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Siege of the Salamanca forts 1812

Siege of the Salamanca forts
Image: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date17 June 1812 – 27 June 1812Wikidata
Year1812Wikidata P580 (start time)
Era19th century (1800–1913)derived from year
LocationSpainNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentEuropeNatural Earth
War / conflictPeninsular WarWikidata P361
ParticipantsFirst French Empire, Kingdom of Portugal, United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandWikidata P710
Coordinates40.9650, -5.6639Wikidata P625

About the battle

The siege of the Salamanca forts (17–27 June 1812) saw an 800-man Imperial French garrison directed by Lieutenant Colonel Duchemin defend three fortified convents in the city of Salamanca against the 48,000-strong Allied army led by Arthur Wellesley, Lord Wellington. During this time, the French commander Marshal Auguste de Marmont led a 40,000-man French army in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the garrison. An Allied failure to bring sufficient artillery ammunition caused the siege to be prolonged. The garrison repulsed a premature British attempt to storm the fortified convents on 23 June, but finally surrendered four days later after an artillery bombardment breached one fort and set another one on fire. During his maneuvering, Marmont formed the idea that Wellington was only willing to act on the defensive. This mistaken notion would contribute to Marmont's defeat at the Battle of Salamanca a month later.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of the Salamanca forts (revision 1370746704), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

40.9650, -5.6639 · Spain

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Nearby battles

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Browse more: battles in Spain · Europe · 19th century battles

Further reading