LIEUT.-GENERAL THOMAS DYNELEY, O.B.. R.A. 4538 
I fell in with the Commissary-General! the day before we entered 
Salamanca, and, as he says, talked over “scenes of our youth when 
every sport would please.” He has been exceedingly civil to me in his 
offers of money, (a dangerous offer you will say), or of any service he 
could render me. Robin and I dined with him at Salamanca, he, I 
am sorry to say, behaved exceedingly ill by laughing when the claret 
was put on the table, a wine | do think neither of us had seen since 
we left England. We were sworn friends on that day and drank 
wine together near a dozen times. Bisset keeps a very good table, 
and lives exceedingly comfortably. 
Segovia, dugust 7th.—You will observe, my dear John, they do not 
give us much time to ourselves. They were at us again last night and 
brought us to this place about half a league in front of the town, 
where I think it is as hot as I have ever felt it. We have not the least 
covering from a broiling sun, excepting our tent or hut which is scarce 
bearable. I have been to examine the castle of Segovia which the 
French left about three days since, and I was not a little surprised to 
find the large depdt of stores they had left behind of mortars, howitzers, 
and guns; I think there were about 24, all of which they had destroyed. 
They had fired their 24-prs. into the mouths of their mortars, and they 
had gone through and through. They had burnt all their guns and 
ammunition waggons, {and tried by making large ftres upon their 
brass guns to melt them, but as this did not answer they had thrown 
them over a precipice which rendered them completely unserviceable. 
There were some hundreds of barrels of powder and ball cartridges 
from all of which they had taken off the heads and filled them up with 
_ water. They began at first destroying the ammunition by throwing 
it into a drain and pouring water down upon it, but, I suppose finding 
themselves pressed for time, they finished the rest in the magazines. 
There are also several thousand stand of arms from which they have 
broken off the stocks; in fact, every article that they thought would be 
of the smallest service to us, even to a few yards of rope, they have 
destroyed, and then set off making the best of their way to Madrid. 
The “ observers” are after them and are now about five leagues in our 
front and we shall follow them some time to-night. Iam afraid, how- 
ever, we must soon stop, as the army is getting very sickly. The 
calculation is that each division has 1000 sick, which of course must 
diminish our strength a good deal, indeed make us unable to cope 
with them should they make a stand. The town of Segovia is, I 
think, as fine a one as any I have seen in Spain, and has everything to 
sell a person can want. When I was there this morning I wanted a 
great many things, but had not a copper to my name. The army have 
not had any money since March, nor are they likely to get any. Our 
friend Bisset takes all that arrives to provide rations for the troops. 
When Lord Wellington entered Segovia, it was his intention to have 
gone by the back streets to his house, but the inhabitants were up to 
him, and waylaid him at the entrance to the town with a cracked 
trumpet, an old kettle-drum and two miserable-looking wretches dressed 
1 Commissary-General John Bisset. 
