Military General Service with Albuhera to the 57th. (Diehards), served from 1789 and with the regiment during the Revolutionary War and taken prisoner of war 1795 and held until 1797/9. Disch to pension 1817 with 28 years service, from Wigan

Military General Service  Albuhera , Vittoria, Nivelle,

William Topping, 57th. Foot (Diehards),

Served from 1794 with the regiment during the Revolutionary War and taken prisoner of war 15 January, 1795. French records state as ‘ W.Toppin, held at Valanciennes and held until 1797/9 now shown as William Topin. Presumably released 1797 at the end

Disch to Pension June ,1817 aged 42 with total service of a remarkable 28 years stated as from Wigan, pension of 1sh 7 1/2p p.d.

Died 6 Dec. 1859, Lower Ince Cemetery , Wigan stated aged 83

Battle of Albuera, one of the bloodiest battles of the war, in May 1811.The commanding officer of the battalion, Colonel William Inglis, was struck down by a charge of canister shot which hit him in the neck and left breast. He refused to be carried to the rear for treatment, but lay in front of his men calling on them to hold their position and when the fight reached its fiercest cried, “Die hard the 57th, die hard!”. The casualties of the battalion were 422 out of the 570 men in the ranks and 20 out of the 30 officers. The Allied commander of the Anglo-Portuguese force General William Beresford wrote in his dispatch, “our dead, particularly the 57th Regiment, were lying as they fought in the ranks, every wound in front”.