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!
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!
Posts
Vaya descubrimiento!
ReplyDeleteLes echaré un vistazo
Es una lástima pero solo hay 6 videos
ReplyDeleteIt is a pity but there are only 6 videos
Very nice history there! Dean
ReplyDeleteGreat find, Rafa! Now, to quickly learn Spanish..... :-)
ReplyDeleteMuchos Gracias amigo! Its a pity my lousy Spanish (or rather complete lack thereof!) prevented me from grasping more than a few words of the narrative.
ReplyDeleteOne thing stands out though - how in the heck did Blake loose the battle from such a strong and numerically superior position? Victor was an OK general but nothing special - if Blake had pinned Victor on the right and then swept down from the heights on the left (bit like a hinged door) you'd think he would have surely won the day... Oh well - that's history for you.
Thanks again for a great find Rafa!
Cheers,
Doc (from Downunder!)