“The Lieut.-General has not failed to report to his Excellency the Commander of the Forces the particulars of this brilliant service, and the good conduct of all those concerned in it. He will therefore not say more at present than to express his warmest thanks for the assistance which he has received from all ranks; and he is confident, when it shall again be his good fortune to lead them against the enemy, he shall have to report conduct equally honorable to them, and equally advantageous to their country.”
The bridge and works in the neighbourhood of Almaraz having been completely destroyed, the SEVENTY-FIRST returned to Truxillo, where they remained a few days, then moved to Merida, and afterwards to Almendralejos. Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s force having received orders to make a diversion in the south, while the main army was moving northward on _Salamanca_, the battalion again moved from Almendralejos to the borders of Andalusia, through Llerena. On this march the advanced parties of cavalry were constantly skirmishing with the enemy, but the SEVENTY-FIRST were not engaged.
From Llerena the battalion returned to Zafra, where, after a short halt, it proceeded to Villa Franca, and finally to Don Benito. In these marches through Estremadura the weather was oppressively hot, and, joined to the clouds of dust raised by the troops, was so fatiguing that it was considered expedient at one time to move by night, and thus these inconveniences were alleviated.
While the force under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill had been thus employed, the allied army under the Earl of Wellington had gained a victory on the 22d of July over the French at _Salamanca_, for which he was advanced to the dignity of marquis.
From Don Benito the battalion moved upon the 13th of September, and passing through Truxillo, Talavera, and Toledo, arrived at Aranjuez upon the 1st of October, from which place, after a halt of three weeks, it moved to Ponte Duenna, further up the Tagus.
The sudden approach of the united armies of Marshals Soult and Suchet rendered a speedy retreat necessary, and the division accordingly retired from Ponte Duenna in the night of the 28th of October, moving to form a junction with the army of the Marquis of Wellington, who had now relinquished the siege of Burgos. Near Madrid the division halted for a short period, when, being joined by the garrison of that city, the troops retired leisurely by the Guadarama Pass on Alba de Tormes. This town the SEVENTY-FIRST occupied from the 7th to the 13th of November, and during that period sustained a loss in action with the enemy of one serjeant and six rank and file killed; one bugler and five rank and file wounded.