Editing Peninsular War (section)

==1809==

===Spanish campaign, early 1809===

====Fall of Zaragoza====
[[File:Santa Engracia - Lejeune.jpg|thumb|[[Second siege of Zaragoza|Saragossa]]: ''The assault on the Santa Engracia monastery'' by [[Louis-François Lejeune]], oil on canvas, 1827]]
Zaragoza, already scarred from [[Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes|Lefebvre]]'s bombardments that summer, was [[Siege of Saragossa (1809)|under a second siege]] that had commenced on 20 December. Lannes and Moncey committed two army corps of 45,000 men and considerable artillery firepower. Palafox's second defence brought the city enduring national and international fame.{{sfn|Glover|2001|p=89}} The Spaniards fought with determination, endured disease and starvation, entrenching themselves in convents and burning their own homes. The garrison of 44,000 was left with 8,000 survivors{{mdash}}1,500 of them ill{{mdash}}{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=114}} but the {{lang|fr|Grande Armée}} did not advance beyond the [[Ebro]]. On 20 February 1809, the garrison capitulated, leaving behind burnt-out ruins filled with 64,000 corpses, of which 10,000 were French.{{sfn|Glover|2001|p=89}}{{sfn|Bell|2009}}

====First Madrid offensive====
The Junta took over direction of the Spanish war effort and established war taxes, organized an Army of La Mancha, signed a treaty of alliance with Britain on 14 January 1809 and issued a royal decree on 22 May to convene at Cortes. An attempt by the Spain's Army of the Centre to recapture Madrid ended with the complete destruction of the Spanish forces at [[Battle of Uclés (1809)|Uclés]] on 13 January by Victor's [[I Corps (Grande Armée)|I Corps]]. The French lost 200 men while their Spanish opponents lost 6,887. King Joseph made a triumphant entry into Madrid after the battle. [[Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta|Sébastiani]] defeated [[José de Urbina y Urbina, 3rd Conde de Cartaojal|Cartaojal]]'s army at [[Battle of Ciudad Real|Ciudad Real]] on 27 March, inflicting 2,000 casualties and suffering negligible losses. Victor invaded southern Spain and routed [[Gregorio García de la Cuesta|Gregorio de la Cuesta]]'s army at [[Battle of Medellín|Medellín]] near Badajoz on 28 March,{{sfn|Bodart|1908|p=395}} where Cuesta lost 10,000 men in a staggering defeat, while the French lost only 1,000.{{sfn|Gates|2009|p=123}}

====Liberation of Galicia====
On 27 March, Spanish forces defeated the French at [[Vigo]], recaptured most of the cities in the province of [[Pontevedra]] and forced the French to retreat to [[Santiago de Compostela]]. On 7 June, the French army of Marshal [[Michel Ney]] was defeated in the [[Battle of Puente Sanpayo]] in Pontevedra by Spanish forces under the command of Colonel [[Pablo Morillo]], and Ney and his forces retreated to [[Lugo]] on 9 June while being harassed by Spanish guerrillas. Ney's troops joined up with those of Soult and these forces withdrew for the last time from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] in July 1809.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

====French advance in Catalonia====
In Catalonia, Saint-Cyr defeated Reding again at [[Battle of Valls|Valls]] on 25 February. Reding was killed and his army lost 3,000 men for French losses of 1,000. Saint-Cyr began the [[Third siege of Girona (Peninsular War)|third siege of Girona]] on 6 May and the city finally fell on 12 December.{{sfn|Scott|1811|p=768}} [[Louis-Gabriel Suchet]]'s III Corps was defeated at [[Battle of Alcañiz|Alcañiz]] by Blake on 23 May, losing 2,000 men. Suchet retaliated at [[Battle of María|María]] on 15 June, crushing Blake's right wing and inflicting 5,000 casualties. Three days later, Blake lost 2,000 more men to Suchet at [[Battle of Belchite (1809)|Belchite]]. Saint-Cyr was relieved of his command in September for deserting his troops.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

===Second Portuguese campaign===
[[File:LargeBattleofOportobyBeaume.jpg|thumb|Marshal [[Jean-de-Dieu Soult]] at the [[First Battle of Porto]] by [[Joseph Beaume]] (1840 or 1843)]]

After Corunna, Soult turned his attention to the invasion of Portugal. Discounting garrisons and the sick, Soult's [[II Corps (Grande Armée)|II Corps]] had 20,000 men for the operation. He stormed the Spanish naval base at [[Ferrol, Galicia|Ferrol]] on 26 January 1809, capturing eight ships of the line, three [[frigate]]s, several thousand prisoners and 20,000 [[Brown Bess]] muskets, which were used to re-equip the French infantry.{{sfn|Gates|2001|p=138}} In March 1809, Soult invaded Portugal through the northern corridor, with [[Francisco da Silveira]]'s 12,000 Portuguese troops unraveling amid riot and disorder, and within two days of crossing the border at [[Battle of Monterrey (1809)|Monterrey]], Soult had taken the fortress of [[Chaves, Portugal|Chaves]].{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=178}} Swinging west, 16,000 of Soult's professional troops attacked and killed 4,000 of 25,000 unprepared and undisciplined Portuguese at [[Battle of Braga (1809)|Braga]] at the cost of 200 Frenchmen. At the [[First Battle of Porto]] on 29 March, the Portuguese defenders panicked, many attempting to flee alongside the city's residents south over the river Douro, to die in the [[Porto Boat Bridge disaster]]. Between 6,000 and 20,000 Portuguese soldiers were dead, wounded or captured. Suffering fewer than 500 casualties, Soult had secured Portugal's second city and, with its valuable dockyards and arsenals intact, captured immense quantities of supplies.{{sfn|Gates|2001|p=142}}{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=179}} Soult halted at Porto to refit his army before advancing on Lisbon.{{sfn|Southey|1828c|p=250}}

Wellesley returned to Portugal in April 1809 to command the British army, reinforced with Portuguese regiments trained by [[William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford|General Beresford]]. These new forces turned Soult out of Portugal at the [[Battle of Grijó]] (10–11 May) and the [[Second Battle of Porto]] (12 May), and the other northern cities were recaptured by General Silveira. Soult escaped without his heavy equipment by marching through the mountains to Orense.{{sfn|Southey|1828c|p=418}}

===Spanish campaign, late 1809===

====Talavera campaign====
[[File:Heath - Battle of Talavera, July 28th 1809.jpg|thumb|The Battle of Talavera by [[William Heath (artist)|William Heath]]]]

With Portugal secured, Wellesley advanced into Spain to unite with Cuesta's forces. Victor's [[I Corps (Grande Armée)|I Corps]] retreated before them from Talavera.{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=177}} Cuesta's pursuing forces fell back after Victor's reinforced army, now commanded by Marshal [[Jean-Baptiste Jourdan]], drove upon them. Two British divisions advanced to help the Spanish.{{sfn|Guedalla|2005|p=186}} On 27 July at the [[Battle of Talavera]], the French advanced in three columns and were repulsed several times, but at a heavy cost to the Anglo-Allied force, which lost 7,500 men for French losses of 7,400. Wellesley withdrew from Talavera on 4 August to avoid being cut off by Soult's converging army, which defeated a Spanish blocking force in an assault crossing at the River Tagus near [[Battle of Arzobispo|Puente del Arzobispo]]. Lack of supplies and the threat of French reinforcement in the spring led Wellington to retreat into Portugal. A Spanish attempt to capture Madrid after Talavera failed at [[Battle of Almonacid|Almonacid]], where [[Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta|Sébastiani]]'s [[IV Corps (Grande Armée)|IV Corps]] inflicted 5,500 casualties on the Spanish, forcing them to retreat at the cost of 2,400 French losses.

====Second Madrid offensive====
The Spanish [[Supreme Central and Governing Junta of the Kingdom]] was forced by popular pressure to set up the [[Cortes of Cádiz]] in the summer of 1809. The Junta came up with what it hoped would be a war-winning strategy, a two-pronged offensive to recapture Madrid, involving over 100,000 troops in three armies under the [[Vicente Cañas y Portocarrero|Duke del Parque]], [[Juan Carlos de Aréizaga]] and the [[José María de la Cueva, 14th Duke of Alburquerque|Duke of Alburquerque]].{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=94}}{{sfn|Gates|2002|pp=194–196}}{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=494}} Del Parque defeated [[Jean Gabriel Marchand]]'s [[VI Corps (Grande Armée)|VI Corps]] at the [[Battle of Tamames]] on 18 October 1809{{sfn|Smith|1998|pp=333–334}} and occupied Salamanca on 25 October.{{sfn|Gates|2002|pp=197–199}} Marchand was replaced by [[François Étienne de Kellermann]], who brought up reinforcements in the form of his own men as well as General of Brigade [[Nicolas Godinot]]'s force. Kellermann marched on Del Parque's position at Salamanca, who promptly abandoned it and retreated south. In the meantime, the guerrillas in the [[Province of León]] increased their activity. Kellermann left the VI Corps holding Salamanca and returned to León to stamp out the uprising.{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=199}}

Aréizaga's army was destroyed by Soult at the [[Battle of Ocaña]] on 19 November. The Spanish lost 19,000 men compared to French losses of 2,000. Albuquerque soon abandoned his efforts near Talavera. Del Parque moved on Salamanca again, hustling one of the VI Corps brigades out of [[Alba de Tormes]] and occupying Salamanca on 20 November.{{sfn|Oman|1908|pp=97–98}}{{sfn|Smith|1998|p=336}} Hoping to get between Kellermann and Madrid, Del Parque advanced towards [[Medina del Campo]]. Kellermann counterattacked and was repulsed at the [[Battle of Carpio]] on 23 November.{{sfn|Oman|1908|p=98}} The next day, Del Parque received news of the Ocaña disaster and fled south, intending to shelter in the mountains of central Spain.{{sfn|Oman|1908|p=99}}{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=204}} On the afternoon of 28 November, Kellermann attacked Del Parque at [[Battle of Alba de Tormes|Alba de Tormes]] and routed him after inflicting losses of 3,000 men.{{sfn|Oman|1908|p=99}} Del Parque's army fled into the mountains, its strength greatly reduced through combat and non-combat causes by mid-January.{{sfn|Oman|1908|p=101}}