In September 1808, Colonel Calès and his regiment were reassigned to the "Army of Spain", still within the I Corps commanded by Marchal Victor, to take part to the Spanish War. At the Battle of the Sommosierra Pass on 30 November, the 96th Infantry Regiment was one of the most severely tested corpses, with about ten soldiers killed, forty wounded, and three wounded officers, including Colonel Calès, who got shot at his right leg. The victory of the French troops opened the road to Madrid. Calès got severely shot a second time at his leg during a deadly assault on 28 July 1809 at the Battle of Talavera (some 120 kilometers southwest of Madrid), one of the most bloody battles of the Spanish War, which costed about 7,000 lives in total to each camp.