At present, however, his troops and those of Donkin have not taken up their position." The country between the positions on which the allied armies had now fallen back was covered with olive and cork trees.

The whole line from Talavera to the hill, which was to be held by Hill's division, was two miles in length; and the valley between that and the Sierra was half a mile in width, but extremely broken and rugged, and was intersected by a ravine, through which ran the rivulet that fell into the Tagus at Talavera..