March 5th, 1810 - The Siege of Cadiz

Conflict: The Peninsular War

Combatants: French vs. Anglo-Spanish

Location: Spain

Outcome: Spanish (Allied) victory

As the French invaders won victory after victory across the Iberian peninsula, the Spanish resistance retreated into Cadiz in February of 1810 and made the city the capitol of Free Spain. Great Britain bolstered the garrison by landing 8,000 additional troops in the city. In September of 1810, the Spanish parliament, the Cortes, declared itself the only legitimate representative of the Spanish Empire. The Siege of Cadiz would not end until August of 1812. The French would not be driven out of Spain until Napoleon's abdication in April of 1814.

Deputes of the Cortes, Siege of Cadiz by José Casado del Alisal

Points of Interest:

• Napoleon Bonaparte referred to the war on the Iberian Peninsula as the "Spanish Ulcer".

• The brutal nature of the Peninsular War led to cruelty and atrocity on both sides.

Napoleon I of France by Andrea Appiani

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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.