of
which in trying to gain the ridge was met by the fierce Polish
Lancers, who slaughtered a tremendous number of them; in fact, the
battle was at one time thought to have been gained by the French, and
most likely would have been, had not Colonel Harding hurled part of
our division and a reserve Portuguese brigade against the enemy, and
so renewed the fight. General Cole himself led our fusiliers up the
hill. Six British guns and some colours were then already in the
enemy's possession, but Cole's troops soon dispersed the lancers,
and, recapturing the guns and colours, drove the French down again in
confusion.

It is useless for me to give any further details of this celebrated
battle, for it has been already depicted so many times and so much
more ably than I could do; but the Allies could not have lost less
than seven thousand killed, wounded and missing, while the French loss
was stated to be nine thousand. It was seldom, however, that we
arrived at the correct estimate of the enemy's loss, it being
generally the custom to state it as greater than ours, and my opinion
is that in this battle the Allies lost quite an equal number to the
French. The Spaniards especially must have sustained a great loss in
their confusion. It was always a bother to get them to stir forward
during a battle, but retreating was what they were best at, and then
it was always in confusion; at the battle of Albuera indeed whilst
they were in this state they even fired at random, and several shots
went amongst the English.

General Cole was himself wounded in this engagement, which resulted so
sadly for both parties; for it could hardly be termed a victory for
either side, and if so it was a very dearly bought one. Still it was
we who remained on the field in the end.

CHAPTER XII.

The siege of Badajoz converted into a blockade -- Move to
Guinaldo -- Lord Wellington as a general -- A slight digression
on the horrors of war -- Instances of cruelty by both the French
and the inhabitants -- The English not wholly blameless --
Private depredations of Lawrence and his comrades -- Siege of
Ciudad Rodrigo -- Capture of a troublesome convent -- A
successful assault made -- Scenes in the town afterwards --
Incidents during the cantonments -- Putting it out of sight
proves not to be the best way of keeping grog -- Being too
sparing to one's beast not always advantageous.

For the remain