In the
Battle of Majadahonda on August 11, 1812, an Allied cavalry force under Major-General George Bock and Brigadier-General
Benjamin d'UrbanLieutenant-General Sir Benjamin d'Urban, GCB, KCH, KCTS was a British general and colonial administrator, who is best known for his frontier policy when he was the Governor in the Cape Colony .-Early career:...
fought a French cavalry division led by Major-General Anne François Treilliard to a draw.
MajadahondaMajadahonda is a municipality in Spain, situated 16 km northwest of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. It lies at 743 m of altitude, and has a population of 63.427 inhabitants and an area of 39 km²....
and Las Rozas are located 16 km and 17 km northwest of Madrid.
Battle
After General
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
's great victory at the
Battle of SalamancaThe Battle of Salamanca saw an Anglo-Hispano-Portuguese army under the Duke of Wellington defeat Marshal Auguste Marmont's French forces among the hills around Arapiles south of Salamanca, Spain on July 22 1812 during the Peninsular War....
, 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 HalkettSir Colin Halkett GCB GCH GCTE was a British army officer.-Family:Halkett came from a military family. His father was Major General F. G...
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."
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.
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. Treilliard's report of the battle led to King
Joseph Bonapartealign=right|Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte, King of Naples and Sicily, King of Spain and the Indies, Comte de Survilliers was the elder brother of Napoleon I of France, who made him King of Naples and Sicily and later King of Spain as Joseph I of Spain...
's hasty withdrawal from Madrid the next day. The next action was the
Siege of BurgosAt the Siege of Burgos, September 19 to October 21, 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese army led by General Marquess of Wellington failed to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of Brigadier General Jean Louis Dubreton.-Background:...
.
The British advance guard was severely mauled at Majalahonda. In less than an hour, they lost 200 men killed and wounded, 3 guns captured, while one of their two brigade commanders (Colonel de Jonquiéres), and two of their five regimental commanders (Visconde de Barbaçena and Colonel Lobo) were made prisoners. The French abandoned the 3 guns after burning the carriages. French casualties were probably half that, with one officer killed and 15 wounded, including Colonel Reiset.
The KGL Dragoons covered themselves with glory, while the Portuguese dishonored themselves in the eyes of the army. Their performance at Majadahonda erased the laurels they had won at Salamanca. Marshal Beresford, the commander of the Portuguese Army, thought the Portuguese dragoons should be punished and proposed the following to Wellington: "I have ordered that they should not again mount a horse or wear a sword till they may, by coming near the enemy, have an opportunity of redeeming their credit... till then, hanging their swords on their saddles, they lead their horses, marching themselves. The Portuguese have a good deal of feeling and pride, and it is the only way to work on them..."
Wellington, however, thought differently: "As for sending the cavalry to the rear that is impossible at the present. We have still a good deal upon our hands, and we are worse provided with cavalry than our neighbours; and a body commanded by such a man as D'Urban, even though they will not fight, are better than none. In fact, they behaved infamously, and they must not be employed again alone, or with our cavalry, who gallop too fast for them."