that Captain Stainforth's company of the 23rd. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was commanded, at the close of the action, by Corporal Thomas Robinson. The enemy was pursued by the Allies to a considerable distance, and as far as it was considered prudent, with his immense superiority of cavalry, and Marshal Beresford contented himself with seeing him driven across the Albuhera.

Commencing at nine o'clock, the battle continued without interruption until two in the afternoon, when the enemy having been driven over the Albuhera, for the remainder of the day there was but cannonading and skirmishing.

It was observed during this sanguinary battle, that the British dead, particularly the 57th. regiment, were lying as they fought, in ranks, and every wound was in the front.* This corps here gained the name of the Die-hards.

On this memorable day the loss was very severe, but the French casualties were still greater. About two thousand dead were left by them on the field, and nearly a thousand prisoners were taken. Five of their generals were killed and wounded. The British had Major-General Hoghton, thirtythree officers, thirty-three sergeants, four drummers, and nine hundred and seventeen rank and file killed; one hundred and eighty-one officers, one hundred and forty-six sergeants, nine drummers, and two thousand six hundred and sixty-six rank and file wounded; fourteen officers, twenty-eight sergeants,

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."

Shakspere has not lost sight of soldiers being thus wounded,—the ambition of every Spartan,-for in the last scene of "Macbeth," old Siward, when informed of his son's death, asks

"Siward. Had he his hurts before?

Rosse. Ay, on the front.

Siward. Why, then, God's soldier be he!
Had I as many sons as I have hairs,

I would not wish them to a fairer death;
And so his knell is knoll'd."

ten drummers, and five hundred and twenty-eight rank and file missing. Nearly all the men reported as missing, however, subsequently re-joined their regiments.

The word ALBUHERA is borne by the 3rd. Dragoon Guards, and 4th. Light Dragoons, 3rd., 7th., 23rd., 28th., 29th., 31st., 34th., 39th., 48th., 57th., 60th., and 66th. regiments.

Amongst the instances of the defence and preservation of the colours, the following are remarkable, and more especially that of the 3rd., Buffs, for which a medal was struck. In the accounts of the time, Ensign Walsh, of the 3rd. Foot, was reported to have prevented the colour of the regiment from being taken by tearing, when the staff of the colour was broken by a cannon-ball, the colour off and concealing it in his bosom. This statement misled the then Chancellor of the Exchequer when he moved a vote of thanks to the army, on the 7th. of June following, for its gallantry in this sanguinary battle. The honour, however, was due to Lieutenant Latham, who preserved the regimental colour from falling into the enemy's hands in the following gallant manner:-While the Buffs were engaged with the French infantry, they were attacked in the rear by a large force of French and Polish cavalry. Ensign Thomas, who carried the second, or regimental colour, was called upon to surrender; but he replied that could only be with his life. He fell, mortally wounded, a victim to his

"Mustering the living and recording the dead became afterwards our melancholy duty. On reckoning our numbers, the 29th. regiment had only ninety-six men, two captains, and a few subalterns remaining out of the whole regiment; the 57th. regiment had but a few more, and were commanded out of action by the adjutant; the first battalion of the 48th. regiment suffered in like manner; not a man of the brigade was prisoner; not a colour was lost, although an eloquent historian most unwarrantably stated that the 57th. had lost theirs the 57th. lose their colours!-never! Major-General Hoghton, commanding the brigade, and Lieutenant-Colonel Duckworth, of the 48th. regiment, were killed; Lieutenant-Colonel White, of the 29th. regiment, mortally wounded; Colonel Inglis, of the 57th., and Major Way, of the 29th. regiments, very severely. In fact, every field officer of the whole brigade was either killed or wounded, so that at the close of the action the brigade remained in command of a captain of the 48th. regiment, and, singular enough, that captain was a Frenchman (Cemetiere,)

"The field afterwards presented a sad spectacle, our men lying generally in rows and the French in large heaps, from their having fought principally in masses, they not having dared to deploy (as they afterwards told us) from a dread of our cavalry; having supposed that we would not have ventured to act in such an open country without a great superiority in that description of force."-The Twenty-ninth at Albuhera, United Service Journal, October, 1835.

bravery, and the colour was captured. The first, or the king's
colour, was carried by Ensign Walsh; the sergeants who
protected it had fallen in its defence, and this officer was
pursued by several Polish lancers. Lieutenant Latham saw
the danger of the colour being borne in triumph from the
field by the enemy; his soul was alive to the honour of his
corps, and he ran forward to protect it. Ensign Walsh was
surrounded, wounded, and taken prisoner; but Lieutenant La-
tham arrived at the spot in time to seize the colour, which
he defended with heroic gallantry. Environed by a crowd of
assailants, each emulous of the honour of its capture, and his
body bleeding from wounds, Lieutenant Latham clung with ener-
getic tenacity to his precious charge, defended himself with his
sword, and refused to yield. A French hussar, seizing the flag-
staff, and rising in his stirrups, aimed at the head of the
gallant Latham a blow which failed in cutting him down, but
which sadly mutilated him, severing one side of the face and nose.
Although thus severely wounded, his resolute spirit did not
shrink, but he sternly and vigorously continued to struggle with
the French horsemen, and, as they endeavoured to drag the
colour from him, he exclaimed, "I will surrender it only
with my life." A second sabre stroke severed his left arm
and hand, in which he held the staff, from his body. He
then dropped his sword, and, seizing the staff with his right
hand, continued to struggle with his opponents until he was
thrown down, trampled upon, and pierced with lances; but
the number of his adversaries impeded their efforts to destroy
him, and at that moment the British cavalry came up and
the French troopers fled. Lieutenant Latham, although des-
perately wounded, was so intent on preserving the colour,
that he exerted the little strength he had left to remove it
from the staff and to conceal it under him. The Fusilier
brigade advanced, and, by a gallant effort, changed the fortune
of the day. Sergeant Gough, of the first battalion of the 7th.
Royal Fusiliers, found the colour under Lieutenant Latham,
who lay apparently dead. The colour, for which so desperate
a struggle had been maintained, was restored to the Buffs, and
the sergeant was rewarded with a commission, being, in con-
sequence of his gallant conduct, appointed ensign in the 2nd.

West India Regiment, on the 14th. of November, 1811. After lying some time on the ground in a state of insensibility, Lieutenant Latham revived and crawled towards the river, where he was found endeavouring to quench his thirst. He was removed to the convent, his wounds dressed, and the stump of his arm amputated; he ultimately recovered. Ensign Walsh escaped from the enemy soon after he had been made prisoner. When recovered of his wounds, he joined his regiment, and made known the circumstance of the colour having been thus preserved by Lieutenant Latham. The officers of the Buffs, with a readiness which reflected great honour on the corps, subscribed one hundred guineas for the purchase of a gold medal, on which the preservation of the colour by Lieutenant Latham was represented in high relief, with the motto, "I will surrender it only with my life." Application was made to His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, by General Leigh, then Colonel of the 3rd. Foot, or the Buffs, for the royal authority for Lieutenant Latham to receive and wear the medal, which was granted, in a letter dated Horse Guards, 4th. January, 1813. The medal was presented to this gallant officer at Reading, on the 12th. of August following. An operation was performed in 1815, by the celebrated surgeon, Mr. Carpue, assisted by Assistant John Morrison, M.D., of the Buffs, to repair the mutilation of Captain Latham's face, at the suggestion of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, who kindly defrayed the expense of the operation and cure. Captain Latham received, by authority of the royal warrant, a pension of one hundred pounds a year, in consequence of the loss of his left arm, and a further annual pension of seventy pounds on account of his other severe wounds. He continued to serve in the 3rd. regiment until the 20th. of April, 1820, when he exchanged to half-pay, receiving the regulated difference.

Ensign James Jackson carried the regimental colour of the 57th. at Albuhera. Soon after the action commenced, the officer with the king's colour was severely wounded, and the colour fell to the ground, when Ensign Jackson immediately directed one of the non-commissioned officers to pick it up, and taking it from him, gave the regimental colour to the sergeant,

which he retained until an officer was brought to take charge of it. The king's colour, which Ensign Jackson carried, received thirty balls through it, and two others broke the pole and carried away the top. Nine balls passed through his clothes, of which four wounded-one through the body. During the greatest part of the battle the hostile lines were less than one hundred yards from each other. Brevet-Major James Jackson was placed on retired full pay as captain, 57th. regiment, on the 25th. of June, 1841, and was promoted to the brevet rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on the 28th. of November, 1854. He is still living.

Marshal Soult retired after the battle to the ground he had been previously on, but occupying it in position, and during the night of the 17th. he commenced his retreat towards Seville, leaving Badajoz to its fate.

MEDAL FOR ALBUHERA.

THE medal for the battle of Albuhera was the same as that conferred for other actions of this period, and of which an illustration is given for Talavera; but there appears also to have been one awarded by the Spanish monarch, for in a letter, dated Gonesse, 2nd. July, 1815, addressed to Marshal Lord Beresford, G.C.B., the Duke of Wellington wrote, "You should recommend for the Spanish medal for Albuhera, according to the rules laid down by the King of Spain, for the grant of it. I think it should be given only to those who were there, and actually engaged." When the silver war medal was authorized, it is almost superfluous to state that a bar was granted for this victory.

CAPTURE OF JAVA.

AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER, 1811.

THE British government resolved to complete its dominion in the East, by the conquest of the island of Java, of which the Dutch had held undisturbed possession for more than one hundred years. The extent of the island,-six hundred and forty miles long, and about a hundred broad; the luxuriant and fertile character of the soil, the mountain districts yielding