His first order was that anyone acquainted with the
position of any boats on the other side of the river should at once inform
him of it. It was not long before he heard of some twenty or thirty that
had been hidden by their owners on the other side, in order that they
might have the means of crossing to escape the French exactions. At
nightfall several boats were launched, and parties of men, directed by
those who had given information, started to cross the river and bring
those boats over. The Minho was at this time in flood and was running with
great rapidity, and Terence felt confident that in its present state none
of the enemy's cavalry would attempt to cross it by swimming.
He decided on placing the largest part of his force opposite Tuy, as the
principal road south passed through this town, and he would here be
supported by the guns of the fortress of Valenca. He stationed his first
battalion here, with orders to line the river for six miles above and
below this spot. Half of the second battalion he left under Macwitty, and
with the other half determined to march down towards the mouth of the
river. The next morning all the boats returned, bringing those for which
they had been searching, and after closely questioning the guides he felt
assured that there could be so few remaining that the French would hardly
attempt to cross the river in the face of the crowd of peasants--whom they
could not but see--lining the southern bank.
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