Third siege of Girona

Siege of Girona
Part of the Peninsular War

Ramon Martí Alsina: El gran dia de Girona
Date6 May – 12 December 1809
Location
Girona, Spain
41°59′37″N 2°49′54″E / 41.99361°N 2.83167°E / 41.99361; 2.83167
Result French victory
Belligerents
 France
Kingdom of Westphalia Kingdom of Westphalia		  Spain
Commanders and leaders
Laurent de Gouvion St-Cyr
Pierre Augereau		 Spain Mariano Álvarez de Castro
Strength
17,000 siege regulars
15,000 covering army[1]		 5,700 regulars and militia
3,600 reinforcements
1100 citizens and clerics[1]
Casualties and losses
14,000 dead, wounded, or ill[2] 5,000 dead
1,200 wounded
3,000 captured[2]
Girona is located in Catalonia
Girona
Girona
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Girona is located in Catalonia, Spain, 70 km south of the border with France.[3]
Peninsular war: Aragón Catalonia
Map
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200km
125miles
21
Battle of Ordal at Ordal, on 13 September 1813
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4
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Girona
2
1
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  current battle

The third siege of Girona occurred in northern Catalonia, Spain from 6 May to 12 December 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars. A significant event of the Peninsular War, France's Grande Armée lay siege to the town of Girona for seven months. Girona was strategically important because it controlled the main road between France and Spain.

General Mariano Álvarez de Castro

Some 32,000 French and Westphalian troops besieged the town. General Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr was in command of the French during much of the siege. Marshal Pierre Augereau took command after 12 October. The Girona defense was under General Mariano Álvarez de Castro, with about 9,000 regular troops and militiamen. Girona held out until disease and famine compelled it to capitulate.

Though badly outnumbered, the Spanish defenders forced a lengthy siege, and a large French army was pinned down for an entire campaigning season. The battle became legendary over the course of Spain's War of Independence, and Álvarez became a national hero.

  1. ^ a b Oman 1902c, pp. 9–66.
  2. ^ a b Gates 2001, p. 172.
  3. ^ "Girona: About the city | ICA 2014 | Ajuntament de Girona".