In the course of a short time afterwards, the following places surrendered, with trifling loss, to detachments of the British army; namely, Outredroog, Ram Gurry, and Sheria Gurry.

The army subsequently moved towards Outredroog, a hill fort about thirty miles west of Bangalore, where a general hospital was established.

On the 31st of January 1792 the army under General the Earl Cornwallis was reviewed by the Poonah and Hyderabad chiefs, and on the following day commenced its march towards Seringapatam, passing by Hooleadroog, Tajilly, and Carrycode. The troops came in sight of Tippoo’s capital on the 5th of February, and encamped at the French Rocks. The enemy’s horse showed itself on the 4th and 5th, but attempted nothing hostile.

The entrenched camp of Tippoo was reconnoitred on the 6th of February, and at dark the army was formed in three columns of attack. The right, under Major General Medows, consisting of the thirty-sixth and seventy-sixth King’s regiments. The centre, under the Commander-in-chief, General the Earl Cornwallis, consisting of the fifty-second, Seventy-first, and seventy-fourth King’s regiments. The left, under Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell of the seventy-fourth, was composed of the seventy-second regiment. The native troops were divided among the three columns.

By eight o’clock in the evening of the 6th of February the three columns were in motion. The head of the centre column, led by the flank companies of the respective corps, after twice crossing the Lokany river, which covered the enemy’s right wing and front, came in contact with his first line, and immediately forced through it. The British flankers, mixing with the fugitives, crossed the north branch of the Cavery, at the foot of the glacis of the fort of Seringapatam. Captain the Honorable John Lindsay collected the grenadiers of the Seventy-first upon the glacis, and attempted to push into the body of the place, but was prevented by the bridge being raised a few moments before he reached it. He was soon after joined by some of the light company of the fifty-second and grenadiers of the seventy-sixth, with whom he forced his way down to the famous Llal Baugh, or “Garden of Pearls,” where he was attacked most furiously, but the enemy was repelled in a very spirited style with the bayonet.

Captain Lindsay was afterwards joined by the seventy-fourth grenadiers, and attempted to drive the enemy from the Pettah, but could not succeed, from the numbers which poured on him from all sides. This gallant officer then took post in a redoubt, where he maintained himself until morning, and then moved to the north bank of the river, where the firing appeared very heavy. He was there met by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel the Honorable John Knox, of the thirty-sixth regiment, and by Lieut.-Colonel Baird, with the grenadiers of the fifty-second, and the light company of the Seventy-first, together with some of the troops that composed the left attack.

During these occurrences the battalion companies of the fifty-second, Seventy-first, and seventy-second regiments forced their way across the river to the island, overpowering all that opposed them, when Captain Archdeacon, commanding a battalion of Bengal Sepoys, being killed, that battalion was thrown into confusion, falling back upon the Seventy-first. Major Stair Park Dalrymple, wishing to prevent the Sepoys intermingling with his men, ordered the regiment to oblique to the left, an operation that by chance brought him in contact with the Sultan’s redoubt, which was instantly attacked and carried. The charge of the redoubt was given to Captain Hugh Sibbald, of the Seventy-first, with his company, who on the following morning was killed, nobly defending it against repeated and desperate attacks from the enemy. The commander-in-chief, General the Earl Cornwallis, in compliment to the memory of this officer, had the name of the redoubt changed to “Sibbald.”

In the evening of the 7th of February three thousand of the enemy’s horse attacked the British troops on the island, but were repulsed by the Seventy-first regiment and the first Coast Sepoys. In the course of these operations the regiment had Captain Sibbald and Lieutenant Daniel Bayne killed; Ensign Duncan Mackenzie was wounded; about one hundred rank and file were killed and wounded.

The enemy’s loss was very severe, being estimated at 20,000 hors-de-combat. Eighty pieces of cannon were taken by the British.

On the 9th of February the army took up its final position for the siege of Seringapatam, and on the 15th Major-General Robert Abercromby joined with the Bombay force, consisting of the seventy-third, seventy-fifth, and seventy-seventh regiments, besides native troops, making a total of about 6,000 men.

The Seventy-first regiment, commanded by Major Dalrymple, crossed the south branch of the Cavery at nine o’clock at night on the 18th of February, and in two hours after attacked by surprise a camp of the enemy’s cavalry, of whom great part were slain, and the remainder dispersed in all directions. This movement was designed to cover the operation of opening the trenches, which took place at the same time, within eight hundred yards of the fort.

Until the 24th of February the approaches were carried on with the greatest activity, when the general orders announced that the preliminary articles of peace had been signed, and in consequence all hostile measures immediately ceased.

On the 26th of February the two sons of Tippoo Saib, Abdel Kalek and Mooza-ud-Deen, the former ten years of age, and the latter eight, were brought to the British camp, as hostages for the due performance of the preliminary articles.[16]

In consequence of some obstacles which had been opposed by Tippoo to the arrangement of the definitive treaty, working parties were ordered, and the guns replaced in the batteries on the 10th March. This state of suspicion and preparation lasted until the 15th of March, when it was discontinued, and on the 18th of that month, the definitive treaty being duly executed, and signed, was delivered by the young Abdel Kalek to each of the confederates. On the 20th the counterpart was sent off to Tippoo Saib.

In March 1793, the eight companies under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Baird proceeded from Warriore to Secundermally, in the neighbourhood of Madura. Meanwhile the events of the French revolution had involved England in another contest, the National Convention of France having declared war against Great Britain and Holland, in February 1793. The news of this event arrived in India in May following, when the siege of the French settlement of Pondicherry, on the Coromandel coast, was determined upon. Lieut.-Colonel Baird, of the Seventy-first, was appointed to command a brigade on this service.

In July the flank companies of the regiment were ordered to join the force about to besiege Pondicherry, and marched for that purpose, being followed soon afterwards by the battalion companies. The place surrendered on the 22d of August, and the Seventy-first returned to Secundermally and Dindigul, where the regiment continued during the remainder of the year.

An attack upon the Mauritius was in contemplation at the commencement of the year 1794, and troops for that service were assembled at Wallajohabad. The Seventy-first, having received orders to join this force, marched to Wallajohabad, where the regiment remained only a short time, having been ordered to return to the southward, in consequence of the projected expedition being relinquished.

The regiment marched accordingly, and arrived at Tanjore in June, where it was stationed for the remainder of the year, having two companies detached, under Major Dalrymple, at Vellum.

Holland became united to France in the early part of 1795, and was styled the Batavian republic. Upon the arrival of this information in India, an expedition was fitted out against the island of Ceylon, where the Dutch had several settlements. Major Dalrymple, with the flank companies, marched to the coast, and embarked at Negapatam, for the purpose of co-operating with the troops destined for Ceylon, under the command of Colonel James Stuart, of the seventy-second, who was promoted to the rank of Major-General at this period. The fleet arrived on the coast of Ceylon on the 1st of August, and two days afterwards the troops landed four miles north of the fort of Trincomalee. The siege of the fort was commenced as soon as the artillery and stores could be landed, and removed sufficiently near to the place. On the 26th of August a practicable breach was effected, and the garrison surrendered. The fort of Batticaloe surrendered on the 18th of September, and the fort and island of Manaar capitulated on the 5th of October. After these services were performed, the flank companies returned to Tanjore in the month of October, having lost eleven men in killed and wounded. Captain William Charles Gorrie, of the grenadier company, was desperately wounded in this expedition.

In May 1796, the regiment marched to Wallajohabad, where it was stationed during the remainder of the year.

On the 2d of January 1797, the regiment was inspected by Major-General Clarke, who issued the following general order:—

The regiment remained in the cantonment of Wallajohabad until the month of October, when orders were issued for its return to Europe. It was accordingly drafted, giving five hundred men to the seventy-third and seventy-fourth regiments, and then marched from Wallajohabad, under the command of Colonel Baird, with the non-commissioned officers, drummers, and invalids, to Madras, and immediately embarked on board of Indiamen for Great Britain. The fleet sailed from Madras Roads on the 17th of October, and was at sea during the remainder of the year.[17]

Early in January 1798, the fleet arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, where the commanding officer of the regiment, Colonel Baird, was detained upon the staff, having been appointed brigadier-general. After remaining a few days in Table Bay, the fleet sailed, and reached St. Helena in February, where it was detained three months waiting for a convoy.

The fleet sailed on the 1st of May from St. Helena, without a convoy, and in July, in consequence of contrary winds, was compelled to put into Cork Harbour. It sailed from thence for the Thames, and on the 12th of August the regiment disembarked at Woolwich, where it remained for a few days, and then re-embarked in smacks for Leith. After landing, the regiment proceeded to Stirling. As a mark of indulgence, a general leave for two months was granted to the officers and men of the Seventy-first, to enable them to visit their friends and families, after a long absence from their native country. At the expiration of this period, the whole assembled at Stirling, with the addition of several recruits. Immediately afterwards, the whole of the officers and non-commissioned officers, with the exception of the staff, and a few at head-quarters, were sent out to recruit the regiment.

During the year 1799, the head-quarters remained at Stirling, and the recruiting went on but slowly.

In May 1800, the strength of the regiment amounted to about two hundred rank and file, when a route arrived changing the quarters to Paisley, but soon after the march an order arrived for its proceeding to Ireland. In June the regiment reached Portpatrick, and crossed immediately to Donaghadee, from whence it marched, under the command of Colonel Dalrymple, to Newry, and in a few days afterwards was removed to Dundalk.

In July the regiment received six hundred volunteers from the Scotch Fencible corps serving in Ireland, and remained at Dundalk until the close of the year, when a route for Dublin was received. At this period, Colonel Dalrymple was appointed brigadier-general, and the command of the regiment devolved on Brevet Lieut.-Colonel John French.

On the 6th of December Major Denis Pack was promoted from the fourth Royal Irish dragoon guards to be Lieutenant-Colonel in the Seventy-first regiment, in succession to Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable John Lindsay, who retired from the service.

The regiment, early in the year 1801, marched from Dundalk to Dublin, and occupied the barracks in the Palatine Square. On the 24th of April, Lieut.-Colonel Pack joined, and assumed the command of the regiment.

In March 1802, in which month the Peace of Amiens was concluded, the regiment proceeded from Dublin, and was cantoned in the county of Wicklow. The corps was so divided, that at Arklow, the head-quarters, there were only two companies. In this situation it continued for the remainder of the year.

The regiment proceeded, in March 1803, in three divisions, to Ballinasloe, where it remained for a few days, and afterwards marched to Loughrea.

Major-General Sir John Francis Cradock, K.B., was appointed colonel of the Seventy-first regiment on the 6th of August 1803, in succession to General the Honorable William Gordon, who was removed to the twenty-first Royal North British Fusiliers.

The regiment continued at Loughrea, but the light company was detached to Limerick, to join a light battalion which was being formed at that place.

In May the regiment proceeded from Loughrea to the county of Limerick, the head-quarters being stationed at Rathkeale; one detachment at Newcastle, another at Tarbert, and a third at Askeaton.

While the regiment was stationed in Ireland, war had recommenced with France, and Bonaparte having made preparations for invading Great Britain, additional measures of defence to those of the former year were adopted by the Government;[18] and under the “Additional Force Act,” passed on the 10th of July 1804, a second battalion was added to the Seventy-first regiment, which was to consist of men to be raised for limited service in certain counties of North Britain. The second battalion was formed at Dumbarton in October, to the command of which Lieut.-Colonel Lord George Beresford was appointed. Its establishment was fixed at 23 serjeants, 22 drummers, 20 corporals, and 380 privates.

In March 1805 the first battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Pack, proceeded to Bandon in the county of Cork, and was stationed at that place until July, when it marched to Cork, and immediately afterwards to Monkstown, where it embarked in transports, having been selected to form part of a secret expedition under its former commander, Major-General Sir David Baird.

In the beginning of August the embarkation was completed, and on the 5th of that month the fleet sailed, convoyed by three 64-gun ships, two frigates and gun-brigs, under the orders of Commodore Sir Home Popham; and on the 28th of September the fleet, after a very boisterous passage, arrived at Madeira.

On the 3d of October the fleet left Madeira, and on the 12th of November arrived at St. Salvador, in the Brazils, where an opportunity was afforded of refreshing the men, landing the sick, and procuring some horses for the cavalry.

The fleet again put to sea on the 28th of November, and directed its course towards the Dutch colony of the Cape of Good Hope, then in possession of the Batavian Government, which was united with France in hostility to Great Britain.

The fleet arrived at the high table-land of the Cape of Good Hope on the 4th of January 1806, and shortly afterwards came to anchor. The whole of the following day the surf upon the shore of the bay was too violent to admit of any attempt to land. Brigadier-General William Carr, afterwards General Viscount, Beresford, was detached, with such of the cavalry as had horses, and the thirty-eighth regiment, to Saldanha Bay.[19]

In the morning of the 6th of January a landing was effected by the Highland brigade, under the command of Brigadier-General Ronald Craufurd Ferguson, in the performance of which service Lieut.-Colonel Pack, the commanding officer of the Seventy-first regiment, was wounded. The following day was devoted to landing the supplies and the remainder of the army.

Early in the morning of the 8th of January Major-General Sir David Baird formed his troops in two columns, and moved up to the heights of Bleuberg (Blue Mountain), from whence the enemy was seen, drawn up in order of battle, in two lines, with twenty-three pieces of cannon, his numbers being calculated at 5,000, of which a large proportion was cavalry.

The British lines were formed with promptitude and correctness, and the enemy was attacked with the utmost spirit. He maintained his ground with some firmness, until a charge of the Highland brigade dislodged and completely routed him, with the loss of three guns and 700 men.

In this affair the Seventy-first had Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Robert Campbell wounded. Five men were killed, and two serjeants and sixty-four rank and file were wounded.

The troops halted for the night at the Reit Valley, and on the 9th of January the army moved towards the Salt River, where it was intended to take up a position previously to the attack of Cape Town, when a flag of truce appeared from the town, which produced some negotiations, that terminated in its surrender to His Majesty’s arms. Lieut.-General Janssens, the Governor of the colony, after his defeat at Bleuberg on the 8th, had retired towards the interior of the country by the Hottentot Holland Kloof, or Pass, from whence, on the 19th of January, he signed and ratified the treaty that placed the whole of the Cape of Good Hope and its dependencies in the possession of Great Britain, under whose sway it has since continued.

The Royal authority was subsequently granted for the Seventy-first to bear the words “Cape of Good Hope” on the regimental colour and appointments, to commemorate its distinguished gallantry at the capture of that important colony.[20]

As the following letter from Brigadier General Ferguson to Major-General Sir David Baird is very creditable to the regiment and to its commander, it is here inserted.

The Seventy-first went into quarters at the cantonment of Wynberg, about seven miles from Cape Town, on the road to Simon’s Bay, where the battalion remained until the 12th of April, when, most unexpectedly, an order arrived for its immediate embarkation on an expedition to the Rio de la Plata in South America, which had been planned by the British commanders, naval and military, at the Cape. The Seventy-first was the only corps of the Cape garrison destined for this service, with the addition of a few dragoons and some artillery. At this period the strength of the battalion amounted to eight hundred rank and file, having received some recruits from foreign corps at the Cape. The troops were to be commanded by Brigadier-General William Carr Beresford, afterwards General Viscount Beresford.

The battalion was embarked in line-of-battle ships and in transports, and on the 14th of April the fleet sailed from Table Bay, directing its course to the westward until the 20th, when, in consequence of unfavourable weather, and having parted company with one of the transports, in which were three companies of the Seventy-first, the signal was made to rendezvous at St. Helena, at which island the fleet arrived on the 30th of April, with the exception of the missing transport. Here the force under Brigadier-General Beresford received an augmentation of two hundred men from the St. Helena regiment, making a total of a thousand and eighty-seven rank and file.

On the 2d of May the fleet sailed from St. Helena, and after a tedious voyage arrived at Cape St. Mary’s, at the entrance of the Rio de la Plata, on the 8th of June, where it met with the missing transport.

The troops that had sailed in the line-of-battle ships were transferred on the 16th of June to the transports, which proceeded up the river, and on the 24th of that month came to anchor opposite the city of Buenos Ayres. On the 25th, at night, the Seventy-first, with the other troops, effected a landing without any opposition. The following morning they pushed forward, and met the enemy at the village of Reduction, who made a trifling stand, and then retired towards the city. On this occasion Captain Henry Le Blanc of the Seventy-first lost his leg, and a serjeant and five rank and file were wounded.

The British troops continued to advance in pursuit of the enemy, and on the morning of the 27th of June forced their passage across the Chualo. Some skirmishing followed this movement, but the city of Buenos Ayres almost immediately surrendered. In the evening the town and fort were taken possession of by the first battalion of the Seventy-first and detachments of Marines and St. Helena Regiment.

The Seventy-first occupied barracks in Buenos Ayres, and remained undisturbed until the beginning of August, by which time the enemy had collected a force of about 1,500 men, under a leader named Pueridon, at five leagues from the city. Brigadier-General Beresford, in consequence, moved out with three hundred of the Seventy-first, fifty from the St. Helena Regiment, and six field pieces; attacked and dispersed the enemy, taking all his artillery, namely, ten pieces of various calibre. The battalion had only five men wounded in this operation.

About this period, a body of the enemy, headed by Colonel Liniers, a French officer in the service of Spain, crossed from Colonna to Concher, evidently with hostile intentions. Forming a junction with the force under Pueridon, the whole marched upon Buenos Ayres.

On the 10th of August the enemy commenced operations, by the massacre of a serjeant and his guard of the Seventy-first Regiment, who were posted at a place in the suburbs where the bull-fights were usually exhibited. On the following day much skirmishing ensued in the outskirts of the city, the enemy taking possession of the tops of houses, from which he kept up a galling and destructive fire.

During this time the main body of the British force took up a position in the Grand Square, but afterwards retired into the fort of Buenos Ayres. Being now bereft of all resources, and without hopes of reinforcement, there appeared no alternative but to capitulate, and about one o’clock on the 12th of August hostilities ceased, and the fort was surrendered. The troops marched out with the honors of war, and laid down their arms in the Square.

The Seventy-first were now prisoners; the officers were allowed their parole, and quartered upon the inhabitants; the men were confined in the prisons of the city.

In these melancholy proceedings fell Lieutenant William Mitchell and Ensign Thomas Lucas. Both had much distinguished themselves. The battalion lost in killed and wounded ninety-one men.

In August 1806 the second battalion embarked at Glasgow for Ireland, and arrived at Belfast on the 1st of September.

About the middle of September, the Seventy-first were removed from Buenos Ayres into the interior. Brigadier-General Beresford, with his staff, and Lieut.-Colonel Pack, were placed at Luxon, from whence they subsequently effected their escape, upon learning that the removal of the prisoners still further up the country had been ordered.

Lieut.-Colonel Pack was thus enabled to join the troops which had landed near Monte Video in January 1807, under the command of Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty, and to afford assistance in the important operations then being carried on. Sir Samuel Auchmuty, at Lieut.-Colonel Pack’s request, directed a board of naval and military officers to inquire into the particulars of his escape, by whom it was unanimously approved, and he was declared free to serve.[21]

The second battalion was removed from Ireland to Scotland in January 1807, but returned to Ireland in June following.

In May 1807, a further removal to the interior of the prisoners took place. The officers were collected at a college belonging to the Jesuits, about forty leagues to the northward of Cordova, and entirely separated from their men. In this situation they remained until August following, when, just as they were ordered to prepare for a transfer to a station still more remote, the accounts of the convention entered into by Lieut.-General John Whitelocke were received, by which it was stipulated that the prisoners should be restored to liberty, on condition that all the British forces should be withdrawn. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the prospect of being restored to liberty and friends was greatly damped by the military events which produced it, and which completely extinguished the ardent hopes of success that had been entertained from the arrival of the last British force in South America.

In September the whole of the officers and men were re-conducted to Buenos Ayres, from whence they were conveyed in boats to Monte Video, and there embarked in transports, with a view of returning to Europe.

It is a circumstance highly creditable to the character of the soldiers of the Seventy-first, that although so many and powerful allurements were held out to induce them to remain in South America, still not more than thirty-six individuals were found to swerve from their duty and allegiance to their king and country.

The fleet sailed immediately, and after a tedious and rough voyage of three months the transports having the Seventy-first on board put into Cork Harbour in December, and on the 27th of that month the whole were landed, without uniform, clothing, arms, or accoutrements, and marched to Middleton, under the command of Major Henry Tolley, Lieut.-Colonel Pack having previously returned to England from South America.

In March 1808, the regiment proceeded from Middleton to Cork, where its equipment in every respect was completed.

The second battalion embarked at Londonderry for Scotland on the 9th of April 1808, after transferring 200 men to the first battalion, which raised the strength of the latter to nearly 900 rank and file.

On the 26th of April, whilst in garrison at Cork, new colours, to replace those left in South America, were presented to the Seventy-first by Lieut.-General John Floyd, who had commanded the cavalry and advance in the campaign of 1790 in the East Indies.

The following animating and soldierlike address was made by the gallant general on the occasion:

The Peninsula was at this period the centre of political interest. Portugal, deserted by her government, and Spain betrayed, the people of each rose in arms to recover the national independence. Dissensions had arisen in the royal family of Spain, occasioned by the sway of Emanuel Godoy, who bore the title of Prince of Peace. This minister was dismissed, but the court was unable to restore tranquillity. In this emergency, the French emperor was solicited to be umpire, and Napoleon ultimately placed the crown of Spain on his brother Joseph, who was transferred from the throne of Naples. The Spaniards flew to arms in consequence. The British government resolved to aid the Spanish and Portuguese patriots, and a British army was ordered to proceed to the Peninsula, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. The first battalion of the Seventy-first regiment formed part of the force selected on this occasion.

The first battalion of the Seventy-first regiment embarked at the Cove of Cork on the 17th of June 1808. Its strength consisted of fifty-two serjeants, twenty-two drummers, and eight hundred and seventy-four rank and file.

In June 1808 His Majesty King George III. was pleased to approve of the Seventy-first bearing the title of Glasgow regiment, in addition to the appellation of Highland regiment.

In the first instance, the Seventy-first were brigaded with the fifth, thirty-eighth, and fifth battalion of the sixtieth regiment, under Brigadier-General Henry Fane, and sailed for Portugal, in conjunction with the forces destined to aid the Spaniards and Portuguese, on the 12th of July. After a favourable passage, the troops anchored in Mondego Bay in the beginning of August, and a landing was effected in the vicinity of the village of Frejus.

Early in the morning of the 4th of August a small piquet of the enemy stationed in the neighbourhood fell back, and the operation of disembarking the troops was carried into effect without opposition. The army then moved on to a position across a deep sandy country, where it halted, and encamped for the night.

At this period a change took place in the arrangement of the brigades, and the first battalion of the Seventy-first was placed, with the thirty-sixth and fortieth regiments, in that commanded by Major-General Ronald Craufurd Ferguson.

The division under Major-General Sir Brent Spencer, K.B., from Cadiz, consisting of about four thousand men, joined on the 8th of August; and, after a short halt, the army was again put in motion to occupy a more forward position, where it remained for some days. On the 17th of August the enemy, commanded by General Laborde, was encountered near Roleia. The position was attacked, and carried with great loss to the French, who retreated on Torres Vedras.

The light company of the Seventy-first was the only part of the regiment engaged, the remainder being employed in manœuvring on the right flank of the French. The light company suffered a trifling loss, having but one man killed and a few wounded.

The Seventy-first subsequently received the royal authority to bear the word “Roleia” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of this victory.

Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, after the battle of Roleia, did not pursue the enemy by the high roads, but keeping to the right near the sea, marched to Vimiera, to cover the landing of a brigade commanded by Major-General Anstruther, which was effected on the 20th of August.

The morning of the 21st of August was given up to the troops, in order to prepare and repose themselves. The men were engaged in washing and cleaning their equipments, when the approach of the enemy, moving to the left, was discovered at eight o’clock in the morning, and the brigades commanded by Major-General Ferguson, Brigadier-Generals Nightingall, Acland, and Bowes, were consequently moved across a valley from the heights on the west to those on the east of Vimiera.

Marshal Junot, Duke of Abrantes, moved on his army to the attack of the position, and commenced it on the British centre, where the fiftieth regiment was posted, moving along the front gradually to the left, until the whole line became engaged.

A short time previously to this, the soldiers of the brigade were ordered to sit down, with their arms in their hands, keeping their formation. The enemy in the meantime cannonaded the whole line, and pushed on his sharpshooters and infantry. To oppose the former, Major-General Ferguson ordered the left sections of companies to move forward and skirmish. Upon the retreat of the enemy’s sharpshooters, the action became general along the front of this brigade, and the whole moved forward to the attack. Nothing could surpass the steadiness of the troops on this occasion, and the general and commanding officer set a noble example, which was followed by all.

The grenadier company of the Seventy-first greatly distinguished itself, in conjunction with a subdivision of the light company of the thirty-sixth regiment. Captain Alexander Forbes, who commanded the grenadier company, was ordered to the support of some British artillery, and, seizing a favorable opportunity, made a dash at a battery of the enemy’s artillery immediately in his front. He succeeded in capturing five guns and a howitzer, with horses, caissons, and equipment complete. In this affair alone the grenadier company had Lieutenants John Pratt and Ralph Dudgeon and thirteen rank and file wounded, together with two men killed.[22]

The French made a daring effort to retake their artillery, both with cavalry and infantry; but the gallant conduct of the grenadier company, and the advance of Major-General Ferguson’s brigade, finally left the guns in the possession of those who had so gallantly captured them.

George Clark, one of the pipers of the regiment, and afterwards piper to the Highland Society of London, was wounded in this action, and being unable to accompany his corps in the advance against the enemy, put his pipes in order, and struck up a favourite regimental air, to the great delight of his comrades. This is the second instance in which the pipers of the Seventy-first have behaved with particular gallantry, and evinced high feeling for the credit and honor of the corps.[23]

During the advance of the battalion, several prisoners were taken, among whom was the French general, Brennier. Corporal John M^cKay, of the Seventy-first, who took him, was afterwards promoted to an ensigncy in the Fourth West India Regiment.

The result of this battle was the total defeat of the enemy, who subsequently retreated on Lisbon, with the loss of twenty-one pieces of cannon, twenty-three ammunition waggons, with powder, shells, stores of all descriptions, and 20,000 rounds of musket ammunition, together with a great many officers and soldiers killed, wounded, and taken prisoners.

The conduct of the battalion, and of its commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Pack, was noticed in the public despatches, and the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were conferred on the troops.

The following officers of the Seventy-first were wounded in the battle of Vimiera: Captains Arthur Jones and Maxwell Mackenzie; Lieutenants John Pratt, William Hartley, Augustus M^cIntyre, and Ralph Dudgeon; Ensign James Campbell, and Acting Adjutant R. M^cAlpin.

The Seventy-first subsequently received the royal authority to bear the word “Vimiera” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of this battle.

The “Convention of Cintra” was the result of this victory, and it was signed on the 30th of August. By its provisions the French army evacuated Portugal, which country became freed from its oppressors.

The British army was ordered to move forward to Lisbon, some of the reinforcements for it having preceded it by water, and occupied the forts at the mouth of the Tagus. The French army having by this convention fallen back on Lisbon, the British proceeded to the vicinity of Fort St. Julien, and encamped.

All the objects of the expedition being carried into effect, and the French troops embarked for France, the British army remained for some time at Lisbon and its vicinity. At this period (September) Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, having assumed the command, made dispositions for entering Spain.

The first battalion of the Seventy-first was now brigaded with the thirty-sixth and ninety-second regiments under Brigadier-General Catlin Craufurd, and placed in the division under the command of Lieut.-General the Honorable John Hope, afterwards the Earl of Hopetoun. On the 27th of October the division was put in motion, and after a short stay at Badajoz resumed the march, proceeding by Merida, Truxillo, Jaraicejo, Puerto-de-Merivette, and crossing the Tagus at the bridge of Almaraz, directed its route upon Talavera-de-la-Reyna. From this town the column proceeded to the Escurial, seven leagues to the north-west of Madrid.

Intelligence was here received of the enemy’s approach towards Madrid, and two companies of the Seventy-first, under Major Archibald Campbell, were pushed forward to occupy the important pass in the Guadarama Mountains, which separate Old from New Castile. After a halt of a few days, the division was put in motion over the Guadarama Pass to Villa Castin, at which place Lieut.-General the Honorable John Hope, in consequence of the intelligence which he received of the enemy’s movements, made a night march to the left, by Avila and Peneranda, and finally proceeded to Alba-de-Tormes. At the latter place a junction was formed with a detachment from the army under Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, then at Salamanca. The army under Sir John Moore was shortly afterwards put in motion towards Valladolid, and subsequently to the left, to form a junction with Lieut.-General Sir David Baird’s division, which had landed at Corunna.

Previously to this period, the Spanish armies under General Blake, near Bilboa on the left, General Castanos in the centre, and General Palafox lower down the Ebro on the right, had been completely defeated; and Lieut.-General Sir John Moore consequently made arrangements for a retreat on Portugal by Ciudad Rodrigo; but it having been represented to him that Madrid held out against the French, he was induced to effect a junction with Lieut.-General Sir David Baird, in order to make a diversion in favour of Madrid, by attacking Marshal Soult on the river Carion.

The British force, twenty-nine thousand strong, joined at Toro on the 21st of December, and on the 23d of that month Sir John Moore advanced with the whole army. The cavalry had already met with that of the enemy, and the infantry were within two hours’ march of him, when an intercepted letter informed the British commander that Napoleon, who had entered Madrid on the 4th of December, was then in full march for Salamanca and Benevente. A retreat on Corunna, through Gallicia, was immediately decided on, that through Portugal being then impracticable.

Accordingly the several divisions marched towards the Esla, the greater part crossing by the bridge of Benevente on the 26th of December, when, after a day’s halt, the cavalry under Lieut.-General Lord Paget and Brigadier-General the Honorable Charles Stewart had an engagement with some of the Imperial Guards that had forded the river Esla under General Le Fevre, who was made prisoner, with several of his men.

At this period the situation of the British army was dispiriting in the extreme. In the midst of winter, in a dreary and desolate country, the soldiers, chilled and drenched with the heavy rains, and wearied by long and rapid marches, were almost destitute of fuel to cook their victuals, and it was with extreme difficulty that they could procure shelter. Provisions were scarce, irregularly issued, and difficult of attainment. The waggons, in which were their magazines, baggage, and stores, were often deserted in the night by the Spanish drivers, who were terrified by the approach of the French. Thus baggage, ammunition, stores, and even money were destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy; and the weak, the sick, and the wounded were necessarily left behind. The Seventy-first suffered in proportion with the rest, and by weakness, sickness, and fatigue lost about ninety-three men.