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The troop-horse I rode for I reserved my gray for the following day was scarcely able to carry me along, as towards dusk I jogged along in the direction of Naval d'Aver. When I did reach our quarters, the fires were lighted, and around one of them I had the good fortune to find a party of the Fourteenth occupied in discussing a very appetizing little supper.
Hitherto we had been repulsed from the village and the wood; and the dark masses of infantry which were assembled upon our right, seemed to threaten the hill of Naval d'Aver with as sad a catastrophe. Crawfurd came now galloping up among us, his eye flashing fire, and his uniform splashed and covered with foam: "Steady Sixteenth, steady! Don't blow your horses!
From the movements observable in the enemy, it was soon evident that the battle, though deferred, was not abandoned; and the march of a strong force towards the left of their position induced our commander-in-chief to despatch the Seventh Division, under Houston, to occupy the height of Naval d'Aver our extreme right in support of which our brigade of cavalry marched as a covering force.
The British position was thus unavoidably extended to the enormous length of seven miles, occupying a succession of small eminences, from the division at Fort Conception to the height of Naval d'Aver, Fuentes d'Onoro forming nearly the centre of the line.
The wood upon the left flank was now seen to swarm with light infantry, and the advancement of their whole left proved that they meditated to turn our flank; the space between the village and the hill of Naval d'Aver became thus the central position; and here the Guerilla force, led on by Julian Sanches, seemed to await the French with confidence.
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