Sir Arthur’s mistake upon this subject arose from his being ignorant that Mortier had formed a junction with this army. He supposed that it consisted only of the corps of Soult and Ney, who had brought out of Galicia 18,000 men, the remains of 36,000 with which they entered that country. Cuesta, however, was better informed; and he himself altered his opinion of the enemy’s force when he considered the positive orders which the Intruder had given for attacking the British army, supposing it to consist ♦CUESTA JOINS THE BRITISH.♦ of 25,000 men. Cuesta had not asked Sir Arthur’s advice, and did not wait to receive it: he left Talavera before it reached him, marched all night, and joined the British at Oropesa soon after daylight on the 4th. His apprehension of danger to himself was well founded: it was not without great exertions and heavy loss that the combined armies had repulsed the French at Talavera; well, therefore, might he despair of withstanding them alone if they returned to the attack. But the danger which by this hasty retreat he averted from himself, he brought upon Venegas and Sir Arthur; and the latter, in addition to the mortification of having his wounded fall into the hands of the enemy, saw himself exposed to an attack in front and in rear at the same time by two armies, each superior ♦THEY RETREAT ACROSS THE TAGUS.♦ to his own. It was absolutely necessary to retreat, otherwise nothing but two victories could extricate the troops from their perilous situation, and they were little capable of extraordinary exertions, not having had their full allowance of provisions for several days. The bridge of Almaraz had been destroyed, and when the Marquess de la Reyna abandoned his post at the pass, he made for this point, with the intention of removing the bridge of boats that had been placed there; the boats indeed might be still in the river, but it was thought impossible to reach Almaraz without a battle. If he moved on to give the enemy battle, the French from Talavera would break down the bridge of Arzobispo, and thus intercept the only way by which a retreat was practicable; the same danger would be incurred if he took a position at Oropesa. Nothing remained, therefore, but to cross at Arzobispo, while it was yet in his power, and take up a defensive post upon the Tagus: the sooner a defensive line should be taken, the more likely were the troops to be able to defend it. On the day, therefore, that Cuesta formed his unfortunate junction, Sir Arthur retreated by this route, and crossed. Cuesta followed on the night of the 5th. ♦COL. MACKINNON REMOVES SOME OF THE WOUNDED.♦