troops arrived in front of the Ordal position at 11:00 PM. To his amazement, he found that the Allies failed to post any pickets. Suchet hustled his troops across the unguarded bridge and moved them uphill toward the drowsy Allies. As the French troops moved forward, telltale noises aroused the interest of a Spanish cavalry patrol, which trotted forward to see what was happening. These horsemen were greeted by a blast of musketry, which awakened Adam's men. At the front of Harispe's division, General of Brigade Jean Mesclop led the 7th Line to the attack. Halfway up the hill, the 7th Line bumped into an entrenchment held by four Spanish infantry companies. The defenders fell back to a second field work higher up the hillside. After being joined by more Spaniards, these soldiers mounted a counterattack, which briefly pushed back the 7th Line. Joined by the 44th Line, the 7th Line attacked again and rolled over the Spanish redoubt, killing many of its defenders. Suchet fed troops into the fight, sending Habert's division to the left and placing Harispe's second brigade in support of Mesclop. As the French attack developed, it spread farther and farther to the left to put pressure on the Allied right flank. Thomas Robert Bugeaud, then only a captain in the 116th Line, led his troops across the ravine on a narrow path just to the south of the bridge. This battalion arrived in front of the main body of the 27th Foot. Early in the action, Adam was wounded and handed over command to Colonel Reeves who was later wounded as well. Meanwhile, the Spanish fought well under their commanders, including Colonel Antony Bray of the Tiradores de Cadiz and the Grenadiers under Rafael Larruda. However, the weight of the French attack finally flanked and broke the Anglo-Spanish right. As the allied soldiers fled, Suchet launched Delort in pursuit with the 4th Hussars. The Brunswick Hussars momentarily checked the pursuit, but the 4th Hussars managed to overrun and capture all four British guns which had been withdrawn before the end of the fight. Altogether the 4th Hussars rounded up nearly 500 prisoners. After losing very few men in the action, the Calabrians under Colonel Carey retreated to the northwest. During the night, they ran into the head of Decaen's column and had to quickly reverse course to the south. After passing behind Suchet's advancing column,