Don Alvaro Corbero was a Capitan in the Regimiento de Sevilla when the French invaded in 1808, always known for his rakish behaviour he was cashiered following a drunken night when he made too enthusiastic a pass at the local mayor's daughter. Thrown out of the service he made his way back to the hills of his home near Seville where his looks and his fighting skills easily brought him to the attention of the locals and he formed a guerrilla band in the hills.

Corbero leads his band into the attack seeking to protect a farm in the hills near Santa Olalla from the depredations of the French. His men cause the French a number of casualties, and Donna Ursula leads half the band aggressively forward, he fails to prevent the farm from being pillaged and he retreats with his men into the hills to lick their wounds.