Battle of Majadahonda

Battle context

Fought sixteen kilometres northwest of Madrid during Wellington's advance following his capture of the city, Majadahonda was an engagement between the rival forces' advance guards. Trelliard's French cavalry initially gained the upper hand, routing D'Urban's Portuguese horsemen and seizing three British guns, but the intervention of King's German Legion cavalry under Bock and the presence of a KGL infantry battalion holding a village checked the French exploitation. The arrival of additional British cavalry and infantry persuaded Trelliard to withdraw. The action demonstrated the limitations of cavalry operating without adequate infantry support and underscored the vulnerability of Wellington's advance guard to a determined French mounted strike, even as the broader French position around Madrid remained untenable.