Recollections of the Peninsula

16 May 1811

Battle of Albuera

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appearance of the shells and fire-balls by night ; the challenges of the enemy's sentries ; the sound of their drums and trumpets ; all give a continued charm and animation to this service. But the duties of a besieging force are both harassing and severe ; and, I know not how it is, death in the trenches never carries with it that stamp of glory, which seals the memory of those, who perish in a well-fought field. The daily exploits of the northern army under Lord Wellington, and Gra- ham's victory at Barrosa, made us restless and mortified at our comparative ill fortune ; for as yet we had struggled only with privation, hardship, and disease. On the 13th, in the afternoon, while loung- ing in our camp of ease, about four miles from the trenches, we were surprised by an order, to hold ourselves in readiness to march, at the shortest no- tice. Reports soon began to circulate, that Soult was moving rapidly, at the head of a considerable force, to succour Badaj os; that a corps of Spaniards, under the orders of Blake, was marching from Aya- monte, to co-operate with us ; that the siege was to be immediately raised ; and that a battle might be shortly expected. On the 14th we broke up, and marched upon Valverde; halted for the night, and moved forwards at mid-day, on the 1.5th, to Albuera, which place we reached about five in the evening. Our cavalry had already retired upon this post ; the enemy's horse, who were vastly su- perior in number, having pushed them from Santa

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Martha in the morning. Albuera, the scene of a most murderous and sanguinary conflict, it may not be amiss to describe. It is a small inconsiderable village, uninhabited, and in ruins : it is situated on a stream from which it takes its name, and over which there are two bridges ; one about two hundred yards to the right of the village, large, handsome, and built of hewn stone ; the other, close to the left of it, small, narrow, and incommodious. This brook is not above knee-deep : its banks, to the left of the small bridge, are abrupt and uneven ; and, on that side, both artillery and cavalry would find it diffi- cult to pass, if not impossible ; but, to the right of the main bridge, it is accessible to any description of force. The enemy occupied a very large exten- sive wood, about three quarters of a mile distant, on the other side of the stream, and posted their picquets close to us. The space between the wood and the brook was a level plain ; but on our side the ground rose considerably, though there was nothing which could be called a height, as from Albuera to Val- verde # every inch of ground is favourable to the operations of cavalry — not a tree, not a ravine, to interrupt their movements.

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* I consider the wood, near Valverde, as too distant from the scene of action at Albuera to be considered, in any way, when speaking generally of the face of the country.

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captains. I saw it at three in the afternoon : — a captain commanded the brigade ; the 57th and 48th regiments were commanded by lieutenants ; and the junior captain of the 29th regiment was the senior effective officer of his corps. Not one of these six regiments lost a man by the sabre or the lance ; they were never driven, never thrown into confusion ; they fought in line, sustaining and replying to a heavy fire, and often charging ; and when the enemy at length fled, the standards of these heroic battalions flew in proud, though mournful triumph, in the centre of their weakened but victorious lines. I have read the annals of modern warfare with some attention, and I know of little, which can compare with, nothing, which has surpassed, the enthusiastic and unyielding bravery, displayed by these corps on the field of Albuera. Yet this dear-bought, and, let me add, not useless victory, won by unaided courage, graced with no trophies, and followed by no proportionate result, has almost sunk into oblivion, or is remembered only, and spoken of, as a day of doubtful suc- cess, if not of positive disaster. It was certainly not useless, because the object of Marshal Soult, which was the relief of Badajos, and the expulsion of our troops from Spanish Estremadura, was wholly defeated ; but it had yet a higher, a nobler, a more undying use, it added one to the many bright examples of British heroism ; it gave a terrible and long-remembered lesson to the