| Siege of Cádiz | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of thePeninsular War | |||||||
 Map ofCádiz in 1813 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Spain United Kingdom Portugal |  France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Manuel LapeñaJosé de ZayasDuke of AlburquerqueThomas Graham | Claude VictorNicolas Jean-de-Dieu SoultBaron Sénarmont † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 896 dead 3,706 wounded[2] | 4,500–5,500 dead or wounded[3] 30 ships destroyed[4] | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheFrench army besieged the large Spanish naval base ofCádiz from 5 February 1810 to 24 August 1812 during thePeninsular War.[5][6] Following the occupation ofSeville,Cádiz became the Spanish seat of power,[7] and was targeted by 70,000 French troops under the command of the MarshalsClaude Victor andNicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult for one of the most important sieges of the war.[8] Defending the city were 2,000 Spanish troops who, as the siege progressed, received aid from 10,000 Spanish reinforcements as well as British and Portuguese troops.
During the siege, which lasted two and a half years, theCortes of Cádiz – which served as a parliamentary Regency afterFerdinand VII was deposed – drew up anew constitution to reduce the strength of the monarchy, which was eventually revoked by Fernando VII when he returned.[9]
In October 1810, a mixed Anglo-Spanish relief force embarked on a disastrouslanding at Fuengirola. A second relief attempt was made atTarifa in 1811. However, despite defeating a detached French force of 15,000–20,000 under Marshal Victor at theBattle of Barrosa, the siege was not lifted.
In 1812, theBattle of Salamanca eventually forced the French troops to retreat fromAndalusia, for fear of being cut off by the Coalition armies.[10] The French defeat contributed decisively to the liberation of Spain from French occupation, due to the survival of the Spanish government and the use of Cádiz as a jump-off point for the Coalition forces.[1]
TheRevolution under siege started with the siege of Cádiz.
In the early 19th century, war was brewing between French emperorNapoleon and theRussianTsarAlexander I, and Napoleon saw the shared interests of Britain and Russia in defeating him as a threat. Napoleon's advisor, theDuke of Cadore, recommended that the ports of Europe be closed to the British, stating that "Once in Cadiz, Sire, you will be in a position either to break or strengthen the bonds with Russia".[11]
Soult and his French army invaded Portugal in 1809 but were beaten by Wellesleyat Oporto on 12 May. The British and Spanish armies advanced into mainland Spain, however the difficulties that the Spanish army bore forcedArthur Wellesley to retreat into Portugal after Spanish defeats in the battles ofOcaña andAlba de Tormes. By 1810, the war had reached astalemate. Wellesley strengthened Portuguese and Spanish positions with the construction of theLines of Torres Vedras, and the remainder of the Spanish forces fell back to defend the Spanish government at Cádiz against Soult's Army of Andalusia.[citation needed]
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The port ofCádiz was surrounded on land by the armies of Soult and Victor, in three entrenched positions at Chiclana, Puerto Real and Santa Maria, positioned in a semicircle around the city.[12] In the case of the former position, only an area of marshland separated the forces.[13] The French initially sent an envoy with a demand for surrender, which was refused.[14] The fortress of Matagorda, north of Cádiz, was bombarded by the French. When the fort became untenable, it was evacuated by the defending94th Regiment of Foot. The last person to leave was to be Maj Lefebure of theRoyal Engineers, whose job was to fire amine to destroy the fort, but he was killed by a cannon shot.[15] The French forces now had access to the coast close to Cádiz. The ensuing bombardment of the Spanish coastal city involved some of the largest artillery pieces in existence at the time, includingGrand Mortars, which were so large they had to be abandoned when the French eventually retreated, and fired projectiles to distances previously thought impossible, some up to 5 kilometres (3 miles) in range.[4] (TheGrand Mortar was placed inSt. James's Park in London as a gift to the British in honour of the Duke of Wellington.[16]) The French continued to bombard Cádiz until the end of 1810, but the extreme distance lessened their effect.[17]
The terrain surrounding the strong fortifications of Cádiz proved difficult for the French to attack, and the French also suffered from a lack of supplies, particularly ammunition, and from continuous guerrilla raiding parties attacking the rear of their siege lines and their internal communications withAndalusia.[12] On many occasions, the French were forced to send escorts of 150–200 men to guard couriers and supply convoys in the hinterland. So great were the difficulties that one historian judges that:
The French siege of Cadiz was largely illusory. There was no real hope that they would ever take the place. Far more real was the siege of the French army in Andalusia. Spanish forces from the mountains ofMurcia constantly harried the eastern part of the province. They were frequently defeated but always reformed. A ragged army underGeneral Ballesteros usually operated within Andalusia itself. Soult repeatedly sent columns against it. It always escaped ... French dominion was secure only in the plains of the Guadalquivir and in Seville.[18]
French reinforcements continued to arrive through to 20 April, and the capture of an outer Spanish fort guarding the road through to the Puerto Real helped to facilitate the arrival of these forces. This captured fort also provided the French with a vantage point from which to shell ships coming in and out of the besieged Spanish port.[12]
During 1811, Victor's force was continually diminished by requests for reinforcement from Soult to aid hissiege of Badajoz.[19] This reduction in men, which brought the French numbers down to between 20,000–15,000, encouraged the defenders of Cádiz to attempt a breakout.[20] A sortie of 4,000 Spanish troops, under the command of GeneralJosé de Zayas, was arranged in conjunction with the arrival of an Anglo-Spanish relief army of around 16,000 troops that landed 80 kilometres (50 miles) south inTarifa. This Anglo-Spanish force was under the overall command of Spanish GeneralManuel Lapeña, with the British contingent being led by Lieutenant-GeneralSir Thomas Graham. On 21 February 1811, the force set sail for Tarifa, and eventually landed atAlgeciras on 23 February.[20] Eventually marching towards Cádiz on 28 February, the force met a detachment of two French divisions under Victorat Barrosa. The battle was a tactical victory for the Coalition force,[21] with a Frenchregimental eagle captured,[22] but it was strategically indecisive.[23]
Smaller sorties of 2,000–3,000 men continued to operate out of Cádiz from April to August 1811.[24] On 26 October, British naval gunboats fromGibraltar destroyed French positions at St. Mary's,[25] killing French artillery commanderAlexandre-Antoine Hureau de Sénarmont. An attempt by Victor to crush the small Anglo-Spanish garrison atTarifa over the winter of 1811–1812 was frustrated by torrential rains and an obstinate defence, marking an end to French operations against the city's outer works.
On 22 July 1812, Wellesley won a tactical victory overAuguste Marmontat Salamanca. The Spanish, British and Portuguese then enteredMadrid on 6 August and advanced towardsBurgos. Realising that his army was in danger of being cut off, Soult ordered a retreat from Cádiz set for 24 August. After an overnight artillery barrage, the French intentionally burst most of their 600 guns by overcharging and detonating them. The Coalition forces captured many guns, 30gunboats and a large quantity of stores.[4]
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Media related toSiege of Cádiz at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Battle of Alba de Tormes | Napoleonic Wars Siege of Cádiz | Succeeded by Siege of Astorga |