The following tables show the sequence of events of the Peninsular War (1807–1814), including major battles, smaller actions, uprisings, sieges and other related events that took place during that period.Also included are naval actions which had a direct effect on the development of the events on the Iberian Peninsula. However, unless they can be directly ascribed to the Peninsular War, those actions which took place in the vicinity, such as the blockade of French ports in the Bay of Biscay, for instance, the actions of November 1808 or April 1809, however much they affected Napoleon's plans on the Peninsula, are excluded as they were possibly more related to the general war efforts of the time.
For ease of reference using modern maps, the provinces/regions given for Spain and Portugal are those that correspond to the 20th century.That is, resulting from the 1976 Constitution of Portugal and the processes of devolution of Spain's transition to democracy (1979). As regards the latter, seventeen autonomous communities (regions) and two autonomous cities were created. This affects, in particular, the historical regions and provinces of León and Old Castile (Spanish: Castilla la Vieja), constituted in 1983 as Castile and León. Events in Portugal and France are specified.
Overview
The Peninsular War was a military conflict for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars, waged between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom and Portugal. It started when French and Spanish armies, then allied, occupied Portugal in 1807, and escalated in 1808 when France turned on Spain, its former ally. The war on the peninsula lasted until the Sixth Coalition defeated Napoleon in 1814, and is regarded as one of the first wars of national liberation, and significant for the emergence of large-scale guerrilla warfare. British and Portuguese forces eventually secured Portugal, using it as a safe position from which to launch campaigns against the French army, while both Spanish and Portuguese guerrillas weakened the occupying forces.
The Peninsular War overlaps with what the Spanish-speaking world calls the Guerra de la Independencia Española (Spanish War of Independence), which began with the Dos de Mayo Uprising on 2 May 1808 and ended on 17 April 1814. Although Spain had been in upheaval since at least the Mutiny of Aranjuez (March 1808), May 1808 marks the start of the Spanish War of Independence. The French occupation destroyed the Spanish administration, which fragmented into quarrelling provincial juntas. In 1810, a reconstituted national government, the Cortes of Cádizeffectively a government-in-exilefortified itself in Cádiz but could not raise effective armies because it was besieged by up to 70,000 French troops. Cádiz would go on to hold the distinction of being the only city in continental Europe to survive a siege by Napoleon: thirty-one months—from 5 February 1810 to 25 August 1812.Hindley, Meredith (2010). "The Spanish Ulcer: Napoleon, Britain, and the Siege of Cádiz" in Humanities, January/February 2010, Volume 31, Number 1. National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 21 February 2023. The combined efforts of regular and irregular forces throughout the peninsula prevented Napoleon's marshals from subduing the rebellious Spanish provinces, and the war continued through years of stalemate.
While the initial stages of the Peninsular War were fought on Portuguese soil, most of the war was fought on Spanish soil and, as the French army was pushed further back across the Pyrenees, the final stages of the war were fought on French soil.
List of events
1807 Date Event Province/region (modern) Outcome Notes 12–18 October 1807 French troops enter Spain en route to Portugal Irun, Basque Country Manoeuvres (French) Junot crosses into Spain at Irun with the 25,000–28,000 troops of the Corps of Observation of the Gironde. The Treaty of Fontainebleau, to be signed later that month, stipulates that three columns of Spanish troops numbering 25,500 men will support the Invasion of Portugal. 27 October 1807 Treaty of Fontainebleau signed by Charles IV of Spain and Napoleon I of France Fontainebleau Treaty The accord proposed the division of the Kingdom of Portugal and all Portuguese dominions between the signatories. 12 November 1807 Junot's Army of the Gironde reaches Salamanca Salamanca, Castile and León Manoeuvres (French) 1930 November 1807 Invasion of Portugal PortugalManoeuvres (French) Junot enters Portugal 19 November, moving west from Alcántara along the Tagus valley to Portugal, a distance of only 120 miles (193 km). 22 November 1807 Dupont's Second Corps of Observation of the Gironde crosses into Spain Bayonne to Spain Manoeuvres (French)The 25,000 men of the French reserves, the Second Corps of Observation of the Gironde, under General Dupont, crossed into Spain. The following month, when Marshal Moncey's troops also crossed the Pyrenees (see 8 January 1808, below), Dupont marched on towards Madrid, cantoning in Burgos, Valladolid, and other major cities of Old Castile. 29 November 1807 Transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil The Royal Court of Portugal, headed by the Prince Regent, Prince John and his mother, Maria I of Portugal, set sail for Brazil, escorted by the British Royal Navy, led by Sir Sidney Smith and Sir Graham Moore (younger brother of Sir John Moore). 30 November 1807 Junot occupies Lisbon Lisbon Manoeuvres (French) Junot entered the city with only 1,500 troops; the rest of his troops arriving over the following ten days. 1 December 1807 First anti-French riots Lisbon 13 December 1807 Anti-French riots Lisbon Junot ordered the Portuguese flag be replaced by the tricolour on the public buildings in the city, which led to a fierce riot, dispersed with a cavalry charge.
1808