The troops were much inconvenienced for want of water, as the river was at some distance, and only a few men could be spared, since it was impossible to know at what moment the enemy might not attack. Some Spanish ladies came from Salamanca, and walked through our lines. On the third night the French retired; our division took ground to the right, and were posted on the bare and conical hill of Cabrerizos. It appeared necessary that the forts and the command of the bridge at Salamanca should be secured before we made any forward movement. The Duke of Ragusa evidently wished to gain time, and to continue in the vicinity to succour the forts, also to infuse courage into the little garrisons, until his reinforcements should arrive. The Earl of Wellington remained on the hill of Cabrerizos the whole day. The sun shone with great brilliancy, and it was burning hot. One of the soldiers of the 43d put up a blanket to keep the rays of the sun from his lordship. Our bivouac presented a droll appearance, as the whole division had hoisted blankets in a similar manner. A Spanish _muchacha_, with sandy hair, named Agueda, from the _pueblo_ of Fuente de Guinaldo, who preferred the sound of the bugle-horn to her domestic occupations, was the sole female to be seen amid the sun-burnt soldiers, and the brilliant masses, that now covered hill and dale, ready at a moment to deploy in battle array. The breaches at the forts were now considered practicable. At about nine o'clock at night the attack commenced; but after some time the firing became slack, and I saw three rockets thrown up from the forts; they were immediately answered by several rounds of artillery from the French army, on a rising ground two leagues to our right, which instantly satisfied me that the assault had not succeeded, and that it was done as a signal that they were still at hand. On the morning of the 25th, at daylight, we heard some firing on the other side of the Tormes during a dense fog, which at first prevented the force of the enemy from being ascertained. The Earl of Wellington would not move. The soldiers laughed, and said, "Oh, they are only shaking their blankets on the other side of the water;" for in heavy weather musketry produced sounds such as I have described. As the fog cleared away, a few rounds of artillery took place; and the General-in-Chief sent a sufficient body of troops by the ford in rear of St. Christoval to meet the enemy. When the atmosphere cleared, we saw about a division of the French moving towards Salamanca. They were opposed by our heavy cavalry, which had been placed there to secure the flank and rear of our army. At seven that evening, the French re-crossed, unmolested, to the right bank of the Tormes, by a ford a league to our right. I did not consider the movement a serious one, but merely as intended to encourage the soldiers in the forts to hold out.