Battle of La Bisbal

Part of Peninsular War

Date	14 September 1810
Location	La Bisbal d'Empordà, Girona, Catalonia
Result	Spanish and British victory

Belligerents

Commanders and leaders

Marie François Rouyer

François Xavier de Schwarz (POW)

Henry O'Donnell (WIA)

Francis William Fane

Charles William Doyle

Units involved

VII Corps

Army of Catalonia

Royal Navy

Strength

1,700, 18 guns

O'Donnell: 6,600, 12 guns
Fane: 1 British & 1 Spanish frigate, 500 men

Casualties and losses

400 dead and wounded
1,242 captured
17 guns

Light

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.

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.

In June 1810, Marshal Pierre Augereau was replaced in command of VII Corps by Marshal Jacques MacDonald. Orders soon came from Paris. MacDonald was instructed to drive toward Tarragona while his colleague General of Division Louis Gabriel Suchet was to lead the III Corps to capture Tortosa. Suchet's corps had successfully concluded the Siege of Lerida on 13 May and the Siege of Mequinenza on 5 June.

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Wikipedia