When Lieut.-General Sir John Moore was appointed to the command of the British troops in Portugal, and directed to advance to the assistance of the Spaniards, the KING'S OWN, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Wynch, were formed in brigade with the twenty-eighth and forty-second regiments, under the orders of Major-General Lord William Bentinck; the FOURTH led the right column in the march through Portugal into Spain, and arrived at Salamanca on the 14th of November. Although the Spanish forces, which were to have co-operated with Sir John Moore, were defeated and dispersed, and Bonaparte had three hundred thousand men in Spain, yet the British general, with that intrepidity which marked his character, advanced with his army into the heart of Spain, braved the numerous legions of the enemy, and produced a diversion favourable to the Spanish cause. When Napoleon directed eighty thousand men and two hundred cannon against Sir John Moore, he marched towards the coast; and by superior skill escaped from the overwhelming numbers by which he was menaced. Great privation and suffering were endured by the troops during this retreat of two hundred and fifty miles, in the depth of winter, over mountains and rivers, exposed to snow-storms and heavy rains, and pursued by an enemy of superior numbers. During the retreat the KING'S OWN preserved their efficiency, and their grenadier company, commanded by Captain Faunce, did not lose a man. [Sidenote: 1809] At length the army arrived at _Corunna_, and the war-worn British soldiers obtained shelter, warm food, and a short repose, at the town and neighbouring villages, where their wasted strength was recruited, and their damaged arms were exchanged for new, while they awaited the arrival of shipping to transport them to England. The shipping arrived, and while arrangements were making for the embarkation, the British troops, amounting to fourteen thousand five hundred men, were in position on an inferior range of heights in front of _Corunna_; and the FOURTH were on the right of Lieut.-General Sir David Baird's division, behind the village of Elvina.