50 guns; the English had 16,000 infantry, 1,800 cavalry, and 40 guns. The
French made no movement to attack, and the British troops were furious at
the delay. Soult, however, was waiting until Ney, who was advancing by
another road, should threaten the British flank or cut the line of
retreat. Moore, finding that Soult would not fight alone, and knowing that
Ney was approaching, gave the order for the army to leave its position
after nightfall and march for Corunna. He exhorted them to keep good
order, and to make the effort which would be the last demanded from them.
It was indeed impossible for him to remain at Lugo, even if Ney had not
been close at hand, for there was not another day's supply of bread in the
town.

He took every precaution for securing that no errors should take place as
to the route to be followed in the dark, for the ground behind the
position was intersected by stone walls and a number of intricate lanes.
To mark the right tracks, bundles of straw were placed at intervals along
the line, and officers appointed to guide the columns. All these
precautions, however, were brought to naught by the ill-fortune that had
dogged the general along the whole line of retreat. A tremendous storm of
wind and rain set in, the night was pitch dark, the bundles of straw were
whirled away by the wind, and when the army silently left their post at
ten o'clock at night, the task before them was a difficult one indeed. All
the columns lost their way, and one division alone recovered the main
road; the other two wandered about all night, buffeted by the wind,
drenched by the rain, disheartened and weary.

Some regiments entered what shelters they could find, the men soon
scattered to plunder, stragglers fell out in hundreds, and at daybreak the
remnants of the two divisions were still in Lugo. The moment the light
afforded means of recovering their position, the columns resumed their