The same month the battalion was employed in the first siege of Badajoz, and had 6 rank and file wounded in the trenches. The siege being raised, the regiment assisted in the blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo, and on the 25th September, when Marshal Marmont advanced to the relief of that fortress, the 83rd, with Colville’s brigade, then composed of the 5th (2nd Battalion), 77th, 83rd, and 94th Regiments, greatly distinguished itself. On that occasion immense bodies of French cavalry, supported by artillery and infantry, attacked the 5th and 77th Regiments in their position on a hill, covering the road to Guinaldo; but these two gallant regiments nobly sustained their assault, and repeatedly repulsed the enemy. Their flank, however, being threatened, Lord Wellington gave the order to retire, when, being joined by the remaining regiments of the brigade, the whole, driving back the French horsemen whenever they approached them, fell back steadily, until they reached Guinaldo, where they were halted, and joined the day after by the right brigade, which, stationed at Pastores, had been cut off by the movement. In this gallant affair the 83rd had 1 sergeant and 5 rank and file killed, and 3 sergeants and 16 rank and file wounded. CIUDAD RODRIGO [Sidenote: 1812.] In the month of January, 1812, the regiment was employed in the siege and capture of Ciudad Rodrigo; and on the 19th of that month, when that fortress was taken by storm, the Light Company of the 83rd, under the Hon. Captain Powys, led the right attack, and escaladed the outwork in front of the castle. The remainder of the battalion lined the trenches and covered the advance of the storming parties of the 3rd Division in their assault on the great breach. The loss of the regiment in the siege amounted to 4 men killed, and 2 lieutenants (Vereker and Matthews) and 12 men wounded; and the word “Ciudad Rodrigo” has been inscribed by the royal authority on its colours and appointments for its services on this occasion.[4] BADAJOZ [Sidenote: 1812.] At Badajoz, in April, the same year, the regiments of the 3rd Division were again called upon to display the burning, irresistible courage of British soldiers, and the capture of that fortress by storm on the 6th April was mainly attributed to the impetuous valour with which they escaladed and took the castle. On this, as on former occasions, the 83rd highly distinguished itself, and its services on the 25th March were most conspicuous.