The Battle of Venta del Pozo, also known as the Battle of Villodrigo by the French and Spanish, was a rear-guard action fought as part of the Peninsular War on 23 October 1812 between an Anglo-German force led by Major-General Stapleton Cotton against French cavalry under Major-Generals Jean-Baptiste Curto and Pierre François Xavier Boyer.

The Duke of Wellington's Anglo and Portuguese army gave up its unsuccessful Siege of Burgos on 21 October 1812 and withdrew southwest toward Torquemada.

[2] On 23 October, Cotton drew up his cavalry in front of a stone bridge where the main highway crossed a deep, dry streambed.

Meanwhile, on the British left flank, Curto's hussars had crossed the dry stream bed further upstream and attacked mounted Spaniards under the command of Marquinez posted on the hills overlooking the battlefield.

The 16th Light Dragoon fell back in complete confusion and turned the wrong way, blocking both Ramsay's guns and Bock's intended charge zone.

They soon became outflanked on both sides as more French dragoons came racing down upon them, causing the British cavalry to break in complete confusion.

The German 1st and 2nd KGL Light battalions wore the "Venta del Pozo" battle honour until 1918 in their subsequent service with the Hanoverian and Prussian armies.