Can No One Win Battles if I'm Not There
by Geoffrey Watson
The starving French army is in full retreat from Portugal, harassed all the way by the Hornets. They make a stand on the River Côa, fighting a battle on the high plateau near Sabugal. Masséna retreats to Salamanca, but returns to fight and lose at Fuentes de Oñoro. Wellington splits his army to besiege Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz. Soult races up from Seville and fights Beresford at the bloody battle of Albuera. The various battalions of the Hornets take part in all these, culminating in the attack by General Hill on d'Erlon's division. The Portuguese Vespãos battalion helps to train units of the Spanish Army of Galicia and together they attack French garrisons to distract the French from the two sieges.**