with a furious attack on the British right, butthe French were withstood by Campbell's division and Mackenzie'sbrigade, aided by two Spanish columns; and was finally pushed backwith great loss, and ten of their guns captured; but as Campbellwisely refused to break his line and pursue, the French rallied ontheir reserve, and prepared to renew the attack.
In the meantime Lapisse crossed the rivulet and attackedSherbrooke's division, composed of the Germans and Guards. Thisbrigade was, however, driven back in disorder. The Guards followedhotly in pursuit; but the French reserves came up, and theirbatteries opened with fury and drove the Guards back, while theGermans were so hotly pressed, by Lapisse, that they fell intoconfusion. The 48th, however, fell upon the flank of the advancingFrench; the Guards and the Germans rallied, the British artilleryswept the French columns, and they again fell back. Thus theBritish centre and right had succeeded in finally repelling theattacks made upon them.
On the left, as the French advanced, the 23rd Light Dragoons andthe 1st German Hussars charged the head of Ruffin's column. Beforethey reached them, however, they encountered the ravine throughwhich the rivulet here ran. The Germans checked their horses whenthey came upon this almost impassable obstacle. The 23rd, however,kept on. Men and horses rolled over each other, but many crossedthe chasm and, forming again, dashed in between the squares intowhich the French infantry had thrown themselves, and charged abrigade of light infantry in their rear. Victor hurled tworegiments of cavalry upon them and the 23rd, hopelessly overmatched, were driven back with a loss of 207 men and officers,being fully half the number that had ridden forward. The restgalloped back to the shelter of Bassecour's division.
Yet their effort had not been in vain. The French, astonished attheir furious charge, and seeing four distinct lines of cavalrystill drawn up facing them, made no further movement. Hill easilyrepulsed the attack upon his position, and the battle ceased assuddenly as it had begun, the French having failed at every pointthey had attacked.
Terence had, on seeing Ruffin's division marching towards him,advanced along the slope until they reached the entrance to thevalley; and then, scattering on the hillside, had opened a heavyand continuous fire upon the French, doing much execution amongtheir columns, and still more when they threw themselves intosquare to resist the cavalry. He had given orders that, shouldRuffin send some of his battalions up the hill against them, theywere to retire up the slopes, taking advantage of every shelter,and not to attempt to meet the enemy in close contact. No suchattack was, however, made. The French battalion most exposed threwout a large number of skirmishers, and endeavoured to keep down thegalling fire maintained from the hillside; but as the Portuguesetook advantage of every stone and bush, and scarcely a man wasvisible to the French, there were but few casualties among them.
The loss of the British was in all, during the two days' fighting,6200, including 600 taken prisoners. That of the French was 7400.Ten guns were captured by Campbell's division, and seven left inthe woods by the French as they drew off, the next morning atdaybreak, to take up their position behind the Alberche.
During the day Crauford's brigade came up, after a tremendousmarch. The three regiments had, after a tramp of twenty miles,encamped near Plasencia, when the alarm spread by the Spanishfugitives reached that place. Crauford allowed his men two hours'rest and then started to join the army, and did not halt until hereached the camp; having in twenty-six hours, during the hottestseason of the year, marched sixty-two miles, carrying kit, arms,and ammunition--a weight of from fifty to sixty pounds. Onlytwenty-five men out of the three regiments fell out and,immediately the brigade arrived, it took up the outpost duty infront of the army.
Terence was much gratified by the appearance, in general ordersthat day, of the following notice:
"The general commander-in-chief expresses his warm approbation ofthe conduct of the two battalions of the Minho regiment ofPortuguese, commanded by Colonel O'Connor. This officer, on his owndiscretion, moved from the position assigned to him, on seeing theserious attack made on Colonel Donkin's brigade on the evening ofthe 27th and, scaling the hill, opened so heavy a fire on theFrench ascending it that five battalions fell back, without takingpart in the attack. This took place at the crisis of theengagement, and had a decisive effect on its result."
At eight o'clock a staff officer rode up, with orders for the Minhoregiment to return at once to the pass of Banos, as the news hadcome in that the enemy beyond the hills were in movement. Terencewas to act in concert with the Spanish force there, and hold thepass as long as possible. If the enemy were in too great strengthto be withstood, he was given discretion as to his movements; beingguided only by the fact that the British army would, probably,march down the valley of the Tagus.
If Soult crossed, "his force," the order added, "was estimated asnot exceeding 15,000 men."