Siege of Saragossa (1809)

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Second Siege of Saragossa

Assaut du monastère de Santa Engracia by Louis-François, Baron Lejeune. Depicts the fighting of February 8, 1809. Oil on canvas.

Date	December 20, 1808 - February 20, 1809
Location	Zaragoza, Spain
Result	French victory

Combatants

France

Spain

Commanders

Jeannot de Moncey
Édouard Mortier

José de Palafox y Melzi

Strength

40,000 regulars
4,000 cavalry
60 guns

31,000 regulars and militia
1,400 cavalry
160 guns^[1]

Casualties

4,000 dead

30,000 dead^[2]

Peninsular War: Second French Invasion, 1808–1809
Pancorbo – Valmaseda – Burgos – Espinosa – Tudela – Somosierra – Saragossa – Castellón – Uclés – Corunna – Valls – Villafranca – Ciudad-Real – Medellín – Porto – Gerona – Lugo – Alcañiz – San Payo – María – Talavera – Almonacid – Tamamés – Hostalrich – Torres Vedras – Ocana

The Second Siege of Saragossa, after a first in 1808, was an attack on the Spanish city of Zaragoza during the Peninsular War. It is widly considered one of the most brutal battles in the history of Napoleonic warfare—a comparison can even be drawn to the Battle of Stalingrad due to the the extreme brutality and vicious street fighting which occured in both sieges. The battle is perhaps best summed up by General Palafox's reply to the French upon being asked whether he would consider an armistice: "War to the knife."^[1]

1 Prelude
2 The battle
3 See also
4 Notes
5 External links

[edit] Prelude

Following the withdraw of the French to the line of the Ebro after the first siege, the Saragossan’s neglected to refurbish the city’s defences until after news of the Spanish defeat at the Battle of Tudela. However due to the French operations elsewhere, the Spanish were given three weeks in which to prepare the defences.

On 20 December 1808 the French army under General Moncey, and soon took the heights of the Monte Terro. Moncey’s calls for surrender were quickly rejected and the siege of the city proper began.

[edit] The battle

Fighting was confined to the outlying defences for the next month as the French slowly pushed closer to the walls with their entrenchments, and soon several breaches were made in the walls. Palafox quickly began preparing inner defences to resist the inevitable assault.

On 27 January 1809 the French assailed the breaches and forced their way into the city. However where this would usually have resulted in a sacking, the populous, as well as the regular Spanish troops were far from defeated and horrific street fighting took place instead.

Individual battles are remarkable for their ferocity. At one point in the San Augustin Convent the French held the Altar end of the chapel and exchanged shots for hours on end with the Spanish entrenched in the Nave and Belfry. However French superiority in equipment and training was taking its toll, and thousands were falling daily both in the fighting and due to disease, which was rampant through the city.

The end finally came when the French opened a second front into the city on the northern bank of the Ebro. On February 20 the Spanish finally surrendered. Most of the city lay in ruins, and around 54,000 people had perished in the siege.

Map (1868) of the Second Siege of Saragossa

[edit] See also

Siege of Saragossa (1808)

[edit] Notes

↑ Up to 20,000 Spanish civilians also took part in the fighting. [3]
↑ Spanish casualties include disease and civilian deaths. Disease claimed an additional 6,000 Frenchmen. [4]