[66] Napier gives the following figures: troops (British and Portuguese) employed at the siege, 21,784; Hill's covering force, 9674; Graham's covering force, 19,567.
[67] I.e., the 51st.
[68] "D—n it, I'm off"—a common expression of the period.
[69] "Marshal Beresford had fixed upon and studied his own field of battle above a month before the action took place, and yet occupied it in such a manner as to render defeat almost certain; his infantry was not held in hand, and his inferiority in guns and cavalry was not compensated for by entrenchments."—Napier's 'History of the Peninsular War.'
[70] Ensign Mainwaring.
[71] Badajoz.
[72] 'Vicissitudes of a Soldier's Life.' By John Green, late of the Durham Light Infantry. 1827.
[73] 'The Autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G.C.B.' Edited, with the addition of some supplementary chapters, by G. C. Moore-Smith, M.A. London: John Murray. 1901. Sir Harry saw much service in the Peninsula and at Waterloo; made a name for himself as victor of Aliwal (India); and was subsequently Commander-in-Chief at the Cape of Good Hope. The memory of Sir Harry is kept alive by the name of two towns in South Africa—Aliwal North, and Harrismith; while that of his wife is preserved in the name of Ladysmith.
[74] In 1813, Wellington was 44; Paget (Anglesey), 45; Beresford, 45; Hope, 48; Picton, 55; Graham (Lynedoch), 65; while Hill was only 41.
[75] Later in this year (December 1813), Samuel Rice's younger brother, Frederick, a militia officer, was given a company in the 51st, but was placed on half pay in the following year. In 1815, when travelling on the Continent, he heard of the coming struggle, and hastened to Brussels, in order to offer his services as a volunteer. Although too late to take part in the battle of Waterloo, he accompanied the 51st (unofficially) on the march to Paris, and was present at the storming of Cambray. He died at Geneva in 1823.