page_title: Battle of Los Yébenes
section_title: Fate of the lost banners
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Los Yébenes / Fate of the lost banners
caption_attribution_description: Polish Vistula Lancer and Austrian Cuirassier in fight
context_page_description: The Battle of Los Yébenes was the clash of the Regiment of Polish Lancers of the Legion of the Vistula with multiple regiments of Spanish cavalry, near the Spanish village of Los Yébenes. The heavily outnumbered Polish regiment, led by Colonel Jan Konopka, was attacked by surprise and almost defeated by the larger Spanish force.
context_section_description: Wojciechowski later wrote about the fate of the lost banners:
  When I jumped off my mount, I took Kazaban to one side and asked him why our Colonel, always so brave and perspicacious in all the previous combats, had completely lost his head today, and was complaining to our General about how our regiment was lost. He did not understand these complaints, because he was sure that the whole regiment was out of danger. Kazaban took a deep breath, took my hand and said to me,
  'You are probably right, and our regiment is out of danger, but nevertheless something worse has happened. We have lost the standard of our regiment, the emblem we received in Italy many years ago during the French revolution. The emblem that Napoleón wanted to change when he became Emperor and the regiment opposed, because it felt so strongly about it: this emblem was our four standards.'
  'What the devil are you telling me?’ I shouted. 'I am sure that we left them in the depot at Madrid!’
  'Yes', he said, 'the covers and the poles have gone, but I put the standards with my own hands, in the greatest secrecy, in a saddlebag that was in the Colonel’s wagon. That wagon was left on the other side of the big mountain and I am sure it has been captured by the Spaniards'.
  
  I was stunned. I knew the consequences of this accident for the whole regiment. In this case our regiment would merely exist, and we Lancers, no matter how brave we might be, would be deprived of all reward or promotion.
  It was true, the regiment lost its banners against explicit orders, according to which they should have been kept in safety of the regimental depot behind the lines. As a result, the regiment was not included – despite the recommendation of Joachim Murat – in the Imperial Guard and never obtained new ones.
  In his report, the Spanish commanding officer, Count Cartaojal wrote on 29 March (it was published in Spanish papers 1 April) about losses of the Polish lancers:
  98 men, including prisoners of war and 3 officers, and also a banner, horses, lances and equipment.
  In a later note to the Supreme Junta of Seville he added:
  Two more banners of the Polish regiment were taken in Los Yebanes; we found [them] on an officer killed in the battle.
  From his own words, it appears that Cartaojal took three of four regimental banners, and that two of these were in possession of a lancer, who – knowing the worth of them – tried to save them, but was killed during the fight. The fourth banner was most likely burned with the wagon train, when nobody could expect it.
  The fates of the three banners from the end of the battle to the moment when two of them were hung as trophies in the Royal Chapel of Saint Francis Cathedral in Seville are unclear, but a few still existing documents offer some possible hypotheses.
  It was possible all three Lancer banners were in the possession of the general staff of the Spanish Army, without any desire to present them in public until the Battle of Albuera. It is quite possible that the Spanish command decided to show the forgotten banners at this particular moment, to signify they were banners taken from the Vistula Lancers to heighten the morale of Spanish troops fighting during the battle.
  This is probably how one should understand the words about "taking the Polish banners by the Regiment of Murcia", in General Lardizabal's report. However, the statement was false, as Spaniards did not take any standards or banners at Albuera, and in particular any banner of any squadron of the Polish lancers. Therefore, the note most likely refers to the banners from Yevenes.
  Seven days later, Sebastian Llano, aide-de-camp of the Spanish general Blake, presented himself before the Cortes of Cádiz with a trophy – the banner of the 3rd squadron – and said: "... of the three standards taken from our enemies, I have the honour to present to Your Excellencies this one, as the homage to the Nation you represent". This banner was hung in the San Felipe Neri church in Cádiz, but later it vanished without a trace.
  In 1889, J. Gestoso of Seville published - in the series "National Glory
caption: Lancers in the battle, by J. Kossak
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