eight o'clock
Lord Donegal made some gallant sallies and several times drove the besiegers from their works , but in each case they returned in such overwhelming force that he was obliged to abandon the positions he had won and to fall back into the citadel . The Miquelets , of whom there were many in the town , aided the besieged by harassing the French . Every night they stole into their camp , murdered officers in their tents , carried off horses , slew sentries , and kept the enemy in a perpetual state of watchfulness . At eight o'clock on the morning of the 15th of April the besiegers made a furious attack on the western outwork of Montjuich , having ascertained that it was defended only by a party of one of the newly raised Spanish regiments . They captured the post without difficulty , the Spaniards flying at the first assault , but on the inner ramparts they were met by Donegal and his grenadiers , and a desperate struggle took place which lasted for two hours . The English fought with the greatest obstinacy , and frequently flung back among their assailants the grenades which the latter showered among them , before they had time to explode , Lord Donegal himself setting the men the example . But though able to prevent the French from advancing further , the English could not recover the outpost which the Spaniards had abandoned , and the French formed intrenchments and mounted a battery upon it .