 Marshal Victor had , by now , received intelligence from a squadron of dragoons that had been driven out of Vejer , informing him of the strong Anglo @-@ Portuguese and Spanish force making its way up the western road from Tarifa . In conjunction with the aggressive action of the Cádiz garrison , this led him to conclude that the approaching troops were heading for Cádiz ; their line of march was therefore predictable , so he prepared a trap . General Eugène @-@ Casimir Villatte 's division was sent to block the neck of the peninsula on which the western road ran , preventing access to the Santi Petri creek and the Isla de Léon . Two other divisions , under the commands of Generals François Amable Ruffin and Jean François Leval , were ordered to conceal themselves in the thick Chiclana forest in position to attack the flank of the Allies as they engaged Villatte 's division . 
