and when the men undismayed by the defeat of the right, demanded to be led into action, he commanded a retreat, and quitted the field himself at the moment when his presence was most wanted. 6º. The combinations of the French were methodical, well arranged, effectual, and it may seem misplaced, to do ought but commend movements so eminently successful. Yet the chances of war are manifold enough to justify the drawing attention to some points of this short campaign. Areizaga’s burst from the mountains was so unexpected and rapid, that it might well make his adversaries hesitate; and hence perhaps the reason why the first corps circled round the Spanish army, and was singly to have attacked the latter in front at Zarza, on the 19th; whereas, reinforced with the division of the fourth corps from Toledo, it might have fallen on the rear and flank from Mora a week before. That is, during the three days Areizaga remained at Dos Barrios, from whence Mora is only four hours march. 7º. The 11th, the king knew the English army had not approached the valley of the Tagus; Areizaga only quitted Dos Barrios the 13th, and he remained at Zarza until the 18th. During eight days therefore, the Spanish general was permitted to lead, and had he been a man of real enterprise he would have crushed the troops between Dos Barrios and Aranjuez on the 10th or 11th. Indeed, the boldness with which Sebastiani maintained his offensive position beyond Aranjuez, from the 9th to the 14th, was a master-piece. It must, however, be acknowledged that Soult could not at once fix a general, who marched fifty thousand men about like a patrole of cavalry, without the slightest regard to his adversary’s positions or his own line of operations. 8º. In the battle, nothing could be more scientific than the mode in which the French closed upon and defeated the right and centre, while they paralized the left of the Spaniards. The disparity of numbers engaged, and the enormous amount of prisoners, artillery, and other trophies of victory prove it to have been a fine display of talent. But Andalusia was laid prostrate by this sudden destruction of her troops; why then was the fruit of victory neglected? Did the king, unable to perceive his advantages, control the higher military genius of his advising general, or was he distracted by disputes amongst the different commanders? or, did the British army at Badajos alarm him? An accurate knowledge of these points is essential in estimating the real share Spain had in her own deliverance. [Sidenote: Letter to Lord Liverpool. MS.]