Siege of Chaves

Part of the Peninsular War

Date	First siege: 10 to 12 March 1809 Second siege: 21 to 25 March 1809
Location	Chaves, Portugal
Result	French victory (1st) Portuguese victory (2nd)

Belligerents

Portugal

French Empire

Commanders and leaders

First siege:

Francisco Pizarro
Second siege:

Francisco Silveira

First siege:

Marshal Soult
Second siege:

Major Messeger

Strength

First siege:
3,500 men
50 cannons

Second siege:
6,000 men

First siege:
23,000 men
50 cannons

Second siege:
1,800 men
12 cannons

Casualties and losses

First siege:
3,500 men captured
50 cannons captured
Second siege:
4 to 5 men killed

First siege:
No casualties
Second siege:
300 dead
1,500 captured
12 cannons captured
More than 1,000 rifles captured

First siege:
3,500 men
50 cannons

First siege:
23,000 men
50 cannons

The Siege of Chaves refers to the French siege and capture of Chaves, Portugal from 10 to 12 March 1809, and the subsequent siege and recapture of the town by Portuguese forces from 21 to 25 March 1809, during the second invasion of Portugal in the Peninsular War.

Portugal suffered three invasions by French forces during the turbulent period of the Peninsular War. The northern region of Trás-os-Montes, as all the country, had succumbed to the Napoleonic regency of Junot. As soon as news came of the disembarkation of the British in Portuguese Estremadura, the rebellion broke out. Bragança, and soon after Chaves, proclaimed liberation. The militias were formed to fight the invader.

Napoleon, worried about what was happening in Spain and upset with the failure of the expedition of his forces, decided to come personally to the Peninsula in whose submission he had invested 300,000 men. The British, who had disembarked in 1807 in Galicia under the command of general John Moore, did not surpass 30,000 in number. With his customary mobility Napoleon multiplied himself, divided and destroyed the British and the Spanish in quick and precise blows. He ordered Soult to pursue the British in Galicia. Moore's army was defeated and hounded across the mountains of Lugo; the British general himself was killed during the final combats carried out around the bay of Coruña, where the remnants of his forces re-embarked.

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Wikipedia