Manuel la Peña

Manuel Lapeña Rodríguez y Ruiz de Sotillo (fl. 1808–1811), sometimes referred to as Lapeña, was a Spanish military officer who served during the Peninsular War (Guerra de la Independencia Española – the Spanish War of Independence). Although widely regarded as incompetent, he rose through the Spanish army's ranks to become Captain General of Andalusia. He is primarily known for commanding an Anglo–Spanish expedition from Cádiz, with the intention of raising the siege on that city, which led to the Battle of Barrosa.

As a result of having a reputation for incompetence—he had the nickname Doña Manuela (Lady Manuela)—la Peña was an ambitious man with a talent for diplomacy. Therefore, by 1808, la Peña commanded a large part of the Spanish Army of the Centre, stationed at Cascante.

On 23 November 1808, the Spanish Army of the Centre, under the command of General Castaños, came under attack from the French III Corps commanded by Marshal Lannes at Tudela. In what became known as the Battle of Tudela, the attacking French forces sought to take advantage of a gap between the Spanish army's wings. Seeking to close the gap, Castaños sent orders to la Peña at Cascante to move to fill the void. La Peña, however, simply ignored his commander's directive. At the time la Peña, along with General Grimarest, could field some 20,000 men against the 9,000 French troops in that area of the field of battle. Rather than march to support the rest of the Spanish army, however, la Peña limited his activities to small-scale skirmishes with the few French troops close by. Having lost 200 men in these skirmishes, and witnessing the defeat of the rest of the Army of the Centre, la Peña finally retreated towards Borja, bringing the battle to a close.

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