The British had been under arms for twenty-four hours, and fought the battle with Lapeña and his men acting the part of spectators, except for the Spanish Walloon Guard and the regiment of Ciudad Real, who joined in the fray "impelled by the instinct natural to brave men." Napier, in comparing the two leaders at Barrosa, states: "The contemptible weakness of Lapeña furnished a surprising contrast to the heroic vigour of Graham, whose attack was an inspiration rather than a resolution--so wise, so sudden was the decision, so swift, so conclusive was the execution." [Illustration: SPANISH CROSS FOR ALBUHERA.] [Illustration: SPANISH CROSS FOR CIUDAD RODRIGO.] [Illustration: SPANISH GOLD CROSS FOR VITTORIA.] =Fuentes d'Onor.=--On Sunday, May 5th, 1811, the battle of Fuentes d'Onor (Fountain of Honour) was fought. The British and Portuguese armies under Marshal Beresford had invested Almeida, upon which Marshal Masséna marched his army, and the British light division and cavalry retired as the French advanced upon the village, which gave its name to the battle, and together with the heights behind was occupied by the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd division. The French attack upon the village on May 3rd necessitated the aid of reinforcements, and the 71st (Highland Light Infantry), the 79th (Cameron Highlanders), and the 24th (South Wales Borderers) were dispatched, the first-named regiment charging the enemy and driving them out of that portion of the village which they had occupied. The contest raged until nightfall, and over 250 officers and men fell on each side in what was practically a hand-to-hand conflict. The 4th was spent quietly, but on the 5th Masséna decided to try the fortune of the day, which at the commencement seemed to smile in his favour, for Junot carried the village of Posa Velha, while the French cavalry not only drove in the cavalry of the allies, but the whole movement caused Wellington to make a daring change of position, during which an episode unique in the annals of warfare took place. In the retirement, two guns, under Captain Norman Ramsey, had been left behind, and the French and British also were astounded to see Ramsey charge through the French masses at the head of his battery, "his horses breathing fire and stretching like greyhounds along the plain, his guns bounding like things of no weight, and the mounted gunners in close and compact order protecting the rear." Shortly after the 2nd Battalion of the Black Watch again distinguished itself by repulsing a charge of French dragoons.