of Picton's men. The French were swept off the ridge and Foy wounded. After seeing this rout, Heudelet's other brigade withdrew to the base of the ridge. VI Corps attack Hearing gunfire, Ney assumed Reynier's men were enjoying success and ordered an attack. In this sector, the main highway climbed a long spur past the hamlets of Moura and Sula to reach the crest at the Convent of Bussaco. Against a very heavy British skirmish line, Loison's division fought its way forward. Near the crest, 1,800 men of the 43rd and 52nd infantry regiments lay down waiting. As Loison's leading brigade approached the convent grounds, the two British units stood up, fired a terrific volley at point blank range and charged with the bayonet. The French brigade collapsed and fled leaving BG Édouard Simon, their commander, wounded and a prisoner. A short time later and slightly further south, Loison's second brigade under BG Claude François Ferey ran into a close-range fire from two batteries plus Anglo-Portuguese musketry. This unit was also routed. A final thrust by BG Antoine Louis Popon de Maucune's brigade of Marchand's division met defeat when it ran into Denis Pack's Portuguese brigade. The two sides occupied the rest of the day in vigorous skirmishing, but the French did not try to attack in force again. Aftermath The French suffered 522 dead, 3,612 wounded, and 364 captured. The Allied losses numbered 200 dead, 1,001 wounded, and 51 missing. The British and Portuguese each lost exactly 626 men. Masséna now realised the size of Wellington's forces and the strength of his defensive position, so that afternoon ordered troops to move off to the right on a hazardous but skilful move to outflank the position, reaching another road to the north just ahead of a Portuguese Corps that had been sent there to defend it. Wellington, after spending the night in the convent, and finding his position turned, resumed the leisurely retreat of his army towards the, still being constructed, Lines of Torres Vedras. He reached these in good order by 10 October. Continuing to advance, Masséna had left his sick and wounded troops at Coimbra, where a few days later, they fell into the hands of the Portuguese. This was the first major battle of the Peninsular War in which units of the reconstituted Portuguese Army fought, where the Portuguese troops played a prominent part and the victory