On Monday the 16th, at 3 P.M., Soult advanced with all his army in three columns, his cavalry and artillery remaining on the heights to cover his formations. Two divisions of the English army, under General Hope and Sir David Baird, occupied the most advanced ground on their side, with their left to the Bay of Corunna; a third division, under General Frazer, was posted on some heights to the right--more retired--commanding the approaches to Corunna from the [Sidenote: To D.-A.-G. 23 June, 1809. N.B. Capt. Gardiner was Brigade-Major to the R. A.] Vigo Road. Captain Gardiner wrote: “The action became general about 3 o’clock, and an uninterrupted fire of cannon and musketry was kept up till one hour after dark. They evidently pushed for our right, which was our weakest point, but the firmness of our line was in no way to be shaken. At one time I feared they would outflank us from their numbers; but this was prevented by the movements of the reserve under General Paget. At a little after 6 o’clock Soult retired, leaving us masters of the field, and in possession of a village he occupied in the morning.” This village, Elvina, had been to the battle of Corunna what Hougomont and La Haye Sainte were afterwards to that of Waterloo. The battle, at various periods of the day, raged fiercely round it. Here Sir David Baird received the wound which compelled him to leave the field; and it was when watching the attack by the English reserve on the French troops in possession of this village late in the day, that Sir John Moore received the wound which proved fatal. Its retention by the English at the close of the day was therefore a distinct proof of victory. [Sidenote: Despatch to Sir D. Baird.] But it was not a victory, as General Hope well said, which could be attended by any very brilliant consequences to Great Britain. The utmost that could be hoped for was the embarkation of the army without molestation. Thanks to the defeat of the French, their want of ammunition, and the friendly courage of the inhabitants of Corunna, the whole army, with the exception of the rear-guard, was embarked with perfect order during the night of the 16th. The incessant rumble of wheels over the field denoted the gathering of the wounded, and their conveyance in the artillery carts and waggons to the beach. The guns which had been engaged during the day were taken for embarkation to a sandy bay, south-west of Corunna, but, as Colonel Harding wrote, “The weather would not permit it: the guns were spiked; the carriages destroyed; and the whole thrown over a precipice into deep water.”