Soult was to march direct upon Oporto with 25,000 men, leaving 12,000 in
hospital, and 8,000 to keep up the line of communication with Ney. It took
some time to complete all the arrangements and to gather the force at St.
Jago Compostella, and it was not until the first of February that he was
able to move.

On the day of his arrival on the frontier, Romana despatched Terence to
Sir John Cradock, who now commanded the British troops in Portugal, which
had been augmented by fresh arrivals from England until their numbers
almost equalled that of the force with which Sir John Moore marched into
Spain.

Romana asked that arms and money should be sent to him, promising to
harass the French advance, and cut their communications from the rear.
Terence gladly consented to carry his despatch; he was furnished with one
of the best horses in the troop, and at once started on his journey. It
was a long and harassing one; many ranges of mountains and hills had to be
crossed, by roads difficult in the extreme at the best of times, but
almost impassable in winter. Three times he was seized by parties of
Portuguese militia and raw levies, but was released on convincing their
leaders that he was the bearer of a communication to the English general.

The distance to be travelled was, in a direct line, over two hundred and
thirty miles. This was greatly increased by the circuitous nature of the
route through the mountainous country, so that it took nine days, and
would have much exceeded this time, had Terence not found a British force
at Coimbra, and there exchanged his worn-out animal for a fresh one,
placed at his disposal by the officer in command.

Cradock was experiencing exactly the same difficulties that Moore had