Scribd
Upload
1K views50 pages

Osprey - Men-At-Arms 332 Spanish Army of The Napoleonic Wars (2) 1808-1812 (Osprey MaA 332)

Osprey Men at Arms

Uploaded by

georgetacaprarescu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
1K views50 pages

Osprey - Men-At-Arms 332 Spanish Army of The Napoleonic Wars (2) 1808-1812 (Osprey MaA 332)

Osprey Men at Arms

Uploaded by

georgetacaprarescu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 50
MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES _ KRW SPANISH ARMY OF THE NAPOLEONIC RENE CHARTRAND BILL YOUNGHUSBAND SERIES EDITOR: LEE JOHNSON SPANISH ARMY OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS (2) 1808-1812 TEXT BY RENE CHARTRAND COLOUR PLATES BY BILL YOUNGHUSBAND OSPREY’ MILITARY Fire aueiabed ft Groot Ertan in 1999 ey spy Pining, fEme Coun, Craps: wi, Boley, Oxlord OX BLP 1 1008 Ose Poblising Line. veatea reserved pat fram any’ Ine dealing fur te purzase ot private stu ‘eka, cGEm revi, ap permived under the Copyright Designs and Patani Rel. 1988, no part ct hs pubICaton nay be vaprocuced,storedina fetraval ster, oF vareited i any fer er by ary means, sactove, Siete), esomie, mBctieal ppt, protoeeRying vordag oY otherwise, ‘ibeat tha proc kre parmsseon ofthe canyrant aynet Casinos shave be ‘addesoad tothe Plblshers, ‘s6ne 4 a5s2 768 4 Editor: Martin incro Design: las Hamn-Dralon fee Backes Priced tvougn tions Pret L2d, Nana Koso mow wadTEsaaad oA GaraLoaue oF ni. goons pumsnen ev Oarrey IMiurtany, AUroWTWE ato Arion PLEASE WRITE To: ‘The Marketing Manager, Osprey Publishing Lid. PO, Box 140, |Wellnoborough, Nerthants, NNB 424, United Kingdom (Oh vis Osenry’s WEES at hitpslivewmrosprey-puBleting: co.uk Author's Note “This volume isthe second of threo covering the orgenization, Lunferms and weapons of tho Spanish Any in Eurooe ducing the ‘Wars as well as a providing a glimpse of its sea MAA G21, covered Ihe period 1793-1808, This Second pan deals with tha years from late 186 until 1842, study, ‘he forces which resisted the French invaders with slubloorn dete ‘ination, almost alone ane against aloes. The thtc por, under Jpreparation a8 MAA 334, wil examine the organization of the Spanish axmy with massive British assistance ia the final years of ‘ha great svrugale againet Nepalvon’s ompre. Based on Spanish a swell ns nawly-ciscovered Srtish documents, itis honed that this ‘sud wil form the mast extensive sourco yet pushed in Engish a the material culture of the Spanish peninsular forces betreen 11799 anc 1818. See the Select Biography al the ene! of the msn text fer documentary aforonces ta archive materia The names of Spanish perconaltios ve given in their otignal Spanish form, thus e4. Kiog Ferdinand Wil is Fevnanco VI. Colour huss of Spanish vnfarms general foamed practioasin ether European amies. Thus. tuo meant awry dar blue: sia, aieen wos very dark, but emerald gioon vras a modium eigen. Scarlet wae inctfeantly ted er aearlt, bul enmeon was more vecloith than ts Grish counterpart Artist’s Note Readers may care to nate that the original paintings éram which the ‘colour plstea in this book were prepared are available for prlvste scale, All reproduction copygh whatscever is retained by the Publishers. All enquiries should bu addressed to: Bal Younghusband ‘Moortield, Kicolman Wiest, Buttevant. G0.Cork, Eire ‘Toe Publishers regret that they can enter into no eorrespondence ‘poe this matter Soldiers, volinteors and even monks In desperate hand-to. hand fighting at the foot of a Pieta in tho gardion of tho Sia.Engracia convent at Zaragezs, 27 January 1809, during the second siege. The palting fom whieh this detail is taken encapsulates the vielent intonsity which marked tho Peninsular War; itis the work of Baron Lojeune, who took part in this action and was wounded close by the statue. (Print after Lajeune) SPANISH ARMY OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS (2) 1808-1812 INTRODUCTION J 8 te sexoren OF 1808 the Spanish nation was Mushed by its incredible | vietory ever General Dupont's French army at Bailen. The standard of E-revolt had been raised throughout the Iberian peninsula and, thanks to the British feet, about 9,000 men ef General Romana’s corps in Denmark had escaped the French and landed in northern Spain. But the French were far rom defeated, and their withdrawal into northern, Spain was merely a tactical mave. An irate Napoleon was assembling his Grand Anny io solve the Iberian problem. With a force of over 300,000 imen, it was far larger than the effective combined regular forces of Spitin, Portugal and Britain deployed in the Peninsula. In October 1808 Napoleon marched inte Spain On 23 November Marshal Lannes defeated the 45,000-man Spanish army led by General Castaiios at Tudela, Another Freneh corps marched into Catalonia and besieged Rosas, whieh finally fell on 4 December after nearly a month of nee, On the same day Napoleon, having defeated all opposition, emered Madrid, Meanwhile, Sir Jolin Moore's 15,000-strong British army mareheed from Lishon inte northern Spain ta reinforee the hard-pressed Spanish; they reached Sagabun, whete British cavalry defeated a French force on 21 December, Although joined by Sir David Baird with another 10,000 British troops, Moore was obliged to retreat towards the coast; Marshal Soult with 80,000 men was closing fast. Afier a dreadfully punishing winter retreat Moore's: main body arrived at Coruita on 12 January 1809. Soult soom reached the outskirts of this Galician port, and attacked on the 16th. Moore was killed and Baird badly wounded in the battle, but the Brhish managed to escape by sea on the 18th, leaving behind twa doomed Spanish regiments who only surrendered on the 20th. Although this episode had been a sorry lesson in the difficulties of co-operative operations, the British believed that their army had actually saved southern Spain and Portugal from invasion. The Spanish, however, believed that their British allies retreated hastily 10 their ships when things got difficult, stubborn resist Meanwhile, Spain’s centeal government had collapsed and regional councils ov juntas sprang up, with a Cental Junta in Sevilla, In Madrid, Napoleon restored his brother Joseph to the Spanish thrane, and planned to occupy the Peninsula by brmally stamping out any oppo- sition. Fernando VI, the only lawful king whom the vast majority of Spaniards would recognize, was detained in France, The cause of inde- pendence might have seemed hapeless to observers; but this was Spain, and desperate fighting continued into 1809. One heroic example was the defence of the city of Zaragoza. First besieged unsuccessfully between June-and August 1808, the city suffered a second siege by French forces led by (successively) Marshals Moncey, Mortier, Junot and Lannes from 20 December 1808. ‘The Spanish defenders, galvanized by General José Palafox, put up a furatical resistance against all odds. The whole populace joined the regular saldiers and militiamen in defending their city, even women and monks king up-arms to join a fight of'a ferocity unparalleled in the annals of the Peninsular War. Eventually, epidemic fevers broke out and many thousands died of sickness; but the survivors, uddled in cellars during bombardments, came out fighting to the death, Finally Palafox, too, fell ill, still issuing orders from his sickbed until overcome by delirium. On 24 February 1809 the half-destroyed city of Zaragora at last surrendered. The casualties were horrendous, and the church square was covered with coffins and dead badies. An estimated 48,000 Spanish men, women and children had died of pestilence, and another 6,000 in combat, The French had lost about 10,000 soldiers, The city’s prewar population of 5,000 had been reduced to about 15,000 souls, However, as Sir Charles Oman later correctly observed, the ‘example of Zaragora was invaluable tothe nation and to Europe. The knowledge of it did much to sicken the French soldiery of the whole war, and to make every officerand man who emered Spain march, not with the light heart that he felt in Germany 1 Italy, but with gloom and disgust and want of confidence, A few months later the French besieged Gerona in Catalonia, again meeting heroic resistance from the Spanish soldiers and citizens. The siege lasted from 24 May to L1 December 1809, leaving 14,000 Spanish dead ~ half of them civilians — and 13,000 French soldiers, New Spanish levies had been raised, often commanded by inexperienced officers, without proper logistics. They had a few successes before the Central Junta ordered the main Spanish army of 53,000 men led by General Areizaga to free Madrid; this force was crushed by Marshal Soult at ‘The Peninsula: the cresshatched areas show the rough extent of the French cecupation from 180! to 1812, Tho maps of the yoars 4810 and 1811 shaw the maximum extent of the French expansion; that of 1812 shows ‘the situation at the end of the year when the Anglo-Portuguose armigs finally held their own in ‘the Spanish heartland. The north-sagtorn comer of Galicia ‘with the part of Coruna eseaped effective French control ~ as, indeed, did much of the country at variaus poriods, since guerril activity was ceaseless. Ocaiia, Castile, on 17 November. This disaster wiped our a large part of Spain’s organized forces anc opened the way to Andalucia, which the French immediately invaded, With about $0,000 men lefi-to fight off over 61,000 French iraops, resisiance in Andalucia collapsed, The Central Junta resigned power tw an elected Cortes (or legislative assembly), which taok refuge in Cadiz as the advancing Frenich invested the 5 February 1810, Reinforced by British and Portuguese troops, Cadiz was to remain under siege from the landward side for geo-and-

You might also like