Chapter 14: Effecting A Diversion.
At twelve o'clock the next day Terence rode up to his regiment,just as it had halted for two hours' rest. As soon as he wasrecognized the men leapt to their feet, cheering vociferously, andgathered round him; while, a minute or two later, Herrara, Ryan andthe two majors ran up to greet him.
The men leapt to their feet, cheering vociferously.]
"I have been expecting you for the last month," Ryan exclaimed,"though how you were to get through the French lines was more thanI could imagine. Still, I made sure you would do it, somehow."
"You gave me credit for more sharpness than I possess, Dick. I feltsure it could not be done, and so I had to go right down to Cadiz,and back to Lisbon by ship. It was a very much easier affair thanours was, and I met with no adventures and no difficulties on theway.
"Well, Herrara, I heard at headquarters that the regiment is goingon well, and they fought stoutly at Banos. Your loss was not heavy,I hope?"
"We had fifty-three killed, and a hundred more or less seriouslywounded. More than half of them have rejoined. The vacancies havebeen filled up, and the two battalions are both at their fullstrength.
"Two of the captains, Fernandez and Panza, were killed. I haveappointed two of the sergeants temporarily, pending yourconfirmation, on your return."
"It is well that it is no worse. They were both good men, and willbe a loss to us. Whom have you appointed in their places?"
"Gomes and Mendoza, the two sergeant majors. They are both men ofgood family, and thoroughly know their duty. Of course I filledtheir places, for the time, with two of the colour sergeants."
"I suppose you have ridden from headquarters, Terence," Ryan putin, "and must be as hungry as a hunter. We were just going to sitdown to a couple of chickens and a ham, so come along."
While they were taking their meal, Terence gave them an account ofthe manner in which he had escaped from Salamanca.
"So you were in our old quarters, Terence! Well, you certainly havea marvellous knack of getting out of scrapes. When we saw yourhorse carrying you into the middle of the French cavalry, I thoughtfor a moment that the Minho regiment had lost its colonel; but itwas not for long, and soon I was sure that, somehow or other, youwould give them the slip again. Of course I have been thinking ofyou as a prisoner at Ciudad, and I was afraid that they would keepa sharper watch over you, there, than they did at Bayonne. Still, Ifelt sure that you would manage it somehow, even without the helpwe had.
"What are your orders?"
"I have none, save that we are to march to Miranda, where we shallfind a guerilla force under Moras; and we are to operate with him,and do all we can to attract the attention of the French. That isall I know, for I have not had time to look at the writteninstructions I received from the adjutant general when I saidgoodbye to him, last night; but I don't think there are any preciseorders.
"What were yours, Herrara?"
"They are that I was to consult with Moras; to operate carefully,and not to be drawn into any combat with superior or nearly equalFrench forces; which I took to mean equal to the strength of theregiment, for the guerillas are not to be depended upon, to thesmallest extent, in anything like a pitched combat."
"There is no doubt about that," Terence agreed. "For cutting offsmall parties, harassing convoys, or anything of that sort, theyare excellent; but for down-right hard fighting, the guerillas arenot worth their salt. The great advantage of them is that theyrender it necessary for the French to send very strong guards withtheir baggage and convoys; and occasionally, when they areparticularly bold and numerous, to despatch columns in pursuit ofthem. If it were not for these bands, they would be able toconcentrate all their troops, and would soon capture Andalusia andValencia, and then turn their attention to other work. As it is,they have to keep the roads clear, to leave strong garrisonseverywhere, and to keep a sufficient force in each province to makehead against the guerillas; for if they did not do so, all theirfriends would be speedily killed, and the peasantry be constantlyincited to rise."
"Do you know anything of this Moras?"
"He is said to be a good leader," Herrara replied, "and to havegathered under him a number of other bands. He has the reputationof being less savage and cruel than the greater part of thesepartisan leaders; and though, no doubt, he kills prisoners--for inthat he could hardly restrain his men--he does not permit thebarbarous cruelties that are a disgrace to the Spanish people. Infact, I believe his orders are that no prisoners are to be taken."
"I will look at my instructions," Terence said, drawing out thepaper he had received the night before.
"Yes," he said, when he had read them; "my instructions are a gooddeal like yours, but they leave my hands somewhat more free. I amto consult with Moras, to operate with him when I think itadvisable, and in all respects to act entirely upon my own judgmentand discretion; the main object being to compel the French todetach as many men as possible from this neighbourhood, in order tooppose me; and I am to take every advantage the nature of thecountry may afford to inflict heavy blows upon them."
"That is all right," Ryan said cheerfully. "I had quite made up mymind that we should always be dependent upon Moras; and be keptinactive, owing to his refusal to carry out anything Herrara mightpropose; but as you can act independently of him, we are sure tohave plenty of fun."
"We will make it as hot for them as we can, Dick; and if we cannotdo more, we can certainly oblige the French to keep something likea division idle, to hold us in check. With the two battalions, andMoras's irregulars, we ought to be able to harass them amazingly;and to hold any of these mountain passes against a considerableforce."
After two hours' halt the march was renewed and, two days later,the regiment arrived at Miranda. The frontier ran close to thistown, the Douro separating the two countries. They learned thatMoras was lying four miles farther to the north, and across thefrontier line; doubtless preferring to remain in Spain, in order toprevent a quarrel between his followers and the Portuguese.
The next morning Terence, accompanied by Ryan and four mountedorderlies, rode into the glen where he and his followers werelying. They had erected a great number of small arbours of boughsand bushes and, as Terence rode up to one of these, which waslarger and better finished than the rest, Moras himself came to theentrance to meet them.
He did not at all correspond with Terence's ideas of a guerillachief. He was a young man, of three or four and twenty; of slimfigure and with a handsome, thoughtful face. He had been a studentof divinity at Salamanca, but had killed a French officer in aduel, brought on by the insolence of the latter; and had beencompelled to fly. A few men had gathered round him, and he had atonce raised his standard as a guerilla chief.
At first his operations had been on a very small scale; but thesuccess that had attended these enterprises, and the reports of hisreckless bravery, had speedily swelled the number of his followers;and although as a rule he kept only a hundred with him, he could atany time, by sending round a summons, collect five times thatnumber, in a few hours.
When Terence introduced himself as the colonel of the twobattalions that had arrived, at Miranda, to operate in conjunctionwith him, Moras held out his hand frankly.
"I am very glad indeed to meet you, Colonel O'Connor," he said. "Ireceived a despatch four days ago from your general, saying thatthe Minho regiment would shortly arrive at Miranda, to act inconcert with me. I was glad indeed when I heard of this, for thename of the regiment is well known, on this side of the frontier aswell as on the other, having been engaged in many gallant actions;and your name is equally well known, in connection with it; but Ihardly expected to meet you, for the despatch said the Minhoregiment under Lieutenant Colonel Herrara."
"Yes. I only rejoined it two days ago, having been taken prisonerat Fuentes d'Onoro, and having made my escape from Salamanca."
"Your aid will be invaluable, senor. My own men are brave enough,but they are irregulars in the full sense of the word;" and hesmiled. "
And although they can be relied upon for a sudden attack,or for the defence of a pass, they could not stand against a Frenchforce of a quarter of their strength, in the plain. We want abackbone, and no better one could be found than your regiment.
"I am the more glad that you are in command, because you know,unhappily, we and the Portuguese do not get on well together and,while my men would hesitate to obey a Portuguese commander, andwould have no confidence in him, they would gladly accept yourleadership."
"I hope that there will be no difficulties on the ground of race,"Terence said. "We are fighting in a common cause, against a commonenemy; and dissensions between ourselves are as absurd as they aredangerous.
"Let me introduce Captain Ryan, adjutant of the regiment."
Moras shook hands with Ryan; who had been looking on, with somesurprise, at the colloquy between him and Terence. Moras then askedthem into his arbour.
"I have little to offer you," he said, with a smile, "save blackbread and wine. The latter, however, is good. I obtained a largesupply of it from a convoy we captured, a few days since."
The wine was indeed excellent and, accustomed as they were to thecoarse bread of the country, Terence and Ryan were able to eat itwith satisfaction.
"Now, Colonel," Moras said, "beyond the fact that we are to act inconcert, I know nothing of the plans. Please to remember that,while it is said that we are to discuss our plans of operationstogether, I place myself unreservedly under your orders. Ofirregular warfare I have learned something; but of militaryscience, and anything like extensive operations, I am as ignorantas a child; while you have shown your capacity for command. I maybe of advantage to you, from my knowledge of the country; andindeed, there is not a village track that someone or other of myfollowers is not well acquainted with."
"That, of course, will be of great advantage to us," Terencereplied courteously, "and I thank you much for what you have said;but I am sure, from what I have heard, you underrate yourabilities. Beyond regimental drill, I knew very little of warfareuntil I, quite by an accident, came to assume the command of myregiment; and it was only because I drilled and disciplined itthoroughly that I had the good fortune to obtain some successeswith it. Your acquaintance with the country will be fully a set offto any superior knowledge that I may have of military matters, andI have no doubt that we shall get on well together.
"The instructions that I have received are to the effect that weare to make incursions and attacks in various directions;concealing, as far as possible, our strength; and so to oblige theFrench to detach a considerable number of troops to hold us incheck. This would relieve the pressure upon Lord Wellington's army,and would deter the enemy from making any offensive movement intoPortugal; until our general has received the reinforcementsexpected shortly, and is in a position to take the offensive."
"It will be just the work to suit us," the guerilla chief said."And as I received a subsidy from your political agent at Lisbon, afew days since, I am in a position to keep the whole force I havetogether; which is more than I can do generally for, even ifsuccessful in an attack on a convoy, the greater portion of the menscatter and return to their homes and, as long as their share ofthe booty lasts, they do not care to come out again."
Terence now produced a map with which he had been supplied, and aconsiderable time was spent in obtaining full particulars of thecountry through which the troops might have to march; ascertainingthe best spots for resistance when retreating, or for attackingcolumns who might be despatched in pursuit of them; and indiscussing the manner and direction in which their operations wouldmost alarm and annoy the enemy.
It was finally agreed that Terence should break up his battalionsinto three parties. Two of these consisted each of half abattalion, 500 strong, and would be under the command of Bull andMacwitty. Each of them would be accompanied by 300 guerillas, whowould act as scouts and, in case opportunity should offer, join inany fighting that might take place.
The other two half battalions formed the third body, under thecommand of Terence, himself; and would, with the main force of theguerillas, occupy the roads between Zamora, Salamanca, andValladolid. In this way the French would be harassed at severalpoints, and would find it so difficult to obtain information as tothe real strength of the foe that was threatening them, that theywould be obliged to send up a considerable force to oppose them;and would hesitate to undertake any serious advance into Portugaluntil the question was cleared up, and their lines of communicationassured again.
It was agreed, in the first place, that the forces should unite inthe mountains west of Braganza, between the river Esla on the eastand Tera on the north; affording a strong position from which, incase of any very large force mustering against them, they couldretire across the frontier into Portugal. Terence had been suppliedwith money, and an authority to give orders on the paymaster'sdepartment for such purchases as were absolutely necessary. Moraswas also well supplied, having not only the money that had beensent him, but the proceeds of a successful attack upon a convoyproceeding to Salamanca; in which he had captured a commissariatchest, with a considerable sum of money, besides a large number ofcattle and several waggon loads of flour. All these provisions,with some that Terence had authority to draw from the stores atMiranda, were to be taken to the spot they had chosen as theirheadquarters in the hills.
"You beat me altogether, Terence," Ryan said as, after all thesematters had been arranged, they rode out from the guerilla's camp."It is only about three months since I saw you. Then you could onlyjust get along in Spanish. Now you are chattering away in it as ifyou had never spoken anything else, all your life."
"Well, you see, Dick, I knew just enough, when I was takenprisoner, to be able to, as you say, get along in it; and that madeall the difference to me. If I had known nothing at all of it, Ishould not have been able to benefit by my trip with the muleteersin Spain. As it was, I was able to talk with them and, as we rodeside by side all day; and sat together by a fire for hours, afterwe had halted when the day's journey was over, we did a tremendouslot of talking; and as you see, I came out, at the end of themonth, able to get along really fluently. I, no doubt, make a goodmany mistakes, and mix a good many Portuguese words with mySpanish; but that does not matter in the least, so long as one iswith friends; although it would matter a good deal if I were tryingto pass as a Spaniard, among people who might betray me if theyfound out that I was English.
"I see that you have improved in Portuguese almost as much as Ihave in Spanish. It is really only the first drudgery that isdifficult, in learning a language. When once one makes a start onegets on very fast; especially if one is not afraid of makingmistakes. I never care a rap whether I make blunders or not, sothat I can but make myself understood."
Three days later the two bodies were assembled in a valley, aboutequally distant from Miranda and Braganza. It had the advantage ofbeing entered, from the east, only through a narrow gorge, whichcould be defended against a very superior force; while there weretwo mountain tracks leading from it, by which the force there couldbe withdrawn, should the entrance be forced. A day was spent by theleaders in making their final arrangements; while the men worked atthe erection of a great wall of rocks, twelve feet high and as manythick, across the mouth of the gorge; collecting quantities ofstones and rocks, on the heights on either side, to roll down uponany enemy who might endeavour to scale them; while another verystrong party built a wall, six feet high, in a great semicircleround the upper mouth of the gorge, so that a column forcing itsway through, thus far, would be met by so heavy a fire that theycould only debouch into the valley with immense loss.
Two hundred men of the Minho regiment, drawn from Terence's party,were to occupy the valley; with three hundred of the guerillas, whowould be able to do good service by occupying the heights, whilethe regular infantry held the newly-erected walls. One of Moras'most trusted lieutenants was to command them while, after somediscussion, it was arranged that Herrara should be in generalcommand of the garrison.
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bsp; The brave fellow was reluctant to remain inactive; but he had been,for some time, seriously unwell, having been laid up for a timewith a severe attack of dysentery; and was really unfit for anycontinued exertion, although he had made light of his illness, andrefused to go on the sick list. Terence pointed out to him that thecommand was a very important one. Here all the plunder that theymight obtain from the enemy would be carried; and if, by means ofspies or traitors, the French obtained news of the situation of thepost, he might be attacked in great force before the otherdetachments could arrive to his assistance.
As there were four thousand French troops at Zamora, it was agreedthat no direct attack could be made upon the town. Bull with hisforce was to watch the garrison, attack any detachments that mightbe sent out--leaving them severely alone when they sallied out inforce, and to content himself with outmarching their infantry, andbeating off any cavalry attacks. He was, if necessary, to retreatin the direction of their stronghold.
Macwitty was to occupy the road between Zamora and Valladolid,while the main body held the roads between both the latter town,and Zamora, to Salamanca. Frequent communication was to be kept upbetween them, so that either column might speedily be reinforced,if necessary.
In the course of a week, the whole country was in a state of alarm.Bridges were broken down, roads blocked by deep cuttings acrossthem, convoys attacked, small French posts at Tordesillas,Fuentelapena, and Valparaiso captured--the French soldiers beingdisarmed, and then taken under an escort to within ten miles ofSalamanca. Toro was entered suddenly, and a garrison of threehundred men taken by surprise, and forced to lay down their arms.The powder, bullocks, and waggons with their stores were sent, bycircuitous routes, to the bridge across the Douro at Miranda, andthen up to their stronghold.
So vigilant a watch was kept on the roads that no single courierwas able to make his way from Valladolid to Salamanca or Zamoraand, beyond the fact that the whole country seemed swarming withenemies, the French commanders were in absolute ignorance of thestrength of the force that had so suddenly invaded Leon.
One day a messenger rode in from Macwitty to Fuentelapena, whereTerence had his headquarters; saying that a body of 4000 Frenchinfantry, with 1000 cavalry, were on the march from Valladolidtowards Zamora. Strong positions had already been selected for thedefence, and a bridge broken down at a point where the road crosseda tributary of the Douro.
Terence at once sent Ryan with 200 men to reinforce Macwitty, anddespatched several mounted messengers to find Bull, and to tell himto join him on the road, four miles to the east of the point whereMacwitty was defending the passage of the river. He himself marcheddirectly on that point, crossing the river at Tordesillas. Hearrived there early in the morning, and found that the Frenchcolumn had passed, late the evening before.
At this point the road ran between two hills, several timescrossing a stream that wound along the valley. A large number ofmen were at once set to work, breaking down the bridges andthrowing up a breastwork along the bank, where the river made asharp bend, crossing the valley from the foot of the hills on oneside to that of those on the other. While this work was being donecannon shots were heard, then a distant rattle of musketry.
Terence knew that by this time Ryan would have joined Macwitty; andMoras at once started, with his men and 400 of the Portuguese, tothreaten the French rear, and make a dash upon their baggage.Terence's orders to the officers in command of these two companieswere that they were to keep their men well together, and to coverthe retreat of the guerillas from cavalry attacks. The firingcontinued for the next hour and a half, then it suddenly swelled involume, and amid the rattle could be heard the sound of heavyvolleys of musketry.
Terence had, half an hour before, ridden forward at full speed withfour mounted orderlies. When he arrived at a spot where he couldsurvey the scene of combat, he saw that it was more serious than hehad anticipated. The guerillas were falling back rapidly, but assoon as they gained the high ground they halted and opened fireupon the cavalry who, scattered over the plain, were pursuing them.His own men were retreating steadily and in good order, facinground and pouring heavy volleys into the French cavalry, as theycharged them.
The French attack on Macwitty had ceased, and Terence saw bodies ofinfantry moving towards the right where, on rising ground, a bodyof troops about a thousand strong were showing themselvesmenacingly. He had no doubt for a moment that this was Bull'scommand who, hearing the firing, and supposing that Terence wasengaged there, had led his command straight to the scene of action.
He at once sent an orderly back, at full gallop, to order the menin the valley to come on at the top of their speed; and then rodealong the hillside and joined Bull, who was now closely engagedwith the advancing columns of French. So hot was the fire, fromBull's own men and the guerillas, that the two French battalionswavered and came to a halt; and then, breaking into skirmishingorder, advanced up the hill.
"Don't wait too long, Bull," Terence said. "There is a steeperslope behind you. However, I don't think they will come up veryfar--not, at least, until they are reinforced. There is anotherbody just starting, and I think we can hold on here until they jointhe skirmishing line. As soon as they do so, sound the order forthe men to fall back."
"Where are your men, sir?"
"They are four miles away, at the spot where I told you to join me.However, the mistake is of no importance. I have sent off for themand, as soon as they arrive and show themselves, I fancy the Frenchwill retreat."
He tore out a leaf from his pocketbook, and wrote out an order toMacwitty:
"Leave Captain Ryan with his command to hold the river; and marchat once, with the rest of your men, to the ford which we heard of,a mile down the river. Cross there, and ascend the hills on theFrench right; scattering your men so as to make as much show aspossible, and menacing the French with attack. Tell Captain Ryan toredouble his fire, so as to prevent the French noticing thewithdrawal of your force."
This he gave to one of his orderlies, and told him to swim theriver and deliver it to Major Macwitty.
When Terence had done this, he was able to give his attention towhat was passing. Across the valley his men had now ascended thehill, and joined the guerillas. The French cavalry, unable tocharge up the heights, had fallen back. A column of French, somefifteen hundred strong, were marching in that direction.
As he had expected, the skirmishers in front of him were making butlittle way; evidently halting for the arrival of the reinforcement,which was still more than half a mile distant. The French gunnershad been withdrawn from the bank of the river, and were taking uppositions to cover the advance of their infantry; and their shotpresently came singing overhead--doing no harm, however, to thePortuguese, who were lying down on the crest of the swell, andkeeping up a steady fire on the French skirmishers.
Ten minutes later the column was within a short distance of theline of defenders. Terence gave the word, and his men retired upanother and steeper slope behind; while the guerillas were orderedto remain to keep up a brisk fire, until the French were withinthirty yards of the crest, and were then to run back at full speed,and join him above.
The Portuguese had scarcely taken up their position when atremendous fire broke out below. A minute later the guerillas wereseen rushing up the hill, and close behind them came the Frenchline, cheering loudly. As they appeared the Portuguese opened fire,and with such steadiness and precision that the leading files ofthe French were almost annihilated. But the wave swept upwards and,encouraged by the shouts of their officers, they advanced againstthe second position.
For half an hour an obstinate fight was maintained, the strength ofthe position neutralizing the effect of the superior numbers of theFrench. The Spaniards fought well, imitating the steadiness of thePortuguese and, being for the most part good marksmen, their firewas very deadly; and several determined attacks of the French werebeaten off with heavy loss.
Then, from the valley below, was heard the sound of a bugle. Thecall was repeated by the
bugles of the assailants and, slowly andreluctantly, the French began to fall back.
Terence looked round. He had from time to time glanced across tothe hills opposite, and had seen his men there retiring steadily,and in good order, before the assault of the French; and now he sawthat his force from the valley was marching rapidly along thehilltop to their assistance; while away on the French right,Macwitty's command, spread out to appear of much greater strengththan it really possessed, was moving down the slope, as if to theassault.
Below, in the valley, a battalion of French infantry with theircavalry and artillery were drawn up, and were evidently onlywaiting for the return of the two assaulting columns, to join intheir retreat. The French commander doubtless supposed that he wascaught in a trap. Unable to effect the passage of the river, andseeing the stubborn resistance his troops were meeting with on thehills, the arrival of two fresh bodies of the enemy on the sceneinduced him to believe that the foe were in great force; and that,ere long, he might be completely surrounded. He moved forwardslowly, by the road he had come, and was presently joined by thetwo detached parties.
As soon as they moved on, Terence sent an orderly at a gallopacross the valley, to order Macwitty and Moras to follow the Frenchalong on the hills on their side of the valley, and to harass themas much as possible; while he, with Bull's command, kept parallelwith them on his side.
The French cavalry kept ahead of their column. The leadingbattalion was thrown out as skirmishers, on the lower slopes of thehills; while the artillery, in the rear, kept up a heavy fire uponthe Portuguese and Spanish, as soon as they were made out on thehills above them. Terence kept his men on the crest, and signalledto Macwitty to do the same; but the guerillas swarmed down thehillside, and maintained a galling fire on the French column.Terence took his men along at the double and, heading the column,descended into the valley at the point they had fortified.
Here there was a sharp fight. The French cavalry fell back, aftersuffering heavily. Their infantry advanced gallantly and, after afierce fight, drove the Portuguese from their wall and up thehillside. Here they maintained a heavy fire, until the columnopened out and the French artillery came to the front; when Terenceat once ordered the men to scatter, and climb the hill at fullspeed.
Without attempting to repair the broken bridges, the Frenchinfantry crossed the stream breast high, and the cavalry andartillery followed; and Terence, seeing that their retreat couldnot be seriously molested, and that if he attempted to do so, heshould suffer very heavily from their artillery, sounded a halt;and the French continued their retreat to Valladolid, leavingbehind them all their baggage, which they had been unable to getacross the stream.
Terence's force came down from the hills and assembled in thevalley. Congratulations were exchanged on the success that hadattended their efforts. Then the roll was at once called, and itwas found that a hundred and three men of the Minho regiment weremissing. There was no roll among the guerillas; but Moras'sestimate, after counting the number assembled, was, that upwards oftwo hundred were absent from the ranks, fully half of these havingbeen overtaken and killed by the French cavalry.
Terence at once sent off two parties of his own men, to the pointswhere the fight had been fiercest. They were to collect thewounded, including those of the French, and to carry them down intothe valley; while parties of guerillas searched the hillsides, downto the scene of action, for their comrades who had fallen from thefire of the French artillery and musketry.
When the wounded were collected, it was found there were upwards oftwo hundred French infantry, fifty-nine guerillas, and twenty-fourPortuguese. The smaller proportion of wounded of the latter beingaccounted for by the fact that so many had been shot through thehead, while lying down to fire at the French as they climbed thehill. Two hundred and thirty French soldiers had been killed.Terence at once set his men to dig wide trenches, in which thesoldiers of the three nationalities were laid side by side.
A considerable amount of reserve ammunition being captured in thewaggons, the men's cartridge boxes were filled up again, and therest was packed in a waggon. Some of the drivers had cut theirtraces, but others had neglected to do this, and there weresufficient waggons to carry all the wounded, both friends andenemies, together with a considerable amount of flour.
The French wounded were taken to the ford by which Macwitty hadcrossed; and then some of them who had been wounded in the leg and,although unable to walk, were fit to drive, were given the reinsand told to take the waggons to Zamora, a distance of twelve miles.Fifty men were told off to march with them, until within sight ofthe town; as otherwise they would have assuredly been attacked, andthe whole of the wounded massacred by the Spanish peasants.
The force then broke up again, each column taking as much flour andmeat as the men could carry. The remaining waggons and stores wereheaped together, and set on fire.
Long before this was done, they had been rejoined by Ryan and hiscommand. He had remained guarding the river until the French haddisappeared up the valley, and had then crossed at the ford but,though using all haste, he did not rejoin the force until the wholeof the fighting was over.
"This has been a good day's work, Terence," he said when, thatevening, the force had entered Tordesillas and quartered themselvesthere for the night. "You may be sure that the general atValladolid will send messengers to Salamanca, giving a greatlyexaggerated account of our force; and begging them to send down toMarmont, at once, for a large reinforcement. If the couriers make adetour, in the first place, we shall not be able to cut them off."
"No, Dick, and we wouldn't, if we could. I have no doubt that hewill report the force with which his column was engaged as beingnearly double what it really is. Besides, sharp as we have been, Iexpect some messengers will, by this time, have got through fromZamora. The commandant there will report that a large force is inthe neighbourhood of that town; and that, without leaving the placeentirely undefended, he has not strength enough to sally outagainst them. They cannot know that this force and ours have joinedhands in the attack on the Valladolid column, nor that thisrepresented anything like the whole of the force that have beenharrying the country and cutting off detached posts. The fact, too,that this gathering was not a mere collection of guerillas, or ofthe revolted peasantry; but that there were regular troops amongthem, in considerable numbers, will have a great effect; andMarmont will feel himself obliged, when he gets the news, to sendsome fifteen or twenty thousand troops up here to clear thecountry.
"Now, the first thing to do is to draw up a report of theengagement, and to send it off to Wellington. I think that it willbe a good thing, Dick, for you to carry it yourself. I don't thinkthat there is any fear of your being interrupted on your way toMiranda, and as an officer you will be able to get fresh horses,and take the news quicker than an orderly could do; and it is ofgreat importance that the chief should know, as soon as possible,what has taken place here. I shall speak very strongly of yourservices during the past week, and it is always a good thing for anofficer selected to carry the news of a success; and lastly, youcan give a much better account of our operations, since we crossedthe frontier, than an orderly could do, and Wellington may want tosend orders back for our future work."
"I am game," Ryan said, "and thank you for the offer. How long willyou be?"
"Well, it is eight o'clock now, and if you start at midnight itwill be soon enough; so if you have finished your supper, you hadbetter lie down on that bed in the next room and get a sleep; foryou were marching all last night, and will want some rest beforestarting on such a journey."