ter _Spain_; nor had there
been any Great Difficulty in so doing, but the contrary, if the General
at _Madrid_ had thought convenient to have join'd the Troops under the
Earl of _Peterhorow_, and then to have march'd directly towards
_Pampelona_, or the Frontiers of _France_. To this the Earl of
_Peterborow_ solicited the King, and those about him; he advis'd,
desir'd, and intreated him to lose no time, but to put in Execution
those Measures resolv'd on at _Barcelona_. A Council of War in
_Valencia_ renew'd the same Application; but all to no Purpose, his Rout
was order'd him, and that to meet his Majesty on the Frontiers of
_Arragon_. There, indeed, the Earl did meet the King; and the _French_
General an Army, which, by Virtue of a decrepid Intelligence, he never
saw or heard of till he fled from it to his Camp at _Guadalira_.
Inexpressible with the Confusion in this fatal Camp: The King from
_Arragon_, The Earl of _Peterborow_ from _Valencia_ arriving in it the
same Day, almost the same Hour that the Earl of _Galoway_ enter'd under
a hasty Retreat before the _French_ Army.

But to return to Order, which a Zeal of Justice has made me somewhat
anticipate; the Earl had not been long at _Valencia_ before he gave
Orders to Major-General _Windham_ to march with all the Forces he had,
which were not above two thousand Men, and lay Siege to _Requina_, a
Town ten Leagues distant from _Valencia_, and in the Way to _Madrid_.
The Town was not very strong, nor very large; but sure the odliest
fortify'd that ever was. The Houses in a Circle conneftively compos'd
the Wall; and the People, who defended the Town, instead of firing from
Hornworks, Counterscarps, and Bastions, fir'd out of the Windows of
their Houses.

Notwithstanding all which, General _Windham_ found much greater
Opposition than he at first imagin'd; and therefore finding he should
want Ammunition, he sent to the Earl of _Peterborow_ for a Supply; at
the same time assigning, as a Reason for it, the unexpected Obstinacy of
the Town. So soon as the Earl receiv'd the Letter he sent for me; and
told me I must repair to _Requifia_, where they would want an Engineer;
and that I must be ready next Morning, when he should order a
Lieutenant, with thirty Soldiers and two Matrosses, to guard some Powder
for that Service. Accordingly, the next Morning we set out, the
Lieutenant, who was a _Dutchman_, and Commander of the Convoy, being of
my Acquaintance.

We had reach'd Sain