On arriving there Sir Arthur received the mortifying intelligence that Sir
Hew Dalrymple had been appointed over his head, nevertheless he continued
to push on his own plans with vigour, pending the arrival of that general.
With this bad news came the information that the French general, Dupont,
had been defeated. This set free a small force under General Anstruther,
and some fast-sailing craft were at once despatched to find his command,
and order it to sail at once to the Mondego. Without further delay,
however, the landing of the troops began on the 1st of August, and the
9,000 men, their guns and stores, were ashore by the 5th.

On that day Spencer fortunately arrived with 3,300 men. He had not
received Sir Arthur's orders, but the moment that Dupont surrendered he
had sailed for the Tagus, and had learned from Sir C. Cotton, who
commanded the fleet at the entrance to the river, where Sir Arthur was,
and at once sailed to join him. While the troops were disembarking Sir
Arthur had gone over to the Portuguese head-quarters, two miles distant,
to confer with Bernardin Friere, the Portuguese commander-in-chief. The
visit was a disappointing one. He found that the Portuguese troops were
almost unarmed, and that their commander was full of inflated ideas. He
proposed that the forces should unite, that they should relinquish the
coast, and march into the interior and commence an offensive campaign, and
was lavish in his promises to provide ample stores of provisions. The
English general saw, however, that no effectual assistance could be hoped
for from the Portuguese troops, and as little from the promises of their
commander. He gave Friere 5,000 muskets for his troops, but absolutely
declined to adopt the proposed plan, his own intention being to keep near
the coast, where he could receive his supplies from the ships and be
joined by reinforcements.

As soon as they had landed the Mayo regiment was marched to a village two