Key Facts
- Dates
- 22 Apr – 12 May and 18 May – 10 Jun 1811
- Duration
- Approx. 7 weeks total (two phases)
- Distance from Portugal
- 6 km from Portuguese border
- Relief battle
- Battle of Albuera, 16 May 1811
- Result
- French garrison holds; British siege lifted
Strategic Narrative Overview
Beresford invested Badajoz in April 1811 but Philippon's garrison repelled his assaults. The siege was temporarily lifted for the Battle of Albuera on 16 May, where both sides suffered severe casualties before Soult retreated east. Wellington arrived with reinforcements and resumed the siege in late May; however, Masséna's successor Marmont marched south with large forces to join Soult, creating a numerically superior relief army.
01 / The Origins
During the Peninsular War, control of Badajoz — a fortified gateway city on the Guadiana River near the Portuguese border — was strategically vital. While Wellington engaged Marshal Masséna's Army of Portugal in the north, he dispatched General Beresford southward to capture the French-held fortress, commanded by Governor Armand Philippon, intending to secure the southern corridor between Spain and Portugal.
03 / The Outcome
Faced with the combined and overwhelming strength of Soult's and Marmont's armies, Wellington judged further siege operations untenable and withdrew his Anglo-Portuguese force in early June 1811. Badajoz remained in French hands. The failed siege underscored the need for heavier siege artillery and more systematic engineering, lessons Wellington applied during the successful third siege of Badajoz in 1812.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
William Carr Beresford, Arthur Wellesley, Viscount Wellington.
Side B
1 belligerent
Armand Philippon, Nicolas Soult, Auguste Marmont.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.