These parties began to be formed immediately after Buonaparte swept the land before him to Madrid, and from that time they continued to increase in numbers and activity, as the regular armies declined in reputation and in strength. The enemy made a great effort to put them down after the battle of Ocaña, and boasted of having completely succeeded, because the guerrillas disappeared before them, dispersing whenever they were in danger of being attacked by a superior force. There was nothing in their dress to distinguish them from the peasantry; every one was ready to give them intelligence or shelter; they knew the country perfectly; each man shifted for himself in time of need; and when they re-assembled at the appointed rallying place, so far were they from being dispirited by the dispersion, that the ease with which they had eluded the enemy became a new source of confidence. They became more numerous and more enterprising after it had been seen how little loss they sustained, when, for a time, the intrusive Government made it its chief object to extirpate them; their escapes, as well as their exploits, were detailed both in the official and provincial Gazettes; and the leaders became known in all parts, not of Spain only, but of Europe, by their own names, or the popular appellations which had been given them indicative of their former profession or personal appearance. _El Manco_, the man with a maimed arm, commanded one band; the Old Man of Sereña another. There was _el Frayle_, the Friar; _el Cura_, the Priest; _el Medico_, the Doctor; _el Cantarero_, the Potter; _el Cocinero_, the Cook; _el Pastor_, the Shepherd; _el Abuelo_, the grand-father. One chief was called _el Chaleco_, from the fashion of his waistcoat; he won for himself a better reputation than might have been expected from such an appellation: another obtained the name of _Chambergo_, from his slouched hat. Names of worse import appear among them; there was the _Malalma_, the Bad Soul, de Aibar, and the _Ladron_, the Robber, de Lumbier.