A detachment from Marshal Soult’s army under General Girard having been collecting contributions in Spanish Estremadura, Lieut.-General Rowland Hill, with a view of putting a stop to his movements, broke up his cantonments at Portalegre upon the 22d of October, proceeding by Albuquerque and Malpartida. On the 27th, when within a moderate march of the enemy at Arroyo-del-Molinos, Lieut.-General Hill halted his troops, and, at night, breaking up his bivouac, made a flank movement close to the road by which the French intended to march on the following morning. In that position he awaited the approach of day, when, on the 28th of October, the British marched directly on the rear of the town with such celerity that the cavalry piquets were rushed upon before they had time to mount. The French main body, though in the act of filing out, had so little intimation of danger that the officers and men were surrounded before their formation was effected, and to seek safety they individually dispersed. Many of them were killed, and about 1,400 were taken prisoners. All the enemy’s artillery and baggage were captured. General Brun and Colonel the Prince of Aremberg, together with several other officers, were among the prisoners.
In this brilliant affair the Seventy-first was one of the three corps that advanced through the centre of the town, and were, therefore, principally engaged; but the enemy, from his complete surprise, being unable to make a combined resistance, the British sustained but trifling loss.
The battalion subsequently returned to Portalegre, where it arrived early in November.
Lieut.-General Hill, on the 7th of November, issued the following General Order:—
“Portalegre, 7th November 1811.
“Lieut.-General Hill has great satisfaction in congratulating the troops on the success which has attended their recent operations in Estremadura, and in so doing he cannot but endeavour to do justice to the merits of those through whose exertions it has been obtained. A patient willing endurance of forced and night marches, during the worst of weather and over bad roads, of bivouacs in wet weather, oftentimes without cover and without fire, and a strict observance of discipline, are qualities, however common in British soldiers, which the Lieut.-General cannot pass unnoticed. Having on this occasion witnessed the exertion of them in no ordinary degree, he feels that nothing but the most zealous attention of commanding officers, the goodwill and zealous spirit of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, could produce such an effect, and he requests they will, generally and individually, accept his warmest thanks, particularly those corps which were engaged in the action of Arroyo-del-Molinos, whose silent attention to orders, when preparing to attack, and when manœuvring before the enemy, could not but excite his notice, and give them an additional claim on him.”
Letters from the Secretary of State, dated the 2d, and from His Royal Highness the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, dated the 6th December, were promulgated, expressive of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent’s approbation and thanks to Lieut.-General Hill, and the troops under his command, for their brilliant operations on the recent expedition in Spanish Estremadura, in having totally surprised and defeated the enemy under General Girard.
Viscount Wellington having made preparations for the recapture of Ciudad Rodrigo, concentrated the main body of the army in that neighbourhood, and the troops under Lieut.-General Hill were therefore ordered to divert the enemy’s attention in the south.
The first battalion of the Seventy-first remained at Portalegre until the 25th of December, when the brigade moved into Estremadura for the purpose of expelling the French, who were ravaging the country. After the performance of this duty, the battalion returned to its former quarters at Portalegre in February 1812.