Siege of Saragossa (1808)
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| First Siege of Saragossa | |||||||
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| Part of the Peninsular War | |||||||
 Assault on the walls of Saragossa a 1845 painting by January Suchodolski oil on canvas, National Museum in Warsaw |
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| Combatants | |||||||
 France Duchy of Warsaw |
 Spain |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Charles de Lefebvre | José de Palafox y Melzi | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 8,500 regulars, 1,000 cavalry, 12 guns |
500 regulars, 6,000 militia |
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| Casualties | |||||||
| 3,000 dead or wounded | Unknown | ||||||
| Peninsular War: Invasion by Stealth, 1808 |
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| El Bruc – Cabezón – 1st Gerona – 2nd Gerona – Saragossa – Rio Seco – Valencia – Bailén – Roliça – Vimeiro |
The First Siege of Saragossa (Spanish: Zaragoza) was a bloody struggle in the Peninsular War. A French army under General Lefebvre besieged, repeatedly stormed, and was repulsed from the Spanish city of Saragossa over the summer of 1808.
Lefebvre commanded one of several bodies of French troops deployed by Napoleon to restore order to Spain after the spread of the Dos de Mayo uprisings. In June, Captain-General José de Palafox y Melzi declared war on the French and led the people of Aragon into mass revolt. Lefebvre advanced on Saragossa with about 6,000 men.
Spanish detachments attempting to ward-off the approaches to the city were easily thrown back by the disciplined French soldiers. General Palafox personally intercepted the French with a small force at Alagon but his men were swiftly put to flight and he raced off to command the defence of the city.
Saragossa's fortress was in deplorable condition and proved no obstacle. Lefebvre then subjected the city to bombardment and assault, neither of which, however, made much impression. Although Palafox's army numbered little more than 6,000, the people's hatred for the invader had driven them to arms in mass, swelling his ranks.
At the end of June, the French received 3,500 reinforcements and several fresh batteries. A month of carnage followed in which the French demolished large sections of the city and captured others by storm, only to be forced out again in furious street fighting. A Polish cavalry squadron of the Vistula Uhlans battled its way into the heart of the city but unsupported by infantry it fell back.
On August 13, the French were compelled to lift the siege and retreat north, their 61-day effort ending in defeat. By then the unconquerable Palafox had become legendary in Spain.
[edit] Aftermath
Palafox's resistance made him a national hero. Saragossa would endure a second, longer, more famous siege starting in late December. When it finally fell to the French in 1809, Saragossa had become a city of corpses and smoking rubble: 12,000 people would remain of a prewar population of over 100,000.
