The Portuguese weakened their centre to meet these, and
then the central division of the French rushed forward, burst through the
intrenchments, and carried at once the two principal forts. Then two
battalions marched into the town and made for the bridge, while the rest
fell on the Portuguese rear. The French right carried in succession a
number of forts, took fifty pieces of artillery, and drove off a great
mass of the Portuguese from the town, while Merle met with equal success
on the other flank. Half the Portuguese, therefore, were driven up the
valley of the Douro, and the other half down towards the sea.
Maddened by terror, some of them strove to swim across, others to get over
in small boats. Lima, their general, shouted to them that the river was
too wide to swim, and that those who took to boats would be shot down by
the pursuing French. Whereupon his own troops turned upon him and murdered
him, although the French were but a couple of hundred yards away; they
then renewed their attempt to cross, and many perished. Similar scenes
took place in the valley above the town, but here the French cavalry
interposed between the panic-stricken fugitives and the river, and so
prevented them throwing away their lives in the hopeless attempt to swim
across. In the meantime incessant firing was going on in the city.
Pages:
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415