Siege of Roses ( 1808 ) The Siege of Roses or Siege of Rosas from 7 November to 5 December 1808 saw an Imperial French corps led by Laurent Gouvion Saint - Cyr invest a Spanish garrison commanded by Peter O ' Daly . After a siege lasting a month , the Spanish surrendered the port to the French . Roses ( Rosas ) is located northeast of Girona ( Gerona ) , Spain . The action occurred during the Peninsular War , part of the Napoleonic Wars . In the summer and fall of 1808 , an Imperial French corps under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme was isolated in Barcelona by a 24 , 000 - man Spanish army led by Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu . With 23 , 000 men , Gouvion Saint - Cyr moved from the French border to relieve Duhesme ' s troops . The first obstacle to Gouvion Saint - Cyr ' s mission was the coastal fortress of Roses . The 3 , 500 Spanish defenders of Roses were mostly local militia stiffened by some regulars . Though assisted by several British warships commanded by Thomas Cochrane , the garrison was unable to slow the advance of the Franco - Italian siege lines . The defenders eventually capitulated , except for a few who were evacuated by the British navy . Gouvion Saint - Cyr still faced the problem of getting past Girona in order to succor Duhesme ' s soldiers . The French general made a bold but risky maneuver and the result was the Battle of Cardadeu on 16 December . Background . Initial operations . Emperor Napoleon I plotted to replace the royal family of the Kingdom of Spain . Pursuant to his design , he ordered several key points , including Barcelona , to be seized in February 1808 . On 29 February , General of Division Giuseppe Lechi ' s Imperial French troops were marching through Barcelona , ostensibly to help fight Portugal . Lechi staged a military review , but it was a cover for gaining control of the citadel . As the soldiers marched past the main gate of the fortress , they suddenly turned left and rushed inside . Without spilling a drop of blood , the Imperial troops herded the baffled Spanish garrison out of the fortifications and occupied the place . Among other key points , the French also grabbed San Sebastian , Pamplona and Figueras . On 2 May 1808 , the infuriated Spanish people rose in rebellion against their French occupiers . A 12 , 710 - man Franco - Italian corps commanded by General of Division Guillaume Philibert Duhesme guarded Barcelona in June 1808 . General of Division Joseph Chabran ' s 1st Division consisted of 6 , 050 soldiers in eight battalions , while Lechi ' s 2nd Division had 4 , 600 men in six battalions . Generals of Brigade Bertrand Bessières and François Xavier de Schwarz led 1 , 700 cavalrymen in nine squadrons , and there were 360 artillerists . The French authorities in Madrid confidently expected that Duhesme ' s corps would quickly stamp out the rebellion in Catalonia , but they grossly underestimated its seriousness . The miquelets , the Catalan militia , turned out in large numbers to harass their enemies . In June , Schwarz and Chabran were beaten at the Battles of the Bruch and Duhesme was turned back at the Battle of Gerona . Finally awakening to reality , Napoleon ordered General of Division Honoré Charles Reille and a division of reinforcements to Duhesme ' s assistance . The troops were of low quality and scattered throughout southern France , but Reille quickly cobbled together a fraction of this force and successfully relieved the French garrison of Figueras . Joined by more of his division , he next marched on the port of Roses ( Rosas ) . First attack on Roses . Reille commanded 4 , 000 men and two cannons . These troops included two battalions of the 113th Line Infantry Regiment , 560 men of the " Pyrenées Orientales " Garde Nationale , two companies of the 2nd Swiss Infantry Regiment , 700 gendarmes and department reserves , and various march battalions and conscript drafts . Roses was held by only 400 miquelets , the Catalan militia , but 5 , 000 more miquelets under Captain Don Juan Claros lurked in the nearby hills . The defenders were given a boost when the British warship " HMS Montagu ( 74 ) " appeared off the port and landed her marines to help . Reille launched an attack on 11 July 1808 , but his troops were driven off with 200 casualties . Spanish losses were light . Thwarted at Roses , Reille moved in the direction of Girona . When he reached there , he joined with Duhesme to initiate the Siege of Gerona . Meanwhile , 5 , 000 Spanish regular troops from the Balearic Islands commanded by the Marquis Del Palacio landed at Tarragona . Appointed Captain General of Catalonia , Del Palacio joined his regulars with a large mass of Catalan irregulars to start a blockade of Barcelona on 1 August 1808 . Lechi ' s 3 , 500 - man Italo - Swiss garrison defended the city . Among a large population that threatened to revolt at any moment , Lechi began sending alarming reports to Duhesme after being compelled to abandon his outposts , such as the castle of Mongat . Even though Duhesme mustered 13 , 000 soldiers for the siege operation , it ended in failure after starting on 24 July and dragging on until 16 August . When his siege lines were attacked from the rear by a force under the Conde de Caldagues , Duhesme gave up and ordered a withdrawal . He buried his heavy siege cannons , burned his supplies , and headed back to Barcelona while Reille fell back to Figueras . While marching along the coast road Duhesme ' s marching columns were bombarded by the British frigate " HMS Imperieuse ( 38 ) " commanded by Captain Thomas Cochrane . Faced with this threat and the miquelets ' road demolitions , the French veered away from the vulnerable coast highway . After throwing eight field guns into the sea and leaving behind their baggage train , Duhesme ' s men struck out into the mountains and finally reached Barcelona on 20 August . One source described the Imperial column as " a starving , demoralized mob " by the time it arrived . In October , Napoleon appointed General of Division Laurent Gouvion Saint - Cyr and a new corps to relieve Barcelona . Opposing forces . The newly activated VII Corps was made up of six infantry divisions and three cavalry brigades . Chabran ' s 1st Division , Lechi ' s 2nd Division , and the mounted brigades of Bessières and Schwarz were cooped up inside Barcelona with Duhesme . With Gouvion Saint - Cyr were Reille ' s 3rd Division of 12 battalions , General of Division Joseph Souham ' s 4th Division of 10 battalions , General of Division Domenico Pino ' s 5th Division of 13 battalions , Louis François Jean Chabot ' s 6th Division of three battalions , and General of Brigade Jacques Fontane ' s cavalry brigade of one dragoon and one light cavalry regiment . There was also one unattached dragoon regiment . Including Duhesme ' s stranded troops , the VII Corps counted 42 , 380 soldiers . To build up this force , Napoleon had to shift troops from Italy to Spain . On 28 October the siege artillery finally arrived at the frontier . Bottled up in Barcelona , Duhesme ' s 10 , 000 remaining troops were in a vulnerable situation , but Del Palacio did not press operations with vigor . Instead , he ordered Caldagues to hold a line long with 2 , 000 regulars and 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 miquelets while remaining at Tarragona , far from the action . Duhesme periodically sent out strong columns to strip the countryside of food and supplies for his soldiers . On 12 October , a column was roughly handled and the excursions finally stopped . Finally , on 28 October , the Catalan Junta replaced Del Palacio with Captain General Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu . The new commander was a veteran of the War of the Pyrenees , having commanded the Spanish left wing at the Battle of Boulou in 1794 . De Vives attacked the French outpost line on 6 November . After this , the Spanish remained quiescent until 26 November when de Vives ' offensive forced the French to take refuge behind the walls of Barcelona . In the fall of 1808 , the 20 , 031 men of the Army of Catalonia were organized into a vanguard , four divisions , and a reserve . Brigadier General Mariano Álvarez de Castro led the Vanguard with 5 , 500 infantry in 10 battalions and 100 cavalry in one squadron . Mariscal de Campo Caldagues commanded the 1st Division with 4 , 528 foot soldiers in seven battalions , 400 horsemen in four squadrons , and six guns served by 70 artillerists . Mariscal de Campo Gregorio Laguna directed the 2nd Division with 2 , 076 soldiers in five battalions , 200 cavalry in two squadrons , and seven artillery pieces served by 84 gunners . Colonel Gaspar Gomez de la Serna led the 3rd Division with 2 , 458 men in five battalions and Colonel Francisco Milans del Bosch commanded the 4th Division with 3 , 710 troops in four battalions . There was also a reserve of 777 infantry , 80 cavalry , and 48 artillerists serving four guns . Siege . Gouvion Saint - Cyr ' s field force numbered 23 , 000 men . He appointed Reille to manage the siege while he and the rest of the corps stood by to fend off any relief attempts . Reille had 12 , 000 Imperial troops in 24 battalions supported by four foot artillery batteries . For the siege , the French general employed his own and Pino ' s divisions . Reille ' s 3rd Division included one battalion each of the 16th Line , 32nd Light , 56th Line , and 113th Line Infantry Regiments , four battalions of the Regiment of " Perpignan " , and the " Valais " , " Chasseurs des Montagnes " , and 5th Reserve Legion Battalions . Pino ' s 5th Division was made up of three battalions each of the Italian 1st Light , 2nd Light , and 6th Line Infantry Regiments , two battalions of the Italian 4th Line Infantry Regiment , and one battalion each of the Italian 5th and 7th Line Infantry Regiments . The garrison of Roses consisted of 3 , 500 soldiers and 58 cannons commanded by Colonel Peter O ' Daly . The small core of regulars was represented by 150 men of the " Ultonia " Infantry Regiment , one company of the " Wimpffen " Swiss Regiment , a half - battalion of the 2nd Light Infantry of Barcelona , and 120 artillerists . Later in the siege , one weak battalion of the " Borbon " Infantry Regiment was landed . The remainder of the garrison was made up of the " Berga " , " Figueras " , " Igualada " , and " Lerida " Tercios , which were formations of miquelets . Providing naval support was the British third - rate " HMS Excellent ( 74 ) " . As the siege progressed the " Excellent " was replaced by " HMS Fame ( 74 ) " . Also present were two bomb vessels , the " HMS Meteor " and " HMS Lucifer " . Cochrane ' s " Imperieuse " arrived later in the siege . The port of Roses was provided with a Vauban - type citadel ( " ciutadella " ) and the satellite " Castillo de la Trinidad " ( " Castell de la Trinitat " ) . In 1543 Charles V , Holy Roman Emperor ordered these fortifications to be built . The works were completed by 1570 and were besieged in 1645 , 1693 , and 1794 – 1795 . The citadel was a modified pentagon with five bastions . Four demi - lunes covered all sides except the sea side . The " Castillo de la Trinidad " was an outlying 4 - pointed star fort on a high elevation . The citadel is located just west of Roses while the " castillo " tops a promontory about two kilometers south - southeast of the citadel . A high height overlooks the " Castillo " on the northeast . On 8 November a thick fog settled on the land and a force of miquelets took the opportunity to attack Gouvion Saint - Cyr ' s corps while O ' Daly ' s garrison moved against Reille ' s encampment . Neither action stopped the siege operation . That day , all civilians were evacuated from the town by sea . After a week of heavy rain , Reille attacked the " Castillo de la Trinidad " but was repulsed . The heavy guns reached Roses on 16 November and Reille ' s men soon dug emplacements for them , the rain having stopped . Though he had plenty of soldiers available , de Vives declined to mount a relief expedition . Álvarez tried to march to the assistance of Roses from Girona , but he was stopped at the Fluvià River . The Italians successfully stormed into the town on 26 November . This allowed Reille to construct a water - front battery which threatened the British warships . Around this time , O ' Daly was reinforced by one battalion of regulars . On the 28th , Reille summoned the fortress to surrender , but O ' Daly refused . Cochrane arrived and assumed command of the " Castillo " which was held by Spaniards and sailors from the British squadron . On 30 November , Pino ' s men tried to storm the " Castillo " without success . After this repulse , Reille ignored the position and concentrated on reducing the citadel . The French bombardment soon smashed a breach in the fortress walls . On 3 December , the Spanish commander sent 500 men to seize the most deadly of the breaching batteries . This assault failed with heavy losses and the attackers returned to their positions in disarray . On the 4th , Reille ' s trenches were from the walls and his troops began making preparations to mount a full - dress assault . O ' Daly thereupon surrendered unconditionally and on 5 December , 2 , 366 Spanish soldiers laid down their arms . During the siege , the Spanish suffered about 700 additional casualties . The morning of the capitulation , Cochrane abandoned the " Castillo " and embarked its 180 defenders . Heavy artillery fire prevented the British squadron from rescuing the rest of the garrison . The Franco - Italians lost about 1 , 000 killed , wounded , and died of disease . Results . Having lost an entire month in reducing Roses , it was imperative that the Imperial corps get through to Duhesme , whose supply situation was becoming critical . There were two roads that Gouvion Saint - Cyr might use to reach Barcelona . The coastal road was blocked and was within range of Cochrane ' s squadron . The defiant defenders of Girona stood in the path of the inland road . Hoping to convince de Vives that he wanted to besiege Girona , the French general arrived in front of that city with 15 , 000 infantry and 1 , 500 cavalry . Sending back his artillery and baggage train , Gouvion Saint - Cyr led his troops into the mountains the next day . Cutting his way through a force of miquelets on the 12th , his column bypassed Girona and reached the inland highway at Sant Celoni on the 15th . This set the stage for the showdown Battle of Cardadeu on 16 December 1808 .