The Peninsular War- Napoleon’s first defeat

Napoleon was master of Europe. Only one country stood in his way- Britain.

Napoleon installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the throne of Spain. The Spanish rebelled. Britain saw their chance and took it.

They sent Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, to Spain to defeat the French armies there.

Wellesley’s first major victory was against Marshal Junot at Vimiero.

He then liberated Portugal by defeating Marshal Soult at Oporto. He then moved into Spain.

The tide turned at Talavera, where 20,600 British troops and 35,000 Spanish soldiers, led by Wellesley and Cuesta, defeated 46,000 Frenchmen, led by King Joseph.

Unfortunately, the Spanish broke and ran, leaving the British infantry to do most of the work.

After liberating western Spain by taking the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, Wellesley moved north-east. His aim- to invade France.

Just north-east of Ciudad Rodrigo, Wellesley won a crushing victory near Salamanca against Marshal Marmont.

With this final victory against King Joseph, the French were driven out of Spain. Wellesley moved into France.

Wellesley defeated 3 French armies at Vitoria, in 1813.

After winning several victories on the Franco- Spanish frontier, Wellesley won the final victory of the Peninsular war in 1814, at the city of Toulouse.