two o'clock
All of these who had strength to crawl rejoined the British army , but 1500 , who were unable to walk , were left behind , and fell into the hands of the French , by whom they were treated with far greater kindness and attention than they had been by the Spanish . Upon the 4th Cuesta joined Sir Arthur , and at six o'clock next morning the only possible course for safety was adopted . Victor was advancing from Talavera , Soult was hurrying from Placentia to cut off the retreat of the British , and accordingly Sir Arthur fell back upon Arzobispo , on the Tagus . The artillery , the baggage and wounded , first crossed the bridge , and at two o'clock the entire army was across . So great was the hunger of the men that a herd of swine happening to be seen close to the line of march , the soldiers ran upon them , shot and bayoneted them , and devoured them raw . Taking up a strong position , guarding the bridges of the Tagus , the British army remained quiet until the end of August . During this time they became so weakened by starvation that they could scarcely walk ; a great portion of the cavalry horses , and nearly all the baggage animals died of hunger , and at last , Sir Arthur , finding that no remonstrances availed with the Junta , fell back again to the Portuguese frontier by slow marches , for the army was so utterly enfeebled that it resembled a vast body of invalids , rather than an army of unbeaten soldiers .