Having thus arranged his regular defence, the French general directed the prefect of the Lower Pyrenees to post the organized national guards at the issues of all the valleys about St. Jean Pied de Port, but to keep the mass of the people quiet until the allies penetrating into the country should at once provoke and offer facilities for an irregular warfare. On the 9th, being still uneasy about the San Martin d’Arosa and Gorospil roads, he brought up his brother’s cavalry from St. Palais to the heights above Cambo, and the next day the long-expected storm burst. Allured by some fine weather on the 6th and 7th of November, lord Wellington had moved sir Rowland Hill’s troops from the Roncesvalles to the Bastan with a view to attack Soult, leaving Mina on the position of Altobiscar and in the Alduides. The other corps had also received their orders, and the battle was to commence on the 8th, but general Freyre suddenly declared, that unable to subsist on the mountains he must withdraw a part of his troops. This was a scheme to obtain provisions from the English magazines, and it was successful, for the projected attack could not be made without his aid. Forty thousand rations of flour with a formal intimation that if he did not co-operate the whole army must retire again into Spain, contented Freyre for the moment; but the extravagant abuses of the Spanish commissariat were plainly exposed when the chief of the staff declared that the flour would only suffice for two days, although there were less than ten thousand soldiers in the field. Spain therefore furnished at the rate of two rations for every fighting man and yet her troops were starving! [Sidenote: Appendix, 7, No. 3.] [Sidenote: Appendix, No. 8.] When this difficulty was surmounted heavy rain caused the attack to be again deferred, but on the 10th ninety thousand combatants of all arms and ranks above seventy-four thousand being Anglo-Portuguese, descended to the battle, and with them went ninety-five pieces of artillery, which under the command of colonel Dickson were all with inconceivable vigour and activity thrown into action. Nor in this host do I reckon four thousand five hundred cavalry, nor the Spaniards of the blockading division which remained in reserve. On the other hand the French numbers were now increased by the new levy of conscripts, but many had deserted again into the interior, and the fighting men did not exceed seventy-nine thousand including the garrisons. Six thousand of these were cavalry, and as Foy’s operations were extraneous to the line of defence scarcely sixty thousand infantry and artillery were opposed to the allies.