s were thus disposed:--Marshal
Victor was in Estramadura with the first corps, amounting to 35,000 men;
General Sebastiani, with the fourth corps, consisting of 20,000 men, was
in La Mancha; General Bessolles, with a division of reserve and Joseph's
guards, amounting in the whole to 15,000 men, was in Madrid; Kellermann
and Bonnet, with two divisions of 10,000 men, were in Old Castile; Soult
had collected the second corps of 20,000 men in the northern provinces;
and immediately dependent upon Soult were Marshal Mortier, with the
fifth corps of 16,000 strong, and Ney, with the sixth corps of about
10,000 men under arms. Besides all these forces there were 50,000
Frenchmen in Aragon and Catalonia, under Suchet and Augereau; and 35,000
more were scattered over the surface of Spain, to maintain the many
posts and fortresses the French had captured in Spain, and to keep open
the various lines of communication. It was agreed upon by the British
and Spanish commanders to march themselves against the French under
Marshal Victor, while at the same time Vinegas advanced against Fuente
Duenna on the Upper Tagus, in order to draw Sebastiani thither, that he
might not aid Victor; or if that general refused to move, Vineeas was to
march on Madrid from the south-east, while Sir Robert Wilson menaced it
from the opposite quarter. The combined armies of Sir Arthur Wellesley
and Cuesta attacked Marshal Victor's out-posts at Talavera on the 22nd
of July, and drove them in. Oh the 23rd, the British again formed for
the attack of the French position; but Cuesta "contrived to lose
the whole of the day, owing to the whimsical perverseness of his
disposition." Sir Arthur wished to defeat Victor before he could be
joined by Sebastiani, and his disappointment was great when, on the
24th, he discovered that the enemy had retreated towards Torrijos, in
order to form a junction with that general. After Victor's departure,
Sir Arthur occupied Talavera; and finding that the Spanish general did
not cordially co-operate with him, he resolved to return into Portugal.
He writes with reference to this, and to the privations his soldiers
were enduring,--"His majesty's troops have been engaged in very active
operations, the success of which depended no less upon their bravery
and exertions, than upon the example they should hold out, and the
countenance they should give to the Spanish troops; and yet they have
been in actual want of provisions for the last tw