The Die Hards At Albuera
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.
@jackfortune That’s why there is an acre or two separating a history of a regiment and a regimental history. It’s like expecting an ex-player to write an objective history of their club. I was always impressed how in 1982 despite having embedded reporters, the BBC continued to refer to “British Forces” never “ours”. Cambronne’s Bon Mots were manufactured by a journalist, and perpetuated in detail and in spirit. A cursory viewing of the PoW stats for the group of Guardsmen he was with shows that they surrendered in droves.