The Eighty-seventh, under Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Butler, had three officers and sixty men killed, and three officers and eighty men wounded: total, one hundred and forty-six; strength in the field, seven hundred and eighty-eight.
| Killed. | Wounded. |
| Captain—Charles Beaumont. | Captain—John Evans. |
| Lieutenant—Hugh Irwine. | ” R. McCrea. |
| Surgeon—Wilde. | Lieutenant—W. Boucher. |
In the public thanks issued by Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty, the regiment is thus mentioned:—
“The Eighty-seventh, under Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Butler, were equally forward; and to their credit, it must be noticed, that they were posted under the great gate, to rush into the town when it should be opened by the troops, who entered at the breach; but their ardour would not allow them to wait; they scaled the walls, and opened themselves a passage.
(Signed) “T. Bradford,
“Dep. Adjutant-General.”
The Eighty-seventh subsequently received the royal authority to bear the words “Monte Video” on the regimental colour and appointments in commemoration of the gallantry evinced in the capture of that place on the 3rd of February 1807.
On the 10th of May, Lieut.-General Whitelocke having arrived from England with reinforcements, proceeded as Commander-in-chief to prepare for the attack of Buenos Ayres. In a brilliant affair at Colonia on the 7th of June, the light company of the battalion was creditably engaged. On the 18th of June the troops embarked at Monte Video, and on the 28th of the same month landed at Ensenada da Barragon, about twenty-eight miles from Buenos Ayres, without firing a shot. Major-General John Levison Gower was the second in command to Lieut.-General Whitelocke, and the Eighty-seventh were posted in the right brigade under Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty.
In the assault of Buenos Ayres on the morning of the 5th of July 1807, the Eighty-seventh were formed by wings, the right commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Sir Edward Butler, and the left by Major Miller. The orders were to pierce by the two streets to the right of the Retiro, in performing which (in company with the Thirty-eighth regiment) they suffered very severely. In the course of this service, Lieutenant William Hutchinson, in command of Captain Frederick Desbarres’s company, took two of the enemy’s guns, turned them on the Plazo del Toro, and, after a few rounds, the enemy, to the number of fifteen hundred, surrendered to him. The thanks of Sir Samuel Auchmuty were given to Lieutenant Hutchinson for his gallant conduct upon this occasion. Serjeant Byrne also distinguished himself by his bravery. Twenty-nine pieces of artillery, with a quantity of military stores, were taken. The light company, which was detached from the regiment, was taken prisoners in the convent of St. Domingo, and remained for three days, when it was restored agreeably to the articles of the treaty.
The loss of the Eighty-seventh on this occasion was seven officers and eighty men killed, and ten officers and three hundred and twenty men wounded: total, four hundred and seventeen; strength in the field, six hundred and forty-two; remained, two hundred and twenty-five.