Evacuation of La Romana's division

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Evacuation of La Romana's division
Part of the Peninsular War
El juramento de las tropas del Marqués de la Romana, by Manuel Castellano
Date August 1808 Location Santander, Spain 43°27′46″N 3°48′18″W / 43.46278°N 3.80500°W / 43.46278; -3.80500 Result Franco-Danish victory Anglo–Spanish evacuation
Belligerents
French Empire Denmark–Norway	Spain United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte	Marquis of La Romana Richard Keats
Strength
30,000	13,500
Casualties and losses
None	4,500 captured

Peninsular war: Spanish uprising 1808

200km
125miles

Santander

12

Bailén

11

Rioseco

10

Valencia

9

Girona

8

Zaragoza

7

Cabezón

6

Cadiz

5

Alcolea

4

Valdepeñas

3

Bruch

2

Dos de Mayo
Madrid

1

  

  current battle

The evacuation of La Romana's division in August 1808 was a military operation in which a division of troops belonging to the Kingdom of Spain and commanded by Pedro Caro, Marquis of La Romana defected from the armies of the First French Empire. The Spanish troops were part of the Imperial forces in Denmark, which were under the leadership of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. Most of the Spanish troops were successfully evacuated by the British navy and shipped to Santander, Spain to fight against France in the Peninsular War.

In 1807, the Spanish Division of the North was sent to northern Europe to participate in the planned Franco-Danish invasion of Sweden. Formerly loyal to the alliance with Imperial France, the Spanish officers and men found in 1808 that Emperor Napoleon I of France had overthrown King Charles IV of Spain and Prince Ferdinand and placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. The British sent an agent to contact La Romana and found that the general desired to escape from Denmark. On 23 July 1808, the admiralty sent secret instructions with Spanish envoy Don Rafael Lobo on the fast sailing Musquito to Commodore Richard Goodwin Keats commanding in the Belt and Sound requiring him to open negotiations with the Spanish commander for evacuation of his troops. Through lengthy secret correspondence, Keats and La Romana arranged a secret plan for the Spanish troops to be assembled at Nyborg and evacuated by the British fleet.^[1]

Keats directed his ships to the harbor, seized 57 boats for use as transport, transferring troops to nearby Langeland in anticipation of stores and transports arriving from England.^[2] One cavalry and two infantry regiments failed to get away and remained in Napoleon's power. But in August 1808, most units were able to make their way to the rendezvous with the British navy.

Fearful of the French Army advancing from the west, and with no word of the promised transports, the troops were re-embarked and the convoy sailed for Gothenburg. Transports arrived on 6 September and after a three week voyage in stormy conditions about 9,000 Spanish troops disembarked at Santander in October 1808 and had a chance to fight against the French.