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Napoleon I of France

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Katrina LaPlante
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« Reply #90 on: December 02, 2007, 03:27:02 pm »



Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington by Francisco Goya, 1812-14

Wellesley returned to Portugal in April 1809 to command the Anglo-Portuguese forces. He strengthened the British army with the recently formed Portuguese regiments organized by Forjaz and the Governors of the realm and adapted by General Beresford to the British way of campaigning. These new forces defeated Soult at the Battle of Grijo (May 10 – May 11) and then the Second Battle of Porto (May 12). All other northern cities were captured by Silveira.

Leaving the Portuguese to take care of their newly-won territory, Wellesley advanced into Spain to join up with the Spanish army of Gregorio de la Cuesta. The combined allied force had a sterling opportunity to defeat the French corps of Victor at Talevera, but Cuesta's insistence that the Spanish would not fight on a Sunday (July 25) provided the French the chance to get away. The next day, July 26, having lost the best chance for victory they were likely to get, Cuesta sent his army headlong after Victor, losing a clash with the reinforced French army (now led by King Joseph). The Spanish retreated precipitously, necessitating several British battalions advancing to cover their retreat and almost leading to the capture of Wellesley by French cavalry, just one of the many times the French almost got him. That night, a patrol of French dragoons startled the Spanish infantry: ten thousand opened fire at once in one of the largest single volleys of the Napoleonic Wars. Then, panicked by their own fire, the Spaniards turned and ran, playing nearly no part in the battle the next day.

The next day, July 27, the French advanced in three columns and were repulsed several times throughout the day by British infantry in line, forcing the French to withdraw. The Battle of Talavera was a costly victory that left the allies precariously exposed. The British soon retreated westwards, leaving several thousand of their own wounded under Cuesta's protection. The Spanish abandoned them shortly afterwards and they were rescued from their allies by the French. Although the Spanish had promised food to the British if they advanced into Spain, not only was no food forthcoming, but Spanish troops threatened to pillage any town that sold food to their 'allies,' forcing the British to continue retreating back to Portugal. The British in the peninsula never quite trusted the Spanish again. Wellesley was made Viscount Wellington for his victory at Talavera. Later that year, however, Spanish armies were badly mauled at the Battle of Ocana and the Battle of Alba de Tormes.

After his disappointing experience with the Spaniards, and fearing a new French attack, Wellesley took the decision to strengthen Portugal's defences. To protect Lisbon, he took a plan from Major Neves Costa and ordered the construction of a strong line of 162 forts along key roads and entrenchements and earthworks, the Lines of Torres Vedras.

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Katrina LaPlante
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« Reply #91 on: December 02, 2007, 03:29:14 pm »



A Seville Monument to Luis Daoíz y Torres, hero of 2 May 1808 uprising in Madrid

Stalemate (1810–1812)

The French reinvaded Portugal in July 1810 with an army of around 60,000 led by Marshal Masséna. The first significant clash was at the Battle of Coa. Later on, Masséna took "the worst route in Portugal." At the Battle of Buçaco on September 27, he suffered a tactical defeat with a careless attack on a strong position, but he soon forced the allies to retreat to the Lines. The fortifications were so impressive that, after a small attack at Sobral on October 14, a stalemate ensued. As Charles Oman wrote, "On that misty October 14th morning, at Sobral, the Napoleonic tide attained its highest watermark, then it ebbed." The Portuguese population had subjected the area in front of the lines to a scorched earth policy. The French were eventually forced to withdraw due to disease and a lack of food and other supplies.

The allies were reinforced by the arrival of fresh British troops in early 1811 and began an offensive. A French force was beaten at Barrosa on March 5 as part of an unsuccessful manoeuvre to break up the siege of Cádiz, and Masséna was forced to withdraw from Portugal after an allied victory at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro (May 3-5). Masséna had lost 25,000 men in the fighting in Portugal and was replaced by Auguste Marmont. Soult came from the South to threaten Badajoz, but his force was intercepted by an Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army led by the Marshal William Beresford. At the Battle of Albuera on May 16, the French were forced to retreat after a bloody battle.

The war now fell into a temporary lull, the numerically superior French being unable to find an advantage and coming under increasing pressure from Spanish guerilla activity. The French had upwards of 350,000 soldiers in L'Armée de l'Espagne, but the vast majority, over 200,000, was deployed to protect the French lines of supply, rather than as substantial fighting units. Meanwhile, the Spaniards drafted the liberal 1812 Constitution of Cádiz.

In January 1812, Napoleon approved the full annexation of Catalonia into the French Empire. Its territory was divided in départements (Ter, Sègre, Montserrat and Bouches-de-l'Èbre). Looking for the approval of the local population, Catalan was declared the official language in those departments together with French. However, it did not succeed because of the historical aversion that Catalan people had against French people, and guerrilla activity continued in Catalonia.

Wellington renewed the allied advance into Spain just after New Year in 1812, besieging and capturing the fortified towns of Ciudad Rodrigo on January 19 and Badajoz, after a costly assault, on April 6. Both towns were pillaged by the troops. The allied army took Salamanca on June 17, as Marmont approached. The two forces finally met on July 22. The Battle of Salamanca was a damaging defeat to the French, and Marshal Marmont was severely wounded. As the French regrouped, the Anglo-Portuguese entered Madrid on August 6 and advanced towards Burgos, before retreating all the way back to Portugal when renewed French concentrations threatened to trap them.

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Katrina LaPlante
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« Reply #92 on: December 02, 2007, 03:30:58 pm »



A monument to Pedro Velarde y Santillán in Santander.

Allied victory (1813–1814)

French hopes of recovery were stricken by Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. He had taken 30,000 soldiers from the hard-pressed Armée de l'Espagne, and, starved of reinforcements and replacements, the French position became increasingly unsustainable as the allies renewed the offensive in May 1813.

In a strategic move, Wellington planned to move his supply base from Lisbon to Santander. The Anglo-Portuguese forces swept northwards in late May and seized Burgos; they then outflanked the French army, forcing Joseph Bonaparte into the valley of the River Zadorra. At the Battle of Vitoria, June 21, the 65,000 men of Joseph were routed by 53,000 British, 27,000 Portuguese and 19,000 Spaniards. Wellesley pursued and dislodged the French from San Sebastián, which was sacked and burnt.

The allies chased the retreating French, reaching the Pyrenees in early July. Soult was given command of the French forces and began a counter-offensive, dealing the allied generals two sharp defeats at the Battle of Maya and the Battle of Roncesvalles. Yet, he was severely repulsed by the Anglo-Portuguese, lost momentum, and finally fled after the allied victory at the Battle of Sorauren (July 28 and July 30).

This week of campaigning, called the Battle of the Pyrenees, is perhaps Wellington's finest. The adversaries' numbers were balanced, he was fighting very far from his supply line, the French were defending their territory and, yet, he won by a mixture of manoeuvre, shock, and fire, seldom equalled in the war. It was mountain warfare and at this moment, Wellington qualified the Portuguese Army as "The fighting cocks of the (allied) Army".

On October 7, after Wellington received news of the reopening of hostilities in Germany, the allies finally crossed into France, fording the Bidasoa river. On December 11, a beleaguered and desperate Napoleon agreed to a separate peace with Spain under the Treaty of Valençay, under which he would release and recognize Ferdinand in exchange for a complete cessation of hostilities. But the Spanish had no intention of trusting Napoleon, and the fighting continued.

The Peninsular War went on through the allied victories of Vera pass, Battle of Nivelle, and the Battle of Nive near Bayonne (December 10–14 1813), the Battle of Orthez (February 27, 1814) and the Battle of Toulouse (April 10). This last one was after Napoleon's abdication.

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« Reply #93 on: December 02, 2007, 03:31:47 pm »

During the war, the British gave aid to Portuguese militia levies and Spanish guerrillas, who tied down thousands of French troops. The British gave this aid because it cost them much less than it would have to equip British soldiers to face the French in conventional warfare. This was one of the most successful partisan wars in history and is the origin of the word guerrilla in the English language (from Spanish Guerra de guerrillas or "War of little wars"). However, this guerrilla warfare was costly to both sides. Not only did the 'patriotic' Spaniards trouble the French troops, they also petrified their countrymen with a combination of forced conscription and looting of towns. Many of the partisans were, in fact, either fleeing the law or trying to get rich, although later in the war the authorities tried to make the guerrillas militarily reliable, and many of them formed regular army units, like Espoz y Mina's "Cazadores de Navarra", among others.

The idea of forming the Guerillas into an armed force had positive and negative effects. On the one hand, uniform and stronger military discipline would stop men from running off into the streets and disappearing from the band. However, the more disciplined the unit was, the easier it was for the French troops to catch them when they sprang an ambush. Only a few partisan leaders formed with the authorities; most did so just to lay off charges and to retain the effective status of an officer in the Spanish army, so their weaponry, clothes and food would be paid for.

The guerilla style of fighting was the Spanish military's single most effective application. Most organized attempts on the part of regular Spanish forces to take on the French led to defeat for the former. However, once the battle was lost and the soldiers reverted to their guerilla roles, they effectively tied down greater numbers of French troops over a wider area with much less expenditure of men, energy, and supplies. Wellington's final success in the Peninsula is often said to be largely due to the internal rotting and demoralization of the French military structure in Spain caused by the guerillas.

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« Reply #94 on: December 02, 2007, 03:32:15 pm »

Intelligence played a crucial role in the successful prosecution of the war by the British after 1810. Spanish and Portuguese guerrillas were asked to capture messages from French couriers. From 1811 onwards, these dispatches were often either partially or wholly enciphered.

George Scovell of Wellington's General Staff was given the job of deciphering them. At first the ciphers used were fairly simple and he received help from other members of the General Staff. However, beginning in 1812, a much stronger cipher, originally devised for diplomatic messages, came into use and Scovell was left to work on this himself. He steadily broke it, and the knowledge of French troop movements and deployments was used to great effect in most of the engagements described above. The French never realised that the code had been broken and continued to use it until their code tables were captured at the Battle of Vitoria.

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« Reply #95 on: December 02, 2007, 03:33:15 pm »



The Heroes of the Second of May memorial, Madrid
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« Reply #96 on: December 02, 2007, 03:34:04 pm »

King Joseph was cheered initially by Spanish afrancesados ("Frenchified"), who believed that collaboration with France would bring modernization and liberty. An example was the abolition of the Spanish Inquisition. However, priesthood and patriots began an agitation among the populace, which became widespread after the French army's first examples of repression (Madrid, 1808) were presented as fact to unite and enrage the people. The remaining afrancesados were exiled to France following the departure of French troops. The painter Francisco Goya was one of these afrancesados, and after the war he had to exile himself to France to avoid being prosecuted and perhaps lynched.

The pro-independence side included both traditionalists and liberals. After the war, they would clash in the Carlist Wars, as new king Ferdinand VII, "the Desired One" (later "the Traitor king"), revoked all the changes made by the independent Cortes, which were summoned in Cádiz acting on his behalf to coordinate the provincial Juntas and resist the French. He restored absolute monarchy, prosecuted and put to death every one suspected of liberalism, and, as his last misdeed, altered the laws of royal succession in favour of his daughter Isabella II, thus starting a century of civil wars against the supporters of the former legal heir to the throne.

The liberal Cortes had approved the first Spanish Constitution on 19 March 1812, which was later nullified by the king. In Spanish America, the Spanish and Criollo officials formed Juntas that swore allegiance to King Ferdinand. This experience of self-government led the later Libertadores (Liberators) to promote the independence of the Spanish-American colonies.

French troops seized many of the extensive properties of the Catholic Church. Churches and convents were used as stables and barracks, and artworks were sent to France, leading to an impoverished Spanish cultural heritage. Allied armies also plundered Spanish towns and the countryside. Wellington recovered some of the artwork and offered to return it, but King Ferdinand gave them to him. These pieces can be viewed at the Duke's London home, Apsley House, and at his country estate, Stratfield Saye House.

Another notable effect of the war was the severe damage incurred by Spain's economy, devastated by the war, it continued to suffer in the political turbulence that followed.
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« Reply #97 on: December 02, 2007, 03:35:06 pm »



Francisco Goya: The Third of May 1808
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« Reply #98 on: December 02, 2007, 03:35:55 pm »

The Peninsular War signified the traumatic entry of Portugal into the modern age. The Court's movement to Rio de Janeiro initiated the process of Brazil's state-building that eventually produced its independence. The skilful evacuation by the Portuguese Fleet of more than 15,000 people from the Court, Administration, and Army was a bonus for Brazil and a blessing in disguise for Portugal, as it liberated the energies of the country. The Governors of Portugal nominated by the absent king had a scant impact on account of successive French invasions and British occupation.

The role of the War Minister Miguel Pereira Forjaz was unique. Wellington held him as "the only statesman in the Peninsula." With the Portuguese Staff, he managed to build a regular army of 55,000 men and a further 50,000 as national guard milicias and a variable number of home guard ordenanças, perhaps totalling more than 100,000. In an 1812 letter to Baron Stein, the Russian Court Minister, Forjaz recommended a "scorched earth" policy and the trading of time for space as the only way to defeat a French invasion. Alexander I, Tsar of Russia, ordered his generals to use Wellington's Portuguese strategy and avoid battles to starve Napoleon's Grande Armée.[citation needed]

The nation at arms had a similar impact on Portugal as the French Revolution on France. A new class, tried, disciplined, and experienced by war against the French Empire, would assert Portuguese independence. Marshal Beresford and 160 officers were retained after 1814 to lead Portugal's Army while the King was still in Brazil. Portuguese politics hinged on the project of a Luso-Brazilian United Kingdom, with the African colonies supplying slaves, Brazil manufacturing and Portugal the trade. By 1820, this became untenable. Portuguese Peninsular War officers expelled the British and began the liberal revolution at Porto on August 24. Liberal institutions were only consolidated after a civil war in 1832-34.
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« Reply #99 on: December 02, 2007, 03:36:30 pm »

Prosper Mérimée's Carmen, on which Bizet's opera Carmen was based, is set during the war.

Curro Jiménez was a very successful Spanish TV series about a generous bandit fighting against the French in Sierra Morena.

The British Sharpe novels by Bernard Cornwell were a series of novels following the adventures of a British Army officer and were set, partly, during the Peninsular War. They were later made into a series of television movies featuring actor Sean Bean as Sharpe (see Sharpe (TV Series)).

The C. S. Forester novel Death to the French is set in the Peninsular War. It concerns a private in a British Rifle Regiment who is cut off from his unit and joins a group of Portuguese guerillas. The 1957 motion picture "The Pride and the Passion", also set during the Peninsular War, was based on Forester's novel "The Gun".

The Peninsular War saw the first use of "devices," or clasp bars, on medals. The Peninsular Medal was issued to soldiers in Wellington's army, with a clasp for each major battle in which they participated. When four were issued, a Peninsular Cross was given, with each arm inscribed with the battle's name. Subsequent clasps were then added to the ribbon. Wellington's Peninsular Cross, featuring a unique nine clasps, can be seen on his uniform in the basement at Apsley House.
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« Reply #100 on: December 02, 2007, 03:41:35 pm »



War of the Fifth Coalition
Part of the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleon at the Battle of Wagram. The bloody two-day battle led to over 40,000 Austrian casualties and broke the will of Austria's most able commander, the Archduke Charles.
Date 10 April – 14 October 1809
Location Central Europe, Italy, and Netherlands
Result French victory
Territorial
changes Treaty of Schönbrunn
 
Combatants
 France

 Duchy of Warsaw
Confederation of the Rhine


 Saxony
 Bavaria
 Württemberg
 Westphalia
 Italy
 Naples
 Swiss Confederation
 Holland

  Austria

 United Kingdom
 Black Brunswickers  Sicily
 Sardinia
 
Commanders
 Napoleon I  Archduke Charles
Strength
275,000[1] 340,000 Austrians,[2]
40,000 British[3]
Casualties
100,000+ 100,000+
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