SWABEY «DIARY. 193 
putridity so soon as it will do in’a month’s time, and yet to 
judge from the shocking effluvia I should fear a sickness. Philippon is 
said to have broken his parole from England, on which account Lord 
Wellington would have no communication with him. A wounded 
officer whom I saw in the French hospital, said that they felt’ so secure 
in the art of their defence that they had no idea of our taking the place. 
The point at which General Picton entered was 24 feet high, and had 
it been properly defended we could not have taken it, but the best 
troops were all at the breach, and those at the castle were few in num- 
ber and irresolute. Ve ea ae: 
““Five thousand men and officers fell during this siege, and of 
these, including 700 Portuguese, 3500 had been ‘stricken in the 
assault, 60 officers and more than 700 men were slain on the 
“spot. The five generals, Kempt, Harvey, Bowes, Colville and 
Picton were wounded, the first three severely ; about 600 men 
and officers fell in the escalade of San Vincente, as many at 
the castle, and more than 2000 at the breaches, each division 
there losing 1200. And how deadly the strife was at that 
point, may be gathered from this, the 43rd and 52nd Regi- 
ments of the light division alone, lost more than the seven 
regiments of the 3rd division engaged at the castle ! 
Let any man picture to himself this frightful carnage taking place 
in a space of less than a hundred square yards. Let him con- 
‘sider that the slain died not all suddenly, nor by one manner 
~ ~* + of death; that some perished by steel, some by shot, some by 
water, that some were crushed and mangled by heavy weights, 
some trampled upon, some dashed to atoms by fiery explo- 
sions ; that for hours this destruction was endured without 
shrinking, and that the town was won at last, let any man 
consider this and he must admit that a British army bears 
with it an awful power. And false would it-be to say that 
the French were feeble men, for the garrison stood and 
fought manfully, and with good discipline behaved worthily. 
Shame there was none on either side. Yet who shall do 
justice to the bravery of the soldiers? The noble emulation 
of the officers? Who shall measure out the glory of Ridge,! 
of Mcleod,’ of Nicholas,? or of O’Hara* of the 95th, who 
? Major Henry Ridge, 5th Regiment, already distinguished for his conduct at El Boden, he was 
killed after the escalade of the castle by the 3rd division. ; 
"2 Lieutenant-Colonel Charles McLeod, commanding 43rd Regiment, he was killed. 
3 The gallantry of Major Wm. Nicholas, R.E., an officer who had already highly distinguished 
himself in Italy, in Egypt, and especially at the battle of Barossa, was so conspicuous at Badajos 
that the particulars deserve to be here recorded. ; 
In the dead of the night preceding that of the assault, he volunteered to reconnoitre the place, 
and in spite of the risk of discovery by the sentinels and the difficulty of the task, he stripped and 
forded the inundation of the Revillas brook, to ascertain the safest passage for our columns. The 
following night he was detailed as Engincer to lead and shew the troops of the advance to the main 
breach. There, after twice essaying to reach the top he fell, wounded in four places, but notwith- 
standing the distress in which he lay from these wounds, when he saw.the fall of Licut.-Col. McLeod 
and Captain James, who were two.of his. oldest friends and comrades, and when he heard ‘the 
soldiers demand ‘‘ Who should lead them to the,third onset ?? he instantly ordered two of his men 
to bear him up the breach in their arms. One of his brave supporters was killed, and the same 
moment he himself received a musket ball, which}passed through his chest, breaking two ribs and 
injuring the spine. This shock precipitated him from the top to the bottom of the breach; and 
