page_title: Battle of Sahagún
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Sahagún / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: A Private of the 7th Hussars, 1812
context_page_description: The Battle of Sahagún was a cavalry clash at Sahagún, Spain, in which the British 15th Light Dragoons 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.
context_section_description: News reached Moore that the main French forces were much closer to him than he had thought; therefore the attack against Soult was abandoned.  The cavalry action at Sahagun marked the final advance before the British began their long, painful and almost disastrous retreat towards the port of Corunna on the Galician coast.  The presence of the British army had, as Moore intended, focussed Napoleon's attention upon it allowing the Spanish forces some time to reorganise and regroup after the defeats they had suffered.
  The 15th Hussars' charge and subsequent victory meant that the French cavalry were reluctant to fight the British cavalry for the remainder of the campaign. The French 1st Provisional Chasseurs were so depleted by their losses at Sahagun that they were disbanded. The British Hussars were to gain one more victory over their French counterparts during the campaign when, on 29 December 1808, at Benavente they drove Napoleon's elite Chasseurs à cheval of the Imperial Guard into the River Esla, capturing their commanding general, Lefebvre-Desnouettes.
  The 15th Hussars were awarded "Sahagun" as a Battle Honour, which is still celebrated today by The Light Dragoons and B Battery 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.
caption: Contemporary British hussar private (7th Hussars) with mount, and horse furniture in foreground (a dozen men of the 7th Hussars fought at Sahagun, serving as Lord Paget's escort)
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