Key Facts
- Duration
- 2.5 years (Feb 1810 – Aug 1812)
- French besieging force
- ~70,000 troops
- Initial Spanish defenders
- 2,000 troops
- Spanish reinforcements received
- ~10,000 troops
- French detached force at Barrosa
- 15,000–20,000 troops
Strategic Narrative Overview
The French encircled Cádiz from 5 February 1810, but the city's coastal position allowed British and Portuguese naval support to resupply the garrison. Relief attempts at Fuengirola in October 1810 ended disastrously, while a second effort at Tarifa in 1811 fared better. At the Battle of Barrosa, an Anglo-Spanish force defeated a French detachment under Victor, yet the siege perimeter held. Meanwhile, the Cortes drafted a liberal constitution inside the besieged city.
01 / The Origins
Following Napoleon's occupation of Seville in early 1810, Cádiz became the last refuge of legitimate Spanish authority. With Ferdinand VII deposed and replaced by Joseph Bonaparte, the Regency and the Cortes retreated to the fortified port city. France dispatched 70,000 troops to capture it, recognising that eliminating the Spanish seat of government would consolidate French control over the Iberian Peninsula.
03 / The Outcome
The Duke of Wellington's victory at the Battle of Salamanca in July 1812 threatened to cut off French forces across Andalusia, compelling them to abandon the siege on 24 August 1812. The survival of the Spanish government in Cádiz proved vital: the city served as a staging point for Coalition offensives, and the Constitution of 1812, though later revoked by Ferdinand VII, had lasting influence on Spanish liberal politics.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Claude Victor, Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult.
Side B
3 belligerents
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.