The Battle of Majadhonda

 Another idea "lifted" from The LittleCorporal blog !

This encounter happened on 11th August 1812 when French forces lead by General de Division Anne-Francois Charles Trelliard pushed through Majadhonda only to find they were facing British & Allied Forces under D'Urban.

Trelliard had four regiments of Dragoons (13th, 18th, 19th & 22nd) at the van, followed by and Allied cavalry brigade lead by General de Brigade Guiseppi Frederico Palombibi comprising the Italiene Napoleone Dragoons & Westphalian Chevau-Leger. Behind them, a small infantry brigade under General de Brigade Chasse (2nd Nassau Infantry & the Spanish La Mancha infantry supported by 2 8 pounder guns.

D'Urban had 3 regiments of Portuguese dragoons up front with 2 6 pounder guns, followed by Colonel de Joncquires 1st & 2nd KGL Heavy Dragoons, in turn supported by Colonel Colin Halkett's 1st & 2nd KGL Light Infantry with 2 6 pounder guns.

Behind the village of Las Rozas, Ponsonby was arriving with 3 regiments of British Heavy Dragoons.

View from behind the French position - they have moved through Majadhonda and discover the Portuguese dragoons facing them

Trelliard decides to order a charge by the French dragoons

The Portuguese cavalry are ordered to counter charge

Forward !

Contact !

The French artillery open fire

and disorder one of the British RHA guns

The Portuguese cavalry break and are pursued in a sweeping advance by the foremost French regiment

Not a good start for D'Urban

But the KGL are made of sterner stuff and they are next

The French withdraw to reorganise

Portuguese cavalry flee through and around Las Rozas

El Murrio the local landlord is not impressed

Ponsonby gets his regiments to pick their way around the village and fields

The 1st KGL Light Infantry are pushed forward in line as the 2nd march between the village and the walled fields. British artillery has unlimbered behind the walls.

Prepare to fire !

The KGL heavy dragoons move forward

Chasse now pushes his infantry forward to the French right, in attack columns

Good shooting by the French sees a second British gun disordered

KGL infantry fire has caused a problem for the French dragoons

Now the French charge the KGL Dragoons

One KGL regiment is forced to retire but it has broken the French dragoons they fought. The other contest continues

Its the French forces fleeing past the houses this time !

Its like a domino effect on the French cavalry, one by one, the Dragoon regiments break

Chasse now has to extend his infantry line to try and cover the gaps left by the cavalry. The Nassau troops manage to keep the enemy at bay with their accurate fire

But now 2nd KGL Light infantry advance in column to support 1st regiment

Both of Chasse's battalions are in line now, despite the threat of enemy cavalry

Palombibi decides he needs to commit his cavalry now and they advance on the right towards Ponsonby's men

The KGL cavalry charge, forcing the Nassau troops into square

The Italian dragoons see the British heavy cavalry crossing the walls and fields

Charge !

Palombibi's men are thrown back disordered

2nd KGL Light infantry charge towards the Nassau square as the cavalry now charge the Spanish infantry

They form square too but these infantry battalions can no longer support each other

The British heavy cavalry now advance upon the Westphalian light cavalry

They are no match for the British heavy cavalry and lose the melee

Indeed, they break despite Palombibi's entreaties

All the French cavalry is now in flight, leaving just the two embattled infantry squares and the guns. Amazingly, the Nassau square has seen off the charge of the 2nd KGL Light infantry. They failed their morale test spectacularly and flee the field !

Chasse orders the infantry squares to back off towards Majadhonda as Trelliard watches the artillery in action

A lull in proceedings. Just the guns firing for now

But the remaining KGL heavy dragoons decide to charge the French guns - is this wise ?

The French fire canister but only get one casualty so the cavalry get through

The French gunners have been cut down and the battery destroyed

All Trelliard can do now is to pull back his surviving infantry through Majadhonda and retreat in square as best he can.

A definite British victory !