Editing Battle of Uclés (1809) (section)

==Operations==
[[File:Claude-Victor Perrin.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|alt=Black and white print of a curly-haired man with a round face. He wears an elaborate dark military uniform with a high collar, epaulettes, and lots of braid.|Claude Perrin Victor]]

The month of December saw [[General of Division]] [[Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr]] drub the Spanish forces of [[Captain General]] [[Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu]] at the [[Battle of Molins de Rey]] while Marshal [[Jean Lannes]] began the [[Second Siege of Zaragoza]]. With Napoleon and his main field army away chasing Moore, the Imperial troops holding Madrid were too weak to mount any offensives. In total, there were 28,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 90 guns in Marshal [[Claude Perrin Victor]]'s [[I Corps (Grande Armée)|I Corps]], Marshal [[François Joseph Lefebvre]]'s [[IV Corps (Grande Armée)|IV Corps]], and the cavalry divisions of Generals of Division [[Antoine Lasalle]], [[Marie Victor de Fay, marquis de Latour-Maubourg|Marie Victor de Latour-Maubourg]], and [[Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud]]. Not counted was King Joseph's Royal Guard consisting of four battalions and one cavalry regiment of Frenchmen plus two small regiments of Spanish deserters.{{sfn|Oman|1995|pp=1–2}}

The cavalry formed the outer line of defense. Latour-Maubourg posted a cavalry brigade each in [[Tarancón]], [[Ocaña, Spain|Ocaña]], and [[Madridejos, Toledo|Madridejos]]. To the west, Milhaud's troopers patrolled the area around [[Talavera de la Reina]]. Farthest west were Lasalle's horsemen watching [[Almaraz]] where there was an important bridge across the [[Tagus]] River. Victor defended [[Aranjuez]] with General of Division [[Eugène-Casimir Villatte]]'s division while Lefebvre held Talavera with the divisions of Generals of Division [[Horace Sebastiani|Horace François Sébastiani]] and [[Jean-Baptiste Cyrus de Valence]]. The 55th Line Infantry Regiment of General of Division [[Jean-Joseph, Marquis Dessolles]]'s absent reserve division was posted at [[Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha|Guadalajara]]. Aside from the Royal Guards, Madrid was garrisoned by General of Division [[François Amable Ruffin]] with an I Corps division and General of Division [[Jean François Leval]] with a IV Corps division.{{sfn|Oman|1995|p=3}}

The ''Army of the Center'' ended its retreat at [[Cuenca, Spain|Cuenca]] on 10 December 1808. Its new commander General [[Pedro de Alcántara Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duke of the Infantado]] allowed his soldiers to rest but was forced to execute three soldiers. One, a lieutenant had refused to march and positioned his artillery battery to fire on the troops who were obeying orders. The remnant of the 1st Division was sent home to [[Province of Valencia|Valencia province]] to recruit, while the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Divisions{{sfn|Oman|1995|p=5}} were reorganized into four divisions including a Vanguard and a Reserve. Many low-strength line regiments were consolidated from three battalions into one or two. Stragglers and reinforcements swelled the ranks. The soldiers' spirits rose when a brigade under General Conde de Alacha Lilli marched into camp, having escaped from Napoleon's armies. Hearing that the emperor had gone off to the north, Infantado decided to launch an offensive toward Madrid before his reorganization was completed.{{sfn|Oman|1995|p=6}}