Peninsular War (1807-14). The dissensions between Charles IV., king of Spain, and his son Ferdinand gave the Emperor Napoleon I. an opportunity of interfering in the affairs of that country. In pursuance of a treaty ratified on 29th October 1807 with the Spanish king, he had sent an army into Portugal under Junot, by whom Lisbon was seized, and the members of the royal house of Braganza obliged to flee to the Brazils. Ostensibly with the object of supporting Junot's army, other French troops gradually occupied Salamanca, Valladolid, and other important positions in Spain, including Madrid, where Murat was in command. A popular outbreak against the king and his favourite, Manuel Godoy, caused the former to abdicate and his son Ferdinand to assume the crown. But the latter was induced to meet the French emperor at Bayonne, and by him held a prisoner, while his father was again proclaimed king. Riots at Madrid, Toledo, and other places during the spring of 1808 caused the feeble king such alarm that he surrendered his crown to Napoleon, by whom it was bestowed upon his brother Joseph Bonaparte, then king of Naples. He was proclaimed in Madrid on 24th July 1808.
Owing to the large powers of the local junta, and to a decentralised form of government, the action of the capital of Spain had little effect upon that of her provinces, which rose against the French and those who favoured them in all directions. The organised forces of Spain amounted at this time to about 127,000 of all arms, while the French army in the Peninsula, exclusive of Junot's troops in Portugal, consisted of some 80,000 conscripts of various nations, French, Swiss, Italians, Poles, and even Portuguese, soon reinforced by 23,000 fresh troops. Arms, clothing, and money were freely supplied by Great Britain to the patriots of Spain and Portugal, whose numbers rapidly increased. The first operations of the French under Marshal Bessières in the north were uniformly successful, except at Saragossa, which Palafox gallantly held against Lefebvre-Desnouvettes. In Catalonia they suffered several defeats, and in Andalusia their general, Dupont, surrendered at Baylen with 18,000 men. The first armed interference of the British in the affairs of the Peninsula was the despatch on 12th July 1808 of Sir Arthur Wellesley with some 30,000 men to Portugal. Landing these troops in Mondego River, he defeated Laborde at Roriça and Junot at Vimicra, but then handed over the command to Sir Harry Burrard, who had been sent out to supersede him, to be himself superseded within a few hours by Sir Hew Dalrymple. The latter officer concluded the convention of Cintra with the French commander, who evacuated Portugal by 30th September 1808. The three English generals were examined before a court of inquiry as to this convention, but no further steps were taken.
Sir John Moore, appointed to the command of the British troops (some 30,000) in Portugal on 6th October, had moved to Valladolid by 22d December, effecting a junction with Sir David Baird's division from Coruña. But the Spanish troops had in the meantime suffered a succession of defeats. The French had received large reinforcements; Napoleon himself was in Madrid; and Soult with 60,000 men was in his front. Moore therefore executed a rapid and masterly retreat to Coruña, and there fought a successful battle to cover the embarkation, being mortally wounded himself at the moment of victory. For three months no further steps were taken by the British government, but in December Sir John Cradock was sent out to take command in Portugal, and he took up a position covering Lisbon from the French, now under Marshal Victor. In this position Sir Arthur Wellesley, who was again sent out, found matters on 22d April 1809. The French armies in Spain now numbered nearly 400,000 men, divided into eight corps d'armée, under six marshals and Generals Junot and St Cyr, and operating in the north, south, east, and west. So long as Napoleon himself was able to direct operations they were characterised by unity of purpose and consequent success. Saragossa, attacked for the third time, after a memorable defence of sixty-three days, surrendered to Marshal Lannes on 21st February 1809, and many victories were gained over the Spanish levies; but in Catalonia St Cyr effected comparatively little. The outbreak of war in Germany drew Napoleon to that country in April, and the operations in Spain were somewhat neglected in consequence. The jealousies of the French commanders too prevented any unity of action there.
Sir A. Wellesley first marched against Soult with 20,000 British and 40,000 Spanish under Cuesta, and drove him out of Portugal. King Joseph, with 80,000 men under Marshal Victor, attacked at Talavera on 26th July and suffered a severe defeat. For this victory Sir A. Wellesley was created Viscount Wellington, but, being left without reinforcements, he was obliged to retire to Almeida, while the defeat of the Spanish at Ocaña (November 20) enabled the French to overrun the whole of Andalusia, except Cadiz, which still held out. Wellington, foreseeing the impossibility of taking the offensive at that time, prepared during the winter a triple line of earthworks, 29 miles long, from Torres Vedras on the Zizandra to Alhandra on the Tagus, thus covering his base at Lisbon. The French, 65,000 strong, under Masséna, moved against him in the spring of 1810, captured the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo on the 11th July, and attacked him in the position of Busaco on 29th September. The attack was beaten off, and Wellington, carrying out his preconceived plan, retired slowly into the lines of Torres Vedras, carrying with him as much of the resources of the country as possible, and directing the Portuguese troops to harass the flanks and rear of the French. To avoid starvation Masséna, finding himself unable to attack Wellington's fortifications; and having lost 30,000 men, began to retire on 14th November. Reinforcements having reached Wellington early in 1811, he followed, defeated Masséna at Sabagal on 3d April 1811, and drove him out of Portugal. Soult in the meantime had defeated the Spaniards at Gebora (February 19), and captured the fortress of Badajoz. He also invested Cadiz, but General Graham with a force of 12,000 men attacked and defeated Marshal Victor's covering force at Barrosa on 5th March, which checked his further movements. Wellington, now designing to march on Madrid and thence against the French line of communications with Bayonne, found it necessary to capture Badajoz and Almeida. Masséna, at the head of 50,000 men, marched to the relief of the latter place. He was checked at Fuentes de Oñoro on 5th May, where a hard-fought battle caused him to retreat and abandon Almeida to the British. Wellington then turned towards Badajoz, which Soult endeavoured to relieve with a force of 23,000 men. The British (7000) and Spaniards (25,000) engaged him on the 16th May in the bloody battle of Albuera, compelling him to retire, which he did in a southerly direction.
Matters were, however, in a very critical state for the British, for the whole of Valencia, Asturias, and Galicia was in the hands of the French, who still had nearly 300,000 men in Spain, and had received no other check except from General Hill in Estremadura and at Tarifa, which fortress repelled Soult. Napoleon, too, threatened to take the field again in person. But this was prevented by the outbreak of war between France and Russia, and early in 1812 Wellington commenced his well-matured plan for freeing Spain from the invader. He captured Ciudad Rodrigo on 19th January, stormed Badajoz on 6th April, and called in Hill's division from the south. Marmont, who had collected his troops about Salamanca, found his flank threatened, and had at first to retire; but on 22d July he turned upon the British, and fought the battle of Tormes, where he was wounded and his army defeated. Wellington entered Madrid on 12th August. King Joseph then withdrew Soult from Andalusia to Valencia, where they joined Suchet. But the Spanish army neglected to guard the British line of communications, and Clausel, who succeeded Marmont, proved so formidable a general that Wellington again found himself obliged to retire towards Salamanca and Portugal.
Events elsewhere, however, lessened the power of his enemies, reducing their numbers to 197,000 men. Jealousy existed between Joseph and his generals; and Wellington's position was strengthened by his appointment as commander-in-chief of the Spanish and Portuguese armies. These now amounted to 200,000 men, of which 70,000 Anglo-Portuguese had been brought into a good state of discipline. He again advanced eastward in the spring of 1813, obliging the French to evacuate Burgos and the line of the Ebro. They attempted to withstand him at Vittoria on 21st June, but sustained a crushing defeat, abandoning all their artillery, stores, and baggage. The blockades of Pampeluna and St Sebastian followed. Joseph, who had quarrelled with Soult, was superseded in the command, which was given to the latter. In spite, however, of great skill on his part, a series of terrible battles in the Pyrenees were uniformly disastrous to him. St Sebastian was taken on 7th October, the victory of Nivelle won on 10th November, and Wellington enabled to base himself on the northern ports. In February 1814 Bayonne was invested, on 27th Soult was defeated at Orthes, and again at Toulouse on 10th April, which city was occupied by the British. But Napoleon had already abdicated, having, after the disastrous Russian campaign, been overpowered by the allied forces of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, by whom France was invaded and Paris taken. See also articles on France, Spain, Portugal, Wellington, Napoleon, Soult, Masséna, Sir John Moore, Vittoria, Badajoz, Torres Vedras, Coruña, Busaco, &c.; and Sir W. Napier's History of the Peninsular War (6 vols. 1828-40).