The engagement at Palavea was fought between the armed forces of the French Empire and the UKGBI under the lead of Jean-de-Dieu Soult and John Moore respectively. This battle occurred on 15 January 1809 in the course of the Peninsular War, part of the larger "Great French War". The Palavea encounter was the precursor to the Battle of Corunna. At Palavea, Soult's troops managed to capture and consolidate the high ground, thus creating a foothold for an attack on Pedralonga and Elviña, which occurred the following day during the Battle of Corunna.
After his grueling retreat, Moore prepared to head to the ocean, as the fleet had arrived to retrieve him. He advanced his units as far as the heights of Palavea and Peñasquedo with the intention of securing the embarkation. Soult intended to capture these positions on the 15th. Thus the engagement began.
By Soult's instructions, Merle and Mermet's infantry, supported by Lorge and La Houssaye's dragoons, moved to attack the British outposts, which were located in the mountain positions of Palavea and Peñasquedo, and drove them out. Three companies of French voltigeurs, thus enforced on the heights and later supported by horse artillery, engaged the British 5th Foot on the spot. In an attempt to seize the French artillery, the 5th was surprised by voltigeurs firing from behind a wall. The engagement cost the regiment its Colonel Mackenzie and forced a British retreat under heavy fire.
As Moore's forward units were pushed from the high ground, Merle and Mermet's divisions seized the heights of Palavea and Peñasquedo. They were joined the next afternoon by Delaborde's division. 10 heavy French cannons were placed on the Heights of Peñasquedo, ready to bombard Elviña. On the 16th, Soult surveyed the field of the upcoming battle from the Heights of Palavea and Peñasquedo.