Albuera for NB-4

Taken from the web site

Javi Gámez, the owner of the publishing rights and the soul behind the 4th Edition of Napoleon's Battles (NB-4) continues to add material to the Napoleon's Battles web site. The latest addition is Albuera, a scenario of the Peninsular War.
Albuera was a bloody battle fought in May 6th, 1811 by Beresford against Soult and, if the memory does not fail to me, it was included in one of the previous editions of Napoleon's Battles. Myself, I designed another version that is available in my web site (Battle of La Albuera)
According to Javi, the new scenario is no longer a military promenade for the French player, who now faces a serious dilemma because of his/her disadvantage in points, 367 vs. 442 of the Allies. For the design and the OOB's, Javi has used classical sources (Oman, Napier) as well as the more modern books written by Michael Oliver, Juan Jose Sañudo and Mark Thompson.

And the best thing: the new scenario is free and available to all NB fans in Albuera!

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Jordi Bru: an original military painter

Jordi Bru is a professional photographer specialized in military historical photography. He portrays armies and battles from snapshots taken in real recreations of the highlights of Spanish military history. Amongst their paintings, there are many devoted to the Peninsular War, including some less-known Spanish units of the era. You can see below a sample of his work.

Regimiento de Voluntarios de León (1812)

Cazadores de Olivenza (1808)

Many more paints can be seen in his web or in Facebook
Enjoy!

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The issue 18 of ALKAID is published!

As many of you will know, the magazine is one of the activities of ALKAID EDICIONES, an editorial effort devoted to the interaction amongst science, literature, poetry, history, environment, voyages, nature.... You can always find in ALKAID an article focused on one of your interests!

The Issue No. 18 contains one article related with our hobby:
"Vitoria and the end of the Peninsular War" written by this humble wargamer in his incarnation as amateur historian. The article covers the main events of the last Wellington's campaign: starting at the Portuguese frontier, and outflanking the French armies, until the rendez-vous in the plains of Vitoria and beyond until the end of the Peninsular War, from a Spanish point of view.

Copyright. Sergio Pardo 1813

In addition to the above article, there are many others about the last scientific findings in many fields as well as environmental or economic topics, mountain, poetry, short histories, etc. all written by scientits and researchers or by specialists.

The magazine is in Spanish and it is available by subscription (24€/3 issues). Go to ALKAID EDICIONES web site, http://www.alkaidediciones.com/, and download the Subscription Form or contact me in this e-mail address: rpardoalmudi@gmail.com

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Ferrer-Dalmau: a Spanish painter of battles

Agustina de Aragon by Ferrer-Dalmau

Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau Nieto (Barcelona 20 January, 1964) is a Spanish hyper realist painter specialized in Spanish military history. He currently lives in Valladolid (my home town). I don't know him in person, but I have watched several of his works in internet and today I have seen his pictures in live: a sample of 35 chosen pictures, privately owned, are exhibited in Valladolid.
My favourite Ferrer-Dalmau picture is 'Agustina de Aragón' shown above. Agustina Raimunda María Saragossa Domènech, or Agustina de Aragón (March 4, 1786 – May 29, 1857) was a Spanish heroine of the Spanish War of Independence (the Peninsular War for the english-speaking people). The action that made her famous, took place during the first French siege of Saragosse. "On July 2, 1808, the French army stormed the Portillo, an ancient gateway into the city defended by a hodgepodge battery of old cannons and a heavily outnumbered volunteer unit. Agustina, arriving on the ramparts with a basket of apples to feed the gunners, watched the nearby defenders fall to French bayonets. The Spanish troops broke ranks, having suffered heavy casualties, and abandoned their posts. With the French troops a few yards away, Agustina herself ran forward, loaded a gun, and lit the fuse, shredding a wave of attackers at point blank range. The sight of a lone woman bravely manning the cannons inspired the fleeing Spanish troops and other volunteers to return and assist her."
The picture shows the moments after the firing of the gun. A young Agustina (she was 22 years old) remains challenging at the side of the artillery piece, amongst dead and wounded, waiting for the next French attack and knowing that she can no longer do anything.

General Alava by Ferrer-Dalmau

Another favourite mine is the above picture showing the General Alava along the British 15th Hussars.

The above video is a summary of the exhibition. You can enjoy more of the Ferrer-Dalmau's work in Wikimedia Commons

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The Bicentennial of the Battle of the Pyrenees

The history
After the Battle of Vitoria on June 21, 1813 and the withdrawal of the forces of King Joseph, French rule in the Iberian peninsula consisted only of the eastern coastal area (along with some cities with garrisons in Catalan) held by the Marshal Suchet, who stood as an independent force until 1814 and in the fortresses of San Sebastian and Pamplona were immediately besieged by Wellington, whose forces amounted to 62,000 British, Potuguese and Spanish men defending the line of western Pyrenees.
Faced with the threat of an Allied invasion, Napoleon sent from Germany to Marshal Jean de Dieu Nicholas Soult, who reorganized the demoralized French forces and built up a new army of 64,000 men in three Army Corps: Clausel (left), D'Erlon (center) and Reille( right). One month after the battle of Vitoria, Soult attacked the border passes in the Navarrese Pyrenees, in the zone located between Saint Jean de Luz and Saint Jean Pied de Port.
On 25th July, Soult with the Corps of Clausel and Reille fought the reinforced British 4th division and a Spanish division at the Battle of Roncevalles. The Allied force successfully held off all attacks during the day, but retreated from Roncevalles Pass that night in the face of overwhelming French numerical superiority.
Also on 25th, the D'Erlon's Corps severely tried the British 2nd division at the Battle of Maya. The British withdrew from the Maya Pass that evening.
Wellington rallied his troops a short distance north of Pamplona and repelled the attacks of Clausel and Reille at the Battle of Sorauren on 28th July. Instead of falling back northeast towards Roncevalles Pass, Soult made contact with D'Erlon's Corps on 29th July and began to move north. Soult abandoned the offensive on 30th July and headed towards France, having failed to relieve either garrison.
On 30th July, Wellington attacked Soult's rearguard at Sorauren, driving some French troops to the northeast, while most continued to the north. Soult led his army up the Bidassoa River valley and escaped the British after a final rearguard action at Etxalar on 2nd August.
In conclusion, Soult failed to relieve the sieges at San Sebastian and Pamplona, suffered about 13,000 casualties. Wellington's total losses for the campaign were 7,000. The next action was the Battle of San Marcial on the Bidasoa River banks, at the end of August.

More basic information at the Wikipedia: Battle of the Pyrenees
The British version can be read at the works of Oman, Napier and many other British historians. The French version can be seen in 'Campagne de Marechal Soult dans les Pyrenees Occidentales' and the Spanish version in 'Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolucion de España Vol V' de Toreno. The full Toreno's book can be found at Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España (go to the 23th book).

The Wargaming
The battles of Maya, Roncesvalles ansd Sorauren were known to me, 30 years ago, thanks to the Terence Wise's booklet The Peninsular War: 1813 ( Model & Allied Publications Ltd., Hemel Hempstead, 1974). This was one of the first wargaming books I buyed by mail from Great Britain.

The pictures of the booklet, with detailed battle maps showing the movements of the armies and depicting French and British Airfix 1/72 plastic miniatures, like the ones I was starting to collect and paint, were an important inspiring factor in my early wargaming activities.

I can remember me carefully placing the scenery on a very simplified wargaming table, following the troops movements marked in the book, moving carefully my newly painted figures, and trying to apply the rules of the Bruce Quarrie's book Napoleonic Wargaming.

Ah, we were young!

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Trafalgar and Vitoria

I am a fan of Curro, a great maker of military dioramas, author of many of Napoleonic subjects, and whose work can be seen at his 'blog of curro'.
However, this post is about his other blog: 'Diorama de Trafalgar'. A sample piece of this amazing diorama is now in the main Exposition about the Bicentennial of the Battle of Vitoria in the Sala Fundación Caja Vital Kutxa  (c/ Postas, 13 and 15 - 01005 Vitoria-Gasteiz), until October 31. Yan can see below two pictures of this singular piece

In addition to the above curro's blog, you can also read a full report (in Spanish) with many, many pictures about the diorama at the 'Todo a babor' page.

And you could say: Trafalgar and Vitoria? Well, the nexus is the figure of Miguel Ricardo de Álava y Esquivel (7 July 1770 – 14 July 1843), a.k.a. the General Alava, which holds the distinction to have been the only man who was present at both Trafalgar and Waterloo, fighting against the British on the former and with them on the latter.
He was present as a Marine at the Battle of Trafalgar on board the flagship of his uncle Admiral Ignacio Álava and served as delegate of the Spanish forces in the British units during the Peninsular War, wehere he saw action in the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo and the storming of Badajoz as well as in the battles of Bussaco, Salamanca and Vitoria.

After the battle of Vitoria, the General Álava, in command of a British cavalry unit, took his native city, thus preventing it from being plundered by the British: 'These (the British) are worst ever than the French'. The town acknowledged his exploit by giving him a sword. The below picture (from the Vitoria comics book) depicts this incident.

He was appointed Spanish ambassador to The Hague in 1815, and he incorporated to the Wellington's staff during the Waterloo campaign. Álava stuck close to the Duke during the battle yet, despite being in the thick of the action, both Wellington and Alava survived the 10 hours' slaughter without so much as a scratch, with the Duke declaring to Alava: 'The hand of Almighty God has been upon me this day.'

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The emotive bicentennial of Vitoria

On Sunday 23 of June there was a moving ceremony at the height of Júndiz near Vitoria.
The direct descendants from the Duke of Wellington, Charles Wellesley, and the General Alava (one of the Spanish ADC's of the Duke also present in Trafalgar and Waterloo), Gonzalo Serrats, were preparing to place a commemorative plate with a Latin inscription on the cross remembering the battle held on June 21, 1813.
At the last moment, a man came forward saying "My name is Peter Bult, and I am the grandson of the grandson of the grandson of Luke Smith, a soldier of the 40th Regiment Infantry of the Anson brigade. I want to put that plate"
The answer was a round of applause from those present, members of the Historical Association Vitoria 2013. When Mr. Bult took the drill to place the plate, he burst into tears. It was a very touching moment.

Taken from the Facebook wall of Miguel Ángel Garcia
More pictures at the Miguel Ángel's blog Guerra de la Independencia

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A (Spanish) comics about Vitoria

The Spanish miniaturist, wargamer and blogger, Alfons Cánovas, is publishing in his blog Miniaturas Militares (Military Miniatures), a series of scanned images of a rare comic book about that battle. The title of the comic is La Batalla de VITORIA (21 DE JUNIO DE 1813) and the authors were Jose Luis Salinas and Adolfo Usero with a text of Hernandez Cava. It was published in 1985 by Ikusager Ediciones at Vitoria-Gasteiz.
See below two samples of the comics (part No. 4)

The full set of scannings can be downloaded following this link

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Wargaming Vitoria 1813

Today, June 21, is the bicentennial of the battle of Vitoria, the last big battle of the Peninsular War (you can see the previous post for a historical introduction).
This battle saw the fight between the Wellintong's full Army, comprising British, German, Portuguese and Spanish allies, and a combined French force formed by the Armies of Portugal, North and Centre, under the nominal command of Joseph Bonaparte, the intruder king of Spain.
I have re-fought this battle in 2007 using Napoleon's Battles. However, the nature of the battlefield, forced me to make two different scenarios:
1) The main southern battle in which the right, right-center and left-center Allied columns (commanded respectively by Hill, Wellington and Delhousie) crossed the Zadorra river and fought against the French Armies of South and Centre (commanded respectively by Gazan and d’Erlon)
2) The northern battle, between the Graham column, sent to turn the French left and cut their main retreat line towards France and the French forces in the area commanded by Reille and his under-strength Armée de Portugal.
The Scenarios and AAR of the two games can be found in the main web site: Vitoria. The main battle and Vitoria. The North flank respectively. Below you can see two chosen pictures for each game.

a) Main battle

British replace the Spanish in the fight line on the Highs of Puebla dispersing Maransin's forces

British reinforcements cross the Zadorra at Tres Puentes

b) Northern battle

Graham advances Southwards while the Spanish start their outflanking movement

The fight at Gamarra

The OOB's were taken from the books of J. Sarramon (‘La bataille de Vitoria. La fin de l’aventure napoléonienne en Espagne’. J.C. Bailly Editeur, 1985) and C. Oman (‘A History of the Peninsular War. Vol. VI', Greenhill Books, 2005).

The games ended with a 'Substantial British Victory' (main battle) and a 'Substantial French Victory' (north battle). It can be rationalized as the British winning the main battle but being unable to avoid the French retreat towards France.

The next rendez-vous in the field took place during the Pyrenees Campaign in July 1813.

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100 years from Vitoria

Taken from Vittoria 1813 of I. Fletcher

Tomorrow is the bicentenial from the battle of Vitoria, the last big battle of the Peninsular War.

"Battle of Vitoria - Background:
In 1812 Wellington routed the French at Salamanca (Los Arapiles) and then he captured Madrid, advanced northwards but was unable to take Burgos and consequently he retreated back to Portugal. In the winter quarters, he reinforced and reorganized his army and with near 120,000 men (British, Spanish, & Portuguese), he entered in Spain in several columns, heading towards the north of Spain, always outflanking the right of the diminished French forces of the King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan. The intruder King, whose armies had been stripped by Napoleon to rebuild the French armies in Germany, only could oppose around 68,000 men and halted at Vitoria, in order to await further reinforcements of the rest of the French armies in the Peninsula. It was June 21, 1813.
The French Position:
The French forces took defensive positions north and west of the town while a massive baggage train, consisting of siege artillery and loot taken from Spain (‘The luggage of King Joseph’) stood idle in Vitoria. The town was located to the south of the Zadorra River in the middle of a valley and was a major crossroads town with roads leading in all directions. West of the town, the Zadorra made a hairpin turn to the southwest, leaving the area through a narrow defile.
To the south of the bend were the Heights of Puebla, while the rugged terrain of Monte Arrato rose across the river to the northwest. To hold the area around Vitoria, Gazan's Army of the South was positioned north of the heights facing east, with Maransin's division in an advanced position at Subijana. They were supported to the east by D'Erlon's Army of the Centre. The Reille's Army of Portugal initially formed a third line, but it was shifted to guard the river crossings north of Vitoria
The Wellington's Plan:
Approaching Vitoria, Wellington sought to envelop the French position. To achieve this, he sent Hill's Right Column across the Zadorra to the south with orders to drive the French from the defile and move onto the Heights of Puebla. While the French were occupied with Hill, he intended to cross the river at the hairpin to get behind the enemy's right flank. While fighting was developing west of the town, Graham's Left Column was to move behind the Monte Arrato and attack Vitoria from the north along the Bilbao Road.
Battle of Vitoria - The Armies Meet:
To support Graham's operation and connect his advance to Wellington's fight, the Left Dalhousie’s Centre Column was to move over the Monte Arrato and attack the river west of Vitoria. Key to the coming fight was the fact that D'Erlon had failed to destroy key bridges over the Zadorra. Advancing up the Burgos Road on June 21, Hill sent Morillo's Spanish Division to occupy part of the heights while Lieutenant General William Stewart's 2nd Division's deployed closer to the river. Seeing the threat, Gazan ordered Maransin to advance to block Morillo.
As the fighting grew in intensity, both sides reinforced with Hill sending in a brigade and Gazan committing Villatte's reserve division. With the battle raging, the French began to notice Wellington's movement along the west bank of the river. Understandably concerned about his right flank, Gazan requested aid from the recovering Jourdan. More concerned about the fight on the heights, Jourdan refused this request. Meeting little resistance, Wellington pushed a brigade of the Light Division, under Kempt, across the river near the hairpin.
As Kempt's men were crossing, Hill was making progress as Stewart's men succeeded in taking Subijana. Though Stewart and Morillo were repeatedly counterattacked by Gazan's divisions, they succeeded in holding their positions in the village and on the heights. Aware of Graham's approach, Wellington paused in his advance. Rolling down the Bilbao Road, Graham succeeded in driving the Army of Portugal's 4th Division back across the river. Intense French resistance blocked Graham from crossing. To the east, Spanish Longa’s forces defeated the Spanish Royal Guards and severed the high road leading north to Bayonne.
Battle of Vitoria - The French Collapse:
Grasping the severity of the situation, Jourdan issued orders for Gazan to fall back towards Vitoria. Arriving on the field, Dalhousie began pushing Picton's 3rd Division across the Zadorra with aid from Kempt. Coming under heavy French counterattack and bombardment, Picton's men were able to hold their ground as Cole's 4th Division crossed to the west. Retreating, Gazan attempted to make a stand with D'Erlon at the village of Ariñez. Uniting, the Allied forces south of the river succeeded in driving the French back from this position to one on Zuazo Ridge. Attacking again, Wellington's forces were able to take the ridge despite the efforts of the French artillery.
Their line shattered, Gazan and D'Erlon's men began fleeing the field. Only the determined efforts of Reille's men prevented a complete rout as they held off Graham and allowed their comrades to escape. Retreating from the field, they departed to the southeast on the Salvatierra Road. Entering Vitoria, discipline among the Allied troops broke down as the men began plundering the abandoned French baggage train. Enraging Wellington, these actions along with the fatigue of his men prevented him from mounting a determined pursuit of Jourdan's wrecked army.
Aftermath of Vitoria
The Battle of Vitoria cost Wellington 5,158 casualties (3,675 British, 921 Portuguese and 562 Spanish) while the French incurred around 8,000 as well as lost the majority of their artillery. The defeat at Vitoria effectively broke the back of French power in Spain and forced Joseph and Jourdan to continue retreating towards France."

The above text is taken from the article of Kennedy Hickman in the About.com - MilitaryHistory site

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A short film about the battle of Vittoria

Watch the first version of a film Project about the battle of Vittoria 1813, the last great battle of the Peninsular that marked the end of the Spanish Napoleonic adventure.

The battle of Vittoria - First Version from Silberius de Ura on Vimeo.

You can see other Spanish Napoleonic short films at the Silbelius' Vimeo page

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200 years from the Siege of Burgos (1812)

Taken from Spanish Ministery of Education
http://bvpb.mcu.es/es/consulta/resultados_navegacion.cmd?posicion=1&forma=ficha&id=29

See below the English translation of part of the article "1812. A back and forth Campaign" and published in issue 15 of ALKAID:

"Wellington entered Valladolid on September 7 and pursued Clausel, which retired unhurried northwards, first on Burgos and then on Briviesca. On September 19, Wellington (reinforced by 11,000 men from the Castaños's Ejército de Galicia) laid siege to Burgos, an open city, dominated by a castle protected by the hornwork of San Miguel, and with a 2,000-men French garrison under Dubreton.
The hornwork was immediately assaulted and taken at the cost of 500 casualties. Four days later, an impatient Wellington gave the order to storm the castle without artillery preparation, but the assault was repulsed with heavy losses. Then, began a regular siege but the lack of siege artillery forced the use of mining galleries, which allowed the capture of the exterior defensive works in October 4, but proved insufficient against the castle main walls. After several failed attempts of assault, Wellington had to raise the siege on October 21and retired towards Valladolid. The unsuccessful attempt took 700 French and 2,000 Allied casualties, and was one of the few failures of Wellington as Commander-in-Chief during the Peninsular War."

Cover of ALKAID No. 15
http://www.alkaidediciones.com

The magazine ALKAID is published quarterly in Spanish and it is available by subscription (24€/4 issuesr). Go to ALKAID EDICIONES web site, http://www.alkaidediciones.com/, and download the Subscription Form or contact me in this e-mail address: rpardoalmudi@gmail.com

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A new map for the 'War to the Death' Cyberboard game-box

While enjoying the last days of summer holidays, I have modified the map of the Cyberboard game-box for the old 'War to the Death' boardgame. This out-of-stock boardgame is focused on the Peninsular War and it is very interesting because it is based on serious research and simulates very well the fog-of-war. To play a full Peninsular campaign with this boardgame, has become one of my never-finished and eternal wargaming projects (see more information about Cyberboard and War to the Death at my web site).
The new map follows some of the modifications introduced by MSFoy in my 'War to the Death' game-box, to include Elvas and the sorrounding area in the southern Portugal. You can see both maps below.

This is my old map

 

This is the modified map

MsFoy is using a similar map as a basis for his Solo Peninsular War Campaign. I recommend strongly the campaign that is now in its 21th week and reaching a very interesting point: Wellington has been dimissed as C-i-C and has been substituted by the London politicians!

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The Bicenntenial of the Parallel March: the videos

My friend Luis Torrecilla has sent me these two videos (in Spanish sorry!) about the Bicentennial of the Parallel March, celebrated this year in Cañizal (Zamora, Spain) at the Guareña stream banks. This amateur event commemorates the minue-like dance between Wellington and Marmont, as this last tried to outflank the Wellington's right flank.

 

The enclosed map can be found in the Luis Torrecilla's article about the Parallel March, published in the issue No. 8 of ALKAID. The magazine can be obtained by suscriptio by downloading the subscription form at the ALKAID web site
Enjoy!

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Bicentenary of Salamanca (Los Arapiles)

After playing a cat and mouse game (see the previous post) from Salamanca to the Douro River and back, Wellington crossed the Tormes River at Salamanca whereas Marmont did it at Alba de Tormes and Huerta, always trying to use the higher speed of the French army to outflank the Allies, cutting their retreat line to Portugal. Wellington was resolved to avoid action other than under the most advantageous of circumstances whereas Marmont was anxious not to engage in full battle but felt constrained to fight some sort of engagement. Both armies occupied the two more prominent features, los Hermanitos o Arapiles. The lesser Arapil was garrisoned by the British whereas the French occupied the Great Arapil.
On 22nd July Marmont thought he had the right opportunity. Dust clouds beyond the hills to the South of Salamanca suggested that Wellington was retreating. British troops could be seen in the hills opposite the French positions, but Marmont assumed this was a rearguard. Marmont resolved to engage these troops while his army marched off to the left and came in behind the British, cutting them off from the rest of Wellington’s army which he took to be retreating in the distant dust cloud
However, although Wellington had sent his heavy baggage on the road to Ciudad Rodrigo, not a rear guard but his whole army still lay concealed in the hills before the French and facing south nor towards the east, as Marmont mistakenly was supposing. At about 2pm Wellington saw the nature of Marmont’s move around his flank. The French divisions were marching along the British and Portuguese front, dangerously strung out and exposing their flanks.

Wellington galloped to his extreme right, where Pakenham’s Third Division was arriving from Salamanca with D’Urban’s Portuguese Cavalry. He ordered an immediate attack on the head of the French column destroying the French avant-garde. The rest of the battle can be followed in several sources, for example at the Wikipedia
The Allied losses were around 5,000 men whereas the French lose 6,000 dead or wounded and 7,000 captured. The battle established Wellington as an offensive general. The French general Foy wrote in his diary that Wellington "defeated an army of 40,000 men in 40 minutes".
After this battle, the French retreated towards Burgos, whereas Wellington entered in Madrid, but this is another history.

More information about the battle in web site of the Los Arapiles historical site.
The issue 15 of Alkaid is also devoted to the battle of Salamanca and the Campaign of 1812 of the Peninsular War.

The above scheme corresponds to a Napoleon’s Battles Scenario . You can download it (and read the AAR) at the main web site: Salamanca 1812

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Bicentenary of the Parallel March

During the Campaign of Salamanca, the armies of Wellington and Marmont executed a sort of minue dancing in the Castilian plains, known as the 'Parallel March' 

After retreating until the line of the Douro River, the French commander tried to surprise Wellington with a feinted manoeuvre aimed to outflank the Allied Army by its right.Wellington retired in haste towards Salamanca and during July 2o, both armies marched in parallel only separated by the Guareña stream with the Wellington's army fomed in three parallel columns on the left bank, whereas the French army marched in two lines along the right one, originating one of the most impressive war events of the Peninsular War.
This march is re-enacted each two years by a goups of entusiasts in the Asociacion Pro Cañizal led by my friend Luis Torrecilla. The march is not really a re-enactement, but an event open to the participation of all habitants of the shire. Below you can see the time-line of this year's commemoration that marks the bicentenary:

The history behind this fact was addressed in an article published in the last issue of ALKAID: 'The Campaign of Salamanca in a novel of the XIX century' written by Luis Torrecilla. The article describes the campaign moves leading to the battle of Salamanca as shown in “The Young Buglers: A Tale of the Peninsular War”, a book written by George Alfred Henty (1832-1902) and published in 1879.

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The start of the Campaign of Salamanca (1812)

Two hundred years ago, started the Campaign of Salamanca. After the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz and the breaking of Almaraz bridge on the Tagus, Wellington entered again in Spain. Always a cautius general, his flanks were well guarded. In the right, Hill watched Soult wehereas in the left the Portuguese militia attacked Zamora and the Spanish army of Galicia laid siege to Astorga, thus threatening the Marmont's right flank. Finally, the Royal Navy in the Cantabrian coast, supported the Spanish semi-regular keeping in check the French rearguard.
On June 13, Wellington with 47,000 Anglo-Lusitanian and 3,000 Spanish, began the advance. Marmont, with 40,000 men, tried to delay the Allies, leaving a garrison at Salamanca (which resisted until June 27) but, conscious of his numerical inferiority, he retired to Tordesillas on the Douro, closely pursued by the Allies. From there Wellington and Marmont played a cat-and mouse game, until the 22 July. That day saw the battle of Salamanca (Los Arapiles in Sapin and France) which ended with Marmont wounded and the crushing defeat of his army.

The above picture is taken from a brochure edited by the Diputacion of Salamanca, and can be seen in the blog of Miguel Angel Martin Mas, the soul behind the Historic site of Los Arapiles.

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The Curro's diorama on Badajoz is on exhibition

The diorama on the assault to the breach of the La Trinidad bastion is now finished. His author, Curro, is currently exhibiting it at the Museo Luis de Morales (Sala de las batallas) Plaza Santa María, 2 - 06002 Badajoz (Spain).

You can see a lot of wonderful pictures, like the above ones, at Google+

Enjoy this masterpiece!

Edited (23/April/2012). Last news about the team behind the diorama. According to Curro himself (see the comments below) three of the members of Recreaciones Historicas en Miniatura, Maximo (a.k.a Curro), Pablo and Miguel, have started a new commercial adventure named Modelismo Profesional de escenas históricas,

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The Siege of Badajoz (16 March – 6 April 1812)

Today is the bicentenary of the end of the siege of Badajoz (16 March – 6 April 1812) when the Anglo-Portuguese Army, under the Earl of Wellington, forced the surrender of the French garrison.
Badajoz was one of the key fortresses in the Portuguese-Spanish border possessed much stronger fortifications than either Almeida or Ciudad Rodrigo. Located in the highway Madrid-Lisbon, Badajoz was fundamental for the British army and had already faced two unsuccessful sieges during the Peninsular War. In 1812 the French garrison amounted to some 5,000 soldiers under General Philippon. The town and was well prepared for a third attempt, having its walls strengthened and covered by numerous strongpoints and bastions and with some areas around the curtain wall flooded or mined with explosives.

The Allied army, some 27,000 strong after encircling the town, began to lay siege by preparing trenches, parallels and earthworks to protect the heavy siege artillery, work made difficult by prolonged and torrential rainfalls and by the French. The Allies began an intense bombardment of the town's defenses and took the Picuriña and the San Roque forts. By April 5 two breaches had been made in the curtain wall and the soldiers readied themselves to storm Badajoz at 22:00 on April 6.

Main attack

The first men to assault the breach were the Forlorn Hope, leading the main attack by the 4th Division and Craufurd's Light Division while diversionary attacks were to be made to the north and the east by Portuguese and British soldiers of the 5th Division and Picton's 3rd Division. The French raised a furious resistance killing and wounding some 2,000 men at the main breach, with countless men of the 3rd Division shot down at the diversionary assault. The carnage was so immense that Wellington was just about to call a halt to the assault when the diversionary attack of the Picton's 3rd Division finally managed to reach the top of the wall and simultaneously link up with men of the 5th Division. Once they had a foothold, the British and Portuguese soldiers were at an advantage and General Philippon withdrew from Badajoz to the neighboring outwork of San Cristobal but he surrendered shortly after the town had fallen.

Diversionary attack

With success came mass looting and disorder as the redcoats turned to drink and it was some 72 hours before order was completely restored. The assault and the earlier skirmishes had left the allies with some 4,800 casualties, whereas the French soldiers and the Spanish civilians suffered around 4,000 dead.
With the fall of Badajoz, Wellington had secured the Portuguese–Spanish frontier anf he could now move against Marshal Marmont at Salamanca.


Taken and extracted from Wikipedia

The pictures and the map are taken from a masterly post in the blog of Miguel Angel Garcia.

The map itself is from the Cartografía de la Guerra de la Independencia, edited in 2008 by the Spanish Ministerio de Defensa. The site allows the 'Search' ('Búsqueda') of any map of the printed work. Try with 'Badajoz' in the 'Title' ('Título') box.

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The first battles of the Peninsular War (1808) in video

I have found some videos, originally published in a DVD edited by the Spanish Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Peninsular War. The videos cover a series of battles fought between the Spsnish and French armies during the period comprised between july and november of 1808. The videos are in Spanish, but the differents units are coloured: blue for the French and green for the Spanish, so it is easy to follow the flow of the action. The battles covered are:

Medina de Rioseco 14/07/1808 (I)
Bailén 19/07/1808 (II)
Espinosa de los Monteros 10/11/1808 (III)
Gamonal (Burgos) 10/11/1808 (IV)
Tudela 23-11-1808 (V)
Somosierra 29-11-1808 (VI)

The video above corresponds to the battle of Espinosa de los Monteros, fought on November 10 and 11, 1808 at that village in the south side of the Cantabrian Mountains. It resulted in a French victory under General Victor against Lieutenant General Joaquín Blake's Army of Galicia. 

Incidentally my father was born at Espinosa, so my ancestors were surely witness of the battle!

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