BATTLE // September 14, 1810

Battle of La Bisbal

Name: Battle of La Bisbal
Start: 1810-09-14
End: 1810-09-14
Location: Battle of La Bisbal

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Significance

At La Bisbal on 14 September 1810, a Spanish division under Enrique O'Donnell and an Anglo-Spanish naval squadron under Francis William Fane and Charles William Doyle achieved a sharp local success against French forces in Catalonia. The Imperial brigade of François de Schwarz, drawn from the Confederation of the Rhine states allied to Napoleon, was almost completely wiped out — most of its soldiers taken prisoner alongside their commander — out of a French force of roughly 2,400. With French casualties reaching 1,600, the action effectively destroyed Schwarz's brigade as a fighting formation. The engagement demonstrated Allied capacity to combine land and naval forces in a coordinated strike against a larger occupation presence in northeastern Spain. The battle came at a cost to the Spanish effort, however: O'Donnell, described as a capable commander, was wounded in the foot, removing a key officer from operations at a critical phase of the Peninsular War.

Tactics

O'Donnell's Spanish division, supported by an Anglo-Spanish naval squadron under Fane and Doyle, launched a surprise attack against Schwarz's brigade. The coordination of a land force with naval assets was central to the action, allowing the Allies to catch the Imperial troops off guard. The French brigade, part of Rouyer's wider division, was overwhelmed and its soldiers were largely taken prisoner along with Schwarz himself.