Editing Battle of Uclés (1809) (section)

==Background==
After the [[Dos de Mayo Uprising]] and the subsequent disaster at the [[Battle of Bailén]], the French occupying armies in Spain were forced to pull back behind the [[Ebro]] River in the northeast. Shocked and enraged at the turn of events, [[Napoleon]] ordered 130,000 veteran soldiers to march into Spain. The French emperor planned to unite the reinforcements with the troops already there and lead them to conquer Spain and Portugal once and for all. Meanwhile, the Spanish people had been deceived by their relatively easy successes and believed that the struggle was almost over. The Spanish generals and politicians began to squabble among themselves.{{sfn|Gates|2002|pp=93–94}} By 10 October 1808, Napoleon had 244,125 soldiers massed in eight [[army corps]], the cavalry reserve, the [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]], and other formations for the purpose of conquering Spain.{{sfn|Oman|2010|p=645}} In November 1808, the Napoleonic armies struck with crushing force and the Spanish defenses unraveled in battles at [[Battle of Burgos|Burgos]], [[Battle of Espinosa|Espinosa]], [[Battle of Tudela|Tudela]], and [[Battle of Somosierra|Somosierra]].{{sfn|Smith|1998|pp=269–271}} On 1 December, Madrid meekly capitulated to Napoleon. The French emperor reinstalled his brother [[Joseph Bonaparte]] as king and began rewriting the laws. He intended to send armies to seize [[Seville]] in the south and reconquer Portugal at the first opportunity. However, a new enemy appeared on the scene to upset Napoleon's plans.{{sfn|Gates|2002|pp=104–105}}

On 11 December 1808, General [[John Moore (British Army officer)|John Moore]] led a British army numbering 22,500 foot soldiers, 2,500 horsemen, and 66 artillery pieces northeast from [[Salamanca]]. Moore had written to a fellow general, "if the bubble bursts and Madrid falls, we shall have to run for it." Soon after, Moore learned that Napoleon had seized Madrid and that over 200,000 Imperial French troops were in the field. Nevertheless, the British general decided to strike at Marshal [[Nicolas Soult]]'s isolated [[II Corps (Grande Armée)|II Corps]] in the north of Spain. When the British cavalry routed Soult's horsemen at the [[Battle of Sahagún]] on 21 December, the French marshal was completely surprised. Meanwhile, Napoleon found out what was going on and ordered 80,000 troops to march north to annihilate the British.{{sfn|Chandler|1966a|pp=646–650}}

Getting news of the avalanche coming his way, Moore led his army toward [[A Coruña|Corunna]] in northwest Spain. Though ultimately the British army was safely evacuated, Moore was slain at the [[Battle of Corunna]] on 16 January 1809 and 5,000 of his soldiers died during the mid-winter retreat. Because of his unsuccessful effort to destroy Moore's army, Napoleon's plans for conquering Spain and Portugal were temporarily sidetracked.{{sfn|Chandler|1966a|pp=655–657}} Napoleon personally quit Spain on 19 January 1809 and never returned. By 23 January he was in Paris, preparing for the next war with the [[Austrian Empire]]. Napoleon had predicted his conquest of Spain would cost 12,000 men, but the actual death toll from battle and disease through mid-January 1809 may have been as high as 75,000. The emperor hoped that his brother Joseph and his marshals would soon complete the conquest of the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. This hope proved to be a vain one.{{sfn|Chandler|1966a|pp=658–659}}