Note 668 — SECTION VIII: CHAPTER IV

All witnesses agree that the army of Galicia was in a most distressing condition. ‘This army was literally half naked and half starved,’ says Adam Neale. ‘A malignant fever was raging among them, and long fatigues, privation, and this mortal distemper made them appear like spectres issuing from a hospital rather than an army’ (p. 181). ‘T.S.’ describes them as ‘looking more like a large body of peasants driven from their homes, and in want of everything, than a regular army ’ (p. 56). The men fit for service are described as being no more than 5,000 strong.