Siege of Roses (1808)
Who Fought
History & Significance
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 Catalan and Spanish garrison commanded by Peter O'Daly. After a siege lasting a month in which the haven and town of Roses was captured and the nearby Trinity Castle invested by over 13,000 French and Italian infantry, artillery and cavalry with heavy siege trains on the hills above, the citadel was surrendered to the Napoleonic forces. Roses (Rosas) is located 43 kilometres (27 mi) northeast of Girona, Catalonia, 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 haven of Roses defended by a large citadel with sea approaches defended by a headland castle. The 3,500 Catalan and Spanish defenders of Roses were mostly local miquelets (militia) stiffened by a small unit of regulars from the Fija de Roses garrison. Although assisted by a bombardment of the French lines by several British warships commanded by Captain Robert Hallowell, and a strong defence of the castle by Catalan regulars and militia with men of the 38-gun frigate HMS Imperieuse commanded by Thomas Cochrane, the garrison was unable to prevent the advance of the Franco-Italian siege lines tightening its grip around the citadel. The defenders eventually capitulated, the soldiers and civilians inside the citadel being taken into captivity in Figueres and the local defenders of the castle being taken by the British to join Vivès Spanish forces in the marshes to the south. 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 Cardedeu on 16 December.
Napoleon's invasion of Spain had started with the Battle of Zornoza.
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 Sebastián, Pamplona and Figueres. On 2 May 1808, the infuriated Spanish people rose in rebellion against their French occupiers.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Roses (1808) lies on Pridoli Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Pridoli. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
- French Empire; Kingdom of Italy: 1,000
- Kingdom of Spain; United Kingdom: 3,166; 58 guns captured
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