The Battle of Brihuega took place on 8 December 1710 in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, during the allied retreat from Madrid to

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 ...

. The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

rearguard A rearguard is a part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as communication lines, behind an army. Even more ...

under Lord Stanhope was cut off within the town of

Brihuega Brihuega is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2007 census ( INE), the municipality had a population of 2,835 inhabitants. In 1710 a hard-fought battle took place in the township between Lord Stanhop ...

and overwhelmed by a Franco-Spanish army under the duc de Vendôme. Brihuega with other events brought an end to the British participation in the war.

Prelude

In 1710, victories at the Battle of Almenara (July 27) and the

Battle of Saragossa The Battle of Saragossa, also known as the Battle of Zaragoza, took place on 20 August 1710 during the War of the Spanish Succession. A Spanish Bourbon army loyal to Philip V of Spain and commanded by the Marquis de Bay was defeated by a Gra ...

(August 20) allowed the Grand Alliance army supporting

Archduke Charles Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...

to occupy

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

for the second time. On 21 September the Archduke—Charles III of Spain, according to the Allies—entered his prospective capital. But the invasion of 1710 proved to be a repetition of the invasion of 1706: The Alliance's 23,000 men, reduced by a loss of 2,000 in the actions at Almenara and Saragossa, by constant skirmishes with the '' guerrilleros'', and by disease, were unequal to the task of holding their conquests and occupying the two Castiles. The Portuguese were unable to offer help. The Bourbon army was rapidly refitted and reorganized by French general the duc de Vendôme, who was lent to Philip V's service by the latter's grandfather, the Sun King. Spanish volunteers and regular units were joined by the Irish brigade and by French troops secretly directed to enter Spanish service. Madrid emptied, deserted by all except the poorest of its inhabitants, and the Grand Alliance's position became untenable. On 9 November the Alliance evacuated the city and embarked on a retreat to Catalonia. Leaving behind the main body of the army, the Archduke advanced with a guard of 2,000 cavalry, hurrying back to Barcelona. The rest of the army marched in two detachments, the division being imposed on them by difficulty of foraging. General

Guido Starhemberg Guido Wald Rüdiger, count of Starhemberg (11 November 1657 – 7 March 1737) was an Austrian military officer (commander-in-chief) and by birth member of the House of Starhemberg. He was a cousin of Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (1638–170 ...

marched ahead with the main body of 12,000 men, a day's march ahead of the British troops, 5,000 men under Lord Stanhope. This division of forces invited disaster in the presence of the duc de Vendôme, a capable and resourceful leader.

The battle

Vendôme set out from Talavera with his troops, and pursued the retreating British army with a speed perhaps never equalled in such a season and in such a country. The middle aged Frenchman led his Franco-Spanish army day and night. In typical Vendôme style, he swam, at the head of his cavalry, the flooded

Henares The Henares () is a river in Spain, tributary of the Jarama. It has its source in the Sierra Ministra, in the village of Horna, near Sigüenza, in the province of Guadalajara. Its tributaries are the Torote, the Sorbe, the Cañamares, the S ...

and in a few days overtook Stanhope, who was at Brihuega with the left wing of the Grand Alliance army. "Nobody with me," said the British general, "imagined that they had any foot within some days' march of us and our misfortune is owing to the incredible diligence which their army made." Stanhope had barely enough time to send off a messenger to the centre of the army, which was some leagues from Brihuega, before Vendôme was upon him on the evening of 8 December. The next morning the town was invested on every side. Blasting the walls of Brihuega with heavy

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

, a mine was sprung under one of the gates. The British kept up a terrible fire till their powder was spent. They then fought desperately against overwhelming numbers and launched a bayonet charge against Vendôme's men as they stormed into the city, resulting in bloody close quarters fighting, street by street. The British set fire to the buildings which their assailants had taken but in vain. The British general saw that further resistance would produce only a useless carnage. He concluded a capitulation and his army became prisoners of war on honourable terms.

Aftermath

Scarcely had Vendôme signed the capitulation, when he learned that Staremberg was marching to the relief of Stanhope. On December 10 the two met in the bloody

battle of Villaviciosa The Battle of Villaviciosa (11 December 1710) was a battle between a Franco-Spanish army led by Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme and Philip V of Spain and a Habsburg-allied army commanded by Austrian Guido Starhemberg. The battle took place durin ...

, after which Starhemberg continued the allied retreat. The British troops did not remain in captivity for long before they were exchanged and sent home in October 1711. The defeat helped justify the Harley Government's plan to agree a compromise peace with France at the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...

. Opponents of the deal protested on the grounds of "

No Peace Without Spain No Peace Without Spain was a popular British political slogan of the early eighteenth century. It referred to the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) in which Britain was a leading participant. It implied that no peace treaty cou ...

". Nonetheless Allied forces were withdrawn, with the final action taking place at the Siege of Barcelona in 1714.

References

Sources

* {{cite book, last = Frey, first = Linda and Marsha , year = 1995, title = The Treaties of the War of the Spanish Succession: an Historical and Critical Dictionary, publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group, isbn=978-0-313-27884-6

External links

Description of the Battles of Brihuega and Villaviciosa (in Spanish)Tricentenary celebration in 2010 (in Spanish)

1710 in France 1710 in Spain Brihuega History of the province of Guadalajara