When the Spanish commander allowed his forces to get spread out, Milhaud attacked with his cavalry and crushed Blake's vanguard with heavy losses.

After King Joseph Bonaparte's army overran Andalusia, it meant that he had increased the territory his soldiers had to defend.

French Marshal Soult's three corps were kept busy fending off constant Spanish and British threats to the province from land and sea.

[1] As the Spanish frantically tried to cobble together a new army to defend the south of Spain, King Joseph Bonaparte decided to invade the province of Andalusia.

The French corps commander found Blake's troops manning powerful defensive works around the city.

Carelessly allowing his corps to become spread out, Blake's advance guard of cavalry and 3,000 infantry camped near Baza on the evening of 3 November.

When he heard of the Spanish incursion, General Milhaud marched his cavalry to Baza, arriving on the morning of the 4th.

Milhaud's 1,300-strong cavalry division was made up of the 5th, 12th, 16th, 20th, and 21st Dragoon Regiments and the Polish lancers of the Legion of the Vistula.

When the French dragoons and Polish lancers bore down on the surprised and shaken Spanish foot soldiers, the men scattered in flight.

[11] The next action in the area was the Battle of Barrosa on 5 March 1811 where British Lieutenant General Thomas Graham inflicted a defeat on Victor's corps.