This was the state of affairs in the Peninsula when the NINETY-SECOND arrived in the Tagus. On the 8th of October, the battalion landed, and the necessary camp equipage, on taking the field, was immediately issued. [Sidenote: 1811] The NINETY-SECOND, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel John Cameron, marched from Lisbon to join the army under Viscount Wellington, then in the fortified lines of Torres Vedras, and arrived at Cruzandera on the 15th of October, where the battalion remained until the 15th of November. At this period it was attached to the first division of the army, and was brigaded with the _fiftieth_ and _seventy-first_ regiments, under Major-General Howard. Marshal Massena having abandoned his position in front of the British, and retired upon Santarem, the NINETY-SECOND advanced on the 15th of November, and occupied the village of Almostal on the 19th of November, moving on the 28th to Alcantrinha, the enemy occupying a strong position at Santarem, immediately in front of the British army. At the commencement of the year 1811, Lisbon was the point on which the interests of the British nation in foreign affairs were concentrated, and the question whether Portugal should remain independent, or become subject to France, was to be decided by the two great armies posted near Lisbon, the one for attack, the other for defence. The difficulty of supplying his troops with necessaries in a devastated country, and the impracticability of forcing the fortified lines of Viscount Wellington, at Torres Vedras, at length compelled Marshal Massena to consult the safety of his army by a seasonable retreat. During the night of the 5th of March, the enemy broke up from his position near Santarem, and retreated in the direction of Almeida. Viscount Wellington immediately pursued Marshal Massena by Thomar, Pombal, Redinha, and Espinhal, at each of which places some sharp affairs took place, honorable to the British arms, as well as at Sabugal on the 3rd of April, immediately after which the French continued their retreat into Spain. The first battalion of the NINETY-SECOND regiment entered Spain on the 9th of April, and was cantoned in Albergaria, where a detachment of one lieutenant and forty-four rank and file joined from the second battalion, then in Ireland. At this period, the sixth division of the British army invested _Almeida_, and a force of British and Portuguese under Marshal Beresford was employed in the Alemtejo and Spanish Estremadura, which compelled the enemy to abandon Campo Mayor. _Olivenza_ was next besieged by Marshal Beresford, and retaken on the 15th of April, after which he broke ground before _Badajoz_.