A tremendous storm of
wind and rain set in, the night was pitch dark, the bundles of straw were
whirled away by the wind, and when the army silently left their post at
ten o'clock at night, the task before them was a difficult one indeed. All
the columns lost their way, and one division alone recovered the main
road; the other two wandered about all night, buffeted by the wind,
drenched by the rain, disheartened and weary.
Some regiments entered what shelters they could find, the men soon
scattered to plunder, stragglers fell out in hundreds, and at daybreak the
remnants of the two divisions were still in Lugo. The moment the light
afforded means of recovering their position, the columns resumed their
march, the road behind them being thickly dotted by stragglers. The
rearguard, commanded by the general himself, covered the rear, but
fortunately the enemy did not come up until evening; but so numerous were
the stragglers that when the French cavalry charged, they mustered in
sufficient force to repel their attack, a proof that it was not so much
fatigue as insubordination that caused them to lag behind. The rear-guard
halted a few miles short of Friol and passed the night there, which
enabled the disorganized army to rest and re-form. The loss during this
unfortunate march was greater than that of all the former part of the
retreat, added to all the losses in action and during the advance.
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