The British army had suffered but slight loss in battle, but the long
marches, the terribly wet weather, and the effect of climate told heavily
upon them, and upwards of 4,000 men were, in a short time, in hospital.
Fortunately, however, a reinforcement of equal strength arrived from
England, and the fighting strength of the army was therefore maintained.
There was still, however, a great want of transport animals; the
commissariat were, for the most part, new to their duties, and ignorant of
the language. Sir Arthur Wellesley was engaged in the endeavour to get
Cuesta to co-operate with him, but the obstinate old man refused to do so
unless his plans were adopted; and these were of so wild and impracticable
a character that Sir Arthur preferred to act alone, especially as Cuesta's
army had already been repeatedly beaten by the French, and the utter
worthlessness of his soldiers demonstrated.
The pause of operations in Spain, entailed by the concentration of the
commands of Soult, Ney, Victor, and Lapisse on the frontier, had given
breathing time to Spain. Large armies had again been raised, and the same
confident ideas, the same jealousy between generals, and the same quarrels
between the Juntas had been prevalent. Once again Spain was confident that
she could alone, and unaided, drive the French across the frontier
altogether, forgetful of the easy and crushing defeats that had before
been inflicted upon her.
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