On the 19th, the BRIGADE retired to the table land above the villages of Vallesa and El Olmo, and on the 20th, the hostile armies manœuvred within cannon shot of each other, the French moving to their left, and the British to their right. On the 21st the British went into their old position on the heights of St. Christoval, and the French crossed the Tormes at the fords of Alba and Huerta, marching to their left. To oppose this manœuvre, the British crossed the river at _Salamanca_. In the course of this day's manœuvres, Major-General Le Marchant's brigade crossed the river at the ford of Santa Marta three times, and took up its bivouac on the south bank opposite the town. In the course of this night so dreadful a thunder-storm burst upon the British lines, that the horses broke loose; many were lost by running into the French lines, and the remainder could not be secured till daybreak. The KING'S OWN had to send to the rear an officer and sixteen men, severely injured by the horses, which were all linked together, running over them.
The morning of the 22nd of July, found the hostile armies opposed to each other. The British line was formed with its left on the Tormes, and its right on the rocky hills called the Arapiles; Major-General Le Marchant's brigade, quitting its bivouac ground, formed line in the centre of the position, to check the advance of the enemy's cavalry. The French marshal manœuvred to gain the road to Ciudad Rodrigo; his dragoons, after some skirmishing, were compelled to retire, and the KING'S OWN again took ground to their right, passing the village of Arapiles, and forming in support of the fourth and fifth divisions. Lord Wellington, taking advantage of an injudicious movement made by his opponent, ordered his divisions forward, and the battle commenced. The French, attacked while making a complicated evolution, were instantly broken. A favourable opportunity for a charge of the British heavy cavalry occurring, the fifth dragoon guards, KING'S OWN, and fourth dragoons, advanced, and a most animated scene presented itself. The din of conflict was heard on every side; clouds of dust and rising columns of smoke darkened the air, and enveloped the British squadrons as they rushed to battle. In front, the glittering bayonets and waving plumes of the French infantry were dimly seen through the thickened atmosphere; against these formidable ranks, the English horsemen dashed with terrific violence, the weight and fury of their charge broke the opposing lines, and in an instant the French musketeers were overthrown and trampled down with a terrible clamour and disturbance. 'Bewildered and blinded, they cast away their arms and ran through the openings of the British squadrons, stooping and demanding quarter, while the dragoons, big men, and on big horses, rode onward, smiting with their long glittering swords in uncontrollable power, and the third division followed at speed, shouting as the French masses fell in succession before this dreadful charge.'
