The Battle of Sahagun, 1808
According to a famous military historian, Sahagun was ‘perhaps the most brilliant exploit of the British Cavalry’ during the whole course of the Peninsular Wars. By D.G. Chandler.
‘We saddled our horses, and away we did go
O’er rivers of ice and o’er mountains of snow,
To the town of Sahagun then our course we did steer
Twas the Fifteenth Hussars, who had never known fear.’
British cavalry exploits during the course of the Napoleonic Wars tended to be notable for their combination of great gallantry, considerable initial success - and ultimately near-fatal consequences.
The fates of the 20th Light Dragoons at Vimeiro, or of the North British Dragoons (later the Royal Scots Greys) at Waterloo, show the sad tendency for the instincts of the hunting field to override the dictates of prudence and discipline - particularly during the exploitation and rallying phases of a successful charge.
As a general rule, there is no denying the superiority, man for man, of the British cavalry trooper over his French equivalent.
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