Again Massena delayed, and it was not until the 18th of August that the siege was begun.

On the 26th sixty-five heavy guns, that had been used in the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, opened fire upon the town.

The more Terence saw of the place, the more convinced was he that it could not long be held, after the French siege guns had been placed in position.

Moreover, there was great lukewarmness on the part of several of the Portuguese officers, while the rank and file were dispirited by the fate of Ciudad Rodrigo, and by the fact that they had, as it seemed to them, been deserted by the British army.
"I don't like the look of things, at all," he had said to Bull and Ryan, the evening before the siege guns began their work.

"In the first place the defences will crumble, in no time, under the French fire.