Manuel Lapeña

Lapeña was given command of the 4th Division (Reserve) of Castaños's 33,000–34,000-strong field army.[6][note 4]

Lapeña's Cavalry unit was the Pavia Regiment commanded by Colonel Pedro de Alcántara Téllez Girón, a very well-equipped unit with 440 splendid horses.[7][note 5] The 4th Division also had a 3,000-strong flying brigade, under Cruz-Murgeon, who was given the task harassing Dupont's northern flank and cutting French communications with Bailén and La Carolina.[6]

Following their victory at Bailén, Lapeña's division accompanied Castaños to Madrid, arriving there on 23 August.[6]

Castaños's Army of the Centre came under attack from the French III Corps commanded by Marshal Lannes at Tudela.[8] The attacking French forces sought to take advantage of a gap between the Spanish army's wings. Seeking to close the gap, Castaños sent orders to Lapeña at Cascante to move to fill the void. However, Lapeña's division, numbering 8,000–9,000 infantry and 1,500 horse, simply stayed for four hours facing the French cavalry; just two French Digeon's and Colbert's brigades of dragoons, some three thousand horse.[6]

At the time Lapeña, along with General Grimarest, could field some 20,000 men against the 9,000 French troops in that area of the field of battle. Rather than march to support the rest of the Spanish army, Lapeña limited his activities to small-scale skirmishes with the few French troops close by. Having lost 200 men in these skirmishes, and witnessing the defeat of the rest of the Army of the Centre, Lapeña finally retreated towards Borja, bringing the battle to a close.[9]

After Tudela, Castaños was ordered to Aranjuez to take up the presidency of the Junta Central's military advisory committee. As a result, Lapeña assumed overall command of the Spanish Army of the Centre which had reformed at Guadalajara.[10] With this command, Lapeña attempted to intervene against Napoleon's assault on Madrid; this attempt was, however, intercepted by Marshal Ney's I Corps and Lapeña was forced to withdraw to Cuenca.[11] Once there, he was replaced as the commander of the Army of the Centre by the Duque de Infantado,[10] on 9 December.[2]

In January 1809 he was given command of the 4,000-strong[12] Reserve of Cartaojal's Army of La Mancha, and following its defeat at Ciudad Real covered the retreat to Despeñaperros.[2]

In April he went to Sevilla, where the Junta Central commissioned him with a secret mission to Catalonia, where he stayed unitl the following April, to report on the flight of the Spanish troops at Belchite.[2]

In December 1810, Lapeña succeeded Blake as the Captain General of Andalusia.[13] However, as he had been a supporter of the [[Cortes Generales#Cádiz Cortes (1808–14) the new Regency removed him from this position and ordered him to Cádiz, along with his troops.[14] Lapeña then became the senior Spanish officer at Cádiz, and took command of the Spanish forces on the Isla de León.[3]

In January 1811, a reduction of the French forces besieging Cádiz led to the British and Spanish allies garrisoning the city to launch an expedition in an attempt to raise the siege. Despite having authority, from the British government, to refuse to take part in a joint expedition of which he was not given command, Sir Thomas Graham—the British commander—agreed to cede command of the force to Lapeña, on condition that the Spanish contribute the larger body of troops.[15]

Sailing from Cádiz between 21–24 February 1811, the Anglo-Spanish expedition regrouped at Tarifa on 27 February 1811 and marched towards the besieging French force's rear at Chiclana. A series of night marches, instigated by Lapeña, however, resulted in a change of plan and the allied army ended up marching back towards Cádiz. The French commander, Marshal Victor, marched to meet the allied force with 10,000 men from his besieging army. On 5 March, Lapeña's vanguard division met a French division straddling the main road to Cádiz and drove them off the road.[16]

Graham's rearguard division, meanwhile, was attacked by two of Victor's divisions. Graham split his force into two brigades; one to face each of the approaching French divisions. In the ensuing battle, Graham's forces beat off the French attacks despite Lapeña entrenching his larger force on the isthmus to Cádiz and refusing to aid his British allies.[16] Lapeña further refused to pursue the retreating French troops, allowing them to resume the siege on Cádiz, a siege that was not lifted until 24 August 1812.

Lapeña's actions in this engagement led to his court-martial, where he was acquitted but relieved of command,[17] which was given to Marquis de Coupigny.[15]