Napoleon, conscious of the need for naval support along has Atlantic coast had sent one of his most brilliant generals, Pierre-Antione Dupont “Lion of the North”, at the head of an army of 20,000 men to effect a rescue. However, events preceded their arrival at Cádiz. In Seville a provisional government, supported by the Spanish general Javier Castaños, commander of the garrison of San Roque, as well as the British fleet, declared war on France. This led to the capture of the last of the French fleet long before their army was within range.
Worried about Spanish resurgence Dupont decided to halt his army in Córdoba and await fresh troops to assist in controlling the uprising.
One of the hallmarks of French occupation of towns and cities in the Iberia during the Peninsula War was the wholesale vandalism that was perpetrated, unchecked, by French troops. While Dupont waited for reinforcements in Córdoba, French soldiers ransacked churches and palaces and sacked private homes; a feature of French tactics that did little to endear them to the populace. This was to cost them significantly in the ensuing battle.
Fearing that his communications across the near impenetrable Sierra Morena would be cut, Dupont abandoned Córdoba for the more easily accessible city of Andújar. And there he paused, waiting for the Gironde Division led by the generals Vedel and Freire.
Meanwhile, the Spanish army of Castaños had moved north and, in Porcuna, had met with troops sent by the governing authority of Granada. His plan was to isolate Dupont in Andújar and prevent combination of the two French forces by attacking the reinforcements in the easily defended gorge at Despeñaperros.
Castaños army advanced towards Andújar. Clever manoeuvring by the Spanish commanders convinced Vedel that he was facing an inferior force and he proceded to separate his forces in order to provide reinforcements to Dupont in Andújar. The next day the Spanish division, led by general Reding, positioned around Mengí¬bar, unleashed the full fury of his power of his artillery and repulsed an attack by the reputedly invincible French Cuirassiers, an event that raised Spanish moral considerably.
The army of Castaños consisted of some 25,000 men, 2,000 horse and sixty canons divided into 4 divisions. These were commanded by the generals Coupigni, Félix Jones, Manuel de la Peña and the Swiss general Reding. The French army was grouped into 4 divisions commanded by Barbou, Vedel, Rouyer and Gobert; the total amounting to some 21,000 foot soldiers and 5,000 cavalry.
Dupont, conscious of the fact that his rear was unprotected, moved his troops by night towards Bailén. Reding and Coupigni, joining their divisions with the idea of cutting off Dupont’s retreat, camped outside Bailén planning to attack the French in Andújar the following day chess pieces blindly moving towards the finale.
At 3 O’clock a.m. in the morning of Tuesday of 19th July 1808 vanguards of the French army, who were deploying to Bailén, came up against those of Reding who was moving his forces down to Andújar. Surprise on both sides was complete and, on a warm July morning in one of the hottest summers that had been experienced in recent years) the first shots of the battle of Bailén were exchanged. French and Spanish troops lined up on the hills around Bailén; the Spanish rearguard held the village itself. Worried about the rapid advance of Castaños other divisions on his rear, Dupont decided to engage his forces in the erroneous belief in his numerical superiority. Canons blazed on both sides and French Dragoons and Cuirassiers were primed to assault the Spanish lines.
At 5 O’clock in the morning the ordered lines, glistening in the early morning sunlight, charged into action only to be repulsed by the superior firepower of the Spanish defences.
When the sun rose in the sky Dupont Dupont ordered his third attack against the Spanish centre and left. Once again, the superiority of the Spanish artillery decimated the French ranks who were further hampered by a chronic shortage of water on a blisteringly hot summer’s day. As the day advanced French troops, dressed in steel armour and heavy woollen uniforms, were fighting in temperatures of up to 45ºC. The Spanish, in contrast, were supplemented by a continuous supply of fresh water that was brought to them from Bailén by the villagers.
A combination of superior firepower and thirst brought the French forces to their knees and Dupont opened negotiations with Reding to deliver the French capitulation in exchange for a cessation of hostilities.
The consequences of the battle of Bailén and the French defeat were far-reaching. The French abandoned Madrid and withdrew to the north and news of the defeat of Napoleon spread like wildfire throughout Europe debilitating the myth of Napoleonic invincibility. However, this caused Napoleon himself to react and, with an immense army of 250,000 men, he occupied the entire Iberian Peninsula with the exception only of Cádiz, the city that heroically mounted an undefeated defence against Napoleon’s forces. General Dupont was jailed on his return to France, but was later restored to the military by the Bourbons. His troops, whose safe conduct back to France had been negotiated as part of French surrender conditions, were instead sent in prolonged exile to the island of Cabrera located to the south of Mallorca.
The Battlefied Today
The battlefield at Bailén is not easy to locate today. It is reached by travelling from Córdoba along the NIV-E5 and leaving at the 299km junction signposted Bailén. Turn immediately onto a minor road signposted to El Burguillo. Cross over the motorway and take a small road north at the following roundabout then turn right. The road runs parallel to the line of hills held by Reding's division. The best viewpoint is probably just short of the hilltop 1km from the fork.
Recreation of the Battle
The battle of Bailén will be recreated in the town on 16, 17, 18 of March 2007 by the Ayuntamiento of Bailén in association with the Napoleonic Association of Spain.
More information:
http://www.ayto-bailen.com/noticias/pdf/recreacion.pdf
http://www.ayto-bailen.com/en/principal.htm
