The actions at Sahagun and Benavente, however brilliant, were the only notable successes of the otherwise disastrous Corunna campaign. The retreat was carried out in terrible conditions amidst slushy snow and ice and matters were made worse by the total breakdown of the Commissariat which in turn led to widespread indiscipline amongst the men. The roads quickly turned into quagmires beneath the tramping of thousands of feet and the troops suffered dreadful hardships in the bitterly cold winter weather. Hundreds of men - as well as the women and children that had accompanied the army - gave up the will to live and, unable or unwilling to go on, simply lay down to die in the bleak Galician mountains or were captured by the pursuing French. And there was little help forthcoming from the local Spanish people who were naturally reluctant to help a so-called `friendly' army that had left behind in its wake a trail of burning, pillaged hamlets, the sprawling, bloody bodies of the occupants bearing testament to the lawlessness of some units of the army.

Quite often those in the rear, tired of running, would turn about and face their tormentors and deal them a bloody nose. More often than not, however, they would be hacked down by French sabres or trampled beneath the hooves of the enemy cavalry. Hundreds of those that survived the ordeal suffered terrible mutilations from French sabres during these attacks. Indeed, the French suffered similar privations in pursuing Moore's army. They too suffered dreadfully in the perishing cold but at least they could console themselves with the fact that it was the British who were on the receiving end of most of the punishment along the gruelling road to Corunna.

The retreat continued with all but the most disciplined units of the army - the Guards and the rearguard - suffering a total breakdown of order. On December 31st the Light Brigade, under Robert Craufurd, which had distinguished itself during the trials of the retreat, was detached from the army supposedly to ease the burden on the commissariat. Craufurd pushed his men on to Vigo, unhindered by any French pursuit, where his brigade eventually embarked safely in ships bound for England. This move, however, deprived Moore of one of his better units and the Light Brigade was certainly missed throughout the rest of the campaign and during the battle fought on January 16th.

The retreat finally came to a climax between January 11th and 16th when Moore's tired and tattered army dragged itself into Corunna, units arriving one by one in various states of dilapidation. The tall masts of the ships waiting in the harbour at Corunna were a welcome sight for Moore's men as they limped into the town but little did they realise they would be called upon to fight one last battle in order to ensure the safe re-embarkation of the army. As each hour passed so Soult's troops got nearer and nearer to their quarry until by midday on January 15th the French had reached a position just a mile or two to the south of the town. Stores were hurriedly destroyed as was any excess ammunition but the men themselves were not yet able to begin boarding the transport ships as it became obvious that a battle would have to be fought the next day.

Moore's men occupied some rocky hills overlooking Corunna with his left flank protected by the River Mero. His right flank, however, rested upon the heights of San Christobal and was unprotected. Soult had roughly the same number of men but had forty guns to Moore's nine. On the morning of January 16th the French attacked the British position along the entire length of its front, the heaviest attack being launched against the right flank where the French assault was accompanied by heavy and destructive artillery fire. The battle swayed one way then the next, particularly in the centre where the important village of Elvina changed hands several times while on the right of the British line Edward Paget's brigade, held in reserve, was thrown into the fray to repulse the French attack there. It was at the height of the battle that Moore was struck and terribly wounded by a round shot that flung him from his horse. Baird, assuming command, was also wounded and as evening fell command devolved upon Sir John Hope although by this time all serious fighting had subsided and the battle was carried on only by the opposing artillery.

The French troops were as exhausted as the British and as night fell the battle ground to a halt leaving the British troops to hurry down to the waiting ships that were boarded without any inference from the French. Both sides had suffered around 900 casualties during the battle which had ended in a British victory and Moore died knowing he had done his duty. As his men climbed into the ships a sad and sombre ceremony was being carried out on the ramparts of the town as Sir John Moore's body was lowered into the ground.

The army was saved, however, in spite of its poor condition and reduced numbers. When it disembarked at the ports along the south coast of England a week later it did so largely at night in order to spare the public the spectacle of seeing the terrible state of the men. Although 10,000 troops still remained at Lisbon the main British Army had been driven from the Peninsula. Its spirit was not broken, however, and barely three months later the army returned, this time to stay, to being its long, hard but eventually triumphant march to victory.