Napoleon Rushes to Suppress the Rebellion in Spain, As the English and Wellington Enter the War There

A strategic assessment from his Minister of War, with a long order from Napoleon

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 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, moreover, was worried not merely about Spain, but that the situation there would embolden other peoples dissatisfied with French rule, such as the Italians, to rise up as well. Such a spiraling crisis could get out of hand and draw French troops from Spain that were needed there. Thus, a central part of Napoleon’s military strategy was to maintain order in Italy so as to give a free hand to the army in Spain.

Far more than any other section of Spain, the Catalans fought ferociously and worked hard to undermine the lines of communication and supply from France into Spain. Napoleon failed to understand the implications of this revolt, wrongly believing to be a regional affair.

As part of his plan to overthrow the Spanish ruling family, Napoleon ordered his soldiers to seize Barcelona in February of 1808. The city’s fortress was successfully occupied, but a few weeks later the Catalan people rebelled against Imperial French rule. General Duhesme and his soldiers soon found themselves in difficulties. Hemmed in by Catalan militia and regular Spanish troops, the French general attempted to capture Girona in order to open up a secure supply line from France to Barcelona. The Franco-Italian force attempted to storm the city but they were repulsed by the city militia and two small battalions of Irish regular infantry in Spanish service. Duhesme fell back to Barcelona, but he returned to mount the Second Siege of Girona five weeks later.

The moment that the Catalan insurrection grew serious, Duhesme sent repeated appeals for help to the Emperor: the land route to Perpignan being cut, he had to use small vessels which put out to sea at night, risked capture by the English ships lying off the coast, and when fortunate reached the harbors of Collioure or Port-Vendres, just beyond the Pyrenees.

At the same time, losses elsewhere in Spain, including at Bailen, alarmed the French emperor. Finally, Napoleon realized the risks to his territory in Spain and set about mobilizing troops, establishing lines of supply, and providing new leadership. He briefly took command of the Spanish theater and, at the head of fresh troops and overwhelming numbers, dealt devastating blows to the vacillating Spanish rebels and their British allies. To do this, he and his Minister of War needed a way to get his troops safely in and out of Spain. This required a supply train and also freeing up Barcelona. He appointed Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr to sweep in from the North with these new troops and supplies, a war of attrition that initially saw successes but eventually helped deplete resources from an over-stretched French Empire.

As his position in the north of Spain became more and more tenuous, British military intervention became a reality for Napoleon in August 1808, when the Duke of Wellington landed in Portugal and successfully threw the French out of that country.

Initially men and supplies, mainly heavy and bulky artillery, as well as horses, were transported back and forth by civilian operators. Napoleon had the vision to change that and professionalized the artillery train.

Letter signed, from Minister of War Henri-Jacques-Guillaume Clarke, August 18, 1808, to Napoleon. “His majesty has ordered me to send to Perpignan [the border town in France heading toward Spain] one of the four battalions of the artillery train which are in Italy and to complete them with 1100 horses. The division of General Souham coming from near Brescia.. needed to come from the company of the 7th principal train which was in these places. I propose to his Majesty to order to Perpignan the remainder of the Batallion which is in Italy, leaving there only a detachment of 160 horses and 100 men, now at Rome…”

On the verso, Clarke has sketched out the state of the train battalions, a remarkable military strategy document, one of the best we have ever had.

On the front, and extending on the back, is the longest note of Napoleon we recall seeing, an Endorsement signed, in the hand of General Berthier and signed by Napoleon.

“The Viceroy [the ruler of Italy, his son-in-law] must be left at liberty to send whichever of the four battalions he chooses. As for the 400 horses which General Lacombe Saint Michel [governor of Barcelona] is levying, a detachment of 50 guardsmen has already been sent him. These must serve as the foundation of the new train battalion. Have 350 men sent from any of the battalion depots in France thus forming a battalion of 400 men to be completed by future levies. There will then be two train battalions in the army of Catalonia, one coming from Italy and another which it is proposed to levy. The Minister must give orders in the course of the day for the men to set out from the depots for Toulon and Perpignan. The Minister will present the draft of a decree to systematise everything relating to train battalions in Spain. Thus the battalion bis of the Guard should take a number in the line and the artillery of the Guard in Spain must have attached to it only those who actually serve the ordinance of the Guard.”