Six troops of this regiment, amounting to five hundred and forty-four officers and men, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable William Ponsonby, embarked at Portsmouth on the 12th of August, and having landed at Lisbon on the 4th of September, occupied quarters at Belem about six weeks, and afterwards advanced up the country. When the army went into quarters for the winter, the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS were stationed at Thomar. [Sidenote: 1812] The army resumed operations in the beginning of January, 1812, with the siege and capture of Ciudad Rodrigo: and in March the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS proceeded into the south of Spain to watch the movements of Marshal Soult, and to cover the siege of _Badajoz_. The regiment arrived, with the remainder of its brigade (the Third and Fourth Dragoons), at Borba, in the Alentejo, on the 5th of March, crossed the Guadiana on the 15th, and formed the van of the covering army until it arrived at the foot of an extensive chain of mountains called the Sierra Morena. On the advance of Marshal Soult, the covering army retired upon Albuhera. The fortress of _Badajoz_ was captured by storm on the 6th of April; and in a few days afterwards the regiment had an opportunity of distinguishing itself in action with the enemy. A large body of cavalry advanced upon _Llerena_; the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS marched on the 10th of April to Los Santos, and continued their route during the night to Bienvenida,--proceeding a distance of sixty miles without halting, and the last four miles at a brisk pace, through a country abounding with obstructions; then forming with celerity, advanced through a grove of olive-trees, beyond which a body of French cavalry, of more than thrice the numbers of the regiment, was formed up. The sight of so numerous an enemy did not intimidate the FIFTH DRAGOON GUARDS; but acted as a spur to their energies, and excited them to exertions which evinced their native valour and intrepidity, and occasioned them to rival the deeds of their predecessors in the field of glory. The fatigues of the previous march were forgotten, and the gallant troopers charged with such spirit and resolution, that the French squadrons were broken, and being also attacked by the light brigade, they retired in disorder under cover of their infantry and artillery, leaving behind about one hundred killed and wounded, and one lieutenant-colonel, two captains, one lieutenant, and one hundred and forty men prisoners, also nearly one hundred horses. Actions in which the numbers engaged are not very great, do not produce, in their bearing on the affairs of nations, very important results, hence they are often overlooked, or but slightly noticed, by general historians; yet on these occasions individual corps often distinguish themselves in an eminent degree; and the excellent conduct of the British cavalry at _Llerena_, elicited the following orders:-- "_Lafra, 12th April, 1812._ "CAVALRY ORDERS.