The Battle of Cuenca (late October 1811) was a major battle of the Peninsular War that occurred when an Allied army of 1,621 troops under General Thomas Picton defeated a smaller French army of 984 troops under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan at Cuenca in eastern central Spain. The Allied army had marched to the relief of the besieged city of Cuenca, which was at risk of falling to the fresh French army, and the Allies managed to defeat the powerful French troops against all odds, although Spanish guerrilla leader Juan Palarea y Blanes was killed in the battle. 201 Allied troops and 918 French troops were lost in the battle, which wiped out Jourdan's army.
Background[]
The year 1811 saw the Allied forces of the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal capture much of eastern, western, and southern Spain from the occupying forces of the First French Empire, with Portugal being completely liberated after a string of victories by Viscount Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese army. British and Spanish armies had also battled their way into central Spain, which became the main focus for Napoleon's counterattacks against the Allied forces as strongholds such as Badajoz, Ciudad Real, Madrid, and Saragossa fell to the Allies. In early July 1811, the British captured Cuenca, which became one of their main bases during the fight against the French. Cuenca was vital to the British, as it was one of the few regional capitals that the British had chosen to occupy, as they were in need of a frontline command post and a source of tax revenue to fund the creation of new armies.
French offensive[]
The French troops at Cuenca
In the autumn of 1811, as the Allies made more gains in Spain, Napoleon prepared for a massive offensive. Fresh French armies under his marshals Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and Louis Gabriel Suchet arrived in the Iberian Peninsula, preparing to reverse some of the gains made by the Allies. While Suchet's army left the sight of British scouts to the south of Burgos, Jourdan's army was sighted marching south towards Cuenca. General Thomas Picton quickly marched out of Cuenca to rendezvous with the forces of Spanish guerrilla leaders Miguel Quero, Juan Palarea y Blanes, and Gregorio Larino to the south. The two forces met up in early October, and they marched north as Jourdan's army began to besiege the armed citizens of Cuenca. The French made the mistake of not assaulting the city, as the garrison refused to surrender despite its inferior numbers. This allowed for Picton and his army to advance north and engage the French in a pitched battle.
Battle[]
The battle lines at Cuenca
The Allied cavalry charging at Cuenca
The battle opened with a long period of artillery duels between the Allied and the French armies, and the Allies suffered an unfortunate loss when General Palarea y Blanes was killed by a French cannonball. The Allies proceeded to deploy their troops in a large line on the field in front of the city of Cuenca, and battle opened when the town watch reinforcements for the Allied army attacked the French left flank. They repulsed a regiment of French cavalry as it attempted to charge at them, and the French were forced to divide their regiments between the main Allied army and the troops on their left flank. The main British and Spanish forces pressed the attack on the main French body, which crumbled after facing the heavy firepower of several regiments of line infantry. The French forces decided to pull back to the city itself, choosing to withdraw rather than be routed. The retreat was slow, and Jourdan was wounded in the back by a bullet as he attempted to leave the battle on his horse. Allied cavalry chased down the retreating French forces and cut down several of the demoralized French troops, turning a retreat into a rout. By the day's end, 201 Allied soldiers and 918 French soldiers had been killed, wounded, captured, or missing.
Aftermath[]
The French army was annihilated at Cuenca, destroying one of Napoleon's new armies. The battle ewas a decisive Allied victory, as it removed the threat to the city, but Marshal Suchet's army would prove to be a lurking menace as it marched into Spain to reconquer lost territories.