Siege of Saragossa (1809)

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Second Siege of Saragossa
Part of the Peninsular War

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
Belligerents
Flag of France French Empire Flag of Spain Spain
Commanders
Jeannot de Moncey,
Édouard Mortier,
Jean Lannes		 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 and losses
10,000,
4,000 dead in action,
6,000 dead by illness		 54,000 dead[2]
v • d • e
Peninsular War

Napoleon's Campaign, 1808–1809
Pancorbo – Valmaseda – Burgos – Rosas – Espinosa – Tudela – Somosierra – Cardadeu – Sahagún – Saragossa – Castellón – Corunna

The Second Siege of Saragossa was the French capture of the Spanish city of Zaragoza during the Peninsular War. It is particularly noted for its brutality.

Contents

[edit] Prelude

Following the withdraw of the French to the line of the Ebro after the first siege, the Saragossans did not refurbish the city’s defenses 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 defenses.

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

[edit] Battle

Fighting was confined to the outlying defenses 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 defenses 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 the belfry. However, French superiority in equipment and training took 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.[1]

Map (1868) of the Second Siege of Saragossa
Map (1868) of the Second Siege of Saragossa

[edit] Brutality

It is widely considered one of the most brutal battles of the Napoleonic Wars. The extreme brutality and vicious street fighting has prompted comparison to the Battle of Stalingrad. 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."[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

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

[edit] References

  1. ^ Napoleon's Total War
  2. ^ Napoleon Guide

[edit] External links