Battle of Medina de Rioseco

Battle of Medina de Rioseco
Part of the Peninsular War
Escena de la Guerra de la Independencia, 1808, by Joseph-Bernard Flaugier.
Date 14 July 1808 Location Medina de Rioseco, north of Valladolid, Spain 41°53′39″N 4°59′37″W / 41.8942°N 4.9936°W / 41.8942; -4.9936 Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Baptiste Bessières	Joaquín Blake Gregorio de la Cuesta
Strength
12,550–12,800 infantry,[1][2] 950–1,200 cavalry,[1][2] 32 guns[2]	21,300–22,000 regulars and militia,[1][2] 600 cavalry, 20 guns[2]
Casualties and losses
400–500 dead or wounded[1][3]	2,200[4]–3,000+[3] 13 guns captured[1]

Peninsular War: Spanish uprising 1808

200km
125miles

Santander

12

Bailén

11

Rioseco

10

Valencia

9

Girona

8

Zaragoza

7

Cabezón

6

Cadiz

5

Alcolea

4

Valdepeñas

3

Bruch

2

Dos de Mayo
Madrid

1

  

  current battle

The Battle of Medina de Rioseco, also known as the Battle of Moclín, was fought during the Peninsular War on 14 July 1808 when a combined body of Spanish militia and regulars moved to rupture the French line of communications to Madrid. General Joaquín Blake's Army of Galicia, under joint command with General Gregorio de la Cuesta, was routed by Marshal Bessières after a badly coordinated but stubborn fight against the French corps north of Valladolid.

Bessières exploited the poor coordination between Blake and Cuesta to defeat the Spaniards in detail, with Blake being ejected from a low ridge while Cuesta sat to the rear, and Cuesta failing to recapture the ridge with his own troops. The Army of Galicia was the only formation capable of threatening the French advance into Old Castile—Cuesta's command having been destroyed earlier at Cabezón—and its destruction marked a serious blow to Spain's national uprising.

But in the event, Medina de Rioseco proved to be the solitary French triumph in an invasion of Spain that ultimately failed to seize the country's major cities or to pacify its rebellious provinces, and which met outright disaster at Bailén, forcing French forces—Bessières' victorious corps included—to fly over the Ebro in retreat. A fresh campaign, conducted by Napoleon himself with the bulk of the Grande Armée, would be needed to redress the situation.