But the French, who had crossed at Arzobispo, after dislodging the Spaniards from their positions at Mesa de Ibor and Fresnedoso, divided into two columns; the one proceeded by the circuitous way of Deleitosa and Torrecillas, with the intent of getting into Cuesta’s rear, between Jaraicejo and Miravete, and thus to cut off his communication and supplies; the other marched by Valduaña toward the bridge of Almaraz, to dislodge Henestrosa, and thereby free the passage of the river. Cuesta’s army consisted of about 16,000 men; the French were little if at all superior in numbers, but he believed that they had 20,000 foot and 3000 cavalry; and learning that Henestrosa, under the belief that his right was threatened by a superior force, had withdrawn from his post, and that the enemy had already begun to cross the Tagus, he determined to retreat toward Truxillo, lest he should be attacked at the same time both in the front and in the rear. This ♦MARCH 18.♦ brave old man was cautious when he ought to have been bold, and rash in enterprise when he ought to have been cautious. Had Henestrosa been supported in time (for there had been time enough to support him), the ground was so strong, and the Spaniards in such a temper, that the French could hardly have reached the position at Miravete without sustaining a loss severe enough to have crippled them. In pursuance of this unwise resolution, on the night of the 18th he began his retreat, with the intention of forcing his way through the French corps, which he expected to fall in with, and of taking up the best position he could find for his own subsistence, and for covering the frontiers of Andalusia. But by thus abandoning an excellent position, he left Extremadura open to a hungry enemy. ♦SKIRMISHES AT TRUXILLO AND MIAJADAS.♦