Skirmish at Majadahonda

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Skirmish at Majadahonda
Part of: coalition wars
Skirmish at Majadahonda, second phase
Skirmish at Majadahonda, second phase
date August 11, 1812
place Majadahonda
output French victory
Parties to the conflict

France 1804First empire France

United Kingdom 1801United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom Portugal
Portugal 1707Portugal 

Commander

Anne-François-Charles Trelliard

Benjamin D'Urban
Charles de Jonquières

Troop strength
1,416 1,975
losses

100 to 120 dead and wounded

53 killed, 98 wounded, 45 prisoners - 3 lost cannons

The battle at Majadahonda took place on August 11, 1812 in the village of Majadahonda near Madrid . It was part of the Napoleonic Wars in the Iberian Peninsula . A French cavalry division and the advance guard of the British-Portuguese Army under the command of Brigadier-General Benjamin D'Urban faced each other.

Sir Benjamin D'Urban (1777–1849), Commander of the Vanguard of the British-Portuguese Army and the Portuguese Cavalry Brigade.

The battle

On the morning of August 11th, the towns of Majadahonda and Las Rozas were occupied by British-Portuguese cavalry under the command of General D'Urban. It was the vanguard of the Duke of Wellington's army .

The Dragoons Division of General de division Trelliard attacked first with the brigades Go ye and Rozat the standing before Majadahonda Brigade D'Urban with the 1st, 11th and 12th Portuguese regiment of dragoons and a Détachement of KGL - Dragoons and put them to flight. These three cannons left the McDonald battery of the Royal Horse Cavalry behind.

The Portuguese withdrew to Las Rozas and were pursued by the French cavalry.

The British "Brigade Jonquières" with the 1st and 2nd Dragoon Regiments of the Kings German Legion and two companies of light infantry then formed a line of defense in front of Las Rozas, the Portuguese Dragoon regiments (Brigade D'Urban) were already in one to the right of Las Rozas Weaning movement without intervening in the action. The French cavalry was initially held up until the deployed French reserves (Brigade Schiazetti) decided the fight in their favor. The "Brigade Jonquières" was blown up and settled west past Majadahonda to the north, to then gather north of the Arroyo de Zejar and be picked up by the advancing British 7th Infantry Division.

backgrounds

Marie Antoine de Reise (1775–1836), Colonel of the 13th e régiment de dragons

After the defeat of Maréchal Marmont in the Battle of Arpiles on July 22, 1812, the troops marched from Wellington to Madrid. The then Spanish King Joseph Bonaparte was initially undecided about how to proceed, but then decided to retreat towards the Sierra Morena . His army, set up in front of the capital, withdrew before the appearance of the British and Lord Wellington was able to occupy the city on August 12th.

On the night of August 10-11, Colonel Reise's Dragoons Brigade, as part of the Trelliard Cavalry Division, had passed Las Rozas. On August 11th, Trelliard received word of the arrival of the Wellington advance guard.

On the morning of August 11th, the "Brigade D'Urban" appeared in Las Rozas and positioned three artillery pieces south of the town against the French there, who then initially withdrew. Majadahonda was occupied by Portuguese cavalry around 10:00.

The French army had meanwhile arrived in Boadilla , where Joseph Bonaparte had also arrived. This ordered Général Trelliard a reconnaissance to determine the strength of the British and to attack the vanguard.

Applied forces

French troops

  • Dragonerdivision Général de division Anne-François-Charles Trelliard - 11 escadrons and a cavalry company
  • 1st Brigade: Colonel Marie Antoine de Reise - five escadrons, 600 riders
13 e régiment de dragons , Colonel Marie Antoine de Reise - three escadrons, 350 riders
18 e régiment de dragons - two escadrons, 250 riders
  • 2nd Brigade: Colonel Nicolas Rozat de Mandres - four escadrons, 550 riders
19 e régiment de dragons - 1 escadron, 100 riders
22 e régiment de dragons , Colonel Rozat de Mandres - three escadrons, 450 riders
  • 3rd Brigade: Colonel Fortunate Schiazzetti - two escadrons plus one company , 266 horsemen
Régiment de dragons italiens Napoleone , Colonel Fortunate Schiazzetti - two escadrons, 200 riders
Chevau-légers du Grand-duché de Berg , Capitaine de Latour - one company, 66 riders
  • altogether 1416 riders

British-Portuguese troops

The vanguard of Lord Wellington's army was commanded by Brigadier-General Benjamin D'Urban. It consisted of two cavalry brigades with a total of five dragoon regiments, a battalion of light infantry and an artillery battery with six guns. For a time, Major General Bock, commander of the German troops, was at the head of the British cavalry, but was then replaced by Colonel de Jonquières.

  • Brigade D'Urban - 7 escadrons, 760 men
    • 1st Alcantara Dragoon Regiment , Lieutenant Colonel Barbacena - 2 escadrons, 220 horsemen
    • 11th Almeida Dragoon Regiment , Lieutenant Colonel Bernardius - 2 escadrons, 220 horsemen
    • 12th Miranda Dragoon Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Tuxeira Lobo - 3 escadrons, 320 horsemen
  • Brigade de Jonquières - 4 escadrons, 655 men
    • 1st Heavy Dragoons King's German Legion (KGL), Colonel Charles de Jonquières - 2 escadrons, 300 riders
    • 2nd Heavy Dragoons King's German Legion - 2 escadrons, 355 riders
  • Infantry assigned to a battalion:
    • 1st Light Battalion King's German Legion - 560 infantrymen
  • A dedicated artillery battery to the Royal Horse Artillery (Captain Macdonald) with a division under Captain Dyneley - 6 guns
  • together 1975 men

Course of the battle

First phase

Plan of the battle at Majadahonda, first and second phases.

In the late afternoon the Trelliard division appeared on the road to Boadilla and developed off Majadahonda. D'Urban, taken by surprise, hastily set up his escadrons to support an artillery battery with four guns, covered by the Portuguese, and a division of the heavy dragoons of the KGL - the latter commanded by Lieutenant Kuhl.

The threat from the French cavalry led D'Urban to order his dragoons to attack. But these turned to flee and left their officers behind. D'Urban escaped, but the lieutenant colonels Barbacena and Tuxeira were captured. The Italian "Napoléon Dragoons" attacked the battery, dispersed the dragoons and captured three pieces of artillery. The Captain Dyneley as the battery commander was captured by an Italian officer. Encouraged by this success, the Trelliard division pursued their opponents as far as Las Rozas.

Second phase

Heavy dragoons of the King's German Legion. Richard Knötel from: Uniform Studies .

In the meantime the soldiers of the King's German Legion had set up their bivouac in Las Rozas.

Colonel de Jonquières received reports from Lieutenant Kuhl several times that French cavalry had attacked Majadahonda. Jonquières, however, did not believe in an attack on his brigade in Las Rozas and did not take any precautionary measures. For this reason the German dragoon brigade was completely surprised - the majority of the soldiers were still in their waistcoats, the horses without saddles and bridles.

The French advance could be slowed down but not stopped by gunfire from the KGL's “1st Light Battalion”. The infantry were pushed back into the village, as were the few horsemen who had rushed to support. The French were even able to advance to the baggage hold of the KGL, but were then stopped by the increasing resistance of the light infantry and swiveled to the left out of the town to regroup.

When the attack subsided, the "Brigade Jonquières" positioned itself at the entrance to the village, relying on the supposed reinforcement from the Portuguese cavalry gathering east of the village.

Spurred on by a boastful shout from the Colonel de Jonquières:

"Come on, gentlemen French - don't be afraid!"

attacked the dragoons of Colonel Reise again, whereupon the Portuguese cavalry immediately fled. Weakened by the previous fighting, the Reise brigade was pulled out and the Rozat brigade and the Italian dragoons of Colonel Schiazetti were used. The French pushed the heavy dragoons of the KGL back bit by bit. Trelliard now used his reserve, which attacked massively:

"We were so closely formed that you could hardly use your weapons"

such a Sous-lieutenant of the "22 e régiment de dragons".

The English were beaten and the brigade commander, Colonel de Jonquières, was taken prisoner. The English withdrew to Las Rozas, where the light infantry battalion was entrenched.

Meanwhile informed about the approach of the British main power (7th Infantry Division), Trelliard broke off the engagement and left the battlefield unmolested.

"[...] taking the time to burn the mounts of the British cannons [...]"

losses

In this battle the French lost between 100 and 120 men - including one officer who was killed and 15 wounded. The "13 e régiment de dragons" reported the chief d'escadron Maurouard as killed and six officers, including Colonel Reise, wounded.

The Rozat Brigade had six casualties and 28 wounded, and Colonel Schiazzetti reported 10 saps in his Italian dragoon regiment, including Lieutenant Araldi, who was wounded.

The British-Portuguese units lost 53 dead and 98 wounded, plus 45 men became prisoners of war .

  • The D'Urban Brigade alone had lost 108 men, including 23 prisoners of war including Lieutenant Colonel Tuxeira Lobo.
  • The artillery battery of the "Royal Horse Artillery" lost three cannons, 12 artillerymen were dead or wounded, 15 men were captured - including Captain Dyneley.
  • The heavy dragoon brigade of the "King's German Legion" had to record 14 dead, 40 wounded and seven prisoners.
  • There is no information about the casualties of the KGL's “1st Light Battalion”, but it appears that there were only seven wounded.

Effects

French dragoons of the 19th regiment in Spain in 1811. Drawing by Ernest Fort 1913.

The valiant conduct of the two heavy dragoon regiments was recognized by Lord Wellesley, and he granted them a special honor to enter Madrid the next day at the head of the troops.

The behavior of the Portuguese regiments, which some time earlier had distinguished themselves in the Battle of Arapiles, was severely criticized for this.

General D'Urban, as their commander, wrote the next morning:

“In Salamanca they followed me into enemy lines as the British Dragoons did; yesterday they did their duty so badly that during the first attack they went so far as to leave me in the midst of the enemy ranks. After I picked them up again, despite my best efforts, I couldn't get them to follow me further than 20 meters. They left me alone and disappeared from the French helmets like the leaves in the autumn wind. "

The Portuguese cavalry had thus forfeited the reputation it had acquired the month before in the battle of Arapiles . General Beresford , Commander in Chief of the Portuguese Armed Forces, demanded that Wellington severely punish the guilty party, but Wellington did not pursue this any further.

"[...] because he needed the Portuguese cavalry, even if it was bad."

The British Commander-in-Chief was dissatisfied with this consideration; it was the only three cannons he lost in his entire military career, which attracted him to comment on the fight:

"Damn thing!"

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sarramon, 1978, p. 299.
  2. ↑ Mané, 2010, p. 1.
  3. ↑ Sarramon, 1978, p 300th
  4. ↑ Mané, 2010, pp. 1, 3.
  5. ↑ Beamish, 1837, pp. 91, 92.
  6. ↑ Mané, 2010, p. 5.
  7. ↑ Mané, 2010, pp. 6, 7.
  8. ^ Smith, 1998, p. 385.
  9. ↑ Oman, 1993, p. 235.

literature

  • Diégo Mané: Le combat de Majadahonda, le 11 août 1812. Planète Napoléon, 2010 (PDF; 1.26 MB).
  • Jean Sarramon: La bataille des Arapiles (22 juillet 1812). Contribution à l'histoire de la guerre d'indépendance de la Péninsule ibérique contre Napoléon Ier (= Publications de l'Université de Toulouse Le Mirail. Volume 38, 1978). Ed .: Association des publications de l'Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail ( limited preview in Google book search).
  • North Ludlow Beamish : History of the King's German Legion. Thomas & William Boone, London 1837 (volume 1: full text in the Google book search, volume 2: full text in the Google book search).
  • Digby Smith : The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London Greenhill 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .
  • Charles Oman : Wellington's Army, 1809-1814. Greenhill, London 1993, ISBN 0-947898-41-7 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).