After the capture of the forts, the regiment advanced upon Toro, but was subsequently ordered to retire to Alaejos to support a body of troops, under Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton, posted on the Trabancos; and several retrograde movements followed, which were succeeded by the battle of _Salamanca_. During the night before this eventful day, while the regiment was dismounted, a violent storm occurred. The thunder rolled with tremendous violence over the heads of the men and horses; the lightning played in sheets of fire and shed its blazing gleams upon the polished arms; and the rain fell in torrents. One flash fell among the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS; the terrified horses breaking loose galloped wildly about in the dark, and every additional clap of thunder and blaze of lightning augmented the confusion. Twenty men of the regiment were trampled down and disabled, and several horses escaped into the French lines. On the morning of the memorable 22d of July, the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS, commanded by Colonel the Honourable William Ponsonby, moved from their bivouac and formed in the rear of the centre of the position occupied by the allied army. While the French commander was manœuvring, Lord Wellington took advantage of an injudicious movement, and ordered his divisions forward to attack their adversaries, when the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS took ground to their right, passed the village of Arapiles, and advancing in support of the third and fifth divisions, were exposed to a heavy cannonade. The French army, being attacked at the moment it was making a complicated evolution, was unable to withstand the British forces; in a short time, a favourable opportunity for a charge of the heavy cavalry occurred, and the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS, and Third and Fourth Dragoons, were ordered to attack.[10] The bugles sounded; the brigade moved forward, increasing its pace, with Major-General Le Marchant at its head, and a most animated scene presented itself. The din of battle was heard on every side; clouds of dust and rising columns of smoke darkened the air, and enveloped the foaming squadrons as they dashed forward and shook the ground with their trampling hoofs. In front, the glittering bayonets and waving colours of French infantry were dimly seen through the thickened atmosphere; these formidable ranks of war were, in an instant, broken and overthrown by the terrific charge of this brigade; the resolute troopers, mingling with their discomfited antagonists, cut them down with a dreadful carnage, while the British infantry raised shouts of triumph and applause at the success of the cavalry, and numbers of the enemy laid down their arms, and surrendered prisoners of war. Major-General Le Marchant was shot through the body, which terminated the career of that gallant and talented officer; the command of the brigade devolved on the brave Colonel the Honourable William Ponsonby of the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS, and the officers