Battle of Pla

Overview

The Battle of El Pla was a battle on 15 January 1811 between an Imperial French column made up of two Italian brigades on one side and a Spanish division, under the command of Pedro Sarsfield on the other. The Spanish troops held steady and repulsed the attack of the first brigade, then counterattacked and defeated both brigades. The combat occurred during the Peninsular War, part of the Napoleonic Wars. The action was fought near El Pla de Santa Maria, north of Valls, Catalonia, Spain.

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

Significance

The Battle of El Pla, fought near El Pla de Santa Maria north of Valls in Catalonia, was a Spanish tactical success against a French Imperial force composed of two Italian brigades under the overall command of Jacques MacDonald and Giuseppe Palombini. The Spanish division, numbering roughly 3,800 against a French column of approximately 6,000, repulsed the assault and then counterattacked to defeat both brigades. Within the broader context of the Peninsular War, the engagement demonstrated that Spanish regular forces under commanders such as Pedro Sarsfield and the Marquess of Campoverde could hold and reverse attacks by numerically superior French formations in Catalonia, a theater where French control remained persistently contested throughout the conflict.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (5)