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part of the British force some ten miles in advance of Talavera. The two armies previously acting in concert were now separated, the least effective part being in pursuit of Marshal Victor, and the mass of the British forces remaining perfectly quiet, enjoying demi-starvation upon the banks of the Tagus. Cuesta went blundering through St. Olalla, and rushed on, like a wild bull broke loose from the amphitheatre, to Torrijos. But here he found the rear-guard of the French Marshal, who had been joined by General Sebastiani; and the sting of the French tail, Victor's rear at Torrijos, was quite enough for this disorderly, ill-commanded Spanish army.

During the 25th the English heard nothing of it, or of Cuesta, but on the following day the report of artillery in the distance announced its return towards Talavera, not unaccompanied. Presently Spanish runaways and stragglers passed to the British rear, and, in the course of the afternoon, and during the night of the 26th, the distant cannonade having died away, the greater part of Cuesta's army fell to

our rear.

TALAVERA.

A. D. 1809. July 27 and 28.

On the morning of the 27th, other battalions passed by some of the British who had bivouacked in an olive grove, battalion after battalion forming a continuous line of march in the same direction. From amidst clouds of dust, disorderly chattering assemblages of half-armed men became occasionally visible; again, regiments marching in perfect order, cavalry staff officers, bands of musicians, flocks of sheep, droves of bullocks, artillery, cars, carriages, and waggons, varied the confused and singular scene. All the information that could be obtained by the English officers from these fugitives was that they had been overpowered and beaten at Torrijos, and that the French, in full force, were following close at their heels. The latter part of this information was not quite correct, for although Victor had been joined by the fourth corps, which Sebastiani had brought up from La Mancha, he deemed it prudent to wait a few hours for the arrival of Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan, who were marching towards him with the guards and the garrison of Madrid, and thus leaving that capital exposed to Sir Robert Wilson and his rapid Lusitanians.

It was clear, however, to Sir Arthur Wellesley, that he would not be allowed a long repose; and, therefore, he busily employed himself in examining and strengthening his position at Talavera. Great was the need he must have had at this moment of activity, genius, calmness, heroism; for, besides the great army collected in his front under Victor, his old enemy, Soult, by rapidly advancing from Salamanca, was getting in his rear, Marshal Mortier, at Valladolid, was preparing to follow Soult, and Marshal Ney, unknown to the English general, was hurrying from Astorga with the hope

* Colonel Leith Hay.

of falling upon his left flank. Thus there were more than 50,000 fighting Frenchmen behind the mountains of Placencia, ready to act on the flank and rear of the British, whose front was threatened by at least 50,000 more. Sir Arthur's force in the field did not exceed 20,000 men; for some of the battalions were still on their march from Lisbon, and did not come up until after the battle of Talavera had been fought. The Portuguese regular troops, under Beresford, had been left to guard the north-east frontier of Portugal, towards Almeida. There was nothing at hand for the immediate support of Sir Arthur's 20,000 British, save the army of Cuesta; but these 30,000 men had already proved themselves worth very little in the field. General Venegas, indeed, had descended with the Spanish army of Andalusia from the Sierra Morena mountains, and had marched through La Mancha upon Madrid, with from 20,000 to 25,000 men; but the Supreme Junta had sent Venegas counter-orders which had had the effect of slackening his march.

At last, however, and, as it turned out, at a most opportune moment, Venegas, a much abler and more honest man than any of the Junta Dons that assumed authority over him, did make a brilliant movement, and show himself on the road that leads to Aranjuez and Madrid; and it was his timely approach on that side which induced Joseph, who had now joined Victor, to engage Sir Arthur Wellesley and Cuesta, in order to save his capital. If Joseph had kept the allies in check at Talavera, for a few days longer, Soult's arrival at Placencia would have obliged the English to retire precipitately into Portugal. But Joseph, and his adviser, Jourdan, fearing that Venegas, from the south, and Sir Robert Wilson, from the north, would enter Madrid, and seize the stores, the reserves, the hospitals, &c.; recommended Marshal Victor to wait no longer, but attack the allies in front; for, if Wellesley were once defeated, Madrid could very easily be protected or recovered, and both Venegas and Wilson, it was thought, might be enveloped and reduced to capitulation.

The movements in Victor's army announced to Sir Arthur that a battle was at hand. His greatest difficulty was in overruling the mulish obstinacy of the old gentleman; but,

at last, he got Cuesta to consent to occupy the ground he had selected for him, which was on the right near the Tagus, and immediately in front of the town of Talavera This was a position in which the Spaniards could scarcely be seriously attacked it; afforded in abundance those covers under which they had always been found to fight best; the ground was covered by olive-trees, and much intersected by thick mud walls and ditches; there was a strong old church with a heavy battery in front of it, and along the whole line were redoubts, walls, banks, and abattis, or parapets, made of felled trees. All the avenues of the town were defended in a similar manner. The British infantry, in whom Sir Arthur placed full reliance, occupied the left of the line, which was quite open in front, but its extreme left rested upon a steep hill, which was the key of the whole position, and on which was posted a division of infantry, under the orders of Major-General Hill. The whole line extended in length about two miles. There was some skirmishing and outpost fighting in the dark on the night of the 26th. On the 27th, Victor moved from St. Olalla in full force, crossed the Alberche, and attacked two advanced British brigades, which fell back steadily across the plain into their assigned positions in the line. This was at about two o'clock in the afternoon. As the day declined, the French advanced to a general attack; but it was the dusk of the evening before Victor began by a hot cannonade upon the British left, and by an attempt with his cavalry to ride over the Spanish infantry. From the care taken to cover their front, the Spaniards were found to be unapproachable, and the cavalry charge failed completely. Early in the night, Victor followed up his cannonade by pushing a strong division along a valley on the left of the height occupied by General Hill. The French gained momentary possession of that key to our position; but Hill almost instantly attacked with the bayonet, regained possession, and drove the enemy down the steeps. Victor repeated the attack on this point, on which everything depended, at the dead of night: but Hill was reinforced, Sir Arthur himself rode to the spot, and ordered up some more artillery; and, after another terrible conflict in the darka darkness illuminated only by the flames from the cannon's * Despatches.

mouth and the blaze of musketry-the assailants were again hurled back into the valley, and again left the level ground on the hill-top thickly strewed with dead bodies and wounded men. Repose and a dead silence succeeded; but this was interrupted about midnight, by a firing towards the town of Talavera, which sounded like the crack of doom. "It was not," says an ear and eye witness, "the straggling, desultory, yet distinct reports of light troops, but a roll of musketry that illuminated the whole extent of the Spanish line. It was one discharge, but of such a nature, that I have never heard it equalled. It appeared not to be returned, nor was it repeated. All again became silent. A false alarm had occasioned this tremendous volley; but we were too distant to ascertain what had produced the violent eruption, or how many of our allies had thrown away their arms and fled, after having delivered a fire sufficiently formidable to have shaken the best and bravest troops.' But Sir Arthur, who was near at hand, and soon on the spot whence that formidable fire had proceeded, had the mortification of ascertaining that several thousands of the Spaniards, after discharging their pieces, were flying panic-stricken to the rear, followed by their artillery, and creating the greatest confusion among the baggage retainers and mules, &c.; and it was with difficulty that he and Cuesta prevented the rest of the Spanish troops from following this pernicious example. We believe it was never correctly ascertained what created this sudden alarm in troops that were so sheltered and covered, that they had little to fear: perhaps some cows or goats had passed along their front, or perhaps some of those animals which Sancho Panza loved had come in the darkness to browse among the olive-trees; but all that is not hypothetical is, that they made one of the loudest reports that had ever scared the night, and then turned to run. Luckily Victor knew nothing of what was passing; and, after his cavalry had discovered the strength of the Spanish position, he directed all his efforts against the British left. At daylight, on the morning of the 28th, he hurled two more strong divisions of infantry against the fatal height; but the Englishmen there had been told that they must maintain that position, and nobly did they maintain it: Hill lost many • Colonel Leith Hay.

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