Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. I.djvu/303

WAR OF THE SUCCESSION. 159 was enfiladed by the enemy's cannon, so as to chapter render a sally in that direction altogether impracti- '- — . cable. During this time, Isabella's squadrons of light cavalry, hovering on the skirts of the Portu- guese camp, effectually cut off its supplies, and soon reduced it to great straits for subsistence. This circumstance, together with the tidings of the rapid advance of additional forces to the support of Fer- dinand, determined Alfonso, contrary to all expec- tation, on an immediate retreat ; and accordingly on the morning of the 1st of March, being little Hesudden- , . ... 'y decamps. less than a fortnight from the time in which he com- menced this empty gasconade, the Portuguese army quitted its position before Zamora, with the same silence and celerity with which it had occupied it. Ferdinand's troops would instantly have pushed after the fugitives, but the latter had demolished the southern extremity of the bridge before their departure ; so that, although some few effected an immediate passage in boats, the great body of the army was necessarily detained until the repairs were completed, which occupied more than three hours. With all the expedition they could use, therefore, and leaving their artillery behind them, they did not succeed in coming up with the enemy until nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, as the latter was defiling through a narrow pass formed by a overtaken ° . . ^ . ^ . -^ by Ferdi- crest of precipitous hills on the one side, and the "*°'^- Douro on the other, at the distance of about five miles from the city of Toro.^^ 22 Pulgar, Reyes Catoliccs, pp. fol. 253, 253. — Faria y Sousa, 82-85. — Zurita, Anales, torn. iv. Europa Portuguesa, torn. ii. pp.