Battle of Ocaña

Battle of Ocaña in the province of Toledo

Part of: Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula

date	November 19, 1809
place	Ocaña
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
Spain	France
Commander
Juan Carlos de Areizaga	Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult
Troop strength
51,000	35,000
losses
4,000 dead, wounded and missing, 15,000 prisoners	500 dead, 1200 wounded and missing

In the Battle of Ocaña on November 19, 1809, French troops under Marshal Soult and the Spaniards under General de Arizagua faced each other. It is the greatest French success in the course of the Napoleonic conflict on the Iberian Peninsula.

prehistory

Juan Carlos de Areizaga

After the Battle of Talavera (July 28, 1809), Francisco de Eguía succeeded General Cuesta as commander of the Extremadura Army . According to the decisions of the Centraljunta , General Eguía had to achieve union with the La Mancha army and proceed to Madrid . With the allied English army under Lord Wellington in Portugal , Eguía had left only 12,000 men of the Extremadura army under the Duke of Alburquerque .

The La Mancha army newly established by the junta was the best-equipped army so far that Spain had raised since the Battle of Tudela . On October 3rd it numbered 51,900 infantry, 5,760 horsemen and 35 artillery pieces. The army of the center under Venegas was defeated by the French at the Battle of Almonacid and was unable to reinforce the other armies in the Sierra Morena. The militarily poor general Juan Carlos de Areizaga was appointed chief of the centre's army on October 22, 1809, and took over leadership the next day. Areizaga began the advance on November 3rd on Madrid, which was occupied by the French under Joseph Bonaparte . The actual command over the French, who had 24,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, 1,500 artillerymen and 50 cannons, was in the hands of Marshal Nicolas Soult .

On November 3rd, Aréizaga moved its headquarters to Santa Cruz de Mudela and on November 7th to Herencia. Aréizaga's previous avant-garde was organized in seven marching columns, each commanded by Brigadiers Zayas , Luis de Lacy , Gaspar de Vigodet , Pedro Augustín Girón and Francisco González Castejón . Major General Tomás de Zeraín and Pelegrin Jácome and Brigadiers Francisco Cópons and Manuel Freire covered the flanks with their cavalry brigades. On November 8, the Spaniards reached La Guardia, about 40 kilometers south of Madrid. Despite some losses during the advance, General Areizaga still had 46,000 infantry and 5,500 horsemen at the beginning of the following battle.

battle

On November 18, the divisions of the French IV Corps under Horace-François Sébastiani went to the bridge of La Reyna over the Tagus and took position on the heights of Ontigola, east of the road from Madrid to Cadiz . The French cavalry under Milhaud and Paris crossed the Tagus at Aranjuez and secured north and east of Ocaña, with the front facing south. On November 19, the Spanish vanguard under General de Lacy encountered troops of the French IV Corps while advancing through Ocaña to Ontigola in the valley of the Valle de major. The Leval and Werlé divisions pushed the Spaniards back through the gorges of Cabeza Gorda to Cochillo. At the same time the Spanish left wing (Division Zayas) advanced to the right and left of the main road to Ocaña, secured the heights of Cabeza Gorda and took the right wing of the French IV Corps under fire. Soult decided to attack the Spanish right with Sebastiani's Polish and German divisions. After the infantry was in combat, the French cavalry drove the Spaniards under Freire and then attacked the exposed southern flank. The Division Jean-Baptiste Girard supported this attack energetically. When the troops of General Dessolles (55th and 53rd regiments of the line) intervened and attacked to the right of Ocaña, the Spaniards completely wavered. General Mortier , in command of the French 5th Corps, threw himself into battle with a dragoon brigade, broke into an enemy column and pursued the Spaniards in the direction of Mora and La Guardia. The Spanish army suffered a heavy defeat and lost 19,000 men, plus deserters.

consequences

The strategic consequences were devastating: without a functioning army that could have defended southern Spain, Andalusia was overrun by the French the following winter . In early 1810, the Spanish junta had to flee to Cádiz .

literature

• Pierre O. Juhel: The Battle of Ocana The Army of Spain's Greatest Victory - Histoire & Collections
• William Napier: History of the war in the Peninsula and the south of France , from the year 1807 to the year 1814: D. & J. Sadlier. New York 1873

Coordinates: 39 ° 57 ′ 0 ″  N , 3 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  W.