t where we were stationed; and in a few seconds
the road and the fields at either side were covered with the figures
of the men, who threw themselves down on the spot where they stood, in
every posture that weariness and exhaustion could suggest.

All the information we could collect was that this force formed part
of the rear-guard of the army; that the French under Marshal Soult were
hotly in pursuit, having already driven in the cavalry outposts, and
more than once throwing their skirmishers amongst our fellows. In a few
minutes the bugle again sounded to resume the march; and however little
disposed to yield to the dictates of discipline, yet old habit, stronger
than even lawless insubordination, prevailed; the men rose, and falling
in with some semblance of order, continued their way. Nothing struck me
more in that motley mass of ragged uniform and patched clothing than
the ferocious, almost savage, expression of the soldiers as they marched
past our better equipped and better disciplined party. Their dark scowl
betokened deadly hate; and I could see the young men of our detachment
quail beneath the insulting ruffianism of their gaze. Every now and then
some one or other would throw down his pack or knapsack to the ground,
and with an oath asseverate his resolve to carry it no longer. Some even
declared they would abandon their muskets; and more than one sat down
by the wayside, preferring death or imprisonment from the enemy to the
horrors and severities of that dreadful march.

The Highland regiments and the Guards alone preserved their former
discipline; the latter, indeed, had only lately joined the army, having
landed at Corunna a few weeks previously, and were perfect in every
species of equipment. Joining myself to a group of their officers,
I followed in the march, and was enabled to learn some tidings of my
friend O'Grady, who, I was glad to hear, was only a few miles in advance
of us, with his regiment.

Towards three o'clock we entered a dark pine-wood, through which the
route continued for several miles. Here the march became extremely
difficult, from the deep clayey soil, the worn and cut-up road, and more
than all the torrents of rain that swept along the narrow gorge, and
threw a darkness almost like night over everything. We plodded on
gloomily and scarcely speaking, when suddenly the galloping of horses
was heard in the rear, and we were joined by Sir Edward Paget, who,
with a single aide-de-camp