| Peninsular War | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofNapoleonic Wars | |||
 Movements of the French troops in Spain during the first stages (1808–1811) of the Peninsular War (key in Spanish) | |||
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The following tables show the sequence of events of thePeninsular War (1807–1814), including major battles, smaller actions, uprisings, sieges and other related events that took place during that period.[note 1]
For ease of reference using modern maps, the provinces/regions given for Spain and Portugal are those that correspond to the 20th century.[note 2] Events in Portugal and France are specified.
The Peninsular War was a military conflict for control of theIberian Peninsula during theNapoleonic Wars, waged betweenFrance and the allied powers ofSpain, theUnited Kingdom andPortugal. It started when French and Spanish armies, then allied, occupied Portugal in 1807, and escalated in 1808 when France turned on Spain, its former ally. The war on the peninsula lasted until theSixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, and is regarded as one of the firstwars of national liberation, and significant for the emergence of large-scaleguerrilla warfare. British and Portuguese forces eventually secured Portugal, using it as a safe position from which to launch campaigns against the French army, while both Spanish and Portuguese guerrillas weakened the occupying forces.
The Peninsular War overlaps with what theSpanish-speaking world calls theGuerra de la Independencia Española (Spanish War of Independence), which began with theDos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814. Although Spain had been in upheaval since at least theMutiny of Aranjuez (March 1808), May 1808 marks the start of the Spanish War of Independence. The French occupation destroyed theSpanish administration, which fragmented into quarrellingprovincialjuntas. In 1810, a reconstituted national government, theCortes of Cádiz—effectively a government-in-exile—fortified itself inCádiz but could not raise effective armies because it wasbesieged by up to 70,000 French troops. Cádiz would go on to hold the distinction of being the only city in continental Europe to survive a siege by Napoleon: thirty-one months—from 5 February 1810 to 25 August 1812.[1] The combined efforts of regular and irregular forces throughout the peninsula prevented Napoleon'smarshals from subduing the rebellious Spanish provinces, and the war continued through years of stalemate.[2]
While the initial stages of the Peninsular War were fought on Portuguese soil, most of the war was fought on Spanish soil and, as the French army was pushed further back across thePyrenees, the final stages of the war were fought on French soil.
| Date | Event | Province/ | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12–18 October 1807 | French troops enter Spain en route to Portugal | Irun,Basque Country | Manoeuvres (French) | Junot crosses into Spain atIrun with the 25,000[3]–28,000[1] troops of the Corps of Observation of the Gironde. TheTreaty of Fontainebleau, to be signed later that month, stipulates that three columns of Spanish troops numbering 25,500 men will support theInvasion of Portugal.[3] |
| 27 October 1807 | Treaty of Fontainebleau signed byCharles IV of Spain andNapoleon I of France | Fontainebleau | Treaty | The accord proposed the division of the Kingdom of Portugal and all Portuguese dominions between the signatories.[3] |
| 12 November 1807 | Junot's Army of the Gironde reaches Salamanca[3] | Salamanca,Castile and León | Manoeuvres (French) | |
| 19–30 November 1807 | Invasion of Portugal | Portugal | Manoeuvres (French) | Junot enters Portugal 19 November, moving west from Alcántara along the Tagus valley to Portugal, a distance of only 120 miles (193 km).[3] |
| 22 November 1807 | Dupont's Second Corps of Observation of the Gironde crosses into Spain | Bayonne to Spain | Manoeuvres (French) | The 25,000 men of the French reserves, the Second Corps of Observation of the Gironde, under General Dupont, crossed into Spain.[3] The following month, when MarshalMoncey's troops also crossed the Pyrenees (see 8 January 1808, below), Dupont marched on towards Madrid, cantoning in Burgos, Valladolid, and other major cities of Old Castile. |
| 29 November 1807 | Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil | The Royal Court of Portugal, headed by the Prince Regent,Prince John and his mother,Maria I of Portugal, set sail for Brazil, escorted by the BritishRoyal Navy, led by SirSidney Smith and SirGraham Moore (younger brother of SirJohn Moore). | ||
| 30 November 1807 | Junot occupies Lisbon[4] | Lisbon | Manoeuvres (French) | Junot entered the city with only 1,500 troops; the rest of his troops arriving over the following ten days.[3] |
| 1 December 1807 | First anti-French riots[4] | Lisbon | ||
| 13 December 1807 | Anti-French riots | Lisbon | Junot ordered the Portuguese flag be replaced by the tricolour on the public buildings in the city, which led to a fierce riot, dispersed with a cavalry charge.[3] |
| Date | Event | Province/ | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 January 1808 | Bayonne – Spain | Manoeuvres (French) | Following GeneralDupont's entry into Spain the previous month (see 22 November 1807, above), a third army corps, MarshalMoncey's 30,000-strong Corps of Observation of the Ocean Coast, crossed the border via Bayonne, occupying all the major towns of Biscay and Navarre.[3] | |
| February 1808 | Junot dissolves the Regency Council and disbands the Portuguese army.[4] | Manoeuvres (French) | ThePortuguese Legion, comprising 6,000 Portuguese soldiers, sent to France.[4] | |
| 10 February 1808 | French troops enter Catalonia | Barcelona,Catalonia | Manoeuvre (French) | GeneralDuhesme, at the head of 14,000 troops, half French, half Italians, enters Catalonia and moves towards Barcelona.[3] |
| 16 February 1808 | Citadel of Pamplona (Capture of) | Pamplona,Navarre | Manoeuvres (French) | The French troops quartered in the town surprised the Spanish garrison at the Citadel.Oman (1902) refers to thiscoup de main, the first of a series of similar actions, as the "infamous seizure by surprise of the Spanish frontier fortresses, which would pass for the most odious act of the Emperor's whole career, if the kidnapping at Bayonne were not to follow".[3] |
| 29 February 1808 | Citadel of Barcelona (Capture of) | Barcelona,Catalonia | Manoeuvres (French) | GeneralLecchi, commanding the French troops passing through Barcelona, marched his division through the city to the gate of the citadel and suddenly entered the fortress, before the Spanish garrison realised what was happening and, without a fight, evicted the Spanish troops.[3] |
| 5 March 1808 | Fortress of San Sebastian (Capture of) | San Sebastian | Manoeuvres (French) | One of Spain's frontier fortresses, this one at the Atlantic end of the Pyrenees, was surrendered when orders from Madrid forbade its governor to resist an assault.[3] |
| 10 March 1808 | Joachim Murat crosses into Spain from Bayonne | Manoeuvres (French) | Napoleon's brother-in-law, the new Grand-Duke of Berg, as 'Lieutenant of the Emperor', was to take command of all the French forces in Spain.[3] | |
| 17–19 March 1808 | Mutiny of Aranjuez | Aranjuez,Madrid | Ferdinand, Prince of the Asturias, announced that theKing was displeased withGodoy, the Prince of the Peace, and had determined to dismiss him. The following morning, a royal decree was issued, declaring Godoy relieved of all his posts and duties and banished from the court.[3] | |
| 18 March 1808 | Sant Ferran Castle (Capture of) | Figueres,Catalonia | Manoeuvres (French) | The citadel at Figueres, on the Mediterranean coast, yet another of Spain's frontier fortresses, was seized by acoup de main similar to the one carried out a month earlier at Pamplona.[3] (See 16 February 1808, above.) |
| 18 March 1808 | Joachim Murat | Burgos | Manoeuvres (French) | With the arrival at Burgos of Napoleon's brother-in-law, Murat, newly appointed Lieutenant of the Emperor, and commissioned to take command of all the French forces in Spain, together with the news that more than 30,000 troops, under MarshalBessières, had already started to cross the Pyrenees, bringing up the total of French troops on the Peninsula to more than 100,000 men,Godoy ordered the departure of theKing for Seville.[3] |
| 19 March 1808 | Charles IV of Spain abdicates | Aranjuez,Madrid | Abdication | Charles IV of Spain abdicated in favour of his son,Ferdinand VII[5] |
| 23 March 1808 | Murat enters Madrid[5] | Madrid | Manoeuvres (French) | In his letter to his brotherLouis, dated 27 March 1808, offering him the throne of Spain, Napoleon stated that he had 100,000 troops in Spain, and that 40,000 of them had entered Madrid with Murat on 23 March 1808.[6] |
| 24 March 1808 | Ferdinand VII enters Madrid[5] | Madrid | Manoeuvres (French) | |
| 2 May 1808 | Dos de Mayo Uprising | Madrid | Uprising: French victory | Following the fighting at theRoyal Palace, rebellion spread to other parts of the city, with street fighting in different areas including heavy fighting around thePuerta del Sol, the Puerta de Toledo and at the Monteleón barracks. Martial law was imposed on the city. Hundreds of people died in the fighting, including around 150 French soldiers. The uprising was depicted by the Spanish artistGoya inThe Second of May 1808 (The Charge of the Mamelukes) andThe Third of May 1808. |
| 6 May 1808 | Ferdinand VII abdicates | Bayonne | Abdication | Abdications of Bayonne. |
| 9 May 1808 | Uprising in Oviedo | Oviedo,Asturias | Uprising | On 13 May, the president of the Junta of Asturias, theMarquis of Santa Cruz, declared that "when and wherever one single Spaniard took arms against Napoleon, he would shoulder a musket and put himself at that man's side".[3] On 24 May, theMarquis of Campo Sagrado was appointed lieutenant general.[7] |
| 23 May 1808 | Uprising in Valencia[8] | Valencia | Uprising | Valencia acknowledges Fernando as King of Spain. The governor,[9] Miguel de Saavedra, Baron Albalat,[10] is killed by the crowds.Bertrán de Lis and his brothers arm the population. The captain-general,Marquis of the Conquista is deposed and substituted by theCount of Cervellón.[7] |
| 24 May 1808 | Uprising in Zaragoza[9] | Zaragoza | Uprising | Captain generalGuillelmi is imprisoned andPalafox appointed captain general in his place (26 May).[7] |
| 24 May 1808 | Uprising in Murcia | Murcia | Uprising | Floridablanca appointed president of the newly formed localjunta.[7] González Llamas promoted to lieutenant general.[7] The captain general of Cartagena,Francisco de Borja, assassinated.[7] |
| 24 May 1808 – 5 June 1808 | Dupont marches from Toledo | Toledo –Andújar,Andalusia | Manoeuvres (French) | After having originally received orders from Murat to head for Cádiz, which were countermanded by Napoleon, thinking that his troops might be needed in Madrid, Dupont finally left Toledo with 13,000 second-line troops. After crossingSierra Morena and encountering no hostility along the way, he occupied Andujar on 5 June.[3] |
| 26 May 1808 | Uprising in Seville<[3] | Seville | Uprising | Francisco de Saavedra appointed president of the newly formed localjunta.[7] |
| 27 May 1808 | Uprising in Santander | Santander | Uprising | Juan Manuel Velarde appointed captain general and theBishop of Santander appointed president of the localjunta.[7] |
| 29 May 1808 | Uprising in Cádiz | Cádiz | Uprising | The captain general,Solano, assassinated.Tomás de Morla appointed captain general.[7] |
| 30 May 1808 | Uprisings in Corunna and Ferrol[3] | Galicia | Uprising | Taking over from the then acting captain-general of Galicia,Biedma,Filangieri was appointed president of the newly formed localjunta at Corunna, but assassinated the following month.Joaquín Blake promoted to lieutenant general.[7] |
| 30 May 1808 | Uprising in Extremadura | Extremadura | Uprising | The captain general, theCount of Torre del Fresno, assassinated.[7]Galluzo promoted to lieutenant general.[7] |
| 30 May 1808 | Uprising in Granada | Granada | Uprising | The captain general is forced to proclaim himself in favour of Ferdinand VII.[7] A localjunta set up, independent from that of Seville.[7] |
| 30 May 1808 | Uprising in Balearic Islands | Balearic Islands | Uprising | The captain general,Vives, based atMallorca, appointed president of the newly formed localjunta.[7] |
| End of May 1808 | Uprising in Valladolid | Valladolid | Uprising | Riots led to the captain general,Cuesta, being forced to lead the rebellion.[7] |
| Beginning of June 1808 | Uprising in Canary Islands | Canary Islands | Uprising | Once news had arrived from Seville, a localjunta was set up, Captain generalCagigal was arrested andCarlos O'Donnell appointed captain general in his place.[7] |
| 5 June 1808 | Despeñaperros | Jaén,Andalusia | Spanish victory (guerrillas) | Two squadrons of French dragoons were attacked by insurgents at the northern entrance to the pass of Despenaperros, a steep gorge (defile) in theSierra Morena that separates Castile-La Mancha (including Madrid) from Andalusia. The French were forced to retreat to the nearby town ofAlmuradiel. |
| 5 June 1808 | Uprising of Santa Cruz de Mudela | Ciudad Real,Castile-La Mancha | Uprising: Spanish victory | The 700 French troops stationed in the village ofSanta Cruz de Mudela are attacked by the population. After 109 French soldiers were killed and 113 taken prisoner, the rest fled back in the direction of Madrid, toValdepeñas. (See 6 June 1808, below.) |
| 5–6 June 1808 | Valencia (Massacre of) | Valencia | Massacre | Canon (clergy)Baltasar Calvo instigated the massacre of 300–400 French citizens, half of whom were inside the city's citadel, where the local authorities were protecting them against popular reprisals following thekillings in Madrid.[10] After having declared himself the only representative of King Ferdinand and was about to issue orders for dismissing the captain-general,Conde de Cervellon, and dissolving the Junta, Calvo was arrested, tried as a traitor and executed. Some two hundred of his followers were also executed and their bodies exposed in public.[9] |
| 6 June 1808 | Uprising of Valdepeñas | Ciudad Real,Castile-La Mancha | Uprising: Spanish victory | Following the previous day's uprising inSanta Cruz de Mudela,Liger-Bélair andRoize, at the head of some 800 troops, together with some 300 soldiers that had escaped from the Santa Cruz uprising the previous day, prepare to march through the town ofValdepeñas. The population attack the leading column and Liger-Bélair sends in the dragoons, who are also forced to retreat. The resulting truce stipulates that, in return for a day's worth of food supplies, the French troops will not pass through the village. These actions at Santa Cruz (see 5 June 1808, above) and Valdepeñas, together with more isolated actions in theSierra Morena, effectively cut French military communications between Madrid and Andalusia for around a month. |
| 6 June 1808 | Porto (Uprising of) | Porto (Portugal) | Uprising: Portuguese victory | On hearing of the rebellion in Spain, Spanish generalBelesta, having participated in theInvasion of Portugal, and stationed at Porto with 6,000 Spanish troops, captures the French generalQuesnel, and marches to Coruña to join the fight against the French troops, sparking off a series of uprisings throughout the north of Portugal. |
| 6 June 1808 | Coronation of Joseph I | Madrid | Napoleon's elder brother,Joseph Bonaparte, proclaimed King of Spain.[11] His reign lasted until 11 December 1813, when he abdicated and returned to France after the French defeat at theBattle of Vitoria in 1813. | |
| 6 June 1808 | First battle of Bruch | El Bruc,Barcelona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | See also Second battle of Bruch (14 June 1808), below. Often grouped together as one battle, there were in fact two separate battles, or skirmishes, separated by more than a week, with different armies and commanders involved: of the 12 French regiments that participated, only one of them fought at both battles. AlthoughSchwarz's 3,800 troops had successfully fought off the initial ambush by a smaller Spanish army numbering some 900 men, they did not pursue their advantage and were routed when reinforcements ofmiquelets andsomatenes arrived. The battle saw troops of the Swiss Wimpffen Regiment fighting on both sides, since a detachment had recently deserted the French army to join the Spanish troops.[12] |
| 7 June 1808 | Battle of Alcolea Bridge | Córdoba,Andalusia | French victory | AtAlcolea, 10 km from Córdoba,Dupont's troops engaged in their first battle in Andalusia against 3,000 regular troops under Pedro Agustín de Echávarri who tried to protect the bridge over theGuadalquivir. The same day, Dupont capturedCórdoba. |
| 7 June 1808 | Córdoba | Córdoba,Andalusia | French victory/sack | On their way toSeville, and ultimately toCádiz,Dupont's 18,000 troops capture Córdoba, ransacking the city over four days. However, damaging guerrilla actions force Dupont to withdraw towards Madrid to meet up withGobert's division, that had set out from Madrid on 2 July to reinforce Dupont. Only one brigade of this division ultimately reached Dupont, the rest being needed to hold the road north (to Madrid) against the guerrillas. |
| 9–10 June 1808 | Sack of L'Arboç | L'Arboç,Tarragona,Catalonia | Manoeuvres (French)/sack | On retreating back from Tarragona towards Barcelona,[3] GeneralChabran's vanguard was attacked and chased away by some 1,200sometents fromEl Vendrell and 200 Swiss regulars. When Chabran's emissary returned to negotiate, the villagers met them with gunfire and the French troops retaliated, sacking the village.[13] |
| 9–14 June 1808 | Capture of the Rosily Squadron | Cádiz,Andalusia | Spanish victory | |
| 11 June 1808 | Arrest of Spanish troops in Portugal | Lisbon, Portugal | Manoeuvres (French) | Following GeneralBelesta's escape from Porto (See 6 June 1808, above),Junot arrested GeneralCarrafa and rounded up most of his 7,000 troops,[note 3] the only Spanish troops now left in Portugal, were disarmed and kept prisoners on pontoons moored under the guns of the Lisbon forts, until the English released them after thebattle of Vimiero, ten weeks later,[3] under the terms of theConvention of Cintra. |
| 12 June 1808 | Battle of Cabezón | Valladolid,Castile and León | French victory | |
| 14 June 1808 | Second battle of Bruch | El Bruc,Barcelona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | See also First battle of Bruch (6 June 1808), above. FollowingSchwarz's defeat at the First battle of Bruc (see 6 June, above),Duhesme sentChabran on a punitive operation. Some 1,800 men, with four cannon, under ColonelJuan Baget fought against Chabran's 1st Division, comprising some 5,600 troops. Although they were only really skirmishes, the two actions at Bruc mark the first victories over Napoleon's army in Spain and, as such, were put to good use as Fernandine propaganda.[12] |
| 15 June 1808 – 14 August 1808 | First Siege of Zaragoza | Zaragoza,Aragón | Spanish victory | |
| 16 June 1808 | Uprising of Olhão | Olhão (Portugal) | Uprising: Portuguese victory | Portuguese civilians revolted and expelled the French forces from Olhão.[3] By 23 June, all French forces had been expelled from the region ofAlgarve. |
| 17 June 1808 | Skirmish of Mongat | Montgat,Barcelona,Catalonia | French victory | On his way to Girona, with four French and three Italian squadrons ofcuirassiers andchasseurs, almost the whole of his cavalry, that is, some 5,900 men, nearly half his corps, and a battery of eight guns,Duhesme was met at theCastle of Montgat by some 8,000 or 9,000somatenes who fled after suffering severe losses.[3] |
| 17 June 1808 | Sack of Mataró | Mataró,Barcelona,Catalonia | Manoeuvres (French)/sack | Met with barricades, and two or three cannon, Milosewitz's Italian brigade easily stormed the town, whichDuhesme's troops entered that same afternoon, and were given permission by their general to sack the town.[3] After leaving Mataró the following day, the French troops then destroyed every other village on the road to Girona.[3] |
| 18 June 1808 | Uprising of Faro | Faro (Portugal) | Uprising: Portuguese victory | On 18 June the civilians in the city of Faro captured 70 French soldiers and GeneralMaurin, the Governor of Algarve.[3] ColonelMaransin, Maurin's second-in-command, having lost his communications with Lisbon, evacuated his 1,200 men, a battalion each of the 26th of the line and the Légion du Midi, from the province. He withdrew first toMertola and then toBeja, in theAlemtejo, before heading to Lisbon.[3] (See 26 June 1808, below.) |
| 19 June 1808 | Vedel marches from Toledo | Toledo –La Carolina | Manoeuvres (French) | Vedel, with the 6,000 men, 700 horse, and 12 guns of the 2nd Division, set out south from Toledo to force a passage over theSierra Morena, hold the mountains from the guerrillas, and link up withDupont, pacifying Castile-La Mancha along the way. Vedel was joined during the march by small detachments underRoize andLiger-Bélair. |
| 20–21 June 1808 | Battle of Girona | Girona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | |
| 21 June 1808 | Manoeuvres (French)/Portuguese victory | Loison, based atAlmeida, left for Porto with two battalions, some 2,000 men, and a few guns to garrison that city. Crossing theDouro at the ferry ofPezo-de-Ragoa, his troops were attacked on all sides by the local population, which fired on his troops from above, and rolled rocks down the slopes at them, forcing them to retreat back to Almeida. | ||
| 26–28 June 1808 | Battle of Valencia | Valencia,Valencia | Spanish victory | |
| 26 June 1808 | Sack of Villa Viciosa | Villa Viciosa,District of Évora, Portugal | Manoeuvres (French)/sack | Avril, based atEstremoz, nearElvas, relieved the French garrison atVilla Viciosa, where the townsfolk had besieged the company of the86th Regiment. The French force sacked the town.[3] |
| 26 June 1808 | Sack of Beja | Beja, Portugal | Manoeuvres (French)/sack | Isolated in the centre of the insurrection in Portugal,Maransin had leftMertola to withdraw towards Lisbon with his 1,200 men. At Beja, a mass of citizens fired upon the French troops from the town's walls. The French force sacked the town.[3] (See 18 June 1808, above.) |
| 26 June 1808 | Puerta del Rey (mountain pass) | Jaén,Andalusia | French victory | Vedel's column faced Lieutenant-Colonel Valdecaños's detachment of Spanish regulars and guerrillas with six guns blocking the mountain pass. The following day, Vedel met up withDupont atLa Carolina, reestablishing military communications with Madrid after a month of disruption. With the reinforcements from Vedel andGobert, Dupont now had 20,000 men, albeit short of supplies.[14] |
| 27 June 1808 | Gijón: Arrival of British officers | Asturias | Delegation | In response to theJunta General of Asturias' request to London, thePortland administration sent three British Army officers, led by a lieutenant colonel, toGijón to assess the state of affairs. Following the Spanish victory atBailén the following month, theSecretary of State for War and the Colonies,Viscount Castlereagh sent a second delegation, led by General SirJames Leith, who arrived in Gijón on 30 August 1808 charged with seeing how the north of Spain could be reinforced to prevent Napoleon sending in more troops through Irun, and isolating him in Madrid or Burgos. Leith would joinBaird's forces in November 1808.[15] |
| 30 June 1808 | Balearic Islands to mainland Spain | Manoeuvres (Spanish) | The corps of 10,000 men stationed in theBalearic Islands was the nearest force able to succour Catalonia. Faced with the open mutiny of the Aragonese and Catalan battalions of his army, the Captain-General atPalma, GeneralVives, in charge of the garrisons of Majorca and Minorca finally agreed to send troops fromPort Mahon to the mainland.[note 4] The Aragonese regiment landed nearTortosa, and marched for Saragossa, while the bulk of the expeditionary force, nearly 5,000 strong, was put ashore in Catalonia between 19 and 23 July. | |
| 2–3 July 1808 | Sack of Jaen | Jaen,Jaén,Andalusia | Manoeuvres (French) | Dupont orderedVedel, based at Baylen, to send a brigade, which sacked the city.[3] |
| 4 July 1808 | Sack of Guarda | Guarda,District of Guarda, Portugal | Manoeuvres (French) | Loison left a garrison of 1,200 men atAlmeida, having formed a provisional battalion of soldiers not deemed fit for forced marching, and spent a week moving through the mountains ofBeira, skirmishing with insurgents along the way and sacking the town ofGuarda. By the time he reachedAbrantes he had lost 200 men, mostly stragglers killed by peasantry. His cruelty led to his nickname, "Maneta" (‘One-Hand’), being accursed for many years in Portugal. |
| 13 July 1808 – 1 August 1808 | Expeditionary force (British) | Cork, Ireland –Mondego Bay,Coimbra District, Portugal | Manoeuvres (British) | Wellington's expeditionary force, comprising thirteen battalions of infantry plus cavalry and artillery,[16] 9,000 men in all,[2] sailed from Cork, landing in Portugal on 1 August.[16] |
| 14 July 1808 | Battle of Medina de Rioseco | Valladolid,Castile and León | French victory | Also known as the Battle of Moclín, from the name of a nearby hill held by Spanish infantry.Blake'sArmy of Galicia, with little training, managed to withstandMerle's initial attack but were unable to resist the attack by GeneralLasalle's elite cavalry division.[12] |
| 16–19 July 1808 | Battle of Bailén | Jaén,Andalusia | Spanish victory (decisive) | Having lost some 2,000 men on the battlefield, together with some 800 Swiss troops that had gone over toReding's Swiss regiment,Dupont called for a truce, formally surrendered his remaining 17,600 men on 23 July. Under the terms of surrender, Dupont, Vedel and their troops were to be repatriated to France. However, with the exception of the most senior officers, most of the French rank and file were confined on hulks inCádiz, before being transported to the uninhabited island ofCabrera, where half of the 7,000 men starved to death.[5] |
| 24 July 1808 – 16 August 1808 | Second Siege of Girona | Girona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | |
| 29 July 1808 | Battle of Évora | Alentejo (Portugal) | French victory | The following day, the French GeneralLoison massacred the men, women, and children, of Évora, marking the future of the relationships between the different nations. |
| 1 August 1808 – 17 December 1808 | Blockade of Barcelona | Barcelona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 7 August 1808 – 11 October 1808 | Evacuation of the La Romana Division | Denmark–Spain by sea | Manoeuvres (Spanish) | Some 9,000 men stationed in Denmark, belonging to the 15,000-strongDivision of the North, comprising Spanish troops commanded byPedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romana, defected from the armies of theFirst French Empire under the leadership ofMarshalBernadotte. Transported aboard British navy ships, on reachingSantander, they reinforcedBlake'sArmy of Galicia. Entering into battle atValmaseda, on 5 November 1808, they defeatedVictor's army, only to be defeated by the same forces a few days later at theBattle of Espinosa. |
| 17 August 1808 | Battle of Roliça | Leiria (Portugal) | Anglo-Portuguese victory, tactical French retreat | The first battle fought by the British army during the Peninsular War.[17] |
| 21 August 1808 | Battle of Vimeiro | Lisbon (Portugal) | Anglo-Portuguese victory | Wellesley (not yet Wellington) was superseded in command by Generals SirHarry Burrard and SirHew Dalrymple.[17] This defeat for the French led to the signing of theConvention of Sintra on 30 August 1808, putting an end to Napoleon's invasion of Portugal. |
| 27 August 1808 | Alfaro (Bridge of) & Tudela | Alfaro, La Rioja,Tudela, Navarre &Miranda de Ebro | Manoeuvres (Spanish)/ | On 27 August, followingPalafox's instructions to push as far up theEbro as he could,Eugenio Eulalio Palafox Portocarrero,Count of Montijo, at the head of a column of the Army of Aragón reached the bridge atAlfaro, almost opposite the left flank of the French forces atMilagro. When attacked there byLefebvre-Desnouettes's cavalry, the Spanish column retreated toTudela, where MarshalMoncey met them with an infantry division. Again, Montijo retreated. Thinking that these skirmishes must be mere diversions, and under the impression that the attack would be coming from that side, KingJoseph moved his reserves up the river toMiranda. Montijo, however, had given way simply because his troops were raw levies, and because his nearest support was Saragossa.[3] It would not be until some three weeks later that Spanish forces made another offensive move. |
| 30 August 1808 | Convention of Sintra | Lisbon (Portugal) | French troops abandon Portugal | Following his victory at theBattle of Vimeiro (21 August)Sir Arthur Wellesley, against his wishes, was ordered by his immediate superiors,Sir Harry Burrard andSir Hew Dalrymple, to sign the preliminary Armistice. The subsequent convention, theConvention of Cintra, agreed between Dalrymple andKellerman, and despite the protests of the Portuguese commander,Freire,[18] allowed the evacuation ofJunot's 20,900 troops from Portugal to France with all their equipment and 'personal property' (mostly loot) aboard Royal Navy ships. The public outcry in Britain led to an inquiry, held 14 November to 27 December 1808, which cleared all three British officers. Shortly after,George Woodward would caricature Wellesley inThe Convention of Cintra, a Portuguese Gambol for the amusement of Iohn Bull, London, 1809[18] Lieutenant-General SirJohn Moore took over command of the army in Portugal.[17] |
| 10–20 September 1808 | Bilbao (Relief of) | Bilbao,Basque Country | Spanish victory | Contrary to the plan of operations decided on at Madrid on 5 September, by which he was to meet up with the armies ofCastaños and ofEguia, neither of which were ready, on 10 SeptemberBlake set in motion his own plan to threatenBurgos with a small portion of his army of some 32,000 Galicians and Asturians, while with the main body he would march onBilbao.[3] Having sent his 'vanguard' and 'reserve' brigades towards Burgos, Blake moved on Bilbao with four complete divisions, with theMarquis of Portazgo's division routing GeneralMonthion's garrison there on 20 September.[19][20] |
| 26 September 1808 | Bilbao (Retreat from) | Bilbao,Basque Country | Manoeuvres (Spanish) | Having routed GeneralMonthion's garrison the previous week,Marquis of Portazgo's division was forced to abandon the city asNey approached. Although Portazgo occupied it again 12 October, he was forced to abandon the place once again.[20][19] |
| 12 October 1808 | Combat of Sant Cugat | Sant Cugat del Vallès,Barcelona,Catalonia | Spanish victory[3] | |
| 16 October 1808 | Almeida, Portugal | Manoeuvres (British) | Having left 9,000 troops at Almeida, as well as sending 4,000 troops, under Lt Gen SirJohn Hope towards Madrid viaElvas, Lt Gen SirJohn Moore, the commander of British forces in Portugal, entered Spain with 17,000 troops to meet up with SirDavid Baird's 12,300 troops then marching towards Leon from Coruña.[21] | |
| 31 October 1808 | Battle of Zornoza | Biscay,Basque Country | Indecisive[citation needed] | Although a tactical victory for the French, it was considered a strategic blunder[citation needed] |
| 5 November 1808 | Battle of Valmaseda | Balmaseda,Biscay,Basque Country | Spanish victory | While retreating from his defeat at Bernagoitia the previous (Battle of Zornoza) (31 October), Blake turned around and, at Valmaseda, defeated GeneralVillate's vanguard division. |
| 7 November 1808 | Battle of Güeñes | Güeñes,Biscay,Basque Country | French victory | The orderly retreat made byBlake's Army of the Left was covered by GeneralGenaro Figueroa's 1st Division.[12] |
| 7 November 1808 – 5 December 1808 | Siege of Roses | Girona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 10 November 1808 | Battle of Gamonal | Burgos,Castile and León[note 5] | French victory | TheConde de Belvedere, at the head of the 1st Division (4,000 foot, 400 horse and twelve guns) of the army of Estremadura, plus the greater part of the 2nd Division (about 3,000 infantry and two regiments of hussars) of the same army, had arrived to reinforce the 1,600 men (plus four guns) of the Burgos garrison. The Spanish forces therefore totalled some 8,600 bayonets, 1,100 sabres, and sixteen guns which would face Napoleon's French forces,[note 6] underSoult,[note 7] of some 70,000 men (although of these, only around 18,000 bayonets and 6,500 sabres would be deployed for the battle).[3] |
| 10–11 November 1808 | Battle of Espinosa | Burgos,Castile and León | French victory | GeneralAcevedo, incapacitated as commander-in-chief of his Asturian division, handed over the command to General Llano Ponte, and was evacuated. On 12 November, with a small escort, led byRafael del Riego, then a captain, Acevedo was stopped by a cavalry patrol of the Trascher Provisional Regiment and hacked to death. Riego was unharmed, but taken prisoner.[22] |
| 23 November 1808 | Battle of Tudela | Tudela,Navarre | French-Polish victory | |
| 29 November 1808 | Combat at Bubierca[23] | Bubierca,Province of Zaragoza | French victory | Maurice Mathieu's French troops beatFrancisco Xavier Venegas. |
| 30 November 1808 | Battle of Somosierra | Mountain pass 60 miles north of Madrid separating the provinces ofMadrid andSegovia | French victory | Famous for thePolish light cavalry's uphill charge, in columns of four, against Spanish artillery positions. The heavily outnumbered Spanish detachment of conscripts and artillery were unable to stop theGrande Armée's advance on Madrid, and Napoleon entered the capital of Spain on 4 December, a month after having entered the country.[11] |
| 4 December 1808 | Capitulation of Madrid. | Madrid | French victory | Napoleon entered Madrid with 80,000 troops[11] and turned his troops againstMoore's British forces, who were forced to retreat back towards Galicia three weeks later and, after a last stand at theBattle of Corunna in January 1809, withdrew from Spain. |
| 9–11 December 1808 | GeneralSt. Cyr sets off to relieveDuhesme at Barcelona | Roses –Barcelona | Manoeuvres (French) | Having captured Rosas (See 7 November 1808, above), GeneralSt. Cyr was now able to return to his initial task of relievingDuhesme at Barcelona. LeavingReille's division of 5,000–5,500 soldiers to hold Figueres and Roses, watch Girona, and protect the high-road toPerpignan, St. Cyr headed south with the divisions ofSouham,Pino, andChabot, a force of some 15,000 infantry and 1,500 horse. Realising that Girona would be able to hold out longer than the timeline available (Duhesme had reported that their provisions would only last until the end of that month), and after failing to draw its commanders,Lazán andÁlvarez to meet him in the open, and as the place commanded the high-road, St. Cyr chose the inland by-paths, meaning that he was forced to send his guns and heavy baggage back to Figueres.[24] |
| 15 December 1808 | Skirmish at fortress of Hostalrich | Hostalric,Girona, Catalonia | French victory | The Spanish garrison came out and skirmished with the rearguard ofSt. Cyr's column (See 9 December 1808, above), but without doing much harm.[24] |
| 15 December 1808 | Combat at Sant Celoni | Sant Celoni, Catalonia | French victory | St. Cyr's column (See 9 December 1808, above), proceeding in single file, with the dragoons dismounted and leading their horses, descended into the Barcelonachaussée near Sant Celoni, where it was attacked by four battalions ofmiquelets, sent byVives.[24] |
| 16 December 1808 | Battle of Cardadeu | Barcelona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 20 December 1808 – 20 February 1809 | Second Siege of Zaragoza | Zaragoza,Aragón | French victory | |
| 21 December 1808 | Battle of Molins de Rei | Barcelona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 21 December 1808 | Battle of Sahagún | León,Castile and León | British victory | |
| 24 December 1808 | Combat of Tarancón | Tarancón,Cuenca,Castilla–La Mancha | Spanish victory/Manoeuvres | TheDuke of the Infantado sent GeneralVenegas, with the vanguard of the Army of the Centre, together with greater part of his cavalry, to surprise the French brigade of dragoons at Tarancón. The two French regiments escaped the town with the loss of fifty or sixty men and the Spanish cavalry arrived too late to give chase. The vanguard of the Spanish forces planning to evict King Joseph from Madrid remained at Tarancón until 11 January, when they withdrew to Uclés.[24] (See 13 January 1809, below.) |
| 25 December 1808 | Retreat to Corunna | British retreat | John Moore started a 250-mile (400 km) retreat (reachingLa Coruña on 14 January). | |
| 29 December 1808 | Massacre of Chinchón | Chinchón,New Castile (nowCommunity of Madrid) | Massacre/sack | In retaliation for the murder of four French soldiers in the town two day previously, the French troops based at Aranjuez executed 86 people, both in the town itself and on the road to Aranjuez, and set fire to numerous buildings.Goya, whose brother was a priest in Chinchón during that period,[25] makes a reference to this, and other tragedies of war in his etching "This is worse" ("Esto es peor"), part of the seriesThe Disasters of War.[25] |
| 29 December 1808 | Battle of Benavente | Zamora,Castile and León | British victory | |
| 30 December 1808 | Battle of Mansilla | León,Castile and León | French victory |
| Date | Event | Province/ | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1809 | Battle of Castellón | Girona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | This Castellón refers toCastelló d'Empúries, in Catalonia, not thetown orprovince in Valencia. |
| 3 January 1809 | Battle of Cacabelos | León,Castile and León | British victory | |
| 13 January 1809 | Battle of Uclés | Cuenca,Castile-La Mancha | French victory | |
| 14 January 1809 | Treaty between Great Britain and Spain | London | Treaty | "Treaty of peace, friendship, and alliance" by which Britain recognises Fernando as King of Spain.[26] |
| 16 January 1809 | Battle of Corunna | A Coruña,Galicia | Different analyses: Britishtactical victory[27][2] | Also known as the Battle of Elviña. The British troops were able complete their embarkation, but left the port cities of Corunna andFerrol, as well as the whole of northern Spain, to be captured and occupied by the French. During the battle,Sir John Moore, the British commander, was mortally wounded.[17] |
| 18 January 1809 | Corunna (Surrender of) | A Coruña,Galicia | French victory | Alcedo, whose garrison of two Spanish regiments had protected SirJohn Moore's troops during the embarkation, surrendered to MarshalSoult, who was able to refit with the ample military stores available. A week later Soult's forces also capturedFerrol, a major Spanish naval base with an even greater arsenal than that of Corunna, taking eight ships of the line. |
| 18 January 1809 | Combat of Tortola | Tórtola,Guadalajara,Castile-La Mancha | French victory | Following the defeat atUclés (See 13 January 1809, above), battle at which he was not present,Infantado, withdrawing towards Chinchilla, in the kingdom of Murcia, via his base at Cuenca, went ahead of his artillery. Fifteen guns, escorted by a single cavalry regiment, were captured byDigeon's dragoons at Tortola, a few miles to the south of Cuenca.[24] |
| 31 January 1809 | French troops garrison Vigo[29] | Vigo,Galicia | Manoeuvres (French) | On his way to Portugal, MarshalSoult left a garrison of 700 men at Vigo to prevent the British using its harbour to supply the Galician insurgents. As soon as Soult had moved on to Orense, the Galicians, headed byPablo Morillo, a lieutenant of the regular army, andManuel Garcia del Barrio, a colonel dispatched by the Central Junta from Seville, blockaded the city.[24] (See 27 March 1809, below.) |
| 3 February 1809 | Second French invasion of Portugal | Galicia-Portugal | Manoeuvres (French) | MarshalSoult'sII Corps headed down fromLa Coruña, in the north of Spain, to occupy the capital of Portugal,Lisbon. Napoleon later modified his original plan by ordering MarshalVictor'sI Corps, based at Mérida, to send a column commanded by GeneralLapisse, located inSalamanca, to march westwards, first onCiudad Rodrigo and then on toAlmeida, in Portugal. The campaign came to an end following the French defeat by Anglo-Portuguese forces at theSecond Battle of Porto (12 May 1809, see below), with Soult's army dispersed and having to abandon large amounts of equipment to flee across the mountains back into the north of Spain. |
| 25 February 1809 | Battle of Valls | Tarragona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 6 – 7 March 1809 | Battle of Monterey | Monterrey,Orense,Galicia | French victory | |
| 7 March 1809 | British GeneralWilliam Beresford appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Army. | |||
| 10 March 1809 | Aguilar de Campoo (Capture of) | Aguilar de Campóo,Palencia,Castile and León | Spanish victory | Juan Díaz Porlier's irregular troops captured the French battalion garrisoned at Aguilar, taking prisoner nine officers, 400 soldiers and seizing two4-pounder guns, which were taken to Oviedo and handed over to the Junta. For this action, Porlier was promoted to brigadier and his second-in-command, Amor, to captain.[30] |
| 10–12 March 1809 | First Siege of Chaves | Norte (Portugal) | French victory | Francisco da Silveira would later recapture the town at the Second Siege of Chaves (21–25 March 1809). |
| 17 March 1809 | Battle of Villafranca | León,Castile and León | Spanish victory | |
| 17 March 1809 | Combat of Mesas de Ibor | Mesas de Ibor,Cáceres,Extremadura | French victory | Despite his strong position, with six guns and 5,000 troops, on the heights of the other side of the ravine at the river Ibor,Duke del Parque was forced to retreat, pushing his guns over the precipice, byLeval's eight battalions.[24] |
| 20 March 1809 | Battle of Braga | Braga (Portugal) | French victory | Also known as the Battle of Póvoa de Lanhoso or Battle of Carvalho d'Este. |
| 20 March 1809 | Combat of Berrocal | Cáceres,Extremadura | Spanish victory | Henestrosa, as the rearguard ofCuesta's Army of Estremadura and faced withLasalle pressing him, made a sudden halt and drove in the leading squadron of the French by a charge of his Royal Carbineers. The skirmish atMiajadas the following day would be an even greater Spanish victory.[24] (See 21 March 1809, below.) |
| 21 March 1809 | Battle of Miajadas | Miajadas,Cáceres,Extremadura | Spanish victory | |
| 21–25 March 1809 | Second Siege of Chaves | Norte (Portugal) | Portuguese victory | |
| 24 March 1809 | Battle of Los Yébenes | Toledo,Castile-La Mancha | Spanish victory | |
| 27 March 1809 | Battle of Ciudad Real | Ciudad Real,Castile-La Mancha | French-Polish victory | |
| 27 March 1809 | Capitulation of Vigo[24] | Vigo,Galicia | Anglo-Spanish victory | Articles of Capitulation signed betweenChalot, the Governor and Commandant of the French troops garrisoned in the town and forts of Vigo, on the one part; andCrawford, captain of the British frigate,Venus, deputed byGeorge McKinley, captain ofHMSLively and Commanding Officer before Vigo, andMorillo, Colonel Commandant of the Spanish troops before the town, on the other.[24] (See 31 January 1809, above.) |
| 28 March 1809 | Battle of Medellín | Medellín,Extremadura | French victory | |
| 29 March 1809 | First Battle of Porto | Porto (Portugal) | French victory | During the course of the battle,the collapse of the pontoon bridge, Ponte das Barcas (Bridge of Boats), on theRiver Douro led to the deaths of several thousands of mainly civilian non-combatants.[24] |
| 18 April 1809 – 2 May 1809 | Battle of the Bridge of Amarante | Amarante,Porto, Portugal | French victory | Oman (1902, p. 250.) refers to it as the defence of Amarante.[3] FollowingFrancisco da Silveira's victory atChaves (see 21 March 1809, above),Soult, in Porto, sent GeneralDelaborde,Lorge, andHeudelet to assistLoison in opening up the route back to Spain. At Amarante, the Portuguese troops were able hold Loison, with 9,000 French troops, nearly half the army of Portugal, concentrated on the west bank of theTâmega River for almost two weeks.[3] |
| 22 April 1809 | Creation ofAnglo-Portuguese Army | Having arrived at Lisbon on the 29th,[16]Wellesley, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Portuguese Army and integrated the two armies into mixed British-Portuguese divisions, normally on a basis of two British and one Portuguese brigades.[citation needed] | ||
| 6 May 1809 – 12 December 1809 | Third Siege of Girona | Girona,Catalonia | French victory | Depicted inThe Great Day of Girona, byRamon Martí Alsina. |
| 10 May 1809 – 11 May 1809 | Battle of Grijó | Porto (Portugal) | Anglo-Portuguese victory | |
| 12 May 1809 | Second Battle of Porto | Porto (Portugal) | Anglo-Portuguese victory (decisive) | Also known as the Battle of the Douro.Wellesley's British troops, reinforced by Portuguese units underBeresford's command, beat Soult at Oporto, forcing the French out of the country.[17] |
| 14 May 1809 | Battle of Alcantara | Cáceres,Extremadura | French victory | |
| 22 May 1809 | Combat at Campo de Estrella | Santiago de Compostela,Galicia | Spanish victory | GeneralLa Carrera, having rested his 2000-strong detachment of regulars atPuebla de Sanabria, then marched them, plus six guns, up to form the core of the Division of the Minho, the newly raised insurrectionary army thatMorillo andGarcia del Barrio had been training. The combined force of 10,000 men, of whom 7,000 had firearms, then approached Santiago, whereMaucune's four battalions and a regiment ofchasseurs met them outside the city and were repulsed, with Carrera forcing the French troops back into the town and chasing them for a league beyond it. Maucune, himself wounded, and having lost 600 men—a fifth of his whole force—and two guns, retreated in disorder to La Coruña.[24] |
| 23 May 1809 | Battle of Alcañiz | Teruel,Aragón | Spanish victory | |
| 2 June 1809 | Combat at San Martín | San Martín,Asturias | Spanish victory | Pedro de la Bárcena was promoted to brigadier and given command of the Army of Asturias for defeating GeneralBarthélemy Thomières's troops at the bridge of San Martin.[31] |
| 7 June 1809 – 9 June 1809 | Battle of Puente Sanpayo | Pontevedra,Galicia | Spanish victory | |
| 15 June 1809 | Battle of María | Zaragoza,Aragón | French victory | |
| 18 June 1809 | Battle of Belchite | Zaragoza,Aragón | French victory | |
| 27–28 July 1809 | Battle of Talavera | Toledo,Castile-La Mancha | Anglo-Spanish victory Strategic French victory | Wellesley, who, together with Spanish troops under GeneralCuesta, had defeated the French army at this battle then had to return to Portugal when MarshalSoult's army threatened his lines of communication.[17] |
| 5 August 1809 | Action at Aranjuez[23] | Aranjuez | Venegas reported having beaten off three successive attacks by vastly superior forces numbering 14–15,000 troops.[32] | |
| 8 August 1809 | Battle of Arzobispo | Toledo,Castile-La Mancha | French victory | |
| 11 August 1809 | Battle of Almonacid | Toledo,Castile–La Mancha | French victory | |
| 12 August 1809 | Battle of Puerto de Baños | Cáceres,Extremadura | French victory | Mountain pass |
| 6 September 1809 | Combat of San Gregorio | Girona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | The Frenchgénéral de brigadeDominique Joba, while serving underGénéral de divisionVerdier at thethird siege of Girona (see above)[33] was killed in action at San Gregorio,[34] where he had been sent with three brigades to clear the main road toFigueras of themiqueletes led byRovira and Claros.[35][36] |
| 23 September 1809 | Combat at Potes | Potes, Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena distinguished himself.[31] | |
| 9 October 1809 | Combat of Astorga | León,Castile and León | Spanish victory | Apparently unaware that the town had recently been heavily garrisoned,Kellerman sentCarrié with 1,200 infantry and two regiments of dragoons to attack the town.[37] |
| 18 October 1809 | Battle of Tamames | Salamanca,Castile and León | Spanish victory | |
| 25 October 1809 | Battle of Maguelone | Gulf of Roses,Girona,Catalonia | British victory | A running naval battle |
| 26 October 1809[38] | Wellington orders construction of theLines of Torres Vedras | Lisbon, Portugal | Fortification (Anglo-Portuguese) | Wellington orders construction of the Lines. Under the direction ofSir Richard Fletcher, the first line was completed one year later, around the time of theBattle of Sobral. |
| 11 November 1809 | Combat of Ocaña | Toledo,Castile-La Mancha | French victory | Ocaña is a small town 65 km from Madrid, defended by five regiments ofMilhaud's dragoons andSebastiani's division (six battalions) of Polish infantry.Aréizaga sent his cavalry force, 5,700 strong, which outnumbered the French cavalry by three-to-one, and forced them to retreat behind the Polish infantry. After attempting to attack the squares, Aréizaga realised that they would have to wait forZayas's infantry to arrive and attack the following day. The French, however, retreated overnight to Aranjuez. Aréizaga entered the town the following day.[39] |
| 18 November 1809 | Combat of Ontigola | Ontigola (nearOcaña) | French victory | The cavalry ofMilhaud andParis (who was killed in the battle),[35] made up of eight regiments, numbering almost 3,000 men, and riding at the head of the French army, crossed theTagus river atAranjuez and metFreire's four divisions of horsemen, over 4,000 sabres, moving at the head ofAréizaga's column. According toOman (1908), "the collision of Milhaud and Freire brought about the largest cavalry fight which took place during the whole Peninsular War".[35] |
| 19 November 1809 | Battle of Ocaña | Toledo,Castile-La Mancha | French victory | At Ocaña, 65 km from Madrid, French forces underSoult and KingJoseph Bonaparte caused the greatest single defeat ofSpanish army, leaving twenty-six thousand out of the fifty-four thousand Spanish troops, underAréizaga, dead, wounded, or imprisoned.[1] |
| 23 November 1809 | Battle of Carpio | Valladolid,Castile and León | Spanish victory | El Carpio, some 20 km southwest of the town ofMedina del Campo, is about 4 km from Fresno el Viejo. Both villages border theprovince of Salamanca at the southwestern tip of theprovince of Valladolid. The village, including its strategic 10th-century fortress was completely destroyed by the French troops on 25 November. |
| 26 November 1809 | Battle of Alba de Tormes | Salamanca,Castile and León | French victory |
| Date | Event | Province/ | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 January 1810 | Battle of Mollet | Barcelona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | |
| 31 January 1810 | Capture of Oviedo | Oviedo,Asturias | French victory | The captain-general of Asturias,Antonio Arce, with some 4,000 men to cover the whole of Asturias,[note 9] plus some new levies, little more than 2,000 strong, raised at Oviedo, evacuated that city without offering much resistance to GeneralBonet's 7,000 troops out ofSantander.[35] However, by seizing Infiesto and Gijon,Juan Díaz Porlier effectively cut off Bonet's communication with Santander, forcing the French general to abandon Oviedo and head back towards Santander in order to clear his rear, whereby the Spanish generalBárcena was able to reoccupy the Asturian capital. (See 14 February 1810, below.) |
| 1 February 1810 | Seville (surrender of) | Seville,Andalusia | French victory | KingJoseph, accompanied by MarshalsSoult andVictor, entered Seville, the Central Junta having abandoned the city to its fate.[35] |
| 5 February 1810 – 24 August 1812 | Siege of Cádiz | Cádiz,Andalusia | Spanish victory | The reconstituted national government of Spain, known as theCortes of Cádiz—effectively a government-in-exile—fortified itself inCádiz, besieged by 70,000 French troops. |
| 14 February 1810 | Combat of Colloto & capture of Oviedo | Colloto,Asturias | French victory | Bonet, having secured his line back to Santander, returned to take Oviedo, the capital of Asturias, again, (See 31 January 1810, above.) after defeatingBárcena—who had reoccupied the city—at Colloto,[35] just outside Oviedo. The Roman bridge of Colloto, crosses theNora River on the Roman road that connected Cantabria withGallaecia. It was declared aCultural heritage monument in 2003.[40] |
| 20 February 1810 | Battle of Vic | Barcelona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 22 February 1810 | Guerrilla attack atCariñena | Cariñena,Aragón | Guerrilla warfare | Guerrilla chiefs Juan Vera and Roque Lafuente joined forces to attack a 48-man French convoy of three wagons transporting ammunition and 52 ofVillacampa's troops that had been taken prisoner.[41] |
| 19 March 1810 | Skirmish at Grado | Grado,Asturias | Spanish victory | José Cienfuegos, appointed by the Asturian junta to take command of Arce's Asturian troops, resumed the offensive operations againstBonet. Following the skirmish, and once again concerned withJuan Díaz Porlier's rear attacks, Bonet abandoned Oviedo, for the third time,[35] withdrawing toCangas de Onis. (See 14 February 1810, above.) |
| 21 March 1810 | Battle of Vilafranca | Vilafranca del Penedès,Catalonia | Spanish victory | |
| 21 March 1810 – 22 April 1810 | Siege of Astorga | León,Castile and León | French victory | |
| 29 March 1810 | Capture of Oviedo | Oviedo,Asturias | French victory | For the fourth time in three months,[35]Bonet took the capital of Asturias. (See 19 March 1810, above.) The Spanish troops once again retired without offering serious opposition, and were finally forced to retreat toTineo in the mountains. Bonet's 7,000 men were now immobilized for the rest of the year, having to garrison Oviedo, the ports ofGijon andAviles, as well as all the central and eastern Asturias, and, moreover, to defend the communication with Santander fromJuan Díaz Porlier's continued attacks.[35] |
| 5 April 1810 | Battle of Manresa | Manresa,Catalonia | Spanish victory | |
| 14 April 1810 | Combat of El Padrún | El Padrún (Baíña),Asturias | Spanish victory | AlthoughPedro de la Bárcena's troops were victorious at El Padrún, in the parish of Baíña (Mieres), later that month they were unable to hold the line at theNalón (see 26 April, below), and were forced to retreat to Mieres.[31] |
| 15 April 1810 | Lleida: arrival ofSuchet's troops | Lleida,Catalonia | Manoeuvres (French) | Suchet's army of 13,000 French troops arrived in front of Lleida. The siege proper started on 29 April. |
| 23 April 1810 | Battle of Margalef | Tarragona,Catalonia | French victory | On 22 April, a Spanish force of 8,000 infantry and 600 cavalry,[36] incorporated into two divisions led byIbarrola and Pirez, underO’Donnell,[42] descended theMonblancdefile of thePrades Mountains to relieve Lleida. They were surprised byMusnier's seven infantry battalions and 500 cuirassieres which, together withHarispe's three infantry battalions and two squadrons of hussars that had been stationed atAlcoletge, a bridgehead three miles from Lleida, forced them to retreat to the ruined village of Margalef, some 10 miles from Lleida.[36] |
| 26 April 1810 | Combat at the Nalón | Nalón,Asturias | French victory | Pedro de la Bárcena's troops were unable to hold the line at theNalón and were forced to retreat to Mieres.[31] |
| 26 April 1810 – 9 July 1810 | First siege of Ciudad Rodrigo | Salamanca,Castile and León | French victory | |
| 29 April 1810 – 13 May 1810 | Siege of Lleida | Lleida,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 15 May 1810 – 8 June 1810 | Siege of Mequinenza | Zaragoza,Aragon | French victory | |
| 11 July 1810 | Combat of Barquilla | Salamanca,Castile and León | French victory | |
| 11 July 1810 | Landing at Santoña | Santoña,Cantabria | Manoeuvres (Anglo-Spanish) | CaptainMends, on boardHMSArethusa off Bermeo, informed the commander-in-chief of theWestern Squadron,Lord Gambier, that his squadron, also composed ofHMS Medusa, underCaptain Bowles;HMS Narcissus (1801), underCaptain Aylmer, who would also lead the landing party;HMS Dryad (1795);HMS Amazon (1799);[note 10] andHMS Cossack (1806), had successfully participated in the landing of Brigadier-generalPorlier's 500 men and that a brigade of British seamen and Marines had also been part of the landing party and had seen action onshore. Mends, as well as commending the officers and men serving under him, ends his dispatch by praising Porlier and the gallantry of his "small band of officers and soldiers".[43] |
| 24 July 1810 | Battle of the Côa | Guarda, (Portugal) | French victory | After having blown up theReal Fuerte de la Concepción on 20 July,Craufurd positioned his Light Brigade, comprising five battalions of infantry, two light cavalry regiments, and one horse artillery battery (about 4200 infantry, 800 cavalry, and 6 guns)[44] east of theCôa River (disobeying Wellington's orders), nearCastelo de Almeida and near the only bridge of an otherwise unfordable river. On the morning of the battle, they were surprised by MarshalNey's 20,000 troops, on their way tobesiege Almeida. Craufurd was able to defend the bridge against several attacks, but finally retreated at midnight. TheReal Fuerte de la Concepción, in the province of Salamanca, was one of a series ofstar forts on the Spanish side of the border between Spain and Portugal. ThePraça-forte de Almeida, 10 km away, in the Guarda District, was one of a series of Portuguese star forts. |
| 25 July – 27 August 1810 | First siege of Almeida | Guarda, (Portugal) | French victory | |
| 29 July 1810 | Sanabria,Zamora | French victory | At the head of 5,000 troops,[35] GeneralSeras attacked thecastle at Puebla de Sanabria, near the border with Portugal, garrisoned by 3,000 Spanish troops.[45] When the Spanish general,Taboada, abandoned the place, the French took twenty pieces of artillery and enough provisions for 3,000 troops for six months.[45]Silveira, concerned, immediately prepared to defend the frontier. However, Seras unexpectedly turned back toZamora, leaving a battalion of the2nd Swiss Regiment and a squadron of horse to garrison the place.[35] Silveira and Taboada immediately united their forces, and routed the French from the castle, forcing it into the town on 4 August, where it was forced to surrender a week later, with some 20 officers and 350 men, of an original 600, taken prisoner.[35] Seras returned too late to succour his garrison, and retired to Benavente, whereupon Taboada reoccupied the place. Seras then had to head up to the north where Bonet was being bothered by Porlier's actions, with Bonet asking him to attack Porlier's force in the rear.[35] | |
| 11 August 1810 | Combat of Villagarcia | Villagarcía de la Torre,Extremadura | French victory | |
| 15 August 1810 | Action at Linares de Cornellana | Cornellana,Asturias | Spanish victory | After having been forced to retreat to Mieres (see 26 April 1810, above),Bárcena was able to reorganise his troops and was victorious at the action of Linares de Cornellana and, later that month, at Campomanes (see 24 August 1810, below).[31] |
| 24 August 1810 | Action at Campomanes | Campomanes,Asturias | Spanish victory | After having been forced to retreat to Mieres (see 26 April 1810, above),Bárcena was able to reorganise his troops and was victorious at the action of Linares de Cornellana (see 15 April 1810, above) and, later that month, at Campomanes.[31] |
| 10 September 1810 | Combat at Begur | Begur,Girona,Catalonia | English victory | An Englishlanding-party stormed the coastal battery, capturing the garrison of 50 men.[35] |
| 14 September 1810 | Battle of La Bisbal | Girona,Catalonia | Anglo-Spanish victory | |
| 14 September 1810 | Actions at Palamos, San Feliu & Calonje | Palamós,Sant Feliu &Calonge,Girona,Catalonia | Anglo-Spanish victory | On the same day thatO'Donnell was takingLa Bisbal (see above), GeneralDoyle (the British commissioner in Catalonia) and CaptainFane, having sailed from Tarragona on the British frigateCambrian (Fane's ship) accompanying the Spanish frigateDiana, and a few transports, led a landing-force, numbering some 500 troops, to storm Palamós[35] while the Spanish troops under ColonelFleires took Sant Feliu,[35] and ColonelAldea cut off the French troops at Calonge.[35] That day, Anglo-Spanish forces captured GeneralSchwartz, two colonels, fifty-six officers, and 1,183 rank and file, with seventeen guns, leaving Schwartz's brigade completely out of action.[35] |
| 15 September 1810 | Battle of Fuente de Cantos | Fuente de Cantos,Extermadura | French victory | |
| 24 September 1810 | Cortes of Cádiz – opening session | Cádiz,Andalusia | The opening session of the Cortes was held eight months into the two-and-a-half-yearSiege of Cádiz. | |
| 27 September 1810 | Battle of Bussaco | Serra do Bussaco mountain range,Aveiro District (Portugal) | Anglo-Portuguese victory | MarshalMasséna, having captured the border fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, advanced into Portugal. At Bussaco, Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese army drove them off with the loss of about 1,250 killed or wounded, compared to French losses of 4,500 men.[17] |
| 1–2 October 1810 | Action at Pola de Lena | Pola de Lena,Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action at Pola de Lena.[31] | |
| 1–2 October 1810 | Sack of Coimbra | Coimbra,Coimbra District, Portugal | Masséna's troops sacked the city over two days; the first division of the 8th Corps, consisting mainly of newly formed battalions of conscripts arriving on 1 October. No attempt was made to restore order until the 6th Corps entered the next day, although the plunder continued.[35] | |
| 6 October 1810 | Action at Pola de Lena | Pola de Lena,Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action at Pola de Lena (see 1–2 October 1810, above).[31] | |
| 6 October 1810 | Trant's Raid | Coimbra,Portugal | Portuguese victory | Coimbra is recaptured by Portuguese militia led byNicholas Trant. |
| 13–14 October 1810 | Battle of Sobral | Lisbon (Portugal) | Anglo-Portuguese victory | |
| 14 October – 2 November 1810 | Cantabrian Expedition | La Coruña (Galicia)–Gijón (Asturias)–Santoña (Cantabria)–Viveiro (Galicia) | Manoeuvres (Anglo-Spanish) | Having previously collaborated on a joint mission (see 11 July 1810, above) another Anglo-Spanishlanding operation set off to establish a base atSantoña, from which to free the western part of the coast of theCantabrian Sea of French troops and then move on to free up the central and eastern coast of the region, effectively cutting offIrun as the main gateway for French supplies into Spain.[46] The squadron, under the command ofCaptainJoaquín Zarauz, sailed fromLa Coruña on 14 October 1810.[46] The British squadron, led byCaptainMends, on board the frigateHMS Arethusa (1781), was also composed of the frigatesHMS Medusa, underCaptain Bowles;HMS Narcissus (1801), underCaptain Aylmer,HMS Amazon (1799); and thebrig-sloopHMS Port Mahon (1798).[46] The landing party consisted of 1,200 Spanish troops, under Field MarshalRenovales and 800 British Marines.[46][35] After an initial landing atGijón, from which they drove the French garrison and captured large amounts of supplies, the expedition then headed for Santoña, where a gale forced the expedition to turn back. On their way into port atViveiro, two of the Spanish ships, thefrigateSanta Maria Magdalena and the brigPalomo, were both destroyed with great loss of life,Magdalena having collided withHMS Narcissus (1801) shortly before foundering.[46] Of the 508 people on board theMagdalena, 500 perished in the storm,[46] including her captain,Blas Salcedo,[46] and the commander-in-chief of the Expedition, Zarauz.[47] Of the eight people who managed to reach shore, five later died of their injuries.[46] Of the 75 men on board thePalomo, 50 perished in the storm, while the remaining 25, including their captain, managed to reach the shore.[46] |
| 15 October 1810 | Action at Pola de Lena | Pola de Lena,Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action at Pola de Lena (see 1–2 October 1810, above).[31] | |
| 15 October 1810 | Battle of Fuengirola | Málaga,Andalusia | Polish-French victory | |
| 18 October 1810 | Plunder of Solsona | Solsona,Lleida,Catalonia | Manouevre/plunder (French) | The French MarshalMacdonald, at the head of two French and two Italian brigades, set off to do battle against theMarquis de Campoverde's Spanish troops. Stopping at Solsona, until then the seat of Junta of Upper Catalonia and finding the place deserted by its inhabitants, the French troops proceeded to plunder the town and burntits cathedral.[35] |
| 20 October 1810 | Action at El Fresno | El Fresno (Grado),Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action at El Fresno (see 28 November 1810, below).[31] | |
| 21 October 1810 | Combat of Cardona | Cardona,Barcelona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | TheMarquis de Campoverde's division, together with several thousand somatenes, had manned the town,its castle, and the neighbouring heights. Without waiting for MarshalMacdonald and the reserve brigade, the Italian generalEugenio marched straight at the position, withSalme's French brigade in support, and was forced to retreat.[35] |
| 31 October 1810 | Combat at Alventosa | Albentosa,Teruel,Aragon | French victory | GeneralChłopicki, in the first of two successive engagements, defeated the partisan forces ofCarbajal andVillacampa.[35] (See 11 November 1810, below.) |
| 4 November 1810 | Battle of Baza | Granada,Andalusia | French victory | |
| 11 November 1810 | Combat at Fuensanta (Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fuensanta) | Villel,Teruel,Aragon | French victory | GeneralChłopicki, in the second of two successive engagements, defeated the partisan forces ofCarbajal andVillacampa.[35] (See 31 October 1810, above.) |
| 28 November 1810 | Action at El Fresno | El Fresno (Grado),Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action again at El Fresno (see 20 October 1810, above).[31] | |
| 16 December 1810 – 2 January 1811 | Siege of Tortosa | Tortosa,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 25 December 1810 | Combat at Palamós | Palamós,Girona,Catalonia | French victory | Two French gunboats and eight transports on their way fromCette with provisions for the garrison at Barcelona were destroyed by a landing party from the British frigates based along the Catalan coast. Although the initial British raid was a success, they were surprised by a Frenchflying column, and driven back to their boats with a loss of over 200 men, including the commanding officer, CaptainFane ofHMSCambrian,[48] who was taken prisoner. |
| 26 December – 28 December 1810 | Action at Soto | Soto,Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action at Soto.[31] | |
| 31 December 1810 | Ponte do Abbade (Combat of) | Ponte do Abbade,Guarda District, Portugal | French victory | Francisco da Silveira, with six militia regiments and the former garrison ofAlmeida, had orders to stay between GeneralClaparède's force of 6,000 troops and Porto. The Portuguese had been following the French troops and, Claparède, based atTrancoso, which Silveira had initially retreated from on Claparède's approach, routed the Portuguese at Ponte do Abbade on 31 December. Having lost 200 men, Silveira retreated toVila da Ponte, some seven miles away.[48] |
| Date | Event | Province/ | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1811 | Action atCampomanes | Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action at Campomanes.[31] | |
| 11 January 1811 | Vila da Ponte (Combat of)[note 11] | Aldeia da Ponte,Guarda District, Portugal | French victory | On 11 January, GeneralClaparède made a second sortie fromTrancoso, beatingFrancisco da Silveira's men even more decisively than at Ponte do Abbade the previous month, and pursued them toLamego on theDouro. Silveira crossed the river on the 13th, and the news of his defeat brought terror toOporto.Bacelar ordered the four battalions fromVizeu,Trant's seven battalions from Coimbra, andWilson's four battalions fromPeñacova, to join him. They concentrated atCastro Daire, ten miles south of Lamego, with a force of 14,000 bayonets, whereupon Claparéde, with less than half that number, and worried about being cut off, returned to Trancoso.[48] |
| 15 January 1811 | Battle of El Pla | Tarragona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | |
| 19–22 January 1811 | Siege of Olivenza | Badajoz,Extremadura | French victory | |
| 26 January 1811 – 11 March 1811 | First Siege of Badajoz | Badajoz,Extremadura | French victory | The Spanish fortress fell to the French forces under MarshalSoult. |
| 19 February 1811 | Battle of the Gebora | Badajoz,Extremadura | French victory | |
| 21 February 1811 | Cádiz – Tarifa – Algeciras | Cádiz,Andalusia | Manoeuvres (Allied) | A mixed force of 9,500 Spanish, 4,900 British and a few hundred Portuguese set sail from Cádiz towards Tarifa, fifty miles to the south, in order to move inland and attack the French besiegers from the rear. However, due to bad weather, the force had to land at Algeciras; further than planned.[16] (See 5 March 1811, below.) |
| 5 March 1811 | Battle of Barrosa | Cádiz,Andalusia | Anglo-Spanish victory | Throughout February–March, an Anglo-Iberian relief force had tried to break the French blockade of Cádiz. On 5 March, MarshalVictor attacked this force near Barrosa and, although the Allies succeeded in routing Victor's army, they were not able to lift the siege of Cádiz.[17] (See 21 February 1811, above.) |
| 8 March 1811 | Action atSalas | Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action at Salas.[31] | |
| 11 March 1811 | Battle of Pombal | Leiria (Portugal) | French victory | |
| 12 March 1811 | Battle of Redinha | Coimbra (Portugal) | Indecisive/ | |
| 14 March 1811 | Battle of Casal Novo | Coimbra (Portugal) | French victory | |
| 15 March 1811 | Capture ofAlburquerque Castle | Alburquerque, Extremadura | French victory | The Governor, Major-GeneralJosé de Cagigal (the younger brother ofFernando de Cagigal), surrendered the fortress, garrisoned by two battalions of the Estremaduran regiment of Fernando VII, about 800 men, and a few artillerymen with seventeen brass guns, toLatour-Maubourg, at the head of two cavalry regiments.[48] |
| 15 March 1811 | Battle of Foz de Arouce | Lousã,Coimbra District, Portugal | Anglo-Portuguese victory | |
| 15 March 1811 – 21 March 1811 | Siege of Campo Maior Castle | Alentejo (Portugal) | French victory | The garrison, under Major José Joaquim Talaya, consisting of 800 Portuguese militia and a company of artillery, the garrison's only regulars, plus 50 old cannon, held out against 7,000 troops belonging to theV Corps under MarshalMortier.[48] |
| 17 March 1811 | Capture of Valencia de Alcantara Castle | Valencia de Alcantara, Extremadura | French victory | Having securedAlburquerque Castle (see 15 March 1811, above),Latour-Maubourg sent a regiment of dragoons to Valencia de Alcantara, the last fortified place in Spanish hands between theGuadiana and theTagus. The small garrison evacuated it, and the dragoons, after bursting seven guns found within its walls, and blowing up its gates, returned to Badajoz.[48] |
| 18 March 1811 | Action at El Puelo | Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena's Vanguard Division of the Army of Asturias saw action at El Puelo. Bárcena was badly wounded.[31] | |
| 25 March 1811 | Battle of Campo Maior | Alentejo (Portugal) | Anglo-Portuguese victory | |
| 3 April 1811 | Battle of Sabugal | Guarda (Portugal) | Anglo-Portuguese victory | |
| 9 – 10 April 1811 | Capture ofSant Ferran Castle | Figueres,Girona | Spanish victory/Manoeuvres | In the early hours of 10 April, 700miquelets sent byFrancesc Rovira i Sala entered through the vaults of the citadel and caught the French garrison asleep. Within the hour the place had been won. By dawn, over 2,000 Catalans had manned the fortress.[48] (See also 17 April 1811, below.) |
| 10 April – 19 August 1811 | Siege of Figueres | Sant Ferran Castle,Figueres,Girona | French victory | Following themiquelets's capture of the citadel (see 10 April 1811, above), GeneralPeyri, with 1,500 Italian troops, had reoccupied the town of Figueres, below the citadel, waiting for reinforcements. It would not be until a week later that GeneralBaraguey d’Hilliers, with 6,500 infantry and 500 cavalry, started the blockade proper of the citadel.[48] (See also 19 August 1811, below.) |
| 14 April – 10 May 1811 | Second siege of Almeida | Guarda, (Portugal) | Allied victory | Also known as the Blockade of Almeida, since theAnglo-Portuguese Army had no heavy guns to breach the walls, they were forced to starve the garrison out. Because of this, it was technically ablockade rather than asiege. French troops abandoned thefort under cover of darkness and escaped. SeeBattle of Fuentes de Oñoro. |
| 22 April – 12 May/18 May – 10 June 1811 | Second Siege of Badajoz | Badajoz,Extremadura | French victory | The siege was briefly lifted while theBattle of Albuera was fought on 16 May. |
| 3–6 May 1811 | Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro | Salamanca,Castile and León | Tactically indecisive[49][50][51] Anglo-Portuguese victory (strategic)[52] | Spanish village on the border with Portugal. French troops underMasséna failed to relieve thefortress at Almeida after being narrowly defeated by Wellington atFuentes de Oñoro.[17] SeeBlockade of Almeida. |
| 5 May 1811 – 29 June 1811 | First siege of Tarragona | Tarragona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 16 May 1811 | Battle of Albuera | Badajoz,Extremadura | Allied victory | Allied forces engaged the FrenchArmée du Midi (Army of the South) some 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Badajoz. MarshalSoult had set out to relieve Badajoz, besieged byBeresford. Soult outmanoeuvred his opponent at nearby Albuera but was forced to withdraw.[17] Three days later, Wellington arrived at Badajoz, having marched from Almeida.[17] |
| 25 May 1811 | First battle of Arlabán | Mountain pass betweenGipuzkoa andÁlava | Spanish victory | Guerrilla ambush led byFrancisco Espoz y Mina. Also referred to as the First Surprise of Arlabán to distinguish it from theSecond Surprise of Arlabán (April 1812). |
| 25 May 1811 | Battle of Usagre | Badajoz,Extremadura | Allied victory | |
| 6 and 9 June 1811 | Forts of Badajoz (two separate assaults) | Badajoz,Extremadura | French victory | Wellington made two assaults against the forts but was beaten back.[17] French reinforcements forced him to abandon the siege.[17] |
| 23 June 1811 | Battle of Cogorderos | León,Castile-León | Spanish victory | |
| 30 June – 2 July 1811 | Siege of Niebla | Niebla,Huelva,Andalusia | French victory | Instead of marching on Seville,Joaquín Blake laid siege to theCastle of Niebla, whose garrison consisted of a battalion of 600 Spanish and British deserters.[48] However, anescalade having failed and having been unable to bring up artillery, due to the bad mountain roads, the Spanish troops were unable to take the place. Blake finally withdrew whenSoult sentConroux andGodinot to relieve the garrison. Although the siege itself was not successful, it did serve to draw 11,000 French troops into a remote corner of the region for some weeks.[48] |
| 29 July 1811 | Battle of Montserrat | Barcelona,Catalonia | French victory | Irregular troops underJoaquín Ibáñez, Baron de Eroles were beaten byLouis Gabriel Suchet. |
| 9 August 1811 | Battle of Zujar | Granada,Andalusia | French victory | |
| 19 August 1811 | Sant Ferran Castle,Figueres,Girona | Surrender | With the fall of Figueres, which blocks the main road from Perpignan to Barcelona, MarshallMacdonald's troops, which had been detained for so long blockading the citadel, were now able to come to the assistance ofSuchet's Army of Aragon to capture Valencia.[53] (See also 10 April 1811, above) | |
| 25 September 1811 | Battle of El Bodón | Salamanca,Castile and León | French victory | |
| 28 September 1811 | Aldeia da Ponte (Combat of)[note 12] | Aldeia da Ponte,Guarda District, Portugal | Wellington, having secured his ground atAlfayates, with his whole army, also considered Aldea da Ponte, to be too valuable to relinquish unless overwhelmed by a superior force. Even though it lay outside the intended line of battle, two miles away and on lower ground, it was a meeting-place of several roads and well placed for observation. GeneralsThiébault andSouhamMontbrun andWatier, under MarshalMarmont, had engaged the British troops there in skirmishes, but Marmont, on arriving, took the decision not to advance and ordered the retreat forCiudad Rodrigo, while Wellington gave orders for his army to take up winter quarters.[48] | |
| 4–14 October 1811 | Battle of Cervera | Lleida,Catalonia | Spanish victory | |
| 16 October 1811 | Action at Ayerbe | Ayerbe,Huesca,Aragón | Spanish victory | A column of 800 Italian infantry, belonging toSeveroli's division at Zaragoza, marching to relieve the garrison of Ayerbe, was surprised byMina's 4,000 troops. The column "was exterminated",[53] with two hundred Italians killed and six hundred (including many wounded) taken prisoner after a running fight between Ayerbe and Huesca. Mina then crossed 200 miles of French-occupied territory in Northern Spain to theCantabrian coast atMotrico, where he handed over his prisoners to the British frigateHMSIsis.[53] |
| 25 October 1811 | Battle of Saguntum | Valencia,Valencia | French victory | |
| 25 October 1811 | Action atArroyo del Puerco | Cáceres,Extremadura | Spanish victory | Spanish cavalry underPenne Villemur forcedGirard's troops to retreat toMalpartida, with GeneralHill arriving there the following day.[54] |
| 28 October 1811 | Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos | Cáceres,Extremadura | Allied victory | |
| 3 November 1811 – 9 January 1812 | Siege of Valencia | Valencia,Valencia | French victory | |
| 5 November 1811 | First battle of Bornos | Cádiz,Andalusia | Spanish victory | |
| 5 November 1811 | Action at Puente de los Fierros (Lena) | Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena, leading the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, saw action at Puente de los Fierros.[31] | |
| 7 November 1811 | Action atPeñaflor (Grado) | Asturias | Pedro de la Bárcena, leading the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, saw action at Peñaflor.[31] | |
| 12 November 1811 | Action at Tineo | Asturias | Spanish victory | Pedro de la Bárcena, leading the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, saw action at Tineo, forcingGauthier to retreat.[31] |
| 19 December 1811 – 5 January 1812 | Siege of Tarifa | Cádiz,Andalusia | Allied victory | |
| 29 December 1811 | Combat of Navas de Membrillo | La Nava de Santiago,Badajoz | French victory | Hoping to surprise GeneralDembowski at Mérida, Hill's advanced cavalry chanced upon a troop of hussars at the head of a column of French infantry, three companies of the 88th regiment, some 400 men, who had been sent out to raise requisitions of food in the villages in the area. Hill sent two squadrons each of the13th Light Dragoons and 2nd Hussars of theKing's German Legion (KLG) in pursuit. The French captain formed his men in a square, and beat off five cavalry charges, with heavy loss to Hill's men: the KGL Hussars had two men killed and one officer and 17 men wounded, while the 13th Light Dragoons had one killed and 19 wounded. Dembowski, once warned of the approaching allied forces, evacuated Merida, where Hill, arriving the following day, found the French had abandoned 160,000 lb. of wheat.[53][55] In a letter to theSecretary of State for War and the Colonies, theEarl of Liverpool,Wellington expressed his surprise at Dembowski being still alive, having thought that he had been killed atArroyo dos Molinos the previous October.[56] |
| Date | Event | Province/ | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 January 1812 – 20 January 1812 | Second siege of Ciudad Rodrigo | Salamanca,Castile and León | Allied victory | Wellington laid siege to the town and by 19 January, his guns had opened up two gaps in its defences. That night, while the 3rd Division, attacking one breach, suffered heavily from a huge mine explosion, theLight Division assaulted the other and managed to force its way into the town. The French troops surrendered the town.[17] |
| 18 January 1812 | Combat of Villaseca | Vila-seca,Tarragona,Catalonia | Spanish victory | Lafosse, the governor of Tortosa, on his way to relieve Tarragona with a battalion and a troop of dragoons, was surprised byEroles, at the head of over 3,000somatenes, atVillaseca. Lafosse managed to reach Tarragona, with only twenty-two of his dragoons, but his battalion, after resisting for several hours in the village, was forced to surrender. Eroles took nearly 600 prisoners, and left over 200 French troops dead.[53]CommodoreEdward Codrington, then commanding a squadron in the Mediterranean Sea charged with harrying French shipping, was present at the combat, having come on shore to confer with Eroles, with whom he often collaborated,[53] regarding an action against Tarragona. The Spanish force managed to liberate two Royal Navy captains taken prisoner by Lafosse's men after having landed at CapeSalou the previous day.[53] |
| 20 January 1812 | Capture of Dénia | Dénia,Province of Alicante | Manoeuvres (French) | Dénia was an important centre of distribution for stores and munitions of war, and itsfortifications had been newly repaired during Blake's time at Valencia. However, following Blake's surrender atValencia, earlier that month,Mahy withdrew his garrison, neglecting to remove its magazines. On entering Dénia,Harispe found sixty guns mounted on its walls, plus forty small merchant vessels in the harbour, some of them laden with stores. As well as garrisoning the place, the French fitted out some of the vessels as privateers. Mahy's carelessness in abandoning these resources was among the reasons he was removed from command by theCadiz Regency.[53] |
| 20 January 1812 – 2 February 1812 | Siege of Peniscola | Peniscola,Valencia,Valencia | French victory | Garrisoned by 1,000 veteran Spanish troops, underGarcia Navarro, the impregnablefortress at Peniscola, sitting atop a rock connected with the mainland by a narrowsand-spit 250 yards long, known as 'the little Gibraltar', was one of the strongest places in all Spain, and was regularly revictualled by Spanish and British vessels from Alicante, Cartagena, and the Balearic Isles.Suchet orderedSeveroli, with two Italian and two French battalions, to besiege the place and on the 31st work began to erect five batteries.[53] On February 2, Garcia Navarro capitulated under unusually favourable terms.[note 13] Having surrendered the place to the French troops, he was then appointed governor of the same place by the French.[57] |
| 24 January 1812 | Battle of Altafulla | Tarragona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 16 March 1812 – 6 April 1812 | Siege of Badajoz | Badajoz,Extremadura | Allied victory | Having breached the city walls at great loss, Wellington's troops went on a rampage of rape and pillage for three days, massacring hundreds of civilians before being brought to order.[17] |
| 3 April 1812 | Combat at Fuente del Maestre | Fuente del Maestre,Badajoz,Extremadura | Anglo-Portuguese victory | Lt ColAbercromby led a column of 2nd Hussars and 14th Portuguese Cavalry that routed a body of around 100 French dragoons.[58] |
| 9 April 1812 | Second battle of Arlabán | Mountain pass betweenGipuzkoa andÁlava | Spanish victory | Also referred to as the Second Surprise of Arlabán to distinguish it from theFirst Surprise of Arlabán (May 1811). |
| 11 April 1812 | Battle of Villagarcia (also known as the Battle of Llerena) | Badajoz,Extremadura | British victory | |
| 18–19 May 1812 | Battle of Almaraz | Cáceres, Extremadura | Allied victory | Some 9,000 Allied troops underRowland Hill destroyed the pontoon bridge the French had built at Almaraz in 1811. Hill then proceeded to repair thebridge at Alcantara, thereby allowing Wellington to move towards Salamanca.[59] The original bridge at Almaraz, dating from 1552, had been partially destroyed in January 1809 by the Spanish GeneralJuan de Henestrosa, the vanguard of GeneralGregorio de la Cuesta's army. The following month, it had suffered further damage when another part of it collapsed, killing 26 soldiers, including the engineer officer.[60] |
| 31 May 1812 | Battle of Bornos | Cádiz,Andalusia | French victory | |
| 11 June 1812 | Battle of Maguilla | Badajoz, Extremadura | French victory | |
| 13–17 June 1812 | Ciudad Rodrigo –Salamanca | Castile-León | Manoeuvres (British) | Wellington's troops moved from their cantonments towards Salamanca. The French troops abandoned the city and Wellington entered on the 17th.[59] (See 17 June 1812, below.) |
| 17 June 1812 | La Coruña | North of Spain:Cantabria,Basque Country andNavarre | Manoeuvres (British) | Popham sailed from Corunna with his fleet comprising two line of battleships, five frigates, two sloops, and one or two smaller vessels, transporting two battalions of marines, a company of artillery,[16] and several thousand small-arms for theguerrilleros. Popham also carried credentials fromCastaños, as captain-general of Galicia, forMendizábal, the officer liaising with the bands of Cantabria and Biscay, includingPorlier's brigades in the Eastern Asturias, andLonga's in Cantabria (both of which were considered part of the regular army) as well as the guerrilleros ofel Pastor in Guipuzcoa,Renovales in Biscay,el Cura Merino, and others.[53] |
| 17–27 June 1812 | Siege of the Salamanca forts | Salamanca,Castile-León | Allied victory | (See 13 June 1812, above.) |
| 21–22 June 1812 | Lequeitio: storming of defences: a fort and a fortified convent | Basque Country | Anglo-Spanish victory | Popham landed a24-pounder and marines, which met up withEl Pastor'sguerrillas and breached the fort. When the gun was brought up against the fortified convent, the commander surrendered without fighting. 290 prisoners were taken. Popham then sailed off toBermeo andPlencia, both of which the French evacuated, leaving behind provisions and unspiked guns.[53] |
| 29 June – 19 August 1812 | Astorga, Second siege of | León,Castile-León | Spanish victory | Spanish troops liberate Astorga, in French hands since the firstSiege of Astorga in 1810. |
| 6–8 July 1812 | Castro Urdiales | Cantabria (on theBay of Biscay) | Anglo-Spanish victory | Popham was joined byLonga's brigade and drove off a small French column that had come to raise the siege. The governor of Castro surrendered with some 150 men, and 20 guns on his walls. Popham decided to useits castle as a temporary base, and garrisoned it with some of his marines.[53] |
| 21 July 1812 | Battle of Castalla | Alicante,Valencia | French victory | |
| 22 July 1812 | Battle of Salamanca | Salamanca,Castile and León | Decisive Allied victory | Also known as the Battle of Arapiles, for the name of the nearby village,Arapiles, which in turn takes its name from the two low, flat-topped hills, Arapil Chico (Lesser Arapile) and Arapil Grande (Greater Arapile), over and around which part of the battle took place. Having secured the Portuguese-Spanish frontier, Wellington was able to advance further into Spain. At Salamanca, his Allied army defeated a larger French force under MarshalMarmont.[17] |
| 22 July – 2 August 1812 | Santander (Capture of) | Santander, Spain,Cantabria | Anglo-Spanish victory | Oman considered the capture of Santander "the most important event that had happened on the north coast of Spain since 1809",[53][note 14]Popham's initial attack, coordinated withMendizábal and one ofPorlier's lieutenants,Campillo, failed. However, the French governor,Dubreton, broke out of the place with his 1,600 men on the night of the 2nd-3rd, leaving eighteen spiked guns. |
| 23 July 1812 | Battle of Garcia Hernandez | Salamanca,Castile and León | Anglo-German victory | |
| 31 July 1812 | Sicily –Palamos | Catalonia | Manoeuvres (Allied) | Wellington had suggested that an attack on the Catalonian coast would, by creating a diversion, preventSuchet from intervening in the west.Maitland, sent byLord William Bentinck to Spain, with three British, two German battalions plus several other foreign units and, having picked up some Spanish troops on the way, arrived off Palamos, on the Catalan coast with some ten thousand men in total, eventually landing further south.[note 15] Although the force achieved little in military terms, it did have the desired effect as it was clear that Suchet had been aware of the rumour of troops coming from Sicily and of the existence of the transports at Alicante and Majorca.[16] |
| 11 August 1812 | Battle of Majadahonda | New Castile (nowCommunity of Madrid) | ||
| 14 August 1812[53] | Surrender of the French garrison at theCitadel of Madrid | Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid,Madrid | Allied victory | King Joseph having evacuated Madrid on the 10th, GeneralLafon-Blaniac surrenders his 2,000-strong garrison. Following his victory atSalamanca the previous month, Wellington was able to liberate Madrid, before moving north to besiegeBurgos,[17] the logistical hub for all reinforcements and supplies for the French armies in Spain.[59] (See 19 September 1812, below.) |
| 25 August 1812 | Cádiz (Siege of ends)[1] | Cádiz,Andalusia | Manoeuvres (French) | French troops withdrew from Cádiz. Cádiz would be the only city in continental Europe to survive a siege by Napoleon: thirty-one months—from 5 February 1810 to 25 August 1812.[1] |
| 19 September – 21 October 1812 | Siege of Burgos | Burgos,Castile and León | French victory | Wellington had to abandon the siege of Burgos and retreat back into Portugal once again[17] due to the risk of being encircled by the French forces which, following Wellington's victory atSalamanca, had themselves been forced to retreat from Andalusia in the south[17] to avoid being cut off, but still had enough troops in north and eastern Spain to launch a major counter-offensive.[17] |
| 23 October 1812 | Battle of Venta del Pozo | Palencia,Castile and León | Indecisive French tactical victory[61] | Also known as the Battle ofVillodrigo. |
| 25–29 October 1812 | Battle of Tordesillas | Valladolid,Castile and León | French victory | Also known as the Battle of Villamuriel or Battle of Palencia. |
| Date | Event | Province/ | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 April 1813 | Battle of Castalla | Alicante,Valencia | Anglo-Spanish victory | |
| 2 June 1813 | Battle of Morales | Zamora,Castile and León | ||
| 3–11 June 1813 | Second siege of Tarragona | Tarragona,Catalonia | French victory | |
| 18 June 1813 | Battle of San Millan-Osma | San Millan,Burgos,Castile and León / Osma,Álava,Basque Country | Allied victory | Mountain pass northwest ofMiranda del Ebro, just off theBurgos–Bilbao road. |
| 21 June 1813 | Battle of Vitoria | Álava,Basque Country | Allied victory (decisive) | Led to the abdication of Napoleon's brother,Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, 11 December 1813.Beethoven's Op. 91, "Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria", completed in the first week of October 1813, commemorates the victory. Originally composed for thepanharmonicon, it was first performed with Beethoven himself conducting, together with the premiere of hisSymphony No. 7.[62] |
| 26 June 1813 | Battle of Tolosa | Gipuzkoa,Basque Country | Allied victory (decisive) | Led to the abdication of Napoleon's brother,Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain, 11 December 1813.Beethoven's Op. 91, "Wellingtons Sieg oder die Schlacht bei Vittoria", completed in the first week of October 1813, commemorates the victory. Originally composed for thepanharmonicon, it was first performed with Beethoven himself conducting, together with the premiere of hisSymphony No. 7.[62] |
| 26 June – 31 October 1813 | Siege of Pamplona | Pamplona,Navarre | Allied victory | |
| 7–25 July 1813 | First siege of San Sebastián | Province ofGipuzkoa,Basque Country | French victory | Although referred to as one siege, there were in fact two separate sieges. SeeSecond siege of San Sebastián (8 August – 8 September 1813), below. |
| 25 July 1813 – 1 August 1813 | Battle of the Pyrenees | Allied victory | The Battle of the Pyrenees was large-scale offensive, involving several battles, launched by MarshalSoult to relieve the French garrisons under siege atPamplona andSan Sebastián. Following his defeat atBattle of Sorauren at the end of the month, Soult ordered the retreat towards France, having decided it would be impossible to relieve Pamplona.[59] | |
| 25 July 1813 | Battle of Roncesvalles | Roncevaux Pass, Spain | French victory | Mountain pass at 1,057 m (3,468 ft) on the Spanish side of thePyrenees near the border with France. A battle included in theBattle of the Pyrenees. |
| 25 July 1813 | Battle of Maya | Navarre | French victory | Mountain pass on the Spanish side of thePyrenees near the border with France. A battle included in theBattle of the Pyrenees. |
| 27 July – 1 August 1813 | Battle of Sorauren | Navarre | Allied victory | A battle included in theBattle of the Pyrenees. Soult ordered the retreat towards France, having decided it would be impossible to relieve Pamplona.[59] A battle included in theBattle of the Pyrenees. |
| 30 July 1813 | Combat of Beunza | Navarre | During the fighting atSorauren,Hill's 2nd Division andCosta's Brigade were engaged 25 km to the northwest, fighting a French corps at Beunza, nearAtez.[59] | |
| 8 August – 8 September 1813 | Second siege of San Sebastián | Province ofGipuzkoa,Basque Country | Anglo-Portuguese victory | Although referred to as one siege, there were in fact two separate sieges. SeeFirst siege of San Sebastián (7–25 July 1813), above. |
| 31 August 1813 | Battle of San Marcial | NearIrun,Basque Country | Spanish victory[63] | |
| 12–13 September 1813 | Battle of Ordal | Defile of Ordal andVilafranca del Penedès,Barcelona | French victory | |
| 7 October 1813 | Battle of the Bidassoa | Allied victory (tactical) | Also known as the Battle of Larrun. | |
| 9 November 1813 | Battle of Nivelle | Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France | Allied victory | Most of Spain had been liberated, except for the French garrison atPamplona and the east coast.Soult had fortified theNivelle river for 35 km, inland from its estuary, and was defending it with 60,000 troops. Wellington had 82,000 troops divided into fifteen divisions. Major GeneralCarlos Lecor, commanding the 7th Division, was the first Portuguese officer to command a division of British troops.[59] |
| 8 December 1813[64] | Treaty of Valençay | Château de Valençay,Indre, France | Treaty | Napoleon, wishing to reestablish an alliance with Spain, intended the Treaty as the preliminary to a full peace treaty between France and Spain, the agreement providing for the withdrawal of French troops from Spain, and restoration of Ferdinand VII of Spain. TheCortes of Cádiz duly repudiated the treaty once Ferdinand had reached the safety of Madrid. |
| 9–13 December 1813 | Battle of the Nive | Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France | Allied victory | |
| 11 December 1813 | Abdication ofJoseph Bonaparte, King of Spain | Abdication |
| Date | Event | Province/ | Outcome | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 February 1814 | Battle of Garris | Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France | Allied victory | Also known as the Battle ofSaint-Palais. |
| 27 February 1814 | Battle of Orthez | Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France | Anglo-Portuguese victory | |
| 6 April 1814 | Abdication ofNapoleon Bonaparte[65] | Abdication | ||
| 10 April 1814 | Battle of Toulouse | Haute-Garonne, France | Allied victory | One of the last battles of the Peninsular War. That afternoon, the official word of Napoleon's abdication and the end of the war reached Wellington. Soult agreed to an armistice on 17 April. |
| 14 April 1814 | Battle of Bayonne | Bayonne, France | Allied victory | Although there were still isolated incidents, especially in Catalonia, Bayonne was the last major battle of the Peninsular War. |
| 28 May 1814 | Surrender of Barcelona | Barcelona,Catalonia | Surrender | The French garrison at Barcelona surrenders.[65] |
| 4 June 1814 | Surrender ofSant Ferran Castle | Figueres,Catalonia | Surrender | The last French garrison in Spain surrenders.[65] |
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