With his back to the field, and his feet to the foe!
And, leaving in battle no blot on his name,
Look proudly to heaven from the death-bed of fame.”
PENINSULA—WATERLOO—CRIMEA—INDIA—1808–1862.
In 1808 the Seventy-ninth was included in the army of Sir John Moore, which endeavoured to aid the Spaniards and Portuguese to rescue their country from the crushing tyranny of France. But what could 25,000 men, however brave, do against 300,000 veterans, concentrated under the command of experienced officers, and now advanced to destroy the daring handful of British who had presumed to penetrate the heart of the Peninsula? We have already described the masterly manœuvres which extricated our army from a position of great peril when in presence of so powerful a foe, and at the battle of Corunna gloriously arrested the further pursuit of the French. The Cameron Highlanders were brigaded with the Thirty-sixth and Eighty-second regiments, under Brigadier-General Fane, but not actively engaged.
On the return of the regiment to England, it was shortly ordered to Holland, there to be engaged in a new effort for the deliverance of that country. Landed with the army of the Earl of Chatham in Walcheren, it was soon found impracticable to force the position of the French, who, nearer their own resources than in Spain, were not so easily overcome. Fever breaking out among the troops, so thinned the ranks, that of near 40,000 effectives, scarce a half returned fit for duty.
Long and sorely had our soldiers struggled to overcome the gigantic tyranny of France, but like the many-headed monster of heathen fiction, no sooner was one head wounded, than a new one appeared to challenge the attack. So, scarcely had we succeeded in one quarter ere the foe arose in terrible strength in another. Thus we find our armies, sometimes in Flanders, sometimes in the Peninsula, sometimes in Egypt, sometimes in India, and sometimes in America, waging a desperate and incessant war with this Gorgon-headed enemy.
In 1810 we once more return to Spain, where happily more permanent results were to be achieved. Thither the Seventy-ninth had gone to join the army of Lord Wellington.
At the battle of Fuentes d’Onor (Fountain of Honour) the conduct of the regiment was beyond all praise. Occupying that village with the Seventy-first Highlanders and Twenty-fourth Foot, the Seventy-ninth was exposed to the most furious assaults of strong columns of French. Occasionally driven out of the village, yet always returning to recover it—which an indomitable perseverance ever accomplished—triumphing over all opposition, this key of the position was ultimately retained. These regiments thus deservedly acquired the largest share of the glory flowing from such a victory.
From the battle of Salamanca it advanced with the army which occupied Madrid. In the subsequent siege of the strong castle of Burgos, the valour of the regiment was most conspicuous, and in the several assaults its losses were very considerable. Unfortunately, the approach of a powerful relieving force snatched the anticipated prize from our grasp, arresting the further progress of the siege, and necessitating the retreat of the British towards Portugal.