Battle of La Bisbal

Battle of La Bisbal
Part of Peninsular War

Bisbal Emporda castell
Date14 September 1810[1]
Location
La Bisbal d'Empordà, Girona, Catalonia
41°57′36″N 3°02′26″E / 41.96000°N 3.04056°E / 41.96000; 3.04056
Result Anglo-Spanish victory[1]
Belligerents
Spain Kingdom of Spain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom		 First French Empire French Empire
Anhalt Duchy of Anhalt
Commanders and leaders
Spain Henry O'Donnell (WIA)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Francis William Fane
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Charles William Doyle		 First French Empire Marie François Rouyer
First French Empire François Xavier de Schwarz (POW)
Units involved
Spain Army of Catalonia
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Royal Navy		 First French Empire VII Corps
Strength
6,600[1]
2 British frigates[1]		 2,400[1]
Casualties and losses
not mentioned[1] 400 dead and wounded[1]
1,600 captured[1]
17 guns[1]
Peninsular war: Aragón Catalonia
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21
Battle of Ordal at Ordal, on 13 September 1813
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  current battle

In the Battle of La Bisbal on 14 September 1810 a Spanish division led by Henry O'Donnell (also known as Enrique José O'Donnell) and supported by an Anglo-Spanish naval squadron led by Francis William Fane and Charles William Doyle surprised an Imperial French brigade commanded by François Xavier de Schwarz. The Imperial troops were from the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of small German states that were allied to Napoleon. Part of a division led by Marie François Rouyer, Schwarz's brigade was almost completely wiped out, most of its soldiers being taken prisoner along with its commander. One of the few Allied casualties was the capable O'Donnell, wounded in the foot. The battle occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars.[2]

The action occurred amid the events leading up to the Siege of Tortosa in December 1810 and January 1811. As Louis Gabriel Suchet prepared to attack Tortosa, Marshal Jacques MacDonald was ordered to support him. The marshal cooperated by advancing into southern Catalonia with a large force. To distract MacDonald from his mission, O'Donnell determined to raid northern Catalonia. The raid was a brilliant tactical success but it failed to deter the marshal from assisting Suchet. Finally, a logistical crisis forced MacDonald to withdraw to northern Catalonia.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bodart 1908, p. 420.
  2. ^ Esdaile 2003, p. 334.