Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence.[e]
The war started when the French and Spanish armies
In 1808, the Spanish army in
Pursued by the armies of Spain, Portugal and Britain, Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, no longer getting sufficient support from a depleted France, led the exhausted and demoralized French forces in a fighting withdrawal across the Pyrenees during the winter of 1813–1814. The years of fighting in Spain were a heavy burden on France's Grande Armée. While the French enjoyed several victories in battle, they were eventually defeated, as their communications and supplies were severely tested and their units were frequently isolated, harassed or overwhelmed by Spanish partisans fighting an intense guerrilla war of raids and ambushes. The Spanish armies were repeatedly beaten and driven to the peripheries, but they would regroup and relentlessly hound and demoralize the French troops. This drain on French resources led Napoleon, who had unwittingly provoked a total war, to call the conflict the "Spanish Ulcer".[12][13]
War and revolution against Napoleon's occupation led to the Spanish Constitution of 1812, promulgated by the Cortes of Cádiz, later a cornerstone of European liberalism.[14] Though victorious in war, the burden of war destroyed the social and economic fabric of both Portugal and Spain; and the following civil wars between liberal and absolutist factions ushered revolts in Latin America and the beginning of an era of social turbulence, increased political instability, and economic stagnation.
1807
Extortion of Portugal
The Treaties of Tilsit, negotiated during a meeting in July 1807 between Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon, concluded the War of the Fourth Coalition. With Prussia shattered, and the Russian Empire allied with the First French Empire, Napoleon expressed irritation that Portugal was open to trade with Britain.[15] Pretexts were plentiful; Portugal was Britain's oldest ally in Europe, Britain was finding new opportunities for trade with Portugal's colony in Brazil, the Royal Navy used Lisbon's port in its operations against France, and he wanted to deny the British the use of the Portuguese fleet. Furthermore, Prince John of Braganza, regent for his insane mother Queen Maria I, had declined to join the emperor's Continental System against British trade.[16]
Events moved rapidly. The Emperor sent orders on 19 July 1807 to his Foreign Minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, to order Portugal to declare war on Britain, close its ports to British ships, detain British subjects on a provisional basis and sequester their goods. After a few days, a large force started concentrating at Bayonne.[17] Meanwhile, the Portuguese government's resolve was stiffening, and shortly afterward Napoleon was once again told that Portugal would not go beyond its original agreements. Napoleon now had all the pretext that he needed, while his force, the First Corps of Observation of the Gironde with divisional general Jean-Andoche Junot in command, was prepared to march on Lisbon. After he received the Portuguese answer, he ordered Junot's corps to cross the frontier into the Spanish Empire.[18]
While all this was going on, the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau had been signed between France and Spain. The document was drawn up by Napoleon's marshal of the palace Géraud Duroc and Eugenio Izquierdo, an agent for Manuel Godoy.[19] The treaty proposed to carve up Portugal into three entities. Porto and the northern part was to become the Kingdom of Northern Lusitania, under Charles II, Duke of Parma. The southern portion, as the Principality of the Algarves, would fall to Godoy. The rump of the country, centered on Lisbon, was to be administered by the French.[20] According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Junot's invasion force was to be supported by 25,500 Spanish troops.[21] On 12 October, Junot's corps began crossing the Bidasoa River into Spain at Irun.[18] Junot was selected because he had served as ambassador to Portugal in 1805. He was known as a good fighter and an active officer, although he had never exercised independent command.[19]
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Portrait of Prince John of Braganza by Jean-Baptiste Debret (1817).
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Napoleon Bonaparte by Andrea Appiani (1805).
Spanish dilemma
By 1800, Spain was in a state of social unrest. Townsfolk and peasants all over the country, who had been forced to bury family members in new municipal cemeteries rather than churches or other consecrated ground, took back their bodies at night and tried to restore them to their old resting-places. In Madrid, the growing numbers of afrancesados (Francophiles) at court were opposed by the majos: shopkeepers, artisans, tavern keepers, and laborers who dressed in traditional style, and took pleasure in picking fights with petimetres, the young who styled themselves with French fashion and manners.[22]
Spain was an ally of Napoleon's First French Empire; however, defeat in the naval Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, which had decimated Spain's navy, had removed the reason for alliance with France. Manuel Godoy, the favorite of King Charles IV of Spain, began to seek some form of escape. At the start of the War of the Fourth Coalition, which pitted the Kingdom of Prussia against Napoleon, Godoy issued a proclamation that was obviously aimed at France, even though it did not specify an enemy. After Napoleon's decisive victory at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, Godoy quickly withdrew the proclamation. However, it was too late to avert Napoleon's suspicions. Napoleon planned from that moment to deal with his inconstant ally at some future time. In the meantime, the Emperor forced Godoy and Charles IV into providing a division of Spanish troops to serve in northern Europe.[23] The Division of the North spent the winter of 1807–1808 in Swedish Pomerania, Mecklenburg, and towns of the old Hanseatic League and Spanish troops marched into Denmark in early 1808.[24]
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PrinceFernando VII of Spain by Vicente López Portaña
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King Charles IV of Spain by Francisco Goya
Invasion of Portugal
Napoleon instructed Junot, with the cooperation of Spanish military troops, to invade Portugal, moving west from Alcántara along the Tagus valley to Portugal, a distance of only 120 miles (193 km).[25] On 19 November 1807, the French troops under Junot set out for Lisbon and occupied it on 30 November.[26]
The Prince Regent John escaped, loading his family, courtiers, state papers and treasure aboard the fleet, protected by the British, and fled to Brazil. He was joined in flight by many nobles, merchants and others. With 15 warships and more than 20 transports, the fleet of refugees weighed anchor on 29 November and
As one of Junot's first acts, the property of those who had fled to Brazil was sequestered[29] and a 100-million-franc indemnity imposed.[30] The army formed into a Portuguese Legion, and went to northern Germany to perform garrison duty.[29] Junot did his best to calm the situation by trying to keep his troops under control. While the Portuguese authorities were generally subservient toward their French occupiers, the ordinary Portuguese were angry,[29] and the harsh taxes caused bitter resentment among the population. By January 1808, there were executions of persons who resisted the exactions of the French. The situation was dangerous, but it would need a trigger from outside to transform unrest into revolt.[30]
1808
Coup d'état
Between 9 and 12 February, the French divisions of the eastern and western Pyrenees crossed the border and occupied Navarre and Catalonia, including the citadels of Pamplona and Barcelona. The Spanish government demanded explanations from their French allies, but these did not satisfy and in response Godoy pulled Spanish troops out of Portugal.[31] Since Spanish fortress commanders had not received instructions from the central government, they were unsure how to treat the French troops, who marched openly as allies with flags flying and bands announcing their arrival. Some commanders opened their fortresses to them, while others resisted. General Guillaume Philibert Duhesme, who occupied Barcelona with 12,000 troops, soon found himself besieged in the citadel; he was not relieved until January 1809.[32]
On 20 February, Joachim Murat was appointed lieutenant of the emperor and commander of all French troops in Spain, which now numbered 60,000[31]–100,000.[32] On 24 February, Napoleon declared that he no longer considered himself bound by the Treaty of Fontainebleau.[31] In early March, Murat established his headquarters in Vitoria and received 6,000 reinforcements from the Imperial Guard.[31]
On 19 March 1808, Godoy fell from power in the
Iberia in revolt
On 2 May, the citizens of Madrid
The deteriorating strategic situation led France to increase its military commitments. By 1 June, over 65,000 troops were rushing into the country to control the crisis.[40] The main French army of 80,000 held a narrow strip of central Spain from Pamplona and San Sebastián in the north to Madrid and Toledo in the centre. The French in Madrid sheltered behind an additional 30,000 troops under Marshal Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey. Jean-Andoche Junot's corps in Portugal was cut off by 300 miles (480 km) of hostile territory, but within days of the outbreak of revolt, French columns in Old Castile, New Castile, Aragon and Catalonia were searching for the insurgent forces.
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The Second of May 1808 (by Goya, 1814)
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The Third of May 1808 French soldiers execute civilians (by Goya, 1814)
Conventional warfare
To defeat the insurgency,
At the two successive
The catastrophe was total. With the loss of 24,000 troops, Napoleon's military machine in Spain collapsed. Stunned by the defeat, on 1 August Joseph evacuated the capital for Old Castile, while ordering Verdier to abandon the siege of Zaragoza and Bessières to retire from Leon; the entire French army sheltered behind the Ebro.
British intervention
Britain's involvement in the Peninsular War was the start of a prolonged campaign in Europe to increase British military power on land and liberate the Iberian peninsula from the French.
Meanwhile, the British had made a substantial contribution to the Spanish cause by helping to evacuate some 9,000 men of
Napoleon's invasion of Spain
After the surrender of a French army corps at Bailén and the loss of Portugal, Napoleon was convinced of the peril he faced in Spain. With his Armée d'Espagne of 278,670 men drawn up on the Ebro, facing 80,000 raw, disorganized Spanish troops,
Corunna campaign, 1808–1809
By November 1808, the British army led by Moore was advancing into Spain with orders to assist the Spanish armies' fight against Napoleon's forces.[61] Moore decided to attack Soult's scattered and isolated 16,000-man corps' at Carrión, opening his attack with a successful raid by Lieutenant-General Paget's cavalry on the French picquets at Sahagún on 21 December.[62][63]
Abandoning plans to immediately conquer Seville and Portugal, Napoleon rapidly amassed 80,000 troops and
1809
Spanish campaign, early 1809
Fall of Zaragoza
Zaragoza, already scarred from
First Madrid offensive
The Junta took over direction of the Spanish war effort and established war taxes, organized an Army of La Mancha, signed a treaty of alliance with Britain on 14 January 1809 and issued a royal decree on 22 May to convene at Cortes. An attempt by the Spain's Army of the Centre to recapture Madrid ended with the complete destruction of the Spanish forces at Uclés on 13 January by Victor's I Corps. The French lost 200 men while their Spanish opponents lost 6,887. King Joseph made a triumphant entry into Madrid after the battle. Sébastiani defeated Cartaojal's army at Ciudad Real on 27 March, inflicting 2,000 casualties and suffering negligible losses. Victor invaded southern Spain and routed Gregorio de la Cuesta's army at Medellín near Badajoz on 28 March,[72] where Cuesta lost 10,000 men in a staggering defeat, while the French lost only 1,000.[73]
Liberation of Galicia
On 27 March, Spanish forces defeated the French at Vigo, recaptured most of the cities in the province of Pontevedra and forced the French to retreat to Santiago de Compostela. On 7 June, the French army of Marshal Michel Ney was defeated at Puente Sanpayo in Pontevedra by Spanish forces under the command of Colonel Pablo Morillo, and Ney and his forces retreated to Lugo on 9 June while being harassed by Spanish guerrillas. Ney's troops joined up with those of Soult and these forces withdrew for the last time from Galicia in July 1809.[citation needed]
French advance in Catalonia
In Catalonia, Saint-Cyr defeated Reding again at Valls on 25 February. Reding was killed and his army lost 3,000 men for French losses of 1,000. Saint-Cyr began the third siege of Girona on 6 May and the city finally fell on 12 December.[74] Louis-Gabriel Suchet's III Corps was defeated at Alcañiz by Blake on 23 May, losing 2,000 men. Suchet retaliated at María on 15 June, crushing Blake's right wing and inflicting 5,000 casualties. Three days later, Blake lost 2,000 more men to Suchet at Belchite. Saint-Cyr was relieved of his command in September for deserting his troops.[citation needed]
Second Portuguese campaign
After Corunna, Soult turned his attention to the invasion of Portugal. Discounting garrisons and the sick, Soult's
Wellesley returned to Portugal in April 1809 to command the British army, reinforced with Portuguese regiments trained by General Beresford. These new forces turned Soult out of Portugal at the Battle of Grijó (10–11 May) and the Second Battle of Porto (12 May), and the other northern cities were recaptured by General Silveira. Soult escaped without his heavy equipment by marching through the mountains to Orense.[80]
Spanish campaign, late 1809
Talavera campaign
With Portugal secured, Wellesley advanced into Spain to unite with Cuesta's forces. Victor's I Corps retreated before them from Talavera.[81] Cuesta's pursuing forces fell back after Victor's reinforced army, now commanded by Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, drove upon them. Two British divisions advanced to help the Spanish.[82] On 27 July at the Battle of Talavera, the French advanced in three columns and were repulsed several times, but at a heavy cost to the Anglo-Allied force, which lost 7,500 men for French losses of 7,400. Wellesley withdrew from Talavera on 4 August to avoid being cut off by Soult's converging army, which defeated a Spanish blocking force in an assault crossing at the River Tagus near Puente del Arzobispo. Lack of supplies and the threat of French reinforcement in the spring led Wellington to retreat into Portugal. A Spanish attempt to capture Madrid after Talavera failed at Almonacid, where Sébastiani's IV Corps inflicted 5,500 casualties on the Spanish, forcing them to retreat at the cost of 2,400 French losses.
Second Madrid offensive
The Spanish
Aréizaga's army was destroyed by Soult at the Battle of Ocaña on 19 November. The Spanish lost 19,000 men compared to French losses of 2,000. Albuquerque soon abandoned his efforts near Talavera. Del Parque moved on Salamanca again, hustling one of the VI Corps brigades out of Alba de Tormes and occupying Salamanca on 20 November.[89][90] Hoping to get between Kellermann and Madrid, Del Parque advanced towards Medina del Campo. Kellermann counterattacked and was repulsed at the Battle of Carpio on 23 November.[91] The next day, Del Parque received news of the Ocaña disaster and fled south, intending to shelter in the mountains of central Spain.[92][93] On the afternoon of 28 November, Kellermann attacked Del Parque at Alba de Tormes and routed him after inflicting losses of 3,000 men.[92] Del Parque's army fled into the mountains, its strength greatly reduced through combat and non-combat causes by mid-January.[94]
1810
Joseph I's régime
Joseph contented himself with working within the apparatus extant under the old regime, while placing responsibility for local government in many provinces in the hands of royal commissioners. After much preparation and debate, on 2 July 1809 Spain was divided into 38 new provinces, each headed by an
The French obtained a measure of acquiescence among the propertied classes.
Emergence of the guerrilla
The Peninsular War is regarded as one of the first people's wars, significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare. It is from this conflict that the English language borrowed the word.[98] The guerrillas troubled the French troops, but they also frightened their own countrymen with forced conscription and looting.[99] Many of the partisans were either fleeing the law or trying to get rich.[99] Later in the war the authorities tried to make the guerrillas reliable, and many of them formed regular army units such as Espoz y Mina's "Cazadores de Navarra". The French believed that enlightened absolutism had made less progress in Spain and Portugal than elsewhere, and that resistance was the product of a century's worth of what the French perceived as backwardness in knowledge and social habits, Catholic obscurantism, superstition and counter-revolution.[100]
The guerrilla style of fighting was the Spanish military's single most effective tactic. Most organized attempts by regular Spanish forces to take on the French ended in defeat. Once a battle was lost and the soldiers reverted to their guerrilla roles, they tied down large numbers of French troops over a wide area with a much lower expenditure of men, energy, and supplies[citation needed][99] and facilitated the conventional victories of Wellington and his Anglo-Portuguese army and the subsequent liberation of Portugal and Spain.[101] Mass resistance by the people of Spain inspired the war efforts of Austria, Russia and Prussia against Napoleon.[102]
Hatred of the French and devotion to
Revolution under siege
The French invaded Andalusia on 19 January 1810. 60,000 French troops—the corps of Victor, Mortier and Sebastiani together with other formations—advanced southwards to assault the Spanish positions. Overwhelmed at every point,
Cadiz was heavily fortified, while the harbour was full of British and Spanish warships.
Once Cádiz was secured, attention turned to the political situation. The Junta Central announced that the cortes would open on 1 March 1810. Suffrage was to be extended to all male householders over 25. After public voting, representatives from district-level assemblies would choose deputies to send to the provincial meetings that would be the bodies from which the members of the cortes would emerge.
Third Portuguese campaign
Convinced by intelligence that a new French assault on Portugal was imminent, Wellington created a powerful defensive position near Lisbon, to which he could fall back if necessary.
As a prelude to invasion, Ney took the Spanish fortified town of
Masséna's Army of Portugal concentrated around Sobral in preparation to attack. After a fierce skirmish on 14 October in which the strength of the Lines became apparent, the French dug themselves in rather than launch a full-scale assault and Masséna's men began to suffer from the acute shortages in the region.[118] In late October, after holding his starving army before Lisbon for a month, Masséna fell back to a position between Santarém and Rio Maior.[119]
1811
Stalemate in the west
During 1811, Victor's force was diminished because of requests for reinforcement from Soult to aid his siege of
In March 1811, with supplies exhausted, Masséna retreated from Portugal to Salamanca. Wellington went over to the offensive later that month. An Anglo-Portuguese army led by the British general
In April, Wellington besieged
Wellington soon appeared before Ciudad Rodrigo. In September, Marmont repelled him and re-provisioned the fortress.[127] Sorties continued to be made out of Cádiz from April to August 1811,[128] and British naval gunboats destroyed French positions at St. Mary's.[129] An attempt by Victor to crush the small Anglo-Spanish garrison at Tarifa over the winter of 1811–1812 was frustrated by torrential rains and an obstinate defence, marking an end to French operations against the city's outer works.
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TheBattle of Chiclana, 5th March 1811 (1824) captures the fight between British redcoats and the French troops for Barrosa Ridge.[12]
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Marshal Beresford disarming a Polish officer at La Albuera (16 May 1811)
French conquest of Aragon and Catalonia
After a two-week siege, the French
The Spanish commander Francesc Rovira captured in a coup-de-main the key fortress of Sant Ferran Castle at Figueres with 2,000 miquelets on 10 April. The French Army of Catalonia under MacDonald blockaded the city to starve the defenders into surrender. With the help of a relief operation on 3 May, the fortress held out until 17 August, when lack of food prompted a surrender after a last-ditch breakout attempt failed.[130]
On 5 May, Suchet besieged the vital city of Tarragona, which functioned as a port, a fortress, and a resource base that sustained the Spanish field forces in Catalonia. Suchet was given a third of the Army of Catalonia and the city fell to a surprise attack on 29 June.[131] Suchet's troops massacred 2,000 civilians. Napoleon rewarded Suchet with a Marshal's baton. On 25 July, Suchet drove the Spanish out of their positions on the Montserrat mountain range. In October, the Spanish launched a counterattack that recaptured Montserrat and took 1,000 prisoners from scattered French garrisons in the area. In September, Suchet launched an invasion of the province of Valencia. He besieged the castle of Sagunto and defeated Blake's relief attempt. The Spanish defenders capitulated on 25 October. Suchet trapped Blake's entire army of 28,044 men in the city of Valencia on 26 December and forced it to surrender on 9 January 1812 after a brief siege. Blake lost 20,281 men dead or captured. Suchet advanced south, capturing the port town of Dénia. The redeployment of a substantial part of his troops for the invasion of Russia ground Suchet's operations to a halt. The victorious Marshal had established a secure base in Aragon and was ennobled by Napoleon as the Duke of Albufera, after a lagoon south of Valencia.
The war now fell into a temporary lull, with the superior French unable to find an advantage and coming under increasing pressure from Spanish guerrillas. The French had over 350,000 soldiers in L'Armée de l'Espagne, but over 200,000 were deployed to protect the French lines of supply, rather than as substantial fighting units.
1812
Allied campaign in Spain
The allied army subsequently took Salamanca on 17 June, just as Marshal Marmont approached. The two forces met on 22 July, after weeks of maneuver, when Wellington soundly defeated the French at the Battle of Salamanca, during which Marmont was wounded. The battle established Wellington as an offensive general and it was said that he "defeated an army of 40,000 men in 40 minutes."[135] The Battle of Salamanca was a damaging defeat for the French in Spain, and while they regrouped, Anglo-Portuguese forces moved on Madrid, which surrendered on 14 August; 20,000 muskets, 180 cannon and two French Imperial Eagles were captured.[136]
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British infantry attempt to scale the walls of Badajoz, 1812
French autumn counterattack
After the allied victory at Salamanca on 22 July 1812, King Joseph Bonaparte abandoned Madrid on 11 August.
As the French regrouped, the allies advanced towards Burgos. Wellington besieged Burgos between 19 September and 21 October, but failed to capture it. Together, Joseph and the three marshals planned to recapture Madrid and drive Wellington from central Spain. The French counteroffensive caused Wellington to lift the siege of Burgos and retreat to Portugal in the autumn of 1812,[139] pursued by the French and losing several thousand men.[140][141] Napier wrote that about 1,000 allied troops were killed, wounded and missing in action, and that Hill lost 400 between the Tagus and the Tormes, and another 100 in the defence of Alba de Tormes. 300 were killed and wounded at the Huebra where many stragglers died in woodland, and 3,520 allied prisoners were taken to Salamanca up to 20 November. Napier estimated that the double retreat cost the allies around 9,000, including the loss in the siege, and said French writers said 10,000 were taken between the Tormes and the Agueda. But Joseph's dispatches said the whole loss was 12,000, including the garrison of Chinchilla, whereas English authors mostly reduced the British loss to hundreds.[142] As a consequence of the Salamanca campaign, the French were forced to evacuate the provinces of Andalusia and Asturias.
1813
Defeat of King Joseph
By the end of 1812, the large army that had invaded the
In 1813, Wellington marched 121,000 troops (53,749 British, 39,608 Spanish, and 27,569 Portuguese)[7] from northern Portugal across the mountains of northern Spain and the Esla River, skirting Jourdan's army of 68,000 strung out between the Douro and the Tagus. Wellington shortened his communications by shifting his base of operations to the northern Spanish coast, and the Anglo-Portuguese forces swept northwards in late May and seized Burgos, outflanking the French army and forcing Joseph Bonaparte into the Zadorra valley.
At the Battle of Vitoria on 21 June, Joseph's 65,000-man army was defeated decisively by Wellington's army of 57,000 British, 16,000 Portuguese and 8,000 Spanish.[7] Wellington split his army into four attacking "columns" and attacked the French defensive position from south, west and north while the last column cut down across the French rear. The French were forced back from their prepared positions, and despite attempts to regroup and hold were driven into a rout. This led to the abandonment of all of the French artillery as well as King Joseph's extensive baggage train and personal belongings. The latter led to many Anglo-Allied soldiers abandoning the pursuit of the fleeing troops, to instead loot the wagons. This delay, along with the French managing to hold the east road out of Vitoria towards Salvatierra, allowed the French to partially recover. The Allies chased the retreating French, reaching the Pyrenees in early July, and began operations against San Sebastian and Pamplona. On 11 July, Soult was given command of all French troops in Spain and in consequence Wellington decided to halt his army to regroup at the Pyrenees.
The war was not over. Although Bonapartist Spain had effectively collapsed, most of France's troops had retreated in order and fresh troops were soon gathering beyond the Pyrenees. By themselves, such forces were unlikely to score more than a few local victories, but French troop losses elsewhere in Europe could not be taken for granted. Napoleon might yet inflict defeats on Austria, Russia and Prussia, and with the divisions between the allies there was no guarantee that one power would not make a separate peace. It was a major victory and gave Britain more credibility on the continent, but the thought of Napoleon descending on the Pyrenees with the Grande Armée was not regarded with equanimity.[145]
End of the war in Spain
Campaign in the eastern Atlantic region
In August 1813, British headquarters still had misgivings about the eastern powers moving into France. Austria had now joined the Allies, but the Allied armies had suffered a significant defeat at the Battle of Dresden. They had recovered somewhat, but the situation was still precarious. Wellington's brother-in-law Edward Pakenham wrote, "I should think that much must depend upon proceedings in the north: I begin to apprehend ... that Boney may avail himself of the jealousy of the Allies to the material injury of the cause."[146] But the defeat or defection of Austria, Russia and Prussia was not the only danger. It was also uncertain that Wellington could continue to count on Spanish support.[147]
The summer of 1813 in the Basque provinces and Navarre was a wet one, with the army drenched by incessant rain, and the decision to strip the men of their greatcoats was looking unwise. Sickness was widespread—at one point a third of Wellington's British troops were hors de combat—and fears about the army's discipline and general reliability grew. By 9 July, Wellington reported that 12,500 men were absent without leave, while plundering was rife. Major General Sir Frederick Robinson wrote, "We paint the conduct of the French in this country in very ... harsh colours, but be assured we injure the people much more than they do ... Wherever we move devastation marks our steps".[148] With the army poised on the borders of France, desertion had become a problem. The Chasseurs Britanniques—recruited mainly from French deserters—lost 150 men in a single night. Wellington wrote, "The desertion is terrible, and is unaccountable among the British troops. I am not astonished that the foreigners should go ... but, unless they entice away the British soldiers, there is no accounting for their going away in such numbers as they do."[149] Spain's "ragged and ill-fed soldiers" were also suffering with the onset of winter, the fear that they would likely "fall on the populace with the utmost savagery"[150] in revenge attacks and looting was a growing concern to Wellington as the Allied forces pushed to the French border.
Marshal Soult began a counter-offensive (the
With 18,000 men, Wellington captured the French-garrisoned city of
At daylight on 7 October 1813 Wellington crossed the
On 31 October Pamplona surrendered, and Wellington was now anxious to drive Suchet from Catalonia before invading France. The British government, however, in the interests of the continental powers, urged an immediate advance over the northern Pyrenees into south-eastern France.[152] Napoleon had just suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Leipzig on 19 October and was in retreat,[citation needed] so Wellington left the clearance of Catalonia to others.[152]
Campaign in the northern Mediterranean region
In the northern Mediterranean region of Spain (Catalonia) Suchet had defeated Elio's Murcians at Yecla and Villena (11 April 1813), but was subsequently routed by Lieutenant General Sir John Murray, Commander of a British expedition from the Mediterranean islands [158] at the battle of Castalla (13 April), who then besieged Tarragona. The siege was abandoned after a time, but was later on renewed by Lieutenant General Lord William Bentinck. Suchet, after the Battle of Vitoria, evacuated Tarragona (17 August) but defeated Bentinck in the battle of Ordal (13 September).[158]
The military historian Sir Charles Oman wrote that because of "[Napoleon's] absurdly optimistic reliance on" the Treaty of Valençay (11 December 1813),[161] during the last month of 1813 and the early months of 1814 Suchet was ordered by the French War office to relinquish command of many of his infantry and cavalry regiments for use in the campaign in north-east France where Napoleon was greatly outnumbered. This reduced Suchet's French Catalonian army from 87,000 to 60,000 of whom 10,000 were on garrison duty. By the end of January through redeployment and wastage (through disease and desertion) the number had fallen to 52,000 of whom only 28,000 were available for field operations; the others were either on garrison duties or guarding the lines of communication back into France.[162]
Suchet thought that the armies under the command of the Spanish General
On 10 January 1814 Suchet received orders from the French War Ministry that he withdraw his field force to the foothills of the Pyrenees and to make a phased withdraw from the outlying garrisons. On ratification of the Treaty of Valençay he was to move his force to the French city of
The Allies heard that Suchet was hemorrhaging men and mistakenly thought that his army was smaller than it was, so on 16 January they attacked. Suchet had not yet started the process of sending more men back to France and was able to stop the Sicilians (and a small contingent of British artillery in support) at the Battle of Molins de Rey because he still had a local preponderance of men. The allies suffered 68 casualties; the French, 30 killed and about 150 wounded.[164]
After Suchet sent many men to Lyons, he left an isolated garrison in Barcelona and concentrated his forces on the town of Gerona calling in flying columns and evacuating some minor outposts. However his field army was now down to 15,000 cavalry and infantry (and excluding the garrisons in northern Catalonia).[166]
The last actions in this theatre happened at the siege of Barcelona on 23 February; the French sallied out of Barcelona to test the besiegers' lines, as they thought (wrongly) that the Anglo-Sicilian forces had departed. They failed to break through the lines, and forces under the command of the Spanish General Pedro Sarsfield stopped them. The French General Pierre-Joseph Habert tried another sortie on 16 April and the French were again stopped with about 300 of them killed.[167] Habert eventually surrendered on 25 April.[168]
On 1 March Suchet received orders to send 10,000 more men to Lyons. On 7 March Beurmann's division of 9,661 men left for Lyons. With the exception of
In the meantime, because the Allies underestimated the size of Suchet's force and believed that 3,000 more men had left for Lyon and that Suchet, with the remnant of his army, was crossing the Pyrenees to join Soult in the Atlantic theatre, the Allies began to redeploy their forces. The best of the British forces in Catalonia were ordered to join Wellington's army on the river Garonne in France.[h] They left to do so on 31 March, leaving the Spanish to mop up the remaining French garrisons in Catalonia.[167]
In fact, Suchet remained in Figueras with his army until after the amnesty signed by Wellington and Soult. He spent his time arguing with Soult that he had only 4,000 troops available to march (although his army numbered around 14,000) and that they could not march with artillery, so he could not assist Soult in his battles with Wellington.[170] The military historian Sir Charles Oman puts this refusal to help Soult down to Suchet's personal animosity rather than strong strategic reasons.[171]
Invasion of France
Battles of the Nivelle and the Nive
On the night of 9 November 1813 Wellington brought up his right from the Pyrenean passes to the northward of
After this there was a period of comparative inaction, though during it the French were driven from the bridges at Urdains
Wellington occupied the right as well as the left bank of the Nive on 9 December 1813 with a portion of his force only under
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The Battle of Nivelle
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The Battle of St Jean de Luz, 10 December 1813 by Thomas Sutherland
1814
Operation resumed in February 1814 and Wellington went quickly over to the offensive. Hill on 14 and 15 February, after a
Battle of Toulouse
On 8 April, Wellington crossed the Garonne and the Hers-Mort,[m] and attacked Soult at Toulouse on 10 April. Spanish attacks on Soult's heavily fortified positions were repulsed but Beresford's assault compelled the French to fall back.[175] On 12 April Wellington entered the city, Soult having retreated the previous day. The Allied loss was about 5,000, the French 3,000.[175]
Abdication of Napoleon
On 13 April 1814 officers arrived with the announcement to both armies of the capture of Paris, the
Aftermath
With Napoleon exiled to the island of Elba, Louis XVIII was restored to the French throne.
British troops were partly sent to England, and partly embarked at Bordeaux for America for service in the final months of the
After the Peninsular War, the pro-independence traditionalists and liberals clashed in the
The experience in self-government led the later Libertadores (Liberators) to promote the independence of Spanish America.
Portugal's position was more favorable than Spain's. Revolt had not spread to Brazil, there was no colonial struggle and there had been no attempt at political revolution.[179] The Portuguese Court's transfer to Rio de Janeiro initiated the independence of Brazil in 1822.
The war against Napoleon remains as the bloodiest event in Spain's modern history.[180]
In popular culture
- The 82 prints of Goya, called the Disasters of War, visualize the efforts and horror of the reality of the Spanish people's war as part of the Peninsular War.[1]
- On 29 July 1836 the Arc de Triomphe was inaugurated in Paris with the French victories of the Peninsular War inscribed on it.
- A sculpture was erected for Juana Galán (1787–1812), nicknamed La Galana, who became a guerrilla fighter, when she smashed her cast-iron stew pan in the heads of the French soldiers during the Battle of Valdepeñas.
- The painting The Defence of Saragossa was created by David Wilkie because, with the French troops only a few yards away, Agustina de Aragón loaded a cannon at the first siege of Zaragoza, and lit the fuse, shredding a wave of attackers at point-blank range.
-
The Disasters of War by Francisco Goya, 1810–1820
-
Despite losing the war at a heavy price, French battle victories of the Peninsular War were inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe
-
Statue of Juana Galán in Valdepeñas, by sculptor Francisco Javier Galán
-
Agustina, maid of Aragón, fires a gun on the French invaders
Notes
- ^ The Dutch Brigade
- ^ Some accounts mark the Franco-Spanish invasion of Portugal as the beginning of the war (Glover 2001, p. 45).
- Sixth Coalition (Glover 2001, p. 335).
- ^ In Spanish, the form of asymmetric warfare waged by the Spanish partisans was termed guerrilla ("little war"), while the practitioner of such tactics was a guerrillero. Those terms are usually rendered in English as "guerrilla warfare" and "guerrilla (fighter)", respectively.
- ^ Other names:
- Basque: Iberiar Penintsulako Gerra ("Iberian Peninsular War") or Espainiako Independentzia Gerra ("Spanish War of Independence")
- Catalan: Guerra del Francès ("War of the Frenchman")
- French: Guerre d'Espagne et du Portugal ("War in Spain and in Portugal") or Campagne d'Espagne ("Spanish campaign")
- Galician: Guerra da Independencia española ("War of Spanish Independence")
- Portuguese: Invasões Francesas ("French Invasions") or Guerra Peninsular ("Peninsular War")
- Spanish: Many names, including the Guerra de la Independencia ("Independence War"), la Francesada, Guerra Peninsular ("Peninsular War"), Guerra de España ("War of Spain"), Guerra del Francés ("War of the French"), Guerra de los Seis Años ("Six Years' War"), Levantamiento y revolución de los españoles ("Rising and Revolution of the Spaniards")
- ^ By 1813, Spanish guerrillas had tied down over 75% of the French occupying army, leaving only a small fraction free to concentrate and face the conventional allied forces under Wellington.[11]
- ^ There were a further 13,000 French troops besieged in Barcelona, Tortosa, Saguntun and other fortresses, who were under siege and not able to extract themselves to join Suchet at Figueras (Oman 1930, p. 425).
- ^ The Anglo-Italian battalions, the Calabrians and the Sicilian "Estero" regiment were sent to Sicily (Oman 1930, p. 429).
- ^ The bridge crosses the Urdains brook (a tributary of the Nive) just north of the Château d'Urdain.
- ^ On 11 December, Napoleon, beleaguered and desperate, agreed to a separate peace with Spain under the Treaty of Valençay, under which he would release and recognize Ferdinand in exchange for a complete cessation of hostilities. But the Spanish had no intention of trusting Napoleon and the fighting continued.[citation needed]
- Duke of Nassau—one of the many German rulers who had surrendered following the Battle of Leipzig—ordering them to surrender to the Allies. In addition, Soult and Suchet lost the rest of their German units—another 3,000 men—as it was felt that they became unreliable. This left the Adour's defenders much depleted and incapable of further offensive action.[173]
- ^ "Gave" in the Pyrenees means a mountain stream or torrent.[158]
- ^ Contemporary British military sources and some secondary sources call this river the "Ers" (Robinson 1911, p. 97).
Citations
- ^ a b Goya 1967.
- ^ a b c d e Clodfelter 2008, p. 164.
- ^ Chartrand 2000, p. 16.
- ^ Fraser 2008, p. 394.
- ^ a b c d e Clodfelter 2008, p. 166.
- ^ Chartrand 1999, pp. 3–5.
- ^ a b c Gates 2002, p. 521.
- ^ Clodfelter 2008, p. 165.
- ^ Fraser 2008, p. 476.
- ^ a b c d e f g Clodfelter 2008, p. 167.
- ^ Fraser 2008, p. 365.
- ^ a b c Hindley 2010.
- ^ Ellis 2014, p. 100.
- ^ Payne 1973, pp. 432–433.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 588.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 596.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 597.
- ^ a b Oman 1902, p. 7.
- ^ a b Oman 1902, p. 8.
- ^ Oman 1902, p. 9.
- ^ Oman 1902, p. 26.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 22.
- ^ Gates 2002, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Oman 1902, p. 367.
- ^ Oman 1902, p. 27.
- ^ Oman 1902, p. 28.
- ^ Oman 1902, p. 30.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 599.
- ^ a b c Oman 1902, p. 31.
- ^ a b Oman 1902, p. 32.
- ^ a b c d Esdaile 2003, pp. 30–31.
- ^ a b c Connelly 2006, p. 145.
- ^ a b Esdaile 2003, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 37.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 49.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 610.
- ^ Fremont-Barnes 2002, p. 71.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, pp. 302–303.
- ^ Gates 2009, p. 12.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 162.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 611.
- ^ Gates 2002, pp. 181–182.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 61.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 67.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 614.
- ^ a b Esdaile 2003, p. 73.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 74.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 53.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 77.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 84.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 617.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 87.
- ^ Richardson 1921, p. 343.
- ^ Gay 1903, p. 231.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 628.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 106.
- ^ Oman 1902, pp. 367–375.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 55.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 631.
- ^ a b Martínez 1999, p. [page needed].
- ^ Oman 1902, p. 492.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 108.
- ^ Fremont-Barnes 2002, p. 35.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 146.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 150.
- ^ Fletcher 1999, p. 97.
- ^ a b Gates 2002, p. 114.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 155.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 156.
- ^ a b Glover 2001, p. 89.
- ^ Bell 2009.
- ^ Bodart 1908, p. 395.
- ^ Gates 2009, p. 123.
- ^ Scott 1811, p. 768.
- ^ Gates 2001, p. 138.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 178.
- ^ Gates 2001, p. 142.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 179.
- ^ Southey 1828c, p. 250.
- ^ Southey 1828c, p. 418.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 177.
- ^ Guedalla 2005, p. 186.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 94.
- ^ Gates 2002, pp. 194–196.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 494.
- ^ Smith 1998, pp. 333–334.
- ^ Gates 2002, pp. 197–199.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 199.
- ^ Oman 1908, pp. 97–98.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 336.
- ^ Oman 1908, p. 98.
- ^ a b Oman 1908, p. 99.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 204.
- ^ Oman 1908, p. 101.
- ^ Brandt 1999, p. 87.
- ^ a b McLynn 1997, pp. 396–406.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 239.
- ^ etymology 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-1841766294.[page needed]
- ^ Rocca & Rocca 1815, p. 126.
- ^ Glover 2001, p. 10.
- ^ Chandler 1995, p. 746.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 270.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 271.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 280.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 220.
- ^ Southey 1828d, p. 396.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 282.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 283.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 284.
- ^ Argüelles 1970, p. 90.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 217.
- ^ Grehan 2015.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 313.
- ^ Southey 1828d, p. 440.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 327.
- ^ Weller 1962, p. 144.
- ^ Gates 2001, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Weller 1962, pp. 145–146.
- ^ a b Southey 1828e, p. 165.
- ^ Southey 1828e, pp. 165, 170.
- ^ Southey 1828e, pp. 172–180.
- ^ Gates 2001, p. 248.
- ^ Southey 1828e, p. 241.
- ^ Southey 1828e, p. 160.
- ^ Southey 1828e, p. 252.
- ^ Southey 1828e, p. 327.
- ^ Burke 1825, p. 172.
- ^ Burke 1825, p. 174.
- ^ Rousset 1892, p. 211.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 360.
- ^ Weller 1962, p. 204.
- ^ Fletcher 2003a, p. 81.
- ^ "1812 Siege of Badajoz." Encyclopædia Britannica.
- ^ Fitzwilliam 2007.
- ^ Porter 1889, p. 318.
- ^ Glover 2001, pp. 207–208.
- ^ Southey 1828f, p. 68.
- ^ Glover 2001, pp. 210–212.
- ^ Bodart 1908, p. 441.
- ^ Southey 1828f, p. 122.
- ^ Napier 1867, p. 155.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 428.
- ^ a b Esdaile 2003, p. 429.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 454.
- ^ Pakenham 2009, p. 221.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 455.
- ^ Robinson 1956, p. 165.
- ^ Muir 2021.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 457.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 462.
- ^ a b c d e f Robinson 1911, p. 95.
- ^ COS 2014.
- ^ Napier 1879, pp. 321–325.
- ^ Napier 1879, pp. 334–343.
- ^ Glover 2001, pp. 280–287.
- ^ Robinson 1911, pp. 95–96.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Robinson 1911, p. 96.
- ^ Oman 1930, pp. 535, 536.
- ^ Napier 1879, p. 367.
- ^ Oman 1930, pp. 310.
- ^ Oman 1930, pp. 308–311, 402.
- ^ Oman 1930, p. 406.
- ^ a b Oman 1930, p. 411.
- ^ Oman 1930, p. 412.
- ^ Oman 1930, p. 415.
- ^ a b Oman 1930, p. 431.
- ^ Gates 2002, p. 459.
- ^ Oman 1930, pp. 424–425, 431.
- ^ Oman 1930, pp. 431–432.
- ^ Oman 1930, pp. 432, 500.
- ^ Oman 1930, p. 295.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 481.
- ^ Robinson 1911, pp. 96–97.
- ^ a b c d e f g Robinson 1911, p. 97.
- ^ Simmons & Verner 2012, p. 340.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 505.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 508.
- ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 507.
- ^ Prados de la Escosura 2018, pp. 18, 31.
References
- Argüelles, A. (1970). J. Longares (ed.). Examen Histórico de la Reforma Constitucional que Hicieron las Cortes Generates y Extraordinarias Desde que se Instalaron en la Isla de León el Dia 24 de Septiembre de 1810 Hasta que Cerraron en Cadiz sus Sesiones en 14 del Propio Mes de 1813 (in Spanish). London: En la imprenta de Carlos Wood e Hijos [Charles Wood & Sons?]. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Bell, David A. (2009). "Napoleon's Total War". Archived from the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905). Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- Brandt, Heinrich von (1999). North, Jonathan (ed.). In the legions of Napoleon: the memoirs of a Polish officer in Spain and Russia, 1808–1813. Greenhill Books. ISBN 978-1853673801. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Burke, Edmund (1825). The Annual Register, for the year 1810 (2nd ed.). London: Rivingtons. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Chandler, David G. (1995). The Campaigns of Napoleon. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0025236601. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Chandler, David G. (1974). The Art of Warfare on Land. Hamlyn. ISBN 978-0600301370. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Chartrand, Rene; Younghusband, Bill (1999). Spanish Army of the Napoleonic Wars : 1812–1815. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1855327635.)
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- Fletcher, Ian (1999). Galloping at Everything: The British Cavalry in the Peninsula and at Waterloo 1808–15. Staplehurst: Spellmount. ISBN 1862270163.
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- Gay, Susan E. (1903). Old Falmouth. London. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Glover, Michael (2001) [1974]. The Peninsular War 1807–1814: A Concise Military History. Penguin Classic Military History. ISBN 0141390417.
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- Grehan, John (2015). The Lines of Torres Vedras: The Cornerstone of Wellington's Strategy in the Peninsular War 1809–1812. Pen & Sword Books Limited. ISBN 978-1473852747.
- Guedalla, Philip (2005) [1931]. The Duke. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0340178175. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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- Oman, Charles William Chadwick (1908). A History of the Peninsular War: Sep. 1809 – Dec. 1810. Vol. III. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Oman, Charles William Chadwick (1911). A History of the Peninsular War: Dec. 1810 – Dec. 1811. Vol. IV. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
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- Pakenham, Edward Michael; Pakenham Longford, Thomas (2009). Pakenham Letters: 1800–1815. Ken Trotman Publishing. ISBN 978-1905074969. Retrieved 1 May 2021.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Payne, Stanley G. (1973). A History of Spain and Portugal: Eighteenth Century to Franco. Vol. 2. Madison: ISBN 978-0299062705. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
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- Prados de la Escosura, Leandro; Santiago-Caballero, Carlos (2018). "The Napoleonic Wars: A Watershed in Spanish History?" (PDF). Working Papers on Economic History. 130. European Historical Economics Society: 18, 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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- Robinson, F. P. (1956). Atkinson, Christopher Thomas (ed.). A Peninsular brigadier: letters of Major General Sir F. P. Robinson, K.C.B., dealing with the campaign of 1813. London: Army Historical Research. p. 165. OCLC 725885384. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
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- Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1853672769.
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- Southey, Robert (1828d). History of the Peninsular War. Vol. IV (New, in 6 volumes ed.). London: John Murray. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- Southey, Robert (1828e). History of the Peninsular War. Vol. V (New, in 6 volumes ed.). London: John Murray. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- Southey, Robert (1828f). History of the Peninsular War. Vol. VI (New, in 6 volumes ed.). London: John Murray. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- Weller, Jac (1962). Wellington in the Peninsula. Nicholas Vane.
Attribution
- public domain: Robinson, Charles Walker (1911). "Peninsular War". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 90–98. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
Further reading
- Media related to Spanish War of Independence at Wikimedia Commons
- Bigarré, Auguste Julien (1893). Mémoires du General Bigarré, aide de camp du roi Joseph: 1775–1813. p. 277.
- Blaze, Elzéar (1995). Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (ed.). Life in Napoleon's army: the memoirs of Captain Elzéar Blaze. Greenhill Books. p. 102. ISBN 1853671967.
- Churchill, Winston (1958). A History of the English-speaking Peoples: The age of revolution. Vol. 3. Dodd, Mead. p. 257. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Esdaile, Charles J. (1988). The Spanish Army in the Peninsular War. ISBN 0719025389.
- Esdaile, Charles J. (2004). Fighting Napoleon: Guerrillas, Bandits & Adventurers in Spain, 1808–1814. ISBN 0300101120.
- Fletcher, Ian (2003). Peninsular War; Aspects of the Struggle for the Iberian Peninsula. Spellmount Publishers. ISBN 1873376820.
- Fletcher, Ian, ed. (2007). The Campaigns of Wellington. Vol. (3 vols) Vol 1. The Peninsular War 1808–1811, Vol. 2. The Peninsular War 1812–1814. The Folio Society.
- Galiano, Antonio Alcalá (2009). Memorias de D, Antonio Alcalá Galiano. Vol. I. Editorial Visión Libros. p. 292. ISBN 978-8499835037. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Grant, Reg (2005). Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0756613604. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Griffith, Paddy (1999). A History of the Peninsular War: Modern Studies of the War in Spain and Portugal, 1808–14. Vol. 9. Greenhill Books. ISBN 185367348X.
- Gurwood, J., ed. (1852). "Wellington to Liverpool, 14 November 1809". The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K. G. During His Various Campaigns in India, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, the Low Countries, and France: France and the Low Countries, 1814–1815. Vol. III. London. p. 583.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Gurwood, J., ed. (1852b). "Wellington to Liverpool, 21 December 1810". The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington during his various Campaigns in India, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, the Low Countries and France from 1789 to 1815. Vol. VII. London. p. 54.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Haythornthwaite, Philip (2001). Corunna 1809. Campaign 83. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1855329689.
- Henty, G. A. (1898). With Moore at Corunna: A Tale of the Peninsular War. Independently Published. ISBN 979-8574537800. – historical fiction
- James, William (1826). The Naval History of Great Britain. Vol. V. Harding, Lepard and Co. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- Laqueur, Walter (1975). "The Origins of Guerrilla Doctrine". Journal of Contemporary History. 10 (3). Society for Military History: 341–382. S2CID 153541441.
- Lovett, Gabriel H. (1965). Napoleon and the Birth of Modern Spain. New York UP. ISBN 0814702678. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Messenger, Charles, ed. (2013) [2001]. Reader's Guide to Military History (reprint ed.). Routledge. pp. 417–420. ISBN 978-1135959708. Retrieved 3 May 2021.; evaluation of the major books
- Morgan, John (2009). "War Feeding War? The Impact of Logistics on the Napoleonic Occupation of Catalonia". Journal of Military History. 73 (1): 83–116. S2CID 159770864.
- Muir, Rory (1996). Britain and the Defeat of Napoleon, 1807–1815. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300064438.
- Napier, William (1862). The War in the Peninsula (6 vols). London: John Murray (Vol 1), and private (Vols 2–6). Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Neale, Adam (1809). "Appendix". Letters from Portugal and Spain: An Account of the Operations of the Armies ... London: Richard Philips. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- Neale, Adam; Hopetoun, John Hope (4th earl); Malcolm, John; Rocca, Albert Jean Michel (1828). Memorials of the Late War. Vol. I. Edinburgh. )
- Oman, Charles William Chadwick (1903). A History of the Peninsular War: Jan. – Sep. 1809. Vol. II. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Oman, Charles William Chadwick (1914). A History of the Peninsular War: Oct. 1811 – Aug. 31 1812. Vol. V. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Oman, Charles William Chadwick (1922). A History of the Peninsular War: Sep. 1 1812 – 5 Aug. 1813. Vol. VI. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Palafox, J. de (1994). H. Lafoz (ed.). Memorias. Zaragoza. p. 54.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Rathbone, Julian (1984). Wellington's War. Michael Joseph. ISBN 0718123964.
- Rawson, Anderew (2009). The Peninsular War. A Battlefield Guide. Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1844159215.
- Rodríguez, Alicia Lastra (1956). "Buscando a mi general: el periplo asturiano de Andrew Leith Hay en 1808". Archivum (in Spanish). Universidad de Oviedo. GGKEY:T6X2X3HZ2PQ. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- Southey, Robert (1828a). History of the Peninsular War. Vol. I (New, in 6 volumes ed.). London: John Murray. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- Southey, Robert (1828b). History of the Peninsular War. Vol. II (New, in 6 volumes ed.). London: John Murray. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- Suchet, Duke D'Albufera (2007). Memoirs of the War in Spain (2 volumes). Pete Kautz. ISBN 978-1858184777.
- Tranié, Jean; Carmigniani, Juan Carlos (1994) [1982]. Napoleon's War in Spain: The French Peninsular Campaigns, 1807–1814. Translated by Mallender, Janet S.; Clements, John R. based on the notes and documents of the late Commandant Henry Lachouque (1883–1971) (reprint ed.). Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 978-1854092199.
- Urban, Mark (2003). Rifles: Six years with Wellington's legendary sharpshooters. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 0571216811.
- Urban, Mark (2001). The Man who Broke Napoleon's Codes. London: Faber and Faber Ltd. ISBN 0571205135.
Other media
- Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren, Cary Grant (1957). The Pride and the Passion (film). Spain: United Artists. Retrieval of fictional cannon during Peninsular Campaign.