Battle of Gamonal

Battle of Burgos
Part of the Peninsular War
Date November 7, 1808 Location Near Burgos, Spain Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Baptiste Bessières	Conde de Belveder
Strength
20,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry	9,000 infantry
Casualties and losses
Unknown	2,000 dead, wounded, or captured

The Battle of Burgos was fought on November 7, 1808, during the Peninsular War. A powerful French army under Marshal Bessières overwhelmed and destroyed the outnumbered Spanish under General Belveder, opening central Spain to invasion.

Spanish history remembers this battle for the vain gallantry of the Guard and Walloon regiments under Don Vicente Genaro de Quesada. Forming a rearguard for the shattered Spanish lines, these troops absorbed repeated charges by General Lasalle's French cavalry without yielding an inch of ground. The cost was a massacre of both French and Spaniards: of the 307 men in the rearguard only 74 survived, caked with blood; uniforms in tatters; bayonets bent and blunted.

It is said that Bessières personally returned Quesada's sword and had his wounds treated in the French field hospital. These acts of chivalry became increasingly rare as the Peninsular War dragged on.

External links

• The Battle of Gamonal (Spanish)