As the heights from which the Spanish troops had been driven, raked and commanded the whole position of the allied army, the division of general Stewart made a noble effort to retake them from the enemy. Lieu tenant-colonel Colborne, at the head of the right brigade of general Stewart's division, first came into action, but finding that the column of the enemy could not be sha ken by fire, he proceeded to attack it with the bayonet. While the troops were in the very act of charging the enemy, a body of cavalry called the Polish lancers, who had been concealed by the thickness of the atmostphere and the nature of the ground, and who were mistaken for Spaniards when they were discovered, suddenly at tacked and turned the brigade, which was unfortunately broken, and sustained immense loss. The 31st regiment, under major L'Estrange, having alone escaped this charge, kept its ground till the arrival of the third bri gade under major-general Houghton, who gallantly at tacked the enemy, and fell, pierced with wounds, while he was cheering on his brigade to the charge. Though the enemy's attack was chiefly directed to this point of the right, he likewise made continual efforts against the part of the original front of the allies, at the village and the bridge, which were defended by Major-General Baron Alten, and the light infantry brigade of the Ger man legion. The front now formed the left ; and Ma jor-General Hamilton's division, which had been brought up there, was left to defend it, with the assistance of a considerable proportion of Spanish troops. While the enemy's infantry attempted to force the right of the al lies, their cavalry endeavoured to turn it ; but all their efforts were baffled by the able manoeuvres of Major General the Honourable William Lumley, who com manded the allied cavalry. Major-General Cole, per ceiving the attack of the enemy, brought up his left, marched in line to attack the left of the enemy; and con tributed, with the charges of the brigades of General Stewart's division, to force the enemy precipitately from his situation, to take refuge tinder his reserve. The al lies pursued the French to a considerable distance, and drove them across the Albuera.
At the beginning of the engagement, a heavy storm of rain tame on, which, along with the smoke from the firing, rendered it impossible to see any thing distinctly. From this obscurity the French derived great advantage, both in the formation of their columns, and in their sub sequent attack.
During the. whole of this well-contested battle, which lasted from Moe in the morning till two in the afternoon, the skill and courage of the British troops were emi nently displayed. The dead of the 57th regiment were lying as they fought, in ranks, and every wound was in the front of their bodies. The loss of the French has been estimated at 8000, while that of the allies did not exceed, in killed, wounded, and missing, 5686.
Soult, with the remainder of his army, retreated to Llerena, where he received great reinforcements from different parts of Spain, and was afterwards joined by the army under Marmont.
After the battle of Fuentes de Honor, the allies re sumed the blockade of Almeida. The commander of
the garrison, General Brennier, perceiving that it was in vain to defend the place, conceived the hazardous de sign of evacuating it during the night, and carried his resolution into effect with the most consummate skill. In order to deceive the blockading army, he continued for several nights to fire cannon occasionally from the fortifications. After destroying all the ordnance, he set fire to the mines which had been constructed for blow ing up the works, and at one o'clock in the morning of the 11th, he marched out with his garrison ; and cutting his way through the picquets by which the place was observed, he joined the army of Massena, in the vicinity of Ciudad Rodrigo. A considerable part of the garrison was lost in this bold enterprise, and the rest were saved in consequence of the 4th regiment mistaking the road to Barba del Puerco. On the evening of the 7th of May, there was a very heavy fire of cannon from the fort, and the picquets were attacked. The same thing happened on the 8th, so that the blockading troops, and the queen's regiment in particular, ascribed the explo sion on the I Ith to the same cause from which it had arisen on the preceding night. In consequence of this mistake, none of the troops moved till the real cause of the explosion was ascertained.
Leaving Sir Brent Spencer in the command of the ar my of Almeida, Lord Wellington took the command of the allies before Badajos, on the 22d of May. On the 25th, the place was invested on the right of the Guadi ana, and the ordnance and stores being brought up for the siege, the allies broke ground on the evening of the 29th. The fire commenced on the 2d of June, from four batteries ; and on the night of the 6th, two breaches in the walls of the Fort St Christoval appeared to be practicable. A detachment of the 85th regiment, un der Major Mackintosh, moved forward in the best order, and with the utmost intrepidity, under a heavy fire of musquetry and hand-grenades from the outworks, and of shot and shells from the town, the advanced guard being led by Ensign Dyas of the 51st regiment ; but when they arrived at the bottom of the breach, they saw that the enemy had cleared the rubbish from the bottom of the escarp, and though provided with ladders, they found it impossible to mount it, and were obliged to retire with loss. Another attempt to storm the out work of St Christoval was made on the 9th, but though conducted with the same gallantry, the storming party were unable to mount the breach, and were obliged to retire with considerable loss. In these two attempts the allies lost about 300 men.
On the 10th of May, Lord Wellington having receiv ed information that Soult was collecting a force for the purpose of again advancing upon his position, and that the army of Marmont had broke up from Ciudad Rodri go to join that of Soult, raised the siege of Badajos. He crossed the Guadiana with his whole army, and encamp ed in the woods, upon the Layer between Quinta de St Joa6 and Arronches, where he was afterwards joined by the army under Sir Brent Spencer.