All hopes of being permitted to remain in the Peninsula having vanished, I resolved to return to England. With heavy heart I parted from the regiment in which I first drew my sword, in which my earliest friendships were formed and my mind modelled as a soldier. In Colonel Abercrombie’s quarters at Merida many of the officers were assembled. Sorrowful, I bade adieu to my gallant old comrades, and quaffed a goblet to their future success whilst I clasped the colours to my breast--those colours which alone throughout the British army proudly display the names of the two bloodiest fought battles in the Peninsula, Barossa and Albuera; and in each of these battles the regiment claimed a double share of the glory. At Barossa, while Colonel Belson at the head of the 1st Battalion charged and turned the chosen grenadiers forming the right of the enemy’s line, Colonel Browne of the regiment, at the head of their flank companies, united with those of two other corps, commanded the independent flank battalion; and this battalion, the first in the battle and alone, suffered more casualties both in officers and men (I allude particularly to the flankers of the 28th Regiment) than triple that sustained by any other battalion present in that memorable fight. At Albuera the 2nd Battalion of the regiment were led by a gallant officer, Colonel Patterson; and the brigade in which they served, that which with the brigade of the gallant Fusiliers turned the wavering fortunes of the day, were commanded by the gallant Abercrombie, the second lieutenant-colonel of the regiment. [Sidenote: FAREWELL TO THE SLASHERS.] Next morning at parting the light bobs gave me a cheer. I distinguished among them some few of the old ventriloquists of Galicia; but on this occasion their notes were, I believe, genuine. I bade a mournful farewell to the old Slashers, and bent my steps towards Badajoz, then about to be besieged. The next evening (March 15th) I came before the place; and very opportunely Lieutenant Huddleston of the 28th Regiment, my brother officer in the battalion company which I commanded for a short time, arrived on the same day, being appointed to serve in the Engineer department. He willingly shared his tent with me; and Sir Frederick Slavin, also of the 28th Regiment, then adjutant-general of the 3rd Division, introduced me to General Picton, who did me the honour of saying that I should always find a cover at his table during my stay before Badajoz. General Bowes, with whom I had the pleasure of being acquainted at Gibraltar, gave me a similar invitation. Thus, finding myself comparatively at home, I felt in no way inclined to proceed too quickly to Lisbon.