Battle of Bailén

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Battle of Bailén
The surrender of Bailén, José Casado del Alisal. Museo del Prado
The surrender of Bailén , José Casado del Alisal . Museo del Prado
date July 18, 1808 to July 22, 1808
place near Bailén , Spain
output Decisive Spanish victory
Parties to the conflict

France 1804First empire France

Spain 1785Spain Spain

Commander

France 1804First empire Pierre Dupont de l'Étang

Spain 1785Spain Francisco Castaños
Theodor von Reding

Troop strength
24,000 men 33,000 men
losses

2,200 dead,
400 wounded,
17,600 prisoners

240 dead
730 wounded

In the Battle of Bailén , which was fought in Andalusia from July 18 to July 22, 1808 , a Spanish army led by Generals Francisco Javier Castaños and Theodor von Reding defeated a corps of the French army led by General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang . The Spanish forces surrounded the French and caused Dupont to capitulate with almost 18,000 men. This was the greatest French defeat in the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars .

prehistory

In 1808, thousands of French soldiers were in Spain to aid Napoleon's invasion of Portugal . In April, Napoleon deposed King Charles IV of Spain in favor of his own brother Joseph Bonaparte . Thereupon the Spanish army and the people rose up against foreign rule in the May 2nd revolt . While large parts of Spain were in turmoil, Dupont received orders to take the important port city of Cadiz , in which the French fleet under Admiral François Étienne de Rosily-Mesros was anchored. Parts of the French fleet had fled to Cádiz after the Battle of Trafalgar and were blocked there by the British Royal Navy . Dupont's corps, divided into three infantry and one cavalry divisions , numbered 15,000, mostly fresh and inexperienced recruits.

Dupont approached Córdoba at the beginning of June and on July 6th, against the resistance of the Spanish militia under Colonel Echevaria with 3,000 volunteers, forced the crossing over the bridge of Alcolea . The French troops entered Cordoba the next day and looted the city for four days. In response, the newly formed Junta de Sevilla bombed the trapped French fleet, which surrendered five days later. Dupont's attempt at rescue had thus failed. Faced with increasingly threatening uprisings in Andalusia , Dupont decided to withdraw to the Sierra Morena and wait for help from Madrid . General Gobert Division broke with General Vedel on July 2, 1808 to around Dupont's beleaguered troops shock . However, only one division reached Dupont near Andújar , the rest had to hold a road to the north against the guerrilla force . On July 11th, Castaños united his troops in Porcuna with those of the Junta de Granada.

The French withdrew in the stifling heat and hindered by 500 wagons with loot and 1,200 injured in sections. General Vedel withdrew from Toledo on June 15, bringing with him 5,000 infantry, 450 cavalry and ten cannons. On June 18, Dupont decided to stay on the plain near Andújar while Spanish troops sealed off the mountains. On Dupont's orders, Vedel went north to drive away the militia that held the Despeñaperros pass . This opened a dangerous gap between the French divisions. Vedel occupied the pass with a battalion of infantry and returned to reunite with Dupont's forces. But Castaños got ahead of him and occupied this central position between Dupont and Vedel with 17,000 men and 12 cannons.

The battle

Spanish War of Independence : Battle of Bailén (July 18-22, 1808)

After his troops were united, Dupont's forces were split into three parts: General Gobert's division in the village of La Carolina , General Vedel's division in Bailén, and General Dupont's own troops in Andujar. Meanwhile, Castaños had gathered more than 33,000 men under his command. He commanded regular regiments from Seville (one of which was the Regimiento Suizo de Reding n.º 3 formed from Swiss ), militia units and armed peasants. Castaño's troops outnumbered those of Dupont. When Dupont learned of Castaño's presence, he ordered Vedel to join him in Andujar. After Vedel's troops had left Bailén, Spanish forces under the command of General Theodor von Reding took the place and held it against Gobert's brigade. In this attempt to retake Bailén, General Gobert was killed (his grave is in the church of Guarromán ) and his troops withdrew to La Carolina. After Dupont found out about this, he gave Vedel instructions to recapture the place, which he succeeded. He then left the place again to take positions around Bailén. On July 18, Dupont left Andujar. Reding overtook the French along the banks of the Rumbla, attacked the French rearguard with his division and inflicted heavy losses on them. The Swiss advanced and Dupont called Vedel for help, but agreed to an armistice after Castaño's arrival. When Vedel found out about it, he retired to the mountains. The Spanish commanders threatened to slaughter the French if they did not surrender. On July 22, 1808, the French corps capitulated. The terms of the surrender were generous and included the return of French troops to France. However, this was not carried out because the British vehemently opposed it. Only Dupont and his officers were finally released, the majority of the men were taken to the Balearic island of Cabrera after a long back and forth .

consequences

The myth of French invincibility had suffered a scratch. After their defeat, the rest of the French army left Madrid under Marshals Bessières and Moncey with Joseph Bonaparte and built new defensive positions on the Ebro . Dupont returned to Paris and was arrested. However, he was in 1814 by Louis XVIII. appointed army minister.

A considerable part of the captured French soldiers died on the island of Cabrera . It is estimated that of the up to 12,000 captured French who were brought here, between 3,500 and 5,000 were killed.

gallery

  • Theodor von Reding

  • Francisco Javier Castaños

  • Pierre Dupont de l'Étang

literature

  • Bailén y la guerra against Napoleón en Andalucía. Universidad de Jaén, Jaén 2001, ISBN 84-8439-067-5 .
  • Charles J. Esdaile: The Spanish Army in the Peninsular War. Manchester University Press, Manchester et al. 1988, ISBN 0-7190-2538-9 .
  • David Gates: The Spanish Ulcer. A History of the Peninsular War. WW Norton & Co. Inc., New York NY et al. 1986, ISBN 0-393-02281-1 .
  • Edmond Lemonchois: Conscrits de la Manche, on XI – 1814. Infantry de ligne. Première partie: La Légion de Rennes, devenue 122e régiment, le 76e régiment, devenu 116e, dans la tragédie de Bailen. Société d'archéologie et d'histoire de la Manche, Saint-Lô 1999 ( Société d'archéologie et d'histoire de la Manche. Études et documents 9, ISSN  1275-2770 ).
  • Charles Oman: A History of the Peninsular War. Volume 1: 1807-1809, from the Treaty of Fontainebleau to the Battle of Corunna. Greenhill Books, London 1995, ISBN 1-85367-214-9 .
  • Richard Partridge, Michael Oliver: Battle Studies in the Peninsula. A historical Guide to the military Actions in Spain, Portugal and Southern France between June 1808 and April 1814, with notes for Wargamers. May 1808 - January 1809. Constable and Robinson, London 1998, ISBN 0-09-477620-2 .
  • José María Queipo de Llano Ruiz de Saravia : Histoire du soulèvement, de la guerre et de la révolution d'Espagne, par Monsieur le comte de Toréno. 5 volumes. Paulín, Paris 1835–1838.

Web links

Commons : Battle of Bailén  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl J. Mayer: Napoleon's soldiers. Everyday life in the Grande Armée (= story told, vol. 12), Primus Verlag, Darmstadt 2008, p. 133, ISBN 978-3-89678-366-0 . - In Die Balearen , supplement to the “Mallorca Zeitung”, June 2008, Hora Nova SA, p. 3, however, 6,000 to 9,000 French deported to Cabrera are named and the number of survivors is given as around 3,600.

Coordinates: 38 ° 6 ′ 0 ″  N , 3 ° 48 ′ 0 ″  W.