3-072-011 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

"Somosierra" by Horace Vernet, 1839. The Battle of Somosierra fought on 30 November 1808 during the Peninsular War. The action saw the clearing of the last remnants of the Spanish Army defending Madrid from the Somosierra Pass, allowing the French Emperor Napoleon to advance and occupy the capital. A charge of Polish light cavalry, ordered by Napoleon in the face of heavy fire, led to the Poles being almost entirely wiped out with heavy casualties. Vernet shows the scene just after the charge with the bodies of soldiers and horses scattered across the battlefield, with the survivors in the foreground. In the distance on the left, Napoleon is shown riding away towards Madrid.