20th
At daylight the enemy was entirely gone. Lord Wellington found that Marmont had marched to his right with great rapidity. Our army was immediately upon the march. Halted near a village of which I do not know the name.
21st
Marched with the dawn and continued till 2 P.M. Halted near Villamorisco. A little before dark forded the river Tormes above Salamanca. The river was very much swollen from the rain, which made it very deep. Everybody got wet up to near their shoulders in crossing. Luckily we got over before the rain, which immediately afterwards began to fall in torrents. The night became excessively dark, the whole army groping their way, up to their knees in mud, to the different bivouacs. The lightning became very vivid; some of the flashes ran whizzing along the men's arms in an extraordinary manner and really checked the march for some time most strangely. The thunder was louder than I ever heard before, excepting at Almeida. Numbers of horses belonging to the French and English had broken loose from their pickets from terror, and were galloping about most furiously, and some of them exchanged masters. The rain continued until nearly daylight, when it abated.
Battle of Salamanca
22nd
At daylight the enemy's columns were moving rapidly upon our right flank, and from the orders to send the baggage to the rear as soon as possible, we made up our minds to abandon Salamanca, although we felt sorry for such an event. However, before long our gallant Chief found he had got Marmont into a trap at last, and immediately knew how to take advantage of it. A brisk cannonade commenced on both sides, and about 11 o'clock A.M. the columns on our right moved to the attack.
The high ground and tops or elevated points were crowded with Frenchmen, and in the afternoon these hills, the Arapiles, were lost and won often, but ultimately the French were completely driven off them. About five o'clock the Light Division were ordered to move forward. We had remained idle spectators, only keeping the right of the French line in check. We soon came in contact with the enemy, and very shortly drove him from the position. An odd circumstance happened; I saw a partridge running on the ground between the contending lines. I ran, at the impulse of the moment, after it, caught it, and put the bird into my haversack, which afterwards afforded me a savoury supper. The French were routed at all points, and darkness came on, which enabled many to escape that would otherwise have fallen into our hands. Some accidents happened to officers of ours, who were at the heads of our columns, coming in contact unexpectedly in the dark. Marshal Marmont was wounded in the action and was very near falling into our hands. The pursuit was continued through a wooded country until eleven o'clock at night, when we bivouacked near the village of Huerta.
23rd
Moved forward at daylight after the French. A Brigade of Heavy German cavalry, commanded by Major-General Bock, that had only recently joined our army from England, was in advance of the Light Division, and came up with the French rear-guard. The officer commanding the latter formed three squares. The Germans made a most brilliant and dashing charge at two squares, and succeeded in breaking them, slaughtering numbers. The French had 1500 killed and taken. One of the squares was formed at an elbow in the road, where it wound upward towards much higher ground, and this, very likely, saved it. General Foy, who commanded the rear-guard, was in this square. We were hurried forward as quickly as possible, but the business was most effectually done just as we arrived. A great number of Germans and their hoses were dead close to the squares. I saw a very affecting scene: a Hussar officer came up to see his brother he had not met for six years. He found him stretched a lifeless corpse with his sword grasped and fixed in his saddle; his horse, having been killed at the same moment with its rider, was lying on its side with the legs stretched out in the attitude of galloping. The poor fellow threw his arms round his lifeless brother. I could bear no more, and so moved on, and was again in pursuit of the enemy, which was the only way to get quit of gloomy reflections. Bivouacked near a village.