The citadel of Madrid was a star fort with three fortified enceintes [1] constructed by the French Army during the Peninsular War, in the grounds of the Palacio del Buen Retiro, on the Retiro heights, [note 1] outside the eastern gate of the city of Madrid. [1]
Napoleon, on approaching Madrid, considered the vantage-ground of the heights of the Retiro key to taking the capital of Spain. He therefore set up, under cover of darkness, thirty guns opposite the earthworks which the Spanish troops had built there and other, smaller artillery in front of the other gates of the city, to distract the attention of the garrison. Before dawn, the Emperor sent another summons to surrender. [2] The Captain-General of New Castile, the Marquis of Castelar, however, used the time to abandon the city, taking some five thousand troops and sixteen cannon with him to Talavera de la Reina. [3] Considerable damage was done to Madrid's other defences, but the real assault was delivered against the Retiro heights and, once breaches had been made, Villatte's division of Victor's corps stormed the position with ease. The Spanish garrison of this section of Madrid's defences consisted of a single battalion of new levies—the Regiment of Mazzaredo—and a mass of armed citizens. [2]
Joaquín Murat, the commander of the French Army in Spain, occupied Madrid in March 1808 with more than 40,000 veteran troops. While he was lodged at Chamartín, his chief of staff, Augustin Daniel Belliard, was commissioned to prepare Madrid's headquarters for 25,000 men [4] by "taking charge of the Retiro and considering it a citadel of Madrid, under the orders of Grouchy". [4]
The palace at the Retiro was converted into the French Army's headquarters. [5] The gardens and trees were removed to build the enceintes [1] and several buildings were demolished or converted into arsenals. [5]
Apart from the artillery and Moncey's brigade of dragoons stationed at the Retiro, the rest of the French troops based in and around Madrid were stationed at the convent of San Bernardino, located where the current Ciudad Universitaria was built, in the streets of Leganitos and Fuencarral, and the districts of El Pardo and Carabanchel. [4]
Prior to the Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809), King Joseph left Madrid 23 July, at the head of some 5,800 troops, to meet up with Victor's 23,000 troops, and Sebastiani's 17,500, to take the offensive against Cuesta at Torrijos, rather than letting him advance on Madrid. [6]
Left behind was only one brigade of Dessolles's division, with a few Spanish levies, with which Belliard, the governor of the city, was expected to hold the capital; some 4,000 men, in all. Belliard had to be prepared to retreat into the Retiro fort, with his troops and the whole body of the Afrancesados and their families, if there was an insurrection, or if Venegas managed to reach the city from the east, or possibly Wilson, whose column was at Escalona (Toledo), just thirty-eight miles from Madrid, [6] with a force that was believed to be much larger than it actually was. [note 2]
Following the Battle of Majadahonda (11 August 1812), fought on the outskirts of the city, Wellington was able to liberate Madrid when, on 14 August 1812, the French garrison at the citadel, under Lafon Blaniac, the governor of the province of La Mancha, with some 2,000 men, mainly of the Army of Andalusia, and mostly conscripts, surrendered. [1] Although the double enceinte and the star fort in the interior would have been effective against guerrilleros or insurgents, the place could not hold out for long against siege-guns. [1]
The French fortifications and most of the remains of the palace were demolished during the reign of Fernando. The only buildings left standing of the original palace. [5] were the Casón [note 3] and the Salón de Reinos [note 4] and the land was converted into gardens, until 1868–1869, when it was handed over to the Council of Madrid, [5] as the public park of El Retiro.
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Portugal, Spain 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.
The Battle of Uclés saw an Imperial French corps led by Marshal Claude Perrin Victor attack a Spanish force under Francisco Javier Venegas. The French easily crushed their outnumbered foes, capturing over half of the Spanish infantry. Uclés is located in the province of Cuenca 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) east of Tarancón and 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of Madrid. The action occurred during what is called the Peninsular War in English-speaking countries and the Spanish War of Independence in Spain. The war was part of a larger struggle known as the Napoleonic Wars.
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.
Jean Joseph Dessolles, 1st Marquis Dessolles was a French soldier and statesman. He was the Prime Minister of France from 29 December 1818 to 18 November 1819.
The Retiro Park, also known as Buen Retiro Park or simply El Retiro, is one of the largest city parks in Madrid, Spain. The park belonged to the Spanish monarchy until 1868, when it became a public park following the Glorious Revolution. The park is located at the edge of the city centre, near both the Puerta de Alcalá and the Museo del Prado, and covers 1.4 km2. It has gardens, monuments, galleries, an artificial lake, and event-hosting venues. In 2021, Buen Retiro Park became part of a combined UNESCO World Heritage Site that also includes Paseo del Prado.
The Battle of Bailén was fought in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by General Francisco Javier Castaños and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. This battle was the first open-field defeat of a Napoleonic army. The heaviest fighting took place near Bailén, a village by the Guadalquivir river in the Jaén province of southern Spain.
Augustin Daniel Belliard, comte Belliard et de l'Empire was a French general.
Gregorio García de la Cuesta y Fernández de Celis was a prominent Spanish general of the Peninsular War.
The Dos de Mayo or Second of May Uprising took place in Madrid, Spain, on 2–3 May 1808. The rebellion, mainly by civilians, with some isolated military action by junior officers, was against the occupation of the city by French troops, and was violently repressed by the French Imperial forces, with hundreds of public executions.
Manuel de Lapeña y Ruiz del Sotillo was a Spanish Army officer.
Francisco López Ballesteros (1770–1833) was a Spanish general.
Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid was a large palace complex designed by the architect Alonso Carbonell and built on the orders of Philip IV of Spain as a secondary residence and place of recreation. It was built in what was then the eastern limits of the city of Madrid. Today, what little remains of its buildings and gardens forms the Retiro Park.
The Battle of Cogorderos took place at Cogorderos, in the Province of León, Castile-León, on 23 June 1811, between a French force under Brigadier General Jean-André Valletaux and a Spanish force commanded by General Francisco Taboada y Gil during the Peninsular War. After seven hours of battle, the French were defeated and retreated to León. Despite the victory, Taboada, threatened by the bulk of General Jean Pierre François Bonet's army, retired to Astorga. However, Bonet and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières decided against sending more troops to Extremadura, which favored the advance of Wellington in the south.
The second siege of Girona was the second unsuccessful French attempt to capture the city of Girona during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars.
The following tables show the sequence of events of the Peninsular War (1807–1814), including major battles, smaller actions, uprisings, sieges and other related events that took place during that period.
The Spanish Army of the Peninsular War refers to the Spanish military units that fought against France's Grande Armée during a period which coincided with what is also termed the Spanish War of Independence.
Pedro de Alcántara Téllez Girón y Alfonso-Pimentel, 2nd Prince of Anglona (1786–1851) was a Spanish military officer during the Peninsular War and a politician.
Ramón Gayán y Díaz (1772–1846) was a Spanish military commander.
Guillaume Joseph Nicolas de Lafon-Blaniac (1773–1833) was a French military commander.
Luis Alejandro Bassecourt y Dupire (1769–1826) was a French-born Spanish military commander, governor of Barcelona and captain general.