The Spanish Government having been pleased to allow a limited number of natives of Spain to serve His Majesty in the British regiments composing this army, I have to request that you will authorize the regiments named in the margin to enlist and bear on their strength 100 Spanish volunteers, on the following conditions:
First; the men must not be under five feet six inches high, strongly made, and not under nineteen years of age, nor older than twenty seven.
Secondly; they are to be attested according to the following form by the commanding officer of the regiment to serve during the present war; but in case the regiment into which they shall enlist should be ordered from the Peninsula the Spanish volunteers are to be discharged, and each of them is to receive one month's full pay to carry him to his home.
Form of Attestion:
I, A.B. do make oath that I will serve His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, in the --- battalion of the --- regiment of foot, during the existing war in the Peninsula, if His Majesty should so long require my services, and provided that the --- battalion of the --- regiment shall continue in the Peninsula during that period.
Thirdly; they are to be allowed to attend Divine service according to the tenets of the Roman Catholic religion, in the same manner as British soldiers, His Majesty's subjects are.
Fourthly, they are to be fed, and clothed, and paid in the same manner as the other soldiers; and they are to be posted to companies indiscriminately, as any other recruits would be.
Fifthly; they are to receive pay from the date of their attestation, but no bounty. The captain of the company to which any of these volunteers shall be posted, will be allowed eight dollars for each to supply him with necessaries, from which must be purchased a knapsack, two pair of shoes, and two shirts. The officer commanding the company must be accountable to the volunteer for the residue of the sum after purchasing these articles in the same manner, as for his pay. The shoes may be received at the usual rate from the commissariat.
In communicating this arrangement to the several regiments, I request you to point out to the commanding officers of regiments how desirable it is that these volunteers should be treated with the utmost kindness and indulgence, and brought by degrees to the system of discipline of the army.