The main army having marched to Madrid, Sir Rowland Hill advanced to act in concert with Lord Wellington. The Royals advanced on the 27th of August, and on the 6th of September were at Villa Nova; left that place on the 13th of September; crossed the pontoon bridge at Almarez on the 19th, and arrived at Talavera, in the valley of the Tagus, on the 28th; from whence they proceeded to Tembleque, in New Castile. Lord Wellington having left Madrid and besieged the castle of Burgos, Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill took up a position on the Tagus, and the Royals marched by Aranjuez,—a beautiful palace of the kings of Spain,—to Morata. The enemy, however, concentrated his forces, and advanced, with an immense superiority of numbers, to relieve Burgos, when Lord Wellington raised the siege and retired, and Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill made a corresponding movement. The Royals commenced retiring on the 27th of October by Madrid and the pass of the Guadarama mountains, and arrived, on the 12th of November, at Salamanca; from whence they proceeded on the 15th to Arguilla, and on the 17th had an encounter with the enemy, when four men and one horse were wounded. Leaving Arguilla on the 28th of November they proceeded to Zelreira, and towards the end of December to Alcantara.
1813
The Royal Dragoons passed the winter and spring of 1813 in Spanish Estremadura, from whence they advanced, in the middle of May, to turn the enemy's position on the northern bank of the Douro; and, arriving at Salamanca on the 26th of that month, they forded the river Tormes above the town, and encountered a body of French infantry and a few cavalry under General Villatte, who was retiring from Salamanca in the direction of Alba de Tormes, when the right squadron, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Clifton, charged the enemy with signal gallantry, sabred a number of men, and took one hundred and forty-three prisoners, with four tumbrils. In this action the Royals had five horses killed, and ten men and three horses wounded: Major Purvis's charger was also killed under him.
After this action the Royals bivouacked near La Orbado until the 3rd of June, when they advanced, with the army, on Valladolid. The enemy withdrew his troops from Madrid, and retired on Burgos; and on the approach of the allied army blew up the castle and fell back towards the Ebro, and subsequently to Vittoria, where he prepared to give battle. The allied army followed in pursuit; and in this long and toilsome march the Royals were subjected to much fatigue and privation,—frequently marching from daybreak in the morning until dusk in the evening, through a romantic and difficult tract of country, and climbing mountains and passing defiles and rugged precipices heretofore deemed impracticable. The horses, from practice, ascended and descended the mountains with astonishing facility; and on the 20th of June the troops were in front of the enemy's position.
At daylight on the morning of the 21st of June the Royal Dragoons left their bivouac, and advanced to support the attack of the infantry on the heights in front of Vittoria. The face of the ground was so rugged that the operations of the cavalry were impeded, and for some time the services of the Royals were limited to supporting the columns of attack: towards the evening they, however, advanced to charge, but the enemy fled in confusion, leaving behind them cannon, ammunition, baggage, and the military chest of the army. The Royals moved forward in pursuit, and bivouacked about three miles beyond Vittoria: their loss was only one man and two horses killed, and one horse wounded. On this occasion the regiment was commanded by Major Purvis, Lieutenant-Colonel Clifton being in command of the brigade.
The Royals advanced in pursuit of the enemy on the following morning, and on the 2nd of July they were at Suista and other villages near Pampeluna, which place was blockaded by the allied army. They left that quarter, however, on the 18th of July, for Sanguesa, a town of Navarre, on the river Arragon, twenty-five miles from Pampeluna. Towards the end of that month the French army advanced to relieve Pampeluna, when the Royals were immediately ordered to return to the vicinity of that place, and they were formed in column at the foot of the mountains during the battle of the Pyrenees. They remained with the blockading force near Pampeluna until the 10th of August, when, forage becoming scarce, they again proceeded to the plains of the Arragon, where they remained, together with General Mina's division of Spaniards, as a corps of reserve and support to the blockade, until after the surrender of that fortress. They were subsequently stationed at Villa Franca during the winter.
1814
In the mean time the main army had entered France. On the 3rd of February, 1814, the Royal Dragoons marched to Tauste: from whence they proceeded, in the beginning of March, through the Pyrenean mountains, and entered France on the 9th of that month. For a short period they were stationed near Bayonne, which place was blockaded by the allied army; but they subsequently advanced up the country, and on the 10th of April were at the battle of Toulouse, when they were employed in covering the light brigade of guns, and in driving the piquets of the enemy under the walls of the city, which was immediately besieged. The French, having retired, the Royals were ordered forward to Villa Franche, and afterwards to Gardouch. These brilliant successes of the British troops were followed by the abdication of Buonaparte, and the restoration of peace.
The Royal Dragoons returned to Villa Franche on the 23rd of April, where they remained about a month, and then moved to Montguiscarde; and on the 2nd of June commenced their march through France to Calais, where they arrived on the 17th of July. They embarked on the following day, landed at Dover on the 19th, and marched from thence to Bristol, where they arrived on the 11th of August; and shortly afterwards the establishment was reduced from ten to eight troops. In November the quarters were removed from Bristol to Exeter; and the brilliant services of the regiment were rewarded with permission to bear the word "Peninsula," as an honorary distinction, on the standards and appointments.