flames; on the most frivolous pretexts, often without one, women,
children, and unarmed men were barbarously murdered; and many a
Portuguese lost his life for refusing to point out treasures which
existed only in the imagination of the fierce and greedy Frenchman.
Enraged at the dearth of provisions, of which they stood in great need,
and which had been every-where removed or destroyed, the retreating army
abandoned themselves to frightful cruelties and excesses. All along the
line of march, the pursuers found piles of bodies, groups of murdered
peasantry, and, mingled with them, the corpses of Frenchmen, often
hideously mutilated, according to the barbarous usage which has been
continued in more recent wars by the vindictive population of the
Peninsula. The retaliation was terrible, but the provocation had been
extreme. Mr Grattan's details of some of the scenes he himself
witnessed, are painfully minute and vivid; and whilst reading them, we
cease to wonder that, after the lapse of a third of a century, hatred of
the French exists almost undiminished in the countries they so cruelly
and wantonly ravaged.

However orderly and well-conducted, there is always something
discouraging in a retreat, as there is a cheerful and exhilarating
feeling attendant on an advance. Nevertheless, during their progress
across Portugal, the French maintained their high reputation. Their
rear-guard, commanded by Marshal Ney, made good fight when pressed by
the British, but their losses were heavy before they reached the Spanish
frontier. This they crossed early in April, and a month later they had
to recross it, to convey supplies to the fortress of Almeida, the only
place in Portugal over which the tricolor still floated. The result of
this movement was the bloody combat of Fuentes d'Onore, a complete but
dearly-bought triumph for our arms. Here the Eighty-eighth nobly
distinguished themselves. At first they were in reserve, whilst for
eight hours two Highland regiments, the Eighty-third and some light
companies, fought desperately in the town, opposed to the fresh troops
which Massena continually sent up. Their loss was very heavy, the
streets were heaped with dead, the heat was excessive, and ammunition
grew scarce. The Highlanders and the French grenadiers fought in the
cemetery, across the graves and tombstones. "Wallace, with his regiment,
the Eighty-eighth, was in reserve on the high ground which overlooked
the churchyard, and was a