1811
In the spring of 1811 the Twelfth Light Dragoons received orders to hold themselves in readiness to join the allied army commanded by Lord Wellington, engaged in the glorious struggle to effect the expulsion of the legions of Bonaparte from Spain and Portugal; and six troops of the regiment embarked at Portsmouth in May and June. On the 11th of June Lieut.-Colonel Hon. F. C. Ponsonby was appointed lieut.-colonel in the regiment in succession to Major-General Robert Browne. The regiment landed at Lisbon on the 25th of June, and, after a halt of ten days, advanced up the country. The allied army retired, soon afterwards, from its position on the Caya in the Alentejo, and moved towards Ciudad Rodrigo; and the Twelfth Light Dragoons were formed in brigade with the First (Royal) Dragoons under the command of Major-General Slade. This brigade was employed in the operations connected with the blockade of Ciudad Rodrigo, and with the action at El Bodon, which took place when the armies of Marshal Marmont and General Dorsenne advanced to relieve the blockaded fortress. A series of movements followed, in which the Twelfth took part, and after the retrograde of the French army, the brigade went into cantonments in the valley of the Mondego, the Twelfth occupying Celerico.
1812
In the winter, when the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo was undertaken, the Twelfth Light Dragoons advanced to take part in covering the operation, and were posted at Regarda, and on the capture of fortress in January, 1812, they fell back to Seixo, in the valley of Mondego, where they were formed in brigade with the Fourteenth and Sixteenth Light Dragoons, under the orders of Major-General Anson.
In February the Twelfth Light Dragoons marched to Thomar, where they remained until the siege of Badajoz was undertaken, when they proceeded to the Alentejo. On the approach of the French army, they crossed the Guadiana and advanced to Los Santos, where they took the outpost duty, and Badajoz was captured by storm on the 6th of April. The covering army afterwards advanced towards the enemy, who fell back, and on the 10th of April the Twelfth Light Dragoons drove the enemy's posts from the vicinity of Usagre, and occupied the town. On the following day the brigade, commanded on this occasion by Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable Frederick Ponsonby of the Twelfth Light Dragoons, moved towards Llerena, and kept the attention of a large body of French cavalry engaged by skirmishing, while the Fifth Dragoon Guards, and Third and Fourth Dragoons, commanded by Major-General Le Marchant, passed secretly at the back of some heights, and gained the enemy's flank. Everything succeeded according to expectation; as three squadrons under Lieut.-Colonel Ponsonby skirmished, the Fifth Dragoon Guards issued from a grove of olive-trees and charged the enemy's flank; and in the next moment the light brigade charged the front of the French line, which was instantly broken and pursued for several miles. A hundred Frenchmen were killed and wounded in the field, and a much greater number, including one lieut.-colonel, two captains, and a lieutenant, were made prisoners. The loss of the Twelfth Light Dragoons was limited to one serjeant, two private soldiers, and one horse killed; one serjeant, four private soldiers, and three horses wounded. A cavalry order was issued on the following day, from which the following is an extract:—
"Lieut.-General Sir Stapleton Cotton begs Major-General Le Marchant and the Honorable Lieut.-Colonel Ponsonby will accept his best thanks for the gallant and judicious manner in which they commanded their brigades yesterday, and he requests they will make known to the officers commanding regiments the lieut.-general's high approbation of their conduct, as well as of the zeal and attention displayed by all ranks. The order which was observed by the troops in pursuing the enemy, and the quickness with which they formed after every attack, does infinite credit to the commanding officers, and is a convincing proof of the good discipline of the several regiments."
The French army under Marshal Soult retired; but another army under Marshal Marmont had entered Portugal, and Major-General Anson's brigade left Spanish Estremadura, and marched for the province of Beira. Marshal Marmont retired; and the Twelfth Light Dragoons, having halted a short period at Castello-Branco, were afterwards removed to Cano.
In June, when the army took the field, the Twelfth Light Dragoons proceeded to the vicinity of Ciudad Rodrigo, and subsequently advanced upon Salamanca, from whence the French were driven; the regiment, having crossed the Tormes below that city, with the column under Lieut.-General Sir Thomas Picton, advanced, by St. Christoval, along the road to Toro, and after skirmishing with the French rear-guard, took the outposts in front of St. Christoval, where the army was placed in position during the siege of the forts.
After the capture of the forts at Salamanca, the army advanced to the bank of the Douro, and the French under Marshal Marmont were posted on the opposite side of the river. In the middle of July the French passed the Douro, when Lord Wellington united his centre and left on the Guarena; but caused two divisions, and Major-General Anson's brigade of cavalry, to halt at Castrejon, on the Trabancos, under Lieut.-General Sir Stapleton Cotton. The Twelfth Light Dragoons arrived at Castrejon on the 17th of July, and in the evening the piquet under Captain Dickens was attacked. On the following morning at day-break, the out-posts were driven in, and the French appeared in great force; the cavalry formed in front of the infantry, but afterwards advanced towards the river and some sharp skirmishing occurred. Lord Wellington arriving, the whole were directed to retire behind the Guarena, which was executed with little loss. The Twelfth Light Dragoons had five rank and file, and eight horses killed; Adjutant Getterick, twelve rank and file, and four horses wounded; one rank and file and three horses missing.