Preliminary Events
Hoping to strengthen his Continental System by denying the British access to the Continent through Portugal, Napoleon, in October 1807, dispatched a force to seize that country. Granted free access through Spain, this force captured Lisbon on 1 December. Napoleon then sent Murat with a large force into Spain, where Napoleon's brother, Joseph, was installed as king. This act precipitated a national uprising against the French that resulted in the surrender of substantial French forces to the Spaniards at Baylen in July 1808 and to the British in Portugal in August 1808.
Napoleon in Spain, 1808-1809
As a result of these events, Napoleon determined to intervene personally. After concentrating his forces (principally drawn from his army in Germany) along the Ebro, he advanced on 8 November and by the 11th had penetrated and separated the Spanish forces opposing him. After the fall of Madrid on 4 December 1808, Napoleon moved to oppose British forces converging from the west. Hearing of Napoleon's approach in force, the British withdrew to the northwest. The French followed. Upon reaching Astorga, Napoleon decided that prospective operations were not of sufficient importance to require his presence; and on 17 January 1809 he departed for France, leaving further operations to his subordinates.
Subsequent Operations
Napoleon's subordinates were successful in the immediate task of driving the British from Spain; but they proved incapable of handling subsequent efforts of the combined Spanish, Portuguese, and British, who, under Wellington, succeeded in driving the French from most of Spain by December 1813.
Results of the Campaign in Spain
Napoleon and France suffered great loss in prestige. In addition, operations in Spain required nearly 200,000 men who were sorely needed in operations against the Prussians, Austrians, and Russians.
Back to The Gauntlet No. 12 Table of Contents
Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues
Back to Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1998 by Craig Martelle Publications
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com