The Uprising of Santa Cruz de Mudela was a popular uprising that took place on 5 June 1808, at the beginning of the

Spanish War of Independence The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, ...

, in the town of Santa Cruz de Mudela,

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. History It was founde ...

, Castile-La Mancha. Santa Cruz de Mudela is on the main road from Madrid to Andalusia. A detachment of 400 French troops stationed in the village of Santa Cruz de Mudela were attacked by the population. In the uprising, 109 French soldiers were killed and 113 others taken prisoner, while the rest fled back in the direction of Madrid, to Valdepeñas,Madrid y Medina, Ángela (1981)
''Valdepeñas'', p. 30. Instituto de Estudios Manchegos. Editorial Clunia.
''Google Books''. Retrieved 25 August 2013. where, the next day, there would be another famous popular uprising against the French Army. The

guerrilla action Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...

s at Santa Cruz and Valdepeñas, together with more isolated actions in the Sierra Morena itself, effectively cut French military communications between Madrid and Andalusia for around a month.

References

{{Reflist Battles of the Peninsular War Wars of independence Battles involving France Battles involving Spain Protests in Spain 1808 in Spain May events June 1808 events

See also

References