Editing Peninsular War (section)

===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}}