When Lieut.-General Sir John Moore was appointed to the command of the British troops in Portugal, and directed to advance to the assistance of the Spaniards, the King's Own, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Wynch, were formed in brigade with the twenty-eighth and forty-second regiments, under the orders of Major-General Lord William Bentinck; the Fourth led the right column in the march through Portugal into Spain, and arrived at Salamanca on the 14th of November. Although the Spanish forces, which were to have co-operated with Sir John Moore, were defeated and dispersed, and Bonaparte had three hundred thousand men in Spain, yet the British general, with that intrepidity which marked his character, advanced with his army into the heart of Spain, braved the numerous legions of the enemy, and produced a diversion favourable to the Spanish cause. When Napoleon directed eighty thousand men and two hundred cannon against Sir John Moore, he marched towards the coast; and by superior skill escaped from the overwhelming numbers by which he was menaced. Great privation and suffering were endured by the troops during this retreat of two hundred and fifty miles, in the depth of winter, over mountains and rivers, exposed to snow-storms and heavy rains, and pursued by an enemy of superior numbers. During the retreat the King's Own preserved their efficiency, and their grenadier company, commanded by Captain Faunce, did not lose a man.

1809

At length the army arrived at Corunna, and the war-worn British soldiers obtained shelter, warm food, and a short repose, at the town and neighbouring villages, where their wasted strength was recruited, and their damaged arms were exchanged for new, while they awaited the arrival of shipping to transport them to England.

The shipping arrived, and while arrangements were making for the embarkation, the British troops, amounting to fourteen thousand five hundred men, were in position on an inferior range of heights in front of Corunna; and the Fourth were on the right of Lieut.-General Sir David Baird's division, behind the village of Elvina.

On the 16th of January, 1809, twenty thousand French troops assembled on the opposite hills; about two in the afternoon a heavy battery opened its fire; and three columns of the enemy, covered by clouds of skirmishers, descended the mountains, and drove in the British piquets. The first column carried the village of Elvina; then dividing, attempted to turn the right of Lieut.-General Sir David Baird's division by the valley, and to break its front; at the same time the second column advanced against the British centre; and the third attacked the left at the village of Palavia Abaxo. The brunt of the battle on the right was sustained by the Fourth, forty-second, and fiftieth regiments, commanded by Major-General Lord William Bentinck, and this brigade resisted the furious onset of the enemy with a firmness which proved the unconquerable spirit and excellent discipline of the troops. The enemy's attempt to turn the right flank by the valley occasioned the right wing of the Fourth to be thrown back, and the regiment opening a heavy flanking fire with terrible effect, it forced its opponents back in confusion; while the forty-second and fiftieth attacked those breaking through the village of Elvina. Sir John Moore watching this manœuvre with care, saw the noble exhibition of valour made by the King's Own, and the repulse of the enemy by the flanking fire, with feelings of exultation, and called out, "That is exactly what I wanted to be done. I am glad to see a regiment there in which I have so much confidence:" but in a short time afterwards this distinguished commander was mortally wounded by a cannon-ball, and died regretted by the army. Eventually the French were defeated on all sides, and they sought refuge on the high ridge of hills from which they had descended. Thus ended a conflict which was glorious to the British arms; the army having repulsed its adversaries, embarked during the night and succeeding day, and returned to England.

The King's Own had their commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Wynch, with Captain John Williamson, Lieutenant Vere Hunt, Ensigns J. P. Jameson and Reardon, wounded; Ensign Reardon died of his wounds. Lieut.-Colonel Wynch was rewarded with a medal; and the distinguished conduct of the regiment procured for it the honourable privilege of bearing the word Corunna on its colours.

Having landed at Portsmouth on the 31st of January, the King's Own marched to Colchester Barracks, where the second battalion, which had returned from Jersey, was also stationed. The militia being again allowed to extend their services to the line, upwards of seven hundred volunteered for the Fourth, and the establishment of the first battalion was raised to twelve hundred, and the second to a thousand men.

An attack on Holland by a body of troops commanded by General the Earl of Chatham having been resolved upon, both battalions of the King's Own,—the first commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Wynch, and the second by Lieut.-Colonel Espinasse, marched for Deal and embarked on the 16th of July; they were formed in brigade with the twenty-eighth regiment, under Major-General the Earl of Dalhousie. This brigade formed part of the reserve under Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, and landed on the 1st of August on the island of South Beveland, where it was stationed during the attack and capture of Flushing, on the island of Walcheren. Some delay taking place in the naval arrangements, the enemy had time to make preparations for a powerful resistance; at the same time a severe epidemic fever broke out among the English troops, and the attack on Antwerp was relinquished.

In September the regiment was withdrawn from South Beveland, and having landed at Harwich on the 16th of that month, returned to Colchester Barracks much reduced in numbers by the Walcheren fever.

1810