Marshal Soult having been selected by Napoleon for the command of the French army in Spain, with the rank of “Lieutenant of the Emperor,” that officer used the most active exertions for its re-organization, and made immediate arrangements for forcing the British position in the Pyrenees. With this view he advanced in person with a large force against the right, stationed at Roncesvalles, and detached Count D’Erlon with about 13,000 men to attack the position of Maya.
The Count D’Erlon, upon the 25th of July, advanced against the right of the Maya heights, where the ridges of the mountains branched off towards his camp. The force at this point was not sufficient to resist such formidable numbers, and the reserve being posted at some distance to watch passes of importance, which could not be left wholly unguarded, was brought up by battalions as the pressure increased.
The intrepidity with which these attacks were met, and the obstinate bravery with which every inch of ground was disputed, were obliged at last to yield to overwhelming numbers; but although the troops were forced to retrograde, yet in their retreat they took advantage of every rising ground, and disputed it with the utmost tenacity. At the commencement of this attack a part of the first battalion of the Seventy-first Regiment was detached to a neighbouring high peak, under the command of Major William Fitzgerald of the Eighty-second Regiment, and was strengthened by a company of that corps. Lieut.-General the Honourable Sir William Stewart, in his report to Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, thus expressed himself respecting these men:—“I cannot too warmly praise the conduct of that field officer (Major Fitzgerald) and that of his brave detachment. They maintained the position to the last, and were compelled, from the want of ammunition, to impede the enemy’s occupation of the rock by hurling stones at them.”
In another part of this communication, the Lieut.-General thus alluded to the Eighty-second Regiment and to the first brigade, which was composed of the Fiftieth, Seventy-first, and Ninety-second Regiments:—
“I feel it my duty to recommend to your attention, and favourable report to the Commander of the Forces, the conduct and spirit of Colonel Grant, and of his brave corps, the Eighty-second Regiment; also the whole of the first brigade, than which His Majesty’s army possesses not men of more proved discipline and courage. The wounds of him, and every commanding officer in that brigade, were attended with circumstances of peculiar honour to each of them, and to those under their orders.”
The following is a list of the killed and wounded in the action of the 25th of July, as nearly as could be ascertained:—
3 sergeants and 54 rank and file killed; 6 sergeants, 1 bugler, and 76 rank and file wounded.
The Seventy-first continued retiring until the 30th, when Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill took up a strong position beyond Lizasso. In this post he was attacked with much spirit by the enemy, who at the same time, by manœuvring on the left flank, rendered necessary a change of position to a range of heights near Eguaros, which all the efforts of the French failed to carry. Upon this occasion the Seventy-first was seriously engaged, and had 1 sergeant and 23 rank and file killed; 2 sergeants, 1 bugler, and 33 rank and file were wounded.
The enemy having been foiled in all the objects of his attack found it necessary, in his turn, to retreat, moving on the 31st of July by the pass of Doña Maria, where he left a strong corps in an excellent position. This force was immediately attacked by the columns of Lieut.-Generals Sir Rowland Hill and the Earl of Dalhousie, and dislodged after a gallant resistance. In the action of this day the first brigade, consisting of the Fiftieth, Seventy-first, and Ninety-second Regiments, had the honour of bearing its share and of distinguishing itself. The Seventy-first had 1 sergeant and 29 rank and file killed; 2 sergeants and 45 rank and file were wounded.
The battalion now returned to the heights of Maya, from whence, after a halt of a few days, it moved to Roncesvalles.