Battle of Tordesillas (1812) 1812
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 25 October 1812 – 29 October 1812 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1812 | Wikidata P580 (start 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 Portugal, Kingdom of Spain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 41.5000, -5.0000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
In the Battle of Tordesillas, Battle of Villamuriel or Battle of Palencia between 25 and 29 October 1812, a French army led by Joseph Souham outmaneuvered and pushed back an Anglo-Portuguese-Spanish army commanded by Arthur Wellesley, Marquess Wellington. After its failed Siege of Burgos, the 35,000-man Allied army withdrew to the west, pursued by Souham's 53,000 French soldiers. On 23 October, French cavalry defeated the Allied rear guard in the Battle of Venta del Pozo. The Allies pulled back behind the Pisuerga and Carrión Rivers and took up a defensive position.
Beginning on the 25th there were clashes at Palencia and Villamuriel de Cerrato as Souham sought to turn the Allied north flank. The offence on Villamuriel was unsuccessful for the French, but by a well-executed attack on Palencia – Wellington's left wing – Souham forced Wellington to adopt a new unorthodox defensive position. The French commander was prompted to pause for reconnaissance. The stalemate was broken on 29 October when the laborious General of Division Maximilien Sébastien Foy managed to get a party of naked French soldiers swam the Duero River at Tordesillas with their weapons on a raft. Upon reaching the far bank, they took up their guns and routed the Brunswick defenders of a key bridge.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Tordesillas (1812) (revision 1370275646), 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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All 124 battles of the Peninsular War →
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