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Battle of Cardedeu
Victory in the Battle of Cardedeu allowed the French to break through to Barcelona in December 1808.
Date Battle: 16 December 1808 Campaign: June–December 1808 Location Catalonia, Spain Result French victory
Belligerents
First French Empire Kingdom of Italy Kingdom of Naples Swiss Confederation	Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
Guillaume Duhesme Laurent Saint-Cyr	Juan Miguel de Vives Theodor von Reding
Strength
over 42,382	unknown

The Cardedeu order of battle lists the troops that fought in the Battle of Cardedeu (16 December 1808) and several other battles fought between June and December in the Spanish province of Catalonia during the Peninsular War. In February 1808, Imperial French forces seized Barcelona on 29 February and Sant Ferran Castle on 15 March as well as other fortresses in Spain. The Dos de Mayo Uprising broke out when the Spanish people found that Emperor Napoleon deposed the Spanish royal family and set up his brother Joseph Bonaparte as their new king. The 12,000 Imperial French soldiers under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme occupying Catalonia were beaten at the Battles of El Bruch and Gerona in June. Though Duhesme was reinforced by another French division, the Spanish defeated him at the Second Siege of Gerona in July and August. With Duhesme blockaded in Barcelona, Napoleon appointed Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr as commander of the VII Corps, added two good divisions and other troops to his force, and ordered him to relieve Barcelona. Saint-Cyr succeeded in this task, winning the battles of Roses, Cardedeu and Molins de Rei in December.

Imperial French order of battle

On 10 October 1808, the VII Corps numbered 42,382 soldiers, of whom 4,948 men were in the hospital and 1,302 were detached. However, not all its assigned troops had joined by that date. Note that the Observation Corps became part of VII Corps when Saint-Cyr assumed command. It is probable that the corps counted over 50,000 men. Joseph Chabran's division was made up of veteran French units. The Provisional Cavalry regiments were created by assembling the depot squadrons, all conscripts, from as many as four different regiments. Honoré Charles Reille's division was a mass of second-class units cobbled together from National Guards, provisional battalions, Swiss, and a "French" regiment from recently annexed Tuscany. The Neapolitans were universally considered the worst troops in Europe. On the other hand, the divisions of Joseph Souham and Domenico Pino were composed of crack troops.

VII Corps of General Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr on 10 October 1808

Corps	Division	Strength	Unit	Strength
Observation Corps General of Division Guillaume Philibert Duhesme	1st Division General of Division Joseph Chabran	Aug: 6,045	2nd Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion	610
			7th Line Infantry Regiment, 1st & 2nd Battalions	1,785
			16th Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion	789
			37th Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion	656
			56th Line Infantry Regiment, 4th Battalion	833
			93rd Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion	792
			2nd Swiss Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion	580
	2nd Division General of Division Giuseppe Lechi	Aug: 4,596	2nd Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion	740
			4th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion	587
			5th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion	806
			Italian Velites Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion	519
			1st Neapolitan Infantry Regiment, 1st & 2nd Battalions	1,944
	Cavalry Brigade General of Brigade Bertrand Bessières	Aug: 825	3rd Provisional Cuirassier Regiment	409
			3rd Provisional Chasseur Regiment	416
	Cavalry Brigade General of Brigade François Xavier de Schwarz	Aug: 892	Prince Royal Italian Chasseur Regiment	504
			Neapolitan Chasseur Regiment	388
	Corps Artillery	Aug: 356	Artillery & train companies	356
	Observation Corps Total	Aug: 12,714 Nov: 10,000		-
VII Corps General of Division Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr	3rd Division General of Division Honoré Charles Reille	Aug: 8,370 Nov: 5,612	32nd Light Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion	1,100?
			16th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion	840?
			56th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion	840?
			113th Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions	1,300
			Perpignan Provisional Regiment, 4 battalions	1,680
			5th Legion of the Reserve, 1 battalion	500
			Chasseurs des Montagnes, 1 battalion	560?
			Valais Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion	800
			4 squadrons cavalry replacements	550
			2 artillery companies	200
	4th Division General of Division Joseph Souham	Nov: 7,712	1st Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions	?
			3rd Light Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion	?
			7th Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions	?
			42nd Line Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions	?
			67th Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion	?
	5th Division General of Division Domenico Pino	Nov: 8,368	1st Italian Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions	?
			2nd Italian Light Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions	?
			4th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions	?
			5th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion	?
			6th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 3 battalions	?
			7th Italian Line Infantry Regiment, 1 battalion	?
	6th Division General of Division Louis François Jean Chabot	Nov: 1,988	Chasseurs of the Eastern Pyrenees, 1 battalion	?
			2nd Neapolitan Infantry Regiment, 2 battalions	?
	Cavalry Brigade General of Brigade Jacques Fontane	Nov: 1,700	7th Italian Dragoon Regiment	?
			Royal Italian Chasseur Regiment	?
			24th Dragoon Regiment (not brigaded)	?
	VII Corps Artillery	Nov: 500	Artillery companies	500
	Grand Total	Nov: 42,382		-

Spanish order of battle

The Royal Spanish army included three Irish regiments, including the Ultonia Infantry Regiment. There were also six Swiss regiments, among them the 1st Wimpfen and 2nd Reding senior Infantry Regiments. The Provincial Grenadiers were a militia formation. Uniquely among the provinces of Spain, Catalonia raised its own type of militia, the miquelets. This was a mass levy of military aged men that was armed and paid by the church parishes. They were sometimes called somatenes after the alarm-bell (somaten) used to alert them. The miquelets were organized into 1,000-man "tercios". Newly-raised units are labeled "Volunteers" or "new". Miquelets and militia have the Catalan flag. All others are regulars.

During the Siege of Roses, the garrison consisted of 150 men of the Ultonia Regiment, one-half of the 2nd of Barcelona Light Infantry Regiment, one company of the 1st Wimpfen Swiss Regiment, the Lerida and Igualada Tercios, and elements of the Berga and Figueras Tercios. These were later reinforced by a small battalion of the Borbon Regiment. Nearly all these troops went into captivity when the place surrendered on 5 December.

One authority stated that Reding commanded two battalions each of the 1st Grenada, Baza, and Almeria Infantry Regiments at Cardedeu. Vives led newly organized Catalan units at Cardedeu, plus seven guns, but the source did not specify which units. A second historian credited the Spanish at Cardedeu with 5,000 Granadan troops under Reding and 4,000 Catalans under Vives, but did not list the individual units. This force included 600 cavalrymen and seven field guns. During the battle, Francisco Milans del Bosch was to the east with 3,000 miquelets and Luis Rebolledo de Palafox y Melci, 1st marqués de Lazán was to the north with perhaps 6,000 more soldiers. However, Milans' men were still reeling from their defeat the day before and Lazán was too slow; neither intervened at Cardedeu.

Spanish Army on 5 November 1808

Army	Division	Strength	Unit	Strength
Army of Catalonia Captain-General Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu	Vanguard Brigadier-General Mariano Álvarez de Castro	5,600	Ultonia Infantry Regiment	300
			Borbon Infantry Regiment	500
			2nd of Barcelona Light Infantry Regiment	1,000
			1st Wimpfen Swiss Infantry Regiment	400
			1st Gerona Tercio	900
			2nd Gerona Tercio	400
			Igualada Tercio	400
			Cervera Tercio	400
			1st Tarragona Tercio	800
			Figueras Tercio	400
			San Narciso Hussar Regiment (new)	100
	1st Division General Conde de Caldagues	4,998 6 guns	2nd Walloon Guards	314
			Soria Infantry Regiment	780
			Borbon Infantry Regiment (det.)	151
			2nd of Savoia Infantry Regiment	1,734
			2nd Reding senior Swiss Infantry Regiment (det.)	270
			Tortosa Tercio	984
			Igualada and Cervera Tercio (det.)	245
			Sappers	50
			Españoles Hussar Regiment, 2 squadrons	220
			Cataluña Cazadores Cavalry (new)	180
			Artillery battery	70, 6 guns
	2nd Division General Laguna	2,360 7 guns	Old Castile Provincial Grenadiers	972
			New Castile Provincial Grenadiers	924
			Zaragosa Volunteers	150
			Sappers	30
			Españoles Hussar Regiment	200
			Artillery battery	84, 7 guns
	3rd Division General La Serna	2,458	Grenada Infantry Regiment	961
			2nd Tarragona Tercio	922
			Arzu Division (new)	325
			Sueltas Companies (new)	250
	4th Division General Francisco Milans del Bosch	3,710	1st Lerida Tercio	872
			Vich Tercio	976
			Manresa Tercio	937
			Valls Tercio	925
	Reserve	907 4 guns	Spanish Guards	60
			Grenadiers Soria Regiment	188
			Grenadiers Wimpfen Swiss Regiment	169
			General's Bodyguard	340
			Sappers	20
			Españoles Hussar Regiment	80
			Artillery battery	50, 4 guns
Army of Granada General Theodor von Reding	1st Division	8,200	2nd Reding senior Swiss Regiment	1,000
			1st Granada (Iliberia) Infantry Regiment (new)	2,400
			Baza Infantry Regiment (new)	2,400
			Almeria Infantry Regiment (new)	2,400
	2nd Division	6,000	Santa Fé Infantry Regiment (new)	2,400
			Antequera Infantry Regiment (new)	1,200
			Loja Infantry Regiment (new)	2,400
	Cavalry	670	Granada Hussar Regiment (new)	670
	Artillery	130, 6 g.	Artillery battery	130, 6 guns
Army of Aragon Captain-General José de Palafox y Melci Not present	3rd Division General Luis Palafox, marqués de Lazán	4,688	1st Aragon Volunteers	638
			3rd Aragon Volunteers	593
			Fernando VII of Aragon Regiment (new)	648
			Daroca Regiment (new)	503
			La Reunion Regiment (new)	1,286
			Reserva del General Regiment (new)	934
			Fernando VII Cazadores Cavalry, 1 troop	22
			Artillery battery	64

Notes

1. "History of Guerre d'Espagne - The PEninsular War 1808-1814".
2. Oman 2010, p. 37.
3. Gates 2002, p. 12.
4. Gates 2002, pp. 59–67.
5. ^ Oman 2010, pp. 642–643.
6. Oman 2010, p. 107.
7. Oman 2010, pp. 104–105.
8. ^ Oman 2010, p. 320.
9. Oman 2010, p. 311.
10. Oman 2010, p. 333.
11. ^ Oman 2010, p. 614.
12. Oman 1995, p. 38.
13. ^ Oman 1995, p. 44.
14. Oman 2010, p. 609.
15. Oman 2010, p. 306.
16. Oman 2010, p. 322.
17. Oman 2010, p. 631.
18. Oman 1995, pp. 47–48.
19. Oman 1995, p. 53.
20. Oman 1995, p. 56.
21. Smith 1998, p. 272.
22. Oman 1995, p. 63.
23. Oman 2010, pp. 633–636.

References

• Gates, David (2002). The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War. London: Pimlico. ISBN 0-7126-9730-6.
• Oman, Charles (2010). A History of the Peninsular War Volume I. Vol. 1. La Vergne, Tenn.: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-1432636821.
• Oman, Charles (1995). A History of the Peninsular War Volume II. Vol. 2. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole. ISBN 1-85367-215-7.
• Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.

• Peninsular War orders of battle