However his troops were not only raw recruits but they were also badly armed and were easily dispersed by the French at the Battle of Leciñena (January 1809).
[2] Just under a month later, in May 1810, the city wall of Lerida was breached and Perena's volunteer battalion covered the retreat of the garrison into the Castle of La Suda.
The following day, the castle garrison capitulated and Perena was captured and spent the rest of the war in different prisons in France.
[2] In 1820, his liberal sympathies led him to accept the rank of commander of the National Militia and he participated actively in military operations against the Royalists in Aragon between 1822 and 1823.
[2] With the restoration of Ferdinand VII's absolute monarchy, Perena was prosecuted by the Real Junta de Purificaciones for his persecution of Royalists, but he was declared "purified" in 1826, and promoted to lieutenant general in 1830.