[585] Tomkinson in his diary (p. 188) has a curious story to the effect that ‘the Spanish general, before the action, asked if he should not take his troops out of Alba—after he had done it. Lord Wellington replied, “Certainly not,” and the Don was afraid to tell what he had done, Lord W. therefore acted, of course, as if the place had been in our possession still.’
[586] Foy, Vie militaire, pp. 176-7.
[587] This cavalry may have been the two detached squadrons of the 14th Light Dragoons, which had not followed the rest of Arentschildt’s brigade to the right.
[588] See Schwertfeger’s History of the German Legion, i. p. 378.
[589] Lemonnier-Delafosse, p. 164.
[590] Marmont to Berthier, Tudela, July 31, in his Mémoires, iv. p. 448.
[591] See vol. iv. p. 295.
[592] viz. killed or prisoners—officers 162, men 3,867; wounded—officers 232, men 7,529; traînards, 645 men; 12 guns and 2 eagles missing. This return is in the Paris archives. It is certainly incomplete: 60 officers were killed, 137 prisoners, which makes 197 tués ou pris instead of 162. And 20 guns were lost.
[593] A regiment whose 1st battalion was elsewhere carried not an eagle but a simple standard per battalion instead. Of such regiments, wanting their senior battalion and therefore their eagle, there were with Marmont three. Two, the 66th and 82nd, were in Maucune’s division, one, the 26th, in Ferey’s. The colours probably belonged to some of these, of which several were much cut up, especially the 66th.
[594] The returns of the Army of Portugal show a deficiency of 20 guns between July 15 and August 1, of which 12 represent the divisional batteries of Thomières and Bonnet, which have completely disappeared. Wellington says, ‘official returns account for only 11 guns taken, but it is believed that 20 have fallen into our hands.’ This was correct.