Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos took place on 28 October 1811 during the Peninsula War. An allied force under General Rowland Hill

Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill

General Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill of Almaraz GCB, GCH served in the Napoleonic Wars as a trusted brigade, division and corps commander under the command of the Duke of Wellington. He became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army in 1829.-Early career:Educated at a school in Chester, Hill was...

trapped and defeated, a French force under General Jean-Baptiste Girard

Jean-Baptiste Girard (soldier)

Jean-Baptiste Girard , was a French soldier, général and baron d'Empire, who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...

, forcing the latter's dismissal by the Emperor Napoleon

Napoleon I

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...

. A whole French infantry division and a brigade of cavalry were destroyed as viable fighting formations.
In the middle of October, 1811 a French

French Army

The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...

division under the command of Jean-Baptiste Girard

Jean-Baptiste Girard (soldier)

Jean-Baptiste Girard , was a French soldier, général and baron d'Empire, who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...

crossed the River Guardiana at Mérida

Mérida, Spain

Mérida is the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura, western central Spain. It has a population of 57,127 . The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993.- Climate :...

and campaigned in Northern Extremadura

Extremadura

Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...