Napoleon Prepares to Review His Troops Heading to Conflict With Britain in Spain

In 1807, Napoleon signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau with Spain and sent an army to invade Portugal, thus beginning the Peninsular War. The Spanish government sent troops to join the French, having been assured that, in return for cooperating, it would receive Portugal’s territories. France’s purported ambition was the seizure of the Portuguese fleet, which was circumventing its blockade of British shipping. On December 1 Lisbon was captured with no military opposition. Then, under the pretext of reinforcing the army in Portugal, Napoleon bolstered his troop presence within Spain itself. His intention was, in fact, to ultimately occupy his nominal ally Spain, by force. In February 1808, Napoleon finally dropped the charade and turned on Spain, ordering French commanders to seize key Spanish fortresses and removing the Spanish royal family from power.

The Spanish had only 100,000 men, who were underequipped, leaderless, and scattered from Portugal to the Balearic Islands. A puppet council approved a new king, Napoleon’s brother Joseph. But when Joseph tried to enforce his rule, he provoked a popular uprising that eventually spread throughout the country. Citizens of Madrid rose up in rebellion against French occupation on May 2, 1808. The next day, in an event immortalized in a painting by Goya (The Third of May 1808), the French army shot hundreds of Madrid citizens in retaliation. Soon, bloody, spontaneous fighting erupted in much of the rest of country, and reprisals were repeated in other cities. These did nothing but strengthen the resistance. This fighting became known as guerilla war (“little war”), and the term “guerilla” has been used ever since to describe such combat.

As the situation in Spain deteriorated, the French responded by increasing their military presence. In February, Napoleon had boasted that 12,000 men would suffice to conquer Spain; by June, he had poured more than 165,000 troops into the country in an effort to control the revolt.

Napoleon also had his eyes on Portugal, but Britain stood in the way.  In June of 1808, British officers began arriving on the Iberian Peninsula and by August the Duke of Wellington was engaged in battle there.

Napoleon, in preparation for the escalating war, gathered his troops closer to the border in Spain, to then head to Bayonne.  These were the headquarters that supplied the troops that would invade the Peninsula.  One of these was Rennes near Normandy.

General Joseph Laurent Demont had served on the staff of the Army of the Rhine as early as October of 1792, after which he was in near continual service through 1809. He was a confidant of Napoleon, who promoted him to general and made him Count of the Empire. The gardes d’honneur were specially formed from light militia in the towns through which Napoleon was traveling. They often saw combat.

Letter signed, Bayonne, June 21, 1808, to Demont. “I have received your letter of June.  When I will be a Rennes, I will be greatly comforted to see you at the head of the garde d’honneur.”

The conflict in Spain would be a drag on Napoleon and in a sense help lead to his downfall.  His power was cresting and in a couple years, it would be in permanent decline.