Sir Arthur was strongly opposed to this policy. He pointed out that there
were at present on shore but seven or eight days' provisions for the force
at Vimiera. No further supplies could be obtained in the country, and at
any moment a gale might arise and scatter or destroy the fleet, from which
alone they could draw supplies during their advance. The debate on the
subject was continuing when the French general, Kellermann, bearing a flag
of truce and escorted by a strong body of cavalry, arrived at the outposts
and desired a conference. The news was surprising, indeed. Junot's force
was practically unshaken. He possessed all the strong places in Portugal,
and could have received support in a short time from the French forces in
Spain.

Upon the other hand, the position of the British, even after winning a
victory, was by no means a satisfactory one; they had already learnt that
it was useless to rely in the slightest degree upon Portuguese promises or
Portuguese assistance, and that, even in the matter of provisions and
carriage, their commander-in-chief expected to be maintained by those who
had come to aid in freeing the country of the French, instead of these
receiving any help from him. In carriage the British army was wholly
deficient; of cavalry they had none. When Sir John Moore landed there
would be but four days' provisions on-shore for the army, and were the
fleet driven off by a gale, starvation would at once threaten them.

The gallantry with which the French had fought in both engagements, the
skill with which they had been handled, and above all, the quickness and
steadiness with which, after defeat, they had closed up their ranks and
drawn off in excellent order, showed that the task of expelling such
troops from the country would, even if all went well in other respects, be
a very formidable one, and the offer of a conference was therefore at once
embraced by Sir Hew Dalrymple.