The Battle of the Gebora took place during the Peninsular War between Spanish and French armies on 19 February 1811, northwest of Badajoz, Spain. An outnumbered French force routed and nearly destroyed the Spanish Army of Extremadura.
When Mendizábal ignored Wellington's instructions and failed to entrench his army, Soult took advantage of the vulnerable Spanish position and sent a small force to attack the Spaniards. On the morning of 19 February, French forces under Marshal Édouard Mortier quickly defeated the Spanish army, inflicting 1,000 casualties and taking 4,000 prisoners while losing only 400 men. The victory allowed Soult to concentrate on his assault of Badajoz, which fell to the French on 11 March and remained in French hands until the following year.
Background
Despite his partial victory over Marshal Masséna in Portugal at the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810, Viscount Wellington was forced by Masséna's manoeuvres to retreat behind the extensive lines of Torres Vedras, a series of forts defending the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. By 10 October 1810, only the British light division and a few cavalry patrols remained outside the defensive lines, while Masséna's Army of Portugal concentrated around Sobral, seemingly in preparation to attack the lines.[2] After a fierce skirmish on 14 October, the French dug themselves in rather than launch a full-scale assault, remaining entrenched for a month before withdrawing to a position between Santarém and Rio Maior.[3]
Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult
Napoleon had previously sent dispatches to Marshal Soult, commander of the Army of the South, urging him to send assistance to Masséna in Portugal.[4] However, the Emperor's orders, which called for only a small force, were based on outdated intelligence and the situation had changed considerably by the time Soult received them.[5] Thirty thousand Allied troops and six major fortresses now stood between the French army and the Portuguese capital, making an attack against Lisbon virtually impossible.[4] Nevertheless, compelled to act, Soult instead gathered an army of 20,000 men, mainly from VCorps, and launched an expedition into Extremadura with the aim of capturing the Spanish fortress at Badajoz, thereby drawing some of the Allied forces away from Masséna and the Lines of Torres Vedras.[6]
Soult divided his army into two contingents and advanced into Extremadura via the two main passes leading from Andalusia into the Guadiana valley, with the intention of rejoining at Almendralejo.[7] One of the columns, commanded by Gen. Marie Victor Latour-Maubourg, met little resistance on its march; on 3 January 1811 the column was confronted by 2,500 Spanish and Portuguese cavalry near Usagre, but that force was only a screen covering the retreat beyond the Guadiana of a Spanish infantry division commanded by Gen. Mendizábal. Latour-Maubourg was therefore able to take position near Almendralejo and await the arrival of the second French column.[8]
That second column, commanded by Soult and including Gen. Honoré Gazan's VCorps division, was escorting the French siege-train and therefore had to take a longer, more practicable route into Extremadura.[8] Bad weather and the desertion of the Spanish drivers caused the artillery train to become separated from the escorting infantry, a problem that was further complicated when the column was threatened by 5,000 Spanish troops under Gen. Francisco Ballesteros. When confronted by Marshal Mortier, Ballesteros retreated without suffering serious harm but remained a threat to the rear of the French column. For this reason Soult directed Gazan's infantry to head off the Spanish force and protect the delayed siege-train, while he himself continued onward to Almendralejo with his cavalry.[9] As a result, Soult finally joined Latour-Maubourg on 6 January with only a fraction of his original column and no heavy artillery.[8]
Prelude
Caro y Sureda, 3rd marqués de La Romana
Soult could not besiege so strong a fortress as Badajoz with his reduced force and therefore changed his plans. Sending his light cavalry under Brig. Gen.André Briche to take Mérida and leaving four squadrons of dragoons at Albuera to watch the garrison at Badajoz, he marched with the remainder of his army to investOlivenza.[10] Wellington had previously advised Gen. Pedro Caro de La Romana, commander of the Spanish Army of Extremadura, either to destroy the fortification at Olivenza or to repair its defenses and fully garrison it; La Romana in turn had instructed Mendizábal to slight the fortress, but Mendizábal ignored this order and instead reinforced the garrison with four infantry battalions.[11] Soult, arriving on 11 January, was therefore confronted with a strongly garrisoned—but untenable—fortress. The heavy French artillery finally began to arrive on 19 January, and by 22 January a poorly repaired breach in the fortress' walls had been reopened. The garrison surrendered on 23 January, with over 4,000 Spanish troops from the Army of Extremadura taken captive.[12]
Soult was now in a difficult position: although he had a large (4,000-strong) contingent of cavalry, deploying two battalions to escort the prisoners taken at Olivenza back to French-held Seville left him only 5,500 infantry with which to continue his campaign. Moreover, although his siege-train had begun to arrive, the continued absence of Gazan's infantry division left him with a weakened army. Despite these problems, Soult decided to besiege Badajoz in hopes that Wellington would send reinforcements to the Spanish fortress and thereby reduce the Allied forces facing Masséna at the Lines of Torres Vedras.[13] On 26 January Soult marched for Badajoz, sending Latour-Maubourg with six cavalry battalions across the Guadiana to blockade the fortress' northern approach,[14] and by 27 January the first siege of Badajoz had begun.[4] Gazan's division eventually rejoined Soult's army on 3 February, further strengthening the besieging force by 6,000 men.[15]
Meanwhile, Mendizábal had retreated to the Portuguese border after sending two battalions to reinforce the garrison at Badajoz.[16] Weakened by the defeat at Olivenza and by Ballesteros' continued absence, he sent to La Romana for reinforcements, receiving on 14 January 1,800 men sent from Abrantes under the command of Carlos de España. Additionally, about 6,000 troops were sent forward from the Lines of Torres Vedras on 19 January, arriving at Elvas ten days later. When these forces joined with Mendizábal's remaining 3,000 men, a Spanish cavalry division and a brigade of Portuguese horse, the Allies had an army almost 15,000 strong—intended to be under the command of La Romana—with which to hold Soult in check.[17] La Romana, however, died of an aneurysm on 23 January, and command of the army then fell to Mendizábal.[18]
Before his sudden death, La Romana had met with Wellington and agreed on a plan for the campaign—the army was to entrench on the heights of San Cristóbal, with its right flank protected by the fort of San Cristóbal, its front covered by the Gebora and Guadiana rivers, the left guarded by the fortress at Campo Maior, and Elvas protecting the rear.[19] Although aware of this plan when he took command, Mendizábal chose to ignore the instructions upon arriving on the north bank of the Guadiana on 5 February.[20] Instead, he stationed the bulk of his infantry in Badajoz, leaving only a small contingent of infantry and his cavalry below San Cristóbal.[21] On 7 February Mendizábal launched a strong sally against the besieging French lines: the Portuguese cavalry, supported by a small group of infantrymen, feinted towards the French left wing while a strong force of 5,000 men attacked the right. The Spaniards under de España drove through the first French parallel to engage one of Gen. Jean-Baptiste Girard's brigades and were only driven back when Mortier sent several battalions to his aid. De España pulled back to Badajoz, having lost 650 men and causing 400 French casualties.[22]
On 9 February Mendizábal withdrew most of his men from Badajoz, leaving behind a 7,000-strong garrison. The field army's 9,000 infantry settled on the heights of San Cristóbal while the 3,000 horse encamped behind them on the plains of the Caya. The Spanish commander again ignored Wellington's plan, failing to dig entrenchments on the heights, nor did he send out a cavalry screen to protect his front and monitor the French movements.[23] Soult, however, largely ignored the Spanish army for the next few days, concentrating instead on building up his siege lines and battering Badajoz.[24] Heavy rains also flooded both the Guadiana and Gebora rivers, rendering them impassable, so that between 11–18 February the French were only able to shell the southern end of the Spanish line, pushing the Spaniards further away from Badajoz and the protection of the San Cristóbal fort.[25]
Battle
Map of the Battle of the Gebora, 19 February 1811
By the afternoon of 18 February, the rains had abated and lower water levels made the Gebora River fordable again.[25] That evening Soult sent nine infantry battalions, three cavalry squadrons and two artillery batteries, under Mortier's command, to the north bank across a flying bridge over the Guadiana River. Joined by six cavalry regiments under Latour-Maubourg, the French now had 4,500 infantrymen, 2,500 cavalry and 12 cannon ready to attack the Spanish lines at dawn on 19 February.[26] Due to heavy fog that morning, Mendizábal was unaware of the approaching French until his picket, only a mile from his front, was driven back by Mortier's infantry fording the Gebora.[27] At the same time the 2nd Hussars, sent by Latour-Maubourg to turn the Spanish left flank, had managed to climb the heights to the north, also undetected, and fell upon one of de España's unsuspecting regiments.[28]
Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise
Mortier demonstrated his tactical prowess in the deployment of his small force: he sent all his cavalry to the north to attack the Spanish left; three battalions were sent south between the fort at San Cristóbal and the Spanish right wing; and his remaining six infantry battalions assaulted the Spanish front.[29] As the fog rose, the French light cavalry under Briche gained the heights and fell upon the Spanish left flank, while Latour-Maubourg took three dragoon regiments to attack the combined Spanish and Portuguese cavalry on the plains of the Caya.[30] Despite outnumbering the French, the Allied horse ignored orders and immediately fled towards Elvas and Campo Maior. They escaped unscathed, largely because Latour-Maubourg ignored them and instead launched his cavalry against the Spanish infantry line.[31]
The engagement of the Spanish right flank was not as immediately decisive. Because the fog had lifted, the Spaniards could see the numerical weakness of the opposing force and formed up with little sign of falling.[31] The musketry duel between the two sides had scarcely begun, however, when the French cavalry appeared; the light horse approached along the top of the heights while Latour-Maubourg's dragoons advanced from the rear. In response, Mendizábal formed his troops into two huge divisional squares supported by artillery which, although initially successful in impeding the French cavalry, eventually became an easy target for the French infantry and artillery.[32] As one Spanish infantryman recounted, "Their artillery played upon it in a most horrible fashion until it became first an oval and then an unformed mass that the cavalry were able to penetrate and take prisoner."[20] Briche's light cavalry thus broke through the two Spanish squares without great difficulty, and the battle was effectively over. A few of the Spanish regiments dispersed; many surrendered; and others joined together to fight their way to Badajoz or the Portuguese border.[33]
Consequences
The battle was a serious setback for the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese allies; Wellington had earlier warned the Spanish generals that the Army of Extremadura was "the last body of troops which their country possesses",[34] and later wrote that "[t]he defeat of Mendizábal is the greatest misfortune, which was not previously expected, that has yet occurred to us."[35] The army had been essentially destroyed; although 2,500 infantry had escaped into Badajoz—and a slightly smaller number to Portugal—about 1,000 Spaniards had been killed or wounded, 4,000 were taken prisoner and 17 cannon had been lost.[36] The French, for their part, suffered only minor casualties. Soult initially reported his losses as 30 killed and 140 wounded, but those figures were eventually revised to around 400 casualties, mainly from the cavalry.[36]
Soult was now free to continue his investment of Badajoz; although the town's garrison was now some 8,000 strong due to the influx of soldiers from Mendizábal's destroyed army, it eventually fell to the French on 11 March.[37] Wellington then sent a large Anglo-Portuguese corps, commanded by Sir William Beresford, to retake the important fortress town,[38] and by 20 April the second siege of Badajoz had begun.[39] A French attempt to lift this siege resulted, on 16 May, in the bloody Battle of Albuera,[40] in which Beresford's strong Allied corps maintained the siege but only barely managed to hold off an outnumbered French army, again commanded by Soult.[41] However, when the French Army of Portugal, now under the command of Marshal Auguste Marmont, and the Army of the South converged, the combined French force of over 60,000 men forced Wellington, on 20 June, to call off the siege and pull his 44,000-man besieging army back to Elvas.[42] Thus Badajoz would remain in French hands until the following year, when the Allies finally retook it following the Battle of Badajoz.[43]
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence.
At the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro, the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida.
Honoré Théodore Maxime Gazan de la Peyrière was a French general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.
The Battle of Albuera was a battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French armée du Midi at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the frontier fortress-town of Badajoz, Spain.
The Battle of Corunna, in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a British army under Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore. The battle took place amidst the Peninsular War, which was a part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. It was a result of a French campaign, led by Napoleon, which had defeated the Spanish armies and caused the British army to withdraw to the coast following an unsuccessful attempt by Moore to attack Soult's corps and divert the French army.
The Battle of Talavera was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some 120 kilometres (75 mi) southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish army under General Cuesta fought in operations against French-occupied Madrid. At nightfall, the French army withdrew a short distance after several of its attacks had been repulsed; the allies, having suffered comparable casualties to the French, made no attempt to pursue.
In the Peninsular War, the Battle of Medellín was fought on 28 March 1809 and resulted in a victory of the French under Marshal Victor against the Spanish under General Don Gregorio Garcia de la Cuesta. The battle marked the first major effort by the French to occupy Southern Spain, a feat mostly completed with the victory at the Battle of Ocana later in the year.
At the siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General of Brigade Jean-Louis Dubreton. The French repulsed every attempt to seize the fortress, resulting in Wellington's withdrawal. The siege took place during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Burgos is located about 210 kilometres (130 mi) north of Madrid.
In the Battle of Maguilla a British cavalry brigade led by Major General John Slade attacked a similar-sized French cavalry brigade commanded by General of Brigade Charles Lallemand. The British dragoons scored an initial success, routing the French dragoons and capturing a number of them. The British troopers recklessly galloped after their foes, losing all order. At length, the French reserve squadron charged into the British, followed by the French main body which rallied. With the tables turned, the French dragoons chased the British until the horses of both sides were too exhausted for the battle to continue. The action took place during the Peninsular War, near Maguilla, Spain, a distance of 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of Llerena.
Armand Philippon, sometimes called Phillipon, was a French soldier during the French Revolution and the subsequent First French Empire.
In the Battle of Usagre on 25 May 1811, Anglo-Allied cavalry commanded by Major-General William Lumley routed a French cavalry force led by Major-General Marie Victor Latour-Maubourg at the village of Usagre, Spain, in the Peninsular War.
The Battle of Bayonne, the last major battle of the Peninsular War, ensued when the French garrison of Bayonne led by General of Division Pierre Thouvenot launched a sortie against a besieging force of British, Portuguese, and Spanish troops commanded by Lieutenant General John Hope. It was fought after unofficial news of the abdication of French emperor Napoleon on 4 April had reached the opposing forces. Thouvenot's reasons for initiating the sortie are not clear; there was apparently nothing for the French to gain by fighting. After initial success for the French, Allied forces drove them back inside Bayonne with heavy losses on both sides.
In the Battle of Campo Maior, or Campo Mayor, on 25 March 1811, Brigadier General Robert Ballard Long with a force of Anglo-Portuguese cavalry, the advance-guard of the army commanded by William Beresford, clashed with a French force commanded by General of Division Marie Victor de Fay, marquis de Latour-Maubourg. Initially successful, some of the Allied horsemen indulged in a reckless pursuit of the French. An erroneous report was given that they had been captured wholesale. In consequence, Beresford halted his forces and the French were able to escape and recover a convoy of artillery pieces.
The first siege of Badajoz was a siege carried out during the Peninsular War on the Spanish town of Badajoz, by the French general Soult.
The fourth siege of Badajoz took place from July to October 1658 during the Portuguese Restoration War. It was an attempt by a huge Portuguese army under the command of Joanne Mendes de Vasconcelos, governor of Alentejo, to capture the Spanish city of Badajoz, which was the headquarters of the Spanish Army of Extremadura. The fortifications of Badajoz were essentially medieval and considered vulnerable by the Portuguese, and had already been attacked by them three times during this war.
In the Battle of Zújar of the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars, on 9 August 1811 an Imperial French division from Nicolas Soult's army attacked a Spanish division belonging to Manuel Alberto Freire de Andrade y Armijo's Army of Murcia. The French division, led by Nicolas Godinot, defeated Joseph O'Donnell's Spanish division with heavy losses. Zújar is located on Route 323, 13 kilometres (8 mi) northwest of Baza, Granada in Spain.
The second siege of Badajoz saw an Anglo-Portuguese Army, first led by William Carr Beresford and later commanded by Arthur Wellesley, the Viscount Wellington, besiege a French garrison under Armand Philippon at Badajoz, Spain. After failing to force a surrender, Wellington withdrew his army when the French mounted a successful relief effort by combining the armies of Marshals Nicolas Soult and Auguste Marmont. The action was fought during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Badajoz is located 6 kilometres (4 mi) from the Portuguese border on the Guadiana River in western Spain.
The Battle of Alcántara saw an Imperial French division led by Marshal Claude Perrin Victor attack a Portuguese detachment under Colonel William Mayne. After a three hours skirmish, the French stormed across the Alcántara Bridge and forced the Portuguese to retreat. The clash happened during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Alcántara, Spain is situated on the Tagus river near the Portuguese border, 285 kilometres (177 mi) west-southwest of Madrid.
The Battle of Arzobispo on 8 August 1809 saw two Imperial French corps commanded by Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult launch an assault crossing of the Tagus River against a Spanish force under José María de la Cueva, 14th Duke of Alburquerque. Alburquerque's troops rapidly retreated after suffering disproportionate losses, including 30 artillery pieces. El Puente del Arzobispo is located 36 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Talavera de la Reina, Spain. The action occurred during the Peninsular War, part of a larger conflict known as the Napoleonic Wars.
The siege of Olivença or Olivenza occurred on 19-22 January 1811 when French General Jean-de-Dieu Soult successfully undertook the capture of the run-down Spanish fortress of Olivenza in western Spain during the Peninsular War.
Gates, David (1986), The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War, Pimlico (published 2002), ISBN978-0-7126-9730-9
Glover, Michael (1974), The Peninsular War 1807–1814: A Concise Military History, Penguin Classic Military History (published 2001), ISBN978-0-14-139041-3
Oman, Sir Charles (1911), A History of the Peninsular War: Volume IV, December 1810 to December 1811, Greenhill Books (published 2004), ISBN978-1-85367-618-5
Weller, Jac (1962), Wellington in the Peninsula, Nicholas Vane
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