Army of Spain (Peninsular War)

The Spanish Army of the Peninsular War refers to the Spanish military units that fought against France's Grande Armée from 2 May 1808 (the Peninsular War began 27 October 1807 with the Franco-Spanish invasion of Portugal) to 17 April 1814) a period which coincided with what is also termed the Spanish War of Independence (Guerra de la Independencia Española).

These regular troops were supplemented throughout the country by the guerrilla actions of local militias which, in the case of Catalonia, ran to thousands of well-organised "miquelets", or "somatenes", who had already proved their worth in the Catalan revolt of 1640 and in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), while in Andalusia, they were more modest in number, and sometimes little more than brigands who were, in some cases, feared by French troops and the civilian population alike but which were nevertheless a constant source of harassment to the French army and its lines of communication, as were the numerous spontaneous popular uprisings. So much so, that by summer 1811, French commanders deployed 70,000 troops only to keep said lines open between Madrid and the border with France. A list drawn up in 1812 puts the figure of such irregular troops at 38,520 men, divided into 22 guerrilla bands.

At some battles, such as the Battle of Salamanca, the Army of Spain fought side-by-side with their allies of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, led by General Wellesley (who would not become the Duke of Wellington until after the Penininsular War was over).

Under the terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau, which divided the Kingdom of Portugal and all Portuguese dominions between France and Spain, Spain agreed to augment, by three Spanish columns (numbering 25,500 men), the 28,000 troops Junot was already leading through Spain to invade Portugal. Crossing into Spain on 12 October 1807, Junot started a difficult march through the country, finally entering Portugal on 19 November. The three columns were as follows:

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