He commanded the cavalry in 1807, when the Portuguese army was ordered to march from the borders to the coast. He was in Aveiro, when in December he was called to Coimbra to testify for the annihilation of the 6th, 9th, 11th and 12th regiments, by General Junot. With the fall of the monarchy in sight, he escaped to Porto in order to board an English ship, where he assumed that he would depart for Brazil. His plan foiled, he escaped to Vila Real, where he later became one of the factors in the acclamation of the legitimate government in 1808.
In March 1809 he led a force which carried out the successful Siege of Chaves from its French garrison. He kept the French from capturing Amarante from 18 April to 3 May 1809 during the second French invasion of Portugal. Driven out, he later recaptured the place and helped cut off the forces of Nicolas Soult, forcing the French marshal to abandon his artillery and wagon trains in order to escape. He commanded a Portuguese division in Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Allied army at the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813.