Continuing to press upon the rear of the French army, the regiment was present at the skirmish at Pombal on the 10th of March, at Redinha on the 12th, at Casal Nova on the 14th, and at Foz d'Aronce on the 15th. The Fourteenth were also present at the action near Sabugal, on the 3rd April, but did not sustain any loss.
The French Commander continued his retreat to Salamanca, and the British General stood victorious on the confines of Portugal; the Fourteenth light dragoons furnished the out-posts on the left bank of the Agueda at Villa del Egua, where a peasant arrived from Ledesma, with intelligence that the French army was reinforced and re-organized, and was advancing. A squadron under Captain Brotherton was sent to Santa Espirita, and it fell back behind the Agueda as the French army advanced.
Almeida being blockaded by the allied army, Marshal Massena advanced to its relief; the Fourteenth withdrew gradually as the enemy approached, and on the 3rd of May they were engaged behind Gallegos; when Lieutenant John Townsend retired with the piquets under a heavy cannonade towards Fuentes d'Onor, and a squadron, under Captain Brotherton, had a sharp affair near Pozo Velho.
At the battle of Fuentes d'Onor, on the 5th of May, the Fourteenth and first royal dragoons covered the movement of the right of the army from Nave d'Aver, retiring by alternate squadrons, under a heavy cannonade; one squadron of the regiment charged with signal gallantry some French artillery, but was repulsed, and Captain Robert Knipe commanding the squadron was mortally wounded: he was succeeded in the command of the squadron by Lieutenant (afterwards Lieut.-Colonel) John Townsend: Lieut.-Colonel Hervey had his horse killed under him, and received a severe contusion.
An attack was made on the position in the rear of the village. 'The French with one shock drove in all the cavalry out-guards, and cutting off Captain Ramsay's battery, came sweeping in upon the reserves of horse and upon the seventh division. But their leading squadrons approaching in a disorderly manner, were partially checked by the British, and, at the same time, a great commotion was observed in their main body. Men and horses there closed with confusion and tumult towards one point, a thick dust arose, and loud cries, and the sparkling of blades, and the flashing of pistols, indicated some extraordinary occurrence. Suddenly the multitude became violently agitated, an English shout pealed high and clear, the mass was rent asunder, and Norman Ramsay burst forth at the head of his battery, his horses, breathing fire, stretched like greyhounds along the plain, the guns bounding behind them as things of no weight, and the mounted gunners followed in full career. Captain Brotherton of the Fourteenth dragoons, seeing this, rode forth with a squadron and overturned the head of the pursuing troops, and General Charles Stewart joining in the charge, took the French General Lamotte, fighting hand to hand.'[12] The French were repulsed in their attempt to relieve Almeida, and they withdrew from Portugal.
The Fourteenth light dragoons had Captain Robert Knipe and three private soldiers killed; Captain Thomas Potter Milles, Lieutenants John Townsend, John Gwynne, Lovell B. Badcock, Theophilus Thomas Ellis, six serjeants, and twenty-one rank and file wounded; three private soldiers missing. Lieut.-Colonel Hervey was rewarded with a gold medal, and the royal authority was subsequently given for the regiment to bear on its guidons and appointments the words "Fuentes d'Onor," as a special mark of His Majesty's approbation of its conduct on this occasion.
Viscount Wellington subsequently proceeded to Estremadura, where the strong fortress of Badajoz was besieged by the allies, and the Fourteenth dragoons formed part of the force left on the Agueda. Marshal Marmont advanced with a numerous French army, and having introduced a convoy into Ciudad Rodrigo, he drove back the British posts. On the morning of the 6th of June, two French columns appeared, when the light division was directed to retire from Gallegos upon Nave d'Aver and subsequently upon Alfayetes, and the royal dragoons, with a squadron of the Fourteenth, covered the retreat. Two thousand French cavalry, six thousand infantry, and ten guns, bore down upon the British squadrons and menaced their destruction; but the French horsemen were attacked and defeated twice, and the retreat was effected with little loss.
Marshal Marmont afterwards marched to Spanish Estremadura, and the British General withdrew from before Badajoz. The allied army subsequently proceeded to the vicinity of Ciudad Rodrigo, and eventually blockaded that fortress, the Fourteenth taking part in the out-post duty as usual. When the French army advanced to relieve the blockade, the regiment was stationed at Espejo, on the lower Azava, with advanced-posts at Carpio and Marialva. Having thrown a supply into Ciudad Rodrigo, the French Marshal marched against the allied army, and on the morning of the 25th of September, fourteen squadrons of the imperial guards drove the out-posts from Carpio, across the Azava; the lancers of Berg crossed the river in pursuit, but were charged and driven back by a squadron of the Fourteenth and two squadrons of the sixteenth light dragoons, and Carpio was again occupied by the British. Another body of the enemy attacked the troops at El Bodon, and when the British had withdrawn from this post, the Fourteenth fell back from Carpio, and a succession of retrograde movements followed, until the allied army took up a position behind Soita, when the French withdrew into Spain.
In the action at Carpio, and in the subsequent movements, the regiment had Lieutenant Hall and several private soldiers wounded; and the conduct of its commanding officer, Lieut.-Colonel Hervey, was commended in the public despatches; the excellent behaviour of Captain Brotherton was also particularly mentioned.