But to return. We soon found that our caution was called for. On the 19th of March General Ferey, a bold 94officer, attempted to surprise us, for which purpose he collected six hundred Grenadiers close to the bridge of San Felices, and just as the moon rising behind him cast long shadows from the rocks, and rendered the bottom of the chasm dark, he silently passed the bridge, and, with incredible speed ascending the opposite side, bayoneted the sentries, and fell upon the piquet so fiercely that friends and enemies went fighting into the village of Barba del Puerco, while the first shout was still echoing in the gulf below. So sudden was the attack, and so great the confusion, that the British companies could not form, but each soldier encountering the nearest enemy, fought hand to hand; and their colonel, Sydney Beckwith, conspicuous by his lofty stature and daring actions, a man capable of rallying a whole army in flight, urged the contest with such vigour, that in a quarter of an hour the French column was borne back, and pushed over the edge of the descent. Soon after this the whole army was distressed for money; and Crauford, notwithstanding his prodigious activity, being unable to procure food for the division, gave the reins to his fiery temper, and seized some church plate, with a view to the purchase of corn. For this impolitic act he was immediately rebuked, and such redress granted that no mischief ensued. The proceeding itself was not, however, altogether useless, as it convinced the priests that our distress was real. Nothing could be more critical than our position. From the Agueda to the Coa the whole country, although studded with woods and scooped into hollows, was free for cavalry and artillery, and there were at least six thousand horsemen and fifty guns within an hour’s march of our position; and yet, trusting to his own admirable arrangements, and to the surprising discipline of his troops, Crauford still maintained his dangerous position, thus encouraging the garrison of Ciudad Rodrigo, and protecting the villages in 95the plain. The fall of that fortress was, however, soon announced. A Spaniard, eluding the French posts, brought a note from old Herrasti, the governor, claiming assistance. It contained these words: ‘O ven luégo! luégo! á socorrer esta plaza,’ (O come now, now, to the succour of this place!) But the gallant old man could not be relieved.