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Battle of Cardedeu order of battle

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Battle of Cardedeu

Victory in the Battle of Cardedeu allowed the French to break through to Barcelona in December 1808.
DateBattle: 16 December 1808
Campaign: June–December 1808
Location
Result French victory
Belligerents
France First French Empire
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Kingdom of Italy
Kingdom of Naples Kingdom of Naples
Switzerland Swiss Confederation
Spain Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
France Guillaume Duhesme
France Laurent Saint-Cyr
Spain Juan Miguel de Vives
Spain Theodor von Reding
Strength
over 42,382 unknown

The Cardedeu order of battle lists the troops that fought in the Battle of Cardedeu (16 December 1808) and several other battles fought between June and December in the Spanish province of Catalonia during the Peninsular War.[1] In February 1808, Imperial French forces seized Barcelona on 29 February and Sant Ferran Castle on 15 March as well as other fortresses in Spain.[2] The Dos de Mayo Uprising broke out when the Spanish people found that Emperor Napoleon deposed the Spanish royal family and set up his brother Joseph Bonaparte as their new king.[3] The 12,000 Imperial French soldiers under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme occupying Catalonia were beaten at the Battles of El Bruch and Gerona in June. Though Duhesme was reinforced by another French division, the Spanish defeated him at the Second Siege of Gerona in July and August. With Duhesme blockaded in Barcelona, Napoleon appointed Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr as commander of the VII Corps, added two good divisions and other troops to his force, and ordered him to relieve Barcelona. Saint-Cyr succeeded in this task, winning the battles of Roses, Cardedeu and Molins de Rei in December.[4]

Imperial French order of battle

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On 10 October 1808, the VII Corps numbered 42,382 soldiers, of whom 4,948 men were in the hospital and 1,302 were detached. However, not all its assigned troops had joined by that date. Note that the Observation Corps became part of VII Corps when Saint-Cyr assumed command. It is probable that the corps counted over 50,000 men.[5] Joseph Chabran's division was made up of veteran French units.[6] The Provisional Cavalry regiments were created by assembling the depot squadrons, all conscripts, from as many as four different regiments.[7] Honoré Charles Reille's division was a mass of second-class units cobbled together from National Guards, provisional battalions, Swiss, and a "French" regiment from recently annexed Tuscany.[8] The Neapolitans were universally considered the worst troops in Europe.[9] On the other hand, the divisions of Joseph Souham and Domenico Pino were composed of crack troops.[10]

VII Corps of General Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr on 10 October 1808[11][5]
Corps Division Strength Unit Strength
Observation Corps[11]
General of Division
Guillaume Philibert Duhesme
1st Division
General of Division
Joseph Chabran
Aug: 6,045 France 2nd Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 610
France 7th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st & 2nd Battalions 1,785
France 16th Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 789
France 37th Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 656
France 56th Line Infantry Regiment, 4th Battalion 833
France 93rd Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 792
Switzerland 2nd Swiss Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 580
2nd Division
General of Division
Giuseppe Lechi
Aug: 4,596 Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 2nd Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion 740
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 4th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion 587
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 5th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion 806
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Italian Velites Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion 519
Kingdom of Naples 1st Neapolitan Infantry Regiment, 1st & 2nd Battalions 1,944
Cavalry Brigade
General of Brigade
Bertrand Bessières
Aug: 825 France 3rd Provisional Cuirassier Regiment 409
France 3rd Provisional Chasseur Regiment 416
Cavalry Brigade
General of Brigade
François Xavier de Schwarz
Aug: 892 Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Prince Royal Italian Chasseur Regiment 504
Kingdom of Naples Neapolitan Chasseur Regiment 388
Corps Artillery Aug: 356 France Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Artillery & train companies 356
Observation Corps Total Aug: 12,714
Nov: 10,000[12]
France Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Kingdom of Naples Switzerland -
VII Corps[5]
General of Division
Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr
3rd Division[8]
General of Division
Honoré Charles Reille
Aug: 8,370[8]
Nov: 5,612[13]
France 32nd Light Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion 1,100?
France 16th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion 840?
France 56th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion 840?
France 113th Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions 1,300
France Perpignan Provisional Regiment, 4 battalions 1,680
France 5th Legion of the Reserve, 1 battalion 500
France Chasseurs des Montagnes, 1 battalion 560?
Switzerland Valais Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion 800
France 4 squadrons cavalry replacements 550
France 2 artillery companies 200
4th Division
General of Division
Joseph Souham
Nov: 7,712[13] France 1st Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ?
France 3rd Light Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion ?
France 7th Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions ?
France 42nd Line Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ?
France 67th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion ?
5th Division
General of Division
Domenico Pino
Nov: 8,368[13] Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 1st Italian Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ?
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 2nd Italian Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ?
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 4th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions ?
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 5th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion ?
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 6th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions ?
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 7th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion ?
6th Division
General of Division
Louis François Jean Chabot
Nov: 1,988[13] France Chasseurs of the Eastern Pyrenees, 1 battalion ?
Kingdom of Naples 2nd Neapolitan Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions ?
Cavalry Brigade
General of Brigade
Jacques Fontane
Nov: 1,700[13] Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 7th Italian Dragoon Regiment ?
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Royal Italian Chasseur Regiment ?
France 24th Dragoon Regiment (not brigaded) ?
VII Corps Artillery Nov: 500[13] France Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Artillery companies 500
Grand Total Nov: 42,382 France Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Kingdom of Naples Switzerland -

Spanish order of battle

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The Royal Spanish army included three Irish regiments, including the Ultonia Infantry Regiment. There were also six Swiss regiments, among them the 1st Wimpfen and 2nd Reding senior Infantry Regiments. The Provincial Grenadiers were a militia formation.[14] Uniquely among the provinces of Spain, Catalonia raised its own type of militia, the miquelets. This was a mass levy of military aged men that was armed and paid by the church parishes. They were sometimes called somatenes after the alarm-bell (somaten) used to alert them.[15] The miquelets were organized into 1,000-man "tercios".[16] Newly-raised units are labeled "Volunteers" or "new". Miquelets and militia have the Catalan flag. All others are regulars.[17]

During the Siege of Roses, the garrison consisted of 150 men of the Ultonia Regiment, one-half of the 2nd of Barcelona Light Infantry Regiment, one company of the 1st Wimpfen Swiss Regiment, the Lerida and Igualada Tercios, and elements of the Berga and Figueras Tercios.[18] These were later reinforced by a small battalion of the Borbon Regiment.[19] Nearly all these troops went into captivity when the place surrendered on 5 December.[20]

One authority stated that Reding commanded two battalions each of the 1st Grenada, Baza, and Almeria Infantry Regiments at Cardedeu. Vives led newly organized Catalan units at Cardedeu, plus seven guns, but the source did not specify which units.[21] A second historian credited the Spanish at Cardedeu with 5,000 Granadan troops under Reding and 4,000 Catalans under Vives, but did not list the individual units. This force included 600 cavalrymen and seven field guns. During the battle, Francisco Milans del Bosch was to the east with 3,000 miquelets and Luis Rebolledo de Palafox y Melci, 1st marqués de Lazán was to the north with perhaps 6,000 more soldiers. However, Milans' men were still reeling from their defeat the day before and Lazán was too slow; neither intervened at Cardedeu.[22]

Spanish Army on 5 November 1808[23]
Army Division Strength Unit Strength
Army of Catalonia
Captain-General
Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu
Vanguard
Brigadier-General
Mariano Álvarez de Castro
5,600 Spain Republic of Ireland Ultonia Infantry Regiment 300
Spain Borbon Infantry Regiment 500
Spain 2nd of Barcelona Light Infantry Regiment 1,000
Spain Switzerland 1st Wimpfen Swiss Infantry Regiment 400
Spain Catalonia 1st Gerona Tercio 900
Spain Catalonia 2nd Gerona Tercio 400
Spain Catalonia Igualada Tercio 400
Spain Catalonia Cervera Tercio 400
Spain Catalonia 1st Tarragona Tercio 800
Spain Catalonia Figueras Tercio 400
Spain San Narciso Hussar Regiment (new) 100
1st Division
General
Conde de Caldagues
4,998
6 guns
Spain 2nd Walloon Guards 314
Spain Soria Infantry Regiment 780
Spain Borbon Infantry Regiment (det.) 151
Spain 2nd of Savoia Infantry Regiment 1,734
Spain Switzerland 2nd Reding senior Swiss Infantry Regiment (det.) 270
Spain Catalonia Tortosa Tercio 984
Spain Catalonia Igualada and Cervera Tercio (det.) 245
Spain Sappers 50
Spain Españoles Hussar Regiment, 2 squadrons 220
Spain Cataluña Cazadores Cavalry (new) 180
Spain Artillery battery 70, 6 guns
2nd Division
General Laguna
2,360
7 guns
Spain Old Castile Provincial Grenadiers 972
Spain New Castile Provincial Grenadiers 924
Spain Zaragosa Volunteers 150
Spain Sappers 30
Spain Españoles Hussar Regiment 200
Spain Artillery battery 84, 7 guns
3rd Division
General La Serna
2,458 Spain Grenada Infantry Regiment 961
Spain Catalonia 2nd Tarragona Tercio 922
Spain Catalonia Arzu Division (new) 325
Spain Catalonia Sueltas Companies (new) 250
4th Division
General
Francisco Milans del Bosch
3,710 Spain Catalonia 1st Lerida Tercio 872
Spain Catalonia Vich Tercio 976
Spain Catalonia Manresa Tercio 937
Spain Catalonia Valls Tercio 925
Reserve 907
4 guns
Spain Spanish Guards 60
Spain Grenadiers Soria Regiment 188
Spain Switzerland Grenadiers Wimpfen Swiss Regiment 169
Spain General's Bodyguard 340
Spain Sappers 20
Spain Españoles Hussar Regiment 80
Spain Artillery battery 50, 4 guns
Army of Granada
General
Theodor von Reding
1st Division 8,200 Spain Switzerland 2nd Reding senior Swiss Regiment 1,000
Spain 1st Granada (Iliberia) Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400
Spain Baza Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400
Spain Almeria Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400
2nd Division 6,000 Spain Santa Fé Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400
Spain Antequera Infantry Regiment (new) 1,200
Spain Loja Infantry Regiment (new) 2,400
Cavalry 670 Spain Granada Hussar Regiment (new) 670
Artillery 130, 6 g. Spain Artillery battery 130, 6 guns
Army of Aragon
Captain-General
José de Palafox y Melci
Not present
3rd Division
General
Luis Palafox, marqués de Lazán
4,688 Spain 1st Aragon Volunteers 638
Spain 3rd Aragon Volunteers 593
Spain Fernando VII of Aragon Regiment (new) 648
Spain Daroca Regiment (new) 503
Spain La Reunion Regiment (new) 1,286
Spain Reserva del General Regiment (new) 934
Spain Fernando VII Cazadores Cavalry, 1 troop 22
Spain Artillery battery 64

Notes

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  1. ^ "History of Guerre d'Espagne - The PEninsular War 1808-1814".
  2. ^ Oman 2010, p. 37.
  3. ^ Gates 2002, p. 12.
  4. ^ Gates 2002, pp. 59–67.
  5. ^ a b c Oman 2010, pp. 642–643.
  6. ^ Oman 2010, p. 107.
  7. ^ Oman 2010, pp. 104–105.
  8. ^ a b c Oman 2010, p. 320.
  9. ^ Oman 2010, p. 311.
  10. ^ Oman 2010, p. 333.
  11. ^ a b Oman 2010, p. 614.
  12. ^ Oman 1995, p. 38.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Oman 1995, p. 44.
  14. ^ Oman 2010, p. 609.
  15. ^ Oman 2010, p. 306.
  16. ^ Oman 2010, p. 322.
  17. ^ Oman 2010, p. 631.
  18. ^ Oman 1995, pp. 47–48.
  19. ^ Oman 1995, p. 53.
  20. ^ Oman 1995, p. 56.
  21. ^ Smith 1998, p. 272.
  22. ^ Oman 1995, p. 63.
  23. ^ Oman 2010, pp. 633–636.

References

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