During the whole of this retreat, the French Mar shall displayed the most consummate skill. He brought off his troops in one solid mass, covering their rear in every march by the operations of one or two corps d'arrnee, which availed themselves of the strong posi tions of the country, and were always closely supported by the main body. The loss of the French in killed, wounded, and prisoners, since the commencement of their retreat, has been computed at 7000. The cruel ties which they committed against the inhabitants dur ing the whole of their march, are unexampled in the history of modern war. They burnt the towns and vil lages through which they passed. The convent of Alcobaca was burnt by an order from the French head quarters, and the whole town of Leyria shared the same fate.
Lord Wellington having made arrangements for the blockade of Almeida, left the command of his army to sir Brent Spencer, and proceeded to the army under sir NV. Beresiord, to make arrangements with that officer, for carrying on the operations in the soutu of Portugal. After remaining some time in Estremadura, lord Wellington received intelligence from sir Brent Spencer, that the enemy were increasing their lorce on the Agueda, and returned to his army on the 28tn. On the 23d and 27th, Massena attacked the picquets of the allies on the Agucda, but was repulsed with loss. On the 12th of May, he collected a large force at Ciudad Rodrigo, and, on the following day, the whole of tne French army recrossed the Agueda. On the afternoon of the third, they attacked, with a large force, the vil lage of Fuentes de Honor, which was bravely defended by several battalions of light infantry. Perceiving the repeated efforts which were made by the enemy to ob tain possession of this village, and the vast advantages which they would derive from it in their subsequent operations, lord Wellington reinforced it successively with the 71st, 79th, and 24th regiments. Colonel Ca dogan, at the head of the 71st regiment, charged the enemy, and drove them from the part of the village of which they had obtained a momentary possession ; and when night put an end to the contest, the whole of the village remained in our possession. On the morning of the 5th, the 8th corps of the enemy having obliged general Houston to retire with some loss, established themselves in Poya Velho, while their cavalry turned the right of the 7th division, betweed Poya Velho and Nave d'Avcr. The charge of the advanced guard of
the enemy's cavalry was repulsed by three squadrons of British dragoons, and colonel La Motte, of the 18th chasseurs, and some prisoners were taken. The prin cipal exertions of the enemy, however, were directed against Fuentes de Honor ; and though the whole of the 6th corps was, at different periods of the day, em ployed in the attack of this village, they were never able to gain more than a temporary possession of it. The contest in this quarter lasted till night, when the British troops maintained their post.
On the 7th the French army began to retreat, and on the 10th they crossed the Agueda ; having completely failed in their attempt to relieve Almeida. In the ac tions on the 3d and 5th, the French sustained a loss of nearly 7000 in killed, wounded, and prisoners. In the village of Fuentes de Honor, they left 400 of their dead. The loss of the allies amounted to 184 killed, 1576 wounded, and 316 missing.
In the south of Portugal, the army of general Beres ford was equally successful. Olivenza surrendered at discretion on the lith of April, and measures were im mediately taken for the siege of Badajos. On the 10th of May, however, Soult advanced from Seville with a force of about 18,000, and was joined in Estremadura by 5000 troops, under general Latour Maubourg. The united armies of Castanos and sir W. Beresford, who had judged it prudent to raise the siege of Badajos, took up a position in two lines nearly parallel to the rivulet of Albucra. General Blake, hearing of the ad vance of Soult, joined the allied army on the morning of the 16th ; and a few hours afterwards the French ar my began their march.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the enemy attacked the Spanish tro,ps, who, after a gallant resistance, were driven from the heights on which they had been form ed. In the mean time, the division of the Hon. major general W. Stewart, which had been brought up to support them, and that of major-general Hamilton, which came to the left of the Spanish line, formed in contigu ous close columns of battalions, in order to be moveable in any direction. Brigadier-general Otway, at the head of the Portuguese cavalry, remained at some distance on the left of this, to check any attempt of the enemy below the village.