1811. 2nd Batt.
In consequence of the French army retreating from Portugal into Spain, the second battalion of the Thirty-ninth regiment accompanied the second division in its movements towards the frontiers, and was present at the expulsion of the enemy from the fortress of Campo Mayor on the 25th of March 1811; subsequently the battalion crossed the Guadiana at Jerumenha, and was present with the second division in a variety of skirmishes at Los Santos and Zafra, as well as at the investment of Badajoz on the 2nd of May, where the battalion was actively employed in making approaches and constructing batteries against that fortress until the 14th of May, when it marched with the corps under Marshal Sir William Carr (now Viscount) Beresford to Albuhera, where the battalion arrived on the evening of the 15th of that month, and was attacked on the following day by the French army under Marshal Soult.
In the battle of Albuhera, fought on the 16th of May, the second battalion of the Thirty-ninth regiment, although only four hundred strong, bore a distinguished part. The brigade to which it belonged, having been brought up at a critical moment, materially assisted in deciding the fate of the day, preventing by its fire the deployment of a heavy column of the enemy’s reserve, which was ultimately obliged to give way with considerable loss, and retreated in confusion across the river Albuhera.
On this occasion the second battalion had Lieutenant George Beard and fourteen rank and file killed; Captain James Brine, Lieutenants John William Pollard, Francis H. Hart, Ensign Charles Cox, four serjeants, and seventy-three rank and file wounded.
For this action Major Patrick Lindesay, being in command of the battalion, obtained the brevet rank of Lieut.-Colonel, and was presented with a medal. Captain Charles Carthew, who commanded the light company, was publicly thanked by Major-General the Honorable William Stewart, commanding the division, for the gallant conduct of himself, the officers, and company, in their skirmishing with the enemy.
The royal authority was afterwards given for the Thirty-ninth to bear the word “Albuhera” on the regimental colour and appointments, to commemorate the distinguished conduct of the second battalion on that occasion.
The French army having retreated on the road to Seville, the battalion moved forward with the corps, and on the march made many prisoners, the hospitals and wounded having, in many instances, fallen into the hands of the British. The enemy having been completely driven over the Sierra Morena, the battalion retired with the division, and was cantoned on the frontiers until the 22nd of October, when it marched with the troops under Lieut.-General Rowland Hill, and on the 28th of that month arrived close to the village of Arroyo dos Molinos, where a division of the French army was surprised, and about fourteen hundred prisoners, with all its artillery and baggage, were taken. Several officers of rank and consideration, including General Brun and Colonel the Prince d’Aremberg, were amongst the prisoners. The light companies of the brigade, acting in battalion, were under the command of Major Roger Parke of the Thirty-ninth regiment.
General Girard, who commanded the French division, escaped, with about five hundred men, by ascending the Sierra de Montanches, when the second battalion of the Thirty-ninth was ordered to pursue them; but the French throwing away their knapsacks, and in many instances their appointments, they marched with such rapidity, that the battalion could only come up with the rear-guard, which occasionally occupied most favorable positions to cover their retreat. After some skirmishing the French descended into the plain: the battalion being excessively fatigued by a continued and harassing march, from two o’clock in the morning until six in the evening, Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Lindesay, then in command, finding further pursuit unavailing, tried the success of a “ruse de guerre,” by riding up to the enemy with a flag of truce, and proposing to General Girard to surrender, as no doubt he would be intercepted by the British cavalry on the plain, and that a Spanish corps under General Morillo was at hand. A captain and twenty men left the column, and surrendered to the battalion, then rapidly advancing in pursuit. The French general, mortified by the surprise and loss of his division, declared he would rather die than surrender. Unfortunately only one troop of cavalry arrived, and Morillo’s force was unable to come up, so that General Girard, and the remainder of his division, escaped by the bridge of Medellin.
In this affair the second battalion had Captain Hardress Saunderson, one serjeant, and nine rank and file wounded.
On the following morning the second battalion rejoined the division at Arroyo dos Molinos, and returned to Albuquerque.