| Wellington's Battles for which Battle Honours have been granted. | ||||
| Engagements. | Officers. | Men. | ||
| K. | W. | K. | W. | |
| Sahagun | - | - | 2 | 18 |
| The Douro | - | 10 | 23 | 86 |
| Almaraz | 2 | 12 | 32 | 101 |
| Arroyos dos Molinos | - | 7 | 7 | 51 |
| Tarifa | 2 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
On [p. 16] I have given the list of regiments that fought at Schellenburg, with a return of their individual losses. At Menin we had four, at Liège and Lille five, and at Douai eight, battalions engaged, so the severity of the fighting may be gauged.
It may be urged that, as Schellenburg preceded Blenheim by only one month, and that as practically the same regiments were present at both engagements, such a distinction would merely have the effect of granting two battle honours to a few specially favoured regiments. Four days intervened between Roleia and Vimiera—actions which neither in their severity nor in their results can be compared to the two victories of Marlborough; indeed, several regiments which escaped scathless in Wellington's two earliest fights bear two battle honours on their colours. The campaign in Persia lasted exactly two months, and three insignificant skirmishes brought four battle honours to the fortunate regiments present.
I have been unable to trace the casualty returns for Liège, Menin, and Lille. Those of Douai I give in the following table, as I do not remember having seen them in any recent publication:
Casualties at the Siege and Assault of Douai.
| Regiments. | Officers. | Men. | ||
| K. | W. | K. | W. | |
| Roy. Artillery | - | - | 34 | 96 |
| Roy. Engineers | - | - | 35 | 45 |
| 19th Yorkshire | - | 11 | 94 | 207 |
| 21st Roy. Scots Fusiliers | 1 | 7 | 49 | 182 |
| 23rd R. Welsh Fusiliers | 2 | 9 | 54 | 147 |
| 24th S. Wales Borderers | 1 | 9 | 35 | 148 |
| 26th Camer'ians | 1 | 6 | 50 | 186 |
| 34th Border | 1 | 5 | 81 | 125 |
| Sutton's Regt. | 5 | 8 | 110 | 113 |
| Honeywood's Regt. | 2 | 6 | 86 | 170 |
Surely these figures are eloquent enough to justify the award of a battle honour to the regiments engaged!
Whilst Marlborough was fighting in Northern Europe, another British army was engaged in the South, where a century later our troops under Wellington were to earn undying fame. It is true the campaign was tinged with more than one disaster, owing to the lack of support on the part of our allies, but it was also relieved by many gallant actions well worthy of recognition. The storming and capture of Valenza by the 33rd (West Riding), the heroic defence of Alicante, Peterborough's daring capture of Barcelona, are all feats of arms well worthy of being emblazoned on colours which already bear such names as Roleia, Douro, and Tarifa. The regiments entitled to share in the honours that might well be awarded for our earliest campaign in the Peninsula are:
2nd Queen's Bays.
1st Royal Dragoons.
Royal Scots.
8th Royal Irish Hussars.
Royal Warwicks.
Queen's (Royal West Surrey).
King's Own (Lancaster).
Norfolks.
Leicester.
Somerset Light Infantry.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
East Surrey.
Border.
West Riding.
Worcesters.
Royal Sussex.