In the Battle of Villagarcia on 11 April 1812, British cavalry commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Stapleton Cotton routed a French cavalry force led by Général de Brigade Charles Lallemand at the village of Villagarcia in the Peninsular War. Cotton intended to trap the French cavalry, which was separated by a number of miles from the main body of the French army, by executing simultaneous frontal and flank attacks. The plan came close to disaster when the forces making the frontal assault pushed forward prematurely. The situation was saved by the timely arrival of John Le Marchant's force on the French left flank.
In the right foreground British heavy dragoons of Le Marchant's brigade are depicted charging during the Battle of Salamanca. They had done the same a few months earlier at Villagarcia.
Stapleton Cotton
A French Dragoon Officer.
Général de Brigade François Antoine 'Charles' Lallemand, the French commander at Villagarcia.
François Antoine Lallemand
François Antoine "Charles" Lallemand was a French general who served Napoleon I of France, tried to found a colony in what is now Texas, and finally returned to France to serve as governor of Corsica.
François Antoine Lallemand
