Badajoz, 1812

The storming of Badajoz was an epic action which involved Wellington's infantry in some of the most savage hand-to-hand fighting of the whole Peninsular War (1812). At appalling cost in a nightmare assault during the night of the 6 April 1812, Wellington's soldiers hacked their way over the bodies of their dead and wounded and through the huge medieval walls of the town. These were held with great tenacity, skill and courage by a resolute French and German garrison. Having stormed the town the battle-crazed army went berserk and the horrors of the sacking which followed, as much as the sublime courage of the attackers, have passed into legend.