Editing Peninsular War (section)

==1808==
===Coup d'état===
[[File:Manuel de Godoy, por Francisco Bayeu (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando).jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|alt=Portrait of Manuel Godoy (1767–1851)|''Portrait of [[Manuel Godoy]]'' by [[Francisco Bayeu y Subías]], 1792]]
[[File:Kinsoen - Portrait en buste de Joseph Bonaparte.jpg|thumb|[[Joseph Bonaparte|Joseph I of Spain]] by [[François Kinson]], 1811]]

Between 9 and 12 February, the French divisions of the eastern and western Pyrenees crossed the border and occupied [[Navarre]] and [[Catalonia]], including the citadels of [[Pamplona]] and [[Barcelona]]. The Spanish government demanded explanations from their French allies, but these did not satisfy and in response Godoy pulled Spanish troops out of Portugal.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|pp=30–31}} Since Spanish fortress commanders had not received instructions from the central government, they were unsure how to treat the French troops, who marched openly as allies with flags flying and bands announcing their arrival. Some commanders opened their fortresses to them, while others resisted. General [[Guillaume Philibert Duhesme]], who occupied Barcelona with 12,000 troops, soon found himself besieged in the citadel; he was not relieved until January 1809.{{sfn|Connelly|2006|p=145}}

On 20 February, [[Joachim Murat]] was appointed lieutenant of the emperor and commander of all French troops in Spain, which now numbered 60,000{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|pp=30–31}}–100,000.{{sfn|Connelly|2006|p=145}} On 24 February, Napoleon declared that he no longer considered himself bound by the Treaty of Fontainebleau.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|pp=30–31}} In early March, Murat established his headquarters in [[Vitoria-Gasteiz|Vitoria]] and received 6,000 reinforcements from the [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]].{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|pp=30–31}}

On 19 March 1808, Godoy fell from power in the [[Mutiny of Aranjuez]] and Charles IV was forced to abdicate in favour of his son, [[Ferdinand VII of Spain|Ferdinand VII]].{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|pp=34–35}} In the aftermath of the abdication, attacks on ''godoyistas'' were frequent.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=37}} On 23 March, Murat entered Madrid with pomp. Ferdinand VII arrived on 27 March and asked Murat to get Napoleon's confirmation of his accession.{{sfn|Connelly|2006|p=145}} Charles IV, however, was persuaded to protest his abdication to Napoleon, who summoned the royal family, both kings included, to [[Bayonne]] in France. There on 5 May, under French pressure, the two kings both [[Abdications of Bayonne|abdicated their claims to Napoleon]].{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|pp=34–35}} Napoleon then had the Junta de Gobierno—the council of regency in Madrid—formally ask him to appoint his brother Joseph as King of Spain. The abdication of Ferdinand was only publicised on 20 May.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=49}}

===Iberia in revolt===
{{further|Dos de Mayo Uprising}}

On 2 May, the citizens of Madrid [[Dos de Mayo Uprising|rebelled]] against the French occupation; the uprising was put down by Joachim Murat's elite Imperial Guard and [[Mamluk]] cavalry, which crashed into the city and trampled the rioters.{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=610}} In addition, the [[Mamelukes of the Imperial Guard]] of Napoleon fought residents of Madrid, wearing turbans and using curved scimitars, thus provoking memories of [[Muslim Spain]].{{sfn|Fremont-Barnes|2002|p=71}} The next day, as immortalized by [[Francisco Goya]] in his painting ''[[The Third of May 1808]]'', the French army shot hundreds of Madrid's citizens. Similar reprisals occurred in other cities and continued for days. Bloody, spontaneous fighting known as ''[[guerrilla]]'' (literally "little war") broke out in much of Spain against the French as well as the [[Ancien Régime]]'s officials. Although the Spanish government, including the [[Council of Castile]], had accepted Napoleon's decision to grant the Spanish crown to his brother, [[Joseph Bonaparte]], the Spanish population rejected Napoleon's plans.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|pp=302–303}} The first wave of uprisings were in [[Cartagena, Spain|Cartagena]] and [[Valencia]] on 23 May; [[Zaragoza]] and [[Murcia]] on 24 May; and the province of [[Asturias]], which cast out its French governor on 25 May and declared war on Napoleon. Within weeks, all the Spanish provinces followed suit.{{sfn|Gates|2009|p=12}} After hearing of the Spanish uprising, Portugal erupted in revolt in June. A French detachment under [[Louis Henri Loison]] crushed the rebels at [[Battle of Évora (1808)|Évora]] on 29 July and massacred the town's population.

The deteriorating strategic situation led France to increase its military commitments. By 1&nbsp;June, over 65,000 troops were rushing into the country to control the crisis.{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=162}} The main French army of 80,000 held a narrow strip of central Spain from [[Pamplona]] and [[San Sebastián]] in the north to Madrid and [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in the centre. The French in Madrid sheltered behind an additional 30,000 troops under Marshal [[Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey]]. [[Jean-Andoche Junot]]'s corps in Portugal was cut off by {{convert|300|mi|km}} of hostile territory, but within days of the outbreak of revolt, French columns in Old Castile, [[New Castile (Spain)|New Castile]], Aragon and [[Catalonia]] were searching for the insurgent forces.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:El Crit del Palleter.jpg|[[Joaquín Sorolla]]: ''[[Valencia]]ns prepare to [[Battle of Valencia (1808)|resist]] the invaders'' (by [[Joaquín Sorolla]], 1884)
File:Dos de mayo, por Joaquín Sorolla.jpg|Second of May 1808: [[Pedro Velarde y Santillán|the defenders of Monteleón]] make their [[last stand]] (by [[Joaquín Sorolla]], 1884)
File:El dos de mayo de 1808 en Madrid rdit.jpg|''[[The Second of May 1808]]'' (by [[Francisco Goya|Goya]], 1814)
File:El Tres de Mayo, by Francisco de Goya, from Prado thin black margin.jpg|''[[The Third of May 1808]]'' French soldiers execute civilians (by [[Francisco Goya|Goya]], 1814)
</gallery>

===Conventional warfare===
[[File:La Rendición de Bailén (Casado del Alisal).jpg|thumb|right|The [[Spanish Army]]'s triumph at [[Battle of Bailén|Bailén]] was the French Empire's first land defeat. Painting by [[José Casado del Alisal]]]]

To defeat the insurgency, [[Pierre Dupont de l'Étang]] led 24,430 men south toward [[Seville]] and Cádiz; Marshal [[Jean-Baptiste Bessières]] moved into Aragon and Old Castile with 25,000 men, aiming to capture [[Santander, Cantabria|Santander]] and Zaragoza. Moncey marched toward Valencia with 29,350 men, and [[Guillaume Philibert Duhesme]] marshalled 12,710 troops in Catalonia and moved against [[Girona]].{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=611}}{{sfn|Gates|2002|pp=181–182}}

At the two successive [[Combat of El Bruc|Combats of El Bruc]] outside [[Barcelona]], local [[Catalans|Catalan]] militia, the ''[[Miquelet (militia)|Miquelets]]'' (also known as ''sometents''), defeated [[François Xavier de Schwarz]]'s 4,000 troops. [[Guillaume Philibert Duhesme]]'s Franco-Italian division of almost 6,000 troops failed to storm [[Battle of Gerona (1808)|Girona]] and was forced to return to Barcelona.{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=61}} Six thousand French troops under [[Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes]] attacked [[First Siege of Zaragoza|Zaragoza]] and were beaten off by [[José de Palafox y Melci]]'s militia.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=67}} Moncey's push to take Valencia ended in failure, with 1,000 French recruits dying in an attempt to [[Battle of Valencia (1808)|storm the city]]. After defeating Spanish counterattacks, Moncey retreated.{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=614}} At the [[Battle of Medina de Rioseco]] on 14 July, Bessières defeated Cuesta and Old Castile returned to French control. Blake escaped, but the Spaniards lost 2,200 men and thirteen guns. French losses were minimal at 400 men.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=73}} Bessières's victory salvaged the French army's strategic position in northern Spain. Joseph entered Madrid on 20 July;{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=73}} and on 25 July he was crowned King of Spain.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=74}} On 10 June, five French [[ships of the line]] anchored at Cádiz were [[Capture of the Rosily Squadron|seized]] by the Spanish.{{sfn|Glover|2001|p=53}} Dupont was disturbed enough to curtail his march at Cordoba, and then on 16 June to fall back to [[Andújar]].{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=77}} Cowed by the mass hostility of the Andalusians, he broke off his offensive and was then defeated at [[Battle of Bailén|Bailén]], where he surrendered his entire [[Corps|Army Corps]] to [[Francisco Javier Castaños, 1st Duke of Bailén|Castaños]].

The catastrophe was total. With the loss of 24,000 troops, Napoleon's military machine in Spain collapsed. Stunned by the defeat, on 1 August Joseph evacuated the capital for Old Castile, while ordering Verdier to abandon the siege of Zaragoza and Bessières to retire from Leon; the entire French army sheltered behind the Ebro.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=84}} By this time, Girona had resisted a [[Second Siege of Gerona|Second Siege]]. Europe welcomed this first check to the hitherto unbeatable Imperial armies—a Bonaparte had been chased from his throne; tales of Spanish heroism inspired Austria and showed the force of national resistance. Bailén set in motion the rise of the [[War of the Fifth Coalition|Fifth Coalition]].{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=617}}

===British intervention===
{{further|British Army during the Napoleonic Wars}}
[[File:Batalha do Vimeiro.jpg|thumb|Portuguese and British troops fighting the French at [[Battle of Vimeiro|Vimeiro]]]]

Britain's involvement in the Peninsular War was the start of a prolonged campaign in Europe to increase British military power on land and liberate the Iberian peninsula from the French.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=87}} In August 1808, 15,000 British troops—including the [[King's German Legion]]—landed in Portugal under the command of [[Lieutenant-General]] [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Sir Arthur Wellesley]], who drove back [[Henri François Delaborde]]'s 4,000-strong detachment at [[Battle of Roliça|Roliça]] on 17 August and smashed Junot's main force of 14,000 men at [[Battle of Vimeiro|Vimeiro]]. Wellesley was replaced at first by [[Sir Harry Burrard, 1st Baronet, of Lymington|Sir Harry Burrard]] and then [[Sir Hew Dalrymple, 1st Baronet, of High Mark|Sir Hew Dalrymple]]. Dalrymple granted Junot an unmolested evacuation from Portugal by the Royal Navy in the controversial [[Convention of Cintra]] in August. In early October 1808, following the scandal in Britain over the Convention of Cintra and the recall of the generals Dalrymple, Burrard and Wellesley, [[John Moore (British Army officer)|Sir John Moore]] took command of the 30,000-man British force in Portugal.{{sfn|Richardson|1921|p=343}} In addition, [[Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet|Sir David Baird]], in command of an expedition of reinforcements out of [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]] consisting of 150 transports carrying between 12,000 and 13,000 men, convoyed by HMS ''Louie'', [[HMS Amelia (1796)|HMS ''Amelia'']] and [[HMS Champion|HMS ''Champion'']], entered Corunna Harbour on 13 October.{{sfn|Gay|1903|p=231}} Logistical and administrative problems prevented any immediate British offensive.{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=628}}

Meanwhile, the British had made a substantial contribution to the Spanish cause by helping to evacuate some 9,000 men of [[Pedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romana|La Romana]]'s [[Division of the North]] from Denmark.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=106}} In August 1808, the British Baltic fleet helped [[Evacuation of La Romana's division|transport the Spanish division]], except three regiments that failed to escape, back to Spain by way of [[Gothenburg]] in Sweden. The division arrived in Santander in October 1808.{{sfn|Oman|1902|pp=367–375}}

===Napoleon's invasion of Spain<!--{{anchor|Napoleon's invasion}} Napoleon's invasion of Spain redirects here-->===
[[File:Battle of Somosierra 1808.PNG|thumb|''La bataille de Somosierra'' by [[Louis-François, Baron Lejeune]] (oil on canvas, 1810)]]

After the surrender of a French army corps at Bailén and the loss of Portugal, Napoleon was convinced of the peril he faced in Spain. With his {{lang|fr|Armée d'Espagne}} of 278,670 men drawn up on the Ebro, facing 80,000 raw, disorganized Spanish troops,{{sfn|Glover|2001|p=55}} Napoleon and his [[Marshal of France|marshals]] carried out a massive [[double envelopment]] of the Spanish lines in November 1808.{{sfn|Chandler|1995|p=631}} Napoleon struck with overwhelming strength and the Spanish defense evaporated at [[Battle of Burgos|Burgos]], [[Battle of Tudela|Tudela]], [[Battle of Espinosa|Espinosa]] and [[Battle of Somosierra|Somosierra]]. The Junta was forced to abandon Madrid in November 1808, and resided in the [[Alcázar of Seville]] from 16 December 1808 until 23 January 1810.{{sfn|Martínez|1999|p={{page needed|date=February 2014}}}} Madrid surrendered on 1 December and Joseph Bonaparte was restored to his throne. In [[Catalonia]], [[Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr]]'s 17,000-strong [[VII Corps (Grande Armée)|VII Corps]] besieged and captured [[Siege of Roses (1808)|Roses]] from an Anglo-Spanish garrison, destroyed part of [[Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu]]'s Spanish army at [[Battle of Cardedeu|Cardedeu]] near Barcelona on 16 December and routed the Spaniards under [[Count of Caldagues|Conde de Caldagues]] and [[Theodor von Reding]] at [[Battle of Molins de Rei|Molins de Rei]].

==={{anchor|Corunna Campaign}}Corunna campaign, 1808–1809===
[[File:36 214430~death-of-sir-john-moore-(1761-1809)-january-17th-1809,-from-'the-martial-achievements-of-great-britain-and-her-allies-from-1799-.jpg|thumb|Death of [[John Moore (British Army officer)|Sir John Moore]], 17 January 1809]]

By November 1808, the British army led by Moore was advancing into Spain with orders to assist the Spanish armies' fight against Napoleon's forces.{{sfn|Oman|1902|p=492}} Moore decided to attack Soult's scattered and isolated 16,000-man corps' at [[Carrión de los Condes|Carrión]], opening his attack with a successful raid by Lieutenant-General [[Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey|Paget]]'s cavalry on the French [[Picket (military)|''picquets'']] at [[Battle of Sahagún|Sahagún]] on 21 December.{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=108}}{{sfn|Fremont-Barnes|2002|p=35}}

Abandoning plans to immediately conquer Seville and Portugal, Napoleon rapidly amassed 80,000 troops and [[debouch]]ed from the [[Sierra de Guadarrama]] into the plains of Old Castile to encircle the British Army. Moore retreated for the safety of the British fleet at La Coruna and Soult failed to intercept him.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=146}}{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=150}} The rearguard of [[Pedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romana|La Romana]]'s retreating force was overrun at [[Battle of Mansilla|Mansilla]] on 30 December by Soult, who captured [[León, Spain|León]] the next day. Moore's retreat was marked by a breakdown of discipline in many regiments and punctuated by stubborn rearguard actions at [[Battle of Benavente|Benavente]] and [[Battle of Cacabelos|Cacabelos]].{{sfn|Fletcher|1999|p=97}} The British troops escaped to the sea after fending off a strong French attack at [[Battle of Corunna|Corunna]], in which Moore was killed. Some 26,000 troops reached Britain, with 7,000 men lost over the course of the expedition.{{sfn|Gates|2002|p=114}} The French occupied the most populated region in Spain, including the important towns of Lugo and La Corunna.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=155}} The Spanish were shocked by the British retreat.{{sfn|Esdaile|2003|p=156}} Napoleon returned to France on 19 January 1809 to prepare for war with Austria, giving the Spanish command back to his marshals.