During this time the second and the eighth corps passed Alemquer, the former marching upon Villa Franca, the latter upon Sobral. Reynier’s movements were languid, he did not discover the unguarded state of Alhandra, and his picquets did not enter Villa Franca until the next day; but general Clausel, one of the most distinguished officers in the French army, coming upon Sobral in the dusk with the head of the eighth corps dislodged the troops of the first division, occupied the ridge on which the town is built, and in the night threw up some entrenchments close under the centre of the allies position.
It is however time to give a more detailed description of those celebrated works, improperly called
THE LINES OF TORRES VEDRAS.
Memoranda of the lines, &c. by Col. J. T. Jones, Royal Engineers, printed for private circulation.
It has been already said, that they consisted of three distinct ranges of defence.
The first, extending from Alhandra on the Tagus to the mouth of the Zizandre on the sea-coast, was, following the inflections of the hills, twenty-nine miles long.
The second, traced at a distance varying from six to ten miles in rear of the first, stretched from Quintella on the Tagus to the mouth of the St. Lorenza, being twenty-four miles in length.
The third, intended to cover a forced embarkation, extended from Passo d’Arcos on the Tagus to the tower of Junquera on the coast. Here an outer line, constructed on an opening of three thousand yards, enclosed an entrenched camp designed to cover the embarkation with fewer troops, should the operation be delayed by bad weather; and within this second camp, Fort St. Julian’s (whose high ramparts and deep ditches defied an escalade) was armed and strengthened to enable a rear-guard to protect both itself and the army.
The nearest part of the second line was twenty-four miles from these works at Passo d’Arcos, and some parts of the first line were two long marches distant; but the principal routes led through Lisbon, where measures were taken to retard the enemy and give time for the embarkation.