Battle of Talavera

The British victory south of Madrid on 28^th July 1809 over Joseph Bonaparte, the King imposed on Spain by Napoleon, and his French army

The previous battle of the Peninsular War is the Battle of the Passage of the Douro

The next battle of the Peninsular War is the Battle of Busaco

To the Peninsular War index

Battle: Talavera

War: Peninsular War

Date of the Battle of Talavera: 28^th July 1809

Place of the Battle of Talavera: south-west of Madrid in New Castile, on the road from the Portuguese border to the Spanish Capital.

Combatants at the Battle of Talavera: British, Germans and Spanish against the French.

Generals at the Battle of Talavera: Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley against King Joseph Bonaparte.

Size of the armies at the Battle of Talavera: 20,000 British and Germans with 30,000 Spanish against 46,000 French.

Uniforms, arms, equipment at the Battle of Talavera:
The British infantry wore red waist-length jackets, grey trousers, and stovepipe shakos. Fusilier regiments wore bearskin caps. The two rifle regiments wore dark green jackets and trousers.

The Royal Artillery wore blue tunics.

Highland regiments wore the kilt with red tunics and black ostrich feather caps.

British heavy cavalry (dragoon guards and dragoons) wore red jackets and ‘Roman’ style helmets with horse hair plumes.

The British light cavalry was increasingly adopting hussar uniforms, with some regiments changing their titles from ‘light dragoons’ to ‘hussars’.

The King’s German Legion (KGL) was the Hanoverian army in exile.  The KGL owed its allegiance to King George III of Great Britain, as the Elector of Hanover, and fought with the British army.  The KGL comprised both cavalry and infantry regiments.  KGL uniforms mirrored the British.

The French army wore a variety of uniforms. The basic infantry coat colour was dark blue.

The French cavalry comprised Cuirassiers, wearing heavy burnished metal breastplates and crested helmets, Dragoons, largely in green, Hussars, in the conventional uniform worn by this arm across Europe, and Chasseurs à Cheval, dressed as hussars.

The French foot artillery wore uniforms similar to the infantry, the horse artillery wore hussar uniforms.

The standard infantry weapon across all the armies was the muzzle-loading musket. The musket could be fired at three or four times a minute, throwing a heavy ball inaccurately for a hundred metres or so. Each infantryman carried a bayonet for hand-to-hand fighting, which fitted the muzzle end of his musket.

The British rifle battalions (60^th and 95^th Rifles) carried the Baker rifle, a more accurate weapon but slower to fire, and a sword bayonet.

Field guns fired a ball projectile, of limited use against troops in the field unless those troops were closely formed. Guns also fired case shot or canister which fragmented and was highly effective against troops in the field over a short range. Exploding shells fired by howitzers, yet in their infancy. were of particular use against buildings. The British were developing shrapnel (named after the British officer who invented it) which increased the effectiveness of exploding shells against troops in the field, by showering them with metal fragments.

Throughout the Peninsular War and the Waterloo campaign, the British army was plagued by a shortage of artillery. The Army was sustained by volunteer recruitment and the Royal Artillery was never able to recruit sufficient gunners for its needs.

Napoleon exploited the advances in gunnery techniques of the last years of the French Ancien Régime to create his powerful and highly mobile artillery. Many of his battles were won using a combination of the manoeuvrability and fire power of the French guns with the speed of the French columns of infantry, supported by the mass of French cavalry.

While the French conscript infantry moved about the battle field in fast moving columns, the British trained to fight in line. The Duke of Wellington reduced the number of ranks to two, to extend the line of the British infantry and to exploit fully the firepower of his regiments.

British order of battle at the Battle of Talavera:
Commander in chief: Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Wellesley

Cavalry:

commanded by Lieutenant General William Payne
1^st Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Henry Fane
3^rd Dragoon Guards
4^th Dragoons

2^nd Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Stapleton Cotton
14^th Light Dragoons
16^th Light Dragoons

3^rd Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General George Anson
23^rd Light Dragoons
1^st Hussars, King’s German Legion

Infantry:
1^st Division: commanded by Lieutenant General John Sherbrooke
1^st Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Henry Campbell
1^st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
1^st/3^rd Guards
1 company 5^th/60^th Foot

2^nd Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Alan Cameron
1^st/61^st Foot
2^nd/83^rd Foot
1 company 5^th/60^th Foot

3^rd Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Ernst, Baron Langwerth
1^st Line Battalion, King’s German Legion
2^nd Line Battalion, King’s German Legion
1^st Light Battalion, King’s German Legion
2^nd Light Battalion, King’s German Legion

4^th Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Sigismund, Baron Löw
5^th Line Battalion, King’s German Legion
7^th Line Battalion, King’s German Legion

2^nd Division: commanded by Major General Rowland Hill

1^st Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Christopher Tilson
1^st/3^rd Buffs
2^nd/48^th Foot
2^nd/66^th Foot
1 company 5^th/60^th Foot

2^nd Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Richard Stewart

29^th Foot
1^st/48^th Foot
1^st Battalion Detachments

3^rd Division: commanded by Major General Alexander Mackenzie
1^st Brigade: commanded by Major General Alexander Mackenzie
2^nd/24^th Foot
2^nd/31^st Foot
1^st/45^th Foot

2^nd Brigade: commanded by Colonel Donkin
2^nd/87^th Foot
1^st/88^th Foot
5^th/60^th Foot

4^th Division: commanded by Brigadier General Alexander Campbell
1^st Brigade: commanded by Brigadier General Alexander Campbell
2^nd/7^th Fusiliers
2^nd/53^rd Foot
1 company 5^th/60^th Foot

2^nd Brigade: commanded by Colonel James Kemmis
1^st/40^th Foot
97^th Foot
2^nd Battalion Detachments
1 company 5^th/60^th Foot

Artillery:
Lawson’s, Sillery’s and Elliot’s batteries
Rettberg’s and Heise’s batteries

French order of battle at the Battle of Talavera:
Commander in Chief: Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain
Chief of Staff: Marshal Jourdan

I Corps: commanded by Marshal Victor
1^st Division commanded by General Ruffin
2^nd Division commanded by General Lapisse
3^rd Division commanded by General Villatte

IV Corps: commanded by General Sebastiani
1^st Division commanded by General Sebastiani
2^nd Division commanded by General Valence
3^rd Division commanded by General Leval

Cavalry Brigade commanded by General Merlin

Madrid Division commanded by General Dessolles

Reserve of cavalry: 
1^st Dragoon Division commanded by General Latour-Maubourg
2^nd Dragoon Division commanded by General Milhaud
Artillery: commanded by General Sénarmont
82 guns.

Account of the Battle of Talavera:
Sir Arthur Wellesley crossed the border from Portugal into Spain on 2^nd July 1809, with the intention of co-operating with the Spanish armies of General Cuesta and of General Venegas, in an attack on the French in Madrid under Joseph Bonaparte, the king imposed on Spain by the Emperor Napoleon.

Joseph also had aggressive plans, intending to use Marshal Soult’s corps to invade Portugal.

On 20^th July 1809, Wellesley joined General Cuesta and advanced to attack Marshal Victor’s corps near Talavera.

On 22^nd July 1809, the British began probing Victor’s positions.

Hearing of Wellesley’s advance, Marshal Soult, positioned to the North, proposed that Victor hold the British and Spanish armies, while he marched south and put his army of 30,000 men between Wellesley and his base in Portugal.

Victor, in the face of the attacks on him, withdrew, with Cuesta’s Spanish army following him.

At Torrijos, forty-five miles to the east, Cuesta was confronted by Joseph Bonaparte’s army of 46,000 men. Cuesta retreated and joined Wellesley at Talavera.

During the final part of this retreat, the French advance guard surprised a brigade of British infantry and inflicted heavy casualties on it.

By the evening of 26^th July 1809, the British and Spanish armies were in position at Talavera, on the north bank of the River Tagus. The Spanish occupied Talavera and the area immediately to the north of the town.

Beyond the Spanish positions, a line of high ground stretching to the north formed the main position for the British troops, ending in the Cerro de Medellin. Between the Cerro and the mountains of the Sierra de Segurilla lay a narrow valley.  The Talavera position provided the high ground Wellesley favoured for a defensive battle.

It was Marshal Victor’s corps that led the French advance and it had surprised the British brigade, while pursuing the retreating Spanish.

On the evening of 27^th July 1809, Victor decided to assault the Cerro de Medellin, the feature that dominated the British line, without delay, although it was now night. The division of General Ruffin made the attack. The French reached the summit of the Cerro de Medellin before the British troops realised they were there and there was considerable confusion in the British ranks.

General Hill brought up a reserve brigade and drove Ruffin’s men from the Cerro de Medellin. The rest of the night was spent by the British awaiting a further French assault.

At 5am on 28^th July 1809, Marshal Victor sent Ruffin’s division back up the Cerro de Medellin, with supporting fire from a battery of fifty guns.

This time the British were ready. Wellesley’s troops were lying down behind the crest of the hill, out of the line of fire of the French artillery. As Ruffin’s infantry reached the top of the hill, the British 29th and 48th Foot stood up and charged with the bayonet, driving the French back down the hill and across the Portina brook.

There was a pause in the battle for two hours, while Joseph Bonaparte consulted with his chief of staff, Jourdan, Victor and Sebastiani. Victor urged that Sebastiani should attack the British right, at its junction with the Spanish formations, while he attacked the Cerro de Medellin yet again. Joseph, anxious for a victorious outcome agreed.

Sebastiani’s columns attacked at the point where the hills were lowest. His left column, after bitter fighting, was driven back by the 7th Fusiliers and the 53rd Foot.

Sebastiani’s right column attacked the British Foot Guards and the 83rd Foot. The French were driven back by the Guards, but during the pursuit, the Guards were taken in enfilade by a French battery and thrown back in confusion, while Sebastiani’s columns returned to the attack.

Wellesley brought up the 48th Foot, behind which the Guards were able to reform, and the dangerous French counter-attack was held and repelled.

In the meantime, Ruffin’s division had been ordered to make its third assault on the Cerro de Medellin, which it did with little enthusiasm and no success.

In the valley to the north of the Cerro de Medellin, Victor’s right hand division attempted to outflank the British line.

Wellesley launched Anson’s cavalry brigade in a charge on Victor’s infantry. A hidden defile brought disaster to the cavalry. The 1^st Light Dragoons of the King’s German Legion plunged into the defile. The 23^rd Light Dragoons charged on, to be met by the French Infantry in square and suffered significant casualties.

The French assault petered out and Joseph’s army retreated during the night, leaving several guns for the British and Spanish to capture.

Casualties at the Battle of Talavera:
French losses were 17 guns and 7,268 men killed, wounded and captured. The British and KGL lost 5,363 men killed, wounded and captured.  Spanish losses are unknown.

Follow-up to the Battle of Talavera:
The next day Wellesley heard that Soult, with 30,000 French troops, was near to cutting the route to Portugal. Wellesley was forced to conduct a precipitous British retreat to the Portuguese border.

Anecdotes and traditions from the Battle of Talavera:

• 

  Military General Service medal 1793-1814 with clasp for the Battle of Talavera on 28th July 1809 in the Peninsular War

  The morning after the Battle of Talavera, Brigadier General Robert Craufurd’s Light Brigade arrived in camp with bugle horns playing, marching forty-two miles in twenty-six hours in an attempt to reach the army in time for the battle. Having just arrived, the Light Brigade marched for another fifteen hours to secure the Almaraz Bridge, before Marshal Soult could take it, thereby keeping open the British army’s route to Lisbon.

References for the Battle of Talavera:

History of the Peninsula War by Sir William Napier Volume 1

History of the Peninsula War by Sir Charles Oman

History of the British Army by John Fortescue Volume 6

British Battles on Land and Sea by James Grant Volume 2

The Peninsular War: A Concise Military History by Michael Glover

The previous battle of the Peninsular War is the Battle of the Passage of the Douro

The next battle of the Peninsular War is the Battle of Busaco

To the Peninsular War index