In March, _Badajoz_ was invested for the third time, and Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s[41] corps again formed part of the covering army. He halted at Almendralejos, while Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord Lynedoch) took post at Zafra. Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill’s division then moved forward, and took post at Medellin. When the breaches at Badajoz were nearly practicable, Marshal Soult, having effected a junction with Generals Drouet and Daricau, advanced to relieve it. Viscount Wellington thereupon determined to fight him at Albuhera. Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Graham then fell back towards that place, and Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill having destroyed the bridge at Merida, marched from the Upper Guadiana to Talavera Real. Marshal Soult did not however advance in time, and _Badajoz_ was taken on the 6th of April. After the fall of Badajoz, when Viscount Wellington marched towards Beira, two divisions of British infantry, in one of which was the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST, remained with Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill in Estremadura, to cover Badajoz during the re-establishment of its works. Nothing occurred in the army until the 12th of May, when six thousand men, with twelve field-pieces, crossed the Guadiana at Merida, and joining the battering train and pontoons, formed the force destined to surprise the French at _Almaraz_. The THIRTY-FIRST remained in position on the Guadiana, while the expedition proceeded to attack the French works on the Bridge at _Almaraz_, on the Tagus, which were captured on the 19th of May. The bridge having been destroyed, and the communication between the several divisions of the French army rendered more difficult, the British troops returned to the south of the Guadiana. A great part of June was passed in operations against General Drouet, until he was reinforced on the 18th of that month with General Barrois’s division of infantry, and two divisions of cavalry. Hereupon Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill fell back gradually to Albuhera, and took up a position on the former field, awaiting an attack. The enemy did not advance, and on the 2nd of July, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill broke up from Albuhera, and moved upon General Drouet, who retired towards Cordova. At the end of July, Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill was at Llerena, and the second battalion of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in Brigadier-General Byng’s brigade, was detached to Merida. General Drouet made a demonstration, but no action of infantry ensued. After the victory gained by the army under Viscount Wellington on the 22nd of July at Salamanca, the troops under Lieut.-General Sir Rowland Hill penetrated the Spanish provinces: during the month of August they were engaged in the pursuit of General Drouet, and in the beginning of October they were on the Tagus, between Aranjuez and Toledo.