Albuera Eyewitness: Contemporary Accounts of the Battle of Albuera, 16 May 1811

On 16 May 1811, the small town of Albuera was the setting for one of the Peninsular War's most bloody and desperate battles. A combined Spanish, British and Portuguese force of more than 30,000 men, under the command of Lord Beresford, stubbornly blocked the march of the French field marshal Soult, who was trying to reach the fortress of Badajoz, twelve miles to the north. However, after suffering losses of up to 7,000 men during the fighting, Wellington declared that, 'Another such battle ...