Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)

Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)

Part of: Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula

Castle on the fortress wall in Ciudad Rodrigo

date	April 26, 1810 to July 9, 1810
place	Ciudad Rodrigo , Spain
output	Victory of the besiegers

Parties to the conflict
France	Spain
Commander
Michel Ney	Andrés de Herrasti
Troop strength
42,000 men and 60 cannons	5,500 men, 118 cannons
losses
180 dead over 1,000 wounded	461 dead, 994 wounded, 4,000 prisoners

During the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo , the French Marshal Michel Ney captured the fortified city from the Spaniards under the command of Field Marshal Don Andrés Perez de Herrasti on July 9, 1810, after the siege began on April 26, 1810. Neys VI. Corps was part of the 65,000-strong army under the command of André Masséna , who was planning the third French invasion of Portugal .

troops

Neys VI. Corps consisted of Jean Marchand's 1st Division (6,500 men), Julien Mermet's 2nd Division (7,400 men), Louis Loison's 3rd Division (6,600 men), Auguste Lamotte's Light Cavalry Brigade (900 men), Charles Gardanne's Brigade of Mounted Dragoons (1,300 men) Man) and 60 cannons.

Herrasti commanded three regular battalions from Avila, Segovia and the 1st Mallorca Infantry Regiment, 375 artillerymen and 60 engineers. These troops were supplemented by three battalions of volunteers from Ciudad Rodrigo and a battalion from the city guard.

siege

Herrastis 5,500 men of the Spanish garrison defended themselves valiantly and only had to surrender when Ney's artillery had cut a breach in the city wall and the French infantry were ready to attack. The Spanish casualties amounted to 461 dead, 994 wounded and 118 cannons. 4,000 men were taken prisoner. Neys VI. Corps had 180 dead and over 1,000 wounded in losses during the siege. After the surrender, the city was sacked by the French.

consequences

The siege delayed the invasion of Portugal by more than a month.

A second siege of Ciudad Rodrigo took place in 1812.

gallery

• 

  Jean Gabriel Marchand

• 

  Andre Massena

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  Michel Ney

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  Louis Loison

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  Fortress wall

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  Digging in front of the wall

literature

• David G. Chandler: Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. Macmillan, New York NY 1979, ISBN 0-02-523670-9 .
• Michael Glover: The Peninsular War, 1807-1814. A concise military history. David & Charles et al., Newton Abbot et al. 1974, ISBN 0-7153-6387-5 .
• Jean Jacques Pelet : The French Campaign in Portugal, 1810-1811. To account. Edited, annotated and translated by Donald D. Horward. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis MN 1973.
• Digby Smith : The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill Books et al., London et al. 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Perez de Herrasti, Governor of Ciudad Rodrigo