Battle of La Bisbal

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Battle of La Bisbal
Part of Peninsular War

Bisbal Emporda castell
Date14 September 1810[1]
Location
La Bisbal d'Empordà, Girona, Catalonia
41°57′36″N 3°02′26″E / 41.96000°N 3.04056°E / 41.96000; 3.04056
Result Anglo-Spanish victory[1]
Belligerents
First French Empire French Empire
Anhalt Duchy of Anhalt		 Spain Kingdom of Spain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
First French Empire Marie François Rouyer
First French Empire François Xavier de Schwarz (POW)
Francis William Fane
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
 Charles William Doyle
Units involved
First French Empire VII Corps Spain Army of Catalonia
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Royal Navy
Strength
2,400[1] 6,600[1]
2 British frigates[1]
Casualties and losses
400 dead and wounded[1]
1,600 captured[1]
17 guns[1]		 not mentioned[1]
Peninsular war: Aragón Catalonia
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  current battle

In the Battle of La Bisbal on 14 September 1810 a

Francis William Fane and Charles William Doyle surprised an Imperial French brigade commanded by François Xavier de Schwarz. The Imperial troops were from the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of small German states that were allied to Napoleon. Part of a division led by Marie François Rouyer, Schwarz's brigade was almost completely wiped out, most of its soldiers being taken prisoner along with its commander. One of the few Allied casualties was the capable O'Donnell, wounded in the foot. The battle occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars.[2]

The action occurred amid the events leading up to the

Jacques MacDonald
was ordered to support him. The marshal cooperated by advancing into southern Catalonia with a large force. To distract MacDonald from his mission, O'Donnell determined to raid northern Catalonia. The raid was a brilliant tactical success but it failed to deter the marshal from assisting Suchet. Finally, a logistical crisis forced MacDonald to withdraw to northern Catalonia.

Background

In June 1810,

Siege of Lerida on 13 May and the Siege of Mequinenza on 5 June.[5]

Located on the

Valencia. By seizing the city, Napoleon hoped to sever the link between the two areas. Before Suchet could implement the plan, he was compelled to return to Aragon to suppress the guerillas. MacDonald also had difficulties. He first needed to restock his empty depots with supplies from France. It was August before either commander was ready to carry out their emperor's strategy.[4]

MacDonald marched his field army of 16,000 troops south to support Suchet's operations against Tortosa. MacDonald left General of Division Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers with almost 10,000 soldiers to garrison Barcelona. In addition, there were 18,000 troops manning the defenses of other cities and holding open the road to France.[6]

Francis William Fane of the Cambrian commanded the Allied naval squadron. In early September, O'Donnell managed to elude the garrisons of Barcelona, Hostalric, and Girona without being noticed.[7]

Battle

Print depicts five soldiers. From left to right, the first man sports a green coat and gray breeches. The second soldier wears a white coat with blue facings and dark gray trousers. The third and fourth are dressed in white coats with light blue pants. The fifth man wears the same green and gray as the first, but his headgear is a bicorne hat. The other four wear black shakos with plumes.
6th Confederation of the Rhine Regiment

Fane's Anglo-Spanish naval expedition struck first on 10 September. An amphibious force rowed ashore at

miquelets.[9]

On the morning of the 14th, O'Donnell attacked La Bisbal in overwhelming force. As his pickets were driven in, Schwarz sent a courier with orders to his detachments to concentrate. Shortly afterward, La Bisbal was surrounded and its defenders fell back to an old castle. Unfortunately, the structure was dominated by a nearby hill and a church tower from which snipers picked off a few Germans during the day. Schwarz held out until evening; he surrendered after the Spanish began massing for an assault. The French commander did not put up much of a battle, losing only one officer and four men killed, and three officers and 16 rank and file wounded.[7]

While the action in La Bisbal was going on, Schwarz's other outposts were being snapped up. Fane and Doyle landed their troops at Palamós and captured it. Colonel Aldea's column overran Calonge while Colonel Fleires's column seized Sant Feliu. Rouyer at Girona was unable to intervene because O'Donnell called out the local miquelets to harass his garrison.[7] Schwarz, two colonels, 56 officers, 1,183 men, and 17 guns were captured for a total of 1,242 prisoners.[7] The Germans also lost approximately 400 killed and wounded. Spanish losses were not reported but were probably light.[9] However, they included O'Donnell who was badly wounded in the foot at La Bisbal. The Spanish general and the German prisoners were taken aboard Fane's squadron before it sailed back to Tarragona.[7]

Schwarz was held in captivity until the end of the war in 1814.

Lieutenant General Miguel Iranzo.[15] O'Donnell later received the title 1st Count of la Bisbal in recognition of his victory.[16]

Aftermath

Campoverde took command of the land force and headed north past Girona before Rouyer or Baraguey d'Hilliers could react. He captured

Segre River valley and took position at Calaf and Cardona.[7]

Because he was so isolated from northern Catalonia by the guerillas, MacDonald did not hear of the La Bisbal disaster until three weeks later. Nevertheless, he initially maintained his position in support of Suchet.[17] By holding his ground MacDonald nullified O'Donnell's strategy. Other events would finally distract the marshal from his position in the south.[8]

When Campoverde moved south to Cardona, the marshal took two French and two Italian brigades to attack him. An Italian brigade attacked at once on 18 October and took a beating. MacDonald declined to press his enemies further because provisions in Barcelona were getting low. Instead he lumbered off to Girona so he could protect his supply convoys.

Siege of Tortosa until 16 December 1810.[18]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bodart 1908, p. 420.
  2. ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 334.
  3. ^ Gates 2002, p. 289.
  4. ^ a b Gates 2002, p. 292.
  5. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 342–343.
  6. ^ Oman 1902c, pp. 495–496.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oman 1902c, pp. 497–499.
  8. ^ a b Gates 2002, p. 293.
  9. ^ a b c Smith 1998, p. 345.
  10. ^ Six 1934, p. 440.
  11. ^ 'Register of French POWs, Edinburgh and Greenock, 1811-1812', The National Archives of the UK (TNA), ADM 103/112, accessed via Findmypast.
  12. ^ 'French POWs Released on Parole 1800-1815', The National Archives of the UK (TNA), ADM 103/611, accessed via Findmypast.
  13. ^ "Lodge St John, No. 111". Hawick News and Border Chronicle. 22 March 1918. p. 3.
  14. ^ Archives of Lodge St John, No. 111, Hawick, Scotland.
  15. ^ Oman 1902c, p. 501.
  16. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 8–9.
  17. ^ a b Oman 1902c, pp. 499–501.
  18. ^ Smith 1998, p. 353.

References

  • Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill.
    ISBN 1-85367-276-9
    .
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