Siege of Valencia ( 1812 ) The Siege of Valencia from 3 November 1811 to 9 January 1812 , saw Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet ' s French Army of Aragon besiege Captain General Joaquín Blake y Joyes ' forces in the city of Valencia , Spain during the Peninsular War . The 20 , 000 to 30 , 000 French troops compelled 16 , 000 Spanish soldiers to surrender at the conclusion of the siege , although another 7 , 000 Spaniards escaped from the trap . Suchet quickly converted Valencia into an important base of operations after this Napoleonic Wars action . Valencia , modern - day capital of the Valencian Community , is located on the east coast of Spain . Background . On 8 July 1811 , Suchet received his baton , making him the only French general to be appointed Marshal of France for winning victories in Spain . Specifically , he won this honor for his victory in the Siege of Tarragona . The port of Tarragona fell to the French on 29 June 1811 as a British naval squadron stood helplessly offshore . Suchet pressed the siege ruthlessly and lost 4 , 300 troops during the operation , but Spanish losses were far heavier . The loss of the port involved most of the Army of Catalonia and therefore left Spanish forces in the area gravely weakened . Emperor Napoleon I of France ordered his newly minted marshal to capture Valencia . During the summer and fall of 1811 , Suchet seized Montserrat , defeated Blake at Benaguasil , and captured the port of Oropesa del Mar . On 15 September , 25 , 000 French invaded Valencia and beat Blake again at the Battle of Sagunto on 26 October , where Suchet sustained a severe wound in his shoulder . Reinforced by two additional divisions , the French relentlessly advanced . Siege . Suchet commanded 20 , 595 men in five infantry divisions under Generals of Division Louis François Félix Musnier , Jean Isidore Harispe , Pierre - Joseph Habert , Giuseppe Frederico Palombini , and Claude Antoine Compère , plus cavalry and artillerists . Musnier ' s 1st Division consisted of the 114th and 121st Line Infantry Regiments , three battalions each , and the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments of the Legion of the Vistula , two battalions each . Harispe ' s 2nd Division included the following infantry regiments , 7th Line , four battalions , 44th Line and 3rd Vistula Legion , two battalions each , and 116th Line , three battalions . Habert ' s 3rd Division comprised the 16th and 117th Line Infantry Regiments , three battalions each , and the 15th Line Infantry Regiment , two battalions . Palombini ' s Kingdom of Italy Division had the 2nd Light and 4th and 6th Line Infantry Regiments , three battalions each , and the 5th Line Infantry Regiment , two battalions . Compère ' s weak Kingdom of Naples Division consisted of the 1st Light and the 1st and 2nd Line Infantry Regiments , one battalion each . General of Brigade André Joseph Boussart led Suchet ' s cavalry , including the 13th Cuirassier , 4th Hussar , and Italian " Napoleone " Dragoon Regiments , four squadrons each , 24th Dragoon Regiment , two squadrons , and Neapolitan Chasseurs à Cheval , one squadron . One authority asserts that Suchet had 30 , 000 men and adds General of Division Honoré Charles Reille ' s infantry division to the French order of battle . Another source gives Suchet 33 , 000 and the divisions of both Reille and General of Division Philippe Eustache Louis Severoli . Blake disposed of 28 , 044 soldiers for the defense of Valencia , organized in three groups , the Expeditionary Corps , the 2nd Valencian Army , and the 3rd Murcian Army . The Expeditionary Corps ' included the infantry divisions of Generals Miguel Lardizabal y Uribe and José Pascual de Zayas y Chacón plus General Casimiro Loy ' s cavalry and two horse artillery batteries , a total of 6 , 041 men . The 2nd Army consisted of the infantry divisions of Generals Miranda , José Obispo , Villacampa , and Velasco , plus General San Juan ' s cavalry . The 2nd Army mustered 16 , 468 men , two foot and one horse artillery batteries . Counting 5 , 535 troops , the 3rd Army had the brigades of Generals Creagh and Montijo plus eight squadrons of cavalry and one horse artillery battery . Blake deployed his army facing generally north with his right wing on the coast , his right - center in Valencia , his left - center at Mislata , and his left at Manises . The divisions of Obispo and Villacampa , which had performed poorly at the Battle of Sagunto , held the left flank . To their right stood Creagh ' s brigade . Next in line were the good - quality divisions of Lardizabal and Zayas . Miranda ' s division occupied Valencia while some irregulars held the gap between the city and the coast . Blake posted his cavalry at Aldaia and Torrent , behind his left flank . Though the line as far as Manises was fortified and protected by canals and ditches , the left flank hung in the air . Suchet discerned that Blake ' s left flank was the weak point and determined to envelop it . He planned to take the divisions of Harispe , Musnier , Reille , and Boussart in a wide sweep around the open Spanish flank . Suchet directed Habert to break through along the coast , while Palombini attacked Mislata and Compère observed the Spanish lines . If all went well , Suchet might bag Blake ' s entire army . On the night of 25 December , Suchet led his main column across the Rio Túria at Riba - roja de Túria . At first , Habert ' s attack on his right flank fooled Blake into thinking it was Suchet ' s main effort . Then Palombini ' s attack at Mislata diverted his attention . Despite persistent assaults , the Italians failed to break through and suffered heavy losses . Suchet ' s main column reached Blake ' s left rear virtually unopposed . As Harispe approached the village of Aldaia , he sighted the Spanish cavalry reserve . With a single squadron of the 4th Hussars , Boussart rashly attacked a vastly superior force . The handful of French horsemen were wiped out , while Boussart was cut down and left for dead , his sword and decorations pilfered . The bulk of the French cavalry under General of Brigade Jacques - Antoine - Adrien Delort soon came up and routed the Spanish troopers , driving them beyond the Rio Júcar and depriving Blake of much - needed cavalry support . General Nicolás de Mahy , in overall command of the left flank , realized that his troops were in danger of being encircled . He ordered an immediate retreat and the divisions of Obispo and Villacampa , as well as Creagh ' s brigade made their escape to the south . Blake ordered Lardizabal and Zayas to retire within Valencia . The veteran units cleanly disengaged but were doomed to be trapped in the city . Suchet rapidly ringed the city with his army . With a population of 100 , 000 , a lack of food , and obsolete defenses , Valencia was in no condition to sustain a siege . On the night of 28 December , Blake tried to break out of the city . The attempt failed except for a spearhead of 500 troops which got away . Suchet wasted little time , digging the first siege parallels on 1 January and taking the outer defenses under fire three days later . As the bombardment intensified , Blake capitulated and handed over Valencia on 9 January . Results . For the loss of about 2 , 000 killed and wounded , Suchet succeeded in capturing 16 , 270 Spanish soldiers , 21 colors , and 374 guns . In addition , 4 , 011 Spanish troops died in battle or from disease . All of Blake ' s cavalry , plus the units of Obispo , Villacampa , and Creagh avoided capture , but his best troops became prisoners . Blake performed poorly throughout the siege and the citizens of Valencia despised him for his feeble efforts . The French held the Spanish general in prison near Paris until 1814 . Suchet levied an indemnity on the surrendered city of 53 million francs . Boussart received a promotion to General of Division but eventually died from his many battle injuries in August 1813 . Suchet continued to advance to the south , capturing the port of Dénia . However , with Napoleon transferring troops from Spain to support his upcoming invasion of Russia , operations soon ground to a halt due to a lack of soldiers . Suchet also fell seriously ill with a fever and was out of action for weeks . This allowed the remnants of Blake ' s army under Mahy to recover . In the meantime , Napoleon ennobled his victorious marshal with the title Duke of Albufera , after the name of a lagoon south of Valencia . Far to the north , General Joaquín Ibáñez Cuevas y de Valonga , Baron de Eroles ambushed a French battalion at a place on the coast southwest of Tarragona called Col de Balaguer . On 18 January , 4 , 000 Spanish troops , including 250 cavalry and two cannons , captured one battalion of the 121st Line Infantry Regiment . Out of about 850 troops , only the governor of the fortress of Tortosa , General of Brigade Jacques Mathurin Lafosse and 22 dragoons escaped the trap . General of Division Maurice Mathieu exacted revenge on Eroles less than a week later . In heavy fog , Eroles engaged what he thought was an enemy battalion on 24 January in the Battle of Altafulla . In fact , it was Mathieu ' s 8 , 000 - strong division of six French and two German battalions . At the cost of a few casualties , the French crushed the outnumbered Spanish force , inflicting a loss of 2 , 000 killed , wounded , and captured as well as taking both cannons . On 20 January , Severoli laid siege to Peñiscola with his division of 3 , 000 men and six guns . The port , between Valencia and Tarragona , was known as " Little Gibraltar " because it seemed virtually impregnable . The Spanish commander General Garcia Navarro , however , was pro - French and quickly came to terms with Severoli , handing over the castle on 2 February and surrendering his 1 , 000 troops . Arthur Wellesley , 1st Duke of Wellington ' s crushing defeat of Marshal Auguste Marmont at the Battle of Salamanca on 22 July 1812 caused King Joseph Bonaparte to abandon Madrid on 11 August . Because Suchet had a secure base at Valencia , Joseph and Marshal Jean - Baptiste Jourdan retreated there and were joined by Marshals Suchet and Nicolas Soult . Together , Joseph and the three marshals worked out a plan to recapture Madrid and drive Wellington from central Spain . Their subsequent counteroffensive caused the British general to lift the Siege of Burgos and retreat to Portugal in the autumn of 1812 .