Battle of Cardadeu 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 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 . Background . French defeats . As part of Emperor Napoleon ' s plan to seize the Kingdom of Spain in a military coup , several key points , including Barcelona were captured in February 1808 . Among other strong places , the French also seized San Sebastián , Pamplona and Figueras by trickery . On 2 May 1808 , the Spanish people revolted against the Imperial French occupation in the Dos de Mayo Uprising . In the early summer of 1808 , a 12 , 710 - man French corps commanded by General of Division Guillaume Philibert Duhesme was stationed at Barcelona . General of Division Joseph Chabran ' s 1st Division had 6 , 050 soldiers in eight battalions , while General of Division Giuseppe Lechi ' s 2nd Division consisted of 4 , 600 men in six battalions . The 1 , 700 cavalry were organized in nine squadrons under Generals of Brigade Bertrand Bessières and François Xavier de Schwarz . The force included 360 artillerists . This modest - sized corps was instructed to put down the insurrection in Catalonia , to send assistance to Marshal Bon - Adrien Jeannot de Moncey in his attempt to capture Valencia , and to hold Barcelona . Considering the intensity of the rebellion , these orders were unrealistic . Chabran and Schwarz were defeated at the Battles of the Bruch in mid - June and Duhesme was repulsed in the Battle of Gerona on 20 – 21 June . After securing the assistance of an improvised division commanded by General of Division Honoré Charles Reille , Duhesme initiated the Siege of Gerona . This unsuccessful operation lasted from 24 July to 16 August before Duhesme retreated to Barcelona and Reille withdrew to Figueres . News of the French disaster at the Battle of Bailen on 22 July 1808 buoyed Spanish morale and depressed the Imperial troops . Duhesme ' s troops had to fight their way back through the hills and abandon their field artillery in order to make it back to Barcelona , where they arrived on 20 August . Meanwhile , Marquis Del Palacio ' s division of regular Spanish troops arrived from the Balearic Islands . Supported by thousands of miquelets ( Catalan militia ) the Spaniards blockaded Barcelona at the beginning of August . On 31 July , they captured the castle of Mougat and its garrison of 150 Neapolitans with the help of Captain Thomas Cochrane and a British frigate . Though Duhesme ' s 10 , 000 surviving troops were in a tight spot , Del Palacio did not press them very hard . The French commander was able to send strong columns through the loose blockade in order to gather food and other supplies . On 12 October , an Italian column was roughly handled at Sant Cugat del Vallès with 300 casualties and the expeditions stopped . Because Del Palacio remained almost inert during his tenure of command , the Catalan Junta replaced him as Captain General with Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu on 28 October . This veteran of the War of the Pyrenees had led the Spanish left wing at the Battle of Boulou in 1794 . Vives skirmished with the French outpost line on 8 November , but then went into hibernation until reinforcements arrived under General Theodor von Reding . On 26 November , Vives pushed the French within the walls of Barcelona , inflicting about 100 casualties . According to a 5 November report , the Army of Catalonia under Vives had 20 , 033 soldiers available in five divisions and a small reserve . Brigadier General Mariano Álvarez de Castro led 5 , 600 soldiers of the Vanguard Division . The Vanguard included 100 cavalry in the volunteer " San Narciso " Hussars , the regular foot regiments of " Ultonia " Irish ( 300 ) , " Borbon " ( 500 ) , " 2nd Barcelona " ( 1 , 000 ) , and 1st " Wimpfen " Swiss ( 400 ) , and the volunteer tercios " 1st Gerona " ( 900 ) , " 2nd Gerona " ( 400 ) , " Igualada " ( 400 ) , " Cervera " ( 400 ) , " 1st Tarragona " ( 800 ) , and " Figueras " ( 400 ) . General Conde de Caldagues commanded the 4 , 998 - strong 1st Division which consisted of six artillery pieces manned by 70 gunners , 50 sappers , the cavalry regiments " Españoles " Hussars ( 220 ) and " Catalonia Cazadores " ( 180 ) , the regular infantry regiments the " 2nd Walloon Guards " ( 314 ) , " Soria " ( 780 ) , " Borbon " ( 151 ) , " 2nd Savoia " ( 1 , 734 ) , and 2nd Swiss ( 270 ) , and the volunteer tercios " Tortosa " ( 984 ) and elements of " Igualada " and " Cervera " ( 245 ) . General Laguna supervised the 2 , 360 - man 2nd Division with seven guns manned by 84 artillerists , 30 sappers , " Españoles " Hussars ( 200 ) , two battalions each of provincial grenadier militia of " Old Castile " ( 972 ) and " New Castile " ( 924 ) , and the " Zaragoza Volunteers " ( 150 ) . General La Serna ' s 2 , 458 - man 3rd Division comprised the regular two - battalion " Granada " Regiment ( 961 ) , and the volunteer units " 2nd Tarragona " Tercio , " Arzu " division ( 325 ) , and " Sueltas " companies ( 250 ) . General Francisco Milans del Bosch led the 4th Division which was made up of 3 , 710 volunteer soldiers in the following tercios , " 1st Lerida " ( 872 ) , " Vich " ( 976 ) , " Manresa " ( 937 ) , and " Vallès " ( 925 ) . The 907 - strong Reserve included four guns manned by 50 artillerymen , 20 sappers , 80 " Españoles " Hussars , a 60 - man detachment from the " Spanish Guards " , the detached grenadiers from the " Soria " ( 188 ) and " Wimpfen " ( 169 ) Regiments , and the General ' s bodyguard ( 340 ) . Two divisions of Granadan reinforcements under Reding were just arriving or on the way . The 1st Division numbered 8 , 200 men and included one battalion of the " 2nd Reding Swiss " Regiment ( 1 , 000 ) and two 1 , 200 - man battalions each of the " 1st Granada " , " Baza " , and " Almeria " Regiments . The 6 , 000 - man 2nd Division consisted of 1 , 200 - man battalions . These were the one - battalion " Antequera " and the two - battalion " Santa Fé " and " Loxa " Regiments . The " Granada " Hussars with 670 sabers and six artillery pieces worked by 130 gunners accompanied Reding ' s force . In addition , the 3rd Division of the Army of Aragon under General Luis Rebolledo de Palafox y Melci , 1st marqués de Lazán was instructed to reinforce Vives on 10 November . The division numbered 4 , 688 soldiers and comprised 64 gunners , one troop of the " Ferdinand VII Cazadores " Cavalry ( 22 ) , and the volunteer infantry battalions " 1st Zaragoza " ( 638 ) , " 3rd Zaragoza " ( 593 ) , " Ferdinand VII " ( 648 ) , " Daroca " ( 503 ) , " La Reunion " ( 1 , 286 ) , and " General Reserve " ( 934 ) . Saint - Cyr takes command . After the failures of the summer , Napoleon appointed General of Division Laurent Gouvion Saint - Cyr to replace Duhesme on 17 August 1808 . A week earlier , the emperor had ordered two crack divisions to reinforce the VII Corps from the garrison of Italy . General of Division Joseph Souham led 10 veteran French battalions while General of Division Domenico Pino commanded the best Italian units . On the other hand , Reille ' s division had been formed of 8 , 000 soldiers of indifferent quality . His rag - tag force included French National Guards , drafted gendarmes , French reserves and provisional units , one Swiss battalion , and the French 113th Line Infantry Regiment , plus cavalry and artillery . The so - called French 113th was actually made up of Italians from the recently annexed Grand Duchy of Tuscany . For many years , Saint - Cyr served France with distinction and had " first - rate ability " according to historian Charles Oman . His soldiers recognized his talents and had confidence in him but he was too aloof to be loved by them . He was also very self - centered and quick to leave his fellow generals to their own devices . Saint - Cyr ' s dislike of Napoleon had held him back from earlier promotion . Though he later wrote darkly that the emperor wanted him to fail , Napoleon made him a Marshal of France in 1812 . Saint - Cyr ' s reinforcements did not begin to assemble in southern France until mid - September and lack of wagons caused further delay . On 5 November Saint - Cyr ' s corps finally crossed the Pyrenees near the Fort de Bellegarde . At this time , Saint - Cyr ' s VII Corps consisted of six infantry divisions , three cavalry brigades , and attached artillery . A roster from 10 October listed a total of 42 , 382 soldiers , but 1 , 302 were on detached duty and another 4 , 948 were wounded or sick . Of these , Chabran ' s 1st and Lechi ' s 2nd Divisions plus the cavalry brigades of Bessières and Schwarz were bottled up in Barcelona with Duhesme . Reille ' s 3rd Division had one battalion each of the 32nd Light , 16th Line , and 56th Line Infantry Regiments , one battalion each of the 5th Reserve Legion , the " Chasseurs des Montagnes " , and the Swiss " Valais " , two battalions of the 113th Line , and four battalions of the " Perpignan " Provisional Regiment . Souham ' s 4th Division was made up of three battalions each of the 1st Light and 42nd Line Infantry Regiments , two battalions of the 7th Line , and one battalion each of the 3rd Light and 67th Line . Pino ' s 5th Division comprised three battalions each of the Italian 1st Light , 2nd Light , and 6th Line Infantry Regiments , two battalions of the 4th Line , and one battalion each of the 5th and 7th Line . General of Division Louis François Jean Chabot ' s 6th Division included only two battalions of the 2nd Neapolitan Line Infantry Regiment and one battalion of the " Chasseurs of the Eastern Pyrenees " . General of Brigade Jacques Fontane ' s cavalry brigade consisted of the " Royal " and 7th Italian Chasseurs à Cheval . The corps included the French 24th Dragoon Regiment which was unbrigaded . Of the divisions in Saint - Cyr ' s field army , Reille counted 4 , 612 men , Souham 7 , 712 , Pino 8 , 368 , and Chabot 1 , 988 . The three cavalry regiments numbered 1 , 700 troopers while the gun crews had about 500 artllerists . Upon taking his new command , Saint - Cyr received his orders in person from Napoleon . The emperor instructed him that the relief of Barcelona was the prime objective but allowed him discretion in how to carry out the assignment . According to the latest information from Duhesme , Barcelona could be expected to hold out until the end of December before running out of food . Saint - Cyr decided that he must first reduce the port of Roses ( Rosas ) before marching to Duhesme ' s relief . The Siege of Roses consumed another month , lasting from 7 November to 5 December 1808 . The successful operation cost the Imperial French forces about 1 , 000 killed , wounded , or died of disease . With Roses out of the way , Saint - Cyr was free to direct his energies to the relief of Barcelona . After assigning Reille to hold Figueras and Roses and to protect the roads from France , Saint - Cyr had about 1 , 500 horsemen and 15 , 000 foot soldiers in three divisions of 26 total battalions . Girona ( Gerona ) stood squarely in the path that the French army would have to take . The French general knew that besieging Girona was out of the question ; in the time it would take to capture the place , Barcelona would be starved out . Once past Girona , there were two available roads . Knowing that the coast road via Mataró was obstructed and could easily be placed under the guns of the British Royal Navy , Saint - Cyr chose to use the inland road . In order for his plan to work , the Imperial general hoped to keep Vives guessing as to his true intentions and to defeat his opponent in detail . Battle . French offensive . On 9 November 1808 , Saint - Cyr massed his field army on the north bank of the Ter River opposite Girona . The following day , the French general advanced on the city as if to invest it . He wished to tempt Álvarez and Lazán into offering battle , but the two Spanish generals declined to be drawn out , seeing that their 8 , 000 men would be crushed . On the 11th , Saint - Cyr sent his artillery and wagon train back to Figueras and marched to La Bisbal d ' Empordà where his quartermasters handed out four days of rations to each soldier . Each soldier carried 50 cartridges of ammunition and mule train carried another 10 rounds per man . The French general was taking an enormous risk . If the army remained too long in the mountains it would starve and if it were forced to fight several battles it would be out of ammunition . On 12 November , the Franco - Italians passed near Palamós and fought their way through a force of miquelets ( Catalan militia ) under Juan Claros . On 13 November , Saint - Cyr ' s host stumbled into Vidreres which was near the coast road that led to Malgrat de Mar , Mataró , and Barcelona . That evening the Imperial soldiers saw the campfires of Lazán to the north and other enemy campfires to the south . But Saint - Cyr knew of a secret path from a Perpignan smuggler ; the route connected the coast road with the inland road . Several search parties that were sent out to find the path during the 14th failed to locate it , so Saint - Cyr personally set out with a small escort to find it . In this he was successful , though the group was nearly captured by guerillas and had to fight its way clear . On the 15th the entire Franco - Italian army snaked through the hills , bypassing the small fortress of Hostalric and reaching the inland road at Sant Celoni . At the latter place the Imperial troops scattered a force of miquelets under Milans . Though his men were tired , Saint - Cyr hustled his soldiers along the highway until they reached the dangerous Trentapassos defile which was found to be unoccupied . That evening the Franco - Italians could see a line of campfires ahead of them , indicating the presence of the Spanish army . The report of Saint - Cyr ' s march into the hills on the 11th reached the Spanish camp promptly . Vives responded by sending Reding and seven battalions of his leading echelon , a total of 5 , 000 men , to watch the inland road . Milans with 3 , 000 volunteers was ordered to block the coast road . Though Caldagues begged him to send every available man to stop the Imperial army , Vives held back at least 16 , 000 troops to maintain the blockade of Barcelona . Finding the coast road clear , Milans moved to Sant Celoni where his men were defeated . The news of this action on the 15th finally prompted Vives to take an additional 4 , 000 men and march through the night to reinforce Reding at dawn on 16 November 1808 . Caldagues and the remaining 12 , 000 troops kept up the blockade of Duhesme ' s troops . Consequently , Saint - Cyr ' s 16 , 500 troops only faced 9 , 000 Spaniards under Vives . Milans and 3 , 000 more were to the east , recovering from their repulse , while Lazán and 6 , 000 more were somewhere to the north . Action . The battlefield is located between Llinars del Vallès to the east and Cardedeu to the west . The Mogent River , a tributary of the Besòs runs from the northeast to the southwest through the area and south of the Autopista AP - 7 . Several streams run into the Mogent from the north . Vives reached the position in the morning and consequently had no time to make a defensive plan . Instead , he deployed his first line behind the Riera de la Roca stream and his second line behind it , farther uphill . Reding ' s Granadan division held the right wing as far south as the Mogent , while Vives defended the center and left wing with his Catalan troops . There were three guns on a hill overlooking the main road in the center , two more artillery pieces on the left , and two guns with the reserve . The miquelets of Vich held the far left flank . Two battalions and two squadrons of the " Españoles " Hussars were in reserve . The area was dotted with pine and oak groves amid plowed fields , making it hard for both sides to discern enemy movements . Saint - Cyr knew that time was of the essence . The last rations had been eaten , ammunition was running low , and every minute of delay allowed Lazán to close in on his rear . Instructing Chabot to hold the Trentapassos defile with three battalions , the French commander determined to smash through Vives ' lines with the remaining 23 battalions . Pino ' s Italian division was in front , followed by Souham ' s French division . Saint - Cyr ordered Pino to keep his battalions in column formation and crash through the enemy lines by sheer impetus . Pino was forbidden to deploy a single battalion , not even to take prisoners . As Pino ' s narrow column advanced to pierce the Spanish right - center , it began to come under galling fire from the flanks . Ignoring his orders , Pino panicked and sent Fontane with one battalion each of the 2nd Light and 7th Line to the right . He directed General of Brigade Luigi Mazzucchelli to the left with the remaining two battalions of the 2nd Light and three battalions of the 4th Line . The attack broke the Spanish first line but came to a stand before the second line , halfway up the hillside . Reding ordered the " Españoles " Hussars to charge and sent his whole line forward . Mazzucchelli ' s Italians faltered and were chased back to their starting point . At this moment Saint - Cyr arrived at the front to witness the collapse of the first attack . The French commander immediately directed Souham ' s 10 battalions to angle to their left and assault Reding ' s right flank . He also sent Pino ' s second brigade , the three battalions each of the 1st Light and 6th Line , to rush the Spanish center . Fontane continued to distract the enemy ' s left flank with his two battalions . Souham ' s heavy column plowed into and ruptured Reding ' s line . Meanwhile , Pino ' s second brigade pressed back the Spanish center . With the Spanish position unraveling , Saint - Cyr ordered the Italian light cavalry to charge up the main highway . As the horsemen galloped up the hill , the entire Spanish force bolted to the rear . The Imperial troops inflicted losses of 1 , 000 killed and wounded on their enemies . In addition , they scooped up 1 , 500 Spanish prisoners and captured five artillery pieces and two colors . Saint - Cyr reported losses of 600 , mostly in Pino ' s Italian units . Reding was nearly captured while trying to rally his men . Vives abandoned his horse while escaping up a cliff . He reached the coast and was taken off to Tarragona in " HMS Cambrian " . Milans arrived on the scene after the battle was finished . Lazán never got as far as Sant Celoni , nor did he come into contact with Chabot ' s small division . After hearing the bad news , Lazán marched his command back to Girona . Result . On the 16th Caldagues repelled an attempt by Duhesme to break out . But when he found out that night that Vives had been routed , he abandoned the blockade and fell back behind the Llobregat River . The Spanish army left behind large stocks of food at Sarrià . On 17 November 1808 , Saint - Cyr ' s victorious troops marched into Barcelona . He later claimed that Duhesme did not offer a word of thanks and even insisted that Barcelona could have held out for six more weeks . At this Saint - Cyr coldly produced a copy of one of Duhesme ' s messages pleading for immediate help . The campaign , however , was not over . On 21 December Saint - Cyr ' s army faced Vives , Reding , and Caldagues at the Battle of Molins de Rey .