Siege of Astorga

Peninsular war: Third French invasion

200km
125miles

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Fuentes de Oñoro

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Sabugal

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Lisbon

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Bussaco

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Almeida

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Ciudad Rodrigo

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Astorga

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  current battle

Astorga is located in the province of León, in northwest Spain.[2] Because of its location, it sat on the flank of the French army as they advanced into Spain, and then invaded Portugal.^[3] The city was built into a hill, part of the Manzanal mountains;^[2] and therefore was provided with natural defenses.^[4] The French had already been defeated once trying to take the city, in September 1809,^[5] after which General La Romana repaired the walls of the city and built up its defenses.^[6]

Forces

The French forces, part of André Masséna's army, were led by Jean-Andoche Junot.^[4] Junot arrived at Astorga on March 21 with Napoleon's 8th corps, consisting of 12,000 men, including 1,200 cavalry forces.^[5] Junot's forces included the Irish Legion; they had joined earlier that month.^[3] Astorga would be the first action for the Second Battalion of the Legion.^[3] Junot placed Bertrand Clausel's division in the position Loison had held,^[7] with Solignac in support, and St. Croix to watch the rear.^[4]

Campaign

General Loison attempted to take the city in February 1810, as it was meant to be his headquarters during the invasion of Portugal; but was unprepared to attack the defenses he found there, and was forced to retreat.^[6] Junot's troops came to assist Loison, but brought no siege guns with them; It took Junot weeks to gather enough artillery to assault the town.^[8] In the meantime, the French forces dug trenches to besiege the town.^[8] Incidentally, the English and Spanish troops under Wellington had the same troubles when they recaptured the city in 1812.^[9] The garrison in Astorga had no siege guns, either: for several weeks there was a standoff.^[8] During these weeks, Santocildes emptied the town of 3,000 of its residents and stocked up on supplies for the siege,^[4] which began on March 21 of 1810.^[10] The Spanish could expect no hope from Wellington's forces, which remained in Portugal.^[11] Until the siege guns arrived, there was no action except nuisance fire from what little artillery Junot had,^[7] and skirmish parties sent out from Astorga.^[4]

Junot's 18 siege guns arrived on April 15 from Valladolid,^[7] and by the 20th, the wall of the city was breached.^[12] The French stormed the city the next evening;^[3] however, their first attack was repulsed at the cost of 300 men.^[12] Those of the storming company who were not killed holed up just inside the wall and held the position for the night.^[4] The next morning, Santocildes surrendered as the French were preparing for another attack.^[12]

Aftermath

Santocildes was almost out of ammunition when he surrendered: he had fewer than 30 rounds of ammunition left per man, and only 8 rounds of artillery.^[5] He gave the French 2,500 prisoners and the city, but cost the French 160 men, with 400 wounded.^[4] His garrison lost only 51 dead and 109 wounded.^[4] Most of the French casualties came in the assault on the breach.^[12] The Irish Legion led the charge over the wall, and suffered heavy losses: Captain John Allen's company's drummer boy continued to beat the charge after having lost both legs, for which he was given the French Legion of Honor.^[3]

Notes

References

• Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 25 May 2021.
• Goldberg, Maren (28 April 2008). Astorga. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
• Medlen, Virginia (2008). "Napoleon's Irish Legion: La Legion Irlandaise 1803 - 1815". The Napoleonic Historical Society. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
• Rickard, John (2021). "Siege of Astorga, 21 March-22 April 1810". Archived from the original on 23 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
• Southey, Robert (1828). History of the Peninsular War. Vol. IV (New, in 6 volumes ed.). London: John Murray. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
• Fortescue, John William (1912). A History of the British Army. Vol. 7. Macmillan Publishers.
• Gates, David (2001). The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81083-2.
• Oman, Sir Charles William Chadwick; Hall, John Alexander (1908). A History of the Peninsular War. Vol. 4. Clarendon Press.
• Esdaile, Charles J. (2003). The Peninsular War: A New History. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-6231-6. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
• Jones, John Thomas (1821). Account of the War in Spain, Portugal, and the South of France (2nd ed.). T. Egerton.
• Napier, William (1828b). History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France. Vol. II. London : T. & W. Boone. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
• Esdaile, Charles J. (1988). The Spanish Army in the Peninsular War. Manchester University Press ND. ISBN 0-7190-2538-9.

External links

• Media related to Sitios de Astorga at Wikimedia Commons