The orders were first issued on 8 March, but countermanded the next day due to false reports of Masséna offering battle at Tomar. Following further delays as Beresford's two divisions regrouped, the relieving force were ordered to hurry to Badajoz on 15 March. Around this time though, Wellington received news of the town's surrender; the urgency had diminished and Beresford's expedition could proceed at a more moderate pace. Marshal Édouard Mortier, commanding the Badajoz garrison, made good use of the Allied delays. Leaving six battalions to hold the fortress, in early March he moved against the nearby Portuguese town of Campo Maior with around 7,000 men and three batteries borrowed from the siege-train stationed at Badajoz. The French captured the outlying Fort São João on 14 March (the night of their arrival) but the Campo Maior fortress proved a harder proposition. Despite being manned by only 800 militia and "Ordenanças", commanded by Major José Talaya, the town held out for seven days—surrendering only when an entire face of the bastion crumbled under the bombardment from Mortier's artillery. Mortier also sent two cavalry regiments under General Marie Victor Latour-Maubourg to invest Alburquerque; the 6,000 strong garrison there surrendered before French reinforcements needed to be brought up. Major Talaya's prolonged defence of Campo Maior gave Beresford's divisions time to arrive before the captured fortress had been slighted. On returning to Badajoz after his successful foray into Portugal, Mortier had left one infantry and three cavalry regiments at Campo Maior, under Latour-Maubourg, to dismantle its defences; Beresford's appearance on 25 March caught the French by surprise. However, despite the Allies having 18,000 troops at their disposal, Latour-Maubourg calmly formed up his command and retreated towards Badajoz. Beresford sent 1,500 cavalry, under the command of Brigadier General Robert Long after the French. Most of the French cavalry were driven off by a charge of the 13th Light Dragoons; however, the pursuit of Latour-Maubourg's force then faltered. It was poorly co-ordinated and the greater part of the French force managed to reach the safety of Badajoz. The reason behind this failure was subsequently disputed between supporters of Brigadier Long and General Beresford.