“And I am concerned to report that the Honourable Lieut.-Colonel Cadogan has died of a wound which he received. In him His Majesty has lost an officer of great zeal and tried gallantry, who had already acquired the respect and regard of the whole profession, and of whom it might be expected that if he had lived he would have rendered the most important services to his country.”
After the fall of the Lieut.-Colonel, the Seventy-first continued advancing, and driving the enemy from the heights, until the force which was opposed to them became so unequal, and the loss of the battalion so severe, that it was obliged to retire upon the remainder of the brigade. In the performance of this arduous duty, the battalion suffered very severely, having had 1 field officer, 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 6 sergeants, 1 bugler, and 78 rank and file killed; 1 field officer, 3 captains, 7 lieutenants, 13 sergeants, 2 buglers, and 255 rank and file were wounded.
The officers killed were Colonel the Honourable Henry Cadogan, Captain Henry Hall, Lieutenants Humphrey Fox and Colin Mackenzie. Those wounded were Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Charles Cother, Captains Samuel Reed, Joseph Thomas Pidgeon, William Alexander Grant, Lieutenants Alexander Duff, Loftus Richards, John McIntyre, Charles Cox, William Torriano, Norman Campbell, and Thomas Commeline.
Lieut.-General Sir William Stuart, on subsequently receiving the thanks of the House of Commons for his gallantry at Vittoria, thus recorded the bravery of this regiment on that day, in the course of his answer to the Speaker:—
“I cannot advert to that battle and not submit to the memory, and, if I may use the term, to the affection of this House the name of one gallant officer upon whom the brunt of this contest particularly fell—I mean, Sir, the late Colonel Cadogan; the fall of that officer was glorious, as his last moments were marked by the success of a favourite regiment upon the magnanimity of whose conduct he kept his eyes fixed during the expiring hour of a well-finished life.”
On this occasion the French suffered a great loss of men, together with all their artillery, baggage, and stores. King Joseph, whose carriage and court equipage were seized, had barely time to escape on horseback. The defeat was the most complete that the French had sustained in the Peninsula. It was this victory which gained a bâton for the Marquis of Wellington, who was appointed a Field-Marshal. In a most flattering letter, the Prince Regent, in the name and behalf of His Majesty, thus conferred the honour:—
“You have sent me among the trophies of your unrivalled fame the staff of a French Marshal, and I send you in return that of England.” This was in allusion to the bâton of Marshal Jourdon, which was taken by the Eighty-seventh Regiment at Vittoria.
The Seventy-first subsequently received the Royal authority to bear the word “Vittoria” on the regimental colour and appointments, in commemoration of this signal victory.
When the Seventy-first paraded on the morning of the 22nd of June, the dreadful havoc made by the action of the preceding day became painfully manifest, and an universal gloom was thrown over all, at missing from their ranks nearly 400 brave comrades who had been either killed or wounded on the heights of La Puebla.
The enemy having been completely beaten at all points was forced to retreat in confusion on Pampeluna, and the British army immediately followed in pursuit. The battalion in this advance arrived at Pampeluna on the 29th of June, and shortly afterwards followed, as part of Sir Rowland Hill’s army, a large force of the enemy, who were retreating into France by the valley of Bastan. During this forward movement the Seventy-first had some skirmishing in the valley of Elizondo, but without loss. Upon the 8th of July the Seventy-first arrived at the heights of Maya, from whence, for the first time, they had the cheering prospect of beholding the empire of France extended under them in all its fertile beauty. Joy was diffused through every heart: every trial and danger was forgotten while viewing this splendid and gratifying sight. Upon these heights the battalion was encamped until the 25th of July.