Editing Peninsular War (section)

==1811==
===Stalemate in the west===
During 1811, Victor's force was diminished because of requests for reinforcement from Soult to aid his siege of [[First Siege of Badajoz (1811)|Badajoz]].{{sfn|Southey|1828e|p=165}} This brought the French numbers down to between 20,000 and 15,000 and encouraged the defenders of Cádiz to attempt a breakout,{{sfn|Southey|1828e|p=165}} in conjunction with the arrival of an Anglo-Spanish relief army of around 12,000 infantry and 800 cavalry under the overall command of Spanish General [[Manuel La Peña]], with the British contingent being led by Lieutenant-General [[Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch|Sir Thomas Graham]].{{sfn|Southey|1828e|pp=165, 170}} Marching towards Cádiz on 28 February, this force defeated two French divisions under Victor at [[Battle of Barrosa|Barrosa]]. However, the Allies failed to exploit their success and Victor soon renewed the blockade.{{sfn|Southey|1828e|pp=172–180}} From January through March 1811, Soult with 20,000 men besieged and captured the fortress towns of [[First Siege of Badajoz (1811)|Badajoz]] and [[Siege of Olivenza|Olivenza]] in [[Extremadura]], capturing 16,000 prisoners, before returning to Andalusia with most of his army. Soult was relieved at the operation's speedy conclusion, for intelligence received on 8 March told him that [[Francisco Ballesteros]]' Spanish army was menacing Seville, that Victor had been defeated at Barrosa and that Masséna had retreated from Portugal. Soult redeployed his forces to deal with these threats.{{sfn|Gates|2001|p=248}}

In March 1811, with supplies exhausted, Masséna retreated from Portugal to Salamanca. Wellington went over to the offensive later that month. An Anglo-Portuguese army led by the British general [[William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford|William Beresford]] and a Spanish army led by the Spanish generals [[Joaquín Blake y Joyes|Joaquín Blake]] and [[Francisco Javier Castaños, 1st Duke of Bailén|Francisco Castaños]], attempted to retake Badajoz by laying [[Second Siege of Badajoz (1811)|siege]] to the French garrison Soult had left behind. Soult regathered his army and marched to relieve the siege. Beresford lifted the siege and his army intercepted the marching French. At the [[Battle of Albuera]], Soult outmaneuvered Beresford but could not win the battle. He retired his army to Seville.{{sfn|Southey|1828e|p=241}}

In April, Wellington besieged [[blockade of Almeida|Almeida]]. Masséna advanced to its relief, attacking Wellington at [[Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro|Fuentes de Oñoro]] (3–5 May). Both sides claimed victory but the British maintained the blockade and the French retired without being attacked. After this battle, the Almeida garrison escaped through the British lines in a night march.{{sfn|Southey|1828e|p=160}} Masséna was forced to withdraw, having lost a total of 25,000 men in Portugal, and was replaced by [[Auguste Marmont]]. Wellington joined Beresford and renewed the siege of Badajoz. Marmont joined Soult with strong reinforcements and Wellington retired.{{sfn|Southey|1828e|p=252}}

Wellington soon appeared before Ciudad Rodrigo. In September, Marmont repelled him and re-provisioned the fortress.{{sfn|Southey|1828e|p=327}} Sorties continued to be made out of Cádiz from April to August 1811,{{sfn|Burke|1825|p=172}} and British naval gunboats destroyed French positions at St. Mary's.{{sfn|Burke|1825|p=174}} An attempt by Victor to crush the small Anglo-Spanish garrison at [[Siege of Tarifa (1812)|Tarifa]] over the winter of 1811–1812 was frustrated by torrential rains and an obstinate defence, marking an end to French operations against the city's outer works.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Battle of Chiclana.jpg|The ''[[Battle of Chiclana]], 5th March 1811'' (1824) captures the fight between British redcoats and the French troops for Barrosa Ridge.{{Sfn|Hindley|2010}}
File:El mariscal Beresford desarmando a un oficial polaco en La Albuera.jpg|Marshal Beresford disarming a Polish officer at La Albuera (16 May 1811)
</gallery>

===French conquest of Aragon and Catalonia===
After a two-week siege, the French [[Army of Aragon]] under its commander, [[General Suchet]], [[Siege of Tortosa (1810–11)|captured]] the town of [[Tortosa]] from the Spanish in Catalonia on 2 January 1811. MacDonald's [[VII Corps (Grande Armée)|VII Corps]] was defeated in a [[vanguard]] skirmish at [[Battle of El Pla|El Pla]].

The Spanish commander [[Francesc Rovira i Sala|Francesc Rovira]] captured in a coup-de-main the key fortress of [[Sant Ferran Castle]] at [[Figueres]] with 2,000 [[Miquelet (militia)|''miquelets'']] on 10 April. The French [[Army of Catalonia (France)|Army of Catalonia]] under MacDonald [[Siege of Figueras (1811)|blockaded]] the city to starve the defenders into surrender. With the help of a relief operation on 3 May, the fortress held out until 17 August, when lack of food prompted a surrender after a last-ditch breakout attempt failed.{{sfn|Rousset|1892|p=211}}

On 5 May, Suchet besieged the vital city of [[Tarragona]], which functioned as a port, a fortress, and a resource base that sustained the Spanish field forces in Catalonia. Suchet was given a third of the Army of Catalonia and the city fell to a surprise attack on 29 June.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=360}} Suchet's troops massacred 2,000 civilians. Napoleon rewarded Suchet with a Marshal's baton. On 25 July, Suchet [[Battle of Montserrat|drove]] the Spanish out of their positions on the [[Montserrat (mountain)|Montserrat]] mountain range. In October, the Spanish launched a [[Battle of Cervera (1811)|counterattack]] that recaptured Montserrat and took 1,000 prisoners from scattered French garrisons in the area. In September, Suchet launched an invasion of the province of Valencia. He besieged the castle of [[Sagunto]] and [[Battle of Saguntum|defeated]] Blake's relief attempt. The Spanish defenders capitulated on 25 October. Suchet [[Siege of Valencia (1812)|trapped]] Blake's entire army of 28,044 men in the city of Valencia on 26 December and forced it to surrender on 9 January 1812 after a brief siege. Blake lost 20,281 men dead or captured. Suchet advanced south, capturing the port town of [[Dénia]]. The redeployment of a substantial part of his troops for the invasion of Russia ground Suchet's operations to a halt. The victorious Marshal had established a secure base in Aragon and was ennobled by Napoleon as the Duke of Albufera, after a [[lagoon]] south of Valencia.

The war now fell into a temporary lull, with the superior French unable to find an advantage and coming under increasing pressure from Spanish guerrillas. The French had over 350,000 soldiers in {{lang|fr|L'Armée de l'Espagne}}, but over 200,000 were deployed to protect the French lines of supply, rather than as substantial fighting units.