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The campaign was entered upon with a view of preventing the Iberian Peninsula from falling under the domination of Napoleon, who, prior to the landing of our troops in Portugal in August, 1808, had brought about the abdication of the King of Spain, and placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Madrid. Portugal had been invaded also by the French. The King, taking refuge on an English squadron, had sailed to Brazil, and Lisbon was at the moment in possession of the French Army, commanded by Marshal Junot.
The honour "Peninsula" was granted to all regiments which served under the Duke of Wellington from the date of his first landing in Figueras Bay in August, 1808, to the Battle of Toulouse, in April, 1804. Regiments which served under Sir John Moore and were present at Corunna in January, 1809, but were not fortunate enough to return to Spain, were debarred from this "distinction," the 14th Foot (now the West Yorks) and the 26th Cameronians being cases in point.[15] Gold medals and crosses were conferred on field and general officers during the operations, but it was not until the year 1847 that the Duke of Richmond was enabled to carry out the project of inducing Her Majesty Queen Victoria to grant to the few remaining survivors a silver medal with clasps for the various actions, as below:
Roleia.
Vimiera.
Sahagun.
Benevente.
Corunna.
Talavera.
Busaco.
Barrosa.
Fuentes d'Onor.
Albuera.
Ciudad Rodrigo.
Badajoz.
Salamanca.
Vittoria.
Pyrenees.
San Sebastian.
Nivelle.
Nive.
Orthes.
Toulouse.
Roleia, August 17, 1808.
This was the opening action of the Peninsular War, which, commencing with Roleia in August, 1808, lasted until the final defeat of Soult by the Duke of Wellington at Toulouse in March, 1814.
The following regiments have been authorized at different times to carry the word "Roleia" on their colours and appointments, and the Land General Service Medal, with clasp "Roleia," was granted to all survivors on June 1, 1847:
Northumberland Fusiliers.
Royal Warwick.
Norfolk.
Worcester.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
South Stafford.
South Lancashire.
Sherwood Foresters.
King's Royal Rifles.
Highland Light Infantry.
Argyll Highlanders.
Rifle Brigade.
They were brigaded as under, the chief command being held by Lieutenant-General the Honourable Sir Arthur Wellesley:
Opposed to these, the French had, under General Delaborde, not more than 6,000 men. The odds, therefore, were considerably in our favour; but the opposition was nowhere very determined, and our casualties were slight. Three regiments, it will be seen from the accompanying return, suffered no loss.
Casualties at Roleia.
| Regiments. | Officers. | Men. | ||
| K. | W. | K. | W. | |
| 20th Hussars | - | - | - | 3 |
| Royal Artillery | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Roy. Engineers | - | 1 | - | - |
| 5th Northumberland Fus. | - | 2 | 3 | 41 |
| 6th R. Warwick | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| 29th Worcester | - | 7 | 33 | 111 |
| 32nd Cornwall L.I. | - | - | 1 | 3 |
| 36th Worcester | - | - | - | - |
| 38th S. Stafford | - | - | 4 | - |
| 40th S. Lancs | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| 45th Sherwood Foresters | 1 | 1 | - | 9 |
| 50th West Kent | - | - | 2 | 1 |
| 60th K.R.R | - | 2 | 8 | 39 |
| 71st Highland L.I. | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 82nd S. Lancs | - | 1 | 6 | 18 |
| 91st Argyll Highlanders | - | - | - | - |
| 95th Rifle Brig. | - | 2 | 17 | 30 |
Note.—The riflemen of the 60th and 95th (Rifle Brigade) had been engaged on August 15, when the latter regiment lost one officer killed and another wounded.
Vimiera, August 21, 1808.
Four days after Roleia, Sir Arthur Wellesley, at the head of the following regiments, inflicted a second defeat on the French army under Junot, capturing three guns and many prisoners. The following regiments bear the honour:
20th Hussars.
Queen's.
Northumberland Fusiliers.
Royal Warwicks.
Norfolk.
Lancashire Fusiliers.
Worcesters.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
South Stafford.
South Lancashire.
Oxford Light Infantry.
Sherwood Foresters.
West Kent.
King's Royal Rifles.
Highland Light Infantry.
Argyll Highlanders.
Rifle Brigade.
The casualties incurred were as follows:
Casualties at Vimiera.
| Regiments. | Officers. | Men. | ||
| K. | W. | K. | W. | |
| 20th Hussars | 1 | - | 19 | 24 |
| Royal Artillery | - | 2 | - | 2 |
| 2nd Queen's | - | - | - | 7 |
| 5th Northumberland Fus. | - | - | - | - |
| 6th Royal Warwicks | - | - | - | - |
| 9th Norfolk (2nd Batt.) | - | - | - | - |
| 20th Lancs Fus. | 1 | 1 | - | 5 |
| 29th Worcester | - | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| 32nd Cornwall L.I. | - | - | - | - |
| 36th Worcester | - | 5 | 7 | 36 |
| 38th S. Staffs | - | - | - | - |
| 40th S. Lancs | - | 2 | 6 | 30 |
| 43rd Oxford L.I. | - | 3 | 27 | 51 |
| 45th Sherwood Foresters | - | - | - | - |
| 50th West Kent | 1 | 4 | 19 | 63 |
| 52nd Oxford L.I. | - | 2 | 5 | 33 |
| 50th K.R.R. | - | 2 | 14 | 22 |
| 71st Highland L.I. | - | 7 | 12 | 92 |
| 82nd S. Lancs | 1 | - | 7 | 53 |
| 91st Argyll Highlanders | - | - | - | - |
| 95th Rifle Brig. | - | 4 | 37 | 43 |
Immediately after the action negotiations were entered into with the French to secure their evacuation of Portugal. The Convention of Cintra, the result of these negotiations, raised a storm of indignation in England. The three Generals—Harry Burrard, Sir Howard Dalrymple, and Sir Arthur Wellesley—were recalled, and their conduct submitted to a Court of Inquiry held at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, under the presidency of Sir Henry Dundas. The Times took a strong line against Wellesley, but the Court of Inquiry to a great extent exonerated him. Subsequently he returned to Portugal, as we know, to carry the war to a successful conclusion, thus belying his detractors.
The troops engaged at Vimiera were brigaded as under:
To which must be added about 2,000 Portuguese troops. Of the French forces it is not so easy to speak. Wellesley estimated their strength at 14,000, inclusive of 1,500 cavalry, with 23 guns. Professor Oman's figures are 13,056, including 1,850 cavalry. Whatever their strength may have been, they made but a poor stand against Sir Arthur's troops.