siege of Tarragona (1813)
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In the siege of Tarragona (3–11 June 1813), an overwhelming Anglo-Allied force commanded by
Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
John Murray, 8th Baronet, failed to capture the Spanish port of
Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...
from a small Franco-Italian garrison led by General of Brigade Antoine Marc Augustin Bertoletti. Murray was subsequently removed from command for his indecisive and contradictory leadership.


Background

Murray's Anglo-Sicilian-Spanish army, based on
Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
, inflicted a sharp check on Marshal
Louis Gabriel Suchet Louis-Gabriel Suchet (2 March 1770 – 3 January 1826), Duke of Albufera (french: Duc d'Albuféra), was a French Marshal of the Empire and one of the most successful commanders of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He is regarded ...
's corps at the
Battle of Castalla In the Battle of Castalla on 13 April 1813, an Anglo-Spanish-Sicilian force commanded by Lieutenant General Sir John Murray fought Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's French Army of Valencia and Aragon. Murray's troops successfully repelled a ser ...
in April. After this action, General Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington ordered Murray to attack Tarragona, which is on the east coast of Spain. The port is about 65 miles southwest of
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. Wellington planned to launch his summer 1813 offensive against King
Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...
's French armies. By attacking Tarragona, Wellington wished to prevent Suchet from reinforcing Joseph. On June 2, Rear-Admiral Benjamin Hallowell Carew's squadron put Murray's 16,000 men ashore at Salou Bay, six miles south of Tarragona. They soon met General Francisco Copons' division of 7,000 Spanish soldiers. On June 3 the Allied army laid
siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
to the town.


Forces

Murray organized his army into one Spanish and two British infantry divisions, some cavalry, 2 British and 1 Portuguese field artillery batteries, plus some unassigned units. General William Clinton's 1st Division was made up of the 1/
58th Regiment of Foot The 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 48th (Northamptonshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1881. Hist ...
and 2/ 67th Regiment of Foot, the 4th King's German Legion and 2 battalions of the Sicilian ''Estero'' (Foreign) Regiment. General John Mackenzie's 2nd Division was made up of the 1/ 10th Regiment of Foot, 1/
27th Regiment of Foot The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1689. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 188 ...
and 1/ 81st Regiment of Foot, De Roll's Swiss and the 2nd Italian Regiment. The cavalry force included two squadrons each of the 20th Light Dragoons and the Brunswick Hussars. The :it:Calabrian Free Corps and the 1st Italian Regiment were un
brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. B ...
d. Murray's 18 heavy siege guns were the same ones that Wellington used to breach the walls during the
siege of Ciudad Rodrigo Sieges of Ciudad Rodrigo are a series of sieges of the Spanish town Ciudad Rodrigo. Specific sieges are: * Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1370) * Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1707) * Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810) * Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812) ...
and at the Battle of Badajoz in 1812. Rufane Shaw Donkin served as Murray's chief-of-staff. Bertoletti's garrison included a battalion each from the French 20th Line Infantry and the 7th Italian Infantry regiments, two companies of artillerymen and some French sailors. The defences had not been restored since Suchet had captured the town in the first siege of Tarragona in 1811. In any case, the 1,600 men were too few to man the outer walls, so Bertoletti abandoned the walls and pulled his men back into the old town. He left small garrisons in two outworks, the Bastion of San Carlos and Fort Royal.


Siege

Copons and his division were sent to the north to block the road from Barcelona. A British force occupied a fort to the south at
Balaguer Balaguer () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebre. The municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city i ...
. Instead of immediately storming the two weak outworks, Murray insisted on establishing breaching batteries. By June 7, Fort Royal lay helpless under the bombardment. Yet, Murray decided to wait until June 11 before mounting an assault on the outwork. When he heard Tarragona was attacked, Suchet and 8,000 men began to march north from
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
. From Barcelona,
General of Division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army co ...
Charles Decaen sent General of Division Maurice Mathieu and 6,000 men southward. Suchet planned for the two columns to rendezvous at
Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is kno ...
, 10 miles inland from Tarragona. Murray became increasingly anxious about the twin French threats. On June 9 he issued secret orders to withdraw from the siege. On June 11, he rode to Copons and found that Mathieu was approaching. Promising to reinforce Copons with British troops, he hastened back to his siege lines. Hearing fresh rumors that both Suchet and Mathieu were bearing down on him, Murray panicked. He abandoned the planned assault and ordered the stores to be sent back aboard ship. Late that night, Murray ordered that the heavy guns to be withdrawn at once. His chief gunner told him it was impossible to bring off the guns in less than 30 hours. It was all unnecessary. Suchet heard of a Spanish threat to Valencia and retreated. Mathieu brushed with Copons' outposts, found he was facing a combined army of 23,000 men and fell back northward. Meanwhile, Murray issued a flurry of often contradictory orders. These only added to the confusion and infuriated Hallowell. By the night of June 12, the entire force was taken on board the ships, leaving the 18 siege guns spiked and many stores left behind. Copons was advised to flee into the mountains. An amazed Bertoletti sent a messenger to Mathieu that the coast was clear. Soon, Murray decided to land his army at Balaguer, which was accomplished on June 15. He convinced Copons to support the second landing, which the Spanish general loyally did. Mathieu force-marched his troops into Tarragona on the following day. When Murray heard that French soldiers were at hand he immediately ordered that his army be re-embarked, to Hallowell's disgust. Copons was left in the lurch once more. On June 18, the Mediterranean Fleet hove over the horizon. Lord William Bentinck relieved Murray of command and the thwarted expedition sailed back to Alicante.


Results

Aside from the 18 lost siege guns, the Anglo-Allies lost 15 killed, 82 wounded, and five missing. French losses were 13 killed and 85 wounded. The Tarragona fiasco did not affect Wellington's 1813 campaign, which ended in a decisive Anglo-Allied victory over King Joseph at the
Battle of Vitoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, eventually leadin ...
on June 21. In 1814, Murray was court-martialled for his conduct before Tarragona. He was acquitted of all charges except that of abandoning his guns without just cause, for which he was admonished by the court.


Notes


References

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Further reading

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarragona 1813, Siege of Sieges of the Peninsular War Sieges of the Napoleonic Wars Sieges involving the United Kingdom Sieges involving France Sieges involving Spain Siege of Tarragona (1813) Siege of Tarragona (1813) June 1813 events