An odd accident deceived the French. There was among the Somatenes a drummer, who had escaped from Barcelona: little as the knowledge was which this lad possessed of military manœuvres, it enabled him to assume authority among these armed peasants, and he performed the double duties of drummer and commander with singular good fortune. For the enemy inferred from the sound of the drum, which was regularly beaten, that the peasantry were supported by regular troops: ... there were Swiss in Lerida, and the regiment of Extremadura was at Tarrega; the apprehension therefore was not unreasonable, and, after a short stand against a brisk fire, Schwartz determined upon retreating. The Somatenes, encouraged by success, and now increasing in number, pressed upon him; and the news of his defeat raised the country behind him, to his greater danger. He had to pass through the little town of Esparraguera, consisting of one narrow street, nearly a mile in length. The inhabitants cut down trees, and brought out tables and benches to obstruct the way, and they stored the flat roofs of their houses with beams and stones. The head of the French column, ignorant of these preparations, entered the street at twilight; but having experienced the danger, Schwartz divided them into two bodies, one of which made its way on the outside of the town by the right, the other by the left. From this time the retreat became disorderly; the enemy lost part of their artillery in crossing the Abrera; and had the people of Martorell acted upon the alert like those of Esparraguera, and broken down the bridge over the Noya, the fugitives, for such they were now become, might probably all have been cut off. ♦JUNE 7.♦ They entered Barcelona in great confusion and dismay: their loss was less than might have been expected in such a route, for the Spaniards had neither horse nor cannon; they left, however, one piece of artillery in the hands of the pursuers, and about 400 dead, the greater part being Swiss. ♦G. CHABRAN RECALLED IN CONSEQUENCE OF SCHWARTZ’S DEFEAT.♦