There was still one more corps from which Wellington intended to get useful assistance. This was the main body of the Spanish Army of Estremadura, the troops of Penne Villemur and Morillo, about 1,000 horse and 4,000 foot[259], which he destined to play the same part in this campaign that Blake had played during the last siege of Badajoz. By Castaños’s leave this little force had been moved from its usual haunts by Caçeres and Valencia de Alcantara, behind the Portuguese frontier, to the Lower Guadiana, from whence it was to enter the Condado de Niebla. It passed Redondo on March 17th on its way towards San Lucar de Guadiana, feeding on magazines provided by its allies; Penne Villemur’s orders were that he should establish himself in the Condado (where there was still a small Spanish garrison at Ayamonte), and strike at Seville, the moment that he heard that Soult had gone north towards Estremadura. The city would be found ill-garrisoned by convalescents, and _Juramentados_ of doubtful loyalty: if it were not captured, its danger would at any rate cause Soult to turn back, just as he had in June 1811, for he dared not lose his base and arsenal. It was hoped that Ballasteros with his roving corps from the mountain of Ronda would co-operate, when he found that the troops usually employed to ‘contain’ him had marched off. But Ballasteros was always a ‘law unto himself,’ and it was impossible to count upon him: he particularly disliked suggestions from a British quarter, while Castaños was always sensible and obliging[260]. [259] The Conde had 1,114 horse and 3,638 foot on Jan. 1, not including two of Morillo’s battalions then absent. The total force used for the raid was probably as above. [260] Details in a dispatch to Colonel Austin of March 15, _Dispatches_, viii, p. 666. General scheme in a letter to Castaños of Feb. 16. Ibid., p. 614. Before dealing with the operations of the actual siege of Badajoz, which require to be studied in continuous sequence, it may be well to deal with those of the covering corps.