Bicentenary of Medellín (march 28,1809)

The battle of Medellín (March 28, 1809) was the final battle of Marshal Victor’s invasion of Extremadura of March 1809 and one of the most costly Spanish defeats of the Peninsular War. The Spanish Army of Extremadura under General Cuesta, had been forced out of its defensive positions on the Tagus River and had retreated to Medellín on the Guadiana River and then eastwards to La Serena, where on 27 March he was joined by the Duke of Albuquerque. This gave Cuesta a total of 19,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry and 30 guns, sufficient to risk battle.
On the other side, Marshal Victor had followed Cuesta over the mountains between the Tagus and the Guadiana, and after detaching troops to garrison the key-points of the route, he reached Medellín with 13,000 infantry, 4,500 cavalry and 50 guns.

The battlefield at Medellín was a triangle of land bordered by the River Guadiana to the north and the Hortiga to the west, with Medellin at the north western tip of the triangle, on the west bank of the Hortiga. Both Victor and Cuesta were willing to risk a battle. Victor’s army was the better organised and more experienced, and was superior in cavalry. Cuesta’s only numerical advantage was in his infantry, but this was split between raw recruits and men who had been defeated Gamonal and the Somosierra Pass. The one redeeming feature of the Spanish position was that the French were fighting with their backs to the River Guadiana. If the Spanish could win the day, their victory would be a large one.

Cuesta advanced in a thin line of infantry, that repulsing the first French cavalry attackse forced Victor to order a fighting retreat to a new position. However hte battle was decided on the Spanish left, were Cuesta ordered charge the bulk of the Victor's artillery. The Spanish infantry fought with impressive determination, and actually managed to reach the guns, but Victor sent the Latour-Mauburg's cavalry into the attack. The Spanish cavalry try counter-charge but they turned and fled, exposing the flank of the Spanish line. A similar collapse occurred on the Spanish right so the Spanish infantry was hit from the front and the rear.

The result was a massacre. At least 7,500 Spanish troops were killed in the battle with some battalions were virtually wiped out. The French took at least 1,850 prisoners and 20 guns. French losses were much lower, between 1,000 and 2,000. Cuesta retreated towards Sevilla. The Central Junta congratuled him despite the defeat and the heavy losses and by mid April, the reinforcements bring the Army of Extremadura back to same size as it had been before the battle. Victor remained in Extremadura until the middle of June and then participated in the campaign of Talavera.

Extracted from Military History Encyclopedia on the Web
Spanish activities Programa del Bicentenario de Medellín