Sahagun – Cavalry Action

Sir John Moore was determined to defeat Soult’s isolated French corps with his British Army before retreating from Napoleon’s much larger army entering Spain. The first step was to penetrate Soult’s cavalry screen under Debelle at Sahagun. Lord Henry Paget …

1808-12-21

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Sir John Moore was determined to defeat Soult’s isolated French corps with his British Army before retreating from Napoleon’s much larger army entering Spain. The first step was to penetrate Soult’s cavalry screen under Debelle at Sahagun. Lord Henry Paget got the mission and set out with two regiments of Hussars in bitter winter weather, with snow and icy roads slowing the approach. At dawn the French outpost was overcome, but survivors fled back to Sahagun and raised the alarm. Debelle’s troopers had left their mounts saddled during the night, and in some confusion, they mounted and left the town. The chance to capture the French brigade by coup de main was gone, but Paget split his force and to try to sandwich Debelle’s>troopers between his 15th Hussars skirting the town and Slade’s 10th Hussars coming through it. Debelle was trying to break contact, but Paget moved more quickly. When Debelle saw he could not outrun Paget, he turned his two regiments to face the outnumbered 15th Hussars. Slade’s Hussar regiment was nowhere to be seen. As bombastic as he was incompetent, Slade had halted his men to deliver a lengthy harangue, and his leading troops were only entering Sahagun by the time the battle ended. Undaunted, Paget charged at full gallop into the first line of French cavalry, a provisional chasseur regiment composed mainly of Hanoverians forced into French service. The regiment dissolved completely at first contact, with the retreating troopers throwing the reliable 8th French Dragoon Regiment behind them into disorder. Debelle’s depleted and defeated brigade escaped across the river from Paget’s victorious but disorganized regiment. The 15th Hussars Sahagun (cavalry action) - 21 December 1808 were awarded the battle honor ‘Sahagun’ and the much reduced>provisional French chasseurs regiment was disbanded.

Sahagun, Spain

The Battle of Sahagún was a cavalry clash at Sahagún, Spain, in which the British 15th Light Dragoons (Hussars) defeated two regiments of French cavalry during the Corunna Campaign of the Peninsular War. Losses to one of the French regiments were so heavy that it was subsequently disbanded. The action marked the final phase of the British army's advance into the interior of Spain, before they began their harrowing retreat to the coast and ultimate evacuation by sea.

Wikipedia: Battle of Sahagún

French

British

Peninsular War