In honor of the 213th anniversary of the battle, here are some thoughts from Lt. Sherer of the 34th Regiment of Foot:
"I have read the annals of modern warfare with some attention, and I know of little, which can compare with, nothing, which has surpassed, the enthousiastic and unyielding bravery, displayed by these [British] corps on the field of Albuera. Yet this dear-bought, and, let me add, not useless victory, won by unaided courage, graced with no trophies, and followed by no proportionate result, has almost sunk into oblivion, or is remembered only, and spoken of, as a day of doubtful success, if not positive disaster. It was certainly not useless, because the object of Marshal Soult, which was the relief of Badajos [sic], and the expulsion of our troops from Spanish Estremadura, was wholly defeated; but it had yet a higher, a nobler, a more undying use, it added one to the many bright examples of British heroism; it gave a terrible and long-remembered lesson to the haughty legions of France; and, when Soult rode by the side of his Imperial master on the field of Waterloo, as the cheering of the English soldiery struck upon his ear, Albuera was not forgotten, and he could have whispered to him, that they were men, who could only be defeated, by being utterly destroyed."
(Sherer's first name is given as "Mogh" in the 1811 Army List, but it is reported in most bibliographic cites to his Recollections as "Moyle" (and sometimes even "Joseph").)