Letter written by Private George Woolger, 16th Light Dragoons, to his brother in law, Mr William Lewin, 26 October 1809

Sent from Villavigoza, Portugal, on 26 October 1809, the letter describes the Battle of Talavera which took place the previous July (27-28) and its aftermath.

The Battle of Talavera took place to the southwest of Madrid. An Anglo-Spanish army of 50,000 men commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley and the Spanish General Gregorio de la Cuesta, faced 46,000 Frenchmen under Marshal Claude Victor and the French King of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte. One of the bloodiest battles of the war, Talavera was something of a stalemate. Although the French withdrew from the field, Wellesley was forced to return with his force to Portugal after another French army under Marshal Soult threatened his lines of communication. Further operations were also restricted by the lack of co-operation between the British and their Spanish allies.