During this disastrous march from Lugo to Betanzos more men had fallen away from the ranks than during the whole previous part of the campaign. The destruction of several bridges was attempted, but a failure was the invariable result. On the 10th the whole army halted. The main body remained in the town of Betanzos; the reserve maintained its position in bivouac. Directing our attention towards the stragglers as soon as day dawned, we discovered them formed in tolerably good order, resisting the French cavalry and retiring up the road to where we were in position. General Paget saw the whole affair, and perceiving that they were capable of defending themselves, deemed it unnecessary to send them any support; but he declared in presence of the men, who from a natural impulse wished to move down against the cavalry, that his reason for withholding support was that he would not sacrifice the life of one good soldier who had stuck to his colours to save the whole horde of those drunken marauders who by their disgraceful conduct placed themselves at the mercy of their enemies. The stragglers by this time became formidable; and the enemy’s cavalry having lost some men, and seeing the reserve strongly posted, declined to follow further this newly formed levy _en masse_, who, true to their system, straggled up the hill to our bivouac. [Sidenote: BATTLE OF THE PANNIERS.] This affair between the stragglers and the cavalry was termed by the men the battle of the Panniers, from the following circumstance. A soldier of the 28th Regiment, really a good man, who had the mule of Doctor Dacres, to whom he was batman, having fallen in the rear because the animal which carried the surgeon’s panniers was unable to keep up with the regiment, stopped at the houses mentioned; and, getting up before daybreak to follow the regiment he was the first to discover the enemy as they advanced rather cautiously, no doubt taking the stragglers for our proper rearguard. The doctor’s man shouted to the stragglers to get up and defend themselves against the French cavalry; but before they could unite into anything like a compact body, some were sabred or taken. He then gallantly took command of all those who, roused to a sense of danger, contrived a formation, until, to use his own words, he was superseded by a senior officer, a sergeant, who then assumed supreme command; upon which General Panniers, with his mule, retired up the hill to where the reserve were posted. I understand that the sergeant got a commission for his good conduct among the stragglers; but the poor batman was neglected--a not unusual instance of “Sic vos non vobis” in the British army. [Sidenote: AMAZING LOOT.]