Introduction and Background

Only one of Napoleon's senior officers was given the honour of being created a Marechal d'Empire for his services in the Iberian Peninsula, Louis-Gabriel Suchet, but his first venture in command was to end in disaster. After service during the Revolution and under the Consulate, Suchet had led a division of Lannes' V Corps d'Armee with distinction during the Austerlitz, Jena and Polish campaigns. [1]

In September 1808, when Napoleon was forced to intervene in Spain after King Joseph's flight from Madrid, the Corps was mobilised from its German cantonments. The Corps was now commanded by Mortier, for Jean Lannes had been given command of both V Corps and Junot's III Corps and given the task of taking the city of Zaragoza,, which had successfully stood off one siege already. The siege lasted from 20 December 1808 to 20 February 1809 and, at the risk of sounding anachronistic, the fighting inside the walls mirrored that for Stalingrad 133 years later. By the end, the city was in ruins, with the survivors and the besiegers riddled by plague brought on by the unburied corpses. [1]

Suchet had spent much of the siege protecting the lines of communication away from the depredations of the nascent guerrilla bands, but had already gained a reputation for diligence. When V Corps was re-deployed towards the Ebro for possible employment in the threatened Austrian War, Napoleon decided to remove Junot from III Corps and replace him with Suchet. Suchet would now be expected to pacify Aragon and extend French control into the neighbouring provinces. According to Oman, notification of the change of command did not reach Suchet until some time later, for he had accompanied his division on its march, so that is was not until May 19 that he reached his new headquarters. He had been accompanied by an escort from his old division, which he retained to bring his field strength up.

The removal of V Corps meant that the much reduced III Corps' had had to spread itself very thinly, and Suchet's delay in taking up his command meant that the dispirited Junot had been reduced to garrisoning the more important towns. The Spanish Patriot forces had not been slow to seize their opportunities, and the Supreme Junta had nominated General Joaquin Blake as the commander in the Coronilla, the ancient kingdom of Aragon together with Valencia and Catalonia.

Blake was one of those Spanish Generals gamers like to ridicule, but although he lost more often than he won (although in La Guerra de la Independencia terms these are relative), he and his armies kept on coming back. Blake's army was only some 10000 men, but was being reinforced. By the time Suchet arrived, the emboldened Patriot forces had advanced to Alcaniz, some 50 miles south east of Zaragoza. Realising that it was important to at least face off the Spanish army, Suchet marched out on 21 May, collected Laval on the way and arrived in front of Blake's position on 23 May. The Orders of Battle are given below, but Suchet had some 7300 infantry, 500 cavalry and 18 guns, whilst Blake disposed of some 7900 infantry, 400 cavalry and 19 guns. [3]

As can be seen from the map, Blake had stationed his troops along a range of hills to the East of Alcaniz, with the Rio Guadalope behind them. With only one bridge, this was a potentially foolhardy position in the event of a collapse, one on which Suchet hoped to capitalise. Areizaga's command composed the Spanish right wing, with 4 battalions in the front rank and one, with the company of Tiradores de Cartegena, in reserve. These troops were all recruited from Aragon. In the centre, on Las Horcas, was Lazan whose Valencians protected the Spanish artillery. The Spanish left centre was under Roca, and he had deployed five of his Valencian units on La Perdiguera with the remaining two acting as a link with the small force of cavalry Blake had formed at the extreme left wing. Blake's army was a mixture of regulars, and volunteers, and is analysed below.

Laval's brigade from Division Grandjean formed the French left, protected on their right by Wathier's 4e Hussards. Division Musnier, except for the solitary battalion of 121e Ligne faced Lazan and Roca. In reserve were the battalion of 121e, the battallion reunis of the 40e and 64e Ligne from Suchet's old command in V Corps, together with the two squadrons of 13e Cuirassiers. I can find no details of where the artillery was stationed, but I would suggest that since it does not seem to have been used at all well that it supported all the French attacks from rear positions.

After spending the morning of the 23rd carrying out a reconnaissance and to rest his troops, Suchet began his attack by feinting with Laval against Areizaga. This was sufficiently worrying for Blake to redeploy his cavalry and the two detached battalions to back Areizaga up. Wathier's 4eme Hussards were able to chew up the hotchpotch of Spanish cavalry units when they had the temerity to try to charge the French, who began falling back once they had succeeded in drawing in Blake's reserves.

With Blake's attention drawn to the North, Suchet shifted his attack against the Spanish centre. The 114e and the I er Legion de la Vistule formed colonne de division par battalion and moved off. Suchet expected this to be the decisive attack and accompanied it. Taking casualties from the artillery as they advanced, the five battalions reached the foot of the hill when the Spanish artillery changed to canister, and Lazan's infantry began firing.

Seemingly overwhelmed by the volume of fire, and with Roca moving foward against their flank, Musnier's men wavered then broke, falling back behind the five battalions still uncommitted. Suchet, who had been wounded in the foot during the attack was successful in rallying them. However, he felt unable to renew combat, since he had suffered some 700 casualties to Blake's 300. [4]

Blake did not press his advantage, for the French still showed a steady front and, moreover, disposed of a respectable mounted force that could damage him on the open plain. That night however, Laval's brigade heard a rumour of Spanish cavalry and broke, infecting the rest of Suchet's army with panic. By the morning, Blake found nothing in front of him, but, being in expectation of reinforcements, let Suchet retire back to Zaragoza.

In the days that followed, Suchet restored discipline in his army, and concentrated his forces for the inevitable "return match" How this went will be the subject of another article.

Battle of Alcaniz 23 May, 1809

Introduction and Background
Orders of Battle and Large Map (72K)
Wargaming the Battle of Alcaniz and Footnotes