Most of the Spanish troops were successfully evacuated by the British navy and shipped to Santander, Spain to fight against France in the Peninsular War.

Fearful of the French Army advancing from the west, and with no word of the promised transports, the troops were re-embarked and the convoy sailed for Gothenburg.

Transports arrived on 6 September and after a three week voyage in stormy conditions about 9,000 Spanish troops disembarked at Santander in October 1808 and had a chance to fight against the French.

At this time, Manuel de Godoy, Prince of the Peace was a favorite of King Charles IV of Spain, enjoying great influence.

At the start of the War of the Fourth Coalition, which pitted the Kingdom of Prussia against Napoleon, Godoy issued a proclamation that was obviously aimed at France, even though it did not specify an enemy.

In the meantime, the French emperor dragooned Godoy and Charles IV into providing a division of Spanish troops to serve in northern Europe.

[5] La Romana's Division served under Marshal Guillaume Brune at the Siege of Stralsund which ended on 20 August 1807 when the Swedish garrison evacuated the city.

The 4,500-strong Princesa, 1st of Barcelona, Almanza, and Villaviciosa Regiments were posted on the island of Funen (Fyn) along with La Romana's headquarters which were at Nyborg.

To keep the soldiers quiet, Napoleon increased the officers' pay and promised La Romana the Grand Cross of the Légion d'Honneur.

One of his staff officers, Joseph O'Donnell noted, "The more they tried to persuade us that Spain was tranquil, and had settled down to enjoy an age of felicity under Napoleon, the more clearly did we foresee the scenes of blood, strife, and disaster which were to follow these incredible events.

"[10] After the outbreak of the Peninsular War, the British government desired to get in touch with the Division of the North to see whether its soldiers wished to fight against Napoleon.

Luckily, Sir Arthur Wellesley had suggested such a person to British Foreign Secretary George Canning before departing to command the army in Portugal[10] that went on to win the Battle of Vimeiro in August 1808.

Finding that the Spaniards were no longer in the vicinity of the Hanseatic towns, Robertson traveled north into Denmark, posing as a German merchant of chocolate and cigars, which were contraband goods.

[12] Robertson made his way to Nyborg and introduced himself to La Romana with his chocolate and cigars, which he knew were especially desired by the Spanish officers.

[12] The Scottish priest then revealed the plan[12] for the British navy to evacuate the Division of the North from Denmark and land it at any location in the Spanish empire that La Romana wanted to go.

Lobo arrived on Keats's flagship HMS Superb on 5 August, and with the aid of an officer named Frabreques who had escaped to the British fleet, a plan was formulated and secret communication opened with La Romana proposing a means by which, with his limited resources, Keats could safely remove, accommodate and feed some ten thousand men.

The plan was to temporarily encamp on the nearby island of Langeland, thought to be the most capable of providing sufficient food and defensible against an advancing French Army until victuallers and transports arrived from England.

In order for the evacuation to be a success, La Romana needed to concentrate his scattered troops and seize the nearby ports when the British fleet was close by.

This plot was not carried out because orders arrived from France that all Spanish soldiers were required to swear an oath of loyalty to King Joseph Bonaparte.

[15] This incident alarmed Bernadotte, but before he could take stronger measures, the news reached La Romana that Rafael Lobo, an agent of the Spanish Junta had arrived offshore.

It was no longer prudent to wait for the promised transports and Keats directed the troops be reembarked on the ships he had to hand, including the small vessels seized from Nyborg and some more he had cut from passing convoys for the purpose.

[18] When the troops arrived at Santander, La Romana formed the infantry into the 5th Division of the Army of Galicia and placed the Conde de San Roman in command.

The division was ordered to join Joaquín Blake's army but only the 1st of Catalonia with 1,066 men arrived in time to participate in the Battle of Zornoza on 31 October 1808.

The French pursuit was so aggressive that San Roman reported to his army commander that he was about to be cut off, so Blake offered battle on 10 November.

In the two-day Battle of Espinosa de los Monteros the 5,294-strong division repulsed several French attacks on the first day and suffered about 1,000 casualties including San Roman.