The Battle of Uclés (13 January 1809) saw an Imperial French corps led by Marshal Claude Perrin Victor attack a Spanish force under Francisco Javier Venegas.

Emperor Napoleon invaded Spain with a huge army in late 1808, scattered the Spanish forces, and seized Madrid.

After the Dos de Mayo Uprising and the subsequent disaster at the Battle of Bailén, the French occupying armies in Spain were forced to pull back behind the Ebro River in the northeast.

[2] By 10 October 1808, Napoleon had 244,125 soldiers massed in eight army corps, the cavalry reserve, the Imperial Guard, and other formations for the purpose of conquering Spain.

[3] In November 1808, the Napoleonic armies struck with crushing force and the Spanish defenses unraveled in battles at Burgos, Espinosa, Tudela, and Somosierra.

[5] On 11 December 1808, General John Moore led a British army numbering 22,500 foot soldiers, 2,500 horsemen, and 66 artillery pieces northeast from Salamanca.

Nevertheless, the British general decided to strike at Marshal Nicolas Soult's isolated II Corps in the north of Spain.

When the British cavalry routed Soult's horsemen at the Battle of Sahagún on 21 December, the French marshal was completely surprised.

Though ultimately the British army was safely evacuated, Moore was slain at the Battle of Corunna on 16 January 1809 and 5,000 of his soldiers died during the mid-winter retreat.

Because of his unsuccessful effort to destroy Moore's army, Napoleon's plans for conquering Spain and Portugal were temporarily sidetracked.

Napoleon had predicted his conquest of Spain would cost 12,000 men, but the actual death toll from battle and disease through mid-January 1809 may have been as high as 75,000.

[8] The month of December saw General of Division Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr drub the Spanish forces of Captain General Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu at the Battle of Molins de Rey while Marshal Jean Lannes began the Second Siege of Zaragoza.

With Napoleon and his main field army away chasing Moore, the Imperial troops holding Madrid were too weak to mount any offensives.

In total, there were 28,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 90 guns in Marshal Claude Perrin Victor's I Corps, Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre's IV Corps, and the cavalry divisions of Generals of Division Antoine Lasalle, Marie Victor de Latour-Maubourg, and Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud.

The soldiers' spirits rose when a brigade under General Conde de Alacha Lilli marched into camp, having escaped from Napoleon's armies.

Leaving only Lasalle's cavalry and two battalions on the Tagus, he marched northeast to Ávila, ignoring repeated instructions from King Joseph to desist.

[14] With the IV Corps out of position, revolts breaking out, and the Army of the Center threatening Madrid, Joseph and his adviser Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan were in a panic.

[13] To support the Army of the Center, a 6,000-man Spanish division under General Marquis del Palacio moved north from the Sierra Morena to Villaharta.

Joseph ordered Victor to shift east from Aranjuez to Arganda del Rey to block the road from Tarancón.

Learning of the enemy's approach, Venegas withdrew from Tarancón to Uclés where he was joined by Antonio Senra's brigade.

But, perhaps swayed by the favorable defensive position at Uclés, he decided to stand his ground with approximately 9,500 foot soldiers,[15] 1,800 horsemen, and five cannons, one of which was broken down.

Of these, Ruffin led 5,000 troops, Villatte 7,000, Latour-Maubourg 2,500, General of Brigade Louis-Chrétien Carrière, Baron de Beaumont 1,300, and the artillery 500 with 32 guns.

Three infantry battalions and four cavalry regiments formed an advance guard to watch the approach of the French from Tribaldos village.

Villatte quickly drove the advance guard out of Tribaldos; it fell back to the main Spanish position.

After getting a good look at the Spanish line, Victor ordered Ruffin to sweep wide to the left and take Venegas in right flank and rear.

Ascending the end of the ridge where the slope was less steep, Puthod's six battalions attacked the Spanish left flank and began driving it back.

From his vantage point at the monastery in Uclés, Venegas ordered some units from the right flank to go to the assistance of his imperiled left.

The nimble Spanish cavalry largely escaped along with some left flank infantry, while Girón's men broke out between two French regiments.

Gathering up his wagon train and supplies, Infantado abandoned his base and led his troops to Chinchilla de Monte-Aragón where he arrived on 20 January.

Deeming the Spanish people sufficiently cowed by the victory at Uclés, Napoleon finally allowed his brother Joseph to make a triumphal entry into his capital at Madrid.