Siege of Lérida ( 1810 ) In the Siege of Lérida from 29 April to 13 May 1810 , an Imperial French army under Louis Gabriel Suchet besieged a Spanish garrison led by Jaime García Conde . On 13 May , García Conde surrendered with his 7 , 000 surviving soldiers . Lleida ( Lérida ) is a city in the western part of Catalonia . Margalef is located on Route N - 240 about southeast of Lérida . The siege occurred during the Peninsular War , part of the Napoleonic Wars . After a fruitless attempt to seize Valencia in March , Suchet determined to move against Lérida . By mid - April , the French were before the city . Suchet heard that a Spanish army commanded by Henry O ' Donnell was trying to interefere with the planned operation . O ' Donnell ' s column was intercepted and in the Battle of Margalef on 23 April , it was routed with heavy losses . This action was followed by a siege in which Suchet used brutal methods to bring a speedy surrender . On 13 May , García Conde capitulated with his 7 , 000 surviving soldiers . This event was the start of an astonishing series of successful sieges from 1810 to 1812 in which Suchet ' s troops seemed to be unstoppable . Background . In January 1810 , General of Division Louis Gabriel Suchet commanded the French III Corps , with three infantry divisions commanded by Generals of Division Anne - Gilbert Laval and Louis François Félix Musnier , and General of Brigade Pierre - Joseph Habert . Laval ' s 1st Division consisted of 4 , 290 effectives in six battalions , Musnier ' s 2nd Division counted 7 , 173 men in 11 battalions , and Habert ' s 3rd Division numbered 4 , 329 soldiers in seven battalions . General of Brigade André Joseph Boussart led the 1 , 899 troopers of the corps cavalry brigade . These were divided into two unusually strong regiments , one heavy and one light . The III Corps also had 1 , 287 gunners , sappers , and other attached troops . Suchet ' s total of 23 , 140 effectives included 4 , 162 soldiers in garrisons . That month , Suchet planned to move against the Spanish - held cities of Lérida and Mequinenza . However , he received positive orders to move directly against Valencia instead . King Joseph Bonaparte was in the process of overrunning Andalusia and believed that the Spanish armies were on the verge of collapse . Suchet reluctantly obeyed the king ' s command and his army reached the outskirts of Valencia on 6 March . Lacking siege artillery and facing a determined set of defenders , the French general retreated after blockading the city for only four days . Back in his base in Aragon , Suchet spent a few weeks suppressing Spanish guerillas before he was ready to march on Lérida . Suchet ' s army arrived in front of Lérida on 15 April . The 13 , 000 French soldiers were organized into 18 battalions and eight squadrons and supplied with 30 artillery pieces . Musnier ' s 2nd Division included three battalions each of the 114th , 115th , and 121st Line Infantry Regiments , two battalions of the 1st Legion of the Vistula , and two foot artillery batteries . Habert ' s 3rd Division comprised two battalions each of the 5th Light and 116th Line , three battalions of the 117th Line , and two foot artillery batteries . Boussart ' s cavalry was made up of the 4th Hussar and 13th Cuirassier Regiments , and a horse artillery battery . The fortress of Lérida was armed with 105 cannons . Major General Jaime García Conde led the 8 , 000 Spanish defenders , including 350 gunners . In September 1809 , García Conde successfully led a 4 , 000 - man re - supply convoy during the Siege of Gerona . During the operation he broke through the Italian defenders and delivered supplies and reinforcements before escaping . Battle of Margalef . While Suchet was preparing to invest Lérida , he received intelligence that a relieving column was hurrying toward the city . Determined to intercept this force , Suchet set out with Musnier ' s division . After hours of futile searching , the French turned back toward Lérida and bivouacked from the city on the evening of 22 April . Unknown to Suchet , Major General Henry O ' Donnell ' s relief army had avoided detection and was camped nearby . The Spanish force had as many as 8 , 000 or as few as 7 , 000 troops , including 300 cavalry and six cannons . Musnier ' s division had all of its components except the 121st Line and numbered 5 , 500 men . In addition , there were 500 troopers of the 4th Hussars and 13th Cuirassiers . On 23 April , O ' Donnell ' s lead division under Major General Miguel Ibarrola Gonzáles bumped into General of Brigade Jean Isidore Harispe ' s small French force east of Lérida . Harispe managed to contain the numerically superior Spanish column until Musnier ' s division appeared on the scene . Ibarrola immediately beat a hasty retreat with Musnier in headlong pursuit . At the hamlet of Margalef , the Spanish were attempting to fend off the French when the 13th Cuirassiers charged into their flank . Ibarrola ' s division disintegrated as the heavy cavalrymen slashed and hacked at the fleeing foot soldiers . Just as the butchery ended , O ' Donnell showed up with his second division . The Spanish general quickly backtracked but the French cavalry were soon at his soldiers ' heels . Again , the cuirassiers caught up with the Spaniards and rode down their rear guard , inflicting more casualties . At Margalef , O ' Donnell lost 500 killed and wounded . In addition , the victorious French seized 2 , 500 prisoners , three guns , and four colors . The French lost 100 men , all from the 13th Cuirassiers . The infantry were present , but not involved in the fighting . One account stated that 3 , 000 Spaniards were captured and that French losses were 120 men . Siege . Having disposed of O ' Donnell ' s relief army , Suchet invested Lérida and demanded the city ' s surrender but García Conde refused his summons . The city lay on the west bank of the Segre River with a tête - de - pont on the east bank . A hill to the north was crowned by the citadel while Fort Garden and two redoubts were located on a hill to the south . The northern wall between the citadel and the Segre was particularly weak . Suchet posted Musnier ' s men and the majority of his cavalry on the east bank to watch for any relief forces . Habert ' s troops faced the northern and western walls on the west bank . A temporary bridge connected the two parts of the besieging corps . The formal siege began on 29 April . Suchet brought up his siege train and on 7 May had a battery of heavy cannons in action . Lérida ' s defenses proved no match for Suchet ' s artillery . The French guns took the Carmen and Magdelena bastions under fire , causing serious damage . Within six days , the siege cannons battered a breach in the wall . Meanwhile , the French attacked the forts on the southern hill . After one repulse , the French overran the two redoubts on the night of 12 – 13 May . Late on 13 May , assault columns rushed the breach and seized it . The defenders had built a new line behind the breach , but the French overcame these defenses also . At this , García Conde ordered his soldiers to withdraw into the citadel . Showing no moral scruples , Suchet ordered his soldiers to drive the civilian population under the castle ' s walls . Any person who resisted was instantly murdered by the French soldiers . After the Spanish commander admitted the non - combatants into the citadel , the French began a high - angle bombardment of the castle , using howitzers and mortars . These killed most of the 500 civilians who died during the siege . Horrified at the slaughter as bursting shells struck down soldiers and civilians alike , García Conde asked for terms at noon on 14 May . The surrender netted 7 , 000 Spanish soldiers as prisoners . During the siege , the Spanish garrison suffered 1 , 700 killed and wounded . Among the French trophies were six generals , 307 officers , and 105 artillery pieces . French casualties numbered about 1 , 000 killed and wounded . Aftermath . The seizure of Lérida was the beginning of a remarkable series of successful sieges by Suchet ' s apparently invincible army . The III Corps began the Siege of Mequinenza on 15 May 1810 and the place fell on 5 June . The Siege of Tortosa ended on 2 January 1811 when General Conde de Alacha Lilli capitulated with 3 , 974 survivors , 182 guns , and nine colors . Suchet followed this success with the Siege of Tarragona . After a climactic assault on 28 June , Lieutenant General Juan Senen de Contreras was captured and his large garrison was annihilated . For this victory , Emperor Napoleon I made Suchet a Marshal of France . Immediately after Suchet ' s triumph at the Battle of Saguntum on 25 October 1811 , the fortress of Sagunto ( Saguntum ) surrendered . This was followed by Suchet ' s greatest coup of all . The Siege of Valencia ended when Captain General Joaquin Blake y Joyes capitulated with 16 , 270 men on 9 January 1812 . Soon afterward , the fortresses of Dénia and Peniscola submitted to the French , making Suchet the master of the province of Valencia .