It is not to be thought of."
The troops, however, had been full of confidence in the valour of their
countrymen, and from their own success against the French believed that
the army at Braga would certainly defeat Soult, and there had been some
dissatisfaction that they had not been permitted to take part in the
victory. The news brought by the fugitives at once dissipated the hopes
that they had entertained. They saw that their commander had acted wisely
in refusing to join the army there, and their feeling of contempt for the
undisciplined ordenancas and peasants equalled the confidence they had
before reposed in them. Terence ordered the two regiments to form into a
hollow square and addressed them.
"Soldiers," he said, "I know that it was a disappointment to you that I
did not take you to Braga. Had I done so, not one of you would have
escaped, for when the rest fled like a flock of sheep you could not alone
have withstood the attack of the whole French army. I know that you wish
to enter Oporto. I have withstood that wish, and now you must see that I
was right in doing so. The peasants gathered in its defence are even less
disciplined than those at Braga, and Soult will, after two or three
minutes' fighting, capture the place. Were you there you could not prevent
such a result. You might hold the spot at which you were stationed, but if
the French broke in at any other point you would be surrounded and killed
to a man.
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