Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 26.djvu/419

 heartily acknowledged by the ‘Amicable Society’ of Galway, of which he had been elected chairman, and other residents in a complimentary address presented to him on his departure. He commanded a brigade in the Hanover expedition in December 1805, and with the part of his brigade which escaped shipwreck was quartered at Bremer Lee. When the tidings of Austerlitz caused the troops to be withdrawn from the continent Hill held brigade commands at Brabourne Lees and at Shorncliffe. In 1807 he was in command at Fermoy, where, as in his previous Irish command, much of his time was employed in training the brigaded light companies of the Irish militia in light manœuvres. In 1808 Hill commanded a brigade in the force sent to Portugal under Lieutenant-general Sir Arthur Wellesley, with which he fought at Roliça (Roleia) and Vimeiro. When Wellesley returned home Hill remained in Portugal. He commanded a brigade in the division under the Hon. John Hope, afterwards first Earl of Hopetoun [q. v.], during Moore's campaign in Spain. His brigade, reformed of battalions of the 1st royals, 5th, 14th, and 32nd regiments, was the last to embark at Corunna. The people of Plymouth presented Hill with an address in recognition of his active efforts on behalf of the sick and wounded of his own and other brigades landed there. A letter from Lord Castlereagh, dated 12 March 1809, sent him back to Portugal to put himself under the orders of Sir John Francis Cradock (afterwards Caradoc) [q. v.], and when Sir Arthur Wellesley returned and took over Cradock's command Hill commanded a brigade in the operations against Oporto, which drove Soult out of Portugal. When General Edward Paget was wounded Hill succeeded to the second division, and commanded it at the battle of Talavera, 27–8 July 1809, when he was himself wounded. The composition of Hill's division, with headquarters at Montijo, November 1809, is given in Wellington's ‘Supplementary Despatches,’ xiii. 374. In January 1810 Hill commanded a detached corps (including his own division), and was entrusted with the defence of the Portuguese frontier between the Guadiana and Tagus (, Well. Desp., iii. ???, 697). He co-operated with Lord Wellington in the campaign of that year, and rendered important service, although not actually engaged, at the battle of Busaco, 27 Sept. 1810. In December a severe attack of malarial fever sent him to Lisbon, and eventually to England. Wellington gave Hill's command to Beresford, and sent him to invest Badajoz, while he endeavoured to bar Marmont's progress towards Beira [see ]. After a few months at home Hill recovered his health, and resumed his command on 23 May 1811, just a week after Beresford's desperate fight at Albuhera, to the general rejoicing of the army. A letter from Beresford on the subject of Hill's separate command is given in Wellington's ‘Supplementary Despatches,’ vii. 547. When Wellington invested Ciudad Rodrigo, Hill was left in the Alemtejo with the second and fourth divisions and a brigade of cavalry, and received injunctions to fall on the French general Gerard, who had collected some troops at Merida. In Wellington's words, Hill ‘did the work handsomely’ (ib. v. 347–357). Learning that Gerard was at Arroyodos-Molinos, Hill, by forced marches in execrable weather, got within three miles of the French without their knowledge. At daybreak on 28 Oct. 1811 he formed up within two hundred yards of their sentries, surprised the troops on parade, took General Brun, the Prince d'Aremberg, and other officers of rank, and thirteen hundred other prisoners, three guns, all the camp equipage and stores, and put the rest of the force to rout. Ciudad Rodrigo fell in January 1812, and when Wellington turned his attention to Badajoz, Hill intended to attack the French works covering the bridge over the Tagus and Almaraz. The project was, however, postponed, and Hill, who had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general 1 Jan. 1812, remained with his corps in the neighbourhood of Badajoz, and in communication with the corps under Thomas Graham. At Lord Wellington's headquarters at Elvas, 10 March 1812, Hill was invested with the red ribbon of the Bath, which Wellington had asked for him two years before (Well. Suppl. Desp. vi. 183). After the fall of Badajoz, Hill, with 6,000 men, gallantly stormed the works of Almaraz on 19 May 1812. He was himself wounded. Fortuitous circumstances rendered the success less complete than was expected (, Hist. Peninsular War, bk. xvii. chap. i.;, v. 667–70, 678–80). When Wellington attacked Burgos, Hill, with thirty thousand of Wellington's best troops and ten thousand Spaniards, was on the line of the Tagus, in communication with Madrid (, vi. to p. 200). On Wellington's retreat from Burgos, Hill retired towards the frontier of Portugal, eventually going into quarters at Coria, where his division passed the winter of 1812–13. At the dissolution of parliament in 1812 the Hon. William Noel Hill, afterwards Lord Berwick [q. v.], decided to retire from the representation of Shrewsbury. Sir Rowland Hill's family procured his return for the borough at the general election which