Battle of The Gebora - Battle

Battle

By the afternoon of 18 February, the rains had abated, and lower water levels made the Gebora river fordable again. That evening, Soult sent nine infantry battalions, three cavalry squadrons, and two artillery batteries, under Mortier's command, to the north bank across a flying bridge over the Guadiana river. Joined by six cavalry regiments under Latour-Maubourg, the French now had 4,500 infantrymen, 2,500 cavalry, and 12 cannon ready to attack the Spanish lines at dawn on 19 February. Due to heavy fog that morning, Mendizabal was unaware of the approaching French until his picket, only a mile from his front, was driven back by Mortier's infantry fording the Gebora. At the same time, the 2nd Hussars, sent by Latour-Maubourg to turn the Spanish left flank, had managed to climb the heights to the north, also undetected, and fell upon one of Carlos de España's unsuspecting regiments.

Mortier demonstrated his tactical prowess in the deployment of his small force: he sent all his cavalry to the north to attack the Spanish left; three battalions were sent south between the fort at San Cristóbal and the Spanish right wing; and his remaining six infantry battalions assaulted the Spanish front. As the fog rose, the French light cavalry under Briche gained the heights and fell upon the Spanish left flank while Latour-Maubourg took three dragoon regiments to attack the combined Spanish and Portuguese cavalry on the plains of the Caya. Despite outnumbering the French, the Allied horse ignored orders and immediately fled towards Elvas and Campo Maior. They escaped unscathed, largely because Latour-Maubourg ignored them and instead launched his cavalry against the Spanish infantry line.

The engagement of the Spanish right flank was not as immediately decisive. Because the fog had lifted, the Spaniards could see the numerical weakness of the opposing force and formed up with little sign of falling. The musketry duel between the two sides had scarcely begun, however, when the French cavalry appeared; the light horse approached along the top of the heights while Latour-Maubourg's dragoons advanced from the rear. In response, Mendizabal formed his troops into two huge divisional squares supported by artillery which, although initially successful in impeding the French cavalry, eventually became an easy target for the French infantry and artillery. As one Spanish infantryman recounts, "Their artillery played upon it in a most horrible fashion until it became first an oval and then an unformed mass that the cavalry were able to penetrate and take prisoner." Briche's light cavalry thus broke through the two Spanish squares without great difficulty, and the battle was effectively over. A few of the Spanish regiments dispersed; many surrendered; and others joined together to fight their way to Badajoz or the Portuguese border.