While the siege of Badajoz was in progress, Marshal Soult assembled a numerous force, and advanced to the relief of that fortress, when Marshal Beresford moved forward to meet him, and took up a position at _Albuhera_, where he was joined by a Spanish division under General Blake. The THIRTY-FOURTH, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel William Fenwick, were in position, and were formed in brigade with the first battalion of the Twenty-eighth and the second battalion of the Thirty-ninth Regiments, under Lieutenant-Colonel the Honorable Alexander Abercromby. On the morning of the 16th of May, the enemy made a slight attack on the village of Albuhera, and on the bridge, to draw attention to that point; and soon afterwards powerful columns of infantry, supported by a numerous force of cavalry and artillery, assailed the heights on the right, from which the Spaniards were forced to retire. Lieutenant-Colonel Colborne’s brigade of the second division, under Lieutenant-General Stewart, rushed up the heights with great gallantry; but was nearly annihilated by a charge of the enemy’s Polish lancers and hussars on its rear. Major-General Hoghton reached the heights with the third brigade, under a heavy cannonade, and was soon engaged in a furious contest in which many officers and soldiers fell, and Major-General Hoghton was shot in the act of cheering his men: the battle raged with dreadful fury, and this brigade was nearly destroyed. At a critical moment the Fusiliers mounted the hill on the right of the remnant of the third brigade, at the same time the Twenty-eighth, THIRTY-FOURTH, and Thirty-ninth passed on its left; and this gallant line arrested the progress of the French columns, which were pressing forward in anticipation of victory. The heads of the enemy’s masses were broken by the steady fire of the British soldiers, who closed on their numerous adversaries, and sternly contended for victory. The THIRTY-FOURTH were severely engaged; many officers and soldiers fell, and Ensign Sarsfield, bearing the regimental colour, was shot; the colour was seized by another officer, and the battalion pressed forward upon its opponents, who, by a determined and continued attack, were driven from the heights, and the British soldiers stood victorious on the contested hill. Marshal Soult, finding that his French soldiers could not force the position, withdrew beyond the river, and the battle was thus won by the divisions of the allied army, under Marshal Sir William Carr Beresford, who stated in his public despatch,--“It is impossible to enumerate every instance of discipline and valour shown on this severely contested day; but never troops more valiantly or more gloriously maintained the honor of their respective countries.”