page_title: Peninsular War
section_title: French counterattack
hierarchical_section_title: Peninsular War / 1808 / French counterattack
caption_attribution_description: Español: La obra representa la rendición del general francés Pierre-Antoine Dupont de l'Étang (1765-1840) tras la derrota del ejército francés en la batalla de Bailén, que se libró el 19 de julio de 1808 y supuso la primera derrota de los ejércitos napoleónicos a manos de las tropas españolas, siendo la rendición firmada en el municipio jienense Bailén el 19 de julio de 1808. La composición está inspirada en La rendición de Breda, que es una de las obras más famosas del pintor Diego Velázquez, y a la izquierda aparece el ejército español y su comandante, el general Francisco Javier Castaños (1756-1852), y, a la derecha, el general Pierre Dupont y los derrotados soldados galos, aunque en el fondo puede verse el campo de batalla envuelto en humo. El cuadro fue realizado en París, donde Casado del Alisal pudo conocer con veracidad los uniformes franceses de la época de la batalla. Y en cuanto a la técnica empleada, la obra sobresale por la solidez del dibujo y por la calidad de los retratos de los personajes principales, ya que todos los oficiales y altos mandos pueden ser identificados inequívocamente. La reina Isabel II de España adquirió el cuadro con destino a su colección personal, y su nieto, el rey Alfonso XIII de España, lo cedió en 1921 al desaparecido Museo de Arte Moderno, desde donde pasó a las colecciones del Museo del Prado.English: "The Surrender of Bailén", by Casado del Alisal, Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain.
context_page_description: The Peninsular War is the military conflict fought by Spain and Portugal, assisted by Great Britain, against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, it is considered to overlap with the Spanish War of Independence. The war began when the French and Spanish armies invaded and occupied Portugal in 1807, transiting through Spain, and escalated in 1808 after Napoleonic France occupied Spain, previously its ally. Napoleon Bonaparte had forced the abdications of Ferdinand VII and his father Charles IV and then installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, also promulgating the Bayonne Constitution. Most Iberians rejected French rule and fought a bloody war to oust them. The war on the peninsula lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, and is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation, significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare.
  The war began in Spain with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814 with the restoration of Ferdinand VII to the monarchy.
context_section_description: To defeat the insurgency, Pierre Dupont de l'Étang led 24,430 men south toward Seville and Cádiz; Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières moved into Aragon and Old Castile with 25,000 men, aiming to capture Santander and Zaragoza. Moncey marched toward Valencia with 29,350 men, and Guillaume Philibert Duhesme marshalled 12,710 troops in Catalonia and moved against Girona.
  At the two successive Combats of El Bruc outside Barcelona, Schwarz's 4,000 troops were defeated by local Catalan militia, the Miquelets (also known as sometents). Guillaume Philibert Duhesme's Franco-Italian division of almost 6000 troops failed to storm Girona and was forced to return to Barcelona. 6000 French troops under Charles Lefebvre-Desnouettes attacked Zaragoza and were beaten off by José de Palafox y Melci's militia. Moncey's push to take Valencia ended in failure, with 1000 French recruits dying in an attempt to storm the city. After defeating Spanish counterattacks, Moncey retreated. At the Battle of Medina de Rioseco on 14 July, Bessières defeated Cuesta and Old Castile returned to French control. Blake escaped, but the Spaniards lost 2,200 men and thirteen guns. French losses were minimal at 400 men. Bessières's victory salvaged the French army's strategic position in northern Spain. Joseph entered Madrid on 20 July; and on 25 July he was crowned King of Spain. On 10 June, five French ships of the line anchored at Cádiz were seized by the Spanish. Dupont was disturbed enough to curtail his march at Cordoba, and then on 16 June to fall back to Andújar. Cowed by the mass hostility of the Andalusians, he broke off his offensive and was then defeated at Bailén, where he surrendered his entire Army Corps to Castaños.
  The catastrophe was total. With the loss of 24,000 troops, Napoleon's military machine in Spain collapsed. Stunned by the defeat, on 1 August Joseph evacuated the capital for Old Castile, while ordering Verdier to abandon the siege of Zaragoza and Bessières to retire from Leon; the entire French army sheltered behind the Ebro. By this time, Girona had resisted a Second Siege. Europe welcomed this first check to the hitherto unbeatable Imperial armies—a Bonaparte had been chased from his throne; tales of Spanish heroism inspired Austria and showed the force of national resistance. Bailén set in motion the rise of the Fifth Coalition.
caption: The Spanish Army's triumph at Bailén was the French Empire's first land defeat. Painting by José Casado del Alisal
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