The
Peninsular War (1807-1814)
The attempted subjugation of Portugal in a bid to tighten his trade
blockade of Britain was probably the worst mistake Napoleon made during
his lengthy reign over France
Napoleon invaded Portugal via Spain.
On 1 December 1807, the French captured
Lisbon, just missing the royal family who fled to Brazil the day before.
In February 1808 Marshal Murat took a huge army into Spain on the pretext
of restoring order - the king, Charles IV, was quarrelling with his
son, Ferdinand - and soon had the entire family taken to France for
protection.
Next, Napoleon had his brother Joseph chosen as
the new king - a move that sent the peasantry and church into
a rebellious frenzy.
By April there were open uprisings against Joseph and the conflict descended
into a brutal period of warfare.
Despite its shockingly poor regular army, the war began well for Spain.
The French were forced into a lengthy siege of Saragossa.
Next 23,000 Frenchmen, under General Dupont, found themselves separated
and trapped without water facing 30,000 Spaniards at Bailen
(19 July, 1808) and were forced to surrender.
This surrender sent shockwaves throughout the French empire and General
Dupont was jailed on his return to France.
The reverses in Spain cut Junot off from any support.
However, he felt strong enough to think he could defeat a British army
that landed in Portugal on 1 August 1808.
Unfortunately, for Junot and France, the British were led by Arthur
Wellesley, whose military prowess was fostered in India and was therefore
unrecognised in Europe.
Wellesley secured success at Rolica on
17 August.
Four days later his army of 17,000 Anglo-Portuguese troops was attacked
by Junot and his Army of Portugal at the battle of Vimiero
(21 August, 1808).
Junot lost 2000 men and 13 cannon and Wellington suffered 700 casualties
and considerable damage to his prestige when, following the battle,
two new geriatric British commanders Generals "Dowager" Dalrymple
and "Betty" Burrard were placed in command of British forces.
These two negotiated an appalling treaty ( the
Convention of Cintra) with Junot that allowed the trapped Frenchman
to withdraw his troops, with all their equipment, on British ships back
to France.
This caused a massive outcry in Britain and, following an official enquiry,
both Dalrymple and Burrard were blamed.
Wellington - who had opposed the deal - was exonerated.
In the meantime, Sir John Moore took over
the British army and, in expectation of major support from the Spanish,
advanced deep into Spain.
However, he was badly let down by the Spanish and found himself without
support and up against Napoleon himself.
Moore turned his army around and began a horrendous retreat through
winter-blasted mountains arriving at Corunna
just ahead of the pursuing French under Marshal Soult.
More than 5000 British died during the cruel march. Discipline was strained
to breaking point, though the need to hold the French off while the
troops were evacuated by ship to England brought the professionalism
back.
Led by Moore , the redcoats formed a series of defensive lines with
the key position being the small village of Elvina.
The battle for the village (16 January 1809) was ferocious and it took
several hours for the British to drive off the attackers.
The cost to the British included some 900 men and the death of Moore,
while the French suffered some 2000 casualties.
The evacuation, however, was a complete success and led to some 27,000
men being saved to fight another day.
Corunna was a victory for Britain, and the fact that Moore died during
the battle, opened the way for the return of Wellington as commander.
With the extremely capable Sir William Beresford retraining and organising
the Portuguese army, Wellesley at last had allies he could trust.
He caught Marshal Soult on the hop when he crossed the Douro River at
Oporto and seized the military initiative.
Moving into Spain, Wellesley was attacked by the French at Talavera
(27-28 July, 1809).
Wellesey had a sizeable force of some 55,000 men and 60 cannons with
which to oppose King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan’s 46,000
troops and 80 guns.
Unfortunately Wellesley’s force was bolstered by 35,000 Spaniards
under General Cuesta, with whom co-operation was difficult.
The Spanish troops were also of poor quality and, during the battle,
panicked and fled after their own sentries fired a volley at patrolling
French cavalry.
Fortunately British artillery fire was very effective and finally drove
the French back.
The British lost almost 5500 men, the Spaniards just over 1000 and the
French some 7200.
Many men wounded in the battle died in a grassfire that spread across
the field.
Deciding against trusting the Spaniards again, the now Duke of Wellington
fell back to Portugal where he waited for the next opportunity to take
on the French.
By 1810, Wellesley had constructed an impenetrable,
series of fortified prepared defensive Lines of Torres Vedras, which
completely cut off Lisbon from attack.
This stymied the hopes of the new French commander, Marshal Massena,
for an easy victory over the Anglo-Portuguese.
Retreating towards the lines, the Wellington decided to buy himself
more time to complete the withdrawal by stopping Massena and his army
of Portugal at Bussaco (27 September, 1810)..
The British numbered some 51,000 men while Massena, bolstered by the
talents of Marshal Ney and generals Junot and Reynier had almost 66,000
troops at his disposal.
During the battle Wellington adopted his favoured tactic of hiding his
true strength from the enemy and used the concentrated firepower of
cannons and muskets.
Massena finally withdrew having lost 4500 men.
Wellington, whose casualty list was just over 1250 men, continued on
towards Torres Vedras.
The French marshal made some attempts to get through the lines and then
sat obstinately outside them waiting for another chance to fight the
British.
Wellington had other ideas and just waited for hunger - the lands having
been cleared of foodstuffs - to take its effect.
It took the entire winter for Massena to get the message and he was
finally forced to march his starving army towards better providing countryside.
The British won a further battle at Barrosa and then followed an encounter
at Fuentes de Onoro (3 and 5 May, 1811).
Desperate to relieve the besieged fortress of Almeida, Massena then
moved in with almost 50,000 men, but found himself up against some 36,000
troops under Wellington.
However, a steady stream of reenforcements allowed Wellington to hold
the position against up to 28 enemy battalions.
Finally Massena withdrew leaving 2192 men behind - Wellington lost 1500.
Also in 1811, one of the most bloody encounters
on the Peninsula occurred when Soult moved to end the siege of Badajoz,
(a fortress guarding the Portuguese-Spanish border).
Marching towards the city, he attacked a blocking force under Beresford
at Albuera (16 May, 1811).
Albuera was a brutal battle (up-close and nasty) where pure courage
won the day for the British.
In the first French attack many Spaniards fought bravely against great
odds and a British counterattack failed with massive casualties - the
result of a blinding downpour that hid the proximity of Polish lancers
until it was too late.
One British brigade suffered 80% casualties.
A second French attack almost succeeded, due to General d'Espana's refusal
to reinforce the line and poor communication high in the British command.
For much of the firefight British and French troops were within 20 paces
of each other.
The day was finally won after four hours of bitter fighting.
Marshal Beresford was severely criticised for his leadership during
the battle, but was backed up by Wellington.
While Wellington's army was the master of countryside, the French still
garrisoned the key fortresses of Badajoz and Ciudad
Rodrigo.
The mighty towns stood as gatekeepers into Spain and the British leader
knew he had to capture them before taking on the French in Spain.
The start of one of the British army's most bloody clashes began at
the border fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo on 8 January, 1812.
This bastion covered the northern gateway from Portugal to Spain and
was crucial to both sides' plans for upcoming operations.
For the French it was important as a way of delaying the Anglo-Portuguese,
while for Wellington it was necessary to remove it as a challenge to
his supply lines.
After capturing a hill at the northern part of the town the British
pounded away with cannon until two breaches had been created and an
assault eventually succeeded, albeit at great cost.
The encounter at Badajoz (16 March, 1812)
was equally bloody with more than 40 nightime assaults being attempted
by the British before the French decided to accept terms.
French losses were almost 1500 men, while some 3500 British troops became
casualties.
Both Cuidad Rodrigo and Badajos cost thousands of British lives
and then thousands more inside the cities as the redcoats were given
free reign.
The sacking of both brought little honour to Britain.
Moving quickly into Spain, Wellington found himself up against a new
French commander - Marshal Marmont - but dealt with him the same way
as the others and defeated him at Salamanca.
Madrid was freed but, being unable to capture the fortress at Burgos,
the British had to make another retreat into safety in Portugal.
Vitoria (21 June, 1813)
was the battle that broke the back of the French occupation of Spain
and led to common Allied soldiers becoming wealthy men overnight, as
they looted a baggage train containing some 5.5 million francs worth
of treasure.
In the lead up to Vitoria, Wellington split his army of some 70,000
men in two and sent the majority of them (40,000 under General Graham)
on a series of hook marches that forced the French to continually look
at their defensive flanks.
The remaining men shepherded King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan’s
force of 50,000 towards their own border.
At Vitoria, the sides collided and a series of French errors - most
crucially not guarding a key bridge at Tres Puentes - allowed Wellington
to cross the major Zadorra River with several divisions.
From there the British began flank attacks on the French defenders,
pushing them slowly back towards the village of Vitoria.
The French fought with great courage in an attempt to allow the massive
baggage trains enough breathing space to get a head start on their journey
back to France, but were finally defeated by Wellington. The British
lost some 5000 men, while 7500 Frenchmen became casualties.
Fleeing to the east, the French soldiers then officially abandoned the
treasure wagons and, while occasionally stopping to help British troops
loot them, ran to avoid capture.
The Allied mopping-up operation was ruined by the wealth on offer to
poorly paid soldiers and a furious Wellington found himself with only
some 250,000 francs to bolster his war chest.
Soult then took over command of a unified French force and conducted
a brilliant series of rearguard battles through the Pyrenees.
Eventually, Wellington forced his way through, overran the border fortresses,
defeated Soult at Orthez and then, finally, at Toulouse.
The Peninsular War was over at last.
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