As morning dawned on the 23rd, the light division advanced, supported by the first division, and crossing the ford, near Huerta, formed _en masse_ in a valley, while the heavy German dragoons ascended the hill, moving on the left of the enemy. After some time we debouched. The Germans made a brilliant charge, and broke the French rear guard, formed on the side of a hill near La Serna. They suffered much. The whole of the enemy had not formed square. I observed five hundred stand of muskets on their left, lying on the ground in line, as if they had been piled and knocked down, and the owners had shifted as well as they could; the muskets were not grounded to the front, but lying sideways. The enemy only formed two squares. I saw a man and horse dead, the rider still in his saddle. They must have received their mortal wounds at the same instant. On mounting the hill, the enemy's army were in full view, in one great mass. Our horse artillery threw some shot into them. The troops soon halted, and the enemy were seen no more. [Footnote 33: Now Lord Combermere.] [Footnote 34: The company was formed up, and fronting the right flank of our dragoons. We, therefore, had an admirable view of the space between the combatants. The soldiers of the company had made ready, holding their firelocks horizontally, or rather at the charging position, but to have fired would have been rather unchivalric, and would probably have destroyed the valiant French officer, who, though our enemy, was an honour to his country.] [Footnote 35: Six companies of the second battalion of rifles joined us on the retreat, just arrived from England.] [Footnote 36: During this campaign only a few Spaniards were attached to each British regiment in our division.] [Footnote 37: The third division did not pass through Salamanca, when they descended from the hill of Cabrerizos. They forded the Tormes, and passed within a mile in rear of us.] [Footnote 38: Now Lord Beresford.] [Footnote 39: He was the only peasant I ever saw in battle, except one who offered his services at Vittoria, to conduct our division over an unprotected bridge, when the second shot fired took off the poor fellow's head.] [Footnote 40: It has been affirmed, that the firing of the French picquet of dragoons in the forest caused us to go too much to the left. On the contrary, we were moving directly towards the ford of Huerta, on the Tormes, as it was supposed that the Spaniards left in the old castle of Alba de Tormes would prevent the enemy crossing the bridge at that place. These Spaniards, however, unknown to the General-in-Chief, had surrendered the day before.] CHAPTER X.