The War of the Spanish Succession in the Peninsula and its waters, 1702-14
The powerful
Bourbon dynasty of France, which had installed King Philip V in Spain, were
resisted by an alliance of their neighbours which
included Holland, England, Portugal and Piedmont – Savoy, plus the Hapsburgs of
Austria, who had nominated one of their number Charles III of Spain.
Much of the
fighting was done in Flanders and Italy, but there were significant operations in the Peninsula. A good online
source for these is War of the Spanish Succession and a good paper source: Francis, A.D.: “The First Peninsular War
1700-1713” London 1975.
The Spanish campaign of 1704
The French siege of Barcelona
during the War of the League of Augsburg
had left anti-French feeling in Cataluna. This led
the Allies to attempt the capture of Barcelona,
which failed.
After this the alliance conquered Gibraltar
in August. The Bourbons then decided on a siege of Gibraltar,
massing 50,000 men against it under command of marshal Tessé.
The Spanish campaign of 1705
The Allied-Portuguese army did not make much
headway in 1705. It was commanded by Henri Massue de Ruvigny Count of Galway. In
1705 the Anglo-Dutch appointed Charles Mordaunt Count
of Peterborough
as supreme commander in Spain
sailing in May 1705 with 6 ships of the line and 6,500 troops.
There were however possibilities: on 2 June
1705 the Geneva pact had been signed between England and some Catalonian
dignitaries, in which England promised armed support. Shortly
before open rebellion had started in some places in Cataluna.
After taking the city of Valencia in May,
and Denia in August, Peterborough, with Georg Prince of Hessen-Darmstadt
and Stanhope captured Barcelona on 9/14 October 1705. This led to the adherence
of all of Catalonia
and Valencia
to Charles III: Tarragona
(on the coast between the Ebro
and Barcelona),
Tortosa (near the mouth of the Ebro), Gerona, Lerida
and San Mateo
(south of the Ebro)
swung to Charles III's cause. These exploits were
greatly helped because Cataluna had always held a
privileged position in Spain,
and thought her privileges to be in better hands with Charles III.
Philip
V then sent Count Las Torrres with 7,000 men to
recapture San Mateo, N of Castellon in Valencia. In December Peterborough
lifted the siege with 1,200 men and then started a pursuit in winter time. Nules, on the coast some 65 km north of Valencia
surrendered to him.
On the western front, the battle of Albuquerque
was fought near Badajoz.
The English Parliament became very enthusiastic
about the exploits in Spain
and decided on major support for the Spanish campaign next year.
The Spanish campaign of 1706
After acquiring the town of Nules, Peterborough
entered Valencia
on 4 February 1706,
raising the Bourbon siege . From there he marched to
surprise 4,000 reinforcements that were on their way to Count Torres and
annihilated this force.
The reaction of Versailles
was to send an army under Tessé to besiege Barcelona,
while the city was also blocked from the sea-side by Toulouse. Peterborough
then went north again with 3,000 men and harrassed
the besiegers from the mountains. When the Allied fleet arrived the siege was
lifted on 22
May 1706.
On the 23rd May the Allied victory of Ramillies was won in Flanders,
leading to withdrawal of French troops to France.
The Allies then planned to march on Madrid:
Charles III would march from Catalonia, Peterborough
from Valencia
and Galway
from Portugal.
In the beginning Galway
with 19.000 men was opposed only by Berwick with 8,000 men. Galway
entered Madrid
on 27 June 1706
and proclaimed Charles III. Now more uprisings against Philip took place with Aragon, Saragossa Cartagena
and Toledo
going over to Charles III.
The invasion of the Portuguese had however
incited a popular anti-Allied uprising in Castille,
Berwick reentered Madrid
and when the Allied forces met near Guadalajara
on 6 August they were outnumbered and isolated. The Allies retreated to Valencia
losing about 10,000 men in the process. In Valencia Galway
became supreme commander instead of Peterborough.
The Spanish campaign of 1707
In February 1707 8,000 British and Huguenot
troops arrived at the Allied HQ in Valencia.
With the Allies now having 30,000 men Galway
and Stanhope were for marching on Madrid.
Charles III and Noyelles were for a defensive
approach. In the end a compromise was reached whereby Charles III and Stanhope
would defend Catalonia
and parts of Aragon,
while Galway
and the Portuguese General Das Minas would march on Madrid
with the Anglo-Dutch and Potugese infantry.
Galway
now marched on Murcia.
Here he met Berwick, who was about to receive reinforcements of 8,000 that were
permitted to leave Italy
according to the treaty of Milan.
Galway had 15,000 troops including 5,000 Brits, while Berwick had 25,000 plus
8,000 reinforcements commanded by the duke of Orleans
on their way. While besieging Villena, Galway
heard that Berwick was not far away, and decided to give battle before Orleans
arrived. In fact Orleans
had not yet arrived, but most of his troops had. On 25 April they met on the
plains near Almanza and the strategic pass between Albacete
and the coastal ports of Valencia
and Alicante: a
Franco-Spanish army of 25,400 (Marshal Berwick) against an Anglo-Portuguese
army of 15,500 (Earl of Galway; Das Minas).
With the Portuguese cavalry fleeing, the
8,000 Anglo-Dutch infantry were surrounded and desperately tried to retreat.
Split into two detachments, Galway
with 3,500 men made it back to Valencia.
Count Dohna, a Portuguese General and Shrimpton with 2,000 were cut off in the mountains,
withstood all assaults for two days but had to surrender on terms on the third
day. All in all the Allies suffered 4,000 dead and wounded as well as 3,000
taken prisoner. Of 5,000 stragglers most were able to regroup with the army.
The Bourbons suffered between 2,000 and 5,000 casualties depending on sources. Galway
retreated to Alcira where he got 2,600 reinforcements
that had just arrived.
The Allied disaster in Spain
was now complete. Galway
left Valencia
but was able to restore the situation somewhat. Valencia and Zaragoza surrendered on 8 May 1707, Castellon
de La Plana was taken on the 12th of May, Jativa 6 June, it's population
punished and it's name changed to San Felipe. Lerida
surrendered on 14-10-1707.
The trust between Galway
and Charles III had been completely destroyed, making his replacement
inevitable.
In their comments about the handling of the
Spanish campaign Churchill and Macaulay adhere to very different points
of view. Churchill scorns Peterborough,
Charles and Starhemberg and defends Galway
and Stanhope. Peterborough is Macaulay's
hero, according to him the returning Peterborough advised on a defensive course
in 1707, stating that Arragon, Valencia and Cataluna could easily be held because of popular support,
and it would thus be wise to wait for either a success in Flanders or mistakes
of Philip V. According to Churchill Peterborough proposed to send a detachment to Eugen.
Though neither writer has much (or any)
praise for Charles III and Noyelles, this may shed
light on their appraisal of the situation in the beginning of 1707. It could
well have been that they imagined another entrance in Madrid like the one of
1706 to be the only possible prize for risking all and it probably would have
gone like 1706 had Galway wun at Almanza.
With the Habsburgs on the verge of capturing Italy
completely after the recent battle of Turin,
Charles could have thought time on his side also. Charles III and Noyelles thus favoured a
defensive strategy.
The Spanish campaign of 1708
On July 10th the Allies lost the important
fortress of Tortosa, and an attempt to retake it by
the Allies failed. A battle was fought outside the formidable natural fortified
harbour
of Cartagena. Admiral
Leake took Sardinia
in August 1708. In September Stanhope with forces from Barcelona
then took the well-fortified harbor
of Port Mahon
on Menorca
in coordination with Leake. This gave the Allies a
permanent all season base to dominate the Mediterranean,
a strategic success of the first order.
The Spanish campaign of 1709
In the winter of 1708-1709 Charles III's last stronghold in Valencia, Alicante
capitulated after a 5 month siege. However Galway
attempted to advance on Madrid
from Portugal. On
May 7th 1709 the Anglo-Portuguese army, under command of the Marquis de Frontera, lay on the side of the Caya
west of Badajoz, and the army of the Duke of Anjou,
commanded by the Marquis de Bay, on the other. De Bay made a motion with the
whole body of his horse toward Fort St. Christopher, near Badajoz.
The Portuguese crossed the river to oppose the designs of the enemy, although a
defensive posture would have sufficed. A detachment of foot and artillery, and
the whole of the horse, crossed the river and commenced to bombard the enemy.
De Bay advanced with his horse against the right wing of the Portuguese
cavalry, who fled. But their foot repulsed three successive charges, with great
order and resolution. Pearce’s British brigade then attacked giving the
Portuguese infantry time to retire in good order, and recross
the river. But Pearce’s brigade was surrounded by the enemy, and three
regiments had to surrender.
The Spanish Campaign of 1710
At Lerida
on the Rio Segre inland from the Catalonian coast, the Allied generals
Stanhope and Starhemberg had 18,000 men while Philip
had 22,000. Stanhope crossed the Segre at Balaguer (north of Lerida)
marching to the bridge
of Alfarras,
crossing it on 27 July. Both armies then met at Almenara,
a few kilometers from the bridge, where the Allies inflicted a defeat. Philip
retreated to Saragossa. Here,
Stanhope defeated the Franco-Spanish force of 20,000 (De Bay) on August 19th,
taking 5,000 prisoners and 36 guns. This sent the Spanish army in retreat to Castille.
A Council of War was then held in which
Stanhope was for marching on Madrid. Starhemberg was
for defeating the 18,000 survivors of the Spanish army that were at Tudela under General Bay, and then recapturing Valencia and securing the Spanish border with France. This strategy would have restored the
situation of early 1707. Stanhope got his way however.
In September the Allies arrived at Madrid,
but Vendome with some French troops had also arrived
and had joined General Bay.
The Allies left Madrid
on 6 December. Stanhope with 4,500 men was then beaten in Brihuega
and surrendered there, Starhemberg arriving too late.
On 11 Dec 1710 Vendome in turn defeated Guido von Starhemberg
and the British main body at Villa Viciosa, taking
2,000 prisoners and 22 guns. The battle was hard fought with heavy casualties
on both sides. Starhemberg managed to keep his army
together and continue the retreat back to Aragon.
Philip's authority in Spain
was consolidated.
The Spanish Campaign of 1711-13
The English had sent the Earl of Argyll to Spain
with 5,000 men. Starhemberg had 21,000 men. Charles III
was not willing to leave Barcelona
but finally left for Vienna. The 1711 campaign centered on some border skirmishes with Vendome. The Spanish campaign came to an end in 1713
with an evacuation treaty by which both armies left Aragon.
Appendix: Battles in the Peninsula 1704-13
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Galician waters
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Vigo
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1702
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Naval battle of Rande/Vigo Bay
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A Franco-Spanish bullion fleet
met an Anglo-Dutch fleet at the end of the Vigo Estuary (Rande
area) with 28 boats sank as a result. The English took four million 'pesos'
together with thirteen ships. There were 2,000 Hispanic-French and 800
Anglo-Dutch casualties, 26 ships lost, and 3,000
injured.
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Andalusia
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Malaga
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1704
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Marbella
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Andalusia
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Málaga
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1704
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Málaga
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13 August 1704
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Gibraltar
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Gibraltar
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1704
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Gibraltar
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Catalonia
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Barcelona
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1705
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Barcelona
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Extremadura
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Badajoz
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1705
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Badajoz
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Extremadura
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Badajoz
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1705
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Albuquerque
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North of Badajoz
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Unlocated
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1705 - 6
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Valenza (Valencia de Alcantara)
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Balearic islands
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Majorca
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1706
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Majorca
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25 May 1706
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Castile
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Madrid
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1706
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Madrid
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Unlocated
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1706
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San Estevan
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Valencia
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Castellon
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1706
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San Mateo
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N of Castellon in Valencia
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Valencia
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Valencia
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1707
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Pass of Almansa
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A contest for the strategic
pass between Albacete
and the coastal ports of Valencia
and Alicante,
on 25 Apr 1707.
A Franco-Spanish army of 25,400 (Marshal Berwick) defeats an Anglo-Portuguese
army of 15,500 (Earl of Galway;
Das Minas). The Portuguese horse
are swept away, but the Allied infantry fight stubbornly.
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Balearic islands
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Minorca
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1708
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Minorca
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Murcia
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Cartagena
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1708
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Cartagena
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28 May 1708Battle of Cartagena
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Portugal
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1709
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Val Gudina
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In April, the Franco-Spanish
defeat the Anglo-Portuguese
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Portugal
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Badajoz
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1709
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Gaia
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Franco-Spanish defeat
Anglo-Portuguese. In a now familiar pattern the Portuguese horse are swept
away, but the Allied infantry fight stubbornly.
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Aragon
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Saragossa
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1710
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Saragossa
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Stanhope defeats a
Franco-Spanish force of 20,000 (De Bay) taking 5,000 prisoners and 36 guns
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La Alcarria
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Brihuega
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1710
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Villa Viciosa
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11 Dec 1710 Vendome defeats Guido von Starhemberg and the British main body, taking 2,000
prisoners and 22 guns. The battle is hard fought with heavy casualties on
both sides. Starhemberg manages to keep his army
together and continue the retreat.
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La Alcarria
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Guadalajara
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1710
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Brihuega I
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Stanhope defeated and
surrenders
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Catalonia
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Lerida
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1710
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Almenara
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25,000 British defeat 22,000 Spaniards.
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Catalonia
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Tortosa
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1712
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Tortosa
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