Battle of Alba de Tormes In the Battle of Alba de Tormes on 26 November 1809 , an Imperial French corps commanded by François Étienne de Kellermann attacked a Spanish army led by Diego de Cañas y Portocarrero , Duke del Parque . Finding the Spanish army in the midst of crossing the Tormes River , Kellermann did not wait for his infantry under Jean Gabriel Marchand to arrive , but led the French cavalry in a series of charges that routed the Spanish units on the near bank with heavy losses . Del Parque ' s army was forced to take refuge in the mountains that winter . Alba de Tormes is southeast of Salamanca , Spain . The action occurred during the Peninsular War , part of the Napoleonic Wars . The Spanish Supreme Central and Governing Junta of the Kingdom planned to launch a two - pronged attack on Madrid in the fall of 1809 . In the west , Del Parque ' s Army of the Left enjoyed some success against Marchand ' s weak VI Corps . When the Spanish general learned that the other offensive prong had been crushed at Ocaña , he turned around and began retreating rapidly to the south . At the same time , Marchand was reinforced by a dragoon division under Kellermann . Taking command , Kellermann raced in pursuit of the Army of the Left , catching up with it at Alba de Tormes . Not waiting for their own foot soldiers , the French dragoons and light cavalry fell upon the Spanish infantry and defeated it . Marchand ' s infantry arrived in time to mop up , but the cavalry had done most of the fighting . Del Parque ' s men retreated into the mountains where they spent a miserable few months . Background . By the summer of 1809 , the Spanish Supreme Central and Governing Junta of the Kingdom was coming under harsh criticism over its handling of the war effort . The Spanish people demanded that the ancient Cortes be summoned and the Junta reluctantly agreed . But it was difficult to restore the old assembly and bring it into session . Ultimately , the Cádiz Cortes would be set up , but until that day arrived the Junta exercised power . Anxious to justify its continued existence , the Junta came up with what it hoped would be a war - winning strategy . Undeterred by the fact that Arthur Wellesley , Viscount Wellington refused to contribute any British soldiers , the Junta planned to launch a two - pronged offensive aimed at recapturing Madrid . They replaced Pedro Caro , 3rd Marquis of la Romana with Diego de Cañas y Portocarrero , Duke del Parque as commander of the troops in Galicia and Asturias . Del Parque soon massed 30 , 000 troops at Ciudad Rodrigo with more on the way . South of Madrid , Juan Carlos de Aréizaga assembled over 50 , 000 well - equipped men in the " Army of La Mancha " . The main efforts of Del Parque and Aréizaga would be aided by a third force that operated near Talavera de la Reina under José Miguel de la Cueva y de la Cerda , Duke of Albuquerque . The 10 , 000 - man Talavera force was designed to hold some French units in place while the main armies thrust at Madrid . In the fall of 1809 , Del Parque ' s " Army of the Left " numbered 52 , 192 men in one cavalry and six infantry divisions . Martin de la Carrera ' s Vanguard Division counted 7 , 413 soldiers , Francisco Xavier Losada ' s 1st Division had 8 , 336 troops , Conde de Belveder ' s 2nd Division was made up of 6 , 759 men , Francisco Ballesteros ' s 3rd Division numbered 9 , 991 soldiers , Nicolás de Mahy ' s 4th Division comprised 7 , 100 troops , and Conde de Castrofuerte ' s 5th Division counted 6 , 157 men . All infantry divisions included 14 battalions except the 3rd with 15 and the 5th with seven . The Prince of Anglona ' s Cavalry Division included 1 , 682 horsemen in six regiments . Ciudad Rodrigo was provided with a garrison of 3 , 817 troops and there was an unattached 937 - man battalion . With Marshal Michel Ney on leave , Jean Gabriel Marchand assumed command of the VI Corps , based at Salamanca . The corps had been forced to quit Galicia earlier in 1809 and had been involved in the operations in the aftermath of the Battle of Talavera in July . After hard campaigning and a lack of reinforcements , VI Corps was not in a good condition to fight . Furthermore , Marchand ' s talents were not equal to those of his absent chief . Del Parque advanced from Ciudad Rodrigo in late September with the divisions of La Carrera , Losada , Belveder , and Anglona . Filled with scorn for his Spanish adversaries , an overconfident Marchand advanced on the village of Tamames , southwest of Salamanca . In the Battle of Tamames on 18 October 1809 , the French suffered an embarrassing defeat . The French lost 1 , 400 killed and wounded out of 14 , 000 soldiers and 14 guns . Spanish casualties were only 700 out of 21 , 500 men and 18 cannons . After the battle , Del Parque was joined by Ballesteros ' division , giving him 30 , 000 troops . As the Spanish advanced , Marchand abandoned Salamanca and Del Parque ' s men occupied the city on 25 October . Marchand retreated north to the town of Toro on the Duero River . Here he was joined by François Étienne de Kellermann with 1 , 500 infantry in three battalions and a 3 , 000 - trooper dragoon division . Kellermann took command of the French force and marched upstream , crossing to the south bank at Tordesillas . Reinforced by General of Brigade Nicolas Godinot ' s force , Kellermann challenged Del Parque by marching directly on Salamanca . The Spaniard backpedaled , giving up Salamanca and retreating to the south . In the meantime , the guerillas in Province of León became very active . Kellermann left the VI Corps holding Salamanca and raced back to León to stamp out the uprising . Albuquerque managed to pin down some French troops near Talavera as planned , but when he found out that Aréizaga ' s army had been cut to pieces at the Battle of Ocaña on 19 November , he wisely withdrew out of reach of the French . Meanwhile , Del Parque heard of the march of Godinot ' s and General of Brigade Pierre - Louis Binet de Marcognet ' s brigades toward Madrid . Though he had been instructed to join Albuquerque , he instead moved on Salamanca again , hustling one of the VI Corps brigades out of Alba de Tormes . Del Parque occupied Salamanca on 20 November . The French general withdrew behind the Duero and again rendezvoused with Kellermann . Hoping to get between Kellermann and Madrid , Del Parque thrust toward Medina del Campo . On 23 November at that town , Marcognet ' s brigade returned from Segovia while General of Brigade Mathieu Delabassée ' s brigade arrived from Tordesillas . At this moment , Del Parque ' s columns hove into view and there was a skirmish at El Carpio . The French horsemen initially drove back the Spanish cavalry but were repulsed by Ballesteros ' steady foot soldiers fighting in squares . This event prompted Marcognet and Delabassée to retreat . On 24 November , Kellermann massed 16 , 000 French troops on the Duero near Valdestillas . Badly outnumbered , the French prepared to defend themselves . But on this day the " Army of the Left " received news of the Ocaña disaster . Understanding that this dire event meant that the French could spare plenty of soldiers to track down his army , Del Parque bolted to the south , intending to shelter in the mountains of central Spain . On 25 November , Del Parque slipped away so suddenly that Kellermann did not even begin his pursuit until the next day . For two days , the French were unable to catch up with their adversaries . But on the afternoon of 28 November , their light cavalry found the " Army of the Left " camped at Alba de Tormes . Battle . Believing that he was out of Kellermann ' s reach , Del Parque grew careless . He allowed his army to camp in a bad position astride the Tormes River . The divisions of Ballesteros and Castrofuerte bivouacked on the east bank while the divisions of Anglona , La Carrera , Losada , and Belveder were in the town and on the west bank . Since the cavalry pickets were posted too close the camp , they did not give adequate warning of the arrival of the French . Riding with his light cavalry advance guard , Kellermann determined to attack at once . He feared that if he waited for Marchand ' s infantry , the Spanish would have time to establish a defensive line behind the Tormes . The decision meant that unsupported French cavalry would be attacking a much larger force of Spanish cavalry , infantry , and artillery . The reinforced VI Corps included Marchand ' s 1st Division , General of Division Maurice Mathieu ' s 2nd Division , General of Brigade Jean Baptiste Lorcet ' s light cavalry brigade , and Kellermann ' s dragoon division . The 1st Division included three battalions each of 6th Light Infantry Regiment , and the 39th , 69th and 76th Line Infantry Regiments . The 2nd Division counted three battalions each of 25th Light , 27th Line , and 59th Line , plus one battalion of the 50th Line . Lorcet ' s corps cavalry comprised four squadrons each of the 3rd Hussar and 15th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments . The dragoon division was made up of the 3rd , 6th , 10th , 11th , 15th , and 25th Dragoon Regiments . Kellerman had no more than 3 , 000 cavalry and 12 guns immediately available . La Carrera ' s division consisted of three battalions each of the " Principe " and " Zaragosa " Line Infantry Regiments , one battalion each of the " Barbastro " , " 1st Catalonia " , " 2nd Catalonia " , and " Gerona " Light Infantry Regiments , one battalion each of the " Vitoria " , " Escolares de Leon " , " Monforte de Lemos " , and " Muerte " Volunteer Regiments , and one foot artillery battery . Losada ' s division included two battalions each of the " Leon " and " Voluntarios de Corona " Line Infantry and " Galicia " Provincial Grenadier Militia , one battalion each of the " 1st Aragon " and " 2nd Aragon " Light Infantry , two battalions of the " Betanzos " Volunteer Regiment , one battalion each of the " Del General " , " 1st La Union " , " 2nd La Union " , and " Orense " Volunteer Regiments , one company of National Guards , and one foot artillery battery . Belveder ' s division comprised the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the " Rey " , " Seville " , " Toledo " , and " Zamora " Line Infantry , two battalions each of the foreign " Hibernia " Line and " Lovera " Volunteer Regiments , one battalion each of the " Voluntaros de Navarre " Light Infantry , and " Santiago " Volunteer Regiments , and one foot artillery battery . Anglona ' s division had the regular 2nd " Reyna " ( Cavalry or Dragoon ) , 5th " Borbon " Cavalry , 6th " Sagunto " Dragoon , and Provisional Regiments , the volunteer " Llerena " Horse Grenadiers and " Ciudad Rodrigo " Cazadores , and one horse artillery battery . Ballesteros ' division consisted of three battalions of the " Navarra " Line Infantry and two battalions of the " Princesa " Line Infantry Regiments , one battalion each of the " Oviedo " Militia and the " Candas y Luanco " , " Cangas de Tineo " , " Castropol " , " Covadonga " , " Grado " , " Infiesto " , " Lena " , " Pravia " , and " Villaviciosa " Volunteer Regiments , and one foot artillery battery . Castrofuertes ' division was made up of one battalion each of the " Tiradores de Ciudad Rodrigo " , " 2nd Ciudad Rodrigo " , and " Ferdinand VII " Volunteer Regiments , and " Leon " , " Lagroño " , " Toro " , and " Valladolid " Militia , and one artillery battery . One battalion formed Del Parque ' s headquarters guard . Mahy ' s 4th Division was detached from the army at the time of the battle . The Spanish divisions on the east bank hastily formed front against the French , with La Carrera ' s division holding the left flank , Belveder ' s the center , and Losada ' s the right flank . The 1 , 200 sabers belonging to the Prince of Anglona covered the entire front . To face the threat , Del Parque put as few as 18 , 000 men or as many as 21 , 300 infantry , 1 , 500 cavalry and 18 artillery pieces in line . Kellermann quickly formed his eight regiments in four lines , with Lorcet ' s two light cavalry regiments in the first line and the six dragoon regiments in the three supporting lines . Storming forward , the 3 , 000 horsemen burst through Anglona ' s cavalry and crashed into the Spanish right - center . The attack broke up all of Losada ' s and part of Belveder ' s formations . About 2 , 000 Spaniards threw down their muskets and surrendered , the rest fled across the bridge . The French also seized a battery of artillery . Del Parque was unable to bring up his other two divisions because the span was packed with panicked soldiers . Instead , he deployed them along the river to cover the retreat of the others . During the crisis , the men in La Carrera ' s and part of Belveder ' s divisions were able to form into brigade squares . Kellermann organized a second attack against the unbroken squares but the Spanish soldiers held steady and repelled the French cavalry . Since his infantry were still far in the rear , Kellermann tried to fix the enemy squares in place by launching partial charges . For two and a half hours , this tactic succeeded in pinning down the Spanish soldiers on the west bank . Marchand ' s infantry and artillery finally appeared on the horizon . Realizing that his men would be annihilated by a combined arms attack , La Carrera ordered an immediate retreat . The French cavalry rushed forward and inflicted further losses , but most of the Spanish troops got away over the bridge in the fading light . Marchand ' s leading brigade cleared some of Losada ' s rallied men out of the town of Alba and captured two more artillery pieces . Results . Del Parque ordered his army to retreat under cover of darkness . During the operation , a group of panicky horsemen caused a stampede in the marching columns and the three divisions that fought were badly scattered while other soldiers deserted . The Spanish suffered 3 , 000 killed , wounded , and captured , plus nine cannon , five colors , and most of their baggage train . The French suffered between 300 and 600 killed or wounded in the action , including General of Brigade Jean - Auguste Carrié de Boissy wounded . Del Parque established his winter headquarters at San Martín de Trevejo in the Sierra de Gata and began reassembling his troops . He had led 32 , 000 men at Alba de Tormes , but a month later could only gather 26 , 000 soldiers . This suggests that 3 , 000 men deserted the colors after the battle . Worse was to follow . In the desolate district where the army was quartered , the starving troops were sometimes forced to subsist on acorns . By mid - January , 9 , 000 died or were rendered unfit by hunger and illness . The Arthur Wellesley , Marquess of Wellington wrote in disgust , I declare that if they had preserved their two armies , or even one of them , the cause was safe . But no ! Nothing will answer excepting to fight great battles in plains , in which their defeat is as certain as the commencement of the battle . " The repercussions of the Ocaña and Alba de Tormes defeats were disastrous for the Spanish cause . With the Spanish armies severely weakened , Andalusia was exposed to French invasion . Wellington , who as late as 14 November was optimistic , now became anxious that the French might invade Portugal .