The Confrontation at Salamanca

There had always been more French soldiers in Spain: at one time, four or five times the strength of Wellington's entire Anglo-Portuguese army. He fought them one army at a time and had always had to pit himself against greater numbers. Now, he wanted to attack Marshal Marmont, who still commanded more men than he did, but had them scattered in garrison all over the north of Spain. Using the Hornets, now a division of nearly three thousand men, he was able to gather intelligence, create diversions and rouse guerrilla forces without the French being alarmed enough to concentrate their cores until too late. It enabled him to fight against equal numbers for the first time and gave the Hornets a chance to play an important role in the battle itself.**