The next morning General Hill, having ascertained that the enemy had marched on Torremocha, put his troops in motion, and advancing along the Merida road, by Aldea del Cano, and the Casa de D. Antonio; for as this was a shorter line than that which Girard had taken, he hoped to intercept him and bring him to action. On the march he learned that the French had only left Torremocha that morning, and that their main body had again halted at Arroyo Molinos, leaving a rear-guard at Albala. This proved that Girard was ignorant of the movements of the allies, and General Hill therefore made a forced march that evening to Alcuescar, a place within four miles of Arroyo Molinos, where he was joined by the Spaniards from Caceres. Everything confirmed the British general in his opinion that the enemy were not only ignorant of his near approach, but also off their guard; and he determined upon attempting to surprise them, or at least bringing them to action, before they should march in the morning. The troops, therefore, lay under a hill, to be out of sight of the enemy; they had marched the whole day in a heavy rain, the rain still continued, and no fires were allowed to be made. ♦ARROYO MOLINOS.♦ Arroyo Molinos is a little town situated at the foot of one extremity of the Sierra de Montanches; this mountain, which is everywhere steep, and appears almost inaccessible, forms a cove or crescent behind it, the two points of which are about two miles asunder. The Truxillo road winds under the eastern point; the road to Merida runs at right angles with that to Alcuescar, and that to Medellin between the Truxillo and Merida roads. The ground between Alcuescar and Arroyo Molinos is a plain, thinly scattered with cork-trees and evergreen oaks; and General Hill’s object was to place a body of troops so as to cut off the retreat of the enemy by any of these roads. At two in the morning, the allies moved from their comfortless bivouac: it was dark, the rain was unabated, and the wind high, but in their backs: but this weather, severe as it was, was in their favour, for it confirmed the French in their incautious security. When Girard had first advanced into Extremadura, he felt some uneasiness at the neighbourhood of General Hill, and demanded succour, saying, that unless he was reinforced he should not be able to resist in case the English should attack him. But the little enterprise which the British and Portugueze army had hitherto displayed, seems to have lulled him into a contemptuous confidence; and there was no distinguished guerrilla leader to disturb the enemy in this part of the country, since D. Ventura Ximenes fell in a rencontre near Toledo. ♦THE FRENCH SURPRISED AND ROUTED THERE.♦