February 25th, 1809 - The Battle of Valls

Conflict: Peninsular War

Combatants: French vs. Spanish

Location: Spain

Outcome: French victory

On this day in 1809, a French army commanded by Laruent Gouvion St. Cyr defeated Spanish troops commanded by Theodor von Reding near Catalonia. Von Reding was himself killed in a cavalry melee.

Le 12e dragons s'illustra en Espagne 1809 by Paul Kauffmann

Points of Interest:

• St. Cyr was replaced by Napoleon the following year and angrily departed Spain before his replacement had even arrived.

• However, St. Cyr was given command of the VI Corps two years later for the invasion of Russia.

Gouvion Saint Cyr by Gabriel Fiesinger

Theodor von Reding by an unknown artist

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Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1990). The Napoleonic Source Book. New York: Facts on File.