"
"It is good of you to say so, Colonel," Macwitty said; "but at any rate,
it has been a rare bit of luck for us, and little did we think when we
were ordered to accompany you it was going to lead to our getting
commissions. Well, we will do our best to deserve them."
"That I am sure you will, Macwitty; and now that the campaign is going to
commence in earnest, and we may have two or three years' hard fighting,
you may have opportunities of getting another step before you go home."
Three days later an order came to Terence to march north again with his
corps, and to place himself in some defensible position north of the
Mondego, and to co-operate, if necessary, with Trant and Silveira, also
ordered to take post beyond the river. Cuesta, the Portuguese general, had
gathered a fresh army of six thousand cavalry and thirty thousand
infantry. The greater portion were in a position in front of Victor's
outposts. Between the Tagus and the Mondego were 16,000 Portuguese troops
of the line, under Lord Beresford, that had been drilled and organized to
some extent by British officers. The British and German troops numbered
22,000 fighting men.
Sir Arthur Wellesley, at Lisbon, had the choice of either falling upon
Victor or Soult. The former would be the most advantageous operation, but,
upon the other hand, the Portuguese were most anxious to recover Oporto,
their second city, with the fertile country round it.
Pages:
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485