It afterwards proceeded to the Peninsula, where it arrived in time to learn that the Convention of Cintra had delivered Portugal for the present from the thraldom of Marshal Junot, the Emperor’s Lieutenant. Placed in the division of Lieut.-General Sir John Hope, the Gordon Highlanders advanced therewith into Spain, where a junction was formed with the army of Sir John Moore. It endured with firmness all the hardships of a disastrous yet successful retreat, crowning its perseverance by its gallantry at the battle of Corunna, where it was called to regret the loss of a gallant officer, Lieut.-Colonel Napier, and, further, to mourn over the fall of the hero of the campaign, Lieut.-General Sir John Moore, who terminated a life of honour and a career of glory on that memorable battle-field. This victory secured the unmolested embarkation of the army, which accordingly sailed for England. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XLII. “And, oh! loved warriors of the minstrel’s land! Yonder your bonnets nod, your tartans wave! The rugged form may mark the mountain band, And harsher features, and a mien more grave. But ne’er in battle throbbed a heart so brave, As that which beats beneath the Scottish plaid; And when the pibroch bids the battle rave, And level for the charge your arms are laid, Where lives the desperate foe that for such onset staid?” WALCHEREN—PENINSULA—WATERLOO—1809–1862. In 1809 the Ninety-second was engaged under the Earl of Chatham in the unfortunate expedition to Walcheren, wherein a splendid army in a few weeks was discomfited by the poisoned breath of the pestilence. Of 1000 men comprised in the Gordon Highlanders, only 300 returned effective to England. In 1810 the regiment embarked for the Peninsula, and joined the army of Viscount Wellington in the lines of Torres Vedras. Brigaded with the Fiftieth and Seventy-first regiments, under Major-General Howard, it advanced with the army in pursuit of the French under Marshal Messena, shared the glories of “Fuentes d’Onor,” accomplishing the fall of Almeida.