Battle of Mollet

Overview

The Battle of Mollet or the Action of Mollet took place at Mollet del Vallès, near Barcelona, in Catalonia, on 21 January 1810, between a force of 2,160 French soldiers commanded by General Guillaume Philibert Duhesme and a Spanish force of 3,000 men under Luis González Torres de Navarra, Marquess of Campoverde. The Spanish Division of Llobregat led by Campoverde intercepted and destroyed the French vanguard at Santa Perpètua de Mogoda. Then, the Spanish marched to Mollet to face the rest of Duhesme forces. The French were surrounded by the Spanish force and finally, after a vigorous defense, the French surrendered. The Spanish captured 500 French soldiers, 140 cuirassiers, 2 cannons, and the baggage. Duhesme and the rest of his force fled to Granollers, and were saved from other Spanish attack thanks to the arrival of Marshal Pierre Augereau with 9,000 men.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Mollet was a sharp Spanish success in the Catalan theater of the Peninsular War. Campoverde's Division of Llobregat first destroyed the French vanguard at Santa Perpètua de Mogoda before pressing on to encircle and force the surrender of the main French body at Mollet. The capture of roughly 640 soldiers including 140 cuirassiers, along with two cannons and the baggage train, represented a significant material loss for the French force under Duhesme, whose remnants were saved only by the timely arrival of Marshal Augereau with 9,000 men. The engagement demonstrated that Spanish regular forces operating in Catalonia could coordinate effectively enough to envelop a French column, though the intervention of Augereau's relief force contained the tactical gain and prevented the destruction of Duhesme's command entirely.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)