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Captain Brotherton of the 14th Light Dragoons had to make a quick escape at night.
After a hard day’s patrolling to find the French who were advancing from Salamanca towards Ciudad Rodrigo, Captain Brotherton of the 14th Light Dragoons, with a patrol of 12 men, stopped for the night in the village of San Felice. He and his men put up at the house of the priest, with the horses and men in the back yard. He was offered the best bed and, after undressing, fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, the priest woke Brotherton with the news that the French cavalry were riding through the village, knocking on doors to find billets. He dressed hastily but had not yet got his trousers on when he heard a knock on the priest’s front door. Brotherton made a quick escape out of the window without his breeches and he and his men rode off unscathed. But he was unwilling to appear back at the Regiment in his shirt-tails, so rode back later to pick up his breeches. The French had left by this time and he and the priest were able to laugh at his misfortune over a bottle of port.
