Siege of Burgos

Siege of Burgos
Part of the Peninsular War

The Siege of Burgos, by François Joseph Heim, 1813
Date 19 September to 21 October 1812
Location Burgos, Spain
Result French victory
Belligerents
French Empire United Kingdom
Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Louis Dubreton Marquess Wellington
Strength
2,000 35,000 Portuguese and British infantry
13 engineers
8 24-pound cannon[1]
Casualties and losses
304 killed,
323 wounded,
60 captured		 550 killed,
1,550 wounded
Peninsular War
Castile, 1811–1812

At the Siege of Burgos, from 19 September to 21 October 1812, the Anglo-Portuguese Army led by General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington tried to capture the castle of Burgos from its French garrison under the command of General of Brigade Jean-Louis Dubreton. The French repulsed every attempt to seize the fortress, resulting in one of Wellington's rare defeats. The siege took place during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Burgos is located about 210 kilometres (130 mi) north of Madrid.

After crushing Marshal Auguste Marmont's French army at the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812, Wellington exploited his great victory by advancing on Madrid. After the disaster, King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan retreated to Valencia where they sought refuge with Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet. The magnitude of Wellington's triumph also compelled Marshal Nicolas Soult to evacuate Andalucia in the south and withdraw to Valencia. The combined armies of Soult and Joseph soon posed a serious menace to Wellington's grasp on Madrid. The recently-defeated French army in the north also built up its strength. Wellington made plans to counter the southern French threat while hoping to quickly capture the strategically important Burgos position, which was an important French supply base.

Instead, Dubreton led a masterful defense, thwarting Wellington's assaults time after time. The British commander's hopes were blasted when his attempts to contain the twin French offensives failed. With large French relief armies approaching Burgos from the northeast and Madrid from the southeast, the British commander withdrew to the west, abandoning large areas of Spain that had been recently liberated. That fall, the French lost an opportunity to defeat Wellington's army. Nevertheless, during the withdrawal to Portugal the Anglo-Portuguese army lost many men to pursuing French cavalry and starvation.

Contents

Background

Wellington's victory at the Battle of Salamanca on 22 July 1812 undermined the French position in Spain. On 30 July, his army reached Valladolid, northwest of Madrid. In a panic, King Joseph Bonaparte ordered Marshal Nicolas Soult to abandon Andalusia in the south of Spain and join with him to resist the Allied forces. At first, Soult refused to give up his petty kingdom in the south.

On 11 August, General of Division Anne-François-Charles Trelliard's dragoon division fought an inconclusive skirmish with the Allies at the Battle of Majadahonda northwest of Madrid. At first, the French dragoons routed Brigadier General Benjamin D'Urban's Portuguese cavalry. Reinforced by Major General George Bock's King's German Legion (KGL) heavy dragoons and some infantry, the Allies drove the French back. The next day, King Joseph evacuated Madrid and the Anglo-Portuguese entered the city in triumph. On 13 August, the Retiro forts surrendered to Wellington, yielding 2,000 prisoners, clothing, equipment and the eagles of the 13th Dragoons and the 51st Line Infantry Regiments.[2]

Harassed by Spanish guerillas, Joseph retreated all the way to the east coast city of Valencia, which was held by Marshal Louis Suchet. Wellington knew that if Joseph and Soult joined forces, his position in central Spain would become perilous. He counted on the autumn rains keeping the Tagus River high and preventing Joseph and Soult from threatening his southern flank. He also hoped that Spanish forces under General Francisco Ballesteros and an Anglo-Sicilian force under Lieutenant General Thomas Maitland would keep the French army busy in the south. He knew that the capture of Burgos would help secure his northern flank.

Siege

Accordingly, the 35,000-man Anglo-Portuguese army laid siege to the castle of Burgos on 19 September. For heavy artillery, Wellington had only three 18-pound cannon and 1,300 rounds.[3] Admiral Sir Home Popham of the Royal Navy offered to land more heavy guns at Santander, but Wellington declined to use this resource because he felt that he had limited time. After costly assaults at the sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, he was loath to mount a massive attack.

Dubreton's 2,000-man garrison included two battalions of the 34th Line, one battalion of 130th Line, one artillery company and one sapper company. Throughout the siege, he conducted a highly aggressive defence. An assault captured the San Miguel hornwork on 20 September, with 421 British and 198 French casualties. Attacks on 23 and 29 September failed to carry the castle.[4] Rain flooded the siege trenches. Mines were exploded under the walls, but with little effect.

At the time, the British army's sapper corps -- then called Military Artificers -- was very small. At Burgos, there were only five engineer officers and eight sappers. One of the sappers was killed and other seven wounded.[5] Wellington wrote, "This is altogether the most difficult job I ever had in hand with such trifling means."[3] Finally, on 2 October, Wellington requested two 24-pound cannon from Santander, but they would fail to reach Burgos in time.[6]

On 25 August, Soult raised the Siege of Cadiz and began to fall back to the northeast toward Valencia. Ballesteros mutinied, refusing to obey Wellington's orders to obstruct Soult's move. The 8,000 Anglo-Sicilians at Alicante on the east coast remained completely inert during this crisis. By 3 October, Soult and Joseph joined and concentrated 61,000 Frenchmen and 84 artillery pieces for the retaking of Madrid. Defending Madrid and the line of the Tagus was Lieutenant General Rowland Hill with 31,000 Anglo-Portuguese and 12,000 Spaniards. Wellington was 150 miles (241 km) north of Madrid at Burgos, dangerously separated from Hill's army. To make matters worse, the Tagus was not a serious military obstacle because of unexpectedly low water.[7]

In the north, General of Division Joseph Souham's 41,000-man Army of Portugal was swollen to 53,000 by transferring 6,500 infantry and 2,300 cavalry from the Army of the North and by 3,400 reinforcements from France. Souham began closing in on Wellington's outposts. Wellington later wrote, "I had no reason to believe the enemy were so strong till I saw them. Fortunately, they did not attack me: if they had, I must have been destroyed."[8]

Aftermath

Wellington raised the siege of Burgos on 21 October. He quietly slipped away, undetected by the French until late on 22 October. The following day, the drawn Battle of Venta del Pozo was fought. Wellington retreated to the southwest, closely pursued by Souham. Several actions occurred during the retreat including one at Tordesillas.

Meanwhile, after a clash at Tajuña, Hill evacuated Madrid and fell back to the west. Joseph re-entered the city on 2 November. The retreat continued until the two Anglo-Portuguese armies joined on 8 November in the neighborhood of Alba de Tormes. On 15 November, Soult's 80,000 Frenchmen faced Wellington's 65,000 Allies on the old Salamanca battlefield. But Soult did not attack, so Wellington retired to Portugal for the winter.

It appeared that all of Wellington's efforts in 1812 had been for nothing. Yet, his Anglo-Portuguese army had gained a moral ascendancy over the French that it would never relinquish.[9] The stage was set for the decisive campaign and Battle of Vitoria in 1813.

Notes

  1. ^ McNab, p 194
  2. ^ Smith, p 386
  3. ^ a b Glover, p 210
  4. ^ Smith, p 397
  5. ^ Oman, p 286
  6. ^ Smith, p 297
  7. ^ Glover, p 211
  8. ^ Glover, p 213
  9. ^ Glover, p 222

References