1st Batt.
Meanwhile the first battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Robert William O’Callaghan, had embarked from Sicily on the 20th of August 1811, to join the army in the Peninsula, and arrived at Lisbon in October following. The battalion moved towards the frontiers of Portugal, and on its arrival at Crato was joined by the second battalion on the 24th of December 1811, commanded by Brevet-Lieut.-Colonel Patrick Lindesay.
2nd Batt.
On the 25th of December 1811, the second battalion transferred all its effective men to the first battalion, after which the skeleton marched to Lisbon, where it embarked for England on the 27th of January following.
1st Batt.
The first battalion, thus completed to twelve hundred rank and file, proceeded on the 26th of December to join the second division of the army under Lieut.-General Rowland Hill.
1812. 2nd Batt.
The portion of the second battalion, which had proceeded to England, disembarked at Weymouth on the 2nd of March 1812.
1st Batt.
In March Badajoz was invested for the third time, and the first battalion formed part of the covering army under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill[27] at the successful siege of this important fortress, which was taken by the British on the night of the 6th of April. The battalion afterwards continued with the division in all its various movements from the frontiers of Portugal to the Spanish capital. The victory gained at Salamanca on the 22nd of July by the army under the immediate command of the Earl of Wellington, for which he was raised to the title of Marquis, was followed by the surrender of Madrid to the allies, who entered that city on the 12th of August, and were joyfully received by the inhabitants. The situation of the British commander at Madrid was critical; and it being deemed impracticable to remain there, the Marquis of Wellington on the 1st of September departed from that city, and advanced to Burgos; but the siege of the castle at that place was not successful, and a retrograde movement was made in order to unite with the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill, information having been received that Marshal Soult and King Joseph, with their combined forces, were advancing from Valencia, and that their advanced guard was in the neighbourhood of Ocanna, and moving on Madrid. Lieut.-General Hill, at the approach of Marshal Soult, abandoned that city, and retired slowly towards Salamanca. On the retreat from Madrid to the Tormes, the first battalion formed part of the rear-guard of the army; here the battalion rejoined the second division, and continued the march by Salamanca until its arrival at Coria on the 1st of December 1812, where it remained for the winter.