Peninsular War
In August 1808 the 1st Battalion landed in Portugal, and was quickly engaged in action against the French at the Battle of Roliça on 17 August, the Battle of Vimeiro on 21 August. In spite of these early victories, by 1809 the British were in full retreat, and the battalion fought at the rearguard Battle of Corunna on 16 January 1809. The battle was a tactical victory for the British, who managed to evacuate their troops, and the 1st/36th embarked for England on the following day.
The 1st Battalion took part in the Walcheren Campaign, an unsuccessful attempt to open another front in the war in Flanders. They landed on 1 August 1806 and were initially successful in capturing Flushing. However an epidemic of malaria soon swept through the troops stationed on the swampy islands, and the battalion lost more than 200 to the disease. They returned to England in December 1809.
The 1st/36th were stationed at Battle, Sussex where they were brought up to strength before sailing from Portsmouth, arriving in Lisbon on 5 March 1811. They formed part of an army of reinforcements as the British began a new offensive aimed at breaking the military stalemate in the Iberian peninsula. The battalion fought at the Battle of Salamanca on 22 July 1812 and took part in the Siege of Burgos from September to October 1812 and the Battle of the Pyrenees in July and August 1813, the Battle of Nivelle on 10 November 1813, the Battle of the Nive in December 1813, Battle of Orthez in February 1814, Battle of Toulouse in April 1814.
The 1st Battalion arrived back in Ireland in July 1814. On 24 October 1814 the 2nd Battalion was disbanded, with men fit for duty transferred to the 1st Battalion which became once more simply the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot.
Read more about this topic: 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment Of Foot
Famous quotes containing the words peninsular and/or war:
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Long accustomed to the use of European manufactures, [the Cherokee Indians] are as incapable of returning to their habits of skins and furs as we are, and find their wants the less tolerable as they are occasioned by a war [the American Revolution] the event of which is scarcely interesting to them.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)