ENGAGEMENT OF THE CAVALRY.

53

1808.

December.

formed at Mayorga. The total effective amount CHAP. I. of the combined army, is stated to have been twenty-three thousand infantry, and two thousand five hundred cavalry. About one thousand seven hundred men were on detachment, and four thousand in hospital.

While head-quarters were at Mayorga, several skirmishes took place between the British cavalry and that of the enemy. In Sahagun a detachment of seven hundred French cavalry was reported to be lodged, and Lord Paget deemed it practicable to cut them off. The ground was covered with deep snow, and the weather intensely cold. Lord Paget, however, set forward on his march, and detaching General Slade with the tenth hussars along the Cea to enter the town, he wheeled off with the fifteenth and horse artillery to approach it by a different route. By day-dawn, Lord Paget had reached the town, in front of which he fell in with a piquet of the enemy. It was instantly charged, and all but one man cut down or made prisoners. The escape of this individual, however, gave the alarm; and before the fifteenth could advance, the enemy were discovered drawn up to receive them in an open plain.

54

FRENCH CAVALRY DEFEATED.

1808.

CHAP. I. Lord Paget immediately formed line and advanced to the charge. But the success of this maDecember. nœuvre was prevented by a broad ditch or ravine, hitherto unobserved, which obstructed their progress. Some manoeuvring took place between the corps, each endeavouring to gain the flank of the other. By superior skill, Lord Paget at length effected his object. The ravine was passed, and, coming down at full speed on their opponents, the fifteenth overthrew them in a moment. Many of the French were killed, and one hundred and fifty-seven prisoners, including two lieutenant-colonels, were brought back to the British camp as trophies of success. The loss of the fifteenth in this engagement was trifling.

Dec. 21.

On the twenty-first the army moved to Sahagun, where Sir John Moore halted for a day to afford refreshment to the troops.

There he received a despatch from Romana, dated Leon, December nineteenth. The Marques expressed his approbation of the measures of Sir John Moore, and his willingness to cooperate in the proposed attack on Soult; but the most extraordinary feature in the letter is, that the writer of it appeared wholly ignorant

THE ARMY ORDERED TO MARCH ON SALDANHA.

55

1808.

December.

of the surrender of Madrid, nearly twenty days CHAP.I. before! Another letter, received on the day following, stated that the corps of Soult consisted of about ten thousand men, of which one thousand were cavalry, with eight or ten pieces of artillery; but that Soult, apprehensive of attack, had applied for reinforcements; and, in the meanwhile, had collected the nearest troops, which augmented his force to about eighteen thousand men. These he had posted behind the Carrion. In the proposed operation, Romana offered to unite with nine or ten thousand of his best men, and intimated his readiness to advance immediately on receiving the answer of Sir John Moore.

This letter arrived late on the night of the twenty-second. Early on the following morn- Dec. 23. ing, Sir John Moore despatched a messenger to Romana, informing him that he would on the same night march to the town of Carrion, where he had reason to believe that a body of the enemy were collected. "To-morrow," said the General, "I shall march on Saldanha. If your Excellency would march from Mansilla, either direct on Saldanha, or pass the river a little above it, whilst I march on

56

ARRANGEMENTS WITH ROMANA.

CHAP. I. from Carrion, I think it would distract the attention of the enemy, and considerably aid my December. attack. My march from Carrion will probably

1808.

be in the night. Any information of your movements, I shall thank you to address to me at Carrion, where I shall be at daylight to-morrow."

In consequence of this determination, orders for an immediate advance were issued to the army. The march was to commence at eight o'clock in the evening in two columns. One of these was destined to force the bridge at Carrion, and so penetrate to Saldanha; and this body was already on the road, when a letter arrived from Romana, stating that the French, on the side of Madrid, were in motion to the northward. This intelligence coincided with the information received by Sir John Moore from other quarters. The corps of the enemy, which was directing its march on Badajos, had halted at Talavera. Large supplies of forage and provisions had been ordered in the villages around Palencia. It was said that Napoleon himself, had set out from Madrid, with the avowed intention of proceeding to Benevente without a halt.

THE ARMY ORDERED TO RETREAT.

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1808.

December.

Under these circumstances, Sir John Moore CHAP. I. determined on retreat, and the march to Carrion was countermanded. He considered that the beneficial object of his movement had already been attained. The progress of the enemy's armies had been arrested in the south, and they were now advancing on all hands to surround him.

Sir John Moore, therefore, felt convinced that nothing but immediate retreat could extricate him from the difficulties of his situation. His intentions were communicated to the Marques de la Romana, in the following words: "I shall take immediate measures for retiring on Astorga. There I shall stand; as my retreat thence, if necessary, will be secure. I shall be in the way to receive the supplies and the reinforcements which I expect from England. At the worst, I can maintain myself, and, with your Excellency's aid, defend the Gallicias, and give time for the formation of the armies in the south, and that which you command, to be prepared, when a joint effort may be made, which can alone be efficacious."

As Sir John Moore had not yet resigned the intention of defending Gallicia, he determined