On the 23rd, Simmons and Hopwood, being on picquet with Mitchell’s company near Villa Matos, observed two French soldiers entering a house in their front in search of provisions. Taking three men of the picquet with them, they crawled to an avenue which screened them from a vedette who was stationed on a rising ground to give the foragers notice of any danger. Entering the house they seized the men, who were armed, and one of whom snapped his musket at his assailants, but it missed fire. The Riflemen found a large barrel of wine in the house; and the officers sending back one of the men for all the canteens he could find at the picquet while the others kept a good look-out, filled sixty, destroyed the rest of the barrel, and led off their two prisoners to the picquet. The army remained in the lines of Torres-Vedras till November 15. Leach’s company, which furnished the picquet in front of Arruda on the night of the 14th, discovered at daybreak on the next morning that the French army had fallen back during the night; leaving dummies of straw topped with a shako, and with a pole to look like a musket, to represent their advanced sentries. Soon after this was known at head-quarters the Battalion was ordered in pursuit; but did not come up with the French rear-guard, and halted that night near Alemquer. On the 16th the Battalion continued the pursuit through Villa Nova and Azambuja; and though they never got sight of the rear-guard, they took many stragglers prisoners. They first got sight of the French near Cartaxo, where they found them posted on some rising ground, having a heathy plain in their front. Craufurd, believing that a rear-guard only was opposed to him, was on the point of attacking; but Lord Wellington, who came up at the moment, forbade this attack, a whole _Corps d’Armée_ being, in fact, concealed behind the heights on which the small force visible was posted. The Battalion halted that night in Cartaxo, and before dawn on the 18th again started in pursuit, and came up with the enemy’s rear-guard, which retired before them across a plain to the Rio Mayor, which they crossed by a narrow bridge at the end of a long causeway. A company of the Regiment was pushed on as a picquet near the bridge. The enemy were occasionally exchanging shots with some dismounted dragoons whom the Riflemen relieved; and Simmons, who was on the picquet, taking three men with him, crept on the bridge; and lying down behind a dead mule, which gave them a good rest for their rifles, they took deliberate aim and evidently hit some of their adversaries, who became very chary of showing themselves. As the Riflemen had had a long march and a hard day’s work, they were relieved at night by a company of the 52nd; and retreating to a grove of olive-trees near at hand, for they were to remain as a reserve, they kindled their fires and made themselves as comfortable as a rainy night allowed. But they were not long undisturbed.