Battle of La Bisbal

Battle of La Bisbal
Part of Peninsular War
Bisbal Emporda castell
Date 14 September 1810[1] Location La Bisbal d'Empordà, Girona, Catalonia 41°57′36″N 3°02′26″E / 41.96000°N 3.04056°E / 41.96000; 3.04056 Result Anglo-Spanish victory[1]
Belligerents
French Empire Duchy of Anhalt	Kingdom of Spain United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Marie François Rouyer François Xavier de Schwarz (POW)	Henry O'Donnell (WIA) Francis William Fane Charles William Doyle
Units involved
VII Corps	Army of Catalonia Royal Navy
Strength
2,400[1]	6,600[1] 2 British frigates[1]
Casualties and losses
400 dead and wounded[1] 1,600 captured[1] 17 guns[1]	not mentioned[1]

Peninsular war: Aragón Catalonia

200km
125miles

21

Castalla

20

19

Valencia

18

Saguntum

17

16

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14

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11

Bisbal

10

9

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María

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1

  

  current battle

In the Battle of La Bisbal on 14 September 1810 a Spanish division led by Henry O'Donnell (also known as Enrique José O'Donnell) and supported by an Anglo-Spanish naval squadron led by Francis William Fane and Charles William Doyle surprised an Imperial French brigade commanded by François Xavier de Schwarz. The Imperial troops were from the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of small German states that were allied to Napoleon. Part of a division led by Marie François Rouyer, Schwarz's brigade was almost completely wiped out, most of its soldiers being taken prisoner along with its commander. One of the few Allied casualties was the capable O'Donnell, wounded in the foot. The battle occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars.^[2]

The action occurred amid the events leading up to the Siege of Tortosa in December 1810 and January 1811. As Louis Gabriel Suchet prepared to attack Tortosa, Marshal Jacques MacDonald was ordered to support him. The marshal cooperated by advancing into southern Catalonia with a large force. To distract MacDonald from his mission, O'Donnell determined to raid northern Catalonia. The raid was a brilliant tactical success but it failed to deter the marshal from assisting Suchet. Finally, a logistical crisis forced MacDonald to withdraw to northern Catalonia.