Battle of Alcañiz
Part of thePeninsular War
Battle of Alcañiz (Spain)
Date 23 May 1809[1] Location Alcañiz, west ofTeruel,Spain 41°03′00″N0°07′48″E / 41.0500°N 0.1300°E /41.0500; 0.1300 Result Spanish victory[1]
Belligerents
French Empire	Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
Louis Gabriel Suchet	Joaquín Blake y Joyes Martín García-Loygorri
Strength
8,000[1]	9,000[1]
Casualties and losses
700 dead or wounded[1]	300 dead or wounded[1]

Peninsular War: Aragón Catalonia

220km
137miles

21

20

Castalla

19

18

Valencia

17

Saguntum

16

15

14

13

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

María

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Alcañiz

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1

   

  current battle

TheBattle of Alcañiz resulted in the defeat of Major-GeneralLouis Gabriel Suchet'sFrench army on 23 May 1809 by aSpanish force under GeneralJoaquín Blake y Joyes.^[2]

The victory is credited toGeneralMartín García-Loygorri's superb command of the Spanish artillery, which allowed the French columns to close and then mauled them with well-directed salvos. Loygorri was later promoted toField Marshal and became the firstartillery officer ever to receive theLaureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand.

TheSpanish campaign in early 1809 started with theBattle of Uclés.

General of Division Suchet's III Corps included 7,292 men in two infantry divisions, 18 cannon and 526 cavalrymen. The 1st Division, under General of DivisionAnne-Gilbert Laval, had two battalions each of the 14th Line and the 3rdLegion of the Vistula (Poles). General of DivisionLouis François Félix Musnier's 2nd Division was made up of three battalions each of the 114th and 115th Line, two battalions of the 1st Legion of the Vistula, and one battalion of the 121st Line. Suchet also had a bodyguard of 450 infantrymen. The 4th Hussars and 13th Cuirassier Regiments formed the cavalry.

Lieutenant General Blake formed his men into three wings, which were roughly equivalent to divisions. General Areizaga commanded the Left Wing (five battalions, plus one company), General Marquis de Lazan (five and one-half battalions) led the Center and General Roca managed the Right Wing (seven battalions). In addition to the 8,101 foot soldiers, the Spanish army had 445 cavalrymen and 19 cannons.^[3]

Suchet lost over 800 men killed and wounded, while Spanish casualties numbered only about 300.^[3] The Spanish victory caused Suchet to evacuate most of Aragon. Blake secured 25,000 new recruits, so many that he could not provide them all with weapons. Suchet avenged his defeat at theBattle of María in June.

TheSpanish campaign in early 1809 proceeded with the French advance in Catalonia in theBattle of María.

• Bodart, Gaston (1908).Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved23 May 2021.
• Esdaile, Charles J. (2003).The Peninsular War. Palgrave MacMillan.ISBN 9781403962317. Retrieved23 May 2021.
• Smith, Digby (1998).The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill.ISBN 1-85367-276-9.

• Napier, William (1828a).History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France. Vol. I. London : T. & W. Boone. Retrieved23 May 2021.
• Napier, William (1828b).History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France. Vol. II. London : T. & W. Boone. Retrieved23 May 2021.
• Napier, William (1828c).History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France. Vol. III. London : T. & W. Boone. Retrieved23 May 2021.

• Batalla de Alcañiz
• Spanish Artillery Officers during the War of Independence
• Media related toBattle of Alcañiz at Wikimedia Commons

• Battles of the Peninsular War involving Spain
• Province of Teruel
• Military history of Aragon
• Battles in 1809
• 1809 in Spain
• May 1809

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