Siege of Cádiz

Siege of Cádiz
	Part of thePeninsular War
	; Map ofCádizin 1813
Date	5 February 1810 – 24 August 1812
Location	Cádiz,Spain36°31′54″N6°18′7″W/ 36.53167°N 6.30194°W
Result	Coalition victory
Belligerents
Spain; United Kingdom; Portugal	France
Commanders and leaders
Manuel la Peña; José de Zayas; Duke of Alburquerque; Thomas Graham	Claude Victor; Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult; Baron Sénarmont†
Strength
17,000–18,000 Spanish; 3,000–4,000 British; 1,700 Portuguese; 16 warships;	60,000–70,000; 30–35 warships;
Casualties and losses
896 dead; 3,706 wounded	4,500–5,500 dead or wounded; 30 ships destroyed

Peninsular war:Siege of Cádiz

150km
100miles

Tarifa

7

Bornos

6

Zújar

5

Barrosa

4

Baza

3

Fuengirola

2

Cádiz

1

current battle

Thesiege of Cádizwas a siege of the large Spanish naval base ofCádiz^[5]by aFrencharmy from 5 February 1810 to 24 August 1812^[6]during thePeninsular War.Following the occupation ofSeville,Cádizbecame the Spanish seat of power,^[7]and was targeted by 70,000 French troops under the command of the MarshalsClaude VictorandNicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soultfor one of the most important sieges of the war.^[8]Defending the city were 2,000 Spanish troops who, as the siege progressed, received aid from 10,000 Spanish reinforcements as well as British and Portuguese troops.

During the siege, which lasted two and a half years, theCortes of Cádiz– which served as a parliamentary Regency afterFerdinand VIIwas deposed – drew up anew constitutionto reduce the strength of the monarchy, which was eventually revoked by Fernando VII when he returned.^[9]

In October 1810, a mixed Anglo-Spanish relief force embarked on a disastrouslanding at Fuengirola.A second relief attempt was made atTarifain 1811. However, despite defeating a detached French force of 15,000–20,000 under Marshal Victor at theBattle of Barrosa,the siege was not lifted.

In 1812, theBattle of Salamancaeventually forced the French troops to retreat fromAndalusia,for fear of being cut off by the Coalition armies.^[10]The French defeat contributed decisively to the liberation of Spain from French occupation, due to the survival of the Spanish government and the use of Cádiz as a jump-off point for the Coalition forces.^[1]

Background

TheRevolution under siegestarted with the Siege of Cádiz.

Prelude

In the early 19th century, war was brewing between French emperorNapoleonand theRussian Tsar Alexander I,and Napoleon saw the shared interests of Britain and Russia in defeating him as a threat. Napoleon's advisor, theDuke of Cadore,recommended that the ports of Europe be closed to the British, stating that "Once in Cadiz, Sire, you will be in a position either to break or strengthen the bonds with Russia".^[11]

Soult and his French army invaded Portugal in 1809 but were beaten by Wellesleyat Oporto on 12 May.The British and Spanish armies advanced into mainland Spain, however the difficulties that the Spanish army bore forcedArthur Wellesleyto retreat into Portugal after Spanish defeats in the battles ofOcañaandAlba de Tormes.By 1810, the war had reached astalemate.Wellesley strengthened Portuguese and Spanish positions with the construction of theLines of Torres Vedras,and the remainder of the Spanish forces fell back to defend the Spanish government at Cádiz against Soult's Army of Andalusia.^{[citation needed]}

Siege

The port ofCádizwas surrounded on land by the armies of Soult and Victor, in three entrenched positions at Chiclana, Puerto Real and Santa Maria, positioned in a semicircle around the city.^[12]In the case of the former position, only an area of marshland separated the forces.^[13]The French initially sent an envoy with a demand for surrender, which was refused.^[14]The fortress of Matagorda, north of Cádiz, was bombarded by the French. When the fort became untenable, it was evacuated by the defending94th Regiment of Foot.The last person to leave was to be Maj Lefebure of theRoyal Engineers,whose job was to fire amineto destroy the fort, but he was killed by a cannon shot.^[15]The French forces now had access to the coast close to Cádiz. The ensuing bombardment of the Spanish coastal city involved some of the largest artillery pieces in existence at the time, includingGrand Mortars,which were so large they had to be abandoned when the French eventually retreated, and fired projectiles to distances previously thought impossible, some up to 5 kilometres (3 miles) in range.^[4](TheGrand Mortarwas placed inSt. James's Parkin London as a gift to the British in honour of the Duke of Wellington.^[16]) The French continued to bombard Cádiz until the end of 1810, but the extreme distance lessened their effect.^[17]

The terrain surrounding the strong fortifications of Cádiz proved difficult for the French to attack, and the French also suffered from a lack of supplies, particularly ammunition, and from continuous guerrilla raiding parties attacking the rear of their siege lines and their internal communications withAndalusia.^[12]On many occasions, the French were forced to send escorts of 150–200 men to guard couriers and supply convoys in the hinterland. So great were the difficulties that one historian judges that:

The French siege of Cadiz was largely illusory. There was no real hope that they would ever take the place. Far more real was the siege of the French army in Andalusia. Spanish forces from the mountains ofMurciaconstantly harried the eastern part of the province. They were frequently defeated but always reformed. A ragged army underGeneral Ballesterosusually operated within Andalusia itself. Soult repeatedly sent columns against it. It always escaped... French dominion was secure only in the plains of the Guadalquivir and in Seville.^[18]

French reinforcements continued to arrive through to 20 April, and the capture of an outer Spanish fort guarding the road through to the Puerto Real helped to facilitate the arrival of these forces. This captured fort also provided the French with a vantage point from which to shell ships coming in and out of the besieged Spanish port.^[12]

During 1811, Victor's force was continually diminished by requests for reinforcement from Soult to aid hissiege of Badajoz.^[19]This reduction in men, which brought the French numbers down to between 20,000–15,000, encouraged the defenders of Cádiz to attempt a breakout.^[20]A sortie of 4,000 Spanish troops, under the command of GeneralJosé de Zayas,was arranged in conjunction with the arrival of an Anglo-Spanish relief army of around 16,000 troops that landed 80 kilometres (50 miles) south inTarifa.This Anglo-Spanish force was under the overall command of Spanish GeneralManuel la Peña,with the British contingent being led by Lieutenant-GeneralSir Thomas Graham.On 21 February 1811, the force set sail for Tarifa, and eventually landed atAlgecirason 23 February.^[20]Eventually marching towards Cádiz on 28 February, the force met a detachment of two French divisions under Victorat Barrosa.The battle was a tactical victory for the Coalition force,^[21]with a Frenchregimental eaglecaptured,^[22]but it was strategically indecisive.^[23]

Smaller sorties of 2,000–3,000 men continued to operate out of Cádiz from April to August 1811.^[24]On 26 October, British naval gunboats fromGibraltardestroyed French positions at St. Mary's,^[25]killing French artillery commanderAlexandre-Antoine Hureau de Sénarmont.An attempt by Victor to crush the small Anglo-Spanish garrison atTarifaover the winter of 1811–1812 was frustrated by torrential rains and an obstinate defence, marking an end to French operations against the city's outer works.

On 22 July 1812, Wellesley won a tactical victory overAuguste Marmont at Salamanca.The Spanish, British and Portuguese then enteredMadridon 6 August and advanced towardsBurgos.Realising that his army was in danger of being cut off, Soult ordered a retreat from Cádiz set for 24 August. After an overnight artillery barrage, the French intentionally burst most of their 600 guns by overcharging and detonating them. The Coalition forces captured many guns, 30gunboatsand a large quantity of stores.^[4]

In literature

The siege of Cádiz features prominently inBernard Cornwell'sSharpe's Fury,in whichRichard Sharpeis forced to help defend the city from the French before going on to take part in theBattle of Barrosa.^[26]
Arturo Pérez-Reverte'sEl asedio[es](English:The Siege) is a murder mystery set in Cádiz during the siege.

Notes

References

ancestor (2016)."St. James's Park".Retrieved22 May2021.
Burke, Edmund (1825).The Annual Register, for the year 1810(2nd ed.). London.Retrieved22 May2021.
Clodfelter, Micheal (2002).Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500–2000.N.C.: Jefferson & London: McFarland.ISBN 978-0-7864-1204-4.
cultdiv (2021)."Sharpe's Fury".Archived fromthe originalon 14 August 2007.Retrieved22 May2021.
Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2002).The Napoleonic Wars: The Peninsular War 1807–1814.Oxford: Osprey.ISBN 978-1-84176-370-5.
Glover, Michael (2001).The Peninsular War 1807–1814.London: Penguin.ISBN 0-141-39041-7.
Moore (2021)."Napoleonic Guide".Archived fromthe originalon 5 February 2021.Retrieved22 May2021.
Napier, William Francis P. (1840).History of the war in the Peninsula, and in the south of France from 1807 to 1814.Retrieved22 May2021.
Napoleon-series (2021)."Franco-Russian Diplomacy, 1810–1812".Retrieved22 May2021.
Hindley, Meredith (2013)."The Spanish Ulcer: Napoleon, Britain, and the Siege of Cádiz".Humanities, January/February 2010, Volume 31/Number 1.Archived fromthe originalon 11 September 2013.
Noble, John (2007).Andalucía.London: Lonely Planet.ISBN 978-1-74059-973-3.
Porter, Whitworth (1889).History of the Corps of Royal Engineers.London: Longmans.Retrieved22 May2021.
Rasor, Eugene L. (2004).British Naval History to 1815: A Guide to the Literature.Westport: Praeger.ISBN 978-0-313-30547-4.
Russell, William (1818). "Letter XVI: Progress of the War in various Scenes of Action".The History of Modern Europe:... with a continuation terminating at the pacification of Paris, 1815.Vol. 7. London.Retrieved22 May2021.
Southey, Robert (1828e).History of the Peninsular War.Vol. V (New, in 6 volumes ed.). London: John Murray.Retrieved22 May2021.

External links

Media related toSiege of Cádizat Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by Battle of Alba de Tormes	Napoleonic Wars Siege of Cádiz	Succeeded by Siege of Astorga

[FOOTNOTERasor2004148-1] Rasor 2004,p. 148.

[FOOTNOTEClodfelter2002174-2] Clodfelter 2002,p. 174.

[FOOTNOTENapier1840100-3] Napier 1840,p. 100.

[FOOTNOTESouthey1828e68-4] Southey 1828e,p. 68.

[FOOTNOTEHindley2013-5] Hindley 2013.

[FOOTNOTEFremont-Barnes200212–13-6] Fremont-Barnes 2002,pp. 12–13.

[FOOTNOTERussell1818306-7] Russell 1818,p. 306.

[FOOTNOTEFremont-Barnes200226-8] Fremont-Barnes 2002,p. 26.

[FOOTNOTENoble200730-9] Noble 2007,p. 30.

[FOOTNOTEMoore2021-10] Moore 2021.

[FOOTNOTENapoleon-series2021-11] Napoleon-series 2021.

[FOOTNOTEBurke1825169-12] Burke 1825,p. 169.

[FOOTNOTENapier1840169-13] Napier 1840,p. 169.

[FOOTNOTERussell1818433-14] Russell 1818,p. 433.

[FOOTNOTEPorter1889308-15] Porter 1889,p. 308.

[FOOTNOTEancestor2016-16] stor 2016.

[FOOTNOTEBurke1825170-17] Burke 1825,p. 170.

[FOOTNOTEGlover2001120-18] Glover 2001,p. 120.

[FOOTNOTESouthey1828e165-19] Southey 1828e,p. 165.

[FOOTNOTESouthey1828e167-20] Southey 1828e,p. 167.

[FOOTNOTESouthey1828e179-21] Southey 1828e,p. 179.

[FOOTNOTEPorter1889272-22] Porter 1889,p. 272.

[FOOTNOTESouthey1828e180-23] Southey 1828e,p. 180.

[FOOTNOTEBurke1825172-24] Burke 1825,p. 172.

[FOOTNOTEBurke1825174-25] Burke 1825,p. 174.

[FOOTNOTEcultdiv2021-26] ultdiv 2021.

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