The road along which they moved was bordered on both sides by dead horses; ragged men who had fallen behind from various regiments continually changed about, now joining the moving column, now again lagging behind it.

Several times during the march false alarms had been given and the soldiers of the escort had raised their muskets, fired, and run headlong, crushing one another, but had afterwards reassembled and abused each other for their causeless panic.

These three groups traveling together⁠—the cavalry stores, the convoy of prisoners, and Junot’s baggage train⁠—still constituted a separate and united whole, though each of the groups was rapidly melting away.