APPENDIX to the CHRONICLE. 401 



the enemy, stationed at that time in 

 the district ofGamonal,tn'oleagues 

 .^istant from Talavera, and which 

 in the sequel was routed and pur- 

 sued to Casar. At break of day, on 

 the 22nd, my army being assembled 

 in the extensive plain between Vela- 

 ,da and Talavera, I directed that the 

 vanguard, under the intrepid chief, 

 brigadier-general Don Josef de 

 Zayas, should charge the enemy, 

 who had been reinforced with the 

 division of cavalry of general La- 

 tour Maubourg, and I directed that 

 the divisions of infantry and caval- 

 ry should march in close order, that 

 thus advancing towards Talavera, 

 ihey might resist the attack, if the 

 French should endeavour to force 

 .the entrance to this place, as they 

 seemed to have determined. The 

 dispatch of Zayas, No. 1, sent by 

 this opportunity, will give you a 

 perfect knowledge of what occurred 

 4)n that morning. 



The whole army followed the 

 j»anguard, passing by Talavera, and 

 took up a position in the olive 

 grounds between that town and the 

 ll river Alberche. 



The British army on the night of 

 the 21st, marched from Oropesa, 

 and on the following morning unit- 

 ed with us, and while the vanguard 

 attacked and repulsed the enemy, 

 fi the English also filed off by Talave- 

 ra, to take up a position on our left, 

 according to the plan agreed. It 

 was, most excellent sir, a magnifi- 

 cent exhibition, when we saw the 

 combined armies in a plain of two 

 leagues extent, advancing upon the 

 enemy, and most brilliant and gra- 

 tifying was the admirable order, 

 firmness, and gallantry, with which 

 this movement was performed by 

 our allies. The whole evening of 

 the 22d we were reconnoitring the 



Vol. LI. 



camp of the enemy, when we took 

 some prisoners between the wood 

 and the olive grounds, vvho could 

 not reach their vanguard, which 

 had been obliged to retreat in con- 

 sequence of an intrepid charge by 

 our cavalry. 



During the whole of the 23rd, 

 nothing deserving notice happened. 

 It was employed in examining the 

 position of the enemy, who had 

 again concentrated his forces in the 

 district of Casalegas, and on the ad- 

 jacent heights, preserving his van- 

 guard supported by some pieces of 

 artillery on the bridge and shores 

 of the river Alberche, and which 

 fired the greater part of the day on 

 our skirmishing parties. 



I had agreed with the general in 

 chief of his Britannic majesty's ar- 

 my, sir Arthur Wellesley, as to the 

 attack on the bridge and shores of 

 the river before day break on the 

 24'th, and to this purpose, I sent on- 

 ward the 5th division of infantry, 

 under marshal de Camp D. Luis de 

 Bassecourt, in the evening of the 

 23rd, in order that, after having 

 crossed at the ford of Cardiel, three 

 leagues from Talavera, they might 

 march by the contiguous heights, 

 so as by break of day on the 24'th, 

 to fall on the rear-guard and right 

 flank of the army of the enemy at 

 Casalegas. At the same hour 1 pro- 

 posed to attack in person on the left 

 flank, and a part of his front, while 

 the English army assailed the whole 

 of his right. The flight of the ene- 

 my during the night of the 23d dis- 

 concerted this plan, and when at 

 dawn of the 24th, we saw the French 

 camp abandoned, I thought it pro- 

 per to follow them with my army 

 alone (as the British army remained 

 in Casalegas and the shores of the 

 Alberche ) with the hope of reaching 



2D his 



