On the night of the 17th of September the following incident relating to the battalion occurred in an attack of the enemy, the account of which is extracted from the “History of the Siege of Gibraltar,” by Colonel John Drinkwater, of the late Seventy-second Regiment, or Royal Manchester Volunteers:-- “A shell during the above attack fell in an embrasure opposite the King’s lines bomb-proof, killed one of the SEVENTY-THIRD, and wounded another of the same corps. The case of the latter was singular, and will serve to enforce the maxim, that, even in the most dangerous cases, we should never despair of a recovery whilst life remains. This unfortunate man was knocked down by the wind of the shell, which, instantly bursting, killed his companion, and mangled him in a most dreadful manner. His head was terribly fractured, his left arm broken in two places, one of his legs shattered, the skin and muscles torn off part of his right hand, the middle finger broken to pieces, and his whole body most severely bruised, and marked with gunpowder. He presented so horrid an object to the surgeons, that they had not the smallest hopes of saving his life, and were at a loss what part to attend to first. He was that evening trepanned, a few days afterwards his leg was amputated, and other wounds and fractures dressed. Being possessed of a most excellent constitution, nature performed wonders in his favour, and in eleven weeks the cure was completely effected. His name is Donald Ross, and he long continued to enjoy his sovereign’s bounty in a pension of ninepence a day for life.” On the 4th of November, Lieutenant John Fraser, of the second battalion, had his leg shot off on Montague’s Bastion, and two of the soldiers of the battalion were likewise wounded by the enemy’s fire. General Eliott, afterwards Lord Heathfield, which title was conferred for the services performed by him when Governor of Gibraltar, in order to free himself from the contiguity of the besiegers, resolved to make a _sortie_. The favourable opportunity presented itself; and, on the evening of the 26th of November, the following garrison order was issued:--