Editing Battle of Salamanca (section)

===Wellington attacks===
[[File:Battle of Salamanca map.jpg|thumb|300px|Map of the battle]]
When the British 3rd Division and D'Urban's brigade reached the top of the French ''L'', they attacked Thomières. At the same time, Wellington launched the 5th and 4th divisions, backed by the 7th and 6th divisions, at the long side of the French ''L''.

The 3rd Division came at the head of Thomières's division in a two-deep line. Despite its deployment in column formation, the French division initially repulsed its attackers, but was then routed by a bayonet charge. Thomières was killed. Seeing British cavalry in the area, Maucune formed his division into squares, the standard formation to receive a mounted attack, but a poor choice when defending against infantry. With their two-deep line, Leith's 5th Division easily defeated Maucune in a musketry duel. As the French foot soldiers fell back, Cotton ordered [[John Le Marchant (British Army cavalry officer)|John Le Marchant's]] heavy brigade ([[5th Dragoon Guards]], [[3rd Dragoons|3rd]] and [[4th Dragoons|4th dragoons]]) to attack them. The left wing of the French army was on the point of being defeated by the 3rd and 5th divisions of Anglo-Portuguese infantry when Le Marchant's dragoons charged in and destroyed battalion after battalion with the heavy cavalrymen's [[1796 Heavy Cavalry Sword|weapon]], the sword, an exercise which had been designed by Le Marchant. Many of the French infantrymen sought the protection of the British infantry to escape the sabres of the dragoons. Le Marchant, knowing he had achieved a magnificent success having crushed eight French battalions, was leading a squadron when he was shot in the spine and killed.{{sfn|Fletcher|1997|pp=185–188}} [[William Ponsonby (British Army officer)|William Ponsonby]] succeeded to command of the brigade.

The French army lost its commander very early in the crisis. As Pakenham's 3rd Division prepared to attack Thomières, Marmont finally realized his army's peril. He dashed for his horse, but was caught in a British shellburst which broke his arm and two ribs. His second-in-command, Bonet, was wounded very soon afterwards. Records conflict, however, with Marmont claiming that he was wounded as his wing became overextended, and his incapacitation led to the error not being corrected before Wellington attacked. His enemies place the time of his wounding as during Wellington's attack. For somewhere between 20 minutes{{sfn|Pimlott|Chandler|1987|p=266}} and over an hour,{{sfn|Glover|2001|p=203}} the French Army of Portugal remained leaderless.

Cole's 4th Division attacked Bonet's division while Pack's Portuguese assaulted the Greater Arapile. With the help of a 40-gun battery firing from the Greater Arapile, both attacks were repulsed by the French.

Assuming command, Clauzel did his best to salvage the dire situation. He committed Sarrut's division to shore up the wrecked left flank, then launched a dangerous counterattack at Cole's 4th Division using his own and Bonet's divisions, supported by Boyer's dragoons. This attack brushed aside Cole's survivors and struck the 6th Division in Wellington's second line. Marshal [[William Carr Beresford]] reacted promptly to the developing threat and immediately sent Spry's Portuguese brigade of the 5th Division to engage the French infantry, while Wellington moved the 1st and 7th divisions to assist. After bitter resistance, the divisions of Clauzel and Bonet were defeated and the French army began to retreat.

As the rest of the French army streamed away, Clauzel ordered Ferey to hold off the victorious Allies at all costs. Ferey formed his division in a convex line, following the shape of the hillside. The French infantry had fought in battalion columns that day, but Ferey deployed seven battalions into a three-deep line, with both flanks covered by a battalion in square. The French divisional artillery battery was in close support. With its two British brigades in the front line, Clinton's victorious 6th Division attacked Ferey's division. The first volley of the French soldiers was particularly lethal. The slope was so steep that Ferey's third rank could fire over the heads of the first two ranks. In the gathering dusk, it appeared to the soldiers of Clinton's division that they were attacking a flaming mountain. On the British right flank, Major General [[Richard Hulse]]'s brigade suffered appalling losses: the 1st/[[11th Foot]] lost 340 men out of 516 as casualties while the 1/[[61st Foot]] lost 366 out of 546. The French also suffered severe losses and slowly edged backwards until the survivors formed at the edge of the forest. In this position, Ferey was killed by a round shot from the British artillery. There was a lull as Clinton withdrew his two mauled British brigades and placed Brigadier General Conde de Rezende's Portuguese brigade in the front line for a final attack. The French shot the attacking formation to pieces; the Portuguese brigade reported 487 casualties. Clinton was compelled to replace them with his badly reduced British brigades. By this time the Allied 5th Division was pressing against the French left flank and Ferey's line collapsed from left to right and disappeared into the forest. The French 31st Light Infantry Regiment on the right flank acted as rear guard. Ferey's division lost over 1,100 men in this action. Wellington ordered Clinton to pursue, but his soldiers were completely exhausted. They advanced only 100 yards into the woods and went into bivouac.{{sfn|Oman|1996|pp=462–466}}