The Siege Of Badajoz - 1812

Between March 16th and April 6th 1812, the Spanish city of Badajoz was besieged by an Anglo-Portuguese army under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, finally resulting in the surrender and retreat of the French garrison. The siege was one of the bloodiest in the Napoleonic Wars, with some 3,000 soldiers killed in a few short hours of intense fighting as the siege drew to an end. Jump to: navigation, search March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Badajoz (formerly Badajos), the capital of the Spanish province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, is situated close to the Portuguese frontier, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid-Lisbon railway. ... Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1 May 1769–14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, widely considered one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought during Napoleon Bonapartes rule of France. ...

After capturing the frontier towns of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo in earlier sieges, the Anglo-Portuguese army moved on to Badajoz to capture the town and secure the lines of communication back to Lisbon, the primary base of operations for the allied army. Badajoz was garrisoned by some 5,000 French soldiers under General Phillipon, the town commandant, and possessed much stronger fortifications than either Almeida or Ciudad Rodrigo. with a strong curtain wall covered by numerous strongpoints and bastions. Badajoz had already faced two unsuccessful sieges and was well prepared for a third attempt, with the walls strengthened and some areas around the curtain wall flooded or mined with high explosives. Almeida is a region in Portugal, with an area of 520 km2 and 8 423 inhabitants (2001), subdivided into 29 freguesias. ... Ciudad Rodrigo is a small town in Salamanca province in western Spain Its position as a fortified town on the main road from Portugal to Salamanca made it militarily important in the middle years of the Peninsular War. ... Jump to: navigation, search District Lisbon Mayor   - Party Carmona Rodrigues PSD Area 84. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ...

The allied army, some 25,000 strong, heavily outnumbered the French garrison by around five to one and after encircling the town, began to lay siege by preparing trenches, parallels and earthworks to protect the heavy siege artillery. As the earthworks were prepared, the French made several raids to try and destroy the lines advancing toward the curtain wall, but were repeatedly fended off by British marksmen and counter-attacks by line infantry. Jump to: navigation, search Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... A marksman (also designated marksman) is a profession which is mostly to be found in military context. ...

With the arrival of heavy 18lb and 24lb howitzers, the allies began an intense bombardment of the towns defences whilst one of the defensive bastions was seized by redcoats from General Thomas Picton's 3rd Division. The capture of the bastion allowed more extensive siege earthworks to be dug and soon a maze of trenches were creeping up to the high stone walls as the cannons continued to blast away at the stonework. By April 5th two breaches had been made in the curtain wall and the soldiers readied themsleves to storm Badajoz. The order to attack was delayed for 24 hours to allow another breach to be made in the wall. News began to filter to the allies that Marshal Soult was marching to relieve the town and an order was given to launch the attack at 22:00 on the 6th of April. Loading a WW1 British 15 in (381 mm) howitzer 155 mm M198 Howitzer A howitzer or hauwitzer is a type of field artillery. ... Sir Thomas Picton (August, 1758-June 18, 1815) was a British military leader who fought in a number of campaigns for Britain and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. ... Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, marshal of France Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, duc de Dalmatie (March 29, 1760 - November 26, 1851), generalissimo of France, was born at Saint-Arnans-la-Bastide (now in department of the Tarn), and was the son of a country notary at that place. ...

The French garrison were well aware of what was to come and mined the large breaches in the walls and prepared for the imminent assault.

Storming Badajoz

With three large gaps in the curtain wall and with Marshal Soult marching to the town's aid, Wellesley ordered his regiments to storm the town at 22:00 on the 6th and the troops made their way forward with scaling ladders and various tools. The first men to assault the breach were the men of the Folorn Hope, who would lead 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 Divison.

Just as the Folorn Hope were beginning their attack, a French sentry was alerted and raised the alarm. Within seconds the ramparts were filled with French soldiers, who poured a lethal hail of musket fire into the troops at the base of the breach. The British and Portuguese surged forward en-masse and raced up to the wall, facing a murderous barrage of musket fire, complimented by grenades, stones, barrels of gunpowder with crude fuses and even bales of burning hay. muskets and bayonets aboard the frigate Grand Turk A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth-bore long gun. ... A hand grenade is a hand-held bomb, made to be thrown by a soldier. ... Jump to: navigation, search Gunpowder whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance which burns very rapidly and is used as a propellant in firearms. ...

The furious barrage devastated the British soldiers at the wall and the breach soon began to fill with dead and wounded, who the storming troops had to struggle over. Despite the carnage the redcoats bravely continued to surge forward in great numbers, only to be mown down by endless volleys and shrapnel from grenades and bombs. In just under two hours, some 2,000 men had been killed or badly wounded at the main breach, while countless more men of the 3rd Division were shot down as they made their diversionary assault. General Picton himself was wounded as he climbed a ladder to try and reach the top of the wall. Everywhere they attacked, the allied soldiers were being halted and the carnage was so immense that Wellesley was just about to call a halt to the assault when the soldiers finally got a foothold on the curtain wall.

Picton's 3rd Division finally managed to reach the top of the wall and simultaneously link up with men of the 5th Division, who were also making their way into the town. Once they had a foothold, the British and Portuguese soldiers were at an advantage from sheer numbers and began to drive the French back. Seeing that he could no longer hold out, General Phillipon withdrew from Badajoz and made his way out into the surrounding countryside to try and link up with Marshal Soult. With success came mass looting and disorder as the redcoats turned to drink and it was some 72 hours before order was completely restored.

When dawn finally came on the 7th of April, it revealed the horror of the slaughter all around the curtain wall. Bodies were piled high and blood flowed like rivers in the ditches and trenches. When he saw the destruction and slaughter, Sir Arthur Wellesley wept bitterly and cursed the British Parliament for granting him so few resources and soldiers. The assault and the earlier skirmishes had left the allies with some 4,800 casualties. The elite Light Division had suffered badly, losing some 40% of their fighting strength. The siege was however, successful, and Wellesley had secured the Portuguese/Spanish frontier and could now move against Marshal Soult at Salamanca. An aerial view of Parliament of India at New Delhi. ... Region La Armuña Province Salamanca Autonomous community Castilla y León Postal code 37001-370nn Coordinates  - Latitude:  - Longitude 40°58 N 5º40 W Altitude 802 m Surface 386 km² Distances 212 km to Madrid 115 km to Valladolid Population  - Total (2004)  - Density 157. ...