The battle of Gévora (February 19,1811)

The Battle of the Gévora (Gebora, Gevora, Xevora) was a minor battle of the Peninsular War occurrying on 19 February 1811, near Badajoz, Spain, where an outnumbered French force routed and nearly destroyed the Spanish Army of Extremadura.
Soult led part of l’Armée du Midi from Andalucía into Extremadura and laid siege to the fortress town of Badajoz. It was a Soult’s diversionary operation to help extricate Massena’s army from his impasse in front of the Lines of Torres Vedras. A Spanish Army (with a small contingent of Portuguese cavalry) under La Romana was sent to raise the siege, but La Romana died unexpectedly and the command of this force was entrusted to Mendizábal, that arrived to Badajoz and ignored the Wellington’s advice and failed to entrench his army.
Soult sent a small French force (7,000 men and 12 guns) that attacked and routed the larger Mendizábal force 12,000 men and 17 guns) inflicting 1,000 casualties and taking 4,000 prisoners for a loss of only 400 men. The victory allowed Soult to concentrate on his assault of Badajoz, which fell to the French on 11 March and remained in French hands until the following year.

The combat has been refought using Lasalle ruleset and the result was, like in the actual battle, a decisive French victory. The history of the game can be find in previous posts in this blog. A detailed Scenario and AAR, with pictures, is available on the main web site.

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