ARMY CROSSES THE DOURO.♦ designed for the passage of the troops. Five divisions of infantry and two brigades of cavalry were thus placed upon the right bank of the Douro, while the enemy supposed that they had only to guard against an attempt from the left. The difficulties of the march were indeed very great; most of the roads are so narrow that carriages could barely pass between the thick walls which bounded them; and the mountain streams had their course in ravines, from whence the ascent is so laborious that sixty men could not without great exertion enable the horses to drag the artillery up. Nevertheless, hope and ardour overcame all difficulties; and the advantage which the troops derived from being provided with shelter was sensibly felt: out of a division of 6000 men, there were but 120 sick after a march of 250 miles, through such a country. When these were far on their way, Lord Wellington, with two divisions of British infantry, a Portugueze one under the Conde de Amarante, a Spanish one under Morillo, and some corps of cavalry, advanced from Ciudad Rodrigo by the direct road to Salamanca; the remainder of the army under Sir Rowland Hill moved upon the same point by Alba de Tormes. The line of their retreat in November was still too evidently marked by the skeletons of the poor animals who had been worked to death in that cruel service. A division of infantry under General Villatte had been left in Salamanca, with some artillery, and three squadrons of horse. They evacuated the city upon the approach of the allies, but they lingered too long upon ♦MAY 26. AFFAIR NEAR SALAMANCA.♦ the high ground in its vicinity. When Lord Wellington was within half a league of Salamanca, he and his staff got upon a rocky height which commanded a full view of the city and adjacent country. Below him were his own videttes, and beyond them those of the enemy, each supported by piquets. To the right were the Arapiles, a name known only in topography before, but which had now a place in military history; and in the same direction, but more behind him, the heads of two columns, forming Sir Rowland’s division, were seen on two nearly parallel roads. Through a glass, the enemy were observed drawn up; two battalions and a squadron to the right of the city, near a ruined convent; two squadrons on the Tormes, near the bridge; half a squadron guarding the ford, about a mile above the city, near S. Martha; ... and behind the city a battalion in reserve. Villatte having barricadoed the bridge and the principal communications throughout the town, seemed to have thought himself sure of an easy retreat. The 1st German hussars, favoured by ground which concealed them from the enemy, inclined toward the ford, while the 14th light dragoons, keeping beyond the reach of fire, edged along the left bank of the river. The enemy appeared in some confusion, but remained stationary, as if waiting for something; and beyond the