By the enclosed, which I send open, you will see that we have halted two days. But as I am completely ignorant of what the intentions were of our chiefs, it would be folly to attempt to account for it.
W. W.
Avelans da Riveira, 22nd Aug.
Hd. Qrs. Lagiosa, 29th Aug. 1810.
Many many thanks, my dearest Father, for your letter of the 1st, and the expressions of your affectionate approbation which will ever make the greatest pride, as well as the greatest happiness of my life. You will see that we have again retired to this place, on the unexpected fall of Almeida, which we suppose surrendered on the 27th. The enemy’s batteries opened from different sides and very briskly on the night of 25th to 26th. We could distinctly see and hear them firing. On the 27th I was dining at the outposts with General Slade, when a report arrived that, no firing being heard for several hours on either side, the place must have been taken. I hurried up to the Telegraph in front of Freixedas and from what I could see through the glass I had not a doubt of the event, as I could see people coming in and out and the rampart crowded over the gate. Many Officers who were present saw the same. But the next night a heavy firing was heard, which has confused me a good deal, as I thought myself positive, and do, of what I saw through a glass, and this certainly appears a contradiction to it. Next morning Ld. Wellington and the Marshal went up at daybreak, and I suppose thought there was no doubt of the place being taken, though still some doubt of when, and orders were given for the army to retire again, which was done yesterday and continues to-day, though we do not leave this place, nor, I suppose, shall till the enemy advance. There was a little skirmishing at the outposts yesterday, and I am sorry to say Capt. Ligon of the 26th is wounded in the neck, I do not know whether badly. Our advance vedettes remain where they were, in front of Freixedas, extending towards Pinhel, in which place the French are. How long things may remain in this state it is quite impossible to say. My opinion is that the enemy is not yet in force to advance. Nor will the state of affairs in Spain allow it for the present. At all events they must have considerable garrisons and posts of communication, and by drawing them into the interior, destroying the means of subsistence, mills, and forcing the inhabitants to fly on their approach, which they are ready enough to do, I trust we shall be able to meet them on equal terms, and where we please, to give a good account of them. I hate grumbling and croaking, and think it most unsoldierlike in an army such as ours, even were we less strong. We must trust to the fortune de la guerre, and the abilities of our Generals. I wish that every English Officer thought the same and wrote less nonsense to their friends at home.
As to Almeida, it is quite an enigma, how it came to yield so soon. No breach can have been made, and from the opinion I have of General Cox, I much fear either he was killed, or the garrison forced him to this step. As, however, we know nothing but on conjecture it is as prudent and liberal to suspend our judgment. A week more or less must at all events have brought us to this, and it is a most ridiculous idea to despond at the event, as if it altered our situation.
On the 22nd there was a very gallant little affair at Ladoeiro between Castello Branco and Salvaterra. Capt. White of the 13th Lt. Dns. with a troop of that Regt. and a troop of the 4th Portuguese Cavalry (our friend John Campbell’s Reg.) attacked 60 French Cavalry, and without the loss of a man or horse, took 50 men, 7 corporals, 3 sergts., and 2 Officers. The Capt. and some men endeavoured to escape on foot, but were afterwards killed by the Peasantry. So that not one went back to tell the tale, and the French, thinking the whole had deserted, sent out another party in search of them. They had 7 or 8 men wounded, and Capt. White speaks very highly of the gallantry and good conduct of Cornet Raymundo Oliveira and the Portuguese Troop, who charged in very great style and tumbled the Mounseers over in a minute.