The division in which the six companies of the Seventy-first were placed advanced by the route of Alemquer, Cartajo, Atataya, and Almoster, and halted in and about the latter place from the 20th to the 26th of November, inclusive. The enemy, in the mean time, retired to an extremely strong position at and in the vicinity of Santarem, where Marshal Massena halted, although threatened by Viscount Wellington, who, after some manœuvring, took up a position immediately in the enemy’s front, having his head-quarters at Cartajo, and the different corps of the army in the villages. The brigade to which the Seventy-first belonged occupied Alquintrinha.
1811.
1st bat.
At this place the Seventy-first remained in quarters until March, 1811, at which period the army, having been reinforced, was about to resume the offensive, when the enemy retired during the night of the 5th of March, taking the same road, through Estremadura, by which he entered Portugal.
The British army accordingly marched in pursuit of Marshal Massena, and the brigade in which was the Seventy-first accompanied it, moving by Redinha, Miranda de Corvo, and Saryedes, passing the Coa, a little above Sabugal, upon the 5th of April, and on the 9th arrived at Albergaria, a small town on the frontiers of Spain. The Seventy-first remained in Albergaria until the 2nd of May, when the enemy, having been strongly reinforced, moved off from Salamanca, and on that day crossed the frontier with a large convoy of provisions for Almeida, then closely invested by the Portuguese forces under Brigadier-General Pack.
In consequence of this movement the allied army broke up its cantonments on the Azava, and formed in order of battle upon the high ground behind the Duas Casas, the left extending to the high road to Almeida, which crossed the river by a ford near Fort Concepcion, and the right keeping up a communication with the bridge at Sabugal; opposite the centre the village of Fuentes d’Onor was strongly occupied by light infantry.
Upon the 3rd of May the French took post on the opposite side of the valley of the Duas Casas, their left fronting Fuentes d’Onor, and their right extending about two miles and a half to Almeida. In the afternoon of the 3rd of May they attacked Fuentes d’Onor with much vigour. That post was defended with the greatest bravery, until the light companies, being worn out and harassed by repeated attacks, were obliged to retire, and the enemy possessed himself of the lower part of the village.
The Seventy-first was now ordered up in support, and, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel the Honourable Henry Cadogan, charged the enemy through the village and across the Duas Casas, taking ten officers and about a hundred men prisoners. The corps retained its conquest that night and the whole of the next day, but upon Sunday, the 5th of May, the French having succeeded in turning some troops to the immediate right, was obliged to give way; but having been promptly supported by the Seventy-fourth and Eighty-eighth Regiments, it again advanced, took possession of and retained the village until the conclusion of the action.
A struggle of such duration could not be carried on without great loss, and the Seventy-first suffered severely. It went into action about 320 strong, and lost nearly one-half of its number in killed and wounded.
The Seventy-first had Lieutenants John Conseil, William Houston, and John Graham, and Ensign Donald John Kearns, together with 4 sergeants and 22 rank and file killed. Captains Peter Adamson and James McIntyre, Lieutenants William McCraw, Humphrey Fox, and Robert Law (Adjutant), Ensigns Charles Cox, John Vandeleur, and Carique Lewin, 6 sergeants, 3 buglers, and 100 rank and file, were wounded. 2 officers, with several men, were taken prisoners.