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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.[1]
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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.
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 populace and the regular Spanish troops were far from defeated and horrific street fighting took place instead.
Individual battles were 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.[2]
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: the French commander sent Palafox the message Paz y capitulación, "peace and capitulation." Palafox responded, Guerra y cuchillo: "war and knife."[3]