1807
In 1806, the first battalion sailed in the expedition under Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd, to join the British forces at Monte Video, in the province of Buenos Ayres, in South America; and after being embarked upwards of nine months, landed on the 28th of June, 1807, at Ensenada de Barragon, and was formed in Brigadier-General Sir Samuel Achmuty's brigade, for the attack made by Lieutenant-General Whitelocke, on the capital of the province.
After some fatiguing marches through a country much intersected by swamps and deep muddy rivulets, the troops crossed the Rio Chuelo, and formed in the suburbs of Buenos Ayres, when the Fifth had its post towards the convent of Recoleta; and in the plan for the general attack, the regiment was formed in two divisions, and directed to penetrate the streets immediately in its front. Accordingly, at half-past six o'clock on the morning of the 5th of July, the regiment advanced: the streets were found deserted by the inhabitants; the houses and shops closed; and a death-like silence, interrupted only by the firm tread of the British soldier, reigned in the midst of this populous city; but at a given signal, the whole male population suddenly appeared, and the windows and tops of the flat-roofed houses were crowded with armed men, who commenced a destructive fire; at the same time the streets were found intersected by ditches, and protected by cannon; but the Fifth, pressing onward with a conquering might which overcame all resistance, forced its passage through the streets with fixed bayonets, and, after penetrating to the river, took possession of the church and convent of St. Catalina, from whence it moved to the Plaza de Toros, where thirty-two pieces of cannon and a quantity of ammunition were captured. In the mean time several other corps, not able to overcome the opposition they met with, had been repulsed or overpowered, and made prisoners by the Spaniards; and on the following day Lieutenant-General Whitelocke agreed to vacate the place. In this affair the Fifth sustained a loss of fourteen killed, also forty-seven wounded, amongst the latter was Major the Honourable Henry King; and twenty-four missing. On the conclusion of the treaty between General Whitelocke and General Liniers, the English army re-embarked, and, after a tedious voyage, during which it was exposed to considerable want both of provisions and water, the 1st battalion of the Fifth Regiment landed at Cork, in December, 1807, where the 2nd battalion also arrived from Alderney on the 3rd of the same month.
In the same year, the sanction of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent was obtained for clothing the drummers of the regiment in white, with white and red lace, instead of gosling green.
1808
The second battalion was quartered at Charles Fort, Kinsale, from whence it marched in February, 1808, to Fermoy. In the summer of the same year, the first battalion, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Mackenzie, was ordered to proceed to the aid of the Portuguese in their resistance to the tyrannical power of Buonaparte; it accordingly embarked at Cork, and sailed on the 12th July for Portugal; where it landed on the 9th of August, and immediately joined the army of Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. In the action at Roleia, on the 17th, it was one of the few corps whom circumstances and the nature of the ground permitted to come to actual engagement with the enemy; and advancing by the right-hand path to the heights of Zambugeira, it climbed the rugged rocks in the face of a French force, which, after a gallant resistance, was driven from the heights. Thus by its conduct on that day, wherein two of its officers, Major Emes and Lieutenant Doyle were wounded, it earned the Royal permission to have the word "Roleia" inscribed on its colours. Its further loss was three killed, and two serjeants and thirty-nine rank and file wounded. Sir Arthur Wellesley, in his despatch, observed, "I cannot sufficiently applaud the conduct of the troops throughout this action. The enemy's positions were formidable, and he took them up with his usual ability and celerity, and defended them most gallantly. I must observe, that although we had such a superiority of numbers employed in the operations of this day, the troops actually engaged in the heat of the action were, from unavoidable circumstances, only the Fifth, Ninth, Twenty-ninth, the riflemen of the Sixtieth and Ninety-fifth, and the flank companies of Major-General Hill's brigade, being in number by no means equal to that of the enemy;—their conduct therefore deserves the highest commendation."
In the subsequent battle of Vimiera, fought on the 21st of August, the first battalion of the Fifth forming, with the Ninth and Thirty-eighth Regiments, the first brigade, was posted on the mountain on the right of the village. The enemy was defeated, and the regiment was rewarded by royal permission to inscribe the word "Vimiera" also upon its colours.
These successes being followed by the Convention of Cintra, and the evacuation of Portugal by the French, the first battalion of the Fifth was afterwards stationed in Lisbon, where it remained several weeks.
Portugal being now free from the presence of an enemy, an army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, was sent up the country in the autumn, to assist the Spaniards in their resistance to the armies of France, and the first battalion of the Fifth Regiment was selected to form part of this expedition.
1809