Peninsular War

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The Peninsular War (1808–1814) (known as War of Independence in Spain and as French Invasions in Portugal) was a major conflict during the Napoleonic Wars, fought in the Iberian Peninsula with Spanish, Portuguese, and the British forces fighting against Napoleonic French. It has been described as "a hammer and anvil" campaign, the hammer being the Anglo-Portuguese Army, commanded by Sir Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, with 40,000 to 80,000 men, pounding the French army against the anvil--the Spanish armies and guerillas and the Portuguese militia.

The nature of the war was largely dictated by the characteristics of the Iberian Peninsula. Large armies could not live off the land, so although the French had almost 300,000 soldiers at their peak they were never able to concentrate them. Small ones could only do so for a limited period in any area, and were unlikely to achieve decisive results.

The war destroyed the social and economic fabric of Portugal and Spain and ushered an era of turbulent Liberalism, with major civil wars until 1850, led by officers trained in the Peninsular War. It also led to the independence of Brazil and the former Spanish colonies of South America.

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Progress of the war

In Berlin, 1806, Napoleon declared the Continental Blockade, forbidding British imports into continental Europe. Of the two remaining neutral countries - Sweden and Portugal - the last tried in vain to skip Napoleon's ultimatum. After Tilsit, 1807, being free at the East, the Emperor Napoleon decided to capture the Iberian ports. In November 1807, he sent an army into Spain under General Junot tasked with invading Portugal, after the refusal of the Prince Regent to join the Continental System. At the same time, General Dupont was sent in the direction of Cadiz and General Soult towards Corunna, as the Spanish Prime-Minister Godoy was duped by Napoleon. Two Spanish divisions joined the French troops in the attempt to occupy their rival, Portugal, their main ambition being to seize the Portuguese fleet. Lisbon was captured on December 1 against no military opposition. The Portuguese Army was positioned to defend the ports and the coast from a British Copenhagen-like attack. The escape on November 29, of the Portuguese Queen and Prince Regent and 6,000 people (plus 9000 Fleet sailors) from the Administration and the Court enabled John VI to continue to rule over its overseas possessions, including Brazil. It was a major defeat to Napoleon, who refered to it in the Mémorial de Sainte-Hèlene: "C'est ça que m'a perdu".

On the pretext of reinforcing the Franco-Spanish Army occupying Portugal, Napoleon then began sending troops into key towns in Spain; Pamplona and Barcelona were seized in February 1808. A Spanish coup, instigated by the aristocratic party, forced Charles IV from his throne and replaced him with his son Ferdinand VII. Napoleon removed the royals to Bayonne and forced them both to abdicate on May 5, giving the throne to his brother Joseph. A puppet Spanish council approved the new king. When Joseph tried to enforce his rule in Spain, he provoked a popular uprising. Citizens of Madrid rose up in rebellion against French occupation on May 2, 1808 but the revolt was crushed by Maréchal Murat.

Until then, British military operations on mainland Europe had been marked by bungling half-measures and a series of humiliating defeats. That was the main reason why Portugal refused British aid against Napoleon. (The Walcheren expedition 1809 was the last of these.) The British Army was not large enough to operate on its own against the French, and without strong allies, Britain had been forced to withdraw from Europe. The Spanish army won a stunning victory over the army of Pierre Dupont at the Battle of Bailén (May 19 – May 21). The Spanish captures a whole 15.000 men Napoleonic Army. In 18 June began the Portuguese uprising. The popular uprisings in Portugal and Spain prepared the British to commit substantial forces once again and British propaganda was quick to capture the novelty of the situation; for the first time, peoples, and not princes, were in rebellion against the "Great Disturber". In August, 1808 British forces landed in Portugal under the command of then Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley. Wellesley defeated forces under the command of Delaborde at Roliça on August 17, while the Portuguese Observation Army of Bernardim contained Loison. On August 21, the Anglo-Portuguese were strongly engaged at the Battle of Vimeiro by French forces under the command of Junot. Wellesley's careful management, strong leadership, and sound tactics repulsed the French and the Allies held their line. Despite his victory, Wellesley was replaced as commander by Harry Burrard, as he was considered too junior an officer to command the newly reinforced expedition to Portugal. A second, Hew Dalrymple was appointed as well, in case the first Burrard should die. These victories led to the French withdrawing from Portugal under the controversial Convention of Sintra in August, 1808. The British commanders were ordered back to England for the inquiry into Sintra, leaving Sir John Moore to head the 30,000-strong British force.

The Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish victories provoked Napoleon himself to lead 200,000 men into the Peninsula. The British attacked near Burgos but were soon forced into a long retreat, chased by the French and punctuated by battles at Sahagun, Benavente and Cacabelos, ending in an evacuation from Coruña in January, 1809. Moore was killed while directing the defence of the town in an action known as the Battle of Coruña. After only a little more than two months in Spain, Napoleon reparted the commandamong several of his marshals and returned to France.

In March, Marshal Soult initiated the second invasion of Portugal, through the northern corridor. Repulsed in the Minho river by Portuguese militias, he captured successively Chaves, Braga and, on March 29, 1809, Porto. Yet, the resistance of Silveira in Amarante and other northern cities isolated Soult in Oporto and he embarked upon a gamble to either become king of North Portugal or retreat from the country.

Meanwhile, Napoleon's victories had broken the Spanish armies, but had also forced the Spanish to begin the guerilla warfare that would contribute to the downfall of the French in Spain. In Portugal, Miguel Pereira Forjaz, the Secretary of War had rebuilt the Portuguese Army with money and arms received from the UK. The Reform of the Army, held up since 1806, was implemented. In a first phase some 20,000 were called to Regular Army and some 30,000 to Militias. Later on, this number would grow to 50,000 in the Army and another 50,000 in Militias, in addition to Ordenanças and voluntary units.

Wellesley returned to Portugal in April 1809 to command the Anglo-Portuguese forces. He strengthened his British army with the recently formed Portuguese regiments organized by Forjaz and the Governors of the Realm and adapted by General Beresford to the British way of campaigning and defeated Soult at the Battle of Grijo (May 10 – May 11) and then the Battle of Oporto (May 12). All other northern cities were captured by Silveira.

Leaving the Portuguese to take care of their newly-won territory, Wellesley advanced into Spain to join up with the Spanish army of Gregorio de la Cuesta. The combined Allied force clashed with an army led by King Joseph at the Battle of Talavera (July 27 – July 28), where the Allies won a costly victory which left them precariously exposed and soon had to retreat westwards. Wellesley was made viscount for his victory at Talavera. Later that year, Spanish armies were badly mauled at the Battle of Ocana and the Battle of Alba de Tormes.

After his most distressing experience of collaboration with the Spaniards, and fearing a new French attack, Wellesley took the decision to strengthen Portugal's defences. To protect Lisbon, he took a plan from Major Neves Costa and ordered the construction of a strong line of forts (162) along key roads and entrenchements and earthworks Lines of Torres Vedras).

The French reinvaded Portugal in July 1810 with an army of around 60,000 led by Marshal Masséna. The first significant clash was at the Battle of Coa. Later on, Masséna took "the worst route in Portugal". At the Battle of Buçaco on September 27, he suffered a tactical defeat in an unwary attack on a strong position, but he soon forced the Allies to retreat to the Lines. The fortifications were so impressive that after a small attack at Sobral on October 14 the conflict fell into stalemate. As Charles Oman wrote, "On that misty October 14th morning, at Sobral, the Napoleonic tide attained its highest watermark, then it ebbed." The Portuguese population was forced to subject the area in front of the lines to a scorched earth policy; at this stage nobody was under any illusions that French proficiency at requisitioning paid any attention to the wants of the locals. The French were eventually forced to withdraw due to a lack of supplies and disease.

The Allies were reinforced by the arrival of fresh British troops in early 1811 and began a offensive. A French force was beaten at Barrosa on March 5 as part of an unsuccessful manoeuvre to break up the siege of Cadiz, and Massena was forced to withdraw from Portugal after a stalemate at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro (May 3 - May 5). Massena had lost 25,000 men in the fighting in Portugal and he was replaced by Auguste Marmont. Soult came from the South to grab Badajoz. Soult's force was intercepted by an Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish army led by the Marshal William Beresford at the Battle of Albuera on May 16; after a bloody battle the French were forced to retreat.

The war then fell into a temporary lull, the numerically superior French being unable to find an advantage and being under increasing pressure from Spanish guerilla activity. The French had upwards of 350,000 soldiers in L'Armée de l'Espagne, but the vast majority, over 200,000, were deployed to protect the French lines of supply, rather than as substantial fighting units. The Spaniards managed to draft the 1812 liberal Constitution of Cadiz.

Wellesley renewed the Allied advance into Spain just after New Year in 1812, besieging and capturing the fortified towns of Ciudad Rodrigo on January 19 and Badajoz, after a costly assault, on April 6. Both towns were pillaged by the troops. The Allied army took Salamanca on June 17, as Marmont approached. The two forces finally met on July 22, and the Battle of Salamanca was a damaging defeat to the French. Marshall Beresford was severely wounded. As the French regrouped, the Anglo-Portuguese entered Madrid on August 6, and advanced onwards towards Burgos before retreating all the way back to Portugal.

The French hopes of recovery were stricken by Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. He had taken 30,000 soldiers from the hard-pressed Armée de l'Espagne, and, starved of reinforcements and replacements, the French position became increasingly unsustainable as the Allies renewed the offensive in May. 1813.

In a strategic move, Wellesley planned to move his supply base from Lisbon to Santander.

The Anglo-Portuguese forces swept northwards in late May and seized Burgos; then they outflanked the French army, forcing Joseph Bonaparte into the Zadorra-river valley. At the Battle of Vitoria, June 21, the 65,000 men of Joseph were routed by 53,000 British, 27,000 Portuguese and 19,000 Spaniards. Wellesley pursued and dislodged the French from San Sebastian, which was sacked and burnt.

The Allies chased the retreating French, reaching the Pyrenees in early July. Soult was given command of the French forces and began a counter-offensive, dealing the Allied generals two sharp defeats at the Battle of Maya and the Battle of Roncesvalles. Yet, he was severely repulsed by the Anglo-Portuguese, lost momentum, and finally fled after the Allied victory at the Battle of Sorauren (July 28 and July 30). This week of campaigning, called the Battle of Pyrenees is perhaps Wellington's finest. The adversaries' numbers were balanced, he was fighting very far from his supply line, the French were defending their territory and, yet, he won by a mixture of manoeuvre, shock, and fire, seldom equalled in the war. It was mountain warfare and at this moment Wellinton qualified the Portuguese Army as "The fighting cocks of the (allied) Army".

On October 7, after Wellington received news of the reopening of hostilities in Germany, the Allies finally crossed into France, fording the Bidasoa river.

The Peninsular war went on through the Allied victories of Vera pass, Battle of Nivelle, and the Battle of Nive near Bayonne (December 10 – December 14 1813), the Battle of Orthez (February 27, 1814) and the Battle of Toulouse (April 10). This last one was after Napoleon's abdication.

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The guerrilla war

During the war, the British gave aid to Portuguese Militia Levies and Spanish guerrillas, who tied down thousands of French troops. The British gave this aid because it cost them much less than it would have to equip British soldiers to face the French troops in conventional warfare. This was one of the most successful partisan wars in history and is the origin of the word guerrilla in the English language.

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Consequences in Portugal

The Peninsular War signified the traumatic entry of Portugal into contemporary age. The transference of the Court to Rio de Janeiro initiated the process of Brazil's state-buiding which, in due time became independent. The skilful evacuation by the Portuguese Fleet of more than 15,000 people from the Court, Administration, and Army was a bonus for Brazil and a blessing in disguise for Portugal, as it liberated the energies of the country. The Governors of Portugal nominated by the absent king had a scant impact on account of successive French invasions and British occupation. The role of the War Minister Miguel Pereira Forjaz was unique. Wellington held him as "the only statesman in the Peninsula". With the Portuguese Staff, he managed to build a regular army of 55,000 men and a further 50,000 as national guard milicias and a variable number of home guard ordenanças, perhaps totalling more than 100,000. In a letter to Baron Stein, the Russia Court Minister, 1812, Forjaz recommended a "scorched earth" policy and to trade time for space as the only way to defeat a Napoleonic Invasion. The impact a nation at arms in Portugal was the equivalent of the French Revolution, as a new class, tried, disciplined, and experienced by war against the French Empire was to assert Portuguese independence. Marshall Beresford was retained after 1814 as the commander of Portugal's Army ( and some 160 officers) , a sort of proconsul as the king remained in Brazil. The whole Portuguese politics hinged on the project of a Luso-Brazilian United Kingdom, the African colonies supplying slaves, the Brazils manufactures and Portugal the trade. By 1820, all this became untenable. The Portuguese Peninsular war officers expelled the British officers and began the liberal revolution at Oporto August, 24. The building of liberal institutions was consolidated only after a Civil War in 1832-34.

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Consequences in Spain

The new King Joseph was cheered initially by Spanish afrancesados ("Frenchified"), who believed that collaboration with France would bring modernization and liberty. An example was the abolition of the Spanish Inquisition. However, priesthood and patriots began an agitation among the populace, which became widespread after the French army's first examples of repression (Madrid, 1808) were presented, as fact, to unite and enrage the people against the invaders. The remaining ones were exiled to France following the departure of French troops. The painter Francisco de Goya was one of these afrancesados, and after the war he had to exile himself to France to avoid being prosecuted and perhaps lynched.

On the pro-independence side, both traditionalists and liberals were found. After the war, they would clash in the Carlist Wars, as the new king Ferdinand VII "the Desired one" (later "the Traitor king"), revoked all the social advances made by the independent Cortes, which were summoned in Cádiz acting on his behalf to coordinate the provincial Juntas and resist the French. He restored absolute monarchy, prosecuted and put to death every one suspected of liberalism, and, as his last misdeed, altered the laws of royal succession in favour of his daughter Isabella II, thus starting a century of civil wars against the supporters of the former legal heir to the throne.

The liberal Cortes had approved the first Spanish Constitution on March 19th 1812, which was later nullified by the king.

In Spanish America, the Spanish and Creole officials formed Juntas which swore allegiance to king Ferdinand. This experience of self-government led the later Liberators to promote the independence of the Spanish-American colonies.

The French troops seized many of the extensive properties of the Catholic Church. Churches and convents were used as stables and barracks, and artworks were sent to France. Spanish cultural heritage took a serious hit, but this was not as bad though, for Spain, as the actions of the other side. The affect of this was to severely impoverish Spain's economy, which would flounder during the rest of the century.

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Engagements during the war

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Major battles and sieges

Battle of Somosierra, one of greatest successes of 19th century Polish cavalry
Enlarge
Battle of Somosierra, one of greatest successes of 19th century Polish cavalry
  • Battle of Bailén 19 July 1808. French forces of 23,000 men under the overall command of General Dupont had been trapped by 30,000 Spaniards led by Castaños in Bailén in Jaén province (Andalusia). After five unsuccessful sorties the French surrendered.
  • Battle of Roliça (formerly spelt as Roleia in English) 17 August 1808. Wellesley had landed at Mondego Bay with 15,000 British troops and was heading south towards Lisbon. A French force under General Henri Delaborde tried to delay Wellesley's advance while awaiting reinforcements. A premature assault by the 29th Regiment forced Wellesley to order a general attack which succeeded and caused the French to withdraw. Though a small action in itself, it was the first British engagement in the Peninsular war and the first time that Col Henry Shrapnel's Spherical bullets were used.
  • Battle of Vimeiro 21 August 1808. Four days after Roliça, Wellesley's force, now comprising 17,000 Anglo-Portuguese troops, was attacked by General Junot and his Army. The attack was repulsed with the French taking 2,000 casualties, and Junot retreated to the nearby Torres Vedras.
  • Battle of Corunna 16 January 1809.
  • Battle of Talavera de la Reina 27 July-28 July 1809. Wellesley's 55,000 Anglo-Spanish troops were opposed by the 46,000 French of King Joseph Bonaparte, Marshal Jourdan and Marshal Victor near Talavera de la Reina, a town 110 km (70 miles) southwest of Madrid. Despite being handicapped by the fact that his forces consisted of 35,000 Spaniards led by the uncooperative General Cuesta, Wellesley succeeded in winning the battle. Casualties amounted to 5,500 British, 1,000 Spaniards and 7,200 French.
  • Battle of Buçaco 27 September 1810 The Allied Amr of 26,000 Portuguese and 26,000 British defeated a 45,000 Army of MAsséna. Casulaties were 626 Portuguese and 626 British ( a stunning coincidence) and around 4,500 French
  • Defence of the Lines of Torres Vedras (winter of 1810–1811). A non-clausewitz victory because no battle took place, except fopr a minor skirmish at Sobral October, 14, 1810, when "the Napoleonic tide ebbed"
  • Battle of Fuentes de Onoro 3 May – 5 May 1811.
  • Battle of Albuera 16 May 1811. An Allied force of 35,000 under Sir William Beresford had moved south from Badajoz to block Marshall Soult's attempt to relieve the siege with 24,000 French. The French attack eventually failed. All troops fought bravely; General Joachim Blake's division repelled the French; the British Fusillier brigades covered themselves with glory like the 3rd Bufs and "The Die-Hards". Portuguese 11/23 Brigade led the infantry charge againt the French that " changed the face of battle".
  • Battle of Badajoz 6 April 1812. The fortress at Badajoz with 5,000 French under General Phillipon, had been under siege by Wellesley's 30,000 Anglo-Portuguese troops since 16 March. On the night of 6th April a series of assaults succeeded in breaching the defenses and the French surrendered. Losses amounted to 1,500 French and 5,000 Anglo-Portguese.
  • Battle of Salamanca (also known as Arapiles) 22 July 1812. While retreating towards Portugal, Wellesley's Anglo-Portuguese force of 48,000 men was attacked near Salamanca by 50,000 French under Marshal Marmont. The British had almost won the battle in less than an hour when General Bertrand Clausel stabilised the situation for the French and launched an assault. Wellington and Beresford lead the counter-attack which routed the French with the Portuguese 3/15 Brigade. The failure of a Spanish force to block an escape route, prevented French entire force from being captured. Nevertheless, the French had lost 7,000 casualties with a further 7,000 men captured.
  • Battle of Vitoria 21 June 1813.
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Other engagements

Besides the major battles and sieges listed above, there were numerous smaller engagements during the course of the war. While the majority of these were of little strategic significance, many of them were interesting episodes.

  • Battle of Somosierra 30 November 1808. During his advance on Madrid, Napoleon was blocked by 9,000 Spaniards under General San Juan in the valley of Somosierra in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Because the Spanish forces could not easily be outflanked, and impatient to proceed, Napoleon ordered his Polish light cavalry escort of some 87 troops, led by Jan Kozietulski, to charge the Spaniards. Despite losing two thirds of their numbers, the Poles succeeded in forcing the defenders to abandon their position.
  • Battle of Fuengirola 15 October 1810. The mediæval fortress of Fuengirola near Málaga was defended by 200 Polish soldiers of the Duchy of Warsaw against approximately 2,500 British and 500 Spaniards under Lord Blayney. Although the British broke through the following morning, an attack by 200 fresh Polish troops from another garrison supported by 30 French cavalry led to the capture of Blayney and the retreat of his troops to their ships.
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Personalities

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British

  • Sir Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852) Anglo-Irish soldier and statesmen. Wellesley's successful command of the Allied forces during the Peninsular War earned him promotion from Lieutenant General to Field Marshal and elevation into the peerage as Viscount Wellington and later, Earl of Wellington. He was created Duke of Wellington in 1814.
  • Sir John Moore (1761-1809) Lieutenant General who took command of the British forces in the Peninsula following the Convention of Cintra until his death at the battle of La Coruña.
  • William Beresford (1768-1854) general in the British army who was promoted in 1809 to Field Marshal of the Portuguese army and given the task of organising it into an efficient and disciplined fighting force. He was knighted after the battle of Bussaco.
  • Sir Rowland Hill (1772-1842) was one of the few officers who Wellesley trusted with independent command. After playing a key role in a number battles, he was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1812.
  • Robert Craufurd (1764-1812) began the war as a brigade commander under Sir John Moore, and fell in the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo a little after obtaining the rank of Major General.
  • Thomas Picton (1758-1815) Major General in charge of the 3rd Division, he was one of the most competent of Wellesley's senior officers. He was knighted and promoted to Lieutenant General in 1813. He was killed at Waterloo
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Portuguese

  • Bernardim Freire A general who led the Portuguese revolt against the French invaders. He assisted Wellington at Vimeiro: He was assassinated by the mob at Braga on March 27th 1809
  • Francisco da Silveira General, commander of a Militia and Army Division in the North of Portugal from 1808 to 1813. Divisional Commander at Vitoria and Pirineus.
  • Miguel Pereira Forjaz General and Secretary of State of War. He was the reformer of the Portuguese Army from 1806 onwards and helped to make it an efficient war machine.
  • Manuel de Brito Mozinho A most successful Adjutant-General of the Portuguese Army since 1809. He helped Forjaz and Beresford to build an efficient machine of war with around 50.000 men
  • Tomás Guilherme Stubbs A Regiment and Brigade Commander during the Peninsular war, he distinguished himself and the 11/23rd Brigade at Salamanca, Vitoria and Pyrenees
  • Carlos Frederico Lecor. Military organizer of the Leal Legião Lusitana, in England, in 1808. Comanded the 7th Division of Wellington's Army, the only foreigner in charge of British troops.
  • Luís do Rego Barreto A colonel and later Brigadier, he fought at the main Peninsular battles, being cited in Wellington's dispatches as the "brave Luís do Rego".
  • João Carlos Saldanha. In spite of having only 24 years , the colonel Saldanha, and future Marshall commanded provisionally an Anglo-Portuguese division sieging Bayonne in 1814.
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Spanish

  • Miguel de Alava a Spanish general, the only individual present both at Trafalgar and Waterloo
  • Joaquín Blake y Joyes (1759 – 1827), commander of the Army of Galicia during Napoleon's second invasion.
  • José de Palafox (1776?-1847) Spanish General in the Peninsular War, celebrated for his heroic defense of Zaragoza. Elected Captain General of Aragón.
  • Francisco Javier Castaños (1758-1852) Spanish general who led the spanish troops during the victorious Battle of Bailen against Dupont's french forces.
  • Tomás de Zumalacárregui (1788-1835) Spanish Carlist General. A professional soldier, he fought against the French in the Peninsular War (1808-14) and supported the absolutist cause during the disturbances of 1820-23.
  • José de San Martín, (1778-1850) South American revolutionary leader. He served in the Spanish army during the Peninsular War, at Bailén, Albuera and Torres Vedras. After 1812 he devoted himself to the South American struggle for independence, playing a large part in the liberation of Argentina.
  • Agustina de Aragón was a heroine during the Zaragoza siege.
  • Daoíz and Velarde were two military officials that led the Madrid revolt on May 2nd 1808. After their execution, they became national heroes.
  • Juan Martín Díez Known as "El Empecinado" (1745-1824)
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French

  • Joseph Bonaparte, (1768-1844), King of Spain. The elder brother of Napoleon, who made him first King of Naples (1806-1808), and then King of Spain following his deposition of the Bourbons (1808-1813)
  • Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, (1762-1833), Marshal of France
  • Andoche Junot, (1771-1813) French General and diplomat.
  • Auguste Marmont, (1774-1852) Marshal of France.
  • André Masséna, (1758-1817) Marshal of France.
  • Joachim Murat, (1767-1815) King of Naples, Marshal of France. Napoleon's brother-in-law, he was made Grand Duke of Berg (1806-1808). He led the initial French invasion of Spain, and hoped to be made King until this position was given to Napoleon's brother Joseph. Murat was given Joseph's Kingdom of Naples as a consolation prize.
  • Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, (1769-1851) Marshal of France. He held commands in Spain in the Peninsular War. He invaded Portugal in 1809 but was repelled by the combined armies of Wellesley and Silveira. He was Chief of Staff at the Battle of Waterloo. He was war minister 1830-40.
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Role of intelligence

Intelligence played a large part in the successful prosecution of the war by the British after 1810. Spanish and Portuguese guerrillas were asked to capture messages from French couriers. From 1811 onwards, these dispatches were often either partially or wholly enciphered. George Scovell of Wellington's General Staff was given the job of deciphering them. At first the ciphers used were fairly simple and he received help from other members of the General Staff. However beginning in 1812, a much stronger cipher originally devised for diplomatic messages, came into use and Scovell was left to work on this himself. He steadily broke it, with the result that knowledge of French troop movements and deployments was used to great effect in most of the engagements described above. The French never realised that the code had been broken and continued to use it until their code tables were captured at the battle of Vitoria.


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Media influence

Prosper Mérimée's Carmen, on which Bizet's opera Carmen was based, is set during the war.

Curro Jiménez was a very successful Spanish TV series about Sierra Morena, a generous bandit fighting against the French.

The British Sharpe, featuring actor Sean Bean, series of television movies followed the adventures of a British Army officer during the Peninsular War.

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See also

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Further reading

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External links

The British Army in Portugal and Spain: Its Order-of-Battle (June 1808 - April 1809)]

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsular_War"
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