Battle of Burgos

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Burgos
partof=the Peninsular War


caption=
date=November 7, 1808
place=Near Burgos, Spain
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France French Empire
combatant2=flagicon|Spain|1785 Spain
commander1=Jean-Baptiste Bessières
commander2=Conde de Belveder
Vicente Genaro de Quesada
strength1=20,000 infantry,
4,000 cavalry
strength2=9,000 infantry
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=2,000 dead, wounded, or capturedThe Battle of Burgos was fought on November 7, 1808, during the Peninsular War. A powerful French army under Marshal Bessières overwhelmed and destroyed the outnumbered Spanish under General Belveder, opening central Spain to invasion.

Spanish history remembers this battle for the vain gallantry of the Guard and Walloon regiments under Don Vicente Genaro de Quesada. Forming a rearguard for the shattered Spanish lines, these troops absorbed repeated charges by General Lasalle's French cavalry without yielding an inch of ground. The cost was a massacre of both French and Spaniards: of the 307 men in the rearguard only 74 survived, caked with blood; uniforms in tatters; bayonets bent and blunted.

It is said that Bessières personally returned Quesada's sword and had his wounds treated in the French field hospital. These acts of chivalry became increasingly rare as the Peninsular War dragged on.

External links

*Es icon [http://www.1808-1814.org/batallas/bburgos.html The Battle of Gamonal]