Battle of Cardedeu

Battle of Cardadeu
Part of Peninsular War
Battle of Cardedeu, 16 December 1808, by Jean-Charles Langlois.
Date 16 December 1808 Location Cardedeu, Catalonia, Spain 41°38′26″N 2°21′34″E / 41.64056°N 2.35944°E / 41.64056; 2.35944 Result Franco-Italian victory[1][2]
Belligerents
French Empire Kingdom of Italy	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr Domenico Pino	Juan Miguel de Vives Theodor von Reding
Strength
15,000–16,500, 30 guns	9,000, 7 guns
Casualties and losses
600	2,500, 5 guns, 2 colors

Peninsular war: Napoleon's invasion

200km
125miles

Corunna

14

13

12

11

10

9

Zaragoza

8

Cardedeu

7

Somosierra

6

Tudela

5

4

3

Roses

2

Zornoza

1

  

  current battle

The Battle of Cardadeu on 16 December 1808 saw an Imperial French corps led by Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr assault a Spanish force commanded by Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu and Theodor von Reding. Saint-Cyr won the engagement by forming most of his troops into gigantic attack columns and smashing through the Spanish lines. Cardedeu is located 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of Barcelona, Spain. The action occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars.

By the fall of 1808, a French corps under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme was besieged in Barcelona by a 24,000-man Spanish army led by Vives. With 23,000 Franco-Italian soldiers, Gouvion Saint-Cyr marched from France to relieve Duhesme's troops. First Saint-Cyr undertook the successful Siege of Roses. Confronted by the fortress of Girona, which had resisted two earlier attacks, the French general resorted to a risky strategy. Leaving his artillery and most of his supplies behind, he avoided Girona by marching 16,500 men though the mountains and headed for Barcelona. Saint-Cyr completely outgeneraled Vives, who was only able to marshal 9,000 troops to block his opponent. Vives drew up his outnumbered troops on high ground, but Saint-Cyr's huge columns proved unstoppable. The Spanish withdrew after suffering heavy losses and Barcelona was soon relieved.