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16 March in military history: Siege of Badajoz begins, 1812

Military history · 16 March · Peninsular WarFull calendar

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Map marking the battle site: Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain
Location: Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. Location map: © Echoes of Battle (data: Natural Earth, public domain)
Quick answer

On 16 March 1812 Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese army crossed the Guadiana and began to invest Badajoz, a French-held fortress on the border of Spain and Portugal. The siege ended on the night of 6 April in a costly storm and a sack of the town. On 16 March 1945 Admiral Nimitz announced victory on Iwo Jima.

The third siege

Badajoz, a French-held fortress on the Guadiana at the border of Spain and Portugal, had already been besieged twice in 1811 without success. In January 1812 Wellington took Ciudad Rodrigo, the other border fortress, and then turned south against Badajoz. Its garrison, under General Philippon, numbered about 5,000 men.1

Closing the ring

On 16 March the 3rd, 4th and Light Divisions under Marshal Beresford, about 12,000 men, crossed the Guadiana and invested the town on its left bank without opposition. They crossed on a pontoon bridge and a flying bridge completed the day before. A Portuguese division under Hamilton watched the right bank. By first light on 17 March the place was entirely surrounded.2

Ground was broken on the night of 17 March. In wind and rain some 1,800 workmen opened a trench near Fort Picurina, and the garrison did not notice them until daylight.3

Sortie, rain and Picurina

On 19 March the garrison sallied against the trenches with between 1,000 and 2,000 men and was driven back. The besiegers lost about 150 killed and wounded, among them their chief engineer, Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher. Heavy rain followed, the Guadiana rose and carried away the bridges, and work fell behind.4

On the night of 25 March troops under General Kempt stormed Fort Picurina. From its ground the breaching batteries battered the bastions of La Trinidad and Santa Maria. By 5 April both were breached, but Wellington, seeing the defenses prepared behind them, put off the assault and had a third breach made between them on the 6th.5

The night of 6 April

Marshal Soult was marching to relieve the town, and Wellington could not wait. The assault went in at ten at night. At the top of each breach the defenders had fixed a chevaux de frise of sword blades. The 4th and Light Divisions went down into the ditch under a storm of fire, mines and exploding powder barrels and attacked the breaches again and again until after midnight, when Wellington ordered them back.6

The town fell elsewhere. Picton's 3rd Division took the castle by escalade, and a brigade of the 5th Division under Walker scaled the San Vicente bastion and pushed along the ramparts. Philippon withdrew into Fort San Cristóbal across the river and surrendered there in the morning.7

Counting the cost

The storm alone cost the Allies about 3,700 killed and wounded. For the whole siege the totals run from about 4,700 to nearly 5,000.8

The sack

Once inside, the soldiers broke into houses and wine stores and gave themselves up to drunkenness, rape and pillage, threatening the officers who tried to stop them. More than a hundred inhabitants were killed. Wellington ordered the plunder to cease only on 7 April, and order was restored with troops sent into the town.9

Wellington's career is traced in our article on the Duke of Wellington, and an earlier chapter of the war appears in 16 January in military history: Corunna, 1809.

Also on 16 March

1945: Admiral Nimitz announced that the battle of Iwo Jima had been won, and his communiqué said of the Americans who fought there that "uncommon valor was a common virtue". Mopping up went on, and the last organized resistance ended on 26 March. See also our article on the Battle of Iwo Jima.10

Frequently asked questions

When did the Siege of Badajoz begin and end?

Wellington's troops began to invest the town on 16 March 1812, and by first light on the 17th it was surrounded. The town was stormed on the night of 6 April, and the governor, General Philippon, surrendered on the morning of 7 April.

Who fought at Badajoz in 1812?

Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese army against a French garrison of about 5,000 men under General Philippon.

How many men did Wellington lose at Badajoz?

About 3,700 killed and wounded in the storm alone, and between about 4,700 and nearly 5,000 in the whole siege, depending on the source.

What happened after Badajoz fell?

The victorious troops sacked the town. They plundered houses, got drunk and attacked the inhabitants, more than a hundred of whom were killed, until Wellington ordered the plunder stopped on 7 April and sent troops in to restore order.

What else happened on 16 March?

In 1945 Admiral Nimitz announced that the battle of Iwo Jima had been won, although mopping up on the island went on until 26 March.

Notes

A number in the text points to a note; each note names the works that paragraph draws on, listed in full under Sources.

  1. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; National Army Museum, “The Peninsular War”; Wellington to Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; John T. Jones, “Journals of Sieges carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, during the years 1811 to 1814”. ↩
  2. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Wellington to Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; John T. Jones, “Journals of Sieges carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, during the years 1811 to 1814”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”; [Lamare], “Relation des siéges et défenses d'Olivença, de Badajoz, et de Campo-Mayor, en 1811 et 1812, par les troupes françaises de l'Armée du midi en Espagne”. ↩
  3. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Wellington to Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; John T. Jones, “Journals of Sieges carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, during the years 1811 to 1814”. ↩
  4. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Wellington to Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; John T. Jones, “Journals of Sieges carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, during the years 1811 to 1814”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”. ↩
  5. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; John T. Jones, “Journals of Sieges carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, during the years 1811 to 1814”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”; Wellington to Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”. ↩
  6. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Wellington to Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; John T. Jones, “Journals of Sieges carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, during the years 1811 to 1814”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”. ↩
  7. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; Wellington to Lieutenant-General Sir Rowland Hill, “The Dispatches of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington”; John T. Jones, “Journals of Sieges carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, during the years 1811 to 1814”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”. ↩
  8. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; John T. Jones, “Journals of Sieges carried on by the Army under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain, during the years 1811 to 1814”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”. ↩
  9. Charles Oman, “A History of the Peninsular War”; National Army Museum, “The Peninsular War”; J. W. Fortescue, “A History of the British Army”; Conde de Toreno, “Historia del levantamiento, guerra y revolución de España”. ↩
  10. Whitman S. Bartley, “HyperWar transcription”; Otago Daily Times, “Iwo Jima Clear”; Naval History and Heritage Command, “Battle of Iwo Jima”. ↩

Sources

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