Battle of Villafranca del Bierzo
Part of thePeninsular War
Villafranca del Bierzo Battle of Villafranca (1809) (Spain)
Date 17 March 1809 Location NearVillafranca del Bierzo,Spain 42°36′N6°49′W / 42.600°N 6.817°W /42.600; -6.817 Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
French Empire	Spain
Commanders and leaders
unknown	General La Romana
Strength
1,200	3,800–6,000 6 guns
Casualties and losses
700 killed 575 captured	Unknown

Peninsular War: Second French invasion

110km
68miles

6

Sanpayo

5

Grijó

4

Porto

3

Braga

2

Villafranca

1

Chaves

   

  current battle

TheBattle of Villafranca del Bierzo took place on 17 March 1809, during theFrenchoccupation ofLeón in thePeninsular War. After a bloody four-hour siege the small and isolated French garrison at Villafranca surrendered toSpanish regulars underBrigadierJosé de Mendizábal and GeneralPedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romana.^[1]

In 1809 Spanish military operations in northern Spain were marked by sporadic efforts to expelMarshal Ney's French VI Corps from the provinces it had overrun following the collapse of the Spanish armies the previous year. Fragments of the armies torn-apart by the French, operating in conjunction with some 30,000guerrillas and militia, prowled the coasts ofGalicia andAsturias, raiding and skirmishing with Ney's 17,000 troops. Garrisoning the hostile region ate up most of Ney's resources, and in March 1809, the French evacuatedVigo andTuy and withdrew from guerrilla-infested southern Galicia.^[2]

One remaining Spanish formation, GeneralPedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romana'sdivision of regular infantry, established itself inAsturias and harassed the French in León andGalicia, capturing Imperial troops and supplies with impunity. In March, elements of the unit, armed with a French 12-pound gun and munitions recovered from an abandoned post atPonferrada, struck at French communications withMadrid by attacking the French post atVillafranca.^{[citation needed]}

The vanguard of the attack was formed of some 1,500 men of theZaragoza andZamora regiments under Mendizábal. On the 17 March they entered the plaza at Villafranca and closed in on the French entrenched in the castle. A costly battle broke out that claimed the lives of several Spanish officers. After four hours of fighting the French agreed to surrender.^{[citation needed]}

One authority^[who?] credited General La Romana with 3,800 Spanish troops and six artillery pieces. This force included two battalions each of thePrincesa andAsturias^{[citation needed]} Infantry Regiments. The 1,200-man French force included one battalion of the 6th Light Infantry Regiment plus several hundred sick and wounded soldiers. The French lost 700 killed and wounded plus another 574 unwounded men captured. Spanish losses are not known.^[3] A second historian wrote that the Spanish had 6,000 men.^[2]

• Timeline of the Peninsular War

• Esdaile, Charles J. (2003).The Peninsular War. Palgrave MacMillan.ISBN 978-1-4039-6231-7. Retrieved19 May 2021.
• Gates, David (2001).The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War. Da Capo Press.ISBN 0-306-81083-2.
• Smith, Digby (1998).The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill.ISBN 1-85367-276-9.

• efem (2013)."Toma de Villafranca del Bierzo".Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved19 May 2021.

• Media related toBattle of Villafranca (1809) at Wikimedia Commons

• Sieges of the Peninsular War involving Spain
• Military history of Castile and León
• Battles in 1809
• 1809 in Spain
• March 1809
• History of the Province of León
• El Bierzo

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