Battle of Majadahonda

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Battle of Majadahonda
Part of Peninsular War
Date August 11, 1812
Location Majadahonda, Spain
Result Drawn battle
Belligerents
Flag of France French Empire Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom,
Flag of Portugal Portugal
Commanders
Maj-Gen Treilliard Maj-Gen Bock
Brig-Gen D'Urban
Strength
2,000 2,300
Casualties and losses
200 casualties 176 killed, wounded and captured
v • d • e
Peninsular War

Castile, 1811–1812
1st Badajoz (Gebora) – 2nd Badajoz – Albuera – Usagre – Fuentes de Oñoro – Tarifa – Orbigo – Cuidad Rodrigo – 3rd Badajoz – Maguilla – Salamanca – Garcia Hernandez – Majadahonda – Burgos – Venta del Pozo

In the Battle of Majadahonda (Las Rozas) on August 11, 1812, an Allied cavalry force under Major-General George Bock and Brigadier-General Benjamin d'Urban fought a French cavalry division led by Major-General Anne François Treilliard to a draw. Majadahonda and Las Rozas are located 16 km and 17 km northwest of Madrid.

Contents

[edit] Battle

After General Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington's great victory at the Battle of Salamanca, the Anglo-Allied army moved on Madrid from the northwest. On August 11, the 1st, 11th and 12th Dragoons of D'Urban's Portuguese brigade formed Wellington's advanced guard. Behind them was Bock's brigade, consisting of the 1st and 2nd King's German Legion (KGL) Dragoons. Farther back in the column, Colonel Colin Halkett led the 1st and 2nd KGL Light Infantry battalions, plus 7 companies of the Brunswick Oels battalion.

D'Urban's troopers were surprised by Treilliard's division, which included the 13th, 18th, 19th and 22nd Dragoons, plus the Westphalian Mounted Chasseurs and the Italian Napoleone Dragoons. The Portuguese horsemen were routed and three cannons were lost. A frustrated D'Urban wrote of his troopers,

"At Salamanca they followed me into the enemy's ranks like British dragoons; yesterday they were so far from doing their duty that in the first charge they just went far enough to land me in the enemy's ranks. In the second, which (having got them rallied) I rashly attempted, I could not get them within 20 yards of the enemy -- they left me alone, and vanished before the French helmets like leaves before the autumn wind."[1]

Bock's heavy dragoons soon arrived and the Portuguese horsemen rallied behind them. With the help of the 1st KGL Light Infantry battalion, the combined Allied force drove back Treilliard's dragoons and recovered the lost cannons.

[edit] Result

All told, 2,300 Allied troops were engaged against about 2,000 Frenchmen. Treilliard lost about 200 casualties, compared to 176 Allied losses. Bock lost 14 killed, 40 wounded and 7 captured. D'Urban reported 33 killed, 52 wounded and 23 captured. The KGL infantry had 7 men wounded.[2] Treilliard's report of the battle led to King Joseph Bonaparte's hasty withdrawal from Madrid the next day. The next action was the Siege of Burgos.

[edit] References

  • Glover, Michael. The Peninsular War 1807-1814. London: Penguin, 2001. ISBN 0-141-39041-7
  • Oman, Charles. Wellington's Army, 1809-1814. London: Greenhill, (1913) 1993. ISBN 0-947898-41-7
  • Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Oman, p 235
  2. ^ Smith, p 385