No. 8. "The commander of the forces considers Major-General Alten and Major-General Colville, and the commanding officers of regiments under their command respectively, viz. Lieutenant-Colonel Cummins, Lieutenant-Colonel Arentschildt, Lieutenant-Colonel Bromhead, Major Ridge, and Colonel Bucella, of the Twenty-first Portuguese, and the officers and soldiers under their command, to be entitled to his particular thanks, and assures them that he has not failed to report his sense of their conduct, in the action of the 25th of September, to those by whom he trusts that it will be duly appreciated and recollected."
Further eulogium, or even comment, on the brilliant conduct of the second battalion of this regiment at El Bodon it must be felt, is unnecessary, and would be supererogatory: its loss was five rank and file killed, and Captain Ramus, one serjeant, and twelve rank and file, wounded. The army moved forward on the 26th to occupy other positions, and the battalion, for the remainder of 1811, was posted in the village of Payo, near the pass of Perales.
1812
The first operation of the year 1812 was the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo, in the storming of which fortress, on the 19th of January, the second battalion of the Fifth had another glorious opportunity of distinguishing itself and earning one more honourable inscription for the regimental colours. On this occasion, moving from its post behind the convent of Santa Cruz, it entered the ditch at the extremity of the counterscarp, then, after escalading the wall and scouring the fausse braye to the great breach, it rushed forward in the face of a thundering discharge of shells, grape, and musketry, which thinned the ranks; yet, continuing its course with unabated fury, it drove the French, with fixed bayonets, behind the entrenchments. Here the enemy rallied, some hard fighting occurred, but at length the British, by a mighty effort, burst through the entrenchment. In the mean time the other attacks had also succeeded. The garrison fought for a moment in the streets; but eventually fled to the castle and surrendered. The Commander-in-Chief, in his despatch to the Earl of Liverpool, dated Gallegos, 20th of January, 1812, says:—
"Major Ridge, of the second battalion, Fifth regiment, having escaladed the fausse braye wall, stormed the principal breach in the body of the place, together with the Ninety-fourth regiment[41], commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, which had moved along the ditch at the same time, and had stormed the breach in the fausse braye, both in front of Major-General Mackinnon's brigade. Thus these regiments not only effectually covered the advance from the trenches of Major-General Mackinnon's brigade by their first movements and operations, but they preceded them in the attack.
"The conduct of all parts of the third division in the operations which they performed with so much gallantry and exactness, on the evening of the 19th in the dark, affords the strongest proof of the abilities of Lieutenant-General Picton and Major-General Mackinnon, by whom they were directed and led; but I beg particularly to draw your lordship's attention to the conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel O'Toole, of the second Caçadores; of Major Ridge, second battalion Fifth Foot; of Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, Ninety-fourth regiment; of Major Manners, of the Seventy-fourth; and of Major Grey, second battalion Fifth Foot, who has been twice wounded during the siege."
The loss of the battalion during the siege, and at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, was heavy, Captain McDougal, one serjeant, and thirty-four rank and file, being killed, and Major Grey, Captain Dubourdieu, Lieutenants Wylde, McKenzie, D. E. Johnson, Fitzgerald, and Fairtclough, Ensigns Ashford and Canch (who carried the colours at the assault), and Volunteer Hillyard, with three serjeants, and fifty-five rank and file, wounded. Major Ridge obtained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and the words 'Ciudad Rodrigo' are authorized, under date October the 25th, 1817, to be borne on the colours of the regiment.
As soon as the breaches in Ciudad Rodrigo were repaired, and the place put in a state of defence, the Earl of Wellington undertook, for a third time, the siege of Badajoz, and on the 16th of March the second battalion of the Fifth, with the remainder of Sir Thomas Picton's division, having marched to the Alentejo, crossed the Guadiana, and took up its position in the investing force. In the assault, which took place at ten o'clock on the night of the 6th of April, General Picton's division was directed to file out of the trenches, cross the Rivillas river, and scale the castle walls, which were from eighteen to twenty-four feet high; furnished with all means of destruction, and so narrow at the top that the defenders could easily overturn the ladders. The second battalion of the Fifth led the brigade to which it belonged, and, passing the Rivillas by a narrow bridge under a hot fire of musketry, the troops reared their ladders against the lofty castle, and with undaunted courage ascended amidst a shower of heavy stones, logs of wood, and bursting shells from the parapet, while the enemy plied a heavy fire from the flanks, and with pikes or bayonets stabbed the leading assailants in front, or pushed the ladders from the wall. Yet, amidst the deafening noise of musketry, the crash of breaking ladders, and the sound of falling weights, the men were seen striving who should first ascend, until, all being overturned, a pause ensued, and the French shouted "Victory."—A vain shout:—for in a few moments the heroic Lieutenant-Colonel Ridge, who commanded the Fifth, springing forward, and calling on his men to follow, raised a ladder against the castle on the right of the former attack, Ensign Canch raised a second, and the next moment these two, with Colonel Campbell of the Ninety-fourth (commanding the brigade), followed by the grenadiers, were on the rampart. The remainder of the men followed cheering, and, when a sufficient number had succeeded in gaining the summit of the wall, the gallant Ridge, calling out "Come on, my lads, let us be the first to seize the governor," led them along the ramparts and drove the garrison before them with terrible slaughter through the double gate into the town. The enemy sent a reinforcement, but it was driven back. Thus the castle was nobly won, and the grenadiers of the Fifth had the honour of having led the successful escalade, under circumstances which gave an interesting character to this daring exploit. A shot in the breast unfortunately closed the mortal career of Lieutenant-Colonel Ridge even in the moment of victory, and deprived the regiment, and the service in general, of a most valuable officer[42]. His family had the melancholy satisfaction of receiving the medal which, had he survived, would have graced his own breast: another medal was given to Major Bishop, who, on the death of his Lieutenant-Colonel, succeeded to the temporary command of the battalion; and, in reward and commemoration of its services on this occasion, the word "Badajoz" is, by authority dated July the 4th, 1818, borne on the colours. During the siege and assault, the battalion lost, besides its lamented Lieutenant-Colonel, one Lieutenant (Fairtclough), one serjeant, and sixteen rank and file, killed; and two captains, Bennett (aide-de-camp to Major-General Kempt) and Doyle, Lieutenant John Pennington, and Ensign Hopkins, with three serjeants, and twenty-seven rank and file, wounded.
After the capture of Badajoz, the second battalion accompanied the army towards the north of Portugal and into Spain; it was in position on the heights of St. Christoval until after the capture of the forts at Salamanca. It was afterwards in position on the Douro, and was for a time posted, with the remainder of the third division, to observe the ford of Pollos, while the opposite bank of the river was occupied by the French army; and it was occasionally under the enemy's fire in the course of the movements which preceded the battle of Salamanca.
During this period, the first battalion, which had embarked at Cork in May, landed at Lisbon, and, advancing by forced marches, joined the army about the 20th of July, a few leagues in front of Salamanca, taking the right of that brigade of the third division which had been hitherto formed by the second battalion of the Fifth, the Eighty-third, and the Ninety-fourth regiments.