Battle of Fuengirola
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Battle of Fuengirola | |||||||
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Part of the Peninsular War | |||||||
Battle of Fuengirola, a painting by January Suchodolski oil on canvas, 93 x 66 cm, Polish Army Museum | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom Spain |
Duchy of Warsaw France | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Lord Blayney (POW) | Franciszek Młokosiewicz | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
3,501 British 1,000 Spanish |
400 Polish 57 French | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
65 killed 70 wounded 200 captured 5 guns captured 300 rifles & muskets captured 60,000 rounds of ammunition captured 1 gunboat captured |
20 killed 100 wounded |
The Battle of Fuengirola (15 October 1810) was an engagement between a small
Background
The town of
In the autumn of 1810, British Major General
Battle
On 14 October 1810 the British force reached
Despite numerical inferiority, the Poles held out. Sergeant Zakrzewski even managed to sink one of the British gunboats. The remaining gunboats withdrew out of the range of the two lightweight Polish guns. Under the cover of gunfire from his two frigates, Blayney attempted a frontal attack on the castle walls. However, after Major Grant, the commander of
On the morning of 15 October the artillery bombardment became heavy and the British cannons destroyed one of the castle towers. Around 2:00 pm, HMS Rodney and a similar Spanish warship arrived at Fuengirola bringing 932 men of the 1/82nd Regiment of Foot. To counter the threat, Captain Młokosiewicz decided to carry out a surprise attack on the enemy artillery positions. Leaving the castle guarded mostly by the wounded, he led the remaining 130 soldiers in a sally. The besiegers were taken by surprise and, despite huge numerical superiority (approximately 10:1), the Spanish regiment protecting the hill artillery redoubt retreated in disorder. The guns were turned away from the castle and the Polish infantrymen started shelling the British positions. Although the artillery fire mostly missed its targets (there were no trained artillery officers in the Polish unit), it made the regrouping of British troops much more difficult.
After about half an hour, Blayney managed to reorganise his troops on the beach and ordered the assault of the artillery emplacement occupied by Polish forces. The outnumbered defenders blew up the gunpowder supplies and withdrew towards the castle. However, before the British and Spanish forces could push any further, they were attacked on their left flank by the Polish garrison of Alhaurin that had just arrived on the battlefield. Approximately 200 rested and well-equipped Poles under Bronisz distracted the British long enough to let the withdrawing Captain Młokosiewicz regroup his force and strike the right flank of the British line. This near-simultaneous attack of Polish units, supported by approximately 30
Aftermath
The heroic defence of the castle in Fuengirola was one of the few times in history (other than Maida and Albuera), in which Polish soldiers fought against the forces of Great Britain. It was also one of the few decisive British defeats in the Peninsular War. Although, in his memoirs, Blayney tried to downplay the importance of the battle of Fuengirola, he himself remained in French captivity for nearly four years, until 1814. His surrendered sabre is currently on exhibition at the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków (Cracow).
Some British military historians have blamed the British debacle on the timely arrival of
Notes
- ^ Elting 1997, pp. 380–381.
References
- Elting, John R. (1997). Swords Around A Throne. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-80757-2. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
Further reading
- Nafziger, George; Wesołowski, Mariusz (1991). Poles and Saxons of the Napoleonic Wars. Chicago, Il.: The Emperor's Press.
- Chandler, David G. (1999). Słownik Wojen Napoleońskich (in Polish). Ware: Wordsworth Editions. ISBN 978-1-84022-203-6.
- Kujawski, Marian (1967). Z bojów polskich w wojnach napoleońskich; Maida–Somosierra–Fuengirola–Albuera (in Polish). London: Polska Fundacja Kulturalna.
- Bielecki, Robert (1984). Andrzej Tadeusz Tyszka (ed.). Dał nam przykład Bonaparte; wspomnienia i relacje żołnierzy polskich 1796–1815 (in Polish). Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie. ISBN 978-83-08-00645-0.
External links
- Battle of Fuengirola, detailed account
- Andrew, 11th Lord of Blayney
- Portrait of Eustachy Chełmicki
- Media related to Battle of Fuengirola at Wikimedia Commons