[879] See diary of Dr. Henry, who was at Elizondo, and notes how all the senior officers rode out eastward (p. 161).
[880] Bell, vol. i. p. 102; Cadell, p. 161.
[881] One from each battalion plus the odd company of the 5/60th attached to each 2nd Division brigade.
[882] See Hope’s Military Memoirs, p. 319. Sceptical observers with telescopes said that the objects seen were droves of bullocks.
[883] See Moyle Sherer (who commanded the picquet), p. 257.
[884] Major Thorne, assistant quartermaster-general. Moyle Sherer says that Thorne owned that there was a small column on the move, but that he judged it to be a battalion shifting its quarters, or a relief of outposts.
[885] Mr. Fortescue (History of the Army, ix. p. 258) thinks that the 34th got up in time to join in their last struggle. But Bell of that regiment says ‘we laboured on, but all too late—a forlorn hope—our comrades were all killed, wounded, or prisoners. The enemy had full possession of the ground.’ Bell’s Rough Notes, i. p. 103.
[886] Bell’s Rough Notes, i. p. 103.
[887] Bell, i. p. 104.
[888] All this is most difficult to follow, our numerous sources contradicting each other in matters of detail in the most puzzling fashion. For this part of the narrative I have used, beside the dispatch of William Stewart, the books of Moyle Sherer of the 34th, who commanded the Aretesque picquet and was taken prisoner—Sir George Bell of the same regiment, Cadell of the 28th, Hope and Sergeant Robertson of the 92nd, Patterson of the 50th, the two anonymous diarists ‘J. S.’ and the ‘Scottish Soldier’ of the 71st, besides D’Erlon’s and Darmagnac’s original dispatches, lent me by Mr. Fortescue. I take it that each authority may be followed for the doings of his own corps, but is of inferior weight for those of other units. Patterson says that the 34th was at one time in close touch with the 50th, Cadell that the 28th and 92nd worked together, while Hope says that the 28th was only seen by the 92nd right wing after it had ended its terrible first entry into the fight. Patterson says that he saw O’Callaghan of the 39th fighting along with the 50th in the third episode of the combat, when, according to other sources, that regiment had already retreated south toward the valley with the 34th. Stewart’s dispatch only speaks of the 28th and 34th retiring in that direction, not the 39th. A confused fight has left confused memories. I cannot be sure of all the details.