Battle of Villagarcia
Videos
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.
14th King's Hussars
Videos
The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 1922.
A 1750 painting of a private of the 14th Dragoons by David Morier
Captain Peter Hawker of the 14th Light Dragoons, James Northcote c. 1812.
The 14th Light Dragoons fighting against French hussars in the Peninsular War