Battle of Bailén
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Bailén was contested in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia
, led by General
s Francisco Castaños
and Theodor von Reding
, and the Imperial
French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. The heaviest fighting took place near Bailén
(sometimes anglicized
Baylen), a village by the Guadalquivir
river in the Jaén province of southern Spain.
In June 1808, in the midst of widespread uprisings
against the French occupation
of Spain, Napoleon
assembled a number of flying column
s to pacify Spain's major centres of resistance. The Emperor ordered Dupont to force his way south through Andalusia
to Cádiz
, which harboured Admiral François Rosily's squadron
, confident that with 20,000 men the general would topple any Spanish opposition he met. Events proved otherwise; Dupont found the invasion of Andalusia's hostile countryside more than his small corps could accomplish and withdrew from Córdoba
in July, retracing his steps to the north of the province to await reinforcements. Meanwhile, General Castaños, commanding the Spanish field army
at San Roque, and General von Reding, Governor
of Málaga
, travelled to Seville
to negotiate with the powerful Seville Junta
—a patriotic assembly committed to resisting the French incursions—and to turn the province's combined forces against the French.
Dupont's failure to leave Andalusia proved disastrous. Between 16 and 19 July, Spanish forces converged on the French positions stretched out along villages on the Guadalquivir and attacked at several points, forcing the confused French defenders to shift their divisions
this way and that. With Castaños pinning Dupont downstream at Andújar, Reding successfully forced the river
at Mengibar and seized Bailén, interposing himself
between the two wings of the French army. Caught between Castaños and Reding, Dupont attempted vainly to break through the Spanish line at Bailén in three bloody and desperate charges, losing more than 2,500 men.
His counterattacks defeated, Dupont called for an armistice
and was compelled to sign the Convention of Andújar which stipulated the surrender of almost 18,000 men, making Bailén the worst disaster and capitulation
of the Peninsular War
, and the first major defeat of Napoleon's Grande Armée. When news of the catastrophe reached French military authorities in occupied Madrid
, the French commanders ordered a general retreat to the Ebro
, abandoning much of central Spain. France's enemies in Spain and throughout Europe cheered at this first check to the hitherto unbeatable Imperial armies—tales of Spanish heroism inspired Austria
and showed the force of nation-wide resistance to Napoleon, setting in motion the rise of the Fifth Coalition
against France.
troops marched into Spain to support a Spanish invasion of Portugal orchestrated by Napoleon, who used the opportunity to initiate intrigues against the Spanish royal family. A coup d'état
, instigated by Spanish aristocrats with French support, forced Charles IV
from his throne in favour of his son Ferdinand, and in April, Napoleon removed both royals to Bayonne
to secure their abdication
and he replaced the Spanish Bourbon line
with a Bonapartist dynasty headed by his brother Joseph Bonaparte
.
However, none of these politicies sat well with the Spanish masses
, who declared their loyalty to the deposed Ferdinand and revolted at the prospect of a foreign ruler. An uprising
by the citizens of Madrid broke out on May 2, slew 150 French soldiers, and was violently stamped out by Marshal Murat's
elite Guards
and mameluk cavalry
. Joseph's entry into his prospective kingdom was delayed as guerrillas poured down from the mountains and seized or threatened the main roads.
On 26 May, Joseph Bonaparte, in absentia
, was proclaimed King of Spain and the Indies in Madrid, his envoys receiving the acclamations of the Spanish notables
. The madrileños, however, were indignant; Spanish soldiers quietly withdrew to insurgent-held villages and outposts outside the city, and only Murat's 20,000 bayonets kept the city in order.
Outside the capital, the French strategic situation deteriorated rapidly. The bulk of the French army, 80,000 strong, could hold only a narrow strip of central Spain stretching from Pamplona
and San Sebastián
in the north through to Madrid and Toledo
to the south. Murat, stricken in an outbreak of rheumatic colic
which swept the French camp, quit his command and returned to France for treatment: "the Spanish priests would have rejoiced if the hand of God had been laid on him whom they called the butcher of the 2nd of May." General Savary
, a man "more distinguished as Minister of Police than as any field commander", arrived to take command of the shaky French garrison at a critical hour.
With much of Spain in open revolt, Napoleon established a headquarters at Bayonne on the Spanish frontier to oversee the redress of his beleaguered forces. The Emperor assembled a number of flying column
s to seize and pacify Spain's major cities: Marshal Bessières
pushed northwest into Old Castile
with 25,000 men and sent a detachment east into Aragón
, aiming to capture Santander
with one hand and Zaragoza
with the other; General Moncey
marched toward Valencia with 29,350 men; and General Duhesme
marshalled 12,710 troops in Catalonia
and put Gerona
under siege. Finally, General Dupont led 13,000 men south toward Seville and ultimately the port of Cádiz, which sheltered Admiral
François Rosilly's fleet
from the Royal Navy
.
services or garrison duty in Prussia—evidence that Napoleon intended the Spanish campaign to be "a mere promenade." This force approached Córdoba
in early June and captured the Alcolea
bridge, sweeping past Spanish militia under Colonel
Don
Pedro de Echávarri that attempted to block their progress. The French entered Córdoba June 7 and ransacked the town for four days. However, in the face of increasingly menacing mass uprisings across Andalusia
, Dupont decided to withdraw to the Sierra Morena
, counting on help from Madrid.
The French retreated fitfully in the sweltering heat, burdened with some 500 wagons of loot and 1,200 ill. A French surgeon
remarked: "Our little army carried enough baggage for 150,000 men. Mere captains required wagons drawn by four mules. We counted more than 50 chariots per battalion, the result of the plunder of Córdoba. All our movements were impeded. We owed our defeat to the greed of our generals." General Gobert's division set out from Madrid on July 2 to add weight to Dupont's expedition. However, only one brigade of his division ultimately reached Dupont, the rest being needed to hold the road north against the guerrillas.
already in open revolt, initially prioritized operations in the north of Spain. In mid-June General Lasalle's victory at Cabezón
simplified matters tremendously; with the Spanish militias around Valladolid
destroyed and much of Old Castile
overrun, Savary shifted his gaze south and resolved to reopen communications with Dupont in Andalusia. Apart from the menace in the north, Napoleon was most anxious to secure the Andalusian provinces, where the traditional, rural peasantry was expected to resist Joseph's rule. On June 19 General Vedel with the 2nd Division
was dispatched south from Toledo to force a passage over the Sierra Morena
, hold the mountains from the guerrillas, and link up with Dupont, pacifying Castile-La Mancha
along the way.
Vedel set out with 6,000 men, 700 horse, and 12 guns, joined during the march by small detachments under Generals Roize and Ligier-Belair. The column raced across the plains, encountering no resistance, although stragglers were seized and cut down by the locals. Reaching the sierra on June 26, the column found a detachment of Spanish regulars, smugglers, and guerrillas with six guns under Lieutenant-Colonel Valdecaños blocking the Puerta del Rey. Vedel's troops stormed the ridge and overran the enemy cannon, losing 17 dead or wounded. They then pushed south over the mountains toward La Carolina
. The next day they encountered a detachment of Dupont's troops preparing to attack these same passes from the south side. With this junction, communications between Dupont and Madrid were reestablished after a month of silence.
Vedel carried new orders from Madrid and Bayonne: Dupont was instructed to stop his march on Cádiz and fall back north-eastwards on the mountains (a fait accompli
), watching the Spanish movements in Andalusia while awaiting the reinforcements to be released upon the capitulation of Zaragoza
and Valencia. These capitulations never came. For a time Marshal Moncey was simply nowhere to be found; at length his defeat at the gates of Valencia surfaced; some 17,000 Spaniards under the Conde de Cervellón massed victoriously around that city as Moncey gave up in disgust, having lost 1,000 men in a vain attempt to storm the walls. Suddenly, all prospects evaporated of Moncey's corps pivoting west from Valencia toward Granada
and coupling with Dupont in a two-pronged invasion
of Andalusia. Nor were troops forthcoming from Aragon
, as Zaragoza shook off repeated French assaults and vowed to fight to the death. Meanwhile, Savary set to work preparing for the arrival of Joseph in his new capital. Many of the scattered French formations were drawn back around Madrid for security; Dupont would remain close at hand to succour the capital if Bessières' campaign in the north took a turn for the worse and Spanish armies appeared on the horizon.
Yet at no time was Dupont's Andalusian expedition altogether scrapped. Savary continued to issue vague orders promising reinforcements at an undisclosed date while Napoleon fumed at the prospect of abandoning even Andújar
to the Spaniards. With events hanging in the air, Dupont chose to hold his ground along the Guadalquivir
, sacking and occupying the town of Bailén
and the provincial capital of Jaén
, instead of completing his retrograde movement to the strong positions atop the sierra's defiles. Napoleon wrote lightly, "even if he suffers a setback, ...he will just have to come back over the Sierra."
, Castaños set about organizing the Army of Andalusia into four divisions under Generals von Reding, the Marquis de Coupigny, Félix Jones, and a fourth nominally in reserve under La Peña. Colonel de la Cruz assembled and led an additional column of some 1,000 skirmishers, armed peasants, and other light infantry.
constructed on the south bank to forestall an enemy crossing, but, the Guadalquivir being fordable at so many points, and open to fire from the surrounding hills, Dupont's defences did not inspire much confidence. Cassagne, after driving the guerrillas off in rout, returned to Bailén on July 5 with 200 dead or wounded and nothing to show for his exertion—the Spaniards having plundered the towns of all provisions.
Glimmers of the long-promised reinforcements appeared at last: Generals Gobert and Lefranc passed the Puerta del Rey July 15, leaving behind a strong garrison in the Morena, and descended into Andalusia with their remaining infantry and cuirassier
s. Dupont now had over 20,000 men idling along the Guadalquivir while the Spaniards massed and approached. But supplies were scarce and the Spanish peasants had deserted their fields, obliging Dupont's wearied men to bring in the harvest, grind the grain, and bake their own rations; 600 men fell ill during their fortnight's stay by drinking the putrid waters of the Guadalquivir. According to French testimony, "The situation was terrible. Every night, we heard armed peasants roaming around us, drawn to our goods, and every night, we expected to be assassinated."
and the Army of Andalusia began a number of demonstrations against the French. From west to east along the Guadalquivir, Castaños with 14,000 men in two divisions (La Peña and Jones) approached Dupont at Andujar, Coupigny advanced his division to Villa Nueva, and Reding prepared to force a passage at Mengibar and swing north to Bailén, outflanking the French and cutting Dupont's line of retreat to the mountains. Marching east to Jaén, Reding delivered a strong attack against the French right wing between July 2 and July 3, sending the 3rd Swiss regiment into the teeth of Cassagne's brigade. The Spaniards were forced back (losing 1,500 casualties according to General Foy
), but the isolated French brigade felt its danger and on the 4th Cassagne fell back over the Guadalquivir to Bailén, leaving only a few companies
to guard the ferry at Mengibar.
Reding assaulted Mengibar anew on July 13 and drove Ligier-Belair from the village after a hard fight; at the appearance of Vedel's division, however, the Spanish column quietly drew back and French infantry reclaimed the town. The next day Coupigny tested the grounds at Villa Nueva and engaged the French piquets opposite him in a sharp skirmish. Castaños reached the heights at Arjonilla on July 15 and, setting up a battery on a ridge overlooking Andújar, opened fire on Dupont. At the same time, 1,600–4,000 skirmishers and irregulars under Colonel
De la Cruz
forded the river near Marmolejo
and attacked towards Dupont's rear, but were handily repulsed by a French battalion and dispersed into the hills. Alarmed by this show of force, Dupont called on Vedel to release a battalion or even a brigade to his assistance, and Vedel, judging that Mengibar was not seriously threatened, set out in the night with his entire division. The arrival of Vedel with this sizeable force put an end to the threat at Andújar but gravely imperilled the French right wing (Mengibar—Bailén—La Carolina), leaving Ligier-Belair seriously denuded of troops in his fight against Reding.
On July 16, Dupont and Vedel, expecting a desperate struggle for Andújar, found Castaños and Coupigny merely repeating the previous day's noisy demonstrations without seriously attempting a passage. Reding, however, was on the move: making a feint
toward the Mengibar ferry
with his sharpshooters, the Swiss forded the river upstream at Rincon and, encircling Mengibar, crushed the French battalions under Ligier-Belair. General Gobert, rushing forth from Bailén to plug the gap, was shot in the head and later died of the wound, and his counterattack, carried on by Brigadier-General Dufour, collapsed under the weight of the Spaniards. Distracting Reding with repeated charges from his cuirassiers, Dufour disengaged his men and fell back onto Bailén.
Alerted to the loss of Mengibar, Dupont hesitated once again. Unwilling to take advantage of Vedel's presence to engage in a trial of strength with Castaños—a successful attack on the Arjonilla might have turned the Spanish line in return and allowed Dupont to swing across the rear of Coupigny and Reding—Dupont hunkered down at Andújar and ordered Vedel's weary division back to Bailén to prevent the collapse of the right wing.
and La Carolina. Consequently, when Vedel, by another tiring night march, retraced his steps to Bailén, he found the position oddly deserted of both friend and foe.
When his reconnaissance parties made no contact with the enemy at the Guadalquivir, Vedel concluded that Reding had shifted his division to another point along the line. Dufour sent back alarming reports from Guarromán, convincing Vedel that 10,000 Spaniards—perhaps Reding's division, he warned—were marching on the mountains to their rear. This was too much. Gathering his exhausted division, Vedel hurried to Dufour's aid on July 17, arriving at Santa Carolina the next day. Dufour's fatal blunder was soon revealed. Vedel discovered that the small band of irregulars roaming about were not at all the threat Dufour had described; for the third time the Spaniards had stolen a march from him, and Reding still hovered somewhere around Mengibar, out of sight. Worse yet, an enormous gap now existed between Dupont and Vedel, and not a single battalion remained to prevent Reding from seizing the central position
at Bailén.
there the night and preparing to swing west towards Dupont's—and what he assumed to be Vedel's (oblivious as he was to the latter's recent movement east)—position in the morning.
Vedel quit La Carolina at 5:00 a.m. July 18 and rushed the bone-weary French right wing south-west toward Bailén, unwittingly bearing down on Reding's rear. Both armies were now north of the Guadalquivir and staggered in a curious position: Dupont between Castaños and Reding; Reding between Dupont and Vedel. At Guarromán, scarcely two leagues from Bailén, Vedel rested his footsore troops for a few hours—"he could not refuse this", says General Foy, "after three days and three nights of incessant marching"—while patrols raced west to Linares to secure his rear. Aware neither that Dupont was preparing to move in his direction, nor that Vedel was now in fact drawing in behind him, Reding, posting a few battalions to hold Bailén from whatever French formations might remain in the east, set off with his two divisions westwards July 18, intending to surround Andújar from the rear and smash Dupont against Castaños.
Dupont slipped away from Andújar unobserved and at dawn July 19, his vanguard
under Brigadier Chabert made contact with Reding's leading elements (veterans of the Walloon Guard) just shy of Bailén. Though caught off guard, Reding reacted "with promptitude and skill," dissolving his columns and drawing up a defensive line with 20 guns in an olive
grove intersected with deep ravines, about two miles from Dupont's main body. Badly underestimating the force before him, Chabert charged his 3,000 men into Reding's two divisions and was enfiladed
and repulsed with heavy losses. Dupont, following with the main body of the convoy at two leagues' distance, halted the bloodied vanguard, posted General Barbou to defend the rear against any pursuit by Castaños, and ordered all other formations to the fore in an attempt to crack Reding's line.
Expecting to be overtaken and crushed by Castaños' columns at any moment—one division under La Peña had already crossed to Andújar in pursuit and approached steadily—Dupont committed his troops piecemeal, without massing a reserve. As one historian observes, his troops were "both exhausted and strung out, and to commit them to battle in dribs and drabs was foolhardy in the extreme." Brigadiers Chabert and Dupré led an infantry brigade and the chasseurs against the left wing, held by the Walloon Guards, but no ground was gained and Dupré fell mortally wounded at the head of his troops. Dupont's scattered guns were laboriously formed into batteries to support the attack only to be knocked out by the heavier Spanish artillery once the firing began. On the right, opposite Reding's militias and Swiss regulars
, a fierce and desperate attack bent back the Spanish line. The cuirassiers trampled an enemy infantry regiment, reached the artillery and sabred the gunners, but the Spaniards, extending their line and maintaining a constant fire, compelled the French to abandon the captured guns and fall back.
Fresh troops came up at 10:00 a.m. and Dupont immediately launched a second attack, with General Pannetier's brigade leading the charge. One last formation joined them; d'Augier's marines of the Imperial Guard, in theory the best troops present: "They were only three hundred men", Foy remarks, "but they were three hundred whom no fears could ever make falter." Dupont, himself wounded in the hip, grouped his exhausted and worn-out regiments around the Guard battalion in a last effort to break through to Bailén. At this point reserves may have pierced the badly-shaken Spanish line: Dupont had none; and the French columns, mercilessly raked by the Spanish artillery, were forced back down the slope for the third time. Dupont's Swiss regiments, originally in Spanish service, defected, arms and baggage, to their former masters; and lastly, Castaños' force finally arrived, overtaking Barbou along the Rumblar (a small tributary flowing from the Morena into the Guadalquivir), with La Peña's division sounding its guns and preparing to storm the French rearguard. The day was lost.
Towards noon, as Dupont's guns went quiet, Vedel continued from Guarromán onto Bailén and observed napping troops which he assumed to be Dupont's vanguard returning from Andújar—in fact they were Reding's Spaniards. Vedel and Reding prepared for battle, the latter pulling up Legrange's cuirassiers, Cassagne's legion, and Dufour's brigade for the attack. On the Spanish side, Reding deployed Coupigny's division to meet the threat, with an Irish battalion and two guns on a knoll leading up to the mountains; a regiment of regular troops, the Órdenes militares, at the San Cristóbal monastery
; militia in support; and the other battalions drawn up behind, in the centre. Two Spanish officers approached Vedel under a flag of truce, announcing that Dupont had been badly defeated and had proposed to suspend arms; the Frenchman replied, "Tell your General, that I care nothing about that, and that I am going to attack him."
Vedel directed Cassagne's legion, supported by Boussard's dragoon
s, against the Irish position on the knoll. While Cassagne grappled the Irish, Boussard raced around the enemy flank and rear, trampled part of Coussigny's militia regiment, and enveloped the knoll. Their guns lost, the Irish battalion surrendered, and Vedel's men took the knoll and 1,500 prisoners. Meanwhile, Colonel Roche's column struck the Spanish strongpoint at San Cristóbal, possession of which was necessary if Vedel hoped to turn Coupigny and force open a path to Dupont. But here the Spanish regulars under Colonel Francisco Soler held their line obstinately and all attacks failed.
Dupont and his staff officers were transported on Royal Navy
vessels to Rochefort
harbour after the Seville Junta refused to honour the pact under which the French were to be repatriated via Cádiz. The rank-and-file were led aboard prison-ships converted for the purpose and removed to squalid camps on Cabrera
and the Canary Islands
between 1809 and 1813. A small portion was eventually transferred to milder imprisonment in England. One group, languishing in the floating prison hulks in the Bay of Cádiz
, rose up in 1811 and overwhelmed their captors, cutting the mooring cables and floating to the safety of the French lines surrounding
the city. Yet only 1,500 of the French prisoners were released or relocated, or escaped their island-prisons, during the Napoleonic wars. On July 6, 1814, the remaining survivors of Bailén returned to France: fewer than half remained, most having perished in captivity.
Neither the fruit of brilliant strategic planning, nor the war's largest or bloodiest battle, Bailén nonetheless assumed mythical status in Spain, its symbolism rapidly eclipsing the reality—the negotiated surrender of a rather inexperienced French corps in a peripheral theatre. At a decisive moment, news of victory rallied much of the vacillating Spanish elite to the insurrectionary movements surging across the country: Suddenly, the expulsion of the French by arms seemed possible, if not inevitable. At the same time, Spanish victory in an obscure Andalusian village signalled to the armies of Europe that the French, long considered invincible, could be beaten—a fact that persuaded the Austrian Empire
to initiate the War of the Fifth Coalition
against Napoleon:
To commemorate a victory so rich in symbolic and propaganda
value, the Seville Junta instituted the Medalla de Bailén. The British press avidly publicized the event and printed Castaños' victory statements across Europe:
The defeat mortified Napoleon. The Emperor treated Dupont's capitulation as a personal affront and a blight on the Imperial honour
, pursuing a ruthless vendetta
against all those involved:
Dupont and Vedel returned to Paris in disgrace and were duly court-martial
ed, deprived of rank and title, and imprisoned at Fort de Joux
for their role in the disaster. (Dupont was not paroled until the restoration
of Louis XVIII
; indeed, rumours persisted that he had been quietly assassinated in captivity.) None of the commanding officers, however slight their share of the responsibility, escaped without retribution: Napoleon held that his army in Spain had been "commanded by postal inspectors rather than generals." In January 1809, the Emperor halted a parade in Valladolid
when he recognized Dupont's chief of staff
among the commanders, scolding the unfortunate officer in full view of the troops and ordering him off the square. According to General Foy, Napoleon began his tirade: "What, general! did not your hand wither up when you signed that infamous capitulation?" Years later, Napoleon opened an inquiry
into the Convention of Andujar under the mandate of the Imperial High Court
, in camera
, which turned out yet another proclamation against Dupont. An Imperial decree dated May 1, 1812 prohibited any field commander to treat for capitulation and declared every unauthorized surrender a criminal act punishable by death
.
Apart from the blow to French prestige, Bailén threw the French invasion forces—faltering after their failure to secure Gerona, Zaragoza
, Valencia
, Barcelona, and Santander
, and with the country rapidly arming and mobilizing against them—into panic and disarray. With the sudden loss of 20,000 troops, Napoleon's military machine abruptly fell apart. On Savary's advice, Joseph fled from the openly hostile capital; joining him on the highway were Bessières
and Moncey, who drew the French corps north from Madrid and continued past Burgos
in what became a wholesale retreat. The French did not halt until they were safely over the Ebro, where they could set up secure defensive positions along the north bank and wait out events. From his makeshift headquarters at Vitoria, Joseph wrote to his brother gloomily: "I repeat that we have not a single Spanish supporter. The whole nation is exasperated and determined to fight." Napoleon, furious and dismayed, remarked that to cross the Ebro was "tantamount to evacuating Spain."
Napoleon had considered the Spanish Bourbon regime's
old, regular army
, for all its proud traditions hearkening back to the glorious tercio
s, to be "the worst in Europe", while the new militia formations were dismissed as packs of "bandits led by monks." Castaños himself conceded that the greater part of his troops had been "raw and inexperienced; but they were Spaniards, and Spaniards are heroes." But it was this maligned army, largely untouched by French Revolutionary military principles
—a relic from the previous century's absolutist administration
—which outfought the Imperial citizen-soldiers. Spain's ancien regime military institutions, however, quickly unravelled in the following months, eclipsed by the growing scale of the war, crippled by the infusion of untrained conscripts, and caught up in the competing designs of the juntas.
In November, Napoleon directed the bulk of the Grande Armée across the Pyrenees and dealt a series of devastating blows to the vacillating Spanish forces, receiving the surrender of Madrid in scarcely a month's time. As Spain's military and political apparatus deteriorated dramatically, so did the quality of its armed forces, recruited and equipped in the chaos of French military occupation
and counterinsurgency. Subsequent efforts to fashion field armies capable of reproducing a Bailén proved less successful: Castaños was himself routed by Marshal Lannes
at Tudela
in November 1808, while Reding was ridden down and trampled by the French cavalry at Valls
in 1809, dying of his wounds. Marshal Soult overran much of Andalusia the following year and on January 21, 1810, his men recovered the lost Eagles
from the cathedral
of Bailén. Before long, only Cádiz remained firmly in Spanish hands, and a difficult war lay ahead to drive the invader from Spain. Throughout the war, attempts to meet the French in open fields
with corps severely deficient in training, leadership, and equipment led to frequent defeat, as incompetent or politically-appointed commanders felt pressured to recreate Bailén without the talent or the means. This "Bailén syndrome" haunted Spain for the duration of the war:
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
, led by General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
s Francisco Castaños
Francisco Javier Castaños, 1st Duke of Bailén
Francisco Javier Castaños Aragorri Urioste y Olavide, Count of Castaños y Aragones, 1st Duke of Baylen , was a Spanish general.Castaños was born at Madrid.He is remembered for his victory over the French under Dupont, whom he...
and Theodor von Reding
Theodor von Reding
Theodor von Reding was a Swiss general of the Napoleonic Wars most notable for his career in the service of Spain.He was born in Schwyz, the son of the aristocrat Josef Rudolf Reding von Biberegg...
, and the Imperial
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. The heaviest fighting took place near Bailén
Bailen
Bailen may refer to:* Bailén, a town in Jaén, Spain* Battle of Bailén of 1808* General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite, a town in the Philippines, which was formerly known as Bailen...
(sometimes anglicized
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Baylen), a village by the Guadalquivir
Guadalquivir
The Guadalquivir is the fifth longest river in the Iberian peninsula and the second longest river to be its whole length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is 657 kilometers long and drains an area of about 58,000 square kilometers...
river in the Jaén province of southern Spain.
In June 1808, in the midst of widespread uprisings
Dos de Mayo Uprising
On the second of May , 1808, the people of Madrid rebelled against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a brutal repression by the French Imperial forces and triggering the Peninsular War.-Background:...
against the French occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
of Spain, Napoleon
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
assembled a number of flying column
Flying column
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ad hoc unit, formed during the course of operations....
s to pacify Spain's major centres of resistance. The Emperor ordered Dupont to force his way south through Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
to Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, which harboured Admiral François Rosily's squadron
Capture of the Rosily Squadron
The Capture of the Rosily Squadron took place on 14 June 1808, in Cadiz, Spain, nearly three years after the Battle of Trafalgar, when the Spanish had risen against the French invaders. Five French ships of the line and a frigate were also still in the port and had remained there since that British...
, confident that with 20,000 men the general would topple any Spanish opposition he met. Events proved otherwise; Dupont found the invasion of Andalusia's hostile countryside more than his small corps could accomplish and withdrew from Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
in July, retracing his steps to the north of the province to await reinforcements. Meanwhile, General Castaños, commanding the Spanish field army
Field army
A Field Army, or Area Army, usually referred to simply as an Army, is a term used by many national military forces for a military formation superior to a corps and beneath an army group....
at San Roque, and General von Reding, Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, travelled to Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
to negotiate with the powerful Seville Junta
Junta (Peninsular War)
In the Napoleonic era, junta was the name chosen by several local administrations formed in Spain during the Peninsular War as a patriotic alternative to the official administration toppled by the French invaders...
—a patriotic assembly committed to resisting the French incursions—and to turn the province's combined forces against the French.
Dupont's failure to leave Andalusia proved disastrous. Between 16 and 19 July, Spanish forces converged on the French positions stretched out along villages on the Guadalquivir and attacked at several points, forcing the confused French defenders to shift their divisions
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
this way and that. With Castaños pinning Dupont downstream at Andújar, Reding successfully forced the river
Bridgehead
A bridgehead is a High Middle Ages military term, which antedating the invention of cannons was in the original meaning expressly a referent term to the military fortification that protects the end of a bridge...
at Mengibar and seized Bailén, interposing himself
Strategy of the central position
The strategy of the central position was a key strategy used by Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars. It involved attacking two cooperating armies at their hinge, swinging around to fight one until it fled, then turning to face the other. The strategy allowed the use of a smaller force to defeat a...
between the two wings of the French army. Caught between Castaños and Reding, Dupont attempted vainly to break through the Spanish line at Bailén in three bloody and desperate charges, losing more than 2,500 men.
His counterattacks defeated, Dupont called for an armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
and was compelled to sign the Convention of Andújar which stipulated the surrender of almost 18,000 men, making Bailén the worst disaster and capitulation
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
of the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, and the first major defeat of Napoleon's Grande Armée. When news of the catastrophe reached French military authorities in occupied Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, the French commanders ordered a general retreat to the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
, abandoning much of central Spain. France's enemies in Spain and throughout Europe cheered at this first check to the hitherto unbeatable Imperial armies—tales of Spanish heroism inspired Austria
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
and showed the force of nation-wide resistance to Napoleon, setting in motion the rise of the Fifth Coalition
War of the Fifth Coalition
The War of the Fifth Coalition, fought in the year 1809, pitted a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe from April to July, with...
against France.
Background
Between 1807 and 1808, thousands of FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
troops marched into Spain to support a Spanish invasion of Portugal orchestrated by Napoleon, who used the opportunity to initiate intrigues against the Spanish royal family. A coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, instigated by Spanish aristocrats with French support, forced Charles IV
Charles IV of Spain
Charles IV was King of Spain from 14 December 1788 until his abdication on 19 March 1808.-Early life:...
from his throne in favour of his son Ferdinand, and in April, Napoleon removed both royals to Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
to secure their abdication
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
and he replaced the Spanish Bourbon line
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
with a Bonapartist dynasty headed by his brother Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
.
However, none of these politicies sat well with the Spanish masses
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
, who declared their loyalty to the deposed Ferdinand and revolted at the prospect of a foreign ruler. An uprising
Dos de Mayo Uprising
On the second of May , 1808, the people of Madrid rebelled against the occupation of the city by French troops, provoking a brutal repression by the French Imperial forces and triggering the Peninsular War.-Background:...
by the citizens of Madrid broke out on May 2, slew 150 French soldiers, and was violently stamped out by Marshal Murat's
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
elite Guards
Imperial Guard
The Imperial Guard was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he was careful of its use in battle...
and mameluk cavalry
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
. Joseph's entry into his prospective kingdom was delayed as guerrillas poured down from the mountains and seized or threatened the main roads.
On 26 May, Joseph Bonaparte, in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
, was proclaimed King of Spain and the Indies in Madrid, his envoys receiving the acclamations of the Spanish notables
Afrancesado
Afrancesado was the term used to denote Spanish and Portuguese partisans of Enlightenment ideas, Liberalism, or the French Revolution, who were supporters of the French occupation of Iberia and of the First French Empire.-Origins:...
. The madrileños, however, were indignant; Spanish soldiers quietly withdrew to insurgent-held villages and outposts outside the city, and only Murat's 20,000 bayonets kept the city in order.
Outside the capital, the French strategic situation deteriorated rapidly. The bulk of the French army, 80,000 strong, could hold only a narrow strip of central Spain stretching from Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
and San Sebastián
San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
in the north through to Madrid and Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
to the south. Murat, stricken in an outbreak of rheumatic colic
Colic
Colic is a form of pain which starts and stops abruptly. Types include:*Baby colic, a condition, usually in infants, characterized by incessant crying*Renal colic, a pain in the flank, characteristic of kidney stones...
which swept the French camp, quit his command and returned to France for treatment: "the Spanish priests would have rejoiced if the hand of God had been laid on him whom they called the butcher of the 2nd of May." General Savary
Anne Jean Marie René Savary
Anne Jean Marie René Savary, 1st Duc de Rovigo , French general and diplomat, was born at Marcq in the Ardennes.-Biography:...
, a man "more distinguished as Minister of Police than as any field commander", arrived to take command of the shaky French garrison at a critical hour.
With much of Spain in open revolt, Napoleon established a headquarters at Bayonne on the Spanish frontier to oversee the redress of his beleaguered forces. The Emperor assembled a number of flying column
Flying column
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ad hoc unit, formed during the course of operations....
s to seize and pacify Spain's major cities: Marshal Bessières
Jean-Baptiste Bessières
Jean-Baptiste Bessières, 1st Duc d' Istria was a Marshal of France of the Napoleonic Era. His younger brother, Bertrand, followed in his footsteps and eventually became a Divisional General...
pushed northwest into Old Castile
Old Castile
Old Castile is a historic region of Spain, which included territory that later corresponded to the provinces of Santander , Burgos, Logroño , Soria, Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Palencia....
with 25,000 men and sent a detachment east into Aragón
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, aiming to capture Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
with one hand and Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
with the other; General Moncey
Bon Adrien Jeannot de Moncey
Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey , 1st Duke of Conegliano, 1st Baron of Conegliano, Peer of France , Marshal of France, was a prominent soldier in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
marched toward Valencia with 29,350 men; and General Duhesme
Guillaume Philibert Duhesme
Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars.-Revolution:...
marshalled 12,710 troops in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
and put Gerona
Siege of Gerona (1809)
The Siege of Gerona of May 6, 1809, sometimes called the Third Siege of Gerona or Girona , involved the French Grande Armée's seven-month struggle to conquer the Spanish garrison at Girona...
under siege. Finally, General Dupont led 13,000 men south toward Seville and ultimately the port of Cádiz, which sheltered Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
François Rosilly's fleet
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
from the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
.
War reaches Andalusia
Dupont's corps primarily fielded inexperienced and largely new recruits. These second-line troops, originally raised as provisional or reserve formations, had been intended either for internal policeGendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
services or garrison duty in Prussia—evidence that Napoleon intended the Spanish campaign to be "a mere promenade." This force approached Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
in early June and captured the Alcolea
Alcolea
-External links: - Diputación Provincial de Almería...
bridge, sweeping past Spanish militia under Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Don
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Pedro de Echávarri that attempted to block their progress. The French entered Córdoba June 7 and ransacked the town for four days. However, in the face of increasingly menacing mass uprisings across Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
, Dupont decided to withdraw to the Sierra Morena
Sierra Morena
The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.It stretches for 400 kilometres East-West across southern Spain, forming the southern border of the Meseta Central plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, and providing the watershed between the valleys of the Guadiana to the...
, counting on help from Madrid.
The French retreated fitfully in the sweltering heat, burdened with some 500 wagons of loot and 1,200 ill. A French surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
remarked: "Our little army carried enough baggage for 150,000 men. Mere captains required wagons drawn by four mules. We counted more than 50 chariots per battalion, the result of the plunder of Córdoba. All our movements were impeded. We owed our defeat to the greed of our generals." General Gobert's division set out from Madrid on July 2 to add weight to Dupont's expedition. However, only one brigade of his division ultimately reached Dupont, the rest being needed to hold the road north against the guerrillas.
Reinforcements across the Sierra
Napoleon and the French strategists, anxious about their communications with Bayonne and wary of a British descent upon a Biscayan coastBay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
already in open revolt, initially prioritized operations in the north of Spain. In mid-June General Lasalle's victory at Cabezón
Battle of Cabezón
The Battle of Cabezón was an engagement early in the Peninsular War on June 12, 1808 between a small Spanish militia force and a detachment of Marshal Bessières' French Army Corps under General Lasalle....
simplified matters tremendously; with the Spanish militias around Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
destroyed and much of Old Castile
Old Castile
Old Castile is a historic region of Spain, which included territory that later corresponded to the provinces of Santander , Burgos, Logroño , Soria, Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Palencia....
overrun, Savary shifted his gaze south and resolved to reopen communications with Dupont in Andalusia. Apart from the menace in the north, Napoleon was most anxious to secure the Andalusian provinces, where the traditional, rural peasantry was expected to resist Joseph's rule. On June 19 General Vedel with the 2nd Division
2nd Infantry Division (France)
The French Infantry Division was one of the oldest divisions of the French army.-Heads of the Infantry Division:* 22 March 1815: Division General Donzelot*.*1870: General Martineau des Chenez*....
was dispatched south from Toledo to force a passage over the Sierra Morena
Sierra Morena
The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.It stretches for 400 kilometres East-West across southern Spain, forming the southern border of the Meseta Central plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, and providing the watershed between the valleys of the Guadiana to the...
, hold the mountains from the guerrillas, and link up with Dupont, pacifying Castile-La Mancha
Castile-La Mancha
Castile-La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain. Castile-La Mancha is bordered by Castile and León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities...
along the way.
Vedel set out with 6,000 men, 700 horse, and 12 guns, joined during the march by small detachments under Generals Roize and Ligier-Belair. The column raced across the plains, encountering no resistance, although stragglers were seized and cut down by the locals. Reaching the sierra on June 26, the column found a detachment of Spanish regulars, smugglers, and guerrillas with six guns under Lieutenant-Colonel Valdecaños blocking the Puerta del Rey. Vedel's troops stormed the ridge and overran the enemy cannon, losing 17 dead or wounded. They then pushed south over the mountains toward La Carolina
La Carolina
La Carolina is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the city has a population of 15576 inhabitants....
. The next day they encountered a detachment of Dupont's troops preparing to attack these same passes from the south side. With this junction, communications between Dupont and Madrid were reestablished after a month of silence.
Confused orders
Fait Accompli
Fait accompli is a French phrase which means literally "an accomplished deed". It is commonly used to describe an action which is completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it...
), watching the Spanish movements in Andalusia while awaiting the reinforcements to be released upon the capitulation of Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
and Valencia. These capitulations never came. For a time Marshal Moncey was simply nowhere to be found; at length his defeat at the gates of Valencia surfaced; some 17,000 Spaniards under the Conde de Cervellón massed victoriously around that city as Moncey gave up in disgust, having lost 1,000 men in a vain attempt to storm the walls. Suddenly, all prospects evaporated of Moncey's corps pivoting west from Valencia toward Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
and coupling with Dupont in a two-pronged invasion
Pincer movement
The pincer movement or double envelopment is a military maneuver. The flanks of the opponent are attacked simultaneously in a pinching motion after the opponent has advanced towards the center of an army which is responding by moving its outside forces to the enemy's flanks, in order to surround it...
of Andalusia. Nor were troops forthcoming from Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, as Zaragoza shook off repeated French assaults and vowed to fight to the death. Meanwhile, Savary set to work preparing for the arrival of Joseph in his new capital. Many of the scattered French formations were drawn back around Madrid for security; Dupont would remain close at hand to succour the capital if Bessières' campaign in the north took a turn for the worse and Spanish armies appeared on the horizon.
Yet at no time was Dupont's Andalusian expedition altogether scrapped. Savary continued to issue vague orders promising reinforcements at an undisclosed date while Napoleon fumed at the prospect of abandoning even Andújar
Andújar
Andújar is a Spanish municipality of 38,539 people in the province of Jaén, in Andalusia. The municipality is divided by the Guadalquivir River. The northern part of the municipality is where the Natural Park of the Sierra de Andújar is situated. To the south are agricultural fields and...
to the Spaniards. With events hanging in the air, Dupont chose to hold his ground along the Guadalquivir
Guadalquivir
The Guadalquivir is the fifth longest river in the Iberian peninsula and the second longest river to be its whole length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is 657 kilometers long and drains an area of about 58,000 square kilometers...
, sacking and occupying the town of Bailén
Bailen
Bailen may refer to:* Bailén, a town in Jaén, Spain* Battle of Bailén of 1808* General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite, a town in the Philippines, which was formerly known as Bailen...
and the provincial capital of Jaén
Jaén, Spain
Jaén is a city in south-central Spain, the name is derived from the Arabic word Jayyan, . It is the capital of the province of Jaén. It is located in the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, instead of completing his retrograde movement to the strong positions atop the sierra's defiles. Napoleon wrote lightly, "even if he suffers a setback, ...he will just have to come back over the Sierra."
Spain prepares
Upon learning of the French incursion into the southern provinces, General Castaños, guessing Dupont's intention, prepared to entrench his army in a fortified camp across from the strongpoint of Cádiz; Dupont's retrograde movement rendered these precautions unnecessary. Setting up a General Headquarters in UtreraUtrera
Utrera is a municipality in south-west Spain. It is in the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. As of 2008 it has a population close to 50,202....
, Castaños set about organizing the Army of Andalusia into four divisions under Generals von Reding, the Marquis de Coupigny, Félix Jones, and a fourth nominally in reserve under La Peña. Colonel de la Cruz assembled and led an additional column of some 1,000 skirmishers, armed peasants, and other light infantry.
Stalled on the Guadalquivir
While Dupont lingered at Andújar with two divisions (Generals Barbou and Fresia), attempting to master the strategic Madrid—Seville highway and the wide plains which it crossed, Castaños' four divisions advanced steadily from the south and guerrillas from Granada marched to bar the road to the sierra and La Mancha beyond. Vedel's division was posted east to Bailén with a view to guarding these nearby mountain passes and on July 1 Vedel was forced to dispatch a brigade under General Cassagne to curb the advance of the guerrillas on Jaén and La Carolina, stretching the French line still further east. Meanwhile, General Liger-Belair with 1,500 men moved into a forward post at Mengibar, a village on the south bank of the Guadalquivir. At Andújar a tower by the river was fortified and small field worksFortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
constructed on the south bank to forestall an enemy crossing, but, the Guadalquivir being fordable at so many points, and open to fire from the surrounding hills, Dupont's defences did not inspire much confidence. Cassagne, after driving the guerrillas off in rout, returned to Bailén on July 5 with 200 dead or wounded and nothing to show for his exertion—the Spaniards having plundered the towns of all provisions.
Glimmers of the long-promised reinforcements appeared at last: Generals Gobert and Lefranc passed the Puerta del Rey July 15, leaving behind a strong garrison in the Morena, and descended into Andalusia with their remaining infantry and cuirassier
Cuirassier
Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...
s. Dupont now had over 20,000 men idling along the Guadalquivir while the Spaniards massed and approached. But supplies were scarce and the Spanish peasants had deserted their fields, obliging Dupont's wearied men to bring in the harvest, grind the grain, and bake their own rations; 600 men fell ill during their fortnight's stay by drinking the putrid waters of the Guadalquivir. According to French testimony, "The situation was terrible. Every night, we heard armed peasants roaming around us, drawn to our goods, and every night, we expected to be assassinated."
Early fighting
On July 9 General La Peña's division took up a position extending from El Carpio to PorcunaPorcuna
Porcuna is a village and municipality in the province of Jaén in Andalusia, Spain, 42 km from Jaén and 50 km from Córdoba. The primary occupation of the 6,990 inhabitants is olive growing...
and the Army of Andalusia began a number of demonstrations against the French. From west to east along the Guadalquivir, Castaños with 14,000 men in two divisions (La Peña and Jones) approached Dupont at Andujar, Coupigny advanced his division to Villa Nueva, and Reding prepared to force a passage at Mengibar and swing north to Bailén, outflanking the French and cutting Dupont's line of retreat to the mountains. Marching east to Jaén, Reding delivered a strong attack against the French right wing between July 2 and July 3, sending the 3rd Swiss regiment into the teeth of Cassagne's brigade. The Spaniards were forced back (losing 1,500 casualties according to General Foy
Maximilien Sebastien Foy
Maximilien Sébastien Foy was a French military leader, statesman and writer.-Revolution:He was born in Ham, Somme, and educated in the military school of La Fere, and made sub-lieutenant of artillery in 1792. He was present at the battles of Valmy and Jemappes, and in 1793 obtained a company, as...
), but the isolated French brigade felt its danger and on the 4th Cassagne fell back over the Guadalquivir to Bailén, leaving only a few companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
to guard the ferry at Mengibar.
Reding assaulted Mengibar anew on July 13 and drove Ligier-Belair from the village after a hard fight; at the appearance of Vedel's division, however, the Spanish column quietly drew back and French infantry reclaimed the town. The next day Coupigny tested the grounds at Villa Nueva and engaged the French piquets opposite him in a sharp skirmish. Castaños reached the heights at Arjonilla on July 15 and, setting up a battery on a ridge overlooking Andújar, opened fire on Dupont. At the same time, 1,600–4,000 skirmishers and irregulars under Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
De la Cruz
Juan de la Cruz Mourgeón
Juan de la Cruz Mourgeón y Achet was a Spanish general and colonial administrator. He fought in the Spanish War of Independence against the French, and in the Viceroyalty of New Granada against rebels supporting independence...
forded the river near Marmolejo
Marmolejo, Spain
Marmolejo is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2005 census , the city has a population of 7605 inhabitants.-External links:* - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía...
and attacked towards Dupont's rear, but were handily repulsed by a French battalion and dispersed into the hills. Alarmed by this show of force, Dupont called on Vedel to release a battalion or even a brigade to his assistance, and Vedel, judging that Mengibar was not seriously threatened, set out in the night with his entire division. The arrival of Vedel with this sizeable force put an end to the threat at Andújar but gravely imperilled the French right wing (Mengibar—Bailén—La Carolina), leaving Ligier-Belair seriously denuded of troops in his fight against Reding.
Battle
On July 16, Dupont and Vedel, expecting a desperate struggle for Andújar, found Castaños and Coupigny merely repeating the previous day's noisy demonstrations without seriously attempting a passage. Reding, however, was on the move: making a feint
Feint
Feint is a French term that entered English from the discipline of fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or even none, will...
toward the Mengibar ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
with his sharpshooters, the Swiss forded the river upstream at Rincon and, encircling Mengibar, crushed the French battalions under Ligier-Belair. General Gobert, rushing forth from Bailén to plug the gap, was shot in the head and later died of the wound, and his counterattack, carried on by Brigadier-General Dufour, collapsed under the weight of the Spaniards. Distracting Reding with repeated charges from his cuirassiers, Dufour disengaged his men and fell back onto Bailén.
Alerted to the loss of Mengibar, Dupont hesitated once again. Unwilling to take advantage of Vedel's presence to engage in a trial of strength with Castaños—a successful attack on the Arjonilla might have turned the Spanish line in return and allowed Dupont to swing across the rear of Coupigny and Reding—Dupont hunkered down at Andújar and ordered Vedel's weary division back to Bailén to prevent the collapse of the right wing.
The right wings disengage
The fighting around Mengibar then took a curious turn: Reding, having finally gained the north bank and turned the French flank, suddenly retreated to the other side of the river, perhaps feeling isolated with his lone division. At the same time, guerrillas under Colonel Valdecanos made an unwelcome appearance on Dufour's flank, scattering his outposts and menacing the road to the Puerta del Rey. Dufour, conscious of the danger to the mountain passes, set off to confront the Spanish flankers at GuarrománGuarromán
Guarromán is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the city has a population of 2904 inhabitants....
and La Carolina. Consequently, when Vedel, by another tiring night march, retraced his steps to Bailén, he found the position oddly deserted of both friend and foe.
When his reconnaissance parties made no contact with the enemy at the Guadalquivir, Vedel concluded that Reding had shifted his division to another point along the line. Dufour sent back alarming reports from Guarromán, convincing Vedel that 10,000 Spaniards—perhaps Reding's division, he warned—were marching on the mountains to their rear. This was too much. Gathering his exhausted division, Vedel hurried to Dufour's aid on July 17, arriving at Santa Carolina the next day. Dufour's fatal blunder was soon revealed. Vedel discovered that the small band of irregulars roaming about were not at all the threat Dufour had described; for the third time the Spaniards had stolen a march from him, and Reding still hovered somewhere around Mengibar, out of sight. Worse yet, an enormous gap now existed between Dupont and Vedel, and not a single battalion remained to prevent Reding from seizing the central position
Strategy of the central position
The strategy of the central position was a key strategy used by Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars. It involved attacking two cooperating armies at their hinge, swinging around to fight one until it fled, then turning to face the other. The strategy allowed the use of a smaller force to defeat a...
at Bailén.
Trapped
News of Vedel's ill-advised movements reached Dupont at noon on July 18 and convinced him to fall back on Bailén and to recall Vedel there as well, re-concentrating his now dangerously scattered army: "I do not care to occupy Andujar. That post is of no consequence." With a wary eye on Castaños' columns across the river, and needing time to prepare his wagons and carriages (encumbered by plunder from the sack of Cordoba), Dupont postponed the retreat till nightfall, hoping to conceal his departure from the Spaniards. Meanwhile, Reding, calling up Coupigny's division from Villa Nueva, had crossed at Mengibar on July 17 and seized the deserted Bailén, bivouacingBivouac shelter
A bivouac traditionally refers to a military encampment made with tents or improvised shelters, usually without shelter or protection from enemy fire or such a site where a camp may be built. It is also commonly used to describe a variety of improvised camp sites such as those used in scouting and...
there the night and preparing to swing west towards Dupont's—and what he assumed to be Vedel's (oblivious as he was to the latter's recent movement east)—position in the morning.
Dupont slipped away from Andújar unobserved and at dawn July 19, his vanguard
Vanguard (military tactics)
The vanguard is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.- Medieval origins :...
under Brigadier Chabert made contact with Reding's leading elements (veterans of the Walloon Guard) just shy of Bailén. Though caught off guard, Reding reacted "with promptitude and skill," dissolving his columns and drawing up a defensive line with 20 guns in an olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
grove intersected with deep ravines, about two miles from Dupont's main body. Badly underestimating the force before him, Chabert charged his 3,000 men into Reding's two divisions and was enfiladed
Enfilade and defilade
Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. A formation or position is "in enfilade" if weapons fire can be directed along its longest axis. A unit or position is "in defilade" if it uses natural or artificial obstacles to...
and repulsed with heavy losses. Dupont, following with the main body of the convoy at two leagues' distance, halted the bloodied vanguard, posted General Barbou to defend the rear against any pursuit by Castaños, and ordered all other formations to the fore in an attempt to crack Reding's line.
Expecting to be overtaken and crushed by Castaños' columns at any moment—one division under La Peña had already crossed to Andújar in pursuit and approached steadily—Dupont committed his troops piecemeal, without massing a reserve. As one historian observes, his troops were "both exhausted and strung out, and to commit them to battle in dribs and drabs was foolhardy in the extreme." Brigadiers Chabert and Dupré led an infantry brigade and the chasseurs against the left wing, held by the Walloon Guards, but no ground was gained and Dupré fell mortally wounded at the head of his troops. Dupont's scattered guns were laboriously formed into batteries to support the attack only to be knocked out by the heavier Spanish artillery once the firing began. On the right, opposite Reding's militias and Swiss regulars
3rd Swiss Regiment Reding
The 3rd Swiss Regiment Reding was a unit of Swiss soldiers in the Spanish Army and one of several Swiss regiments serving the Spanish Crown in the 18th century. The regiment was founded by a royal proclamation of Philip V in 1742 and recruited from the Canton of Schwyz in central...
, a fierce and desperate attack bent back the Spanish line. The cuirassiers trampled an enemy infantry regiment, reached the artillery and sabred the gunners, but the Spaniards, extending their line and maintaining a constant fire, compelled the French to abandon the captured guns and fall back.
Fresh troops came up at 10:00 a.m. and Dupont immediately launched a second attack, with General Pannetier's brigade leading the charge. One last formation joined them; d'Augier's marines of the Imperial Guard, in theory the best troops present: "They were only three hundred men", Foy remarks, "but they were three hundred whom no fears could ever make falter." Dupont, himself wounded in the hip, grouped his exhausted and worn-out regiments around the Guard battalion in a last effort to break through to Bailén. At this point reserves may have pierced the badly-shaken Spanish line: Dupont had none; and the French columns, mercilessly raked by the Spanish artillery, were forced back down the slope for the third time. Dupont's Swiss regiments, originally in Spanish service, defected, arms and baggage, to their former masters; and lastly, Castaños' force finally arrived, overtaking Barbou along the Rumblar (a small tributary flowing from the Morena into the Guadalquivir), with La Peña's division sounding its guns and preparing to storm the French rearguard. The day was lost.
Closing moves
An unexpected Spanish reinforcement appeared suddenly in the last minutes of the battle, slipping south out of the foothills along the Rumblar and taking up positions among the rocks on the French left flank: Colonel de la Cruz. Driven off into the mountains in the attack of July 16, de la Cruz had regrouped 2,000 sharpshooters at Peñas del Moral and climbed back down towards the battle, directed by the sound of firing. Dupont was now hopelessly surrounded on three sides.Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
; militia in support; and the other battalions drawn up behind, in the centre. Two Spanish officers approached Vedel under a flag of truce, announcing that Dupont had been badly defeated and had proposed to suspend arms; the Frenchman replied, "Tell your General, that I care nothing about that, and that I am going to attack him."
Vedel directed Cassagne's legion, supported by Boussard's dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s, against the Irish position on the knoll. While Cassagne grappled the Irish, Boussard raced around the enemy flank and rear, trampled part of Coussigny's militia regiment, and enveloped the knoll. Their guns lost, the Irish battalion surrendered, and Vedel's men took the knoll and 1,500 prisoners. Meanwhile, Colonel Roche's column struck the Spanish strongpoint at San Cristóbal, possession of which was necessary if Vedel hoped to turn Coupigny and force open a path to Dupont. But here the Spanish regulars under Colonel Francisco Soler held their line obstinately and all attacks failed.
Capitulation
Upon Castaños' arrival Dupont decided to call for a truce, negotiating terms with the Spanish officers over several days. After learning this, Vedel withdrew some distance along the highway. Spanish commanders threatened to massacre the French soldiers if this formation did not surrender, and Dupont compelled Vedel to return and lay down his arms. Handing his sword to Castaños, Dupont exclaimed, "You may well, General, be proud of this day; it is remarkable because I have never lost a pitched battle until now—I who have been in more than twenty." The Spaniard's biting reply: "It is the more remarkable because I was never in one before in my life."Dupont and his staff officers were transported on Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
vessels to Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
harbour after the Seville Junta refused to honour the pact under which the French were to be repatriated via Cádiz. The rank-and-file were led aboard prison-ships converted for the purpose and removed to squalid camps on Cabrera
Cabrera
Cabrera means goatherd in Spanish and Catalan. It may refer to:Places:* Cabrera, Balearic Islands* Cabrera, a town in the northeast of the Dominican Republic* Cabrera, Cundinamarca, a town in Colombia* Cabrera, Santander, a town in Colombia...
and the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
between 1809 and 1813. A small portion was eventually transferred to milder imprisonment in England. One group, languishing in the floating prison hulks in the Bay of Cádiz
Bay of Cádiz
The Bay of Cádiz is a body of water adjacent to the southwestern coast of Spain. It touches the following municipalities in the province of Cádiz: Cádiz, San Fernando, Puerto Real, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and Rota...
, rose up in 1811 and overwhelmed their captors, cutting the mooring cables and floating to the safety of the French lines surrounding
Siege of Cádiz
The Siege of Cádiz was a siege of the large Spanish naval base of Cádiz by a French army from February 5, 1810 to August 24, 1812 during the Peninsular War. Following the occupation of Madrid on March 23, 1808, Cádiz became the Spanish seat of power, and was targeted by 60,000 French troops under...
the city. Yet only 1,500 of the French prisoners were released or relocated, or escaped their island-prisons, during the Napoleonic wars. On July 6, 1814, the remaining survivors of Bailén returned to France: fewer than half remained, most having perished in captivity.
Aftermath
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
to initiate the War of the Fifth Coalition
War of the Fifth Coalition
The War of the Fifth Coalition, fought in the year 1809, pitted a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe from April to July, with...
against Napoleon:
To commemorate a victory so rich in symbolic and propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
value, the Seville Junta instituted the Medalla de Bailén. The British press avidly publicized the event and printed Castaños' victory statements across Europe:
Honour
Honour or honor is an abstract concept entailing a perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects both the social standing and the self-evaluation of an individual or corporate body such as a family, school, regiment or nation...
, pursuing a ruthless vendetta
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
against all those involved:
Dupont and Vedel returned to Paris in disgrace and were duly court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
ed, deprived of rank and title, and imprisoned at Fort de Joux
Fort de Joux
The Fort de Joux or Château de Joux is a castle, transformed into a fort, located in La Cluse-et-Mijoux, in the Doubs département, in the Jura mountains of France. It commands the mountain pass "Cluse de Pontarlier"....
for their role in the disaster. (Dupont was not paroled until the restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
of Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
; indeed, rumours persisted that he had been quietly assassinated in captivity.) None of the commanding officers, however slight their share of the responsibility, escaped without retribution: Napoleon held that his army in Spain had been "commanded by postal inspectors rather than generals." In January 1809, the Emperor halted a parade in Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
when he recognized Dupont's chief of staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
among the commanders, scolding the unfortunate officer in full view of the troops and ordering him off the square. According to General Foy, Napoleon began his tirade: "What, general! did not your hand wither up when you signed that infamous capitulation?" Years later, Napoleon opened an inquiry
Public inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...
into the Convention of Andujar under the mandate of the Imperial High Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
, in camera
In camera
In camera is a legal term meaning "in private". It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia.In camera describes court cases that the public and press are not admitted to...
, which turned out yet another proclamation against Dupont. An Imperial decree dated May 1, 1812 prohibited any field commander to treat for capitulation and declared every unauthorized surrender a criminal act punishable by death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
.
Apart from the blow to French prestige, Bailén threw the French invasion forces—faltering after their failure to secure Gerona, Zaragoza
Siege of Saragossa (1808)
The First Siege of Saragossa was a bloody struggle in the Peninsular War. A French army under General Jean-Antoine Verdier besieged, repeatedly stormed, and was repulsed from the Spanish city of Saragossa over the summer of 1808....
, Valencia
Battle of Valencia (1808)
The First Battle of Valencia was an attack on the Spanish city of Valencia on June 26, 1808, early in the Peninsular War. Marshal Moncey's French Imperial troops failed to take the city by storm and retreated upon Madrid, leaving much of eastern Spain unconquered and beyond the reach of...
, Barcelona, and Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
, and with the country rapidly arming and mobilizing against them—into panic and disarray. With the sudden loss of 20,000 troops, Napoleon's military machine abruptly fell apart. On Savary's advice, Joseph fled from the openly hostile capital; joining him on the highway were Bessières
Jean-Baptiste Bessières
Jean-Baptiste Bessières, 1st Duc d' Istria was a Marshal of France of the Napoleonic Era. His younger brother, Bertrand, followed in his footsteps and eventually became a Divisional General...
and Moncey, who drew the French corps north from Madrid and continued past Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
in what became a wholesale retreat. The French did not halt until they were safely over the Ebro, where they could set up secure defensive positions along the north bank and wait out events. From his makeshift headquarters at Vitoria, Joseph wrote to his brother gloomily: "I repeat that we have not a single Spanish supporter. The whole nation is exasperated and determined to fight." Napoleon, furious and dismayed, remarked that to cross the Ebro was "tantamount to evacuating Spain."
Napoleon had considered the Spanish Bourbon regime's
Enlightenment Spain
The Age of Enlightenment came to Spain in the eighteenth century with a new Bourbon dynasty after the decay of the Spanish economy, bureaucracy, and empire in the latter years of the former Habsburg dynasty...
old, regular army
Regular army
A regular army consists of the permanent force of a country's army that is maintained under arms during peacetime.Countries that use the term include:*Australian Army*British Army*Canadian Forces, specifically "Regular Force"*Egyptian army*Indian Army...
, for all its proud traditions hearkening back to the glorious tercio
Tercio
The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...
s, to be "the worst in Europe", while the new militia formations were dismissed as packs of "bandits led by monks." Castaños himself conceded that the greater part of his troops had been "raw and inexperienced; but they were Spaniards, and Spaniards are heroes." But it was this maligned army, largely untouched by French Revolutionary military principles
French Revolutionary Army
The French Revolutionary Army is the term used to refer to the military of France during the period between the fall of the ancien regime under Louis XVI in 1792 and the formation of the First French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804. These armies were characterised by their revolutionary...
—a relic from the previous century's absolutist administration
Enlightened absolutism
Enlightened absolutism is a form of absolute monarchy or despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment. Enlightened monarchs embraced the principles of the Enlightenment, especially its emphasis upon rationality, and applied them to their territories...
—which outfought the Imperial citizen-soldiers. Spain's ancien regime military institutions, however, quickly unravelled in the following months, eclipsed by the growing scale of the war, crippled by the infusion of untrained conscripts, and caught up in the competing designs of the juntas.
In November, Napoleon directed the bulk of the Grande Armée across the Pyrenees and dealt a series of devastating blows to the vacillating Spanish forces, receiving the surrender of Madrid in scarcely a month's time. As Spain's military and political apparatus deteriorated dramatically, so did the quality of its armed forces, recruited and equipped in the chaos of French military occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
and counterinsurgency. Subsequent efforts to fashion field armies capable of reproducing a Bailén proved less successful: Castaños was himself routed by Marshal Lannes
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, was a Marshal of France. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"...
at Tudela
Battle of Tudela
The Battle of Tudela was a battle of the Peninsular War fought on November 23, 1808 near Tudela, Spain. The battle resulted in the victory of the French and Poles under Marshal Lannes against the Spanish under General Castaños....
in November 1808, while Reding was ridden down and trampled by the French cavalry at Valls
Battle of Valls
The Battle of Valls was fought on 25 February 1809, during the Peninsular War between a French force under Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr and a Spanish force under General Reding. Fought near the town of Valls in Catalonia Spain, the battle ended in a French victory...
in 1809, dying of his wounds. Marshal Soult overran much of Andalusia the following year and on January 21, 1810, his men recovered the lost Eagles
French Imperial Eagle
French Imperial Eagle refers to the figure of an eagle on a staff carried into battle as a standard by the Grande Armée of Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars....
from the cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of Bailén. Before long, only Cádiz remained firmly in Spanish hands, and a difficult war lay ahead to drive the invader from Spain. Throughout the war, attempts to meet the French in open fields
Pitched battle
A pitched battle is a battle where both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges....
with corps severely deficient in training, leadership, and equipment led to frequent defeat, as incompetent or politically-appointed commanders felt pressured to recreate Bailén without the talent or the means. This "Bailén syndrome" haunted Spain for the duration of the war:
Further reading
- Bueno, José María Uniformes españoles de la Guerra de Independencia Aldaba, 1989, ISBN 8486629209.
- Esdaile, Charles J. The Spanish Army in the Peninsular War Manchester University Press, 1988, ISBN 0719025389.
- Oman, Sir Charles A History of the Peninsular War: 1807-09: From the Treaty of Fontainebleau to the Battle of Corunna Greenhill Books, 1995, ISBN 1853672149.
- Partridge, Richard Battle Studies in the Peninsula May 1808 - January 1809 Constable and Robinson, 1998, ISBN 0094776202.