Dos de Mayo Uprising

Dos de Mayo
	Part of thePeninsular War
	; The Second of May 1808: The Charge of the Mamelukes,byFrancisco de Goya
Date	2 May 1808
Location	Madrid,Spain40°25′N3°42′W/ 40.417°N 3.700°W
Result	French victory Uprising suppressed but insurrection spreads throughout Spain; Mass executions in reprisal; Outbreak of thePeninsular War;
Belligerents
France	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Joachim Murat	Pedro Velarde y Santillán†; Luís Daoíz de Torres†;
Casualties and losses
31 killed, wounded or captured; 150 dead; 31 dead, 114 wounded	200 killed, wounded or captured; 200 dead, 200 wounded, 300 executed

Peninsular war:Spain

200km
125miles

Toulouse

12

Vitoria

11

Tordesillas

10

Burgos

9

Salamanca

8

Ciudad

7

Talavera

6

Corunna

5

Tudela

4

Bailén

3

Valencia

2

Madrid

1

current battle

Wellington in command

Wellington not in command

TheDos de MayoorSecond of May Uprisingtook place inMadrid,Spain, on 2–3 May 1808. The rebellion, mainly by civilians, with some isolated military action^[4]byjunior officers,was against the occupation of the city by French troops, and was violently repressed by theFrench Imperial forces,^[5]with hundreds of public executions.

Background

The city had been under the occupation ofNapoleon's army since 23 March of the same year.^[6]KingCharles IVhad been forced by the Spanish people during theTumult of Aranjuezto abdicate in favor of his sonFerdinand VII,and at the time of the uprising both were in the French city ofBayonneat the insistence of Napoleon. An attempt by the French generalJoachim Muratto move Charles IV'sdaughterand her children along with hisyoungest sonto Bayonne sparked a rebellion.^[7]

Social aspects

TheDos de Mayowas among the few spontaneous popular uprisings of the war, launched without significant fore-planning, funding, or leadership by government elites. While elements within the Spanish military and state bureaucracy did envision military action to expel the French from the country, Murat's hold on Madrid was held to be unassailable in the short term. The two most senior uniformed leaders involved in theDos de Mayo,Daoíz and Velarde y Santillán, were caught unprepared by the actions of the laboring poor: Velarde, a 28-year-old artillery captain, was secretly plotting a campaign elsewhere in the country, but considered a direct attack on the Spanish capital impractical – drawn to the sound of gunfire, he joined the fighting contrary to his own military instinct, and would perish leading the defense of the Monteleón artillery barracks.^[8]

Beginning of the uprising

On 2 May a crowd began to gather in front of theRoyal Palacein Madrid. Those gathered entered the palace grounds in an attempt to prevent the removal ofFrancisco de Paula.Marshal Murat sent a battalion of grenadiers from theImperial Guardto the palace along withartillerydetachments. The latter opened fire on the assembled crowd, and the rebellion began to spread to other parts of the city.^[3]

What followed was street fighting in different areas of Madrid as the poorly armed population confronted the French troops. Murat had quickly moved the majority of his troops into the city and there was heavy fighting around thePuerta del Soland the Puerta de Toledo. Marshal Murat imposed martial law in the city and assumed full control of the administration. Little by little the French regained control of the city, and many hundreds of people died in the fighting. The painting by the Spanish artistGoya,The Charge of the Mamelukes,portrays the street fighting that took place.^[3]TheMamelukes of the Imperial Guardfighting residents of Madrid in the Puerta del Sol, wearing turbans and using curved scimitars, provoked memories ofMuslim Spain.^{[further explanation needed]}^[9]

There were Spanish troops stationed in the city, but they remained confined to barracks. The only Spanish troops to disobey orders were from the artillery units at thebarracksof Monteleón, who joined the uprising. Two officers of these troops,Luis Daoíz de TorresandPedro Velarde y Santillánare still commemorated as heroes of the rebellion. Both died during the French assault of the barracks, as the rebels were reduced by vastly superior numbers.^[3]

Impact of the uprising

The repression following the crushing of the initial rebellion was harsh. Marshal Murat created a military commission on the evening of 2 May to be presided over byGeneral Grouchy.This commission issued death sentences to all of those captured who were bearing weapons of any kind. In a statement issued that day Murat said: "The population of Madrid, led astray, has given itself to revolt and murder. French blood has flowed. It demands vengeance. All those arrested in the uprising, arms in hand, will be shot."^[10]

All public meetings were prohibited and an order was issued requiring all weapons to be handed in to the authorities. Hundreds of prisoners were executed the following day, a scene captured in a famous painting by Goya,The Third of May 1808.As the French had been attacked with a variety of improvised weapons, any craftsmen found with shearing scissors, kitchen knives, sewing needles or other tools of their trade were summarily shot. Only a handful ofFrench-speakingmadrileñoswere able to avoid execution by pleading in words intelligible to their executioners.^[11]

On the same 2 May, in the nearby town ofMóstoles,the arrival of the news of the repression prompted Juan Pérez Villamil, who was secretary of the Admiralty and prosecutor of the Supreme War Council, to encourage the mayors of the town, Andrés Torrejón and Simón Hernández, to sign adeclaration of warcalling on all Spaniards to rise up against the invaders. The name of this declaration was "Bando de los alcaldes de Móstoles" or "bando de la Independencia" which means "Edict of the Independence".

Analysis

The Dos de Mayo uprising, together with the subsequent proclamation as king of Napoleon's brotherJosephresulted in a rebellion against French rule. While the French occupiers hoped that their rapid suppression of the uprising would demonstrate their control of Spain, the rebellion actually gave considerable impetus to the resistance.^[12]

Aftermath

The Dos de Mayo uprising putIberia in revoltagainst French rule starting with theAction of Valdepeñas.

TheInvasion of Portugalhad started with theoccupation of Lisbonin 1807. But the Dos de Mayo uprising started a rebellion in Portugal with theCombat of Padrões de Teixeira.

TheBritish interventionstarted with theBattle of Roliçaled by Wellington.

TheSpanish conventional warfarestarted with theBattles of El Bruch.

Napoleon startedhis invasion of Spainwith theBattle of Zornoza.

In popular culture

The Second of May is now a public holiday in theCommunity of Madrid.The place where the artillery barracks of Monteleón was located is now a square called thePlaza del Dos de Mayo,and the district surrounding the square is known asMalasañain memory of one of the heroines of the revolt, the teenagerManuela Malasaña,who was executed by French troops in the aftermath of the revolt.^[3]

Several memorials to the heroes of 2 May are located over the city, including theMonumento a los Caídos por España(Monument to those who fell to their deaths for Spain).

Notes

^^a ^bGlover 2003,p. 51.
^Chandler 1966,p. 610.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^fEsdaile 2003,pp. 37–40.
^Diego García 2007,p. 17.
^Diego García 2007,p. 19.
^Oman 1992,p. 43.
^Oman 1992,p. 60.
^Fraser 2008,pp. 56–57.
^Fremont-Barnes 2002,p. 71.
^Cowans 2003.
^Fraser 2008,p. 66.
^Esdaile 2003,p. 46.

References

Chandler, David (1966).The Campaigns of Napoleon.Weidenfeld and Nicolson.ISBN 978-0025236608.Retrieved29 April2021.
Cowans, Jon. (2003).Modern Spain: A Documentary History.University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN 0-306-81083-2.
Esdaile, Charles J. (2003).The Peninsular War.Palgrave MacMillan.ISBN 978-1403962317.Retrieved29 April2021.
Fraser, Ronald (2008).Napoleon's Cursed War: Popular Resistance in the Spanish Peninsular War.Verso.
Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2002).The Peninsular War, 1807–1814.Oxford: Osprey.ISBN 978-1841763705.Retrieved30 April2021.
Diego García, Emilio de (2007)."El significado del dos de mayo"(PDF).Madrid. Revista de Arte, Geografía e Historia(9): 13–26.ISSN 1139-5362.
Glover, Michael (2003).The Peninsular War 1807–1814.Penguin Books.ISBN 0-14-139041-7.
Oman, Charles (1992).A History of the Peninsular War.Vol. 1. Clarendon Press.Retrieved29 April2021.

External links

Preceded by Invasion of Portugal (1807)	Napoleonic Wars Dos de Mayo Uprising	Succeeded by Battles of El Bruch

[FOOTNOTEGlover200351-1] Glover 2003,p. 51.

[FOOTNOTEChandler1966610-2] Chandler 1966,p. 610.

[FOOTNOTEEsdaile200337–40-3] Esdaile 2003,pp. 37–40.

[FOOTNOTEDiego_García200717-4] Diego García 2007,p. 17.

[FOOTNOTEDiego_García200719-5] Diego García 2007,p. 19.

[FOOTNOTEOman199243-6] Oman 1992,p. 43.

[FOOTNOTEOman199260-7] Oman 1992,p. 60.

[FOOTNOTEFraser200856–57-8] Fraser 2008,pp. 56–57.

[FOOTNOTEFremont-Barnes200271-9] Fremont-Barnes 2002,p. 71.

[FOOTNOTECowans2003-10] Cowans 2003.

[FOOTNOTEFraser200866-11] Fraser 2008,p. 66.

[FOOTNOTEEsdaile200346-12] Esdaile 2003,p. 46.

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