Siege of Saragossa (1809)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Second Siege of Saragossa
partof=the Peninsular War


caption="Assaut du monastère de Santa Engracia" by Louis-François, Baron Lejeune. Depicts the fighting of February 81809. Oil on canvas.
date=December 20, 1808 - February 20, 1809
place=Zaragoza, Spain
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France French Empire
combatant2=flag|Spain|1785
commander1=Jeannot de Moncey,
Édouard Mortier,
Jean Lannes
commander2=José de Palafox y Melzi
strength1=40,000 regulars,
4,000 cavalry,
60 guns
strength2=31,000 regulars and militia,
1,400 cavalry,
160 gunsref|strength
casualties1=10,000,
4,000 dead in action,
6,000 dead by illness
casualties2=54,000 deadref|lossesThe 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.

Prelude

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 December1808 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.

Battle

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 January1809 the French assailed the breaches and forced their way into the city. However where this would usually have resulted in a sacking, the populous, as well as the regular Spanish troops were far from defeated and horrific street fighting took place instead.

Individual battles are 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. [ [http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/napoleonic_wars/6361907.html?page=2&c=y Napoleon's Total War] ]

Brutality

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: "War to the knife." [ [http://www.napoleonguide.com/spain_palafox.htm Napoleon Guide] ]

ee also

*Siege of Saragossa (1808)

Notes

# Up to 20,000 Spanish civilians also took part in the fighting. [http://remilitari.com/cronolog/napoleon/talavera.htm]
# Spanish casualties include disease and civilian deaths. Disease claimed an additional 6,000 Frenchmen. [http://www.georgianindex.net/peninsularWar/peninsularBattles1809.html#ucles]

References

External links

* [http://www.asociacionlossitios.com/boletin18.htm The Sieges of Zaragoza]
* [http://www.georgianindex.net/peninsularWar/peninsularBattles1809.html#ucles Battles in Spain During 1809]
* [http://www.pyreneesguide.com/articles.asp?cID=56&sID=394&aID=1341 Sieges of Saragossa in the Peninsular War]
* http://www.asociacionlossitios.com/