Taking of Cuidad Rodrigo, 19 January 1812

Coloured aquatint by J C Stadler after William Heath, published by Thomas Tegg, 1 April 1818. Illustration for a narrative poem by Dr Syntax, 1818.

Sir Arthur Wellesley's army took Ciudad Rodrigo, a fortified town, garrisoned by 2,000 Frenchmen, on the main road from Portugal to Salamanca, by storm on the night of 19-20 January 1812. The victory was marred by the British rank and file who ransacked the city, despite the best efforts of their officers to stop them.