On the 13th of April, the enemy cleared the pass of Biar, and the battle of _Castalla_ was fought, when the French were repulsed and driven back through the pass: the TENTH did not sustain any loss on this occasion; on the day after the battle they marched to Alcoy, and, on the 19th of April, to Castalla. About this period, the grenadier companies of the first and second battalions returned to Sicily. The siege of _Tarragona_, a seaport of Catalonia, situate on a hill near the mouth of the river Francoli, having been resolved upon, the TENTH left Castalla on the 29th of May, embarked at Alicant on the 31st, and landed on the 3rd of June in the vicinity of Tarragona. Marshal Suchet advancing with an army of superior numbers, the siege was raised, and the troops were re-embarked, on the 8th of June, on which day the regiment had a man killed by a cannon-ball. On the following day the regiment landed at Balaguer, and remained a short time in Catalonia; it afterwards sailed for Alicant. During the voyage a violent tempest drove fourteen sail of transports on the sands off the mouth of the Ebro, and the "Alfred" transport, having two companies of the TENTH on board, was wrecked. After landing at Alicant, the regiment went into cantonments at Palermo. Lieutenant-General Lord William Bentinck assumed the command of the army in the east of Spain, in succession to Lieutenant-General Sir John Murray, on the 18th June, 1813. The following General Order was issued by His Lordship, dated _Alicant, 25th June, 1813_:-- "The Commander of the Forces sees with the utmost gratification the military spirit, and the determination to conquer, which pervades the whole army. We are engaged in a glorious cause,--the cause of universal liberty! It is the cause of us all; of those who are free, and those who are not. To-day the contest is fought in Spain and Germany, to-morrow it will be in Italy. Brave Italians, once so great, once masters of the world, but now, though brave and enlightened as ever, the unwilling slaves of a French tyrant, it is for the interest of the whole, that the efforts should be made where the enemy is the weakest. Success in Spain is success in Germany, in England, and in Italy! We form a great brotherhood; we must emulate each other in affection, union, and courage, and Providence, in whose hands is victory, will bless our cause!" Lieutenant-General Lord William Bentinck continued in command of this division of the army until the 23rd September, 1813, when his Lordship issued the following General Order, dated _Tarragona, 23rd September, 1813_:-- "The Commander of the Forces deeply laments that he is compelled to leave the army. It is a pleasing part of his duty to express his perfect satisfaction with the subordination and perseverance displayed by the troops upon all occasions.