The siege of Olivença or Olivenza occurred on 19-22 January 1811 when French General

Jean-de-Dieu Soult Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of ...

successfully undertook the capture of the run-down Spanish fortress of

Olivenza Olivenza () or Olivença () is a town in southwestern Spain, close to the Portugal–Spain border. It is a municipality belonging to the province of Badajoz, and to the wider autonomous community of Extremadura. The town of Olivença was und ...

in western Spain during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. On his way to storming the stronger fortress at Badajoz, Soult was obliged to modify his original plans. Sending his

light cavalry Light cavalry comprised lightly armed and body armor, armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the mounted riders (and sometimes the warhorses) were heavily armored. The purpose of light cavalry was p ...

under Brigadier General André Briche to take Mérida and leaving four squadrons of

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

s at

Albuera La Albuera is a village southeast of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. it had a population of c. 2,000 inhabitants. History It was scene of the Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) between Spanish, Portuguese and British troops under William Carr Beresf ...

to watch the garrison at Badajoz, he marched with the remainder of his army to

invest Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

Olivenza.

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

had previously advised General Pedro de La Romana, commander of the Spanish Army of Extremadura, to either destroy the fortification at Olivenza or to repair its defences and fully garrison the town; La Romana in turn had instructed Mendizabal to slight the fortress, but

Mendizabal Mendizabal or Mendizábal is a Basque surname meaning 'wide mountain'. It may refer to: * Concepción Mendizábal Mendoza (1893–1985), first female civil engineer in Mexico * Enrique Mendizabal (1918–2017), Olympic Shooter for Peru at the 1948 ...

ignored this order and reinforced the garrison with four infantry

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s. Soult, arrived on 11 January and was confronted with a strongly garrisoned, but untenable, fortress. The French heavy artillery arrived on 19 January, and by 22 January, a poorly repaired breach in the fortress's walls had been reopened. The garrison surrendered on 23 January, with over 4,000 Spanish troops from the Army of Extremadura taken captive. Soult was now in a difficult position. Although he had a large (4,000-strong) contingent of cavalry, deploying two battalions to escort the prisoners taken at Olivenza back to French-held Seville left him only 5,500 infantry with which to continue his campaign. Although his siege-train had begun to arrive, the continued absence of Gazan's infantry division left him with a weakened army. Despite these problems, Soult decided to besiege Badajoz in hopes that Wellington would send reinforcements to the Spanish fortress and thereby reduce the Allied forces facing Masséna at the Lines of Torres Vedras. On 26 January, Soult set off for Badajoz, sending General

Latour-Maubourg Marie-Victor-Nicolas de Faÿ, Marquis de La Tour-Maubourg (; 22 May 1768 – 11 November 1850) was a French cavalry commander under France's Ancien Régime before rising to prominence during the First French Empire. Under the Restoration, he s ...

with six cavalry battalions across the Guadiana to blockade the fortress's northern approach, and by 27 January, the first siege of Badajoz had commenced.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olivença 1811 Sieges of the Peninsular War involving Spain Military history of Extremadura History of the province of Badajoz Conflicts in 1811 1811 in Spain 1811 in Portugal January 1811 Battles inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe Attacks on castles in Spain

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