Battle of Arzobispo 1809
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 8 August 1809 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1809 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | Spain | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Peninsular War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | First French Empire, Kingdom of Spain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 39.8000, -5.1667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Arzobispo on 8 August 1809 saw two Imperial French corps commanded by Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult launch an assault crossing of the Tagus River against a Spanish force under José María de la Cueva, 14th Duke of Alburquerque. Alburquerque's troops rapidly retreated after suffering disproportionate losses, including 30 artillery pieces. El Puente del Arzobispo (The Archbishop's Bridge) is located 36 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of Talavera de la Reina, Spain. The action occurred during the Peninsular War, part of a larger conflict known as the Napoleonic Wars.
The Battle of Talavera in late July 1809 saw a victory by Arthur Wellesley's British army and Gregorio García de la Cuesta's Spanish army over the Imperial French army of King Joseph Bonaparte. Wellesley (soon to be known as Wellington) found that he was unable to exploit the triumph due to the failure of his logistical arrangements. Within a few days, Wellesley discovered that Soult's large French army was attempting to cut off his army from Portugal.
Accordingly, the British and Spanish armies withdrew to the west, narrowly avoiding interception by Soult's forces. Alburquerque was left with 3,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry to hold the bridge of Arzobispo.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Arzobispo (revision 1370432604), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Peninsular War
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- Second Siege of Girona (Peninsular War) 1808
- Siege of Roses (1808) 1808
- Siege of Zaragoza (1808) 1808
- Siege of Zaragoza (1809) 1808
- Battle of Alba de Tormes 1809
- Battle of Alcañiz 1809
- Battle of Alcántara (1809) 1809
- Battle of Almonacid 1809
- Battle of Belchite (1809) 1809
All 124 battles of the Peninsular War →
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