On the 209th anniversary of the Battle of Albuera, I am still looking for a definitive source to confirm that Colonel William Inglis of the 57th (West Middlsex) Regiment of Foot urged his men to "Die hard!" at the end of the battle. However, I recently came across a statement written (probably in July or August of 1811) by an unnamed staff officer that comes close to providing that confirmation, albeit with a surprise twist:
"The conduct of every corps was so distinguished that it is difficult to particularize that of any without doing injustice to others. Yet there were some circumstances attaching to that of the 57th Reg’t which seem to call for peculiar notice. Sir Wm. Beresford states “It was obvious that dead, particularly those of the 57th Reg’t, were lying as they had fought, in ranks, and every wound was in the front.” Other letters state that they stood alone against a heavy French column, forced it to halt and eventually to retire. An officer of the Reg’t, tho badly wounded, remained sitting on the ground at the head of his company, giving orders to his men to level low. Colonel Inglis, their commanding officer, a man rather advanced in years showed upon this occasion all the energy & activity of youth. His horse being killed under him, he went up & down the ranks encouraging the men, and when wounded in the neck by grape, he called out to the men to die game [emphasis in original]."
The Die Hards is certainly better nickname than the Die Games.
We only have to look at those famous ‘Bon mots” of Cambronne to realise that the truth often gets in the way of a good story. It isn’t until the age of the phonagraph and the advent of radio that we had recordings, but even then contemporaneous battlefield clips are rare. I wish you luck Guy, but suspect this is as close as you are ever likely to get.