Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-01T22:10:36.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

War and Politics in Spain, 1808–1814

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Charles Esdaile
Charles Esdaile
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

For most British readers, the Peninsular War is synonymous with the campaigns of Sir John Moore and the duke of Wellington. That this should be the case is hardly surprising in view of the fascination which they have exercised for many historians at the expense of other aspects of the struggle. In defence of such anglocentrism, it might be argued that British involvement was the decisive factor in the war and, further, that without the duke of Wellington the Iberian Peninsula would never have been freed from French domination. That is true enough, but it is also true that Wellington could never have been successful but for the continued resistance of the Spaniards and the Portuguese. Indeed, it is fair to say that without the thousands of Portuguese soldiers who served in his army, and the indirect assistance provided by the Spaniards in pinning down a large proportion of the French forces, the Duke was so outnumbered that he could never have carried the war into Spain at all. Given that Wellington could probably have maintained a British presence in Portugal almost indefinitely, the Spanish contribution is of particular importance. While the British were still bottled up in Portugal during 1810 and 1811, however, the French all but destroyed the basis for Spanish resistance. Had not the Russian campaign intervened to divert Napoleon's attention eastwards, and with it the vital reinforcements that might have completed the French conquest, Spain could conceivably have been subdued. Wellington's victories of 1812 and 1813 would then have been an impossibility.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , June 1988 , pp. 295 - 317
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 de Castaños, F. X., Reales Ordenes de la Junta Central Suprema de Gobierno del Reino y representaciones de la de Sevilla y del General Castaños acerca de su separación del mando del Ejército de Operaciónes del Centro (Seville, 1809), p. 69Google Scholar.

2 Doyle to Cooke, 26 June 1809, Public Record Office, War Office papers (hereafter P.R.O., W.O.) 1/241, p. 303; Blake, to Cornel, , 22 June 1809, cit. Gazeta Extraordinaria de Gobierno, 3 07 1809, pp. 665–7Google Scholar, Hemeróteca Municipal de Madrid (hereafter HMM) AH 2–5 (2925 bis).

3 Heydeck to Wellington, 8 September 1812, University of Southampton, Wellington papers (hereafter W.P.) 1/350.

4 Wellington to Murray, 11 September 1812, W.P. 1/351, fo. 1.

5 H. Wellesley to Wellington, 12 November 1812, W.P. 1/353.

6 Bell, G., Rough notes of an old soldier, ed. Stuart, B. (London, 1956), p. 31Google Scholar.

7 H. Wellesley to Wellington, 30 August 1812, W.P. 12/2/3, 115–19; R. Wellesley to Bathurst, 25 November 1813, W.P. 1/382, fo. 10; Graham to Liverpool, 27 May 1811, P.R.O., W.O. 1/252, pp. 331–2.

8 Wellington to Liverpool, 14 July 1810, P.R.O., W.O. 1/245, pp. 92–9; Douglas to Liverpool, 13 September 1811, P.R.O., W.O. 1/252, p. 446.

9 de Godoy, M., Memorias de Don Manuel de Godoy (Madrid, 1836–1846), I, 154–6Google Scholar; Girón, P. A., Recuerdos de la vida de Don Pedro Agustín Girón, ed. Suárez, F. and Berazluce, A. (Pamplona, 1978), I, 79–80Google Scholar; Foy, A., Histoire de la guerre en la péninsule sous Napoléon (Paris, 1827), I, 341–2Google Scholar.

10 López, J. Priego, Guerra de la Independencia 1808–14 (Madrid, 1972–1981), I, 120–7Google Scholar.

11 Godoy to Charles IV, 26 February 1796, Real Academía de Historia (hereafter RAH), 2-MS 135, no. 7.

12 Bonel, H. Castro, ‘Manejos de Fernando VII contra sus padres y contra Godoy’, Boletín de la Universidad de Madrid, II (1930), 397–408, 493–503Google Scholar; III (1931), 93–102.

13 Colomer, V. Martínez, El filósofo en su quinto o relación de los prinapales hechos acontecidos desde la caida de Godoy hasta el ataque de Valencia (Valencia, 1808), pp. 9–11Google Scholar; Exposición que hace a las cartes generales y extraordinarias el Real Cuerpo de Guardias de Corps (Cádiz, 1811)Google Scholar; Manifiesto impartial y exacto de lo mas importante ocurrido en Aranjuez, Madrid, y Bayona desde 17 de marzo hasta 15 de mayo de 1808 (Madrid, 1808), p. 12Google Scholar.

14 ‘Memoria escrita en Valencia por D.José O'Donnell referente a los sucesos al ejército expedicionario de Dinamarca en 1808’ (MS), p. 5, Servicio Histórico Militar (Madrid), Archivo de la Guerra de Independencia (hereafter SHM, AGI), caja 3, legajo 2, carpeta 6, no. 4; White, J. M. Blanco, Letters from Spain (London, 1808), p. 358Google Scholar; Galiano, A. Alcalá, Memorias (Madrid, 1886), I, 150Google Scholar.

15 Esdaile, C., ‘The Spanish army in the revolutionary era, 1788–1814’ (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Lancaster, 1986), pp. 34–80Google Scholar.

16 Muriel, A., Historia de Carlos IV, ed. Gallego, M. Artola (Madrid, 1959), II, 192—3Google Scholar; Esdaile, , ‘The Spanish army’, pp. 136–44Google Scholar.

17 Herr, R., The eighteenth century revolution in Spain (Princeton, 1958), pp. 102–14Google Scholar.

18 Carr, R., Spain 1808–1975 (Oxford, 1982), p. 83Google Scholar.

19 Swinburne, H., Travels through Spain in the years 1775 and 1776 (Dublin, 1779), p. 15Google Scholar; de Godoy, M., Memorias de Don Manuel de Godoy (Madrid, 1836–1846), III, 174–6Google Scholar; Godoy to Charles IV, 14 September 1804, Archivo Histórico Nacional, Sección de Estado (hereafter AHN Estado), leg. 2821, carp. 5.

20 Godoy to María Luisa, n.d., AHN Estado, leg. 2821, carp. I; Godoy to Charles IV, 7 April 1802, AHN Estado, leg. 281, carp. 3; Godoy to María Luisa, 29 April 1803, AHN Estado, leg. 2821, carp. 3.

21 de Toreno, Conde, Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España (Paris, 1838), I, 102, 106, 132Google Scholar; von Schepeler, A., Histoire de la révolution d'Espagne et de Portugal, ainsi que de la guerre qui en résulta (Liège, 1829–1831), I, 117, 259, 406Google Scholar; Girón, Recuerdos, I, 201–2Google Scholar; Melcí, J. Palafoxy, Autobiografia, ed. Mercadel, J. García (Madrid, 1966), pp. 55–8Google Scholar.

22 Toreno, , Historia, I, 121–2Google Scholar; Schepeler, , Histoire, I, 273–5, 320–3Google Scholar.

23 E.g. Garciny, I., Cuadro de España desde el reinado de Carlos IV (Valencia, 1811), pp. 20–3Google Scholar.

24 Toreno, , Historia, I, 109, 120–2, 126, 129, 143, 145Google Scholar; Schepeler, , Histoire, I, 398–405Google Scholar; Valdés, A. Alvarez, Memorias del levantamiento de Asturias en 1808 (Oviedo, 1889), p. 35Google Scholar.

25 Proclamation of the Junta of Seville, 29 May 1808, Servicio Histórico Militar (Madrid), Colección Documental del Fraile (hereafter SHM, CDF) DCCCLXIV, p. 5; Exposición que hacen a las cortes generales y extraordinarias de la nacion española los individuos que compusieron la junta central suprema del mismo de su conducta en el tiempo de su administracion (Cadiz, 1811), pp. 5–6, SHM, CDF DCCLXXVIIGoogle Scholar; Colomer, V. Martínez, Sucesos de Valencia desde el dia 23 de mayo hasta el 28 de junio del año de 1808 (Valencia, 1810), p. 1Google Scholar.

26 E.g. Cox to Dalrymple, 27 August 1808, P.R.O., W.O. 1/237, pp. 197–8; Garciny, , Cuadro de España, p. 28Google Scholar.

27 E.g. Pensamientos militares de un paisano (Seville, 1809), p. 6Google Scholar.

28 E.g. proclamation of the Junta of Seville, 3 August 1808, P.R.O., W.O. 1/231, p. 302.

29 Patrick to Castlereagh, 8 August 1808, P.R.O., W.O. 1/233, p. 566; Gazeta Ministerial de Sevilla, 6 July 1808, p. 87, HMM, AH 2–5 (373); Diario de Granada, 24 July 1808, HMM, AH 14–15 (2542); Toreno, , Historia, I, 122–3, 186Google Scholar.

30 Spencer to Castlereagh, 17 June 1808, P.R.O., W.O. 1/226, p. 464; Marin, F. García, Memorias para la historia militar de la guerra de España (Madrid, 1817), pp. 26–27Google Scholar; Toreno, , Historia, I, 112Google Scholar.

31 Wellington to H. Wellesley, 1 November 1812, W.P. 1/351, fo. 7.

32 Parker Carroll to Leith, 8 September 1808, P.R.O., W.O. 1/229, pp. 240–1.

33 Doyle to Castlereagh, 20 August 1808, P.R.O., W.O. 1/227, p. 191.

34 Oman, C., A history of the Peninsular War (London, 1901–1930), I, 98Google Scholar; Bryant, A., Years of victory (London, 1945), p. 282Google Scholar.

35 Ibid. p. 283.

36 Estado Militar de España (Madrid, 1807), pp. 8–20Google Scholar; ibid. (1815), pp. 9–27.

37 Real Orden, 8 May 1812, cit. El Redactor General, 18 May 1812, pp. 1331–2, HMM, 6/3; Wellington to Carvajal, 19 March 1813, W.P. 1/365, fo. 12.

38 Cabanes, F. X., Ensayo sobre la sistema militar de Bonaparte (Isla de León, 1811), p. 55Google Scholar; Schepeler, , Histoire, II, 468–9Google Scholar.

39 Wellington to Carvajal, 4 December 1812, W.P. 1/355, fo. 3.

40 Bentinck to Wellington, 13 July 1813, W.P. 1/372, fo. 6.

41 Real Orden, 8 December 1812, cit. El Redactor General, 9 December 1812, p. 2178, HMM, 6/3.

42 E.g. Villariego to Regency, 25 January 1813, W.P. 1/364, fo. 2.

43 Wellington to H. Wellesley, 14 May 1812, W.P. 12/1/5.

44 Diario de las sesiones y actas de las Cortes (Cádiz, 1810–1813), III, 38, 51–9, 320–4Google Scholar.

45 E.g. Schepeler, , Histoire, II, 140–1Google Scholar.

46 Semanario Patriótico, 6 December 1810, p. 50, HMM, AH 1–6 (190); Diario Redactor de Sevilla, 4 November 1812, SHM, CDF CXXXII.

47 Hennell, G., A gentleman volunteer: the letters of George Hennell from the Peninsular War, 1812–13, ed. Glover, M. (London, 1979), p. 51Google Scholar; Atalaya de la Mancha en Madrid, 25 July 1813, pp. 27–8, SHM, CDF CCLXII; Wellington to Lacy, 27 November 1813, W.P. 1/381, fo. 2.

48 Apuntaciones militares para la actual guerra (Cádiz, 1811), pp. 45–7Google Scholar.

49 Graham to Liverpool, 27 May 1811, P.R.O., WO. 1/252, pp. 331–2.

50 Memorial militar y patriótico del ejército de la Izquierda, 10 April 1810, pp. 18–19, HMM, AH 3–3 (536).

51 Wellington to H. Wellesley, 22 May 1811, W.P. 1/332, fo. 2.

52 E.g. Parker Carroll to Broderick, 13 November 1808, P.R.O., W.O. 1/233, pp. 97–102; El Redactor General, 25 December 1811, p. 759, HMM, 6/3.

53 Carvajal, T. González, Meditaciones sobre la constitución militar (Cádiz, 1813), pp. 12–13Google Scholar; Whittingham, S., A memoir of the services of lieutenant general Sir Samuel Ford Whittingham, ed. Whittingham, F. (London, 1868), p. 242Google Scholar.

54 Parker Carroll to Wellington, 2 January 1810, P.R.O., W.O. 1/243, pp. 32–3.

55 Graham to Bunbury, 27 September 1810, P.R.O., W.O. 1/247, p. 629.

56 H. Wellesley to Castlereagh, 20 January 1813, W.P. 1/364, fo. 4; Maclean to Bathurst, 5 January 1813, W.P. 1/382, fo. 2; Anna, T., Spain and the loss of America (University of Nebraska, 1983). pp. 57, 82–3Google Scholar.

57 Graham to Bunbury, 27 September and 6 October 1810, P.R.O., W.O. 1/247, pp. 628, 641–2.

58 Skerret to Cooke, 8 November 1811, P.R.O., W.O. 1/252, pp. 544–5.

59 Sydenham to H. Wellesley, 10 October 1812, W.P. 1/361.

60 Wellington to Villiers, 20 November 1809, P.R.O., W.O. 1/242, pp. 420–2.

61 El Tribuno del Pueblo Español, 22 December 1812, pp. 206–7, HMM, AH 1–4 (120).

62 El Español, 30 April 1810, p. 14, HMM, AH 4–2 (710); ibid. 30 November 1810, p. 118; El Redactor General, 22 September 1813, p. 3395, HMM, 6/3.

63 La Abeja Española, 19–20 January 1813, pp. 153–60, HMM, AH 6–5 (1251); El Tribuno del Pueblo Español, 5 March 1813, pp. 149–62, HMM, AH 1–4 (No. 121); ibid. 9 March 1813, pp. 177–88; ibid. 9 April 1813, pp. 329–38; ibid. 23 April 1813, pp. 393–402; Sancho, V., Proyecto de una constitución de las milicias nacionales (Cádiz, 1813), pp. 10–15Google Scholar.

64 Graham to Bunbury, 12 July 1810, P.R.O., W.O. 1/247, p. 452.