In another part of this communication, the Lieut.-General thus alluded to the eighty-second regiment and to the first brigade, which was composed of the fiftieth, SEVENTY-FIRST, and ninety-second regiments:
“I feel it my duty to recommend to your attention, and favourable report to the Commander of the Forces, the conduct and spirit of Colonel Grant, and of his brave corps, the eighty-second regiment; also the whole of the first brigade, than which His Majesty’s army possesses not men of more proved discipline and courage. The wounds of him, and every commanding officer in that brigade, were attended with circumstances of peculiar honor to each of them, and to those under their orders.”
The following is a list of the killed and wounded in the action of the 25th of July, as nearly as could be ascertained:--Three serjeants and fifty-four rank and file killed; six serjeants, one bugler, and seventy-six rank and file wounded.
The SEVENTY-FIRST continued retiring until the 30th, when Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill took up a strong position beyond Lizasso. In this post they were attacked with much spirit by the enemy, who, at the same time, by manœuvring on the left flank, rendered necessary a change of position to a range of heights near _Eguaros_, which all the efforts of the French failed to carry. Upon this occasion the SEVENTY-FIRST were seriously engaged, and had one serjeant and twenty-three rank and file killed; two serjeants, one bugler, and thirty-three rank and file were wounded.
The enemy having been foiled in all the objects of his attacks, found it necessary, in his turn, to retreat, moving on the 31st of July by the pass of _Doña Maria_, where he left a strong corps in an excellent position. This force was immediately attacked by the columns of Lieut.-Generals Sir Rowland Hill and the Earl of Dalhousie, and dislodged, after a gallant resistance. In the action of this day the first brigade, consisting of the fiftieth, SEVENTY-FIRST, and ninety-second regiments, had the honor of bearing its share, and of distinguishing itself. The SEVENTY-FIRST had one serjeant and twenty-nine rank and file killed; two serjeants and forty-five rank and file were wounded.
The battalion now returned to the heights of Maya, from whence, after a halt of a few days, it moved to Roncesvalles.