1808, Saint-Cyr massed his field army on the north bank of the Ter River opposite Girona. The following day, the French general advanced on the city as if to invest it. He wished to tempt Álvarez and Lazán into offering battle, but the two Spanish generals declined to be drawn out, seeing that their 8,000 men would be crushed. On the 11th, Saint-Cyr sent his artillery and wagon train back to Figueras and marched to La Bisbal d'Empordà where his quartermasters handed out four days of rations to each soldier. Each soldier carried 50 cartridges of ammunition and mule train carried another 10 rounds per man. The French general was taking an enormous risk. If the army remained too long in the mountains it would starve and if it were forced to fight several battles it would be out of ammunition. On 12 November, the Franco-Italians passed near Palamós and fought their way through a force of miquelets (Catalan militia) under Juan Clarós. On 13 November, Saint-Cyr's host stumbled into Vidreres which was near the coast road that led to Malgrat de Mar, Mataró, and Barcelona. That evening the Imperial soldiers saw the campfires of Lazán to the north and other enemy campfires to the south. But Saint-Cyr knew of a secret path from a Perpignan smuggler; the route connected the coast road with the inland road. Several search parties that were sent out to find the path during the 14th failed to locate it, so Saint-Cyr personally set out with a small escort to find it. In this he was successful, though the group was nearly captured by guerillas and had to fight its way clear. On the 15th the entire Franco-Italian army snaked through the hills, bypassing the small fortress of Hostalric and reaching the inland road at Sant Celoni. At the latter place the Imperial troops scattered a force of miquelets under Milans. Though his men were tired, Saint-Cyr hustled his soldiers along the highway until they reached the dangerous Trentapassos defile which was found to be unoccupied. That evening the Franco-Italians could see a line of campfires ahead of them, indicating the presence of the Spanish army. The report of Saint-Cyr's march into the hills on 11 November reached the Spanish camp promptly. Vives responded by sending Reding and seven battalions of his leading echelon, a total of 5,000 men, to watch the inland road. Milans