Battle of Majadahonda

Battle of Majadahonda

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Majadahonda


caption=
partof=Peninsular War
date=August 11, 1812
place=Majadahonda, Spain
result=Drawn battle
combatant1=flagicon|France French Empire
combatant2=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom,
flagicon|Portugal|1707 Portugal
commander1=Maj-Gen Treilliard
commander2=Maj-Gen Bock
Brig-Gen D'Urban
strength1=2,000
strength2=2,300
casualties1=200 casualties
casualties2=176 killed, wounded and captured
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.

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." [Oman, p 235]

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. [Smith, p 385] 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.

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 Majalahonda 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."

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

Footnotes


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