SWABEY DIARY. 435 
might have fought to cover Madrid, but he would then have felt him- 
self in an awkward situation, because Soult might have delayed as long 
as he pleased, while Masséna might either have united with Soult 
against him, or what was as bad might have marched on the Segovia 
road and thus have placed himself between Lord Hill and Lord 
Wellington. The force of the latter would not have been sufficient 
to have prevented the enemy from chosing his own plan of operations 
as their communications were open. ‘The only way then that could 
succeed was for us to fight united at Salamanca; this, Soult knew, 
would not drive us to Portugal so easily as moving on our flanks, he 
therefore declined, and we could not keep our position when turned. 
Another cause that helped to move us was our want of provisions, 
for it is well known that many regiments were for two or three days 
on the retreat without rations, and the very officers of the 16th 
Dragoons had nothing to eat but acorns. As to our horses, for four 
days and nights they actually had not so much to eat as a blade of 
erass, the poor devils eat the very harness off each other, and I 
mention it as a remarkable fact, that to one horse we gave a feed of 
sand stone which he munched up with infinite satisfaction. 
That Lord Wellington quite endorsed the above opinions re- 
garding the Spanish troops is evident from what he wrote 
to Lord Bathurst. 
“They [the Spaniards] cry ‘ viva,’ and are very fond of us 
and hate the French: they are in general, the most incap- 
able of useful exertion of all the nations that I have known, 
the most vain, and at the same time the most ignorant, 
particularly of military affairs, and, ‘above all, of military 
affairs in their own country.’” And, replying to Mr. Croker, 
““ Did you ever see the Spanish troops stand to their work ?”’ 
He replied, “No! the best would fire a volley while the 
enemy were out of reach, and then all ran away. They were 
no doubt individually as brave as other men. I am sure they 
were vain enough of their bravery; but I never could get 
them to stand.” 
22nd November.—No news from the front to-day. The enemy 
does not come on but appears satisfied with what he has gained. The 
out-posts send in our stragglers, I understand to the amount of 1000 
men. Our loss altogether no one ventures to compute, but I should 
think not less than 4000, 600 were killed and wounded the day we 
were engaged. 
23rd November.—For the first time got a comfortable dinner and 
some of my clothes dried: it is remarkable that very few of our men. 
have suffered from sickness. 
24th November.—Our little doctor joined us to-day from attendance 
on Macdonald.’ He takes the same view of the case that I have 
1 Assistant-Surgeon A. Macdonald, M.D. (Kane’s List 187}. Served with the troop to the end 
of the war. He accompanied it to Belgium in 1815, and was present at the battle of Waterloo. 
In 1834, when he was employed on the Medical Staff at Halifax, Nova Scotia, he bought land in 
Prince Edward Island, which he visited in after years, and then met his old comrade and friend 
much to their mutual satisfaction, 
