the casualties were also. The enemy had a great superiority of force, and their loss was likewise great; they left four hundred killed in the village of Fuentes d' Onor.

:

The following regiments were engaged at FUENTES D'ONOR :14th. and 16th. Light Dragoons; the 24th, 42nd., 43rd., 45th., 52nd., 60th., 71st., 74th., 79th, 83rd., 85th., 88th., 92nd., and Rifle Brigade.

On the 8th. of May the enemy retired to the woods between Espeja, Gallegos, and Fuentes d' Onor, in which position the whole army was collected by the following day, with the exception of that part of the second corps which continued opposite Almeida; but during the night of the 9th. the whole broke up and retired across the Azava, covering their retreat by their numerous cavalry, and on the following day the whole crossed the Agueda, leaving Almeida to its fate.

MEDAL FOR BUSACO AND FUENTES D' ONOR.

The customary medal was granted for the above battles, the pattern being like that for the other actions in the Peninsula. The following letter from Viscount Wellington to the Earl of Liverpool, dated July 11th., 1811, gives his views regarding the distribution of medals :

"I have had the honour of receiving your Lordship's letter of the 22nd of June, in which your Lordships desires to have my opinion as to the restrictions which it may be expedient to put upon the grant of medals to British officers, for distinguished merit displayed upon such occasions as the battles of Vimeiro, Corunna, Talavera, and Barrosa.

"My opinion has always been, that the grant of a medal to an individual officer ought to have been founded originally, partly on the importance of the occasion or action which it was intended to commemorate, and partly on the share which the individual officer had had in the action to be commemorated; and that medals should have been granted for important actions only, and to those engaged in them in a conspicuous manner, whatever might be their rank in the service. It was decided, however, that medals should be granted on the same principle only, but following strictly the example of the grant of medals to the navy, not

withstanding that an action on shore is very different from an and the merit of the different classes of

action at sea;

individuals is likewise entirely different.

At the same time, this

principle was departed from in some of the grants made.

"If the principle adopted in the grant of medals to the navy is adhered to in the grant of medals to officers of the army, and that medals, to be granted to general officers, and Lieutenant-Colonels commanding regiments, on an occasion to be commemorated, because, on a similar occasion, they would be granted to Admirals and Captains of ships of the line, it is difficult to restrict the grant or make a selection of officers to whom they should be granted to commemorate the battles at Busaco and Fuentes d' Onor, if government determine that these actions should be commemorated in that manner. If, however, that principle is departed from, it is not difficult to make out a list of the names of officers already reported to your Lordship, who were at the head of corps or detachments upon these occasions, and who had a conspicuous share in the event which it is the intention of the government to commemorate in this manner. It is not probable, however, that the adoption of this principle will decrease the number of those to whom the honour would be granted; but, as I have already represented to your Lordship, I don't think this important; that which is important in the establishment of the principle on which the grant of this honour should be made, is that every officer should feel that he shall receive the mark of distinction, if he should be in the place to distinguish himself, and should act in the manner to deserve to be distinguished, whatever may be his military rank. It may be contended for by me, that the officers of the British army don't require an honour of this description to stimulate their exertions, and that the grant of the medal is therefore useless; but, however, those who contend for this principle must admit that a selection of those who have had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves in an action is a less objectionable mode of granting it than the grant of it by classes, whether the individuals composing those classes have distinguished themselves or not.

"I have now the honour to enclose lists of the names of the officers who, on the principle of selection, ought, in my opinion, to receive medals for the battles of Busaco and Fuentes d' Onor, if

government think proper to distinguish these battles by medals. In respect to the battle of Albuhera, I was not there, and I am not able to give an opinion upon it. One brigade of the fourth division of infantry, however, was not in the action, nor BrigadierGeneral Madden's brigade of cavalry. The brunt of the action was on the right; but some of the corps of infantry, I believe, and certainly General Otway's brigade of cavalry, on the left, were not engaged. At all events, these troops were not engaged, as far as I understand, in a greater degree than the whole army were at Busaco, and every corps on the field at Fuentes d' Onor.

"I mention these circumstances only to point out to your Lordship, that in every action on shore, however severe, there must be some to whose lot it does not fall to have an opportunity to distinguish themselves; and that the principle of selection, without reference to ranks, ought to be adopted in every instance of the grant of medals to the army."

BATTLE OF ALBUHERA.

16TH. MAY, 1811.

Early in May the first siege of Badajoz was commenced by the British, and whilst the operations against that fortress were in progress, Marshal Soult quitted Seville, and advanced to its relief. The portion of the allied army under Marshal Sir William

*The following British troops were engaged at the battle of Albuhera. Cavalry, under Major-General the Honourable Sir William Lumley :3rd. Dragoon Guards, 4th. Dragoons, and 13th. Light Dragoons. Second division, Major-General the Honourable W. Stewart :--3rd. Foot, first battalion, 31st., second battalion, 48th., second battalion, 66th., second battalion 60th., one company fifth battalion, LieutenantColonel Colborne; 29th. Foot. 48th., first battalion, 57th., first battalion 60th., one company fifth battalion, Major-General Hoghton; 28th. Foot, second battalion, 34th., second battalion, 39th., second battalion, 60th., one company fifth battalion, Honourable Lieutenant-Colonel Abercromby. Fourth division, Major-General the Honourable Lowry Cole: 27th. Foot, first battalion, 40th., first battalion, 97th Queen's Own 60th., one company fifth battalion, Colonel Kemmis; Fusilier Brigade,-7th. Foot, first and second battalions, 23rd., first battalion, Brunswick Oels, one company. First and second light battalions German Legion, Major-General Baron Charles Alten.

Beresford, moved forward to meet him, and took up a position in front of Albuhera.

At nine o'clock in the morning of the 16th. of May, the enemy commenced his attack, and after a strong and gallant resistance by the Spanish troops, he gained the heights upon which they had been formed; meanwhile the division of the Honourable Major-General William Stewart had been moved up to support them, and that of Major-General Hamilton brought to to the left of the Spanish line, and formed in contiguous close columns of battalions, to be available in any direction. The Portuguese brigade of cavalry, under Brigadier-General Otway, remained at some distance on the left, to check any attempt that might be made below the village.

Nearly at the commencement of the battle a heavy storm of rain came on, which with the smoke from the firing, rendered it impossible to discern anything distinctly. This, with the nature of the ground, had been extremely favourable to the attacking columns. The right brigade of Major-General Stewart's division, under Lieutenant-Colonel Colborne, (now Field-Marshal Lord Seaton,) first came into action, and behaved in the most gallant manner, and, finding that the enemy's column could not be shaken by fire, proceeded to attack it with the bayonet; while thus in the act of charging, a body of Polish lancers, which the thickness of the atmosphere and the nature of the ground had concealed, (and which was, besides, mistaken by those of the brigade when discovered for Spanish cavalry, and therefore not fired upon,) turned it, and being thus attacked unexpectedly in the rear, was unfortunately broken, and suffered immensely. The second battalion of the 31st. regiment, under the command of Major L'Estrange, alone held its ground against all the colonnes en masse, until the arrival of the third brigade under Major-General Hoghton. The conduct of this brigade was most conspicuously gallant, and that of the second brigade, under the Honourable LieutenantColonel Abercromby, was not less so. Major-General Hoghton, cheering on his men to the charge, fell pierced with wounds.

Although the principal attack was on this point of the right a continual attempt was also made upon that part of the original front at the village and bridge, which were defended in the most gallant manner by Major-General Baron Alten, and the light

infantry brigade of the German Legion, whose conduct, in every point of view, was reported as "conspicuously good." The enemy's cavalry, on his infantry attempting to force the right, had endeavoured to turn it; but the able manoeuvres of MajorGeneral the Honourable William Lumley, commanding the allied cavalry, though vastly inferior in point of numbers, foiled the design. Major-General the Honourable George Lowry Cole, seeing the attack, very judiciously brought up his left a little, marched in line to attack the enemy's left, and arrived most opportunely to contribute, with the charges of the brigades of Major-General Stewart's division, to force the enemy to abandon his situation, and retire precipitately, and to take refuge under his reserve. Here the Fusilier brigade, consisting of two battalions of the 7th. and one of the 23rd. Fusiliers, immortalized itself.* So numerous were the casualties, that Captain Stainforth's company of the 23rd. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was commanded, at the

*No description can surpass that given by Sir William Napier "Such a gallant line issuing from the midst of the smoke, and rapidly separating itself from the confused and broken multitude, startled the enemy's heavy masses, which were increasing and pressing onwards as to an assured victory; they wavered, hesitated, and then vomiting forth a storm of fire, hastily endeavoured to enlarge their front, while a fearful discharge of grape, from all their artillery, whistled through the British ranks. Myers was killed, Cole, and the three colonels, Ellis, Blakeney, and Hawkshawe fell wounded, and the Fusilier battalions, struck by the iron tempest, reeled and staggered like sinking ships. But suddenly and sternly recovering, they closed on their terrible enemies, and then was seen with what a strength and majesty the British soldier fights. In vain did Soult, by voice and gesture, animate his Frenchmen; in vain did the hardiest veterans, extricating themselves from the crowded columns, sacrifice their lives to gain time for the mass to open out on such a fair field; in vain did the mass itself bear up, and, fiercely striving, fire indiscriminately upon friends and foes, while the horsemen, hovering on the flanks, threatened to charge the advancing line. Nothing could stop that astonishing infantry. No sudden burst of undisciplined valour, no nervous enthusiasm weakened the stability of their order; their flashing eyes were bent on the dark columns in their front; their measured tread shook the ground; their dreadful volleys swept away the head of every formation; their deafening shouts overpowered the dissonant cries that broke from all parts of the tumultuous crowd, as slowly, and with a horrid carnage, it was pushed by the incessant vigour of the attack, to the farthest edge of the height. There the French reserve, mixing with the struggling multitude, endeavoured to sustain the fight; but the effort only increased the irremediable confusion; the mighty mass gave way, and like a loosened cliff, went headlong down the steep. The rain flowed after in streams discoloured with blood, and fifteen hundred unwounded men, the remnant of six thousand unconquerable British soldiers, stood triumphant on the fatal hill."