The Battalion marched on the 4th to Santarem, where they halted till the 7th, to allow the baggage animals, the ammunition, and the Commissariat to come up. On that day they marched to Golegão, and on the 8th to Punhete and Tancos, still on the Tagus; on the 9th they passed through Abrantes, but, not halting there, crossed by a pontoon bridge to the left bank of the river, and bivouacked in extensive woods. All these marches were, in consequence of the extreme heat of the weather, performed in the night; the Battalion generally falling in about midnight, and arriving at their bivouack about eight or nine in the morning. It was about this time that Craufurd issued standing orders to his Brigade of extreme strictness, not to say severity. This Draconic code made him at first very unpopular; but as time went on, its usefulness in maintaining discipline and repressing offences became manifest. It produced a perfection in the Brigade which the officers and the men themselves could not but recognise; and this, added to his own personal valour and reckless daring, eventually endeared him to the soldiers who followed him.[66] At midnight on the 10th the Battalion moved to Gavião, a march of thirteen hours, the greater part under a blazing sun. On the 12th they reached, through a bleak and high country, Niza. On the next day they marched through the pass of Villa Velha, and crossing the Tagus by a bridge of boats, bivouacked on the opposite bank. On the 14th they advanced by mountainous and difficult roads to Sernadas, and on the 15th reached Castello Branco. Here they halted on the 16th and 17th to enable the 43rd and 52nd to join them. On the 18th the Brigade thus complete marched soon after midnight and bivouacked in the woods near Ladouira; on the 19th they moved through a desolate country to Zebreira; and on the 20th, crossing the Elgas, passed into Spain and encamped near Zarza Major. On the next day, after a long and oppressive march, they reached Moralegua, and on the 22nd arrived at Coria, where they halted during the 23rd. On the 24th the Battalion marched to Galisteo, on the river Alagon; on the 25th over a burning plain, with the Sierra de Gata, topped with snow, in view, to Malpartida, a village on the Calzones. On the next day, the 26th, crossing the river Tietar by a flying bridge, they had a most fatiguing march to Venta de Bazagona, and on the 27th arrived at Navalmoral, the heat being oppressive.